ã€ŠSupreme Lord: I can extract everything!ã€‹


 Chapter 1 Prologue - Calamity Record

    ?High in the air above a bloodied battlefield, countless streams of energy were slowly gathering in one ce.

    The streams intertwined with one another, weaving arge and all-seeing eye that watched over the entire battlefield beneath it.

    Thus, the record of the cmity began.

    **

    Tightly clutching the blood-soaked spear and d in ck leather armor that had been torn to shreds, a man stood facing his opponents with a mocking smile.

    His jet-ck ck hair was disheveled, and his body was bruised and battered. However, he paid no heed to the wounds and instead let his gaze roam over the vast expanse. His vibrant eyes and his fierce gaze observed the enemies that surrounded him from all sides.

    There was no way out.

    The man knew that he would die here.

    But even in the face of imminent death, his expression did not falter. It was filled with mockery.

    "To think that the oldies left their reeking caves to fight next to the young prodigies of the Origin Expanse. I would have never expected to be that popr amongst the young and old," The man chuckled with a hearty smile on his face, "I can even see some archenemies putting aside their worthless pride to ally against me. That''s so sweet~"

    The Elven Empress was present, and so were the Asura Emperor, the Demon King, the Dwarven Lords, and many more esteemed figures who hardly ventured outside their territory. However, today was different. Today''s action was a necessity to ensure their survival and the end of a vexing cockroach.

    Instead of facing each other with their grand armies to tear their enemies apart, all archrivals stood united, their des pointed in one direction.

    The man could hear the roars of some oldies, while others sneered, but his smile never ceased. They looked confident; however, their eyes exposed the true feeling they held in their hearts; uncontroble fear.

    Despite being heavily outnumbered, he did not make a move. Everyone was wary of the man''s final attack, their weapons poised to strike the coiled serpent the moment he bared his fangs.

    The stand-off continued for several hours until the sun set behind the horizon. Thest rays of sunlight shone upon the battlefield, and the effect was catastrophic.

    At that moment, it was as if the battlefield turned into a sea of zing mes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The man finally turned his body.

    Alerted, the powerhouses surrounding him took a big step backward.

    By now, the man''s surrounding was stained with his blood. His face was deadly pale, and in the glow of the descending sun, it held a brilliant glisten.

    Watching the setting sun, he chuckled lightly.

    "My Fangs wi¨C...Hmm?" The man stopped in his movements, and he stiffened as he realized something.

    "This¡­"

    He gazed at a certain spot in the air above him, and uncontroble anger swept through his body.

    "Who are you? How dare you use a spell on me?!" The man''s eyes narrowed, and he changed his stance in an instant.

    His abyss-like eyes shone, unveiling something that was hidden from the rest of the world.

    Twisting his body, he threw the ck spear without hesitation, cutting through the emptiness that unfolded in front of him.

    And the moment the spear made contact with the void, space twisted and the scene changed.

    What was left behind was a horrified young man writhing in endless pain after having been pierced by a razor-sharp de, a spear de.

    Clutching his chest, the young man shot up from his seat, feeling dazed.

    However, the only thing he saw when he looked down at his chest was a familiar old, tattered book.

    ''What the hell was that?''

 Chapter 2 Examination Chamber

    ?"Mr. Fang, it seems like you want to be the first to enter the Examination Chamber. Don''t you think that you are a little bit too excited?" A familiar voice reached the young man.

    He looked up just to see that he was in the ssroom. More than thirty students were staring at him, some confused why he had turned himself into a target, while others were suppressing their scornful smiles. However, the young man didn''t pay them any attention.

    ''What the hell was that just now?''

    He looked down at his chest again, but there was nothing. There was no gaping hole in his chest, not even an injury or a scar.

    The only thing resting in his hands was an old, tattered book.

    The events vividly narrated in the book sounded like they came straight out of an unrealistic but decently written fantasy novel. Nobody would believe that the events had truly urred.

    However¡­

    That was exactly what Michael had been told when he was younger.

    Everyone in his family told him that the tattered book was the unblemished truth behind their first ancestor''s actions. He was wary of his parents a bit but knew that his brother would never knowingly lie to him, not anymore. Nheless, it was hard to believe such nonsense.

    ''Did I just dream about a snippet of the past?'' Michael wondered. He recalled the dream andpared it to the content of the book he recalled. It was the same.

    "Michael Fang, I am talking to you!" The familiar voice rang through the ssroom once again, angry andmanding this time.

    But Michael was deep in thought, wondering about the man on the battlefield. The voice resounding in the ssroom distracted him too much, so he subconsciously spoke his thoughts aloud, "Oh¡­fuck this shit¡­"

    "Mr. Fang. Examination Chamber, NOW!" The man bellowed, finally dragging Michael out of his train of thought.

    He looked up in confusion and he only regained his senses when he looked into the wrathful eyes of Mr. Kelen Dame, their homeroom teacher.

    ''Oh¡­right. The graduation exam.''

    Michael was still a little confused, but it looked like he didn''t have enough time to organize his thoughts.

    His homeroom teacher was staring daggers at him, which only changed once Michael reached out for his backpack. He put the tattered book inside and walked up to his teacher. At the same time, he took a quick nce at the projection that formed above the crystal watch on his wrist.

    ''9:01 am. If I start my exam now, I''ll be done by lunchtime. That leaves me enough time to gather my thoughts before tomorrow. It maye in handy!'' He thought. The projection disappeared a momentter.

    The crystal watch was a standard model given to all students at the age of 17. Other than telling time and creating a projection, it had ess to Sta, a sterwork providing information and means tomunicate with other humans across the ster systems. This was the most important function of the crystal watch, for most students, at least.

    When Michael arrived next to his homeroom teacher at the front of the ss, he heard Mr. Dame''s familiar ''teachings''.

    "Looking at you, I cannot help but feel my heart throb in pain. Don''t even dare of acting arrogantly if you pass the graduation exam with flying colors. You''re as good as dead if you think that your life inside the Origin Expanse will be the same."

    The hidden meaning behind his homeroom teacher''s words was obvious but most students were already ustomed to that, including Michael.

    "Mr. Dame, don''t worry so much. You''ve warned us often enough, we understand. Not everyone will awaken their War Rune, in the first ce!" A student with an athletic physique said while lifting his right hand high into the air. His mocking smile was aimed at Michael.

    A tattoo that shone in a faint white light was etched on the back of the student''s right hand. It was the War Rune he mentioned just now. However, nobody eximed upon seeing Nis Liekhoven''s War Rune. Most students threw a loathing re at their ssmates before ignoring him. Michael was the same.

    They knew that their homeroom teacher and Nis Liekhoven loved to team up to ridicule others. Michael was not sure how they found each other, but ording to him, they were certainly soulmates.

    "Mr. Liekhoven, even if your War Rune formed two days ago, you don''t need to show it to everyone," Mr. Dame reprimanded but he stressed some words to pull the attention of the ss to Nis.

    Michael observed the duo''s tomfoolery for the next few minutes with various thoughts about the dream tormenting him. Once their teacher was done gloating over his favorite student, Mr. Dame led Michael outside. He took Michael to a small room near the ssroom and told him to go inside.

    After Michael stepped inside, the chamber door sealed shut, cutting off all the background, and the entire world became deadly silent for Michael.

    At the same time, his homeroom teacher entered a different room.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    More than a dozen people were already inside the room, most of them teachers. However, none of them paid attention to Michael''s homeroom teacher. They were busy staring at the dozen holographic screens showing one student each.

    ''Jasmine de, Oliver Kaelte, and Peter Seakal?... I should have started off with Nis as well,'' Mr. Dame thought, shaking his head lightly.

    It was already toote now because a screen showing Michael popped up, but it was truly a shame.

    Michael was not fit to be in his ss. He was simply not on the same level as his ssmates.

    Having worked as a teacher for more than a decade, he had encountered too many students like Michael Fang. They came from ordinary families and thought highly of themselves just because they made it into one of the most prestigious high schools in the province.

    Unfortunately, entering a good school was just the starting line and not the end goal!

    ''Just wait for reality to crash down on you. You don''t have any power or wealth, forget about connections. Someone like you is not fit to be a Lord.''

    As wicked as it may seem, life was never meant to be fair. Those who sought power would either ovee the obstacles thrown in their way, or they would be buried in the annals of history.

    As for the number of ordinary students who made it to the top after entering prestigious schools with more luck than wits and strength, they could be listed on a single page.

    "Is that your student, Kelen? I''ve never seen him before. Did you train a ck horse trump while nobody looked your way?" One of the teachers sitting near Kelen Dame struck a conversation with him.

    When he realized that the other teachers had brought their aces to the Examination chamber to show off their great teachings to the esteemed guests, he gave up trying to contest with them. Friendlypetition was nice, but these teachers were known for going overboard.

    "A hidden trump? Don''t joke with me, Hagen! Michael Fang is just amoner without any noteworthy background. That kid is just lucky," Kelen Dame answered with a humorless chuckle, "His brother was fortunate enough to manifest a War Rune and retain his status as Lord for a few years, but that''s already it."

    Michael paid attention in ss but that was already it. There was nothing special about that youngster.

    "He is a loner and only knows how to read and sleep. He barely made it to the final year." Kelen added.

    Hagen looked at his colleague and frowned.

    ''Why did I even strike up a conversation with him? He''s just trying to humiliate his student by sending him off first!'' He thought.

    For a moment, he asked himself what he was even doing in a prestigious school that specialized in teaching students about the Origin Expanse and the livelihood of Lords and Adventurers.

    ''Great payment without risking my life every day turns jerks into lovely puppies, that''s for sure!'' Hagen thought, shaking his head lightly.

    He was about to say something to Kelen when he heard someone approaching them from behind.

    "Are you sure you''re talking about the student you sent to the Examination chamber? Your description seems off," A sudden voice interrupted the teachers'' chat.

    Kelen Dame was about to call out the owner of the voice for her rude behavior, but he froze when he saw the beautiful yet fierce-looking woman who was wearing casual clothes. She stood imposingly behind the teachers as if the entire ce belonged to her ¨C which was not exactly wrong.

    "M-m-m-miss Z¡ª...." Kelen Dame stammered, just to be intercepted by the neer.

    "I asked something," The woman said impatiently, her tone demanding obedience.

    "Yes yes, of course. Please, wait a moment!" Mr. Dame responded hurriedly, turning back to the monitors to look at the holographic screen featuring Michael.

    He sensed that something was off, but he didn''t expect something so nonsensical to happen right in front of his eyes.

    "Who the hell is that, and what did he do to the Sloth I know?"

    ''Is that really Michael?''

 Chapter 3 Final Exam (I)

    ?A few minutes earlier.

    Inside the examination chamber a hologram appeared the moment the door sealed shut.

    A countdown was initiated, and an emotionless, mechanical voice rang out upon hitting zero.

    [The examination will begin at any moment. Please confirm your ID!]

    "Student Michael Fang, student ID number 53632-29," Michael responded calmly even though he was a little excited.

    ''Once this shit is over, I am finally free!''

    He had expected a lot from the most prestigious school in the Golden Sun province when he got epted, but he quickly noticed just how fake and partial the entire school was. They didn''t really care about students with little to no background, or they just didn''t care about him specifically.

    Even if some sses were quite interesting to Michael because they were about the Origin Expanse, school life was boring as hell.

    Most students didn''t bother trying to befriend Michael because they couldn''t gain benefits from him, but it was not as if Michael was concerned about that.

    He would rather be a loner than popr with countless fake friends who were after connections, wealth, and opportunities. Genuine friendship was hard toe by, especially in a prestigious elite school where most students were descendants of powerful and influential families.

    Everyone was told to give their best and be the top performer in ss to bring honor to their family. This was only given in an era where familiespeted against each other every day, creating a cutthroatpetition. Unfortunately, the pressure these families put on their children was unhealthy, creating an unhealthy rift between their ssmates.

    Groups were formed early on, and what ought to be healthypetition turned into a small-scale warzone.

    In his first year, Michael made a big blunder. He thought that nobody would feel offended even if he were to get good grades. His hope to make friends by studying together and talking about their school life motivated him to work even harder.

    Unfortunately, he ended up taking the first spot in ss, turning him into the number one bullying target. Being an ordinary student without noteworthy background was certainly not helpful at that time. It made things worse as his ssmates grew jealous of him.

    It didn''t take long before Michael gave up trying to get good grades. He chose to ignore his ssmates and stay under the radar while working for his own good. Attending the most prestigious elite school in the Golden Sun province was something he had done to expand his knowledge and prepare for the Origin Expanse, not to make friends.

    [Student ID of Michael Fang has been verified. Iris-scan and fingerprint-scan will start at any moment. Please be patient!]

    A dim light shone into Michael''s eyes and a small holographic screen manifested in front of his hands. Michael pressed his hands against the holographic screen and waited.

    [Match confirmed. Commencing the graduation exam of Student Michael Fang.]

    [Student, prepare yourself!]

    In response to the emotionless voice, a dazzling light red up. The light filled the entire examination chamber, forcing Michael to shut his eyes tightly.

    Several seconds passed before he opened his eyes once again and he saw himself standing in front of a huge mountain.

    ''I cannot even see the tip of the mountain. How high is that?!'' He wondered while trying to gauge its height as the clouds hovered above the mountain peak.

    Cold gusts brushed against his face, carrying forth the howls and roars of monsters. Michael bend down to touch the wet soil. Afterward, he took a deep breath and inhaled the chilling air.

    His senses weren''t restricted at all.

    ''Is this really an illusion? This feels so real!''

    Over the course of thest centuries, the graduation exam of high-school students had undergone some drastic changes. The most important change was the appearance of the illusionarynd of examination that was created by the examination chamber.

    Thend around him was a sight to behold and Michael was curious to further examine it, but time was of the essence.

    Heposed himself and walked forward before starting to climb the mountain.

    A path led up to the tip of the mountain but the whole track was filled with countless dangers and traps.

    His graduation exam score would be calcted by measuring how far he made it through the track, and how he solved the problems that would be thrown his way eventually.

    [Choose a weapon.]

    The mechanical voice rang out the moment he made it to the well-trodden path.

    "Give me a thin longsword, please. Double-edge, straight de, and pointed tip," Michael requested instantly.

    Swords may not be considered the best weapon in every area - whether it was their destructive force, range, and so on - but they were certainly one of the most versatile weapons one could use.

    In unknown territory, they would be extremely helpful. Furthermore, his brother always chose to teach him to wield a sword whenever he came back from the Origin Expanse. It was only obvious that Michael chose the weapon he was the most familiar with.

    An ordinary double-edged longsword materialized in front of him, and Michael grasped it tightly.

    "Let''s make good use of you, buddy!" He mumbled, swinging it a few times to familiarize himself with the sword''s weight and bnce.

    Soon enough, Michael had to make use of the longsword not even a minuteter when he paced through the mountain''s open track.

    The faint sound of something cutting through the air reached him, and his head flicked upward. Several thick clouds covered the bright sun, and amid them, a pair of Emactyls dived down at him!

    Emactyls weremonly known as prehistoric pterosaurs withrge wings and sharp teeth. Their bodies were emerald green with elongated wings. They had w-like projections at the tip of their wings and a short, triangr-shaped tail.

    Despite their size being on the smaller side ¨C like a mid-sized dog ¨C they were dangerous creatures that shouldn''t be underestimated, especially their speed!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''A Low Tier-0 Monster with an elevated level of intelligence, right off the bat? Seems like graduating won''t be that easy!'' Michael snickered before he prepared himself for the iing attack.

    Most people wouldn''t know much about Emactyls but Michael had studied all volumes of the Monster Index he could find in the school''s online library. Others did not pay much attention to Tier-0 Monsters because they would be able to reach a higher Tier with the resources, they would receive upon entering the Origin Expanse, but Michael was different.

    He knew that his survival depended on the knowledge and skills he had procured over the years.

    Observing every inch of his surroundings was one of the skills that had been imprinted into his mind. It had now be an instinctive act.

    He readied himself andunched himself to the side when the pair of Emactyls was about to reach him.

    His timing was impable. It was just a split second before the Emactyls would reach him, their razor-sharp teeth about to dig into his shoulders.

    Michael''s lightning-fast reflexes were enough to evade the two monsters and, furthermore, hit one of the Emactyls who were incapable of changing their directions in an instant.

    Emactyls were assassins, not meat shields. Their bodies were fragile, and primarily designed for ambushing, not fighting an opponent head-on.

    In a single sh, Michael was able to sever one of the Emactyls. The other Emactyl tried to flee but it had dived down too fast before, restraining itself from quickly changing direction, and ascending back into the air.

    Michael dashed forward, piercing the Emactyl''s back when it was about to soar into the air.

    *Ding*

    The Emactyls'' bodies disintegrated into particles. Meanwhile, the examination chamber added points to his score after careful calction of his actions.

    ''I feel a little lighter. Is the illusorynd even capable of replicating the energy influx from killing monsters of the Origin Expanse?''

    This was interesting, and it changed his perception of the graduation exam a little.

    After reorganizing his thoughts and strategizing for a minute, Michael continued to climb the mountain.

    Not even twenty minutester, he had already killed more than ten Low Tier-0 Emactyls.

    The examination had just begun, but Michael could tell that this was nothing more than a warm-up. He felt that the difficulty would increase soon enough, otherwise, the horrifying rumors revolving around the graduation exam wouldn''t exist, in the first ce.

    But before Michael encountered the horror of the final examination, he had to answer a bunch of questions.

    A holographic screen appeared in the air in front of him, revealing several questions. Michael had to answer them before he could proceed to climb the mountain.

    [1) What is a War Rune? (60%)

    2) What is the Origin Expanse? (20%)

    3) Name the key factors Lords must pay attention to when they build their territory? (20%)]

    ''The questions are pretty¡­simple, aren''t they?'' Michael stared nkly at the questions for a while.

    He knew that most questions at the final examination were designed to be quite easy to solve though they might be a little tricky at times. Otherwise, they would take up way too much time due to theirplexity, leaving no time for a student to climb the mountain.

    Nheless, one should never skim through the questions and answer them half-heartedly to climb the mountain.

    After all, the percentage of correctly answered questions would be multiplied by the final deciding factor, precisely the altitude he reached before the countdown hit zero.

    There were a bunch of additional factors that were considered but ignoring the questions was never a good thing.

    ''The percentages denoted the importance of the question. The second and third questions are not that important. That means no details needed, good.''

    "I will answer number three first," Michael mumbled to himself before reciting what he had learned, "As Lords of territories, their main priority should be to ensure the security, economic development, infrastructure, natural resource management, social welfare, and¡­proper management of rtions with other territories. This will ensure the well-being and prosperity of their people, and make sure that they will be loyal to their Lords."

    Michael felt that this recitation was good and spot on. However, he figured that he missed something when he re-read the answer he had given.

    "Of course, it is important not to neglect Military Power, provide good education to their subjects, and make sure that their people will strive for innovation and cultural Unity to promote stability and cooperation within the territory!"

    ''That should be enough¡­''

    "The second question is a little bit more difficult to answer because we don''t know the truth yet. The Origin Expanse was created by an existence unknown to mankind, for an unknown reason. It reached out to mankind 511 years ago and has be a part of humanity''s daily life.

    The Origin Expanse is a mythical realm that possesses boundless treasures and habitats for countless races. It''s said that all intelligent races in the entire universe can enter the Origin Expanse, which means that the entire universe is connected through the Origin Expanse!

    It''s a ce that allows humans to exceed their natural limits and be much stronger. It is a ce where opportunities and dangers await one daily. Life and death are much closer in the Origin Expanse than anywhere else!" He exined more thoroughly than he had initially intended.

    He then took a few deep breaths to collect his thoughts.

    Michael finished answering the second question without any significant issues. He was about to answer the first question when he noticed a group of six Emactyls materializing in the sky above him.

    They took note of him at once and dove down without any hesitation.

    ''Just leave me alone and let me answer this fucking question!!''

 Chapter 4 Final Exam (II)

    ?Michael''s chest was heaving up and down heavily.

    A dozen cuts spread chaotically across his entire body while fresh blood trickled down the thin longsword.

    Only a few minutes had passed since Michael finished answering two out of the three questions given, but he was already tired.

    More Emactyls spawned in the air around him, making loud screeching noises as they circled him. They were restraining and distracting him. This was also part of the test.

    Amid the chaos, he gathered his thoughts, trying toe up with the best possible answers. The final examination tested the students'' stamina,bat prowess, willpower, calction abilities, and the ability to think quickly. All these factorsbined would give a final score, which determined the initial quality of the graduate.

    Only by surpassing the ordinary would one be able to stand out from the crowd and distinguish oneself in the government''s university entrance exam, stepping onto the road of real adults ¨C where Lords, Adventurers, and influential organizations entered the big picture.

    ''The question ''What is a War Rune?'' can be answered easily but given that the answer holds 60% weightage of the quiz part in this section, it needs to be more detailed.'' Michael thought before essing the crystal watch to open a note.

    A holographic screen appeared in front of him, and he began to scribble a few pieces of information on it. This was quite helpful since he could hardly focus on the question with more Emactyls diving down.

    In the next ten minutes, Michael killed ten Emactyls. He finished noting down the key points he recalled about the War Rune.

    After he had the bullet points ready Michael was quite satisfied with the final oue once he borated his answer in neat phrases.

    [¨C A War Rune forms at the age of 18. However, not every intelligent lifeform manifests one.

    ¨CEveryone with a War Rune is directly connected to the Origin Expanse and can enter it at will.

    ¨CAll War Runes have isted storage space. The higher the War Rune''s Tier therger the storage space.

    ¨CA War Rune is a direct path to the soul.

    ¨CWhen a War Rune manifests, the Will of the Origin Expanse must confirm the link. Within a week, one must enter the Origin Expanse, otherwise, the War Rune''s connection will slowly grow weak, and it will disappear atst.

    ¨CWar Runes are also known as Limit-breakers. Only by possessing the War Rune is it possible to feel and absorb the energy prevalent in the Origin Expanse. Bing stronger and exceeding the limit of a mortal/human being is possible. Origin energy refines the War Rune, and in return, the War Rune nourishes and strengthens the body and mind.]

    A few points mentioned in the list weren''t directly pertaining to the given question. Thus, Michael scratched them.

    Organizing the notes, adding a few things, and scratching others, Michael spent a while until he was finally able to answer the first question that showcased his extensive knowledge on the subject.

    The tiny devils, aka Emactyls, continued to bother him while he kept adding more points so as to ensure that he would pass in the written exam with flying colors.

    Unfortunately, Michael was quite sure that their numbers would only increase, and that the final examination would be trickier.

    Since there was no way around this predicament, he continued his trip to the top of the mountain.

    Michael had to fight more monsters and there were more questions that had to be answered. Fortunately, not all questions required recitation, or notes. They required bits of knowledge and a functioning brain.

    [A newly summoned Lord sends his summoned subjects outside the protection barrier to kill monsters. How many Low Tier-0 Monsters (10) must be killed by the subjects until the Lord''s War Rune is filled and ready to advance to the next Tier?]

    Evading several attacks from all around him, Michael nodded his head faintly. The question seemed quite difficult, but the answer was quite simple.

    ''A newly summoned Lord''s Summon will have a Neutral Link of Loyalty. On average, the share of energy sent through a Neutral Link of Loyalty is 1%. That means the Low Tier-0 Monster mentioned will provide 0.1 energy¡­''

    Michael was not fond of calcting while razor-sharp fangs sunk deep into his shoulder, ripping out his flesh, but there was not much he could do about it.

    He gave his best, answered, and went ahead ¨C not forgetting to cut the Emactyls around him into small pieces whenever they got too close to him.

    By the time he answered a few more questions, his entire body was covered in close to a hundred cuts of many sizes. His shoulder was his biggest concern. Chunks of flesh were missing in several areas and his shoulder des were exposed to the chilling air of the mountain.

    He knew that it was just an illusion, but the pain was as real as it could be.

    [Summary Question ¨C Start of the Great Origin Era]

    No question was asked but the task was obvious. He was supposed to summarize the start of the Great Origin Era.

    "Let''s see¡­" Michael began, just to halt in his tracks.

    What kind of revtion would create the biggest impact on the scoring system? Should I start with the creation of the first sessful colonization of another habitable star in another ster system? The appearance of the alien races 563 years ago? The Appearance of the Origin Expanse 511 years ago? Or the birth of the first Lord 510 years ago?

    Michael thought about it for a moment before he noticed that his body was slowly crumbling from the constant attacks of the dozen or more Emactyls swarming around him.

    Then he began.

    "The Great Origin Era began with t¡­"

    After he spoke for more than ten minutes, Michael finished and closed his eyes for a moment. He felt dizzy and could hardly stand on his feet.

    A momentter, the searing pain in his shoulder disappeared. Confused, he opened his eyes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He was now standing in the middle of the examination chamber; the illusion was no more around him. His breathing was still ragged and cold sweat trickled down his back, but he had left the illusion without a single visible injury.

    "Finally¡­it''s over¡­" He mumbled, touching his body as if to make sure that everything was truly just an illusion.

    [Congrattions, Student Michael Fang. You''vepleted the final examination. Your score will be calcted in no time and a notification will be forwarded within the following week once all students of the Golden Sun province have finished the final examination. Thanks for your cooperation!]

    The thin longsword too disappeared from his hand, but he found his backpack lying around in the corner.

    "Thanks. Have fun torturing my ssmates. You can be just as rough with them!" Michael said sarcastically as he picked up his things, but the emotionless voice decided to reprimand him.

    [I shall not favor anyone. Fairness is my highest priority!]

    "That was not meant¡­forget it," Michael responded, not even bothering with an exnation.

    He was already mentally exhausted, and his shoulder was a little sore. Actually, he felt sore wherever he was wounded in the illusion, but the shoulder was the most apparent.

    ''The receptors in my brain still think that I''m hurt? If that''s the case¡­what would have happened if I had died inside the illusion?'' He thought and began to shudder as his overimaginative mind went wild.

    ''Well, whatever. I think I made it far enough to graduate. Nothing inside this building matters anymore!''

    Michael chose not to ignore the soreness and pain all over his body. He would rather go home and ponder over his dream from earlier. The dream was permanently etched in his mind, and it continued to nag him, making him feel restless. It was bothersome and distracted him a lot.

    Furthermore, there was no reason for him to go back to ss.

    Now that he was done, Michael was about to leave. However, before he could even make it out of the examination chamber, Michael found himself in a tricky situation.

    A fierce-looking woman was standing by the entrance, staring at him. She wasn''t even trying to hide it!

    Michael bowed lightly to her. It was an instinctive move upon perceiving the fierceness in her gaze and the presence she radiated naturally.

    ''An unknown fierce beauty¡­that can only mean trouble!''

    He tried to walk past her after the bow, but the fierce-looking woman took this as a sign to initiate a conversation.

    "Kiddo, how are you feeling?" she asked, her voice crisp and sonorous.

    ''Kiddo? Do I look like a kid?'' Michael wanted to retort but he didn''t speak his mind. Instead, he shrugged inwardly and smiled lightly.

    "I should have scored high enough to graduate, but that''s it. I never really aimed to attend an elite university, or an influential academy, so I don''t really care. It''s not like attending a university or academy would help me anyway," he replied, only to slow down when he realized that he was bbering.

    His eyes narrowed, and he squinted while looking at the fierce beauty, who continued to smile at him with a glint in her eyes.

    ''She is doing something. Is that the effect of an Artifact, or the power of her Soultrait?''

    "Don''t worry, kiddo. I approached you because I hope you can consider applying to the Saphirke Military Academy''s and sitting for their entrance exam. If you get epted, you will have more options once the military drafts all Lords and Adventurers," The fierce beauty said. It sounded as if her words were not important, but Michael''s expression changed drastically.

    They didn''t even know each other, yet she threw an invitation at him¡­out of nowhere at that?

    Multiple thoughts shed through his mind and none of them put his mind at ease.

    ''Military drafting? We''re currently not at war¡­or are we?''

    ''... Saphirke Military Academy¡­It''s a pretty big one on¡­.where was it again?'' Michael wondered, just to shake his head and p his cheeks. How was the location of the Military Academy important right now?!

    ''Why would she tell me about the Military Academy and a possible draft call? Who is she, in the first ce?!''

    Something was fishy, that was for sure. However, Michael was not able to speak his thoughts aloud. Something was holding him back.

    "My score won''t be high enough to join the Saphirke Military Academy, even if I want to apply," he said instead.

    The fierce beauty''s smile widened in response, "You should have a decent score. If you achieve something special as a new Lord in the Origin Expanse, I can help you!"

    "But why would you?" He asked this time, finally able to speak his mind.

    Michael was certain that he broke through the spell that had been put on him. Yet, instead of staring at him baffled, the fierce beauty''s smile turned even brighter. It was vibrant enough to dazzle Michael.

    "Seems like I was right about you," She muttered, taking a big stride closer to him before she made a big announcement,

    "I like you, kiddo!"

    Michael took an equally big stride backward with one thought ¨C that couldn''t be more true ¡ª in his mind.

    ''...This woman is definitely sick in the head!''

 Chapter 5 Alice Zenovia

    ?"Sorry, but you are not exactly my type," Michael apologized.

    He was not exactly apologetic, but the fierce beauty didn''t seem to be the type of person who epted getting rejected. Oddly enough she didn''t seem to mind the rejection. On the contrary, the fierce beauty began to chuckle, as if she enjoyed it.

    "Then what is your type?" she asked nonchntly.

    ''The type that is not sick in the head, probably?'' He thought but didn''t speak aloud.

    Michael gave a light shrug and changed the topic.

    "I don''t think we''ve met before. You don''t really look like a teacher either," Michael pointed out, "So why are you telling me all of this?"

    He had a lot more to say, but he decided to stop right there. His first impression of the fierce beauty was pretty simple. She had a few loose screws, but she was powerful and with highly influential backing.

    "Hmm..." She hummed lightly while keeping her gaze locked on Michael. Her intense gaze would intimidate most, yet Michael didn''t seem to fazed. He looked her in the eye and returned her gaze with a tinge of suspicion and curiosity.

    "Let''s just say that I felt like you''re more interesting than my brother''s fianc??," She revealed.

    "You seem like a hard-working youth, who can ovee theck of a good teacher. Your naturalbat awareness is not bad either. Of course, you need a lot of refinement, but that can be done in the Saphirke Military Academy."

    ''Is she searching for someone to y around, an idiot without backing? Well, I won''t be that bastard, sorry sis!'' Michael could say that but that would mean he had to deal with this crazy woman even longer.

    This woman was just too talkative!

    He was already mentally exhausted due to the final examination and that dream a€¡° or whatever it was that he saw a€¡° bothered him quite a lot.

    ''Why are you telling me all of this?''

    Michael wanted to return home and read the records in the tattered book once again. He could find out more about the dream he had or witness another snippet of his ancestor''s past.

    ''Do you even know who you''re talking to?'' The fierce beauty wanted to ask upon seeing the impatience in Michael''s eyes, but she remained silent, unlike her usual self.

    ''Why did I even approach him? I shouldn''t have told him to apply at the Saphirke Military Academy either. What if he won''t manifest a War Rune? No, even if he manifests a War Rune, there is no reason for me to invite him...''

    The fierce beauty sighed deeply. She was not sure why she had done what she did. She had only reluctantly arrived at the Golden Sun province after being forced by her parents told her to look at her younger brother''s potential fianc??. However, what she saw disappointed her greatly.

    Jasmine de, her potential sister-inw, was born in the renowned sword master family of the de and was definitely beautiful. But that was already it.

    She received enough resources and guidance from well-known instructors to rank in the province''s top 5. However, everyone with discernable eyes could tell that Jasmine didn''t try her best during the final examination. Her ambition was non-existent, and one could tell that she was spoon-fed everything necessary to rank at the top without even trying.

    Was such a woman truly fit to join their family?

    On the other hand, the young man in front of her was a sly fox and a fighter at the same time.

    Michael Fang belonged to the middle ss. His parents'' whereabouts unknown, and his brother busy being the Lord of a small territory in the Origin Expanse, Michael gave his utmost to the most prestigious elite school in the Golden Sun province.

    Unfortunately, he faced his ssmates'' bullying upon ranking first in the first exam. As a result, his grades slumped to the bottom of the ss, barely enough to advance. Nobody thought that Michael would be able to graduate, not even his own homeroom teacher. But that was a grave mistake!

    He may not rank first because he didn''t have the necessary resources and training which his ssmates received since they were young, but he would certainly give the top rankers some toughpetition.

    That was what she found out about Michael after she heard his homeroom teacher speak ill about him in the observation room. She just wanted to gauge his worth and look at him, at first.

    However, something about him piqued her interest.

    Michael did his best to adapt to his environment, make use of the little resources he was given, and attack when the opportunity arrived. His patience and work ethic were impable, and it was something the military needed.

    It was much more interesting to see someone struggle with zing mes of determination and ambition in their eyes than watching the spoon-fed idiots fighting amongst each other half-heartedly.

    After mulling over it for a while, she held out her right hand and manifested a holographic screen.

    "Give me your contact details. You can ignore my invitation if you don''t like it. Maybe, I came across as too pushy," The fierce beauty said, following her gut feeling. Her vibrant smile had been reced with a light, genuine smile. She toned down a bit, understanding that her excitement and interest had been a little bit over the top.

    There was no need to pounce on Michael, not when things were still uncertain. She might be mistaken about him, but she felt that this was very unlikely.

    Michael tilted his head but then nodded.

    It was not as if it was hard to procure his contact details in the era of technology and Sta. Sharing them with the unknowndy didn''t pose a threat.

    "By the way, my name is Alice Zenovia," she said suddenly, grasping the hand Michael held out.

    ''A total weirdo...'' He thought but the corners of his lips curled upward, even if it was just a little.

    "I''m Michael Fang..."

    **

    His trip home didn''t take too long. He ordered a flying shuttle to bring him home, which was a five-minute flight through the aerial paths of Laki, the province''s capital.

    Laki was a big city with several million residents. It was a city that was alive all day, with crowded shopping malls, and bustling restaurants.

    Michael lived near the central area, in a big family apartment that had three bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a big living room, and a crowded office. In a city like Laki where the estate prices were high enough to cause constipation, this was already luxurious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The apartment''s value was in the tens of millions. Fortunately, his parents paid off their loan early on. Despite not being at home at all, his parents sent a monthly allowance high enough to cover all the expenses. Thus, a message from them every other month was more than enough for Michael.

    "Danny is not here? Maybe, he will be there tomorrow? No, he is probably busy with his territory," Michael mumbled when he realized that his brother was not home either. He didn''t expect anything from his parents, but he felt a slight sting in his chest because of the absence of his brother.

    ''Time flows differently inside the Origin Expanse. It''s just a birthday, not a life-and-death situation. Don''t act like a weakling!'' Michael told himself off. He shouldn''t act like a spoiled child and instead ept reality. It was better that way.

    Michael wanted to take a long nap now that he was finally at home, but he chose to enter the office. It was filled with books that Michael had read multiple times by now.

    In the center of the office was arge wooden table and chair made of simr material a€¡° one of the old kinds. Michael sat down on the chair and retrieved the old, tattered book from his backpack.

    He put the book down on the table and opened it.

    He began reading through the pages and entered a state of utter focus as he found himself captured by the book. He even lost track of time as he found the contents of the book highly riveting.

    "Yes, I''m certain...that''s literally the same as the events in the dream I had...It''s literally the same..."

    It was impressive and somehow made sense the more he thought about it. Logic didn''t apply to what happened earlier this morning but then there were so many illogical things that one more thing didn''t really make a difference.

    "How can I experience it again? If I can learn something about the Origin Expanse, or about our ancestors through these snippets of the past which others don''t know about, I should be able to gain an advantage others can only dream about..." Michael mumbled to himself.

    He was deep in thought and didn''t even notice the figure that had appeared in the doorframe of the office.

    "Are you still reading the story about that bastard, Michael?" A familiar a€¡° though judgmental a€¡° voice reached his ears.

    Michael flinched and his heart skipped a beat in shock while his head flicked upward. A smile blossomed on his face just a momentter.

    "You''re back, Danny? Why didn''t you message me?" he eximed, forgetting about the tattered book at once.

    He jumped up and approached his brother with a faint smile.

    Daniel Fang was only a few years older than him, but he was not often at home because he was busy with his territory. Too many incidents shook his territory in thest few months, forcing him to stay in the Origin Expanse much longer than usual.

    Dany ruffled through his younger brother''s hair with a loving smile. He took a final nce at the old, tattered book and shook his head lightly afterward.

    "I don''t really like this book," He muttered under his breath before he added a little loudly, "I always feel like he is at fault for our misfortune."

    Michael understood what his brother meant but he didn''t really want to talk about it. He was not going to fight with his brother now that he was finally back from the Origin Expanse.

    Their family might be pursued by misfortune but that could have many reasons.

    Danny''s eyes glimmered suddenly, and he punched Michael lightly on the shoulder. However, Michael had already predicted this. It was always the same with his brother! Danny''s punch missed the target by arge margin.

    Michael''s smile widened upon seeing the frown on his brother''s face.

    "Tch!"

    Danny shot forward with a speed no ordinary human could dream of reaching. He appeared in front of Michael, his t hand lifted.

    *smack*

    His t handnded hard on Michael''s head.

    "Argh!!"

    Michael slumped on the ground, holding his head in pain.

    "Don''t be a crybaby ande down to the training hall. I want to see if you''re ready for tomorrow!" Danny ordered, his expression a little more serious than before.

    Michael continued to rub his forehead, but he obeyed. Saying something to anger his brother when he was this serious wouldn''t do him any good.

    With that, Danny turned on his heels. He walked out of the office.

    "If I''m not ready for tomorrow by now I will never be," Michael muttered to himself, "I worked my ass off for this day. It''s impossible not to be ready..."

    Michael had made ample preparations for tomorrow. He would turn 18 and his War Rune would form as well.

    Not everyone would manifest a War Rune, but the Fangs were a little special in this regard. Since the arrival of the Origin expanse, the Fangs had always formed a War Rune after reaching the required age. Nobody could say for sure why that was the case, but most presumed that it was because of their first ancestor, the ''bastard''.

    Michael looked ast time at the tattered book on the wooden table before he turned around as well.

    [Legend of the Cmity]

    It was one of a kind and harbored the truth behind a tale that would have been forgotten if not for the tattered book.

    ''Well, whatever.''

    He left the office and closed the door behind him.

 Chapter 6 Artifact

    ?In the training hall basement of their apartmentplex, two young men with ck hair and dark eyes were standing opposite each other.

    They were wearingbat suits and entered theirbat stance at the same time.

    "I will restrict my strength so that you won''t cryter!" Danny mocked, but Michael just clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "Whatever!"

    Michael hated that his brother took it easy. Unfortunately, that was for his good. Danny dashed forward and their spar began without dy if one could call it a spar, in the first ce.

    ¡­

    Half an hourter, Michael felt as if his entire body had been used as a punching bag. That was not far from reality. His ck hair was slick with sweat and dirt while his face was decorated with purple bruises.

    "As a member of the Fang family, we will have lots of chaos around us, but that can be exploited," Danny nagged when he appeared in front of Michael, "You have to make use of your territory''s protection barrier when you enter the Origin Expanse. Itsts only ten days but that should be more than enough for you!"

    While speaking, Danny retrieved a ss vial from the War Rune. He opened the cap and handed Michael the vial. Michael swallowed the red liquid inside it and felt a warm and soothing sensation spread through his body.

    ''This is the real deal!'' He thought while focusing on the empty ss vial rather than his brother''s nagging.

    Danny was still speaking excitedly. He was way too talkative when it was about topics rted to the Origin Expanse. Though, it was not as if Michale hated it. It was just Danny''s nagging that got a little bit on his nerves.

    "Remember, two hours over there is one hour over here. Don''t get the dates wrong!"

    "If you won''te back in time, I''m going to kill you!"

    ¡­

    Michael meekly listened to his brother''s nagging without retorting that he knew all of that already. His brother was in his element right now, and nobody could stop him, probably not even divine interventions.

    "Danny, it''s fine. Just let me have dinner and sleep. I will be fine tomorrow."

    "I brought some food from Jenny''s Diner. We can eat that if you wa¨C..." Danny said lightly, just to see that Michael had already gotten up from the ground the moment he heard ''Jenny''s Diner''.

    "Let''s go!!"

    In the following hour, the brothers devoured enough food to feed a family for days.

    However, that amount was nothing to the brothers. They''d always been gluttons.

    How could anyone resist great food? That was sphemy!

    Michael returned to his room after dinner. He was tired from today''s events and fell into a deep slumber quite easily.

    Only a few hourster, Michael woke up with the first rays of sunlight shining through the window. It was still early in the morning, but he was already wide awake. The back of his right hand itched, pulling him out of the well-needed sleep.

    ''War Rune!''

    A small, sphere-shaped rune formed on the back of his right hand. It was smaller than a marble and could easily be mistaken as a uniquely shaped mole.

    Today was his 18th birthday, which was also one of the most important days in his life. His War Rune had formed, establishing a direct connection between him and the Origin Expanse! Now, the only thing left to do was to enter the Origin Expanse to confirm and reinforce his connection with the War Rune.

    Michael quickly showered and changed into abat suit before he rushed downstairs.

    The first ten days in the Origin Expanse were the most important. He had to make use of them to create his path to a great future, and having a filling breakfast was the best way to ensure that the day started on the right track!

    Michael finished everything he could find in the fridge and a bright smile formed on his face.

    His heart was beating wildly in excitement, and he didn''t even notice that he was subconsciously urging the War Rune to open the Gate to the Origin Expanse.

    As a result, space cracked open and a radiant light illuminated the kitchen.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The crack expanded in size until it wasrge enough to let Michael through.

    Michael stared nkly at the Gate. He swallowed his saliva and took a stride toward it.

    ''So beautiful.''

    However, it was just a momentter that a familiar voice rang in his ears, "Oi Oi Oi, what the hell do you think you''re doing so early in the morning?!?"

    Danny''s hurried footsteps resounded through the entire house. Feeling astonished and confused, Michael halted in his tracks.

    He was just having breakfast.

    That''s not a crime!

    Danny reached the kitchen a secondter, staring at Michael with bloodshot eyes. His hair and clothes were disheveled, and it looked like he had a rough night.

    "Doo tschou wansth somsething?" Michael asked iprehensibly. His mouth was filled to the brim, but it was easy to understand what he was talking about. He handed Danny one of the croissants he found in the kitchen.

    ''It''s okay. I will share my loot with you!''

    Michael smiled at his brother, who groaned in frustration.

    "You bastard¡­I thought you got too excited and¨C¡­" Danny grumbled, snacking on the croissant while ring at Michael. It was not difficult to see that Michael was too excited and could not wait to enter the Origin Expanse anymore. Michael was too eager and was bobbing his head up and down restlessly.

    Danny shook his head, but he couldn''t take offense at his brother''s action. He himself was the same four years ago.

    He had always felt guilty for leaving his younger brother alone to build his territory in the Origin Expanse. He was not home a lot, but Michael never seemed to mind.

    ''How do I even deserve such a good little brother? Michael always understands me, and he neverined when I wasn''t there for him¡­'' Daniel marveled while watching his oblivious brother savor hisst meal before it was time to enter the Origin Expanse.

    The back of Danny''s right hand glowed lightly as he flipped his hand with a light motion.

    A thin longsword manifested in front of him.

    "Huh?!" Michael nearly died of a heart attack as he stumbled backward when the sword manifested in front of Danny.

    He took a second to regain hisposure and curiously took a few steps forward.

    "Is that an Artifact?"

    It was the first time Michael was seeing an Artifact up close. While the thin longsword didn''t look like anything special, it was a treasure if it was actually an Artifact.

    The difference between Artifacts and ordinary weapons was quite simple. Artifacts were created with special materials, which allowed Lords and Adventurers to bind them to their War Runes. That way, they could enjoy enhancement effects. For example, his endurance was likely to increase by binding a Shield Artifact to his War Rune. The enhancement effect would vary ording to the quality and Tier of the bound Artifact. Nheless, an enhancement inbat prowess, no matter how low, was extremely helpful.

    "It''s a five-star Tier-0 Artifact called Tigerfang. When I saw it in the marketce, I was reminded of you," Danny exined shortly before he handed Michael the de carefully.

    "As long as you can bind it to yourself, Tigerfang will be yours!"

    "...Huh?!"

    What was his brother talking about?!

    Did Danny rob a bank to afford Tigerfang, or did he sell his territory?

    Michael was curious but he was not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

    ''Danny¡­what the hell did you do?!''

 Chapter 7 Origin Expanse

    ?Even if Tigerfang was only a Tier-0 Artifact ¨C also called Tierless because it could be bound by any kind of War Rune ¨C it was of exceptional quality. Five Stars meant that it was of Epic Quality! It was super rare!!

    "Why didn''t you use that money to expand your territory?! You could have easily doubled the size of your territory with the fortune you wasted on that!" Michael shouted even before he realized it. He didn''t want his brother to suffer because of him.

    However, upon seeing Danny''s stern expression, the next words died on Michael''s tongue. He couldn''t force himself to speak aloud.

    "Take it and try to bind it to your War Rune. If the toll is too high, I have weapons with a lower rating for you to bind. I don''t care what you say about the costs of the Artifacts, you need to be as strong as possible to survive in the Origin Expanse! If you reject my help now, you might be dead before you realize your mistake," Danny reprimanded his brother, his voice growing more serious and colder.

    He was dead serious.

    If necessary, he would shove the Artifacts deep into his brother''s throat!

    Michael had never seen his brother like that. For a moment, he felt like saying something, but he knew better than to argue with Danny.

    He silently picked up Tigerfang and willed the War Rune to bind the thin longsword. A thin white tentacle-like thread emerged from the War Rune. It wiggled uncontrobly, searching for the Artifact it was supposed to bind. Michael quietly moved Tigerfang closer to connect the tentacle-like thread before he observed the next few steps carefully.

    Even his brother stared at the process intently.

    ''Good thing that he is not as restless as I was when I bound my first Artifact.'' Daniel Fang thought with a bitter expression on his face as he recalled his own stupidity. The pain was forever branded in his mind.

    Michael''s War Rune bound Tigerfang slowly, and the processsted for quite a while. It could have been done instantaneously but Michael willed the War Rune to take its time. Meanwhile, his body''s temperature slowly increased as well.  A warm, fuzzy sensation engulfed his entire body. It wasfortable.

    Unfortunately, this warm and soothing sensation turned into searing heat after a few minutes. Michael could sense drastic enhancement in his physical strength, but he was also painfully aware that he was reaching his limit.

    ''A little bit more and I won''t be able to handle it,'' He thought just before he slumped to the ground.

    His back was drenched in cold sweat and his shirt was stered to his body, but he smiled foolishly. The white tentacle-like strand of the War Rune returned to where it belonged.

    ''I made it¡­though just barely. An Epic Tierless Artifact is all I can handle right now¡­This is crazy¡­"

    Michael had yet to test his current prowess, but he felt like his agility and strength had at least doubled in power. His senses had also been enhanced.

    ''An Epic Artifact is truly special. I will repay you for this treasure¡­just wait and watch, brother!'' He swore in his heart, clenching his fist.

    Closing his eyes, Michael focused on his consciousness ¨C just like he often read in the books about War Rune and the Origin Expanse.

    He used his Will to transform Tigerfang into a ball of light that fused back into the War Rune. Knowing the basics and having sound theoretical knowledge was a great advantage. It didn''t indicate that he should be perfect in the practical aspect, but it helped, nheless. In a matter of minutes, he was able to see a small light hidden in the deepest parts of his body.

    ''The light is the War Rune, isn''t it?'' Michael wondered.

    The ball of light that belonged to Tigerfang had transformed into an illusionary shadow that revolved around the small light. That was another effect of Artifacts. The enhancement effect provided by Artifacts would never fade off. He was fine with it as long as his body could withstand the effect ¨C which he could barely.

    It was merely an external aid, an enhancement granted through the Artifacts, but it was still amazing.

    His survival rate increased drastically!

    As long as the enhancement effect was not too strong for his body that could cause him to copse, or stter into countless pieces, he would be fine.

    The thin longsword was perfect for him, and so was the enhancement he had received.

    Swords were considered a Jack of all trades, which was exactly what Michael needed. He could end up in a desert, in the midst of a savannah, or even in a tundra region upon entering the Origin Expanse. Luck was the deciding factor ¨C which was usually bad for the Fang Family. His territory could be anywhere, and having a sword around was probably the most helpful.

    Of course, there were always circumstances in which even the mightiest weapons would turn useless. However, that was not something Michael wanted to think about right now.

    "If you think you can handle more Artifacts, I have a few Tierless, Starless, and One-star Artifacts that won''t burden you mu¨C..."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I''m already at my limit, thanks Danny," Michael said in a weak voice. Talking seemed like a perilous task right now so he took a few breaths and smiled at his brother, knowing deep down that his brother was just worried about him.

    "The storage space in your War Rune is quasi non-existent right now, so I can only support you this way¡­This is so frustrating¡­" Danny mumbled to himself," Otherwise, I would have also given you a bunch of resources and Summoning Scrolls¡­"

    ''Since when have you started doting on me so much? Did someone rece you with my disciplined and bad-tempered brother?!'' Michael wondered, but he just smiled at Danny. It was rare to see his brother nervous like this.

    Michael didn''t mind the change in his brother''s attitude, but it was strangely out of ce for his elder brother to be so frazzled. Usually, his brother was busy being in the Origin Expanse or thinking about it. Only when they trained in the sword or gobbled down family-sized meals by themselves did his brother''s thoughts drift away from the Origin Expanse.

    This obsession his brother had developed was something Michael was worried about, at first. However, right now, he was curious to know what the Origin Expanse must have done to his brother to turn him into a helpless addict of the Origin Expanse.

    Michael focused on adjusting his mind and body to the enhancement he received from the Epic Artifact for the next half an hour before he approached the White Gate.

    After several years of hard work, it was finally time to enter the Origin Expanse. Michael was overflowing with excitement, but he was also nervous. Everything could go terribly wrong!

    He would have loved to carry a few more things to the Origin Expanse but only the clothes he wore, the Artifacts bound to the War Rune, and the items stored inside the War Rune could be brought to the Origin Expanse. Even carrying a backpack was useless since it would disappear into thin air.

    As for guns, grenades, and other scientific weapons made outside the Origin Expanse, they wouldn''t work inside.

    "I''ll take your leave now. Don''t wait for me and take care of your territory. I will only return after the protection barrier is lifted and I''m certain that my territory won''t be bulldozed once I leave," Michael said.

    He smiled lightly at his brother, who recited all the warnings and instructions to be followed for the 100,000th time.

    "If you don''t feel prepared for the Origin Expanse, just abandon your territory, and be an Adventurer. I will dly ept you in my territory. If your Soultrait is shit, don''t feel burdened. Just give it your best. I know that you will make the best choice!"

    ''You''re possessed, aren''t you?'' Michael groaned inwardly while continuing to smile.

    He kept ncing at the luminescent white Gate that radiated an even brighter light. The material of the arched Gate was smooth and featureless. If not for the bright light engulfing it, one might mistake it for an ordinary, modern Gate.

    However, it was much more than that. It was his opportunity for a greater future, a way to turn his family''s misfortunes into great opportunities.

    He stepped through the white Gate without saying anything further. Everything he wanted to say had been said. Now it was time to stand up for himself!

    A momentter he disappeared inside the white Gate.

    Meanwhile, Daniel stared at the white Gate that dispersed into countless white particles not long after.

    "Please get a good territory, Michael. As long as your territory is good, everything can be managed¡­"

    At first, everything around Michael was ck. He couldn''t see anything and the only thing he felt was a strong suctioning force pulling him somewhere. He was even more confused when white stars emerged all around him. Space twisted not long after and he had to close his eyes to make sure that his breakfast would stay where it was supposed to be.

    His sense of time disappeared slowly, making it impossible to tell how much time had passed when he opened his eyes again. But that didn''t matter because he had arrived in the Origin Expanse.

    A faint gust brushed past his face, and sunlight shone through the canopy of towering trees around him. It was warm and humid, furthermore, everything seemed alive rather than the surrounding filled with towering skyscrapers.

    He found himself surrounded by unknown terrain.

    But instead of staring nkly at the lively scenery around him, Michael held his head while focusing on the figure who was approaching him slowly.

    "Fluffy?"

    His eyes widened in shock, and they began to sparkle brightly.

    ''Is that why Danny likes the Origin Expanse?''

 Chapter 8 Tigerfolk

    ?Michael could tell that his surroundings were full of life the moment he emerged from the Gate. The sound of birds chirping, and monsters roaring reached his ears, making him feel excited.

    ''Compared to Danny''s territory in the desert region, this is a treasure trove. Amazing!''

    Michael felt that he was quite lucky. However, his attention was forcefully pulled over to the figure standing not too far away from him.

    A young woman with long silver hair andrge eyes of the same color approached him with a subtle smile on her face.

    She was wearing a ck dress with a white cor and cuffs. A white apron was tied around her waist. It was a practical andfortable uniform to work in, and it looked great as well.

    Not only was she wearing a maid uniform, but the young woman was also drop-dead gorgeous, and she had¡­fluffy ears!

    ''She has a tail as well?!?'' Michael shouted in his mind when he saw the ck-silver striped tail wagging behind her.

    The maid''s cheeks were a tinge red but Michael didn''t even notice that. He was too baffled about the appearance of a Demi-Human right after he arrived at the Origin Expanse.

    ''To think that I would have the chance of meeting a member of another race so soon¡­who the hell says that our family is unlucky? This is definitely a blessing!''

    It wasmonly known that the Origin Expanse was a mythical ce with boundless treasures and countless races, but that didn''t mean it was easy to encounter other intelligent races. Usually, intelligent races stayed with their own people.

    ''What did Danny sayst time? If I cannot handle it, I should just give up my territory and be an Adventurer? He can forget about that. I have a lovely Feline Demi-Human Maid!''

    Michael could tell that his mind was going wild, but he was relieved. He had been dreading being besieged by monster hordes the moment he entered the Origin Expanse.

    After all, Michael was told to expect the worst.

    ''Why did you have to make me feel so worried me so much, brother?!''

    "My Lord, I have been waiting for you!" The silver-haired maid greeted him with a deep bow, "I am your Maid and the first resident of your territory. My name is Tiara and it is my mission to serve you until death, my lord!"

    Tiara politely introduced herself. She didn''t dare to look into his eyes and kept her head lowered.

    Michael never had subjects and he was always the one who was considered less worthy than his ssmates. Thus, he was a little baffled by his maid''s obedience.

    ''It''s good to have a maid, but it would be better if she was a little bit more rxed. The tension she radiates is frightening¡­'' He thought before he shook his head.

    Tiara looked to be around his age. It shouldn''t be too difficult to break the ice between them.

    "My name is Michael, but you can call me whatever you''re the mostfortable with," Michael introduced himself, before he asked, "If it''s not too rude to ask, which n of Demi-Humans do you belong to?"

    His curiosity had been piqued upon seeing her silver hair and silver cat-like eyes. He was not yet sure how to treat Tiara since he was not ustomed to the mindset of a ruler, but it was not as if he could throwmands at someone he met a minute ago, not yet at least.

    ''I have lots of things to learn if I want to be a proper Lord. I wonder how long Danny took to adjust to his status as a Lord!''

    Being a Lord was not easy, but it came with great benefits. Their status was exceptional in society but that was given. They had their own territory, possessed military might, had more resources at their disposal, and could use their influence to control the natives of the Origin Expanse to a certain extent.

    To add on top of that, a Lord''s Soultrait was much stronger than that of an Adventurer''s.

    But even then, many Lords were forced to give up theirnds and be stripped of their title, bing mere Adventurers. They paved their way through the Origin Expanse with the power they had umted, whether it was alone, as a team, or even in a guild. Some chose to be subordinates of other Lords as well.

    "My C-n?? W-Why does my Lord want to know about t-this?" Tiara asked while stuttering a lot. She gripped her apron so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

    ''Was my question inappropriate?'' Michael wondered.

    "If you don''t want to answer, that''s fine. I was just curious about what kind of Feline Demi-Human you are. I''ve heard about the Catfolk, but you seem different from them. Your appearance doesn''t fit the description I''ve read either. You have a more noble presence and you''re much prettier," He exined calmly.

    Michael didn''t want Tiara to revolt against him right after he entered the Origin Expanse. He had yet to start building his territory!

    "P-Pretty¡­" Tiara mumbled, her cheeks turning beet red. ''Am I?!''

    Michael was not someone who hid his true thoughts. Most of the time, he spoke them aloud without thinking too much about it.

    Tiara might be his maid but it was still a little confusing that she had such a noble presence. The first thought he had when he saw her was that she belonged to royalty. She was very beautiful, with long eyshes, fair skin, and long, silky hair.

    Her maid uniform did a poor job of concealing her slender figure, the fact that she was well-trained and that her body was well-proportioned, curvaceous where it had to be. It didn''t make sense that someone like her would be his servant.

    Michael was quite interested in Tiara since she was his first subject and the first member of a foreign race he encountered. He had many questions but he chose to ignore them for the time being. Other things were of more importance.

    ''Let''s see what we got here.''

    He turned around to take a good look at his territory.

    The protection barrier was not difficult to see. it was a huge semi-transparent barrier that surrounded his territory perfectly.

    Nobody could enter his territory without his permission, probably not even deities. Michael didn''t want to test the limit of the protection barrier, but he had heard and read enough about it to feel safe and sound.

    ''A thousand meters in each direction. That should be more than enough space for the next ten days,'' Michael thought as he tried to measure the size of the protection barrier.

    The protection barrier was standardized but Michael still wanted to make sure that everything was as it was supposed to be. After being satisfied with the barrier, his gaze moved forward.

    ''An ordinary Summoning Gate, a Wooden Manor for the Lord, a Maid, the Protection Barrier, and a humongous, densely packed rainforest that surrounds the clearing. Looks like my territory is in an eptable position, and I''m not missing anything. Nice!''

    Michael found himself in the center of a small clearing. The clearing was located in the middle of a densely grown rainforest. It was a rare and precious spot.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The open space was surrounded by tall trees and thick vegetation. It was illuminated by rays of sunlight that had been filtered through the canopy. It created a warm and inviting atmosphere.

    This was one of the best ces for lodging, hunting, and agriculture.

    ''I won''t have any problems with water scarcity either. Food should be quite easy to find in the rainforest, and I can cut down the trees to build more lodgings once the number of subjects increases. Nice!''

    The more Michael looked at his surroundings, the happier he became. It was a great decision to enter the Origin Expanse as early as possible. He gave himself a pat on the back for his decision as his gaze returned to the center of the clearing.

    The Summoning Gate stood there grandly, with its simple yet imposing appearance. It was arge metal ring with various symbols inscribed on its surface. The center of the Summoning Gate contained a shimmering pool of energy, elevating its appearance even further.

    Michael''s eyes stared nkly at the highly technologically advanced Summoning Gate.

    ''I want to test it out!'' His eyes seemed to scream but he forced himself to calm down.

    First work, then enjoyment!

    With that in mind, he turned his attention to the wooden manor.

    It was arge and steady residence made primarily of wood. It had a grand entrance with a verandah supported by tall pirs. Inside, the manor had a high ceiling,rge windows, and spacious rooms that were mostly empty save for the bare minimum. There were enough beds and furniture to amodate over a dozen people in the manor. That was good enough to start with.

    Other Lords may think of the wooden manor as a means to show off their prestige in front of their subjects, but Michael was more concerned about the safety and living conditions of his subjects.

    Happy subjects were hard-working subjects!

    It would take a while before he could construct more residences. Thus, the wooden manor would turn into a temporary shelter for all of his subjects.

    Once he was done with his inspection of the manor, Michael returned outside. Tiara was already waiting for him at the entrance of the wooden manor, clutching her maid uniform tightly. She took a few deep breaths when Michael returned.

    "Are you still interested?" She asked shyly while studying the ground.

    ''What is she talking about? Interested¡­in what?''

    "If¡­you''re still interested in getting to know my n¡­" She added quietly.

    Tiara kept looking to the ground, nibbling at her lower lip. ''I knew it. It was a mista¨C...''

    "Of course, I still want to know more about your n. This is very important to me!" Michael said without hesitation.

    A Lord''s territory was his heart and soul, and his people were a precious asset almost like a family! The more he knew about his people, their wishes and desires, the easier it would be to lead them in the future.

    New information was always wee as well!

    Tiara blushed when she heard Michael''s words. She gathered her courage once again and revealed her origin for the first time in a while.

    "I belong to the Silverfang Tigerfolk."

    "Silverfang Tigerfolk? I''ve never heard of them¡­" Michael was quite surprised.

    Even if Demi-Humans were notmon encounters for humans, most of them had been recorded in the Index of Races. Michael had read all known volumes of the Index of Races in school, yet, he hadn''t heard of Tiara''s n before.

    However, while it was quite surprising, it was not impossible to encounter unknown races. After all, the universe was filled with countless races!

    "What a wonderful name. My family''s name is Fang, while your people are the Silverfang Tigerfolk. Isn''t that nice?" Michael pointed out with a radiant smile on his face.

    Even if he was not sure what was going on with Tiara, or why she was so shy and hesitant, Michael decided that he would listen to her once she was ready. Making herfortable around himself was more important right now. That would make it easier to talk to her about his position in the vastnds of the Origin Expanse, and other important information he had to find out.

    Michael was still excited about his new territory. He had expected the worst and was positively surprised about the territory he had been given. How could he not be happy right now?

    Was it a crime to be happy? Most certainly not!

    Tiara had been nervous all day. She found out that her Lord would arrive and expected the worst, just like Michael. But upon understanding that he was genuinely curious about her, and that he wouldn''t force her to tell him about herself, she loosened up a little.

    Subconsciously, the corners of her lips curled up and she lifted her head to look at Michael''s face for the first time since he arrived.

    Seeing the overwhelming happiness radiating from her Lord, Tiara''s heart skipped a beat.

    ''My lord is wonderful¡­''

    Flooded with excitement and hope, Michaelpletely forgot to do something extremely important.

    He forgot to continue researching his ancestors'' book, and the reason why he could see a snippet of the past.

    But there was also something else he nearly forgot out of excitement.

    ''Oh my, how stupid can I be?''

    He mentally chided himself and gasped in shock.

    "My Fortune Summoning Scroll and the Soultrait Awakening Crystal!"

 Chapter 9 Seven Star

    ?Less than half an hour passed since Michael had entered the Origin Expanse, but he felt that his entire life had been turned upside down, in a good way.

    He didn''t feel weird being surrounded by a vast and densely packed rainforest overflowing with life, instead of a concrete jungle void of the liveliness he experienced in the Origin Expanse for the first time.

    Rather than feeling odd, Michael was happy and full of curiosity. He had his first encounter with a foreign lifeform, a demi-human, who was not only beautiful but also his maid!

    Tiara held a tattered leather scroll in her left hand and a fist-sized crystal in her right hand. She pushed them in his direction and eximed,

    "I kept them safely Master!"

    ''Master? Didn''t she call me Lord before? Maybe she likes that more¡­whatever,'' Michael wondered but he didn''t mind the way Tiara addressed him. The Fortune Summoning Scroll and his Soultrait Awakening Crystal were more important.

    Every Lord would receive a Fortune Summoning Scroll and Soultrait Awakening Crystal upon entering the Origin Expanse the first time.

    Summoning Scrolls were items created by the Origin Expanse with the use of data acquired from beings inside the Origin Expanse. They were used to resurrect beings that died in the Origin Expanse by summoning them.

    The summoned subjects were given a star rating ording to their innate talent, the quality of their retained memories, techniques, power, and so on. They would be the Lord''s subject and had to obey their will, which was confirmed through the Link of Loyalty.

    It was a little cruel but everyone entering the Origin Expanse knew about the risks of entering and dying in the Origin Expanse. There were two ways to prevent bing a Lord''s subject; either don''t enter the Origin Expanse, in the first ce, or make sure that you wouldn''t die!

    The Origin Expanse was the only ce Michael could use to be strong enough to make sure that no one from outer space could kill him with a snap of their fingers. He didn''t want to stay idle at home and wait for foreign races to obliterate everything he held dear

    That was not his style.

    Thus, he would rather give his utmost and make sure that he could die without any regrets, even if that would happen inside the Origin Expanse. He epted the risk and embraced it tightly.

    "Thanks, Tiara," Michael said with a smile. He retrieved the Fortune Summoning Scroll and the Soultrait Awakening Crystal from her.

    Thetter glowed brightly the moment Michael''s right hand came in contact with it. The glow was faint, but it was enough to startle Michael and Tiara.

    ''I don''t have to will the War Rune to awaken my Soultrait?'' Michael wondered before he was surprised by a flood of information swamping his mind.

    The Soultrait Awakening Crystal had been triggered, and its miraculous power was unleashed.

    Michael closed his eyes and he entered his consciousness. The white light in the deepest part of his being shone brightly, but something was changing.

    A Symbol withplex lines and ovepping patterns manifested inside the white light.

    It showed a golden hand and countless star-like particles of various colors, sizes, and shapes that were attracted by the hand.

    ''A Stigma? So that''s my Soultrait?''

    Soultraits were also considered the dormant power of the Soul. They existed in various forms, granting the ability to transform, control winds, be a master cksmith, and much more.

    Soultraits were also ranked in ordance with their might, utility, and potential, using the star rating. A weak Soultrait had only one or two stars while an Epic Soultrait had five stars in the ranking.

    Soultraits were one of the most important aspects of entering the Origin Expanse, and their utility and star rating were extremely important. After all, most Lords and Adventurers had only one Soultrait! It was publicly known that it was impossible to increase the number of Soultraits, forget about changing their Soultrait.

    It was not possible to change their Soul, after all!

    ''Well, I know for a fact that people with multiple Soultraits exist,'' Michael thought with a knowing smile, recalling the old, tattered book in the office.

    This was also what made it easier for him to ept the bitter reality, which was unveiled in front of him right now.

    ''The flood of information is such a mess¡­so let''s see¡­My Soultrait is called ''Extraction'', and it is a¡­hm?!... It''s a 2-Star Soultrait?!?''

    A deep frown spread across his entire face. He first sighed, then he clenched his fist.

    A 2-Star Soultrait was not too bad. Two Stars meant that his Soultrait was of Low-Elite Quality.

    Most Lords and Adventurers awoke a 1-Star Soultrait, or their Soul didn''t possess any dormant power, in the first ce.

    Michael''s 2-Star Soultrait was clearly in the top 10%. However, he neverpared himself to the norm because it didn''t make any sense.

    ''Nobody in our family ever awoke a dormant power with such a low star rating¡­''

    Cursed with misfortune, the only advantage his ancestors possessed were high-star Soultraits. For example, his brother had a five-star Soultrait, which allowed him to survive the peril thrown at him in the Origin Expanse.

    ''Does that mean I am misfortunate, and I have a bad Soultrait?'' Michael wondered, but he quickly shook his head.

    ''No, the Soultrait is not exactly bad.''

    Out of the vast flood of information that had entered his mind, Michael had deciphered a little chunk. That gave him a better understanding of his Soultrait.

    He could extract anything from everything using his Soultrait. What did that mean?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Well, it was pretty simple.

    Michael squatted down, his right-hand hovering less than thirty centimeters above the grass. Tiara looked at Michael feeling a little confused, but she didn''t utter a single word.

    She figured that Michael wanted to try something after the Soultrait Awakening Crystal crumbled in his hand.

    "Extraction!" He said out loud in an attempt to direct his energy toward the desired area.

    It was not necessary to use incantations to activate one''s Soultrait, but as someone who had just awoken his Soultrait, Michael was not even sure what he had to do. The new information in his head was still being processed. So, he had to use the trial-and-error method.

    A golden light conjured in his palm. The energy inside him was quickly drained, which made him feel as if he was being squeezed like a lemon.

    The golden light dispersed after two seconds, and a bright smile blossomed on Michael''s face.

    He turned his hand around and looked at the extracted substance in front of him. It was soil, perfectly ordinary soil, but without a single de of grass or pebble.

    It was exactly what Michael wanted to have extracted, JUST soil.

    "As long as I use Extraction properly, I should be able to make some gains. It shouldn''t be impossible to extract pure iron from iron ore, or Essences from Elemental Crystals once I get stronger¡­"

    A Lord''s Soultrait grew stronger with his territory and by increasing their War Rune''s Tier. Meanwhile, Adventurers could only increase their Soultrait''s power by focusing on their War Rune''s Tier.

    That meant, Michael could increase the utility of his low-star Soultrait by bing a stronger Lord!

    The Soultrait might not help him inbat, but it would be quite useful when it came to managing his territory.

    ''Let''s try it again.''

    "Extraction!"

    Two secondster, he held three pebbles in his hand. He extracted them from the ground in front of him.

    ''In the worst case, I will use it to remove weed from my farmingnd¡­once I get farmers, seeds, and the necessary tools to farm¡­''

    Extraction didn''t seem to be an overpowered Soultrait but it could have been worse.

    There was no need to be needlessly pessimistic. There was still a Fortune Summoning Scroll to use!

    ''No matter how bad our family''s luck is, a Fortune Summoning Scroll cannot deliver a horrible Starless Soldier! Three stars should be the minimum¡­''

    While his brain continued to digest the intel of his Soultrait, Michael walked over to the Summoning Gate.

    "What was it again? Break the Seal of the Summoning Scroll and throw it in the air near the Summoning Gate¡­" Michael mumbled quietly while doing as he said.

    He broke the Seal of the tattered leather scroll and threw it in the air.

    For a moment nothing happened, but it was then that the Fortune Summoning Scroll unrolled itself and shot inside the Summoning Gate''s shimmering pool of energy. As a result, the intricate engraving all over the Summoning Gate began to shine brightly.

    It was only at this moment that Michael noticed something he had missed out on before.

    ''There are ten empty stars etched on the Gate.''

    The Summoning Gate had a total of ten stars etched on the metal ring. When a new subject was being summoned the stars would glow, clearly showing how high the summoned subject''s talent was.

    This was something Michael witnessed for the first time today.

    The first star glowed up in a faint golden light.

    2 Stars¡­3 Stars¡­

    5 Stars¡­6 Stars¡­

    When the seventh star began to shine brightly, Michael''s heart skipped a beat.

    He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and he had to move his hand to close his jaw that had dropped to the ground.

    "Seven Stars¡­!!" Even Tiara was dumbfounded. She blushed in excitement and turned to Michael.

    "Master!! A Heroic Summon!!! Your first summoned subject is a Hero!!!"

    ''Damn¡­'' Michael thought as he watched a figure walking out of the Summoning Gate''s energy pool.

    ''...It''s actually a Hero¡­''

 Chapter 10 Heroic Summon

    ?Chapter 10: Hero Summon

    "Master is so lucky. This is wonderful!" Tiara eximed excitedly, pping her hands like a seal while her tail swished around excitedly.

    ''Is she that excited for me?'' Michael wondered, unable to hide his smile either.

    He had yet to get fully ustomed to a life as a Lord with territory in a wild and untamed world, but he knew that a Seven-Star Summon was equivalent to a sure-shot ticket to power and prosperity.

    Michael was happy, of course. Why wouldn''t he be? However, something bothered him.

    He couldn''t put his finger on it but he had a weird feeling that something was amiss.

    Meanwhile, the War Rune on the back of his hand glowed faintly. A connection was formed between Michael and his new Summon. The connection made him feel as if someone touched his soul gently. It was warm and soothing.

    ''Is that how the Link of Loyalty feels like?'' He wondered before his mind nked out as the Hero stepped out of the energy pool of the Summoning Gate.

    Wielding a silver spear and wearing ck leather armor, the Heroic Summon stood tall and proud in front of the Gate.

    His gaze traveled across the clearing calmly, taking in his surroundings, until his dark eyesnded on Michael. The corners of the Hero''s lips curled up and he began to move toward him.

    "I am Cleave Fenrir, but you can just call me Fenrir. Let me be of your service, my Lord!" The Hero, Fenrir, introduced himself with a polite smile. He bowed his head in front of Michael.

    However, Michael had yet to regain his senses.

    ''So that is a Hero? My first summoned subject?''

    Fenrir had long ck hair tied back into a man bun, dark eyes that seemed to analyze everything in the surrounding, and a well-trained physique that had been tempered over the course of years.

    Cleave Fenrir was certainly a powerhouse, even though his Tier had been reset after the resurrection.

    His presence was enough to make Michael''s hair stand up on its end. Fenrir was the one bowing to Michael, yet he felt like he was the prey while Fenrir was the predator waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

    ''Most heroes are shy or overwhelmingly confident in their capabilities which makes most Lords face difficulties in controlling them, but it looks like this one is not a show-off and not too full of himself. He knows what he is capable of but he doesn''t seem to be arrogant. Did he enter the Origin Expanse just for the excitement and adrenaline rush a fantasy world can provide? How long has it been since he died? What did he achieve?''

    Michael had never heard about the Fenrir Family, or any famous personality called Cleave Fenrir. That was a little odd because he had researched most families to know what they were capable of, in case he summoned one of their deceased ancestors.

    ''Is he a self-made powerhouse with a powerful Soultrait? Or was his family purged? Well¡­not that it matters right now¡­''

    The name Fenrir pulled some strings in his mind. It was as if he should have known Cleave Fenrir.  That was a little weird, but it was not too out of the ordinary.

    ''There are many well-known figures in the human races¡­though most of them die miserably. I might have heard about him in passing when I searched the forum and read books about the myths of mankind''

    Michael chose not to dwell on it for long. He didn''t want to waste his time overthinking either way. It was great that he had summoned a Heroic Summon and that the Summon seemed to be loyal to him as well. However, he was still a new Lord, who had yet to find out anything about his territory! Michael wanted to change that as soon as possible!

    "My name is Michael. I hope you don''t feel offended that I summoned you," He introduced himself calmly.

    It was important to gauge the reaction of his subjects after he mentioned he was the reason of their resurrection. Some might hate him for being summoned, while others would feel relieved and happy. However, at the end of the day, his subjects would feel a certain degree of loyalty and protectiveness toward him because of the Link of Loyalty.

    That meant they were unlikely to attack him even if they hated him for resurrecting them as his subjects.

    Gaining his subjects'' trust and unwavering loyalty wasn''t easy either. Thus, he had to figure out more about them to make sure that his subjects, including Fenrir, would be willing to fight for him and his territory without any qualms.

    If his subjects weren''t willing to work hard, his territory would never prosper. Furthermore, what was the use of a high military might if nobody listened to hismands?

    It may seem far-fetched for a new Lord like Michael to bother thinking about the loyalty of his subjects to such a high degree, but he felt that it was very important. He had read more than enough reports about subjects rioting in their Lord''s territory, overthrowing his rule, and executing their Lord.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Just thinking about it was enough to make him shudder and make goosebumps appear all over his body.

    Fenrir lifted his head after hearing Michael''s introduction. He looked at the young man for a few seconds and stepped back.

    "How may I be of your service?" Cleave asked while maintaining his disciplined stance.

    His attitude changed a little, which made it seem as if Fenrir had epted his Lord as a superior existence.

    Michael nodded his head in response to this change in attitude. It would be great if the Hero''s loyalty would increase rapidly.

    "The protection barrier around my territory will be sustained for the next ten days. Scout the surrounding area and bait monsters close to the barrier. Hunt them down while using the barrier''s protection to the fullest. You should be able to increase your Tier and rank much faster doing so," Michael ordered after a moment of consideration.

    Fenrir nodded his head before he left toplete the mission.

    ''His responsiveness is a little slow but that should be solved once his loyalty increases. He won''t question mymands anymore by then.''

    Michael''s eyes were glued on Fenrir''s retreating figure. He watched the Heroic Summon intently as gusts of wind brushed past Fenrir.

    ''Well, he certainly looks like a powerhouse. He has charisma and presence.''

    Shaking his head, Michael decided to wait until Fenrir returned with his first prey.  He chose to focus more on the connection that had been built between him and the Hero.

    "The Link of Loyalty is not strong. No wonder Lords have to pay attention to their subject''s actions," Michael mumbled aloud, still thinking about the possibility of his subjects executing him if he was to do something extremely stupid.

    "All summons will be connected to their Lord''s War Rune. This way, you can perceive your subjects'' strength and loyalty more easily, Master!" Tiara exined, thinking that Michael didn''t know much about the Link of Loyalty.

    She was tailing him like a shadow since he emerged from the Gate, and she intended to continue to stay by his side. That was her task as the Lord''s maid!

    Michael nodded his head faintly after hearing her as understanding dawned upon him.

    ''So that''s how it is.''

    He looked at Tiara for a second or two and tilted his head. She seemed to realize something and gasped in shock. The sound of her hurried footsteps reached his ears and the next moment, Michael found Tiara grasping his right hand tightly before she closed her eyes.

    His War Rune began to glow, and Michael felt a link slowly forming between them. It was much stronger than the connection with Cleave Fenrir, and the link seemed to pulsate as well.

    ''Why is her link firmer and stronger?''

    His eyes flicked in the direction the Heroic Summon had disappeared in before he diverted his attention back to Tiara.

    The glowing rune on the back of her right hand attracted his attention.

    ''Fenrir doesn''t have a War Rune because he is now considered a native. Doesn''t that mean Tiara is not a native of the Origin Expanse? How was she chosen as my maid? That''s weird¡­''

    Creating a Link of Loyalty with both Cleave Fenrir and Tiara increased his strength. Precisely, it increased the power of his Soultrait. It was only a minuscule increase in its efficiency, but Michael could still feel it.

    ''That exins why Lords'' Soultraits are much stronger than the Soultrait of Adventurers. The exnations always sounded weird, but it makes sense, I guess¡­''

    After his new findings, only half an hour passed before Fenrir returned, dragging a bloody body behind him.

    "I got one."

 Chapter 11 Cheat Sheet

    ?The corpse of arge, heavily built cat with a yellowish-brown leather coat and ck spotsy in front of Michael. It had a gemstone embedded in its forehead, which made it easy for Michael to recall what type of monster it was.

    "A fully matured Gem Jaguar? That''s a Low Tier-1 Monster¡­" Michael mumbled to himself.

    He turned to Fenrir and asked aloud, "Did you see many Gem Jaguars in the surrounding forest?"

    Several deep gashes were spread across the Gem Jaguar''s body, which made it clear that even a Heroic Summon such as Fenrir was not able to kill the Tier-1 Monster in a single strike. Michael hadn''t expected something like that, in the first ce, but he got a bad feeling.

    Fenrir hadn''t been out for long, but he had already found and killed a Tier-1 Monster. That could mean Fenrir was lucky and skilled, or it could mean something extremely bad.

    "The entire forest is filled with Tier-1 Monsters. Gem Jaguars are only one of the many kinds of monsters I encountered while pacing alongside the protection barrier." Fenrir informed him. He was not injured and hadn''t used a lot of energy to kill the Gem Jaguar since he made use of the territory''s protection barrier.

    ''The entire forest is filled with Tier-1 Monsters?'' Michael wondered before he spoke his concern out loud, "You mean the Gem Jaguar is one of the weakest monsters you encountered? There are no Tierless Monsters in this area?"

    "This is the weakest Monster," Fenrir affirmed calmly, pointing at the Low Tier-1 Gem Jaguar.

    The power threshold of all beings was not only divided into Tiers but was further ssified to fit the refinement degree of a Tier. This was usually done in four ways, using the terms -Low, Mid, High, Peak. Some races used different terms, but it was all the same in the end.

    Looking at Fenrir should have calmed Michael as well, but the Heroic Summon''s calm attitude was more unnerving than calming to the heart.

    ''Tier-1 Monster¡­Is that why I received a sudden burst of energy from Fenrir''s Link of Loyalty?''

    Since Michael had never wielded the energy of the Origin Expanse, he didn''t know what he was supposed to feel. He was also not sure how his War Rune would react upon getting refined. But from the looks of it, neither was anything special. The refinement of the War Rune tingled a little bit, and the energy influx spreading through the Link of Loyalty was barely perceptible.

    ''How the hell is that important now?'' He shouted at himself in his head.

    Michael had just found out a shocking fact; Tier-1 Monsters surrounded his Territory. How could he think about anything else?!

    Usually, a Lord started in a region that was mostly inhabited by Tierless Monsters. In rare cases, there would be Tier-1 Monsters in the ''beginner-area'' of newly appointed Lords. Even then, the Tier-1 Monsters were rather peaceful in most cases.

    Unfortunately, it looked like Michael''s bad luck struck him fiercely in the gut, once again.

    ''Would Fenrir be able to kill the Gem Jaguar without the protection barrier? No¡­even if he is a Heroic Summon, he is still Tierless¡­'' Michael figured, his expression turning sour. Without the protection barrier, his territory would have already been bulldozed by now.

    That was the most important piece of information he gauged from Fenrir''s first hunt, and it was certainly not pleasant.

    In 10 days he would be dead, and his territory would get razed, if he didn''t do something to prevent it.

    ''I need to do something. If I leave the fate of my territory hanging like this, it''s only a matter of time before my journey ends miserably before it even started!''

    Leaving everything to Fenrir didn''t feel right either. However, Michael didn''t want to expose Tigerfang, not right now. It was as if something was holding him back from retrieving Tigerfang from the War Rune, though he was not sure why.

    He was relieved that he had brought a hidden Artifact from home and that nobody knew about it.

    ''Why am I relieved about that? Shouldn''t I expose it and help Fenrir go hunt? That way, both of us can increase the refinement degree of¨C¡­or am I worried about facing a Tier-1 Monster even though I''m still Tierless?... That''s probably it¡­''

    While Michael was deep in thought while keeping his eyes trained on the Gem Jaguar, Tiara smiled brightly. She bent down to take a closer look at the Gem Jaguar and diverted her focus to Fenrir a momentter.

    "Please help me dissect the Gem Jaguar, Fenrir!" Tiara requested, pointing at Fenrir''s spear.

    They didn''t have another weapon. After all, Michael continued to keep Tigerfang hidden, even if their situation demanded every bit of help they could receive.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Fenrir froze upon hearing Tiara''s request. His eyes turned into slits and he kept staring at Tiara for several seconds.

    Tiara was surprised about the sudden change in Fenrir''s behavior but it was nothing too surprising. A true warrior would never ept being unarmed. The spear could be considered Fenrir''s final lifeline, and he wouldn''t hand it over ¨C without a fight.

    "My Soultrait should be better than using Fenrir''s Spear. I can extract everything neatly using Extraction!" Michael intervened before the situation worsened.

    He was not sure where the tension between Tiara and Fenrir came from because he had been deep in thought, but he didn''t want the only two subjects in his territories to fight.

    Michael squatted down next to Tiara, his eyes focused on the dead body. He stared nkly at the Gem Jaguar for a while as shudders spread through his entire body. It was the first time he saw a monster corpse up close. There was a lot of blood, and everything felt so differentpared to the fights against the Emactyls in the final examination.

    The Emactyls were recreated from reality, but they were just illusions, at the end of the day. It was differentpared to the monster corpse, which didn''t turn into countless particles upon getting killed.

    ''You are a Lord now¡­you need to be strong¡­a role model, a true leader! Get your act together, you fool!!!'' He reprimanded himself.

    A momentter, he extended his hands and came to halt a few centimeters above the corpse. Several streaks of golden light conjured within his palms. The streaks of golden light reached out to the corpse, and they got to work.

    The gemstone embedded in the forehead of the monster detached itself, and it reappeared in front of Michael,pletely unscathed and intact. There was not a single scratch on the tennis ball-sized gemstone. However, that was not everything.

    A ck ball with blueish glowing streaks of light spreading through it materialized next to the gemstone. It was of a matching size and was a Monster Core!

    Every Monster had a Monster Core. The energy of the Origin was hoarded and stored in the Monster Core, refining it. In return, the Monster Core refined the body and mind of the Monster. It was simr to the War Rune in that aspect!

    ''An undamaged Tier-1 Monster Core of Low-quality, and a Tier-1 Gemstone. Looks like I''m quite lucky!'' Michael thought, uncertain of what price both materials could fetch him. Artificers used Monster Cores and Gemstones as materials to craft Artifacts. Thus, they would certainly have some value, though Michael was not too familiar with the price range of most items.

    But there were still more precious materials and items inside the Gem Jaguar. Michael''s energy was quickly drained but he continued to use Extraction to search through the corpse for precious resources.

    And as if on cue, leather parchments materialized in front of him. There was a total of four leather parchments, and they looked like someone had custom designed them for him. Each leather parchment was roughly the same size; perfectly fitting in his palm.

    "What is tha¨C...Oh!" Michael eximed. He held the parchments high in the air and began to smile brightly when a sh of information entered his mind, ''Fragments of a Summoning Scroll!''

    Michael knew that some Monsters in the Origin Expanse had a low chance of dropping loot such as Summoning Scrolls, construction blueprints, unique crafting materials, and even Artifacts. The drop rate was extremely low but it was still existent.

    However, Michael never heard that it was possible for Fragments of a Summoning Scroll to drop.

    The drop rate of unique loot was higher the stronger and more unique a monster. Nheless, Michael didn''t expect much. The drop rates were simply too low. But Extraction changed everything!

    His Soultrait could extract everything. This was something Michael had already figured out by digesting most of the information he received upon awakening Extraction. However, what he found out only now was that extracting ''everything'' was much more than what was visible to his eyes!

    Extraction was only a two-star Soultrait, but if it was truly possible to increase the drop rate of items unique to the Origin Expanse, wasn''t thatparable to possessing a cheat sheet?

    Michael''s hair stood up on its end and excitement spread through his entire being.

    ''What else can I extract, other than Summoning Scroll fragments? Where is the limit? Is there even a limit, in the first ce?!''

    He chuckled as he kept Extraction fully unleashed on the corpse of the Gem Jaguar.

    "To think that I would get excited after spawning in a Tier-1 territory full of ferocious beasts that can tear me apart with a single sh¡­I am utterly insane¡­"

 Chapter 12 Perfect Extraction

    ?The Origin Expanse was mysterious and unique. Nobody really knew where it came from, and the reason it existed, in the first ce.

    Too many aspects of the Origin Expanse felt like a game of conquest, which included the unique loot one could obtain from killing monsters.

    Everyone entering the Origin Expanse received a territory with unique buildings, a maid, and a few more items to reassure that everyone had a simr starting point. Why? What was the intention of the Origin Expanse''s Will and its Creator with a game-like realm such as the Origin Expanse?

    Many theories existed, but only a few were popr. The most popr was that the Creator of the Origin Expanse was an omnipotent being that had grown bored and tired of the Universe.

    In this theory, the Origin Expanse had been built for his amusement as he watched all races of the Universe fight each other in a struggle to acquire more power, expand their territories, and im resources for themselves to grow.

    Considering the Origin Expanse as a starting point, even life across the entire Universe grew more interesting. After all, more races easily acquired technology that would have otherwise taken them thousands of years of research toe up with. This didn''t even include the power countless races acquired by absorbing the dormant energy of the Origin Expanse.

    Of course, there were many other theories revolving around the mystery of the Origin Expanse'' creation, but nobody could tell right from wrong. That was why they were only theories and not facts.

    But even if the Creator of the Origin Expanse had an evil n in mind¡­did it really matter?

    The Origin Expanse was plundered every single day. Everyone tried to enhance their War Rune''s Tier whether it was to expand their lifespan, or to be able to fight against others outside the Origin Expanse, whether it was for protection or conquest.

    The resources, technology, and Artifacts procured in the Origin Expanse were extremely valuable, speeding up a race''s progress by millennia in a fraction of that time. And then there were also Soultraits every being could awaken only in the Origin Expanse. It was of immense value, which nobody would want to miss.

    Michael was no different. He had also entered the Origin Expanse to be stronger and im his own fortune. Of course, he had other goals as well, but Michael wished to repay his brother for everything he had done for him and to make sure that entitled brats such as his former ssmates wouldn''t be able to look down on him anymore.

    Acquiring the status of a Lord was the basic requirement to change his life. However, only by bing a powerful Lord was it possible to make sure that nobody would bother him in a society that was led on with the thought that the strong reigned supreme.

    But for now, Michael had to suck it up.

    After using his Soultrait for two minutes straight, he was exhausted. His shirt clung to his body as cold sweat trickled down his temples.

    ''I am really weak¡­'' Michael grumbled to himself, but he was notpletely dissatisfied with himself. A faint smile formed on his lips as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He felt quite pleased with himself upon seeing the neatly extracted, intact body parts of the Gem Jaguar spread out in front of him.

    Michael was not yet done with the extraction, however, one or two more uses of his Soultrait were enough to finish up.

    By then, his proficiency in using Extraction would improve, speeding up the entire extraction process a little.

    ''When I get back home, I should look out for an Energy Cirction technique,'' Michael made a mental note of an important task. Now that he knew what the Origin Expanse''s energy felt like, he had to reconsider using a technique to improve his proficiency while wielding it. This would improve the refinement process of his War Rune as well!

    "If you have more energy left, can you hunt a few more monsters? If possible, a few more Gem Jaguars. I want to check something," Michael asked Fenrir, who had been silently watching him use Extraction.

    Fenrir gave him a slight nod and turned around to go hunt once his curiosity was satiated.

    "Are all Heroic Summons that rude, Master?" Tiara asked, frowning deeply, while squatting down next to him. As she looked at the extracted tendons, clean and intact bones along with the meat Michael had extracted from the Gem Jaguar, her hands began to itch to also do something for her master and prove her worth.

    However, she had yet to receive an order from her master.

    "I don''t know. Maybe?" Michael responded, not really minding Fenrir''s attitude. He understood that Fenrir would need some time to ept him as his lord and master.

    He pointed at the Gem Jaguar''s tendons and leather, "I will continue to extract organs and whatever else I can from the corpse. How about you make some leather sks in the meantime?"

    Gem Jaguars didn''t have a coat of fur, but their body was covered in thick, leather-like skin. This was also why Gem Jaguars were sometimesbeled as tenacious hunters that were hard to kill.

    Michael was a little tired, but he got up from the ground, nheless. He walked over to a nearby tree and a golden light conjured in his palm.

    A small splinter of wood formed in his palm, which he handed to Tiara. The splinter was extracted from the inner core of the rainforest tree''s wood, making it more durable than ordinary needles.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tiara''s tail wagged from left to right upon seeing what her master was capable of and she nodded her head eagerly.

    "Leave it to me. I can make hundreds of leather sks!" She eximed while reaching out for the extracted tendons and the bits of leather Michael had extracted for now.

    "...A few are enough¡­" Michael mumbled before he sat down to take a few deep breaths.

    It was still early in the morning, but Michael was already dead tired. Using his Soultrait even before getting to know what Origin energy felt like was probably not the most intelligent act.

    Unfortunately, it was not as if he had enough time to spare. There was no time to ck off!

    After a short break, Michael returned to the Gem Jaguar''s corpse. He used Extraction two more times on it before he was finally done.

    Thanks to his Soultrait, the entire process was neatlypleted, and the result was near-perfect. Every part of the Gem Jaguar''s body had been extracted cleanly and was intact.

    Thus, he could use certain body parts such as leather, and tendons without a need to worry about hygiene. The tendons were clean and so was the leather. Not a single speck of blood or flesh was left on them after Michael cleanly dissected the Gem Jaguar''s corpse using Extraction!

    ''Once the sks are created, I can extract and store monster blood much more easily. The Blood of Rare Tier-1 Monsters should be worth something,'' Michael thought, finding multiple ways to earn money using the Gem Jaguar''s remnants.

    The leather sks were also useful for filling water extracted from branches that retained moisture. The dried branches could then be used as firewood, which would solve the remaining problem- what to do with the high-quality meat of the Gem Jaguar.

    Using his Soultrait extensively consumed way too much energy. Thus, consuming the meat of a Tier-1 monster should be more than enough to replenish his energy. As a Tierless Lord who had yet to refine his War Rune, Michael''s body was not able to store a high amount of energy. Thus, he would certainly be filled to the brim after consuming a small portion of the Gem Jaguar''s meat.

    Whit that in mind, he got back to work. He left the clearing, picked up a few wooden branches and a handful of leaves before he returned. For starters, Michael used the Gem Jaguar''s bones to construct a ring to restrain the campfire he was about to start. He extracted the moisture within the leaves and wood with his Soultrait and began to set up the campfire.

    Then, using a rather primitive method of fire making, Michael spent the next five minutes creating a fire. Making fire by rubbing sticks together was rather primitive and it required both practice and patience, but it worked perfectly fine.

    Nobody who entered the Origin Expanse for the first time could bring a flintstone, or matches, so everyone in school had been taught how to make fire using dry wood. It was one of the things every student learned in the survival sses.

    Now that the fire had been ignited, Michael wanted to cook the meat and grill it on a stick. However, before he could do anything the War Rune on the back of his right hand began to glow faintly. A surge of energy spread through Fenrir''s Link of Loyalty, filling his War Rune with energy.

    The surge of energy was warm and soothing. It refined the War Rune naturally, enhancing his strength a little. But that was not what Michael paid attention to.

    ''The storage space expanded!''

    Michael could tell that the storage space of the War Rune had expanded. It was not big, by any means, but it was better than nothing.

    He had heard that most Lords required several days until their War Rune absorbed enough energy to expand their storage space. However, those Lords hadn''t spawned amidst a rainforest full of Tier-1 Monsters. They wouldn''t even encounter a Tier-1 Monster in the first month, forget about being able to kill such a fierce monster.

    Fortunately, Michael had someone capable of doing exactly that- killing a Tier-1 Monster.

    Fenrir barged through the rainforest''s thicket and entered the clearing, pulling the second Low Tier-1 Gem Jaguar behind him.

    The silver spear he carried in his left hand was covered in blood while the corpse in his right hand left a trail of blood behind him.

    "I got another one."

    Michael''s eyes lit up and he jumped up from the ground upon hearing Fenrir''s voice.

    ''Right¡­I have Fenrir¡­'' He recalled and his expression turned brighter upon ncing at the golden light that conjured in his palms.

    ''Who the hell says that our family is unlucky? Those idiots have no idea! ¡­How about I turn misfortune into an opportunity?''

 Chapter 13 Grinding

    ?Michael, Tiara, and Fenrir only stopped working when it was time to eat. They had to replenish their energy and eating delicious chunks of Tier-1 monster meat was the perfect solution. The meat was rich in nutrition and was also highly invigorating.

    It was tasty as well!

    Other than savoring the meat they grilled and ate, the three worked relentlessly untilte at night. If not for the seemingly infinite darkness that spread across the dense rainforest at night, Michael and the others might have continued burning the midnight oil.

    Working in darkness was not possible given theck of light sources, furthermore, everyone was tired after working for half the day.

    Fenrir kept on hunting until it was too dark. He killed a total of 17 Low Tier-1 Monsters with the use of the protection barrier, and he reached the Low refinement degree of Tier-0 through the energy share of the killed monsters.

    Without Fenrir, everything would have been for naught. He could hunt monsters of a higher Tier thanks to his exceptional disy ofbat experience, spatial awareness and reflexes. His strength couldn''t be underestimated just because he made use of the territory''s protection barrier. It was not easy to injure Monsters of a higher Tier, no matter how easy Fenrir made it seem.

    Meanwhile, Michael used Extraction on the monster corpses to dissect them neatly. He removed their Monster Cores and their most valuable parts at first. Afterward, Michael focused his attention on the monsters'' blood. He extracted their blood twice to filter out impurities. This left him with the most potent blood, which was stored in the leather sks Tiara had prepared beforehand.

    The leather sks were marked to make sure that everyone knew which monster the blood belonged to before it was safely stored in Tiara''s War Rune. Her War Rune''s storage was much bigger than Michael''s but that was only given. After all, Tiara''s War Rune was already at the 1st Tier!

    When Michael found out about this first, he was confused. It was already very umon for a Lord''s personal maid to be from a different race, let alone be in possession of a War Rune. However, Tiara was also not that weak. Michael just thought that she wasn''t that powerful at first because she didn''t really show what she was capable of.

    That changed over the course of the day. Talking to Tiara for hours and observing her meticulous work made it clear that she had dexterous hands and that she knew what she was doing.

    Her huge storage space came in handy as well. A War Rune''s storage space preserved ingredients, which would go bad if left as it is for days. With that basic understanding of the War Rune, Tiara dly epted turning into a living fridge.

    The extracted meat, organs, and blood were kept inside her War Rune, making sure that nothing would go bad. They didn''t want to waste any ingredients because they could be of future use or sold outside the Origin Expanse.

    Michael wanted to use his Soultrait as often as possible. It was currently the only way for him to get a better feeling of the energy in the Origin Expanse, and to increase his mastery of the Soultrait''s utility.

    He worked meticulously and didn''t throw anything away. His life as Lord had just begun, and it was necessary to gather as many items as possible to fund his future expenses.

    However, that was something forter. Now, he and his subjects deserved to get some rest. So, they all returned to the manor.

    Everyone had an assigned room in the wooden manor. There was little to no furniture but there were beds, and that was enough.

    After a tiring but fruitful day, Michael got in bed and essed the storage space inside the War Rune.

    Three Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, 108 Summoning Scroll Fragments, and a blueprint for a treehouseplex were stored inside.

    While he retrieved a handful of Summoning Scroll Fragments multiple times, a faint glow engulfed them. The glow intensified the more Fragments he retrieved. Atst, once 25 Summoning Scroll Fragments had been retrieved, they began to hover in the air. The fragments swirled around one another and connected to one another, merging into one.

    Slowly the glow dimmed, and a newly formed summoning scroll ended up falling into Michael''s hands.

    ''25 fragments form aplete summoning scroll? That''s great!'' Michael thought excitedly before he repeated the same mythical process three more times.

    He was now in possession of seven ordinary summoning scrolls and one blueprint. Even if Fenrir killed monsters a Tier above his rank, being able to extract this kind of loot from less than 20 monsters was simply insane!

    His Soultrait, Extraction, was truly something that couldn''t be put on the same level as other 2-star Soultraits. Michael would never exchange it for a 4-star Soultrait, even if he was given the opportunity!

    He was dead-tired while lying in thefortable bed and was ready to sleep. However, the thoughts shing through his mind prevented him from falling asleep.

    ''Today was really interesting. Who would have thought that I would end up in a rainforest, surrounded by Tier-1 Monsters?... Well, I was able to handle the situation pretty well thanks to the Heroic Summon. Fenrir is a little unfriendly, and I cannot really see him warming up to me even in the future, but it should be fine.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''...It has to be.''

    ''Fenrir¡­I wonder where hees from¡­why does his name seem so familiar¡­Cleave Fenrir¡­''

    Michael spent some time pondering over Fenrir. His eyelids got heavier by the second, and he could barely keep himself out of the dreand.

    ''Which family has ck hair and ck eyes¡­ athletic but not bulky¡­spear arts¡­Cleave¨C....''

    Unable to keep his eyes open, Michael finally fell asleep. The physical work he had done throughout the day was not that tiresome. However, repetitively unleashing his Soultrait in its full power ¨C over and over again ¨C drained him both physically and mentally.

    He deserved some sleep, at least until the sun rose again and the second day of his life as a Lord would officially begin.

    While he was deep asleep, Michael was pulled back into a familiar scene. He had just seen it the day before, but he found himself watching a chaotic battlefield yet again.

    Tightly clutching the blood-soaked spear and d in ck leather armor that had been torn to shreds, a man stood facing his opponents with a sly smile.

    His jet-ck hair was disheveled, and his body was bruised and battered. However, he paid no heed to the wounds and instead, let his gaze roam over the vast expanse. His vibrant eyes and his fierce gaze observed the enemies that surrounded him from all sides.

    There was no way out. The man knew that he would die here.

    But even in the face of imminent death, his expression did not falter. It was filled with mockery, and he was staring right at Michael.

    It was then that an illusionary, semi-transparent image of a familiar, grim-looking man appeared next to the man. Both of them wore different armor and wielded different-looking spears, but their eyes and hair were the same. Even their expression was the same.

    The illusionary image and the man slowly merged, fusing into one.

    They were now one and the same persona.

    ''Isn''t that..?'' Michael thought before the space around him twisted once again.

    He was pulled out of the dream, and woke up, gasping in shock.

    It was already early in the morning and the first rays of sunlight shone on his face through the open window.

    His second day as Lord had just begun officially, but Michael couldn''t think about that, at all. He was sweating profusely and his clothes clung to his body.

    Instinctively, he looked down at his chest to make sure that there was no gaping hole.

    ''It was a dream¡­right?''

    He looked down at his chest out of reflex and tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath.

    However, the image of Fenrir and the man, whom Michael recalled as the Fang family''s first ancestor, fusing without causing the slightest change left him shell-shocked.

    "Oh¡­fuck¡­"

 Chapter 14 The First Ancestor

    ?"That''s impossible¡­right?!"

    Michael paced from one side of the room to the other nervously. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled and it was hard to determine whether Michael was still sane or if he had lost it.

    His mind kept reying the dream in vivid rity, recalling every single moment of the dream he had. The visuals of both Cleave Fenrir and the first ancestor of the Fang family never left his mind. They looked exactly the same.

    ''No matter how hard I try to find differences¡­they''re definitely the same person¡­''

    Michael felt like he was going insane. Wasn''t the Origin Expanse going overboard by giving him a Heroic Summon that turns out to be a piece of shit?

    Nobody knew the Fang family''s first ancestor better than Michael. He could recite every single line written in the old, tattered book word by word as he had read it more than ten times.

    Michael liked realistic stories better than the fairytales most parents told their children about the Origin Expanse. From a young age, Michael knew that the Origin Expanse was both a treasure trove and a graveyard. It was possible to be rich overnight but it was also possible to die from one moment to another.

    The realistic tale written in the Legend of the Cmity showed his first ancestor''s life. It was clearly a tragic life led by his ancestor that was filled with betrayals, witnessing the deaths of loved ones, and being the center of attention while being surrounded by kingdoms and empires.

    Unfortunately, the first ancestor never attempted to stay on the right track. He fell into depravity and was corrupted by the power he gained inside the Origin Expanse.

    The first ancestor died in the Origin Expanse atst. This was exactly what led to the current situation.

    Michael figured that his family''s miserable luck was at fault. Their miserable luck led to the summoning of a Heroic Summon; their family''s first ancestor ¨C a real piece of work, and someone who was known for ughtering his own people and trusted allies.

    After living through various ordeals, the first ancestor was given the name ''the Cmity'' because he caused chaos and terror wherever he went.

    ''Does he remember everything about his past, or are his memories sealed?'' Michael wondered, and he stopped in his tracks.

    Fenrir didn''t act high and mighty like the first ancestor. That could either mean Fenrir''s acting skills were extraordinary, or that Fenrir didn''t remember anything about his past life.

    ''What was it again?... Most summoned subjects recall their lives, but not everything. The quantity, and quality of memories,bined with the achievement of their past life and the innate potential of a Summon can be deduced from their star rating¡­does that mean he knows everything?''

    Michael clearly recalled the achievements of the Cmity. He also knew that the Cmity had awoken an 8-Star Soultrait. Combining those two factors meant that it shouldn''t be possible for Fenrir to be a Heroic Summon.

    ''He should be an 8-Star Summon given his achievements and innate talent¡­'' Michael thought.

    The more he thought about it, the more confused he grew. A bad headache crept up his brain, and he felt like pulling his hair.

    As long as Fenrir didn''t recall his past life as the Cmity, everything would be fine. However, if he recalled his bad deeds or some of the emotions of his past life, the Origin Expanse would have to face the seconding of the cmity.

    ''How can I find out whether he has retained his past life''s memories, or emotions without attracting any suspicion? Provoking him would work, but I would die, that''s for sure¡­'' Michael ruffled through his hair, pulling out some strands in the process.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Isn''t there an easier way?!?''

    He heard footsteps below him, too many for a single person to make at a time. That only meant both Tiara and Fenrir must have woken up.

    Hearing their footsteps caused Michael''s heart to beat wildly.

    ''I cannot leave Tiara alone with that guy,'' He thought worriedly. A momentter, he walked out of the bedroom.

    ''Think, Michael¡­there has to be an easier way to secretly find out if Fenrir is this piece of shit, or if he is still the innocent kid from the start of the story¡­THINK!!!''

    Michael walked through the hallway on the second floor. He made his way to the staircase to meet up with the others, while his mind seemed to be on fire trying toe up with a solution.

    Michael didn''t even question anymore whether Fenrir was his family''s first ancestor. It was not logical, but the Origin Expanse seemed to love bullying his family. But that did not change the fact that Fenrir looked like the first ancestor, wielded a spear and he was a Heroic Summon.

    Michael also recalled the time a faint gust of wind brushed past Fenrir''s face when Fenrir left the clearing to hunt the first monster. The gust had revealed a mole behind his ear. It was shaped weirdly as if it was a mark. Now that he thought about it, Michael recalled that his brother had teased him about the same mark in the past.

    Danny didn''t have this mole, but he said that some members of the Fang family would have this mole behind their right ear. That was enough to be certain that Fenrir was indeed their first ancestor, leaving only the question of his past memories and emotions.

    "His Spe¨C..." Michael eximed, just to shut his mouth and cover it with both hands. ''His Spear Art!!''

    The Cmity''s Spear Art was not mentioned often in the tattered book nor was it detailed, but it was usually described as a vile or wicked Spear Art. Only once was it further described as a vile technique that uses the wielder''s true feelings and intrusive thoughts as its foundation. The higher the mastery of the Spear Art the more challenging it was to ignore their intrusive thoughts and hide how they truly felt.

    Recalling what was written in the tattered book, a vibrant smile formed on his lips.

    Michael found out what he had been looking for!

    If Fenrir could use the wicked Spear Arts that means he recalled his life as Cmity, and that he was merely ying dumb in front of both him and Tiara to gather strength and wait for the best opportunity to strike! Even if he wouldn''t remember his life as Cmity, practicing the wicked Spear Arts meant that Fenrir would turn evil sooner orter.

    Fenrir was still weak and required the territory''s protection barrier to hunt Tier-1 Monsters easily. With the Lord''s death, the protection barrier would disappear as well. Fenrir should have figured that Tiara was a Tier-1 maid as well. Attacking Michael while Tiara stayed by his side was not feasible for him¡­yet.

    ''I hope you''re not using the vile Spear Arts, otherwise¡­'' Michael thought with determination, ''...blood will be shed inside the protection barrier!''

    He reached the final step of the staircase and emerged on the ground floor. It was only his second day in the Origin Expanse, but Michael could tell that blood and chaos would be served today.

    "Master, how was your first night in the Origin expanse? Did you sleep well?"

 Chapter 15 Spear Arts

    ?"Master, how was your first night? Did you sleep well?" Tiara asked, looking with concern at Michael.

    Now that Michael was aware of Fenrir''s true identity, the gazes lingering on him felt like searing hot needles piercing his skin. Tiara might be acting just like before, being excited and happy that Michael didn''t depart to the outside worlds yet, but Fenrir was clearly sizing him up from head to toe.

    Maybe that had happened already the day before and Michael didn''t notice it. Either way, he was now fully aware of every movement made by Fenrir.

    "I was too¡­excited to sleep. I must look like a big mess right now," Michael answered with a faint smile on his lips. He changed his answer midway upon realizing the piercing gaze with which Fenrir kept staring at him from the side.

    Michael noticed this and it made him feel as if something was pressing against his throat. It was hard to breathe, and he broke into a sweat.

    "You''re sweating so much. Please don''t be so stressed out about our predicament," Tiara voiced out in worry, "If you don''t sleep enough, you will get sick. We need you full of energy¡­"

    Tiara''s fluffy ears hung down limply and her tail was also not swishing like usual. She looked down as well with a gloomy expression stered on her face.

    ''What is wrong with this girl?'' Michael wondered, but his forced smile was soon reced by a genuine one. Seeing that someone cared about his well-being was quite nice, and the real reason why she was so worried didn''t really matter.

    He took a step closer to Tiara and flicked her forehead lightly, forcing the maid of the Silverfang Tigerfolk to look up. Upon seeing his smile, Tiara rxed a little. She lightly patted her chest to calm down her heart and retrieved something from her War Rune.

    "The Summoning Gate produced one scroll this morning," She said, holding out an ordinary summoning scroll.

    Another perk of being a Lord was that they would get Summoning Scrolls just by staying idle and letting the days pass. The Summoning gate would produce one ordinary summoning scroll each day.

    Most subjects summoned through ordinary summoning scrolls would be starless, or 1-Star summons, but that was still something. Slowly but steadily, a small workforce woulde into existence!

    "How about we use all summoning scrolls today? It''s still early in the morning, so we will get lots of work done with a few more helping hands!" Tiara proposed, rubbing her hands in excitement.

    It was only obvious to focus on increasing their numbers and use the additional working force to build a few residences, help Fenrir in hunting, and so on.

    However, Michael didn''t want to summon any subjects, right now. Why? There was a potential crazy serial killer in his territory. Was there really a need toe up with more excuses?

    Michael was already feeling bad for dragging Tiara into the mess. However, it was not as if he could send her away. She would just die outside the territory since there were way too many powerful monsters outside the safety of his protection barrier.

    "I will postpone summoning subjects until the afternoon, or tomorrow morning. There are a few things I must test out, and I don''t want to rush things," Michael said as calmly as possible, trying to make it sound as if he had a strong n and his schedule mapped out for the entire day.

    He had a total of eight ordinary summoning scrolls. With that many additional helping hands, they would be able to build a few residences and create a more efficient hunting system.

    "Slow and steady wins the race," Michael added while stealing nces at Fenrir every now and then, "...and I want to win by all means!"

    He knew that he shouldn''t look at Fenrir so much because Fenrir might notice that something was amiss, but Michael couldn''t help it. He was also afraid that he would have a slip of tongue, but that didn''t happen ¨C fortunately.

    "You look tired, Fenrir. Will you be fine going out hunting the entire day just like yesterday?" Michael asked, trying his best to act as if he was concerned.

    But secretly Michael was d that Fenrir''s eyes were sunken and bloodshot. His hair was disheveled and there were bags under his eyes, making them look puffed.

    Fenrir clearly hadn''t gotten any sleep, which was something that could be made use of.

    "I will be fine. I prefer hunting all day," Fenrir answered before excusing himself. He seemed eager to leave the wooden manor and go out hunting.

    "Are you sure that you don''t want to eat anything for breakfast, Fenrir? You will run out of energy until lunchtime¡­" Tiara asked in a loud voice, but Fenrir had already stepped outside the wooden manor.

    "Did he ignore me, or did he not hear me?" Tiara mumbled upon seeing that Fenrir didn''t turn around either. However, she didn''t really mind it. Tiara was so happy that her Lord didn''t leave her to go back to the outside world so nothing could dampen her spirits this morning!

    "What do you want to test out that other subjects are not supposed to see, master?" She asked while turning to Michael with gleaming eyes.

    Tiara figured that there had to be a secret nobody was supposed to know, otherwise, her Lord wouldn''t postpone summoning more subjects. She could tell that her Lord was not dumb, which meant that there was something he was hiding. Due to this, her curiosity increased even more.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I can tell youter ¨C probably," Michael responded before he had a light breakfast, which consisted of meat and more meat.

    They had yet to harvest fruits and other ingredients from the forest. Thus, their meals would have only meat for a while, but that was no problem.

    ''Fenrir''s Link of Loyalty didn''t change, at all,'' Michael noticed while he had breakfast. Tiara''s Link of Loyalty was a little differentpared to the day before, but Fenrir''s was the same. He tried to keep calm and not act too weird, but he was not sure how he was supposed to do that.

    ''Calm down and get your n working!''

    Michael wanted to find out whether Fenrir was using the wicked Spear Arts to kill his prey, but he didn''t rush after him right away. Fenrir didn''t seem to have slept, and he had skipped breakfast as well.

    Thus, it was better to wait a little longer to make sure that Fenrir would be a little bit more tired. Exhaustion andck of sleep would make him lower his guard and that way it would be easy for Michael to enact his n.

    "I will extract sturdy wood and stones from the trees and ground. You can either store them in your War Rune or put them in one of the empty rooms inside the wooden manor," Michael proposed before he got to work.

    In the next few hours, nothing seemed different from the day before. Fenrir used the protection barrier to hunt Monsters before he collected their corpses to carry it inside the clearing, where Michael would use his Soultrait to dissect the body near-perfectly.

    Nothing seemed amiss until it was about time to have lunch. Fenrir had killed a total of 10 Low Tier-1 Monsters, which rewarded onepleted summoning scroll and 59 summoning scroll fragments.

    Meanwhile, Tiara and Michael focused on collecting resources from their surroundings. Tiara was not sure what, or why Michael was running around inside his territory, collecting resources with his Soultrait when he could also summon subjects to harvest, however, she remained silent. It was not her task to teach her master but to follow hismands.

    When she finished preparing lunch and was about to serve it, Michael suddenly announced that he would go and call Fenrir. He left the clearing in the direction Fenrir had gone toward a while ago, leaving Tiara by herself.

    "Is that really fine? Isn''t Master too bubbly and kind to be a Lord?" She mumbled to herself while observing the retreating figure of her master. Tiara liked people like Michael because they were true to themselves and others. Unfortunately, some would think of Michael as a pushover. It was highly likely that others would try to make use of her master for their personal gains.

    Tiara understood this very well. Shaking her head, she tried to ignore the memories of the past that resurfaced in her mind, and a glint manifested in her eyes.

    "In that case, I will make sure that master will be fine¡­only then he might be able to¡­" She trailed off and went back to work.

    Meanwhile, Michael paved his way through the densely grown rainforest. Only a small part of the rainforest was inside the protection barrier, but it still took a while before he reached the barrier. As he neared it, he could hear the faint and distant sound of fighting.

    By the time he made his way through the thicket, Michael was only able to witness the end of the battle. Fenrir had used the protection barrier to fight two Low Tier-1 Monsters, a pair of Gem Jaguars.

    One of them was already lying on the ground, taking itsst breath, while the other one was severely injured. The Gem Jaguar tried to break through the protection barrier to reach Fenrir, whose silver spear was shrouded in a dark-purple hue.  His lips curled up in a smirk as he dashed ahead.

    Fenrir thrust the silver spear forward, aiming straight at the beast. It was a simple attack without any unnecessary grace or elegance. However, that was not needed, in the first ce. The de pierced through the Gem Jaguar''s throat, ending the monster''s life in seconds.

    ''Wow¡­'' Michael could only think in awe. His heart skipped a beat upon seeing the disy of Fenrir''s Spear art, and a vibrant smile appeared on his face as he cleared his throat.

    Fenrir turned around in shock, ready to face his next opponent, only to see that Michael was waving at him with a vibrant smile stered on his face.

    "Nice kill, Fenrir! Lunch is ready!"

    When Fenrir realized that the territory''s lord had approached him and not some monster, he rxed visibly. Michael was just a bubbly kid, who became Lord because everyone in the Origin Expanse started out as a Lord. He was not dangerous. He didn''t even have a weapon to begin with!

    Thus, Fenrir put the spear aside and pulled the two corpses inside the protection barrier. He saw Michael approaching but didn''t pay any attention.

    "Let me carry one of them!" Michael offered, still smiling as brightly as before.

    His acting skill was top-notch, not even he himself would be able to tell that his mind was in chaos if he were to observe himself as an outsider.

    ''The Spear Arts¡­it''s the Cmity''s¡­''

 Chapter 16 Bloody Lunch

    ?The moment Michael saw the dark-purple hue shrouding Fenrir''s silver spear, he knew that it was over.

    Fenrir might not recall all of his memories, but the fact that he used the wicked Spear Arts turned him into a much bigger problem than the monsters outside the protection barrier could be

    As long as Fenrir was given enough time to grow stronger, nobody inside his territory would be able to handle the Seven-Star summon.

    Michael was trying toe up with a foolproof way to solve the entire mess now that he had found out that the worst-case scenario came true but that was easier said than done.

    He was trying hard to chat lightly with Fenrir. Fortunately, Fenrir was not talkative. After a few attempts to strike up a conversation, Michael gave up. He was more likely to mess up and make some mistakes because his nerves were preventing him from thinking straight, either way.

    Both Fenrir and Michael carried one of the Gem Jaguar corpses each to the clearing. Tiara saw them and waved excitedly. She was a little surprised to see that there were two corpses but didn''t think too much about it. It was only obvious that Fenrir would be stronger the more monsters he killed. The energy influx he received from killing a Tier-1 Monster was not little, and he was a Seven-Star Summon.

    His basicbat prowess was already terrifyingly high in the first ce. After adding the physical enhancement, he received for every monster he killed, it was only a matter of time before he could leave the protection barrier to go out and hunt.

    ''This is good news,'' Tiara thought.

    "Lunch is ready. Take as much as you want, master," She told Michael before turning to Fenrir, "Don''t hesitate to eat your fill. You need to keep your energy level up, otherwise, you may end up exhausted and make a big mistake. You didn''t even have breakfast this morning!"

    Tiara lectured Fenrir, but he simply ignored her. He sat down on a small wooden stool, which Michael had created by experimenting a lot with his new Soultrait, and put the spear aside. His stomach rumbled, and Fenrir felt like he could eat a whole pig. He hadn''t expected to encounter so many monsters this morning and regretted not having had a full breakfast.

    Tiara frowned upon noticing that Fenrir ignored her once again. She looked helplessly over to Michael, who kept smiling. The day before, Michael was like a starving wolf, gobbling the food she had prepared for them. However, today he seemed a little different. He didn''t even eat a lot this morning.

    Wasn''t he a glutton? Was she mistaken?

    After thinking about it for a few seconds, Tiara gave it a shrug. She concluded that maybe pondering a lot over the progress of the territory caused him not to feel too hungry.

    Fenrir picked up one of the thick sticks Tiara had used to grill the meat above the campfire. He took a bite of the juicy grilled meat, and it was as if his tastebuds exploded.

    Was it possible for Tier-1 meat to taste that good? Fenrir doubted his taste buds, but he devoured the meat sticking to the spear, ensuring he did not leave even a tiny bit. Still nibbling on the remnants of meat hanging on the wooden handle, Fenrir picked up a second one.

    "Oh? This is much better than I expe¨C..." He said looking at Tiara while continuing to eat. However, before he could finish his sentence, a bright light shone upon him as if something was glinting brightly in the sun on his left.

    At first, Fenrir didn''t think too much about it because Michael was sitting to his left. Michael didn''t have a reason to attack his own subject, forget about his only Heroic Summon, whom he needed desperately, to begin with.

    Furthermore, this pushover of a Lord was not even in possession of a weapon. There was no way that the bubbly, kind pushover could do something to him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But that was a gross underestimation, something Fenrir realized way toote when a nagging thought popped up in his mind.

    ''What item in Michael''s possession could reflect sunlight? There shouldn''t be anything like that¡­right?'' He wondered.

    When his head turned to the left, Michael was already in front of him, the tip of a longsword right in front of his face, inching closer mercilessly.

    Fenrir''s eyes widened and his instincts kicked in. He tried to evade the sudden attack, but he was toote. His hands moved upward to block the attack, only to realize that the silver spear was still resting on the ground where he had set aside to have food and that he was only holding two wooden sticks.

    Gritting his teeth, Fenrir tried tounch a counterattack as a dark-purple hue burst from his hands, enveloping the wooden sticks. Even if it was not possible to properly block the attack, his physical strength and instincts ought to be much stronger than Michael''s. His refinement degree was much higher than Michael''s, after all!

    It should be possible to change the trajectory of the fast-approaching de!

    However, the moment Tigerfang''s tip pierced the dark-purple hue, Fenrir''s expression distorted into an ugly grimace.

    ''How can he be so strong?'' He cursed in his mind.

    What Fenrir didn''t know was that Tigerfang was an Epic Artifact, enhancing Michael''s strength and perception drastically. But even without the enhancement, the de''s sharpness was enough to easily cut through the thinyer of dark-purple hue and sticks without slowing down.

    At that moment, Tigerfang''s tip sunk deep into Fenrir''s throat.

    Ssh!

    Fenrir''s eyes widened in shock.

    Earlier, Michael didn''t smile vibrantly but stered a fake smile on his face because he had to. Fenrir had indeed been using the wicked Spear Arts of the Cmity and Michael was simply waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

    He was the Cmity or would have be one soon!

    Twisting the de tip in Fenrir''s throat, Michael bit down on his trembling lips hard, making them bleed while his shaking arm pushed the de deeper into his opponent.

    Meanwhile, as the life in Fenrir''s eyes dispersed slowly, a single thought shed through his mind over and over again.

    ''Why?''

 Chapter 17 Fenrir

    ?[Inside a small basement of an apartment 510 years ago]

    <<Emergency news! emergency news¡­ Everyone listening to this podcast pay attention to what I am going to say next! The universe has finally gone crazy! Thousands of youths vanishedst night, and more than a dozen pictures denote the existence of white Gates that have been found at the crime scene. Nobody knows what exactly these Gates are, or who created them, but I have spoken to a few witnesses during thest few days.

    ording to the witnesses, the white Gates sucked a member of their family, or one of their friends inside after a sphere-shaped mole formed on the back of their right hand. We don''t know what exactly happens, and most might not believe me¡­but be careful when something manifests on the back of your right hand; it might change your life¡­>> The shrill voice of a famous podcaster rang out from the small speaker ced on a wooden table in a small room.

    The table shook and the walls in the small room trembled as well as something heavy smashed on the wooden table, breaking it into two.

    Several men began screaming in shock, drowning the podcast''s voice by far andrge. The shouting men were loud enough to silence the pleading youth.

    <<The government is trying to hide this news, saying that they want to prevent mass panic, but I don''t believe that.  Ah¡­and the government started the colonization project outside the sr system. But who cares about something like that when magic doors open all over the sun system, kidnapping people by sucking them inside?!? >>

    The sound of a blunt bat smashing down on something soft could be heard clearly, followed by a pained scream.

    "Stop¡­ Plea¨C...stop¡­dad!!" A weak scream and a plea for mercy escaped the lips of a young man.

    The young man who was on the cusp of reaching adulthoody on top of the table that had been smashed into pieces with his body. His breathing was ragged and even moving seemed like an enormous task. Every inch of his body hurt because he had been lifted and swung down mercilessly.

    Even if the young man knew that his father turned into a monster when he drank too much, today was different. The young man was ustomed to routinely getting hit, but his father had never lifted his body to smash him on the table, forget about using a bat before. Something had changed.

    The abyss-like eyes of the young man stared at the towering figure of his father, and insanity was the only thing he could see in those eyes. His father finally snapped.

    ''Why? Why is that happening to me? Why me? WHYY?!''

    "You should hate your father a little more. He was stupid enough to get drunk and ask money from our men just to lose it all in gambling. This idiot is an utter failure, which is your misfortune¡­after all, you will have to sort out the mess he created," An unfamiliar voice reached the young man''s ear.

    A middle-aged man with long red hair and heterochromatic eyes appeared in the doorframe of the smelly, and moldy room. He was wearing a neat suit and smoking a cigarette while calmly watching the father beat up his one and only son with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

    ''Why are youing after me? My father can pay for his own shit because I am not going to do it!'' The young man screamed in his head while feeling that thest strings of hope were viciously cut.

    In his mind, he got up from the ground and started fighting both the middle-aged man and his father. Unfortunately, it was all in his mind, nothing more. He didn''t get up because he was too weak.

    Even if he had some strength left in his legs, the young man knew that he would never be able to beat his father.

    "You don''t know me, but that doesn''t really matter kiddo. Your father just sold you ¨C your body, to be precise ¨C to pay up for his debt. I told your lovely father to beat you up a little bit and kill you to make sure that there is no sense of attachment between you and your father¡­.not that I cannot already tell that right now," The middle-aged man added with a vile smirk that stretched in a devilish grin.

    "...but I like to watch the desperation in the eyes of the victim when their own family stabs them in the back¡­ In yourst moments, you will be filled with pain, anger, regret, and the overwhelming feeling of injustice, but you won''t be able to do anything. Isn''t that exciting?!"

    The young man stared nkly at the middle-aged man standing in the doorframe, his eyes nearly popping out of his eye sockets.

    ''W-w-what?!?''

    It was then that a lethal attack came his way.

    Swoosh.

    The bat smashed down on the young man''s head. He could barely twist his neck to move his head a little, evading the impact by a hair''s breadth.

    His father was utterly wasted but he was a beast of a man with a weight of more than 150 kilograms and a height of more than two meters. The impact of the blunt bat crushed the remains of the wooden table beneath the young man, throwing wood splinters everywhere.

    It was at that moment when the young man knew, his father was out for his life!

    "D-dad, stop it¡­you can still stop, it''s not toote yet!!" The young man screamed out as loud as he could, pleading his father to show some mercy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Kid, just give up. Your death has already been sealed. You are nothing more than a host for our precious exclusive items now!" The middle-aged man said calmly, but the young man wasn''t having it.

    "Fuck off, you piece of shit!" He screamed, only to realize that he had been distracted for too long.

    The wooden bat crashed down on his stomach, taking his breath away. Stars swam in front of the young man''s eyes for a second or two, only to regain his senses when he was lifted high in the air.

    His father''s ck eyes stared mercilessly at his son as he pulled back the wooden bat once again.

    ''Will I really die here?'' The young man wondered chaos and terror rioting in his head.

    "Hurry up and kill him, I don''t have all day to spare," The middle-aged man said impatiently. He saw what he came for, and lost interest in the father-son duo quickly.

    When the monster of a father heard the middle-aged man''s words, he threw his son against the closest wall.

    The sound of cracking bones rang in the young man''s ears but there was little to nothing he could do right now. He could only see his father approaching him slowly, holding the wooden bat in a vice-like grip.

    ''No¡­''

    That was the life of Cleave Fenrir moments before he was sucked inside the Origin Expanse.

    It was a catalyst in the creation of a true monster that everybody would loathe and fear.

    ''I don''t want to die¡­''

    Today was his 18th birthday. It was a day of celebration, something he ought to be happy about. However, today was certainly not a day that could be celebrated.

    The only present he was about to receive was his own death, freedom from the shackles of life.

    ''If I was only a little stronger¡­'' He thought in hisst moments, ''Had a little bit more strength, I would have fought against them. I would have never allowed Father to hit Mom, to hit me, or my Sister¡­''

    While bitter thoughts clouded his mind, the back of his right hand began to itch.

    A small, sphere-shaped rune formed on the back of his right hand. It was smaller than a marble and could easily be mistaken for a uniquely shaped mole.

    ''I wonder how they would fare after mercilessly abandoning me¡­''

    Soon after, space cracked open, and a radiant light illuminated the room.

    The crack expanded in size until it wasrge enough to let a person through.

    Everyone stared nkly at the Gate, their bodies frozen in ce.

    ''I hope these whores soon die as well.'' He thought while looking at his father and the evil-looking man.

    A momentter, the Cleave Fenrir was pulled into the white Gate.

    Cleave Fenrir disappeared, escaping his father''s grasp and the hands of the unknown man.

    It was the same day these men would learn to regret to have hit him, to have forced him to be what he was.

    They should have killed Cleave Fenrir before it was toote.

 Chapter 18 Trust

    ?[In a dense rainforest inside the Origin Expanse, present day]

    Thest member of the Fenrir family stared deep into the dark, abyss-like eyes of the youngest child of the Fangs.

    A thin longsword separated them.

    Tigerfang''s tip burrowed deep into Fenrir''s throat, and crimson red blood gushed out of the wound.

    Fenrir''s eyes were wide open and overflowing with shock and confusion. The life in his eyes slowly dispersed but his hands were still moving. His hands tightly grasped the de that had pierced his throat, trying to pull it out. However, Tigerfang did not budge and continued to cut deep into Fenrir''s palms.

    Michael''s eyes quivered and his breathing grew loud and ragged. He was overflowing with rage that made his hands holding Tigerfang tightly tremble, and he subconsciously bit down on his lower lip hard, resulting in blood trickling down his mouth.

    Fenrir''s lips parted a little, but no word came out of his mouth. He couldn''t speak anymore. His hands grew heavier by the second and he didn''t have enough strength to fight back anymore. The moment he let go of the de, his arms fell limply to his side.

    Michael''s eyes were still locked with Fenrir''s dark eyes. He witnessed up close how the life in Fenrir''s eyes disappeared, and how the Heroic Summon''s energy slowly left his body.

    And it was growing increasingly difficult for Michael to keep holding Tigerfang as Fenrir''s entire body weighed down on Tigerfang. Michael tried to pull it out but the sensation of cutting through his first ancestor''s neck caused him to retch. His entire body felt eerily cold, and his mind was overflowing with guilt and remorse.

    ''I did the right thing¡­so why am I feeling like this?'' Michael asked himself desperately.

    He knew that Fenrir had to be killed. It was the only way to make sure that his territory wouldn''t be doomed. It wouldn''t even end with the destruction of his territory the moment Fenrir would recover the power he amassed in the past. He would stop at nothing toy waste throughout the Origin Expanse.

    Fenrir had to die.

    But then why did Michael feel like this? Cutting through Fenrir''s throat was disgusting. Michael felt nausea from the sensation, and he was disgusted by himself. Not only had he attacked Fenrir, but it was a dirty attack, an assassination precisely nned to strike Fenrir when he was tired, hungry, and unarmed.

    Fenrir hadn''t even been on guard against Michael when he manifested Tigerfang. Only when Tigerfang''s fangs were bared and about to dig into Fenrir''s throat did he react. Of course, it was already toote by then.

    Michael fell into a state of shock as he staggered back a little. The realization that the first time he killed another human was sinking in. In fact, it was the first time he had killed any living being. The Emactyls in the final exam didn''t count. Michael knew that they were illusions, so he didn''t pay much attention to them.

    However, the slowly dying Summon in front of him right now was different. Thest remnants of life inside Fenrir dispersed and he copsed on the ground where his body writhed a few times before it came to a halt.

    Meanwhile, blood trickled down Tigerfang''s de before it fell to the ground. A momentter Tigerfang turned into a white wisp that returned inside the War Rune.

    Michael clutched his chest, and he began to vomit. His legs caved in, and he slumped to the ground where he continued to empty out his stomach for the next twenty minutes.

    At the same time, Tiara stared at the turn of events with a deathly pale face as shock spread through her entire being.

    "W-w-what¡­" She mumbled, unable to move.

    Her Lord just killed his one and only Heroic Summon, who was also one of his two subjects. Michael had only two subjects, and he had just killed one of them. Did he n to kill her as well?

    No, that shouldn''t be the case. Michael was a bubbly and kind Lord. He didn''t feel satisfied or relieved after killing Fenrir either. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be on the ground, emptying his stomach while trembling like a leaf in the wind.

    It took Tiara quite a while to regain her senses. She had been staring nkly at the Heroic Summon''s dead body and her vomiting master. Something felt odd, but Tiara wasn''t able to make sense of theck of clues at her disposal.

    She approached Michael carefully, bent down next to him, and slowly rubbed his back.

    The Link of Loyalty and her gut feeling told her that Michael was not a bad person. She had a bad feeling about Fenrir, but the exact opposite reaction toward Michael. Thus, rather than avoiding Michael, she felt like helping him. It was only a matter of time before she would uncover the truth of what had just happened.

    "Why?" Michael asked weakly when his stomach had been emptied, but Tiara couldn''t quite understand.

    "Why aren''t you asking anything?"

    Tiara continued to rub his back, without saying anything for a while. Her gaze kept nervously flicking from Fenrir''s unmoving body to Michael. There was something about them that made her senses tingle, but she was not quite sure what it was.

    "I am your servant, your personal maid, not your supervisor whom you have to report to," Tiara said while trying to stay as calm as possible before she added, "I think you will tell me why you did that if you want to. If not, it''s fine as well. My job is not to question my master''s decision but to support them, even if they''re wrong."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael looked up and met Tiara''s eyes. She was clearly forcing herself to stay calm and smile at him, and he was more than grateful for that as that was exactly what he needed right now. It would have been worse if someone was to ask him hundreds of questions right now. He was not even sure what was going on inside his head, so how would he be able to exin everything to Tiara right now?

    After he saw Tiara''s reaction. Michael finally calmed down. He couldn''t look at Fenrir''s corpse right now as he was struggling to gather his thoughts.

    "This¡­" Michael began, trying to tell Tiara what had happened. However, his mouth fell shut a momentter as the memories of Tigerfang piercing Fenrir''s throat resurfaced in his mind.

    He retched again just a momentter, but there was nothing left in his stomach to vomit.

    "I will clean up the mess and prepare a light meal for you. You might not want to eat something right now, but you will fall sick if you don''t eat anything," Tiara said before she got up. Cleaning up the mess didn''t take that long.

    She dragged Fenrir''s corpse and ced it next to the Gem Jaguar corpses. After that was done, she retrieved the silver spear and used a wooden shovel, which was another of Michael''s creations from this morning, to clean the rest.

    Only when everything was cleaned up a little did she return to Michael, who was sitting on the ground in front of the campfire? Her master seemed like a lost soul, but the firmness in his eyes had returned.

    "Was that the first time you killed someone?" She asked, knowing that it was out of ce to ask this as a servant, but Michael didn''t mind. He just nodded his head and continued to stare into the mes.

    Tiara grilled a small chunk of meat and handed it over to Michael. He was not hungry, but he forced himself to eat, nheless.

    Half an hourter, he was done, and he began to speak, revealing everything he had found out so far to Tiara.

    Within less than ten minutes, Tiara''s expression changed over a dozen times. At first, she didn''t think that Michael''s words made sense, however, when he showed her the mark behind his ear, Tiara''s doubts dispersed.

    The mark behind his right ear was distinct, and it didn''t take more than ten seconds for her to get up, move to Fenrir and find the same mark behind his right ear.

    "So¡­Fenrir is the first ancestor of your family and one of the first humans who entered the Origin Expanse five centuries ago? He wasbeled the Cmity in this¡­tome your family inherited¡­and you figured that Fenrir was the Cmity this morning when you had a dream about the past in which the images of the Cmity and Fenrir ovepped¡­" Tiara summarized in a heavy tone. It sounded bizarre and like some tale spewed by a drunkard on an evening when he had finished a few bottles of beer.

    Nheless, Tiara believed what he said. Michael''s bodynguage and the way he spoke were clear indicators that he wasn''t lying.

    "Massacring the Golden Takan, the Empyrean Dragonia, and being a well-known ve Merchant across the entire continent¡­to think that the Origin Expanse would summon someone like this as a Heroic Summon¡­The Will of the Origin Expanse must have a few loose screws¡­" She mumbled upon recalling the things Fenrir had done in the past.

    Michael had also told her that Fenrir practiced the same wicked Spear Arts as mentioned in the book. When she heard what the wicked Spear Arts did to someone, she smiled at Michael.

    "You did the right thing by killing him," Tiara said with conviction in her voice, "Fenrir was already close to the Mid refinement levels of Tier-0. If not for him being unguarded, and exhausted, maybe not even your surprise attack, or the fact that your Artifact is extremely sharp, with a strong enhancement effect at the tip, would have been enough to kill him¡­

    Listening to Tiara didn''t give him new intel. Michael was fully aware that he would have died if not for the factors Tiara pointed out. However, it didn''t matter in the end. Michael was the one who emerged victorious while Fenrir was the one who died.

    Whether it was a coincidence, or not, his Heroic Summon had been a piece of shit, and only the Fangs were aware of that.

    Michael was not sure what happened, but the name Cleave Fenrir or Cleave Fang ¨C which was the name used in the tattered book - had been removed from the annals of history. Did that mean Michael had been lucky? Was the Origin Expanse after the Fangs, or did the Will of the Origin Expanse try to resurrect the Cmity to cause death and destruction across the Origin Expanse once again?

    Michael was not too sure about that. However, he could tell that his current situation was fucked up.

    He had lost his powerhouse and the strongest force in the territory, and the protection barrier would disappear in a little bit over and above the period of eight days.

    It would be great if he was able to summon another Hero, but were they easy to summon? Heroes didn''t grow on trees!

    Michael was at a loss for quite a while, and he could only feel the severed Link of Loyalty and the energy influx from killing a Low Tierless Heroic Summon.

    After giving it some thought, Michael gathered his courage and approached Fenrir''s corpse.

    It was time to make use of his Soultrait and reap as much as possible!

    And with that thought, he held his hand up above the corpse of Fenrir and his hands began to glow golden a few momentster.

 Chapter 19 Second Soultrait

    ?The energy influx Michael received from killing Fenrir increased his refinement degree. His War Rune also increased slightly in size, and he officially became a Low Tier-0 Lord on his second day inside the Origin Expanse.

    He had already umted quite a bit of energy from the 29 Low Tier-1 Monsters Fenrir had hunted.

    Michael should be happy that his strength increased and that the War Rune''s storage space expanded, however, his expression was grave.

    He could only stare down at Fenrir''s corpse, feeling nauseous at the sight.

    ''Get your act together! You knew that this was bound to happen the moment you found out about his identity! If you wouldn''t have killed him, Fenrir would have ended you eventually!'' Michael mentally chided himself.

    He squatted down atst and activated his Soultrait. His hands were already glowing in a faint golden light, but the luminescence intensifiedter.

    The energy inside Michael was drained rapidly as he targeted Fenrir''s corpse with extraction. Sweat beads trickled down his temples and Michael''s breathing grew unstable in the next few seconds. Nheless, Michael fought the urge to stop exerting his Soultrait. He continued using Extraction until thest bit of energy inside his body was used up.

    ''Please give me something good!'' He pleaded with little hope.

    Even though he had killed the parasite inside his territory, Michael had also lost his entirebat force. It was not an exaggeration to say that he had to start again from scratch.

    Who would hunt Tier-1 Monsters now that Fenrir was dead? Michael had to do it alone or ask Tiara to help him. He was not sure if Tiara had ever been trained in martial arts, or faced with the dangers of life-and-deathbat, but she was a Tier-1 Maid. Her physical strength was iparably higher than his!

    "Huh? What is that?" Tiara suddenly asked. Michael looked at her, just to see that she was pointing at the drops that had manifested next to Fenrir''s body.

    Michael had extracted the items, but he had yet to pay any attention to them. Using his Soultrait was already taxing enough and required hisplete concentration. Separating his attention to do other things alongside the exertion of his Soultrait was not possible for him, at least not yet.

    ''Oh?''

    Upon looking at Fenrir''s drops, Michael was a little astonished.

    Several items had dropped after he used Extraction, but Michael was only familiar with the summoning scroll. However, it was a Specific Summoning Scroll because it had the upation ''Tracker''beled on it.

    ''A Warrior would have been better¡­but I guess a Tracker isn''t too bad either,'' He thought.

    Trackers were pretty good at scouting the surroundingndscape. They were better than scouts and could track their of monsters using the smallest clues and spotting them at ces nobody would even think of looking. All-in-all, Trackers were useful as long as you could use them well.

    It was only a slight bummer that a Tracker Summoning Scroll manifested from the corpse of a Heroic Summon.

    ''...Whatever¡­'' Michael told himself, thinking that the other drops were much better.

    Other than the Tracker Summoning Scroll, Fenrir''s body rewarded three more types of items. The first was a fist-sized wisp. Michael was not sure what exactly he had extracted from Fenrir but he knew that he would find out soon enough.

    The next unknown item were a bunch of small transparent marbles, seven of them. Purple streams of energy swirled inside the hollow marbles, attracting his attention.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He wanted to crush them to find out what would happen to the strands of energy, but he held back sensing that the War Rune was reacting to them. The War Rune began to itch, and it began to glow much brighter than before.

    ''Is that energy to strengthen the War Rune?'' Michael wondered, subconsciously moving one of the marbles closer to the War Rune. In response, a tentacle-like white strand shot out of the War Rune. The strand coiled around the marble before pulling back, disappearing with the marble inside the War Rune.

    "What the¡­" He blurted out, closing his eyes just a secondter.

    To understand what just happened, he focused on entering the deepest part of his consciousness. After doing that, Michael was able to see the white light in the center, surrounded by the wisp of Tigerfang, and the Extraction Emblem.

    ''Nothing changed?'' Michael wondered. He clearly felt that something inside him changed after the white strand pulled the marble inside the War Rune, but it looked like there was no change in the War Rune.

    ''No¡­wait!''

    Upon paying more attention to Tigerfang and the Extraction Emblem, Michael could make out a difference. It was an insignificant change, but something had changed about his Soultrait. The Stigma of Extraction had only two stars before. However, now that he looked at it more in detail, Michael realized that faint outlines of a third star were beginning to form!

    ''These marbles increase my Soultrait''s star rating?!?'' Michael nearly shouted aloud. Goosebumps sprang up all over his body, and the things that happened in the next few seconds seemed like a dream.

    He picked up the remaining marbles with the unknown purple energy streams and allowed the white strand of the War Rune to take them all. Meanwhile, Michael never left the deepest part of his consciousness and continued to witness everything first-hand.

    ''A third star is actually forming¡­'' He realized in shock upon seeing that the purple strands of energy shot inside the Stigma of Extraction the moment they were released.

    The marbles he extracted from Fenrir''s body were not enough to form aplete third star, but a third star was on its way.

    ''I am not dreaming, right?!''

    Michael wanted to figure out the reason why these purple marbles dropped to make sure that he could mass extract them in the future when the tentacle-like white strand of the War Rune shot out once again.

    It moved faster than Michael could think and tightly grasped the third unknown item that had dropped after Fenrir''s body had been fully extracted.

    It was a small coin-sized emblem with an eagle''s eye. Two purple stars were beautifully carved on the top of the emblem.

    The moment the white strand touched the stigma, it began to glow vibrantly. At the same time, the white light in the deepest part of his being began to shine brighter as well. They reacted to one another!

    Slowly, a new symbol formed inside the bright light of the War Rune. It showed the same Emblem of the Eagle Eyes he had seen on the item that dropped from Fenrir!

    ''Wait a moment¡­'' He thought, slowly realizing what was going on when he was surprised by a flood of information swamping his mind.

    "This has to be a dream," He mumbled when heprehended what had just happened.

    He had just extracted another being''s Soultrait and made it his own!!

 Chapter 20 Memories

    ?''When Fenrir was still a Lord, he had the 8-Star Soultrait Divine Eyes,'' Michael recalled.

    ''Does that mean Divine Eyes turned into the 2-Star Soultrait, Eagle Eyes?''

    The flood of information that swamped his mind when Eagle Eyes manifested had already been digested. He knew how to use his new Soultrait and the special benefits of Eagle Eyes.

    Eagle Eyes was a 2-Star Soultrait that passively enhanced his eyesight. It could be used actively as well to further amplify his eyesight. It was strong if used wisely.

    ''If I could extract Eagle Eyes from Fenrir, does that mean I can use Extraction to extract the Soultraits of other beings as well?'' Michael wondered but he quickly shook his head.

    ''Summoned Subjects shouldn''t possess their former Soultrait anymore. Was I just lucky then?''

    Countless thoughts shed in his mind, and most of them were bound to remain unanswered.

    ''Fact is that I can extract Soultraits and Soultrait Fragments, or marbles, or whatever they''re called. It looks like I can upgrade Extraction and Eagle Eyes if I collect more Soultrait Fragments, and it shouldn''t be impossible to collect more Soultraits as well. That''s insane!''

    The most important question was not how to collect more Soultrait Fragments, but to find out the details rted to the drop rates of Soultraits and Soultrait Fragments.

    What kind of beings would drop Soultrait Fragments upon being extracted, and why?

    The most logical answer to this was extracting the corpses of Lords and Adventurers. They possessed Soultraits, after all. Shouldn''t he be able to extract their Soultraits as well then?

    ''Will it be that easy?'' It''s not like a 2-Star Soultrait is bad¡­Still, why was I only able to extract a 2-Star Soultrait from Fenrir? He had Divine Eyes¡­Does the star rating deteriorate? Why?''

    One question after another formed in his mind, and it looked like Michael would never be able to escape the cycle of questions and uncertain answers.

    ''Is it because Extraction is only a 2-star Soultrait? Would it mean I will be able to only extract  2-Star Soultraits? Hm¡­''

    Fortunately, Michael chose to put an end to the series of questions and uncertain answers right here. He would find out the truth eventually either way. The answers were waiting for him, and it was not as if he was in a rush to know everything.

    However, there was something that could be answered immediately; Did Extraction grow stronger upon digesting the Soultrait Fragments?

    Michael was still a little tired from using Extraction on Fenrir, but he went ahead and extracted the drops from the Gem Jaguar corpses, nheless. Only extracting the drops created by the Will of the Origin Expanse wasn''t as taxing as dissecting the entire body precisely using Extraction. However, it was enough to tell just how strong Extraction had grown.

    "A wooden warehouse blueprint, an ordinary summoning scroll, and 14 summoning scroll fragments. Even if the first two drops were mostly luck, Extraction had grown much stronger and more efficient!" He mumbled before extracting the Monster Cores and Gemstones as well.

    "They''re a little bit cleaner than before, and a tad bit brighter. Have they been purified through Extraction, or are they just in a better condition than the other Monster Cores and Gemstones?"

    Michael''s words reached Tiara''s ears, but she could only stare nkly at her master. She could roughly guess what he was doing, but she didn''t understand the concept behind his Soultrait, at all.

    Michael informed Tiara that his Soultrait was called Extraction. Even without him telling her, she would have found out eventually. Michael wasn''t trying to hide his Soultrait, and one would have to be ignorant, stupid, or just extremely dense to be unable to find out what Michael''s Soultrait was capable of. Spending half a day next to him was already more than enough to figure out everything even for a maid.

    However, she couldn''t really process what had happened just now. Her War Rune''s reaction to the items Michael extracted from Fenrir was vtile. The reaction was extremely violent, and it nearly made her act subconsciously. Tiara''s hand reached out to the Emblem and the purple marbles, which Michael absorbed not long after.

    It was great to see that Michael could feel excited so soon after he had killed someone the first time, but Tiara couldn''t feel the same. She was not sure what Michael had done, and this uncertainty ate her from the inside.

    ''Can I ask him what just happened? No, a maid is not supposed to ask questions¡­'' Tiara thought dejectedly, while looking at thest item that dropped from extracting Fenrir.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Master, please don''t forget to use this item," She spoke after a while to fill the awkward silence surrounding them both. Somehow, she didn''t want Michael to forget that she was also there, and that she could help him.

    There was no need for him to carry all responsibility upon his shoulders!

    Michael looked at the white wisp for a moment before he turned his attention to Tiara. The look in her eyes attracted his attention.

    "You can ask if you''re curious about something. But let me ask some questions in return as well," He said with a faint smile on his lips.

    Michael had many questions about Tiara, which included why she was a Tier-1 Adventurer who had turned into the maid of a Lord. There had to be a reason why someone not native to the Origin Expanse had been chosen as his personal Maid. Tiara was also much stronger than most personal maids of new Lords.

    Michael knew that they had many things to do now that they had only eight days left in the Origin Expanse with the protection barrier around their territory. The number of subjects at his disposal was insignificant ¨C if he ignored Tiara and the summoning scrolls ¨C and the only information Michael had about the surrounding region was that the proximity was filled with Tier-1 Monsters.

    Other than that little piece of information, Michael didn''t know a thing about the dense rainforest!

    Tiara locked eyes with Michael and bowed her head lightly in response.

    "Your offer is very kind, but I am not allowed to speak about certain subjects. The questions you have in mind are probably rted to those subjects, and I cannot answer them even if I were to sacrifice my status as your personal Battle Maid, master¡­" Tiara kept looked down at the ground and did not raise her head again. Michael could only see her gloomy expression and her ears drooped limply before she regained herposure.

    She smiled apologetically and bowed once again.

    ''So the Will restrains her¡­and what is that about Battle Maid? Well, she never looked like an ordinary maid before, but I expected her to be royalty of the Silverfang Tigerfolk, and not a Battle Maid. What even is a Battle Maid?''

    The title suggested that Tiara was able to fight, but Michael felt that the title had more meaning and that he was just ignorant of the obvious truth staring at him.

    ''Most people say that the Will of the Origin Expanse is illogical and random; that it does everything without reasoning, but is that really the case?'' Michael wondered, feeling deep down that the Will had its own reasoning. It was just harder toprehend.

    While he was still deep in thought wondering about various things, Michael''s hand reached out for the white wisp. However, the moment he touched it, something unexpected happened.

    The wisp burst apart and turned into several white streams that shot toward his head. They entered his mind, filling his brain with countless pieces of information.

    No, it wasn''t countless pieces of information. What Michael received were memories, snippets of Cleave Fenrir''s past life!!

    Michael''s eyes rolled so far back in his head that one could only see the white, and blood gushed out of his nose like a waterfall as the memories forced their way into his mind. He copsed on the ground, writhing in pain while trying to fight the flood of information. Tiara gasped in shock and rushed over to him instinctively. She reacted fast, but she couldn''t help him even if she wanted to.

    Michael only stopped writhing in pain after five minutes, and it didn''t take long before a curse escaped his lips.

    "I cannot get even a moment of peace, can I?"

    Why did he feel like this?

    A particr memory was seared in his mind.

    It was the memory of Fenrir practicing the wicked Spear Arts.

    Even after Fenrir''s true death, Michael was not able to get rid of his memories, and his Spear Arts!!

 Chapter 21 Summoning

    ?''Why would I receive such useless memories? I don''t need the wicked Spear Arts¡­'' Michael grumbled.

    ''I won''t use it, so why give me these memories in the first ce?''

    Michael figured that the white wisp had been Fenrir''s extracted memories. While that was an interesting piece of information since it told Michael that he could expand his knowledge by killing other intelligent beings and extracting their memories, which would in turn allow him to expand his knowledge easily, he was more focused on the content of the memories.

    ''There is not much about Fenrir''s life to gauge from the memories. Only certain encounters, his practice of the wicked Spear Arts, and his hunting experience as an Archer make up for most of them. His Divine Eyes Soultrait was perfect for bing an archer, that''s for sure,'' Michael thought while digesting the first chunk of memories.

    Even if he was to rush his mind, digesting all memories would require quite a while. However, they had no more time to waste.

    "Dispose of Fenrir''s body, please. If you want to, you can use his body to bait Monsters close to the protection barrier and attack them. You can use the silver spear and you''re also a 1st Tier Battle Maid, so that shouldn''t be too much of an issue," Michael instructed before he thought about something. He then carefully added, "I will follow youter after I finish summoning new subjects."

    It was about time to get his territory rolling, increase the number of his people and start for real. They had more than enough time to get going with seven hours of sunlight left, and it would be wasteful not to use them.

    Tiara didn''t hesitate and responded instantaneously to hismand. She bowed to her Master and grasped the silver spear with her right hand before dragging Fenrir''s body through the clearing with her left.

    Michael felt a little cruel throwing the first ancestor''s body out of the protection barrier to turn him into Monster bait, but it was self-exnatory why Fenrir''s body had to be disposed of. His first impression of the new subjects wouldn''t necessarily be good if they were to see Fenrir''s corpse. Michael took several more factors into consideration and chose to dispose of Fenrir''s body right in the heart of the territory of ferocious Monsters.

    He was not proud of his decision, but it was the best he could think of considering his current situation.

    ''I am pretty lucky with Tiara¡­her Link of Loyalty is strong, and she didn''t question me even after I gave her the orders,'' Michael thought as he retrieved all summoning scrolls and summoning scroll fragments from his War Rune.

    He had 73 summoning scroll fragments, which transformed into two ordinary summoning scrolls, leaving him with 23 fragments. Hecked two summoning scroll fragments to create a third summoning scroll.

    With the new addition of summoning scrolls, Michael now possessed a dozen ordinary summoning scrolls and a Tracker summoning scroll.

    He ripped the scrolls'' seals one after another and threw them in the air when he reached the Summoning Gate. The summoning scrolls unfolded before they shot inside the Summoning Gate.

    The energy pool inside the Summoning Gate rippled while the outlines of 11 people formed. There was no brightly shining star which meant that the 11 individuals were all starless summons.

    Only a few seconds passed but the starless summons emerged from the energy pool. They were wearing ordinary clothes and didn''t look anything special. Amongst the 11 summons, seven were men and four were women. This ratio was fairly good for Michael''s purpose. After all, he was in dire need of strongborers right now.

    After the starless summons emerged from the Summoning Gate, one of the stars etched on the Gate''s metallic surface began to shine brightly. A 1-Star Summon stepped out of the energy pool, greeting his Lord with a light bow.

    The 1-Star Summon''s clothes were no different than the 11 starless Summons, but that was not something Michael paid any attention to.

    ''A young man with a skinny physique...he is definitely no warrior,'' Michael figured, while giving him a slight nod.  His attention had neverpletely drifted from the Summoning Gate, so he smiled when two additional stars began to shine brightly, indicating the birth of a 3-Star Summon.

    That was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. He knew that Specific Summoning Scrolls couldn''t be starless summons. Thus, Michael expected the Tracker to be a 1-Star, or 2-Star summon at most. Of course, he wouldn''t reject a 3-Star Tracker. It was a great gift, which he weed with open arms.

    The Tracker stepped out of the energy pool without hesitation. She took note of Michael and bowed deeply. Michael reciprocated the greeting and observed her from head to toe for a moment.

    ''She is very athletic, wears better clothes than the others, and her eyes are sharper as well. She is a good summon,'' Michael summarized, nodding his head faintly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He gathered the 13 new subjects, cleared his throat, and smiled lightly.

    "My name is Michael Fang, and I am the Lord of this territory. I summoned you because I need your help in creating a ce where everyone can feel at home. This will require lots of effort, and I hope that everyone can diligently work toward the same end goals- our survival, and to pave a way to live a prosperous life!" He gave a short introductory speech covering the key points and weed his new subjects.

    Just when he closed his mouth, Michael recalled something so he added as an afterthought, "It would help if you could introduce yourselves and tell me what job you pursued in the past. That way, I can make sure that I won''t assign you to work that doesn''t suit you!"

    Currently, the Links of Loyalty were forged between Michael and his Summons. He could clearly feel the 13 new links, which gave him a rough understanding of the Summons'' strength and how they felt right now. Their emotions were a mess and they looked confused, but they didn''t seempletely clueless.

    The Tracker was the mostposed, but that was what Michael had expected from her. It told him that the Will of the Origin Expanse provided her with more pieces of information before she was summoned than those of a lower star rating.

    "My name is ire Tracer, but you can just call me Tracer. That was my title, either way. I am 20 years old and a Tracker, and I worked for the Logorian Empire before I was killed during a suicidal mission," The Tracker, ire Tracer, introduced herself. She sounded calm and didn''t seem to be upset about her past, or the fact that she died and that she was resurrected.

    This impressed Michael quite a bit.

    "M-m-my name is Williams Heart, I am 18 years old, and an Architect Apprentice. I died¡­do I really have to say it¡­my Lord?" The young boy, the 1-Star Summon, introduced himself, or he was trying to before he began to tremble like a leaf caught in a storm.

    "It is more than enough if you tell me your name and state your line of work in the past. I won''t force you to tell me more, even if I am curious about everyone''s past," Michael said in a gentle tone.

    Williams sighed in relief and bowed deeply to his Lord. Michael continued to smile before he diverted his attention to the other new subjects. Their stiff expressions mirrored the turmoil in their minds. They had yet to fullyprehend what had happened, and Michael gave them the time they needed to put two and two together.

    In the next ten minutes, the remaining starless summons introduced themselves one by one after oveing their initial hesitation. It helped a lot that Michael didn''t push anyone and that he remained patient with them. Everyone could clearly tell that the Link of Loyalty artificially enhanced their loyalty, but it was also apparent that their Lord was not a bad guy. He was giving his best.

    Thus, they listened intently as Michael exined what their tasks were for the rest of the day.

    He retrieved a blueprint from his War Rune and handed it to Williams Heart, "I am not sure if you have experience in overseeing a construction site, but I believe that you can do it. Just give your best!"

    Williams'' hand began to shake upon retrieving the treehouseplex blueprint. He trembled while inspecting the blueprint, feeling nervous and not confident enough to live up to the trust his Lord gave him unconditionally.

    "I¡­I will try my best!" He stammered, which was enough for Michael. He gave him a thumbs up and took a deep breath.

    ''Step onepleted. Now let''s see how we can help Tiara,'' Michael thought, feeling that it was about time for him to actively participate in the hunts.

    He represented his territory and he had to be stronger to make sure that his subjects could look up to him and rely on him even in testing times.

    Being a Lord was not easy, but Michael never expected it to be, in the first ce. He knew that it would be hard to be a good Lord, however, he was ready to give his best.

    That was the least he could do.

    ''Step two, here I go!''

 Chapter 22 Combined Forces

    ?With enough resources extracted and tools created with the sturdiest materials Michael could extract at this moment, there shouldn''t be too much of a problem with the construction of the treehouseplex.

    The rainforest provided all raw materials, and Extraction enhanced them by extracting the sturdiest and most potent resources. Thus, Michael was not too worried. He was sure that his subjects could create a treehouseplex until nightfall.

    Even if they weren''t done by then, the wooden manor had enough space to fit everyone.

    ''One 1-Star Architect Apprentice and a 3-Star Tracker with exceptional agility. None of them has anybat powers...but it''s not that I expected something big,'' Michael thought as he strode through the clearing. He left the clearing and found himself near the protection barrier a few minutester, looking for Tiara.

    It hadn''t been long since Tiara left to hunt but she had already killed a monster. The energy influx passing through their Link of Loyalty was unmistakable evidence of that, and it calmed his nerves much more than expected.

    After he killed Fenrir, Michael''s biggest worry was that none of his subjects would be able to kill Low Tier-1 Monsters. It was great that he was wrong with his guess.

    ''Hunting with Tiara will make everything a lot easier, that''s good.''

    Michael was already strong for a new Lord, but he was not at the 1st Tier yet. Not even the enhancement provided by a Tierless Epic Artifact was high enough to make up for the gap of strength between a Low Tierless and a Tier-1 entity.

    "Master, you''ve arrived!" Tiara eximed with a vibrant smile before she bowed politely the moment she saw him.

    A pack of Tier-1 Monsters was currently trying to drag Fenrir''s corpse farther away from the protection barrier. They were hovering around the protection barrier cautiously and backed off the moment Tiara moved.

    One monster had already experienced the fury of the Battle Maid from the Silverfang Tigerfolk, and the others didn''t want to experience the same fate as that poor soul.

    Michael watched their face-off with little interest. He approached the protection barrier and pressed his palm against it.

    ''There is almost no resistance,'' He noticed with a bemused look before he shot out.

    Michael took a single stride forward to reach the monster corpse, which he grasped with his left hand to store inside his War Rune. His War Rune wasrge enough to store a single monster corpse. That was more than enough in the current situation.

    The monster corpse disappeared, shocking the remaining monsters outside the protection barrier. They hadn''t expected their dead brethren to disappear just like that. It took most of them a second to realize what had happened. Only then did they move.

    There was only one Monster that reacted faster than the others. It shot forward and pounced at Michael.

    Michael was not yet inside the protection barrier, but his movements were calm andposed. His Eagle Eyes Soultrait was already activated, and he detected the sudden eleration of the Gem Jaguar ahead of him.

    He could jump backward, and easily get inside the protection barrier, but Michael did something else. He pushed his feet away from the ground and pushed them to the side. Simultaneously, he manifested Tigerfang from the War Rune and tilted it.

    Tigerfang''s razor-sharp edge pointed at the Gem Jaguar while his body moved to the right. Michael could change his trajectory and initiate a counterattack, knowing that the Monster''s sudden eleration would make it harder to change its direction in an instant. However, Michael didn''t risk it.

    He summoned Tigerfang to keep the Gem Jaguar at a safe distance and distract it. The Gem Jaguar''s entire focus was on Michael as expected. It slowed down at once to change its trajectory and attacked Michael. As a result, it was attacked viciously from the side as searing pain spread out from its chest.

    The Gem Jaguar forgot about Tiara, and that she had been standing right behind the protection barrier. Tiara burst forward when Michael pushed to the right side, noticing that the Gem Jaguar was focused only on her Master. Making use of that, she used her full strength, reached the Gem Jaguar in an instant, andshed out with all her might.

    The silver spear prated the Gem Jaguar''s chest before it was viciously twisted and yanked out in a smooth motion. A momentter, Tiara had already retreated behind the protection barrier where Michael arrived a fraction of a secondter.

    He gave her a small smile before retrieving the corpse he had collected before.

    "I have enough space. We can continue." He said nonchntly, though his eyes quivered as he looked at the miserably dying Gem Jaguar.

    Even if he was fine with being around dead bodies, and extracting them with his Soultrait, the sight of someone dying, forget about killing someone, was still a little hard on his stomach.

    However, he knew that he had to be stronger to be a good and powerful Lord. This didn''t only involve his physical strength, but also his mental strength.

    ''I need to get stronger!'' He told himself, gritting his teeth while watching the death of the Gem Jaguar.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tiara''s lips parted and she wanted to say something about his reckless actions, but she shut her mouth only a momentter. It was not as if Michael''s tactic had been bad. He clearly calcted the Gem Jaguar''s movements and acted ordingly. Even without her interference, Michael would have made it safely inside the protection barrier before the Gem Jaguar reached him.

    By then, the Gem Jaguar would have been an easy target that was unable to deal with any attacks while faced with Tigerfang''s razor-sharp de.

    "As you wish, Master. Let''s continue!" She responded after a moment, getting intobat stance to continue the fight against the remaining Tier-1 Monsters.

    Michael charged out of the protection barrier to collect the Gem Jaguar''s corpse and be the remaining monsters'' bait. His perception was higher than others thanks to Tigerfang, and the Eagle Eyes Soultrait. He could react fast enough to the actions of a Tier-1 Monster even if he was not strong enough to fight it head-on. He could evade the attacks and tire the monsters out.

    Meanwhile, Tiara moved rapidly, attacking the monsters whenever she found an opening. Her movements were fast and her attacks deadly. Being a trained member of the Silverfang Tigerfolk, her agility and flexibility was bound to be exceptional. However, that didn''t mean Tiara could fight in sync with just anyone.

    Whether it was their firm Link of Loyalty, or their naturalpatibility, Tiara and Michael were able to deal with the remaining monsters within ten minutes and gain an upper hand.

    They killed seven monsters in twenty minutes, and they were not yet done with today''s hunt.

    Several hourster, they returned to the clearing. Tiara retrieved a total of 30 corpses from her War Rune while Michael retrieved two monster corpses. The storage space of his War Rune expanded a lot after he actively participated in the hunt of nearly three dozen Low Tier-1 Monsters.

    This was helpful for the fourth step of the n he came up with a while ago.

    ''It is much more beneficial to go out hunting with multiple people. I wonder how efficient we would have been with Fenrir,'' Michael wondered, just to shake his head and discard that thought. ''I killed him, so what does it matter? Thinking about it doesn''t change anything!''

    It was alreadyte and less than one hour was left before nightfall. However, Michael had yet to loot the monster corpses, forgetting about extracting them to dissect their bodies properly and preserve the necessary body parts.

    Michael sat down a few meters away from the campfire which Tiara used to prepare dinner for everyone, and he began the extraction of thirty-two monster corpses.

    Even by the time dinner was ready, he was not done yet, but Michael got up and walked over to the campfire. He ate with the others and tried to get to know his subjects more. His second day in the Origin Expanse had been far more taxing than the first day, however, Michael felt morefortable now.

    On the first day, he had a bad feeling, which proved to be correct. Now that Fenrir was no more, he felt much better. The thought of going to sleep soundly without bothering about the possible dangers inside his territory was not foreign anymore. He was looking forward to it so that he could gauge others'' actions better and prevent future mishaps.

    "My Lord, we haven''t finished the first treehouse yet, but I think the rainforest trees in this area are big and sturdy. The biggest trees can hold three treehouseplexes as long as we construct them with the same sturdy materials you''ve provided. Will that be alright, or should we spread the treehouseplexes at first?" Williams Heart asked after he gathered all his courage to reveal what he had on his mind.

    Everyone had slowly warmed up to Michael as their Lord. They were still hesitant to speak their mind because Michael and his personal maid were powerful given the huge pile of Tier-1 monster corpses lying not too far from the campfire. If they said something wrong, nobody would be able to help them. They would have to face their Lord''s wrath and might even be tortured. That was something they wanted to prevent.

    However, they could also tell that Michael was not an ordinary or regr Lord either. Every summon recalled parts of their lives before they''d been summoned, and some memories were bound to be about Lords, whether it was rumors or something they witnessed first-hand.

    "How about you create two single treehouseplexes and test a triple treehouseplex afterward? I will summon more subjects tomorrow. You can easily finish two single treehouseplexes by then," Michael suggested, and Williams nodded his head, without saying anything further.

    He patted his chest to calm his wildly palpitating heart while praising himself inwardly. It took a great deal of courage to speak up to their Lord, but he had not only done it but the Lord had even epted his proposal!

    After dinner, everyone was exhausted. However, nobody went to sleep before the Lord did. They watched their Lord as he continued to dissect the monster corpses one after another using his miraculous Soultrait. Everyone wanted to help, which Tiara took as an opportunity tomand them.

    Tiara instructed the summons about where they should keep the dissected body parts, what to do with the blood-filled sks, and so on.

    In less than two hours, Michael finished dissecting thest corpse. He was dead-tired, but a satisfactory smile blossomed on his face that reached his eyes.

    The drop rate of items generated by the Will of the Origin Expanse was much higher than he expected after Extraction had been enhanced, and he impatiently awaited the arrival of the next morning.

    The third day was about to start, and the preparations for his first trip back home were made.

    It was about time to show the true value of his territory and Soultrait!

 Chapter 23 Artifact

    ?"236 Summoning Scroll Fragments, three Unknown Summoning Scrolls, one Artifact, a stable blueprint, a piece of a map¡­that''s not bad, not bad at all!" Michael mumbled while munching on the meat that had been prepared for breakfast.

    He slept soundly on the second night in the Origin Expanse, and his energy had been fully replenished. His mind had also been rebooted and refreshed.

    "Master, the Summoning Gate materialized another summoning scroll," Tiara informed, handing Michael the scroll.

    He epted it and nodded his head subtly.

    ''With the gains from yesterday''s hunt, I can summon more than ten subjects. Should I focus on letting everybody settle and get familiar with my territory for the next few days, or should I keep hunting? I don''t even know how the region around me looks. Maybe Tier-1 Monsters are my smallest problem¡­'' Michael noticed that many things needed work and improvement. It would be much easier with a few powerfulbat units by his side, but Tiara was all he had.

    She was powerful, but it was clear that herbat awareness and experience were notparable to Fenrir''s. Michael was not sure what kind of Soultrait she had either. Tiara was not allowed to speak about it due to the regtions of the Origin Expanse''s Will, and she didn''t seem to be utilizing her Soultrait secretly either.

    It was a little bit annoying but not something Michael would ponder about for hours knowing that he wouldn''t receive a useful answer.

    "Before taking action, I should summon more subjects. Williams and the others will need more help to finish the treehouseplexes," He mumbled, getting up from the wooden stool.

    Michael made his way to the Summoning Gate before he merged the Summoning Scroll Fragments in his possession together. Since he had still more than 20 fragments from the day before, a total of 10 Unknown Summoning Scrolls formed from the fragments. Adding theplete scrolls to his possession, 14 subjects emerged from the energy pool after Michael ripped the seals away on the scrolls one after another.

    13 starless subjects ¨C nine men and four women ¨C emerged from the energy pool. All of them were wearing the same clothes just like the subjects he summoned the day before. Following the starless subjects, one 1-Star summon emerged from the Summoning Gate. It was a young man in his mid-20s tightly holding a Staff in his left hand.

    His name was Heran Tarn and he was a Lesser Tamer.

    When everyone introduced himself, Michael was quite surprised to find out that he got hold of a Lesser Tamer as well. For now, the Lesser Tamer''s power might be considered less useful, but this could quickly change. The Lesser Tamer''s power coulde in handy to control livestock easily, or tame lower-ranked monsters forbat.

    If a Tamer raised a monster from infancy, it would even be possible to create a cavalry, or simply have mounts to carry him and others around with much less trouble.

    ''It might be a little bit annoying in the rainforest, but once I create trails through the rainforest it would be very helpful and timesaving to have a docile, agile monster mount,'' Michael thought with confidence.

    However, for now, the Lesser Tamer''s unique trait was not helpful, so he sent him to help construct the treehouseplexes.

    "Should I try to get hold of monster eggs when I return home tomorrow?" Michael mumbled, wondering if he should tweak his n a little.

    Initially, Michael wanted to leave the Origin Expanse the moment the War Rune''s connection had been confirmed. That was usually the case after spending 72 hours in the Origin Expanse. By selling the near-perfectly dissected monster corpses, their blood, Monster Cores, and exotic body parts such as the Gem Jaguars'' Gemstones, Michael wanted to have sufficient funds to purchase everything he needed until the protection barrier would disappear.

    Unfortunately, the space of Michael''s War Rune was still not humongous. To purchase everything needed and carry it back to the Origin Expanse, he would have to be able to travel back and forth several times. But that was currently not possible because the War Rune''s connection would only be perfectly solidified once it had been refined to the 1st Tier.

    ''Recharging the War Rune should only take a few days. If I can go back tomorrow, and a second time two days before the protection barrier lifts, it shouldn''t be too difficult to protect my territory even in the rainforest full of Tier-1 Monsters¡­''

    Michael had to make the best of the given circumstances, but that was easier said than done. Certain things didn''t get easier even after he racked his brain to think of a solution. Purchasing a few 1-Star Warrior Summoning Scrolls would help a lot, but it was not certain that the Warriors would be enough to ensure the territory''s safety. After all, the rainforest was still an unknown region with a high likelihood of inhabiting stronger monsters.

    "If you''re worried about the rainforest, we can send out ire Tracer, Master. She told me that she was never good at work which required her to use her hands. She was a little embarrassed that she made so many obvious mistakes when she was supposed to help the others in constructing the treehouseplex, and told me about itst night," Tiara proposed.

    "Sending out Tracer? She might be agile, but we''re talking about a region overpopted with Tier-1 Monsters. Tracer is a Tierless Tracker who has yet to start refining energy!" Michael couldn''t agree to something that risky. If Tracer was also Tier-1 ¨C just like Tiara ¨C he would agree, but this was way too dangerous.

    "ire Tracer will be fine, and she wants to do that, Master. We need the information she can procure as well," Tiara tried to convince just as ire Tracer approached them. She heard her name and concluded that Tiara had proposed what they had discussedst night.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her expression changed in an instant, and it looked like she started to glow.

    "Please send me out to procure information about the rainforest, my lord!" ire requested politely after she rushed over to Michael to give him a deep bow.

    A frown appeared on Michael''s face, but he nodded his head after a while. Even if he wanted to protect his subjects from as much harm as possible, the unknown worried him a lot.

    "Alright, you can go," He said atst, "But don''t even think of getting injured. We have nothing to treat wounds, not even bandages!"

    Michael was sorry that he had to push the responsibility of exploring the rainforest outside the protection barrier to ire Tracer, but she didn''t seem to mind. On the other hand, she was happy, bowed deeply, and disappeared after finishing her preparations.

    ''As long as she''s happy, there is no need for me to feel bad¡­I guess,'' He thought, turning to one of the most important drops he received from a Low Tier-1 Frenzy Deer.

    It was a Bow, an Artifact created by the Will, and made from the Frenzy Deer''s Antlers and tendons.

    Even if the Artifact was Tierless with amon quality star rating of one star, the power it could unleash once fully charged was quite high. Michael didn''t have any Arrows to use it with, but using Extraction allowed him to extract sturdy wooden shafts from the rainforest''s trees. He used them to test out the Artifact''s strength.

    Unfortunately, wooden shafts were simply makeshift arrows and notparable to proper arrows. That was something even a rookie archer could tell, let alone Michael whose memories predominantly revolved around archery and a few other memories.

    Michael finished organizing his first ancestor''s memories, and he learned quite a lot. Most memories were not useful right now, but Michael was certain that he could make use of them in the future.

    For one, Michael learned that the wicked Spear Art required exceptional eyesight and the ability to see what others couldn''t even perceive and forget about seeing. He also found out that Fenrir became a Spearman solely because of the wicked Spear Art. He had been an Archer before ¨C an exceptional archer at that.

    Fenrir''s archery skills had been impable, but he switched to the spear once he found the wicked spear arts. That was just too bad because Michael would have loved to receive more memories of Fenrir as an archer rather than his memories about the wicked Spear Art.

    ''Looks like I can be a pretty good archer in no time as well,'' Michael thought with a subtle smile on his lips, ''At least, some of his memories are useful. With a little bit training, I can be an expert Archer using this bastard''s memories, experience, and a weakened version of his Soultrait!''

    Extracting everything from Fenrir had been extremely useful. Michael gained so much in return. Of course, he lost a Heroic Summon as a result, but that could also be considered an advantage. His Heroic Summon would have definitely lost his sanity in no time. Removing Fenrir was the only way to ensure his own safety and the survival of his territory.

    Thus, after pondering over it for a while now, Michael concluded that he had done the right thing.

    Michael would kill Fenrir again, even if time would turn back 24 hours. That was enough for him to understand that he did the right thing and that it was not worth dwelling on the what ifs any longer.

    After he justified his actions to his conscience and epted them atst, Michael began to work hard, once again.

    He helped procure the purest and most resilient resources ¨C to build the treehouseplexes ¨C using Extraction. Simultaneously, he got to know his people more. They were a little confused at first, wondering why their Lord was so¡­kind, bubbly, and generous, rather than a sternmander who ordered everyone around while watching from far away.

    However, they liked this kind of Lord much better, especially since he seemed reliable and quite powerful as well.

    The day passed in the blink of an eye, and time seemed to slow down when Tracer returned to the territory, holding something in her arms while bleeding profusely.

    "What the hell did you do?"

 Chapter 24 Report

    ?It had been close to ten hours since ire Tracer had left to explore the rainforest, and Michael had been impatiently waiting for her.

    But what he didn''t expect to see when he heard that she returned was a profusely bleeding Tracker with three yellowish stones in her arms.

    The stones were shaped like rugby balls, just yellow and a lot heavier.

    "What happened?" He asked the moment he saw her sitting on one of the beds inside the wooden manor.

    She was currently being tended to with a simple piece of cloth that was used as a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding on her shoulder. A w must have pierced her deeply not too long ago.

    "I¨C..." ire began, only for Michael to lift his hand, stopping her midway.

    "If you think that the injury is too serious, we could burn it. After all, we don''t have any potions or healers yet!" Michael proposed. Thest few words were clearly directed at ire even though he was speaking to Tiara.

    "I made a tight bandage with some cloth. If the cloth soaks up all the blood in five minutes, we must stop the bleeding in a different way, burning the wound, if necessary," Tiara nodded while ire''s face was drained of all its color.

    Michael threw a nce at her as if to say ''I told you to be careful!'', but he didn''t say anything. Instead, he motioned for ire to start narrating her report.

    She took a moment to calm her wildly beating heart before she began to speak.

    "In the first two hours of my exploration, I circled the proximity of the territory to test if the monsters in the rainforest are highly perceptive and notice my presence right away, or if my skills are enough to travel through the rainforest unhindered. After I was certain that it wouldn''t be a problem to explore the area a little farther away, I spent some time traveling carefully through the rainforest.

    I found a few stronger monsters but overall, Tier-1 Monsters mostly popte this area of the rainforest. Their poption is oddly high, but that was the only thing I noticed," ire took a few deep breaths and drank some water from her leather sk.

    Her breathing was ragged, and a thin coat of sweat was glistening on her forehead, but she continued her report without paying anymore attention to her physical state.

    "Roughly four hours ago, I found feathers of a Bilrox near a well-hidden cavern entrance. The entrance was covered in bushes and surrounded by huge trees. However, I could see a few donkey-sized lizards inside the cave. My gut feeling told me not to enter the cave, so I tried to investigate from a safe distance. There were many feathers, hinting that there might be a Bilrox Horde.

    I was a little confused as to what an exotic monster such as the Bilrox is doing in the rainforest and began my research. It didn''t take much effort to find a Bilrox Horde that had been captured and fenced. They''re held captive by some sort of Gori-like Humans, or human-like Goris, I am not too sure what they are, to be honest."

    "Either way, it looks like there is another Lord''s territory only a few hours away from ours. They seem very strong and have a numerical advantage. The weakest of them is at the 1st Tier."

    ire wanted to say more but she seemed too weak right now. She began to shiver, and one didn''t have to be an expert to tell that her condition was worsening.

    Michael locked eyes with Tiara, who nodded her head after she took a short nce at the blood-soaked cloth. Tiara left the room to prepare to cauterize the deep gash on ire''s shoulder.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Distracting her from the wound should be the best, right?'' Michael asked himself. He never had to take care of a severely injured patient who was bleeding to death before. However, the biggest problem was not distracting ire but tending to her wound. If they had a healing potion or an Artifact with a healing enchantment, they wouldn''t have an issue healing ire. Unfortunately, they had nothing.

    "So, you brought me lizard eggs?" Michael asked while pointing at the three yellow rugby ball-shaped eggs ¨C or what he presumed to be eggs. ''Did she get injured in the lizard cave when she stole them?''

    "You have good eyes, my lord. They''re eggs, but not the eggs of lizards!" ire said pridefully. The corners of her lips curled upward.

    "Not lizard''s eggs? Then what¡­" Michael began to ponder while ire''s smile widened further.

    "These are the eggs of a Bilrox!! These Gori-like humans attacked me when they noticed that I stole their Bilrox''s eggs, but I was faster and slyer than them. I escaped with three Bilrox eggs, though I got a little injured. Isn''t that great?!" She chuckled lightly while giving him a thumbs up.

    However, Michael didn''t feel the slightest bit happy. ire had just provoked an unknown Lord to steal just a few Bilrox eggs. Her mission had been to explore the surrounding area, not to make enemies and receive a lethal wound from acting recklessly.

    ''This dumb idiot!'' He shouted in his mind while maintaining a poker face on the outside. Shouting at ire right now wouldn''t help anyone.

    It was already a good thing that ire survived, and it wasn''t a terrible thing to have Bilrox eggs. Heran, the Lesser Tamer, could hatch and raise the Bilrox, and they could create their own horde eventually. That was a good thing.

    Bilrox were a rare kind of bird that had been announced as extinct, only to resurface in some corners of the Origin Expanse every now and then. They had a cute and charming appearance thatbined the features of a bird and a mammal. Their feathers were yellow in color but they had special properties which made them quite valuable. They had a distinct appearance with a plump, round bodies and long, slender legs, and wings that were too small to allow them to fly.

    Due to their gentle temperament, they were often captured and used as mounts to travel around and breed to harvest as many feathers as possible.

    Adding all of this information, Michael understood why ire stole the Bilrox eggs. She wanted to help her Lord in the expansion of his territory, and Bilrox were a reliable source of ie and means of transport. If he wanted to sell the eggs, Michael could make much more than he did during thest few daysbined.

    The problem was just that Michael had a bad feeling about the ''Gori-like human'' Lord. If his guess was correct, the situation in his territory would soon change, for the worse.

    ''Gori-like humans, strong physically, but dense¡­that could be Gogis,'' Michael presumed, and his expression worsened at the thought, ''If it''s really Gogis, they will not stop until they find and kill ire and take back the eggs where they belong!''

    Gogis were one of the most vengeful races Michael had heard about. They were not the smartest and were a bit narrow-minded but their resilience, determination, and stubbornness to finish what they started making up for those ws.

    Unfortunately, that also meant the Gogis would hunt down ire, and her Lord, thinking that she had been ordered to steal the Bilrox eggs.

    ''What a mess¡­what a mess¡­''

 Chapter 25 Return

    ?Michael had been focused on extracting resources all day.

    He didn''t go hunting because he was also organizing his War Rune''s storage space, and getting familiar to his subjects, hoping that they would learn to trust him. After all, he had to make sure that his subjects knew that he would return to the Origin Expanse once he returned home.

    The biggest issue at hand was the Gogi Lord and his military force. If the gori-like humans ire was talking about were actually Gogis it was highly likely that they would attack his territory once they found it. Because of that, Michael felt obliged to tell his subjects that he would leave the Origin Expanse to purchase everything needed.

    There shouldn''t be any issues with him leaving because the protection barrier would continue to protect his territory from invaders and predators.

    "Of course, you must leave, Master. ire will die without a healer or some medicine, so please don''t worry about us," Williams Hearts, the Apprentice Architect said while clenching his fist, "We will be fine!"

    It was the evening of Michael''s third day inside the Origin Expanse and everyone had gathered to have dinner. Michael joined them at the dinner table to tell everyone what he nned to do. That way, nobody would panic and think that their Lord had abandoned them when the Gogis would attack them, and their Lord disappeared.

    Williams was right; however, nobody could smile upon recalling what happened to ire only a few hours ago. The Tracker had returned from her exploration mission only a few hours ago. She got severely injured, and her wound had to be tended to. But since theycked the necessary means to tend her normally, Tiara heated up the de of the silver spear to burn her wound and disinfect it until she stopped bleeding.

    ire''s screams rang through the entire territory for several minutes until she could not take it anymore and fainted due to the pain.

    It was horrifying.

    Everyone felt sorry for ire, and they wanted to help her recuperate fast. However, nobody was well versed in the nts inside the rainforest. This made it impossible to find herbs and nts with healing properties.

    Thus, Michael would have to take care of it by leaving the territory for a while.

    "The eggs are fertilized, and it won''t take long before the Bilrox chicken will hatch. No more than three days, if my appraisal is correct," Heran, the Lesser Tamer, said, trying to change the topic.

    ire''s screams had been unbearable to listen to, and he didn''t want to be kept reminded about it.

    "That''s great. Fortunately, we don''t have to pay too much attention to their diet since they''re omnivores," Michael responded absent-mindedly.

    He was still a little bothered that ire had ensured that he would never be able to befriend the Gogis near their territory. The chance would have been low, knowing that the Gogis were not an easy race to deal with, but ire had simply sealed off the minor opportunity even before it appeared, in the first ce.

    ''Even their weakest is Tier-1, and their numbers are higher as well, while I''m just a new Lord in the territory. Sounds pleasant¡­like seriously¡­'' He grumbled to himself before his focus reverted to the campfire and hispany.

    Michael knew that he wouldn''t be able to sleep tonight, so he might as well prepare a few ns for tomorrow while continuing to talk with his subjects.

    Hours passed in the blink of an eye, and it was already pitch-ck outside. The familiar sounds of the rainforest such as the rustling of leaves and wild beast noises reached everyone, but no one paid them any attention. Tiara and the others stared at Michael''s War Rune. The War Rune flickered a few times and Michael got up from his ce instinctively.

    "I think I can leave now," He said with a faint smile on his lips before he willed the Runic Gate to open.

    The space to Michael''s left distorted, creating a bright light, and a white, unblemished Gate materialized no sooner.

    ''They will be fine, right?'' He hesitated a moment but reaffirmed his determination by locking eyes with Tiara. Her eyes glimmered in determination, so why was he the one who hesitated? He was their Lord, the man who was supposed to give his subjects a better, more fulfilling, and prosperous life!

    "I will be back soon!" Michael dered, clenching his fists before he stepped through the Gate.

    He disappeared a momentter, and the Runic Gate followed suit. It dispersed as if it never existed.

    Tiara''s ears drooped the next moment. She stared at the disappearing Runic Gate then at her own War Rune before she mumbled in a muffled voice.

    "I hope he won''t face any problems."

    Michael''s mind was so focused on the execution of the ns he hade up with beforehand that he didn''t even notice when he reappeared at home.

    He emerged back in the kitchen where he manifested the Runic Gate before himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Everything looks the same¡­" Michael mumbled, "...but why does it feel so different?"

    He felt a bit odd while returning to the concrete jungle, but it was not exactly a bad feeling. Michael was excited and looking forward to spending his time in the Origin Expanse and back in mankind''s territory. It made him feel as if he lived two separate lives that were as contrasting as possible.

    ''I understand you know, Danny,'' Michael thought as he opened the holographic screen of his crystal watch.

    The crystal watch disappeared when he entered the Origin Expanse but it reappeared as if it had never left his wrist the moment he stepped out of the gate. Michael didn''t bother paying any attention to it either.

    "It''s Wednesday 13:15 pm, and I entered the Origin Expanse¡­Tuesday at 3 am," He mumbled, "So, only 34 hours passed since I entered the Origin Expanse. The time ratio is really 2:1, nice. I have no time to waste!"

    Michael had a lot to do and every minute at home was equivalent to two minutes in the Origin Expanse, so he rushed into the bathroom while booking a shuttle. He jumped in the shower, scrubbed himself nicely, and threw his old clothes away. They were torn in several spots and smudged with dried monster blood, dirt, and sweat.

    Once he was done, Michael put on a basicbat suit and a secondyer offortable clothes on top. Afterward, he left the apartment in a rush. The shuttle was already waiting for him and Michael entered it.

    "To the Central Trading Hall, please!" Michael said before pressing the crystal watch against the screen that popped up in front of him. The emotionless voice of the shuttle''s AI resounded a momentter.

    [Of course, Sir!]

    The shuttle set off and flew through the airspace of the capital for the next 20 minutes.

    In the meantime, Michael spent his time focusing on the crystal watch''s messenger. His brother wasn''t at home, so Michael sent him a simple message.

    [Michael: Hey Danny, I''m doing fine. I am not injured and just wanted to tell you that there is no need for you to worry about me. My territory is much better than yours! :P]

    Michael was pretty sure that there was no need for him to tell his brother that this territory was a big mess. It would worry Danny needlessly when his brother was already busy with his own territory.

    "Oh?" He noticed that a new chat had popped up on the messenger and opened the chat without thinking too much about it.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): If you''re alive, send me a message.]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): The Saphirke Military Academy''s aptitude examination will be held on the 20th. I applied on your behalf, but you don''t have toe if you don''t want to. But just so you know ¨C This year is the first time that applications across mankind''s territory will be epted. Before, the Military Academy handpicked their students, but this is the first time they are inviting arger pool and graduates can apply on their own as well. That means you could be the first student from an ordinary background to reap the Military academy''s benefits.]

    These two messages were followed up with an attached file containing the exact time and ce of the test, in addition to derailed notes about the range of tests, and the score one needed to get epted.

    However, Michael put the file aside after he downloaded it. He was a little bit interested in the Military Academy, but there were other things he had to deal with first.

    "So talkative¡­"

    After he finished reading Alice''s chat, he didn''t answer immediately. He looked up the prices of items and which clerk he should visit in the Central Trading Hall to make the most use of the resources he had collected within his first three days inside the Origin Expanse.

    Meanwhile, the shuttle reached its destination.

    [Thank you for using Golden Lion''s shuttle service!]

    Michael was pulled out of his train of thought upon hearing the emotionless voice. He got up and left the shuttle with ast nce at his chat with Alice Zenovia. Without thinking too much, he typed something before he closed the chat.

    His message was simple enough to tell her that he was still alive.

    ''That should be enough.''

    [Michael: ¨C]

 Chapter 26 House Of Witchery

    ?It was almost 2 pm when Michael reached the za of the Central Trading Hall.

    The za was arge and grandiose square, which was surrounded by the U-shaped Central Trading Hall. A huge water fountain, surrounded by stone statues of humanity''s heroes, adorned the center of the za. However, Michael didn''t pay much attention to it. He approached the map and used the searching function.

    ''Bartholomew''s House of Witchery'', he typed, and a detailed route appeared in front of him. Michael pressed the crystal watch against the map''s information transfer symbol and left afterward.

    The crystal watch now had the route to Bartholomew''s House of Witchery and guided him through the humongous za and even therger Central Trading Hall.

    Despite being called a Trading Hall, it was easier topare it to a shopping mall with 20 floors in total. It was also possible to sell goods here, which was why Michael chose the Central Trading Hall as his destination.

    Entering the Central Trading Hall was pretty easy. Every entrance had certain channels one had to pass to be allowed to enter. Awakened with a War Rune would have their War Rune scanned while ordinary people''s irises and fingerprints would be scanned andpared with their ID for verification. All of this was a precautionary measure since too many incidents had urred since the Central Trading Hall had been built.

    When it was Michael''s turn, he showed the Guard his War Rune and waited for it to be scanned. However, the Guard didn''t step forward immediately. He looked at Michael for a second or two before he moved to scan his War Rune.

    "I hope you don''t take offense at what I am going to say, Sir, but I rmend you register as a Lord. The government will provide higher ess permission to certain information if you have a Lord ID, and more benefits will be provided as well," The Guard advised with a subtle smile on his face.

    Michael was stunned for a moment, but he nodded his head. He recalled that the War Rune of a Lord had a stronger presence than that of an Adventurer. This made it easier for others to sense when they''re in the presence of a Lord, and how strong that Lord is.

    Of course, Michael seemed young, and he didn''t have a lofty air around him, but it was always better to be careful, especially as ordinary guards.

    The other guards looked at their colleague with a little astonishment, but they didn''t say anything.

    "Thank you. I will do that!" Michael said and he made a mental note to register at the government when he wasn''t in such a rush anymore.

    Once his War Rune was scanned, Michael could enter the Central Trading Hall. He followed the guidance of the crystal watch and went looking for Bartholomew''s House of Witchery.

    Meanwhile, the other Guards rushed to their colleague.

    "Why did you speak to that kid? You know that some of those kids can be extremely troublesome, so why did you give him unsolicited advice?" One of them asked in a husky voice while the other jumped ahead, shaking his colleague as if to wake him up from a dream.

    "Did you already forget what happened to Sh¨C..."

    "I know," The guard, who had talked to Michael before, replied, "I don''t know why I did that either. He seemed kind and was wearing clothes from an ordinary brand, so I figured that he became an Awakened not too long ago."

    He gave it a shrug, and didn''t bother with the discussion anymore, "He thanked me for the advice, so everything is fine, isn''t it?!"

    In the meantime, Michael found himself on the 14th floor, standing in front of arge shop titled Bartholomew''s House of Witchery.

    "It''s not exotic, at all. Isn''t it just a normal store?"

    Michael expected the House of Witchery to be a small store that was filled with the smell of herbs and grotesque-looking items from the Origin Expanse. However, he was pleasantly surprised to find it to be the exact opposite. The store was meticulously organized, clean, and faint citrus aroma wafted through the air.

    All kinds of Artifacts were exhibited in the main aisle of the store, and misceneous items could be found on his right side. Various potions and various resources entered his view as well upon taking a proper look. Overall, it was easy to understand the set-up of the shop.

    "Selling items and Monsters can be done¡­here!" Michael mumbled and looked around a bit until he found a clerk standing behind a wooden counter. A wooden sign saying [Witchery Bazaar] attracted his attention, and he approached it.

    The clerk noticed Michael''s arrival in his store and bowed lightly.

    "Wee to the Witchery Bazaar. How may I help you?" He asked politely.

    "I want to sell a few Monster Cores, sks of blood, neatly preserved organs of rare monsters, Gemstones, and such," Michael said straightforwardly. The clerk took a quick nce at Michael''s clothes and War Rune before he nodded his head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Please follow me, Sir. I will lead you to the appraisal room!" He said, sounding just as polite as before. However, his demeanor had now changed a little. The clerk didn''t seem to think too highly of him.

    ''I am not wasting your time, buddy. Calm down, and let''s get this done without wasting our time, okay?'' Michael wanted to say but he remained silent to prevent inviting unnecessary trouble. He was not in the mood to y around. A more skilled and veteran Lord was probably on his way to attack his territory!

    The appraisal room was a room attached to the House of Witchery. It was used to retrieve the goods from the War Rune to have them appraised, and to make sure that the trade would remain anonymous. At the same time, it also ensured that the smell of monster corpses and unique ¨C smelly ¨C goods wouldn''t permeate the air of the House of Witchery.

    The room didn''t look anything special. If Michael had topare it to something, the closest was probably the operation room in the hospital which was equipped with advanced technology that could measure and appraise the goods at hand.

    "Please retrieve the items you want to sell. I will appraise them and provide a satisfactory price, I promise!" The clerk said with an obvious fake smile on his face.

    ''Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?'' Michael asked himself but he simplyplied. He began to retrieve the goods he had neatly stuffed inside his War Rune, filling it to the brim.

    Monster Cores and Gemstones filled the table, followed by antlers, wolf ws and near-perfectly dissected fur, leather, tendons, muscles, internal organs, bones, dozens of sks filled with triple extracted blood to purify it further, and more.

    Even if his War Rune''s spatial storage could only carry two Low Tier-1 Monster corpses, it was big enough for a self-proimed world-ss Tetris yer to squeeze all the puzzle pieces inside it. Michael had spent a while fitting and storing everything he wanted to sell without damaging it, but it worked, atst.

    He watched the clerk''s expression change with a satisfied smile before pointing out the most important fact, "If you want to maintain the quality of the highly potent Tier-1 Monster blood and their organs, I rmend you preserve them. Damages that ur in the appraisal room are the responsibility of the shop, or so I heard."

    Thest few words intended to take a jab at the clerk and pressure him. It worked perfectly as the clerk panicked for a moment before he pressed the cooling button to decrease the temperature in the room drastically. After that, the clerk had to act quickly to make sure that no good was damaged. He didn''t want his monthly report card to be tarnished with a de-merit, after all!

    Michael didn''t say anything else. He just watched the clerk and opened the crystal watch to research the price of potions and other goods.

    There was no need to worry about getting cheated by the House of Witchery, or any other shop in the Central Trading Hall. The moment they caused trouble their lease would be retracted, and their contract terminated.

    Losing one of the best spots in the most popr Trading Hall on the was not something any shop owner would want to happen. After all, the money they made in a month in this spot was equivalent to the bi-annual ie of shop owners in other popr spots!

    Less than half an hourter, the clerk was done. Despite the frigid air in the room, he was sweating buckets. He nced at Michael every now and then, just to end up cursing himself inwardly.

    How could he mess up that badly?

    "I am done¡­Sir," He said before weakly adding, "I am sorry for my attitude earlier. I had a big fight with my girlfriend¡­"

    Michael chuckled lightly upon hearing the clerk''s measly excuse but he went along.

    "I hope that the satisfying price you promised me was not a lie," He replied, and the clerk nodded his head vigorously.

    "Of course, Sir! You will love the price!"

    After a quick chat, they left the appraisal room. The details of the House of Wichery''s purchase would take a minute or two, but that was already it. Once he signed the deal, he would earn a small fortune, which would be used up to expand his territory and nourish his subjects!

    However, before Michael and the clerk could finish the deal, they heard a loud voice.

    "You bastard! Do you not love me anymore?!?" A young woman shouted in a shrill voice. Her voice echoed through the entire shop, followed by the voice of an equally young man who retorted in annoyance,

    "Not buying you the Artifact doesn''t mean I don''t love you anymore! Get your facts straight, honey!"

    What the hell was going on there?

 Chapter 27 Barbaric Couple

    ?A young couple, roughly Michael''s age, was throwing a tantrum in the middle of Bartholomew''s House of Witchery.

    Michael didn''t pay them much attention because it was not the first time that he had seen a lover''s spat. This young couple was extremely loud but that was already it.

    Thus, Michael followed the Clerk toplete the official paperwork and get his money''s worth at the counter of the Witchery Bazaar.

    "Ay, shit¡­" The clerk cursed after he spent two minutes on the Witchery Bazaar''s holographic screen. He looked apologetically at Michael and said, "We will have to go to the main counter toplete the deal. I forgot to open the bank transfer payment gateway in the Witchery Bazaar this morning¡­it would take a few minutes to unlock all safety measurements¡­"

    ''Maybe he really fought with his girlfriend. He looks like a mess, that''s for sure,'' Michael thought with a shrug before he motioned the clerk to proceed in the direction of the main counter.

    Some of the staff members were at the counter, doing some work while ncing at the quarreling couple every few seconds.

    "I really don''t understand them. No, I understand their families even less," One of them, a young woman with a ponytail, said quietly to the other, "Why would the Kolbenheim family and Ondo family engage them with each other if they''re always this violent?"

    "I really don''t know. The Barbaric Couple is always fighting. I think I''ve never heard any good news about that couple, and that''s quite weird since they have decent talent and look quite good together. One would think that a few articles mention their good looks and talent, but there is not a single one!" Another female staff with a bob cut replied.

    "I think there were a few articles, but Frederik would make sure that he fired every man who wrote articles about Jacqueline, while Jacqueline would do the same when women wrote articles about Frederik. Hundreds of reporters were fired. It was a big mess!" Ponytail added, sighing deeply.

    Michael didn''t want to listen to their gossiping but that was almost impossible. Their voices were loud enough for everyone around to hear, including Michael.

    ''So a couple like that exists as well? Violent and overflowing with jealousy? Well, you can consider that passionate love if you twist the definition a little bit¡­well, quite a lot.'' He thought as he was forced to listen to both the gossiping staff and the lover''s quarrel.

    The clerk who appraised his goods earlier wanted to provide Michael with a good customer experience to make sure that the young Lord would return the next time he had something to sell, but his co-workers were not really helpful in this regard.

    His co-workers kept acting as if they were engrossed in their work, only for their focus to revert to the lover''s quarrel. It looked like the Barbaric couple would wreak havoc soon enough, and they didn''t want to miss that.

    Michael frowned but he didn''t say anything. He was in a rush but throwing a tantrum wouldn''t help either. The Barbaric couple''s quarreling reached a stage where the people around them had to be careful.

    ''Ugh¡­when did they unsheathe their weapons?!'' Michael nearly shouted out loud with a raised eyebrow.

    Both Frederik Kolbenheim, and Jacqueline Ondo were Awakened, and it looked like they wanted to turn the House of Witchery into a battlefield. Jacqueline was a young woman with long red hair. Her cheeks were puffed up and red just like her hair right now.

    It didn''t take a brainiac to determine that she was boiling in anger, ready to slice Frederik into countless pieces.

    However, that didn''t seem to bother Frederik. His azure eyes glimmered in anger even though his fair skin didn''t change color even once. He didn''t turn red, but his facial expression spoke volumes about the emotions that were slowly beginning to engulf his entire being.

    ''At least, they''re not powerful Awakened. Good thing that they''re around my age. The shop will survive,'' Michael thought as he activated Eagle Eyes to take a closer look at their War Rune and movements.

    Even if this was a lover''s quarrel, they seemed ready to fight it out in realbat. That was a little weird, but Michael could make use of it to observe the descendants of powerful families up close. After all, the coalition between the Ondo family and the Kolbenheims resulted in the creation of a low-ranked Kingdom. They shouldn''t be underestimated.

    "Why are you like this?? Can''t you be more reasonable?!?" Jacqueline shouted angrily while brandishing her fencing de in front of her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Do you even know what you''re talking about, Jacq? You look like a maniac right now!" Frederik shouted back, pointing his longsword at her.

    "Looks like it''s impossible to talk to you¡­" Jacqueline replied, flicking her long hair back before she changed her stance, "Darling, I think it''s time to beat some sense into you. I cannot go on like this!"

    ''What?''

    Frederik chuckled lightly for a second before he also entered abat stance, "It''s like you''re speaking my mind. Since I cannot reason with you, I shall leave father-inw and teach you a lesson in his ce instead!"

    Just like that, a fight burst out in the middle of Bartholomew''s House of Witchery.

    The Barbaric Couple dashed toward each other with extreme speed. No hesitation could be seen as their des collided. Jacqueline was nimble and thrust the fencing de forward with a horrifyingly fast eleration. The tip of the fencing de hit the t side of Frederik''s longsword, altering the sword thrust''s trajectory.

    Jacqueline followed up by twisting her body to retract the fencing de and gain enough momentum to thrust out once again.

    Her second attack was not as fast and strong as the first, but it followed in quick session to the first attack. Frederik was not fast enough to block the attack. His reaction speed was too slow, which was also why he ended up with the fencing de''s tip in his side.

    Jacqueline controlled her power precisely. She pierced out and retracted the de the moment it drilled into her lover''s flesh. Only a few blood droplets trickled to the ground before the scratch stopped bleeding.

    ''If that''s love I rather die at old age, alone,'' Michae thought as he watched the couple''s fight. His Eagle Eyes Soultrait was not even required to follow their movements, but it was easier to see minute details in their movements. That was also how Michael determined that Jacqueline''s War Rune had a higher degree of refinement. She was a little bit stronger and faster than Frederik even though their Artifacts were likely to enhance them equally.

    Michael had yet to see their Soultraits, but his interest was picked. Unfortunately, the couple''s fight seemed to escte a little after the young man''s blood had been shed. His movements got sharper at once and his spatial awareness allowed him to bnce out the lower refinement degree of his War Rune.

    The sound of metal colliding resounded and everyone in the shop was now paying attention to them. No Soultrait had been unleashed yet, but the fierceness of the battle was dangerous, nheless.

    ''If they keep going like that, they will kill each other¡­ or injure oth¨C....''

    Michael''s mind nked out before he could finish his thought. His attention was pulled over to a kid that was racing through the aisles.

    The young boy passed by everyone as if he was ying on a hardcore course of a racing game, just to head straight to the hell difficulty¡­straight to the chaotic battlefield of the barbaric couple.

    ''Kid, are you insane?!'' Michael first thought before he looked around, ''Where the hell are mothers when their kids act suicidal?!?''

    At that moment, Frederik evaded one of Jacqueline''s thrusts before pping her on the butt with the t side of his longsword. He wanted to humiliate her, but instead pushed her ahead with too much force.

    Jacqueline lost bnce and ran straight into the oblivious boy, her eyes widened in shock.

    "Well, shit¡­"

 Chapter 28 Instinct

    ?Michael was the first to realize that something had gone terribly wrong. His Eagle Eyes Soultrait was fully unleashed, providing him with more details than anyone else in the shop could decipher.

    He tensed up the moment the little boy raced past them, but his tingling senses went awry the moment Frederik pped his fianc¨¦''s butt jokingly. As a result, Jacqueline lost her bnce. She tripped over her feet and stumbled forward, unable to regain bnce at once.

    The fencing de was still stretched out from the thrust she had meant to issue at her fianc¨¦ but her target had involuntarily changed to the little boy. The boy was still oblivious to the lethal threat he was about to face even though the fencing de''s tip pointed right at him.

    The distance between the fencing de and the little boy decreased rapidly, and it was only when they were dangerously close to each other that screams of terror resounded in the House of Witchery.

    Everyone''s eyes grew wide with shock and they vividly imagined the worst possible oue as they watched the terrifying scene unfolding in front of them with wide-open mouths.

    Even though they wanted to help, they knew that they couldn''t do anything. They were not Awakened, and unable to block a high-quality Artifact''s razor-sharp de with their bare hands. Had they been Awakened they might have been able to act but they were unlikely to reach the young boy before it was already toote.

    And even if they reached the boy in time, how were they supposed to protect their own life? Artifacts were extremely expensive, and the descendant of the Ondo family was bound to possess a high-quality Artifact!!

    As the screams of the people in the shop resounded, a young man made his move. His body acted instinctively the moment he detected that Jacqueline tripped over her own foot. He dashed forward by releasing every bit of strength in his body.

    Tigerfang manifested in Michael''s hand the moment he made a move, but his expression turned grim soon after.

    ''I won''t make it.''

    He could instinctively tell that he was not fast enough. Jacqueline and the little boy were too close, and he would have to cross almost ten meters in the next second to make it.

    ''Shit¡­what now?'' He thought but his body had already reacted. Fenrir''s memories resurfaced in Michael''s mind unexpectedly. Memories of Fenrir''s experience and tireless training as an Archer and Spearman came to his aid. Michael felt like he had experienced Fenrir''s arduous training himself and his body moved as if it was familiar with everything it was going to do.

    However, it was not Michael''s muscle memories that allowed him to create a solution, but the memories that were deeply imprinted in his mind.

    ''Spear throwing shouldn''t be too hard with those memories¡­so¡­how about a sword?!'' Michael wondered the moment he changed his stance to maximize his momentum.

    A momentter, the muscles in his right arm bulged and his veins protruded out of his skin, looking like they were about to burst at any moment as he swung his arm forward with full force, releasing the thin longsword.

    Tigerfang shot through the air with shocking velocity. It crossed ten meters at once and brushed past the little boy''s head, narrowly missing him. The next moment the jarring sound of metal colliding against metal rang out.

    Michael paid no attention to Jacqueline or Tigerfang anymore. His focus had diverted to the little boy the moment he threw Tigerfang at the young Awakened. His speed never decreased, and he reached the young boy a secondter. Michael''s arms coiled around the little boy just to throw himself to one side as he heard something breaking.

    Metal shards flew through the surrounding as if a shrapnel grenade had detonated, but Michael didn''t pay any attention. He shielded the boy with his body, trying to take the brunt of the attack and letting the metal fragments hit his body.

    However, even after a few seconds passed, Michael was not able to feel anything. Not a single metal fragment pierced his back, or any other part of his body.

    ''None hit me?'' He wondered as he slowly got up from the ground. Then he saw the metal fragments lying on the ground right next to a red-haired girl whose eyes widened in shock.

    Jacqueline stared nkly at the metal fragments and the thin longsword thaty unmoving amid it.

    "Hmm? I thought Tigerfang shattered¡­" Michael mumbled before he retrieved Tigerfang with his will. The thin longsword turned into a white wisp that shot back inside his War Rune.

    At the same time, the little boy began to cry out loud. He buried his head in Michael''s broad chest and clung to him after realizing what had just happened.

    "Don''t cry, everything is fine now," Michael said in a soothing voice while gently caressing the little boy''s head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The little boy stopped crying and it was only then that the mother arrived. She screamed and shouted at the boy before apologizing to Michael several times. She thanked him profusely, but Michael wasn''t buying it.

    ''Had you paid more attention to your kid, I wouldn''t have had to face these maniacs, you know?!'' He wanted to say, but he let it be. All that mattered was that the little boy was fine.

    Maybe the incident would teach him not to run around mindlessly. That''s what Michael hoped for.

    After the little boy was dragged away by his mother ¨C who had been toote for the party ¨C Michael was the only one left in the same aisle as Jacqueline and Frederik.

    Frederik was standing a few meters further away, but Jacqueline fell to the ground next to Michael with a helpless look. She stared nkly at the metal fragments, which had once been her fencing de, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

    "M-my Artifact¡­" She stammered before starting to sob miserably.

    ''Is that your biggest problem, right now? Seriously?!'' Michael wondered, having a hard time not staring at her as if she had lost her sanity because he was pretty sure that this girl was even crazier than the fierce beauty.

    "How dare you attack my girl?!?" Frederik snapped after he regained his senses. He stepped forward while clenching his longsword tightly.

    "Fighting is prohibited in the Central Trading Hall, you know that, right?" Michael retorted sharply.

    "...so what?" Frederik responded, ring at Michael in response.

    Frederik slowed down and his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the shattered remains of Jacqueline''s Tierless 4-Star Artifact. Shattering it was not easy, but a single throw of that young man''s Sword Artifact had been enough to break it apart.

    "I don''t care about your lover''s spat, but you nearly killed an innocent boy because of your fight. Even your families won''t be able to help you if she would have killed that boy. You two would have gotten banned from the Central Trading Hall, and worse¡­you would have killed someone innocent, a little boy¡­" Michael had to summon every bit of mental strength to keep his calm, but it looked like Frederik Kolbenheim didn''t really care.

    Frederik''s re made it seem as if he asked, ''Do you think anyone can ban me from anywhere? Do you even know who I am?''. It was almost like Frederik didn''t consider that little boy, or anyone else, as human beings. This type of response made Michael recall his high school days and the unreasonably lofty attitude of most ssmates, and it fueled his anger.

    "Are you not ashamed of yourself?"

    "Ashamed? Me?! Do you even know who I¨C" Frederik began, his cheeks red in anger, and his sword pointed at Michael.

    "I really don''t give a shit who you are. Just don''t disturb others and y your games at home in the bedroom," Michael retorted, not allowing Frederik to finish his clich¨¦ line, "You can kill each other while fooling around in your bed, I don''t mind."

    Michael knew that he had gone too far, but he didn''t really care at this moment.

    However, Frederik was of a different opinion. He cared a lot about his public image, and he would never allow anyone to insult him like this.

    So he unleashed his Soultrait.

    A momentter, the scene in the House of Witchery changed drastically.

    "Die, you bastard!!"

    ¡­

    ''Is that idiot the incarnation of idiocy and clich¨¨s?''

 Chapter 29 Head Butler

    ?Frederik unleashed his Soultrait in a fit of rage.

    He used his energy to create gusts of wind with a faint azure hue engulfing them. The gusts werepressed into crescent-shaped des, which were released a momentter.

    The wind des sted at Michael with a terrific velocity, but he didn''t panic. Tigerfang reappeared in his right hand, and his Eagle Eyes Soultrait was still fully activated, enhancing his sight and reflexes.

    ''Is that bastard insane?'' Michael wondered as he shed at the wind des that were about to cut into his body. His movements were fluid and nimble as he cut through three wind des while evading the rest.

    A deep frown formed on his face, but he didn''t say anything. It was clear that the Barbaric couple was not to be reasoned with. They fought in the middle of a bustling shop in the Central Trading Hall and had nearly killed a young innocent boy. It was only obvious that Michael wouldn''t lower his guard against such a crazy couple.

    He took a few steps back and nced over to Jacqueline, who was still sitting on the ground. Tears were streaming down her cheeks like a waterfall as she reached out for the remains of her fencing de and held them close.

    ''People say that opposite attracts¡­but that''s not the case right here. They''re like two madds birthed from the same egg¡­''

    "Stop evading my attacks and face them head-on!!" Frederik shouted in anger as he created a new batch of wind des.

    He released them while dashing forward as well.

    The attack trajectory of the wind des was pretty simple thanks to Jacqueline being in the way and the shelves left and right to the aisle. Michael''s enhanced strength and perception also provided him with a drastic advantage. They allowed him to stay focused on Frederik when he leaned forward and kicked off to st his body ahead.

    His sword-arm swung out like a snake lunging at its prey. Tigerfang cut easily through four wind des before Michael changed the sword''s trajectory in an instant. He twisted Tigerfang and pushed himself to the side while halting his advance at once. The sound his ankles made when he halted his advance suddenly was sickening to hear but Michael ignored it.

    He used his superior speed and perception to use Tigerfang like a bat. Its t side shot past Frederik''s longsword and impacted with tremendous force. The impact surface was Frederik''s stomach, and the result was even better than Michael would have expected.

    ''Looks like their families aren''t mindlessly feeding them with resources to grow stronger,'' Michael concluded as Frederik copsed on the ground.

    Frederik clutched his stomach in pain while trying desperately to breathe.

    Michael simply looked at the young man as he analyzed his strength and perception.

    ''Thanks to my Soultrait I was able to get a glimpse of his movement much earlier than I should. That,bined with my superior strength and agility, gave me the opportunity to strike.''

    Michael knew that Frederik didn''t use his entire strength to attack him because he never considered this short encounter a life-and-death battle. However, it was still quite surprising to think that Frederik''s raw strength was lower than his.

    This could only mean two things; Michael''s War Rune was refined to a higher degree, or Tigerfang enhanced his strength and agility higher than the Artifacts Frederik bound to his War Rune!

    Either way, Michael was at an advantage.

    "How about we stop now?" He asked.

    His gaze continued to linger on Frederik but there didn''t seem to be any more dangering from the young man.

    Frederik looked up to see Michael towering above him a few meters away. The cold abyss-like eyes of the unknown young man caused shivers to run down his spine and he nodded his head faintly before he even realized.

    ''Who is that guy? Why does it feel like I''m being ridiculed by my instructor?'' Frederik thought, having a tough timeprehending why Michael''s fighting style and actions made it feel like he was fighting a veteran just a moment ago.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    What Frederik didn''t know was that Michael was also a little surprised by his own actions. His body moved before he realized, and the reason was pretty simple- Fenrir''s memories!

    ''I will need more time to digest Fenrir''s memory fragments and sort out the things I do not want to recall,'' He thought in all seriousness, ''I do not want his memories to affect me negatively, but exploiting hisbat experience and knowledge will help me a lot¡­''

    While he was deep in thought, Michael ignored that Frederik had already gotten up from the ground. One of his hands was pressed against his aching stomach while his longsword rested in his other hand.

    "I am the third son of the Kolbenheim family, Frederik Kolbenheim. I have a 3-Star Soultrait, and I entered the Origin Expanse a month ago. Introduce yourself please¡­" He was about to finish thest sentence but stopped midway as he recalled Michael''s fluidic and lethal movements.

    "Is he asking me for a date or what?" Michael asked in an incredulous tone before he added quietly, "What an idiot."

    Frederik heard Michael''sst words and scowled. Instinctively, he conjured several wind spears using his Soultrait, but Michael just smiled. He pointed somewhere behind Frederik with a small smile.

    "Looks like your babysitter found you."

    Frederik turned his head, and his movements froze upon seeing a gray-haired man standing right behind him. He wore simple, yet striking clothes which most butlers wore on duty, but that didn''t hide the overwhelming power residing inside the old man''s body.

    "Head butler La¨C..."

    "We''re leaving. Come with me, or you''ll be carried out like your little fianc¨¦," The head butler instructed, while his gaze moved to Jacqueline, whom he had already picked up. He threw her on his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and ignored that she was throwing a tantrum, trying to escape the head butler''s clutches.

    Michael didn''t expect a butler to be a powerful Awakened, but it made sense. Some families hired retired Awakened as both butlers and bodyguards to make sure that their children would be safe from most dangers. Nheless, Michael wondered how strong the old man in front of him was. Thus, he did something he didn''t initially want to do. He decided to rile up Frederik for being a douchebag.

    "I have a 2-Star Soultrait and it has been less than two days since my War Rune formed. Looks like you have to train a lot when you''re back home, Frederik Kolbenheim with a 3-Star Soultrait," Michael muttered in a low mocking voice, but he was loud enough for Frederik to hear.

    The young man''s head flicked around at once, just to see the mocking expression on Michael''s face. Frederik grit his teeth and clenched his fists, however, he didn''t say a word.

    Instead, it was the head butler who halted in his tracks. He scanned Michael from head to toe before his gaze returned back to the War Rune on the back of Michael''s hand.

    His gaze rested on the War Rune for a second or two until the head butler bowed to Michael.

    "I apologize for the trouble my master and his fianc¨¦ caused," The head butler apologized, "They have a bad temper, Lord¡­"

    ''You want me to tell you my name? Sorry to disappoint you, but there is not much to find.'' Michael chuckled in his mind.

    "I am just an ordinary guy, who got a bit lucky. There is no need to waste your time on me," Michael replied nonchntly.

    He was still a little bit angry about the Barbaric Couple''s attitude and actions, but it was not like the head butler was at fault for their stupidity.

    Michael was way too familiar with spoiled and entitled children of big families, in the first ce. Thus, he might have gone a little overboard to teach them a lesson since he was itching to change his life by bing a strong Lord who could stand up for himself after his War Rune manifested.

    "I see." The head butler looked at Michael for a few more seconds before he nodded his head.

    "In that case, I hope you will continue to stay lucky, Sir."

 Chapter 30 Hardship Of Being A Father

    ?After the Barbaric couple was dragged outside Bartholomew''s House of Witchery, Michael was finally able to conclude the deal and get his money.

    Meanwhile, in a private room in one of the most popr restaurants of the Central Trading Hall, two middle-aged men clinked sses.

    "Don''t you think it''s a good sign that we''re finally able to create a formal bond between our families? Our families have been working together for a long time, but we were never able to form an even stronger bond. It''s a good thing that this will change with Frederik and your lovely daughter," One of the middle-aged men said after he took a sip of the liquor.

    "Lovely? She is wild, and I don''t think anyone can control her¡­" The other middle-aged man responded before he downed the entire ss of liquor at once, "I really hope that Frederik can control Jacqueline in the future¡­ They might have been good friends since childhood, but I''ve heard too many rumors about them. It worries me a little, to be honest."

    The two men were the patriarchs of the Kolbenheim and Ondo family, and also the parents of the troublemakers Frederik and Jacqueline.

    "The rumors, you say? I heard that they call Jacqueline and Frederik the Barbaric Couple because they fight everywhere, and because their temper is so bad¡­looks like we spoiled them too much¡­" Igor Kolbenheim, Frederik''s father, said with regret.

    Because they were both Lords of their own territory and the patriarchs of their respective families, they had a lot to do. It was not easy to be a patriarch or a Lord, but they had to juggle both responsibilities simultaneously. Thus, they never had much time to raise their children. Unfortunately, that was also why they ended up spoiling their children whenever they met.

    Only now that it was toote did they realize their mistake, but there was not much they could do about it.

    "Talking about regrets of the past doesn''t resolve the issues at hand. The rumors are bad enough for us to be forced to meet and have your head butler and my information department report to us about everything they did in the past. We''re here toe up with the best solutions for them, and our families." Jacqueline''s father, Karek Ondo said while patting his old friend''s back reassuringly.

    It had been a while since they met up to eat and drink. The asion was not pleasant, but it was stillforting to have each other to rely on. It was easier to have good inws to talk to rather than entitled and lofty families that were unwilling to ept their mistakes.

    "Let go of me! I said, let go!!!" A loud voice reverberated outside the private room, followed by the sound of breaking tes and shocked squeals from the restaurant guests.

    Karek Ondo sighed deeply and set his empty ss down. He reached out for the bottle of alcohol to drown himself in misery, only to halt in his tracks.

    "I shouldn''t get myself drunk, otherwise¡­" Karek didn''t finish his sentence, but Igor understood. He smiled lightly and put the bottle of alcohol a little bit further away from Karek''s reach.

    A momentter, the slides of the private room opened, and the head butler entered the room. Jacqueline was still in his arms, hanging down like a wilted flower fluttering in the wind. She was struggling to free herself and thrashed her arms and legs around without caring for her image.

    Karek instinctively reached out for the bottle, ignoring his earlier thoughts. He needed alcohol to endure what was about to happen.

    Fortunately, Igor had already pushed the bottle beyond his reach while still seated.

    The head butler let Jacqueline down, while Frederik entered the room with a grim expression on his pale face.

    Jacqueline''s face and hair were a mess from all the crying and Frederik seemed to be in pain. He touched his stomach repetitively and flinched every time.

    "Huh?" Igor Kolbenheim blurted out, "What happened to you guys?"

    Karek Ondo looked at his daughter and future son-inw for the first time after he heard his friend''s question and a deep frown appeared on his face.

    He turned to his friend in confusion, but Igor seemed just as confused as him. Their attention switched to the head butler, who bowed deeply in front of the two patriarchs.

    "I apologize, Master. I was held up a little and couldn''t prevent the young master and young mistress from fighting. They had a little lover''s spat and it ended up causing a bit of trouble¡­" The head butler exined, his head still lowered.

    "Jacqueline did that to him? But why is she crying then?" Karek Ondo asked, feeling a little bit ufortable about the situation.

    Jacqueline took the second question as a sign of breaking out in tears once again.

    "Dad¡­dad¡­my Silvertite Fencing Saber¡­someone destroyed it¡­" Jacqueline said while bawling her eyes out in front of her father.

    The patriarchs looked at Jacqueline for a moment, and their gazes flicked to Frederik in unison. However, the young man could only look away while gritting his teeth.

    "What happened?" Igor Kolbenheim finally asked the head butler, who opened his mouth just to close it a momentter.

    "¡­it is a little bit hard to exin because I arrived toote, Master¡­" He started slowly before he added, "But I asked the security team for the footage of the shop''s surveince camera. It should be easier to discern what happened by watching the footage¡­"

    The head butler essed his crystal watch a momentter and opened the file he had received from the Central Trading Hall''s security.

    A holographic screen popped up, and the first thing one saw was Bartholomew''s House of Witchery and the quarreling couple.

    In no time, the lover''s little squabble turned into a light fight as they brought out weapons. When the patriarchs saw this, they could only shake their heads in disappointment.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Why are you guys fighting again, in public at that? Do that at home or in the Arena¡­" Igor grumbled while Karek added resignedly,

    "I''ve never seen such a weird couple. Why did we even put you two together?"

    Upon hearing what her father mumbled, Jacqueline threw herself at Frederik. She ignored his pained groan and squealed while pulling him into an embrace, "Because we love each other!!"

    Karek pinched the bridge of his nose, and the thought of getting up and reaching out for the alcohol became more enticing by the second.

    Suddenly, the video footage showed the exact moment when Jacqueline tripped and lost her bnce. She stumbled and the fencing saber kept getting closer to an oblivious, little boy. Karek tensed and his eyes were glued to the holographic screen as he awaited a horrific scene.

    Luckily, a young man appeared out of nowhere and Karek''s shoulders rxed. He frowned a little and questioned himself if it was a great idea to throw the longsword at his daughter, but that thought quickly vanished. Jacqueline''s Silvertite Fencing Saber broke the next minute and she slumped to the ground in the video.

    "Good thing that someone interfered¡­" Igor spoke in a relieved voice, and Karek nodded his head. He looked at his daughter sharply and pointed at her, "I will deduct the broken Artifact''s worth from your pocket money. If you''d touched even a strand of that little boy, I would have separated you and Frederik!!"

    Jacqueline wanted to say something but shut her mouth upon seeing the boiling anger on her father''s face and looked down at the ground.

    "What¡­FREDERIK!" Igor shouted suddenly. Frederik flinched and he took a step back involuntarily.

    It was the first time he saw his father that angry.

    "Why the hell would you attack that man?!? You arrogant idiot!!!" Igor bellowed and his t hand smashed on the table.

    The video showed the short encounter between Frederik and Michael. It ended quickly but that was enough for Karek''s expression to change.

    "I''ve noticed it earlier already, but that kid is pretty good. He doesn''t seem that old either," He mumbled, "Which family is he from?"

    Igor hadn''t paid attention to the young man. He only knew that his son had been beaten fairly easily, fortunately. It was a good thing that his son had been taught a lesson after his reckless action.

    "Why did you stop there?" Igor noticed that the head butler stopped in the video and looked at the young man for a few seconds.

    However, it was not Michael who answered this time. Instead, Frederik''s grumbling could be heard from behind them, "That bastard didn''t want to tell us his name¡­ he humiliated me and said that he had a weaker Soultrait than me and that he manifested his War Rune less than two days ago¡­"

    "Less than two days? He already has a good Artifact, and his War Rune has been refined quite a bit¡­I don''t remember this youth from thest family gatherings¡­which family is he from?" Igor Kolbenheim mumbled after a quick scan of the unknown man''s strength.

    The head butler bowed his head before answering, "I already sent the recording to the information department. They''re currently scanning all data to find out who he is. Facial recognition should make it easy to confirm his identity."

    The patriarchs nodded their heads in unison upon hearing the head butler''s words.

    "I think he is either a Shadow of the big families or he is a disciple of the hidden ns," Karek mused as they watched the video for the third time. This time, they ignored their children and focused on the unknown guy, "But in either case, he wouldn''t have intercepted in the fight. They''re taught to keep their identity hidden under any circumstances."

    Igor and the head butler agreed while Jacqueline and Frederik grumbled quietly.

    "Who cares about that kid?" Frederik asked while Jacqueline added,

    "He destroyed my 4-Star Artifact¡­just send some of our men to beat the living shit out of him¡­"

    "You two¡­" Karek warned, clenching his fist, "...I think we''ve treated both of you too nicely."

    Igor agreed readily, nodding his head at once. The video footage was enough to write several articles about the disgrace the new generation brought upon their family. Ifpetitors of the Kolbenheim and Ondo families got wind of their kids'' humiliating public act, they would be in a pickle.

    Their image would be ruined beyond measure, and so would their goodwill. In turn, the trust people had in them, and their products would go for a toss too.

    "I think it''s about time to send you there¡­" Karek said, and Igor agreed without a second thought, "I agree. It''s about time for them to face some hardships!"

    Little did Frederik and Jacqueline know of the horror that awaited them soon.

    Suddenly the discussion of the two patriarchs was intercepted as a holographic screen popped up in front of the head butler. It disyed various pieces of information for everyone in the room to read, attracting their interest.

    "Michael Fang¡­so that''s your name¡­"

 Chapter 31 Golden Bartholomew

    ?Back in Bartholomew''s House of Witchery, a bald middle-aged man broke out in a sweat as he bowed several times to Michael.

    "Thank you, Sir¡­ Thank you so much!" He expressed his gratitude repeatedly, "The House of Witchery would have been ruined without you!!"

    The bald middle-aged man was the manager of the House of Witchery, who came rushing to his shop when he heard what happened.

    ''''There is no need to exaggerate,'''' Michael murmured to himself in a muffled voice. He stepped forward to pat the manager''s shoulder in hope of stopping the man from bowing again.

    "It''s fine. I acted because of the little boy, not to protect the shop."

    Michael didn''t really like bootlickers, and he was certainly not one himself. Thus, he pointed out the facts bluntly rather than making it seem like he had protected the little boy for the shop''s sake.

    "Of course of course. It was all for the boy..." The manager said hurriedly. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before he bowed once again, "But your actions protected the prestige of the shop, nheless. Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Ondo are known for stirring trouble and breaking things. Everyone knows them, but you took action despite that!"

    "...Okay."

    "It would be too shrewd of me, if I wouldn''t reward you for acting when nobody else did. Seeing your selfless action, I feel a little generous today. You saved the shop today from getting destroyed, so I might as well reach deep in my pockets to thank the savior of our prestigious shop!" The manager gave him a proud smile before he snapped his fingers.

    A staff member rushed to the manager from farther away upon hearing the snap. He was carrying a pair of leather boots in his hands which he held out for Michael to take. Simultaneously, a golden card with the logo of Bartholomew appeared in the manager''s hand.

    "To express my gratitude, I would like to reward you with the Boots of Taran, and the Golden Bartholomew Membership. With the membership, you''ll be able to use all facilities affiliated to Bartholomew. Furthermore, we will always use the highest possible price to purchase your goods and provide a discount whenever you purchase something!"

    Michael stared at the manager with a stupefied expression for a while. He felt the gaze of dozens lingering on him, while the manager stared intently into his eyes as well.

    ''You won''t let me leave if I don''t take all of this, will you?'' Michael thought with a wry smile on his lips as he epted the gifts. "That''s very generous of you. Thank you!"

    He epted the membership card along with the Boots of Taran while his mind began to rattle.

    ''He is genuinely thankful for what I did, but the staff seems a little stupefied,'' Michael perceived with a single nce across the room, ''Is he trying to please me to turn me into a repeat customer to use all the Bartholomew facilities? Sorry, but I am just a normal guy, and not a bigshot. Your investment is not worth it.''

    Despite thinking like that, Michael felt that the manager was a sly man. Granting him various benefits inevitably improved his business rtionship with the shop.

    It was only obvious, but Michael would keep visiting it since he was promised discounts for all purchases and high prices whenever he wanted to sell something. Furthermore, with the rewards he was given, the House of Witchery''s image would improve on the outside as well. Word would spread that they''re not stingy when ites to rewarding those who stand up for others when nobody else does. It would improve the shop''s public image and goodwill by rewarding their ''savior'' for his actions.

    "The Boots of Taran is a Tierless 2-Star Artifact with an enchantment. It won''t increase your physical strength of agility drastically upon binding to your War Rune, but you will be able to use the enchantment called ''Swiftness''. Winds will gather around the boots to increase your speed by decreasing your weight slightly," The young man exined with a subtle smile.

    Meanwhile, the bald manager received a call. One moment he was happy, and the next, his face was drained of its colour.

    "I am terribly sorry, but I will have to leave," The bald manager said before bowing to Michael, "Once again, thank you very much. I hope you''ll have a nice shopping trip!"

    After bidding goodbye to Michael, the bald manager whispered something to the staff member next to him. He ran away afterward and disappeared a few secondster.

    ''What now? The deal?''

    Michael smiled lightly while scratching the back of his head and turned back to the clerk from earlier.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Can we adjust the price ording to the rates I would receive with the Golden Bartholomew Membership, please?" He asked the clerk.

    The clerk nodded his head immediately, "Of course, Sir¡­but please don''t misunderstand¡­I gave you the best rates for ordinary customers. However, since you''ve be a member of the Golden Bartholomew the rate changes a little¡­"

    The clerk didn''t want Michael to think that he dupped him earlier when he promised the best price.

    "I understand, don''t worry," Michael replied calmly.

    That was enough for the clerk to sigh in relief and get back to work.

    In the following minutes, Michael waited patiently before he received a new contract.

    "The Golden Bartholomew membership card is also connected to a separate bank ount. The annual interest rate is 3%. Do you wish to transfer the money to your Golden Bartholomew membership card, or to your private bank ount, Sir?" The clerk asked atst.

    "You can transfer it to the membership card. I will use up most of it in the next few minutes, either way," Michael answered nonchntly. The clerk smiled lightly in response and gave him a nod. "As you wish, Sir!"

    The clerk retrieved Michael''s Golden Bartholomew card before asking a few questions. Michael answered all of them to link his ID to the Golden Bartholomew before he received two notifications on his crystal watch.

    [The Pandemonium Bartholomew Bank has been sessfully linked.]

    [50,630$ have been transferred to your ount!]

    ''Huh?! Over 50,000 dors? Isn''t that a little too much?'' Michael''s eyes widened in shock.

    He knew that a Low Tier-1 Monster corpse was worth roughly 500$, but that included their meat, organs, and bones. Michael hadn''t brought any meat and he didn''t have enough space to squeeze all monster bones and organs inside his War Rune either. Despite that, he had earned 50,000$. That was insane!!

    "The hide and Gemstones of Gem Jaguars are valuable because they''re hard to procure without damaging them. Gem Jaguars are also pretty hard to find. The Gemstones you sold were in perfect condition, just like the Frenzy Dear Antlers and everything else you sold. It will be quite easy to work with the materials you''ve provided, which is why the Shop''s AI gave your goods a high evaluation score," The clerk said when he noticed Michael staring stupefied at the notification on his crystal watch.

    "Oh, nice¡­" Michael blurted out after listening half-heartedly. His mind was still processing the fact that he had earned so much in such a short amount of time.

    For a moment, he forgot that he was in a rush, and he continued to stare nkly at his crystal watch.

    Only when he felt someone pulling at his sleeve did Michael regain his senses. He looked to his right where a female staff member was waiting for him. She stared at him with a smile and bowed lightly when he finally took note of her.

    "The manager told me to guide you around the shop. If you like something, just say the word!"

    Michael could only nod his head before his shopping trip began.

    Ten minutester, he left the shop with a grave expression.

    ''Why did I think that I was rich? I am dirt poor¡­''

 Chapter 32 Attack

    ?It was not yet 4 pm when Michael entered the shuttle to get back home.

    His expression was still dazed and filled with disbelief, and it took a while before he regained hisposure.

    ''Why did I ever believe that 50,000$ is a lot?''

    He had only been shopping for a short while, but Michael wanted to cry after looking at his now-empty bank ount. Most of his savings had been exhausted as well. He had used up his hard-earned money in a fraction of the time it took him to earn it.

    ''A bunch of potions, arrows, two mass-produced basic techniques used by soldiers, and a low-quality enchantment array is all I can afford¡­that''s ridiculous¡­I couldn''t even buy the Low Elite Arrow Artifact with the Return enchantment¡­''

    He bought a bunch of misceneous items such as bandages, mattresses, and other necessities to improve his subjects'' lifestyle quickly, but these goods were cheappared to the other things he purchased.

    The most expensive purchases were the Sun Soldier Breathing technique, the Sun Soldier''s Weaponry technique, and the preservation enchantment array of low quality. Other than that, the potions were also not that cheap. However, their use was exceptional, so his expenditure didn''t sting that much.

    ''To think that a mass-produced basic technique cost 10,000$. They''re not even amazing techniques¡­'' He grumbled even though he knew that he was already very lucky with the items in stock. Few shops were able to get their hands on the techniques he purchased.

    The Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique improved the user''s stamina, while simultaneously improving the absorption rate of the Origin Expanse''s dormant energy. It was one of the techniques that required lots of practice to be mastered rather than high talent.

    The same could be said about the Sun Soldier''s Weaponry technique. It taught the most fundamental points about various weapons, which made it easier for a starless summon to learn how to fight.

    Instead of purchasing Combat Summoning Scrolls for a hefty price to summon a randombat unit, Michael chose the two basic techniques to train his subjects. He didn''t want to force them to fight, instead, Michael wanted to give his subjects the opportunity to be stronger and fend for themselves if necessary.

    Most of his subjects were starless and they would probably never be able to receive enlightenment and be able to break through the limit of their potential. Nheless, Michael wanted to give them a chance to change their fate.

    This was something few Lords did because they deemed it useless, but Michael was different. He had a huge advantagepared to them.

    His Soultrait made it easier to obtain summoning scrolls. He received summoning scroll fragments from every monster killed by him or his subjects. Extraction increased his drop rate for other loot as well.

    For someone like Michael, purchasing summoning scrolls was a waste of money. Instead, he should exploit the utility of his Soultrait as much as possible. Training his subjects was one way to achieve this.

    As long as one out of a hundred starless summons was able to be promoted to a 1-Star Soldier through the techniques he purchased, it would already be worth it for Michael. With enough time and effort, a small but capable army would form. That was something Michael believed firmly!

    ''If 50,000$ is not enough to purchase everything, I can just work harder and earn more!''

    Michael''s internal conflict died down slowly and he was filled with determination again.

    After he overcame the initial shock, he finally understood why most Lords said that they could never have enough money. There were always expenses that had to be covered, draining the money one earned over a long period rapidly.

    ''Just give your best and focus!'' He told himself as the shuttle descended tond in front of the apartmentplex.

    [Thank you for using Golden Lion''s shuttle service!]

    He got out, entered the apartmentplex, and returned home with a glint in his eyes.

    His mind had been dazzled by the tremendous amount of money a Lord required to properly build and grow his territory. Fortunately, he didn''t require too much time to get back to his old self, and the tiredness that was about to engulf him dispersed as he regained hisposure.

    Michael was back in his apartment and ready to return to the Origin Expanse to strive even harder than before!

    "Do I have everything?" He mumbled before checking his War Rune three more times.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Only when he was certain that he had bought everything necessary did he will the War Rune to open the Runic Gate once again.

    The space in front of him distorted and the white Gate manifested. Michael didn''t waste a second and stepped through the Gate immediately.

    A few secondster, the Runic Gate manifested in the clearing of his territory and Michael stepped outside.

    The first thing he did was to check his Links of Loyalty. None of them had been cut nor had they grown weaker.

    ''Everyone is still alive, good.''

    Once he was reassured about that, he looked into the sky and noticed that rays of sunlight were shining through the canopy of ginormous trees.

    It meant he had arrived in the Origin Expanse shortly after sunrise, just like Michael guessed.

    ''Where is Tiara?'' Michael wondered as he looked out for the Battle Maid. She shouldn''t be too far away, but Michael couldn''t find her.

    ''Well, whatever. I can search for her once I rescue our idiotic Tracker.''

    Michael walked over to the wooden manor and entered ire Tracer''s room. She was lying in the bed, looking deathly pale and sweating profusely.

    He took in a breath of the cold air and rushed to her bed. With a flick of his wrist, a vial with viscous red liquid appeared in his hand. Michael removed the lid quickly and lifted ire''s head gently before he held the bottle near her mouth. The viscous content of the bottle trickled into her mouth, but there was no reaction from ire''s side.

    Michael waited patiently; however, ire was unmoving. In fact, if not for her weak breathing, Michael wouldn''t be able to tell that she was still alive.

    That was a bad sign.

    ''Should I give her another potion?'' He pondered a bit but shook his head atst. Healing potions were infused with lifeforce to aid the injured''s healing process. Providing a severely injured patient with too much lifeforce without processing it in specific ways might be counter-productive and cause unwanted results.

    ''I didn''t expect her condition to deteriorate that quickly¡­I should have purchased other potions for her¡­'' Michael could take the risk, but he knew that the unrefined healing potions in his possession were not the best. They were cost-efficient, but not able to resurrect someone who was on his or her death''s bed. Even selling his entire territory wouldn''t be enough to afford such a potion.

    Thus, all he could do was hope that ire''s body would react to the potions he purchased and ept them.

    Michael sighed deeply in regret and put ire back down in bed. He called one of his subjects over and handed her a few potions, clean bandages and ethanol to disinfect her wound.

    "Take care of her. Give her another potion if her condition doesn''t improve in the next 30 minutes. If she stays like this until lunch, give her another healing potion" Michael ordered, "Report to me when her condition gets worse."

    "I understand, my Lord!" The woman said immediately. She opened her mouth afterward but shut it a momentter. Michael noticed that and halted in his tracks.

    "If you have a problem, just tell me," He said, sensing that something was amiss.

    The woman hesitated, unsure if she was eligible to report to their lord. Only when she saw the impatience and concern in Michael''s eyes did her lips part subconsciously and words tumbled out.

    "My lord, I am not sure if you''ve already received the report but¡­the beings you called Gogis have started to attack the protection barrier with the rise of the sun¡­"

    "Already?!"

 Chapter 33 Soaked

    ?"Already?!"  Michael asked, a little surprised but he calmed down quickly.

    He had expected the Gogis to attack after he returned, and not before sunrise. Fortunately, their attacks were not his immediate concern because the protection barrier was still intact. It would take a little bit more to destroy the protection barrier than some Tier-1 Gogis.

    "Where is Tiara?" He asked the woman, who was about to reply when a weak, hardlyprehensible voice rang through the room.

    "Fighting the Gogis¡­" ire Tracer replied in the woman''s stead. She forced her eyes to open just a bit and look at her Lord, "...sorry¡­"

    Michael looked over to ire with furrowed eyebrows. He didn''t expect ire to be up because the healing potion had been less efficient on her than he had expected. However, it was good to see that her mentality was quite strong.

    "It''s good that you woke up, but focus on getting better," He told ire. Afterward, he turned to the woman standing next to ire''s bed and instructed, "Please take care of her."

    Wasting no time, Michael rushed out of the room and the wooden manor. He was not sure about Tiara''s exact position but dashing to the border of the protection barrier where most noises came from was the best bargain.

    It took no time for him to reach the border to his territory and a Battle Maid from the Silverfang Tigerfolk, who looked like she had taken a bath in crimson blood.

    Her ears twitched in excitement and her tail wagged from left to right as she threw the corpse of arge Gori-like monster on top of a small pile of corpses.

    There were, at least, ten Gogi corpses thrown haphazardly at each other, forming the small mountain. Each of them was roughly 2.5 meters tall with a great physique that had been trained to the peak. The Gogi were extremely bulky, to the extent that one might question whether they got steroids for all three meals of the day. In addition to that, long, ck hair covered their entire body.

    ''Yetis should look simr,'' Michael thought at first nce. He then turned over to Tiara, who began to smile brightly upon seeing him. She rushed over to him, her ears perking upward and her tail curling up.

    "Master, you''ve returned!" Tiara eximed, bowing deeply. "I dealt with some of them!!"

    "...I can see that¡­Good job, Tiara," Michael appreciated her efforts while giving her a forced smile. Tiara was only 1.6 meters tall, but she carried around the Gogi corpses as if they didn''t weigh anything.

    ''She is not injured either. That''s the most important,'' He thought while ncing at Tiara, who was excited, ''Looks like the Silverfang Tigerfolk is quite powerful, or is it just Tiara? No, she seems excited to be able to fight instinctively. Is everyone from the Silverfang Tigerfolk a warrior? ¡­ It would be great to have them here then¡­''

    Michael was in dire need of powerful warriors, but it was not as if he could snap and the Silverfang Tigerfolk would gather in his territory.

    The spot he was currently in was well secured and the protection barrier was hidden from the dense flora and fauna of the rainforest. As he was deep in thought, Michael took a while to notice until he heard the loud thuds that wereing from the protection barrier. And when he did, his curiosity was piqued, and he moved around to look behind the thicket.

    What appeared in front of him were close to 30 2.5-meter-tall Gogis towering behind the protection barrier, throwing spears and stones at the barrier from two dozen meters.

    "After I killed some of them, they retreated. I cannot reach them anymore ¨C not if I don''t want to sustain severe injuries in the process." Tiara exined, feeling slightly disappointed, and her ears drooped.

    "It doesn''t look like they''ll leave anytime soon either. You did a good job hunting ten Gogis without sustaining any injuries," Michael acknowledged her efforts before he added, "How much energy do you have left?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael used his Eagle Eyes to collect all the necessary information. He then hid behind the thicket while retrieving the 1-Star Tierless Antler Bow.

    ''If they stay here, I won''t be able to hunt properly. Their attacks will stagnate my progress¡­'' He thought before another thought shed through his mind, ''The more Gogis I hunt right now, the fewer opponents will I have to face once I sh with their leader!"

    Tiara''s ears perked up again upon hearing the praise. Her grip on the silver spear tightened and she was about to turn around to return to the battlefield. She was extremely motivated and wanted to receive more praise from her master when Michael suddenly threw something in her direction.

    "Bind them to your War Rune. The boots have a passive enchantment that drains a bit of energy every few seconds. In exchange, you will have an easier time maneuvering through the rainforest, and evading attacks," Michael summarized the effect of the Boots of Taran after he handed them to Tiara.

    She had a War Rune and should thus be able to bind Artifacts.

    Tiara didn''t tell him how much energy she had left but he was able to make a rough guess seeing how excited she was and feeling their strengthened Link of Loyalty.

    "Are you sur¨C..." Tiara began, only to see that Michael''s attention had already diverted to binding the Antler Bow to his War Rune.

    Now that his strength and refinement increased a little, he could bind another Artifact to his War Rune. Tigerfang enhanced his Agility, Strength, and perception. As an Epic Artifact, the enhancement was drastic, which was not the case for the 1-Star Tierless Antler Bow.

    It enhanced his perception a little, but that was already it, which was an advantage. Michael didn''t want to burden his body too much with the artificial enhancement he received from Artifacts because his body was already under a lot of stress from the toll of his refined War Rune.

    His body had yet to fully adjust to the War Rune''s refinement degree increasing at a rapid pace within the first three days it manifested.

    Unfortunately, Michael didn''t have enough time to fool around and adapt to the changes inside his body. He was in a dangerous territory and one of the Lords near his territory was already hostile to him. Michael had to deal with the issues at hand before he could pay attention to his body and other needs.

    Meanwhile, Tiara bound the Boots of Taran to her War Rune and put them on. Their size increased slightly after she summoned them from her War Rune, fitting her feet perfectly.

    "Are you confident that you''re nimble enough to evade the stones and spears thrown at you?" Michael asked seriously.

    Tiara looked at him for a second or two before she nodded her head, "I can use the surrounding environment to block most attacks. Their attack pattern is nothing special, either. I won''t have a problem getting closer to them. The only issue is closebat. Once I reach them, I won''t be able to deal with all of them at the same time, Master."

    "There is no need for you to enter closebat until the end," Michael revealed mysteriously.

    "I don''t have to do that? Did you alreadye up with a n, master?"

    The glint in Tiara''s eyes intensified upon hearing that Michael had a n, and her eyes widened upon seeing what emerged in front of her a momentter.

    "That is your n, master? Amazing!"

 Chapter 34 Survival Of The Fittest

    ?Michael''s n was pretty simple; he would poison the Gogis.

    Since he was weaker than the Gogis, and he had only one ally by his side, Michael deemed it necessary to be fully prepared for the Gogis'' attack.

    He didn''t have enough funds to purchase lethal poison with the effect to killing powerful opponents, but his savings,bined with the little money he had to spare from his first ie as a Lord had been enough to purchase a simple poison that attacked the nervous system of the affected, paralyzing the victim for a few minutes.

    It was like a narcotic, just a tad weaker and easier to use.

    Michael could only purchase a single bottle of the paralyzing poison with his meager funds but that had to be enough.

    "Gogis are dense, and their attacks are simple. If you can keep them distracted for a few minutes, the tide of the battle will turn in our favor," Michael said before he began to borate the n he had in mind, sharing more details.

    Tiara listened intently and nodded every few seconds.

    Two minutester, she dashed through the thicket and emerged outside the protection barrier. Her eyes moved from left to right before she kicked on the ground. Tiara darted to the left and the heads of all Gogis followed her movements at once.

    The Gogis picked up their spears and stones and threw them with full might at the detestable target. However, before any projectiles could hit her, Tiara disappeared behind a humongous tree.

    She reappeared on the other side a momentter, only to vanish into the nearby bush, confusing the Gogis. In the following 60 seconds, Tiara kept the group of 30 Gogis fully distracted. Their heads flicked in Tiara''s direction, and the only time their focus wavered was the second they took to pick up new projectiles to throw at the Battle Maid.

    The Gogis forgot about the protection barrier and kept attacking Tiara. Upon noticing that their projectiles were useless, some Gogis began to charge at Tiara.

    It was only a momentter when it happened.

    A loud thud resounded through the area, which was immediately followed by the crisp sound of rustling leaves. The Gogis were too engrossed in cornering Tiara so even if they heard the sound, they were already focused on the target ahead of them. They didn''t want to give their target an opportunity to escape now that she had left the protection barrier. She had killed too many of theirrades to be kept alive!

    Thus, they ignored the continuous sound of thuds and rustling leaves and only looked up when their brethren roared out in anger.

    The Gogis turned around, only to halt in their tracks upon seeing that six of their brethren were lying on the ground, spiked with several arrows.

    More arrows flew through the air, hitting another target three times in quick session. After the first arrow hit the target, the Gogi stumbled. However, only after the second and third arrow impacted did it copse.

    They were not yet dead, but theirbat prowess had been nullified by Michael who paralyzed them for the next few minutes.

    All of that was thanks to the poison-coated arrows Michael shot at his targets.

    He was standing on a tree branch high up in the air, dozens of meters away from the Gogis. Michael had left the protection barrier earlier to find a better position to attack the Gogis secretly.

    He could locate his opponents quite easily from his position with his Eagle Eyes while the Gogis didn''t have such an ability. Furthermore, their tracking skills were not exactly exceptional either.

    "One of my people stole your Bilroxs'' eggs, but you attacked my territory. We started it first, but that doesn''t mean I''ll allow you to hunt me down!" Michael mumbled to himself as he coated the next three arrows in the bottle of paray poison.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Initially, Michael wanted to grow his territory inside the protection barrier first. He had too few subjects and missed out on a vast pool of information about the surrounding area and the Overlords of the rainforest by staying confined to his territory. Unfortunately, it seemed like the Origin Expanse wasn''t going to be merciful enough to give him enough time to build his territory.

    The Gogis had a good reason to attack him, but it was not as if Michael would allow them to destroy everything. They were stupid and already fully focused on Tiara.

    They didn''t even realize that someone else had already sneaked up on them and believed that Tiara had unleashed some sorcery to attack from a different angle. They didn''t see a second person, which meant that there was no second person ¨C obviously.

    Michael chuckled when he realized that the Gogis were not even trying to find him. Their eyes kept following Tiara as the Battle Maid continued to run around and distract them. She closed the distance between herself and the Gogis every now and then before diving deeper in the rainforest''s thicket, evading several projectiles easily.

    His movements were graceful and nimble. It was easy to tell that she had been trained meticulously and that her body was well-bnced, able to discharge tremendous strength through every single muscle fiber in her body without adversely affecting her flexibility.

    Michael observed the battlefield intently in the meantime. He finished coating the next batch of arrows and nocked the first on the bowstring. He pulled the bowstring back when most of the Gogis were focused on Tiara and aimed.

    However, he didn''t release the arrow immediately as a doubt shed through his mind.

    ''Three arrows are enough to paralyze them, but is it really alright to leave them alive?''

    He noticed that some Gogis had finally diverted their focus from Tiara to help their injuredrades. They dragged theirrades over the ground and away from her, increasing the distance to both the protection barrier and Tiara.

    They were moving closer to Michael''s position but that didn''t change the fact that the Gogi seemed fiercely loyal and had an extreme sense of unity.

    ''If I leave them alive, they''ll be able to flee¡­by the time I face the Gogi Lord I will have to face more enemies, who''re thirsting for my blood¡­''

    He looked at the Gogi he had targeted earlier, grit his teeth, and changed his target. The next moment, his arrow aimed at one of the Gogis who was trying to pull hisrade out of the danger zone. Then Michael released the arrow and observed as it flew towards its target.

    Shivers ran down his spine and goosebumps spread all over his body as his eyes followed the arrow''s trajectory precisely. It was almost as if time had slowed down as the arrow pierced the Gogi''s head, precisely shooting through its ear, and prating the brain.

    The Gogi was not even able to utter a sound as it copsed on the ground and died at once.

    Michael retched after witnessing the devastating damage a single precise arrow could cause and tear his opponent. He felt like vomiting but forced his stomach to calm down and swallowed the bile rising in his throat.

    He was a little bit disgusted with himself even now, but Michael understood that strength meant everything.

    Murder was not nice, that was for sure. However, killing the opponents who wanted to see him dead was a necessity if he wanted to survive.

    The Origin Expanse was a cruel game of survival of the fittest. Being merciful to those who wished to see him dead would lead to more problems.

    He couldn''t spare the lives of his opponents, or he would be the next to die.

    ''Get your fucking act together! It''s either you or them!!''

 Chapter 35 Control

    ?In the next 20 minutes, Michael and Tiara killed 18 Gogis.

    The remaining Gogis retreated unwillingly after a loud honk resounded through the rainforest. If not for the honk, the Gogis would have continued to throw themselves at Tiara and their paralyzedrades to rescue them.

    However, whenever they got near their paralyzedrades, the Gogis ended up under fire. They were either killed at once or paralyzed by a series of arrows that impacted in quick session.

    Leaving behind their paralyzed brethren was even worse than death to the Gogis. Their anguished roars of helplessness could be heard for a long time, but neither Tiara nor Michael let that fool them.

    There had to be a leader in the group of Gogis,manding them with certain sounds, such as the honking of a horn that forced them to retreat. If not for that, the Gogis would have sacrificed themselves one after another. That was how loyal they were to theirrades!

    ''Either the leader is as dense as the other Gogis in the group, or he arrived just now¡­ It could have been a scout as well instead of a leader¡­'' Michael thought, unsure about the Gogi race''s military hierarchy and structure. He knew some things about Gogis, but he was not an expert.

    Their denseness, stubbornness, and camaraderie were apparent, but other than that, Michael couldn''t really tell much.

    Now that the Gogis retreated, there was no need to keep the hostages around anymore. Michael retrieved a few more arrows from his War Rune''s storage and nocked the first on the bowstring. He pulled the bowstring back, lifted the bow, and readied his aim for two seconds. Then he shot.

    The arrow dug deep into the head of the paralyzed target, killing it. Michael fought against the disgust that spread through his entire being and nocked the second arrow on the bowstring.

    Seven arrowster, the paralyzed Gogis were dead, and a massive energy influx flooded Michael''s War Rune. The pace of refinement of his War Rune shot up to a high degree and Michael could immediately tell that the space of his War Rune''s storage expanded.

    As a Tier-0 Lord with a low refinement degree, the energy influx he received from killing a single Tier-1 prey was already quite high. Dealing the finishing blow to a dozen Tier-1 Gogis was equivalent to killing a few hundred Tierless Monsters.

    One or two of the Gogis he killed had been 1-Star Warriors, which provided an even higher energy influx due to their elevated potential.

    Despite that, Michael''s refinement degree didn''t reach the Mid-level. It was not that easy to increase the refinement degree of the War Rune, forget about advancing Tiers. Michael would have to work a lot harder to advance Tiers and be an even stronger Lord!

    Michael climbed down the tree once he was done. He safely put everything back in his War Rune and walked over to the corpses of the Gogi. Tiara was already waiting for him over there.

    "Master, are you fine?" She asked while breathing heavily. She was sweating profusely and could barely speak, but a bright smile had blossomed on her face, nheless.

    After she witnessed her master''s impable archery skills, Tiara couldn''t help but look at him with a newfound reverence. She had never expected her master to be that powerful and versatile. He was already a good swordsman, and now he was an even better archer. Was there something her master was bad at, in the first ce?

    "I was not the bait, who ran around for several minutes while evading all kinds of projectiles. I was safe high up in the tree," Michael joked lightly before wholeheartedlymending Tiara, "You did an outstanding job. Thanks to you, we were able to decrease their numbers by a lot!"

    Michael was still unsure how many subjects the Gogi Lord had, but the loss of 28 Gogis was certainly not easy topensate. The Gogi Lord would have to think twice before ordering his subjects to attack Michael again.

    Michael felt a little nauseous looking at the corpses of the Gogis he had killed but he could still hold the contents of his stomach inside. He didn''t vomit. It was still not easy for him to kill, however, it had been much harder to kill Fenrir than attacking the Gogis.

    Michael figured that he would get better with time. However, until then, he would have to suffer a lot. But that was fine because it was something everyone had to go through in order to grow.

    Now that he thought about Fenrir, and how he had killed him, memories of Cleave Fenrir shed through Michael''s mind once again. The memories were mostly rted to archery, andbat training rather than the first ancestor''s evil deeds, and Michael had to secretly acknowledge their utility.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''It''s good that I am getting more experienced through his memories. They were pretty useful in the fight¡­''

    "There is no need to praise me so much, Master," Tiara said in all seriousness while her tail continued to wiggle excitedly.

    It took him quite some effort not to burst outughing as he looked at Tiara, but he somehow managed to keep a straight face. Michael collected his arrows and stored them inside his War Rune alongside three Gogis.

    "Master, let me store the remaining corpses!" Tiara eximed, rushing to his aid promptly. She had a Tier-1 War Rune and could thus fit a lot more in her spatial storage than Michael.

    Her storage space was only filled when the ten Gogi corpses lying around on the ground inside the protection barrier had been squeezed into it.

    "Let''s go back," Michael suggested once they were done.

    He was a little bit disappointed because he had missed the chance of pursuing the remaining Gogis but he knew that it was for the better. He had no idea about the total number of Gogis around their territory, forget about their territory''s structure. ire Tracer was also temporarily incapable of helping him for the next few days ¨C if she survived that is.

    Back in the clearing they retrieved the Gogis andid them down in three lines. After that, Michael stared at the corpses for a while, wondering where to start from. There were a total of 28 corpses.

    ''They don''t have a Monster Core, and I don''t think there is much I can extract from them either.''

    "The drops of the Origin Expanse, their hair¡­and maybe their blood?" Michael mumbled to himself, confused and unsure what else he should extract.

    He figured that the Gogis'' hair could be used as bedding, to make clothes, or to sell it to pharmaceuticalpanies. Some would certainly purchase it, though Michael was not certain how much money he could make.

    One way or another, they required more resources. It was not as if they had excessive resources in his territory. They couldn''t afford to throw away precious corpses and had to extract as much as possible to make the most out of them.

    While Michael started extracting the Gogi corpses, Tiara was told to install the low-quality preservation enchantment array.

    Michael gave it to her while also telling the Architect Apprentice to make use of the array and the warehouse blueprint to build a storage for all kinds of goods, including meat and other things that could go bad easily.

    The War Rune''s storage was great, but the space was severely restricted. Furthermore, only he and Tiara had spatial storages, and only they could ess them. This had its own advantages and disadvantages. But all-in-all, It was much easier to use the preservation enchantment array together with the warehouse that would be built soon. That way, everyone could add and remove resources as they deemed necessary.

    It was necessary to fuel the enchantment array with Monster Cores and though he did not have them right now, it was not that expensive to get them either. The resources he procured daily were bound to increase eventually, and it was necessary to prepare suitable storage with preservation enchantment beforehand.

    It was already lunchtime when Michael finished extracting thest corpse. The warehouse''s construction was not yetpleted, but that was okay. They still had some time left.

    Michael was very satisfied with the gains, which everyone could clearly see while he hogged one b of meat after another just like the glutton he was.

    ''The food is good, and the gains I made are even better. What a great day to be alive!''

 Chapter 36 Sun Soldier Breathing

    ?Michael extracted a total of 290 Summoning Scroll Fragments, seven Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, and two Warrior Summoning Scrolls from the 28 Gogi corpses.

    He merged the 275 Summoning Scroll Fragments into 11 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and picked up the daily Summoning Scrolls the Summoning Gate created every day before he broke the seal of the Summoning Scrolls after finishing lunch.

    A minuteter, the number of Michael''s subjects had increased by 17 starless summons, two 1-Star Warriors, a 1-Star Craftsman, and a 1-Star Schr.

    Michael''s territory was now popted by close to 50 subjects. It was only the fourth day but he already had so many subjects ¨C without the need to purchase a single summoning scroll!

    That was fairly good, and something Michael could be proud of.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t solve all of his problems. Thanks to the additional workforce it would be quite easy to finish constructing the warehouse before dusk. A few subjects even proposed looking at the flora and fauna inside the protection barrier. A bunch of bushes and trees were located inside the protection barrier, and it would be a waste not to research them.

    With a 1-Star Schr leading the research, it might even be possible to find non-poisonous fruits or clues about the environment and vegetation all over the rainforest. It was worth a try!

    As he devised ns, Michael watched the actions of his subjects intently. They didn''t need any motivation to work, which was great. Unfortunately, that didn''t help when it came to being able to fight against Tier-1 Monsters, forget about providing help in the fight against the Gogis.

    Even the 1-Star Warriors would have to use the protection barrier to hunt and procure some energy first. They were still Tierless Warriors with the lowest degree of refinement. However, even if they were to hunt all day, it was near-impossible for them to advance to the 1st Tier before the protection barrier was lifted.

    ''In that case¡­I can only give them the techniques once I finish reading them. If I summon more Warriors, they''ll be able to work together, and kill Tier-1 Monsters even without the protection barrier¡­right?'' Michael thought while scratching the back of his head.

    The easiest would be to decimate the poption of monsters around his territory to decrease the burden and risk factor once the protection barrier was lifted. However, that was easier said than done. ire had explored the territory outside the protection barrier only once, but she had found the poption of Tier-1 monsters to be high, oddly high!

    Michael was deep in thought when he opened his mouth subconsciously to yawn. From one moment to the next the weight of his body seemed to have increased drastically. The excitement spreading through him had been exchanged with tiredness.

    But who could hold that against him? Michael had been wide awake all night. He traveled back home under stress, fought the descendant of some big family during his shopping trip, and he returned to the Origin Expanse just to be faced with a group of Gogis, whom he fought while using his Soultraits for a prolonged period. He was mentally and physically exhausted.

    Michael''s body was begging for a break, but he didn''t want to go sleep right now. It was too early, and his day would be wasted if he were to go sleep now and wake upte at night. Going out to hunt at night in the darkness where he was¨C unable to see anything was suicidal, and far from intelligent.

    Michael took that into consideration and chose to do something less demanding; he started to read the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique after handing the Sun Soldier''s Weaponry technique to his Warriors.

    "Let''s see what I paid 10,000$ for. Don''t disappoint me, please," Michael pleaded quietly as he opened the first page of the Sun Soldier Breathing technique inside his room. He satfortably on his bed and began to read the introductory part.

    [Sun Soldiers of the Abyssal Sun Empire are known for their tirelessbat. They can regte their breathing even in the most desperate situations to calm their mind and body in a fraction of a second.]

    [When the Abyssal Sun Empire was faced with a threat that nearly cost its annihtion, the Sun God''s Elder Monk attained enlightenment. He was able to incorporate the Sun Breathing technique into the Army''s training regime, creating the Sun Soldiers who are known for their efficient use of Stamina, tirelessbat, and fast replenishment of energy.]

    ''Are they trying to show off? Just give me the juicy details I want to know!'' Michael grumbled inwardly after he finished reading the introductory part.

    [The Sun Soldier Breathing technique can be divided into two versions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The first version is deep belly breathing, which involves conscious engaging in the diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle located below the lungs, to achieve slower, deeper breaths. Practicing the first version increases oxygen and energy intake and enhances the awareness of the present moment. It calms the mind, reduces stress, and helps inculcate a deeper sense of presence and mindfulness. It is a technique that requires lots of practice and focus. It cannot be practiced on the battlefield and is more of a technique that prepares the Soldier for the battle.

    The second version of the Sun Soldier Breathing technique changes the practitioner''s breathing fundamentally. To practice this version properly, the practitioner needs a deep understanding of the body and the Sun Soldier Breathing''s first version. The body and mind will have to learn to breathe in a specific way, which will decrease the consumption of Stamina drastically. The intake of oxygen and energy with every breath will increase, and it forces the practitioner to keep calm in dangerous situations. An in-depth understanding of the body and mind will be imprinted in the mind of the practitioner, allowing the practitioner to freely utilize the energy and oxygen inside the body.

    ¡­]

    Michael was not sure how long he had read the Sun Soldier Breathing technique, but he was intrigued. The second version attracted his interest because it allowed the practitioner to use the Sun Soldier Breathing technique passively.

    A high understanding of the body and mind was required to start practicing the second version of the Sun Soldier Breathing technique, and it would reward the practitioner with an even deeper understanding of himself. That was especially interesting.

    ''Is that why this technique is said to possess great potential? It increases the understanding of mind and body even though the practitioner''s understanding has to be high, to begin with¡­very interesting!'' Michael thought, closing the book.

    Initially, he wanted to go to sleep after reading a little bit, but Michael changed his n. He knew that he was too excited to go to sleep and started practicing the first version of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing right away.

    It wasn''t too difficult to get started since a better understanding of his body and mind came with time and practice.

    ''Even if I''m tired, I can give it a try. There is no harm even if I fail to practice the first version miserably!''

    A momentter, Michael found afortable position on the bed where he sat cross-legged with an upright yet rxed posture. Then he closed his eyes, allowing his body and mind to rx by letting go of all distractions ¨C including the distraction caused by being able to think.

    After a few seconds, Michael ced his hands on the abdomen. He rested his hands gently on his lower abdomen and inhaled deeply through the nose. In a slow and controlled manner, he drew the air deep into his lungs, expanding his abdomen as he breathed in.

    Michael focused on the lower area of the lungs to allow the diaphragm to descend and create space for oxygen and energy. Then, he exhaled through the mouth, slowly and steadily, while trying to feel how the abdomen reacted as the diaphragm rose.

    Most energy was lost when he breathed out, but a trace remained in his abdomen where his body absorbed it naturally.

    It was only a minuscule trace of energy, however, that was already much better than Michael expected.

    He thought that it would require a few dozen attempts before he would be able to absorb his first trace of energy. Fortunately, he was a little bit faster.

    Intrigued by how far he could advance, Michael repeated the deep belly breathing once again. He maintained a natural and gentle rhythm while continuing to practice for the next two hours.

    After two hours, the stress he had umted during thest few days seemed to disperse and the tension in his body was released.

    He fell asleep soon afterward, while darkness consumed the territory and terrifying roars reverberated across the dense rainforest.

 Chapter 37 Generating Resources

    ?When Michael woke up, he felt extremely calm and at ease.

    His mind was void of worries and his body felt much lighter than before. How was that even possible? Was it owed to a few hours of practicing the Sun Soldier Breathing technique?

    "That''s amazing!" He blurted out as he got up from the bed. The sun had already risen beyond the horizon, but Michael was not worried about the amount of work he had toplete today.

    Somehow, he was certain that everything would be alright as long as he gave his utmost effort to make it work.

    Michael made his way out of the wooden manor with that belief. Most subjects were already awake and working on new treehouseplexes, while others were busy collecting the fruits, they found inside the protection barrier.

    Apparently, the rainforest had cocoa pods of high quality and fruits that looked like mangoes, and tasted like mangoes, but weren''t mangoes.

    Michael dly feasted on some freshly harvested Tiatcha, which was the local name for the mango-like fruit.

    After mostly eating meat for thest few days, Michael felt like his taste buds came back alive. It was like he was thrown into a blissful moment of tropical indulgence when he took the first bite of the Tiatcha. The Tiatchabined sweet juiciness and tangy vors with the tropical essence of the rainforest, which created an intoxicating aroma and a bittersweet taste.

    "If we can produce more Tiatcha, we can have enough for ourselves and sell the rest for a good price," Michael thought aloud. He knew that it would take a while to grow more Tiatcha trees, but the Tiatcha trees seemed like a reliable source of ie, just like the Bilrox eggs.

    They hadn''t hatched yet, but it was only a matter of time before they would hatch, mature, and produce more eggs. By the time a small Bilrox horde formed, he would have two decent sources of ie, mounts to ride and sweet fruits to eat.

    The thought alone was enough to make him smile contently.

    "You''re already awake, Master!" Tiara and the two 1-Star Warriors ran over to Michael when they saw him pace through the clearing. He was strolling around and observing his people as they went about their day to get a rough understanding of his territory''s progress.

    Michael saw a big quiver full of spears slung around the Warriors'' back, and fresh blood trickled down Tiara''s silver spear.

    "You went out to hunt already?" He asked Tiara, who nodded her head.

    "I wanted to show our neers how dangerous our territory is and why it is so important for everyone to be stronger," She answered, "I also demonstrated how to hunt the monsters of the rainforest with the protection barrier''s help. Luckily, we have enough throwing spears to attack from further away now!"

    The Gogis had thrown more than 100 throwing spears at the protection barrier before they gave up on their attempt to break it and retreated. Tiara and the two Warriors collected the spears the day before and spent a few hours training with them. This morning, they made use of their practice from the day before to hunt a few monsters.

    Tiara retrieved four corpses with a bright smile, "They were able to hunt one monster each while I killed the other two!

    Her voice was filled with pride, and Michael could understand why she felt like that. If more people inside the territory were able to hunt monsters, their gains would increase. In return, Michael would have more corpses to extract. The number of Summoning Scroll Fragments and Summoning Scrolls in his possession would increase as well, and so would the chance to summon more subjects withbat-oriented upations!

    Furthermore, Michael would also receive an energy influx more often since his subjects would kill more monsters, but that was trivial whenpared to the increased chance of summoning more Warriors and otherbat units!

    Tiara and the Warriors shared their experience when hunting the monsters while he used Extraction on the four bodies. After using his Soultrait more than a hundred times in thest four days his proficiency and understanding of the Soultrait had improved drastically.

    Completing the extraction of a monster he had already extracted from several times took less than five minutes, and he didn''t waste/damage any energy, or body parts either. Michael walked over to the warehouse once the extraction waspleted, and he activated the preservation enchantment array using one of the Monster Cores.

    The enchantment array cooled the entire area of the warehouse, and it could be configured to have intense cooling in certain areaspared to the rest. That was something Michael wanted to test out in the future.

    However, for now, he had to listen to the daily morning report. Michael had introduced this practice to make sure that he would be informed about the newest changes after waking up every day.

    With the use of this report, Michael would be well informed about his territory. That way, he would get to know about obstacles that his subjects facedpleting a task and provide solutions on a real-time basis while also assigning tasks for the day. Additionally, he would have daily interaction with everybody which would increase his subjects'' cooperation and sense of unity.

    "So, to summarize everything, the warehouse has beenpleted, the Gogis'' body hair has been used as bedding, various tools have been created with the remaining resources, and we''re currentlycking more resources, which include water and sturdy construction material," Michael said after he read the report. Tiara nodded but she quietly added,

    "ire will survive but she has to rest for a few more days to recuperate properly, and we need more treehouses if the poption of the territory is going to expand soon."

    Michael licked his dry lips while contemting his next set of orders. He stretched his neck and nodded his head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Tell the craftsman to create a fewrge barrels," Michael ordered, "I need a few people to follow me. The stronger they are the better."

    After he said that, Michael left the clearing. He scanned the trees around him and nodded his head once he found tworge rainforest trees that had grown next to each other. They were restricting each other''s growth. That meant he could remove one of them without any qualms.

    Initially, Michael wanted to use the next few days to solve the problem they had with the Gogis, but it was obvious that rushing anything wouldn''t be helpful. On the contrary, focusing on the Gogis would harm his territory since theycked various resources to be self-sufficient.

    Michael could provide the resources using Extraction, and that was exactly what he did.

    "I wonder how much energy I need to process you," He mumbled as a golden light conjured in his right hand.

    A few secondster, he began extracting blocks of sturdy wood from the tree in front of him.

    Michael didn''t stop until his energy ran out. His breathing was ragged, and his back was drenched in sweat, but a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

    He was not even close to finishing processing therge rainforest tree, but the amount of resources he procured was already more than he had expected to extract from the entire tree.

    That fueled his motivation, and he spent the remaining morning and noon diligently working on extracting everything useful from the tree before he couldn''t handle it anymore.

    He was constantly running out of energy, sweating profusely and his mind was slowly going awry. Adding the toll of constantly using Extraction to that, Michael clearly exceeded his limit.

    Fortunately, his Soultrait had grown stronger after the Link of Loyalty of several dozen summons was added to his War Rune, and Tiara went out hunting with the two Warriors.

    Bursts of energy reached him through their Link of Loyalty whenever they killed a monster, providing the support he needed to keep going until therge tree had been fully processed.

    Michael could extract the moisture in the blocks of wood after extracting them once. That removed the need for air-drying, which made it easier to use the sturdy wood for construction projects such as the treehouseplexes and the warehouse.

    Once he finished his work for the day, Michael rested a bit.

    He practiced the Sun Soldier Breathing a little to empty his mind, which was harder than the day before. Michael realized the core problem in the fight against the Gogi Lord and his subjects had been the fact that all Gogis were natural fighters, while the same didn''t apply to humans.

    ''Only Tiara is strong enough to aid me in the fight against the Gogis¡­but one of us needs to stay behind to manage everything and protect everyone...Tiara could help the warriors get stronger, but that doesn''t change the core problem.''

    He had only a handful of Warriors, and the few he had couldn''t help him yet.

    The Sun Soldier techniques'' impact was not big yet, no matter how much future potential they had.

    On the brighter side, Michael and Tiara''sbat prowess were quite impactful.

    "It doesn''t matter how all of it began, we''re on hostile terms with the Gogi Lord. Either we obliterate him, or he obliterates us once the protection barrier has been lifted," Michael mumbled quietly to himself.

    He summarized the events and the bits of information at his disposal.

    "That means, I have to defeat them before the protection barrier is lifted¡­ I will be able to take them by surprise if I attack earlier¡­"

    "But do I have what it takes?" He asked himself the most crucial question.

    A few hourster when it was already dark outside, Tiara knocked on his door. Michael was a little surprised to see her thatte in front of his room but when he saw what she pushed into his arms he could only nod his head.

    "You''re right, I might need them."

 Chapter 38 Outside The Territory

    ?Michael''s sixth day as a Lord began early in the morning.

    He picked up the Ordinary Summoning Scroll from today and the day before and listened to the daily report while extracting the monsters Tiara and the two Warriors hunted yesterday.

    Two and a half hourster, Michael was finally done, and the dissected body parts were neatly stored in the warehouse.

    ''16 Scrolls¡­not bad,'' He mumbled after merging the Summoning Scroll Fragments together. Michael broke the scrolls'' seals and weed his new subjects.

    Out of the 16 summons, fourteen were starless, and two were 1-Star Summons. Surprisingly, one of the 1-Star Summons was a Warrior, while the other was a Craftsman.

    Atst, his military force started to expand!

    "Head to the southern wall of the protection barrier and assist the Battle Maid and Warriors," He ordered the Warrior, who saluted instinctively.

    Michael had yet to realize that his presence and demeanor were changing slowly. He was getting more confident while his presence grew stronger and more charismatic. Hismand was also precise and decisive, which made it clear that Michael understood what had to be done.

    This was more than enough to instill confidence in the Warrior. The Warrior departed after a second salute to heed themands he had been given.

    Meanwhile, Michael turned his attention to the other summons. He told the craftsman to join the other craftsman to create furniture, kitchenware, and other woodwork while telling the others to join the construction of more treehouseplexes.

    After that, he retrieved the Boots of Taran and bound them to his War Rune. Last night Tiara had visited him to return the Boots of Taran. She was not sure what Michael nned to do, but she could tell that he wanted to do something dangerous.

    Michael had been working on a n all day, and he concluded that his window of opportunity wasn''t that big anymore. Gogis might not be the smartest, but it didn''t need much of a brain to figure out that Michael was at a horrifying disadvantage.

    He was a new Lord, and only one of his subjects was Tier-1. That was already bad, but he had only four days left before the protection barrier would be lifted and the Gogi Lord could bulldoze his territory.

    Michael had to act within those four days to change the fate of his territory.

    Nheless, the Gogi Lord was highly likely to be waiting. Gogis may be a simple-minded race that had more muscles than brains, but they were also a social race that focused on camaraderie.

    Michael witnessed firsthand that they would sacrifice their own lives in an attempt to protect theirrades.

    That was why the Gogi Lord wouldn''t attack Michael''s territory if the protection barrier was still up. He had already burnt his fingers by attacking Michael''s territory and was forced to retreat humiliatingly after his subjects had already been beaten senseless. The Gogi Lord ensured to keep his subjects unharmed instead of camping near the protection barrier, where they were certain to be hunted down mercilessly.

    Michael didn''t have to worry about finding someone camping outside the protection barrier, waiting to ambush him but he was vignt when he decided to leave his territory. As a precautionary measure, he had a long talk with his injured Tracker before stepping out of his territory.

    It was not the first time that he left the protection barrier, but he would always stick close to it and had yet to leave the proximity. That was what he had to do today to collect more information and see whether his n was feasible.

    ''Calm down, you''ll be fine,'' Michael repeated the line like a mantra.

    He left his territory and made his way to the lizard cave ire had mentioned earlier. Michael recalled some interesting facts about reptiles and amphibians, and he wanted to see if the same facts applied to reptilian monsters of the Origin Expanse.

    On his way to the lizard cave, Michael encountered a few monsters. He avoided them by climbing the nearest trees or by hiding in the bushes.

    Even if he was not the best at stealthily walking through the dense rainforest, Michael was good enough to avoid fighting Low Tier-1 Monsters head-on. One monster followed him when it picked up the scent, but it departed the moment Michael retrieved the Antler Bow and a few arrows from his War Rune.

    That was the worst incident Michael faced on his way to the lizard cave.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Is luck finally on my side?'' He thought ironically as he found himself standing in front of the lizard cave''s entrance. He hadn''t been pulled into a life-and-death fight yet, but he had a bad feeling about the lizard cave. If it were possible to avoid entering the lizard cave until he got a little stronger, Michael would have done it.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have that much time. The Gogis were already waiting for him, after all!

    The entrance of the lizard cave looked like an arched Gate that had formed naturally over the course of time. It was seven meters high and of simr width.

    Michael stepped through the entrance while ignoring the eerie feeling ire told him about. He scanned the entire cavern entrance with his Eagle Eyes unleashed and took in every detail he was able to make out.

    ''No monster? In that case¡­''

    He bent down while golden streams conjured in his palms.

    ''Show me what you got, little lizard cave!''

    Using Extraction in the cavern entrance allowed him to extract various minerals from the ground. However, Michael focused on the valuables and materials that could be useful against the Gogi Lord.

    "Gloa Crystals¡­now it makes sense why the deeper parts of the lizard cave are so bright. There is also Zantine Ore? If the ore deposit isrge, I''ve found a treasure¡­" Michael mumbled to himself as small purple shards and bits of a silverish-green ore manifested in the golden streams of his Soultrait.

    Zantine Ore was considered the equal of iron ore in the Origin Expanse. It was a little bit more durable and flexible, but it was quitemon in the Origin Expanse, so it was not exactly a jackpot. Fortunately, there was always a demand for Zantine Ore.

    A white crystal manifested not long after. It was small and crumbled when Michael used some force to test its durability.

    ''Is that chalk? It could also be magnesite or something like that¡­well, whatever.''

    Michael extracted a few more samples of everything to get it inspected by the Schr once he returned. The Schr should be able to tell him more about the materials of the Origin Expanse.

    Other than Gloa Crystal, Zantine Ore, and the fragile, white crystals, Michael was able to extract three different types of ores. Their quantity was much smallerpared to the others, but that made sense if one could find their deposits deeper underground. Michael was monitoring the consumption of his Soultrait and using it judiciously.

    Once he collected enough samples, Michael went deeper inside the lizard cave, using the only tunnel connected to the cavern entrance.

    The eeriness of the lizard cave caused goosebumps to spread across his tensed body. However, he continued to walk deeper into the cave until he found a small tunnel on his left.

    Michael stopped to look, and his expression lit up.

    ''Eggs! Six of them at that!'' He eximed seeing the oval-shaped eggs. Immediately, he scanned the tunnel but there was no mature lizard.

    "Where is your mom, my little eggs?"

    It was at that moment, a low growl echoed through the cavern tunnel.

    Michael flinched and slowly turned to his right, careful not to make any sudden movements.

    And a momentter, he found the lizard mother¡­or would it be better to say that the mother found him?

 Chapter 39 The Lizard

    ?For Michael to execute his n properly, the lizards in the cave couldn''t be too weak. Being Low Tier-1 Monsters wouldn''t have been enough.

    Fortunately, luck was on his side¡­or would it be better to call it ''misfortune'', right now?

    A huge lizard the size of a shuttle was growling at him menacingly. It was standing at less than five meters separating them. It had green scales andrge reptilian eyes that stared at him in hatred ¨C or so Michael thought.

    His hair stood up on its end and he felt like someone was squeezing his throat tightly. The pressure weighing down on him made it hard to breathe.

    ''Is that the pressure of a Peak Tier-1 Monster, or is it already at the 2nd Tier?'' Michael wondered while his body remained frozen.

    He didn''t move a single inch, hoping that the Lizard would redirect its attention elsewhere. Still, the reptilian eyes kept staring at him, crushing his little hope slowly.

    The Lizard didn''t seem happy about the intruder, but the overflowing pressure decreased slightly when it nced over to its eggs and saw that they were unharmed.

    ''Now!''

    Michael used the opportunity to kick his feet off the ground. He manifested the Boots of Taran and empowered the artifact''s Swiftness enchantment.

    His eleration skyrocketed, and he reached full speed within seconds. He headed to the cavern entrance without looking back even once. That was not needed. Michael could hear the lizard mother''s roar and feel the tremors in the ground as the monster began its pursuit.

    Despite sprinting as fast as he could and crossing close to 20 meters a second, Michael could tell that he was not fast enough. The lizard mother closed the distance between them rapidly.

    ''Fuck¡­I shouldn''t have underestimated my opponents¡­''

    Michael knew that the rainforest was dangerous from the beginning. However, he had been foolish enough to enter the lizard cave without ample preparations despite knowing that. ire had even told him that the cave was eerie and more dangerous than the dense rainforest, yet he had somehow believed he could return unharmed.

    ''That''s a really dumb way to die¡ª...no¡­just think less and run more!''

    Michael cursed himself, but he couldn''t switch off his mind. Too many thoughts shed through his mind to survive while the shuttle-sized lizard was getting closer.

    The tremors spreading through the ground began to affect Michael''s mind. His breathing got ragged, and he felt anxiety rising from the deepest pits of his body. Michael broke into a sweat, and he vividly imagined the lizard swallowing him whole.

    It was at that moment when a memory shed through his mind- the reason he entered the lizard cave, in the first ce.

    ''Some reptiles are invested in caring for their young!''

    The lizard mother''s overflowing pressure receded when her eggs began to shake. She had looked over to her eggs worriedly which Michael had used as an opportunity to run for his life.

    The moment Michael recalled this; his body began to move of its own ord.

    He twisted his body and turned back while unleashing the Eagle Eyes Soultrait to the full extent. Simultaneously, the Antler Bow and an arrow emerged from within the War Rune.

    Michael''s hands moved instinctively. His left hand reached out for the Antler Bow''s frame while his right hand was already holding the arrow nocked on the bowstring.

    He inserted energy in the Antler Bow, pulled back the bowstring, and let go the moment the bow was drawn out fully.

    The arrow soared through the air at full speed in the following instance.

    Michael turned back while the Antler Bow turned into a white wisp that shot back into the War Rune. He stumbled for a moment but quickly regained bnce. Michael reached top speed once again and kept running without caring to see what was going on behind him.

    When he released the arrow, his Eagle Eyes were fully focused on the lizard mother''s eggs. Michael had never intended to shoot at the lizard mother. Killing her was out of options with a Tierless 1-Star Artifact as well. He knew that he would just enrage her and that his chances of survival would decrease even further.

    Being fairly intelligent, the lizard realized what was about to happen when an arrow shot past her. The beast reacted instinctively, swiping its tail at the arrow with tremendous force. Yet, despite its quick and instinctive reaction, the tail missed the arrow by a hair''s breadth.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the next second, the arrow disappeared inside the cavity.

    A multitude of sounds rang out from the cavern, and the lizard mother came to a halt atst. she stared back at the small cavern tunnel, only to turn back to Michael the next second.

    She opened her mouth widely, revealing a dark-greenish substance that had umted inside. The lizard mother took aim and released the dark-greenish substance in Michael''s direction. Afterward, she turned around to rush back into the tunnel. If even one of her eggs had been damaged, she would hunt down Michael and torture him until he died miserably.

    Michael was already close to the cavern entrance that shone brightly in the midday sun when his hair suddenly stood on its end.

    ''Hmm?''

    He knew that the lizard mother wasn''t behind him anymore. The tremors in the ground were fewer than before, but something seemed fishy

    His highly enhanced perception was telling him that something was wrong and that he was standing at death''s door. The Grim Reaper''s scythe was pressed against his neck, cold and merciless.

    However, the only thing Michael could think about at this moment was the weird sound the lizard mother had released before turning away.

    ''...Almost like the sound of a human spitti¨C...WA-...''

    Michael used his full force to dive left all of a sudden. His ankles felt like they were about to burst from the sudden change of trajectory, but Michael endured the pain as he smashed hard into the ground.

    In the next instance, something sshed on the exact spot he had been standing just a moment before.

    Michael took a second to realize what had happened. He got up from the ground and looked at the dark-greenish substance corroding through the hard stone ground.

    "Oh my¡­" Michael blurted out.

    ''Acidic spit, for real?!''

    The thought of nearly being hit by this much acid caused chills to run down his spine.

    Michael instinctively looked back into the cavern tunnel, but the lizard mother was not there anymore, fortunately.

    "Good thing that I didn''t aim at the eggs," He mumbled before he got up to leave the lizard cave.

    Michael didn''t think twice and rushed to his territory without dy. His mission inside the cave had beenpleted sessfully even if it may not look like it.

    It had been a hassle and a near brush with the Grim Reaper''s scythe, but he escaped death by a hair''s breadth and was able to find out everything he needed to know while staying alive and rtively unharmed.

    Back in his territory, Michael handed the Schr the materials he procured in the lizard cave.

    Afterward, he used the information he procured to finalize his n and make ample preparations for his next move.

    The next day, when the first ray of sunlight reached the rainforest, Michael left his territory once again.

    However, this time it was not to gather information.

    This time Michael left for war.

    [End of Volume 1: Lord of the Untamed Jungle]

 Chapter 40 War & Deceit

    A silver streak passed through the darkness like a shooting star crossing the cloudless sky.

    *Thud*

    The silver streak impacted, impaling the target that slumped to the ground writhing and thrashing for dear life.

    The violent movementssted a few seconds, but nobody came to the target''s aid. Instead, a shadow emerged next to the dying man.

    "This is really disgusting," The shadow mumbled.

    A thin longsword materialized in his right hand, and he sliced it through the dying man''s neck with a single move, ending his suffering.

    Blood spurted through the surrounding area while the dying man finally went still.

    The longsword turned into a white wisp that disappeared in the shadow''s War Rune a momentter. Meanwhile, the shadow stepped forward to retrieve the arrow that was stuck deep in the Gogi''s gaping mouth.

    One moment, the Gogi was yawning ¨C tired from a long night watch ¨C and the next moment an arrow drilled into his mouth.

    The Gogi didn''t even realize what happened before it was already toote. The shadow killed him without a second thought.

    "I still feel guilty whenever I kill someone," The shadow mumbled to himself, "I wonder if it''s possible to kill without remorse¡­"

    As the shadow looked at the dead Gogi, the first rays of the early sunrise shone through the canopy of humongous trees. The sunrays showered the shadow with soft light, revealing Michael beneath a ck cloak.

    Michael received a cloak made from the Gogis'' ck hair as a present the day before. One of his subjects made it for him, and Michael made use of it immediately.

    His left hand reached out to the inside pocket of the ck cloak when he heard a twig breaking. His ears perked up and he dashed to the side, hiding in the shadow of the nearest tree.

    "Gurastan! Walkata, Meria!"

    A second Gogi emerged through the thicket after his hoarse voice tore through the silence. The Gogi was less than ten meters away from Michael and the dead Gogi''s body.

    Tigerfang and the Boots of Taran materialized the moment the Gogi saw hisrade. The Gogi jumped to hisrade in the hopes of rescuing him, however, it was already toote. The body was deathly still.

    "Join your friend," Michael muttered as he emerged next to the Gogi. Tigerfang sliced through the Gogi''s neck like a hot knife through butter living up to the sharpness of an Epic Artifact.

    Michael used more force to twist Tigerfang, dealing the finishing blow to the helpless Gogi.

    The Gogi''s lethal mistake was that it didn''t expect anyone to be daring enough to attack their territory. Night duty was just a formality to make sure that no untoward incidents urred. Until today, no monster had been foolish enough to attack the Gogi Lord in the dense forest.

    Today, however, was different.

    Today was the day everything would change.

    Michael initiated an all-out war, and he wouldn''t stop until hisst breath ¨C or until he won.

    Of course, he had a n.

    Blood sttered on his face as he pulled Tigerfang out of the dead Gogi. The thin longsword returned to his War Rune where he could summon it at will, instantaneously.

    He twitched when the warm blood spurted on his face before it trickled down slowly. He made a disgusted face as he looked around in his surrounding area.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael received the energy influx from the second Gogi after the life in its eye dispersed. He reached into the inner pocket of the cloak and dropped something on each corpse before he departed.

    His movements were deadly silent as he entered the Gogi Lord''s territory.

    "Let''s see how fierce you can be¡­and how much you love your offspring¡­" Michael mumbled to himself as he dropped another object from his cloak''s inner pocket.

    Michael felt a little bit bad about what he was going to do, but he was also painfully aware that being merciful and not utilizing every possible means at his disposal would result in a disastrous end for him and his territory.

    He was not a good person; he had never been one. Michael always desired to use the Origin Expanse to be stronger, and he knew what that entailed, the choices and sacrifices he would have to make. It required tremendous strength and courage to stay alive in ces that were controlled by the strong and wealthy.

    The strength Michael had to umte was not only physical but also mental. He had to bear the responsibility for his actions no matter how burdensome it might be.

    whenever he killed someone for his sake ¨C if only to survive ¨C Michael felt a slight pang of guilt, but he only had two choices- either choose to live with the burden or to perish with it. And he knew that over time, this feeling of guilt would lessen though it was debatable if he wanted to be a senseless killing machine or not. But that thought could wait for now.

    He clenched his fists tightly while going further ahead. Michael knew what he was going to do, and what he had to do to survive. Never in his life had he been more aware of his action''s repercussions than today.

    Now that he was inside the Gogi Lord''s territory all by himself, Michael had to be vignt. He didn''t think that the Gogis had installed traps around their territory because they were more likely to trigger them rather than catching invaders, being a somewhat dumb species but it would be troublesome if he was to encounter a group of them.

    No sooner had he thought this, a group of two Gogis appeared on the trodden trail to his right, as he was jinxed.

    His eyes began to glow, and his stance changed at once as he burst into their direction. The Gogis were simply strolling around in their territory and had their guard lowered. Who would expect a fully armed opponent to appear next to them?  Nor had t expected a silver streak to pass by, forget about the possibility of their head rolling over the ground the first thing in the morning.

    Their energy influx reached Michael a momentter, but it didn''t boost his strength significantly like usual. This was because he had attained the Mid-level refinement degreest night.

    ''Mid-level degree of refinement and an enhancement from three Artifacts,bined with a Soultrait seems to be enough to handle unguarded Gogis¡­what a wonder¡­'' He thought ironically as he retrieved another object from his cloak''s inner pocket.

    He put it on one of the corpses and looked around afterward. Few Gogis were awake yet, but Michael could hear somemotion a little further ahead. The densely grown flora and fauna blocked his sight, however, that could be considered an advantage.

    ''She is not here yet, so I might as well¨C...''

    Just when that thought shed through his mind a terrifying roar reverberated through the surroundings.

    The corners of Michael''s lip curled upward, and goosebumps spread all over his body upon hearing the familiar sound.

    ''What did I even expect?'' He thought, questioning whether it was just fate that he jinxed himself repetitively, or if it was rted to the first ancestors and his sins.

    Maybe, it was both.

    Either way, Michael retrieved the remaining fist-sized oval-shaped objects hurriedly before he threw them closer to the center of the Gogi Lord''s territory.

    The ''objects'', also known as a lizard''s eggs, shattered without resistance.

    Mayhem followed soon after as the Lizard mother paved her way through the dense rainforest, pursuing the filthy thief who had stolen her eggs.

    This filthy thief was none other than Michael, who resorted to calling his backup to thrust the Gogi Lord in a battle he will never forget.

    Unfortunately, his backup required some ''motivation'', which Michael dly delivered.

 Chapter 41 One-Man Army

    A few minutes after the roar resounded through the Gogi Lord''s territory, Michael found himself standing on a wide branch of arge tree.

    He was close to the center of the Gogi territory and could not wait to enact his n.

    The densely grown bushes and trees made it a little bit more difficult to observe every single detail, but that was not necessary in the first ce. Following the actions of the shuttle-sized Lizard mother was already more than enough.

    Afterpleting all preparations for the attack on the Gogi Lord''s territory, Michael sneaked out of his territory. The sun was not yet up at that time but using the Gloa Crystals it was possible to illuminate his surrounding area. He had made use of the same darkness to enter the lizard cave when the mother was asleep and had stolen her eggs.

    After his thievery seeded, Michael rushed to the Gogi Lord''s territory where he killed the Gogis to drop the Lizard mother''s eggs on their dead bodies.

    Thest two eggs were thrown in the direction of the territory center, where they burst open.

    It had been less than half an hour since dawn, but the Lizard mother was already wide awake and overflowing with anger. She found the first few eggs on the dead Gogi bodies, before her eyes fell on the crumbled and broken shells of two of her eggs that were lying on the ground, burst open, exposing the premature embryo.

    The next thing she saw was more Gogis, but living ones this time. Wrath and grief consumed her as a ball of acidic liquid was released through her mouth. It hit one of the Gogis, who began to scream in unbearable pain as his body began to corrode.

    Merely a few secondster, the Gogi was dead.

    The corroded Gogi''srades were shocked by the unexpected attack, but they began to move, nheless. One of them grasped the corroded body and rushed back to the territory while the other Gogis threw themselves at the Lizard mother.

    Needless to say, the Gogis died.

    It required only a single sh to cut through the Gogis'' weapons and body, or a tail''s swipe to smash the Gogis against the nearest tree, breaking most bones in their upper body.

    ''They weren''t even able to reach her ws,'' Michael mumbled to himself in slight surprise. He had expected the Lizard to be powerful and prove to be a great aid in his battle against the Gogi Lord, but she was a one-man army.

    Maybe it was not even necessary for him to act.

    It would be great if he could avoid facing danger head-on, but Michael was almost certain that it wouldn''t be this easy. And as if on cue, an earth-shattering honk reverberated through the rainforest.

    Following the honk, countless Gogis emerged from within their huts with a spear quiver slung around their back and a wooden mace in their hands.

    Michael''s attention was turned to their weapons at first. However, he grew more interested in something else by the second.

    "How many are they?!?" He blurted out subconsciously.

    Even if Michael wanted to count the Gogis, he wouldn''t be able to. They looked mostly the same and moved around chaotically.

    ''Close to 200 Tier-1 Gogis with high physical strength and enough spears to turn the Lizard mother into a porcupine if they can prate her scales¡­'' Michael concluded in awe and shock.

    He was d that he had lured the acid-spitting Lizard to the Gogi Lord''s territory to cause destruction. She was either a Lowest Tier-2 Monster or a Peak Tier-1 Monster on the verge of breaking through. One way or another, the Lizard had a great natural defense with her metal-like scales and multiple means of attack.

    If the Gogis wouldn''t aim their attacks on her joints and unprotected areas such as her eyes, they would have a tough time using their maces to break the Lizard''s scales. However, that was exactly what Michael expected them to do. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He expected them to throw a few spears before they would realize that their attacks were useless ¨C and that was exactly what happened.

    Close to 200 spears soared through the air near-simultaneously, but only a fifth hit their target. None out of 40 spears injured the Lizard upon impacting. The Lizard had closed her eyes and mouth when a few spears came dangerously close to those areas, only to be repelled upon hitting the lizard''s eyelids.

    After two more sets of spear throws that did nothing to harm the Lizard, the Gogis changed their tactic. They used the environment to their advantage and surrounded the Lizard while holding their maces tightly. Afterward, the Gogis charged at their enemy as if they were the suicide squad.

    ''I know that they''re more muscle than brain, but shouldn''t they wait before their Lord arrives?'' Michael thought at this moment.

    He was fairly sure that the Gogi Lord was stronger than the Starless, and 1-Star Gogis that were charging at the Lizard. The Gogi Lord could bind Artifacts to his War Rune, boosting his strength drastically, and he was in possession of a Soultrait, no matter how bad it was. Furthermore, as Lord of 200 Tier-1 Gogis, his War Rune should be at the 1st Tier with a decently high degree of refinement.

    ''Just what are they doing? The Gogi Lord wouldn''t sacrifice his subjects to tire out the Lizard¡­or would he?''

    Michael was really confused by the Gogi Lord''s actions. He watched the Lizard spray a huge load of acid at the Gogis charging at her from the front.

    The Lizard was hellbent on killing all who had taken the lives of her unborn offspring and continued her attack by smashing her tail into the closest Gogi. The Gogi was flung back and crashed into therades standing behind him. Afterward, the Lizard charged forward as well. She headed straight at the Gogis whom she had sprayed with her acid and ran over them brutally.

    The Lizard wed at some of them, tearing through their chests and abdomen before she escaped the encirclement easily.

    Several Gogis sustained lethal injuries while a handful died. Meanwhile, the Lizard was unscathed.

    It didn''t take an expert to tell that the Lizard didn''t feel like she was in danger either. She was attacking aggressively and faced the Gogis calmly without a single thought of escape shing through her mind.

    Michael felt weird while watching the ongoing battle.

    The Lizard released more of her acid before she charged at the Gogis, who were already in unbearable pain after the acid hit them. The Gogis had broken two of her eggs, so they had to pay the price for their actions. That was what the Lizard mother thought as her ws viciously tore through her opponents'' chests and abdomens.

    The Lizard killed mercilessly, consumed by wrath and grief.

    Meanwhile, Michael started to feel odd.

    ''I didn''t expect the Lizard mother to be that sensitive. Is she that intelligent, and emotionally aware?'' He wondered, unsure if the Lizard''s behavior was rted to her being that powerful, or if it was rted to the type of monster she was.

    Monsters of a higher Tier were said to be more intelligent, however, Michael had never seen that firsthand. But now that he watched the Lizard''s behavior and fighting style, he felt like the door to a new world was opened to him.

    ''I should never take the monsters of the Origin Expanse lightly¡­''

    Suddenly, something smashed loudly against one of therger rainforest trees. The sound pulled Michael out of his thoughts, and his head flicked over to the origin of the noise.

    A bulky, four-meter-tall Gogi appeared in his sight.

    The Gogi Lord had arrived atst!

 Chapter 42 Unyielding

    The Gogi Lord was four-meter-tall and bulkier than the rest of his people.

    He was wielding a huge mace in his right hand, which the Gogi Lord had smashed against the nearest tree to pull everyone''s attention over to him.

    The Gogi Lord shouted something in their nativenguage, and his subjects retreated from the battlefield at once. They heed their Lord''smand without hesitation, even if that turned into a deadly situation for some Gogis.

    The Lizard ignored the Gogi Lord and continued attacking the Gogis in her vicinity. She tore them apart as they retreated before continuing her advance.

    Suddenly, something big and heavy crashed onto the Lizard''s head as she was about to mp her jaw on a helpless Gogi. It was the Gogi Lord''s mace, which he threw at the Lizard with all his might.

    He roared out loudly and beat his chest loudly before he charged forward.

    A huge two-ded battle-axe and a Galea helmet materialized a momentter. The battle-axe was grasped tightly in the Gogi Lord''s right hand while the Galea covered his head from all sides.

    The moment the two Artifacts materialized, the atmosphere on the battlefield changed at once. The Gogis began to shout out their battle cries in a voice loud enough to make someone deaf and the Gogi Lord''s high speed elerated further.

    He swung the heavy battle-axe at the Lizard without hesitation. The Gogi Lord ignored the acid ball that formed in the Lizard''s mouth and viciously cleaved downward.

    A momentter, the Lizard released the acid, and the battle-axe impacted upon her.

    Chaos and mayhem ensued as the battlefield was stirred up and the Gogis'' battle cries were overwhelmed by the roars of the Lizard and the Gogi Lord.

    Blood sttered all around and the pungent smell of burned hair and flesh filled the air once again.

    Meanwhile, Michael frowned deeply after seeing what happened.

    ''The Galea helmet cast a protectionyer on the Gogi Lord, but it was too weak to repel the acid fully and protect him. Simultaneously, the battle-axe sunk deep into the Lizard''s shoulder¡­a lot deeper than expected¡­''

    Bothbatants had grossly underestimated their opponent''s attack power, causing severe injuries. But that was not all. The Gogi Lord could retreat now and order his warriors to aim their spear throws at the severe injury he had inflicted, while the Lizard didn''t have this opportunity.

    It injured the Gogi Lord, whose chest would continue to burn, and his flesh would sizzle as the aftermath of being hit by lethal acid, but that was already it.

    Neither of them was in a mood to back off.

    The Gogi Lord''s muscles bulged, and his veins popped out as he used his full strength to pull the battle-axe out of the lizard. In the same instance, the Lizard pounced on the Gogi Lord.

    Her tail coiled around the Gogi''s legs tightly and the Gogi Lord crashed hard on the ground with the Lizard on top of him.

    The Gogi Lord reacted quickly. He thrust the battle-axe between him and the Lizard before using his feet to push the monster away. However, the Lizard didn''t budge in the slightest. Instead, more dark-greenish acid formed in her mouth, and she sprayed it all down on the Gogi Lord who was trying to move with all his might.

    He couldn''t avoid the acid fully and had to decide between sacrificing his shoulder and arm, or his head. The protectionyer of the Galea Artifact had already been destroyed and the Gogi Lord knew that he needed his head to keep fighting. Thus, the only option he had was to allow the Lizard''s acid to be showered on his left arm.

    But while the acid gushed out of the Lizard''s mouth, she was distracted. The Gogi Lord roared out and exerted strength beyond his natural capabilities. The adrenaline and energy surging through his body allowed him to tap into power he didn''t know he possessed.

    The burst of strength allowed the Gogi Lord to tilt the battle-axe and pierce the Lizard''s abdomen with its razor-sharp edge. The Lizard noticed that something was amiss, and it stopped releasing acid, but it was already toote. The battle-axe''s edge had already cut deep into the Lizard''s abdomen.

    After a short struggle, the Lizard rolled down from the Gogi Lord as a bolt of pain erupted from the injury. She was bleeding severely and took a few strides back to observe her surroundings thoroughly.

    She was heavily outnumbered as more than a hundred Gogis surrounded her and the Gogi Lord. Their encirclement formed arge arena for them to battle in. Simultaneously, it was a cage to restrict the Lizard from escaping. Now that she had sustained multiple wounds, it was much easier to worsen her injuries with the spears each Gogi held tightly in theirrge hands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The moment the Gogi Lord ordered his subjects to attack, spears would be thrown at her from every direction. Few would hit the Lizard''s injuries, but it didn''t require many to further deepen her wounds and gravely injure her.

    However, the Gogi Lord didn''t give such amand. He got up from the ground, looked at his left arm, and let out a blood-curdling growl. His battle-axe pressed against his shoulder, and he roared out in anger. The next moment, the corroded and half-rotten arm fell to the ground, and a fountain of blood gushed out of the Gogi Lord''s shoulder.

    "Damn¡­" Michael blurted out.

    He was impressed by the Gogi Lord who possessed an unyielding spirit and resolute attitude. Once again, Michael was d that he didn''t attack the Gogi Lord on his own, and that he was observing the fight from further away.

    If he wanted to, he could run away at any time, and nobody would notice it. However, the opportunity that unveiled itself in front of him didn''te by easy. Michael was certain that he would have to clean up the mess he had created today.

    The Gogi Lord lost one of his arms and the protection of the Galea Artifact was also destroyed. Meanwhile, the Lizard was bleeding severely, and surrounded by more than a hundred Gogis, who were more than willing to sacrifice their lives to deal the finishing blow.

    ''Should I start moving?'' Michael thought at this moment. The Antler Bow manifested in his left hand, and he retrieved an arrow but stopped moving mid-way.

    ''No, not yet¡­''

    Michael held himself back at the right time or he would have fallen victim to his greed. He wanted to kill all Gogis andnd the finishing blow on both the Lizard and the Gogi Lord, hitting two birds with a stone. That way, he would receive the energy influx from everyone, which would increase his degree of refinement tremendously.

    Refining his War Rune and advancing to the next Tier was important, that was a given, but Michael was currently not desperate to advance quickly. At least, he was not desperate enough to jump into the fight like a suicidal maniac.

    Michael resumed his observation, but he didn''t put the Antler Bow and arrow back inside his War Rune. He used his Eagle Eyes to watch the fight even more intently than before and nocked the arrow on the bowstring after a while.

    The Gogi Lord and the Lizard continued to fight a terrific battle. It looked like they were bing more vicious and feral the more injuries they sustained, but Michael knew that this was just a temporary thing. Both the Gogi Lord and the Lizard were overflowing with adrenaline, which had an increased potency upon encountering the churning energy of the Origin Expanse that circted through their bodies.

    However, being able to release more power than usual led to rapid consumption of stamina and the inability of their wounds to heal. Their bleeding showed no signs of stopping. No, it grew worse!

    Atst, when Michael thought it would be over soon, the Gogi Lord raised his right arm high in the air.

    He gave amand, and the Gogis began to act.

    A momentter, more than a hundred spears soared through the air.

    **

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 Chapter 43 Michael, The Cleaning Fairy

    The tide of the battle changed once again when the Gogis began to throw spears at the lizard.

    After the Gogi Lord had inflicted three lethal injuries all over the lizard''s body the spears'' threat increased exponentially.

    Not many spears hit the lizard, even fewer had been precise enough to pierce through the monster''s open wound, but the few that hit caused considerable damage.

    The spears that hit the targeted areas prated deep into the lizard''s flesh where they remained stuck. The lizard''s movements made the spears sink deeper into her flesh, worsening her injuries in the process.

    The spears stuck in her body wouldn''t kill the lizard immediately. However, they weakened her and enraged the monster even further.

    Meanwhile, the Gogi Lord was barely hanging onto his life when he gave his subjects themand to join the battle. Initially, his pride didn''t allow him to give up, but he did not want to die and leave his subjects behind while the lizard was still alive. He had to survive, even if it was just for his subjects!

    More than a hundred Gogis were still standing, and they attacked the lizard with the remaining spears in their quivers. The lizard was further driven by wrath and used every ounce of strength in her body despite being exhausted and severely injured. She began to fight desperately, abandoning reason and logic. She charged at the most crowded areas and used her ws, tail, fangs, and acid spit to cripple and kill all Gogis.

    Her desperate struggle was clear to see, but this only highlighted the immense power the monster could unleash through the stress she faced. The surges of adrenaline blocked her sensation of pain, turning the monster into a living ughter machine.

    The Gogi Lord took a step closer to the lizard and his subjects but stopped afterward. He began to tremble, and it grew increasingly difficult for him to move around. The Gogi Lord could only clutch at his corroded abdomen where remnants of the lizard''s acid spit were still at work, burning his flesh and eating him away slowly.

    The full potential of the lizard''s acid spit came into effect atst. It restricted the Gogi Lord, preventing him from rejoining the battle. He was forced to witness the demise of his subjects as he limped helplessly, unable to do anything about it.

    ''Both are half-dead. Good thing I waited a little longer.''

    Michael was sitting on the tree branch like a coiled wire, observing the battle intensely. However, now that the opportunity he was seeking finally appeared, he would be thest one to shy away from joining.

    The first arrow was already nocked on the Bowstring of the Antler Bow, and he pulled it back slowly.

    He lifted the Antler Bow slowly, aimed for a second with his Eagle Eyes fully activated, and shot.

    Michael didn''t have to follow the arrow''s trajectory to know that his aim had been perfect. He retrieved the second arrow from his War Rune, which he nocked on the bowstring before he pulled it back once again.

    He channeled bits of his energy into the Antler Bow to boost the power behind every shot and released the arrow after he aimed at his next target for a second.

    Michael''s arrow pieced through the left eye of his second target with a sickening crunch. The Gogi had been in the outermost circle where nobody noticed him. His death was quick and silent, piercing his eye and skull before he realized it.

    Michael continued to attack the Gogis that were the furthest away from the battlefield. Everyone was too focused on the lizard''s terrifying attacks and her desperate struggle for death. The Gogis were certain that the lizard would die soon, which increased the intensity of their attacks even further.

    Nobody noticed him as the Gogis threw themselves at the lizard in the hopes ofnding the finishing blow and ending her menace for once and all.

    He didn''t think highly of that tactic because most Gogis ended up killing themselves, but their idiotic behavior was an advantage for him. It was better if more of them died while tiring out the lizard!

    Michael''s focus diverted to the lizard whenever he eliminated a few Gogis. He continued to kill the Gogis all over the battlefield while staying well-hidden high up in the tree, using the thicket as a cover.

    His aim was impable. Almost no arrow missed its target. That was something that surprised even Michael. In school, they had learned to wield all kinds of weapons, but Michael knew that he hadn''t been an exceptional archer before.

    All of that changed with Fenrir''s memories.

    Most memories of Fenrir using the bow had been deeply ingrained into his body and mind. One could say that Fenrir''s memories and experiences had be a part of Michael. They became his memories and experiences.

    Combining the aim, uracy, and tricks that Fenrir had learned by using the bow for years with the Eagle Eyes Soultrait made it much easier for Michael to replicate Fenrir''s exceptional archery skills.

    The star ranking of their Soultraits was different, but Michael made up for the difference by keeping the distance to his targets short enough to hit them without ws.

    Continuously using Eagle Eyes'' full power drained quite some energy but it was not worth mentioningpared to the energy influx he received now that he started killing the Tier-1 Gogis.

    ''I should slow down a little.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Once the number of Gogis decreased to less than 50, Michael released fewer arrows. He noticed that some Gogis had started to look around as if they sensed that something was amiss.

    They had yet to find the arrows stuck in some of theirrades'' bodies, but that was only a matter of time. Even the densely grown rainforest couldn''t hide everything.

    Time passed eerily slowly as the fight continued. Michael had less than twenty arrows remaining while the number of opponents decreased slowly.

    A few minutes had passed since he stopped shooting, but there were still 20 Gogis alive and fighting viciously.

    The lizard monster was now close to death, but she perceived a ray of hope now that the number of opponents was so little.

    Unfortunately, the Gogi Lord regained his ability to move atst.

    ''He is willing to sacrifice his life instead of continuing to watch his subjects'' demise. What a great Lord,'' Michael was getting increasingly impressed by the Gogi Lord and found himself respecting his actions.

    Most Lords didn''t even think of their summoned subjects as living beings. The Origin Expanse had resurrected them to obey their Lords. This turned them into mere puppets. That was what those Lords believed firmly.

    However, the Gogi Lord was different. He seemed to treat his subjects like he himself wanted to be treated as well.

    Under normal circumstances, having such a personality was great. Unfortunately, it may not be the best option for a Lord, who was responsible for ensuring the survival and safety of his territory and subjects.

    ''What a shame. I wonder if we could have be partners if not for the incident,'' Michael wondered before he made a move.

    One arrow after another cut through the air.

    In the next instance, the first arrow drilled deep into the Gogi Lord''s left eye.

    Then the second and third arrows followed suit.

    The Gogi Lord staggered after the first arrow pierced his head. When the second and third found their target, the Gogi Lord lost control of his body and crashed to the ground.

    The lizard monster, who had turned over to the Gogi Lord to face him, saw the arrows when they pierced the Gogi Lord''s eye.

    She turned around and her gaze followed the direction in which the arrows had flown towards the Gogi Lord. She found Michael standing high up in the trees only secondster.

    At that moment, realization struck her, but it was already toote.

    She roared out loudly with thest bits of strength in her body before a series of arrows pierced her eyes and her wide-open mouth.

    Michael, the Cleaning Fairy, was about toplete his mission!

    **

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 Chapter 44 Energy Flood

    Michael released one arrow after another.

    He was certain that the lizard monster was about to die the moment his first arrow pierced one of her eyes. However, the lizard didn''t copse even after the fourth arrow pierced her.

    Only when the sixth arrow dug deep into the monster''s vital points did it copse.

    The lizard continued to twitch, but Michael couldn''t pay the monster any more attention. The Gogi Lord''s energy share reached him. It felt like a bucket of boiling water had been simply upturned over his head before it entered his body by forcing its way through his pores.

    His blood began to churn, and his muscles cramped. Michael could barely hold onto the Antler Bow before he lost control of his trembling arms.

    His legs gave in due to the sheer intensity of the energy and he slumped to the ground.

    However, it was not over yet. The lizard monster died just now, and her energy share reached Michael.

    Michael''s veins protruded and the muscles all over his body bulged when the lizard''s energy share mmed into him, leaving Michael breathless.

    If the energy influx of a Low Tier-1 Gogi could bepared to a bucket full of water, the Gogi Lord''s energy influx would be a bathtub that had been filled to the brim. However, Michael would still be able to ept this much energy if given enough time.

    But the energy influx of the lizard didn''t wait for him to take a few breaths and ready himself. The energy influx crashed down on him like an avnche, suffocating Michael with its sheer mass of energy.

    Michael''s body couldn''t take in that much energy at once, yet the energy influx didn''t care about that. It forced its way inside Michael''s body, causing his skin to burst open and blood to spurt out.

    He began to bleed from all seven orifices and coughed up even more blood. His blood was sticky, and it was boiling hot.

    For an unknown amount of time, Michael was unable to sense anything in his surroundings. His eyes were covered in blood, he could only smell his own blood, and hear his wildly thumping heart.

    Even his sense of touch was numb. Michael couldn''t feel a thing, as if he had been isted from the rest of the world.

    ''Focus on the War Rune. Channel every bit of energy inside the War Rune!'' Michael told himself repetitively as if he was chanting a mantra.

    The flood of energy spreading through his body was too much for him to handle in his current state. It was already surprising that his body didn''t disintegrate into pieces. His muscles and veins were on the verge of rupturing, but they weren''t. They barely contained the tremendous pressure inside his body.

    At one point, Michael thought that he fainted. He regained his senses a few secondster but worry gued his mind from that moment onward.

    Was he going to die?

    Instinctively, he materialized Tigerfang. He channeled some of his excess energy inside the Artifact, easing the pressure weighing down on his entire being. Michael followed up by using as much energy as possible to unleash the full power of his Soultraits, further alleviating the pressure off him.

    ''That''s better¡­''

    The massive amount of energy spreading through him was easier to bear atst, and Michael''s chaotic senses finally returned to normalcy, making him feel a bit relieved.

    He wiped his eyes with his cloak and opened them once again.

    ''The most annoying foes are dead, but how many Gogis are left?''

    Even if Michael wished that the battle was already over, that was not the case. Some Gogi were still alive.

    Michael continued using both Soultraits and channeling energy into his three Artifacts while his War Rune was refined at a rapid speed. The refinement of his War Rune resulted in a proportional increase in his strength, which decreased the pressure caused by the energy influx.

    A War Rune could be controlled manually, but it would naturally absorb the untamed energy of the Origin Expanse when it entered his body. Michael made use of that.

    He slung the Antler Bow around his shoulder and looked down at the battlefield.

    The survivors of the battle were a few Gogis. They had gathered around their Lord''s dead body and were beating their chests while roaring out loudly.

    ''A few more Gogis doesn''t really change anything¡­'' Michael thought before jumping from one branch to another.

    All opponents had to be killed before he could calm down and put his full focus on the untamed energy inside him.

    He reached the ground after a few jumps and channeled more energy into the Boots of Taran when his feet touched the soft soil. The next moment, he turned into a sh.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The distance to the remaining Gogis decreased in the blink of an eye. Tigerfang arced through the air and cut down like a descending shooting star.

    Michael felt the faint resistance of the Gogis'' skin as Tigerfang''s razor-sharp edge cut through it. The de continued to hack and sh at the Gogis, severing their muscles and tendons with little to no resistance.

    The first bits of resistance reached Michael when Tigerfang sliced through the Gogis'' flesh and bones. However, Tigerfang was overflowing with energy, further enhancing the Epic Artifact''s sharpness and durability. The enhancement was high enough for a Mid-level Tier-0 Lord who was overflowing with energy to cut through Tier-1 Gogis without feeling too much resistance.

    Tigerfang was an exceptional Artifact, but so were the Boots of Taran. After Michael channeled enough energy into the Boots of Taran, he was able to overdrive the Swiftness enchantment. The power output of the enchantment was temporarily increased by 200%, further increasing his speed.

    Using all of his means, Michael ended up taking the remaining Gogis by surprise. They had been grieving the loss of their Lord, only to end up with a sword thrust through their chest, or with the loss of their head, joining him in the afterlife.

    The energy influx of the Tier-1 Gogis didn''t worsen Michael''s condition any further. The flood of the lizard monster''s energy had been too massive for the Low Tier-1 Gogis energy to make a difference.

    Once the remaining Gogis were dead, Michael felt a tinge of excitement surging up from the depth of his subconscious.

    He was still forced to keep releasing his Soultraits and channeling energy into his Artifacts to make sure that he wouldn''t die, but he came to realize that the battle had finally ended.

    Michael had won the battle against the Gogi Lord by deceit!

    Stealthily entering the lizard monster''s cave to steal her eggs to lead her to the Gogi Lord''s territory was not something a warrior would have done, but Michael was not a warrior in the first ce, not yet.

    He was a Lord, and ready to do everything necessary to ensure the survival of his territory and people. Thus, the Gogi Lord had to die, or he and his territory would have been annihted in the following days. That was a fact.

    "I really did it¡­" He mumbled, his gaze moving across the bloody battlefield.

    The environment was either destroyed or dyed in the blood of the deceased along with the mangled and mutted corpses of the Gogis scattered all around. It was a gory sight that caused Michael to retch.

    However, he had to endure it. Michael was not allowed to close his eyes and turn away from the gory sight.

    He was the reason why everyone on the battlefield died today. His action led to everyone''s death, and he knew that he had to imprint the sight into his mind.

    It was necessary to know what effect his actions had, otherwise, he would break down after doing something he couldn''t forgive himself for doing.

    Every action resulted in a consequence. That was something Michael had to understand.

    For example, defeating the Gogi Lord meant that the territory of the Gogi Lord was not protected anymore and that a new Overlord would soone to stake im on it.

    Michael didn''t possess the strength or resources to expand his territory that far yet. Thus, more monsters would gather in the Gogi Lord''s territory and fight for it.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s War Rune received arge amount of energy from killing the Gogis and Gogi Lord. His War Rune was being refined but it couldn''t be overcharged with energy. It would require some time before all energy would be absorbed and further used to refine his War Rune.

    Thus, Michael had to continue to endure it. Fortunately, there was a lot to do. He could distract himself for quite a while, exploring the Gogi Lord''s territory and extracting the corpses of more than 200 Gogis.

    His storage space was much bigger than before, but he couldn''t store 200 Gogis, to his misfortune. Nheless, the space was enough to store the corpses of the Gogi Lord and the Lizard monster.

    He stored them inside his storage space before he turned his focus to the Gogi corpses.

    "I cannot carry all corpses, but I can still extract the loot generated by the Origin Expanse!" Michael mumbled to himself. If he was already using his Soultraits to drain his energy, he might as well gain something out of it.

    However, just as he was about to bend down to extract the drops of the first corpse, Michael''s senses tingled.

    He dived to the side, rolled on the ground, and jumped up to look back as something cutting through the air with horrifying velocity reached his ears.

    What he saw caused his veins to pop.

    ''You fucking forest! Just leave me alone?!?!''

    Three arrows pierced the ground where he had been standing just a moment ago, making him curse profusely.

 Chapter 45 Elves

    Michael nearly lost control of the untamed energy inside him when he red up in anger.

    However, it was hard for him to believe that he was attacked right after he got rid of hisst enemy.

    It was not as if enemies were queueing up to fight him¡­right?

    One of the three arrows stuck in the ground had grazed Michael, ripping his clothes. A single nce was enough for Michael to tell that the arrow''s tip had scratched his left leg. It cut him faintly.

    ''Who?''

    Michael''s head flicked in the direction where the arrows came from. His Eagle Eyes Soultrait was still fully activated, perceiving the faintest movements in his sight.

    Thus, it only took a second or two until he found the perpetrators standing on a wide tree branch high up in a tree 100 meters away.

    ''What the¡­''

    A group of five human-like creatures carrying bows entered his sight. They stood proudly on therge tree branch with their youthful and ageless appearance. They had fair skin, emerald eyes, and long golden hair that had been tied back in a bun, or ponytail.

    They were Elves!

    Theirrge, pointed ears were not hard to see with the Eagle Eyes activated. They attracted his attention almost immediately.

    However, the arrows nocked on their fully drawn-out bowstring instantly made him feel wary about them.

    ''They have War Runes. Maybe, the group doesn''t belong to another Lord¡­'' Michael thought when he got a fairly good view of their War Runes.

    It didn''t take a genius to tell that their War Runes were more advanced than Tiara''s War Rune. In fact, Michael was certain that the Elves'' War Runes were more refined than that of the Gogi Lord''s!

    Michael''s heart had been filled with joy and excitement before, but it began to beat wildly now that a new threat appeared. His positioning was bad, and he had to split his focus to continue consuming the untamed energy inside him. He didn''t know much about the Elves either.

    Were they also his enemies, or did they shoot him as a warning?

    ''They could have killed me easily. Five arrows shot at me when I was unguarded would have been more than enough!''

    Michael could tell that the three arrows shot in his direction were not released using much force. They weren''t stuck deep in the ground, and he had been able to evade them even though he had been focused on something else.

    Despite feeling that the Elves might be easier to deal with by talking rather than fighting, Michael felt a small spark of anger rising from inside him.

    ''So¡­there are Elves in this annoying, deadly forest, and they''re some Adventurers?! I swear, if they''re Tier-2 Adventurers, I am going to search the Origin Expanse''s Will and¨C¡­''

    Michael couldn''t finish his thought. His attention was locked on the Elven group. They continued to aim at him but didn''t release a second barrage of arrows. Instead, their eyes moved across the Gogi Lord''s territory.

    They saw the mangled and mutted Gogi corpses spread across the bloody battlefield and Michael standing in the midst.

    ''Were they the Gogi Lord''s partners? Give me a break¡­please¡­''

    Michael willed Tigerfang to return to his War Rune and lifted his empty hands to show he was not an enemy.

    Beads of sweat trickled down his temples and the tension increased exponentially while the Elves continued to hold their bows aimed at him. They only kept staring at him without the slightest movement or uttering a single noise for the next few minutes, which worsened the worry in Michael''s heart until he couldn''t take it anymore.

    ''If you guys don''t want to talk to me, then I am not going to stay here like a living target,'' Michael thought, ''I am at a huge disadvantage here, either way. Don''t even think that I will risk talking to you guys while your arrowheads are locked on me!''

    The instance after he finished his train of thought, Michael retrieved a ss vial from his War Rune. He grasped it tightly and channeled a tremendous amount of untamed energy inside it. The next moment he threw the vial into the air.

    Michael turned on his heels and he kicked his feet off the ground when an intense and bright sh of light filled the bloody battlefield. Simultaneously with the sh, the vial produced a loud bang as it burst open. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael could reach his top speed near-instantly with the Boots of Taran''s Swiftness enchantment.

    He didn''t look back to see the effectiveness of the dazzling light and how the Elves reacted to it, but he jumped through a bush and headed straight back to his territory.

    If the Elves wanted to talk to him, they could have done so already instead of the tense standoff. Thus, Michael chose to take the worst-case scenario into consideration, which was that the Elves and the Gogi Lord were close business partners and that they wanted to capture and torture him to take revenge.

    Even if the worst-case scenario was not right, it was weird that the Elves didn''t utter a single word nor attempted to initiatemunication but pointed their arrowheads at him which he took as a sign of hostility.

    That was not beneficial, and more than enough reason for him to risk fleeing.

    Michael retrieved a second ss vial from his War Rune while continuing to run for his life.

    The ss vials had been filled with red viscous liquid before ire drank them. Michael and his subjects had toiled endlessly, to test out a few things and put those now-empty vials to good use.

    Michael wanted to have a few means of escape since he had been wanting to fight the Gogi Lord alone. Too many steps in his n could have gone wrong, which was why he made ample preparations to ensure his survival. That way, even if something had gone wrong, Michael wouldn''t have necessarily died.

    They ground the Gloa crystals and mixed them with the frail white crystal, which had properties like Magnesite. At the end of the night, Michael, the Schr, and the craftsmen had created a sh powder that could be ignited with the dormant energy of the Origin Expanse.

    The more energy was used, the brighter the sh and subsequent burst of light would be.

    Fortunately enough, Michael was overflowing with a massive amount of untamed energy right now. It was no problem for Michael to create a dazzling sh of light.

    The dazzling sh of light dispersed after a few seconds.

    However, that was enough for him to increase the distance to the Elves. Michael sprinted swiftly through the rainforest. He jumped over arge root and charged through two bushes.

    Michael''s moves were nimble and the changes in his direction were instantaneous, almost like a cheetah. The moment the densely grown environment blocked the Elves'' sight, Michael charged straight home.

    He dashed through the bushes and thicket that did little to deter him. On the contrary, he could maintain his top speed while using the tree roots asunching pads and means to trick the Elves.

    ''Are they behind me?'' Michael wondered after he ran for half a minute. The rainforest''s noises, his ragged breathing, and the distraction caused by the untamed energy raging inside him prevented Michael from using his full focus on his escape.

    However, the rustling leaves high up in the trees around him were enough to tell that someone was following him. The sounds came from behind him, but they inched closer with each passing second.

    ''Why are they tailing me but not attacking?''

    The Elves traveled through the trees like monkeys, jumping from one branch to another. Meanwhile, Michael was already running as fast as he could while using the densely grown rainforest''s vegetation to his advantage.

    He could only make use of the only advantage he had- the Elves didn''t know where he was going.

    Because the Elves had no information about him, they couldn''t be certain he was alone. His War Rune was still Tierless, and there had been more than 200 Gogi corpses at the 1st Tier. No matter what the situation may be, the Elves would never believe that Michael killed the Gogis on his own.

    Thus, logically the Elves would be wary of him and try to keep some distance and stay vignt. After all, Michael might be a bait to lure them into a trap!

    The unknown was dangerous, and it was better to act carefully and slow down instead of walking into an obvious trap.

    At least, that was what Michael believed the Elves thought about the current situation.

    Nobody would believe that he obliterated the Gogi Lord by himself. It didn''t make sense.

    Fortunately, Michael had the help of a powerful Lizard mother.

    But that was not something the Elves had to know!

 Chapter 46 [Bonus ]The Untamed Jungle

    [A/N: Thank you forpleting the 2nd mission on the Mission Board. Here is the promised Bonus Chapter!]

    A second re of dazzling light flooded the proximity when the protection barrier of his territory entered his sight.

    He channeled enough untamed energy in the vial to release the most dazzling light before he threw it high in the air.

    Michael heard the groans of a few Elves, which was all the more reason to use thest bits of strength within his body to run even faster.

    The Elves couldn''t be far from him if he was already able to hear their groans. Fortunately, the re of dazzling light gave him some leeway.

    It allowed him to inch closer to the protection barrier without getting caught.

    However, Michael could only feel safe when he dived through the protection barrier.

    The moment hended inside the protection barrier, several thuds and smacks rang out behind and above him. Three of the five Elves pursuing him hadn''t perceived the protection barrier. They charged into it at full speed and bumped into it.

    "Urgh¡­I feel like I ran a marathon after feasting at an all-you-can-eat buffet¡­" Michael mumbled quietly.

    He retched and gagged a few times, but he never vomited. It was just the untamed energy inside him that ravaged his body, causing mayhem.

    Since Michael forcefully controlled the untamed energy to channel it inside his Artifacts, and the vials to create a dazzling re of light, his entire body was slowly being wreaked.

    The rapid refinement of his War Rune and his strong willpower were the only reasons why he had not yet fainted.

    However, now that he had returned to his territory, the adrenaline coursing through him had finally ebbed. The tension all over his body had been dispelled the moment he knew that he was safe, and he felt like sleeping for an entire week.

    Unfortunately, the Elves had yet to leave. They stared at him while three of them rubbed their noses.

    ''What am I supposed to do now?'' Michael wondered. He tilted his head while looking at the Elves.

    They didn''t attack him when they could have, and it didn''t look like they were angry either. On the contrary, they were simply staring at him with curiosity and confusion.

    Michael was thankful for not being stuck with an arrow in his back, but he wouldn''t let the Elves fool him. It might be great to befriend the group of Elves, but it was always tricky to get closer to Lords and Adventurers of other races. Nobody could tell if both sides were sincere, or if one side was slowly leeching off the other until it was sucked dry.

    Even befriending other Lords of the same race was quite difficult since greed and selfishness often led to betrayal.

    But then again, Elves were known to be loyal once you earned their trust ¨C even if that was said to be quite hard.

    "Do you want to take revenge on me for killing the Gogi Lord?" Michael asked in the originnguage.

    One of the biggest reasons for him to attend one of the most prestigious high schools in the Golden Sun province was to join the Origin Language ss. His brother was unable to join a prestigious school in the past. Thus, he had to spend most of his savings to attend a night ss to learn the Originnguage.

    Not only was that extremely expensive, but the quality of the lesson was on a different level. Michael could speak the Originnguage as fluently as the humannguage while his brother had attained the same skill level after spending several years inside the Origin Expanse, learning it the hard way.

    The Elves looked at each other when they heard Michael and had a quick discussion in the Elven tongue before one of them stepped forward.

    "We don''t really care who eliminated the Gogi Lord if we get the Lord''s corpse. Hand it over, and we''ll leave silently," One of the Elves said. She was standing right in front of the protection barrier, unprotected and easy to target.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael could materialize Tigerfang and thrust out to kill the elven woman, however, that would only cause more problems. He didn''t want to invite more trouble and he wouldn''t be able to endure the energy influx from killing the elven woman, either way.

    Michael had enough trouble with the energy influx of the lizard, the Gogi Lord, and dozens of Gogis. It was not necessary to worsen his condition any further.

    "You want his corpse? Why? Did someone order you to kill the Gogi Lord?" He asked in return.

    Now that he was inside his territory, Michael felt much more secure. He was not even nervous anymore.

    ''They''re either Adventurers or Mercenaries.''

    The elven woman looked at Michael intently. She pressed her palm against the protection barrier with some force and nodded her head.

    "To think that another Lord appeared in the Untamable Jungle. But it''s even more surprising to think that a Lord, whose grace period has yet to conclude, was able to take down the Gogi Lord," She mumbled quietly to herself before her focus returned to Michael.

    "How did you do it? You''re merely a Tierless Lord so you couldn''t have done it alone. Most Gogi corpses on the battlefield were mauled and disfigured by something big."

    The elven woman seemed intrigued, but Michael didn''t answer even after the graceful elven woman stared at him with gleaming eyes.

    ''Is that how they interrogate people? By bewitching them with their beauty? Well¡­it doesn''t seem like a bad n to make use of their beauty that way¡­'' Michael thought while keeping his mouth shut.

    "We received the extermination mission from the Guild in Xiltra," The female Elf answered atst.

    She didn''t know the human Lord, but it was not difficult to tell that he was a tough nut to crack.

    "Xiltra? Is that a city in the Untamed Jungle?" Michael asked curiously.

    He didn''t have much information about the region around him. Michael just found out that the rainforest region was called the ''Untamed Jungle''. Meanwhile, Xiltra sounded like the name of a city, which was why Michael made a guess.

    This time it was the female Elf who remained quiet. Her lip curled up while Michael''s face darkened.

    ''You''re not going to tell me anything if I don''t tell you anything?'' Michael asked inwardly before letting out a sigh.

    "Xiltra is one of the border cities of the Zentika Empire. It''s the first line of defense against the monsters of the Untamed Jungle that often wreak havoc andy waste in the empire. We''re a E-Rank Adventurer team and epted the mission to kill the Gogi Lord after the Gogi Lord kidnapped the Bilrox horde of a wealthy merchant. The merchant offered us a small fortune, so¡­" The female Elf trailed off, but it was enough for Michael to get the gist of it.

    No matter how she looked at the situation, the human Lord was at an advantage. He could use the protection barrier to hunt them down or leave the Origin Expanse with the corpse of the Gogi Lord inside his War Rune''s storage space if hunting down didn''t work.

    They were in dire need of money, and the human Lord was the only obstacle factor separating them from their fortune. If a few answers were enough to get on his good side, why wouldn''t she reveal somemonly known facts?

    ''Zentika Empire? Xiltra is a border city¡­and the first line of defense against the Untamed Jungle¡­'' Michael thought, slowly trying toprehend the bits of information he received. ''...and my territory is in the Untamed Jungle that even an Empire doesn''t seem to be able to conquer¡­great¡­''

    Once again, Michael realized that he had no idea where he was and how dangerous the Untamed Jungle truly was. He sighed deeply and looked at the Elven Adventurer team.

    "Let''s make a deal."

 Chapter 47 Deal

    The deal was rather simple.

    Michael would receive the information he wanted, and the Elves would receive the Gogi Lord''s corpse. Both sides would benefit greatly.

    "We ept the deal. Let us inside and we can talk all night!" The female Elf said generously giving him a faint smile.

    However, Michael didn''t move an inch. He frowned deeply and shook his head.

    "That''s not going to happen. We will talk here, with the barrier between us!" Michael announced, making his stance clear.

    "Of course, if you remove your weapons, and allow me to tie your arms and legs, I will reconsider letting you guys inside. But I don''t believe that anyone here wants to be tied up like a prisoner;" He added after a few seconds.

    Michael sensed that the other Elves looked at him with discontent and ridicule, but he couldn''t care less. They whispered to each other in the elven tongue, which Michael shrugged off. He didn''t mind if they thought of him as a coward.

    ''Why should I trust you guys, in the first ce? I don''t know you, and you don''t know me. I would rather stay alive than fall prey to stupidity.''

    The Elves were as strong as the lizard mother, if not stronger. Michael couldn''t even deal with the Gogi Lord without help. Dealing with the elven group was out of question.

    "You can decide to leave with empty hands, I don''t really mind," Michael said calmly, "It''s not like I ask for a lot. All you have to do is spend ten or twenty minutes talking about the Untamed Jungle, where Xiltra is located, and some information about the ces I should avoid when I travel to Xiltra, ces in Xiltra I should visit, and even the ces I should avoid in Xiltra."

    Michael had nothing to lose if the Elves were not willing to ept the deal. In the worst case, he could preserve the Gogi Lord''s corpse and hand it over to the Guild in Xiltra to receive the Elves'' mission reward.

    The reason Michael was willing to give up on the mission reward was pretty simple. He hoped the Elves would feel indebted to him, and that they would provide secret information. But most importantly, Michael didn''t want to make new enemies now that he got rid of the Gogi Lord and the Lizard after tiring himself out for hours.

    The group of five Elves was far more dangerous than the Gogi Lord given the fact that they were deemed mercenaries by the empire. It would be great if they could be friends. But even if that was not possible, it would be fine as long as their rtionship remained neutral.

    The female Elf from earlier nodded her head in response. Michael''sments were reasonable. Michael was the one to have defeated the Gogi Lord and Gogis. He deserved the reward, not them.

    There would be some minor issues if Michael were to travel to Xiltra and demand the mission reward from the Guild, but these issues were not worth mentioning. And all Michael asked for was some information.

    It didn''t take an expert to determine that Michael was a Rookie Lord. His War Rune was Tierless, and the protection barrier was still up.

    Considering these factors, Michael was either well-trained or in possession of a powerful Soultrait. Otherwise, he shouldn''t have been able to kill the Gogi Lord and his subjects. Or¡­he was just suicidal, though the Elves didn''t think that this was the case. The Rookie Lord seemed vignt.

    "We ept your deal. In fact, we will not report the appearance of a new Lord in the Untamed Jungle, either," The female Elf, who seemed to be the adventurer team''s leader, said.

    Michael didn''t think much about that, so he nodded his head thankfully.

    "It''s not like his territory will remain standing long enough to be worth reporting, in the first ce¡­" Another Elf added in a low voice.

    Michael heard thement and tilted his head in confusion while looking at the youthful man for a while. After a second or two, Michael''s gaze moved away from the youthful man. He looked at the other elves and noticed that they refrained frommenting on the youthful Elf''s silent jibe at him.

    ''They think that I won''t be able to hold my forte¡­is it that dangerous here? The Gogi Lord survived as well, so why can''t I?''

    It was a fact that Gogis were warriors and physically extremely strong. However, it was not as if their Tier was higher than others upon being summoned.

    Michael felt that he shouldn''t be too much at a disadvantagepared to the Gogi Lord.

    "Don''t take myrade''sment to heart. Your territory is located a bit deeper inside the Untamed Jungle whenpared to the Gogi Lord''s territory. The Gogi Lord was already in a dangerous position on the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle, but you''re already at the border to the middle zone," The Elf Leader exined when she saw how confused Michael was.

    "Middle zone? My territory is only a few kilometers away from the Gogi Lord, and so far, I''ve only encountered Low Tier-1 Monsters, though their poption is much higher than I expected¡­there are no Tierless Monsters either," Michael grumbled quietly, which caused the Elf Leader to add.

    "That''s the thing. The overpoption of Tier-1 predators is the mostmon at the borders between the outer area and the middle zone. There should be some Tier-2 Monsters nearby, but you''ve probably not encountered them yet."

    Michael recalled the lizard mother when the Elf Leader spoke about Tier-2 Monsters, and he kept his mouth shut. The only ces he had visited outside the territory were the Lizard cave and the Gogi Lord''s territory.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He didn''t have to go deep inside the lizard cave and immediately encountered the lizard mother. Even if Michael had never encountered a Tier-2 Monster before, he was pretty sure that the lizard mother had been one. The energy share he received from her was more than ten times stronger than the energy share of the Gogi Lord.

    ''So, what if I''m in between the outer area and the middle zone?! I survived the Gogi Lord as well. I can deal with Tier-1 Monsters even though I''m only a Tierless Lord, and I have Tiara and my warriors. With enough time and effort, we''ll be able to deal with Tier-2 monsters as well. In the first ce, no Tier-2 monster seems to be running around mindlessly!''

    Michae was a bit stubborn and zealous, but that was required to not let anxiety about his territory''s location disadvantage get to him.

    It was not as if Michael could change the location of his territory, in the first ce. He had to ept the situation and progress, rather thanment about the inevitable.

    That was also why Michael listened intently to the information provided by the Elven Adventurers.

    "Where should I start? I think you''re the most interested in the Untamed Jungle¡­" The Elven Leader began to share information.

    She was meticulous and didn''t seem to mind going into detail. Whenever Michael had a question, she would give him a satisfying answer.

    The Elven Leader was quite knowledgeable, which made Michael feel as if he hit the jackpot.

    Time passed quickly after the Elven Leader began sharing her knowledge about the Untamed Jungle and Xiltra.

    More than half an hour passed before she stopped.

    Meanwhile, Michael looked like his brain was melting. He couldn''t absorb anymore information even if he wanted to. Fortunately, that was not necessary because he had learned most things, he wanted to know from her.

    Even if he was not foolish enough to think that everything the Elven Leader said was true, the pieces of detailed information he had received would be quite helpful in the future.

    "Thank you for sharing your knowledge about the Untamed Jungle and Xiltra. It was very interesting!" Michael said in a sincere voice. He cleared his throat, and added, "I will get the Gogi Lord''s corpse. Please wait a moment."

    Saying so, Michael turned around and disappeared in the thicket of the rainforest inside his territory.

    The Elves looked at each other in confusion.

    "Is he ying with us? We know that the Gogi Lord is in his War Rune''s space!" The youthful Elf said, clenching his fist.

    The other Elves nodded their heads feeling simrly confused. There shouldn''t be a reason for the Rookie Lord to leave suddenly.

    "I don''t really care as long as we get the Gogi Lord''s corpse," The Elf Leader answered with a shrug. She didn''t think that Michael was foolish enough to betray them. The Rookie Lord seemed quite intelligent and vignt. He wouldn''t dare to anger them knowing that the protection barrier would disperse in a few days.

    "That doesn''t make sense¡­is he trying to fool us?!" The youthful Elf repeated, only for his head to snap forward when the Elven Leader pped the back of his head lightly.

    "Shut up and wait!"

    What the Elves didn''t know was that Michael was less than ten meters away from them. He retrieved the Gogi Lord''s corpse once he was certain that the trees and bushes acted as privacy screens, shielding what he was going to do next.

    Then his hands began to glow golden.

    Before handing over the Gogi Lord''s corpse, he had to extract his body.

    After all, that was his loot to im!

    **

    [A/N: Spent your hard-earned powerstones on this novel to receive special benefits - such as more chapters and a happy author!]

 Chapter 48 Upgrade

    It took only a minute to extract the most important loot, but Michael took his own sweet time to return.

    Twenty minutes after he left, Michael returned to the Elves.

    He dragged the Gogi Lord''s corpse behind him and pushed it through the protection barrier without saying a word.

    His face looked pale, and his expression was filled with confusion and doubts.

    Michael was deep in thought and didn''t even notice that the youthful Elf called him out to disappear for such a long time.

    Even the Elven Leader had grown a little worried when Michael didn''t return after ten minutes. The Elves were unable to figure out what had taken Michael so long when he merely had to ess his War Rune to retrieve the Gogi Lord''s corpse.

    However, Michael''s entire focus was on the loot he had received from extracting the Gogi Lord''s body.

    Some drops were expected while others were just too confusing.

    He had obtained a Wisp of Memories, several SoulStar Fragments, a few blueprints, the Gogi Lord''s Battle Axe Artifact, and hundreds of Bilrox feathers.

    It was the first time he used Extraction on someone with a War Rune, and it was the second time he had extracted a Wisp of Memories and SoulStar Fragments.

    SoulStar Fragments was the name Michael gave the translucent marbles with strands of purple energy inside. They could form into Soultraits, or enhance his Soultraits'' star rating.

    Interestingly enough, the SoulStar Fragments didn''t form into a Soultrait upon getting extracted. But that was better.

    Michael didn''t want to collect hundreds of low-ranked Soultraits, in the first ce. Instead, he desired to enhance the star rating of his existing Soultraits.

    When Michael saw the SoulStar Fragments, he didn''t wait long and willed the War Rune to absorb them. It was not difficult to enhance Extraction, which was upgraded to a 3-Star Soultrait atst.

    The Soultrait Eagle Eyes may help him more inbat upon being upgraded, but Extraction increased his drop rate and strengthened the resources he extracted.

    Thinking about his drop rate made him recall the Gogi Lord''s territory where the corpses of more than 200 Tier-1 Gogis were scattered on the ground, waiting to be extracted by him.

    That was also why Michael thought of upgrading Extraction, as the changes his first Soultrait underwent when he upgraded it from a 2-Star Soultrait to a 2.5-Star Soultrait were quite beneficial. Michael had yet to test it out, but he was certain that his drop rate increased even further now that Extraction was upgraded to a 3-Star Soultrait.

    Being able to extract SoulStar Fragments and a Wisp of Memories had been great, but Michael had predicted that.

    He was more interested in the extraction of the Gogi Lord''s Battle Axe and the Bilrox feathers. The Gogi Lord''s body was not covered in Bilrox feathers, but the storage space of his War Rune might Bilrox feathers stored in it!

    This led to the question which tormented him the most right now- Could he use Extraction on War Runes as well?

    The answer was pretty obvious. Michael extracted the Battle Axe Artifact that had been bound to the Gogi Lord''s War Rune, and he extracted the Bilrox feathers that could only be stored in his War Rune''s storage space. Gogis didn''t eat chicken meat!

    Finding out a new perk of his Soultrait was quite exciting. He didn''t expect that he would be able to take the Artifacts of deceased Lords and Adventurers for himself and that he could even loot their War Runes'' storage space.

    However, this brought forth even more questions. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    What was the limit of his Soultrait? Could he use his Soultrait on living Lords and Adventurers as well, or was it restricted? Michael could use extraction on the trees in the Untamed Jungle even though they were not dead. With that logic, it shouldn''t be impossible to steal the Artifacts of other Lords and Adventurers.

    Michael may even turn into a thief, capable of looting the storage space of War Runes!

    Of course, Michael didn''t n to turn into a thief, but he wanted to find out the limit of his Soultrait. It could be useful for future purposes.

    He had many more questions that were waiting to be answered, however, it was better to make mental notes and save those forter to ponder about when he had free time instead of throwing dozens of questions around. Most of them couldn''t be answered easily, either way.

    After Michael came to a conclusion, his fogged mind cleared up atst. He realized that he had been rude to the Elves and wanted to apologize.

    However, when he looked at the Elves, their bodynguage indicated that they didn''t really seem to mind too much. The youthful Elf red at him, but the rest seemed unbothered.

    ''Are Elves not as difficult to deal with as everyone says?'' He wondered.

    Michael felt much better thinking that the Elves were nicer than expected and he recalled something when he was about to see them off.

    "You might be able to earn a big fortune by bringing the Bilrox horde back to the merchant. If that merchant is not an idiot, he will give you a generous reward," He proposed with a faint smile.

    The Elves had stored the Gogi Lord''s corpse and were about to leave when they turned back to him. The Elven Leader returned a simple smile.

    "If you need help in the future, you can ask for us in the Guild tavern. I am Lilica Balrean from the Tertan Woods. We belong to the Forest Elven, and I''m the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team," She introduced herself.

    ''Does that mean they''ll take the Bilrox horde back to Xiltra, or not?'' Michael asked himself. He was a little confused because it felt like the dynamic between him, and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had changed.

    However, instead of dwelling on it unnecessarily, Michael chose to go with the flow.

    "My name is Michael Fang, and I''m a human Lord. I won''t allow the Untamed Jungle to devour me, so we''ll probably meet each other in the future!" He introduced himself, which the Elves acknowledged with a nod before they departed for good.

    Even if Michael wanted to make the Bilrox horde his, he didn''t have the means to bring them over. Furthermore, If Michael would have somehow managed to bring them over, he did not have the resources to feed and raise the Bilrox. He didn''t even have enough space to construct a Bilrox farm.

    For the time being, raising a horde of Bilrox was out of question. The three Bilrox eggs from ire were already enough to start with.

    Thinking about the Bilrox horde in the Gogi territory, Michael recalled once again, ''I have yet to extract their corpses¡­''

    However, Michael couldn''t return immediately.

    Right now, he was trying to digest the Soultrait''s upgrade and ept the changes in his body. Simultaneously, the lizard mother''s energy share was still not fully digested either. It ravaged inside his body, just like the information he had received from Lilica Balrean.

    He was not sure if everything she said was true, but the Wisp of Memories, which he had extracted from the Gogi Lord''s corpse, would probably answer that.

    Michael retrieved the white blob of light ¨C which hebeled Wisp of Memories ¨C from his War Rune. He pushed it lightly inside his head where the streams of light scattered.

    Then, the Gogis'' memories filled his mind.

 Chapter 49 Loot

    The memories of the Gogi Lord filled his mind.

    It felt like waves crashing down on him, revealing various pieces of information about the Gogi Lord''sbat experience, his life in the territory, and the Gogis'' homeworld.

    The extracted memories were of much higher quantitypared to Fenrir''s memories. However, the memories of a Heroic Summon were qualitatively on a much higher level than the memories of a Lord, who had entered the Origin Expanse less than half a year ago. That was inarguable.

    But Michael was satisfied, either way. He had been a little confused as to why he didn''t receive any Summoning Scroll Fragments or Summoning Scrolls when he extracted the Gogi Lord''s body, but the Wisp of Memories had been quite helpful, so he didn''t mind it too much.

    ''The Gogi Lord''s memories proved Lilica''s information to be correct. That''s good.''

    He had been a little uncertain about the credibility of the information provided by Lilica. Michael didn''t know the Elven Leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, and she could''ve provided wrong, or slightly tweaked information to him that wouldnd him in trouble. Fortunately, that was not the case.

    Now that he was alone and inside his territory, he could finally rest. Michael''s entire body was still under massive pressure due to the energy share of the lizard mother and the Gogi Lord, but his War Rune was rapidly being refined. This resulted in a proportional increase in his body and mind''s strength.

    Thanks to that, Michael''s body didn''t seem like it was going to burst apart anymore. There was no need to keep using his Soultraits or infusing his Artifacts with untamed energy.

    His Artifacts were retracted into the War Rune, and Michael retrieved the corpse of the Lizard body. His storage space seemed like it would crumble any moment since he had squeezed the Gogi Lord and the Lizard mother inside it without caring whether they fit inside or not.

    The Gogi Lord was already four meters tall, and the Lizard mother hadn''t been smaller either. She was three meters tall and seven meters long.

    ''How did they even fit inside, in the first ce?'' Michael wondered before he gave it a shrug.

    Rather than wasting his time asking stupid questions, he could use extraction on the lizard corpse.

    ''Whatever¡­''

    Ten minutester, Michael hadpleted the extraction of the lizard''s corpse. He had dissected herpletely and stored everything possible inside his War Rune.

    Afterward, he staggered back to the wooden manor before he crashed onto his bed. His mind was churning in the attempt to neatly absorb the memories of the Gogi Lord while his body endured the untamed energy inside him.

    Michael was tired, and he didn''t really care that it was only early afternoon.

    ''I still have the entire day for me to work tomorrow¡­I deserve some rest now that the Gogi Lord is dead¡­''

    The moment he thought that exhaustion overtook him as his eyes felt heavy and his mind wanted to shut off. Michael was unable to escape his body''s demand for rest and well-deserved sleep. Thest few days had been too stressful, especially thest few hours.

    He was only a Tierless Lord who had yet to get ustomed to the threats and pressure of the Origin Expanse.

    One way or another, Michael was proud of himself. He had single-handedly removed a big threat while the protection barrier was still up and didn''t lose a single subject. That was enough reason to be proud and satisfied.

    Thus, Michael was able to sleep until the morning of the following day, feeling content with himself.

    Dawn marked the beginning of his 8th day inside the Origin Expanse. Only 48 hours were left before the protection barrier would disappear, but Michael was not that worried anymore.

    There were many tasks left toplete, yet Michael woke up with a calm heart.

    The untamed energy inside him had been fully absorbed to increase the War Rune''s degree of refinement, and the Gogi Lord''s memories had also beenpletely digested.

    Michael was full of vigor after sleeping for so long. He felt like he could move mountains!

    ''Now that the Gogi Lord is dead, we have to take care of the overpoption of Tier-1 Monsters. Tiara and the three Warriors should be enough to tackle that though. If the monsters recognize us as the overlords of the territory, we''ll be fine. They wouldn''t attack us as long as they''re not starving.'' Michael concluded.

    In the past week, he had learned quite a bit about the territorial behavior of the Monsters in the Origin Expanse. Just like no monster dared to enter the lizard cave, the monsters in the vicinity shouldn''t be daring enough to get too close to his territory by now.

    However, that was just Michael''s assumption. He had to meet up with Tiara and the Warriors to prove the theory before he could adjust his ns ordingly.

    Michael felt a littlezy today, but he understood that he couldn''t stay in bed and do nothing. He had yet to return to the Gogi Lord''s territory and use Extraction on more than 200 Gogi corpses.

    Now that Extraction had been upgraded to a 3-Star Soultrait, Michael hoped that he would receive an average of 10 Summoning Scroll Fragments for every Tier-1 corpse. In addition, he would receive a Summoning Scroll every now and then.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That meant he might be able to expand the number of his subjects by 100 after today!

    That thought provided him with enough motivation to jump out of bed and rush downstairs. He listened to the daily report, met up with Tiara and the warriors, and distributed the daily tasks. More treehouseplexes had to be constructed, and various necessities had to be provided if he would be able to turn the extraction of 200 Gogi corpses into 100 Summoning Scrolls.

    To provide the required resources for the necessities, Michael dissected the monster that Tiara and the Warriors hunted the day before. They killed a total of 45 Tier-1 Monsters, which was a lot more than Michael expected ording to the daily report he received.

    Fewer monsters dared to approach the vicinity of his territory ¨C the protection barrier, to be precise. It was just like Michael had theorized, which was great.

    The loot he received from 45 monster corpses was far more than he initially expected. In total, he received three blueprints, nine Summoning Scrolls, and 459 Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    Combined with the three Summoning Scrolls, 41 Summoning Scrolls Fragments he extracted from the lizard mother, and the daily Summoning Scroll of the Summoning Gate, Michael could summon 33 subjects!

    Thus, he wasted no time and Michael summoned them at once. More helping hands were always wee.

    Out of the 33 summoned subjects, four were 1-Star Summons. There was one Cook, one Alchemist, a Librarian, and a Warrior. The rest were starless summons that were given tasks ording to the territory''s needs.

    Meanwhile, 1-Star Summons were given the means to make use of their talent ¨C if possible.

    The Warrior was added to Tiara''s group of Warriors, which was how Michael noticed for the first time that the other three Warriors had grown a bit stronger. They were ranked Low Tier-0 Warriors after advancing from the Lowest-grade!

    In fact, Michael realized for the first time that his craftsmen and most of the older subjects had advanced from the Lowest grade to the Low grade! They worked so hard that their refinement degree progressed at a monstrous speed!

    ''Working hard allows Summons to absorb more dormant energy, I know¡­but isn''t that too fast?'' Michael wondered.

    He knew that Warriors absorbed more energy from killing Monsters and that Summons with upations amplified the absorption of energy by doing tasks in ordance with their upation, but that didn''t exin how 14 Starless Summons were able to reach the Low refinement degree.

    ''Did they practice the Sun Soldier''s Breathing, or had they attained enlightenment somehow? No¡­enlightenment is not that easy to attain¡­''

    Michael was baffled but he shook his head to dispel the doubts in his mind. He could think about the reason for his subject''s fast growth once he collected more information. He would put his brain to much better use by focusing on other tasks toplete for the time being.

    Thus, he stored some meat and Tiatcha in his War Rune and left the protection of his territory.

    On his way to the Gogi Lord''s territory, Michael took a look at the remaining objects he obtained from extracting the lizard mother''s corpse.

    He ignored the scales, and meat, and focused on the two pieces of paper he had obtained. Michael retrieved them from the War Rune and took a proper look at them.

    "A forging blueprint with detailed steps to follow. Even a cksmith Apprentice should be able to forge the de," Michael mumbled to himself before he noticed something written down at the bottom of the blueprint, "It can easily cut through the hide of High Tier-1 Monsters and is highly durable¡­that''s amazing!"

    The forging blueprint was already amazing, so Michael''s expectations were a tad bit higher for the other piece of paper in his hand.

    However, what he saw confused him more than he expected.

    ''Isn''t that¡­''

    **

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 Chapter 50 Devourer

    The second paper was a tattered parchment. The topography of the Untamed Jungle was drawn on it.

    It was a map! A part of a map, to be precise.

    ''Why does it look so familiar?''

    Michael was certain that he had seen a map of the Untamed Jungle before. He essed his War Rune''s storage space and retrieved a simr-looking parchment.

    "It''s not the same," Michael concluded quickly. The maps were far from detailed, and one could mostly see green dots indicating the treetops of the Untamed Jungle, but it was easy to tell that the maps were not simr. Certain marks and spots on both maps were different.

    Michael put the maps next to each other and tilted his head.

    ''They should be fragments of the same map¡­probably¡­'' He guessed.

    Right now, he was more confused than excited. The map could be a treasure map, but then why was there no red cross marking the position of the treasure?

    The red cross ¨C if there was one ¨C was etched on one of the missing parchments.

    ''Even if I had the map with the marked spot, the map barely has any details to pinpoint an exact position.'' Michael grumbled before he put the parchments back inside the War Rune.

    It would have been great if the map was drawn in detail. That way, he would be able to pinpoint his own position, the position of the Lizard cave, the Gogi Lord''s territory, and the habitats of the overlords in the Untamed Jungle''s outer area and middle zone. He and his subjects would have a much easier time evading dangerous areas anding up with precise strategies against most kinds of threats using a detailed map.

    ''Treasure map or not¡­it''s a little sad.'' He thought with a tinge of regret.

    Fortunately, the regret quickly dispersed when he got closer to the Gogi Lord''s camp. He got excited and further elerated his steps.

    Michael paved his way through the Untamed Jungle''s outer area while avoiding the monster habitats. It took him less than an hour to reach the Gogi Lord''s territory with excitement spreading through his entire being.

    Unfortunately, this excitement died down the moment he reached the bloody battlefield ¨C or where the bloody battlefield was supposed to be.

    "Not even aplete day passed¡­" Michael mumbled. His eyes shot wide open.

    He was stunned and had a tough time processing what happened.

    Not even twenty-four hours passed but the entire bloody battlefield had disappeared into thin air. He couldn''t find a single stter of blood, forget about the corpses or the remains of the dead. It looked like there had never been a battle, in the first ce.

    "Did I take a wrong turn? Maybe, I am at the wrong ce¡­" He scratched his head in confusion.

    A momentter, Michael began to climb up one of therge trees near him. He activated his Eagle Eyes and scanned the vicinity once he found arge branch to stand on. He was more than twenty meters above the surface and could see far in every direction. The Untamed Jungle was densely grown but the vegetation was scarcer at a higher altitude.

    Thus, Michael quickly figured that the Gogi Lord''s manor and Summoning Gate were not too far away. They were roughly as far away as they had been the day before. The angle at which he could see the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate were also the same. He was at the right position. This ce was the bloody battlefield!

    "How can that be?" Michael was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn''tprehend the situation. It was as if somebody cast a spell on the surroundingndscape to make everything disappear. But that was far from the truth, and he was faced with a mystery to solve.

    Thus, Michael jumped down from the tree while his hands began to glow golden. He used extraction in the vicinity while walking around. He recalled the rough position of a few Gogi corpses from the day before because they had been torn apart near a cluster of several densely grown trees. The trees were still there but the corpses, organs and all the blood had disappeared.

    Using his Soultrait on the same spot, Michael wanted to find out one thing; Were the traces of the bloody battlefield just hidden, or had they been removed altogether?!

    Extraction allowed him to extract everything in a targeted object. He targeted the trees, bushes, and soil with the intention of extracting everyst trace of blood.

    ''Either someone took the corpses and cleaned up the mess, the Will of the Origin Expanse removed the existence of the Gogi Lord''s subjects, or the Untamed Jungle devoured everything.''

    Michael came up with three theories, and it was fairly easy to get closer to the truth using his Soultrait. The Will of the Origin Expanse had nothing to do with this phenomenon if he could extract the blood from the ground. If there was none, the Will of the Origin Expanse was the perpetrator.

    However, what if blood was not the only remnant of the bloody battlefield?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The moment Michael used his Soultrait to extract the blood from the ground, a fountain of crimson liquid manifested in his golden glowing hands.

    His eyes shot wide open, and he stopped utilizing Extraction for a moment.

    ''....w-what was that?''

    Michael gulped nervously and subconsciously took a step back. He stared at the crimson blood he had extracted and tilted his head. Goosebumps sprang up on his body, but Michael forced himself to stay calm.

    Taking a breath to calm his jittery nerves, he manifested the golden streams of his Soultrait once again. However, this time, Michael focused on the vast variety of substances he could extract from the roots, soil, and bark around him.

    "This¡­"

    It was at this moment when Michael realized the truth behind Lalica''s words and the Forest Elves'' warning.

    The Untamed Jungle was dangerous. Michael understood that now.

    He understood that it was more than just a forest inhabiting ferocious monsters.

    It was a living entity¡­a devourer¡­

    Michael shuddered the moment he sensed the remains of the first Gogi in the ground. His Soultrait may not be able to tell him detailed information about the Gogi, but he could extract the remains of the corpse if he wanted to.

    However, the Gogi corpse had already been torn apart and digested by a great deal, and he wouldn''t receive the drops created by the Will of the Origin Expanse either.

    ''This is insane¡­''

    Michael had been a little bit confused why the Zentika Empire didn''t conquer the Untamed Jungle to acquire more resources. The Jungle''s trees were very resilient, and he had spent hours getting them extracted. Even a full blow of the Gogi Lord''s battle axe wouldn''t have been strong enough to cut deep into their trunks. That was also what made it so difficult for Michael''s Tierless subjects to cut down the trees.

    But now that he found out that the Untamed Jungle was not just a home to many living beings but was also alive, and not just as an ordinary lifeform.

    That made him feel oddly fascinated.

    It also meant that the Untamed Jungle was sentient, with a certain degree of intelligence, and could devour its inhabitants, which made Michael understand their reasoning.

    The Untamed Jungle was a habitat for very powerful existences, ording to Lalica. If the Zentika Empire wanted to conquer the Untamed Jungle, they would have to kill, subdue, or drive away the mighty monsters.

    However, if the sentient Untamed Jungleshed out and devoured the armies of the Zentika Empire while they fought the mighty monsters, it would be near impossible to conquer the Untamed Jungle without destroying it.

    Did that mean the Untamed Jungle was on the side of the monsters? But it didn''t attack the Gogi Lord''s subjects when they were alive!

    Was the Untamed Jungle unwilling to devour living beings, or was it unable to do so? If either of them was the case, why would the Zentika Empire be afraid to conquer the Untamed Jungle?

    ''Is it possible that the Untamed Jungle doesn''t consider Lords as its enemies?'' Michael wondered, but he quickly shook his head.

    The Lords killed countless monsters and brutally cut down the trees and hampered the environment for their personal gains. It was hardly possible that the Untamed Jungle didn''t consider Lords its enemies ¨C if it was truly sentient enough to sense the difference between Lords and monster habitats.

    ''What if the entire ecosystem around the Untamed Jungle is just a symbiotic rtionship between the inhabitants and the Untamed Jungle?

    ¡­

    Michael felt that he was slowly getting nearer to the truth. However, he didn''t really like that feeling. His heart was beating wildly, his throat felt tight, and a thousand thoughts were wreaking havoc in his brain.

    ''What would happen to the Lords, who dare meddle with the symbiotic rtionship of the Untamed Jungle and its habitants?!''

 Chapter 51 Upside Down

    After he gathered his thoughts for a while, Michael traveled deeper into the Gogi Lord''s territory.

    However, what he saw confused him more than before.

    Everything was destroyed.

    Not a single stone was in the right ce. The wooden manor had been reduced to ruins and the vegetation had taken over all the space, covering the wooden nks and pirs.

    A single nce was enough to tell that the wooden manor would be one with the surrounding environment in a day or two and the trees and vines would gobble it up.

    "Is that also the doing of the Untamed Jungle?" Michael mumbled quietly as his gaze moved across the small essible area that had once been the center of the Gogi Lord''s territory, "Is it trying to get rid of the traces left behind by the Gogi Lord, his subjects, and his territory?"

    Most buildings had been razed to the ground. The vegetation had quickly imed the space, invading the settlement, snaking its way through the gaps into the buildings to cover them first before devouring them. Only the Summoning Gate was left in good shape.

    Michael strode through the Gogi Lord''s territory. He couldn''t see any monsters, but he was still vignt, and his senses were hyperaware. The Untamed Jungle felt scarier than ever before, and it was uncertain whether he was in danger right now, or if he was safe and sound.

    The more time he spent in the center of the Gogi Lord''s territory, the scarier the scenery around him grew. There was a feeling of unease bubbling inside of him and it grew so intense that Michael felt like he should leave at once.

    However, there was still no imminent danger. There was no reason for him to leave, other than the eerie feeling the Untamed Jungle caused within him.

    ''Just what is the rtionship between the Untamed Jungle and Lords?'' Michael wondered again.

    He could tell that the eeriness and the scary feeling were somehow directed at the now-dead Gogi Lord. The Untamed Jungle seemed to have hated the Gogi Lord to the core, but it attacked the Gogi Lord''s territory only now, after he died.

    Michael was aware that the Untamed Jungle had not attacked him or his territory either. He had already extracted several trees and killed hundreds of Monsters, but the Untamed Jungle had not harmed or hindered him in any way.

    If not for his encounter with the Gogi Lord, Michael would have never thought that the Untamed Jungle was sentient, and a devourer.

    That meant the Untamed Jungle couldn''t attack Lords when they were alive. Some reason prevented the Untamed Jungle from venting its hatred at the beings it loathed to the core. Only when they die would it get its revenge, devouring things they once valued and loved¡­wiping away every trace of their existence.

    If that were really the case, Michael and his territory could be reassured. He didn''t n to die anytime soon either.

    After he traveled a while through the Gogi Lord''s territory, Michael found the remnants of a oncerge and empty area. The grass and nts in the area had grown a lot, but Michael was more interested in the demolished fence around the area, and the monsters that had been raised and taken care of inside before.

    Michael expected to find a few Bilrox, who had been left alone, or at least, some Bilrox feathers, but there was nothing.

    After he witnessed what happened to the Gogis, Michael immediately thought that the Untamed Jungle must have devoured the Bilrox horde as well.

    However, that thought was proven wrong once he began to unleash Extraction on the small ranch.

    Michael tested if the Bilrox horde had been devoured using Extraction. He walked inside the ranch and scanned the ground with his Soultrait. It didn''t require much energy to scan the surroundings with Extraction if he didn''t extract anything.

    Thus, in no time and with the use of a little energy, Michael found out that the wet soil hadn''t absorbed Bilrox blood or its remnants. Their only remains in the ground were dung, quite a lot of it at that.

    ''Was it the Forest Elves then? They wouldn''t waste their time inside the Untamed Jungle toy waste to the Gogi Lord''s territory¡­but they might have taken the Bilrox horde.''

    Michael concluded that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team took the Bilrox Horde, including all of their feathers. The Untamed Jungle wreaked havoc afterward, turning the entire territory upside down.

    That was the most likely course of events. It calmed Michael a little to know what must have happened, and he diverted his focus to the destroyed buildings. There was something he wanted to find out.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''If the Untamed Jungle doesn''t attack living Lords and subjects, I should be fine,'' Michael repeated in his head like a mantra. Simultaneously, he stayed vignt of the surrounding area.

    He had a nagging feeling that something was odd about the destruction of the Gogi Lord, but he had no way of finding out more, not right now, at least.

    Michael spent the next 20 minutes using Extraction on the destroyed buildings. He first started with the wooden manor, extracting the most precious resources out of the manor''s ruins and salvaging whatever he could.

    Afterward, he walked over to the other buildings to unleash Extraction on them.

    Within 20 minutes, Michael extracted two blueprints and various precious materials. This made him feel excited.

    ''Oho?!''

    Michael''s eyes gleamed brightly, and a bright smile appeared on his lips as his head flicked to the Summoning Gate.

    He walked over to the Summoning Gate and unleashed Extraction once again. His hands were shrouded in golden streams, and it didn''t take long before the first materials were extracted.

    ''Summoning Gates can be dismantled, and their cores and otherponents can be used to strengthen existing Summoning Gates or construct stronger Summoning Gates¡­but is that everything?!''

    The glint in Michael''s eyes intensified while his smile widened, reaching his eyes.

    His energy was rapidly drained, but Michael continued to extract. Beads of sweat trickled down his temples, and his back was drenched in sweat not long after.

    Never before had he used that much energy to extract a single object or corpse. It felt a little weird to realize that his energy had beenpletely drained, yet the Summoning Gate was still towering in front of him.

    However, that was all the more reason to keep working hard and give his utmost. He could rest a little to replenish his energy and continue extracting right from where he stopped before.

    It didn''t matter if he had to spend several hours extracting the Summoning Gate because he was certain that he would gain a lot.

    At noon, Michael''s stomach grumbled loudly, but he didn''t take pause, nor did he stop extracting.

    He looked at the first few drops he had extracted with a tinge of excitement in his eyes.

    ''Ohh!!''

    **

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 Chapter 52 Summoning Core

    A total of ten Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, two Aero Crossbowman Summoning Scrolls and one Mythic Summoning Scroll had been extracted.

    That was great!

    He knew that using extraction on more than 200 Gogis would have yielded a much better result, but Michael also knew that he shouldn''tin when he was given something.

    He could only shudder at the thought of what must have happened to him if he had returned to the Gogi Lord''s territory after handing over the Gogi Lord''s corpse.

    Extracting the Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments on more than 200 bodies would have required way too much time. He would have been even more exhausted than he was yesterday, and it was likely that he would have copsed due to internal and external factors.

    It had been way too dangerous, and not worth the loot of 200+ Gogi corpses.

    Michael was in danger even now. He had spent several hours outside his territory, all by himself, while being just a Tierless Lord. If that was not dangerous in a region such as the Untamed Jungle, few things could be considered dangerous, in the first ce.

    However, he was brimming with vigor now, and not restrained by the foreign memories upying his mind, and untamed energy raging through his body.

    ''The Summoning Core!'' Michael eximed inwardly.

    His eyes glowed as he looked at the fist-sized orb. It was white but also had numerous ck spots.

    That was the Summoning Core. It didn''t look special but the Summoning Core''s presence was mystical. His fingertips began to tingle upon touching the Summoning Core and his face lit up.

    Every Summoning Gate had to have a Summoning Core, otherwise, they couldn''t use the Gate to summon subjects. Nheless, Michael felt weird while holding a Summoning Core in his hands.

    He had been certain that the Mythic Summoning Scroll which he had extracted from the Summoning Gate had been the most precious gain today. However, upon looking at the Summoning Core, he changed his opinion immediately.

    The Summoning Core was more valuable than the Mythic Summoning Scroll, even if a Mythic Summoning Scroll guaranteed a 2-Star Summon.

    The thought of enhancing the Summoning Gate in his territory was already worth more than a 2-Star Summon. After all, it would bring him more long-term benefits!

    Michael had read a lot about Summoning Gates and the conditions that had to be met to upgrade it, but it was the first time that he was holding a Summoning Core.

    Fortunately, he had seen a few pictures of a Summoning Core before, otherwise, he would have had a tough time recognizing the Summoning Core. But there was something that confused him a little.

    ''Isn''t the Summoning Core way too dark? In the pictures, they have fewer ck dots¡­''

    Michael was not sure what the ck dots were, but he used Extraction on it to figure it out. If other Summoning Cores had fewer ck dots, it shouldn''t be a problem to extract one or two.

    The golden streams engulfed his hands before they entered the Summoning Core. His energy was rapidly drained while grain-sized ck masses formed on the surface of the Summoning Core.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Immediately, a reeking stench spread through the surroundings, making him double up.

    Michael wanted to vomit the moment the stench infiltrated his nostrils. He stored the grain-sized mass of dirt inside his War Rune''s storage before he retrieved it once again. This time, he held his breath and looked at the ck mass he had just extracted from the Summoning Core.

    ''Isn''t this what everyone calls ''Impurities''? It smells bad, is ck, and looks like mud. Yes, that should be impurities,'' Michael guessed with the knowledge he recalled from high school.

    Students at Elite High Schools learned quite a lot about Impurities. In fact, everyone had impurities in their body. There was nothing like inherent purity.

    But even if there was nothing like inherent purity, it was important to learn more about it.

    Impurities could be considered as deviations from an ideal essence. They signify the presence of substances that disrupt or corrupt the harmony, or perfection of a particr existence, or system. The human body was a good example of such an ecosystem.

    The human body amassed impurities from pollution, certain food, and other means from a young age.

    Lords and Adventurers underwent a natural cleansing whenever their Tier advanced. The removal of impurities improved the cirction of blood and energy, and it allowed the body to umte more energy inside the body. That was one of the many reasons why a Peak Tier-0 Lord was said to be several times weaker than a Lowest Tier-1 Lord- because the Tier-1 Lord had already undergone his first natural cleansing.

    That is also why mankind desired to cleanse their body and remove the impurities within their body; to grow stronger and evolve.

    The pursuit of purity was inevitably associated with the yearning for transcendence or the attainment of a higher state of being. This desire was also something Michael felt sometimes.

    He was still young and had a lot to learn, but he often found himself listening more intently in ss and paying attention when the lesson was rted to impurities.

    It was often said that the degree of purity of an existence could give a rough estimation of its potential and power. Michael understood this concept to a certain extent, but he had never received the opportunity to prove it.

    Fortunately, that changed now that he was in possession of a wonderful Soultrait and a Summoning Core filled with impurities.

    Driven by desire, Michael continued to extract the impurities within the Summoning Core.

    He spent half an hour extracting as many impurities as possible. His 3-Star Soultrait''s limit was to remove roundabout 10% of the Summoning Core''s impurities. That was a lot more than Michael expected, considering that his Soultrait had yet to be strengthened. He was a Tierless Lord with less than 100 subjects, after all.

    Michael was very satisfied, but he had yet to find out if this particr Summoning Core was better than the Summoning Core in his territory.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t rush home just yet.

    A huge Summoning Gate was still waiting for him to be extracted!

 Chapter 53 Oath

    It was already afternoon when Michael returned to the territory.

    The Summoning Gate in the Gogi Lord''s territory had beenpletely dismantled, and everything had been stored inside his War Rune.

    Now that he was back in his territory, Michael removed the Summoning Gate''s parts and stored them in the warehouse.

    Afterward, he retrieved the Summoning Core and approached his Summoning Gate.

    "Can I add another Summoning Core already, or do I have to upgrade it first?" Michael mumbled to himself when he sensed something.

    A suctioning force tugged at the Summoning Core in his hands. Michael''s eyes widened but he kept holding the core tightly.

    The suctioning force grew intense as he approached the Summoning Gate. Understanding dawned upon Michael, and he began to circle the Summoning Gate.

    A few subjects stared at their Lord in wonder. They could tell that their Lord was exhausted after spending most of the day outside the territory, yet Michael seemed overjoyed and excited. Seeing the excitement on their Lord''s face calmed their worried hearts.

    In less than two days the protection barrier would disperse. After that, nobody would be able to protect them if a powerful monster or a horde of hundreds of monsters was to attack them. The chances were slim, but something bad could happen, and the subjects kept thinking about that.

    Despite their worries, their Lord seemed quite calm. He had been the most worried of them all in the past, but somehow, he had now turned into the calmest one. This was a wee change

    There had to be a reason behind their Lord''s calmness, and though they did not know the reason, it infused them with renewed confidence and hope.

    Meanwhile, Michael was oblivious to the effect he had on the people around him. He was fully focused on the Summoning Gate in front of him.

    At first, he thought that he would have to experiment a lot to configure the Summoning Gate and to add a new Summoning Core, but that was not the case.

    A hatch on the metal foundation of the Summoning Gate opened, revealing several small sockets, and the Summoning Core of his Summoning Gate. Michael stepped closer to take a better look at the sockets and his territory''s Summoning Core when he noticed two things.

    First, the suctioning force had grown much stronger, pulling the Summoning Core to the socket right next to the other Summoning Core.

    Second, the Summoning Core installed in the Summoning Gate was filled with impurities. It had even far more ck dots than the Summoning Core of the Gogi Lord''s territory.

    He didn''t think too long and bent down to take a better look at the Summoning Core. A secondter, golden streams conjured in his palm.

    Michael began to extract the impurities from the already-installed Summoning Core.

    Since the Summoning Gate was going wild to pull the purified Summoning Core inside the hatch, Michael might as well purify the other Summoning Core.

    He added the purified Core and put it on the socket next to his Summoning Core while continuing to extract as many impurities as possible.

    Michael collected the impurities inside his War Rune to remove themter. He didn''t n to turn his Summoning Gate into a reeking piece of metal.

    When he was done, Michael removed his hand. The hatch closed the next instance, leaving Michael with nothing but a ck mass of impurities.

    The Summoning Core he acquired in the Gogi Lord''s territory was inside his Summoning Gate, but he couldn''t open the hatch to look at it. It was as if the Summoning Gate didn''t want him to fool around in the hatch and make a mess out of it.

    He was just about to get up when he heard Tiara''s excited voice.

    "Master, look! Your Summoning Gate activated itself!"

    ''Huh?''

    Michael looked up, just to see that one star lit up when two men emerged from the Summoning Gate''s energy pool.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Why did two 1-Star Summons appear?''

    He was a little confused, but upon staring at the two well-trained men, who wore a full metal armor, and wielded a longsword and a metal shield, Michael could hardlyin.

    Two Knights in training just appeared in front of him, just like that!

    He was dumbfounded but quickly regained his senses.

    "My name is Michael Fang, and it looks like I''m your new Lord¡­" Michael introduced himself shortly when he sensed that two new Links of Loyalty had been formed.

    Their Links of Loyalty were stronger than those of the others, and they were both 1-Star Summons, which were well-equipped. Was that a gift?

    "How did youe here?" Tiara asked the question Michael wished to know the answer to as well.

    Tiara was excited but she was also a little suspicious. She had been eyeing Michael from a distance since he returned to his territory and knew that he had not broken the seals of some Summoning Scrolls.

    "Didn''t my Lord summon us?" One of the Knights asked. He seemed confused as he looked over at Michael. He kneeled in front of his Lord, put down the shield, and handed Michael his sword.

    "I, Herald Levian, pledge my loyalty, bravery, and honor to defend the weak, protect the innocent, and uphold justice. I do solemnly swear to uphold the virtues of chivalry and faithfully serve my liege, my kingdom, and the code of knighthood. I shall be the sword led by my liege and master!

    May all the Gods be my witness and grant me strength to fulfill this oath until I take myst breath!" Herald Levian pledged in front of everyone.

    The other Knight in training followed hispanion''s example and knelt. He removed his shield and held his longsword out for Michael to grasp.

    "I, Siegfried Sertan, pledge my loyalty, bravery, and honor to defend the weak, protect the innocent, and uphold justice. I do solemnly swear to uphold the virtues of chivalry and faithfully serve my liege, my kingdom, and the code of knighthood. I shall be the sword led by my liege and master!

    May all the Gods be my witness and grant me strength to fulfill this oath until I take myst breath!" Siegfried pledged while impatiently waiting for Michael to take his sword and ept his oath.

    Herald Levian seemed a bit more patient than Sertan, but even he was confused why their liege had not moved forward yet to take his sword. However, he didn''t dare look up.

    Michael stared nkly at the two Knights in training. He tilted his head after a while and looked over to Tiara, who merely smiled.

    She motioned him to take the swords, which Michael did after a moment of hesitation.

    ''Did they appear because I added another Summoning Core, or because I purified them?''

    He was not certain if that was the reason, but it seemed the most likely. He took a look at the Knights'' longsword and thought about it for a moment before he returned them.

    "As the protectors of the weak, and my swords, you shall not be unarmed. To heed mymands and protect the weak from the ferocious monsters outside my territory, you will need a weapon. Take back your weapons and prove your dedication and loyalty to me!" Michael announced and motioned them to get back on their feet.

    He had never expected to start role-ying, but one look at the bright expressions on the Knights'' faces told him that his words had been pleasant enough.

    ''I wonder if I can summon two 1-Star Summons every day now¡­'' Michael wondered, feeling as if a ray of hope was in sight.

    It might have been a coincidence that two 1-Star Summons emerged after he installed the Summoning Core, but Michael hoped for the best-case scenario.

    There was nothing else he could do.

    After all, he required as much support as possible to survive in the Untamed Jungle!

 Chapter 54 Advancing Slowly

    Now that the Gogi Lord was dead, Michael wanted to focus on calmly expanding his territory.

    He had many things to pay attention to and work on, but none of them had to be finished in a rush. The only task that had to bepleted in the next few days was putting up the spiked wall.

    Michael asked his subjects to construct a spiked wall and an ordinary wall around his territory to hinder the monsters that would attack the territory after the protection barrier was lifted.

    He was not too worried, but it was always better to be careful. The Untamed Jungle was not a region that could be taken lightly, after all!

    ''I should use the lizard cave to harvest Gloa Crystals and other minerals soon. The resources in the lizard cave are quite exceptional and will help my territory advance!'' Michael thought while breaking the seals of the Summoning Scrolls he was left with.

    At first, 10 Starless Summons emerged from the Summoning Gates, followed by two 1-Star Aero Crossbowmen, and a 3-Star robed woman.

    The Aero Crossbowmen looked quite imposing. They wore a full set of leather armor and held a silver crossbow in their hands. Two small quivers were attached to their belts that were essible and easy to reach in times of danger. However, the most impressive were those wind currents swirled around them, making their hair flutter. It was quite an intriguing sight.

    On the other hand, the robed woman radiated a feeling of utter calmness and tranquility. She seemed to be in her 50s and wielded a wooden wand. An azure crystal was embedded at the top of the wand. Streaks of water conjured around the azure crystal, drawing Michael''s attention.

    "A Water Elemental Mage? That''s great!" He eximed in excitement. The 3-Star Elemental Mage emerged from the Mythic Summoning Scroll.

    The chance to summon a 3-Star Summon had been quite low but Michael seemed to have hit the jackpot. Not only would it be much easier to procure water with the mage, but a Water Elemental Mage was also useful inbat. She could attack and defend by shooting water jets.

    Michael introduced himself to his subjects and weed them into his territory. The summons introduced themselves as well before they looked at the territory.

    Tiara showed them around and tried to familiarize them with the Untamed Jungle. She didn''t hesitate to mention the dangers of the Untamed Jungle, but her words made it look like she was talking about the weather rather than something life-threatening.

    Because it was alreadyte afternoon, there was not much for everyone to do. It would be too dark once the sun disappeared behind the horizon and venturing out at that time would be risky. That was also another reason Michael wanted to make the lizard cave his. Harvesting a few Gloa Crystals would change the dynamic inside his territorypletely and not restrict them to only daytime activities.

    They wouldn''t have to rely on the sunlight with Gloa Crystal torches ced everywhere.

    However, Michael didn''t think that it would be easy to conquer the lizard cave. The Lizard mother might have been the only inhabitant of the lizard cave he came across, but Michael believed that there were a lot more lizards as strong as the lizard mother, if not stronger.

    The ominous feeling that spread through his entire being when he entered the lizard cave was still apparent in his mind. He clearly recalled the sensation, which had intensified as he made his way deeper into the cave.

    It was highly likely that there were stronger monsters in the deeper parts of the cave, and Michael didn''t want to bother them just yet. Despite that, Michael knew that time was ticking, and fighting the monsters in the lizard cave in the future was an obvious course of action because the cave was a treasure trove.

    The crystals and ores he had procured by using Extraction at the cavern entrance were already quite shocking. If he could manage to find the crystal and ore deposits Michael would be able to make enough money to stir envy in the hearts of most Lords. After all, even Tier-2 Lords might not have had the chance to procure a source of ie of simr value.

    The lizard cave was not yet in Michael''s possession but that would change in the future. His territory would progress rapidly from now on just by looking at the number ofbat units, and their terrificbat prowess.

    He had Tiara, four 1-Star Warriors, two Aero Crossbowmen who could be considered Elite 1-Star Summons as they possessed the ability to control the surrounding winds to a certain degree, two 1-Star Knights in training with the prospect of attaining enlightenment and bing 2-Star Knights, and a 3-Star Water Elemental Mage.

    With such a group, hunting was bound to be easier, and progress would inevitably follow suit not long after.

    In fact, Tiara and the Warriors had gone out to hunt a few monsters while Michael was busy in the Gogi Lord''s territory. The number of monsters that dared to get close to the protection barrier decreased drastically over thest few days, but they were fortunate enough to hunt 18 Low Tier-1 Monsters during the day.

    Fully Extracting the bodies of 18 Monsters was no problem for Michael anymore. He knew the anatomy of the monsters he had dissected dozens of times since he had entered the Origin Expanse, and Extraction had been upgraded to a 3-Star Soultrait as well. The efficiency of Extraction increased a notch while the energy consumption decreased.

    Michael spent less than half an hour fully dissecting the monster corpses, whose body parts were quickly moved to the warehouse.

    Afterward, Michael was left alone with the loot created by the Will.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''181 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 4 Summoning Scrolls, and 2 Blueprints. No Artifact.''

    It was not easy to procure Artifacts even with Extraction''s bonus. Michael had expected that, which was why he didn''t fret much and switched his focus on the other drops.

    Hebined 175 Summoning Scroll Fragments into 7 Summoning Scrolls and put the remaining six aside. A total of 18 monsters turned into 11 Summoning Scrolls and 2 blueprints. Others would never be able to procure Summoning Scrolls and blueprints that easily. Thus, Michael began to wonder what he should do with the opportunities his Soultrait revealed.

    ''Selling the Summoning Scrolls may sound like a good opportunity, but I need them. The more subjects I have, the stronger my Soultraits grow. Furthermore, I need more people to work on the territory¡­ But what about the blueprints? I should have a few blueprints doubled, or even tripled by now. They should be worth something, right?''

    Michael knew that he had many things stored in the warehouse, but he had yet to take a look at everything. They had too many monster corpses without use for them. It was time to return home and sell the excessive body parts and the lizard mother''s body.

    The warehouse was quite small, which was also why they had to expand it soon. However, it was also true that he had several barrels filled with the blood of Tier-1 Monsters, and chests overflowing with Monster Cores, Gemstones, Antlers, and much more.

    However, they were alsocking various resources. The most important were sources of light to see when it was dark. Other than that, it was also important to purchase paper, quills and tint to copy the Sun Soldier technique for everyone in his territory to read and train.

    Many showed interest in the Sun Soldier techniques and Michael wanted to provide his subjects the opportunity to grow stronger and attain enlightenment. Copying the techniques was allowed but sharing them with people outside his territory wasn''t.

    Even sharing the techniques with Adventures who made an oath of being a loyal subordinate to a Lord was frowned upon.

    If Michael was found guilty of selling copied techniques, he would be tried by a jury and fined. That was too troublesome, especially since they lived in the era of technology and the inte. It was easy to find out that he purchased the Sun Soldier Breathing and Weaponry technique from Bartholomew''s House of Witchery.

    There were many tricks that could be applied to fool the system, but that was also illegal.

    Michael was not that desperate yet either. He had more than enough items to sell, in the first ce.

    He was interested in visiting Xiltra to find out more about the market in the Zentika Empire, but the border city was too far away, and not easy to travel to and from in a single day. This was even more true with the Untamed Jungle in his way. Once the Bilrox hatched and matured it would be easier to travel to Xiltra, but that would take a while.

    That meant Michael had to leave the Origin Expanse again to sell the goods he gathered during thest few days.

    His War Rune has already recharged, so he could use the Runic Gate to return home.

    But before he would return home, Michael slept for a few hours.

    He felt that he would need the rest right now because something told him that his second trip back home would be more turbulent than the first.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 55 Bartholomew Network

    Michael spent a long time organizing the storage space of his War Rune.

    Since his War Rune''s degree of refinement increased a lotpared to thest time he left the Origin Expanse, it was easy to fill it with more stuff. However, he had so much to sell that he had to use his professional Tetris skills to fit most items inside.

    "I will be back before the protection barrier disperses," Michael promised his subjects sincerely as the Runic Gate manifested next to him.

    It was his 9th day inside the Origin Expanse, and it was not long until the protection barrier would disperse. The protection barrier was up for 10 days, but it was usually not exactly for the entire duration of ten days. Sometimes, the protection barrier would disperse a few hours too early, sometimes it wouldst a full day longer.

    However, there were still rough calctions one could take into consideration to guess how much longer the protection barrier wouldst.

    Michael used this calction to reassure himself and his subjects that they would be fine before he left.

    He stepped through the Runic Gate and returned home.

    When he emerged in his apartment the first rays of sunlight greeted Michael. It was dawn, the perfect time to start making money.

    Michael first entered the bathroom to take a well-needed shower. Then he threw his clothes in the washing machine and switched it on. He changed into a separate set of clothes and looked at his crystal watch not long after.

    On the crystal watch''s messenger, Michael noticed messages from two chats. The most received messages were from Alice Zenovia, but Michael ignored them.

    His brother had messaged him. That was much more important! With a smile on his face, he opened those messages.

    [Danny(GluttonNr.1): It''s good that you made it out alive. You have to tell me everything the next time youe back home. If you leave out anything, I will find you and¡­]

    [Danny(GluttonNr.1): Either way, message me once you get out of the Origin Expanse. I want to give you some Artifacts and Summoning Scrolls. That way, you can show off to your friends when you meet them again!]

    ''Does he want me to really message him, or is he lowkey threatening me not to message him?'' Michael wondered with an amused look when he saw the threats in his brother''s messages.

    However, he smiled, until he saw thest sentence Danny had sent to further poke him.

    "You know that I have no friends, you stinky Glutton!!" He cursed and immediately moved his fingers to the button next to Danny''s nametag.

    He called his brother the next moment instead of wasting time chatting.

    "If you fled to the Origin Expanse, you''re a fa¨C..." Michael had begun just to shut his mouth when his brother''s voice rang out through the crystal watch.

    [Looks like my taunt worked. Haha!] Danny announced proudly.

    Realizing that his brother had nned all of this, and he had walked right into the trap, Michael''s eye began to twitch. It infuriated him even more.

    "You really want a beating, don''t you?!?" Michael asked, ready to fight it out. However, Danny just keptughing.

    [Don''t bother, we know that I will win!]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael wanted to retort something, but he knew that Danny was stronger. His brother was on the verge of advancing to the 3rd Tier. Even the EmeraldLead Adventurer team were mere children when faced with an opponent like Danny.

    [Where are you? Let''s talk about your experiences in the Origin Expanse. I should be able to give you some pieces of advice, and bountiful resources to help you advance faster!]

    "I don''t need your resources, but we can meet up and talk. Treat me to a meal in the Central Trading Hall!"

    [The Central Trading Hall? That''s fine with me. Where do you want to eat?]

    "The Pleonexia Buffet opened up, so let''s go there. It''s open all day," Michael proposed after he took a quick nce at the list of restaurants inside the Central Trading Hall.

    [Sounds good. I heard the Pleonexia Buffet has high-quality meat and vegetables from Origin Expanse. Let''s meet in half an hour!]

    "I''ll be there. Let''s talk then, I have to research something now. See you," Michael said to tell his brother that he was now the busybody.

    Dannyughed before he agreed.

    [You must be busy now that your protection barrier is about to be removed. Make your research and meet up with me in the Pleonexia Buffet once you are done, Michael, who is now super busy!]

    Danny ended the call after he finished taking a jibe at his little brother yet again. He had a lot more questions, but he clearly recalled the pressure he had to face in the first ten days inside the Origin Expanse.

    He didn''t have any time for Michael at that time. In fact, he was so busy that he could only return home once, and that was only for an hour to sell a few items and buy something before he rushed back to the Origin Expanse.

    Compared to him, Michael seemed quite calm. Michael was even willing to spend some time with him and talk about his life in the Origin Expanse instead of madly rushing back. That gave Danny some hope and reassurance about Michael''s slightly better situation inside the Origin Expanse. Maybe, territory was in an advantageous position without too many monsters and enemies surrounding him!

    Michael hailed a shuttle and traveled to the Central Trading Hall''s za. He looked at the guide and made his way to the Pleonexia Buffet. From the moment he hailed the shuttle, Michael''s focus had been on the member website of the House of Witchery.

    He wanted to make the most use of the Golden Bartholomew Membership Card. Thus, he had to find out all the benefits and understand how to abuse them to the full extent.

    Michael was certain that it would be quite difficult to exploit the system, but it was not that hard. There was not too much to abuse, in the first ce.

    ''With the Golden Bartholomew Membership, I am given ess to all Bartholomew facilities with VIP status. I can participate in the VIP auctions and inspect the online catalog of items that will be stocked the following week. I will receive the best price for selling items, and my purchases are discounted¡­all of that is amazing, considering that I didn''t do much to receive such benefits¡­''

    The benefits Michael mentioned were not everything. He was also given ess to the hidden shop of the House of Witchery, and he could tap into Bartholomew''swork system. His ess rights had been adjusted with the golden membership card, which meant that he could research most of the things he wanted to know.

    The Bartholomewwork system was quite advanced. It had various types of information about the Origin Expanse, such as the regions of the Origin Expanse, human territories, details about other extraterrestrial races, and mankind''s rtionship with them, and even more information about the rarity and price range of certain resources.

    Since he had yet to register his Lord ID, thework system was the best recement to gather as much information as he could procure.

    ''Let''s see¡­what should I start with? The Untamed Jungle, Xiltra, or the Zentika Empire?''

 Chapter 56 Native Empire

    "That makes no sense," Michael mumbled as he entered the elevator.

    He was already inside the Central Trading Hall and was about to reach the Pleonexia Buffet, but he was too stupefied to realize that.

    But it made sense somehow. Michael had been searching for information about the Untamed Jungle, Xiltra, and the Zentika Empire for the past ten minutes, but he barely found any useful information.

    Neither the Untamed Jungle nor Xiltra were mentioned in the database of the Bartholomewwork. That was already weird because the Bartholomewwork was considered a reliable source filled with information. Thework even had information that was hard to procure with an ordinary Lord ID. It required a higher ess grade to procure this information which was why Michael had been optimistic.

    Sadly, despite the massive pool of information Michael could ess, he was barely able to find three reports rted to the Zentika Empire. To make things worse, none of them sounded very pleasant either.

    The first report was about the Lords whose territory had been bulldozed by the Zentika Empire''s Armies. None of the Lords wanted to go further into detail, but they said that the Zentika Empire had various inhuman conditions to fulfill if one wanted to remain a Lord inside the Zentika Empire.

    One condition was to sign a soul-binding contract that had been acknowledged by the Will of the Origin Expanse. This soul-binding contract prevented any Lord from spreading information about the Zentika Empire to the outside world. This ensured that the Zentika Empire stayed hidden from the preying eyes of greedy individuals that might want to raid and pilfer it.

    While that was still fine, some conditions mentioned turned lords into the vassals of the Zentika Empire, while restricting their growth drastically. However, since only a few Lords were able to escape total annihtion, there weren''t any detailed reports about the internal structure of the Zentika Empire, its size and the full extent of the Empire''s military might.

    The second report was a little bit different. It was made to honor a few Lords living on the outskirts of the region surrounding the Zentika Empire. It was a short article about the living conditions of the Lords, who were reportedly residing in a humongous mountain range that was nestled between two rival Empires. These Lords detailed their grievances, sharing their ghastly living conditions, and the harsh weather that turned every day into a game of survival. The small report shared the flora and fauna found in the mountain range, the dangers of the environment in certain regions, and the native Empires of the Origin Expanse rather than the issues these Lords had to face.

    In Michael''s opinion, they were merely fillers that were used to add more words to the report.

    The report was written by a reporter for a smallpany. It never gained much traction and had less than 100,000 views ten years after it had been released.

    For Michael, both reports were mostly useless. He was not a Lord residing in the Zentika Empire, and he was fairly sure that the freezing cold mountain range was not next door either.

    If Michael wanted to give the reports some credit and consider his time spent well to some extent, it was useful to know that the Zentika Empire didn''t acknowledge independent Lords inside their empire.

    Only the third andst report revolving around the Zentika Empire was of any real use to Michael. The third report was about the Zentika Empire''s Emperor and the royal family. It was stated that multiple royal families existed and that each of them originated from a different race.

    The Zentika Empire was considered a Native Empire, which meant that the natives of the Origin Expanse had built it. They built it from scratch and have been the undisputed rulers since then.

    Why was that important for Michael?

    It was pretty simple.

    A widespread theory about the Origin Expanse''s natives said that all natives were once subjects of Lords. That means all natives came from the outside, and they died inside the Origin Expanse before they were resurrected as natives of the Origin Expanse and subjects of their Lords.

    But how was that rted to the creation of Native Empires?

    Lords were unlikely to die before their subjects much like a chess game where the pawns and other pieces sacrifice themselves to save the King. Most Lords would jump onto the battlefield when the battle had already been fought by their subjects.

    To put it in simple terms, the creation of most native Kingdoms and Empires was a result of the corpses of Lords!

    ''If the first generation of the Zentika Empire''s royalty were freed after their Lord died, they might have started a conquest against all Lords in order to free other subjects from the Link of Loyalty and forced subordination,'' Michael thought after he read all three reports twice. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He could tell that he was currently imagining the worst-case scenario, a scenario that was unlikely to be true, in the first ce. Nheless, Michael''s mind went wild, using the little pieces of information he was provided with.

    Michael was not sure about the source of information from thest report, but he considered it reliable until proven otherwise. Whether the Zentika Empire was controlled by natives, or an extraterrestrial Lord didn''t make much of a difference for Michael for the time being.

    However, it helped him to mentally prepare himself to have some information about potential opponents and threats. If the worst-case scenario were toe true, he wouldn''t be too shocked.

    "That was not the kind of information I wished to find," Michael mumbled to himself when he heard someone appear next to him.

    "What information did you want to find, busybody?"

    It was Danny who had appeared next to him. He smiled brightly upon seeing that his brother was well and unscathed, and pped hard on Michael''s back.

    "Forget it," Michael responded while rubbing the spot his brother had hit.

    Ever since Michael had entered the Origin Expanse, his brother stopped holding back and treating him like a kid. He pped Michael lightly but it felt as if his left shoulder was dislocated.

    "How was it in the Origin Expanse? Is your territory nice? Where exactly are you? If I know someone near you, you could team up with him. How about your resources? You told me that you don''t need my help, but I cannot believe that. I was always struggling because I never had enough resources or money to buy everything I needed. Do you need cash or some resources?" Danny bombarded Michael with questions.

    They had yet to enter the Pleonexia Buffet, but Danny had already asked more than 20 questions. He didn''t even give Michael time to take a breath and answer a single question.

    Danny didn''t stop asking questions even after they reached the Pleonexia Buffet. He continued throwing one question after another while showing a code on his crystal watch''s holographic screen.

    ''Did he make an online reservation just to bombard me with questions? No, that cannot be¡­right?'' Michael wondered, hoping that he was just mistaken.

    Pleonexia Buffet was a high-quality all-you-can-eat buffet. Danny first sat down at their table, ready to order drinks, and continued to ask his younger brother some questions.

    However, Michael disappeared at the buffet to fill three tes to the brim. He ced them on their table and sat down to start feasting.

    Both Danny and Michael were gluttonous, and they did not have a set time when it came to having food. Whenever they had the opportunity, they would eat as much as possible because they knew that they would often skip meals. That happened a lot in the past, and it would get even worse now that Michael had be a busy Lord.

    Thus, it was no problem for them to fill their stomach to the brim even though it was early in the morning.

    Just as Michael sat down on the chair ¨C d that his brother had left to fill his tes ¨C he received a new notification.

    He opened the messenger and saw a message pop up.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I saw that you were online 28 minutes ago!! Why are you ignoring a pure maiden when she sacrifices her time for you?!? Where is your chivalry as a man?]

    Michael''s expression turned sour at once, and he put down the drumstick he had picked up a second ago.

    ''What a crazy bi¡­''

 Chapter 57 Tritan Alliance

    He had received several messages from Alice Zenovia. It had only been a little more than two days outside the Origin Expanse, yet Alice Zenovia acted as if the universe was about to copse. And that was merely because he didn''t answer her ''properly'' before.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): "¨C"...really?!?]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): How can you be so cold to me? I''m a kind-hearted woman, who is giving her utmost to support you, yet you''re acting like that?]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I am disappointed in you!]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Come on¡­just message me properly once you''re back¡­]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): As long as you agree to sit for the entrance exam of the Saphirke Military Camp, I will forgive your insolent self! That''s how generous I am!!]

    It was the first time Michael found the time to look at her messages. And he was surprised to have received so many from her. He had not expected Alice to be that affected by the response he had given before. In his opinion, his answer had been more than enough to show that he was alive.

    ''Am I the first who was daring enough, to ignore her?'' Michael wondered after he re-read her message.

    His frown turned into a faint smile while thinking about it, and he put the crystal watch''s screen aside while shaking his head lightly.

    He couldn''t believe that Alice Zenovia was actually behaving like a spoiled brat merely because he didn''t answer her as enthusiastically as she had hoped.

    It was quite fun.

    "What''s wrong with your face?" Danny asked as he sat down with three tes and a bowl.

    They were all filled to the brim, just like Michael''s tes.

    "Why? Is it handsome?" Michael joked light-heartedly, feeling good.

    Danny was about to take a bite of his food when he froze in his tracks. His expression turned sour, and he looked at his brother as if he had lost his sanity.

    "...That was a joke¡­" Michael grumbled, which caused another change in Danny''s expression.

    "You got a girlfriend?" He asked.

    "Huh? No," Michael responded with furrowed eyebrows.

    He chose to change the topic because it looked like they weren''t going anywhere with this discussion. Furthermore, he didn''t really want to answer most of Danny''s questions. That would only make him worry too much about his little brother''s safety. Michael also thought about Alice Zenovia and the invitation she issued when they first met.

    "Do you think I should apply to a university or military academy?"

    Danny took a bite from one of his tes while looking at his brother. He was thinking about something before he answered,

    "Did someone tell you that you should apply? Did your school send you a notification about it?" He asked.

    "A notification? Why would I receive a notification from school?" Michael responded in confusion. He was not sure what Danny was trying to imply.

    "...Michael¡­you do know that you took your final exam the day before your War Rune manifested¡­right?" Danny followed up while staring at his brother as if he had grown another head.

    Michael was already familiar with this expression, but he could only return a nk stare to his brother.

    "You didn''t prepare yourself for the graduation ceremony?"

    "Prepare what?"

    At that point, Danny was certain that his brother was either an idiot or addicted to the Origin Expanse. Maybe, it was both!

    "Wait! Do you even know the score of your final exam?" Danny asked sternly, just to see Michael shaking his head.

    "I am probably somewhere in the top ten of my ss. But it doesn''t really matter, does it?"

    Danny could only sigh when he heard what his little brother said. He was about to open his mouth, but he was not too sure if it would be a waste of time and breath to mention this to Michael.

    "So, you want to tell me that you came back to sell the goods of your territory, and purchase necessities for your territory, and not to purchase a new suit and prepare yourself for the graduation ceremony on the weekend?" He asked atst, even though he was pretty sure what Michael''s answer would be.

    Michael nodded as an answer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I actually forgot that we have a graduation ceremony," He mumbled before shaking his head, "That''s not important right now. Do you think I should join a military academy or not?!"

    This time it was Danny''s turn to stare nkly at his brother. The graduation ceremony and the afterparty were considered one of the most important social events for graduates, yet Michael didn''t pay any attention to it.

    ''Is it because he had no friends in school? I heard that Elite Schools make it hard for ordinary students, but Michael neverined about his school-life,'' Danny thought while pressing his lips together in a thin line. ''Maybe, it is not that important for Michael to be present at the graduation ceremony. If he is on bad terms with his ssmates, or he''s getting ignored altogether, it might be better for him to not go¡­''

    Danny freed his mind after a while. He continued to eat, and thought of an answer to Michael''s question, rather than trying to convince him to be present at the graduation ceremony. Michael was very responsible, in the first ce. He knew what to do, and what he shouldn''t do.

    "I noticed that you didn''t apply for the Lord ID yet, so I guess you haven''t heard the news yet," Danny exined slowly, "One of the Alliances affiliated with humans is on the verge of waging war with another extraterrestrial lifeform!"

    Danny''s words crashed down on Michael like a tidal wave. Michael''s expression turned sour, but he continued to listen intently as Danny continued to exin.

    "For now, everyone is preparing for the worst-case scenario while hoping for the best, but it looks like the situation is slowly turning worse. In a few years, at most, war will break out and the military will send out draft calls. That is something pretty much every Lord with the necessary ess permission can tell."

    Danny took a few bites of his food to give Michael the necessary time to digest the shocking news. However, Michael opened the holographic screen of his crystal watch instead.

    He used the Bartholomew Network to look up news about the war, only to figure out that most news articles and reports of thest few days were rted to the ''cold war'', the ''next interster war'', and topics closely rted to the conflicts between the extraterrestrial race and the Tritan Alliance.

    Michael didn''t know much about the Tritan Alliance, but the summary was quite simple.

    When mankind left the sr system, they encountered the Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs in the adjacent ster system they''d traveled to. Mankind helped them solve their problems and create an alliance by causing a huge massacre.

    Both the Barbarian race and the Warlock Centaurs were honorable warriors, who loved to sh with other races and fight. Mankind made sure that they became allies before using their military power to improve their influence.

    That had worked out very well until today, but it looked like being in an alliance with war and violence-loving races came back to bite them atst. It didn''t seem easy to have war-lovingpanions.

    "Many Lords, big families, and influential ns desire to send their children to military academies, and universities with military courses. They want to make sure that their children and disciples can umte military merits and form connections with high-ranked members of the military without being on the battlefield. That way, they can improve their military ranking quickly once everyone is drafted for war," Danny said, summarizing the key points to his little brother.

    He was not sure what Michael had seen online, but he was drained of all his color.

    "So¡­"

    "So, I think you should apply to a military academy. The person who told you to apply to one probably tried to help you out. I don''t know who that person is, but he ¨C or she ¨C should have seen some talent in you. Of course, you should stay vignt because that person might try to lure you into their organization, or something like that, thinking that you are just an ordinary person that can be used as a receable extra or an experimentalmb," Danny cautioned before he added another note,

    "That doesn''t mean the person has to be bad. He or she could have good intentions. You will have to figure out their true intentions on your own."

    Michael couldn''t agree more. He had already suspected Alice Zenovia''s intentions, but he was not yet sure what she was trying to do. She told him to apply to the Saphirke Military Academy in their first meeting itself. That was a little weird.

    However, the recent messages affirmed that she was a straightforward person, who couldn''t hold back when she wanted to say something. Alice Zenovia didn''t seem like a dishonest person.

    Even if she wanted to bait him, Michael was pretty sure that she wouldn''t turn him into a meatshield. Of course, he couldn''t be certain of that. It was just his gut feeling telling him that she did not mean any harm. He could be wrong.

    "But I am not sure if you will get epted into a military academy. It will be quite difficult because the eptance threshold should be much higher than in the years before. Even if you get epted, you will have topete against prodigies who''ve trained meticulously since they started to walk and have years of teaching and lessons to back them.

    It won''t be easy to procure resources, but if you can make it, you''ll be able to get your hands on treasures and resources that you would never be able to obtain otherwise. After all, the government showed its willingness to increase the funding for universities, and even more so Military Academies to prepare for war!"

    Michael was a little dumbfounded after listening to his brother. He was not sure what to do right now, and he opened his chat with Alice Zenovia subconsciously to ask her a question.

    However, he held back and didn''t hit the enter button. Michael deleted the message before he looked at his brother.

    "I understand what you''re trying to say, but¡­why did you never apply to a university, or military academy then?"

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

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    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Feel free to give me some critiques. I can endure it - probably :D

 Chapter 58 Benefits Of A Lord ID

    "I understand what you''re trying to say, but¡­why did you never apply to a university, or a military academy then?" Michael asked before he proposed,

    "Do you want us to apply together? With your 5-Star Soultrait and Tier, you would be epted with open arms. I can even ask someone to send an application form to the Saphirke Military Academy on your behalf. I think she would do that!"

    Michael couldn''t hide that he was a little excited at the thought of studying at the Saphirke Military Academy alongwith his brother.

    Even if Danny was never able to spend much time with him, Michael always thought of him as a great and loving brother. He could tell that Danny always gave his best to support him and spare some time to train together.

    Danny was his best friend, and he would sacrifice his life for him, if necessary. That was not even debatable.

    However, Michael quickly noticed that Danny didn''t seem as excited as he was. Danny went silent and he had stopped eating as well.

    "..."

    ''Seems like I shouldn''t have asked,'' Michael thought, giving it a shrug.

    He couldn''t hide that he was a little disappointed, but it didn''t matter.

    "I won''t force you. It''s just a thought that urred to me. I felt that it would be easier for us if we go together," He said, forcing himself to smile.

    Michael knew that if he was epted into the Saphirke Military Academy he would have to leave the. They would be light years apart because the Saphirke Military Academy was on Kelta, which was the first in the new ster system they''d begun to colonize a few decades ago.

    With lightyears separating the brothers, it would be extremely difficult for them to meet up.

    Michael suppressed a deep sigh, and he began to eat again. The information Danny had shared weighed heavy on his mind, but he was hungry, nheless. There was almost nothing that could cause him to lose his appetite.

    Meanwhile, Danny was still deep in thought but Michael didn''t bother him any further. Michael had learned a lot today, whether it was about the Origin Expanse and the Zentika Empire, or the outside world, mankind''s current state of events, and the future that awaited him.

    He had a lot to digest but he felt better knowing what was going on than being left in the dark. Being ignorant woulde back to bite him when he least expected it. Thus, Michael was quite satisfied.

    As for his thoughts about the Saphirke Military Academy, Michael was still not certain if he should apply to it. Alice Zenovia might have told him to attend it, but there were countless military academies in the sr system. Some of them ought to be ranked higher than the Saphirke Military Academy. Couldn''t he apply to them instead of having to leave the sr system to get admitted to a military academy that was constructed only recently?

    Michael opened his chat with Alice Zenovia with those thoughts shing through his mind.

    He wrote a message on impulse and hit the send button before he could rethink his decision.

    [Michael: Sorry for replying sote, I''ve been busy with my territory. I didn''t have the time to research the Saphirke Military Academy andpare them to other Military Academies near Elyra, so I cannot give you a certain answer yet. Even if I sit for the aptitude examination on the 20th and pass, I am not sure if I will join. I know nothing about the benefits the Saphirke Military Academy has over other academies and universities. If you could give me some information about the benefits, I might be able to give you a clear answer soon.]

    After he sent the message, Michael focused his full attention on Danny and the delicious food of the Pleonexia Buffet. The food was even better than Michael expected, and he savored each bite. Simultaneously, he began to answer some of Danny''s earlier questions once he refilled his now-empty tes.

    Danny had yet to finish his bowl and three tes of food when he returned to the table, but he was less ufortable than he had been when Michael asked him to join a university, or academy together.

    Michael made use of that to talk to Danny. He wanted to know more about the Tritan Alliance, and the treaties mankind made with other races. Michae was also curious about Danny''s territory, how far the development had progressed, and how many powerful subjects he had nurtured since he became a Lord in the Origin Expanse.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They talked a lot, and it looked like they would never stop until a staff member came over to politely ask them to hurry up since their allocated time had been used up. The staff member asked them if they wanted to extend their time, but the brothers declined. They had gobbled up close to 30 tes of food that had been filled to the brim. The amount of food and nutrition were enough to feed a family of ten for two days, maybe even more.

    The brothers didn''t see a problem, but they noticed that some of the staff members looked at them in disbelief. Michael even heard someone asking their friend if they had starved themselves for several days to prepare for the Pleonexia Buffet in an attempt to taunt the brothers. Little did they know that this kind of meal was something Michael could eat every other day. His stomach would digest everything rapidly and turn it into a massive amount of energy.

    That was exactly what he required. After all, the Origin Expanse was bound to cause countless sleepless nights in the future. But that was only obvious. Being a Lord was time-consuming, especially if one wanted to be a good Lord.

    The two brothers got up from their table and left the Pleonexia Buffet. They finished their meal, and it was now time to do two things.

    First, Danny asked Michael to register himself as a Lord and get his Lord ID information. The reason for that was apparent to Michael, whose brother had done the same thing four years ago.

    To create a Lord ID a trace of the War Rune''s data would be extracted and stored inside the Lord ID. This made it near-impossible to copy the Lord ID, which turned it into the most authentic identification device. However, that was not everything.

    With the War Rune''s data in the Lord ID, the ess permission to the Lordwork would be upgraded automatically whenever the War Rune''s Tier increased. It would be updated in real-time in the Lord ID if a Lord loses his territory or dies as well.

    The Lord ID''s card would naturally lose its luster and be nk when the Lord''s territory was lost, and it would burn if the Lord died. This information would be sent to the AI governing all Lord IDs, which made it much easier to be updated on a Lord''s death in the Origin Expanse, and to forward the information to the deceased''s family.

    Danny wanted his information and to be immediately informed if something happened to Michael. Michael was against that because he didn''t want to make his brother worry needlessly, however, the brothers clearly recalled the dispute they had four years ago.

    At that time, Danny didn''t want to share his Lord ID with Michael because of the same reason. It was just the other way around this time.

    Michael realized that he was wrong and that he had toply to his brother''s demand. That was fine until something bad happened, which Michael wouldn''t let happen.

    Thus, they went over to the branch of the awakened department that was located inside the Central Trading Hall. It took only a few minutes to reach the awakened department and the Lord ID was created and all set to be used in half an hour.

    When the Lord ID was done, Michael forwarded the ID''s information to Danny. However, his brother was fully focused on Michael''s War Rune.

    Danny could tell from Michael''s presence that he was already a decently powerful Lord with quite a few loyal subjects. While that was great, the fact that Michael''s War Rune was almost refined to the Late stage was a little worrisome.

    "Are you sure that you don''t need any help? I began to save up a little after entering the Origin Expanse. I always put some of my savings aside to make up for the little time I could spend with you¡­" Danny said in a sad voice as they left the awakened department.

    He looked a little embarrassed, but Michael just smiled.

    "Gifting me Tigerfang is already more than I ever expected to receive from you. I don''t think I should ask how much your bank ount had to bleed to buy me an Epic Artifact¡­Furthermore, Tigerfang is powerful enough to cut through Tier-1 Monsters, so you don''t have to worry about my safety!" Michael reassured his brother with confidence spreading across his face.

    However, Danny''s face turned dark upon hearing his brother''s words.

    "Cut easily through Tier-1 Monsters¡­is that so? How do you know that?!?"

    ''Fuck¡­''

    At that moment, Michael realized that he had fucked up.

 Chapter 59 A Shocked Brother

    The moment Danny realized what he had just said, Michael knew that he fucked up.

    ''How am I going to exin that now?''

    Michael opened his mouth, but he closed it just a momentter. He didn''t want to tell Danny about the Untamed Jungle because his brother would worry more than necessary.

    Danny could only sigh deeply upon seeing that Michael was reluctant to speak up. He looked at Michael once again and scanned him from head to toe.

    Michael was clearly unscathed and doing well. It worried him that Michael spoke so lightly about fighting Tier-1 Monsters, but it was not as if he could do something against it. His little brother was just as stubborn as himself.

    "No matter what happens, tell me when things go south¡­please," Danny said in a low voice. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, "I don''t want anything to happen to you. You''re thest¡­"

    Danny began but trailed off as thest words died in his throat. He couldn''t get himself to say them out loud. But that was not necessary, because Michael understood what Danny wanted to say.

    Their parents had never been there for them. After ''that'' happened, they just disappeared, leaving a house and some monthly allowance for the brothers.

    "I understand. Don''t worry, I am giving my best to survive," Michael reassured his brother before he added a little bit more seriously, "But we should go to the House of Witchery now. I need to sell a bunch of items and buy even more!"

    Michael went ahead while Danny''s gaze lingered on his brother. He could only shake his head before he rushed behind his brother.

    "The Market of Olympus has a higher rating than the House of Witchery. Why don''t we go there instead? I am getting good prices for the goods I sell my goods there every time!" Danny proposed but Michael shook his head.

    "I get a special price from the House of Witchery. The Market of Olympus won''t give such prices to ordinary customers. I looked at the buy and sell ratio of most shops and did some calctions. The House of Witchery is the best with the benefits I get."

    "Benefits? Why would you get benefits from the House of Witchery?" Danny asked, but Michael only offered a smug smile and a shrug.

    He didn''t answer his brother even after Danny asked for the fifth time. Michael wanted to show off the golden Bartholomew membership card when the timing was right.

    They entered the shop less than ten minutester. Some of the staff members remembered Michael, and they immediately greeted him with a bow. Michael didn''t expect this kind of special treatment, but it made him feel good since his brother was witnessing everything.

    He had a hard time staying calm as he approached the Witchery Bazaar. Whether it was a coincidence or destiny, the same young man from two days ago had a shift at the Witchery Bazaar.

    He rushed over to Michael and bowed deeply to him the moment he saw him.

    "You''re already back, Sir. How can I help you? Do you want to sell new goods again?" The young man asked in an overly polite voice.

    Michael was unable to hold back his smile anymore as he nced over to Danny. Meanwhile, his brother could only stare at the strange situation with widened eyes.

    "I came back to sell some goods, yes. But I have a lot more thanst time, and I''m not sure if you can appraise them fast enough to make sure that their quality won''t deteriorate when I take them out after a long time," Michael said while continuing to smile.

    Most of his goods had been stored in the warehouse for a while. The preservation enchantment array was exceptional, but it was not a perfect solution. The quality of some goods had deteriorated a little, though they had not gone bad. Nothing was spoiled.

    "No problem. I will call over a few more staff members to help me. That''s no problem, at all, Sir!" The young staff member said as he left the brothers at the counter.

    He rushed over to his colleagues and brought some of them over the next minute. Afterward, he led Michael to the appraisal room.

    "Will your friend over theree with us, Sir?" The young staff member asked while looking at Danny after he gave a quick bow in his direction.

    "That''s allowed?" Danny asked, dumbfounded.

    He thought that it was a custom to not allow anybody to enter the appraisal room except for the seller and the required staff.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Of course, not. Sir can bring as many people inside the appraisal room as he desires!" The young man said as if it was perfectly normal. The other staff members nodded their heads in agreement as well.

    Danny turned to Michael and frowned deeply.

    His eyes seemed to scream ''What the hell did you do?!'', but Michael merely smiled.

    "I will stay here," Danny said after he pondered for a second or two.

    He didn''t really want to see the goods Michael had brought to sell. If there were corpses of multiple Tier-1 Monsters in his storage, his mind would go awry, and he would start questioning Michael about the danger of the region his territory had spawned in once again.

    There had to be a reason why Michael didn''t want to talk about the region around his territory, and Danny had already guessed it. However, he didn''t want to reaffirm his guess by following Michael inside the appraisal room.

    "Alright, I will be back soon," Michael said before he followed the staff members inside the appraisal room next door.

    The temperature inside the appraisal room plummeted instantly and they waited patiently for Michael to retrieve the goods he wished to sell.

    Thus, he began taking them out one by one.

    Michael retrieved six blueprints first. He had two sets of those blueprints, so he might as well sell one of each.

    Afterward, he retrieved the Bilrox feathers in his possession. Michael had extracted them a second time to clean them perfectly.

    Michael followed up with 93 Low Tier-1 Monster Cores, several dozen Gemstones, Antlers, and other precious body parts from 93 Low Tier-1 Monster corpses, such as their extracted blood, unscathed organs, clean tendons, and more. This time, Michael sold the extracted meat of Tier-1 Monsters as well.

    However, that was not everything. In fact, it was merely an appetizer.

    The main dish was about to be served now.

    Michael retrieved several hundred perfectly extracted lizard scales, close to two tons of lizard meat, the perfectly extracted and well-preserved organs and other precious body parts of the lizard, and her monster core.

    When Michael retrieved the perfectly dissected lizard corpse, the staff members stopped moving for a moment. Their jaws hit the ground and their eyes widened as they turned over to Michael.

    Was that guy really a Tier-0 Lord?!

    ''Why are they acting like that? It shouldn''t be the first time they saw such monster corpses. They didn''t see the desert, either!'' Michael thought while retrieving the War Axe Artifact of the Gogi Lord.

    **

    Half an hourter, Michael and the staff member left the appraisal room. The staff member looked deathly pale while Michae smiled brightly.

    ''As expected, the lizard mother was a Tier-2 monster!''

    Satisfied with himself and the gains he had made, Michael followed the staff member to the counter to sign the deal.

    Meanwhile, Danny praised himself inwardly when he saw the stunned look on their faces.

    "Good thing I didn''t join them¡­"

 Chapter 60 Fortune

    Now that all goods had been appraised, Michael only had to sign the form that listed all goods and the amount of money he would receive, and he would be done.

    Danny followed Michael to the counter, and he saw the total sum of money Michael was about to receive by chance.

    His heart skipped a beat and he looked at Michael in utter shock. Michael hadn''t signed the paper yet. His hand hovered over the form, but he looked at Danny with a sly smile.

    "Do you want to see how much I''ll get?" He asked teasingly, seeing Danny''s reaction.

    However, Danny could only shake his head. He was already sweating and looked absolutely stunned and so far, he''d merely seen the total sum, and not what items allowed him to earn so much money.

    ''You''re scared about what you''ll see, aren''t you?'' Michael mused inwardly, even though he understood Danny''s reaction.

    If he were in his brother''s position, he wouldn''t want to know where such a huge sum of money came from either.

    Danny was just shocked, which waspletely justified.

    His earnings were more than Michael''s but that was because his territory was bigger, and his sources of ie were quite big and diverse. The money he earned from hunting was extremely high. However, that was because he was a Tier-2 Lord with four years of experience as a Lord.

    He could leave his territory to go out and hunt groups of Tier-2 Monsters with his military might and 5-Star Soultrait. That was definitely possible and not even that hard for him since he had formed a strong and cohesive group with exceptional teamwork with his subjects.

    But Michael was merely a Rookie Lord, whose protection barrier was still up. He hadn''t even been in the Origin Expanse for ten days!

    "Did you sell your soul?" He couldn''t help but ask in astonishment, yet Michael justughed.

    "I just sold a few monster carcasses and an Artifact. It''s nothing major," Michael waved off his hand as if it was the most natural thing.

    Meanwhile, the clerk and the other staff members, who had appraised Michael''s goods, could hardly keep a straight face. Their eyes shot wide open upon hearing the brother''s conversation, but they chose to keep their mouths shut. That was best for everyone.

    ''Well, I didn''t expect the War Axe to be worth that much either. I should have researched a little bit more about the price of Artifacts,'' Michael acknowledged atst.

    He nced at the list of items he had received and nodded his head.

    Michael would receive an average of 5,500$ for each blueprint. Two of them were quite rare drops, which were good for new Lords. Wealthy families wouldn''t hesitate to buy the blueprints for an exorbitant price since the blueprints allowed their offspring to develop their territories at a much faster rate.

    Other than that, the average price for the Low Tier-1 corpses increased to 1,080$, which was mostly due to three major factors. First, most monsters in the Untamed Jungle seemed quite rare. Their poption was way too high in the Untamed Jungle, but they could rarely be found anywhere else. Second, Michael included the extracted monster meat this time as well. He had not done thatst time.

    As for the third reason, it was something Michael was the proudest of. Likest time, he had been very thorough when he had dissected the carcasses. That was why it would be very easy to work with the materials he provided. As a result, the Shop''s AI gave his goods a high evaluation score, just likest time.

    This high evaluation score was also why Michael earned 150,000$ from the near-perfectly dissected lizard corpse. The lizard scales were particrly good for armor, and they could be ground and used by Alchemists as well. The meat was delicious and had been sold in a massive amount of 1.8 tons. Meanwhile, the remaining parts of the lizard were also well-preserved and near-perfectly dissected, earning Michael a small fortune.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Bilrox feathers, on the other hand, earned the least with 5$ for each piece. He sold a total of 166 Bilrox feathers, earning him an additional 830$.

    Finally, the 3-Star Tier-1 War Axe of the Gogi Lord had been appraised to be worth 730,000$, which totaled his goods to be worth slightly above one million dors!

    "If I might suggest something, Sir¡­it would be better to sell the 3-Star Tier-1 War Axe through a VIP auction, or by looking for a customer who is specifically in need of a huge War Axe. After all, the Shop''s AI evaluated the battle axe as too hard to wield since it is too big for human Lords and Adventurers to use. If not for the War Axes'' over-dimensional size, you would have received much more money for the Weapon Artifact!" The staff member provided well-meant advice.

    Michael considered it for a moment before he shook his head.

    He knew that Artifacts were rare to drop, and extremely hard to produce since the link to the War Rune cannot be recreated easily. Good Weapon Artifacts were even scarcer, yet Michael was satisfied with the price he received.

    He didn''t have the time to wait for the next VIP auction, forget about searching for the perfect customer. It was better to use the money at his disposal to invest in the future and advance faster rather than waiting for weeks to earn a little bit more from the War Axe Artifact.

    Michael signed the deal without hesitation. Danny was a little shocked after hearing about the 3-Star Tier-1 War Axe but he gave his utmost to ignore the worry blossoming deep inside his heart.

    He told himself that Michael was simply lucky and that he received good fortune by defeating one or two Tier-1 Monsters. Deep down, Danny could tell that the situation was a little bit different than what he assumed, but there was nothing he could say about it.

    It was not as if his life as a Lord in the Desert was much easier. He was about to go out on an expedition to conquer a Primedival Pyramid, so who was he to tell Michael off?!

    Danny used his actions of the past and present to ease the worry in his heart. He had been a lot more reckless in the past, and he could tell that Michael would be fine if things wouldn''t get worse.

    Danny knew what his brother was capable of, and he believed that Michael would ovee all kinds of troubles.

    With that in mind, he followed Michael to give him a few pieces of advice about the items he would require eventually.

    Just like that, the brothers went on a shopping trip to splurge Michael''s hard-earned money in less than twenty minutes.

    "How can a million dors feel like nothing? That''s a huge fortune¡­but I''ve spent it just as easily as I spent the 50,000$st time I came here¡­" Michael grumbled in a depressed voice before Danny patted his brother''s back.

    "In the future, you will have to spend a lot more. However, the beginning is the hardest. Once you have a few stable sources of ie, you''ll be able to set aside some money to purchase stronger Artifacts, and high-ranked Summoning Scrolls!"

    Michael forced himself to smile and nod his head.

    He knew that he had a lot to do, but it was still a little depressing to see his bank ount bnce after a short shopping spree.

    [Finances: 251.50$]

 Chapter 61 Gift

    The items Michael had purchased earlier were very simple.

    He bought all the necessary tools to perform alchemy, forge weapons and armor, and for gardening. The tools were of high quality and enough in quantity for three to four Alchemists and cksmiths to use.

    Other than the tools, Michael purchased high-quality fertilizer for the Tiatcha Trees and potions with growth hormones. The potions had been developed for monsters and livestock. They would be quite useful for the Bilrox once they hatch.

    Michael purchased several sets of tempered leather armors manufactured with the hide of Tier-1 monsters for his Warriors and Tiara to use, a wide variety of potions, arge medicine kit, and a bunch of recipes and books for all Subjects who were still Apprentices.

    Being an Apprentice meant that they had the potential to be Experts when they were still alive. Sadly, they died before reaching that level, which meant that they could attain it now that they had been resurrected.

    Unfortunately, everything was ridiculously expensive.

    More than a third of his earnings had been spent on the items above, which had left Michael with a little bit more than 600,000$ to purchase a better Bow Artifact and Arrows.

    The Antler Bow was great, but it was not good enough anymore. Michael wanted to train his archery skills without being restricted by the power output of a Tierless 1-Star Bow Artifact. Thus, he purchased a bow whose pulling force could be adjusted by channeling energy inside it.

    The 3-Star Tier-0 Hardwood Bow Artifact was perfect for this purpose. It didn''t possess an additional enchantment, but the hardness of the frame could be adjusted with the amount of energy inserted. It could injure Peak Tier-1 Monsters in its strongest form, which was exactly what Michael needed!

    The discounted price Michael received was 600,000$ and a batch of arrows was included in it. However, he purchased a few hundred additional arrows, spending most of his remaining fortune.

    Leaving the House of Witchery with an empty pocket ¨C just likest time ¨C Michael felt a little sad, but he was also satisfied with himself.

    ''I can give Tiara the Antler Bow to increase her perception a little. I can teach her a little if she is still interested in archery,'' Michael thought to himself before he retrieved the Antler Bow.

    He cut the connection between the Antler Bow and his War Rune and proceeded to bind the Hardwood Bow to his War Rune once he and his brother entered the shuttle, which they had hailed to return home.

    A familiar white strand of energy emerged from within his War Rune. Michael willed it to bind the Hardwood Bow, and the strand of energy shot forward. Like a tentacle, it coiled around the Hardwood Bow Artifact before starting the binding process.

    Michael closed his eyes to feel and sense the binding process intently while the Hardwood Bow turned into a white wisp, which was pulled inside his War Rune shortly thereafter.

    The enhancement provided by the Hardwood Bow spread through his entire being when they arrived in front of their apartmentplex. Michael felt his perception and agility increase considerably. It was several times stronger than the perception increment he had received from the Antler Bow!

    However, the increment in his perception and agility was still weakpared to the enhancement he received from his Epic Artifact.

    ''Even if the difference between a 1-Star Artifact and a 3-Star Artifact is worlds apart, Tigerfang is even more exceptional!''

    The Hardwood Bow increased his perception and agility by roughly 20%, while Tigerfang''s overall increment was more than 70% even now. The external increase of strength provided by Artifacts was predetermined and wouldn''t change. Nheless, Tigerfang''s enhancement was still extremely high even after his War Rune''s degree of refinement was about to reach the Late stage.

    It was truly an invaluable treasure for a Tierless Lord and served as a mean to increase Michael''s survivability drastically!

    "Are you not getting out?" Danny asked, pulling Michael out of his train of thought.

    Michael shook his head to free his mind and left the shuttle. It was only then that he noticed something lying on hisp.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was an arrow.

    "Huh? Isn''t that the¡­" He blurted out in a dumbfounded voice when Danny nodded his head, "That''s the Return Arrow. You were looking at it as if you were going to steal it, so I purchased it."

    Dannyughed lightly, recalling when Michael had a look of pure yearning on his face while staring at the Return Arrow. Unfortunately, he didn''t have enough money to purchase it just yet. He would have to save up another million to purchase the Tierless 3-Star Artifact, the Return Arrow.

    "You bought it? Why wo¨C..." Michael began, but he couldn''t even finish his sentence when Danny began ring at him.

    "I just bought it, so what?! Don''t tell me that you don''t need it? I know that your territory is in an extremely dangerous region, otherwise, how would you be able to earn 50,000$ after you spent three days in the Origin Expanse, and a million after spending eight days in the Origin Expanse??" Danny shouted after being slightly influenced by the emotions that wreaked havoc in his mind for thest half an hour.

    Danny was fuming in anger when he noticed that Michael was about to retort, so he added, "It''s fine if you don''t want to talk about it, but don''t you dare to lie to me, Michael!"

    Michael kept his mouth shut and scratched the back of his head helplessly.

    "Okay¡­" He could only say before he began to bind the Return Arrow Artifact to his War Rune, "...Thank you¡­"

    The Return Arrow was actually something Michael wanted. It was a Tierless 3-Star Artifact that could be used indefinitely, until it broke into pieces, to be precise.

    The Arrow Artifact was strong enough to support the Hardwood bow, and it had the ''Return'' enchantment, which was the biggest reason why Michael wanted to purchase it, in the first ce.

    One could configure the return enchantment by channeling energy inside it to determine exactly how far the arrow could travel away from of the War Rune before it would return to him automatically. The concept was simr to that of a boomerang.

    "It''s good that you did not reject my gift. I just want to make sure that you can survive as long as possible. The Return Arrow will increase your agility a little but you should ensure that you will never lose your weapons when you''re in battle. Arrows are consumables, and you cannot retrieve them most of the time. The Return Arrow is different, so I can feel reassured that you''ll be fine¡­hopefully!" Danny said before he added lightly,

    "I can buy you a few more Artifacts if you want!"

    However, Michael shook his head immediately.

    "I''m fine, thanks Danny. Pay attention to your Primedival Pyramid and buy yourself some Artifacts!"

    "Alright, I will do as you say. But first, I will leave to take a look at my territory. The preparations for the expedition should bepleted by now," Danny answered as they stepped inside their apartment.

    The next moment, two Runic Gates appeared in the living room at the same time, one created through Michael''s War Rune, the other manifested by Danny''s War Rune.

    "It was great to spend time with you. Let''s repeat that soon!" Danny said as he approached his Runic Gate.

    He was a little reluctant to leave his brother alone, but he also knew that Michael would be fine. His little brother was stronger and more talented than he was, after all!

    Michael nodded his head with a bright smile on his face.

    "Yes, let''s go out to eat when we meet again!"

 Chapter 62 [Bonus ]Third Piece

    Michael wished to spend more time with his brother, but the protection barrier would be lifted soon. Furthermore, Danny was also busy with his expedition.

    Danny didn''t say a lot about the expedition, the desert region that surrounded his territory, or his life and experiences as a Lord. However, that was fine. It was not as if Michael was willing to reveal everything he had experienced, either.

    They spent a few hours together and talked far more about the Origin Expanse and the livelihood of Lords than ever before. They had a great time together catching up with each other and their experiences, but they had to separate now.

    Michael entered the Runic Gate his War Rune materialized, and he returned to the Origin Expanse.

    The apartment that had been filled with noises seconds ago returned to peaceful silence as the brothers returned to their territories to live the life of busy and hard-working Lords.

    Like always, Michael first smelled the aroma of the Untamed Jungle''s flora and fauna. It was iparable to the smell outside the Origin Expanse and had an almost addictive quality to it.

    He stretched his body when he emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate and looked at his surroundings.

    It was already afternoon, but that was something Michael had already expected. He walked over to the wooden manor where he received his daily report.

    Afterward, he ordered one of his subjects to look for Tiara and the others. For the next task, Michael retrieved the goods he had just purchased and put them neatly inside the warehouse. He hadn''t built a farm, an alchemy house, or a smithy yet, but it was important to have the tools ready beforehand.

    He moved the books and recipes he had purchased into one of the wooden manor''s empty rooms and told everyone to use them. Michael had also purchased a big stash of paper, several bottles of waterproof ink, and a pen that could be easily filled with the ink. These were all items needed for the Schrs and Librarians to replicate the books and the Sun Soldier techniques for everyone to read without the need to wait several days due to having limited copies.

    Once most items had been stored neatly, Michael met up with Tiara. He gave her the Antler Bow, two-thirds of the arrows he had purchased for himself, and the leather armor sets for her and the Warriors, who''d spawned without an armor.

    "Master, you''re way too generous with us¡­wasn''t all of this way too expensive?" Tiara asked in shock. She hadn''t expected her Master to go out of his way and generously spend a small fortune to buy them tempered Tier-1 leather armor sets, and to give her the Antler Bow Artifact and refined arrows.

    "If you think that I''m too kind and generous, you can thank me by continuing to give your best to protect the territory," Michael responded with a light smile. He didn''t mind spending a small fortune on his warriors if it allowed them to survive the ordeals they encountered every day.

    They fought for him and his territory, so it was only fair to give them what they deserved. In that regard, Michael was certain that he should reward his people more than what he could provide for now.

    "In that case, I hope you''re satisfied with the 63 monsters we hunted when you left the Origin Expanse!" One of the Warriors eximed proudly. He was overjoyed with the tempered Tier-1 leather armor and couldn''t even hide his emotions at this point.

    Michael smiled when he saw the Warrior''s reaction. He had already noticed that some of hisbat units had grown stronger, but he hadn''t expected them to have hunted 63 monsters. Even half of that number would have been more than what he expected from them after hunting for half a day.

    "You guys left the protection barrier to hunt, didn''t you?" Michael asked after he turned to Tiara. He didn''t look at her as his maid anymore. Tiara was more like hismander-in-charge.

    She nodded her head and exined, "With Ms Kelia by our side it is much more secure than you might think. Her control of the Water Element is exceptional, and the high humidity in the air ys in favor of her ability. She is great!"

    Ms. Kelia was the Water Elemental Mage. Michael could tell that she was powerful simply because she was a 3-Star Elemental Mage, but it seemed as if she was even more resourceful than expected. After all, it was not easy to hunt 63 Tier-1 monsters when they had only one Tier-1batant in their group.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "That''s great. Maybe, I''ll be able to summon a few more Warriors to aid you in battle once I finish extracting the carcasses!" Michael eximed and the others nodded their heads vigorously.

    They were excited at the thought of their military might expanding further. Tiara''s ears perked up when she heard ''summon'', and the hint of a smile appeared on her face.

    "After you left this morning, two subjects emerged from the Summoning Gate. They''re both 1-Star Summons just like the knights in training from yesterday!" She said with a bright smile.

    Michael was stunned. More 1-Star Summons?

    He sensed the Links of Loyalty connected to his War Rune and realized in astonishment that two more Links of Loyalty had been formed. They were stronger than ordinary Links of Loyalty, simr to the bonds of the Knights in training.

    Did that mean, getting two 1-Star Summons like the Knights in training was not a one-time reward, but a reward he could im daily?

    That would be great!

    ''Should I start conquering more territories to procure more Summoning Crystals? That should increase the number of daily summons¡­I could earn a bunch of SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits on the side as well!'' Michael mused, even though he knew that it was not easy to conquer other territories.

    Michael was not even sure where the closest Lord territory was located, in the first ce. He might be thest Lord in the entire Untamed Jungle region without realizing it.

    Even if he was thest Lord, it was fine. He could find other ways to procure what he desired.

    But for now, Michael had to take care of his territory. He extracted the monster corpses like always and ordered his subjects to store the near-perfectly dissected body parts in the warehouse.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s full attention was on the seemingly ordinary piece of parchment he had extracted from a ferocious wolf''s corpse.

    "Another fragment of the Untamed Jungle''s Map? Is it actually a map, or a treasure card?" Michael murmured to himself as he stared at the third piece of parchment that showed the topography of the Untamed Jungle.

    ''How many more pieces do I need toplete the map? Will I be able to find out more about the Untamed Jungle once I find the remaining pieces?''

    Either way, Michael stored the parchment in his War Rune while being deep in thought.

    He received the energy share from the monster killed by his subjects and could clearly feel that his War Rune''s refinement degree would soon reach the Late stage.

    ''Great. Everything will work ording to my n.''

 Chapter 63 Hatchlings

    Despite being one of the biggest events for all Rookie Lords, nothing much happened when the protection barrier around Michael''s territory was lifted.

    It dispersed and opened the ways for outsiders to intrude on the territory. However, no monster dared to attack the territory right away. Tempered wooden walls and spiked walls had been constructed to protect the territory and the citizens, but that was not all.

    The remaining monsters in the territory''s vicinity knew that their kind had been ferociously hunted over the course of thest ten days and had received a painful death. They understood that a new Overlord had emerged in the small area of the clearing and immediate surroundings, so they were wary of Michael''s territory.

    That was some great news, which allowed Michael to focus on his territory''s progress and on extracting resources and monster corpses in the following days.

    All Tiatcha trees in the range of the territory had been uprooted and nted near each other. A few of his subjects were dedicated to caring for them and ensured that the trees received fertilizer and the best possible treatment to make sure that they would grow fast and prosper.

    At the same time, more treehouses had been constructed, the warehouse was expanded, several gardens have been constructed beneath the treehouseplexes, and both smithies and alchemy houses had been constructed as well.

    The infrastructure of his territory was finally put in ce and meticulously organized. The humongous jungle trees that stunted each other''s growth because they had grown too close to each other, were taken care of. Some of them were removed to provide resources for treehouseplexes and other construction projects, while others had parts of their roots extracted.

    Michael did thetter because he wanted to leave the opportunity open to build bigger buildings high up in the trees with the use of several trees that had grown close to each other.

    Other than that, Michael also joined Tiara and herbat unit to go out hunting. He had yet to see thebat prowess of the Aero Crossbowmen, the Knights in training, and the Water Elemental Mage. Thus, he joined them one day to see how much their teamwork had improved and how dangerous it was for them to fight Tier-1 Monsters.

    At the end of the day, Michael was quite surprised. The Aero Crossbowmen and the Water Elemental Mage easily killed lone Tier-1 Monsters long before the melee fighters reached it. It was not much different in group battles either. The melee fighters would only engage in battle once the group exceeded five monsters since other subjects could easily tackle fewer numbers.

    That was exceptional and it was also why Michael was able to extract roundabout 700 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 13 Summoning Scrolls, and 5 blueprints every day for three days in a row!

    In fact, on the third day, Michael was even rewarded with a Tierless 2-Star Artifact. Michael felt that it was a bummer because he and his people killed Tier-1 Monsters only to be rewarded with Tierless Artifacts, but the 2-Star Artifact was a Bracelet with the ''protection shield'' enchantment. It was worth a small fortune in the market, but it could also be very well used by him or Tiara.

    However, since Michael was already in possession of multiple Artifacts and eager to hone his archery skills, he gave the 2-Star Bracelet Artifact to her. It allowed Michael to stay worry-free when Tiara and her fighters would leave the territory to go out hunting.

    Other than thebatants, Tracer also left the territory. She had recuperated atst and started to work again right away. ire Tracer was embarrassed about her foolish mistake. She had indirectly forced Michael to engage in war with the Gogi Lord after stealing three Bilrox eggs.

    Michael never said anything about that after the Gogi Lord had been exterminated, but ire felt bad and guilty for putting him in such a situation nheless. Thus, she began to explore the Untamed Jungle relentlessly. She investigated every nook and cranny and made a detailed map of the Untamed Jungle with precise marks about every unique-looking spot in the surrounding area.

    Michael was satisfied with ire''s work, but he was more focused on other tasks.

    Two 1-Star Summons with strengthened Links of Loyalty emerged from the Summoning Gate every day, and Michael used the gains he made daily to summon new subjects in the morning. Over the course of three days, Michael summoned 126 subjects. On the first day, he summoned 41 subjects, the following day 42, and a day after Michael summoned 43 subjects.

    Amongst the 126 Summons, 14 were 1-Star Summons while the rest were Starless Summons.

    Just like that the number of Michael''s subjects exceeded 200, but that was not everything.

    The refinement degree of his War Rune reached the Late stage, which was fast. His 13th day in the Origin Expanse had yet to pass, but he was already quite powerful.

    His subjects had be a lot stronger as well, and their Link of Loyalty had strengthened as their trust in him increased over the course of time.

    All of his gains were exceptional, but the cherry on the cake was that the Bilrox were ready to arrive in the world.

    It was the evening on the third day after he had returned, and Michael had just received the report that the Bilrox were about to hatch.

    He rushed to the other side of the clearing where a small fence attached to a wooden hut came into his sight. Tiara, ire, and a few more people were already inside the hut. They looked over to Michael when he barged inside the hut and bowed lightly to him before their attention returned to Heren, the Lesser Tamer, who leaned over the three wiggling eggs.

    The atmosphere in the room was filled with excitement and anticipation. All eyes were fixed upon the eggs, nestled in a straw-lined nest. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Subtle cracks had appeared on the little eggshells. Seeing the cracks for the first time, Michael''s heart skipped a beat. A nervous energy buzzed through him, and he rushed forward. Without any care for his image, he squatted down next to Heran Tarn to take a close look at the wondrous scene.

    Time seemed to slow down suddenly. The first signs of life emerged ¨C a tiny chip in the shell.

    Michael held his breath, and his heart began to beat even wilder than before as the fragile creature within the egg struggled to escape the prison. With each peck, the crack expanded, revealing glimpses of the vivid world beyond.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the shell gave way to a small yet pointy beak, small and ck in color. The room was filled with a mixture of awe, joy, and empathy at this miraculous moment. It was the first time life had been given birth in Michael''s territory!

    Tired, yet relentless, the hatchlings instinctively kept pecking the eggshells. They scratched against the remaining fragments of the eggs that had been their cocoon for months until they fell onto the straw nest with a soft thud. Exhausted and overwhelmed with the new surroundings, the hatchlings took their first uncertain and wobbly steps. They explored the unfamiliar environment with great curiosity.

    Everyone sighed in relief when they watched the three hatchlings look around curiously. They seemed exhausted but healthy.

    Various emotions filled the room. Everyone was awestruck while watching the Bilrox hatchlings, but there was more behind the birth of the little hatchlings.

    Their birth infused everybody with the hope of a better future. The Bilrox''s existence unraveled countless new paths of development for the territory.

    Furthermore, the birth of the vulnerable yet determined creatures reminded everyone of their childhood and their struggles.

    At that moment, everyone shared an appreciation for the wonders of nature and the beauty of creation.

    It was truly miraculous.

    One of the Bilrox hatchlings slowly wobbled and reached Michael''s leg. It chirped shrilly and rubbed its head against his leg.

    ''Oh my¡­''

    Michael''s heart melted when he saw that.

    He had only been taking lives since he entered the Origin Expanse, so it was an overwhelming experience to witness the birth of life for the first time.

    His heart couldn''t take it anymore. Michael''s hand reached down instinctively.

    He caressed the hatchling gently while ignoring its damp and matted feathers, which had a distinctive slimy texture.

    The remaining two Bilrox hatchlings squeaked shrilly and soon joined the conquest as they approached Michael topete for his attention.

    Michael chuckled when he saw this and he looked over to the Lesser Tamer, who returned his gaze with a smile.

    "Take good care of them and use everything you deem necessary to make sure that they are healthy and mature well. Report immediately if they''re injured, or missing nourishment"

    At this moment, everyone realized that Michael had fallen victim to the cuteness of the hatchlings.

    But¡­who could hold him ountable for that?

    They were just too cute!

 Chapter 64 Benefits

    Michael and the others spent more than two hours inside the hut, caressing the Bilrox hatchlings, and watching the Lesser Tamer taking care of the newest members in the territory.

    After two hours, the three hatchlings had fallen asleep. Michael reminded the Lesser Tamer once again to take care of the Bilrox hatchlings and do everything possible to raise them well before he and the others left the hut.

    Once the miraculous event of the Bilrox hatchlings'' birth was over, Michael began with the task distribution for the following days.

    He was not sure for how long he would be away, but he wanted to make sure that everyone would be busy while he left to attend the graduation ceremony of his high school.

    Michael was still not looking forward to it, but he could tell that the graduation ceremony would turn into an interesting event, especially with his old homeroom teacher and Nis Liekhoven present, and the afterpartyter.

    He was still oblivious to his final exam score, but he didn''t really care about that anymore, either. Somehow, marks and grades felt negligible to him after having fought with his life on the line several times. His life in the Origin Expanse was different from the days he spent in Laki.

    Michael had responsibilities now, and he felt like certain parts of his previous life had be insignificant.

    Half an hourter, Michael finished distributing the tasks. His War Rune''s storage space was also filled to the brim with the most valuable body parts of the countless monsters he had collected during thest four days.

    All preparations had beenpleted, and Michael left the Origin Expanse once again.

    He returned home and appeared in his apartment.

    The first thing he did was to open the crystal watch to see the time.

    [13:51 pm]

    "There are still four hours left before the graduation ceremony begins. That''s more than enough," Michael murmured before he switched to the messenger app.

    His brother hadn''t sent him a message, but it looked like Alice Zenovia had sent a detailed answer to the question he had asked her before. It was rted to the benefits of the Saphirke Military Camp''s benefits.

    However, before he opened the message, Michael hailed a shuttle and took a shower. He took a quick shower, put on the clothes he washedst time, and left the apartment.

    After getting inside the shuttle, he opened Alice''s message atst.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I am generous enough to forgive your insolent behavior. HOWEVER, don''t think that I will always be that generous. It is hard to be the bigger person, you know?!]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Either way, I''m d that you''re asking me about the benefits the Saphirke Military Academy has over other Military Academies and Universities. First of all, the Saphirke Military Academy has yet to be registered in the ranking of top education institutes since it opened less than five years ago. That is also why you might have a hard time finding credible information about the Saphirke Military Academy and its benefits.

    However, you can be at ease with me by your side. I will be your beautiful guide!]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): The biggest benefit of the Saphirke Military Academy is that it''s one of mankind''s first educational institutions in the Zenot Ster System. If you don''t know much about the Zenot Ster System yet, it is also the ster system where we encountered the Barbarians and the Warlock Centaurs first.

    The Tritan Alliance was signed in the Zenot Ster System as well.

    The government has high hopes for the Saphirke Military Academy and the other educational institutions on Kelta, which is mostly thanks to the Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs. The government requested the strongest human Lords and Adventurers to be professors and instructors of mankind''s education institutions within the Zenot Ster System. This was a predicament to make sure that the younger generations of humanity would be protected and strengthened to spar with the Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs head-on.

    The Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs are proud races. They love war and are very powerful, but they take honor and the Warrior oath very seriously.

    That is also why the government wants to make sure that the Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs take mankind seriously. The easiest way to achieve this is by showing the superiority of our youngest generation. We can only show our rapid growth rather than the strength of our oldest Lords. After all, their oldest generations have been Lords in the Origin Expanse for Millenia, while we''ve only been there for half a millenia. ]

    Michael had to take a short break while reading her long message. He was still inside the shuttle, and on his way to the Central Trading Hall but his mind was somewhere else.

    ''Either her message is chaotic, or my mind is¡­So¡­No, I should first read everything and then figure out if I understood her properly¡­''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael calmed down and read Alice''s next message.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Due to the high hopes the government has for the educational institutions in the Zenot Ster System, they invest much more funds in the Saphirke Military Academy than the academies and universities in the Sr system. However, that is not everything. The Saphirke Military Academy received big funding from charity organizations of big families of ns. The reasons behind this are simple.

    First, they want to make sure that their children can attend the Military Academy without wasting their precious time with the application process and aptitude assessment. Second, the big families and organizations want to gain a little bit more power and say in the government and in the Military Academy to research information about other students. This is to search for potential targets to lure into their own ns or families.

    After all, only the best of the best will be able to attend the academies and universities in the Zenot Ster System!!

    There are a few more reasons but I doubt that you want to hear all of them.

    P.S Don''t worry, the big families and organizations won''t have a lot of power. Even my family doesn''t have a permanent seat in themittee, yet.]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Thus, the benefits of the Saphirke Military Academy can be boiled down to two major factors; A vast pool of resources, and the strongest Lords and Adventurers as professors and instructors to teach you!]

    Michael began to frown when he read Alice''sst message. He was a bit mad.

    ''You¡­couldn''t you have sent only thest message and left it at that?!?'' Michael thought at first.

    However, after giving it some more thought he realized that he had spent at most two or three minutes reading the messages, but Alice had spent a lot more time exining everything to him in detail.

    Michael was also fairly sure that Alice had shared confidential information with him, which was much more than he could have hoped for.

    ''Maybe, I shouldn''t be such a pain in the ass to her?'' He thought, d that he hadn''t sent her a message yet.

    The shuttle arrived at the destination, and Michael got out a momentter. However, his eyes were still glued to the information Alice shared with him.

    It would be a lie if he were to say that he was not interested in the Saphirke Military Camp and getting to know Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs.

    Despite that, Michael didn''t really want to be thrown into a pool full of sharks once again. His time in high school had been nothing short of a nightmare, and he didn''t want to go through the same misery again.

    But as soon as he thought of it, Michael froze in his tracks.

    "Who says that it will be the same as before?" He asked out loud suddenly.

    He had changed over the past few days.

    Now, Michael had powerful Soultraits, and the means to be much stronger as long as he survived the ordeals of the Untamed Jungle.

    It was even possible for him to extract more Soultraits and increase their Star-rating.

    Why would he have to be afraid of the kids born with a silver spoon in their mouths that would attend the Military Academy alongside him?

    He just had to crush them if they acted up!

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

    Spent your hard-earned powerstones on this novel to receive special benefits - such as more chapters and a happy author!

 Chapter 65 [Bonus ]Body Refinement

    Michael was on his way to Bartholomew House of Witchery for the third time in a week.

    Almost two weeks had passed in the Origin Expanse, but to the outside world, only a little over a week had passed. Some of the staff at the shop knew how much money Michael had earned on those three trips, and that he spent the entire fortune he had earned.

    From their point of view, it was ridiculous how much money Lords could earn, and how much they had to spend. It was crazy.

    Michael immediately walked over to the Witchery Bazaar where three staff members led him inside the appraisal room.

    ''Now that I am set to enter the Saphirke Military Academy, I should advance to the 1st Tier before the 20th,'' Michael thought while retrieving the blueprints and carcasses he wished to sell.

    Michael recalled Danny''s advice and the fact that there were fewer open spots in the Academy due to the influence and donations of the rich, who wished to give their child the best opportunity to grow and reserve a seat.

    Most ordinary people would consider the actions of the rich annoying and unfair, but Michael thought that it was surprisingly good.

    More donations meant that the Saphirke Military Academy had more funds, which would provide more and better resources to him as long as he would be one of the strongest freshmen!

    That was also why he had to increase his strength as quickly as possible and receive a high evaluation in the aptitude assessment.

    He was willing to give his best to join the Saphirke Military Academy. It seemed important for his future, whether it was about the high possibility of an uing war, or his future growth. The system might be rigged by the rich, but that was quite normal.

    No matter where one looked, the wealthy and strong would have their hands in the game of power and influence.

    Michael figured that he would have to ept this reality and barge straight into the Lion''s den if he wanted to be stronger and ovee all kinds of ordeals and perilous situations.

    But for now, he had to face the graduation ceremony first.

    "Sir, are you fine with this price?" The clerk asked.

    Michael was pulled out of his train of thought and noticed only now that they had returned to the Witchery Bazaar''s counter. The clerk held out the form where all necessary information was mentioned.

    He sold the near-perfectly dissected carcasses of 261 Low Tier-1 Monsters for an average of 1025$, and 21 blueprints for an average price of 4800$, totaling 368,325$.

    That was more than enough money to purchase a suit of high-quality, and a few other things for his territory.

    But instead of purchasing something immediately, Michael left the House of Witchery. He visited the tailor where he purchased an expensive suit and handmade leather boots for the graduation ceremony. Afterward, he went to a different shop to find a way to workout properly inside the Origin Expanse.

    Nowadays, he spend most of his time inside the Origin Expanse, mainly fighting, or using his Soultrait to aid his subjects in collecting sturdy resources. That was why Michael had to search for a technique that allowed him to use the dormant energy of the Origin Expanse to stimte his body to keep it fit and agile.

    Michael had already researched a few techniques, but he was still unsure what he wanted to purchase.

    It should be a workout technique that uses the Origin Expanse''s energy to its full extent and his body''s nutrition to stimte every fiber in his body. That way, Michael could stay fit and improve his physique as well.

    With a fit body and a stimting workout it would be much easier to adjust to the constant enhancement he received from the War Rune and improve his stamina.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He entered a shop called [Rainbow Koi], a shop where thousands of books, tomes, and scrolls were sold, and searched for a suitable technique for 20 minutes before he found something interesting.

    "[Berserker Physique]. It is a formidable technique that refines your body using the training method of the Berserker tribes in the Origin Expanse. Their Shamans shared the techniques with a human Lord, who is willing to sell the technique for merely 200,000$!" The young man exined graciously.

    Michael frowned a little, but he couldn''t help himself. The introductory part of the Berserker Physique sounded interesting.

    "Isn''t it just the copy of a workout technique? Why is it so expensive?" Michael asked, feeling certain that the shop wanted to exploit him.

    However, the young man shook his head valiantly.

    "Esteemed customer, you don''t understand. The Berserker Physique is not an ordinary workout technique but a body refinement technique that increases your physical strength, endurance, and stamina to that of a Peak Tier-1 Lord up to 30% once practiced to the extreme!"

    Michael pressed his lips together and asked onest question before he made his final decision.

    "I can share the technique with my subjects, right?" He inquired, and the staff member nodded his head immediately,

    "Of course, you can. Even Adventurers, who took an oath of subordination to you, are given permission to practice the technique!"

    Michael nodded his head subconsciously, "Alright, I''ll take it."

    After he made his decision, the staff member acted quickly andpleted the formalities.

    Five minutester, Michael left the shop with the Berserker Physique technique and a massive deduction of 200,000$ in his bank ount.

    He left the Central Trading Hall, hailed a shuttle, and opened a holographic screen.

    Danny was not online, but Michael sent him a message, nheless. He wanted to let his brother know that he was still alive after the protection barrier had been lifted.

    ''I hope he is doing fine. The expedition this time around would most probably be a little bit more dangerous than usual.''

    Michael knew that Danny didn''t like cooperating with other Lords under normal circumstances. He had experienced a few betrayals in the past, which made him very vignt when it came to trusting other Lords in the Origin Expanse. However, for this particr expedition, Danny made an exception and created an alliance with three other Lords.

    He had researched a lot about the other Lords and found them trustworthy enough to explore the outer parts of the Primedival Pyramid.

    However, Michael didn''t really feel good about that.

    The fact that Danny was willing to make an alliance with other Lords meant that the Primedival Pyramid was far more dangerous than he initially expected.

    ''I swear, if you worry about me all the time while you''re in an even more dangerous situation, I will kill you!''

 Chapter 66 Personal Growth

    The shuttle brought him to the designated destination; in front of the gates of the Golden Sun province''s most prestigious school.

    Many luxurious cars had already been parked in the parking lot next to the school, and Michael could see a few familiar faces.

    He didn''t bother to walk over and greet them and headed straight in the direction of the school''s auditorium.

    While he walked to his destination, various thoughts shed through his mind. The memories of his school life resurfaced as he saw the familiar corners of the high school, and he immediately wanted to leave once again.

    His time in high school hadn''t been as bad as Michael always said. He was just too embarrassed about his own behavior in school to talk about it with someone.

    However, to the golden spoons, Michael was an eyesore. He had always been since he joined their school.

    He was merely an ordinary citizen, yet he dared to enter the most prestigious school in the province. Who did he think he was, a prodigy?!

    Many students were irked when he became the top student after the first semester results were announced. They bullied him and seeded in suppressing Michaelpletely. He didn''t have any power, forget about any influential connections he could use.

    One time, he got so pissed that he nearly beat the shit out of one of his bullies, only to recall the trouble that would await him if he dared to act on his impulse of going against the children of wealthy and highly influential families.

    The hesitation he felt on that day and the worry of the aftermath and how it would affect his future had made him feel hopeless. It was one of the most frustrating moments in his life.

    Just because he was ordinary and they were born with a golden spoon, Michael had to ept their bullying and presumptuous attitude. If he retaliated, he would be at fault. He didn''t have the necessary power to twist the truth however he wanted, but his bullies had.

    Michael didn''t want to be expelled because he required the benefits provided by the elite high school. Thus, he ended up hiding in the corners of the school ground every now and then, avoiding everybody altogether.

    It was quite embarrassing, but the situation had changed now.

    They were not students anymore, and Michael''s life had been turned upside down since he manifested the War Rune. The days after he entered the Origin Expanse shaped him into a different person and he was now more confident about himself. Even if someone was to attempt to bully him, Michael wouldn''t stay idle. He would retaliate and do everything he could to protect himself.

    In the worst case, he could leave Laki to enter the Origin Expanse for a few weeks. However, Michael was sure that it wouldn''t be necessary to flee and escape into the Origin Expanse.

    When he reached the auditorium, Michael walked over to the small counter where he showed his ID to register as a graduate before he was let inside.

    The auditorium appeared just like always to him except for the fact that it had been decorated a little, and tables and chairs had been ced all over the auditorium.

    On the left side of the auditorium, some staff members were busy setting up the tes for the buffet at the afterparty, while others hurried through the auditorium to change minor details in the decoration.

    Michael saw a few familiar faces, but he ignored them once again and sat down at the table the furthest in the back.

    The graduation ceremony started less than 20 minutester in which Michael thought about his high school life, and the most important question- what he could have done better.

    Ever since he entered the Origin Expanse he had matured a lot. Rather than being annoyed with the bullies, or sulking about the unfair treatment he received merely because he was an ordinary citizen, Michael felt frustrated about his own behavior in the past.

    The more he thought about it the clearer it was that he had been acting like a coward.

    ''At least, I know that I''ve been a coward in the past. If I use the mistakes I made in the past and learn from them, I shouldn''t have to consider these years as a failure and wasted time. Instead, I can use them as a lesson to grow stronger, to be better!''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael nodded his head subconsciously. Learning from mistakes was the most important if he wanted to grow as an individual. Unlike what others thought, it was fine to make mistakes. However, it was not fine to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

    Understanding this principle was the first step of Michael''s growth as a person.

    ''I think it was a good decision toe here,'' He acknowledged atst. Even if the afterparty was why he participated in the graduation ceremony, Michael felt that the most significant gain he made today was that he hade to terms with his past.

    He could acknowledge why he acted like this in the past and what kind of person he had been in the three years he spent in the elite high school!

    Michael''s train of thought naturally wandered elsewhere after his mind fell at ease.

    ''If I reach the 1st Tier before the 20th, I should be considered a genius, or not? It will be a little over half a month since I first stepped into the Origin Expanse, and I have two Soultraits. Mybat prowess is also not that bad nor is the knowledge I acquired in thest few years. It shouldn''t be too difficult for me to get epted at the Saphirke Military Academy, right?'' Michael thought.

    After a while, the graduation ceremony was halfway done. The headteachers and the principal had concluded their speeches, but Michael''s mind was somewhere else.

    He was in the Origin Expanse, trying to find the most efficient way to advance to the 1st Tier.

    ''Hunting a few Tier-2 Monsters should allow me to advance to the next Tier.''

    The Lizard mother''s energy share had been massive. Michael couldn''t even absorb half of it at that time. By now, Michael was confident that his body and War Rune were strong enough to handle the energy share of a Tier-2 monster.

    The only problem was how he should hunt Tier-2 monsters with the means at his disposal.

    ''Will a sneaky attack be enough? Probably not. I should make a few more preparations and purchase some stuff¡­''

    For a while, Michaelpletely forgot where he was. His surroundings turned insignificant as his thoughts focused on the various ns that were forming in his head.

    His goal was to be a Tier-1 Lord before the aptitude assessment for the Saphirke Military Academy started on the 20th. He still had two weeks left to achieve this goal. But the task was not easy as the energy required to reach a higher refinement degree increased drastically from the Late stage.

    It would require several times more energy to refine his War Rune to the peak of the 0th Tier than refining it infinitely close to the Late stage.

    After that, Michael had to break the barrier that separated Tier-0 existences from the 1st Tier.

    This would require a tremendous amount of energy, lots of time, and exceptional willpower.

    With that in mind, he continued to ignore the speeches and useless talk of the headteachers and the principal. He couldn''t care less about them now that his mind was focused on the Origin Expanse.

    After all, the afterparty was the most important event he eagerly awaited. It was an opportunity for Michael to get back at some idiots and witness their stupidity onest time.

    Times had changed, and Michael had grown much stronger, physically, but even more so mentally!

    He was not the same man as a week ago!

 Chapter 67 Afterparty

    They didn''t have to change their location for the afterparty. It was being held in the same auditorium.

    The interior space of the auditorium was tweaked a little after the formal part of the graduation ceremony ended, but it was nothing major.

    Most chairs and tables had been pushed to the right side of the auditorium to leave an open space in the center.

    Michael presumed that the open space was the dance floor for the couples to dance and have fun. Even though most of them were already Lords or would be Lords soon, they were merely 18 years old and filled with the desire to pursue romance and have flowery feelings toward their beloved.

    At least, that was the case for many students. They walked over to the dance floor after a while and started to dance slowly and intimately.

    Meanwhile, the preparations for the buffet had beenpleted as well. For someone like Michael, the buffet was the most important. One could even say that it was one of the minor reasons why he chose toe to the graduation ceremony!

    He didn''t really care much about the couples dancing on the dance floor. They could be as passionate and intimate as they wanted to be, but delicious food was still better in his opinion.

    Michael was just a glutton, one of the few prideful Gluttons, at that!

    He headed over to the buffet the moment it was opened. His te was filled to the brim within minutes, and he began feasting on the food at a nearby table.

    Because he was dressed in a pristine new suit, Michael chose to eat with etiquette. It was not necessary to gobble down his food as if he had been starving for weeks.

    Fifteen minutester, he finished his first te. He went back to the buffet to get a second serving.

    Michael wanted to eat in silence before observing his former ssmates, but he was not given that much time. Nis Liekhoven, some of his idiotic friends, and their headteacher Kelen Dame were already waiting for him at the table.

    Michael knew that some of them had been watching him for a while now, but he didn''t think they would be so impatient.

    Even dogs were not interrupted while eating!

    "Look, who''s here? If that isn''t Michael Fang!" Nis Liekhoven pointed at him with a vibrant smile, "To think that you''re daring enough toe here today. Are you not afraid that I will beat the shit out of you?!"

    Nis'' voice turned cold when he spat out thest few words. He stared at Michael like a predator eyed their prey before they attacked.

    Michael''s right eyebrow rose lightly as he held Nis'' gaze. However, his expression was emotionless, and his eyes were clear, without any hatred, or fear.

    "Michael Fang. Just because you scored higher than Nis in the final exam does not mean that you are at the same level. You should lower your head in front of him!" Kelen Dame said in a tone that made it seem like he was ordering Michael.

    However, Michael just turned to Kelen Dame without a change in his expression.

    "I don''t even know my score, so¡­how about you keep quiet?" Michael responded, his voice tranquil and calm like ake. He looked at the back of his former headteacher''s right hand and smiled lightly.

    Kelen Dame was already in his mid-30s but he was barely a Tier-1 Adventurer. He lost his territory quite early and spent more than a decade to advance to the 1st Tier. After that, he left the Origin Expanse to be a high school teacher. There was nothing else he could do with himself given hiscking power and influence.

    As a Tier-1 Adventurer, the only thing he could do was to be a teacher at a prestigious high school where he enjoys a great sry without the need to face the dangers of the Origin Expanse.

    Nis noticed that Michael scoffed at their former headteacher''s War Rune, and his vibrant smile widened.

    He pointed at the gloves Michael had put on andughed lightly, "You don''t need to hide that you didn''t manifest a War Rune. Just stay the loser you''ve always been!"

    Michael frowned.

    ''Can''t he sense my War Rune''s fluctuations through the gloves? Is his perception that bad?''

    Initially, Michael put on some gloves to keep a low profile. Less than a third of the high school graduates had turned 18 so far. Thus, most students couldn''t sense the energy of the Origin Expanse his War Rune exuded.

    However, someone like Nis and Kelen Dame should be able to sense the subtle trace of energy radiating from him. But that was not the case. They couldn''t sense it!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Are they idiots?'' Michael asked himself before he snickered, ''What a stupid question. Is that even debatable?''

    "You don''t have tough in sadness. It''s fine. Not everyone can be as talented as I am!" Nis was gloating in a voice loud enough for most students to hear. He lifted his right hand high into the air and showed it to everyone.

    After everyone had seen it, he took a step closer to Michael to give him a clear view of his War Rune.

    Nis tried to shove it into his face to make it clear that he was the most talented.

    But Michael didn''t even flinch upon looking at NIs'' War Rune.

    "Congrattions. You refined your Tierless War Rune to the Mid-Stage," Michael said in an emotionless, dry voice.

    It required a tremendous amount of willpower not tough out loud when he said that. Nis was two months older than most of them, yet his War Rune was less refined than Michael''s.

    Michael''s TIerless War Rune was on the verge of advancing to the Late stage while Nis'' War Rune reached the middle stage not too long ago.

    "Looks like you''re baffled, idiot. However, listen up!" Nis Liekhoven continued to boast and show off before he made another announcement, "By the end of the month, I will be a student of the Saphirke Military Academy!"

    Michael listened to Nis gloating patiently. His expression changed a little, which Nis took as a sign to rub salt on Michael''s injury.

    "Meanwhile, you will have to struggle to earn enough money to stay in the capital. Poor you!" He drawled in the same arrogant, overly bright smile as before.

    Little did he know that Michael''s expression changed because of a different reason.

    Michael looked at Nis for a while before he diverted his attention for a moment.

    He knew that the Liekhoven family was powerful. Still, given that Nis said, ''by the end of the month'', Nis had indirectly confirmed that his family had failed to buy him a spot at the Saphirke Military Academy.

    ''Does that mean, we will meet again on the 20th? That would be fun,'' Michael thought, unable to control a grin from appearing on his face.

    Nis noticed the change in Michael''s expression clearly. It irked him much more than he expected, and he was just about to do something when one of his subordinates took a stride closer to Michael to push his te away, spilling the food all over.

    Why did he do that? He probably wanted to impress Nis and use the opportunity to make fun of Michael.

    But Michael looked at the idiot for a moment before he moved to the side. He stretched one leg out and the wannabe bully tripped and fell over with a loud thud.

    The young man, who had been Michael''s former ssmate, wailed in pain when his smacked his face right on the floor.

    Michael burst intoughter the next moment. He hadn''t expected his former ssmates to be even more idiotic than before.

    Only a week passed but their IQ must have dropped by a dozen points.

    Nis grit his teeth seeing that Michael was fooling his crony. He growled and was about to manifest one of his Artifacts when loud cheers filled the auditorium.

    The girls began to squeal loudly as Jasmine de entered the afterparty in a graceful dress, alongside a young man with azure-colored hair.

    Jasmine looked beautiful and elegant as she strode through the auditorium. Meanwhile, the young man beside her was handsome and walking alongside her with his chest puffed out and his chin held high.

    He was well aware of the gazes lingering on them and his bodynguage was filled with confidence. The short strides he took next to Jasmine pulled the attention of everyone in the auditorium toward him and his partner.

    However, Michael was just confused as he looked at the young man.

    ''Isn''t that¡­''

 Chapter 68 [Bonus ]Sinner!

    ''Isn''t that the fierce beauty?''

    Michael was not sure why he thought about Alice Zenovia when he looked at the young man, but they looked eerily simr. Their simrities were too many to be a coincidence.

    While looking at the young man, Michae forgot about Nispletely. His eyes followed the young man and Jasmine de, until he heard some of his former ssmates murmuring.

    "Isn''t that Kaleb Zenovia? Why is he here?"

    "Didn''t you hear? The Zenovia family and the de family are going to join hands together. The arranged marriage between Jasmine and Kaleb is quite an old piece of news now."

    ''That''s the fierce beauty''s brother?'' Michael realized. It made sense. That is why they seemed so simr to him.

    He felt that Kaleb looked rather beautiful than handsome.

    ''I bet that he was often mistaken as a girl when he was younger.''

    Now that he was pondering about their rtion, Michael recalled that Alice had said something about her brother and his soon-to-be fiance when they first met after his final exam.

    "Right, she was told to watch the final exam of her brother''s soon-to-be fiance," Michael mumbled.

    He smiled faintly and used the opportunity to step back.

    Even if Michael wanted to show Nis that he was far from useless, that he was stronger than his family''s wealth and connections were useless in the face of ipetence, he could tell that the time was not ripe.

    It was much better to feast on the buffet than bothering about Nis and his subordinates. Food was much higher in his priority list than these idiots. They could be taken care of once his stomach was filled to the brim.

    Michael was one of the few people who were focusing on the buffet right now. Most graduates wanted to make sure that their connections with the other graduates could be maintained in the future, while others would enjoy themselves by drinking, or dancing with their beloved.

    Michael didn''t have any friends in school and was a loner. He was the only student with an ordinary background, who made it into the elite ss of the most prestigious school in the Golden Sun province. Thus, he was looked down upon by almost everyone.

    Even if some wouldn''t look down on him, approaching him with good intentions could be considered as volunteering to be bullied. Hence, most of the students steered clear of him too.

    But Michael was fine with that. In fact, it was much easier for him to be a lone wolf. He didn''t have to be considerate to anyone and could focus on his food!

    At least that was something what Michael hoped for.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t take long before the atmosphere of the afterparty changed for the worse.

    Just as Michael approached the big spit-roasted pig to get a taste of it, goosebumps appeared on his body. His heightened perception told him that something was wrong, and his body moved backward instictively.

    A momentter, an azure streak shed past his eyes. The azure sh cut through the air and pierced the apple ced in the spit-roasted pig''s mouth.

    It was an arrow.

    Someone had shot an arrow through the auditorium without a care for the safety of the people at the buffet!

    Michael hadn''t been right next to the spit-roasted pig but a single miscalction would have cost his life!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael''s head flicked to the direction from which the arrow had flown towards him in anger. He thought that it could have been Nis Liekhoven, who wanted to make fun of him, but the archer holding the bowstring was actually Kaleb Zenovia!

    Kaleb Zenovia was standing next to Jasmine de with a smug expression on his face. He was surrounded by a small crowd of women who seemed to have joined Kaleb''s fan club and were openly admiring him. They squealed loudly and a few even pped when they saw that Kaleb''s arrow pierced the center of the apple precisely.

    Their squeals and Jasmine''s praises were enough to make a smile blossom on Kaleb''s face.

    Initially, he wanted to act a little tough in front of his girlfriend. However, since he was only 17 years old and not yet a Lord, he could only show off the skills he attained after undergoing rigorous training since he was young.

    He was famed as an exceptional talented archer, which was why he gave everyone a little demonstration of his skill.

    His n worked out perfectly. Jasmine was in awe and everyone''s attention had been pulled over to him.

    He cleared his throat after he thought of something and made an announcement.

    "Everyone, let''s have some fun tonight. How about a smallpetition?"

    The auditorium erupted in an uproar when they heard what Kaleb said. He wanted to turn the afterparty of their graduation ceremony into apetition? Who the hell did he think he was?

    Well¡­he was Kaleb Zenovia¡­and his suggestion earned thunderous cheers from the newest members of his fan club, and his girlfriend.

    Meanwhile, many guys were both excited and agitated simultaneously. They wanted to show off what they had learned as well, but they were also bothered because Kaleb deliberately acted to attract the attention of all women.

    He was not even an Awakened yet, but he felt that it was necessary to show off his skills. Was it even possible to be more arrogant than this young man?

    It hadn''t been long since they graduated but almost a third of the graduates had already manifested their War Rune. Nis''s Tierless War Rune was already refined to the Mid Stage as well. His strength, perception and eyesight were much stronger than that of an ordinary human. Furthermore, he had been trained from a young age as well.

    In fact, Nis was not alone. Everyone had been trained from a young age, and many had already manifested their War Rune. Despite that, Kaleb wanted to hold apetition against them? Wasn''t he too full of himself?

    They walked over to Kaleb Zenovia and readily showed their interest in joining thepetition, without caring about thepetition''s subject. They didn''t want to give Kaleb the opportunity to act high and mighty in front of them. Their pride was on the line!

    On the other hand, Michael was just angry.

    No matter whose family Kaleb came from, he shouldn''t have shot an arrow at the buffet while being amidst so many people.

    First of all, they were not in a training facility for archers. It was forbidden to go around and shoot arrows wherever one wanted.

    Second, Kaleb didn''t seem to take the safety of others into consideration. A single mistake could have cost someone''s life. Kaleb''s action had been reckless and utterly selfish.

    Andst but not least, Michael was not hungry anymore after Kaleb shot the apple in the spit-roasted pig''s mouth, which had been less than five meters away from him.

    While Michael could ept the first point, the second made him angry. As for the third point, it was more than enough for him to start loathing Kaleb.

    Nobody, not even his brother, was daring enough to make him lose his appetite, even less when he had been happily saving up some space in his stomach to savor the spit-roasted pig at the end. He had been eager to relish the vors and savor every bite, yet Kaleb made him lose his appetite.

    That was the worst sin anyone couldmit!!

 Chapter 69 Competition

    Michael didn''t really want to join anypetition at first, however, Kaleb provoked him way too much.

    Not only did he show off his skills by foolishly releasing an arrow in the buffet ¨C where people, including Michael, were busy enjoying their food¨C but Kaleb had gone a step ahead and made Michael lose his appetite. That was the worst.

    Kaleb deserved a beating for that!

    "What kind ofpetition do you want to hold?" Nis Liekhoven asked Kaleb as he made his way to the crowd of people around the young man.

    Nis disliked Kaleb right from the moment he entered the auditorium. So what if he was a Zenovia? What did it matter? Kaleb was just an unawakened kid in front of him!

    "It is pretty simple," Kaleb said calmly and confidently, "I want us topete with each other using our archery skills."

    "Since some of us are awakened, you''ll only embarrass yourself when you lose bitterlyter," Nis responded in a cold and mocking tone.

    Kaleb raised one of his eyebrows before he gave a nonchnt shrug.

    "If I lose it means that I have to train more, that''s it."

    Nis red at Kaleb, but he didn''t mock him any further. He would let his archery skills speak up for him!

    "I will join your littlepetition!" Nis dered, which was followed by several other people stepping forward and joining thepetition as well.

    More than a dozen had joined when Michael reached the crowd.

    "I''ll join as well," Michael announced calmly.

    He understood that it wouldn''t be good if his emotions were all over the ce. Archery required him to calm down and be one with tranquility.

    "You? Your Archery skills are a mess! Weren''t you barely in the top ten of the ss?" Nis asked mockingly before he rubbed salt in the wound by adding, "You shouldn''t embarrass yourself. Just sit back and continue eating, hog."

    This time, it was Michael''s eyebrow that rose. Michael had been consistently ranked 8th in almost all practical sses. Not only did he be eight intentionally, but it was not even a bad rank to be.

    After the first semester when he had been attacked by everyone for bing a top student in most subjects, Michael tried hard not to be first.

    If he gave his utmost, he would have been much higher in the ranking. Wasn''t it obvious that he was holding back by staying in the bottom ranking in most subjects, whether it was theory or practical subjects?

    Michael nced through the crowd to gauge the reaction of his other former ssmates, but all of them had a reaction simr to Nis. Nobody expected anything from him. He was just an unwanted extra in their opinion.

    ''Good thing that I came today. It''s about time to wipe the smiles off their faces!'' Michael murmured to himself before he turned to Kaleb.

    He stared loathingly at the young man for making him lose his appetite, "I will join."

    Kaleb gave him a small nod, but he was a bit confused.

    Why was this young man so angry with him? It was not as if he did something inhumane. Wasn''t it just apetition?

    However, after looking at the expressions of the other guys who had been rushing over to join thepetition as well, understanding dawned upon Kaleb.

    They were all angry that he had attracted the attention of all the girls at the afterparty!

    Nheless, Kaleb stared at Michael for a few more seconds. He heard a few insults that were thrown at Michael and began to frown.

    "Why are they acting like 5-year-old children after their Barbie doll was taken from them? This guy is clearly unbothered about the insults thrown at him, so he must be used to this behavior already," Kaleb whispered in Jasmine''s ear.

    He thought about it an added, "Did he, or his family offend one of these clowns?"

    Jasmine diverted her attention from her friends and looked over to see Michael being bombarded with insults and bullied by the others.

    "He was not in my ss, but I heard that Michael Fang is an easy target. He has no background and somehow managed to get into the Elite ss. His ss taught Michael a lesson after the first semester because he thought that being in the Elite ss means that he is a bigshot now. I heard that he is a coward. You can just ignore him," She exined nonchntly before intimately caressing his cheek.

    Kaleb nted a kiss on her lips before his attention was pulled back to the guys who groaned after seeing the couple''s public disy of affection.

    He epted everyone''s participation in thepetition since it would be more interesting with more people, but he never looked at Michael again.

    Ten minutester everyone interested in thepetition had joined. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Kaleb pped his hands twice to draw everyone''s attention to him.

    "Now that everyone has joined thepetition, let me exin a few basic rules of thepetition," He said calmly.

    "It is pretty simple. We will use the auditorium as our yground. First, someone shoots a target or makes a call directly. Afterward, the others will move to the same starting position before they''ll hit the same target, repeating their predecessor''s action. That means¡­" Kaleb took a pause and retrieved an arrow, nocked it on the bowstring of his foldable bow, and pulled the bowstring back.

    A momentter, he aimed and released the arrow. It pierced the apple of the spit-roasted pig once again.

    "That means, everyone will have to hit the apple of the spit-roasted pig. Once everyone hits the target, the next one in the row can choose the next target. It''s pretty simple, isn''t it?" Kaleb finished the exnation with a faint smile while bathing in the cheers and squeals of the girls next to him.

    Jasmine looked at Kaleb with a blush and stepped forward. She wove her arms around his left arm and smiled even brighter as she looked back at the cheering girls, who were also the newest members of Kaleb''s fan club.

    ''The rules are pretty simple, but the execution can be quite difficult,'' Michael thought as he looked around to see what kind of targets he should choose for this challenge.

    He heard insultingments around him but ignored them mostly.

    ''How can I get back at Kaleb, and these idiots at the same time?'' Michael wondered.

    Showing off his archery skills would, at most, shock everyone. That was not enough.

    Michael thought about it for a while, and his expression lit up when a great idea shed through his mind.

    "Is thispetition even fun without a bet?" He asked in a light-hearted tone.

    His voice was low but loud enough for everyone to hear. The guys turned to Michael before they burst intoughter.

    Theyughed so much that their eyes watered and they could barely breathe anymore.

    Tears trickled down the corners of their eyes and they pointed at Michael while continuing tough, openly ridiculing him again.

    Nis and the others were the first to stopughing. They looked at each other and grinned devilishly.

    "How much do you want to bet, Mr Fang? Is 10$ fine with you, or is that too much for you to handle? How about 5$ then?" Nis asked while another one joined the taunting.

    "Maybe 5$ is also too much. How about we make a different bet?" He said while looking at the third guy, who cleared his throat.

    "How about the loser has to remove their clothes and walk home naked?" The third guy proposed, and the entire group around Nis began to cackle hysterically.

    The girls frowned when they heard what their former ssmate said, and even Kaleb couldn''t help but squint his eyes in disgust.

    However, he noticed that Michael was unfazed and even had a small smirk on his face.

    ''Did he just smile?'' Kaleb asked himself, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him.

    "How about I bet an Epic Artifact?"

    Michael manifested Tigerfang out of thin air before he showed his possession for everyone to gawk at.

    "Who dares to bet with me?!"

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 70 Bet

    The moment the thin longsword manifested out of thin air, everyone realized that Michael was actually a Lord.

    Nis, who had been mocking Michael before, couldn''t help but stare nkly at Michael and Tigerfang.

    "How can that be possible?" He murmured in disbelief while Michael removed his gloves.

    It would be rather inconvenient to continue wearing the gloves now that he would be entering the archerypetition. He didn''t want to lose the bet over a silly mistake and be forced to part with Tigerfang because his fingers slipped from the bowstring.

    Michael showed Nis his War Rune intentionally, but Nis was too baffled to react. However, it was not just Nis who was left speechless. Their former head teacher, Kelen Dame, looked stupefied too. He stared nkly at Michael''s War Rune and his jaw hit the ground the next moment.

    "Refinement degree close to the Late stage¡­"

    Everyone stared nkly at Michael, while Kaleb was the first to recover from the shock. He merely smiled and thought,

    "Looks like he is not the loser everyone assumed him to be."

    Michael''s head turned to Kaleb with a sinister smile.

    "If someone dares to challenge me, you''ll have to bet something of equal worth!" He announced, his eyes glimmering brightly.

    ''Since I''m already here, I shouldn''t waste my time and return home empty-handed,'' Michael thought, feeling quite satisfied with his performance.

    ''Give me all your money, you bastards! That''s the reimbursement for all the suffering you caused me in the past few years!!''

    For the first time since Michael got to know the high and mighty descendants of powerful families and ns, they hesitated.

    Only a third of all students had already manifested their War Rune, but most of them were utterly clueless about how expensive an Artifact was. They didn''t have to work hard to earn it and would get any Artifact they desired by asking their parents and n elders.

    Yet even their parents and n elders couldn''t promise to gift them a Tierless Epic Artifact!

    "I have 800,000$ in my ount, right now," One of the students said just as everyone wondered how much they should bet to join, or if they should back off. They might be better than Michael, but they weren''t confident in defeating Nis, or Kaleb, whose skill level was still a mystery to them.

    "That''s fine with me. I don''t really care how much you bet," Michael said with a shrug before he added provokingly, "But if the others think about betting small amounts of money, they only show that they have a small dick and no confidence."

    His eyes were on Nis and his cronies as he said thest few words and a vibrant smile blossomed on his face.

    ''Yes, I''m talking about you, brickhead!'' His eyes seemed to scream.

    Nis grit his teeth and stepped forward. He was ready to throw a punch at Michael, but Kelen held him back.

    "If you want to defeat him, ept the bet and get his Artifact. I don''t know how he obtained an Epic Tierless Artifact, but it''s an invaluable treasure if it''s genuine!" Kelen exined hurriedly to calm down Nis.

    Nis clenched his fists and reluctantly held himself back.

    "Can you prove that your Artifact is a genuine 5-Star Tierless Artifact and not some cheap replica?" Nis bellowed angrily.

    Michael shook his head in response, but he remained calm.

    "I cannot prove it right now, but I am willing to be your subordinate through the oath of subordination if Tigerfang is not a Tierless Epic Artifact. The winner can take Tigerfang to an appraiser and see for himself, whether I''m spouting nonsense or not," He retorted with a steely gaze.

    His words were overflowing with confidence. Even Nis couldn''t say anything for a second or two. However, at the thought of turning Michael into his subordinate, everything else turned insignificant and a devilish smile appeared on his face.

    "I''ll bet 2,000,000$!" He announced grandly.

    Nis looked back at his people and gestured to them to ce their bets.

    Slowly but steadily, most people joined the bet. Nis bet the most money, but the total sum was much higher than Michael had expected.

    "In that case, let''s set up a contract. I already sent the form in the group chat," Michael added after a minute.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You guys merely have to add the amount of money you bet and give it a nice swish with your finger where you have to sign."

    While Nis and the others had been shouting out their bets grandly, Michael had been busy setting up the contract. He wanted to make sure that nobody could escape their fate after losing bitterly and humiliating them further.

    He turned to Kaleb, who looked at him with renewed curiosity.

    "Jasmine, can you forward the form to him? After all, Kaleb will have to join the bet if he is big enough to join the games of us adults!"

    Kaleb''s expression changed drastically, and he was about to say something but held himself back when he saw the expression on Michael''s face. He realized only then that Michael wanted to provoke him.

    "Send me the form, babe!" He told Jasmine who nodded her head faintly.

    She had not expected Michael to already have manifested a War Rune, forget about obtaining an Epic Artifact. She knew very well how rare and expensive Epic Artifacts were. Not even her family could promise her one when she manifested her War Rune.

    Jasmine was not sure if Kaleb would obtain a Tierless Epic Artifact once he turned 18, but the chance was quite high. The Zenovia family was on a whole different level than the families that could be found in the Golden Sun province.

    Meanwhile, Michael waited patiently. His attention was on the contract that was being updated in real-time. He noticed that Kaleb didn''t fill out the column stating what he would give if he were to lose the bet, but he simply signed it.

    That meant Kaleb would give the winner of the bet something he desired as long as it was at par with the value of Tigerfang.

    ''You don''t even consider the possibility of losing the bet? Your arrogance will kill you in the future¡­I shall teach you a lesson in your sister''s name!'' Michael thought before he turned his attention to the contract.

    Everyone had signed the form and thepetition could begin atst. But now that high bets had been made, everyone was a little tense.

    Only Nis, Kaleb, and Michael were calm.

    "I already shot the apple of the spit-roasted pig twice. Let''s use it as the first target," Kaleb said nonchntly and both Michael and Nis agreed.

    Nis manifested a Bow Artifact out of thin air, and he retrieved an arrow out of his War Rune''s storage space. He nocked the arrow on the bowstring and pulled the bowstring back slowly. He perfected his aim for a few seconds and shot.

    The arrow cut through the air before it pierced straight into the apple.

    Nis'' subordinates eximed and pped like sea lions when they saw that their boss hit the target. Afterward, they took turns to shoot the target as well.

    In the next ten minutes, the remaining participants retrieved their own bows or borrowed the bows of the other participants to shoot their target. Most of them seeded, leaving only Michael in the end.

    However, Michael didn''t really pay much attention to the first round. It was too simple. He was more focused on the confused caterers who were running around with apples in their hands, trying to rece the apple cores that fell out of the pig''s mouth after being hit several times.

    It was quite an amusing sight.

    Now that it was his turn, Michael manifested the Hardwood Bow and an arrow. He put the arrow smoothly on the bowstring, pulled back, and shot within a single smooth motion.

    The arrow shot through the air with horrifying velocity and prated through the apple, splitting it apart at once.

    Nis froze when he saw how Michael used the bow with precision. Michael required merely two seconds to manifest the bow and hit the target. Most weren''t even able to take a proper look at his bow when the arrow had already pierced the target.

    Nis was not the only one who was shocked. Everyone was baffled and a stunned silence enveloped them all.

    What the hell happened to Michael?

    Was he still the same loser as before?

    Michael merely smiled.

    "How about I choose the second target? Let''s reduce the number of participants a bit!"

 Chapter 71 Archer Ace

    It hadn''t been long since Michael obtained the Hardwood Bow.

    Only a few days passed, and he wasn''t able to test his newest Artifact as much as he wished to. Fortunately, now he finally received the opportunity to test out the gains he made in thest few days.

    His perception was heightened through several Artifacts, including the Return Arrow, the Hardwood Bow, and Tigerfang.

    It was no problem for Michael to scan his surroundings precisely, and it became even easier upon activating the Eagle Eyes.

    "The slit between the golden sign and the principal''s photo is the next target," Michael said calmly as he turned his body.

    He retrieved the next arrow from his War Rune and nocked it on the bowstring. He channeled some energy in the Hardwood bow to increase the strength he had to use to pull the bowstring back and kept his Eagle Eyes activated.

    It was not necessary to keep using his Soultrait but it was almost like a default setting, a subconscious act engraved in his mind to use the Eagle Eyes when he held a bow in his hands. He felt ufortable not using the Eagle Eyes Soultrait when he acted as an archer.

    Michael pulled the bowstring back and adjusted the angle before he released the arrow two secondster.

    With a dull thud, the arrow pierced the five-centimeter-big gap separating the sign that quoted the school''s motto, and the frame of the principal''s huge photo on the other side of the room.

    The shooting range was merely 50 meters, but the targeted area was very small.

    Michael hit the target with great precision, yet he was not satisfied. He had aimed a few millimeters northwest but missed his target by a few inches.

    ''I need to be a little bit more careful when I channel energy inside the Hardwood bow. I should have used a tad bit more energy.''

    Michael''s experiments with the Hardwood bow had been mostly about the bow''s strongest force. He had channeled a lot of energy inside it to test the Hardwood bow''s limit, but that was it.

    "What are you guys waiting for? Is it too scary? To think that my high and mighty ssmates are scared chickens. How funny!" Michael said in a loud and provoking voice.

    He chuckled while waiting for the response of the arrogant fools. Some of his former ssmates stepped forward, just like Michael had expected. They shot at the target but failed miserably.

    Their arrows hit the golden sign or the wooden frame, but they didn''t hit the designated target. Even if their aim was only a little off, they had failed in their task. It was all because they had been influenced by Michael''s provocation.

    Enraged, they released their arrow a fraction of a second too soon.

    It was just a tiny mistake, but that was everything it took for them to fail.

    "Trash!" Nis growled before he pushed his useless subordinates to the side.

    He shot the target and hit it easily after taking his time to aim at the target for several seconds.

    Inspired by Nis'' sessful shot, the others followed suit and took some time to adjust their aim. However, soon enough, it was clear enough that the target was too difficult to hit.

    Other than Kaleb, Nis, and Michael, only two more people were able to hit the designated target.

    Both were already Low Tier-0 Lords, leaving Kaleb the only unawakened in thepetition.

    On the other hand, Michael''s War Rune had the highest refinement degree. However, that was weird and difficult for his ssmates to digest.

    He hadn''t manifested his War Rune at the final exam. Only a week passed since then, yet Michael''s War Rune was already more refined than Nis'' War Rune.

    Furthermore, his archery skill had improved by leaps and bounds. Was that the extent of growth one received upon manifesting a War Rune? That shouldn''t be the case.

    Did that mean Michael was special? This loser?

    That couldn''t be!

    Nis couldn''t believe it. He was not the only one who was shocked, but he was hit the hardest.

    The ordinary loser, who was supposed to be a ve of society, had grown ridiculously strong within a single week.

    Not only that, but he obtained an Epic Weapon Artifact as well!! How did Michael deserve that??

    Under the influence of his raging emotions, Nis pointed across the room, locking eyes with the next target.

    "The purple grapes are the next target," He announced before he pulled back the bowstring of his bow. An arrow was already nocked on the bowstring.

    Nis aimed for more than ten seconds before he release the arrow that shot across the auditorium. The arrow flew past the buffet tables and tore through the chocte fountain ¨C which obstructed the path to the grapes ¨C before it impacted.

    However, instead of smiling pridefully, Nis'' expression darkened. His arrow pierced a green grape instead of a purple one.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Does that mean he is disqualified?" Michael asked aloud the next moment. Through his Eagle Eyes he could clearly see the arrow and the green grape that had been pierced.

    The question earned him a re from Nis, while Kaleb nodded his head to their right, "Since he said that the purple grapes are the target, he should be disqualified."

    "What is everyone else thinking about this?" Kaleb added generously asking the others for their opinion.

    A sliver of hope surfaced in Nis'' heart, only to be crushed a momentter when Jasmine de and the other girls supported Kaleb.

    "I think Kaleb is right. Nis should be disqualified. He didn''t hit his target, after all!''"

    Michael smiled, ignoring Kaleb''sment. He stepped closer to Nis because it was his turn now and stood in the same spot to shoot the target.

    He pulled the bowstring back once an arrow had been nocked before he released the arrow two secondster. His arrow shot through the chocte fountain easily, and it pierced through two purple grapes at the same time.

    "That was easier than expected," He muttered, just to step aside to give the others enough space to try it as well.

    Nis red at Michael, who returned a bright smile.

    "You should keep the money ready. I will share my bank ount details with you when this is over," Michael added in a gloating voice before he began tough lightly.

    He never expected that it would be that easy to earn several million dors in less than half an hour!

    "Who said that you won?" Kaleb asked coldly when he finished his turn. He had hit the purple grapes along with Michael and reached the next round.

    So, he did not like that Michael was already dering himself a winner.

    "You''re not bad. Everyone said that you''re just a loser, but it looks like you didn''t bet the Epic Artifact foolishly!" Kaleb praised Michael, who could only shrug his shoulders.

    He had yet to forgive Kaleb for making him lose his appetite. Nheless, he couldn''t help but feel that Kaleb''s personality was not that bad.

    ''He left a bad first impression on me but it''s not as if Alice was better. Maybe that''s a family thing?''

    "How about you announce the next target?" Kaleb asked, ignoring Nis, who wanted to veto his disqualification.

    He merely stared coldly at Nis before Kelen pulled his former student back. It was not worth enraging the Zenovia family because of a little bet!

    "Are you sure about that?" Michael asked, feeling slightly astonished.

    Was Kaleb just arrogant or was there a reason behind his offer?

    But Kaleb just smiled at Michael before he gestured to him, "Of course, I''m sure. Do as you please!"

    "Don''t cryter then," Michael mumbled.

    He recalled something about the stage in the auditorium as he thought about his next target. It was often used for skits and theater shows of the school''s theatre club, and Michael had to help them out once or twice in the past.

    "I will pierce the clock behind the curtain. It''s backstage." Michael announced his final target while walking further away from the auditorium''s stage and stopping a good distance away from the stage, "...from here."

    After he announced his target, Michael didn''t stay idle.

    He activated his Eagle Eyes'' full power and channeled a considerable amount of energy into the 3-Star Hardwood bow to increase its efficiency. He took a deep breath and used the full extent of his own expertise and Fenrir''s Archery memories that were now fully integrated into his mind.

    Michael adjusted his aim for a few seconds before he released the arrow atst.

    The arrow cut through the air much faster than his earlier arrows. It shot through a metal ring that attached the curtain to the crossbar on the ceiling and impacted with a loud thud.

    Everyone held their breath when they saw that Michael''s arrow disappeared backstage. Their heartstrings were pulled the moment the sound of something breaking rang through the eerily silent auditorium.

    It was not even possible for most people to see the metal ring from Michael''s position, yet he shot through it and hit something. That alone was already enough to make them realize that Michael was slowly bing an expert. He was clearly a veteran even without decades of practice!

    When the first graduate near the stage regained his senses, he rushed backstage.

    A momentter, his shocked exmation resounded through the entire auditorium.

    "Oh my god, he hit the clock!!"

    [A/N: If you give me some reviews, I might consider releasing a few bonus chapters! :D]

 Chapter 72 Cheater

    The sound of ss shards falling to the ground rang through the auditorium

    Some swallowed their saliva with an audible gulp. Then there was nothing except an awkward silence.

    Nobody dared to make a sound as their gaze was focused on the theater''s stage and the tiny ring.

    Did Michael''s arrow actually pass through the metal ring and cut through the curtain before hitting the clock, or were they hallucinating?

    It had to be a dream!

    Everyone was shocked to the core. They had always assumed Michael to be a good for nothing¡­or so they thought. Everything they knew about Michael seemed like a big lie, and it made them feel miserable.

    How was it possible that this loser was more talented than them?! Wasn''t he just a loser? How could that be?

    Michael savored the change in the distorted expressions of his former ssmates, and everyone else present. It was a great feeling to be towering above everyone else, to be the reason everybody''s face was drained of all the earlier joy and color. Finally, he didn''t have to hold back anymore. There was nothing they could do to him now that they had signed a legally binding contract.

    Threaten him with their family''s power? They could try!

    Michael was not afraid of their family''s power or influence, not anymore.

    Thus, he calmly pointed at the stage while his gaze was fixated on Kaleb.

    "It''s your turn," He said calmly.

    Kaleb stared nkly at Michael. He was not confident in hitting that shot.

    Their distance to the theater stage was roughly 100 meters, and the gap in the metal ring was tiny, almost negligible from this distance.

    Kaleb couldn''t even see the gap in the metal ring clearly, forget about the clock backstage.

    However, Kaleb couldn''t give up now. It was already toote, and his pride was on the line. If he was to lose against an ordinary citizen in an archerpetition his image would be tarnished. Kaleb couldn''t ept that!

    He momentarily forgot about the bet they made as he took a deep breath. His pride was far more important than an insignificant bet!

    Kaleb retrieved an arrow calmly. He nocked it on the bowstring, which he pulled back slowly.

    Kaleb held his breath once the bowstring reached the corner of his mouth. He aimed at the metal ring for more than ten seconds before his arm became still. He was poised and his body tense while his entire focus was locked on the target.

    Then he released the arrow.

    The arrow flew through the air in a beautiful arc. It reached the theater stage in the next second and was steadily moving toward the metal ring.

    At that moment, the corner of Kaleb''s lips turned upward, and his fans began to cheer. Even Jasmine de clenched her fists in joy.

    Kaleb''s arrow was bound to pierce through the tiny gap in the metal ring!

    However, just as everyone thought Kaleb would hit the designated target, his expression changed.

    He noticed that the arrow slowed down earlier than he anticipated. It fell behind in speed a fraction of a second earlier than it should have been, but Kaleb noticed that. He had predicted the trajectory of the arrow, but it didn''t take the perfect course.

    Michael noticed that as well.

    "It''s your bow," He said quietly.

    The next moment, the arrow reached the curtain on the stage. A loud jingling noise echoed through the surroundings.

    The arrow hit the metal ring and fell down with a thud. The cheering of Jasmine and the other girls stopped abruptly, and a stony silence enveloped them again.

    Kaleb lost thepetition.

    His arrow missed the metal ring by a hair''s breadth, but he lost.

    The cheers died down and Kaleb''s expression worsened.

    Meanwhile, Michael was stunned though he felt ted by his own performance.

    The only reason Kaleb lost was the strength of his bow. Kaleb had used the maximum range of his bow. Only a bow with a stronger pulling force such as his Hardwood Bow could fly that far without losing much traction.

    However, the bow Kaleb had used was already his limit. He was only 17 years old and he hadn''t manifested the War Rune yet. Without the War Rune, he couldn''t refine his body. Kaleb was clearly at his limit.

    Meanwhile, Michael had only been confident to win against the golden spoons like Kaleb and others, who had undergone apletely different training regime than him from a young age, because he had the Eagle Eyes, the 3-Star Hardwood Bow Artifact, and Fenrir''s memories as an archer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Of course, it was also necessary to be able to calmly pull the Hardwood Bow''s bowstring, which was something he could do easily through the strength he received from his War Rune''s high refinement degree.

    The advantages at his disposal determined his victory in the archerpetition, but that didn''t matter.

    A victory was a victory!

    Kaleb had challenged Awakened because he was too arrogant. He had been certain that he would win against the people in the afterparty, which was why he challenged them. Thus, Kaleb had to live with the consequences of his actions. That was what Michael thought.

    A seed of joy blossomed in Michael''s heart, and he chose to forgive Kaleb for making him lose his appetite. Being too petty now that he won the archerpetition, and the bet didn''t suit him.

    ''I am forgiving Kaleb formitting such a heinous sin. See how generous I am!'' Michael patted himself mentally while looking at Kaleb with a faint smile.

    But Kaleb could only frown. He looked at Michael, whose Artifacts had already returned to his War Rune, and opened his mouth.

    "You have a Soultrait that enhances your Eyesight, don''t you?" He asked coldly, all of a sudden.

    Michael raised an eyebrow at the tone of Kaleb''s voice. He didn''t think it was necessary to give an answer. This was not an interrogation.

    "Cheater¡­"

    Michael stared at Kaleb in disbelief. Was Kaleb a whiny person?

    "You''re a cheater!" He shouted now, but it sounded more like a dog barking pitifully after a juicy piece of bone was snatched from it.

    It was obvious that Kaleb didn''t want to acknowledge that he lost thepetition. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists furiously.

    Meanwhile, Michael could only stare back at Kaleb, unsure what to say.

    ''Is he an idiot?''

    "You do realize that you challenged several Lords just now, right? The chance to encounter someone with a better bow, or a suitable Soultrait was not that small," Michael tried to put sense in the prideful prick before he added a little bit more seriously, "But you do realize that you signed a contract where all of that is clearly stated, right?"

    The content of the contract, which Michael had drafted, clearly stated that they were going to hold an archerypetition between ordinary people and Awakened Lords and Adventurers.

    If Kaleb would have read the contract instead of signing it blindly, he might have been a little bit more careful.

    "You bastard¡­ Do you even know who I am?!" Kaleb roared atst.

    His behavior stunned Michael, along with the other participants of thepetition and everyone else present.

    Jasmine wished she could bury herself underground at this moment. Since when did Kaleb turn into such an embarrassing, jealous idiot?

    If he had simply epted his loss graciously, nobody would have said something. In fact, he would have been praised for his great talent. After all, he had bagged second ce in apetition against Lords.

    It was obvious that Michael had a Soultrait that enhanced his archery skill, but what did that matter?

    Nobody wanted to acknowledge it, but Michael''s victory was justified. There had been a reason he confidently bet an Epic Artifact on his victory.

    That loser was not the same loner as he had been before!

    Michael frowned deeply when Kaleb yed the ''family'' trump card. He knew who the Zenovia family was. Of course, he knew!

    Thus, a faint smile blossomed on his face as he looked provokingly at Kaleb.

    "You''re an idiot. So what?"

    **

    If you want to support me, use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 73 Sister

    "You''re an idiot. So what?"

    Michael''s words thundered in Kaleb''s ears. His mouth opened slightly but no words came out.

    "Do you think your family would like that you''re throwing a tantrum and ruin their image, just because you lost a small, privatepetition? I doubt that they would love to see you gambling either," Michael added, his voice growing colder with each spoken word.

    "Your actions are childish and so is your attitude. I cannot believe that you''re already 17 years old. You act more immature than some 5-year-old children!"

    Michael was a little bit disappointed. Except for Kaleb''s bad first impression, Michael thought that the young man from the Zenovia family might have a better personality and some brains. Unfortunately, that didn''t seem to be the case.

    Kaleb, who was already boiling in anger, couldn''t control his emotions anymore. He took a stride closer to Michael with zing mes of hatred flickering in his eyes.

    It looked like Kaleb was about to pounce on Michael.

    ''He knows that I''m an Awakened Lord¡­did he forget that just now?''

    At that moment ¨C just before Kaleb could do something he would regretter ¨C the clicking sound of heels rang through everyone''s ears from farther away. It sounded like someone was running inside from the other side of the room.

    It looked like someone had arrived at the entrance of the auditorium when everyone was focused on the final round of the archerpetition.

    At first, everyone thought that the principal, or other teachers, who had left earlier to talk amongst each other, had returned upon hearing themotion Kaleb made.

    However, that was not the case at all.

    It was a woman with a captivating appearance. She radiated a beauty that demanded attention.

    However, that was not all.

    With her long ck hair, piercing ocean-blue eyes, sharp and confident gaze, and a hint of a mischievous smile, the beautiful woman exuded an irresistiblebination of fierceness and allure. Her movements were sharp, yet elegant. She looked confident and unapproachable as she stepped closer to the crowd with her gaze fixated on one point.

    The woman wore casual clothes, but that didn''t hide her beauty in the slightest.

    A single nce was enough to stir envy in the hearts of the women and cause the men''s hearts to skip a beat.

    But Michael was just confused as he looked at the beauty.

    ''What is she doing here?''

    It was Alice Zenovia, living up to the nickname he gave her; fierce beauty.

    While the others stared at her in awe, Kaleb started to shiver.

    There was not a single trace left of his domineering attitude from a few seconds ago.

    "Sis, w-what are you doing here?" He stuttered, feeling stupefied.

    Kaleb didn''t expect to meet his sister today. Why was she in the Golden Sun province? Did their parents tell her to drag him home?

    However, Alice ignored her brother. She walked past him and stopped only when she was in front of Michael.

    "What''s the use of telling me that you won''t enter the Origin Expanse for a while when you''re not online to answer my messages, either way?" She asked him, cing her hands on her hips.

    Michael opened the messenger where he saw several messages from Alice. Only now did he recall that he didn''t look at the messenger after he told her that he would be online for a while.

    In fact, Michael had only said that to appease her because he felt guilty for being angry at Alice earlier for beating around the bush when she told him about the Saphirke Military Academy''s benefits.

    He had felt guilt-ridden, which disappeared only after he told her that he wouldn''t return to the Origin Expanse for a while.

    "Oops," Michael mumbled while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

    What was the use of telling her that he wouldn''t enter the Origin Expanse if he wasn''t online, in the first ce?

    "OOPS?! You bastard!" Alice''s anger red up seeing how nonchnt he acted. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She had only a little freetime now that the aptitude assessment of the Saphirke Military Academy was about to start, but she spent most of it providing Michael with enough detailed information and helping him despite her busy schedule. All of this was just to make sure that he wouldn''t miss the aptitude assessment.

    And so far, he had not given her a certain answer. Would he appear for the assessment test, or would he ditch her?

    Michael couldn''t suppress a smile when he thought about his attitude toward Alice.

    "Stop smiling like that, yo¨C..." Alice shouted before Michael interrupted her, "I''lle on the 20th, don''t worry."

    Alice shut her mouth and tilted her head as if she was trying to process his words.

    A momentter, an "Oh¡­" escaped her lips.

    Her anger dissipated in the next instance and a smile appeared on her face.

    "That''s great! It is good that you finally listened to my advice. Seems like my hard work finally paid off!" She mused to herself while patting his shoulder.

    "By the way, I saw yourst shot. Your archery skills are pretty good. Looks like your Soultrait is quitepatible with archery."

    Michael was still unsure why Alice Zenovia paid so much attention to him, and why she was so adamant about him joining the Saphirke Military Camp, but that was something he could find out when the time was ripe. He was sure that he wouldn''t receive a satisfying answer if he were to ask right now.

    However, Michael was fine with that. He didn''t get any bad vibes from her. That was the most important.

    ''It''s not like she gains anything if I join the Saphirke Military Academy,'' He told himself, ''...I guess?''

    "If you saw thest shot, you must have seen what happened after that as well, right?" Michael asked suddenly, "Is that stingy brat really your brother? You guys are so different¡­"

    Michael didn''t intend to praise Alice and mock her brother in the same line, but she seemed to take his words as apliment. She pulled her hair back and smiled smugly.

    "That idiot is my brother, unfortunately," She acknowledged.

    A glint shed in Michael''s eyes and the corner of his lip curled up a bit.

    "In that case, you might solve this issue," He said, exining the situation of the archerpetition, the bet and the contract they''d signed.

    Michael disyed the contract for her to read and waited patiently for her verdict.

    He read Alice''s face, and how her expression contorted as she nced through the uses.

    That was when he knew.

    He had sessfully changed the topic from the Saphirke Military Academy to something far more important; Kaleb and the debt he owed him!

    Since Alice was already here, he might as well use her to get his money''s worth!

    Kaleb stared at Michael in utter confusion. His head flicked to his sister and his expression contorted.

    ''What the hell is going on, right now? Are they acquaintances? How do they know each other? Didn''t everyone say that Michael hailed from an ordinary background?''

    One confusing question after another formed in Kaleb''s mind, but there was no answer.

    His confusion grew, and so did his worry.

    After all, he didn''t want to face his sister''s fury.

    Kaleb''s lips parted, and he was about to say something when his sister''s head turned in his direction.

    It was as if time slowed down all of a sudden.

    Kaleb realized at this moment¡­he had fucked up!

 Chapter 74 Real Treasure

    In the next ten minutes, everyone began to pity Kaleb.

    Alice lived up to her nickname of fierce beauty as she thrashed her brother in front of everyone.

    Jasmine had long since stepped back, her cheeks red and her eyes teary.

    She had wanted to show off her boyfriend in front of everyone but was humiliated by his childish behavior in the end. Kaleb had been on his best behavior at first, but he lost his temper when Michael won thepetition.

    However, that was not even the worst. The way Alice thrashed her brother without caring about their surroundings made Jasmine feel wary about the siblings and felt suddenly uncertain about her future as the daughter-inw of the family.

    Kaleb looked like a pitiful, whiny puppy that had been kicked in the gut.

    It reached a point where even Michael couldn''t take it anymore. He stepped forward and cleared his throat.

    "How about we stop right here? I can just say that he never participated in the bet," Michael said quietly.

    Even if it hurt his heart a little to lose that much money, Kaleb was just too whiny. It was not as if Michael would lose the money the others bet, either. Only Kaleb wouldn''t have to pay him anymore.

    However, Alice could only sigh deeply when she heard what Michael said and turned to her brother with a frown, "Look, even Michael pities you¡­"

    Alice Zenovia lost the strength to keep shouting at her brother and could only shake her head.

    To her, it felt like Kaleb had lost a few brain cells. Usually, he was intelligent andposed. He knew what he was supposed to do, and what he should refrain from doing.

    So why would he challenge Lords while he had yet to manifest his War Rune? That was in stupid in her opinion.

    In fact, that was not even the problem. The problem was that he threw a fit after losing against a Lord, and calling him a cheater for using his Soultrait, which was totally legitimate.

    If that was everything, she would have forgiven him after scolding him publicly, but Kaleb even made a bet, signing a contract in the name of the Zenovia family.

    That idiot didn''t even hesitate to implicate the Zenovia family and ruin their image!

    If their parents and elders were to find out about today''s events, and everything Kaleb did in thest half an hour, they would severely punish him. Alice''s small lecture in front of his girlfriend and a few dozen people would be nothingpared to the punishment they would give him.

    Unfortunately, Kaleb had still not learned a lesson. He was ring at Michael, knowing that he was pitied. Michael''s pitiful gaze hurt him more than his sister''s lecture.

    In a fit, he retrieved a golden card from his pocket and threw it in front of Michael.

    "Take the Golden Bartholomew Membership Card, and stop bothering me, ba¨C..." He bellowed, only to be pped on the back of the head when he was about to insult Michael.

    Michael pressed his lips together and picked up the golden membership card of Bartholomew. He handed it to Alice, who looked at the membership card in confusion.

    "He shouldn''t give me his membership card. I have my own," Michael exined calmly while retrieving his own membership card to show them.

    Since Kaleb was from the Zenovia family, it was no surprise that he possessed the membership cards of most bigpanies. It was a mere coincidence that he withdrew the golden Bartholomew membership card.

    Alice pulled her brother''s hand back, but she couldn''t hide her astonishment.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You have the¨C..." She asked, only to stop midway. Alice squinted her beautiful eyes and her eyebrows furrowed as if she was seeing him in a new light.

    "Did I underestimate him? The background check clearly stated that there is nothing special about his family¡­''

    With that thought, Alice turned back to her brother who had thoroughly disappointed her today

    "What exactly did you guys bet? I didn''t see it clearly earlier," Alice asked coldly, but Kaleb couldn''t get himself to answer.

    ''This is so awkward¡­can''t we solve this issue somewhere else?'' Michael wondered in his head.

    However, he sensed that Alice wanted to teach her brother a lesson in front of everyone. Michael was fairly sure that Kaleb didn''t think of the lecture as something that intended to help him. On the contrary, Alice''s lecture was bound to backfire and have the opposite effect on Kaleb.

    Unfortunately, Alice looked at him hopefully when Kaleb didn''t answer.

    He retrieved Tigerfang with a sigh and handed it over.

    "Since he didn''t specify the item, he was going to bet in the contract, he will have to hand over an item of equal value, or hard cash of the same value as the Artifact I bet."

    Michael did not ask for a specific amount of money or Artifact, but that was mostly because he had no idea how expensive Tigerfang was. Even he was not sure how his brother was able to procure a Tierless Epic Artifact.

    Alice didn''t think too much about the thin longsword at first. However, when she used one of her Appraisal-type Artifacts, she could only curse her brother for such a costly mistake.

    "An Epic Artifact. It is a Weapon Artifact, which increases its value, and it''s Tierless¡­ It doesn''t have an enchantment, which means that it is a naturally formed Epic-grade Artifact. Its power and enhancement is as powerful as a 3-Star Tier-1 Weapon Artifact, maybe a little bit weaker," She mumbled quietly to herself as she analyzed the weapon.

    "Despite its great enhancement, sharpness, and endurance, it can be wielded by a Tierless Lord. This fact alone increases its value manyfold. Mankind has yet to find a Tierless 6-Star Artifact, and even Tierless 5-Star Artifacts are as rare as phoenix feathers¡­ You cannot purchase such an Artifact easily because nobody is willing to sell a life-saving tool to Rookie Lords that easily.

    It''s an invaluable treasure all big families and ns would purchase for a horrifying price. After all, everyone wants their offspring and disciples to start their journey in the Origin Expanse with the best preparations¡­"

    When Alice finished her appraisal of the weapon, she stared at Michael without uttering a word for a while. Even the biggest families had a tough time finding such a treasure, yet Michael, an ordinary young man, was an owner of a Tierless Epic-grade Weapon Artifact??

    How could that be possible?

    "How did you obtain this Artifact?" Alice asked, clearly more interested in the answer than her brother''s stupid bet.

    Michael was also a little confused after listening to Alice''s exnation. He knew that Tigerfang was rare and valuable, but it seemed as if Tigerfang was much more valuable than he thought, or Danny had made it look.

    "My brother gifted it to me after my War Rune manifested," He answered after a few seconds.

    "Your brother? If I remember correctly, he is just a Tier-2 Lor-...Nevermind that¡­ Did he find this Artifact in some ruins, or did he purchase it from the ck market?" Alice Zenovia asked quickly, trying to cover up the slip of tongue.

    Michael heard herment but was not surprised. He figured that she had already investigated his family background when she invited him to the Saphirke Military Academy. It made sense.

    However, he couldn''t help but frown at her question.

    ''How am I supposed to know where he got Tigerfang from?!''

 Chapter 75 Condition

    ''Seriously, how did Danny get his hands on Tigerfang?!'' Michael mused after Alice exined the true value of the Tierless Epic Artifact.

    He thought about it for a while and gave it a shrug.

    "Danny told me that he found Tigerfang on his way back home. That could mean he either found it on his way back from the Origin Expanse or when he was out shopping. I don''t really know."

    When he spoke about the Origin Expanse, Michael recalled that Danny was currently exploring the Primedival Pyramid. That made him think that Danny might have procured Tigerfang on his first expedition in the Primedival Pyramid''s outer perimeters.

    He had never asked Danny much about it since he did not know the true value of Tigerfang. However, that was just a guess. He could only tell Alice what he thought, which was nothing certain.

    She understood that and nodded faintly.

    "Do you want an Epic Artifact of the same value as Tigerfang, money, or resources?" Alice asked before she gave him a well-meant advice, "You cannot buy something like a Tierless Epic Artifact of the Weapon Type like Tigerfang with money usually. If I was in your position, I would either ask for rare resources of an Epic Artifact."

    The fierce beauty red coldly at Kaleb for being stupid enough to make a bet against Lords while being unawakened, but that was not Michael''s fault.

    The contract Michael had drafted wasn''t anything special, but it was neat and did not leave any loophole for Kaleb to wriggle out of the contract without paying what Michael demanded. If Kaleb had spent a minute or two reading it, he could have avoided creating such unnecessary problems.

    Kaleb couldn''t look into his sister''s eyes. He lowered his head subconsciously, and so did the other participants of the archerypetition.

    Thankfully, they had not bet much money, but they felt as if Kaleb''s sister had pped and lectured them to along with her brother for daring to offer such a ridiculous amount of money while Michael bet Tigerfang without hesitation. The participants imagined the fierce beauty staring at them with disgust in her eyes while pping their faces.

    Most felt humiliated, while only a few looked at the fierce beauty with a trace of anticipation in their eyes.

    Michael could tell that these few didn''t have good intentions, but he ignored them. He cleared his throat and smiled lightly.

    "The others are going to pay me with money, so I wouldn''t have asked you for money, either way. I''m actually reconsidering selling Tigerfang after my War Rune breaks through the 1st Tier. If you can help me out a little with that, we might be able to create a win-win situation," Michael offered after giving it some thought.

    Alice had been very helpful over the past few days, and he didn''t want to make things too difficult for her and strain their rtionship because of Kaleb. However, that was not everything he had in mind.

    Tigerfang''s value was the highest for Rookie Lords. That meant, Michael could sell Tigerfang once he reached the 1st Tier in order to buy a Tier-1 Weapon Artifact with a simrly strong enhancement effect while the remaining money would be put to good use.

    Alice noticed what he meant. She took a step closer to him and grasped his wrist.

    "Let''s talk somewhere else!" She said before walking off with Michael.

    When Alice grasped his wrist, Michael felt tremendous power surging through her delicate fingers. It was the first time he noticed that Alice Zenovia was not only beautiful and fierce looking, but that she was also extremely powerful.

    He couldn''t do anything against her tremendous strength, and merely turned his head to shout at the others, "You guys have my contact details. I''ve already forwarded my bank ount details in the group chat. Pay up quickly, or get sued, idi¨C...thanks!"

    Since he didn''t really care about his former ssmates or anyone else from high school, Michael could act however he pleased and not be formal or polite anymore.

    In fact, the only important connection he had made in high school was at the final exam; Alice Zenovia. She might be a bit fierce and annoying at times, but her connections and pieces of advice were very helpful.

    ''Even without Kaleb''s bet, I should have made roughly¡­10 million from all bets¡­Nice!!''

    Michael was a bit excited. He had never expected these privileged kids to walk right into his trap. Of course, the entire situation could have gone south, but that didn''t happen. He had more than enough reason to believe that he could win, either way.

    He knew what Nis'' Soultrait was, and the others were only Low Tier-0 Lords. They did not stand a chance against him, not after he obtained Eagle Eyes, Fenrir''s memories, and the Hardwood Bow.

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the auditorium, Alice stopped in her tracks. She let go of Michael''s wrist and turned to him. In the next few seconds, she observed him from head to toe.

    "Betting your Epic Artifact was either extremely smart or utterly foolish. Do you even know how exceptional my brother''s archery skills are?" She scolded Michael, but he could only give it a shrug.

    Alice''s words seemed more like apliment to him. If her brother was so talented, why didn''t he win the archerypetition in the first ce?

    Well, the answer was nothing spectacr because it was mostly owed to the advantages at Michael''s disposal, but he didn''t really care.

    "How are we going to deal with your brother''s debt? I am in need of Mythic Summoning Scrolls, so you can pay me with a bunch of them if you want," Michael said in a half-joking, half-serious tone.

    He had spent a lot of timeing up with strategies for the development path of his territory in the past few days. Michael realized that Extraction could be utilized best on monster corpses. He made the most gains whenever he dissected their body near perfectly.

    That was also why he felt that it would be great if he could summon a few Summons with a high star rating. If one or two summons like the 3-Star Water Elemental Mage appeared in his territory, the hunting prowess of hisbat unit would increase exponentially!

    Of course, it was not that easy to summon subjects like Kelia Tan. Michael was fully aware of that. However, it was one of the fastest ways to increase his strength.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The more monsters hisbat units could hunt every day, the more Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments he could extract daily.

    That way, he could increase the number of his subjects rapidly. Most subjects would be Starless Summons but they could be trained with the right techniques and enough time as well.

    Unfortunately, Alice Zenovia stared at him as if he was an idiot.

    "You know how rare Mythic Summoning Scrolls are, right? They''re several times more expensive than Named Summoning Scrolls¡­and those cost already 50 times more than Ordinary Summoning Scrolls on average," She exined, but Michael was already aware of the market value of Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    A single Mythic Summoning Scroll was usually auctioned in the millions. That was how much a Summon with, at least, 2-Star was worth, no matter what their upation was.

    On the contrary, the market value of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls was somewhere between 2,000 to 5,000$ when the supply was high. The demand for them was always extremely high, but that was only given.

    After all, more subjects in his territory would mean that Michael''s War Rune would have more Links of Loyalty, which would reinforce his Soultraits'' power output.

    If that was not enough, more subjects also meant a higher workforce.

    Alice frowned the moment she heard him mention Mythic Summoning Scrolls, but she secretly agreed that Tigerfang was valuable enough to be bet against Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    The issue was just that it was not easy to procure that many Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    Alice Zenovia sighed deeply.

    "Just tell me what you want, and I will see what I can do for you. Zenovias never forget their debts, even if it''s the debt of an idiotic child!"

    It was not difficult to tell that the fierce beauty wanted to twist Kaleb''s neck and was still upset with him. Michael just smiled at that.

    "In that case, can you prepare a few Tier-1 Artifacts for me until the 20th?" He asked.

    Alice''s ears perked up when she heard him say ''20th''. A faint smile blossomed on her face and her interest was piqued.

    "Procuring your Artifacts for the aptitude assessment will help you a bit, but it won''t help you with all assessment criteria," Alice mumbled and then she began to ponder, "...but it might be for the best, actually¡­"

    Considering Alice''s words, Michael thought about something.

    ''I can settle Kaleb''s debt with the Zenovia family by making them buy me a whole set of 3-Star Tier-1 Artifacts, but what did she mean with ''all'' assessment criteria? How many criteria are there, in the first ce?''

    He reconsidered a few things and concluded.

    "It would be great if you could provide me with books, so I can study for the aptitude assessment. I guess that there will be a quiz about military stuff and about extra-terrestrial space," Michael requested.

    Alice furrowed her brows upon hearing the request. She bit her lower lip in hesitation but agreed with a nod.

    "I won''t tell you what will be important in the assessment or provide you with any detailed information. The descendants of other families with the same authority as the Zenovia family can procure the information that I will send over to you as well. However, I have a condition!" She said sternly.

    Michael looked up at her at the mention of a condition.

    "You have to sell Tigerfang to the Zenovia family. Otherwise, I will only give you the full set of Tier-1 Artifacts to settle Kaleb''s debt, and no Mythic Summoning Scrolls nor the materials to study for weeks without a break."

    Michael didn''t think long about it and agreed readily. He stretched his hand out, which Alice took with a subtle smile on her face.

    "Of course, you''ll have to send me the study material immediately, in paper format to make sure that I can carry it with me to the Origin Expanse," Michael added suddenly, "And I will only sell Tigerfang after the aptitude assessment."

    "Other than that, you''ll have to give me the Tier-1 Artifact Set before the aptitude assessment!"

    Michael smiled brightly at Alice, whose expression contorted.

    She had never seen someone being so shameless and shrewd in front of her!

    For the first time in a while, she wanted to hit someone other than her brother so badly.

    She couldn''t do that. There were too many witnesses¡­unfortunately¡­

    "You¡­!!"

 Chapter 76 Splurge

    Even if Michael''s demands were shamelessly straightforward, Alice agreed to all of them.

    She wanted Tigerfang since their family didn''t have many Epic Tier-0 Artifacts.

    In fact, they did not have a single natural Epic Tier-0 Artifact. Tigerfang was unique, and it suited Kaleb perfectly.

    Her brother had yet to turn 18 and manifest his War Rune to enter the Origin Expanse, but their parents were already working hard to collect the necessary resources for him. An exceptional Tierless Artifact was everything he was missing right now.

    Tigerfang was perfect for Kaleb to bind before he entered the Origin Expanse. With Tigerfang, he would be fully prepared for the worst-case scenario. Nobody hoped that the worst-case scenario would ur, but it was always better to be prepared. And if they had the money or resources, nobody would let the opportunity to grab Tigerfang slip away.

    "Alright alright. Give me your address and the study materials will be prepared and sent over to you. It should be done in a few hours¡­" Alice agreed atst.

    She had stepped out of herfort zone to agree to Michael''s conditions but it was for her brother''s sake.

    Kaleb might have acted like a brainless idiot before, but he was still her brother¡­and he didn''t usually act like today, either.

    Alice red at her brother from afar but that was all she could do at the moment.

    "If we''re done, I''ll leave. Message me the details of the Tier-1 Artifacts you want today or tomorrow, otherwise, I won''t be able to procure them before the 20th," She said quickly before leaving.

    Alice walked over to her brother, whom she dragged outside the auditorium. Jasmine de bowed to Alice and apologized for not paying enough attention to Kaleb, but the fierce beauty ignored Jasmine''s existence. That girl was useless in Alice''s opinion.

    On the other hand, Alice''s attitude toward Michael waspletely different. The fierce beauty had underestimated his strength, shrewdness, and talent. Something like that didn''t happen often.

    Meanwhile, Michael justughed in his mind. He walked past the crowd of people before he left the afterparty with a few final words.

    "Send over the money and be quick. It would also do you good to read the penalty use stated in the contract if you''re thinking about suing me."

    Since he had a few more hours left until the study material would arrive at his apartment, Michael wanted to make sure that his bank ount was filled to the brim. It was about time to splurge some money!

    It waste evening when he left the school ground. Michael hailed a shuttle that brought him back to the Central Trading Hall.

    He was still wearing the customized suit, but he wanted to change his clothes. Thus, he jumped into a clothing store, and bought somefortable clothes before he changed into them.

    After that, he received a few notifications on the crystal watch.

    [2,000,000$ have been transferred to your ount!]

    [800,000$ have been transferred to your ount!]

    [300,000$ have been transferred to your ount!]

    [650,000$ have been transferred to your ount!]

    ¡­

    "They''re pretty fast. Looks like they hate being in debt as well. Or maybe theyined to their families and realized that they couldn''t avoid paying me? Not that it matters in any way," Michael mused, feeling satisfied with his small act of revenge against his former ssmates.

    The afterparty had developed into a fruitful event. Of course, only Michael gained something, but that was all that mattered!

    Several million were now safely deposited in his bank ount and he could start splurging money now.

    However, instead of rushing anything, he entered a bar. He sat down on an empty chair and minded his own business. He had to reconsider what type of Artifacts he should demand from Alice.

    The answer was pretty simple at first nce, but it was not that easy, unfortunately.

    Michael had to improve his attack power, movement speed, and his defensive tactics. He wanted to continue using a melee weapon, but Michael felt that it was even more important to keep practicing archery.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In fact,manding his troops as an archer from an elevated position would be much easier. On the other hand, it would be better for his warriors'' morale if he were to charge in front of them into their enemies.

    Thus, he had to be a little bit more flexible and adjust hisbat style to fit the given situation on the battlefield at any time.

    Half an hour after he entered the bar, Michael opened his chat with Alice.

    [Michael: I think I figured out what Artifacts I want. First, I need a leather armor set ¨C with a protection enchantment if possible. Then, I need a better Bow with adjustable pulling force, a Return Arrow, and Boots that increases Agility. As for the weapon I want, it doesn''t matter whether you procure a thin longsword like Tigerfang or a spear. However, it''s important that the Weapon Artifact is natural, without enchantment, but has high destructive power to injure Tier-2 Monsters even if I don''t hit their vital spots. They shouldn''t break from the impact of Tier-2 Monsters'' attacks either, so high endurance is also quite important.

    Remark: Of course, all Artifacts should be Tier-1, preferably 3-Star.]

    Michael sent the message the moment he finished writing it. Afterward, he re-read it and frowned deeply as he recalled something.

    [Michael: It would be great if the Artifacts'' external enhancement could strengthen my perception and Agility the most.

    By the way, If I you think that I am asking for too much, don''t shout at me but deduct the price from what you would give me for Tigerfang!]

    The external enhancement of Tier-1 Artifacts was much better than Tierless Artifacts. A natural Epic Artifact like Tigerfang was an exception to that rule, but it was not worth keeping Tigerfang if he could make better use of it in other ways after he advanced to the 1st Tier.

    Michael would have requested more Artifacts from Alice, but he was unsure if his body would be able to endure the external enhancements of the Artifacts he had requested. Thus, he refrained from being even more shameless than he was already.

    In the end, he didn''t ask Alice about a specific number of Mythic Summoning Scrolls in exchange for Tigerfang. That was mostly for Alice to adjust the number ording to the final assessment.

    He wished to bleed her out and exploit her to the fullest, but Michael decided to refrain himself. He felt that it wouldn''t be thest time that he met Alice. It was more likely for them to meet each other quite often in the future.

    After he sent thest message to Alice, he left his home address in their chat as well. Then, he received a few more notifications.

    The remaining money had arrived!

    Since he was now in possession of a body refining technique, and about to obtain a full set of Tier-1 Artifacts, Michael could spend his money differently.

    He entered the House of Witchery and bought a bunch of alchemy recipes, and rare blueprints such as the Medicine House Blueprint, and an Intermediate Ranch Blueprint.

    Other than that, Michael chose to invest in Tiara''sbat prowess.

    Tiara had a War Rune, which meant that he could increase her strength externally with the use of Artifacts.

    She was already a Tier-1 Battle Maid. Thus, a rapid increase in her strength would enhance his territory''s military power exponentially.

    Michael bought a bunch of Artifacts for Tiara, and he paid immediately.

    The total cost of today''s trip to the House of Witchery cost him more than six million dors. It was painful to look at his rapidly declining finances, but he was satisfied with his purchases nheless when he left the shop again.

    Meanwhile, the staff members could only stare at each other dumbfoundedly.

    They''d seen Michael a few times by now and knew who he was.

    "Our manager really has great eyes¡­ I thought that he would be punished for handing out a Golden Bartholomew Membership Card so easily, but he was praised for his great KPI over thest few days¡­" One of them said, only for the other to agree wholeheartedly.

    "Our manager has great eyes for young talent and opportunities, that is for sure!"

    They all nodded at each other as they looked at the retreating figure of Michael as he walked with a confident stride and nned his future endeavors.

    Just like that, Michael had be a little treasure of the House of Witchery.

 Chapter 77 Heightened Perception

    Once his shopping spree was over, Michael returned home.

    Several boxes filled with study materials were already waiting for him at the doorstep, in addition to a well-clothed gentleman, who asked for his Lord ID and signature.

    Michael noticed ripples of energy around the well-clothed gentleman, and it didn''t take long before he realized that he was one of the Zenovia family''s butlers.

    ''Even their butlers are Awakened? That is¡­not really unexpected¡­'' Michael concluded after a second or two.

    Once the formalities had beenpleted, the butler disappeared after a short bow. Michael wanted to say something to the butler but he had already disappeared. It was as if he had never been in front of his apartment.

    "Weird¡­"

    He opened his messenger and informed Alice that he had received the study materials and thanked her once again before he stored everything inside his War Rune.

    Afterward, he entered the apartment and manifested the Runic Gate in the living room.

    A few minutester, he had changed his clothes once again and returned to the Origin Expanse.

    ''I have 20 days left in the Origin Expanse. That should be enough to advance to the 1st Tier, and expand my territory. I should be ready for the aptitude assessment by then!''

    Michael emerged in his room inside the wooden manor a secondter. He wanted to use the opportunity to bring Tiara her new Artifacts and store away the new goods he had purchased.

    However, upon looking outside, he noticed that it was well past midnight.

    "I am way too excited to go sleep now¡­Should I try the Berserker Physique body refinement technique?" He asked himself before he retrieved the technique naturally.

    Michael channeled some energy into the Gloa crystal that had been put on the nightstand next to his bed, and a dim light illuminated the room.

    It was bright enough to read, which was more than enough for now.

    He opened the first page of the body refinement technique and started reading.

    For the next few hours, Michael did nothing but read andprehend. Everyst trace of exhaustion was wiped off his body as he grew engrossed in reading. But he did not allow himself to be overly excited. Instead of blindly refining his body and making countless mistakes, it was necessary to understand the technique''s special perks. He didn''t want to cripple his body identally by rushing into anything. However, that was only obvious.

    Michael gained a general understanding of the Berserker Physique. The first level was not that difficult, and it was nearly impossible to make a mistake. Thus, Michael started his first workout since he entered the Origin Expanse.

    The energy and nutrition inside his body were quickly burned to nourish his muscles as he began the workout.

    Less than half an hourter, Michael''s energy was drained, and he was lying on the ground, panting like a dog. His clothes were drenched in sweat, and it felt like every muscle in his body had been subjected to extreme wear and tear and trained to the point of unbearable soreness.

    However, Michael was quite satisfied. The body refinement technique was much better than he would have expected. It may use a tremendous amount of energy and nutrition to be utilized efficiently, but he could tell that practicing the Berserker Physique technique repetitively would strengthen his entire body.

    He was unsure how much his physique would improve afterpleting the first level, but it was something to look forward to.

    Despite being exhausted after burning the midnight oil in reading, Michael forced himself to adjust his position. He sat on the ground cross-legged and started practicing the Sun Soldier Breathing technique. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael hadn''t received the chance to test the special perk of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique before, but now that he was dead-tired and drained of energy, Michael felt that it was about time.

    The special perk of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique stated that one had a high chance to enter a state of increased sense of perception immediately after a tiring workout. The harsher the practitioner''s condition, the higher the chances of epiphany, a sudden moment of realization where one would feel as if all of his senses received a huge influx of energy!

    But what did that even mean? Michael was not sure about that at first. Practicing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique shouldn''t require something like an epiphany to be practiced. It was a breathing technique that required lots of practice to be perfected, or so he thought.

    Only when he started to practice the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique after he was too exhausted to breathe properly did he realize how wrong he had been?

    Following the steps of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique, his energy replenished rapidly. It felt like the energy around him was flooding his body. His pores slowly opened, allowing the energy to stream inside him in tidal waves.

    Time seemed to slow down as the energy invaded his body. It replenished the energy Michael had used up to practice the Berserker Physique within minutes before nourishing his exhausted muscles. The soreness all over his body was washed away and his muscles were nourished.

    This stunned Michael. Was that the epiphany mentioned?

    ''That shouldn''t be it. The breathing technique stimted the absorption rate of the Origin Expanse''s energy just now¡­but what about the utility of my stamina? The Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique should improve the utility of stamina and absorption rate of energy¡­''

    But what if he could use the stimtion to increase his proficiency of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique?

    So far, he had only practiced the first version of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique. However, there was a second version that changed the practitioner''s breathing fundamentally. To achieve a fundamental change in his breathing, Michael required a deep understanding of his body and the technique''s first version.

    The body and mind will have to learn to breathe in a specific way, which will then lead to a decrease in the consumption of Stamina and the natural absorption of the Origin Expanse''s energy.

    Making use of the exhausted energy channel and soreness of my body after practicing the Berserker Physique will be quite beneficial. And adding the increased sense of perception from practicing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique right after the workout to deepen the understanding of my body and the breathing technique should be able to progress faster¡­Is that the epiphany they mentioned?''

    Michael was not so sure about that anymore.

    He was also unsure how much time passed before he stopped practicing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique, or when he fell asleep on the ground.

    However, what he knew was that the sun had risen above the horizon when he woke up again.

    The sounds of his subjects getting ready for the day''s work reached his ears and he got up from the ground. Michael rubbed the back of his head in confusion, but he regained hisposure not long after.

    He stretched his body a bit to test whether his physique had improved or not, but there was no noteworthy change.

    "It has only been a single day. It''s not like my physique will improve drastically right away. Training requires time, even with a body refinement technique!" Michael told himself before he left his room.

    He felt a little bit more energetic than before and it felt like the air around him was fresher than usual, but Michael didn''t pay much attention to this.

    He thought that his emotions influenced the way he sensed his surroundings. And he was excited and happy because he had finally gotten revenge against the people who had harassed him in the past. They paid their price ¨C quite literally ¨C and Michael didn''t have to see them again.

    How could he not be happy and excited?!

 Chapter 78 Focused

    After Michael finished practicing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique, he took a quick bath in one of the temporary bathrooms that had been build next to the wooden manor.

    He met up with Tiara afterward, and presented her the three Artifacts he had purchased for her.

    "Because you already have Fenrir''s silver spear, I think it would be better to purchase a few different types of Artifacts," Michael said as he handed the Artifacts over.

    Tiara stared dumbfoundedly at the round-shield, the zarit Chestte and the set of boots she was given. Her eyes began to quiver and she opened her mouth, but nothing except a puff of air escaped her lips.

    "All three armaments are natural 3-Star Tier-1 Artifacts without enchantments. They''ll increase your Agility, Endurance and Strength greatly!"

    Michael left out the fact that these three Artifacts cost him six million dor since they were natural Artifacts with great external enhancements, but that was not something Tiara had to know, in the first ce.

    The better Tiara''s equipment, the higher herbat prowess. An increase in herbat prowess was equivalent to an increase of his military might. Of course, he would invest into that!

    "M-master¡­I I cannot ¨C..." Tiara began, but Michael had already lifted his hand to intercept her.

    "You will ept the Artifacts, and you will bind them to your War Rune. Your survivability is important, whether it is as my Battle Maid, or as themander of the territory''s military!" He said in a serious tone that didn''t allow objection.

    Tiara lowered her head and nodded faintly, "As youmand, Master!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow at this, but he didn''t say anything.

    "Is the daily report alreadypiled?" He asked instead.

    Tiara''s head flicked upward and she nodded much more vigorously than before.

    "The report should be done now," She said, turning around to dash away and pick up the daily report.

    A minuteter, she returned with a piece of paper in her hands.

    Tiara handed Michael the daily report, which he read through within a few minutes.

    Once he was done, a faint smile appeared on his face.

    "A 1-Star Enchanter Novice finally emerged. That''s great!"

    Enchanter was a person who did exactly what the upation''s title suggested. They enchanted items, or created enchantment arrays such as the preservation enchantment array.

    It was extremely expensive and time-consuming to train an Enchanter from scratch ording to the information Michael had learned in high school, but that was mostly because the basics were hard toprehend and quite confusing.

    With an Enchanter Novice, one didn''t have such a problem. Most Enchanter Novices had to pass a test before they were epted as a Novice. Thus, Michael was quite lucky.

    "Bring the 1-Star Enchanter to the temporary library for now. He should study as much as possible until I''ve procured a few blueprints, recipes and the necessary resources for him to start working," Michael ordered before he noticed something else, "There is also a 1-Star Botanist¡­that''s also great. He can take care of the seeds I bought."

    Michael fell deep into thoughts reading through the daily report.

    His territory now had the Trio of Basic Lifestyle upations; an Alchemist, cksmith and Enchanter. Though they were all in the Apprentice, and Novice stage, he had purchased more than enough books, recipes, and blueprints for all of them to study.

    The trio could be utilized greatly once they finished studying, which meant that Michael could now focus on gardening in the Untamed Jungle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Initially, he purchased some Tierless seeds to test the fertility of the Untamed Jungle''s soil since he was not adept with gardening and raising nts. But now that he had a Botanist, and a Gardener, Michael could change his approach a little.

    He could start gardening mystic nts, valuable flowers, and all ordinary materials that were required by the Alchemist and Enchanter.

    "Since everything grows much faster in the Origin Expanse, we should make detailed statistics to find out the fertility of the Untamed Jungle," Tiara proposed.

    Michael agreed without a second thought. Everyone knew that the energy of the Origin Expanse allowed both monsters and nts to mature at a much faster rate. In fact, the energy of the Origin Expanse stimultated mutations as well. However, that was something the Botanist and Gardener would have to pay attention to when gardening.

    ''Thanks to the Water Elemental Mage we have more than enough water as well. She filled several huge barrels with water, good thinking.''

    ''The others found more fruits, Tiatcha Trees and Cacao trees. The trees were already moved to the temporary tree farm as well. Nice.''

    Michael made mentalments and was satisfied with his team''s progress as he read through the daily report. He made a few mental notes about the things he had to focus on, and what projects could be postponed.

    Once he was done, he returned the daily report.

    "I will make a priority list of construction protects that have to bepleted. I brought a few blueprints back, and we will have to construct them sooner orter," For her next task, Michael told her to spend the next hour to bind the new Artifacts to her War Rune and adjust to the external enhancements they provide.

    Tiara was a bit hesitant but returned to her room reluctantly.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s gaze roamed across his territory and inspected it. He was proud of the progress he and his subjects had achieved since he became a Lord.

    His subjects had been given tasks that would keep them busy for several days before he had left the Origin Expanse to be at the graduation ceremony. That was also why everyone was already bustling even though it was still early in the morning.

    It was almost as if his territory would never turn silent again.

    Michael felt ted at this sight. Goosebumps spread all over his skin.

    "Let''s work hard to continue progressing as fast as possible!" He reminded himself in excitement before he went over to the Bilrox''s hut.

    Since Alice sent him several big boxes full of study materials, Michael decided to make use of them. He sat down next to the Bilrox hatchling''s nest before he retrieved the first book.

    Meanwhile, the Bilrox hatchlings chirped loudly, trying to attract his attention. They started to prick him with their beaks when he continued to ignore them, only to climb up on hisp and sleep when all attempts failed.

    Michael was not disturbed by the sounds around him when he studied. As weird as it may seem, loud voices allowed him to focus more on the words written on the paper. He had to concentrate more on reading, which allowed him to enter a highly focused state.

    This highly focused state allowed him to study much better.

    The following four days passed in the blink of an eye. Michael focused on studying and ying with the Bilrox hatchlings, which were growing much faster than expected.

    However, on the 4th day after his return, Michael left the Origin Expanse once again. He had to purchase a few things and sell the body parts of Monsters he had dissected.

    In less than three hours he returned to the Origin Expanse.

    However, what he didn''t expect to have happened in the brief period he left the Origin Expanse was that ire Tracer returned from her exploration outside the territory.

    She was out of breath and had crucial information in her hands, waiting to be delivered to him!

 Chapter 79 Worth Of Equality

    ire Tracer had recuperated from her severe injury a long time ago.

    It had been a while since she started to leave the territory to explore the surroundings of the Untamed Jungle. Her task was to note down every single detail about the unknown territory so that Michael received a detailed report of the jungle.

    However, today was different from usual.

    ire returned to the territory panting heavily. Her long hair was dripping with sweat and clung to her face. She was beyond exhausted and scratches all over her arms and face showed that she had hastily rushed back to the territory with all her might.

    "I found arge clearing southward¡­. A huge Frenzy Deer, much stronger and bigger than the Frenzy Deers we encounter every now and then is lying there¡­. It is injured and more than a dozen corpses of Frenzy Deers are spread across the clearing as well. I don''t know who or what it fought but I also saw a few patches of ck hair. The Frenzy Deer probably drove away the enemy¡­" ire reported hastily while trying to catch her breath.

    "Weren''t you searching for easy prey? The Deer is probably Tier-2, or at least at the Peak of the 1st Tier, and it is severely injured! It''s also a leader of a horde with more than a hundred Frenzy Deers!"

    ire seemed excited to Michael as she reported the situation to him. Since she made a big blunder in the past, ire reported the situation immediately in the hopes of redeeming herself in her Lord''s eyes. She didn''t dare to act on her own like she did when she encountered the Gogi Lord''s territory for the first time.

    Fortunately, nobody died because of her blunder, but Michael had been in several life-and-death situations to rectify her mistake. Since she had made him suffer a lot, she wanted to help her Lord be stronger quickly. Hunting an injured Tier-2 Monster was the perfect way to achieve that!

    Michael''s interest was piqued when he heard her. He immediately told ire to take a seat and tell him more about the situation.

    ire, the Tracker, seemed a little bit impatient to rush over and kill the huge Frenzy Deer while it was still injured, but Michael didn''t just run towards the deer blindly. The huge Frenzy Deer would still stay injured for a few hours.

    Furthermore, Michael''s military might was not strong enough to deal with a horde of more than a hundred Tier-1 Frenzy Deers easily.

    The poption of his territory was slowly inching closer to 350, but that didn''t mean he was fortunate enough to summon manybat units.

    In total, he had summoned two 1-Star Warriors and two 1-Star Archers during thest four days. It was nothing great, but it was more than the gains most other Lords made.

    "A one-hour walking distance southward. That''s closer than expected," Michael mumbled.

    If the huge Frenzy Deer was truly a Tier-2 Monster, the situation would be more problematic than he first expected. After all, the death of a dozen Low TIer-1 Frenzy Deers and the severe injury of a Tier-2 Frenzy Deer suggested that there was something stronger nearby.

    A one-hour walking distance was insignificant. That meant the moment the huge Frenzy Deer and its horde were hunted down by him, Michael and his territory would probably turn into the next prey of the stronger monster.

    Despite the risks, Michael was interested in finding out more.

    If the huge Frenzy Deer was able to drive away the other monster, it was probably injured as well, or not much stronger than the huge Frenzy Deer.

    ''Maybe, I can deal with both? Killing two Tier-2 Monsters should be more than enough to refine my War Rune to the peak and beyond¡­'' Michael figured, suddenly feeling hopeful.

    During thest few days, Michael''s War Rune had reached thete stage. At first, he thought that everyone was joking whenever Adventurers and Lords said that the refinement degree slowed down drastically upon reaching thete stage, but it was true. The energy he had required to progress from the Mid-stage to the Late stage was not even a tenth of the energy required to refine his War Rune to the Peak stage.

    That was something Michael found out during thest few days.

    It was quite shocking, but it made sense.

    Every Lord and Adventurerined about the tremendous amount of energy required to improve their Tier and refinement degree. Most Lords spent half a year, or a full year to advance to the 1st Tier. Meanwhile, Michael wanted to make a speedrun to the 1st Tier to be ready for the aptitude assessment of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Unfortunately, it was not that easy.

    He would have to take a few risks to make that happen.

    Thus, Michael prepared to wage war with the huge Frenzy Deer and the unknown monster.

    ''Preparing to fight the huge Frenzy Deer is one thing, but how many Warriors should I leave behind for the protection of the territory?'' He contemted.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the first ce, it would be better if he could bring his entire military to the clearing. The huge Frenzy Deer might be injured, but it was quite powerful if it led a horde of more than 100 Tier-1 Frenzy Deers.

    He had nine Warriors, two Archers, two Knights in training, two Aero Crossbowmen, a Water Elemental Mage, Tiara, and himself. That was a total of 18 people who could fight, and only one of them was in the 1st Tier¡­

    Michael and the Water Elemental Mage were strong despite being Tierless, but the others had to make use of their teamwork to fightrger groups of Tier-1 Monsters, forget about Tier-2 Monsters.

    "If you''re worried about the protection of the territory, there is no need," Tiara said when she arrived at the open pavilion.

    She had overheard bits of ire''s report and could clearly tell what Michael was worried about.

    "More than 150 people have learned how to throw spears. We also collected enough spears from the Gogis to train the Starless Summons. Additionally, they also studied the Sun Soldier''s Weaponry technique to learn spear-throwing. It was one of the easiest techniques to learn given the circumstances," She exined shortly.

    "They might not be strong individually, but the high number makes up for theck of quality. Tier-1 Monsters won''t be able to endure the downpour of 150 spears shot at them!"

    ''They learned how to throw spears? So many of them?''

    Michael was confused. He had expected just a few summons to be dissatisfied with their Star rating and give their utmost to train in order to attain enlightenment and be promoted to 1-Star Warriors.

    However, he didn''t expect so many to start training in spear-throwing. Was there a special reason?

    Michael had no idea.

    "Everyone is thankful for what you''re doing. They can tell that you care about all of us, even those without a star rating. You are not biased and treat everyone fairly despite a difference in their rating. That means a lot to them, and they wanted to express their gratitude," ire said suddenly.

    It had been a while since the first Starless Summons began to study the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique and the Sun Soldier''s Weaponry technique.

    However, a majority of them had begun to focus on their training only a few days ago when Michael returned with countless recipes, and blueprints that were mostly focused on the improvement of the territory''s living conditions.

    Everyone got to know that Tiara was given several Tier-1 Artifacts and that her survivability andbat prowess increased drastically.

    As if that was not enough, Michael left no stone unturned to ensure that the Bilrox hatchlings would receive the best possible nourishment.

    Rather than a Lord, he acted like the head of a big family, who was doting and genuinely cared about every single individual.

    This warmed his subjects'' hearts, and it strengthened their Link of Loyalty drastically.

    They wanted to assist their Lord!

    Tiara smiled brightly and added, "They trained hard, hoping that their hard work would help you in the future."

    **

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 Chapter 80 A Monsters Massacre

    Michael was d that his subjects began practicing the Sun Soldier techniques on their own.

    Their initiative allowed him to use his full military might to fight the huge Frenzy Deer, instead of leaving some Warriors behind to safeguard the territory.

    Interestingly, no monster had attacked his territory since the protection barrier had been lifted. It was almost as if the monsters had been traumatized by watching their brethren die near Michael''s territory.

    That was a good thing since it allowed Michael to be a little bit more at ease and not worry about his territory getting razed to the ground while he was away.

    Thus, he gathered his forces, finished a few preparations for the uing battle, and ordered ire to guide them to the clearing.

    Just like ire reported, they spent roughly an hour traveling southward until they came across a huge clearing in the middle of the Untamed Jungle.

    The clearing was much bigger than the clearing in his territory, and there was a small stream as well. The stream passed through the middle of the clearing, providing water to the horde of Frenzy Deers.

    Michael was just about to climb a tree to look at the surroundings from an elevated position when the earth beneath them trembled.

    A horrifying roar reverberated through the clearing, and they all looked around hastily as a big monster charged out of the thicket less than a hundred meters away from Michael''s position.

    His heart skipped a beat, and his body froze for a moment.

    ''A ck Bear? Are there monsters like that in the Untamed Jungle?''

    Michael was confused for a moment, but he regained hisposure quickly. He gestured for the others to hide in the thicket around the clearing and remain silent. In the meantime, he climbed the tree and activated his Eagle Eyes.

    Once he found a thick branch, he flung himself on top of it. The tree was wide enough to walk on, but Michael didn''t bother. He used his Eagle Eyes to observe the chaotic scene beneath him.

    The tranquil and beautiful scenery of the clearing was reced by sounds of snarling.

    A huge ck bear with long sabretooth-like fangs appeared in front of a group of Frenzy Deers letting out a ferocious roar. It dug its fangs deep into the closest Frenzy Deer and thrashed around violently. The Frenzy Deer could do nothing but bleat in horror as it was tossed and turned for two seconds before it was mercilessly thrown aside.

    The ck Bear left the severely injured Frenzy Deer to die and did not bother looking at it again. Instead, it attacked the other Frenzy Deers that bleated out in horror as they scampered for their lives. However, the ck Bear was too fast.

    It appeared next to the second victim in an instant and tore it apart with its razor-sharp ws. The Frenzy Deer didn''t even get the time to process the pain before it staggered and slumped to the ground lifelessly. A puddle of blood formed on the ground around the Frenzy Deer and the bright shimmer in its eyes turned dim and disappeared a momentter.

    Yet again, the ck Bear didn''t cast a look at its victim.

    ''It is not hunting to feed itself. No, it doesn''t even seem to enjoy ying around with its prey. The bear is simply tearing the Deers apart. It''s a brutal massacre, nothing more!'' Michael realized in shock.

    It was not as if Michael was taken aback by the ck Bear''s massacre, but it was rather umon for something like that to happen. The mindless massacre was not something ordinary monsters would do under normal circumstances.

    Even Lords killed monsters to collect their bodies and sell them. Michael was the same. He wanted the energy influx of the huge Frenzy Deer, its horde, and the resources he could procure by killing them, not killing them and leaving their bodies to rot.

    Though it did not make him any less of a killer, and it was not necessary to hunt the Frenzy Deers, every part of their body was quite valuable, including the energy influx they provided upon getting killed.

    ''Is it also after the energy influx? But I thought that monsters of the Origin Expanse would absorb the energy in their vicinity through their Cores. They don''t absorb the energy of other monsters by killing them!''

    Hunting the Frenzy Deer Horde didn''t seem to provide the ck Bear with any gains, yet it ughtered them mindlessly.

    Michael didn''t have to care about the reasoning behind the ck Bear''s actions, but he felt that something was amiss. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find out what it was.

    Michael climbed down the tree and returned to the others while the Bear was busy ughtering the deers. Then, he and his team used the densely grown vicinity to walk around the clearing.

    The huge Frenzy Deer and the vast majority of its herd were on the clearing''s left side. Michael wanted to get as close as possible to them before revealing himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The noises of the angry battle raging inside the densely grown Untamed Jungle echoed loudly. Michael and the others could clearly hear the desperately bleating Frenzy Dears and the enraged bleat of the huge Frenzy Dear, followed up by the thunderous roar of the ck Bear.

    They shed not long after, but Michael and the others weren''t able to see what was happening. Only after Michael, the Archers and the Aero Crosbowmen climbed thergest tree in the vicinity were they able to get a better view of the clearing.

    More than thirty Frenzy Deers had been killed, and half of the remaining horde had disappeared in the Untamed Jungle.

    The rest of the horde was uncertain about what they should do. Some stared at the ck Bear in hatred, while others were sniffing the bloody corpses of their brethren and trying to make them move.

    However, the ck Bear was notpletely unharmed. It had two big wounds on his chest where the huge Frenzy Deer''s antlers had pierced through its body. It had used its entire strength and massive size to pick up the ck Bear on its head and hurl it to the side. In retaliation, the ck Bear wed the huge Frenzy Deer, inflicting two more deep gashes in its shoulder.

    Fountains of blood gushed out of the huge Frenzy Deer''s injuries as it staggered back, while the ck Bear got up from the ground again.

    It had been pierced through its chest and lost a massive amount of blood as well. Nheless, it was clear who was at an advantage.

    "Prepare to attack the ck Bear once it gets closer!" Michael ordered the Archers and Aero Crossbowmen as he retrieved the Hardwood Bow and the Return Arrow.

    He channeled enough energy into the Hardwood Bow to enhance it to the limit. This increased pulling force increased drastically. Michael could barely pull the bowstring back after the Return Arrow was nocked and in position.

    His Eagle Eyes were fully unleashed, and able to detect the finest details of the ck Bear that was shing with the huge Frenzy Dear 200 meters away from their location.

    Michael adjusted the bow''s angle a few times from his elevated position of more than twenty meters above the ground before he released the Return Arrow.

    A loud hissing sound rang through the vicinity as the arrow was released.

    The arrow cut through the air with terrifying velocity in the next instance and approached the ck Bear''s head rapidly.

    The ck Bear''s maw was wide open, and its fangs were about to dig into the huge Frenzy Deer''s neck when a sharp bolt of pain erupted through its mouth.

    From one moment to the next, something sharp pierced through the inner side of its mouth, making it roar in pain!

    The pain distracted the ck Bear, and it lost its footing. Enraged, it crunched down on the object, intending to break it.

    However, the object had already disappeared from around the ck Bear.

    The Return Arrow dematerialized, returning to Michael''s hand where he nocked it on the bowstring once again.

    "Let''s have some fun, you violent bastard!"

    **

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 Chapter 81 Monster Battle

    Even after the ck Bear had been shot once, it was unable to find Michael who was hiding behind the thick canopy of leaves, perched high up in the tree.

    The ck Bear had its head turned in Michael''s direction, but it didn''t have enough time to take a closer look. The huge Frenzy Deer attacked the ck Bear violently.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the huge Frenzy Deers horde was either returning to the vicinity of the clearing or charged at the ck Bear to attack it from all sides.

    Wanting to make the most out of the situation, Michael also continued to shoot.

    With the Hardwood Bow fully drawn out with the highest possible pulling force, in addition to the high destructive force the Return Arrow could unleash, Michael could inflict some serious damage. The ck Bear''s fur might be too thick for the arrow to prate through, but there were enough spots Michael could target.

    Even if his arrow was not a very lethal weapon, Michael''s attack distracted the ck Bear. He released the Return Arrow whenever the ck Bear was about to w one of the Frenzy Deers or dig its fangs into them, slowing it down. That way, Michael supported the Frenzy Deers while further enraging the ck Bear.

    The huge Frenzy Deer used the distraction caused by Michael to charge at the ck Bear twice. It injured the ck Bear by cutting deep into its fur with the huge and pointy antlers.

    The Frenzy Deer horde supported their leader from all sides, inflicting minor injuries on their enemy. They might only be Tier-1 Monsters, but their antlers were a force to reckon given their numbers.

    After being surrounded by the Frenzy Deers and faced with an onught from all sides, the ck Bear''s limbs sustained several serious injuries. Despite that, it was able to pinpoint Michael''s location atst.

    ''It finally found me? Was about time it did,'' Michael thought as he saw the ck Bear looking straight at him.

    He smiled lightly and shouted out loudly, "Water Barrier!"

    Kelia Tan waved her wand the moment Michael''s order left his lips. She conjured arge water screen using bits of energy and moisture in the surroundings. A thinyer separated the fighting monsters from Michael and his people.

    It was not strong enough to block any attacks, but that was not Kelia''s intention either way. She created a temporary barrier, blocking the ck Bear''s view while giving others the time to move now that their cover was blown.

    Thus, Michael and the other long-rangebatants jumped down from the tree. They used the other tree branches around them as a staircase and reached the ground within seconds. Afterward, Michael and his people changed their position once again.

    The water screen dispersed while their group took the cover of the dense vegetation and put some distance from the mighty beast.

    Realizing that it had lost Michael in the forest, the ck Bear grew enraged. And while it was trying to look for Michael again, it had to endure the constant attacks of the huge Frenzy Deer and its horde. The Frenzy Deers gained more courage and attacked more valiantly seeing that they weren''t getting attacked or torn apart.

    But their bravado did notst long as the ck Bera''s pawns smashed down on two of them as if it was swatting angrily at flies.

    Enraged, yet unable to find the perpetrator, the ck Bear could only unleash its wrath onto the pesky beings around it. The Frenzy Deers were crushed, wed, and bitten, killed one after another.

    The huge Frenzy Deer was able to inflict more lethal wounds on the ck Bear''s body in the meantime, but it had lost a lot of blood and was already lethally wounded as well.

    "You can join the attacks now. Target the ck Bear''s wounds for now," Michael ordered after he heaved himself on arge branch high up in the air of another tree. The Archers and Aero Crossbowmen had followed him, and they followed his instructions without hesitation.

    Their distance to the battlefield had been shortened to 150 meters. It was still a big distance, but the Untamed Jungle was not windy, and it was not raining heavily either. Thus, hitting the target from 150 meters was the only issue.

    Fortunately, the target was big and easy to pinpoint.

    In the following ten minutes, the scene on the battlefield changed drastically.

    The Water Elemental Mage changed the terrain in the clearing several times and showered it with rain to turn it sticky and trap the legs of the ck Bear in mud. This would provide Michael, the long-range units, and the Frenzy Deer opportunities to strike while limiting the ck Bear''s movement. Simultaneously, Kelia conjured water spikes out of the moisture in the mud to pierce through the ck Bear''s paws and its lower body.

    Kelia conjured and released water bullets as well, but their lethality was highly restricted due to the amount of energy at her disposal, and her distance from the target.

    But that didn''t matter a lot because Michael and his long-range units were able to inflict some injuries upon the ck Bear. Michael''s attack caused the most destructive damage since his attacks targeted the ck Bear''s head most of the time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The distraction caused by Michael and his people was enough to allow the Frenzy Deers to further injure and tire out their opponent, and the injuries inflicted by the Frenzy Deers were enough to distract the ck Bear from Michael''s attacks.

    With theirbined power, it was possible to dwindle the ck Bear''s strength drastically. But it was not impossible to avoid casualties altogether. In fact, the ck Bear was strong enough to deepen the severe injuries all over the huge Frenzy Deer''s body and kill three dozen Frenzy Deers.

    The huge Frenzy Deer was taking itsst breaths and was about to bleed to death.

    It was Michael''s great fortune that the ck Bear attacked the Frenzy Deer horde and lessened the number of beasts they would have to deal with. He realized that the huge Frenzy Deer alone would have been strong enough to trample his entire military might to death before half a dozen arrows would have pierced its hide.

    Both the huge Frenzy Deer and the ck Bear were definitely Tier-2 Monsters. The power, stamina, and endurance they disyed were several times higher than Michael had expected. They were, in fact, stronger than the lizard mother.

    This was something Michael realized upon watching the terrifying battle of the two powerhouses for a long time.

    It was probably another half an hourter when the huge Frenzy Deer and the ck Bear finally showed signs of exhaustion. Both monsters should have bled to death by now, had they been ordinary wild animals, but they were still alive.

    Michael and his people were stupefied by that, but they were not discouraged. The two powerhouses and the remaining Frenzy Deer horde were already exhausted and weakened.

    Meanwhile, Michael and his team were neither exhausted nor weakened.

    They could disy their full strength and reap all benefits!

    "Charge!!" Michael shouted out loudly.

    He had returned to the ground with the Archers and Aero Crossbowmen and charged straight into the clearing.

    Tigerfang had manifested in his right hand and Tiara charged next to him, wielding her silver spear in one hand and the round-shield in another. Her new Artifacts materialized around her body, protecting, and strengthening her as she charged ahead.

    It took Michael a single nce to understand that Tiara''s strength had increased by more than 30%. She charged ahead confidently and pierced the silver spear through the head of the closest Frenzy Deer.

    Now that the Frenzy Deers had returned to the clearing, more than 50 of them were left alive.

    However, most were focused on the ck Bear and their leader.

    Some tried to protect their leader while others attacked the ck Bear with their remaining strength.

    As for the few that didn''t do either, they turned into easy targets of Michael and his people!

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 82 Exhaustion

    In less than ten minutes, more than thirty exhausted Frenzy Deers died at the hands of Michael, or his people.

    They could barely lift their antlers in an attempt to intimidate the new perpetrators before cold metal pierced through their chests or heads. The light in their eyes dispersed and they copsed onto the ground where they died in a puddle of their own blood.

    In the meantime, the ck Bear had delivered one more lethal strike upon the huge Frenzy Deer that crashed on the ground. It seemed like the huge Frenzy Deer would not get up this time.

    The ck Bear had emerged victorious in its battle with the huge Frenzy Deer, but it was apparent that it lost the war. Not only was it mortally wounded, but the remaining Tier-1 Frenzy Deers were enough to kill it.

    However, that was not all. A third party had joined the battle a long time ago. The third party had been in control of the battlefield all this time while the two predators kept fighting each other. Only when the time was ripe did the third party join the battle to deliver the final blow and end the war between the ck Bear and the huge Frenzy Deer?

    Tigerfang was soaked in the blood of its opponents. Meanwhile, Michael had killed more than five Frenzy Deers on his own. That was not further difficult since he was a Late Tier-0 Lord with several powerful Artifacts and a great Soultrait to further aid him in battle.

    Nheless, it was an achievement.

    Michael and his people always maintained a distance of more than 50 meters from the two Tier-2 monsters.

    They knew that the two mighty monsters were on the verge of death, but a sudden burst of power might spread through them.

    Their tactic changed drastically when the huge Frenzy Deer copsed to the ground.

    The Water Elemental Mage turned the soil beneath the ck Bear into a mushy damp puddle before several water spikes shot out of the moist ground. Because the distance between Keltia and the ck Bear had shortened by two-thirds it was possible for the Water Elemental Mage to utilize more energy to attack.

    The water spikes pierced through the ck Bear''s fur, and it roared out in anger and pain.

    A dozen Frenzy Deers charged at the ck Bear at the same time. They were exhausted beyond measure, but they fought desperately, hoping that they could protect their leader.

    Simultaneously, a silver sh cut through the air. It flew in the wide-open mouth of the ck Bear and pierced through its mouth. As a result, blood spurted out of the ck Bear''s mouth.

    The monster''s eyes shot wide open, and it turned to the left where the silver sh came from.

    However, by this point, it was already toote. Michael smiled coldly with the Return Arrow nocked on the Hardwood Bow''s bowstring.

    As Michael sensed the golden opportunity, he immediately returned Tigerfang to the War Rune and pulled out the Hardwood Bow and the Return Arrow instead.

    He was about to end the fierce battle between the two mighty monsters!

    The bowstring was already fully pulled back, and it was released with a twang when the ck Bear''s attention moved to him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the blink of an eye, a silver sh cut through the air once again. The Return Arrow pierced deep into the ck Bear''s left eye before it could even react. It closed its eyes instinctively when the Return Arrow impacted, but it was already toote. The Arrow pierced through the eyeball and dug deeper as the ck Bear thrashed around while howling in pain.

    Unfortunately, the force behind the arrow was not strong enough to pierce the ck Bear''s brain. It stopped midway and began to shine brightly.

    After it began to shine, the Return Arrow disappeared into thin air and returned to Michael''s side. He nocked it on the bowstring without hesitation, pulled back, and shot once again. The arrow was aimed at the exact same position as thest one.

    ''If one arrow is not enough to pierce your brain, I shall release two on the same spot; one to pave the way, and the second to do the deed.'' Michael thought as the second arrow impacted.

    However, once again, the arrow was not strong enough. The ck Bear''s eyelids were still closed, and the Return Arrow''s destructive power was barely enough to pierce through the eyelid.

    But Michael did not appear too worked up. Instead, he smiled lightly.

    ''If two arrows are not enough, I shall release three arrows; the first to pave the way, the second to remove the remaining obstructions, and the third to reach the finishing line!'' Michael shouted in his mind as he retrieved the Return Arrow the second time. He nocked the arrow on the bowstring and shot once again.

    The ck Bear wanted to move away, but the remaining Frenzy Deers, the Water Elemental Mage, and everyone else had already gotten in position and almost locked him in ce.

    Exhausted and severely wounded, the ck Bear could only struggle desperately in an attempt to escape its miserable fate. But by the time it opened its other eye, it was already toote. The Return Arrow had hit the same target for the third time, and it pierced cleanly through the hole in the ck Bear''s eye, digging deep into its brain.

    The ck Bear jolted the moment the cold metal tip of the arrow pierced its brain. It stared at Michael and froze in its tracks while staying unmoving even after the Frenzy Deers around it charged at it frantically.

    Nothing happened for several seconds until the vibrant light in the ck Bear''s unscathed eye dispersed. It turned dim and soulless.

    Michael prepared for the impact of the energy influx when he saw that. However, he didn''t expect the surge of the energy influx to be that strong. It was far more than he obtained from ending the lizard mother''s life!

    Fortunately, he was prepared and much stronger than he had been at that time.

    His body endured the energy influx easily. Michael didn''t feel restricted in his thinking or movements. It was perfect!

    Meanwhile, the ck Bear copsed to the ground where it remained unmoving.

    The ck Bear had been killed, however, the battle had not yet ended.

    It was not yet over for Michael!

 Chapter 83 Energy Influx

    The vigor and excitement that spread through his entire body when the flood of energy surged through every cell of his body was highly addictive.

    Michael felt like cheering loudly and focusing on digesting the energy influx he obtained from killing the ck Bear, but he couldn''t do that just yet.

    The battle was not over, and the Frenzy Deers were not yet dead!

    When the ck Bear smashed on the ground lifelessly, the remaining Frenzy Deers surrounded their dying leader. They wanted to protect their leader even on death''s bed.

    To their misery, Michael and his group didn''t allow that to happen. The Hardwood Bow and the Return arrow returned to the War Rune while Tigerfang manifested in front of him once again.

    Michael grasped it tightly and charged straight ahead. He infused arge amount of energy into Tigerfang to enhance its sharpness and sturdiness while doing the same to the Boots of Taran. The Swiftness enchantment was fully unleashed, further elerating Michael''s fast speed.

    He may only be at the Late stage of Tier-0, but he had powerful Artifacts bound to his War Rune, enhancing his strength drastically. With his Eagle Eyes activated, Michael could also faintly predict the movements of his opponents. The precise details he saw with his enhanced eyesight provided Michael with enough information to put himself in an advantageous position in a battle.

    Michael could evade the attacks of the exhausted Frenzy Deers easily and deliver a killing blow with one or two strikes. Meanwhile, the other members of his group weren''t doing bad either.

    The Archers and Aero Crossbowmen focused on the same target. They killed a Frenzy Deer with a single volley of their arrows and bolts before they diverted their attention to another target. Meanwhile, the Water Elemental Mage fought on her own. She used water bullets to minimize the consumption of her energy and kill the Frenzy Deers with a single but deadly shot simultaneously.

    As for the rest, their teamwork was impable, especially with Tiara charging at the front. She was the only actual Tier-1 warrior, and she was in possession of several Artifacts that enhanced her power even further. She could inflict more damage than the Water Elemental Mage and kill more opponents than Michael due to her swift and decisive movements.

    Tiara moved through the battlefield like a Valkyrie. It looked elegant, yet merciless and brutal as blood and brain matter sttered everywhere around her.

    At one point near the end of the battle, the huge Frenzy Deer bleated loudly. In response, the exhausted Frenzy Deers seemed to have gained a sudden surge of energy. They regained their full power and charged at Michael altogether.

    Michael was a little bit stupefied at that point, but the number of Frenzy Deers left alive had decreased to less than a dozen. A barrage of arrows and bolts was enough to kill one of the energetic Frenzy Deers, while another one was killed by a water bullet to its head before it could even cross five meters.

    The remaining Frenzy Deers were full of energy, but so were Tiara and the other melee fighters. Everyone charged forward while their Links of Loyalty within Michael''s War Rune seemed to be going wild.

    They hacked and shed at the energetic Frenzy Deers, killing one after another in no time.

    Meanwhile, Michael appeared in front of the dying leader of the Frenzy Deers. He knew that the Frenzy Deer had never attacked him, but the same applied to the ck Bear.

    They never attacked him first. It had been Michael who started attacking both the ferocious monsters. However, in the Untamed Jungle, and everywhere across the Origin Expanse, only strength mattered.

    As long as you had the necessary strength, you could do anything.

    Michael understood that individual strength, connections, and wealth were the pirs of true power, whether inside or outside the Origin Expanse.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    This was something he had experienced often enough, and he knew that he couldn''t stay the weak and merciful coward he had been in the past. If he did not be shrewd and tactful, Michael would be faced with death much sooner than he thought.

    A single mistake was all it took.

    With those thoughts rampaging through his mind, Michael lifted Tigerfang high in the air. He turned it upside down and looked deep into the dark eyes of the Frenzy Deer''s leader before he pierced it into the beast''s flesh.

    Michael grit his teeth as Tigerfang''s tip cut through the Frenzy Deer''s neck. He twisted the longsword in the monster''s neck and pulled downward, cutting the artery.

    Warm blood sttered on Michael''s face as he kept staring at the big ck eyes of the huge Frenzy Deer. It stared right back at him until thest moment when the life in its eyes finally dispersed. Its huge body twitched two more times before it stopped moving altogether.

    What followed was a powerful surge of energy, which flooded Michael, and thunderous cheers that rang through the entire clearing and the area around.

    Michael sighed heavily. He retrieved Tigerfang and put it back inside his War Rune while continuing to stare at the huge Frenzy Dear.

    Many thoughts shed through his mind and a fresh doubt of uncertainty surfaced on his mind.

    However, before the seed could bury itself and grow roots, Michael grasped it and pulled it out.

    He had always known that being a Lord in the Origin Expanse meant that one would have to be stronger and kill all probable future opponents or get killed eventually.

    The Untamed Jungle was dangerous. Preparing for the worst-case scenario meant that he had to make use of all opportunities at his disposal.

    ''The ck Bear would have killed the Frenzy Deer today, either way. How much longer would it have taken until the ck Bear would have found my territory and targeted me?'' Michael asked himself at this point.

    ''I did the right thing by hunting down the ck Bear.''

    That thought was deeply imprinted on his mind.

    It allowed Michael to divert his focus and take a look at the grand picture.

    He had killed two Tier-2 Monsters, and their corpses ¨C in addition to more than a hundred Tier-1 Frenzy Deers ¨C were waiting for him to be imed and looted!

    Michael''s hand began to glow brightly as golden streams manifested all around them.

    It was Extraction time!

 Chapter 84 Great Haul

    Michael used Extraction on more than a hundred Frenzy Deers, the huge Frenzy Deer leader, and the ck Bear.

    The Frenzy Deers'' Antlers and Monster Cores were stored first before Michael collected the special drops he had extracted.

    He stored the bodies of the huge Frenzy Deer and the ck Bear afterward and told Tiara to fill her War Rune''s storage space with as many corpses as possible.

    On the other hand, Michael''s focus shifted to the special drops he had received.

    The mostmon drops were the usual, something he always obtained when he used Extraction on monster corpses. In total, he extracted 1254 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 26 Summoning Scrolls, and 11 Blueprints.

    He also extracted a Tierless 1-Star Artifact this time. It was a dark green-colored coin. Michael had no idea what it could do but it was an Artifact, a Tierless 1-Star Artifact though.

    While all of that could be considered a pretty good haul, Michael''s eyes fell on two familiar items.

    Both the huge Frenzy Dear and the ck Bear had dropped a piece of parchment. They showed different areas of the Untamed Jungle''s topography.

    "Two more pieces of the map? Shouldn''t I have most of them by now?" Michael mumbled to himself as he retrieved the three pieces of the map that he had collected until now.

    The moment he retrieved the pieces of parchment, the five parchments began to tremble. The parchment exuded a dim white light and the trembling intensified.

    An unknown force seemed to be trying to pull the parchments out of Michael''s hands and he let them go subconsciously.

    In response, the five parchments shot in the air. They stopped mid-air and hovered above Michael''s head for a while. After a few seconds of staying still, the parchments began to move towards each other. The strands of fiber at the edges of the parchments wiggled as they tried to connect to the other.

    Four parchments moved closer, forming a beautiful map of the Untamed Jungle''s topography. Meanwhile, the fifth parchment connected to the underside of the map, where gleaming azure lines manifested. The azure lines felt like streams as they moved from the edges to the center of the fifth parchment where they connected. An array of azure streams formed on the backside, and it emitted an impressive aura.

    ''A miniature array? That''s crazy¡­''

    Michael stared nkly at the map that fell into his hands after the transformation had beenpleted.

    "Oho?!" He eximed while his eyes widened.

    What had been undetailed and a crude piece of parchment before was now a greatly detailed map of the Untamed Jungle. It didn''t show the entire region, but Michael could pinpoint a few areas, such as the former Gogi Lord territory, and the lizard cave.

    In one direction, one could even see the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle. That was the direction of the teau connected to the Untamed Jungle and where Xiltray.

    But what interested Michael more than the details on the map was the white arrow circled in as a red bubble. When Michael turned around, the arrow turned with him.

    At first, Michael thought that it showed his position and that it turned with him to indicate where he was about to go, but that was proven wrong after he took a few steps.

    The arrow moved in a different direction when he walked in a straight line.

    ''It''s almost as if it is pointing at something¡­''

    It felt like the arrow wanted him to go in a certain direction.

    "Is that a GPS treasure map?"

    The more Michael looked at the treasure map the more interesting it seemed. He felt his hands itching and his mind screaming at him, telling Michael to follow the treasure map immediately and enjoy a nerve-wracking adventure with his people.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, he stopped himself. It was not as if the map would run away from him. The energy influx that spread through his entire body was high and he knew that he wouldn''t be able to fight properly in his current condition. He had to digest the energy influx of the two Tier-2 Monsters first. Afterward, he could take a good look at the GPS treasure map.

    With that thought, he stored the map back in the storage space of his War Rune. To distract himself, he took a look at the blueprints he had extracted today. Two of them were unusually big, which indicated that the constructions were either much bigger than the norm, or that it was far moreplex than ordinary buildings.

    The two blueprints were no different from that.

    "An¡­Intermediate Summoning Gate Blueprint¡­and a Small Teleportation Array blueprint?! What the¡­" Michael blurted out in shock.

    Saying that he was baffled was a gross understatement.

    Countless Lords struggled to obtain the blueprints for an Intermediate Summoning Gate. The blueprint was a perishable item that would be used up once learned by the architects and engineers. It would disperse afterward while providing the architects and engineers with the necessary knowledge to dismantle the Basic Summoning Gate and reassemble it with the additional parts to upgrade it.

    The Small Teleportation Array was not a consumable item, but it was even more unique than the Intermediate Summoning Gate blueprint. The droprate for the Small Teleportation Array was disgustingly low, and nobody knew for sure which monsters were more likely to drop it. Thus, only a handful of Lords were able to install Small Teleportation Arrays in their territory, with most of them being on the same level as Native Dukes, or Kingdoms.

    And an ingenious stroke of luck had blessed Michael with two exceedingly rare blueprints of high value, just like that. He could earn tens of million by selling them, but that would be stupid.

    Even auctioning them for a hundred million dors each would be nonsensical for someone like Michael.

    Instead of receiving momentary gains, he should make use of the blueprints for his territory and expand it using both the Intermediate Summoning Gate and the Small Teleportation Array.

    With that in mind, he took a short nce at the required items to construct both the Intermediate Summoning Gate and Small Teleportation Arrays.

    "Oh fuck!" He cursed almost immediately, "Even the items to construct them are fucking expensive¡­"

    ''Looks like I have to postpone their construction for a while,'' Michael grumbled in his head before he put the blueprints inside his War Rune.

    He then proceeded to look at thest drop he had extracted from the ck Bear''s Corpse.

    His eyes widened when he looked at thest items and his brain switched off as he nkly stared at the items that were lying on the ground, waiting to be noticed till now.

    "Wait¡­what?! How is that even possible?" He shouted out in a voice loud enough to attract the attention of his subjects.

    Tiara turned in his direction and saw Michael staring nkly at a bunch of transparent marbles.

    Was there anything special about these marbles? They had something purple swirling inside them, but it didn''t seem to be too¡­.

    Realization dawned upon Tiara at this moment. Her eyes widened and the hair on her tail shot up. She felt goosebumps spreading all over her body.

    Until now, Tiara had only seen the marbles once, and that was when she had been next to Michael.

    They had dropped upon extracting Fenrir''s body!

    Exactly.

    Shockingly enough, the inconspicuous-looking marbles were none other than SoulStar Fragments!

 Chapter 85 Feast

    Thest items Michael had extracted from the ck Bear were SoulStar Fragments!

    There weren''t many of them, but that did not matter. The SoulStar Fragments were genuine, and they had been extracted from a monster!

    "How is that even possible?" He mumbled while a white stream of energy shot out of his War Rune.

    It was the same tentacle-shaped stream of energy as usual. It dashed toward the three SoulStar Fragments and devoured them instantaneously.

    ''The ck Bear dropped 3 SoulStar Fragments¡­why though?'' He asked himself first before he thought of something else.

    ''What is the corrtion between the Heroic Summon Fenrir, the Gogi Lord, and the ck Bear?''

    Until now, Michael had been certain that only Awakened with War Runes and Summons with a high star rating could drop Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments. However, now it was a monster that seemed to have dropped SoulStar Fragments!

    ''I have never seen or heard anything about a Bear living in the Untamed Jungle. The huge Frenzy Deer had a horde, and there should be more of them spread through the Untamed Jungle¡­but what about the ck Bear? Is it a special monster?''

    It was a little bit weird.

    The ck Bear seemed to be a special monster from somewhere nearby, but how did that make sense? Maybe it was just a single monster that had fled into the Untamed Jungle¡­but that didn''t answer the most crucial question; whatmon points did the ck Bear, Fenrir, and the Gogi Lord have?

    At the end of the day, Michael had been certain that he had finally figured out the condition for SoulStar Fragments to drop. However, the extraction of the ck Bear changed his understanding of his Soultrait altogether.

    Fenrir had been in possession of an 8-Star Soultrait when he was still alive as Cleave Fenrir. His potential was tremendous even as a Heroic Summon.

    And he assumed that the Gogi Lord had been in possession of a Soultrait. Michael was not too sure about that because he had never seen the Gogi Lord using a special Soultrait. But, of course, countless types of Soultraits existed. It was highly likely that it was a Soultrait one couldn''t see.

    However, it was a fact that all Lords were either in possession of a Soultrait or that they would awaken er once their Soul was nourished through the dormant energy of the Origin Expanse. One way or another, all Lords were supposed to awaken a Soultrait at one point.

    But if that was the case, what was the reason behind the ck Bear''s drop of SoulStar Fragments? It was neither a summoned being with a high star rating since it had been in possession of a Monster Core, and it was not an Awakened being with a War Rune either.

    ''Let''s just say that the ck Bear was a special regional boss and that all regional bosses drop SoulStar Fragments,'' Michael told himself.

    ''That''s valid until it''s proven wrong.''

    It was easier to give simple solutions than to think too long about something that was not actually worth it.

    He would never be able to clear his mind if he wasted his time overthinking every little thing.

    Furthermore, the Will of the Origin Expanse was unfathomable. It didn''t have to make sense all the time, or so it seemed.

    With that in mind, Michael''s train of thought returned to the treasure map.

    His adventurous spirit awakened and he desired to follow the arrow on the map to find out where it would lead him.

    He didn''t think that there would be much of a problem taking a quick nce at the destination. Furthermore, it would be better to find out what kind of ce the arrow would lead him to so as to prepare for the worst case ordingly.

    But before Michael went on his first adventure, he digested the energy influx of the Monsters he had killed.

    The two Tier-2 Monsters provided a tremendous amount of energy, and he was able to digest almost all of it. That was different from before. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael could only digest less than a quarter of the Lizard mother''s energy influx properly because his body couldn''t handle the toll. He had to use three-quarters of the energy influx by constantly activating his Soultraits and channeling energy into his Artifacts, otherwise, he would have copsed on the spot.

    That was not the case anymore.

    He could endure the energy influx and give his War Rune the time it needed to absorb everything for refinement.

    Michael was not sure if the energy would be enough to break through the barrier separating him from the 1st Tier, but it wouldn''t be a problem even if he couldn''t reach the 1st Tier after killing two Tier-2 Monsters. He had more than enough time left to spare and there was no need to hurry.

    Thus, Michael and his people returned to the territory now that their hunt had ended. It had been a great sess, which Michael celebrated by giving the cooks several hundred kilograms of ck Bear Meat to serve everyone.

    The nutrition in the meat of a Tier-2 monster was several times higher than the nutrition in a Tier-1 monster meat. It would make his subjects feel full and let them enjoy avish feast for quite a while, giving them something tender and juicy to savor.

    They would probably think about the Tier-2 meat for a long time, which was something Michael enjoyed watching.

    Hebined 1250 Summoning Scroll Fragments into 50 Summoning Scrolls and put them together with the 26 Summoning Scrolls before he broke them to expand the poption of his territory by 76 new subjects.

    Other than two Warriors and another Archer, Michael summoned two 1-Star Carpenters, a second 1-Star Architect Apprentice, and a second Alchemist Apprentice.

    The gains were pretty good, and it improved Michael''s mood even further.

    He ate several kilograms of ck Bear Meat while savoring every single bite of it.

    His gluttonous stomach was in euphoria for a long time, and he felt extremely pleased with himself.

    When it waste at night, everyone went to sleep. It was dark outside, and no more work could bepleted in low light. However, everybody looked forward to each new day and was full of energy, ready and well-rested for the tasks that had to bepleted in the next few days.

    Meanwhile, Michael resumed his practice of the Berserker Physique.

    After eating several kilograms of ck Bear meat, Michael''s body was not only overflowing with energy but also with nutrition.

    That being said, Michael could practice the Berserker Physique''s first level with much higher intensity than the days before.

    He practiced it for half an hour like usual, but the energy and nutrition he used up tonight had been several times his normal consumption.

    His muscles screamed for rest due to all the soreness, which Michael had to ignore in order to start the second process of his daily workout; the practice of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique.

    Michael wanted to improve his physique and change his breathing fundamentally using the second version of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique.

    Neither was easy, but it felt like the nutrition provided by the meat of Tier-2 monsters ¨C and their energy influx ¨C allowed him to take a shortcut.

    This excited Michael.

    It made him wonder if it was possible to elerate his progress even further.

    The sensation of bing stronger and altering his body made him feel something he hadn''t felt for a long time.

    It was addictive and made him crave more.

 Chapter 86 Physique

    The sensation of his muscles growing and erging along with the other changes in his body was truly mysterious.

    Combining the use of the Berserker Physique''s harsh practice and high consumption of both nutrition and energy with the freshness of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique was miraculous.

    The difort and the intense ache in his muscles after being subjected to extreme wear and tear in the workout were washed away the moment the breathing technique allowed him to enter a state of calm. The energy lingering in the air around him flooded his body. A single breath was all it took to open his pores and allow the energy in the room to enter his body from all directions.

    His body reacted drastically to the energy at first, rejecting it for a few seconds, until it realized that the energy was stimting the recuperation of his body.

    In the next few minutes, he recuperated much faster with more energy inside him. The energy influx was still spreading through every cell in his body, but the fresh energy around him was more invigorating.

    His War Rune couldn''t absorb the fresh energy in the atmosphere of the Origin Expanse because he was not practicing a special technique that allowed such a phenomenon, but that was no problem.

    After all, his body required the fresh and vibrant energy of the surroundings to recuperate faster and stimte his body. That way, he could change the way he breathed fundamentally much faster!

    Michael was not sure how much time had passed but he felt refreshed once he stopped practicing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique.

    ''Did I sleep?'' He wondered when he noticed that he was not tired at all. It was almost as if he had been in a deep sleep while sitting cross-legged for eight hours, or more.

    Usually, he felt a little bit tired after he woke up, and it would take an hour or two until his body and mind were fully awake, but that was not the case right now.

    He opened his eyes after practicing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique and he felt refreshed and was wide awake immediately.

    His mind was clear, and he didn''t feel sore when he got up from the ground either.

    "...amazing¡­"

    Michael threw a few punches in the air, and went back to the ground to do a few push-ups before he got back up again. His expression was one of utter disbelief.

    ''Did the changes in my body already ur? I feel much stronger than expected, and my breathing feels more regted and even.''

    He had a hard time exining how he felt right now. It was weird and something one had to experience in order to understand properly.

    Michael threw a nce at the back of his hand to look at the refinement degree of his War Rune. Afterward, he sensed the remaining energy influx inside his body.

    A third of the energy influx had been used up in a day. That was more than he anticipated his War Rune to absorb in half a day.

    It was morning already, and his subjects were already bustling like usual, getting ready for the day''s work.

    Michael had a lot to do, whether it was to study the materials he received for the aptitude assessment ormanding his subjects to distribute more tasks. There was also the GPS treasure map.

    However, instead of beginning to work, Michael decided to test himself again. He started with a few sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and other exercises in his room.

    Once he was done with that, he left the room and went for a jog. Michael tested his eleration, his top speed, and how long he could run at top speed without feeling tired out.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The results of his tests wouldn''t be as urate as they would be during the aptitude assessment, but that was not Michael''s concern right now.

    He was more intrigued about the changes in his body and how much he had improved.

    His Tier-0 War Rune was not yet refined to the Peak stage, but his physique felt much stronger than the day before. He was close to the Peak stage, but it was not as if his body would have improved that much from the strengthening his War Rune provided overnight.

    He had learned in school that the War Rune was a generator of power that had to be upgraded with the influx of energy. Due to the upgrades, the resultant power generated from the War Rune would constantly increase.

    Such aparison was simple, and it made sense. After all, the power circting through the human body increased the further the War Rune was refined.

    However, there was one point Michael hadn''t been taught. It was something he realized only now.

    No matter how much power the generator generated, the generator would be useless if it was put in a frail machine that broke the moment the generator unleashed all energy or a machine that was rusty. The generator wouldn''t be able to use its power in the most efficient way and circte it efficiently.

    ''Doesn''t that mean, every Lord and Adventurer should be practicing body refinement techniques to keep their body up to date with their War Rune''s refinement?''

    Was thatmon sense, or did the school not teach him that intentionally? Michael was not too sure about that anymore.

    However, he could tell that it was necessary to keep refining his body if he wanted to use the full potential of his War Rune''s high refinement.

    It would be a waste of time and effort to rashly advance his War Rune to the 1st Tier if his body was not able to handle the power it unleashed.

    Fortunately, he had still some time left to find out more about the importance of body refinement, and the corrtion between the War Rune''s enhancements and the strengthening of the body through workouts.

    As such, four days passed in the blink of an eye.

    Michael continued to practice thebo of the Berserker Physique with the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique. And by consuming arge amount of ck Bear Meat to keep up with the high utilization of energy, Michael could vividly feel and see the changes that urred in his body.

    It was shocking.

    After three days of hard work, he thought that he reached a threshold. Michael was certain that the improvements in his physique would slow down after the third day of his tests, and that he would have much more difficulty determining the extent of growth in his strength. However, he was proven wrong the next day.

    On the fourth day, his War Rune consumed the remaining energy influx in his body. The Tierless War Rune''s refinement degree reached the Peak stage.

    The moment his War Rune reached the Peak of Tier-0, his body and mind were strengthened. Practicing the Berserker Physique technique afterward allowed him to sense drastic changes inside his body once again.

    Did that mean he refined his body once again after his War Rune had been ''upgraded'' to the Peak of Tier-0, or was it just the unrefined enhancement the War Rune provided that was refined through the Berserker Physique technique?

    Michael was not too sure about that anymore¡­

 Chapter 87 Following The Map

    It had been five days since they defeated the ck Bear and the huge Frenzy Deer.

    Michael was at the Peak of Tier-0, and he felt much stronger than ever before.

    By working out every day, using the energy influx in his body and the nutrition provided by the meat of Tier-2 monsters, Michael could improve his physical strength. This allowed him to utilize the War Rune''s provided power more efficiently.

    It was his 25th day inside the Origin Expanse, and Michael had finally found an efficient routine toplete his daily tasks as a Lord and make sure that his subjects were happy and working hard.

    Every morning, Michael used Extraction on the monster corpses hunted by Tiara and herbat unit the day before. He dissected the carcasses near-perfectly and used the special drops to summon more subjects.

    Soon the warehouse was filled with dissected carcasses and duplicated blueprints. Hence, Michael squeezed them inside his War Rune''s spatial space. He left the Origin Expanse to hail a shuttle that would take him to the Central Trading Hall where the House of Witchery was located.

    Michael sold the remaining parts of the near-perfectly dissected Tier-2 monster corpses in the House of Witchery, only leaving their meat for himself and his subjects. Simultaneously, Michael sold more than 100 Tier-1 Monster Cores, Antlers, and other body parts of the Frenzy Deer Horde.

    Over the course of two days, Michael left the Origin twice because his spatial space was too cramped to squeeze all goods in one War Rune. That made him wonder how other Lords sold or stored their goods after they created multiple sources of ie such as mining ores, gardening, and horticulture. The spatial space would expand significantly after the War Rune advanced a Tier, but there were limits, nheless.

    Either way, Michael earned more than one million dors from his two trips to the House of Witchery. The Tier-2 monsters were very valuable, but the price for Tier-1 carcasses and duplicated blueprints couldn''t be taken lightly either. They were still worth a lot.

    Michael was happy with his ie, but it was more of a necessity than a nice side hustle. After all, he paid a million dors to equip himself with all kinds of goods for the treasure-hunting adventure.

    Since his adventurer spirit had been awoken, and his mind was going wild while thinking about adventures, Michael did not hold himself back while spending on the necessary equipment. He was prepared for everything!

    However, before he rushed into anything, Michael walked over to the librarians and various volunteers with a stash of paper, ink, and pens. He handed the librarians the Berserker Physique technique and requested them to duplicate the technique. He instructed them to share it with everyone who wanted to use it to train their physique.

    Even if Starless Sumons wanted to use these techniques, he was perfectly fine with it. The technique he had purchased allowed Starless Summons to turn into Warriors and attain enough power to defend themselves. Maybe the Will of the Origin Expanse wouldn''t consider them Warriors ording to their star rating, but their physique can turn into that of a warrior.

    With enough hard work, they can learn how to wield weapons and be true warriors¡­just not in the star rating without attaining enlightenment.

    But did it really matter whether the Will considered you worthy enough to be promoted? Michael didn''t care.

    He would rather prefer to have Starless self-proimed Warriors to protect his territory after training them harshly for months than Starless Summons, who would allow enemies to bulldoze them if they were to invade the territory.

    With such thoughts shing through his mind, Michael chose to support the Starless Summons, who were willing to train hard after theypleted their daily tasks. He rewarded them and hoped that they would be stronger in no time.

    Simultaneously, their ambition further fueled his desire to find out more about the ce the GPS treasure map led to.

    He waited for ire, Tiara, and Tiara''sbat unit to gather before they set off together.

    It was not difficult to follow the arrow on the map. It leads them straightaway to their destination.

    Thanks to ire, they avoided some hotspots for monster packs to gather. This saved them lots of time, and they arrived at the location pinpointed by the treasure map only two hourster.

    However, when they reached their destination, Michael was stupefied.

    "The lizard cave¡­for real now?!"

    Michael knew that the lizard cave was a treasure trove, but he didn''t expect the treasure map to point at it. The arrow pointed at the entrance of the lizard cave as he circled around it multiple times. However, after they stepped inside the cavern entrance, the treasure map began to glow and change. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Instead of showing the detailed topography of the Untamed Jungle''s outer area, it showed various underground tunnels in great detail. Meanwhile, the back of the map shone brightly, illuminating the ground.

    He looked intently at the map and realized that the cavern system of the lizard cave was much grander than he could have anticipated. That was great, but it also meant that danger could appear from every corner.

    "Before we proceed, make three copies of the map," Michael ordered ire, who had been standing to his left, observing the map after it had transformed.

    She nodded her head, retrieved arge parchment, and began to redraw the map. She spent half an hour copying the map, so the details of the first copy were not that great. However, that was not important since Michael merely wanted to make sure that everyone studied the map for a while as she drew it.

    This was to make sure that everyone could find a way out of the cavern system if they were to lose the rest of the group and get lost.

    ''If the lizard cave has a treasure created by the Will and those valuable natural resources, I shouldn''t postpone conquering the lizard cave any further!''

    Michael and the others could feel the eeriness oozing out of the depths of the lizard cave, but everyone understood that the natural resources of the lizard cave had to be harvested eventually. Otherwise, their territory''s progress would slow down ¨C if not stagnate ¨C in the near future.

    They were alreadycking various resources that could be provided by the lizard cave, but Michael always postponed the conquest of the lizard cave, saying that it was too dangerous.

    However, they had to take that risk now that things had changed. Finding and collecting a treasure created by the Will of the Origin Expanse could change the development path of the Origin Expanse altogether. The subjects could tell this instinctively when Michael showed them the treasure map, and they were all ready to support their Lord''s conquest to the fullest ¨C even if their death was the oue.

    Michael saw the trust and determination in his subjects'' eyes, and he smiled faintly.

    "Study the map for an hour," He instructed. Then, he turned to ire, who had been studying the map for almost two hours now, "Move into the deeper parts of the cavern system without attracting the attention of the monsters there. If you cannot proceed without getting found out return to me immediately. I don''t want you to sacrifice yourself needlessly."

    Michael handed her the treasure map after giving his order and bent down to touch the ground.

    His hands began to glow golden as he exerted Extraction to extract some Gloa Crystals and the frail white stones, which had properties simr to magnesite. Michael was not sure what it was called, but that was not important since he knew what he was supposed to do now that he was already inside the lizard cave.

    While the others studied the map, and ire ventured deeper into the cavern system, Michael retrieved a few empty ss vials from his War Rune.

    A few more ingredients appeared on the ground in front of him as Michael sat down.

    "Let''s see if I observed him enough to replicate the shbangs¡­"

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

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    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 88 Tiaras Prowess

    ire returned from the depths of the lizard cave half an hourter.

    By then, Michael had finished creating a few shbangs. They were not as potent as the ones created by the Alchemist Apprentice, but Michael didn''t have any alchemy tools at hand, and it was his first time creating shbangs using the materials of the Origin Expanse. Thus, he was quite satisfied with the result.

    At least, they worked!

    "The deeper you venture the more lizards we''ll encounter. They''re almost everywhere," ire began narrating her report.

    "The number of lizards clustering together is still negligible but there are many small groups, and we won''t be able to avoid them given our small group. Nobody can walk around as stealthily as I can. If we want to venture deeper and follow the arrow on the treasure map we''ll have to fight our way through the lizards."

    Michael listened intently, grimly nodding his head.

    "Are all Lizards at the 2nd Tier?" He asked.

    "No. The Tier-2 Lizards are rare and they seemed to be loners. The groups of lizards all consist of Tier-1 monsters, and their numbers are small as well," ire responded.

    Michael got up from the ground when he heard that. He turned to his people, who were already watching him, waiting patiently for hismand to set off and venture deeper into the lizard cave.

    Michael smiled faintly when he saw that before he gestured to his people to get up.

    "It''s time for a small clean-up!"

    He retrieved a bunch of objects from his War Rune and handed them out one after another.

    First, Michael handed everyone three different types of potions. Then, he gave the Archers and Aero Crossbowmen explosive arrows and bolts. Lastly, he followed up by distributing highly potent paralysis venom.

    At the same time, ire was given a few sets of traps, which she could install all around the cave swiftly.

    As the Tracker of the group, she was the only one who could install the traps. That was also one of the many reasons why he brought her along with him today; to install traps wherever necessary.

    Most items he handed out today were recently bought. They were quite expensive, especially the traps, the explosive arrows and bolts, and the highly potent paralysis venom. Each of them possessed the power to inflict injuries to Tier-2 Monsters or restrict them at the very least.

    Thus, Michael bought them to make sure that he wouldn''t bepletely defenseless if he encountered an unscathed Tier-2 Monster. He wouldn''t always be lucky enough to find injured Tier-2 monsters or be able to trick them into fighting each other and wait until both are exhausted to deliver the final blow.

    Feeling confident of himself and his team, yet vignt of the surroundings, Michael and his team ventured deeper into the lizard cave.

    They walked past the cavity where he found the lizard mother''s eggs a few minutester, and they proceeded to walk ahead.

    In no time, they crossed a big distance and the cavern entrance behind them couldn''t be seen anymore. Simultaneously, it felt like the world around them changedpletely.

    The bright light shining through the cavern entrance was no more. It was reced by the dim light of the Gloa Crystals, which protruded from the ground, the walls, and the ceiling.

    As they proceeded to venture deeper into the lizard cavern, they encountered the first lizard group. There were four lizards the size of a big dog.

    Michael retrieved the Hardwood Bow and the Return Arrow from his War Rune. He moved smoothly, nocked the arrow on the bowstring, and pulled back. A momentter, he released the arrow together with the others.

    By now, Michael had four Archers in his army. Working together with the two Aero Crossbowmen and the Water Elemental Mage, his archers released their arrows and a total of eight projectiles whizzed through the air. Six projectiles hit the same target, breaking the lizard''s scales before piercing the soft flesh beneath, while the remaining two projectiles pierced one target each.

    Michael''s Return Arrow pierced the brain of one lizard, while the water bullets of the Water Elemental Mage did the same.

    Simultaneously, Tiara appeared in front of the remaining lizards. Her body arched and her hand holding the silver spear lunged forward.

    The de of the silver spear pierced through one of the lizards just before Tiara changed her trajectory suddenly. She turned her body instantly and mmed the dull backside of the silver spear through the other lizard near her, pushing it deeper into its flesh.

    Something about Tiara''s movements had changed since she obtained the Artifacts from Michael. He didn''t think too much about it at first, but his curiosity increased the more he watched her fight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tiara''s movements were weird, especially the way in which she could instantly turn and flip around. It was unnatural and extremely lethal for her opponents. Nobody expected her to be able to evade certain attacks, but Tiara easily turned and twisted herself with a burst of energy that left her opponents confused.

    This was most apparent when they encountered a lone lizard that was as strong as the lizard mother, which annihted the Gogi Lord and his subjects.

    Michael tensed up when he saw the Lowest Tier-2 lizard, but he regained his calm the next instant. He had made more than enough preparations to kill such a monster, and with Tiara by his side, he did not have to worry.

    She had advanced to the Mid Tier-1 and herbat prowess was close to Peak Tier-1 Monsters thanks to her skills, and the silver spear which could easily prate the hide of Tier-2 monsters as long as enough force is applied.

    However, Michael was taken aback when he saw Tiara tackle the Tier-2 Lizard single-handedly. He had been certain that their whole team would have to rely on the high-potency paralysis venom to wear down Tier-2 monsters. But that was not the case.

    Tiara merely required a single thrust to break through the highly durable lizard scales and cause a massacre in the lizard cave.

    The silver spear dug deep into the Tier-2 Lizard''s flesh before an explosion of power urred. Energy surged out of the silver spear explosively, and it destroyed everything around it.

    Even though Michael had exerted the Eagle Eyes Soultriai, he was stupefied. His eyes could follow Tiara''s movements, but they didn''t really make sense.

    He had a hard time processing what Tiara had done. The battle was already over, yet Michael and the others stared nkly at the Battle Maid from the Silverfang Tigerfolk.

    ''Was that her Soultrait, or a martial art that uses her racial traits?'' Michael wondered, his expression filled with doubt and confusion.

    He could tell that Tiara''s strength increased drastically thanks to the Artifacts'' external enhancements, and it felt like the enhancement allowed her to fulfill the conditions to use special movements, which she used with great familiarity.

    ''Did she lose her power before bing my personal maid? How is she suddenly so agile and nimble?''

    Michael was not too sure about his thought, but it was definitely weird. Tiara''sbat experience and movements had improved significantlypared to the way she fought before.

    However, that was a good thing for Michael and his territory.

    No matter what the reason may be, and how much confusion it caused, it was great that Tiara grew stronger!

    Following the next few hours, Michael and his team were able to remove all obstructions in their way.

    They ventured deeper into the lizard cave and followed the arrow on the treasure map as the cavern tunnel split up into several smaller tunnels.

    The tunnels became increasingly narrow, but with Michael and Tiara in the front, nobody had to worry about anything.

    After hours of hard work, a bright light illuminated the end of the cavern tunnel.

    Michael and the others were tense and vignt of the bright light. However, curiosity got the better of them and they continued moving forward.

    Their hearts palpated and the thought of discovering the whereabouts of a heavenly treasure caused excitement to spread through every single cell in their body.

    The group inched closer to the bright light.

    It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the sudden intrusion of bright light, but when they saw the scenery that was unveiled in front of them, they were shocked to the core.

    Even Michael was having problems controlling his expression and keeping a straight face. His eyes widened in shock and his jaw hit the ground.

    A humongous underground hall nowy in front of their eyes.

    However, it was not just an ordinary underground hall. No, it was far from ordinary.

    "What the fuck¡­is that an illusion?! This cannot be real!"

 Chapter 89 Miraculous Hall

    A wild and untamed realm bursting with life and lush greenery appeared in front of Michael and his group.

    Towering trees formed a dense canopy overhead, reaching toward the crystal ceiling, which illuminated the lively realm. The beams of light pierced through the thick foliage, casting uneven patches of warmth all over the underground hall.

    Vibrant flowers of all forms and sizes were scattered across the ground, their colors ranging from velvet purples to fiery orange. Butterflies, Lizards, huge Frenzy Deers, and packs of Thorny Wolves entered their sight as the monsters walked around unbothered.

    The air underground was thick and filled with the scent of exotic blossoms. It was like a sweet misty perfume lingering in the air around them.

    ''Oh my¡­''

    Never would they have believed that the Untamed Jungle could be hiding an underground ecosystem pulsing with life and wonder beneath its surface. A seemingly ordinary cavern entrance with aplex tunnel system turned into a humongous underground ecosystem that took everybody by surprise.

    Michael was stunned and he even forgot to breathe for a while. Upon realization, he gasped for air. He was embarrassed about that, at first, but he quickly realized that the others pretty much had the same reaction.

    They too momentarily forgot to breathe at the miraculous sight of the underground ecosystem.

    But who could hold them ountable for that? The entire ecosystem seemed to be too magical to exist in reality.

    A soft, golden glow permeated the air, emanating from luminescent nts that dotted thend around them, giving it a mystic aura. The abundance of bioluminescent flora and fauna further added to the charm, casting ethereal streams of light that danced and shimmered like the gentle sparks of fireflies.

    Verdant ferns and vibrantly blue moss grew everywhere, their hues contrasting the warm and earthy tones of the towering trees and the fertile soil.

    There were even two crystal clear streams flowing through the various creeks in the underground ecosystem, their gentle trickling creating a soothing soundtrack. Clusters of small fishes darted through the water, their colorful scales shining like precious gemstones.

    The air around them was filled with the melodies of birds, the sshing water, and the noises of the monsters living in the underground ecosystem. It felt like the underground ecosystem was a peaceful shelter for all life, abundant and all-epassing.

    Was that what paradise was supposed to look like?

    Michael was not sure. How would he know what paradise looked like?

    He only knew one thing for sure; he was at the right ce.

    His gaze moved deeper into the heart of the underground ecosystem, where he stumbled upon a half-covered temple that time had slowly imed as its own.

    The treasure map had led them to the heart of the underground ecosystem, and Michael instinctively knew that the temple was the final destination of the map. It was not even questionable, and he could not contain his excitement.

    Moss and vines covered the ancient stone, reiming it with their emerald embrace. The temple''s weathered facade told the tales of a forgotten civilization, its intricate carvings whispering stories of a bygone era.

    Moss-covered statues, a few broken and weathered, towered around the temple, guarding it from outside invaders, as they looked down at the old ¨C mostly covered ¨C stone path leading to the temple''s entrance at the top.

    Michael''s Eagle Eyes couldn''t make out every little detail from his position, but his heart beat wildly at the sight of the temple. Somehow, he felt himself filled with a sense of reverence looking at the temple. It was almost as if the spirits of the jungle were still lingering within and around the temple''s moss-covered stones, beckoning him.

    The harmonious coexistence of nature and the ancient temple underground caused shivers to run down Michael''s spine.

    It seemed like he spent an eternity getting back to his senses, but when he regained hisposure, he was still baffled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''It looks like an Aztec temple, just much bigger, more impressive, and seemingly alive. The pressure I can feel from hundreds of meters away is already shocking¡­Just what is this temple?''

    Oddly enough, the first thing that came to Michael''s mind when he regained his senses was Fenrir''s memories and the wicked Spear Art.

    He didn''t know how Fenrir must have procured the wicked Spear Art because the memories didn''t show that, but if his memory wasn''t failing him, Fenrir obtained the wicked Spear Arts and several unique treasures from ruins that seemed simr to this one.

    It was not a jungle temple in an underground ecosystem, but it was also a ce in the depths of the Origin Expanse.

    Either way, if the jungle temple provided as exceptional treasures as Fenrir obtained, Michael would be over the moon.

    He was getting excited, but he also understood one issue; not a single monster in the underground ecosystem was Tier-1.

    The weakest presence came from the huge Frenzy Deer he saw a few minutes ago. It was as strong as the huge Frenzy Deer he killed after the ck Bear brought it to a near-death state at the surface.

    If the Tier-2 Frenzy Deer was the weakest monster, how strong were the Thorny Wolves and the other monsters, which were spread out through the underground ecosystem?

    "I will take a closer look at the temple and inspect it up close. You guys, stay behind," Michael ordered, "If a powerful monster that you cannot handle attacks, retreat and return to the surface. I will be fine."

    While saying so, Michael retrieved a few items from his War Rune''s spatial space.

    He smeared the content of a ss vial all over his body, covering his scent and presence. Afterward, he swallowed the viscous liquid of another potion. The potion calmed the energy inside him as well as his heart and mind.

    Afterward, he put ayer of mud on top of the potion he had smeared all over his body. The mud had been infused with certain enchantments to muffle the vibrations his steps created and to hide his presence even further.

    Michael had no idea how that worked, but it did. It was not necessary to know the principle behind the potions and the mud to know that it was effective as he had paid a handsome amount to secure these items.

    From one moment to the next, Michael''s scent, presence, and energy seemed to disappear.

    Combined with everything he used right now, Michael doubted that the monsters would be able to detect him. That was, as long as he wouldn''t run around in the open like a maniac.

    He could stealthily move around now without the need to worry whether the monsters in the underground ecosystem were peaceful, or if they would attack him for invading their territory.

    Tiara and the others didn''t like that Michael left them, but he had given them an order. They wouldn''t go against his word and guarded the entrance to the underground ecosystem vigntly.

    Everyone was still in awe of the discovery they made, however, it was more important to stay alert and not be distracted in an unknown territory.

    As miraculous as the underground ecosystem might be, it could be even more dangerous than the surface. In fact, it was highly likely that the underground ecosystem was far more dangerous than the outer area of the Untamed Jungle. The weakest monster here was Tier-2, after all!

    Michael paved his way slowly but steadily through the densely grown underground jungle. The temple was only a few hundred meters away, but Michael spent close to half an hour covering the distance.

    He hadn''t been attacked even once, and he was certain that no monster had detected him yet.

    That allowed him to focus his entire attention on the ginormous temple of a forgotten era that towered in front of him, waiting to be raided.

 Chapter 90 Tongue Of The Old

    Michael looked up at the old staircase that was built from ancient stones and his heart skipped a beat.

    His curiosity was piqued when he saw the arched entrance of the temple. The entrance was more than twenty meters high up in the air above him, and only dozens of steps separated him from entering the temple.

    Intrigued by the wonders of the old temple, Michael took the first step on the staircase.

    The moment he stepped on the ancient stone, Michael felt as if the surrounding environment changed drastically. The pressure exuded by the temple intensified suddenly and strange information flooded his mind.

    Instinctively, Michael stumbled backward. The temple''s imposing pressure returned to normal, and the strange information seemed to be lifted from his mind.

    ''What was that?''

    He looked down at himself to see if he sustained any injuries before he calmed his raging heart as well as suppressed the various emotions bubbling inside him as he returned to the first step of the staircase.

    The intense pressure returned, and so did the strange information that flooded his mind earlier. It was as if the gravitational force weighing down on him had increased several times. The situation was harsh, but Michael could barely endure the intense pressure and keep himself upright.

    He was about to take the second step to see if the pressure weighing down on him would increase further when the strange information settled down in his mind.

    ''Whatnguage is that? This doesn''t seem like the Origin Tongue?'' Michael thought at first.

    ''There are only a few lines. It should be a warning or a question¡­or it is a task I have to fulfill to disperse the pressure weighing down on me¡­?''

    Michael had heard and studied quite a bit about old temples, and other treasure troves such as the burial grounds of royal families, forgotten cities, ancient ruins, and so on.

    Most had challenges to pass sessfully to obtain permission to enter these unique ces.

    Unfortunately, it was impossible for Michael to decipher what he was supposed to do.

    That annoyed him a little bit, even more so because Fenrir''s Memories made his senses tingle wildly.

    There was something special about the old temple, but Michael couldn''t find out more about the temple because of thenguage barrier.

    It was also way too dangerous to enter the old temple if he couldn''t decipher the unknownnguage. The strange information in his head could be anything ¨C even clues. There might be quizzes to solve inside the temple or clues that would help him to survive. If he was not able to understand the quizzes, or the clues, the old temple would be a hundredfold more difficult to conquer.

    ''Looks like I found a treasure, which I cannot have just yet,'' Michael thought, feeling a little disappointed.

    He figured that the old temple was a treasure trove, but also that it was deadly dangerous in multiple ways. First of all, wherever there was danger, golden opportunities would almost always present themselves. Only by oveing the danger and taking risks would one be able to stake a im on golden opportunities.

    However, that was not the most important thing right now. The moment someone finds out about the old temple and the news spreads, the entire Untamed Jungle would be turned upside down. Meanwhile, his little territory would be bulldozed and razed to the ground without anyone bothering to throw a second nce at him.

    ''Keeping the old temple a secret wouldn''t be a problem for now. Nobody except me found out about it, either way.'' Michael tried to calm himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, his train of thought continued to assume the worst, dragging his good mood down, ''But what if someone finds out about the old temple? Should I just detonate the tunnel leading to the underground ecosystem before anything goes wrong? Sealing this ce should be the best¡­but what to do after that?''

    Michael knew that the Elves and Xiltra were not far away from his current position. He was also fully aware that it was miraculous and his luck of how nobody except the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had found him and his territory. Even they had found out about his territory only because of their coincidental encounter at the Gogi territory.

    ''What if the Elves told their guild about me? That might cause trouble sooner orter!''

    Various ''what if'' questions shed through his mind at this point. He pped his cheeks to clear his head and stepped back from the old temple. Even if the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team told anyone about him, there was nothing he could change.

    His worries about the territory''s safety intensified now that he had a ticking time bomb only a few kilometers away from his territory. It was also a treasure trove, but Michael couldn''t enter and raid it just like that. Thus, he felt that it was more suitable to consider the old temple a ticking time bomb and a ma for trouble.

    ''I should change my ns¡­'' Michael told himself, with firm determination gleaming in his eyes.

    He returned to his people in the next half an hour, told them a few things about the old temple, and returned to his territory.

    Michael knew that it was time to experiment a little bit. He had many questions about his Soultrait''s limits and now was the perfect moment to find out what they were!

    He dissected the lizard corpses when they had returned to the territory and stored them inside his War Rune''s spatial space. Afterward, he conjured the Runic Gate to return home.

    Like always, Michael messaged his brother after he emerged back home.

    He hailed a shuttle, took a shower, and researched a few bits of information on his way to the Central Trading Hall.

    The staff of the House of Witchery was familiar with Michael so he was led to the appraisal room immediately after he entered the shop.

    "What do you have to sell today?" The clerk asked with a bright smile on his lips.

    Michael smiled seeing the hospitality. It felt great to be treated politely and with respect. It made him feel as if his time in school was just a bad dream.

    "Two Tier-2 Lizard corpses and a few Lizard corpses ranging from Low to Peak Tier-1," Michael responded with a bright smile.

    The clerk had been the one toplete the formalities when Michael sold the corpse of the Lizard mother and the corpses of the ck Bear and the huge Frenzy Deer. Thus, he could maintain his professional smile as he conversed with Michael.

    "That''s great. I hope you didn''t lose many Soldiers when fighting with those mighty monsters!" The clerk said sincerely before he cleared his throat.

    "If you''re in a hurry, I can quickly prepare some goods for you. That way, my colleagues canplete the paperwork while we finish our business in the appraisal room."

    Michael thought about it for a moment and nodded his head. The Clerk''s suggestion sounded reasonable.

    "I want to purchase the corpse of an extra-terrestrial Adventurer, an untouched monster corpse, and a recently killed monster, Tierless, and Tier-1 respectively. It would like to use the appraisal room with the corpses for ten minutes to conduct a little experiment if that''s possible."

 Chapter 91 Experiment

    ''Untouched Monster Corpses, and the corpse of an extra-terrestrial Adventurer? What do you want to¡­No, forget it¡­''

    The Clerk halted in his tracks and the professional smile stered on his face crumbled for a moment, revealing utter confusion beneath. However, he regained hisposure just a momentter and nodded his head.

    "Untouched Monster Corpses and the corpses of recently killed Monsters cost more than ordinary Monster carcasses, but I think that you''re aware of that. As for the corpse of an extra-terrestrial Adventurer¡­it can be quite expensive," He said and added lightly, "But you can use the appraisal room with your Golden Bartholomew Membership. That''s no problem!"

    Michael expected to be frowned upon a little bit more, but that didn''t happen. It was quite interesting that his weird request was epted just like that.

    The Clerk gave somebody a quick call before they entered the appraisal room.

    Ten minutester, they finished their business. Michael sold the corpses of the monsters he and his team had hunted in the lizard cave, and he was about to sign the deal to increase his fortune by a small fortune once again.

    However, before they could sign the deal, Michael received the corpses he had requested. The Clerk left him alone in the appraisal room where four monster carcasses and the body of an extra-terrestrial Adventurer were spread out on separate tables.

    Michael was not sure what kind of extra-terrestrial race the Adventurer had belonged to, but he had a Tier-0 War Rune on the back of his right hand ¨C or what he presumed to be his right hand.

    Michael closed his eyes for a moment. He sensed the Symbol of Extraction deep inside his consciousness and exerted the Soultrait. Several golden streams shot out of his palms. They spread through the appraisal room and started to extract the five corpses.

    Merely two minutester, Michael was done. The corpses were near-perfectly dissected, but not a single SoulStar Fragment or any item created by the Will of the Origin Expanse had appeared.

    "Usually, it doesn''t matter whether the corpses are looted inside or outside the Origin Expanse so it is of no importance¡­let''s conduct another test¡­" Michael mumbled to himself. He got an idea and left the appraisal room and turned to the clerk, who was waiting for him.

    "I need another batch with the same criteria," He requested.

    "I want to sell the dissected corpses as well. I don''t need them anymore."

    In the next 15 minutes, Michael waited for the new batch of corpses. He sold the dissected body parts and signed the deal for the other goods in the meantime.

    When his goods arrived, Michael stored them inside the spatial space of his War Rune before he set off.

    As he left, Michael''s actions attracted the interest of the House of Witchery''s Staff.

    "That was weird," One of themmented.

    "Even if it was weird, it''s even more confusing how he dissected five bodies nearly perfectly in less than five minutes. Either time passes differently for him, or he is a godly butcher!" Another one mumbled, just for a third to join the conversation,

    "I wonder what he''s trying to do with those corpses. It has been a while since anyone was even remotely interested in the corpses of Tier-0 Adventurers of a foreign race. Our esteemed customer doesn''t look like a scientist either."

    "We might never be able to find out what is going on in the mind of our customers¡­but maybe it is better that way¡­" The first said, and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

    Maybe it was better not to know what weird thoughts were running through their customers'' minds. They were simple clerks who did their mundane job and returned home after work hours.

    Now that he finished his purchases, Michael returned to the Origin Expanse.

    He extracted the untouched monster corpses and the corpse of the extra-terrestrial Adventurer inside the Origin Expanse, but the result stayed the same.

    "Does that mean, I or my subjects have to kill the monsters for Extraction to increase the special loot created by the Will? No, that shouldn''t be it. I used Extraction on the Frenzy Deer horde and most of them were killed by the ck Bear. In that case¡­does that mean I have to be in the vicinity when monsters die for Extraction to work properly on them?'' Michael tried toe up with multiple theories but most of them could be proven wrong quickly.

    "It''s obvious that Extraction works on the monsters killed by me or my subjects. My subjects are directly connected to my soul through the Link of Loyalty. There is not much to debate¡­but what about the monsters killed by others?''

    Michael came up with several theories that couldn''t be proven wrong immediately. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    First, corpses weren''t allowed to leave the Origin Expanse, otherwise, Extraction wouldn''t be able to increase the loot generated by the Will of the Origin Expanse.

    Second, he had to be in the proximity of the monsters when they killed others for Extraction to work properly.

    Third, monsters killed in the vicinity of his territory would meet the requirements to provide additional special drops ording to Extraction''s star rating.

    There were more theories, but Michael considered these three as the most important for the time being. If he was to travel to Xiltra and purchase a few corpses, he could continue his experiment, and prove the first theory to be right, or wrong.

    However, he didn''t have the time to travel to Xiltra right now. Michael had yet to advance to the 1st Tier, and the day of the aptitude assessment was inching closer.

    ''I should hurry a bit.'' He thought, before joining Tiara and the others to go out hunting again.

    After all, the fastest way to refine his War Rune was to go out and hunt powerful monsters!

    A few dayster, it was already the 18th of the Month outside the Origin Expanse. In two days the Saphirke Military Academy''s aptitude assessment will be held.

    Michael was extremely tired, but he left the Origin Expanse with a faint smile on his lips.

    Given the tremendous amount of energy sweeping through his body, he should have more than enough energy to refine his War Rune past the Peak of Tier-0. He had more than enough to break the barrier and advance to the 1st Tier.

    However, instead of staying inside the Origin Expanse, Michael met up with his brother.

    It had been a few days since Michael and Danny''sst meeting, and it was about time that they spent some quality time together.

    Who knew how much more time they would receive after Michael was epted in the Saphirke Military Academy?

    Like usual, the brothers went out to fill their stomachs to the brim. They spoke a lot while taking care of their endless hunger.

    "By the way, how has your expedition been? Seeing that you''re not injured, it should have been a sess¡­but you never know," Michael asked with great interest. The more he researched about structures of forgotten civilizations, and creations of the Origin Expanse''s Will the more interested he grew.

    Danny smiled when he saw Michael''s eyes that twinkled brightly in curiosity.

    "The expedition was a great sess. We gained a lot more than we anticipated. It looks like the Primedival Pyramid is even more valuable than we thought at first. In a few weeks we''ll enter the inner area of the Primedival Pyramid, once we finish preparing thoroughly for the dangers lurking inside," He said with a trace of excitement in his voice.

    Danny usually tried to hide his emotions and act unbothered, but even he found it increasingly difficult to hide his excitement in front of his brother. He wanted to brag to Michael but held back as much as he could.

    After all, he knew Michael very well.

    His brother would only hear about the treasures and ignore that it was extremely dangerous to conquer any kind of ancient building or creation of the Origin Expanse!

    What Danny didn''t know yet was that Michael had already found an old temple and that he hadn''t rushed inside like a maniac.

    Thinking about the old temple, Michael''s shot up from his chair.

    His eyes widened and a bright smile formed on his lips.

    ''Maybe Danny can tell me more about thenguage used in the old temple!''

 Chapter 92 Help

    Danny stared at Michael with a frown when his brother jumped up from the chair.

    Michael''s sudden action startled him at first. Then he grew increasingly more confused.

    When Michael realized that he nearly flung the table in front of him aside, he sat down quietly. He smiled in embarrassment and sipped on his water to calm down his heart.

    Afterward, he stared deep into his brother''s eyes. A piece of paper appeared in Michael''s hand with a few sentences written on them.

    ''Good thing that I wrote everything down beforehand,'' He mused to himself before he handed Danny the piece of paper.

    The sentences written down on the piece of paper were rted to the strange information he had received from the old temple when he stepped on the first step of the ancient stone staircase.

    "What is that?" Danny asked as he took a first look at the content written down on the paper and furrowed his eyebrows.

    ''He cannot understand what''s written there?'' Michael realized, and his mood worsened quickly. However, instead of being discouraged that his brother was unable to trante what was written on the paper, Michael calmed his heart and mind.

    He looked straight into his brother''s eyes and began to detail his escapade. Michael didn''t leave out any information, thinking that it might be important.

    Danny had already figured that he lived in a dangerous region, so he might as well share all the information to make sure that his brother could give him some good pieces of advice.

    Since both of them had be Lords and Michael gained more experience, it was much easier to talk to Danny about the Origin Expanse and their situations.

    "I wanted to research a bit more about that temple in the underground ecosystem, but it''s not easy to find information using the low authority of my Lord ID. Even the Bartholomew Network is not that helpful. After all, most Lords and Adventurers who have gone on expeditions to conquer temples, ruins, and other mythical ces of the Origin Expanse don''t share many useful pieces of information about the situations they''ve encountered," Michaelined at the end of his story.

    He sighed deeply and shook his head in disappointment.

    Meanwhile, Danny stared at his brother with squinted eyes.

    "So you''re telling me that you found a temple less than a month after your 18th birthday? That¡­has to be a joke¡­" Danny mumbled to himself in disbelief.

    However, after hearing what Michael''s first Soultrait was, and that his first summon was a Heroic Summon; their first ancestor, to be precise, finding a temple belonging to a forgotten civilization didn''t seem all that special.

    Danny opened Sta on his crystal watch and did a quick research. He searched for the names Michael had mentioned; Untamed Jungle, Xiltra, and the Zentika Empire.

    With his authority as Tier-2 Lord, Danny could find the same report as Michael found using Bartholomew Network with his Golden Membership. It was not a lot, but enough to worry about Michael''s safety.

    His brother seemed fine, but his region and the regions adjacent to the Untamed Jungle didn''t seem all that secure.

    "I told you about my situation because I want you to share more about your expedition and the dangers of the Primedival Pyramid. If you don''t want me to be blinded by the treasures, I might be able to procure in the old temple, it would be better to share everything. Otherwise, I cannot reassure you that greed will not consume me," Michael said in all honesty.

    He could already tell that he was getting greedy for both treasure and strength. It was addictive to be wealthy and powerful, and Michael knew very well that the old temple could give him both unfathomable strength and treasures that were so valuable that their price couldn''t be measured!

    Thus, Michael wanted his brother to bombard him with the threats and dangers of the Primedival Pyramid and shake him hard, jostling him to reality and put him back in ce.

    If Danny wouldn''t help him, he could always ask Alice. However, he didn''t want to tell her too much about his territory just yet. He was still not certain what she nned to do with him, and what her future ns were.

    It might be ungrateful to think like that about Alice Zenovia after everything she did for him, but Michael couldn''t help but doubt her intentions. He was extremely vignt, but who could hold him ountable for that? Since when were prodigious children of a highly influential family nice to him?

    There had to be a reason for her interest in him!

    After Michael told Danny about everything he encountered since he entered the Origin Expanse, he hoped that his brother could give him a helping hand.

    That was exactly what Danny did. He was still shocked about the information Michael shared with him, but he could tell that his brother still had some sanity left though he was worried about his changing mindset and greed.

    Michael might have been in danger when he emerged in the Untamed Jungle, and when he summoned their first ancestor as his first summon, but he overcame everything more or less easily.

    Michael also gained a lot in less than a month, and he was about to advance to the 1st Tier. The speed at which Michael improved was dangerously fast. It was dangerous because he was more likely to overestimate himself sooner orter, which would lead to mistakes¡­and mistakes led to death in the Origin Expanse!

    Danny didn''t want his brother to die, so he went against the promise he made to himself and shared his hardships of the past few years with Michael.

    He told Michael about how he started out as Lord, and how he struggled to stay alive. Danny shared how his territory had nearly been bulldozed by a rivaling Lord, and how he survived by himself. He exined in detail what he had to do to ovee the ordeals in the desert region, and how he regained his power.

    Atst, Danny exined in detail the dangers of the Primedival Pyramid, and that the treasures found in the Primedival Pyramid were iparable to the dangers they encountered.

    Danny found Tigerfang in the Primedival Pyramid, but he had to pay a hefty price for it as in exchange for procuring it, thousands of his subjects died. One of the Lords in their expedition alliance died as well!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was shocking.

    The more Michael heard about the expedition the more he worried about his brother''s safety. Michael forgot about raiding the old jungle temple almost immediately. Without the necessary preparations, the only thing he would receive by entering the temple was death¡­and he didn''t want to die yet.

    After a while, Michael felt like his head was on the verge of bursting apart. He pointed at the piece of paper and looked straight into his brother''s eyes.

    "Can you understand what it says? Even if it''s just a glimpse, it would help a lot." Michael asked atst.

    He had to make ample preparations before he could even consider entering the temple. Learning the spoken and writtennguage used by the old temple was a necessity.

    Michael had not yet processed everything his brother shared with him, but he was interested in the strange information the temple had given him. It attracted his attention, no matter how dangerous the temple may be.

    Knowing how nosy his brother was, Danny could only surrender. He knew that he had scared Michael enough with the information he shared about his own life. It was obvious that the Curse of their family yed a big role in the obstacles that appeared in their path, but the brothers could also tell that their curse might as well be a blessing if exploited thoroughly.

    The old temple was an opportunity for Michael. It was a means to be stronger and be prepared for the war in the extra-terrestrial that might start at any time.

    Danny felt that sharing his knowledge was the best way to prepare Michael for the dangers he would face in the future. Thus, he took a second nce at the piece of paper.

    He spent the next ten minutes trying to decipher the sentences written down on the paper before he gave up. Instead of tranting the entire sentence, Danny focused on tranting single words.

    "I know a bit of the Old tongue used in the Origin Expanse¡­but even then, I only know one word for sure," Danny acknowledged with a deep frown. He pointed at one letter on the paper and added, "That means ''forgotten''."

    "But the other parts¡­they don''t really look familiar. I learned the Old Tongue from a 5-Star Schr of the Decalta Empire for years¡­but even then, I don''t know these letters. I am certain that these letters are older than the Old Tongue from the Third Epoch. The Decalta Empire used the Old Tongue, and the Origin Tongue was created one millenniater, using the Old Tongue as its foundation¡­"

    After Danny spent a whole hour staring nkly at the paper, he felt a bad headache creeping up his brain.

    "This could mean ''Pyramid''...but I am not sure. This old temple of yours is WAY older than the Primedival Pyramid I''m trying to raid. That also means it could be much more difficult. The Forgotten Civilizations of the Old Age were very technologically advanced. They might have ceased to exist due to various reasons but don''t underestimate them!!" Danny warned Michael while rubbing his forehead in pain.

    Michael looked at the letter Danny pointed at. It was two letters after the word ''forgotten''.

    "Pyramid might as well mean ''Temple'' since the old temple is clearly not a Pyramid," Michael mumbled before he felt enlightened all of a sudden, "If that means forgotten and the letter after it means Temple, it''s likely that they form the words ''Temple of the Forgotten'' or something along those lines!"

    Michael could tell that he was getting a little ahead of himself, but Danny nodded his head.

    "Temple of the Forgotten?... That could be true, but I''m not too sure about that¡­''

    Other than those two words, Danny had no idea what the remaining letters could mean. They looked beautiful and it seemed like an expert calligrapher had written them no matter how one looked at it. However, they might as well be paintings or idle scribbling without any meaning.

    However, it was a fact that thenguage used by the old temple was far older than the Old Tongue of the Third Epoch!

    This worried Danny a lot. Michael had yet to learn more about the tasks and responsibilities as the Lord of his territory, yet he was thrown into one troublesome situation after another.

    That was not good.

    He took a deep breath and chose to give Michael a general understanding of expeditions and important tips that made the preparations for an expedition, and the expedition itself, much easier.

    "Pay attention to what I''m going to say now," Danny said seriously.

    Michael''s ears perked up and he did as told.

    "The most important thing you have to do is to understand that your life is more important than anything else. You can find countless treasures and seek more golden opportunities, but you have only one life!"

    "First, even before you consider starting an expedition, you must find out more about the ruins you want to explore. In your case, you have to learn thenguage, find out from what Era it belongs, and the general technological standard of that era. Then, you¡­"

    In the next hour, Danny taught Michael the ABC of an expedition.

    Michael listened intently and sat like an obedient kid in front of Danny, d that he asked his brother about tips and tricks.

    [A/N: It would be great if you could leave a review. Every bit helps :D

    Spend your hard-earned powerstones on this novel to receive special benefits - such as more chapters and a happy author!

 Chapter 93 Tier-1

    After filling their stomachs to the brim and talking for hours the brothers went their own separate ways once again.

    Michael was impatient to return to the Origin Expanse. He wanted to advance to Tier-1.

    Danny stayed in the Central Trading Hall for some time while Michael hailed a shuttle to return home. Once inside the apartment, Michael willed the War Rune to form the Runic Gate to take him back to the Origin Expanse.

    Back in the Origin Expanse, Michael told Tiara and the others that he would focus on advancing to Tier-1 and that he shouldn''t be bothered if there is nothing important.

    After that, he isted himself inside his room.

    He sat down on the bed cross-legged and closed his eyes. Michael focused on the pulsating War Rune on the back of his right hand. He didn''t divert his focus and entered the depth of his consciousness not long after.

    A source of light appeared in his inner eye. Michael could see a pir of light in the center of his consciousness, surrounded by several wisps of light and both the Symbol of Extraction, and the Symbol of Eagle Eyes.

    Dimly lit streams of light were sucked toward the pir of light from all directions, which made it seem as if the pir of light was branching out in all directions, reaching every single nerve and cell inside Michael''s body.

    After Michael focused on the state of his entire body, he was able to see that his entire body was faintly lit up. Michael knew that his entire body was filled with energy but he had never seen this state from the inside. So far, he had only felt it.

    The state of being able to see inside his body was called introspection. It allowed him to see the energy invigorating his body, his Soultraits, the Artifacts revolving around his War Rune, and the pir of light ¨C which was what the War Rune looked like from within.

    Michael took a deep breath now that he was able to see what happened inside his body. He focused on the streams of energy that were sucked inside the pir of light and used his willpower to elerate the flow of energy.

    From one moment to the next the faint stream of energy turned into a thundering flood.

    This phenomenon urred to the streams of energy all around the pir of light, which began to pulsate strongly.

    The pir of light that had been restricted through an invisible barrier slowly expanded.

    The sound of crackling ss rang through Michael''s entire being. It grew louder with every second and turned into a thunderous explosion as the pir of light broke through the invisible barrier.

    Soothing warmth and unfathomable power swept through Michael in the next instance. Simultaneously, dazzling light filled his senses, forcing Michael to escape.

    His dark eyes shot wide open, and he began to gasp for air. His body felt extremely warm the next instant, but it was not soothing at all. No, on the contrary, it was a burning heat that spread through the deepest parts of his body as if he was on fire.

    The burning heat first emerged inside his heart. Michael felt as if his heart would melt on the spot, and he could barely endure the pain and not scream his lungs out. His fingernails cut deep in the soft flesh of his palms, while he grit his teeth as the searing hot warmth began to spread through his blood vessels.

    At first, Michael was worried. He was getting increasingly restless, only to recall that every Awakened would undergo a natural cleansing upon advancing to the next Tier.

    Michael had learned that natural cleansing was miraculous and that it allowed Lords and Awakened to be much stronger, but why did nobody ever tell him that it would be this painful?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Was his body actually filled with rubbish?

    Michael couldn''t have imagined that the human body was that filthy and overflowing with impurities. Understanding this was enough to clench his fists even tighter and endure the natural cleansing.

    As long as his first natural cleansing was sessful andpleted smoothly his overall strength would increase drastically.

    Michael epted the searing heat that spread through his blood vessels and let it do its work. Once it had spread evenly across the blood vessels all over Michael''s body, the searing heat started to push itself outward.

    The pores all over Michael''s body opened and the first dots of ck mass appeared on his body. The impurities smelled the worst, but that was given.

    Time seemed to slow down as the impurities inside his body were pushed outward and soonyers of the badly reeking ck mass covered his body from head to toe.

    They engulfed his body like a secondyer of skin, hiding the golden glowing human skin beneath.

    Only the faintly golden glowing streams in his hands were a bit visible.

    Michael was not sure how long it had been, but he got an idea as his body was being cooked by the searing heat that spread through him.

    If it was possible to use Extraction on the Summoning Crystals to extract some Impurities, why shouldn''t the same be possible on his body?

    His pores were already opened and the searing heat spreading through his body loosened some of the impurities that were deeply embedded after having umted over the years.

    By using Extraction to extract more impurities, Michael didn''t harm his body. On the contrary, he used Extraction to enhance the effect of his first body cleansing.

    It was dangerous because Michael had never done something like that, but he didn''t want to waste the severe pain that spread from his pinky toe up to thest strand of hair on his head. It was ufortable and hurt either way, so Michael felt that it couldn''t get much worse.

    He ended up focusing on extracting more impurities from the inside of his body to further strengthen himself. The fewer impurities he left inside his body the faster his energy cirction and the higher the enhancement provided through the War Rune.

    A body void of impurities would be the best. His strength would increase by a few times, and he would be able to achieve things that were unthinkable right now.

    However, Extraction was only a 3-Star Soultrait. It was not strong enough to extract all impurities inside his body. The first body cleansing removed some impurities within him, but it was not omnipotent either.

    Attaining a perfect body was not feasible.

    It was said to be impossible.

    But was that really the case?

 Chapter 94 Invaders

    Michael was not sure how much time had passed when he woke up.

    It was bright outside, and his room was filled with a horrible stench.

    A deep frown was etched on his face and he nearly vomited on the spot after smelling the stench of his own impurities, but he managed to wave his hand and spread out some energy to engulf the ck masses of impurities that he stored inside his War Rune''s storage space just a momentter.

    Michael could remove the impuritiester and burn them. However, for now, he had to wash up and change his clothes as the stench was too overbearing and his body felt icky.

    He walked to the other side of the room where a wooden basin filled with water was waiting for him. Michael removed his clothes and stepped into the basin. He scrubbed himself thoroughly to get rid of the bad stench and put on a different set of clothes after he dried his body.

    His gaze moved out of the window of his room and a faint smile formed on his lips.

    He had finally done it. He advanced to Tier-1!!

    The faint smile on Michael''s lips turned brighter and pride filled his entire being. Outside the Origin Expanse, not even a full month had passed since he became a Lord, yet he was already a Tier-1 Lord.

    He was not a rookie anymore ording to the standards of ordinary Awakened even though he was barely 18 years old. It felt great!

    But just as he was busy daydreaming and enjoying himself in the bright sunlight that shone through the canopy of trees, Michael noticed something that attracted his attention.

    His bright smile disappeared, and confusion reced it.

    "Smoke? The campfire shouldn''t be over there¡­a fire?!" Michael mumbled quietly to himself.

    At that moment bright mes suddenly red up, swallowing arge portion of the dense thicket bordering the clearing of his territory.

    Something, or rather someone, engulfed in mes emerged from within the thicket. The being engulfed in mes took a step or two closer to the clearing of the territory before it fell over and copsed on the ground. It stopped moving the next moment.

    However, Michael''s eyes widened further in shock as sharp pain pierced his chest at that moment.

    A Link of Loyalty was severed when the being engulfed in mes stopped moving.

    "W-wait¡­" Michael''s voice cracked when he felt the Link of Loyalty being cut.

    He noticed something he hadn''t been able to feel before. His body was already sore and numb from the natural cleansing and the strengthening of the War Rune. This made it much harder to feel that something had been amiss all along.

    ''More than¡­50 Links of Loyalty disappeared!'' Michael realized atst, and terror spread through his veins.

    In the next moment, another Link of Loyalty burst and disappeared forever.

    "My people are dying!!"

    Michael was shocked. He had no idea what was going on, but he could tell that his subjects were dying miserably.

    The pain and emotions reaching him, hitting him like an avnche even after the Links of Loyalty had been severed were terrifying. They caused his hair to stand up on its end, and he felt something he hadn''t felt in a while- fear/!!

    Michael hurriedly rushed out of the room while putting on thest piece of clothing.

    He had yet to test the limits of his power after advancing to Tier-1, but that was not important. He manifested the Boots of Taran and channeled enough energy inside them to activate the Swiftness enchantment''s highest level instantly.

    Michael''s body turned into a sh when he kicked his feet off the ground. His speed was terrifying, and he crossed the clearing near instantly.

    Just as he was about to jump into the thicket of the Untamed Jungle to find out what was going on, Michael found ire.

    Someone was standing next to ire as they ran through the thicket to enter the clearing. They headed to the center of the clearing and stopped when they saw Michael.

    ''Lilica Balrean? What is the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team doing here?''

    The moment Michael saw the familiar face of the Elven woman, his danger senses tingled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Something was definitely wrong!

    He rushed over to ire and Lilica Balrean, who looked at him with concern and fear.

    "My Lord, before you attack her or anything like that, please listen to me!" ire shouted loudly as she ran over to Michael.

    ''Attack her? Why would I do that?''

    Michael furrowed his eyebrows, but he didn''t say anything. Instead, he motioned ire to keep talking.

    "It''s only because of this Elf that we''re not yet dead!" She shouted, which caused Michael to sigh in frustration.

    "Just tell me what is going on here. I just finished advancing to Tier-1, and I have no idea what happened while I advanced. Why is the Untamed Jungle on fire, and why are my people dying out there?!?"

    By now, more than 50 Starless Summons and five Warriors had died, and Michael felt that the number would increase soon. He didn''t want to waste anymore time talking to ire or Lilica, but there had to be a reason the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team appeared here all of a sudden.

    The fire and Lilica''s arrival at the same time shouldn''t have been a coincidence.

    Lilica looked at the back of his right hand with a trace of astonishment but regained herposure in the next second.

    "Long story short, one of my teammates was in a bar, drinking enough to turn himself into a blithering idiot. Apparently, he told one of his Lionheart friends about your territory. The Lionheart told one of his people about your territory and news spread¡­so that''s why a group of Lionhearts attacked you; they want your territory," Lilica exined hurriedly.

    Michael nodded his head in response and turned in the direction of the fire. He ignored Lilica and rushed off.

    The Tier-2 Elven Adventurer followed closely behind. She looked at Michael and expected a face filled with anger and wrath. However, there was none of that. Michael''s face was only filled with determination to safeguard his territory and people.

    "The Lionhearts attacking you are not natives from Xiltra, and their leader can only im your territory as his own by using the item called ''Lord Seal''. It is extremely hard to procure and can usually only be acquired by true powerhouses of the Origin Expanse!" Lilica added quickly.

    Afterward, she didn''t say much. She looked at Michael, who ignored her and sighed deeply.

    "I hope you won''t hate the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. We never wanted to tell anyone about your territory," She said quietly as they came closer to the smoke and themotion of the battle.

    Michael eyed Lilica for a second or two. The leader of the Adventurer team seemed to grow more impatient the closer they came to the battlefield.

    "I know that you won''t help me fight the Lionhearts. You can just leave," He said emotionlessly.

    Michael felt no hard emotions toward Lilica or the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. He had never expected them to keep his existence a secret and had already anticipated a simr scenario.

    It just happened when they were not prepared, and he had been busy with other tasks. Though the timing was the worst, that was not something Michael could have prevented.

    Lilica nodded her head faintly. She felt guilty because it was their fault that Michael was in his current predicament. However, she and her team couldn''t afford to face the Lionhearts. They didn''t want to offend the powerhouse backing them.

    However, her guilt made her warn ire and the others half a day before the Lionhearts arrived. She only waited for Michael to alert him about the danger before hurriedly leaving.

    Michael figured that the Elves had their own problems, but he didn''t care about that.

    It was not important who attacked him, or what kind of powerhouse supported them. Even if the Lionhearts were citizens from Xiltra, what did it matter? They attacked his territory and killed his people. The only thing they deserved was death!

    The reason they attacked him instead of other Lords inside the Zentika Empire was likely to be the Untamed Jungle or to make sure that the Zentika Empire couldn''t influence the Lionhearts'' actions once they took over his territory.

    That was Michael''s guess given the few pieces of information he had.

    It was quite troublesome, but Michael didn''t spend his time worrying about the ifs and buts.

    He was trying to keep his calm and suppress the uncontroble anger that made his blood boil.

    After all, only by keeping his calm would he be able to kill all those who were daring enough to invade his territory and kill his people!!

 Chapter 95 Lionhearts

    The pungent smell of burned flesh invaded his nostrils as he got closer to the source ofmotion, and smoke entered his eyes.

    Screams of terror and desperation filled the air, and the sound of metal shing against metal rang through his ears.

    Michael grit his teeth at the sight of the half-burned corpses of his people that entered his sight the moment he came close to the thicket that separated him from the terror of the battlefield.

    For the first time, Michael''s subjects were dying. It was notparable to the time he had killed Fenrir. On the contrary, Michael''s heart felt like a searing hot needle was stabbing it again and again while his head grew heavier the more people died.

    His mind was a mess and he regretted being toote to protect everyone. He had failed to save those who he had sworn to protect.

    However, Michael knew that he could protect those who were still alive. Maybe, he was toote to rescue those who had died valiantly, but he wouldn''t allow the Lionhearts to keep killing his people.

    Lionhearts had a human-like physique with Lion heads. Fur grew all over their body, and they were innately born with fire affinity. It didn''t even require a Soultrait to awaken before they could manifest mes out of thin air and control them.

    Their innate fire affinity turned them into a dangerous race. They were ferocious and far more threatening than Gogis.

    Despite that, Michael''s subjects fought the Lionhearts with all their might.

    ''Why did nobody wake me up when they arrived?'' He wondered while rushing ahead. Lilica said that she warned the others half a day ago. Didn''t that mean his people had been aware of the Lionhearts'' nned attack for a while?

    ''Only if they had told me about it sooner¡­'' Michael thought, but his mind turned nk the next instance.

    He knew why his subjects didn''t wake him up. He was fully aware, but he couldn''t ept it in his heart.

    If the advancement of a War Rune was interrupted, the War Rune could have been damaged permanently. Even if his War Rune advanced properly, the moment Michael stopped his natural cleansing mid-way, he would lose the chance to cleanse his body and grow stronger.

    Stopping a natural cleansing mid-way wasparable to crippling your talent, andbat prowess.

    His subjects had known about this, which is why they chose to sacrifice their own lives rather than seeing their Lord crippled or injured.

    Michael felt as if someone was choking him tightly. He wanted to me his subjects for being stubborn, but he couldn''t.

    More than 50 subjects had sacrificed their lives to protect him and to make sure that he could advance to Tier-1 andplete the natural cleansing properly.

    It frustrated Michael, but it made sense. In their eyes, their lives were not as important as the safety of their Lord.

    Michael grit his teeth and forced his eyes to look away from the corpses. He passed through the thicket and emerged on the other side.

    What appeared in his view were more burned corpses amid a burning forest. Everything was on the brink of destruction as all lives engulfed in the sea of mes were annihted, reduced to embers.

    Michael''s gaze hardened and he retrieved the Hardwood Bow and a bunch of arrows as he stepped ahead.

    The trees around him creaked loudly as if they screamed in pain, and he found Kelia not long after trying to use the moisture in the air and surrounding to contain the zing mes and iste them.

    Her clothes were drenched in sweat while she gave her utmost to prevent the fire from spreading further and burning down everything, they''d worked tirelessly to build in thest few weeks.

    Meanwhile, the Warriors, Knights, and Tiara fought valiantly at the front. Tiara''s body was soaked in blood, and some of her hair had been burned, but she didn''t seem to notice that. Her eyes seemed freezing cold while the silver spearshed mercilessly at her opponents. She moved in one direction and thrust her spear in the other direction.

    Then, suddenly, her direction would change. She would pierce the tip of the silver spear deeper in her opponent, twist the de inside the body, and pull it out with tremendous force. Warm blood would stter on her like a fountain, but it was almost like Tiara didn''t notice anything.

    It was as if her entire being was focused on the battle and nothing else mattered. Her presence was terrifying, and too overbearing for her opponents to endure.

    The Lionhearts were frightened at the sight of the bloodthirsty woman of the Silverfang Tigerfolk. They retreated instinctively and tried to hide themselves and their path by manifesting firewalls between themselves and Tiara.

    However, Tiara jumped through the wall of fire, unafraid of the aftermath. She pierced the silver spear through the head of the closest Lionheart and started to growl.

    Her burning hair seemed to grow longer and Tiara''s body arched forward. Her upper body leaned forward, nearly touching the ground before she shot forward with terrific eleration the moment her feet kicked from the ground.

    Michael was stupefied for a moment when he saw Tiara. He regained his senses in the next second, upon realizing that Tiara was fighting desperately, using everything at her disposal to gain an advantage to kill.

    If that allowed her to defeat just one more opponent without any more casualties, she was more than willing to act recklessly. No matter how injured she was as long as her heart continued to beat so she wouldn''t die!

    While Tiara looked like a Berserker who had lost her reasoning, the ordinary Summons who hade to her aid were shuddering. More than a hundred Starless Summons wielding spears in their trembling hands were faced with five Lionhearts.

    Five opponents may not seem like much, but the Lionhearts were Mid Tier-1 Adventurers with the ability to manifest fireballs and throw them at their opponents.

    The Starless Summons didn''t have anybat experience. They knew the theory and had trained for the worst case, but it was the first time they were faced with enemies who attacked mercilessly and were thrown into an actual battle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A third of theirbat force had already fallen victim to the searing hot mes of the Lionhearts, and more would soon follow. However, they couldn''t give up and let the Lionhearts in so easily. If they were to give way and surrender, their Lord would die.

    After spending weeks with their Lord ¨C who was far more hard-working than his subjects, kinder than everyone they had known in the past, and sincerely trying to improve his subjects'' living conditions in every possible way ¨C, they couldn''t allow any enemy to get too close to him.

    If they had to sacrifice their lives to protect their Lord, so be it!

    With that in mind, the scared Starless Summons mustered their courage to face the iing fireballs head-on.

    The fireballs soared through the air and it felt like time slowed down as they fell down like meteorites on the hapless subjects.

    However, just before the fireballs could impact, star stripes of various colors soared through the air.

    Multiple explosions rang through the battlefield as the fireballs exploded, yet none of the Starless Summons sustained any injuries.

    At most, they were assaulted by a gust of hot air that swept through them, nearly knocking them off their feet.

    Following the explosion, screams of pain left the mouth of the first Lionheart, just for the next to follow suit.

    After the third started to whimper pitifully, the first of them slumped to the ground, an arrow stuck deep in his chest, another in his throat and a third in his eye.

    The Starless Summons were startled to see this. Their charge slowed down as the Lionhearts slumped to the ground limply as one arrow after another struck their vital spots. The arrows were much faster than the bolts released by the Aero Crossbowmen, forget about the arrows the Archers shot.

    Almost everyone turned their head to the Archer who released one arrow after another in quick session.

    A momentter, loud cheers rang throughout the entire battlefield.

    "The Lord returned!"

    "Our Lord finished advancing!!"

    "Comrades, let''s charge!!!!"

    "For our Lord!!"

    "FOR OUR LOORDD!!!"

    Michael felt a rush of adrenaline course through him at the sight of his loyal subjects chanting his name. He wasn''t sure how he deserved such loyal and trusted subjects, but it made him happy.

    Simultaneously, the deaths of his loyal subjects saddened him. The thought of his subjects dying for his sake caused more energy to enter the Hardwood Bow that began to creak loudly.

    It had already reached its limit and its pulling force couldn''t be further increased.

    However, Michael didn''t pay any attention to the limit of his Bow Artifact.

    He swiftly pulled the bowstring back after he nocked an arrow on it and shot. It looked like he didn''t aim at all, yet his arrows hit the designated target without fail.

    One arrow per second.

    One kill every five seconds.

    The number of Tier-1 Adventurers dying at his hands increased swiftly.

    Michael was not sure how many Lionhearts attacked his territory and his people, but he knew that he wouldn''t allow anyone to escape his wrath.

    Their fate was sealed the moment they started ughtering his subjects.

    He killed five Mid Tier-1 Lionhearts in the first minute he joined the battle.

    His power as Tier-1 Lord and his strengthened Eagle Eyes allowed him to unleash enough force to turn the Hardwood Bow into a lethal weapon with rapid fire.

    But Michael was not yet done fighting. The five Lionhearts facing the Starless Summons were just the beginning.

    This was where it all started.

    It was time to counterattack and make them pay dearly for their mistake!

 Chapter 96 An Eye For An Eye

    The fire affinity of the Lionhearts was terrifying. mes that could melt steel in the blink of an eye were enough to burn down the nature around them.

    Michael was getting increasingly worried about the safety of his subjects. Most of them had never fought a life-and-death battle before, and even the veterans had never fought against an enemy with an elemental affinity.

    ''Calm down! You have a Water Elemental Mage. She has an environmental advantage and can extinguish the mes with the moisture in the surroundings¡­calm down!!!'' Michael shouted at himself, and he would have pped his cheeks hard if not for the Bow and Arrow in his hands.

    Now that the five Lionhearts fighting the Starless Summons had been killed, Michael retrieved the Return Arrow. He nocked it on the bowstring and turned to the remaining Lionhearts.

    Only slightly over 20 Lionhearts were still alive, and half of them were upied with controlling the sea of mes around them. They wanted to burn the jungle in their vicinity and obliterate Michael''s territory simultaneously.

    "Prepare to throw your spears!" Michael ordered calmly.

    The Starless Summons, whose hearts were beating wildly, followed his order immediately. They changed their stances in the next second, and they were ready to throw their spears the moment Michael gave them the go ahead.

    "Shoot at the count of three," He announced in a voice barely loud enough for his Starless Summons to hear.

    "1"

    Michael channeled energy into the Hardwood Bow and pulled the bowstring back.

    "2"

    The bowstring reached the corner of his lip and Michael adjusted the Hardwood Bow''s angle. The Starless Summons pulled their spears backward and put some distance between each other to make space for eleration.

    "3!"

    Everyone moved in unison. The Starless Summons took three steps forward and released the spear simultaneously with all their might.

    In the next moment, one hundred arrows flew in a beautiful arc.

    Michael released the Return Arrow when the spears had already crossed half the distance to their target.

    Their targets were the Lionhearts, which were busy reducing the beautifulndscape to ash and smoke. They noticed the movement of the inexperienced Starless Summons and controlled the sea of mes around them precisely to continue wreaking havoc.

    One moment, the sea of mes burned down the Untamed Jungle, and in the next moment, the mes formed a huge firewall in front of the 12 Lionhearts.

    Most spears were made from sturdy wood ¨C extracted by Michael. They incinerated and turned into ash the moment they touched the searing hot mes. Meanwhile, the spears they''d collected from the Gogi Warriors lost most of their velocity upon piercing through the firewall.

    The Starless Summons grunted in displeasure. They had just lost their only weapons, without gaining anything out of it.

    What was their Lord even thinking?

    Some of them doubted Michael''s choice when they saw the mes re up and devour their spears.

    Yet, before the wall of fire could disintegrate, the pained shrieks and surprised screams of a Lionheart reached the ears of the Starless Summons. Their ears perked up and they looked at each other in confusion.

    Their confusion didn''t abate for the next ten seconds even though several loud twangs rang through the battlefield.

    The twangs'' source was the Hardwood Bow that was used repetitively with the Return Arrow which he had released four times in ten seconds.

    His first shot pierced the nearest Lionhearts'' chest. The Lionheart let out a guttural scream and died miserably. The Return Arrow returned to Michael barely two seconds after he released the shot.

    Michael''s right hand was already in position, swiftly nocking the Return Arrow on the bowstring before he pulled back in a smooth motion.

    Then the second arrow was released.

    He may not be able to see anything through the wall of fire, but the same could be said about the other Lionhearts. Unfortunately, they had failed to pinpoint his position before manifesting the firewall and had been busy destroying thendscape. Michael, on the other hand, did that using his Eagle Eyes and decent memories.

    He knew exactly where the Lionhearts were positioned, giving him the advantage he needed to use the cover of the firewall against them. That was because the Return Arrow was neither incinerated nor the arrow''s velocity slowed down drastically despite flying straight into the mes. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Lionhearts had to block the downpour of more than a hundred spears. Thus, the firewall was wide and huge. Because it was so wide and huge, the firewall wasn''t thick enough to slow down the Return Arrow.

    Michael abused this fact to release the Return Arrow more than ten times in half a minute with the strongest pulling force the Hardwood Bow could endure ¨C even if it was just barely.

    The Hardwood Bow was on the verge of breaking apart, but Michael ignored that. He continued to use the Hardwood Bow even after the huge firewall finally crumbled.

    Six Lionhearts were lying on the ground, unmoving. Meanwhile, two of the remaining six Lionhearts, whom Michael and the Starless Summons had aimed at, were injured lethally.

    The six Lionhearts couldn''t maintain the huge and wide firewall anymore. They dispersed most mes into the surrounding area to burn down the Untamed Jungle. Meanwhile, the remaining mes swirled around them.

    The remaining Lionhearts waited for the opportunity to strike and fire back. However, Michael didn''t want to give them the opportunity.

    He returned the Return Arrow to his War Rune and retrieved a bunch of hardened arrows. They were enough to pierce the scales of Late Tier-1 Lizards.

    Michael nocked the first on the bowstring before he released it. He didn''t aim precisely because he knew what was going to happen next.

    The Lionheart, whom Michael targeted with the arrow, released a small fireball to encounter the arrow. The two projectiles collided, and the fireball exploded, burning half of the arrow.

    But since Michael had expected this, he had already nocked a second arrow. The bowstring was pulled back as well and he released the second arrow.

    Not wasting any time, Michael nocked a third arrow on the bowstring. He didn''t even follow the trajectory of the second arrow, knowing that another fireball would follow soon after.

    The situation only changed after the third arrow was released. Michael aimed a quarter of a second longer before he released the arrow.

    It shot through the air in a beautiful arc and approached the Lionhearts rapidly. However, the Lionhearts didn''t think too much about the iing threat.

    One of them waved his hand nonchntly to conjure a fireball in front of him. The fireball was small and didn''t consume much energy, but it was strong enough to destroy the iing arrow.

    It was at the moment when he was about to release the fireball that something around him changed. The atmosphere felt weird, and he felt oddly ufortable. The other Lionhearts felt the same.

    In the next instance, a water bullet pierced through the fireball, which exploded right in front of him.

    A momentter, the arrow pierced through the Lionheart''s throat.

    The Starless Summons cheered loudly, while the remaining Lionhearts were dumbfounded.

    Even the Lionhearts that were busy dealing with Tiara and the other Warriors noticed that something was wrong. Now that the firewall was no longer blocking their vision, they saw the corpses of theirrades and were shocked.

    However, the sudden change of events was not yet over. Kelia was not the only one who changed her targets all of a sudden.

    The Aero Crossbowmen and the Archers had also pulled away from the battlefield in which Tiara and the Warriors were busy fighting with their lives on the line.

    They switched their targets and rushed to aid Michael and released their arrows and bolts to put more pressure on the Lionhearts that were supposed to control the crowd of hundreds of enemies.

    The arrows and bolts released by the long-rangebat unit weren''t extremely strong or threatening. They were merely released by Low or Mid stage Tier-0 Archers and Aero Crossbowmen. However, the lethality behind the arrows was not the most important.

    The most important was that they distracted the Lionhearts from the crucial iing attacks. Kelia''s water bullets cut through the air, piercing the lethal wounds of the two injured Lionhearts cleanly while the others were busy fending off the arrows.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s Return Arrow returned back into his hand. He and the long-range units spend the next two minutes bombarding the Lionhearts with more arrows, killing every single one of them.

    Mercy was thest thing Michael would grant the invaders of his territory.

    He didn''t care who they were, or how strong they were supposed to be. Fact was that they were his enemies and that they had to be killed.

    An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

    ''You killed my people, so I will tear all of you apart!!''

 Chapter 97 Lionheart Leader

    Michael''s n had worked out much better than expected. The Lionhearts facing the Starless Summons were dead, and so was the group of 12 Lionhearts that had been focused on the destruction of the Untamed Jungle and his territory.

    However, the fight was not yet over. On the contrary, it had just begun!

    While fighting the other Lionhearts, Michael sensed two more Links of Loyalty getting cut. Two of his strongest Warriors died, igniting the zing hatred deep inside Michael.

    He wished that he was faster and stronger even though he had just advanced to the 1st Tier. Unfortunately, bing stronger was not something he could achieve with a snap of his finger and wishful thinking.

    It required time and effort.

    Facing a group of slightly more than 40 Lionhearts was not easy for him, or his subjects. The Lionhearts were Tier-1 Adventurers with innate fire affinity, owned Artifacts to enhance their strength externally, and a Soultrait that may or may not increase theirbat prowess even further.

    The first dozen Lionhearts hadn''t been much of a problem to deal with, but Michael could tell that the situation was different on Tiara''s end.

    Only eight Lionhearts were left on the battlefield, but none of them was below Mid Tier-1. The Lionhearts'' Leader was a Peak Tier-1 Adventurer with several powerful Artifacts, strong fire affinity, and abat-rted Soultrait.

    Michael was not sure what the Soultrait of the Lionheart Leader was but he noticed that one of his Warriors fighting the Lionheart Leader copsed to the ground suddenly. Through the Eagle Eyes, Michael could see that only the white in the Warrior''s eyes was left.

    It was almost as if an impact on his head caused him to lose consciousness.

    A second after the Warrior struck the ground, zing mes engulfed him. No scream escaped the unconscious Warrior''s lips, but his body reacted instinctively to the searing hot mes that burned his skin and the flesh beneath his armor within seconds.

    The Warrior twitched violently but that was all he could do.

    The smell of burned flesh entered Michael''s nose and his eyes turned bloodshot at the sight of the burning Warrior. In the next moment, the Hardwood Bow creaked loudly. Cracks formed on the bow frame as Michael''s grip tightened around the Hardwood Bow, almost turning his knuckles white.

    In the next moment, the Hardwood Bow and the Return Arrow turned into white wisps that shot back inside the War Rune. Simultaneously, Tigerfang manifested in his hand as he dashed forward.

    Michael turned into a cannonball the moment he strode forward. Kelia Tan waved her wand and manifested a wall of water in front of Michael. He ran through it and felt the water wall embracing him like a second skin.

    The water cooled down his skin and mind, allowing him to regain his senses. Michael''s gaze drifted to the burning Warrior. Kelia had already acted, extinguishing the mes engulfing the Warrior.

    His skin was charred, and his flesh was exposed but he was still breathing, even if it was just faintly. A fellow Warrior shot toward hisrade. He removed the lid of the vial containing a potion he held in his left hand and poured down the content into the mouth of his injuredrade.

    Afterward, he charged at the Lionheart Leader. However, the Leader didn''t pay much attention to the Warrior. He looked at the Warrior only for a moment, but that was enough.

    The young Warrior lost consciousness and slumped to the ground the next second. Only the white in his eyes could be seen.

    mes conjured around the young Warrior, but they dispersed in all directions when several arrows, bolts, and a water bullet approached the Lionheart Leader rapidly.

    A small shield of mes was conjured around the Lionheart Leader at once, blocking the projectiles easily.

    However, what the Lionheart Leader didn''t expect to see was a human approaching him rapidly.

    Until now, only the woman of the Tigerfolk had been fast and powerful. She was the only Tier-1 enemy he had faced. It was a shame because the fights until now had been boring for him.

    Thankfully, that was about to change.

    Michael''s upper body leaned forward, nearly touching the ground as he appeared next to the Lionheart Leader. He found a small gap beneath the small fire shield and used it to appear right next to the Lionheart Leader.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Leader wasn''t vignt, and Michael intended to use this arrogance against him. He wanted to kill the Lionheart Leader with a single strike.

    However, before he could swing Tigerfang, Michael felt the Lionheart Leader''s eyes pierce through him. The moment the Lionheart Leaderid his eyes on Michael, he felt as if something heavyshed out at him. It felt like someone was whipping him¡­just that his mind was getting whipped.

    The whip was extremely powerful, and it nearly knocked Michael out after a singlesh. His sight blurred and his movements turned sluggish.

    The next thing Michael recalled were zing mes swirling around him, and a shortsword cleaving down at him.

    Despite feeling like his head was mush, Michael forced his body to move. He dived to the side and rolled over the ground to jump up quickly and evade the attack.

    The Lionheart Leader wanted to dash behind him, but a volley of arrows and bolts restrained his advance. Only the zing mes continued their pursuit of his target.

    This gave him a second to clear his head and focus on the surroundings. The next second, Michael jumped up from the ground and shed into the mes. He cut them and backed off a little.

    He saw Tiara from the corner of his eye, fighting another Lionheart whose sword and boots were shrouded in a white aura. The Lionheart was nearly as strong as their Leader being at the Late stage of the 1st Tier. His fire affinity was also powerful, just like the Leader''s mes. However, his Soultrait didn''t seem to be that powerful.

    ''Artifact Enhancement?'' Michael wondered for a moment before he was pulled back to reality. The Lionheart Leader appeared in front of him with whips of mes circting around him. However, instead of whipping Michael''s body with the me whips, his mind was whipped once again.

    Michael''s sight blurred once again and blood began to ooze out of his nose, but he nted his feet firmly on the ground. He used every bit of willpower to not sumb to the pain tormenting his head.

    ''A Mind Whip? Is that his Soultrait? What a fucking scam¡­'' Michael cursed in his mind as he wiped his bloody nose.

    He clenched his fists and grasped Tigerfang tightly. Staring at the Lionheart Leader, whose mane had been ignited, Michael felt an indomitable threat towering above him.

    His mind told him to retreat and tire out the Lionheart Leader with the help of his people. They were at a numerical advantage and could slowly wear down the Leader.

    However, that meant his people would have to continue sacrificing their lives.

    Michael didn''t want that to happen.

    He couldn''t allow his subjects to die while he was still standing strong.

    He had yet to be injured physically!

    Seeing that Michael was still standing straight, the Lionheart Leader dashed forward.

    The Leader''s speed was terrifying. He left behind trails of mes on the ground and appeared in front of Michael in an instant, cleaving down with his shortsword.

    However, as the Lionheart Leader cleaved down, the situation all over the battlefield changed at once.

    It was almost as if the Lionheart Leader''s attack was a sign.

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward.

    ''Thank you very much for your patronage, you fucking idiot!''

    Then he closed his eyes.

 Chapter 98 Battle Tactics

    Several explosions rang through his surroundings while Michael''s eyes were closed.

    The Lionheart Leader roared furiously and continued to cleave downward. However, Michael had already moved to the side by then.

    His eyes were still closed but he was in a much better condition than the remaining eight Lionhearts. The Archers and Aero Crossbowmen released one projectile each as the Lionheart Leader cleaved down at him.

    But their projectiles were not ordinary as a small ss vial was attached to the tip of their projectiles. The ss vials were the vial shbangs, which Michael had used once when he was on the run from the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team. He hadn''t used the shbangs since then. Atst, he found an exceptional use for them, blinding the eight remaining Lionhearts at once.

    The Lionhearts were dazzled, and their Leader missed Michael by a hair''s breadth. The next moment it used its Soultrait and fire whips tosh out at Michael. Little did the Lionheart Leader know that Michael was not in his range anymore.

    Michael had changed his target suddenly.

    Instead of fighting the Lionheart Leader alone, Michael abandoned the Leader.

    The remaining Warriors charged at the Lionheart Leader to stall for time. Simultaneously, the Starless Summons picked up the spears that survived the firewall, and the weapons of both their fallenrades and the dead Lionhearts. They smeared highly potent venom on the des and charged at the remaining six Lionhearts.

    Even if it meant that they had to die, the Starless Summons wouldn''t allow anyone topletely destroy what they had painstakingly worked for since their resurrection.

    Michael''s territory could prosper with their sacrifice. Knowing that was enough for the Starless Summons.

    The Lionhearts spent several seconds trying to regain their sightpletely. They didn''t expect several shbangs to erupt amid the battlefield, confusing them for a while.

    After all, there didn''t seem to be any directmunication between the Starless Summons, Tiara, the Warriors, and their Lord. It was as if the Lord and his subjects were fighting without uttering a single word and just knew what had to be done.

    What the Lionhearts didn''t know was that Michael and his subjects had spent a great deal of timeing up with several strategies to fight powerful opponents long before the Lionhearts attacked them.

    Michael and his people always knew that they would have to make use of their numerical advantage to overpower their enemies. They lived in a dangerous territory with Tier-1 Monsters being at the bottom of the food chain. Nobody knew how long it would take until the Warriors and otherbat units would advance to the 1st Tier.

    After all, they had emerged from the Summoning Gate as Lowest Tierless Warriors. Whenever new Warriors emerged in his territory, they would be Tierless Warriors with the Lowest degree of refinement. All new Summons would be on the same level, even if Michael was to summon another Heroic Summon.

    Thus, it was only obvious that Michael and his people used different tactics to make use of their advantages in order to even out the disadvantage of their low Tier and refinement degree.

    The exploding shbangs, followed up with a sudden change of strategy was one such tactic.

    It required only the exchange of a signal and trust in the capabilities of theirrades-in-arms, otherwise, it wouldn''t work out.

    Fortunately, everyone believed in their friends andrades.

    The hundred Starless Summons charged at the six dazzled Lionhearts, while the Warriors, Knights in training, Archers, Aero Crossbowmen, and the Water Elemental Mage focused on the Lionheart Leader.

    On the other hand, Michael appeared next to the second strongest Lionheart, whom Tiara had been fighting for a while now.

    Ordering Tiara around was not possible in her current condition. She was filled with bloodthirst and would not stop fighting until she had killed her enemy. Her bestial instincts had taken control of her rational brain.

    She wouldn''t attack Michael thanks to their firm Link of Loyalty, but that was already it. Fortunately, Michael could make use of that.

    If Tiara would not approach him, he could just go to her and help her defeat the second strongest Lionheart before they moved along.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Swiftness enchantment of his Boots of Taran was fully unleashed, elerating Michael''s speed drastically. He was still a little bit slower than both Tiara and the Lionheart, but he could make up for it with his Eagle Eyes.

    Being able to subtly gauge where Tiara and the Lionheart would move before they actually did allow Michael to imitate Lesser Foresight to a certain extent. He couldn''t tell for sure where they moved but he could take a rough guess. Using these hints, Michael could react faster, which was everything he required to aid Tiara.

    Tigerfang shed through the mes enveloping the Lionheart. Tigerfang''s razor-sharp de was about to cut into the Lionheart''s shoulder when a white aura suddenly enveloped the Lionheart''s leather armor. Michael''s attack was blocked as Tigerfang''s de cut less than a centimeter deep into the leather armor.

    Michael frowned at this, but he didn''t panic. He raised his leg and kicked the Lionheart with all his might. The Lionheart stumbled backward while Tigerfang was pulled out of the leather armor. Simultaneously, Tiara made her move.

    She appeared beneath the Lionheart who was about to crash into the ground and pierced upward with the silver spear. The Lionheart reacted by blocking the attack with his longsword. Just as the silver spear was about to collide with the t side of the Lionheart''s sword, a burst of energy poured out of the silver spear. The silver spear''s position changed by a few centimeters without slowing down at all.

    The spear pierced shot past the longsword and pierced the Lionheart''s chest. The Lionheart stared at Tiara in astonishment, but he regained hisposure quickly.

    The silver spear didn''t cut deep through his leather armor. The white aura blocked the lethal force of the spear thrust.

    He engulfed his body in zing mes and willed them to shoot toward Tiara. The Battle Maid twisted the silver spear in the Lionheart''s stomach before she pulled it back.

    Her bracelet glowed faintly, manifesting the protection enchantment. A semi-transparent shield manifested in front of her. It broke in the next instance but that was enough time for Michael to appear behind the second-strongest Lionheart.

    Michael inserted a tremendous amount of the energy churning within him inside Tigerfang and the Boots of Taran. He elerated as quickly as possible and enhanced his means of attack as high as he could and shed out.

    The Lionheart noticed Michael''s attack from behind himself the next moment. He twisted his body to avoid the worst injuries. However, Michael predicted his move and awaited the sea of mes that burst out of the Lionheart as he twisted his body.

    He ignored the searing mes that burned his clothes and hair and kicked out with all his might. His kick connected a momentter with the Lionheart''s kneecap, and the sound of breaking bones rang out next. However, neither Michael nor the Lionheart paid any attention to this.

    Michael continued shing Tigerfang across the Lionheart''s throat, while the Lionheart was trying to block the attack with his longsword.

    His longsword was about to move in between Michael and the Lionheart, but it suddenly stopped. It didn''t move an inch.

    Tiara''s silver spear blocked the longsword''s path.

    Meanwhile, Tigerfang reached the Lionheart.

    It slices through the Lionheart''s neck at once, causing blood to burst out like a fountain.

    The head of the second strongest Lionheart fell to the ground with a thud the next second.

    They had finally defeated the Lionheart!

    It was a moment of happiness, or it was supposed to be.

    However, it was at this moment that Michael felt that more than ten Links of Loyalty had been cut.

    That meant ten more of his loyal subjects had died.

    It was not yet time to rest!

 Chapter 99 Suicidal

    Before the headless body of the second strongest Lionheart could touch the ground, Tiara dashed away.

    The moment her feet kicked from the ground she turned into a cannonball. She appeared next to the Lionheart Leader and became the Vanguard while the others supported her from all directions.

    Meanwhile, Michael moved in the direction of the six Lionhearts. Their mes shot through the rows of Starless Summons, burning their clothes and skin. The Starless Summons charged at the Lionhearts recklessly, unable to make use of any of their strategies due to the great impact the fire affinity had on them.

    Michael shot through the mes with tremendous speed. The Boots of Taran had already caught fire, but Michael didn''t care about that at this point. If his Artifacts would break and burn in today''s fight, so be it! He would sacrifice all his wealth to save his beloved subjects.

    He channeled more energy in the Boots of Taran to keep using the highest form of the Swiftness enchantment. In the next moment, he was engulfed in the zing mes of the six Lionhearts, betting his life on the water membrane created by Kelia Tan. The Water Elemental Mage in his team was powerful and Michael was certain that her aid was more than enough to defeat the six Lionhearts.

    Tigerfang shimmered like the sea of stars in a cloudless night as Michael swung it. The thin longsword cut through the mes and inched closer to the neck of the closest Lionheart. The Lionhearts burst forth with more zing mes. Their mes engulfed Michael, burning his Boots of Taran, clothes, and the hair beneath.

    But that was already it. The Lionhearts'' mes didn''te in contact with his skin yet thanks to the water membrane protecting him. However, it was only a matter of time before the water membrane would evaporate.

    Michael''s movements became even more agile and swift upon noticing that he was pressed on time. Tigerfang cut through the throat of the closest Lionheart, who had been fully focused on burning Michael alive.

    The Lionheart didn''t expect Michael to continue advancing through the mes like a suicidal maniac. This turned into the Lionheart''s greatest pitfall and the reason he died miserably.

    Michael felt the resistance of the Lionheart''s flesh when he cut through his throat, but he didn''t pay any attention to it. Instead, he appeared next to the second Lionheart and pierced through his eye. The de dug deep into the Lionheart''s brain. Michael twisted Tigerfang and pulled it out before he advanced to the third opponent.

    He felt the searing heat engulfing him increase, however, he couldn''t stop now ¨C not when he was so close to eliminating the threat. Michael advanced and faced the third Lionheart in the sea of mes.

    At this point, he realized that the water membrane hadpletely evaporated. The smell of his charred flesh stung his nostrils and his eyes hurt tremendously as they watered due to the heat. In fact, his entire body hurt like hell as he was on fire, every inch of his skin getting burned.

    He endured the horrendous pain and grit his teeth, delivering the final blow to the third Lionheart swiftly. In the next instance, the sea of mes dispersed.

    ''Hmm?''

    Michael knew that so far he had killed only half of the Lionhearts, who had been attacking his Starless Summons, so why would the sea of mes disperse suddenly?

    Michael ignored the pain all over his body and looked at the three other Lionhearts. His eyes widened and he momentarily forgot about the pain he felt.

    More than two dozen Starless Summons had surrounded the three Lionhearts, killing them by inflicting dozens of injuries that were ¨C more or less ¨C serious. But that was not what shocked Michael.

    The two dozen Starless Summons looked no less than living torches. Their bodies were charred, and their Links of Loyalty were dangerously weak. If they had stayed engulfed in the zing sea of mes for another second or two, they would burn to death.

    Michael was already a Tier-1 Lord with strong external enhancements owed to his Artifacts. This allowed him to endure the sea of mes much better than his Starless Summons, which were not only without external enhancement from Artifacts but also Tierless and only at the Low and Mid refinement stages.

    Michael''s body moved instinctively. He essed his War Rune and retrieved the strongest healing potions he had. He removed the lids and poured the content in the wide-open mouths of his trusted subjects.

    "Don''t fall asleep just yet!" He ordered in a tone that didn''t allow disobedience.

    His head turned to the other Starless Summons.

    "Take care of the injured and treat them with potions. Don''t give them more than one potion at once, otherwise, they might die from the sudden influx of too much life force. Only if they''re dying even after you gave them one potion can you give them another one," Michaelmanded in a steady voice.

    "Don''t let anyone die!!"

    Michael shot up with these words.

    He was also injured and growing increasingly tired. His body hadn''t even been able to adjust to his War Rune advancing to the 1st Tier, and it was forced to amodate the new power and the heavy toll of being injured simultaneously while fighting unexpected attackers.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But that didn''t mean he could rest just yet.

    Michael rushed over to Tiara and the others. He was certain that they would be fine now that Tiara was there, but Michael didn''t want to postpone the end of the battle. He wanted to kill the Lionheart Leader and end this misery.

    The Lionheart Leader noticed that he was all by himself when the Lord of the territory charged at him. He was already struggling to keep the bloodthirsty Tigress at bay, while the insects kept poking at his skin every now and then.

    However, with the arrival of the Tier-1 Lord, the situation turned from bad to worse. Traces of panic appeared in his eyes, followed by confusion and anger atst.

    He had killed enough enemies to provide the other Lionhearts with a tremendous advantage. Fighting a few hundred Tierless opponents shouldn''t have been so difficult. They were not only Lionhearts, beings born to be powerful, but all of them were Tier-1 Adventurers with at least one Tier-1 Artifact.

    It was impossible for the Tierless citizens of the territory to win against him. However, from the moment more than 150 Starless Summons chose to aid their Lord in the battle ¨C knowing that they were likely to die ¨C the tides of the battle changed.

    "How¡­that Elven bastard¡­lied to us? Is that it? He said that¡­there was¡­" The Lionheart Leader couldn''t control his emotions anymore.

    The mes exuded by the strands of hair all over his body engulfed him suddenly and a fierce roar left his lips.

    However, in the next moment, a silver spear pierced through the searing hot mes and blood spurted through the surroundings.

    Following Tiara''s spear thrust, several arrows and bolts coated by the highly potent paralysis poison impacted with a loud thud. Meanwhile, the des of the remaining Warriors and the Knights in training found their way to the Lionheart Leader as well. They drove their des deep into the flesh of the Lionheart Leader, ignoring the zing mes engulfing their opponent.

    More than a dozen arrows and bolts were already stuck in the Lionheart Leader''s body, but he was still moving. At first, everyone thought that the Lionheart Leader was immune to the highly potent venom, or that the venom was burned when the arrows pierced through the mes before they impacted on the target.

    But that was proven wrong as the Lionheart Leader began to stagger. Atst, the Lionheart Leader began to struggle.

    He was still in disbelief given the turn of events. A territory with less than 30 proper Warriors and only two beings at Tier-1 were able to defeat an adventurer team of more than 40 Tier-1 Lionhearts!! Their refinement degree at the first Tier was not even bad either, yet he and his team had lost ¨C or were about to lose.

    What was the reason?

    Was it the Lord''s impable archer skills, or was it the Silver Tigress'' tremendousbat prowess?

    The Lionheart Leader had no idea. He only knew that both had a great impact on changing the tide of the battle.

    What the Lionheart Leader didn''t realize was that they lost because they had grossly underestimated those who were weaker than them.

    They didn''t think highly of the Tierless Warriors, forget about the Starless Summons. In their eyes, they were weak and could be ignored. They were trash in their eyes, and it made them believe they could simply charge into the territory and bulldoze it.

    However, what happened was that this so-called ''trash'' outmaneuvered them by bravely entering the battlefield and heroically storming through their opponents ¨C knowing deep down that they were likely to lose their lives. Underestimating an opponent who was willing to die for his ideals was a grave mistake. It was something only fools would do¡­or the dead.

    The Lionhearts were fools and dead by now.

    Realizing his grave mistake toote, the Lionheart Leader knew that he was about to die.

    He didn''t want to go down like this, but there was nothing he could do now to bring back his people.

    With that in mind, he retrieved a fist-sized object from his War Rune.

    In the next moment, the mes all over his body were absorbed by the metal object.

    ''Is that a bomb? Is he trying to take us with him?!?''

 Chapter 100 The Price Of Winning

    The moment the metal object resting in the Lionheart Leader''s hands absorbed the mes all around, it began to tremble wildly.

    Michael and the others first thought that it was a bomb, which had been set off for the worst-case scenario.

    They were proven wrong quickly.

    Tiara began to scream the moment the metal object began to shake blood began to ooze out of her ears. She copsed to the ground the next moment.

    ''Sound? No, high frequency?'' Michael asked himself when Tiara copsed while the others were unaffected.

    He reached Tiara and the others the next second and pierced Tigerfang through the Lionheart Leader''s throat. Many questions shed through Michael''s mind, but he didn''t want to give the Lionheart Leader a chance to outwit him again.

    The Lionheart Leader was already under the influence of the highly potent paralysis venom but that didn''t mean he couldn''t retrieve a bomb from his War Rune. Michael didn''t want any more of his subjects to die in this battle. The questions he had in mind were not worth sacrificing any more lives!

    Seeing that Michael didn''t want to keep the Lionheart Leader alive the others pierced their swords deeper into their enemy''s body. More arrows, bolts, and water bullets pierced the Lionheart Leader, who couldn''t endure the onught of attacks.

    He copsed after a few seconds.

    Michael caught the metal object, threw it into the air, and shed at it after inserting his remaining bits of energy into Tigerfang.

    He split the metal object into two before it fell to the ground. It had stopped shaking. Simultaneously, the tension in Tiara''s body was released. She had fallen unconscious but would wake up soon.

    "You were lucky¡­" The voice of the Lionheart Leader rang through Michael''s ears all of a sudden.

    He thought that the Lionheart Leader was already dead, but that was not the case. The Lionheart Leader was just on the verge of death. He had a few more seconds left to live.

    "It was just luck that this Elf¨C...." The Lionheart Leader spoke, but he couldn''t finish his sentence as a razor-sharp de pierced through his mouth.

    Michael stared coldly at the Lionheart Leader, whose eyes widened in surprise.

    "Who do you think you are to spout nonsense? Luck? Fuck off, who cares?! You don''t deserve anyst words. Nobody wants to hear them either way, bastard!" Michael snarled while staring at the Lionheart Leader whose eyes lost the spark in them. They turned dim and lifeless as he stopped moving altogether.

    The Lionheart Leader died.

    However, Michael didn''t even bother to look at his corpse. This enemy didn''t deserve his respect, forget about the honor of a glorious death.

    Instead of paying attention to the dead bastards who invaded his territory, Michael rather focused on his people.

    He rushed over to Tiara and ced her head on hisp. Michael was just about to retrieve a potion from his War Rune when he felt her twitch. Tiara opened her eyes weakly and stared straight into Michael''s dark eyes.

    "I¡­went out of control¡­I''m sor¨C...." She was about to apologize when Michael hurriedly ced a healing potion close to her lips. He nudged her gently to make her swallow the viscous liquid instead of talking. Michael didn''t want to hear any nonsense from Tiara right now.

    His mind was in a mess, and so was his body.

    When the content of the ss vial was emptied, Michael helped Tiara up. He retrieved a few more potions, and handed Tiara a few before he drank a healing potion himself.

    "Were you knocked out from a high-frequency signal?" Michael asked Tiara as his eyes roamed across the battlefield.

    The mes conjured by the Lionhearts extinguished with their deaths, but there were still some small dying mes that were sputtering.

    Kelia Tan used thest bits of strength inside her to extinguish them before she fainted. She had used too much of her energy in today''s battle. However, that was the case for almost everyone. Everybody was utterly exhausted by now.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I think he sent an emergency signal to someone. Usually, high-frequency signals don''t knock me out¡­ It was pretty strong. I think it was sent to someone far away," Tiara said while pressing one of her hands against her head.

    Tiara looked like a big mess. Michael was not sure what aftereffect her bloodthirstiness had, or if it was somehow rted to her Soultrait rather than her belonging to the Silverfang Tigerfolk, but he could tell that she was in a mess.

    He patted her shoulder lightly.

    "If the signal was sent to someone far away, it was probably sent to his backer. Either way, you should rest now. The others will take care of the injured," Michael said, pointing in the direction of the territory.

    Dozens of people from the territory had alreadye over, tightly holding onto their axes and other tools. They had been unwilling to stay away from the battlefield and wanted to help out even though they had never held a weapon in their lives, much less taken a life. These citizens were artisans and workers, and they never had only ever picked a weapon to build something, not destroy or with the intention to hurt anyone.

    Despite that, they came to aid their friends and colleagues. Their arrival was a little bitte as the battle was already over, but their timing was perfect to tend to the injured and take care of the battle''s aftermath.

    ire had rushed over to alert more civilians about the raging battle and ask them to help. That way, more than 200 people were now helping the injured.

    Michael watched the scenery, his lips pressed together in a thin line. It was great to see the strong sense of unity between his subjects, and how they respected each other, but Michael couldn''t get himself to smile.

    He was worried.

    ''Did the signal go through, or not?''

    That was the first thing Michael was worried about. However, even if the signal didn''t go through, the powerhouse backing the Lionhearts would realize that something was amiss when he would not hear anything from the Lionheart Leader for weeks.

    The Lionheart Leader was dead and couldn''t report to his backer anymore. That would either signify that the Lionheart Leader forgot to report, he ignored his backer and abandoned him or her, or he died.

    Neither of those paths provided a favorable result for Michael.

    It was better to expect the worst right off the bat and expect more attacks in theing few weeks.

    ''I need to get stronger¡­no¡­we need to get stronger, as fast as possible¡­''

    The first thing that came to his mind when he thought about getting stronger was the Temple of the Forgotten.

    But there were also other options.

    However, before that, Michael helped everyone to clean up the battlefield, help to rescue as many injured subjects as possible and to bring the remains of the deceased to the clearing.

    Only an hour passed while they did the rescue operations, but Michael felt increasingly tired. He stared at the remains of close to a hundred subjects that died in today''s battle, and he grit his teeth tightly.

    Most casualties were Starless Summons, who had been brave enough to join the battle, knowing that their survival rate would be close to nil.

    They were the heroes of the territory, the reason why the territory was untouched and standing strong.

    To other Lords, the death of close to a hundred Starless Summons wouldn''t bother them too much. Their value was negligible in contrast to the gains made by defeating more than 40 Tier-1 Lionheart Adventurers.

    But Michael didn''t feel like that.

    Today''s battle may have been a victory, but it didn''t feel like one, at all.

 Chapter 101 Artifacts & Fragments

    It waste at night when Michael and the citizens of his territory made a memorial for the deceased. Their corpses were burned and tributes were made to cleanse their souls and offer them somest words hoping for a safe journey to the afterlife.

    Michael made a long speech to honor the deceased and praise the survivors. He feasted with the survivors and spent hours with them near the big campfire to have onest meal together with the souls of the deceased. Being with the other subjects and warriors didn''t make him forget the deceased, but it showed him clearly that his Summons were no different from real human beings.

    The Origin Expanse might have resurrected them from death in order to turn them into loyal subjects of their Lords, but that didn''t make them any less humane.

    Everyone knew that they had already died once and that the Origin Expanse''s Will created the Link of Loyalty with their Lord to make sure that they had to obey and couldn''t run away from their fate. But with someone like Michael as their Lord that was fine. They would love to grow stronger alongside their Lord and follow him anywhere, even if that meant they would die in the quest.

    Their Links of Loyalty grew stronger during thest few hours, telling him that they would join him in battle once again if he said the word.

    Once again, Michael realized how important it was for his subjects to trust him. His words were theirmand. It was a great feeling that caused goosebumps to spread all over his body.

    However, it was also terrifying.

    A single wrongmand was enough to lead his subjects straight to death.

    This made Michael think a lot.

    The pain and anguish caused by the Lionhearts were still apparent in his heart, but Michael knew that he couldn''t have done much to change the oue of the battle. His battle against the Lionhearts had already been suicidal ¨C stupid even if one could say.

    He charged straight into a zing sea of mes just because he was angry and because he didn''t want more subjects to die for his sake. But had that been the best move?

    It was only obvious that Michael didn''t want to see his subjects die for him, but sacrificing himself for them wasn''t an ideal solution either.

    Today he was lucky. Only bits of his skin were scorched, and he had received minor burns. It was not serious and had mostly healed after he used a potion and ointment to relieve himself of the ache and heal his skin quickly.

    But what if he wasn''t that lucky next time?

    If he thought about the consequences of his suicidal actions only after he did them, Michael would die sooner orter. That was certainly not something he wanted to happen.

    It made him contemte his actions a lot.

    How many people had found out about his territory? Who was the backer of the Lionhearts? Would the backer take revenge on him? If so, when would he attack him?

    Too many questions flooded his mind, but Michael couldn''t answer any of them. Lilica was not in his territory anymore, and he didn''t have enough time to travel to Xiltra and question her.

    Michael was not even sure if Lilica would answer his questions, in the first ce.

    ''She is trying to maintain a neutral status with us, but without exposing herself or her team to others. She is a sly Elven woman, who keeps all possibilities open¡­that''s dangerous.''

    Once again, Michael understood a crucial point; He and his territory had to grow stronger. The Temple of the Forgotten and the Saphirke Military Academy were two ways to achieve that.

    However, before he could enter the Temple of the Forgotten, he required more information about it. To be precise, he needed records about the oldnguages, raids of other temples to find out what dangers awaited him, and so on.

    But before he could acquire information, Michael got up. He walked over to the warehouse where the corpses of the Lionhearts had been stored.

    ''Their corpses will be worth more if I leave them intact. The research department of the government pays a small fortune for corpses of monster races with innate abilities. But that doesn''t mean, I cannot extract everything else, right?'' Michael thought to himself.

    His hands began to glow golden as streams of golden light emerged from the inside of his palms.

    Michael used Extraction on the corpses of the Lionhearts Adventurers. There were a total of 43 corpses, each of them being a Tier-1 Adventurer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael first extracted their War Runes, and the Artifacts bound to their War Runes. The moment the Adventurers attacked him, their fate had been sealed, and so was their War Runes'' spatial storage ownership waiting to be imed by Michael.

    In the following minutes, more than 30 Tier-1 Artifacts ended up in Michael''s possession. Most of them were Weapon Artifacts, which the Lionhearts had wielded in the battle before.

    Each Tier-1 Weapon Artifact was worth a small fortune, however, Michael''s facial expression didn''t change in the slightest. He didn''t bat an eye at the sight of the Artifacts, nor did he feel ted. The gains he made today didn''t make up for the pain he and his subjects went through and the losses they sustained.

    Other than the Artifacts, Michael procured various potions, sets of clothes, and other objects from the storage of the 43 Adventurers.

    Michael stored everything inside his War Rune''s storage space. Now that he was a Tier-1 Lord his storage space was much bigger than before. If he squeezed everything inside, the Lionheart corpses would all fit inside. He had that much space!

    ''To think that the strong Links of Loyalty from more than 400 Summons can result in an ergement of the War Rune''s storage space.'' Michael thought, slightly surprised.

    He knew that a War Rune''s storage space could be expanded with external means such as the number of Links of Loyalty. However, it usually required thousands of Links of Loyalty from Starless Summons to make a significant change. Michael was still quite far away from a thousand subjects, which is why it was so surprising that his War Rune''s space was bigger than it should be.

    Once he finished extracting the Artifacts and some stored goods from the War Rune''s storage space, Michael extracted the SoulStar Fragments of the 43 Adventurers.

    Each of the Adventurers had a War Rune, and they had either awoken aplete Soultrait or were gathering enough energy to finish their iplete Soultraits.

    Michael used Extraction on one Lionheart Adventurer after another to see how many SoulStar Fragments every Adventurer would drop. He wanted to find out which Lionheart Adventurer would drop aplete Soultrait Symbol, and how the number of SoulStar Fragments was rted to their strength and other factors.

    As he extracted the SoulStar Fragments, he restrained the white streams of energy that shot out of his War Rune. The greedy tentacle-like strands of energy desired to devour the SoulStar Fragments. However, Michael didn''t allow them to do so.

    He wanted to test something.

    Ten minutester, a small pile of SoulStar Fragments and two Soultrait Symbols were spread out in front of him.

    The Soultrait Symbols had been extracted immediately. He also knew from which Lionhearts the Soultraits came from, which was also how he knew the power behind the Soultraits.

    ''Now I can finally figure out how weak Soultraits are at first immediately after extraction!'' Michael thought before something else attracted his attention.

    The small pile of SoulStar Fragments trembled while the fragments were pulling each other closer. A third Soultrait Symbol was about to form!

    "You want to form a Soultrait out of my hard-earned SoulStar Fragments?! Forget it!" Michael dered, unleashing the tentacle-like streams of energy of his War Rune.

    The tentacles shot forward and tore the SoulStar Fragments apart, preventing the creation of a third Soultrait Symbol.

    Afterward, the tentacles coiled around the SoulStar Fragments, and pulled them inside the War Rune, without leaving a single fragment or Soultrait Symbol aside.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

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    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 102 Quadruple Soultraits

    Michael had extracted the two manifested Soultraits from the two strongest Lionhearts. He also found out that arge number of SoulStar Fragments could form a new Soultrait. This had been confirmed by the phenomenon that had happened in front of him.

    The white energy tentacle tore apart the newly forming Soultrait Symbol, disintegrating it back into a pile of SoulStar Fragments before it absorbed everything.

    This included more than thirty Tier-1 Artifacts, two Soultrait Symbols, and a pile of more than 200 SoulStar Fragments. That was the loot Michael imed from extracting 43 Lionheart Adventurers. The loot was great.

    No, calling his loot great was a gross understatement. It was exceptional!

    However, Michael couldn''t feel overly excited at this moment.

    The brave citizens of his territory had sacrificed themselves to protect his territory and those exceptional gains hade at the cost of their lives.

    Michael closed his eyes. He thanked his brave warriors and loyal subjects inwardly before he entered the deepest parts of his consciousness.

    The white pir of his War Rune appeared in front of him, surrounded by four Soultrait Symbols, several Artifact Wisps, and a pile of SoulStar Fragments that was waiting to be used.

    The newest Soultrait Symbols were still fusing with the white pir, which Michael watched calmly.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have rested or returned to his people to spend some more time with them. However, he was currently driven by the desire to grow stronger. Michael didn''t want another situation like today to ever happen again!

    The SoulStar Fragments were absorbed but he didn''t distribute them yet. Michael waited until his new Soultraits fused with him, and until the information stored in them reached him. He had to know more about his Soultraits to find out whether he should continue using his SoulStar Fragments on both Extraction and the Eagle Eyes, or if he had to find out another method to distribute his SoulStar Fragments properly.

    Michael was not sure how much time passed but the first Soultrait Symbol was quickly bound to his War Rune. Information spread through his mind where it was deeply imprinted.

    ''1-Star Soultrait is called a Lesser Enhancement. It can enhance everything, even the external amplification of Artifacts. That was the Soultrait of the second strongest Lionheart!'' Michael thought when he processed bits of the flood of information reached him.

    He clearly recalled the white aura mantling the second strongest Lionheart and how much stronger his Artifacts had grown after the white aura had appeared.

    Michael didn''t hesitate and manifested Tigerfang. He used Lesser Enhancement on Tigerfang, and a thin white aura manifested around the Artifact. The next moment, Michael''s Strength, Perception, and Agility increased a little bit. Simultaneously, the sharpness of Tigerfang''s de and its durability increased as well.

    "An overall increment of¡­10%? That''s the power of a 1-Star Soultrait? Strong¡­"

    Michael was impressed. If he upgraded Lesser Enhancement to a 2-Star Soultrait or even a 3-Star Soultrait, how strong would the enhancement effect be? It was quite fascinating.

    Just as Michael marveled about the great power of his 3rd Soultrait, the information of the fourth Soultrait shed through his mind.

    ''1-Star Soultrait Spirit Whip. Ignores the physical world and directly hits the spirit of its opponents¡­that''s the Soultrait of the Lionheart Leader!''

    Michael clearly recalled the tremendous power of the Spirit Whip when it hadshed out at him. The effect was quite powerful, and Michael felt like using it immediately. However, upon activating Spirit Whip, Michael noticed several things.

    "The range is short, and it cannot affect the physical world in any way. The energy I can use to condense a Spirit Whip is insignificant but so is the lethality of the Spirit Whip ¨C negligible. Maybe¡­if I attack someone in closebat and catch them off-guard it will be possible to get the upper hand. But it is much weaker than the Lionheart Leader''s Spirit Whip!"

    Michael figured that his newest Soultraits were quite interesting. Both Spirit Whip and Lesser Enhancement were rather useful if used at the right time. But since they were 1-Star Soultraits there was a lot to improve. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Now¡­how should I distribute my SoulStar Fragments?'' Michael wondered.

    He was not sure how long it would take before he would umte more than 200 SoulStar Fragments again. It was only obvious, but the Untamed Jungle was not exactly a ce known for Adventurers and Lords to gather.

    ''219 SoulStar Fragments and I have four Soultraits. 3-Star Extraction, 2.2-Star Eagle Eyes, 1-Star Lesser Enhancement, and 1-Star Spirit Whip¡­''

    At first, Michael felt like focusing on Eagle Eyes, possibly upgrading Eagle Eyes to 4-Star with all of his SoulStar Fragments. That way, he would be able to perform better in the aptitude assessment. But he quickly chose against doing this. It was not as if he would have any issues during the aptitude assessment with his current strength.

    It would be a walk in the park to get admitted to the Saphirke Military Academy. That was something Michael was certain about.

    He changed his approach and chose to do a little experiment.

    ''How many SoulStar Fragments do you need to upgrade to 4-Star?'' He asked himself in mind before he put one SoulStar Fragment after another into the Symbol of Extraction.

    Extraction was already a 3-Star Soultrait, so he could find out how many SoulStar Fragments he required to upgrade a 3-Star Soultrait by a full rank.

    Less than five minutester, Michael found the answer.

    "200 SoulStar Fragments¡­That''s a lot more than I expected¡­" He murmured, not sure if he was happy or not.

    He had only 19 SoulStar Fragments left, and three Soultraits that had yet to be upgraded. However, the most important Soultrait of his had been upgraded, so he was not dissatisfied.

    His entire growth was based on Extraction. If he could increase his gains when looting monsters, Adventurers, and Lords by upgrading Extraction to a higher star rating, why wouldn''t he do it? It was thanks to Extraction that he could acquire new Soultraits, in the first ce, and it was also because of Extraction that he could upgrade them.

    Enhancing Extraction to a new star rating meant that he would gain more. It wasn''t a wasteful investment at all!

    With that in mind, Michael spent 16 SoulStar Fragments to advance Eagle Eye to a 3-Star Soultrait. Combined with the SoulStar Fragments of the ck Bear that had been spent on Eagle Eyes, Michael spent a total of 19 SoulStar Fragments to enhance the 2-Star Eagle Eyes to a 3-Star Soultrait.

    That number was within his expectations.

    ''Advancing Eagle Eyes from 2-Star to 3-Star requires 19 SoulStar Fragments. On the other hand, Extraction requires 200 SoulStar Fragments from 3-Star to 4-Star. In that case¡­how much does it cost to enhance a 1-Star Soultrait?''

    Michael was curious, and he was certain that he couldn''t waste his SoulStar Fragments since both Lesser Enhancement and Spirit Whip were pretty powerful.

    Thus, he simply invested the remaining three SoulStar Fragments to Lesser Enhancement, upgrading the 1-Star Soultrait at once.

    After Lesser Enhancement was upgraded to a 2-Star Soultrait, it enhanced Tigerfang overall by 20%. This kind of increase was enough to increase Michael''sbat prowess by arge margin.

    He began to imagine using Lesser Enhancement on several Artifacts at the same time and his mind made up several ns andbat strategies on how to utilize Lesser Enhancement in the best possible ways.

    "This is interesting!"

 Chapter 103 Forgetful Michael

    Upgrading a Soultrait from 1-Star to 2-Star required 3-4 SoulStar Fragments. Enhancing a Soultrait from 2-Star to 3-Star, on the other hand, required roughly 20 SoulStar Fragments. This increment was already quite high, but it seemed like upgrading Soultraits would be increasingly difficult the higher the Star rating.

    After all, enhancing Extraction from 3-Star to 4-Star required 200 SoulStar Fragments, ten times the amount Eagle Eyes required to upgrade from 2-Star to 3-Star!

    He didn''t want to know how much enhancing Extraction to 5-Star cost, but he had a premonition. Michael didn''t like this premonition, but there was not much he could do about it.

    He could only ept it.

    "I wonder if I can acquire SoulStar Fragments in the Temple of the Forgotten¡­" Michael wondered at this moment.

    He figured that there were various ways to procure SoulStar Fragments, and imagined the Temple of the Forgotten to be one way.

    His desire for strength had turned even fiercer after today''s event, but he also knew that the Temple of the Forgotten was a ce he shouldn''t visit just yet.

    He was not well versed with thenguage used in the Temple of the Forgotten, and there were only a few ways to find out more about the old tongue used before the third epoch; using thework system of other races.

    ''I wonder if thework system of the Saphirke Military Academy is connected to the Barbarians and the Warlock Centaurs¡­''

    Danny told him that thenguage used in the Third Epoch was the oldestnguage of the Origin Expanse that had been studied by mankind. Thus, he would have to seek help from the other ¨C older ¨C races to study thenguages used before the Third Epoch.

    Both the Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs had spent several millennia in the Origin Expanse. Maybe, some of them were alive when the old tongues had beenmonly used in the Origin Expanse!

    With that understanding in mind, Michael sincerely hoped that the Saphirke Network was better than the Bartholomew Network, or he would have to soon pay a visit to the Barbarians and Warlock Centaurs.

    Fortunately, the Saphirke Military Academy was in the same Ster System, so there was hardly any issue.

    Now that he recalled that the Saphirke Military Academy still existed, Michael felt that he was forgetting something.

    "Wait¡­"

    His eyes widened and he rushed out of the warehouse after stuffing all Lionheart corpses into his War Rune''s spatial space.

    He found Tiara near the huge campfire they had made to honor the deceased and dashed towards her.

    "How long has it been since I started my advancement to Tier-1?" Michael asked immediately.

    Tiara, who hadn''t expected such a question, looked at him with a slightly stupefied gaze.

    "Master¡­it has been almost three days since you returned to your territory to advance. Did something happen?" Tiara asked worriedly.

    Michael waved his hand in denial while calctions ran through his head.

    ''I had two days left when I returned to the Origin Expanse. Almost three days inside the Origin Expanse meant that roughly 36 hours passed outside¡­I still have some time before the aptitude assessment starts¡­lucky me!''

    Michael''s heart was beating rapidly and he sighed in relief. However, it was just a momentter when his heart skipped a beat. He recalled something else he had forgotten.

    ''Alice wanted to meet me the day before the aptitude assessment to give me the Tier-1 Artifacts!!'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Shit!" He cursed while turning back to Tiara.

    "I have to leave. I will be back in a day or two. Don''t worry about me. If something happens in the Origin Expanse, take care of it. You''re in charge!" Michael said hurriedly, before he hastily added, "If an adventurer team like the Lionhearts appear again, either take them by surprise or flee if theirbat prowess is too high for us to handle. It doesn''t matter what happens to the territory as long as you guys survive!"

    After Michael gave her the instructions, he manifested the Runic Gate. He made ast prayer to the deceased and disappeared in the next moment.

    It was hard to pinpoint how much time had passed in the outside world when you spent too long inside the Origin Expanse. The time spent in the Origin Expanse seemed magical and it passed much faster than one may think.

    One day outside the Origin Expanse was equivalent to two full days inside, but it didn''t feel like that, at all.

    In fact, Michael did not even feel like leaving his territory and the Origin Expanse at times. He knew that he could spend several weeks in the Origin Expanse without feeling bored, while the same may not be the case outside the Origin Expanse.

    Most people wouldn''t even bother to leave the Origin Expanse for several months because there were so many things one could do inside the mythical realm of the Origin Expanse.

    It was magical and far more entertaining than the outside world. At least, that was what many thought.

    However, there were also adventures and mythical ces outside the Origin Expanse. It was just that they were harder toe by than the ces in the Origin Expanse.

    Upon emerging outside the Origin Expanse, Michael felt a little weird. His Sun Soldier''s Breathing mastery had increased considerably in the past few days, and Michael had learned to take in traces of the Origin Expanse''s energy by breathing. Thus, it was a little bit weird now that the air around him was void of energy.

    The sensation of missing the Origin Expanse''s dormant energy was something most Lords and Adventurers were aware of. It was also the reason why most people would return to the Origin Expanse more often than they needed to.

    They were addicted to the Origin Expanse''s energy and couldn''t live without it anymore after they spent years in the Origin Expanse. They were drugged and would never be able to survive without their beloved drug. After all, the drug was natural, highly potent, allowed them to grow stronger, and it invigorated their mind and bodies.

    Michael felt theck of origin energy for the first time, and it was already bothering him. However, he could still endure the sensation of loss.

    He was alreadyte, so he hurriedly opened the messenger on his crystal watch and typed a message to Alice Zenovia.

    [Michael: I''m on my way.]

    ''I hope you''re not too angry. I was almost burned to a crisp today¡­have some mercy.'' He mumbled in his mind while staring at the messenger.

    While continuing to stare at his crystal watch, he rushed to the bathroom, washed up and changed into a new set of clothes. Once he was done with everything, he booked a shuttle and rushed downstairs as it reached the entrance of his building.

    Just as he jumped into the shuttle, a notification reached him.

    Alice sent him a message.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): You bastard! Why am I always the one waiting for you!?!? Do you think I''m your personal maid, or what?!?''

    Michael''s expression contorted when he saw the message, but he ended up smiling faintly atst.

    ''This will be fun.''

    It was time to meet up with Alice once again.

 Chapter 104 Payment

    "Why¡­are you bald? Are you trying to be a trendsetter, or what?"

    Alice''s surprised voice echoed through the private dining room. She was utterly dumbfounded as she stared at Michael, who didn''t have a single strand of hair on his head.

    Even his eyebrows were missing.

    What the hell was Michael trying to do?

    They were supposed to meet up for dinner a few hours ago to make sure that Michael had enough time to bind the new Artifacts to his War Rune and adapt to the external enhancements he would receive from the Artifacts. However, Michael didn''t show up.

    He messaged her well after midnight and told her that he was on his way. Alice had been about to workout and finish thest preparations for the aptitude assessment when she received his message.

    It was already way toote, and she was angry because she had been waiting for Michael for two whole hours.

    Nobody was daring or stupid enough to let her wait for half an hour, forget about two whole hours, yet Michael acted nonchntly.

    Alice didn''t want to meet up with him anymore, but she had to repay her brother''s debt, and she wanted to thrash him a little bit because he made her wait for two hours.

    But when she saw Michael, her anger dissipated. Her anger was reced by confusion and numerous doubts.

    Michael tilted his head upon hearing Alice''s question.

    ''Bald? Who? I am?''

    Confused, he ran a hand over his head only to find out that there was nothing. He... was bald!

    His eyes widened in surprise, and he summoned Tigerfang to use the de''s reflection to take a look at himself.

    "Oh fuck¡­even my eyebrows burned¡­" Michael cursed quietly as he kept staring at his reflection.

    He could also see patches of his charred skin, but that didn''t really bother him. These shallow burns didn''t have any impact on him. However, his hair was a whole different matter.

    It would take months until his hair would have grown enough for him to look the same as before. Maybe it would take even longer!

    Seeing how Michael acted after realizing that all of his hair was burned, Alice was even more confused.

    Only now did she pay attention to the burns all over his arms, neck, and head. Her curiosity was drawn to his Tier-1 War Rune and the pressure Michael radiated without realizing.

    Compared to thest time they met only three weeks had passed¡­inside the Origin Expanse. Spending three weeks in the Origin Expanse was enough for Michael to reach the Late stage of Tier-0, advance to Peak Tier-0, and break the barrier separating him from Tier-1. This kind of speed was not something one could attain easily.

    It either meant, Michael spent three weeks hunting powerful monsters, or that he had dozens of powerful subjects that were as strong as Michael. However, thetter was not something that should be possible as a new Lord.

    But that was exactly what confused Alice. Michael''s presence as a Lord was overbearing. It was not something an ordinary Tier-1 Lord could attain easily. It meant that Michael was either in possession of thousands of subjects or that he had a few hundred subjects with an extraordinary firm Link of Loyalty.

    But that didn''t make any sense either. Michael was a new Lord. Did he purchase thousands of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls to increase the number of his subjects quickly? Alice could not figure out how Michael had achieved so much in such a short span.

    Meanwhile, Michael was still shocked about the loss of his hair, but he had to get back to his senses to finish business first. It was already well past midnight, and the aptitude assessment would start early in the morning on the next day.

    He had only a few hours left to bind the new Artifacts and adapt to the enhancements they would provide.

    "You don''t have to worry about me. I was just swimming in a sea of mes for a while," Michael exined nonchntly.

    He didn''t want to go further into detail, but it was quite obvious that Alice didn''t believe his wordspletely. Of course, that didn''t really matter to Michael. She could believe whatever she wanted to.

    "..."

    "Okay¡­" Alice just said. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She could tell from Michael''s eyes that he was not lying, but it was also quite obvious that he wouldn''t tell her more. Thus, to bury her curiosity, Alice went straight to business.

    She retrieved a bunch of Tier-1 Artifacts from her War Rune and spread them out on the dining table.

    At the sight of the artifacts, Michael''s eyes began to glimmer brightly.

    "I couldn''t find a suitable Spear or a Longsword Artifact, but I found something better. At least, I''d like to say that it''s better than the Weapon Artifact you asked for. Unfortunately, your demands were quite hard to fulfill since you wanted 3-Star Artifacts of the best quality ¨C which makes sense, of course," Alice informed.

    She didn''t exin the difficulties she had to face in procuring the most suitable set of Tier-1 Artifacts, especially with the requirements of external enhancements and enchantments Michael requested beforehand.

    Alice didn''t even have that much time to search for the Artifacts Michael requested. She had been busy preparing the aptitude assessment, tending to family businesses, and both lecturing and training her brother. Finally, there was also Kaleb''s soon-to-be wife.

    Alice really didn''t understand what her parents saw in the de family, or what her younger brother could see in Jasmine de, but they loved them. It was something she really couldn''t understand.

    Shaking her head, she pointed at the first set of Artifacts.

    "This set of leather armor includes the chestte, leg guards, and boots. It''s called Onyx Dragon Armor and is a 3-Star Tier-1 Artifact Set with protection enchantment. Thebined efforts of a Master Enchanter and a Grandmaster Tailor were required to create it.

    They worked hard to create an Artifact Set which has stronger effects if used together. The protection enchantments'' full power can protect you from most physical attacks!"

    The ck leather armor set looked great and indomitable. It was not created from the hide of an Onyx Dragon but looked quite simr.

    "It''s made of an Onyx Serpentine''s scales, which is said to be the pre-evolution of an Onyx Flood Dragon. Of course, this hasn''t been confirmed, so it''s just a legend. Either way, the Armor Set provides an overall enhancement with great focus on Agility," Alice said before Michael could ask about the name.

    Afterward, she diverted her focus to the other Artifacts. She pointed at the weapon that looked quite simr to a spear.

    "The Seron Voulge is a Natural 3-Star Tier-1 Weapon Artifact. It has a very high destructive force, which is why I chose this weapon for you instead of the other spears and longswords I found. You might not have asked for this, but I can promise you that the Seron Voulge is stronger than 99% of Natural 3-Star Tier-1 Weapon Artifacts you can find. It enhances your Agility and Perception drastically, while also providing a decent enhancement in Strength," Alice shared some key insights about the artifact.

    She knew that Michael didn''t ask for a Voulge but she felt that it would suit Michael quite well, "If you don''t like it, that''s fine as well. I can bring you another Weaponter."

    Michael looked at the Seron Voulge with squinted eyes. The Seron Voulge consisted of a long staff with a slightly curved de attached to the upper end. The de was wide and resembled a short saber with its curve and single cutting edge.

    The Voulge''s de was 70 centimeters long and was made of sturdy, ck metal. It was obviously a weapon designed for powerful strikes, capable of inflicting significant damage to medium torge-sized opponents.

    Overall, it was a formidable weapon,bining the features of a de and a staff. Its wide, curved design enhanced its cutting ability, turning it into an effective tool for close-quarters and mid-rangebat.

    "Another reason why I picked the Seron Voulge for you is because of the Bow I chose. I wasn''t able to find a 3-Star Tier-1 Return Arrow that suits your taste. The bunch I found wouldn''t satisfy you. But don''t frown just yet. I found a rare 3-Star Tier-1 Siltang Bow. It has two enchantments and a high natural pulling force!" Alice introduced thest Artifact she brought.

    "The two enchantments render the Return Arrows useless, so don''t worry. The first enchantment is called [Energy Storage]. You can store your energy in the frame of the Siltang Bow. This makes it sturdier, but that''s not the main point. The point of the first enchantment is that it allows you to use the second enchantment much easier called [Arrow Creation]. You can condense arrows out of origin energy that way. The more energy you use the stronger the arrow will be!"

    Michael nodded his head. The Siltang Bow looked quite exquisite. It was made out of twisted silver sparkling wood. Its appearance was already enough to make it clear that it was expensive.

    Alice noticed his expression and smiled. She added a few words to show clearly how valuable the Siltang Bow truly was.

    "The Siltang Bow was created by a Grandmaster who knows his work like the back of his hand. It is more expensive than the price of an ordinary 3-Star Tier-1 Bow and a 3-Star Tier-1 Return arrowbined!"

    "Wow." Michael eximed quietly.

    He looked at the batch of the Artifact Set, the Seron Voulge, and the Siltang Bow with gleaming eyes.

    Michael was certain that Alice had worked hard enough to repay her brother''s debt. The Artifacts were not something he could have found easily.

    Alice had done a great job helping him!

    "Thank you!"

 Chapter 105 Exceptional Enhancement

    "I cannot give you Tigerfang just yet," Michael said as he cut his connection to the remains of the Boots of Taran, the Hardwood Bow, and the Return Arrow.

    Several streams of energy shot out of the War Rune. They coiled around the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and the Siltang Bow, binding it.

    Meanwhile, Seron Voulge was stored in the storage space of his War Rune. He had never wielded such a weapon before, and he wouldn''t use it for the aptitude assessment either way. It was too risky to fool around with a new weapon at such an important event.

    He still had Tigerfang, so he didn''t bind Seron Voulge to his War Rune just yet.

    "That makes sense. I will leave then. There is still some work left to do," Alice said.

    Her hands were itching to grab Tigerfang but she decided to wait. It was not as if she pressed on time, and she knew that Michael wouldn''t be foolish enough to use a new weapon for the aptitude assessment. He was the most familiar with Tigerfang and would change his weapon only after the aptitude assessment was over.

    With nothing left to do in the dining room, Alice didn''t want to linger around needlessly. Michael had a lot to do in the next few hours now that he obtained new Artifacts, and her work was not done either.

    "My brother''s debt will be considered settled with the Artifacts I procured. I think you understand how valuable these Artifacts are," Alice said sternly before a faint smile formed on her lips. She pointed at the dining table, "It''s my treat. Eat your fill."

    Saying so, she left without another backward nce. The sliding door closed behind her, leaving Michael and the food alone.

    Michael stared at the sliding door for a second or two. He smiled lightly and turned his head back to the Onyx Dragon Armor and the Siltang Bow. Next, he slowly bound the Artifacts to his War Rune.

    It took just enough time to focus on the dining table and the delicacies they''d served.

    There were already more than five dishes, but their portions were small and wouldn''t fill him. Thus, being the glutton he was, Michael ordered more dishes while savoring the food that had already been served.

    He ate to his heart''s content without care and finished binding the new Artifacts to his War Rune. Once he was done eating, his skin glowed brightly, and a vibrant smile appeared on his face.

    Michael hadpletely forgotten about the loss of his hair.

    "Alice¡­you''re much nicer than I thought. You look fierce on the outside but you''re beautiful on the inside!" Michael murmured to himself, thanking Alice Zenovia for treating him with a sumptuouste-night dinner.

    Everyone who treated him to a meal had to be a nice and sincere person. That was something Michael was certain about.

    "Now¡­what am I going to do with you guys?" He mumbled, staring at the Hardwood Bow and the Return Arrow.

    The Boots of Taran werepletely destroyed. Nobody would want to buy them given their battered condition. Unfortunately, even the Hardwood Bow was cracked, and the Return Arrow had also seen better days.

    "I have no use for them anymore. I should just sell them," Michael concluded.

    Tiara would just break the Bow and Return Arrow, but if he sold them, a high-ranked artisan could repair these damaged goods. That way, the two Artifacts wouldn''t be discarded for good.

    Since he was already in the Central Trading Hall, Michael turned to the House of Witchery. He had lots of goods to sell, including the Hardwood Bow and the Return Arrow.

    On his way to the House of Witchery, Michael tried to sense the changes inside his body. The Onyx Dragon Armor Set and the Siltang Bow had been bound to his War Rune, and their enhancement was slowly spreading through his body.

    The overall increase provided by his new Artifacts was more than 30%. Meanwhile, His Agility was enhanced by more than 60%, simr to his Perception which strengthened his senses considerably.

    Since the Onyx Dragon Armor Set consisted of three 3-Star Tier-1 Artifacts, Michael expected his strength to increase considerably. However, the external enhancement he received surpassed his expectations byrge. He was grateful that he hadn''t been greedy enough to request more Tier-1 Artifacts from Alice because his body wouldn''t be able to handle more.

    He was already at his limit as the Lowest-grade Tier-1 Lord!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When he entered the House of Witchery, Michael was greeted like a normal guest. Nobody paid him much attention at first. Only two female staff members looked at him before they started gossiping.

    Michael ignored their gossip and approached the Witchery Bazaar.

    "I''m sorry, but the Witchery Bazaar is not open at night," The staff member filling the empty shelves near the Witchery Bazaar said in a neutral tone.

    Michael smiled in response and retrieved the Golden Bartholomew Membership Card.

    "I thought you could use the Witchery Bazaar all day with the Golden Bartholomew Membership Card," Michael replied in a voice loud enough for the young man to hear.

    He turned around just to see the golden card in Michael''s hand.

    The young man then looked at Michael and frowned.

    "Mr. Michael Feng?!" He eximed, and his eyes shot wide open.

    The shock in the young man''s eyes was not something that could be faked easily. However, Michael could only nod his head.

    ''I was just as shocked as you were when I realized that all my hair was burned.''

    "That''s my name, yes. So, can I use the Witchery Bazaar right now, or is it not allowed?" Michael inquired again, to which the young man responded by aggressively nodding his head.

    "Of course Of course. Let''s go to the appraisal room immediately!" He said, putting his work aside to take care of Michael''s needs.

    Half an hourter, Michael''s business waspleted. They returned from the appraisal room and signed the form to validate the deal and the transaction.

    Michael earned a total of 35,887,000$ by selling 43 Tier-1 Lionheart corpses, 31 Tier-1 Artifacts, and other goods which he had extracted from the Lionhearts'' War Runes, the Hardwood Bow, and the Return Arrow.

    The Tier-1 Artifacts were sold for an average of one million dors. Their contribution in today''s earnings was the highest, but that was expected. The Tier-1 Artifacts might not have been exceptional but most of them had been Weapon Artifacts with decent enhancements and enchantments. They were still valuable.

    After he earned a fortune, Michael wanted to spend an hour or two to purchase more goods, but he noticed that his body took more time adapting to the enhancements of his newly bound Artifacts than he thought.

    In fact, his mind had yet to fully process ande to terms with the fact that he had sessfully advanced to Tier-1. He had yet to adapt to his advancement but had still gone ahead to bind several 3-Star Tier-1 Artifacts to his War Rune. Of course, his body couldn''t adjust to the changes that quickly.

    It hadn''t even been a full day since he advanced to Tier-1, after all!

    Thus, Michael postponed his shopping spree. Instead of shopping, Michael walked over to the Central Training Hall''s Training Centre.

    He bought a ticket to use the Training Centre once and started to train like a maniac in order to elerate the adjustment process of his newly acquired strength and the enhancements of his new Artifacts.

    A few hourster, the morning sun rose above the horizon.

    Michael was sweating buckets and he was a little tired, but a bright smile covered his face.

    He was ready for the aptitude assessment!

 Chapter 106 Aptitude Assessment

    The aptitude assessment of the Golden Sun province was held in the Golden Sun College''s Gym near the Central Trading Hall.

    It was a huge hall with several floors that was usually used by the students of the Golden Sun College. Today, the Gym was reserved for the applicants of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Applicants from all over the Golden Sun province applied to the Saphirke Military Academy, but there were only a few thousand spots.

    The Golden Sun province already had close to 100,0000 applicants. The number was in the millions in Elyra, and even higher all over the sr system.

    Of course, most people applied to multiple Academies and Universities simultaneously, but the number of applicants for the Saphirke Military Academy was on par if not higher than the number of people applying to join the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies.

    Michael was probably the only one who applied just to the Saphirke Military Academy. In fact, he didn''t even apply. Alice did that for him.

    At first, he was against Alice''s actions and felt like she intervened too much in his business, but he felt grateful to her now. The Saphirke Military Academy would give him the necessary opportunities to procure more information about the oldnguages before the Third Epoch.

    By the time Michael arrived in front of the Golden Sun College''s Gym, he was a littlete. After working out for several hours in the Training Centre, Michael had to eat a little bit more. He consumed too much nutrition and carbs doing all those high-intensity workouts.

    It was a bad omen to participate in an important exam with an empty stomach. That was what his brother told him all the time.

    Thus, he ended up a littlete, staring nkly at five extraordinarily long queues. Powerful Adventurers and Lords carefully guarded each queue.

    They were bodyguards, who had been hired to protect the applicants from external danger, and from each other. Simultaneously, they had to make sure that nobody would skip the line and that everything went smoothly.

    Michael was sure that it was not necessary to have a dozen powerful Adventurers standing guard in each queue, but he was quickly proven wrong.

    Before the applicants were allowed to enter the Golden Sun College''s Gym, they had to meet the requirements first.

    The applicant''s ID would be scanned to look at their records, their final score would be noted, and the age of their bones would be tested andpared to the energy level of their War Runes.

    If there were too many duplicate records, the final score was too low, or the student possessed too little energy for his, or her age, the applicant wouldn''t be allowed inside the Golden Sun College''s Gym. It was harsh, but so was reality.

    Michael didn''t think that students would apply to the Saphirke Military Academy if they knew that they were trash. However, the truth was theplete opposite.

    A tenth of applicants barely met the requirements to enter the Golden Sun College''s Gym, and those who failed to enter the Gym would either scream loudly, voice out theirints loud enough for everyone to hear, or go wild like bloodthirsty maniacs.

    Only a few students left silently with their heads hanging low, most had to be carried away by the bodyguards.

    That was shocking for Michael. He didn''t think that it would be this difficult to enter the Gym where the aptitude assessment would start for real.

    ''I should think of the door to the gym as the first hurdle. The aptitude assessment started the moment I became an applicant to the Saphirke Military Academy!'' Michael mused inwardly as he queued up.

    Michael thought that it would take a while before the hundreds of people in front of him were either thrown out, or given permission to enter the Gym, but it was not even lunchtime when it was finally his turn.

    It looked like he was one of thest applicants to appear. Nobody had queued up behind him.

    "Scan your ID over here and stretch your right arm out." A neutral voice spoke to him.

    The woman standing in front of him looked exhausted. Her eyes screamed that she needed a few more holidays and that it was time to go home.

    Michael retrieved his Lord ID and stretched out his right hand. The Lord ID was scanned, and both his records and final exam score were shown and thoroughly looked through by the artificial intelligence that was used during the aptitude assessment.

    A few secondster, Michael was allowed to retrieve his Lord ID once again, and three notifications popped up in front of the tired woman.

    [Final Exam Score: 584 Points ¨C Excellent]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Criminal Records: None]

    [Humanity Danger Level: 0]

    "Looks fine to me," She said nonchntly. Her hand reached out to Michael''s stretched-out arm in the next second.

    "Don''t resist the warmth. I am using my Soultrait to scan your energy level and the age of your bones."

    As her words reached his ears, Michael felt a sudden warmth spread through his arm. It was refreshing and soothing.

    "La, note down that the applicant turned 18 this month ording to his bone age. Both the bone age and the time of his War Rune''s manifestation match with the date of birth on his Lord ID." The woman said before she stopped.

    One may not think that it was an issue, but it was crucial that the bone age, the ID''s date of birth, and the time of the War Rune''s manifestation ovepped. The reason all this data had to ovep was that many big families tried to fool Big Universities and Academies using means to fake IDs, stagnate their descendant''s bone aging, and so on.

    Why? Not every descendant of the strongest families was exceptional. That was simply not possible, not even with the influx of countless resources, the best instructors, and various other methods to strengthen the youngest generation.

    However, the strongest families and most influential ns had to ensure their reputations wouldn''t be harmed in any way. Their descendants had to be known as prodigies rather than bottom rankers and pushovers. That is why they used every possible means to provide their talentless descendants more time to study and train longer than others before they would have topete against Awakened, who manifested their War Rune muchter.

    This worked for a while until a few families'' debauchery had been exposed.

    In response to the trickery used in the aptitude assessments, the tests were changed, and made more stringent, making it near-impossible to fool the system.

    But the exhausted woman had a different reason why she halted in her tracks. She was not worried that Michael was trying to fool the system. The woman closed her eyes, and Michael''s hand was getting warmer as shepleted the scan.

    Simultaneously, the AI''s voice rang out.

    [Noted. Bone Age and date of birth match. The applicant was born 18 years and 17 days ago. Energy Level Data is still missing!]

    "Lowest Tier-1¡­you advanced pretty fast, not bad. You''re still a Lord as well. Good!" The exhausted woman said after a while.

    She let go of his arm and gave him a thumbs up.

    Afterward, the woman noted down his energy level on the assessment form with his name.

    "You can go inside. Good luck."

    Michael smiled at the exhausted woman and thanked her profusely. Then he walked inside the Golden Sun College''s Gym.

    He overcame the first hurdle without any qualms. It hadn''t been that difficult, but that was only because he worked hard enough in thest few years.

    His final exam score was high because of his hard work, and he didn''t have any criminal records because he didn''t beat the shit out of his former ssmates. Michael endured their bullying without retaliation for years. Finally, he received acknowledgment for that ¨C even if it was just from artificial intelligence.

    The past did not matter right now. What was important was that he had made it and that he didn''t allow his intrusive thoughts of the past to subdue his willpower. It may not be important to others, but Michael felt proud.

    Inside the Golden Sun College''s Gym, Michael was led to the next station. His blood sample was taken, and a few staff members approached him with a few machines.

    "Please don''t worry, Sir. We will attach something to your body to test the soul power of your Soultrait. Please don''t resist and utilize your Soultrait''s full power!"

    ''Hmm?!''

 Chapter 107 Soul Power

    Testing the power of a Soultrait was possible thanks to the technique mankind developed over the course of hundreds of years.

    It was rarely tested because the results had never been urate in the past. That only changed with the technological advancement of the past decade.

    A testing device to perceive the Soul Power exuded by Soultraits had been created.

    However, the testing device was not perfect. It couldn''t determine the Soultrait''s star rating, or how many Links of Loyalty enhanced the Lord''s Soul Power.

    Several machines were attached to Michael in order to test the Soul Power he could unleash upon releasing the strongest form of his Soultrait.

    But Michael didn''t move an inch. He was as stiff as a board.

    Michael didn''t want his four Soultraits to be discovered. In fact, he would rather reveal only one Soultrait while keeping the others a secret. That was why the appearance of the Soul Power testing device scared him.

    "Sir, you have to use your Soultrait, otherwise, we cannot test your Soul Power," One of the female staff members said. She looked at him in annoyance.

    Michael''s heart skipped a beat when he heard what she said. ''They cannot test my Soul Power if I don''t activate my Soultrait? Oh my gosh¡­that''s great!"

    Color returned to his pale cheeks, and he smiled brightly at the annoyed female staff.

    "I have two Soultraits. A 3-Star Soultrait and a 2-Star Soultrait. Please take that into consideration when you test my Soul Power," Michael said energetically before he unleashed his Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement Soultraits to the extreme.

    The testing devices attached to his body began to gleam faintly and the monitor attached to the testing devices disyed a few numbers.

    "Two Sources of Soul Power have been detected. The weaker source has 69 Units of Soul Power and the stronger has 169 Units of Soul Power." The staff member working on the monitor revealed with slight astonishment.

    He looked over to Michael and squinted his eyes. Afterward, he opened the assessment form with Michael''s name on it and noted down the data.

    "That¡­ Is the device broken?" The annoyed woman asked. She lifted her right eyebrow and took a second nce at Michael.

    "Double Trait, a 3-Star Soultrait with 169 Soul Power Units, and a 2-Star Soultrait with 69 Soul Power Units, and he is an 18-year-old Tier-1 Lord¡­that''s amazing!!" The staff member working on the monitor eximed.

    Amazed by this revtion, the young man quickly opened Michael''s assessment form and didn''t think twice before he scanned Michael''s data thoroughly.

    "Do you know what that means?!" The young man asked loudly, turning over to Michael, who could only stare back at him with a nk expression.

    He didn''t know much about Soul Power. The only thing Michael had learned about Soul Power was that Soul Power is the Unit used to determine the strength of a Soultrait.

    Soultraits were not only ranked ording to their star rating but their Soul Power as well. Soultraits could be nourished by the refinement degree of the War Rune they''re bound to. The higher the Tier and refinement degree of the War Rune, the stronger the Soultrait. Simultaneously, the number of Links of Loyalty, and their firmness yed a simrly crucial role.

    Both the Links of Loyalty and the War Rune could nourish the Soul Power of Soultraits, enhancing their power gradually.

    That was also why the Soultraits of Lords grew stronger than the Soultraits of Adventurers. Lords had countless Links of Loyalty to nourish their Soultrait''s Soul Power, while Adventurers could only strengthen their Soul Power by enhancing their War Rune.

    But that was already the extent of knowledge Michael had about Soul Power. It was not a topic that was taught in high school. Soul Power was only relevant to Lords and Adventurers, and not everyone in high school would manifest a War Rune. Even then, Soul Power was a more advanced subject that couldn''t be studied in depth without learning the basics.

    "After testing hundreds of thousands of Soultraits it was found that the strongest 2-Star Soultrait cannot have more than 50 Soul Power Units. Even if your 2-Star Soultrait is one of the strongest 2-Star Soultraits we''ve tested, it must have been nourished quite a lot by your Links of Loyalty and War Rune." The male staff member eximed.

    "Can you tell me how you were able to consistently nourish your Soultrait? It must have been really difficult to nourish your 2-Star Soultrait!" He added with great curiosity.

    The young man was overly excited, which Michael couldn''t really understand.

    Everything he did was expose Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement. Was there an issue?

    Michael didn''t think so, but he was a little bit nervous seeing how excited the staff member was.

    The young man talked only about his 2-Star Soultrait, but what about his 3-Star Soultrait? Was it because 2-Star Soultraits were said to be harder to improve?

    The other staff members didn''t seem to understand the young man''s excitement either, which further added to Michael''s confusion.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    If the young man found out that something was wrong with his Soultraits, he would immediately report it to his superiors. If that happened, his n of hiding his other Soultraits, especially Extraction, would fail miserably.

    Thus, he approached the young man once the testing device had been detached from his body.

    "Can you tell me more about Soul Power?" Michael asked.

    The young man nodded his head vigorously and looked excitedly toward Michael. After so long, someone was interested in the same hobby he had; research of Soultraits and Soul Power!

    However, before he could say anything, more students appeared to get tested.

    "Harry, stop flirting ande over. We have more work to do!" The annoyed woman said, destroying Harry''s bubble.

    "O-okay¡­" Harry responded the smile wiped away from his face.

    "We can exchange contact details. That way, we can speak a little bit more about Soultraits and Soul Power when you have some more time to spare," Michael offered.

    Harry''s smile returned when Michael came up with this grandiose idea.

    They exchanged their contact details and went their separate ways afterward.

    ''At least he didn''t tell his superiors that something is odd¡­'' Michael thought as he went ahead to the next assessment stations.

    He was pretty sure that the SoulStar Fragments were the reason Lesser Enhancement''s Soul Power was so high. Lesser Enhancement was not a normal 2-Star Soultrait, after all. The three SoulStar Fragments it absorbed had excessive energy afterpleting the second star.

    The excessive energy formed the foundation of a 3rd star, indicating that it was stronger than normal 2-Star Soultraits.

    Unfortunately, he had to reveal both Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement to the outside world. Why was that the case?

    It was pretty simple.

    Alice had already seen Eagle Eyes. Thus, he had to show it, otherwise, Alice would start doubting him. A 3-Star Soultrait was rare enough to meet the Saphirke Military Academy''s standards. However, Michael knew himself better than others.

    He knew that he would use Lesser Enhancement more often in the future. It was highly likely that someone would find out about Lesser Enhancement once he started to use it more.

    In the age of Sta and technology, everyone could procure any kind of information that had been posted or stored somewhere.

    That simply meant, the safest security system could get hacked and his information stolen.

    Thus, Michael made his life easier by revealing that he had only two Soultraits. Nobody would expect that he was hiding more Soultraits because only those two exposed Soultriats had external physical features such as his glowing eyes and the white aura of Lesser Enhancement.

    Spirit Whip was a non-physical attack that couldn''t be seen, so Michael was not too worried about it being exposed. He could always say that one of his Artifacts had a mental-attack enchantment.

    As for the reason he didn''t expose Extraction. The 4-Star Soultrait was simply too powerful.

    He didn''t want to expose Extraction even though he could lie about its special perks. His lies could be proven wrong, and the truth exposed the moment someone with enough connections sensed that something was foul.

    Connecting Extraction with his past transactions in the House of Witchery would be evidence enough to conclude that Extraction was an exceptional Soultrait.

    If others were in his position, they might not think too much about the same things that bothered Michael. But Michael felt that his worries were justified and that he had to be well-prepared for the worst-case scenario.

    Even if it was not necessary to do all of this, in the end, it was a safety measure and a means to decrease his worries.

    He didn''t want to wait until something bad happened before taking action and simply wanted to be well-prepared for everything.

    That way, he could ensure his safety and the safety of those important to him!

    Michael would be able to prevent unfortunate incidents like the invasion of the Lionhearts in his territory that way¡­

 Chapter 108 Tests, Tests And More Tests

    Michael''s mind was still focused on the young staff member, Harry, and what he said about Soul Power and Soultraits when Michael was called over to his next test.

    Since he met the basic requirements, Michael was led to the other side of the gym where his physical capabilities were tested.

    His reflexes were tested, along with his burst speed, top speed, strength, flexibility, perception, and much more.

    His score was adjusted ording to his age, precisely the number of months and days that had passed since he entered the Origin Expanse for the first time. Michael was a Tier-1 Lord with high enhancements from several Artifacts.

    Compared to his counterparts, who had entered the Origin Expanse a month, or a few months ago, his physical standards were much higher. Most of them had yet to advance to Tier-1, and bind Tier-1 Artifacts to their War Rune. They were simply not on par with him.

    Peak Tier-0 Lords and Adventurers were as fast, strong, and perceptive as the most exceptional unawakened athletes of mankind. If that sounded unimpressive, it had to be known that Peak Tier-0 Awakened didn''t have to train to achieve what unawakened athletes worked tirelessly for decades, by spending their whole energy and money to invest in their bodies by training, dieting, and using special nutrition solutions.

    Yet, most of those exceptional athletes were only good at one or two things. A wrestler would hardly be able to contend with the fastest sprinter, after all.

    On the other hand, even a chubby Peak Tier-0 Awakened would be able to win against the fastest sprinter and overpower the wrestler with their raw strength and speed.

    Then again, Tier-1 Awakened were on a different level. Breaking through the barrier separating Tier-0 Awakened from the next Tier meant that their limit reached new heights. No Unawakened Human couldpete with a Tier-1 Adventurer, or Lord, not just with their physical body at least.

    Tier-1 Existences were on a level where the limits of a human''s mortal body couldn''tpete against their strengths.

    Of course, shooting aser gun at a Tier-1 Awakened would cause lethal damage, and kill them.

    Michael had broken the limits of his mortal body already. Adding the enhancement of the Artifacts bound to him, his Agility was on par with a Mid Tier-1 Awakened. Even some Tier-1 Monsters wouldn''t be able to catch up to him if he were to run away from them.

    Meanwhile, his overall physical standards were close to Low-Mid Tier-1 Awakened. His reflexes were the strongest thanks to Tigerfang and the Siltang Bow''s enhancement focusing on his perception. His Eagle Eyes'' passive strengthening of his eyesight couldn''t be ignored either. It yed a huge role in increasing his score during the assessment.

    Once he was done with the physical tests, Michael was led to the knowledge exam.

    He couldn''t even take a short break or find the time to change his sweaty clothes. The staff member led him straight to a small room with a single chair and table.

    "Sit down and pay attention to your surroundings. The next test will start soon!" The young staff member instructed before he left the room.

    He closed the door on his way out, leaving Michael in a dimly lit room.

    ''Is that what they want? Exhaust the applicants, throw them in a small room and then ¡­ do what?''

    Michael was a little confused. His gaze surveyed the room to see if something was odd, but there wasn''t anything.

    Only after a minute or two of utter silence did a holographic screen materialize in front of him.

    It was a long bluish screen showing dozens of questions that had to be answered. There was even a countdown showing how much remaining time Michael had left to answer.

    [58M:30S left]

    ''Was the holographic screen designated to only appear after 90 seconds, or did it appear after I was silent for a certain amount of time?'' Michael wondered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The aptitude assessment seemed to test far more characteristics of their applicants than it seemed at first nce. That was interesting, but even more reason to stay vignt, and observe his surroundings thoroughly.

    Michael wasn''t afraid of the knowledge exam. Whenever he had some spare time, Michael studied the material Alice had sent him before diligently. Despite that, Michael studied less than what he wanted to since he had always been busy.

    That was also why he was fortunate enough to be an Awakened whose brain had also been refined through his War Rune. He had always been a fast reader and pretty decent at memorizing content, and that was further improved through the War Rune''s refinement.

    Hepleted the knowledge exam and was notified that he could start the next test immediately. It was also held in the small, dimly lit room.

    Several pictures ofndscapes appeared on the walls of the small room. Long descriptions of thendscapes were written down below. The descriptions were detailed and mentioned all kinds of monsters, foreign races, and their location.

    Somendscapes were in the Origin Expanse while others had been found onrge, upieds.

    Michael spent the next ten minutes intently reading and memorizing everything he could and as if on cue thendscapes and walls of texts disappeared.

    Simultaneously, a new message popped up on the holographic screen.

    [Please write down everything you can remember]

    ''As expected. A test to figure out how the applicant''s mind works and if he can memorize the most crucial information of several ces, or if the applicant will spew out jumbled nonsense.''

    Michael had expected such a test to be a part of the aptitude assessment. The Saphirke Military Academy was a ce to nourish Warriors and prepare for war, after all. It was not a ce to nourish philosophers and pacifists.

    Michael began writing and noted down everything he could remember. Once he was done another set of pictures and walls of texts appeared in front of him. However, this time, the pictures and the walls of texts were different.

    The walls of texts were written in othernguages, including the Old Tongue of the Third Epoch, the Origin Language, and thenguages of foreign races. The pictures showed beings of a few races and certain memorials that provided enough hints about the content of the texts.

    Michael couldn''t understand most foreignnguages because he had only been focusing on the Origin Language ¨C as it was the only, and the most importantnguage to learn for future Awakened. However, he could use the pictures and his knowledge of foreign races to write down everything important about these races, including their habits, characteristics, weaknesses, and crucial points to remember when fighting them.

    He was a little bit worried about thest test because he was not certain if he would score high enough to pass it.

    Fortunately, he did not dwell much on the oue.

    A staff member entered the room once he finished, and he led Michael to the second floor where many applicants were waiting inrge open spaces.

    "You can eat something in the cafeteria over there," The staff member said, pointing at arge door with the sign [Food Monsters] written on it.

    After that, the staff member moved to another position and showed Michael the bathroom, the showers, and where he could request abat suit forter.

    "The final assessment will start at 4 pm. Good luck," The young man gave a brief overview of the ce to Michael and left.

    Michael checked the time and noticed that he had only an hour left to shower and eat something.

    However, that was more than enough time before the final assessment would start.

 Chapter 109 Real Combat

    The final assessment was self-exnatory; Real Combat.

    Michael didn''t have much time to prepare himself because he was one of thest applicants to arrive for the final assessment.

    He went for a quick shower, ate his fill, and observed the people around him. Each of them was hispetitor for a spot in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    ''Is that all that is left out of 100,000 applicants?'' Michael wondered. It was almost 4 pm and it seemed that the preliminary tests were over.

    Not more than 100 young men and women were on the second floor of the Golden Sun College''s Gym. That meant only 0.1% of applicants made it to the final assessment!

    At 4 pm on the dot, everyone gathered in the open arena. A middle-aged man wearing a military uniform stepped in front of the young applicants, his eyes as cold as ice.

    His gaze moved through the crowd of less than 100 applicants and a menacing smile appeared on his scarred face.

    "Good afternoon dear applicants," He said in a husky voice, "My name is Silverian Schild, and I am one of the many Combat Instructors in the Saphirke Military Academy, and I was told to monitor the Real Combat assessment today."

    Silverian Schild sounded nonchnt as he introduced himself to the crowd. He looked like he didn''t want to be here.

    Nheless, Michael couldn''t help but feel his chest tightening. The pressure radiating from the Instructor was terrifying, and Silverian Schild was not even doing anything. He merely stood in front of them, one hand resting in the pocket.

    "The rules for the Real Combat assessment are simple. We will put students against each other and give marks for the fights. Every student will have to fight three times before they can go home. In a few days, you''ll be notified whether the Saphirke Military Academy will ept your application, or if you have been rejected."

    When Silverian Schild finished the exnation, many Awakened looked at each other. Usually, the final assessment was different.

    In thest few years, the final assessment had always been a fight against an Instructor to test the applicant''sbat prowess. But this time they were supposed to fight other applicants? What if going all out led to their death?

    "I don''t want anyone to hold back," Silverian Schild said as if he could read the minds of some applicants.

    He smiled devilishly as realization sank in the minds of the applicants, and it widened further when he saw the expression on the faces of the young Awakened.

    "Let''s start then!"

    In the next ten minutes, the staff separated the open space into several arenas. Referees with enough strength to interfere in the battle of the young Awakened arrived, and a medic team set up a small medical tent for the worst-case scenario.

    Once all preparations had beenpleted, the first few students were called up for their first fight, and the referees started the first round of Real Combat.

    Michael watched the fights with great interest at first, but he quickly lost interest.

    It didn''t even take a full minute before his slightly excited expression turned into a deep frown.

    "What is that?" He mumbled, as he watched the young Awakened fighting ¨C if one could call it a fight, in the first ce.

    To Michael, the fight looked more like a friendly spar between two best friends, who would never want to hurt each other.

    The young Awakened of the first round was too afraid to go all out and cripple their opponents, possibly even kill them, and were ying safe.

    "How were they even able to survive in the Origin Expanse like this?" Michael murmured in utter confusion.

    He had been disgusted with himself for killing monsters before, but he did it nheless. Michael left hisfort zone and killed the monsters that threatened his territory first. Now, he had gained enough confidence to attack monsters living far away from his territory.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was not as if Michael didn''t feel bad for killing them, however, the Origin Expanse was a ce where the strong devoured the weak to be even stronger. Since Michael was stronger, he devoured those weaker than him.

    Silverian Schild and his assistants stared at the friendly tussle with an impassive faces. Their expression didn''t change watching the friendly spar-like fights, and Michael could slowly unravel what was going on.

    ''They''re disqualifying those who''re too scared to fight seriously. Is that the point of fighting other students? To figure out who can be a good soldier and fight others atmand, and cripple, or even kill them?''

    Then there were those spars in which one opponent was considerably stronger than the other. In such cases, most young Awakened who were too afraid to fight seriously were getting thrashed by their opponents. However, that was something everyone should have expected when one party held back while the other went all out with the intention to win by all means.

    ''I won''t hold back.'' Michael told himself when it was finally his turn to enter the arena.

    "Michael Fang versus Nis Liekhofen. Please enter the arena and prepare for battle!"

    Michael, who had been ready to enter the arena, stopped in his tracks. He looked through the open space and found Nis. Nis Liekhofen stared back at him, his eyes shot wide open.

    ''This fool made it to the final assessment? That''s to be expected, I guess,'' Michael thought before he gave it a shrug.

    It was not as if it mattered whether Nis Liekhofen made it to the final assessment or not. Michael felt that it was much better to have someone like Nis Liekhofen as his first opponent in the Real Combat assessment, in the first ce. He wouldn''t have to feel guilty for beating the shit out of his first opponent!

    With that in mind, Michael entered the arena, where he patiently waited for Nis. He expected Nis to make fun of him, but Nis Liekhofen remained silent. He stared at Michael while gritting his teeth.

    Nis clearly recalled the archerpetition and Michael''s archery skills. He hated himself for losing, but even more so Michael for defeating him. ording to him, Michael and Kaleb cheated him in thepetition. They were at fault for his loss and the humiliation he suffered afterward!

    A huge broadsword manifested in Nis'' hands, and a bluish leather chestte covered his upper body as he moved intobat position.

    Michael materialized the Onyx Dragon Armor Set, and Tigerfang at once. He wielded Tigerfang in front of him and entered hisbat stance as well.

    Even if Nis had barely reached the Late stage of Tier-0, Michael wouldn''t underestimate his opponent. It was possible for Tierless Lords to defeat someone at Tier-1. Michael was the best example for something like that. His Soultraits, the enhancement of his Artifacts, and hisbat prowess allowed him to fight Tier-1 Monsters while he was Tierless.

    "I won''t hold back, bastard!" Nis cursed through his gritted teeth.

    Michael didn''t respond. Instead, he activated his Eagle Eyes and angled his body slightly.

    The referee looked at the twobatants and lifted his hand. His hand shot down and his voice thundered through the arena.

    "Fight!!"

    The moment the referee''s voice rang out, Nis charged forward. A bronze-colored aura enveloped his entire body, and his speed elerated further.

    Michael''s Artifacts were engulfed by a white light, further enhancing their external enhancement.

    He pushed his feet off the ground and shot forward like a cannonball.

    Two des made huge arcs through the air, and blood sttered.

    A second after the battle started, a loose arm flew through the air followed by an ear-splitting scream.

 Chapter 110 Merciless

    Michael didn''t show any mercy.

    He went all-out and shot across the arena like a cannonball, slicing off Nis'' sword arm with a single attack.

    Michael was not only a Tier higher than Nis, but he had multiple other means to enhance his strength further. Nis''s Tierless Artifacts and his 2-Star Martial Aura were not enough to keep up with Michael''s speed, and strength.

    He could only scream as Tigerfang''s razor-sharp de cut through his flesh, muscles, and bones.

    Michael hadn''t expected Nis to be defeated that easily. He stared at the pitiful figure of Nis with disgust and shook his head.

    "To think that I allowed someone like you to bully me in school," Michael mumbled in a voice loud enough only for Nis to hear before he turned to the referee.

    "I think you should announce the winner and tend to his wound, otherwise, you won''t be able to save his arm," He suggested in a neutral tone though his gaze was ice-cold. There was not a trace of guilt or remorse in his eyes. It was almost like he didn''t feel anything right now.

    "Michael Fang won the fight!"

    The referee acted quickly. He called the medic team over, rushed to the arm that had been cut off cleanly, and handed it over while hoping that the leading Doctor with her 4-Star Healing Current Soultrait could heal Nis Liekhofen, and reattach his arm.

    The referee knew that he had been too slow in reacting and should have taken the necessary steps without Michael having to suggest anything to him. But then he had not expected the situation to escte so suddenly. The earlier fights barely caused any injuries, which was why the referee was a little bit too slow. Fortunately, Michael didn''t pierce Nis'' heart and merely cut off his arm.

    With the advancement of technology and Soultraits that could be used for medical purposes, it was no problem to reattach limbs. Even the regrowth of lost limbs could be stimted with the use of rare and high-ranking Soultraits.

    That was also why cutting off arms and legs could be considered an ordinary injury on the battlefield. But they were not on the battlefield right now, and the Awakened were not fully trained Soldiers either. Some of them weren''t even daring enough to fight their opponents seriously, fearing that they might injure them.

    And that was why those young Awakened were terror-struck and staring nkly at Michael, thanking their fate that they had not been paired opposite the monster. They could not even begin to imagine what would happen to them if they were to face Michael in the arena.

    The thought alone was enough to wreak havoc in their minds. Their eyes began to quiver, and their legs felt like jelly.

    Meanwhile, Silverian Schild and the assistants made notes of the battle and its result.

    "Looks like they came from the same school," One of the assistants mentioned.

    The assistant had opened the assessment forms of Michael and Nis Liekhofen even before the battle started. He had noticed that there was some tension between the twobatants.

    "Is that so?" Silverian Schild asked.

    He nced at the assessment forms of the twobatants as well and realized something.

    "Graduate from the Elite ss of the Golden Sun Exlor High School. His background is very ordinary. Michael Fang¡­why does that name ring a bell?" Silverian murmured. He looked at Michael sharply for a few seconds, but he couldn''t quite put his finger on why he felt so strangely familiar.

    Only after his gaze moved to Tigerfang did he recall something, or rather someone, who was very interested in a particr Epic Artifact.

    ''Is that the guy she mentioned before?''

    Nis was being tended to by the Medic with the 4-Star Healing Current. A warm and soothing light engulfed Nis'' cut-off arm and the severely bleeding arm stump. The veins and muscles at the cut spot began to wiggle while Nis began to groan in pain.

    His arm felt super sensitive at the moment, and his pain intensified as the Medic put the cut-off arm back to the arm stump. The other medics used several machines to stimte the growth of flesh and muscles, while small nanomachines were utilized to connect the severed veins, and muscles, fusing it together.

    After ten minutes of hard work, Nis'' arm had been reattached. The medic team sighed in relief and returned to the small medical tent they''d constructed.

    They took Nis with them and ignored that their patient was ring at Michael. Nis was in pain and angry, however, he couldn''t say anything to Michael, whose eyes stared into the depths of his soul.

    Gone was the puny little kid who would cower before Nis. Now, Michael stared defiantly in the young man''s eyes who had bullied him in school. Instead, it was Nis, who couldn''t endure Michael''s intense re anymore. Nis shut his mouth and disappeared in the medical tent with the medic team.

    While this ring match was in progress, the rest of the participants had gone deathly still. An eerie silence filled the arena. At one point, the otherbatants stopped fighting as well. They looked over to see what happened, and a terrifying scene entered their view.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A massive amount of blood had sttered across the arena.

    Upon seeing that, their faces turned pale, and their eyes widened in shock as well.

    Did a monster wreak havoc next to them?

    "Why did someone put these guys together?!" One of thebatants asked loud enough for everyone to hear, but nobody answered his question.

    The Real Combat assessment was fair and pitted Awakened of the same age against each together. The Awakened had roughly spent the same time in the Origin Expanse and could show off how far they hade in that duration.

    Of course, everyone had different starting points. Some received special training for more than a decade before they turned 18, and a massive pile of resources, while others started from scratch when they first entered the Origin Expanse.

    The only luck factor inside the Origin Expanse was rted to the territory''s location, and what Summon you would obtain from the Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    However, it didn''t change the fact that ordinary people would have fewer resources when they started their journey in the Origin Expanse. Theycked Artifacts, Summoning Scrolls to expand their poption, and various techniques, which ordinary Awakened could not afford for themselves, and their subjects.

    Ordinary Awakened would struggle in the beginning while descendants of bigger families would have a head start.

    The more subjects they possessed, the stronger their Soultrait would be. Simultaneously, with more and stronger subjects, it was easier to hunt. That resulted in more energy shares from more monsters that had been hunted by their subjects.

    Even if their Links of Loyalty were not firm, the massive advantage of Lords with connections and backing was not to be underestimated.

    However, Michael was younger than Nis, and he didn''t have a wealthy family backing him secretly.

    Yet, he had managed to overpower Nis and crippled him with a single strike.

    It seemed that a dark horse had appeared in the midst of the Real Combat assessment and that it was thirsting for blood.

    While the other participants stared at him in shock, Michael left the arena calmly. He had won the first battle in the blink of an eye and showed clearly that he was not afraid of shedding blood. His gaze traveled through therge open space, taking in the terrified faces of the otherbatants before his eyesnded on Silverian Schild. The Combat Instructor returned his gaze before he turned back to the arena.

    The Real Combat assessment had to continue. There was no time to waste!

    "Hey, sorry for bothering you, but I saw your fight and heard someone talk about you before," A skinny young man approached Michael with an amiable smile.

    Nis was the only one from his ss so technically nobody was supposed to know him. However, when he saw where the skinny man was pointing, he could only frown.

    ''What are they doing here?''

    "Is it true that you don''t have a backer and that your entire strengthes from your great luck?"

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

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    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 111 Annabelle Claire

    "Is it true that you don''t have a backer and that your entire strengthes from your great luck?" The skinny man asked with a faint smile on his lips.

    Michael''s eyebrows furrowed deeply, but he didn''t respond. What was that guy trying to do?

    He was already a little confused and astonished to see two familiar idiots standing on the other side of the arena, but their appearance didn''t irk him as much as the words of the young man. The way he spoke made him want to p the skinny man.

    "Some even said that you were simply fortunate with the Summon you obtained from your Fortune Summoning Scroll. They say that you have no skill and that the Will of the Origin Expanse looks after you!" The skinny man added, still smiling faintly.

    "Who the hell are you?" Michael growled in annoyance.

    He wanted to rest until his next battle would start, and not listen to an idiot rambling on and on without knowing anything.

    "My name is Julian Spinne. Nice meeting you!"

    "That was not what I meant," Michael retorted.

    "What did you mean then?" Julian Spinne responded, still smiling.

    "Who the hell are you¡­to think that I care about you enough to keep listening to your bullshit?" Michael asked, his voice as cold as ice.

    Michael turned away from these words and left. Meanwhile, Julian Spinne stayed behind, the corner of his lip tilting upward.

    "Looks like I hit a sore spot. That was easy." Julian mumbled to himself.

    Michael sat down on a bench to rest. He was a little bit angry.

    ''Lucky? Fuck off! I worked my ass off to build my territory in the Untamed Jungle, knowing that everything I''ve worked for can be destroyed at any moment!''

    Was Michael lucky? He was pretty sure that calling himself lucky was a gross exaggeration.

    The Untamed Jungle was great to grow stronger in a short time, but it was even more dangerous. Too many powerful monsters resided in the Untamed Jungle, and they could destroy everything he had achieved by razing his territory within seconds.

    As for the Fortune Summoning Scroll, summoning Fenrir had been quite helpful. But that was only the case because Michael turned Fenrir into a catalyst to stimte his own growth. If he hadn''t killed Fenrir by now, Cleave Fenrir would have grown powerful and killed him instead. That was something Michael could be certain about.

    Fenrir had given him various memories rted tobat, and the weakened version of his Soultrait. That was pretty nice. Furthermore, Fenrir had also given him ire Tracer, but the Tracker had caused him more trouble than offering help at first.

    Was that luck? If it was, Michael didn''t really feel lucky.

    He was always surrounded by danger inside the Origin Expanse. His territory could be bulldozed at any moment. If a powerful Tier-2 monster charged into his territory, everything would be over.

    They might have dealt with a few Tier-2 Monsters by now, but that was with scheming and dirty tricks.

    Tier-2 Monsters were many times stronger than Peak Tier-1 Monsters. Even Tiara would have difficulties facing one head-on without her Soultrait, Artifacts, and the help of everyone else residing in the territory. She was only a Mid Tier-1 Battle Maid, after all.

    Unfortunately, she was also the only Tier-1 subject in his territory.

    Michael could only leave the Origin Expanse without worries because he knew how powerful Tiara was. He recalled her fights against the Lizards in the cave and felt that her extremely highbat prowess was reassuring to his mind.

    However, it didn''t change the fact that the Untamed Jungle could cause unforeseen chaos and destruction at any time.

    One way or another, Michael didn''t believe in the concept of luck. He knew that the Untamed Jungle was dangerous, yet with Extraction at his disposal, he could make use of the dangerous territory and turn it into a great opportunity.

    Did that mean he was lucky?

    It didn''t really matter.

    What mattered was that Michael was still alive and that he won against Nis Liekhofen without breaking into a sweat. He finally got revenge on Nis for everything Nis did to him in the past. Michael had been weak-willed and afraid of the Liekhofen family''s influence. However, that didn''t worry him anymore.

    He won the first fight of the Real Combat assessment easily, turning him into a savage beast, who didn''t know any mercy. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And after seeing his performance, nobody dared to approach him on the bench, which was quite nice. It allowed him to rest in silence until it was time for his second battle.

    Half an hour after his fight against Nis Liekhofen, Michael was called up to the arena again.

    "Michael Fang versus Annabelle ire. Come up to arena three and prepare for battle!" The referee from arena three announced loudly.

    Annabelle ire arrived in arena three first. She manifested a bow in her left hand and an arrow in her right hand before she went into position.

    Michael had seen Annabelle''s first fight. Her archery skill was impable, and she defeated her opponent easily. Three arrows were all she needed to defeat an opponent of the same rank as her.

    Michael was already a Tier-1 Lord, while she was at the Peak of Tier-0. This gave him an advantage from the get-go. Feeling confident about his archery skills, Michael summoned the Siltang Bow as he stepped into the arena.

    To increase his ranking in the aptitude assessment and ensure that he would get epted, he had to show off that he was a versatilebatant.

    Michael also summoned the Onyx Dragon Armor set before he changed intobat stance.

    He grasped the Siltang Bow tightly and waited patiently until the referee announced the start of the battle.

    "Fight!!" The referee bellowed a few seconds after the twobatants changed intobat stance.

    Annabelle reacted instantaneously. She shot to the side while nocking her arrow on the bowstring. Her eyes were fully focused on Michael as she pulled the bowstring back. The moment the bowstring was fully drawn out, she took aim for a quarter of a second and released the arrow.

    ''Fast!'' Michael realized immediately.

    He used the Arrow Creation enchantment of the Siltang Bow and manifested a simple arrow with little energy. It was already nocked on the bowstring and ready to be used. Michael pulled the bowstring back and fired immediately.

    A loud twang rang through the arena as Michael released his arrow. The arrow shot through the air with terrific velocity. It collided with Annabelle''s arrow in the next second and destroyed it.

    Annabelle was baffled when she saw this, but her movements never slowed down. Two more arrows flew through the air, aimed at Michael''s vital spots.

    ''I shouldn''t underestimate her,'' Michael told himself when he saw how calm andposed Annabelle was. She noticed that Michael''s arrow had easily hit her arrow mid-air when it had been at full speed, but she did not let it influence her.

    Instead of allowing Michael''s shot to influence her mind, she released two more arrows to put pressure on Michael.

    However, Michael faced the arrows calmly. He used Lesser Enhancement on his Onyx Dragon Armor Set and the Siltang Bow, strengthening the Artifacts by 20% respectively. Simultaneously, Michael used Eagle Eyes.

    He predicted the trajectory of the two arrows and took a big stride ahead to evade them. Simultaneously, he channeled energy into the Siltang Bow to create another Arrow. The arrow consumed the same amount of energy as before, but it was a lot firmer this time.

    Pulling the Siltang Bow''s bowstring back, Michael realized that the required pulling force had increased by roughly 20% as well.

    Michael released the arrow that cut through the air with much more force than before.

    Annabelle''s eyes widened when she saw the arrow and its ridiculously high velocity. She panicked for a moment but reacted instinctively.

    Her gaze turned sharper, and her stance changed at once. The pressure Annabelle radiated intensified severalfold, and her movements became smoother.

    She retrieved another arrow, nocked it on the bowstring, pulled it back, and fired.

    All those actions happened in the same second.

    The arrow she had released was not extremely powerful but it was aimed precisely. It hit Michael''s arrow from beneath, altering its trajectory, and ending the attack that could have cost Annabelle her life.

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he saw the changes urring to Annabelle, and he changed his approach to the fight once again.

    ''Did she just activate her Soultrait?''

 Chapter 112 [Bonus ]Archer

    [A/N: Thanks for the great support this month. I appreciate every single golden-ticket and powerstone. Y''all are the best!]

    After Annabelle used her Soultrait, the situation over the battlefield changed.

    Whenever one of them released an arrow, the other one would follow suit and shoot an arrow in the air. Their arrows always collided, and none of them could cross half the distance to their designated target.

    At one point three arrows were sent mid-air near-simultaneously, and they were all shot swiftly.

    To be able to shoot three arrows precisely and near-simultaneously was extremely difficult. It required great aim and a ridiculous amount of practice to smoothly shoot one arrow after another.

    However, it was even more difficult to hit the three arrows in mid-air. Not only was it necessary to quickly shoot three arrows, and to have precise aim, but it was also necessary to predict the trajectory of the arrows mid-air.

    But Michael made it look like it was as easy as taking a walk in the park. He was already Tier-1 with high agility and perception. Michael also had the Eagle Eyes Soultrait and the Siltang Bow with which he could follow the trajectory of arrows quickly and create an arrow nocked on the bowstring the moment the previous arrow had been released.

    These advantages allowed Michael to achieve many things that were supposed to be hard for someone like Annabelle. She was not yet a Tier-1 Lord and didn''t possess a Bow Artifact like the Siltang Bow either. Yet, Annabelle was able to keep up with him after she activated her Soultrait.

    This shocked Michael quite a bit. Annabelle was extremely proficient with the bow, and her archery talent was clearly better than his. Given her capabilities, she certainly had more experience with the bow than Michael!

    Michael could onlypete with her due to his higher Tier, the Artifacts in his possession, and thebination of his Soultraits.

    ''She is so strong¡­what kind of training did she undergo, and what Soultrait is she using?!''

    Michael was impressed seeing how strong Annabelle was and was curious to find out more about her.

    However, he couldn''t allow her to emerge victorious. He manifested two arrows simultaneously, aimed and released them. Afterward, he released three arrows swiftly within three seconds. Two of these three arrows targeted Annabelle''s upper body, while the third aimed to hit her vital spot.

    In response, Annabelle moved swiftly. She shot the three precisely aimed projectiles in mid-air and proceeded to counterattack. Her movements were rapid, yet she noticed toote that Michael had changed his tactic.

    He restricted her movements by rapidly firing left and right to her while striding ahead. Michael inched closer to her while continuously condensing arrows and releasing them.

    Annabelle reacted by releasing arrows that targeted Michael''s body instead of his projectiles. He was easier to hit than the projectiles, after all. The closer he came the greater the difficulty of evading the arrow. Michael was aware of that, but he didn''t care. He continued to release one arrow after another while evading her attacks as much as he could.

    After a few more minutes, Michael couldn''t evade any more attacks. He twisted his body and used his shoulder to protect his vital spots from the arrow''s impact.

    The Onyx Dragon Armor Set, further strengthened by Lesser Enhancement, blocked the attack easily. Due to the protection enchantment, the Onyx Dragon Armor set didn''t even sustain a scratch.

    Despite that, a loud bell rang through the surroundings, indicating the end of the battle between Annabelle ire and Michael Fang.

    "Why did the battle end all of a sudden? It was just about to get interesting!" One of the onlookingbatantsined. He was absorbed in the archery face-off and would have loved to see more.

    "Didn''t you see? Michael Fang was hit by an arrow. It was the first time one of them had been hit. Maybe, the referee chose to end the battle because of that!" Anotherbatant said as he looked over to the referee.

    The referee was sweating profusely and a sigh of relief escaped his lips as he looked over to Annabelle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Three arrows condensed from origin energy were hovering in the air, millimeters away from Annabelle''s throat, heart, and eye.

    If one looked closely, one could see three semi-transparent shields blocking the arrows from impacting ¨C and killing Annabelle.

    The referee manifested the shield aste as possible to make sure that he wouldn''t influence the result of the battle yet ensuring that Annabelle wouldn''t die or be seriously injured.

    "Victory goes to Michael Fang!" The referee said after the condensed arrows dispersed.

    Michael turned to Annabelle, who had lost control of her legs when she realized that she escaped death by a hair''s breadth. She looked at Michael with shock and confusion.

    "If we were at the same Tier, you would have defeated me," Michael acknowledged in a serious tone, "But I will grow stronger to make sure that you won''t be able to defeat me even after you advance to the 1st Tier!"

    After he said that, Michael walked out of the arena. He returned to sit on the bench, where he closed his eyes to rest and review his fight against Annabelle ire.

    He didn''t have to fight for a while since there were manybatants in front of him, waiting for their turn. This gave him enough time to determine the mistakes in his battle and simte what would have happened if he had chosen other tactics to fight Annabelle.

    However, one thing was sure; he would have lost against Annabelle if he had fought with Tigerfang. In the best case, he would have won by a hair''s breadth and with several arrows stuck in his body.

    Michael watched some of the remaining battles after he finished reviewing his fight against Annabelle. He saw her third andst fight and analyzed it in his mind. He tried to find out what her Soultrait was, and how the activation of her Soultrait gave her an upper hand in the battle.

    The result was quite interesting. Annabelle''s presence changed when she activated her Soultrait, and her movements turned smoother. Simultaneously, she grew faster in predicting the attack pattern of her opponent anding up with counterattacks.

    It was quite interesting, but so were the fights of the otherbatants. After watching Michael''s first fight, the remaining applicants realized that they couldn''t afford to hesitate. The final assessment was called Real Combat, not friendly sparring.

    How disastrous would their score look if they continued sparring lightly instead of fighting as if it was a life-and-death battle?

    Michael saw the change in attitude among manybatants which was a wee change. They used their full power from the start of the battle and began to inflict more or less serious injuries on theirpetitors.

    However, Michael was sure that it was already toote for most of them. The hesitation in their first battle marked the end of their aptitude assessment.

    That was what Michael thought before he started to practice the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique. The Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique was more efficient and easier to practice with origin energy in the surroundings, but it was possible to replenish his stamina quickly even if there was no origin energy in the surroundings.

    Michael''s stamina was fully replenished when he was called up for the third andst time.

    It was already evening and the Real Combat assessment was in itsst leg. Not manybatants were left with one or two fights.

    Yet, oddly enough, Michael faced a familiar face when he entered the arena.

    "Michael Fang versus Frederik Kolbenheim. Enter arena two and prepare for battle!"

 Chapter 113 Rematch

    It felt like a big joke that Michael and Frederik were put against each other in their third fight of the Real Combat assessment.

    However, it was also quite interesting.

    Michael hadn''t expected to meet Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Ondo in the aptitude assessment for the Saphirke Military Academy, but he saw their idiotic faces when Julian Spinne pointed at them.

    ''Even if they want to attend the Saphirke Military Academy, are their families not wealthy enough to purchase two spots to make their kids skip the aptitude assessment?'' He wondered as he recalled that both the Kolbenheim and Ondo families were the wealthiest families in the Golden Sun province.

    ''But that is actually better. I wonder how much this idiot has improved since ourst encounter!'' Michael murmured inwardly.

    A confident smile appeared on his face as he looked straight into Frederik''s eyes. His strength had increased drastically, and he was probably ten times stronger than he had been in theirst encounter. Maybe he was even stronger than he assumed.

    Meanwhile, Frederik had yet to break through the barrier separating him from the 1st Tier. Frederik was not far off, but there was still a gap between them.

    Thus, Michael had a great advantage, or so he thought at first.

    Michael only realized that he had underestimated Frederik and his background when the battle between them started.

    Jacqueline cheered for Frederik loudly, while Frederik remained calm until the referee started the battle.

    The moment the referee shouted ''Fight!'', the energy within him erupted at once.

    Frederik conjured currents of greenish gleaming wind around him in an instant. He condensed the wind currents and formed wind spears. Simultaneously, he summoned two shortswords and an emerald-colored leather armor.

    Frederik''s strength seemed to increase further after his Artifacts appeared, and he charged forward. His wind spears cut through the air and shot straight to Michael.

    Four were aimed at Michael while the remaining wind spears cut off his path of retreat, blocking him.

    Michael frowned deeply. He could clearly tell that Frederik''s wind spears were several times stronger than they had been in the past.

    This was not just a matter of possessing more energy or having better control of his Soultrait. No, Frederik''s Soultrait had grown much stronger since theyst met!

    ''How?'' Michael wondered as he manifested the Siltang Bow and his Onyx Dragon Armor Set. He used Lesser Enhancement on every Artifact, enhancing their overall stats by 20% respectively. Afterward, Michael unleashed the strongest form of Eagle Eyes.

    He condensed an arrow on the bowstring, pulled the bowstring back, and fired the arrow at the most threatening wind spear. Michael released two more arrows after the first before he stepped forward.

    The Siltang Bow disappeared in his War rune. It was reced by Tigerfang, which was instantaneously mantled in a white aura. Michael''s strength increased a tad and he dashed forward like a bolt of lightning.

    The three arrows he had released earlier were enough to pierce through Frederik''s wind spears. Meanwhile, the fourth wind spear aimed at him waspletely ignored, but that was not a worrisome fact as Michael had already moved away from his earlier position.

    He appeared in front of Frederik and shed head-on. Michael was physically stronger, much faster than Frederik and he could predict Frederik''s trajectory using the subtle details his Eagle Eyes detected.

    Currents of wind swirled around Frederik''s arms and legs, pushing the young man closer to Michael. Some wind currents sted in Michael''s face while others pushed against his whole body, slowing down his movements. Despite being slowed down, and Frederik''s movements gaining speed, Michael''s attacks impacted hard on his opponent.

    Frederik''s expression changed when he felt the tremendous force colliding with his shortswords and he instinctively retreated. Simultaneously, he conjured multiple crescent-shaped wind des around himself and Michael. He controlled them precisely and made sure that Michael would be attacked from all sides.

    His head, neck, throat, arms, and legs were targeted precisely, wanting to lock down Michael''s movements from all sides and eliminate him.

    Michael wanted to evade all attacks, but that was not possible. There were too many wind des, and they were too fast to hit and deflect them simultaneously.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He activated the protection enchantments of his Onyx Dragon Armor Set, blocked a few wind des with Tigerfang, and twisted his body to evade the vital attacks.

    Afterward, he had to retreat because another batch of ten wind spears had already been conjured by Frederik.

    ''How did his Soultrait grow that much in such a short time?!?''

    Frederik was not even at the 1st Tier, which meant that the increase of origin energy inside his body was not that high. Michael couldn''t understand the cause behind the sudden boost in Frederik''s strength which was not a mere quantitative increase. Frederik''s attacks were not only much more in terms of quantity, but their quality was also much higher. The attacks were stronger thanst time.

    ''Is that a Soutrait technique from his family? No, that shouldn''t be it¡­''

    Michael''s expression turned sour as he moved through the arena nimbly. He cut through the wind des that pursued him and evaded most wind spears easily.

    However, there were too many attacks restricting his movements. He was not able to handle all of them at the same time. One attack after another impacted upon him.

    Luckily, they were blocked by the protection enchantments of the Onyx Dragon Armor Set, but they reached him nheless.

    This was beyond his expectations. He was already a Tier-1 Lord, while Frederik was still at the Peak of Tier-0. Why was he at a disadvantage right now?

    Frederik saw the change in Michael''s expression, and he couldn''t help but smile arrogantly.

    "It required only a few thousand subjects to defeat you, a Lord of a higher Tier than me? That''s boring. I thought you were stronger!" Frederik said arrogantly. His voice rang through the arena before he continued to speak in a ridiculing tone, "You disappoint me¡­but why did I even expect anything else from a peasant like you? It was my fault to have high hopes from a dirt poor fool!"

    While Frederik continued to make fun of Michael, Jacqueline eximed in joy.

    "Honey, you''re so smart and powerful! The gift was well utilized. You are a genius!!"

    That was when realization struck Michael. His eyes widened slightly and hisbat stance changed immediately.

    His first thought waspletely wrong. Frederik didn''t learn a new technique. Instead, his Soultrait grew stronger because Frederik had summoned thousands of subjects. Their Links of Loyalty nourished Frederik''s Soultrait exponentially, strengthening it. That was how Frederik was suddenly so strong.

    Summoning thousands of subjects just like that was a direct showoff of his wealth. The Kolbenheim family must have spent millions to strengthen Frederik, and there was nothing wrong with that.

    ''Frederik''s father must have helped his son by giving him money, or thousands of Summoning Scrolls!'' Michael understood immediately.

    Instead of spending billions to buy Frederik a seat in the Saphirke Military Academy, he invested in his son directly. That was much cheaper, and it would continue to strengthen Frederik in the future.

    After all, thousands of additional subjects were an exceptional workforce for young Lords, whocked workers the most in the early phase of their territory expansion.

    But did it really matter whether Frederik had been sponsored by thousands of subjects from his father? Michael didn''t think so.

    If his confidence wavered in the face of Frederik after that idiot''s Soultrait grew a little stronger, he might as well give up bing a Lord capable of protecting his people.

    He was bound toe across many such fools in the future who would try to downy him using their resources or connections.

    Recalling that, Michael strengthened his resolve. He was not ready to give up..

    The fight was not yet over!

 Chapter 114 Invisible Blade

    Michael twisted his body to evade a few wind spears. They shot past him and pierced into the ground.

    Meanwhile, the wind des around Michael moved irregrly, cutting his arms and legs.

    He could avoid severe injuries, but still sustained minor injuries all over his body. Nheless, Michael was not discouraged.

    His eyes moved through the arena at all times, analyzing Frederik''sbat style and the true extent of his Soultrait''s current prowess.

    ''His wind des never exceed 20 at a time, and his wind spears don''t exceed 10. The wind des move through the air through simplemands, but the same doesn''t apply to the wind spears. They fly in one direction and don''t stop. However, they''re also much faster than the wind des!''

    The wind spears were fast but Michael could still react in time and avoid them. His perception, Agility and Eagle Eyes allowed him to detect the wind spears and determine their trajectory early enough, providing Michael enough time to duck or parry.

    Despite being able to move, Michael couldn''t approach Frederik. Frederik was utilizing his Soultrait well. He turned the range of 20 meters around him into his little domain of control that Michael was trying to figure out a way to breach.

    Even changing to the Siltang Bow was not useful. Michael released a few arrows, but Frederik blocked them easily. Each arrow was first blocked by a wind de that burst into wind currents the moment they collided before a wind spear destroyed the energy-condensed arrow.

    Michael switched back to Tigerfang after his attempts to shoot Frederik failed. He used Lesser Enhancement on his Artifacts once again before he put some of his remaining energy into his lower body before he kicked off.

    The moment his feet kicked on the ground, Michael turned into a cannonball. He ignored the wind des and wind spears around him, leaning his body closer to the ground, and appeared in front of Frederik in the blink of an eye.

    A wind spear was all that separated them. Michael took care of that quickly. Tigerfang arced through the air with high velocity and cut through the wind spear before it could reach Michael.

    In the next moment, Michael appeared next to Frederik, Tigerfang held high in the air to cleave down.

    However, before he could bring it down, Michael suddenly felt disoriented. He couldn''t see anything separating him from Frederik, but he heard the faint sound of something cutting through the air. Simultaneously, something subtle ¨C conjured with energy ¨C had manifested in front of Frederik.

    The problem was just that Michael couldn''t see it. Something was wrong, and he moved instantaneously, pulling down Tigerfang to block his throat and head. Simultaneously, he ignored his high speed and changed his movement path by force.

    His ankles screamed in agony when he changed direction all of a sudden, but Michael ignored the pain spreading through his ankles. He continued to move and charge forward.

    And it was not toote. The moment he sensed that something was off, the invisible object shot forward. It shot past his head and scratched his neck before it dispersed.

    Warm blood trickled down Michael''s neck, but he couldn''t even feel the pain. The adrenaline coursing through his body blocked the pain he was supposed to feel.

    ''He can control the wind without making it visible?'' Michael concluded in shock.

    Until now, Michael had been certain that the wind Frederik controlled, or conjured, would be clearly visible for everyone to see. However, that didn''t seem to be the case anymore now that his Soultrait had grown stronger.

    But that was not the only thing Michael had noticed. When he was about to cleave down, Michael noticed that Frederik was ashen pale and that he was drenched in sweat.

    He was gasping for breath and his feet were wobbly indicating that he was already past his limit.

    ''He quickly ran out of the energy to keep using his nourished Soultrait! His energy is limited as a Tierless Lord!''

    The moment Michael realized that Frederik was at his limit, he unleashed more energy. He had more than enough reserves to unleash the protection enchantments on the Onyx Dragon Armor Set simultaneously and at their highest level.

    The protection enchantments strengthened the Onyx Dragon Armor Set, but that was not everything. They also manifested small energy barriers around his vital spots to decrease the impact of iing attacks.

    Because of the protection enchantments, Michael was not worried about his safety. He charged at Frederik once again by changing his movement pattern. His ankles begged for respite, but they obeyed hismand, nheless.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael turned into a sh and appeared in front of Frederick once again. Several wind des impacted all over Michael''s body, but he simply ignored them as he sliced down.

    Frederik grit his teeth and shed at Tigerfang with his two shortswords. However, Michael just smiled.

    His Soultraits were also stronger than before. The number of his Summons was not small, and they had grown much stronger than before. Last but not least, their Links of Loyalty were extremely firm. The value of his subjects'' Links of Loyalty was at least three times higher than the Links of Loyalty of ordinary subjects.

    Michael could see the wind spears Frederik manifested to his left and right, but he knew that they would never hit him.

    Instead of backing off now, Michael put more force into Tigerfang. Frederik''s arms trembled wildly while trying to block Michael''s attack with his shortsword, but it worked somehow. He could stall enough time to focus on the wind spears, finish manifesting them and order them to pierce through Michael.

    It was just a momentter when Frederik realized that he made a grave mistake. He had only focused on Tigerfang and his wind spears while ignoring various other factors that were crucial in a fight.

    But it was toote to react. Michael''s left leg moved fast and deadly, kicking Frederik''s right leg hard before pulling it closer. At first, pain spread through his leg, and it was only after a second that he noticed that he lost bnce.

    He crashed down onto the ground, while Michael cut upward with Tigerfang. The sudden change in force caused Frederik to lose one of his shortswords as hended on the ground.

    But Michael was not yet done. He twisted Tigerfang mid-air and cut downward with the de''s tip facing the ground.

    Tigerfang shot past Frederik''s head by a hair''s breadth, grazing his neck before it lodged itself into the arena ground.

    Frederik gasped for air as he stared at Michael who was towering right above him. A faint but confident smile appeared on Michael''s sweaty face before a bell rang through arena two.

    "Victory goes to Michael Fang!" The referee announced atst.

    Michael retrieved Tigerfang back into his War Rune and stepped aside.

    "That could have been your head," He mumbled before he turned around, "I hope you know what that means."

    Michael was a little exhausted, but he was quite satisfied with his performance. He may not like Frederik as a person, but the young man from the Kolbenheim family was certainly strong.

    "It''s not over yet!!!" Frederik growled, seething in anger just as Michael was about to leave the arena.

    Michael sensed ripples of energy around him, and he heard the referee shouting loudly, "Stop right there!!"

    However, despite shouting loudly, the footsteps didn''t quiet down. On the contrary, Michael could hear clearly that Frederik was rushing at him like a mad bull.

    He knew that Frederik was a sore loser, but Michael didn''t expect him to be unable to control his emotions during the aptitude assessment. A loss didn''t mean that his application to the Saphirke Military Academy was rejected, after all.

    Michael essed his War Rune at once. He retrieved a wooden spear, grasped it tightly, and gathered great momentum by turning around with a blinding speed.

    The moment his body turned to Frederik, Michael threw the wooden spear. It soared through the air with great precision and tremendous force, and it impacted exactly where Michael wanted it to be.

    Frederik didn''t expect such a sudden attack, and even the referee couldn''t react in time. The referee had been more focused on Frederik and how to calm the youth''s bad temper when a wooden spear pierced Frederik''s stomach suddenly.

    The wooden spear possessed enough force to slow down Frederik and force him down to his knees.

    "I don''t think you understood me when I said it the first time," Michael spat coldly while staring at the severely bleeding youth, "I told you that I spared your life by piercing the ground instead of your bean-sized brain. Be graceful enough and ept your loss, idiot."

 Chapter 115 Kindness Of The Fierce Beauty (1)

    Michael knew that Frederik was strong, but his intelligence and personality were questionable.

    He was already in a bad mood because the Barbaric Couple was once again around to annoy him once again. Michael could tell that Julian Spinne must have heard them gossip about him, which is why the young, skinny man approached him with bad intentions.

    Julian Spinne was not important to him, but the Barbaric Couple felt like a parasite. The first time he came across them was at the House of Witchery. Michael could ept their actions in the House of Witchery because he had received many benefits from interfering in their lover''s spat.

    But their attitude during the aptitude assessment was truly annoying. They were not weak, by any means, but the Barbaric Couple was just too full of themselves, bad-tempered, and looked down at their opponents.

    Whenever they fought someone weaker than them, they fooled around intentionally, just to show off that they were superior.

    And this was visible with the way Frederik''s first two opponents ended up with hundreds of cuts all over their bodies. Frederik could have but purposefully didn''t end the battle quickly. No, he made his opponents suffer and humiliated them. They had to surrender for the battle to end.

    Meanwhile, Jacqueline''s opponents were partially frozen before the battle ended with the interference of the referee. She toyed with her victims and never even thought about fighting seriously.

    They made fun of their opponents and disrespected them. It was unfair to thosebatants who gave their utmost to fight seriously.

    Michael really wanted to see the Barbaric Couple have a taste of their own medicine.

    Their actions made him recall the fight against the Lionhearts from a few days ago. The Lionhearts had fooled around with his subjects, killing them slowly one after another with their zing mes. They didn''t show mercy. Instead, they used Michael''s subjects as toys to fool around with and torture them.

    Michael''s mind had been flooded with the memories of his fight against the Lionhearts after he defeated Frederik. He had been generous enough to the annoying brat by not slicing Frederik''s throat when he had the chance but Frederik was testing his patience. Michael couldn''t hold back anymore when Frederik was foolish enough to ignore the mercy he had shown the first time.

    The tension and the memories of the gory battle where his people burned to death right in front of him were still fresh in his mind.

    So in order to not thrash the hopeless fool, Michael only stared at Frederik''s pitiful figure for a few seconds and walked out of the arena. He noticed that Silverian Schild''s gaze was fixated on him, staring at him intently, and Michael returned his gaze.

    Their eyes met, and neither side was afraid to maintain eye contact. The right corner of Silverian''s lip tilted upward and he nodded subtly to Michael before he turned back to Frederik.

    Michael had finished his third fight, and he could go home now. Many other applicants had already left after they finished their quota of three fights, hoping that they had done well enough to be epted into the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Michael was not too worried about that. He gave his best and showed what he was capable of. If that was not enough to get epted, then the Saphirke Military Academy didn''t deserve someone like him.

    It was not as if his future would be destroyed by not getting epted into the Saphirke Military Academy. Some things would be a little bit more cumbersome such as researching the oldnguages before the Third Epoch and being taught uniquebat techniques by high-tiered instructors, but that was it. He would not fret about rejection and simply move ahead with other tasks.

    With that in mind, he went for a shower and returned to the cafeteria. After using up so much origin energy, Michael was hungry once again.

    He had to refill his body with nutrition to provide the War Rune enough power to replenish his origin energy back to the full capacity of a Lowest-grade Tier-1 Lord.

    Being able to use nutrition to replenish origin energy was another function of the War Rune. Not only did it refine the body and increase the limit of origin energy that can be stored inside the body, but it could replenish the origin energy Michael used up.

    By the time he finished dinner, it was already past 8 pm. He was a little tired, but he didn''t go to sleep just yet. Instead, he hailed a shuttle that brought him to the Central Trading Hall.

    Michael had a vast fortune of 40,000,000$ to invest in his territory and didn''t want to return to the Origin Expanse empty-handed.

    There were many things Michael wanted to purchase, but he had to do some research first. He opened the Bartholomew Network and spent an hour researching a few items, including the price for a Basic Summoning Core.

    Unfortunately, Summoning Cores weren''t sold online. Some articles reported about Summoning Cores being sold in VIP auctions, but there was no price mentioned. Most of the time, Summoning Cores were exchanged with other valuable goods rather than money. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That was a little sad because Michael would have loved to purchase more Summoning Cores in the future, but it was fine even if he couldn''t procure more Summoning Cores for the time being.

    He was about to close the crystal watch''s holographic screen afterpleting his research when he noticed that he had received a message.

    Michael opened the message, hoping that it was his brother. Unfortunately, Danny had not yet returned from the Origin Expanse.

    Instead, he received a message from Alice Zenovia.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I heard that you reached thest round of the final assessment easily. Congrattions. Message me please once you''re done. I want toplete our transaction. The Mythic Summoning Scrolls have been prepared for you!]

    ''Transaction?'' Michael was confused for a moment. However, upon reading ''Mythic Summoning Scrolls'', he recalled something.

    ''Ahh, right. I forgot that Alice wanted to buy Tigerfang!''

    Tigerfang was an exceptional Weapon Artifact. He was thankful to Danny for gifting it to him, and it hurt his heart a little bit to sell it off.

    However, Danny also told him to make the most use of Tigerfang and gain as many benefits as possible when handing over the Epic Artifact to him.

    Danny knew that Tigerfang''s utility would decrease the further Michael progressed. That was also why he told his little brother to sell Tigerfang once he felt the need to purchase better weapons.

    And ording to Michael, exchanging Tigerfang with a bunch of Mythic Summoning Scrolls was certainly worth it. After all, Mythic Summoning Scrolls couldn''t be purchased easily. They were increasingly rare, and only a few people would sell them instead of using them to strengthen their own territory.

    Michael didn''t have to think long before he responded to Alice.

    [Michael Fang: I finished the aptitude assessment, and I''m currently in the Central Trading Hall. If you''re not in a hurry, we can meet up somewhere close in an hour or two. I just want to purchase a few things.]

    He closed the crystal watch once he sent the message to Alice. He strode toward the House of Witchery but stopped just outside the entrance when he received several notifications.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): If you want to purchase stuff for your territory, wait until we''ve met. I can be in the Central Trading Hall in ten minutes!]

    The second message was the location of a restaurant in the Central Trading Hall, which was followed by a third message popping up in front of him.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Let''s meet up there. Just tell the staff that you have a reservation in my name, and they''ll take you to a private room]

    Michael finished reading through the messages in no time. He was not sure how the Mythic Summoning Scrolls were rted to his purchases, but there was no harm if he waited a bit.

    Nheless, Michael was mildly curious about her n.

    ''What is she nning again?''

    [A/N: I know this is annoying, but it would be great if you could leave a review. I am close to obtaining a ranking, and it means a lot.

    Spend your hard-earned powerstones on this novel to receive special benefits - such as more chapters and a happy author - thetter is the most important!]

 Chapter 116 Kindness Of The Fierce Beauty (2)

    Michael didn''t have to wait long until Alice arrived in the private room.

    Nobody woulde to bother them here.

    Michael retrieved Tigerfang, and he quickly terminated his connection to the Epic Artifact while Alice sat down on the opposite side of the dining table.

    She smiled vibrantly upon seeing Tigerfang and retrieved a bunch of Summoning Scrolls made from ck leather. The Summoning Scrolls had a golden sigil sealing them tightly.

    But Michael didn''t pay much attention to the Summoning Scrolls at first. He retrieved Seron Voulge from the War Rune''s storage space and bound it to his War Rune. The binding procedure was slowed down to decrease the burden on his body. It took 10 minutes toplete.

    Alice watched him patiently for a few minutes before she picked up Tigerfang to inspect the Epic Artifact once again.

    A few minutester, she diverted her attention back to Michael and retrieved a few more ck leather Summoning Scrolls.

    Once he was done binding Seron Voulge to his War Rune, Michael retrieved it. He essed his War Rune to take out the study material he had obtained from Alice and gave everything back.

    "The study material was very useful, not only for the aptitude assessment but will alsoe in handy in the future. Thanks a lot," Michael said sincerely.

    Alice smiled in response. She pushed the Summoning Scrolls closer to him and cleared her throat.

    "There are a total of 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls. You should know how difficult it is to purchase one, and how pricey they are. Usually, my parents wouldn''t even think about giving you 10 Mythic Summoning Scrolls in exchange for a natural Epic Tierless Weapon Artifact, but they''re very interested in Tigerfang," Alice said straightforwardly.

    "They seem to be a little bit¡­under the weather because Kaleb has be stubborn these days. They''re also abou¨C...no, that doesn''t really matter. Let''s just say that they want Tigerfang, so they told me to give you as many Mythic Summoning Scrolls as you need. 20 is all I have on me... though I would love to use them myself," She added quietly as if talking to herself.

    Michael wouldn''t haveined even if Alice had only given him 10 Mythic Summoning Scrolls in exchange for Tigerfang. He knew how valuable Mythic Summoning Scrolls were from experience. His 3-Star Water Elemental Mage had been summoned from a single Mythic Summoning Scroll, after all!

    However, Alice Zenovia was honest and straightforward. She gave him all 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls her family had procured since theyst met.

    It warmed his heart that she didn''t think about keeping a few of the Scrolls for herself and negotiate hard with him to make him settle for a lesser number.

    But Alice was not yet done.

    "This is a small gift from me," She said, retrieving a bunch of ordinary-looking Summoning Scrolls with golden letters written on the ck seals. The golden letters formed words, precisely names of upations.

    The scrolls Alice retrieved were actually Named Summoning Scrolls!

    "I want to give you these Named Summoning Scrolls as an unofficial congrattory gift. With your aptitude, you''ll definitely be epted by the Saphirke Military Academy!" She announced proudly while continuing to retrieve more Named Summoning Scrolls.

    Alice Zenovia retrieved close to 30 Named Summoning Scrolls before she stopped. She looked straight into Michael''s eyes and smiled.

    However, Michael could only frown deeply. Each of the Named Summoning Scrolls was worth more than 100,000 since all of them had Combat upations written on the seals!

    ''She spent three million on a congrattory gift? What nonsense is that?!'' Michael could only wonder in his mind.

    It didn''t make sense, none at all!

    "Why are you being so nice to me?" Michael blurted out, confused and unable to find out why Alice was being so generous.

    It was one thing being honest about the Mythic Summoning Scroll, and a whole different thing when it came to spending your own hard-earned money to give someone scrolls worth more than three million dors!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Hm?" Alice responded subconsciously. Her eyes widened slightly as she continued to look at him.

    However, Michael didn''t repeat his question. He waited for Alice''s answer.

    "There is no apparent reason. But if you want some reasons to make you feel better¡­you can consider my gift as an apology for the incident with my brother," Alice said with a shrug.

    "He acted up a little, so I felt bad. Or you can consider the gift as an investment for the sake of your future. That will work as well!" She said nonchntly.

    Alice smiled faintly seeing that Michael''s frown deepened and added, "I hope you will repay me well once you''re a bigshot!"

    ''...That''s nonsense¡­'' Michael wanted to say, but he held back.

    He could clearly tell that Alice avoided answering him truthfully, but there was only so much he could do about it.

    Michael was not satisfied with her answer. Alice didn''t seem to care about his dissatisfaction and got up from her chair. She stored Tigerfang in her War Rune and took a nce at the notification she had received just now.

    Afterward, Alice walked over to the sliding door of their private room and pushed it open. She turned her head around and waved at him.

    "I am a little bit tight on time. Let''s talk about thatter. Bye!"

    Michael wasn''t even given enough time to say goodbye, forget about waving back. Alice disappeared at once, leaving him alone in the private room¡­again.

    "I understand their parents'' worries about Tigerfang, and that I might be unwilling to hand it over¡­but why is Alice so confusing?''

    Michael couldn''t quite put a finger on Alice''s behavior.

    Alice Zenovia was a powerful Lord and a direct descendant of the Zenovia family. They were wealthy, highly influential, and had power. There was no reason for her to pay any attention to him. It didn''t make sense like¡­none at all!

    ''Is she trying to get on my good side?'' Michael wondered, ''But why would she do that? I am not a people-pleaser, and I wasn''t exactly nice to her when I ignored her messages at first¡­''

    ''She doesn''t have a crush on me, right?'' He asked himself but quickly disregarded this possibility.

    ''What nonsense was that? Just because someone treated you well, didn''t mean that they have a crush on you.''

    Alice didn''t seem like someone who falls in love easily, either.

    ''Is she trying to lure me over? Could she gain something from treating me nicely and showering me with expensive gifts?''

    To a Lord of her caliber, a few million dors might not be much, but that didn''t mean it was worthless.

    She had been focusing on him way too much. It couldn''t be a coincidence.

    Or was it?

    [A/N: What do you think about Alice Zenovia? Does she have a secret n, or is she in love with Michael? Or maybe...is it all plot armor?!?]

 Chapter 117 Ranking

    Seated around arge oval-shaped table, several imposing men and women had pensive looks on their faces.

    All of them were staring seriously at the dozens of holographic screens, which had appeared above the oval-shaped table.

    Various statistics, personal assessments, rankings, and videos were disyed on holographic screens.

    "The supeputer finishedputing the aptitude assessments. La generated the ranking ording to the given instructions. It''s done," A young man with a long white coat and blue jeans reported. He stared intently at the holographic screen in front of him and made a few adjustments.

    "Are you sure that is the correct ranking, Harry? Are you sure that you didn''t give La faultymands? Maybe she broke down from all the information we''ve provided in such a short period!" A young-looking, but serious woman asked.

    She had long crimson hair and ruby-colored eyes that highlighted her unusualbat uniform even more.

    "A supeputer breaking down from some measly pieces of information? Please don''t take La lightly. She is amongst the best 10 supeputers of mankind. Her artificial intelligence is on par with us humans, and herputing skills are a thousandfold advanced, if not more!" Harry Baren retorted with a deep frown on his face.

    He was the same young man, who had tested Michael''s Soultrait and Soul Power level, and the only one who voiced his concerns aloud. The atmosphere around him changed drastically the moment he spoke but Harry Baren was unfazed by the immense pressure filling the room. Almost everyone in the room other than him was a powerful Lord or Adventurer, but Harry didn''t care.

    The crimson-haired woman scoffed at Harry''sment, but she diverted her focus back to the final ranking of the applicants from all over Elyra.

    Out of millions, only ten thousand made it to the ranking, and only the best 1500 would be given a spot in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    The Saphirke Military Academy might be humongous, and almost the size of a city, but they wanted to only take in the cream of the crop. Their growth was the most important for the future of the Tritan Alliance and mankind''s future.

    Furthermore, every in the sr system was given a quota, and certain families purchased a spot to make sure that their children could attend the Saphirke Military Academy without prior testing. Giving Elyra 1500 slots was already a lot.

    "It looks like the child you rmended didn''t make it into the top 1500, or am I wrong, Ophelia ze?" A young man with blond hair and vibrant green eyes asked mockingly.

    He was sitting in the chair not too far from the crimson-haired woman and smiled provokingly in her direction. Ophelia ze''s head flicked to the young man wearing casual clothes and she showed him the middle finger.

    "The child I rmended made it into the top 1500, so keep your mouth shut, will you, Oliver? Nobody asked for your opinion. Just mind your own business and stay far away from me if possible!" Ophelia ze cursed quietly but in a voice loud enough for Oliver Zeus to hear.

    Everyone else seated around the sizeable oval-shaped table sighed deeply upon hearing the bickering between Oliver Zeus and Ophelia ze. The ze family and the Zeus family were known for their hostile rtionship, and their feud had been going on for more than 100 years already.

    Nobody really knows how it started but something created zing sparks between the two families, turning them into enemies.

    "Dear Professors, how about we move back to the main topic? We still have to determine if the top 1500 are suited for the Saphirke Military Academy, or if there are a few bad seedlings that are not suitable for the Military Academy and our teachings!" A middle-aged man with a well-trained body, an imposing aura, and a scarred face said calmly.

    Ophelia and Oliver turned silent the moment the scar-faced man began to talk.

    Their expression turned sour, and they looked like puppies who had been scolded for eating their poo.

    The other men and women seated around the long table had to suppress a burst ofughter when they saw the reaction of the two bickering Professors, but nobody said anything.

    The awkward silence was broken when therge arched gate leading to the room opened, and a familiar figure walked inside. The men and women inside the room nodded their heads in respect, while Oliver Zeus and Ophelia ze shot up with a smile on their faces.

    "Alice, you''re back!"

    "Professor Zenovia, we were waiting for you. d to see that you finished your business so quickly!"

    While Oliver Zeus remained more formal and polite, Ophelia rushed to Alice Zenovia and embraced her arm ¨C or she was trying to.

    Alice flicked Ophelia''s forehead and walked past her to sit down in the empty seat next to the scar-faced man.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "How far are we, Silverian?" Alice Zenovia asked the scar-faced man, Silverian Schild.

    "We have far more applicantspared to the previous years. The overallpetence of the youngest generation seems much better than before as well. That''s mostly rted to the Great ns, Supreme Families, and the High Nobles. Only some of their descendants were sent to the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies before. That changed now that more news of a possible uing war reached the Lord Network.

    As expected, every family wants to ensure that their children and disciples will have a higher rank in the military once war erupts and the draft call reaches them," Silverian Schield exined calmly while showing Alice the ranking of more than a hundred applicants.

    These 100+ students were all ranked in the top 200 and hailed from the Great ns, Supreme Families, and High Nobles.

    "Most applicants who came with a rmendation made it into the top 1500 as well. However, we have yet to finish looking through every applicant''s score and performance in the top 1500. It shouldn''t take too long until we''re done, Professor!" He exined calmly while studying Alice''s reaction.

    "Is that so?" Alice murmured absent-mindedly before she started to take a look at a few assessment forms from applicants within the top 1500.

    Silverian Schild kept looking at Alice and trying to make note of the forms of which students she was studying, but he didn''t receive the response he''d hoped for.

    "Didn''t you say that you rmended someone? Is he in the top 1500, Professor Zenovia?" Oliver Zeus asked after a while.

    He was curious about what kind of powerful child Alice Zenovia hadid her eyes upon.

    Most Professors could rmend a few students for the aptitude assessment of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Nobody expected Alice to have rmended someone because she was not the type of person to be around other people if she didn''t have to. Where was she supposed to find someone to rmend, in the first ce, if the only things she did was take care of her troublemaker brother, and work?

    Hence it was a surprise that against all odds, Alice Zenovia not only rmended one person to the Saphirke Military Academy, but she had also kept his identity secret so far. That way, nobody could tell whom she had rmended, or that the person had entered the aptitude assessment through the rmendation system.

    "Don''t worry, he made the cut. You should be more focused on your little nephew. It looks like he and his fianc¨¦ were quite the troublemakers during the Real Combat assessment," Alice Zenovia pointed out as her eyes stopped on one of the video footage of the Real Combat assessment.

    Oliver Zeus didn''t expect the topic to change to his nephew so suddenly. He didn''t even know that his nephew had applied to the Saphirke Military Academy.

    However, upon searching up his nephew''s name and looking at the video of him openly humiliating other applicants during the Real Combat assessment, Oliver''s expression changed drastically.

    "Frederik, you fool!! What the hell did my sister do to raise you to be such a spoiled brat??" Oliver cursed after watching the second Real Combat fight of Frederik Kolbenheim, his nephew.

    "Oh? Look. Your nephew was beaten into a pulp and thrashed to the ground in hisst fight. What a funny fe!" Ophelia ze mocked after her attention moved to Oliver''s nephew as well. She watched the final fight in the Real Combat assessment and kept eximing about Frederick so as to further anger Oliver.

    "This fe is not bad. Which family is he from? He is already Tier-1, and his Artifacts are exceptional. Isn''t he using two Soultraits simultaneously? Just who is he?"

    The more Ophelia squealed in excitement the more Instructors and Professors switched their attention to Frederik Kolbenheim and his opponent in hisst fight.

    "Who is that young man?" Another Instructor asked, only for Alice Zenovia and Silverian Schild to answer simultaneously.

    "That''s Michael Fang," Alice murmured.

    "Michael Fang. He is an applicant from the Golden Sun province. I watched his fight!" Silverian dered loudly with a trace of excitement in his voice.

    This attracted even more interest. After all, everyone knew what it meant if the Devilish Saint showed interest in someone.

    Everyone''s eyes flicked to see the rank of the young man, curiosity getting the better of them.

    [Michael Fang #146, No Affiliation, Ordinary Background, Double Soultrait. Exceptional Talent]

 Chapter 118 Orb Of Hostility

    "That''s 39,954,350$ in total. Do you want to pay everything at once, or do you wish to utilize the installment system of your Golden Bartholomew Membership Card, Sir?" The clerk asked carefully as he looked at the young bald-headed man in front of him.

    "I''ll pay in full," Michael answered, scratching his bald head.

    His expression changed when he recalled that there was no hair left on his head, and he let out a sigh.

    ''How long will it take before my hair regrows? Give me back my eyebrows at least¡­''

    Michael grumbled to himself, and he left the House of Witchery once his purchase had beenpleted.

    He spent most of his fortune in a single shopping trip, but he was still the most furious about the loss of his hair rather than his depleted bank bnce.

    The money he spent was solely used for his territory and subjects. Michael already had enough exceptional Artifacts and techniques for the time being, so he did not feel the need to spend on himself.

    That means his shopping cart was filled to the brim with high-quality arrows, bows, crossbows, bolts, sets of leather armor, different types of weapons, various traps, and much more for his beloved subjects. There were also a few very expensive items on his shopping list.

    Michael didn''t mind their exorbitant price since he earned money to make use of it, and not to let it rest in his bank ount. He was always reminded of the bad equipment his subjects had to use when facing the Lionhearts. Not only was the equipment his subjects used against the Lionhearts bad but there was not even enough for everyone to use.

    That was not something Michael could ept. He somehow med himself for not being able to provide them with enough strong weapons which led to their deaths.

    Hence, he reached deep down into his wallet and invested his money in the right means of protection to prevent incidents like the Lionheart Invasion and be prepared for all kinds of unexpected scenarios.

    Michael hailed a shuttle back to his apartment once he finished his purchases. He organized his things and sent a message to Danny saying that he would return to the Origin Expanse and that Danny should message him the moment he returned from the Origin Expanse and manifested the Runic Gate.

    Michael returned to the Origin Expanse where he was greeted by the eternal darkness of the Untamed Junglete at night.

    ''I should just sleep. It would be weird to wake up everyone now. The daily report can wait until tomorrow morning,'' Michael told himself. He yawned loudly and stretched his body before he fell heavily on the soft king-size mattress.

    The next moment Michael had already fallen asleep.

    A few hourster, Michael woke up to the sound of nature and his hard-working subjects.

    He felt refreshed and took a deep breath of the vibrant air. Not only was the air in the Untamed Jungle refreshing and free of pollution, but the Origin energy in the surroundings had an additional refreshing effect. It calmed Michael''s stressed mind and body.

    Only two days had passed in the Origin Expanse since Michael left. It was not too long but it was also longer than the time Michael spent outside the Origin Expanse usually.

    Both Michael and his subjects had to get ustomed to him staying outside the Origin Expanse for longer periods. They had to create a system where the territory could flourish and work even without the constant management of the Lord. Only bying up with a better system would it be possible for Michael to spend more time outside the territory, whether it was to conquer the Temple of the Forgotten, travel to Xiltra, or spend more time outside the Origin Expanse to acquire knowledge, receive thorough tutge, get to know more human Lords, and be stronger.

    Michael did a quick workout using the first level of the Berserker Physique technique. After that, he used the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique, bathed, and went down to listen to the daily report.

    Upon his arrival, the atmosphere all over the territory had changed. Some subjects had been sad that their Lord left them shortly after they lost so many good friends andrades. They thought that their Lord might have left them because he was guilt-ridden and that he couldn''t carry the responsibility of being the Lord of territory with hundreds of subjects.

    However, now that he returned, their worries dispersed at once. Everyone''s mood improved significantly, and one could tell that the subjects felt better than two days ago but there was still a heavy shroud of sadness enveloping them. They were still mourning theirrades.

    Many good people had died an untimely death because of the Lionhearts Invasion. That was a fact.

    "Four new 1-Star Subjects spawned, and Tiara went out with her Combat Unit to hunt a lot during thest two days," Michael mumbled as he read the report. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The daily reports were getting more detailed and longer than before. That was something Michael liked a lot. The more detailed information he received about the situation of his territory, the easier it was to determine how to continue developing his territory.

    ''Tiara and the others hunted monsters like crazy¡­was that to relieve their stress and vent their anger?'' Michael wondered as he read how many monsters Tiara and the others hunted in such a short time.

    There were close to 300 corpses waiting for Michael to extract. He had yet to empty the warehouse of the remaining dissected Tier-1 Monster corpses, and 300 new corpses were added once again.

    If he wanted to sell everything stored in his warehouse, he would have to make several trips back and forth using the Runic Gate.

    That was a little cumbersome and would take up way too much time. Thus, Michael would rather wait until his War Rune''s storage space expanded more.

    "Let''s focus on the distribution of equipment, and the installment of traps and defensive mechanisms first," Michael said after pointing at the to-do list. One of his subjects noted down his words immediately.

    "Since I will summon more subjects in the next few days, we''ll have to expand the territory. Let''s focus on triple treehouseplexes in the central area around the clearing and single treehouseplexes around the central area. If the Architect Apprentice has finished the canopy bridgework, we should start this project. I want to make sure that we can move as high up in the trees as we can on the ground!" Michaelmanded after giving it some thought.

    The canopy bridge system was one of the most important projects Michael came up with before. It held significant value for Michael because the Untamed Jungle was filled with dense vegetation. It would be much easier to travel above the ground using the canopy bridgework than meandering through the obstacle course of andscape. At the same time, the canopy bridgework could be used to run away, hide, and to initiate surprise attacks from all directions.

    If invaders such as the Lionhearts would attack their territory once again, they would have a hard time finding a well-hidden canopy bridge system, while simultaneously preparing for attacks from above and all remaining directions. Michael could position long-rangebat units taking advantage of the camouge and height provided by the trees and give the closebat units some leverage to circle around their opponents using the canopy bridgework.

    As long as it was constructed properly, and used cleverly, Michael and his people would have a tremendous advantage against their opponents!

    "The Bilrox Ranch can be expanded a little, and we need a second and third warehouse to separate and store the goods properly. I don''t like the mess in the warehouse. It''s too unorganized¡­."

    Michael said a few more things before he finished giving instructions. He was not certain that he had covered every single point that had to be pointed out, but he gave his best. Michael allowed his subjects to openly share if they were bothered by something, or if they thought that the territory was in dire need of something.

    That way, his subjects could help him out if he missed out on something. He was just a human, and not a machine, after all!

    Once all instructions had been given, Michael retrieved most of the goods he purchased in the House of Witchery. His territory would soon have barracks where all weapons would be stored, and a proper training field for everyone to use. Until then, Michael would just hand out the weapons and other goods inside the wooden manor. It was the biggest building, after all.

    "Be careful when installing the traps, and the arrays," Michael cautioned as he distributed some of the tasks. His subjects listened intently, and their eyes widened slightly when Michael''s finger moved onto a huge semi-transparent orb. "This is an Orb of Hostility. It needs to be treated with great care and is one of the most expensive items in our territory. It is also one of the most important ones that need constant supervision."

    The Orb of Hostility cost more than 15 million dors, and its effect was quite simple. It was connected to Michael''s War Rune and sensed the hostility directed at him and his subjects. His subjects were connected to him through the Links of Loyalty, which enabled this function.

    Hostility could be further divided in several types, which would be reflected in different colors. If monsters thirsting for blood entered the range of the Orb of Hostility, it would show crimson dots in the monster''s direction. The stronger their bloodthirst the brighter the crimson dot.

    On the other hand, if someone invaded their territory it would show a blue dot. The stronger the invaders the brighter the blue dot.

    Meanwhile, a green dot would appear for all monsters and invaders that had been registered as non-lethal or friends.

    This included the three Bilrox younglings that had grown a lot during the past few days.

    The Orb of Hostility consumed lots of energy, which was quite expensive over a long period, but Michael was fine with the expenses.

    It was the price he was willing to pay for safety. Of course, Michael was fine paying!

 Chapter 119 Mass Summoning

    While Michael was away, ire Tracer visited the lizard cave several times.

    She used the GPS treasure map to travel through the cavern system and took notes about the variety of monsters underground, their habitats, and the location of exposed ore and Gloa Crystal deposits.

    ire even wrote a full report about the cavern system, which included a grading of the monsters'' power level. She couldn''t determine the exact power level of the monsters she encountered, but their presence gave her a rough indicator of how strong they were.

    For example, the Warriors in Michael''s territory received 0.8 points from ire, while Tiara received a 1.7 as a level indicator of herbat prowess.

    That way, Michael could roughly gauge how strong the monsters in the lizard cave were and which cavern tunnels he should avoid for the time being.

    Some habitats received a Level 2 Indicator, while others were given a 1.999 because ire couldn''t precisely determine whether the monsters in that area were at the Peak of Tier-1, or if they had already broken through to the 2nd Tier. She could only tell that certain Tier-2 Monsters were stronger than others.

    She could note up with a perfect scale of measurement either. 0 stood for Tierless, 1 for Tier-1, and 2 for Tier-2. It was just a rough indicator ire could use with the help of her high perception.

    Of course, this didn''t determine how strong certain monsters were in reality. Some were weaker but had strong instincts and unique racial traits like the lizard mother''s acid spit.

    The number of monsters was also written down in the report, providing more information to determine whether Michael''s people could deal with them or not.

    His Warriors had an average rating of 0.8, but if 20 Warriors fought together, they would be strong enough to defeat two or three Late Tier-1 Lionheart Adventurers, even if they were to own decent Artifacts.

    Michael read ire''s report with great interest. He hadn''t expected ire to know thebat prowess of his subjects and the monsters of the Untamed Jungle so well. In her report, she even made aparison between thebat prowess of the Gem Jaguar, Frenzy Deer, and other monsters.

    It was very urate, which meant that the level indicators of the monster habitats in the cavern system were likely to be urate as well.

    ''I should use ire''s talent more often. It''s a waste to limit her potential only to tracking.'' Michael thought as he put the report aside.

    He reached the warehouse with more than 20 volunteers, who wanted to help Michael organize the stuff and store it in an orderly fashion.

    Their help was necessary because Michael couldn''t spend his entire day moving around 300 monster carcasses after he dissected them. That would be too wasteful.

    With that thought in mind, Michael opened the gates to the warehouse and a humongous pile of monster carcasses entered his sight. He stretched his body a little and exerted the 4-Star Soultrait Extraction.

    Dazzling golden streams manifested around his palms as he began his work.

    He extracted a total of 309 Tier-1 Monster corpses in the next two hours.

    When Extraction was still a 3-Star Soultrait, extracting many corpses would have taken up his entire morning. However, that was not the case anymore.

    The speed at which he could extract a corpse was halved now that Extraction had been upgraded to a 4-Star Soultrait. But that was not everything. Extraction''s Soul Power increased a lot thanks to his advancement to Tier-1 and the strengthened Links of Loyalty with his subjects.

    The efficiency of his Soultrait increased a lot, but so did the quality of Extraction.

    After extracting a total of 309 Tier-1 Monster carcasses, Michael obtained a total of 36 blueprints, 77 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, 4019 Summoning Scroll Fragments, and two Tierless 2-Star Artifacts.

    On average, every fourth Tier-1 corpse dropped aplete Summoning Scroll and 13 Summoning Scroll Fragments. That was a great qualitative increment!

    Overall, Michael was satisfied with his progress. Hebined the Summoning Scroll Fragments and ended up with a total of 237 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    Combined with the 28 Named Summoning Scrolls and 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls which he brought back, Michael could summon 285 new subjects!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was a massive number for a small territory like his. After all, his poption reached barely 500 after the Lionhearts'' Invasion.

    ''This is a great way to give my people a fresh start and something to look forward to after a terrifying nightmare!'' Michael thought.

    He rushed out of the warehouse, leaving his people alone with the nearly perfectly dissected corpses.

    Michael reached the Summoning Gate in excitement. However, instead of tearing all Summoning Scrolls in his possession apart at once, he did something else first.

    He stepped onto the metal foundation of the Summoning Gate and opened the hatch. Surprisingly, it didn''t resist and opened smoothly.

    Two dazzling Summoning Cores entered his sight. Michael reached for them while activating Extraction.

    Extraction had improved exponentially in terms of quality and the efficiency with which he extracted objects.

    That was also why he was certain that Extraction could extract more impurities from within the Summoning Cores than before.

    His gut feeling didn''t betray him, and he was proven correct shortly.

    He extracted a considerable amount of impurities from the Summoning Cores. The badly reeking ck mass caused a bright smile on Michael''s face. It might smell disgusting and make him gag, but it was a good sign that his Summoning Cores could be purified slowly over time.

    As long as Extraction grew stronger, Michael could extract more impurities within the Summoning Cores. The first extraction of impurities improved the Star Rating of his daily summons. Maybe it was possible to further increase the Star Rating of his daily summons by continuously extracting the Summoning Cores'' impurities!

    The thought of summoning two 2-Star Summons everyday was quite enticing. However, Michael''s mind went even further, and began daydreaming. What if it was possible to summon 3-Star Subjects as long as he kept extracting the impurities within the Summoning Cores?

    That would be amazing!!

    With excitement filling his heart, Michael began to break the seals on the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. Breaking 237 seals took quite a while, but his heart was filled with joy and anticipation making the time fly like the wind.

    He didn''t use the Named Summoning Scrolls and the Mythic Summoning Scrolls yet because he wanted to see what kind of hidden gems more than 200 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls would give him.

    At first, only Starless Summons appeared in the Summoning Gate. There were more than 200 of them, and all of them were confused. The information in their heads told them that they had been resurrected, and the Links of Loyalty that formed slowly over the course of the next ten minutes showed them who their new Lord and Master was.

    However, other than that, they were helpless and confused. Michael ordered his people to exin the newly summoned subjects about the situation, and their territory.

    Meanwhile, his eyes never left the Summoning Gate as 31 1-Star Summons emerged out of the energy pool.

    ''Seems like I was quite lucky. Great!''

    He summoned more 1-Star Summons through the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls than expected, but the mass summoning was not yet done.

    In fact, the most important part was just about to start.

    Michael broke the seals on the 28 Named Summoning Scrolls, and the 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls one after another.

    "Let''s go!"

 Chapter 120 Tamed

    After breaking the Named Summoning Scrolls, 1-Star Summons began to emerge from the energy pool one after another.

    First, three Warriors emerged, wearing ordinary leather armors and wielding a longsword. Following the three Warriors, six Spearman, five Archers, five Vanguards and four Assassins stepped out of the energy pool, filling the Summoning Gate''s vicinity with 1-Star Combat Summons.

    Last but not least a group of five heavy-armored Cavalry Riders emerged out of the Summoning Gate, wielding argence and shield while riding on a battle horse.

    Every Summon of the Named Summoning Scroll was a Combatant. They wore ordinarybat equipment and wielded weapons of decent quality. If a battle was to break out right now, they would be ready to fight immediately.

    ''The Warriors are the weakestbat unit. That''s great.'' Michael thought with a bright smile on his lips.

    Out of the 31 1-Star Summons that had emerged from the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, eight Warriors, three Archers and two Spearmen had been added to his Military Power. That meant, the total strength of his Combat Units had reached to 41 today¡­and he had yet to add the Summons of the Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    The Summons of the Mythic Summoning Scrolls didn''t rush to step outside the Summoning Gate. It felt like the Will of the Origin Expanse was still determining what his Summons would be.

    However, Michael was already very satisfied. He had expanded his Military Power by 41 Combat Units, but that was not everything. Many new 1-Star Subjects with a wide variety of upations were added to his territory as well.

    There were weavers, a carpenter, a potter, an artist, a tailor, masons, surveyors, a pub owner, a financial manager, craftsmen, gardener, a cook and a librarian.

    Some of these 1-Star Summons were exactly what Michael needed. For example, he was happy to find masons, a pub owner and a financial manager.

    They were important either for the expansion of his territory, to make sure that his subjects would have a ce to meet, drink and have fun after working hard all day, and someone to look after the administrative affairs when he would leave to do something outside his territory, or outside the Origin Expanse.

    Just as Michael was about to call up some of his new subjects, he sensed a change in the Summoning Gate. He turned back to the gate and focused on the most important summons for today.

    A total of 20 Summons with the lowest possible rating being 2-Stars had arrived today. He even had a decent chance of summoning one or two 3-Star Summons!

    The Summoning Gate''s energy pool startled to ripple wildly. Simultaneously, two brightly shining stars shone on the surface of the Gate''s outer ring.

    Atst, the outlines of more than ten people entered Michael''s view. The 2-Star Summons stepped out of the Summoning Gate simultaneously.

    Michael''s eyes shot wide open and his grin turned wider than before ¨C if that was possible, in the first ce. Following the first batch of a dozen 2-Star Summons, four more 2-Star Summons emerged out of the energy pool.

    Three of them were chubby men wearing expensive clothes. They radiated the presence of wealthy merchants.

    Michael had yet to find proper businessmen among his subjects which was why he was delighted to summon a few merchants. However, his attention was quickly moved to the gigantic summon that stepped out of the energy pool right behind the chubby merchants.

    The chubby merchants turned around when the ground beneath them began to tremble, and they nearly pissed their pants. One of the three merchants let out a shrill scream before he fainted on the spot. Meanwhile, the remaining two merchants began to run as if their lives depended on it.

    Michael couldn''t take offense with that. Even he was astonished. The 16th 2-Star Summon that had emerged from the energy pool today was not an ordinary Summon. No, it was far from ordinary.

    It was actually a monster; a Heavy Armored Elephant, a monster with a height of more than four meters and a weight close to 12 tons. It had two long and deadly tusks, and thick gray skin that shielded it from most injuries.

    Even Michael was not confident breaking a Heavy Armored Elephant''s armor-like skin. It wouldn''t be easy at least.

    "Oh my gosh¡­" Michael blurted out loud enough for the people around him to hear clearly.

    However, nobody focused on Michael. Everyone''s attention was pulled to the Heavy Armored Elephant, which looked around in confusion, turning its head in all directions until it found Michael.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A faint Link of Loyalty was already forming between him and his newly summoned subjects. This included the Link of Loyalty of the Heavy Armored Elephant that stepped closer to him with loud steps as its legs created big craters in the ground.

    The earth around the Summoning Gate trembled as the 12-ton monster paved its way through the sea of people. It didn''t pay much attention to others, and only focused on Michael.

    Once the Heavy Armored Elephant was only four meters away from reaching Michael, it bent its front legs and lowered its head to the ground.

    To Michael and everyone else present, it looked like the Heavy Armored Elephant was bowing to him. The bow was a sign of respect and reverence toward its Lord by the Heavy Armored Elephant.

    It had epted Michael as its Lord and Master almost immediately!

    "I didn''t expect to summon someone like you. Nheless, I''m d that you heed the call of my summon. I am very happy to wee you in my territory," Michael said in a cheerful manner once he regained his senses.

    He was still a little bit shocked that he was able to make a monster submit to the Link of Loyalty so soon. However, that was for the better. It would make many things much easier.

    Interestingly enough, the Heavy Armored Elephant was only one of many surprising 2-Star Summons. It stole the spotlight due to its enormous size, but it was not the only odd summon.

    Michael also recalled summoning a woman with fluffy rabbit ears, and a young man with feathered wings sprouting out of his shoulder des.

    He couldn''t see them right now since most of his view was blocked out by the huge body of the Heavy Armored Elephant, but he could swear that he had definitely seen these two oddballs.

    Michael turned to his right side, where Tiara was standing, trying her best to maintain her poker face andposure. She had appeared next to him at one point during the mass summoning.

    "Please make a list of all the new Summons. Write down their gender, age, health, star rating including their upation, what they want to do, where they were born before the Will resurrected, and so on," Michael ordered quietly.

    Tiara bowed deeply and responded politely, "Your wish is mymand, Master!"

    Saying so, the Battle Maid of the Silverfang Tigerfolk disappeared and sheunched into action immediately.

    Michael''s eyes followed her retreating figure, but he could only smile dryly.

    ''Does she have two personalities? One personality that surfaces when she is inbat, and another a more docile personality on stand-by when she is not out for blood?'' He wondered at this point.

    Tiara seemed like a mystery to him. She was definitely not an ordinary member of the Silverfang Tigerfolk. Unfortunately, she didn''t answer the questions he was the most curious about. In fact, Michael was certain that she couldn''t answer his questions, not that she didn''t want to.

    Whenever he asked about the Silverfang Tigerfolk or her being his personal maid while simultaneously being an Adventurer, her expression would change, turning into one of pain and sadness.

    ''Maybe she can talk about it in the future, whether it''s her heart restricting her from revealing more about her identity, or the Will of the Origin Expanse putting restrictions on her¡­'' Michael thought, wondering when he would be able to find out more about Tiara''s past and identity.

    He was so deep in thought that Michael didn''t even realize that a third dazzling star had manifested on the metal surface of the Summoning Gate.

    He looked up to see multiple 3-Star Summons stepping out of the Summoning Gate.

    However, the next moment, a terrifying screech rang through the surrounding area, pulling Michael out of his thoughts.

    ''What''s going on? Are we under attack?!?''

 Chapter 121 Grandiose Summoning

    Goosebumps erupted all over his body when the screech echoed through his entire territory. The pressure that apanied the screech was more terrifying than the fear one felt by staring at the humongous Heavy Armored Elephant.

    This shocked Michael and Tiara, who stopped in her tracks. She subconsciously summoned her Artifacts and prepared for a life-and-death battle when the screech reached her ears.

    Her hair stood up on its end, and worry gleamed in her eyes. What kind of monstrous existence was about to attack them?

    What neither of the two realized was that the screech had actually originated from the inside of the Summoning Gate and that another fierce Monster was about to step out of the Summoning Gate''s energy pool.

    A ck-feathered Eagle the size of a big battle horse emerged in front of the Summoning Gate. It screeched out loudly and spread its marvelous ten-meter-long wings for everyone to see before it shot in the air.

    It was fortunate that the clearing was void of tree branches, otherwise, the huge eagle would have crashed into the tree branches and destroyed everything around.

    "A Greater Eagle with ck plumage? And this pressure¡­ is that something I can summon with a Mythic Summoning Scroll?" Michael murmured to himself.

    He noticed that the Heavy Armored Elephant retreated a few steps and sought protection behind him, but that amused him a little. It must look funny for others to see a 12-ton-heavy Monster hiding behind a bald man, whose weight didn''t cross 80 kilograms, but nobody couldugh just now.

    The appearance of the ck-feathered Greater Eagle was enough to frighten a humongous monster such as the Heavy Armored Elephant. This had to be taken seriously!

    "Pleasee down without destroying anything," Michael requested loud enough for the Greater Eagle to hear. The Greater Eagle steered itself towards the ground again after circling the clearing and dived down.

    It elegantly reached the ground and pped its wings right in front of Michael where it screeched much quieter than before.

    "Thank you," Michael said sincerely while trying to ignore the goosebumps all over his body.

    While looking at the majestic monster in front of him, and feeling its pressure weighing solely on him, Michael could barely move.

    "The ck Bear''s pressure is not as intense as yours is, big guy. It''s just that you are a Tierless Monster because you''ve been resurrected recently. Your pressure and body are the only remains from your past life!" Michael said, forcing himself to withstand and ovee the Greater Eagle''s pressure.

    It weighed hard on him and nearly made him sumb, but Michael didn''t surrender. Who would ever want to follow him, if he couldn''t even endure the pressure his subjects exuded naturally?

    He grit his teeth and lifted his right hand despite the pressure. Michael used Lesser Enhancement on his right arm as he raised it high in the air.

    His hand slowly approached the Greater Eagle that was just staring nkly at Michael. The Greater Eagle tilted its head as it stared deep into Michael''s dark abyss-like eyes. Their depth seemed endless and so was the determination shining vibrantly in his eyes.

    The Greater Eagle lowered its head, giving Michael permission to touch it.

    Michael''s fingers slowly caressed the Greater Eagle''s soft plumage, and a faint smile blossomed on his face. The pressure weighing down on him decreased drastically as the Link of Loyalty formed between Michael and the Greater Eagle.

    He took a deep breath to calm his wildly palpitating heart.

    Michael''s biggest worry had been that the Greater Eagle would simply deny his authority and wreak havoc in his territory before the Link of Loyalty had formed properly.

    That had also been his worry when he summoned Fenrir first. After all, controlling Summons with higher star ratings was a tough task and even a single mistake could lead the new summon to raze everything to the ground.

    If the high-ranked Summons were violent, or theirpatibility with the Lord was abysmally low, the Link of Loyalty would be frail and could be broken easily.

    Strengthening the frail Link of Loyalty was possible, but it would take a while. In Fenrir''s case, the Link of Loyalty had been as thin as a thread, and it wasn''t strengthened even after they spent two full days together.

    It wasmon knowledge that firm Links of Loyalty were rare to form between a weak Lord and Summons with a high star rating since Summons with a high star rating had rich past life experiences where they had to fight beings as strong as them or even a bit stronger than themselves.

    Only by oveing various ordeals and bing stronger through painstaking efforts were they able to amass achievements and reach the thresholds to be resurrected and summoned with a high star rating after they died.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael was not too worried about his Links of Loyalty with most of his subjects. They formed properly and weren''t as fragile as his Link of Loyalty with Fenrir had been.

    Michael was much stronger now than he had been when he first entered the Origin Expanse. He was a Tier-1 Lord and had grown after experiencing life in the Origin Expanse for more than a month.

    The incidents he had encountered inside and outside the Origin Expanse since his War Rune manifested were abundant, and taught him much more about life and leadership than school ever did, allowing him to mature and be a better version of himself!

    "I will take good care of you. You and everyone else will grow much stronger than ever as long as you follow me closely. Let me show you the path toward a bright future!" Michael mumbled as he continued to caress the head of the Greater Eagle.

    It screeched softly as if it agreed readily and trusted its Lord wholeheartedly.

    Michael forgot about the Mass Summoning temporarily. He was focused on the Greater Eagle and tried tomunicate with his new summon using their Link of Loyalty.

    This worked more or less as the Link of Loyalty made it much easier for both parties tomunicate with each other even if they had never learned each other''snguage.

    Time passed swiftly, and Tiara reappeared next to him after a while.

    Her arrival made Michael recall what he had been doing before the Greater Eagle arrived.

    "I finished the task. There are two reports for you. One is a summarized list of all subjects that joined our territory today. The other list is more detailed," Tiara exined swiftly before handing him a report that had only four paragraphs and a second report with several pages of detailed information about his newly summoned subjects.

    Michael merely nodded his head and smiled faintly before he sent the Greater Eagle away.

    "Thank you. Please help me tend to the new subjects to make sure that they will quickly settle down and feel at home in our territory!"

    Michael gave Tiara a new task before he took a nce at the summarized report. The appearance of the Heavy Armored Elephant was shocking enough to make him forget inspecting the other 2-Star Summons as they stepped out of the Summoning Gate. Weirdly enough, the appearance of the Greater Eagle was exactly the same.

    Because of the Greater Eagle''s show, he didn''t even pay proper attention to the other 2-Star Summons.

    [Mass Summoning Report]

    ¨CStarless Summons: 206 Summons ¨C (95M:111W)

    ¨C1-Star Summons: 59 Summons¨C 1 Carpenter, 1 Potter, 1 Artist, 1 Tailor, 1 Pub Owner, 1 Financial Manager, 1 Cook, 1 Librarian, 2 Masons, 2 Weavers, 2 Surveyors, 2 Craftsmen, 2 Gardeners, 4 Assassins, 5 Vanguards, 5 Cavalry Riders(Battle Horse included), 8 Archers, 8 Spearmen, 11 Warriors

    ¨C2-Star Summons: 16 Summons ¨C 1 Summoner, 1 Earth Mage, 1 Priest(Minor Healing and Poison Purification), 1 Weaponsmith, 1 Doctor, 1 Architect, 1 Heavy Armored Elephant(tamed), 1 Demi-Human(Typhoon Eaglefolk), 1 Demi-Human(Speedster Rabbitfolk), 2 Berserker, 2 Knights, 3 Merchants.

    ¨C3-Star Summons: 3 Summons ¨C 1 Greater Eagle(tamed), 1 Master Alchemist, 1 Botanical Magician(No Combat Power. Spells rted to Botanics only!)

    ¨C4-Star Summon: Nature Spirit]

    Michael''s expression was full of gleam and joy as he read through the summarized report of today''s mass summoning.

    He had been way too lucky today.

    But there was one thing that confused him a lot.

    "I¡­I summoned a 4-Star Summon?!"

    "When? Where? Who? What? How?"

 Chapter 122 Timid Spirit

    4 Stars!!!

    It was already beyond his expectations to summon two Demi-Humans, two tamed Monsters, and a total of three 3-Star Summons, but there was also a 4-Star Summon amongst his new subjects ¨C a Nature Spirit at that!!

    There was a low chance to summon a 4-Star Summon with a Mythic Summoning Scroll, but it was extremely rare. Even the chance to summon a 3-Star Summon using a Mythic Summoning Scroll was rtively low at 10%.

    Michael was quite fortunate summoning three 3-Star Summons, but that kind of luck was not out of the world.

    However, summoning a 4-Star Nature Spirit was something else, especially in a ce such as the Untamed Jungle.

    The Untamed Jungle was flourishing with origin energy and beautiful nature. The growth of nts and monsters was fast in the Origin Expanse, but it was even faster in the Untamed Jungle.

    The flowers, herbs, and seeds that had been nted in his territory not too long ago were already fully blossomed, and ready to be harvested. The growth of nts was more than 50% faster inside the Untamed Jungle than anywhere else.

    By adding a magical helper such as a 4-Star Nature Spirit to aid the growth of herbs and nts, the time required for herbs to grow would be cut even shorter. But that was not all. A Nature Spirit''s green finger would increase the quality of nature in its range drastically.

    Fruits would taste better, herbs would have a stronger medical effect, and the potency of mythic nts would be elevated as well.

    Nature Spirits can control the nature around them as well. The stronger a Nature Spirit the bigger their range, and the stronger their control of the surrounding area.

    Inside the Untamed Jungle, where everything was densely grown and overshadowed by nature, a 4-Star Nature Spirit could be considered a disaster for everyone who chose to be foolish enough to attack it, or the territory it lived in.

    Furthermore, if used properly, Nature Spirits could turn into powerful Combat Units with great support and crowd control skills. This was especially the case for a 4-Star Nature Spirit that ought to have gained great achievements over the course of its first life.

    The thought of adding a powerful Nature Spirit with the capability of controlling the movements ofrge monster groups within the Untamed Jungle seemed like a dream. It was exciting and caused Michael to act immediately.

    Michael began to search the Nature Spirit as he realized that he missed the summoning of the most important Summon.

    He used his Link of Loyalty to pinpoint the direction of the Nature Spirit and found it quickly.

    However, what he found confused him. It was totally beyond his expectations.

    The Nature Spirit was a small inconspicuous tree sapling with tiny roots, which it used to walk around slowly.

    Nobody paid any attention to it until now, which was also why it had to hide near the Summoning Gate, trembling in fear. Everyone was so huge and trampling around the Summoning Gate, nearly causing it to be bulldozed several times in the few minutes that passed since it was summoned to the Untamed Jungle.

    It couldn''t even ensure its own safety because the nearest bushes and trees were too far away from the center of the clearing, otherwise, it would have used its power to protect itself and push everyone aside

    When Michael bent down to look at the Nature Spirit, the Nature Spirit issued a loud creaking noise. Michael felt like the Nature Spirit wasining to him and crying loudly. It jumped straight in Michael''s arms, seeking safety in his embrace.

    ''What the¡­''

    Michael was a little shocked when he realized how timid the Nature Spirit was. He didn''t expect something like that from a 4-Star Nature Spirit.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Why are you so tiny? You look like a Starless Nature Spirit," Michael asked, slightly confused.

    His knowledge about Spirits was not great, but he knew enough to know that most Elemental Spirits would take on the appearance of something closely rted to their Element.

    Starless Elemental Spirits usually looked like ordinary mes, a ball of water, a rock, or a Seedling. However, the higher the star rating, the stronger Elemental Spirits were ¨C usually. Elemental Spirits gained strength by developing their form.

    Fire Spirits would grow stronger mes and expand at first. After its mes grew to a certain extent, their form would change.

    Under normal circumstances, a 3-Star Elemental Spirit would change its form and develop continuously. It would be stronger as its form evolved to the next level.

    But the Nature Spirit in front of him was nothing like that. It could use its tiny roots to walk, but that was already the only advantage it possessedpared to a Starless Nature Spirit. At least, that was what its appearance suggested.

    Furthermore, the Nature Spirit was timid and overly clingy. Its roots coiled around Michael''s arm as if it would never let go of him.

    Michael''s dream of using the Nature Spirit to aid the Combat Units in hunting in the Untamed Jungle ¨C which could be considered the best region for Nature Spirits to use their powers ¨C shattered into oblivion.

    "You don''t really want to fight, do you?" Michael asked, still holding onto thest straw of hope.

    However, the emotions spread through the recently established Link of Loyalty were so overbearing, filled with fear and denial, that Michael could only give up.

    "It''s okay¡­you don''t have to fight," Michael said calmingly.

    He was a little bit disappointed that he couldn''t use the Nature Spirit inbat since it was a great loss but forcing it to join fights when it was THAT afraid of fighting would create chaos. The Nature Spirit might even end up hurting its allies and turn the tide of the battle against them.

    "I will give you a nice ce where you can spread your roots and grow freely. However, you might have to protect yourself and the territory if enemies attack. You won''t be able to avoid defending yourself in that case!"

    As long as the 4-Star Nature Spirit could develop into a Tree Nature Spirit, it would be able to control a bigger range of the Untamed Jungle around the clearing. That way, the Nature Spirit could be used as an additionalyer of defense.

    The Nature Spirit should also be able to help him develop his territory in the Untamed Jungle once it has grown up a little. It was still the Lowest-grade Tier-0 Nature Spirit and could improve a lot.

    Furthermore, its presence was enough to affect the environment around it. The des of grass next to the Summoning Gate had already begun to grow, demonstrating just how great the Nature Spirit''s potential was.

    Michael had yet to test the limit of its power, but as a 4-Star Summon, it had to be special ¨C even if it couldn''t fight.

    Combined with the Orb of Hostility, and the installed traps and arrays, it could detect and protect the territory, while simultaneously elerating the growth of the Tiatcha, Cocoa pods, various herbs, and other nts.

    Adding fertilizer, and the 3-Star Botanic Magician, whom Michael had summoned today as well, it wouldn''t be much of an issue to grow multiple sources of ie. That was especially important!

    "It''s okay," Michael repeated while patting the trembling Nature Spirit.

    ''It''s okay, after all, I gained more than enoughbat units to change my future ns!!''

 Chapter 123 Changes

    As a human Lord, Michael had an increased chance of summoning his own kind. This chance was increasingly high for Summons with a low star rating.

    Only with the expansion of his territory, and an upgraded Summoning Gate would the probability of summoning tamed Monsters, Demi-Humans, and other races increase.

    Nheless, Michael was quite surprised that he had yet to summon a Gogi. By installing the Gogi Lord''s Summoning Core, the probability of summoning a Gogi should have been higher than the chance of summoning Demi-Humans, tamed Monsters, and the Nature Spirit.

    Now that the poption of his territory expanded so quickly, Michael had to distribute tasks more carefully. He had to tend to the various needs of his new subjects, whether they were human, demi-human, or monsters.

    ''With what should I start now that the arrays and traps have been installed?'' Michael murmured to himself, ''Making most use of the 2-Star Summons is important, but I summoned many new 1-Star Summons today as well.''

    He had to n everything thoroughly and slowly. Michael didn''t want to make a big mistake just because he was impatient and hasty!

    ''The monster poption inside the Untamed Jungle is way too high. Even after hunting them for more than a month the reports never mentioned ack of monsters. In fact, Tiara and the others always mentioned that they had to avoid the monster habitats because there were way too many for them to handle. That should be different now. She''ll be able to handle it with the territory''s military power.''

    Now that he summoned manybat affine Summons, they could make up new battle strategies and hunt together to improve their teamwork. Once their synergy in battle was high enough, attacking the habitats of big monster groups won''t be suicidal anymore.

    Fortunately, they weren''t in a rush and could slowly create unfathomable teamwork and increase their strength at the same time.

    The military power in Michael''s territory would be busy for a while, which gave Michael enough time to n the following steps of his territory development thoroughly.

    The Financial Manager, the Merchants, and a group of Starless Summons formed the Economic & Logistics Department. They had to take care of the goods in the territory, organize everything in the warehouses that were about to be constructed, and the territory''s finances. Their task was to n where the territory''s funds had to be invested, and what to sell for which price once they created a trail outside the Untamed Jungle.

    After all, they could easily use the Battle Horses, Bilrox, or even the Heavy Armored Elephant to carryrge carts to Xiltra once a proper trail ¨C preferably a street ¨C was constructed.

    The Tamers in his territory didn''t have to do anything new. They raised the Bilrox and took care of the newly summoned monsters.

    The Alchemy Master made a list of the potions he could produce, and the ingredients he required to concoct them, while the Weaponsmith shared in a detailed report what weapons he could create, and which ores and monster parts would be most suitable to forge them.

    With the arrival of the Alchemy Master and the Weaponsmith, the production of Weapons and potions was bound to increase by many times. This decreased Michael''s expenses by arge margin and increased the possibility of earning a fortune from selling goods they didn''t need.

    It was nned to construct an Alchemy House, an Enchanter''s Lair, and a Smithy. However, there was more. Michael wanted arge pub to be built, and a humongous garden to utilize the abilities of the Nature Spirit, and the Botanic Magician.

    After careful consideration, Michael nted the Nature Spirit in the center of the clearing. Because the Nature Spirit was still weak, it couldn''t control the densely grown nature around the clearing yet, but that was fine. Given some time, the Nature Spirit would grow stronger in the near future.

    It would be the centerpiece of his territory and turn into a ginormous Tree Nature Spirit. Now that he knew how timid and frightened the Nature Spirit was, he could only hope that the Nature Spirit would man up and develop into a Sacred Tree such as Yggdrasil.

    Many tales about the Elves'' Sacred Tree reached mankind over thest 500 years. They seemed exaggerated and unlikely to be true at first nce. However, if the tales were not exaggerated, it would be great if his Nature Spirit could develop into an existence simr to Yggdrasil!

    Michael looked forward to the Nature Spirit''s development. It was exciting, just like the development of his territory.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As the Lord of a territory, Micahel had a lot of work to do. After all, his territory was still underdeveloped. It didn''t look like anything special andcked proper infrastructure.

    Nheless, he was proud of the things he achieved in such a short period. He overcame many hurdles already.

    Of course, it was just the start of his journey. Michael was not even close to the end!

    Understanding that he was just at the starting point, Michael changed his daily routine once again. He didn''t go out to hunt but trained hard using the Berserker Physique body refinement technique, and the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique.

    Even if the techniques were rather cheappared to what he could afford, changing his breathing fundamentally was something not many techniques made possible. Michael had already proven to himself that a slight change in his breathing was very helpful in the replenishment of his Stamina. It didn''t even require origin energy to replenish his Stamina much faster!

    On the other hand, the Berserker Physique first stage had to bepleted before he could switch to another body refinement technique. He didn''t want to risk damaging his body by switching to a moreplex body refinement technique when his body was only half-refined.

    Michael focused on the foundation of his body for the next few days. He had already adapted to the changes in his body after his War Rune reached Tier-1, but he still felt a little bit ufortable.

    He made too many gains in the past few days, fused with two new Soultraits, and he upgraded three out of four Soultraits as well. Furthermore, he obtained a new weapon; Seron Voulge. Michael had to study his body, the true limit of his Soultraits ¨C including all changes that happened after upgrading the star rating of his Soultraits ¨C, and he had to pay attention to the development of his territory.

    It was important that he paid equal attention to all of the above and neglected neither of them. Michael didn''t want any major issues to happen.

    As such, three days passed in the blink of an eye. The territory development progressed smoothly, and the citizens found joy in finding out more about their new friends andpanions.

    Everyone grew closer to him, which was reflected in the strengthened Links of Loyalty. They represented how loyal the subjects were to their Lord and territory, and how much they believed in him.

    The Links of Loyalty also showed clearly how much they loved being in the territory. Their satisfaction was also a factor that determined the firmness of their Link of Loyalty!

    That was also part of the reason why Michael worked so hard to ensure that everyone felt weed in his territory.

    Michael was usually present to wee two new 1-Star Summons into his territory. It was part of his routine to ensure that his subjects would get to know their Lord and that the Links of Loyalty would form properly.

    But on the third day, something unexpected happened.

    A 2-Star Berserker stepped out of the Summoning Gate.

    Michael received a 2-Star Berserker from his daily summoning!

    "That''s actually possible?!?"

 Chapter 124 Brothers

    Removing the impurities of the Summoning Cores had a great effect. It was even possible to summon 2-Star Summons now though the probability was extremely low.

    This was good to know for the future. And the benefits made Michael''s desire to procure more Summoning Cores increase drastically. Unfortunately, it was not that easy to get more Summoning Cores. Nobody would sell their Summoning Cores, at least not if they had even a shred of sanity left in their mind.

    Michael could only wait and stay up to date with the Sta market, hoping to be lucky enough to find a Summoning Core being auctioned.

    To stay up-to-date, Michael had to leave the Origin Expanse every day. However, that was something he would have done regardless.

    Michael wanted to spend some more time with his brother before it was toote, and he had to leave for the academy. He had been notified that he got epted into the Saphirke Military Academy and that the epted students would depart at the end of the month. That meant they had only a week left and Michael wanted to make good use of it!

    Thus, Michael sent his brother a message whenever he returned home. He used his time efficiently and made a few trips to the Central Trading Hall to sell goods and purchase more ingredients for the Master Alchemist, ores for the Weaponsmith, and enough seeds, herbs, and other nts he wanted to grow in his territory.

    However, his shopping trips were merely an excuse to spend more time outside the Origin Expanse. Michael hoped that his brother would return and respond to his messages while he was also outside the Origin Expanse and in the Central Trading Hall.

    Unfortunately, stalling time didn''t provide any fruitful results. Danny seemed truly busy and didn''t return home, so Michael went back to the Origin Expanse gloomily.

    It was only three dayster when Michael finally received the message he had been looking forward to.

    [Danny: Little fool, aren''t you a bit too anxious? And here I thought you''d gotten calmer. Looks like I need to test my eyes again!]

    Danny was clearly joking with Michael, but Michael felt like throwing fists. Yet, instead of throwing insults at his brother, he snickered and typed a short message.

    [Michael Fang: Where are you? Let''s meet up!!]

    After a little back and forth, the brothers found a nice ce to dine. The gluttonous brothers knew that they would talk for a while, which is why they chose a big restaurant chain with savory meals and a private dining room to chat without anyone bothering them.

    They met up after half an hour and took their seats at the dining table, and Danny started with a big order of more than a dozen dishes.

    Meanwhile, Michael observed his brother from head to toe. Danny had gotten much taller than before, and his hair had grown a lot. However, he looked sleep-deprived and exhausted.

    "Did you not sleep since ourst meeting?" Michael asked worriedly. He couldn''t believe that his brother looked so exhausted and pale and felt concerned about his health. This appearance of Danny was far from the usual.

    "At least, I don''t look like a baby. Just look at you. Did someone throw you into a furnace, or what?" Danny retorted, ignoring his younger brother''s question.

    Danny may be tired, but he was not blind. He also knew that Michael would never shave his head, forget about his eyebrows.

    Either Michael had been bullied during the aptitude assessment, or something happened to his territory. But Danny did not have to wait long for the answer.

    "A group of Lionhearts Adventurers invaded my territory before the aptitude assessment. I was almost toote with my breakthrough," Michael answered in all honesty. His expression turned sour and he sighed deeply, "Too many brave subjects died to stall time and make sure that I canplete my first natural cleansing without any worries."

    Danny turned serious when he heard what his brother said. He had hoped that Michael wouldn''t have to face the invasion of other Adventurers that soon. Unfortunately, it was not an umon urrence.

    Michael was lucky to be in the territory and that he broke through to Tier-1 just in time, otherwise, things could have gotten worse.

    "Did you already install arge-scale Orb of Hostility? If you don''t have one, make sure to buy one. I can give you a few modification codes. That way, you''ll be informed when many hostile lifeforms invade your territory. This works outside the Origin Expanse as well," Danny advised Michael before he carefully added,

    "The energy consumption of the Orb of Hostility will increase drastically, but you will be d to be informed if your territory is under attack even when you''re outside the Origin Expanse."

    Michael''s ears perked up.

    "I''ll take the modification codes. Thanks!" He agreed immediately.

    Danny smiled, opened the holographic screen of his crystal watch, and sent Michael a few documents.

    "If you need anything else, just tell me. I gained a lot from the expedition. It was a great sess," Danny revealed nonchntly.

    However, Michael could only shake his head.

    ''You look like you''re on the verge of copsing. Take care of yourself first!'' Michael shouted in his mind, but he said something else out loud.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I can take care of my expenses now. You don''t have to worry about me!"

    After that was said, the two brothers talked about all kinds of things. Their topics were mostly rted to the Origin Expanse, their experiences, and their future ns.

    Danny revealed less about his future ns and mostly listened to his brother.

    "By the way, I think it was a good choice for you to join the Saphirke Military Academy," Danny said suddenly, "I researched the Saphirke Military Academy a little bit and found out that most instructors and professors are high-ranked Lords and renowned Adventurers.

    The Academy didn''t shy away from spending a fortune to ensure that the youngest generation will be taught with the best resources and aided by the cream of the crop. As long as you can ensure that someone takes note of your hard work and progress, you''ll have it much easier. If you can be a Battle Representative and defeat some Berserker or Warlock Centaurs, the teachers and instructors will give you special treatment.

    You won''t have to worry about resources, forget about your military rank by then!"

    Danny was excited right now as he spoke about his younger brother''s future. This was a rare sign, and it was confusing.

    ''If you''re so excited for me, why didn''t you apply as well?'' Michael wanted to ask, but he didn''t dare to.

    He knew that Danny was not the same as him.

    Danny was cold and distant from anyone other than him. Michael was the only person Danny was close to.

    He wouldn''t allow others to order him around, no matter how much authority the other party had, or how strong they were. Furthermore, Daniel Fang hated the corruption rampant in the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies. He had heard enough stories about the attitude of the Great ns, Supreme Families, and the High Nobles, and how they could do as they pleased as long as they used their power and influence.

    It was disgusting.

    Yet, at the same time, Daniel Fang loved the extraterrestrials. He was very intrigued by the Tritan Alliance, the Berserker race, and the Warlock Centaurs. In fact, he was already acquainted with some of them, and he loved their culture and behavior.

    In the future, Danny nned to travel to Kelta and make his way to the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs. That was one of his big goals!

    Michael was also very interested in extraterrestrial races. However, his curiosity was different from Danny''s.

    He knew about corruption and favoritism from an early age along with being aware of how powerful big families could be. Their influence was enough to suppress weaker families and force others to obey theirmands. Despite that, Michael would rather face his opponents head-on than avoid them.

    He had been bullied in the past but had ovee this ordeal through his hard work and tenacity.

    Furthermore, not all big families were bad. Alice Zenovia was kind and straightforward. She may look cold and fierce on the outside, but she was a good person.

    Michael didn''t want to give up on humanity and travel to other races with the thought of migrating just because some people treated him badly at his home.

    That didn''t sit right with him.

    Danny noticed that Michael was deep in thought.

    He smiled mischievously and flicked his younger brother''s forehead with great force.

    "Little Fool, are you down for a spar?"

    **

    If you want to support me, please use your golden tickets and powerstones.

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    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 125 Spar

    "I will restrict my strength to the Lowest-stage of Tier-1 since my Soultrait will still be stronger than yours," Danny said lightly as he stepped out of the changing room.

    After filling their stomachs to the brim, they searched for the closest training hall where they could rent an arena to spar.

    Michael was already in hisbat clothes while wearing the Onyx Dragon Armor Set on top. He wielded Seron Voulge in one hand and swirled it around yfully.

    His stance changed once Danny entered the arena wielding a wooden sword, and he turned serious.

    Danny might not use an Artifact, and he restricted his strength drastically, but that didn''t mean Michael could take this spar lightly. Michael knew that his brother''s 5-Star Soultrait was not something that could be taken lightly, especially not after it had been nourished by a Peak Tier-2 War Rune, and the Links of Loyalty of far more than ten thousand subjects.

    Danny had even a few subjects with a True Link of Loyalty.

    His Soultrait was most definitely greatly nourished and extremely powerful! Even an ordinary wooden sword became a deadly weapon in Danny''s hands.

    "Show me how much stronger you have be since ourst spar!" Danny eximed while also changing hisbat stance.

    He pulled his sword-arm back and stretched his other hand out. His left foot moved forward and the heel under his right foot separated from the ground a little.

    Danny took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. As he exhaled, a silver membrane shrouded the wooden sword. The wooden sword looked like it had transformed into a mythical silver sword as it began to exude terrifying pressure.

    Michael felt as if inertia increased suddenly as Danny began to use his 5-Star Soultrait [Reinforced Sword Qi].

    It was not the first time Michael saw Danny''s Reinforced Sword Qi, however, it was the first time that Danny aimed his Reinforced Sword Qi at him.

    Right now, they were not brothers, who held each other dearly. No, they were opponents with the desire to win against their opponent.

    Michael swallowed his saliva hard and activated Lesser Enhancement on all of his Artifacts to increase his strength as much as possible. He exerted the Eagle Eyes Soultrait to its full capacity as well.

    Danny could only see a golden shimmer in his brother''s ck eyes, and the white hue shrouding Michael''s Artifacts.

    "Multip¨C...." Danny started, but he was interrupted by the countdown that the arena''s AI started automatically after the brothers had changed into abat stance.

    [3!]

    [2!]

    [1!]

    [Fight!]

    Michael burst forth like a lightning bolt the moment the battle started. He thrust Seron Voulge straight at Danny''s throat the moment he was in his brother''s range.

    Danny reacted in time, diverting the trajectory of Michael''s thrust with the wooden sword. He strode forward and smacked his empty hand against Seron Voulge''s shaft.

    Simultaneously, he swiftly changed the wooden sword''s position and shed down at Michael.

    Michael wanted to move Seron Voulge to block Danny''s attack with the shaft, but the flick against the Voulge''s shaft shattered Michael''s rhythm and momentum.

    He reacted instinctively using the subtle details he could see in Danny''s movements and twisted his body. Simultaneously, he used his remaining momentum to kick Danny.

    Danny terminated his attack to evade Micahel''s kick. He changed his strategy and regained his momentum in an instant and started the second attack.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael used the opportunity to step back, swirl Seron Voulge around his body, and regain his momentum. He could subtly determine where Danny was heading and what his next move would be. The way Danny moved, the way he held his weapon, and the way his eyes subtly nced in the direction he would move next provided more than enough information to initiate a counterattack even before Michael was attacked.

    He used Seron Voulge''s mid-range and lengthy de to his advantage and kept Danny at bay with a slice in his direction. Danny evaded the attack and shot toward Michael. However, Michael had predicted that.

    A voulge was not only a saber-like weapon but a mix between a staff and a curved de. Michael moved Seron Voulge around and smashed the blunt lower end against the wooden sword''s t side.

    The impact of the wooden sword shook Michael heavily. He expected Danny to be the one, who suffered from the hard impact, but Danny''s Reinforced Sword Qi burst forward. It reflected the force and pushed everything onto Michael.

    Following that, Danny''s empty hand shot forward, shaped like a de and mantled in Reinforced Sword Qi.

    ''Your hand is not a fucking sword, bro!'' Michael shouted in his mind as the silver Reinforced Sword Qi shot closer to his abdomen. Danny''s t hand was about to pierce the Onyx Dragon Armor Set when Michael''s mind and body reacted simultaneously.

    First, several Spirit Whips appeared out of nowhere and whipped Danny with full force simultaneously.

    Second, Michael''s body began to creak as he used his highly advantageous agility and perception to twist his body at an ufortable angle.

    Michael evaded the attack, and Danny staggered ¨C surprised by the sudden mental attack.

    Spirit Whip was only a 1-Star Soultrait with short range and weak power output. However, it was also extremely cheap to manifest a Spirit Whip, and it didn''t require much mental power to control them.

    Michael only had to target someone while activating Spirit Whip tosh out at them. Using Spirit Whip several times in the same instance was also possible ¨C though the energy consumption increased exponentially.

    Danny restricted his strength, but he never restricted his willpower and mind''s natural defensive mechanism. He was not prepared against the Spirit Whips, but they weren''t lethal to someone like Danny either.

    Their strength was merely enough to startle him once.

    But that was already enough for Michael. He used the momentum to thrust Seron Voulge deep in his brother''s stomach. At least, that was what Michael intended to do.

    Danny''s body suddenly disappeared as silver fumes filled the air. A huge human-sized silver sword had manifested in front of Danny surprising Michael. Danny had condensed the Reinforced Sword Qi to create the sword, which blocked Michael''s attack easily.

    The human-sized sword dispersed in all directions before it reshaped itself into ten short-swords. They were all levitating mid-air and moved ording to Danny''s will.

    Danny just smiled seeing Michae''s wide-open eyes. He dashed forward while giving the Reinforced Sword Qi shortswords the same order. They shot toward Michael with terrifying velocity and impacted in the next moment.

    Danny didn''t even think of terminating the onught of attacks when he saw the protection enchantments all over Michael''s Onyx Dragon Armor Set shining brightly.

    Michael used most of his energy to activate the protection enchantments to block the Reinforced Sword Qi that impacted hard all over his body. He stayed focused on Danny and shed at him. However, Danny disappeared from sight once again.

    Not even his Eagle Eyes could find Danny anymore.

    His brother had just disappeared into thin air.

    But In the next second, something blunt smacked hard against his body.

    Blood sttered through the air and his entire field of vision was filled with swords manifested from silver Reinforced Sword Qi.

    The next second, a wooden sword pressed against his neck from behind.

    "Not good enough, little fool!"

 Chapter 126 Last Week

    After their spar, the brothers decided to spend more time together until Michael''s departure.

    Danny grew increasingly interested in Michael''s Soultraits, and the fact that his younger brother possessed multiple Soultraits. Meanwhile, Michael was more interested in Danny''s stories about the Primedival Pyramid, and everything rted to it.

    Michael wanted to use Danny''sbat prowess as a threshold to roughly determine how strong he had to be to conquer an ancient ruin on the same level as the Primedival Pyramid ¨Cwithout turning the conquest into a suicidal attack. He presumed that the Temple of the Forgotten was, at least, as dangerous as the Primedival Pyramid, if not more dangerous.

    The problem was just that the Temple of the Forgotten was much older than the Primedival Pyramid, yet it was still intact and emitting terrifying pressure.

    Learning more about the Primedival Pyramid and its dangers was very important to Michael. Thus, Danny began to tell him more about his most recent experiences, and the death of thousands of powerful and loyal subjects.

    Compared tost time Danny revealed something about the Primedival Pyramid''s outer perimeters, this time it was far more terrifying. Danny had lost more than half of his military might, and he had to rebuild his army now.

    Michael was forcefully dragged out of his dreams to conquer the Temple of the Forgotten in the next few weeks as he heard Danny''s experience. It was simply not feasible to conquer the Temple of the Forgotten without more thorough preparations!

    The two brothers met up daily over the next few days. They met and spent half the day together talking about all kinds of things, including their Soultraits, Michael''s future in the Saphirke Military Academy, and Danny''s expedition.

    The two sparred together daily, and they conducted research together as well. Their research was about the old tongue, and who could know more about the time before the Third Epoch.

    Their research result was nothing surprising. The most astonishing find was that the Bersekers and Warlock Centaurs were much older than expected. The Awakened in their oldest generation might know something about the period before the Third Epoch, and thenguage used in that era.

    Danny was not satisfied with the result of their research, but Michael didn''t mind. He was just d that he could spend some more time with his brother.

    Ever since Danny became a Lord four years ago, they hardly found time to spend together. Michael understood that because he learned early on that Lords had a busy life filled with dangers.

    Danny didn''t think that it was important to meet up every day of the week since they could always make a video call, but Michael forced his brother to make sure that they spend as much time as possible together. Video calls were not the same as meeting in person.

    Others may not agree with that, but Michael didn''t really care about the opinion of others. They should mind their own business.

    Thankfully Danny wasn''t able to resist Michael''s puppy eyes. They separated their schedule into two 12-hour periods and spent one of them together, while they used the other period to take care of all business within the Origin Expanse. Half a day outside the Origin Expanse was worth a full day inside.

    24 hours were more than enough to sleep, manage the territory, spend some time with his subjects, workout a little, and train the Starless Summons that were willing to grasp a weapon and fight for their Lord and territory.

    Michael was certain that the final week before his departure was one of a kind in his life. At least, it was the best week he could remember.

    In this short span of seven days, he had grown much closer with Danny, who, in turn, had grown morefortable with revealing more information about his territory, the way he reigned his subjects, and that he was known as the Lone Wolf of the Sacred Desert.

    Michael learned about Danny''s lord title, and the name of his region for the first time. Feeling curious, he researched his brother''s region and his title in secret.

    The research was quite fruitful. Michael got to know more about the Sacred Desert, and his brother, the Lone Wolf.

    The Sacred Desert was a humongous region with various tribes, nomads, and unique Desert races. Various monsters lived in the Sacred Desert, the weakest being Mid Tier-0 Monsters living inrge groups.

    Most lone Monsters were Tier-1, and there were many stronger Monsters closer to the center of the Sacred Desert.

    Apparently, the Lone Wolf of the Sacred Desert conquered the southern outskirts of the Sacred Desert, turning everything into his territory. Many stories revolving around the Lone Wolf existed, and they were both terrifying and extremely interesting.

    The stories showed Michael clearly how powerful his brother had grown in merely four years, and how terrifying his reign was to the Lords and tribes living near his territory.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He obliterated all of his opponents without mercy and punished those who were brazen enough to offend him.

    Danny was still only a Tier-2 Lord, but that was mostly due to the foundation of his territory. The Lone Wolf spent most of his time inside the Origin Expanse to create an indomitable foundation for his territory. This foundation was what allowed him to wage war against an alliance of Tier-3 Lords and emerge as the sole winner.

    The Alliance of Tier-3 Lords died miserably, and so did their army. Their territories were bulldozed and conquered by the Lone Wolf and the survivors of his Desert Corps.

    That was crazy.

    Michael and his subjects would have to suffer a lot upon encountering an unscathed Tier-2 Monster, even after the mass summoning. That was how strong Tier-2 Monsters were, and how important it was to make sure that your Summons were given enough time to increase their refinement degree, and Tier.

    Yet, Danny fought alone against an Alliance of Tier-3 Lords, and he emerged victorious!

    That was simply mind-boggling as well as exciting.

    Michael saw his brother in a different light from that point onward. It was like Danny''s aura changed suddenly.

    Unfortunately, the week was way too short. Thest day of the month arrived much faster than expected, and even Danny was at a loss.

    He didn''t expect time to pass this quickly. It felt like their sparring session had just started, and it was already over.

    The week felt like a blur; now, the brothers would be separated. Danny was d that he listened to Michael''s proposal. He felt like he would have regretted it if they hadn''t met up that often before his younger brother''s departure. It was truly worth it to postpone a few meetings in the Origin Expanse to spend more time with Michael.

    Who knew when they would meet again?

    "Why didn''t you join the Saphirke Military Academy as well?" Michaelined quietly to his brother when it was about time for him to depart.

    He had to reach the spaceship harbor and meet up with the other soon-to-be freshmen.

    "I''m almost at the 3rd Tier, and I have to put my entire focus on the Primedival Pyramid. Plundering the Sarkophag of the Forgotten Pharaoh will take up most of my time. I might have to spend years to reach the core region, and splitting the little bit of time I have to study in the Saphirke Military Academy will be a waste of time for me!" Danny exined resolutely.

    Their situations were different.

    Danny always took care of himself. He spent years studying, procuring knowledge, and learning various martial arts from all over Elyra. Danny even paid Adventurers from other races inside the Origin Expanse to teach him their martial arts. He spent a fortune and much more time than necessary traveling and learning from people, who were not even Instructors.

    They shared their experiences while practicing their Martial Arts, rather than the most efficient ways to master them. Danny found this approach to be far more interesting than things taught by instructors.

    That was why he was not too keen to enroll himself in the Saphirke Military Academy. The Instructors were mankind''s cream of the crop, and thework system possessed the vast majority of books and tomes collected by mankind.

    Michael was in dire need of more knowledge. He didn''t want to spend years traveling around ¨C possibly without any results and it wouldn''t harm to reap more benefits from the Saphirke Military Academy either.

    Thus, he told himself to broaden his horizon by joining the Saphirke Military Academy.

    It was the path that was the most efficient, and offered most opportunities!

 Chapter 127 Harbor

    "Good luck!" Danny said when Michael departed.

    His expression turned sour as he saw Michael''s fleeting back and he was at a sudden loss.

    "If you die, I wille and find you in hell. So don''t even think about it!!!" Danny shouted, his voice echoing loudly through the hallway.

    Michael''s entire body shook when he heard his brother''s words, but he didn''t turn around.

    He knew that his resolve would crumble and he would dissolve in tears if he turned back to see Danny one more time before departing, and he didn''t want to cry.

    ''It''s only a few years. That''s nothing.'' Michael told himself.

    ''Just call him every now and then, and it will be fine. Nothing much will changepared to thest few years.'' He reassured himself before he pped his cheeks hard.

    ''Don''t be a crybaby and get your act together!''

    Michael reached the ground floor, entered the shuttle he had hailed, and they departed.

    Overwhelmed by his emotions, Michael kept staring out of the window for the next two hours. The shuttle left the city in ten minutes and began to elerate until it reached a speed of more than 600 kilometers per hour.

    Michael didn''t want to dwell too much on his departure from home. Thus, he focused more on what to do next once he stepped inside his territory.

    The territory expanded fast, and the Bilrox younglings had fully matured by now. The Bilrox ranch had been expanded as well, and it was about time to make use of it.

    For now, Michael didn''t want to conquer other territories or wreak havoc in the Untamed Jungle. Instead, he believed that it was far more important to create an indomitable foundation just like his brother did.

    Contrary to Danny, Michael was in possession of the Extraction Soultrait. This provided various benefits, including a vast influx of Summoning Scrolls, blueprints, the ability to dissect corpses perfectly and harvest a huge pile of resources in no time.

    Michael''s foundation would be different from the indomitable foundation Danny had built up over the course of several years. Of course, that didn''t mean his foundation would be worse.

    In fact, Michael was certain that he had the means to build an even stronger foundation than his brother!

    The only issue was that Michael hadn''t heard any news of the powerhouse backing the Lionhearts so far. Most people believed that no news was good news. However, Michael would rather be up-to-date and informed about his opponents than stay an ignorant fool ¨C unprepared and standing on the edge of a cliff without even realizing it.

    ''It''s about time that I travel to Xiltra,'' Michael told himself in the shuttle.

    Lilica was the only one who might know something about the person backing the Lionheart Adventurer Team, and her EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was stationed in Xiltra.

    ''But let''s settle down in the spaceship first.'' Michael reminded himself as a ginormous construction entered his sight far away at the horizon.

    The immense structure of Elyra''s spaceship harbor was situated within a colossal, domed structure spanning several square kilometers.

    The dome was constructed using advanced, translucent materials, allowing natural light to filter through. The exterior looked sleek and streamlined, which was different from the huge metal pipes and rough structure Michael had expected to see.

    As the shuttle approached the spaceship harbor, Michael realized many things.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The interior was designed to maximize the usable space, with support beams seamlessly integrated into the structure. There was more than enough space for dozens of shuttles to pass through the entrance simultaneously.

    The shuttle slowed down upon entering the perimeter of the spaceship harbor. Security drones appeared around the shuttle, requesting Michael to identify himself and state his reason for arrival.

    Michael wasn''t surprised by this. He had already been given the Security and Defense protocol document which included a list of rules, and documents one had to bring to be allowed to leave the.

    Michael had prepared everything, so he quickly passed through the identification with his Lord ID, travel documents, biometric scanners, and so on. It might seem like a hassle to some, but it was actually convenient. He didn''t even have to leave the shuttle.

    Once he passed through the security check, Michael''s gaze took in the spaceship harbor and he looked around with wide eyes. It was truly fascinating.

    Not only was the defense system of Elyra''s spaceship harbor one of the most advanced autonomic defensive systems created by mankind, but the spaceship harbor was also one of the safest in the sr system.

    Energy shields capable of blocking psionic beams and attacks ofary-level powerhouses were installed, and a highly trained security force to maintain order was also present to act swiftly in case of an emergency.

    Michael felt safe and sound as the spaceship made it inside the spaceship harbor, which boasted of a futuristic aesthetic just like one would imagine. Sleek lines, polished surfaces, and minimalist design. Holographic disys and interactive interfaces were integrated into the walls and walkways next to the shuttle hallway, providing real-time information and navigation assistance.

    Overall, Michael felt as if he had been transported to a different world.

    Laki was already one of the most modern cities on Elyra, and the spaceship harbor was on apletely different level.

    The entire ambiance exuded a sense of the extraterrestrial ¨C or how Michael imagined outer space to be like. It made his heart beat faster and ignited the excitement of exploring outer space.

    "Amazing!" He blurted out in awe as the shuttle took a turn to the right, where his destination was waiting for Michael.

    He was greeted by an array of docking bays, each capable of amodating multiple spaceships simultaneously. The bays were spacious, one bigger than the other, with towering walls and a high ceiling.

    ''None of those spaceships is for us¡­just how big will our spaceship be?'' Michael wondered as he looked at the serial number of the spaceships they passed by, wondering which one was theirs. One was bigger than the other, yet none of the serial numbers corresponded to their spaceship.

    Only a few spaceships were left at the docking bay, and they were the biggest. The spaceship they would use to travel to Kelta had to be the size of a small town!

    Michael''s heart skipped a beat when he thought about traveling in a town-sized spaceship. It had always been one of his goals to travel to space, and he was finally about to achieve one of his bigger goals.

    It felt like a dream came true. He was excited like a little child, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of the humongous spaceships.

    Meanwhile, the shuttle continued to fly through the humongous spaceship harbor, looking like a tiny ant.

    After a few minutes, they reached the end of the docking bays. The shuttle stopped and descended to the ground.

    Michael stepped out of the shuttle where he was greeted by a crowd of people exuding terrifying pressure, and arge group of serious-looking young men and women.

    ''So it''s already starting?'' He mused to himself.

    Michael swallowed his saliva sensing the seriousness hanging in the air.

 Chapter 128 Freshman

    Most freshmen, who made it past the aptitude assessment in Elyra, had already arrived in the spaceship harbor. Their bodies were tense and they were impatiently waiting for the boardingmand.

    The Professors, Instructors, and remaining staff, who had supervised the aptitude assessments had already arrived as well, but nobody boarded the metallic gray spaceship.

    Michael, who had been excited and smiling brightly like a little child, was feeling pumped up and looking forward to this new chapter in his life.

    He looked at his fellow freshmen and felt goosebumps spreading all over his body.

    ''This is much more serious than I expected. It is about to get real.''

    Michael thought that thepetition between students would be harsh, but he never expected everyone to think of each other as rivals even before they arrived at the academy.

    Wasn''t it better to stay amiable in the spaceship at the very least?

    Michael was d that his crystal watch rang as his gaze moved through the crowd of students and Instructors. It pulled his attention away from the tense atmosphere around him.

    However, the notification he received was not what he expected.

    ''A message from Alice?''

    Curious, Michael opened the messenger.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Make use of the time you spend in space. Most groups and cliques are formed on the way to the academy! It will be much easier to have a friend or two for future group assignments!]

    ''?''

    Michael stared at Alice''s message for a while, confused and unsure what to do with this information.

    Traveling to Kelta would take roughly 30 days ording to the documents he received from the administration of the academy. That meant he roughly had 60 days to spend inside the Origin Expanse. Was it really necessary to go out of his way and make friends with other Lords and Adventurers right now? It was not as if he couldn''t do thatter as well.

    Furthermore, he was busy and had a lot to do in his territory.

    He typed something on the holographic screen in front of him when he noticed amotion in front of him.

    The staff had formed a line and were slowly boarding the spaceship!

    Michael closed the messenger and diverted his focus to the boarding staff and the spaceship.

    He saw a few familiar faces, including Silverian Schild, and Harry Baren boarding the spaceship. However, his attention was quickly pulled over to an even more familiar face. A fierce beauty was under the spotlight and everyone''s gaze was upon her.

    It was Alice Zenovia, and she was boarding the spaceship to Kelta.

    "What the¡­" Michael blurted out loud before he shut his mouth tightly.

    ''What the hell is Alice doing here?''

    Michael stared nkly at Alice Zenovia as the fierce beauty boarded the spaceship. He was confused, to the extent that not a single coherent thought formed in his mind for a while.

    His brain was malfunctioning, and it took him a while to put the pieces together.

    ''So that''s why it was so easy for her to apply to the Saphirke Military Academy in my stead? She is one of the Professors or a Combat Instructor!''

    Michael also saw Kaleb Zenovia boarding the spaceship right after Alice, but he didn''t pay much attention to Alice''s idiotic brother. He was more interested in Alice, the other Professors, and the staff who had supervised the aptitude assessment across Elyra.

    ''Why are there so many Professors and Combat Instructors present? It''s not really necessary for all of them to travel across space just to have them supervise the aptitude assessment and pick up the freshmen that were epted. That''s just weird.''

    Michael was sure that there were some reasons behind it, but he didn''t waste his time pondering over it. Once the time was ripe, he would naturally get to know what was going on.

    Hence, he focused more on the Dekalos-ss spaceship. It was known for its imposing appearance, living up to its glory of being a formidable interster spaceship.

    Its angr design exuded a sense of power and advanced technology. The exterior was constructed with thebination of metallic alloys derived from the Origin Expanse, giving it a robust and durable outer shell, and the means to engrave enchantments across its entire hull. The Dekalos-ss spaceship featured a distinctive forward section with a bulging structure housing the primary bridge.

    The bridge was adorned with awork of control consoles and advanced holographic disys, allowing the crew to monitor and operate the ship''s various systems with precision.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The main body of the spaceship was huge and it extended further with a series of sleek and angr sections. These sections housed a range of vitalponents, including the enginepartments, weapon systems, and hangar bays. The hangar bays, positioned on the sides of the ship, were enclosed by a massive st door that could be opened to employ smaller spacecraft or retrieve personal supplies.

    The propulsion system was located at the rear, consisting of powerful origin sunlight, and catalytic suntar hyperdrive engines of the Hyper-Beast series. These engines enabled the ship to achieve incredible speeds, allowing interster travel and to leave the sr system.

    Why did Michael know all of that?

    It was very simple.

    Michael loved the Dekalos-ss spaceship, and he had researched a lot about it before he awakened!

    He had sworn to himself that if he wouldn''t manifest a War Rune, that he would be the Captain of a Dekalos-ss spaceship.

    Now that he was a Lord, Michael obtained the chance to board a Dekalos-ss spaceship and inspect it from within.

    How lucky!

    Michael ignored everyone else around him, and hepletely forgot about Alice ¨C and her message. His entire focus was on the spaceship''s interior and he couldn''t stop marveling at it when it was finally freshmen''s turn to enter the Dekalos-ss spaceship.

    Time seemed to fly and close to two hours passed in the blink of an eye. Michael found himself inside the Dekalos-ss spaceship, where he was led to his cab.

    Everyone was given a small cab. It was nothing special and consisted just of a small bed, a safety chair that had to be used when the spaceship set off, and during thending, and an empty space big enough for a Runic Gate to manifest.

    That was everything; a cab with a length of three meters and a width of three meters.

    That much space was more than enough for Michael. He could wash up, brush his teeth, and shower in the big bathroom on the floor. Being able to get an isted cabin where nobody could bother him was already great, even if it was unlikely that he would be using it often.

    Sleeping outside the Origin Expanse just to sit in that small cabin was a waste of precious time. Sleeping in the Origin Expanse was far more time-efficient.

    That was also why most Awakened would enter the Origin Expanse to sleep and return once they woke up.

    After all, it was possible to manifest a Runic Gate in a moving vessel. The Runic Gate would be anchored to the ce it was manifested, not the point in space. If Michael entered the Origin Expanse inside his small cabin, he would emerge in his cabin even if his spaceship moved hundreds of thousands of kilometers forward!

    ''There should be some time left before we depart, right? It won''t be a problem if I walk around a bit¡­surely it won''t!'' Michael mused with a childish smile as he opened the door to his cabin.

    However, it was at this moment that a stewardess walked past his room. She halted in her tracks with a professional smile on her lips.

    "I know that it''s exciting to travel to space in such a big spaceship, but please sit down and put on your seatbelt. We will depart soon. You will have more than enough time to inspect everything once we''re in the air!" The stewardess said, still smiling.

    Michael pressed his lips together, nodded, and closed the door to his cabin again. He sat down on the seat and fastened a total of three seatbelts, two around his shoulders and one around his waist.

    He received a few notifications on his crystal watch, saying that it was connected to thework of the spaceship.

    It was only then that he saw a few notifications in the public channel.

    [Saphirke Military Academy: Notification to all freshmen. By entering the Dekalos-ss spaceship you''ve officially be freshmen at the Saphirke Military Academy. Hereby, the fight for resources begins.]

    [Saphirke Military Academy: The first task as a freshman will be to increase your strength until we arrive in Kelta. A second aptitude assessment will be held once we arrive in Kelta. All information collected during the aptitude assessment will be used to determine your progress in the next 30 days.

    We don''t have any mandatory courses, but the Instructors will give pointers during the day. Spend your time as you wish inside the Origin Expanse and outside and be ready for the day we arrive. Tests will not be postponed and those who won''t improve will receive a negative mark. We don''t like ckers!]

    [Saphirke Military Academy: Of course, there will be a reward. ¡úThe freshman with the highest progress will be rewarded with a Summoning Core!]

    "A Summoning Core?!?"

    It was at this moment that chaos erupted¡­ and the spaceship had yet to depart.

    [A/N: I hope you''ll enjoy this arc. Don''t think it will be stereotypical and enjoy the ride!

    --It would be great if you could leave ament/review to show me what you like/dislike about the story. That would be very helpful!]

 Chapter 129 Leaving Elyra

    With an additional Summoning Core, Michael could get one more 1-Star Summon every day. There was even a low chance of obtaining a 2-Star Summon. The only thing he had to do was use Extraction on the Summoning Core!

    However, Michael also knew that his progress wouldn''t be fast now that he became a Tier-1 Lord. Others would advance from Peak Tier-0 to Lowest Tier-1, and they were likely to obtain more points for their progress than Michael.

    After all, Michael could only advance to Low Tier-1 from the Lowest-grade if he were to put everything aside and join his small army to fight day in day out for a whole month. That was how much energy the War Rune required to advance to Low-grade Tier-1. The higher the grade, the more effort and energy required.

    Furthermore, Michael promised himself to build an unbreakable foundation.

    He chose to disregard the 1st prize of thepetition, even though Michael would love to obtain one more Summoning Core. He had other ns to execute.

    And while he was deep in thought, Michael didn''t even notice that the spaceship began to shake, or that the spaceship harbor''s ceiling separated. Michael was too distracted to notice as the spaceship set off. Only when they elerated did he sense that something was amiss.

    The spaceship elerated and it shot high in the air, while inertia almost mmed Michael hard into his seat.

    At that point, Michael''s eyes were fixed on the window in his small cab. He looked outside to witness Elyra''s surface growing smaller in the distance. Slowly, the majestic celestial body was unveiled in its full glory. The majestic Michael called his home revealed its magnificent terrain, from the jagged peaks of mountain ranges, and the vast oceans covering most of the''s surface, to the smooth curves of expansive ins.

    The hues of Elyra''s surface captivated Michael as the grew distant.

    After a while, Michael felt the pressure lifting off of him just a little. He was not pressed into the seat anymore as the gravitational force pushing him down diminished.

    Michael''s hand reached out to the seatbelts, but he stopped midway. He knew that it was not yet time to release the seatbelts.

    His gaze moved back to the window, where he witnessed a scene of unparalleled beauty. The inky ckness of space stretched out infinitely, dotted with countless shimmering stars. They all shone brightly making it look like a nket dusted with stars, forming a magnificent cosmic tapestry.

    Glimmers of distant gxies, wisps of nebe, and celestial clouds, revealed the immense cosmic forces shaping the universe.

    As the spaceship glided through space, Michael saw a few glisteningets passing by. They looked small and harmless, but that couldn''t be more wrong.

    In this vast expanse, Michael and the other freshmen were the only things that were truly small and harmless. They were but a small speck of dirt in the vast expanse of the universe, a witness to the wonders of the infinitely big universe.

    Once again, Michael was reassured that his dream of traveling through space and everything he had done so far was truly worth the effort. Traveling to space was a reminder of the sheer beauty and vastness that existed beyond the boundaries of Elyra.

    It shook Michael''s entire being and rekindled his adventurous spirit!

    After gliding through space for less than twenty minutes, the feeling of weightlessness deteriorated. The inertia generator had been activated, artificially creating inertia inside the spaceship. The weightlessness of space was nullified.

    The crystal watch rang, and a notification popped up in front of him the next moment.

    [Inertia 1.5x the gravitational force on Elyra has stabilized. During the next 30 days, inertia will slowly increase to 3x gravity than Elyra to train the body and make it regte to the gravity on Kelta. You may remove the seatbelts now.]

    ''Inertia three times higher than in Elyra¡­'' Michael made a mental note and nodded his head.

    He removed the seatbelt and got up from the seat.

    Michael figured that it was time to make a n and find out which lessons to attend in the next 30 days, and how to make the most use of the Saphirke Military Academy''s Network.

    Freshmen had only an ordinary ess rank to all the facilities of the Saphirke Military Academy. This included the spaceship''s shop, the Network System, and so on. Even if he procured Saphire points ¨C the currency used in the Saphirke Military Academy ¨C it was not possible to procure everything Michael wanted to obtain.

    He opened the Academy''s Network and researched a few particr topics to determine how valuable the ordinary ess rank was.

    Unfortunately, it seemed like the ordinary ess rank was slightly worse than the Golden Membership ess of the Bartholomew Network.

    ''If I upgrade my ess once or twice, I should be able to find out more about the oldnguages¡­probably¡­'' Michael concluded, feeling more or less certain about his n.

    Improving his ess to all facilities could be done by various means. Either, he had to secure a ce for himself in the freshman rankings by getting the best grades, or he could use Saphire points to upgrade his ess grade.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The former seemed easier because Michael had yet to find a way to procure Saphire points. Thus, it was time to leave the cab and move to the central hall where all Instructors, Professors, and Staff introduced their lessons and curriculum to the students.

    The students could sign up and receive pointers from their future instructors, and professors.

    Michael didn''t rush to reach the central hall. He walked slowly, allowing others to pass by him while he carefully inspected the interior of the Dekalos-ss spaceship.

    Michael wasn''t sure when he would be able to get such an opportunity the next time, and he wanted to make the most of it. It was not as if the instructors would run away, either way.

    After satisfying his curiosity by walking through the hallways of the Dekalos-ss spaceship, Michael reached the central hall.

    Most freshmen had already arrived. There were a total of 1500 freshmen from Elyra, yet it looked like the central hall was not even half full. It didn''t seem crowded, at all. That was mostly because bigger groups of freshmen had gathered around a few particr professors and instructors, while the minority surrounded other instructors.

    Interestingly enough, there were even Combat Instructors, and Professors giving nonbat lessons where not a single soul had gathered.

    Michael had yet to find out what he could learn from the respective instructors. He slowly made his way through the central hall, patiently watching the demonstration videos that were being shown on big screens to help the students understand what the Instructors'' lessons would look like.

    Michael didn''t allow anyone to rush him. He made a few notes about particr lessons, watched their videos with great focus, and asked a bunch of questions before he walked to the next instructor.

    After two hours, Michael was almost done. Only the three Professors surrounded by more than a hundred students each were left. The three Professors were talking to each other, not minding the crowd around them.

    ''Should I just squeeze my way through?'' Michael wondered for a moment before he disregarded this idea. One of the three Professors left was Alice Zenovia. He wanted to ask her for pointers, but it was not really his intention to be one of a few hundred students.

    The next 30 days were important, and Michael wanted to use them to build his foundation. A good foundation required great focus, and effort, which included that his teachers should be able to focus on him and immediately point out whenever he made a mistake. That way, wrong movements, and mistakes were fixed before they could turn into habits. That was crucial. After all, habits were hard to kill once imprinted into the mind.

    ''Having the entire focus of a Combat Instructor should be great. But then again, most Combat Instructors have a requirement of at least two, or four students, otherwise, their lessons will be canceled.'' Michael thought while his eyes moved across thebat instructors.

    He halted in his tracks when he saw a familiar face. It was Silverian Schild, the Combat Instructor supervising the Real Combat assessment. He was staring at Michael while standing pridefully in front of his empty stand.

    Nobody wanted to join his course, however, that didn''t seem to bother him in the slightest. On the contrary, he seemed to be relieved to not have students swarming around him, asking questions.

    Michael recalled having watched the demonstration video in Silverian''s stall. It was a terrifying demonstration where four students fought against each other fiercely while wearing heavyweightbat suits that had ''weight'' enchantments engraved upon them.

    Oddly enough, Michael wasn''t bothered by the thought of wearing heavyweightbat armor.

    He felt that it might actually be the best for him.

    Michael had noticed that Berserker Physique worked quite decently with the additional pressure of 1.5 times the inertia weighing down on his body.

    The issue with Silverian Schild''s lesson was something else; four students had to sign up minimum for the sses to be conducted!

    Nobody wanted to sign up, and Michael didn''t have anyone to ask and sign up with him.

    After all, he didn''t have any friends.

    ''To think that something like this will hold me back¡­how pitiful¡­''

    [A/N: If you want more character images, message me on Discord, or ask on my Discord server.

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D]

 Chapter 130 Collecting Fools

    ''Maybe I can strike a deal and work four times harder to make up for theck of students?''

    Michael felt that asking strangers to join Silverian Schild''s lesson wouldn''t help. They may sign up, but it was highly likely that they would give up after a few days and never return.

    He was in need of some people, who were as stubborn as he was, otherwise, the lesson would be canceledter.

    As Michael approached Silverian Schild, he noticed someone staring coldly at him from further away.

    It was Kaleb Zenovia.

    Kaleb Zenovia was still 17, and not yet an Awakened, but it looked like he was also a freshman at the Saphirke Military Academy. Michael figured that the Zenovia family used their connections to pull some strings to make sure that Kaleb could stay with his sister and enroll as a freshman in the academy once he awoke his War Rune.

    Everyone in the Zenovia family was a Lord, and it was highly likely that Kaleb would be one as well. The probability of him manifesting a powerful Soultrait was also high. Thus, he was taken in by the Saphirke Military Academy ¨C after a generous donation, of course.

    "What are you staring at, idiot?!" Kaleb asked coldly, his voice seething in anger at the sight of Michael.

    Michael just smiled lightly in return. He didn''t really feel anything upon looking at Kaleb. In fact, thanks to Kaleb, he earned quite a lot so he didn''t have any bad feelings.

    The gains Michael made thanks to Kaleb were tremendous. Not only did he finally get revenge on his bullies from high school due to the archerypetition proposed by Kaleb Zenovia, but he also obtained the Siltang Bow, Seron Voulge, and the Onyx Dragon Armor Set ¨C for free at that.

    Kaleb was also the reason Alice Zenovia arrived at the afterparty of the graduation ceremony. Without Kaleb, Alice would have never noticed how valuable Tigerfang is, and their parents would have never given him 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls either.

    How could Michael dislike Kaleb?

    Thinking about Kaleb''s personality, Michael''s smile widened. He instinctively took a step closer to Kaleb, who noticed that something was amiss.

    He instinctively stepped back as Michael strode forward.

    "What?!" Kaleb asked again, but much louder than before.

    Some people turned around to see what was going on, only to see Kaleb Zenovia retreating a little. His short silky blue hair and handsome appearance caused various emotions to erupt in the people around him.

    Kaleb Zenovia was handsome and charming, and he hailed from one of the Supreme Families. His name was enough to strike guys with envy and cause the hearts of the females to flutter.

    Of course, Michael didn''t care about any of that.

    Kaleb nced at his sister as if he was a puppy seeking help from his guardian. Alice had also noticed that Kaleb and Michael were face to face once again.

    However, this time it was a little bit different.

    Before Kaleb could say another word, Michael disappeared from his spot. He shot forward like a cannonball, and his right arm lunged forward.

    In the next moment, Michael appeared in front of Kaleb, threw him over his shoulder and walked over to Silverian Schild. Kaleb tried to use every bit of force in his body to escape Michael''s grasp, but he was just an ordinary unawakened human. His physical strength might be exceptional, but that was only the case using the standards of ordinary humans.

    Michael was a Tier-1 Lord, and he could hardly feel Kaleb''s struggle. He ignored Kaleb''s bickering and thrashing and only put down the young member of the Zenovia family on the ground when they arrived in front of Silverian Schild.

    "We want to sign up. Please give us some pointers!" Michael bowed deeply while using some force to make Kaleb bow as well.

    "Is that guy an idiot?" One of the onlookers asked loudly, "Who does he think he is?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "That fool probably thinks this is a game, or maybe he just hit his head somewhere. Either way, he is stupid to think that he can force a Zenovia into doing something. This fool is clearly waiting for a beating!" A young man added.

    "Maybe he wants to attract Professor Zenovia''s attention by using her younger brother?" A young female student pointed out a possibility.

    The others nodded their heads in unison. They recalled that Alice Zenovia was known for doting on her younger brother. She would never allow anyone to mistreat her brother!

    "Will we be able to see the wrath of the Frozen Duchess today? Amazing!" The first guy eximed, clearly excited about the possibility of witnessing Alice''s prowess up close.

    Despite themotion caused by Michael, Alice Zenovia didn''t move an inch. She merely watched Michael and Kaleb from her position and upped her sense of hearing to figure out what was going on.

    Kaleb stared coldly at Michael, however, there was also confusion in his eyes.

    What the hell was Michael trying to do with him?!

    However, Michael just smiled at the young Zenovia.

    "Are you afraid to miserably lose against me¡­ again?" He asked provokingly.

    Michael''s entire expression turned into a mocking smile, which caused Kaleb''s expression to twist into one of pure hatred. He ground his teeth and clenched his fists. However, not a single word escaped his lips for a moment.

    Kaleb could clearly recall what had happened thest time they met. Michael had yed him, and made a fool out of him ¨C in front of his sister at that!

    "Just wait until my War Rune manifests!!"

    "Okay. I will take that as an ''I am too afraid topete with you. You are much stronger, better, and more handsome, either way.''. That''s the correct trantion, or am I missing something?" Michael asked, taunting the young Zenovia again.

    He smirked and turned his attention to Silverian Schild, ignoring Kaleb''s face, which had turned as red as a tomato due to the immense anger that spread through his entire being.

    Meanwhile, Silverian Schild could only look at Michael confused.

    He clearly recalled Michael from his Real Combat assessment, and the Instructors'' meeting afterward to determine the ranks of the students. Michael Fang didn''t have an extraordinary background, and he shouldn''t be familiar to Kaleb either. There was no instance where they could have met and be friends.

    It didn''t even look like they were friends, in the first ce.

    How did they get to know each other?

    Either way, Silverian Schild felt that the situation was quite interesting. He nced over to Alice Zenovia, who didn''t interfere in Michael''s actions and cleared his throat.

    "Even if the two of you want to join my lesson, we need two more freshmen to join. Furthermore, Kaleb is not yet an Awakened, so I cannot train him a lot. Professor Zenovia would skin me alive if something was to happen to him. That means we need, at least, two more freshmen to join the course, otherwise, you''ll end up wasting your time here!" Silverian exined impassively.

    Michael frowned deeply but he turned his head in all directions a momentter. He didn''t know many people, which made him recall what Alice had messaged him. She had suggested him to get to know a few more freshmen, otherwise, some courses would be a hassle in the future.

    "What an idiot. Why is he willing to sign up for the Devilish Saint''s training? Doesn''t he know that his training caused mental trauma to more than 90% of his ss in thest semester?" A familiar voice reached Michael''s ears.

    His ears perked up and he turned in the direction of the voice with a wide smile.

    "I found another fool!"

 Chapter 131 Grinding Stones

    The second familiar freshman Michael found was none other than Frederik Kolbenheim.

    Michael didn''t really like Frederik Kolbeheim, but if he could see him suffer while undergoing Silverian Schild''s training course, the next 30 days would be quite fun, wouldn''t they?

    Frederik had been calling out the idiot, who wanted to sign up for the Devilish Saint''s training course without knowing who he was. Thus, Frederik realized toote that it was Michael.

    Michael exerted his full strength at once. He charged into Frederik Koblenehim, took him off-guard and threw him over his shoulder before he returned in front of Silverian again.

    Jacqueline Ondo gave a startled cry when Frederik was kidnapped, but Michael ignored that. He used his strength to suppress Frederik and put him down next to Kaleb.

    "I found number three. His girlfriend will probably join as well," Michael announced, not bothering to ask Frederik whether he was willing to sign up for the training course of Silverian Schild, who seemed to be nicknamed Devilish Saint.

    Kaleb and Frederik red daggers at Michael, while Silverian, Alice Zenvoia and many other Instructors simply stared at Michael with mixed feelings.

    Some didn''t know that Frederik and Michael had fought before, but even they could tell that something was amiss. Meanwhile, others clearly recalled Michael brutally thrashing Frederik to the ground during their fight in the Real Combat assessment. They had seen the video multiple times, and could clearly tell that the rtionship of the two was far from friendship.

    So why did Michael do that? Was he trying to provoke Frederik, and make more enemies even before they arrived in the Saphirke Military Academy?

    In fact, Michael was not sure about that himself. He had no idea why he had dragged them along. Silverian Schild''s training course seemed devilish, just like his nickname suggested. However, it was also quite interesting, and would certainly improve his foundation as long as he made it through the devilish training.

    In the worst case, he would have merely wasted 30 days. It was not as if he would spend an entire semester training with Silverian Schild.

    But then again, there was no apparent reason why he had to force Kaleb and Frederik to join the training course.

    However, he pulled them over because he felt that it was the best decision.

    It should be fun!

    ''Even if they don''t like me, we can turn into each other''s grinding stones.'' Michael thought.

    Kaleb was likely to awaken a powerful Soultrait soon. He was also from a very influential and wealthy family, granting him many subjects and resources that allowed him to increase his strength rapidly. Meanwhile, Frederik''s Soultrait may only be 3-Star, but his control of the surrounding wind currents, and the ability to create air out of origin energy was something that could hardly be found in Soultraits.

    It was extraordinary even amongst 4-Star Soultraits!

    "Bastard! What the hell do you think you''re doing?!" Frederik asked, his dagger-like eyes trying to murder Michael thousands of times.

    "Will you join or not?" Michael asked curtly.

    He didn''t give an exnation for his actions, forget about apologizing. Instead, Michael stared deep into Frederik''s azure eyes with a hint of ridicule.

    Frederik hated Michael for repetitively humiliating him. Whenever they met, Michael made fun of him. The first time was when they met in the House of Witchery, then during the Real Combat assessment, and now for the third time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Frederik had not even forgiven him for the first time because his father further humiliated him and his fianc¨¨, forcing them to join the Saphirke Military Academy, forget about the second time where Michael had spiked him to the ground with a wooden spear.

    Even Jacqueline had looked at him with pity when he had been spiked to the ground during the Real Combat assessment, but it turned even worse. Oliver Zeus, his maternal uncle, sent his parents the video of his fights and actions during the Real Combat assessment, making him receive further lecture from his parents.

    Frederik didn''t know why his uncle would do something like that, but it was humiliating.

    And, it was all Michael''s fault! He was the core issue for all the times he had been humiliated and punished. Frederik wanted to see Michael suffer. He wanted to defeat the poor peasant!

    Thus, he turned over to Silverian Schild, clenching his fists tightly.

    "Let me sign up as well!!" He dered, sensing an opportunity to see Michael suffer and make him regret his decision to have ever offended him!

    Now that Fredeirk had the chance topete against Michael again, he would make use of it and take revenge. His family had given him enough resources to refine his body rapidly. Using additional weights would elerate the refinement process. After all, he was given the Kolbenheim''s family inheritance body refinement technique, the Wind Sage''s Sacred Body Refinement Technique!

    The technique was hard to practice but the benefits were tremendous. Using the resources at his disposal, Frederik was certain that he could defeat Michael and make fun of him while seeing him suffer. Simultaneously, he could grow stronger. That was a clear win-win situation!

    Soon enough, he would be able to challenge Michael to a battle, and spike Michael to the ground with the same wooden spear that had pierced his abdomen!

    Michael noticed that Frederik was overflowing with anger, but that was something he expected from a person like Frederik.

    Frederik might actually not be as bad of a person as he first imagined. He was just a spoiled child that had never been told what ''no'' means, or at which point their actions crossed the boundary and became offensive. Nobody had ever restricted descendants like Frederik and children like him had grown up getting very pampered. They had always been protected by their families, treated as if they were precious treasures ¨C flowers that had to be guarded day and night.

    Thus, Michael believed that people like Frederik were in need of a good beating to fix them.

    It was not Michael''s mission to fix Frederik''s personality, but he would have to sh often with the spoiled brat if he wanted to turn him into his grinding stone.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb was not a bad person either. The young Zenovia was just entitled, and full of himself. It was almost as if Kaleb credited himself for all of his family''s achievements and believed that it was him, who brought their family to glory and fame.

    Michael felt quite amused by that. It was more interesting to have some weird-ass people around him than boring fools. Furthermore, both Kaleb and Frederik were well-trained.

    Theirbat prowess might be lower than his, but that was mostly because he was a Tier-1 Lord with multiple Soultraits. Based on his knowledge and experience of martial arts training, Michael was above-average using the standards of an Elite High School ss.

    However,pared to the prodigies attending the Saphirke Military Academy, his martial arts techniques were below average. He had a lot to work on!

    While Michael was wondering who to pick next, Jacqueline rushed up to Frederik to see if her fianc¨¨ was fine. After reassuring herself that he wasn''t injured, she started to shout at Michael, only to end up signing up for Silverian Schild''s training course as well, albeit reluctantly. Frederik had already signed up, and Jacqueline didn''t want to separate from him.

    Interestingly, a few more people chose to sign up as well upon seeing a few prominent freshmen taking up the course. They surrounded Kaleb, which was why Michaelbeled them ''Kaleb''s suckers''. They ignored Michael and gave him a wide berth while trying to be the young Zenovia''s friend. After all, he was a nobody and had also forced Kaleb to join the Devilish Saint''s training course. But that was for the better.

    Michael just wanted to give his best and enjoy the fact that others would suffer alongside him.

 Chapter 132 Mind Breaker

    Frederik dashed forward. He appeared next to Michael, evaded his kick, and delivered a heavy punch straight to his face.

    Blood spurted through the air, and Michael fell to the ground.

    Under normal circumstances, Frederik would be smiling brightly right now, however, he stared at Michael with contempt. Frederik was panting, his breathing uneven and ragged while sweat trickled down his temples.

    Frederik stared at Silverian Schild in all seriousness. He hesitated for a moment but asked the question that annoyed him the most.

    "Why is Michael''s heavyweightbat suit three times heavier than mine?" He asked sharply.

    His heavyweight suit was configured to weigh exactly 100 kilograms. The weight was distributed evenly across the entirebat suit, which made it harder to move around while keeping bnce, and to fight with light and precise movements while wearing ordinary clothes.

    However, Michael had a much harder time than Frederik. His heavyweightbat suit weighed a whopping 300 kilograms!

    "Michael Fang''s physical tests clearly state that his strength, speed, endurance, and other physical limits are very high for a Lowest Tier-1 Lord," Silverian answered calmly.

    He then added, "Michael also uses his Soultrait, which increases the weight enchantment''s power by 20%. That means he doesn''t have to carry 300 kilograms like luggage but he walks around with 360 kilograms weighing down on his body."

    Silverian Schild had everything set for his training course. He knew how strong everyone was because of the aptitude assessment. Thus, he frowned when Michael used his Soultrait on the heavyweightbat suit, shrouding it in a white hue ¨C increasing the weight enchantment''s potency by 20%.

    However, for now, he allowed Michael to do as he pleased. Michael would learn sooner orter that he overestimated his physical strength and that he was too impatient. It was possible to rush and increase one''s strength, but a carefully constructed foundation was a sure-shot way to earn long-term benefits!

    "Arrogant fool," Kaleb spit out coldly with his gaze fixated on Michael, who was struggling to get up from the ground.

    Michael wiped his bloody face as he got up slowly and Kaleb''s gaze never left him. Right now, Kaleb was just an ordinary human being. He might be well trained with great resources at his disposal, but he was weaker than everyone else present. That irked him ¨C even more so because Michael acted high and mighty in front of him.

    "I want to learn how to subconsciously use Lesser Enhancement. This has nothing to do with being arrogant or overestimating myself," Michael responded to Kaleb, but the young Zenovia moved away from Michael as if he couldn''t hear him.

    Usually, Soultraits would be deactivated once the user lost focus. No matter if their focus had wavered even for a millisecond, the moment it was disturbed, the Soultrait would be deactivated. Michael wanted to work on that. He wanted to make sure that he could use Lesser Enhancement to enhance his power at all times, even if he was distracted by the loss of a limb or two!

    "Stop talking kids! Catch up with the others, make an additionalp around the hall and fight for five minutes!" Silverian Schild instructed before kicking the three young men back onto the track.

    The three groaned, but none of them thought ofining out loud. They returned to the track, made ap around the central arena before they returned to fight against each other for a few minutes. Afterward, they would have a one-minute long resting period before the next step of today''s training would start.

    The Devilish Saint''s training was quite unique. It was known as Mental Breaker by some, and Limit Breaker by others. It was a training course that forced both the body and mind to reach their limit, and go beyond ¨C or break down before.

    Silverian Schild created this training course as a way to unravel the hidden potential of the human body. After all, the human body was a mystery, a subject that had yet to be fully researched, and a hidden treasure with the ability to unleash tremendous power.

    The freshmen hadn''t even learned newbat techniques from the Devilish Saint yet. However, they learned something far more important.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They got to know how to use their body''s strength precisely, to a near-perfect level. The first task was to make sure that they could put their mind and body in sync with the refinement of their War Rune to feel the most subtle changes in the War Rune''s degree of refinement.

    Most Lords couldn''t even sense the increase of their strength, except during major enhancements such as the breakthrough from the Lowest-grade of a Tier, and the Low-grade.

    However, it was important to sense every bit of strength within the body. Duke-ranked Lords would always have soldiers stationed across their territory. Some of them would almost always hunt monsters, invaders, or criminals. The Duke-ranked Lords would receive an energy share from their soldier''s energy influx, no matter how negligible the energy share may seem.

    Using that little bit of additional energy in a moment of crisis, the possibility to change the tides of a losing battle would increase drastically.

    All it took was 100% control of one''s strength and perfect perception of the War Rune.

    Of course, that was not something Kaleb could achieve for now. However, he had figured out how to utilize 100% of his strength at all times. That was just as important, and it could be deemed as his preparation for the future. His survivability in the Origin Expanse would increase exponentially!

    The first training session in Silverian Schild''s training course was two hours long. At one point during the training, Michael started to practice the Berserker Physique while continuing to follow the instructions he had been given.

    The Berserker Physique''s body refinement technique used the precise distribution of origin energy and nutrition and the workout of certain muscle groups to refine them one after another.

    Michael was not sure why he thought that practicing his body refinement technique would work out during the training session, but it did. In fact, it was oddly efficient.

    Michael practiced the Berserker Physique for five minutes straight before he switched to utilizing the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique because his entire body felt sore, and his Stamina was drained.

    Repeating the process until the end of the training session pushed Michael infinitely close to the brink of his bodily and mental limits. He could barely move a single muscle and was on the verge of breaking apart, but he was extremely satisfied with himself.

    The refinement of his physique progressed rapidly, and his breathing slowly changed.

    It was a great feeling.

    "You''re a weakling! Your expression makes me wonder if your brain looks like mashed potatoes!" Frederik provoked Michael as he squeezed his wobbly limbs out of the heavyweightbat suit.

    He continued to make fun of Michael while barely retaining enough strength in his body to move around. His entire body was trembling, and moving became increasingly difficult, but Frederik made sure that nobody would focus on him.

    After the first training session, they moved to the changing rooms, removed theirbat suit, showered, and put on their normal clothes.

    While Frederik continued to provoke Michael in an attempt to make him snap, Kaleb and the others kept their mouths shut. They didn''t have the energy to act as if they were perfectly fine let alone engage in a verbal spar.

    Once everyone was done showering, Silverian led the members of his training course to the cafeteria. That was where the second stage of his daily training began.

    It was time to feast at the Saphirke Military Academy''s expense!

 Chapter 133 Bottomless Pit

    "Everyone has to finish their tes, otherwise, you''ll be kicked out of the Limit Breaker Course!" Silverian Schild announced nonchntly.

    He snapped his fingers and more than ten staff members walked out of the kitchen carrying humongous tes.

    Everyone received one of those tes that were filled to the brim with highly nutritious meat and vegetables.

    Since they had already been epted officially, Michael and the others were now freshmen of the Saphirke Military Academy. Thus, most of their food expenses would be covered by the Academy. But that was not the most important.

    The quality of the food was the most important. Their food had been prepared with high-grade ingredients from the Origin Expanse. They were either highly nutritious or infused with a tremendous amount of origin energy. Both of these were necessary means to elerate the refinement of the body, replenish the body and mind, and make sure that the daily training regime wouldn''t be too taxing on the new students.

    Since they enrolled for the Limit Breaker Course, Michael and the others were even given potent medicinal solutions. They could dissolve the medicinal solutions in water and bathe in it for a few hours to ensure that the soreness all over their body would be eased.

    Michael told himself that he would use itter once he returned to the Origin Expanse.

    Food was Michael''s passion. He didn''t even need amand to start eating and was genuinely happy that he was given a humongous te filled with all kinds of delicious dishes.

    It felt like he had been thrown into paradise after a hellish two-hour training session. He was tired and his muscles felt like they might tear apart at any moment, but Michael forced them to move. His desire to eat was too strong, and even his sore muscles couldn''t stop him!

    Michael was not the first to start eating, but he was the first to finish the humongous te. While everyone else was still groaning in pain and forcing more food down their throat, Michael had already shot up from his seat.

    "Can I get another te, please?" He asked, smiling vibrantly.

    His entire body was overflowing with energy. It was almost like he had never undergone a hellish two-hour-long training session.

    Michael''s body was still hurting, and he was sore all over, but the humongous te was simply too tasty to focus on the pain.

    He wanted to have more delicious food!

    Kaleb, Frederik, Jacqueline, and even Silverian Schild stopped in their tracks when they heard him. Their forks froze mid-air, and their heads turned simultaneously over to Michael.

    "Are you a pig or what?" Frederik blurted out without thinking.

    Kaleb wanted to stay quiet, but even he couldn''t help but murmur quietly, "Is his stomach a bottomless pit? Is that another Soultrait?"

    Silverian Schild remained silent. He watched him get his refill and finish the second humongous te when the others were struggling to finish their first serving. Michael looked perfectly normal, while the others were bloated and appeared drowsy. Their bodies were still sore, and now their stomachs were filled to the brim as well.

    "Will I have to pay extra for such meals once we arrive at the academy?" Michael asked suddenly, looking straight at Silverian.

    Silverian Schild looked at Michael, who moved around nonchntly as if his muscles weren''t sore after having trained until they were on the verge of tearing apart.

    "Usually, you would have to pay for these meals. They''re prepared with valuable ingredients and require a specially trained cook, who can handle ingredients of the Origin Expanse. After all, we want to make sure that the origin energy and nutrition of the ingredients won''t be wasted, right?" Silverian exined. He saw that Michael''s expression turned sour and snickered lightly.

    "Don''t be too sad. As long as you join courses like my Limit Breaker course, you''ll be given a special meal quota and a special medicinal solutions quota. But don''t be fooled. Most courses with additional resource quotas have higher passing requirements. If you fail the course, you will receive a Mark¡­and you don''t want to receive Marks."

    Michael and the others knew that failing your course was bad. One Mark was not that much of a problem but if you failed three courses in a single semester, or five courses over the course of three years, you would either be expelled from the Saphirke Military Academy, or they would punish you and send you somewhere to make up for failing to uphold the Saphirke Military Academy''s honorable image and standards.

    "That means we can either y it safe and pick courses without resource quota and pass them rather easily, or face the challenges head-on, obtain more resources, and pass the courses with higher difficulty," One of the other freshmen, who had joined the Limit Breaker Course pointed out.

    He was one of Kaleb''s henchmen and initially joined the course to please Kaleb and be the friend of the Zenovia family''s young master. However, after a hellish two-hour long training with a 100-kilogram heavyweightbat suit and feasting on several times more food than he would usually eat, he was not sure if he could keep going.

    Was the possibility of breaking down worth bing Kaleb''s underling, and pleasing him day in and day out?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael didn''t bother pleasing anyone. Silverian''s lesson was over, and both Kaleb and Frederik seemed hooked. That was enough for him.

    "Looks like I''m the winner today. I feel great, so I''ll leave now," He said simply while patting the sore shoulders of Frederik and Kaleb. Afterward, he disappeared from their sight with quick steps.

    "This bastard¡­" Frederik growled quietly, while Kaleb stared coldly at Michael''s retreating figure.

    Meanwhile, Silverian Schild began to smile lightly.

    "These youths¡­I wonder how far they can go bypeting."

    Michael could tell that his body could convert nutrition and origin energy much faster than others. He was not sure if that was solely caused by his high metabolism, or if there was more. Either way, it was extremely helpful to recuperate.

    Initially, Michael wanted to use the Saphirke Military Academy''swork to research more about foreignnguages, but he disregarded that idea for the day. They had just entered space and he had more than enough time to do so in the future.

    But there was something else he had to do before returning to the Origin Expanse. He joined a few more sses, one of them being [History of the Origin Expanse], another one being lectured by Harry Baren, called [Soul Power Study] and a third being [Memory Lane].

    Amongst his four sses, Memory Lane was the only popr lesson Michael joined. It was a lesson on how to improve the memorization ability of the mind. It was quite interesting.

    Meanwhile, Soul Power Study was not something anyone was curious about at this point. It was not a popr study anywhere because it didn''t really matter how strong your Soul Power was. Every Lord could tell how strong their Soultraits were by utilizing them. As such, it was not important to measure your Soul Power.

    Despite that, Michael was curious about Soul Power. It was not popr, but there were a few things only he could test out using Extraction. The History of the Origin Expanse was something everyone learned in high school, and in afterschool. Most freshmen had been taught about the History of the Origin Expanse, including Michael.

    However, there was a major difference between knowing the History of the Origin Expanse from mankind''s point of view, and the point of view of older races.

    Michael hoped that the History of the Origin Expanse lesson from the Saphirke Military Academy used information collected from older races. Maybe, it would help him find out more about Fenrir, his own family¡­or the Temple of the Forgotten.

    In the worst case, Michael would ask the Professors about information rted to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, and how to get closer to them.

    They were his best chance to get to know more about the Temple of the Forgotten, and Michael already had a feeling that he would have to approach them to find out more about the underground ecosystem and thenguages used before the Third Epoch.

    However, he already knew how to get closer to the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs and grab their attention.

    The easiest way was to get stronger and be assigned as the freshmen''s representative in the next Tritan Battles.

    Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

    It was a fiercepetition. Everyone wanted to reap the benefits of being the freshmen''s representative.

    This included Michael, but he was up for the challenge.

    Thepetition excited him.

    It ignited his desire.

    It made him want to get stronger by all means!

    ¡­

    His gluttonous greed was slowly awakening...

 Chapter 134 Bloodthirsty Berserker

    Atst, Michael returned to the Origin Expanse.

    He reported his arrival to his subjects before he made all preparations to take a medicinal bath.

    Even if his sore muscles felt much better after devouring two humongous tes of savory and highly nutritious food, Michael took the medicinal bath. He wanted to provide his body with the best possible treatment.

    While he immersed himself in the bathtub to rx, a young man entered his room to hand Michael the daily report. Michael smiled lightly at the young man, who could only see his Lord''s battered face and the bruises all over his body.

    The young man left shortly, confused, and unsure what kind of torture their Lord was going through outside the Origin Expanse.

    Michael didn''t even know that Frederik had beaten him ck and blue. He felt great!

    ''Trails leading outside the Untamed Jungle have been sessfullyid, the traps are installed, the Nature Spirit stretched out its roots, and the Heavy Armored Elephant is currently paving a way straight to the lizard cave. The trail will bepleted soon¡­great!'' Michael summarized in his mind while reading through the daily report.

    ''Tiara and the others went out to kill hundreds of monsters. Looks like they want to increase their rank swiftly. Well, it makes sense. Tiara and I are the only ones in Tier-1. It''s time to change that.''

    It was important to strengthen the military''sbat prowess, not only to protect the territory, but also to conquer the lizard cave, and ensure the safety of the miners once they would start mining the ore deposits in the cavern tunnels.

    "The constructions of the Enchanter''s Lair, the Smithy, and the Alchemy House have beenpleted, and the Bilrox Ranch has been expanded. That''s pretty fast," Michael realized.

    But now that he thought about it, Michael also understood that his territory''s workforce had increased rapidly.

    With more Combat Units in his army, who had great equipment, high star ratings, and a vast, highly popted region to hunt, it was only obvious that Michael could summon dozens of subjects every day.

    After all, he possessed a Soultrait thatplemented his military power and the highly popted Untamed Jungle perfectly.

    Despite that, Michael didn''t think that he would have to extract more than 350 Monster Corpses once he finished the medicinal bath. 350 Tier-1 Monster corpses resulted in an extraction of 261 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls after the Summoning Scroll Fragments werebined in addition to three Tierless Artifacts, other unique drops, and 41 blueprints.

    Some of the blueprints were new to Michael. There were even recipes among the blueprints, which were new.

    One particr recipe attracted Michael''s interest. It was a recipe called Jungle Street Mixture. It didn''t seem like anything special at first, but it created a concrete-like substance using the mostmon resources of the Untamed Jungle.

    "I can upgrade the dirt-paved trails into proper streets. What a great recipe!" Michael eximed.

    He immediately stepped out of his room after wearing fresh clothes, found someone, and gave new orders. The Jungle Street Mixture had to be mass-produced and used immediately.

    After the new orders were given, Michael walked over to the Summoning Gate. He used up all 261 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls at once, adding 234 Starless Summons and 27 1-Star Summons to the poption of his territory.

    As usual, the Links of Loyalty slowly formed between the Lord and his new subjects. Michael approached his subjects, and talked to them while ordering his older subjects to exin the situation, give the Newlings a ce to stay, and so on.

    The summoning process had already be a daily routine, and it waspleted quickly without any disturbances.

    Just as Michael thought that the next few days would be calming and without any trouble, ire appeared with a request to him.

    Since the poption in his territory expanded so quickly, ire Tracer turned her desire to train more Trackers into one of her missions.

    More than enough Summons had the means to be Trackers ¨C even if they did not possess the natural skills of a 3-Star Tracker such as ire. She taught them in an attempt to help Michael to ensure his territory''s safety.

    Michael had heard about that, but he didn''t expect an incident to happen already.

    ''What did ire do again? Don''t tell me that she stole the cubs of a Tier-3 Monster or something like that. I swear, I will whip her bum if she did that¡­'' Michael cursed quietly in his heart.

    He clearly recalled thest incident with ire, and couldn''t help but worry.

    Fortunately, ire and her students hadn''t done anything wrong. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The report was about something they had witnessed. It was a huge mess.

    Michael was relieved when he read the first few sentences of the report. He was happy that ire didn''t do anything stupid. However, his expression turned sour real quick.

    "What¡­the¡­" Michael blurted out, and his expression turned deadly serious the next moment.

    Apparently, ire and her students had been near the habitat of a Sabertooth Wolf pack. She initially nned to teach her students more about the Sabertooth Wolf pack, the power disparity of an Alpha, Luna, and Beta of a wolf pack, and point out a few more pieces of information by giving them a live tour.

    However, their study trip turned into a horror trip shortly after they arrived near the Sabertooth Wolf pack''s habitat.

    A single monster had invaded the territory of the Sabertooth Wolf pack.

    ording to ire''s power scale, the Alpha, Luna, and Beta of the Sabertooth Wolf pack were as strong as the ck Bear respectively at the Lowest Tier-2 with exceptional instincts and above-averagebat experience.

    Yet, despite being that strong, and having a pack of more than 200 Peak Tier-1 Sabertooth Wolves by their side, a single monster annihted them in less than half an hour!

    Michael could tell that had been a close shave with death with a single nce in ire''s eyes. ire may be a little stupid, but she was a confident young woman. She knew how strong their small army was, yet she was scared witless.

    Adding the detailed content written down in the report to her reaction, Michael felt that the monster was far more troublesome than any opponent they had encountered until now.

    The monster was a three-meter-tall Minotaur, wearing metal armor, and a huge war-axe. A monster foreign to the Untamed Jungle had somehow appeared, and wreaked havoc, massacring the Sabertooth Wolf pack, without sparing a single soul.

    Its huge war-axe sliced through the air, flesh, and bones without any resistance. The Minotaur''s crimson glowing eyes which were fixed on obliterating one opponent at a time struck ire and her students with terror. They were frozen to the spot while the Minotaur ughtered one Sabertooth Wolf after another.

    The Sabertooth Wolves attacked the Minotaur from all sides, but it never paid much attention to them. Instead, it used its empty hand to grasp the Sabertooth Wolves, nonchntly, and smashed their skulls with brute force.

    After their skulls were smashed, the Minotaur tore their Sabertooth out of its hide before it proceeded to kill the remaining Sabertooth Wolves as if nothing happened.

    The Minotaur was like a highlybat aware, yet bloodthirsty Berserker. It was a monster that obliterated everything in its way before it disappeared from sight.

    Michael read through ire''s report several times, and his expression worsened every time he finished reading through it.

    He took note of a few points and pieced the clues together. Unfortunately, the result wasn''t really pleasant.

    It was the second time a Tier-2 Monster had gonepletely wild and acted weirdly. The first time was the ck Bear, and now a Minotaur ¨C a monster that didn''t belong to the Untamed Jungle, just like the ck Bear.

    This time it was worse than the first incident. The Minotaur wore a set of high-quality armor, and wielded an exceptional weapon.

    Was it a Summon, or possibly a tamed monster? The probability was not zero, but it could also be something else.

    ''Maybe the Minotaur is an evolved species? It''s not impossible for monsters to evolve after they have absorbed enough origin energy. It could have broken through its racial gic limitations. The Armor and Axe might be from Adventurers which it hunted after evolving.'' Michael theorized in his mind, but it was not adding up together.

    There was something about the theory that irked him. It was like he was missing an important piece of information.

    What would be the easiest way to obtain this missing piece of information? How could he find out more about the Minotaur after it appeared out of nowhere?

    ''Maybe it wreaked havoc somewhere else before?'' Michael wondered.

    The thought crossed his mind, but he had nobody to ask about the Minotuar.

    ''Wait¡­I do have someone to ask!'' Michael realized, recalled a familiar Elven face.

    It was about time to visit Xiltra!

 Chapter 135 [Bonus ]Aerial Encounter

    Xiltra was the nearest city bordering the Untamed Jungle. It was one of the outer cities belonging to the Zentika Empire, and a ce Michael had to visit due to various reasons.

    Xiltra was a good ce to gather more information about most of the things Michael was curious about ¨C including the Crimson-Eyed Minotaur.

    Other than the Minotaur, Michael was also curious about the person supporting the Lionhearts Leader. He hadn''t heard anything about the supporter for a while, and he grew increasingly worried.

    Was the Lionheart Leader''s supporter not curious about what happened to his investment? Was the supporter aware of what had happened? If so, why didn''t the supporter do anything up until now?

    Michael was not only interested in these few questions. His interest in the Origin Expanse increased consistently as well.

    He was curious how a city in the Origin Expanse looked, what races he would meet, and what kind of information he could procure in Xiltra. Furthermore, Lilica lived in Xiltra as well. He wanted to find her and ask her a few questions.

    ''I hope she will be in Xiltra when I arrive.'' Michael thought at that moment.

    But there were more reasons why Xiltra grew increasingly important to Michael. He wanted to expand the Bilrox Ranch quickly. Buying fully matured Bilrox in Xiltra would be the fastest way to do so. Last but not least, Michael could earn a fortune using Xiltra''s market.

    The shops in the spaceship required Saphire Points ¨C if one wanted a fair deal. They epted dors as a currency as well, but their conversion rate was ridiculous. He would have to pay a lot more for everything he purchased, and his goods weren''t worth that much when he requested to sell them.

    That was when Michael first realized how much the Golden Bartholomew Membership Card had spoiled him.

    He gained so many benefits from the House of Witchery that he felt like crying now that he realized his loss.

    But there was nothing he could do to change it now.

    It was time to think of a better way to earn a fortune, and Xiltra was the best to achieve that!

    Michael had already manifested the Runic Gate when he recalled the Limit Breaker training. He opened his messenger and typed a short message to Silverian Schild.

    [Micheal Fang: I apologize for the inconvenience, but I have to enter the Origin Expanse for a day or two. I will make up for theck of training once I return. Sorry!

    Remark: Please make sure that Frederik and Jacqueline suffer the most. These two are a nuisance!]

    Michael grinned when he sent the message. The remark was something he added on a whim, but it was definitely something he hoped Schild would listen to. Seeing the Barbaric Couple struggle felt great!

    With a foolish grin on his face, Michael entered the Runic Gate. He appeared in the Origin Expanse, where he found Tiara and ire talking to each other.

    They turned to Michael the moment they saw him and bowed deeply.

    "Master, you''ve returned!"

    "Wee back, my Lord!"

    Michael simply nodded, before he told the two women what he nned.

    Neither of the two women was surprised that Michael wanted to travel to Xiltra. Too many reasons were pulling them to the Border City.

    "If you use Icarus, you''ll arrive in Xiltra in less than an hour," ire proposed, pointing at the ck-feathered Greater Eagle. Michael named it Icarus, which the Greater Eagle seemed to love.

    "We can send the Cavalry Rider through the trails to pick up the fully-matured Bilrox. You won''t have to waste your time herding the Bilrox through the Untamed Jungle that way," Tiara added after she considered it for a second or two.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael agreed readily.

    "I will take Heran Tarn with me in that case. He knows the most about Bilrox, and he can deal with them much better than anyone else in the territory. Heran will be in charge of the Bilrox purchase," Michael said after he gave it a thought.

    The Lesser Tamer had raised three Bilrox, and his Link of Loyalty was extremely firm. Heran could be trusted, that was for sure!

    Michael was curious about what riding Icarus would feel like. He couldn''t use the Bilrox to travel around yet because they were still a little bit stubborn, and the Battlehorses were certainly much slower than Icarus. However, the most important factor was that Icarus could fly through the air and cut down the travel time by arge margin.

    Additionally, Michael was a little excited to freely fly above the densely grown ground of the Untamed Jungle. It made his heart thrum wildly!

    Thus, Michael chose to travel on Icarus with Heran by his side.

    When Michael informed Icarus and Heran about their mission, Icarus screeched in excitement. Meanwhile, Heran''s face was drained of all color.

    He didn''t dare to say anything, but it was obvious that he was afraid of making a mistake. Heran didn''t like the responsibility that had been ced upon his shoulders.

    However, they didn''t have any time to waste as Michael wanted to depart immediately.

    He sat down on Icarus'' back and pointed behind him. Heran hesitated only a moment before he sat down behind his Lord. He grasped his Lord''s clothes tightly to make sure that he wouldn''t fall off.

    The next moment, a piercing screech rang through his ears and Icarus'' body tensed up. The ck-feathered Greater Eagle pped its wings and stirred the dirt around before taking up from the ground.

    In an instant, Michael and Heran were pushed against the Greater Eagle, who shot high up into the air. They passed through the open space of the clearing and continued to ascend higher even after they left behind the canopy of the humongous trees around them.

    Michael''s heart was beating wildly in pure excitement, while Heran screamed at the top of his lungs. Heran''s arms were coiled around Michael''s waist, using every bit of strength to stay on Icarus'' back, and not to fall.

    On the other hand, Icarus continued to screech loudly, voicing out his excitement to soar high in the air.

    After ascending for a few minutes, Icarus changed his course. He tilted his body just a little, changing direction before adjusting his position mid-air.

    The Greater Eagle''s body was parallel to the ground, several hundred meters separating them. His wings were spread out as far as possible as they glided through the tranquil sky.

    At least, the sky was supposed to be tranquil. It was cloudless without a single aerial monster bothering them.

    Or so Michael presumed at first.

    The cloudless sky turned dark between one moment and the next, raging thunder swept their surroundings all of a sudden, and a huge shadow engulfed Icarus.

    Michael, who had been watching the seemingly endless Untamed Jungle from a bird''s view, turned around slowly and was shocked to the core.

    ''I didn''t even sense anything!'' He wondered as he turned to the humongous existence, whose shadow engulfed him, Heran, and Icarus easily.

    A 30-meter-long streamlined body, wings with a wingspan of more than a hundred meters, supported by sturdy bones and adorned with translucent membranes, a beak-like mouth with sharp teeth, andrge round eyes that seemed to be staring deep into Michael''s soul entered his view.

    His body began to tremble subconsciously as the earthy tones and unique markings of the monster invaded his sight.

    ''I am so dead¡­''

 Chapter 136 The Kings Death

    The moment the monster, whose magnificent sight captured the essence of a prehistoric existence, appeared high up above them, Michael came to a realization.

    ''The canopy of the Untamed Jungle protects its inhabitants from the ferocious existences in the sky!''

    He was terrified and rightfully so.

    High-voltage electricity currents engulfed the earthy tones of the prehistoric monster as it issued an earth-shattering screech. Icarus'' body stiffened and he instinctively adjusted his wings to lose altitude. The closer they were to the Untamed Jungle, the higher their chances of survival were.

    ''What is a Tier-4 Thunder Pteranodon King doing in the outer area of the Untamed Jungle?!?''

    No matter how terrified Michael might be, it didn''t make sense that a Thunder Pteranodon King turned the aerial space above the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts into its territory.

    Monsters with the name ''King'' in their names may not be on the same level as Saint Beasts, or Mythical Creatures, but they were existences with enough strength to fight monsters a rank above their Tier head-on. They may not necessarily win, but they wouldn''t easily lose either.

    For a Tier-4 King-level Monster to turn the space above the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts into its territory¡­what kind of nonsense was that?

    The Thunder Pteranodon King was one of the few existences Michael had read about. It was a terrifying King-level monster that was known for living high up on the peak of the Thunder Range. The Thunder Pteranodon King ought to love regions where thunder-attributed origin energy was present.

    Attributed origin energy was rare, especially rare elemental origin energy such as thunder origin energy. Yet, such an existence chose to stay in the Untamed Jungle? Did someone throw logic into the garbage bin?

    Just as Michael thought that it couldn''t get any worse and that the Thunder Pteranodon King would strike them with a bolt ofpressed lightning, the atmosphere all over the Untamed Jungle changed suddenly.

    The dark clouds manifested by the Thunder Pteranodon King dispersed as the intensity of the sun increased severalfold. It was impossible for Michael or anyone else to look high up into the sky because it was too dazzling.

    The sky was shrouded in a golden light that expanded infinitely.

    And it seemed as if time slowed down for Michael all of a sudden. He felt weird as if someone was watching him from afar. Michael broke out in a sweet and goosebumps spread all over his body.

    The next moment, a heavy pressure weighed down on him, Icarus, and Heran. His body stiffened and he felt incapable of even moving an inch.

    Even Icarus stopped moving, unable to p its wings. However, instead of falling to the ground as they should have, they remained hovering in mid-air.

    Michael''s eyes were fixated on the Thunder Pteranodon King, but something was odd. At first, he thought that the Thunder Pteranodon King was ying with them and that it was at fault for the heavy pressure.

    However, Michael was quickly proven wrong as he made eye contact with the fear-stricken eyes of the Thunder Pteranodon King.

    ''Oh fuck¡­''

    He had never seen someone being that afraid. Forget monsters, any existence as afraid as the Thunder Pteranodon King was either at the brink of losing itsst strand of sanity, or realized that they were on the verge of death ¨C an almost invisible, thin line separating them from being struck by the Grim Reaper''s soul-reaping Scythe.

    Micheal could clearly see the Thunder Pteranodon King struggling while the heavy pressure weighed down on its body, pushing it down. It struggled desperately and regained control of its beak-like mouth. The next moment, it screeched out loudly.

    To Michael the screech felt like it was filled with desperation, the fear of death, and the monster''s unwillingness to sumb to its fate.

    But it couldn''t escape its fate, no matter how much it struggled.

    Before its desperate screech dispersed in the seemingly endless sky, the Thunder Pteranodon King''s wings caught fire.

    zing, azure-blue mes engulfed the Thunder Pteranodon King''s wings entirely within seconds, and they continued to expand. In less than half a minute, the entire humongous body of the Thunder Pteranodon King was shrouded in zing azure-blue mes. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The desperate screeches of the monster turned into pitiful, pained wails that seemed to be pleading for mercy, and to end its misery.

    However, Michael and the others could only watch with a horrified expression. The heavy pressure weighing down on them prevented them from moving. They couldn''t even close their eyes from the terrifying sight unfolding in front of them.

    The smell of burning, sizzling flesh reached their nostrils, and smoke spread everywhere as the dark outlines of the burning Thunder Pteranodon King distorted.

    At a speed much faster than Michael could have ever expected, a Tier-4 King-level monster had met its death, and a pitiful way at that. The magnificent creature had burned to a crisp without the slightest chance to even flee, forget about fighting its opponent.

    The Thunder Pteranodon King didn''t even see its opponent before it died miserably.

    Would the same happen to Michael and his subjects?

    They were merely insignificant ants in the face of the Thunder Pteranodon King. Shouldn''t that mean the being that killed the Thunder Pteranodon King easily wouldn''t notice their existence, in the first ce?

    It was only after the Thunder Pteranodon King turned into ashes that Michael saw a huge shadow in the seemingly infinite sky.

    The shadow was humongous even from tens of kilometers above them. Its outlines looked like a serpent slithering through the air, but it had two magnanimous pairs of feathered wings as well.

    Michael couldn''t make out who exactly this mysterious monster was even after he used Eagle Eyes at their full capacity.

    The dazzling golden hue in the air disappeared following the death of the Thunder Pteranodon King. Simultaneously, the zing azure mes dispersed in all directions.

    Hot air sted upon Michael''s face, forcing him to close his eyes.

    It was only then that he realized the heavy pressure weighing down on him had also vanished. He could move freely once again and opened his eyes wide.

    He searched the sky for the humongous serpent but couldn''t find it anymore. It left, just like that.

    The next moment, Icarus regained control of his body as well.

    Heran shivered in terror, and Icarus'' initial excitement seemed to have disappeared after the spine-chilling encounter.

    What they had witnessed just now was simply too terrifying!

    Michael pressed his right hand against his chest in an attempt to calm down his wildly beating heart, but it hardly worked. His entire body continued to shiver, recalling the pitiful demise of the Thunder Pteranodon King, and the mysterious humongous serpent.

    "Buddy¡­I think it''s better if we fly at a lower altitude¡­" Michael ordered Icarus atst.

    Icarus followed Michael''s order quietly. They flew across the canopy of trees, not uttering a single sound in the hopes of not attracting the attention of another terrifying aerial beast.

    They didn''t fear the monsters living on the ground of the Untamed Jungle''s outer area. However, the space above the Untamed Jungle was an uncharted territory. It was terrifying, and a ce that ought to be avoided if possible.

    Flying at a low altitude seemed a safe bet for short distances, but Michael didn''t dare to make long trips at a high altitude.

    Even Icarus didn''t dare to do so anymore. The Greater Eagle was a prideful monster with great prowess, but it was iparably weaker than the two monsters they''d encountered in air.

    It knew that the sky several meters above the canopy of the Untamed Jungle was off its limits.

 Chapter 137 Xiltra

    The flight to Xiltra which ought to be filled with excitement and magnificentndscapes covering the infinite horizon of the Origin Expanse, fueling his adventurous spirit turned out to be aplete disaster.

    The scenery around Michael was still extravagant and magnificent as they flew through the air, but Michael''s heart and mind couldn''t feel the excitement anymore.

    They reached the ins adjacent to the Untamed Jungle, and a vast expanse unraveled itself in front of Michael, yet the beauty of nature had suddenly lost its appeal for him.

    Not even the towering walls of Xiltra attracted his attention.

    The Border City was humongous, surrounded by a huge wall that had intricate enchantments engraved in every nook and cranny, and hundreds of Archers and Mages had been stationed on top.

    It was only obvious, but besieging Xiltra wouldn''t be easy. Even the most ordinary Guards were at the 1st Tier. Older Guards reached the 2nd Tier, and the Guard Captains were even stronger.

    Icarusnded on the ground a kilometer away from Xiltra''s arched gates that served as the entrance. Michael and Heran got down from Icarus'' back and the three of them approached the city on foot.

    Entering Xiltra was not further difficult. Michael was told to press his hand against a small semi-translucent orb, which he did withoutints.

    Heran was the next to press his palm against the orb, and Icarus pushed his head against the Orb. Their data was fed into the Orb, and they were registered since they''d never been in Xiltra before.

    Entering the city and being registered in the database of the Zentika Empire cost money, which they didn''t have. They didn''t have a single Zentik, the currency used in the empire, in their hands.

    Fortunately, that was not a problem. Michael retrieved a Tier-1 Gemstone and handed it over to the guard, who epted it readily.

    It seemed like the guards didn''t care that Michael didn''t have any Zentik. He retrieved a few golden shimmering coins from his purse and put them inside the metal box used for depositing the city entrance fee. Meanwhile, the Tier-1 Gemstone was stored in his pockets.

    The Guard sneaked a small fortune for himself to let them pass and was overjoyed.

    "Can you tell me where the best merchants are located, and where to purchase fully-matured Bilrox?" Michael asked in the Originnguage, smiling amiably as if he didn''t see what the Guard had just done.

    "Of course, my friend!" The Guard said in a friendly tone before pointing out a few ces he had to visit to make sure that he wouldn''t be exploited as a neer.

    The Guard meant well after he became ''friends'' with the stranger. It was quite intriguing.

    Michael could tell that it was rare to see humans in Xiltra. He and Heran were eyed with more curiosity and vignce than Icarus, who was a ck-feathered Greater Eagle.

    Icarus should be unique to the citizens of Xiltra and make heads turn, but nobody paid attention to him.

    But that was something Michael could have anticipated.

    ''There are Lionhearts, Destors, Zantur, Jew, and a few more races I''ve never seen before. Are there no Forest Elves? Looks like they''re also a minority here.''

    Michael''s gaze roamed across the bustling main street of Xiltra. He quickly determined that there were no humans and that it was moremon to see unique monster mounts than a Forest Elf, or human in here.

    As a matter of fact, Michael didn''t see a single Forest Elf as he paved his way through the bustling street.

    He led Icarus to the mount stall after the Guard from the entrance had directed him to it. It will be much easier to travel through Xiltra while Icarus would wait in the mount stall.

    After all, it was quite difficult for the Greater Eagle to fly around when there were countless Tier-2 Archers, Mages and Adventurers. If they felt like hunting down Icarus, Michael wouldn''t even be able to do something against them.

    Thus, Icarus was led to the mount stall, where they were told that they had to pay a fee when they returned to pick up the mount.

    ''To think that Icarus entered the stall so easily¡­maybe he got traumatized after we encountered the Thunder Pteranodon King and the mythical serpent,'' Michael wondered, ''Is he too scared to fly around all by himself now?''

    It was not as if they would stay in Xiltra for several days, but Icarus'' behavior was still a little bit weird. For the prideful Greater Eagle to obediently enter the crammed mount stall was anything but normal.

    Michael was a little worried about Icarus'' mental health, and he told himself to spend some time with the mighty beast once they returned. He would talk to Icarus and make sure that they would ovee his trauma together.

    Oddly enough, Michael wasn''t terrified of the mythical serpent anymore. He had been afraid when the Thunder Pteranodon King appeared, and he had been at his wit''s end when the mythic serpent burned down the King-level Pteranodon as if it was the easiest thing in the Origin Expanse, but he was fine now.

    It was weird. Michael couldn''t understand himself either. Why was he not terrified anymore? He should be afraid to return to the Untamed Jungle, and forget about the fact that he and Icarus would fly back since they wouldn''t want to waste a day traveling by foot.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Let''s meet up with the Rainbow Koi Zantur Merchant first," Michael said out loud to change the topic, seeing that Heran was still shaken by their encounter.

    Heran nodded his head faintly and they set off.

    As they made their way through the bustling streets, Michael learned a lot about Xiltra, its infrastructure, and the living conditions of the various races living in the bordering city.

    He spent the next hour distracting himself until they finally reached the Rainbow Koi Shop of the Zantur Merchant. It was a big shop with an even bigger ranch connected to it.

    They entered the shop where they were weed with bright smiles.

    Michael noticed the slight astonishment on the staff member''s faces, but they were professional enough not to be affected by the arrival of new faces from unknown origin.

    That was a bonus point in Michael''s opinion, and he felt much morefortable staying in the shop and supporting it by purchasing and selling goods.

    "It''s rare to see new faces in my humble establishment. How can I be of your service, esteemed Lord?" A young man of the Zantur race asked in an overly polite manner as he approached Michael and Heran.

    The Zantur race was a calm and business-oriented race. They would rather shed ink on a piece of paper, and fight verbally than shedding blood and spreading death and misery.

    Michael didn''t know much about the Zantur race, but the young man was just like he had expected ¨C with silver skin, human size, one eye, three-pointed ears, and a thick skull that protruded out of the back of his head.

    "I have a few dozen Low Tier-1 corpses from the Untamed Jungle to sell. I also collected a big stash of blueprints for a while, and I think it''s about time for me to sell them," Michael got straight to the point, "I hope the Rainbow Koi shop can give me a satisfying price for the goods I wish to sell."

    The young Zantur Merchant responded near-instantaneously, moved his body to the side, and pointed at the backdoor.

    "Please follow me, esteemed Lords. We will appraise the goods first and give you a satisfying price." He said while shing Michael and Heran his business smile.

    "My friend here wants to take a look at the fully-matured Bilrox. We want to purchase a few healthy ones," Michael added, to which the Zantur Merchant reacted by motioning his assistant to get moving.

    The assistant led Heran outside to the ranch while Michael was tended to by the shop owner.

    In the next ten minutes, Michael retrieved more than a hundred near-perfectly dissected Low Tier-1 corpses, 82 blueprints, and a few other things, which he had wanted to sell for quite a while now.

    The merchant was slightly astonished at first, but he calmed down quickly. His business-oriented mind took charge, and he appraised all corpses and blueprints precisely and efficiently.

    Once the merchant was done, he retrieved a notepad, scribbled a few things, and looked at Michael intently before he tilted his head to an ufortable degree.

    Atst, he nodded his head subtly. He made a final note and was about to hand Michael the estimated price when his assistant returned with Heran.

    The assistant whispered something in the merchant''s ear, and the merchant scratched something and wrote a new one again before clearing his throat.

    "It seems like yourrade has good eyes. He picked the three female Bilrox of the highest quality," The merchant said with a tinge of respect in his voice as he looked at Heran.

    Afterward, he returned his attention to Michael, whom he handed a note.

    "After deducting the price for the three high-quality Bilrox females, you''ll be left with 32,532 Zentik. This is the best I can offer!"

    Michael was actually a little bit surprised. Initially, he was worried that the corpses and blueprints wouldn''t be enough to purchase more than two Bilrox females. However, that couldn''t be farther from the truth.

    He was even left with 32,532 Zentik after deducting the price of three high-quality Bilrox females!!

    Michael subconsciously turned his head to the nearest shelf to inspect the price for the disyed goods.

    At first, everything seemed perfectly normal, but when his gazended on the price for Summoning Scrolls, blueprints and other drops of the Origin Expanse, he was not sure what to think about them.

    ''Did someone switch the price-tags, or am I just high on air?''

 Chapter 138 Adventurer Guild

    Michael noticed a few things byparing the price tag of the items in the Rainbow Koi shop, and the price he was given for the goods he sold.

    First, the Tier-1 Monster carcasses of the Untamed Jungle were being sold for a pretty high price. Michael expected many Adventurers to enter the Untamed Jungle to hunt monsters, but it looked like they couldn''t supply enough to cover the demand.

    Second, Summoning Scrolls and blueprints were ridiculously expensive. In fact, the blueprints Michael sold were priced much higher than the blueprints that were hard to purchase in the House of Witchery, and other shops under humanity''s governance.

    The blueprints he sold were duplicates that could be procured everywhere in the Untamed Jungle, yet their price was quite high. The price of Summoning Scrolls was even more ridiculous. Using a rough conversion from Zentik to dors, Michael guessed that Summoning Scrolls were roughly three to four times more expensive.

    That was also why Michael ended up signing the deal before he used his small fortune to purchase the blueprints he thought of as rare and cheap, and a few special techniques that had been created specifically for Starless Summons. Apparently, these techniques provided enough information to increase the Summon''s probability of attaining enlightenment.

    As long as they reached perfect mastery of the respective techniques, their chances to be promoted to 1-Star would increase. That was extremely helpful, and something Michael wished to provide to all of his Summons.

    With that thought in mind, he bought two dozen techniques, bothbat and nonbat-rted techniques while his eyes continued to roam through the shelves in the Rainbow Koi shop.

    Michael''s interest in the disyed items was extremely high. It was enough to make him retrieve a bunch of Tierless Artifacts, which he ced on the wooden counter in front of the Zantur Merchant.

    "How much can you offer me for these Artifacts?" Michael asked, pointing at the batch of Artifacts.

    They were 2-Star Tierless Artifacts and worth a small fortune, which was just enough for Michael to buy various Beast Tomes and books about the Zentika Empire, the Untamed Jungle, the adjacent regions, and various other forces within and around the Zentika Empire.

    The Rainbow Koi shop had a small library section, which Michael nearly emptied with a single purchase.

    Information was the best investment of his money right now. Michael understood that Xiltra''s shops were advanced and that they didn''t have as many restrictions and requirements to purchase and sell goods. This was something Michael could make use of to be stronger until they arrived in Kelta ¨C even if he could not sell the Monster carcasses to the House of Witchery anymore.

    As long as he used the information at his disposal well, Michael could create a loop of infinite money. He merely had to buy certain blueprints for a low price in Xiltra and sell them for an exorbitant price to other human Lords.

    Of course, creating a loop of infinite money was just theoretically possible. Practically, it was just temporary ie since the price of the cheap blueprints would increase if his purchases decreased the already limited supply of rare and cheap blueprints too fast. The supply wouldck and the cheap blueprints would be more expensive.

    Nheless, Michael would give it a try.

    He was starting to be increasingly more interested in Xiltra, which included the races living in the border city, and the seven races that made up the majority of the Zentika Empire''s poption.

    Michael didn''t really like being around the Lionhearts because it made him recall the Lionheart Leader, but it was not as if it was fair to turn all Lionhearts into devils just because a bunch of them had invaded his territory. That was not only unfair but also nonsensical. Why would he fault someone for someone else''s mistake? <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Instead of acting like a piece of shit, I should focus on procuring information about the Eras before the Third Epoch. There should be a few old veterans in Xiltra.'' Michael thought after he mentally chided himself for his earlier thoughts.

    Heran took care of the three Bilrox females and left Xiltra riding on one of them. The Lesser Tamer subdued the Bilrox females quickly and he returned, feeling happy that he didn''t have to fly back on Icarus anymore.

    Heran swore to himself that he would never fly in the sky above the Untamed Jungle anymore. He had learned his lesson!!

    Michael ¨C now all by himself ¨C walked through Xiltra''s bustling streets. Many people stared at him, but they seemed more curious to figure out about his race rather than ring at him in hatred. That was also why Michael ignored their gazes as nobody stepped forward to talk to him. It was not as if they had bad intentions, after all.

    After walking through the bustling border city for an hour or two, Michael finally reached Xiltra''s Adventurer Guild. Most Adventurers would register at a guild. That way, they could earn money easily, purchase Artifacts using secret channels and umte more benefits by increasing their Adventurer rank.

    However, Michael didn''t go to the adventurer guild because he had a mission to post, or because he wanted to register as an Adventurer. Michael went there because he wanted to meet Lilica.

    He had yet to see any other Forest Elves, which answered his earlier doubt. Forest Elves didn''t have a main spawn point in the Zentika Empire, which also applied to humans.

    It was known that all races had a specific area where most of their Lords would emerge. That was also one of the many reasons why certain Supreme Families chose to bond together and join their forces. Their territories in the Origin Expanse were nearby, and they wanted to fight together against theirmon opponents. To ensure that they would be loyal to each other, they arranged marriages of their descendants so as to strengthen their ties and be one family.

    Arranged marriages were moremon than one expected in the era of technology and interster travel, and it was initiated because of the Origin Expanse most of the time.

    Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Ondo were a great example. They were engaged with each other because their parents'' territory was located near each other. They had joined forces decades already, but it had only been ten years since they announced the engagement of their children. One of the reasons may have been because Jacqueline clung to Frederik, but the biggest reason was that a powerful opponent had appeared at the borders of their parents'' territories.

    Michael didn''t think highly of arranged marriages, but it was not as if this affected him, in the first ce. Neither his nor his brother''s territories were located somewhere near human forces.

    Only a few human Lords had spawned in the Zentika Empire or the area around it. Most of them were unlucky souls, who had to give up their territory to survive. Thus, Michael couldn''t even hope to encounter a human Lord, or Adventurer in the Origin Expanse. Not anytime soon at least!

    But that was fine. Michael didn''t have anything against other races. In fact, they may be easier to deal with than humans.

    One way or another, Michael was in need of a reliant informant, yet he couldn''t find Lilica anywhere.

    Where was she when he needed her?!

    ''In that case, I might as well spy a little!''

 Chapter 139 Lilica

    Xiltra was a border city, and the city closest to the Untamed Jungle, and his territory.

    Michael had to know more about the military power of Xiltra to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

    In the future, he might sh with the Zentika Empire, and Xiltra would be his first hurdle to ovee at that time. Of course, it was too far-fetched to consider Xiltra and the Zentika Empire his opponent already, but it may turn into a real scenario in the future. The future was not set in stone, after all!

    Feeling confident about himself, he entered the Adventurer guild without any worries, ignoring the attention he received from everyone.

    His focus moved to the guild''s counter at first. However, instead of asking about the whereabouts of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, Michael''s attention moved subconsciously to a particr mission on the mission board next to the counter.

    A detailed drawing of a well-armed Minotaur caught his attention. Michael approached the mission board where he read the details of the hunting mission.

    "Highly intelligent Tier-2 Minotaur acting like a bloodthirsty beast 20 kilometers southwest of Xiltra. It''s unknown if the Minotaur is a subordinate of a Summoner, or if it evolved on its own. However, it is extremely deadly and doesn''t seem to feel pain. The hunting mission has failed four times in total. Casualties: 159 Citizens, 9 Guards, 17 Adventurers. Rmended Rank: B(If alone) C-rank Group(5 Members). Reward: 150,000 Zentik," Michael murmured some of the descriptions mentioned in the hunting mission.

    He wanted to collect some information about the Minotaur, but it looked like the Adventurer Guild didn''t know more than the information ire had reported to him.

    "Why are you so interested in this hunting mission, dear Lord of the Untamed Jungle?" A sonorous voice rang out behind Michael.

    Hearing thest words, Michael''s head flung back and he was about to manifest Seron Voulge and pierce the curved de outward. Fortunately, he had held back instead of attacking the neer.

    Lilica Balrean, the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was standing behind him, her long hairbed into a neat ponytail, and a mischievous smile stering her face.

    "Nice haircut, by the way," She added lightly with a look at his bald head.

    Michael was already frustrated that his hair didn''t grow back as fast as he hoped for, but Lilica made things worse by rubbing salt in his wound.

    Despite being annoyed, and a little tense because he had expected the worst when Lilica said, ''Lord of the Untamed Jungle'', Michael sighed in relief. Lilica hadn''t left Xiltra yet!

    His expression lit up and he smiled brightly at the Forest Elf.

    "The haircut is part of the reason why I came to Xiltra," Michael said half-jokingly before he added, "But I''m also here because of that Minotaur."

    Lilica didn''t have to be a genius to understand what Michael''s words entailed. His haircut was most likely the result of his fight against the Lionheart Adventurer team and the reason he came to Xiltra was probably to find out more about the person supporting the Lionheart Leader with a Lord Seal.

    The Minotaur was Michael''s most recent issue. It should have invaded the Untamed Jungle. That was what Lilica deduced.

    "Since you''re already here, we might as well talk. Your haircut is ¨C somehow ¨C my team''s fault, after all!" Lilica responded with a faint smile.

    She gestured to Michael to follow her and walked out of the guild house. Michael followed closely behind.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Less than ten minutester, they found themselves sitting in the bright sun, munching on some snacks from a nearby stall.

    Lilica ate her snacks with sparkling eyes. She didn''t even pay attention to Michael as he stared at her, waiting patiently for her to reveal more information about the supporter of the Lionheart Leader.

    After she finished her packet of snacks, she looked at Michael''s half-eaten packet and pointed at it though her mouth was still filled to the brim.

    "Are you still eating that?" Lilica asked while her hand had already reached forward, taking away the packet from Michael''s hands.

    She savored the snack and continued to eat in excitement.

    Michael was not even sure how to react to this kind of behavior. Was he supposed to flick her forehead for stealing his food, shout at her to start revealing information, or was he supposed to kidnap and torture her until she would finally pay more attention to him than a puny packet of snacks?

    There were too many things he could do, but all of them were created by his intrusive thoughts. They wanted him to hurt Lilica, and he felt his subconscious agree more and more to the idea of scolding her openly.

    Fortunately, he kept his mouth shut.

    "I actually don''t know too much about the Lionheart Leader''s backer either, but you probably expected that already," Lilica finally finished the packet and dusted her hands with a satisfied smile. Michael tried hard not to roll his eyes at her as she started to speak, "I only know for sure that the Lionheart Leader''s backer is a higher-up of the Lionheart race. The Zentika Empire''s interest in the Untamed Jungle increased in recent years. Of course, this is just my guess, but I think that the Zentika Empire is trying to find something in the Untamed Jungle and that they''re preparing meticulously for the day when they find what they''re looking for."

    Michael listened intently to Lilica''s words. His theories were not that much different from Lilica''s, but it was not nice to hear.

    "It looks like one of the Lionhearts couldn''t wait patiently any longer. He probably acted on his own and won''t invest too much money to investigate the whereabouts of the Lionheart Leader," Lilica added, "If the higher-up didn''t want to stay secretive, he would have sent stronger Lionhearts into the Untamed Jungle. Hiding the actions of a few dozen Tier-1 Adventurers is much easier than covering the disappearance of stronger Adventurers. You shouldn''t worry too much about him for now."

    Now that Lilica had reassured him and dismissed his worries, he felt that the backer of the Lionheart Leader was a small problem. On the contrary, the Zentika Empire''s interest in the Untamed Jungle seemed to be more problematic.

    ''Are they searching for the Temple of the Forgotten?'' Michael asked, but he could already guess the answer.

    The Zentika Empire must have some old records revolving around the Temple of the Forgotten. Or maybe, they had someone with a unique treasure-hunting Soultrait, who was led to the Untamed Jungle to find a great treasure.

    It bothered him a little bit, but Michael was sure that there wouldn''t be a problem as long as he could hide the Temple of the Forgotten. After all, the mythic serpent in the air, the eerie Untamed Jungle, and the powerhouses inhabiting the ground would ensure that the Zentika Empire wouldn''t act until they were certain that the thing they were searching for was actually in the Untamed Jungle.

    Oddly enough, the thought of the Zentika Empire attacking the Untamed Jungle with all its might, felt less threatening than not knowing what would happen, and being ignorant to the truth.

    The uncertainty was more burdening on Michael''s mind than knowing what would happen in the future if the Temple of the Forgotten was to be exposed.

    It was oddly relieving, and a bright smile blossomed on his face.

    "Why are you smiling like a creep? Stop it!"

 Chapter 140 Counter-Strategies

    Michael didn''t have much hope when his conversation with Lilica started, but it ended up being quite an interesting one.

    He enjoyed it thoroughly and didn''t have any regrets when he left. The information he gained today was everything he needed to analyze the importance of Xiltra, the Zentika Empire, and the Temple of the Forgotten.

    His territory''s position was dangerous, but it was not as if that was breaking news.

    Michael picked up Icarus after paying the fee of the mount stall, and they left the city together while the afternoon sun descended slowly.

    It was not thest time he would visit Xiltra, Michael was certain of that.

    He got on Icarus'' back and they ascended in the air.

    "You can do it, buddy. Don''t worry, I''m here for you," Michael said reassuringly while patting Icarus.

    The prideful Greater Eagle was still traumatized from their earlier encounter with the Thunder Pteranodon King and the mythical serpent. Michael''s words calmed Icarus a little bit, but the Greater Eagle was still too afraid to fly too high in the air.

    Michael was certain that everything would be fine, but he didn''t have any hard evidence to prove his point. His certainty was solely based on his gut feeling, after all.

    After flying through the open ins for almost an hour, they reached the Untamed Jungle. Icarus was tense the whole time they flew above the Untamed Jungle, and he didn''t dare to leave the vicinity of the canopy of the trees.

    The Greater Eagle could only feel at ease when they finally reached their territory. Icarusnded in the clearing before he copsed on the ground. The tension that had umted in his body during the whole flight had been released at once, and his body couldn''t handle this right now.

    Michael was greeted by Tiara and ire when he returned to the territory. They told him that Heran and the three Bilrox females had already returned and that the Blood-eyed Minotaur had attacked a second habitat of Tier-2 Monsters.

    ire retrieved one of the maps she made based on her knowledge of the Untamed Jungle and pointed out the destroyed habitat of the Sabertooth Wolf pack, and the habitat the Minotaur had attacked now.

    "It''s getting closer to our territory," Michael realized, and both Tiara and ire nodded their heads in unison.

    "We''re not sure if the Minotaur is looking for our territory, or if it''s getting closer to us without realizing. However, it''s a fact that the Minotaur''s second attack indicates that it will find us sooner orter!" Tiara exined.

    Michael bit his lower lip in response. He understood what her information entailed.

    They had to get rid of the Blood-eyed Minotaur!

    "It looks like I won''t be leaving the Origin Expanse for the time being," Michael mumbled to himself before he returned his attention back to the two women, "ire, search for the Minotaur and secretly follow it. Make sure that it won''t find you while you track its movements on the map. I want its movements to be noted down as detailed as possible!"

    "Tiara, make sure that everyone close to reaching the next refinement stage will advance soon. You can go out and hunt with everyone, but don''t go too far from the territory. Return immediately when I call you guys through the Link of Loyalty. Our Link of Loyalty should be firm enough to transfer a simple pull when I call for you."

    Michael didn''t stop with thesemands. He spent the next five minutes issuingmands to various people, including the Master Alchemist, the Weaponsmith, the Mages, the tamed monsters of his territory, and the Nature Spirit.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Maybe he was overdoing it with the sheer amount of orders he gave out just before the Untamed Jungle would be devoured by the darkness of the night, but he wanted to make sure that everyone would know what they had to do from tomorrow onward.

    Some of his construction projects and other ns had to be postponed with the approaching danger of the Blood-eyed Minotaur. Everyone understood Michael''s worries. Everyone followed hismands without batting an eye.

    Meanwhile, Michael handed out the special techniques he had purchased. He gave them to the Librarians and Schrs to take a look at them. Michael hoped that they could be replicated to ensure that all of his Starless Subjects would be granted a higher chance of attaining enlightenment and the opportunity of a star rating promotion.

    Unfortunately, the Librarians and Schrs felt overwhelmed by the special techniques. At first nce, the special techniques looked like ordinary books. However, that couldn''t be further from the truth.

    The special techniques were techniques that stored the experience of Summons with higher star ratings, their memories, and special skills that could only be fully mastered by 1-Star Summons with the specific upation that was taught through the technique.

    Understanding the special technique was one point, mastering it was entirely different. As for duplicating it, without being at least a 4-Star Summon of that particr upation, it would be a near-impossible task to duplicate the techniques.

    While that was a bummer, Michael was not too disappointed. The inability to duplicate the special techniques meant that they were the real deal. Michael would wait until he received the first results, and purchase a few more once he was certain that they worked as intended.

    At the end of the day, the special techniques were an attempt to distract his Starless Summons. He wanted to train them as well, but he was more worried that the Starless Summons, who were willing to fight for their Lord and territory, would use the same sacrificial tactic as they did when the Lionhearts invaded.

    Michael hoped that the special technique and the new orders were enough to distract them from foolishly thinking that they stood a chance against the Tier-2 Blood-Eyed Minotaur with their current strength. The Lionhearts and the Blood-Eyed Minotaur were not on the same level. Facing the Blood-Eyed Minotaur would lead to the death of all Starless Summons!

    Like that, Michael spent the next four days inside the Origin Expanse.

    He didn''t leave the territory because he had to be always ready for an all-out fight.

    Of course, that didn''t mean Michael idled around. He spent his time reading through all Beast Tomes, and the books he purchased in the Rainbow Koi shop. Michael worked out a lot as well. He could clearly tell that he was on the verge of fundamentally changing his breathing pattern.

    At first, it felt like his breathing fundamentals changed only subtly, but Michael was certain that he was on the verge of achieving something big. He wasn''t missing much. Just a small bit of enlightenment was all he needed to change his breathing patternpletely and reach perfect mastery of the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique.

    Unfortunately, attaining enlightenment was easier said than done. It couldn''t be achieved at will and would reach him at the weirdest times. Michael was fine with that. He wasn''t rushing anything.

    Instead, he patiently waited for thest report from ire.

    ording to her detailed reports, the Blood-eyed Minotaur had attacked two more areas with Tier-2 Monster habitats. It continued to get closer to their territory, and it was time to tackle the Minotaur.

    After ire arrived with the final report, atst, and he read through it, one thing was clear; the Blood-eyed Minotaur had to be dealt with today itself.

    The preparations had beenpleted, everyone was armed to the teeth and multiple strategies had been prepared to battle the Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    There was no way that anything could go wrong.

 Chapter 141 Battle Strategy

    Michael and his army began to move after ire''s arrived with her report.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur had initiated a massacre in the nearby Gem Jaguar hideout ¨C just like Michael and his people had predicted.

    The Gem Jaguar hideout was the only gathering ce for Gem Jaguars. Hundreds of them had found a habitat in the darkest parts of the Untamed Jungle''s outer area because of the evolved Horned Gem Jaguar.

    ording to their research, the Horned Gem Jaguar was a female with the ability to pull the Gem Jaguars together and create synergy between them. That was also one of the reasons why Michael and his Army always encountered more than one Gem Jaguar in the Untamed Jungle.

    The Horned Gem Jaguar was thrice as big as ordinary Gem Jaguars, and she was much stronger than the Sabertooth Wolf pack, which was no surprise.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur picked stronger monster packs as its opponents with every attack, which led to fiercer attacks and more wounds all over the Minotaur''s body. However, it didn''t seem to mind the pain caused by the various wounds that had yet to fully heal. That was stated in ire''s report.

    Michael spent lots of time reading through the reports ire and her people provided about the Blood-eyed Minotaur and its movements. He knew that it was injured, its equipment was badly damaged, and the battle-axe''s de was duller than before, but that was not something he could be happy about.

    On the contrary, the Minotaur was a huge problem.

    It had grown stronger in the past few days. The Blood-eyed Minotaur had adjusted to fightingrge groups of opponents and utilizing the Untamed Jungle''s freaky environment to its benefit.

    Fortunately, nobody was better at utilizing the Untamed Jungle than the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, and his loyal subjects, who used the Untamed Jungle to their advantage all day.

    Michael led his people through the Untamed Jungle straight to the Horned Gem Jaguar.

    He gave Tiaramand of the closebat unit and ascended the canopy bridge high up in the air with the long-range units.

    The Aero Crossbowmen, Crossbowmen, Archers, the Earth Elemental Mage, and the Water Elemental Mage were better off high up in the canopy bridge rather than standing on the ground where the Blood-eyed Minotaur could charge at them and snap their necks easily.

    Icarus, and Iglisis, the Demi-Human from the Typhoon Eaglefolk, were also high up in the trees, perched on the branches. They didn''t use the canopy bridge, but that was not necessary. In fact, the canopy bridges would restrict their movementster.

    The Warriors, Spearmen, Cavalry Riders, Vanguards, Assassins, and others made their way through the thicket of the Untamed Jungle with the help of the Heavy Armored Elephant.

    It paved the way through the Untamed Jungle with its humongous body.

    The Heavy Armored Elephant didn''t like fighting. However, it was one of the crucial members of today''s battle strategy because of its heavy weight and thick gray skin, which was covered in a secondyer of protection. The cksmiths had toiled endlessly for thest few days, creating a thick and heavy metal armor for the Heavy Armored Elephant.

    The heavy metal armor didn''t look great but it would certainly fulfill its goal.

    "How far along is their fight?" Michael asked Iglisis as the Demi-Human from the Typhoon Eaglefolk flew past him.

    Iglisis shot through the canopy of trees and approached their final destination while remaining undiscovered by everyone. A minute after he departed, Iglisis returned. His face was drained of all its color.

    "The battle is already over? The Minotaur won?" Michael asked even though Iglisis'' face was enough to answer his questions.

    Iglisis nodded his head heavily and responded slowly, "The¡­the Minotaur sustained a few injuries¡­but it won. It killed every single Gem Jaguar already!"

    Michael didn''t expect the Minotaur to be that fast, but it didn''t change anything in their n.

    He turned to his right to look down at the ground where Tiara was already waiting for him. Everyone was in position and ready to move.

    "Let our Speedster go!" Michael said loud enough for the people down below to hear.

    Tiara nodded, and their little Speedster, the Demi-human from the Speedster Rabbitfolk began to move.

    She shot past the Heavy Armored Elephant, squeezed through the thicket, and elerated. She was not at the 1st Tier, but her speed rivaled Tiara''s. However, that was not the sole reason why they sent the Speedster Demi-Human out.

    Members of the Speedster Rabbitfolk reached an even greater speed in moments of fear and desperation. The hormones they released allowed their body to go past their limits. But on the flip side, the hormones they released attracted nearby monsters as well. Some would fall into a state of rage, while others would be overwhelmed by sudden curiosity. One way or another, most monsters were affected by the Speedster Rabbitfolk''s hormones, and they would follow the trail left behind by the hormones.

    They were the perfect bait!

    Seconds after the Speedster was released into the densely grown habitat of the Horned Gem Jaguar, a terrifying roar reverberated through the surrounding area. The Minotaur took the bait!

    The ground began to tremble wildly as the Blood-eyed Minotaur charged behind the Speedster. Meanwhile, Michael and the others began to move.

    In the next ten seconds, everyone got into position. The closebat group entered Formation A, with three different types of potions in their empty hands, while the long-range group spread across the canopy bridge with two potions in their hands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Master Alchemist prepared various potions to temporarily enhance everyone''s strength, stamina, and pain resistance to a certain extent. The potions would have slight side effects once the effect wore off, but that was a small sacrifice in exchange for a boost in strength, stamina, and a certain degree of immunity to physical pain.

    ''I hope I''ll summon a Poison Master soon,'' Michael thought when he retrieved a bunch of potions from his War Rune.

    The Master Alchemist had never been interested in concocting poison. Thus, Michael and the others weren''t in possession of highly potent venom to use against their enemies. The paralysis venom in Michael''s possession was strong, but it wouldn''t work against a monster such as the Blood-eyed Minotaur. It was partially resistant to venom.

    Fortunately, the Master Alchemist was a sly bastard. He had a particr potion that was perfect for the given situation. It was expensive to produce, which was also why they had only a single potion of it, but that was more than enough to fight the Blood-eyed Minotaur and use it at the very end as a trump card.

    Now that everybody was in position, Michael summoned the Siltang Bow. He conjured the strongest arrow using the energy stored in the bow frame and coated the entire arrow with the tincture prepared by the Master Alchemist.

    Once the arrow was fully coated, Michael stored the half-empty ss vial back in the War Rune. He activated Lesser Enhancement and Eagle Eyes simultaneously, and pulled back the bowstring while calling out loudly, "Ready!"

    As his words resounded across the canopy bridge, everyone else moved as well. They pulled their bowstrings back, readied their crossbows, and manifested their elemental spells while waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.

    Themotion on the ground intensified and a terrifying roar rang through the Untamed Jungle as the Minotaur barged through the densely grown thicket, shing at the desperately running Speedster.

    But before the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s battle axe could slice through the Speedster''s frail body, something heavy smashed into the Minotaur''s side with a weight of close to 13 tons.

    The impact was hard and unexpected, and the Blood-eyed Minotaur couldn''t react in time. It was flung to the side as it desperately tried to regain its bnce but was unable to do anything.

    Meanwhile, the Heavy Armored Elephant found itself in a state of shock. Its sharp tusks weren''t strong enough to pierce the Blood-Eyed Minotaur''s hide!

    n A was thus rendered useless.

    The Heavy Armored Elephant reacted quickly. It used its heavy weight to smash the Minotaur against the nearest tree before making space for everyone else to attack.

    Even if the Heavy Armored Elephant looked terrifying with its humongous size and heavy weight, the monster''s mission was to protect and distract rather than attack.

    After losing its momentum, and being smacked upon the nearest tree trunk, the Blood-Eyed Minotaur required a second to regain its senses.

    It had been fueled with uncontroble anger seeing the tiny Demi-Human and had solely focused on it, forgetting to keep a lookout for other unexpected attacks. Hence, the Minotaur simply charged behind it for a few seconds until it had nearly caught up with the little bastard Demi-Human.

    In the next second, they charged through the thicket, only to be faced with the assault of a Heavy Armored Elephant and the appearance of dozens of tiny bastards unveiling themselves in front of it.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur''s gaze moved across the tiny bastards standing behind the Heavy Armored Elephant. It roared out again, causing some of the human warriors to step back subconsciously.

    They were struck by fear and couldn''t stop themselves from shivering anymore.

    Staring at the Blood-eyed Minotaur, they could only feel its uncontroble desire to tear apart every single one of them.

    The warriors were frozen in ce. None of them was capable of resisting the fear that had surfaced from the deepest parts of their subconscious.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur was intelligent enough to notice this. It sensed the weak presence of the tiny bastards in front of it and made a sound that resembled a sneer.

    These weaklings wanted to assassinate it? That had to be a joke!

    The battle against the Horned Gem Jaguar might have drained its stamina rapidly, but that didn''t mean it couldn''t obliterate these tiny bastards.

    They should have stayed home and practiced a bit more, instead of throwing themselves at a living inferno.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur was just about to get up from the ground when a loud and confident voice reverberated through the vicinity.

    "Charge!!!"

    A momentter, dozens of arrows and bolts rained down from the canopy above the Minotaur.

    Simultaneously, the deep-rooted fear in the hearts of the Warriors seemed to disperse.

    Their Lord had spoken.

    It was time for war!

 Chapter 142 Unique Racial Ability

    The arrows pouring down from the canopy bridges hit their target precisely. The distance was notrge enough to miss a target asrge as the Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    However, despite hitting the target, only a few arrows and bolts did any real damage. The bolts of the Aero Crossbowmen tore through the Minotaur''s thick hide, and the Archer''s arrows found their way through the cuts, ws, and bite marks from the Minotaur''s earlier fights.

    Michael''s attack was one of the arrows that found its way through a w mark on the Minotaur''s chest. The arrow dug deep into the target''s chest after which the tincture coating the arrow tip began to spread rapidly through the veins.

    The tincture was a rather simple potion ¨C even though it was made with expensive ingredients. It enhanced the sensitivity of the target''s nerves more than tenfold.

    In less than five minutes, the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s sense of touch would be enhanced to the extreme, driving it to insanity whenever it came in contact with something.

    It was not a poison and was often used in an attempt to help cripples regain their sense of touch and help improve the functioning of the nervous system of disabled patients, but it could also be used to drive his opponent to insanity.

    n B, stalling for time, was executed, and everyone began to move.

    Icarus and Iglisis dived down from the treetop above the Blood-eyed Minotaur. They impacted heavily and wed at the Blood-eyed Minotaur in an attempt to injure it heavily. Following the distraction caused by the two aerialbat units, the Water Elemental Mage and the Earth Mage worked together to pull the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s legs underground.

    Earth spikes shot out of the ground, piercing the Minotaur''s armpits, while water ropes conjured all around the Minotaur. Most of the manifested water ropes coiled around the Minotaur''s arms to restrict its movements. Meanwhile, the remaining water ropes shot toward the hand holding the battle-axe tightly.

    The Mages tried to disarm the Minotaur while restricting its movements simultaneously and locking it in ce. They stalled time for the closebat group to attack, and the long-range units to prepare their second and third barrage.

    Meanwhile, Michael took his time to shoot one arrow after another. He coated a second arrow in the tincture prepared by the Master Alchemist and released the arrow. This time, however, his arrow impacted the Minotaur''s left calf.

    The Minotaur struggled to free its legs and escape being buried alive by the two Elemental Mages when an energy arrow pierced through the thick hide covering its left calf.

    Its left calf was not injured but just scratched, however, the Siltang Bow, enhanced by Lesser Enhancement, could create enough force to further push the arrow through the Minotaur''s hide. The arrow didn''t dig deep through the Minotaur''s calf, but that was not needed. Everything Michael desired wasing to fruition with the slow-spreading tincture prepared by the Master Alchemist.

    Michael achieved his goal, which was also why he began to release one arrow after another to restrict the Minotaur''s movements and distract it. His arrows targeted the Minotuar''s throat, mouth, nose, eyes, and even ears.

    One arrow after another was conjured and released through the Siltang Bow, and every single one of them hit their designated target.

    Meanwhile, as Michael depleted the energy storage of the Siltang Bow, the other long-range units released their projectiles as well.

    The closebat group waited patiently, hoping that theirrades could restrict the Blood-eyed Minotaur while inflicting lethal injuries. That way, the closebat group would have a higher chance of survival, and the terror induced by the Blood-eyed Minotaur would decrease drastically.

    Every projectile that inflicted an injury, or worsened an existing wound, no matter how big or small, was a great deal. It meant that the Blood-eyed Minotaur would have a harder time dealing devastating damage once the closebat unit had to jump into action.

    However, something was weird.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur seemed to be struggling to regain freedom and escape the attacks of the two Elemental Mages, but its attempts seemedx and sluggish. It was almost as if the Blood-eyed Minotaur was not actually trying to escape the restrictions of the water ropes or sinking further into the ground.

    It was a matter of fact that the injuries all over its body had increased. Michael''s attacks alone were already enough to injure the Blood-eyed Minotaur severely. One of its ears had been pierced by an energy arrow, and one of its eyes had been damaged as well.

    Why would the Blood-eyed Minotaur allow anyone to injure it to such an extent when it had the means to escape?

    Michael frowned deeply. He jumped down from the canopy bridge and reced the Siltang Bow with Seron Voulge. Simultaneously, the Onyx Dragon Armor Set covered his body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael used Lesser Enhancement on all of his manifested Artifacts while rushing over to Tiara and the others, who approached the Blood-Eyed Minotaur slowly.

    His perception heightened to the extreme, and his eyes and focus never left the Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    Something was off, but Michael couldn''t really tell what it was, at first. Only after he jumped down to the ground and approached the Minotaur did he slowly gain more insights into the situation.

    At first, it looked like the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s chest was coated in blood. While that may be true, it did not catch Michael''s attention.

    He noticed that the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s hide was about to turn crimson!

    ''Is that Berserk? No¡­it shouldn''t be¡­''

    Hisplexion worsened and he paled. The highly intelligent Minotaur was a trickster. It used its fresh injuries and the blood covering its body to hide that it had almost finished transforming!

    The sound of steam blowing off reached Michael''s ears, and the sound made his brain rattle wildly. It was only after a few seconds that he realized what was about to happen.

    "Fuck¡­"

    He regained his senses the next second and shouted out aloud, "Get away from the Minotaur, immediately!!!!"

    Michael''s shrill voice rang through the surroundings, but it was already toote.

    Some of his subjects reacted in time. They noticed that something was off the moment the Minotaur''s body began to emit smoke. When its hide turned red they knew that all their preparations had missed out on considering one particr factor; Unique Racial Abilities.

    Unfortunately, the realization came toote for some.

    The Minotaur''s bloody eyes shot wide open and it began to move. Smoke engulfed the monster''s body, the water ropes quickly evaporated into thin air, and the Minotaur''s legs stomped out of the crater it had been halfway buried into, ignoring the injuries spread all over its body.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur looked over to Michael for a second before it charged toward the closest Cavalry rider, its empty fist smashing downward, mercilessly crushing the Cavalry Rider''s head.

    However, the monster didn''t stop at that.

    No, it was just the beginning.

    The Minotaur''s fist continued to punch downward. And as a result, the Cavalry Rider''s body was squashed and the spine of the Battlehorse beneath snapped as well.

    Only when the miserable cry of the dying Battlehorse rang through the Untamed Jungle did the Minotaur''s fist stop delivering lethal blows.

    It looked over to Michael once again, its body covered with ck smoke and bloody eyes staring menacingly at him.

    And at that moment, Michael realized one thing with jarring rity.

    Hell was about to descend!!

 Chapter 143 Burning Life

    Monsters didn''t have Unique Racial abilities under normal circumstances. Racial abilities were something only highly intelligent lifeforms could attain.

    Even then, the chances of having one were extremely low. Humans, for example, weren''t born with Unique Racial abilities. On the other hand, all Lionhearts were born with the innate ability to manifest and control mes.

    But the Blood-eyed Minotaur was different. Even if the Blood-eyed Minotaur was on the same level as intelligent races, it shouldn''t have been born with a Unique Racial ability!

    That was why Michael and the others never thought that the Minotaur might have manifested a Unique Racial ability. At most, they had considered the possibility of the Minotaur going Berserk and thought of a few strategies but that was already it.

    Berserk was a rare ability a Minotaur could use as long as it met certain requirements. However, Berserk was not an ability that initiated a transformation. It wouldn''t change the color of the Minotaur''s hide to a deadly crimson, or make the Minotuar''s body exude ck smoke.

    The Unique Racial ability utilized by the Blood-eyed Minotaur was something different, it was something far more dangerous ¨C something Michael and the others never expected to encounter while fighting the Minotaur.

    Burning Life- a Unique Racial Ability that provides a tremendous amount of power if utilized properly.

    It turned the injuries all over a berserker''s body into power by depriving the user of his ability to sense pain. The more injured the user was, the more lethal the granted power, and the stronger the pain immunity.

    At the same time, Burning Life turned overwhelmingly negative emotions such as pure hatred and wrath into power bybining the user''s life force with the overflowing emotions before they would be converted into energy. The energy would be used to transform the user''s body into an existence of immense power.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur exuded ck smoke from all over its body as it looked menacingly at Michael. It expelled the tincture that had spread through its body and nullified its effect easily.

    However, that was not something Michael could pay any attention to right now. The disfigured corpse of a Cavalry Rider was lying right next to the Blood-Eyed Minotaur. Blood was sttered everywhere, and the mashed head of the young Cavalry Rider fell to the ground with a thud.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur''s menacing smile widened. It sneered and shed the battle-axe at the dying Battlehorse, thrashing it viciously as more blood sttered through the surrounding area. However, neither Michael nor the Blood-eyed Minotaur paid any attention to that.

    Michael dashed ahead with full speed and uncontroble anger gleaming in his eyes.

    Yet, before he could even cross a distance of more than five meters, the Blood-eyed Minotaur had already reacted. It tilted its battle-axe to squeeze it through the gap between the ground and the Battlehorse''s corpse, lift it up, and used some strength to throw the brutally thrashed horse at Michael.

    One moment, Michael was able to see the Blood-eyed Minotaur clearly, the next moment a severed horse shot toward him like a cannonball.

    Michael had to move quickly. He dispersed Seron Voulge and dived to the side, and rolled on the ground to jump up again.

    His head flicked to the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s previous position and Seron Voulge manifested in his hands once again. However, the Blood-eyed Minotaur was gone.

    Screams of terror and groans of pain to his right informed him about the Minotaur''s new position. A group of Warriors and Vanguards were fighting valiantly against the Minotaur. But before they knew it, their bodies were sliced apart and their intestines ripped out of their mangled bodies.

    They copsed to the ground and died miserably in the next following seconds. But the Minotaur didn''t pay any more attention to them.

    It was faced with the Heavy Armored Elephant, which charged at the Minotaur at full speed. The Minotaur was toote to twist the heavy battle-axe and behead the Heavy Armored Elephant. However, it could still react in time to not get brutally injured.

    The Minotaur released its battle-axe and grasped the Heavy Armored Elephant''s tusks, epting the charge head-on.

    The 13-ton-heavy Elephant mmed its body hard upon its opponent, pushing the Blood-eyed Minotaur a few steps backward. But the Heavy Armored Elephant couldn''t overpower the Minotaur anymore. Instead, the Heavy Armored Elephant''s charge was forcefully slowed down.

    Tiny, spider web-like cracks spread across the Heavy Armored Elephant''s sturdy tusks as the Blood-eyed Minotaur utilized more of the strength that coursed through its bulging muscles to halt the charge of the Heavy Armored Elephant forcefully.

    The power surging through the Blood-eyed Minotaur after it used Burning Life was terrifying. It was high enough to show everyone in Michael''s army how powerful a Tier-2 Monster could be.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Minotaur threw the Heavy Armored Elephant aside and was about to use its battle-axe to slice the Elephant apart when it realized that its weapon had disappeared. It faintly recalled having let go of it, but the battle-axe was nowhere to be seen.

    And now it saw a woman covered in whitish-silver fur standing where the battle-axe should have been lying. A long striped tail swished behind the woman as she spun a silver spear around her body. She moved with grace, and it seemed like she was not serious at all. But the wild pressure she radiated, and the energy surging through her body indicated the opposite.

    Tiara was one of the first to realize the transformation of the Blood-eyed Minotaur, but she couldn''t do anything to stop it from urring. They didn''t expect the Minotaur to be able to use Burning Life.

    It was nobody''s fault.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t mean the corpses would regain their vigor and stand up again.

    The soldiers, whom she had trained for weeks, had been killed with a single attack. She couldn''t even react in time to block the Minotaur''s battle axe as it arced through the air, cutting armor, flesh, and bones like a hot knife slicing through butter.

    Even if she had been able to react in time, she wouldn''t have been able to block the attack. Instead, Tiara would have turned into another corpse.

    It was their great fortune that the Heavy Armored Elephant charged at the Minotaur fearlessly and that the Minotaur let go of the battle-axe at the same time. This allowed Tiara to act swiftly, pick up the battle-axe and store it inside her War Rune''s storage space. Then, she initiated n G and activated her Soultraits.

    Now was not the time to hesitate anymore.

    Her physique and presence changed the moment she activated her Soultriats. Bloodlust glinted brightly in her eyes, and her wild instincts surfaced. Slowly, she lost control of her reasoning and rationality. The only thought left in her mind was her uncontroble desire to tear apart the Minotaur.

    Everyone was struck with fear when the Minotaur killed several warriors and two Vanguards with a single sh. However, now that Tiara made her move, the warriors regained some of their wavering confidence.

    They began to move as well and surrounded the Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    Even if it was terrifyingly powerful, Burning Life should have increased its Agility and Strength in exchange for terrifyingly high consumption of energy, Stamina, and a decrease in its defense.

    The Minotaur''s body was searing hot and so was the ck smoke the monster exuded, but it still had several injuries all over its body. No matter how resistant one was to pain, if the body was on the brink of destruction due to too many lethal injuries, one would copse.

    The Minotaur was still a living being, and not a machine, after all!

    Michael was also on the move, and so was everyone else. The Archers and Crossbowmen released their projectiles in an attempt to worsen the Minotuar''s injuries, but the searing hot ck smoke repelled most projectiles.

    Meanwhile, the Earth Mage and the Water Elemental Mages began to move as well. They began chanting the incarnation for their higher-ranked Spells.

    The Berserker and Knights stepped forward as well. They stood by Tiara''s side and waited patiently next to their Commander to charge forward into the battle once themand rang out.

    Fear glimmered in their eyes, and they could barely control their trembling bodies, but they were ready.

    Tiara bent down to the ground, the finger bones of one of her hands cracking as ws grew out of the tips of her fingers. They dug deep into the ground in front of her as she looked up at her opponent.

    Tiara lowered her body closer to the ground, imitating the stance of a ferocious tiger, while pressing the silver spear against her side.

    The Minotaur reciprocated her movements. It lowered its head, its hooves pawing across the wet soil.

    Then the two ferocious opponents charged at each other.

 Chapter 144 Tigress Tiara

    Burning Life was a terrifyingly strong Unique Racial ability, but it came with severe repercussions as well.

    Activating Burning Life would put the user in a weakened state. The weakened state would be proportional to the increase in strength Burning Life had provided when it was still in effect.

    Despite the weakened effect, the power Burning Life could provide was terrifying.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur gained enough brute strength to stop the Heavy Armored Elephant''s charge and throw it to the side using its bare hands and brute force.

    But even an existence with such a terrifying brute strength couldn''t get hold of Tiara!

    The Battle Maid from the Silverfang Tigerfolkhad transformed into a ferocious and nimble Tiger-like existence. Faint strands of hair had grown all over her skin. It was silverish-white and looked like fur. Her eyes had turned into the sharp eyes of a tiger, and Michael could swear that he heard the sound of breaking bones from Tiara''s direction.

    She moved around nimbly, using her unique movement patterns, with which some of them were already familiar ¨C including Michael.

    In one moment, Tiara dashed to the left at full speed, the next moment something burst out from within her, allowing Tiara to change her trajectory without losing the slightest bit of momentum. The way she could leverage the ability to move around and change her trajectory without losing momentum allowed her to evade the attacks of the superior Minotaur.

    The Blood-Eyed Minotaur was twice as fast, maybe even faster, and much stronger after it used Burning Life. Despite that, the Minotaur was not able to get hold of Tiara.

    This was not only owed to Tiara''s impable movement pattern and unique powers, but mostly thanks to thebined efforts of the Elemental Mages, and everyone else present.

    Everyone tried to aid Tiara to stall for more time. Every second counted while they thought of a way to kill the mighty beast!

    Michael appeared next to her at one point as well. He knew that he was not really helpful, but he could still utilize the Spirit Whip Soultrait. Spirit Whip, strengthened with Lesser Enhancement, could cause considerable damage. Despite not being as lethal as a 1-Star Soultrait with low consumption, Michael didn''t underestimate the power Spirit Whip could generate.

    He conjured five Spirit Whips simultaneously and intertwined them to create one big Spirit Whip. Each Spirit Whip was strengthened by Lesser Enhancement, which further increased the power of the braided Spirit Whip he had created.

    The Spirit Whipshed out several times. The impact was hard and it weighed heavily on the Blood-eyed Minotaur. It struggled for a moment, which provided the otherbatants an opportunity to strike. Everyone in the closebat unit had already surrounded the Blood-eyed Minotaur, and they struck their opponent from all sides now.

    Michael initiated an attack with Seron Voulge as well. He was the second strongest warrior in the territory, and his attack should be able to deliver considerable damage.

    If it was yesterday, Michael would have been confident to announce that he was the strongest in his territory. He had four Soultraits, and three of them could be used forbat. Even though Tiara''s degree of refinement was higher than Michael''s, he had been certain that he could overpower her using his Soultraits.

    Unfortunately, that turned out to be nothing more than a daydream. Michael realized atst that Tiara was much stronger than he thought ¨C she had never revealed her full power before.

    Herbat prowess was even higher than it had been when they fought the Lionheart Adventurer group.

    Michael was certain that she had given her all in that fight, yet the power she exuded in front of the Blood-eyed Minotaur was clearly stronger.

    ''Who the hell are you?'' Michael shouted in his mind, confused and unsure why his personal maid was so powerful and mysterious.

    With no time to think about something else than the fight ahead, Michael''s Seron Voulge pierced through the smoking crimson hide of the Blood-eyed Minotaur. He cut deeply, twisted the de in the wound, and pulled out his de the next moment.

    Afterward, he retreated immediately. The Blood-eyed Minotaur might have been affected by the braided Spirit Whip, and Tiara''s relentless distraction, but the Minotaur was neither weak nor stupid.

    Michael feared that the Minotaur would do something crafty once too many people dared to get into its range.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His fear couldn''t be more true.

    The moment more than ten people reached the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s range, it shot to the side, both arms lunging forward like vicious pythons. One hand grasped a Warrior''s head, while the other hand grabbed the Berserker''s chest.

    The head was squashed mercilessly while the Berserker was used as a projectile. The Minotaur flung the Berserker across the battlefield and it smacked hard against a few Warriors, who were clearly too slow to react in time.

    And just like that fivebatants were rendered unable to continue fighting but the Minotaur was not yet done.

    The moment the Blood-eyed Minotaur began to move again, chaos descended onto the battlefield. Several Warriors charged fearlessly at the monstrosity, but it didn''t even cast a sideward nce at the oing attackers.

    The Minotaur clenched its fists and executed several high-velocity punches. The Warriors slumped down like sacs of potatoes and didn''t even twitch forget about getting up and attacking it.

    "PRIESTESS, get moving!!" Michael shouted at the top of his lungs.

    The young Priestess had yet to move since the Blood-eyed Minotaur began wreaking havoc, and Michael couldn''t leave her like that anymore. She was a Priestess, someone who was supposed to help the injured and prevent unnecessary deaths.

    She may only be a young Priestess without much experience, but she was a 2-Star Summon, and they had various potions at their disposal. As long as she did not freeze in shock and began moving, many lives could be saved from the Grim Reaper''s merciless soul-reaping scythe.

    Michael''s gaze lingered on the Priestess for a moment. That was all she took to start moving. The hair all over her body stood up on its end but she still ran straight towards the Berserker and the Warriors, whom she appraised and tended to.

    Meanwhile, Michael saw their 2-Star Summoner for the first time since the battle began. The Summoner had been chanting summoning spells for a few minutes straight by now. Sweat trickled down his tanned face and his back was drenched in cold sweat as well.

    ''How much longer do you need?'' Michael wanted to shout aloud, but he held back.

    The Summoner had already announced that his summoning incarnation would need his full attention and several minutes. He wanted to summon a Tier-1 Monster and require every bit of attention to do so. After all, he was only a Late Tier-0 Summoner right now.

    Controlling a Tier-1 Monster wasn''t that easy!

    Michael was not sure how a single Tier-1 Monster would help them against the Minotaur, but the confidence in the Summoner''s eyes at that time told him that he could trust his subject.

    ''Hurry up and show me how strong you are, Summoner!'' Michael shouted in his mind.

    He turned back to the battlefield and rushed forward. A braided Spirit Whip appeared in front of him again, and itshed out at the Blood-eyed Minotaur the moment he reached its range.

    The second Spirit Whip attack was less efficient than before. It looked like the Blood-eyed Minotaur was prepared this time to deflect it.

    Its arms shot toward Tiara, who evaded the attacks easily. The Blood-eyed Minotaur knew that it couldn''t catch Tiara that easily. Thus, its attack was merely a feint.

    It shot to the right, grasped two Spearmen, and smashed their hands against each other.

    Their skulls cracked and blood gushed out like a fountain.

 Chapter 145 Chaos

    Tiara was trying her best to distract the Blood-eyed Minotaur, but the intelligent monster had already taken note of her attempts. It used Tiara as a ything to make it seem as if it was fully focused on her while the exact opposite was actually the case.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur focused on Michael, his mental attacks, and the other ant-like opponents.

    The Spearmen, Warriors, and other 1-Star Summons weren''t even worth its attention. Only Michael and Tiara were at Tier-1. Thus, nobody would be capable of inflicting injuries on a 2-Star Monster like the Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    However, that was actually what was happening right now.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur couldn''t feel the pain caused by the minor injuries they inflicted, but it could clearly sense the resistance of its hide when the sharp des and projectiles impacted upon its body, and its flesh stopping the advance of the minority of attacks strong enough to pierce its hide.

    Fueled with anger and frustration, the Blood-Eyed Minotaur began to ughter the lowly ants that were daring enough to approach.

    Tiara fought with the Minotaur with all her might, and the others tried to help her desperately. But it was useless.

    The Warriors were picked up like toys and torn apart with brute force, or flung through the air, crashing into others or the trees like cannonballs.

    The damage caused by the Minotaur''s basic attacks was already extremely terrifying, yet it looked like the Blood-eyed Minotaur was just getting started.

    A single attack could injure severalbatants severely, or kill an individual quickly. It was terrifying.

    The Priestess did her best to contain herself, but she was shocked to the core. In the years she had lived as a young Elite Priestess, she had seen many bad things, but even she felt at a loss when one of the Assassins was impaled by one of the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s horns and pulled through the air.

    The Assassin''s horrified screams echoed through her ears as she ¨C and everyone else on the battlefield ¨C witnessed how theirrade was flung around and slowly torn apart from the insides.

    The Minotaur didn''t even seem to realize that it had impaled the Assassin as it continued to fling its head around and throw its fists. The Assassin''s insides were slowly torn apart as the gaping hole in the young man''s chest widened. At one point, his horrified screams grew more and more muffled and silent until they were no more.

    The Assassin stopped movingpletely. He was dead.

    Yet, even after the Assassin died, the Blood-eyed Minotaur didn''t seem to notice anything. It attacked the nearest opponent, whose head it squashed like a watermelon. The next opponent was torn apart mid-air, and another was flung through the air like a deadweight.

    Atst, Michael''s subjects stopped and nobody dared to approach the Blood-eyed Minotaur anymore to fight head-on. But that did not mean they had given up already. The Water Elemental Mage hadbined her spell with the Earth Elemental Mage to create a mud field around the Minotaur''s hooves.

    It restricted the Minotaur''s movements and speed, but the effectiveness was not exceptional.

    Icarus and Iglisis attacked the Blood-eyed Minotaur from behind. Their dive was sudden and their eleration terrific.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur noticed them but the Elemental Mages controlled their mud-field spell precisely. They released two pirs of mud from the ground. The pir engulfed the Minotaur''s arms, slowing down the monster effectively.

    Utilizing the opportunity, Icarus'' talons pierced through the Minotaur''s damaged left eye, drawing a line of blood, while Iglisis pierced his shortswords deep into the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s back.

    A flood of ck smoke burst out of the Minotaur''s body when Iglisis'' swords pierced his back, and a terrifying roar reverberated through the vicinity. The weakestbatants lost their ability to move and breathe as the roar seemed to shake the deepest parts of their souls.

    For a moment, they weren''t sure if their territory could ovee this ordeal.

    Their death seemed to be inching towards them with every passing second, creeping closer to deliver the final blow.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The ck smoke burned some of Iglisis and Icarus'' feathers, forcing them to retreat immediately.

    One of Iglisis'' wings caught fire and began to smoke, but they extinguished the likelihood of a Demi-human getting burned to a crisp at once with a flood of water sshing all over Iglisis'' body as he returned to the canopy bridge.

    The temperature in the Minotaur''s vicinity increased drastically as the ck smoke engulfed the Blood-eyed Minotaur like a secondyer of hide.

    Overflowing with rage and power, the Blood-eyed Minotaur demolished the mud pirs. Meanwhile, the sodden mud field around its feet dried up, returning the Minotaur''s movements and speed back to its peak.

    In fact, the Blood-eyed Minotaur seemed faster than before. Its hooves kicked the ground and it shot toward the closest enemy at once.

    The monster''s armor had long since disappeared ¨C fallen to the ground after its armor burned to a cinder ¨C exposing the rippling muscles all over the Minotaur''s body.

    It appeared in front of Tiara, who was the only one left in its range ¨C other than Michael. However, instead of attacking it with its fists and attempting to defeat her with a single attack, the Blood-eyed Minotaur slowed down and tried to catch her first.

    After fighting Tiara for a while, it had realized that the young member of the Silverfang Tigerfolk was nimble, in perfect control of her body, and that the Tigress possessed a unique power with which she could execute unique movement patterns and change her direction with a terrifying speed.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur was intelligent enough toe up with a different tactic to deal with Tiara. It was overflowing with wrath and clearly influenced by the rage and power surging through its veins, but the Monster could still follow the simple tactic of catching her opponent before tearing her apart.

    Tiara noticed the change in the Minotaur''s strategy the moment it slowed down. She reacted at once and closed in. Her silver spear shimmered brightly, reflecting the afternoon sunlight straight into the unscathed eye of the Minotaur.

    The Minotaur instinctively shut its eyes close and backed off while one of its arms shot forward to shield its vision from the blinding light. However, it was already toote. A barrage of arrows whizzed through the air, and most of them found their designated target. A handful of them were repelled, but a few pierced through theyer of ck smoke and the crimson hide beneath.

    Following that, Michael, the Berserkers, and the Knights appeared around the Blood-eyed Minotaur. They issued various attacks and hacked at the ck smoke protectionyer before they could reach the Minotaur''s hide and flesh.

    Michael was the closest to the Minotaur so it heard him and kicked in his direction. However, Micahel twisted his body at such an awkward angle that his bones creaked but he managed to avoid turning into the Minotaur''s ything.

    The Minotaur''s leg missed Michael by a hair''s breadth, but Michael didn''t even realize that anymore.

    Seron Voulge pierced forward, digging the lengthy de deep into one of the many wounds all over the Minotaur''s chest.

    He twisted the de inside the Minotaur, and pulled it down with all his might, worsening the injury tremendously.

    The Minotaur didn''t feel any pain, yet it stared menacingly at him when it opened its eyes.

    ''You don''t like that, huh?'' Michael thought to himself before driving the de deeper into the Minotaur''s body.

    But even then, the Minotaur didn''t move.

    It even turned its head to look at one of his hands.

    Subconsciously, Michael''s head turned to his left as well, and his eyes widened in terror.

    Tiara was dangling in the Minotaur''s grasp, wing the Minotaur in a desperate attempt to free herself.

 Chapter 146 Vengeful

    Atst, the Blood-eyed Minotaur did it. It caught Tiara just before retreating.

    The dazzling reflection of the silver spear hadn''t been enough to force the Minotaur to give up.

    The ck smoke engulfing the Minotaur burned Tiara''s fur as she continued to viciously w the Minotaur.

    She began to scream like a trapped beast, blood spurting out of her nose and ears, and her eyes turned bloody red.

    ''Fuck fuck fuck!!'' Michael screamed in his mind. He pulled out the Seron Voulge, ready to use every bit of strength inside his body to sever the Minotaur''s hand holding Tiara. However, Seron Voulge got stuck the next moment.

    The Minotaur''s other hand grasped Seron Voulge tightly while staring at Michael in amusement.

    It had been consumed with anger, and the desire to kill, but at this moment, the Minotaur''s entire being felt a sense of amusement.

    Seeing the reaction of the young man, and watching him struggle as he put more strength in the hand holding the Tigress filled him with a new feeling, something he hadn''t felt while destroying the Tier-2 Monster habitats ¨C excitement.

    Watching the young man''s struggle excited the Minotaur. It made him want to see more of his despair and to be able to watch the young man''s crumbling confidence and expression as he witnessed the desperate struggles of the Tigress and force him to see the spark of life leaving her eyes while he watched helplessly, unable to do anything.

    But, Michael was not going to let that happen, not when he could still breathe. He instinctively dematerialized Seron Voulge, inched closer to the Minotaur, and jumped high up in the air.

    With his muscles coiled and his heart beating wildly, he shot up. Michael''s target was the Minotaur''s unscathed eye. He hoped that the Minotaur would react instinctively and protect itsst unharmed eye. After all, it was fated to die the moment it lost both of its eyes. And when that happened, Michael and his people could retreat, wait for the Burning Life ability to wear off, and ughter the blind monster in its weakened state.

    But Michael miscalcted something. He didn''t expect the Minotaur to stare at him and smash its iron-like skull downward. It headbutted Michael, not with full force, but with a force strong enough to make him dizzy and make sure that he wouldn''t be able to do anything about what happened next.

    Michael felt like his skull was about to burst when the Minotaur headbutted him. His sight blurred for a few seconds and his mind went totally nk.

    Thest thing he remembered was that he smashed hard on the ground and blood was pouring down his face.

    As he regained hisposure several secondster, Michael''s head flicked upward. The Knights and Berserker had been pushed away. Some of their bones were broken, rendering them incapable of continuing the fight against the Minotaur.

    However, none of them was dead.

    The Minotaur felt it was high on adrenaline that was pumping in its body while watching Michael''s fear and desperation. It wanted to see him struggle more, watch him as he slowly lost his sanity at the death of his preciousrades and subjects.

    ''Fucking piece of shit!'' Michael screamed in his mind.

    He unleashed the braided Spirit Whip in its strongest form and whipped the Minotaur several times. The Minotaur responded by further tightening its grip over Tiara. She was scrambling against its body, trying to kick and w while gasping for air. A pain-driven squeal was all she could issue at this moment. Her movements were weak and all it required was a little bit more strength to break her neck. Yet, the Minotaur didn''t move. It watched Michael as he struggled to get up from the ground.

    ''They suffered enough¡­I¡­I cannot¡­''

    Michael''s mind was a mess. His head felt like it was on the verge of exploding and his vision was blurred. Blood covered his right eye and he could hardly move.

    However, he couldn''t give up. If he allowed the Minotaur to keep killing his people, it wouldn''t be over with Tiara. Tiara was just the beginning.

    Michael knew that he shouldn''t allow the Minotaur to keep going, but he was too weak.

    Just as Michael thought Tiara was taking herst breath, a terrifying scream rang through the surrounding area.

    The scream made Michael''s skin prickle with nervousness. It was filled with emotions and felt oddly weird when it reached Michael as if it didn''t belong to this realm.

    The scream originated from behind them, from the Summoner''s location.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Atst, the summoning circle had beenpleted, and a haunting figure had emerged out of it.

    A monster, mantled in darkness and d in tattered, ckened robes was now standing in front of them. Its eyes, hollow and malevolent, cast an eerie light on the bloody battlefield, while its semi-translucent skeletal hands stretched out toward the sky.

    Floating above the ground and exuding frosty, vengeful energy, the haunting figure seemed to be silencing all the sound around itself.

    As the haunting figure passed through the battlefield, a heavy gloom descended, and the atmosphere seemed to be screaming in terror and fright as ripples of energy could be seen with the bare eye.

    It seemed ethereal, distorting, and warping, as if caught between dimensions, unable to ascend into the afterlife, and banished from the mortal realms at the same time.

    The haunting figure, a Vengeful Ghost, represented the torment of the soul. Draped in darkness, it infused a sense of despair in the skin, flesh, and bones of those, who were brave, or stupid enough to stare at it.

    ''Oh my¡­'' Michael nearly screamed aloud as he recognized the existence the Summoner had manifested.

    A Vengeful Ghost, and an existence without a physical body. An existence that was far from being alive, but unable to leave the physical world due to the hatred and resentment that had corrupted its soul.

    Fighting such an existence unprepared would lead to the loss of sanity, at best, and the loss of one''s soul in the worst case.

    Such an existence ended up summoned and subdued, fighting on their side, against the Minotaur.

    Even though the Summoner couldn''t keep the Vengeful Ghost for a long time in the Origin Expanse, a short period was all they needed!

    The Summonermanded the Vengeful Ghost to attack the Minotaur, which it did immediately.

    As the Vengeful Ghost shot through the air like a semi-translucent bolt of lightning, the Minotaur felt danger approaching rapidly towards itself.

    The sense of danger was intense and affected the Minotaur''s mind immediately.

    Michael''s danger senses were tingling as well, but he trusted his subject and hoped that the Vengeful Ghost waspletely under the Summoner''s control.

    He manifested several braided Spirit Whips andshed out simultaneously.

    The Vengeful Ghost appeared above the Minotaur the next moment, and its gloomy pressure immediately affected the Minotaur, who was already in pain.

    Burning Life fueled its anger and physical strength but didn''t enhance the Minotaur''s mental power. In fact, it weakened the Minotaur''s willpower in exchange for the power the Unique Racial Ability granted.

    The Minotaur responded quickly. It let go of Tiara and kicked fiercely.

    Now that Tiara couldn''t satisfy him anymore, keeping her alive was of no meaning.

    Michael saw the glint in the Minotaur''s eyes and responded by pure instinct. He jumped ahead, took Tiara in his embrace, and held her tightly. Simultaneously, he unleashed the full power of his protection enchantment and strengthened both the protection of his Artifacts and the protection enchantments with Lesser Enhancement.

    Yet, even after doing everything he could to protect himself, Michael felt as if his entire body was breaking apart the moment the Minotaur''s kick impacted.

    Atst, Michael thought he heard the sound of cracking bones.

    The next moment he was flung through the air before he couldunch a counterattack.

    Meanwhile, the Minotaur began to struggle against the Vengeful Ghost.

 Chapter 147 Escape

    Michael and Tiara were flung through the air and crashed hard against a nearby tree.

    His breath hitched, and Michael gasped for air while also trying to ignore the pain that spread through his entire body.

    He opened his eyes wide and looked at Tiara. Her neck was bruised and she had difficulties breathing. She was weak and her body was shivering as he held onto her tightly.

    ''She''s still alive¡­good,'' Michael thought, sighing in relief.

    He got up from the ground with some difficulty and picked her up from the ground.

    His eyes flicked once to the Minotaur, who was struggling against the Vengeful Ghost''s spiritual attacks, and briefly held the Priestess'' gaze.

    "Make sure she survives!" Michael ordered sternly before manifesting the Siltang Bow once again.

    Since the Vengeful Ghost was ying the role of an immortal vanguard, Michael didn''t have to approach the Minotaur to deal more damage.

    He used bits of energy to conjure an arrow before he drew back the bowstring. With no pressure around him, Michael had enough time to aim precisely before he released the arrow.

    The arrow made a beautiful arc through the air before it hit its target. It pierced the Minotaur''s chest ¨C exactly where Michael''s Seron Voulge had caused considerable damage.

    The other Archers, the Crossbowmen, and the Mages released one projectile after another to attack the Minotaur, slowly wearing down their opponent.

    It may not be able to feel pain, but it could still bleed to death.

    Overflowing with adrenaline, Michael could ignore the pain all over his body as well. He was tired and a mess, but he knew that he couldn''t stop before the Minotaur died. It had to be defeated ¨C today.

    After the Vengeful Ghost had been summoned to the Origin Expanse for exactly 150 seconds, it screamed out loudly. It turned to the pale Summoner and screamed in anger and resentment. The next moment, it disappeared, just like the summoning circle that brought the Vengeful Ghost to the Origin Expanse.

    Michael''s first reaction was a deep frown. Now that the Vengeful Ghost was no more, they had nobody to use as a vanguard against the Minotaur.

    However, it was at the same instance that Michael noticed something about the Minotaur.

    ''Is it emitting less ck smoke than before?'' He first mused to himself, until the realization struck him hard, ''Brown hide!!''

    The Minotuar''s crimson hide was slowly reverting back to its original brown color! Meanwhile, the ck smoke was about to dispersepletely.

    Burning Life''s effect had worn off, and the Blood-eyed Minotaur was about to enter a weakened state!

    Coincidentally, both Michael and the Blood-eyed Minotaur noticed at the same time that its Burning Life abilitypletely wore off.

    Slowly, the sensation of pain returned ¨C and the Minotaur felt like it was burning in hell. It had sustained hundreds of minor, and dozens of serious injuries during thest ten minutes, but the pain reached the Minotaur in its full force only now.

    The moment it noticed that its immense power had been drained, and pain spread through every cell in its body, the Minotaur threw ast nce at Michael.

    Afterward, it turned around and ran with all its might.

    The brutal monstrosity, which had traumatized everyone on the battlefield, fled. It ran for its dear life instead of attacking them!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael couldn''t really believe it either. He stared nkly at the departing Minotaur, his eyes shot wide open in shock.

    He spent a second or two regaining hisposure. His eyes moved across the battlefield, and he clenched his fists tightly.

    Everyone was either drained, in a state of shock, injured with broken bones as the lightest injuries, or they were dead. Nobody was full of energy at this point.

    However, Michael knew that he shouldn''t allow the Minotaur to escape, recuperate and return. Too many loyal subjects had valiantly fought to wear down the Minotaur, and Michael didn''t want to repeat the same procedure once again. It would be a great loss to let the Minotaur flee like this.

    "Good job, everyone. Tend to your wounds, and help yourrades. Don''t let anyone die!" Michaelmanded as loud as he could before he turned over to Icarus.

    The Greater Eagle sensed his gaze, and it subconsciously dived down from the canopy bridge.

    "Let''s follow the Minotaur. We''ll finish it for good!" Michael said as he jumped up on Icarus'' back.

    Icarus was also traumatized due to the Minotuar''s greatbat prowess and terrifying brute force, but it could also tell that the Minotaur''s presence weakened considerably after its hide reverted to its original color.

    He screeched loudly in agreement and shot through the air. They tore through the canopy of trees and reached the sky. Both subconsciously stared into the sky to make sure that there was no mythical serpent waiting for them before Icarus dashed in the direction the Minotaur had run off.

    It might have been a subconscious decision, but the Minotaur charged straight outside the Untamed Jungle. Michael and Icarus had a hard time pinpointing the Minotaur''s exact location through the canopy of trees, but flying high up in the air was the easiest way to pursue the Minotaur silently.

    In fact, the Minotaur couldn''t afford to pay any attention to potential pursuers in its current state. It was already on the verge of death, and it was only a matter of time until it would bleed to death ¨C if nobody was to tend to its wounds.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur continued to run even after it broke through the thicket of the Untamed Jungle. It reached the ins bordering the Untamed Jungle and continued running. The weakened Minotaur slowed down with every minute that passed, but it never stopped running.

    Half an hour after it reached the ins, Michael noticed something further ahead. He had been following the weakened Minotaur from above and would have continued to do so, if not for the ripples of energy spreading through the area in front of him.

    The ripples were hard to perceive, but they were there. Michael didn''t dare to order Icarus to fly through the ripples at first. Yet, when he saw the Minotaur pass through the energy ripples and disappear suddenly, he began to understand something.

    ''Invisible Dome?'' He mused before he dared to test it out. He pushed one of his hands through the energy ripples, only to see that his hand seemed to have disappeared.

    Michael retracted his hand, and he could see it again.

    Driven by curiosity, and the desire to kill the weakened Minotaur, Michael ordered Icarus to fly through the energy ripples.

    They passed through the energy ripples and disappeared from the ins ¨C or so it seemed for everyone outside the barrier.

    ''It''s just like an invisible dome, but it feels different. There is no device empowering the barrier.'' Michael noted after he passed through the invisibility barrier. The barrier felt eerily natural. It was certainly different from an artificially manifested dome of protection.

    In fact, it felt simr to the protection barrier given to Rookie Lords. The effects of the barriers were different but they both felt and looked very natural.

    It was very interesting, but even more so were the three tents on the ground, and the fact that six Adventurers were standing around the weakened Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    ''Found you, bastards!!''

 Chapter 148 Mission

    Michael had to use his entire willpower to control himself.

    Seeing the Adventurers standing around the weakest Minotaur made his blood boil. He instinctively knew that they were on the same side as the Minotaur.

    The Monster copsed on the ground the moment it saw the six Adventurers as if finally relieved to be with them..

    Michael wanted to retrieve the Siltang Bow and shoot them all, but he knew that he shouldn''t do that, not yet at least. He didn''t know if the six Adventurers were the only perpetrators, or if there were more of them somewhere else.

    Additionally, Michael had yet to find out why the Adventurers used the Minotaur to invade the Untamed Jungle, in the first ce. The Minotaur massacred the Tier-2 Monster habitats, but it never paid attention to their corpses.

    Plundering the Untamed Jungle didn''t seem to be their final goal. In that case, what did they want?

    Michael''s head was buzzing as Icarus circled above the tents. He shook his head and Michael closed his eyes to concentrate. Next, he circted origin energy through his ears and used Lesser Enhancement in an attempt to increase his hearing sense as well.

    "Didn''t you say that the Minotaur would be strong enough to finish the mission? Why to Kanekul''s beard is the Minotaur in such a state then?!" One of the six Adventurers, a Destors, asked loudly.

    Destors were a very emotional race. They were driven by their emotions and couldn''t control themselves properly. They were purple-skinned and had scales on their bodies which they could control at their will. Destors were born with great physical strength and two pairs of arms. They wererger than humans but had a simr physique.

    "Calm down, will you? Control your energy barrier, and keep your mouth shut while I stop the Minotaur''s internal bleeding," The only Zantur in the group of six Adventurers said sharply.

    He broke into a sweat while utilizing his Soultrait to tend to the weakened Minotaur''s internal wounds.

    Fortunately, the Destors didn''t say anything else. He kept his mouth shut as told even if his eyes seemed to be shootingsers at the Zantur.

    "It lost its Battle-axe and the Armor Set as well. Looks like it encountered something much stronger than we researched," A woman added. She was the only female in the group, and also a Destors.

    The group of Adventurers consisted of six people- two Destors, one Zantur, one Jew, and two more Lionhearts.

    However, there was a distinct difference between the two Lionhearts and the rest. They didn''t say anything about the Minotaur''s condition. Instead, one of them looked impatiently at the group of four Adventurers, while the other one nced at his brethren every few seconds.

    It looked like some silentmunication had urred between them through their gazes.

    "What are we even doing here? We''re just wasting our time and resources¡­" The Jew suddenly said out loud. He looked at the Minotaur and shook his head in denial.

    It hadn''t been easy to raise the Minotaur, forget about the training and equipment.

    "Shut up, and do what you''ve been paid for!" One of the Lionhearts growled.

    ''They don''t seem like a team. Are the Lionhearts their clients? No, the Lionheart on the left is being subjected to res by the others even though it was the Lionheart on the right who''s acting aloof!'' Michaelprehended, his eyes now open and staring intently at the group.

    He had activated Eagle Eyes to get a good look at the six adventurers on the ground, and he grew quite interested.

    ording to his understanding, the male Destors was in charge of the invisibility barrier. It was probably rted to his Soultrait. On the other hand the Zantur possessed a healing Soultrait. The female Destors was more concerned about the lost armaments, and there wasn''t much to figure out about the Jew.

    The Jew wielded a wand and was probably some sort of a Mage with a rted Soultrait. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Only the timid Lionheart seemed to care about the Minotaur''s well-being.

    ''Is he a Tamer? He is timid, but his War Rune has the highest degree of refinement. His War Rune is being refined right now as well. Did he obtain arge influx of energy recently? But there are no monsters near¨C....'' Michael was deep in thought when he recalled something Heran, the Lesser Tamer, told him a while ago.

    [Some Tamers are extremely powerful because of the bond they can create with their tamed monsters. It is said that they receive a small portion of their tamed monster''s energy influx when it kills a monster!]

    Heran''s words kept echoing through his mind repetitively. At first, the words didn''t seem to be rted to the current situation, and Michael was about to disperse them. But the realization struck him before he could disperse these thoughts.

    His expression worsened drastically, and pure hatred emerged in them. He was on the verge of bursting apart.

    ''That bastard is using the energy share left behind by my subjects to refine his War Rune!!!''

    Ordinary Monsters weren''t able to absorb the energy influx released by the lifeforms they killed of the Origin Expanse. They had a Monster Core in which they could absorb the raw origin energy in their surroundings. The energy influx was too pure for the vast majority of monsters. However, tamed Monsters were slightly different.

    Michael had noticed that to be the case with the Heavy Armored Elephant and Icarus. Whenever Icarus killed a monster, Icarus''s Monster Core received a small portion of the energy influx. Simultaneously, Michael received his energy share through their Link of Loyalty.

    The same seemed to apply to the timid Lionheart and the Blood-eyed Minotaur. The Minotaur grew stronger by massacring the Tier-2 Monster habitats, and the Lionheart received a small energy share through their link as its Tamer.

    That also meant the Lionheart used the energy share the Minotaur had procured from killing Michael''s subjects. That thought made him lose his mind. He wanted to jump down to the ground and beat the shit out of the Lionheart.

    However, he held back knowing that he had to gather more information first.

    ''The aggressive Lionheart mentioned ''pay''. Did he hire them to attack the Tier-2 Monster habitats? If so, why would he do that?"

    None of the five Adventurers dared to say anything after their pay was mentioned, and the information Michael could gather was negligible.

    He found out that the five Adventurers were a team that had formed only recently. They weren''t strong by any means, yet their Soultriatsplemented each other. All they needed was a powerful force amidst them to tie them all together. This core turned out to be the Blood-eyed Minotaur, who was now in a weakened state.

    ''If you guys are unwilling to provide more information¡­I won''t be able to hold back anymore¡­'' Michael told himself, holding onto thest strands of willpower to restrict himself.

    However, his entire being was filled with pain and agony. When two more Links of Loyalty tore apart ¨C indicating the death of two more loyal subjects ¨C Michael finally snapped.

    He couldn''t control his rage anymore.

    Michael retrieved a bunch of potions, which he consumed at once. He then manifested the Siltang Bow Artifact in his hand and condensed an energy arrow. Afterward, Lesser Enhancement came into effect, enhancing his Artifacts considerably.

    Michael didn''t have much energy left in his body, but he couldn''t care less about that at this point. The only thought that permeated his mind was the desire to kill the Minotaur and the other perpetrators to quell his anger and avenge his subjects.

    By now, the reasons why they attacked the Untamed Jungle didn''t matter anymore. His people died because of those jerks, and they didn''t deserve to stay alive even for a minute.

    Their fate was sealed, and he was going to deliver it to them, once and for all.

 Chapter 149 Senator

    Nobody had taken notice of Michael and Icarus even after they had been circling above them for quite a while now.

    The Adventurers beneath them were too focused on listening to their client and tending to the wounds of the weakened Blood-eyed Minotaur.

    Michael knew that the element of surprise was on his side, and he made full use of that.

    He nned his attack within seconds and started right after by drawing the bowstring back. The first arrow was released in the next second.

    After the first arrow was released, Michael had to move fast. He released several arrows in quick session while Icarus dived down to the ground.

    Surprised by the sudden attack, the Adventurers were just a moment toote to react. The Zantur and the Jew had already been hit in their chest and eye when the others stared upward in confusion to see Michael and Icarus dive down.

    By the time they manifested their weapons, the female Destors had already been killed.

    Icarus smashed into the ground without slowing down. The Greater Eagle crashed onto the male Destors'' body to absorb the impact and used it to soften the blow. As a result, a few of his bones cracked and Icarus screeched out in pain. He knew that one of his talons broke but it was certainly worth it. The Destors was momentarily incapable of moving, which provided Michael enough time to rece the Siltang Bow with Seron Voulge and thrust the curved de through the Destors'' head.

    Four enemies had been killed in the course of a single attack, but Michael and Icarus were not yet done.

    Michael pulled Seron Voulge out of the Destors'' head before he began moving again. He used Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement before throwing Seron Voulge at the weakened Blood-eyed Minotaur. The bleeding all over its body had barely stopped when Seron Voulge''s long de prated deep into its chest, worsening its injuries.

    Michael jumped down to the ground, while Icarus shot toward the Tamer Lionheart.

    Icarus might not have been part of Michael''s subjects for a long time, but it had grown attached to Tiara, and everyone else in the territory''s small army. Witnessing the death of the people he had grown attached to wasn''t nice nor was the trauma caused by the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s tremendous power.

    The Minotaur might be in a weakened state now, but it had been terrifying, shocking the Greater Eagle to the bones.

    It wanted to take revenge, but Michael was already dealing with the Minotaur. Thus, the next target was obviously the Tamer of the Blood-eyed Minotaur!

    Screeching loudly, Icarus charged at the timid Tamer and began to tear him apart, using his talons and razor-sharp beak.

    Meanwhile, Michael emerged in front of the weakened Minotaur. Seron Voulge had impaled the Minotaur. The Monster was already at death''s door so Michael''s attack simply sealed the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s fate. It didn''t even retain enough strength to reach out for Michael when he stood less than two meters away from the beast.

    Michael grasped Seron Voulge''s shaft, twisted the curved de in the Minotaur''s body, and dragged the weapon downward, ripping the insides of the Minotaur.

    The Blood-eyed Minotaur''s body was in a weakened state. Even the resistance of the Minotuar''s hide and flesh seemed to have been affected. The razor-sharp curved de cut cleanly through the Minotaur, nearly splitting the monster in two.

    Michael would have loved to torture the Minotaur a little longer and witness its miserable death, but he was also aware that the battle had yet to end.

    Revenge was not over just yet!

    Hence, he pulled Seron Voulge out of the Minotaur''s body and turned around.

    Icarus was viciously tearing the Lionheart Tamer apart. The timid Lionheart was physically stronger than Icarus, but the Greater Eagle was heavier and more ferocious. The Lionheart could only protect his face and hope that the Greater Eagle''s attack would end soon.

    Meanwhile, Michael dashed forward, spinning Seron Voulge around his body. He elerated rapidly, gained momentum, and shed Seron Voulge across the Lionheart''s throat, beheading the Tamer at once.

    Icarus shot in the air a moment before Michael''s attack reached the Lionheart Tamer. He wanted to torture the Tamer a little longer, but it was not as if the Lionheart Tamer was thest enemy.

    There was still one more Lionheart left to attack and kill.

    The Lionheart, who had been shouting at the Adventurer team a minute ago, had gonepletely silent. He didn''t look scared. Instead, his gaze was filled with curiosity and a trace of disbelief.

    "So, that''s how it is?" The Lionheart mumbled after a few seconds. It looked like he had finally gained some understanding of the situation, "You are a Lord in the Untamed Jungle, aren''t you? By any chance, did you encounter a group of Lionheart Adventurers in the Untamed Jungle before?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Lionheart could see the scars and remnants of healing burns all over Michael''s head and arms. It wasn''t easy to see them, but the Lionheart had great eyes and an exceptional understanding of the Lionheart race''s fire affinity. He didn''t have to be a genius to conclude that Michael''s burns had been caused by something hot enough to burn his hair and skin.

    Michael coldly stared at the Lionheart without saying anything, but that was enough of a response for the Lionheart, who began to smile.

    "Let''s join forces. How about it?"

    The Lionheart stretched his hand out while his smile widened.

    "What about your friends over there? You surely want to take revenge, don''t you?" Michael asked, neither sounding friendly nor enraged. His voice was devoid of emotions.

    The Lionheart burst intoughter when he heard what Michael said.

    "Friends? These idiots were merely my tools. I used them to search the Untamed Jungle for something. However, now that the Lord of the Untamed Jungle appeared in front of me, I don''t need them anymore. You just helped me get rid of some annoying pests. I should thank you," He said, still chuckling.

    Michael raised an eyebrow, but he didn''t say anything for a while.

    "You are a weird one," Michael finally said after a full minute of utter silence had passed.

    The Lionheart knew about the Lionheart Adventurer team, and about the existence of a Lord in the Untamed Jungle. It was only obvious, but it would be best if he killed the Lionheart standing in front of him as well. Many problems could be solved, or postponed that way.

    The Lionheart should know that as well. Yet why did he seem so confident?

    "I can tell what you''re thinking about. It''s actually nothing special. I work for Senator Keltos, just like the Leader of the Lionheart Adventurer Team, whom you''ve killed I presume. My rank is higher than that idiot, so having killed him is not a big deal. It''s fine¡­as long as you join me. You''ll be rewarded generously if you help meplete Senator Keltos'' mission!"

    Senator Keltos was one of the Senators in the Zentika Empire''s Congress. Michael recalled having read something about him in one of the books he had purchased in the Rainbow Koi Shop. Senator Keltos was one of the Senior Senators, a powerhouse, and a highly influential Lord. He was the Lord of arge territory in the Zentika Empire and a Lionheart.

    Yes, he was also a Lionheart.

    The corners of Michael''s lips curled upon hearing what the Lionheart said.

    "That sounds interesting," He answered, nodding his head faintly.

    However, his expression turned cold the next moment.

    The Lionheart''s mission was the reason his people died. Whether it was intentional or not, Michael didn''t care.

    He only cared about his people.

    They had been killed cruelly, and Michael wanted nothing more than revenge ¨Cplete revenge.

    Recalling the pained cries of his subjects, Michael''s grip tightened on his weapon. Seron Voulge gleamed dangerously, and the Lionheart noticed that something had gone wrong.

    He only saw that Michael''s lips parted as a dangerous glint emerged in his eyes.

    "But I don''t really care."

    Blood sshed like a fountain in the next moment, and a head flung through the air.

    [A/N: If you like the novel until here, feel free to leave a review. I appreciate every bit of support, whether it is through powerstones, golden tickers,ments, or reviews.

    If you want to join my discord for Illustrations of the characters, take a look at my profile!]

 Chapter 150 Last Wish

    "Looks like this Senator Keltos sent multiple people to search through the Untamed Jungle without attracting anyone''s attention. His interest in the Untamed Jungle is pretty high," Michael murmured quietly to himself.

    He recalled Lilica''s words and began to frown deeply.

    ''It is not only the Senator, but the rest of the Zentika Empire is looking for something as well! It''s just that Senator Keltos is more proactive¡­Are they looking for something else, or is it actually the Temple of the Forgotten they''re looking for?''

    One way or another, Michael figured that Senator Keltos was a piece of shit and that he wouldn''t receive much peace in his territory anytime soon. Even if he and his territory were now strong enough to survive the dangers of the Untamed Jungle''s outer region, his territory''s location was too close to the Zentika Empire.

    It would not take Adventurers much time to spot his territory while searching through the outer region and, they would end up in front of his territory sooner orter. It was located between the middle area of the Untamed Jungle, and the Zentika Empire, after all.

    ''What a hassle¡­''

    Michael was already dead-tired and on the verge of copsing, but more trouble seemed to unveil itself in front of him. He was in pain, and his head was aching horrifyingly ¨C especially the area headbutted by the Minotaur.

    Unfortunately, it was not the time to rest yet.

    His gaze moved over to Icarus'' talon and a sigh escaped his lips. One of Icarus'' talons twisted when the Greater Eagle had dived toward the ground. He was lucky that only a talon had twisted and that the Greater Eagle hadn''t broken his neck, but it was still a grave injury nheless.

    Thus, Michael retrieved a potion, unstoppered the lid, and made Icarus drink it. Then he stored the corpses spread around him in his War rune before he returned to the territory on Icarus'' back.

    The trip back to the territory was short. The atmosphere was gloomy, and nobody cheered like usual when he returned. However, it was not as if Michael expected them to be in a mood to celebrate.

    They had far more casualties than they could have hoped for, and that didn''t even include the number of injured.

    A little over two dozen people had died, and almost no melee fighter returned from the battlefield unscathed. The smallest injury was a broken leg.

    Meanwhile, the Mages had used too powerful spells to subdue the Minotaur, draining more origin energy than their body could hold or make use of. As a downside, they entered a state of magic overcharge, which sealed their ability to cast spells for several days.

    The Summoner had fallen unconscious from the bacsh he received after summoning a monster that was not only of a higher Tier than himself was, but also from a different realm.

    Then there were the Archers and other long-rangebat units. Their confidence waspletely shaken after witnessing how useless their attacks had been against the Minotaur. They were unstable after having been forced to watch theirrades and friends die at the hands of the Monster that they couldn''t kill.

    They hadn''t even been strong enough to seriously injure the Blood-eyed Minotaur. It was a shame.

    Last but not least, Tiara was seriously injured. She had to be tended to for the next few days until they could see whether she would be able to recuperate fully, or if she had sustained permanent injuries.

    That was a hard blow for Tiara and for everyone else.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Nobody was in a condition to fight anymore. The closebat units had to recuperate, and the long-rangebat units were in a bad mental state as well. They needed some time to digest what had happened and how to improve themselves so as to avoid a repeat of this incident at all costs. Their uselessness had led to the death of their friends and they med themselves for the massacre.

    Michael was not a therapist, but he could tell that everyone required some time off. This included himself as well. Fighting the Blood-eyed Minotaur had been an eye-opener for him and he realized with ring rity that he and his territory were still far too weak. They might have won the battle, but it didn''t feel like it. Their losses had been far too great.

    All in all, the potions the Master Alchemist had created in bulk werepletely used up after the battle with the Blood-eyed Minotaur. It was a stock that should havested for ten battles. Unfortunately, too many injuries had to be treated with great care.

    Once all the fallenrades'' bodies had been brought to the center of the clearing, a huge pyre was set up and ignited. Everyone stood solemnly in front of the pyre, their hands crossed and their heads bent low as they offered prayers to the departed. It was nothing special but it was the least Michael could do to wish a final goodbye to his loyal subjects who had fought valiantly.

    Michael looked like he was on the verge of copsing on the spot, but he ensured to give the fallen thest rites they deserved. Their souls were cleansed and they were given food as a tribute to ascend to heaven, fully satiated.

    Michael sensed that the Links of Loyalty of hundreds of subjects were growing firmer, but that was not his intention when he set up the memorial fire. He wanted to take care of the people, who had died to protect the territory.

    Before the corpses of his subjects were burned, Michael tested Extraction on the 2-Star Berserker, who died in battle today. He remembered the Berserker from a few days ago. Michael had asked his soldiers what they wanted to happen to their corpses if they were to die in battle at that time.

    Nobody really wanted to die, but they knew that the possibility was there.

    Michael recalled their simple wishes and one particr wish that had astonished him at that time. The 2-Star Berserker wished that Michael would use his corpse to experiment with his Soultrait on it. The Berserker wished to provide something for the territory even after he died in battle and had said that it would be his greatest honor.

    At that time, Michael had been quite surprised by the Berserker''s wish. He always thought that his subjects wouldn''t want to be touched by Extraction because they believed that their Soul shouldn''t be touched, or affected in any way after death.

    Michaelpletely understood and respected his subjects'' beliefs. He wouldn''t experiment with their corpses if they didn''t want him to. That was why the Berserker''s wish shocked Michael a little bit.

    Unfortunately, the Will of the Origin Expanse didn''t create any special drops for the summoned subjects under one''s control. The Berserker didn''t even drop a single Summoning Scroll Fragment after Extraction was used on him.

    ''Even if you cannot provide the territory with Summoning Scrolls, you did a great job. Thank you for allowing me to find out the limit of Extraction!'' Michael prayed in his heart.

    He didn''t know what happened to the souls of the deceased, especially subjects who had been resurrected once already, but he was not sure if he would like to find out more.

    Maybe, it was great that some mysterious things would stay a mystery forever. It retained the magic behind the unknown and allowed the living to hope and dream.

    He had a lot to do, but his body and mind didn''t allow him to stay awake.

    Michael stumbled into his room before he fell heavily on the bed.

    In the next moment, he found himself in a deep slumber.

 Chapter 151 Incomplete Soultrait

    Michael was disoriented when he woke up.

    The headache was still as bad as before, but Michael got up, nheless.

    He looked out of the window and noticed that it was already early in the morning.

    ''Did I sleep that long?'' Michael wondered before he took a quick bath and changed his clothes.

    He left his room after a light workout to examine his body and find out where he was the worst injured.

    After he stepped outside the room, Michael was greeted by dozens of Starless Summons who were busy tending to the injured with great care. The nonbat Summons with higher star rating were also there, supporting the injured in any way they could.

    Everyone was doing what they could to help their injured, and traumatized friends and colleagues.

    ''It might take a while for everyone to recuperate from today''s fight, but everything will return to normal sooner orter¡­'' Michael thought on his way to the warehouse.

    Michael had enough space to retrieve the corpses of the six Adventurers and the Blood-eyed Minotaur inside the warehouse.

    First, Michael used Extraction on the six Adventurers. He extracted the items stored in their War Runes, SoulStar Fragments, or Artifacts bound to their War Runes.

    Afterward, he did the same to the Blood-eyed Minotaur. However, contrary to the Adventurers, Michael dissected the Blood-eyed Minotaur''s corpse. It was more valuable dissected than left untouched ¨C which was the case for the Adventurers'' corpses. They were worth quite a lot in mankind''s marketce, with their corpse left intact.

    Of course, the corpses were far less valuable than the other loot he had obtained but he was not going to respectfully burn them either way. Michael extracted a few pieces of paper from the War Rune of the aggressive Lionheart, several huge Zentik bills, and a few Artifacts. Most Artifacts were 2-Star or 3-Star Tierless Artifacts, but they were quite valuable, nheless.

    Michael was happy about the gains he made, but his biggest focus was on the SoulStar Fragments. Interestingly enough, even the Minotaur dropped SoulStar Fragments.

    It was a tamed monster ¨C bound by the Lionheart Adventurer, whose Soultrait was rted to taming, but did that mean it could drop SoulStar Fragments? Did that make sense?

    ''Does it drop SoulStar Fragments because of the Taming Soultrait? If that''s the case¡­was the ck Bear also a tamed beast of that bastard?'' Michael wondered as he recalled the ck Bear dropping SoulStar Fragments as well.

    Michael was confused, but also angry.

    The Senator was getting on his nerves. It felt as if everything Senator Keltos did was to annoy Michael and make his life miserable. Unfortunately, there was nothing Michael could do about it.

    He didn''t even know the true extent of Senator Keltos'' power, or the secret channels of influence in his possession. The few pieces of information Michael read about Senator Keltos were already more than enough to tell him that he couldn''t fight such an existence, not now at least.

    ''In that case, use your peanut-sized brain and throw more low-ranked idiots at me. I will kill them all and use them to grow strong enough to beat the shit out of you!'' Michael swore in his mind.

    His head flicked to a semi-translucent Symbol that was hiding in the midst of the small SoulStar Fragment pile.

    It was a Soultrait Symbol that looked frail and easily breakable.

    Michael initially wanted to focus on increasing the star rating of the Soultraits in his possession but thinking about Senator Keltos made him absorb everything.

    ''It dropped in itsplete form. Tearing it apart might not benefit me,'' He thought before allowing his War Rune to absorb everything.

    When he was asleep, his War Rune had refined the energy influx he obtained from killing six Tier-1 Adventurers and one Low Tier-2 Monster. His degree of refinement didn''t increase a lot, but Michael felt more energetic.

    His War Rune mirrored his energy, and several tentacle-like streams of energy shot out of the back of his right hand. They coiled around the SoulStar Fragments and the frail Soultrait Symbol before devouring everything at once.

    A stream of information entered his mind as the frail Soultrait Symbol fused with the white pir in the deepest parts of his consciousness. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael closed his eyes and focused on the white pir as well. A momentter, it appeared in front of his closed eyes. He saw his four Soultraits and the frail Soultrait Symbol of Taming.

    ''Is it broken?'' Michael thought at first, but he shook his head.

    ''No, that''s not it.''

    The information about the Taming Soultrait didn''t seem iplete in any way.

    It took Michael a while but when he finallypared Spirit Whip''s 1-Star Soultrait Symbol with the Taming Soultrait Symbol and realization struck him.

    ''Taming is not even aplete 1-Star Soultrait. Only the outer frame of the first star has formed!''

    Michael didn''t expect to fuse an iplete Soultrait. Iplete Soultraits usually awoke muchter than ordinary Soultraits because theycked the necessary Soul Power to manifest. That was what happened to the Taming Soultrait Symbol. Itcked the necessary Soul Power topletely manifest the first star.

    ''Fortunately, I have a way to fix this easily!'' Michael thought before he moved a single SoulStar Fragment near the Taming Soultrait Symbol.

    The frail Symbol shook violently as the SoulStar Fragment fused into it. Michael felt goosebumps all over his body as more information about the Taming Soultrait entered his mind. Simultaneously, the first star of the iplete Soultrait was fully manifested.

    His n had worked and Michael gained a new 1-Star Soultrait!

    "A single SoulStar Fragment was enough? Well, that''s even better then!" Michael mused, giving himself a pat on the back.

    So far, he had obtained a total of 31 SoulStar Fragments and an iplete Soultrait Symbol by using his 4-Star Extraction on six Adventurers and the Minotaur.

    Michael might not have been lucky enough to extract some memory fragments, but the SoulStar Fragments were more than enough to make him happy.

    ''I shouldn''t use any SoulStar Fragments on Lesser Enhancement, and Eagle Eyes for the time being. It would be too suspicious if the Soul Power of each Soultrait would increase by more than a hundred units in just 30 days, right?'' Michael asked himself, recalling that his Soul Power would be evaluated in the second aptitude assessment.

    Upgrading Lesser Enhancement to a 3-Star Soultrait would attract even more attention. He might unintentionally reveal his secret and attract everyone''s attention.

    Michael didn''t want that to happen.

    With that in mind, Michael chose to focus on Taming and Spirit Whip. Taming seemed quite useful ¨C though it didn''t seem to be much different from a Link of Loyalty. The only differences were the quality of the connection between a Tamer and his or her tamed monster, and the ability tomunicate telepathically with each other through a long distance.

    He could tame monsters of the Origin Expanse and create abat unit of tamed monsters. That didn''t seem like a bad n.

    Spirit Whip hade in handy a few times already. Thus, Michael wanted to upgrade it to a 3-Star Soultrait at once. He spent four SoulStar Fragments to upgrade to a 2-Star Soultrait and spent another 23 SoulStar Fragments toplete the upgrade to 3 Stars.

    Michael tested the lethality of his upgraded Spirit Whip, and he was slightly shocked. The energy consumption increased quite a bit, but so did the damage output of the non-physical attack. It was quite exceptional.

    "If my opponents are not prepared for a feisty Spirit Whip, I can change the tide of the battle easily!" Michael murmured, feeling quite satisfied.

    Afterward, he spent the remaining Soulstar Fragments on Taming, barelypleting the second star, and upgrading it to a 2-Star Soultrait.

    Atst, Michael''s gaze fell on the pieces of paper which he had extracted from the War Rune of the Senator''s direct subordinate.

    "Let''s see what you''ve been hiding from me!"

 Chapter 152 Infirmary

    Michael spent a while reading through the documents left behind by the Senator''s direct subordinate.

    There was not much content, but it revealed certain clues about the Lionheart''s mission, and what he should avoid doing for the time being.

    The documents were a part of the official exchange between the Senator and the five Lionhearts he had chosen as trustworthy enough toplete the secret mission.

    ''Seems like you never expected someone to be capable of plundering a War Rune''s sacred storage space. That''s your misfortune, bastard!'' Michael cursed the Senator in his mind as he re-read the documents a few more times.

    He didn''t want to miss a single detail and stored the documents inside his War Rune only after he was certain that he had imprinted everything in his mind.

    The Lionheart Leader of the Adventurer team and the aggressive Lionheart from the day before were only two out of five Lionhearts, who had been given the secret mission. Michael wasn''t able to find out more about the remaining three Lionhearts, but that didn''t disappoint him a lot.

    Michael had to prepare for the worst, either way.

    ''Selling the Minotaur in Xiltra would only attract suspicion. The five Lionhearts should have been connected to each other. If even one of them knows about the connection between the tamer and the Lionheart, they can find out what happened,'' Michael concluded after he thought about selling the Blood-eyed Minotaur corpse to the Guild.

    He could havepleted a guild mission and earned a fortune selling the corpse. Unfortunately, he had to let go of the small fortune for the time being.

    The daily report was waiting for Michael. He read through it thoroughly and gave his subjects a few orders that had to bepleted on priority before he walked over to Icarus.

    "Are you ready for a short trip to Xiltra, or do you want to rest a little longer?" Michael asked Icarus, whose twisted talon had been mended and realigned correctly.

    The Greater Eagle was still exhausted, but seeing the glint of determination in Michael''s eyes, Icarus could only screech out in agreement.

    Michael smiled lightly, got on the Greater Eagle''s back and they ascended back into the air.

    Icarus didn''t dare to fly too high through the air. Their altitude was not even two meters above the canopy of trees beneath them. The fear of the serpent in the Greater Eagle''s heart was too strong, and Icarus was not yet ready to fight him head-on.

    Michael didn''t say anything to Icarus. He understood why the Greater Eagle was so worried. After all, he was also present when the Thunder Pteranodon King had appeared above them, just to be burned to a crisp without the slightest chance of retaliation.

    It was far weirder that Michael wasn''t concerned about their well-being as they flew across the Untamed Jungle. His confidence was groundless, and merely based on his gut feeling. Michael was certain that no aerial monster would attack them for the time being. The reason- his gut feeling told him that the mythical serpent didn''t want any troublemakers in the sky above the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael was not sure why he felt like that, but the day they encountered the mythical serpent made him believe that his thoughts were right.

    As expected, they didn''t encounter a mighty monster in the air. They reached Xiltra, paid the entrance fee and Michael put Icarus in the mount stall, just like he did thest time he arrived in Xiltra.

    In the next two hours, Michael sold a few blueprints and the Artifacts that were collecting dust in his War Rune''s storage space. The Artifacts were also the batch of items he had extracted from the Adventurers, but that was not important.

    Michael earned a small fortune, and he used that money, in addition to the fortune he had plundered from the Adventurers in order to purchase a wide variety of cheap blueprints.

    Once he was done purchasing everything he needed, Michael visited the guild house. He wanted to talk to Lilica, but the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was out on a mission.

    Michael didn''t want to waste anymore time, so he picked up Icarus and they returned to the Untamed Jungle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When he was back in the territory, Michael organized his thoughts and watched his subjects work tirelessly before he left the Origin Expanse with a hundred blueprints that were considered rare and hard to procure for most human Lords.

    When Michael stepped out of the Runic Gate, he reappeared in his small cabin within the Dekalos-ss spaceship.

    He opened his messenger to take note if he had missed out on something very important, only to see that Frederik had hurled dozens of messages at him in an attempt to provoke him.

    ''This kid never learns, does he?'' Michael could only ask in his mind before he closed the messenger.

    Nothing noteworthy seemed to have happened in the past few days.

    Relieved, Michael stepped out of the cabin and made his way to the spaceship''s shops. However, he noticed something on his way.

    First, inertia grew stronger during the time he spend in the Origin Expanse. It didn''t affect Michael too much, but it was important to note that his headache grew worse with the increased gravitational force weighing down on him.

    ''Maybe, I should go to the infirmary first.''

    There was no shame in visiting the medical team on board. Sustaining injuries during training was not an umon urrence. The same applied to getting injured in the Origin Expanse. It happened quite often.

    That was why the Saphirke Military Academy was prepared for everything. Of course, they had an infirmary of the highest level. Even the spaceship was equipped with the best medical devices and means to ensure your survival even if you''re on the verge of death.

    However, the cherry on the cake was that all of it was free of charge. It was normal to be injured in the Military Academy, and it was only obvious that the Academy would spend a considerable amount of money to ensure the well-being of its students.

    With that in mind, Michael changed his course. He went to the infirmary where he was treated by a middle-aged woman. She was an Adventurer with a powerful healing Soultrait. As the nutrition and origin energy in Michael''s body was enough, she didn''t even have to use much of her own energy to heal the crack in Michael''s skin/skull, the swelling where the Minotaur had headbutted him, and the cracked bones all over his body.

    Michael didn''t even realize how injured he had been until the medical staff started to question him about how the hell he was able to walk around with such injuries.

    They gave up questioning him when they saw the confusion in his eyes. It was obvious that Michael was clueless about how lucky he had been, and how resilient his body was.

    "You should eat a lot. Healing you used up most of the nutrition in your body. Take this special meal quota coupon, and use it. The dishes are highly nutritious and they have great medicinal value. Don''t waste them and eat everything to recuperate faster," The middle-aged woman advised, transferring a special food coupon to his crystal watch.

    He received it with a bright smile, and his happiness was further amplified by his grumbling stomach.

    The medical staff chuckled lightly and sent him off with a smile.

    Distracted by the thought of more free meals, Michael even forgot about his mission for the time being.

    He hadn''t eaten for a while now, and that was one of the greatest sins he couldmit.

    Feeling reenergized, Michael headed to the cafeteria.

    It was time to feast.

 Chapter 153 Like A Beast

    Michael enjoyed his meal.

    He didn''t gobble it down like a starving beast but savored every bite of the juicy meat and the vegetables rich in origin energy. The whole meal was abination of nutrition, origin energy, strong medicinal effects, and exceptional taste.

    It was much better than the big tes he received for being a member of the Limit Breaker course!

    Michael felt a warm and soothing feeling spread through his entire body. It invigorated his cells and stimted their growth and regeneration.

    Unfortunately, he was still hungry after he emptied the te of food. Hence, he walked back towards the cafeteria staff and ordered the special meal reserved for participants of the Limit Breaker course.

    After he waited for a while, Michael received his te. He saw that more special meals were brought to another table, and noticed that Kaleb and the Barbaric Couple were feasting on avish meal, gobbling down the food on their huge tes.

    Michael walked over to them and sat down next to Kaleb without a second thought.

    "Where are the others? Did they enter the Origin Expanse, or did they leave the course?" Michael asked when he noticed that Frederik, Kaleb, Jacqueline, and another young woman were the only ones feasting on the jumbo tes.

    "Didn''t you run away just like them? Because you were too afraid to challenge me head-on?!" Frederik provoked the moment he realized that Michael had returned.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but didn''tment on Frederik''s nonsense.

    "The others have already left. They said that they couldn''t keep going like this. Apparently, their bodies won''t allow them to move anymore after they attended the lesson after the Limit Breaker training session," Kaleb answered Michael''s question, without looking up from the te.

    "Their willpower was not strong enough for the Limit Breaker course!" The young woman seated next to Kaleb dered loudly, proud that she made it this far.

    ''Who was this girl again? One of Kaleb''s bootlickers?'' Michael tried to remember, but he gave up quickly.

    Kaleb and Frederik were about to finish their jumbo tes, while Michael had yet to begin.

    He didn''t say anything else and focused on the jumbo te in front of him. Michael inhaled the aroma of the food and finished the meal before Jacqueline or the unimportant bootlicker of Kaleb were done.

    As he devoured the food, Michael noticed that Kaleb''s eyes drifted to him every now and then. His eyes were filled with contempt, which was totally understandable.

    ''To think that Kaleb can get envious. It''s such a simple thing as well,'' Michael chuckled but kept his thoughts to himself.

    He understood that Kaleb wanted to manifest his War Rune and enter the Origin Expanse atst. However, he was not yet 18 years old, and he was surrounded by Elyra''s strongest Lords of the youngest generation.

    This fueled his envy, but also his motivation to strive for more strength.

    In thest few days, Kaleb learned a lot about thepetition and his shorings. The limit of his body was only one of those things.

    He also learned that mankind had many unique Lords, who had ovee great ordeals, theck of a powerful Soultrait, and various obstacles to make it into the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Many Lords were like Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Ondo, children of strong Lords. They were in possession of resources, techniques, the best training methods, and means to expand their territory quickly without harming the territory''s foundation by expanding too fast.

    However, there were also many no-names and Lords, who had hidden themselves until the aptitude assessment. They possessed many secrets and were hiding the true extent of their power very well.

    Michael was such a Lord in Kaleb''s opinion.

    Kaleb had no idea how Alice and Michael got to know each other, or why his sister was so interested in him. However, Kaleb could also tell how he felt as well.

    At first, Kaleb hated Michael to the core. He considered Michael the crux of all his problems. But that was just him being delusional. Kaleb realized that Michael had never really done anything to be worth his hatred.

    Before the archerypetition started, he learned that Michael had been bullied. His ssmates didn''t like that he was a nobody without any special background. They thought he was not worthy of being in the Elite ss. Their bullying grew worse when he ranked first in the first semester.

    Kaleb knew that, but he could have never thought that Michael would use his archerypetition as a way to take revenge on the fools who were brazen enough to bully him in the past.

    At that time, Kaleb didn''t think much about it. He felt provoked because a ''nobody'' had epted his challenge, and he didn''t realize that something was off when Michael put a Tierless Epic Weapon Artifact into the betting pot.

    He had epted the bet and rightfully lost because he had overestimated himself. There was no reason to hate Michael. However, Kaleb couldn''t ept it at that time. His pride didn''t allow him to ept that he made a fool of himself by grossly underestimating Michael''s power, and craftiness.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Finally, after the terrifying training sessions of the past few days, and his encounters with Michael and other ''no-names'', Kaleb began to understand that his pride was worthless in the face of life and death.

    Michael and the ''no-names'' had to put their lives on the line whenever they entered the Origin Expanse. Being prideful couldn''t bring them anything. Being crafty, on the other hand, may ensure their survival more often than one might think.

    "Now that you''re back, you should join today''s training session," Kaleb murmured in a low voice before he got up from his seat.

    He put his te away and left the cafeteria. It was almost time for today''s Limit Breaker training session.

    Michael stared at Kaleb''s retreating back, his right eyebrow lifted in surprise. Then he nodded his head and followed the young Zenovia.

    "I am so pumped! Let me beat the shit out of you today!" Frederik eximed from behind, causing Michael to sigh deeply.

    "You can do it, babe!!" Jacqueline screamed.

    Hearing that, Michael could only shake his head.

    ''These idiots really don''t learn. Is it normal for couples to share one brain cell, or is that unique to these idiots?''

    **

    Three hourster, the Limit Breaker training session ended.

    Michael''s face was bruised ck and blue, but he still managed to stand firmly on the ground.

    He towered above the writhing figures of the Barbaric Couple with a deep frown on his face.

    "Is that what you meant by saying ''Let me beat the shit out of you''? To me, it seems like both of you grew weaker. How about you take this more seriously from tomorrow onward?" He snarled coldly, his eyes void of pity.

    Everyone wore the same heavyweightbat suit for the Limit Breaker course. However, the configuration was different for everyone.

    A whopping 360 kilograms weighed down on Michael after he used Lesser Enhancement on thebat suit. Yet, even such a heavy weight wasn''t enough to drag him down or slow his movements. On the contrary, Michael felt as if the heavyweight pressured him to exceed his limits and to use the full potential of his body.

    Looking at the bloodied faces of the Barbaric Couple that was writhing on the ground, staring at him in confusion and disbelief, Michael could tell that today''s battle had been a little different.

    Something felt off.

    ''Did Iplete the first stage of the Berserker Physique?'' Michae wondered, feeling like his entire body was overflowing with power ¨C and that too despite having attended a long and grueling training session.

    However, Kaleb could only stare at Michael with slight surprise gleaming in his eyes.

    ''What happened to him in the Origin Expanse?''

    Even Silverian Schild couldn''t help but spare a second nce at Michael.

    He knew that Michael didn''t win against the Barbaric Couple by sheer luck, or by reaching the next stage of his body refinement technique. His physical standards might have improved a little bit, but it was not enough to overpower the Barbaric Couple.

    Frederik and Jacqueline were arrogant, narcissistic and a little bit stupid as well but they were also hard-working and talented.

    It was easy to tell that they had been trained very well for more than ten years.

    That was also why it was so surprising that Michael was able to defeat them.

    Usually in a two-versus-one face-off, the lone fighter was supposed to block and evade attacks. Michael shouldn''t have counterattacked, in the first ce.

    However, while enduring the Barbaric Couple''s punches, Michael prepared a series of counterattacks. He deflected the punches before starting to deliver fierce and relentless punches himself.

    It almost looked like a fierce undying beast had been fighting against the human couple.

 Chapter 154 Managing System

    Michael''s body was still damp when he left the shower.

    He changed into casual clothes after drying his body and put the heavyweightbat suit aside for it to be cleaned thoroughly.

    Afterward, Michael turned to the door to leave without saying a word.

    "Wait a moment," Kaleb''s voice rang out from behind.

    Michael halted in his tracks and turned back to the young Zenovia.

    "Are you sure that you''re fine?" Kaleb asked reflexively when he saw the impatience in Michael''s eyes.

    Until thest minute of Michael''s battle against the Barbaric Couple, everything had been fine. But after that, the pressure he exuded was heavy, and being around him felt weirdly ufortable.

    Kaleb was not sure why but he felt like their spar had turned into a desperate life-and-death battle. That was how Michael had fought; as if his life depended on it.

    "I am fine," Michael responded emotionlessly before he turned back. The next moment, he opened the door and left.

    Kaleb didn''t say anything else. He pressed his lips together and nced over to Frederik and Jacqueline.

    The Barbaric Couple, which was known for their barbaric actions, bad temper, and rude attitude, was now silently staring at the ground in front of them. They had been tended to, but they had yet to clean up the dried blood covering their faces.

    Their stare was nk, and Kaleb could imagine that their mind was empty as well. Or they were thinking about their fight against Michael.

    Kaleb was not sure what was worse; Michael''s indifference, or the couple''s shaken confidence.

    ''Well..whatever¡­'' He told himself before he entered the shower to freshen up.

    Once he was done, he put on his fashionable clothes and left the changing room, leaving the Barbaric Couple alone.

    Only after everyone else left the changing room did Frederik and Jacqueline breathe out heavily. They looked at each other and blurted out in unison.

    "Fuck¡­"

    **

    Now that the training session was over, Michael could finally focus on his initial mission again. With that in mind, he made his way to the spaceship''s shop.

    However, he was also a bit confused.

    Michael knew that he lost control of himself near the end of the battle. He didn''t feel bad for beating up the Barbaric Couple because they deserved to learn a lesson, but it was not as if he had purposely nned to beat them into a pulp before. It¡­just happened.

    He was lucky that his opponents had been the Barbaric Couple. Punishing them for being spoiled brats and arrogant jerks was better than beating up someone else, who had never done something bad before.

    This thought put Michael at ease, but it didn''t change the confusion troubling his mind.

    ''Is it the stress of being a Lord in the Untamed Jungle?'' Michael wondered, but he couldn''t answer for sure. It might be the case, but it might be something else as well.

    Confused and deep in thought, Michael was happy to reach the hallway filled with shops. The shopping hallways of the Dekalos-ss spaceship were most certainly enough to distract him. He had a mission toplete, after all!

    "Hello Sir, how may I help you today?" A young staff member greeted him at the entrance of the first shop.

    The young man wore a vibrant professional smile on his face, which Michael tried to reciprocate, only to fail miserably.

    "Hello. I want to sell a few rare blueprints, and I''m not sure which shop will provide me with the best rates," Michael revealed honestly.

    He was about to ask where he should go when the young man nodded his head understandingly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I haven''t seen you before, so I presume that you don''t know how the shops in the spaceships all over mankind''s territory are managed, right?" The young staff member asked in an amiable tone.

    Michael nodded his head. He had heard some rumors, but he never had the time to research the truth. The only thing he was certain about was that every ship above the Dekalos-ss had, at least, one shop to ess.

    "That makes it much easier. I will transfer a small file to you with all the detailed information. If you want, I can also summarize the file for now, and you can read the detailed informationter. How about it?"

    "That sounds great. Please share the file with me, and help me out with the summary!" Michael responded, d to have found a forting staff.

    The young staff member seemed nice and ready to go out of his way to help him. That was rare to find in this age and era.

    "To summarize the file, all shops are handled by different corporations. The spaceships at the Dekalos-ss and above have one shop managed by the government, but every other shop is managed by the big corporations of mankind. The shop I''m working at is managed by the government, but the shop on the left is managed by Olympus.

    The shop left to the Olympus is managed by Pandemonium, and over there is a shop affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation. There are quite a few corporations, and all of them are managed by an Adventurer."

    Michael found himself nodding weakly as the young staff member continued to exin the system behind the management of shops within spaceships. It was very interesting, and the wild thoughts of his spar against the Barbaric Couple slowly turned insignificant.

    "An Adventurer has to manage the Shops, but why?" Michael asked quietly, just before he realized something.

    His eyes shot wide open and the young staff''s smile widened.

    "I think you got the gist. All Adventurers have to be Adventurers in order to enter the Origin Expanse. This is not the case for every organization, but most merchant corporations have one big ce where all shop managers are gathered. They may say that their headquarters are somewhere in the sr system, but it is actually in the Origin Expanse," The staff member took a short break.

    He took a deep breath to continue speaking and provide further exnation when Michael interfered.

    "So, you''re trying to tell me that the shop managers are connected to the Origin Expanse and that they trade goods in the headquarters ¨C which is situated in the Origin Expanse as well," Michael pointed out, and he continued to speak when he saw that the staff member nodded his head.

    "If I were to sell 100 rare blueprints, the shop manager would bring them to the headquarters where they would be distributed among the shops all over mankind''s territory to make the highest profit. At the same time, if I were to request 2000 Summoning Scrolls, but the shop in question has only 500 in stock, the shop manager would visit the Origin Expanse and bring the Summoning Scrolls I''ve asked for."

    All in all, Michael felt that the managing system thatbined the Origin Expanse and the outside Universe was very intriguing.

    The only problem in the managing system was that the shop manager had to find a way to travel through the Origin Expanse and make his way to the headquarters of the corporation he worked for. Once the Runic Gate''s anchor was set up, everything was fine, but to get that far was a long journey for some.

    Under normal circumstances, that may not be difficult because most humans spawned in specific regions, and not as far from mankind as Michael. People as unlucky as Michael would have a hard time bing a shop manager. Fortunately, bing a shop manager was never something Michael had wished for. His dreams had always been other things.

    "You can put it like that. It is a little bit moreplicated, but I''ve shared the files with detailed information with you, if you''re interested in understanding the mechanism and logic behind the managing system," The young man said as Michael received a notification on his crystal watch.

    Michael smiled in return.

    Suddenly, he recalled something the young staff member had said earlier.

    ''If there is a branch of the Bartholomew Corporation¡­they wouldn''t decline my Golden Membership Card right?!''

    **

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 Chapter 155 Agriculture

    Michael hadn''t expected to learn so many new things about mankind''s managing system, and special tricks that allowed a more efficient means of transportation.

    By using the Origin Expanse and the outside world, it was quite easy to transport goods from one to another within minutes. Unfortunately, this means of transportation was restricted to objects. The living couldn''t move back and forth that easily.

    Michael''s interest was piqued, but he chose to satiate his curiosityter. He entered the shop affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation and showed them his Golden Membership Card.

    And the moment he did that, the attitude of the staff changed at once. They became overly polite and treated him like a little king.

    Michael retrieved the rare blueprints he bought in Xiltra before returning a faint smile in their direction.

    "Please offer me a good price."

    The staff member standing behind the counter stared at the blueprints in awe. He had seen numerous blueprints by now, but the moment he realized what types of blueprints they were he knew that this transaction was not something he could validate.

    "I am sorry for the inconvenience but I have to notify the manager. The transaction you want to conduct exceeds my authority," The staff member said apologetically while calling the shop manager.

    A sigh of relief escaped the staff member''s lips when the manager picked up the call a few secondster and was informed about their customer.

    Not even ten minutester, a middle-aged woman with thick sses appeared. She saw the blueprints and immediately knew what she had to do.

    "I will appraise the blueprints and give you a satisfactory pri¨C...." The shop manager had begun her usual sales pitch before her eyes fell on the Golden Bartholow Membership card in Michael''s hand.

    She swallowed her words and red at her subordinate before she straightened her back and began to work fast and thoroughly.

    "Are you looking for something special, Sir? Maybe, I can help you out while the manager appraises your goods!" One of the female staff members offered.

    Michael thought about it for a moment and nodded.

    "I''m looking for Named Summoning Scrolls. Warrior, Spearman, or Archer Summoning Scrolls."

    Even with the Golden Bartholow Membership, Michael would have to pay roughly 100,000$ for a Warrior Summoning Scroll. They were pretty expensive, but Michael knew that he had to use his entire fortune and the money he would earn from the blueprints to purchase as many Combat rted Summoning Scrolls.

    He now required mentally stable, physically fit Warriors to protect his territory. Summoning Warriors, Spearman, and Archers using Summoning Scrolls was the easiest way to achieve that.

    They wouldn''t be strong just after being summoned, but theirbat prowess and numerical advantage would be more than enough to deal with the Monsters of the Untamed Jungle''s outer area.

    However, there was another problem Michael had yet to solve- How to elerate his subjects'' growth?

    He knew that his subjects were growing stronger at a fast pace already. Unfortunately, they were too slow, nheless.

    A single Tier-2 Monster with a Unique Racial Ability had been strong enough to kill dozens of people, and injure the rest of his Military might ¨C whether it was a mental or physical injury.

    What was he supposed to do when a group of Tier-2 Adventurers decided to attack his territory?

    Michael wasn''t willing to watch his territory getting bulldozed, and his subjects massacred mercilessly. He didn''t want to see that. Thus, he had to help them out. After all, he was their Lord. They relied on him and trusted him with their whole heart.

    "Furthermore, I can spend 2.6 million dors on a neutral energy absorption technique that can be used efficiently by anyone. It shouldn''t require the practitioner to have a highprehension ability. Even subjects without talent should be able to use the technique," Michael added carefully.

    He only had 2.6 million left in his bank ount, but it was fine to use up all of it.

    After he watched his subjects use the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique, Michael realized that the technique was tooplex and time-consuming. It was a great technique once the second stage waspleted, but most Summons didn''t have the time, let alone talent to reach the second stage.

    That was why a second energy absorption technique was required. The term ''neutral'' meant that it could be practiced anywhere and that it was not necessary to meet any conditions to practice the technique. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was not even impossible to continue working while practicing a neutral energy absorption technique. Of course, the efficiency with which one absorbed energy would decrease drastically if one didn''t pay full attention to it. But that was the thing. Not paying full attention to the technique wouldn''t cause a bacsh. It would merely slow down the rate at which energy was absorbed into the body!

    "If there is still some spare money left, I would like to buy a neutral body refinement technique as well."

    Michael''s train of thought was pretty simple. If he could provide good techniques, better meals with great medicinal effect, and high energy value, it shouldn''t be impossible to nurture strongbatants in a short period.

    That was something they had learned in school as well. Unfortunately, Michael never had enough funds to invest that much in the things that elerated the growth of his military''s prowess. It hadn''t been his highest priority until now. However, now that two incidents happened in a short time span, Michael changed his list of priorities in ordance.

    "A budget of 2.6 million for a neutral energy absorption technique, and a neutral body refinement technique. That''s pretty difficult, if you want something of quality," The youngdy mumbled to herself. She opened the item catalog and moved next to Michael to show him a few techniques that might intrigue him.

    ''None of those techniques are exceptional,'' Michael thought, ''But what did I expect? Neutral techniques are rare, and their efficiency is exceptional. Everyone wants them, and only Lesser techniques are sold in most shops. The bigshots keep their techniques for themselves and their families.''

    At this point, Michael wondered if Frederik, Jacqueline, Kaleb, and everyone else had been given a neutral energy absorption technique to use.

    ''That should exin why Frederik and Jacqueline''s Soultraits grow stronger even though they don''t enter the Origin Expanse that often.''

    After they searched through the item catalog for nearly 20 minutes, they had yet to find the perfect techniques.

    The manager finished appraising the blueprints atst. The corner of her lip twitched and a droplet of sweat trickled to the ground.

    She stared at Michael for a while and flicked her attention back to the blueprints.

    "What I''m going to ask you might sound insulting, but can you tell me where you spawned after you entered the Origin Expanse for the first time?" The manager asked, breaking the silence around her.

    She moved the rim of her sses up her nose bridge and stared intently at Michael.

    "I spawned in an area that has an abundance of densely grown flora and fauna. The region doesn''tck any of that," Michael answered without hesitation, pointing at the blueprints in front of him.

    He thought about it for a moment and added, "However, they''re not cheap either. These blueprints drop rarely from Tier-2 Monsters, and are more likely to be found in the drops of Tier-3 Monsters."

    "I understand¡­so you purchased them in the hopes of earning a small fortune. That''s pretty smart. It works, after all." The manager murmured quietly like she wasn''t speaking to Michael.

    A few hundred thousand Zentika and seven Tierless Artifacts of high value had been turned into 108 rare blueprints.

    The blueprints were not the ordinary blueprints Michael could procure by killing a few Low Tier-1 Monsters. They weren''t worth a few thousand per piece. No, their value was on a whole different level.

    No, these rare blueprints dropped only from Tier-2, or Tier-3 Monsters. They might be considered cheap in Xiltra, and rather useless because thends were fertile, but they were still worth quite a lot.

    However, for mankind, these blueprints were exceptional. Each of them was rted to the agricultural industry, something mankind needed. After all, one of the regions mankind spawned in was a barrennd spanning tens of thousands of kilometers.

    Both Michael and the shop manager understood mankind''s predicament. It was hard to turn the barrennds into a verdant grass field, forget aboutrge fields of wheat, vegetables, and so on. Farming was hard, and the price for energy-rich ingredients was high.

    "Can you procure more?" The manager asked, a glint in her eyes shining brightly.

    However, Michael had already figured out what she wanted to do.

    "Why are you asking?" He responded lightheartedly,

    "Are you trying to propose a deal?"

 Chapter 156 [Bonus ]Project

    "I didn''t expect to find such a good opportunity with freshmen on the Dekalos-ss spaceship," The shop owner mumbled quietly to herself.

    Her gaze moved back and forth between Michael and the blueprints until it remained on Micheal, atst.

    "Are you interested in an Exclusive deal with the Bartholomew Corporation?" She asked.

    Michael smiled lightly in response, but he didn''t answer immediately.

    "My authority is high enough to promise you a higher price than the highest market value. Nobody else will be able to match the price I can offer," She pointed out, while pushing the rim of the sses up her nose before adding, "If you''re not satisfied with that, I can promise you a higher discount for items purchased in the shops affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation. This benefit is far better than the benefits of the Golden Membership, and only a handful have been granted it."

    Michael recalled the young staff member mentioning that the big corporations had shops in the Saphirke Military Academy as well. This included the Bartholomew Corporation, which meant that he could make use of the benefits even in the Academy.

    Michael nodded when the shop manager finished mentioning the benefits.

    "And what do I have to do in return? You won''t give me such benefits if there is no condition attached," Michael asked.

    It was quite obvious what the shop manager wanted, but Michael wanted to be certain. It was pretty difficult for anyone to offer benefits exceeding the Golden Bartholomew Membership as they were already quite nice. Yet, from the way the manager spoke, she suggested that she could offer something that exceeded the Golden Membership by far.

    ''I have to see the numbers to make sure that she''s not deceiving me¡­but this sounds too good to be true, doesn''t it?''

    "It is pretty simple actually. I want to sign an exclusive contract with you. You will receive the benefits mentioned above and the Bartholomew Corporation will be given 300 agriculture-rted blueprints on the same level as the blueprints you bought today," The woman eximed calmly.

    Her gaze turned sharper as she added, "Since it will be an exclusive contract, you won''t be allowed to sell blueprints rted to agriculture to any other organization, Supreme Family, Great n, and so on!"

    Michael''s expression changed when the shop manager mentioned the Supreme Families. He had been deep in thought, but all of his thoughts dispersed at once.

    Atst, he realized something about the way the shop manager worded her sentences.

    "You don''t even want to sell the blueprints, do you?"

    The manager''s eyes widened slightly, and a faint smile blossomed on her face. Her guess was right. The young man was not a fool.

    "What do you think will happen to the blueprints after you sell them to the Bartholomew Corporation?"

    Faced with this question, Michael remained silent for a while. At first, he didn''t think that anything special would happen to the blueprints, but the manager''s words stirred up his thoughts.

    "The Bartholomew Corporation will probably keep the blueprints. Then¡­you might gather some Lords in the Barren Lands, sign them under the Bartholomew Corporation¡­and form a big farming industry using the blueprints. Yes, that is probably what you''re thinking about," Michael murmured more to himself than to the shop manager.

    "The Lords will use the blueprints to develop the Barren Lands and be high-scale farmers, who will then supply the Bartholomew Corporation with energy-rich vegetables, and all kinds of other nts. Basically, the blueprints will be purchased and used as an investment into the Barren Lands. The Barren Lands will then develop in your treasure trove¡­and to make sure that nobody else can achieve the same results as the Bartholomew Corporation, you would want to make sure that people like me won''t be able to sell their blueprints to anyone other than you!"

    Given the widening smile on the manager''s face, Michael realized that his theory was spot on. He came up with the theory after the manager mentioned that he wasn''t allowed to sell the goods to other organizations, families, and ns.

    ''It''s pretty smart,'' He thought.

    The staff member was staring with a stupefied expression at Michael, while the shop manager kept smiling.

    "If your theory were toe true, would youin about the benefits I''ve offered, or would you still be willing to ept them?" The manager asked, seemingly nonchntly.

    The manager didn''t smile, nor did she re at him. However, Michael understood what she wanted to convey.

    If he came up with ridiculous terms, his rtionship with the Bartholomew Corporation might end before it even started, in the first ce. Michael knew that he had been quite lucky with the Golden Bartholomew Membership, and he understood that he shouldn''t be too greedy right now.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "The terms and benefits stated sound nice. However, I''m in need of a high-quality neutral energy absorption technique," Michael said in a heavy voice.

    He intentionally left out stating that he wished to have a neutral body refinement technique, knowing that he might be asking for too much. The manager sighed heavily upon hearing Michael''s request, which was why Michael decided to speak up again.

    "I know that top-notch techniques are kept secret. I am not asking for such a technique since I know these are heirlooms. I just want to ensure that my territory can grow fast. If you wish to discuss my terms with your superior, you can do that. However, I don''t think that I''m asking for too much. The Bartholomew Corporation will gain far more from this deal in the long term!"

    Michael studied the manager''s reaction carefully. When he noticed something, he lightly added, "In the worst case, we can just forget about the deal. We¨C...."

    "No no!" The manager eximed in a startled voice.

    How could she miss out on such a great opportunity? Did that little brat even realize how long they''d been nning the redevelopment of the Barren Lands? They couldn''t allow anyone else to purchase Michael''s blueprints!

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward at her reaction. He had caught her!

    Agriculture was a big deal in the Origin Expanse. The regions most popted by humans were the Barren Lands. It was the biggest region with the most human Lords. Other than that, there was the Frozen Cataclysm, the Sacred Desert, and a few more minor regions. Only two of the minor regions were suitable for farming on arge scale.

    Realizing that he had the upper hand, Michael used some leverage to obtain what he wanted.

    After some back and forth with the manager, the deal was done and signed.

    In the end, Michael was quite satisfied with his gains. Even if it wouldn''t be easy to find an exceptional technique for him, a high-grade neutral energy absorption technique should be feasible. That was something the manager stated confidently.

    The manager told Michael that she would talk to her superior, show the Manager the blueprints, and reveal the conditions and terms of the deal she struck with Michael. Afterward, they would figure out what kind of neutral energy absorption technique they would hand over.

    She would do her utmost to provide him with the best technique. In ordance with the technique''s level, Michael''s monthly quota of blueprints would either increase or decrease.

    It would take a few days until the manager would get hold of the technique, but Michael was more than fine with waiting. Atst, he would obtain his high-quality neutral energy absorption technique. By then it wouldn''t be too difficult to increase the refinement degree and Tier of his subjects.

    That was the most he could do for now- increase the Tier of his subjects. After all, Michael and Tiara were still the only beings at Tier-1 in his territory.

    The deal put aside, Michael earned a fortune by selling 108 rare blueprints. They earned him 17.5 million dors, which was enough to purchase a neutral body refinement technique for a little bit more than 5 million, and 150 Combat-rted Summoning Scrolls.

    Michael had to tap into his 2.6 million dor savings to purchase everything, but that was something Michael had already expected.

    With his wallet considerably lighter, 150 Combat-rted Summoning Scrolls in his possession, and the body refinement technique called [Sacred Rectification] in his hands, Michael left the shop.

    Michael returned to his cabin, where he manifested the Runic Gate.

    He entered the Origin Expanse, and shared the body refinement technique with the librarians and schrs, who were asked to duplicate the technique for everyone to read.

    Afterward, he focused his attention on the summoning process. Michael broke the seals of 150 Summoning Scrolls to summon 50 Warriors, 50 Spearmen, and 50 Archers at once.

    Michael introduced himself to the new Summons before he gestured to the Starless Summons to guide them through the territory and exin their situation thoroughly.

    Simultaneously, the Links of Loyalty with their Lord were formed.

    Once Michaelpleted everything, he finished a few minor tasks before he left the Origin Expanse once again.

    He had a few more lessons to attend.

 Chapter 157 Pandemoniums Requiem

    [Michael: What is the most cost-efficient external means to improve your subjects'' refinement degree and Tier?]

    Michael knew a few external means to elerate a subject''s growth and boost his refinement degree, but most were too expensive for someone like Michael to afford.

    The external means were consumables, which were priced much higher than the money Michael had in his bank ount most of the time.

    That was also why he had sent a short message to Alice before he closed the messenger.

    Alice might not be able to help him, but he could at least try asking her for guidance.

    Once the message was sent out, Michael closed the messenger. He arrived in the small room that was set up especially for Harry Baren to conduct his research on Soul Power and Soultraits.

    Other than the Limit Breaker course, Michael had three more lessons to attend. He had applied for the History of the Origin Expanse, Memory Lane, and Soul Power theory.

    He had attended a Memory Lane lesson before and was impressed and intrigued by the subject. Memory Lane taught a technique that applied origin energy in a specific and a veryplex way to elerate the brain''s memorization process. It was a very tricky technique that had been separated into ten different stages.

    Mastering the first stage increased the brain capacity by 30%, allowing the practitioner to memorize content much easier, and imprint it deep into the mind to ensure that it wouldn''t get forgotten.

    The technique was quite difficult to master, and Michael could only marvel at the few people, who were able to practice Memory Lane to a high stage. Theirprehension ability, willpower, and endurance to keep practicing the technique for years had to be excellent.

    Michael could feel that he had gained a basic mastery of Memory Lane after working on it for a few times, but that was already it. He would have to spend months to improve his understanding of the subject and slowly attain perfect mastery.

    Courses like Memory Lane were exceedingly popr. To apply for the Memory Lane course in the Saphirke Military Academy, one would have to spend a small fortune of Saphire Points. That was not necessary on the way to the Academy since everything was free of charge during that period.

    It was one of the open secrets that certain courses required special conditions, and a fee if one wanted to sign up for them in the Saphirke Military Academy, and that they were free of charge while you were traveling to the Academy.

    That was also why certain courses were flooded with students while others were avoided. This included the Limit Breaker course, History of the Origin Expanse, and Soul Power theory.

    However, Michael didn''t pay much attention to these things. He signed up for the lessons he wanted to spend the little spare time he got.

    Michael tried to use Memory Lane to remember the teachings of the history professor. It worked to a certain extent, but Michael quickly noticed that he couldn''t recall everything the history professor taught him. Thus, he rather focused on the teachings instead of memorizing everything word for word.

    There was a significant difference between memorizing something and understanding it. Michael wanted to understand the History of the Origin Expanse and connected the events of the past with each other to gain a better understanding of the Origin Expanse, how devastating simple actions can be in the grand scheme of things, and the reasons certain races came to an end.

    History lessons seemed boring, but they were quite intriguing once a point of interest was found. Michael''s point of interest was the Temple of the Forgotten and the backstory of his family.

    Unfortunately, not many were interested in the history lessons taught in the Dekalos-ss spaceship.

    It was simr to the case of Soul Power theory.

    Michael was the only freshman who signed up for the lesson. However, Harry Baren didn''t seem to mind that. On the contrary, he was quite happy that Michael was intrigued in the subject he taught.

    The young researcher was overjoyed to see that Michael shared an interest with him. However, that was not the only happy asion for Harry. No, Michael seemed to have been invested in the research of Soul Power even before they met. Michael made a few suggestions about Harry Baren''s theory, which the researcher first denied before he took a second nce at it.

    Michael didn''t know much about Soul Power, but he often spent his time theorizing about Extraction, the SoulStar Fragments, Soultraits, and ways to maximize his power.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    While he was busy spending his time with the four courses he applied for, and searching for ways to strengthen his subjects, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

    Only 11 days were left before they would arrive in Kelta, where the realpetition would begin.

    By now, most students had formed groups, and thepetitive spirit between the groups began to surface. A handful of fights had already broken out until now, and the tension would only increase in the next 11 days.

    Michael didn''t join any group, but he didn''t make any enemies either. That was probably because he was around Kaleb Zenovia and the Barbaric Couple whenever he visited the cafeteria. The four didn''t be friends after they trained next to each other for hours every single day, but they spent enough time together to get to know each other much better than before.

    Frederik and Jacqueline were oddly silent since Michael had humiliatingly defeated them in the spar. But that was actually for the better. The couple focused on their training rather than wreaking havoc in the cafeteria, or throwing a tantrum whenever something didn''t go their way.

    Frederik''sments and provoking messages stopped as well. That one fight against Michael had been enough to open his eyes and beat some sense into him.

    Michael made it a point to visit his territory every day. He spent more than half a day in the territory to help the injured and give out more orders. Furthermore, Michael introduced the body refinement technique [Sacred Rectification], and the neutral energy absorption technique called [Pandemonium''s Requiem].

    When Michael was given the technique a week after he signed the deal with the Bartholomew Corporation, he was stupefied. It was different from what he''d expected. Pandemonium''s Requiem didn''t really sound like an energy absorption technique to him. Fortunately, it was a high-grade neutral energy absorption technique of the highest quality.

    He introduced the two techniques, followed up by some tactics which Alice had introduced to him. Alice Zenovia was very busy, but she found enough spare time to send some files to him a few days ago.

    Michael was very thankful for her great support.

    After he had received all the techniques and tactics from her and safely stored them, Michael got back to work. Most of hisbatants had recuperated from their injuries within seven days. Michael gave them three more days to rest and make sure to get back to their peak state before they began hunting again.

    The trauma caused by the Blood-eyed Minotaur was still apparent in the minds of somebatants, but they had ovee their fear by facing it head-on. Michael was lucky enough to summon a few 1-Star Summons with knowledge rted to oveing traumatic events.

    That was something Michael desperately needed because his knowledge about psychology and how to tend to traumatized Soldiers was really bad. It was one of the mandatory courses in the Elite ss when he was in high school, but he never excelled at the subject.

    Thus, four days ago more than 230 Soldiers of the territory''s Military went into action. They began to hunt once again!

    Within four days more than 1000 Low Tier-1 Monsters had been hunted, near-perfectly dissected, and transported to Xiltra, where they had been sold. Michael also sold the blueprints and Artifacts dropped by the Monsters, leaving himself with only a vast fortune of Zentik to purchase rare blueprints and 754 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    Michael purchased enough blueprints in Xiltra to fulfill his side of the deal with the Bartholomew Corporation. He earned a fortune from selling the blueprints to the shop manager, who had introduced herself as Selina Magna, atst.

    The fortune was used up to initiate one of the tactics introduced by Alice; grow your own herbs and concoct energy-rich pills.

    It may sound stupid but purchasing a ton of herbs and nts to grow, and a few recipes containing Low-grade energy pills seemed to be the most cost-efficient way to utilize cheap external means to elerate the growth of his subjects.

    The initial investment was extremely expensive, but the funds required for a long-term production of energy pills were rather low.

    Thanks to Alice''s tactic he was poor again. However, at the same time, his territory was stronger than ever.

    Not a mere handful but a total of 30 Summons broke through the barrier and ascended to the 1st Tier in thest two weeks!!

    The territory''s foundation was growing firmer, slowly and steadily!

 Chapter 158 Guests

    The majority of the 30 Tier-1 Summons had a higher star rating.

    Higher star ratings indicated better potential, which made it much easier to break through the barrier separating the Tiers.

    That was also why the Nature Spirit and all 3-Star Subjects advanced to Tier-1 even though they had been summoned only recently.

    Other than that, many Combat Summons had advanced to Tier-1 thanks to the support granted by external means, and the energy influx they obtained from killing Monsters.

    Michael didn''t venture out to hunt often, but his War Rune had also reached the low refinement degree of the 1st Tier by now. The soul share he received from his subjects was quite high, after all.

    Even though his territory had grown much stronger than before, it opened a lot of opportunities for them to explore. In fact, it was because of the strength they gained that they had a lot more things to do.

    One of the tasks they could focus on now that they had grown much stronger was the conquest of the lizard cave.

    But before they started working on it, Michael had to look after a few more administrative tasks. He had summoned 750 Summons, who had to be introduced to the territory and help them settle down. Their helping hands had to be distributed ording to their past lives work experience, and they had to be given a ce to sleep.

    They required nourishing meals, enough water, clothes, and the wish to support their Lord and territory. By nting a seed of desire in their hearts, Michael could ensure that his subjects would work hard to maintain the basic living conditions they''d been granted upon being summoned and would strive to upgrade their living conditions to a higher level.

    Michael knew that not everyone would selflessly sacrifice their time and effort to work tirelessly for their Lord and territory. Thus, he provided new summons with a basic package or more of a wee kit to ensure their survival. They would survive in his territory even if they wouldn''t work hard. After all, Michael gained something from their sheer existence; their Link of Loyalty strengthened his Soultraits.

    To gain a higher level of treatment, which included a home, better food, more sets of clothes, and the chance to take a glimpse at the neutral energy absorption technique [Pandemonium''s Requiem] the subjects had to work hard. Starless Summons would be distributed tasks evenly and given work somewhere inside the territory.

    Meanwhile, 1-Star Summons and Summons with a higher star rating would pursue their upation and strive toward helping their Lord and territory while bing more adept at their upation.

    There were even higher perks, but they could only be attained by having an increasingly firm Link of Loyalty, and by meeting certain conditions.

    As long as they fulfilled the above criteria, they''re given energy pills, better resources, tools, and equipment, and full ess to copies of [Sacred Rectification] and [Pandemonium''s Requiem].

    It was necessary to implement different levels of benefits offered at this point in the territory''s progress. His territory''s poption expanded rapidly, and it was not possible to distribute all the resources uniformly among his subjects. In the first ce, not every Summon was in dire need of energy pills, forging blueprints, books rted to forging, concocting, enchanting, carpentry, and so on.

    Michael also noticed that some Starless Summons had grownzy. Before implementing the new reward system, everyone received the same opportunities whether they worked tirelessly for their Lord and territory, or if they didn''t do anything. It didn''t really matter before. That resulted in increasedziness and cking around. Not everyone loved to support their Lord wholeheartedly.

    It was understandable.

    However, Michael couldn''t ept thatzy subjects received the same benefits and perks as hard-working subjects. Thus, the new system was implemented, allowing thezy ckers to survive and sleep in a slightly crowded space, and eat ordinary, but filling food.

    After the new system was implemented, a portion of thezy ckers began to work harder again. Not everyone did their best, but the situation improved considerably.

    Slowly but steadily, everything in the territory seemed to be working out.

    There was no news about the three Lionhearts, who had been tasked with the Senator''s secret mission, either.

    Michael finally felt like he wasn''t surrounded by trouble all the time. Thest two weeks had been quite enjoyable, peaceful, and very beneficial.

    Atst, Michael perfected the Berserker Physique''s first stage. He had yet toplete the second stage and finish the Berserker Physique for good, but Michael was not in a hurry. Rushing through the second stage wouldn''t help him in any way. Slow and meticulous work was far more important when it came to the refinement of the body. Everything had to be perfect, after all if he did not want to injure himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael could have switched to the Sacred Rectification technique now that he finished the Berserker Physique''s first stage. However, he didn''t want to change mid-way ¨C even if it was possible to do so using Sacred Rectification. Switching to new techniques whenever something with higher potential appeared wasn''t good. Michael would rather finish one process after another to minimize risk and ensure the best performance.

    "What should I do now?" Michael murmured to himself as he went through his mental to-do list.

    There was a lot to do, but nothing that put him in a tight spot. He wasn''t pressed on time anymore which was quite a relief.

    Unfortunately, his joy didn''tst long.

    The moment he saw Little Rabbit, the young Demi-human from the Speedster Rabbitfolk barge through the thicket of bushes, he knew that something was wrong.

    Little Rabbit looked distressed as she charged straight at him. She was so fast that Michael thought Little Rabbit might have advanced to the 2nd Tier. Of course, that was not the case. She was just in stress, which resulted in her racial trait activating itself naturally.

    "Lord, you have to see this!!" Little Rabbit shouted loudly.

    She could barely slow down to prevent crashing into Michael and skidded to a halt inches away from him.

    "Did you guys find something? Is it a Tier-2 Monster?" Michael asked, without feeling too worried.

    After working tirelessly on the conquest of the lizard cavern, Michael and his people came up with various ways to separate Tier-2 Monster groups and how to kill them. He could keep his calm in front of her. After all, he was confident enough to say that they had grown strong enough to win against the Blood-eyed Minotaur without a single casualty if the attack were to happen now.

    That was how strong they had grown. Another encounter with a Monster like the Blood-eyed Minotaur wouldn''t end in a humiliating defeat this time!

    However, Little Rabbit shook her head, "There is no monster, my Lord!"

    ''Hmmm?''

    "We found a group of Forest Elves!" Little Rabbit added, her voice filled with concern.

    "Forest Elves? Do you mean the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team?" Michael asked, slightly confused. Tiara and ire knew about the EmeraldLeaf team, and that they were the only Forest Elves nearby.

    "Why didn''t you guys bring them over? They''re not our allies, but the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team is not our enemy either," Michael said lightly. He was not too bothered about hiding the territory''s progress from the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.

    However, Little Rabbit didn''t seem to be convinced. No, the conviction was not the problem.

    "My Lord¡­that might be a little bit difficult¡­" She began to speak, only to shut her mouth when she saw the darkness deep inside Michael''s eyes.

    He looked straight into her eyes, causing Little Rabbit to lose the ability to speak for a moment.

    "They''ve been poisoned, and it looks like they were pursued. Tiara and the others weren''t sure what to do with them¡­" Little Rabbit revealed atst.

    "Pursued? So, they brought guests?" Michael asked, which Little Rabbit affirmed with a faint nod.

    "Then let''s wee our guests!"

 Chapter 159 Poisoned

    Michael looked at the writhing figures of the five Forest Elves with a deep frown.

    Their breathing was rough, and it looked like they were about to pass out at any moment. The five Forest Elves were conscious, yet at the same time, they weren''t.

    Tiara was standing next to him, wearing herbat armaments and a grim expression. She and the territory''s army had been hunting when they noticed amotion. They found the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team lying on the ground, writhing in pain as they tried to endure the effect of the highly potent poison that coursed through their bodies.

    Due to the poison, the bluish vein beneath their fair skin had turned purple. They were throbbing wildly and were clearly visible to the eye.

    "What happened to them?" Michael asked quietly while bending down.

    His hands hovered above Lilica''s body, golden streams manifesting in his palms.

    "Icarus, Iglisis, ire, and her tracker team are currently observing the pursuers from a considerable distance. They''ll warn us once the pursuers get too close to us, or our territory," Tiara exined calmly. She threw one nce at the Forest Elves writhing in pain and added, "It looks like there are quite a few Adventurers after them!"

    That was not an answer to his question, but Michael simply nodded his head. He began to use Extraction on the Forest Elves to extract the poison that coursed through their veins.

    Extracting the poison within all of them required great focus and a total of half an hour. Afterward, they were given healing potions to invigorate them and aid their recuperation.

    In the meantime, the pursuers inched closer to their position. Iglisis reported that they had issues passing through the densely grown Untamed Jungle and that the pursuers were very careful. They expected to encounter monsters and the Forest Elves behind every bush and tree trunk.

    ording to Iglisis, most pursuers were also injured. Some even pursued the Forest Elves after they''d sustained severe injuries.

    ''Why are they doing that? Are their lives worth less than their desire to kill the Forest Elves?'' Michael wondered at this point.

    It wouldn''t take long before they would encounter the pursuers, and Michael had yet to make a decision about what he was going to do.

    "W-where are we?" A weak voice reached his ears.

    Michael turned around and saw that the first Forest Elf had regained consciousness fully.

    "What happened?" He asked instead of answering the Forest Elf''s question.

    Something felt off. The trackers reported a few minutes ago that the pursuers were split up in six different groups, and that it looked like the six groups were not working together. They insulted each other and threatened to attack each other more than once.

    Michael believed that the pursuers were different Adventurer teams, which had joined their forces to pursue the EmeraldLeaf team into the Untamed Jungle. But that was especially weird.

    By now, Michael had been to Xiltra many times. Hence, he knew that most people avoided the Untamed Jungle. Rumors in the city were ripe that most Adventurers wouldn''t make it out of the Untamed Jungle if they were to venture in ¨C which was more or less the truth.

    If one didn''t know the topography of the Untamed Jungle, and the location of the monster habitats, it would be quite difficult to pave a way through the Untamed Jungle and survive.

    "Y-you¡­you are the human Lord¡­ Are we in the Untamed Jungle?" The Elf asked weakly, barely able to keep her eyes open.

    "What happened to you guys?" Michael asked again, a little bit sharper this time.

    The Elf''s pointed ears twitched, and she moved her head to look straight into Michael''s dark eyes. The next moment, her eyes turned moist.

    She was not able to say anything as she pressed her lips together in a thin line and began to cry silently.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Fortunately, Lilica had regained her full consciousness as well. She was disoriented and looked around to figure out where they were. She only stopped moving frantically when she saw Michael.

    "Thank Yggdrasil. We''re not dead," Lilica murmured while the tension in her body eased a little.

    She ended up lying t on the ground, staring gratefully at the canopy of humongous trees high up in the air.

    "We were on a mission," Lilica said after a minute of silence.

    "A mission?"

    "Yes, but that doesn''t matter right now," Lilica sighed deeply before she added, "Important is just that the mission was outside Xiltra, and that six Adventurer Teams ambushed us. We managed to kill or cripple the strongest Adventurers we faced, but they managed to poison each of us¡­"

    A stunned silence followed Lilica''s words. It was only when the remaining members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer regained their full consciousness that one of them added painfully, "...Jighorim sacrificed himself to help us flee into the Untamed Jungle¡­"

    "If six Adventurer teams joined their forces, you guys must have offended someone big in Xiltra. What did you guys do?" Michael asked straightforwardly.

    While it was sad that one of them had sacrificed his life to protect his team, that was not important to Michael. He didn''t want to intervene in a battle against a powerhouse if Lilica and her team had done something stupid.

    Michael may not hate the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, but it was not as if they were best friends either. Their rtionship was nothing special ¨C and he wouldn''t sacrifice his loyal subjects by offending another powerhouse just to save a few people he was barely acquainted with. Senator Keltos was already problematic enough.

    "That''s the thing. We didn''t offend anyone. Since we''re the only Forest Elves in Xiltra, and one of the few groups of Forest Elves in the entire Zentika Empire, we have always been very careful. The only time one of us has been careless was when our youngest went out to drink with a few Lionhearts. He exposed that there is a Lord in the Untamed Jungle ¨C you. However, that is something I already told you, and it is not exactly something that justifies the ambush of six Adventurer teams either¡­" Lilica said while her tone grew colder as the words tumbled out of her mouth.

    "I think¡­I heard someone asking if we''ve killed the Blood-eyed Minotaur¡­" A weak voice from behind Lilica added all of a sudden.

    It was one of the other Forest Elves, who had regained his consciousness.

    "One of them asked me who our Master is. It was a little weird. We shed, and he asked that question out of nowhere," Another Forest Elf added.

    At this point, Michael roughly understood what must have happened.

    ''Did the remaining subordinates of the Senator take action? That should be it!'' Michael murmured to himself, ''That must be it! They probably thought that the Forest Elves lied to them to kill the Lionheart Leader and his group, and the Lionheart, who was working with the Blood-Eyed Minotaur''s group. That''s why they chose to eliminate the EmeraldLeaf team altogether!''

    Michael couldn''t be certain that his guess was right, but he was confident that it was, at least, close to the truth.

    He took a deep breath, and let a few thoughts run through his mind.

    Not long after, ire, her group of trackers, and the two aerial units of hisbat team returned to him.

    The pursuers were about to reach them.

    Michael manifested the Onyx Dragon Armor Set before he waved his arm once. In the following seconds, the territory''s entire army disappeared in the thicket of the Origin Expanse.

    "The guests are about to arrive," Michael mumbled with a small smile on his face,

    "How about we wee our guests?"

 Chapter 160 Military Might

    After sending off everyone else, Michael and the Forest Elves were left alone.

    The poison inside the Forest Elves had been extracted, but they were still worn out and drained of all the origin energy. Maybe, they could release a few arrows, killing one or two Tier-1 Adventurers in the process, but that was already it. Theirbat prowess was nowhere close to their peak.

    "Will he rat us out?" One of the Forest Elves couldn''t help but ask Lilica.

    She could tell that none in Michael''s Army was above the 1st Tier. In fact, the Battle Maid seemed to be the strongest ¨C and she was merely a Mid Tier-1 Adventurer.

    Lilica didn''t seem too bothered by that. She wasn''t close to Michael, but their few encounters were enough for her to have a rough image of the young human Lord.

    Michael could have hated them for the mistake the youngest in their team made. Their youngest told a Lionheart about Michael and his territory when he was dead drunk. Yet, instead of ming the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team for what happened afterward i.e., the attack of therge Lionheart Adventurer team, and taking revenge, Michael stayed put.

    He even helped them remove the poison in their bodies, saving their lives in the process. Why would he have done that if his n was to get rid of them?

    Michael decided to ignore the discussion of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. Instead, he focused on themotion that broke out in front of him.

    The first Destors, Lionhearts, and members of other races broke through the thicket of the Untamed Jungle. They noticed the Forest Elves, along with Michael immediately and didn''t hesitate to charge forward.

    Meanwhile, Michael took a step forward as well.

    "Did Leopold Darkin, Olikan Darkin, or Zuak Paluv send you guys?" He asked the six Adventurer teams calmly as they charged ahead.

    The six Adventurer teams had more than forty members left. Six of them were Low Tier-2 Adventurers, while the rest were either at the Peak of the 1st Tier or at the Late stage.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would be shuddering at the sight of such a powerful force charging at him. However, Michael''s expression didn''t change. He remained as calm as before.

    Some of the Adventurers slowed down for a moment when they heard what Michael asked, while others snapped at him, "Just shut up and die!!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow at the outburst. His gaze never left the Adventurers as they passed slowly through the densely grown Untamed Jungle.

    He raised his arm slowly and cleaved downward once his arm was fully stretched out.

    The next moment, the Siltang Bow manifested in Michael''s empty hand. Simultaneously, the canopy of trees was covered by spears and arrows that flew through the air in a beautiful arc.

    Earth spikes shot out of the ground, and water whips emerged from all directions.

    The attacks impacted one after another. The water whips coiled around the arms and legs of the Adventurers in the vicinity, restricting their movements before the earth spikes pierced their calves. Simultaneously, the spears and arrows hit their targets, further immobilizing them.

    The majority of the Adventurer teams used their Soultraits and Artifacts to block the attacks or evade them. However, some of them were a second toote. Targeted by the water whips and the earth spikes, they couldn''t even move as a barrage of spears and arrows hit them hard.

    As if that was not enough, precisely targeted crossbow bolts whizzed through the air the next moment, piercing through the vital points of the Adventurers that had been hit the worst.

    Michael watched the release of the first barrage of projectiles with a satisfied smile.

    He might have chosen to spare them if they were unwilling to kill him. However, none of the six Adventurer teams seemed to care about his life. It was not as if Michael expected them to care but being targeted with killing intent allowed Michael''s consciousness to be void of guilt and remorse while killing them.

    He conjured an energy arrow, began to draw the bowstring back, and activated Eagle Eyes. After adjusting his angle once, Michael released the arrow. It whizzed through the air with terrific velocity and pierced through the eye of the closest opponent.

    "That was a little weak," He murmured to himself before exerting Lesser Enhancement.

    Michael conjured another arrow and pulled the bowstring back once again. He released the second arrow in the next second.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Alongwith Michael''s second attack, the second barrage of more than 100 projectiles shot through the vicinity simultaneously. The pressure was less than before because there were no earth spikes nor water whips restricting the Adventurers. Nheless, more than a dozen projectiles found a way to their designated target.

    It was only after the second barrage that Michael retrieved the Siltang Bow. He manifested Seron Voulge and whistled aloud. Following his whistle, the bushes all around the Adventurers began to shake. A tremor rang out from the left and a screech reached their ears from the right.

    The Heavy Armored Elephant barged through the bushes on the left, and Icarus dived down from the canopy bridge from the right. Icarus dived down swiftly and picked up one of the Destors before he shot back into the air.

    Meanwhile, the Heavy Armored Elephant charged ahead fearlessly ¨C but it was not alone. The Demi-Humans, Warriors, Spearmen, Knights, Berserker, and everyone else followed behind the Heavy Armored Elephant.

    The territory''s closebat units emerged from all directions, led by the Heavy Armored Elephant on the left, and by Tiara on the right side.

    Thunderous roars filled the surroundings as the Warriors roared out loudly. Their morale skyrocketed as a third barrage of arrows and spears flew through the air. The projectiles impacted moments before the Warriors appeared in front of their opponents.

    The earth spikes and water whips didn''t resurface anymore. But that was only a short moment of relief for the few Tier-2 Adventurers in the front who found themselves caught in the mud and faced with a sudden pulling force that wanted to pull them underground as if they were stuck in quicksand.

    Luckily, escaping the mud trap was not too difficult for them. However, it grew increasingly tiring to evade the projectiles flying toward them while trying to escape the muddy pool. The Tier-2 Adventurers were already injured and not in their best form anymore. Fighting against the Forest Elves had been more devastating than expected.

    Nheless, the Tier-2 Adventurers were not weak. They possessed multiple Tier-1 Artifacts respectively and could utilize their Soultraits to gain an advantage.

    Their vitality was strong enough to ignore most projectiles that found their way to them. They were simply not strong enough.

    However, everything changed when several Assassins appeared around them all of a sudden. As their weapons were coated in poison, even minor injuries could turn into a big problem.

    But that was not everything. A small group of Cavalry Riders passed through the thicket of the Untamed Jungle. They rode through the bushes and shrubs in a straight line, pierced a weak Adventurer, who was already covered in several cuts, and impaled the Adventurer with theirnce.

    Afterward, they dragged the impaled Adventurer through the bushes until they disappeared in the thicket of the Untamed Jungle. The only thing the impaled Adventurers left behind were endless screams of terror. At one point, the screams died down, and an eerie silence followed suit.

    But the fight was not yet over. The massacre had just begun, and the Forest Elves witnessed all of it from the VIP seats.

    "What the¡­ This¡­ I am not seeing things, right?" One of the Forest Elves asked, feeling utterly confused.

    However, even Lilica wasn''t sure what to say right now. She stared nkly at the massacre that unveiled itself in front of her, her expression turning uglier by the second.

    "If you''re seeing what I see, then we''re not imagining things."

    "...But it doesn''t make sense!" The young Elf eximed, and Lilica couldn''t agree more.

    "No, it doesn''t."

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

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    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 161 Nonsense

    The moment Michael joined the fight, the tide of the battle changed drastically. It turned out much worse for the invaders.

    The six Adventurer teams were upied with facing his soldiers when Michael appeared next to a Late Tier-1 Zentors Adventurer.

    His Artifacts were shrouded in a white hue, and his eyes shone in a golden luster.

    Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement were unleashed and on full disy for everyone to see.

    Certain that Michael''s Soultrait was rted to his eyes, or the white hue engulfing his Artifacts, the Zentors unleashed his own Soultrait.

    His body expanded and he was about to smash his heavy fists down on Michael''s tiny body when his expression turned nk all of a sudden.

    The corner of Michael''s lip tilted upward in a smirk. He had caught the Zentors off-guard!

    Not expecting a mental attack at this point, the Zentors was hit with a fully empowered Spirit Whip. The Zentors lost focus and his Soultrait was deactivated immediately.

    Michael used the Zentors'' struggle and shock to pounce upon him and thrust forward with Seron Voulge.

    Normally, his opponent would have regained hisposure by now, but the bacsh of having his Soultrait forcefully deactivated dealt additional damage on his mind.

    The Zentors regained his senses when it was already toote. His head felt extremely light, blood spurted through the surroundings, and his vision tunneled all of a sudden.

    Thest thing the Zentors could remember was hearing a thud. After that there was nothing. He had been devoured by eternal darkness. Death was the only thing that remained.

    Michael moved on after defeating his first opponent in closebat. He didn''t waste any time and kept Eagle Eyes, Lesser Enhancement, and Spirit Whip activated.

    After upgrading Spirit Whip to a 3-Star Soultrait, it turned even more terrifying than it had been.

    The Spirit Whip''s range expanded quite a bit, and the lethality increased exponentially. But the same could be said about the difficulty of maintaining and controlling the Spirit Whip.

    Before, Michael could use five Spirit Whips simultaneously. However, right now, a single Spirit Whip was all Michael could use while fighting and using his other Soultraits.

    But that was all he needed. A single Spirit Whip was strong enough to affect a Tier-1 Adventurer. If they were hit with the Spirit Whip off-guard, their defense would crumble, and it would be increasingly difficult to regain their former dynamic and upper hand in the fight.

    That was something Michael made use of. On his way to the Tier-2 Adventurers, his Spirit Whipshed out at every one of the remaining Adventures. They were unprepared and lost their focus for a moment after the impact.

    That was enough to deactivate their Soultraits and fire affinity for a moment. The moment of disturbance was not enough for Michael to kill all of them, but his Warriors had already been prepared to attack when Michael arrived and caught the opponents off guard.

    They used the golden opportunity and struck their opponents from all directions.

    As the massacre continued, the Forest Elves witnessed everything, and they realized what total annihtion truly meant.

    They might have injured the most powerful members of the six Adventurer teams before the poison rendered them unable to continue fighting, but the Forest Elves knew that the battlefield in front of them was far from simple.

    Their opponents were obliterated, rendered unable to run through the Untamed Jungle with fast strides, and incapable of properly fighting against the people who fought like they had been trained to move through the Untamed Jungle for years.

    "They''re just¡­a bunch of Tier-1 Summons¡­so why¡­" One of the Forest Elves began to speak, only to stop mid-way.

    He was baffled at the sight of Michael and Tiara working together to not just fight but kill a Tier-2 Adventurer.

    Of course, the two didn''t fight alone. But even then, thebat prowess and synergy disyed by Michael and Tiara was terrific ¨C just like their Soultraits.

    Lilica had difficulties forcing a smile on her face. She had already sized up the surrounding area and the battlefield and knew that there was a canopy bridge spread across the dense thicket above them.

    The canopy bridges were well-connected and well-hidden. Lilica wouldn''t have found the canopy bridges if not for the barrages of arrows and spears. She noticed that the projectiles shot downward after reaching a certain height, which was why she looked up, just to find hidden canopy bridges that had close to a hundred Archers, two Elemental Mages, and most other long-rangebat units hidden behind the lush greenery. They were close enough to participate in the battle, but far enough to not bother the closebat units and stay safe.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Everything was well-designed, perfect for a situation like today.

    It was quite shocking.

    Nheless, Lilica looked at herrade with a faint smile. She asked in a voice loud enough that summarized what everyone else had been thinking, "Do you think they could defeat us?"

    The attention of the four Forest Elves was pulled to their leader.

    "It''s pretty simple, actually," Lilica said. She frowned deeply and couldn''t smile anymore at the sight unfolding right in front of them.

    "We wouldn''t stand a chance against them. Maybe, not even when we''re at our peak."

    She revealed the bitter truth in an emotionless tone, almost like it was a bad joke. However, they knew that Lilica wouldn''t joke about something like that.

    They knew her well enough to understand what she was feeling right now.

    After a while, Lilica''s expression turned sour. It was hard to hide the bitter feeling in her heart, tinged with just a little jealousy.

    In fact, everyone felt like her. They all lost their territory due to various reasons. However, the biggest reason was their inability to face their enemies.

    Overpowered, they could only surrender as a Lord and be part of the Zentika Empire or give up their rights as Lords and be Adventurers. That way, they could retain some freedom.

    However, it was iparable to the feeling of freedom and power one had as a Lord and the confidence received by leading an army of loyal subjects.

    Michael hadn''t been a Lord for a long time. The members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team clearly recalled that the protection barrier of his territory was still up when they first met.

    Not much time had passed since then, but Michael was already strong enough to fend for himself against powerful opponents.

    It was amazing, but it was also a p on the face of all those who hadn''t been strong enough to protect their territory.

    She added, "They learned to use their environment and numbers to their advantage. In such a short time, they learned how to overpower existences of s higher Tier¡­They learned how to hunt Tier-2 Monsters while being Tierless."

    She was highly impressed by Michael''s progress.

    "I have to be dreaming. That doesn''t make sense."

    It was a fact that all monsters had a weak spot and exposed vital points that could be hurt even by existences of a lower Tier.

    However, the damage caused by a Tierless existence''s attack was nothing noteworthy to a Tier-2 Monster because its vitality was extremely high.

    But if hundreds of people attacked simultaneously, even a small attack with pebbles could turn into a downpour of rocks, drowning the enemy slowly.

    The situation in Michael''s territory was not much different.

    Most of his Summons were still Tierless. However, the Summons with high star rating were also those who advanced to the 1st Tier.

    They had been strong before, but now their power has increased by leaps and bounds.

    Their attacks were either used to distract the opponents, restrict their movements, or slowly take them out one after another.

    By skillfully hiding their attacks amid the ''insignificant'' attacks of Tierless Warriors, they gained several opportunities to inflict serious injuries. And that was exactly what they did.

 Chapter 162 Owing A Favor

    In the end, the battle ended in less than ten minutes. It was total annihtion.

    They killed every single member of the six Adventurer teams without suffering a single casualty.

    Every member in Michael''s army fought carefully. They executed thebat tactics perfectly and emerged victorious.

    First, attacks poured down from the canopy bridges. The first barrage included an onught of earth spikes jutting out of the ground, and water whips emerging from all directions. After the first barrage, the lethality of the elemental attacks was vividly branded into the minds of the attacking Adventurers.

    They grew increasingly more vignt of attacks from the ground and surroundings. The second barrage of projectiles was ordinary, void of any elemental attacks. They believed that Michael and his team had exhausted their powerful attacks. Hence, the Adventurers didn''t expect the appearance of tamed Monsters ¨C forget about a Heavy Armored Elephant and a Greater Eagle. Neither were Monsters that could be found in the Untamed Jungle nor were they easy to tame.

    And that is why the arrival of the tamed Monsters distracted the attacking Adventurers once again. They were shocked ¨C even more so as the closebat units unveiled themselves all around them. The Adventurers had now been surrounded.

    Atst, the elemental attacks started again. The Mages focused on the strongest opponents to restrict them. By then the numerical advantage of the territory''s army was disyed. Tiara, the Knights, and the Berserkersbined their terrificbat prowess to fight the strongest opponents. Meanwhile, Michael began to help the weaker forces to get rid of the Adventurers one by one.

    Michael didn''t expect Spirit Whip to be that powerful after upgrading it to a 3-Star Soultrait. However, it was powerful enough to open a small gap in the enemies'' defense, restrict their utility of Soultraits for a moment, and to use both to strike once ¨C killing them with a single attack.

    It was important to take note that the six Adventurer teams had already been injured in the fight against the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. None of the Tier-2 Adventurers had been unscathed, and most had even sustained one or two severe injuries, which affected theirbat prowess greatly.

    At the same time, they had been mentally and physically exhausted after pursuing the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team for hours, and by entering the Untamed Jungle, which was something they would never do under normal circumstances.

    Nheless, Michael was overjoyed. It was an exceptional achievement to win the battle against the six Adventurer teams without a single casualty and merely a few minor injured Warriors.

    It was the first big battle they had won without the need to hold a memorial for the deceased!

    As Tiara and the rest collected the Adventurers'' corpses, Michael turned calmly to the Forest Elves.

    He smiled at them and extended a friendly invitation, "If the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team is free tonight, how about you join us for dinner?"

    Michael seemed genuinely happy, but that was something the Forest Elves couldn''t understand, at all. It was quite obvious that his achievement in today''s battle was glorious, but was it not a problem for him to have killed their pursuers? Didn''t he know how problematic that could be in the future?

    Furthermore, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had led their pursuers to Michael''s territory, forcing them into an unwanted fight. Shouldn''t he be angry at them? Why would he invite them for dinner?

    The Forest Elves couldn''t understand Michael. But that was only obvious.

    They didn''t know that Michael was in possession of Extraction and that he made huge gains from killing the Adventurers. He was confident of being able to extract arge number of SoulStar Fragments, potentially moreplete Soultraits, and items from the Adventurers'' storage space which is why he offered them a helping hand.

    Even some of their Artifacts would be extracted, further increasing his wealth once sold.

    How were they supposed to know why he was happy?

    Despite being oblivious, Lilica agreed to feast with Michael and his people. They didn''t know what would happen once they returned to Xiltra.

    Even if the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team never offended anyone, enough citizens of Xiltra ¨C and the rest of the Zentika Empire, didn''t like them. Usually, the Forest Elves were epted in society, but they were clearly a minority even amongst minorities in the Zentika Empire.

    Anything could happen to them once the authorities got to know that six Adventurer teams suddenly disappeared into thin air.

    Meanwhile, Michael guided the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team back into his territory. He was not afraid that they would attack anyone because they had witnessed thebat prowess of his army. Furthermore, they were in a weakened state. Michael and Tiara would be enough to deal with them.

    ''Everyone probably thinks the Forest Elves are at fault for the mishaps revolving around the people involved in Senator Keltos'' scheming.'' Michael thought on their way back to the clearing. He listened to the quietly gossiping Forest Elves, who were wondering what crime they had done to offend someone with enough influence and wealth to hire six Adventurer teams to send after them.

    There might be more reasons the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was attacked, but it didn''t really matter. And Michael couldn''t care less either.

    The EmeraldLeaf team owed him a big favor now, At least, that was what the Forest Elves believed.

    And that was all that mattered.

    On their way to the territory, the Forest Elves looked around in awe. They didn''t expect to see treehouseplexes spread all over Michael''s territory. They were well connected via canopy bridges and constructed with high-quality materials. Everything was sturdy, and well-functioning. In fact, even the trees were taken care of to ensure that they wouldn''t die and that their growth was not restricted.

    Michael had removed a few trees, but he paid attention to removing only those which stunted the growth of other trees.

    The Forest Elves'' image of Michael and his actions as a Lord improved considerably after witnessing his territory''s state. They witnessed first-hand how Michael treated the environment around him, and his people. His subjects loved him, and he reciprocated their care and loyalty.

    "You can wash up over here, and rest for a few hours in this treehouse," Michael said, pointing at a big bathhouse, which had been constructed not too long ago, and a nearby treehouse that was still empty.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He wanted to give the Forest Elves some time to think about what had happened, and what they wanted to do in the future.

    At the same time, Michael didn''t want to postpone the extraction of 43 Adventurers.

    The corpses had already been brought to warehouse number three, where he could extract them without anyone bothering him.

    "Thank you very much. We are indebted to you and will repay the favor soon," Lilica said gratefully. She forced a smile on her lips despite feeling as if the entire Origin Expanse was crashing down on her.

    Michael simply nodded before he departed. He reached warehouse number three in no time, where his loyal subjects and a bunch of corpses were waiting for him.

    Wasting no time, Michael exerted Extraction and got started.

    Less than two hourster, Michael was done.

    Not a singlepleted Soultrait Symbol manifested, but that was something Michael was actually grateful for.

    He would rather use the extracted SoulStar Fragments to upgrade his Soultraits rather than amass more Soultraits. He already had too many Soultraits, and couldn''t use more than three simultaneously in a battle, either way.

    That was bound to change in the future with his increased proficiency in wielding his Soultraits, and the simultaneous usage of several Soultraits, but that was something for the future.

    ''But what will I do about Harry then?'' Michael suddenly recalled Harry Baren.

    The thought of upgrading his Soultraits immediately led his thoughts back to Harry, and the excitement the young researcher exuded whenever they talked about Soul Power and Soultraits.

    Only recently, Harry had been overjoyed for days just because he finally found someone to talk to about his Soul Power theories, how it was directly rted to the power output of Soultraits, and how Soultraits developed with the increase of Soul Power.

    There was a lot to talk about, and Michael learned a lot from Harry, especially when it came to learning how to maintain focus mid-fight and keeping the Soultraits activated even if something unexpected happened, but he was not willing to expose his Soultrait''s secret to him. That was too risky for the time being.

    ''Should I wait until after the second aptitude assessment to distribute the SoulStar Fragments?'' Michael wondered, his gaze moving to the pile of SoulStar Fragments.

    Upgrading Spirit Whip was fine and all, but Michael would rather upgrade Lesser Enhancement and Eagle Eyes. They allowed him to increase hisbat prowess in a wide variety, whether it was closebat or long-distance battles.

    ''Should I just lie and say that I had a fortunate encounter? No, that would be too suspicious if I keep upgrading my Soultraits. I cannot use the same excuse over and over again,'' Michael shook his head and sighed deeply.

    ''Well¡­it''s not like I''m in a rush right now. I can just wait until the second aptitude assessment ends before upgrading my Soultraits again. After the second aptitude assessment¡­I won''t care anymore¡­I guess?''

    It was certainly not easy toe up with ns to keep a secret hidden. Michael would rather expose Extraction, but he knew that he was not strong enough to protect himself and Extraction from the greed of humans ¨C and other races.

    With that in mind, Michael absorbed 121 SoulStar Fragments without using them. They rested next to the white pir in his consciousness, waiting to be used.

    Afterward, his attention returned to the Artifacts and other loot he had extracted from the Adventurers'' corpses.

    Interestingly enough, he was very lucky this time around. He extracted a few Memory Orbs from the Adventurers.

    Contrary to his expectations when he first obtained Memory Orbs and SoulStar Fragments, the probability of extracting memories from others was much lower than SoulStar Fragments.

    Furthermore, Michael had yet to extract a Memory Orb from a Monster.

    It had been a while since he obtained hisst Memory Orb, and Michael absorbed them immediately.

    Streams of memories flooded Michael''s mind. At first, it hurt a bit. Too many memories entered his mind at once, and he had a hard time sorting through the feelings that infiltrated his mind.

    However, he slowly gained control of the memory stream, which he absorbed slowly.

    Only an hourter, Michael was already done. All memories had been imprinted onto his mind.

    "So that''s who you guys are!"

    [A/N It would be great if you could write a shortment on how you like/dislike the novel''s progress. Is it too slow, or too fast? What else do you like/dislike? Everyment helps :D]

 Chapter 163 Nowhere To Go

    Atst, Michael got to know two out of the remaining Lionhearts, who had been given a secret mission by Senator Keltos.

    He knew where they worked, and what kind of cruel tasks they had given the six Adventurer teams in the past.

    The six Adventurer teams had been formed by the two Lionhearts, who were twin brothers. They called themselves Twin Lions and earned most of their fortune by managing several mercenary groups in other Border Cities, and the six Adventurer teams in Xiltra.

    The Twin Lions ordered the attack on the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer group because they had a big misconception. They believed that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team worked for one of Senator Keltos''petitors and that the Forest Elves had been ordered to kill the Lionheart Leader and his Adventurer group, alongwith the Minotaur group.

    Michael got to know a lot more, but the most important information was that he found the Twin Lions ¨C and that they were his enemies.

    Just like the Lionheart Leader of the big Adventurer group, they would rather regain their rights as Lords, and use their territory in the Untamed Jungle to fulfill Senator Keltos'' secret mission, than live their life as Adventurers.

    The Twin Lions were interested in the Lord within the Untamed Jungle. They wanted to find Michael and kill him. Unfortunately, he wouldn''t allow that to happen ¨C especially not now when he knew everything!

    Now that he hadpleted the extraction, Michael stored 26 Artifacts inside his War Rune. Most of the six Adventurer teams had at least one Tier-1 Artifact, and Michael was fortunate enough to extract 26 Tier-1 Artifacts out of 40+ Adventurer corpses.

    They could be sold for a small fortune in Xiltra, but Michael had a better idea. But he put that aside for the time being.

    He left the warehouse and returned to the center of the clearing. The Forest Elves were already seated near the open mall ¨C if one could call it such¨C, which Michael and his people had constructed to ensure that everyone could eat together. Hundreds of people could eat there at the same time.

    Tiara, ire and a few other people were seated around the Forest Elves. They tried to make the Forest Elves feel morefortable ¨C which worked more or less.

    Lilica was the only one who seemed a little bit ufortable. Her eyes were restlessly scanning the surroundings, and she jumped up from her seat when she found him.

    In the past few hours, Lilica had received enough time to contemte. And she had a lot to think about for sure.

    At the end of the day, she came to a conclusion; she had to forfeit her pride and do something she didn''t really want to do.

    Over the past few years, Lilica had meticulously collected various detailed pieces of information about the Zentika Empire, the surrounding regions, the other Empires and Kingdoms adjacent to the Zentika Empire, and so on.

    Initially, Lilica wanted to use these detailed pieces of information for her own future. Once everyone in the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team advanced to Tier-3 and they umted enough wealth, connections, and knowledge, she wanted to create her own territory.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have the means to create a territory and reim her rights as a Lord, just like that. To create a territory, she would have to receive her Elder''s guidance and resources. After all, she was not wealthy and knowledgeable enough to do so on her own.

    However, the Elder''s guidance and resources wouldn''t be given to her without a reasonable demonstration of her power and preparations. She had to be fully prepared and strong enough to ensure that she wouldn''t lose her territory again.

    Lilica never expected that her carefully constructed ns would fail like this. They shattered into countless pieces, and she didn''t even know how, or why.

    As bitter as it may be, Lilica chose to share some of the information she had collected over the past few years with Michael. That way, she could repay Michael''s favor, and maybe elevate her position and think of a way to keep working toward her n''s sess ¨C somehow.

    Lilica approached Michael and they went on a long walk to have a deep discussion. More than two hours passed before they finally returned. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    There was no change in Michael''s expression. He looked nonchnt as if Lilica''s information hadn''t been exceptionally helpful. However, the opposite was the case. Michael learned a lot, and he was quite shocked, especially about thest point she mentioned before they returned.

    "During my research, I found information about a Lord Rift in the Zentika Empire that opens every few decades. It is a rift that can only be entered by Lords. ording to the information I procured, the Will of the Origin Expanse created it long before the Zentika Empire was created, and it is one of the reasons the Zentika Empire was able to flourish and stay strong against the enemies surrounding it.

    In fact, the Lord Rift is also one of the reasons the Zentika Empire epts Lords despite being a Native Empire!"

    When Lilica told him about the Lord Rift, he grew curious. However, he wouldn''t enter the deeper parts of the Zentika Empire just because he obtained some information about a Lord Rift.

    Rifts were special creations of the Origin Expanse. They lead to a separate realm where heavenly treasures form. A Lord Rift was a rift specialized for Lords. The loot they could find inside ranged from Summoning Cores to Lord Seals, and even included Soultrait Symbols.

    Even Soultraits could be found in Lord Rifts. These Rifts were one of the ces in which the strongest of mankind found a way to procure a second Soultrait artificially!

    Soultrait Symbols were the least valuable for Michael. He was more interested in Summoning Cores, and other treasures. Nheless, it was not worth entering the depth of the Zentika Empire for the Lord Rift, not as long as he didn''t have more information about them.

    ''I can think about it when the Lord Rift opens, but not right now,'' Michael told himself as he picked up a big-sized te to eat something.

    Lilica looked at him from the side and frowned deeply.

    Either Michael was too good at keeping a straight face, or her high value information was worthless to Michael.

    One way or another, Lilica was frustrated. Nothing seemed to go ording to her ns.

    After Michael sat down next to Lilica and the other Forest Elves, he considered something before he retrieved a few pieces of paper. The papers were the documents which he had extracted out of the War Rune of the aggressive Lionheart, who had worked together with the Minotaur''s team.

    Michael figured that Lilica was up to something, but he didn''t want it to work. Thus, he handed her the documents. Afterward, his focus turned to the highly nutritious meal, and he inhaled the delicious aroma wafting through the air.

    While Michael went back to the cooks for seconds, Lilica and the other Forest Elves began to understand how cruel reality was.

    Their dreams and ns had been smashed to the ground and bulldozed repetitively as realization dawned upon them.

    The documents in their hands were hard proof, depriving them of theirst ray of hope.

    "A Senator is after us?" Lilica mumbled in shock as she put the pieces together.

    All of the Forest Elves turned deathly pale, and their youngest blurted out what all of them were thinking.

    "We have nowhere left to go in the Zentika Empire¡­"

 Chapter 164 Promising Offer

    There was no way that the Forest Elves could ept their fate, but reality was often cruel and merciless.

    Now that the six Adventurer teams died in the Untamed Jungle, while they''d been pursuing the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, the Forest Elves would never be able to exin the situation properly.

    They were not even aware of the existence of the Twin Lions and could only guess that the Senator had sent his subordinates to give them a silent death. Luckily, they didn''t die due to Michael''s timely intervention.

    Unfortunately, the Senator''s followers would now think that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team killed their underlings.

    "What should we do?" One of the Forest Elves asked with a trace of desperation in her voice.

    She looked at Lilica, whose expression was bitter and overflowing with frustration.

    Lilica didn''t know how Michael had procured the documents, but they were authentic. She was certain of that.

    "I¡­" Lilica started, only to stop when Michael lifted his hand.

    He had just finished his second helping and decided that it was time to speak now.

    "If you''re willing to listen, I have an offer to make. Of course, you can choose to decline at any time," Michael said, which made Lilica curious.

    Even before handing over the documents, he had extracted, an idea had formed in his mind. Michael couldn''t tell whether Lilica and her team would agree, but it was worth a try.

    He had the upper hand right now.

    Under normal circumstances, the Forest Elves wouldn''t have to worry about anything. Killing a few Adventurers in the Untamed Jungle wasn''t much of an issue.

    However, the core problem was that the Adventurers attacked them in the name of the Senator''s subordinates. If the underlings used the Senator''s authority, or Senator Keltos put them on the wanted dead-or-alive list, their life would be over. They couldn''t stay in Xiltra or the Zentika Empire without living in constant fear of being caught.

    This was something Michael realized quickly.

    Lilica and the others didn''t have much of a choice if they wanted to stay in the Origin Expanse and make a living. They still wanted to get stronger by using the dormant energy of the Origin Expanse ¨C and all other benefits the Origin Expanse had to offer.

    That was why they grudgingly agreed to listen to his offer.

    "I can ept you in my territory, under the condition that you be my subordinates¨C" Michael began to speak.

    However, before he could finish his offer, the youngest member of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team jumped up from his seat.

    His face flushed in anger, and his eyes ring daggers, the young Forest Elf was jabbing his finger in the air, pointing usingly at Michael.

    "Do you want to insult us, HUMAN? What kind of offer is that? Do you feel almighty just because we''re in a sticky situation? We will never ept to be enved by a lesser race!!" He bellowed, speaking out what all Forest Elves thought at this moment.

    Even if they didn''t have a safe ce to stay, they could still work it out¡­somehow.

    Michael raised an eyebrow at that as he watched the young man trembling in anger.

    "Shut up, and let me finish," Michael retorted sharply, his ice-cold eyes causing the youngest Forest Elf to feel the chills running down his spine.

    The others had a lot to say as well, but nobody uttered a word. They kept their mouths sealed shut. The situation wasn''t as simple as it seemed.

    Entering the Origin Expanse by manifesting the Runic Gate in an unprotected area was suicidal. If they emerged in the Origin Expanse when a hungry monster walked by, they would be torn to shreds.

    It wasmon knowledge to seek well-protected ces to anchor your Runic Gate. Too many powerhouses, who had been too confident in their capabilities ended up dying because they underestimated the hidden dangers of manifesting the Runic Gate in the wilderness.

    If the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team wanted to stay in the Origin Expanse while retaining the opportunity to safely return home ande back whenever they wanted, they required a secure ce to stay. Unfortunately, the Zentika Empire was not an option anymore, and the Untamed Jungle was overpopted. The chances to encounter a fierce monster while returning from home were extremely high as well.

    "As I said, I can ept you in my territory, under the condition that you be my subordinates. You will have to form a Link of Loyalty with me. However, the Link of Loyalty will have a special use that allows you to break the Link as long as certain conditions are met. That way, you can leave whenever you want to, or break the Link of Loyalty if I mistreat you," Michael exined, his eyes still ring coldly at the youngest Forest Elf who had butted in without letting himplete.

    "Of course, the conditions will be known by all parties involved, and they will include the use that you can only break the Link of Loyalty after informing me about it. That way, you can leave whenever you wish while I can ensure the safety of my subjects since I will personally send you out of my territory once the Link of Loyalty has been terminated. I won''t ept potential threats in my territory, and I cannot trust you enough after the link is severed. After all, my goodwill has already been abused once."

    Michael intentionally mentioned thest two sentences. He recalled the Gogi Lord corpse, which he had handed over to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team upon their request, and the fact that the youngest Forest Elf had ended up exposing information about his territory, thereby breaking the promise Lilica made to him as a representative of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The youngest Forest Elf''splexion paled upon hearing the reason why Michael couldn''t trust them. Meanwhile, Lilica and the others fell deep in thought.

    "Even if you guys want to stay only temporarily in my territory, you will have to ept my condition. Furthermore, you''ll be part of my territory the moment the Link of Loyalty has been established. That means I won''t mistreat anyone. You won''t make any losses because you can always terminate the Link of Loyalty if you don''t like my attitude," Michael revealed in all honesty.

    He didn''t hide anything since it would make things worse, and added, "But I think it''s quite obvious that I won''t give you everything for free. If you want to eat and sleep, you''ll have to work just like everyone else!"

    Michael knew that he was not offering a lot. However, the little things such as safety and a ce to stay were of immense value right now.

    He didn''t put any restrictions on the Forest Elves and gave them a secure ce to anchor their Runic Gate. They would be able to travel back home ande back to the Origin Expanse at any time, without the need to worry about their safety.

    The Untamed Jungle might not be the best ce for them to stay, but it was ¨C by far ¨C not the worst.

    They were Forest Elves and could survive in any kind of forest. As they were born, raised, and trained in a forest, the Forest Elves wouldn''t die easily in a forest.

    That was also how they earned their money in Xiltra. They used their expertise and epted the mission that led to the Untamed Jungle. Others didn''t want to enter this ce, but the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team didn''t have a problem with that.

    However, staying in the Untamed Jungle by themselves wasn''t helpful either. They had lost ess to Xiltra, and the Zentika Empire as trading hub for resources. Being one of the only Forest Elves ¨C if not the only Forest Elves ¨C in the Zentika Empire, their appearance would expose them immediately.

    Lilica and the others were enraged at Michael''s offer at first. But the more Michael revealed the more they understood their situation.

    They might survive in the Untamed Jungle without any help, but what then? The loot they procured from the Untamed Jungle was worth close to nothing at home. At the same time, the goods produced at home couldn''t be sold in Xiltra anymore. After all, they couldn''t return without fearing being captured and prosecuted.

    That was just one of the many things revolving in Lilica''s mind, and it was already frustrating enough to feel like punching the air for a few hours.

    Michael didn''t push the Forest Elves closer to the idea of bing his subjects. He knew that it was not something he could force.

    Instead, Michael remained silent after he said what he had to say. He just waited, and let them think it through.

    "Hypothetically¡­" Lilica murmured quietly, which Michael took as a positive sign.

    "What would happen if we ept your condition, be your subordinates by forming a Link of Loyalty with you, and bring some goods from outside the Origin Expanse? Would you im them as your territory''s property, or would they still belong to us?"

    Lilica was being very careful and calctive. She didn''t want to make a mistake by blindly trusting Michael. Her gut feeling told her that Michael was sincere and that he wouldn''t take advantage of them, but she also knew that her gut feeling was not always right.

    "Goods from the Forest Elves'' home? That would be amazing!" Michael blurted out his thoughts in excitement, "If the Forest Elves bring their goods into my territory, I have another market to trade my goods with!"

    Michael then realized that he had said everything aloud and cleared his throat.

    "To be honest, I have a few deals with a big corporation in mankind''s territory, and it would be a lot easier to trade with you guys than traveling to Xiltra and purchasing goods from their shops. If we start trading with each other, we could save money both ways while still making a profit. Of course, your goods still belong to you. I am not taking anything from my subjects!"

    Lilica and the others looked at him in surprise. They felt that Michael was a weird Lord, a Lord, who could be kind, gentle, and sincere at one time, and like a brutal, merciless tyrant the moment he stepped on the battlefield. However, the most important fact was that Michael ¨C despite his young age ¨C seemed to be good at thinking about and nning for the long term.

    If Michael could create a business rtionship with the Forest Elves, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team might have to stay longer in his territory. In fact, if their business rtionship were to progress further, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team might receive orders from their Elders to permanently stay with Michael ¨C though it was very unlikely.

    Considering the growth of Michael''s territory in such a short time, including the massive increase inbat prowess he attained, Michael was a good candidate as a business partner. This was especially true now that Michael was the only one left with ess to Xiltra and the Zentika Empire.

    ''Did he consider all of these factors?'' Lilica wondered.

    ''Even if he didn''t consider all of them, one or two are already enough to consider him a decent strategist and businessman.''

    Lilica knew that she had already put aside her pride by sharing the information she had wanted to make use of before to reim her title as a Lord. She was also aware of their current situation.

    Thus, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had to make a decision; try to fight on their own and see how far they could go, or be Michael''s subordinates ¨C even if it was just temporary.

    "Can you tell me more about your ns, or do you want us to make a decision now?" Lilica asked, still debating in her mind.

    "I can tell you about my ns. But I would rather prefer to show you some of my ns," Michael responded mysteriously,

    "Follow me!"

 Chapter 165 Power Expansion

    Michael could clearly tell that it was a great opportunity to get the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team on his side.

    Not only were the five members Tier-2 Adventurers, but they could connect him to a race and market that was theplete opposite of mankind''s market.

    Mankindcked the means to create big farms and reinvigorate the barren and destroyednds in the Origin Expanse. They possessed other means that allowed them to survive in the Origin Expanse for half a millennium.

    The Forest Elves had more means to create flourishing flora and fauna wherever they were. They had too many of them, in fact. However, theycked many other resources.

    Thus, Michael didn''t hesitate to give the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team a tour of his territory.

    He first walked over to the Bilrox Ranch, then he visited the Weaponsmith, the Master Alchemist, the Priest, and tamed Monsters before he proudly showed the Forest Elves the development of his territory, and the farms.

    While all of this was already enough to demonstrate how much everyone trusted Michael, and how quickly his territory developed, Michael showed the Forest Elves the lizard cave, and the Nature Spirit, atst.

    Even before the Forest Elves got to know the Nature Spirit, they had already made a final decision ¨C or so it seemed.

    However, the moment the Nature Spirit appeared in front of them, just barely sprouting out of the wet soil, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team failed to hide their shock.

    Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they stared at the Nature Spirit with an utterly dumbfounded expressions.

    Michael saw their reaction and couldn''t hide a victorious smile.

    "How did you find a Nature Spirit like this?" Lilica asked Michael once she regained herposure.

    Michael tilted his head, "I summoned it. The Nature Spirit is a 4-Star Summon, though a bit too timid for my taste. I am currently trying to find ways for the Nature Spirit to build up some confidence."

    Michael had a lot more to say about the Nature Spirit, but he stopped at that point. He saw the brightly twinkling eyes of the Forest Elves and realized that he said more than enough.

    Michael didn''t know that the Forest Elves could sense the emotions of the flora and fauna around them vividly. It was their sixth sense, a racial trait that allowed them to grow all kinds of nts rapidly by sensing when a nt had been watered perfectly, and what other nourishment was needed by them to flourish.

    They could also sense the Nature Spirit''s emotions, its joy, and trust in Michael as a human being and a Lord.

    The forest around Michael''s territory also seemed to be well-kept. Certain conditions could be improved, but the Forest Elves acknowledged that Michael was not one of them, and thus unable to figure out the mistakes he made.

    Feeling the emotions of the Nature Spirit and the Flora and Fauna, the Forest Elves instinctively wanted to trust Michael as well.

    The youngest Forest Elf approached him with his head bent low. He bowed deeply to Michael.

    "I apologize for my behavior earlier, and for the mistake I made in the past. I didn''t mean to expose you to the Lionhearts. It''s all my fault."

    The youngest Forest Elf had not intended to purposely break the trust Michael had given them, but it had somehow happened. He couldn''t even recall it clearly¡­ It was one of the most embarrassing moments in his life.

    "It''s fine. My territory is still standing strong. We cannot change the past, either way," Michael said before he carefully added, "But we can try to make up for the mistakes we did in the past and learn a lesson from every mistake. That way, you will be a better person with every passing day."

    The Forest Elves nodded in understanding. Afterward, they began to gather and talk to each other in the elven tongue.

    It was about time they came to a final decision.

    After more than ten minutes passed, the Forest Elves separated again. They looked at Michael who responded with a faint smile.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Did you make a final decision?" He asked, and the Forest Elves nodded in unison.

    "We would like to join your territory¡­" Lilica said, "...for the time being."

    "That''s wonderful. Let us do our best to turn this small territory into a grand ce full of vigor and power!" Michael eximed before manifesting white streams of energy that shot out of the back of his War Rune.

    The tentacles moved around vigorously, desiring to take on the Forest Elves by themselves.

    The Forest Elves swallowed their saliva, understanding that it was time to ept Michael as their new Lord ¨C even if it was just temporarily ¨C or leave for good.

    Lilica was the first to react. She released a stream of energy from her War Rune as well. Her eyes were still gleaming in determination, but there was also something else, something she would never reveal to others. Lilica felt fear and apprehension.

    Even if it was just a little bit, she was afraid, and Michael could tell that with a single nce.

    "Let''s connect the links with the terms and conditions," Michael murmured, and Lilica nodded.

    Their streams of energy connected smoothly. The power of being a Lord streamed through his energy, creating the Link of Loyalty swiftly. While being formed, the terms and conditions wereid out and engraved on the Link of Loyalty, slowing down the process of creation drastically.

    But neither Michael nor Lilica paid much attention to that. They formed the Link of Loyalty with great vignce.

    After half an hour, the Link waspleted. It took way longer than it should have, but Michael and Lilica went through the terms and conditions multiple times to make things easier for the next four links.

    Two more hours passed before the whole EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had be Michael''s newest subordinates. The Links of Loyalty were established, and Michael could immediately sense who trusted him, and who eyed him with vignce.

    The Links of Loyalty were not of the same firmness. Lilica''s link was surprisingly thick, indicating high trust and loyalty.

    That was great, and it gave Michael high hopes for the future of their business rtionship.

    Through Lilica and her team, Michael gained a connection to the Forest Elven tribe, and several powerful Tier-2 Adventurer subordinates atst.

    "Take these and go to the medical house. The Priest and a few doctors will make sure that no traces of residual poison are left in your bodies, and that you''ll recuperate quickly," Michael ordered in a light tone while handing out a bunch of potions.

    Michael''s tone didn''t change a lot from the usual, but the Forest Elves found themselves taking his words more seriously. They followed hismand and were led to the medical house.

    "Do you think it''ll be possible to conquer the lizard cave now that we have the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team on our side?" Michael asked Tiara.

    Tiara was still next to him. Her gaze followed the Forest Elves while she was deep in thought.

    "The cavern system is deep andplex. I''m not sure, Master," She revealed honestly, "But we can only find out by trying."

    Michael silently agreed.

    They had researched the lizard cavern a lot, but they never made it too deep into the cavern system.

    Maybe it was time to change that.

 Chapter 166 Connecting Markets

    Two dayster the Forest Elves regained theirbat prowess, and the few injured Warriors had fully recuperated.

    The feast was over, and the members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had grown closer to the territory''s citizens.

    Lilica and the others taught some tips and tricks to the archers in the territory. They noticed that the archers were heavily relying on theoretical knowledge ¨C procured from a bunch of books ¨C to improve their technique, and uracy. But not everything can be taught through books. Some essential tips and tricks could only be learned by experiencing them.

    Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Forest Elves, the territory''s archers'' proficiency improved rapidly. This helped improve the Forest Elves'' image significantly in the eyes of the territory''s citizens, and their respect for Michael increased as well.

    The Forest Elves were d to be in Michael''s good books. He gave Lilica a bunch of Tier-1 Artifacts to initiate the trading business between the Forest Elven tribe and his territory.

    In exchange for the Tier-1 Artifacts, which he had extracted from the corpses of the six Adventurer teams, Michael wanted blueprints, devices, and nts to aid him in agriculture.

    Michael sold the other Tier-1 Artifacts at the Bartholomew shop in the Dekalos-ss spaceship. He bought close to 4000 Summoning Scrolls from the money earned through the Tier-1 Artifacts. However, Michael didn''t use the Summoning Scrolls.

    Instead, he traveled to Xiltra on Icarus and sold them for a much higher price than he paid to buy them. In return, he purchased various goods for cksmithing. This included materials required to construct several Intermediate-rank smithies, forging blueprints, various ores, forging tools, and close to 100 books rted to forging.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have never done something like this. He would have used his fortune to strengthen his subjects with energy pills and other resources. After all, his territory had more than enough citizens thanks to Extraction.

    Despite that, Michael chose to focus on cksmithing for the time being because Lilica and the other Forest Elves told him that their tribe''s biggest problem ¨C or one of their biggest problems ¨C was the inability to im mines and big ore deposits.

    It felt like a clich¨¦ to Michael, but in general, the Forest Elves had very little affinity to the underground environment, forget about forging. They rarely spawned in the mountain regions in the Origin Expanse as well. Their major and minor spawn regions were mostly big forests. Thus, theycked weapons and metal armaments the most to dig through the underground¨C especially their low-ranked Lords.

    Lilica and her team had been one of the Forest Elves tribe''s biggest suppliers for low-level armaments, and ores until now. They were one of the few groups that spawned outside a forest ¨C though the Untamed Jungle was pretty near.

    Now that Lilica could hardly supply low-level armaments without help, Michael would turn into her supplier. Lilica and the others would merely be the errand boys and girls ¨C tasked with carrying the goods from the territory to the Forest Elven tribe.

    Michael would receive certain nts, herbs, and other ingredients required to concoct energy pills and various potions in addition to blueprints rted to agriculture. The blueprints were even easier to procure for the Forest Elves. They didn''t need them and would usually dump them in a ce where they collected dust until one of their business partners asked for them.

    These blueprints were worthless to them, but they could be sold for a decent price if the customer was desperate enough to reach deep into his pockets.

    Because of Lilica''s rmendation, and the fact that Michael produced a fair price list for his goods, the blueprints were rather cheap for Michael to purchase. As long as he kept using Xiltra to purchase cheap ores, and created the low-level armaments in his territory, he would earn good profit.

    But that was not enough for Michael.

    Once he imed the lizard cave, it wouldn''t even be necessary to spend money in Xiltra. The lizard cave, and the smithies in his territory would be enough to create low-level armaments. The costs would be more than halved and his profit would increase by a lot.

    That sounded quite nice.

    "Let''s go hunt monsters together first. We need to understand yourbat prowess to put the five of you in our groups ordingly. Please show me what you''re capable of!" Michael said as everyone finished their preparations for the cavern conquest.

    Michael and the others had already seen the Forest Elves use their bows and daggers in thest two days, but they never fought seriously in a life-and-death battle in front of them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Thus, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team ended up demonstrating how they usually fought against monsters in the Untamed Jungle.

    The tracker of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer group released his Soultrait in front of the lizard cave. He manifested an object in the air above him.

    It was a sixty-centimeter-high totem pole, shrouded in bloody-red miasma.

    The totem pole was hovering in the air as it continued to release more bloody-red miasma.

    It consisted of a central upright post, which had unique intricate carvings depicting various animals, spirits, and even supernatural beings. The carvings were bright in color with arge eagle carved at the top of the pole.

    To Michael, the totem pole exuded beauty and mystery, but he quickly noticed that the Demi-Humans and Icarus felt vastly different.

    The Demi-Humans were on the brink of losing their rationality, and Icarus screeched out wildly. The totem pole was affecting the monsters and half-monsters in its range though neither Icarus nor the Demi-Humans had been targeted by the totem pole.

    The totem pole''s target was inside the cavern system, a single monster that would lose its reasoning and grow increasingly angrier as time passed. It would reach a point where even the strongest monsters wouldn''t be able to resist the urge anymore.

    The monsters would charge at the totem pole and attack blindly ¨C running straight into the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team.

    That was the power of the [Rage of the Primal] Soultrait.

    It may not be the strongest Soultrait forbat, but it was certainly a Soultrait with exceptional potential. All it required was proper usage and timing to unfold impable results.

    After Rage of the Primal had been activated, the five Forest Elves got into action. The four other Forest Elves activated their Soultraits as well.

    Everyone retrieved their weapons, which were Tier-2 Bow Artifacts seemingly carved from the same tree. The Woodwoven Bow Artifacts looked eerily simr, and so did the arrows. A quiver filled with green arrows appeared on the Forest Elves'' backs, and they retrieved an arrow simultaneously.

    They unleashed a tremendous amount of energy and channeled everything into their arrows and bow before they nocked the arrow on the bowstring. Afterward, they closed their eyes while resting their empty hands lightly against the bowstring, ready to shoot the arrow at a moment''s notice.

    Several secondster, their long, pointed ears twitched. The Forest Elves opened their eyes at once, pulled the bowstring back, and aimed at the entrance of the lizard cavern.

    The next moment, a shuttle-sized lizard emerged from the entrance. It let out a terrifying roar and was just about to spit out a fountain of acid when its voice was silenced. The acid spit that had umted in its throat dispersed, and the Forest Elves began their assault.

    A moment after the lizard''s massive body was clearly visible to everyone, the Forest Elves released their arrows.

    A sound, just like an explosion, rang through the vicinity five times in rapid session.

    Five arrows shot through the air like missiles in the next instance, and they impacted hard on the durable lizard scales.

    The next moment five deep holes had formed on the lizard''s body and blood was oozing out of them.

 Chapter 167 [Bonus ]Failed Demonstration

    Michael was certain that the lizard charging at the totem pole was stronger than the lizard mother he had lured toward the Gogi Lord territory.

    Despite that, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team demolished the Tier-2 Hard-scale Lizard like it was nothing special.

    The Lizard was dead, and the Forest Elves walked over to Michael, confidence stering their faces.

    "The Woodwoven Bow Artifacts and those arrows are a set, aren''t they?" Michael asked when the battle finished.

    He had noticed that the Forest Elves channeled a tremendous amount of energy into both the Arrow and the Bow. They put an equal amount of energy into each of the Artifacts before everything was released at once when the arrow was fired.

    "You noticed that already?" Lilica asked in slight surprise.

    The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team wanted to show off their Artifacts and power a little, but it looked like Michael found out their secret immediately.

    Michael had used his Eagle Eyes to observe the Forest Elves'' archery technique, but he noticed something much better; the synergy between the Artifacts the Forest Elves used.

    "The Pieckers are a special type of arrow. They''ve been enchanted with one enchantment- Piercing. It''s a Tier-1 enchantment which has been altered and upgraded. In exchange for the alteration and upgrades, a few restrictions had to be put on the enchantment, otherwise, the energy consumption would have been much higher. Thus, the enchantment of the Pieckers is only activated when their speed reaches a certain threshold," Lilica exined before one of the other Elves added,

    "Furthermore, they''re consumables, which is mostly due to the material used. They''re pretty cost-efficient and as long as you use the Tier-2 Woodwoven Bow''s Force enchantment to increase the arrow''s speed without affecting the pulling force, even Hard-Scale Lizards will have a hard time recovering from the attack!"

    The Forest Elves looked smugly at Michael. They were proud of their race''s invention. Pieckers were certainly great arrows. Michael couldn''t agree more.

    However, he noticed the downsides as well. It was hard not to notice them.

    "But it looks like you won''t be able to use these attacks often. Maybe five¡­no¡­seven times in a row until everyone is out of energy," Michael voiced out his doubts.

    Lilica and the other Forest Elves nodded their heads. They weren''t affected by Michael''sment. On the contrary, they seemed even prouder.

    "We can release 7 Pieckers in a row, that''s correct. Our Adventurer team can kill seven Tier-2 Monsters before we have to replenish our energy!" The youngest Forest Elf said proudly.

    The only Forest Elf who noticed that something was wrong was Lilica. She noticed that Michael was notpletely convinced.

    "Are you not satisfied with that, Michael?" She asked.

    But, instead of answering immediately, Michael remained silent. He was deep in thought. Thus, ire answered on Michael''s behalf.

    "Shouldn''t five Tier-2 Adventurers with Soultraits have a much easier time killing a Low Tier-2 Monster? It seems like a waste to use so much energy and consumable Tier-2 Artifacts to kill the Hard-scale Lizard. We cannot sell the scales anymore either as they are not intact, and its inner organs should have burst as well," ire grumbled quietly as she finished her observations of the Lizard''s corpse and stepped back.

    "Even if those arrows are cheap, they''ve been thoroughly enchanted. This battle was probably a financial loss. What a disaster¡­"

    ire grumbled while looking at Michael, and in a voice quiet enough to feel assured that nobody else could hear her words. However, the Forest Elves had been listening intently and halted in their tracks the moment ire''s words reached their ears. As Tier-2 Adventurers with great inborn hearing sense, the Forest Elves could easily hear ire''s quiet grumbling.

    Unfortunately, they didn''t like her thorough analysis.

    They stared at ire while their earlier confident expression disappeared slowly.

    Michael saw their reaction, but he had nothing encouraging to say.

    "If you want to respond to that, please do. I am more than willing to listen. Every bit ofmunication helps," Michael said instead.

    Lilica''s lips parted but no word came out of her mouth. She pressed her lips together in a thin line after a few seconds and sighed deeply.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Their strategy to show off their great power seemed to have failed miserably.

    "Master, did you see the destructive power of those arrows?" Tiara asked loudly as she rushed over to him. Her tail wagged excitedly, and she could barely stand still in front of her master.

    "Yes, I saw them," Michael answered.

    "They''re amazing!" She eximed, which caused the Forest Elves'' drooped ears to rise once again.

    They looked at Tiara with twinkling eyes, thankful that at least one of them was impressed with their hard work.

    "Though it was wasteful to use so many of those arrows, I think we could make use of them," Tiara added, crushing the Forest Elves'' hopes to get praised a little bit more immediately.

    What was going on? Was everyone trying to crush their pride?

    Michael nodded his head faintly, agreeing with Tiara''sment.

    He turned to Lilica and asked, "Are you guys willing to split up and be the leaders of one Archer Unit each? We would use the Pieckers to create an opening and target the severe injuries inflicted by the Pieckers to wear down Tier-2 Monsters with each Archer Unit."

    It was not a detailed battle strategy yet, but it was something that didn''t require too much teamwork or coordination.

    Michael didn''t expect the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to create miracles. He wanted to add them to his Army, most importantly, to make use of their highbat prowess in the most efficient way.

    He knew that their Pieckers were only one of many powerful attacks, but Michael had yet to spend more time with them to get to know their fighting styles, martial art techniques, weapons, Artifacts, Soultraits, and synergy.

    "You want to split us up?" The youngest Forest Elf asked, shock visible in his eyes.

    "If you''refortable with that, yes," Michael responded. However, he could already tell that it wouldn''t work like this.

    Thus, he added something after giving it a thought, "Or you guys will have to change your fighting style a little. You''ve been fighting in a small group for years now. I favor using the numbers and abilities of all people in the territory. That way, I can exhibit the highestbat prowess."

    The Forest Elves clearly recalled how Michael''s army fought against more than 40 Adventurers. All of them had years of experience as Adventurers, and they weren''t weak by any means. Despite that, Michael overwhelmed them with Summons of a lower Tier and his battle strategies.

    He gathered enough information before the battle and utilized the environment to his advantage to minimize risks. Michael''s strategies might not be perfect, but he was still a young Lord. He was bound to learn a lot, and adapt to every situation. That was what he had been doing the whole time, and he wouldn''t stop now.

    "We''ve been fighting together for years. Furthermore, we don''t know how long we''ll be staying in your territory. If possible, we would like to work together," Lilica said, atst.

    She could tell that Michael was a little dissatisfied with their inflexibility, but he acknowledged their difort.

    "In that case, you all will have to fight a few more times as a group. Only one Pieckers per fight though, and an energy consumption of less than 10%. If a Mid Tier-2 Monster arrives, you can use everything you have, but Low Tier-2 Monsters shouldn''t be a problem for you guys," Michael ordered, his voice a little sharper than before.

    "Meanwhile, you''ll also watch my people fight. If you have any advice, feel free to share. As long as it''s useful, I will implement the advice into our battle strategy."

    Michael realized that they had to postpone rushing inside the lizard cave for the time being. They would still enter it today, but it was more important to keep an eye on the Forest Elves. Michael knew that they wouldn''t be baggage, yet their actions didn''t seem to boost the morale of the entire army.

    Everyone fought carefully, but the Forest Elves seemed like barbarians after their first fight. They were not willing to split up, nor did they show any real teamwork with the rest of Michael''s subjects though they were experienced adventurers.

    It was quite ironic, considering that Forest Elves were said to be gracefulbatants and not barbarians. It raised a few red gs for the rest of his team.

 Chapter 168 Elders Orders

    Michael''s expression was sour when they returned to the clearing.

    Several hours had passed and the sun was about to disappear behind the horizon.

    Atst, Michael and the others decided not to enter the lizard cave.

    Despite not entering the lizard cave, they conquered it indirectly by telling Liopham to keep using his Soultrait, Rage of the Primal. He used his Soultrait to pull smaller groups of Monsters out of the cavern system where they would be ambushed with a great numerical advantage.

    Michael was d that one of the Forest Elves was in possession of Rage of the Primal, but overall, he was dissatisfied with the stubbornness of the Forest Elves. It felt like they were born to waste money¨C and to make his life much harder.

    His dissatisfaction turned to mild annoyance as he had expected them to wholeheartedly cooperate with him and his team.

    Their individual skills andbat prowess were great. In fact, even the teamwork between the five Forest Elves was exceptional, but it felt like they were born to make Michael''s life harder.

    ''Did I expect too much from them?'' Michael wondered.

    ''Was it the right decision to take them in?''

    He clearly recalled that he had reasonable hopes. Michael merely wished that his army and the Forest Elves would learn to cooperate with each other and that they would have better coordination while conquering the lizard cave. That way, it would be much easier to hunt small groups of Tier-2 Monsters.

    Everyone would benefit from that since Michael was willing to provide the Forest Elves with a few benefits. At least, that was the initial n.

    In fact, Michael and his people still had a hard time hunting a TIer-2 Monster on their own. However, it was possible ¨C despite not having anyone at Tier-2 in their group. It was hard to pull off, but the chances were not zero. Furthermore, nobody sustained any injuries, which was the best means to demonstrate the efficiency of his army''s tactics. Their strategies were detailed and precise, and their utility of abilities was greatly disyed and fully exploited.

    Though the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team could also hunt Tier-2 Monsters and had a much easier time than Michael''s army, their energy consumption and wastage of precious Artifacts was disastrous.

    It felt like they didn''t conserve their energy while fighting, nor did they care about doing so, at all.

    All of their strategies had one thing inmon-high energy consumption.

    It was not a bad tactic if they were fighting small battles ¨C which was normal for an Adventurer team of their size. They had toplete their mission and would return home afterward.

    However, in an army with hundreds of members, consuming as much energy as the five Forest Elves would lead to a disaster.

    If the front lines were to use too much energy, they wouldn''t be able to protect themselves, forget about others. Meanwhile, those at the back wouldn''t be able to support the frontlines anymore the moment their energy was drained.

    Either way, the battle strategies would lose their worth if nobody was able to execute them. By then, even Peak Tier-1 Monsters would be enough to obliterate the territory''s army.

    A Tier-2 Monster would kill them all before moving forward and entering the territory where all of the citizens would be massacred mercilessly.

    The responsibility and scale of the battle were just two out of the numerous differences between a Lord''s battle and an Adventurers'' battle.

    That was why Michael had to change lots of things.

    **

    10 extremely tiring dayster in the Origin Expanse, Michael was drenched in sweat, overflowing with annoyance and desperately hoping that the troublesome days had passed.

    Thest ten days felt like an eternity to Michael, and he found himself imagining bashing the heads of the Forest Elves more often than he was willing to acknowledge.

    It was truly difficult to convince the stubborn Forest Elves that it was necessary to change their fighting style.

    Michael tried to make them understand what he wanted to achieve with the changes he proposed, but it felt like talking to a wall.

    They weren''t really cooperative and easily came up with excuses.

    ¨CWe''re only temporarily in your territory, either way.

    ¨CWhat will you do once your Soldiers start relying on us? They will have trouble readjusting after we leave.

    ¨COur fighting style fits us perfectly. We kill our opponents fast to ensure that there will be no future problems. If you cannot afford the expenses, that''s fine. We have enough to pay for our own expenses. You don''t have to trouble yourself with us for long either way, so just swallow your pride and ept our standpoint!

    They always reminded him that they would leave soon. It made sense that they thought like this, but their excuses angered him often.

    Only Lilica remained silent. In the first few days, she interfered every now and then, suggesting Michael ept them as they were, but herments gradually became less, after noticing his reaction. She started keeping her opinions to herself and didn''t say anything to Michael in the past three days.

    Michael didn''t know why Lilica turned silent, but it was a good thing for him. It was an opportunity to strike the Forest Elves and make sure that they would adapt to them.

    Unfortunately, the results hadn''t been as great as he hoped for.

    Despite his frustration, Michael was also painfully aware of how powerful the Forest Elves were.

    The conquest of the lizard cave progressed much faster than it would have without the Forest Elves. Furthermore, their teachings had great results for the Archers, and he saw a major improvement in their efficiency.

    Everything progressed much faster than before. The training was great and quite sessful, the cavern system was slowly being conquered, and more than 100 citizens in Michael''s territory crossed the barrier to the next Tier, advancing to Tier-1.

    All of that was great, but it was all apanied by constant headaches.

    He couldn''t even say too much because if he went overboard, he would lose the Forest Elves as a business partner as well.

    Over the past ten days, Michael created an improved system that allowed him to increase his profits. They imed a few ore deposits and began mining them. That way, Michael didn''t have to rely on Xiltra to purchase ores.

    He visited the smithies every now and then to use Extraction on the molten metal ingots, sessfully extracting arge amount of impurities. That way, he improved the quality of the ingots while simultaneously studying his Soultrait in-depth.

    The metal ingots would be forged into low-level armaments which were given to Lilica and the others. They sold them to the Forest Elven tribe which would give him blueprints, herbs and other ingredients as per his request.

    The Bartholomew Corporation was overjoyed at the number of blueprints Michael provided. At the same time, the Forest Elves were also happy about the quality of the low-level armaments. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, Michael was the happiest about the trading system he had created. His territory made the most gains. His finances were much higher than ever before as well.

    And fortunately enough, his time outside the Origin Expanse was as pleasant as his finances.

    While ten days passed in the Origin Expanse, only five days had passed outside.

    Michael enjoyed his time in the Dekalos-ss spaceship a lot. This was especially true now that Frederik''s behavior improved greatly.

    Frederik Kolbenheim didn''t underestimate Michael anymore. He became much stronger by using more of his resources, and by entering the Origin Expanse more often to control his subjects and focusing on the development of his territory precisely. Frederik began to make use of the time difference between the Origin Expanse and outside to grow stronger.

    He understood that if he could not even defeat Michael, he would never be able topete against the rest of the freshmen, forget about their seniors. Frederik''s initial n had been to be the number one student of the freshmen batch and start fighting against their seniors.

    But to achieve that he had to be a lot stronger.

    "You are much stronger than I expected. I shouldn''t have underestimated you¡­" Frederik admitted through his gritted teeth a few days ago.

    It cost him a great deal of courage, and the sacrifice of some of his pride to say that straight to Michael''s face, but he did it. Oddly enough, Frederik felt much better once he acknowledged that Michael was stronger than most others.

    "You have the right to attend the Saphirke Military Academy, even if you''re not from a noble background," Frederik added, swallowing the provocations that shed through his mind and simply left without another word.

    Michael had been greatly surprised by Frederik''s sudden change in behavior. He had never expected him to say something like that.

    Meanwhile, Jacqueline was a little frightened of Michael.

    Nobody had pped her before, yet Michael did not only that. He even beat the shit out of her like there was no tomorrow.

    It was only obvious that she couldn''t help but feel different about Michael. She was scared.

    But Michael didn''t really care about Jacqueline, so he didn''t bother. He gave his best during the Limit Breaker Course, that was all.

    Her reaction was actually quite satisfying to look at. It was differentpared to how his bullies had looked at him in the past. Maybe, he had the same expression as Jacqueline when he was in high school.

    Fortunately, that was a thing of the past.

    The Barbaric Couple''s attitude toward him was quite interesting. Kaleb was no different either.

    The young Zenovia grew a little closer to him, though it was still quite obvious that Kaleb was jealous of him being a Lord. Kaleb wanted to turn 18 as quickly as possible.

    Over the past few weeks, Michael had been quite surprised about Kaleb''s great talent multiple times. That young man was bound to be a promising Lord, no matter what his Soultrait would be.

    Other than the time he spent with the Barbaric Couple and Kaleb Zenovia, Michael realized that the courses were about to conclude. There were only four days left before they would arrive in Kelta.

    In these four days, Michael wanted to keep working hard. He enjoyed pushing himself and testing his limits since it made him feel as if he could aplish anything.

    Furthermore,peting with his peers felt great. He could see his progress andpare it to the progression of the people around him. It was iparable to his high school days.

    Here, nobody tried to restrict him. It was fun.

    These days, Michael contemted a lot about his situation.

    He was certain that he had done a decent job until now. However, he began to wonder what he could have done better, and what he could do to improve his situation.

    Killing the Twin Lions and thest unknown subordinate of Senator Keltos seemed like a good idea, but that would attract Senator Keltos'' attention as well.

    Furthermore, the lizard cave was still a big project that had to bepleted, just like the Temple of the Forgotten.

    But first things first, Michael had to figure out why the Forest Elves'' behavior changed all of a sudden.

    To be precise, Lilica was speaking to the other Forest Elves with a grim expression when he returned to the Origin Expanse.

    The Forest Elves had turned pale, while LIlica''s expression seemed a little bit off.

    "What''s going on?" Michael thus asked the obvious.

    LIlica and the Forest Elves stared at him for a while. None of them wanted to say a word.

    After five minutes of silence passed, Lilica revealed the reason behind their worried expressions.

    "It looks like our Elders like both the quality and quantity of the low-level armaments you provide," She uttered quietly before she added heavily,

    "They want us to stay a little longer¡­and to listen to you¡­"

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 169 Part Of The Territory

    Because the Forest Elves weren''t very cooperative until now, and they kept talking about leaving soon, Michael thought about several ways to expand his market and range of businesses. That was also why he included the possibility of working together with other Lords, such as Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Ondo.

    The Barbaric Couple might not be the nicest, and they were quite annoying, but their territories were connected to the mountains and the ocean. By making use of their territory, It was possible to connect their markets and expand their businesses, and wealth.

    The time he spent in the Dekalos-ss spaceship showed Michael quite clearly that he could improve a lot, and that it was easier to survive in the Origin Expanse by working with other Lords, even if it was just for the sake of business.

    Being a Lord in the Origin Expanse was not that simple. Many lost their territories even among the freshmen who had been epted into the Saphirke Military Academy.

    In fact, it was quitemon for Lords to lose their territory and rights as a Lord. Less than 1% of all Lords were able to protect their territories for more than three months.

    Why was that the case?

    Many Lords and Native Kingdoms, and the Empire would attack recently constructed territories for various reasons. Lords attacked other Lords to plunder their resources, most of the time. These resources included the Summoning Cores, which were extremely valuable. In fact, they were the most valuable assets in most territories and the primary reason for attacks in most cases.

    Meanwhile, Natives wanted to destroy Lords because they were bound to turn into big problems if they were given enough time to grow. On the other hand, the natives mostly epted Adventurers since they weren''t as dangerous.

    Precisely, most Adventurers were helpful to the native forces. They could be used in exchange of benefits such as wealth and resources.

    That was why Michael couldn''t allow himself to rx and lower his guard about the safety of his territory.

    Michael recalled one of his brother''s quotes about the Origin Expanse''s dangers, and that peace was just the calm before the storm, most of the time.

    ¨C When you lower your guard and you feel the least in danger, your opponents will appear, far stronger than you can fathom, and much higher in number than you can handle! ¨C

    Thinking about his brother brought a wistful smile on Michael''s lips. He would have messaged Danny, but the messenger app didn''t work properly in spaceships. There was merely a system that connected the crystal watches on the spaceships. That was also why he could message Alice but could not send messages to his brother.

    It was quite annoying.

    Unfortunately, being annoyed that he couldn''t message his brother, or thinking about the calm before the storm, were not the most important right now.

    No, the most important thing was to figure out how to take care of the Forest Elves, and what to do with them. They would stay longer in his territory, in ordance with their Elders'' order, which meant that certain things had to change.

    Even that was not everything the Forest Elves had been instructed. Apparently, the Forest Elves told their Elders in the tribe a lot about Michael and his actions, and they agreed with his decisions. The Elders must have lectured Lilica and the others because they grew more cooperative in today''s meeting and daily conquest of the lizard cave than before.

    It had been quite a while since Michael participated in a fight with his small army, along with the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. Overall, he was satisfied with the result.

    A group of six Horned Gray Wolves had been scavenging around the lizard cavern''s entrance when ire and her trackers found them.

    The archers and all other long-range units got into position high up in the canopy bridges, the Mages began to cast their spells, and the melee fighters moved through the thicket.

    Liopham exerted his Soultrait to the fullest, manifesting arge Spirit Totem to lure the small pack of Horned Gray Wolves towards them.

    Meanwhile, Michael, Tiara, and the Elves got into position, easily to be seen next to the Heavy Armored Elephant.

    Tiara coordinated the melee fighters while Michael and the Forest Elves manifested their Woodwoven Bows.

    The Forest Elves retrieved a Piecker each, nocked them on the bowstrings, and channeled energy inside them. Afterward, they waited for Michael''smand.

    The Horned Gray Wolves jumped out of the thicket; their eyes bloody red due to the influence of the Spirit Totem. They howled loudly and released their horrifying pressure as Tier-2 Monsters.

    Each of the six Horned Gray Wolves was at the 2nd Tier. Two of them were smaller than the rest, and they seemed unable to exert the full prowess of a Tier-2 Monster. But that did not allow them to fall at ease. The opposing force was not something Michael''s army nor the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was willing to face under normal circumstances either.

    The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team eyed Michael from the corner of their eyes, and their expression turned into one filled with worry, but Michael remained calm as they pounced closer to them.

    "The small one in the center is mine. Shoot the rest," Michael ordered barely loud enough for the Forest Elves to hear.

    The next moment Michael''s eyes began to shimmer golden, the Siltang Bow was shrouded in white light, and a thick arrow condensed on the bowstring that he pulled back smoothly.

    He aimed just for a moment and released the arrow the next.

    Michael knew that the arrow wouldn''tnd a killing blow. Hisbat prowess was high, and he could deal with Mid, maybe even Late Tier-1 Monsters bybining the strongest arrow of the Siltang Bow with Lesser Enhancement and his precise aim with Eagle Eyes. However, killing an agile Tier-2 Monster with a single arrow was a bit too much to ask for.

    Fortunately, Michael never intended to deal a killing blow.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He had used Lesser Enhancement on his Soultrait Spirit Whip to expand his attack range and lethality by 20%. The Horned Gray Wolf he targeted barely entered the Spirit Whip''s attack range when Michael released the energy arrow.

    He struck the Horned Gray Wolf with the enhanced Spirit Whip, which was strong enough to break through its mental defense, even if it was just barely.

    The Horned Gray Wolf struggled for a moment before it regained its senses. It moved aside the next moment to evade the energy arrow.

    But what the Horned Gray Wolf didn''t expect to happen was that the energy arrow would burst apart.

    The Monster was not hurt but it was startled and moved aside, just to jump in the way of the second energy arrow, which Michael had precisely nted in the path of the Horned Gray Wolf.

    It was struck in the eye and yelped in pain.

    By then, the Heavy Armored Elephant, Tiara, and the other melee fighters arrived in front of the injured Horned Gray Wolf.

    It had just recently advanced to the 2nd Tier and was now faced with its biggest crisis.

    Meanwhile, the five remaining Horned Gray Wolves didn''t have it easier, at all. A barrage of arrows poured down on them the moment Michael''s energy arrow whizzed through the air.

    The Forest Elves had yet to shoot and were impatiently waiting for Michael''s signal.

    However, that signal didn''t reach them until the wet soil beneath the agile Horned Gray Wolves gave way. Their paws disappeared deep in the ground the moment Michael''s signal rang out.

    Five Pieckers shot through the air like missiles, piercing the sides of the Horned Gray Wolves, just as Michael had instructed.

    A single Piecker was not enough to kill Tier-2 Monsters. However, Michael didn''t want to waste five of them nor was he okay with the high energy consumption just to kill a single Tier-2 Monster.

    Hence, he ordered the Forest Elves to inflict arge wound on the sides of the monsters, which created enough unprotected space for hundreds of arrows to impact.

    The Pieckers were released ¨C one for each Monster ¨C, tearing apart the Horned Gray Wolves'' side. Now that the highly endurable wolf fur had been removed and the raw sh beneath exposed, the projectiles with weaker force, such as arrows, crossbow bolts and elemental attacks were released at those spots where they inflicted severe wounds.

    Then, once the Horned Gray Wolves grew weaker, the melee fighters shot forward with their sharp des to join the battle, helping the rest of the group to restrict the Horned Gray Wolves while ensuring that no one would die ¨C or get unnecessarily injured.

    Of course, the Forest Elves didn''t stop attacking after they used the Pieckers. Their fight had just started as well.

    They began to assess the battlefield and retrieve ordinary tempered arrows, which they smoothly knocked. After that, the Forest Elves began to bombard their opponents'' vital sports, and the deep wounds they had inflicted on the flesh of their opponents first.

    Their arrows impacted hard, causing the Tier-2 Monsters to struggle after a few attacks reached them. However, there was nothing the Horned Gray Wolves could do about it.

    Close to 200 projectiles poured down from the treetops, and the closebat units emerged from the thicket around them. They were attacked from all sides, and the Forest Elves restricted their movements even further.

    Atst, the barrages of projectiles ceased. The closebat units moved closer to the battlefield ¨C after avoiding the Horned Gray Wolves for so long. The Forest Elves joined Michael''s charge. They retrieved daggers and helped Michael and the others to finish off their opponents by slowly wearing them down.

    All it took was 20 minutes to take down six Tier-2 Monsters, and they didn''t face a single casualty.

    Michael''s Spirit Whip and the Forest Elves'' Pieckers might have been the MVPs, but every single participant of the battle deserved some credit for his or her contribution.

    If even a single one of them had made a big blunder, the entire n could have gone south.

    Finally, after seeing the six monster corpses, and the bright smiles on everyone''s faces, the Forest Elves couldn''t help but start smiling as well.

    They joined the cheers of theirrades without even realizing that their minds had subconsciously begun to consider Michael and his people as one of their own.

    Atst, they became part of the territory.

    [A/N: I released lots of Illustrations on my discord. Click on the link in my profile to join my discord, if you''re interested.

    The illustrations include the Bilrox(Matured), Frederik Kolbenheim, Kaleb Zenovia, Alice Zenovia, and more!

    Remark: If you like the illustrations, I can release more.

    Remark 2.0: Who else do you want to have illustrated? Write a shortment :D]

 Chapter 170 Revelation

    At first, the Forest Elves didn''t want to acknowledge that Michael''s strategy worked better, but they had to put their pride aside, and agree reluctantly.

    Michael was quite happy about that ¨C especially because he could feel that the Forest Elves'' Links of Loyalty grew stronger. Despite their constant verbal fights and conflicts, Lilica and the others did not hold a grudge against him. Their only problem was that they didn''t like to be told that they had been wrong.

    They were too prideful of their skills and capabilities.

    The firmness of the Link of Loyalty was not only an indicator of the increase in the Forest Elves'' trust, or the fact that they could clearly tell that Michael cared about every single one of his subjects, his surroundings, and their health. It was also rted to the respect Michael earned from them, his subjects, and even their Elders.

    The Elders of the Forest Elven tribe praised Michael''s low-level armaments, his generosity for taking in the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team after the problems they had caused to him and his territory, and the fact that he didn''t try to exploit the tribe by demanding more goods in exchange for his qualitative low-level armaments.

    The Elders were known for worrying about the tribe''s children, especially those who spawned in a region far away from the rest. They had been worried sick when Lilica and the others told them that they became the subordinates of a human. But looking at the terms and conditions of their Links of Loyalty, and Michael''s actions of the past two weeks, they realized that they didn''t have to worry too much.

    Michael didn''t mistreat anyone, and he didn''t even think about exploiting the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team or their tribe.

    Lilica was also fully aware that they had been somewhat of a nuisance until now. Yet, Michael never forced them to do as he wanted except when it was a life-and-death situation. He didn''t make use of his Link of Loyalty tomand them to split up either. Michael respected them and their words even if he personally did not like their decision, and the Forest Elves could clearly tell that.

    All of these reasonsbined together created the foundation for the Links of Loyalty''s growth.

    Michael sensed this as well.

    The improvements in their Links of Loyalty were also part of the reason Michael decided that it was time to tell the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team more about his territory¡­and his Soultraits.

    Of course, Michael wouldn''t reveal everything at once. However, there had been too many instances in which Michael had revealed three Soultraits in battle.

    Furthermore, the poption of his territory expanded by close to 2500 subjects in the two weeks since the Forest Elves became part of his territory.

    Michael could have been purchasing the subjects all this time, but that would mean he had money to spare after investing most of his hard-earned money on purchasing ingredients for the production of energy pills and the expansion of his territory.

    Some calctions would immediately reveal that Michael spent his money the moment he earned it.

    However, what Michael hated the most were three points.

    First, he didn''t like to lie to his people. It made him feel as if he did something he wasn''t supposed to do.

    Second, it was inconvenient to keep the charade up. Hiding Extraction from the Forest Elves longer would grow more tiresome as time passed. It stressed him out, especially because the youngest Forest Elf was way too curious about his territory''s secrets.

    Third, the Forest Elves had been epted in his territorypletely now. Hiding something from them meant that he subconsciously thought of them as outsiders, and that was not the case!

    Even if all those reasons didn''t exist, everyone living in his territory would sooner orter find out about his Soultrait either way. Connecting all clues would slowly unveil the secrets of Extraction. However, that was a risk Michael had epted the moment he decided to provide shelter to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team in his territory.

    Back in the clearing, Michael told Tiara and the others to bring the Horned Gray Wolf carcasses, instead of storing them until Michael found some spare time to use Extraction.

    Tiara did as told and put the carcasses in front of him.

    The Forest Elves eyed Michael''s weird actions with great curiosity. They sensed that something big was about to happen.

    "As you guys must have noticed, my territory is not that ordinary," Michael said while rolling up his sleeves.

    The Forest Elves nodded their heads in unison.

    "The reason is my Soultrait, which allows me to do this," Michael continued, and a golden light emerged from his right palm. He held it half a meter above the ground, and it didn''t take long before pebbles shot up from the ground.

    "I can extract the pebbles from the ground and do this as well¡­" Michael added atst, moving Extraction''s focus onto the six Horned Gray Wolf carcasses.

    In the next five minutes, they were fully dissected, and the spoils of war manifested in front of them. Sevenplete Summoning Scrolls, five blueprints, 151 Summoning Scroll Fragments, and one 1-Star Tier-1 Artifact manifested.

    "By extracting monster corpses, I can dissect them near-perfectly, and the droprate of loot created by the Will of the Origin Expanse is much higher. There are even Summoning Scroll Fragments which can bebined into an Ordinary Summoning Scroll!"

    As Michael spoke, hebined 150 Summoning Scroll Fragments to form six additional Summoning Scrolls, totaling 13 Scrolls from merely six monster carcasses.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael could have shown them a few more things, and he could have told them that he can extract Soultraits as well, but he didn''t want to expose everything. The Forest Elves were not stupid and could connect the dots on their own. They were intelligent enough to connect therge number of Soultraits disyed inbat with Extraction soon enough.

    Either way, the information he shared with the Forest Elves was enough to shock them to the core.

    "So that''s why your poption grows so quickly," Lilica mumbled, while Liopham added,

    "Killing many monsters allows you to grow even faster¡­doesn''t that mean the Untamed Jungle is a perfect grinding spot for you?"

    After Liopham spoke, the youngest Forest Elf began to jump around in excitement.

    "Isn''t that super amazing? That''s crazy!!"

    The youngest charged over to Lilica and began squealing around. Michael was not sure if the Forest Elf was intentionally exaggerating his reaction, but after looking at Lilica, he realized that she was slowly getting annoyed.

    One action led to another, and the youngest Forest Elf ended on the ground, his face hitting the wet soil first.

    The youngest groaned in pain, but Lilica ignored him. She pped her hands as if to remove dust before her expression turned serious.

    "Do you want us to keep this a secret from everyone, including our Elders?" Lilica asked with a deep frown on her face.

    It was one thing to ask them to keep a secret from other races, but their Elders were their most trusted people. Exposing his Soultrait''s powers in front of them meant that he trusted them. However, Lilica didn''t want to lie to their Elders.

    "I already thought about that issue. It''s not necessary to hide it from your Elders. In fact, I really don''t like hiding my Soultrait from my race either," Michael added lightly, before his eyes turned sharp, "Fortunately, I have some hostages in case your Elders reveal my secret to others."

    Michael didn''t shy away from threatening the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.

    The meaning of his words was clear; It was fine to tell the Elders about him and his Soultrait, but if they would make a mistake like their youngest they should be careful, otherwise, their head would roll on the ground.

    The Link of Loyalty prevented Michael''s subordinates from betraying him. However, there was also a certain gray zone, which couldn''t be ignored easily.

    Michael took care of that by threatening the Forest Elves with their Link of Loyalty, and that their Elders should be careful with his secret once they''d been told about him and his Soultrait.

    It might not be a nice thing to do, but Michael didn''t really care.

    He was just d that he could stop hiding his Soultrait in front of the Forest Elves. That had been way too stressful in thest two weeks.

    "I trust our Elders. They won''t tell anyone about your Soultrait," Lilica said confidently after she swallowed her saliva hard.

    Michael''s threat caused her to break into a sweat. She really couldn''t get the hang of Michael''s character. Was he kind, and generous, or was he usually a merciless man who hated inconveniences?

    It was truly frightening for her.

    Nheless, as the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, she was their role model. She had to show her people how to stay strong, and how to respond. Thus, she cleared her throat and stepped forward.

    "On the contrary, the Elders will probably work hard to keep everything a secret. They might even attempt to deepen our business rtionship and advance it to the next level!" Lilica said knowingly.

    She was behaving as if she had already exposed the remaining secrets of Extraction.

    Maybe, she had already concluded that Michael was in possession of a Soultrait that allowed him to get hold of more Soultraits, and his revtion reaffirmed her suspicion?

    Michael was not sure, but he wasn''t worried at all.

    On the contrary, he was a little hopeful of the future.

    ''Finally, I don''t have to hide this shit anymore!''

 Chapter 171 Summoning Core

    Michael quickly realized that it hadn''t been necessary to threaten Lilica and the four members of her team.

    ¡¤?¦Èm Lilica''s words from before weren''t wrong either.

    The Elders of the Forest Elven tribe didn''t want anyone else to know about Michael''s Soultrait. Instead, they wanted to get closer to him and find out more about his Soultrait''s limit.

    Because they had only clues and didn''t know everything about Michael''s capabilities, they could only be nice to him. After all, the only connection they had with him was the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team ¨C and they had be his subordinates.

    The Elders couldn''t order them to kidnap Michael, which left cooperation as the only option for the time being.

    But what Michael didn''t expect to receive was a gift from the Elders.

    Lilica and her team disappeared for a total of three days. They left the Origin Expanse and returned just as Michael wanted to leave after finishing thest preparations tond on Kelta.

    The 30 days required to travel through the Dekalos-ss spaceship and spent in the Origin Expanse were about to conclude, and a new chapter in everyone''s life was about to get started for real.

    However, Lilica arrived with a request when she returned from home.

    "Please install the Forest Elf Summoning Core in your Summoning Gate!" She requested sincerely, stretching out her hand that held a whitish Summoning Core with faint green hues in several spots.

    The Summoning Core looked beautiful, but Michael was a little bit baffled.

    ''Even if they want to give me something, isn''t a Summoning Core too expensive? And why is she requesting the instation rather than saying it''s a gift?'' Michael wondered.

    The most important difference between a gift and a request was that the former came with no strings attached.

    Meanwhile, a request meant that the Forest Elves needed help, which is why they were willing to use a treasure such as a Forest Elf Summoning Core in exchange.

    However, Michael quickly realized that the situation was not that simple.

    The Forest Elf Summoning Core summoned only Forest Elves. That meant the Untamed Jungle would also turn into a part of the Forest Elves'' spawn region ¨C even if it was far in the future.

    The probability of spawning in the Untamed Jungle as Forest Elves was minuscule, but it would increase ever so slightly as the number of Forest Elf Summons increased.

    It would require more than a hundred thousand, possibly more Forest Elf Summons before one would take note of the increased probability, but it existed nheless.

    That was also why many Lords didn''t like special Summoning Cores of foreign races. In the first ce, many didn''t like foreign races, due to various reasons such as conflicts, wars, and discrimination.

    But the Elders and Lilica thought that Michael was different. He treated everyone equally. Furthermore, more powerful subjects were always wee in his territory.

    Thus, there was no reason for him to reject the Forest Elf Summoning Core.

    Michael would still be the Lord of his territory, but he wouldn''t be an ordinary human Lord. The probability of him summoning Forest Elves would increase drastically, and it was possible that more Elven Lords would appear in or near the Untamed Jungle in the future.

    "I don''t think your Elders were willing to give up a Summoning Core merely to please me, or to increase the probability to spawn in the Untamed Jungle in the future. Were you instructed to ask for something in return, or did they just tell you to make the request, and nothing else?" Michael asked sharply, not falling victim to the boundless greed that dwelled inside him.

    Lilica didn''t expect Michael to be overjoyed. By now, Lilica learned more than enough about Michael to tell that he was rather vignt when it came to situations such as this one.

    However, she could only say what she had been told.

    "Our Elders didn''t say a lot. They mentioned that Extraction seems more powerful than the eye can fathom and that the tribe wants to further strengthen our rtionship. The Summoning Core should show that their trust is worth more than just empty words of reassurance."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Michael knew that the Forest Elves loved his Nature Spirits. It made them feel like they were home. Other than the Summoning Core, the five Forest Elves brought many seeds and crystals from home to hand them over to the Nature Spirit. The seedling-type 4-Star Nature Spirit was something worth being nourished with great care. After all, its development path had yet to be chosen.

    One way or another, Michael could tell that Lilica and the others must have told their Elders a lot about his territory, Soultrait, and personality. Otherwise, they would have never even considered giving him a Forest Elf Summoning Core.

    And secretly, Michael was quite happy even though he looked sharp at Lilica and the others.

    How could he not be happy? The Summoning Core reaffirmed that the Forest Elven Elders would stay quiet about his Soultrait. After all, no race would ever want to see the fate of their ancestors in the hands of another race''s Lord.

    If the Forest Elven Elders were not certain that they would never sever their ties with Michael, they wouldn''t have given him the Forest Elf Summoning Core. It was a sign of great trust, which was something Michael regarded highly.

    After all, they were willing to take a big risk by giving him the benefit of the doubt and trusting him much more than Michael gave them.

    ''Is that what they''re trying to do? Gain my trust? Or is there more?''

    Michael was not sure, but he could tell that the Elders trusted Lilica and her team members a lot. The Elders believed that their youngsters wouldn''t make a mess and that they could maintain and improve the connection between Michael and the Forest Elves.

    "I''m honored to hear that your Elders trust me enough to resurrect the deceased of your tribe in my territory. I will take great care of them!" Michael spoke sincerely as he retrieved the Forest Elf Summoning Core.

    He walked over to the hatch of the Summoning Gate, used Extraction to extract some of the impurities within the Summoning Core, and installed it.

    The Summoning Gate released a strong pulling force, dragging Michael closer to the hatch, where he installed the Forest Elf Summoning Core in no time.

    The Summoning Gate began to hum loudly. Its energy pool began to ripple and the pressure around therge structure increased drastically.

    Two brightly shining stars lit up in the Summoning Gate''s metal frame, and the outlines of a skinny, tall man condensed.

    A beautiful man, withrge green eyes, long eyshes, long pointed ears and a vivid smile on his face stepped out of the energy pool of the Summoning Gate. He held a longbow in his hand and winked in Michael''s direction when he realized where he was.

    Michael was surrounded by the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, but everyone was a little bit stupefied.

    "Looks like we''re quite lucky today," Michael mumbled, looking at the Forest Elf Summon, who was a 2-Star Sharpshooter Summon.

    Other than just once when Michael''s daily summons brought him a 2-Star Berserker Michael had never summoned a 2-Star Summon without using a Mythic Summoning Scroll, or a Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    In thest 30 days, Michael had been unable to collect Mythic Summoning Scrolls either. Even his ordinary summons had been rather unlucky these days, with only a fewbat units joining his army.

    Lilica and the others didn''t understand what Michael meant, but they knew that it was not an ordinary event to add 2-Star Summons to the territory. Thus, they were quite happy. A Forest Elf Summon would be an important member in Michael''s territory!

    Michael was also quite satisfied. He knew that many Forest Elves had unique talents, which could be quite useful when summoned to his territory. He was curious about the progress of his territory and awaited it eagerly.

    But at the same time, Michael fell deep in thought at the sight of the 2-Star Sharpshooter Forest Elf.

    Seeing a new Forest Elf appear in his territory, Michael was reminded about the little information he had found about them in mankind''s database.

    ''Elves are said to have had ess to the Origin Expanse for more than ten thousand years. In that case, the Forest Elven tribe should be a ''little'' bit older than mankind as well, right?''

    Michael began to wonder if the Forest Elves could help him decipher the old tongue used by the Temple of the Forgotten.

    ''Maybe¡­''

 Chapter 172 Origin Tongue

    Because of the trust Michael was given, he made a choice.

    He chose to show the Forest Elves the Temple of the Forgotten.

    Exposing the Temple of the Forgotten to the Forest Elves could turn into a big blunder and his worst nightmare, but Michael decided to trust them ¨C just like the Elders of the Forest Elves trusted him as well.

    Furthermore, Liopham had already seen the outer area of the underground ecosystem when they conquered the lizard cave. The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team would find out about the Temple of the Forgotten sooner orter, either way.

    ''If they''ve learned the old tongues, they might be able to help me decipher thenguage used by the Temple of the Forgotten!'' Michael hoped.

    He was not confident that the Forest Elves knew thenguages, but they were more likely to know something than any human.

    Thus, Michael led everyone to the lizard cave. Today was thest day of their conquest before Michael''s life in the Saphirke Military Academy would truly begin.

    Simultaneously, the deeper parts of theplex cavern system seemed too eerie and dangerous to enter. Michael considered destroying the tunnels to make sure that the miners could do their job without having to worry about their safety.

    The preparations had already beenpleted, so all it took was amand to destroy the tunnel leading down into the abyss-like darkness of the cavern system.

    But before that happened, Michael wanted to take a look at the cave tunnels.

    It was easy to travel through the upper area of the cavern system. They had cleared this area by now, providing full ess to the workers.

    The middle area was a lot more difficult to travel through. Michael and his people encountered several smaller Monster groups and tworger groups of Monsters. Fortunately, it was quite easy to eliminate the threats of the Monster groups. The Forest Elves targeted the strongest Monsters by inflicting severe injuries in the first ten seconds of the battle before they wore down their opponents.

    Michael''s army had expanded a lot during thest month. They gained lots ofbat experience, equipment of high quality, and created various battle strategies that utilized every unit''s strong points. Their weaknesses were bnced by the strength of theirrades, creating strong synergy and minimizing the rate of casualties.

    Furthermore, with people such as Michael and Tiara on the frontlines, their team''s chances of sustaining grievous injuries against Tier-1 Monsters, and smaller groups of TIer-2 Monsters reduced drastically as well. This was especially the case after Liopham''s Rage of the Primal affected the whole Monster group.

    The Forest Elves adapted quickly now that they were willing to cooperate, and Michael noticed that their Link of Loyalty had grown even firmer than before.

    Seeing that Michael could summon a 2-Star Forest Elf Summon had a strong impact on their minds and Links of Loyalty.

    "I think it''s about time that we clear a small spot in the Underground Ecosystem," Michael announced.

    At this announcement, Tiara, ire, and most of the otherbatants looked at him with slight surprise.

    Were they already strong enough to clear the Underground Ecosystem?

    Lilica''s lips parted to say something, but before she could utter a single word the cavern tunnel began to tremble violently.

    Rocks, loose soil, and Gloa crystals began raining down from the ceiling as the tremors grew in intensity.

    ''What is going on?!'' Michael shouted in his mind.

    His head flicked left and right, but he couldn''t tell that anything was off.

    ''Earthquake?''

    Loud explosions reverberated through the entire lizard cave, the loose soil was flung through the air, and it didn''t take long before searing hot gales sted through the lizard cave.

    Michael''s confusion increased exponentially. The searing hot gales were obviously scorching hot, but they didn''t harm anyone. The rocks falling from the ceiling were more dangerous.

    30 Minutes.

    That was how long the cavern tunnel tremored, and how long the searing hot gales sted through the cavern system. After that, everything seemed to return to how it had been before and it went deathly still once again.

    "What the¡­" Michael mumbled, still trying toprehend what happened.

    "Looks like the cavern didn''t like that you wanted to conquer the Underground Ecosystem," Lilica said jokingly, but Michael stared at her with his eyes shot wide open.

    "W-What?..." She asked defensively, "Is there something in the Underground Ecosystem that could have caused¡­THIS?!"

    The earthquake might not have affected them much ¨C with only a few Warriors sustaining minor injuries, but that didn''t mean they could rx.

    On the contrary, the earthquake was terrifying. It caused explosions in the other cavern tunnels, releasing the horrifying power of nature as they were trapped inside with no way out.

    Michael didn''t respond to Lilica''s question immediately. Instead, he sent ire and the other trackers to find out what happened in the other cavern tunnels, and if the workers were fine.

    Meanwhile, Michael and his people slowly traveled closer to the surface of the lizard cave. They walked past the tunnel entrance that led to the Underground Ecosystem, where he stopped.

    Michael retrieved a piece of paper and unfolded it. It was the same paper he showed Danny before they separated.

    "Is anyone knowledgeable in the old tongues?" He asked while handing over the paper where he had written the letters that the Temple of the Forgotten had used.

    Lilica thought that Michael wanted to distract them, but she nced at the piece of paper nheless. A frown appeared on her face, and she looked at the paper more intently.

    Following their leader''s action, the other Forest Elves took a look at the piece of paper as well. They began to frown as well and stared quietly at the letters.

    "By any chance¡­" Lilica asked, "Is there an ancient city of a fallen civilization, or some sort of ruin in the Underground Ecosystem, you''ve talked about?"

    Michael answered with a faint nod.

    "Does that mean you can read the paper?" He asked, a ray of hope surfacing in his heart.

    "Yes¡­.Well, actually no," Lilica revealed honestly, "We can read some of those letters because they''re abination of the Ancient Elven Tongue, and an even oldernguage, which I''ve never heard before. The Ancient Elven Tongue imbues origin energy in every word, simr to the Dragon Tongue. However, thisnguage is different. I can roughly guess the meaning of some words, but without feeling the intention of the origin energy in the words, I cannot really tell anything."

    Michael was slightly disappointed at first, but his hopes were reinvigorated when he heard thest few parts.

    "Does that mean you¨C..." Michael asked in excitement, just to stop mid-sentence. Lilica shook her head and interjected,

    "I won''t be able to read it, forget about teaching you thenguage. Thisnguage is extremely old, rarely used, very hard to learn, and it''s an exotic version of the oldest Origin Tongue I''ve ever seen," She said.

    "Whatever you have hidden in the Underground Ecosystem it is old, very old¡­and very dangerous!" Lilica said, sounding deadly serious.

    She couldn''t smile and her head began to ache.

    Under normal circumstances, Lilica would be overjoyed to find an ancient ruin. It meant great danger, but also the possibility of procuring great treasures.

    However, it wasmonly known amongst older races that the Will of the Origin Expanse used a simple means to indicate the Danger&Opportunity level of an Ancient Ruin; the older and moreplicated thenguage used in the Ancient Ruin, the higher the danger level, and the greater the opportunities.

    While that may seem like a great opportunity, Lilica knew that the Forest Elves had never even recorded an Ancient Ruin on the same level as the ce Michael had found.

    "The Untamed Jungle is truly¡­wild¡­"

 Chapter 173 Masked Saber

    Michael didn''t understand Lilica''s worries at first.

    He was d that he told Lilica and the others about the Temple of the Forgotten, and that he could exchange information about it. It was good to have somebody to talk to about it.

    Learning about the Danger&Opportunity level system ¨C that ought to bemon knowledge for most older races ¨C didn''t feel nice, but Michael was not too disappointed.

    It was a good thing that he was getting closer to the truth. Conquering the Temple of the Forgotten seemed like a distant dream, however, it was something Michael looked forward to.

    Even if he had to be a higher life-form, or even shed his mortal body before starting his conquest, Michael felt that it would be worth it. He was quite excited.

    Lilica and the others couldn''t understand Michael''s excitement, at all.

    First, it was way too dangerous and a bit reckless to even consider raiding the Temple of the Forgotten. And second, it was extremely dangerous to stay close to the Temple of the Forgotten. If one of the Old Ones, or races that were much older and stronger than the Elven were to find out about the Temple of the Forgotten, the entire Untamed Jungle would be turned into a bloody battlefield.

    Neither Lilica nor her Elders had seen an Old One until now. However, that was their great fortune which ensured that they could still stand on their own two feet. If they were lucky and their encounter with an Old One wasn''t that bad, they would only be lying two meters under the surface. At least, their tribe would be able to collect their corpses in one piece! That was how terrifying the Old Ones were.

    After Michael heard a few stories from the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, he grew more curious. He led everyone to the Underground Ecosystem and showed the Forest Elves the Temple of the Forgotten.

    The pressure it exuded wasn''t horrifying, and it didn''t look terrifying either. But that was only an illusion as the Forest Elves'' worries came true soon enough.

    Lilica was brave enough to use a few steps of the staircase and step up slowly. She quickly realized that the pressure around her increased exponentially and that more words flooded her mind. By the time she took the fourth step, Lilica couldn''t lift her feet anymore.

    Blood trickled out of her ears and nose, and she quickly stepped down the stairs ¨C or fell down, to be precise.

    Once Lilica regained her senses, she retrieved a few sheets of paper from her War Rune and began to write down the words the Temple of the Forgotten transferred into her mind.

    Lilica tried to imbue origin energy in the words just like the Temple of the Forgotten did, but she was struggling to replicate the words perfectly. Thenguage used was way tooplex.

    Liopham was the second to test out the pressure of the staircase leading up to the entrance of the Temple of the Forgotten. He stopped after the third step and descended after a while.

    "I read records about the conquest of the Abyss Witchery Dungeon in the Nebulus Forest. It was the greatest raid of the Forest Elven Tribe, and the biggest achievement of Yggdrasil Children at least while the Alliance between the Elven tribes still existed¡­but why do I feel like this Temple of the Forgotten is far more dangerous?"

    How were they supposed to raid the Temple of the Forgotten? It was simply impossible!

    Fortunately, the Forest Elves didn''t have to tell Michael about that. He was distracted by the return of ire and her tracers.

    They had finished traveling through the cavern system and analyzing it thoroughly after which they made a report, which could be summarized in a single sentence.

    ¨C All cavern tunnels leading to the deeper levels had copsed!

    The earthquake had taken off lots of work from Michael''s shoulders. However, he was still slightly confused about what exactly happened, and why it happened.

    He was willing to send a few people to find out more, but Michael was certain that it was a dead end.

    Interestingly enough, the earthquakes seemed to have destroyed a few monster habitats. Many monster habitats had been buried, providing Michael and his army the opportunity to strike as long as the iron was hot.

    In the next six hours, Michael''s army killed hundreds of Monsters, including quite a few Mid Tier-2 Monsters.

    Thest day of the cave''s conquest ended with much better results than expected. Now that the tunnels in the deeper parts copsed, Michael could im the entire lizard cave as his own.

    He could start constructing a proper mine and create a more efficient way to harvest ores, store them, and transport them to his territory. It required more work to build everything he required, but the thought of the gains he could make was enough to give him the energy he needed.

    By the time they returned back to the clearing, it was alreadyte afternoon. Michael was given hundreds of corpses to extract, and he did so with a vibrant smile on his face.

    Atst, almost as if the Will of the Origin Expanse wanted to reward him for conquering the lizard cave, a Mythic Summoning Scroll dropped from a Mid Tier-2 Monster.

    Michael extracted it, and he couldn''t really believe his eyes at first.

    After not having received one for so long, he nearly forgot that some Monsters could drop Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    Michael had only a few hours left before the spaceship would arrive on Kelta, and he couldn''t help but feel that the Mythic Summoning Scroll was a good Omen.

    If the Mythic Summoning Scroll would give him a great summon, he would have a great time in the Saphirke Military Academy. However, if he was unlucky ¨C just like he had been in thest few weeks whenever he started another summoning session ¨C his time in the Saphirke Military Academy would turn out horrible.

    Usually, Michael didn''t believe in omens, but something told him that he was going to be lucky with this one.

    The Summoning Gate vibrated when Michael approached it with the ck-leather Mythic Summoning Scroll in his hands.

    It felt like a sign.

    "Show me that I''m not unlucky, Origin Expanse. Let''s go!" Michael shouted aloud as he broke the golden seal of the Mythic Summoning Scroll. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Summoning Gate began to tremor the moment the seal was broken.

    Even before the Mythic Summoning Scroll could unfold itself, it was sucked inside the energy pool.

    Glimmering sparks of golden light filled the air around the Summoning Gate in the next minutes as one star after another began to light up.

    The Summoning Gate''s metal frame continued to tremble.

    One Star shone up.

    Another followed quickly.

    Five minutes had already passed but the Summon still didn''t step out of the energy pool.  A third star lit up.

    Half an hourter, Michael''s expression was a mixture of confusion and a trace of excitement.

    Finally, a fourth star condensed on the Summoning Gate''s metal frame.

    Another 4-Star Summon!

    It felt as if quite a bit of luck had been umted for this moment, for this Summon!

    The Summon''s outlines formed in the energy pool, and it stepped out soon after.

    A Sword-Sabre-wielding Man wearing thebat clothes of the Desert that covered his entire body emerged.

    He wore a crimson mask to hide his entire face and brandished his sword-like saber in front of Michael before he held it out for his new master to take.

    "I''m the Masked Saber. I''m happy to be of your service Mi¨C...my Lord!"

    "Wee, Masked Saber. I''m d to have you here," Michael said with a fond smile on his face.

    Michael felt that Masked Saber had a familiar presence and that the 4-Star Summon was very amiable.

    "How about I sho¨C..." He was just about to give Masked Saber a guide around the territory when he sensed that their Link of Loyalty was being formed.

    At first, Michael thought that their Link of Loyalty would be frail and easily breakable. Combat Summons with a high-star rating usually achieved something great, which meant that they were either great leaders, prideful warriors, or exceptional in other ways. Usually, these Summons didn''t like being ordered around. They were prideful and harder to control than others.

    However, that wasn''t the case with Masked Saber.

    On the contrary, Masked Saber''s Link of Loyalty was quite firm. It was not yetpleted, but Michael could already tell that Masked Saber''s link of loyalty was the thickest of all of his Links of Loyalty¡­and that included Tiara''s Link of Loyalty.

    Tiara was already willing to take a bullet in his stead. Was it even possible for any of his summons to have a firmer Link of Loyalty than the Battle Maid?

    Michael hadn''t been sure about that before, but it had been proven with the appearance of Masked Saber.

    It was confusing that Masked Saber had a firm Link of Loyalty, but it was also great.

    Michael felt good.

    For a while, he felt extremely lucky. It was just too amazing.

    His territory''s poption surpassed 5000 subjects, and his territory developed rapidly in thest 30 days he spent outside the spaceship.

    How could he not feel great?

    **

    A few hourster, Michael left the Origin Expanse.

    He appeared in the cabin and sat down on his seat. Only a few minutester, the Dekalos-ss spaceship entered Kelta''s range.

    They were about tond. Their trip was over.

    His life in the Saphirke Military Academy was just about to begin.

 Chapter 174 Malfunction

    Michael almost missed thending of the Dekalos-ss spaceship. Fortunately, he returned just in time.

    It had already slowed down and the inertia generator was deactivated a few minutester.

    Michael had to sit on the safety chair when he stepped out of the Runic Gate. Afterward, he looked out of the small window in his cabin to witness the spaceship entering Kelta''s exosphere. The Dekalos-ss spaceship entered the atmosphere and shot down to the''s blue sapphire-like surface like a meteor.

    Bright sparks ignited all over the spaceship''s metal surface as the engines worked against Kelta''s inertia to slow down their descent to the ground.

    The Dekalos-ss spaceship trembled wildly as multiple forces impacted heavily on it, but it kept descending, slowly finding its way to the spaceship harbor that seemed to growrger as their distance decreased.

    Michael observed the''s surface with the same interest as he watched their descent. Both were fascinating to watch.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t take long before they reached the harbor.

    The spaceship harbor was humongous, evenrger than the spaceship harbor in Elyra. It easily towered above all spaceships docked in the docking bay and reached deep underground as well.

    Soon, the spaceship trembled onest time before it stopped moving altogether. They reached the ground, where the staff went through a safety checklist before the crew was allowed to open the gates to the docking bay.

    [Dear passengers, it was an honor to bring the newest generation of mankind''s pirs to Kelta. My crew and I are grateful, and we hope that everyone enjoyed the trip to Kelta as much as we did. My name is Captain Morane, and I hope to be of service in the future as well. Don''t hesitate to travel through space with Morane Enterprises. Thank you very much!]

    The captain''s voice echoed through the speakers across the spaceship.

    Once the Captain finished his short speech, a series of notifications rang through Michael''s crystal watch.

    [Suitablework system has been found. Connection to Sta has been established!]

    [Wee to Kelta, the first human-upied in the Lumina Ster System. Have a nice stay!]

    [Crystal watch of freshman student Michael Fang has been detected. In the following attached files, you will find the schedule of the next three days, the facilities you can use with your current rank, the ce and room number of your amodation, and much more!]

    [Remark: The Real Combat assessment will determine the first rankings. The ranking cannot be challenged in the first week of your arrival.]

    [Remark 2: The Rankings'' daily rewards are doubled in the first month of your arrival. Please give your best to continue obtaining the rewards you deserve!]

    Following the notifications, one of the files opened. It was his schedule.

    Only three days were filled with appointments. The rest was still empty.

    Today, all students would have to gather in the open auditorium where the Dean would hold a short speech.

    It was scheduled to start in less than two hours. Michael''s first reaction was that time was tight, but that didn''t seem to be a problem.

    Apparently, the spaceship from Elyra was thest to arrive.

    Tomorrow and the day after the second aptitude assessment would be held and concluded.

    It would be much fiercer than before, considering that the Ranking would be established, and the daily rewards doubled now that the freshmen from alls finally gathered at the Academy.

    The rewards were also announced in the files. They were quite high and included better cabins, Saphire Points, Named Summoning Scrolls, and much more.

    However, Michael was not really interested in any of that right now.

    ''Whatever''

    He opened the crystal watch and immediately essed Sta messengers.

    There was no need to rush outside, so Michael rather messaged his brother.

    However, a deep frown appeared on his face when he saw that his brother hadn''t sent a single message over thest 30 days.

    ''He knows that I couldn''t connect to Sta messengers during the trip. His focus was probably on his territory and the conquest of the Primedival Pyramid!'' Michael told himself to calm his nerves.

    He wrote a short message to his brother, informing him about his arrival at the Academy, and sent it over. Once Danny returned from the Origin Expanse, he would know that Michael arrived on Kelta without any issues.

    Afterward, Michael retrieved the small Lord Card that was connected to Danny''s Lord ID.

    Michael wanted to ease his worries by looking at the intact Lord Card. However, he quickly realized that something was wrong.

    Michael''s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the card that kept changing colors. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Did it break on his flight to Kelta, or did something happen to Danny?!

    Michael felt a lump in his throat as he left his cabin.

    He walked outside without diverting his eyes from the Lord Card for a single moment.

    That was also why he never realized that someone appeared behind him.

    "I''m sorry to tell you this, but you cannot look at the Lord ID copy of other people in Kelta. The distance between the Sr System and the Lumina Ster System is too far to transfer details such as the remnants and status of War Runes. The Origin technology requires too much energy for such a negligible piece of information. Sorry, Michael," A young, and sonorous, yet somewhat distant voice reached his ear from behind,

    Michael turned around startled, just to be faced with Annabelle ire.

    They had never talked with each other before and only fought once during the Real Combat assessment in Elyra.

    Michael kept looking at Annabelle in confusion, who seemed to notice something.

    "Your name was Michael, or am I remembering wrong? If ¨C..." She said, just to stop as Michael interjected.

    "No, you remember correctly. My name is Michael Fang," Michael said hurriedly.

    He was still confused by her statement, but his heart was more at ease after hearing her exnation.

    She nced shortly at him without a change in expression. Her eyes moved to the malfunctioning Lord ID and her voice softened.

    "If you have any worries, you can just message the authorities and ask for more information. Or go to your teachers and ask them to make a request to the supeputer in Elyra. They''ll forward the information you want after confirming your identity and your rtionship to the Lord ID of the person you''re looking for. It is a little bit annoying, but it reduces the costs drastically in exchange for little additional work."

    Michael felt much better and he put the Lord Card away. If it was useless to look at the card, he might as well not pay any attention to it.

    "Seems like you advanced," Michael said after he thanked Annabelle for easing his mind.

    They weren''t even friends, so Michael considered it a big deal that Annabelle noticed his worry, and that she shared important information with him.

    In fact, weren''t theypetitors right now?

    "That''s only natural," Annabelle said, showing Michael her War Rune. It advanced to the 1st Tier and reached the same refinement degree as Michael''s War Rune had attained.

    "I will defeat you next time we fight!" She announced in a determined voice before she stepped ahead.

    Annabelle left the spaceship and disappeared from Michael''s sight.

    Michael left the spaceship as well. He stepped onto the docking bay where a small robot weed him.

    [My name is Robbie, the robot. Please allow me to scan your ID and irises before I guide you to the shuttle buses!]

    Michael smiled weakly at the sight of the child-sized robot.

    Nheless, he retrieved his Lord ID and allowed the robot to scan both his ID and irises.

    [Scan has beenpleted. Wee student Michael Fang. Follow me, please!]

    Michael followed Robbie for the next 5 minutes until they arrived in arge hall where only one more shuttle bus was waiting.

    The others had already departed.

    ''Am I thest to arrive?'' He wondered, d to be proven wrong as a few more students arrived shortly after him.

    They entered the shuttle bus, in which more than 100 freshmen were already waiting for them.

    None of them paid much attention to theters. They continued to mind their own business, which was mostly to analyze the strongest opponents ¨C using the videos that had been provided by the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Michael found an empty seat in the back and sat down.

    "Seems like you cannot run away from me," He murmured when he realized who sat on the seat next to him.

    It was Annabelle ire, who looked at him indifferently.

    "Running away? Me? Stop being delusional."

 Chapter 175 Dean

    Michael and Annabelle sat next to each other on the way to the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Michael wasn''t awkward with Annabelle and asked a few questions.

    He was very interested in her archery skills. Since their first spar, he felt that there was something profound in her archery skills, and he wanted to learn more about it.

    Being an Archer, whose skills and uracy had been tempered by Fenrir''s memories and the Eagle Eyes Soultrait, Michael did not have a bad start. He was a good archer, had a great foundation, and his experience was not little either. Fenrir''s memories tempered him a lot.

    Nheless, he could still learn a lot from the Forest Elves, who already showed him lots of tips and tricks to improve his mastery. His interest in Annabelle''s skills increased drastically after Michael encountered the Forest Elves.

    He realized that Annabelle had been much stronger and more talented than he was. In fact, Annabelle was on Lilica''s level of expertise, while only being Tierless and several years younger than him.

    Intrigued by how Annabelle became this strong, Michael asked her way more questions than he initially wanted to.

    Annabelle didn''t take offense at the bombardment of questions and patiently answered him.

    She looked cold and distant on the outside, but she wasn''t rude. On the contrary, she was quite open and spoke a lot ¨C though the way she spoke made it seem as if she wanted to keep her distance from Michael and the rest of the freshmen.

    Michael chose to ignore the tone in her voice. Instead, he listened to her detailed exnations and the small hints she dropped. That way, the two spend the two hour trip to the Saphirke Military Academy without a second of boredom.

    Because the shuttle bus took longer than expected to reach their destination, the students had to rush to the open auditorium.

    The Dean was already standing on the stage. She was an old figure, casting a stark contrast to the young and vigorous faces in the audience. However, her presence radiated vigor and endless power.

    Her gaze moved through the audience until itnded on the students, who arrivedst. A faint smile blossomed on her face as she gestured to theters to find a seat and sit down.

    She cleared her throat, the scratching in her voice evident.

    "Good morning, freshmen," the Dean began, her voice surprisingly loud and strong, "and wee to the Saphirke Military Academy."

    She paused, taking a long moment to scan the open auditorium and lock eyes with a few individuals in the first few rows. The audience grew eerily silent. Something in the air made it impossible for the students to even think about uttering a noise.

    "You may be feeling nervous, or excited today, but I assure every single one of you that you belong here," The Dean continued, "Some of you might have lost your territories on the way to Kelta, but that can happen. In fact, not many freshmen will be able to stay Lords until the end of the first semester. Most of you will probably lose your territory due to variousplications, and inevitable reasons. Some of you will even die!"

    The Dean''s voice grew heavy, and every student in the auditorium tensed. Even some of the professors seated far behind the Dean couldn''t keep their faces straight. They knew too well that the Origin Expanse was a merciless ce.

    "But don''t let that discourage you," The Dean added, her face brightening up a bit. Simultaneously, the tension in the open auditorium eased noticeably as well. "You have all worked hard to get to this point, and now is the time to make the most of it. The Saphirke Military Academy will be your whetting stone to transform you ¨C the unpolished gemstones ¨C into brightly shining, polished gemstones of immense value."

    "As fellow freshmen, everyone in the auditorium must have realized that there are more than 10,000 students. Every single one of you is powerful and an unpolished gemstone. However, not all of you will be able to ovee the ordeals and finish the process. Some of you will fail, others will give up, and many will die in the Origin Expanse.

    Our task is to provide you with the best facilities, and opportunities to grow stronger. We will guide you and give everyone our professional advice. Nheless, everyone present has to understand that your future lies in your own hands. If you give up, you will inevitably fail. But if you keep swimming against the stream, you''ll be tempered and be stronger than you can fathom.

    As the Dean spoke, her voice seemed to grow in strength and power. It was as if she was channeling all the emotions and experiences of her long career into this moment.

    In the next half an hour, the Dean continued on, encouraging the freshman to embrace new ideas, seek new experiences, and challenge themselves to grow. She spoke with passion and conviction, her words carrying the weight of decades, and great authority.

    The audience sat captivated in the open auditorium, listening to her intently. Michael too, stared at the dean with gleaming eyes. He could feel that her charismatic speech reached the depths of his being. It was quite terrifying if he was to be honest.

    As the speech came to an end, the Dean left the stage with a final nod to the crowd. She might be slow and be affected by the influence of old age, but she had the spirit and power required as the dean of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    The message she wanted to convey with her speech was also clear; be bold, be curious, strive for improvements, and most importantly ¨C survive by all means!

    ''I hope she teaches a course as well!'' Michael mused in his heart.

    He wanted to have a talk with the dean, get to know more about her vision of the future, and receive some wisdom from her teachings.

    However, that had to wait untilter.

    Michael''s stomach grumbled loudly. The freshmen around him looked at him with a grin, but Michael just shrugged.

    "I guess, it''s time for lunch," He mumbled before turning to Annabelle.

    They had been seated next to each other while the Dean held her speech, and he wanted to continue talking to her during dinner.

    Her archery training method was quite interesting. Michael hoped that he could find a way to implement her training in his workout routine. That way, he could maintain a great bnce between flexibility, speed, and power.

    "Do you want to have dinner with me? I heard that the cafeteria gives a wee feast. We won''t have to pay a cent and will get highly nutritious dishes!" Michael asked, unable to keep his excitement under control.

    The thought of having delicious food created uncontroble excitement within Michael. He felt energetic and jumped up from his seat, smiling brightly at Annabelle.

    She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. Annabelle thought about it for a moment and gave him a slight nod.

    "Let''s go then!" He said, leading the way.

    Michael wanted to eat to his fullest. He was not sure when he would be able to fill his stomach with the delicacies cooked by the Saphirke Military Academy''s Chefs. Thus, he had to make the most use of it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Since it was alreadyte and everyone was tired, not many freshmen chose to visit the cafeteria. Instead, they visited other facilities, entered their rooms to return to the Origin Expanse, or they socialized with the freshmening from others.

    However, Michael was d about that. He would rather have more food for himself than share it. Wasn''t that obvious?

    He picked up four tes and filled all of them to the fullest before he brought them back to the nearby table without spilling any of it. Afterward, he returned to fill two more tes.

    The first round of dishes had been prepared, and Michael was ready to feast.

    Annabelle, on the other hand, was much more demure. She filled a single te and ate slowly ¨C and with manners.

    She finished her te in the same time Michael spent inhaling the aroma of six tes that had been filled to the brim.

    It shocked Annabelle a little bit, but she didn''t think too much about it. Some Soultraits required a tremendous amount of nutrition to work properly.

    When Michael returned to the cafeteria staff for a second helping, they stared at him in shock. At first, they thought Michael wanted to hoard some food for the next few days. A few of them wanted to say something, but their chef restrained the overly ambiguous staff.

    It looked like they noticed something in Michael''s gaze. They weren''t surprised when they saw Michael gorging on his food in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the staff was shocked to the core.

    The Chefs looked at Michael with fatherly love as they refilled his tes.

    A fellow glutton never failed to recognize one of their kind.

    The Chefs had all Soultraits that consumed a tremendous amount of nutrition, and they naturally thought that Michael was simr.

    But was that really the case? Michael had always been a glutton, even before he awakened Extraction!

    Michael saw a few familiar faces when he returned to the table with his dishes again.

    Kaleb and the Barbaric Couple were at the table to eat their daily dose of nutrition. Their body and mind had already been ustomed to eating to their fullest after finishing a huge jumbo te every single day for a whole month.

    They filled several tes to the brim and sat down around Michael ¨C Frederik to his left with Jacqueline next to him, and Kaleb to his right.

    None of them said a word as they feasted on their meals.

    This astonished Annabelle quite a bit. She looked at the odd group of four people for a while before she blurted out the thoughts that shed through her mind.

    "I thought you guys hated each other. Seems like you''re just friends pulling a joke on the first day of the trip!"

    Frederik grumbled a few iprehensible words at Annabelle''s usation. Meanwhile, Jacqueline recalled the day Frederik had been taken and forced to join the Limit Breaker course. She felt like throwing a drumstick at Michael at the mere thought of the troublemaker.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb shrugged while continuing to eat.

    After dinner was over, everyone was satiated and happy.

    It was pretty hard to feel sad with a stomach that had been filled to the brim with extraordinary mouthwatering delicacies.

    The entire human race would have to be on the brink of destruction to disturb Michael''s happiness after tonight''s dinner.

    He ignored a few banters a few students started in the cafeteria and watched the staff intervene after a while.

    The students ought to beat the shit out of each other tomorrow during the Real Combat assessment. They had enough time to beat each other until one of them gave up.

    While listening to the quarreling students, Frederik, and the others were reminded about the Real Combat assessment.

    Kaleb wouldn''t join since he had yet to be an Awakened, but Frederik was ready to fight Michael once again.

    He wanted a rematch and was certain that he had worked hard enough to defeat Michael atst. After all, he had finally advanced to Tier-1, and his degree of refinement exceeded Michael''s by now.

    Frederik Kolbenheim used his resources to surpass Michael, and he wanted to show once and for all that he was more talented than Michael.

    He acknowledged that Michael was a prodigy, that the young man without special background was powerful, and that he progressed rapidly. However, Frederik had to fight and defeat Michael. Otherwise, how could he even think of bing the Sun of the Freshman, and defeat other prodigies if he couldn''t even fight Michael head-on?

    What Frederik didn''t realize was that his hatred toward Michael had dispersed a long time ago.

    Rather than considering him a bastard, or a nobody, who didn''t deserve to join the Saphirke Military Academy, Frederik began to see Michael in a new light.

    The trip to Kelta changed his mindset a lot.

    Now, Michael was not a nobody anymore.

    He was a rival on equal footing!

 Chapter 176 Silver Energy

    The dorms were an interesting ce.

    Everyone had their own decent-sized room that was not spacious, but more than enough to feelfortable. At least, Michael feltfortable with a big bed, a small table and a chair to study on, and a big empty space that was slightlyrger than the bed.

    Of course, the rooms could be upgraded, but Michael was satisfied for the time being.

    After he reached the dorm, he opened Sta messengers and clicked on his chat with Alice Zenovia.

    [Michael: Good afternoon, Professor Zenovia. I cannot ess my brother''s Lord ID and want to make a request about it. Can the supeputer on Elyra, or the government forward the status of Daniel Fang''s Lord ID now, and whenever a change urs to me? If thetter is not possible, or not allowed, I can manually request an update on Danny''s Lord ID every week or two. That''s not a problem.]

    Michael''s message was nothing special. However, he was more formal than usual with Alice Zenovia.

    Until now, she never paid too much attention to his behavior, but Michael felt the need to be more formal with his request after learning that she was his teacher.

    ''Just tell me that Danny is fine, and everything will be perfect,'' Michael told himself before he opened the Runic Gate to the Origin Expanse.

    He entered the Origin Expanse just to crash down on the bed and sleep soundly. Sleeping in the Origin Expanse saved lots of time.

    It even gave him enough time to start a light workout after he woke up. The light workout was a test to see how well he could replicate Annabelle''s training course.

    After they''d exchanged contact details, Annabelle sent him a few video files. Some of the workouts she did were exined in great detail, and Michael imprinted them into his mind.

    He did Annabelle''s workout and figured that it was pretty nice tobine them with his body refinement workout. It loosened the tension in his muscles and allowed him to build a greatly bnced physique.

    After a light workout, Michael read through the daily report, extracted monster carcasses, and summoned new subjects.

    Once that was done, he gave a few orders to initiate the start of the high-scale mining project.

    Everyone went to work, except Masked Saber, who stayed by Michael''s side.

    In just one day, Masked Saber reached the Mid refinement stage of Tier-0. Since he had been summoned, Masked Saber spent most of his time researching the Untamed Jungle''s topography, and learning more about the territory''s military might and development progress before he went out to hunt on his own.

    Masked Saber was a Lone Wolf, who hunted more than 30 Low Tier-1 Monsters in a day ¨C all by himself.

    That was a terrific achievement, and it showed that Masked Saber was far from an ordinary summon.

    Michael got to know that Masked Saber had the ability to shroud his weapon in silver energy, enhancing his damage output drastically. A single attack, precisely aimed at a vital point, was enough to finish off a Low Tier-1 Monster.

    "Great potential, powerful ability, and terrifyingbat prowess¡­Did he die too young to attain a higher star rating?" Michael murmured quietly as Masked Saber approached him.

    If Masked Saber had never attained any special achievements, his star rating might have been suppressed to 4-Stars. At least, that was the way Michael looked at it. Masked Saber seemed too unique for an ordinary 4-Star Summon!

    But that was also why Michael was so intrigued in Masked Saber. The Summon was simply too unique. He deserved Michael''s attention.

    Growing increasingly interested in Masked Saber''sbat prowess, Michael challenged his Summon to a spar.

    "Let''s spar, Masked Saber!"

    Masked Saber nodded his head, unsheathed his saber, and changed into hisbat stance.

    He pulled the saber back and moved his empty hand forward while bending his knees to lower his body ever so slightly.

    Michael smiled at Masked Saber''s fast response. He manifested Seron Voulge and got into position as well.

    The next moment, Michael looked into the ck eyes hidden behind Masked Saber''s crimson mask.

    Both parties reacted simultaneously. They kicked their feet off the ground to burst forward and swung their weapons the next second as they reached close enough to attack.

    Michael swung Seron Voulge diagonally to cover as much space in front of him as possible. However, Masked Saber reacted in time. He forcefully halted his approach, twisted his de, and struck down the silver glowing saber as Seron Voulge''s de passed by.

    Seron Voulge was pushed down, taking Michael by surprise. He didn''t expect Masked Saber to evade and counter-attack so easily.

    What was interesting to note was that Michael''s physical strength was two or three times higher than Masked Saber''s. He had several Tier-1 Artifacts,pleted the first stage of the Berserker Physique, and was at Tier-1.

    Each of those reasons was enough to tell that he should be faster and stronger than Masked Saber, yet the 4-Star Summon easily predicted his attack, evaded it, and counterattacked by utilizing the tremendous force Michael had put into his sh.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Seron Voulge shot into the ground, and Masked Saber pushed forward. His left-hand grasped Seron Voulge''s pole, while the silver glowing saber lunged forward like a python.

    Michael wanted to pull Seron Voulge out of the ground and block Masked Saber''s attack, but Masked Saber''s t hand pushed the pole down, preventing Michael fromunching a counterattack and deflecting the saber strike.

    Michael grit his teeth, retrieved Seron Voulge in his War Rune, and dived to the side.

    He rolled on the ground and jumped up smoothly. Afterward, Seron Voulge manifested in his hand once again.

    Michael took a deep breath while looking at Masked Saber, whose saber rested calmly in his hand. Masked Saber turned slowly in his direction, the silver glow around his saber intensifying.

    ''Looks like I cannot win without my Soultraits¡­what a shame,'' Michael murmured in his mind.

    He felt confused. On one hand, it was exceptional to have Masked Saber as his summon. Their first exchange showed clearly that Masked Saber was much stronger than his rank suggested. At the same time, Michael felt a little bit weird.

    Masked Saber was adept at picking up his opponent''s ws and using them, but that was not all. Masked Saber had high mastery of energy utility, and he used his opponents'' superior strength against them.

    Somehow, Michael felt like he was watching a powerhouse like Fenrir.

    It was a little weird.

    Despite the weird feeling in his heart, Michael could tell that he could use his spars against Masked Saber to fix his ws and get rid of his bad habits duringbat.

    The good thing was that Michael could trust Masked Saber. His Link of Loyalty reached perfection, a state that could only be topped by a True Link of Loyalty. However, for that, they had to share countless life-and-death situations and save each other from death multiple times.

    A True Link of Loyalty allowed telepathicmunication, sharing of pain, and much more. It was a great feature, but also something that only few could establish. Even his brother wasn''t able to establish more than three True Links of Loyalty with the Summons he fought side-by-side for years.

    All in all, he felt really great about having found a great summon and decided to focus on eliminating his ws with Masked Saber''s help. Michael took a deep breath while calming his nerves. He didn''t manifest the Onyx Dragon Armor Set yet, but he began to utilize his Soultraits now. It was something Michael didn''t want to do before because he thought that he would win too easily against Masked Saber if he was to rely on his Soultraits.

    However, their first exchange showed quite clearly that he had been too arrogant ¨C too full of himself. If Masked Saber had been an enemy who was after his life, Michael would be dead by now.

    Taking this into consideration, Michael exhaled deeply before utilizing Lesser Enhancement on Seron Voulge and his eyes. Simultaneously, he exerted Eagle Eyes, further amplifying his eyesight.

    Seron Voulge was shrouded in a white hue while his eyes shimmered white and golden.

    Masked Saber sensed a change in his Lord''s presence, and he readied himself for the second sh. A second silver light manifested in the air around the silver-glowing saber, but it dispersed soon after. Masked Saber didn''t have enough energy to unleash his abilities in the way he did before he died.

    But that was something Masked Saber could acknowledge easily. He lowered his body further and waited patiently for Michael to attack.

    Michael shot forward the next second. He thrust Seron Voulge forward, while vigntly eying Masked Saber''s response. Masked Saber moved to the side, ready to counterattack, when he realized that Seron Voulge''s trajectory changed all of a sudden.

    The long de inched closer to Masked Saber''s head. Masked Saber, who already had a hard time evading the first attack, struggled to lift his saber to block Seron Voulge.

    However, just as the des were about to collide, Masked Saber''s mind trembled. His sight blurred and his entire body felt eerily heavy all of a sudden.

    Michael whipped Masked Saber with a Spirit Whip a quarter of a second before their weapons collided. Using his superior strength and speed, Michael''s Seron Voulge impacted hard upon his opponent.

    Masked Saber''s grip around the saber loosened and he let go of the saber.

    Yet, just as Michael sensed victory, his expression turned ugly. Masked Saber shot forward, and a small dagger appeared in his empty left hand.

    Seron Voulge shot past the Desertbat clothes of Masked Saber, not even grazing them, forget about cutting inside his body.

    Meanwhile, a cold de soon found its way toward Michael''s neck.

    "I¡­lost?" Michael blurted in confusion.

    At first, he was disappointed and scolded himself that he could have fought much better. However, after a second or two, his expression lit up.

    He realized that he had a lot to improve and that he could be much stronger.

    "I want a rematch!"

 Chapter 177 Lover Of Research

    After a few more spars with Masked Saber, Michael finally won his first round.

    He was not satisfied with the result, because he only won due to his Soultraits, Artifacts, and higher Tier. He still needed to work a lot on his skills so the victory was not sweet for him.

    Nheless, Michael was quite excited. Masked Saber thoroughly exined what mistakes Michael made, and how he could get rid of his bad habits rather easily.

    Michael listened patiently while feasting on well-prepared Tier-2 meat dishes with the first crop the farmers in his territory had harvested a few days ago.

    There weren''t many vegetables yet, and the farms beneath the treehouses were rather small, but they grew extremely fast. Thanks to the influence of the Tier-1 4-Star Nature Spirit, the Botanic Magician, the environment of the Untamed Jungle, and the addition of high-quality fertilizer, all nts flourished rapidly while maintaining extraordinary quality.

    The vegetables his people harvested a few days ago were highly nutritious and they stored some origin energy as well. Just by eating the vegetables was it possible to refine his War Rune. Though the refinement was insignificant for Michael as a Tier-1 Lord, it was very useful for his subjects.

    Just by eating the meat and vegetables they procured on their own, it was possible to practice the body refinement technique, Sacred Rectification, and elerate the absorption rate while practicing Pandemonium''s Requiem.

    Michael was full of energy, and slightly excited when he finished his meal.

    He was totally ready for the second aptitude assessment!

    Now that he was done with the tasks in the Origin Expanse, Michael left. He returned to his small room in the Saphirke Military Academy and left the dorms.

    "Was this ce so huge yesterday as well?" Michael blurted out after spending more than ten minutes navigating through the ce that felt like a maze to him.

    Turning around when he stepped outside, he noticed that the dorm was a huge skyscraper with more than 50 floors. It was more than 200 meters tall and towered high above Michael.

    "To think that I didn''t notice that when I arrived. Maybe I was too hungry?" Michael mumbled to himself before he turned around.

    He opened the map of the Saphirke Military Academy on his crystal watch and began to look for the hall he had to be in first.

    ''ording to my schedule, I have to be in Block B, Physical Testing Zentrum Nr.4¡­in 30 minutes¡­'' Michael read in his mind while searching for Block B.

    Only now did he realize that the Academy''s campus was a humongous area that housed way too many buildings and facilities for both students and staff.

    The campus was spread out over multiple blocks with wide streets and walkways connecting the buildings. Michael could also see quite a bit of greenery. The walkways were lined with trees, bushes, and benches, providing ample opportunities for students to sit and rx in between courses during breaks.

    There was even a huge park that seemed to be frequently visited to practice nature-rted Soultraits, go for a run in the nature, or to do parkour using natural obstacles to prepare for the worst-case in the Origin Expanse.

    Michael wanted to train his reflexes and nimbleness using natural parkours as well. However, he was too busy finding the Physical Testing Zentrum on the map.

    Once he found it five minutester, he had to run. Block B was quite far away from his current position.

    Michael had to run a few kilometers in the next few minutes. That was still feasible, and it gave him enough time to study Saphirke Military Academy''s map thoroughly.

    He figured out where he had to go once he finished his work in the Physical Testing Zentrum, and where all other facilities were located.

    The libraries,boratories, ssrooms, shops, and administrative buildings for faculty and staff were neatly organized. It was not difficult to remember where everything was located since it made sense.

    Overall, Michael felt that the Military Academy''s campus was more like a university campus, a bustling and vibrant environment where students could learn, socialize, rx, and build their futures without worries.

    It wasn''t the cruel and merciless training camp Michael expected to encounter.

    ''At least thepetition for the Real Combat assessment will be fierce!'' Michael thought as he entered the Physical Testing Zentrum where his physical assessment was held.

    Many students were already being tested. They demonstrated their speed, spontaneity, physical strength, stamina, and so on.

    When it was time for his appointment someone called out his name. Michael walked over and started his physical assessment.

    Michael''s War Rune''s refinement degree didn''t improve a lot, but his breathing had changed fundamentally, decreasing his stamina consumption, and the time he required to replenish stamina. However, that was not all. He finished the first stage of the Berserker Physique, which increased his physical standard by a notch.

    As long as he continued practicing the second stage of the Berserker Physique, he would be able topete against Lower Tier-2 beings in terms of physical strength while not even being a Tier-2 Lord. That was possible, and something many wanted to attain; a powerful physique that had long surpassed the threshold of the ordinary.

    After his physical test concluded with a test of his reflexes, Michael rushed over to his next appointment. His memorization ability was tested next.

    Third, he had to sit for a knowledge test. By the time Michael''s fourth appointment was held, he had already visited four different blocks.

    It felt like his schedule had been prepared to force him to run through all the corners of the Saphirke Military Academy. At first, he was a little annoyed about that. However, Michael quickly realized that the authorities wanted the freshman to acquaint themselves with therge, sprawling campus of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    The freshmen ought to understand that the Saphirke Military Academy had every possible facility to unravel the hidden potential within everyone.

    Archery ranges, boxing rings, parks, gravity rooms, ranches, breeding facilities, taming grounds, forging rooms, alchemy houses, entire faculties focusing on enchanting, Artifacts, and much more. The Military Academy had everything.

    Not everything could be used free of charge because certain facilities required a tremendous amount of resources to be used and maintained, but that was only obvious.

    When Michael reached his final appointment before the Real Combat assessment would start, he met up with Harry Baren.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The Soul Power testing device was fastened to his body through belts, and Michael activated both Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement.

    "Lesser Enhancement''s Soul Power increased by 6 units and reached 75. Meanwhile, your 3-Star Soultrait Eagle Eyes improved from 169 to 205 Soul Power Units. I''m not going to lie to you, Michael¡­both increases are quite crazy for a young Lord. Either most of your subjects love you, or you were pretty fast at expanding your territory''s poption!" Harry Baren exined with a tinge of excitement in his voice.

    Some of the staff members and students looked weirdly at Harry Baren, but neither Harry nor Michael paid them any attention. The two of them had spent a month talking about Soultraits, Soul Power, and various theories that squirmed through their heads. They had gotten a lot closer, and their rtionship wasn''t that of a normal researcher and student anymore. Harry Baren thought of Michael as a fellow lover of research and seeker of the truth.

    He respected Michael and the few well-thought theories he had shared about Soul Power.

    Michael never really did anything special, in his opinion. Until now, Michael merely blurted out what he thought when he spoke with Harry.

    "I think it''s a little bit of both. But is the increase of my Soul Power really that surprising? I mean 6 units for a 2-Star Soultrait and 36 for a 3-Star Soultrait doesn''t seem out of the world," Michael responded calmly to Harry.

    He learned that Soultraits with a lower star rating received a lower enhancement from a subject''s Link of Loyalty, no matter how firm the Link of Loyalty was.

    Basically, the Tier advancement of the War Rune provided a standard amount of Soul Power to all Soultraits, meanwhile, the Links of Loyalty increased the Soul Power by 0.0001%, or even less ording to Harry Baren''s studies. He reached this conclusion after conducting research on 10,000 participants who had Soultraits ranging from 1-Star to 3-Star. It showed that 3-Star Soultraits received the highest amplification of Soul Power from a single neutral Link of Loyalty.

    Thus, Michael thought that it was only obvious that Eagle Eyes had a higher increase in Soul Power than Lesser Enhancement.

    "It''s not that simple, Michael," Harry shook his head.

    "You have to consider that the number of Links of Loyalty increases as you expand your territory. But there is also another important factor that has to be taken into consideration; patibility''. This is something I''m currently researching, so please take my answers with a grain of salt. My theories might be proven correct in the future, but please listen to me, and consider my theory!" Harry said before he looked at Michael with expectations.

    Michael gestured to Harry, who smiled brightly before he continued to speak.

    "The theory is pretty simple. ''Compatibility'' can be divided into two sections. First, a Soultrait''spatibility with the wielder can influence the increase of Soul Power. This kind of patibility'' is inherited, but it can be improved byprehending the Soultrait and mastering it," Harry exined the first point. He waited a moment to watch Michael''s reaction before he continued with the second point,

    "The second theory is that you have many Archers, or subjects who''ve trained their eyes for a long period. Your subjects are morepatible with the Eagle Eyes Soultrait!"

    The staff members eyed Harry with doubt, but they noticed that Michael''s reaction was different to the other students, who were still waiting for their Soul Power test.

    Michael thought seriously about Harry''s theory and frowned deeply.

    "So you think that I''m morepatible with Eagle Eyes than Lesser Enhancement, or that my subjects are more trained in using their eyes, which increases theirpatibility to the Eagle Eyes Soultrait ¨C resulting in the increase of 36 Soul Power Units within a month?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

    Now that he thought of it, he realized that it was not impossible. Harry''s theory could be right.

    However, to figure out more, Harry would have to create aplex form and undertake constant testing of every Lord, who was willing to spend lots of time and effort to prove Harry''s theories right.

    "That''s exactly what I thought!" Harry eximed excitedly, only for his smile to crumple a momentter, "Unfortunately, it''s way too hard to prove these theories correct. The government won''t give me enough funds to enter the next stage and deepen my understanding of the two theories.

    Forget about starting the experiment with thousands of Lords, the funds I''ve been given won''t even be enough to pay a satisfying fee to 10 Lords¡­"

    Usually the reports of thousands of participants were needed to prove a theory right. Of course, it was possible to prove a point with far less, but the government became a lot stricter over the years.

    Michael didn''t know the exact reason, but it didn''t really matter. It was a fact that Harry wouldn''t be able to prove his point until he found a few more pieces of evidence that hinted toward the necessity to fund his theories.

    However, Michael doubted that this would happen for quite a while. Nobody was keen enough to spend tens of billions on such an experiment. It was more important to fund other things, such as the growth of the newest generation of Lords.

    Of course, Harry''s research could help a lot. If proven right, his theories could turn into a practice on how to increase a Soultrait''s Soul Power using specific training methods for all subjects ¨C to increase theirpatibility with their Lord''s Soultrait.

    However, it was too expensive to prove the point.

    And, as a matter of fact, Lords with a high-star Soultrait usually had more benefits, in the first ce. Their Soul Power increased rapidly to begin with. Hence, they did not require Harry''s theory because it would mostly help those with weaker Soultraits.

    Thus, even Michael didn''t really feel that it was worth it to fund Harry''s experiment. He could use his SoulStar Fragments to increase his Soultraits'' Soul Power and their star rating.

    "Well¡­I''m sorry to hear that¡­" Michael said a little awkwardly. He cleared his throat and took a look at the time.

    "Unfortunately, I have to go now. The Real Combat assessment is waiting for me!"

    Afterward, Michael disappeared quickly, leaving behind a few stupefied staff members, and Harry Baren, whose expression turnedplicated.

    "...but the Real Combat assessment won''t start before afternoon¡­"

    **

    [A/N: Please help me out a little. How do you like longer chapters? Are longer chapters more pleasant to read, or do you prefer shorter chapters? I am currently trying out longer chapters because I feel morefortable, but I am not sure whether it provides a better reading experience or not.

    Pleasement about your opinion (with reason please :D). Thanks a bunch!

 Chapter 178 Jump

    Michael waited patiently in Combat Arena Nr.6 until the Real Combat assessment began.

    His initial n had been to enter the Top 500 in the freshman ranking because it would give him great daily rewards, but he realized quickly enough that it wouldn''t be easy.

    The freshmen were split into 10 Combat arenas where they would fight on the first day. Tomorrow, the strongest students would meet up in the first Combat Arena and then the initial ranking would be out based on their performances.

    However, Michael immediately perceived that every single freshman in Combat Arena Nr.6 was powerful. The pressure they exuded naturally was anything but ordinary.

    Each and every one of the students was confident and well-trained. Comparing them to his former ssmates in high school was an insult to his fellow freshmen. None of them seemed weak. It caused his heart to skip a beat.

    The corner of his lip tilted upward

    ''So that''s what people mean when they talk about ordinary Lords being frogs in a well. These Lords haven''t even seen a glimpse of the ocean and feel like they''re at the top of the world.'' Michael thought.

    This time, the Real Combat assessment would be far more dangerous than before.

    All freshmen from the Saphirke Military Academy wouldpete against each other, not only the best 1500 who made it through the assessment in Elyra.

    The lessons and courses during the month they traveled to Kelta demonstrated the Military Academy''s attitude and resources. The lessons they could obtain from the Professors and Instructors here was exceptional. It was even greater than the teachings most freshmen had obtained after their families spent a fortune.

    Thepetitive spirit was extremely high and the rewards of being in the rankings were too great which was why everyone wanted to enter the Top 500.

    The Summoner Core was especially valuable.

    However, Michael felt that thepetition between the families was even more terrifying.

    Michael noticed that many students red at each other and that some began to throw shade at the others'' families. Some of their insults were over the top, purposely taking a jibe at their family name and dragging it through the mud.

    But then again, the other sides reciprocated the insults with equal fervor and took it to the next level.

    Michael thought that some of these people would pounce at each other, but they held back. They knew that the referees would interfere and that they would fight each other sooner orter either way.

    Michael heard a few ''I have to win to keep our family''s image!'', ''I will win and honor my family!'', and ''Let me show you all how great I am! My power will show everyone that my family provided me with the best resources!''

    Michael didn''t really feel like listening to dumbass idiots, but he had to acknowledge that their arrogance and self-confidence was quite funny.

    Michael was d that he wasn''t that arrogant yet.

    He was quite excited for his first fight. Seeing the numerous medics and Adventurers with high-ranked healing Soultraits, who were ready to jump into action at any moment, Michael figured that there was no reason to hold back.

    But that was when a small problem came to his mind.

    ''I used Spirit Whip quite often in the past. If my opponent is too strong, I''ll probably use it subconsciously.''

    Michael thought about the possibility for a while. At first, he wanted to keep Spirit Whip a secret by all means. However, he realized that it was not that important. Even if he exposed his third Soultrait, others wouldn''t be able to do anything.

    They might envy him for possessing three Combat-rted Soultraits, but that was it.

    Nheless, Spirit Whip was his trump card, and he was going to use it well.

    It was early afternoon when thest students arrived.

    Not muchter, the referees called up the firstbatants. Each Combat Arena had tenbat rings that were upied by more than a thousand freshmen.

    It didn''t take long before Michael was called up as well.

    His first fight in the Saphirke Military Academy was about to start!

    Michael entered thebat ring in which a lean young man was already waiting for him. He had ocean-blue eyes and long golden hair. Even his skin shimmered in a golden hue.

    Michael retrieved the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and the Siltang Bow. Simultaneously, he observed his opponent.

    The young man retrieved an armor set, a golden helmet, and a set of silver daggers. He entered abat stance that allowed him to burst forth with great speed once the battle began.

    ''Mid-stage Tier-1, and stronger pressure as a Lord than Frederik¡­alright.''

    Michael didn''t know who his opponent was but he could quickly analyze him.

    He changed into a defensive stance and grasped the frame of his bow artifact tightly.

    The battle started a momentter when the referee gave the signal.

    The young man, called Jeffrey Libern, kicked his feet off the ground and shot forward.

    His body glowed golden and he disappeared the next moment.

    Michael was already using Eagle Eyes. Lesser Enhancement was utilized, enhancing his Eagle Eyes, his Artifacts'' strength, and amplification.

    The moment Lesser Enhancement came into effect, Michael saw a distortion in space where Jeffrey Libern disappeared.

    The small golden streaks were inconspicuous, but Michael noticed them atst.

    He instinctively condensed an energy arrow while drawing the bowstring back.

    A momentter, Jeffrey appeared several meters ahead of his previous position.

    ''Teleportation?'' Michael wondered in slight surprise.

    He regained hisposure and released the energy arrow after adjusting his aim a tad. The arrow whizzed through the air but Jeffrey disappeared once again.

    The arrow didn''t hit anything and plunged into the ground.

    Meanwhile, Michael retreated to the border of thebat circle.

    He didn''t know howrge Jeffrey''s range was, so he had to make sure that his back was safe so as to not fall prey to unexpected attacks.

    But Michael quickly realized that it was not necessary.

    Jeffrey reappeared a few meters in front of him again.

    ''The distance he can cross with every jump is short, a few meters at most, and there is a slight dy!''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Michael continued analyzing Jeffrey. Simultaneously, he released a third energy arrow.

    This time, however, Jeffrey didn''t use his Soultrait. Instead, he elerated further and crossed thest few meters separating him from Michael.

    The third arrow wasn''t lethal. Jeffrey evaded the arrow easily. However, the fourth arrow was far more terrifying.

    Michael reduced the distance to Jeffrey and released the fourth arrow from a close distance.

    Even if Jeffrey was physically stronger and faster, his expression changed at once upon seeing the energy arrow approaching him like a bullet.

    The enchantments on the silver daggers lit up and they began to vibrate rapidly as Jeffrey shed out.

    The energy arrow collided with the vibrating de. Jeffrey''s expression changed drastically at the moment of impact. It was easy to tell that Jeffrey didn''t expect the force of the energy arrows to be that high.

    He saw that Michael drew his bowstring back for the fifth time and cursed in his mind.

    The next moment he looked towards his left and disappeared.

    Michael observed thebat ring intently. He predicted where Jeffrey would appear and released the fifth arrow. It shot through the air when Jeffrey reappeared. However, the arrow didn''t hit the young man.

    Michael clicked his tongue in disappointment before he continued with the fight.

    Jeffrey looked at Michael, gritting his teeth before he exhaled.

    His golden shimmering skin turned brighter and the origin energy inside him began to churn.

    The next moment Jeffrey disappeared again.

    Yet, instead of taking his time to reappear a few meters ahead, his teleportation was instantaneous this time.

    He jumped three times in a row and appeared next to Michael.

    Michael''s Eagle Eyes moved rapidly through the arena. Theynded on Jeffrey whenever he reappeared, and a sense of understanding dawned upon him.

    However, before he could make use of his understanding, Michael had to escape this tricky situation.

    He twisted the Siltang Bow, manifesting an energy arrow, and released it with a half-drawn bow. The energy-condensed arrow was not as strong as usual, but it was strong enough to put Jeffrey in a predicament.

    The arrow was about to hit Jeffrey in the head when he blocked it with his silver des.

    Jeffrey was about to sh down after blocking the silver des, but Michael was already in front of him.

    The Siltang Bow was nowhere to be seen.

    Michael clenched his fists and delivered a heavy sucker punch with his left hand before he jabbed with his right.

    His attacks were quick and precisely aimed at Jeffrey''s vitals. The young man struggled a moment before he sliced at Michael with his silver daggers. Michael dived to the side, manifested Seron Voulge, and shed behind him in a horizontal motion.

    "Fuck!" Jeffrey cursed while lifting his daggers instinctively.

    A momentter, he felt that Michael''s strength had increased once again. A white hue engulfed Seron Voulge.

    Unsure about the true extent of Michael''s Soultraits, Jeffrey disappeared. Space distorted and he appeared a few meters behind Michael.

    Michael turned around as quickly as he could but Jeffrey vanished once again.

    ''What a slippery dude. I cannot get hold of him!''

    Michael was forced to watch Jeffrey with great vignce, and it was beginning to annoy him a little. A single wrong move and his first fight would result in a humiliating loss.

    He evaded Jeffrey''s attacks a few times and escaped defeat several times by a hair''s breadth.

    His opponent was nimble and able to utilize his Soultrait more often than Michael had first assumed.

    Nheless, Michael was able to say a few things.

    "With his current mastery, he shouldn''t be able to¡­" Michael thought, condensing an energy arrow before shooting it in an empty area exactly five meters ahead of the position Jeffrey disappeared from.

    Jeffrey thought that he had been targeted, but he didn''t expect Michael to have fully analyzed his Soultrait in such a short period. It hadn''t been that long since the battle started!

    The energy arrow pierced into his shoulder the moment Jeffrey reappeared.

    He screamed out in shock and instinctively used his Soultrait two more times to escape Michael''s control.

    Unfortunately, that was exactly what Michael predicted beforehand. An arrow impacted where Jeffrey reappeared.

    After the second arrow impacted his thigh, Jeffrey suffered a great shock. He tried to stay on his feet, but the shock prevented him from continuing to use his Soultrait.

    Without his Soultrait Jeffrey''s strongest advantage had now disappeared.

    Another arrow pierced his other thigh, forcing the young man to the ground where he screamed loudly.

    He didn''t have much energy left, but he wasn''t willing to go down like this either.

    However, Michael didn''t show any mercy. He released two more arrows that pierced his legs.

    "Teleportation of exactly five meters, and only in the direction you look. Without the activation of your body refinement technique''s unique effect, you wouldn''t have been able to negate the dy of your teleportation either," Michael said quietly to himself and Jeffrey, who had stopped screaming by now.

    He stared at Michael in hatred, but there was nothing Michael could do about that. He didn''t really mind, either way.

    In fact, Michael would have continued to shoot at Jeffrey but the referee had already lifted his hand to signal the end of the battle.

    "Your Soultrait seems to be very strong, but it''s probably extremely hard to control. You''re very strong!" Michael acknowledged while making a mental note about Jeffrey. He wouldn''t underestimate Jeffrey the next time they met. That was for sure.

    Jeffrey''s teleportation Soultrait would turn more terrifying once his range of teleportation expanded, and once his mastery increased, allowing him to use his teleportation more flexibly.

    However, by then, Michael would be much stronger as well.

 Chapter 179 Miracle

    He left thebat ring, leaving the medics enough space to tend to Jeffrey''s wounds. On the other hand, Michael was unscathed.

    His energy consumption had been quite high, and he had been under tremendous stress, but he was physically uninjured.

    Michael consumed an energy pill to replenish his used-up origin energy before he sat down on a bench to rest.

    ''It was not perfect, but I did a decent job, that''s for sure.''

    He was d that he didn''t rush to improve his War Rune in thest few weeks.

    His opponent''s War Rune had a higher degree of refinement but he didn''t win.

    Why was that the case?

    There were multiple reasons, but the most important was that Michael had focused on other things in the past few weeks.

    He diligently umtedbat experience, fixed some ws, finished his Berserker Physique''s first stage, and focused on his Soultraits'' control and utility.

    That being said, his improvements had already been pretty fast. It was just that his War Rune didn''t undergo any significant change.

    Thest 30 days had been used to focus on his foundation and strengthen the foundations of several things in his territory.

    Even if Michael wanted to, he couldn''t rush the process.

    With a Soultrait such as Extraction, he had to focus on the foundation, otherwise, he would end up bing a useless fool with countless Soultraits but who was unable to use multiple Soultraits at a time. Simultaneously, he would have a huge paper army rather than a mighty, invincible army if he ended up rushing the progress.

    Either way, Michael was excited. Observing the fights in thebat rings while resting showed quite clearly that his first impression hadn''t been wrong- there were many powerful students among the freshmen.

    Even those with seemingly weaker Soultraits were powerful simply by knowing how to use their powers properly.

    The techniques they used were impable and a sight to behold.

    He watched the fights with great interest and learned a lot about the extent to which certain Soultraits could be used.

    First, he watched a young woman summoning a Demon. The Demon was at the same stage as the young woman. They fought together against their opponent who summoned a Bone Armor to cover his entire body.

    The Bone Armor had tiny gaps at the joints to ensure high flexibility, but the young woman and the demon weren''t able to inflict injuries through them. Whenever the Demon and the young woman were about to injure the young man, he covered his joints in a secondyer of another Bone Armor.

    The Bone Armor of the young man moved around his body like a tightly knit cloak, seemingly alive, protecting him from most wounds.

    That worked fine until the Demon had enough. It let out a shrill cry and ripped out one of its arms.

    ck blood oozed out of the arm stump, but it began to heal rapidly. The Demon''s extraordinary regeneration was fully unleashed.

    The ripped-out arm in the Demon''s hand turned into ck fumes, which both Demon and the female Summoner could control.

    The ck fumes shrouded the young man''s head, where it tightened andpressed, cutting off the young man''s ess to oxygen.

    He was forced to inhale the ck fumes whenever he wanted to breathe.

    Slowly, the young man''s movements grew heavier. He began to twitch and writhed in pain after five minutes and copsed on the ground not long after.

    The female Summoner won, but neither she nor her Demon Summon were unscathed. The young man had manifest bone spikes all over his armor and shot them out like a porcupine.

    The young man didn''t go down without giving his all. He fought with all his might and caused both the Demon and the female Summoner to bleed a lot.

    After their battle was over, Michael''s attention moved over to Annabelle. She was fighting against a freshman, whose entire body was covered in thick metal armor. The freshman wielded a broadsword like it was a thin stick, blocking most of Annabelle''s arrows while inching closer to finish her off in closebat.

    Annabelle didn''t allow the approaching metal colossus to distract her. She remained level-headed and released one arrow after another. Annabelle analyzed the movement patterns of the metal colossus until he was at a distance of eight meters from her. By then, she changed her tactic suddenly.

    She activated her Soultrait, and her presence changed at once. In the next five seconds, Annabelle released seven arrows in session. At first, Michael thought that she sacrificed her uracy to release seven arrows in such a short time span, but he couldn''t be more wrong.

    Annabelle''s arrows were terrifically precise. The arrows pierced through the metal armor''s joints where the defense was the weakest, taking the audience and her opponent by surprise.

    Weakened, and slowed down, the freshman in heavy metal armor was fated to lose. Yet, Annabelle didn''t show him any mercy. She continued to bombard her opponent with precisely aimed arrows until the referee announced her as the winner of the battle.

    Some found Annabelle to be over the top and that she should have shown mercy, but Annabelle couldn''t care less about those no-names. If they weren''t willing to fight until the very end, they should have chosen to attend a different academy.

    In the next battle held in the samebat ring, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.

    A young man transformed the moment the referee started the battle with a signal. Crimson scales covered his body, a long lizard tail extended out of his tailbone, andrge dragon wings grew out of his shoulder des.

    A single p was enough to create strong gusts.

    The ground beneath the young man began to melt as the temperature in his vicinity increased rapidly.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The young man''s presence changed. It was altered by the tinge of Dragon Might that swept through his entire being.

    Once his transformation waspleted, the young man was overwhelmed by the emotions sweeping through him. He issued a terrifying roar that affected the audience and somebatants in the otherbat rings.

    While the young man''s transformation to a Dragonoid was striking and majestic, the young woman opposing him wasn''t impressed.

    She retrieved a pitch-ck dagger and a few dark vials of blood from her War Rune.

    The woman cut herself deeply with the dagger before she threw the vials into the air. A single slice was all it took to cut the vials open.

    The ss vial shattered and the ss fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the ck viscous liquid inside the vials was now levitating in the air.

    The young woman''s eyes glowed bloody red. The blood gushing out of her body shot toward the ck liquid, defying gravity. It fused with the ck liquid and was pulled back inside her body.

    Not a single droplet of blood was left behind as the young woman retrieved it inside her body. She could control blood using her Soultrait and used it to merge with the ck liquid.

    In response to taking in a strange liquid, the woman''s veins turned crimson. The glow in her eyes intensified, adding an eerie and deadly aura to her appearance.

    But her body''s transformation and eptance of the foreign substance was not yet over. ws grew from her hands and her tanned skin turned into a mix of ck and bloody red.

    She wed herself a few times, inflicting tiny w marks that were deep enough to pull blood out of it.

    The ck dagger disappeared in the woman''s War Rune, but looking at the huge ck ws she had, nobody thought that she required a dagger to fight.

    She condensed tens of blood needles by pulling blood out of her body. The blood needles were darkish-red in color and rotated rapidly.

    Then, once fully condensed, the blood needles burst forward.

    The young man, who had transformed into a Dragonoid couldn''t evade all of the attacks. However, he didn''t deem that necessary, in the first ce.

    He coated his wings in origin energy before folding them in front of him, creating a shield.

    Most blood needles were blocked sessfully. Yet, the moment the first blood needle pierced through theyer of origin energy and the young man''s dragon wings, everything changed.

    Michael was not sure what happened, but less than half a minute after the first blood needles entered the young man''s body, he burst apart.

    The young man wasn''t even able to do something before his body burst into countless pieces.

    He died, just like that.

    Or so it looked at first.

    Two Medic teams rushed to thebat ring the moment the young man burst into countless pieces. Two Adventurers unleashed white and silver lights from their bodies. The pieces of flesh and organs of the young man stopped in their tracks, hovering in the air.

    The next moment more than ten high-ranked healing traits were utilized on the young man.

    Michael was not sure what kind of miracle he was watching, but in less than two minutes, the young man opened his eyes once again ¨C his body fully intact.

    The young man had been healed and pulled back from hell after the Grim Reaper reaped the young man''s Soul.

    ''Is that the power of high-ranked Soultraits? Being able to pull someone back from death?!''

    Michael figured that this kind of Soultrait could only be used when the deceased died not long ago. Maybe, a few seconds was the limit.

    Nheless, the ability to resurrect someone from death was already terrifying enough to throw Michael and most of the audience into a state of shock and awe.

    They couldn''t believe what they were witnessing just now. Despite originating from big families, none of the descendants had seen something on the same level as resurrecting the dead.

    Michael stared nkly at the young man, who had just been resurrected. The young man''s body trembled in shock, but his eyes were clear. It was obvious that he hadn''t realized what had just happened.

    "Damn. Isn''t that woman too fierce?!" Someone near Michael asked.

    Michael turned around to see who had already regained hisposure to burst out loud.

    However, what he saw surprised him quite a bit. Three young men, looking exactly the same, stood next to two young men, who stared at the battlefield without a tinge of surprise.

    Neither the young woman''s fierceness nor the miraculous resurrection of the young man seemed to have fazed them.

    They were looking ahead impassively as if they had seen worse things in life.

    ''Who are these guys?'' He wondered.

    "I could defeat this woman in a single strike. This is nothing special," One of the two nonchnt guys said without a change in expression, "You guys have a lot to learn to realize that this is nothing in the world we''re stepping into by entering the extraterrestrial!

 Chapter 180 High Nobles

    The guy lecturing the triplets was almost two meters tall. He was muscr and had short brown hair. His eyes were also brown and of a color simr to his tanned skin.

    His appearance was above average, but he wasn''t exceptionally handsome. Nheless, the reason many people paid more attention to him was his confident demeanor and clothing.

    He wore expensive clothes, which had a unique insignia engraved on them. The insignia depicted arge stone fist that smashed on the ground, breaking it apart.

    Michael''s attention was drawn to the insignia as it was weaved with a trace of origin energy.

    ''These two seem to hail from bigger families,'' Michael thought as his attention moved to the other guy, who nodded when the tall brown-haired student said that he could finish the blood-controlling student with a single strike.

    The second guy was not as tall as the brown-haired student, but he was no less intimidating. His build was athletic, but he was more on the leaner side. However, he had heterochromatic eyes that caused Michael to feel the chills. One of his eyes was green while the other was ck like the abyss. Even the white of his eyes was much darker than it should have been. It looked quite terrifying.

    The student with heterochromatic eyes wore expensive clothes, and he had an insignia engraved on them as well. The insignia was different though, showing a ck eye shrouded in golden sparks.

    "Even if we can defeat her, she is giving her best to be picked for the Battle Exchange just like everyone else. If you think that the Battle Exchange with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs is not worth going all-out to soak your hands in the blood of your opponents, you guys have to learn a lot more about this world," The student with heterochromatic eyes said to the triplets.

    Everyone had been taught in school that killing your opponents in the Origin Expanse was essential. It was a necessity to ensure that your enemy couldn''t recuperate and prepare thoroughly to attack you when you least expected it.

    Being merciful would lead to your doom. That''s what everyone had been taught in the past.

    Nheless, it was never easy to make your first kill. Michael struggled a lot at first as well. His first blood was the worst because he had killed a human, but the next few times weren''t necessarily better. He felt bad about killing for a long time until he noticed that he would end up dead the moment he hesitated to deliver the killing blow.

    ''They''ve been taught differently from the fundamentals,'' Michael thought while observing the two young men. He had already seen their fights before and clearly recalled that they didn''t have to do much to defeat their opponents.

    Their fights had been quite simple; overwhelming victories that didn''t require much effort. That was how their fights looked on the outside.

    Michael figured that they had powerful Soultraits, and both their War Runes and their presences were extremely powerful.

    Compared to most of the other freshmen, they felt like polished gemstones, whose hidden potential had already been unraveled, while everyone else was still a rough gemstone covered in dirt and impurities.

    The triplets'' eyes glowed brightly as they continued to talk to the two freshmen. Michael was also interested in their discussion, so he got up from his bench and took a step closer to them.

    He cleared his throat and did something he wouldn''t usually do; he tried to be an extrovert and socialize.

    "Sorry for butting into your conversation, but I unintentionally eavesdropped on some of it," Michael started slowly, trying to find the right words only to realize that he failed miserably, "You sounded very confident when you said that you can defeat the female student, who can control blood, that too, with just one strike."

    Michael tried to keep smiling even after he saw that the two students did not like his interjection.

    "Are you guys confident to make it into the Top 100 of the freshmen?"

    There was no malice in his voice and no hidden intentions. The two students thought Michael wanted to provoke and ridicule them for their statement, but that was not the case.

    On the contrary, Michael was merely curious if those two students would make it into the Top 100. ording to their response, Michael would get to know whether he would make it into the Top 100, or if he would struggle to make it into the Top 500.

    "We should be able to. Why are you asking?" The student with heterochromatic eyes asked, still doubtful of the stranger joining their conversation.

    "I just wanted to know how strong the Top 100 will be to see if I have a chance or not," Michael responded with a light shrug.

    "That''s all?"

    Michael nodded.

    The brown-haired student saw the determination in Michael''s eyes, and he couldn''t help but smile lightly.

    "To be truthful, I think our parents will travel to Kelta and beat the shit out of us if we''re not even going to make it in the Top 100 of the first year. They would probably take away all their investments," He said half-jokingly.

    Michael figured that the tall, brown-haired student was a little bit more rxed. He didn''t seem to doubt Michael anymore or mind answering him.

    Understanding that Michael wanted topare his strength with theirs to see if he had a chance to enter the Top 100, the tall student didn''t feel like shooing Michael away.

    "Are the two of you from big families then?" Michael blurted out without thinking. He was not too sure where he had seen the insignia engraved on the two students'' clothes, but they seemed familiar.

    The triplets and the two powerful students looked at Michael feeling dumbfounded. It was rare to find an ignorant fool, especially in a ce like the Saphirke Military Academy. However, it looked like they had struck the jackpot.

    They were a little curious about the neer. Not many were daring enough to jump into the conversation of other people, especially not if two people in the conversation had a presence like the two powerful students. Both of them were already Tier-2 Lords, and Michael could feel heavy pressure radiating from them that reminded him of Fenrir.

    At first, Michael thought that it was killing intent, but he was quickly proven wrong when he recalled what Harry taught him before.

    ''Is that what Harry considered Soul Power overflow?''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    When young Lords awakened strong Soultraits, often they could not properly control their Soultraits and the Soul Power they naturally exuded.

    What did that mean? The two students had extremely powerful Soultraits which they cannot even control after advancing to Tier-2!

    "I''m Lincoln Piedra, from the Piedra family. I''m the descendant of one of the High Nobles," The tall, brown-haired student introduced himself.

    He gestured to his friend, who exhaled deeply.

    "Zeke Lavita. Also, a descendant of one of the High Nobles," the student with heterochromatic eyes, introduced himself shortly. He saw that Michael''s lips parted to ask another question, so he quickly intervened, "Lincoln and I are childhood friends, we''re hopeful of making it to the top ten¡­and yes, our Soultraits are 6-Stars. Our families have been close to each other for thest 500 years. No more questions about our families!"

    Michael didn''t expect to encounter the descendants of two High Nobles so soon, but it was quite interesting. Zeke Lavita merely revealed information about them that could be procured with some research, but Michael was still thankful that he shared it ¨C though it seemed a little bit forced.

    But what surprised Michael the most was that both Lincoln and Zeke had 6-Star Soultraits. Danny was already extremely powerful with his 5-Star Soultrait, so he could not even imagine how powerful the two students in front of him would be.

    The publicly known statistics said that 50% of all Awakened will be Starless at first. They would awaken their Soultraitter after umting more Soul Power. Most of them would awaken after advancing to Tier-1, but their Soultraits would mostly be 1-Star or 2-Star, at most. The rest of all Awakened had a 30% chance to awaken a 1-Star Soultrait, a 15% chance to awaken a 2-Star Soultrait, and a 4% chance to awaken a 3-Star Soultrait.

    The remaining 1% made up the probability of awakening a 4-Star and above Soultrait.

    Michael nodded his head at that answer. He could tell how rare and powerful high-star Soultraits were. Nheless, he was not shocked to the core. His Soultrait was much stronger than a 6-Star Soultrait. Extraction might only be a 4-Star Soultrait for the time being, but he could use it to procure more Soultraits and improve his existing Soultraits as long as he was given enough time.

    Curious about the triplets, he turned to them. Michael expected them to possess high-ranked Soultraits as well.

    "We don''t have 6-Star Soultraits, but we''re the descendants of a Minor Noble," One of the triplets hastily blurted to avoid any misunderstandings, while the second added, "And as you can see we''re triplets."

    The third snapped his fingers and revealed a mischievous smile before he continued what his brothers left out, "We belong to the Barscht family, and are called Janus, James, and Jarg."

    While watching the triplets, Michael felt a little weird. Somehow, he thought that he was watching three monkeys that were trying to act like humans ¨C only to fail miserably.

    The triplets had brown eyes and hair. They were rather short with an average height close to 1.6 meters, and their arms were out of proportion. Their hands were a little too big and their arms were too longpared to the rest of the body.

    ''If they let their hair grow and attach a tail to their tailbone, they can be considered monkeys¡­ Wait! What am I even thinking about?!?'' Michael shook his head and returned his attention to Lincoln, Zeke, and the triplets.

    But he noticed that their attention had already moved to a young woman who had just arrived at the entrance of the arena. It was Alice Zenovia.

    "What is Alice doing here?" Michael mumbled quietly to himself, but the others heard him as well.

    Zeke lifted an eyebrow and asked "''Alice''? I know that you''re ignorant, but you shouldn''t call Professor Zenovia by her first name ¨C if you want to stay alive that is."

    ''Hmm? Aren''t you exaggerating much?'' Michael asked in his mind, but he didn''t speak his doubts aloud. Yet Lincoln noticed exactly what Michael was thinking based on his expressions. He could only shake his head at that. What kind of reckless fool did they attract today?

    "The Zenovia family is one of the Supreme Families. Furthermore, Professor Zenovia is a prodigy with a rare elementalbat 6-Star Soultrait. Her territory suits her Soultrait perfectly as well, she summoned a Quasi-Legendary Summon from her Fortune Summoning Scroll, and she is likely to be one of the youngest Queens in the Origin Expanse¡­She is already a Tier-5 powerhouse at the tender age of 25, and has a Tier-5 cier Flood Dragon, a mythical creature, guarding her pce. Don''t. Fucking. Provoke. Her!!"

    Michael could instantly tell that neither Zeke nor Lincoln wanted to get on Alice Zenovia''s wrong side, and he could clearly understand why.

    "Is she that powerful? I never knew," He mumbled, which caused even the triplets to shake their heads.

    "You should really study the nobility, ns, and influential families of mankind," Janus remarked.

    "If you don''t do that¡­" James added,

    "You will die miserably!" Jarg finished.

    "Oh¡­well¡­I guess¡­" Michael said, agreeing that they had a point.

    He saw Kaleb walking behind Alice, but Michael could tell that Lincoln, Zeke and the triplets would beat the shit out of him if he were to wave at Kaleb and shout his name loudly.

    Just as Michael thought about doing it, Kaleb turned his head in their direction. He recognized Michael with a single nce and tilted his head.

    He raised an eyebrow and stared at the odd group before he raised his hand lightly, greeting Michael without saying a word.

    Michael smiled and raised his hand to respond with a peace-sign.

    Zeke noticed the exchange between the two and frowned.

    ''What did I just see?''

 Chapter 181 Armament Soultrait

    Michael''s second fight was against one of the triplets; James Barscht.

    James Barscht was still at the Mid-stage of Tier-1, but Michael had seen his War Rune up close and knew that he was on the verge of reaching the Late-stage.

    Michael entered thebat ring quietly, while Jarg and Janus motivated their brother before they pushed him forward.

    Michael manifested the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and the Siltang Bow before he got into position.

    Meanwhile, James manifested a single Artifact- a set of gloves with various gemstones embedded in them.

    The gemstones were connected to the enchantment arrays that covered the entire surface of the ck leather gloves.

    A single nce was enough to tell that the gloves were far from ordinary. They were exceptional Artifacts, and it looked like James could barely endure the pressure from the enhancements the Artifact provided.

    ''Is that an Epic Tier-1 Artifact?'' Michael wondered, but he had no time to investigate anymore.

    The referee initiated the start of the battle and a momentter, a golden headband appeared on James'' head.

    The golden headband was made out of pure gold and had a smooth and polished surface, reflecting the metal''s golden color. It fit perfectly around James'' head and released arge amount of origin energy which entered James'' body through his head.

    "An Armament manifesting Soultrait?" Michael blurted out, slightly surprised.

    Soultraits capable of manifesting armaments were not only extremely rare, but the Armaments'' effect was several times stronger than most Artifacts. The Armaments had a base strength ording to the Soultrait''s star rating, but it would grow further as the amount of Soul Power would increase.

    Michael frowned but he activated both Lesser Enhancement and Eagle Eyes immediately. He released a few energy arrows with rapid fire. His uracy suffered a little, but Michaelpensated that by adjusting his stance to optimize his uracy.

    James responded to his attacks by moving to the side. Simultaneously, he conjured a small fingertip-sized fireball in his right palm. He released the small fireball to destroy the arrows he couldn''t avoid.

    Afterward, he condensed five small icicles in his left palm. James'' left hand moved subtly and the icicles burst toward Michael.

    Michael saw the icicles early enough and dived to the side to evade them. He retrieved the Siltang Bow back from the War Rune while he jumped to the side and manifested it again after he rolled on the ground to smoothly jump up.

    ''Three Soultraits? No, it''s the gloves!'' Michael analyzed while releasing more energy arrows.

    James didn''t move much from his spot even after multiple energy arrows were shot in his direction. He either moved slightly to the side or used his fireballs and icicles to destroy the energy arrows.

    The fireballs and icicles were stronger than the energy arrows. Usually, Michael would be able to drain his opponent by continuing to release more energy arrows. After all, the [Energy Storage] enhancement of the Siltang Bow was drained to condense energy arrows, not Michael.

    However, James had one big advantage; his golden headband seemed to generate arge amount of origin energy.

    ''Creating origin energy out of thin air shouldn''t be possible. So what is the headband using to generate origin energy consistently?''

    Michael knew that there had to be a limit as to how much origin energy the golden headband could generate, but he was not sure how high the limit was. In fact, the golden headband might as well be an origin energy storage device. Michael had too little information toe to a definite conclusion.

    Too many important pieces of information were missing.

    This irked him, but he didn''t have enough time to curse loudly. He was forced to dive to the side again as a bunch of fireballs flew in his direction.

    Following the fireballs, a barrage of icicles shot toward the position hended after his dive. Michael reced the Siltang Bow with Seron Voulge, and exerted Lesser Enhancement on the voulge before he shed out twice.

    He destroyed the three icicles that would have hit him while ignoring the remaining two. They flew past him, missing Michael by a hair''s breadth.

    His eyes were shrouded in a white-gold hue after Michael used Lesser Enhancement on his eyes as well. He predicted the trajectory of the iing projectiles and destroyed the few he couldn''t evade.

    Michael''s strategy changed, and he entered an attack stance. He lowered his upper body, moved Seron Voulge to the side while waiting for James to attack.

    However, James didn''t attack as expected. Instead, he moved around the outer area of thebat ring while manifesting fireballs in his right hand and icicles in his left hand.

    Beads of sweat trickled down his temples as he continued to move, and he reacted only after Michael initiated an attack.

    After waiting for the attack until he couldn''t stay still anymore, Michael burst forward. He channeled energy through his lower body to enhance his burst speed slightly and closed in on James.

    James didn''t release the fireballs and icicles toward him. Instead, he smashed his palms upon the ground. The fireballs and icicles burst apart, and a wide pir of water manifested.

    Due to his high perception, Michael could tell that the water pir required a tremendous amount of origin energy to be manifested and maintained. Yet, James didn''t hesitate to condense the water pir, fully aware of the energy consumption.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Michael grew more vignt. He slowed down and began to retreat when he noticed that the water pir was growing unstable. The next moment, the water pir turned into a tidal wave that crashed down toward Michael.

    He reacted quickly and rushed back, but he could barely react in time as both the tidal wave and a few icicles reached him.

    Gritting his teeth, Michael threw his body to the ground.

    The Icicles would have pierced his neck and vitals, rendering him incapable of continuing the fight. Meanwhile, the tidal wave was not that worrisome. He rammed Seron Voulge in the ground and held the staff with both hands in a deathly grip while the tidal wave crashed down on him.

    Michael could barely see James'' outlines behind the tidal wave as the water threatened to drown him. He could make out that something manifested in James'' hands, and instinctively retrieved Seron Voulge back in his War Rune. Simultaneously, as he was pushed away by the tidal wave, Michael unleashed the protection enchantments of his Onyx Dragon Armor Set.

    A secondyer of protection covered his entire body a momentter. Just as the protection enchantments were fully unleashed and covered him, several icicles and fireballs impacted hard. The fireballs exploded, destroying the protectionyer, while the icicles dug into his armor.

    They missed his vitals because he was being tossed and turned due to the tidal wave that kept pushing him away.

    After the impact, Michael manifested Seron Voulge again. He pierced the de deep into the ground and got up while fighting against the impact of the wave. Keeping his Soultraits activated was an ordeal but it helped him ovee James''bination of attacks.

    Michael felt his feet brush the slight elevation of thebat ring''s border and knew that he had almost lost the fight by stepping out of thebat ring.

    A few strands of his hair that had regrown during thest weeks were wet, just like the rest of his body, but he felt extremely hot and energetic at this moment.

    A feeling of immense greed, and desire swept through his body.

    He was excited to continue the fight.

    He didn''t want to lose either.

    Michael used Lesser Enhancement on his entire body, further enhancing his physical strength and senses. He then pulled Seron Voulge out of the ground while watching James momentarily.

    ''He never attacked. He is not even trying to.''

    Michael burst forward and inched closer to James, who was breathing heavily as he conjured more icicles and fireballs. Droplets of blood trickled down his nose but he didn''t seem to notice that.

    His brown eyes gleamed brightly as he continued to attack Michael with fireballs and icicles. Michael cut through two fireballs white twisting his body ufortably to evade the remaining fireballs. At the same time, his sharp reflexes allowed him to block most icicles. The rest impacted his shoulder, or arm where they barely caused a little difort.

    Michael''sbat prowess wasn''t restricted. His eyes were wide open, taking in every single movement and action of his opponent as he continued to lessen the distance.

    Then, just as Michael was about to reach his opponent, James roared out loudly. The golden headband shone brightly and a tremendous amount of energy streams shot out from the headband straight toward Michael. More blood poured out of James'' nose, and his eyes began to bleed as well, but he continued to fight as if he was totally fine.

    He was about to smash his hands on the ground and manifest a second water pir when he saw something from the corner of his eyes. Seron Voulge whizzed through the air with a terrifyingly high velocity.

    Michael threw the voulge in the air with all his might.

    He forced James to dive to the side, otherwise, he would have been impaled. Even then, James couldn''t evade the lengthy de of the voulge. It cut into his side as he dived to the left.

    The cut was not deep but the injury worsened when James jumped up from the ground. He manifested more icicles and fireballs in his hands and searched for Michael, who had already arrived in front of him.

    Michael threw a straight punch at James'' face, which James could barely perceive. His sight grew hazy from all the blood trickling down his eyes. He released the icicles and fireballs simultaneously, hoping that they would hit Michael.

    However, Michael ducked, and moved to the side with nimble steps all while releasing three jabs in quick session.

    ''''I''m faster,'' Michael thought, but then he realized, ''No, he is just too slow. He cannot move properly with the headband!''

    Atst, Michael realized why James'' movements were sluggish and slow all this while. The golden headband must be several times heavier than James, restricting his movements drastically. Simultaneously, James couldn''t generate energy out of nowhere. His Stamina suffered tremendously, providing thest pieces of information Michael required to conclude his analysis.

    ''Heavy weight but can generate origin energy in exchange for draining the body of its nutrition and power. That''s the power of the golden headband!'' He shouted in his mind before delivering a heavy blow to James'' sr plexus.

    James didn''t want to give in to Michael, and make use of his higher degree of refinement, but his breath was taken by Michael''sst attack.

    His sight turned ck for a moment and he fell to the ground. The golden headband dispersed, and James began to cough up blood.

    Yet, instead of stopping in his tracks, Michael moved his upper body to generate more momentum for the next impact. His right fist was about to smash down on James'' head when the referee signaled the end of the battle.

    "Victory, Michael Fang!"

 Chapter 182 High Nobles Power

    Michael looked in the direction where Seron Voulgended, but he didn''t walk over to pick it up.

    Instead, his attention flicked back to James.

    "You did a good job, take this," Michael offered a healing potion, which he retrieved from his War Rune''s storage space.

    He took off the lid and was about to help James drink the content when Jarg and Janus rushed into thebat ring. They were faster than the medics and arrived next to James.

    "Get away with this trash!" Jarg bellowed, pping Michael''s hand away. The potion fell to the ground and shattered.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but he only shrugged before he retorted, "Sorry for being poor."

    Jarg ignored Michael''s remark and fed his brother a potion with red viscous content that sparkled golden.

    James drank the content greedily and breathed in relief when the warm liquid entered his body.

    He opened his eyes and looked over at Michael apologetically.

    "Sorry for Jarg''s attitude. He is very protective of us," James said weakly, but Michael gave him an understanding look.

    "It''s fine. My brother would probably be worse."

    Michael didn''t think too much about Jarg''s words and actions. It was a fact that his potion was not of high quality. Nheless, he hoped that he would have to fight against Jarg next time. Michael''s hands were itching to beat some sense into Jarg''s head.

    James was disappointed that he lost, but he did not fret a lot about it. It was not the first time he lost, though this time hurt more than usual as this was his first fight in the Academy. The medics healed James'' physical wounds quickly, and they all left thebat ring.

    "You should see us fight with ourbined power as triplets. Though all you''ll be able to see is the dust we leave behind!" James announced.

    Michael responded with a serious nod. He could imagine the triplets were strong when theybined their power.

    "By the way, you''re not too bad, Michael," Lincoln said when everyone returned to them. "Of course, you''re still far from actually being strong!"

    Michael frowned lightly, but he didn''t say anything. He looked at Lincoln, whose gaze flicked to Zeke. Zeke saw the expression on Lincoln''s face and his breath escaped in a drawn-out sigh.

    "Your eyes are okayish," He said quietly before turning his head away.

    ''What strange people. That''s interesting,'' Michael mused to himself while observing the triplets and the two descendants of High Nobles.

    Lincoln and Zeke''s opinions of Michael changed a little after the fight. They were more amiable than before. The two could tell that Michael was nice and kind, but that he was not afraid of fiercely smashing his friends ¨C or the people he wanted to befriend.

    Competition and friendship were two different things. Being friendly in battle would only cause trouble, possibly even lead to death. That was not good, for sure.

    Furthermore, acting friendly with your opponent was disrespectful.

    Nobody would feel great fighting against someone who was clearly holding back in an attempt to injure you as little as possible.

    "Lincoln Piedra versus Anastasia Lilia. Pleasee tobat ring six!" A referee shouted loudly before a second announcement followed a few secondster.

    "Zeke Lavia versus Frederik Kolbenheim. Pleasee tobat ring four!"

    Following the announcement, Lincoln and Zeke entered thebat rings where their opponents were already waiting for them. Anastasia Lilia was the female student, who could control blood with her Soultrait. She had defeated the student with the Dragonoid transformation Soultrait easily.

    Anastasia was also the student whom both Lincoln and Zeke could defeat with one strike ¨C ording to their words.

    "Just watch and observe," Lincoln had said just before he entered thebat ring.

    Michael was curious and executed Eagle Eyes before he added Lesser Enhancement to increase the strength of his eyes further. He didn''t want to miss a single detail in Lincoln''s fight against Anastasia.

    The referee signaled the start of the battle a secondter. Anastasia backed off while retrieving the ominous ck dagger and a few ck vials from her War Rune''s storage space. She reached the border of thebat ring where she cut her arms to initiate her transformation.

    However, it was at this moment that she realized that something was wrong.

    The gravitational force around her seemed to increase drastically. Inertia seemed to double in intensity, forcefully slowing her movements.

    At this moment, Anastasia knew that she had to hasten up, otherwise, she would be defeated before she could even finish her transformation. But it was already toote. A stone fist, the size of Lincoln''s body, had condensed in front of him. Lincoln pressed his t hand lightly against the stone fist, releasing the projectile with terrifying velocity.

    The stone fist crossed a distance of 30 meters in the blink of an eye. Anastasia instinctively responded by conjuring several huge blood spears. She terminated her transformation and used the ck blood within the vials to create reinforced blood spears. Using her high mental power, she willed the blood spears to rotate around their own axis rapidly before they were fired to collide with the stone fist.

    Anastasia was certain that the stone fist wouldn''t be strong enough to maintain its shape against the terrific impact of ten rotating blood spears. It ought to fall apart and crumble to pieces.

    Unfortunately, she watched in shock as her attack failed miserably. The stone fist''s velocity wasn''t slowed at all. The stone fist smashed the blood spears into smithereens instead.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Anastasia''s eyes further widened in horror, and a short scream escaped her lips before the stone fist smacked her hard.

    The next moment, Anastasia''s bloodied body transformed into a deformed cannonball that was flung several meters through the air. Throughout most parts of the arena, the cracking sound of bones resounded. The audience''s attention instinctively moved to Anastasia, whose deformed body mmed onto the hard floor and was now writhing on the ground outside thebat ring.

    "Victory, Lincoln Piedra!"

    The medics rushed over to tend to Anastasia''s wounds. Meanwhile, the audience watched in stunned silence. Most students had been wondering how intense the fight between Lincoln Piedra and Anastasia Lilia would be, only to end up being utterly dumbfounded at the one-sided beating.

    "One strike¡­just like he said," Michael mumbled to himself.

    He didn''t miss a single detail while watching Lincoln''s fight, yet Michael couldn''t understand everything. Lincoln''s Soultrait was obviously rted to the earth, but Michael couldn''t tell the true extent of his Soultrait''s power.

    ''Condensing projectiles out of stone, and being able to increase inertia in a small area. He didn''t even enter closebat, and I''m not sure if I can beat that¡­'' Michael concluded, feeling both excited and dumbfounded.

    Michael wanted to talk to Lincoln and ask a few questions, but he recalled that Frederik had been called up to fight against Zeke. Frederik was only a Low Tier-1 Lord with a 3-Star Soultrait, but his control of the Soultrait was precise. Michael was sure that Frederik would give his all, and that he would be able tost longer against Zeke.

    However, when his attention moved to thebat ring where Frederik and Zeke ought to fight, Michael could only see Frederik staring ahead with an empty gaze. Frederik didn''t move an inch and was frozen like a statue while Zeke strode closer to Frederik calmly.

    Zeke pressed his sword''s cold de against Frederik''s neck before looking at the referee.

    "Do I have to cut his throat, or will you announce the winner?" Zeke asked coldly, causing a bead of sweat to trickle down the referee''s temple.

    "Victory to Zeke Lavita!" The referee announced quickly, ending the battle.

    Zeke retrieved his sword, and Frederik began to move again.

    The life in his eyes returned, and he began to move wildly, manifesting tens of wind des simultaneously.

    "The battle ended with your loss. Please stop utilizing your Soultrait," The referee ordered quietly to which Frederick only threw him a puzzled look.

    The referee understood that Frederik didn''t realize what had happened, but that was only obvious. Once caught by Zeke''s Soultrait, it was hard to escape. Escaping Zeke''s Soultrait while being of a lower Tier made it even more difficult.

    "What the hell are you talking about? We were in an epic battle just now?!" Frederik snapped at the referee, who could only shake his head in disappointment.

    "I''m just saying this to make things easier for you. Touch your neck," The referee said, trying to ease the situation a little.

    Frederik did as told while continuing to re at the referee. Only then did he realize that his neck stung when his t hand rubbed across it. He looked at his hand and saw blood ¨C his blood.

    "What the¡­" Frederik mumbled to himself. He looked down at his body and noticed that he had only one wound on his neck while the rest of him was perfectly unscathed.

    "How can that be? I was clearly cut all over my body just a moment ago¡­We were having an epic battle¡­but how¡­" He asked himself while his voice grew quieter by the second.

    His head whipped in Zeke''s direction to demand answers. However, Zeke Lavita had already left thebat ring.

    "Juste out, honey. You¡­lost¡­" Jacqueline Ondo said as quietly as possible ¨C in hopes that only Frederik could hear her.

    She had witnessed the battle from start to end and could clearly tell that Frederik had been caught in some trance or illusion. Frederik had been deceived the moment the battle started, and he had yet to realize it.

    Frederik red at Jacqueline. He grit his teeth and stormed out of thebat ring. However, instead of rushing toward Jacqueline, he followed behind Zeke.

    "Oi, descendant of the Lavita! What the hell did you do to me?" Frederik bellowed as he walked toward the group of six people.

    Lincoln frowned when he saw Frederik pursuing them, and he was just about to react when he saw that Michael walked past him.

    Michael''s eyes gleamed brightly one moment when he looked at Zeke, who had returned to their small group, and it turned sharp as his attention moved over to Frederik.

    Frederik didn''t even notice that Michael was standing with them. However, his body shook when he heard a familiar voice thundering in his ears.

    "Frederik, shut your mouth and get your act together!" Michael hissed.

    He grasped Frederik by the color and pulled him closer to himself. Michael ¨C his eyes still enhanced by Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement ¨C stared deep into Frederik''s azure eyes. Taken by surprise, Frederik could barely react.

    "Michael? What are you¡­" He could only say before Michael''s head butted down on Frederik''s.

    A loud thwack resounded in the vicinity, and the triplets and Lincoln were startled by the sudden turn of events. Even Zeke couldn''t help but look at Michael in surprise.

    Little did they know that even Michael was slightly astonished about his response to Frederik''s stupid behavior.

 Chapter 183 Private Life

    ''Why did I do that just now?'' He asked himself while looking down at Frederik, who was holding his head and howling in pain.

    "No fighting outside thebat ring!" One of the referees red loudly. He stared daggers at Michael, who returned an innocent expression.

    "I''m just teaching my friend. Mind you¨C..." Michael started to exin but he noticed that he''d gotten too heated. He stopped mid-sentence and apologized to the referee,

    "I''m sorry. I just wanted to ensure that nothing bad would happen. Brawls between friends are rough sometimes."

    The referee lifted an eyebrow at his response. He looked at Frederik, who had visibly calmed down, and nodded his head.

    "Next time, both of you will receive your first warning. Three warnings, and you''ll be disqualified from the Real Combat assessment!"

    "Yes, Sir. Thanks for your generosity!" Michael responded while pulling Frederik up.

    His friend nearly copsed on the ground when they headbutted, but Michael''s grasp around Frederik''s cor was iron-tight. He only let go of him when he saw that Frederik could stand on his own feet.

    "What are you doing here?" Frederik asked after he got back to his senses.

    He noticed that his rambling had attracted too much attention and that Michael prevented the worst. Without Michael, Frederik wouldn''t have stopped until Lincoln, or Zeke would have responded to his nonsense ¨C and they wouldn''t have been as nice as Michael.

    "I was talking to them about your little spar. I observed your fight and saw that Zeke took advantage of your distraction," Michael said calmly. His expression eased upon seeing that Frederik had calmed down visibly.

    "He won the moment the battle started. You guys never fought, in the first ce," Michael added before exining that Frederik had never moved from the spot and that his gaze had been empty all along.

    "You guys know each other?" Lincoln asked, visibly displeased at the sight of Frederik.

    Michael could only smile bitterly seeing this.

    "We''re both from Elyra and we fought quite often," He revealed honestly before he added, "He is just bad at losing fights. His parents spoiled him a little bit too much."

    Frederik''s lips parted and his brows furrowed, clearly indicating that he wanted to say something. However, he quickly shut his mouth when he saw Michael ring at him.

    The white golden hue around his eerily dark eyes turned his re even more terrifying than it ought to be.

    Frederik pressed his lips together and stayed put.

    At that moment, Jacqueline came rushing over.

    "She is also a troublemaker. They''re known as the Barbaric Couple because of their foul attitude," Michael added mercilessly.

    Jacqueline felt like she had been targeted unjustly, but seeing her fianc¨¨''s pitiful appearance, she didn''t say anything. Instead, she embraced Frederik and spoke to him with genuine care.

    "So¡­you''re their nanny, who''s trying to beat sense into them?" James asked half-jokingly, while Janus added, "Or are they your punching bags?"

    Janus giggled and James joined his brother. On the other hand, Jarg''s eyes were fixated on Michael.

    "Punching bags? If you think about it like this, we were each other''s punching bag on our way to Kelta. That includes Kaleb as well," Michael said nonchntly.

    He felt that the tension in the surroundings eased up visibly. Lincoln, who had been ready to beat the shit out of Frederik, regained a neutral stance toward Frederik, while Zeke began to frown hearing what Michael said just now.

    "You''re talking about Kaleb Zenovia, aren''t you?" Zeke asked, recalling the exchange between Kaleb and Michael.

    "Yep, exactly that one," Michael affirmed, "Fortunately, he is not an Awakened yet. I can still beat him up thanks to that."

    Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and added, "But this kid is way too talented. Sometimes, I''m jealous of the tutge he received in his past."

    He felt that he was being too honest with the people around him just now, but he couldn''t help it. Michael was forced to give his utmost to enter a prestigious Elite High School where he was taught some important lessons about the Origin Expanse, and his ssmates had nothing better to do than to pick on him ¨C just because he had no great background.

    "But then again, I learned a lot working my way through bullies, and idiots. And I got to meet the fierce be¨C... Professor Zenovia, so I guess it''s perfectly fine," Michael mumbled, mostly to himself.

    He was not sure why he had suddenly opened up about his life, but it didn''t feel too bad. Until now, Michael''s only person to talk to about personal life had been his brother. However, he hadn''t been able to reach his brother for quite a while. Talking to Frederik and Jacqueline about his personal matters never sounded like a good idea. His opinion of them had improved a little. They were not as tyrannical as before ¨C even if they still had many ws to improve.

    Frederik looked at Michael with the same astonished expression as the others, "I didn''t know that."

    Frederik wasn''t referring to the bullies and idiots Michael mentioned, but that he had met Professor Zenovia before already.

    "Is that why you called her Alice before? Are you close to her?" Zeke asked, his curiosity piqued. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Lincoln was also interested in the discussion. He didn''t expect an inconspicuous character like Michael to turn out to be much better connected than some minor nobles.

    Being friends with the children of the Kolbenheim and Ondo families wasn''t that exceptional. It was still an achievement, but it paled inparison to being befriended by the Frozen Duchess, Alice Zenovia.

    Being allowed to refer to anyone just by his or her first name publicly might not seem like a great deal to others, but they were talking about the prodigy of the Zenovia family right there!

    "How did you get to know the Zenovia family?" Lincoln asked atst.

    The tension between Frederik and the others was forgotten, and all interest moved to Michael, and his past.

    He didn''t seem like an influential guy, but his demeanor alongwith his revtion attracted their curiosity. It was weird.

    Michael just shrugged their astonishment off, "Well¡­it''s hard to exin. I don''t know what''s on her mind either. My War Rune wasn''t even manifested during the final exams when she told me to join the Saphirke Military Academy."

    At this point, it was Jarg, who began to frown deeply,

    "Wait, your War Rune manifested barely two months ago?

    James was also surprised, "You''re telling me that you refined your physique to that degree in two months¡­all while studying two Soultraits to the extreme? Your Soultraits weren''t even disturbed when the tidal wave and fireballs impacted upon you. Are you just making fun of us, right now?"

    Michael was thoroughly grilled by the group for the next ten minutes. Frederik forgot about his loss against Zeke for the time being, and the other group chose to ignore Frederik''s childishly prideful attitude from before.

    They were more interested in Michael''s connection to the Zenovia family, and how he was able to be that strong in just two months. After all, contrary to most other students of the Saphirke Military Academy, Michael''s family was not influential.

    He hadn''t heard anything from his parents for nearly a year, and it was only thanks to Danny that he entered the Origin Expanse for the first time with a weapon bound to his War Rune.

    Tigerfang made his life a lot easier in the Untamed Jungle, and it was the greatest benefit he could have obtained from having Danny as his dear brother.

    After talking about Michael''s life a little bit more in detail, the others were impressed. Lincoln and Zeke were confident that they could achieve the same as Michael under the same circumstances, but their upbringing was different. They had been taught a lot more than most ordinary people could ever find out about the Origin Expanse and the extraterrestrial.

    That was also why they could tell that Michael was an interesting person, especially after they saw him fight two more times.

    Michael talked openly, he smiled a lot, and he didn''t seem to feel offended when others asked him questions that were very personal. Others would consider these questions rude, but Michael answered everything as long as he wasfortable.

    He rarely had the chance to talk about himself because nobody had ever been interested in his life except his brother. Thus, he didn''t feel odd at the thought of exposing bits of his personal life. On the contrary, he was happy to see that other people were interested in him and his life. It was a wee change that made him feel much closer to the people around him.

    Michael merely avoided talking about his two hidden Soultraits Extraction and Spirit Whip, but that was rather simple because nobody asked, ''Do you have any more hidden Soultriats?'' That would have been weird.

    However, while he was extremely happy and smiling the entire time he talked to the people he began to consider his friends in his heart, his demeanor changed the moment he entered thebat ring.

    His eyes turned sharp, and his expression was overflowing with seriousness when his third battle began.

    He didn''t show mercy fighting against his third opponent and overwhelmed him within the first five minutes of the battle. Michael slowly pushed his opponent into a corner before he finished him off. More than ten energy arrows jutted out of the vitals of his opponent, who hadn''t been given a single opportunity to initiate a counterattack.

    Michael''s third opponent was weaker than James, but his fourth opponent was a little bit more cumbersome to tackle.

    Nheless, Michael''s merciless tactics worked once again.

    He fought the student with the Dragonoid transformation Soultraits in his fourth match. The student had recovered physically, but his mentality had been crushed by Anastasia before.

    Michael took advantage of the trauma the student had sustained from his battle against Anastasia. He didn''t give the student enough time to finish his transformation and attacked immediately.

    His War Rune was at a lower stage of the refinement degree, but his will and mentality were as sturdy as iron. He released several arrows the moment the battle started, forcing his opponent to terminate his transformation.

    Afterward, Michael inched closer while continuously releasing more arrows. The arrows were precisely aimed and released with enough force to put the student in a predicament. The student was able to block some attacks and initiate another attempt to transform.

    However, Michael was close enough to switch to the voulge before bursting forth to enter closebat.

    Using both Lesser Enhancement and Eagle Eyes to the extreme, Michael was at an advantage against the mentally broken student, who couldn''t even unleash the full power of his Soultrait. He could barely manifest his dragon wings when Seron Voulge pierced them.

    At this point, the battle turned upside down. The pain of bursting apart shot up in the student''s head the moment Michael pierced his wings. The student began to scream at the top of his lungs and he copsed a few secondster.

    "Oh damn. This guy really needs some counseling!"

 Chapter 184 Fighting A High Noble

    He had yet to lose a battle, but it was evident that the fifth fight would be increasingly more difficult.

    Atst. Michael''s fifth fight began, and it changed everything.

    He was called into thebat ring alongside Lincoln Piedra. The young descendant of the Piedra household turned out to be his next opponent.

    ''He is already at Tier-2, can manipte gravity to a certain extent, turn his skin into hard stone, and manifest a stone fist to use as a cannonball-like projectile.'' Michael ticked off Lincoln''s abilities.

    After watching multiple battles of Lincoln, Michael gathered all those pieces of information. He wasn''t certain that this was the full extent of Lincoln''s power, but he presumed that Lincoln had a few more tricks up his sleeve.

    "Let''s give our best!" Lincoln said cheerfully but without a tad of worry in his heart. He didn''t even manifest a single Artifact.

    Giving his best- That was exactly what Michael was ready to do.

    Michael manifested the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and the Siltang Bow. He channeled origin energy through his entire body, while also preparing himself for the start of the battle and to use his Soultraits instantaneously.

    The moment the battle started with the signal of the referee Michael used Lesser Enhancement several times. First, he strengthened each of his Artifacts one after another. Afterward, he strengthened his eyes alongside the Eagle Eyes Soultrait. Michael then exerted Eagle Eyes.

    Michael''s strength increased drastically, but even more so his sense of sight, and perception. He could immediately perceive the changes in Lincoln''s stance.

    Lincoln squatted down while creating a huge human-sized stone fist in front of him. The manifestation was not instantaneous, but Michael couldn''t react immediately because the inertia around him doubled.

    The Siltang Bow and the Onyx Dragon Armor Set weren''t affected by the increased gravitational force, only Michael. That was slightly surprising.

    ''It affects only me? That''s better than expected.'' Michael thought as he began to move.

    Being faced with double the inertia on Kelta was cumbersome, but Michael''s physique was refined to a high degree, and his physical strength received high enhancements from his Artifacts. That way, he could still move through increased inertia ¨C even if it was a little bit annoying.

    His eyes narrowed and the muscles in his legs cramped a little as the stone fist had been fully manifested. Michael''s eyes glowed brightly and he burst to the right side suddenly.

    A quarter of a second after Michael burst to the right side, the stone fist shot toward Michael like a cannonball. It was terrifyingly fast and would have smashed him into smithereens if he hadn''t jumped aside. Michael had seen what the stone fist could do, and he really didn''t want to experience the pain of having his body deformed.

    Michael didn''t do any somersaults or big moves. He moved just enough to evade the stone fist by a hair''s breadth to save time and energy to initiate a counterattack. The highest-level energy arrow had condensed on the Siltang Bow''s string, which Michael pulled back as the stone fist brushed past him.

    A strong gust sted on his face, forcing Michael to adjust the Siltang Bow''s angle by a notch. Afterward, he released the first arrow.

    Several energy arrows followed in quick session. The arrows weren''t as powerful as the stone fist, but they were strong enough to pierce the skin of Tier-2 Monsters with weaker defense after Lesser Enhancement had been used on both Siltang Bow and the energy arrows.

    However, Lincoln didn''t even move an inch. The corners of his lip tilted up, and his skin turned gray. Lincoln turned his skin into stone, repelling the arrows easily.

    The arrows weren''t even strong enough to scratch Lincoln''s stone skin!

    ''Is that for real?!'' Michael cursed in his heart. He grits his teeth and retrieved the Siltang Bow. Seron Voulge appeared in his hands, and he pushed forward.

    ''What is the downside of his Soultrait? What is its limit? How can I counter him?!?'' Michael asked numerous questions in his mind, but he couldn''t answer a single one with confidence.

    Approaching Lincoln seemed like a dangerous move as well. However, it was better than staying back and hitting him with arrows that didn''t even scratch Lincoln''s skin. The stone fist was the most dangerous, and it seemed like a feasible n to shorten the distance to Lincoln to ensure that Lincoln didn''t have enough time to manifest one of those huge cannonball-like stone fist projectiles again.

    ''If I pressure him, Lincoln won''t be able to use his Soultrait precisely,'' Michael mused to himself. A 6-Star Soultrait may be extremely powerful, but it was just as difficult to control precisely. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    If Lincoln''s Soultrait was even a little bit like Frederik''s Soultrait, it would require full focus to be maintained. That meant disturbing his Soultrait control was the way to defeat him. It was the only option Michael could chase in the pursuit of victory.

    Michael''s ns changed from attacking Lincoln to an attempt to restrict Lincoln''s Soultrait usage. That was difficult, but it was worth a try.

    Lincoln manifested a smaller stone fist when he saw that Michael burst forth to enter closebat. He released the stone fist, which Michael evaded with a nimble move to the side.

    Michael saw the attack early enough due to his enhanced eyesight and great perception. He determined the trajectory of the stone fist projectile, and the exact moment Lincoln would release the stone fist.

    His prediction was close to perfection as Michael moved to the side the moment the stone fist propelled forward.

    A trace of surprise entered Lincoln''s eyes. His stance changed ever so slightly, but that was already enough to affect the inertia weighing down on Michael.

    He immediately noticed that inertia had decreased to 1.5x the earlier amount. This gave Michael the opportunity to elerate.

    He twisted his body in front of Lincoln and moved Seron Voulge around, knowing that the lengthy de wouldn''t be enough to pierce through Lincoln''s stone skin, not yet at least.

    Instead of using the de, Michael chose to exhibit the power of Seron Voulge''s pole. The pole smashed hard against Lincoln''s neck.

    Lincoln didn''t move an inch, at first. However, when he noticed how heavy the impact was, his expression changed.

    It seemed that he had grossly underestimated the force Michael could unleash with his Soultraits. In the first ce, Michael''s Soultraits were a greatbo.

    Michael responded even before Lincoln counterattacked. He retrieved Seron Voulge in his War Rune and kicked his feet off the ground to retreat.

    ''A dent in his neck? That''s better than nothing, I guess!'' Michael thought.

    Yet, just as he was about to put some distance from Lincoln, the young descendant of the Piedra household made his move.

    Michael smashed against a wall that had appeared behind him all of a sudden. He had been looking at Lincoln, who lunged forward and didn''t even realize what appeared behind him.

    That was a grave mistake.

    Lincoln''s arm shot toward Michael''s neck as he struggled for a second to straighten his back. Michael wanted to evade the attack by all means, but he was much slower.

    Michael''s only advantage was that he could perceive and react to the attack much earlier than others.

    Michael ducked down and shot to the side.

    He saw Lincoln from the corner of his eye as he moved and was certain that he had sessfully evaded Lincoln''s attack.

    However, the next moment proved him wrong.

    Michael''s momentum was disrupted as he was pulled back with great force.

    The next moment an ominous sound reached Michael''s ears.

    It was the sound of Cracking bones and his own scream of agony.

 Chapter 185 Broken

    Michael''s arm snapped like a twig.

    Lincoln didn''t even consider increasing the force in his iron-tight grasp slowly to let Michael catch his breath. No, he increased the strength in his hand as much as he could ¨C instantaneously.

    White hot pain reached his brain, overwhelming his senses. His mind became chaotic, and Michael found himself back on the battlefield in the Origin Expanse. His mind switched to battle mode as it perceived that a life-and-death battle broke out.

    He responded instinctively after that moment. His eyes turned sharper and the golden glow in his eyes intensified. Michael exerted Lesser Enhancement on Spirit Whip while manifesting one in front of him.

    Instead of losing control of his Soultraits due to distraction, Michael''s battle mode was initiated. He perceived his battle with Lincoln as a situation where his life was on the line. This allowed him to enter a state of full concentration.

    A Spirit Whip strengthened through Lesser Enhancement condensed above Lincoln. Itshed out at Lincoln, taking the young Piedra by surprise.

    Despite his strong willpower and higher Tier, Lincoln failed to guard his mind at this moment. He was fully exposed to the power of the Spirit Whip and lost the ability to maintain his Soultrait. But that was not all. His tight grasp around Michael''s broken arm loosened significantly.

    Michael reacted at once. He used every bit of strength in his left arm to shoot forward. Michael''s t hand whizzed through the air like a projectile that impacted hard on Lincoln''s elbow. Lincoln''s right arm trembled and the young Piedra''s expression winced in pain.

    And, before Lincoln could react, Michael had already initiated his next attack. His leg shot high in the air. His right leg crashed down on Lincoln''s neck ¨C exactly where Seron Voulge''s pole had impacted before.

    As Lincoln was not able to use his Soultrait at this moment, the inertia weighing down on Michael had returned to the usual. Simultaneously, his stone skin was reced by human skin, decreasing Lincoln''s protection drastically.

    Lincoln reacted instinctively when Michael''s high kick crashed down. He raised his left arm and let go of Michael''s arm in his right hand. While his left arm was supposed to block the high kick, Lincoln''s left arm lunged forward.

    Lincoln grasped Michael''s right leg the moment the high kick impacted his left arm.

    "It''s over!" Lincoln shouted, but it was just a momentter that another enhanced Spirit Whipshed at him, not once, but twice in session.

    Lincoln roared loudly as he was just about to utilize his Soultrait once again. Michael''s timing had been perfect, forcing Lincoln not only to terminate using his Soultrait once again but to let go of his leg as well.

    Michael backed off a meter after he regained freedom. Seron Voulge manifested in his left arm, but this time he was going to use the weapon''s sharp de.

    ''I found his weakness!'' Michael roared in his mind, feeling the adrenaline kick in.

    It was extremely difficult for Lincoln to continue using his Soultrait while guarding his mind against mental attacks and ensuring that he wouldn''t be impaled by Seron Voulge.

    ''Keep distracting him!'' Michael told himself repetitively.

    Three simple words turned into his mantra. He repeated them over and over to prevent his mind from going crazy due to the pain shooting up his nerves from the arm that was hanging limply from his shoulder.

    Seron Voulge propelled forward. Michael aimed straight at Lincoln''s head, but Lincoln blocked the attack. The back of his hand turned into hard stone despite Michael continuously using Spirit Whip tosh at the young Piedra.

    ''His mind is too strong. A full restriction of his Soultrait is not possible¡­'' Michael realized atst.

    Lincoln could still use his Soultrait to do simple things while Michael targeted his mind with Spirit Whip. That was not what Michael had hoped for, but it was much better than facing attacks from all sides.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    It was already enough to fight against a Tier-2 Lord whose skin was hard enough to make it increasingly difficult to scratch him, forget about inflicting lethal wounds!

    Michael''s energy consumption increased with every passing second. Using Lesser Enhancement on his Artifacts and his eyes the whole time was already tiring, but that did not stop Michael from using Eagle Eyes to the full extent while also maintaining the Spirit Whip above Lincoln tosh out at him whenever the opportunity arose.

    Michael''s proficiency and control of his Soultraits were exceptional, and they weren''t too hard to control either since he focused on training his Soultrait mastery. Despite that, he was rapidly approaching a situation where both his mind and energy would soon be wrung dry with nothing left.

    But Michael couldn''t do anything about that. His opponent was too powerful to risk decreasing the usage of his three Soultraits. He could barely keep up with Lincoln by using three Soultraits to the extreme!

    He had been torn between showing Spirit Whip and not using it, but he didn''t want to lose either. He wanted to give his best to say that he had given the fight his all. Michael didn''t want to regret itter.

    Michael grit his teeth, not even realizing that blood was pouring down his nose.

    The muscles in his body creaked loudly and his stance changed. His rhythm changed as well and heshed out with Spirit Whip before using the voulge''s pole to smash against Lincoln''s hands, pushing them away.

    In the next instance, Michael inched closer. Lincoln''s hands were only centimeters away but he spun Seron Voulge smoothly before thrusting forward with every ounce of strength within him. The de''s tip pierced Lincoln''s abdomen before it slowed down at once.

    It felt like Michael pierced through hard stone as he slowly dug into Lincoln''s body.

    The tip of the de wasn''t even a centimeter inside Lincoln when Michael noticed that something was off.

    Lincoln''s skin turned into stone, and the young Piedra''s body seemed to expand. His eyes turned yellow, and their shape began to change. Simultaneously, Seron Voulge began to creak. It showed signs of breaking apart.

    Startled, Michael retrieved the voulge, only to end up facing a tremendous amount of pressure weighing down on him. That meant Lincoln''s gravity maniption had returned. Michael tried to cancel it by whipping Lincoln with his Spirit Whip, but it felt like the mental attack caused the opposite effect.

    Inertia increased more than twice the norm. It kept increasing, and weighing down on Michael until he couldn''t stand anymore. His body slumped to the ground with a thud. Small spider web-like cracks formed on the ground around Michael.

    Lincoln took a step toward Michael. His movements were slow, and his body was growing increasingly heavy, causing the entirebat ring to tremble.

    The young Piedra picked up Michael from the ground before he put some strength into his grasp due to which Michael''s left arm broke instantly. It was almost as if Michael''s arms were made of crackers. There was little to no resistance.

    Michael roared out in pain. He manifested a second enhanced Spirit Whip, leading to the bleeding of his nose to intensify. Michael even began to bleed out of his eyes, but he couldn''t pay any attention to this.

    It was now or never!

    Two enhanced Spirit Whipsshed out at Lincoln''s mind repeatedly. Lincoln uttered a gut-wrenching sound before he threw Michael to the other side of the battle ring.

    Michael crashed hard on the ground. His mind and origin energy were drained atst. He couldn''t move his arms anymore either.

    Yet, Michael didn''t remain lying on the ground. He groaned in pain while standing up, shaking in pain and exhaustion.

    ''I don''t want to lose.''

 Chapter 186 Foolish

    Lincoln roared loudly while Michael got up from the ground.

    Lincoln had yet to sustain a serious injury, but something about him seemed to have changed.

    Michael recalled having heard Zeke shouting loudly, something about "Stop, Lincoln!", but he wasn''t too sure about that.

    Right now, Michael''s mind was in a mess. His mental power and origin energy had been drained to thest drop, and he could barely stand on his feet.

    On the other hand, Lincoln''s body kept expanding. He was already four meters tall and looked like a tiny Stone Giant. Inertia weighing down on Michael kept increasing as well, trying to force him down on his knees.

    However, Michael didn''t want to give up. He couldn''t give up aftering so far.

    Fighting a Tier-2 Lord, who had a 6-Star Soultrait, might be a level above Michael''s current prowess. Nheless, he wanted to show everyone that he wasn''t to be taken lightly. He wanted to win and would continue to strive toward his goal, no matter who his opponent was!

    A huge earthen wall shot out of the ground a few meters on Michael''s left and right sides. Michael''s body tensed upon noticing an uing attack. But he didn''t expect two humongous stone fists to manifest out of thin air.

    Lincoln didn''t require several seconds to manifest a stone fist like before. No, he could immediately condense two eight-meter-tall stone fists. The stone fists shot toward Michael as Lincoln issued another roar. The roar reverberated through Michael''s ears, dulling the sound of his own raging heartbeat. No other sound reached him after that.

    His mind was on the verge of nking out as he prepared to use his entire strength to jump high up in the air. After all, the sky was the only direction he could go. Yet, even before he jumped, a huge stone foot smashed down, taking away Michael''sst path of escape.

    Michael narrowed his eyes, and he felt as if he heard Zeke''s voice once again.

    "Lincoln!!!"

    Just as the stone fists and the foot were about to crash down on Michael, time slowed down. Various thoughts shed through Michael''s mind. He was trying to find a way out of his predicament, but he quickly noticed that it was not possible.

    There was no way out of this situation. He was not strong enough to crush the attacks, forget about blocking them with his body. Michael couldn''t even evade them.

    Maybe it was possible with a Soultrait such as Jeffrey''s short-distance teleportation. However, Michael wasn''t in possession of such a Soultrait. He had Lesser Enhancement, Eagle Eyes, and Spirit Whip at his disposal, but not enough energy to use them.

    Michael could try to use Extraction on the stone wall to extract the entire wall or allponents that ensured the wall''s stability. However, Michael didn''t have enough time to use Extraction for a long period nor was he in possession of the necessary energy to use Extraction.

    Just as Michael realized that there was no way out for him, a loud snap rang through the surroundings. The referee chose to intervene, crushing Lincoln''s attack with a snap of his fingers. The stone fists crumbled, and the stone fist turned into countless tiny particles.

    Then the referee appeared in front of Michael. Hended lightly on the ground and looked at Michael, whose heart was beating wildly.

    ''Did he just crush the attack as if it was nothing worth mentioning?'' Michael looked up at him in disbelief.

    The referee, a young-looking man with short silver hair, looked at Michael.

    "Are you okay, kiddo?" He asked aloud on a whim.

    The referee merely wanted to check if Michael''s spirit had been crushed after losing miserably against Lincoln Piedra. But what the referee didn''t expect to see was Michael''s eyes that burned fiercely as he looked straight into the referee''s eyes. Even in a helpless situation, Michael''s fighting spirit never crumbled. He was a warrior through and through.

    "I couldn''t feel better!" Michael answered in a dry tone.

    His eyes moved to Lincoln, whose Soultrait had been forcefully suppressed by the referee. Lincoln''s eyes shot wide open, and he looked down at his body, which slowly returned to normal. Then he looked at Michael, who smiled lightly.

    "What the hell was that mental attack?!" Lincoln asked, still unable to control the mess of emotions within him.

    Michael shrugged at Lincoln''s question, which hurt much more than he expected.

    The adrenaline that helped him suppress the pain had dispersed, leaving nothing but the pain in Michael''s heart.

    However, the pain was not worth focusing on. Medics were already rushing over to tend to his wounds.

    The only thing of importance in Michael''s mind was that he had lost.

    Michael gave his all to win, but he couldn''t. He didn''t have a chance at all.

    Not even exposing Spirit Whip changed the course of the battle. It enraged Lincoln and forced him to move, but that was it. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Others might say that it was only obvious that he had lost. He fought a descendant of a High Noble, someone who was a few months older, had awakened a 6-Star Soultrait, and possessed custom techniques rted to his Soultrait, which he had been practicing for several months even before Michael had entered the Origin Expanse, but none of that mattered.

    It didn''t even matter that Lincoln had a family, who was willing to invest greatly into their descendants. It was not important.

    At the end, the only thing that mattered was that Michael lost the fight.

    He wasn''t even interested in the prideful part ofing out victorious.

    Of course, it felt great to win. It boosted his ego and gave him a satisfactory feeling. Nheless, the loss made him realize something far more important; That he would have lost and died if the battle had been against an enemy in the Origin Expanse.

    He knew that he had to improve a lot, but he didn''t expect to be that helpless against the descendants of a High Noble.

    At this moment, Michael realized one thing for sure; hisbat prowess was insignificant.

    It may be enough to fight Tier-2 Monsters to a certain extent, but that was already it. In the future, his individualbat prowess wouldn''t be high enough to fight Monsters of a higher Tier either. Once he attempted to fight Tier-4 Monsters, Michael would be crushed. Existences that advanced to the 4th Tier were on a whole different level as beings at Tier-3. They were higher lifeforms that broke through the first barrier.

    At his current level, Michael would never be able to rival the descendants of High Nobles, Great ns, and Supreme Families.

    He wouldn''t even have a chance against the prodigies of other races.

    Secretly, Michael knew that Kaleb Zenovia was highly likely to leave him behind as well. After today''s battle, Michael realized the true power of high-ranked Soultraits, and the difference the techniques that had been prepared by the ancestors of the Piedra family made.

    Most of the influential families with a foothold in the Origin Expanse had such techniques.

    Kaleb had yet to awaken his War Rune, but he was already strong enough to rival the strength of an Awakened Tier-0 Lord. He wouldn''t have an issue defeating someone like Nis Liekhoven.

    Michael didn''t even want to imagine how fast Kaleb''s strength would increase after he became an Awakened. Using his ancestor''s heritage and techniques, Kaleb was bound to reach Michael''s level in the blink of an eye.

    Even Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline would soon be much stronger.

    Frederik told him before that his Soultrait might only be 3-Star, but that his ancestors spent more than a century to find a way to amplify wind elemental affinities using a Hybrid technique that refined both the Mind and the Body in aplex way. It was a Hybrid Refining technique with which Frederik wanted to defeat Michael once hepleted the first stage.

    At this moment, Michael felt like a fool. It was like the world crashed down on him.

    He had lectured Frederik to never feel arrogant and not to take others lightly, but that was exactly what he had done.

    He totally overestimated his ownbat prowess and lost miserably as a result.

    ''Why did I ever consider it important to keep Spirit Whip a secret? Why should I hold back? Can I even afford to hold back, in the first ce?''

    Michael felt like he was a big joke.

    ''How am I going to be strong if I''m holding back while fighting people, who''re far stronger, in the first ce?''

    After his battle against Lincoln Piedra, Michael realized some of his stupid mistakes. He began to understand that he should never hold back and that he had to give his all to be stronger, otherwise, his peers and everyone else would be much stronger while he would stay back and miserably watch the gap between them widen.

    So far, he merely fought fellow humans in the Academy. However, what would happen once war broke out in the extraterrestrial? What if his territory was under attack, and he was too weak to protect his subordinates and territory because he didn''t give his best all this while? Would holding back help him be stronger? No, it would just hold him back from attaining the best results and more resources!

    Oddly enough, this realization caused Michael to smile foolishly.

    Going all out against stronger opponents was an intense feeling. It was exciting and somewhat addictive.

    Michael didn''t want to care about hiding his secrets anymore. He wanted to improve his strength and be powerful enough to fight on even grounds against someone like Lincoln.

    Of course, fighting against someone like Lincoln on even grounds was only the beginning.

    Nheless, it was a goal worth fighting for.

 Chapter 187 MINE!!!

    The sound of continuous tapping on a hard surface resounded through arge hall where close to a hundred men and women ranging from their 20s to their 100s were seated around arge table.

    Dozens of holographic screens were projected above the table, attracting the interest of the men and women seated around.

    ''Did I see correctly?''

    A perfectly normal thought popped into Alice Zenovia''s mind after she watched the battle between Lincoln Piedra and Michael Fang.

    Her fingernails drummed against the table''s surface rhythmically until she decided to open the sta messenger. She opened the chat with Michael and typed a short message.

    [Alice Zenovia: Are you a Triple Awakened?]

    Her eyes remained glued on the chat for a few minutes until she realized that Michael wouldn''t answer her anytime soon.

    Alice leaned back in her seat and clicked her tongue as she was deep in thought. Some of the people seated near Alice looked at her pointedly for a moment, causing Alice to straighten her back once again.

    Even if she was from the Zenovia family, there were enough people of higher status present right now. Offending them was one of thest things on her mind.

    During events like the Real Combat assessment, the Instructors, Professors, and other staff responsible for education inbat would meet up, analyze their students''bat prowess, and determine what most studentscked. It was important to know what the massescked to fix their bad habits and give everyone a chance to improve.

    They watched the recordings of certain fights ¨C which the supeputer deemed exceptional using specific parameters.

    "I think we should pay more attention to Silva Ori. He deserves a few bonus points for defeating an opponent, who was at a higher stage, and in possession of an advantageous Soultrait. His usage of the Quarz Oath Saber technique was pretty good," One of the Professors said aloud.

    He waved his hand, expanding the screen on which the fight of a young silver-haired man wielding a white sword was being disyed.

    "Hisprehension of the sword is pretty good," An old man seated at therge table murmured to himself, "If he continues to fight well, using the heart of the sword to improve his technique''s proficiency, I might take him in as a personal student. It should be worth a try."

    Some of the Professors and Instructors looked at the old man with slight surprise.

    Everyone present had the authority to give certain students bonus points, and Saphire points if they fought greatly against certain opponents. They could also pick a few students and focus teaching on them privately ¨C if the students hadpatible Soultraits, fighting styles, and suitable personalities.

    However, it was not often that the teaching staff picked students to teach privately. It cost a tremendous amount of time, and effort to teach students individually, and it could cause conflicts between certain families with frail egos.

    "By the way, what''s with the student you rmended, Professor Zenovia?" The young Professor next to Alice Zenovia asked.

    It was Oliver Zeus, who had been with Alice in Elyra.

    Alice heard what Oliver said, but she could only sigh and take another nce at the chat on sta messenger.

    "I''m not sure¡­"

    "Not sure? Hearing something like that from you¡­feels weird," Ophelia ze joined the conversation by pushing Oliver''s head to the side.

    Oliver Zeus was seated between Ophelia and Alice. Ophelia hated that, but she could make use of the opportunity to torture the idiot of the Zeus family a little bit more. That was more than enough to make up for the seating arrangements.

    Alice could only give Ophelia a shrug. She also knew that her behavior was not normal. However, Michael''s fight confused her.

    It didn''t make any sense, no matter how hard she thought about it.

    ''Was that why the Karmatic Compass broke before it came to a conclusion?'' She mused in her mind when her gaze fell on a holographic screen not too far from her.

    It disyed Michael''s fight against Lincoln Piedra. The supeputer awarded the fight with two stars, indicating that it had noticed something odd about the fight.

    One of the older folks present at the table noticed the familiar appearance of the Piedra household''s descendants and expanded the holographic screen to have a better view.

    A few more instructors and professors noticed the video after it had been expanded. They created a copy and opened the video in front of them on their screens to watch it without having to move from their seats.

    "Lincoln Piedra, the descendant of the Piedra household. I didn''t know that he also came to our academy. The next Battle Exchange will be very interesting with him present!" An Instructor mumbled loud enough for many to hear.

    They agreed with a subtle smile on their faces. It was only obvious that Lincoln would be a very valuable asset to the Saphirke Military Academy, whether it was for their image, or the Battle Exchange in half a year. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Lincoln was already a Tier-2 Lord, and he was in possession of a 6-Star Soultrait. As long as he was nourished patiently, he would grow strong enough to affect the result of the next Battle Exchange.

    More professors opened a holographic screen to inspect Lincoln''s battle. They watched it with great interest, only to notice that something changed in the midst of the battle.

    "Did he lose control of his Soultrait? Wait. What is his opponent doing?! This kid is suicidal¡­" One of them blurted out, while another one added as he saw the fierce glint in Michael''s eyes after the referee intervened, "His fighting spirit is not bad. Look at his eyes!"

    "This student is just a Tier-1 Lord but he managed to keep up against Lincoln pretty long. That''s not too bad. Wait¡­isn''t he using 3 Soultraits at once?" An old woman asked in doubt after she rewatched the battle.

    She noticed that Lincoln''s opponent used two Soultraits right off the bat and chose to open the files that had been documented about Michael Fang. Only two Soultraits had been mentioned in the records.

    However, the moment Lincoln broke his opponent''s arm, something changed. Lincoln couldn''t keep his Soultrait materialized, and his opponent began bleeding from his nose.

    "Three Soultraits? I thought he was using the enchantments of his Artifacts¡­but Tier-1 Artifacts shouldn''t be strong enough to forcefully terminate the usage of Lincoln''s 6-Star Soultraits¡­that''s right! Is that kid really in possession of three Soultraits? What a lucky bastard!" Oliver Zeus grumbled while shoving Ophelia back into her seat.

    Ophelia grumbled something iprehensible about wanting to sit closer to Alice, but she stopped herself from fighting Oliver for his seat.

    Meanwhile, Alice wasn''t even paying attention to Oliver, or Ophelia.

    "His third Soultrait should be a 3-Star Soultrait that affects the mind if it can disturb Lincoln to such an extent. That''s pretty good! But¡­if he is using three Soultraits simultaneously, shouldn''t he be one of the special students? I have never seen this kid¡­" One of the younger Instructors said while sensing that a golden opportunity unraveled in front of him.

    "Michael Fang¡­" The old woman mumbled before she shook her head, "That doesn''t ring a bell. I''ve never heard of this kid before."

    "If nobody has ever heard of him, he must be from an ordinary background," The young Instructor said with a tinge of excitement before adding, "I''ll take him then. His fighting spirit is calling to me!"

    "Delvis, your Soultrait is not suitable. You don''t understand the struggle of possessing multiple low-level Soultraits. It''s much better for someone like me to teach him," One of the female instructors suddenly added.

    She was in possession of two low-level Soultraits, which she could use to fight against opponents who had much stronger Soultraits. Herbo attacks were feared by many, even the prodigies of influential families. It was justifiable for her to teach someone like Michael.

    Michael''sbat prowess didn''t stand out too muchpared to other freshmen, but he had threebat rted Soultraits, and his fighting spirit was not to be underestimated as well. As long as he was taught properly, he would turn into a frightening opponent!

    This was also something Alice understood after watching Michael''s battle against Lincoln. However, she couldn''t feel happy right now. Alice felt frustrated, realizing that Michael had never exposed his full potential to her. And now, she pondered whether she had done enough to lure him, or if he required more bait to trust her wholeheartedly.

    She was just about to release her anger when the sound of a notification dragged her out of her thoughts. The sound rang in her ears, causing her body to respond subconsciously.

    [Michael Fang: Maybe I have three Soultriats, maybe I don''t. Are you asking this as a Professor of the Saphirke Military Academy, or as Alice Zenovia?]

    Alice didn''t even realize it at first, but the corners of her lip curled upward. Michael''s cheekiness was something she couldn''t get tired of.

    He was different from the dogs, wagging their tails in front of her, praising her day in and day out for being a prodigy.

    "You cannot get him," Alice mumbled, barely loud enough for those with a strong hearing sense to hear.

    Oliver Zeus, Ophelia ze, and the others turned to her at once upon hearing her.

    "Of course, we canpete to determine who''ll be the best to teach him, but don-..." The female Instructor said before looking over to Alice, whose eyes were as cold as a cier.

    "He is mine!" Alice retorted sharply.

    Hmmm?

    What was she talking about?

    Alice noticed something and cleared her throat.

    "I rmended him, so I''m using my right of priority," She said, before slowly but fiercely adding, "He. Is. Mine!!"

    Alice''s eyes brimmed with confidence and the desire to beat up everyone who was daring enough to take away what belonged to her.

 Chapter 188 First Request

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I asked as Alice Zenovia]

    [Michael: In that case...Yes, I have more than two Soultraits!]

    After he used Spirit Whip against Lincoln, he figured that everyone could find out about his third Soultrait by rewatching his match with Lincoln a few times. It was highly likely that everyone would figure out his secret about Spirit Whip sooner orter.

    But so be it. It happened, and Michael didn''t regret fighting Lincoln with everything he got.

    He lost fair and square while giving his all. That''s all that counted.

    Furthermore, some people awakened three Soultraits. It was extremely rare, but it had happened in the past.

    ''I cannot afford to y around anymore. Don''t be stupid and get your act together!'' Michael shouted at himself inwardly.

    Nobody would pay attention to him while he was this weak. Even if someone paid attention to him, what would he be? A bully''s target? That was definitely not what he wanted to happen. He would never allow anyone to bully him again! That time was over!

    Michael didn''t speak about his third Soultrait directly, but Lincoln and Zeke figured that Michael had been hiding a trump card. They were astonished, but not as much as Frederik who was shocked to the core. He stared nkly at Michael for half an hour before he stormed off.

    He couldn''t believe that his rival had been hiding something as important as a third Soultrait all this while.

    They had been sparring for so long, yet Michael never used Spirit Whip against him. What did that mean? Did Michael not think of him as a rival on equal standing? Was Michael trying to make fun of him and consider him a rookie?

    You cannot even defeat me when I''m just using two Soultraits. How are you supposed to deal with me when I start using my mental attacks as well? Will you even be able to materialize wind des before I beat you into a pulp?

    Various scenarios shed through Frederik''s mind ¨C one worse than the other in which Michael mocked him. He grit his teeth and left the arena, stomping his feet angrily. Frederik needed some time for himself.

    Breathing heavily, he reached his room where he nked out, asking himself what the hell he was supposed to do.

    ''Is he hiding more? What if he has a fourth Soultrait? What if he never went all out against me? Even if Iplete the first stage of the Wind Sage''s Sacred Body refinement technique¡­will I be able to beat him? He is just an ordinary peasant without any backing, yet he can retaliate against one of the High Nobles'' descendants in a fight¡­I was just standing there nkly¡­''

    Frederik slumped onto the edge of the bed in his room. The creaking bed muffled the heavy sigh that escaped his lips. He almost yanked his hair, feeling like his purpose in life was slowly losing its meaning.

    ''So what if I''m the only heir of the Kolbenheim family? I''m totally useless. I cannot even defeat Michael. I''m not even strong enough to sh with the descendants of the High Nobles. What am I even good for?''

    ''All this training¡­more than a decade of constant training, studying, stress and constant nurturing¡­a vast fortune invested by my family¡­just to create a loser¡­'' Frederik cursed himself in his mind, punching the bed harshly.

    He grit his teeth until his jaw hurt and clenched his fists until his fingernails dug deep into the soft flesh of his palms.

    "This cannot go on like this," Frederik blurted out after a long time of silence passed.

    He opened the sta messenger on his crystal watch and took a deep breath.

    "He said I shouldn''t message him¡­but if it''s about this, he wouldn''t mind, right?" Frederik asked himself while nibbling at his lower lip.

    "Whatever. What''s the worst that could happen?" He asked before typing the first message to his father after he, and his future father-inw sent him and Jacqueline to the aptitude assessment and the Saphirke Military Academy as a punishment.

    Meanwhile, Jacqueline was searching for Frederik. She didn''t know what was going on in his mindtely, and that worried her more than anything else.

    ''Who cares whether we''re not as strong as these prodigies? It doesn''t matter as long as we have each other. You idiot! Don''t be that prideful, ande back to me!!!'' She screamed in her heart, while her eyes got teary.

    Jacqueline couldn''t hold back from sobbing quietly on the way to his room. Why was it important to be stronger than everyone else? Couldn''t Frederik be happy with just her by his side?

    For the first time in her life ¨C and the 16 years she and Frederik had known each other ¨C Jacqueline felt the distance between herself and Frederik grow. She was also surprised to find out that Michael had grown strong enough to fight and defeat both of them simultaneously, but she overcame the shock quickly.

    Unfortunately, Frederik was not the same. His confidence had been crushed just like his pride.

    It was all Michael''s fault. Ever since he had appeared in their lives, Michael caused nothing but havoc.

    "I won''t allow you to take Frederik away from me!" She screamed as she ran through the hallway, "Just wait for me to beat you up. Nobody takes my Frederik from me¡­.NOBODY!!"

    Jacqueline opened sta messenger on her crystal watch as well. She first wrote a message to Frederik, telling him that she would take care of everything before she opened another chat with her father.

    "If you don''t help me, you''re dead to me dad!" She cursed loudly, while furiously typing a message.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Just as the Barbaric Couple went through their first crisis, Igor Kolbenheim and Karek Ondo were having dinner together. They met up asionally to talk about their territories, how to develop them, and what to focus on next. Their businesses inside and outside the Origin Expanse were tightly intertwined, forcing the two to work together by all means.

    Igor and Karek clinked their sses and savored the refreshing taste of their cool beer. They enjoyed the well-cooked dishes and theirpany,pletely oblivious to what their kids were going through.

    However, their moments of silence and peace didn''tst long.

    The sound of multiple notifications rang through the room simultaneously, which caused the two men to lower their forks. They opened the holographic screen on their crystal watches and stared at the messages that had popped up in front of them.

    [Son: I know that I''m not supposed to message you for a while, but this cannot go on. I know it''s too early, but I need the upgraded version of Wind Sage''s Sacred Body Refinement technique. I started the Basic Mind Refinement practice, but it''s not enough. It''s not fast enough. I need to get stronger. I need the Soul Strengthening part as well¡­Dad¡­ please!!!]

    Igor Kolbenheim stared nkly at the message in front of him. A few more messages from Frederik made it seem as if he was on the verge of breaking down. It was theplete opposite of Frederik''s usual behavior. It was worlds apart.

    ''Is the Saphirke Military Academy that terrifying? I heard from a few High Nobles who had sent their children to the Military Academy earlier¡­but to think that he broke that quickly! I thought they just arrived in Kelta yesterday,'' Igor thought, lowering the holographic screen in front of him to see his friend and watch his expression distort slowly.

    [My Little Princess: Dad, send me the newest version of our family''s Inheritance technique! I don''t care if the Hybrid form is not ready for use. I don''t care if the ''synergy'' between mind, body, and soul has yet to be improved. I need it. NOW! If I don''t beat up someone soon, he''ll take Frederik from me!!!!]

    [My Little Princess: I swear, if you don''t send me the technique, I''ll cut ties with you. DADDD message me back ASAP!!!!!!]

    [My Little Princess: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD!!!!]

    Karek Ondo''s face paled all of a sudden. His face was wiped off of all its previous joy and a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

    ''What¡­is going on here?

    The middle-aged men looked at each other, their expressions speaking volumes.

    "You too?"

    "Yours sent a message as well?" Karek Ondo asked with a trace of hope in his voice.

    Frederik was usually not as ill-tempered as Jacqueline, but he could be just as demanding as his spoiled little princess. That was what Karek hoped for.

    Unfortunately, Karek''s hope was crushed when Igor showed Karek the message Frederik sent to him.

    "I see¡­your son asked for the upgraded Hybrid Form¡­" Karek mumbled absentmindedly.

    The joy he felt from finally being able to spend some time off work disappeared. A sour feeling reced his happiness in an instant.

    Igor noticed that something was wrong, and he saw thest message Jacqueline sent to her father.

    "It''s fine. Your daughter is hard to crush. Look at it positively," Igor said, trying to console his best friend, "Our children are finally ready to face reality. If they stay motivated and keep striving for strength we won''t have to worry about the future. Isn''t that a good thing?"

    "Hmm¡­is that so? Well¡­my daughter threatened to cut ties with me¡­so¡­I guess I will send her the technique¡­" Karek responded half-heartedly.

    Igor had never seen Karek so miserable. However, looking at the messages Jacqueline sent her father, Igor could fully understand how Karek must feel.

    ''Good thing Frederik is a lovely son,'' Igor thought before he squinted his eyes at the realization, ''Scratch the lovely. He is a spoiled brat, who finally faced a wall he cannot climb on his own.''

    Even though he felt a little bit sorry for Karek, it was a first for both Frederik and Jacqueline to make a request like this. Usually, they took everything they''d been given, but that was already it. They used the resources at their disposal, but they wouldn''t ask for more. Normally, they were content with what they''d been given.

    But that was not enough anymore. Something had changed, and Igor felt a little excited at that.

    His son made his first request, and he even said ''please''. Both were a first, and it happened much sooner than both Igor and Karek had estimated and hoped for.

    "Good thing that we focused our research on the Soul Strengthening part of the techniques. Let''s send them over and wait patiently," Igor said before he patted his friend''s back.

    "Maybe the Saphirke Military Academy will improve Jacqueline''s attitude as well. We can only hope for the best!"

    If the Military Academy was not enough to change Jacqueline, there would still be Michael.

    Michael could beat some sense into the pampered little princess, and he was more than willing to do so!

 Chapter 189 Individual Teaching I

    Michael was bombarded with countless questions from Lincoln, the Barscht triplets, and Zeke, but he didn''t pay much attention to those questions.

    He didn''t want to go into detail, and the others couldn''t force him to reveal more information about his Soultraits either. It was generally known that everyone was allowed to keep secrets about their Soultraits.

    That was also the reason Michael wouldn''t be questioned about why he hid Spirit Whip during the aptitude assessment. Some may wonder why he did that, but it was his choice to do so.

    Nheless, Spirit Whip had been exposed, and it wasn''t impossible for everyone to collect information about his three Soultraits. In this era of technology and sta, nothing remained hidden once exposed. Everything would be documented somewhere.

    It was a pity that he lost one of his trump cards, but he had been ready to expose Spirit Whip from the beginning of the Realm Combat assessment, so it was fine.

    ''Let''s just create a few more trump cards forter use,'' Michael thought with a shrug, ''Of course, without holding back.''

    Extraction was not abat oriented Soultrait, either way. Not using it publicly outside the Origin Expanse was to ensure that information about it wouldn''t be documented in sta.

    After losing miserably against Lincoln, Michael had many things to think about. He wanted to be stronger and gain more experience fighting opponents with exceptional inheritance techniques, and powerful Soultraits.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t given too much time to think about ways to turn Lincoln and Zeke into his sparring partners. He received a few notifications on his crystal watch, just like everyone else.

    [To the freshmen ¨C Select your timetable until the end of the Real Combat assessment to ensure a smooth transfer to the beginning of the first semester.]

    [The courses at the Saphirke Military Academy are all optional, and there are no mandatory sses. Please choose your courses wisely. Courses are added and rotated regrly. You can register at any time as long as enough spots are left. Please keep in mind that some courses will require a fee using Saphire Points/special requirements to be met and that the Instructors and Professors won''t start teaching you from scratch if you jointe.

    Remark: If you fail to meet the minimum requirements set by the instructors, you will be punished and marked. Should you be marked three times in one semester, or five times over the course of three years, you will be expelled and sent home (we won''t reimburse the ticket price for the flight back home) Good luck]

    [Course Selection Catalog.

    ¡ªMainstream courses¡ª Intermediate Combat Practice, Unique Racial Abilities, Race Analysis, Mankind and the Extraterrestrial, Basic War Tactics, Magic Warfare¡­.

    ¡ªSecondary courses¡ª Basic Terraforming, Advanced Topography, Native Territories, Origin Economic, Business Education, Mechanics, Space Exploration,¡­

    ¡ªSpecial Courses¡ª Limit Breaker, Ancient Ruins, Old Languages, Danger Sense, Memory Lane, Psychology, Basic Concoction, Enchantments and how to use them properly, Spacecraft Driving Course, Engineering, Giga Mechanics¡­]

    As he browsed through the catalog, Michael realized that there were far more interesting courses than he had initially expected. He thought that he would be interested in a handful of them, but he was proven wrong immediately.

    Just looking at the Special Courses was enough to pick more than five courses that he would love to attend.

    ''I shouldn''t pick too many at once. If I spend too much time studying, I''ll neglect the Origin Expanse and my foundation, and I''ll slow down,'' Michael thought dejectedly.

    He had yet to finish the second stage of the Berserker Physique, improve his War Rune, andprehend the neutral energy absorption technique, Pandemonium''s Requiem. Hisbat prowess had yet to improve as well. Michael wasn''t even in possession of a powerfulbat technique since he ignored the wicked Spear Arts, which he had obtained through Fenrir''s Memory Orb.

    "I already finished creating my schedule. Isn''t that what everyone did?" Jarg asked, a little annoyed at the notifications that kept popping up.

    "Weren''t the courses kept secret from the public?" Michael asked no one in particr. However, he quickly realized that the two High Nobles and the triplets turned over to him.

    "I also finished mine," Lincoln added conversationally.

    ¡­

    "Keeping something a secret from the public seems like a big joke in a ce where everyone has connections," Michael grumbled quietly as he continued to look through the Course Selection Catalog.

    He noticed that a few courses were already grayed out, meaning that there were no more spots left in these courses.

    Michael''s initial excitement dipped a little seeing that some of the courses he was interested in couldn''t be picked anymore. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that. Thus, he started picking other courses.

    "Did you hear that Professor Zenovia is also the freshmen''s representative, Zeke? Why wasn''t that mentioned in the notifications?" Janus asked Zeke, before also looking at Lincoln in curiosity, "Did you know about that as well?"

    "Well¡­isn''t it obvious? Kaleb will join the freshmen once his War Rune manifests. I don''t think it''s surprising that Professor Zenovia wants to keep a watch on him, or is it?" Lincoln responded with a shrug.

    He didn''t see a deeper meaning behind Alice Zenovia''s actions. She was known for being an overprotective sister, who would do everything for her little brother. Bing representative of the freshmen in the Saphirke Military Academy for Kaleb didn''t seem far-fetched.

    ''Alice is our representative?'' Michael thought just as he received another notification on his crystal watch.

    It was a message from Alice itself.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I rmend you to pick only 3-4 courses to ensure that your schedule is free for the special course [Individual Teaching]. Add it three times a week, two hours each. It doesn''t matter where you add it.]

    ''Is she angry at me?'' Michael couldn''t help but think after seeing her message.

    Her message sounded different than usual ¨C dry and to the point. However, that was not the only part that confused him.

    ''Individual Teaching? Who wants to teach me? Alice?''

    Michael''s heart leaped in excitement at the thought of receiving individual teaching from Alice. She was a Tier-5 powerhouse and had a 6-Star Soultrait. Receiving her tutge meant that he could spar with a real powerhouse three times a week. He wouldn''t even have to force Lincoln and Zeke to spar with him. That was great.

    Yet, at the same time, Michael''s expression was distorted a little. Why would Alice be willing to teach him individually?

    Confused, Michael chose to pick an unusual way to confirm his suspicion about Alice atst. Rather than engaging in a conversation with her to figure out her intentions, Michael chose to turn into Super Detective Fang ¨C for once, at least.

    He closed his chat with Alice and opened Kaleb Zenovia''s chat on sta messenger.

    [Michael Fang: Hey Kaleb, I didn''t even know that your sister is the representative of the freshmen. Will that affect you?]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Instead of asking his doubts straightforwardly, Michael started off with light chatting.

    [Kaleb Zenovia: I saw you earlier.]

    [Kaleb Zenovia: I don''t know if it will affect me, but Alice wanted me to stay by her side, so she had to take on more responsibilities. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been allowed toe to the Saphirke Military Academy without a War Rune, and without taking any tests. But that''s not all, you know.]

    ''Since when is he willing to write such long-ass messages? Is he bored?'' Michael wondered when he saw the second message Kaleb had sent.

    Usually, his messages were extremely short and to the point, which was also why Michael hadn''t expected much. But his third message was even longer, and it revealed information Michael wasn''t supposed to know ¨C probably.

    [Keep this a secret, but my sister uses the reason mentioned above as a disguise. She wanted to be representative of the freshmen to get closer to the Tritan Alliance. Our parents want to expand our business, which is why they want to request the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs to be exclusive business partners of our family. Unfortunately, that''s not easy because our family has to gain their respect first. She wants to attain that by turning this year''s freshmen ¨C and me ¨C into her KPI. She wants us to overpower the youngest generation of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs at the next Battle Exchange!]

    Michael read the message thoroughly and could only smile wryly.

    ''He turned into a gossiper. He trusts me way too much¡­''

    He was not too sure how to feel about the immense trust he received from Kaleb. But he knew that he was slowly getting closer to unveiling Alice''s true intentions.

    [Michael Fang: But how is that rted to me?]

    Now that Kalebid out the basic foundation of their conversation, Michael could change the topic rather easily.

    [Kaleb Zenovia: Rted to you? It shouldn''t be.]

    [Michael Fang: Is that so?]

    Michael raised an eyebrow at Kaleb''s response, but he didn''t let it bother him. Instead, he changed his approach again, asking Kaleb a few different questions until he finally confessed.

    [Kaleb Zenovia: To be honest, I thought Alice wanted to use you as a ything when I got to know that you guys know each other. If not that, I thought she wanted you to join her squadron to use you as a meat shieldter during the Battle Exchange ¨C to test the waters for everyone else.

    You seemed like an easy target ¨C being talented but without anyone backing you.]

    Michael nearly burst intoughter reading the message. The youngest member of the Zenovia family was really not good at keeping his mouth shut.

    Kaleb didn''t seem to have been taught when to stay silent, and when to speak.

    But it was quite funny, which was also the only reason why Michael didn''t feel insulted. Kaleb was simply giving him insider information and he could not be mad about it.

    [Kaleb Zenovia: But these days things have changed. I think she likes you being around me. Maybe she thinks that you''re a good influence on me. Dunno]

    Michael had sensed it before as well that Kaleb was much easier to talk to these days and would often attempt to strike up a conversation with him.

    Rather than showing his silent and arrogant attitude, Kaleb seemed more level-headed and capable of quietly analyzing the situation in front of him before acting. Their chat showed that Kaleb''s messages were written without much thought, but his actions and the way he analyzed the situation were different ¨C thoughtful and analytical.

    Michael didn''t expect Kaleb to acknowledge that he was changing slowly, either. He might not be willing to say it openly, but his behavior and attitude were quite different from the young man who had challenged him at the buffet. Interestingly, Kaleb was fully aware of that.

    ''Kaleb also figured that Alice wanted to use me,'' Michael thought before he shrugged, ''Well¡­it''s not like that is something extremely hard toprehend.''

    Even though Michael was still notpletely certain about Alice''s reasoning, he doubted that she wanted to use him for Kaleb''s sake. Furthermore, he was slowly collecting information that allowed him toprehend the big picture.

    Kaleb''s information had been extremely helpful. Michael continued to chat with Kaleb, but that wasn''t all he did.

    He opened a second holographic screen where he opened his chat with Alice.

    Instead of continuing to beat around the bush, he chose to be straightforward with Alice.

    [Michael Fang: Why did you offer me Individual Teaching? Do you want to use me for the Battle Exchange? Or do you want me to join your squadron in the future? What did you n to do once you gained my trust? I really don''t understand what you''re thinking.]

    His message was impolite considering that Alice was the representative of the freshmen, and a Professor, while Michael was merely an ordinary student, but he didn''t really care about that right now.

    He was too curious and wanted answers.

    Now!

    Alice was still seated in therge room with the other Instructors, Professors and some of the older folks of mankind when she received Michael''s message.

    The corner of her lip curled upward upon reading it.

    "Being polite doesn''t really suit you," She mumbled, "This is much better than those bootlickers."

    Then she began to type a long message.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): The message will be a little bit longer, so don''tinter.]

    Michael subconsciously nodded his head when he saw the message. He waited patiently, d that he would finally receive the answer he''d been waiting for.

    Ten minutester, the message he''d been waiting for arrived. However, it was much longer than he expected.

    ''What is wrong with this amount of details?!?''

 Chapter 190 Individual Teaching II

    The message covered the entire holographic screen and held an enormous amount of information.

    Alice must have been using her speed as a Tier-5 powerhouse for ten minutes straight to write an essay with several thousand words. It was pretty insane.

    Nheless, Michael was d. The long message made him feel like Alice didn''t want to hide her reasoning from him, so he began to read quietly.

    Half an hourter, his understanding of Alice''s actions had improved considerably. Combining the information written in Alice''s long message with the secrets Kaleb exposed earlier, Michael could finally see the big picture.

    "To think that the government will give Professors more funds if they find unpolished diamonds among ordinary people. It makes sense... but why does it leave a bitter aftertaste?" Michael mumbled quietly.

    One of the reasons Alice picked him was her KPI. The better he performed in the Saphirke Military Academy the higher the funds Alice could receive. She rmended him to the Saphirke Military Academy, so he was her golden goose.

    Apparently, Alice watched his final exam when she was supposed to be watching Kaleb''s ex fianc¨¨''s final exam the first time she came to his school in Elyra. He attracted her attention even though he was still unawakened at that time. Alice used a consumable Artifact called, Karmatic Compass, to make sure that her intuition was right.

    Michael didn''t know what the Karmatic Compass was, but he didn''t ask either because he was too distracted with Kaleb''s canceled engagement. Their terminated engagement was a good thing since Jasmine had never been a good person. Michael was d that Kaleb escaped this red g.

    Alice also revealed that he had exceeded her expectations by advancing to Tier-1 this quickly, and his great archery skill during the archerypetition at the afterparty of the graduation ceremony was phenomenal.

    She also thanked him for staying by Kaleb''s side. Kaleb''s attitude improved by leaps and bounds ever since he became friends with Michael. He stopped nagging whenever Alice wanted to teach him. On the contrary, Kaleb began to show his desire to train harder than before. At that point, Alice repeated herself quite often, saying that Michael motivated Kaleb to work harder and that she was thankful for him being there.

    Then, she began to exin her reasoning as to why she wanted to teach him individually.

    She was grateful for his help to Kaleb where she failed miserably and felt that Michael was the perfect support for her little brother because he was not too formal and that Lords with three Soultraits were rare to find ¨C especially talented Lords without any noteworthy connections. Not teaching him individually meant that she neglected her duty after rmending him to the military academy.

    By the time Michael finished reading the huge essay, he was a little overwhelmed. It took him quite a while to organize his thoughts. Yet even after he was done organizing, Michael didn''t want to stop confronting Alice. In the first ce, her exnation made him have even more questions.

    Michael felt that Alice wouldn''t always be willing to message him openly about her actions like she did today. He had to seize the chance while he still could.

    Alice told him about her parents'' mission to create a squadron, but she left out the information Kaleb had told him. She told him a lot, possibly everything that mattered, but Michael was getting greedy. He wanted to know 100% of the truth, not only 99%!

    [Michael Fang: Basically, the Zenovia family wants you to build a squadron under your name and prepare them to enter the Battle Exchange. Your parents nned to use you as the head of a ''squadron'', and Kaleb as the Leader in the Battle Exchange ¨C once he awakens. That way, your family earns the honor and respect of the Berserker race, and the Warlock Centaur race. By then, you can start building connections to start trading goods inside the Origin Expanse and outside.]

    Michael knew that Kaleb had asked him to keep his mouth shut, but he typed everything in a hurry and hit the enter button. Toote did he realize that he had pushed Kaleb into the zing fire.

    For a while, Michael felt apologetic. Fortunately, Alice didn''t seem to care too much. Her response arrived a few minutester.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Did Kaleb tell you about our parents'' n? Well, it doesn''t matter. Yes, you''re right. We hope to further strengthen the Tritan Alliance and make sure that the Zenovias will be one of the alliance''s pirs. Trading is just the start. After all, war is awaiting us in the extraterrestrial.]

    Michael had heard about the war from various Lord forums and his brother. However, he didn''t know any details.

    He was curious about the extraterrestrial war, but he didn''t ask more about it. That was something he could doter.

    Instead, he focused on Individual Teaching and his chat with Alice Zenovia.

    [Michael Fang: Is it possible to reject your Individual Teaching, if I don''t want it?]

    Michael was interested in Alice''s teaching. In fact, he desired her tutge simply because she was the strongest person he had gotten to know until now. He knew that he could learn a lot from her.

    But there was one important point he had to make sure of; whether or not he could really trust her in the long run.

    Most people were unwilling to show their real faces in front of others. At the end of the day, their true self surfaced only when they couldn''t get from you what they wanted. This might be sad, but it was the bitter truth that many had to learn the hard way.

    Thus, Michael chose to give Alice a little push to see how she would react.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): ...You can¡­ do that¡­]

    Alice clearly hesitated in replying. However, that was only obvious. She hadn''t expected him to ask such a question, in the first ce.

    Alice Zenovia was a Tier-5 powerhouse, and a descendant of a Supreme Family. She was ¨C quite literally ¨C one of the best connections Michael could get at this point. Not many would dare to offend Michael as long as the opposite party knew that Alice was his teacher. Furthermore, Michael would get to learn things most ordinary people and people on par with Minor Nobles wouldn''t learn their whole life!

    "Why would he even think about rejecting my tutge? Is my personality that rotten to ignore the connections and resources I can give him?" Alice cursed loudly, attracting the attention of the people around her.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Is he drunk or what?" She blurted out, not bothered about the attention her words attracted.

    [As long as I''m not restricted, it should be quite useful to have the Frozen Duchess as my personal teacher, so I should agree, I guess.] Michael typed before halting in his tracks for a moment. He didn''t immediately send the message but wondered how Alice would respond.

    A momentter, Michael shuddered. It was fine to tease Alice a little bit, but he shouldn''t go too far. He had to pay attention to certain boundaries.

    Michael knew that getting taught by Alice would help him a lot. However, he felt weird talking formally to her. He liked talking to her like he did with Danny. Thus, turning into her disciple would take away the opportunity to talk informally to her. In fact, calling her Professor Alice was already quite annoying.

    It irked him a lot.

    Instead of pressing send, Michael deleted his message.

    He asked something else instead of immediately agreeing to be her student.

    [Michael Fang: Do I have to call you Professor Zenovia?]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): What kind of question is that? Do whatever you want.]

    Michael''s eyes lit up, and a sly smile blossomed on his face as he typed the next message.

    [Michael Fang: Alright then. Thanks for teaching me, fierce beauty Alice!]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): ...]

    Michael could tell that Alice regretted having given him permission to be informal with her, but he could have some fun.

    Being serious all day drained him too much. It felt great to act a little childish every now and then.

    ''If you hate my behavior, don''t give me permission to do whatever I want!'' Michael lectured Alice in his mind.

    Finally, he knew why Alice decided to rmend him to the Saphirke Military Academy, and why she acted like this. It was her curiosity that led her to use the consumable Artifact, which increased her trust in him, and his rapid growth ¨C and encounter with Kaleb ¨C that lead to the turn of events.

    Whether all of this was some grand scheming of fate, or merely multiple coincidences didn''t matter. Michael was quite happy, and relieved. He had expected her true intentions to be much worse.

    Thus,now that he was not worried about her hidden intentions, Michael''s interest in her teaching began to surface in his mind. Her individual teaching wouldn''t consume too much of his time either.

    Individual teaching was certain to provide exceptional benefits. It was a golden opportunity for Michael, and for Alice as well.

    As long as she taught him properly, her chances toplete the mission she''d been given by her family would be much higher. In turn, Kaleb and Michael could use each other as grindstones.

    The way Alice looked at the rtionship between Kaleb and Michael, she was certain that the two could be rivals as well as friends. Their rivalry would fuel their friendship andpetition simultaneously. That way both would grow stronger much faster than they would without each other''spany.

    Alice never had a rival like this, but she could tell that her growth would have been even faster with a rival as prodigious as she was.

    Michael might becking a lotpared to Kaleb, but he had the advantage of time. Kaleb would turn 18 in two months. Until then, Michael had to grow much stronger. That way, Kaleb would have a harder time catching up.

    Once he caught up, Michael would feel a sense of inferiority. Michael would work even harder, and his hidden potential would slowly be unraveled.

    By then, the two would be great friends and even greater rivals.

    That was the n forming in Alice''s mind, and she loved it much more than she wanted to acknowledge.

    ''Maybe, I''m getting too invested in this?'' She thought just to shrug it off.

    ''Well¡­.whatever. Who cares?''

    [A/N: Do you like thest two chapters, or do you think I should shorten them? Please keep in mind that important information will go missing if I shorten chapters like thest two. The story may feel iplete at times. Nheless, please feel free to share your opinion. I''m more than willing to listen!

    P.S Unreasonablements will receive a face-p!]

 Chapter 191 Starting Point

    [Zara (SC Elyra): Zara epted your request. Michael Fang has been given permission to receive an auto-update about Daniel Fang''s Lord ID. Current status ¡ú Intact Lord ID/ Tier-3 Lord]

    "That is great¡­" Michael mumbled quietly to himself. He was relieved that his brother was fine.

    A few minutes earlier, Alice told him that the supeputer in Elyra epted his request and that he would receive a notification whenever something about Danny''s Lord ID changed.

    That was everything Michael wanted to know for now.

    He finished his chat with Alice after a while. The Real Combat assessment was not yet done, and he had a few more battles to fight.

    Until lunch the day after, Michael fought a total of ten times ¨C just like everyone else.

    The number of battles was no problem for Michael. However, the issue was that his opponents grew increasingly more difficult to deal with after his fight with Lincoln. It felt like everyone turned into a monstrous genius all of a sudden.

    Michael had to face Zeke Lavita as well. Unsurprisingly, Michael lost this battle miserably. It was even more of a humiliating defeat than his fight with Lincoln.

    Zeke caught him in an illusion, three seconds after their fight began. Despite knowing what was going to happen, Michael couldn''t avoid getting trapped in Zeke''s illusion. It was terrifying.

    Unguarded against Zeke''s mental attack, Michael could only lose. What was he supposed to do? He was at a lower Tier and didn''t have a technique that protected his mind from mental attacks like Zeke''s!

    Other than that, Michael lost a few more battles as well. The only battles he won were against the opponents before Lincoln, and one more young guy after Lincoln. Michael had been pumped up for the battles, but he was humbled real quick.

    He fought with all his might against everyone, but their techniques, Tier, Soultraits, and Artifacts overpowered Michael. Fortunately, Michael didn''t lose miserably anymore after fighting Lincoln and Zeke. On the contrary, he forced his opponents to struggle desperately to defeat him.

    His opponents were on the verge of losing more than once, forcing them to unleash some of their hidden trumps in front of everyone.

    Unfortunately, the final ranking didn''t pay much attention to the severity of the battle. It noted down whether you won or lost, and created a ranking ordingly, irrespective of how much effort you put in.

    That was also why Michael didn''t make it into the Top 500 atst. He felt absolutely gutted by his performance. He was strong enough to fight a bunch of people, who''d made it into the Top 500 in the end, but his battle records weren''t good enough to push him into the Top 500.

    It was a hassle, but also another reason to strive for more strength.

    Michael''s progress in thest 30 days was not exceptional, but it was still great. He received some Saphire Points at the end of the second assessment, which Michael used up immediately to apply for some academy courses.

    He joined the Limit Breaker course from Silverian Schild again, and he was fortunate enough to grab one of thest few spots for Memory Lane. Memory Lane required Saphire Points to join, which was why everyone tried to pick it hurriedly once the first batch of Saphire Points were distributed. Luckily, Michael was swift enough to join the course.

    Other than that, Michael also enrolled in the special courses Old Tongues, and Ancient Ruins. Michael also picked Individual Teaching since Alice was willing to teach him.

    Interestingly enough, all of his courses were special courses. The Mainstream and Secondary courses were interesting, but Michael was keen to find out more about the Temple of the Forgotten. Thus, he chose two courses that would most probably help him conquer the Temple of the Forgotten in the future.

    Old Tongues and Ancient Ruins were mostly self-study courses. The Researchers would hold 2-hour sses twice a week to speak about the students'' progress, and to answer questions. Other than that, it would be much easier to read the study material the researchers shared than listen to boring lectures four times a week. It was a waste of time with the advantage of the Origin Expanse''s time ratio.

    Memory Lane was a two hour ss at the start of the week. The students had enough time to self-practice for the rest of the week until the Professor would hold a Question-and-Answer session at the end of the week.

    Alice''s Individual teaching was thrice a week for two hours each. Michael had yet to pick the dates but he was likely to shuffle his schedule a bit and adjust them along with his other courses. As long as it was not immediately after the Limit Breaker Workout session that would be held daily early in the morning before the sun rose, Michael would be fine.

    In total, Michael had to spend around 34 hours in the Saphirke Military Academy every week. That was less than Michael expected for a total of five courses.

    But that was great.

    His schedule didn''t force him to spend too much time outside the Origin Expanse. That meant, he could use the advantageous time ratio of the Origin Expanse to workout, study, reinforce his mastery of his Soultraits, and much more.

    The Origin Expanse was the perfect environment to study. It was quiet in his territory right now, nature was flourishing, and the amount of origin energy in the Untamed Jungle was more than enough to keep him energized. It was perfect!

    Once the Real Combat assessment ended for him, Michael separated from the rest. He left after exchanging contact details with the Barscht Triplets, Zeke, and Lincoln.

    After stepping inside his room, Michael didn''t waste any time. He manifested the Runic Gate and returned to the Origin Expanse.

    Michael was ready to change a lot in his territory. All preparations had beenpleted, leaving only Michael to dish out the finalmand.

    "Let''s split up the army. It''s nonsense to run around with several hundredbatants in the Untamed Jungle. It''s too densely grown to fight with suchrge numbers on one battlefield," Michael told Tiara, who agreed at once.

    They''d already been nning the split-up of the army for a few weeks. The arrival of the Forest Elves changed a lot, but it made things a little easier as well. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Creating several Combat Units ensured better security in the territory, and it improved the hunting progress by a lot.

    But Michael didn''te back to the Origin Expanse merely to split up his territory''s army. He ordered the expansion of the canopy bridges and gave the first orders to focus on the Workshops in the Underground Ecosystem.

    The Underground Ecosystem would turn into a quiet workshop for the cksmiths, and a home for the miners, who were willing to stay underground and near the ore deposits.

    Michael focused on the production of low-level armaments for the time being. It was his best source of ie, and it helped the Forest Elven tribe a lot. That way, Michael could earn a fortune and further improve his rtionship with the Forest Elven tribe. There was no disadvantage.

    Other than the production of goods, a few new lives were born in the Origin Expanse in his territory.

    A few Bilrox younglings hatched from the eggs of the female Bilrox Michael bought a while back, and more were bound to follow soon enough.

    The Bilrox Ranch was bound to be bustling soon enough, just like the rest of the territory did.

    More treehouseplexes were constructed on a daily basis and more subjects joined the territory after emerging from the Summoning Gate.

    The territory grew rapidly, and as of now, it didn''t seem like trouble awaited them.

    That was great, and it gave him the opportunity to spend the rest of the week studying religiously and working on more ns to focus on in the future.

    His first week in the Saphirke Military Academy didn''t feel different from his time in the Dekalos-ss spaceship.

    The Memory Lane course was jam-packed with students. The study material was more detailed than it had been in the spaceship, but the content of the first week''s lesson wasn''t too different. In fact, it was a summary of the lessons Michael had already attended in the Dekalos-ss spaceship to ensure that everyone was at the same starting point.

    On the other hand, the Limit Breaker course was pretty interesting. Only a few students picked the course, and most actually only picked it due to the benefits one would receive.

    A Jumbo Meal and one medicinal solution ticket were given to everyone ¨C but only after they were present at the workout session. The condition was made to ensure that nobody could receive the benefits of certain courses without actually attending them. It was also why many freshmen would soon quit the Limit Breaker course.

    But Michael didn''t care about that. He was quite satisfied having the Barbaric Couple, and Kaleb as fellow students in the course. Kaleb was registered as a special case, which is why he was allowed to attend some of the special courses without being officially epted as a freshman at the Saphirke Military Academy.

    He would only be an official student of the academy once he manifested his War Rune.

    Interestingly enough, the Barscht triplets and a bunch of other Minor Nobles chose to join Silverian Schild''s Limit Breaker Course as well.

    At this point in time, Michael could tell that his life in the Saphirke Military Academy would be increasingly interesting. He made a bunch of friends and got to know more people.

    But most importantly, Michael was given the opportunity to grow stronger and learn more about the Origin Expanse and the extraterrestrial.

    It was simply too exciting and much more pleasant than his time in school in Elyra.

    How could he not be happy about his current situation?

    Meanwhile, his individual teaching with Alice started only after the first week ended. Alice had been busy all week, which was why they could only start now.

    But that was something Michael was fine with.

    In fact, he felt good spending one week adjusting to the new environment and studying more about Ancient Ruins and Old Tongues. It was quite interesting even if it may sound extremely boring for others.

    Because it sounded rather boringpared to "Advanced Warfare", "Magic Warfare", and so on, not many students picked the Ancient Ruins and Old Tongues courses. Fortunately, that made it easier to get to know the other freshmen and create a harmonious study group where the researchers were more like friendly guides than strict teachers.

    Unfortunately, not all courses made him feel asfortable as the Ancient Ruins and Old Tongues courses. In the Memory Lane course, everyone felt anonymous. Even though not a single seat was unupied in the course, Michael didn''t get to know anyone. On the other hand, the Limit Breaker course had a sense of familiarity in Michael''s heart.

    He knew most people in the Limit Breaker course and felt that it was quite nice to be suffering alongside them. Seeing their suffering eased his mind to a certain extent, telling him he was not the only one who was struggling.

    It was weird but nice.

    However, his first lesson with Alice was everything but nice.

    In fact, it was horror.

    "Escape, or die!"

 Chapter 192 Ice Prison

    Alice''s individual teaching was a little bit different from what Michael expected.

    He thought that Alice would set up a training course ording to the information from his second aptitude assessment.

    Other than Spirit Whip, which he had hidden, the information of his second aptitude assessment was correct.

    However, Alice didn''t seem to trust the information, or she simply didn''t care about it.

    The two of them met up in arge training hall, which Alice had emptied for them to use.

    The hall was more than a hundred meters long and wide, giving the two enough space for their training.

    Michael stood in the center of the hall as Alice told him to stand there and wait.

    What Michael didn''t expect to experience was what happened afterward.

    "Escape or die!" Alice shouted from a distance before she began utilizing her Soultraits, Frozen Kingdom.

    It was the first time Michael witnessed the power of a Tier-5 powerhouse. He would have been excited to see a Tier-5 powerhouse using her 6-Star Soultrait because it was something one couldn''t see every day. It was a rare urrence to witness the precise utility of a high-ranked Soultrait with the usage of a tremendous amount of energy.

    However, this was the first time in his life that Michael wished he wouldn''t have to witness Alice''s disy of power. After all, he was forced to not just witness it but experience the whole thing.

    The entire hall turned into a domain of ice. Everything froze in an instant, glistening faintly.

    The next moment, pirs of ice shot out of the ice covering the inside of the hall.

    The ice pirs shot out of all directions. They moved around like cier dragons, slithering through the air with a horrifying velocity. At this moment, time seemed to freeze around Michael. He instinctively used Lesser Enhancement on his eyes and the Eagle Eyes Soultrait, which he exerted as well.

    Yet, even after using all of this, Michael could hardly follow the rapid movements of the ice pirs around him.

    The temperature in the vicinity dropped far below zero, and Michael began to shudder. Michael felt like his body started to freeze even though Alice had yet to attack him directly. The domain of ice was more than enough to affect him that much.

    Michael subconsciously summoned the Onyx Dragon Armor Set, and he began to use Lesser Enhancement on the Armor Set''s protection enchantments. He imbued origin energy into the protection enchantments to shield himself from the cold, but it was far less helpful than he''d hoped.

    ''So fucking cold!'' Michael screamed in his heart. He instinctively entered his consciousness and used 25 SoulStar Fragments to increase Lesser Enhancement from a 2-Star Soultrait to a 3-Star Soultrait.

    In his fight against Lincoln and Zeke, Michael didn''t get the chance to enhance Lesser Enhancement and he simply forgot to enhance Lesser Enhancement afterward.

    He felt a little foolish for forgetting about the 121 SoulStar Fragments revolving around the white pir of his War Rune, but he was d to recall them right now.

    Lesser Enhancement became a 3-Star Soultrait, and its potency increased by arge margin. The white hue around his Artifacts and eyes intensified and the enhancement of his Soultrait increased from 20% to 35%

    Michael''s presence grew stronger and the freezing cold in the hall became easier to endure.

    However, with the change in Michael''s presence, the ice pirs reacted.

    The pir of ice shot up through the ground all around Michael, restricting his movements. Before Michael could even think about reacting, the ice pirs covered the ground, and air around him. creating a tightly sealed ice prison all around him.

    Michael could barely move in the tightly sealed ice prison, but that was not the most worrisome aspect.

    He felt like he was on the verge of death.

    The ice pirs exuded a chilling aura. It was colder than anything Michael had ever felt before.

    ''Fuck!'' Michael screamed in his mind.

    ''Is she serious about killing me?!?''

    For a moment, Michael''s mind nked out. It was too cold to gather his thoughts properly. The only thing on his mind was the chilling aura that spread through every cell in his body.

    He felt that he was getting weaker by the second and could only respond by manifesting Seron Voulge. Thus, the next second Seron Voulge moved through the narrow space and collided with the ice pir closest to him, yet nothing happened.

    Not even the upgraded version of Lesser Enhancement was strong enough to cause a tiny scratch in the ice pir.

    But what did he expect? Did he really think that he could damage the ice prison manifested by a Tier-5 Lord using her 6-Star Soultrait?

    Was he dumb? Probably a little.

    His fingers were ice-cold, and it felt like his feet were frozen to the ground. Michael couldn''t tell what was going on anymore. Everything around him was cier-white, and his body temperature dropped quickly.

    His entire body began to shudder, and it grew increasingly more difficult to stay awake. His brain seemed to be malfunctioning as thinking became more and more difficult.

    He did his best toe up with a n to escape, but neither his physical attacks with Seron Voulge nor Spirit Whips seemed to work out.

    Spirit Whip dispersed the moment it collided with the ice pirs, while Seron Voulge''s collision caused Michael''s hands and arms to shake violently.

    By now, Michael could clearly tell that the origin energy inside him oozed out of his body much faster than usual. Something was wrong and Michael quickly figured out what it was.

    The chilling aura exuded from the ice pirs all around him was rapidly draining his origin energy!

    Michael tried to seal his body from the ice pir''s chilling aura, but he was too weak. His mind could barely perceive that something was going on when he was already nearly out of origin energy.

    At that point, Michael knew that Alice would either leave him to die or that she would terminate her Soultrait when he was close to death.

    But he didn''t want to end it like this. Even if Alice wanted to teach him a lesson and would release him from the ice prison before he froze to death, Michael didn''t want to give her the gratification of being able to overpower him so easily.

    Michael didn''t know what was going on in Alice''s mind, but he knew that he couldn''t give up like this. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He desired to escape the ice prison and surprise her with hiseback. Michael wanted to be the protagonist!

    At that moment, Extraction was activated.

    If he couldn''t destroy the ice pirs around him, he might as well just extract them all!

    The entire hall was frozen and he was covered in severalyers of thick ice pirs.

    Even if Alice could see, or sense him, she wouldn''t be able to tell what he was doing. After all, Michael willed the golden streams of Extraction to coil around Seron Voulge''s white hue.

    He used Lesser Enhancement on the Symbol of Extraction to give it a white touch, before coiling the streams around the white hue shrouding Seron Voulge''s de.

    Then he shed out once again, using thest bits of strength and energy inside his body.

    Considering that Michael had already three Soultraits, it was more likely that the golden hue was a special effect caused by thebination of multiple Soultraits ¨C rather than it being a fourth Soultrait.

    One way or another, the voulge''s de collided with the ice pir. Michael''s hand felt like it was crumbling apart like ice shards, but he kept using more strength to cut into the ice pir. When Extraction''s whitish-golden streams came in contact with the ice pir, shards of ice split apart.

    It looked like Seron Voulge dug through the ice pir atst. Yet, in reality, it was Extraction that merely removed three grain-sized shards of ice before his entire energy was drained at once.

    The chilling aura intensified the moment Seron Voulge''s de scratched the ice pir, and Michael nked out.

    The next thing Michael remembered was waking up to a soothing feeling that spread through his entire body. He groaned in exhaustion and from the pain of nearly freezing to death, but he savored the soothing warmth that reached every nerve of his body.

    It showed him that he was still alive.

    Michael opened his eyes, just to see the hall''s ceiling.

    Nothing was frozen anymore, which made Michael feel like Alice''s Frozen Kingdom Soultrait had merely been a nightmare ¨C a terrifying and bone-chilling nightmare.

    Unfortunately, Alice''s beautiful face looking down at him showed quite clearly that the terrifying nightmare had been nothing but the brutal reality.

    It made him feel bitter ¨C especially because he recalled only now that he had used Extraction.

    On one hand, he was a little frustrated about having used Extraction, but on the other hand, he was also a little surprised about the way he''d utilized Extraction.

    ''If I utilize Extraction like this in a life-and-death battle¡­what would happen?'' Michael wondered.

    The thought of extracting his opponents'' blood and organs mid-battle made his heartbeat wildly.

    Michael had once attempted to use Extraction mid-battle. It didn''t work well because his opponents'' willpower restricted the utility of Extraction. However, there were certain ways to create a loophole. Michael just had to find them.

    ''It drains too much energy to use it in the middle of the battle if Ibine it with Eagle Eyes, Spirit Whip, and Lesser Enhancement. Using 3 Soultraits is already too much¡­''

    Michael was deep in thought. He felt that new opportunities were slowly unraveling themselves in front of him, and he wanted to grasp them all.

    "So that is your current level? Looks like your determination is your best trait. You won''t give up even if it''s impossible to escape," Alice noticed while blowing air on her nails. "That can be good, but it can also be disastrous. It''s a double-edged personality trait in all honesty."

    "Double-edged?" Michael asked in between two heavy breaths.

    He was exhausted and drained of all his energy. The mere thought of using his Soultrait caused him to feel like vomiting on the spot.

    Nheless, he was d that Alice didn''t seem to have noticed anything odd about Extraction''s golden streams that had appeared at the end of his desperate escape attempt.

    "As an individual, your personality trait can save your life. It''s something you need to survive in helpless situations," Alice praised, but her voice didn''t sound like she was dishing outpliments, "However, as a Lord, you''ll get your people killed because you believe that you can ovee the impossible."

    Michael frowned as she continued, "At the end of the day, you will witness the miserable death of your subjects even though they could have survived if you hadn''t been that ''determined'' to win. There is a thin line between determination and foolishness, idiocy, stubbornness, and arrogance."

    Alice dropped the bomb without showing any mercy.

    There was a huge difference between being an Adventurer vs a Lord. First of all, the power of their Soultraits was different. But that was not all. The most important difference lies in their responsibilities, and numbers.

    "Your determination would suit an Adventurer. It is still great while being a Lord, but we''ll have to do something about it to make sure that you know when you''re going over the top. After all, I doubt that you want to see your subjects dying miserably when you encounter a helpless situation!" Alice continued to speak.

    The coldness in her voice dispersed slowly, and she let out a disappointed sigh.

    ''Did I crush him too much just now?'' She wondered as her gazended on Michael.

    To her, Michael looked like a lost child right now. It was not nice to look at.

    However, Alice knew that someone had to tell Michael that certain personality traits were good for some people, while they could make his life miserable as a Lord. Lords were not the same as ordinary people. They had to protect their territory, their subjects, and being strong enough to know when to fight, and when to retreat.

    "Alright, I get it," Michael said after a while. He thought that his determination was a good thing, and that it allowed him to achieve everything. However, thinking about the Blood-eyed Minotaur and a few other encounters he had in the past, Michael could only acknowledge that things could have gone south real quick.

    The fight against the Blood-eyed Minotaur had already been miserable, but much more could have gone wrong. Thinking about it gave him the chills and he could only thank his subjects and his luck for a close shave with death.

    "Your Soultraits are not bad, and it looks like you have yet toprehend a few unique features about your Soultraits. Yourst strike was pretty good. I didn''t expect you to inflict a scratch upon the cier Pirs. You are still young, Michael. Just learn and improve. That way you''ll be ready for the battles that await you in the Origin Expanse, and when the war in the extraterrestrial starts!"

    Michael nodded his head meekly. It seemed like Alice didn''t notice anything about Extraction.

    "Wait¡­war in the extraterrestrial? What was that about again?" Michael blurted out, his expression filled with confusion.

    ''Wasn''t the uing war a rumor? Why does it sound like a war will erupt the day after tomorrow the way Alice speaks about it?''

 Chapter 193 Lesser Dimension War

    "What exactly is this uing war? Who are we fighting, and why are we fighting them?" Michael asked.

    "I heard some rumors and read some ''news'' from semi-professional tforms on the Lord Network, but there hasn''t been an official announcement or anything like that."

    Michael had heard about the possibility of an uing war from his brother, but it had never been confirmed. Not even the information in the forums of the Lord Network said anything specific.

    Until now, Michael''s life outside the Origin Expanse had been rather rxed. He might have spent his time working out and studying all day, but he never had to fight a foreign race outside the Origin Expanse. He didn''t even kill anyone outside the Origin Expanse yet.

    Was all of that about to change?

    "Won''t extraterrestrial wars mostly be fought with warcraft? In fact, even if the Awakened fight as well, freshmen shouldn''t be affected for quite a while, or will we?" Michael added two more questions, while fully prepared to throw more questions at Alice.

    Only by advancing to Tier-4 would Awakened be able to survive in space. The vitality of Tier-4 Awakened would evolve, turning the Awakened into a higher life form. However, that was something most people wouldn''t attain until they reached the age of 30. In fact, most would not even make it that far, in the first ce.

    Thus, Michael wouldn''t be affected by an uing war for quite a while. So why did it sound like the war would reach them soon?

    "I understand that you might be a little bit confused, but you should calm down," Alice said, her voice sharper than intended.

    She regained herposure and looked at him with a neutral expression, trying to read what was going on inside his mind.

    "Yourck of knowledge is understandable. It''s necessary that you start studying more about the extraterrestrials. Only then will you realize how much impact the Origin Expanse has on wars in the extraterrestrial? Those are veryplicated topics, and it is unfortunate that nobody taught them to you until now," She exined before adding, "It seems like I need to adjust the schedule of our individual teaching. Watching you fight made me forget that you¡­well, whatever¡­"

    Michael was unsure if it was because of the way Alice spoke to him or something else, but her words made him feel really stupid. it was the first time he felt like that while talking to Alice.

    For a moment he wondered if he was an illiterate child, whose knowledge was not even equal to a single droplet of water in the ocean.

    "Either way," Alice murmured while regaining Michael''s full attention with a simple gesture, "I assessed your strength, determination, and the prowess of your Soultraits just now. I will further adjust our training regime and we''ll be able to start for real during the next session."

    She cleared her throat and continued speaking,

    "For now, I can tell you a few things about humanity. Precisely, I will give you a short exnation about how the Tritan Alliance came into existence, and why we''re in preparations for a war."

    After thest words escaped Alice''s lips, she retrieved two chairs from her War Rune. She gestured to Michael to sit down, meaning that her ''summary'' would be anything but short.

    Alice prepared herself shortly to prepare throwing a 60 minute long summary at Michael, "Let''s start with the extraterrestrial¡­"

    ¡­

    Exactly one hourter, Alice finished the summary - if one could call it such, in the first ce.

    She expected Michael to bombard her with questions, but he was deep in thought, trying to digest every piece of information he had been given. He remained motionless for a few minutes, and only began to move when he finished organizing the newly added information Alice had given him in thest hour.

    "So, to keep it really short. Artifacts, certain devices, and other objects from the Origin Expanse influence the battles outside the Origin Expanse. These items can create spaces that can only be entered by beings beneath a certain Tier. That way, Awakened of a lower Tier will be forced into battle...that''s weird" Michael mumbled, recalling that he had heard some of that before.

    However, it didn''t really make sense in his opinion.

    "I don''t really understand how politics work, or how politics are involved in the increasing importance of Artifacts from the Origin Expanse, but let''s put that aside for now¡­" Michael mumbled before his mind moved to the more important part of Alice''s one-hour-long summary.

    "Now this is a part I don''t really understand¡­ A race called Tekur manifested a Portal on one of thes in this ster system a decade ago. The portal anchored on that by chance ¨C which led to the first conflicts between the Tekur race and the citizens of the said. Both Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs lived there, and given that they''re war-loving races, they didn''t hesitate to attack ¨C I presume." Michael added, looking over to Alice, who nodded in affirmation.

    Michael was just about to continue summarizing what Alice had said within an hour when she intervened.

    "You don''t have to repeat everything I''ve said. It''s pretty simple. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs lost the first few shes with the Tekur. Then mankind appeared on their radars. Wended on Kelta with the intention to colonize it but encountered a few injured members of the Berserker and Warlock Centaur race. They were on the verge of death after fighting a small cohort of the Tekur race. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Our healers tended to their wounds, got to know more about the situation, and one of the strongest powerhouses of mankind decided to take a look at the Portal. The Tekur returned to their at that point, thought we are not yet certain why. The Soultrait of the human powerhouse was rted to spatial maniption, which was why he could temporarily seal the portal, preventing the Tekur from entering the Lumina Ster System.

    The help we provided initiated the first steps to the creation of the Tritan Alliance."

    Michael heard her saying the same words the second time, but it felt much clearer now, "And because it was only temporarily sealed, the seal continues to grow weaker, right?"

    Alice nodded once again, "Last year, the Tekur changed something about the portal from their side. They altered the portal, turning it into a Lesser Dimension Gate, which allows Awakened below the 3rd Tier to enter it. The Tekur race then challenged the Tritan Alliance, saying that they had three years to destroy the Lesser Dimension by shattering the six Dimensional Pirs in the Lesser Dimension before they would initiate a full-blown attack on the Lumina Ster System.

    The words and challenge of the Tekur were proven to be correct as the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs conquered a part of the Lesser Dimension, destroying one of the Dimensional Pirs. The Lesser Dimension Gates on both sides grew weaker, allowing lesser Tekur and members of the Tritan Alliance to enter it at a time. Once all Dimensional Pirs are destroyed, the Gate would disperse on its own."

    Alice was very frustrated when talking about the Tekur. It was intriguing to look at since Alice was known for being cold and void of emotions.

    Michael never really felt that she was void of emotions, but he heard rumors about the genius of the Zenovia family often enough to know that many feared her.

    However, Michael could understand her agitation to a certain extent. To ensure that the Tekur would never be able to reach the Lumina ster system the Lesser Dimension had to be destroyed. It was the only Gateway connecting the Lumina Ster System with the Tekur, after all.

    Fighting the Tekur head-on was not feasible either. They were an older race ¨C even older than the three races of the Tritan Alliancebined. One of their Divine Lifeforms was enough to conquer the entire Tritan Alliance. That was why Alice was so worried and angry; the Lesser Dimension Gate had to be destroyed, but none of mankind''s powerhouses had been able to achieve that so far. They couldn''t even help destroying it.

    All they could do was to support the younger generations to grow stronger as quickly as possible. The strongest Awakened beneath Tier-3 had to be nourished to grow strong enough to fight against the Tekur ¨C a superior race with stronger techniques, better Artifacts, and Unique Racial Abilities.

    Michael could clearly sense the way Alice''s mood worsened while having this discussion. It was not fun to look at.

    "But do you think that I will have a chance to participate in the battle against the Tekur? If in the next two years the remaining five Dimensional Pirs must be destroyed, I would have to reach the Peak of the 2nd Tier before that, while ensuring that mybat prowess is high enough to face the Tekur ¨C whosebat prowess is bound to be extraordinary," Michael wondered aloud.

    Alice just smiled when she realized what Michael was thinking about.

    "Let''s just hope that you won''t have to enter the Lesser Dimension. One way or another, you should grow stronger to ensure your territory''s safety. You never know what will happen in the future!" Alice lectured.

    Michael was interested in older races, and he would have loved to talk with the Tekur race. Unfortunately, it looked like they were enemies. It was unlikely that he would gain the opportunity to talk to them about the Origin Tongues, or other topics he would have loved to discuss.

    It was a shame, but there was nothing Michael could do about it.

    Maybe, the situation revolving around the Lesser Dimension Gate wouldn''t affect him. But even if it wouldn''t affect him, Michael thought that it was good to know what was going on in outer space around mankind''s territory.

    After Michael finished organizing his thoughts, Alice told him about a few more things before she called it a day. Michael''s mind was already flooded with information. Continuing their training now was no short of torture.

    The evening after their first training session, Michael received a list of questions from Alice.

    The questions were pretty simple but about topics that were considered rude to ask under normal circumstances. Alice asked him what techniques he was using, and details about his Soultrait.

    However, Michael answered the list of questions without any qualms.

    He knew that Alice needed as much information as possible to create the most efficient training course for him.

    Nheless, some questions were confusing. The questions caused Michael to think a lot, and he quickly found himself losing focus of the list of questions.

    His mind went astray.

    "How is it even possible for big families to ensure that their children will bepatible with their Inheritance techniques?"

 Chapter 194 Purity

    The next time they met a few dayster, Alice finished Michael''s training course. It was very detailed and entailed various study sessions.

    Michael was already in possession of tons of study materials from other courses, yet Alice easily topped that amount by a few times.

    In addition to the huge mountain of study material, Michael was given a technique that enabled the refinement of his mind.

    "Since you don''t have an Ice-rted Soultrait with a high star rating, I cannot give you the Zenovia family''s inheritance technique. Even if I hand it over to you, you won''t be able to use it," Alice said nonchntly, "The Caesurium Menta mind refinement technique is the best technique I could procure in thest few days."

    Michael''s eyes gleamed brightly while staring at the Mind refinement technique. Compared to a body refinement technique, Caesurium Menta was tens of times harder to procure. With his authority, Michael would have to wait several months before a low-ranked Mind refining technique was up for sale, but Alice procured a Mid-ranked technique quite easily.

    That was how influential Alice Zenovia was!

    "You shouldn''t be too happy yet. Most High Nobles, Supreme Families, and Big ns have much better techniques. Their Inheritance techniques refine their body, mind, and soul simultaneously to create perfect synergy. They create a perfect vessel for specific Soultraits to strengthen them and unravel the hidden potential of their Soultraits by modifying their body, mind, and soul ordingly," Alice exined seriously.

    "Meanwhile, your techniques don''t have an advantageous effect on your Soultraits!"

    Michael''s good mood was deted like a pin-pricked balloon by Alice''s heavy words.

    "I get it. Most Inheritance techniques have been customized for certain types of Soultraits since children often manifest Soultraits, which are simr to their parents. But how can the High Nobles and other families ensure that their children won''t awaken another type of Soultrait? It should be quite difficult to¨C...." Michael said, realizing toote who he was speaking to. He shut his mouth abruptly.

    He didn''t want to say anything rude to Alice, but Michael could tell that she was having a hard time keeping a poker face. Michael didn''t need to be smart to understand that he said something wrong.

    He broke into a sweat and began to make wild gestures in an attempt to figure out what to say now. But Alice just smiled.

    "It''s only obvious to be curious about that since you''re new to all of this," Alice said, much calmer than Michael could have hoped for.

    "Actually, it''s pretty simple. I have an Ice Soultrait simply because my entire family has Soultraits rted to ice. That includes my parents and grandparents. Kaleb is highly likely to awaken an Ice-type Soultrait as well."

    ''Everyone has an Ice-type Soultrait? Isn''t that a little bit too much of a coincidence?'' Michael wondered.

    "You might think that it is an odd coincidence," Alice said exactly what was on Michael''s mind, and his eyes widened in surprise.

    His gaze was fixed on Alice, whose expression turned emotionless as the next words tumbled out of her mouth, "Unfortunately, it''s not an eerie coincidence. My grandmother married my grandfather only because of his Ice-type Soultrait, and the patriarch of the Zenovia family is the same. He married my mother only because she had a powerful Ice-type Soultrait."

    Alice made it sound like she was stating the obvious facts, but Michael was fixed on her as she spoke. He noticed the pain that was sealed deep inside her eyes, where nobody ought to see it.

    ''Huh?'' Michael nearly blurted aloud, d that he could control his body enough to keep his mouth shut.

    "By bearing children with a partner, whose Soultrait is simr andpatible with yours, you can ensure that the child will awaken a Soultrait of the same type. That is enough to ensure that the Inheritance technique won''t have to be altered after the new generation awakens. The entire focus can stay on the improvement of the Inheritance technique, which will ensure that the big families stay at the top and that they continue to grow stronger."

    Alice''s voice grew colder as she shared her knowledge and wisdom with Michael. Her eyes turned nk as if there was no willpower inside them, and it looked like she was about to turn into an emotionless robot.

    Michael had never seen Alice like this. Her body exuded a frigid aura, and her presence turned freezing cold. It was near impossible to even think about approaching her. And for the first time since Michael got to know her, Alice turned into the cold and distant person everyone talked about when they mentioned the Frozen Duchess, Alice Zenovia.

    ''Is that why most big families have arranged marriages? To ensure the purity of their Soultraits¡­for real?!?''

    Living with a partner, sharing good and bad times equally¡­Loving each other, and living happily until death parted them¡­ If there was no love between two partners, what was the point of marriage?

    Michael felt bad for Alice, and Kaleb at this moment. He realized that if they followed their family''s orders, they would never get to marry the person they truly loved. They would have to bear children with strangers, whom they didn''t love. Maybe, they wouldn''t even like each other, in the first ce.

    Michael couldn''t even begin to imagine how that must feel. He didn''t want to imagine it. It sounded too heartbreaking.

    It made sense to improve the Inheritance techniques to ensure that their family could grow stronger topete against other big families and to gain enough strength to fight older races in the extraterrestrial. Nheless, it was also quite sad to think that the descendants of High Nobles, Supreme Families, and Great ns wouldn''t be able to choose a partner they truly loved and wanted.

    That was the sacrifice the strongest people of the human race made to make sure that they would stay near the top.

    ''Are Minor Nobles also like that? They shouldn''t care too much about the purity of their Soultraits¡­right?''

    Michael knew that Frederik and Jacqueline were engaged from a young age, but they loved each other. At least, that was what Michael was certain about when he saw them together.

    Furthermore, their Soultraits were not of the same type, orpatible either. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''But then again¡­aren''t they engaged because their parents have been working together for years? Even if love is involved, isn''t their engagement a means to ensure that no party can even consider betraying each other?''

    Michael was at a loss. Even if Minor Nobles and influential families weren''t interested in keeping their Soultraits pure, it was not unlikely that they would use their children as assets with great political value.

    "It''s better if you don''t think too much about it. Just know that the investments of our familiese with a heavy price. They''re never free," Alice exined coldly.

    Seeing Michael''s expression, Alice could only sigh heavily. Sometimes, she envied ordinary people. But then again, she wouldn''t be who she was without the Zenovia family and their tireless efforts to nurture them.

    "If you say so¡­" Michael murmured, not really feeling happy about what he heard.

    "Just know that nothing is free in this world. Unconditional love is nothing more than a dream," Alice said while some color slowly returned to her face.

    "Let''s just get started. Read through Caesurium Menta''s first stage and we can start!"

    Michael could tell that Alice didn''t want to continue talking about this topic, so Michaelplied. He was a little bit ufortable as well.

    Michael opened the mind refining technique and started to read.

    However, Michael found himself getting absorbed in the pages quite easily.

    The mind refining technique was much more interesting than he initially thought, and he found himself spending the rest of the day reading.

    He hadn''t forgotten how sad Alice looked, and what she''d said. Nheless, his focus stayed on the study of the Caesurium Menta''s first stage.

    The technique ought to enhance hisprehension ability, memorization, and every other factor revolving around the brain. This included the control and precision of Soultraits. After all, the Soultraits were activated and controlled with the mind.

    The next few weeks were rather ordinary. While he focused on refining his mind, hisprehension of the Memory Lane technique improved rapidly.

    The improvement of Memory Lane made studying much easier, especially since he reached the technique''s second stage.

    Nheless, all of that was not fast enough for Michael. He wanted to study faster and be stronger as quickly as possible.

    ''I wish I had a Memorization Soultrait or something along those lines ¡­'' Michael thought at one point.

    He had so much to learn, while simultaneously attending all courses that he felt overwhelmed every now and then.

    Nheless, he still managed to spend most of the time in the Origin Expanse.

    The time ratio advantage had to be abused as much as possible. Thus, Michael spent most of his time in the Origin Expanse. But even there, Michael was mostly focused on the expansion of his territory, including his sources of ie and the betterment of his subjects.

    Weeks passed and he didn''t even realize how time flies away.

    Kaleb meanwhile awakened his War rune.

    It was nothing surprising that Kaleb manifested his War Rune. However, it was an extraordinary event.

    Michael witnessed the manifestation of Kaleb''s War Rune, and it was something he would never forget.

    Michael had never seen Kaleb that happy. The moment his War Rune manifested, Kaleb''s expression changed significantly.

    He was overjoyed.

    The excitement was far more intense than the excitement he felt when he awakened.

    Michael hoped that Kaleb would awaken a powerful Soultrait, and that his friend was fortunate during his summoning of the Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    He wanted an overpowered rival who was strong enough to force him to his limit and beyond.

    That way, he could grow the fastest.

 Chapter 195 Awakening

    Michael didn''t even realize how much time had passed until Kaleb''s War Rune manifested.

    At one point, Kaleb rushed over to visit Alice during her individual teaching session with Michael.

    Kaleb walked over to his sister, grinning from ear to ear as the War Rune formed on the back of his right hand.

    His Soultrait had not yet awakened since he had yet to enter the Origin Expanse, but he came over to retrieve Tigerfang from Alice.

    "You know what you have to do when you finish binding Tigerfang, right?" Alice asked both excitedly and worriedly.

    Even if Kaleb worked hard for this moment for his whole life, the Origin Expanse was unpredictable. That was also why Alice was happy to see that Kaleb''s expression turned more serious.

    "I know what to do, sister. I''ll bind Tigerfang, and spend the rest of the day practicing the Chilling Phoenix energy absorption technique," Kaleb said in a serious tone while retrieving a small pouch from his belt. A handful of marble-sized pills entered Michael''s view as Kaleb opened the pouch.

    "High-Purity Energy Pills¡­" Michael mumbled and understanding dawned upon him.

    Instead of entering the Origin Expanse immediately, Kaleb would spend the next 23 hours preparing himself for the start of his journey inside the Origin Expanse.

    "Take this as well," Alice said, retrieving a small vial from her War Rune, "It''s an Origin Elixir."

    Michae had heard about Origin Elixirs from Alice before. They were upgraded versions of energy pills and had a medicinal effect that helped in the absorption of raw energy.

    Even the lowest-grade Origin Elixir was tens of times better than a High-Purity Energy Pill. It was quite amazing. But so was the price. It was extremely expensive due to the medicinal effect that guided the raw origin energy through the body.

    Kaleb took the Origin Elixir from Alice and downed it immediately. Afterward, he sat down cross-legged. He closed his eyes and started executing the Chilling Phoenix energy absorption technique.

    Kaleb''s body exuded frigid air over the course of the next four hours. Once he was done digesting the potent effect of the Origin Elixir, Kaleb received Tigerfang from Alice. Kaleb bound Tigerfang to his War Rune in the next ten minutes, and a vivid smile blossomed on his face once he was done.

    While feeling the surge of energy and power from binding a powerful Artifact to his War Rune for the first time in his life, Kaleb was overwhelmed. He looked over to Michael, who nodded subconsciously. Michael could fully understand how Kaleb felt. It had been the same for him, after all.

    "Even after refining my War Rune a bit, I could barely bind Tigerfang," Kaleb murmured, only to look Michael straight in the eyes with a bit of confusion, "Didn''t you feel like bursting apart when you first bound Tigerfang?"

    "It was ufortable, but that was it. I have yet to get to know how it feels when Artifacts are too potent and powerful," Michael responded lightly.

    That was enough of an exnation for Kaleb.

    He spent the next 19 hours refining his War Rune using the remaining High-Purity Energy Pills. Kaleb immediately advanced to Low Tier¨C0, which was enough to expand his War Rune''s storage space quite a bit.

    By the time Kaleb reached the Low-stage, Alice retrieved a tinum coin from her War Rune.

    "Use the Storage Expansion Token."

    Kaleb did as was told. He epted the tinum coin from Alice, which led to a drastic reaction of his War Rune. Several tentacle-like streams of white energy shot out of Kaleb''s War Rune. They coiled around the tinum coin and pulled it inside the War Rune, without giving Kaleb enough time to react.

    The next moment, the War Rune began to shine faintly.

    Once she realized that everything went ording to n, Alice began to retrieve a bunch of things. First, she retrieved more than 100 Mythic Summoning Scrolls, followed by 1000 Named Combat Summoning Scrolls, hundreds of blueprints, and countless necessities that ensured survivability in any territory, no matter how dangerous it may be.

    At that point, Michael couldn''t control his eyes from widening.

    ''Is every descendant of big families given that much? 100 Mythic Summoning Scrolls right off the bat, and 1000 Named Combat Summoning Scrolls¡­blueprints, a higher degree of refinement, a powerful Artifact¡­'' Michael ticked off the items in his mind, shocked to the core.

    ''It makes so much sense that these descendants are usually arrogant jerks. I would feel like the king of the world with all those benefits as well!''

    Michael was shocked, but he wasn''t jealous of the things Kaleb had been given. In fact, Michael was happy that Kaleb received so many things.

    Finally, his friend would enter the Origin Expanse. Kaleb would grow quickly given the enormous investment he had received from his family. There was the Zenovia family''s Inheritance technique as well.

    It was a nice challenge to see how long Kaleb would take to catch up to him since Michael was certain that Kaleb would give his utmost to charge up to Michael and overtake him as quickly as possible.

    Michael was certain that Kaleb would catch up to him. The only questions were how long Kaleb would take to overtake Michael, and how long Kaleb could keep the lead.

    ''Rivalry, it is? Well, I like it!!'' Michael thought without an ounce of jealousy.

    Earlier, Michael often felt envious when he saw how much most families spoiled their descendants, and how many great opportunities they''d been given. The young men his age who had to do nothing to receive what he strived for months toy his hands on would often make him jealous.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, that wasn''t the case anymore.

    The day Alice told him about the purity of Soultraits, Michael''s views changed drastically.

    He realized that the investments from their families came with a heavy price and many responsibilities.

    Michael wouldn''t want to carry their responsibilities, nor did he desire the same kind of investment the big families provided.

    Michael would rather strive hard and give his utmost effort every single day, instead of having it easier by allowing his family to turn him into their marite.

    Thus, Michael''s focus returned to his training when Kaleb disappeared through the Runic Gate.

    It was hard to speak to Alice for the next two days. She was too busy thinking about her brother, wondering how Kaleb was doing and when he woulde back.

    Michael tried to ease her worries by distracting her, but his attempts were hardly of any help. At the end of the day, Michael had to spend the next two days focusing on his Limit Breaker training session, and the study of the Caesurium Menta mind refining technique.

    His progress was slow, but he was slowly getting more adept at refining his mind. It was iparably harder to refine his mind than the refinement of his body. Michael had to follow a moreplex thought process to understand how the refinement of his mind worked.

    Not only was it necessary that Michael understood the anatomy of the brain, but he had toprehend how the mind worked. A low understanding of the mind was not enough to practice Caesurium Menta. The higher theprehension the easier it was to refine the mind. That was also why Michael was so slow right now.

    He was not bad at multitasking thanks to his constant training with multiple Soultraits, and his control of origin energy was already precise enough to use the third stage of the Caesurium Menta. The only missing factors were a better understanding of the mind and brain, and more origin energy.

    Michael fixed hiscking understanding of the mind and brain by studying a lot. Most others didn''t like studying, but Michael felt great knowing that he could broaden his horizon. He spent only two months in the Saphirke Military Academy, yet his knowledge and understanding of the Origin Expanse improved exponentially.

    Before, he had been a newborn, who had little to no knowledge about the Origin Expanse. Michael had been taught a lot in school, but it was easy to tell the difference between an Academy focusing on Awakened and the Origin Expanse, and the curriculum of an Elite High School.

    The Elite High School was exceptionalpared to other high schools, but it taught only little about the Origin Expanse and the various problems one faced as a Lord of a rapidly growing territory.

    The curriculum in Elite High Schools focused more on training with all types of weapons, the study of the Origin Language, and less on minor subjects such as psychology, basic territory development, how to survive in the wilderness, and so on.

    Combat was the most important.

    One way or another, Michael was happy. His life both inside the Origin Expanse and outside could hardly be better.

    There was hardly anything that irked him. His peers grew stronger by the day, but Michael didn''t grow weaker.

    It may look like he was hanging behind because his War Rune''s refinement degree didn''t improve as quickly as everyone else, but that made sense.

    Michael didn''t focus on the refinement of his War Rune at this point in his studies. His approach to a perfect foundation was different.

    Furthermore, he couldn''t keep up with the refinement degree of others even if he wanted to. That was why he chose an approach that allowed him to grow stronger and keep up with others without mindlessly improving the refinement degree of his War Rune!

    Thinking about his life in the Saphirke Military Academy and home, Michael felt that there was only one thing bothering him; he missed his brother.

    It looked like Danny had not set foot outside the Origin Expanse for the past three months. In the past, Danny spent several months in the Origin Expanse without leaving it even for a second.

    However, at that time, Danny''s territory had been on the verge of destruction. Recalling this event in the past, and the fact that his brother had looked like he was on the brink of starvation when he stepped out of the Origin Expanse for the first time after months, Michael was worried and a little frightened.

    His worry wasn''t eased at the sight of Alice tiptoeing in therge training hall. It caused the opposite effect.

    Fortunately, one of the two worrywarts didn''t have to keep worrying anymore.

    Two days after Kaleb stepped through the Runic Gate to enter the Origin Expanse for the first time in his life he returned.

    The moment the young man with blue hair and ocean-blue eyes stepped out of the Runic Gate, Alice rushed over to hug him tightly.

    Kaleb''s hair was disheveled, and his clothes were frozen, but his eyes screamed in excitement, and a vibrant smile blossomed on his face.

    He allowed his sister to hug him, and looked at Michael, unable to control his emotions anymore.

    Kaleb showed Michael the peace sign before he dropped the bomb.

    "I awakened a 7-Star Soultrait!"

 Chapter 196 Frozen Nova

    The moment Kaleb entered the Runic Gate, everything around him turned pitch-ck.

    He couldn''t see anything, and his other senses felt disoriented as well.

    The only thing he could feel was a strong force pulling him somewhere. The pitch-ck scenery around him began to change as time passed eerily slowly. Dazzling white points dotted the ck scenery around him. Stars emerged all around him, but before Kaleb could focus on the scenery, space twisted and he had to close his eyes.

    A bright light at the end of the Runic Gate dazzled him.

    For a moment, his sense of time disappeared. Kaleb was not sure how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes again, he felt great.

    Finally, he had arrived in the Origin Expanse!

    "I can catch up to you now, Michael!!" He shouted aloud as a strong gust of frigid air brushed past his face.

    He felt like he was about to freeze to death and began to shiver uncontrobly.

    Recalling what his sister told him, Kaleb essed the storage space of his War Rune. He retrieved a coat that had been made out of monster fur. It blocked cold naturally and repelled it, ensuring the wearer stayed warm and cozy.

    Once he wore the coat, Kaleb could finally take a look at his surroundings.

    It was cold, and the first things that entered his sight were frozen trees, a white wooden manor, and the beautiful appearance of the Basic Summoning Gate.

    It stood grandly in the midst of the small snowstorm with its simple yet imposing appearance. Kaleb stepped closer to the Summoning Gate, his eyes gleaming brightly. The Summoning Gate''s metal ring looked ordinary from afar, but the various symbols inscribed on its surface showed the metal ring''s true value. They allowed the Summoning Gate to work, and to manifest the shimmering pool of energy in the center of the Summoning Gate.

    "So beautiful¡­"

    Kaleb touched the cold metal and smiled foolishly.

    Tens of minutes passed without him moving from the spot in which he stared nkly at the Summoning Gate.

    He only regained his focus when he heard someone stepping through the snow behind him.

    "My Lord, I''ve been waiting for you," A young man wearing a suit greeted him with a deep bow.

    "I am the first resident of your glorious territory and your personal butler. My name is Killian, but feel free to call me whatever you like. My mission is to serve you until death, my lord."

    Killian retrieved a tattered leather scroll and a fist-sized crystal from the inner pocket of his suit and held them out for Kaleb to take.

    "My Fortune Summoning Scroll, and the Soultrait Awakening Crystal!" Kaleb eximed, his eyes gleaming in joy.

    He has been waiting way too long for this moment!

    Kaleb didn''t want to wait any longer. His hands shot forward to take both items at once.

    "Good job, Butler Killian. I''m Kaleb Zenovia, your Lord. Remember the start of our legend!" Kaleb said as the fist-sized crystal in his hand began to glow brightly.

    The glow was extremely bright, dazzling Kaleb and Butler Killian.

    The Soultrait Awakening Crystal had been triggered, and its miraculous power was unleashed!

    Streams of information flooded Kaleb''s mind, and he closed his eyes to enter his consciousness where a bright white light appeared in the deepest part of his being.

    The white light shone brightly. It seemed to pulsate as a symbol withplex lines and ovepping patterns manifested inside it.

    More information streamed inside his mind, as the symbol was beingpleted, revealing a cier blue supernova.

    The moment the symbol waspletely formed, Kaleb''s mind couldn''t take the information anymore.

    Blood gushed out of his pores and everything around him turned ck.

    Kaleb copsed as his knees buckled under his weight.

    The next thing Kaleb could remember was waking up surrounded by a fortress of ice.

    His entire territory was covered in ice. The wooden manor copsed, and the frozen trees crumbled.

    Huge tree-sized ice spikes shot up the area around the protection barrier. Some of them were covered in blood, while others had impaled rabbits, white deer, and other monsters grazing next to Kaleb''s territory while shooting up from the ground.

    Only Butler Killian was unscathed. He was on the ground next to Kaleb, trying his utmost to help his lord.

    "My Lord, please wake up!" He had been shouting repetitively, yet Kaleb couldn''t move.

    His entire body was drained of all its energy.

    He just wanted to use his Soultrait to test out its prowess when his entire energy was drained in an instant.

    "I am awake¡­" Kaleb said weakly while trying to not pass out.

    After Kaleb took a few deep breaths, Butler Killian helped Kaleb up. Yet, Kaleb''s mind was somewhere else.

    He was confused and over the moon.

    ''Frozen Nova¡­a 7-Star Soultrait¡­.''

    Only his Soultrait was on his mind, nothing else. Kaleb wished to activate his Soultrait once again. He took a deep breath and began to utilize the Chilling Phoenix energy absorption technique right away.

    In a cold environment, the energy absorption technique was exceedingly powerful. It allowed Kaleb to replenish his energy in less than half an hour. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Yet, using up the energy he had replenished over the course of half an hour didn''t even require five seconds. Kaleb activated his Soultrait with the desire to destroy the ice he had manifested unintentionally.

    Cracks formed all over the ice instantaneously and it burst apart the next moment, creating millions of tiny shards that shot in the same direction, where theypressed.

    A small ball of ice was formed from millions of tiny ice shards.

    Intrigued, Kaleb willed the ice ball to shoot toward the nearby mountain wall. It burst forth and crushed into the mountain wall, which froze at once. The next moment, Kaleb hoped that the ice ball would burst apart ¨C and that was exactly what happened ¨C destroying the mountain wall that was reduced to smithereens.

    His Soultrait drained all of his energy once again, depriving him of his consciousness a second time.

    But this time when Kaleb awoke, he was giddy with euphoria.

    "Powerful!"

    Controlling his Soultrait was extremely difficult, but that was only obvious. Even the lowest form of utility required a tremendous amount of energy. Kaleb hadn''t amassed enough origin energy to utilize the lowest form of Frozen Nova''s power. He had yet to learn how to further control his Soultrait to use only a portion of its weakest form, otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to use Frozen Nova until he reached the 3rd or 4th Tier.

    Frozen Nova was that powerful.

    Practicing the Zenovia family''s Inheritance technique would allow him to utilize Frozen Nova much easier, while certain techniques would give him clues and patterns that could be replicated to use the ice element of his Soultrait in a simple way.

    As long as Kaleb worked hard enough, he would be able to create icicles, ice spikes, and other ordinary elemental attacks.

    Creating ordinary elemental attacks would be much more difficult than creating a powerful attack that was strong enough to sweep through his enemies. This would change with increased proficiency and increase in strength, but that was not important for the time being.

    What was important was only that he had awoken a 7-Star Soultrait; one of the rarest and strongest Soultraits in the entire human race!

    It was exhrating.

    In excitement, Kaleb picked up the Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    He looked at the golden seal with glimmering eyes and broke it.

    No matter what kind of Summon he would obtain from the Fortune Summoning Scroll, Kaleb wouldn''tin.

    With a Soultrait like Frozen Nova there was no reason to feel likeining even if his summon would turn out to be Starless - which was highly unlikely.

    Despite his low expectations, Kaleb was confused when nothing happened after he broke the seal of the tattered Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    After one minute passed without anything happening, Kaleb began to wonder if Alice and everyone else lied to him about the usage of Summoning Scrolls. Maybe he did something wrong?

    But just before he let irritation and confusion get to him, the Fortune Summoning Scroll unrolled itself and shot inside the Summoning Gate''s shimmering pool of energy.

    In response to the Fortune Summoning Scroll disappearing inside the shimmering pool of energy, the intricate engravings all over the Summoning Gate''s surface began to shine brightly.

    In an instant, eight out of ten stars etched on the Summoning Gate began to shine brightly as well.

    A ninth star lit up a momentter. The star was bright golden, but something was wrong.

    The golden star devoured the light of the other stars, which dimmed down slowly.

    Only the golden star remained as the outlines of Kaleb''s first summon appeared in the pool of energy.

    The outlines showed arge bird standing tall and proud. Its body was several meters long and it looked sleek and muscr.

    "A Greater Eagle?" Kaleb mumbled his thoughts aloud, but he shook his head.

    The mythical aura that was seeping out of the pool of energy set the bird apart from any earthly creature.

    Bathed in the dim light that prated the icy surroundings, an extraordinary sight unfolded in front of Kaleb as the creature emerged from the pool of energy.

    The creature broke free, revealing its majestic figure. From the tip of its perfectly sculpted beak to the end of its long, slender tail, everything seemed otherworldly about his first summon.

    Each individual feather appeared meticulously crafted, reflecting the utmost attention to detail of the creator. The edges were outlined in a shimmering hue, glimmering with shades of sapphire, giving the creature an ethereal glow.

    Its feathers shimmered with a radiant blend of icy blues and ethereal whites, casting an otherworldly glow in the frozen surroundings.

    With graceful movements, it stepped onto the frozen ground, its talons gripping the frozen surface. A cold breeze swept through the vicinity of the summoned monster, carrying a scent of the Eternal Ice and the winter in its wake.

    The majestic creature spreads its wings widely, causing the sound of cracking ice to echo in the surroundings. It screeched out loudly while continuing to spread its wings, revealing intricate frost patterns etched onto the transparent membranes of the creature''s wings.

    The mythical creature surveyed its surroundings, its crystalline eyes gleaming with ancient and eternal wisdom.

    It looked straight into Kaleb''s ocean-blue eyes.

    ''Eternal Ice Phoenix¡­''

    The Link of Loyalty formed as they looked into each other''s eyes.

    Time seemed to stop as Kaleb stared in awe at the Eternal Ice Phoenix that soon became Kaleb''s second subject.

    Kaleb''s journey was just about to start, but he was already in possession of a mythical summon.

    A Summon capable of growing infinitely.

 Chapter 197 Perfect Physique

    As he stepped out of the bathtub, the embodiment of strength and power revealed itself in the form of a man with a perfectly trained physique.

    His entire body looked like it came right out of a factory; chiseled to perfection.

    Veins snaked their way across his bulging muscles, pulsating with vitality and the undeniable proof of Michael''s hard work. Beads of sweat clung to his broad shoulders that had been sculpted and defined by countless hours of training.

    Michael had pushed his body to the limit and beyond. With each breath he took, his chest expanded and contracted.

    His muscles rippled with every movement, hinting at the tremendous strength he possessed. His hands, calloused and hardened, bore witness to countless repetitions and heavy lifts, disying the determination Michael gained after learning about Kaleb''s first experience in the Origin Expanse.

    His face was flushed with the exertion of his workout, but he exuded a sense of satisfaction and aplishment. Finally, he finished the second stage of the Berserker Physique!

    Despite being far from advancing to the 2nd Tier, Michael''s physical strength now rivaled Tier-2 Monsters. His physique had been refined to the extreme, unraveling every bit of hidden potential in him.

    Not even a full month passed since Kaleb returned from the Origin Expanse the first time, but Michael felt increasingly confused.

    In thest two weeks, Michael began to understand how terrifying thebination of great investments, a powerful Soultrait, and an Inheritance technique could be. Kaleb had everything, and his progress was exceptional.

    The youngest member of the Zenovia family advanced to Tier-1 within a week of his Awakening. By then, Kaleb had a much easier time using his 7-Star Soultrait, Frozen Nova.

    Being the 10th human with a 7-Star Soultrait ¨C who was still alive ¨C, Kaleb''s awakening attracted lots of attention. Everyone considered Kaleb one of the 10 Heavens, and the Zenovia family''s image and goodwill increased exponentially.

    Following this, Alice had been called and told that she should focus more on Kaleb. That was also why Michael''s Individual teaching had been reduced to two sessions a week. Even then, Kaleb was always around them.

    With Kaleb by his side all day around, Michael knew best how fast his friend progressed.

    It was only a matter of time before Michael realized that their rivalry might turn into an endless pursuit from his side. He knew that he couldn''t wait any longer.

    By then, his tireless training began.

    He increased the weight of his heavyweightbat suit in the Limit Breaker course, increased his intake of nourishing and nutrient-rich meals, and he began to practice the Pandemonium''s Requiem energy absorption technique to always have enough origin energy to nourish the Berserker Physique as much as possible.

    Atst, his tireless work bore results. He was still at the Mid-stage of Tier-1, yet his physical strength and speed were much higher. It was an exceptional achievement. Despite that, Michael knew that he shouldn''t get carried away by the temporary sess.

    His rivalry with Kaleb was just getting started!

    Fortunately, the development of his territory was smooth. The expansion continued smoothly since he entered the Saphirke Military Academy, without facing any big setbacks.

    That was even more surprising than Kaleb''s awakening of the 7-Star Soultrait!

    Michael expected a lot, but he could have never presumed that the Twin Lions and Senator Keltos wouldn''t do anything about him, or the Untamed Jungle for thest 77 days.

    But Michael didn''t let the confusion bother him. His army hunted close to 200 monsters everyday on average for thest two and a half months, totaling more than 15,000 Tier-1 Monster corpses in less than three months.

    All of that was possible thanks to the expansion of his military, their increasing hunting proficiency, and because everyone grew much stronger.

    By now, everyone in the army had advanced to Tier-1. Michael invested a fortune to nourish his people, resulting in a rapid improvement of his military power. Their Tier increased alongside their equipment.

    It was much easier to hunt in the Untamed Jungle, and the only restriction put on Michael''s army was the decreasing number of monsters in the vicinity.

    The Untamed Jungle was still overpopted and flooded with fierce monsters, but that didn''t apply to the vicinity of Michael''s territory. Not anymore, at least.

    Using Extraction on more than 15,000 Tier-1 Monsters during thest two and a half months was bound to give him great loot.

    After hebined the Summoning Scroll Fragments, Michael gained a total of 11,930 Summoning Scrolls, 1873 blueprints, and 93 Artifacts from the Tier-1 Monsters of the Untamed Jungle. However, these were not the only gains Michael made.

    He received three daily Summons, adding a total of 454 1-Star Summons, and 8 2-Star Summons to his territory <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Since he entered the Saphirke Military Academy, the poption of Michael''s territory expanded by around 12,400 subjects, of which 8 were 2-Star Summons, 1743 were 1-Star Summons and the rest were Starless Summons.

    The addition of such a high number of subjects made it much easier to distribute the working force.

    Michael''s territory had many projects that required numerous helping hands, and it was good to have enough subjects to fill the gaps.

    Now that Michael finished the Berserker Physique, he could switch to the Sacred Rectification body refinement technique whenever he wanted.

    However, he felt that the refinement of his War Rune was of greater importance. He reached the Mid-stage only due to the big energy shares he received from his Summons'' Links of Loyalty. He didn''t even use energy pills for training purposes yet.

    Now that his physique was improved to near perfection, Michael could pick up the pace of his progress. It may not look like this, but he progressed rapidly. Others would only see the refinement degree of his War Rune while missing out on the most important factors; his truebat prowess, and the depth of his foundation.

    All of his money and time was invested to ensure a bigger and steady flow of returns. He invested to increase the efficiency of his ie streams, making sure that he could focus on his advancement and the progress of his army.

    The money he earned from selling monster corpses in the Bartholomew shop was used to buy equipment that allowed him to improve the quality and quantity of the low-level armament production ¨C which he provided to the Forest Elven tribe.

    The Forest Elves were in need of a high number of armaments of all levels. That was why Michael had been so heavily invested in cksmithing, which had been proven correct for thest two and a half months.

    Michael used tens of cksmith Summoning Scrolls, and he turned the Underground Ecosystem into a secret workshop for his artisans. It was one of his biggest projects since he entered the Origin Expanse, and it was certainly worth the investment he made. The hidden workshop turned into the cksmith''s workce and doubled-up as a ce to stay if they wanted to. The miners working in the lizard cave loved the ce as well. It wasn''t too far from their workce, and they could live there with their families.

    It was quiet and peaceful after the military cleared up the vicinity of the Underground Ecosystem.

    The Large-scale Underground Forging Hall had beenpleted and the production of low-level armaments was at its peak.

    In exchange for the low-level armaments he provided, the Forest Elves provided him with a big mountain of agricultural blueprints that were then sold to the Bartholomew Corporation.

    The Bartholomew Corporation was very thankful for his hard work. Michael provided more rare agricultural blueprints in three months than the corporation could collect in half a year. It was ridiculous but also amazing.

    The Department Head of the Bartholomew Corporation in the Saphirke Military Academy chose to strengthen Michael''s connections with the Bartholomew Corporation even more. They went out of their way and gifted him something extraordinary; a 4-Star Tier-1 Spatial Pouch Artifact!

    Ordinary Awakened didn''t require a Spatial Pouch Artifact. Their War Rune''s spatial space was more than enough to get through the day. However, many merchants required more space to travel around unhindered and carry arge number of items with them. They would always invest in Spatial Pouches and simr Artifacts because they were like the War Rune''s hidden spatial space.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael was sure that he wouldn''t require a Spatial Pouch either. However, he faced more situations where his War Rune''s space had been filled to the brim recently. He was wealthy enough to purchase all kinds of resources for his people, but he didn''t have enough space to carry them around in one trip.

    That was also why he had been forced to jump back and forth between the Origin Expanse and the Saphirke Military Academy more often than before.

    Thus, Michael was grateful for the gift.

    It was exceptionally useful and just what he required.

    Interestingly enough, the Bartholomew Corporation was not the only group that worked on strengthening their rtionship in thest few months. Michael''s rtionship with the Forest Elven tribe had improved as well.

    There was no exchange of gifts, but Michael began tomunicate with the Forest Elf Elders within the Origin Expanse.

    A month ago, Lilica handed him a messenger talisman that allowed long-distancemunication within the Origin Expanse. It used the surrounding origin energy to send mental messages through the messenger talisman.

    Michael felt that it was very useful as well, especially since he could talk to the Elders about the Temple of the Forgotten.

    The Elders were very interested in the Temple of the Forgotten, and they would have loved to visit Michael''s territory to take a look.

    Unfortunately, that was not within their possibilities. The Forest Elves had never heard about the Zentika Empire before Lilica told them about the Native Empire.

    Even if they wanted toe to Michael''s territory, they weren''t sure how long they would have to travel through the Origin Expanse ¨C forget about the direction they had to travel, in the first ce.

 Chapter 198 Big Problem

    Other than the Underground Forging Hall, Michael focused on investing in his people ¨C which included his army. After all the investments he made, some of his Starless Summons attained enlightenment! They became 1-Star Summons after putting great effort into their training and studies.

    It was a rare urrence for Starless Summons to attain enlightenment even among hard-working subjects, and it was an especially happy asion since more than a dozen Starless Summons became Warriors.

    Michael felt his spirits soaring high these days.

    Even his smaller streams of ie began to grow rapidly. The Bilrox Ranch expanded, the farmers created more cocoa farms, more Tiatcha trees were nted, and so on.

    Every stream of ie allowed him to earn more money, which would then be invested again.

    Despite his vast ie, Michael was not even close to purchasing the ingredients required for the short-distance teleportation array, and to upgrade his Basic Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank.

    Both projects required more funds. A lot more than his current ie, in fact.

    Michael was in need of more money, meaning that he had to continue expanding his business.

    Thus, he visited Xiltra after a long time. He hadn''t been in Xiltra for two months and he wanted to take a look at the market over there. Maybe, he could make a bargain.

    Other than the possibility of making a bargain in Xiltra, Michael was also a little restless about the long stretch of peace. His territory had not been attacked and the Senator seemed to have gone silent. Something felt off, and the thought was always troubling him at the back of his mind. Thus, he had to find out what was going on or find solid proof that his gut feeling was telling him nonsense.

    Unfortunately, the solid proof he found proved his gut feeling to be correct rather than doing the opposite.

    Xiltra had changed a lot in two months.

    The guards were more thorough in their inspection of the people entering the border city, and they stared long at Michael when he entered the city after a long time.

    His identification record stated that Michael had visited Xiltra quite often already, but the guards were still wary of him. They were vignt of everyone, to be precise!

    Inside Xiltra, the atmosphere was just as heavy. The citizens were vignt of everyone, and they hurried through the streets as if someone was pursuing them.

    Everyone had grown more vignt of the people around them, which confused Michael a lot.

    He hoped to obtain answers in Xiltra''s guildhall, but the guildhall looked like a warzone. It was flooded with adventurers ranging from Tier-1 to Tier-3. It was impressive, but also worrying to look at.

    ''The number of Mercenaries and Adventurers increased that much in two months? Did something happen?'' Michael wondered.

    He knew that Xiltra was the closest to the Untamed Jungle. Thus, Michael first thought that something must have happened in the Untamed Jungle to change the atmosphere in the entire Border City. The number of guards increased drastically, just like the number of Mercenaries and Adventurers roaming through the streets.

    However, if something had happened in the Untamed Jungle, Michael would have noticed that by now.

    ''Something else is wrong¡­''

    "It''s so fucking boring here. Not even the women here are interesting!" A hoarse voice rang through the left half of the guildhall.

    Nobody paid attention to the guy, who continued to bellow loudly.

    "Just give us our fucking money, and we''ll jump into action at once. Why do we have to wait? For what? This is so useless!!"

    Michael''s attention moved to the loud voice. He saw a Lionheart seated around a few Adventurers ¨C evidently drunk.

    "The Twins said that they''re still waiting for someone. Just wait one more week," The Lionheart seated next to the drunk grumbler said in a reassuring way.

    However, the drunk, grumbling Lionheart didn''t want to calm down, not anymore.

    "We''ve been waiting for weeks without any pay. They should just give us our fucking money instead of making us wait!! These Twins ought to receive a p for telling us to rush to Xiltra for this shitty project, just to leave us hanging for weeks!!"

    The calmer Lionheart sighed deeply and got up from his chair. He didn''t want to stay with this idiot anymore.

    "Just shut up before the Twins hear the nonsense you''re spouting. Our mission is to clear the outer area of the Untamed Jungle once everyone is present. If you''re bored or dirt-poor after wasting your entire fortune on women, you might as wellplete some other missions like others. There are more than enough missions you can pick from!!"

    ''Clear the Untamed Jungle''s outer area?'' Michael almost blurted out loud. His eyes widened in surprise.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Was that why Xiltra changed so much?

    ''Are all of those mercenaries and Adventurers here because of the Twin Lions? To clear the outer area¡­''

    Michael nibbled on his lower lip. He moved through the crowded guildhall and continued eavesdropping on the drunk Adventurers, trying to make sense of the situation.

    Apparently, some of them had been in Xiltra for close to two months by now. They didn''t dare to enter the Untamed Jungle on their own but were willing to enter the Untamed Jungle alongside arge group of powerful Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    ording to some drunk adventurers, the Jungle Expedition was also funded by the Empire''s Council. To be precise, Senator Keltos was funding the Jungle Expedition. He advertised it as a first step to the Zentika Empire''s expansion, and the removal of the big thorn in the Zentika Empire''s flesh; the Untamed Jungle.

    If they wanted to expand their Empire, they would have to remove the Untamed Jungle sooner orter. It was a humongous area that was presumed to be bigger than the Zentika Empire ¨C and no one had imed it yet.

    Senator Keltos repeatedly said that this had to change. That it was time for the Zentika Empire to challenge the Monsters of the Untamed Jungle.

    Thus, the Jungle Expedition had been funded, requesting the help of both Adventurers and Mercenaries ranging from Tier-1 to Tier-3.

    ''So he started to act? But he is still trying to cover up that he is actively searching for something in the Untamed Jungle, isn''t he?'' Michael concluded Senator Keltos'' actions with a deep frown.

    Michael figured that Senator Keltos connected the Lionheart Leader''s distress signal with the disappearance of the aggressive Lionheart and the death of the six Adventurer teams¡­and it looked like he had had enough. That was pretty bad.

    Michael got to know more about the Jungle Expedition, but the only good news was that the rewards weren''t good enough to convince Tier-4 powerhouses to join the Jungle Expedition of the Untamed Jungle''s outer area.

    The benefits weren''t high enough to convince many Awakened at Tier-3 either. But that wasn''t necessary, in the first ce. The outer area of the Untamed Jungle didn''t have any Tier-3 Monster habitats to begin with. The border to the middle zone was where some of the more troublesome opponents created their habitat ¨C but even these Monsters were not Tier-3.

    ''The rewards are too great for Tier-1 and Tier-2 Adventurers to miss out on¡­I think that means in a few weeks war will break out¡­''

    War was close, and Michael knew that he would be dragged into it. His territory was still in the outer area of the Untamed Jungle. He may be close to the border of the middle zone, but that didn''t change the fact that the Jungle Expedition affected him directly.

    But the biggest problem was not the existence of the Jungle Expedition itself, but rather its sheer size.

    ''The Senator is definitely sick of hearing about his subordinates'' failures¡­'' Michael grumbled in his head when he heard how many Adventurers and Mercenaries found their way to Xiltra in thest two weeks.

    At least, more than 10,000 Adventurers and close to 50,000 Mercenaries had gathered from the surrounding border cities and the areas around.

    It was a mid-scale expedition into the Untamed Jungle; the first to be carried out in thest few decades.

    "Fuck this shit," Michael cursed loud enough for others to hear him when he left Xiltra after he finished his research.

    His final research stated that the Jungle Expedition consisted of 55,000 Tier-1 Participants, 11,000 Tier-2 participants, and a few dozen Tier-3 Awakened.

    On the other hand, Michael''s military power consisted of less than a thousand Tier-1 Combat Summons, five Tier-2 Forest Elves, a Peak Tier-1 Battle Maid, a powerful Peak Tier-1 Masked Saber, and himself.

    It would be great if that was enough to handle the Jungle Expedition, but Michael didn''t live in a flowery dream. No, he lived in a world where he had to work his ass off in order to make everything work out.

    The numerical disadvantage and the fact that he would have to face Tier-3 Awakened were the biggest problems. As long as he worked really hard, Michael didn''t think that 55,000 Tier-1 Mercenaries and Awakened would be enough to destroy his territory. He had literally spent his ie like water to upgrade the defense of his territory so that anything below the 2nd Tier could not cause any serious damage.

    Nheless, the terrific high number of the Jungle Expedition''s participants was very worrisome.

    On the bright side, he had only one advantage; he roughly knew when the Jungle Expedition would start.

    After eavesdropping on drunk idiots the whole day, Michael got to know that the Jungle Expedition would start in roughly seven days. Unfortunately, that was the number of days inside the Origin Expanse, not outside.

    It wasn''t much, but it was not as if he could postpone the start of the Jungle Expedition.

    So, what was he going to do about it?

    He began preparing for war, obviously!

 Chapter 199 Hunters

    For a moment, Michael felt helpless.

    Seeing the progress of his territory and imagining all of it getting destroyed by tens of thousands of enemies made him stare nkly ahead.

    Fortunately, his helplessness subsided quickly. If he wanted to survive and ensure that his people wouldn''t sumb to a miserable fate, they could not afford to sit idle.

    The first thing he did was also the most difficult; he informed his people about the uing war. Michael revealed as many details as possible while trying to make the worst information sound nonchnt and less troublesome than other details.

    Unfortunately, his subjects weren''t stupid.

    "What should we do?" Liopham asked when Michael finished his exnation.

    The Forest Elf didn''t sound desperate. He didn''t even think about running away either. On the contrary, Liopham stared at Michael with determination.

    Lilica, the other Forest Elves, and everyone else present turned to Michael as well.

    "We expected something big to happen because it was silent for too long," Tiara revealed to which the majority responded with an affirmative nod.

    "Oh really?" Michael asked in surprise.

    He then changed his approach, thankful that everyone seemed to take in the news much better than expected. Given their reaction, Michael had been hit the worst by the news. That was a good thing though. It made the following steps much easier.

    "We have seven days to install more traps and expand the canopy bridge. We''ll halt all projects that can be postponed for a while and will focus on the transformation of the territory. We should start creating a Jungle fortress," Michael said before he added a few more points.

    "We have a bunch of ballista blueprints,rge-scale catapult blueprints, and I can procure a few more poison potion recipes. As long as we render most of our opponents incapable of continuing the fight, they''re dead. Let''s use the Untamed Jungle''s environment to use poison to the extreme."

    The Untamed Jungle was the perfect environment to fight arge number of opponents. The densely grown flora and fauna made it increasingly more difficult to fight in big numbers. Large groups found it harder to move through the Untamed Jungle, which provided a major advantage to Michael and his people.

    But there was more they could do. Michael sent ire Tracer and the other future Trackers out to scan the surroundings. Many Adventurers and Mercenaries were bored after staying in Xiltra too long. They started going on missions to ease their boredom.

    These missions were inevitably rted to the ins around Xiltra, or the Untamed Jungle. The ins didn''t have too many monsters because they were easier to hunt, yet the Untamed Jungle had arge poption of monsters that could be found at the borders to the ins every now and then.

    That meant many Adventurers and Mercenaries would bepleting their missions near the border, and Michael intended to hunt them down.

    Decreasing the number of their opponents was a good way to start the battle against the Jungle Expedition.

    First, Michael separated the Forest Elves to have one Tier-2 Adventurer as the leader of every group. Then, he distributed missions ording to the specialty of every unit. Some would turn into the Bloodhounds, while others would focus on the protection of the workers, who would have to pay their full attention to the installment of traps and obstacles.

    Michael then picked Icarus, Masked Saber, Tiara, and Lilica to create a powerful assault team.

    After Icarus advanced to Mid Tier-1, the Greater Eagle grew in size and strength. He could now carry a total of four people on his back without a great negative impact.

    Their group of five was strong enough to deal with a Tier-2 Adventurer team ¨C which was exactly the kind of team Michael targeted.

    Even if Michael had yet toe up with a perfect n to obliterate the Jungle Expedition, he was doing everything possible to ensure his territory''s safety.

    Attaining unfathomable strength in seven days was not possible, but Michael could hunt Adventurers, and extract their Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments to increase his strength rapidly.

    It was an opportunity and the most efficient way to be stronger in no time. Furthermore, the fewer Tier-2 Adventurers they had to deal withter, the better!

    ire and her Tracker Unit returned less than an hourter with their reports. More than ten groups of Mercenaries and Adventurers had been found at the border of the Untamed Jungle, or near the Untamed Jungle.

    ire showed them their location on the map, and the Hunters started moving.

    Icarus shot in the air with Masked Saber, Tiara, Lilica, and Michael on his back.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They burst through the open area in the clearing and flew through the air with great speed. Less than half an hourter, they reached the border to the ins.

    "The expedition will probably move through the Untamed Jungle in batches along the border. I should have a few days before they reach the territory," Lilica pointed out while tightly gripping Icarus'' plumage.

    She was scared witless to be flying at such a great height but tried to sound casual. Unfortunately, her trembling voice exposed Lilica.

    Funnily enough, Tiara wasn''t doing much better. Her hair stood up on its end, and her tail was fully tensed. Only Michael and Masked Saber were doing fine.

    Icarus flew at a low altitude. The past trauma prevented him from flying too high above the Untamed Jungle, in fear that the mythical serpent would return to burn them alive. But luckily, no such thing happened.

    They reached the ins where Michael exerted both Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement to search the groups of Adventurers.

    It didn''t take long before they found a group of Adventurers making a campfire a little bit farther away. No group was close to them, which gave Michael and the others the perfect opportunity to strike.

    As Icarus flew closer, Michael and Lilica prepared their bows. Lilica retrieved a Piecker and the Woodwoven Bow Artifact, while Michael manifested the Siltang Bow. He condensed the strongest energy arrow before utilizing Lesser Enhancement on the Siltang Bow and the energy arrow. Afterward, he pulled the bowstring back.

    Lilica followed suit, ready to release the arrow at any moment.

    Icarus observed the Adventurer team vigntly. They didn''t seem to notice Icarus flying above them until Icarus was less than 200 meters away from them. By then, Michael and Lilica were at a shooting range. Michael gave a subtle sign and both him and Lilica released their arrows simultaneously.

    Afterward, they returned their Artifacts back into the War Rune before crouching down. Icarus shot downward the next moment, diving toward the startled Adventurers.

    Once they were close enough to the ground, Lilica, Masked Saber, and Tiara jumped down from Icarus'' back.

    Michael waited a moment longer. He manifested the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and used Lesser Enhancement on his whole body before he jumped down as well.

    He smashed into the ground which caved in from the heavy impact. The next moment, Seron Voulge manifested in his hands, and he charged forward in a sh.

    The immense physical power of a highly refined physique was clearly demonstrated as he reached top speed in the blink of an eye. Lesser Enhancement''s increase in strength boosted his physical strength by another 35%, giving him an additional boost in speed. Michael appeared in front of the closest Adventurer in the blink of an eye and shed out mercilessly.

    Simultaneously, he manifested a Spirit Whip, which he also enhanced with Lesser Enhancement before heshed out.

    The Adventurer jumped up and manifested his Artifacts to prepare for battle when the enhanced Spirit Whip hit him just as the Destor was about to unleash his own Soultrait.

    His Soultrait was forcefully terminated, and his mind was hit hard, preventing the Adventurer from reacting in time. By the time he regained hisposure, blood began gushing out of his throat. Seron Voulge had cut deep into his opponent''s neck, lethally injuring him.

    Michael further twisted the de in his opponent''s neck before he continued to move.

    However, instead of mindlessly attacking. Michael exerted Spirit Whip a few more times. He was in range to strike all enemies with Spirit Whip, which was exactly what Michael did.

    He whipped all of them twice, without another backward nce, and continued to move ahead.

    A few arrows shot past his torso and head, but they didn''t hit him. On the contrary, they drilled deep into their enemies'' knees and mouths, killing one of their own.

    By the time all Adventurers reacted, Masked Saber and Tiara had already appeared in front of them as well.

    Icarus continued his rampage simultaneously. He''d smashed heavily on the weakest Adventurers before his talons did the rest, gouging out the opponent''s eyes.

    Less than two minutes after the start of the battle, Michael and the others departed once again.

    The Adventurers'' corpses were tightly secured in Michael''s War Rune.

    "One down, nine to go!"

 Chapter 200 Dismembering Soultrait Symbols

    Michael and the others left the crime scene quickly.

    Their mission was to annihte the remaining Adventurer teams as quickly as possible without getting seen.

    Meanwhile, the other Hunter Units initiated their first attack as well.

    Liopham used his Soultrait, Rage of the Primal, to manifest a Spirit Totem in a bush near the border to the ins. Arge group of more than 15 Tier-1 Adventurers and Mercenaries had been harvesting herbs, and sneakily hunting smaller groups of monsters nearby.

    With the use of Rage of the Primal''s full potential, arge group of Tier-1 Monsters was attracted towards them. The Monsters lost their rationality sensing the bloody red hue of the Spirit Totem, and they went berserk. More than 60 Tier-1 Monsters charged toward the Spirit Totem that disappeared the moment the Monsters were about to pounce at it.

    The Spirit Totem disappeared but the Monsters kept charging through the thicket where they smelled the Adventurer team. Still following their wild instincts, the Monsters changed their target and attacked the Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    Simultaneously, Liopham and the group of Archers were close on his heels with their arrows nocked upon their bows and the string pulled back. When the two parties shed the first time, Liopham and his people joined the battle from far away.

    Their aim was precise and deadly. Liopham hit every single intruder, killing one Adventurer after another. Meanwhile, the Archers next to him aimed at their opponents'' vitals, giving the Monsters a chance to taste blood before they were hunted down as well.

    In less than ten minutes, the battle ended. None of the Monsters survived and neither did the group of 15 Tier-1 Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    Liopham stored all corpses inside his War Rune''s storage space before they cleaned up the bloody battlefield. Afterward, they disappeared to attack their next target.

    The youngest Forest Elf went on a hunt with the Forest Walkers ¨C one of Michael''s most recent Summons. They were 2-Star Forest Elf Summons with the potential to turn into great assassins. The youngest Forest Elf led the Forest Walkers through the Untamed Jungle with nimble movements.

    After spending several months in the Untamed Jungle, the youngest Forest Elf knew this ce like his home. Every nook and cranny was engraved in his mind, providing him with the information he needed to find the best spots to lurk and initiate a deadly attack.

    Three groups of Adventurers were located nearby, and the youngest Forest Elf moved close to the border before he waited patiently until the three Adventurer teams began to move.

    Two went closer to the Untamed Jungle when they encountered a small group of Frenzy Deers grazing near the border. Meanwhile, the third took a short break to count the herbs they''d collected.

    The youngest Forest Elf, Mika Zels, made his move then. He retrieved a Bow Artifact that was muchrger than the Woodwoven Bow. It was a longbow with several spots to nock an arrow on. Yet, instead of retrieving several arrows, Mika retrieved only one.

    Then, he used his Soultrait for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

    [Arrow Duplication] A 4-Star Soultrait.

    It wasn''t a low-ranked Soultrait, but the power was simple.

    It allowed the duplication of arrows for a short period.

    But that was not everything. The duplicated arrows could also change their trajectory. The traces of energy inside the duplicated arrows allowed precise changes in trajectory using origin energy and the mental power of the user.

    Mika didn''t like his Soultrait because it required too much mental power under normal circumstances. However, he had to use it now. He created a total of five duplicated arrows, nocked all of them on the unique longbow and pulled the bowstring back.

    Then he closed his eyes for a moment and held his breath.

    When Mika opened his eyes again he released the arrows and focused on the utility of his Soultrait. The arrows flew through the air in a beautiful arc. They created a whistling noise that attracted the attention of the resting Adventurers, who turned around their heads in surprise.

    However, it was already toote.

    The moment they saw the iing arrows, their deaths had been sealed. The arrows'' trajectory changed subtly when the Adventurers moved, and they pierced deep into the necks of their designated targets the next moment.

    But Mika was not done after the first batch of arrows reached their target. He used Arrow Duplication for two more batches of arrows to eliminate the remaining Adventurers of the resting team. Meanwhile, the Forest Walkers began to move as well.

    Distracted due to the pained groans and fearful screams of the Adventures further behind them, the two teams closer to the Untamed Jungle were confused for a minute. They turned around to figure out what had just happened, only to lose their lives the next moment as a cold metal de sliced across their throat.

    The Forest Walkers had made their move, eliminating their threat with a single strike.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Once the resting Adventurer team was eliminated by the barrage of arrows under Mika''s control, the youngest Forest Elf changed his target. He supported the Forest Walkers from high up in the air. Mika was high up in a tree close to the border. It was hard to locate him as he hid behind the thick canopy of leaves but he was still near his opponents.

    After releasing his Soultrait a few more times to eliminate the remaining opponents, Mika ended up utterly exhausted. His mental power was drained and so was the origin energy inside his body.

    "This Soultrait is such a drainer," He grumbled loudly as he climbed down the tree in a few swift movements. He collected the corpses of the adventurers and mercenaries inside his War Rune''s storage and disappeared into the Untamed Jungle with his people.

    In addition to Mika and Liopham, the two remaining members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team didn''t hesitate to eliminate their opponents either. They finished them off in the blink of an eye and vanished into the Untamed Jungle as if they''d never been there in the first ce.

    Once all Adventurer- and Mercenary teams had been eliminated, Michael and the others took a second nce at the battlefields. All the traces of battle had been wiped out thoroughly, leaving no indication that blood had ever been spilled on thatnd.

    Afterward, they returned to the Untamed Jungle where ire and more than a hundred Forest Elf summons were busy running around. They rushed alongside the border to the ins of the Zentika Empire to find more Adventurer teams.

    With more than 60,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries sitting idle in Xiltra, it was only obvious that many had grown bored over the course of close to two months. So some of them decided to hunt on their own instead of waiting for the Senator''s orders.

    That was also how ire and the Forest Elf Summons found a bunch of teams, which Michael and the others began to hunt.

    They continued the hunting tactic for three more days until the overall danger around them lessened and the situation was favorable once again. No more Adventurers and Mercenaries dared approach the Untamed Jungle.

    Tiara and everyone else presumed that the authorities in Xiltra took note of the missing Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    It was not long after the Adventurers and Mercenaries disappeared when Icarus sighted a bunch of scouts evenly spread out across the border to the Untamed Jungle.

    The scouts were vignt and didn''t dare toe too close to the Untamed Jungle. Nheless, they used their abilities and Soultraits to scout their surroundings. Thus, Michael and his people chose to retreat for the time being.

    Back in the territory, Michael used Extraction on the Adventurers and Mercenaries they''d hunted.

    Most Mercenaries were Natives of the Origin Expanse. They were former Summons and didn''t have a War Rune. Unfortunately, that also meant the Mercenaries wouldn''t drop SoulStar Fragments.

    That made a big difference in the number of SoulStar Fragments Michael extracted. Nheless, the final result was impressive.

    He extracted a total of 2310 SoulStar Fragments from more than 180 Adventurers. Extracting a Tier-1 Adventurer provided him with an average of 5 SoulStar Fragments. Meanwhile, a Tier-2 Adventurer was much stronger. The lowest number of SoulStar Fragments extracted from Tier-2 Adventurers was 7. The highest was 19.

    Of course, Michael also extracted a few Soultrait Symbols. Three fully intact Soultrait Symbols had been extracted as well. However, instead of fusing them, Michael used Extraction on the Soultrait Symbols to disintegrate the Soultrait Symbols into SoulStar Fragments.

    The Soultrait Symbols were bound to give him Soultraits of a low star rating given his experience with Soultraits, but that was not the sole reason he disintegrated the Soultrait Symbols.

    He was certain that it was better to have more SoulStar Fragments to upgrade his existing Soultraits than fusing with more Soultraits since he didn''t have enough time to study new Soultraits and get more ustomed to them.

    Using Soultraits he had never practiced before was a little bit difficult. It would be impossible to use them precisely inbination with his other Soultraits for quite a while. That required lots of practice.

    He already had a few Soultraits forbat, and his experience in using them together was pretty high as well. It would be better to upgrade them to increase hisbat prowess rather than experimenting.

    Extracting the three Soultrait Symbols provided him with an additional 351 SoulStar Fragments. Adding them to the 2310 he''d extracted just now, and the remaining 96 inside his consciousness, Michael was now in possession of 2757 SoulStar Fragments.

    That was most definitely enough to upgrade Extraction to a 5-Star Soultrait.

    But was that really what Michael wanted?

    Right now, Michael had five Soultraits. With 2757 SoulStar Fragments, any of them could be upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait. But which one should Michael upgrade? Which Soultrait would provide the most benefits against the masses of the Jungle Expedition?

    "Should I upgrade all Soultraits to 4-Star, and distribute the remaining SoulStar Fragments evenly?"

 Chapter 201 At A Loss

    Michael thought for a long time about the next step to remove the threat of the Jungle Expedition, but he felt a little helpless.

    He read the reports written by ire, her disciples, and the Forest Elf Summons to have as many detailed pieces of information as possible. Yet, Michael didn''t have a foolproof n.

    Multiple strategies formed in his mind, but none of them seemed perfect. Something was missing¡­and Michael could not put his finger on it.

    The thought of trying to reach something within reach but still grasping just air was unbearable. It made him feel like something was eating him from the inside out.

    "It should be fine if I leave the Origin Expanse for a few minutes, right?" Michael murmured to himself.

    He hoped that a change of scenery would clear his mind and that the missing piece would fall into hisp.

    "The scouts of the Jungle Expedition are still far away, and Icarus hasn''t returned yet either. So, I believe it will take a while before the Jungle Expedition starts. Just make sure that youe back safe," Lilica said calmly.

    At least, she was trying to stay calm. That was pretty difficult in the given situation.

    For a moment, she hoped that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team could just disappear and never return so that they would not have to worry about any of this. However, she knew deep down that it was wrong and selfish. If they did that, Michael would die, his territory would be destroyed, and thousands of Forest Elf Summons would disappear as well.

    There was also Michael''s tireless effort to produce Armaments for the Forest Elven tribe, and the Forest Elf Summoning Core installed in his Summoning Gate. Even if she was worried, Lilica knew that they would never be able to leave. The entire EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team understood this fact very well.

    It was a little bit problematic that thousands of invaders were about to infiltrate the Untamed Jungle, but it was not as if they weren''t prepared. The issue was just the scale of the Jungle Expedition and their high numerical advantage.

    "I will return in no time. I won''t abandon my territory, don''t worry," Michael said reassuringly as he manifested the Runic Gate.

    He stepped through the Runic Gate and disappeared, leaving Lilica and the others behind.

    "You would rather die than see your territory be destroyed, I know," Lilica murmured quietly.

    If not for Michael being the Lord of this territory, Lilica and the rest of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team would have left by now. The threat of the Jungle Expedition was too much to handle for them. Michael''s territory didn''t even have a military force exceeding 1000batants. Only the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team''s members were at Tier-2 as well.

    No matter how they looked at the situation, they could not see any way to ovee this ordeal.

    Yet, Michael didn''t panic. On the contrary, he immediately initiated an attack to kill hundreds of opponents to reduce the number of opponents even before the Jungle Expedition began.

    Then Michael extracted something from the Adventurers that caused the War Runes of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to go crazy.

    They had yet to ask Michael what these transparent marbles were, but it was not difficult to tell that they were something amazing.

    Since the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team joined Michael''s territory they learned a lot about Michael, his special powers, and the reason his territory had prospered so much.

    The most important reason was Extraction. He could expand the poption of his territory much faster than anyone else, but that was not all. It looked like Michael could do much more with Extraction than they first presumed.

    Michael didn''t tell them a lot about Extraction, but they figured that Michael was in possession of four, or more, Soultraits. They also knew that he had a Soultrait that was eerily simr to the Soultrait used by the Lionheart Leader.

    Slowly but steadily the mystery about Michael''s Soultraits was unveiled. However, Michael didn''t really care about that. If he had been too bothered about keeping Extraction a secret, he would have acted more vignt.

    But there were more important things to pay attention to right now.

    Ensuring the safety of his territory was his number-one priority right now!

    Michael was deep in thought after he stepped out of his room. He was supposed to be in the training hall as his individual teaching with Alice was today.

    Thus, he rushed over to the training hall where both Alice and Kaleb were already training.

    Kaleb joined their individual teaching after he manifested his War Rune.

    He was mostly focused on his Soultrait study, but he asionally sparred with Michael.

    Today, Kaleb wanted to spar with Michael again. He felt that his control of the Frozen Nova Soultrait had improved enough to fight Michael. If nothing went wrong he might even be able to defeat Michael!

    Unfortunately, Michael wasn''t in the training hall when he and Alice arrived for the training session.

    Kaleb''s spirits dampened in an instant, while Alice only shrugged and gave his brother a reassuring pat. Michael was a reliable man. Alice was sure that Michael had a good reason for histe arrival.

    However, she didn''t expect Michael to be covered in dried blood when he arrived in the training hall.

    His short hair was disheveled and he looked like he hadn''t bathed in thest few days. His clothes were torn, while blood and dirt were smeared all across his body.

    "I won''t be able to attend the next few sses. I might have to stay in the Origin Expanse for a few days," Michael said immediately, instead of greeting the siblings.

    Kaleb frowned deeply after hearing what Michael said. Seeing his appearance, Kaleb immediately recalled thest time Michael had stayed in the Origin expanse for a longer period. Not only was Michael injured after that, but his mood had been the worst for several days. He had even beat up Frederik and Jacqueline, fighting like a ferocious beast.

    Kaleb sensed that something was wrong.

    "Will you be fine?" He asked.

    Michael just shrugged while looking at his friend, "Probably."

    Only when she heard the slight trace of uncertainty in Michael''s voice did Alice react.

    "What''s the issue?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The reason Michael had headed to the training hall was to clear his mind and talk a little to Alice and Kaleb. He wanted to be distracted from the uing mid-scale battle. However, it looked like Alice didn''t want to give him the peace of distraction.

    But that might actually be for the best. Alice had more experience with the Origin Expanse. She would definitely know what he had to do.

    "It''s a little bit difficult to exin," Michael began to speak but he halted in his tracks the next instant.

    Was he going to expose his territory, or would he keep some information a secret?

    ''It doesn''t really matter where my territory lies, right? Not a single human Lord is nearby, either way. Why am I overthinking again? Just act like the foolish idiot you are and reveal everything. If that''s needed to save your people, do it, you fool!!!''

    Michael pped his cheeks with great force. A loud p resounded in the training hall, causing the Zenovia siblings to stare at Michael with slight surprise.

    They had never seen Michael like that ¨C flustered and uncertain about what to do next. It was totally different from his usual behavior.

    That meant Michael''s situation was far from easy to handle.

    "My territory is located in the outer area of a really dangerous region, and a Native Empire funded an expedition recently. They want to clear the outer area of the region for the first time in decades."

    Michael didn''t speak loudly, but the siblings heard every word he said.

    "There are two problems; I might have annoyed a Senator of that Native Empire by killing some of his subordinates in thest few months. He never found out that I was the one who killed them, and he probably thinks that the perpetrator or cause is rted to the region I have my territory in. Setting aside the first problem, the second one is a little bit more annoying¡­the expedition has more than 60,000 participants. Most of them are Mercenaries, but at least 10,000 are Adventurers."

    The tension in the room intensified when Michael voiced out the second problem. 60,000batants were equivalent to a mid-scale army. No matter how strong they were individually, the collective force was already enough to give Kaleb goosebumps.

    "Theirbat prowess ranges from Tier-1 to Tier-3 ¨C though there are only a few dozen Tier-3 Awakened. Sooo¡­.I''m currently at a loss of how to tackle them because I am trying to think of a way to kill them all without exposing the existence of my territory just yet. Until now, that worked pretty well, but it will be a ''little'' bit more difficult."

    Michael scratched the back of his head, and he sighed heavily before he added quietly.

    "¡­I am not even that bothered about exposing the location of my territory. It''s more important to survive the attack of tens of thousands¡­"

    Alice raised an eyebrow after listening to Michael''s worries. Meanwhile, Kaleb''s frown deepened.

    He might have called all of this a bluff had it been someone else but over thest few weeks, he had gotten a better understanding of Michael and his thought process.

    Kaleb was certain that Michael was one of the worst liars in existence. Even if he had some secrets, Michael would rather admit that he had secrets, or that he couldn''t talk about something instead of lying.

    But that didn''t really help in this situation. In fact, Kaleb hoped sincerely that Michael was lying to them right now. If not, Michael''s situation was truly the worst.

    "Do you need some help? If you need something, I can help you out!" Kaleb thus offered without hesitation.

    But Michael just chuckled lightly, "If you cannot lend me a bunch of Tier-3 Soldiers, or your Soultrait, I don''t think you can help me."

    "..."

    Kaleb shut his mouth and frowned deeply.

    "I don''t know how strong your territory''s military force is, but you should try to use the surrounding environment to your advantage. If they need Tier-3 Adventurers to conquer the outer area of the region, it holds a certain degree of danger. Sending more than 60,000 participants also means that the region is quite big. Try to make use of the region''s size and existing dangers in your favor as much as possible," Alice advised.

    "If the topography isplex and dangerous, exploit that. If there are powerful monsters nearby, use them to your advantage."

    Alice gave him a few more tips, but there was only so much she could do. Her pieces of advice might be helpful, but she didn''t know Michael''s territory as well as he did. It was his battle and only he could fight it well.

    If Michael had time, he would have tried finding out some secrets about his enemies, and exploiting certain aspects of his territory, and the means he could deploy to outwit his opponents. However, time was a luxury he could not afford right now.

    Hence, Michael listened to Alice''s advice intently. Her experience in dealing with enemies in the Origin Expanse helped him a lot, especially since her advice came from someone who didn''t know everything about his region. She could stay neutral and look at the situation from apletely different point of view. That helped him a lot.

    Furthermore, Alice''s words allowed him to gain a better understanding of certain things. He recalled some things he had totally forgotten. It might allow him to change the tide of the Jungle Expedition a little.

    "Thanks a lot. You guys are the best!" Michael shouted with renewed enthusiasm. He manifested the Runic Gate and smiled vibrantly, "I''ll be going!!"

    Then he disappeared inside the Runic Gate, leaving the siblings alone.

    "Sis¡­is it just me, or is Michael''s territory''s surroundings way too dangerous? I encountered a few Lords, but I''ve yet to encounter a Monster at the Peak of Tier-1. Why is Michael already fighting Tier-3 Adventurers¡­and why is he so nonchntly talking about Tier-2 Awakened? It sounds almost as if he has been fighting Tier-2 Adventurers and Monsters for a while now¡­" Kaleb asked, while his eyes were still lingering on the spot his friend had disappeared from.

    "When did you start fighting Tier-3 Awakened? Maybe, I''m the slow one here," He added, not sure what kind of answer he wanted to hear from his sister.

    Alice smiled wryly ¨C or she tried to. Her smile disappeared, leaving behind an expression filled with uncertainty and confusion.

    "I think I was already close to Tier-3 when I encountered my first Tier-3 Awakened in the Origin Expanse. But that was only a single Tier-3 Awakened, and I had to fight him using the territory''s whole army. The losses I faced were terrifying. The cier Flood Dragon of mine nearly died because he was only a Low Tier-2 Flood Dragon at that time," She said truthfully.

    Kaleb''s head was beginning to hurt already by just thinking about the dangers his friend was going to face.

    "I think he''ll have a hard time¡­will he be fine?" He asked his sister.

    "Well. We will see¡­" She mumbled, "But one thing is for sure."

    "Hmm?"

    "If he survives, he wille back far stronger than ever."

 Chapter 202 5-Star Soultrait

    Michael was full of vigor when he returned to the Origin Expanse.

    Not even 20 minutes had passed inside the Origin Expanse, but Michael was a changed man.

    He entered the deepest part of his consciousness where the white pir of his War Rune was located. The 2757 SoulStar Fragments were already resting around the white pir, waiting to be used.

    And that was what Michael did without a sign of hesitation.

    First, he used 19 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Taming to a 3-Star Soultrait. Then, he used 185 SoulStar Fragments to create the 4th Star on the Symbol of Taming, followed by 2314 SoulStar Fragments that were required to upgrade Taming to a 5th Star Soultrait.

    A vast amount of detailed pieces of information flooded Michael''s mind for the next ten minutes. He calmly digested the information, which allowed him to learn more about the limits of Taming, and what he had to pay attention to.

    Once he was done, Michael had 239 SoulStar Fragments left. He used them on Spirit Whip after some consideration.

    Lesser Enhancement or Eagle Eyes might be a better pick than Spirit Whip, but Spirit Whip allowed him to execute mental attacks. As long as his opponent was unguarded, he or she would falter after a single Spirit Whip struck them. Afterward, he could finish off the opponent rather easily.

    Furthermore, even if his opponent was guarding his mind, Spirit Whip would still restrict his opponents'' usage of their Soultraits and Artifacts'' special enchantments. That was very important against the fire-wielding Lionhearts and more than ten thousand Adventurers.

    Spirit Whip''s range and lethality increased considerably after the 4th Star formed on the Symbol of Spirit Whip. It provided the means to create various new tactics that had seemed impossible before.

    Nheless, the most important was the upgrade of Taming.

    Michael had never used Taming before, but he knew that it was about time he changed this.

    If not for Alice''s words, Michael would have forgotten about Taming. But that was not all. Without Alice, Michael might not have thought of a particr Monster to tame.

    Feeling determined, he walked over to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, where ire, Tiara, and a few other people were already standing.

    "I found a way to deal with the Jungle Expedition," Michael announced with a great deal of confidence.

    Everyone turned around to him, not expecting him to return to the Origin Expanse this quickly.

    "You''re back, Master!" Tiara eximed before she bowed deeply.

    The other subjects followed suit and bowed deeply as well, but Michael merely waved his hand dismissively. They didn''t have enough time for formalities.

    "Has anyone explored the densely grown part of Fiend Trees a dozen kilometers behind the lizard cave yet?" Michael asked, just to add the most important part a momentter, "In detail, I mean."

    The fiend trees were trees that had been ordinary giant trees but were corrupted over the course of decades. The monsters inhabiting the area released origin energy that had been altered after coursing through their bodies. The altered origin energy then affected the surrounding area, which included the flora and fauna.

    "The fiend trees in the middle zone? Mika should have been there a few times to research the alteration of the giant trees. However, he encountered a bunch of nasty Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, forcing him to retreat after a while," Liopham said, his head turning slowly to the youngest Forest Elf of the EmeraldLead Adventurer team.

    "Do you know where the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys live?" Michael asked before Mika could say anything.

    "I¡­do know that, but why are you asking?" Mika asked slowly, feeling that something bad was about to happen.

    "We''re going to hunt them, and tame their king, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King!" Michael announced, dropping the bomb as if he was discussing the current weather.

    "You want to tame the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King?" Lilica asked, feeling certain that her ears were failing her.

    Unfortunately, Michael nodded his head in agreement.

    "That''s right."

    "But you know that the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King is a Tier-2 Monster, a Superior Existence with exceptionally highbat prowess at that, right?" Liopham asked, hoping to convince Michael to change his n.

    "The whole EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team is too weak to fight the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King. He can control the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, which turns him into an existence equal to a Lord. The only thing he is missing is a Soultrait, otherwise, I would consider him a Lord," Mika said, his voice shrill and filled with the desire to run away from Michael.

    To him, it looked like Michael had lost his sanity. The thought of the Jungle Expedition infiltrating the Untamed Jungle must have driven him to insanity!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, Michael merely nodded his head again.

    "That''s why I need to tame the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King. The ordinary Blood Oath Demon Monkeys are only at the Peak of Tier-1 once fully matured. However, theirbat prowess rivals a Tier-2 Monster. Their king can control their whole kind, which means that we can gain a small army of hundreds of Monsters with highbat prowess by taming the king."

    Liopham and Mika were not yet convinced, but Tiara and Lilica looked at each other with a trace of understanding.

    They were convinced the more Michael spoke about his idea.

    Under normal circumstances, nourishing hundreds of subjects with abat prowess rivaling Tier-2 mercenaries would take months. And Michael had found a risky but a sure-shot way to achieve that within the next few hours as long as he tamed the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King.

    It was definitely worth a try.

    "I will use Lesser Enhancement on Liopham''s Spirit Totem, which will focus solely on the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King. Then, we''ll lure him into the lizard cave and pin him down. I''ll need half a minute to tame a Tier-2 Superior Existence. That''s all I could achieve by upgrading Taming. If I had enough time, I might be able to reduce the time required to create the taming circle, but we don''t have that much time unfortunately," Michaelid out the basic steps of his n, which Tiara approved with a nod.

    She thought that taming the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was the best chance they got.

    "I would have to use Rage of the Primal several times to lure the Monkey King and drag him more than a dozen kilometers through the Untamed Jungle¡­." Liopham mumbled, shaking his head, "That''s impossible. I will be dead long before I reach the lizard cave."

    "That''s why the rest of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team will attack the Monkey King with two poison-coated Pieckers each. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s body can heal flesh wounds quickly, but poison is different. The Demon Monkey King won''t be able to heal fast as long as we use the Blood Parthen poison from back home," Lilica added, her expression lighting up slowly.

    She regained her former vigor and a tinge of excitement spread through her body as the cogs in her mind began to work.

    Even though Lilica had no idea what Michael meant by talking about ''upgrading Taming'', she could tell that Michael was not lying to them. At least, that was what she believed firmly.

    "The Blood Parthen poison¡­" Mika mumbled, tilting his head as if he was thinking hard, "...that might actually work¡­"

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys had two special traits; Demon Blood, and Flesh Regeneration.

    Flesh wounds healed several times faster than they would under normal circumstances, and their blood had been altered by Demon blood, providing them demonic instincts, strength, and viciousness.

    But at the same time, the Demon Blood trait was something that could be used against them. As long as their blood was poisoned, it would be increasingly difficult for them to stay in control of their bodies.

    Michael gave Lilica a thumbs up. He didn''t expect her to approve of his n, and to improve it by giving a helpful suggestion.

    In fact, he thought that Lilica would curse him for the n he came up with. It wouldn''t be the first time, after all.

    Fortunately, that didn''t happen. She approved his n, and they spent the next hour creating a few strategies to hunt down and tame the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King without having to ughter his underlings.

    Lilica and the others returned home to get hold of the Blood Parthen poison, which was a rare poison that required a Grandmaster Alchemist and expensive ingredients to be brewed.

    Fortunately, Michael received the Forest Elven Tribe Elders'' approval to use the Blood Parthen poison. That made things much easier on his side.

    They prepared everything and headed in the direction of the lizard cave.

    In the next two hours, they tried to lure the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King out of the densely grown patch of fiend trees. It took a while to locate theirir and to find the king. But once they did, n A was quickly executed.

    The Forest Elves approached their of the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King stealthily. They passed by hundreds of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys without being found out.

    Once they were close enough, they retrieved their Woodwoven Bows, and the Pieckers coated in Blood Parthen poison.

    The four Forest Elves took their time nocking the Pieckers on the bowstring and drew back. They aimed precisely and waited patiently until Liopham made his move.

    Once Liopham''s Soultrait was fully unleashed, and the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King targeted, everything happened quickly.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King roared out loudly.

    Simultaneously, a barrage of four Pieckers whizzed through the air with terrific velocity.

 Chapter 203 Capture

    The barrage of Pieckers shot through the densely grown flora and fauna without being restricted in any way.

    They impacted hard and drilled deep into the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s joints where the Blood Parthen poison began to spread.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King roared out once again. He tried to locate the invaders, who were daring enough to attack him in his own territory. Yet, before he could find the invaders, a second barrage of Pieckers came flying at him.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s lengthy arms and tail shot out. He plucked two Pieckers out of the air while blocking a third with his tail. Meanwhile, the fourth Piecker found its way into the monster''s left calf.

    A roar escaped the Monkey King''s mouth as he felt something invading his body.

    His palms began to itch, and it was only now that the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King saw the dark-red Blood Parthen Poison that was seeping into his palms.

    Blood Parthen Poison was semi-sentient and said to be alive. It would move and infiltrate the bloodstream of any being whose blood was exposed. That turned it into a deadly weapon, but also into a dangerous tool. A small cut in your palm was enough to activate the Blood Parthen Poison. In the worst case, it would infiltrate the bloodstream of the person, who initially wanted to use it on others.

    It had to be used with extreme caution!

    The Forest Elves used it carefully. They avoided getting poisoned and rushed out of the patch of fiend trees when they knew that the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King had been poisoned.

    Now it was Liopham''s turn to keep the monster under the influence of the Spirit Totem.

    The Forest Elves disappeared long before the ordinary Blood Oath Demon Monkeys reached their former position. They roared loudly but couldn''t find the perpetrators.

    They didn''t stop searching for the ghost-like invader for a long time. Their king didn''t order them to stop, which meant that they would relentlessly seek their enemy. Only after their enemy was split into two halves in front of their eyes would they be able to calm down.

    But some Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were confused after a while. Their king would have given them orders to spread out and continue their search by now. However, there hadn''t been an order since the invaders arrived.

    A few demon monkeys turned back to their of their King, only to find out that their King had disappeared.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s eyes were bloodshot as he nimbly moved through the Untamed Jungle. He was extremely fast and pursued the thing that caused constant pain and suffering in his head.

    When he found the Spirit Totem the first time, he lunged forward but it disappeared a moment before he could crush it. The Spirit Totem then reappeared a few kilometers ahead. Enraged, and void of rationality, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King unleashed his physical strength and burst in the direction of the Spirit Totem once again.

    His arms lunged toward the thick tree branches high in the air to grasp them tightly, swing and gain more momentum. This allowed the monster to avoid the obstacle posed by the densely grown undergrowth and move even faster through the Untamed Jungle.

    "This guy is really mad," Michael mumbled when he saw the agility of the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King beneath him.

    Michael and Liopham were seated on Icarus, who was circling above the Untamed Jungle at a low altitude. That way, Michael and Liopham could focus on the Spirit Totems without the need to move around faster than the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King ¨C which was not possible, in the first ce.

    The Monkey King was much faster than Lilica and the others as well. The moment the Monkey King found them; the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team would end up dead.

    They might be strong enough to stall the Monkey King for a while given their strength, but the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was likely to die the moment the Monkey King caught up.

    That was something Michael realized only now. Mika and Liopham hadn''t been joking when they talked about the dangers of facing the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King!

    They had to be quick. Michael''s attention moved to Liopham, who was sweating buckets. His right hand was pressed against Liopham''s back. He utilized Lesser Enhancement on the Spirit Totem Liopham manifested, providing Liopham with the means to utilize Rage of the Primal like he had never been able to do before.

    The range of his Spirit Totem had expanded by more than two kilometers, and the potency of the bloody hue had increased by more than half.

    Liopham had been shocked when he first felt the effect of Michael''s Lesser Enhancement. It was quite terrifying if he was to be honest. But at the same time, it was really helpful.

    Unfortunately, the consumption of energy and the difficulty of controlling his Soultrait increased with the expanding range and potency of the Spirit Totem.

    He had to use his entire focus on controlling Rage of the Primal and to disperse the Spirit Totem in the perfect moment.

    Maintaining the Soultrait for close to 15 minutes was necessary to drag the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King inside the lizard cave where everyone was already waiting to ambush him.

    Yet, at the same time, Liopham had to stall some more time to ensure that Lilica and the others could reach the lizard cave just before the monster stepped in.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    This forced Liopham to gulp down more than ten energy pills and a few energy potions. Swallowing too many energy potions and pills in a short period was harmful to the body, but that was not something the young Forest Elf could pay attention to right now. Headaches and some short-term issues with his health were nothingpared to the safety of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, and to ensure that he lived up to everyone''s expectations and trust ced on him.

    He didn''t want to be the reason for everyone''s death. If they all died facing the Jungle Expedition, Liopham wanted to be the reason they could face the Jungle Expedition for so long and not the reason for their demise!

    Michael knew that he could trust the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. After fighting side by side for several months, their Link of Loyalty had grown firm enough for him to consider the Forest Elves great allies. Their trust and loyalty might be founded on his deepening rtionship with the Forest Elven tribe, but Michael didn''t think that it mattered whether they were loyal to him because they loved and respected him, or because of the benefits he provided to their tribe.

    One way or another, the Forest Elves were now part of his territory. Almost a third of his territory''s subjects were Forest Elf Summons due to the increased probability of summoning Forest Elves. Even if the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team were to dislike him, they would have to fight next to him to ensure the safety of their deceased ancestors.

    That may not be just, but being fair and square while his territory was at stake wasughable.

    He relied on Liopham and the rest of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to injure and enrage the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King before pulling him to the lizard cave.

    The n worked out nearly perfectly as well.

    All members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team arrived near the entrance of the lizard cave when the three-meter-tall figure of the ck-furred Blood Oath Demon Monkey King passed by.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s rage had been steadily building up for thest 20 minutes, and he was about to go insane. The constant pain and voices that swept through his head affected him a lot. The monster didn''t even notice that his movements had slowed down and that it became increasingly more difficult to control his body precisely.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King only realized that something was wrong when he arrived in front of the Spirit Totem. Enraged, he destroyed the Spirit Totem, tearing it into small shreds with a few simple movements. Little did he know, he was distracted and the real danger was slowly advancing towards him.

    By the time the Spirit Totem was destroyed, Michael and Liopham arrived at the lizard cave as well.

    Everyone was prepared to move as they entered the lizard cave.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King had been led into a dead end deep down in the lizard cave, and the Blood Parthern poison was slowly taking control over his body and mind. While he moved rapidly through the Untamed Jungle, the poison spread much faster through the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s body. He could only roar in anger when he saw a dozen figures appearing in front of him ¨C just as he was about to leave.

    At this point, the Monkey King realized that he had been tricked.

    Being more intelligent than ordinary monsters at Tier-2, the Monkey King figured that thest half an hour was all part of a setup and an borate, well-thought n. However, he also knew that he couldn''t have done anything against it. The n had been meticulous, abusing the few weaknesses of his kind precisely.

    His blood was poisoned, his mind corrupted and dragged away from his underlings, the Monkey King''s biggest strength had been taken away, and now he was left to fend off the dangers alone.

    The Monkey King tensed as he lowered himself slowly. He knew that the poison spreading through his bloodstream had weakened him and that the effect would increase over time.

    It was either now or never!

    Yet, just as the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was about to burst forward with every ounce of strength residing in his mighty body, Michael began to smile.

    "Sorry, but I didn''t work that hard to fight with you," He said calmly.

    The next moment the two Elemental Mages made their move. Theybined their power and released the spell, which they''d been chanting for several minutes.

    The walls around the Monkey King began to move. The ground beneath the monster burst, and it was like someone was pulling his legs down. Mud ropes shot out from all directions before another barrage of Pieckers shot through the narrow space of the cavern tunnel with terrific velocity.

    "I lured you into the lizard cave to make you mine without giving you a chance to retaliate!" Michael added, his lips curling upward.

    A secondter, the cavern tunnel copsed as the ceiling burst open. Rocks the size of the ck Bear crashed down, followed by wet soil weighing hundreds of tons, burying the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King alive.

    Meanwhile, Michael swallowed three energy pills at once before he began utilizing the Taming Soultrait for the first time since he''d obtained it.

    Arge array of silver lines manifested in front of Michael. It moved inplex patterns forming intricate symbols that connected andbined, slowly forming a huge array with a diameter of five meters.

    "You should surrender and be my loyal subject before it''s toote. You won''t have long before you''ll die miserably. Suffocating isn''t nice, you know?"

 Chapter 204 Combined Forces

    The taming process was far from easy. It took a great deal of effort, focus, and origin energy to create and maintain the taming array.

    However, that was not all. The taming process took the willingness of the target and its willpower into consideration as well.

    If it submitted without much resistance, the monster would be much easier to tame. Of course, such a case was pretty rare. Most monsters were unwilling to submit to others.

    That was also why Michael spent almost 15 minutes taming the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King.

    The monster''s mental resistance was quite powerful. This made the entire taming process much harder for Michael. In thest few minutes, it looked like he would fail due to mental exhaustion.

    Only a trace of origin energy was left inside him as well. It was a close shave but luckily the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King copsed right at that moment, sealing his fate.

    The monster was about to suffocate to death.

    While battling death, he couldn''t resist Michael''s consistent attempts to tame it anymore. A crack formed in the formidable mental resistance of the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King just before it copsed.

    Michael tore down the remaining resistance, achieving his goal atst.

    "I''m done. Remove the rubble quickly!" Michael ordered hurriedly.

    He swallowed a few more energy pills to replenish his origin energy rapidly and began to work.

    Everyone gave their utmost effort to create a cage that the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King couldn''t escape under any circumstances.

    Close to 100 tons of wet soil and a bunch of big rocks had crashed down on the monster. Even if he wanted to move he couldn''t, especially not under the influence of the Blood Parthen poison.

    Removing the wet soil and big rocks wasn''t an easy feat. It required the help of the two Elemental Mages, Michael''s Extraction, and thebined workforce of hundreds of warriors.

    The Priestess had to tend to the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King for half an hour after they retrieved him from the copsed cavern tunnel before they could be certain that the monster would survive.

    Michael used extraction on the monster to extract the Blood Parthen Poison until everyst trace had been removed from his body.

    Once he was done, Michael felt like sleeping for days. Unfortunately, sleep was a luxury he couldn''t enjoy right now.

    The Jungle Expedition wouldn''t wait for him.

    On the contrary, Michael was certain that the Jungle Expedition would start earlier than announced beforehand. He had killed too many Adventurers and Mercenaries in thest three days to leave his actions unnoticed.

    The authorities were bound to make a move sooner than nned beforehand.

    Knowing that Michael forced a few potions down his throat to stay awake and keep his mind running before he took a deep breath.

    "Capturing the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King wasn''t as hard as I expected," Mika murmured quietly. He seemed satisfied with the result of his work.

    "We did a good job, but it was also a great deal of luck that yed straight into our hands.

    The n could have gone wrong with a tiny mishap. A single wrong step and all of us could have died!" Liopham dered loud enough for Mika to hear, and Michael nodded his head.

    "That''s right. Good thing that nothing went wrong," He said in all honesty.

    As he finished the sentence, Michael felt a tingling sensation in his mind.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was about to wake up.

    Michael walked over to the first monster he tamed using Taming, and a sense of aplishment and pride spread through his body.

    Despite being a 5-Star Soultrait, Taming''s taming capacity was filled to the brim already. Taming should have been powerful enough to allow Michael to bind two Monsters, but the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King seemed to be too powerful, taking up more space and energy than expected.

    That was fine with Michael. He didn''t have enough time and energy to look for another monster like the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King. Instead of wasting his precious time, he might as well move to the next step.

    With that thought lingering in his mind, the Memory Exchange between the tamed Monster and his Master was initiated.

    The Monkey King had just regained consciousness when a flood of memories impacted him heavily.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The memory exchange was an ability the Taming Soultrait gained after it had been upgraded to 4-Star.

    It allowed the Master and tamed Monster to gain a better understanding of each other and to enhance the firmness of their True Link.

    The memory exchange felt like it took an eternity to finish, but the two didn''t spend more than five seconds being nked out.

    "It''s time to visit your underlings, lil guy," Michael said while looking over to the Monkey King who was getting up from the ground.

    Most Warriors moved instinctively. They grasped the handles of their weapons and prepared for battle as the monster rose.

    But Michael lifted his hand to signal them to stay put.

    His War Rune gleamed faintly as Michael retrieved a bunch of potions. He threw them toward the Monkey King, who swallowed the content without hesitation.

    The monster looked at Michael with a trace of confusion, but it didn''t show any hostility toward him. It was weird. The hatred that was engraved deep into his bones earlier seemed to have vanished as he looked at Michael.

    It was truly miraculous.

    The Monkey King issued a few iprehensible noises while pointing in a particr direction.

    "Yep, a huge group of Adventurers and Mercenaries will invade the Untamed Jungle soon. That''s why we need your help, and the help of your underlings," Michael said, fully understanding what the ipressible noises of the Monkey King meant.

    The Monkey King issued a few more ipressible noises, apparentlymunicating with his Master, and Michael affirmed with a nod.

    Afterward, Michael gestured to the others to follow him.

    Less than half an hourter, their group had returned to their of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys instinctively initiated an attack on the invaders, but their king intervened. His long arms lunged forward like a python striking its prey as he grasped his underlings'' heads tightly.

    The two monkeys struggling in their King''s grasp screeched loudly. They were desperate to survive, but they couldn''t escape their king''s grasp.

    The king roared loudly before hurling his underlings straight at the rest of his bunch.

    After that, a stunned silence enveloped the Blood Oath Demon Monkey Lair.

    As the Monkey King ordered around his underlings, Michael took a closer look at the surroundings. The thickly grown crown of the fiend trees restricted sunlight from shining through. Most parts of their were dark and details were hard to make out.

    However, Michael could use Lesser Enhancement and Eagle Eyes to improve his eyesight. It was not possible to see clearly in the dark, but he didn''t require a source of light to see.

    Hundreds of pairs of eyes were glued to the group of new arrivals. Their hostility was clear to perceive and tension was high in the air.

    They merely didn''t attack the new arrivals because of their King. Their King was protecting the neers!

    "Several hundred¡­maybe there are 1000 in total? If they can deal with a dozen Tier-1 Adventurers and Mercenaries without sustaining heavy injuries¡­maybe¡­" Michael mumbled, trying to visualize several ns in which the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys and Michael''s army could be enough to deal with the Jungle Expedition army.

    Most of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were Peak Tier-1 Monsters with highbat prowess.

    In an advantageous environment, even ordinary Tier-2 monsters and Mercenaries wouldn''t be able to put up a fight against the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    The Forest Elves praised them to the moon and beyond. Not many of their Lords and Adventurers had faced Blood Oath Demon Monkeys in the past, but they were known to cause chaos and a massacre when they shed head-on.

    However, this time, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were on their side!

    ''Should I prepare weapons for them? No, they need to maintain their nimbleness while moving through the Untamed Jungle.''

    Michael clearly recalled the Monkey King''s nimble movements. He didn''t want to sacrifice this nimbleness in exchange for higher attack power.

    On the contrary, Michael felt that the nimbleness of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys could turn into the most lethal weapon inside the Untamed Jungle.

    "Let''s take a look at how we can turn the tables with you guys!"

 Chapter 205 Revolt

    "Will we be strong enough to tackle a Tier-3 Adventurer if we join our forces?" Michael asked the group of people surrounding him.

    He had never fought a Tier-3 Adventurer, but he couldn''t tell for sure if they were stronger than Lincoln Piedra and Zeke Lavita.

    Michael did not have even a rough idea about their strength and how many weapons or soldiers would it take to overwhelm the attackers.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, Tiara, Michael, and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team should be strong enough to deal with powerful opponents if they worked together. But was it enough to fight a Tier-3 Adventurer?

    He was not confident about that, and both Lilica and Tiara shook their heads simultaneously to reaffirm his premonition.

    "It won''t be enough. Advancing to the 3rd Tier meant that they were either very talented or that they spent years and a great deal of effort to reach this far. Their experiences and battle strategies allow them to exhibit tremendous power. Don''t ever underestimate that!" Lilica warned.

    Michael took her advice to heart.

    With the iing danger approaching them rapidly, and new allies ¨C several hundred Blood Oath Demon Monkeys -- joining their ranks, Michael and the others spend the next 20 hoursing up with various ns to deal with the Jungle Expedition.

    They took turns catching up on some sleep and rest to regain their stamina and replenish their used-up energy while always ensuring that someone was on guard to warn everyone if something unexpected was to happen.

    Unfortunately, not even a full day after Michael tamed Sun Demos, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, bad news reached them.

    The scouts of the Jungle Expedition had slowly begun gathering near the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle.

    Icarus, who was hovering above the jungle, noticed their advance almost immediately.

    The Greater Eagle had been circling in the air all around Xiltra and the ins to watch the movements of their opponents. To Michael''s misfortune, Icarus returned earlier than they''d hoped.

    The Jungle Expedition was about to start.

    One day was not enough to finish everything Michael had nned. He came up with many strategies to stall his opponents and decimate their numbers, but they required time ¨C a luxury they didn''t have right now.

    He had to make some quick adjustments to his ns.

    Michael looked over to Tiara, ire, and a few others. He tilted his head for a while and nodded subconsciously once he came to a conclusion.

    "Can you do it without me and the others?" He asked.

    Tiara''s eyes widened.

    "You don''t want me to join the battle, master?" She asked, clearly displeased.

    However, Michael just smiled.

    "I trust you."

    Three words was all it took to shut Tiara''s mouth. She didn''t even dare to retort to Michael after hearing those seemingly simple words.

    Tiara nodded grimly and issued a silent sigh. Her head flicked to the side where ire and the others were standing, awaiting further instructions. A single gesture toward them was enough to make them move. They disappeared and returned to the territory first.

    "We should give it a try," Michael mumbled to himself. He then started telepathicmunication with Sun Demos.

    Sun Demos and his underlings had left their habitat more than half a day ago. They initiated one of the more important steps of the multiyered n they''de up with.

    Sun Demos was somewhere within a radius of 10 kilometers from him. That was the current limit of telepathicmunication between a Master and his tamed monster. However, there was more to the 5-Star Taming Soultrait. It wasn''t as simple as it seemed.

    Taming allowed him tomunicate through their minds over a long-range, tap into the power of his tamed monster, and order around Sun Demos'' kind. The period was extremely short, but Michael could use a tiny portion of the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s power.

    [Tell your underlings to locate the scouts. If they''re exposed, they can attack. Other than that, stay back and keep me updated about the position of the scouts. We will hunt them down first.] Michael ordered Sun Demos.

    [Guckuck?]

    [Continue with the initial n, yes. But don''t overdo it. The main force of the Jungle Expedition won''t enter the Untamed Jungle before noon, given how slow they travel.]

    Michael came up with rather simple battle strategies because they didn''t have time to enact special tactics that required exceptional teamwork between the Demon Monkeys and Michael''s army.

    They would hunt down the scouts before they could return to report. The goal was to keep the Jungle Expedition team in the dark about the Untamed Jungle''s detailed topography, monster habitats and other important details.

    Michael wanted to use the environment as their ultimate advantage and hide the fact that the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were practically part of his army.

    Next, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team split up into five groups. They created five hunting units using the Forest Walkers, a bunch of Archers, and a few more units that could fight melee and long-range simultaneously.

    Their numbers and strength were more than enough to wipe out the scouts. That was something Michael was certain about.

    The hunting units passed through the Untamed Jungle''s outer area using the well-developed and hidden canopy bridges. The canopy bridgework had developed rapidly in thest few weeks. It was no problem to swiftly move through the territory in a range of five kilometers, which provided great momentum and saved travel time.

    Lilica epted his orders without dy, and she handed Michael a small orb before leaving with her hunting unit.

    The other members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team followed suit. They vanished one by one toplete the tasks they''d been given.

    Michael and the rest finished theirst preparations as well before they began to move.

    For the next three hours, hunting down the scouts held the biggest importance.

    Michael kept talking to Sun Demos even while moving to stay up to date about the situation. That way, he could convey messages to the people around him after they returned from hunting a few scouts.

    The Hunters collected the scouts'' corpses and brought them back to Michael who stored the corpses of the adventurers away.

    Afterward, he gave the Hunters a new target, using the information Sun Demos and his underlings had collected.

    Michael was the single point of contact and a bridge for everyone right now. Due to the constant influx of information provided by Sun Demos, Michael could pinpoint the location of the invaders easily. He would ry that information to the Hunters who would then sneak up and attack the invaders.

    Meanwhile, Sun Demos finished the other tasks he had been given as well.

    He and his underlings finished riling up the Tier-2 Monsters located near the border to the Untamed Jungle''s middle zone.

    Sun Demos came up with the idea to use the Tier-2 Monsters in the middle zone against the members of the Jungle Expedition.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King had made various enemies over the course of years, and his army had fought them often enough to know how to enrage them.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys split up and actively infiltrated the territory of their enemies during thest 24 hours.

    They either stole their eggs, squashed them, or hurt their youngest. Then the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys continued to fool around with their enemies ¨C slowly luring them away from their natural habitat and enraging them more and more.

    By the time it was noon, the Demon Monkeys had enraged most of their enemies. They''d pulled them to the Untamed Jungle''s outer area where they found themselves faced with the invaders of the Untamed Jungle.

    Around the same time, the Jungle Expedition began to invade the Untamed Jungle ¨C just like Michael predicted earlier.

    Yet, the moment the invasion began, the Jungle Expedition was faced with something they didn''t predict.

    Given the information provided by Adventurers who had entered the Untamed Jungle in the past, they weren''t supposed to encounter Tier-2 monsters until they reached the border to the middle zone. At most, their biggest problem would be the overpoption of fierce Tier-1 Monsters.

    That was what they had expected to face and easily overwhelm.

    However, the reality was brutal.

    When the first Adventurers and Mercenaries encountered the hordes of angry Monsters that were dashing through the Untamed Jungle''s densely grown flora and fauna with great nimbleness, their first reaction was shock. They couldn''tprehend how easily the monsters of the Untamed Jungle could move around the obstacles in their way.

    The Monsters used the thicket to hide the changes in their movement patterns beforeunching their bodies higher in the air, using the ''obstacles'' asunching pads.

    That was how the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys could escape their enemies, while also pulling the attention of the Jungle Expedition''s main force to the flood of monsters that appeared out of nowhere.

    The Untamed Jungle was revolting against its invaders.

 Chapter 206 Monster Rampage

    The mission of Sun Demos and his underlings was rather simple. First, they split into several groups with various tasks.

    The first unit received the task to determine the location of all scouts across the border of the Zentika Empire and the Untamed Jungle, and to forward the information to their Master.

    Meanwhile, the remaining groups were spread out to enrage their enemies, whose habitat was in the Untamed Jungle. They riled up their enemies and fled from the scene once they received the signal from Sun Demos.

    A loud roar issued by their king was the said signal. It caused the Demon Monkeys to get moving onto their next target.

    By the time the enraged Monsters were about to catch up with the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys they encountered the invaders of the Untamed Jungle.

    And when the two unsuspecting groups shed against each other, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys changed their direction suddenly, brushing past the Adventurers and Mercenaries with much faster speed than they demonstrated before.

    While pursuing the monkeys to tear them apart, the enraged Monsters sped up as well ¨C ignoring the Adventurers and Mercenaries in their way. Blinded by rage, they tried to catch up with the Demon Monkeys, desiring to tear them apart, once and for all.

    But the moment they brushed past the first few rows of Mercenaries and Adventurers, the enraged monsters realized that something was wrong. Driven by haste and fury, some of the heavier monsters squashed Mercenaries to death without realizing it, while others shed at them, trying to remove the trash-like obstacle at once.

    But that was a mistake, which the monsters learned to regret quickly.

    The first wave of the Jungle Expedition''s main force might not be omnipotent, but they weren''t weak either. Most importantly, they were at a numerical advantage and ready to abuse this fact.

    The Adventurers and Mercenaries had ventured inside in big groups with evenly distributed tasks. There were melee fighters, vanguards, assassins, supporters, archers, and many morebatants, which yed major roles in the groups. Based on their experience and confidence, the groups ought to be able to handle Superior Existences at the same Tier, and multiple Tier-2 Monsters with ease.

    Unfortunately, it was bing increasingly difficult for the group members to execute every role perfectly in an unknown ce like the densely grown Untamed Jungle. The ground was covered in thick bushes, and big trees, while the dense treetops restricted the invasion of the bright sunlight that ought to illuminate every nook and cranny around them.

    Furthermore, the monsters living in the Untamed Jungle had long since adapted to the harsh living conditions -- developing special traits that allowed them to ovee all kinds of ordeals in the danger-filled region. They wouldn''t go down that easily.

    The Untamed Jungle was their home and they knew what to do against ignorant opponents -- who didn''t know certain factors that were a necessity to survive in the Untamed Jungle ¨C, and how to utilize their special traits to near perfection.

    Thus, the first sh with the monsters of the Untamed Jungle ended up beingpletely different than what the participants of the Jungle Expedition had envisioned.

    Arge number of Adventurers and Mercenaries were ughtered. Their bodies were reduced to ribbons of flesh, and their blood dyed the surrounding a rich shade of crimson. Their intestines and other organs were sttered all over the thicket, decorating the Untamed Jungle''s outer area in an obscure way.

    Eventually, the Adventurers and Mercenaries would be able to fight back. They would regain their morale and deliver deadly blows to the monsters.

    But that was something Michael sincerely hoped. He and most of his military had worked tirelessly for thest four days to ensure that they made every participant of the Jungle Expedition live their worst nightmare. His subjects were stressed out andcked sleep.

    If the Jungle Expedition failed after the first setback and retreated in fear of sustaining more casualties, Michael and his team''s effort would have been for naught. But that was not the core essence of Michael''s thoughts.

    He could tell that if the Jungle Expedition failed, things would get moreplicated. Senator Keltos would use the newly acquired information to adjust his ns to tackle the obstacles of the Untamed Jungle with an even more carefully curated approach.

    At least, that was what Michael expected from Senator Keltos if the Jungle Expedition was to fail immediately.

    Fortunately, Michael could clearly decipher the emotions of his opponents at this point.

    They might have been scared and shocked at first, but they quickly adapted to the unexpected encounter with Monsters they should have encountered at the border of the middle zone rather than near the entrance of the Untamed Jungle.

    The monsters couldn''t fight forever either. Most of them didn''t desire to fight to death, in the first ce. Their initial n had been to hunt down the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, not fight some invaders of the Untamed Jungle.

    Nheless, they couldn''t leave the invaders unharmed. The Invaders wererge in number, demonstrating quite clearly that they didn''te inside just to hunt a few Tier-1 monsters and return. This time they hade in with more preparations, and the Monsters with more intelligence realized this quickly.

    Following that, it took almost half an hour before the first monster group retreated. They received their first big counterattack and moved back quickly.

    However, that was not something the prideful participants of the Jungle Expedition wanted.

    If these monsters had attacked them once, what was the guarantee that these monsters wouldn''t initiate a second attack in the following days ¨C possiblyte at night when the Jungle Expedition participants were tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep soundly?

    They could not allow that under any circumstance. Hence, the first wave of the Jungle Expedition spread out to pursue the monsters they''d been fighting before. Michael saw this from high up in the trees above the Jungle Expedition.

    He, and close to 200 Archers were spread out across the trees in the outer area. Everyone had learned how to move stealthily across the trees, using the thick branches and the densely grown leaves as a cover, and that was something they chose to make use of soon enough.

    But before Michael and his patiently waiting Archers attacked, they allowed more members of the Jungle Expedition to enter the Untamed Jungle.

    They watched the Adventurers and Mercenaries precisely while continuing to wait.

    ''They have spread out much more than expected. If it''s like this across the border¡­we will be extremely lucky!'' Michael thought, the corner of his lip curling up.

    They might have close to 65,000 opponents to fight, but the border between the Zentika Empire and the Untamed Jungle was also close to 20 kilometers long. If the Zentika Empire desired to clear the outer area of the Untamed Jungle alongside their border, they had to send more participants, or put in more time to conquer the outer area.

    Yet, from Michael''s perspective, it looked like they had been acting too hurriedly. He was not sure if he was mistaken, but there were only a few thousand Adventurers and Mercenaries around Michael and his people.

    [Gather information about the remaining members of the Jungle Expedition. I don''t want to be stabbed in the back suddenly.] Michael told Sun Demos telepathically while continuing to wait.

    He and his people sensed several great opportunities to strike the opponents below them, but Michael didn''t give the signal to attack.

    Instead, he continued to watch as the Adventurers and Mercenaries pursued the Tier-2 Monsters and their underlings.

    [Guckuck Gaagaa!!]

    ''The main force stopped advancing? Why would they do that?'' Michael wondered when he heard what Sun Demos told him.

    Apparently, more than 50,000 participants of the Jungle Expedition had started with the construction of a camp on the ins less than a kilometer from the Untamed Jungle.

    It was always good to have a ce to retreat, but Michael was pretty sure that dividing their force wasn''t an extraordinary move.

    ''I will make you regret splitting your army!!''

    15,000 Members of the Jungle Expedition split up into five armies. These armies entered the Untamed Jungle through five different spots. They were separated by roughly four kilometers each.

    ''The two armies on the outer ring are too far away to deal with properly¡­but we can annihte the rest¡­.''

    Michael adjusted his n ording to the information he''d been given. Then, he gave Sun Demos an order.

    [Charge in my direction without hiding your appearance. The louder you guys are the better.] Michael said, [But don''t bring the Intel Unit with you. Let them continue to gather information.]

    In the next ten minutes, the first army of 3000 Jungle Expedition members was annihted after being lured by the monkeys.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s side didn''t face a single casualty.

 Chapter 207 Battle Mode

    [A few minutes earlier]

    Michael and his archers moved silently on the thick branches hanging high in the air.

    Their steps were muffled and the noises they made while moving drowned because of the loud noises the Adventurers and Mercenaries below them made.

    Meanwhile, Michael and the archers waited for Sun Demos and his underlings.

    They would arrive at any moment and be fully prepared to attack.

    The members of the Jungle Expedition on the ground were rxed. The group beneath Michael had been farther away from the other groups and didn''t encounter the enraged monsters that had been lured to the outer area.

    Most of the Adventurers and Mercenaries beneath them were well-seasoned warriors. They respected the dangers of the Untamed Jungle, but they didn''t fear the outer area. Their numerical advantage boosted the na?ve fearlessness of the 3,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    They thought that their time to shine had finallye.

    After they had been moved to the first batch of participants, who were given the honor to enter the Untamed Jungle, they experienced great euphoria. Their minds were filled with the imagination of them fighting glorious battles about which they could tell their children and grandchildren in the future.

    However, imagination was often different from reality.

    The small army of 3,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries was faced with apletely different scenario than they could have hoped for.

    Loud noises filled the Untamed Jungle in front of the Adventurers and Mercenaries suddenly. The bushes in front of them began to shake, and a sudden sense of animosity filled the air all around them.

    The well-seasoned warriors tensed up and moved closer to each other instinctively.

    A sudden feeling of uncertainty and fear shrouded their bodies and minds. They quickly entered a close-knit formation and prepared for the iing attack from the front.

    The next moment, thunderous roars filled with power and charisma filled the air, sending shivers up their spines.

    Yet, no monster lunged at them.

    There was nothing.

    Screams filled the air in front of them, and the roars of mighty monsters followed suit, but no monster came forward to attack them.

    At first, nothing seemed wrong. It was eerie that the area in front of them moved, and that screams and roars filled the air, however, that was all. There was nothing more to worry about.

    Some warriors began to think that the Untamed Jungle created an eerie atmosphere in an attempt to inflict fear on its invaders.

    But then blood-curdling screams reached their ears.

    Screams and muffled groans rang out from all around them as the first dozen warriors found themselves lying on the ground, blood gushing out of their throats, eyes, and abdomen.

    They could barely muster the strength to register what happened and how they died when the Grim Reaper sliced their souls with his soul-reaping scythe.

    A barrage of close to 200 arrows flew through the air in a beautiful arc, and they pierced deep into the bodies of the fallen warriors!

    Only a dozen targets died, but more than half of the arrows impacted where they hurtbatants the most -- drilling into their vital spots and joints.

    Another wave of terrified wails filled the air, but the perpetrators didn''t seem to care. They released the second barrage of arrows from all directions.

    Hell broke loose the next instance.

    Dozens of Adventurers and Mercenaries died, and even more sustained heavy injuries, which restricted theirbat prowess greatly.

    Then, a three-meter-tall monkey covered in ck fur with lengthy arms and blood-red eyes shot through the thicket with terrifying velocity.

    The monkey looked like a demonic beast that had just escaped from hell''s gates.

    It stared at its opponents like a predator stared at dead prey before it appeared in front of the closest Adventurers. Sun Demos grasped the heads of two of them. The next moment, Sun Demos applied some force onto his palms, squashing the heads instantaneously.

    The Adventurers couldn''t even issue a scream when their brain matter spurted out of their shattered skulls.

    Not even a secondter, the Sun Demos'' tail shot forward. It coiled around the neck of the next closest Mercenary. The Mercenary shed the tail with all his might, hoping to cut off the tail, or block the attack, but the tail didn''t even budge. It continued to advance unaffected.

    Sun Demos'' tail coiled around the mercenary''s neck and choked him to death. A momentter, Sun Demos threw the motionless body into the group of shivering young men and women next to him.

    Sun Demos'' bloody eyes lit up seeing the fear in the eyes of the men and women.

    However, he was not alone. He shouldn''t keep the fun for himself.

    His arms shot in the air and a deep roar escaped his lips as he beat his arms on his chest, calling for his underlings.

    Hundreds of two-meter-tall Blood Oath Demon Monkeys shot out of the thicket all around the Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    They were extremely fast and deadly, not missing a single opportunity to strike and kill.

    The attack of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys was already enough to bring the group''s morale to an all-time low.

    But the Demon Monkeys were not on their own. In fact, they were merely a distraction!

    The never stopping downpour of arrows was the main culprit of the Adventurers'' and Mercenaries'' suffering.

    Death hailed down without mercy, killing the opponents without discrimination while the beasts advanced toward them from all directions.

    At one point, Adventurers found Michael and his Archers hiding high up in the trees all around the trees surrounding them, but they couldn''t do much.

    Their morale was at a low point, and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys attacked fiercely.

    Michael and his archers didn''t show any mercy either. They didn''t focus on delivering killing blows. Instead, their focus was purely on inflicting injuries to restrict their opponents''bat prowess.

    This worked out better than nned.

    However, the battle was still not over. It only ended when the hunting units of Michael''s team returned.

    The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and the Forest Elf Summons were fierce and brutal with their onught. They killed their opponents swiftly, without batting an eye. The Forest Elves didn''t even grace their opponents with a single nce. All they did was ensure that their opponents were dead before moving on.

    "Did you finish your mi--¡­." Michael asked, just to shut his mouth when he saw the expressions on the faces of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team''s members.

    Their faces were void of emotions. They didn''t even flinch when they entered closebat and blood spurt on their faces.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey ripped their opponents apart right next to the Forest Elves, but they didn''t give any reaction.

    ''Is that the Battle Mode Lilica mentioned before?'' Michael wondered, recalling faintly that Lilica mentioned something about the way Forest Elves fought.

    [Our numbers might not be great, and most other races would consider us as lovers of nature and pacifism, but not all of that reflects the truth. We love nature, that''s true. Nature is part of our life, so we try our best to live with nature. But what most people tend to forget is that death is also part of the cycle of life. Without death, there wouldn''t be life, and without life death wouldn''t exist. They''re two different sides of a coin, and we Forest Elves are trying to be the coin ¨C bing part of life and death¡­.]

    Before, Michael didn''t really think too much about Lilica''s words. He had seen them fight more than once, and he never thought that theirbat style was too weird.

    But today''s battle was different than usual.

    Today''s battle was not a deciding factor between life and death.

    It was a fight that determined the destiny of Michael''s territory.

    The fate of countless would be decided today, and nobody could say who would emerge victorious, and whose string of fate would be cut today.

 Chapter 208 [Bonus ]Presents

    [A/N: This bonus chapter is dedicated to PancakesWitch for gifting me a Castle! Thanks a lot!]

    The corpses of the Adventurers were collected once the battle ended, while the rest was either stored or disposed of immediately.

    Mercenaries were natives of the Origin Expanse. Yet, Michael couldn''t extract nearly as much from them as monster corpses provided.

    He was not sure why that was the case, but it was a fact that Mercenaries didn''t drop great loot, and space was tight after the second and third army of 3,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries had been obliterated.

    Using the Untamed Jungle, his army, and the Blood Oath Demon Monkey to the extreme, fighting 3000 Adventurers and Mercenaries wasn''t an issue.

    Michael initially thought that he would encounter his first Tier-3 Awakened among those armies, but no Adventurer in the three small armies was at the 3rd Tier or even close.

    That was surprising yet not.

    "They''re testing the waters with the weakest participants," Liopham voiced out his opinion when they finished cleaning the battlefield, and the other Forest Elves agreed.

    "I think they want to see them dead," Mika said nonchntly.

    His words attracted the attention of the people around him, causing him to add awkwardly, "That''s my guess. I think the stronger participants don''t want to share the rewards of the Jungle Expedition with the weaker participants. The more they can earn the better¡­and it''s not like our opponents were strong until now.

    We faced less than five casualties, and that was also mostly due to strikes of misfortune."

    Even though it felt a little bit weird to consider Mika''s words true, there was definitely a possibility that he was right. Greed was not only a trait of humans but of most intelligent races. It was something many felt at one point in their lives, some more often than others.

    "Maybe, you''re right," Lilica agreed quietly. She had witnessed first-hand how terrifying greed could be.

    In fact, she fell victim to her own greed twice since she awakened. It was not something she was proud of, but she could understand the train of thought Mika pursued.

    "I think they might weed out their weaklings while collecting information. By telling them to collect information, the survivors will return with information while the shares of the dead will go to the living. It''s a scummy strategy, but it ys in our favor. We removed 9,000 opponents in exchange for five lives," She said, ncing over to Michael to see what was going on in his mind.

    The others looked fine, some were even happy that they defeated so many opponents with close to no casualties. However, Michael couldn''t feel like this.

    Of course, he was satisfied with the results of the fights. It was great that they didn''t lose many men and women fighting the members of the Jungle Expedition.

    But Michael also took into consideration that the strongest forces of the Jungle Expedition would be informed about the tactics Michael and his people had utilized to fight. A few Adventurers and Mercenaries were bound to escape mid-battle, and the information they forwarded to the stronger forces would turn into a big problem for future battles.

    "We need to deliver an additional blow¡­this is not enough¡­"

    Michael didn''t speak loudly, but everyone heard him clearly.

    The others didn''t think that it was necessary to travel through the Untamed Jungle and deal with the two armies on either side of them today. Rather than going all out immediately, some believed that they should preserve their energy and prepare for the next day.

    "How about we--¡­" Lilica began, just for Michael to raise his hand.

    She was silenced in an instant.

    "They will learn of our tactics as long as we leave behind a single survivor¡­and I''m not certain that we killed all of them. Some must have gotten away," Michael exined before he added, "They will find out about Sun Demos and his underlings, and they will make ns to counter us next time."

    "We have Tiara, and the others, who''re curr--¡­" Liopham began, but Michael shook his head before the young Forest Elf could finish.

    "We have Tiara, but we need to give our all and make use of the tactics we have as long as they work fine."

    Michael stayed firm on his opinion. He was not being adamant but he couldn''t agree with the others.

    It was obvious that they had to rest. Fighting three huge battles and running around all day had taken a huge toll on their minds and bodies. Nheless, he could not ignore the fact that they had a huge advantage right now.

    With that in mind, Michael began to extract the corpses that had amassed inside his War Rune''s storage space.

    After defeating three small armies with 3,000 members each, Michael collected a total of 700 corpses from Adventurers. He extracted them one by one to gather a total of 2914 SoulStar Fragments and five Soultrait Symbols.

    Then he looked at the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team with a faint smile.

    "If you''re too tired, how about I give you some motivation?" He asked mysteriously while moving the five Soultrait Symbols in front of the Forest Elves.

    Their War Runes went crazy in response to Michael''s simple move. Several streams of white energy shot out of their War Rune, desiring to devour the Soultrait Symbols and fuse new Soultraits. However, Michael didn''t allow that.

    He moved back while his smile widened.

    "I know that you guys have been confused as to where my Soultraitse from, and how my Soultraits are constantly getting stronger. In a few weeks, you guys would have figured it out either way. So¡­I thought I might as well stop this charade and show you guys what I''m capable of."

    Michael didn''t want to keep lying to the Forest Elves. However, that was not the only reason why he revealed the power of the Extraction Soultrait.

    He wanted to clearly demonstrate how big their advantage would be if they killed more Adventurers today. It required only 900 weak Adventurers ¨C most being Tier-1 ¨C to harvest a total of five Soultraits and 2900ish SoulStar Fragments.

    The SoulStar Fragments were enough to upgrade one Soultrait to 5-Star. That was a great deal, not only for human Lords but for most races.

    Only some of the strongest races didn''t think of 5-Star Soultraits as rare and extremely powerful.

    Killing the remaining 6000 invaders inside the Untamed Jungle meant that they were likely to harvest 2000 SoulStar Fragments in addition to 2-3 Soultrait Symbols. Not only was that worth the effort and danger, but it felt like a ''must-do'' task.

    Michael knew that very well, but he had hoped to keep himself unaffected by the influence of greed. However, that was near impossible.

    He was not a saint, and he never intended to be one. He was greedy. A glutton, quite literally.

    As much as he could devour food in every dining session, he devoured in the Origin Expanse ¨C in the form of SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits. He would never feel full. That was something his heart could tell him.

    His greed was insatiable.

    He didn''t want to share his greed knowing that it was not healthy.

    Yet, Michael also knew that the Forest Elves would find out his secret sooner orter.

    Thus, he might as well give them an early present, and a taste of the fruit they should have never tasted.

 Chapter 209 Annihilation

    "How about we go to their camp after hunting the remaining two armies?" Mika asked in an excited voice.

    His eyes were filled with greed as he activated his new Soultrait. The flood of information that had entered his mind was enough to give him a basic understanding of his new Soultrait, which shocked Mika and the other Forest Elves deeply.

    The other Forest Elves stared at Michael like starving beasts with an expression on their faces identical to Mika''s.

    The entire EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team wanted to continue hunting, and their minds were overflowing with determination.

    Michael gave each of them one Soultrait Symbol to fuse with. Their War Rune bound it to the white pir in the deepest parts of their consciousness, granting them their second Soultrait.

    It was something they never thought would be possible, but Michael made it happen. But that was not all.

    Not only had they received a 1-Star Soultrait from Michael, but he even gave each of them 300 SoulStar Fragments, which was enough to upgrade their new Soultrait to a 4-Star Soultrait.

    They even had some extra left and used it on their first Soultrait to strengthen it.

    Some Soultraits were more expensive to upgrade while others were easier. Fortunately, the five Soultraits Michael handed over were on the cheaper side.

    The remaining 1714 SoulStar Fragments were stored inside Michael''s War Rune. He wanted to keep them there and use them to upgrade his Soultraits inbat ¨C to unleash a burst of power when he needed it the most.

    "Since everyone is willing to continue fighting, let''s go," Michael said with a faint smile on his lips.

    He split his army and the Demon Monkeys into two groups to attack the two armies simultaneously.

    It wouldn''t be long before the darkness of the night would descend. They had to hurry up if they wanted to deliver a heavy blow to the Jungle Expedition before they reorganized their groups ording to the information they''d collected today.

    Lilica and Liopham were in Michael''s group, while the remaining members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team went with Sun Demos.

    Since Michael was Sun Demos'' master, he could control the Demon Monkeys as well. This made it much easier to split up the group of Demon Monkeys.

    They split up evenly and one group followed Michael without anyints.

    Even if some of them were still confused, unsure how a tiny, hairless being could be the master of their king, they were satisfied with the results of today''s battle. Their enemies within the Untamed Jungle had suffered heavy losses, while their group had learned new tactics to apply inbat.

    They didn''t make any losses by being Michael''s subordinates.

    After they split up, Michael and Sun Demos made their moves.

    Michael sent the Demon Monkeys out to gather intel. Over 400 Demon Monkeys were more than enough to search through the right side of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring in an hour. The information they collected was detailed enough toe up with a quick n.

    "Gather in groups of ten and attack them from all sides. Once you kill the group closest to you, disperse in all directions and gather further away from the battlefield. Then change your position and search for an opportunity to strike again," Michael ordered using the information he had been given.

    "Make sure that nobody dies. This tactic heavily relies on short collisions where we''ll use the surprise effect to kill a few opponents before retreating. We''re at a numerical disadvantage but the Untamed Jungle is our territory. Let''s make use of that!"

    Since Michael was at an advantage in terms ofbat power and knowledge about the Untamed Jungle, he figured that Gueri Warfare was one of the best battle strategies. They had uniquebat units but were at a gross numerical disadvantage.

    Fortunately, all of that was something they could make use of ¨C which was exactly what they did.

    The Demon Monkeys split into 40 groups before they disappeared in the Untamed Jungle. Meanwhile, Michael''s small army was divided into five groups.

    First, Lilica and Liopham gathered the Forest Elf Summons around them. The two Forest Elves said that they had some special tactics among Forest Elves, and that it was too difficult to teach them to others.

    Michael was curious about the tactic they wanted to use, but he didn''t force them to tell him more about it. Instead, he gave them his approval before he picked up the Berserkers, Knights, Vanguards, and other closebat units. They weren''t the fastest in the Untamed Jungle, but they were strong and overflowing with the desire to kill the invaders.

    Michael couldn''t leave them behind, so he took things into his own hand and became their leader for today''s battle.

    Meanwhile, the remaining long-range units gathered next to the two Elemental Mages, and the Summoner. The Summoner didn''t require a lot of focus to control an ordinary Tier-1 Summon. Thus, he could pay attention to just one of the long-rangebat units to give them precise orders.

    On the other hand, the Elemental Mages might have a harder time giving out orders. However, their advantage was their exceptional focus and great spatial awareness. They knew when to retreat and when to attack.

    Once they reached the range of the small army on the right side of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring, everyone turned silent. Only the sounds of the Untamed Jungle and the rustling of leaves caused by their opponents resounded in the vicinity.

    Michael summoned Seron Voulge and the Onyx Dragon Armor Set as he passed through the dense thicket, silent like a ghost.

    Amotion broke out farther away, attracting the attention of the small Jungle Expedition''s army.

    The Demon Monkey had initiated their first attack.

    After activating Lesser Enhancement on his eyes and the Symbol of Eagle Eyes that was also utilized, Michael''s eyesight improved drastically. He could see subtle movements through the gaps in the dense bushes in front of him and elerated his steps.

    He activated Lesser Enhancement on his Artifacts as well, increasing their external enhancement by 35% respectively. As a result, Michael''s strength increased as well.

    Michael burst through the bushes, followed by his loyal subjects, who roared out loudly at the sight of their opponents.

    A group of more than 30 Adventurers and Mercenaries appeared not too far away from them.

    The group was focused on something to their left, giving Michael and his people the opportunity, they''d sought.

    Thus, Michael elerated rapidly. He crossed more than 20 meters in the blink of an eye and struck out with Seron Voulge.

    His opponent was a Late Tier-1 Lionheart. The Lionheart unleashed zing fires all around him, ready to attack Michael. Yet, just as Michael''s attack burst forth, a Spirit Whip manifested above the Lionheart''s head. The whipshed out, impacting heavily.

    The Lionheart''s eyes turned white for a moment and he struggled to stay conscious and fight the mental attack. His concentration was broken as a result so the zing mes around him dispersed. Meanwhile, Seron Voulge never stopped. The lengthy de pierced through the unprotected neck of the Lionheart without any resistance.

    Blood gushed out of the Lionheart''s neck and a groan of pain escaped his lips. However, Michael didn''t show any mercy. He twisted the de in his opponent''s neck before he pulled Seron Voulge downward to inflict more damage while pulling his weapon back.

    Michael then used Spirit Whip on the opponents all around him to aid his allies in defeating their opponents as well.

    He retracted Seron Voulge and shot forward to eliminate the remaining survivors of the small group. His energy was quickly drained but Michael didn''t pay too much attention to his energy consumption. Instead of saving his energy, Michael rather preferred utilizing it inrge amounts to ensure that his opponents died as quickly as possible.

    Thus, in the next two minutes of the battle, a total of 30 opponents died. Their corpses were collected in seconds before Michael''s team moved to their next target.

    They didn''t suffer a single casualty but managed to decrease the number of their opponents by 30 with a single attack.

    Michael had begun to use the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique subconsciously at this point. He had finished practicing the second stage, which meant that his breathing had changed fundamentally. That way, Michael could ensure that his stamina didn''t decrease quickly and that his origin energy replenished at a faster rate naturally.

    Adding a semi-active utility of Pandemonium''s Requiem, Michael could replenish most of his energy before they found their second target.

    In the next two hours, they decimated the army of 3000 Adventurers and Mercenaries. A few might have escaped, but Michael didn''t stress about that at this point.

    He knew that some Adventurers and Mercenaries were bound to escape and that they would report their finds to others.

    They would report that a bunch of Forest Elves, and another race ¨C humans ¨C existed in the Untamed Jungle, and that they worked together with the monsters of the Untamed Jungle to defeat them.

    Michael was not sure whether the Adventurers and Mercenaries thought that there had to be a Lord in the outer ring of the Untamed Jungle, or if the Untamed Jungle was actively involved in the happenings today. However, he knew that his hidden existence as a Lord in the Untamed Jungle had been exposed.

    While that was a little bit annoying, it was not something he could change. He didn''t have the luxury to keep his existence a secret since a mid-scale expedition was knocking at his door, wanting to break in.

    After the battle, Michael and his people collected the corpses of the Awakened, while storing some of the other corpses. The rest were left behind for the Untamed Jungle to devour.

    Once all corpses were taken care of, Michael and Sun Demos'' party reunited.

    Sun Demos gave him a detailed briefing of the situation and happenings on their side of the battlefield, while Michael extracted the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols from more than 500 Adventurers.

    Instead of binding the Soultrait Symbols, Michael used Extraction on them once again. He tore the Soultrait Symbols apart to gather more SoulStar Fragments.

    That way, Michael collected a total of 2591 SoulStar Fragments from 500 Adventurers. The gains wereforting, but Michael was not yet satisfied with the result of today''s warfare. He knew that the next few days would be much harder, which meant that today may be the only day in their favor.

    With that in mind, he allowed his War Rune to devour the SoulStar Fragments before he took a good look at the condition of his people.

    ''The majority is tired by now. Telling them to follow me outside the Untamed Jungle won''t be helpful,'' Michael concluded with a simple nce.

    He was also tired, but he wanted to ensure that the Jungle Expedition''s camp wouldn''t be able to rest tonight either. Michael wanted them to be too afraid to fall asleep.

    ''Since they''re daring enough to sleep less than a kilometer away from the Untamed Jungle, we might as well wee them properly!''

    Preparing for the next steps in battle was not further difficult.

    First, he chose to send back those who had sustained injuries or were too tired from thest battles. This included the Demon Monkeys as well.

    Then he gave everyone the chance to avoid tonight''s battle outside the Untamed Jungle if they wished to rest. The possibility of death was much higher outside the Untamed Jungle because there were hardly any trees and other obstacles to hide behind. It would be dangerous as the darkness of the night was their only ally.

    Interestingly enough, many chose to ept the dangers of tonight''s battle and join Michael. They realized that killing 15,000 members of the Jungle Expedition was not enough. There were still roughly 50,000 enemies left, and they now knew about the tactics Michael''s army had utilized over the course of the day. So, finishing them off before they came up with counter strategies was the best move.

    Michael was d that many chose to follow him onto the battlefield. He split up the Demon Monkeys and his people equally to attack from various positions before he pinpointed the most important task for tonight''s surprise attack.

    "Our focus will be Tier-2 Adventurers. Tier-1 Adventurers are not too important because we can still deal with them, but Tier-2 Adventurers are a nuisance. If they have good Soultraits andpatible Artifacts, we won''t be able to deal with them easily even in the Untamed Jungle," Michael cautioned before lightly adding, "We can ignore the unawakened Mercenaries altogether. They don''t have Soultraits nor Artifacts to increase theirbat prowess. Dealing with them inside the Untamed Jungle will be more efficient!"

    Killing the Awakened first had several advantages. First of all, Awakened were stronger than ordinary people and monsters. They possessed Artifacts and Soultraits to strengthen them, after all. But there was also the importance of their corpse.

    Michael could use Extraction on them to collect their Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. Enhancing his Soultraits, and the Soultraits of his people increased theirbat prowess, and thus the chance of survival in theter battles.

    Taking that into consideration, Michael chose to adjust his earlier n a little.

    He used 3041 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Extraction to a 5-Star Soultrait. Then, he used 256 and 301 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement respectively.

    Atst, Michael was in possession of three 4-Star Soultraits, two 5-Star Soultraits, and 707 remaining SoulStar Fragments.

    Information flooded his mind once the upgrade of his Soultraits waspleted, creating a sense of familiarity between Michael and his Soultraits.

    Soon, a smile full of confidence blossomed on his lips.

    He was ready to continue the battle!

    [A/N: Hello everyone. I hope you guys enjoy the first big fighting arc in Supreme Lord. Since I''m currently writing (and stockpiling), I started to wonder what my readers think about these ''longer'' fighting arcs.

    Since Supreme Lord is a kingdom-building novel(to a certain extent) the bigger fights against other Lords, Kingdoms, and Empires won''t be small. Thus, I was wondering if you guys enjoy these long battles (as long as there is some variety), or what you guys think about the current chapters - and the way I construct my warfare arcs. Please share your insights.

    Thanks, y''all!

    Remark: Weirdments will receive some bonkers!]

 Chapter 210 Silent Reapers

    Michael instinctively felt that the lethality of Extraction had increased rapidly.

    After upgrading Extraction to a 5-Star Soultrait, he could instinctively feel that Extraction''s limit expanded to a wide range. The first thing he could tell was that he could use Extraction on things in a range of five meters without the need to pay full attention to it.

    Other than that, the potency of Extraction increased while the energy consumption decreased a little. By using Extraction on a few Mercenary corpses he could reach a good conclusion about the improvements of his Soultrait.

    ''The drop rate for all loot created by the Will of the Origin Expanse increased by roughly 30 to 40%, while the energy consumption decreased rapidly. It also feels like I can control Extraction much more easily now. It requires much less focus than before. But testing it out mid-battle is still out of option. Experimenting against an invasion of 50,000 opponents is too dangerous¡­''

    Michael knew that Extraction was very powerful and that he had yet to learn how to use it with more variations, but he had so manybat rted Soultraits that it was hard to keep his focus on everything at the same time to mix and match.

    In fact, now that Eagle Eyes and Lesser Enhancement had been upgraded to 4-Star trait, their utility was much higher, and their potency was much stronger than before.

    Eagle Eyes'' passive enhancement at 4-Star was as strong as the active utility at 3-Star. Meanwhile, activating Eagle Eyes heightened his eyesight and senses even further. As long as he had a powerful long-range weapon, Michael was confident of hunting opponents more than a kilometer away from his position.

    But that was not all. Eagle Eyes'' active utility allowed him to see better in the dark after the Soultrait had been upgraded to the 4th Star. That was perfect given that they would attack at night.

    Adding Lesser Enhancement, which had been upgraded to ''Enhancement'' after it became a 4-Star Soultrait, hisbat prowess and range of attack increased even further.

    Enhancement''s enhancement didn''t receive a boost in strength. A single enhancement was still equivalent to a strengthening of 35%. However, Enhancement could beyered now. Michael could use Enhancement on his Artifacts and body several times and the enhancement effect would stack. The energy consumption would naturally increase with the number of stacks, but Michael also noticed that the energy consumption of a singleyer decreased drastically.

    Maintaining Enhancement had also be much easier!

    Overall, he was satisfied with the progress as they headed towards their opponents. Close to 600 Demon Monkeys, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, and almost 200 members of Michael''s army left the Untamed Jungle.

    The Demon Monkeys could see in the dark due to the demonic blood coursing through their veins. On the other hand, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and the members of Michael''s army had to apply the light source ointment on their eyelids to see in the dark.

    Their sight was restricted to a few meters ahead of them but that was better than nothing. It was much farther than most could see in the utter darkness of thete night.

    The light source ointment was expensive to produce, and it hadn''t been easy to procure the recipe either, but Michael was d that he made an investment into ointments, potions, and poisons early enough.

    Given his investment, Michael and his people had a much easier time pacing through the ins of the Zentika Empire.

    They paved their way toward the dimly lit camp of the Jungle Expedition, unseen by the eyes of their enemies.

    The sound of drunken people speaking and growling reached their ears. It attracted Michael''s attention and he looked over to the center of the camp just to see that hundreds of Adventurers and Mercenaries were drinking.

    Many were already swaying from left to right, and some were lying on the ground dead drunk.

    ''Is that really an expedition into the Untamed Jungle, or a party trip?'' Michael wondered while his gaze moved slowly through the camp.

    It was big to fit the remaining 50,000 members of the Jungle Expedition, but it was not enormous. There were less than 10,000 tents, and quite a few Mercenaries and Adventurers were either sleeping on the ground or talking to theirrades.

    The camp''s atmosphere was rxed, which was quite unexpected.

    ''Did they not hear that their people died?'' Michael couldn''t help but ask himself. For a minute, he wondered if they had killed all of the mercenaries and adventurers inside the Untamed Jungle, or if nobody reported the happenings within the Untamed Jungle to the others.

    However, Michael quickly figured out the reason.

    "Are they just not bothered about the truth?" Michael mumbled quietly to himself when he saw two familiar faces.

    They were two Jew withrge scars on their faces. Michael recalled them because he had seen them at noon. They fought some of his people and ran away after sustaining heavy injuries.

    Right now, their injuries had been healed and they were talking to other members of the Jew race. They didn''t seem to be scared of staying near the Untamed Jungle, or at the thought of entering the Untamed Jungle.

    ''But why are you guys not scared? Are you confident that you will survive? Why? Is it because of your numerical advantage, or because of the Tier-3 Adventurers?'' Michael bit his lower lip and frowned deeply.

    He told his people to split up and mark their targets. The first attacks were supposed to be deadly and silent. Instead of creating a bigmotion right off the bat, Michael wanted his people to be silent reapers.

    His n worked out better than expected.

    He reached the outer area of the camp with his people.

    While the center of the camp was lively, certain parts of the outer area were dark and silent. Thus, their focus of attack was the dark tents from where they could hear people snoring, sleeping blissfully after having consumed alcohol to their heart''s content.

    Michael and Lilica entered the first tent alone with their Artifacts manifested. Michael scanned the room with a single nce and discovered three Adventurers and two mercenaries.

    He moved Seron Voulge in his hands and manifested twoyers of Enhancement around the voulge''s de. With twoyers of enhancement, it was sharp enough to pierce the neck of the sleeping enemies without making much of a sound.

    Lilica looked over to Michael and attacked when Michael struck down with his voulge. His attack was fierce and precise, not taking much effort to slice through the flesh of his target. Lilica''s motion was rapid and nimble, dealing with her target without causing any unnecessary pain.

    They killed their first sleeping targets with a single motion.

    But as Lilica pulled her dagger out of the target, one of the other adventurers was woken up. The adventurer heard Lilica''s de piercing into the flesh of hisrade. Startled, his eyes shot wide open.

    However, before he could scream out loudly, a white stream passed through his field of vision. In an instant, he sobered up, realizing that something was terribly wrong. The next moment the adventurer''s world turned upside down. A curse escaped his lips before his head tumbled onto the ground.

    A fountain of blood was sprayed through the tent.

    Warm blood trickled down the bodies of the sleeping mercenaries, yet they didn''t wake up. They continued to snore loudly.

    Lilica was just about to walk over to the mercenaries and finish them off when Michael lifted his hand to stop her.

    He shook his head with a sly smile on his lips.

    Instead of killing the mercenaries, who were deep asleep and under the heavy influence of alcohol, Michael wanted to make use of them.

    He used Extraction on the corpses of the three adventurers to extract their SoulStar Fragments and the other loot created by the Will of the Origin Expanse.

    Afterward, he looked down at the golden streams in his right palm before his gaze fell on the sleeping Mercenaries. He tilted his head and gave it a shrug. Michael bent down next to the sleeping Mercenary, his hand hovering above his head.

    Then, Michael extracted the Mercenary''s left eye.

    The mercenary flinched, but he continued to sleep. It didn''t seem to be too painful for his victim whose eye was extracted from his body which was a big contradiction to Michael''s expectations.

    ''Shouldn''t their natural mental defense block my extraction even while they''re asleep? And why didn''t it hurt him if I extracted his eyes? Is Extraction actually painless, or is it just because they''re drunk? Well, either way¡­that''s good¡­''

    Extraction was a weird Soultrait, and Michael knew that he had yet to learn a lot about it. Nheless, his initial n worked out.

    He killed three adventurers and extracted an eyeball out of the mercenary next to him.

    Michael ced the eyeball into the hand of the mercenary before he ordered Lilica to leave the tent with him.

    Lilica stared at him confused at first, but she quickly understood his intention.

    If they wanted to induce fear in the participants of the Jungle Expedition so that they would be too scared to sleep, they had to leave witnesses.

    The two heavy sleepers were good witnesses, especially with one of them losing an eye without realizing it. Even if they were dead tired, they wouldn''t dare to go to sleep anymore. Who knew what would happen the next time they fell asleep? Maybe they would be the silent reaper''s next target!

    Michael hoped to instill the worst fears in the hearts and souls of their opponents through his actions. He wanted to tire them out and make sure that they wouldn''t be able to fall asleep without feeling unsettled or scared at the thought of not being able to wake up the next day.

    Michael and his people were already tired, and they wanted their opponents to feel the same. It would be even better if their opponents felt worse.

    They should be afraid of the Untamed Jungle, thinking that the region is cursed.

    Even staying in the proximity of the Untamed Jungle should inflict fear in the hearts of the invaders and make them subconsciously step back.

    That was Michael''s n for tonight, and it turned out to be highly sessful.

    Even by the end of the night, Michael and his people had never been found, yet they killed more than 500 sleeping Adventurers, and close to 200 mercenaries ¨C who''d been woken from themotion of theirrades dying.

    Afterward, Michael disappeared into the night, leaving behind the dead corpses and mutted sleeping mercenaries, who were all missing one eyeball.

    "I hope you guys will have a nice morning!"

 Chapter 211 Curse Of The Jungle

    When the first sun rays peeked over the horizon the life in the camp awoke slowly as well.

    The first Adventurers and Mercenaries woke up with a headache after their heavy drinking session the day before. They got up with the intention to prepare for today''s battle inside the Untamed Jungle.

    However, what they didn''t expect to hear was screams of horror and fear to sweep through the entire camp as more people awoke.

    After the first screams resounded more Adventurers and Mercenaries woke up, and more screams filled the air.

    Everyone was forcefully pulled out of their beds, while the tension all over the camp increased drastically.

    In the following ten minutes, dozens of mercenaries rushed over to the infirmary, holding one of their eyeballs in their hands.

    Their remaining lone eye was filled with horror and disbelief. They couldn''t understand how they lost an eye without even realizing it.

    But that was not even the worst.

    They woke up in the middle of several blood puddles, and the dead bodies of theirrades. The mercenaries didn''t even notice that theirrades had died right next to them. They continued to sleep soundly, unaware of everything that happened at night.

    It didn''t take long before the news reached the authorities of the Jungle Expedition. At first, they didn''t believe what had happened. They thought that their Mercenaries and Adventurers were still not sober and were hallucinating.

    However, it was not long after that they realized how wrong their thoughts had been. The corpses of the deceased were brought to the center of the camp, creating a heavy atmosphere all over the camp.

    Fear slowly crept up in the hearts of the men and women who were oblivious to the happenings of the night before and all of the sleep had been wiped off their eyes.

    "Nobody noticed anything? How can that be?" One of the Jungle Expedition''s participants asked.

    He sobered up the moment he heard about the death of theirrades-in-arm, knowing that it could have been him whoy dead on the ground instead of them. He had just been lucky.

    "I only heard rumors about the dangers of the Untamed Jungle before¡­I didn''t expect them to be true¡­" Someone else murmured quietly. He was not from Xiltra and had traveled through the Zentika Empire especially for the Jungle Expedition not knowing what awaited him.

    "Is that the Curse of the Untamed Jungle?" A female Adventurer asked, her voiceced with terror.

    "Are we bound to die like this as well?"

    One after another, voices of difort, confusion, and fear filled the camp.

    "I don''t want to stay here anymore¡­"

    "Can''t we just leave? I don''t want to die."

    "...I will never sleep again."

    The seeds of fear and terror took root in the hearts of the Jungle Expedition members.

    It influenced their minds and battle morale, weakening their spirits drastically.

    They slowly lost the eagerness to enter the Untamed Jungle.

    It was just like Michael hoped but much better.

    While terror swept through the camp like a zing fire, Michael and his people had long since returned to the territory.

    After a long and tiring night, everyone rested for a few hours, leaving the guardian duty to those who had stayed back in the territory.

    When Michael woke up again, he got up and met up with Lilica and the others.

    He took a look at the territory and realized that Tiara, ire, and more than 5,000 Starless Summons had yet to return from the mission he''d given them. Michael was not worried about their well-being. He could sense their intact Link of Loyalty, and the emotions from both ire and Tiara, whose Links of Loyalty were especially firm.

    "I hope they''ll return by afternoon, otherwise, it will be difficult to deal with the Tier-3 Adventurers¡­" Michael murmured.

    He had a n to fight the Tier-3 Adventurers, but Tiara and the others had toplete their tasks to achieve that. If they were to finish their tasks toote, it would be increasingly difficult to deal with the Tier-3 Adventurers.

    Fortunately, Michael and the rest could deal with the other Jungle Expedition members until then.

    16,000 members of the Jungle Expedition had been killed until now. Amongst them, 2,000 were at the 2nd Tier.

    "9,000 2nd Tier members and roughly 41,000 1st Tier members are left¡­If we deal with the people at the 2nd Tier by tomorrow, we should have it much easier to finish up the rest¡­" Michael concluded quietly.

    Last night, Michael scanned the whole camp within a few hours. Thanks to his high perception, and Enhancement further heightening his senses, Michael was able to figure out the current situation across the Jungle Expedition''s camp.

    Only after he analyzed the camp the night before did Michael finallyprehend why the Jungle Expedition didn''t charge into the Untamed Jungle with all of their people toward his territory.

    The Tier-3 Adventurers were still missing!

    Initially, the Jungle Expedition was supposed to start three dayster. But because Michael and his people attacked the Adventurers and Mercenaries all across the border of the Untamed Jungle in thest few days the authorities of the Jungle Expedition started the expedition without waiting for the most important participants to arrive.

    Their impatience caused the deaths of thousands of participants, and it created a terrific opportunity for Michael and his team.

    The night before Michael killed more than 500 Adventurers. He harvested their SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols before absorbing everything. The Soultrait Symbols had been extracted a second time to produce more SoulStar Fragments.

    In a single night, Michael harvested a total of 2763 SoulStar Fragments.

    He didn''t use the SoulStar Fragments immediately, knowing that it might be better to leave the upgrade options open. Michael would upgrade one of his three 4-Star Soultraits based on the need of the hour.

    Other than the SoulStar Fragments, Michael harvested hundreds of powerful Artifacts, Memory Orbs, and more valuable loot. His gains outweighed his warfare expenses byrge.

    That was great, but it wouldn''t stay like this. After all, Michael was just about to start using their fortune to acquire another advantage.

    "We will start using poison from today," Michael said to the others while giving Sun Demos a few orders through telepathicmunication.

    [Wake up the Demon Monkeys. It''s time to initiate the Beast Stampede!]

    Since he presumed that the Tier-3 Adventurers wouldn''t arrive today, Michael thought that it was necessary to up their game.

    It was unlikely that the Demon Monkeys could enrage the Tier-2 Monsters of the middle zone as well as the day before and repeat the pattern. Fortunately, that was not necessary. The Demon Monkeys didn''t have to do that anymore.

    Instead of enraging their enemies within the Untamed Jungle, the Demon Monkeys were now ordered to target the biggest hordes of Tier-1 Monsters in the outer area. Michael and his people had located more than 100 habitats with arge poption of Tier-1 monsters in thest few weeks. But since he and his people weren''t too interested in those monster hordes anymore, they left them alone.

    That would change now.

    The Demon Monkeys split up in small groups to scare off the monster hordes, essentially pushing them to the border of the Untamed Jungle.

    Preparing for battle didn''t require too long. However, it was necessary to wait until the Jungle Expedition would charge inside the Untamed Jungle.

    "Do you think they''ll still enter the Untamed Jungle?" Mika asked the group.

    "I bet they will. The authorities won''t allow the Jungle Expedition''s participants to be frightened of the Untamed Jungle. If they allow that, their authority will be undermined, and they''ll lose face in the Zentika Empire. After all, the council invested heavily into the Jungle Expedition," Lilica exined before she added, "The moment they fail to deliver results, they will lose the opportunity to pursue a promising career in the Zentika Empire. They have to continue the Jungle Expedition now that they started it!"

    "Furthermore, nobody knows for sure what happened the night before. We didn''t leave any witnesses alive. That means nobody knows what will happen tonight. Nobody will be able to sleep soundly in the camp, scared that they might be the next victims of the ''silent reapers''," Liopham added confidently.

    "I think they''ll attack with all participants today. By sending all of them out, everyone will feel morefortable, thinking that their chances of survival are higher." Another Forest Elf, Opars Zelk, added after Liopham.

    Michael nodded in agreement. He couldn''t tell for sure what the authorities of the Jungle Expedition were thinking, but the morale would dwindle the more days passed.

    Michael was certain that the Jungle Expedition''s members wouldn''t be able to sleep soundly anymore, which would cause sleep deprivation and a severe burden on their minds. Thebat prowess of the entire Jungle Expedition would decrease the more time passed while letting fear gnaw at their minds.

    Thus, they had to prepare for an all-out war starting today.

    Michael equipped everyone with various potions, ointments, and several types of poisons. He hoped that every attack could take out an opponent. That way, they could quickly annihte their opponents and take care of the more terrifying enemies.

    The territory''s army went into position. They spread in a wide range around the territory, ready to attack at any moment. Afterward, they waited for the signal that would indicate the start of the all-out attack on the Jungle Expedition.

    Meanwhile, Michael changed his position. Instead of joining the battle in the Untamed Jungle, he did something else. He jumped on Icarus'' back before the Greater Eagle left the Untamed Jungle to circle high in the air above the camp.

    Eagle Eyes'' passive effect enhanced his eyesight enough to see clearly what was going on the ground even though Icarus was circling more than 500 meters above the surface.

    Michael observed the situation clearly, and he gave Sun Demos the mentalmand to initiate the Beast Stampede once the Jungle Expedition set off to the Untamed Jungle.

    The roars of the Demon Monkeys were the territory army''s signal to stay vignt and await the arrival of the Jungle Expedition.

    On the other hand, Michael waited patiently to see how many would stay behind.

    "It''s about time to deal with the snake''s head."

 Chapter 212 Storm

    Almost all remaining members of the Jungle Expedition charged inside the Untamed Jungle simultaneously.

    Many were initially afraid of the Untamed Jungle''s Curse and that they might die, but with the other veterans around them they gradually calmed down.

    By entering the Untamed Jungle, the Jungle Expedition was forced to spread out and split up into smaller groups. The densely grown flora and fauna forced them apart. However, nobody was too worried about this. They knew that theirrades were nearby and that they would receive support the moment something unexpected happened.

    They were also prepared to battle the moment they entered the Untamed Jungle. Given the information they''d received from the battles the day before, Tier-2 Monsters might appear in front of them at any moment in the Untamed Jungle.

    However, none of that happened. On the contrary, the Untamed Jungle was silent for the first few minutes. They could walk through the Untamed Jungle without any issues.

    Only when they were deep enough in the Untamed Jungle did something change. The sounds of desperate monsters resounded through the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. The noises didn''te from ahead but from all directions. They ovepped and grew louder by the moment.

    The warriors tensed up and changed their stance instinctively. They changed into a defensive battle stance and prepared to face the monsters of the Untamed Jungle.

    At the end of the day, the Jungle Expedition members would rather fight against an opponent they could see than not knowing what awaited them and stay in the dark. That was also one of the reasons that convinced them to charge into the Untamed Jungle.

    Ready for battle, the Adventurers and Mercenaries waited patiently for the first monsters to barge through the thickly grown undergrowth and lunge at them.

    It didn''t take long until the first monsters arrived.

    However, what the Adventurers and Mercenaries didn''t expect was to see hundreds of monsters charging mindlessly at them. The fear and desperation in the monster''s eyes was clear to perceive. It was intense enough to cause shivers to run down their spine.

    The encounter with frightened monsters didn''t end with hundreds of them charging through the undergrowth. No, that was just the beginning.

    Hundreds of Monsters turned into thousands, and thousands became tens of thousands, all of them running toward them.

    The Adventurers and Mercenaries were not sure how many monsters were charging at them, but they could clearly tell that all of them were frightened to death.

    This realization,bined with the fear and terror that had taken root in their hearts caused the Mercenaries and Adventurers to feel goosebumps all over their bodies. Nheless, they shed with the desperate monsters head-on. It was toote to move away either way.

    Yet, before their weapons collided with the monsters, screams rang out in the back of their groups.

    Some turned around, just to see that theirrades had been pierced by an arrow. Most arrows weren''t lethal, but it was not difficult to see a dark greenish substance coating the arrow. The veins around the area of impact turned dark quickly and the screams of pain and horror grew louder and more intense.

    Panicked and terrified, the Adventurers and Mercenaries, who had been hit, tried to escape. However, they lost control of their body real quickly and fell to the ground where they remained. Their movements slowed down and they couldn''t muster the strength to get up anymore. Slowly but steadily they lost all sensation in their bodies.

    More arrows whizzed through the air silently. Their sounds were muffled by the screams of pain, the monster''s desperate noises and the rustling leaves all over the Untamed Jungle.

    As the arrows impacted, the desperate monsters continued their charge. They were too focused on fleeing to focus on whaty ahead of them. Thus, they either bulldozed the paralyzed Adventurers and Mercenaries beneath them, quashing them to death or they ran straight into the des of the unscathed Adventurers and Mercenaries.

    Thus, a chaotic battle began.

    The fleeing monsters continued charging ahead mindlessly, and the Demon Monkeys were revealed. Simultaneously, the bombardment of arrows continued. The downpour of arrows never ceased, and more people fell victim to the poisoned arrows.

    Unable to hold it any longer, the Lionhearts unleashed their zing mes. They chose to go against the orders they''d been given and began to burn down the Untamed Jungle''s outer area.

    Their zing mes spread rapidly through the densely grown undergrowth. However, instead of panicking, the Demon Monkeys merely slowed down. They slunk back behind the cover of trees and disappeared in the Untamed Jungle.

    Simultaneously, a strong pulling force drained the surrounding origin energy. It pulled in the direction the Demon Monkeys had disappeared to. Momentster, a dark cloud began to form above the Untamed Jungle''s outer area.

    The cloud was dark like the abyss, and bolts of lightning zapped through it ceaselessly.

    When Michael saw therge cloud he nodded his head subtly.

    "Let''s hope that we collected enough Monster Cores to feed the Storm Orb," He mumbled, staring at the dark cloud.

    Michael had made a deal with the Forest Elven Elders a few days prior to the battle. He promised to increase the production of low-level armaments and to continue focusing his investments on the Forging Hall within the Underground Ecosystem in exchange for the Storm Orb.

    The effect of the Storm Orb was rather simple. It could create a storm using the origin energy in its surroundings, and the energy stored within monster cores. It was a rare item that controlled the weather in a certain range.

    Initially, Lilica handed him the Storm Orb to use once the Lionhearts began to use their fire affinity to destroy the Untamed Jungle. But since Michael chose to attack the camp when most members of the Jungle Expedition left, he didn''t have to keep it anymore. He gave it to Lilica in addition to more than 100,000 Tier-1 Monster Cores to use.

    The investment he made to obtain the Storm Orb and empower it had been quite high, but Michael knew that the Untamed Jungle''s environment had to be protected to ensure their victory.

    ''You guys can do it! The Lionhearts'' fire is useless now, and the Untamed Jungle is even muddier than before.''

    Michael believed that his people could do it. He was certain that the Elemental Mages would join the battle now, and that the lethality of the arrow barrage would increase further.

    But that was not all. Most of the traps they''d installed worked better on a muddy surface. It was only a matter of time before the invaders would encounter those traps, and Michael hoped that they would take down as many opponents as possible.

    ''Just don''t die, guys!''

    He patted Icarus'' back afterward, signaling the Greater Eagle to dive down to the ground.

    Even though he was worried about his people''s well-being, he knew that they would be fine. Hence, he went out alone to fight the remaining members of the camp and destroy the camp for good.

    Michael summoned the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and Seron Voulge. He used Enhancement on his Artifacts once before jumping down from Icarus'' back.

    Icarus stopped diving down and ascended back into the air. The Greater Eagle would observe the surrounding area and dive down to kill the weak and injured Adventurers and Mercenaries that had been left behind in the camp so that no opponent was left alive.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s task was to kill the Twin Lions, and hopefully extract some of their Memories to gather enough information about the Tier-3 Adventurers that had yet to arrive.

    Given the Memory Orbs he had already extracted until now, the Twin Lions were the heads of the Jungle Expedition. There were a few more Tier-2 Adventurers leading the expedition, but it was known to everyone that the Twin Lions had control of everything.

    Searching through the memories provided by the Memory Orbs, Michael learned a lot about the Jungle Expedition, the hierarchy, and the tactics they employed. It gave him enough insights to counter their ns with various strategies.

    That was also why Michael ended up separating from his group. He left the Untamed Jungle to attack the Twin Lions to cut off the serpent''s head.

    On the ground, a bunch of injured Mercenaries and Adventurers greeted Michael. They looked at him with wide-open eyes, their confusion clearly visible.

    Michael used his near-perfectly refined physique to burst forward with terrific velocity. He appeared in front of the opponents and shed the voulge horizontally, cutting open the abdomen of multiple opponents at the same time, freeing them of their misery.

    Michael moved rapidly. He twisted Seron Voulge, lifted the weapon and cut down diagonally, delivering the killing blow for three Mercenaries.

    Their energy influx flooded Michael''s War Rune at once, invigorating his body and strengthening him little by little.

    During thest few days, Michael''s War Rune had been constantly working on high gears to refine the energy shares and influxes. Even now Michael was receiving a steady influx of energy share from multiple subjects that were killing the invaders of the Untamed Jungle.

    If he continued like this his War Rune''s refinement degree would increase to the Late stage until the end of the war. However, the degree of refinement of his War Rune was not the most important.

    What was important was to ensure that his energy kept being replenished with the influx of energy shares. Most of the energy he received was devoured by the War Rune, but Michael could use his will to separate a strand of the energy shares to keep refilling his origin energy storage.

    That way, Michael didn''t have to focus too much on his energy consumption while fighting the injured Mercenaries and Adventurers.

    He used as much energy as he replenished to stay fully empowered for the battle with the Twin Lions.

    Michael killed every opponent in his sight. In the past, he would have felt guilty killing so many opponents. However, by now, Michael realized that it was either killing or getting killed.

    The moment he hesitated, it would be game over for him, or his people.

    And Michael didn''t want to witness his people''s death, especially not if their deaths were caused by him.

    Thus, he left a trail of corpses in his wake as he kept ughtering his enemies. Hot blood gushed through the air. It sttered on his face and dyed the vicinity crimson.

    By circting the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique, Michael stayed in top form as he ughtered his way through the camp.

    There were far more injured Adventurers and Mercenaries than Michael initially expected. Nheless, they found their way to hell quickly. Michael made sure of that.

    He passed through the camp and paved his way to the tent of the Twin Lions.

    On his way to the Twin Lions, he encountered the remaining authorities of the Jungle Expedition.

    They were leaning above a map of the Untamed Jungle and kept talking to small stones that gleamed in a faint azure tone. The stones were short-distancemunication devices. They were expensive and hard to procure.

    ''Are they stupid? How in the bloody heaven did they not hear me ughtering everyone?''

    Deep frowns were etched on their faces, showing Michael clearly that the authorities were not satisfied with the information they received from themunication devices.

    ''Looks like my people cause you lots of stress¡­.it would be a lie if I were to say that I''m sorry though.''

    The corners of Michael''s lip curled upward as he kept ncing in the direction of the authorities. Since he entered the camp Michael made sure to kill his opponents as quickly as possible. Nheless, it was surprising that the authorities hadn''t noticed his invasion yet.

    Either they were too busy trying toe up with better ns to deal with the problems in the Untamed Jungle, or they felt too secure in the camp.

    ''Or¡­they''re just¡­stupid¡­''

    One way or another, Michael closed in on the authorities without any hesitation.

    He created a secondyer of Enhancement all over his Artifacts and the Eagle Eyes Symbol.

    His strength increased considerably in response, and his eyes began to glow golden as Eagle Eyes was utilized.

    The next moment, golden streams shot out of his palms, coating Seron Voulge''s de.

    Michael began to utilize Extraction. Now was not the time to think about what he should do, and what he couldn''t do.

    It was about time to go all-out, and not hesitate!

 Chapter 213 Beheading The Snake I

    Dealing with the authorities of the Jungle Expedition should have been really difficult. However, it was a great fortune that most of them were Natives of the Origin Expanse.

    It seemed like the Zentika Empire''s council wanted to put Natives at the top of the Jungle Expedition''s hierarchy to improve their image. The idea was good, but the issue was that Natives were naturally weaker than Awakened. They didn''t possess Soultraits, or Artifacts to strengthen them.

    They could only rely on the powers they were born with.

    ''I cannot find the Twin Lions.'' Michael realized after he took a nce through themanding base of the Jungle Expedition''s camp.

    ''If I can tackle them separately that would be even better!''

    He had already summoned the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and Seron Voulge. Twoyers of Enhancement covered his Artifacts, and Eagle Eyes were also fully unleashed.

    Following that, Michael also used Extraction to shroud Seron Voulge with the golden streams of Extraction.

    Michael was not sure how strong Extraction would be inbat, but he hoped that it was enough to push him to the winning side.

    Rushing forward with fast, but silent strides, Michael gave Icarus the signal to attack.

    The Greater Eagle screeched out loudly before diving down from the other side of the camp. Icarus'' screech pulled the attention of the authorities away from Michael.

    It provided enough time to appear amid the five Tier-2 Natives, who unsheathed their weapons to sh with Icarus.

    Yet, before they could inflict an injury to the Greater Eagle, Michael pierced out with Seron Voulge.

    His physical strength was on par with a Lowest-stage Tier-2 Adventurer, and his Tier-1 Artifacts had been enhanced two times.

    Being able to see every single detail and movement in his field of vision, Michael pulled back Seron Voulge just as it was about to pierce through the chest of the Native Lionheart.

    zing mes burst forth from the Native Lionheart. He had instinctively unleashed a great deal of his power upon sensing an iing lethal attack from behind. The Native Lionheart turned around, shing down in the most likely position for the unknown opponent to appear in. However, there was nobody.

    Michael had already moved to the side while cutting the Native Lionheart''s legs multiple times. The Native Lionheart groaned in pain, but he moved quickly, ready to end Michael''s life.

    Little did he know that Michael''s golden streams had already entered the subtle wounds inflicted by Seron Voulge. He extracted a few drops of blood with great difficulty before he used Spirit Whip to inflict mental damage. The Native Lionheart didn''t expect a mental attack, and he failed to protect himself against it.

    He struggled and realized toote that something had infiltrated his body. A fountain of blood gushed out of the small wounds on the Native Lionheart''s legs.

    ''Using Extraction on living organisms with strong willpower is really difficult. Maybe I should use Extraction differently inbat¡­'' Michael concluded after he used a great deal of his power to extract some of the Native Lionheart''s blood.

    Instead of continuing to waste his mental power and origin energy on something that hardly helped him in battle, Michael chose a different approach in the utilization of Extraction.

    He expanded his range of Extraction and extracted the soil beneath two other Natives. Before they could realize what was going on, a small pit opened up beneath them. They fell less than two meters deep into a pit, but that was already enough to take away their whole momentum.

    Michael twisted his body in an awkward angle to evade the iing sh of the Native Lionheart before he changed his target quickly. He used Enhancement on Spirit Whip andshed out at the two Natives who had been dragged down into a narrow pit.

    They were just about to jump out of the small, narrow pit when the enhanced Spirit Whip impacted hard. They suffered a bacsh and lost their momentum a second time.

    Afterward, they required too much time to regain theirposure. A cold de pierced through the neck of the Native Destors just as he was about to look up.

    Michael twisted Seron Voulge''s de in the Destors'' neck before he dived to the right. His Eagle Eyes and high perception detected an attack from that direction. He avoided getting cut in half by a hair''s breadth and simultaneously gained the opportunity to close his distance to the other Native in the second narrow pit.

    Michael thrust Seron Voulge forward without hesitation, even ignoring the zing mes that shot toward him dangerously fast.

    Moving instinctively, Michael utilized Extraction to extract the oxygen around him. The range of his extraction was intentionally kept small to lower his energy consumption, but that didn''t matter. He could extinguish the zing mes around him in a short moment. And that was all he needed to thrust the voulge''s de deep into the chest of the Native in the second pit.

    The zing mes engulfing him slowly dimmed down. They were extinguished before hitting his skin, but that didn''t mean Michael didn''t feel like he was burning to a crisp.

    He moved quickly.

    ''You cannot see me engulfed in zing mes, can you?'' Michael asked himself while dashing toward the Native Lionheart.

    Certain that the Native Lionheart couldn''t see or sense him properly, Michae elerated. He shed Seron Voulge horizontally through the air and felt the collision between his weapon and the Native Lionheart''s sword just a momentter.

    The Native Lionheart was strong, but it felt like the Lionheart was focusing on his proficiency with his innate fire affinity. His physical strength was not nearly perfectly refined like Michael''s. Michael used this advantage to change his direction at once. He moved to the side while twisting Seron Voulge to change the trajectory of the Lionheart''s sh.

    Twisting Seron Voulge meant that its de was pulled downward and that he had to retrieve Seron Voulge if he wanted to use the de to cut the Native Lionheart apart.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t have to rely on the voulge''s de. He still had the pole-like lower part of the voulge to use. Using the momentum he gained by twisting Seron Voulge, Michael used his entire force to crush the voulge''s blunt end onto the Lionheart''s head.

    A pained groan escaped the Lionheart''s lips and the unmistakable sound of something breaking reached his ears.

    Michael used the enhanced Spirit Whip tosh out at the Native Lionheart before dashing closer to the Lionheart. He ended up right in front of the Lionheart, and raised his right leg with great momentum, kicking the Native between his legs.

    Afterward, Seron Voulge disappeared inside the War Rune, freeing Michael''s hands to deliver several heavy punches toward the Lionheart''s head.

    The Native Lionheart suffered and fell to the ground, blood gushing out of his nose and mouth, yet Michael didn''t give him enough time to breathe.

    Seron Voulge appeared in his hands once again. Michael spun his weapon and thrust downward with the razor-sharp de.

    The next moment blood sprayed through the surroundings.

    Michael had sessfully killed the third Native in charge of the Jungle Expedition, leaving only two more to deal with.

    Until now, Michael caused considerablemotion. However, he had yet to find the Twin Lions.

    His focus had been on the battle but Icarus hadn''t screeched out loudly to warn him either. That was a little weird, and it impacted Michael''s fight as he dealt with the remaining two Tier-2 Natives.

    Since his physical strength was on par with theirs, and he had threebat-oriented 4-Star Soultraits, it was not further problematic to deal with the remaining two opponents.

    Nheless, multi-tasking was not easy. Soultraits were stronger the higher their star rating, however, at the same time, they were moreplex to utilize as well.

    Enhancement was a rather simple Soultrait, and it was simr to Eagle Eyes, but Spirit Whip wasn''t that easy to control.

    Using all three Soultraits simultaneously, while also trying to gain an advantage with the utilization of 5-Star Extraction, Michael suffered a lot mentally.

    He emerged victorious atst, but he had a bad headache.

    It was his great fortune that the Twin Lions had yet to be found, otherwise, Michael would have a big problem to deal with.

    He retrieved a few potions and pills to replenish his stamina, energy and to alleviate the pain killing his head simultaneously.

    After that was over, Michael rested his mind for a few minutes.

    A few injured Adventurers and Mercenaries approached themanding tent in the camp, but Michael finished them off using the Siltang Bow. They didn''t know what happened before it was already way toote.

    Once Michael had no more enemies to deal with, he decided to use Extraction on the five Natives'' corpses. Interestingly enough, he extracted one Memory Orb ¨C which was a first.

    ''Now I can extract the memories of Natives as well?'' Michael thought with a small smile on his face. Upgrading Extraction to a 5-Star Soultrait had been the right choice.

    He stored the loot extracted from the corpses before devouring the Memory Orb.

    A momentter, streams of memories flooded Michael''s mind. The memories entailed information about the Jungle Expedition, a few secret tasks they had been given, detailed information about the Twin Lions'' bad demeanor, andbat prowess, and more information Michael could make use of in the future.

    Michael digested the memories slowly to imprint every little piece of it deep into his mind, but just as he was about to finish digesting thest bits, humongous zing mes burned down themanding tent of the Jungle Expedition.

    At this point, Michael knew; The Twin Lions had arrived!

 Chapter 214 Beheading The Snake II

    Michael escaped the zing mes by sneaking out through the back of themanding tent. He rushed outside and found the exact location of the Twin Lions.

    It was not difficult to find them since their roars could be heard throughout the camp''s center.

    They didn''t seem pleased seeing Michael and began to utilize their Soultraits at once.

    The left Lionheart''s mane turned pitch-ck as if all light had been taken away, while the right Lionheart''s mane turned white. It exuded a faint shimmering light.

    By utilizing their Soultraits, the Twin Lions'' mes began to change as well. The ck Twin''s mes turned dark like the abyss, while the White Twin''s mes changed into a dazzling white tone.

    ''This seems more troublesome than the memories showed,'' Michael could only think.

    He frowned deeply, but he didn''t hesitate to initiate an attack. He kept utilizing the Siltang Bow and released a few energy-condensed arrows.

    Before charging straight toward the Twin Lions, Michael wanted to find out the exact power level of their dark and white mes. They were stronger than the zing mes of ordinary Lionhearts, but he didn''t know by how much.

    Soon enough, Michael figured out that his energy-condensed arrows couldn''t even get close to the Twin Lions. The energy-condensed arrows burst apart, and the energy dispersed in all directions the moment they entered the range of the dark and white mes.

    The dark mes corrupted the energy arrows, decaying them while the white mes ended up burning the other arrows.

    ''That''s quite bad.'' Michael began to curse, only to realize something much worse.

    Several Links of Loyalty were suddenly cut, indicating the death of multiple Warriors.

    Michael was surprised about the sudden disappearance of several Links of Loyalty, and he immediately contacted Sun Demos through telepathicmunication.

    [What''s going on over there?!]

    [Guckuck. Guck. Guck Guckguck!!]

    [The Beast Stampede was already stopped, and the Adventurers started counterattacking? Fuck!]

    Michael didn''t like the sudden turn of events. He''d hoped that the Jungle Expedition''s main force would slowly weaken and that his people would annihte them one after another. But since the Beast Stampede had been stopped this was very unlikely.

    [Retreat if necessary. Exploit the traps and hunt smaller groups. Use the Untamed Jungle to your advantage!] Michael ordered Sun Demos, who sent a telepathic affirmation in response.

    Other than giving a few orders, Michael could hardly do anything to help his people right now. By the time he returned, the climax of the battle was likely to have passed.

    The only thing he could do was to hurry up and defeat the Twin Lions, which sounded easier than it was.

    Time was running out, and Michael didn''t have the luxury to think thoroughly about the choices he had. The best he could do was to follow his gut feeling and consider his choice of actions for a short moment before he would go ahead and act upon them.

    Michael released three more energy arrows before he entered the deepest part of his subconscious. For a moment, he considered using the 3470 SoulStar Fragments he had left to upgrade Spirit Whip or Enhancement.

    However, he changed his mind on a whim, investing every single SoulStar Fragment into Extraction.

    The frame of a sixth Star formed on the Soultrait Symbol for Extraction as the Symbol devoured the SoulStar Fragments, but that was already it.

    Not even a tenth of the 6th Soultrait Star had been formed.

    If Michael desired to upgrade Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait, he would need an additional 40,000 to 50,000 SoulStar Fragments ¨C maybe even more.

    Nheless, the creation of the 6th star''s frame was enough to strengthen Extraction considerably. It grew stronger and easier to control than before. His will was enough to use extraction in a range of ten meters.

    Using Enhancement on the Extraction Symbol three times in a row, Michael further enhanced the potency of Extraction without increasing the energy consumption.

    Michael shot forward, recing the Siltang Bow with Seron Voulge before activating Eagle Eyes as well. Twoyers of Enhancement were put on his Artifacts, and Michael went up another notch by manifesting two enhanced Spirit Whips.

    Given his current strength and mental capacity, utilizing Enhancement many times while unleashing three more Soultraits was already above his limit.

    Michael knew that very well. He could also sense blood trickling down the corners of his eyes, his ears, and nose. However, there was nothing Michael could do about it. It was evident that he had to go all-out and beyond his limit to defeat the Twin Lions.

    They spotted him, summoned their Artifacts, and shot forward immediately. Their zing mes burst forth as well. They covered the entire center of the camp, burning down everything in their sight. The mes were unstoppable and continued to expand, destroying the camp much faster than Michael could ever do.

    But Michael couldn''t feel grateful. If he felt anything, it was the terrifying pressure and heat the holy and abyssal mes caused.

    It didn''t take long before the mes reached him as well. Yet, just as they were about to burn him down, and turn his body into ashes, white-golden streams shot out from all over his body.

    The white golden streams sucked away the oxygen wherever they went. And without oxygen, not even the holy mes and abyssal mes could survive.

    Michael could clearly feel that the dark and white mes were eating away at the white-golden streams shrouding him, but that was something he had already expected.

    Thus, heshed out with the Spirit Whips, creating severe mental attacks that hit both of the Twin Lions hard. Their mes dispersed for a moment as they lost control of both their Soultraits and their innate fire affinity.

    Despite losing control of their Soultraits and the zing mes around them, the Twin Lions didn''t struggle too much due to the Spirit Whips. They shed at Michael from both sides nearly simultaneously. Michael watched their movements precisely, ducked, and created a deep pit for the Twin Lion to his right.

    The pit was more than five meters deep, yet barely wide enough to fit one of the Twin Lions.

    After the pit was created, Michaelshed out with the Spirit Whip at one of the Twin Lions while retrieving arge tree trunk from his War Rune''s storage space.

    The tree trunk weighed several hundred kilograms and Michael could barely lift it by retrieving Seron Voulge. He threw it down the narrow pit, hoping that it would kill the Twin Lion by crushing him under itself.

    Even if it wasn''t enough to kill the Twin Lion in the pit, Michael was certain that it would restrict the Lionheart a little bit. Michael merely wanted enough time to deal with the other Twin Lion on the ground.

    ''If I cannot deal with both of you at the same time I can just split you up!!'' Michael shouted in his mind, manifesting Seron Voulge once again.

    He shed Seron Voulge to the side while expanding his range of extraction to ensure that the Twin Lion couldn''t manifest his zing mes.

    The expansion of his range of extraction worsened his headache, however, Michael couldn''t help himself. More Links of Loyalty were cut since his battle with the Twin Lions started, and he felt his impatience increasing rapidly.

    The impatience burning in his heart was set aze, putting him into a situation he would rather avoid under normal circumstances. After all, a life-and-death battle could only be won by staying calm andposed¡­usually, at least.

    Michael knew that he was often impatient and that his course of actions were often far from logical and rational. Nheless, impatience was one of the worst feelings to feel mid-battle.

    Theck of patience often resulted in mistakes, and mistakes in a life-and-death battle meant death.

    Michael knew he was risking a lot and his actions increased the chances of his death, but he didn''t want his subjects to die either.

    He knew he had to take bold risks and also survive in order to protect his subjects. Dying miserably meant that he wouldn''t be able to help his people anymore.

    Taking that into consideration, Michael gradually calmed down. His impatience dispersed in the wind as he issued a quick rally of shes and thrusts. His attacks were rapid, and greatly timed with the utility of his Soultraits.

    Using four Soultraits simultaneously inbat, Michael gained an inevitable advantage over his opponents. He attacked the mind of the Twin Lion, restricted his usage of the native fire affinity, and he could see his opponents'' movements early enough to react rapidly. Simultaneously, he could enhance his strength, and the potency of his Soultraits, using Enhancement.

    Unfortunately, Michael noticed quickly that hisbo of Soultraits were taking a toll on his mind. His entire face was smeared with blood, and he found himself stumbling after he cut the Twin Lion in front of him thrice.

    The injuries he''d inflicted weren''t even deep. They could barely be considered minor wounds.

    But the situation grew even worse when the other Twin Lion returned back to the surface. The tree trunk had failed to kill the Twin Lion.

    If it did anything useful, it was enraging the Twin Lion.

    Both were focused on him, snarling viciously as they prepared themselves to initiate another all-out attack.

    Just as Michael felt like he would copse at any moment, the Twin Lions froze in their tracks.

    They had been fully focused on Michael, certain that nobody else was left in the camp. After all, it was void of life when they returned.

    Michael and the Greater Eagle in the sky were the only sources of life that had been left behind.

    Unfortunately, a silver streak cutting through the air proved them wrong ¨C terribly wrong.

    Blood gushed out of the Twin Lions like fountains, and a faint smile blossomed on Michael''s face.

    "Took you long enough to arrive¡­" He mumbled just before he lost control of all of his Soultraits.

    They were terminated as Michael''s legs caved in.

    He copsed on the ground and couldn''t muster enough strength to open his eyes as the familiar figure of a masked man holding a saber in his hand.

    The next moment, everything around him turned dark.

 Chapter 215 Hazy

    Masked Saber appeared behind the Twin Lions, his saber coated in dense silver energy.

    He shed through the empty air and released a crescent-shaped silver energy de that cut through the Twin Lions'' necks, beheading them with a single strike.

    The intense white and golden hues and energy streams circting around Michael dispersed in all directions as he saw the Twin Lions'' blood gushing out of their necks like water fountains.

    "Took you long enough to arrive¡­" He mumbled before he copsed on the ground and stayed there, unmoving.

    Masked Saber stared at the Twin Lions with a deep frown.

    "Why would you fight them alone? Is the situation that bad?" Masked Saber asked himself, unable to understand why Michael would barge into the enemy camp without anyone''s support.

    Icarus shot down next to them, screeching loudly. The Greater Eagle wanted to show that Michael was not alone, but the monster''s screeches did not awaken his master.

    Meanwhile, Masked Saber dashed toward Michael and bent down to feel his pulse and the cirction of origin energy within his body.

    "He still has some origin energy left, and his pulse is fine. That''s good. He was just mentally exhausted," He mused to himself, picking up Michael to put him onto Icarus'' back.

    Afterward, he took a look at Michael''s belt, where he found the spatial pouch.

    Masked Saber didn''t think long about what he had to do. He picked up the Twin Lions'' corpses, injected some of his origin energy into Michael''s spatial pouch, and essed it to store the corpses inside. Afterward, he retrieved a few fist-sized stones from the inside of his tunic. Masked Saber stored them inside Michael''s spatial pouch as well.

    Once Michael was secured, Masked Saber jumped on Icarus'' back behind Michael and they ascended into the air to return to the territory.

    There was nothing else they could do. The entire camp had turned into a huge campfire, and Michael was not in a condition to fight anymore. Bringing him back to the territory before Masked Saber and Icarus would join the battle in the Untamed Jungle was the best option.

    But what neither Masked Saber nor Icarus knew was that Michael was under the constant influx of energy shares. They entered his body, eased his tense muscles, and aided the refinement of his War Rune. Simultaneously, they provided support for the replenishment of his drained mental power.

    Michael woke up less than half an hour after he copsed in the camp. His head hurt like hell and he felt like he had been pulled into pandemonium, but he was awake.

    ''Where am I?'' He wondered, feeling a familiar soft cushion beneath his head.

    Opening his eyes slowly, Michael found a familiar wooden ceiling above him. He turned his head left and right and came to a realization.

    "The wooden manor. I''m back in my territory."

    He got up from the bed he had been lying in, ignoring his heavily aching head. Every step he took required monumental effort and pain shot up from every part of his body, but that was not important. Michael could still feel energy shares reaching him, and Links of Loyalty being cut, which worried him.

    The war against the Jungle Expedition was not yet over!

    His mission was not yetpleted. Michael couldn''t rest just yet!

    Michael left his room, hurriedly climbed down the staircase, and left the wooden manor. Outside, he was greeted by dozens of Starless Summons. They saw their Lord''s pale face and his unsteady steps and rushed over without hesitation.

    "Lord, please return to bed. If you don''t rest, you may have to face severe consequences!" One of them blurted out in worry.

    "Your health is the most important, Lord! Take rest and leave the rest of the battle to us! We will take care of everything!" A young Warrior, who had returned to the territory earlier to receive medical attention, shouted out loudly.

    He looked confident in his Lord''s eyes, pride and reverence shining brightly inside his blue pupils.

    However, Michael could only frown upon hearing what his people said.

    Their war was not yet over, so how could he abandon his people to rest instead of joining them in a bitter fight until the very end?!

    "Give me something to eat, and I will be fine," Michael ordered, his expression and tone making it clear that he wouldn''t ept anymore attempts to convince him to rest.

    The Starless Summons around him lowered their heads instinctively. Some rushed straight to the kitchen and began filling several tes with all types of food.

    They rushed back once the tes were filled and handed them to Michael.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Michael, whose head was still throbbing in pain, sat down on a nearby chair before pointing at the table in front of him. The tes full of nutritious dishes were put down, and Michael began to devour them.

    Ignoring the pain in his head, Michael spent the next 20 minutes finishing more than ten tes that had been filled to the brim. He could feel his body brimming with energy and the pain in his head slowly subsided after he consumed arge amount of nutrition.

    He got up and began telepathicmunication with Sun Demos to find out the position of the enemies, and the situation on the battlefield.

    Sun Demos responded instantaneously, providing Michael the information he needed. Michael listened to the intel while rushing to the battlefield.

    ''The traps have been triggered, killing close to 3000 enemies, and the Beast Rampage allowed us to reap the lives of more than 20,000 invaders¡­that''s decent, but it leaves more than 27,000 invaders who are rampaging the Untamed Jungle¡­''

    [Guckuck!!]

    ''Hmm? Masked Saber and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team killed more than 4,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries in thest hour? Good. Very good.''

    [Fight passively. Make kills whenever the opportunity arises. However, don''t even think about attacking mindlessly!] Michael ordered Sun Demos, who responded with silence.

    A frown appeared on Michael''s face. He knew that Sun Demos had to listen to his order because of their Tamer¨Ctamed monster rtionship, but Michael could also tell that the Demon Monkey King didn''t want to heed this kind of order, not anymore.

    [If you can ensure your survival, go ahead and attack head-on then. But, if you and your underlings die, don''t even think about cursing me in your afterlife!] Michael thus changed his order after a while.

    If the Demon Monkeys and their King desired to sacrifice themselves, who was he to deny their request? Michael didn''t know much about the Demon Monkey kind, but it was pretty obvious that they weren''t noble Samaritans. On the contrary, he was pretty sure that the Demon Monkeys were one of the biggest nuisances in the Untamed Jungle''s middle zone.

    They wouldn''t die that easily.

    [Guckuck!!!]

    ''Don''t thank me for that, idiot!'' Michael cursed in his mind, elerating further to reach the battlefield faster.

    By now, the battle had spread across most parts of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring, trampling several nts and bushes. That meant Michael couldn''t help everyone in need of help. He was only one person and couldn''t split himself into thousand parts to fight alongside every single subject across the several-kilometer-long battlefield.

    But what he could do was pretty simple. He could ensure that his people were safe and sound wherever he was!

    ''Since Masked Saber came back already, he must have finished his mission,'' Michael thought, recalling that Masked Saber appeared in front of him when he needed him the most.

    Initially, Michael ordered Masked Saber to join the battlefield once he brought back the items from the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle. However, it seemed like Masked Saber had instinctively realized that his Lord had been in grave danger.

    ''Without him, I would be dead now.'' Michael realized.

    It left a bad taste in his mouth, but Michael had to acknowledge that he would be dead without Masked Saber. The Twin Lions might not be the strongest on their own, but their techniques and powers hadn''t been weak either.

    However, the biggest issue was that Michael couldn''t continue using so many Soultraits while fighting simultaneously. Fighting and killing several Tier-2 Natives in the camp using the same tactic had already been a nuisance. shing with the Twin Lions shortly after worsened his condition further.

    ''I cannot use too many Soultraits right now, otherwise, I will copse again¡­'' Michael thought, feeling a headache creeping up his brain at the mere thought of utilizing the full power of four Soultraits simultaneously.

    In his current condition, utilizing the full power of two Soultraits simultaneously was already a far cry, forget about three or four.

    Fortunately, the Siltang Bow and Enhancement were everything Michael needed to aid his people in the remaining part of the battle.

    Drained and exhausted, the Jungle Expedition members feared to face an attack from all directions wherever they went.

    Their opponents sometimes appeared next to them, sometimes they charged ahead, and sometimes they arrived from above. There were even times when a small group of people appeared from behind, cutting down a few invaders before they disappeared in the Untamed Jungle''s dense undergrowth.

    It was hard to stay calm andposed facing ghost-like enemies in the Untamed Jungle, especially after the seeds of fear and terror that had been nted in their hearts from the happenings of the night before had taken root.

    However, the situation grew more and more tiresome after the Demon Monkeys changed their approach from a passive stance into an aggressive attack tactic. They dived down from high up in the trees and squashed an invader beneath them. After that, they began wreaking havoc amid their opponents, using all of their limbs, and their lengthy tails to massacre everyone in their way.

    Not long after, the downpour of poisoned arrows began once again.

 Chapter 216 Over?

    "They''re fleeing!"

    Michael''s memories of the battle were hazy. He didn''t know how much time had passed since he returned to the battlefield to aid his subjects, but the news of the Jungle Expedition''s retreat woke his mind.

    He regained his senses, allowing him to clearly assess the current situation.

    "They still have 15,000 members left, but their mental strength has been crushed. The Invaders don''t even know how many enemies they''ve killed and how many are left behind to jump upon them at every corner. They''ve been scared witless, and the seeds of fear and terror have blossomed," Lilica murmured next to him.

    Michael nodded his head faintly. Ever since he returned to the battlefield after his short break, Michael could only remember to have been constantly running around and shooting hundreds of energy arrows. Despite that, he could tell that his subjects did an amazing job utilizing the gueri warfare tactics to the peak.

    Not many of Michael''s subjects died after he returned to the battlefield. He was not sure whether that was because of his presence, or because he had already beente, and that the invaders had already been forced to retreat.

    Either way, the invaders fled, and Michael could tell that the vast majority of his subordinates rushed behind them in an attempt to kill all of them.

    "Let''s follow them as well," Mika shouted loudly. His clothes were drenched in sweat, his wet hair stuck to his temples, and his breathing was rough.

    Despite being clearly exhausted, Mika desired to pursue their opponents, "They''ve witnessed our power. Let''s crush them to make sure that they enter a state of horror whenever they think of the Untamed Jungle again!"

    The more frightening the Untamed Jungle was to the outsiders the better. It would ensure that fewer people desired to enter the Untamed Jungle ever again as tales of this battle spread across the empire.

    Michael felt like pursuing the remaining survivors of the Jungle Expedition as well. Their willpower and strength had been crushed entirely, decreasing theirbat prowess drastically.

    However, he also knew that pursuing the Jungle Expedition''s survivors for too long would create problems. Desperation could be used as fuel to attain unpredictable power ¨C even if it was just temporarily ¨C and Michael was certain that some of the survivors would go ballistic and end up killing his subjects so as to take down as many as possible with themselves if death was the only oue.

    If not for that, the Guards within Xiltra might take note of their pursuit once the distance to Xiltra grew closer. Thus, Michael decided that it wouldn''t be a good idea to pursue the desperate survivors of the Jungle Expedition for long.

    Of course, that didn''t mean Michael would allow them to leave without giving them another p on the back of their heads.

    "Give a signal. Let the cavalry have some fun," Michael ordered, smiling faintly.

    Mika and the others stopped in their tracks almost instantly. They''d nned to pursue their fleeing enemies as well, but upon hearing what Michael said they slowed down.

    "I will catch up with our people at the border. Don''t worry about them. No more of our brave warriors will die today!" Lilica said to which Opars and the other Forest Elves responded with a confident nod.

    "Alright then. Take care of everyone. I will tend to the wounded," Michael instructed and the Forest Elves disappeared a momentter.

    Seconds after they left, a loud horn echoed through the outer ring of the Untamed Jungle. Afterward, the Heavy Armored Elephant, the Cavalry Riders, Spearmen riding on Bilrox, Iglisis, and Icarus attacked the fleeing survivors of the Jungle Expedition.

    They ughtered the fleeing survivors and deepened the terror in the hearts of those who were fast enough to escape the pursuit.

    Meanwhile, Michael helped his injured subordinates back to the territory.

    The remaining Starless Summons within the territory rushed over to help as well, collecting the corpses of their friends, andrades, as well as the corpses of their opponents, knowing that Michael will be able to use them to the territory''s advantage.

    Hours passed in the blink of an eye and the Heavy Armored Elephant, the Cavalry Riders, and everyone else returned to the territory. Arge feast was prepared to celebrate the victory against the Jungle Expedition''s attack and to honor the bravery of the deceased, who died to protect the territory and its citizens.

    The vast majority of the Demon Monkeys died, in addition to half of Michael''s army. The number of their casualties was actually quite lowpared to the tens of thousands they killed, but that didn''t decrease the pain and agony sweeping through the hearts of those who lost theirrades, friends, or even lovers.

    "Do you think it''s over now?" Lilica askedte at night. She was tired, just like everyone else. Yet, Lilica didn''t even think of going to sleep before having a talk with Michael.

    The past few days had been tiring, they fought a lot, and they experienced both joy and agony. Despite that, something about the Jungle Expedition felt off.

    Lilica couldn''t really put it in words, but defeating the Jungle Expedition seemed much easier than they first presumed.

    "You''re probably worried about the Tier-3 Adventurers, who never arrived, right?" Michael responded with a question rather than answering Lilica''s doubt.

    She nodded weakly while poking a branch in the embers of the burned-down campfire.

    No matter how she looked at it, the situation was weird. It may be an exceptional achievement to defeat a group of 65,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries ¨C something she would have never been able to achieve if she was the Lord of the territory ¨C but Michael told them that they would have to face a dozen Tier-3 Adventurers.

    A single Tier-3 Adventurer in the group of 65,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries would have been enough to turn the tides of the battle, yet there had been no sign of them throughout the battle.

    "Was your information wrong?" She thus asked atst.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I don''t think so," Michael answered after a while.

    "I think the Tier-3 Adventurers were still on their way to Xiltra when the Twin Lions chose to attack the Untamed Jungle. They were probably restless because we attacked the adventurers and mercenaries who approached the Untamed Jungle toplete missions," Michael added with a shrug.

    "Actually, I don''t know their reasons, but I doubt that the Twin Lions or the other authorities of the Jungle Expedition expected to see their people die so quickly. Maybe, they wanted to explore the Untamed Jungle and familiarize themselves with the surroundings to strike once the Tier-3 Adventurers arrived¡­though I am not too sure about that either."

    At the end of the day, Michael could only try to predict their reasoning. The Memory Orbs he had absorbed didn''t give him any clear reason for the Jungle Expedition''s rushed movements.

    Michael''s only clue was the bad rtionship between Natives and Adventurers. The Native Mercenaries seemed to hate the Adventurers, and the Adventurers didn''t take the Natives seriously. This was clearly evident given the Twin Lions'' arrogance when they faced the Native authorities.

    They weren''t even friendly with each other.

    If anything, they felt more like hostile arch-enemies.

    "The big question now is whether the Tier-3 Adventurers will attack the Untamed Jungle, or if they''ll be called back," Opars said, joining the conversation between Michael and Lilica.

    Michael agreed with a nod.

    "Even if they attack, Masked Saber has already returned with the stones. As long as Tiara, ire and the others return with their goods, we should be able to face some Tier-3 Adventurers head on¡­" He said, just for Lilica to add quietly, "...probably¡­"

    "Yeah¡­probably¡­" Michael said with a faint smile on his lips, "We never know what will happen. All we can do is give our best to grow stronger and prepare for the worst case."

    "Which means that we will prepare for the attack of a dozen Tier-3 Adventurers," Opars murmured.

    Once again, Michael nodded.

    They spoke for a while until everyone was too tired to think straight. They went to bed and slept soundly for the first time in a while.

    Michael woke upte the next day. It was already past noon when he groggily opened his eyes.

    He was still tired and had the urge to fall back on the warm bed to sleep for a few more days, but he had to get back to work. If a dozen Tier-3 Adventurers were truly about to attack them it was necessary to reinforce the territory, reinstall the traps, and build up everything that had been destroyed.

    One of the most important tasks was to extract the corpses of close to 7000 Adventurers, and around 27,000 Mercenaries.

    Michael and the others chose to extract the loot of the Origin Expanse''s Will, and everything else that was of value before returning the corpses to the Untamed Jungle. The Untamed Jungle would devour the corpses and use them as a nourishment to grow faster and bring back the flourishing flora and fauna that had been destroyed during the battle of the past few days.

    That way, the Untamed Jungle would not sustain heavy losses, and Michael gained even more benefits.

    The more densely grown the Untamed Jungle, the easier it would be for him and his people to fight arge number of opponents.

    Using Extraction on tens of thousands of bodies was certainly not something that could be rushed.

    Fortunately, Michael''s origin energy had been fully replenished.

    Extraction was also a 5-Star Soultrait by now, enhancing the power of the Soultrait.

    Over the next few hours, countless Artifacts, SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Memory Orbs, Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments piled up around Michael.

    Michael, however, didn''t pay any attention to the loot he had obtained. He focused on Extraction until he finished thest corpse.

    Only then did he notice a phenomenon urring within the mountain of Summoning Scroll Fragments around him.

    10,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments burst into the air when Michael''s attention moved to the trembling pile of fragments.

    They swirled around each other, forming a small tornado that waspressing itself over and over again, slowly changing shape.

    Michael''s eyes shot wide open in surprise, and the people around him reacted simrly.

    "Isn''t that¡­"

 Chapter 217 Council Meeting

    "What is going on in the Untamed Jungle? How is it possible for more than 50,000 participants of the Jungle Expedition to die just like that? The Jungle Expedition shouldn''t have left Xiltra until tomorrow?!" An old man of the Destors race thundered through the humongous marble hall.

    He pointed at a Lionheart with silver fur, demanding an exnation.

    "Exin to me why your idiotic subordinates decided to start the Jungle Expedition before the Tier-3 Adventurers arrived, Senator Keltos!!" He shouted at the silver-furred Lionheart.

    Senator Keltos, the silver-furred Lionheart, shrugged nonchntly.

    "Everyone here said that it was unnecessary to hire Tier-3 Adventurers for the Jungle Expedition. Thus, I decided to give my subordinates permission to act on their own ord if an unexpected situation was to ur. And that is exactly what happened since every Mercenary and Adventurer disappeared after leaving the security of Xiltra''s walls," Senator Keltos said without seeming to care about the old Destors.

    "But do not assume that I am happy with the Jungle Expeditions'' results. My investment into the Jungle Expedition was the highest, so I''m the most annoyed about the failure. More than three-quarters of the Expedition members died, and the rest suffered a great mental setback. They won''t be able to fight for the Zentika Empire until their mind has recuperated and their confidence renewed."

    The old Destors slumped back onto his seat. He had nothing else to say since it was true that Senator Keltos used his own wealth to fund the Jungle Expedition. Only some of the funds had been added from the Zentika Empire''s treasure vault.

    "How about we stop fighting for today? I think today''s council meeting is held to take care of a few more important things," A middle-aged Jew ¨C a woman with certain charms ¨C said calmly. The warmth in her voice shattered the tension in the room, soothing the anger of the Destor and Lionheart.

    "I heard rumors about a Lord in the Untamed Jungle. Some reports said that they saw Forest Elves and Humans fighting side-by-side with the monsters of the Untamed Jungle," She revealed what had been reported to her not too long ago before she carefully added, "If the reports can be trusted, the Lord is presumed to be living near the outer ring, and to have reached the 2nd Tier not too long ago."

    When the Jew''s words rang through the marble hall, some of the older members of the council began to murmur. The two dozen seats around the round table squeaked as the old men and women turned to each other to speak quietly.

    "I''ve heard about Forest Elves. They''re quite intelligent and strongbatants within any kind of forest. Dealing with them is definitely a hassle. But¡­Humans? I have never heard of that race," A Zantur mumbled quietly ¨C barely loud enough for every council member to hear ¨C before he gave it a shrug. It was not really important whether he knew the human race or not.

    "The undeniable fact is that the Jungle Expedition failed, miserably at that."

    Senator Keltos sighed upon hearing this. He knew that it was true and that he had grossly underestimated the enemy in the Untamed Jungle.

    Until now, he presumed that the Forest Elven Adventurer team in Xiltra had been at fault for his subordinates'' continuous failure. Senator Keltos thought that the Forest Elves tricked his subordinates into believing that there was a Lord in the Untamed Jungle who was hunting them down one after another. However, that couldn''t have been further from the truth.

    The Forest Elves never lied to his subordinates. There had actually been a Lord in the Untamed Jungle, and it was the ipetence of his subordinates that led to one failure after another.

    The Jungle Expedition had been an attempt to conquer the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and get one step closer to his final goal, yet it made him look like a fool.

    It was about time to change something.

    Senator Keltos cleared his throat loudly. He essed his War Rune and retrieved dozens of tattered documents that he spread across therge round table.

    His action attracted the interest of the remaining council members, who picked up some of the tattered documents.

    "Initially, I didn''t want to reveal these documents because they''re the result of decades of research. I found some of those documents in ancient ruins, while others were procured from all over the Zentika Empire. My subordinates found them in rifts, dungeons, and mazes within thest 50 years. But since it seems like my subordinates are too ipetent to do the job, I decided to stop hiding the documents. I think it''s about time that the council works together to deal with the Untamed Jungle ¨C and these ancient documents should be more than enough motivation for everyone here!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Senator Keltos'' voice was calm andposed as he spoke. However, the glint in his eyes clearly depicted the greed that had infested his entire being. Senator Keltos was unwilling to share the gains of the treasure he''d been looking for even now. Nheless, he was not stupid.

    Greed may have turned him into an impatient man, but he didn''t turn into a brainless fool ¨C not yet.

    The council members read the ancient documents swiftly. Theirprehension was high from decades ¨C if not centuries ¨C of experience, and they quickly understood what kind of treasure trove Senator Keltos had revealed to them.

    "You''re telling us about this¡­NOW?!?" The old Destors who had barely managed to calm down earlier, exploded again. He jumped up from his chair and smashed one of his hands t down on therge table.

    Senator Keltos'' attention moved to the old Destors, whom he stared at with an unperturbed expression.

    "So what?" He asked calmly. "Am I obliged to tell you about the personal gains I make using my own wealth? If you really think that, you should question your own intelligence."

    The old Destors saw red when Senator Keltos'' provocation rang through his ears. However, a single motion from the upper side of the table was enough to calm the old Destors.

    His eyes widened slightly and he sat down immediately, looking over to the old man, who had lifted his hand earlier.

    "Calm down, Gerald," A hoarse voice echoed through the marble hall, silencing all noises in an instant.

    "It looks like we''ll have to continue dealing with the Untamed Jungle," The hoarse voice continued. He added, "Let''s send out the 13 Pdins. Since they spent several weeks traveling to the Untamed Jungle to join the Jungle Expedition we might as well let them loose."

    "They can collect intel about the Unknown Lord in the Untamed Jungle, or maybe finish him off immediately."

    The words of the oldest council member resounded through the marble hall. It was the first time in years that he participated in a council meeting, and it was a first for him to show interest in the Untamed Jungle.

    "How insightful of you, Lord Targes. Your Pdins are Tier-3 Adventurers. They''re certainly strong enough to deal with the Unknown Lord, and the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring as well¡­. IF ONLY these idiots of the Jungle Expedition had waited until the arrival of your 13 Pdins, we wouldn''t have been embarrassed like this¡­" The old Destors said respectfully to the oldest member of the council, Lord Targes while taking a dig indirectly at Senator Keltos.

    Lord Targes didn''t pay attention to the provocation thrown at Senator Keltos. He was more focused on the documents spread out in front of him. His bony fingers tapped against therge table rhythmically as he fell deep into thoughts.

    "Let''s wait for the report of the 13 Pdins. If they fail to find and kill the Unknown Lord, we can always change our approach. Arge-scale battle against the Untamed Jungle is unavoidable if we want to raid the ruins with peace of mind. And these ruins seem quite interesting. I want to find them."

    "I agree with Lord Targes. I support the preparation of arge-scale attack against the Untamed Jungle. It''s about time that we take care of this annoying jungle!" The Jew woman said, clenching her fists tightly, "We should start preparing for therge-scale battle immediately. The earlier we start our preparations the earlier we can attack!"

    However, the man next to Lord Targes shook his head faintly. "For now we''ll be focusing on the Lord Rift. It will open soon, and we''ve yet to collect all entrance tickets."

    "Once the Lord Rift has been raided, we can focus on the Untamed Jungle. Let the 13 Pdins take care of everything first!"

 Chapter 218 Loot, Loot & More Loot

    In the midst of the clearing in the Untamed Jungle, Michael and dozens of people stared nkly at a ck leather scroll that had been sealed with golden wax.

    The scroll hovered in the air above Michael, exactly where the 10,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments had disappeared a moment ago.

    "Isn''t that a Mythic Summoning Scroll?" Mika asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

    "Yep. This is definitely a Mythic Summoning Scroll¡­" Liopham nodded in affirmation, causing Mika''s jaw to hit the ground.

    His eyes flitted to the small mountain of Summoning Scroll Fragments and back to the ck leather scroll.

    "Michael can turn these Summoning Scroll Fragments into Mythic Summoning Scrolls? I thought he can only create Ordinary Summoning Scrolls from them," Mika murmured.

    This time, Liopham had nothing else to add. He was also quite confused by the oue. However, he was not the only one. Even Michael was stupefied.

    ''Was that always possible? That''s¡­amazing!''

    A tinge of excitement spread through his body. The tens of thousands of corpses had given him 10,000 Summoning Scrolls already. Creating enough living space for 10,000 new summons in a span of 24 hours was quite challenging. Thus, Michael had been a little worried, wondering what he should do with the 305,000ish Summoning Scroll Fragments he had extracted on top of the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    But given that 10,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments could form a Mythic Summoning Scroll, Michael felt that all his worries were unfounded. In fact, his worries turned into joy, knowing that he''ll be able to increase his army by 10,000 New Summons in addition to 30 guaranteed 2-Star Summons.

    That thought was enough to disperse his exhaustion and invigorate him with newfound power. He turned to the pile of Summoning Scroll Fragments and began tobine them into Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    Less than ten minutester, Michael was only left with 5,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments. The rest had been turned into 30 Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    Michael stored the Summoning Scroll Fragments away. He then focused on the 10,000ish Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and the 30 Mythic Summoning Scrolls.

    However, instead of being able to pay his full attention to the Summoning Scrolls, Michael''s attention kept drifting to the other piles of loot as well.

    A huge pile of close to 5,000 Tier-1 Artifacts, and 500 Tier-2 Artifacts entered his view before his focus was pulled over to thousands of blueprints of varying rarity. There were more than 6000 Blueprints, close to 300 Memory Orbs, and a total of 43,532 SoulStar Fragments.

    Other than that, Michael also extracted a total of 19 Soultrait Symbols.

    Each pile was worth a fortune, and all of this belonged to him ¨C and his territory. All it took was a single huge battle for him and his people to earn a massive fortune of goods that some were unlikely to procure after spending years in the Origin Expanse.

    "What should I start with?" Michael asked himself at this point.

    Until now, he had never been confused about the loot he had obtained and how to optimize its use. However, looking at the various piles of loot, it was only obvious that Michael felt a little bit overwhelmed.

    At the end of the day, Michael essed his spatial pouch to store all Artifacts away. He would distribute some of themter before selling the rest either to the Forest Elven tribe or in the Saphirke Military Academy''s shops.

    The blueprints were already sorted by his Summons. They moved the duplicates into the warehouse where they would be kept inrge boxes. Once needed, they would be retrieved.

    This left Michael with the Summoning of countless new Summons, around 300 Memory Orbs, and both SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Feeling a bad iing headache, Michael chose to use logic. Since he had spent several hours extracting tens of thousands of corpses, it was already close to night by the time he was done. The sun would disappear beyond the horizon soon. Summoning more than ten thousand Summons would stress out everyone because they would need a ce to sleep and rest.

    Thus, Michael postponed the summoning procedure as the first task of the following morning.

    Afterward, Michael followed his gut feeling. He was the most interested in upgrading Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait. It was already quite powerful ¨C even inbat ¨C so Michael wanted to take a look and witness the power of a 6-Star Soultrait on his own.

    He allowed the Extraction Soultrait to devour the 43,532 SoulStar Fragments entirely. The process was interesting to look at. The Extraction Symbol devoured the purple wisps of energy within the fragments instantaneously before slowly forming the 6th star of the Soultrait Symbol.

    As such, two hours passed in the blink of an eye. Thest SoulStar Fragment had been devoured, yet the 6th star hadn''t beenpletely formed.

    Michael was quite disappointed seeing the almostpleted 6th star of his Extraction Symbol.

    He didn''t think much about it before he began utilizing Extraction on the 19 Soultrait Symbols he had extracted from the corpses of 7000 Adventurers. One Soultrait Symbol after another was extracted, dismantling into hundreds of SoulStar Fragments each.

    Michael''s Extraction Symbol devoured the SoulStar Fragments the moment they''d been formed, slowly but steadilypleting the Symbol''s 6th star.

    When only two more Soultrait Symbols were left, a wave of energy spread through Michael''s body. The origin energy within him began to feel more potent. It began to squirm, seemingly alive as a flood of information swept his mind.

    Extraction had been upgraded to a 6-Star Soultrait!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Instinctively, Michael could feel a qualitative change in Extraction''s utility. Extraction''s potency had increased exponentially, but that was not everything.

    Michael could clearly tell that the origin energy inside his body had been invigorated. It felt more alive and much stronger than usual. But there was still more. Extraction''s upgrade to a 6-Star Soultrait improved Michael''s perception drastically.

    Everything around him felt different than before. It was almost as if his senses and perception had received an upgrade from 720p to 4k. The sudden change was weird, and it was a great difort at first.

    However, Michael quickly adjusted himself to the changes within him.

    Feeling the need to test out his Soultrait, Michael approached the Summoning Gate. He used Extraction while opening the hatches to the three Summoning Cores.

    The hatches opened quite easily, almost as if the Summoning Gate knew what was about to happen. The next moment thigh-thick streams of golden energy shot out of his left palm. They burst forth and engulfed the Summoning Cores at once, extracting arge amount of impurities right off the bat.

    In the next two minutes, Extraction extracted more impurities out of the Summoning Cores than Michael had extracted out of them during all of his Extraction sessions in the past, put together. It was a massive amount that made him wonder how many impurities amon Summoning Core couldpress inside it.

    The extracted impurities were collected and burned. Yet, Michael''s curiosity hadn''t been quelled.

    He went to the warehouse where hundreds of monster corpses were stored. Using Extraction, Michael filled the entire warehouse with thick golden streams of energy.

    ''Higher efficiency, easier control, the ability to use Extraction on multiple targets, lower energy consumption, higher potency, higher drop-rate, and an innate enhancement of my origin energy,bined with a reinforcement of my perception¡­Is that the difference between a 5-Star Soultrait and a 6-Star Soultrait?''

    Michael wondered and after a while thought that everything made sense now. A 6-Star Soultrait might be initially difficult to control, but it enhanced the user''s strength drastically as well. Once the wielder of a 6-Star Soultrait gained a little bit of experience with the utility of the Soultrait it would turn into a deadly weapon.

    All it required was some experience and the right state of mind.

    Michael''s experience with Extraction was already extremely high. Even though the Soultrait had merely been upgraded to the 6th star that didn''t change the way it could be utilized, it was still the same, merely with a few additional functions.

    This gave him an exceptional advantage; the ability to use a 6-Star Soultrait''s power in a way most cannot do even after a year or two.

    "I want to fight Lincoln and Zeke again¡­" Michael mused to himself, a faint smile blossoming on his face.

    Then his attention moved to the remaining two Soultrait Symbols. They were notbat-rted, which he presumed ording to the pictures disyed on the Symbols engraved on the Soultraits. One of the Symbols showed a brain, another one a book.

    ''They should strengthen my brain and increase my learning capability¡­maybe¡­'' Michael hoped secretly.

    The only reason he didn''t use Extraction on those two Soultrait Symbols before was because he hoped to fuse them with himself. If these two Soultraits allowed him to reinforce his brain and learning capability, Michael would have a much easier time multitasking in battle ¨C using several Soultraits simultaneously at their full power ¨C, and for studying.

    Unfortunately, Michael''s prediction was wrong.

    While the two Soultrait Symbols weren''tbat-rted, they didn''t strengthen his brain, nor did they enhance his ability to study more and faster.

    He bound the two Soultrait Symbols and learned a lot that cleared his misconception.

    Both Soultraits were 1-Star Soultraits. One was called [Mind Reader], and its power was exactly what the name suggested; one could read the mind of the target. While that sounded nice, it was far from easy. Mind Reader had various restrictions.

    First, it required the user to touch the target, the closer to the head the better. Second, the energy consumption was enormous. Third, the target could use his willpower to resist his mind being read.

    Michael could think of one or two instances in which Mind Reader was useful, but he''d expected something better. Upgrading Mind Reader was definitely not useful for the time being.

    The second Soultrait he bound was also a little weird. It was called [Soul Grimoire], a 1-Star Soultrait that stored the souls of the deceased. It couldn''t do anything else.

    The Soultrait seemed a little weird.

    Nheless, Michael was quite happy. It was not as if he lost anything by fusing these two Soultraits to himself.

    In the worst case, he could just use Extraction on these two Soultraits to remove them.

    "Well, whatever. Being able to upgrade Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait is already more than I expected. I should digest the Memory Orbs and go to sleep. The Summoning Scrolls are already waiting for me!"

    [A/N: If you liked the novel until now, how about leaving a nice review? It doesn''t hurt and is free :D If you don''t like the novel or certain things bother you, please write ament and reveal your doubts/dislikes. Maybe, I can help!]

 Chapter 219 Tiaras Return

    Memory Orbs were a mysterious thing. Some contained only a few memories, which made it feel as if pictures had been imprinted into Michael''s mind, while others were overflowing with massive memory streams.

    After digesting the memories contained within the 300 Memory Orbs he had extracted, Michael could tell that more than half of them were useless to him.

    The rest either provided him with important pieces of information rted to the Zentika Empire, martial art experience,bat techniques, or other intriguing factors.

    "The 13 Pdins¡­So those guys areing?" Michael mused after digesting the Memory Orbs of the Twin Lions.

    He finally found the answer to why the Tier-3 Adventurers hadn''t been found until now, and that the 13 Pdins were still on their way to Xiltra. The memories of the Twin Lions also showed quite clearly that Senator Keltos was a greedy man, who was unwilling to share honor and wealth with others.

    Senator Keltos invested the majority of his funds to gather 65,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries, so he wanted his subordinates to be the ones leading the Jungle Expedition to victory.

    ''You lost because you were greedy¡­again,'' Michael thought with a smirk. He was quite amused, wondering whether Senator Keltos was too arrogant, thinking that everything would go ording to his n, or if Michael himself had been a too big unpredictable variable until now.

    ''He will be more careful now that he lost his subordinates. The death of 50,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries will probably influence the course of his decisions.''

    Michael had been sleeping while digesting the Memory Orbs. His mind felt refreshed, and he was ready to break his head on how to defeat the 13 Pdins ¨C if they chose to barge into the Untamed Jungle.

    The memories obtained through the Memory Orbs were quite useful. Nobody knew a lot about the 13 Pdins, but their reputation and skill set was public knowledge. That was also why Michael had a much easier time concluding how powerful they would be upon entering the Untamed Jungle.

    ''I hope Tiara will return soon. It will take a while to finish preparing the concoction.''

    Michael got up from the bed. He took a quick bath and ran a hand through his short ck hair. After several months, his hair finally started to grow properly once again. He was not bald anymore!

    That was great, but it didn''t change the fact that Michael was confused.

    ''Lord Targes¡­the oldest council member, one of the strongest existences in the Zentika Empire, and the leader of the Sacred Pdins¡­Will you send your 13 Pdins inside the Untamed Jungle to eliminate me, or will your Pdins leave after realizing that the Jungle Expedition ended?''

    Michael recalled a certain conversation between the Twin Lions and Senator Keltos. The memories of the conversation were hazy and unclear in several parts, but Michael could clearly tell that Senator Keltos respected Lord Targes. In fact, there was even a tinge of fear in Senator Keltos'' voice when Lord Targes was mentioned.

    Michael didn''t like that his enemy feared someone else. That meant Senator Keltos, one of the few Tier-5 Awakened in the Zentika Empire, was not as powerful as Lord Targes.

    Michael put on some clean clothes, left the wooden manor, and arrived in front of the Summoning Gate, where two 2-Star Knights were already waiting for him.

    "Esteemed Lord, we''ve been waiting for you!" One of the Knights said, pulling Michael back into reality.

    Michael stared at the two Knights before his gaze fell on a 2-Star Forest Elf Sharpshooter, holding a longbow that wasrger than his body.

    "You''re my new Summons,'''' Michael realized, blinking his eyes in confusion. "Wee to the territory. I''m Michael Fang, the Lord of this territory."

    ''I have never received three 2-Star Summons from my daily summons before. Oh, wait¡­I extracted a big mass of impurities out of the three Summoning Cores yesterday. Looks like the probability to summon 2-Star Summons in the daily summon increased considerably!''

    2-Star Summons were pretty powerful. Theirbat experience, knowledge, and potential were good enough to put them on the pedestal in most territories. After all, the easiest way to summon 2-Star summons were Mythic Summoning Scrolls ¨C which were extremely expensive due to their rareness.

    Not many were lucky to possess many 2-Star Summons.

    Interestingly enough, Michael could now produce Mythic Summoning Scrolls since he found out that 10,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments could bepressed into a Mythic Summoning Scroll.

    He waved his hand to retrieve the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and the Mythic Summoning Scrolls in his possession. Simultaneously, Lilica and the other 2-Star Knights in his territory rushed over.

    The Knights were overjoyed upon seeing fellow Knights and greeted them heartily. They weed the new Summons into the territory. Lilica did the same, calmly exining the situation and why the Elven Sharpshooter ended up as the subject of a human Lord.

    Michael stared at the three 2-Star Summons for a short while before he averted his attention back to the Summoning Gate.

    Since it was too bothersome to break the seals of more than 10,000 Summoning Scrolls, Michael circted his origin energy through his body. He pushed the origin energy out of his body explosively, releasing a small shockwave that was barely strong enough to destroy the seals of the summoning scrolls upon impact.

    10,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and 30 Mythic Summoning Scrolls unfurled, shot in the air before they were pulled straight into the Summoning Gate.

    In the next half an hour, Michael kept himself busy by watching thousands of Summons emerge from the Summoning Gate.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "9,000 Starless Summons, 1100 1-Star Summons, 27 2-Star Summons, and three 3-Star Summons," Michael mumbled when he received the final report written by one of his Summons.

    He thanked his subject for working hard before taking a look at the more detailed reports.

    "641 1-Star Combat Summons, 15 2-Star Combat Summons, one 3-Star Nightwalker Panther, a 3-Star Earth Elemental Mage, and a¡­3-Star cook? Seems like the territory''s meals will be even better!" Michael rubbed his hands together at the prospect of having delicious food.

    He didn''t summon a 4-Star Summon this time, but that was not something he had expected, in the first ce. The Nature Spirit and Masked Saber were Summons he obtained thanks to great fortune. Michael was already happy to have them by his side.

    He might be greedy, hoping to obtain more and stronger Summons, but that didn''t mean he could indulge in daydreaming for the development of his territory. Instead of being unreasonable, he may as well make use of the means at his disposal.

    After all a big group of new Summons had been recently added to his team, they were introduced to their new Lord and the territory. Michael and his subjects gave the new members a quick introduction and orientation of everything thoroughly while also subtly mentioning that they had just won a pretty big battle.

    The subtle hints also included the possibility of a ''few'' Tier-3 Adventurers charging into the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael would have loved to keep his new Summons in the dark and give them time to settle down first, but that was not reasonable. Everyone had to understand the current situation, and that the territory was bound to be in constant danger. The new Summons had toprehend that they had to work hard to support the rest of the territory to grow and expand, otherwise, they would be swallowed by the Untamed Jungle, or the Zentika Empire''s forces.

    Despite the bitter reality, Michael didn''t want to scare his new summons too much right off the bat. They could slowly get to know everything rted to the territory, and the surrounding regions.

    Thus, Michael spent the rest of the day getting closer to his new Summons. Some told him about their past life, and how they died. It was an interesting experience that provided great insight.

    Once the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Icarus and Iglisis returned with news.

    "The 13 Pdins arrived in Xiltra just before we left. If they''re going to barge into the Untamed Jungle, it will probably happen tomorrow!" Iglisis exined calmly, while Icarus screeched in approval.

    Michael and the others gathered in a circle. Most of them frowned at the news, but they remained silent ¨C with their gazes lingering on Michael''s calm expression.

    "Should we prepare for battle?" Lilica asked, but Michael shook his head.

    "What are we supposed to do then?" Mika asked, unsure how Michael could stay so calm.

    "Tiara and the others are on their way back. She should arrive in an hour or two," Michael revealed with a sly smile.

    He could clearly feel his connection with Tiara through their Link of Loyalty. The Battle Maid was on her way back, and so were the 5,000 Starless Summons that had been with her.

    "I don''t even know where you sent Tiara¡­will her return really change anything?" Mika asked impatiently and sounded a bit rude, which earned him res from everyone else.

    "It will change everything. Don''t worry, you''ll realize soon enough," Michael responded mysteriously, "If the 13 Pdins dare to enter the Untamed Jungle tomorrow, we''ll wee them with a¡­firework!"

    There was no need for Michael to exin the situation in detail. Mika and the others should be able to tell what he was going to do once Tiara and the others returned.

    As expected, less than one hourter, Tiara, ire and the Starless Summons finally returned. All of them were carrying a huge leather bag filled with something.

    Oddly enough, the bags weren''t still. They were moving and twitching, indicating that the things inside the bag were still alive.

    This earned Michael nces filled with nothing but confusion.

    "Wee back. Is everyone fine?" Michael weed Tiara with a smile.

    She put a huge leather bag down in front of Michael and returned a smile as well.

    "Your n was perfect. We caught them alive, just like your instructions, Master!"

    The next moment, something gray crawled out of Tiara''s bag, causing Lilica and everyone around to step back subconsciously.

    "Are you serious¡­is that your n?!?"

 Chapter 220 13 Paladins

    220 13 Pdins

    Towering above others, the beacons of hope and guardians of justice embodied the essence of nobility and power.

    Their physiques bore witness to countless battles fought in the name of righteousness, while their steps resonated with unwavering determination as their presencemanded attention and respect on the battlefield.

    That was exactly what Michael felt while watching the 13 Pdins as they approached the Untamed Jungle. He was standing on the highest branch of the biggest tree at the border to the Zentika Empire''s ins, his eyes glowing golden.

    It was noon the day after Tiara and her people returned from their mission, and it wouldn''t be long before he would encounter the 13 Pdins.

    "No matter how I look at them, they look impressive," Michael mumbled, continuing to stare at their meticulously crafted armor, forming a seamless fusion of protection and grandeur. The gleaming tes of silver steel, and intricate divine symbols that caught the light and reflected an otherworldly radiance were clear indicators of high-ranked Artifacts.

    Their weapons shone with divine luminescence, giving Michael the chills.

    He really didn''t want to fight the Pdins. They were Tier-3 Adventurers with exceptional Artifacts, great experience, and even better teamwork. The memories he obtained from the Twin Lions had given him enough information about the Sacred Pdins'' organization to make him think of running away.

    Unfortunately, running away was not an option. Michael couldn''t afford to lose his territory. Even if he could afford it, he didn''t want to.

    [They''re approaching the Untamed Jungle in a straight line from Xiltra. Finish your preparations and retreat once you''re done.] Michael told Sun Demos through telepathicmunication before he continued to observe the 13 Pdins'' movements.

    Five minutester, Lilica and Tiara appeared next to him simultaneously. They looked at each other, and a faint smile formed on their lips seeing the exhaustion in the other''s eyes.

    Ever since Tiara and the others returned from their mission, nobody in the territory had rested for more than ten minutes. Everyone had been given several tasks toplete in less than 24 hours ¨C with some of them being weird and confusing.

    By now, Michael''s territory exceeded a poption of 25,000. That was a massive number for a young territory such as Michael''s. Yet, Michael felt that the number was too small. The workforce was simply not enough toplete the remaining tasks.

    "We finished relocating the traps," Lilica informed calmly, while Tiara added, "We''re almost done as well. What do you want us to do once everyone finishes their tasks?"

    "The Elemental Mages will stay with me. Bring everyone safely back to the territory and activate the Storm Orb when Sun Demos gives the sign. I will tell Sun Demos exactly when to give the signal, so don''t worry," Michael exined as calmly as possible. However, his heart was thumping wildly. He could barely hear the two women next to him.

    Was he insane to think that four people were enough to deal with the 13 Pdins? Most likely.

    Did he have another chance? Not really.

    Michael didn''t have another choice. The only thing he could do was to use trickery in order to fool the 13 Pdins. He believed that their Artifacts were high-quality Tier-3 Artifacts, which meant that the external enhancements and enchantments on their Artifacts were strong enough to deal with Michael and his territory.

    No living being inside the Untamed Jungle''s outer area could deal with the Pdins. Even if Michael was to throw all of his people at the Pdins, they would grow tired ¨C at most. Michael was certain that he couldn''t even inflict a scratch onto their bodies now that he looked at them.

    ''I have yet to advance to Tier-2. Why am I supposed to deal with a team of 13 Tier-3 Pdins already? Isn''t this a little bit over the top?''

    Lately, Michael felt like the Origin Expanse was ying with him. It wasn''t a great feeling, but there was hardly anything he could do about it ¨C unfortunately. He had to ept the events happening in the Origin Expanse and adjust ordingly. That was it.

    "Don''t you think it would be better if the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team stays with you? We can protect you from one or two attacks to ensure that your n will work out!" Lilica offered, and Tiara was about to add something to convince Michael to let her stay as well.

    However, Michael shook his head before Tiara could say anything.

    "It will already be too dangerous for me and the Elemental Mages. I cannot even ensure our survival, so how am I supposed to pay attention to you guys?" He asked in all seriousness, "Everyone worked hard for thest few days, and I will make sure that we won''t give the Pdins the opportunity to strike us first. Don''t worry and leave!"

    Lilica and Tiara looked at each other. They felt like trying again to convince Michael, but they could also tell that he was telling the truth.

    Given Michael''s n, it was truly too dangerous to stay near the border of the Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire.

    [Guckuck!]

    "Sun Demos and his Demon Monkeys finished their task. Leave with them once you''re done, and don''t forget about the Storm Orb!" Michael said, gesturing to the two women to leave quickly.

    The two women sighed deeply and left together without saying another word.

    Meanwhile, Michael retrieved a small marble-sized silverish gleaming pill from his War Rune.

    "I hope they''re as powerful as introduced," He mumbled to himself.

    The small silver pill was one of many. It was the product created from the tireless effort of Masked Saber, Tiara, ire and the thousands of Starless Summons, who''ve given their best to collect the ingredients needed to concoct the silver pills.

    The silver pill was not a healing pill, nor an energy rich pill. It couldn''t be used to strengthen the body either. No, it was a weapon ¨C and an extremely dangerous and fragile weapon, which Michael would''ve never produced if not for the 13 Pdins. A single mishap, and the entire territory would have ceased to exist even before the 13 Pdins reached his territory.

    In fact, even holding the silver pill was dangerous. A single droplet of sweat trickling onto the silver pill would be all it required to end Michael''s life miserably.

    But it was exactly this silver pill, and many other silver pills that were thest hope for Michael and his territory.

    Using Sun Demos'' memories, Michael found out about the existence of a certain monster type in the Untamed Jungle''s middle zone. Meanwhile, the memories of a few adventurers lead to the revtion of an ingredient that could be found in a smallke within the Untamed Jungle.

    Masked Saber went alone, nearly dying multiple times to collect a handful of water source stones from the bottom of theke, while Alice and her group returned with the living bodies of thousands of Chaos Ants.

    Chaos Ants didn''t possess highbat prowess. As long as one paid attention to their mandibles and stayed away from them, the Chaos Ants wouldn''t even be strong enough to hurt an Unawakened. They weren''trger in size than an adult''s fist either.

    Despite their non-existentbat prowess, and size, Chaos Ants were considered as the most resilient pest of the Untamed Jungle''s middle zone. Not a single monster in the Untamed Jungle''s middle zone would be willing to fight ¨C forget about eating ¨C a Chaos Ant. They weren''t suicidal, after all.

    The blood of Chaos Ants was corrupted by chaos. The presence of Chaos Ants was enough to destroy the origin energy in the surroundings. Killing a Chaos Ant would cause a horrifying reaction from within its body, making it explode!

    The Chaos Ants would burst apart, spreading their blood parts everywhere, corrupting and decaying everything they touched, even the hide of Tier-3 Monsters!

    Their blood causes irritation on the skin of the living, and it would cause chaos within the body if their blood was to enter other beings.

    While that sounded interesting, it was not the point. The point was that the Chaos Ants'' blood and the water source stones were of immense value for Michael.

    He spent thest 16 hours extracting the Chaos Ants'' blood. As long as the Chaos Ants were kept alive they wouldn''t burst apart. Thus, after extracting bits of blood from thousands of Chaos Ants, the territory''s Master Alchemist had enough to concoct the Chaos Pills.

    However, the Chaos Pills alone were not enough to deal with the Pdins. Michael was certain that the Chaos Pills could kill Tier-3 Monsters as long as they were struck directly, but the issue was figuring out how to strike a Tier-3 Pdin with several Chaos Pills.

    The moment they sensed danger they would retreat or dive to the side.

    That was also why Michael''s 25,000 subjects worked tirelessly during thest 16 hours, and why he required the help of the Elemental Mages and the Storm Orb.

    Michael''s attention remained on the 13 Pdins while waiting patiently for the right opportunity. At one point in time, he sent a signal to Sun Demos who then forwarded the signal to Lilica, and she triggered the Storm Orb immediately.

    In the next few minutes, stormy clouds gathered above the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring, and it began to rain heavily.

    The 13 Pdins tensed up at the sight of the storm. They''d received a report about the storm from the day before and understood that it had been created artificially.

    Entering the Untamed Jungle, the 13 Pdins conjured a radiant aura that surrounded their entire being. The radiant aura emanated an ethereal glow that signified their divine connection, strengthening the bond to their allies, and enhancing their physical strength with the holy attribute.

    The divine connection was a testament to the 13 Pdins'' unwavering faith and unyieldingmitment to their Lord and the people their Lord wanted to protect.

    With their unyielding spirit, the 13 Pdins stepped into the storm, ready to face the Unknown Lord.

 Chapter 221 Silver Inferno I

    In the flourishing Untamed Jungle, where the harmonious melody of chirping birds, rustling leaves, and distant monster calls ought to be omnipresent, an ominous threat lurked in the shadows.

    Unbeknownst to the Invaders of the eerie Untamed Jungle, chaos was about to be unleashed ¨C quite literally at that.

    The atmosphere was heavy with tension and anticipation as a deafening silence fell upon the Untamed Jungle.

    Slowly but steadily, the 13 Pdins ¨C fully coated in their Holy Aura, their weapons unsheathed and ready to battle ¨C advanced through the dark undergrowth of the Untamed Jungle, trying to pave their way through the Untamed Jungle''s dense environment. They ignored the storm all around them and stayed fully guarded to act the moment they sensed the presence of an opponent.

    The birds all over the Untamed Jungle ceased their melodious serenades, sensing an imminent danger that disrupted the tranquil atmosphere they had known for ages. A foreboding presence permeated the air, sending shivers through the undergrowth and the Pdins.

    They knew that something was about to happen, but they couldn''t tell what it was. Michael''s eyes were glued to them and he noticed that they had somehow sensed his trap. He had wanted to wait a bit more but could not risk it so he was forced to use Extraction earlier.

    The world turned upside down.

    In an instant, the world erupted into a violent symphony of destruction. Their vicinity was engulfed in a golden light all of a sudden, and the wet soil beneath the Pdins disappeared.

    At that moment, the 13 Pdins'' heads flicked in the direction of the golden light''s source. A young man, his face covered in a terrifying amount of blood, emerged less than a hundred meters in front of them.

    The young man''s entire being released thigh-thick streams of golden light. They swirled around like tentacles and devoured everything in its wake.

    The 13 Pdins were so focused on the young man, whose body couldn''t handle the energy that had infiltrated every single pore, that they didn''t even sense the three Elemental Mages that had appeared all around them.

    The Elemental Mages hands shot to the ground while they continued to chant a long,plex spell. After consuming more than ten energy pills their origin energy storages were overflowing with energy. They could barely control the massive amount of energy that ravaged through their bodies before they unleashed their spells.

    The ground trembled wildly when the Elemental Mages'' spells were activated. A huge hole appeared in front of the 13 Pdins, and it widened rapidly.

    Michael''s subjects had worked tirelessly for 16 hours to dig out the hole. It had been covered with the spells of the Elemental Mages, and the additional support of illusion arrays, and it was unraveled right in front of the Pdins.

    Michael unleashed 6-Star Extraction''s full power while the Elemental Mages expanded the hole. They terraformed the surroundings, turning the crater''s immediate surroundings into a slippery slope. The Pdins reacted fast enough. They pierced their weapons deep into the ground to steady themselves before unleashing their Artifacts'' enchantments and their Holy Aura.

    The Pdins didn''t slip down and fall into the huge hole, ensuring that they wouldn''t fall prey to the Unknown Lord''s dirty trap ¨C or so they thought.

    Not even a millisecondter, golden streams shot through the surroundings. They dug deep into the huge hole, devouring the wet soil at the bottom. Simultaneously, the ground beneath the Pdins kept disappearing.

    Slowly but steadily, the Pdins were sucked into the huge hole that kept expanding. It was 50 meters in breadth and width, yet its depth was only 20 meters. However, the depth continued to expand.

    21 meters.

    22 meters.

    25 meters.

    30 meters.

    At 30 meters, Michael stopped. He retrieved a few more energy pills which he swallowed without hesitation.

    He knew that his body had already digested too many energy pills in a short period, but he didn''t care about the aftermath of today''s fight.

    If he wanted to deal with 13 Tier-3 Pdins, he had to ept that he would sustain heavy injuries.

    By now, Michael and the Elemental Mages had already epted that they would either lose a few limbs, or that they would die for good. They knew very well what kind of suicidal mission they''d epted. But they were fine with that.

    If they couldn''t kill the 13 Pdins now, everyone in the territory would dieter¡­.and that was something Michael couldn''t ept.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    After spending several months inside his territory, his subjects became part of his family, and Michael was not someone who turned his back on his family. He would rather be ripped into pieces than living with the guilt of having betrayed his family.

    Taking that into consideration, Michael retrieved a Chaos Pill once again. He looked at it for a moment, took a deep breath and threw it toward the Pdins.

    He aimed at the most-crowded area, hoping that the Chaos Pill could pull the Pdins down to the bottom of the huge pit.

    ''Stop struggling to stay up here. Fall down and sumb to your miserable fate!'' Michael screamed in his heart just before a deafening st tore through the air, ripping apart the fabric of serenity that had enveloped the Untamed Jungle.

    The wet soil all around the area of impact convulsed, and a blinding silver inferno blossomed from the epicenter of the explosion.

    The silver inferno spread out rapidly, destroying everything in its wake. The life of everything it touched was drained, and the energy in the vicinity was taken and corrupted.

    The Untamed Jungle, once vibrant and teeming with life, became a canvas of chaos and destruction. The humongous trees, the guardians of the forest, were uprooted and thrown like mere twigs, their branches splintering.

    In an instant, the acrid scent of the burning vegetation choked the air, mingling with the pungent odor of the decaying flora and fauna.

    Amid all of that, the roars of the 13 Pdins rang out.

    They unleashed their Soultraits, intensified the power of their Holy Auras, and activated the enchantments of their armors to protect their bodies.

    However, in response to their actions, they lost footing on the ground. The slippery slope beneath them disappeared ¨C devoured by the silver inferno ¨C pulling eight Pdins to the bottom of the huge pit.

    The first explosion caused considerable damage. As the smoke dissipated, the shattered remnants of the once-thriving jungle were unveiled.

    The aftermath of the Chaos Pill''s devastating impact was far stronger than Michael anticipated. Eight Pdins had been pulled down into the pit that was slowly filled with water, while the remaining Pdins were either backing off, or trying to cope with the aftereffect of the silver inferno after it came in contact with their bodies and Artifacts.

    Michael smiled at the sight that unfolded in front of him. He looked over to the five Pdins, who had yet to be pulled down into the pit, his blurry sight giving him a rough indication of where they were.

    ''Looks like I cannot get all of them,'' He noticed while being drained and bleeding all over his face.

    Michael had never used Extraction like this. The Soultrait drained his entire energy even after he took more than a dozen energy pills. The amount of energy he had to use to continue expanding the huge crater to pull down eight Pdins had been terrific ¨C yet the 6-Star Soultrait was still not at its limit.

    If Michael had more energy, Extraction would have taken more from him to pull all Pdins down into the pit, much faster at that.

    Hisck of energy was at fault for missing out on the remaining five Pdins, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Right now, the most important thing was to kill the Pdins at the bottom of the pit and instill terror in the hearts of the remaining Pdins.

    ''I wonder if you will dare to attack me after I show you what I''m capable of,'' Michael wondered, retrieving dozens of Chaos Pills at once.

    He looked over to the five Pdins, a devilish smile forming on his lips.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 222 Silver Inferno II

    "This is what survival of the fittest truly means. Either you survive, or you go down miserably!" Michael shouted at the top of his lungs, throwing the Chaos Pills down into the pit.

    The Chaos Pills released a dazzling silverish light when they came in contact with the droplets of water that poured down in the pit. Their luminescence intensified upon falling into the small puddle that filled the bottom of the pit.

    By creating the Chaos Pills with a Water Source Stone as a catalyst, Michael could ensure that each of the pills unleashed its fully destructive force inside the water at the bottom of the pit.

    The Untamed Jungle''s outer ring was flooded in silver light, and the earth tremored.

    The next moment, a silver inferno ¨C a cloud formed frompressed chaos ¨C swept through the Untamed Jungle, devouring everything in its wake ¨C whether it was alive, or inanimate.

    Within seconds, the deep pit expanded rapidly. ck-silverish mes burst out of the pit, while the ground around the huge crater burst open. Cobweb-like cracks spread through the ground and trees in a range of several kilometers were uprooted and the heavy Storm dispersed upon colliding with the silver inferno.

    The Storm had been devoured in an instant, and allowed rays of bright sunlight to reach the forest for a mere fraction of a second before the disaster sweeping through the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring blocked them yet again.

    The silver inferno spread across the surface, slowly corrupting all lives, whether monsters, humans, or nts. The soil around the crater was devoured, and so were the clothes and hair all over everyone''s bodies.

    Michael rushed over to the Elemental Mages. He could barely see through the melee, but he could sense their presence and condition. The silver inferno had already reached them, slowly draining their lives and corrupting their existence.

    Michael grit his teeth, bent down and tried to lift the three Elemental Mages at once. However, before he could lift them up, Michael sensed something from his right.

    A three-meter-tall monkey burst through the silver inferno. It was Sun Demos, who came to his rescue.

    The silver inferno was not searing hot nor would it grant instant death. It merely corrupted the living, slowly killing them from within. The inferno devoured all life in the vicinity of the explosion. That was also why Chaos Pills were rarely used.

    First of all, Chaos Pills were hard to produce. It was difficult to collect Chaos Ants alive, let alone harvesting their blood without causing a disaster. Second, while concocting Chaos Pills numerous problems could ur. Third, Chaos Pills were fragile. The probability of triggering them long before you wanted to use them was extremely high.

    Andst but not least, the chaos essence stored in the Chaos Ants'' blood would infest a radius around the area of impact. The chaos essence would spread slowly, devouring the life of everything it touched. The life force that had been drained would nourish the chaos essence, allowing it to spread further until all life was annihted.

    Even if a war could be won using Chaos Pills, what was the worth of unusable, barrennd? What''s the use ofnd that has been corroded and the infertility slowly spreading, turning the entire region into a danger zone that would expand slowly?

    Only being like the Chaos Ants would survive the corruption of the chaos essence, growing stronger by devouring it.

    Was it really worth it to destroy the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring to kill a few Pdins, and scare the rest away?

    Yes.

    That was the only answer Michael had to offer.

    He was in possession of Extraction, after all! He could afford to be foolish, and produce Chaos Pills without too many issues.

    As for the corruptednd, Michael could take care of that in the future using Extraction.

    For now, however, he had to deal with the remaining Pdins and survive this mess.

    Thus, after shrouding his body with the golden streams of Extraction, Michael extracted the chaos essence that had infiltrated his body. Afterward, he did the same to the Elemental Mages and Sun Demos.

    The silver inferno wouldn''t affect them for a while now that Michael extracted the chaos essences that had invaded them. This gave them more than enough time to flee.

    However, that was not what Michael intended.

    He had yet to receive a single energy influx, indicating that not a single Pdin had died yet.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Save them and stay away until I give you a different order!" Michael ordered Sun Demos aloud.

    The Demon Monkey King shook his head, desiring to reject Michael''s order, but his body began to move already.

    The True Link of Loyalty connecting them forced Sun Demos to obey Michael''s order against his will.

    Sun Demos grasped the three Elemental Mages, who had fallen unconscious, and he disappeared from the core region of the explosion.

    Looking at the fleeting figures of his subjects, Michael sighed deeply.

    He turned around, retrieved some more energy pills which he gulped down without hesitation.

    Then he essed his War Rune to retrieve the remaining Chaos Pills.

    The Pdins were not yet dead. It was time to change that!

    Michael rushed to the huge pit that had expanded to thrice its former size. He activated Eagle Eyes under tremendous pain to search for the Pdins.

    It didn''t take long to find the Pdins. But instead of eight, ten Pdins entered his field of vision. Two of them must have jumped down to aid theirrades in survival.

    The ten Pdins had gathered in a small space. They made use of their Artifacts'' enchantments to strengthen their Holy Aura, which surrounded the ten Pdins like a dome of protection.

    Michael could faintly make out the cracks in their Holy Aura, and the sweat pouring down their temples.

    ''Chaos Pills are strong enough to kill Tier-3 Adventurers. Aren''t you guys too tenacious? Can''t you just die?'' Michael cursed in his heart, retrieving thest batch of Chaos Pills in his possession.

    Thest batch was equivalent to a few dozen Chaos Pills, and Michael was not sure how much more damage they would cause.

    However, what he could tell for sure was that the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring was destroyed, and that his body was slowly being invaded by the chaos essence.

    It corrupted his body and devoured the origin energy inside his body. Michael figured that it was only a matter of time before he died if he continued to stay in the silver inferno. Even the golden streams of extraction wouldn''t be able to help him all the time.

    Extraction merely drained the chaos essence inside his body. It didn''t seal his body to prevent more chaos essence from infiltrating him again.

    ''I have to finish this immediately!''

    Determination flickered in Michael''s eyes as he walked around the humongous pit. Once he reached his final destination, Michael took a look into the pit.

    Then, he dropped dozens of Chaos Pill straight on the heads of the ten Pdins who were desperately fighting for their survival.

    Afterward, Michael fled, trying to escape the aftermath of the Chaos Pills'' explosions.

    Less than ten minutester, the humongous energy influx of ten beings flooded Michael''s War Rune.

    [Sun Demos. Come and get me!]

    The next moment, everything around Michael turned ck.

 Chapter 223 Xiltras Terror

    The tension spreading in Xiltra was heavy and enormous.

    Since the Jungle Expedition had been defeated humiliatingly, leaving only 15,000ish mentally broken Adventurers and Mercenaries behind, nobody felt safe near the Untamed Jungle.

    The situation grew worse as the stories of the Jungle''s Curse began to circte. Rumors spread like wildfire, and the situation didn''t improve even after the 13 Pdins arrived.

    In fact, the fear of what might happen to the 13 Pdins was why some citizens asked the Pdins to retreat to the city and leave the Untamed Jungle.

    The citizens didn''t want the Untamed Jungle to take revenge on them for enraging it. But that was not all. Some citizens knew that the morale within Xiltra would worsen if something was to happen to the 13 Pdins. If they died, nobody would want to stay near the border of the Untamed Jungle anymore.

    However, what nobody expected was the chaos that erupted not long after the 13 Pdins left Xiltra.

    A huge storm gathered high up in the sky above the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring, and the tension all over Xiltra intensified. Instinctively, everyone could tell that something bad was about to happen.

    But the surreal disy of unimaginable power that unfolded far away from Xiltra was not something they could have anticipated.

    At the epicenter, a blinding sh of silver light erupted. It was intense and searingly bright, engulfing the surroundings, washing away colors, and distorting the perception of space and time. It was as if the essence of the sun had been captured, mixed with the light of the moon, and unleashed upon the earth.

    Simultaneously, an expanding silver inferno kept surging forth from the point of detonation. It manifested as a rapidly expanding sphere of billowing silver mes, consuming everything in its path. Shades of silver, gray, and ck danced and merged within the fiery tempest, creating a mesmerizing yet terrifying disy that could even be seen in Xiltra.

    The silver inferno engulfed and incinerated the flora and fauna of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. Any living being unfortunate enough to be caught within its grasp died miserably, whether it was through the explosion that tore apart soil, Artifacts, and flesh or the silver inferno that corroded everything in its wake.

    The immense chaos essence unleashed by the explosion caused the air to shimmer, the origin energy in its range to decay, distorting the surroundings with a mirage-like effect.

    As the silver inferno expanded outward, it created a shockwave, a formidable force that rippled through the atmosphere. The shockwave radiated in all directions, ttening bushes, uprooting trees, and hurling debris with unfathomable strength. The air itself rippled as if the fabric of reality was about to be torn apart.

    In the immediate aftermath, a rising column of smoke and debris ascended from the epicenter, a grim testament of the destruction created by the explosion. Dark and ominous, it twisted and billowed, obscuring the sky and ckening thendscape in a veil of devastation.

    The atmosphere itself underwent a drastic transformation. As the explosion unleashed an immense amount of chaos essence, thend got even more corrupted, devolving into barrennd.

    What was left behind was a huge patch of destend, scarred and forever changed. The once-vibrant surroundings had been reduced to rubble and ash, with lingering silver inferno that continued to spread and corrupt thend.

    Meanwhile, an eerie silence hung heavily in the air within Xiltra. Everyone stared in the direction of the Untamed Jungle with terror and shock in their eyes.

    Even for those who didn''t see the explosion, themotion and the heavy pressure descending onto the in were enough to show that something big had just happened. Not even the loudest babies dared to cry aloud in their mother''s embrace. They went eerily silent, as fear crept up their spines.

    Tens of minutes passed in utter silence. It was as if life in Xiltra hade to a standstill. Nobody even dared to move, fearing that something worse might happen.

    Only after what felt like an eternity did a voice rang through the surroundings.

    "The Pdins¡­" A young man mumbled quietly.

    However, in the eerie silence of the border city, it felt like the young man standing on Xiltra''s walls was shouting aloud.

    "...but there are only three¡­and they''re injured¡­"

    Every word that rang through the ears of Xiltra''s citizens felt like a bombshell that had been dropped right next to them.

    If there were only three Pdins, what happened to the rest? And why were the returning Pdins injured as well?

    "Their veins are ck¡­" Another one blurted out all of a sudden, and the voice of a third guard on the city wall echoed shrilly.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "They copsed!!"

    Seeing the three Pdins stagger through the ins and copse in front of Xiltra''s walls, the citizens were shocked to the core. A few guards rushed outside, followed by healers, who cursed in terror.

    "Their bodies have been contaminated with chaos essence. Who the hell is crazy enough to fool around with chaos essence?!?"

    The healer''s voice was louder than intended, but he couldn''t control his emotions anymore. Just a quick examination of the three Pdins was more than enough to tell that the happenings in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring were far from ordinary.

    The silver inferno in the Untamed Jungle turned into something far more threatening in the eyes of the healer, and his eyes shot wide open.

    But the silver inferno was not the end of the mayhem. If anything, it was just the beginning.

    If the explosion had already been horrifying, or the fact that only 3 Pdins returned from the Origin Expanse, what awaited them now turned into their worst nightmare.

    Heavy pressure descended all over the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and the Zentika Empire''s ins. The pressure affected every existence within a range of more than 100 kilometers, restricting their ability to move entirely.

    The temperature in the vicinity increased drastically, and the silver inferno began to ripple unsteadily as a humongous shadow appeared above the Untamed Jungle.

    Something appeared high up in the air, far above the clouds.

    The outlines of a humongous serpent with feather wings manifested seemingly out of nowhere.

    The serpent didn''t utter a sound when it appeared and glided above the cloud, exuding a heavy pressure subconsciously which was enough to announce that it had arrived.

    It inflicted fear; terrifying fear that could only be caused by a being, whose strength was unfathomable.

    There was no need to ask a professional to find out what kind of monster appeared above the Untamed Jungle. It was a mythical creature that had been disturbed by the actions of the Unknown Lord.

    Some feared that the wrath of the mythical serpent would affect them as well. However, there were also others, who hoped that all their problems would be solved soon.

    "Will it kill the Lord inside the Untamed Jungle now?"

    But instead of killing the Unknown Lord within the Untamed Jungle, the mythical serpent opened its wide maw.

    It released zing azure mes to devour the silver inferno before disappearing once again.

    The silver inferno lit up in azure mes. The azure mes burned down the silver inferno, just to disperse into all directions, vanishing as if they''d never existed.

    Following the dispersing silver inferno, the destruction caused by the Chaos Pills could be seen with much more rity.

    It was terrifying. More than half of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring had been destroyed.

    Yet, the Unknown Lord was still alive.

    He had emerged victorious against the Jungle Expedition and the 13 Pdins.

    Michael Fang was the final winner of the battle.

    He had won his firstrge scale war!

 Chapter 224 Fix It!

    In a small room within the wooden manor, a pained groan escaped Michael''s lips.

    His eyes opened slowly, while his expression distorted in raw agony.

    ''I am still alive? How?''

    Michael couldn''t remember a lot of details pertaining to the end of the ''battle'' against the 13 Pdins. However, he could hazily remember the destruction caused by the Chaos Pills, the silver inferno that devoured Extraction''s golden streams of light, and that darkness engulfed him when the energy influx of the Pdins reached his War Rune.

    ''I received 10 energy influxes¡­right?'' He tried to remember, but he wasn''t certain. His mind was a total wreck, just like his body.

    ''So there are still three Pdins left? Will they attack us again? Fuck this shit!'' Michael cursed in worry.

    He tried to get up from the bed, just to feel immense pain spreading through every cell inside his body upon moving.

    Michael looked down at himself, but the only thing he could see was bandages. His entire body was covered in them.

    ''I shouldn''t have sustained flesh wounds,'' Michael thought while trying to push some of them aside to see what was underneath.

    Unfortunately, what unveiled itself beneath the bandages was not pleasant to look at. His veins were ck and his skin had a silver tinge. He had been corrupted by chaos essence and was slowly rotting away.

    Even without the silver inferno, which elerated the spread of chaos essence, Michael was slowly dying.

    Michael forced himself to get up from the bed. He stood inside his room and began to use Extraction.

    His palms began to glow golden as streams of light conjured all around his hands. But just as Michael wanted to use Extraction to extract the chaos essence out of his body, he felt immense pain wherever the golden streams passed by.

    ''Is that the aftereffect of using too much origin energy? Or is that from devouring too many energy pills?'' Michael wondered, unable to arrive at a definite conclusion.

    He just knew that utilizing Extraction caused immense pain. Nheless, he had to do it.

    Michael used Extraction on his body, slowly but steadily extracting the chaos essence that had infiltrated every single pore within him.

    He grit his teeth trying to endure the immense pain as the golden streams infiltrated his body. They extracted the chaos essence all while causing unbearable pain. It was only at this point that Michael realized how weak and injured his body actually was.

    Everything was in disarray. It was a big mess.

    Michael couldn''t even control the origin energy inside his body properly. Utilizing Extraction had never been as difficult as today, but Michael forced himself to maintain his Soultrait.

    After half an hour, Michael found himself lying on the ground, sweating profusely. He had yet to extract thest bits of chaos essence ravaging inside his body, but they were a little bit resistant. It would take a while to cleanse his body and remove the traces of the chaos essence.

    At one point in thest half an hour, Tiara entered his room. She tried to aid his recovery but was told to stay back and report the territory''s current situation to him.

    That way, by the time he finished using Extraction on his body he was up to date with the current scenario.

    Tiara helped him up from the ground before retrieving a few potions.

    "Most of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring is now corrupted, but thankfully everyone survived. Three Pdins survived but they ran away. I don''t really think that they''lle back. In fact, after the humongous, winged serpent appeared, nobody should be daring enough to enter the Untamed Jungle for a while," Tiara summarized to make sure that Michael heard the most important points.

    "Winged serpent?" Michael asked quietly while gulping down the viscous liquid inside the ss vials.

    "Yes, a winged serpent. In fact, most of us could only see the shadow of the humongous serpent because we weren''t able to move. The wing serpent''s presence was overbearing and prevented us from moving," Tiara exined, "The winged serpent extinguished the silver inferno before it disappeared again."

    Michael could never forget the mythical serpent he saw the day he went out with Icarus for the first time, and he could imagine how everyone must have felt being in the mythical serpent''s presence.

    One way or another, it would be great if the remaining Pdins never returned to the Untamed Jungle. That would save him lots of trouble.

    Thinking about the Pdins, and how ten of them died in the epicenter of the Chaos Pills'' explosion, Michael recalled his loyal aides in the battle.

    "How are Sun Demos and the Elemental Mages?" He asked carefully.

    Michael knew that they were still alive, but he could also tell that their condition was not that great.

    "Their condition is simr to yours. In fact, I believe that the Elemental Mages'' condition must be worse. Sun Demos'' bloodline should have a faint resistance to the influence of chaos, and I''ve heard that you used Extraction inside the silver inferno. The Elemental Mages must have been hit the worst," Tiara summarized what Michael thought.

    "In that case, let''s save the Elemental Mages," Michael announced, walking out of his room to find the Elemental Mages and Sun Demos.

    He was far from fit and felt like copsing on the ground with every step, but Michael didn''t want to give the chaos essence inside the bodies of his loyal aides more time to destroy them.

    It didn''t take long to reach the medical hall. Manybatants of the territory were being tended to there.

    Michael greeted all of them as he passed by. He thanked them sincerely for giving their utmost in the battle against the invaders of the Untamed Jungle until his gaze fell onto the three Elemental Mages and Sun Demos.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They were unconscious andy in the beds, their skin gray and their veins as ck as the darkness of a starless night. Michael''s expression turned gloomy upon looking at his subordinates. Even Sun Demos didn''t seem to be doing fine. Most of the Demon Monkey King''s hair was missing, and he was writhing in pain as if a nightmare was causing him intense physical pain.

    "Their hair fell out," Tiara mumbled next to Michael, whose expression distorted even more than before.

    He realized something, and instinctively reached out to his own head. His face was drained of all its color and his frown deepened.

    "Again¡­really?" Michael cursed as his hand rubbed across his shiny bald head.

    Michael was bald again.

    He shook his head in disappointment. After having patiently waited for months for his hair to grow it fell out again. Was that a cruel joke?

    It took him a few seconds to regain hisposure and return his focus to the Elemental Mages and Sun Demos.

    Michael exerted Extraction, ignoring the pain that spread through every cell inside his body, and he began to extract the chaos essence within his allies.

    Michael didn''t stop using Extraction until thest bits of chaos essence had been extracted from the Elemental Mages and Sun Demos.

    He vomited blood more than a dozen times and fainted a total of three times, which was how Michael ended up in a worse state than before, but he seeded. The Elemental Mages and Sun Demos were cleansed of chaos essence!

    "They''re still not awake? Well¡­at least, they survived¡­" Michael mumbled before slumping down to the ground.

    His legs felt squishy like jelly, and he was too exhausted to keep standing.

    Unfortunately, Sun Demos didn''t allow him to lie on the ground. The Demon Monkey King woke up shortly after thest traces of chaos essence had been extracted from his body, and he was overjoyed to see his lord again.

    After witnessing the power his Master could unleash, Sun Demos felt incapable of containing himself anymore. He was excited for the future that awaited them.

    Michael could feel that quite clearly through their Link of Loyalty. He smiled weakly in response, unable to tell Sun Demos to calm down.

    Thest few days had been way too exhausting. His body was badly damaged, not only from the chaos essence, but also from an overkill of energy pills and energy potions. It would be best if he didn''t use any energy pills for a while, otherwise, he might end up with permanent injuries, or other issues.

    In fact, Michael would be better off not using too much origin energy at once. He knew that he had to give his body some time to recuperate if he wanted to keep using it for a long time.

    Michael felt like sleeping for days. He was tired and his body was begging to rest as every muscle and bone in his body was under tremendous pain. The Jungle Expedition was over, and it was about time that he got some quality rest without anyone or anything bothering him!

    But his mind didn''t want to give him qualitative rest. On the contrary, his mind dug out something that had imprinted itself deep into his brain.

    It was something ethereal that had forced itself into his head when he fell unconscious. Unknown words that resurfaced in his mind.

    "Repair what you''ve destroyed?" Michael mumbled when he recalled the unknown words of the ethereal voice that had infiltrated his head, "Is that what it means?"

    Michael was not sure how, but he could understand the meaning of the unknown words.

    He was also not sure who or what told him the unknown words, but if he had to make a guess he would probably think of the mythical serpent.

    Though he had no proof about it, the mythical serpent was the most likely to order him to repair the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring.

    ''Well, I did destroy the Untamed Jungle, and I have Extraction to fix the corruptednd¡­it should help me to fix it¡­''

    Even if Michael didn''t have the right means to carry out reforestation of the Untamed Jungle, he felt like he had to fix it. After all, he didn''t want to turn the mythical serpent against him.

    ''Let''s be thankful that this monstrosity didn''t take out its anger on me by burning me alive,'' Michael thought, goosebumps spreading all over his body.

    "I will fix the Untamed Jungle, no worries. Just stay where you are!"

    **

    [A/N: Today only one chapter because I''m way too busy, helping a friend prepare for his wedding. The next few days might be a little bit chaos. I hope you can understand that I''ll upload a little bit irregr for a few days :d]

    -- If you like the novel, support it with your golden tickets and powerstones. Comment your opinion, and visit my discord if you wish to see the fanart for Michael, Alice, Tiara and many other characters.

    If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 225 Moving?

    225 Moving?

    "Will it be enough if I purchase a bunch of monster corpses and soil to fill in the holes after I extract the chaos essence from the corruptednd?" Michael asked himself quietly.

    The ethereal voice had only instructed him to fix the destroyed part of the Untamed Jungle, but the real question was how to do that.

    He knew that the Untamed Jungle devoured carcasses and that it digested them to elerate the growth of its flora and fauna. Thus, purchasing a bunch of monster corpses should do the trick.

    "I cannot return to Xiltra to purchase monster corpses either. Seems like I have to return home to ce a big order."

    After the battle against the Jungle Expedition, it was obvious that he couldn''t return to Xiltra. Michael was certain that his identity had been exposed by now.

    While that was a little annoying, it wasn''t too bad. His territory was self-sufficient and didn''t need the help of the border city.

    Unfortunately, a small problem urred; the aftermath of the Chaos Pills'' explosions had destroyed most parts of his territory. The vast majority of his treehouseplexes had been destroyed, the canopy bridges had been torn apart, and the small farms spread all over his territory didn''t look any better either.

    After listening to Tiara''s report from earlier, Michael was certain that more than three-quarters of the territory had been destroyed due to the Chaos Pills, and the shockwaves they unleashed. It was quite troublesome.

    ''The Chaos Pills are even stronger than ballistic missiles. Chaos essence is truly terrifying¡­''

    Michael was fully aware that he would have never dared to use Chaos Pills if he didn''t possess Extraction. Even with Extraction upgraded to a 6-Star Soultrait, using the Chaos Pills was dangerous enough to make him and everyone else feel worried. That also showed how desperate he had been to use Chaos Pills even though they were frail and dangerous for both the user and the target.

    He could barely kill 10 Tier-3 Pdins by using more than 100 Chaos Pills, which caused the destruction of half the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. As a matter of fact, if not for the mythical serpent burning down the silver inferno, the entire outer ring would have been destroyed, turning into corruptednd, long before Michael regained his consciousness.

    In the worst case, the silver inferno would have reached his territory, and infested his subjects with chaos essence, killing them slowly and painfully.

    "Chaos Pills are not considered Forbidden items for no reason¡­If the Master Alchemist had failed, the entire territory would have blown up long before the Pdins reached the Untamed Jungle," Michael mumbled with a deep sigh.

    ''But it was worth it. If not for the Chaos Pills, I would have never been able to eliminate the Pdins¡­

    why the hell are they so strong, in the first ce? 100 Chaos Pills were barely enough to kill 10 of them¡­''

    Michael was d that they survived, but it was still a nuisance that they had to resort to such a dangerous product, in the first ce. Everything could have gone wrong and Michael was fully aware that he and his people had been extremely fortunate.

    ''Whatever. The most important thing is that we survived. The method is secondary!''

    With that in mind, Michael diverted his focus to the reconstruction of the territory. At least, that was what he nned.

    Doubts filled his mind, and he felt a bit dejected knowing that more problems awaited him in the future. He doubted that the Zentika Empire would leave the Untamed Jungle alone now that Michael had been discovered as a Lord in the Untamed Jungle.

    Other than that, there was still Senator Keltos, who was bound to change his n and leave no stone unturned to infiltrate the Untamed Jungle.

    ''They will attack the Untamed Jungle eventually. But next time their attack will be more lethal than before¡­I am certain¡­''

    Michael was not sure how much time he had before they would attack again, but he could tell that fear had been instilled into the citizens of the Zentika Empire. That should give him some extra time to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

    ''I doubt that ordinary Adventurers will dare to attack the Untamed Jungle after everything that happened. Even Tier-3 Adventurers will hesitate to attack since the Pdins were not ordinary Tier-3 Adventurers. I defeated them in an unorthodox way as well. No sane person who realized that I''m crazy would be willing to take the risk.''

    Fighting an enemy who was crazy enough to destroy his ownnd to kill less than a dozen enemies was definitely not someone most would dare to fight.

    That meant stronger enemies had toe to conquer the Untamed Jungle.

    However, Higher Lifeforms such as TIer-4 Adventurers were not easy to find. Most couldn''t spare them since there was always work for them to do as well.

    Only prodigies could be Higher Lifeforms. Most were either Lords, or they worked for other Lords and couldn''t be spared easily.

    That gave Michael another reason to believe that he had some time to prepare for the next battle. And time was something Michael needed badly.

    "I should expand my territory deeper into the Untamed Jungle," Michael mused quietly.

    Tiara heard him and joined his monologue, "Can''t you relocate your territory? I heard that it''s possible to move the Summoning Gate and wooden manor to change the location of your territory as long as you''re still in control of the vicinity you''re relocating to."

    The wooden manor and the Summoning Gate were considered the coreponents of a territory. If the wooden manor was destroyed, the Summoning Gate would malfunction. Meanwhile, if the Summoning Gate would be destroyed all Links of Loyalties would be destroyed in the following 24 hours.

    Repairing a Summoning Gate was possible, but it was much better to protect it by all means. Ideally, if both the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate were located in the center of the territory, they would receive the best protection.

    Simultaneously, if the Summoning Gate was destroyed despite being in the center of your territory, you would have bigger problems to face than the repair of the Summoning Gate. Your biggest issue would be to survive the invasion of the enemy, who was strong enough to barge into your territory and infiltrate its heart to destroy the Summoning Gate!

    "The Untamed Jungle feels more secure than the Zentika Empire. By relocating the territory''s center to the middle zone I can prepare for the battle against the empire, while simultaneously upgrading the hunting grounds," Michael mumbled after he gave Tiara''s idea some thought.

    He was in control of a small area in the middle zone. Relocating the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate might take a few days, but it would provide considerable benefits.

    "Alright. Forward the order. We''re moving to the middle zone," Michael dered after he finalized his decision. He then moved out of the medical hall to walk over to the Nature Spirit.

    The timid nature spirit had already grown into a small Tree Spirit with a height of close to ten meters. Thus, relocating the Nature Spirit was likely to be the most difficult task.

    "Hey little buddy. I have good and bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?" Michael asked lightly, trying to smile through the pain that continued to bother him whenever he moved an inch.

    The Nature Spiritmunicated with the use of emotions. Taking the firmness of their Link of Loyalty into ount, Michael and the Nature Spirit couldmunicate with each other without problems.

    A sad emotion reached Michael, indicating that the Nature Spirit wanted to hear the bad news first.

    "The bad news it is? Well, it''s pretty simple actually. We''re going to relocate the territory, which means that you have to uproot yourself," Michael said as a matter of fact without showing too many emotions.

    "The good news, however, is that the Heavy Armored Elephant can carry you and that we''ll be moving to the middle zone. That means you can absorb more nutrition from the middle zone. After all, the middle zone''s flora and fauna is even more dense than in the outer ring, and the origin energy''s density is much higher as well!"

    The Nature Spirit was at first disappointed when it heard that they had to relocate. It had just grown ustomed to staying in the center of the clearing. However, hearing that they would be moving closer to the center of the Untamed Jungle, the Nature Spirit released immense joy.

    A flood of joy swept through Michael, influencing him enough to make him chuckle.

    Despite the pain and exhaustion sweeping through him, Michael couldn''t feel unhappy when the Nature Spirit''s joy spread through him.

    It felt great to be alive and to know that his territory had ovee another ordeal. No matter how much they lost and how dangerous it had been, they had survived and made the attackers retreat after defeating them humiliatingly. That was all that mattered.

    Moving to the middle zone might be a little troublesome at first, but most of the Tier-2 habitats at the border to the middle zone had been eliminated or affected by the invasion of the Jungle Expedition. Michael was not too worried about encountering Tier-2 Monster habitats.

    "If you''re happy about the relocation, that''s good. Be ready to move as soon as possible. We''re not going to waste time idling around!" Michael ordered, which resulted in another burst of joy sweeping through him.

    His entire being felt drained of all its power and he began to vomit blood again.

    14:07

    The Nature Spirit was eager to move!

    Michael smiled at that before he went ahead. He found ire, Lilica, and others, to whom he forwarded the details of the relocation.

    Afterward, Michael found himself in a weird situation.

    His entire being felt drained of all its power and he began to vomit blood again.

    Breathing grew increasingly more difficult, and his sight blurred. After a while, Michael started to lose the feeling in his arms and legs as well.

    ''What is going on? Is it the Chaos Essence? Did I use Extraction too much while I was still injured?'' Michael began to panic.

    His breathing grewbored, and he stumbled through his territory, holding onto the tree trunks for support. His mind was a mess, and full of chaos that couldn''t be organized no matter how hard Michael tried.

    The only thought Michael could gather was that something was terribly wrong with his body, and that the young Priestess in the territory was far too weak to tend to his issues.

    Instinctively, Michael manifested the Runic Gate in front of him. He stumbled through the Runic Gate and emerged in the training hall within the Saphirke Military Camp.

    Alice Zenovia and Kaleb Zenovia had been diligently training in the training hall every day, including today.

    They had been worried about Michael for a while now, but they didn''t expect him to return so soon. Alice predicted that Michael wouldn''t return for another week. He had to deal with tens of thousands of enemies, which included a few Tier-3 Adventurers. That wasn''t easy and would take quite a while.

    Thus, seeing the Runic Gate manifest in the center of the training hall, the siblings stopped training at once. They walked over to the Runic Gate, only to freeze in their tracks when they saw a figure swaying through the Runic Gate.

    The swaying figure was Michael, it had to be. However, Michael''s appearance was nowhere close to how he usually looked.

    His bald head was silverish, and his swollen veins were straining against his skin, looking as ck as the darkness. Most parts of Michael''s body were covered in bandages, but the only bleeding areas were his nose and eyes. Silver blood trickled out of his nose and eyes.

    "Oh fuck¡­" Kaleb blurted out, staring at his friend, his eyes shot wide open.

    Alice, on the other hand, frowned deeply before she burst forward. The ground beneath her feet cracked open due to the strength she unleashed with a single burst, and she appeared in front of Michael the next instant.

    Michael was not even able to fully grasp that someone had appeared in front of him. He only felt a soothing cold embracing him tightly. Michael felt extremelyfortable all of a suddenly. His body grew heavier, and his mind turned hazier.

    ''I should be fine now¡­ right?''

    He could only utter a few words before the world around him turned dark once again.

    "I did it."

    The next moment he fell into Alice''s embrace.

 Chapter 226 Buy and Sell

    226 Buy and Sell

    Six middle-aged men and women were standing around a small bed, their sweat trickling down onto the ground where a small puddle formed.

    "How can someone''s condition be so bad?" One of the middle-aged women murmured quietly as she stepped back to take a good look at the situation unfolding in front of her.

    A young freshman was lying on the bed, fighting for his survival.

    While that was nothing unique in the medical hall of the Saphirke Military Academy, the young man''s condition was far from amon urrence. It was grave, even whenpared to bad cases.

    "Why did he have to arrive during my shift¡­" A middle-aged manined quietly, and others agreed with a faint nod.

    Alice Zenovia red coldly at theining medics, her gaze causing shivers to run down their spines.

    "I¡­just panicked a little. Please ignore what I said, Miss Zenovia¡­" The middle-aged man added hurriedly, feeling like his life depended on it.

    Alice didn''t say anything but she averted her attention from the medic to look at Michael once again.

    Michael''splexion was much better than before. After the medics spent more than four hours tending to Michael''s wounds and issues his condition was finally a little bit better.

    That was a given considering that the medics used their high-ranked Soultraits, various concoctions, and medical devices to stabilize Michael''s heartbeat before they tended to the issues one by one.

    But even after all of that, Michael had yet to regain his consciousness.

    "His condition is severe. I am actually not sure how he was still alive when you brought him in," The oldest medic said bluntly.

    He had been in the Saphirke Military Academy since it opened and spent decades in other academies within the sr system, yet he had never encountered a case like Michael. Michael''s condition was intriguing from the point of view of a medical researcher, but it was terrifying as his attending medic.

    The old medic forwarded Michael''s medical report to Alice to show her how severe the situation was.

    "He had been infested by Chaos Essence? What did he do?" Alice blurted out loudly upon reading the first sentence of the medical report from the holographic screen in front of her.

    However, she was not yet done. Michael''s medical report was several pages long, full of lethal issues that could have killed him easily.

    "His origin energy storage was overloaded and damaged repetitively. Something like this happens usually if you use too many energy potions to quickly refill your energy storage. However, in the patient''s case he used not only too many energy potions, but he used thrice or quadruple the amount his energy storage could bear, multiple times at that," The medic exined while Alice was focused on the holographic screen in front of her.

    "It seems like his mental power has been drained to an extent in which his brain was burdened, forcefully shutting his body off to prevent permanent brain damage," He added.

    "There is still a lot more I could say but the report says it all. If I continue telling you about his issues and what we had to tend to in order to fix him, I would be standing here for another hour or two. Unfortunately, I have other patients to tend to."

    After the old man said everything that had to be said, he excused himself and left.

    The other medics finished tending to Michael''s injuries before they left as well.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb stared nkly at the holographic screen in front of Alice. The holographic screen disyed all pages of Michael''s medical report, where Michael''s issues were written in great detail.

    Even though Kaleb couldn''t understand every point or the medical terminologies mentioned in the report, he could understand most of it ¨C and that was bothersome enough for him.

    "He will be fine, right?" Kaleb asked his sister in worry.

    However, Alice didn''t turn over to her younger brother. She merely shrugged her shoulders.

    "I guess."

    Her voice was emotionless but a deep frown appeared on her beautiful face not long after.

    "How did he even end up with all those problems? Collecting them shouldn''t be his hobby¡­ If any of these issues had worsened just a little, he would either be dead or crippled," She mumbled.

    Kaleb''s eyes widened at that. He had yet to face great dangers within the Origin Expanse, so he couldn''t fullyprehend what Michael must have encountered to end up in such a bad state. Yet, upon seeing his sister''s grim expression and how serious she acted, Kaleb could tell that Michael must have escaped death by a hair''s breadth.

    "Good thing that he''s alive¡­" He mumbled, looking over to his unconscious friend.

    **[Several dayster]**

    After spending several days in the medical hall of the Saphirke Military Academy, Michael was finally allowed to leave.

    Thest traces of chaos essence had been removed from his body, and his other issues had been tended to as well ¨C fortunately.

    Michael didn''t even realize the horrifying state of his body until it was already days after he regained consciousness. Only now did he understand that he had been extremely lucky. If he hadn''t instinctively returned to the Saphirke Military Academy, he would be dead by now.

    ''A healing-type Soultrait would be quite useful,'' Michael mused as he left the medical hall.

    He was happy that the healing hall in the Saphirke Military Academy had exceptional facilities and waspletely funded by the government. The students didn''t have to pay a dime for the service they received. That was great since Michael would have been robbed of his entire fortune otherwise.

    Michael felt much better than before, but he was still weak. His body required lots of nutrition and naturally absorbed energy to bring him back to his peak state. The medics gave him a prescription to abide by, followed by several instructions he would have to obey if he didn''t want to end up as a cripple.

    There were a lot more orders, but Michael could summarize them rather simply.

    ''Don''t drain your origin energy for a few weeks. Don''t exert your Soultraits over a long period in the next few weeks. Don''t fight straining battles for the time being. Don''t strain your brain too much. Take it slow.''

    Michael didn''t intend to disobey the medics'' orders. He wanted to focus on his training in the next few weeks while observing the relocation, and expansion of his territory in the middle zone.

    The only time he would have to use his Soultrait was in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. He had to fix the outer ring by extracting the chaos essence that had taken root in the corruptednd. Fortunately, there was no deadline toplete the task given by the mythical serpent. He could fix the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring slowly by exerting Extraction for a short period daily.

    Since that wouldn''t be enough to tend to the wounds he had inflicted upon the Untamed Jungle, Michael visited one of the shops that were affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation.

    "I want to purchase half a million Tier-1 corpses. The fresher the better!" Michael ordered shortly after he entered the shop. He handed the attending staff his golden bartholomew membership card and waited patiently.

    "500,000 Tier-1 corpses? Is that order¡­correct?" The attending staff asked in a slightly hesitant manner, unable to understand what someone wanted to do with half a million carcasses.

    "It''s correct, yes. Please proceed with the order. My bank ount details are connected to the membership card. Money shouldn''t be an issue."

    Michael was able to earn a vast fortune in thest few weeks. Every agriculture-rted blueprint rewarded him with a profit of several hundred thousand dors. His expenses rose a lot as well, yet Michael had a hard time using his entire fortune.

    Since he had been rather poor before, Michael found himself saving money more often than he spent it, even though he knew that it was not the most efficient way to use his fortune.

    "I would like to sell a few thousand Tier-1 Artifacts, and a little bit more than 500 Tier-2 Artifacts as well," Michael said calmly, dropping another bomb right in front of the attending staff.

    The young woman stared at him with her mouth slightly open, her brain trying to process what was going on. Was that young man in front of her a tycoon or something like that?

    "For purchase orders, and transactions with thousands of Artifacts¡­I will have to call my superior¡­" She mumbled quietly, hoping that the customer was not in a hurry.

    Michael smiled in response. The young woman''s troubled expression amused him.

    "Do that then," He said before adding, "And calm down a little."

    Despite telling her to calm down, the young woman couldn''t. She hurriedly called her superior, telling him everything that had just happened.

    quickly noticed that the Tier-2 Adventurers had been quite poor. Their Tier-2 Artifacts were either 22:49

    1-Star, or 2-Star Artifacts withmon enchantments. While that may be exceptional for some In less than ten minutes a middle-aged man arrived in the shop, panting heavily. His forehead was glistening with sweat that he wiped off hastily with a handkerchief as he strode toward Michael and greeted him politely.

    "Good morning, sir. I am terribly sorry for taking so long. Your order has already been ced and is currently being processed. We''ll pay attention to the freshness of the 500,000 Tier-1 monster carcasses. Please don''t worry about that!" The middle-aged man said before gesturing to a door at the side of the shop.

    "Please follow me for the appraisal of the goods you wish to sell. I am curious what our esteemed guest wants to sell to our honorable and just shop!"

    Michael didn''t like the shop manager''s overly formal way of speaking, but he gave it a shrug. Earning money was more important.

    He followed the shop manager to the appraisal room where he retrieved batches of dozens of Artifacts.

    Initially, Michael wanted to keep a few Artifacts, but he, Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team quickly noticed that the Tier-2 Adventurers had been quite poor. Their Tier-2 Artifacts were either 1-Star, or 2-Star Artifacts withmon enchantments. While that may be exceptional for some Awakened, Michael and Tiara didn''t find any Artifacts that suited theirbat style. There weren''t many natural Tier-2 Artifacts either.

    Michael and Tiara were not willing to change theirbat style for a mere 2-Star Tier-2 Artifact. That wasn''t worth it.

    Thus, rather than keeping the Artifacts, Michael would rather earn a fortune from selling them. That way, he could invest his money into his territory and still purchase 500,000 Tier-1 monster carcasses.

    The shop manager''s expression changed drastically upon seeing the sheer mass of Artifacts that appeared in front of him. The young man retrieved a huge pile of Artifacts from his War Rune like it was nothing.

    Michael''s expression remained calm andposed as he observed the shop manager''s reaction.

    "It should be a total of 4752 Tier-1 Artifacts, and 521 Tier-2 Artifacts. Please appraise them carefully, and offer a satisfactory price!" Michael said with a faint smile on his lips.

    However, to the shop manager, Michael''s words sounded like an order, and his faint smile looked like the incarnation of the devil''s smile.

    Goosebumps spread all over his body and he began to shudder involuntarily.

    ''Who the hell is that guy?!''

 Chapter 227 Distress

    227 Distress

    "The total for 500,000 fresh Tier-1 monster carcasses sums up to 501,530,000$. However, since you were willing to sell a total of 4752 Tier-1 Artifacts and 521 Tier-2 Artifacts in our little shop¡­, 5.3 billion dors will be transferred to your ount," The shop manager said, his back drenched in cold sweat.

    When he first received his subordinates'' call, he didn''t think too much about it. Yet, seeing more than 5,000 Artifacts in the hands of a single Lord was more than enough to make his heart skip a beat.

    The shop manager had no idea where the Artifacts came from, but that was not important. The only important fact was that he could contribute to the profits of the Bartholomew Corporation by selling the Artifacts using the Bartholomew Shop Managing system.

    As long as he sold all Artifacts at a high profit, he was bound to obtain a generous bonus. The thought of a bonus excited him, causing him to treat Michael much better than before.

    Michael turned into a treasure trove in the shop manager''s eyes.

    Michael noticed the shop manager''s change of attitude pretty quickly, but he didn''t mind it. He received the first batch of Monster corpses which he stored inside his War Rune''s storage space, and Spatial Pouch before he opened the Runic Gate in the middle of the shop.

    He disappeared in the Origin Expanse, where he spread the monster corpses along the outer area of the corruptednd. Afterward, Michael returned to the shop where the next batches of monster corpses were waiting for him.

    Since Michael''s storage space was not big enough to carry 500,000 monster carcasses in a single trip, he had to travel back and forth several times.

    It was a little bit annoying, but Michael spent only a few hours before he was finally done.

    A total of 500,000 monster corpses had been spread across the border to the corruptednd.

    ''That should be enough for the time being,'' Michael thought before he started utilizing Extraction to extract some of the chaos essence that had taken root in the corruptednd.

    He didn''t spend much time using Extraction, but the results were great nheless. Extraction was already a 6-Star Soultrait. Even if he didn''t spend much energy or time extracting chaos essence, fixing the corruptednd wouldn''t take too long. Half an hour a day was enough for him to gradually extract the impurities and fix the corruptednd in a month or two.

    Michael was satisfied with that. He left the Origin Expanse once more to purchase hundreds of tons of soil. It didn''t even have to be nutritious since the Untamed Jungle would fill its surroundings with nutrition as long as he provided it with enough monster corpses.

    Michael spent the next few days extracting the chaos essence of the humongous pit. Afterward, he filled it slowly with soil.

    "Did the corpses of the Pdins disintegrate?" He wondered at one point in the pit.

    The corpses of the 10 Pdins seemed to have vanished. The only signs of their death had been the energy influxes and the fact that Michael could extract a small piece of paper coated in gold from the humongous pit.

    The piece of paper looked like the ne tickets of ancient times ¨C just that it was coated in gold.

    "Did that belong to the Pdins? What is it used for?" Michael wondered when he picked up the golden paper.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t find out its use. Not even channeling origin energy into it had an effect. Thus, Michael stored it inside his War Rune''s storage space without giving it much thought.

    The days after the Jungle Expedition''s defeat were calming. Nobody bothered Michael nor his people ¨C not even the monsters inhabiting the Untamed Jungle. Everything was quiet and rxing, providing Michael with the luxury of resting properly.

    Michael didn''t use Extraction too often or too much these days ¨C just to a degree he wasfortable with without draining himself. Despite that, he found himself using Extraction considerably more as his condition improved.

    After five days of adequate rest inside the Origin Expanse, Michael was full of vigor and able to use Extraction to the extreme without any issues.

    Nheless, he didn''t rush the process of fixing the corruptednd of the Untamed Jungle. He didn''t want to attract unnecessary attention from the Zentika Empire so soon after the warfare against the Jungle Expedition ended.

    A good thing was that Michael had lots of things to do both inside the Origin Expanse and outside the Saphirke Military Academy.

    The relocation of his territory''s epicenter had beenpleted; the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate had been moved along with the Nature Spirit.

    It had been a difficult task that required the brute force of close to a thousand subjects and several days, but it worked out atst.

    Now that the relocation of his territory had beenpleted, Michael could change orders and expand his territory once again, focusing on the growth of his military force, their nourishment, and rebuilding everything that had been destroyed in the warfare with the Jungle Expedition.

    Once everything had been reconstructed, Michael would use his remaining funds to expand the Underground Forging Hall.

    Michael spent a hefty sum of close to 5.5 billion dors to expand his farms and both Alchemy and cksmithing businesses. That way, he could focus on the production of energy pills, potions, and low-level armaments while ensuring low costs in the long term.

    "With the current efficiency of basic energy pills and low-level armament productions, I should focus on stability. Once everything has been stabilized, I should focus on the nourishment of my cksmiths and Alchemists," Michael thought aloud while wondering about the best possible way forward, "¡­.should I purchase a few manuals, blueprints, and recipes for them to study, or should I wait a little bit with that?"

    Michael was located in the Untamed Jungle, where the flora and fauna grew multiple times faster than anywhere else, and he was in possession of both a high-ranked Nature Spirit and a Botanica Magician. Taking gardeners and farmers into ount, Michael would never have issues farming Tiatcha, herbs, and other nts.

    That was great, but it was also one of the reasons Michael fell into deep thoughts. Alchemists required arge amount of ingredients to concoct potions, pills, and to research new recipes in order to advance to the next rank. Focusing on their growth was something Michael was supposed to do as a Lord in the Untamed Jungle.

    proper Enchanter''s Lair and nourish Master Enchanters if I don''t have enough money to expand the 14:54

    Alchemy House and Forging Hall properly?!?'' Michael cursed in his heart.

    However, the lizard cave and the Underground Ecosystem provided the best environment for the Underground Forging Hall. Splitting his attention and funds to nourish both businesses was great, but it drained his money much faster than a wildfire could do.

    ''I haven''t even started focusing on the creation of Artifacts yet. How am I supposed to create a proper Enchanter''s Lair and nourish Master Enchanters if I don''t have enough money to expand the Alchemy House and Forging Hall properly?!?'' Michael cursed in his heart.

    He knew that 5.5 billion dors were a vast fortune and that it was enough to nourish a few Master cksmiths, and Master Alchemists. However, Michael knew how greedy he was better than anyone else.

    "I need more money!"

    But money was not everything that kept him on his toes.

    He had to catch up to the other students in his sses as well. Adding the days he spent to eliminate the Jungle Expedition, the days he''d been unconscious in the medical hall, and the time he spent to recuperate and relocate his territory''s center, Michael missed out two weeks'' worth of lessons in total.

    While that was not a problem in the Limit Breaker Course nor Alice''s Individual Teaching course, missing the other lessons was a little bit more troublesome.

    The Researchers and Instructors didn''t like that he missed the Memory Lane, Old Language, and Ancient Ruins courses.

    He didn''t receive a Mark for not attending the courses, but it was noted down, which was not in his favor.

    Michael was a little regretful as well. In two weeks, he could have learned so much about Ancient Ruins, and the Old Languages, and his proficiency in the Memory Lane technique could have increased drastically.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t do anything about the Jungle Expedition''s attack, and its aftermath. It was not his fault that they attacked him, after all!

    But there was nothing Michael could do about it. He epted the Professor''s remarks and decided to give his utmost to make up for missing their lessons.

    He began to practice the Sacred Rectification body refinement technique in the Limit Breaker Course. Michael''s Berserker Physique reached its peak after refining his body to the Lowest-stage of Tier-2.

    It was a great feat to practice Berserker Physique to the limit, but Michael had to rece it. Sacred Rectification was its recement, and it had a much higher limit.

    Practicing the first two stages of Sacred Rectification was rather simple. It used Berserker Physique''s refinement as the foundation to refine his physique a second time. But since Sacred Rectification was a body refinement technique of a higher level than Berserker Physique, practicing it refined his physique to an even higher degree than before.

    The re-refinement required a considerable amount of nutrition and energy, but the result was exceptional.

    Other than Sacred Rectification, Michael started to utilize Pandemonium''s Requiem as well. He initially purchased the neutral energy absorption technique for his subjects. Michael didn''t intend to use the technique because he was certain that he could depend on the energy share of his subjects to refine his War Rune.

    However, Pandemonium''s Requiem allowed him to improve his natural energy cirction after he overcharged his energy storage in the warfare against the Jungle Expedition. Without Pandemonium''s Requiem, Michael might still be suffering from the aftereffects of the warfare.

    Thus, he began to practice Pandemonium''s Requiem more diligently, hoping that he could further improve his energy cirction and prevent future incidents before they urred, in the first ce.

    Other than Pandemonium''s Requiem and Sacred Rectification, Michael also focused on Caesurium Menta. It was a great mind refining technique that had greatpatibility with Memory Lane.

    Practicing Ceasurium Menta was likely to give him the momentum he required to catch up with the others in their practice of Memory Lane.

    All in all, Michael had the means to grow stronger in a short period. As a matter of fact, Michael had already grown a lot stronger in an extremely short period and reached the Peak of Tier-1.

    Meanwhile, his Soultraits advanced a lot, providing him a wide variety of abilities, which empowered hisbat prowess even further.

    Despite all of that, Michael felt powerless.

    His friends noticed that as well.

    It was not difficult to see that Michael had grown a lot stronger in thest few weeks. Yet, instead of rewarding himself with a few more days of well-deserved rest , Michael''s focus switched to getting stronger consistently.

    The thought of being helpless against the Tier-3 Pdins caused him great distress.

    The Chaos Pills might have saved him, but he never wanted to use them again. Only after using them did Michael realize how foolish it had been to concoct the Chaos Pills inside his territory, and how lucky he had been to survive ¨C and not to obliterate his own territory by triggering 100 Chaos Pills.

    Michael might have won the territorial war, but he lost the war of nerves.

    He never wanted to feel like this again, and the only way to achieve this was to grow stronger¡­strong enough to deal with hundreds of Pdins on his own!

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 228 Jack Of All Trades

    Kaleb received a lot of attention from fellow freshmen and the seniors of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Even the Professors and Instructors paid more attention to him when he attended their lessons. The attention was a side-effect of awakening a 7-Star Soultrait. He was added into the Heavens, the group of people who had awakened a 7-Star Soultrait.

    Kaleb''s potential was extremely high, and so were the hopes of the people around him. Everyone hoped that he would be a pir of support for humanity.

    Yet, despite all of the attention he received from the people around him, Kaleb didn''t feel superiorpared to Michael.

    He had been certain that he would overpower Michael soon. After all, he used an Inheritance technique that strengthened Frozen Nova even further. In addition to the Inheritance technique, Kaleb was also given more than enough resources to refine his War Rune rapidly and expand his territory much faster than others could expand their territory within years.

    The resources at his disposal were rmingly high, and so was the luck he had with the awakening of a 7-Star Soultrait and a Growth-type Summon.

    So why did he still feel that Michael was superior to him?

    Kaleb was not certain about that either. Michael''s War Rune might have advanced to the Peak of Tier-1, but Kaleb was not much behind. He would catch up with Michael in a few weeks. By then, Kaleb should be strong enough to overpower Michael. But why did that feel like an impossible task?

    Kaleb felt weird while watching Michael train and study tirelessly. Something about his friend had changed in thest two weeks, but he couldn''t grasp what it was.

    One way or another, Kaleb could tell that Michael continued to grow rapidly. Rather than slowing down eventually, Michael was slowly gaining momentum.

    ''If I want to keep up with him, I should hurry up. Having a powerful Soultrait doesn''t mean that I''m invincible!'' Kaleb reminded himself, coiling his fists tightly.

    Meanwhile, Jacqueline and Frederik were faced with a simr problem. The Barbaric Couple felt dread, and desperation spread through their entire being noticing the rapid pace at which Michael grew stronger.

    They were giving their all ¨C spending most of their time in the Origin Expanse, and training ¨C, but it felt like their strength didn''t increase by much. It was evident that Michael''s strength increased much faster than theirs. Why was that the case? How was it possible for Michael to be way stronger than them? They were in possession of upgraded versions of their family''s Inheritance techniques. Shouldn''t that give them an advantage over Michael?

    While they kept wondering about this, Michael didn''t even notice that something was wrong with Frederik and Jacqueline. He didn''t have much to do with them at this point. Their War Rune''s refinement degree increased rapidly, but Michael was physically much stronger than them. Facing them in the spars of the Limit Breaker Course was not too exciting for him anymore. Their fighting style didn''t change, and Michael could tell that they couldn''t unleash their fullbat prowess whenever they faced him.

    Michael was not sure why that was the case, but he didn''t care too much about it either. Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb were far more interesting in his opinion. The descendants of the High Nobles and the Supreme Family had a versatile fighting style and they used their Soultraits in unique ways, providing Michael with enough material to research his own Soultraits.

    Upon fusing with a Soultrait one was usually given a flood of information rted to the Soultrait. This made the utilization of the Soultrait much easier.

    However, that didn''t mean all functions of the Soultrait were handed out to the Awakened. Certain abilities required more energy before they could be utilized, while other abilities required a unique approach.

    Extraction was the best example. When he first fused with Extraction, all Michael knew was that Extraction could extract certain objects from other objects, or beings. That was how Michael started using Extraction on the soil beneath him and the corpses of Tier-1 Monsters.

    Slowly but steadily, Michael found out more about Extraction''s limits and how to use it to make the most use of the Soultrait. Eventually, he would learn more about Extraction. After all, the Soultrait would continue to develop and he would find out more about the remaining functions of Extraction.

    His other Soultraits were the same. Each of them was likely to have some hidden functions that required thorough research to be discovered. But that required time, which was what caused problems for someone like Michael. He was in possession of too many Soultraits, and the number was bound to increase in the future.

    Michael would focus on Extraction in the future because his growth was bound to the development of the Extraction Soultrait, but that meant he couldn''t spend much time researching his other Soultraits.

    "Looks like I''m going to be a Jack of all trades, master of none," Michael shook his head as he walked over to arge table with several ces full of nutritious dishes.

    He just finished the daily workout of the Limit Breaker course and was ready to devour the dishes in front of him when he noticed that someone familiar sat down opposite him.

    "It''s not that bad to be a Jack of all trades. After all, being a master of none means that you''re oftentimes better than a master of one," Annabelle ire said wisely as she reached for her spoon and fork.

    It had been a while since Michael and Annabelle met. Nheless, they often used sta messenger to chat with each other. That was also how they knew about each other''s progress, and also the reason they met up at the cafeteria today.

    "Aren''t you way too busy to think about improving your archery skills? I heard some rumors about you, and all of them turn you into a training maniac, and a masochist, who likes getting beat up by the descendants of the Zenovia, Lavita, and Piedra family. You look tired as hell as well. If you look in a mirror now, you would probably think that your reflection is a ghost!" Annabelle remarked with a deep frown on her face.

    Not many focused on Michael, but rumors soon spread that Alice had picked him for individual lessons, and it was also well-known that Michael often sparred with Lincoln, Zeke, Kaleb, and the Barscht Triplets. Whenever someone saw Michael, he was either eating, sparring, or training. It was almost like Michael didn''t know what the words ''rest'', ''fun'', or ''rxing'' meant.

    "I am quite busy, that''s true. But I cannot neglect my archery skills. I want to be a better archer since I have a suitable Soultrait. It would be a waste of potential to leave behind archery and focus solely on closebat," Michael exined lightly.

    Both Alice Zenovia and Silverian Schild trained him, but none of them was proficient at using the bow. Silverian Schild was a brute closebat fighter, who mostly focused on heavy blows and sudden surprise movements to attack.

    On the other hand, Alice was a nimblebatant. She could fight closebat and long distance. However, her long-distance attacks were the creation of her Ice-type Soultrait. Alice would conjure icicles and throw them at Michael using her willpower rather than her eyes to aim precisely.

    While it was interesting to learn Alice''s approach to a long-distance battle, it didn''t help Michael in his current state. He had yet to fuse with an Elemental-type Soultrait and couldn''t use her approach to improve his archery skills either.

    Annabelle might not be an instructor, but her mastery of bow and arrow was on par with an Instructor''s. She was the best Archer he knew ¨C by far.

    "If you think that training with me will help you¡­ I don''t have a problem with that," Annabelle said after a while.

    She thought about rejecting Michael''s request, but there was no reason to do so. If anything, Michael''s request benefited her. After all, Michael could connect her to his social circle ¨C which was something most freshmen would love to be a part of at this point.

    "Thanks a lot. If you need help in the future, just tell me. I owe you!" Michael dered.

    He finished his meal in mere seconds and resumed his training. Meanwhile, Annabelle sent him a copy of her schedule and the time of the day when she usually focused on training her archery skills.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Michael took notes and he adjusted his schedule ordingly, adding two archery training sessions a week.

    Once he finalized the schedule everything was set in stone.

    Michael could follow his schedule without anyone bothering him for the next few weeks.

    Likewise, a full month passed in the blink of an eye.

    The situation in the Saphirke Military Academy changed slowly. More students diverted their focus to the ranking boards to challenge their fellow friends and colleagues to a ranked battle.

    The Battle Exchange of the Tritan Alliance would be held in less than two months, and everyone wanted to participate.

    Most freshmen had been sent to the Saphirke Military Academy for three reasons. First, most influential families wanted to ensure that their children could umte military merit points in the Saphirke Military Academy in order to improve their military rank before arge-scale war broke out.

    Second, the influential families showed interest in the Berserker and Warlock Centaur races. They wanted to connect to the fellow races of the Tritan Alliance and strengthen their family''s influence and power by bing close friends with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Andst but not least, the freshmen were told to befriend the students around them. Since many big families were willing to send their prodigious descendants to the Saphirke Military Academy, other families sensed a golden opportunity. Many prodigious descendants left their family''s protective shell for the first time to attend the Saphirke Military Academy, and many wanted to exploit this situation to befriend the strongest families and create a highly influential social circle.

    Compared to the political reasons and scheming of the influential families, Michael''s reason to join the Saphirke Military Academy seemed like a big joke. He was also interested in the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs, but that was mostly because he wanted to learn more about the old origin tongue.

    Furthermore, he had been certain that he could learn a lot from the professors and instructors.

    Never would Michael have imagined that he could get closer to the descendants of several nobles, forget about bing close friends with two High Nobles.

    But then again, Michael had also never imagined obtaining a Soultrait like Extraction, or that he would advance to Tier-2 in less than six months after his War Rune manifested.

    But that was precisely what happened.

    Michael focused so much on his studies and training that he didn''t even realize when his War Rune began to break down the barrier to the 2nd Tier.

    He only sensed that he was on the verge of a breakthrough when the barrier to the 2nd Tier was fully covered in deep spider web-like cracks.

    His War Rune pulsated wildly, notifying Michael that it was about time to focus on the breakthrough.

    Michael entered the Origin Expanse and sat down cross-legged to utilize Pandemonium''s Requiem. Pandemonium''s Requiem allowed him to control the cirction of origin energy inside his body and vicinity precisely. He calmed the origin energy inside his body while absorbing the energy in the surroundings.

    Afterward, he focused on the deepest part of his consciousness where a pir of light appeared.

    The pir of light pulsated vigorously, and every vibration caused streams of light to flood toward the pir of light from all directions.

    It looked like the pir of light was a humongous tree that branched out in all directions, reaching every part of his body.

    Michael entered a state called introspection, allowing him to see the origin energy everywhere inside his body. He was utterly fascinated to be able to see every wisp of energy inside him and continued practicing Pandemonium''s Requiem to elerate the flow of energy in a controlled manner.

    The pir of light''s pulse grew stronger, deepening the cracks that spread through the barrier restricting the pir''s growth.

    It was only a matter of time before the sound of crackling ss echoed through Michael''s entire body. The sound intensified with the passage of time until a thunderous explosion rang out.

    In the next instance, soothing warmth and unfathomable power swept through Michael.

    A groan escaped Michael''s lips as the soothing warmth slowly turned into searing heat that red up instantly. It turned into a viscous zing me that spread through every inch of his body.

    It made him feel like he was on fire; as if hot, molten magma was circting through his body.

    The burning heat first emerged inside his heart, which made Michael feel like his heart would melt on the spot.

    However, he knew that this wouldn''t happen. In fact, Michael had already faced the exact situation before.

    By advancing to the next stage, his body would undergo a natural cleansing ¨C which was exactly what was happening right now.

    Understanding the situation, Michael braced himself and endured the pain and difort.

    The pores all over his body opened, and a ck reeking mass began to slowly ooze out of him.

    At this point, Michael sensed that he could activate Extraction, and that was what he did the next moment.

    He unleashed Extraction in its strongest form, picking himself as the target.

    The next moment, Michael''s entire body was engulfed in intense golden streams of light that seemed to devour him.

 Chapter 229 Tier-2

    229 Tier-2

    By the time Michael advanced to the 1st Tier, he had already used Extraction to aid his first natural cleansing.

    Extracting impurities from his body wasn''t possible under ordinary circumstances. It seemed like he could only meet the conditions to extract impurities during a natural cleansing.

    That was also why Michael used 6-Star Extraction, strengthened by severalyers of Enhancement during his second natural cleansing.

    The fewer impurities he left inside his body the faster his energy cirction would be. At the end of the day, the overall strengthening he received from his War Rune''s advancement would be on the higher side with fewer impurities restricting him.

    A body void of impurities was what Michael worked toward. Perfectly purifying himself would increase his strength drastically, and using 6-Star Extraction was his approach to get closer to his final goal.

    The means at his disposal at his current stage were iparable to Extraction when he first used it to extract the impurities during the first natural cleansing. At that time, Extraction had only been a 3-Star Soultrait, and Michael hadn''t been in possession of an Enhancement either.

    Time passed slowly, and severalyers of thick ck mass covered his body. It stuck to him and made him feel filthy and disgusted. Even the intense golden streams of Extraction got buried under the mass of badly reeking impurities.

    ''The human body is really filled with nothing but rubbish¡­'' Michael mused at one point.

    Advancing to the 2nd Tier wasn''t an easy task. It required a tremendous amount of origin energy and nutrition to strengthen his body and expand the pir of light properly.

    Using up a tremendous amount of origin energy immediately after advancing to the 2nd Tier was something most Awakened would advise against. However, Michael had to use Enhancement and Extraction to exploit the opportunity that appeared with the second natural cleansing.

    That was also why Michael was drained of all his energy when the second natural cleansing ended. He could barely crawl into the bathtub that had been filled with warm water and a medicinal solution before he dozed off.

    When he woke up again, theyers of impurities covering his body were no more.

    Michael was confused at first, but he found Tiara standing next to the bathtub, clearing his doubts.

    "I removed the impurities and cleansed your body, Master. You don''t have to worry about the stench either. I took care of everything!" She exined with enthusiasm in her voice.

    Michael raised an eyebrow while keeping his attention on Tiara. He was not sure when she started to wear her maid uniform once again, but he faintly recalled seeing her in it a lot in thest month.

    Michael hadn''t given her an order in that regard. Tiara did it on her own volition, which was quite confusing. Tiara was a greatbatant. Using her as a maid seemed like a waste of her talent and potential. However, the Battle Maid of the Silverfang Tigerfolk didn''t seem to care. She would fight the moment Michael ordered her only to return to the territory and wear her maid uniform once again.

    "...Good job. Thanks for looking after me¡­" Michael could only say, not sure whether to scold Tiara or to praise her for cleansing his body.

    He looked down at himself and noticed that he was still wearing his underpants, causing a sigh of relief to escape his lips subconsciously.

    ''At least, she didn''t go overboard.''

    "You can go outside. I''ll change ande out in a minute."

    Michael waved his hand, gesturing to Tiara to leave. Tiara bowed politely to Michael and left the room.

    Tiara closed the door behind her as she left. Her cheeks turned red like a tomato and her tail started to swish wildly.

    "...I''m insane¡­" She blurted out, shaking her head furiously, trying to control the thoughts that began to corrupt her innocent mind.

    While Tiara was fighting with her inner demons, Michael got out of the wooden bathtub. He stripped off his wet underpants, dried his body, and put on a neat set of dry clothes.

    Afterward, he stepped out to meet up with the rest of his people.

    By now, the corruptednd of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring had been fixed. Michael spent a small fortune and a considerable amount of time to extract every single trace of the chaos essence that had taken root in the corruptednd before nourishing the Untamed Jungle with a few more batches of hundreds of thousands of Tier-1 monster carcasses.

    He had already finished fixing the corruptednd, and ced a few watchtowers in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring, and stationed a few guards who would report the movements in that area to him.

    Since Michael couldn''t simply show up at the gate and demand to enter Xiltra as he pleased anymore, he had to find other means to stay up-to-date. It would be easier with a meticulously nned informationwork, but setting up something like that was easier said than done.

    Thus, watchtowers were the fastest and a cost-efficient solution for the time being. He could switch to other means of surveince once the time was ripe.

    When he stepped out of the wooden manor, Michael was greeted by the densely grown Untamed Jungle. It was dimly lit because only a few rays of sunlight made it past the thick canopy of jungle trees.

    The trees all around them were old and had a thick trunk. They were decades, if not centuries old, and continued to grow without anyone disturbing them. At first, Michael wanted to cut down the trees around the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate, but he chose against it.

    He only cut down the areas where it was unusually dense to ensure that some trees could survive and continue to grow.

    When trees grew too closely together, their branches, roots, and foliage ovepped, leading to intensepetition for resources, such as sunlight, water, and nutrients. Michael made sure to break down thepetition between the trees in his territory with the use of Extraction.

    Simultaneously, he used the trees he cut down to construct treehouseplexes and put them in the trees he had salvaged.

    Most residents of his territory lived inrge treehouseplexes. This was to ensure that the highly nutritious ground could be kept free for the Bilrox ranch, the farms, warehouses, the Alchemy house, the Medical hall, the public canteen where food was distributed to everyone, the training grounds, and much more.

    All in all, Michael didn''t alter the environment around him too much. He wanted to use the Untamed Jungle and live alongside it in a symbiotic rtionship rather than draining the Untamed Jungle like a parasite. That was the best solution he could think of considering that he desired to stay a long time in the Untamed Jungle.

    Of course, Michael had to get rid of the harmful nts that spread through the Untamed Jungle''s middle zone and remove huge chunks of the thick undergrowth. But Michael made amends for that. He chose to consider the Untamed Jungle a sentient existence, which was why he made tributes to the Untamed Jungle whenever he harmed it.

    His tributes were mostly monster corpses which the Untamed Jungle devoured and digested to elerate the growth of its flora and fauna.

    Finding a raised spot, Michael climbed it and his gaze moved through his territory. Wherever he looked, people were busy with work. New treehouseplexes had to be constructed at all times, ensuring that there would be enough space for new summons to stay and rest. Other than that, a new system had been constructed for the canopy bridges.

    The infrastructure of the territory had been upgraded, creating more pathways to pass through the Untamed Jungle in a much shorter period.

    They evenpleted a straight pathway to the fiend trees where Sun Demos and his Demon Monkeys resided. Sun Demos and his subordinates hadn''t been relocated to Michael''s territory. They felt morefortable in the darkness of the gloomy fiend trees.

    Michael let them be. If the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were satisfied with their habitat, who was he to drag them out of their favorite ce? He was not a tyrant, after all!

    He took a deep breath of fresh air, and a smile blossomed on his lips.

    Everything in his surroundings felt much more vibrant than ever before. It was hard to exin since Michael felt like this for the first time, but everything around him felt restlessly alive. Even the gusts of air were full of vigor, seemingly sentient as they brushed past him.

    His body felt much lighter than before, and he could see a faint luster of twinkling stars spread across his body. Looking down at his body, Michael could clearly see his shimmering skin, and the smallest details of his pulsating veins and bulging muscles.

    Michael couldn''tprehend it yet, but the extraction of impurities didn''t only lead to a drastic increase in his origin energy cirction and physical strength. The removal of impurities sharpened his dull senses that had been affected by impurities as well.

    It improved his stamina by removing the impurities in his lungs and other vital organs, in addition to improving his endurance and regeneration abilities, enabling the smooth cirction of blood, origin energy, and transfer of nutrition.

    Advancing to Tier-2 andpleting the second natural cleansing should have increased his strength and overall capabilities by more than 50% under normal circumstances. However, by taking the additional extraction of impurities into ount, Michael guessed that his power and overall capabilities must have increased by nearly 100%!

    Even a Low-stage Tier-2 Adventurer wouldn''t dare to face Michael head-on right now, even if Michael didn''t use his Soultraits and Artifacts!

    Now that Michael advanced to Tier-2, he was not sure how strong he had be. However, he knew that he still had a long way to go.

    Michael was satisfied with the increment in strength he had attained by advancing to the 2nd Tier, but he found himself getting impatient and greedy.

    Despite knowing that it was not healthy, Michael found himself caught in his desire and greed to overpower everyone around him and to be able to expand his territory without the need to be wary of the people, empires, and regions around him.

    Letting his greed lose, Michael sensed that something inside his War Rune''s storage was tugging at his consciousness.

    The golden piece of paper, which he had procured from the deep pit where he''d killed the 10 Pdins, appeared in front of him.

    It glowed dimly as it levitated in front of Michael''s eyes.

    "What is that?" Michael mumbled, lifting his hand to touch the levitating golden paper.

    However, the piece of paper evaded his hand. It revolved around Michael three times until it slowed down to hover in front of Michael''s forehead.

    All of a sudden, the golden paper burst forward. It shot toward Michael''s forehead where it was supposed to collide.

    Yet, instead of colliding with his forehead, the golden paper passed through his forehead.

    The paper''s solid form changed suddenly, turning gaseous as it entered Michael''s head, where it infiltrated his mind.

    Once inside his mind, the golden paper dispersed in all directions, leaving behind a golden strand and a flood of information that swept through his entire mind, upying every corner.

    ''Why does this look like a golden gate?'' Michael wondered in shock as he visualized the golden strand that looked just like a golden version of the Runic Gate.

    "What the hell is going on?" He blurted aloud just before the flood of information almost knocked him out.

    [A/N: What do you think will happen now? Where is the novel going? The warfare with the Jungle Expedition is over, but his confrontation with the Zentika Empire has just begun.

    How will Michael fight his enemies? Will he back off and stall time, or will he change his approach?]

 Chapter 230 Lord Rift

    Coherent Information was pieced together in Michael''s mind, and he digested it quickly.

    "An entrance ticket to enter the Lord Rift? How did I obtain that?" He wondered.

    Michael recalled that he extracted the golden piece of paper from the deep pit where he killed the Pdins, but the Lord Rift Entrance Ticket didn''t originate from the Pdins. Their bodies had been destroyed, leaving Michael no target to use Extraction on.

    ''Did I meet a certain condition to extract the entrance ticket?'' Michael wondered, thinking that it was the most likely case.

    He nodded subconsciously before focusing on the information that had entered his mind.

    ''By using the Lord Rift Entrance ticket, I don''t even have to travel through the Zentika Empire to enter the Rift. Utilizing it will teleport me straight into the Lord Rift when it opens. That''s pretty good.''

    The Lord Rift would open in less than four weeks, providing Michael with enough time to reconsider whether he should enter the Lord Rift or not.

    ''I just relocated the Summoning Gate. Shouldn''t I focus on my territory for the time being?'' Michael thought at first, but the information rted to the loot he could procure within the Lord Rift surfaced in his mind.

    The treasures that can be harvested in the Lord Rift were exceptional. One of them was an Instant Upgrade for any kind of Soultrait. It would upgrade his 6-Star Extraction to a 7-Star Soultrait.

    Other than that, Michael could get hold of Legendary Summoning Scrolls, Legendary Artifacts, unique blueprints, exotic recipes, and much more.

    Each of those treasures was worth fighting for since they could change the development course of a territory in its entirety.

    Michael was excited at the thought of obtaining a Legendary Summoning Scroll, or an exotic recipe with which he could concoct higher-ranked energy pills or other exotic pills. But what excited him most was the restriction put on the Lord Rift.

    To enter the Lord Rift, one had to be a Tier-2 Lord. No one at the 3rd Tier or above could enter the Lord Rift, not even the old powerhouses of the Zentika Empire''s Council.

    ''Only two members of the Lord''s territory can enter the Lord Rift alongside their Lord, and only one of them is allowed to be an Awakened. What a weird restriction. But fine¡­the non-awakened would probably be Masked Saber. Other than that, I should pick an Awakened who ispatible with us¡­Tiara would be best in that case,'' Michael thought, feeling that Masked Saber and Tiara were the most obvious choices.

    The Links of Loyalty of Masked Saber and Tiara were the firmest. Their individualbat prowess was exceptional, and it was not difficult for Michael to work with them. Their teamwork was pretty good, to the extent that Michael felt a bit confused.

    His heart beat rapidly, and he anticipated the next few weeks until the Lord rift would open.

    ''Why am I already this excited? I didn''t even finalize my decision, yet I am thinking about a strategy to enter the Lord Rift and reap all benefits¡­ridiculous.''

    Michael was amused at his own train of thought. He couldn''t deny that he was very curious about the Lord Rift, but that was only obvious. The Lord Rift was extremely valuable for everyone, no matter how wealthy they were, or how lucky they had been in the past. It was definitely worth a try.

    However, Michael was also a little bit worried.

    ''Wouldn''t it be a p in the Zentika Empire''s face if I appear in their Lord Rift, and take everything? Every Lord from the Zentika Empire would have heard rumors about the happenings in the Untamed Jungle by the time the Lord Rift opened. Wouldn''t they team up with each other to eliminate me?'' Michael thought about the possibility, and he didn''t like it.

    Even in the worst-case scenario, some Lords would report his appearance in the Lord Rift to others. By then, the Zentika Empire''s council would surely find out that he entered the Lord Rift.

    They were bound to be enraged.

    While that might sound bad, it was quite exciting.

    Despite the possibility of facing the worst-case scenario in the future, Michael felt that it would be a worse decision to stay low-key.

    Ignoring the opportunity that had unveiled itself in front of him in the form of a golden entrance ticket meant that Michael was willing to give up the chance to improve.

    It was a sign of weakness; the fear of failure.

    Just thinking about the Zentika Empire, and how helpless he had been against the Tier-3 Adventurers was enough to make the hair all over his body stand up on its end.

    ''If I don''t take this opportunity to grow stronger, am I going toin bitterly when the Zentika Empire decides to attack me again? Will I use suicidal tactics to desperately fight for my survival? Why am I even hesitating? By using the golden entrance ticket, I can enter and leave the Lord Rift safely without having to travel through the Zentika Empire! I shouldn''t hesitate¡­am I that weak?!?''

    No, Michael wasn''t weak. He was in possession of a 6-Star Soultrait, a 5-Star Soultrait, three 4-Star Soultraits, and two 1-Star Soultraits. Nobody was as well equipped with Soultraits as Michael.

    As long as he upgraded his equipment by procuring Tier-2 Artifacts, and trained himself to utilize thebination of multiple Soultraits thoroughly, it should be a walk in the park to obtain some invaluable treasures inside the Lord Rift. After all, his opponents would only be Tier-2 Lords. They wouldn''t be as strong as the 13 Tier-3 Pdins!

    There was no need to hesitate. The Lord Rift ought to be his treasure trove, the sacrednd he was supposed to plunder!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Tiara will break through and advance to the 2nd Tier in a few days, and Masked Saber reached the Peak of Tier-1 as well. If I nourish him a little bit more he''ll advance to Tier-2 before the Lord Rift opens as well. All I need are proper Tier-2 Artifacts for myself and Tiara.''

    Purchasing Tier-2 Artifacts was not a problem. Michael had been setting aside enough savings from the money he earned by selling Agriculture-type blueprints, and the other loot he harvested in thest four weeks.

    The only issue was to find Artifacts with great quality.

    Until now, Tiara continued using Fenrir''s silver spear. The silver spear was even better than Michael''s Seron Voulge, and it was unlikely that they would find a better weapon anytime soon. Fortunately, that was not a big problem. Michael could focus on purchasing an Armor Set Artifact, a Shield Artifact, and Protective essory Artifacts for Tiara.

    On the other hand, Masked Saber''s equipment was much easier to procure. In fact, the Weaponsmith of the territory could forge a perfectly bnced saber for Masked Saber as long as he was given the right raw materials.

    The thought of upgrading his people''s equipment was quite exciting, and it was no different from the excitement he felt at the thought of purchasing Tier-2 Artifacts for himself.

    Thus, Michael left the Origin Expanse, ready to rush to the Artifact shops for a shopping spree.

    But before Michael could step out of his territory, he found himself bombarded with dozens of messages.

    ''How can someone be that annoying?! Is it Frederik, or Jacqueline?!'' Michael cursed inwardly while opening sta messengers.

    Yet, what he saw confused him quite a bit.

    [Kilian Whira(Shop Manager): Good Morning, Sir Fang. I hope I''m not bothering you, sir, but I noticed that you sold fewer Agriculture-type blueprints than before to our esteemed shop in thest few months. Could it be that you''re dissatisfied with our service?]

    [Kilian Whira(Shop Manager): Good Evening, Sir Fang. I am terribly sorry for messaging you again, but could it be that something is wrong? If you encountered some trouble in the Origin Expanse, feel free to message me. I will try my utmost to help you out. After all, we''re close business partners!]

    [Kilian Whira(Shop Manager): Sir Fang, would you be willing to meet up with me in the near future? The Bartholomew Shop has a promotional event with great discounts. There are many items you''ll probably be interesting in.]

    ¡­

    ..

    More than a dozen messages with simr content swamped his chat sent by the owner of the shop affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation.

    Michael had been doing business with them for quite a while now, but over thest few months, he stopped sending more Agriculture-type blueprints than he had to. He fulfilled the monthly quota to earn a small fortune before putting aside the remaining Agriculture-type blueprints forter use.

    There was no reason for Michael to spend more time and money selling the Agriculture-type blueprints when he was already wealthy enough. He only did the bare minimum to reach the monthly quota, fulfilling the conditions of his contract with the Bartholomew Corporation. Why should he sell them more when it was not necessary?

    ''You guys shouldn''t have given me such a weird exclusive contract. I was in need of hard cash at that time and didn''t focus on the small details. Why should I allow you to exploit me?'' Michael asked in his mind.

    He didn''t think about offending the Bartholomew Corporation, but he was not willing to let them trample all over him.

    His exclusive contract with the Bartholomew Corporation had a duration of 12 months, and he was doing his part diligently.

    But since he was not in need of hard cash anymore, he decided to store as many agriculture-type blueprints as possible to sell themter ¨C for a better price than suggested in the exclusive contract.

    Thus, Michael prepared a lovely message to send to Kilian Whira.

    [Michael Fang: Hello Mr. Whira. I have been a little bit busy these days and couldn''t ess sta messenger. Please don''t worry, everything is perfectly fine. My territory is still standing. There won''t be a problem with the agriculture-type blueprints either. I will fulfill the monthly quota by handing over exactly 100 blueprints until the month of the contract''s duration. I can ensure that there won''t be an issue until then.

    Greetings, Michael Fang]

    Michael read through the message a few times. He edited a few words, adding hidden meanings to certain phrases to ensure that Kilian Whira understood what he was trying to convey. Then he sent a message.

    Afterward, Michael walked through the gate. He left the building, only to receive a call less than a minute after he sent out the message.

    "You fell straight into my trap. It''s always fun to deal with impatient people," Michael mused, clearing his throat before he picked up the iing call.

    "Hello? Michael Fang speaking. How may I help you, Mr. Whira?"

 Chapter 231 Terms and Conditions

    231 Terms and Conditions

    Seated in arge room with little furniture, Michael exuded a presence of utter calmness.

    He took a sip of water and put the ss on the table in front of him, his gaze never leaving the middle-aged man in front of him.

    Kilian Whira was sitting opposite Michael, his back drenched and his palms sweaty.

    No matter how he looked at it, Michael''s demeanor and presence had changed drastically within a few months.

    ''Was the price I gave for the Artifacts not satisfactory? Should I have indulged him a little bit more? Why is his gaze so scary?!?'' Kilian asked himself, knowing that he would never receive an answer to his questions.

    He was worried that the Agriculture Project would slow down now that Michael was unwilling to send more blueprints than demanded in his exclusive contract. Slowly realization dawned upon Kilian; the tables had turned.

    They lost their advantage.

    The higher-ups of the Bartholomew Corporation informed Kilian that Michael Fang had be Alice''s direct disciple. That was what the rumors said, and Alice Zenovia didn''t deny them ¨C which was something she would have done if the rumors were wrong.

    Everyone, who had witnessed the attitude of the Frozen Duchess from previous interviews and interactions with her, knew that she would never ept anyone using her name for publicity stunts and other means. Alice Zenovia allowed only facts about her to circte in sta.

    That meant she either epted Michael as a direct disciple, or that she considered herself as Michael''s teacher.

    The Bartholomew Corporation heard about this not too long ago, and the higher ups were certain that the Frozen Duchess was the one who had influenced Michael to ensure that he wouldn''t support the Bartholomew Corporation with more blueprints than requested in the exclusive contract.

    They were worried that the Zenovia family might end up convincing Micahel that it was better for them to pay for his breach of contract and get hold of Michael''s Agriculture-type blueprints for themselves. Thus, the higher ups made sure that Kilian Whira would get hold of Michael, and that he would have a meeting with Michael Fang.

    "It looks like the Bartholomew Corporation values my blueprints highly. To think that their higher ups asked for a meeting. That''s quite surprising," Michael said, smiling calmly.

    "How do you know¡­?" Kilian Whira blurted out, shocked that Michael found out about the higher up''s n to drag him to a meeting.

    After all, he had yet to tell Michael the reason for their meeting.

    "I just made a guess, and you proved the guess to be correct," Michael responded nonchntly.

    From the moment Kilian Whira bombarded him with messages on sta messengers Michael figured that something was wrong. His suspicion was proven correct when he received a call less than a minute after he sent a reply.

    Combining all clues at his disposal, Michael could tell that the iing event was about to turn interesting.

    "We, the Bartholomew Corporation, are indeed very interested in your agriculture-type blueprints. It''s a shame that the monthly quota is as low as 100 blueprints a month," Kilian said after he regained hisposure.

    He had been given a detailed briefing on the things he was supposed to mention to Michael, with the final result being that Michael would allow an alteration of the exclusive contract to increase the monthly quota.

    Yet, long before Kilian Whira could influence Michael and convince him to change the contract''s terms and conditions, Michael counterattacked.

    He essed his War Rune''s storage space and retrieved more than a thousand agriculture-type blueprints at once.

    Michael spread the blueprints out in front of Kilian Whira without saying a single word.

    "W-wha¡­t¡­." Kilian murmured, his eyes shot wide open.

    He was trying to say something but no words escaped his lips.

    Until now, Michael sold less than 700 agriculture-type blueprints to the Bartholomew Corporation in total, yet he retrieved double the amount from his storage space at once.

    With the pile of blueprints spread out in front of Kilian, the Agriculture project could progress rapidly.

    But something was wrong. Kilian Whira could tell that instantaneously, and it was not as if Michael was hiding his ulterior move either. On the contrary, Michael made it clear that he wouldn''t allow the Bartholomew Corporation to exploit him. He showed them what he was capable of procuring, and that he wouldn''t have problems finding other organizations and families, who were equally interested in turning the Barren Lands in the Origin Expanse into fertilend.

    "What do you want¡­" Kilian Whira asked, realizing that the sales pitch provided by the higher ups to lure him had turned useless.

    "ording to the exclusive contract with the Bartholomew Corporation I have to provide 100 agriculture blueprints a month for a period of 12 months. I cannot sell the agriculture-type blueprints to anyone else in that period either. Is that correct?" Michael asked instead of answering Kilian.

    Michael knew that he was correct, but he waited patiently to see Kilian nodding his head in affirmation.

    "Let''s just change a few uses in the contract, and I''ll provide hundreds of agriculture-type blueprints every month. The number might eventually increase to a thousand, or thousands of blueprints if¡­" Michael began, only to stop mid-sentence.

    He took a deliberate pause and suddenly turned silent, while his attention remained on Kilian.

    "If¡­?" The shop manager repeated, the anxiety in his voice apparent.

    "If the Bartholomew Corporation is willing to turn me into an investor of the Agriculture Project," Michaelpleted the sentence.

    Kilian opened his mouth, ready to call Michael a lunatic, but he shut his mouth as quickly as he had opened it.

    The Bartholomew Corporation''s higher ups were willing to change Michael''s exclusive contract, but they would rather pay Michael with cash than turning him into an investor of the Agriculture Project. That way, they could ensure to pay as little as possible while iming the best benefits.

    "To be precise, I will still sell agriculture-type blueprints at a low price. The price will beparable to the costs of other rare blueprints. That way, I can make sure to cover the costs of procuring the agriculture-type blueprints. In exchange for providing a low price and arger number of blueprints, I want a share of the Agriculture Project''s profits!" Michael announced, still sounding calm and void of worries.

    Thanks to Alice, and her vastwork system, Micahel could research quite a bit about a few organizations and their projects. The Bartholomew Corporation was one of mankind''s influential business entities, but they had a hard time procuring more than 200 agriculture-type blueprints in a month. That number included the monthly supply of blueprints Michael provided.

    Given his rtionship with the Forest Elven Tribe and the expansion of the Underground Forging Hall, Michael could easily procure more than a thousand agriculture-type blueprints a month. In fact, It wouldn''t be a problem to procure two or three thousand blueprints as long as he focused on the production of low-level armaments ¨C which the Forest Elven Tribe loved.

    Being able to procure more than ten times the amount a firm like the Bartholomew Corporation can obtain in a month meant that Michael could be an essential investor of the Agriculture Project. He possessed the resources and means to help the Bartholomew Corporation to advance to the next level.

    epting Michael as an investor would allow the Bartholomew Corporation to charge far ahead of everyone else in the game of turning the Barren Lands into fertilends. They would make more profit, which they could re-invest to expand their business even further. The Barren Lands would turn into a fertile piece ofnd and an exclusive property.

    Rejecting Michael''s offer just because he wanted a profit share was foolish. However, Kilian Whira didn''t have the necessary permission to tweak the uses and modify Michael''s exclusive contract to such an extent.

    But upon seeing Michael retrieve the blueprints and store them back into his War Rune''s storage space, he panicked.

    "I¡­I will have to ask my superiors about your offer¡­ Please don''t be hasty, and have some patience¡­" Kilian said, his voice desperate and his eyes quivering.

    But Michael simply got up from the chair.

    "I can provide more than a thousand blueprints a month, and my business can expand. If I focus on agriculture-type blueprints, I can procure 3,000 a month. Of course, that won''t be easy¡­so make sure that your superiors understand that I''ll not break my neck to procure thousands of blueprints if the profit share they offer is too low!" Michael remarked, hinting to Kilian that he wouldn''t allow the Bartholomew Corporation to exploit him anymore.

    Now it was his time to take the reins in his control and take charge of the negotiation.

    He smiled at Kilian, who stared at him in shock and disbelief before he walked out of the hall, leaving the dumbfounded middle-aged man alone.

    "3¡­3000?!" Kilian blurted out, slumping back into the chair, his face ghastly pale.

    "The higher-ups will kill me¡­"

 Chapter 232 The Doomed City

    232 The Doomed City

    Michael''s territory was flourishing, and the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring had been restored to its previous glory atst.

    Meanwhile, Xiltra had be a living hell.

    After the Jungle Expedition failed, and only three out of 13 Pdins returned alive, Xiltra''s atmosphere grew heavier by the day.

    Xiltra''s citizens were worried about the Untamed Jungle''s Curse and that the unknown existences hiding within the shadows of the Untamed Jungle would charge and attempt to destroy the border city.

    But something like that never happened.

    However, that didn''t mean Xiltra''s condition remained the same. No, everything changed after the three surviving Pdins returned.

    The Pdin''s health deteriorated, and they fell into aa. Not even the best healers of the border city were able to tend to the Pdins'' issues. They were oblivious to the disease that affected the three Tier-3 Pdins.

    Weeks passed and the Pdins'' health hit the lowest point possible. Their lives were on the line, and it was only a matter of time before they would die.

    At that point, something shocking urred. The healers, and the attending staff that tended to theatose Pdins fell ill. Their skin developed a silverish tinge, and their veins began to turn ck.

    The chaos essence inside the Pdins had been nourished and began to spread through the entire city.

    At first, the higher ups in Xiltra didn''t give the situation unfolding in front of them much thought. They considered it a minor issue that could be solved quickly. They couldn''t have been more wrong.

    Less than a month after the three Pdins returned from the Untamed Jungle, they died. The Chaos Essence that had taken root inside them had devoured their life-force and the nutrients inside their bodies. It had been nourished and grown to affect the people and atmosphere in the Pdins'' surroundings. However, the intensity of the chaos essence''s influence was not that strong yet. This only changed when the Pdins died, and the Chaos Essence inside them was unleashed to the outside world.

    A week after the Pdins'' death, Xiltra was forced into a quarantine. Chaos Essence could be found everywhere in Xiltra, spreading like a contagious disease. It took root in the living everywhere and drained their nutrients and life-force to grow stronger and continued to spread like a wildfire.

    Chaos Essence required less than a month to drain the life-force and nutrients of a Tier-3 Awakened, who had been administered various potions, and provided the care of Awakened Healers, who used their healing-type Soultraits to improve the Pdins'' condition to no avail. Meanwhile, Tierless Natives fell victim to Chaos Essence within 24 hours.

    The Chaos Essence invaded their immune system, and took root in the deepest parts of their bodies before requiring a single day to grow stronger by draining its host. Afterward, it would seek a new victim.

    Only two weeks passed after the death of the three Pdins, but the casualties had long since exceeded 10,000.

    The number of affected individuals rapidly approached the 6-digits, and it was only a matter of time before Xiltra and its surroundings ended up being corrupted without a single trace of life left behind.

    This was worrisome, and it was also why the Zentika Empire''s Council initiated an emergency meeting.

    "Should we annihte Xiltra? As long as we get rid of Xiltra and a portion of the surroundingnd everything should be fine. We can reconstruct the border city, and refill the holes left behind." A younger member of the council proposed.

    Destroying the border city and the surroundingnd might kill Xiltra''s citizens, but they were already dead in the young council member''s eyes, in the first ce. He could only look at the destruction of the border city as a financial loss, nothing else.

    Losing some money in exchange for getting rid of a gue-like disease that spread with exponential growth was certainly worth it. Thus, two more council members voted in favor of the young council member''s idea.

    "I don''t think that will be necessary. The gue-like disease is actually not a disease. It''s Chaos Essence," Senator Keltos intervened, his words attracting the attention of the council members seated around the long table.

    "Chaos Essence is a rare substance that can be found in a few areas. The Zentika Empire has no grounds with naturally formed Chaos Essence, but the Untamed Jungle does. Speaking about the Untamed Jungle, the silver cloud that had permeated the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring was most likely chaos. The Pdins escaped the silver cloud, but they must have been infected already."

    The council members around Senator Keltos grew impatient. They weren''t in need of a lesson from Senator Keltos. All they wanted was information on how to solve the current predicament in the most-efficient way.

    Senator Keltos noticed the impatient gazes lingering on him, and he nodded his head in satisfaction.

    "Everyone must have realized that the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring had been destroyed. The news should have reached everyone by now. BUT did anyone here receive the news that the Untamed Jungle had been corrupted by Chaos Essence, and that it took less than a month to remove the Chaos Essence and turn the corruptednd back into the flourishing outer ring of the Untamed Jungle it used to be?" Senator Keltos asked, causing a stir in the hearts of the council members.

    "If the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring was corrupted by chaos essence, how was it fixed?" One of the council members asked, providing Senator Keltos with the opportunity he sought.

    "There are two possibilities. First, the Untamed Jungle might have an innate resistance to chaos essence. It''s possible that it can digest the chaos essence and utilize it. I don''t have hard evidence to back my im, but it is possible. However, I have the means to prove the second possibility- Chaos Ants!" Senator Keltos dered, while retrieving a few documents from his War Rune''s storage space with a wave of his arm.

    Information about Chaos Ants was written on the document with a huge amount of details. Senator Keltos must have researched the Untamed Jungle, and the monsters inhabiting the Untamed Jungle for quite a while to find this many details of the Chaos Ants. They had only a small poption and stayed underground rather than scavenging across the surface of the Untamed Jungle.

    "They¡­these Chaos Ants¡­eat the Chaos Essence that has taken root in the corruptednds¡­do you want someone to enter the Untamed Jungle secretly to get hold of a few Chaos Ants? If we want to save Xiltra''s citizens we would need hundreds, or thousands of Chaos Ants, otherwise, we can only fix Xiltra''snd while the citizens die miserably¡­" An old woman asked, the ridicule in her voice crystal clear.

    She had never liked Senator Keltos, and it felt like his ideas and thoughts were getting crazier with every passing day.

    Senator Keltos was also at fault for the Jungle Expedition''s defeat. If he had revealed all information about the Untamed Jungle openly, the situation would have beenpletely different.

    But that was just the beginning. Senator Keltos had been impatient and allowed his subordinates to start the Jungle Expedition before the promised day, resulting in their humiliating defeat. In the eyes of many council members, Senator Keltos had be an eyesore, and the sole reason for the diminishing reputation of the Zentika Empire''s council.

    Senator Keltos knew that some council members doubted him, but he couldn''t care less.

    He shook his head lightly, "No, I don''t want to use Chaos Ants. Like you already said, they would be too slow."

    "What do you want us to do then?" Someone asked, which caused a faint smile to blossom on Senator Keltos'' lips.

    "How about we hire Taros, Lord of the Southern Ice Mountains, to take care of this issue?" He asked, creating a stir in the hall.

    The hall turned eerily silent and the tension intensified in an instant.

    "Are you serious? You want to invite another Lord into the Zentika Empire?"

    "He is only at the 2nd Tier. Aren''t you too scared of his Soultrait? As a member of the council you should know that he is of no danger to us!" Senator Keltos retorted dismissively and further added while looking at the other members, "Furthermore, Taros is not affiliated to the powers of the Ice Mountain region. He fights for himself."

    "But he will ask for a horrendous price. Rumors say that he demanded the Southern Ice Mountains after the other powerhouses requested his help." Another council member interfered. He had heard enough rumors to know that Taros was not someone who willingly followed the orders of other people ¨C even if the council of the Zentika Empire made a special request.

    "He will probably ask for a Lord Rift Entrance ticket, but that should be fine. Almost all 100 Lord Entrance Tickets are in our possession by now. In the worst case, we can send our people to kill him inside the Lord Rift. That way, we can expand the Zentika Empire''s territory into the Southern Ice Mountains as well!"

    The other members of the council thought about Senator Keltos'' n for a long time. It didn''t seem like a big problem to offer Taros a Lord Rift Entrance ticket in exchange for saving Xiltra and its citizens.

    If Taros acted too arrogant in front of the council, they would order their people to silently take care of the Lord of the Southern Ice Mountains inside the Lord Rift. That way, they could remove a potential future threat.

    Using Senator Keltos'' n, they could solve several problems with one solution. Thus, the council agreed, and sent an invite to Taros, the Lord of the Southern Ice Mountains, to visit the Zentika Empire.

    As predicted Taros demanded a Lord Rift Entrance ticket in exchange for saving Xiltra. The council agreed and Taros began his work.

    The border city suffered a lot until Taros arrived, but everything changed the day he appeared in front of Xiltra''s gates. He was weed with open arms, and left the day after; the citizens and surroundingnds cleansed of all Chaos Essence.

    The Border City was cleansed, rescued by Taros. However, Xiltra was never like before. Too many innocent citizens had died.

    The seed of fear instilled in the hearts of the citizens had rooted itself deeply, and the thought of the Untamed Jungle''s Curse striking them again caused a severe trauma.

    The first citizens chose to relocate elsewhere, starting the momentum that pushed more than half of Xiltra''s poption to leave and move further away from the Untamed Jungle.

    As long as they could escape the Untamed Jungle''s Curse they would be fine. That was what most were certain about.

    But was it really possible to escape the Untamed Jungle''s Curse?

 Chapter 233 Diamond

    233 Diamond

    Several days passed since Michael''sst meeting with Kilian Whira, the shop manager of the Bartholomew Shop in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    He had yet to hear any news about the proposal he made, but that didn''t bother him.

    Michael was willing to wait patiently. He was not in a rush, after all.

    Michael had yet to purchase Tier-2 Artifacts and high-quality ores for himself, Tiara, and Masked Saber as well, thinking that he should wait for the perfect opportunity.

    Instead of rushing anything, Michael spent his time training like usual. He practiced the Sacred Rectification body refinement technique to refine his physique. That way, Michael could improve his physique to an even better state than before even though he didn''t make any significant progress. Instead of rapidly progressing and charging ahead, Michael took his time to fix the small ws the Berserker Physique technique left behind.

    As a result, his flexibility and agility improved drastically. Michael even felt like his senses had be sharper. However, he was not sure if the improvement of his senses was rted to Sacred Rectification, or because his progress with regards to Pandemonium''s Requiem improved. The neutral energy absorption technique enhanced his control of origin energy significantly, providing a considerable enhancement all over his body as origin energy circted through him at all times.

    Ceasurium Menta and Memory Lane received the highest boost. Both techniques reached the 2nd Stage, improving his memorization ability, and his brain''s overall capabilities.

    By advancing to the 2nd Stage with Memory Lane, Michael caught up with the other freshmen. In fact, he surpassed the progress of most average students, providing him with enough leeway to study ahead in the Old Language and Ancient Ruins Courses.

    During thest few months, Michael never got sufficient time to study the Temple of the Forbidden. He had never forgotten about the Temple of the Forbidden, but he had also been painfully aware of the fact that it would take a while to find out more about the Old Origin Language, to learn it, and to grow strong enough to face the dangers lurking inside the Temple of the Forgotten.

    The more Michael studied about Ancient Ruins the more evident was that the Temple of the Forgotten was dangerous and that he would die the instant he entered it. His current strength was simply not enough to even think about taking a peek inside the temple.

    ''In a few weeks, the Lord Rift will open.'' Michael was deep in thought while undergoing Silverian Schild''s Limit Breaker workout.

    Despite wearing a heavyweightbat suit weighing more than 700 kilograms he could move around efficiently while circting origin energy through his body.

    Michael was not even using his Soultraits right now. He solely relied on his physical strength and the minor physical enhancement he received from circting origin evenly through his body toplete Silverian''s devilish workout.

    Simultaneously, his mind kept distracting him, bombarding him with thoughts about the Lord Rift and the preparations he had yet toplete.

    ''Tiara should advance to Tier-2 today or tomorrow. Masked Saber will also advance to Tier-2 in a week or two. That''s good, but will that be enough? We''ll only be at the Lowest-stage. Our refinement degree will probably be lower than everyone else.''

    Michael knew that Tiara was quite powerful. Her spatial awareness and wild instincts,bined with her unique Soultraits allowed her to unleash power that was way higher than her rank suggested. Masked Saber was simr in that regard.

    He was actually stronger than the Forest Elves in terms of teamwork and power utilization. That was also why Michael felt morefortable fighting next to Tiara and Masked Saber. The three of them had great teamwork and they understood each other without the need to exchange words.

    In a chaotic ce like a Rift where dangerous surprises could appear at any point, Michael felt that his chance of survival would be much higher with Tiara and Masked Saber by his side.

    Once the Limit Breaker workout was done. Michael took a quick shower and changed into a neat set of clothes. Michael possessed dozes of clothing sets by now ¨C all stored neatly inside his War Rune''s storage space.

    He cleaned them every now and then ¨C mostly when he was deep in thought, trying to find a solution to certain issues or to find out the most efficient ways to execute some ns ¨C, and it was quite enjoyable.

    After he put on his clean clothes, Michael and the other members of the Limit Breaker Course left for the cafeteria together. They ordered the Jumbo tes and ate together.

    While having lunch, Michael received a notification. He opened the holographic screen, just to halt in his tracks when he saw the message that popped up in sta messenger.

    [Kilian Whira(shop manager): Sir Fang, I have great news for you. I am pleased to tell you that the executive director of the Bartholomew Corporation is willing to negotiate with you. Are you free this afternoon at 3 pm?]

    ''Was about time that you guys made a move,'' Michael thought, taking in a big breath to inhale the delicious aroma of the remaining dishes on the jumbo te before he put away the te to rush out of the cafeteria.

    It was already 2 pm, and Michael had yet to validate a few nasty pieces of information that he found while researching a few organizations.

    He spent the next hour searching for Alice Zenovia. Michael found her after half an hour, but she had only a few minutes of spare time to discuss his tactic with him.

    At first, Alice was a little stupefied when she heard that Michael had the means to make an executive director of the Bartholomew Corporation pay him attention. That was not easy, especially not for someone, who didn''t know how to utilize his connections well.

    She listened to Michael''s idea and provided a few pieces of advice. When she found out about Michael''s agriculture-type blueprints, Alice felt like convincing Michael to sell the blueprints to the Zenovia family. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Zenovia family were Lords in cold regions ¨C most of them having frozen ground at that.

    Michael would make more losses dealing with the Zenovia family than utilizing the vast range of connections the Bartholomew Corporation attained over the course of several centuries.

    "This kid is really different. Good thing that I invited him to the Saphirke Military Academy. If not, mankind might have missed out on a little treasure," Alice mused quietly after Michael left.

    She was pleased with herself for finding a diamond in the rough but the smilested only for a few seconds before her expression changed again. The smile disappeared and she cleared her throat turning around. Alice Zenovia went back to her ss, her usually cold expression back on her face, hiding her true emotions.

    Meanwhile, it was 3:00 pm when a holographic projection appeared above the table in front of Michael. He arrived in the Bartholomew Shop in the nick of time and was led to a soundproof room where the negotiations would be held.

    The projection of a middle-aged woman with long ck hair and dark eyes manifested. She had an intense gaze and stared straight at Michael. Michael felt her gaze moving from his head to toe to analyze him thoroughly.

    "My name is Helen Ascaln, and I was given the responsibility to deal with you. Let''s not beat around the bush and finish business quickly," Helen Ascaln said straightforwardly, her gaze never leaving Michael.

    Michael didn''t avoid eye contact either. He stared back at her, his gaze filled with determination.

    "No matter how the negotiations end, your membership card will be upgraded to the Diamond level. You''ll be given higher discounts and you can ess the second highest level of ourwork system. Furthermore, as a Diamond-level member, you will have ess to the contact details of all members of the Bartholomew Corporation. You might not think that thest point is necessary, but you will quickly realize that the contact details are quite useful.

    In addition to all of this, Diamond-level members receive a heads-up for special promotion events and your orders are prioritized. Our staff will ensure your satisfaction in any facility affiliated with the Bartholomew Corporation!" Helen Ascaln exined, studying Michael''s reaction to the generous gift he was given.

    However, Michael''s expression didn''t budge at all. He was unfazed and responded with a nonchnt nod.

    "You don''t seem surprised, Mr. Fang. Seems like you have high expectations about today''s deal," Helen Ascaln remarked with a professional smile stered on her face.

    "Of course not. The membership card upgrade is something you are gifting me to make me feel guilty. You want my conscience to be guilt-ridden at the thought of exploiting the Bartholomew Corporation for a higher profit share of the Agriculture Project," Michael pointed out calmly before he added with a devilish smile on his face.

    "Unfortunately, I''m not that foolish. I know the limit of the Bartholomew Corporation, and how valuable the contribution of my agriculture-type blueprints is. So let''s put aside this nonsense and start negotiating!"

    [A/N: It''s me again, the author. How is everyone doing? Is life pleasant? I genuinely hope that everyone is doing fine here. If you have a bad day, I wish you some luck!

    How is the novel? Ready for a little bit of peace? Or...are you prepared for another huge battle?

    If you want to support me a little bit, give me a nice review and your powerstones.]

 Chapter 234 High Treehouse

    "18% is the lowest I''ll go. I know that the Bartholomew Corporation can pay that much. It''s better than seeing our cooperation fail, right?" Michael said, his fingers tapping lightly on the table''s smooth surface.

    Since the start of the negotiation, more than ten minutes passed, and they entered a stalemate. Michael started his negotiation with a 25% profit share, thinking that it was necessary to exaggerate his demand a little. However, he didn''t expect Helen Ascaln to start with 2.5%. Her offer was way too low, given that Michael was willing to harvest thousands of agriculture-type blueprints every month.

    He could procure tens of times the amount the Bartholomew Corporation could procure in a month. Did the Bartholomew Corporation take him for a fool?

    Fortunately, Michael wasn''t defeated that easily. He knew that he had the advantage and that he could make a choice. The Bartholomew Corporation needed him, not the other way around.

    His final provocation broke Helen Ascaln''s confidence. Michael mentioned the Olympus ¨C a big organization that had been shing with the Bartholomew Corporation for decades. So far, none of them could gain a big advantage over the other, leading to intensepetition between the two organizations.

    Their most-intensepetition was in the Barren Lands with both organizations attempting to carry out reforestation on the Barren Land to turn it fertile again.

    Losing a treasure trove like Michael meant that the Bartholomew Corporation would lose theirpetitive edge, and the opportunity to gain an advantage against the Olympus. Michael could provide them with more agriculture-type blueprints than they could procure in a year or two.

    By using him, they would not only emerge victorious against the Olympus, but they would be able to widen the gap.

    "You¡­15%...I can agree to give you 15% of the Agriculture Project''s profit share but--¡­." Helen agreed reluctantly while having a hard time acknowledging that her mission to tame him had failed miserably.

    She was certain that her negotiation skills were great and that she could convince Michael to ept a profit share of no more than 10%. However, that wasn''t even close to the final result.

    "18%." Michael intercepted Helen. He got up from his chair, his hands resting on the table in front of him, "Or I''m out. I can pay the termination fee of the exclusive contract immediately as well."

    Michael had done enough research on the market, the Barren Lands, and mankind''s organizations to know how valuable his blueprints were, and what he could demand by selling the agriculture-type blueprints in bulk, and exclusively to one organization.

    "Sit down¡­please. The Bartholomew Corporation can agree to your demand. 18% it is¡­ I''ll send you a draft of the contract soon. Read through it and ask Kilian if you have any questions. If there is nothing wrong, we can proceed with the contract signing," Helen Asn said, evidently trying hard to keep herposure.

    Losing an important negotiation against a young Lord, who had not even be an Awakened a full year ago, and wasn''t from a big merchant family, felt like a p in the face.

    Michael instinctively knew how to put pressure, what to mention at particr points during the negotiation, and when to push ahead. It was infuriating, but also something that deserved her utmost respect.

    Most Lords focused on their military power to increase their territory''s strength. They were less interested in economics, brain games and the importance of negotiation skills.

    That seemed different in Michael''s case. The young Lord was not even 19 years old, but he had already reached the 2nd Tier. Michael was also a freshman in the Saphirke Military Academy. He was far from weak and knew a thing or two about advanced negotiation.

    Michael felt that his back was drenched in sweat when he heard Helen''s words. He wanted to sigh in relief but knew that it would be a grave mistake to show a sign of weakness.

    No matter how he looked at the situation, Michael had scored a big deal today. The only work he had to do was providing agriculture-type blueprints, and he would obtain 18% of the Agriculture Project''s profit as long as he provided agriculture-type blueprints, and a base fee equivalent to the price of a rare blueprint for every agriculture-type blueprint he sold.

    That was more than enough for him, given that most of the hard work would be done by others. Furthermore, Michael didn''t want to exploit the Bartholomew Corporation any further, knowing that they would start loathing him if he pressed harder on an even higher profit share. He knew that he was already in a very good position, and that the Bartholomew Corporation could ept his demands without any hard feelings.

    They would still gain a lot from the deal, and would be willing to retain him as a customer and business partner. If he had asked for a higher profit share that might have been a little different. They might even consider him a greedy bastard and cklist him from their facilities if he went overboard.

    Given the 18% profit share, Michael would only be considered a sly fox, maybe even a feisty businessman.

    That was not too bad.

    Michael left Bartholomew Shop after his business was done. He returned to his room and entered the Origin Expanse, where he encountered Lilica.

    "We''ll focus on procuring more agriculture-type blueprints for the time being. Is the demand for low-level armaments still as high as before?" Michael asked.

    Lilica gave him a nod and smiled wryly, "All Forest Elven Lords are going crazy over your low-level armaments. Their durability is exceptional, and the energy conductivity is simply phenomenal. We were pretty lucky with the ore deposits in the lizard cave. The deposits are huge and we can forge a wide variety of armaments that can be wielded efficiently by people up to the Peak of Tier-1. The cksmith''s proficiency increases rapidly as well, resulting in a faster armament production. We''re currently considering introducing more armaments to the Forest Elven Lords since they loved the changes in thest batch."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Lilica''s eyes gleamed in excitement as she reported the situation to Michael. She was happy that she could still help her race by providing them with low-level armaments. The support she provided was even better than it had been when they were still an ordinary adventurer team in Xiltra.

    Right now, she could actually do something to support her people.

    In exchange, Michael was given exceptional benefits as well. Seeing Michael benefit just as much as her people from the deal was great. It was a perfect rtionship, a symbiosis any organism dreamed about.

    "Oh? That sounds great. In that case, We should continue to focus on the Forging Hall''s expansion for a while ¨C at least until I return from the Lord Rift" Michael said, encouraging Lilica to work harder.

    He had yet to give detailed orders about the territory''s development for the next few weeks. For now, he could give daily orders to tweak their initial n to make sure that everyone worked on the projects that provided most benefits. However, the daily orders would be rendered useless if he was absent. That was also why Michael struggled a little bit trying to provide bothfort for his subjects and obtaining exceptional results.

    ''I should finish the deal with the Bartholomew Corporation first, and deal with the rest after that.''

    With that in mind, Michael spent a few more minutes talking to Lilica, asking a few questions before he excused himself. He walked over to warehouse nr. 3 where all blueprints were stored safely. Releasing his origin energy, Michael engulfed a few crates to pull them inside the War Rune''s storage space.

    Once that waspleted, Michael spent an hour walking through his territory. He talked a lot to his subjects and analyzed the development of his territory. Doubts about the territory''s infrastructure surfaced in his mind, and questions about the appearance and sturdiness of certain treehouseplexes.

    Instead of leaving his doubts and questions open, Michael chose to meet up with the architects and workers responsible for the constructions. The architects and workers were a little worried when they were called to meet their Lord, but Michael''s warm expression and calming presence was enough to dispel their worries the moment they entered the meeting hall inside the wooden manor.

    "There is no need to worry. I just want to solve a few doubts and find out why you altered the treehouseplex blueprints. I might not be a master in this field, but it looks like the treehouseplexes have been connected much more efficiently than before. They''re more durable with the same amount of resources, if not less," Michael pointed out after his subjects sat down.

    They looked at him, only to see a spark of interest in Michael''s eyes.

    Michael didn''t care that they had altered the construction blueprint of the treehouseplexes. No, he was happy about that!

    The modified blueprint was much better in every possible aspect. It created more space with less resources, and maintained the same exceptional sturdiness as before.

    "After reading the manuals and instruction notes you purchased, esteemed Lord, I was filled with doubts. At first, I dispelled the doubts, but after weeks of working in the Untamed Jungle, I couldn''t help myself anymore. I altered one of the duplicated blueprints and began to experiment a little bit with them ¨C in my freetime, of course. Atst, we finally dared to construct one of the High Treehouses..." The architect exined slowly, trying to contain the excitement that rushed through him when the memories and result of his hard work resurfaced.

    He was proud of his work, and that could be seen clearly.

    "You did a good job. How about we inspect the High Treehouse a little bit before we start mass-producing it? Would you be fine with that?" Michael asked without much thought.

    But the Architect jumped up, his eyes glowing.

    "It has only been one day since wepleted the High Treehouses, but I''m more than willing to share my research with everyone as long as it helps the territory! You pay lots of attention to details, my Lord!" The Architect eximed.

    Michael just smiled. It was his job to pay attention to the territory. If he didn''t pay attention to his territory, who would?

    He spent the next twenty minutes gathering the architects and workers to share the news of the High Treehouse. He rewarded the architect for his invention and showed everyone that they were not only allowed to conduct their own research in his territory but also that they would be rewarded for great inventions.

    ''I hope we''ll see some nice inventions soon enough,'' Michael mused afterpleting the inspection and he left the Origin Expanse.

    He had a contract to sign, and wanted to get rid of 2500 Agriculture-type blueprints.

    Furthermore, a bunch of Tier-2 Artifacts were waiting for him to be purchased.

    It was about time to spend a fortune on himself!

 Chapter 235 Upgrade

    After Michael read through the documents several times, he signed them with a satisfied smile on his face.

    A few uses had been rather confusing at first, but they made sense after a while.

    ''So I have a minimum quota to fulfill for the next two years to maintain a profit share of 18%. Well, that''s fine with me. The quota is not that high, either way.''

    Michael didn''t have any issues with the contract. Providing 24,000 Agriculture-type blueprint within the next two years was not too high. Michael was certain that he would spend less than a year to fulfill the quota.

    He essed the storage space of his War Rune and retrieved five crates. Each of the crates stored roughly 500 Agriculture-type blueprints.

    "There are 2500 blueprints in the crates. Feel free to use them!" Michael said lightly while watching Kilian Whira open the crates one by one.

    Kilian''s expression changed with every crate he opened, and he ended up staring nkly at Michael once all crates had been opened.

    "I¡­will transfer the base fee immediately¡­ Feel free to cross-check the transaction," Kilian said, a little stupefied.

    The base fee alone was already enough to turn Michael into a filthy rich business tycoon. It was more than enough money to make big purchase orders. Adding the discount and priority use of the Diamond Bartholomew Membership, Michael began to source the shopping catalog with great interest.

    ''Since I extracted big masses of impurities during the second natural cleansing, I should be able to bind five Tier-2 Artifacts. My refinement degree is also pretty high, so the toll exerted on my body won''t be too much¡­right?'' Michael wondered, trying to gauge how many Artifacts he could bind.

    ''In that case, shouldn''t I focus on extracting the impurities within Tiara when she advances to Tier-2?''

    Michael had already attempted to use Extraction on his Summons after they advanced to Tier-1. Unfortunately, the extraction of impurities within Summons was rather difficult. It was quite painful for the Summons, and the amount of impurities he could extract didn''t improve the Summons''bat prowess significantly.

    This kind of problem didn''t exist when extracting impurities from Awakened. By essing their War Runes with Extraction, Michael could extract more impurities, and ensure that the Awakened wouldn''t feel much pain.

    Michael was deep in thought as he researched the online catalog of the Bartholomew Shop. Given his diamond-level ess, Michael was able to see the Artifacts that would have been hidden with the gold-level membership he had until a while ago.

    "How about we do this?" Michael mumbled as he began to add one Artifact to the shopping cart after another. His fingers moved rapidly, adding dozens of Artifacts in the cart.

    An hourter, Michael had more than 200 Artifacts and other goods in the shopping cart.

    "Now, let''s startparing, and removing."

    It was only an hourter that less than a dozen Artifacts were left in the shopping cart, creating two sets that were perfect for Michael and Tiara to use.

    Michael found another bow designed by the same creators who had manufactured the Siltang Bow. The bow was called Zark, and it had the same functions as the Siltang Bow. However, since Zark was a Tier-2 Artifact it could store much more energy and create a bigger variety of energy-condensed arrows.

    The creators worked together multiple times to create a series of Artifacts ranging from Tier-1 to Tier-3. The Siltang Bow and the Zark were both part of the set, and Michael was more than willing to reach deep into his pockets to buy Zark.

    Other than Zark, Michael got hold of a natural 3-Star Tier-2 Artifact called Wyverntooth Spear. ording to the weapon''s description, the Wyverntooth Spear had dropped after defeating a Wyvern, and it increased the strength and agility of its user.

    The wyvern tooth at the top of the spear was ckish in color and had been ground to look simr to Seron Voulge''s lengthy, razor-sharp de.

    Since Michael was usually fully upied with the utility of multiple Soultraits, he didn''t want to own too manyplicated Artifacts. Thus, he reced the Onyx Dragon Armor Set with the 3-Star Tier-2 Typhern Leather Armor Set. It was an armor set consisting of a chestte, leg guards, and gloves. Just like the Onyx Dragon Armor Set, the Typhern Leather Armor Set had been engraved with protection enchantments.

    All in all, Michael didn''t change much about his equipment. He merely reced his outdated Tier-1 equipment with simr 3-Star Tier-2 Artifacts.

    Michael purchased a simr Armor Set for Tiara, in addition to a 3-Star Tier-2 Shield Artifact. If Tiara was able to bind some more Artifacts, Michael would return to the shop and get her some more. On the other hand, Masked Saber was given a wide variety of high-quality ores to choose from to make sure that the Weaponsmith had the means to create a perfect weapon for Masked Saber

    He also purchased a bunch of high-quality potions since he couldn''t brew them in his territory just yet. They had been strengthened with some Soultraits, amplifying their effects drastically.

    Michael found an upgraded version of the Orb of Hostility as well. It had a range of 30 kilometers, which was perfect for his territory. The energy consumption was quite high but Michael made sure to purchase enough monster cores to match the energy consumption rather easily.

    A wide variety of lethal traps entered his shopping cart as well. Michael and his people would install traps near the border to the Zentika Empire''s ins. That was one of his means to make sure that his people won''t have to fear attacks from the Zentika Empire while he was away.

    Other than that, Michael made sure that his cksmiths, alchemists, and enchanters provided his army with everything they needed ¨C ranging from weapons, and armor, to potions and low-level enchantments on some armaments.

    Providing the best equipment for his army wasn''t easy. It required a considerable amount of funds and time.

    As such, three days passed by before Michael was finally done preparing everything to depart. He helped Tiara extract as many impurities as possible after she advanced to Tier-2. Afterward, he gave her the Artifacts as promised earlier.

    She bound them to her War Rune and grew stronger. The external enhancement provided by the Artifacts increased her physical strength, agility, and perception by more than 30%.

    Michael was no different. His Artifacts increased his strength drastically.

    "Can you exchange your Desert Combat Suit with other armaments such as leather armor or light metal armor?" Michael asked Masked Saber at one point.

    He was not sure why but Masked Saber never revealed his face. His mask seemed to be attached to his face. It was quite weird.

    "The Will doesn''t allow me to reveal myself to others. This includes my face and even my skin. The Will of the Origin Expanse will eliminate me if I reveal my face or skin to anyone," Masked Saber revealed for the first time.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He remained calm and added, "But I can change my clothes as long as my entire body remains shrouded."

    ''The Will of the Origin Expanse put restriction on his existence as a Summon? Is that why he is only considered a 4-Star Summon?''

    The Will of the Origin Expanse had always been quite weird. It was nothing new.

    However, it was quite interesting to find out that Masked Saber had such a unique condition put on his existence. He had to be a really powerful existence to have such an annoying condition put on him!

    Michael forwarded the details of Masked Saber''s new armor to the Weaponsmith and the other cksmiths. He also went to the tailors to make sure that they would create full-body clothing using special sturdy threads and leather as coreponents.

    Using the best materials to ensure that nobody could destroy Masked Saber''s clothes was the easiest way to protect him. After all, it would be the worst to see Masked Saber die if his clothes were to rip mid-battle and weapons cut through him.

    Atst, Michael prepared to leave his territory once again. It felt like an eternity since he had gone out hunting, but he finally did it again with Masked Saber and Tiara.

    They began to train and hunt together to improve their teamwork even further. Other than that, they almost did every other activity together to attain a better understanding of the other parties, ensuring that they would know their personality traits and everything else that could influence the course of the battle.

    This yed out pretty well. Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber were already verypatible with each other. Their spatial awareness, perception, andbat experience were strong enough to observe the battlefield with great detail.

    Owing to their great teamwork, the group of three soon encountered a hideout of Silvermoon Panthers. Silvermoon Panthers were agile enough to outrun Low Tier-2 Monsters and in possession of razor-sharp ws that cut deep into the flesh of Lowest Tier-2 Monsters with highly endurable hide.

    Their group was quite big, consisting of eight members at Tier-2, and a dozen Peak Tier-1 Silvermoon Panthers.

    The Silvermoon Panthers surrounded Masked Saber and Tiara the moment they found them. They were certain of their victory as they moved around the two beings who had invaded their territory.

    What they didn''t expect was to hear a loud whistling sound cutting through the air. Several energy-condensed arrows whooshed through the air, slicing into the necks of the Peak Tier-1 Silvermoon Panthers.

    The Tier-2 Silvermoon Panthers reacted fast enough, evading the arrows charging at them with high speed by a hair''s breadth.

    Michael discovered the group of Silvermoon Panthers long before they surrounded Masked Saber and Tiara. He warned them and climbed up a tree before retrieving Zark and the Typhern Leather Armor Set. It was the first time he used Zark, but he was already familiar with its enchantments given that the energy storage and energy arrow enchantments were the same as that of the Siltang Bow''s.

    Michael killed six Silvermoon Panthers in a few seconds. The Tier-2 Silvermoon Panthers had discovered his location, but Tiara and Masked Saber already jumped into action, restricting the movements of the Silvermoon Panthers.

    Michael used Enhancement on the Spirit Whip Symbol before manifesting three Spirit Whips simultaneously. Controlling them at once, Michaelshed out at the closest Silvermoon Panthers. Taken by surprise, they suffered a heavy mental blow. One of the Silvermoon Panthers struck by the Spirit Whip was only at the Peak of Tier-1. It suffered too much damage from the mental attack, causing it to copse on the spot.

    The other two Silvermoon Panthers didn''t copse on the spot, but they suffered a heavy blow from Tiara''s silver spear. It pierced one of the Panthers'' necks while the other one was killed by Masked Saber''s silver energy de that cut through the air like a boomerang.

    The silver energy exploded uponing in contact with the target, turning a severe attack into a mortal blow that killed the Tier-2 Silvermoon Panther at once.

    Michael continued to use Enhancement and Spirit Whip inbination, but he continued to use Zark to condense more arrows which he aimed precisely at the Panthers'' vital spots.

    After weeks of training with Annabelle, Michael''s focus had improved, his aim was more precise, and he could fight more flexibly using his Soultraits and bow together. His progress with the mind-refining technique Caesurium Menta helped him a lot to multi-task as well.

    That was also why he could strike the Silvermoon Panthers with enhanced Spirit Whips before unleashing a barrage of energy arrows onto them.

    The damage he caused bybining his arrow barrage with two of his Soultraits was already enormous. He didn''t even have to use Eagle Eye actively at this point. Eagle Eyes'' passive enhancement was already strong enough to enhance his eyesight to an extreme degree.

    While Michael fought at mid-range using enhanced Spirit Whips and his bow, Masked Saber passed through the rows of Panthers like a typhoon. His moves were swift and nimble, evading the panthers'' razor-sharp ws before inflicting severe damage with his silver energy-covered de.

    A small cut was all he had to inflict to injure his opponents and release a burst of silver energy to increase the wound''s severity.

    Tiara''s fighting style was simr, yet not. She was nimble and swift, but her attacks were fierce and lethal, changing her direction and movement at any given point without losing the slightest bit of momentum.

    Michael had yet to find out more information about her Soultrait, but it felt like she could change the force inside her body at any given point. It was a unique Soultrait that was extremely difficult to control. Tiara''s Soultrait required lots of effort and research to be as strong as it was right now.

    Michael knew that he would never grow tired of watching her fight. It was simply too intriguing, especially since her fighting style seemed predictable, yet unpredictable at the same time.

    It was awe-inspiring and motivated Michael to continue tweaking his fighting style as well. That way, nobody would be able to study his former battles and create a strategy to defeat him easily, after all.

    Less than ten minutes after the battle began, Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber emerged victorious.

    They won without sustaining any injuries, yet none of them was satisfied with the result of the battle.

    Their individualbat prowess was great, and the strategy they utilized was not bad either, however, the coordination of their team hadn''t been as exceptional as they expected.

    "I think we have a lot to fix," Michael mumbled silently to himself, reying the battle in slow-motion in his mind, and both Tiara and Masked Saber agreed unanimously.

    "I think so too."

 Chapter 236 Rematch I

    Adjusting their fighting style and creatingbat strategies that depended on perfect sync between Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber was certainly not easy. It required time and effort.

    The trio was not even aware how quickly time flew by as the days psed in the blink of an eye.

    Michael used Extraction more often than usual these days. He was growing more intrigued in finding out the several uses of the Extraction Soultrait, and researched Extraction whenever he had time.

    Since Extraction was a 6-Star Soultrait right now, Michael couldn''t even fathom its limit. He didn''t have enough energy to unleash Extraction''s full power.

    In thest few days, Michael used Extraction on monster corpses and to pinpoint a few more ore deposits in the lizard cave. His harvest was exceptional. Not only was it possible to summon dozens of Summons by extracting the loot of a few Tier-2 Monsters, but finding out the ore deposits hidden underground turned out to be of great value. They found a handful of rare ores and some big deposits which would sustain the territory''s consumption for several years.

    Michael grew increasingly more curious about the limits of Extraction. He wondered if there were things he couldn''t extract, or if it was just not possible to extract certain objects and things because he was too weak. Maybe, he just didn''t meet the requirements to extract certain objects either.

    There were numerous factors Michael had to take into consideration upon using Extraction, and he wanted to find out what those factors were ¨C and how to work his way around them.

    After fighting hundreds of fierce monsters in thest few days, Michael grew more ustomed to the changes his body underwent after advancing to Tier-2 and the external enhancement he''d obtained from several Tier-2 Artifacts.

    He could tell that his strength had increased a lot and that he could still improve a little bit more. Michael was just not sure how much he could improve at his level ¨C and that was something he wanted to find out.

    He had grown a lot stronger since the warfare with the Jungle Expedition, but Michael was not sure just how much.

    Michael had yet to go all out against someone he fought before to find out how much stronger he''d grown.

    It was about time to find and challenge Lincoln!

    A few days before the Lord Rift opened, Michael approached Lincoln Piedra in the morning. Every student of the Limit Breaker course was in the training hall, talking to their friends, or stretching for the training hell that awaited them.

    Michael halted in front of Lincoln, his eyes exuding nothing but determination and seriousness.

    "I want to fight you." He challenged Lincoln, who raised an eyebrow.

    "You want to fight me? I guess you don''t mean our standard spars with that." He responded calmly as if he had been expecting Michael to challenge him eventually.

    "How about right now? Are you ready to go all out?" Lincoln added with a mischievous smile blossoming on his lips.

    After spending several months in the Saphirke Military Academy, Lincoln was certain that Michael was one of the least predictable students.

    Lincoln didn''t spend too much time with seniors, or other students, but he often visited the ranking arena to watch the ranked freshmen fight. Yet, despite watching the ranked matches, Lincoln clearly felt more excited whenever he sparred with Michael.

    Their first fight during the second realbat assessment gave Lincoln a good taste of Michael''s willpower and battle spirit. But that was not everything after months of hard work. Lincoln witnessed Michael''s rapid growth and he was curious how strong he had be.

    "I''m always ready to fight!" Michael responded.

    They used the empty space in the training hall to create a small arena. Michael stood at one end while Lincoln moved to the other side.

    "Show me what you got!" Lincoln demanded, adjusting his stance smoothly.

    Zeke appeared at the outer ring of the small arena to act as the referee of the battle. He was not sure what both Michael and Lincoln were so excited about all of a sudden, but Zeke was also curious to find out how strong both Lincoln and Michael had grown.

    Zeke raised one of his arms high into the air. He moved his hands down in a rapid motion while shouting aloud, "Start!"

    The start of the battle changed everything. Michael used Enhancement thrice on Eagle Eyes, which was also actively utilized. Michael had just fully utilized Enhancement and Eagle Eyes when a human-sized stone fist whizzed through the arena.

    It was faster than a cannonball and clearly fierce enough to pierce a huge hole in the endurable bodies of Tier-2 Monsters. Michael dived to the side the moment the stone fist had been conjured.

    He rolled on the ground, pushed his feet off the ground to get up swiftly and manifest Zark and the Typhern Leather Armor Set. Michael used Enhancement on the Typhern Leather Armor Set once while Zark was enhanced four times in session.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Next, Michael conjured the strongest energy arrows, pulled the bowstring back, and released the arrow. The energy arrow cut through the air with a terrific velocity the moment it had been released. Zeke frowned as he was barely able to follow the energy-condensed arrow''s trajectory, but he didn''t think much about it.

    Meanwhile, Lincoln had already manifested a second stone fist. He released it the moment Michael''s arrow came at him.

    But instead of crushing the energy-condensed arrow, Lincoln''s stone fist burst apart upon colliding with the energy arrow. The energy arrow was extremely resilient and it had been released with the force of a fouryer Enhancement Tier-2 bow. Underestimating the arrow''s lethality and force was a grave mistake.

    Fortunately, Lincoln didn''t make this mistake. The first giant fist was merely a means to test the power of Michael''s energy arrow and to slow down the arrow. Lincoln had already conjured a second stone fist when the first burst apart. He released it instantaneously, forcefully halting the arrow''s advance.

    Michael, on the other hand, frowned deeply. He could tell that his fouryer Enhancement drained too much energypared to the manifestation of two stone fists.

    ''I will lose a battle of attrition like this.''

    Michael''s conclusion was simple. Lincoln had a 6-Star Soultrait rted to the Earth, and his Inheritance technique allowed his Mind, Soul, and Body to grow morepatible with his Soultrait. Growing morepatible meant that the strain on the mind wasn''t high upon unleashing his Soultrait and that Lincoln''s origin energy would be altered subtly to increase the potency of Earth-attributed creations.

    Michael learned a lot about Inheritance techniques thanks to Alice, and their advantages could be summarized quite simply; Inheritance techniques increased the Soul Power of certain abilities, they decreased the Soultrait''s energy consumption, they allowed the practitioner to grow more ustomed to using the Soultrait and research the Soultrait''s in-depth easily, and they increased thepatibility between Awakened and Soultrait.

    That was something Michael witnessed clearly in front of him right now. Lincoln was having a much easier time using his Soultraitpared to a few months ago. His strength had increased considerably as well. Lincoln was already at the Low-stage of Tier-2.

    Lincoln''s degree of refinement was quite far in the Low-stage, providing a drastic advantage against Michael.

    The War Rune''s refinement degree didn''t seem too important until the 2nd Tier. It was not difficult to be physically stronger than others with a higher refinement degree as long as one possessed powerful Artifacts and high mastery in body refinement techniques. However, it wasn''t that simple after advancing to Tier-2.

    After advancing to the 2nd Tier it was increasingly more difficult to progress with the refinement of the body. At the same time, the refinement degree of the War Rune provided a higher enhancement than most Artifacts. Only rare natural 3-Star Artifacts could rival the increase in strength provided by a higher refinement degree of the War Rune.

    Unfortunately, Michael had only one natural Artifact. Even then, it was highly likely for Lincoln to have bound better Artifacts to his War Rune.

    ''A close-distance battle?'' Michael asked himself one moment, just to burst toward Lincoln the next instant.

    Zark was reced by the Wyverntooth Spear, which he coated in threeyers of Enhancement. Lincoln conjured more stone fists, which he threw at Michael. Michael evaded one of the stone fists before shing at the second stone fist.

    Threeyers of Enhancement were enough to turn the Wyverntooth Saber into a weaponparable to a peak-quality natural 4-Star Artifact. It consumed a considerable amount of energy, but Michael could cut through the iing stone fist quite easily.

    The stone fist crumbled and burst apart. However, something was wrong.

    Michael''s expression distorted as the stone fist burst apart. He could sense energy fluctuations in the stone fist a millisecond before it burst apart.

    Thanks to his high perception, and the ability to see the faintest details in his surroundings, Michael could react in time. The stone fist burst apart like a shotgun bullet, releasing smaller pebbles that shot through the vicinity with horrifyingly high velocity.

    Unable to evade all of them, Michael twisted his body to avoid the most dangerous pebbles, while allowing the rest to impact upon himself. A dozen pebbles impacted hard, causing little damage to his shoulders and right thigh.

    Michael grimaced through the pain. He regained his bnce and position by moving around his own axis with the momentum he''d used to twist his body. Afterward, he shot closer to Lincoln once again.

    Two Spirit Whips, enhanced through Enhancement appeared above Lincoln''s head the next moment. Theyshed out at Lincoln, causing considerable mental damage.

    However since Michael had already fought against Lincoln using Spirit Whip, there was no way that Lincoln was not prepared to face Michael''s mental attack.

    But what Lincoln wasn''t prepared for was the strength Michael''s mental attack had gained in thest few months.

    Lincoln''s vision turned hazy and his mind felt exceedingly heavy as two mental attacks impacted one after another on his mind.

    ''What the¡­''

 Chapter 237 Rematch II

    Thest time Michael and Lincoln fought with their Soultraits against each other, it was during the second Real Combat assessment.

    At that time, Enhancement was still Lesser Enhancement. Both Lesser Enhancement and Spirit Whip had been 2-Star Soultraits, and couldn''t bepared to their current power, at all.

    But the upgrade from a 2-Star Soultrait to a 4-Star Soultrait was not everything that had changed. The poption in Michael''s territory had expanded rapidly, and the firmness of every subject''s Link of Loyalty was much higher than before. Both of these factors provided a considerable increase in his Soultraits'' Soul Power, further increasing their potency and might.

    Lincoln expected Michael''s mental attack to have grown stronger, but he couldn''t fathom that Michael was capable of creating two mental attacks several times stronger than before.

    He had grossly miscalcted Michael''s increase of strength and was struggling to control the stone fists around him.

    Lincoln failed to maintain using his Soultrait after the mental attacks struck him heavily.

    Michael knew that his attack worked the moment the enhanced Spirit Whips struck Lincoln. Without wasting time, he elerated and appeared in front of Lincoln.

    After a moment of consideration, Michael manifested a third Spirit Whip. Then, he began to attack Lincoln with all three enhanced Spirit Whips, while simultaneously striking out with the Wyverntooth Spear.

    Lincoln groaned in pain and difort when the Spirit Whips struck him. However, he still sensed the iing danger of the Wyverntooth Spear. Lincoln moved to the side swiftly to evade the de piercing deep inside his flesh.

    But Michael''s Eagle Eyes had already detected Lincoln''s movement trajectory. His leg shot forward, tripping Lincoln as he moved aside.

    The Wyverntooth Spear spun around Michael''s body, gaining enough momentum to deliver a feisty blow to Lincoln as he crashed onto the ground.

    Michael sensed victory approaching him, but he didn''t lower his guard. He knew that he wouldn''t actually win until the battle ended.

    Furthermore, Lincoln was not an easy opponent to defeat. He was the descendant of High Nobles, in possession of a 6-Star Soultrait, more than a decade of training, an Inheritance technique with his mastery, and enough resources to grow into a powerhouse.

    Seeing the battle spirit in Lincoln''s eyes, Michael instinctively knew that the battle was not yet over even though Lincoln was on the ground and the Wyverntooth Spear was only a few centimeters away from cutting deep inside Lincoln''s chest.

    With a devious smile, Lincoln released a ginormous amount of energy all of a sudden, and his body expanded in all directions. His skin turned brownish-gray, and the de that was supposed to pierce easily through his skin and cut deep into his flesh was forcefully halted.

    The tip of the Wyverntooth Spear pierced Lincoln''s skin, but the de was stopped before it could prate deeper.

    The ground beneath Michael''s feet began to tremor, causing Michael to react instinctively. He retracted the Wyverntooth Spear into the War Rune and retreated several steps.

    A quarter of a second after Michael retreated, earthen pirs shot out of the ground. They would have flung Michael through the air with tremendous force if he hadn''t stepped back in time.

    ''Is he losing control likest time? No, it''s different. He can still control himself.'' Michael concluded while staring straight ahead.

    Meanwhile, Lincoln had gotten up from the ground, which he stomped on heavily.

    He didn''t grow much in height, but he was much heavier than before, and his clothes were torn in dozens of spots after his body expanded in width and breadth.

    ''Did he turn his flesh and skin into stone?'' Michael wondered.

    Lincoln''s movements were a bit slower than before, but his presence was much more intense. It was almost as if Lincoln became a different person.

    ''How to break through his defense? Extraction?''

    While Michael was trying to grasp how much stronger Lincoln had grown, Lincoln retrieved a set ofrge gloves from his War Rune.

    He calmly put on the gloves that adjusted in size to fit his hand before they began to glow a vivid shade of brown.

    The next instant, several stone fists manifested around.

    "Lincoln¡­are you serious right now? Didn''t you want to keep the Stone Giant Gloves a secret until the Battle Exchange?" Zeke mumbled, his face full of confusion.

    Was Michael really strong enough to force Lincoln to retrieve the Stone Giant Gloves? That shouldn''t be the case.

    The Stone Giant Gloves were an Epic Tier-2 Artifact set that had been crafted by an Archmaster Enchanter and a Saint cksmith. The gloves had been customized to be on par with a Legendary tier-2 Artifact upon triggering the enchantments with the use of Lincoln''s Stone Giant Soultrait.

    Lincoln had been forced into unleashing the second level of Soul Giant''s transformation. The first level was Stone Skin, which transformed Lincoln''s skin into a highly endurable hardstone. Meanwhile, the second level was called Expansion, which expanded Lincoln''s body in width and breadth by growing Lincoln''s Stone-skin.

    The grown skin would slowly turn into stone and fall of Lincoln''s body. However, until that happened, Lincoln''s entire body would be covered in a secondyer of highly endurable skin.

    Taking the Stone Giant gloves into ount, it was quite obvious that Lincoln didn''t think about holding back anymore.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He considered Michael an opponent, whom he had to fight with all his might.

    More than ten stone fists manifested and came flying at Michael at once. Michael''s Eagle Eyes were fully unleashed, allowing him to predict their movement paths and evade five stone fists at once. The remaining five stone fists were dealt with by the Wyverntooth Spear. Michael moved rapidly, manifesting the Wyverntooth Spear and coating it with fouryers of Enhancement at once.

    Even though the energy consumption of a fouryer Enhancement was quite high, Michael could easily destroy the five stone fists before he terminated the use of the fouryer Enhancement. At the same time, he used three enhanced Spirit Whips tosh Lincoln, hoping to distract him.

    However, the efficiency of the enhanced Spirit Whips decreased rapidly. Compared to before, the Spirit Whips didn''t even inflict half the damage.

    Michael tried to keep using Spirit Whips until the mental damage was severe enough to force Lincoln into changing his strategy. However, Lincoln simply manifested a few more stone fists.

    The Stone Giant Gloves'' glow intensified, and stone walls manifested all around Michael. The walls shot out of the ground, surrounding Michael from every direction except the frontside.

    A deep frown appeared on Michael''s face. He shed at the stone walls, just to note that the stone walls were far stronger and more resilient than the earthen pirs Lincoln had manifested before.

    ''Did his Soultraits grow stronger?''

    Michael pinched the bridge of his nose whileing up with his next move. He noticed that he couldn''t escape the stone walls easily, and the approaching stone fists weren''t easy to deal with either.

    Lincoln smiled seeing Michael''s expression. However, before he could get a taste of victory, Lincoln''s expression changed in a split second.

    As Lincoln watched with squinted eyes, Michael''s Wyverntooth Spear was suddenly coated in a golden light. Michael shot forward, shing at the stone fists that crumbled into countless pieces the moment the golden light came in touch with them.

    Michael''s speed elerated and his hesitation disappeared. He struck one stone fist after another, destroying all of them without slowing down his burst speed.

    He shot forward, and appeared in front of Lincoln while his entire body began to glow in a mixture of intense white and bright gold.

    But just before Michael and Lincoln could collide again, a sharp voice rang through the training hall at this moment. It was not loud but everyone in the hall heard the voice ringing through their ears as if someone had been shouted right in their ears.

    "How about we stop right here?"

    Everyone turned in the direction of the voice instinctively. Michael and Lincoln froze in their tracks as heavy pressure weighed down on them. Their heads turned in the same direction, and their gazes fell upon Silverian Schild, who had just entered the training hall.

    Lincoln and Michael terminated their Soultraits without a second thought. Even if they wanted to continue the battle, Silverian Schild''s words were amand. He was their instructor, so they were honor bound to obey his orders.

    Michael was baffled feeling the heavy pressure suppressing him. It was the first time that he felt such heavy pressure after hisst encounter with the mythical serpent. The pressure was as intense as the Thunder Pteranodon King''s pressure, which caught Michael off-guard.

    ''How strong is Silverian Schild?''

    "If you guys don''t want to stay in the medical hall for a few days you should stop now," Silverian said calmly.

    A glint appeared in his eyes as he added, "Or I will make sure that you two will have to stay in the medical hall much longer than a few days. I will dly help you out!"

    Michael was a bit dissatisfied with the abrupt end of their spar. He felt that fighting Lincoln a little longer would have helped him grow stronger. Unfortunately, their battle ended before he could gain more insights about hisbat prowess, and how to improve it even further.

    "I should have used Enhancement with more precision. Spirit Whip turned useless after a while. It''s strong enough to take Lincoln by surprise, but it would need some more strength to knock him out at once¡­" Michael mumbled to himself, reying the fight in his mind and trying to figure out what he could have done better.

    He walked out of the arena, while still mulling over the same.

    ''I have good Artifacts, but I cannot unleash their full power properly yet. My Soultraits are powerful but they''re not yet perfectly in sync. I cannot use them however I want. Lincoln can focus on one Soultrait and train it to the extreme. He even amplifies his Soultrait with Artifacts, and his Inheritance technique. Even though he has a 6-Star Soultrait, which is on the same level as Extraction, his Stone Giant Soultrait is far stronger.''

    Meanwhile, Lincoln walked back to Zeke, who weed him with narrowed eyes.

    "I know. Let''s not talk about it for now. I''m also trying to figure out what happened," Lincoln told Zeke, who could only nod his head slowly.

    "Alright¡­"

    Michael looked over to Zeke and Lincoln, his expression hard to read.

    ''High Nobles cannot be underestimated. Even if I have a 6-Star Soultrait, I am not yet on par with them. High Nobles have a strong foundation and centuries of experience and research to back them. I won''t reach their level within a few months. That is too much to ask for.''

    He realized that his foundation was not the same as Lincoln''s. However, he also understood that he had the means to reach the same level as Lincoln and the others. All he needed was enough time, and opportunities to make full use of Extraction.

    ''One step at a time¡­''

 Chapter 238 Error

    Michael was not sure how much time they would spend in the Lord Rift. But to be on the safer side, he prepared detailed development ns to survive for several weeks and messaged the Professors and Instructors of his courses that he might not be present for a week or two.

    It was unlikely that the Rift would stay open for several weeks, but Michael thought that it was better to be prepared for every possibility.

    Atst, thest few hours before the Lord Rift would open, psed. A faint pulling force manifested in Michael''s mind, which he essed once he double-checked his ns and ensured that everyone knew what they had to do.

    essing the golden wisp in his mind, Michael got rid of the pulling force in his mind. In response to his action, a golden swirl manifested in front of him. The swirl was the size of a peanut at first. It revolved around its own axis slowly and continued to expand consistently until it reached the size of a mid-sized shuttle.

    The golden swirl formed arge ring after it reached its full size, and golden-metallic liquid formed inside the ring.

    In less than ten minutes, a golden gate that looked like a more expensive version of the Runic Gate had been manifested in front of Michael,pleting the one-way path to the Lord Rift.

    Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber stood in front of the golden gate with mixed emotions. They were excited, ready to harvest countless treasures, and nervous about the unknown dangers they would face soon.

    The excitement in their hearts was on the higher side, overwhelming their nervousness easily.

    They manifested their Artifacts and gripped their weapons tightly while staring at the golden gate.

    "Is everyone ready?" Michael asked, looking left and right to see Tiara and Masked Saber nod their heads.

    He took a big stride toward the golden gate, and ced a foot inside as he said, "In that case, let''s go!"

    Tiara and Masked Saber followed Michael''s example. They took a big stride toward the golden gate.

    The three took a second stride to step inside the golden gate, which dispersed after the team of three entered it. The golden gate''s goal had been fulfilled, leaving no reason for it to continue to exist.

    As Michael and his team vanished, Lilica and the others kept staring at the empty spot where the golden gate had been just a moment before. They didn''t move for a while as countless thoughts shed through their minds.

    "I know that I''m a little bitte to mention this only now... but isn''t Michael a weird Lord?" Liopham asked in an amused voice to the small group of Forest Elves around him.

    "Weird? What exactly do you mean?" Lilica asked even though she could guess what Liopham was talking about.

    "It''s hard to put into words, but why is he growing so fast? His growth-rate is extremely fast, and he has to face much more dangerous situations than most young Lords. His territory manifested in an extremely dangerous location, he has a Soultrait with abilities that I''ve never even heard of before, and his subjects'' Links of Loyalty grow stronger way too fast.

    I even noticed that my Link of Loyalty to Michael is growing firmer by the day ¨C even though I don''t even think about Michael. And then there is the fact that Michael trusts us way too much," Liopham pointed out, unsure what to think about Michael.

    "That''s true. If I were in Michael''s situation, I wouldn''t trust us that much either. We created way too many problems for him to ept us into his territory that easily. Indeed, it''s a little weird," Opars agreed, and the others nodded their heads in affirmation.

    Even Mika could only agree in shame. He had been the biggest troublemaker for Michael even if he had never intended to do so. It was his mistakes that were the root cause of most problems, yet Michael neverined or punished him. The more Mika thought about it the weirder Michael''s actions and train of thought seemed to him.

    What was going on in his mind to ept them into his rows that easily? Did Michael think several steps ahead in advance and have the foresight to ept the Forest Elves into his territory for financial gains? Had he already nned to create a new market that can be used to generate great wealth and strengthen his connections with the higher-ups of the Elven race, and his own people?

    The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team wasn''t too sure about that anymore. They thought of Michael as a little na?ve at first but that had been proven wrong several times by now.

    Not only did he think a lot about the course of events, but he had a keen foresight as well. Michael also understood that it was sometimes better to take a step back to stride several steps forward when the perfect opportunity appeared in front of him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "If we''re already talking about his Soultrait, don''t you think that we owe him big time? Not only did he grant us the ability to fuse with another Soultrait, but he even provided the means to upgrade the Soultraits. No matter how I look at it, we don''t really deserve this kind of treatment. After all, our modified Links of Loyalty allow us to leave Michael. We''re not exactly permanent members of his territory," Liopham mentioned, causing the other Forest Elves to fall into deep thought.

    The Jungle Expedition might have been dangerous warfare, but that didn''t mean they deserved to obtain new Soultraits from Michael. They fought for his territory because they wanted to protect their own hideout, and their means to procure low-level armaments for their tribe. Their motives had been selfish to some extent.

    "We can think of something to repay Michaelter. Let''s focus on the production of armaments first. Michael wanted as many agriculture-type blueprints as possible. We should help him out as much as we can!" Lilica remarked, making the final decision for her team.

    The Forest Elves began to make their move, ready to fulfill the tasks given by Michael.

    Meanwhile, Alice Zenovia stepped out of her Runic Gate and emerged in her office within the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Her hair was disheveled, and stters of frozen monster blood covered her clothes. She had dark circles beneath her eyes and looked exhausted as she slumped down into her office chair.

    It felt extremelyfortable and caused a heavy sigh of relief to escape her lips subconsciously.

    "I should fix my schedule before I forget about it¡­" She murmured quietly, opening the holographic screen of her crystal watch drowsily.

    However, instead of opening her schedule, Alice Zenovia''s fingers moved to sta messengers.

    The messenger opened, and her fingers stopped mid-way.

    "Wait¡­what''s that?" She mumbled, still half-asleep.

    The information that appeared in front of her eyes confused her, forcing Alice to read the messages once again.

    "What the hell do you mean with ''dyed''?!? How long?!?" Alice Zenovia cursed in fury, her eyes widening in shock. The sleepiness in her eyes had been wiped away in an instant.

    She didn''t waste anymore time, and rushed over to the student''s dormitory. Simultaneously, she moved to a different chat in sta messengers, trying to reach Michael before the supeputer would provide him with the update of the information he had requested.

    However, Alice couldn''t reach Michael. She was unable to find him in his room either.

    He was nowhere to be found.

    "Right¡­he said that he might have to spend a few weeks in the Origin Expanse¡­" Alice recalled helplessly.

    She stared at Michael''s empty room, gritting her teeth.

    A single word escaped her lips, mirroring the feelings that spread through her entire being.

    "FUCK!"

    She had been toote and couldn''t even tell Michael that there had been an error in the Lord IDs within the Sacred Desert.

    [End of Volume 4]

 Chapter 239 Countdown

    [A/N: Wee to Supreme Lord''s fifth volume/arc. I hope everyone enjoys reading the story. If not...just curse me in your hearts x) ]

    The first thing Michael, Masked Saber and Tiara did upon stepping out of the golden gate was to vomit.

    They spend ten minutes emptying their stomachs until there was nothing left inside to throw out.

    "That was a hell of a ride," Michael cursed, trying to control his shaking legs.

    Entering the Lord Rift by traveling through the golden gate was supposed to be a great experience, but Michael and hispanions had the worst experience.

    The moment they stepped inside the golden gate they were flung around like ping-pong balls at a professional table tennis match. Even someone with a strong stomach such as Michael couldn''t control his body anymore. He could barely hold it in until they stepped out of the golden gate before he fell on his knees and had to empty his stomach the wrong way.

    Masked Saber''s condition was a bit worse than Michael, but he got better quickly. His issue was just that he had to move away from the rest to remove his mask before he started to vomit. Nobody was allowed to see him, after all.

    However, Tiara looked the most miserable. Her hair was disheveled, her tail was stiff like a stick, and she was shivering like a leaf caught in a typhoon.

    Almost half an hour passed before she regained herposure.

    In the meantime, Michael and Masked Saber looked at their surroundings.

    They had emerged in the middle of a small in patch ofnd that was void of trees and monsters.

    The ins were covered in morning dew, creating an illusion as if stars were twinkling on the ground as the bright sunrays of the morning sun reflected on the grass des of all sizes.

    Even though the grass des and the morning sun weren''t anything special, the star clustered grass field created a certain charm that bewitched everyone observing the scenery around them.

    Michael was one of them. He took a deep breath of air, dispersing the nausea caused by the trip to the Lord Rift at once.

    The air around them was fresh and filled with origin energy, invigorating the flora and fauna all around them.

    ''It''s even fresher than the Untamed Jungle, and the amount of origin energy permeating the air is both purer and more in quantity as well. This is the perfect ce to nurture unique nts, rare treasures, and exotic monsters.'' Michael realized, activating Eagle Eyes to look further ahead.

    Since there was no obstacle in his way, Michael didn''t face any issues scanning through the entirety of the small ins. He didn''t see many monsters, but he learned a lot more about the surrounding regions.

    They emerged in the center of a small in that was surrounded by arge forest and a mountain range. The mountain range was ginormous, making it impossible for Michael to see the mountain''s upper area, let alone the tip. It spread far across the northern area, creating a natural border.

    The forest in the east didn''t have many huge trees, but it spread from the eastern side of the ins all over to the south. A wide variety of trees could be found, and Michael even knew some of them since they were quite rare and hard to nurture.

    "Not far from here is arge town, but it seems to have been abandoned a long time ago. Nature regained ownership of thend that has been taken from it for quite a while. Moss covers the buildings and dense vegetation has grown inside the artificial structures, destroying them from within," Michael pointed out after he told Masked Saber and Tiara about the regions surrounding them.

    With Eagle Eyes he could see much further than anyone else ¨C with great detail at that.

    "We''ll probably encounter more Lords in the town since everyone will be looking for treasures there. Should we focus on searching for invaluable nts and ores using your Soultrait in the forest and the mountain range, or do you want to face our opponents immediately?" Masked Saber asked after he digested the information he had obtained.

    Within rifts, man-made constructions were always a sign of invaluable treasures. It wasmon knowledge that the Will of the Origin Expanse would use cities and all kinds of other constructions to hide heavenly treasures. That way, it was easy to find the presumable location of the treasures, which led to bloody battles.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The Lord Rift had opened less than an hour ago, but it was likely that several Lords had already found their way to the abandoned town.

    Thinking about what to do, Michael saw a white wisp conjuring in front of him. The wisp entered his mind through his forehead, transferring vital information straight to his mind.

    Every Lord who had entered the Lord Rift was given all necessary information about the Lord Rift.

    [Wee to the Lord Rift, dear Lords. 100 Lords entered the Lord Rift during the 242nd Rift opening. Congrattions!]

    [You''ll be given a one-time opportunity to collect invaluable treasures, obtain unique loot from defeating your opponents, and various valuable materials that can be found all over the isted dimension in the next 100 hours. After the countdown hits zero, you''ll be thrown out of the Lord Rift, whether you''re alive or not.]

    [Remark 1: The countdown can be essed with a mere thought.

    Remark 2: The Will of the Origin Expanse will reward the surviving Lords after the Lord Rift closes. Their actions and contribution in the battle for survival inside the isted dimension will be taken into consideration, and an appropriate reward will be granted.

    Remark 3: Everything collected in the Lord Rift will drop upon dying.]

    The voice entering his mind was ethereal and gender-neutral. It sounded like the voice of a man at one point but switched to a higher frequency until Michael realized that there was not only one voice. There were dozens of ovepping voices.

    However, Michael was more focused on the content the ethereal voice forwarded than trying to decipher who it belonged to. The pieces of information he and the other Lords received were pretty helpful, providing just enough to know what to do to leave the Lord Rift with as many benefits as possible.

    "Actions and contribution in the battle of survival will determine the rewards given after the Lord Rift closes. That can be interpreted in many ways;" Michael murmured before averting his attention to something more important, "100 hours¡­that''s much shorter than I expected. That only means the fight for the treasures inside the abandoned town will be even fiercer. The pressure weighing on the Lords will force them to move as soon as possible."

    Even Michael felt a little bit pressured by the short amount of time they''d been given in the Lord Rift. If he had more time, he wouldn''t have a problem spending most time inside the forest and mountain range using Extraction to harvest rare ores from deep underground, and collecting unique nts and herbs that cannot be found easily outside the Lord Rift.

    But the crucial point was the third remark made by the ethereal voice stating that everything collected in the Lord Rift will drop upon dying.

    "If killing others will reward me with all their loot, I don''t really have to rush. Most Lords, who''ve gotten a taste of the Lord Rift''s treasures will desire to obtain more. They''ll hunt others to plunder their corpses instead of working hard to gather treasures on their own. That intensifies the fierceness of the battles in the Lord Rift even further, especially closer to the end of the 100-hour period. Not many Lords should be focusing on harvesting nts, herbs, and ores," Michael strategized, which attracted Tiara and Masked Saber''s attention.

    "How about we spend the first three days collecting information and harvesting materials in the forest and the mountain range before moving over to assaulting and assassinating other Lords? That way, we have the rare materials from the Lord Rift, in addition to the treasures dropped by the Lords we killed," Masked Saber suggested, indicating that he was ready to hunt other Lords at any time.

    Meanwhile, Tiara was a lot calmer. She listened to the information Michael forwarded and tried toe up with a proper n to make the most gains.

    "Rifts are always filled with nts, trees, and ores that need lots of nutrients and origin energy to form and grow. If we''re focusing on harvesting materials, we might be able to find the missing ingredients toplete a teleportation array or upgrade the Summoning Gate to the intermediate rank. I think we should avoid other Lords for the time being. After all, we don''t want to sustain heavy injuries so early in the quest. We don''t have someone with a healing Soultrait by our side, and potions are not omnipotent," She pointed out, which received the approval of the others.

    "So harvesting and avoiding Lords it is?" Michael asked before pointing toward the south, "Because I doubt that we''ll be able to avoid the monsters in the Lord Rift." His subordinates nodded to that and their gazes followed his pointed finger to see that far away from their position, a group of monsters was pacing through the ins.

    They held their heads high to get a whiff of the scent that filled the air.

    The monsters turned in Michael''s direction and began to charge.

    "Prepare for battle. We have to deal with a bunch of Werewolves!"

 Chapter 240 Superior Existence

    Michael manifested Zark and the Typhern Leather Armor Set after he told Tiara and Masked Saber about the uing fight.

    Masked Saber retrieved his newly forged ck saber, while Tiara manifested her Artifacts. Her silver spear appeared in front of Tiara. She grasped it and spun it around her body yfully.

    Thinking hard about something was not her style. Tiara was much better off by using the simple approach to deal with problems appearing in front of her.

    To Tiara, problems she couldn''t see didn''t exist, in the first ce. Sometimes that might seem foolish, and even reckless, but it made her life much easier since she didn''t have to rake her brain to deal with stuff that may not even happen.

    Meanwhile, Michael observed the rapidly approaching Werewolves intently. They were still quite far away, but Michael could make out a few interesting facts.

    ''Given their rapid speed and the fact that they could smell us from several kilometers away, they''re definitely Tier-2 Monsters ¨C probably Low-stage Tier¡­.''

    Michael felt that something was odd about the Werewolves, whose bodies were covered in silver scales instead of fur. Arge white horn juts out of their foreheads as well.

    They looked like expensive statues made of silver and marble rather than fearsome monsters. However, the bloodlust Michael detected in their eyes was a clear indicator of their fierceness.

    Without wasting any time, Michael used Enhancement on Zark before manifesting an ordinary energy-condensed arrow. He pulled the bowstring back and aimed high in the air. Michael tweaked it a little before he released the arrow that cut through the air in a beautiful arc.

    It impacted hard upon the designated target with a loud smack that reached his ears.

    However, the arrowhead didn''t even pierce through the target''s scales. It was repelled and fell silently to the ground.

    The Horned Werewolves were undeterred by the sudden attack and continued their approach, rapidly closing the distance to Michael''s group.

    Michael and his group was outnumbered by one. The Horned Werewolves were four in total, and they spread out to surround their targets.

    Tiara and Masked Saber began to move as well. Tiara released her Soultrait to unleash a sudden burst of energy that boosted her ahead. In an instant, she reached her top speed.

    With great momentum, Tiara shot toward the closest Horned Werewolf, which was to her left.

    Meanwhile, Masked Saber covered the ck saber in a thickyer of silver energy. The silver energy condensed a second de around the saber, enhancing the weapon''s sharpness drastically. He was just about to move ahead when white wisps shrouded the silver energy, which further enhanced the silver energy'' potency.

    Michael had used twoyer Enhancement on Masked Saber''s silver energy to ensure that hisrade''s weapon would be able to cut through the scales and flesh of the Horned Werewolves.

    Simultaneously, Michael applied two moreyers of Enhancement on Zark. He manifested the strongest energy-condensed arrow and pulled the bowstring back. But, he didn''t release the arrow immediately. Instead of rushing anything, he waited patiently until the first Horned Wolf entered the range of 100 meters around him.

    Streams of golden light burst out of Michael, extracting small bits of the earth beneath the closest Horned Werewolf. He didn''t extract much, allowing him toplete his small trick instantaneously. The Horned Werewolf only realized what happened when one of its paws was stuck in a 20-centimeter-deep hole.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Using its tremendous strength, the Horned Werewolf could easily escape the small hole, bursting the loose ground around the hole and freeing itself. However, the monster lost its speed and momentum in the process. The Horned Werewolf was forced to remain in the same position for nearly a whole second ¨C providing Michael with more than enough time to adjust Zark a little, and release the strongest energy arrow.

    The arrow gained tremendous velocity the moment it was released. It crossed 100 meters near instantly and drilled deep in the wide-open mouth of the Horned Werewolf. The Horned Werewolf had been howling loudly tomunicate with itsrades, warning them about their opponents'' dirty tricks.

    But before the Horned Werewolf could finish the warning, an arrow with terrific velocity shot into its mouth, and pierced outside through the back of the mouth.

    The Horned Werewolf howled in pain, however, Michael''s attack was not over. The strongest energy arrow burst apart once it lost its momentum.

    The energy explosion ruptured the Horned Wolves'' mouth, creating a gaping hole in its mouth and cruelly shredding its throat, leaving bits of bone and flesh holding it together somehow. That was enough to turn the severe injury inflicted by the impact of the arrow into a lethal blow that would end the Horned Werewolves'' life in the next few seconds.

    A fountain of blood gushed out of the gaping hole, covering the silver scales with hot, crimson blood.

    The Horned Werewolf didn''t expect to die like this. It shot toward Michael, in the hopes of dragging him down to hell as well. However, Michael diverted his attention. He created two Spirit Whips with which heshed out at the injured Horned Werewolf. Weakened and in distress, the injured Horned Werewolf didn''t even realize that it had been struck with a mental attack before it was already toote.

    The Horned Werewolf''s sight blurred and it slumped to the ground after the Spirit Whipsshed on its mind. It tried to get up from the ground but the strength in its legs was deteriorating rapidly. The Horned Werewolf could only lift one of its arms in hopes of reaching Michael and ripping out his throat. But it was too weak. Thest bits of strength escaped the Horned Werewolf''s body.

    The Horned Werewolf slumped to the ground with a thud, the life in his eyes slowly dispersing. Its body writhed two more times before the Horned Werewolf stopped movingpletely.

    "One down, three to go," Michael mumbled, pulling back the bowstring smoothly.

    Using Enhancement on Zark increased the bow''s pulling force as well. Fortunately, Michael could barely deal with the pulling force of Zark after a threeyer Enhancement had been applied to Zark.

    An ordinary energy arrow condensed on Zark''s bowstring, which Michael released without hesitation. The arrow whizzed through the air, colliding with the next closest Horned Werewolves'' w. The Horned Werewolf had been about to w Masked Saber in the back. Michael intervened just in time and prevented that, fortunately. He manifested a few more energy arrows and released them one by one.

    His uracy and firing speed were both impable and exceptional enough to hit all targets while releasing three arrows in less than two seconds.

    The Horned Werewolf was struck thrice in the arm and once in the neck. None of the arrows pierced deep into the Werewolf''s scales, but they weren''t repelled either. The force Michael applied to the arrows was more than enough to cause severe damage to most Lowest-stage Tier-2 Monsters. However, it was barely enough to drill into the Horned Werewolf''s scales and got stuck inside.

    The constant barrage of arrows enraged the Horned Werewolf. It prevented the Werewolf from attacking Masked Saber several times and caused the monster''s attack to grow more relentless.

    And that was the moment Masked Saber had been waiting for.

    He turned around, the silver energy engulfing his saber pulsating vividly.

 Chapter 241 Combo

    Masked Saber had been tackling another Horned Werewolf when he noticed what transpired behind his back.

    He swirled around his own axis and released most of the silver energy coating his saber at once. The silver energy burst in the enraged Horned Werewolf''s direction, piercing a hole in the monster''s chest.

    Yet, instead of killing the enraged Horned Werewolf with a single blow, the hole merely crushed the monster''s scales and bits of its firm and highly resilient flesh.

    Michael frowned deeply seeing the negligible damage caused by Masked Saber. Under normal circumstances, the burst of silver energy was enough to deliver a killing blow to a Low Tier-2 Monster. Even Monsters with strong defense wouldn''t be able to block Masked Saber''s attack that easily.

    "Superior Existences?" Michael blurted out in confusion.

    If the four Horned Werewolves were Superior Existences, theirbination of rapid speed, massive strength, and strong defense would make sense.

    Their presence clearly indicated that they were only Low-stage Tier-2 Monsters, but theirbat prowess was clearly higher. They were strong enough to pose a danger to Michael and his group, even though their equipment and Soultraits enhanced theirbat prowess greatly.

    ''Good thing that I was able to finish off one of them quickly.'' Michael thought in his mind before he manifested three enhanced Spirit Whips. Each of them struck one of the three remaining Horned Werewolves, taking them by surprise.

    The damage caused by Spirit Whip was considerable. It wasn''t enough to knock out a Tier-2 Superior Existence, but Michael could see that they lost their bnce when the Spirit Whips impacted hard on their minds.

    Wanting to take advantage of their weakness, he retracted Zark and retrieved the Wyverntooth Spear. After applying fouryers of Enhancement on the Wyverntooth Spear, the Artifact''s external enhancement increased by more than 100%. The burst of strength flooding Michael''s body was enough to make him move instantaneously.

    His feet kicked the ground, spraying sand all around as he shot toward the enraged Horned Werewolf.

    Masked Saber was struggling a bit while dealing with two Horned Werewolves simultaneously. Michael''s attack with Zark created a great opening, but it was not enough to deliver a killing blow.

    Michael appeared behind the enraged Horned Werewolf and used Extraction to remove severalyers of ground beneath the enraged Horned Werewolf before making use of the gravitational force. The Horned Werewolf was pulled into a small pit, while Michael raised his hands high in the air before bringing them down along with the Wyverntooth Spear, whose de was covered in white-golden streams of light.

    The razor-sharp ck de of the Wyverntooth Spear pierced through the gaping hole Masked Saber had inflicted, and blood and flesh were sprayed wherever the de passed by.

    Shrouding the Wyverntooth Spear''s de with Extraction and fouryers of enhancement reinforced the weapon artifact to a degree that not even the hard scales and firm flesh of a Superior Existence could block.

    Extraction was a 6-Star Soultrait, and severalyers of 4-Star Enhancement created an effect that wasparable to a 5-Star Soultrait. Used together, they felt like an unstoppable force.

    Michael twisted the Wyverntooth Spear once it drilled deep enough into the chest of the enraged Horned Werewolf. The monster whimpered in pain as it tried to w at Michael in desperation. It almost hit him, just for Michael to move aside at thest moment. His Eagle Eyes saved him from a severe injury that would bleed him to death.

    Using four high-ranked Soultraits simultaneously was still taxing, but it was not as straining as before. That was thanks to his mind-refining technique reaching the second stage, and him advancing to the 2nd Tier, enhancing his mental strength drastically.

    Michael ruptured the wound inflicted on the enraged Horned Werewolf when he retrieved the Wyverntooth Spear. Only a few strands of golden light remained inside the Horned Werewolf, slowly extracting the Werewolf''s blood and flesh.

    The enraged Horned Werewolf was too injured to move at this point. Spirit Whips kept striking its mind, preventing the monster from thinking straight, and forming a proper mental defense. It couldn''t even use its mental power to restrict Michael''s Extraction at this point.

    Understanding that the enraged Horned Werewolf was on the verge of death, Michael moved over to support Masked Saber.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They moved swiftly and in great sync, shing and thrusting their weapons simultaneously but at different vital points.

    The Horned Werewolf wed at their weapons with the intention to block them, but Michael''s Wyverntooth Spear was too powerful at this point.

    Fouryer Enhancement and 6-Star Extractionbined were simply not something that could be blocked with bare hands. The Horned Werewolf''s scales crumbled as Michael extracted some of the nutrients that made the silver scales hard and seemingly unbreakable.

    The scales on the Horned Werewolf''s w turned brittle, unable to block Michael''s spear thrust.

    The fouryer enhanced Wyverntooth Spear sunk deep into the Werewolf''s arm, cutting the entire arm in half with a single attack.

    Afterward, the golden streams of Extraction invaded the Horned Werewolf''s body, slowly draining his blood. Michael tried to extract the Horned Werewolf''s flesh and organs as well, but the monster was still too strong mentally to allow Extraction to take more than its blood.

    Several Spirit whips struck the Horned Werewolf as both Mased Saber and Michael delivered one blow after another. With theirbined effort and a greatbination of Soultraits, they easily dealt with the other Horned Werewolf, leaving only the Horned Werewolf, which Tiara distracted.

    Tiara''s ability to change her trajectory without a loss in momentum was fully disyed against the Horned Werewolf. She didn''t use her silver spear to attack the monster with the intention to injure it. Instead, Tiara attacked the Horned Werewolf to divert the trajectory of its attacks by smashing the silver spear against the monster''s ws. Simultaneously, she moved around rapidly, preventing the Horned Werewolf from entering her range.

    Whenever the Horned Werewolf entered Tiara''s range, she thrust the silver spear toward the monster''s vital points, forcing the Horned Werewolf to respond hastily. The monster evaded the attacks, which caused a change in its momentum. It slowed down and moved to the side.

    On the other hand, Tiara elerated. She began initiating attacks to slowly break down the scales protecting the Horned Werewolf''s chest.

    Less than five minutes into the battle, Tiara''s movements elerated again. However, instead of attacking mindlessly, she waited for the perfect moment. Michael and Masked Saber appeared next to her, and the three joined hands to kill thest Horned Werewolf.

    The team of three worked together, attacking the Horned Werewolf no more than three times before it copsed on the ground. It flinched once before it stopped moving altogether.

    After the battle was over, Michael took a moment to catch his breath. He''d used way more origin energy than he intended to utilize in such a small battle.

    But that was the obvious downside of possessing multiplebat-rted Soultraits. Each of them drained his origin energy, and Michael utilized them inbination, increasing the energy consumption exponentially.

    Nheless, Michael was quite satisfied with himself. Being able to defeat several Superior Existences at the same rank was not something everyone could do.

    But that was not everything. Michael sensed that his origin energy was replenishing rapidly.

    The replenishment speed was even faster than usual. His Sun Soldier''s breathing technique yed a big role in the elerated replenishment of his origin energy because the air in the surroundings was now enriched with dense and pure origin energy.

    Yet, even then, Michael''s origin energy replenished way too fast.

    Michael only realized what was going on when his attention moved to the monster carcasses.

    "So that''s how it is?"

 Chapter 242 Insights

    Michael''s attention was pulled to the remaining traces of Extraction. They were still inside the Horned Werewolves, slowly draining the remnants of origin energy inside the corpses.

    The extracted origin energy immediately entered Michael''s body, replenishing his used-up energy.

    ''I can even extract their origin energy? That''s pretty useful,'' Michael mused, a vivid smile blossoming on his face.

    If he could replenish his used-up energy by using Extraction on the corpses of the battlefield, he wouldn''t have to worry about his high energy consumption.

    Until now, his energy consumption had been his biggest restriction. Trying to use several Soultraits with their full power simultaneously was simply too draining to fight a long battle. Even while fighting the Horned Werewolves, Michael had to use more than half of his stored origin energy to win. Fortunately, that seemed to change now that Michael found a new use of Extraction ¨C a function that seemed to have been unlocked after upgrading Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait.

    They didn''t sustain any injuries thanks to his actions, but they wouldn''t be able to tackle another group of Horned Werewolves that easily ¨C if not for the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique and Extraction''s newly unraveled function.

    He drained the corpses of the Horned Werewolves to fill his origin energy storage to the brim. Afterward, the remaining remnants of origin energy were released into the air, allowing Masked Saber and Tiara to replenish their used-up energy faster as well.

    "So I cannot use Extraction to actively elerate the refinement of my War Rune. I see," Michael mumbled as he felt the density of origin energy around him increase slowly.

    Once the corpses were drained of thest remnants of origin energy, Michael used Extraction to extract the loot created by the Will of the Origin Expanse.

    He used Extraction on the four Horned Werewolf corpses while waiting in anticipation to see the drops he could obtain inside the Lord Rift.

    But what appeared in front of him confused Michael quite a bit.

    "17 Summoning Scrolls, 509 Summoning Scroll Fragments, one 1-Star Tier-2 Artifact, six rare blueprints, and 2 SoulStar Fragments from four Superior Species¡­ isn''t that way too much? And why are SoulStar Fragments dropping?" Michael blurted out, a deep frown forming on his face, "Is it because the loot in the Lord Rift is higher?"

    Supreme Existences were known to drop better loot, but they shouldn''t drop that much, let alone SoulStar Fragments.

    "If the drop-rate for all drops is that high in the rift, we shouldn''t avoid monsters while harvesting herbs, nts, and ores," Masked Saber pointed out, and Tiara agreed without hesitation.

    "As long as we take bigger groups of Monsters by surprise, we won''t have an issue dealing with seven or even eight Superior Species at the 2nd Tier," She said with confidence.

    Michael just nodded while using Extraction to dissect the corpses of the four Horned Werewolves. As a Superior Existence, every single part of the Horned Werewolves'' bodies was valuable. Michael was not foolish enough to leave behind the small treasure troves.

    Once he stored the perfectly dissected corpses inside the War Rune''s storage space, Michael began to utilize Eagle Eyes to figure out if there were more monsters in the surroundings for him to kill.

    He soon spotted tworge groups of monsters, and his eyes glimmered in excitement. Michael knew them from studying the Beastarium. They were all Superior Existences!

    ''Are all Monsters in the Lord Rift Superior Existences?''

    "Let''s move to the forest first, I want to extract the resin of the Purplebloom tree. We''ll need it to brew the tincture for the teleportation array," Michael ordered.

    They slowly moved through the small in and approached the flourishing forest, which shone in various colors. A wide variety of trees grew in the forest, creating a vibrant scenery filled with bountiful colors.

    Michael couldn''t find many big groups of monsters roaming inside the forest, but he easily located a bunch of smaller monster groups scattered all around. In fact, the hordes in the small ins seemed to expand in size the longer he searched for smaller groups.

    Interestingly enough, all monsters had one thing inmon- They were Superior Existences and at the 2nd Tier.

    No monster was at the 1st Tier, let alone an ordinary existence. Most of them could be considered unique in the Origin Expanse, yet they were ordinary in the Lord Rift.

    This find was also why Michael was more curious to explore the vast and vivid forest. He and his team entered it with great vignce. They immediately encountered a small group of monsters, which they attacked without hesitation.

    Taking the group of three Diamond Deers by surprise, Michael, Tiara and Masked Saber were able to kill them in less than a minute. Michael used three fouryer enhanced Spirit Whips tosh at the Diamond Deers the moment he and his team appeared next to the monsters.

    He used Enhancement several times on the Wyverntooth Spear as well, ensuring that he could pierce through the Diamond Deer''s thick hide. And, immediately after piercing through the thick hide, Michael utilized Extraction to drain the Diamond Deer''s blood, and origin energy.

    Michael used fiveyers of Enhancement on Extraction so as to unleash the lethality of Extraction to its full extent. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Yet, instead of only extracting blood and origin energy, Michael felt like he was revitalized, and his body was refreshed. Usually, he would feel mentally exhausted using too manyyers of Enhancementbined with two or more other Soultraits. But Michael was currently using Eagle Eyes, three fouryer enhanced Spirit Whips, and fiveyer enhanced Extraction without feeling a severe headache.

    Instead of feeling mentally exhausted, Michael felt fit and refreshed.

    It was confusing, but the puzzle was not that hard to solve.

    ''The Diamond Deer''s vitality. I''m extracting it as well!'' Michael nearly blurted aloud as realization struck him.

    His eyes began to gleam brightly, and his focus moved to the pulsating golden streams of Extraction. They infiltrated the Diamond Deer''s body, and rapidly drained its lifeforce, origin energy, and blood.

    Both lifeforce and origin energy entered his body while the extracted blood sttered on the ground.

    The fight against his opponent ended shortly after it started. After being struck by a fouryer enhanced Spirit Whip and pierced by the Wyverntooth Spear that weakened the Diamond Deer''s mental guard and injured it severely, Extraction dealt the finishing blow by draining it of Origin energy rapidly.

    After the Diamond Deer was left too weak to counterattack, Michael struck it two more times with the enhanced Spirit Whip before moving away to support Tiara and Masked Saber.

    Michael lowered his upper body when he emerged next to the Diamond Deer Tiara was fighting. He struck the Diamond Deer with two enhanced Spirit Whips and thrust out with the Wyverntooth Spear. Meanwhile, Tiara changed her trajectory suddenly, shing the silver spear diagonally across the Diamond Deer''s head.

    Blood sttered, and the Diamond Deer bleated in pain before thigh-thick golden streams engulfed it, seemingly devouring the Diamond Deer.

    Michael could clearly sense the Diamond Deer faltering after it had been struck with Spirit Whips. It was also possible to sense the amount of lifeforce and origin energy left inside the Diamond Deer after his golden streams of extraction spread through the monster.

    The third Diamond Deer became his next victim. It died after suffering thebined attack from Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have little to no origin energy left inside his body. He would be mentally drained as well after fighting not 1 but three Supreme Existences. But neither was the case right now.

    Michael felt energetic and his origin energy storage was half filled. The used-up origin energy replenished quite fast, and it grew even faster after thest Diamond Deer died. Using Extraction actively on the Diamond Deers that had just been killed, Michael could drain thest remnants of origin energy residing within them.

    ''Extracting lifeforce is not that simple. I have to use fiveyer enhanced Extraction and crush the mental defense of my opponent before I can even think about draining their life force. It''s only obvious but there is no more lifeforce inside the bodies of the deceased. That means I have to leave some opponents alive to drain their lifeforce mid-battle while continuing fighting the remaining opponents without a splitting headache. That can be quite dangerous.''

    Michael was quite satisfied with the gains he made since he entered the Lord Rift. He learned a lot more about Extraction, granting him more ways to fight against arge number of opponents.

    Michael extracted the loot gained by killing the three Diamond Deers before he dissected them perfectly.

    After that, he focused on harvesting the Purplebloom tree''s resin using Extraction, collecting nts and herbs, and killing more monsters.

    In the following two hours, they encountered three more small monster groups, which Michael fought using a few tactics he made up using his new insights about Extraction.

    He first injured one monster severely before extracting the ground beneath it. The severely injured monster would fall into a pit before it was struck with a fouryer enhanced Spirit Whip. Once injured and its mental guard broken, fiveyer enhanced Extraction would drain its origin energy and lifeforce rapidly.

    Michael would then divert his attention and attack the other monsters, helping Masked Saber and Tiara. Whenever a monster was injured and struck with Spirit Whip, Michael would release a strand of Extraction to invade the injured monster to drain it slowly of its Origin energy.

    Afterward, Michael only had to focus on continuously crushing the monster''s mental guard while continuing to both exert Extraction and pressure his opponents in closebat.

    Michael was having some problems executing his new strategy properly. Instinctively fighting was much easier for him rather than following aplex tactic. But he was getting better as time passed.

    After two hours, he had decently adapted to the drastic change in his tactic. He could fight with three Superior Existences at the 2nd Tier simultaneously, without feeling like his head would split apart.

    Meanwhile, the loot inside his storage space had amassed rapidly.

    Michael became a wealthy tycoon in less than two hours!

 Chapter 243 Unknown Enemy

    So far, Michael was enjoying his time in the Lord Rift. Fighting Superior Existences at the 2nd Tier, and collecting rare herbs and nts was just the beginning.

    He harvested several Death-trap nts, known for their exceptional rarity and great difficulties in nurturing them, and collected thousands of Emerald Crystalline Leaves, Aurora Flowers, ckwater Resin, Plumos Roots, and Ruby Logs of the core of Rubyrien trees.

    The ingredients he harvested were hard to procure in mankind''s market, and some were unknown to them in the first ce.

    ''Good thing I made enough preparations. Researching all types of ores and nts was certainly worth it.''

    Michael was satisfied with the preparations he did over the course of thest few weeks. Despite that he was aware of only a handful of the ingredients from the lessons he''d received from the Forest Elves Bionarium ¨C the book of nature ¨C, and the Master Alchemist of his territory.

    As such, one day passed in the blink of an eye.

    The sun had set a while ago, forcing Tiara and Masked Saber to use the luminous creme on their eyelids to see a little bit in the dark. Michael''s Eagle Eyes had gotten ustomed to see in the dark by now. The range of his vision wasn''t huge but it allowed him to see things farther than he would be able to see with the luminous creme.

    After advancing to the 2nd Tier, the body didn''t need as much sleep as before. Circting origin energy through the body to keep the body and mind fresh.

    It was enough to sleep once every few days to fully replenish the lost energy.

    Nheless, Michael and the others decided to rest a little. Some Monsters and other Lords might be able to see much better in the dark than them. Hence, it would be a disaster if they were discovered and attacked.

    Michael was the first to take over the nightguard duty. He observed the surroundings with great vignce while the others rested for a few hours. Once his shift was over, Tiara reced him. Michael then went to sleep.

    The first rays of sunlight shining on his bald head woke Michael gently. He stretched his body and opened his eyes while stifling a yawn.

    He looked at the War Rune on the back of his right hand and smiled faintly. The energy influxes of the monsters he''d killed the day before had been fully digested, refining his War Rune by a small margin.

    The War Rune was muchrger than before. When his War Rune manifested the first time it was tiny and hard to be discover for others. They would have to focus on the back of his right hand to find it. But now the War Rune covered the majority of the back of the hand. It was vibrant and easily visible to everyone.

    It was still early in the morning when Michael and his team began walking through the vast forest. They slowly made their way toward the mountain range where Michael would harvest as many rare ores as possible.

    Time passed quickly, and they only took a break when it was time for lunch. After nearly ten fights with small monster groups, they deserved a great meal.

    They started a small fire and cooked the tender meat of the Diamond Deers.

    Since everyone was hungry, they ate a lot. Michael devoured several kilograms of meat, slowly filling his stomach to the brim. He knew that he could eat even more, but his stomach had to digest everything, and Michael knew that he had to be ready to fight at any moment. It would be a little bit disadvantageous if he ended up reacting to slowly just because he felt drowsy after eating too much.

    The Diamond Deer''s meat was delicious. It filled Michael with nutrition and energy. He was ready to rumble.

    However, before he and the others could get up and leave, they heard the rustling of leaves from the side.

    Tiara and Masked Saber jumped up simultaneously, their hands on their weapons. Meanwhile, Michael used Eagle Eyes, which he enhanced a few times.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed as the foliage to their right continued to rustle. Suddenly, the scenery around them changed. The extinguished campfire was set aze once again due to the strong gusts of wind that swirled around Michael and his people.

    The zing campfire shot in the air, where it formed the head of a dragon. The dragon head stared down at Michael, just to keep changing form as the gusts of wind swirled around it.

    The dragon head expanded in size and shot down toward Michael with its maw wide open. Michael lifted an eyebrow while staring at the fiery dragon head. The next moment, he used Extraction to drain his vicinity of oxygen. The oxygen within the zing dragon head was extracted by Michael, causing the mes to die down before they could reach him.

    The Dragon head dispersed in all directions, and the sparks died down after being unable to devour or deter Michael.

    Michael''s attention moved back to the rustling leaves to their right. A faint smile blossomed on his lips, and he manifested Zark in his hands.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He then used Enhancement to strengthen Zark, conjured an energy arrow on the bowstring and pulled it back.

    The next moment he spun his body around 180 degrees, aimed for a second and released the arrow.

    ''You think you can fool me just because you have a wind and fire affinity? You cannot hide your movements and noisespletely even if you distract me with rustling leaves!''

    Given his already high perception and Eagle Eye''s focus on enhancing his eyesight, Michael saw the perpetrators from the corner of his eyes as he took care of the zing dragon head.

    The energy arrow cut through the air, just to be blocked by an earthen wall shooting out of the ground.

    "An earth affinity as well?" Michael asked, slightly surprised when he noticed that the ground beneath them started to get muddy.

    "All basic elemental affinities?" Michael cursed, using Extraction to extract the hydrogen in the ground beneath him, Tiara, and Masked Saber, preventing the condensation of water in the first ce

    He stored the hydrogen in his War Rune''s space to ensure that the unknown enemy couldn''t make use of it.

    However, that was not necessary because small pole-sized earthen pirs shot out of the ground around Michael and the others.

    The pirs were not thick but they momentarily restricted their movements. The unknown enemy received enough time to conjure several fireballs and throw them at his imprisoned enemies ¨C or so the enemy thought.

    Michael used Extraction to break down a few thin pirs, allowing him, Tiara and Masked Saber to escape easily.

    Afterward, they entered abat stance, and prepared to fight a big battle.

    "You''ve got an interesting Soultrait right here. Were you able to awaken a Unique Racial trait rted to your Soultrait, or are you the descendant of a human race powerhouse?" A calm andposed voice resounded in the vast forest.

    Michael''s danger senses began tingling due to the voice, despite its pleasant and weing sound.

    "Does the human race even have powerhouses to begin with? I doubt you have real Divine Existences given that I learned about the human race only a few days ago," The voice asked mockingly.

    A scoff reached his ears, causing Michael to lift an eyebrow.

    "Who are you?" Michael asked before using Enhancement on his body twice.

    The human race wasn''t well-known in the Origin Expanse. They were a rather young race that shouldn''t be known by many in the Zentika Empire, or in the Lord Rift.

    Despite that, the unknown enemy knew exactly what race Michael belonged to.

    "Who am I? Well¡­I might be your friend¡­or your enemy."

    The voice spoke mysteriously, drawing every word out deliberately.

    "How about we find out?"

    Thest words of their enemy rang through the forest just before a barrage of fireballs, wind des, and earthen spikes shot through the air.

    [A/N: Share your opinion about the new arc. Not many chapters have been released yet, but we''re in the Lord Rift fighting an unknown enemy. What do you think will happen in the future? Will the Lord Rift have any major changes on Michael''s territory development or his character? Where do you think the story is going?

    I''m curious about your opinion ;D]

 Chapter 244 Lord Of The Elements

    The iing elemental attacks were not as fast as Michael''s energy arrows, but it was their overwhelming numbers that made a difference.

    Dozens of fireballs, earthen spikes and wind des shot in Michael''s direction, aiming at the small group of three.

    Michael stepped forward white exerting Extraction and golden thigh-thick streams shot out of his palms. The golden streamed heed Michael''s will, forming a small barrier in front of the three of them.

    The golden barrier couldn''t block any attacks, but it could extract oxygen from everything that passed through it.

    Unfortunately, the golden barrier was restricted and was unable to destroy the fireballs and wind des. The elemental attacks merely slowed down a bit after they lost a small margin of force. However, that was just enough to give the team of three the time they needed to create a path of escape.

    Michael''s Eagle Eyes were unleashed, allowing him to predict the trajectory of all iing projectiles precisely. He struck down two Earthen Spikes with the Wyverntooth Spear before he moved nimbly around the iing fireballs and wind des to destroy them.

    Tiara, more or less, had the same reaction as Michael. She destroyed a few wind des with swift spear thrusts before she utilized her Soultrait to change her trajectory instantaneously. A fireball shot past her head, missing her by a hair''s breadth. But other than the zing head and the sizzling noise ringing through her ear nothing happened to Tiara.

    However, Masked Saber had a different way of tackling the attacks whenpared to Michael and Tiara, who made sure that they didn''t waste too much origin energy in evading the barrage of elemental attacks. Masked Saber coated his saber in silver energy, which he released with a simple sh. A crescent-shaped silver de cut through the air, destroying the wind des and most of the earthen spikes.

    The fireballs exploded and thepressed wind des burst apart upon colliding with silver energy des. Masked Saber merely had to step aside to evade the remaining elemental attacks shooting toward him.

    Afterward, the three looked at each other. Tiara nodded subtly to the others before she shot to the side. She disappeared inside a field ofrge bushes the next moment. Masked Saber, on the other hand, rushed toward the source of the elemental attacks.

    He released more silver energy than before and created a stronger silver energy de without hesitation. The silver energy de whistled quietly as it shot through the air swiftly. It cut through the earthen wall that was blocking their sight and continued to advance rapidly.

    The silver de destroyed everything it came in contact with, cutting down a few bushes and old trees on its way.

    The silver energy de was about to impact on the source of the elemental attacks when several massive earthen walls shot out of the ground.

    Two more earthen walls were cut down due to the massive force of the razor-sharp silver energy de before the attack was finally rendered useless.

    Masked Saber''s attacks were known for possessing the most destructive force. Michael might be in possession of severalbat-type Soultraits, but none of them allowed him to release a powerful one-kill attack. His Soultraits mostly focused on support, mental attacks, and trickery.

    Masked Saber''s silver energy de was different. The more silver energy used the more terrifying the strength of the silver energy de.

    Using Masked Saber''s attack as a distraction, Michael shot to the side before he burst forward. Meanwhile, Masked Saber didn''t make any detour. He rushed to the source of the elemental attacks without hesitation.

    Some trees around him fell over after they''d been cut by the silver energy de, while the undergrowth was covered with the remnants of bushes. Nheless, Michael''s Eagle Eyes were able to urately locate the enemy through the chaos and rubble of the copsing trees and earthen walls.

    ''A Zantur?'' Michael almost blurted out when he saw the dimly shimmering silver skin known as a significant characteristic of the Zantur race.

    After he saw the silver skin, Michael''s attention moved to the one eye, the three pointed ears, and the thick skull that protruded out of the back of his head.

    Their enemy was definitely a Lord of the Zantur race at the upper range of the 2nd Tier. He was wielding arge wooden staff that had various ck enchantments engraved all over its surface. The enchantments were all connected to the brightly glowing Mana Orb that was attached to the head of the staff.

    No matter how Michael looked at the staff, it seemed like a huge problem as it exuded strong pressure that could be sensed over a distance of dozens of meters. Meanwhile, the tunic covering the Zantur''s body seemed more inconspicuous. But Michael could tell the truth.

    The tunic had even moreplex enchantments engraved all over its surface. The enchantments were ck just like the tunic, but the tone was slightly different, allowing Michael to discover the enchantments ¨C all thanks to his exceptional eyesight.

    Enchanted staffs and tunics were mostly used by Sorcerers, who wanted their Artifacts to focus on enhancing the power of their spells, increasing energy output, and elerating energy cirction.

    Michael was not too sure what type of Soultrait the Zantur possessed, but he was clearly an Elementalist who could wield all four basic elements with great control.

    The Zantur could manifest dozens of ordinary and long-range elemental projectiles within seconds. They were weaker than arrows released by a Tier-2 Archer, but the quantity made the difference.

    Earthen pirs shot out of the ground in front of Masked Saber, restricting his movements. Masked Saber had to go around the earthen pirs and pay more attention to the trembling ground around him.

    Masked Saber wanted to destroy the earthen pirs, but his focus was always diverted back to the ground around him. Whenever he stopped moving, the trembling beneath his feet intensified, forcing Masked Saber to keep moving.

    ''Zanturs don''t like fighting. So why is he attacking me?'' Michael wondered as the ground beneath his feet disappeared. The soil was pushed aside, and Michael was sucked into a hole, which was slowly being filled with water.

    Michael frowned deeply and began using Extraction to remove the water as it filled the hole. Spikes shot out from all directions of the hole and were slowly inching closer to Michael.

    Fortunately, he had just finished removing the water in the hole, providing steady ground to jump out. He kicked his feet off the ground and leaped out of the hole before covering his body with severalyers of Enhancement. Their enemy might be a Zantur and alone, but he was powerful.

    Michael was still too far away to make use of Spirit Whip to attack the Zantur mentally, but he was slowly inching closer.

    Masked Saber pushed around the earthen pirs, his saber already coated in a thickyer of silver energy. He was just about to sh in the Zantur''s direction when several bullets ofpressed wind impacted hard on Masked Saber''s shoulders.

    Compared to the wind des, the wind bullets were much faster, but also less threatening. They were like rubber bullets, fast and powerful enough to cause bruises, but unable to pierce your clothes, let alone skin and flesh.

    Michael looked over to Masked Saber when he saw that his summon had been attacked. His first thought was that Masked Saber''s clothes would tear and that his skin would be exposed, thus triggering the restriction that was attached to his life as a Summon.

    Fortunately, that was not the case. Michael could divert his attention back to the Zantur. He saw Tiara emerging from a bush near the Zantur, white fur growing out of her arms, and her pupils contracting ¨C slowly morphing into the eyes of a murderous tigress.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Her silver spear lunged forward in an instant, nearly hitting the Zantur, who conjured several wind bullets to st the spear away.

    However, before the wind bullets could collide with the spear, Tiara changed her trajectory. Her body moved in a weird angle, allowing her to spin the silver spear around her body, and umte more momentum to initiate a second attack.

    Her second attack collided with several fireballs that exploded upon contact. The explosion affected both Tiara and the Zantur. However, Tiara backed off, knowing that Michael had finally arrived.

    The Zantur''s view was blocked due to the smoke released from the exploding fireballs. He could only retreat and try to manifest a few earthen pirs to ensure that his opponents couldn''t reach him.

    But the Zantur hadn''t expected to be bombarded with mind-splitting mental attacks.

    Michael used enhancement four times to strengthen each of the two Spirit Whips he had manifested. They struck down on the Zantur''s head once Michael was finally close enough to attack. The Spirit Whip impacted heavily, causing the Zantur to falter.

    The Zantur''s sight turned hazy and he lost control of his Soultrait. Unable to wield the four basic elements, the Zantur could only retreat further, hoping that the earthen walls in between them would give him enough time to recuperate and use the four elemental affinities again.

    However, Michael didn''t want to give the Zantur enough time to recuperate. He unleashed Extraction to extract the earthen wall''s soil in a small radius. A small hole ¨C barely big enough to squeeze through ¨C was created in the earthen walls, allowing Michael to avoid a loss in time and momentum. He jumped through the hole in the earthen walls and appeared in front of the Zantur, whom he struck with the two fouryer enhanced Spirit Whips a few more times.

    His Wyverntooth Spear shot forward, the tip approaching the Zantur''s neck with shocking speed.

    Yet, before the Wyverntooth Spear could reap the Zantur''s life, Michael noticed a drastic change in the surrounding atmosphere.

    The Zantur''s silver body began to shine brightly and his single eye turned crimson. A tremendous amount of pure origin energy was released from within the Zantur in the next second. The dense origin energy in the surroundings was pulled toward the Zantur''s origin energy before it was devoured and annexed.

    In response to the tremendous amount of origin energy shrouding the Zantur, the staff and tunic''s enchantments were triggered simultaneously.

    All of a sudden, the Zantur''s mental power increased greatly. The Spirit Whips were rendered useless even though they''d been enhanced with fouryers of Enhancement.

    Seeing how the Zantur regained the rity in his eyes shocked Michael. He knew just how powerful the Spirit Whips were since he had been struck by one more than once in the past. The change in the Zantur''s presence clearly showed that he was done ying around.

    The Zantur gathered strong winds around his body. He ignited a me within the core of the winds before fusing the gusts of wind with the zing mes that were born in the center of the wind.

    Michael wanted to continue his attack and pierce through the Zantur''s neck as long as he was still able to. But before the de could reach the Zantur''s neck, severalyers ofpressed earth manifested in front of the Wyverntooth Spear''s ck de.

    The de was blocked by thepressed earth even though the force Michael applied should have been more than enough to pierce through the earthen wall before.

    ''Did his affinities just grow stronger?'' Michael concluded near instantaneously.

    The change in the Zantur''s fighting style was apparent. He fused his wind and fire affinity to create mightier zing mes all while the endurance of his earthly creations increased drastically.

    One of the zing gusts of wind shot toward Michael. Michael was prepared and quickly used Extraction, hoping to be able to extract some of the oxygen within the zing gust of wind in the next second before it would impact.

    However, his hope was crushed instantaneously. Extraction failed.

    But it didn''t fail because it was too weak. No, Extraction failed to show any remarkable results against the Zantur because the Zantur''s willpower was several times stronger than before.

    The Zantur controlled his elemental affinities precisely and with great care, ensuring that nobody could ess them without him noticing and further strengthening his defenses.

    As he was unable to extract more than 5% oxygen within the zing gusts of wind, Michael could only hope to move aside. Eagle Eyes was still in use, allowing him to predict the projectile''s trajectory.

    However, before he could move, earthen pirs appeared to his left and right. Michael tried to extract them as well, but he couldn''t crush the earthen pirs in an instant. It would take a few seconds before he could escape the earthen pirs. It was much more convenient to move backward and retreat.

    But that was not possible. The zing gusts of wind reached Michael, and they impacted heavily.

    At the moment of impact Michael''s breath was taken away. He could barely unleash the full power of the protection enchantments of the Typhern Leather Armor Set before he was flung across the forest.

    Michael crashed heavily into a tree a moment after he used severalyers of Enhancement on his body. That way, Michael could barely protect his body from turning into a mashed pulp.

    The zing gust of wind felt more like a cannonball than a cozy breeze. It had been terrific and strong enough to kill a Mid Tier-2 Monster with a single blow.

    Even the tree Michael crashed into was dented inwardly.

    Michael slumped to the ground with a groan and managed to get up when he heard something in front of him.

    Tiara was also flung through the air by a zing gust of wind. However, she couldn''t protect her body as well as Michael.

    ''Oh¡­fuck me¡­'' Michael cursed in his heart, moving instinctively in Tiara''s trajectory to catch her.

    ''This will hurt a lot.'' He could only think before she crashed into him.

 Chapter 245 Tac Lec

    No bones in Michael''s body were broken but the pain spreading through his body was immense.

    He could barely catch his breath before Tiara smashed into him, pushing him further into the tree behind him.

    Michael''s breath was taken away at once and his sight blurred for a second or two. Once his sight cleared he saw a cloaked figure hit by a dragon head and flung toward him with the speed and force of a cannonball.

    It was Masked Saber.

    Michael frowned and tried to get up, but Tiara''s body was still on top of him, restricting his movements.

    Masked Saber reacted instinctively when he got a glimpse of Michael''s situation. He twisted his body mid-air to change his posture, turn around and pierce downward with his ck saber. Masked Saber''s entire arm trembled as the saber pierced deep into the ground, slowing him down.

    His feet touched the ground and he came to a halt just in front of Michael and Tiara.

    "I still got it in me," Masked Saber mumbled, pulling the saber out of the soil.

    Tiara moved aside and got up, giving Michael space to jump up as well.

    "To think that you forced me to use my Unique Racial ability. I must have underestimated your power and teamwork quite a bit," The Zantur spoke calmly as he took a step forward.

    A look of surprise blossomed on the Zantur''s face.

    "To think that you have so many Soultraits. You''re quite powerful. It seems like the report about you hasn''t been exaggerated. If anything, the report underestimated your capabilities quite a bit," He mumbled, while the bright shine of his skin dimmed down.

    ''Report about me? Did the Council collect information about me and share it with the Lords entering the Lord Rift?''

    "You have a Unique Racial ability just like me, don''t you? Your Artifacts are probably Epic Tier-2 as well. You must be one of the more talented kids of the human race. My name is Tac Lec, and I''m going to warn you just once. Most Lords in here have been ordered to kill outsiders like you and Taros," The Zantur, Tac Lec said, lightly waving his staff around to control the winds, earth, and water in the vicinity.

    He controlled the elements easily and smiled lightly while talking to him as if they were discussing the weather. He seemedpletely unbothered by the fact that they had been fighting each other seriously just a moment ago.

    "If you and the others have been ordered to kill me, why don''t you do it then?" Michael asked, unsure where the conversation was going.

    They had been fighting, and Michael was even about to kill Tac Lec if the Zantur hadn''t blocked his spear thrust by triggering his Unique Racial Ability.

    "I don''t think that I can escape injuries while fighting you in a life-and-death battle. It would only waste my remaining time in the Lord Rift to fight you. I don''t really feel like facing the other Lords while I''m injured either," Tac Lec said with a shrug before he added, "I''ll make use of you if someone bothers me instead. Since I know where you are, and how strong you are, I don''t have to worry."

    Michael nodded his head subconsciously when he heard what the Zantur said. Had they not been inside the Lord Rift, Michael would have loved to continue fighting Tac Lec. But since they were in the Lord Rift, Michael didn''t want to keep fighting either.

    Their fight could attract other Lords or Monsters with the potential of Superior Existences, and the final result of the battle was uncertain as well.

    Michael was confident to survive a life-and-death battle with Tac Lec, but he was not sure if he could win. Even If he could win, Michael was certain that he would lose a lot more than he could potentially gain. Tac Lec was clearly a powerful Lord with high-ranked Artifacts and great control of the four basic elements.

    "Let''s be friends and mutually benefit each other until we leave the Lord Rift. With your abilities, you''ll be of great use, and I think you can say the same about me," Tac Lec proposed nonchntly.

    "Of course, we''ll be enemies once all of this is over. Consider it a temporary alliance if you''d like to."

    Contrary to before, Tac Lec didn''t exude any pressure. It was almost as if the battle between them never happened.

    That confused Michael even more. He had been ready to charge at Tac Lec and fight him to death, but Tac Lec seemed to have different ns.

    Earthen walls manifested between Michael and Tac Lec before a strong gust of wind shrouded the Zantur.

    "I consider your silence as a silent agreement. It has been a while since I saw someone as interesting as you."

    Tac Lec''s voice hung heavy in the air when the trees around him began to rustle. By now, Michael was thoroughly confused. And before he could speak, he heard the sound of strong gusts sting through the surroundings, carrying Tac Lec away.

    He had not even gotten the chance to ask the Zantur the questions that tormented his mind and he had already disappeared.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Did he really leave?'' Michael wondered.

    He made a big detour around the earthen walls and realized that the Zantur had, in fact, left.

    Their battle ended just like that, leaving a sour taste in Michael''s mouth.

    "He really left?" Tiara asked as she appeared next to Michael.

    She gripped her silver spear tightly, angry that the Zantur had been able to easily fling her through the air.

    Tiara didn''t like that Michael had to rescue her either. She had made things difficult for Michael, putting him in a tough spot. The whole situation could have ended much worse if the Lord of the four basic elements didn''t choose to end the fight right there.

    If the battle had continued after Tac Lec used his Unique Racial Ability, everything would have gotten a lot tougher, especially for Michael since he had used a considerable amount of his Origin Energy already.

    "Yep. He''s not here anymore," Michael said with a grimace on his face.

    "But that doesn''t mean our situation has gotten better. On the contrary, if the Lords in here are after outsiders, we''ll have a bunch of problems to face soon enough," Masked Saber pointed out, "Furthermore, it''s quite obvious that we will have some issues dealing with the other Lords if they''re on par with this Tac Lec."

    "But it''s good that we know more about our enemies now. At least we can respond ordingly," Michael said, still a bit sour that Tac Lec disappeared into thin air.

    After his encounter with the Zantur, Michael didn''t feel that it was necessary to fight the other Lords. If all of them were as powerful and well-equipped as Zantur, not sustaining injuries in a battle with them was impossible.

    But that didn''t mean Michael would avoid fighting the other Lords. On the contrary, he would fight them soon ¨C once he had a few ns and tricks up his sleeve.

    He could collect SoulStar Fragments and a wide variety of other loot from the Lord Rift. Using the loot to grow stronger before facing the Lords was the easiest way to kill some of them even if they were as strong as Tac Lec.

    The only issue was the big question; how much the other Lords knew about him?

    Tac Lec mentioned a report about him, and that the report was a gross underestimation of his power. That was something Michael considered an advantage.

    There was an old saying that knowledge was power. However, with enough brute force even knowledge wouldn''t be enough to sh against someone ¨C especially if the knowledge wasn''t up to date.

    "How about we continue searching for rare materials first? We were on our way to therge Trixata tree before the Zantur attacked. Are we still going?" Masked Saber asked, changing the topic smoothly.

    He could tell that Tiara and Michael were deep in thought and dissatisfied with the result of the battle with Tac Lec. However, there was nothing they could do about it. Tac Lec left, and it was questionable if they would see each other anytime soon.

    Michael noticed what Masked Saber was doing and agreed without a second thought. The fight with Tac Lec was over. The only thing they could do now was to learn from their mistakes and move on.

    "Let''s go to the Trixata tree. I''ve never seen one that big. There might be some treasures near the tree, stimting its growth." He said.

    For the next half an hour, Michael and his team were mostly focused on paving a path to the 60-meterrge Trixata tree. It looked simr to a bonsai, but it was tens of timesrger and wider.

    A few monsters entered Michael''s view when they reached the Trixata tree. However, the monsters didn''t pay any attention to Michael and his team. They were mostly focused on the center of the Trixata tree. Three Horned Werewolves were busy wing the tree''s bark, trying to dig a hole into it.

    Michael and the others were not sure why they were doing that, but they knew that they should deal with the monsters before they noticed them. Easy prey was the most favored by any hunter, after all.

    He retrieved Zark, used Enhancement several times on the Bow Artifact, and condensed the strongest energy arrow. He used Eagle Eyes to aim urately before releasing the energy arrow at once. The arrow cut through the air beautifully and fiercely, piercing through the back of the furthest Horned Werewolves'' head.

    The Werewolf couldn''t even scream out when it copsed on the ground and went rigid.

    Not even the other Werewolves were able to do something when they sensed danger approaching rapidly.

    Several energy arrows whizzed through the air, piercing deep into the Werewolves'' necks and chests, ending their lives.

 Chapter 246 Potions And Pills

    The Horned Werewolves were killed in no time. They were too focused on scratching the Trixata tree''s bark to realize what happened around them.

    Michael used this as an opportunity to strike and kill the small group swiftly. Once all opponents were dead, they rushed forward, stored the monster corpses away, and focused on the Trixata tree.

    "Observe the surroundings and stay vignt," Michael ordered before he used Enhancement four times on the Wyverntooth Spear to remove the bark that had been damaged by the Horned Werewolves.

    Afterward, he frowned deeply, retrieved the Wyverntooth Spear, and changed his tactic. He started using Extraction to remove the wood beneath the Trixata tree''s bark.

    ''Something is odd. Why does it feel like the tree is alive, pulsating like a being made of flesh, blood, and veins?'' Michael wondered as he extracted the wood deeper into the Trixata tree until he reached a small hollow area.

    Roots and vines filled the surrounding of the hollow area, a cavity, in the center of the Trixata tree. The roots and vines engulfed something, which Michael reached out for.

    He retrieved the object that was no bigger than a jewelry box, which was exactly what it looked like.

    It was a brown wooden box with several crystals embedded in the corners of the lid. The crystals were green and glowing vibrantly. They shone and glimmered as if they were alive.

    The roots and vines wanted to restrain Michael, preventing him from taking the box, but they were far too weak to do anything against Michael''s brute force.

    "Is that how the Trixata tree grew so big? Or is it the content of the box instead of the green crystals?''

    Michael looked at the glimmering crystals for a while before he diverted his focus. He wanted to open the box but couldn''t.

    The green crystals at the corner of the lid were connected to the rest of the box, restricting Michael from opening the box without destroying the crystals.

    "So¡­I cannot open the box without breaking the crystals. Does that mean I have to decide whether I want to retain the effect of the box, or if I think that the content of the box will be more valuable?" Michael wondered before a bright smile blossomed on his face.

    "That might apply to others, but definitely not to me!" Michael scoffed lightly before using Extraction to extract the content of the box without destroying it.

    It stayed unscathed while blueprints and recipes appeared in front of it.

    Michael smirked at the appearance of the recipes and blueprints. Meanwhile, Masked Saber gave him a thumbs up for his quick thinking.

    Michael bent down to pick up the blueprints and recipes before he took a good look at it.

    "Energy Nourishing Pill, Blood Replenishment Pill, and Body Strengthening Pill¡­great recipes. Amazing!" Michael eximed upon seeing the recipes of high-quality pills.

    New Warriors could take these pills and be Tier-1 Warriors in a matter of days instead of taking weeks or months. Even Tier-1 Warriors benefited greatly from the Energy Nourishing Pill and the Body Strengthening Pill. Their physique would grow stronger alongside their refinement degree, allowing them to deal with cumbersome opponents all by themself.

    Each of those recipes was extremely rare. Most wouldn''t sell them even for billions of dors. Instead, they would keep them or trade the recipes for highly valuable goods.

    ''Even Tigerfang is not as valuable as those recipes. This is crazy!'' Micheal thought before he picked up thest recipe.

    "Warrior Enlightenment Potion? Am I dreaming?" Michael mumbled, not sure if his eyes were deceiving him.

    "A potion that allows the user to experience the power of a warrior. Summons are more likely to attain enlightenment, increasing the chance of Starless entities being promoted to 1-Star Warriors¡­Great¡­that''s really great¡­" Michael eximed, his eyes twinkling like stars.

    Currently, his biggest problem was that he had a gigantic workforce of more than 20,000 Starless Summons, but an Army consisting of roughly 1,000 1-Starbat-type summons. None of them was Tier-2 yet, resulting in giving them only a numerical advantage at best, stagnating the power of his military prowess.

    Each of the four recipes he had extracted from the crystal box allowed Michael to empower his army and increase his military prowess drastically. However, the Warrior Enlightenment Potion was clearly the best. If just a quarter of his Starless Summons could be promoted to 1-Star Warriors, Michael could expand his army''s military might by five times. The thought alone was enough to ster a vibrant smile on his lips.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "The ingredients are a little bit expensive, but if we nt the ck Lilith Flower, the Neotan berry bush and a few other nts in the territory, there shouldn''t be a problem," Tiara suggested after she leaned over Michael''s shoulder to take a look at the ingredients required to concoct each of the pills.

    Masked Saber took a look at the ingredient list as well. Some of the items were a little difficult to procure, but Michael should have it much easier than others.

    Producing the ingredients in the Untamed Jungle was definitely possible. The Untamed Jungle was a perfect ce to grow almost everything rapidly. Adding the power of the 4-Star Nature Spirit, the 3-Star Botanica Sorcerer, and the newly procured crystal box, Michael and the two others were certain that they could grow everything rapidly.

    "We should spend a few more hours in the forest. Maybe we''ll find some of the herbs, flowers and nts we need for the potion and pills," Michael remarked, ordering the others to get moving after he stored the recipes and crystal box inside the War Rune''s storage space.

    However, just as Michael was about to store the crystal box, he saw a glimpse of something from the corner of his eye. He instinctively stepped aside and managed to evade an arrow that dug deep into the ground where he had been standing just a moment ago.

    Michael raised an eyebrow, activated Eagle Eyes and jumped back as he realized that the attack was not over.

    The arrow exploded the moment after Michael moved.

    "You could evade that? Seems like you have great instincts," A hoarse voice rang through the surroundings.

    Michael and the others turned around, their Artifacts manifested. They were ready to fight at once.

    A deep frown formed on Tiara''s face and fur began to grow out from her arms and face while her eyes turned into that of a merciless predator.

    A total of 15 people appeared less than fifty meters away from Michael, Tiara and Masked Saber. They were five Lords, five Awakened and five Summons each, all of them either at the Low-stage of the 2nd Tier, or at the Mid-stage.

    They were all Lionhearts, Jew and from the other races that made up the major poption of the Zentika Empire, which meant that they were Michael''s opponents. After all, they had been ordered to kill outsiders.

    "Looks like you found a treasure for us. This is our Lord Rift, so how about you hand it over? We might be a little nicer to you if youpromise," The Jew Lord said in calm tone. He lifted his hand, telling the Awakened next to him to prepare his bow and arrow to release a second explosive arrow.

    Michael''s frown deepened, and he stored the box away before changing his posture.

    The Jew Lord began to smile when he saw what Michael did.

    "In that case, we''ll just kill you and get the drops from your corpse. That might actually be for the better!" He said,ughing lightly before he manifested an Armor Set and a huge broadsword.

    Michael''s expression changed to neutral at that moment. He manifested Zark, utilized Enhancement several times, and pulled the bowstring back. A condensed energy arrow was nocked on the bowstring, which Michael released in the next second.

    He condensed three more arrows without hesitation, releasing them simultaneously after he adjusted his aim.

    The first arrow was aimed at the Awakened standing next to the Jew Lord. The Awakened wanted to move aside but he didn''t expect the velocity of Michael''s arrow to exceed his movement speed.

    After using Enhancement on Zark several times, the Bow Artifact could release arrows with much more velocity than most Mid-stage Tier-2 Awakened could unleash. The first energy arrow pierced through his thigh, while the second pierced his hand.

    Meanwhile, the two other energy arrows were blocked or evaded.

    Masked Saber and Tiara made use of themotion to split up. They disappeared in the nearby bushes around Michael, leaving the young Lord alone.

    However, Michael was not worried. On the contrary, he smiled foolishly.

    "Let''s see who is going to die!"

 Chapter 247 5 Lords

    Michael didn''t really want to deal with five Lords and their subordinates simultaneously, but the pressure they exuded was iparably lower than Tac Lec''s. The Elementalist of the Zantur race was much stronger than them.

    A single nce was enough for Michael to tell that. His first attack was already enough to inflict considerable damage to the Jew Lord''s subordinate. A barrage of four arrows would have never been enough against Tac Lec, but the opponents in front of him were different.

    They were forced to team up with other Lords to pose a threat to the stronger Lord in the Lord Rift.

    ''Their Artifacts are not as unique as Tac Lec''s either. They shouldn''t possess any Epic Tier-2 Artifacts,'' Michael concluded with an intense stare at the Artifacts manifesting in the hands of the Awakened Lords and subordinates.

    Michael also switched to wielding the Wyverntooth Spear before he used Enhancement on his body, the Eagle Eyes Soultrait, and each of his Artifacts once.

    A oneyer Enhancement didn''t consume much energy, yet it strengthened his overall Artifacts overall by a third. Eachyer of enhancement increased the targeted Soultrait, Artifact, and bodypart by roughly a third. That was enough to strengthen Michael considerably.

    He didn''t hesitate and kicked his feet off the ground. The ground beneath him cracked as he burst forth, instantly crossing a distance of more than ten meters.

    ''No more archers, and no elemental affinity?'' Michael mused as he looked at the five Lords and their subordinates.

    There was a Lionheart Lord in the group of enemies in front of Michael, but it didn''t look like the Lionheart specialized in long-rangebat. The Lionheart Lord''s mane and saber was set aze but that was already it.

    Michael chose to ignore the Lionheart Lord. Instead, he focused on the Jew Lord''s other subject ¨C a Jew Summon wielding a war-axe ¨C, who charged at him.

    The Jew Summon lifted his war-axe high in the air and prepared to cut down at any moment. He was swift and powerful, his physical strength clearly beyond the norms.

    However, Michael faced the Jew Summon calmly. He manifested a fouryer enhanced Spirit Whip with which he struck the Jew Summon a moment before they collided. Michael moved to the side and thrust the Wyverntooth Spear deep into the Jew Summon''s neck.

    The Jew Summon''s eyes werepletely white and he faltered the moment the Spirit Whip struck him heavily. He didn''t have any additional defense against mental attacks, and even his natural defense was not noteworthy against a fouryer enhanced Spirit Whip. The Jew Summon faltered and lost consciousness as he was unable to do anything against the ck spear de that pierced through his neck like a knife through tofu.

    Blood gushed out of the Jew Summon''s neck like a fountain, spraying all over Michael''s face and body as he twisted the de and pulled it out with brute force.

    The razor-sharp de cut even deeper while it was being pulled out, only for Michael to keep advancing as if nothing happened.

    The Jew Lord frowned deeply looking at the scene that unfolded in front of him. He grit his teeth and readied himself for the collision.

    The other Lords were also astonished after finding out how strong the Jew Summon was. They moved closer to each other and moved toward Michael simultaneously, ready to face him together.

    However, just as Michael was about to face the remaining Lords and their subordinates, Tiara and Masked Saber reappeared.

    Masked Saber had been preparing a highly condensed silver energy de. He used more than half of his stored origin energy to create thepressed silver energy de which he released from the right side of the Lords and subordinates.

    As long as the silver energy de was strong enough, it would be able to cut through all of them with a single strike. That was exactly what Masked Saber nned to do; releasing a mighty attack that was strong enough to obliterate their opponents at once.

    However, Masked Saber was not strong enough to do that. His silver energy de was powerful, and strong enough to inflict a lethal injury to the injured subordinate of the Jew Lord, cutting him in half. The energy de continued mercilessly, striking down two more enemies before a yellow barrier condensed in front of the Destors Lord.

    He stared at the silver energy de with a tinge of surprise in his eyes. The silver energy de caused cracks to appear all over the yellow barrier, forcing the Destors Lord to raise his arms and manifest a few moreyers of the yellow barrier.

    The silver energy de merely killed three enemies before it was forcefully halted. Fortunately, it caused enough terror to rampage in the hearts of the Lords'' subordinates, distracting them from looking over at the Destors Lord and how he blocked the silver energy de.

    That created a huge gap in their defense, allowing Tiara and Michael to move ahead.

    Tiara moved swiftly and silently. She wasn''t noticed by anyone until the end. On the other hand, Michael decided to move loudly enough to pull everyone''s attention to him once they were certain that the Destors Lord could block the attack.

    Focusing on Michael caused the silent death of an Awakened and a young Summon, yet another grave mistake that further crushed their morale.

    Six out of 15 enemies had been killed in no time. Meanwhile, the Lords had yet tond a killing blow on Michael, and his subordinates.

    ''Their teamwork is bad. They probably never tried working with other Lords. It''s their first time!'' Michael realized quickly.

    It was not difficult to tell that their teamwork was bad and that they obstructed each other instead of helping.

    The Lionheart Lord had been ready to attack the silver energy de and destroy it with force when the Destors manifested the yellow defense barrier to block the attack.

    The Lionheart Lord cursed the Destors, who retorted with a scoff.

    Not only was their teamwork abysmal but they didn''t trust each other either. That was easy to see in the eyes of the Lords and their subordinates.

    This worked in Michael''s favor as he unleashed Extraction in the next instant. Golden streams as thick as a thigh shot out of his body. They swirled around him, attracting the attention of his enemies. They were not sure whether the golden streams would be used as an attack, or if something else was about to happen.

    What they didn''t expect was that the treetops of the trees around them would suddenly copse onto them.

    Michael extracted the ''joint'' of the thickest branches in the treetops around the Lords to shower them with falling branches and leaves.

    Simultaneously, Tiara continued to make her move. She observed the Awakened and Lords precisely to make sure that their Soultraits wouldn''t strike her out of nowhere. Tiara''s momentum changed as she switched to the next higher gear. She elerated with a sudden burst to deliver deadly blows to the remaining Summons.

    Her movement pattern was unpredictable and so were the changes in her momentum. Tiara was rapid and merciless, delivering deadly blows in areas nobody expected her to strike.

    She inflicted severe damage to all living summons just before the treetops copsed onto them. Injured and buried underneath thick branches, they found themselves lost and helpless.

    The Lionhearts unleashed their mes without a care in the world. They were ready to burn down everything, and did not mind letting theirrades burn to a crisp as the treetop caught fire that spread all around after being carried by the winds like wildfire.

    The injured Summons screamed at the top of their lungs as the zing mes reached them, slowly burning them to death.

    "You bastards! Are you trying to kill all of us?!" The Destors Lord shouted loudly, releasing a yellow barrier that expanded rapidly, pushing the zing branches and leaves aside.

    The yellow protective barrier couldn''t expand further than eight meters, meaning that some Lords and their subordinates were still buried underneath the fiercely burning treetops.

    However, the Lords were still capable enough to rescue themselves. The Jew Lord unleashed a ck aura that engulfed his entire body, causing the mes around him to extinguish.

    After the mes died down, he burst through the treetops, crushing them at once.

    He looked around angrily, wanting to kill the Lionheart Lord and his subordinates for putting them in danger. But before he could find the Lionheart Lord, the Jew Lord was faced with Michael, whose ck spear de was coated in vivid golden lights. The golden lights seemed to devour the ck aura shrouding the Jew Lord, who could only gasp before it dug deep into his eye.

    The Wyverntooth Spear thrust seemed simple, but it was a series of well-nned steps. Michael appeared in front of the Jew Lord, extracted the ck aura that protected him, and pierced through his eye, killing the Jew Lord by cutting deep into his brain, all of it in a second.

    Michael took the Jew Lord by surprise, extracting his strongest means of defense before killing him in a simple manner.

    On the other hand, Tiara and Masked Saber went on a rampage. They gave them all to inflict as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time. Understanding that they had to deal with multiple enemies, whose Soultraits were unknown, it was important to use every single opportunity.

    Michael understood that as well. Thus, he didn''t waste a lot of time finishing off the Jew Lord. He merely unleashed Extraction to leave golden threads in the corpses all around him, extracting their origin energy to replenish his used-up energy.

    Then he exerted Enhancement to strengthen the Wyverntooth Spear, which spun around Michael''s body.

    Blood sttered through the surroundings, but Michael didn''t even notice that. His focus was on the Destors Lord whose yellow barrier crumbled after a flood of golden streams crashed down upon the barrier.

    Michael scoffed seeing how easily the yellow barrier crumbled.

    "Your Soultrait is way too weak¡­ or maybe¡­you are just too weak."

 Chapter 248 Gains And Benefits

    Dealing with the five Lords wasn''t as hard as Michael imagined it to be.

    He expected them to use powerful Soultraits, but they ended up using Soultraits that were much weaker than 6-Star Extraction.

    ''How did these Lords procure the Lord Rift Entrance tickets? No sane person would willingly hand the entrance tickets to weak Lords¡­'' Michael wondered, not quite sure why the Zentika Empire was willing to give weak Lords an entrance ticket to the Lord Rift.

    He was certain that these Lords hadn''t procured the Lord Rift Entrance tickets on their own. Michael was almost 100% sure that the Zentika Empire collected the Lord Rift entrance tickets and that they handed them out to outstanding students.

    But then again, the five Lords he fought weren''t that strong.

    ''Maybe they couldn''t unleash their full power because of their messed up teamwork? I didn''t see the Soultraits of some of the Awakened, in the first ce.''

    At the end of the day, Michael couldn''t be certain how the five Lords entered the Lord Rift. However, it was not really important either. What was important was that Michael and his team killed them and that he was about to obtain a small fortune of loot.

    5 Lords, 5 Awakened, and five Tier-2 Summons. They should have harvested quite a bit of loot since the Lord Rift opened more than a day and half ago.

    "Let''s store the corpses and leave first. Themotion must have attracted monsters or other Lords," Michael ordered, waving his arm to store the carcasses in his War Rune.

    Afterward, they left the vicinity of the gigantic Trixata tree.

    Once they found a somewhat safe hideout, Michael ordered Masked Saber and Tiara to pay attention to the surroundings. He then retrieved the corpses and started to extract them.

    He started with the five summons, which dropped a batch of Summoning Scrolls, Summoning Scroll Fragments, and rare blueprints. The loot met his expectations, which was not much of a surprise. Michael hadn''t expected to obtain a Soultrait Symbol or anything preposterous from the Summons.

    However, the Lords and Awakened were different. He began to use Extraction on them with high expectations ¨C and he wasn''t disappointed.

    The first things that dropped were the loot the Lords and Awakened had gathered since the Lord Rift opened. This included the corpses of the monsters they''d killed, the Summoning Scrolls and other loot they collected from the monster corpses, along with the herbs and other nts they had collected.

    Their loot was quite high and mostly consisted of monster corpses. It felt like they had focused on hunting monsters rather than ying herb-picker.

    But that yed into Michael''s cards. He used Extraction on the monster corpses, thinking that it was best to dissect them neatly and segregate them. Once properly dissected, more corpses would fit in their spatial storages.

    However, what he didn''t expect was that the monster corpses dropped more loot after Michael used Extraction on them.

    SoulStar Fragments, rare blueprints, Artifacts, and a small number of Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments dropped from the monster carcasses.

    "You can still get loot from the monsters even if you didn''t kill them?" Tiara asked, not quite sure if that was how Michael''s Extraction Soultrait worked.

    Michael was also not certain what happened, but he had an inkling of why that must have happened. Masked Saber was the first to open his mouth.

    "Killing the owner of the monster corpses seems to reward you with the additional loot Extraction can get you with its increased drop rate." He summarized, only for Michael to add, "That''s probably what the ethereal voice meant with the third remark. The loot of the deceased will be dropped as well. That might mean the Will considers me as the rightful owner of the monster corpses killed by the Lords and Awakened after I defeated them. That means I can still get the additional loot from Extraction when I loot the corpses the deceased collected in the Lord Rift. Nice!"

    Of course, that was something Michael was very happy about. There were close to 100 corpses in the five Lords'' possession.

    Before he diverted his focus on the extraction of the five Lords and five Adventurers, Michael finished extracting of the monster corpses.

    He gained a total of 552 Summoning Scrolls, 11532 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 14 Tier-2 Artifacts, 143 rare blueprints, and 55 SoulStar Fragments. That was quite a lot. Nheless, the loot paled inparison to the gains he made from extracting the five Lords and Awakened.

    Michael extracted the loot meticulously and did not rush the process. When he was done, he ended up staring at a small mountain of Soulstar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    "Six Soultrait Symbols, and a total of 452 SoulStar Fragments from 10 Awakened corpses. Seems like the Will of the Origin Expanse increased the drop rate a lot more than I first thought."

    Usually, Michael wouldn''t have obtained a single Soultrait Symbol and only a third of the SoulStar Fragments. However, it looked like he had been quite lucky.

    Not bothering about the Soultraits the Lords and Awakened used before, Michael used Extraction on them once again. Michael gained arge batch of SoulStar Fragments from tearing the Soultrait Symbols apart. He allowed his War Rune to devour them all, keeping them safe in front of the white pir in the deepest parts of his consciousness.

    After the SoulStar Fragments had been taken care of, Michael was left with more than 20 Artifacts and a dozen Memory Orbs. Interestingly enough, some Lords dropped more than one Memory Orb.

    Michael stored the Artifacts in the spatial storage of his War Rune before he devoured the Memory Orbs of the Lords.

    The information provided by the Memory Orbs wasn''t intense and did not bombard him. On the contrary, the streams of information entering his mind were slow and calming.

    Most of the information was rted to the Lord Rift, including information such as the Lord Rift''s structure, monster types, forbidden zones, and more. However, the streams of information also included detailed information about the other Lords, what Soultraits they used, and which Lords teamed up with others.

    Of course, not all pieces of information were about the Lord Rift. Michael also learned a lot about the Zentika Empire, and the council hierarchy and was certain that the information would help him in the future. He was thankful and ready to make use of them once the time was ripe.

    "Senator Keltos¡­it looks like you lost quite a bit of prestige in the Council. I would say sorry, but that''s clearly a lie," Michael murmured before he turned around to look at Tiara and Masked Saber.

    They were vigntly observing the surrounding and patiently waiting for Michael to finish digesting the Memory Orbs.

    "I am done. Let''s go to the mountains," Michael said, pointing to the mountain range further ahead.

    Masked Saber and Tiara agreed without a second thought and followed him immediately.

    Their small team encountered a few monster groups on their way to the mountain range, but they defeated them quite easily.

    Being able to cripple one monster with two fiveyer enhanced Spirit Whips and a spear thrust with the Wyverntooth Spear after it had been coated in fouryers of Enhancement and Extraction''s golden streams was not further difficult. In fact, it could be considered quite easy.

    After the first monster was mentally crushed and physically severely wounded, Michael could use Extraction to extract the origin energy and lifeforce within the monster. That way, he kept using his Soultraits in an extravagant way without feeling drained mentally, or in terms of energy.

    Defeating groups of ten Superior Existences with their small team was not a dream anymore. It became a simple task.

    A few hours passed in the blink of an eye, and they finally reached the mountain range after clearing all the obstacles in their way.

    While observing the surroundings, Michael could tell that there had been a few fights at the mountain range. However, Michael chose not to pay it too much attention. He was more interested in the ores he could extract from the mountain range.

    With that in mind, Michael used Extraction to release a single thin golden stream that shot deep underground. By releasing a single thin stream, Michael could expand the range of Extraction drastically. He could search for ore deposits with the thin golden stream to pinpoint the best location to extract ores with the lowest energy consumption. Afterward, he could get started for real.

    Michael''s second day in the Lord Rift passed swiftly as well. After his encounter with the five Lords, he focused fully on the extraction of rare and unique ores, which was also why he got to extract several tons of ores that were used for high-ranked Tier-2 and Tier-3 armaments.

    The second night passed but nobody felt like sleeping. Tiara and Masked Saber observed the surrounding area and conducted thorough research to pinpoint the location of potential enemies.

    They killed a few monsters, who found Michael while he was fully upied with the extraction of ores.

    Roughly 50 hours after the Lord Rift opened, Michael and the others noticed something odd.

    The stone of the mountain range was hotter than before, and the surrounding temperature seemed to have increased a bit.

    To be precise, the temperature continued to increase. This attracted Michael''s curiosity, and he began to seek answers.

    However, instead of finding answers, Michael found two Lords at dawn.

    "That''s Tac Lec," Michael realized when he recalled one of the figures fighting more than a kilometer away from his current position.

    Tac Lec was glowing silver indicating that he was using his Unique Racial Ability, and his Artifacts had been triggered as well, allowing Tac Lec to unleash powerful elemental attacks.

    Yet even then Tac Lec didn''t seem to be gaining an advantage against the Beast-like Lord he was fighting.

    A deep frown appeared on Michael''s face.

    "Who the hell is that?"

 Chapter 249 Taros Vs. Tac Lec

    ?

    Since Michael hadpletely digested the Memory Orbs of the five Lords and their subordinates, he was fully aware who Tac Lec was fighting.

    However, he couldn''t quite grasp how Tac Lec could be facing so much pressure fighting someone else ¨C especially after Tac Lec had activated his Unique Racial Ability. Even his Epic Tier-2 Artifacts'' enchantments had been triggered.

    "So that is Taros? The guy who dealt with the issue in Xiltra to obtain a Lord Rift entrance ticket from the council. That''s quite interesting," Michael said, his Eagle Eyes unleashed to see more details about the fight ahead of them.

    Michael would have loved to know more about Taros, but sadly, he hadn''t obtained many useful memories about Taros from the Memory Orbs.

    The only information Michael had about Taros was that he was a Demi-Human Lord. His ancestry was rumored to trace thousands of years back and was marred by a taboo. A member of a superior race had given birth to the child of a Divine Beast.

    Taros was said to be a descendant of that child, and rumors were ripe that he had awoken the fading bloodline of the Divine Beast coursing through him.

    But all of those were just rumors.

    On the other hand, it was a fact that Taros had single-handedly cleansed Xiltra from the spreading Chaos Essence that had infiltrated the Border City.

    It had been a while since Michael learned about the happenings in the Border City. Earlier, he had considered helping the innocent people in Xiltra, but he concluded that it was too dangerous.

    It was more likely that he would have been attacked and killed the moment he approached the Border City. Hence, it was better to invoke fear in his enemies ¨C even if innocent people had to suffer because of that.

    Michael didn''t feel proud of himself at that time, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to ensure that the Zentika Empire would think twice before initiating an attack and the incidents in Xiltra had been terrifying enough to sow the seeds of doubts and instill fear at the mere thought of entering the Untamed Jungle.

    "Should we join the battle when both are at their weakest?" Masked Saber asked, tightly clutching the ck saber''s handle.

    Tiara was also ready to fight and kill both Tac Lec and Taros. Michael was likely to obtain at least one Soultrait Symbol if they would kill and extract Tac Lec and Taros. That meant, Michael could obtain one more powerful Soultrait and one or more Epic Tier-2 Artifacts.

    It was definitely worth waiting for the golden opportunity and strike the two fighting powerhouses when they were at their lowest.

    "No, I''m fine," Michael shook his head.

    "Tac Lec didn''t kill me when he had the opportunity earlier. I don''t want to acknowledge it, but a life-and-death battle with Tac Lec would have killed at least one of us. The others would have been severely injured as well," He added, not really feeling like killing Tac Lec.

    It was fine to p him a little bit for flinging him through the air, but Michael didn''t desire to kill Tac Lec. Not right now, at least.

    "What about Taros then? If we knock Tac Lec out and kill Taros, you will get his Artifacts, and you might even obtain his Soultrait. He seems quite powerful given that he can deal with Tac Lec alone!" Tiara asked, but Michael shook his head again.

    "Taros'' territory lies in the Southern Ice Mountains. That''s on the other side of the Zentika Empire. He should survive to stir some trouble for the Zentika Empire in the future. That way, the Untamed Jungle will have more time to prepare for an all-out war against the Zentika Empire ¨C once it''s time for that," Michael exined, causing Tiara to issue a quiet "Ooh."

    Even if Michael wanted to kill Taros, the Lord of the Southern Ice Mountains was too valuable outside the Lord Rift. Michael hoped that Taros would grow much stronger with the gains he made in the Lord Rift and that he would stir a lot more trouble in the Zentika Empire upon returning.

    "For now, we should watch the battle. I want to see how strong they''re when they go all out," Michael said to silence Tiara and ensure that both Tiara and Masked Saber were ready to intervene.

    They took a few strides forward, reducing the distance from more than a kilometer to approximately 300 meters away from the core area of the battlefield.

    The battlefield of the two Tier-2 Lords didn''t affect a radius of more than two hundred meters around the area of collision. In fact, even 200 meters were quite a lot. It was unlikely that astray elemental attacks wouldnd 200 meters away from their designated position.

    Nheless, Michael made sure that he and his team kept a safe distance from the two fighting Lords.

    "Oh? Why is Taros always retrieving something from his War Rune? Is he eating something?" Masked Saber asked quietly when he saw what Taros was doing.

    It was a little bit weird watching the Demi-Human fight. His fighting style was brutal and could hardly be considered a ''style'', in the first ce. However, his powerful punches and kicks were strong enough to burst through the earthen walls and crush the earth spikes, water jets, and wind des that kept crashing into him.

    The wind des could barely scratch Taros'' skin, and the ordinary fireballs didn''t inflict any damage upon exploding on his body. The fireballs weren''t even strong enough to make his skin itch.

    However, Taros continued eating something that he kept retrieving from his War Rune''s storage space. Michael could detect what it was, but it didn''t really make sense.

    ''Meat? Why would he be eating meat mid-battle?'' Michael wondered, not too sure if his Eagle Eyes were fooling him.

    But that was not the case. After observing Taros for several minutes, Michael realized why Taros was always eating.

    "His Soultrait. He receives bursts of strength from eating," Michael said, concluding that the meat originated from a powerful monster with high nutritional value.

    ''If his Soultrait converts nutrients into temporary gains of power, he must be eating the meat of a Tier-3, or Tier-4 Monster right now. He burst the zing dragon head into pieces with his bare hands. How is that even possible without sustaining any injuries?!''

    Michael could tell that Taros'' physical strength was extremely high even without the bursts of strength. He was only at the Low-stage of the 2nd Tier, but his physical strength was much higher than a Mid-stage Tier-2 Superior Existence. The additional bursts of strength allowed him to gain even more strength for a short moment.

    It was actually quite weird that Taros'' physical strength was that high. However, he simply thought that his awakened Divine Beast bloodline must have increased his physical strength, turning him into a Lord with superior strength, tougher hide, and faster reflexes.

    Taros'' head looked like a cross between a human and a bird. But he didn''t seem to be the descendant of a Divine Bird. His hide was ck and covered by small darkish-brown scales, and his feet were thick like the legs of an elephant or tortoise.

    Overall, Taros'' body-frame was ginormous. He was only 2.5 meters tall, but his body was quite broad and packed with muscles. Despite the massive mass of muscles covering every inch of his body, Taros wasn''t slow.

    He might not be flexible but he was horrifying fast, forcing Tac Lec to retreat every now and then.

    Tac Lec tried to trick Taros into moving ording to his will, slowly pushing him into a disadvantageous position. But Taros didn''t allow Tac Lec to force him into doing anything. His brute force crushed every single n of Tac Lec.

    At one point in the battle, Tac Lec conjured three zing dragon heads and two aqueous dragon heads. They seemed to roar loudly before they were hurled through the air.

    They flew through the air and devoured the origin energy on their way in order to expand in size and grow into even more terrifying attacks. By the time the attacks reached Taros, each of the dragon heads was half of Taros'' size.

    Taros intended to move to the side but his legs were covered in several thickyers of a concrete-like substance that had been created bybining the power of the four basic elements.

    Unable to free his legs in an instant, Taros retrieved arge chunk of purple-shining meat alongside manifesting two war axes.

    He devoured the chunk of meat at once, causing his body to bulk up almost instantly.

    From Michael''s perspective, it looked like Taros'' body expanded in all directions. His muscles coiled and his veins popped out.

    Clouds of steam oozed out of Taros'' arms and a thunderous explosion rang through the surroundings as he shed the war axe in his right hand toward the first dragon head.

    He cut the dragon head in two parts with a mighty sh that seemed to cut through the fabric of reality.

    Even Michael couldn''t help but stare in astonishment when he saw space twisting where the dragon head had been cut in two parts.

    Taros issued two more shes, destroying two out of the remaining three dragon heads. The dragon heads didn''t even explode upon getting cut apart. They simply disappeared as if they''d never existed in the first ce.

    "What the hell is going on here?" Michael blurted out, only for his confusion to grow further as he saw a glimpse of something to the left side of the battlefield.

    Taros was about to sh at thest dragon head when a fist-sized cier-blue needle shot through the air, fast enough to create a soundwave.

    It shot past Tac Lec, and thest dragon head before crashing into Taros even before he could react.

    Taros was not injured, but greatly surprised. He could see the cier-blue icicle, yet he wasn''t fast enough to block it.

    It didn''t inflict any damage on his skin, however, the icicle burst apart, spreading its chilling air. The chilling air froze everything in its path, including Taros'' skin.

    Taros was a moment toote to block the iing dragon head.

    It crashed into Taros'' arm with the intention to devour him in his entirety. Yet, a burst of energy released by Taros was enough to destroy the dragon head.

    Taros grit his teeth while looking down at his bleeding arm. He had been injured by the dragon head. However, there was also difort caused by the partially frozen skin on his chest.

    He lifted his head after a moment and looked behind Tac Lec, where a few beings emerged out of nowhere.

    They had been invisible before and had approached the battlefield unnoticed by anyone.

    Not even Michael with enhanced Eagle Eyes had been able to detect them.

    "Seems like you need some help, Tac. We will dly help you defeat this gross bastard!" A hoarse voice rang through the surrounding.

    A group consisting of more than a dozen Lords had arrived atst.

 Chapter 250 Turn Of Tide

    The Zantur standing in front of the other Lords stared coldly at Taros as he manifested several cier-blue icicles.

    He released them without hesitation so as to weaken Taros and finish him off for good.

    However, before the icicles could pass by Tac Lec, a zing firewall shot out of the ground. The firewall was thick, and the mes were searing hot, melting the icicles near-instantly.

    "What do you think you''re doing?!" The Zantur bellowed, only for Tac Lec to respond with a shrug.

    "Don''t interfere in my fight, you bastard!" Tac Lec cursed before turning back to Taros.

    Taros clutched the frozen skin on his chest tightly. He then issued a grunt before tearing out the frozen skin from his body.

    Blood spilled to the ground, and shrieks of surprise echoed through the air, but Taros didn''t mind any of that. He retrieved arge chunk of the purple shimmering meat from his War Rune and devoured it at once.

    Secondster, his veins strained and his muscles tensed, while his bleeding stopped. Taros'' skin grew back within seconds, regenerating rapidly.

    Afterward, he picked up his War Axe again, and shed at his legs, which were still sealed in the concrete-like substance Tac Lec had created. His War Axes smashed down violently, destroying the concrete-like substance before cutting into his skin and flesh as well. Taros had used too much force to destroy the concrete-like substance.

    He only grunted and pulled his War Axes out of his legs. Blood gushed out of the wounds but Taros didn''t wince. His body healed rapidly, turning the cumbersome wound into a faint scratch.

    Fortunately, Taros'' healing speed wasn''t slower either. One more second, and he would have been faced with several elemental attacks impacting hard on his body, along with several other attacks.

    Tac Lec attacked Taros, hoping that the other Lords wouldn''t intervene. But instead of listening to him, the dozen other Lords burst forward with great speed to mercilessly attack Taros from all sides.

    "That doesn''t look good," Masked Saber said calmly.

    He turned to Michael, whose golden-glowing eyes flicked rapidly from the Lords to their subordinates. Michael was clearly trying to find out how strong everyone was and how great their teamwork was.

    "Well¡­fuck it," Michael cursed, retrieving Zark and the Typhern Leather Armor Set. He kept Eagle Eyes activated and followed up by using Enhancement on Zark three times in a row.

    "Attack them from beneath. They''ll be focusing on Taros, so they won''t notice you guys," Michael ordered before moving upward to reach a better position at a higher altitude.

    The mountain range was steep, but it was still quite easy to walk around for someone at the 2nd Tier. Nheless, the higher altitude would give Michael several advantages ¨C and the means to be seen easily, and distract the Lords to ensure that Tiara and Masked Saber could initiate a surprise attack.

    Michael didn''t go too far. He found a good position, condensed an energy arrow, and aimed for a second or two. Then he released the energy arrow that pierced the head of a Destors Summon the following second.

    The twang of his bow resounded in the surroundings, attracting the attention of some Awakened. However, before they could find Michael, a barrage of three energy arrows had found their designated targets.

    ''Four down, many to go,'' Michael mused in his mind as he condensed a fifth energy arrow.

    But before he could pull the bowstring back and get rid of the next victim, Michael''s eyes narrowed. He twisted his body and pulled his left leg back to spin his body to the side. The next instant, a barrage of cier-blue icicles shot past his upper body and head.

    If he hadn''t moved away in time, Michael''s head and upper body would have either gotten pierced by icicles or frozen upon the destruction of the cier-blue icicles.

    "Good thing I have Eagle Eyes," Michael thought aloud, pulling the bowstring back, and releasing the arrow in the next instance.

    He didn''t spend much time aiming precisely. Instead, Michael decided that he had attracted enough attention to release a barrage of arrows that would injure and annoy the Lords, and their subordinates.

    Michael''s intervention in the battle was a little unexpected. He chose to support Taros in the fight against Tac Lec and the dozen Lords.

    Why? It was pretty simple.

    Michael could gain a lot by killing a dozen Lords and their subordinates. First of all, the energy influx of the Lords, Awakened, and Summons was pretty great. He was currently still a Lowest-stage Tier-2 Lord, but Michael could tell that his refinement degree was improving slowly.

    Advancing to the next refinement stage was not easy after advancing to the 2nd Tier. The higher the Tier and refinement stage the more energy and time was required to progress. It was not something that could be taken lightly. After all, most Awakened, who survived the ordeals of the Origin Expanse for years were either stuck at the 2nd Tier or barely managed to advance to the Lowest-stage of Tier-3 ¨C only to fail to progress any further.

    But the energy influxes of his enemies were not something that could influence Michael enough to join a dangerous battle. His interest was more in the gains he could make by extracting the corpses of a dozen Lords, and their Awakened subordinates. Michael was bound to make huge gains if he waited patiently and struck at the right opportunity.

    Other than that, a dozen Lords were bound to have collected more loot from the Lord Rift than the five Lords he''d killed before. Why wouldn''t he join Taros to tackle and defeat a dozen powerful Lords if he could make huge gains in return? Michael entered the Lord Rift solely to be stronger and make as many gains as possible, after all!

    Taros and Tac Lec noticed the appearance of another unknown variable. But while a scary, devilish smile blossomed on Taros'' beast-like face, Tac Lec only shook his head.

    ''It''s you again?'' He could only think, conjuring several dragon heads which he threw at Taros.

    Even though Tac Lec wanted to fight Taros alone, he knew that he couldn''t back out now. The dozen Lords would rat him out the moment he stepped back from the battlefield.

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel That was a little annoying, but this didn''t mean that Tac Lec would hesitate to give his all fighting Taros.

    ''Maybe he can deal with those bastards.'' Tac Lec thought, looking over to the dozen Lords, who were splitting up to face Taros and Michael.

    ''Kill them so that I can annex their territory in the Zentika Empire!!'' Tac Lec shouted in his heart, d that he didn''t fight Michael until the end before.

    He knew how strong Michael was, and that he could have released even more power if he had been pushed a little bit further. That was also why Tac Lec wasn''t worried that Michael might die. On the contrary, Tac Lec was certain that Michael would easily defeat the annoying Lords of the Zentika Empire, creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him after the Lord Rift closed.

    He decided to focus on Taros, bombarding him withbined elemental attacks to slowly wear him down while the other Lords and their subordinates would ensure that Taros couldn''t move from the spot.

    The dragon heads impacted heavily on Taros'' body. Or that was what was supposed to happen. Yet, instead of exploding on Taros'' body and causing heavy damage, Taros'' arms moved rapidly. He first kicked one of his opponents away before slicing through the dragon heads.

    After the slice, he spun around his own axis, his War Axes acting as razor-sharp des that cut through the bodies of everyone daring enough to approach him.

    Only two Summons fell victim to his attack. In return, however, Taros was bombarded with mental attacks and a Soultrait that wore down his body, slowly tiring him out.

    But Taros ignored the weariness that was beginning to creep up his spine slowly. He kicked his feet off the ground and burst forward. The ground beneath his feet crumbled due to the tremendous force Taros released with a single kick, and he crossed a distance of more than ten meters at once.

    He appeared in front of a young Lionheart, who lifted his long shield with the aim to block Taros'' attacks.

    However, Taros just scoffed. The muscles all over Taros'' arms bulged as he used every bit of strength inside his body to cross-sh at the Lionheart.

    The War Axes'' des began to glow faintly as origin energy was channeled into them, just to see an afterimage of the cross-sh in the air as the War Axes cleaved downward.

    Following the afterimage of an ''X'' lingering in the air, blood gushed in all directions, and body parts flung through the air.

    Taros required a single sh to cut through the Lionheart''s long shield, armor, and body. He didn''t even seem exhausted.

    On the contrary, Taros seemed to gain more energy and strength after killing the Lionheart. He twisted his entire body to gain momentum with his right arm, which he flung around while simultaneously twisting his body. The War Axe whizzed through the air and crashed down on the head of the Lionheart''srade, splitting his skull at once.

    Taros'' movement speed seemed to gain a sudden boost due to the death of the other Lionheart, providing him the necessary speed and eleration to evade more than a dozen cier-blue icicles. Not even five minutes ago, Taros hadn''t been able to react fast enough to evade the icicles, but now he could easily follow their trajectory and evade them with great precision.

    His movements were sharp, and his mind seemed to be working much faster than before.

    Confidence and adrenaline surged through him as he retrieved one of his War Axes back into his War Rune to free one of his hands. The empty hand shot downward to pick up one of the dead bodies lying around.

    The first thing Taros did was to block a few more icicles using the dead body as a meat shield. Then he looked around and threw the body across the battlefield like a rag.

    The enemies using long-range attacks were quite bothersome. Fortunately, they had gathered in one ce, which made it much easier for Taros to strike them all.

    While Taros was dealing with the bombardment of Tac Lec''s elementalbo attacks, the barrages of the long-rangebatants, and a few annoying Soultraits that influenced his mind and struck him heavily where he could defend himself the least, Michael didn''t have it much easier either.

    A few arrows and icicles nearly struck him shortly after he joined the battle. The icicles were much faster than ordinary arrows, and even though their lethality was not that high, they could severely weaken the opponent as long as the target was struck.

    Michael was subjected to constant barrages of icicles quite a lot. At one point, more than a hundred icicles poured down on him.

    Even if he wanted to evade all of them, Michael knew that it was not feasible. He didn''t have the means to block a hundred icicles that shot through the air faster than most Tier-2 Lords could move.

    Thus, Michael knew that he had to endure it all. But he was ready for it!

 Chapter 251 Stealth And Destruction

    As more than a hundred icicles poured down on Michael, he reacted quickly.

    He used Enhancement on the Typhern Leather Armor Set twice and triggered the protection enchantments to protect himself from the worst before the hail of icicles impacted.

    Theyer of protection was quickly destroyed ¨C frozen due to the icicles that impacted though luckily not as heavily as expected.

    However, the freezing cold affected Michael quite a lot. His arms and upper body were struck by the remaining icicles, slowing down his movements quite a lot.

    His upper body was half-frozen.

    Under ordinary circumstances, Michael wouldn''t be able to do anything. His entire being felt as if it was covered in ice, which was only obvious. He was on the verge of freezing to death, after all!

    But Michael was not ordinary. He unleashed Extraction, enhanced by fouryers of Enhancement, choosing himself as the target of extraction. He then extracted the cold from his body, by focusing on the areas that had been frozen.

    In less than five seconds, Michael''s skin regained its usual color and his body temperature returned to the norm. Afterward, Michael was ready to jump back into the battlefield.

    Not even a second after he was ready to fight again, Michael was greeted by a small batch of enemies. One of them was already shing at him, his longsword less than a meter away from cutting deep into his body.

    Michael reacted instinctively. He pulled Zark back, condensed an energy arrow, and shot. The arrow collided with the longsword, forcefully terminating his enemies'' attack. In the next instant, Michael retrieved Zark and manifested the Wyverntooth Spear.

    He applied fouryers of Enhancement on the Wyverntooth Spear and shrouded it with anotheryer of Extraction''s golden streams. Afterward, two Spirit Whips appeared,shing out at the closest enemy.

    The Awakened didn''t expect two mental attacks to strike him suddenly, causing him to falter as the Wyverntooth Spear''s ck de shot forward. The de was thirsty for blood, which was exactly what it obtained. Piercing deep into the enemy''s neck, the ck de was instantly drenched in warm blood.

    The Awakened''s body writhed in pain and he stared into Michael''s dark eyes with nothing but pure hatred. He didn''t want to die. He didn''t want to end everything right here.

    There was still so much he had to do. Allowing everything to end right now was not something he could ept.

    However, the Awakened could clearly feel the lifeforce and origin energy inside him being drained rapidly. Even if he wanted to get up, he couldn''t feel his legs anymore. The Awakened slumped to the ground, slowly bleeding to death while the remnants of Michael''s golden streams drained his origin energy and lifeforce rapidly.

    Michael then used Enhancement on the Spirit Whips tosh out at the next opponent, breaking his mental defense before he appeared in front of his opponent.

    Michael moved rapidly, inflicting deep gashes in the opponent''s arms and legs to allow more golden streams to infiltrate the enemy''s body and end him from the inside.

    But before Michael could deal any actual damage, he noticed that a Lord appeared next to him. He was wielding a spear as well and seemed to be moving extremely fast.

    Suddenly, the spearhead seemed to split up into several more that shot toward Michael simultaneously.

    ''Is that an illusion, or are all of them real? I cannot differentiate between them!'' Michael cursed in his heart, jumping back to evade the iing spear thrusts. He avoided getting struck and continued to retreat. A batch of icicles hailed down as he retreated, forcing Michael to step aside and use Enhancement on the Eagle Eye Soultrait.

    He had to get a better understanding of the situation all around him more clearly to decide where to move and what to do at any moment in the battle.

    Slowly, Michael was being restricted in movements and put into a tricky situation. Whenever he attacked one of the Lords or their subordinates, the others initiated attacks. They attacked from the side, or created a hail of icicles that poured down on him.

    Yet, the smile on Michael''s face was never wiped off, but that was only obvious. Everything was going ording to his n, after all.

    Except Michael and Tac Lec, nobody knew about the existence of Tiara and Masked Saber. They made a big detour around the battlefield to avoid getting seen, and they hadn''t revealed themselves until now.

    That was not because they had suddenly gotten cold feet and didn''t dare to join the battle. On the contrary, Tiara and Masked Saber desired to join the battlefield as soon as possible.

    However, sometimes it was better to avoid a battle and prepare everything necessary to finish more enemies in a single wave.

    With that motive, Masked Saber drank several energy potions to fill his body with origin energy. He then spent several minutes to convert the origin energy flooding his body into silver energy. Masked Saberpressed the silver energy shrouding his saber, preparing for a big attack.

    After a few minutes of hard effort and the usage of everyst bit of origin energy spreading through his body, Masked Saber''s silver energy de was ready to be unleashed.

    Tiara acted as Masked Saber''s bodyguard. She protected him from potential danger and led Masked Saber silently to the outskirts of the battlefield.

    Once they went into position, Michael began to move. He retreated further, which was seen as a sign of defeat and a countermeasure for being unable to face the pressure of more than a dozen people attacking him at once.

    Unfortunately, his opponents misunderstood Michael''s actions. They couldn''t be more wrong with their thoughts.

    After Michael retreated far enough, Masked Saber''s muscles in his right arm bulged. His veins popped and he groaned loudly, shing horizontally through the air.

    Masked Saber unleashed a highlypressed silver energy de, which nearly caused all bones in his right arm to break the moment he released it.

    The highlypressed silver energy de elerated rapidly. It cut through the air, creating a whistling noise that rattled the very ground beneath it ¨C pulling everyone''s attention to it.

    At first, thepressed silver energy de didn''t seem all that dangerous. It didn''t exude any pressure and seemed like a big-sized crescent-shaped wind de with unique coloring.

    But the silver energy de was too fast. It was not possible for such a fast attack to exude no pressure. At the very least, the silver energy de should release some excessive origin energy, which could be used to indicate the strength of the iing attack.

    However, there was none. The attack had been sealed perfectly, allowing not a single trace of energy to be wasted.

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel What did that mean?

    Being able to create a an attack that didn''t exude the slightest bit of pressure nor a trace of origin energy meant that the creator of the attack had an extremely high mastery of the attack he used, and that the attack was crafted by striking a perfect bnce between stealth, and exceptional destructive force.

    It was not a weak attack one could afford neglecting.

    The perfectlypressed silver energy de was an attack one had to pay attention to ¨C if one wanted to survive that is.

    To the misfortune of most Awakened, and Summons obstructing the path of the silver energy de, not many realized the danger of the attack before it was way toote.

    Hard evidence for that were the blood-curdling screams of agony reverberating through the mountain range as blood, intestines and body parts sttered all over the battlefield, painting it red.

    Death and chaosy waste to the battlefield while the Grim Reaper reaped the poor souls, who didn''t realize how unpredictable life was until the very end.

 Chapter 252 Ruling Of The Strongest

    ?

    Masked Saber''s attack drained all of his origin energy. He couldn''t feel his right arm due to the force unleashed by thepressed silver energy de, and he was exhausted to the extent that he could copse at any moment.

    Michael saw Tiara rush to Masked Saber for support and that they slowly retreated in his direction.

    However, Michael had yet to finish the battle. Most opponents died facing the highlypressed silver energy de, but not everyone was dead yet.

    Four Summons, one Awakened, and three Lords were still alive; but only the Lords were nearly unscathed. The four Summons and the Awakened were swiftly taken care of.

    Michael merely reced the Wyverntooth Spear with Zark, pulled the bowstring back, and drilled an energy arrow in each of their heads.

    Since they were already injured, the five targets weren''t able to focus on Michael and the iing energy arrows. They screamed in pain due to their severe wounds, only to end up with the Grim Reaper''s soul-reaping scythe pressed against their necks as the arrows impacted.

    Meanwhile, five streams of energy influx entered Michael''s War Rune, allowing him to divert his attention to the three remaining Lords without any worries.

    Two of the Lords had to use the majority of their origin energy to erupt their Soultraits and block the silver energy de ¨C or evade it.

    They were bbergasted and stared nkly in Masked Saber''s direction, unsure how they missed noticing the subordinates of the Lord they''d been fighting.

    Their expressions were filled with regret, shock, and anger, yet there was nothing they could do to bring back their loyal subordinates.

    And their lives were on the line as well. The battle was still not over, after all!

    Michael released a few energy arrows to test how much they had been weakened before he retrieved Zark to manifest the Wyverntooth Spear once again. Severalyers of Enhancement shrouded his lower body, increasing his speed and eleration drastically.

    He turned into a blur as he sted ahead. Simultaneously, three fouryer enhanced Spirit Whips manifested around Michael.

    His head began to ache horribly, but Michael simply ignored the pain. If anything, Michael used the pain as a catalyst to break through his limit. He used Enhancement on the Wyverntooth Spear, just to apply Extraction''s golden streams to the Wyverntooth Spear as well.

    Michael moved across the battlefield with nimble steps. He created a feint by moving to the left before moving to the right. That way, he avoided the cier-blue icicles of the Zantur, the third Lord, who had survived Masked Saber''s attack.

    The Zantur still had some origin energy left inside his body, but his barrages of dozens of icicles ¨C directed at both Taros and Michael ¨C had drained him quite a lot.

    Even now, the Zantur was trying to face both Michael and Taros by using the cier-blue icicle Soultrait. It was indeed a powerful Soultrait that could be used to support hisrades-in-arm on several battlefields. The only issue was that the icicles were useless against Michael and Taros.

    Taros would rip out his frozen skin without a change in his expressions and his superior regenerative ability would heal him in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, Michael could use Extraction to remove the frost before it infiltrated his body.

    The only issue Michael faced while using Extraction on himself was his low mastery of using Extraction on himself.

    Until now, Michael rarely used Extraction on himself. In his two natural cleansings, his body had naturally expelled impurities, which was also why it had been far easier to extract the impurities within his body during that time. It was like his body had guided Extraction during those two times.

    But this guide didn''t exist when he tried to remove the freezing effect of the icicles from his body. Thus, he was stupefied by the freezing chill for a second or two whenever he was struck by the icicles, slowing his movements.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t have an issue with that anymore. Evading the icicles was no problem at this point.

    He appeared in front of the two exhausted Lords as they gulped down several energy potions. They clearly hoped to be able to unleash their full strength before Michael arrived. However, they were toote.

    Michael unleashed Extraction to extract the origin energy in the surroundings. He then shed through the air horizontally, slicing through the two exhausted Lords simultaneously.

    Two of the three enhanced Spirit Whipsshed out at one of them each, just for the ck spear de to slice through their chests as if it was a searing hot knife cutting tofu.

    Michaelshed out with the Spirit Whips a second time after the Wyverntooth Spear sliced through them. He then allowed Extraction to invade their dying bodies, draining their remaining lifeforce and origin energy rapidly.

    The Zantur tried to restrict Michael, but a wall of Extraction''s golden streams had already formed in front of him, extracting the icicles'' freezing effect before they passed through the gaseous golden wall to reach his opponent.

    Michael allowed the icicles to impact now that they couldn''t cause him any harm. Afterward, he shot forward with the aim to finish the Zantur and end the whole battle for good.

    However, just as Michael burst forth in the Zantur''s direction, Michael saw severalrge objects flying through the air ¨C right at the Zantur.

    ''Corpses?'' Michael immediately recognized the objects that had been thrown through the air. He looked over to Taros, just to see that the ferocious Demi-Human had already delivered a lethal blow on his opponent. He threw the corpses in the Zantur''s direction with the intention to bury him under them.

    However, the Zantur could evade most corpses. He was only hit by one of them, which was enough to push him down on the ground.

    By the time the Zantur tried to get up, Michael had already appeared in front of the Zantur. Extraction was fully unleashed, extracting the origin energy in the surroundings.

    Michael spun the Wyverntooth Spear in the air, turned it upside down, and struck at the defenseless Zantur, who was also under the constant assault of three fouryer enhanced Spirit Whips.

    The Zantur coughed up blood, but he was unwilling to give up. He condensed a few icicles mid-air, hoping to strike and kill Michael at once.

    But Michael''s spear was already right in front of the Zantur. It was only a few centimeters away from his face.

    "Noo¡­¡ª" He could barely utter in a weak desperate voice before the ck spear de was drenched in blood once again.

    The de cut easily through the Zantur''s silver skin, and it dug deep through his eyesocket, piercing his brain way too easily.

    By now, Michael was ustomed to death and murder. It was not a good feeling to kill his opponents, but the rules of the survival had been deeply imprinted in his mind.

    He knew that others would pounce on him and tear him apart the moment they obtained the golden opportunity. Thus, instead of giving others the opportunity to reap his life he preferred to be the merciless killer.

    Surviving and living properly was not easy in the Origin Expanse, but the rules were. Survive by all means and take whatever you can if you''re capable enough.

    The strong could do whatever they wanted, while the weak had to obey them in order to survive.

    And in this battle, Michael was going to survive. He had promised himself that he would gain everything and he was steadily progressing towards that goal. While he emerged victorious, the Lords, their Awakened, and their Summons lost what was the most precious to them; their lives.

    They had entered the Lord Rift, hoping to make the biggest gains ¨C even if that meant they had to kill other Lords ¨C only to end up as another Lord''s prey.

    Michael twisted the Wyverntooth Spear in the head of the Zantur before he pulled the weapon out of his target, finishing off the pesky opponent once and for all.

    Not even a momentter, a new energy influx entered his War Rune while Michael instinctively used Extraction on the Zantur to extract the remaining origin energy inside his body.

    He replenished his origin energy rapidly while looking over to Taros, who reciprocated his gaze with a devious glint.

    Taros tilted his head staring at Michael, gripping his war axes tightly.

    ''Shouldn''t he be tired by now?'' Michael wondered, averting his gaze to look between Taros and Tac Lec.

    The two of them had been fighting for quite a while before the dozen Lords arrived, and it was not like Taros fought vigntly. He was injured more often than anyone else on the battlefield. Even with superior regenerative abilities, Taros should be exhausted by now.

    Thus, Michael just nodded his head in Taros'' direction before he started to collect the corpses all around him.

    ''Oh? I already extracted his Soultrait Symbol? I hope they didn''t see that,'' Michael thought, slightly surprised when he saw the Soultrait Symbol of the Zantur popping up in the golden stream of Extraction.

    Nothing else had been extracted from the Zantur''s corpse yet. Thus, Michael quickly stored the Soultrait Symbol and the corpses in the War Rune''s storage space.

    Even though he looked like he was fully focused on collecting the corpses lying around on the battlefield, Michael was still vignt of Taros and Tac Lec.

    They seemed to have stopped fighting for the time being to stare at him intently.

    Michael''s body was still covered in the white hues of Enhancement, and his Artifacts were still manifested as well.

    If Taros or Tac Lec initiated an attack, Michael could react instantly. He was ready.

    However, they didn''t attack him. They simply kept staring at him for a while.

    ''Their Soultraits would be quite nice for my repertoire. Eating to grow stronger seems to suit me perfectly, and controlling the four basic elements seems quite nice as well,'' Michael thought in regret.

    Fortunately, he understood his situation very well.

    Michael was not exactly weak, but he had witnessed Taros'' fighting style. His brute force was terrifying, especially after he summoned the War Axes.

    Dealing with a bunch of Lords, whom he could injure to drain them slowly with Extraction, was possible. However, fighting a single individual like Taros or Tac Lec was not something Michael was good at.

    Hisbat style so far had been honed to fightrge-scale battles after all.

    [A/N: If you like the novel, leave a review behind.

    Since you''ve been voting a lot for the character illustrations on the website, I want to thank everyone for supporting the novel. Your help means much more than you can imagine.

    Thanks a lot!!

    Remark: If you want to see more illustrations, join my discord. The link is in my profile!]

 Chapter 253 The 8th

    ?

    "You''re the Lord of the Southern Ice Mountains, the Awakened who removed the Chaos Essence that took root in Xiltra, aren''t you?" Michael asked Taros after spending a few minutes in a stalemate situation with Tac Lec and Taros.

    He actually wanted to leave now that he collected most corpses, but his curiosity held him back.

    Michael wanted to know if Taros'' strength was mostly based on his unsealed Divine Beast bloodline, or if his Soultrait was the reason he was so strong.

    There was something odd about Taros, and Michael wanted to unravel the mystery.

    "You don''t look like a Lord of the Zentika Empire, so how do you know that Chaos Essence took root in Xiltra?" Taros asked with a strong dialect of the originnguage.

    He didn''t seem to be used to speaking in the originnguage often, given that his voice was hoarse and he seemed unfamiliar with the pronunciation of the words he used.

    "This guy over there is a Lord in the Untamed Jungle, and he destroyed part of the Untamed Jungle using Chaos Pills to kill some of Lord Targes'' Pdins. The Pdins, who survived the initial attack, unknowingly brought the Chaos Essence inside Xiltra. You know the rest," Tac Lec answered on behalf of Michael.

    Interestingly enough, Tac Lec didn''t seem to feel like fighting anymore. The Zantur was still vignt of surprise attacks, but he didn''t conjure new elementalbinations to bombard Taros with them.

    A smile filled with satisfaction had blossomed on his face. Tac Lec was clearly satisfied with the death of the dozen Lords and their subordinates.

    ''It seems like the Lords'' deaths will reward him with quite some benefits,'' Michael thought, his eyes moving to Tac Lec.

    Michael was quite surprised when he heard what Tac Lec said. He didn''t expect Tac Lec to know what he had done to defeat the 13 Pdins.

    Unfortunately, that also meant the Zentika Empire was well aware of what he was capable of, and how much pain and suffering his actions had caused to them while he was still a lower Tiered Lord.

    "I researched Chaos Essence quite a bit when I heard about the destruction a Tier-1 Lord caused in the Untamed Jungle''s outer area. You did quite well with the Chaos Pills, though it was definitely dangerous," Tac Lec answered Michael''s doubts while his head flicked to Taros.

    Taros'' war axes disappeared inside his War Rune, and his body deted back to his original size. Once his body regained its original size, Taros'' arms and legs began to shake.

    "Fuck this shit. I''ve been using my Divine Beast bloodline way too much to defeat these scums," He cursed, pointing at Tac Lec, who coughed up blood as well.

    The bright shimmer on his silver skin dimmed down following Taros'' words. Tac Lec had been using his Unique Racial Ability much longer than he intended to. The arrival of the dozen Lords had stirred quite a trouble for the trio.

    He stopped using his Unique Racial ability and sighed deeply. A few healing potions appeared in his hand with a flick of his wrist, and he gulped them down at once.

    "Don''t even think about attacking. I can burn my blood to exceed my limit. You don''t want to face me when I''m at my lowest. Desperate beasts are the fiercest, after all!" Taros threatened seeing that Michael was the only one with his Soultraits activated, and his Artifacts tightly gripped.

    "Don''t worry. I made enough gains by killing these Lords. You are probably more useful to me alive, either way," Michael said, trying to sound nonchnt.

    However, he was also getting tired slowly.

    Extracting the lifeforce and origin energy of other existences might help him to momentarily alleviate any pain and theck of origin energy. But unfortunately, the lifeforce and origin energy was not his. It belonged to someone else and had to be annexed and altered properly under normal circumstances.

    Michael couldn''t spend much time focusing on the annexation and alteration process mid-battle. Thus, he absorbed the lifeforce and origin energy just to use it up the next moment.

    The constant usage and absorption of energy and lifeforce that was not even his was quite draining. The exhaustion was slowly piling up and struck him once the adrenaline coursing through his body lessened ¨C which was immediately after the battle ended.

    Michael felt a little dizzy. He terminated the usage of all of his Soultraits and sighed heavily. A few ss vials appeared in his hands as well, and he swallowed the viscous liquid inside withoutints.

    By the time he finished the potions, Tiara and Masked Saber had reached him.

    They had been vignt of Tac Lec and Taros, ready to move around the battlefield and strike them from the back. But since Michael chose to avoid fighting the two Lords, they thought that it was better to move next to Michael.

    At least, they could protect Michael better by standing close to him.

    After seeing Masked Saber and Tiara from the Silverfang Tigerfolk, Taros changed his stance.

    He had been busy tearing apart a few Lords, Awakened, and Summons, and didn''t even notice that Michael brought his subordinates to the Lord Rift.

    "So you''re the Lord in the Untamed Jungle. Seems like our future goals are the same then. There is no need to waste our time with useless talk. We''ll see each other in the future, whether it will be as opponents or allies," Taros said, looking at Tac Lec and Michael before he turned around.

    He walked off and began marching toward the upper area of the mountain range without another backward nce.

    Michael was quite impressed with Taros'' confidence. He was not sure if he could walk off like that knowing that two potential enemies were staring at him from behind.

    Taros was not scared of getting stabbed in the back, but why?

    "You''re trying to annex the Zentika Empire, aren''t you?" Michael asked Tac Lec when he realized what Taros'' words meant, "Why?"

    Tac Lec''s attention moved from Taros to Michael. He stared straight into Michael''s eyes, but didn''t say a word.

    A whole minute of awkward silence passed but Tac Lec didn''t say anything. He simply turned around at one point and left.

    "Just say that you don''t want to tell me. No need to act mysterious like that," Michael grumbled.

    He was curious about Tac Lec''s reasoning and past, but he wouldn''t bother the Zantur with questions. There was no need.

    If Tac Lec desired to annex the Zentika Empire from within, why would Michael have anything against that? It yed straight into his cards!

    Left alone with no more enemies, or observing eyes, Michael turned to Masked Saber and Tiara to inspect their injuries. Michael took a look at Masked Saber''s right arm and channeled some of his origin energy into Masked Saber.

    Creating an attack like the highlypressed energy de was far from simple. Masked Saber overdrafted the origin energy inside his body to create it, causing a state of energy overcharge. Energy pills and potions may help Masked Saber a little but Masked Saber wasn''t able to control the origin energy inside his body right now.

    He required Michael''s help to circte the origin energy through his body and annex the energy slowly to alleviate the state of energy overcharge.

    Michael spent more than half an hour tending to Masked Saber''s condition even though themotion caused by the big battle was likely to attract monsters and other Lords. He didn''t care if someone woulde to find them. Treating Masked Saber was his highest priority.

    Nheless, it was great that nobody attacked them until Masked Saber felt a little better.

    They chose to leave quickly after collecting the corpses Taros left behind. Taros had been more interested in the mountain range than the corpses and the potential loot he could obtain from them.

    Michael was the exact opposite. He may not be able to Extract the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols of the Lords and Awakened he didn''t kill, but he could still extract arge number of Summoning Scrolls, the Artifacts bound to their War Rune, and the loot they collected inside the Lord Rift.

    Michael would never leave those treasure troves behind.

    Once the battlefield had been plundered, Michael and the others left. They decided to take a short break inside a small cave a few kilometers away from the mountain range where Tiara and Masked Saber stood on guard for potential dangers while Michael took a good look at the fortune they earned.

    Michael first retrieved the corpses of all Summons, the Awakened, and Lords that had been killed by Taros. He wouldn''t get any SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits from them, so he wanted to extract them quickly.

    Michael''s golden streams of Extraction emerged from his palms, they moved in the air as if they were alive and shot toward the corpses.

    After advancing Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait it was much easier and faster to extract corpses. Michael plundered the corpses within a few minutes, resulting in a vast fortune of Superior Tier-2 Monster corpses followed by all kinds of other rare treasures that could be easily found in the Lord Rift.

    The Lords and Awakened killed by Taros had even been able to find some rare saplings and seeds ¨C which Michael could nt to create a highly enriching ecosystem for rare trees and nts.

    Michael dissected the monster corpses while extracting the additional Summoning Scrolls and other loot he could extract via Extraction.

    Following that, Michael organized everything. He then retrieved the remaining corpses with a bright gleam in his eyes.

    He didn''t know what awaited him but he was quite excited.

    However, before Michael could start extracting the remaining corpses, he noticed that something was wrong with his body.

    His body felt eerily warm and his heart was palpating wildly.

    Barely a few seconds passed before he began to vomit blood.

    ''What is happening?''

    A throbbing headache crept up his brain, and he felt like he was going to suffocate.

    Suddenly, everything around Michael turned pitch-ck, except for a huge white pir that manifested in front of him.

    ''Huh? Isn''t that¡­'' Michael stared at the pir of light, slowly realizing what was going on.

    He had inadvertently entered his consciousness, the deepest part of his being, where the pir of light ¨C the heart of his War Rune ¨C was located.

    Eight Soultrait Symbols were revolving around the pir of light. They seemed in disarray and moving unstably.

    Only the Symbol of Extraction seemed stable and were exuding a golden light to form a glowing sphere of light.

    Michael squinted his eyes while looking at the golden sphere of light.

    ''What is going on here? And why do I have eight Soultrait Symbols? I should only have seven Soultraits!!''

    Even if Michael wanted to understand the situation, the appearance of a new Soultrait, and the creation of the sphere of light confused him quite a lot. And then there was the fact that his Soultraits seemed to be in disarray, all of a sudden.

    Michael didn''t even do anything special, yet everything inside his consciousness seemed to have changed.

    "Extraction, Eagle Eyes, Enhancement, Spirit Whip, Taming, Soul Grimoire, Mind Reader, ¡­ and cicle?" Michael murmured trying to figure out what was going on.

    "cicle¡­isn''t that the Soultrait of the Zantur? Didn''t I store it inside the War Rune''s storage space? Why did it fuse with me?!"

    Michael had no idea how that happened, but cicle seemed to have fused with his War Rune. It was a Soultrait with zero stars. The outlines of the first star could be seen dimly, but they were extremely weak.

    ''I didn''t obtain any information from cicle''s description and effects because it''s not even a full-fledged Soultrait after I extracted it. Did the War Rune identally absorb the Soultrait instead of storing it because it''s not even aplete Soultrait yet?'' Michael was not sure if his theory made sense, but he didn''t know what else it could have been that drove the oue.

    However, one thing was for sure; fusing with cicle was the only thing that changedpared to before ¨C and it was most likely the reason for his suffering.

    Fusing with cicle ¨C his 8th Soultrait ¨C caused a drastic reaction that affected his entire being.

    If Michael didn''t want to end up in an even worse state than he was, he had to find a solution ¨C quickly.

    Otherwise¡­

 Chapter 254 Sphere Of Light

    ?

    Michael had very limited knowledge about the problems that could ur by fusing too many Soultraits to his War Rune. In fact, only a handful of Awakened all over the Origin Expanse would know what would happen if they manifested eight Soultraits. It was not exactly amon urrence, after all.

    ''Maybe if I upgrade cicle to aplete 1-Star Soultrait something will change?'' Michael mused, not really sure how much impact upgrading cicle would have.

    But even if it was not that impactful, Michael didn''t know what to do, in the first ce. There was not much to do other than experimenting a little.

    With that in mind, he willed some of the SoulStar Fragments stored near the pir of light to move toward cicle.

    Michael pushed a handful of SoulStar Fragments towards the Symbol of cicle, yet only two SoulStar Fragment reached the Soultrait. This surprised Michael quite a bit. He ignored the stream of cicle''s Soultrait information, which had begun to enter his mind slowly, and focused on the movements of the remaining SoulStar Fragments instead.

    The SoulStar Fragments Michael had willed were subtly pulled toward the sphere of golden light that expanded around the Symbol of Extraction.

    As the SoulStar Fragments collided with the sphere of light they burst apart. The strand of soul power that had been stored inside the SoulStar Fragment was unleashed and devoured by the sphere of light. The sphere of light''s glow intensified; a clear indicator of it being nourished by the soul power of the SoulStar Fragment.

    ''Hmm? What is this sphere of light? It can even absorb SoulStar Fragments.'' Michael wondered, only for his attention to move back to cicle.

    Under normal circumstances, a starless Soultrait shouldn''t require more than two SoulStar Fragments to upgrade to a 1-Star Soultrait. After all, it usually required three to five SoulStar Fragments to upgrade a 1-Star Soultrait to a 2-Star Soultrait. Yet, cicle''s 1st Star hadn''t been fully formed yet.

    Michael frowned seeing this, but he chose to ignore the confusing feeling that spread through him as he continued to invest SoulStar Fragments to upgrade cicle. This time, however, he focused on the cicle Soultrait to see how many SoulStar Fragments it required to be upgraded.

    10 SoulStar Fragmentster, Michael''s frown deepened.

    ''It took 12 SoulStar Fragments toplete cicle? Why would it be so expensive?'' Michael asked himself, in bewilderment.

    He then moved his attention to Eagle Eyes to see if there was something wrong with just cicle, or if his other Soultraits required more SoulStar Fragments to be upgraded as well. After he used more than 30 SoulStar Fragments on Eagle Eyes, realization dawned upon him.

    ''Why are all Soultraits so expensive to be upgraded all of a sudden? Is it because I added an 8th Soultrait? Maybe, the War Rune cannot sustain more than seven Soultraits.''

    Various theories formed in his mind, but one was absurder than the other. Most of them didn''t make any sense, in the first ce.

    At the end of the day, Michael couldn''t find out the reason all Soultraits were suddenly more expensive to be upgraded after cicle fused with his War Rune. If he had to guess something it might be the fact that the human soul couldn''t endure the toll of fusing with more than seven Soultraits. That was the theory that made most sense in Michael''s opinion.

    Of course, this theory might still be wrong.

    Unsure what to do now, Michael experimented a little bit more with his Soultraits. For every SoulStar Fragment he used to upgrade his Soultraits another SoulStar Fragment was used to nourish the sphere of light.

    Michael did this intentionally, hoping that the sphere of light would provide the answer he sought. It didn''t seem dangerous and the Extraction Symbol was at its center.

    At one point, Michael began to invest SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Extraction. It was a mere experiment with little to no hope to change anything. However, that tiny strand of light at the end of the dark tunnel began to shine brighter when Michael noticed something.

    "Extraction''s SoulStar Fragment demand didn''t increase? It stayed the same!" He eximed as his eyes widened in surprise.

    Once he realized that Extraction didn''t require more SoulStar Fragments, it didn''t take long before Michael made another discovery.

    ''The sphere of light formed a socket that revolves around the Symbol of Extraction¡­ Could that be helpful?'' Michael mused, instinctively willing Eagle Eyes to move to the empty socket that was revolving around the Symbol of Extraction.

    Afterward, Michael spent a few more SoulStar Fragments to see whether upgrading Eagle Eyes was still expensive or if it returned to the original cost of upgrade.

    It only took ten SoulStar Fragments for Michael to reach a final conclusion.

    "Eagle Eyes''s demand for SoulStar Fragments is still not the same as before, but it''s not as cheap as before. The sphere of light seems to control how much upgrading Soultraits costs."

    After his initial discovery, Michael spent most of the remaining SoulStar Fragments to nourish the sphere of light. Initially, he had 1193, but his experiments cost him close to 200 SoulStar Fragments. Michael spent the rest nourishing the sphere of light, which expanded in size upon digesting 1,000 SoulStar Fragments in the blink of an eye.

    Michael felt a little difort spreading through his body upon nourishing the sphere of light. It felt like something inside him was changing slowly. However, the final result was not a bad feeling. On the contrary, he felt pretty good after more empty sockets manifested within the sphere of light.

    The sockets were in different positions ¨C some closer to the Symbol of Extraction, some farther away ¨C, however, all sockets were revolving around the Symbol of Extraction.

    Once a total of seven sockets had been formed, the Soultrait Symbols began to vibrate violently. They moved around in unpredictable patterns, causing great harm to Michael, who began to vomit blood once again.

    He was not sure what was going on, but he could see that only the Eagle Eyes and Extraction Soultrait were calm and unmoving while the rest were moving frantically, making him feel uneasy.

    Michael may not understand what the sphere of light was, but he could tell that he needed it. He willed his Soultraits to enter the sphere of light, where he embedded them in the empty sockets one by one.

    Only then did the Soultrait calm down.

    Once the Soultraits calmed down, Michael didn''t feel like vomiting blood anymore. His condition improved immediately, and he could pay more attention to the sphere of light, and the changes that urred to him after binding the 8th Soultrait to his War Rune.

    ''The cost of upgrading a Soultrait is determined by the distance the sockets have to the core of the sphere of light, right?'' Michael asked himself, knowing that he would have to experiment a little bit more before he coulde to a conclusion.

    He left his consciousness and got up from the ground. Meanwhile, Masked Saber and Tiara stood next to him, staring at their Lord and Master with worry.

    "Are you fine? What happened?" Masked Saber asked when he noticed that Michael seemed to have stopped puking blood and was in a condition to talk.

    Tiara bent down to help him get up, but she realized that something about Michael had changed. Michael''s expression and everything were still the same as before, yet something had changed about his presence.

    Somehow, he felt a little bit more like a deadly predator than before. The danger she perceived from him naturally was much higher than before.

    "Did something happen to you, Master?" Tiara could only ask, unsure of what had just happened to Michael.

    "I am fine. I just encountered a small issue with my Soultraits. But it''s solved now. There is no need to worry," Michael responded to Masked Saber and Tiara, forcing a smile on his lips.

    He wiped the blood around his lips and focused on the corpses of the 8 Lords and 9 Awakened he and Masked Saber had killed in the previous battle.

    After unleashing Extraction, he quickly extracted the corpses'' SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Artifacts, the loot they''d procured in the Lord Rift, and more.

    Michael gained a total of seven Soultrait Symbols and 719 SoulStar Fragments. Upon extracting the Soultrait Symbols afterward, Michael was able to umte a total of 1363 SoulStar Fragments.

    That was more than enough to continue experimenting with the sphere of light, and the changes in the upgrade cost for his Soultraits.

    He used roughly 100 SoulStar Fragments to figure out how expensive upgrading the Soultraits was in the different spots all over the sphere of light before he concluded that Extraction was the cheapest to upgrade and that the cost of upgrading the other Soultraits increased exponentially the further the distance to the center of the sphere of light.

    "If that''s the case¡­can''t I just switch their position whenever I want to upgrade them?" Michael murmured quietly to himself before he gave switching the position of his Soultraits a try.

    His train of thought was quick, but reality was cruel. Extraction couldn''t be moved away from the center of the sphere of light. It felt like the entire sphere of light would crumble the moment Michael tried to move it. Thus, he quickly forgot about moving another Soultrait to Extraction''s central position.

    The other Soultraits couldn''t be moved either, but they didn''t cause the sphere of light to crumble when he attempted to move them.

    That was also why Michael chose to use Extraction on a few Soultraits to see if he could extract them from the sphere of light''s sockets, and if it was worth moving them around.

    Michael spend the next half an hour experimenting with the sphere of light. Unfortunately, the results were rather unpleasant.

    It was possible to extract the Soultraits from the sphere of light''s sockets, but he lost SoulStar Fragments while extracting the Soultrait Symbols. The loss was not small either. He lost between 10% to 20% of the umted Soul Power while extracting the Soultrait Symbols.

    That meant low-level Soultraits with a Soul Power of 10 would lose one or two Soul Power Units, while those stronger Soultraits with a soul power of 200 would lose 20 to 40 Soul Power Units.

    This ruined Michael''s n to keep switching his Soultraits'' position to ensure that the cost of Soultrait upgrades wouldn''t be enormous. It also meant that Michael had to figure out which Soultraits he should focus on, and which Soultraits didn''t require his focus. After all, investing twice the amount of SoulStar Fragments to upgrade certain Soultraits ¨C that were located further away from the center of the sphere of light ¨C wasn''t really worth it.

    ''Enhancement and Eagle Eyes are still the best Soultraits forbat and other purposes. But what about Spirit Whip?'' Michael asked himself, scratching the back of his head.

    There were only three sockets located close to Extraction, and one of it had already been upied by the Eagle Eyes Symbol. Enhancement was the Soultrait he used the most inbat. It was the most versatile Soultrait he possessed, granting him great opportunities mid-battle.

    This left only one more empty socket that granted a low upgrade cost for Soultraits. The other sockets were located farther away from the sphere of light''s center, increasing their upgrade costs by more than 50%.

    "Forrge-scale battles, cicle will be much better than Spirit Whip ¨C especially if I use Enhancement to strengthen the cicles," Michael mumbled, "I can still upgrade Spirit Whip to 5-Star, but I am not sure if Spirit Whip''s enhancement will have a big impact if I keep focusing on it. cicle, on the contrary, can turn into a terrific Soultrait that requires little to no focus to create a barrage of hundreds of cicles."

    Michael was not happy that he had to organize his Soultraits, but he could understand why it was like that.

    The human soul was never supposed to handle eight Soultraits at the same time. However, Michael had broken the established norms.

    It was a little bit annoying, but it was also something Michael could be proud of.

    Furthermore, the increased upgrade cost wasn''t too much of a problem. After all, he would still focus only on a handful of Soultraits. Nothing had changed, or so Michael thought.

 Chapter 255 Councils Conditions

    ?

    After a long time, Michael finally finished arranging the constetion of his Soultrait Symbols.

    Extraction was the sphere of light''s core, while Eagle Eyes, Enhancement, and cicle formed the inner area that revolved right around the Symbol of Extraction.

    The middle area had two sockets which were upied by Spirit Whip and Taming, only for Soul Grimoire and Mind Reader to fill the outermost sockets in the ''outer area''.

    Michael had yet to find a significant use for Soul Grimoire and Mind Reader. Thus, he rather focused on his other Soultraits for the time being.

    In the worst case, he could spend 2.5x the original cost to upgrade the Soultraits in the outer area. It may be expensive, but it was better than removing a Soultrait from the inner area to switch the position of his Soultraits once again.

    "This is so difficult," Michaelined silently, fully understanding that the situation wouldn''t get easier.

    On the contrary, he could tell that for every new Soultrait he bound to his War Rune, he would have to spend more SoulStar Fragments to create a new socket in the sphere of light.

    Michael actually thought about removing Soul Grimoire and Mind Reader from his War Rune just to decrease the number of his Soultraits. Unfortunately, the sphere of light could only work properly as long as all of its sockets were upied. That meant Michael had to ce all eight Soultraits in the sockets, otherwise, the sphere of light would malfunction and possibly be destroyed.

    Unsure whether he could repair or recreate the sphere of light if something were to go wrong, Michael did not dare to take the risk of damaging the sphere of light.

    Thus, he had to live with the consequences of possessing eight Soultraits.

    "Well, it''s not too bad. Everything is rather organized, and the difference in the amount of SoulStar Fragments required in the inner area vs. the middle area is only an increase of 50%. It''s still feasible to upgrade Spirit Whip once I''ve umted enough SoulStar Fragments," Michael told himself before moving his attention to cicle.

    Michael had spent 100 SoulStar Fragments to experiment a little with the increase of upgrade cost inside the sphere of light. Thus, he had only 1263 SoulStar Fragments left.

    He then used some of the remaining SoulStar Fragments to make up for the loss of Soul Power Units some of his Soultraits encountered when Michael had used Extraction to switch the positions of the Soultraits inside the sphere of light.

    Moving them around had been quite expensive for Soultraits with 4-Stars and above. He had to spend more than 500 SoulStar Fragments to make sure that his Soultraits were as strong as they had been before!

    Fortunately, that left more than 700 SoulStar Fragments at Michael''s disposal.

    He immediately used 336 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade cicle to 4-Stars. This resulted in a flood of information entering his mind, providing him with basic information about cicle''s power, its effects, and certain special functions.

    ''It should require a little bit more than 3000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade cicle to a 5-Star Soultrait. Spirit Whip will probably require close to 4,500 SoulStar Fragments. I should start collecting more SoulStar Fragments,'' Michael told himself and realized what a tough task he had set up for himself.

    It was actually not that easy to harvest SoulStar Fragments. However, the Lord Rift was a golden opportunity to change this since even monsters dropped SoulStar Fragments in here.

    Thinking about the monsters of the Lord Rift, Michael diverted his focus to the loot he plundered from the Lords and Awakened he and Masked Saber had killed.

    There was a big mountain of corpses and other loot waiting for him to dissect and organize.

    Michael had lots of work to do.

    Three hourster, more than 300 Superior Monster corpses had been dissected, looted, and tightly secured inside his spatial pouch.

    The Lord Rift''s countdown was slowly moving closer to thest phase, leaving less than one and a half days for Michael to make some more big gains.

    "If we enter the abandoned town to search for natural Artifacts and other heavenly treasures, we will definitely be attacked. But is that really something we should avoid? If they want to kill us, there is no reason for us to show mercy, right? Killing the Lords of the Zentika Empire can only benefit us and the territory," Masked Saber said when he saw that Michael was thinking about their next move.

    Michael knew that Masked Saber was right. Like always, Masked Saber''s words made sense. Nheless, Michael felt that something was wrong.

    It was obvious that some Lords would enter the abandoned town to prey on others, but after seeing two groups of Lords fighting side-by-side, Michael felt that the hierarchy in the Zentika Empire was not that simple. That was something Michael reaffirmed with the Memory Orbs he had obtained from the Lords and Awakened he and Masked Saber had killed.

    Some of the Lords didn''t want to work with other Lords. They would rather travel through the Lord Rift on their own. However, most Lords of the Zentika Empire had been forced to work with others due to the conditions the council had forced upon them.

    These conditions were tied to the Lord Rift entrance tickets which the Lords had only been granted by the council after they epted to obey the stronger and work together with them to ensure that the Zentika Empire gained the most.

    While it was correct that the Zentika Empire benefited a lot if the Empire''s Lords worked together, it was also true that the weaker individuals barely received scraps. Their biggest gains would be the corpses of the Superior Existences they had killed.

    Considering that the Lord Rift was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, most Lords were displeased at the thought of working with other Lords ¨C especially the arrogant folks, who would order them around as if they were their ves. In exchange for that kind of treatment, they would only obtain a few monster corpses as well. It was truly frustrating.

    But even then, all the Lords, who had been chosen by the Council still agreed to the conditions.

    Why?

    Entering the Lord Rift was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not only was it possible that they might gain a lot more than they initially thought, but it was also an honorable task. Thousands were dying to get the chance so being chosen as trustworthy and powerful enough to enter the Lord Rift and bring back as much gains as possible would increase their social standing by a lot.

    It would bring them honor and glory throughout the Zentika Empire.

    Honor may not feed them, but the thought of additional gains certainly did. Thus, the weaker Lords could only obey and temporarily be the helping hands of the stronger Lords. They epted the condition of the council and obtained a Lord Rift entrance ticket.

    "Only Tac Lec and a few other Lords were able to procure their own Lord Rift Entrance ticket. That means we might have to face bigger groups of Lords if we''re entering the abandoned town," Michael pointed out, but Tiara only gave it a shrug.

    "But will that really be a problem for us, Master? Our teamwork is great, and we''re stronger than most enemies either way. Masked Saber''s silver energy de is extremely powerful, my Soultraits are not weak either, and you are¡­well, you are our Master, and in possession of severalbat-rted Soultraits. Even Tac Lec and Taros wouldn''t have an easy time fighting you despite having a higher degree of refinement and better Artifacts!" Tiara dered pridefully.

    Michael could understand her point of view, but he shook his head. There was something else he forgot to mention earlier.

    "Since we know that the Lords in a group have all epted the conditions of the empire''s council, we know that they''ll start searching for the outsiders in thest 20 hours of the Lord Rift''s countdown. The memories of two Lords showed me that the Zentika Empire''s council wants to get rid of all outsiders to ensure that only they could gain something from the Lord Rift. The Lord groups will search for us and attack with their numerical advantage and great fighting power," Michael said, revealing another important piece of information, which he had found out from a Lord''s Memory Orb.

    He looked at the response of his subordinates, smiled slyly, and added, "That being said, I think we should strike the groups of Lords first. If they''re going to attack us either way, we might as well stride forward and take them by surprise!"

    Michael''s strategy was quite simple at this point. If others wanted to harm him, his people, or his territory, they would be his enemies. And enemies had to be removed as quickly as possible to ensure that they couldn''t cause any trouble.

    Michael was fully aware that he changed a lot during thest few months. Instead of being afraid or hesitant of ending the lives of living beings, Michael could mercilessly strike his enemies.

    He was still very vignt of others, and careful before he jumped into action, but he never had a second thought once he identified his opponents.

    Now that he found out who his enemies in the Lord Rift were, Michael was ready to strike them first.

    There was no hesitation in his actions as they began moving closer to the center of the Lord Rift. He had spent more than enough time harvesting rare nts, herbs, trees, and extract ores.

    It was about time that the Hunters went on their next kill!

    Meanwhile, the temperature in the Lord Rift continued to rise.

 Chapter 256 Hail

    ?

    Tiara ran through the densely grown forest as fast as she could. Her feet carried her quickly past the thick undergrowth while her eyes moved left and right to keep track of the surroundings.

    She utilized her Soultrait to keep changing her trajectory without losing her momentum. Because of the sudden changes in her movement pattern, nobody could tell where exactly she was headed to.

    This forced the pursuers behind her to keep following Tiara, unable to reach her.

    Not even a full hour had passed since Michael decided that it was time to hunt the Lord groups in the Lord Rift when Tiara ended up being hunted by arge group of more than ten Lords!

    It was difficult to catch her, but some of the Lords managed to inch closer to her.

    It was only a matter of time before they would arrive next to Tiara and catch her.

    When Tiara noticed that her movement speed wasn''t enough anymore, her pupils changed color and shape. Fur began to grow out of her body, and Tiara''s presence became wilder and more ferocious. Her movement speed elerated again, allowing Tiara to increase the distance between her and the hunting Lords.

    A few projectiles whizzed through the air with a terrifying velocity, but Tiara evaded them using her Soultrait to change her movement pattern instantaneously. Even after more than ten projectiles came flying toward her at the same time, Tiara was not scared. She used her Soultrait repetitively, nimbly evading the projectiles.

    After a pursuit of more than five minutes, Tiara reached the small ins bordering the densely grown forest. She didn''t hesitate to push through the foliage and emerge in the small in where she continued to run with all her might.

    The hunting Lords continued to pursue her, being unable to go against the order they had been given by the Zentika Empire''s council. Their mission was to hunt down all outsiders, and Tiara from the Silverfang Tigerfolk was most definitely not part of the Zentika Empire.

    They pushed their bodies through the densely grown forest and finally escaped the forest, ready to elerate to catch and kill Tiara at any moment.

    Their focus was on Tiaras o they were unable to detect the gradual rise in temperature around them. By now, the Lord Rift''s dimension was extremely hot. It felt like they were in a desert in thete afternoon. Yet, the surrounding area of the hunting Lords felt much morefortable than anywhere else. It felt like a cold gust kept brushing past them, refreshing the men and women from the Zentika Empire.

    To their misery, the cold gust was not a good omen. On the contrary, it was the Grim Reaper''s sign, a clue that their lives were hanging on a silky thread.

    It didn''t take long before thest Lord and his subordinates found their way out of the dense forest, and it was only at this point that the situation all around the hunting Lords changed drastically.

    The faint cold gust was cut through by a freezing cold that swept through the surroundings, epassing all hunting Lords simultaneously. Their subordinates were also affected, causing some of the more cautious Lords to look around them.

    However, it was toote when they finally looked up at the sky.

    A hail of more than a hundred cicles was already pouring down on the Lords and their subordinates.

    Some screamed out in terror, understanding that they wouldn''t be able to react fast enough to block all attacks. Meanwhile, others lifted their shields, triggered the protection enchantments of their Artifacts, or erupted with their Soultraits instinctively in an attempt to protect themselves.

    But no matter what they did, nobody was fast enough to block all cicles. Their velocity was extremely fast. Not even Taros could react fast enough to block them even though he had more time to react than the hunting Lord on the small in.

    The cicles poured down with great velocity and burst into countless ice shards when they impacted. Upon shattering, the cicles exuded a freezing chill that spread rapidly on their target''s surface. The frost affected the utility of enchantments and engravings and froze the skin and flesh of the beings it came in contact with.

    The hunting Lords didn''t even realize what happened to them before they were already under attack.

    Michael didn''t have a high mastery of the cicle Soultrait yet, but it was a 4-Star Soultrait that didn''t require much origin energy or focus for ordinary attacks. The only issues in terms of energy consumption and required focus only arose when too many cicles had been manifested.

    The downpour of 125 cicles was already Michael''s limit with his current mastery. Even then, it was only possible to manifest 125 cicles because he''d used Enhancement three times on the Symbol of cicle, enhancing the power of all cicles while simultaneously reducing the focus required to keep the cicles in one ce before they were released.

    cicle was a pretty simple Soultrait. Its most-used function was the basic function with which Michael could manifest a small cier-blue icicle. The Icicle was extremely potent, but not deadly. It could only freeze everything in its immediate surrounding upon shattering.

    However, that was also the reason Michael picked cicle over Spirit Whip. Spirit Whip was hard to use against enemies with great mental defense and high mind power. It was also an attack that could only be used sessfully if the enemy didn''t expect a mental attack.

    That may be great, but it was not as if Michael wanted to rely on the possibility of his enemy being unguarded against mental attacks. After all, Michael knew that he would fight stronger opponents in the future. Most stronger opponents had already experienced mental attacks and guarded themselves against them.

    Thus, Michael was quite satisfied with cicle. Against opponents of a lower Tier, it would be lethal, while enemies of the same Tier would struggle to counter the rapid speed of the long-range attack.

    Even then, Michael could still utilize Spirit Whip. It was a powerful 4-Star Soultrait that could be utilized in great ways.

    The more Michael thought about it, the more satisfied he was with the gains he made in the warfare against the Jungle Expedition and by participating in thepetition for the Lord Rift''s loot.

    At the moment he was seated on a thick branch high up in the trees near the border to the small in and continued observing the hunting Lords for quite a while.

    He waved his hand to conjure dozens of cicles in the air and released them with a burst of energy to freeze the enemies, who had been able to evade most cicles.

    Afterward, Michael retrieved Zark. He used Enhancement on Zark three times and pulled the bowstring back. A condensed energy arrow was nocked on the bowstring which he released in the next second.

    The arrow whizzed through the air rapidly. Nheless, it was much slower than the third batch of cicles Michael released after shooting the first energy arrow.

    At this point, the hunting Lords and their subordinates had been struck with three or more cicles. Most hit their upper bodies, but there were also cicles that hit their legs, restricting their movement by freezing their thighs, calves, and joints.

    Satisfied with this, Michael chose to start the bombardment of energy arrows, precisely picking the enemies, who had yet to regain their senses, or those who couldn''t protect themselves against the tremendous force of Zark''s energy arrows.

    By the time six enemies had been killed, Tiara had turned around as well. The silver fur growing out of her body had thickened and she radiated the presence of a true predator. Her presence hung thick in the air, causing terror in the hearts of those she attacked with her silver spear.

    ''This transformation affects your emotions a bit too much,'' Michael mused. He could tell that Tiara was much stronger and that her instincts were on a whole different level whenever she began to transform, but it was also obvious that she wouldn''t back off to retreat strategically, and that she would charge ahead no matter what happened.

    That bothered Michael quite a bit because even if it didn''t put her in danger against the hunting Lords, it could be a problem in the future.

    Michael took a deep breath and jumped down from the tree branch. He switched Zark with the Wyverntooth Spear before applying fiveyers of Enhancement on the Wyverntooth Spear. A burst of strength passed through his body and he turned into a blur as he shot forward like a rocket.

    He continued creating dozens of cicles which he released with a burst of energy. The cicles'' effect increased in intensity upon shattering at the exact same spot as before. The freezing effect spread deeper into the bodies of the enemies, chilling their bones and further slowing them down. Slowly but steadily, they were worn down even before Michael arrived in front of them.

    However, the situation grew much worse once Michael reached his first opponent. First, he manifested a dozen cicles all around his body to shoot toward the young Destors before condensing a Spirit Whip that struck heavily on the Destors'' mind. Only the white in the Destors'' dark eyes was visible as the dozen cicles prated deep inside him.

    Wasting no time, Michael thrust the Wyverntooth Spear deep into his chest, allowing Extraction to infiltrate the Destors'' body and drain his lifeforce and origin energy.

    Afterward, Michael twisted the de and pulled it out, leaving a dying and half-frozen Destors behind on the ground.

 Chapter 257 Bloodlust

    ?

    Michael and Tiara moved through the battlefield with nimble and deadly movements.

    Most of the hunting Lords and their subordinates were half-frozen by now. Their strength deteriorated quickly, and it grew increasingly more difficult to move around.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s movements grew smoother. He was having less difficulty controlling the cicle Soultrait, and it became increasingly easier to endure the headache creeping up his mind.

    At this point, Michael could only experiment with his Soultraits. Other than Taming, Soul Grimoire, and Mind Reader, he could use all of his Soultraits forbat. The Soultraits could bebined wildly, creating a wide variety of uses. This was also why Michael felt extremely great even though his head felt like splitting apart.

    Noe even draining the lifeforce and origin energy of the half-frozen bodies lying around him could relieve him of his headachepletely. It was only possible to reduce the pain and make it easier to bear while continuing to use his Soultraits wildly.

    He was not sure how much time had passed, but Michael and Tiara ended up defeating thest hunting Lord at one point. The hunters had be the hunted and ended up as miserable corpses spread all over the battlefield.

    After ensuring their opponents were dead, Tiara appeared next to him, her cheeks flushed red in excitement. The silver fur all over her body was slowly retracted, allowing her to regain her original appearance. Nheless, the flush on her cheeks and her excitedly wagging tail were clear indicators of her bloodlust.

    She was not yet satisfied.

    ''How can someone like her be a maid in the Origin Expanse? She is not even a Native. What happened to her to be subordinate to the Will of the Origin Expanse?'' Michael asked himself once again.

    It had been quite a while since he thought about it, but he was still curious about Tiara''s origin, and her race. The Silverfang Tigerfolk must have been quite powerful if they had people like Tiara amidst them. Even if Michael were not a professional instructor, he could tell that she used uniquebat techniques that had been adjusted to fit her Soultrait''s unique abilities.

    It was just that Tiara was hiding her uniquebat techniques most of the time. She only unleashed them in the midst of the battlefield after she triggered her transformation, transforming partially into a ferocious tiger.

    ''Maybe, I should ask her again once all of this is over. I hope the Will of the Origin Expanse didn''t restrict her from talking about her race and past.'' Michael murmured to himself while looking at the excited expression Tiara was sporting.

    She looked straight in his eye and couldn''t help but ask, "How long do you think Masked Saber will take before he arrives, Master?"

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward at her question. He took a look toward the northern area and activated Eagle Eyes for a moment.

    Then he lifted his hand and pointed slightly east in the northern direction, "At most five minutes. Let''s clean up this mess and wait until he arrives with his gifts."

    Upon hearing that, Tiara rushed across the battlefield to collect all corpses. Meanwhile, Michael focused on replenishing his used-up origin energy.

    He spread Extraction''s golden streams outward and filled his origin energy rapidly. Then he fixed the battlefield a little bit to make it seem less like the graveyard of more than ten Lords and their subordinates.

    Once they were sessful in hiding the evidence, Michael and Tiara jumped on a high tree branch near the borderline between the small in and the densely grown forest.

    Not long after they started to hide, Masked Saber arrived with five Lords and their subordinates pursuing him.

    "Only five? That''s quite boring," Tiara clicked her tongue while jumping down the tree branch.

    The bloodlust she felt earlier made her want to hunt more enemies. She wanted to ughter them, tear them apart, and see their blood gushing in all directions. Unfortunately, five Lords and their subordinates were not enough for her and the others to quench their thirst.

    Michael wanted to say something, but he held back. He noticed that Tiara was still hiding in the bushes on the ground rather than charging at the Lords hunting Masked Saber.

    Michael expected a few more Lords to have grouped up by now, but it looked like Masked Saber couldn''t findrger groups than five Lords. But that was fine.

    He used Enhancement three times on the Symbol of cicle before he manifested a total of 125 cicles in the next minute. The cicles were clearly visible if one paid a keen eye to the cloudless sky, but they were well-hidden as long as one didn''t pay too much attention to the sky.

    That was also why he gave Tiara themand to charge ahead. He allowed her to go all-out and satiate her bloodlust. Tiara was happy and didn''t hesitate to trigger her transformation. The next moment she charged out of the bush and turned into a sh. Her movements were rapid, and her sudden appearance was unexpected.

    Yet, the Lords and their subordinates were able to react within seconds. They triggered their Soultraits and the enchantments of their Artifacts to face the ferocious beast-like Tiara, whose ring gaze caused chills all over their bodies.

    Masked Saber turned around upon seeing a blurred figure charge past him. He hadn''t seen Tiara like this before, and was a little stupefied.

    However, seeing the cicles forming in the sky above them at a ridiculously fast speed, Masked Saber chose to change his tactic and charge at the Lords next to Tiara.

    Masked Saber and Tiara were less than ten meters away from colliding with the Lords and their subordinates when a hail of cicles poured down onto the battlefield. Simultaneously, energy condensed arrows whizzed through the air with great precision, piercing into the enemies'' vital points right after the cicles impacted and shattered.

    The freezing chill stored inside the cicles was unleashed, spreading across the bodies and Artifacts of the Lords and their subordinates mere moments before Masked Saber and Tiara arrived, their weapons thirsting for blood.

    Masked Saber ducked underneath an iing sword sh and moved to the side. He twisted his body and released a small silver energy de before he slit his saber across his opponent''s neck. Afterward, he pushed his opponent''s body backward, issuing a rapid thrust straight past his head. The dying man turned into Masked Saber''s meat shield and as a barrier from the saber thrust that pierced deep into the chest of the next closest enemy.

    Masked Saber didn''t end his attack right there. He released a burst of silver energy from the tip of the saber when the saber de dug deep into his opponent''s chest. The Destors screamed out in pain, only to copse lifelessly on the ground the next moment.

    While Masked Saber fought strategically, using his enemies to y around before getting bored and killing them quickly and painlessly, Tiara turned into a killing machine. The strength behind her unpredictable attacks increased considerably, while her movement patterns became even more difficult to see through. It was near-impossible to urately predict her next move. Even Michael would have issues with that no matter how exceptional Eagle Eyes was.

    Fortunately, Michael could continue releasing cicles and energy condensed arrows. He supported Masked Saber and Tiara from the back, ensuring that no enemy could flee and that they wouldn''t be able to use a gap in his subordinates'' defense to counterattack and injure them.

    Michael used Zark, cicle, Enhancement, and Eagle Eyes efficiently, and without giving himself another intense headache.

    The battle against the five Lords and their subordinates ended quickly. But that was expected. None of the Lords were as powerful as Tac Lec and Taros. After all, neither of the two had been forced to obey the Zentika Empire Council''s rules and conditions. They obtained their Lord Rift Entrance Tickets through their hard work, contrary to those weaker Lords, who had been chosen to enter the Lord Rift because they were easy to manipte.

    Looking at the overall situation, Michael could tell that only the Zantur with the cicle Soultrait had been actually powerful. The Artifacts Michael had extracted from the Zantur Lord had been 4-Star Tier-2, which were the highest-ranked Artifacts Michael had been able to harvest until now.

    The Zantur Lord and his subordinates had been the strongest and best equipped. Meanwhile, everyone else was either worse equipped in terms of Artifacts, or their Artifacts were on par with Michael''s but their Soultraits were much weaker. After all, only the Zantur Lord seemed to have had a 5-Star Soultrait until now.

    Other than the Zantur Lord''s cicle, no Soultrait seemed powerful, or intriguing enough for Michael to desire to fuse it to his War Rune.

    That was actually quite disappointing. However, it made sense as well.

    Only a few powerful Lords would ept the conditions of the Zentika Empire''s council to obtain a Lord Entrance ticket from them. In fact, Michael was certain that many powerful Lords rejected the Zentika Empire''s offer to enter the Lord Rift. The restrictions the Zentika Empire put on their Lords were not worth it for some to risk their lives.

    ''I wonder how many Lords were able to procure their own Lord Rift Entrance tickets. Until now, I''ve only seen Taros, and Tac Lec moving around alone¡­but they don''t even have subordinates by their side. Maybe their Lord Entrance tickets are different from mine.''

    The battle against the five Lords ended without any issues. After a quick survey around, Michael jumped down the tree and walked over to the corpses. He released Extraction to drain the corpses'' origin energy all while plundering them as well.

    He extracted SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Artifacts, blueprints, Memory Orbs, and the loot they''d collected in the Lord Rift.

    Afterward, he asked Tiara to retrieve the corpses of the Lords and Adventurers he and Tiara had killed before. Michael used Extraction on them as well, quickly plundering everything before he paid more attention to the extraction and dissection of the monster corpses they had generously collected for him.

    "I think our territory will benefit greatly from the Lord Rift. Everything went by smoothly!" Tiara eximed, her cheeks still flushed from excitement.

    Her bloodlust slowly subsided, but her excitement only increased seeing the corpses and huge piles of loot all around them.

    Michael stored everything inside his War Rune''s storage space, and his spatial pouch before asking Tiara to help him in storing a few more things.

    Then his attention moved to the pile of SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols. They had obtained a total of 8 Soultrait Symbols from thest two battles.

    Michael was not interested in them, but he looked over to Tiara, thinking that it might be better to start focusing his attention on Tiara''s growth.

    However, Tiara just shook her head seeing his expression.

    "These Soultraits don''t suit me, and I don''t think you have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade my Silvarean Tiger, and Inner Force Soultraits either, Master," Tiara exined calmly, still smiling vibrantly.

    But Michael was a little stupefied.

    "You have two Soultraits? That transformation is not a Unique Racial Ability?" He asked in surprise, only for Tiara to smile mischievously.

    "My race''s Unique Racial ability is not that easy to awaken. If I was to try awakening my Unique Racial Ability as a Tier-2 Awakened I would die," Tiara said lightly, before adding, "Maybe I can show it to you in the future!"

    ''So she has two Soultraits, and she believes that I don''t have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade one of them?'' Michael could only think, realizing once again that he didn''t know anything about Tiara.

    Tiara was his loyal Battle Maid, yet Michael didn''t know a lot about her.

    This further added to his confusion, making him feel flustered.

    "Show me in the future, please. There is a lot we have to talk about once the Lord Rift closes," Michael mumbled slightly absent-minded.

    ''She has two 5-Star Soultraits, doesn''t she? Doesn''t that mean she is most likely from a powerful family of the Silverfang Tigerfolk?''

    Michael thought that his assumptions made sense. Tiara''sbat prowess, her uniquebat technique, and her overall demeanor were clear indicators of proper education and training.

    Yet, she ended up as a personal maid in the Origin Expanse. How could that happen?

 Chapter 258 Hunters In Town

    ?

    Even though Tiara was in possession of two powerful Soultraits, Michael felt that it was a great idea to equip her with more Soultraits. Unfortunately, Tiara didn''t like the Soultraits they received from the Lords and Awakened they''d killed in the Lord Rift. There was nothing Michael could do about it.

    "It''s better to create a Soultrait set-up with Soultraits that have great synergy, in the first ce. After all, our situations are a little bit different," Michael mumbled to himself.

    He was in possession of Extraction, meaning that he could extract Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. Meanwhile, Tiara would depend on him if she wanted to upgrade her Soultraits, or if she desired to obtain a new Soultrait. Thus, Michael could bind a wide variety of Soultraits as he pleased while it was better to focus on a selected few when it came to nurturing Tiara and the Forest Elves'' Soultraits.

    Though when his gaze fell on Masked Saber, he released a heavy sigh.

    ''It would be quite interesting if Summons could obtain Soultraits as well.'' He thought, feeling slightly frustrated to be unable to strengthen Masked Saber by giving him a bunch of Soultraits. After all, Masked Saber was not in possession of a War Rune as a Summon.

    ''There is nothing I can do about that, either way. The only thing I can do is help him advance his Tier, provide better equipment, and more suitable techniques,'' He told himself with a heavy heart.

    It made him a little ufortable that Masked Saber had a condition attached to his life. The moment his skin was exposed to others, or his face revealed, he would die. That was a harsh condition, and definitely not something Michael would want to live with.

    Unfortunately, Michael could only do so much to protect Masked Saber.

    Masked Saber was not too worried about the condition attached to his life, but Michael felt like a heavy weight was pressing down on his heart with every passing second. It was a weird feeling that didn''t make any sense. He didn''t even feel like this at the thought of Tiara dying, or the future dangers that could lead to his territory''s destruction.

    "What do you want to do now? Should we continue to hunt a few more groups of Lords, or do you want to rest a little bit, Master?" Tiara asked, still a little excited from the previous two battles.

    By now more than half of the Lords inside the Lord Rift had been killed. That left only the stronger ones behind to fight with all their might. But Michael was not scared.

    "Let''s take a look at the abandoned town''s periphery. We can scan the area around the abandoned town first and see how many Lords are moving through the abandoned town before we enter," Michael suggested after he thought about it for a second.

    They had roughly 40 hours left to travel through the Lord Rift and plunder heavenly treasures before they would be thrown out. That was more than enough time.

    With that in mind, the small group went on toplete their next task with high spirits. They''d already gained a lot from the Lord Rift, but they could tell that their strength was enough to generate even more benefits.

    Over the course of the next six hours, Michael and the others walked around the abandoned town. They always maintained a distance of more than one kilometer from each other and fought a bunch of monsters. However, Michael used most of the time to create a detailed map of the abandoned town''s infrastructure in his head. He used Enhancement on Eagle Eyes to see farther with great precision, allowing him to pinpoint the location of some Lords and a rough estimate of the actual number of Lords pacing through the abandoned town.

    "Several small groups are either resting, or waiting for something in three different spots," Michael updated Masked Saber and Tiara once he finished gathering all information.

    Eagle Eyes was pretty helpful for scouting tasks. He didn''t even have to approach his enemies and fear being discovered to collect the most vital information such as the number of their enemies, their race, and certain details about the equipment they possessed.

    These three factors were already enough to make a rough guess of the Lords''bat prowess, which Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber could exploit easily.

    "Let''s go to the biggest group, Master!" Tiara eximed in an even more excited voice than before.

    Michael could only smile seeing Tiara like that. She wasn''t much older than him, but she always acted mature and wise in their territory. Michael always felt that Tiara grew up with a heavy burden weighing down on her shoulders, forcing her to be mature and wise faster than others.

    However, the feeling of being weighed down didn''t seem to exist in the Lord Rift for her. Tiara was more energetic than ever, and the excitement spreading through her entire being was contagious. It affected Masked Saber, who patted Michael''s shoulder before he nodded faintly in the abandoned town''s direction.

    "How about we let the tiger lose?" He asked, causing the corners of Michael''s lip to tilt upward.

    "Alright. Let''s go then," Michael agreed and quickened his pace.

    They didn''t require long to enter the abandoned town. Their small group moved silently alongside the crumbling house walls, their weapons gripped tightly.

    Michael kept the enhanced Eagle Eyes fully unleashed as they silently moved toward the first targets inside the abandoned town.

    It didn''t take long until they were only separated by two walls and roughly 100 meters. Michael used Enhancement on cicle just to manifest several dozen cicles mid-air. Afterward, Masked Saber and Tiara moved around the house walls toward the right.

    Meanwhile, Michael exposed himself by walking toward the left, entering the main alley where seven Lords and their subordinates were guarding the entrance to arge building.

    Michael pulled Zark''s bowstring back, condensed an energy arrow, and released it alongside the cicles that shot forth like bullets.

    Michael didn''t pay attention to the result of his first batch of cicles. Instead, he continued firing energy arrows at the chaotic battlefield in front of him.

    Only after he released six energy arrows did he decide to change his tactic. He manifested the Wyverntooth Spear, applied threeyers of Enhancement, and turned into a blur. The strength coursing through him was much higher than expected ¨C a clear sign that his War Rune''s refinement degree was improving slowly but steadily.

    However, Michael didn''t pay too much attention to that right now. He was more focused on the battle in front of him, and increasing his gains inside the Lord Rift. After all, Michael couldn''t tell how long it would take before he would enter a ce such as the Lord Rift once again.

    He had to reap as many benefits as he could while the opportunity was in front of him.

    The Lords guarding the entrance to therge building were first surprised about the sudden attack, only to realize that merely a single individual had attacked them.

    Six of their subordinates ended up dead, and even more had been affected by the aftermath of the cicles shattering upon their bodies, yet none of the Lords were worried about their lives. They were in a numerical advantage and their enemy didn''t seem to be in possession of powerful Artifacts either. He wasn''t even at the Low-stage of the 2nd Tier. How could he be considered a threat?

    Most Lords were not worried about Michael''s attack. However, two of them quickly realized that Michael was alone and that he fit the characteristics written in the reports about the Lord in the Untamed Jungle.

    Realizing that Michael might be the Lord, who defeated the Jungle Expedition and the 13 Pdins with his merciless tactics, they quickly entered a state of vignce and looked around.

    They anticipated a trap, and couldn''t be more right as they discovered a young Awakened, and a Summon wielding a ck sword coated in thickyers of silver energy.

    But just before they could shout out loudly to warn everyone their vision tunneled. A freezing chill spread through their eyes all of a sudden, and horrible pain appeared in their eyes, only to spread further.

    Michael had noticed that some Lords and subordinates turned their attention to Tiara and Masked Saber. It seemed like they had noticed what Michael and his subordinates had nned. Unfortunately, their diverted attention turned them into easier targets for the cicles.

    After the first impact of the cicles, everyone realized that they were not necessarily lethal, and that the freezing child was the cicles'' biggest attribute. However, that didn''t mean cicles weren''t dangerous. They were ridiculously fast and could still do some minor damage ¨C such as piercing through the eyeballs and affecting vital organs right before shattering.

    Michael had perfected his aim from religiously practicing Archery almost every single day,bined with his enhanced Eagle Eyes to urately pierce several cicles through the distracted Lords and subordinates'' eyes. The cicles shattered after piercing their eyeballs, spreading the freezing chill through their head.

    It was only a matter of time before they would die.

    Meanwhile, Tiara and Masked Saber initiated their own attack. A crescent-shaped silver energy de burst through the abandoned town, cutting several enemies into half before it lost momentum. Meanwhile, a ferocious tiger-like being emerged in the center of the Lords and their subordinates before she started wreaking havoc, letting go of the responsibilities that had shackled her down ¨C even if it was just for a few hours.

 Chapter 259 Magical Smithy

    ?

    Instead of entering therge building after defeating the Lords guarding it, they merely collected the corpses before moving onward to attack and kill the other two groups.

    Only one of the two groups was resting while the other group was guarding a small smithy. Interestingly enough, the sound of something heavy hammering on metal rang out from the smithy. It attracted Michael''s attention and he decided to enter the old, abandoned smithy once all enemies had been taken care of.

    It was already extremely hot in the open, but the temperature in the abandoned smithy was even higher. A zing me filled the forge, while a heavy-looking hammer and tongs moved through the air magically. The tongs and the heavy hammer were moving on their own, forging a sword.

    "What is that?" Michael could only ask aloud, not sure what to think about the magically moving hammer, tongs and the other tools that seemed to be busy at work.

    He was fully aware of the forging process a cksmith had to use to forge a high-quality armament, yet the forging technique used by the magical tools seemed to be on apletely different level. At the first nce, it looked weird and nonsensical, but his initial assumptions changed upon realizing that the final result was much better than expected.

    It didn''t require an expert to tell that the sword forged by the magical tools was of extremely high quality despite the low-grade materials that had been used to forge it.

    Somehow, Michael and the others ended up spending several hours watching the magical tools moving and hammering the searing hot piece of metal as it slowly shaped into a fearsome sword.

    The process of shaping the sword waspleted quite quickly, and with great precision. It was quenched, and properly treated before the magical tools sharpened it. At the end of the forging process, the sword was moved to a small barrel where more than ten of such swords had already been stored.

    "Were the Lords waiting for this?" Tiara asked, not sure if the weapons were worth the Lords'' time.

    She knew that the forging process had been exceptional, but that didn''t mean they were worth the wait. Tiara thus approached the barrel and picked up one of the swords. She swung it around, channeled origin energy inside it and tested out a few things, only to freeze in her tracks atst.

    "Forget about my doubts. This is crazy," Tiara eximed, handing the sword to Michael before picking up another one which she handed to Masked Saber.

    Michael wielded the longsword carefully. He was not a weapon-expert but he had some knowledge about weapons.

    The de was double-edged and perfectly sharpened. Meanwhile, the entire de was bnced to a near perfect degree. It would be quite difficult for master cksmiths to create a sword like this ¨C in such a short time at that.

    The Magical Smithy required only six hours toplete one of those swords, and they were all of the same quality. The material used wasn''t the best, but the forging technique used by the Magical Smithy was quite extraordinary.

    "If the cksmiths in our territory could learn how to create such exceptional armaments, we would be able to upgrade the military''s equipment by leaps and bounds!" Masked Saber uttered in surprise as he felt a burst of strength passing through his body when he channeled origin energy into the de.

    Michael did the same and realized another perk of the de, "Why does it feel like this sword enhances my physical strength and agility as much as a natural 3-Star Tier-1 Weapon Artifact would?"

    Masked Saber''s gaze flicked over to Michael when he heard what his Lord said, "...because that''s exactly what it is¡­ This sword. No¡­ these swords are like Natural 3-Star Tier-1 Artifacts, even though they''re not Artifacts. Everyone can wield them."

    Michael''s heart skipped a beat hearing Masked Saber''s word.

    If they could mass-produce these armaments and distribute them to his army, nobody at the same rank would be able to defeat them even in a one-on-one battle. Their opponents would definitely lose in terms of strength and agility, providing a significant advantage to their people.

    "But I don''t think that we can elerate the forging process any further. The Magical Smithy needs exactly six hours toplete one sword. That means we''ll end up with less than 20 finished products until the Lord Rift closes¡­" Tiara mumbled, looking over to Michael as if he had an answer to all the problems.

    "Let me test something first before I identally break this masterpiece," Michael said, approaching the Magical Smithy while retrieving some of the remarkable ores he had extracted from the mountain range not too long ago.

    He wanted to see if the Magical Smithy could use other ores to produce a sword using a different type of ore. However, he didn''t know how to ess the configurations of the Magical Smithy ¨C if something like that existed in the first ce.

    At first, Michael simply stood there, holding the ores out thinking that the Magical Smithy might be able to detect better ores. But that didn''t work out as he expected.

    He then moved to the small crate where a bunch of Silverstream iron ores were piled up. Silverstream iron ore was a somewhat rare Tier-1 ore with great energy conductivity. The energy veins inside it were extremely strong even though they were highly susceptible to getting damaged in the forging process.

    Michael stored the Silverstream iron ore inside his spatial pouch before putting the ores in his hand down onto the crate.

    He expected the Magical Smithy to pick up the ores, but instead it seemed to stop working.

    "Does it not work with other ores?" Michael wondered, feeling slightly disappointed. He had hoped to be able to forge better Artifact-like armaments even if it was just for Masked Saber to use.

    His disappointment was clearly visible on his face, but before he could turn gloomy something from the corner of his eye attracted his attention.

    The zing me inside the forge was flickering, seemingly trying to pull his attention toward it.

    "Maybe¡­" Michael mused, picking up the ores in the crate before throwing them inside the searing hot forge. The zing mes inside the forge exploded into a small cloud of fire and felt restlessly alive.

    In response, the tools of the Magical Smithy began to move once again.

    "Great. It''s working with other ores as well," Michael said, subconsciously nodding in satisfaction.

    Afterward, he folded his hands on his chest to intently watch the reduction process of the ore and how the ingot was processed. When the impurities within the ingot were removed by the heavy hammer using a special forging technique, Michael stepped forward. He used Extraction and removed most of the impurities to hasten up the forging process.

    After that, Michael chose to wait a little bit until he turned around to Masked Saber and Tiara.

    "Let''s take a look at the other building the Lords were guarding. It looked like a library, but it doesn''t make sense for someone to guard it if they cannot just plunder everything. There must be something simr to the Magical Smithy," Michael said, only for Tiara to tilt her head.

    "What about the Magical Smithy then? And don''t you want to extract the corpses of the Lords and Awakened first, Master?" She asked, feeling that it was not safe to leave the Magical Smithy alone.

    However, Michael was not too worried.

    He retrieved the corpses of their enemies and extracted them quickly. They didn''t provide much additional loot from the Lord Rift since they had been guarding the Magical Smithy and the otherrge building, but Michael still made great gains, including his wealth by 1195 SoulStar Fragments ¨C after he dismembered the Soultrait Symbols he had just extracted.

    Upon adding the SoulStar Fragments, Michael had more than enough umted to upgrade a 4-Star Soultrait to a 5-Star Soultrait.

    The only question was which Soultrait he should upgrade.

    He could upgrade Spirit Whip once to see how strong the Soultrait would grow, or he could directly divert his focus to the other Soultraits.

    ''What is the Soultrait I''m using the most? It''s clearly Enhancement. I use it in every battle to enhance my Artifacts'' sharpness, durability, and their external enhancement. Then I use it on my Soultraits and my body as well. I should really upgrade it,'' Michael concluded quickly, ignoring Spirit Whip, cicle and his other Soultraits.

    They might be great forbat, but Enhancement could even be used on Extraction to increase the extraction efficiency outside the battle.

    There was no need to think about it any longer. He spent 3,000 SoulStar Fragments without hesitation, manifesting a fifth star on the Symbol of Enhancement.

    Streams of information entered Michael''s mind slowly as he upgraded Enhancement, giving him a more profound understanding of Enhancement and the changes after it had been upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait.

    "The first twoyers of Enhancement are extremely cheap to apply, and the enhancement percentage increased from a third to a whopping 50%. That''s pretty crazy. If I use two or threeyers of Enhancement on my 4-Star Soultraits, their power will beparable to 5-Star Soultraits!"

    Michael was not sure to what extent he could upgrade Enhancement, but it was definitely an extremely powerful Soultrait. He couldn''t even fathom how powerful it would be upon upgrading it to a 6-Star Soultrait.

    Inparison, the upgrade of Soultraits like Tamingcked inparison. Michael didn''t feel such a drastic difference after upgrading Taming from 4-Star to 5-Star. Of course, that might also be the case because he rarely used Taming.

    If he used Taming a little bit more, the Soultrait''s charm would probably be more apparent. Michael was certain about that.

    ''It''s not like I''m in a rush to upgrade my other Soultraits. Let''s focus on the here and now,'' He told himself, diverting his attention back to the others.

    "We can leave the Magical Smithy as it is. I doubt anyone can take it from us," Michael said, waving his hand lightly before he added, "Even if someone does, we can just snatch it back forcefully!"

 Chapter 260 [Bonus ]Hungry Librarian

    ?

    Michael was not too worried about the Magical Smithy when they walked out of the building.

    Contrary to his expectations, there weren''t many Lords and monsters in the abandoned town. Even the Lords, who had entered the Lord Rift, had abandoned this ce.

    But that was actually for the better in Michael''s opinion. They wouldn''t have to worry about getting attacked, or someone stealing the Magical Smithy.

    After walking for a few minutes, their small group of three finally reached therge building that looked like an old library. They entered the building, just to realize that the interior of the library was well-kept and untouched by the curse of time. It didn''t look like the library had been abandoned, at all.

    "Nobody bothered taking the books with them? Aren''t books the most important inside a library? There is no other reason to protect this building except for the books inside," Tiara asked, not quite understanding why a group of Lords had been guarding this ce.

    There was nothing other than dozens of shelves filled with various books.

    Masked Saber retrieved one of the books the closest to him. He flipped through the first few pages, and nodded his head in understanding.

    "Thenguage is quite hard to understand. The Lord probably didn''t bother taking these books because they don''t know their value. Well, even I cannot tell whether they''re valuable books about the Origin Expanse, or novels of ancient times," Masked Saber said before handing the book to Michael.

    Michael flipped through the pages as well, nibbling on his lower lip as understanding dawned upon him slowly.

    "That seems like one of the older origin tongues. The books are probably from before the Second Epoch. Maybe the Forest Elven Elders can help us decipher them?" He wondered, his gaze roaming over the vast collection of books.

    ''Our storage space is almost full. If I want to take all of those books, I will have to remove the monster corpses,'' Michael was in a dilemma, not sure if the books would be more valuable than the monster corpses of superior existences.

    But when he thought hard about it, Michael recalled that he was not really in desperate need of money.

    "I think we should take the books with us. Even if they''re mere novels of ancient times, they''ll give us insights about the time before the Second Epoch. That should give us some essential clues to take a step closer to unravel the secrets of the Temple of the Forgotten as well," Tiara said in a matter of fact tone.

    "In the worst case, you can just throw out the monster meat, intestines and everything else of lesser value. Let''s just keep the Diamond Deer''s antlers, their tendons, the Werewolves'' horns, scales and so on. Other than their most valuable parts, we don''t need anything, or am I wrong, Master?" She added, smiling nervously at Michael.

    Michael responded with a smile as well. Even though he was asionally overthinking and trying to make everything fit, it was often much easier to have a simple-minded person voicing out her opinion.

    This simple-minded person was Tiara, and Michael was d to have her by his side. Without her, he would be standing in front of the bookshelves for an eternity, trying toe up with a perfect n to both keep both corpses and store as many books as possible.

    "Alright then. Let''s throw out the less valuable monster body parts," He said before essing both his War Rune''s storage space and his spatial pouch. He retrieved tens of tons of monster meat, and the less valuable body parts of more than a thousand monsters.

    Now that he thought about it, Michael couldn''t help but be surprised how so much stuff fit inside his spatial pouch and storage space. It was quite surprising.

    Tiara retrieved lots of monster meat and other goods as well. She didn''t hesitate to throw them aside, creating a huge pile of unwanted stuff next to the goods Michael had retrieved.

    Michael and Tiara were so focused on their spatial spaces that they didn''t even notice when Masked Saber grew tense. Masked Saber unsheathed his saber, stepped in front of Michael, and changed into a defensive stance, ready to protect Michael with his life if necessary.

    "Please put your weapon aside, esteemed traveler. This Library of Laxartia hasn''t been constructed tomit crimes and spread violence. It''s a ce of peace and knowledge," A hoarse voice echoed through the library, pulling Michael and Tiara out of their trance-like state.

    Their heads flicked over to the voice''s source, and their eyes widened in surprise.

    A purple-skinned being the size of a small dog was seated on a yellow cushion that was hovering in the air. The purple-skinned being had long pointed ears andrge violet eyes that were filled with wisdom. He had short arms and wielded a small staff, which looked more like the branch of a birch tree than anything dangerous.

    Nheless, Michael could feel a distinct difference in their power level. Even with theirbined forces, Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber would never be able to defeat the small being if it were toe to a battle.

    He was still shocked about the sudden appearance of a foreign being, but Michael stepped forward, putting a hand on Masked Saber''s shoulder.

    "Put the saber away," He said as calmly as possible and waited until Masked Saber did as he was told.

    Afterward, he looked over to the small being once again before he greeted him, bowing deeply with his right hand ced on his heart.

    Uncertain which tradition the being followed, Michael could only use the mostmon custom to politely greet an elder and a superior being.

    "There is no need for formalities, esteemed traveler. This body of mine is but an empty shell bound to the Great Will. All that is left of me inside this space is a wisp of my former self, and this tiny body, if you can consider it as such, in the first ce," The being said in a neutral tone.

    His attention moved to the piles of monster meat and body parts and a sliver of interest gleamed in his eyes.

    "I am wondering if this is a tribute to the God of Wisdom, or if you were trying to make space to fit the library''s books inside your storage spaces," The being remarked, looking over to Michael to study his response.

    "You¡­can consider it as tribute, but we thought the library was abandoned just like the rest of the town, so we wanted to take the books with us. After all, their value is deteriorating drastically since they are collecting dust here. Books exist to be read, after all," Michael said, trying to navigate a safe path out of this tricky situation.

    He didn''t feel any threat due to the being in front of them, but that could change at any moment. Michael was not confident enough to ensure that he could keep the being calm andposed.

    "It''s a good thing that you''re honest. Otherwise, you would end up like everyone else," The being said nonchntly.

    However, Michael could only swallow his saliva seeing the glint in the being''s violet eyes.

    ''Good thing I didn''t lie.''

    "I will take this. That should be fine, right?" The being asked, pointing his bony hand at the piles of monster meat and most of their body parts.

    Michael nodded his head and gestured to the being to take it all. He moved toward the piles and swung the branch-like staff twice.

    A huge ck diagram formed on the pentagon and massive swirls of energy were pulled toward it. In the next five seconds, most of the energy was pulled toward the ck pentagon, only for a humongous ck mouth to emerge out of it.

    A ck body with four rows of arm-long teeth shot out of the Pentagon. It was huge, big enough to devour the entire pile of meat and body parts at once.

    Seeing the big ck body ¨C its maw to be precise ¨C, Michael felt his hair standing up to its end. He couldn''t even divert his attention from the humongous maw as it swallowed the piles of meat and body parts one after another.

    Nobody in the room dared to breathe seeing the being. It was terrifying, to the extent that Michael wasn''t even sure whether the Mythical Serpent or the being in front of them was more terrifying.

    A chill spread down his spine, and he couldn''t help but stare in front of him with his eyes wide open.

    The small purple being burped after the huge maw disappeared, attracting the attention of the small group of three.

    "Superior Existences at Tier-2. Not the best meal I had, but definitely filling. It was not too bad," The being said before turning to Michael.

    "I am a mere wisp of my former self, but I still have some of my former power," He said, only to give it a faint shrug, "Either way, now I''m merely a Librarian assigned to this ce that can only be entered by young and naive fools, who think that they''re powerful and that the Origin Expanse can be easily conquered by them."

    He took a pause before continuing, "You are not much different. Your power is not too bad, but you are still foolish. I can tell that your subordinates trust you, but that is worthless if you don''t trust yourself as much as your people do. As a true leader, you have to be able to stand up for your actions and order your subordinates with confidence and charisma, otherwise, your survival in the Origin Expanse will always be questionable," The Librarian said before he began to wave his staff.

    Following that, the books shelved all over the library began to move. They responded to the Librarian''s actions and were pulled through the air, revolving around Michael''s group.

    Piles of books were stacked up all around them, creating a small maze filled with the books inside the library.

    "I cannot allow you to take the books with you, but you''re allowed to do anything with the books inside here. Even if you burn them, they''ll naturally be repaired once the Lord Rift closes." The Librarian informed while adding, "As a small token of gratitude for the meal you''ve provided, I shall help you find the books you''re looking for. The least I can do is to lend a ''small'' helping hand."

    Michael stared at the Librarian for a while. His lips parted to say something, but he shut his mouth the next moment.

    Even if he asked the Librarian for help, it was not as if he could read the words written in the books, in the first ce.

    "In that case¡­can you help me find books rted to trantions or books that revolve around studying thenguage used in all of the books here. None of us can understand what''s written in the books. We initially wanted to take them back to decipher them," Michael requested, revealing his honest thoughts and their initial n.

    "Trantion books? You don''t understand thenguage written in the books? It seems like a lot more time than I expected passed outside," The Librarian said before he scratched his chin. "There are a few books that may help you understand the writtennguage, but I doubt that you will be able to learn it in a few hours."

    Michael had been quite curious for a while now about how he could understand the Librarian. But he didn''t have to search for an answer for long. The Will of the Origin Expanse naturally tranted the words spoken by the Librarian inside the Lord Rift.

    The Librarian waved his staff to move more than a dozen books in front of Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber.

    Masked Saber was just about to bend down when Michael gestured for him to stop.

    "You said that even if they''re destroyed the books will be restored, right?" Michael asked the Librarian, who noticed that something was different in Michael''s expression.

    Michael didn''t seem to be too worried about theirprehension ability. It was almost as if Michael was certain that they could learn the writtennguage of the Draconia Era just like that.

    "The Will will restore everything that has been destroyed, that''s correct," The Librarian responded, giving Michael all the information he required to get moving.

    He lifted his arms, his palms facing the books lying on the ground.

    Then, Michael unleashed Extraction, enhanced with severalyers of Enhancement.

 Chapter 261 Wisps Of Knowledge

    ?

    Extraction''s enhanced golden streams engulfed the small batch of books lying on the floor, initiating the process of extraction.

    It was the first time that Michael used extraction on a book, hoping to extract the knowledge inside, and he was not sure how well it would work.

    He had great hopes, especially after Enhancement had been upgraded to 5-Star, strengthening the enhancement effect of every appliedyer. Using Enhancement on Extraction several times strengthened Extraction''s power greatly. The 6-Star Soultrait''s limits increased, revealing new functions that could be utilized by Michael.

    He was not sure if he was not yet able to extract the book''s knowledge, or if that was not possible, in the first ce. However, Michael expected great things from Extraction because it had yet to let him down, after all!

    At first, Michael didn''t sense anything. He was about to lose hope when he sensed that something changed after he used Extraction on the books for a whole minute. He could see a silver wisp passing through extraction''s golden streams. The silver wisp passed through the golden stream and entered his body through his palm.

    After that, strands of information entered his mind where they were immediately digested andprehended.

    "I don''t even have toprehend the information entering my mind? Doesn''t that mean I can extractprehended knowledge immediately?" Michael mumbled to himself, and a bright smile blossomed on his face.

    The discovery he made was much better than expected. Michael thought that the Wisps of Knowledge entering his mind would be simr to those from the Memory Orbs and that he had to digest andprehend everything on his own.

    However, that was not the case. It felt more like the knowledge entering his mind belonged to him.

    While that seemed great, Michael could also see the downside.

    ''If the content written down in the books is incorrect or misleading, I''ll have wrong information imprinted in my mind. Finding the falsified information and recing it with authentic data will be quite difficult.'' Michael concluded.

    He knew that the effect of falsified information might not be that drastic when it revolved around studying certain simple topics, but it would be quite problematic when he was to apply it to more important topics.

    ''Don''t believe everything. Use your head to question the information the Wisps of Knowledge imprint in your mind!'' Michael told himself as he continued to extract the Wisps of Knowledge from the books in front of him.

    Now that Michael could sense what exactly he had to extract to obtain the Wisps of Knowledge he could divert Extraction''s focus on these spots. He aimed precisely at them and quickly extracted the Wisps of Knowledge that entered his mind.

    In the next 30 minutes, Michael learned the spoken and writtennguage of the Draconia Era. It hadn''t been easy to fill his mind with that much knowledge, but Michael overcame the toll of learning aplete newnguage in half an hour, quite easily.

    "Good thing that I practiced Ceasurium Menta up to the second stage. If not, I would be bleeding to death," Michael scoffed before he stopped using Extraction on the books that were spread out in front of him.

    He picked one of the books up, just to see that the pages were nk now.

    "That counts as destruction, right? I didn''t steal the books¡­just the content," Michael said to the Librarian with a sly smile on his face.

    He wiped his bleeding nose with the back of his hand and his eyes sparkled brightly while staring at the Librarian.

    "You...what did you just do?" The Librarian asked a deep frown on his face.

    The power Michael had used just now was extremely old. It was something the Librarian had never seen before even when he was still alive. Putting aside the presence of the golden streams, it was quite obvious that Michael did something to wipe out not only the content of the books but also the insights of the author who wrote the books a long time ago.

    "I learned thenguage of the Draconia Era," Michael revealed while speaking in thenguage that had been used before the Second Epoch.

    His proficiency in thenguage was not exceptional, just like his pronunciation, but the Librarian could clearly understand what he said.

    The Librarian stared at Michael in bewilderment and could not think of a response as his mind nked out. He was trying hard to hide his surprise.

    Little did the Librarian know that Michael was also surprised. If he had known that it was so easy to learn something, he wouldn''t have bothered spending so long mastering the Memory Lane technique at the Saphirke Military Academy. The technique was quite useless now, but even then Michael had to reach the 3rd Stage until the end of the semester if he didn''t want a bad remark.

    That thought was quite annoying, but it was not too bad. After all, he could study everything for his other courses as long as he could find the textbooks for his courses. In the age of technology and space-traveling physical books were a rarity. But even if they were rare, they still existed. It was just that their price was quite high.

    Fortunately, Michael had enough money to purchase a bulk of physical books to skip studying.

    "Can you really understand what''s written in all those books now?" Tiara asked, even more baffled than the Librarian.

    She felt a sudden burst of excitement course through her entire being like an electric current.

    Michael looked over to Tiara and nodded his head. Then he tilted his head lightly as he thought of something.

    He took a step closer to Tiara and pressed his t hand against her forehead.

    Tiara was startled. She held her breath and was about to step back when she heard Michael''s thoughts in her mind.

    [Focus on my thoughts and try to learn the Draconia Era''snguage yourself!] Michael ordered, using his Mind Reader Soultrait for the first time in forever.

    Mind Reader was not supposed to be used this way. It was actually supposed to read the mind of the target. However, Michael was using Mind Reader in reverse while revealing his unguarded mind to Tiara. He began to think about the knowledge of the Draconia Era''snguage that had entered his mind not too long ago, allowing Tiara to get a glimpse of the tranted version of the books he had just extracted.

    Tiara''s mind was flooded with information. She stumbled backward and fell to the ground without uttering a single sound. All she could do was stare at Michael in surprise and utter shock.

    "How is that possible? What did you do, Master?" Tiara asked, feeling quite clearly that a strand of information had entered her mind.

    She had yet to digest the information andprehend everything, but Tiara was certain that she could learn thenguage of the Draconia Era using the strategy Michael had just utilized.

    "I used the Mind Reader Soultrait in reverse to allow you to read my mind. I cannot do that with all of my Summons since I don''t trust everyone to enter my unguarded mind, but we can copy the content of the books and write it down ourselves," Michael said, overjoyed that his foolish idea was working.

    He actually didn''t expect Mind Reader to be that useful. Fusing Mind Reader to his War Rune had been one of his regrets. However, that was not the case anymore. Mind Reader''s utility increased by leaps and bounds because it allowed him to forward the knowledge he learned from books of anothernguage to anyone he wished.

    By studying the books spread all around the Library, Michael''s mind would trante them naturally and he could use Mind Reader to forward the tranted information that could then be written down on paper for everyone to read. That was amazing!

    With this discovery, Michael turned to the Librarian, the glint in his eyes even more intense than before.

    "Can you show me books rted to the Origin Expanse, All Languages of the First Epoch, Books about the Dragon Tongue, the Origin Tongue, books about Forging, Ores, Alchemists, Enchanters, Martial Arts techniques, Breathing techniques, Ancient Ruins and¡­maybe just everything that may be useful for a ''young and naive fool, who thinks that he is powerful and that the Origin Expanse ought to be conquered by him''," Michael requested, unable to refrain himself from teasing the Librarian using the same words he had used a few minutes ago.

    The Librarian was about to say something, and lecture Michael but he shut his mouth before uttering a single word.

    It was not difficult to tell that Michael''s motivation was overflowing and that he had entered a state of extreme excitement. His entire being was overflowing with ecstasy, desiring to devour the knowledge of the Library of Laxartia.

    Under normal circumstances, the Librarian would tell the youngster to calm down and take one step at a time. However, after witnessing what the young Lord had just done, he didn''t want to say anything.

    Rather than warning Michael, the Librarian wanted to see how high his limit was.

    Could he really devour the knowledge of the entire Library in the remaining time before the Lord Rift closed, or would his brain be overwhelmed with information, unable to digest more. Would Michael copse from the input of knowledge, or were his mind and willpower strong enough to ovee all ordeals?

    For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the Librarian felt surprised and a tinge of interest by looking at one of the youngsters entering the Will''s Lord Rifts. Everyone capable enough to enter a Lord Rift had great ambition, but the Librarian had only seen a handful with the actual strength, willpower, and uncontroble desire to ovee all issues and be the greatest.

    However, Michael was different from the handful of prodigies the Librarian had seen before.

    He didn''t seem exceptional at first nce.

    The Librarian could also tell that Michael had been affected by the Will. It was most definitely not a blessing granted by the Will.

    On the contrary, a curse had spread through his bloodline, festering through all of his ancestors that were granted by the Will centuries ago.

    Yet, despite the curse weighing down on the youngster, Michael didn''t seem to be giving up.

    ''I wonder how much you have gone through, and what obstacles await you in the future.'' The Librarian thought, staring at Michael.

    ''Good luck, fellow Descendant of the Cursed. May your future be brighter than mine!''

    [A/N: I know that many of you were already expecting something simr, but Michael found out about another use for Extraction. Do you think it''s overpowered to be able to extract Wisps of Knowledge from physical books, or can this power be dangerous?]

 Chapter 262 Change

    ?

    Michael quickly realized that the books stored in the Library of Laxartia were extremely valuable to him, his subjects, and his territory.

    They were not just ordinary novels of ancient times but had detailed information about the Origin Expanse, guides rted to raiding ruins, manuals on how to train Grandmaster Artisans, martial art techniques, training techniques, how tobine different techniques to create a superior technique, and much more.

    All in all, Michael was unable to leave behind any of the books. ording to him, the extraordinary knowledge stored in the books shouldn''t stay in the Lord Rift. It should be taken outside and utilized properly. That was also why Michael never stopped using Extraction to extract the Wisps of Knowledge even after his head began to ache.

    At one point, Michael''s sight began to blur, his legs grew weak and blood began to trickle out of his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. The headache grew intense to such an extent that Michael began to wonder if he would faint in the next second.

    Despite that, he never stopped using Extraction ¨C not until the countdown of the Lord Rift went down to less than one hour.

    His head was overflowing with knowledge that had been deeply imprinted in his mind, and he felt nauseous. Michael swayed left to right when he got up from the ground, his legs shaking like leaves in the wind. The next moment Michael began to vomit.

    Tiara and Masked Saber appeared next to Michael and tried patting his back soothingly. They stared at him with worry, unsure what they could do to help him.

    "How about a potion? No¡­you will just vomit the content before the potion takes effect¡­" Tiara mumbled staring at Michael while her lips were pressed together, "Why did you have to be so greedy? It''s just a bit of knowledge. The Lord Rift has yet to close, but you''ve just turned yourself into an easy target for everyone!"

    For a moment, Tiara lost herself in anger. She even forgot to call Michael ''Master'', and was ring daggers at him. Michael''s greed had put him into an extremely difficult position. He was vulnerable, and an easy target for any Lord and Monster in the Lord Rift.

    "Don''t worry too much. There shouldn''t be too many Lords left behind, and Monsters seem to avoid the abandoned town as well," Masked Saber reassured Tiara though his tone was slightly cold.

    Tiara imagined seeing a glint of anger behind Masked Saber''s mask, but she thought that this couldn''t be the case. She was definitely not wrong for lecturing Michael for doing something dangerous like putting himself in a vulnerable position.

    "We just need to protect him since he endangered his life for the sake of his people and territory," Masked Saber continued to speak, "Or do you think Michael did all of that for himself? Do you really think he was that greedy because he solely focused on his own gains? Seems like you forgot about the Zentika Empire after we entered the Lord Rift."

    The longer Tiara listened to Masked Saber the more she believed that Masked Saber''s impression of her had worsened gradually. It was almost like Masked Saber was angry at Tiara for lecturing Michael after he deliberately jeopardized his health to collect more knowledge for his people and the territory.

    However, Tiara didn''t say anything. She recalled the warfare against the Jungle Expedition, and how the fight against the 13 Pdins had ended. Tiara was also fully aware of the pain Michael went through at that time.

    After the warfare, it was also quite obvious that Michael had been agitated with himself. He had been forced to use the Chaos Pills to kill the 13 Pdins, destroying the majority of the Untamed Jungle''s outer area ¨C nearly destroying his territory as well.

    The Lord Rift was likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ¨C something Michael couldn''t ignore. He had to make full use of it, gaining as much as possible even if that meant he would have to suffer.

    "Alright, alright. We will protect our Master¡­" Tiara mumbled quietly, throwing Michael''s right arm around her shoulders to support him.

    Masked Saber did the same to Michael''s left side, helping him up.

    The Library of Laxartia seemed the most secure with the Librarian around. However, it didn''t seem like Michael wanted to stay in the Library.

    "Magical Smithy¡­" He mumbled weakly while blood continued to trickle down his seven orifices.

    Even though Michael gained lots of knowledge, he didn''t want to miss out on the Magical Smithy either. If he could take it with him, the researchers in his territory could thoroughly analyze the magical construction. As long as they researched it long enough, they may even be able to figure out the exact technique used by the Magical Smithy to forge weapons. The chances were slim but if they could mass-produce the unique technique used by the Magical Smithy, Michael''s Underground Forging Hall would be able to create Artifact-like Armaments for his Summons as well.

    If that was truly possible, Michael''s army would turn into ferocious wolves in sheep''s skin. The thought alone was more than enough to nudge Michael to take a step closer to the exit.

    "Just rest for the next 15 minutes. The library will close down afterward, either way. You''ll be on your own from then on," The Librarian said calmly.

    He had been silent since Michael began to greedily devour the Wisps of Knowledge of the Laxartia Library and only spoke up now.

    "And believe me when I tell you that you need these 15 minutes of rest. If you really want to take the Relic of Draka with you, you''ll have to empower your ancient power a lot more than you did to obtain the Wisps of Knowledge," The Librarian revealed, fully aware of what Michael intended to do.

    He looked up in the air as if he could see through the library''s ceiling and shook his head.

    "I will also give you a final tip since you''ve exceeded my expectations. You proved me wrong, so make sure that I won''t regret telling you this- Either hide until the end after you collect the Relic of Draka, or run for your lives, hoping that ''it'' won''t be able to catch you," The Librarian said, causing three heads to flick to him at once.

    The Librarian gave a cryptic warning and turned silent. He didn''t say anything else. However, the snippets of information he had forwarded and the serious tone in the Librarian''s voice were already enough to show that something big had happened.

    "It? What do you mean by It?" Tiara asked but she didn''t receive an answer.

    On the contrary, the Librarian turned away and disappeared for the next 15 minutes.

    In these 15 minutes, Michael forced himself to take a wide variety of potions. He also used Extraction to drain the origin energy in the surroundings. Utilizing Extraction right now was akin to subjecting himself to mental torture but given the Librarian''s tips, Michael figured that he would require every single ounce of the origin energy in his storage to extract the Relic of Draka.

    Michael tried his best to improve his condition in 15 minutes, but the time was simply too shortpared to the strain he had subjected himself to by extracting and digesting Wisps of Knowledge for tens of hours.

    Nheless, his condition improved quite a bit thanks to the high-quality potions he had extracted from a bunch of Lords before. Each of the Zentika Empire''s Lords had been given two unique potions that were likely to provide them with a means to improve their condition in an emergency.

    Luckily, they hadn''t been able to use their unique potions, leaving more than enough for Michael to stop the bleeding all over his head, and tend to the extreme headache.

    Even his sight was a little bit clearer when the Librarian returned.

    "It''s time for you to leave," The Librarian merely said, pointing at the door.

    Michael nodded his head subtly as he turned to the door. He was just about to take the first step to leave when he turned back to the Librarian.

    "Thank you very much for helping us out. Your guidance was very helpful. I will never forget what you did," Michael said sincerely, feeling grateful to have met the Librarian.

    The Librarian didn''t say anything in response, but that was not necessary. Michael just wanted the Librarian to know that his help was appreciated and that he felt thankful.

    Afterward, Michael and his subordinates stepped outside the library, where they were greeted by searing heat and luminous shades of red that painted everything in the surroundings wherever they looked.

    Even the sky was drenched in a luminous shade of red, which cast an eerie atmosphere all over the Lord Rift.

    Yet, instead of feeling a chill creeping up their spines, all Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber could feel was the searing heat that permeated every inch of the Lord Rift.

    The temperature outside the Laxartia Library easily exceeded 100 degrees Celsius, forcing Michael and the others to cover their body with a thinyer of origin energy to keep themselves cool.

    "What the hell happe¨C..." Michael was about to ask, only to be interrupted by a terrific explosion that originated from the mountain range.

    Following the explosion the temperature increased once again.

    However, none of them could pay attention to this.

    Their entire focus was pulled to the ginormous being that soared through the air, issuing a terrifying roar that caused every single hair on their bodies to stand up on its end. They were paralyzed in fear and could only watch the being that spit out zing hot mes from its maw.

    From inside the library, the Librarian kept watching Michael and the others as they stood frozen in ce.

    ''I hope they make it out alive.''

 Chapter 263 Protect

    ?

    The atmosphere all over the Lord Rift had changed. Nothing looked the same as before.

    The Mountain range was towering tall against the horizon, but it didn''t feel like a symbol of peace anymore. On the contrary, its once clouded peak was not veiled in a dark cloak of ash and smoke.

    Rivers of moltenva streamed down its sides with an ominous, fierce intensity. The air all over the Lord Rift held the scent of sulfur, and the ground trembled with the echoes of the mountain range''s unleashed fury. Or that was what it felt like to Michael as he stared at the mountain range that turned out to be a volcano, which had erupted not too long ago.

    But even if the erupted volcano and the streams of moltenva were already fearsome, and a bad omen of what awaited the Lords in thest hour until the Lord Rift would close, the being soaring through the vast expanse of the crimson sky was far more terrifying.

    The being had fearsome blood-like scales that shone brightly in the sunlight, and expansive wings that seemed to spread across the entire sky.

    Its eyes were like ponds of molten gold, gleaming with intelligence, wisdom, and fury, causing Michael to feel a chill running down his spine as its heads surveyed the Lord Rift.

    The being was a mythical creature, a monstrous existence with an appearance of a red-scaled lizard having enormous wings,rge horns jutting from its head, a serpentine-like neck that moved gracefully, and a majestic presence thatmanded reverence, evoking a sense of fear and admiration.

    It was a dragon soaring through the sky with effortless grace!

    "Fuck¡­was that the ''it'' the Librarian mentioned earlier?" Tiara cursed in a low voice when she regained herposure.

    She had activated her Transformation Soultrait instinctively, growing silver fur all over her body. Tiara''s wild instincts had reacted subconsciously. However, even after the Silvarean Transformation, Tiara didn''t feel secure. On the contrary, the fear sweeping through every inch of her body intensified.

    Her wild instincts told her to run away as far as possible if she wanted to survive. But instead of moving, her eyes locked onto Michael. She tried to suppress her growing fear of the monster by digging her ws deep into her palms.

    Contrary to Tiara, Masked Saber didn''t even think about running. He stayed by Michael''s side and waited patiently to see what Michael was going to do. However, Michael was staring at the sky cluelessly, wondering what orders to give to his team.

    Seeing the Red Dragon was enough to turn his already hurting head into aplete mess. It was difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion, especially after they witnessed the Red Dragon diving down to the densely grown forest where it released searing hot mes.

    The Red Dragon''s mes turned everything in its way into ashes. The dragon breath didn''t even leave behind remnants of the beings it burned alive. Bones, flesh, and organs, everything was reduced to a crisp.

    Witnessing the Red Dragon''s power, Michael''s first thought was to flee. However, where were they supposed to flee to? Was there a ce to run? Could they escape the Red Dragon if it discovered them running across the small in?

    Michael was certain that the Red Dragon would discover them if they were to run wildly through the wilderness. Thus, instead of running away, it was much better to hide.

    The Red Dragon had yet to pave its way to the abandoned town, creating a perfect opportunity for the trio to rush to the smithy before finding a ce to hide.

    Michael forced himself to run even though he was still not feeling well. They reached the smithy in no time, and both Michael and Masked Saber entered it quickly. Meanwhile, Tiara was left outside to observe the Red Dragon''s movements. They had to be prepared once the Red Dragon decided to change its target to the abandoned town, after all.

    Reaching the Relic of Draka, Michael picked up the sword that had just been forged. He immediately sensed that the sword was powerful and that it had effects simr to a Tier-2 Artifact. That was exceptional, and it caused Michael to momentarily forget about his worries.

    Unfortunately, the Red Dragon was not quiet. It roared out loudly, pulling Michael back to his senses.

    ''Should I leave the Relic of Draka behind to ensure that it doesn''t be an unnecessary load weighing me down? But will that change anything, in the first ce? If the Red Dragon finds us, we''ll be dead, either way¡­''

    No matter how Michael looked at the situation, the presence of the Red Dragon wasparable to the mythical serpent in the Untamed Jungle. The Red Dragon was definitely not a Mythical Creature at the 2nd Tier. Even if it was, Michael wouldn''t be confident to kill the Red Dragon. It was probably impossible for him to even inflict a shallow scratch in the Red Dragon''s scales, if he was able to reach its scales, in the first ce.

    Feeling weak and powerless in the face of the Red Dragon meant that it would kill him one way or another.

    "Just take the Relic. We''ll definitely be fine," Masked Saber said encouragingly before adding,

    Michael looked over to Masked Saber and he lifted an eyebrow at Masked Saber''s next words.

    "Even if something happens. I''ll make sure that you will survive!"

    Michael could tell that Masked Saber was dead serious. He would do everything to ensure that Michael would survive.

    It encouraged Michael to unleash threeyers of Enhancement on Extraction before he targeted the Relic of Draka ¨C the Magical Smithy.

    But at the same time, Michael had a premonition. He could tell that something was wrong with the way Masked Saber spoke. It was a very familiar feeling, which was a little different from the way Masked Saber spoke usually.

    Yet, before Michael could ask something, he got distracted by a surprising fact. He realized in slight astonishment that Extraction was not powerful enough to extract the Relic of Draka.

    This forced Michael to add moreyers of Enhancement to Extraction. He had already been using the strongest form of Extraction to extract the Relic of Draka but it still didn''t seem enough. As a result,yer afteryer of Enhancement was added until a total of sevenyers of Enhancement had been applied to the Symbol of Extraction.

    It was the highest number of Enhancements Michael had applied to a single object, or Soultrait until now, and both the energy consumption and the effect were terrific.

    Michael''s origin energy was rapidly drained, but Extraction was only able to extract the Relic of Draka by the time sevenyers of Enhancement strengthened the 6-Star Extraction Soultrait.

    He extracted the Relic of Draka in one go and stored it inside his War Rune''s storage. By the time the Relic was stored, Michael stopped using Enhancement and Extraction. Yet, what he didn''t expect to happen was sudden exhaustion and the agonizing headache to resurface.

    Blood gushed out of his pores again, and the world around him turned dark for a moment.

    Michael''s legs gave in, and he slumped to the ground.

    "You''ve overworked yourself, but you got it. You''re definitely the Lord, who benefited most from the Lord Rift. Good job!" Masked Sabermented, giving him a thumbs up.

    In response, Michael smiled weakly. He tried to get up again and move with Masked Saber and Tiara to a more secure location to hide until the Lord Rift closed when Masked Saber patted his shoulder soothingly.

    "Don''t worry, we''re just as safe here as everywhere else in the abandoned town. There is no need to keep moving for the time being. I''ll protect you, just rest a bit longer!" He said reassuringly.

    Michael merely heard Masked Saber''sst words before the tension umted in his body was released. His vision tunneled and he fell unconscious the next second.

    Masked Saber looked at Michael, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

    "To think that you would risk your life just to ensure that your territory can prosper. You really don''t want to lose your territory to the Zentika Empire, do you?" He asked, staring at the sleeping Michael for a long time.

    "Just what makes you strive for strength that much? It''s not like you could survive and live a nice life without that much stress if you worked a little bit less," He mumbled, scratching the back of his head with a thin smile on his lips.

    "But I guess striving toward strength and finding out more about our ancestry is one of the things everyone in our family desires. It''s just sad that this desire lets us forget about what''s truly important sometimes," Masked Saber sighed, shaking his head lightly before he looked down at his clothes that were slowly being worn out by the ever-increasing temperature of the Lord Rift.

    "...To enjoy life as much as we can while we''re still alive¡­"

    Masked Saber pressed his lips together in a thin line and touched his mask which showed signs of cobweb-like cracks forming all over it.

    "No matter what happens, I will make sure that you get out of here alive. You are the most precious in my life, after all!"

    **

    [A/N: The Author is back in the game. First of all, I want to thank everyone for the great support until now. I hope y''all have been enjoying the novel until now. For thest few days I''ve been wondering how to write these chapters, so I hope you guys will enjoy everything I''ve prepared for y''all ;D]

 Chapter 264 Blazing Flames

    ?

    "The Dragon ising!"

    Those were the first words Michael heard when he regained consciousness. His head still hurt, feeling like it was about to split apart at any moment, however, Michael didn''t dare to stay on the ground.

    He focused on the golden wisp of the Lord Entrance ticket just to find out that the Lord Rift would close in a few minutes.

    They hade so far!!. Now they only had to survive a few more minutes!

    "Tiara,e here," Michael said weakly before he consumed several energy potions and healing potions. His body might still be fine but his head was a mess, and Michael could only hope that the healing potion would ensure that his brain wouldn''t suffer from any permanent injuries after what he was about to do.

    Now that he had rested a bit, Michael''s energy storage was filled to the brim. Adding the energy entering his body through the potions, Michael was overflowing with origin energy. It was just enough to use Extraction on the ground beneath him.

    Tiara appeared in the smithy, with a trace of worry in her heart. During their time in the Lord Rift she had never felt that ufortable. A premonition permeated the air, and worry was gnawing at her. Even if the Red Dragon wouldn''t find them, the dragon breath may still reach the smithy and burn down everything in their sight ¨C possibly even them.

    However, seeing Michael''s calm expression worked wonders on Tiara who rxed almost instantly. She followed his hand gesture and stepped closer. Michael then pulled her even closer before he did the same to Masked Saber.

    The next instant, the ground beneath them with a radius of half a meter around Michael disappeared suddenly.

    Michael''s eyes were closed, his entire focus pointed toward extracting the ground beneath them.

    Even if the Red Dragon burned down the smithy with its dragon breath, Michael and the others were unlikely to die that easily. The dragon breath may still reach them but the mes would not directly scorch them alive. They would just have to withstand the searing heat ¨C which wasparatively a little easier to counter.

    Michael never thought that it would be easy, but he was pretty sure that digging a hole downward was much better than leaving the smithy and running around wildly. At least, the Red Dragon wouldn''t notice them until the very end.

    Less than a minute after Michael regained his consciousness, Michael and the others noticed that a heatwave flooded their small pit. The smithy didn''t seem to have been burned down yet, but the Dragon''s roar sounded a little closer than before. It was obvious that the Red Dragon had begun to wreak havoc inside the abandoned town.

    The heatwave crashing down on them caused great distress to Michael. He bit his lower lip hard and it began to bleed but he endured the pain just to ensure that he would stay conscious while increasing the intensity of Extraction. He unleashed Extraction''s full power before adding ayer of Enhancement to elerate everything.

    They moved downward much faster than before, creating a huge gap between them and the surface. However, the downside was that Michael''s origin energy was quickly drained.

    He tried to extract the origin energy from the surroundings but the headache prevented him from using Extraction multiple times. Michael could barely focus on carefully extracting the ground beneath them without copsing on the spot.

    Meanwhile, Tiara kept retrieving potions every few seconds. She hastily removed the lids and fed the potions to Michael, who seemed to have entered a trance-like state to make sure that he would continue extracting the ground beneath them even if he would copse.

    But even after Michael gave his all, a Red Dragon''s power shouldn''t be underestimated. Tiara and Masked Saber were the first to notice it when it all began.

    The Dragon issued a blood-curdling roar that was followed by a desperate outcry of fear and despair. In the next second, a sea of zing mes burned down the smithy and everything in its surroundings, removing the source of the desperate outcry once and forever.

    At first, Masked Saber and Tiara thought that they wouldn''t be affected by the zing mes. The heat of mes expanded the air, which resulted in a reduction of its density. Thus, the gravitational force would pull down the rtively colder and denser air, discing the hot air, which would then result in the mes shooting upward.

    However, the mes they were talking about weren''t normal by any means. These mes were the source of power of a true dragon, a mythical creature that was feared the most for its terrifying fiery breath!

    Nobody could really tell what, or who enraged the Red Dragon to this extent, but it was obvious that the dragon was truly enraged. Something big must have happened for the Red Dragon to destroy everything in its sight. It wouldn''t burn down its own source of food and everything else around for no reason.

    But even if there was a reason neither Michael nor Masked Saber, or Tiara could care about that. They just wanted to survive, and would do everything to achieve that goal.

    Unfortunately, the Red Dragon''s breath didn''t make it easy for them. Instead of shooting upward, the dragon''s me spread everywhere it could. As long as a trace of origin energy was in its path, it devoured the same.

    They were extremely fast and deadly, increasing the heat inside the pit by several degrees the moment they began to spread out from the surface.

    Masked Saber reacted instantaneously. He spread his silver energy out above their heads like a shield, creating a perfectly sealed ceiling of silver energy. Given that the Red Dragon''s mes weren''t aimed at them, Masked Saber was certain that the silver energy ceiling was strong enough to protect all of them.

    That was indeed a correct assumption of Masked Saber. But there was one thing he didn''t take into consideration; Dragon mes burned through creations made with origin energy.

    The moment the zing dragon mes reached the silver energy ceiling Masked Saber realized that his origin energy wouldn''t be enough to protect them until the Lord Rift closed ¨C throwing all of them outside. Masked Saber''s only advantage was that Michael continued to pull them deeper underground. Their distance to the surface increased, which weakened the intensity of the dragon mes that reached them.

    That way, Masked Saber could regte his energy consumption a little bit.

    He let out a big sigh of relief, telling himself that his silver energy ceiling was likely to be enough to protect them for one more minute. By the time the next 60 seconds psed, all of this would be over. They would return to the Untamed Jungle with all their loot, happily expand their territory, and be stronger than ever before.

    But it was just as Masked Saber took another breath that his heart skipped a beat. His hair stood up on its end and he didn''t dare to move a single muscle in his body.

    The Red Dragon had noticed the pit in the ground, and it was staring straight at Masked Saber with its golden eyes that shone with a wicked glint.

    "Fuck¡­"

    Masked Saber''s voice barely reached the bottom of the pit when the Red Dragon lifted its head to direct its mes straight down the pit.

    45 seconds remained.

 Chapter 265 Realization

    ?

    The moment Masked Saber cursed out loudly, Michael was pulled out of his trance-like state.

    He felt weak and his head felt like it was about to burst at any moment, but he could still crane his head to look up. Even if he couldn''t move, Michael would have forced himself to move either way. Now was not the time to ck.

    Michael''s view was filled with the Red Dragon''s zing mes as they shot down the pit. He nced at Masked Saber and Tiara for a moment before he stopped using Extraction on the ground beneath them.

    Instead, he released a beam of golden light upward.

    The moment Michael changed his target, blood began to trickle out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. But that was the smallest problem Michael faced right now. His golden beam of extraction collided with the dragon mes a quarter of a second after Michael released it.

    He tried to extract the origin energy from the dragon''s mes, knowing that these mythical mes wouldn''t extinguish immediately if he deprived the oxygen in the vicinity. It was a desperate attempt but he prayed that it would work. However, instead of being able to extract the dragon mes'' origin energy, Michael witnessed in shock the way his extraction''s golden streams were devoured by the dragon mes.

    For the first time since Michael had gotten hold of Extraction, he was faced with the destruction of Extraction''s power. It was not impossible to imagine given that the dragon''s breath released mythical mes, but Michael had a hard time coping with Extraction''s uselessness while facing this type of issue.

    The dragon mes continued to move downward rapidly. It wasn''t long before they collided with the perfectly sealed silver energy ceiling. Masked Saber had never stopped channeling more energy into the silver energy ceiling, strengthening it just enough to block the first impact of the dragon mes.

    Despite being able to block the mes, the silver energy ceiling burned down quickly. At the same time, Masked Saber spit out blood. The impact of the dragon mes must have been much harder than expected.

    Masked Saber''s perfectly sealed silver energy ceiling crumbled. The searing hot heat of the dragon mes passed through the silver energy ceiling, filling the bottom of the pit.

    But that was not everything. If that was all, Michael might not feel desperation coiling around his heart in a vice-like grip.

    However, Michael saw from the corner of his eyes that Masked Saber''s cloth began to catch fire. Masked Saber''s mask seemed to have been deprived of all its moisture, causing cracks to form all over the surface.

    A burst of fear spread through his entire body seeing what was about to happen to Masked Saber. For the first time since he entered the Origin Expanse, death seemed closer than ever. It was hovering in the air above them and felt almost like the Grim Reader''s soul-reaping scythe was pressed tightly against their necks.

    Feeling a tinge of desperation for the first time, Michael reacted instinctively. He applied sevenyers of Enhancement on Extraction before he released another golden beam upward.

    The golden beam was much more intense than before. It cut through the dragon mes, initiating a fierce battle between an ancient power and the mythical mes that should have burned down everything.

    Michael''s golden beam of extraction began to devour the origin energy within the dragon mes all while the dragon mes destroyed the golden beam, draining it of the origin energy that had been used to create it as well.

    However, Michael continued to use the energy he had just drained from the dragon mes to continue releasing the sevenyer enhanced golden beam of extraction. The golden beam immediately caught fire, slowly burning down until it would be destroyed atst.

    But that was perfectly fine with Michael. He wasn''t trying to have a fierce battle with a mythical creature at this point. All he wanted to do was stall enough time until the Lord Rift would close. Once they were thrown out of the Lord Rift, Michael could cover Masked Saber with several nkets to ensure that nobody would be able to see him.

    After all, the condition attached to his life allowed nobody to see his skin, forget about his face!

    Yet, even though Michael was doing his best, he couldn''t block the dragon mes all by himself. He was merely a Low-stage Tier-2 Lord. His Soultrait may be powerful, especially after it had been enhanced with severalyers of 50% Enhancements, but the mythical creature was not only ranked multiple Tiers higher than him, but its mythical mes were far from weak as well.

    Michael could merely decrease their strength and drain some origin energy to continue utilizing enhanced Extraction all while the searing heat continued to drain Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber''s vicinity from all moisture.

    The temperature in the pit easily crossed 400 degrees Celsius at this point. Not even theyers of origin energy were enough to shield them from the searing heat and scorching mes.

    They were sweating profusely, their breathing grew ragged, and their bodies'' condition was deteriorating rapidly. It was only a matter of time before they would copse due to the terrifying heat.

    If they weren''t at the 2nd Tier, they would already be dead.

    However, the situation continued to worsen. The temperature was already unbearable, and they were stuck in a pit with nowhere to go, but the worst was that Masked Saber''s clothes had caught fire.

    They ought to be resistant to all elements, but a small spark of the dragon mes must have passed through the silver energy ceiling, slowly paving the way toward Masked Saber to burn all of his clothes slowly.

    Michael grit his teeth and threw a short nce at the Lord Rift''s countdown. It showed that the Lord Rift would close in less than ten seconds, which was much more time than they had left.

    Michael''s origin energy storage was drained, and even Tiara''s support from the sideline was of little to no help.

    She was trying to energize Masked Saber and Michael with potions to ensure that they could continue giving their best. After all, Tiara didn''t have a Soultrait or power that allowed her to extinguish, or weaken the mes of a pureblood dragon. That was not her expertise and it left her filled with regret and anger. She had never felt that useless in her life¡­ not even when their home was taken, and they were forced to flee.

    At that time, Tiara had been filled with regret, embarrassment, and humiliation. However, she knew that there was still something she could do to help her people, and to protect them. There had been a way out of misery, and a task only she could aplish.

    But what about now? Right now, Tiara couldn''t do anything.

    She couldn''t even help Masked Saber, who continued to focus solely on the silver energy ceiling to protect them rather than worrying about his burning clothes and cracking mask.

    The temperature at the bottom of the hole began to increase rapidly, Michael''s golden beam of extraction was devoured by the dragon''s sizzling mes, and the full impact of the deadly mythical mes crushed down on Masked Saber''s silver energy ceiling atst.

    It was already a wonder that Masked Saber had been able to maintain the silver energy ceiling that long. Yet, even after the mythical mes crashed down on it, the ceiling didn''t crumble downpletely.

    Some more sparks of mes reached the bottom of the pit, but they were iparable to the tremendous force of mes that had yet to reach them.

    Weirdly enough, Michael''s mind went astray when he stared at the silver energy ceiling, and something his brother said a long time ago resurfaced in his mind.

    ¨C" You may not understand me right now, but there will be a time when all your strength won''t be enough to protect yourselves and those around you. That''s why some people practice forbidden techniques that use your life force as a recement of origin energy to draw out more strength than you ought to possess. That way, you can use your life to defeat a stronger opponent, or protect someone from a terrific attack you could never block otherwise. These Life Reversal techniques are dangerous, and I hope you will never learn them." ¨C

    At that time, Michael didn''t understand what his brother meant. Using a Life Reversal technique seemed stupid in his eyes, and that was what he told his brother.

    ¨C"Who the hell would be stupid enough to use such a technique?"--

    His brother had been smiling knowingly, patting Michael''s head with a vibrant smile on his lips.

    ¨C"I hope you will never have to use it, but you should know¡­some people would rather sacrifice themselves than seeing their beloved dying."--

    Recalling the scene as if it happened the day before, Michael''s eyes widened. He momentarily forgot about the desperation filling his entire being and looked over to Masked Saber.

    Everything seemed to make sense now. The silver energy, the familiarity he felt when talking to Masked Saber. His familiar fighting style. The True Link of Loyalty.

    All of it started to make sense¡­but it couldn''t be. How could Masked Saber be¡­

    "Danny¡­" Michael cried out weakly.

    Masked Saber''s clothes were burning at this point, and his mask cracked down, burning into ashes as the mythical mes devoured everything.

    "It took you long enough, little fool," A familiar voice reached his ears, causing a teardrop to trickle down Michael''s cheek.

    Masked Saber''s clothes were now reduced to shreds and his mask cracked down, burning into ashes as the mythical mes were devoured, revealing his brother''s face in front of him.

    The next moment everything in front of Michael was devoured by the dragon''s mes.

 Chapter 266 Caring Family

    ?

    Daniel Fang knew that everything was over when his mask crumbled. He stared deep into Michael''s eyes and smiled vibrantly at his little brother before the zing mythical mes engulfed his entire body, burning him rapidly.

    Daniel merely had a second before he would burn to ashes. However, knowing that he was bound to die, there was only one thing he could do. He had to ensure that Michael would be fine ¨C that his beloved brother would survive the next few seconds.

    Daniel Fang threw his body in front of Michael and Tiara before he channeled his entire Lifeforce into the forbidden Life Reversal technique. Every bit of strength within his body was used to create a huge silver sword that filled the entire space above them.

    Danny coughed up blood, and his legs wobbled horribly, but his eyes never left the dragon mes above them. He released the humongous silver qi sword to cut through the dragon''s mythical mes and stall some time for Michael.

    After unleashing the strongest attack he could condense, Danny''s entire being felt weak. It was as if life was seeping out of him at an rming pace.

    Nheless, he turned to his brother, still smiling brightly. His lips parted and he said something, but Michael couldn''t hear a single world. Michael was in a trance, staring nkly at his elder brother, bbergasted and unable toprehend the situation.

    The next moment, Daniel Fang''s body shot up in mes and burned in front of him, turning into ashes.

    Meanwhile, the scene around Michael and Tiara began to change. The mes engulfing them extinguished and everything turned dazzling white. They were teleported out of the Lord Rift. The Lord Rift had closed.

    But it was toote. It had been just a second toote.

    Michael and Tiara survived, but Masked Saber¡­no¡­Daniel Fang sacrificed his life by using everything he could in a desperate attempt to protect his beloved brother.

    "Danny¡­" Michael let out a shrill cry, tears pouring down his cheeks like a waterfall before the tension umted in his body dispersed. The adrenaline coursing through him receded, and the umted exhaustion of his body and mind crashed down on Michael at once.

    He was about to faint when something unexpected happened.

    Strands of memories of the past resurfaced in Michael''s mind.

    He had never expected to think of them again¡­those bittersweet memories of the time when everything was still fine. Michael didn''t want to recall those memories, but he was too weak to reject them. He was drawn into the memories and recalled everything.

    It was a memory from more than ten years ago. A middle-aged woman with a youthful appearance was busy in the kitchen, preparing dinner while humming the melody of the most trendy song that had been released a few days ago. She smiled lightly while listening to the chaos behind her.

    Two young boys at the age of 7 and 11 were ying in the living room, brawling with each other to find out who was stronger between the two. The older boy was physically stronger, and he was much taller and heavier, yet he didn''t use his entire strength in the friendly brawl. He smiled at his younger brother, who was trying to outwit him, happy to fool his little naive and gullible brother by evading his weak and slow attacks at thest moment.

    The boys were Michael and Daniel from a time when none of them had manifested their War Rune. The brothers were oblivious to the dangers of the future and didn''t even think about their awakening. All that was on their mind was to continue living this peaceful life with their sweet family.

    Their family consisted of five members, who loved each other dearly. They would do everything in their power to help each other whether it was by motivating one another through praises, or by lecturing them when they did something wrong. The brothers would even go as far as to risk getting injured as long as it could alleviate the stress and exhaustion of the adults by distracting them.

    The youthful middle-aged woman finished cooking dinner and called the boys to set up the table. Her smile widened as she saw them rushing over to the kitchen to help their mother.

    They set up the kitchen table, only to halt in their tracks when they heard the door to their apartment open quietly. The two brothers turned around while listening to the pained groans of a middle-aged man, and the teasing voice of a young woman.

    The middle-aged man and the young woman looked almost the same. While the middle-aged man''s facial features were a little feminine, his actions and behavior were certainly not. On the other hand, the young woman was a true beauty. Her beauty couldpare to the Frozen Duchess ¨C Alice Zenovia ¨C, and she had many pursuers who fancied her.

    However, none of them met her standards. She was a little tomboyish, and cold to those who were not ambitious, and those who were weaker than her despite spending several years longer in the Origin Expanse than she had.

    Her name was Hesta Fang, a young woman at the age of 20, and the youngest human, who became a higher life form by advancing to the 4th Tier. She was ambitious, powerful, and had survived all kinds of ordeals, and she would never ept someone weaker than her as her lover.

    Some would even say that she was cold and unapproachable. Yet, seeing the two brothers staring at her with big, sparkling eyes Hesta Fang couldn''t help but squeal excitedly and bend her knees to lower herself on the ground. She opened her arms widely and smiled vibrantly at her two younger brothers, leaving behind the exhaustion she had felt from sparring with her father the whole day.

    Danny and Michael rushed into their sister''s embrace, hugging her tightly.

    It had been a while since they saw Hesta and they worried a lot about her.

    "Will you stay longer with us this time?" Young Danny asked, his eyes already filled with tears.

    He didn''t want to part with his sister anytime soon.

    "Tell us more stories about the Origin Expanse!!" Young Michael eximed in excitement, happy that his sister had returned from the Origin Expanse without any injuries.

    As long as she was fine, everything would be alright.

    "Ayyy, my little boys. Aren''t you a little bit too clingy? Your poor sister can barely breathe," The youthful middle-aged woman stepped forward. She ruffled through the hair of her little boys and smiled gently at her oldest child. After a brief eye-contact between the mother and daughter, Hesta straightened her legs to stand up.

    She held her brother''s hands ¨C one of the boys on each side ¨C, and walked over to the dining table. She lifted Michael into the chair, even though he was already big enough to do so himself, and looked over to Danny in hopes that she could spoil him a little bit as well.

    However, Danny had already moved into his seat, his eyes flicking restlessly from the dishes to Hesta.

    The shing smile on his face clearly revealed his excitement, causing Hesta''s heart to melt.

    On that day she swore to herself to spend more time with her family, and to make sure that they wouldn''t have a hard time in the future.

    Unfortunately, her pledge didn''t go ording to the n.

    That seemingly ordinary day turned out to be a life-changing event for the two brothers. It was thest night they saw their sister, and it was thest good memory of their parents.

    Everything changed after this seemingly ordinary day of a loving family.

    The oldest child disappeared, and the two brothers were abandoned, left with nothing more than money.

    ¡­

    At one point, Michael noticed that the memory of the past he had long forgotten started to get blurry. The memories and the pleasant sensation apanying them dispersed, reced by dazzling light, the chirping of birds, and the familiar smell of the densely grown jungle.

    Michael and Tiara had returned to the Untamed Jungle.

    [A/N: Danny and Michael had an older sister? Did someone expect something like that? What exactly happened to his family? Does anyone here have some creative guesses? Why is Michael recalling these memories all of a sudden?

    Am I a cruel author? -- I can probably answer that myself keke]

 Chapter 267 Sacred Desert

    ?

    **[Several months ago in the Sacred Desert]**

    It had only been a few days since Michael left home to travel through space. Danny was very busy in his territory but he still thought about his brother, wondering how he was doing.

    He wasn''t too worried about Michael''s well-being. On the contrary, Danny was certain that his brother would be fine. It was his gut feeling telling him that everything would be fine with his brother. And usually, Danny''s gut feeling was right ¨C especially when it revolved around his brother.

    Instead of worrying needlessly about Michael, Danny felt that it was more important to finish thest preparations for the Sarkophag of the Primedival expedition.

    It hadn''t been long since they found the Sarkophag of Primedival, but everyone was excited to raid the Primedival Pyramid and enter the deeper area to make huge gains.

    Only Danny was extremely cautious of the Primedival Pyramid''s dangers. He repeatedly warned the remaining Lords in the Alliance that had been created specifically for the raid of the Primedival Pyramid, but they seemed anxious to pass by the Pyramid''s outskirts and enter the deeper parts.

    "My Lord, do you really want to join those foolish Lords inside the Primedival Pyramid? I don''t think we should trust them. They''re treacherous and they mistreat their subordinates!" A young man wearing high-quality desert armor voiced his concern, before kneeling down to the ground.

    The young warrior knew that he shouldn''t judge his Lord''s decisions, but his worry forced him to go against his ideals and wishes.

    "I know that they cannot be trusted. I will use this opportunity to ensure that their military force will dwindle before I attack them. They''re probably nning something simr, but there is nothing we can do about that. If I attack one of them, the others will join the battle once both sides sustain heavy casualties," Danny responded, feeling an iing headache at the given situation.

    The problem was that the Primedival Pyramid was located at the intersection between fourrge territories. The border of Danny''s territory and the territory of the three Lords formed a huge quadrat with each of them being in charge of one quarter. The four Lords had been fighting for two years now, and all of them had been on the verge of annihtion at least once.

    Waging war with several Lords was not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that Danny discovered the Primedival Pyramid on a windy day a year ago. At that time, he was barely able to see the tip of the Pyramid''s ruins jutting out of the Sacred Desert''s ground, looking seemingly inconspicuous. But Danny''s curiosity was piqued and he undertook a ratherborious task of digging a huge hole along with his subjects to reveal the humongous Pyramid.

    While working hard to dig out the Primedival Pyramid, Danny found an invaluable treasure- a natural 5-Star Tierless Weapon Artifacts called Tigerfang. He put it inside his War Rune immediately, thinking of gifting Tigerfang to his brother.

    Unfortunately, one of the three enemy Lords'' scouts reported the appearance of the Primedival Pyramid and the treasure Danny found in its outskirts to their leader. It was only a matter of days before the other Lords heard of the Primedival Pyramid causing a huge stir in the Sacred Desert.

    Danny and the three other Lords were in charge of a rather isted territory. It was surrounded byrge mountains, leaving only small trails for outsiders to infiltrate. Thus, the battle of sovereignty between the four Lords began, and all focus was put on the Primedival Pyramid. The benefits one could obtain from the Primedival Pyramid could be a deciding factor between victory and annihtion, after all.

    The warfare of the four Lords became even bloodier than it had been, and chaos and destruction ensued for the next few months. None of the four Lords was able to avoid losses, which drastically stagnated the development of their territories.

    In fact, none of the four Lords was able to avoid suffering a major setback in their territories'' development progress. The battlefield had moved to the Lords'' territories, forcing all of them to use desperate means and actions to survive.

    Thus, less than two months ago, the Lords finally decided to hold a meeting to determine what to do next. They decided to plunder the Primedival Pyramid together and use their gains to fight onest battle.

    "They''re our enemies. Warning them won''t help us¡­or is there something else that you are nning, my Lord?" A middle-aged woman with serpentine eyes appeared to their right side with a confused expression. She heard what their Lord said, but couldn''tprehend his reasoning.

    "Warning them is for my own good. I need them to survive for a while so that I can enter the inner area to reach the Sarkophag of Primedival. If the Lords and their subordinates die before they can distract the enemy, we will have to struggle a lot more," Danny replied grimly, understanding that it was dangerous to keep his enemies alive.

    It would be much better to let the Lords die, conquer their territories and prepare for arge-scale expedition using the gains made from annexing threerge territories.

    But time was what theycked the most right now. When Danny entered the Primedival Pyramid for the first time he found out that it would copse and destroy everything inside it exactly 500 days after it had been dug out. The majority of the 500 days had already passed, leaving Danny and the other Lords no way but to work together if they wanted to benefit from the Primedival Pyramid.

    And right now, they werepletely focused on that goal. Danny sighed heavily while wiping the sweat off his forehead. If not for the Primedival Pyramid''s countdown, he would have never bothered creating an alliance with the three Lords. It was idiotic to work together with your nemesis. Any mistake could lead to their betrayal. There was no trust, which was disastrous in a raid.

    Danny knew that damn well, but he was also fully aware that if he didn''t join the expedition his enemies would make huge gains.

    "How about we attack their territories while they are busy raiding the Primedival Pyramid? As long as their Summoning Gates have been destroyed we''ll be able to win the war of sovereignty!" The serpent-eyed woman said, but Danny shook his head.

    "If I don''t reach the meeting spot unanimously agreed upon in the earlier meeting, the remaining Lords will join hands to attack me. The same will also happen to others if they don''t arrive at the meeting spot," Danny revealed with a shrug.

    He didn''t feel great being pulled into the alliance with the other Lords, but he couldn''t fight against thebined force of the three Lords simultaneously. They were not weak by any means, otherwise, Danny would have long since killed them.

    Danny was waiting for an opening to strike, but so were the other Lords. None of them backed down, and all of them were greedy to im everything for themselves ¨C including sovereignty and the loot of the Primedival Pyramid. It was a hassle, and Danny couldn''t avoid the battle if he didn''t want to abandon his subjects and territory.

    He would have to let go of his territory and rights as a Lord to avoid the bloody warfare, but that was not something he wanted to do.

    Contrary to others neither he nor Michael would ever abandon anyone. After all, they knew how it felt to be abandoned, left to fend for themselves even though they didn''t have the means or power to safeguard themselves.

    Danny didn''t want to abandon others. He didn''t want to make others feel the desperation and helplessness he and his brother felt when their parents abandoned them with a disgusting excuse.

    They wanted to search for their sister, knowing damn well that Hesta hadn''t disappeared normally.

    ¡­

    "I will never be like my parents. I''d rather die than abandon those who trust me!"

 Chapter 268 Raid

    ?

    The raid of the Primedival Pyramid could be considered anything but a great sess.

    After the four Lords and their armies met less than two kilometers from the entrance of the Primedival Pyramid everyone could already feel the tension between the four forces.

    The Gigantus Desert Scorpions in Danny''s rows screeched loudly, while the Goldscale Earthworms in the army of the other Lords swirled restlessly through the sand around them.

    No matter how Danny looked at the situation he couldn''t help but feel difort. It didn''t make sense for four archenemies to join their forces and raid the Primedival Pyramid together. Something was off, but Danny had yet to figure out what it was.

    He observed the actions and responses of the other Lords as they shared their thoughts about the Primedival Pyramid.

    "Since the Primedival Pyramid requires to be conquered from all entrances simultaneously, we won''t even have to pay attention to each other upon entering the Pyramid. Everyone can do their own thing before the final battle that determines who will be the sovereign of the four territories," One of the Lords said emotionlessly.

    Even until now, Danny didn''t know what race this Lord belonged to. He had the head of a Pteranodon, an extremely long neck, and his arms were long and flexible, which made them seem like they were serpents. On the other hand, his legs were thick, allowing him to have a strong foothold on the ground.

    Despite that, the Lord didn''t seem powerful. He looked more like a small child had haphazardly put together some random monster body parts. However, his strength ¨C and the strength of his subordinates ¨C was not something that should be underestimated. He was the reason Danny nearly lost his territory twice.

    Meanwhile, the two other Lords were no less dangerous. One of them belonged to the Glorack race, a race of small Stone Giants. They were one of the weaker Giant races, their bodies created from mother earth and father stone. The Glorack race was slow, but both their attack power and means of defense were extraordinary.

    Danny''s Gigantus Desert Scorpions couldn''t injure them even with theirrge pincers or their stingers. Not even the venom with high acidity was strong enough to inflict lethal wounds. After all, the Glorack couldn''t feel pain, and the only way they could be killed was by crushing their Lifecore.

    Defeating them was difficult for ordinary Summons. Even high-ranked Summons had problems if they were not in possession of powers that allowed them to cut through tempered stone, or crush it with brute force.

    Fortunately, Danny had the perfect Soultrait to deal with the Glorack. Faced with Danny as an opponent, the Glorack could only keep some distance to him.

    Andst but not least there was the Drakna race. The Drakna race was said to have been the Demi-Human offspring of a Dragonaut with extremely low purity of a Red Dragon''s bloodline, and a member of a lesser race. They looked like Demi-humans with red scales covering their bodies, small horns growing from their heads, and arge lizard scale growing from their tailbone.

    They had a weak innate fire affinity and were adept at using their eyes to easily locate origin energy, the trajectory of projectiles, and see in any environment. Even in utter darkness, the Drakna would be able to see properly, turning them into an extraordinary force during the day and at night.

    There was a time when Danny and the Drakna Lord thought aboutbining their forces. However, before they could do so to deal with the Glorack and the Pteranodon Lord, they took note of the danger and attacked the Drakna Lord from both sides. The Drakna Lord would have died if not for Danny reaching the perimeter at thest moment. Danny focused his attacks on the Glorack Lord and his army, which he nearly decimated while the Drakna Lord fought desperately against the Pteranodon Lord, using the arrival of night to his advantage.

    Quite a while had passed since that day, but it was the first time that the four armies had gathered at one ce once again. This time it was not for an all-out war either. It was to conquer the Primedival Pyramid.

    "Just so everyone knows if anyone here decides to attack my territory while I''m inside the Pyramid with my army¡­you will not only lose your lives but I will also make sure that I torture everyone in your territory before taking your Summoning Gate to reactivate mine," Danny warned, his eyes as sharp as the razor-sharp sword that hung down his waist.

    The other Lords were oblivious to the fact that he had purchased a Lord Seal not too long ago. The Lord Rift drained his entire savings worth billions of dors. In fact, even that wasn''t enough to purchase the Lord Seal. He had to use up a few favors to get hold of this treasure.

    To ensure that his people would be safe, Danny had constructed arge underground bunker deep underneath the mountain range. It was far away from his territory, and also the current location of his subordinates.

    Danny didn''t trust the other Lords. Thus, he made sure to prepare everything to reim his territory if necessary. His subordinates wouldn''t die, and he could use the Summoning Cores of his enemies with the Lord Seal to regain his power as a Lord ¨C if he was to lose it.

    "You can try killing me, human bastard. You are but a hideous stepping stone for me and my people!" The Pteranodon Lord hissed, turning away from the other Lords.

    The Drakna Lord''s serpentine eyes glimmered upon seeing the Pteranodon Lord''s wide-open back but Danny merely shook his head. The Pteranodon Lord wouldn''t show his unguarded back to his archenemies ¨C not if he wasn''t prepared to get attacked. Maybe he was even hoping that the Drakna Lord wouldn''t be able to control his emotions and make some stupid mistake.

    However, Danny didn''t think too much about it either. He put his t hand against his sword handle and turned away as well.

    "Since we know where we have to enter, let''s not disturb ourselves with each others'' presence. It''s disgusting," The Glorack Lord said, also turning away.

    Danny looked back at the departing backs of the other Lords, a deep frown appearing on his face.

    ''Isn''t the tension between them almost negligible today? The Drakna Lord''s temper didn''t re up even once. He should be throwing fists at both the Glorack and the Pteranodon Lord. However, he merely red at them. Is he holding back?''

    A re could have several meanings, but it was never for a good reason. Danny couldn''t remember to have seen someone re at him for a good reason, at least. Nheless, there hadn''t been any killing intent in the Drakna''s eyes when he red at the Pteranodon Lord. It was more of an empty stare void of any intention.

    That was weird, and it was also why Danny chose to order his desert scouts to pursue the three Lords and to report to his right hand whenever something happened. Their reports would reach him immediately given that every member of the desert scout unit had been given a short-distance messenger crystal.

    They were expensive, but Danny didn''t fret over the price. On the contrary, he would have paid a lot more for the messenger crystals as long as they allowed him to be up-to-date about the movements of everyone in the isted area of the Sacred Desert.

    Danny valued information enough to consider the cost of millions as a mere bargain.

    He didn''t enter the Primedival Pyramid immediately. Instead, he waited for the first reports to reach him before he began to move toward the southern entrance gate of the Primedival Pyramid.

    At the entrance gate, Danny ordered the Saharit Elephants who had a thick bone te growing out of their heads instead of ordinary tusks to charge toward the firm gates and crush them.

    The entrance gates in all directions were ck, and they had golden enchantments engraved all over them. The enchantments wereplex and ovepped with each other, creating a huge illustration with a 3d effect. The images represented the type of challenge they would have to face after seeding in the initial trial; destroying the four gates without getting killed.

    When the Pteranodon Lord had attempted to raid the Primedival Pyramid by himself, he had experienced how devastating the Primedival Pyramid''s initial trial truly was.

    First of all, the four ck gates in all directions had to be attacked simultaneously, otherwise, they couldn''t be broken. If the gates weren''t attacked simultaneously, the energy that had naturally gathered and condensed inside the Primedival Pyramid over the course of thousands of years would be released to empower the enchantment arrays of the ck gates, repairing them faster than they could be destroyed.

    Only an existence at the 5th Tier would be able to destroy the ck gates faster than the Primedival Pyramid could repair them.

    That was one of the reasons four forces were required to charge inside the Primedival Pyramid at once.

    Another reason was that the Primedival Pyramid released its forces once someone attempted to destroy the gates. The forces would split up to defend the four gates once the initial trial was set in motion. Instead of moving to four different locations, and splitting into four forces, the Primedival Pyramid''s force would divert their focus to protect the other gates if the raiders were unwilling to attack all four gates simultaneously.

    The Pteranodon Lord nearly died facing the full force of the Primedival Pyramid''s defense power but managed to survive by sacrificing most of his subordinates at that time.

    Fortunately, that was not necessary anymore. Four Lords with their full military power attacked the ck gates with the aim to destroy the ck gates and protect their lives against the Undead forces of the Primedival Pyramid.

    It didn''t take long until the first Undead emerged from the searing hot sand. Skeletons of all kinds of beings and monsters appeared all around the Primedival Pyramid.

    Soon the raid began, sealing the inevitable fate of another Cursed Child.

 Chapter 269 Undead Of The Desert

    ?

    The Undead of the Desert were not to be underestimated. There were countless of them, and none of them seemed weak or timid.

    There were Skeleton Spearman wielding spears and carrying shields. Nehkarabia Warrior Skeletons with two sabers, greatbat prowess and spatial awareness, Tomb Guard Skeletons wielding halberds, Crypt Ghouls that were asrge as Elephants, Skeleton Archers and many more.

    However, the ordinary defensive units of the Primedival Pyramid were only slightly annoying for most. They wouldn''t be enough to wreak havoc in the rows of the four Lords'' armies.

    That was different for the Undead Cavalry, the Desert Warbeasts, the Monstrous Infantry, and the Monsters of the Primedival Pyramid.

    The Undead Cavalry was put together with Nehkarabia Horsemen riding on Skeleton Horses, and the Nehkarabia Knights riding on Giant Ghoul Serpents that were as long as a crane. Theirbat prowess was terrifying, especially when the unpredictable movements of the Giant Ghoul Serpents were taken into ount.

    But the Warbeasts made everything even worse. Undead Dire Wolves and Soul-devouring Death Vultures shot out of the sand. The Death Vultures covered the cloudless sky while the Undead Dire Wolves charged through the vicinity with terrifying speed and power.

    All those units of the Sacred Desert''s Undead were already enough to cause chaos even though the strongest of them were at the Peak of Tier-1. The Giant Ghoul Serpents, the Crypt Ghouls, and the Soul-devouring Death Vultures were on the verge of Tier-2, and theirbat prowess could bepared to weaker Tier-2 Warrior Units.

    However, the Monstrous Infantry and Undead Desert Monsters of the Primedival Pyramid''s army were even more fearsome.

    Danny discovered Anubirats and Kleshabits in the rows of the Monstrous Infantry ¨C Superior Existences that had reached the Peak of the 2nd Tier. Anubirats wererge guardian statues carved into the likeness of the Gods and Goddess that were loved and prayed to during the Second Epoch.

    The guardian statues appeared around the ck gate, standing guard and protecting the perimeters of the Primedival Pyramid. The Anubirats were imposing monuments reminiscent of the former glory of the Desert Gods in the Second Epoch, who were awakened in times of need using powerful incantations.

    In ancient times the living warriors of the Sacred Desert took great strength from the fact that the Anubirats fought alongside them, believing that their Gods guided and protected them whether it was in life, or in death and as for the Anubirats'' appearance, it resembled their image of Anubis.

    Kleshabits were like the Anubirats, guardian statues the size of an elephant. However, they didn''t fight alongside their warriors. They stood at the back with a huge six-meter-long great bow in their hands ¨C their arrows representations of the fragility of life. Each arrow would find its target, impaling a poor soul, and pulling it into the Sacred Desert where all traces of its existence would be washed away.

    Just seeing a handful of those Anubirats and Kleshabits emerging near the southern gate was enough for Danny to curse aloud. He immediately issued orders, manifested his armor and one-handed longsword before he dashed forward with great speed.

    The Reinforced Sword Qi of his Soultrait shrouded his sword in silver light all while severalpressed Sword Qi des manifested around his body. He released the Sword Qi des in hopes of killing the Anubirats and Kleshabits with a single blow. However, the Kleshabits released a deadly arrow to burst the Sword Qiing their way, while the Anubirats shed their sickle-like swords at the Sword Qi, shattering it with much more ease than Danny expected.

    Danny clicked his tongue, issued a few mentalmands to his subjects through a True Link of Loyalty, and moved closer to the Guardian Statues. He didn''t want them to kill the Saharit Elephants as they continued to smash the southern gate.

    He used more Reinforced Sword Qi around his sword and activated the enchantment of his boots. [Sand Dash] was the enchantment he activated. It allowed him to run across the desert as if he was running over an ordinary in. His feet didn''t sink deep into the sand. Instead, it felt like the sand beneath his feet was firm, pushing him from the ground to elerate his steps further.

    Circting energy through his body, Danny emerged in front of the closest Anubirats. The Undead Guardian shed at him with both sickle-like weapons. Its movements were rapid, equivalent to the movement speed of a Low-stage Tier-3 Adventurer. Fortunately, Danny had advanced to the 3rd Tier not too long ago.

    He was even able to use some of his connections to get a Saint-rank cksmith to create an artificial 5-Star Tier-3 Weapon Artifact for himself. The Artifact and the Lord Sealbined together drained everything Danny had umted over the course of four years. He didn''t have a single cent in his savings ount, and he was even forced to be indebted to the cksmith. His territory''s ie for the next three years would be used to pay the Saint-rank cksmith.

    That was also why Danny wanted to give his all to raid the Primedival Pyramid. He hoped to find a few treasures to pay his debt before using the remaining gains to expand his territory. Once the other Lords were dead, he could focus on turning the isted area of the Sacred Desert into his headquarters before slowly expanding his territory across the mountain range.

    The Ta sword was his Epic Tier-3 Artifact that had been engraved with enchantments that worked perfectly in sync with his Reinforced Sword Qi. It was a customized Artifact that could be considered better than certain natural Epic Tier-3 Artifacts.

    Thus, as he kept using his Reinforced Sword Qi on the Ta Sword, Danny was not too worried. He continued to move rapidly, blocking the Anubirat''s attacks.

    He unleashed a Sword Qi de to the right when the Kleshabits released one of its huge deadly arrows at him, but they destroyed each other upon colliding.

    Danny jumped high into the air, coating his sword in silver light before shing down on the sickle weapons of the Anubirats. The sickles shattered, revealing a big gap for Danny to sh down and behead the Anubirats.

    Once the Guardian of the Primedival Pyramid lost its head, the rest of the body crumbled as well. However, Danny didn''t receive an energy influx upon killing the Anubirats. That distracted him for a moment and he kept watching the fallen enemy intently, thinking that the Anubirats would move again.

    However, instead of moving, the Anubirats stayed on the ground. Instead, the Kleshabits'' arrows shot toward Danny in mid-air. This forced Danny to release a few Sword Qi des which generated enough force to twist and move his body in the air, barely evading the deadly arrows.

    When Dannynded on the ground, he threw a nce in the direction of his army. His army consisted of more than 20,000 members of which more than half were at the 1st Tier. Only a thousand were at the 2nd Tier, but they were extremely powerful. Danny had nurtured them thoroughly to ensure theirbat prowess would not suffer in adverse conditions and their survival instinct would keep them alert in fierce battles.

    Danny had witnessed the death of too many precious subjects to not care about their training progress. He would rather have a smaller army than others if all of them were well-trained with highbat experience and thoroughly masteredbat techniques.

    Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. He had only a few veteranbat instructors in his territory with the capability to unleash his subjects'' full potential.

    Only a minority of them were able to find enlightenment during training, and even less were able to get promoted, gaining a higher star rating. It was truly not easy, but Danny always gave his best to provide his subjects with the best treatment and resources. That way, he could ensure a firm link of loyalty, and that his subjects wouldn''t die so easily.

    Danny was just about to change his target to the other Anubirats that had begun to wreak havoc with his Gigantus Desert Scorpions when the ground around him began to tremble.

    It was not only around him. The sand all around the Primedival Pyramid began to tremble, revealing dozens of skeleton-sized heads. Swords and axes the size of bus shuttles were pushed out of the sand, held by humongous skeleton hands clutching the heavy weapons tightly.

    Danny''s expression turned sour, but he began to move without hesitation.

    His entire body was shrouded in Reinforced Sword Qi at once, turning his entire being into a sword itself. His every movement turned sharp and deadly. In an instant, he appeared behind one of the humongous skeleton heads.

    His sword artifact had expanded in size due to the Reinforced Sword Qi''s influence. It reached a length of six meters, which Danny used to release a tremendous amount of energy to sh the humongous skeleton head and crush it at once.

    The humongous Skeletons emerging from the sand were not ordinary beings. They were Bone Giants, Lesser Mythical Existences at the 3rd Tier. Danny had read about the Desert Giants in the Second Epoch a long time ago, but he had never expected to see them appear in front of him just like that. They were now Undead, but their size and strength didn''t change much inparison to the ancient letters he found about the Sacred Desert. In fact, the Primedival Pyramid might have increased the power of the Desert Giants upon resurrecting them from the dead.

    ''If the initial trial forces us to fight dozens of Lesser Mythical Existences at the 3rd Tier¡­what the hell awaits us inside the Pyramid?'' Danny couldn''t help but ask himself after realizing that his burst of Reinforced Sword Qi was barely enough to kill one of the Bone Giants. The Bone Giant had been in a disadvantageous position, pushing its body out of the sand, and thereby creating an opening for Danny.

    Despite that, Danny had used nearly a quarter of his energy to strengthen his Reinforced Sword Qi before he could crush the Bone Giant''s head. After all, the bones of a Desert Giant were the firmest. They grew even firmer under the constant tempering of the Primedival Pyramid''s energy and the tightlypressed sand all around it.

    But even then, Danny was certain that he could deal with a few Bone Giants as long as he had the support of his army. He had a few Tier-3 Adventurers by his side and Summons that were also at the 3rd Tier, ready to go all out if necessary.

    However, the Bone Giants weren''t the only monstrosities that emerged from the groundter than the others.

    Four nightmarish existences emerged near the ck gates, one near each of them, spreading terror and fear in the hearts of all beings around them.

    The Necrosphinxs had surfaced!

 Chapter 270 Terror Of The Battlefield

    ?

    The hidden region of the Sacred Desert was a vast expanse ofnd filled with precious resources that couldn''t be found anywhere else.

    It was surrounded by a huge mountain range where terrifying creatures hibernated, restricting the infiltration of foreign Lords and their armies.

    The battle for sovereignty in the hidden region of the Sacred Desert had been raging for decades, yet Danny had only arrived four years ago. He had been young at that time and a mere rookie Lord without much power. Despite his powerlessness, Danny made use of his Soultrait, and his fortune to summon a 6-Star Summon through the Fortune Summoning Scroll to transform his great misfortune into an opportunity.

    He killed the Monsters and Lords in his surroundings ¨C almost dying on multiple asions ¨C and grew much stronger. His War Rune''s refinement degree improved quickly in the first two years until only four Lords were left fighting for the reign of the Sacred Desert''s hidden region.

    By that time, the Lords'' territories had grown fast as well, creating long borders that had to be meticulously guarded all the time to ensure that no uninvited guests trespassed their territory behind their backs.

    The war increased in intensity over the years, until Danny dug out the Primedival Pyramid. The Primedival Pyramid was an ancient ruin of the Second Epoch, and it was located in a depression in the centermost position of the Sacred Desert''s hidden region.

    Facing each direction stood a ck gate that had to be broken before one could enter the Primedival Pyramid. However, breaking one of the ck gates was easier said than done. The initial trial of the Primedival Pyramid was initiated the moment the ck gates had been struck with heavy attacks, awakening the Undead of the Sacred Desert once again.

    There were tens of thousands of Undeads, ranging from Skeleton Archers to Nehkarabia Knights riding on Giant Ghoul Serpents, or even Kleshabits and Anubirats, which were considered as Guardian Statues of the Sacred Desert during the Second Epoch.

    However, amid all those Undead, the Bone Giants didn''t attract most of the attention as expected.

    On the contrary, all the eyes were glued to the pitch-ck statue of the Necrosphinx. A Necrosphinx emerged from the sand in front of every ck gate, acting as a guardian and the final boss of the Primedival Pyramid''s initial trial.

    It inflicted terror in a wide radius and attacked ruthlessly, passing through the rows of enemies without any effort.

    The Necrosphinx was a bizarre and horrifying statue ¨C a strange amalgamation of mythical beings that were said to have been sealed in the underworld. It had the torso and face of a man and was armed with gigantic, scything des that could sever the neck of a Desert Giant with a single slice. The Necrophinx also had a scorpion-like tail, allowing it to stand strong against all kinds of predators.

    However, the worst was that the Necrosphinx had long ck wings sprouting from its back, mimicking the wings of an Onyx Roc. Those allowed the Necropshinxs to glide through the air in bounding leaps before falling among their terrified prey, reaping their lives with its scything des.

    The moment Danny saw the appearance of the beings that were considered legends even in the ancient texts of the Second Epoch, he swore profusely.

    He essed his War Rune''s storage and retrieved a few potions. The content of the translucent ss vials shone brightly, but Danny didn''t have any time to pay this any attention. He removed the lid of the potions and consumed the content without any hesitation.

    Each of those potions could be considered one of Danny''s trump cards. They stimted his physical strength, reduced his stamina consumption, enhanced his energy cirction, and opened his pores to elerate his natural energy absorption. Combining the effect of all potions, Danny''s body would also start to naturally pull the surrounding origin energy toward him.

    The moment he consumed the potions, Danny noticed that their effect had been activated. It hurt a little seeing that all of his potions had been used up at once ¨C knowing how hard it had been to procure each of them ¨C, but he knew that death was the only oue if he wouldn''t drink them right now.

    He sent a mental note to his subordinates, telling them to consume their Minotaur Strength Potions, and the Arcane Energy Potions at once. They were lesser versions of the potions he drank and provided a much weaker effect. Nheless, they would enhance thebat prowess of his subjects greatly, and that was definitely necessary.

    Even though Daniel had killed one of the Bone Giants, another batch of three Bone Giants were on their way to the southern ck gate and his people.

    That meant, Danny and his army had to deal with three Bone Giants that were lesser mythical creatures at the 3rd Tier, one Necrosphinx ¨C a mythical mutation at the 3rd Tier, known and feared for being a reaper of lives on the battlefield, dozens of Anubirats, Kleshabits, and thousands of other Undead beings of the Sacred Desert.

    Danny trusted his people, but there was a huge difference between blindly trusting others while acting oblivious to the dangers ahead and trusting his people while being fully aware of theirbat prowess and the danger of the situation thaty ahead.

    But he was not someone who would back off at the sight of danger. From one moment to the next, Danny began overflowing with energy . He shrouded his sword artifact tightly in Reinforced Sword Qi and dashed toward the Kleshabits. They were gathered in one ce and aimed at the Saharit Elephants with their great bows. Danny unleashed a few smaller Sword Qi des to cut their great bows'' bowstrings before he appeared beneath them. He shot upward, his sword held high in the air.

    The first Kleshabit couldn''t react in time and suffered a heavy blow to its head, causing the head to burst into countless pieces. Danny kicked his feet from the beheaded Kleshabit to appear mid-air next to the other Kleshabit. He beheaded the second Kleshabit, just to unleash a strong crescent-shaped Sword Qi toward the third Kleshabit.

    Danny turned a blind eye to his energy consumption as he fought. He knew that he had to go all-out to ensure that his subjects wouldn''t suffer too much. Thus, he drained more than half of his origin energy storage within seconds to eliminate all Kleshabits that were guarding the southern gate.

    He wanted to finish off the Anubirats before attacking the Bone Giants as well, but he quickly noticed that his subordinates had already formedrge groups to bombard the Anubirats. The Anubirats might be strong enough to fight with a dozen enemies at the same rank and Tier, but they couldn''t block all attacks either. Explosive energy-infused arrows impacted when the Anubirats tried to block them, forcefully halting the Anubirats'' movements.

    The other Summons used this opportunity to strike, inflicting scratches and deep cuts all over the Anubirats'' bodies. Once enough cuts had been inflicted it would only be a matter of time before their limbs would crumble and fall off. By the time that happened, the Anubirats would lose most of theirbat prowess. They would die miserably.

    ''The Guardian Statues are not as powerful as I expected. Is it because they''re already thousands of years old? Or is it because I prepared thoroughly to fight statues?''

    Danny hadn''t prepared specifically to fight the Necrosphinx, the Anubirats, or the Kleshabits, but he had always equipped his subordinates ¨C and himself, with the means to fight any kind of opponent. This included opponents with extremely strong defenses such as the Glorack race, and the Bone Giants.

    Dealing with the Guardian Statues of the Anubirats and Kleshabits was a little different from fighting the Glorack, but all it took was ample preparations and a small fortune of explosive energy infused arrows, and other weapons with highly destructive traits to deal with them.

    A few subordinates still died facing the Anubirats, but their deaths were not for naught. They had sacrificed their lives to deal with the Anubirats all while protecting theirrades in arms behind them.

    Seeing that his subordinates were strong enough to deal with the Anubirats, the Undead Dire Wolves, the Death Vultures, and all those other Undead, Danny diverted his attention to the Bone Giants and the Necrosphinx. He first wanted to deal with the Necrosphinx, but he noticed that his strongest subordinates were already restricting its movements.

    Danny didn''t have many powerful Summons under his wing, but the few he had possessed exceptional strength. Furthermore, he had a few Adventurers working for him. Their Link of Loyalty had numerous conditions and restrictions, but they worked for him, nheless. Theirbat prowess was not low either. It was enough to stall the Necrosphinx for a short while with the help of Danny''s most powerful summons.

    This included the Lamia Queen, Danny''s strongest Summon ¨C a 6-Star Summon at the 3rd Tier!

    Danny turned to the three Bone Giants, who were slowly advancing to the most crowded area of the battlefield. The Undead of the Sacred Desert were busy surrounding Michael''s Tier-1 Warriors, and the Bone Giants with their humongous longswords, prepared to mow through them, taking dozens, if not hundreds of lives with a single attack.

    Daniel couldn''t ept that. He manifested more than a dozen Silver Qi Swords around his body and gave a mentalmand to make them rotate around their own axis at a terrific speed before throwing them at the back of the head of the Bone Giants.

    Using his full strength for each of the Silver Qi Swords, Daniel Fang was able to crack a portion of the Bone Giants'' skull. Four rotating Silver Qi Swords impacting simultaneously had been enough to inflict subtle cracks along the backside of their skulls. That was great, but it was not enough to deal with them for good.

    But that was not Danny''s intention in the first ce. He merely wanted to show the Bone Giants that they would die if they continued to pay attention to the masses.

    If they didn''t want to copse and fall into an evesting sleep, they would have to turn around and face Daniel.

    And that was exactly what they did.

    They turned around and charged at Danny.

 Chapter 271 Adjusted Difficulty

    ?

    The tremors caused by the Bone Giants'' charge weren''t something that could be underestimated.

    Their tremors caused many people in the surroundings to fall on the ground and to be buried under the sand ¨C unable to be seen by the other people and Undead that ended up trampling on the unfortunate victims.

    As the surrounding trembled clouds of sand were whirled up. They filled the surroundings, covering the Bone Giants and sting in Daniel''s direction. Daniel ought to be affected by the grains of sand shooting toward him. However, he didn''t pay much attention to the sand. He summoned one of his artifacts instead.

    The Artifact was a crimson mask that covered his entire head. It enhanced his perception and other senses drastically.

    Danny summoned a few more Silver Qi Swords which he controlled to rotate around their own axis before they were thrown at the three Bone Giants. Then, he charged at one of the Bone Giants. He kicked his feet from the ground and jumped high in the air. Hended on one of the Bone Giant''s ribs and intended to jump higher when he noticed something that attracted his interest.

    He pushed himself up by kicking his feet from the rib and jumped on the shoulders of another Bone Giant. The Bone Giant had been attempting to sh Danny, only to end up hitting its brethren.

    The heavy longsword strike was strong enough to inflict a deep gash across the Bone Giant''s rib. Seeing how little the Undead cared about friendly fire, Danny couldn''t help but test something.

    He moved on the Bone Giant''s shoulder and got closer to its neck. The Bone Giant ¨C on which he was standing ¨C tried to shake him off, but Danny was tenacious enough to y a little game of rodeo.

    However, the rodeo did notst for long. It was over once both of the remaining Bone Giants shed at Danny, ignoring the fact that their longswords were too long and that their sh would impact heavily on the other Bone Giant''s neck.

    ''They''re not sentient Undead, are they? Is that why the Primedival Pyramid considers this battle an initial trial? Or did the Primedival Pyramid lower the difficulty level of the initial trial after sensing the Tier of everyone in its proximity?'' Daniel Fang wondered.

    It wasmon knowledge that ancient ruins would adjust their difficulty level to a certain degree ording to the strength of the infiltrators. Ancient ruins hade into existence because the Will of the Origin Expanse wanted the younger generation to find ancient relics. It was unknown what the Will of the Origin Expanse was trying to achieve by strengthening the Lords living in the Origin Expanse, but it was quite easy to tell that the Will worked hard to create golden opportunities for those who were willing to take the risk.

    The Primedival Pyramid''s lowest difficulty must have been chosen, restraining the fullbat prowess of the Superior Creatures, and the Mythical Existences.

    Danny had only been fighting a single Mythical Creature at the 2nd Tier ¨C while it was still a youngling ¨C but he knew that it was much more deadly and far more intelligent than the three Bone Giants together.

    Even with thebined effort of Danny, the Lamia Queen, the Awakened working under him, and his strongest Summons, it had been impossible to kill the Mythical Existence at the 2nd Tier.

    What seemed impossible at that time, didn''t look the same right now. Right now, Danny was confident that he could outwit the Bone Giants, ensuring that they would kill each other in their haste to hit him.

    ''The lowest difficulty is something I can easily deal with. The Initial trial is also something we can finish without sustaining heavy casualties!'' Danny told himself, moving through the air with tremendous speed.

    He manifested Silver Qi Swords beneath him to start running away to avoid the two Bone Giant''s sword shes. The third Bone Giant suffered from the impact of the two heavy swords. It didn''t die, but its neck cracked. Deep cracks had been formed, creating an opportunity for Danny.

    He used more than a quarter of his energy to release a crescent-shaped sword qi de, cutting through the neck of the Bone Giant.

    Afterward, he continued to move through the air using Qi Swords as stepping stones. After using several perfectly purified potions to increase his strength momentarily, his body felt recharged and his energy storage was rapidly replenished.

    The origin energy inside him felt much stronger than usual as well. This made it even easier for him to move around mid-air.

    Daniel didn''t use his Soultrait to move around in the air under ordinary circumstances. But it was much easier to deal withrge enemies while facing them head-on. He could change his altitude easily by jumping high in the air and creating more Qi Swords whenever he was about to fall down, or jumping down and manifesting a Qi Sword when he was close enough to the ground.

    He could even use the Qi Swords as a springboard to kick his feet with tremendous force and umte more momentum. And that was exactly what Danny did once he found out that the Primedival Pyramid''s lowered difficulty restricted the sentience of the Bone Giants.

    The other Undeads weren''t restricted that much, but the Bone Giants and the Necrosphinx''s intellect and battle instincts were restricted ¨C almost as if the Primedival Pyramid tried to turn the Mythical Existences into mere Superior Creatures to help him fight them.

    Danny didn''t have to understand the Will''s reasoning to put restrictions on ancient ruins. The only thing he paid attention to was the fact that his army was much stronger than the others. He could clearly determine that the teamwork of his army was exceptional, and that his people didn''t have a problem dealing with the Anubirats and other powerful creatures such as the Giant Ghoul Serpents, and Crypt Ghouls.

    On the contrary, the other Lords'' armies were facing a huge issue; they couldn''t even stall the Necrosphinx.

    They allowed the Anubirats to wreak havoc alongside the Bone Giants and gave the Kleshabits enough opportunities to stay far in the back, killing one powerful Summon after another with their deadly arrows.

    Danny was tackling two Lesser Mythical Creatures at the 3rd Tier on his own, using most of his trump cards. It might be idiotic to reveal and use his trump cards, but Daniel was fully aware of hisbat prowess, and that he would never be able to fight the Bone Giants if not for the exotic potions and his Epic Tier-3 Sword Artifact.

    Nheless, he didn''t underestimate the Bone Giants. A single mistake and everything would be for naught.

    The Other Lords didn''t use their trump cards yet. They were too conscious of the other Lords and were unwilling to reveal their secret trump cards before the final battle. After all, the final battle would be held once the Primedival Pyramid had been conquered. That was what they''d promised each other.

    But Danny didn''t think the same as the other Lords. If he could ensure the survival of his subjects in the struggle of the Primedival Pyramid''s conquest, he would have a numerical advantage against the other Lords.

    The number of their casualties was extremely high. That might also be rted to the vast number of their armies.

    After all, each of the three Lords had an army numbering close to 100,000 entities respectively.

    But their vast number was all these Lords had. None of them had the means to properly and meticulously nurture 100,000 Warriors, forget about equipping each of them with valuable potions and Armaments.

    Their living expenses were already enough to eat a big chunk of their territories'' ie.

    Meanwhile, Danny was more content with a small army with extraordinary armaments and potions. The instructors in his territory were able to focus on his subjects'' training, while the smaller army of warriors was able to create groups with tacit understanding and individual strategies. All in all, Danny''s army might seem insignificant if one looked solely at their numbers, however, theirbat prowess and intellect was exceptional. One of them was enough to deal with five Summons of any of the other Lords, and they wouldn''t lose out either.

    Danny''s only worry was the Necrosphinx and how fast he could finish off the remaining Bone Giants. The Awakened under him, and his strongest Summons were having a hard time against the Necrosphinx. So far, two of his Awakened had died, while the rest had gotten serious injuries. It was only a matter of time before they would die.

    By the time the Necrosphinx was set free even Danny''s well-trained army wouldn''t be able to deal with this monstrosity. Understanding the predicament, Danny circted more energy through his body. The Reinforced Sword Qi around his sword grew denser.

    Danny appeared in front of one of the Bone Giant''s head, thrusting the sword deep between its eye sockets. Then he released thepressed Reinforced Sword Qi with a burst. The Bone Giant''s Skull began to crack. It didn''t break immediately, but Danny didn''t panic. On the contrary, he unleashed more energy to create a second and third burst of Sword Qi to shatter the Bone Giant''s skull.

    In the next moment, thest remaining Bone Giant appeared behind Danny. It shed at him, not caring that the full impact of its attack cut easily through its brethren''s neck, causing the rest of its body to copse and crash onto the ground like a house of cards.

    Danny created a Qi Sword beneath him, and propelled himself off the Qi Sword to jump lightly in the air, easily evading the Bone Giant''s sword as it passed by. He then created another Qi Sword vertically next to him. Danny tilted his body and jumped to the Bone Giant using the Qi Sword as a springboard.

    He used every ounce of strength inside his body to shoot forward while using most of his remaining Reinforced Sword Qi to expand his Sword Artifact.

    The next moment, Danny shot through the air like a cannonball, his sword piercing through the Bone Giant''s Skull upon impact.

    Now only the Necrosphinx was left to fight through his energy storage was as dry as the Sacred Desert.

 Chapter 272 End Of The Sphinx

    ?

    Now that the Bone Giants near the southern gate had been defeated, Danny changed his stance immediately.

    He passively absorbed the surrounding origin energy while approaching the Necrosphinx. As Danny approached the Necrosphinx, he retrieved a huge gray chain that was gleaming faintly.

    Next, he threw the gray chain to his subjects, who retrieved Monster Cores from the pouches that hung down their belts. The monster cores were pressed against the gray chain, which absorbed the energy umted inside them naturally.

    After the energy inside the monster cores had been drained they crumbled. Simultaneously, the glow exuding from the huge chain intensified.

    "Focus on pinning down the Necrosphinx!" Danny shouted loudly to the thousands of warriors around him before he fastened the chain to a Qi Sword which he manifested with the bits of energy he had just replenished.

    The Qi Sword flung through the air with terrific velocity. It reached just above the Necrosphinx''s wings and shot down in a beautiful arc not long after. It pierced deep into the ground next to the Lamia Berserkers of Danny''s territory.

    The Lamia Berserkers and everyone else nearby picked up the chains that seemed to move magically, twirling around the Necrosphinx''s wings before it noticed that something was wrong.

    Just as the Necrosphinx tried to change its position with a p of its wings it noticed that its hasty movements caused the intertwining chains to entangle further. They tightened, further restraining the Necrosphinx''s movements. The next moment hundreds of brave warriors rushed suicidally toward the Necrosphinx with the lower end of the chains lying on their shoulders. With swift movements, they moved all around the Necrosphinx''s legs while the Lamia Berserkers pulled on the chains from the upper end.

    The Lamia Berserker''s action was just enough to distract and restrict the Necrosphinx for two seconds. That was not enough for the hundreds of brave souls to leave the Necrosphinx''s vicinity, but it was enough for most of them to flee. The Necrosphinx''s legs and wings ended up in a tangled mess, but that didn''t mean the monstrosity was defeated. It kept thrashing and twitching uncontrobly, scything through the air mercilessly.

    Danny sensed that dozens of his subjects died in an instant. Their firm Links of Loyalties were cut once and forever, and their remnants sttered all over the searing hot sand of the Sacred Desert ¨C dying it red.

    The battlefield was gruesome, but Danny knew that they couldn''t defeat the Necrosphinx without some sacrifices. Even by using the chains of infinity that could only be broken after every bit of origin energy stored inside it had been drained, Danny was not sure if they could win.

    The chains of infinity had been forged not long after their first encounter with a Mythical Creature. It was extremely expensive and required a tremendous amount of energy to be maintained against the resisting force of a Mythical Creature, but it was exceptionally useful.

    After the chains of infinity tightened around the Necrosphinx''s legs and wings, its movements were restricted drastically. It could still use its scythe-like de arms to cut down the people around it, but the strongest forces of Danny''s army had finally been given the opportunity to spend a few more seconds to create powerful attacks.

    "Focus your attacks on its heads. First, use your attacks with the strongest destructive force. Then start releasing the explosive energy infused arrows. Don''t bother about the expenses and focus on attacking!" Danny gave amand before he retrieved a few energy potions.

    His natural energy replenishment was really fast. However, Danny didn''t know for sure how much time he had before the Necrosphinx would enter a state of frenzy. Once it noticed that its life was in danger, most mythical creatures would use their lifeforce in exchange for a boost in strength. By that time, it would be a lot harder to kill it.

    Thus, he had to prepare his killing blow before the Necrosphinx would enter a frenzy. Simultaneously, his subordinates would have to create a small opening to allow him to kill the Necrosphinx with a single blow. After all, the Necrosphinx''s defenses were a lot stronger than that of the Bone Giants.

    Danny had been quite surprised with how easily the Bone Giants went down. Their defeat made it clear that the Primedival Pyramid''s initial trial was not impossible to pass. All it took was enough strength and some sort of strategy.

    Even though the others struggled to defeat the Bone Giants and the other Undead of the Sacred Desert, Danny was prepared for everything. He had spent thest few months researching all kinds of myths and legends about the Sacred Desert. Even the fairy tales written in thenguage right after the Second Epoch were thoroughly researched to ensure that no monster, trap or any other issue would appear once the raid of the Primedival Pyramid started.

    Meanwhile, it seemed like the other Lords had been certain that four Lords with their armies would be enough to deal with the Primedival Pyramid easily. Even if they had done adequate preparations, it paled inparison to the time, effort, and money Danny had invested in his research!

    His ample research was also why he survived so long in the hidden area of the Sacred Desert region, and why he was fated to kill the Necrosphinx.

    "Focus on the Necrosphinx''s chin. The postiche is weaker than the rest of its body. Once broken we have an area of attack to focus on!" Danny issued a thirdmand after he finished the energy potions he had retrieved. The origin energy swirling through his body was slowly annexed and stored inside his energy storage.

    He then moved around the Necrosphinx, while the vast majority of his army held onto the huge chains of infinity to pin down the Necrosphinx. Meanwhile, the strongest Awakened and Summons prepared their destructive attacks, which they released one after another.

    The Necrosphinx''s postiche broke, giving the Summons and Awakened a new target to attack ¨C the area where the postiche had been broken from the sphinx''s chin.

    Cracks appeared all over the Necrosphinx''s chin once the energy sts,pressed elemental attacks and hundreds of explosive energy infused arrows impacted upon its body.

    All of a sudden, Danny appeared in front of the Necrosphinx holding his sword artifact tightly in his hand.

    Beads of sweat trickled down his temples, and blood began to ooze from his nose. However, Danny was mostly focused on the increment of his Reinforced Sword Qi''s density. The Reinforced Sword Qi shrouding his sword artifact increased exponentially. Simultaneously, Danny released all enchantments engraved on the sword artifact at once, fusing the de with the Reinforced Sword Qi for a few seconds to maximize its power.

    The fusion of the Sword Qi and the Sword Artifact was something Danny could only do a few times in a row without damaging the Sword Artifact. This time the density of his Reinforced Sword Qi was extremely high, preventing Danny from re-using the Qi Fusion enchantment a second time during the next 24 hours.

    He enhanced his strength as much as possible by using everything at his disposal before he thrust his sword out.

    The tip of the sword artifact pierced through the cobweb-like cracked chin of the Necrosphinx with ease. However, the further the sword pierced into the monster''s face the harder it was to keep thrusting. Danny lifted an eyebrow but not a trace of worry appeared on his face. He was as calm as ake even as the scything de arms moved through the air, ready to cut him in half.

    Danny released thepressed Reinforced Sword Qi that had fused into the Sword Artifact with a sudden burst of energy through the tip. The Sword Qi had been further condensed, increasing the lethality of the thin beam the artifact released. Despite being thin and seemingly not threatening to the Necrosphinx, the beam of Sword Qi pierced through the Necrosphinx''s head.

    The Necrosphinx stopped moving, its scythes halting less than a meter from Danny''s neck. Danny then twisted the de lightly, causing a chain reaction all over the Necrosphinx''s chin. The chin crumbled while the domino effect followed suit, causing the copse of the Necrosphinx''s entire head.

    Afterward, the remains of the Necrosphinx slumped to the ground and stayed there, unmoving.

    The Necrosphinx had been finally killed!

    Danny was panting heavily and the thousands of warriors sighed in relief as well. The energy stored in the chains of infinity was about to be used up. There were merely a few traces left, leaving just enough to keep the Necrosphinx restrained for a quarter of a second.

    No matter how they looked at the situation, it had been extremely close. After all, a moving Necrosphinx was iparably stronger than the restricted one.

    Danny''s energy was a little bit unstable now. His head ached and his sight grew hazy. Nheless, he didn''t rx. He demanded his desert scouts to update him about the current situation of the other battlefield for a rough understanding of their progress.

    Danny and his army were not yet done breaking down the southern gate, but the strongest defense forces had been dealt with already. It was obvious that the remaining Undead of the Sacred Desert would die soon enough ¨C at least in the southern area.

    While Danny had defeated the Bone Giants, the Necrosphinx, and both the Anubirats and the Kleshabits, the other Lords had merely tackled two Bone Giants, and a few Anubirats and Kleshabits. To achieve this, thousands had to sacrifice their lives. But that was for the better in Danny''s opinion.

    The fewer opponents they had to faceter the better.

    While the other Lords were still struggling, Danny chose to help his subordinates to deal with the remaining Undead of the Desert. It took less than an hour to clear the battlefield and store the loot inside his War Rune''s storage space.

    Afterward, he had enough time to replenish his energy.

    He and his army decided to rest a little while watching the Lords just before Danny retrieved three messenger crystals.

    "How far have the preparations beenpleted?" Danny asked in the three messenger crystals, only to receive the same replies from each of them.

    "We''re ready and waiting for yourmand, my Lord!"

 Chapter 273 Broken Oath

    ?

    All while Danny replenished his origin energy, he received several reports about the situation at the three other gates.

    Everyone had already noticed that Danny and his army had finished their fights, and the three Lords were slowly getting nervous. They began to use their trump cards to change the tide of battle in their favor. The Bone Giants, the Anubirats, and the Kleshabits died miserably, leaving only the Necrosphinx and some weaker Undead to kill.

    There were still stronger forces amongst the ''weaker'' units of defense, but the three Lords focused on the Necrosphinx. That was only obvious, after all, the Necrosphinx had eliminated more than a tenth of theirbatants. In front of each of the gates more than 30,000 bodies were scattered, all reaped by the Guardian Statues and the Undead of the Sacred Desert.

    Danny enjoyed the reports quite a lot. They were interesting to listen to, and they gave Danny enough reason to enter the Primedival Pyramid through the southern gate once he and his army had caught some rest.

    He fastened the three messenger crystals to his belt after he forwarded a few additionalmands. Afterward, he entered the Primedival Pyramid through the humongous gate with slow and careful steps.

    His decision to enter the Primedival Pyramid before the others could be considered reckless. The other Lords could just stop attacking the remaining gates and force their way through Danny''s army in order to follow him inside the Primedival Pyramid through the southern gate, after all.

    However, Danny made sure that his army followed him inside the Primedival Pyramid where most guarded the entrance of the Pyramid from within.

    Danny had retrieved variousrge-scale artillery weapons such as the boulder catapults,rge-scale ballistae that used armor-piercing bolts, and magical Scorpio capable of releasing more than 60 bolts within a minute.

    With ample preparations, Danny could ensure that no one would dare to charge inside the lengthy hallway of the southern entrance.

    He didn''t want anyone to bother him as he paved his way through the Primedival Pyramid. Distraction would inevitably lead to mistakes¡­and mistakes led to death, usually. At least, that was the case in the Origin Expanse most of the time.

    All in all, the inside of the Primedival Pyramid was quite dangerous. It had quizzes, traps, and various guardians protecting the innermost areas of the Primedival Pyramid. Nheless, Danny survived all of them quite easily.

    While the other Lords struggled with killing the Necrosphinx and the other Undead, Danny was already inside the hugebyrinth and found the first treasure room of the Primedival Pyramid.

    He had been quite fast with using his Reinforced Sword Qi to trigger most traps and killing the Guardian Statues with long-range Qi Swords even before they had been activated.

    Danny used his Soultrait to an advantage while conquering the Primedival Pyramid, but that was only normal. Why wouldn''t he use his Reinforced Sword Qi?

    Using all of his means was necessary to ensure a safe conquest. Thus, Danny did just that.

    After stepping inside the first treasure vault, Danny didn''t immediately charge toward the gold coins, the glowing artifacts that were hovering above the sockets, forget about the Fortune Summoning Scroll that seemed to be smiling vibrantly at him, trying to pull Danny toward it. Instead of being blinded by the fortune that unveiled itself in front of him, Danny released his Reinforced Sword Qi in the form of an expanding sphere.

    Releasing his Reinforced Sword Qi like that drained his mental power and energy rapidly. Nheless, it was necessary to expand the Sword Qi sphere to determine the location of enchantments and traps.

    Most traps were split into two versions -- Enchantment Traps and Common Traps. The prefix mon'' suggested thatmon traps were not dangerous, however, they were the leading cause of death in most of the ancient ruins. Common Traps were hard to locate because the origin energy permeating the air and ground equally covered the traces left behind by themon ¨C mostly energyless ¨C traps easily.

    Meanwhile, enchantment traps, as the name suggested, were traps that had been created with the help of enchantments. They were mostly a lot moreplex, and it would be a hassle once they were triggered. Fortunately, it was much easier to detect them as long as one paid attention to the surrounding area.

    Most Lords would notice that something was wrong with the first treasure vault. They wouldn''t charge toward the Artifacts and the Fortune Summoning Scrolls greedily and would inspect their surroundings first. However, there were always fools who acted before thinking. Some fools would be consumed by their greed, rush forward, and trigger a wide variety ofplex enchantment traps at once.

    The foolish men and women blinded by greed would burn alive before they were frozen to death. Then they would be consumed by corpse devourer enchantments ¨C their bodies used to reanimate the defense forces of the Primedival Pyramid.

    Danny wasn''t very knowledgeable about enchantments, but he was aware of some basic enchantments. He could also tell what effect some slightly less known enchantments could have. However, that was already it. He didn''t know the full effect of most enchantments filling this room. Thus, instead of vigntly moving around, Danny did something most would consider foolish.

    He risked losing all the rewards by filling the entire treasure vault with his Sword Qi Sphere. Then he left the vault to return to the hallway where the Lamia Queen and some other Summons and Awakened were waiting for him. Once Danny left the treasure vault, he released a burst of energy through the Sword Qi Sphere. The sphere burst open, scattering the sword qi all over the treasure vault, which triggered all enchantments inside the vault at once.

    From one moment to the next, the treasure vault was set aze. It was flooded with water a minuteter. However, the water didn''t leak out of the treasure vault. It seemed as if an invisible barrier was restricting it from leaving the treasure vault. Daniel stood less than a meter in front of the treasure vault''s entrance which was nowpletely filled with water. The water froze within the blink of an eye, causing cracks to spread all over the vault''s walls.

    Danny frowned seeing the sudden changes urring in front of him. However, the most interesting thing was that the ice in front of Danny disappeared all of a sudden as a ck pentagon formed on the ground, devouring the ice at once.

    A few more enchantments had been triggered, and their effects didn''t disappear until ten minutester. When everything went still, Danny could finally enter the treasure vault and collect the treasures that had survived the zing mes, the flood of water, the transformation of water to ice, and the consumption of ice.

    The gold spread all over the surface of the treasure vault had disappeared, which caused most Awakened to curse silently. However, Danny was mostly focused on the Fortune Summoning Scroll and the Artifacts. They were creations that could easily survive some mes, a little bit of water, and ice.

    Danny collected the Artifacts and the Fortune Summoning Scrolls. He then heard the Lamia Queen slithering slowly toward him. She was holding a green messenger crystal in her hands.

    "It looks like the other Lords finished off the Necrosphinx. They rested for a while and are now leaving the Primedival Pyramid. It seems like they had a change of heart¡­and they joined hands for the rest of the battle. The desert scouts saw the three Lordse together," The Lamia Queen reported, hissing in anger.

    "So they broke the oath we made? Seems like verbal oaths in the name of the Will are not worth much to these people," Danny said with a shrug. He added lightly, "Seems like it was a wise decision to expect their betrayal beforehand and make some preparations."

    His territory was void of people, totally unprotected at this moment. It was obvious that Danny expected a betrayal from the Lords. Unfortunately, all three Lords had joined hands against him to defeat him. That was a little bit annoying ¨C but it was also something Danny took into consideration beforehand.

    The report of the three Lords charging toward his territory wasn''t too weird. Danny retrieved the three messenger crystals from his belt, cleared his throat, and channeled energy inside them to forward his nextmand.

    "Strike, and bring back the Summoning Cores!" Danny ordered through the messenger crystals.

    "To yourmand, My Lord!!" Three loud voices rang out from the messenger crystals, followed by the shouts of thousands of people resounding in the background.

    Daniel nodded his head in response. He put the messenger crystals back to the belt and took a look at the treasure vault. Even if the three Lords attacked his base, Danny didn''t even consider the possibility of leaving the Primedival Pyramid and rushing to save his territory.

    Instead, he had just given an order to the assassins stationed near the territories of the enemy Lords. The assassins had been hiding in the same spot for several days now, waiting patiently for their Lord''smand.

    Danny had been carefully observing everything for the past few days. He had used the information of his Desert Scouts to urately determine the number ofbatants in the three Lords territories, and how many warriors they left behind in the territories when they left to conquer the Primedival Pyramid.

    That was only possible because the Desert Scouts of Danny''s territory were more than 500. They had created a perfectwork system across the entire hidden area of the Sacred Desert at this point.

    Thework system allowed him to know everything that happened the instant it urred thanks to the messenger crystals in their possession. This also allowed the hidden assassins to attack the territories of the other Lords when they were at their weakest, oblivious to the terror they had inflicted on themselves by breaking the oath of the Will.

    Daniel valued promises a lot. Thus, he didn''t want to attack the other Lords while they were busy dealing with the Undead of the Sacred Desert. However, now that they attacked his territory, thereby breaking the oath, there was no reason to hold back.

    Danny tapped the messenger crystals, inserting some energy inside them before he lightly added.

    "Don''t leave anyone alive. Kill them all!"

    [A/N: The author is back in the game! What is your opinion of this lovely snippet of the past? Is it as lovely as I described it, or is it disappointing? Did you expect Danny to be the Overlord of a huge region, or did his strength and actions meet your requirements? Is he as responsible as Michael, or is Danny a little bit sloppy? Does he meet your standards as the protagonist''s brother?]

 Chapter 274 Fall Of The Summoning Gate

    ?

    Danny didn''t want to lose his power as a Lord, but he was certain that it wouldn''t affect him as much as it would affect the other Lords.

    His rtionship with his people was not fragile enough to shatter only because the Links of Loyalty connecting him to his subjects were about to be destroyed.

    Daniel Fang sent his Desert Assassins ¨C three units with each 1,000 assassins ¨C into his enemies'' territories. Using the perfectwork system created by his Desert Scouts, Daniel could ensure that the Desert Assassins wouldn''t have to fight any unknown enemies in the territory.

    All they had to do was to kill a few hundred warriors that had been left behind to protect the territories and their citizens from possible monster attacks.

    There weren''t many powerful Summons amongst the defenders. Most were at the 1st Tier, and still in training. Nheless, there were a handful of 2nd Tier Summons that ensured the safety of all citizens even in a crisis ¨C or so everyone thought until the Desert Assassins attacked.

    The three Lords didn''t expect Danny to have stationed an army of 3,000 assassins across the hidden region of the Sacred Desert for several days. They couldn''t ept the situation when their emergency messenger crystals glowed almost at the same time, informing them about Danny''s attack.

    "This bastard betrayed us!!" The Drakna Lord roared, spitting out zing mes.

    The mes burned down the nearest building in an instant, causing a loudmotion.

    "It was a good decision to attack him first. That human bastard is a sly fox. He is willing to risk his territory in exchange for our territories. He must have anticipated that we would break the verbal oath," The Pteranodon Lord said, not yet worried about anything.

    The Pteranodon Lord looked calmly through the surroundings. He was trying to find the citizens of the human Lord''s territory, only to realize that there was no one.

    He could have sworn that there was summons bustling everywhere when he was still 500 meters away from the outer area of the settlement within the human Lord''s territory. Even the reports stated that there had always been human summons running around doing their daily tasks.

    The situation changed the moment they approached the settlement. Once they were less than 500 meters from the outer area of the settlement the human citizens disappeared.

    "Illusion Array. He nned everything way in advance," The Pteranodon Lord mumbled, gritting his teeth when he realized that the human Lord was not stupid as he had hoped.

    It was obvious that Daniel had made more preparations against the Undeads of the Sacred Desert, and now he had even thoroughly prepared to be betrayed.

    "The Warriors in my territory have been killed. It''s only a matter of time before my Summoning Gate will be destroyed!" The Glorack announced darkly, a grimace forming on his stone face.

    He grunted and lifted his arm, pointing it at the human Lord''s Summoning Gate.

    "Destroy the Summoning Gate quickly. If we make him lose his power first, his Summons may not obey their Lord''smand anymore!" The Glorack Lord shouted, causing the survivors of the battle against the Undead of the Sacred Desert to charge forward.

    The Glorack destroyed every construction in their path until they finally reached the Summoning Gate. Wasting no time, they began to hammer onto the metal frame with fierce strikes of the Summoning Gate. The Summons used every bit of strength inside their bodies in an attempt to destroy the Summoning Gate quickly.

    However, that was far from easy. All Summoning Gates were extremely tough, making it near impossible to destroy a Summoning Gate in a matter of minutes. It required hours to destroy a Summoning Gate under normal circumstances. Only by being a Tier-5 Lord with exceptional physical strength would it be possible to destroy a Basic Summoning Gate without too many difficulties. But, of course, none of the Lords present had such tremendous strength.

    "We should split up and return to our territories once the human Lord''s Summoning Gate has been destroyed. He sent only close to 1,000 Assassins to each of our territories. They will have to spend a full day destroying our Summoning Gates ¨C maybe even longer. We can use his tricks against him, ensure that he''ll lose his Lord powers, and return to our territories'' rescue!" The Pteranodon Lord said with confidence in his voice. But it was only minutester that he sensed something odd.

    His Summoning Gate was under attack¡­ and the damage being inflicted on it was tremendous.

    Because Lords were naturally connected to their Summoning Gate, they could obviously tell if it was under attack. They could also feel how much damage was being caused to their Summoning Gate. That was also why the expression of the Pteranodon Lord changed suddenly.

    "He even prepared for that?" The Pteranodon Lord asked himself, realizing toote that it was only obvious to prepare for means to elerate the destruction of the Summoning Gate if one had already meticulously nned to take out his short-term partners.

    Even though Danny didn''t expect the three Lords to break the verbal oath and join their forces to attack him, he had long since prepared thousands of Elemental Source Stone Fragmentation Grenades. Danny didn''t use them against other Lords knowing that exposing this trump card might cause problems in the future. Thus, now that he revealed the Elemental Source Stone Fragmentation Grenades, he was certain that their full use could be exposed.

    The Fragmentation Grenades were quite heavy. They were packed with a pound of high explosives each with a fatal st radius of three meters. Their destructive force was exceptional, but that was not everything. The Elemental Source Stones used in the explosives of the Fragmentation Grenades were exceptionally useful to destroy enchantments and to make them implode.

    Maybe a single Elemental Source Stone Fragmentation Grenade was not enough to destroy a Summoning Gate, but triggering dozens of them simultaneously ¨C one batch after another ¨C was different.

    The Glorack Lord and the Pteranodon Lord were the first to notice that something was off. They quickly realized that their Summoning Gates'' strength was declining rapidly.

    Thus, the Pteranodon Lord ordered his subordinates to aid the Glorack in the destruction of Danny''s Summoning Gate.

    Once the Drakna Lord also realized what was happening, he frowned deeply beforemanding his subordinates to use every ounce of energy to destroy the Gate. As long as they could destroy the human Lord''s Summoning Gate before theirs would fall everything would be fine.

    The Drakna would then heat up the Summoning Gate''s joints using all their might while the Glorack would use their massive bodies weighing tons in an attempt to pull the Summoning Gate and break it apart.

    Meanwhile, the Pteranodon Lord''s Summons used their Unique Racial Trait to enhance the other Summons'' work efficiency. They guided the rest to tear down the human Lord''s Summoning Gate as quickly as possible.

    Atst, they tore down the Summoning Gate with theirbined forces. It was destroyed, and Danny lost his Lord powers in response. All Links of Loyalty were cut in an instant, allowing the human Summons and everyone else to move freely, never to be restricted due to Daniel Fang''smands.

    Danny was slightly surprised when the Links of Loyalty were cut. He didn''t expect the three Lords to be that fast. Secretly he had even been hoping that his Desert Assassins would be faster at destroying the Summoning Gates of his enemies than they could destroy his Summoning Gate.

    Unfortunately, that was not the case.

    "That just means the Lord Seal was worth the investment," The Lamia Queen said next to Daniel Fang when he noticed that her Link of Loyalty broke.

    She could attack Daniel and kill him right now seeing how defenseless her former Lord was, but the Lamia Queen didn''t even think about that. On the contrary, it was a little sad that her firm bond with her former Lord had been destroyed just like that.

    "I am sure that the Desert Assassins willplete their job. Don''t worry, we will never betray you. There is no need to rely on a Link of Loyalty!" One of the stronger human Summons wearing full-body desert armor dered, clenching his fist tightly before smashing it against his chest, denoting his unwavering loyalty to his ''former'' Lord.

    It was just like the Summon had said. His Summons wouldn''t betray him just because he lost his Lord powers. The Link of Loyalty might have forced them to follow Danny''smands, but he never abused his power. On the contrary, he had always been close to his subjects, treating them like fellow brethren. Sometimes it would make others doubt whether Danny was actually their Lord, or a part of their family. That was how close he was to his subjects.

    Even if they had to sacrifice their lives for Danny, they wouldn''t hesitate to do so. Thus, it was no wonder when the three enemy Lords found out that the Desert Assassins didn''t stop the destruction of their Summoning Gates even after Danny''s Summoning Gate had been destroyed.

    It was not long after the fall of Danny''s Summoning Gate that the other Gates fell as well.

    No Lord was left in the hidden region of the Sacred Desert.

    However, there was a big difference between Danny losing his powers and the other Lords losing their powers.

    Danny always treated his subordinates with love and genuine care. Even with the broken Links of Loyalty they wouldn''t betray him. The same couldn''t be said about the other Lords and their subordinates.

    First of all, the three Lords didn''t treat their subjects too nicely. But that didn''t mean the Summons would attack their former Lords now that their Links of Loyalty had been destroyed.

    The only factor that mattered right now was that the Summons wouldn''t be forced to all of their former Lord''s orders anymore.

    Now, they were about to go against their former Lord''smands, revealing the desire to kill their opponents ¨C the other Lords and their subordinates.

    The other Lords and their subordinates had caused the death of many people the Summons had held dearly after they had been summoned to the Sacred Desert.

    Even if they were Summons, who had been resurrected from the dead, they were still beings with emotions.

    They loved, and they hated.

    They were in pain, and they grieved.

    The three Lords had never been on good terms before. They merelybined their forces to get rid of Danny, understanding that he was the most dangerous.

    However, now that the Links of Loyalty had been destroyed, the Summons disobeyed their former Lord''s orders and attacked the enemies, who had caused them unbearable anguish, and pain.

    A huge battle started, turning Danny''s destroyed territory into the battlefield of the Glorack, Drakna, and Petra people.

 Chapter 275 Ruler

    ?

    Danny was still inside the Primedival Pyramid when the battle in his territory started.

    He chuckled lightly when he received the first report about the happenings in his territory. Meanwhile, the worries of possible issues dispersed in the wind.

    Even if the other Lords had been rather problematic in the past, he didn''t expect that they would fall prey to their own greed ¨C and so easily at that.

    After the first report of the battle in his territory reached him, Danny first carefully listened to the information ryed by the Desert Assassins. The pieces of information forwarded were quite important as they included the fact that the Assassins had collected the Summoning Cores installed in the three Summoning Gates.

    Daniel waited patiently until the Desert Assassins returned with the Summoning Cores. Only then did he leave the Primedival Pyramid to return to his destroyed territory.

    He may not be able to rescue his territory at this point, but Daniel Fang could annihte the three former Lords and the remains of their crushed armies.

    The three armies should be in a weakened state by now. Their numbers had already dwindled after the battle against the Undead of the Desert, and it was quite obvious that the warfare against each other would wear them down even further. Meanwhile, Danny''s army had received sufficient time to rest.

    Instead of being tired of fighting, they were bored and eager to fight. Their desire to annihte the other Lords was at its peak, and they cheered loudly upon hearing the news that they were about to kill them all today. Atst, they were about to be the ruling power of the Sacred Desert''s hidden region!

    That was more than enough reason to be overjoyed and return to their destroyed territory with high spirits. Nobody even thought about betraying Danny. To them, he was their Lord whether he had a Link of Loyalty with his subjects or not. Danny was a true Lord who was strong, trustworthy, a pir of support for everyone in need of help, and one of the most sincere people most of the Summons had ever seen in their two lifetimes.

    When Danny reunited with his army, and the three Desert Assassin Units, he was quite satisfied. He received a total of 11 Summoning Cores, which the Desert Assassins had retrieved from the three Summoning Gates. With that amount, and the Summoning Cores left in his destroyed Summoning Gate, Danny was certain that he could upgrade his Basic Summoning Gate to the Intermediate grade once he reconstructed it.

    That might take some time, but time was not an issue anymore once the three former Lords and their utterly exhausted armies had been taken care of properly.

    Danny felt exceptionally confident while leading his army to his destroyed territory, feeling ready to go all-out one more time before everything was over. It hurt a little bit seeing that everything he had worked for had been destroyed when they returned to the territory, but Danny calmed down after reminding himself that all that mattered was the safety of his subjects.

    The rest could be rebuilt even if it might take a while.

    While passing through therge settlement inside his territory, Danny and his people found countless corpses. The number of corpses, blood, intestines, and other body parts spread out on the ground kept on increasing steadily as they approached the heart of the battlefield.

    Less than 20,000 Summons and Awakened were left, fighting desperately for their survival, and with the desire to kill those who had caused them to suffer the most. The Drakna, Glorack and Petra people never thought of being friends with the other races. They had been forced to obey their Lord''smands to ensure that their scheming against Danny worked out. However, that didn''t mean the three armies of the former Lords had forgotten about the incidents of the past.

    They had been fighting for decades. It was impossible for them to be friends and live side by side all of a sudden. Only one of them was allowed to survive!

    Even though the former Lords had been nning to hold a final battle once the human Lord had been killed, and after they conquered the Primedival Pyramid, their subjects didn''t want to wait for that long. Their hatred had reached its peak that didn''t allow them to let their Lords take their own sweet time anymore.

    The Summons didn''t care about the benefits of the Primedival Pyramid anymore. All they wanted was to kill their enemies and survive until the very end.

    But what they forgot in the heat of the moment was an important factor- There were not only three races left in the hidden area of the Sacred Desert!

    When Danny and his disciplined army reached the heart of the battlefield, they encountered a small group of less than 20,000 enemies. The Summons and Awakened werepletely exhausted and most of them had sustained more or less serious injuries. As for their battle formation¡­ It didn''t look like anyone was still using battle strategies at this point. The members of the three races were spread across the battlefield in a wild manner, and there were no indicators of tactics being used.

    On the contrary, Danny and his people were still one big unit. They joined the battle, using the tactics they had practiced and executed over a long period. Working together, and listening to themands of their trusted Lord, it was only a matter of time before their worn-out enemies were bulldozed.

    The three former Lords had been trying to stop the battle from the moment all of it began. All of them wanted to see their enemies dead, but it was also quite obvious that the timing of the final battle was the worst. Out of four armies, three were at the same spot, creating an unbnced fight in which three tired armies were bound to end up on the losing side. But the former Lords were not in control of their people anymore. They could only watch the blood battle in the first few minutes, trying their utmost to end it all before they decided that it was impossible.

    Only when the realization struck them did the three former Lords understand that there was only one way out of this situation- as long as their enemies were defeated before the human Lord returned everything would be fine.

    It was not a good n but the three former Lords began to fight each other. Their trump cards were revealed and utilized in the hope to kill the other Lords quickly in order to change the tide of the battle, but it was all for naught.

    By the time Danny arrived on the battlefield, the three Lords were lethally wounded. None of them could escape the trump cards of the other, creating a devastating situation on the battlefield that injured everyone.

    The situation was far better than expected for Danny, which meant that it was the worst possible oue for the three former Lords.

    Of course, Danny didn''t care about their misery. He enjoyed it quite a bit, in fact.

    He watched as the terror unfolded in front of the eyes of the former Lords. There was no sign of their usual arrogant and aloof attitude.

    "I can smell your fear even from this distance," He said, chuckling lightly as the three former Lords stopped mid-battle.

    Their gazes flicked to Danny in surprise and the surprise quickly turned into shock when they registered that he was unscathed and brimming with energy. He walked through the rows of overly exhausted warriors, creating dozens of small Qi Swords which he released whenever one of the tired warriors charged at him blinded by rage.

    His attack looked eerily simple. Daniel merely released a Qi Sword, which pierced through the neck or chest of the charging warriors, killing them with a single strike. His attention didn''t even move to the warriors he killed.

    Daniel continued to charge forward while killing dozens of enemies. He allowed the Lamia Queen and his other trustworthy subordinates to be in charge ofmand after he had issued the first few orders. His mission was to deal with the remaining powerhouses and to kill the Lords once and for all.

    As for his subordinates, they were tasked with ensuring their survival while pressing against their enemies, pushing them to the limit, and striking them with great force whenever an opening appeared.

    "You bastard!! You betrayed us!!!" The former Lord of the Drakna roared loudly. He coughed up blood instead of spitting out zing mes, which was enough for a small smile to blossom on Daniel''s lips.

    "Seems like dying turned you into a Jokester. Don''t you think you''re being really funny right now?" Danny asked, releasing a dozen Qi Swords toward the Drakna.

    He didn''t care whether the attack would kill the Drakna or not. Daniel just wanted to put more pressure on his enemies for the time being.

    What he didn''t expect to see was that his Qi Swords were too fast for the half-dead Drakna Lord to evade. The Drakna could merely block two Qi Swords while the rest pierced through his vital points. His left arm was cut off and his kneecaps shattered as the Qi Swords pierced through them, forcing the Drakna to the ground.

    "Does it really matter who betrayed whom? At the end of the day, your death merely means that you didn''t prepare thoroughly for the worst-case scenario. Meanwhile, my victory shows clearly that you guys are brickheads without actual brains. Though that makes me wonder how it was possible for me to take so long to defeat the three of you, I am perfectly fine with that," Daniel added with a shrug.

    Even if he betrayed the other Lords it wouldn''t really matter.

    In war, the only thing that mattered was to win and survive, no matter how!

    "You can question your actions in your next life. Maybe you will enjoy bing a tyrant''s Summon soon enough," Danny further taunted before his expression turned ice cold.

    Dozens of arm-long Qi Swords manifested all around him, pointing at the former Lords with deadly intent.

    "Now¡­die for me!"

    The Qi Swords cut through the air, drawing blood, and reaping souls.

 Chapter 276 Celebration Of Sovereignty

    ?

    The death of the Drakna, Glorack, and Petra people set Daniel''s heart at ease.

    He didn''t possess the powers of a Lord anymore, but he could be considered the sole ruler of the hidden region, atst. It felt great.

    "Rebuilding the Summoning Gate will take a while. It might not be done before the Primedival Pyramid will copse with the treasures inside it," The Lamia Queen pointed out reluctantly after she saw that everyone was overjoyed, and eager to celebrate emerging victorious against the other Lords whom they had fought for years.

    "I will instruct the citizens to return. They can repair the Summoning Gate, and I''ll reactivate it with the Lord Seal once it''s done. But just as you said, it might take a while. That means I should spend most of my time inside the Primedival Pyramid. After all, the Pyramid is for us to loot now that the other threats have been eliminated," Danny responded with a wide grin.

    Now that he was in possession of various Summoning Cores, his Summoning Gate and the Lord Seal, Danny could be the sovereign of the ownerless hidden region. That was what he had worked tirelessly for thest four years, to the extent that he even neglected his dear brother.

    When he recalled his brother, Danny felt apologetic. He knew that Michael would never think badly of him, but that didn''t mean he should have neglected Michael''s training that much.

    ''If I find a Legendary Artifact or something equally valuable he needs, I will give it to Michael!'' Danny swore to himself, upon recalling theirst meeting where he sensed that Michael''s territory was extremely dangerous.

    It was at least equally dangerouspared to the hidden region of the Sacred Desert, but Danny had a bad feeling that it might actually be a lot more dangerous. Thus, as a good elder brother who wanted to repent his mistakes, Daniel Fang had to collect a few treasures to hand over to his little brother.

    "We will celebrate today with everyone, and don''t have to rush back to work," Daniel announced as he saw the expressions on some of his subordinates'' faces.

    It was evident that they didn''t want to jump from the battle against the Undead of the Sacred Desert to the final fight against the other Lords, just to continue working tirelessly. They deserved some rest, and to celebrate their final victory. Danny supported that as well.

    He would still get back to the Primedival Pyramid from tomorrow onward, but that didn''t mean he would force the others to join his raid.

    Given the first few trials, Danny could tell that the Primedival Pyramid was not too difficult to conquer. Using brute force and dirty tricks to destroy Guardian Statues before they would awaken, and triggering all the traps while being at a safe distance, Danny was not in too much danger.

    Of course, the Primedival Pyramid wouldn''t be too easy to conquer the deeper he went, but Daniel was currently a mere Adventurer now that he lost his Lord powers. That meant he couldn''t force anyone to follow him, even if he wanted to.

    "I notified the citizens in the underground bunkers that the threat is negated and that they can return. Meanwhile, we could clean up and prepare everything for the celebration," One of the Awakened working under Danny said. He was clearly excited about the prospect of partying wildly and didn''t even bother about hiding that fact.

    Danny smiled lightly upon seeing his excitement. Since he lost his Lord Power, the contract established through the Link of Loyalty between him and the Awakened working under him had been broken. The Awakened could leave him behind, or even attack him if they desired to do so. But given their excited expressions as they talked to the other Lamia and Human Summons about celebrating their sess, Danny sighed in relief.

    One of his worries had been that this strategy would stir trouble in his own rows. He trusted his Summons because his bond with them was different than his connection and contracts with the other Awakened. The other Adventurers might desire to take one of the Summoning Cores, and a broken-down Summoning Gate of the other Lords to regain their Lord powers as well. All they required was time, effort, and a Lord Seal.

    It was not easy to regain one''s Lord Power as a single individual, but it was not impossible.

    Fortunately, it looked like the Adventurers working under Daniel didn''t desire to be Lords again. Being a Lord restrained their freedom. It cost a lot of money, effort, and it was a hassle overall.

    Of course, the benefits were great. If you were a good Lord, your Soultrait''s power would skyrocket, and your military prowess inside the Origin Expanse would reach new heights, creating more openings to collect treasures and im ore mines, and other resourceful ces that could generate a small fortune. Last but not least, being a Lord made it much easier to refine one''s War Rune.

    The War Rune of Lords required a lot more energy to progress the refinement rank and advance to the next Tier, but by fightingrge-scale wars, it was easier to obtain a vast amount of energy from the subjects'' Links of Loyalty.

    Every kill would provide a trace of energy to the Lord. In small numbers that might seem insignificant, but fighting armies with hundreds of thousands of enemies would turn the small traces of energy into vast streams¨C which would naturally allow the War Rune to progress.

    Since everyone was excited and high in spirits it didn''t take long to collect all the corpses and to clean up the surroundings. The Sahirat Elephants bulldozed the copsed buildings before huge tents were set up all over the former settlement of Danny''s territory.

    Everyone worked hard for the next hour or two before the first barrels of wine and beer were retrieved from the spatial pouches and spatial storages.

    When the citizens of the settlement returned to their homes, they were shocked about the fact that their homes had been destroyed at first. However, Danny and the others calmed the bbergasted citizens, telling them that it was only a matter of days before their houses would be standing tall once again. After all, Danny already had a spatial pouch filled with enough raw materials to create a new settlement ¨C using more valuable construction materials than earlier!

    In the evening the true celebration began. A huge tribute was offered to bid a final goodbye to the souls of the deceased humans and Lamia. After that, Danny and the others feasted on plenty of dishes that had been prepared by the best chefs in the settlement. Afterward, some citizens began to y instruments, filling the surroundings with great music and an exceptional atmosphere.

    Drinking beer and wine all while partying and rejoicing in their victory, the celebration of sovereignty could be considered aplete sess. Dancing hand in hand with therades in arms and drinking all night until the first sun rays of the next morning peeked out from the horizon made everyone feel happy.

    All the tension and stress umted over thest four years of unending hard work and tireless efforts to stay alive had finally dispersed.

    For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Daniel''s heart fell at ease.

    He finally did it.

    He fulfilled his first big goal!

 Chapter 277 Burial Chamber

    Now that he was the ruler of the hidden region, Danny didn''t have anyone or anything pressuring anymore.

    If there was anything that could pressure him, it was probably himself and the fact that he wanted to conquer the entire Primedival Pyramid before it would copse.

    He still had almost 100 days left before the Pyramid would copse, burying and destroying all invaluable treasures within it.

    Danny was not sure when he fell asleep but he was certain that he had never slept that well before. He was lying on a thin mattress that wasn''t soft or toofortable, yet his sleep had been blissful.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t mean his head was fine after he woke up. He had the worst headache from drinking too much the day before, and he felt like sleeping for a few more days. That was also why Daniel chose to postpone charging into the Primedival Pyramid for a little bit longer.

    Time might be tight, but it was better to be in his best condition when he entered the deeper parts of the Primedival Pyramid.

    He spent the next few days helping his subordinates reconstruct parts of the settlement, and watching the engineers research the Summoning Gate in-depth to initiate the reconstruction process. Danny left the Origin Expanse only once to take a look at the messages sent by his brother ¨C if there were any messages, to begin with.

    Michael was still in the spaceship on his way to the Saphirke Military Academy. Thinking of his brother traveling through space, Danny felt a tinge of envy.

    He may not like Military Academies or Universities, but Daniel knew that they yed a vital role in the growth of young Lords. The most important was the ess to various techniques, knowledge and social circles that couldn''t be entered easily under ordinary circumstances.

    The Saphirke Military Academy was exceptional in terms of social circles. If not for the conquest of the Primedival Pyramid, and the fact that Danny had been busy fighting for the sovereignty of the Sacred Desert''s hidden region, he might have considered applying to enter the Saphirke Military Academy alongside Michael.

    It would have been great to stay by Michael''s side, especially since he had a lot of regrets to make up for. He wanted to treat his younger brother better since the brothers were all they had left of their once happy family. They had learned to take care of each other when they were young. From a young age, their lives had changed drastically, forcing them to mature early.

    They may disy some childish tendencies now and then, but the brothers would only be able to reveal them when they were with each other. They wouldn''t dare to show their childish behavior to anyone other than their family as they were unsure how others would react, and if they would be abandoned once again.

    Trust was important between friends, but both Danny and Michael learned early enough that their trust could be broken easily ¨C especially by people you would least expect to.

    Danny was very vignt whenever others approached him. He didn''t trust anyonepletely other than Michael, and a few Summons and Awakened since he had been working with them for four years, or eight years if considering the time ratio of the Origin Expanse.

    But Danny also knew how easily Michael trusted others. Michael may be considered a vignt youth at first nce, but he was actually quite foolish. Michael trusted his gut feeling too much, and wouldn''t hesitate to reveal his secrets to others as long as his gut feeling told him that they were trustworthy enough.

    It was only a matter of time before Michael would have to face some problems because of his unbending trust in his gut feeling. Unfortunately, Danny couldn''t do much to help Michael. He didn''t know where the Untamed Jungle was located, how long it would take to travel there, or if Michael would be betrayed in the Saphirke Military Academy, or in the Untamed Jungle, in the first ce. Maybe¡­Michael would be betrayed in both ces.

    The thought of seeing his younger brother getting betrayed always caused a grim expression to form on his face.

    When Danny recalled that Michael wouldn''t message him for a while as his little brother might be busy in his territory, he decided to return to the Origin Expanse once again. He spent his time preparing to enter the Primedival Pyramid once again.

    Inside the Primedival Pyramid, everything was the same as before. Raiding the Primedival Pyramid was not easy, but Danny and his most trusted allies paved their way through the pathways by either avoiding the traps or triggering them while maintaining a safe distance.

    In the following 90 days, Daniel Fang made his way to the deepest parts of the Primedival Pyramid. Less than two days were left before the Primedival Pyramid would copse when Daniel finally found the path to the deepest and most sacred part of the Pyramid; the burial chamber.

    The burial chamber was the innermost and most sacred part of the Primedival Pyramid. It was the ce where the sarcophagus containing the Pharaoh''s mummy and funerary goods were stored.

    The funerary goods were one of the reasons Danny desired to conquer the entire Primedival Pyramid. He didn''t shy away from spending a fortune, and months of reading ancient texts to prepare everything necessary to raid the Pharaoh''s tomb. After all, the heavenly treasures of the Second Epoch were said to be buried here alongside the Pharaoh.

    Adding the fact that the Will of the Origin Expanse turned the burial chambers into one of the older resurfacing ancient ruins, Danny knew that the Primedival Pyramid did not only have the funerary goods of the Pharaoh, but also treasures created by the Will.

    Danny was excited, but also worried when he reached the deepest part of the Primedival Pyramid. It was said that the Primedival Pyramid contained the Sarkophag of Primedival, the mummy of one of the oldest and strongest Pharaohs in the history of the Sacred Desert.

    Conquering the Primedival Pyramid in thest three months hadn''t been too difficult. All it took was careful and meticulous exploration of everything and ensuring that Danny noticed all clues leading to the secret passageway of the Pharaoh''s burial grounds.

    The difficulty of the Primedival Pyramid worried Danny a little bit. He was not sure why the Primedival Pyramid of the strongest Pharaoh would be that easy to conquer. It didn''t feel right. At the same time, Danny could only calm himself by thinking that his thorough preparations were the reason for all of this. Without the knowledge he procured over the course of months, Danny wouldn''t have made it that far.

    In fact, he wouldn''t have been able to pass the second trial, forget about the trials he encountered afterward. With that in mind, Danny calmed down as he made his way to the entrance gate of the burial grounds.

    Anticipation filled the air as he passed through the corridor leading to the burial chamber. The corridor was adorned with intricate hieroglyphics, narrating the Pharaoh''s noble lineage, his mighty conquests during his lifetime, and the blessings he had received from the Divinities. Vibrant murals depicted incidents of the Pharaoh''s life and achievements,memorating his deeds to be passed down from one generation to another over the course of millennia.

    The entrance to the burial chamber was marked by a massive stone door, meticulously carved with sculptures of powerful deities and guardian spirits, standing watch over the Pharaoh''s journey to the afterlife.

    The entrance gate was locked, but Daniel''s fingers moved swiftly across the meticulous carvings, unsealing the gate by using the marks he had been given for every trial he passed with excellent scores.

    As the entrance gate creaked open, an architectural wonder unraveled itself in front of him. A solemn aura enveloped all who dared to cross the threshold to the burial chamber, almost as if the spirits of the ancient time stirred in response to the intrusion of the living.

    The burial chamber was hidden deep within the heart of the Primedival Pyramid, illuminated by shimmering wisps of energy. It was a clear testament to the might and grandeur of the Second Epoch''s mightiest Pharaoh.

    The journey to this sacred space was arduous, filled with mazes, secret passages, traps, and mighty Guardian Statues, which had been awakened to safeguard the Pharaoh''s eternal rest from intruders, but Danny knew that everything was worth it as the heart of the Primedival Pyramid appeared in front of him.

    Upon stepping inside, Danny and the others were unable to control themselves anymore. Their eyes shot wide open, and their jaws hit the ground.

    The inner space of the burial chamber was vast. It had a high-vaulted ceiling adorned with golden stars, mirroring the night sky. The walls were decorated with carvings, depicting religious ceremonies, and divine beings.

    A soft golden light filled the burial chamber, casting flickering shadows that danced along the walls, adding an otherworldly touch to the already breathtaking scene.

    The air was filled with the scent of incense and ages-old history, causing Danny and the others to feel momentarily stunned.

    Nobody dared to take a step closer to the center of the chamber where the Pharaoh''s sarcophagus, a magnificent masterpiece of craftsmanship, rested.

    The sarcophagus gleamed with a celestial radiance, adorned with precious jewels and gems that glinted like stars in the dark. borate engravings, enchantments, and unknown symbols graced its surface, bestowing blessings upon the Pharaoh''s eternal soul.

    Surrounding the sarcophagus, priceless funerary goods and offerings were meticulously arranged, reflecting the Pharaoh''s earthly wealth and status. Glowing Artifacts, Old Scrolls, Tomes, a golden oval-shaped egg, and various baster vessels filled with viscount content adorned the chamber.

    The viscous content released a strong herbal scent that quickly overpowered the incense scent not long after Danny and the others had entered the room.

    Spread around the funerary goods, various other treasures were neatly ced. They didn''t seem as old as the funerary goods so it was quite easy to distinguish between the Artifacts of the Second Epoch and the treasures created by the Will of the Origin Expanse.

    Staring at the treasures in the vast space of the Pharaoh''s burial chamber, Danny could tell that the sacred space was a ce where the past and the divine converged, preserving the legacy of a revered ruler.

    It felt weird standing in the burial chamber, almost as if it was urging those who entered it to contemte the mysteries of life, death, and the eternal journey beyond.

    It was exceptional and awe-inspiring. Observing every object meticulously, Danny found out that he could learn a lot just by standing here.

    However, he didn''t want to stay here. After all, the Pyramid would copse soon.

    But even if he didn''t have much time left, Danny wasn''t ready to risk anything. He didn''t rush up to the treasures to collect them.

    Instead, he continued to observe the scene that unfolded in front of him.

    ''Something is off.''

 Chapter 278 Betrayal

    ?

    The burial chamber of the Pharaoh was filled with ancient treasures.

    Seeing them filled Danny''s heart with excitement. He was feeling utterly exhausted after tirelessly fighting to conquer the Primedival Pyramid for months with little to no breaks, but he was also happy.

    The raid would end soon, providing him with enough resources toplete the reconstruction of his Summoning Gate and provide the resources needed to expand his territory all over the hidden region of the Sacred Desert.

    How could he not feel happy?

    But he was having a nagging feeling that something was off.

    Thus, Daniel Fang moved slowly through the burial chamber, vignt of traps and Guardian Statues that may awaken and appear suddenly. However, there was nothing.

    By the time he reached the Pharaoh''s sarcophagus, Danny calmed down a little. Everything had gone ording to his n. He had done it!

    However, just as his t hand pressed against the lid of the sarcophagus, the Lamia Queen behind him shouted out loudly.

    "Master! Behind you!!!"

    Her voice rang through the burial chamber, allowing Danny to react immediately. He turned around instinctively and manifested his sword artifact, unsure what awaited him.

    Daniel saw two of the Awakened working under him charging at him. This momentarily stunned him but then another thought calmed Danny. The Adventurers were probably trying toe to his aid because they had noticed that something was off. The Lamia Queen''s warning pushed the Adventurers into action ¨C or so Danny thought.

    But reality was cruel, and the greed of humans was endless. Daniel realized this once again as he saw that the Lamia Queen and his other Summons had been attacked.

    Six of his trusted Adventurerrades had circled the Lamia Queen and Daniel''s Summons attacking them viciously. They did not give them time to react and quickly impaled them with several spears, and cut them with their swords, inflicting deep sword gashes that spread across their entire upper bodies.

    Blood gushed out of their wounds like overflowing streams and they copsed on the ground lifelessly.

    Seeing that, Danny''s eyes widened in shock. The cogs in his brain took a second to process what he had just witnessed and understanding dawned upon him.

    The human Adventurers, who had been working under him for thest few years, had betrayed him¡­ all of them¡­

    A total of eight human Adventurers were left working under him. Six of them attacked the Lamia Queen and Danny''s Summons from behind when everyone''s guard was lowered, while two of the strongest Adventurers charged straight at him.

    The Lamia Queen and his Summons were not yet dead, but the strength in their bodies dispersed rapidly. The once peaceful situation had turned into a bloody massacre.

    Only Danny was left unscathed, facing the two strongest human Adventurers, who had worked under him until now.

    Reinforced Sword Qi coated his sword artifact, and several Qi Swords manifested all around him at once.

    Yet, just as Danny wanted to unleash the Qi Swords, something changed. The atmosphere in the burial chamber grew tense, and the Qi Swords shattered. Even the Reinforced Sword Qi shrouding Danny''s sword artifact dispersed in all directions, leaving Danny shocked.

    His head flicked to the two Adventurers, and he found one of them holding a translucent orb in his hands. The translucent orb was clear, giving him a view of what had been stored inside it. It was a golden eye.

    As he peered at it intently, he noticed that therge golden eye was moving around, following every single movement made by him.

    The golden eye seemed to be made out of metal, but its movements were not mechanical which made him feel as if it was a lifeform as well. Danny was actually not sure what it was. The only thing he could tell was that the glowing golden eye was why he lost control of his Soultrait. It was locked onto him, and sealed his Reinforced Sword Qi.

    However, his attention didn''t remain on his sealed Soultrait. Instead, his full attention shifted to the Adventurers who had betrayed him.

    They backstabbed the Lamia Queen and his other powerful Summons, just to charge at him with the golden eye orb locked onto him. It was obvious that their betrayal had been nned beforehand ¨C probably a long time ago.

    At that moment, something snapped inside Danny. He despised the traitors. The realization that he had been betrayed nted a seed of rage inside Danny, feeding off the fiery spark of fury and hatred that blossomed inside him. He hated betrayals. He hated those damn bastards.

    Danny''s teeth mped as his fists clenched tightly around the sword artifact''s handle. His vision turned red as the two Adventurers appeared in front of him.

    A stream of strength spread through his entire body, and he began to move.

    The instant he kicked his feet off the ground, Danny turned into a sh. He appeared next to the closest Adventurer, his sword artifact drawing the blood of his enemy.

    The Adventurer stared at him with wide open eyes, shock filling his entire being.

    Was Danny immune to pain, and poison? How could he exert that much strength after they had slowly poisoned him over the course of thest three months? Shouldn''t he feel weak and tired by now?

    Their treachery was not just limited to the sudden attack right now. They had been adding copious amounts of slow-acting poison into the food that was distributed among Danny and his Summons that should have crippled his defenses long ago. And not just that, but an arrow was stuck in Danny''s chest.

    Before the two Adventurers charged at Danny, they had released a poisoned arrow. It struck Danny as he turned around when the Lamia Queen attempted to warn him. Yet, Danny didn''t even seem to notice the small swallowtail arrow stuck in his upper arm. The barbs of the arrow were designed to make sure that the arrow stayed inside Danny as he ran, inflicting maximum damage, and causing him to bleed out sooner orter.

    Danny noticed that something was wrong with his body a few days ago. He was often exhausted and felt weak, but thought that it was because he hadn''t been resting well in thest few months. Never would he have expected that the few people he trusted unconditionally would betray him.

    After years of fighting alongside him, they poisoned him like sly foxes, attacked his Summons when they least expected it, and had prepared thoroughly to restrict his Soultrait to defeat him.

    They knew very well that their strength was not enough to kill Danny without all of these factors. Even while poisoned, Danny was still strong enough to kill them with his Soultrait. Yet, after being poisoned and restricted the Adventurers had been certain that Daniel Fang would die a miserable death.

    But seeing him appear next to the strongest Adventurer, drawing his blood and killing him with a single strike caused the atmosphere in the burial chambers to change once again.

    Daniel began to bleed out of his mouth, nose, and eyes as he circted a tremendous amount of origin energy through his body. His body felt stronger, yet the lifeforce inside his body was rapidly drained. Daniel Fang had utilized Life Reversal for a moment, hoping that he could kill the traitors and tend to his Summons before it was toote.

    He had to use the spurt of strength as long as it was still present. He kicked his feet from the ground and dashed to the Adventurer holding the golden eye orb.

    The sword artifact shed twice through the air, cutting through the orb once before beheading the Adventurer, whom he had once called a goodrade, and a friend.

    He grit his teeth in uncontroble anger, feeling as if the entire world had crashed down on him.

    Daniel couldn''t forgive himself. He was prepared for the betrayal of the three Lords, but never could he have anticipated a betrayal in his own rows. His bond with the Adventurers had been strong. They had been friends, good friends at that.

    In fact, Danny was certain that he could call these Adventurers his family. They had gone through thick and thin while sweating in the Sacred Desert, striving for survival. Atst, theirbined efforts allowed them to be the ruler of the Sacred Desert''s hidden region.

    "...Why?" Danny asked, his voice growing weaker. The poison that had umted within him over thest three months had been triggered atst. The arrow coated in poison had activated the poison inside him, causing his bodily functions to weaken rapidly.

    His sight blurred, and he had problems moving even though Life Reversal granted him immense strength.

    "The Sacred Desert doesn''t belong to you. It never did, in the first ce!" One of the remaining Adventurers muttered without a trace of remorse.

    At first, his legs were trembling seeing that the strongest of their batch had been killed, but seeing that Danny''s movements were growing increasingly sluggish, he calmed down instantly.

    A vibrant smile blossomed on his face as he looked at his former employer with scorn in his eyes.

    "Did you really think that we joined you because we saw something great in your cause? All we wanted was to obtain more strength and regain our powers. Funnily enough, you appeared in the Sacred Desert''s hidden region, a ce that had yet to be discovered by our Master," The Adventurer drawled, not bothering to hide anything. It was only a matter of time before Daniel Fang would die, either way.

    "Since the¡­beginning? You were never on my side?!?" Daniel asked, his legs caving in as the poison reached his legs.

    He tried to ess his War Rune to retrieve some potions, but another Adventurer charged forward. His hand coated in an eerily familiar silver light shot forward, releasing a crescent-shaped Reinforced Sword Qi de.

    The silver de cut through Danny''s right arm. And blood gushed out of his shoulder like a fountain. It sttered everywhere, hitting the ground, the funerary goods, and the golden sarcophagus.

    Danny''s eyes widened.

    ''He used my Soultrait.''

 Chapter 279 Rise Of The Tomb King

    ?

    "I never expected our Boss to grant us new Soultraits. To think that he had so many spare Soultraits to use. Duplication is exceptional, don''t you think so, Danny?" The Adventurer asked in a mocking voice while manifesting a few Qi Swords after using his newly obtained Soultrait.

    Now that he had gained Duplication, hisbat prowess skyrocketed. He wouldn''t be underestimated anymore, and he was confident to be a much better Lord than he had been in the past. He was ready to regain his power as a Lord ¨C even if that meant he had to kill Daniel.

    Danny groaned in pain. His limbs felt numb and so did his arms. He could barely feel the loss of his right arm at this point.

    The Adventurers cackled like hyenas while seeing Danny''s miserable state. He was covered in blood, his eyes were slowly growing heavy, and his expression was shrouded in anger, desperation and unwillingness.

    He didn''t want to die. There was so much left for him to do.

    He had yet to rescue his subordinates. Their wounds had to be tended to before it was toote.

    But that was not everything.

    Daniel Fang had yet to explore space. He had yet to meet other races outside the Origin Expanse. He had yet to find his parents and ask them why they abandoned them. He had yet to find out where Hesta was, and what happened to her after she disappeared. He had yet to find out more about the curse of the Fang bloodline. There were too many tasks waiting to bepleted.

    However, death seemed imminent. The Grim Reaper was slowly creeping closer, trying to take away thest strands of life and hope from within Daniel. But Danny was not willing to let go of his life. And suddenly his little brother''s face shed in front of his eyes.

    Michael!!

    He recalled that he hadn''t given enough time to take care of his brother. Even when they were young, Danny had mostly focused on his training and his desire to find their parents and sister. He wanted to find out why they left them, leaving a young 9-year-old and a 13-year-old teenager on their own.

    They hadn''t been ready to be independent, but their parents'' disappearance had forced them to mature quickly.

    Since their parents'' disappearance, Michael had never demanded anything. He never bothered his brother with anything and kept to himself. When Danny was young, he always thought about how the world was unfair to him, and that he deserved something better. He worked hard to obtain what ought to be granted but somehow forgot that Michael was abandoned at a much younger age.

    Michael had been forced to get his act together when he was supposed to y with his friends and live carefree with his loving family. Growing up, Danny began to increasingly feel guilty that he hadn''t been a good and dependable brother. He could have done a lot more but had failed miserably.

    ''I cannot die yet. I have yet to make up¡­for being a bad brother¡­'' Danny could only think, gritting his teeth and clenching his numb hand into a tight fist.

    The next moment something unexpected happened. The six Adventurers were just about to step toward Danny and end his miserable life when the burial chambers began to tremble.

    All surrounding origin energy was suctioned in the same direction, creating a strong pulling force that affected everyone in the burial chamber. The funeral goods were pulled toward the center of the burial chamber, just like Danny. His body was pulled toward the golden sarcophagus, where his blood had already been sprinkled in rming quantities.

    Danny''s blood began to glow on the golden sarcophagus'' surface. It warmed and seeped inside the sarcophagus that began to tremor wildly.

    One moment the sarcophagus was sealed, and the next moment the seal broke.

    A heavy presence weighed down on the living within the burial chamber, weakening Danny and his dying Summons, while the Adventurers were forced down on their knees.

    The golden sarcophagus opened slowly with a loud creak that rang through the ears of everyone in the periphery. Eyes full of shock and disbelief were glued to the sarcophagus as a bony, bandaged hand grasped the sarcophagus'' edge from the inside.

    Time seemed to slow down as a mummified figure began to move within the sarcophagus. It got up, azure mes flickering brightly in its eye sockets.

    The mummified being was adorned with ornate, regal attire reminiscent of ancient pharaohs. It wore a headpiece featuring an ankh symbol, which symbolized power and life. The headpiece resembled the pharaoh''s crown of the Second Epoch, adorned with hieroglyphs and intricate patterns.

    The being''s skeletal body was adorned with jewelry, amulets, and sacred relics, a sign of its eternal connection to its empire. The azure mes in its eye socket glowed otherworldly radiance, casting a gloomy and eerie atmosphere all over the sacred burial chamber.

    The being lifted its right arm, causing a golden serpentine staff to manifest out of nowhere. Once the serpentine staff appeared, the heavy pressure weighing down on everyone intensified even further as an ancient authority and a sense of enigmatic power channeled into it, blending with the appearance of the regal majesty and eerie resurrection of a being that should have died a long time ago.

    The being was none other than the strongest Pharaoh of the Second Epoch, and he had just been resurrected from his eternal slumber!

    The Undead Pharaoh had been awakened.

    Its gaze roamed through the burial chamber and looked down at the sarcophagus where it saw Danny''s miserable figure. The Pharaoh''s staff moved downward, weakly pressing against Danny''s forehead. The next moment a stream of knowledge entered the Pharaoh''s mind.

    "Interesting. Thousands of years have passed, yet nothing has changed. Everyone is still weak, and relies heavily on cunning methods and betrayals to gain power," The Pharaoh said slowly in an awkward mishmash of words from both the currently used originnguage and thenguage used in the Second Epoch.

    He was learning the currentnguage using the wisps of knowledge he had taken from the miserable figure beneath him.

    "Child of the Cursed. Your blood allowed me to awaken. As a generous Pharaoh, I shall allow you to witness the traitor''s death," The Pharaoh waved his wand lightly through the air, causing dozens of weapons to manifest out of nowhere.

    The weapons pointed toward the Adventurers, who were still kneeling on the ground, forced by the ancient pressure that weighed down heavily on them.

    The next moment, the Pharaoh lifted Danny''s head, forcing his unfocused eyes to watch as the razor-sharp weapons cut through the air, piercing the Adventurer''s chests, necks, and heads.

    In the blink of an eye, all the traitors had been killed.

    However, Danny couldn''t feel happy about that. Because he was forced to watch the death of the traitors, he could also see the Lamia Queen and all other Summons in the burial chambers. Their bodies were unmoving.

    They were dead.

    "You will soon join them," The Pharaoh said lightly when he saw where Danny''s gaze was fixated. He recalled some of the wisps of knowledge he had obtained from the miserable human figure and nodded his head faintly.

    "Pharaohs don''t owe favors to others. That means I cannot allow you to leave like this," The Pharaoh said, unleashing his ancient energy that had umted over the course of millennia.

    "I will grant you a special death, something few of your kind will ever be granted. Make good use of it, you will only have one chance!"

    The moment the Pharaoh''s voice rang out, Danny felt that the surroundings changed. He was weakly lying on the ground but was magically pulled over to an open spot in a fraction of a second.

    Time slowed down, and Danny regained clear vision for a second or two. However, all he could see was a bright golden de that had formed due to the ancient energy swirling through the burial chamber of the Primedival Pyramid.

    ''I shouldn''t have trusted them.'' Danny first thought but then his mind went astray.

    ''What will happen to Michael? Will he be fine without me? How can I leave my little brother alone?''

    As thousands of thoughts filled with regret and self-criticism spread through his mind, it happened. Danny closed his eyes when he saw the golden de shooting down at him with a loud sound that resembled the hissing of a serpent.

    ''I''m sorry¡­''

    Blood sttered, and a head rolled over the ground.

    The tension all over Daniel''s body dispersed at once, and his body went limp.

    However, there was no pain. Danny didn''t feel any pain. On the contrary, a soothing warmth filled Danny''s mind. It wasfortable and embraced Daniel tightly.

    He was not sure what happened, where he was, and how he ended up like that. But one thing was certain.

    He was dead.

    Daniel couldn''t feel anything. He realized that consciousness wasn''t connected to his body anymore. All he could do was remember what had happened before he died.

    Time passed unknowingly and Daniel didn''t know whether seconds, minutes, days, or years had passed.

    ''Is that the afterlife? What a shitty ce to remember your life, but being unable to do anything¡­''

    After what felt like an eternity to the consciousness of Daniel Fang, the first change urred.

    A stream of information swept into his head, informing him to obey his Lord and to protect him. It also informed him that he would never be allowed to reveal his identity, otherwise, his second chance would be revoked, and his life would end.

    After another eternity, a second change urred. He could feel his body once again.

    The moment he regained the feeling in his body, Daniel noticed that something was different.

    At some point, a third change urred. His other senses returned as he was pulled somewhere.

    He heard the chirping of birds and felt dense origin energy all around him. A strong smell of flowers, nts, and unique herbs filled his nostrils.

    Confused by the sudden change in the scenery around him, Daniel opened his eyes slowly.

    The first thing he saw was a densely grown jungle and arge clearing with hundreds of humans pacing around busily.

    Then he discovered a young man standing in front of everyone, waiting patiently, and smiling brightly at him.

    Daniel froze in his tracks when he saw the young man. His eyes turned blurry as tears welled up inside them. He nearly screamed out loudly, only for severe pain in his head to remind him of the conditions that had been attached to his new life.

    Only then did he realize what had happened. He had been resurrected as a Summon¡­in his brother''s territory¡­

    Daniel Fang was given an opportunity. He was granted the chance to make up for his biggest regret.

    Atst, he could stay by Michael''s side ¨C even though it was not as his brother Daniel Fang, but as Masked Saber.

    But that was fine.

    All that mattered was that he was next to Michael and that he could give his all to protect his beloved brother¡­even if that meant he would have to die once again!

    "I''m the Masked Saber. I''m happy to be of your service Mi¨C...my Lord!"

    [End of Volume 5]

 Chapter 280 Alone

    ?

    [Present]

    After the Lord Rift closed, Michael was teleported back to the Untamed Jungle. He emerged from his Summoning Gate alongside Tiara.

    She staggered forward, while Michael could only stare ahead, his eyes void of their earlier vigor and luster. His clothes were burned, his Armor Set molten, and his skin and the flesh beneath charred. It was already a miracle that Michael was still alive. However, he couldn''t be happy. Michael couldn''t feel anything.

    A loud metallic sound rang through his ears, pulling Michael''s attention to the piece of molten metal that hadnded next to him. It had once been a saber, the saber belonging to Masked Saber¡­ It was all there was left of Masked Saber¡­ No.

    It was all Michael was left with of his brother¡­

    "Danny¡­" He mumbled quietly, pressing his trembling lips together thereafter.

    He clenched his fists through the pain as two tears trickled down the corner of his eyes.

    The next moment, everything around Michael turned dark. He didn''t have a single trace of origin energy left in his body, his energy veins were injured, and he felt that the mythical mes of the dragon''s breath had shattered something deep inside him. Michael''s War Rune glowed brightly, manifesting the Runic Gate in response to his state, pulling him out of the Origin Expanse.

    He didn''t know what happened after that.

    Once Michael regained his consciousness once again, all he could tell was that every inch of his body hurt, and that he was lying in afortable bed.

    He spent nearly half an hour trying to move before he could open his eyelids, which felt like they weighed several tons. After he opened them once, Michael was fine. His eyes moved from left to right, analyzing the small room.

    ''Infirmary?'' Michael concluded after a few seconds. He tried to turn his neck to see if there was someone else in the room, but every little movement made a fresh wave of pain course through him.

    However, physical pain was not something Michael was afraid of at this moment. His heart was broken, and physical pain was the only stimtion that distracted him ¨C even if it was just a little bit.

    He pushed the nket that covered his body away, just to see that his entire body was bandaged. The bandages were infused with altered origin energy that possessed healing properties. It channeled a calming sensation inside his searing hot body to slowly regte his body temperature and bring down the fever.

    "If you don''t want to keep the injuries forever, you should stop moving. Your injuries are no joking matter," A familiar voice reached his ears.

    Michael slowly turned to the voice, just to see Alice Zenovia, Kaleb, and two middle-aged women wearing doctor''s coats.

    While Alice lectured Michael, Kaleb walked over to him, trying to retain his calm. He stared at Michael''s bandaged body, and swallowed the words he intended to say.

    Instead he tried to force a smile on his face before he said, "It was about time that you woke up. You were asleep for an entire week, Michael!"

    A full week had passed since he had been thrown out of the Lord Rift.

    Michael just nodded, not really caring how long he had been asleep. His expression was cold and distant, and a pang of sorrow was triggered in his heart at the mention of the Lord Rift.

    "I shouldn''t have entered the Lord Rift¡­" Michael mumbled to himself, clenching his fists even tighter than before.

    He clenched his fist too tightly, causing the freshly scabbed skin on the back of his hand to burst while his fingernails dug deep into his palm. Neither was painless, but Michael could only hope that the physical pain would take away the pain he felt in his heart. Only when he felt his fingers grow wet did he look down to stare nkly at his fists.

    The two healers walked over to Michael''s bed with hurried steps. Before they could heal Michael, they had to open his clenched fist. His fingernails were still digging into his palm, making him bleed. Kaleb tried to help them, only to realize that Michael''s fingers didn''t move an inch. Alice had toe over to loosen his fist, allowing the healers to tend to his injuries.

    The healers were talking to him, but Michael didn''t hear them. His ears had shut off as the memories of his brother''s death resurfaced.

    His body began to tremble, and tears welled up in his eyes once again.

    ''I shouldn''t have entered the Lord Rift¡­''

    "We found you unconscious in your room after the health sensors in your room went haywire. They sent a signal to me and the infirmary. Luckily, we found you just in time. A second or twoter and you would have died," Alice Zenovia said, informing Michael about his condition and how lucky he had been. "The healers treated you, but your condition had been extremely bad. Your skin and flesh were burned, and even your energy veins sustained considerable damage. However, the worst was that your reckless usage of your Soultrait caused damage to your War Rune''s Essence."

    Alice intended to pull Michael back to his senses, but Michael could only scoff.

    "Lucky? You should have left me to di¨C...." Michael responded quietly, only to shut his mouth before he could finish his sentence.

    He wanted to say that they should have left him to die so that he could stay by his brother''s side, but he couldn''t. Michael knew that he was only alive because of Danny''s sacrifice and that his death would have been for naught if he died as well.

    Michael could only grit his teeth and lower his head, trying to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks.

    Even if Kaleb and Alice didn''t know everything about Michael, they could tell that he wasn''t crying because of his great fortune to be alive. In fact, Alice Zenovia was certain that Michael saw the AI''s notification on his crystal watch.

    ''He must have seen the update of his brother''s Lord ID. To see something like that after barely escaping death in the Origin Expanse must be awful¡­'' She thought, oblivious to the truth that Michael''s situation was even worse than she imagined.

    Michael had yet to see the AI''s notification on sta messenger, but he knew that Daniel had died as a Lord. If he didn''t die in the Origin Expanse, he couldn''t have been resurrected as Masked Saber¡­his summon.

    Thinking about Daniel when he had been summoned as Masked Saber, Michael felt miserable.

    He clearly recalled Danny''s unique way of speaking whenever Masked Saber spoke and the way he moved. Michael couldn''t understand how he didn''t realize that Danny had been Masked Saber all along. They were exactly the same.

    There had been so many clues. Masked Saber''s silver energy had been one of the biggest clues. The silver energy had been Daniel''s Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait. Now that Michael knew about this, the simrities were ringly evident. This was even more true for the True Link of Loyalty that appeared between Michael and Masked Saber the moment Masked Saber had been summoned.

    No matter how Michael looked at the situation from his current point of view, Masked Saber had always been Danny.

    They fought side by side for months, trained with each other, and talked endlessly, yet Michael never even considered that Masked Saber could have been his brother.

    It was only obvious to think like that because Danny had been alive and thriving in his territory ording to the information the AI forwarded about his brother''s Lord ID.

    Michael believed in the information forwarded by the AI; so he never even considered the possibility of Masked Saber being his brother. The thought that his brother had already died and resurrected as his summon never crossed his mind.

    With a heavy sigh, Michael opened sta messenger on his crystal watch, just to see the top-most message from the AI, informing him with a warning signal that Daniel Fang''s Lord ID had malfunctioned and that he lost his Lord power several weeks ago.

    There were no additional pieces of information or exnations why the Lord ID had been malfunctioning. All Michael found out was that his brother died a few days before Masked Saber appeared in his territory.

    At some point over the course of the day, Alice and Kaleb left.

    His injuries were tended to for two more weeks to fix his damaged energy veins, heal his other physical wounds, and carefully repair the crack in his War Rune''s Essence.

    Frederik Kolbenheim, Jaqueline Ondo, Silverian Schild, Annabelle ire, Lincoln Piedra, Zeke Lavita, and the triplets of the Barscht family came to visit him a few times in the following week, but Michael didn''t even take note of them.

    Michael didn''t really care about anything anymore, and it grew increasingly difficult for the healers to determine if Michael was only an empty shell, or if he still desired to stay alive. It was as if he had shut himself down from the outside world. He didn''t drink, or eat, and he didn''t move in his bed either. All he did was stare nkly at the wall ahead of him.

    Michael recalled every memory he had with his brother. Memories of the past resurfaced ¨C a past he thought to have been forgotten a long time ago.

    The memories before he turned 9 years old had never been clear before. Michael had shoved them deep in his heart because they showed an illusion of a time in which everyone in the Fang family was together, living happily. But that was not real. His sister had disappeared and their parents had abandoned them.

    They might have left enough money to take care of their basic needs, but was that reallyparable to being raised by loving and caring parents? Despite their family abandoning him and his brother, Michael neverined. He knew that Danny had a hard time as the older brother.

    Daniel always felt that he was obliged to pave a way for Michael to walk upon easily in their parents'' stead. He thought that it was his duty to do everything for Michael and to be strong enough to protect his younger brother from all kinds of trouble.

    Daniel Fang gave his utmost to grow stronger without increasing his living expenses. He attended public school and didn''t bother about entering an Academy, or University to further increase his knowledge after graduation either. All of this would require funds, and time and he would have to leave Michael alone. Leaving Michael on his own was out of options, and he didn''t have much time to spend studying either. The trouble he had to face in the Origin Expanse used up most of his time ¨C oftentimes too much, preventing him from staying by Michael''s side and aiding him.

    Danny didn''t want to use their funds for his personal benefit either. Instead, he wanted to give them to Michael so that he could attend the best private school in the Golden Sun province.

    Michael was grateful for Daniel''s help, but he didn''t need any of that.

    All Michael had ever wished for was to walk alongside his brother and conquer the Origin Expanse with him. That was why he gave his best in the Origin Expanse to be stronger. As long as he could take a step closer to his brother, everything would have been great.

    But now that Daniel Fang was no more, Michael''s goal seemed meaningless. He couldn''t walk alongside his brother now that Danny was dead.

    He was alone now.

    [A/N: The devilish author has returned! Wee to the 6th Volume. I hope you ''enjoyed'' thest five volumes even though thest one ''might'' not have the ending you desired. How devastated will Michael be on a scale between 1 to 10? Will he ovee this ordeal, or will he crumble? Is Michael at fault for his brother''s death, or was Daniel fated to die?]

 Chapter 281 Inside Me

    ?

    Michael missed several weeks of school to recuperate.

    However, even after his War Rune''s Essence had been tended to, Michael didn''t bother to return to school. Instead, he disappeared through the Runic Gate to return to the Origin Expanse.

    Upon stepping into the Origin Expanse, Michael was immediately surrounded by a bunch of Summons. Even though only three weeks passed in the Saphirke Military Academy, a total of six weeks had passed in the Origin Expanse.

    His territory progressed rapidly in every possible way. More high tree houses had been constructed in the proximity of the Summoning Gate and the wooden manor. Wells with fresh water had been dug out in several spots all over his territory, and his army had grown much stronger.

    Just a fleeting gaze throughout his territory was enough for him to tell that they progressed well even without his help.

    Every little bit of progress would have made him happy if Michael was still the same as in the past, but that was not the case. His eyes were void of emotions, just like his expression. It was almost like Michael was an emotionless robot.

    The Starless Summons gathering around Michael noticed that something was wrong about Michael, but they didn''t know what it was. It seemed too far-fetched to think that Masked Saber''s death would have such a big impact on Michael''s life. It was not that umon for Summons to die in battle, after all.

    Yet, Michael had lost a lot of weight. His muscle mass had receded drastically as well, which made him look like skin and bones.

    When Michael emerged in his territory, a wooden chest materialized in front of him. It looked delicate and had intricate enchantments engraved all over it.

    It was the lootbox given by the Will of the Origin Expanse, granting him treasures ording to his aplishments in the Lord Rift.

    Michael didn''t want to open the chest at first, but it appeared next to him after he stepped aside. The chest followed him wherever he went.

    Annoyed and frustrated, Michael opened the chest, and emptied it at once before kicking the chest. The chest didn''t break. Instead, it began to glow brightly and burst into countless white wisps that dispersed in all directions.

    Michael cursed quietly, but he picked up the loot one by one. There wasn''t that much, in the first ce.

    But just as he was about to pick up the first item, Michael froze in his tracks.

    A Soultrait Symbol with tiny roots attracted his attention. It was among the drops generated by the Will, causing his eyes to turn red. Even if the image shown on the frontside of the Soultrait Symbol didn''t say a lot, Michael could immediately tell what it was¡­and it broke his heart.

    The image shown on the frontside of the Soultrait Symbol was none other than a Sword shrouded in silver energy. It was the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait¡­Danny''s Soultrait¡­

    Michael''s hand began to tremble horribly, yet he continued to move. He bit on his lower lip so hard that it began to bleed, but he forced himself to pick up the Soultrait Symbol nheless.

    However, when he picked up the Soultrait Symbol something unexpected happened. As usual Michael''s War Rune desired to absorb the Soultrait Symbol. The white tentacle-like streams of energy emerged from the back of his hand, ready to devour the Soultrait Symbol. Michael tried to restrain the streams of energy because he was not ready to ept Danny''s Soultrait.

    He didn''t even have enough time to digest that his brother was actually dead, and that he would never return to talk to him, to fight beside him. How could he be daring enough to absorb his brother''s Soultrait?!

    Unfortunately, his War Rune didn''t care about his emotions. It desired the Soultrait Symbol that had tiny roots growing out from the bottom of it.

    Unable to restrain the energy streams that poured out of his War Rune, Michael had to miserably witness how his War Rune devoured the Soultrait Symbol.

    Recalling what had happened when he absorbed ciclest time, Michael was forced to enter his subconscious. He appeared in front of the humongous white pir of energy, only to see that the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait took root in the Sphere of Light''s inner area. Michael didn''t even have to spend his SoulStar Fragments to expand the Sphere of Light and create a socket for the Soultrait. It took root and firmly lodged itself in ce before a flood of information streamed inside his head.

    Michael learned various secrets of the Reinforced Sword Qi, but he couldn''t feel happy about that. He may have gotten hold of another Soultrait ¨C a 5-Star Soultrait at that ¨C, but he would rather see Daniel using it.

    His heart felt heavy sensing the power of his brother''s Soultrait inside him. However, at the same time, Michael felt a turmoil of emotions raging through his entire being. His brother had died, but one part of Daniel would always be with him.

    Michael was not too sure what to think about that.

    He clutched his chest and sighed heavily before he picked up the remaining items.

    There were five items, two of which were the remaining materials Michael required to construct a teleportation array.

    There was also a note ¨C a message from the Will itself ¨C, a ring artifact, and a keychain that looked like a miniature coffin.

    The ring was crimson in color and had the head of the Red Dragon engraved on it. Seeing the Red Dragon, Michael wanted to throw the ring away instinctively. The Red Dragon''s mythical mes were the reason his brother wasn''t around him anymore. Of course, he didn''t want to stare at the Red Dragon''s engraving all day.

    Unfortunately, Michael could feel tremendous power from the ring. Even Tac Lec and Taros'' Epic Tier-2 Artifacts didn''t exude as much power as the Tier-2 Ring Artifact he was holding.

    "A natural 6-Star Tier-2 Artifact¡­fuck¡­" Michael cursed, realizing that he couldn''t throw the ring away if he wanted to stay strong enough to protect his subordinates in times of peril.

    Michael was not sure what he wanted to do now, but his heart told him that he couldn''t abandon his subordinates, otherwise, he wouldn''t be any better than his parents.

    ''Danny would never forgive me if I abandoned anyone¡­''

    Michael put the natural Legendary-grade Tier-2 Artifact away, ignoring the sting in his heart. If not for the overwhelming grief consuming him, Michael would have been overjoyed about the Ring Artifact. But he could not, not right now.

    After he put away the ring, Michael wanted to put the keychain away as well. It had intricate enchantments engraved all over its surface, yet it wasn''t an Artifact. In the first ce, Michael hadn''t seen most of the ovepping enchantments ever before. They were extremelyplex and too hard toprehend for someone, who was not taught properly ¨C and someone who couldn''t care less what this casket was, at this point.

    Michael quickly realized that he couldn''t store it inside the War Rune''s storage space, nor the spatial pouch.

    For some reason, the miniature casket keychain couldn''t be stored. Michael stared at the casket for a while. He lost his sense of time staring at the casket. Michael was not sure why, but the keychain seemed to both mock him about his inability to protect his brother and calm him. Staring at the casket made him feel like everything that had happened was not as bad as he imagined. It was even worse, yet not.

    It made him feel as if he could bend fate as long as he was alive. Yet, despite the ability to bend fate, Michael had been incapable of protecting his brother. It was frustrating.

    ''A calming aura? Is that what it is?'' Michael wondered, fastening the keychain to his belt a momentter.

    The keychain ought to be his constant reminder about the things he lost even though he had given his best to protect them. It was a reminder that life was uncertain.

    After the keychain was fastened to his belt, Michael retrieved the Ring Artifact, which hebeled Dragon Might Ring, due to the presence released naturally. It was the presence of a dragon exuded ¨C even though it was a lot weaker than the Red Dragon''s dragon full might.

    He released a white strand of energy and bound the Dragon Might Ring Artifact to his War Rune slowly to ensure that he wouldn''t receive a bacsh. The higher the grade of an Artifact, the stronger its external enhancement would be. He might have lost his Typhern Armor Set Artifact to the Lord Rift, but Michael was still in possession of a few more Artifacts.

    Thus, he had to hope that binding Dragon Might to his War Rune wouldn''t cause any issues.

    Some Artifacts had their own will as well. It would be necessary to force the Artifacts into submission, ore to an agreement before the bound Artifact''s full power could be unleashed.

    Michael felt some resistance while binding Dragon Might, but he didn''t give up. On the contrary, Michael forced his way through Dragon Might, using his rage and anger. The Red Dragon was one of the reasons he suffered so much. The more he thought about that, the weaker Dragon Might''s mental resistance felt to him.

    Upon binding the Legendary Artifact, Michael didn''t feel a big difference in terms of physical strength, or endurance. The Legendary Artifact''s external enhancement didn''t increase his strength, perception, or endurance. Instead, it enhanced Michael''s brain. His memory improved, and Michael could immediately tell that it was much easier to multitask.

    His mind power had increased drastically.

    The binding process of Dragon Might had beenpleted within an hour, without causing a bacsh from binding too many Artifacts to his War Rune. In fact, Dragon Might''s enhancement was different from other Artifacts, allowing Michael to bind more Artifacts to his War Rune, as long as they didn''t enhance his mind power any further.

    With that understanding, Michael picked up the note written by the Will itself. He couldn''t care less about the gains he made from Lord Rift, but something made him hope that the Will of the Origin Expanse was being nice to the Fangs ¨C even if it was just once¡­

    Picking up the note, Michael read it silently, only to end up far more confused than before.

    [May the Star with the greatest aplishments shine the brightest. May his light ignite the embers of the dying star anew. May his Cursed Soul bend fate as he pleases.]

    "Fuck this shit¡­what even is this nonsense?!" Michael cursed when he finished reading the note. He grits his teeth and called himself stupid for hoping that the Will would be generous for once.

    "Fuck you, Origin Expanse!!"

 Chapter 282 Legendary Rings Power

    ?

    Michael read the note of the Will twice before he put it away in disappointment.

    The Will might be trying to tell him something, but Michael''s mind didn''t work properly right now. His mind felt sluggish and he felt as if someone was squeezing his heart painfully.

    He lifted his head weakly, only to notice that the Starless Summons around him were lying on the ground, struggling to get up. Dragon Might''s presence was weighing down on the Starless Summons, forcing them to the ground.

    Seeing the fear in their eyes, Michael quickly dismissed Dragon Might''s presence. That was quite easy now that he bound the Legendary Ring to his War Rune. He could easily adjust the naturally exuded dragon might.

    The Starless Summons got up from the ground with Michael''s help. For a moment, they looked at him with a trace of fear, only to recall how well Michael had treated them until now. The Summons saw the surprise and guilt in Michael''s eyes as well, dispelling the trace of fear that was about to take root in their hearts that somehow their Lord was angry with them.

    "I''m sorry for startling you. I didn''t expect the Artifact''s presence to be that strong," Michael said weakly, helping the Summons up from the ground.

    After that, he excused himself while his eyes remained locked on the Legendary Ring Artifact.

    He sensed that Ring Artifact had another power, other than the naturally exuded dragon might. He kept some distance from everyone else before his energy surged inside the Ring Artifact. After a few seconds of channeling energy inside the Ring Artifact, Michael sensed something interesting.

    The Extraction Soultrait was triggered, altering the origin energy inside Dragon Might into the power of Extraction. The crystalized eyes embedded in the ring''s Red Dragon changed into a bright golden color as the power of Extraction filled it.

    This surprised Michael a little. He stopped channeling energy inside Dragon Might and tried to use the power of extraction stored in the Ring Artifact. In response to his mentalmand, the power of extraction reacted. It shot out of Dragon Might, waiting for Michael to set a target to extract.

    ''The Ring can store the power of a Soultrait?'' Michael wondered, dispersing the power of extraction before he filled Dragon Might with origin energy once again.

    But this time, Michael used cicle to fill the crystalized eyes with its power, changing its color to cier blue.

    Michael stopped utilizing the cicle Soultrait to test something. He easily essed the power of cicle stored in the crystallized eyes of the Red Dragon and conjured a handful of cicles without activating his Soultrait.

    ''Interesting¡­'' Michael thought, indicating Liopham Zelc, the Forest Elven Adventurer, toe towards him when he saw him from the corner of his eye.

    "Use Rage of the Primal on the Ring after I channeled some origin energy inside it," Michaelmanded, his tone low and weak.

    Yet, despite having such a weak and low tone, Michael''s eyes were cold and void of emotions. It was confusing, and totally differentpared to the way Michael acted usually.

    Liopham followed Michael''s order, but he couldn''t help but think that Michael was different today. He looked weak and exhausted.

    "You don''t look good. You should rest, Michael" Liopham said after hesitating for a few seconds. The power of the Rage of the Primal Soultrait was already entering Dragon Might, yet Liopham''s gaze never left Michael.

    Even though their Link of Loyalty determined that their rtionship was that of a Lord and a subordinate, Liopham had begun to consider Michael as a friend now.

    They had fought side by side for months and strived hard to expand the territory together. Michael often had his meals with the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, sharing stories about their native worlds and the things they had experienced. Sometimes, they even talked about their friends and families, their future goals, and the hardships in their life.

    Liopham wanted to be a good friend, give Michael some time to rest and get better before talking to him about his hardships. After all, it was obvious that something was terribly wrong.

    But Michael just shook his head.

    "I cannot rest¡­" He responded firmly, "If I rest, I will always think abo¨C...No, forget it¡­"

    Michael shook his head vigorously again. His focus returned to Dragon Might which he essed to manifest the Totem of Liopham''s Soultrait, Rage of the Primal.

    Seeing the totem that belonged to his Soultrait, Liopham was momentarily stunned. He even forgot what Michael had just said, and stared nkly at his Soultrait, which had been utilized by Michael just now.

    "It''s a Legendary Artifact that stores the power of a Soultrait, whether it is my own or somebody else''s Soultrait. That''s quite amazing," Michael mumbled, staring at Dragon Might for a while. "The only downside is that I cannot use anyplex Soultraits through the Dragon Might Ring since Soultraits require the corresponding knowledge I can only obtain from thorough research or by fusing the Soultrait Symbol to my War Rune. Only simple functions of a foreign Soultrait can be used..."

    He tried to focus on Dragon Might and its extravagant power, but Liopham''s earlierment pulled Michael back to reality.

    Distracting himself by studying the Legendary Ring Artifact worked quite well for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Michael''s mind was a menace. His attention pulled away from Dragon Might.

    Michael''s eyes moved to the keychain fastened to his belt subconsciously.

    "A miniature casket keychain as a gift from the Will¡­Is the Will trying to make fun of me?" He mumbled quietly, his voice cracking before a tear trickled down his cheeks.

    Michael sighed heavily. He turned around and walked away, his head hanging low.

    Michael left Liopham and the Starless Summons stupefied. They stared at his sloppy figure as Michael began to take a stroll through his territory.

    The number of his subjects didn''t increase in the weeks of his absence. However, his territory''s infrastructure changed considerably. The training grounds for his army had been expanded threefold, the high treehouses had been upgraded to ensure their longevity, and Michael could tell that the canopy bridgework system was longer and wider than ever before.

    Michael was not sure how far his army conquered the middle area of the Untamed Jungle, but he could easily sense the strength of his people through their Links of Loyalty. The Links of Loyalty showed quite clearly that Michael''s subjects never stopped working on themselves even in his absence. They continued to work hard even after Michael didn''t return for several weeks. That was promising, and it eased Michael''s worry a little.

    He feared that his subjects would struggle without him, but they were doing quite well. The warehouses were filled with Agriculture-type blueprints and various low-level Armaments that had yet to be sold to the Forest Elven Tribe. At the same time, Michael''s army had been equipped with better equipment. The Enchanters of the territory had finally begun to use their theoretical knowledge to start practicing etching enchantments on the low-level armaments to gain experience, and to reinforce the armaments.

    Taking a deep breath as he strolled through his territory, he inhaled strong herbal scents mixed with the sweet smell of the Tiatcha. Only six weeks passed in his absence, but the small farms that had been cultivated beneath the treehouses were already in full bloom. The Tiatcha trees grew rapidly, and the first batch of sweet Tiatcha was ready to be harvested. The same could be said about the cocoa pods of the Cocoa Trees, and most other nts nted inside his territory.

    Overall, Michael could say that he was the proud owner of dozens of small but highly efficient house farms with various nts, herbs, and other nts of the highest quality.

    They gained the grace of the Untamed Jungle''s highly nourishable soil and dense origin energy, followed by the blessing of the 4-Star Nature Spirit that had taken root in the center of his territory. Other than those two favorable factors, there was also a 3-Star Botanic Magician, and farmers nurturing and aiding the herbs, flowers, and other nts to grow under the most beneficial conditions.

    Usually, Michael would feel happy just by ncing at his bustling territory. Everyone was working hard, giving their utmost effort to ensure that the settlement could be expanded. Seeing the satisfied expressions on his subjects would have been enough to dispel most of Michael''s worries.

    But everything was different now. Even Michael''s desire to live was not as strong as it used to be.

    He didn''t want to die but being alive seemed nothing short of hell at this moment. It was like the essence of life was pain, suffering, and torture. At least, that was what Michael felt at this moment.

    The memories of the past felt even more torturous than ever before. Recalling the time he spent with Masked Saber, and the easy time they had when they first entered the Lord Rift, Michael could only feel guilt and regret coursing through him. These feelings wreaked havoc within him, making him lose the will to do anything productive.

    "Both I and Masked Saber chose to enter the Lord Rift alongside you. You never forced us," A familiar voice rang out from behind, "We wanted to enter the Lord Rift with you because we wanted to grow stronger. It''s not your fault that a Dragon appeared out of nowhere."

    Michael halted in his tracks. He turned around slowly, just to stare straight at Tiara''s face. She had an impassive expression on her face and her lips were pressed into a thin line.

    Michael felt a little ufortable being stared at like that, but he didn''t say anything. It was not that he couldn''t say anything, but Michael didn''t know what to say.

    Tiara was correct.

    Both Masked Saber and Tiara chose to enter the Lord Rift willingly. They were fully aware of the dangers, which included death.

    In the first ce, the death rate inside rifts was known to be quite high. Everyone willing to enter the Lord Rift knew that they were risking their lives in exchange for the golden opportunity to obtain great wealth and treasures.

    Despite that, Michael couldn''t really forgive himself.

    "It''s good to see that you''re fine," Michael said while looking at Tiara in an attempt to subtly change the topic.

    She had shorter hair than before, but other than that she was perfectly fine.

    He had sensed that Tiara was alive when he regained consciousness thanks to the Link of Loyalty connecting them. Tiara''s injuries hadn''t been as severe as Michael''s either. He had thrown himself in front of her while utilizing Extraction to the fullest when the dragon breath reached them. Nheless, Tiara healed extremely fast, which was quite surprising given that their territory didn''t have any great healers. There was one Priest, but that Priest was not exactly what one would consider a miracle healer.

    "We Silverfangs are good at healing. The Silverfang Tigerfolk are known for their tenacity. We''re exceptional fighters, and great at surviving. As long as we have a single breath left in our bodies, we won''t die!" Tiara said pridefully before her attention moved back to Michael once again.

    Right now, was not the time to brag about her race or survival instincts.

    Tiara clearly recalled Michael saying "Danny¡­" just before the Lord Rift closed. She saw him cry and the desperation on his face when Masked Saber''s face was revealed.

    Michael had spoken about his brother quite often in the past. Thus, Tiara was already aware that Michael''s brother was also called Danny.

    Seeing Michael''s physical and mental state, it was not difficult for Tiara to connect the dots.

    Tiara stared at Michael for a few seconds before she strode forward to pull him in a tight embrace.

    "Everything will be alright¡­" She mumbled, holding him even tighter in an attempt to warm his heart and console him.

    However, Michael could only stare ahead with an empty gaze.

    "No¡­it won''t¡­"

 Chapter 283 [Bonus ]Storytime

    ?

    [A/N--> Today I want to thank everyone for supporting the novel with all your heart. I know my Author Notes are a little bit annoying, but I hope you can bear with it. Thank you very much for your support. I hope you enjoy this very ''short'' chapter as much as I do :D]

    --

    No matter how Tiara looked at Michael, she could tell that he was going through a tough phase. Maybe he was even at the lowest point in his life at this moment.

    He had lost too much weight within a few weeks, and he seemed dispirited even though he had obtained a Legendary Ring Artifact. Both the ring and the keychain casket felt weird to Tiara even though the ring was the only object radiating some energy.

    ''Concealed energy?'' Tiara wondered, staring at the keychain for a while.

    She stood hugging Michael for several minutes, not wanting to let go of him even after he told her that it was enough. Tiara knew that Michael could order her to let go of him and step back, but he never did that. His resistance was weak, if she could even call it as such, in the first ce.

    Tiara felt that Michael''s resistance crumbled slowly. He gave in to her warm hug and reciprocated it after a while. Fat drops of tears trickled down his cheek as he began to cry quietly.

    Michael didn''t want to look weak and vulnerable in front of his subordinates, but Danny''s death had left himpletely shaken. He felt as if he had been abandoned all over again and this time he had nobody to lean on. His mind was a mess, just like his heart.

    "Do you want to talk about it?" Tiara asked gently after Michael loosened his grip around her.

    Michael stepped back and was just about to shake his head when his eyes made contact with Tiara. He noticed her staring intently at him. There was no ridicule, or prejudice in her eyes.

    Even if Michael didn''t want to acknowledge it, his condition was bad. He was not physically injured anymore, but it was a fact that he had hardly eaten or drunk anything in thest two weeks. He didn''t do any workouts either, and stayed in the infirmary without moving from his bed, thinking about his brother all day and staring into nothingness.

    He kept cursing himself over and over that everything was his fault, and that he was stupid for not recognizing his brother. Michael started to hate himself for his stupidity, and his uncontroble greed, which had caused Danny''s final death atst.

    Tiara had only observed him from a distance before but now she was getting genuinely worried about him. After mustering a lot of courage, she slowly pulled him into an embrace, hoping that he could open his heart to talk about his pain.

    What she didn''t know was that Michael had learned to be independent from a young age. Before his family broke apart, he had been just a regr kid living an ordinary life. He never hesitated to speak his mind when he was young. But everything changed when reality struck him hard.

    His sister disappeared, and their parents left too, leaving him with only Danny to talk to. However, Michael didn''t want to bother his brother because Daniel had always been busy being the responsible elder brother. Michael knew that his brother wanted to take care of him and ensure that his future was bright. Thus, Michael would always hold back and keep silent whenever something bothered him.

    That was also why Michael never bothered to tell Daniel about the ssmates, who bullied him in the prestigious elite school in the Golden Sun province. He didn''t want to worry Daniel. Thus, he never caused trouble and endured everything silently.

    Despite being an independent young man, who didn''t share his biggest troubles openly, Michael felt that he had to tell Tiara about his situation. Tiara had been by his side since he manifested his War Rune. She didn''t feel like his subject or a subordinate. Her origin was not ordinary at all, and she had great social skills.

    She empathized with Michael and could help him ovee the most torturous phase of his life after losing a beloved one. At least, that was what Michael felt as he stared deep into her eyes.

    For the first time in forever, Michael opened his heart to someone else than his family. Even if it was just a small gap leading to his innermost feelings, all that mattered was that Michael began to trust someone else enough to show that he was also a human, a being full of emotions¡­someone, who could get hurt as well.

    He was not an emotionless robot, nor an invulnerable Immortal. Michael was just an ordinary young man.

    Several hours passed in the blink of an eye, but Michael had yet to stop talking. He ended up telling Tiara about his situation ¨C starting with the fact that Michael and Daniel had to take care of each other, and grew up all alone. They only had each other to lean on.

    Michael told Tiara in detail about their hardships, what they had to go through, and how life had been on Elyra ¨C their home. He recalled numerous events that caused him to sigh deeply, frown, and curse other people, but there were also more than enough good memories.

    The good memories in Michael''s life were mostly together with his brother. Recalling these days caused a faint smile on Michael''s lips to blossom. He chuckled faintly every now and then when the most ridiculous memories resurfaced.

    Michael''s mood dampened soon after, creating a heavy atmosphere in the room he and Tiara had chosen to talk with each other. Nheless, Michael continued to talk about his past. After he started talking, the young Lord was an unstoppable force.

    The pain in his heart didn''t lessen, but Michael found sce in emptying his heart about everything that had happened, and that he didn''t even realize Masked Saber was Danny. Michael cried a few more times, which Tiara took as a sign to hug him tightly once again.

    Even though he was embarrassed to cry his heart out, Michael could tell that it lessened the burden on his heart. He was still in pain and grieving, but it was also quite obvious that Daniel would hate him if he was to give up now.

    Recalling his time with Daniel gave Michael the push he needed to regain his will to stay alive. Michael was still in low spirits. That wouldst for a while. However, talking to Tiara was enough to rekindle his hunger and thirst.

    Michael began to eat and drink once again.

    When Tiara saw Michael eating and drinking she felt relieved as well. Listening to Michael''s story made her recall her own family and her race, causing a pang of sadness in her heart.

    "I hope they''re all doing fine. I miss all of you," She mumbled, realizing something only after the words escaped her lips.

    Before today, Tiara hadn''t been allowed to talk about her family and race. Even her thoughts about the Silverfang Tigerfolk had been strictly restricted. Everytime she tried to recall details about them, she was pped with a light headache that grew intense the more she tried to recollect. All she could think and talk about was the training she had received, and that she was a member of the Silverfang Tigerfolk.

    But now that she could think about her family, friends, and her race, Tiara thought that the restrictions had been lifted.

    s, they hadn''t been lifted. It was just that the restriction wasn''t as strict as before.

    Being able to think and talk about her family after so long warmed her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she instinctively looked over to Michael.

    "Do you want to hear a little bit about my past? I am not sure if it will make you feel better to exchange my story with yours, but I can reassure you that my story is, at least, as painful as yours," Tiara said, trying to make a light joke to ease the situation.

    However, Michael could only stare at Tiara expressionlessly. He had always been interested in the Silverfang Tigerfolk''s history, and Tiara''s past, but hearing that it was painful was enough reason to hesitate.

    If he was already in that much pain talking about his past events with Danny after he died, how would Tiara feel?

    "Don''t think too much about it. I know you''re interested," Tiara said lightly before she added, "Painful memories will always stay the same. Time will never heal these woundspletely. You will always be left with deep scars that will affect you all your life."

    Michael could only nod hearing what Tiara said.

    "All time does is help you cope with the pain, and how to learn to live with that," He added quietly.

    His words gained Tiara''s approval.

    "Since you''re interested in the story, let me tell you about it," Tiara said, done with waiting.

    "It all began long before I was born. The Great War of the Beastfolks rampaged through the Plekur sr system¡­ centuries of war caused nothing but massacres and bloodshed all over the sr system, but nobody was able to gain the upper hand. By the time centuries of hatred passed, nobody could clearly remember how it all started. All the Beastfolks knew was that their enemies had killed their families, friends, and beloved. The Beastfolks wanted to take revenge for the deaths of their beloved ones, yet their participation in the Great War caused only more deaths. The beloved of the dead continued to loathe their enemies ¨C even though they only desired revenge as well," Tiara spoke slowly and without break.

    It was almost as if Tiara''s recitation was not rted to her own race, and as if she copied the text from a history book. However, the dark glint in her eyes showed Michael that the real story was just about to begin.

    "I was born in this unreasonable war. Taught by the head of the Silverfang Tigerfolk, I quickly realized that my people didn''t desire to participate in the war actively. We were the strongest and tenacious, posing a threat to everyone else, but we stopped participating in the Great War a long time ago. Unfortunately, that was something our enemies didn''t seem to realize. Our enemies hated that the Silverfang Tigerfolk had an entire to themselves and were the sovereign rulers of nature and monsters."

    "They traveled to us even though they could have continued their mindless massacre on the other inhabitables of the Plekur sr system, just to destroy our crops and everything we had built over the course of centuries," She voiced out in spite.

    "Of course, we had to protect ourselves. We fought to protect our home and killed those who came with ill intentions. To our misery, our home was big, full of nutritious earth to farm, and mountains with rich resources to plunder. Many Beastfolks desired our home ¨C probably all of them. After all, nobody other than us was able to be the ruler of an entire in the Plekur sr system. They used the Great War and the fact that we killed in order to protect ourselves as an excuse to attack us with all their might. Their forces joined, even the strongest Silverfang was unable to protect the old, ill, and the young. In merely one decade, the Silverfang Warriors were either killed or crippled, unable to ever pick up a weapon for the rest of their lives, and the old, ill, and the young were exiled¡­ But there was no ce for us to go."

    "When we were exiled, I was only 15 years old. I was filled with hatred and anger after seeing my family getting beheaded in front of everyone as an example to show the Silverfang what would happen if they ever tried to reim their home," She said, the hatred and sadness in her eyes showing clearly that she had not yet forgotten her harrowing past.

    She grit her teeth and clenched her fists tightly recalling the most painful memories in her life. Michael could only guess how she felt. He was unsure if he would be like her in the future as well. He lost his brother right in front of him, but he had nobody to take revenge on. It was impossible to re-enter the Lord Rift, seek the Red Dragon and break its neck, and butcher it to avenge his brother.

    Michael wasn''t given the opportunity to seek revenge, but that was not what he wanted, in the first ce. The Red Dragon was not the problem. The problem was that Michael didn''t know how Daniel died in the Origin Expanse. Michael could only guess that he died somewhere in the Sacred Desert during his raid on the Primedival Pyramid. However, he didn''t have any detailed information.

    That was one of the things that frustrated him the most; the uncertainty.

    Losing Danny left a big hole in Michael''s heart, a gap that could never be filled again.

    However, Tiara''s situation was different. She lost her family and most of her race. She and the exiled survivors had to suffer, while her enemies were still alive, and enjoying the benefits of iming a new habitable for them to use.

    Michael was not sure how that must feel. He could only imagine that it must be torturous, simr to how Michael was feeling right now.

    "I understand¡­" He said, unsure what else to respond.

    But there was something that confused him. If her people had been exiled when she was 15 years old, how did she end up in the Origin Expanse, and what happened to her people?

    "That might be a little inconsiderate to ask after you told me your painful story, but there are a few things I don''t understand," Michael said, the glint in his eyes showing that he was truly curious about something for the first time since his brother died.

    Tiara was actually hoping that this would happen. She didn''t reveal a short summary of her story to be pitied or anything like that. No, all Tiara desired was to re-awaken Michael''s curiosity about the Origin Expanse, and the vast expanse of the Universe.

    "What happened to you after you and your people were exiled, and how did you end up as a personal maid in the Origin Expanse then? You had a Tier-1 War Rune when we first met, which is definitely not something a personal maid ought to possess. You are the first personal maid with a War Rune. At least, I don''t know anyone else with an Awakened as their personal maid," He asked in curiosity.

    His eyes shimmered like tiny stars, and his entire attention was on Tiara as he waited patiently for her to answer.

    "Both questions have the same answer," Tiara started slowly, "It might soundplex but it''s pretty simple. All Awakened collect achievements during their life. These achievements are one of the factors used by the Will of the Origin Expanse to determine your star rating as a Summon. But that is not the only way to use achievements. In fact, achievements are simr to currencies. They can be used and exchanged."

    As Tiara spoke, Michael inevitably thought about the Lord Rift and the loot box he obtained for the contribution he made to the Lord Rift. He imagined the contribution to be simr to the achievements Tiara talked about.

    "Either way, Races collect achievements as well, and by using up all achievements collected by all Awakened of the Silverfang Tigerfolk we were able to make a deal with the Will, and find asylum inside the Origin Expanse ¨C even though some of the Old Silverfangs never manifested a War Rune, while other Silverfangs like me were too young to have had the chance to manifest our War Runes." She exined with a faint smile on her lips.

    "As long as we want to enjoy the benefits of the asylum, we have to fulfill the conditions of the Origin Expanse''s Will," Tiara added, providing Michael with enough information to gain a rough understanding of the situation.

    "The Will then called you, and you paid heed to its call, bing my personal maid in the Untamed Jungle," Michaelpleted.

    Tiara reaffirmed this with a nod.

    "Whether that was fate or a coincidence is unknown," Michael mumbled quietly to himself, but Tiara shook her head.

    "It''s fate. It has always been," She said, just to quietly add, "At least, that''s what I believe."

 Chapter 284 Hate

    ?

    Michael was a little bit surprised. He didn''t expect the Will of the Origin Expanse to allow Tiara to speak about her race and how she ended up in the Origin Expanse. She had been restricted before, which meant that something must have changed. However, Michael was not sure what that might be.

    Even though she didn''t reveal many secrets about the Silverfang Tigerfolk, Michael was intrigued by the little pieces of information she shared with him. They decided to spend more time with each other to talk more about the Beastfolks, her pasty, and if she desired revenge.

    Michael was curious whether Tiara''s hatred made her desire revenge, or if she would rather try helping the Silverfang Tigerfolk to find another ce to live and call home. After all, the home they''d been given by taking asylum in the Origin Expanse was not quite like the normal areas in the Origin Expanse.

    Tiara wanted to tell Michael more about the ce they took asylum in, but a splitting headache overcame her when she tried to speak about the asylum in detail. Nheless, Michael got enough information from Tiara to tell that revenge was not her highest priority. If possible, she would use her future achievements to free the Silverfang Tigerfolk from the asylum and find another home for them.

    After all, they were currently forced to obey the Will of the Origin Expanse, no matter what order it issued. If even one of the Silverfangs rejected the Will''s order, everyone else would suffer and be thrown out of the Origin Expanse ¨C if they didn''t have a War Rune.

    Michael tried to put Tiara at ease when she tried to force herself to reveal more secrets to him. She tried to fight the splitting headache, just to tell a few facts about the asylum and other ces controlled by the Will.

    "You don''t have to tell me more. I understand what you''re trying to say. And¡­I understand how hard it must be for you to continue with your attempts. Thanks," Michael tried to reassure her with a subtle smile forming on his lips.

    He stood up, patted Tiara''s shoulder, and left the room ¨C his emotions in a chaotic mess.

    For the next three days, Michael didn''t leave the Origin Expanse. He spent most of his time with the subordinates that were bustling through his territory,pleting one task after another. Michael chose to help withbor first. Physical exhaustion distracted him the most.

    Unfortunately, Tiara and the Forest Elven of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had to inform him that his Summons were ufortable working side-by-side with their Lord and Master.

    They trusted Michael and liked him a lot as their Lord, but that didn''t change a particr fact; He was their Lord, not their friend. Michael''s responsibilities were different from theirs, and so was his strength. Most Summons were given basic or simple tasks. They had to do what their superiors asked them to do. Most of these tasks were focused onbor and the expansion of the territory.

    Meanwhile, Michael had to control and supervise everything. He was the heart of their territory and the strongestbatant. Everyone, who had seen Michael fight was fully aware of his terrificbat prowess and knew that he was far from ordinary. He was special, and so was his status as the Summons'' Lord.

    Since he didn''t want his Summons to feel ufortable, Michael decided to focus on something else. He began to spend more time with Tiara, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, and his monster subjects. Sun Demos, his tamed Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, was included in this small list.

    However, Michael didn''t take the time to train or to go out to hunt. He spent most of his time talking and thinking about lots of things. This included the bitter fact that he had to ept the cruel reality of his brother''s death.

    Michael didn''t want to bother the others at first, but he ended up talking to them for hours nheless, and it helped him quite a bit knowing that he had people to talk to by his side.

    Nheless, Michael was low in spirits. Everything was a little differentpared to before. It was just a little bit too hard for Michael to ept that there would be nobody to look forward to meeting upon returning home.

    "...I should message our parents as well¡­shouldn''t I?" Michael mumbled after spending three days in the Origin Expanse doing nothing more than talking, eating, and sleeping a little.

    At first, Michael considered not messaging their parents about Danny''s death, but he dispersed that thought quickly. No matter what happened between them, their parents were still their parents ¨C whether Michael and Daniel liked it or not. They should know.

    They deserved to know.

    Thus, Michael collected the Agriculture-type blueprints stored in the warehouses before he left the Origin Expanse with a weary heart.

    He manifested the Runic Gate and stepped through it the next moment.

    Emerging inside his tiny room, Michael slumped down on his bed. He sighed deeply and opened the holographic screen of sta messengers.

    His eyes widened slightly seeing dozens of messages popping up on the holographic screen. Alice had sent him a few messages, and so had Kaleb. Even the Barbaric Couple, Zeke Lavita, Lincoln Piedra, and the Barscht triplets had messaged him.

    Michael didn''t open their messages, but he could guess what the messages were about. It was not hard to grasp the situation. Hence he first decided to talk to his parents. For that, he had to open his chat with his parents where he found a deciphered audio that had been sent to him three weeks ago ¨C on the same day the AI wrote a message about the error of Daniel''s Lord ID, and that he was dead.

    The audio message was deciphered, and it had an auto-delete function installed. Five minutes after the audio had been listened to it would be automatically deleted and the content destroyed on the sta messenger''s server.

    In the chat with their parents, Michael and Daniel had never been able to send text messages. Such messages were always deleted seconds after they had been sent, and the same happened to audio clips as well. Thus, Michael would have to listen to the deciphered audio and reply to it using the same code.

    It was a hassle and something Michael would rather avoid if possible. He still listened to the audio message, nheless.

    ["We noticed that Daniel''s Lord ID has been destroyed. There might have been an error, which deters the golden time, but we can still make use of this. If we hurry up, we should have enough time toplete the Resurrection Ritual to ensure that Daniel will be summoned in one of our territories ¨C even if it''s as a Summon. Message us as soon as you can. We need some of his stuff toplete the Ritual!"]

    The content of their parents'' audio message was weird. Michael listened to it a second time, causing his eyes to narrow, and his face to turn red.

    ''They don''t even sound sad. What resurrection? Summoning him as a Summon¡­I did that already without realizing, you s¡­.''

    Michael felt conflicted staring at the deciphered audio. His finger hovered above the rey button but he hesitated to press it again. He didn''t really care about his parents'' voice or anything like that, but the nonchnt tone of his father was grating on him, making him feel nauseous.

    In the end, three minutes of utter silence passed before Michael sent a reply to his parents'' audio message.

    "I summoned him, and I saw him die¡­right in front of me¡­ I summoned him¡­and I didn''t even know that it was him. He¡­sacrificed his life, just to protect me¡­" Michael said, feeling that a knot formed in his throat as he forced the words out.

    Tears trickled down his cheeks and he realized only after he sent the audio to their parents that he was sitting on the ground, sobbing.

    Even if the time spent in the Origin Expanse with Tiara and his subjects had calmed Michael a little bit, his parents'' emotionless message broke him down once again.

    He didn''t have a great connection with his parents after they abandoned them ¨C neither of the brothers had ¨C but he couldn''t think of them as good people anymore, not if they were that unaffected by their oldest son''s death. Wasn''t it already bad enough to abandon the kids with nothing but a deciphered chat and some money behind?

    Nothing made sense anymore, and Michael wanted nothing more than to scream and shout at his parents, tell them how miserable he and his brother had been because of their decision, and what they had gone through.

    Maybe, if they hadn''t been abandoned, Daniel wouldn''t have died¡­twice at that. Michael was sure that they could have done something to help them prepare for everything that awaited them as descendants of a cursed bloodline. Was that too much to ask for?

    The anger and frustration that had umted over the years began to surface. Michael, who had always hoped that their parents abandoned them because they wanted to search for their lost sister, or that they had to abandon their children because they were hunted, began to hate his parents.

    He was always very patient when it came to rtionships, and he always hoped for the best oue when it came to rtionships with other people ¨C no matter what race ¨C, but his parents had pushed beyond the limits of his patience. They made him not just hate them but despise them!

 Chapter 285 Lingering Gazes

    ?

    It took him quite a while to calm down after replying to his parents'' message.

    He still felt like shouting at them, but he began to wonder whether they were worth his effort or time, in the first ce. If they could abandon him and Daniel that easily, why should he even bother about them at this point?

    Michael sighed heavily and got up from the ground. He left his room and paved his way slowly to the Bartholomew Shop. He had yet toplete arge transaction after his deal with the Bartholomew Corporation had beenpleted. It was about time to change that.

    Almost a month passed since his deal with the Bartholomew Corporation had been signed, and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team gave their utmost to procure as many Agriculture-type blueprints as possible. That was how Michael ended up with nearly 3,000 blueprints, which he spread out in front of the young woman, who had been told to inspect the blueprints in the appraisal room.

    Michael didn''t waste any time in chitchat with the shop manager, or the young woman. Instead, he finished his side of the deal in exchange for a small fortune as his base fee. Once the transaction had beenpleted, Michael reconsidered purchasing a few things. He had yet to sell the valuable body parts procured in the Lord Rift as well. However, Michael chose against blindly purchasing stuff and selling the valuable monster parts in a hurry.

    He was not in a good mood, which heavily influenced his train of thought, and his ability to determine whether it would be more useful to use the Underground Forging Hall, and the other Artisans in his territory to turn the monster parts into finished products rather than selling the raw materials in the Bartholomew Shop.

    Michael was not in a rush, so he left the shop once his business waspleted. He reconsidered returning to the Origin Expanse to avoid the people around him ¨C fearing that they might take pity on him ¨C, but he chose against doing so. Instead of returning to hisfort zone, Michael felt that it was better to push himself out of hisfort zone and feel the difort of being around people, who might or might not ask him about his brother.

    He was pretty sure Kaleb and a few more people knew about his situation. Even if they didn''t know, it was rare for someone to miss sses for three weeks straight, and to look like him ¨C a zombie with dark circles under his eyes.

    Michael lost a lot of weight, and he was not as energetic as before. Nobody saw him eating the amount of food that would feed ten people at the cafeteria either.

    No matter how dense one was, it was impossible not to understand that something major must have happened in Michael''s life and that it affected him greatly, wiping the smile away from his face.

    Hoping to find distraction in the training hall where Silverian Schild''s Limit Breaker course was held, Michael slowly walked through the enormous academy grounds. His pace was slow and his shoulders sagged a little, but he continued walking onward, even after a few students stared at him, looking slightly surprised.

    The students he encountered were fellow freshmen, who had once battled Michael. They knew how he used to carry himself, and that he was quite energetic. Michael looked nothing like his former confident self ¨C though his bald head was the same as ever. It was almost like Michael would never be able to grow his hair again given that his hair had burned several times by now.

    Michael took a deep breath after noticing the surprised stares of fellow freshmen weighing down on him. It was ufortable, but not as bad as he expected. Maybe, he would be able to learn to live with the haunting memory of having seen his brother die in front of him. Eventually, he had to ovee the trauma, either way. There was no way around it, other than epting it and moving on.

    As he strode past therge forest that was mostly used by Awakened with nt-type Soultraits, and Agility-type Awakened to train their parkour skills in the ''wild'', and keep training their Soultraits in the most versatile manner, Michael noticed something from the corner of his eye.

    His heightened perception allowed him to sense the gazes lingering on him. That was also why the gazes on him had been ufortable.

    However, the most ufortable were three particr gazes that had been locked onto him since he left the Bartholomew Shop. At first, Michael thought that it might have been Kaleb and others trying to figure out what he was doing in order to find a good opportunity to approach him and strike up a conversation. But his Eagle Eyes allowed Michael to see Kaleb, the Barbaric Couple, and the other members of the Limit Breaker Course standing in front of the training hall''s entrance.

    The training hall''s entrance was more than a kilometer away from Michael''s current location, but he could easily tell that neither Kaleb nor the Barbaric Couple were looking in his direction. In fact, they had yet to take note of his arrival.

    Something was off.

    Sensing that, Michael halted in his tracks. He took a look to his left where a small building was located. It was a watch tower replica that was used by archers to use and practice upon as an ordinary archer tower in the Origin Expanse. He tilted his head and changed his direction to walk straight to the watchtower while the three gazes were still lingering on him.

    "Seems like you''re not as useless as the rumors say. You could even sense our presence," A youthful voice rang out from behind the watchtower when Michael stopped in front of it.

    A young man, roughly the same age as Michael, stepped out from behind the watchtower. He threw a condescending look at Michael and began to smile mockingly.

    "But your perception is the only impressive thing about you¡­and the fact that you can just skip lessons for three weeks straight without receiving a Mark," The young man continued to speak, his jarring voice growing colder by the second, "...Or is that the benefit of having a dead brother?"

    Michael narrowed his eyes. His anger red up and he was about to manifest the Wyverntooth Spear when another young man stepped out from behind the watchtower.

    They were twins, both with vibrant golden hair andrge ocean-blue eyes. The twins had smooth skin and beautiful facial features ¨C something the young men were definitely aware of. They wore silky clothes that enhanced their appearance even more, creating a beautiful picture to look at.

    Sadly, the gibberish leaving their mouths was a stark contrast to their pleasing appearance.

    "I never expected her student to look like... this? It has been a while since I saw someone looking more like the Undead," The taller twin said. He chuckled lightly at his own thoughts and voiced them out a momentter, "Maybe he wants to look like his brother!"

    The shorter twin joined his brother''sughter while Michael stared at them with a deadpan expression.

    "What do you want?" Michael asked coldly.

    He clenched his fists in an attempt to control his emotions, but that was increasingly difficult as the twins continued to make fun of him, and his brother.

    However, Michael didn''t hear their voices anymore. His sight had already turned red in anger, and he barely managed to hold back due to two particr facts. First, the taller twin asked if he was really ''her'' student. That may not sound like anything special, but Michael could immediately tell that the taller twin was referring to Alice Zenovia with ''her''.

    Not many knew that Michael was receiving personal training from Alice. Kaleb should be one of the only students of the Saphirke Military Academy to know about the Individual training since he became part of the training regime after manifesting his War Rune. Other than that, only teachers and Professors should be able to look at his timetable.

    But that was not the crucial point that made Michael feel wary of the wannabe bullies. The biggest factor was that the twin followed him while being fully aware that his brother had recently passed away.

    Michael was sure that Alice wouldn''t tell anyone about his brother''s death other than Kaleb. Kaleb might tell the Barbaric Couple and his other friends to make sure that they wouldn''t say something wrong in front of Michael, but that was already it.

    So how did these twins ¨C fellow freshmen whom Michael never met before ¨C learn about his brother and his death?

    "What do we want? Quite a lot actually. Much more than you can imagine," The taller twin drawled,ughing lightly. He strode forward and walked toward Michael.

    His steps were eerily slow as he stopped directly in front of Michael. The twin moved in a slow circle around him and whispered quietly.

    "But what do you want?" He asked before lightly adding, "You probably want your brother back. Is that not it?"

    Michael continued to clench his fists. He grit his teeth and took a deep breath.

    Even though Michael didn''t really know what was happening right now, he could tell that the twins were here to provoke him. They were probably waiting for him to attack them. At least, that was what Michael guessed.

    He didn''t want to give them that satisfaction, so he endured their words.

    "It''s quite funny don''t you think?" The shorter twin asked the taller twin, "First, his sister died, then his parents abandoned him, only for his brother to die miserably as well. It''s hrious!!"

    The twinsughed and the taller twin said something else. However, the taller twin''s words were barely audible to Michael.

    The words rang through his ears, words of humiliation and disaster, causing Michael to lose his cool and look them in the eye.

    Then, he snapped.

 Chapter 286 Severed

    ?

    "I wonder if Michael is better now," Annabelle mumbled quietly as she met up with the Barbaric Couple and the remaining members of the Limit Breaker Course.

    She had joined the Limit Breaker Course a little bitter than everyone else, but her tireless efforts to catch up with the others paid off. Her physique was much stronger than before and she was slowly getting ustomed to using multiple weapons to ensure that she could protect herself in closebat fights as well.

    Annabelle ire joined the Limit Breaker Course thanks to Michael. She thought that she would meet him during the training sessions and nned to thank him for his help, but Michael had suddenly disappeared for a few weeks. It took her quite a while until she learned that Michael had been heavily injured in the Origin Expanse, and that his mental state was terrible. After he had recuperated, Michael left the infirmary to enter the Origin Expanse.

    Today he had returned. He had been online on sta messenger.

    "I am¡­not sure. Maybe he needs some more time," Kaleb answered a little bit helplessly.

    He didn''t really talk a lot with others, but since Annabelle mentioned Michael he felt obliged to say something. After all, only he and his sister knew exactly what was going on. The others thought that Michael had been affected by a major battle in the Origin Expanse, but that was not quite it.

    Kaleb''s words rang through the surroundings, just for Zeke Lavita to pull the students'' attention toward him. His heterochromatic eyes glimmered lightly as his focus moved to a ce farther away from the training hall.

    "Michael is over there talking to the Zan Twins," Zeke pointed in the watchtower''s direction before he added, "I didn''t know that he was familiar with them. The Zan family is quite messy. It would be better if he avoided them."

    Zeke didn''t dislike Michael, but he didn''t consider Michael his friend either. He only paid attention to Michael and his friends because Lincoln had a good impression of them. If not for Lincoln, Zeke wouldn''t even bother being here.

    After hearing Zeke, Kaleb, Annabelle, and the Barbaric Couple turned toward the watchtower. They could pinpoint the Zan Twins quite easily given their bright golden hair and attention-grabbing clothes. The young man in front of them looked in in contrast.

    "I am¡­pretty sure that Michael has nothing to do with them. He is way too busy with the Indiv¨C...." Kaleb began but stopped abruptly and shut his mouth before he finished his sentence.

    "Whatever, I''ll drag Michael over here. Now that he is back, I might be able to defeat him in a spar!" Frederik dered, ignoring the disapproving gazes thrown at him.

    "That''s really petty, you know? But I also agree with dragging Michael over here. The Zan Twins are sly bastards, just like the rest of their family," Lincoln said before he started jogging toward the watchtower.

    Kaleb and the others followed Lincoln without hesitation. It didn''t take long before they reached the watchtower, but they didn''t join Michael and the Zan Twins immediately. They heard them talking, and froze in their tracks for a few seconds, disbelief evident in their eyes.

    They were certain that they had just misheard the Zan Twins, because they couldn''t believe that someone could stoop so low. But their ears weren''t failing them. There was no misunderstanding. The Zan Twins had said exactly what the others heard.

    "It''s quite funny don''t you think?" The shorter twin asked the taller twin with a wide smile stered on his face, "First, his sister died, then his parents abandoned him, only for his brother to die miserably as well. It''s hrious!!"

    The shorter twin of the Zan family began to chuckle loudly, just for the taller twin to stare deep in Michael''s dark eyes.

    "Looks like you''re fated to die alone, and be abandoned by everyone you loved. Maybe you''re just cursed, and your brother wouldn''t have died if you didn''t exist, in the first ce."

    Kaleb''s lips parted when he heard this. He was the only one who had known that Michael''s brother died, and that was also only because of Alice. Even Alice only knew about it because she helped Michael setting up the Lord ID''s live-update with the government AI''s service.

    Hearing the Zan Twins'' words that were overflowing with ridicule, Kaleb saw red. He might not love Michael like a brother, but he knew that Michael was a good guy, who never yed foul. Michael might not be the best at socializing, and he had some ws, but he was a genuine person. Thus, hearing someone talk about Michael and his family like this angered Kaleb.

    Kaleb''s anger intensified as he began to imagine what would happen if Alice was to die, and if the Zan Twins came to him mocking his dead sister and his family.

    The answer was pretty simple; He would beat them to death if nobody held him back.

    Rage consumed him and Kaleb activated his Soultrait.

    But he was not the only one fuming in anger for the Barbaric Couple was staring at the twins with contempt as well.

    "Are these bastards serious right now?!" Frederik cursed quietly, and Jaqueline curled her fists, "These bastards are asking for a beating!"

    They were ready to beat the shit out of the Zan Twins. Michael was their nemesis, and nobody was allowed to make fun of him ¨C except them, of course.

    The Barbaric Couple was aware of their image, and that they were considered despicable and bad-tempered, but the Zan Twins were going too far, even for their standards. Neither Frederik nor Jaqueline hesitated. They activated their Soultraits as well to help Michael beat the shit out of these two menaces.

    But before anyone could act four crescent shaped des, silver in color, passed through the air with shocking velocity. Even Zeke, who followed the group because he was a little bored, could barely follow the trajectory of the four silver des.

    His head flicked to the Zan Twins, whose bright smile transformed into expressions of utter horror as the des reached them. The des drew blood that spurted around like fountains. In the next instant, four arms flung through the air,nding limply on the ground two meters away from the Zan Twins.

    The Twins stared down in shock, just to scream in terror as realization struck them. The silver des had cleanly severed both of their arms!

    Meanwhile, Michael appeared in front of the Zan Twins, several crescent-shaped Sword Qi des revolving around him. He was unable to conjure Qi Swords yet, but that didn''t matter at this point. The Sword Qi des had been more than enough to relinquish some of his anger.

    But that was not enough. It was far from enough.

    Michael''s ice-cold eyes locked onto the Zan Twins as he strode forward. He was already in front of the Twins while they were still processing what had just happened. Their eyes widened in shock, and the twins retreated. Before they realized what happened, their legs caved in and they slumped to the ground.

    "W-wait. W-w-wait for a moment!" The taller twin screamed loudly. He wanted to say something else, but Michael''s leg was already in front of his head.

    Michael was done hesitating. He was done holding back. If someone wanted to fight him, they should be ready to let go of the mortal realm.

    His leg shot forward, and a loud thundering crack reached the small group of spectators as his foot smashed into the twin''s head. The sound of something snapping rang out as well, but it was definitely not Michael''s foot. The twin''s head smashed into the grass behind him, causing the smaller twin to gasp in shock.

    "D-Don''t kill us. P-p¡­Please¡­ We just did as we''ve been to¨C...." He began, only to be interrupted by a loud noise from behind the watchtower.

    Atst, the source of the third gaze that had been lingering on Michael the entire time exposed himself.

    "Shut up, Niko!" A hoarse voice shouted angrily, cutting Niko Zan before he could finish his sentence.

    Michael lifted his gaze to stare at the origin of the voice without a trace of hesitation. However, the same couldn''t be said about Zeke and Lincoln, who looked at each other for a second. Then their eyes moved to Kaleb Zenovia, only to turn back to each other.

    ''A trap against the Zenovias,'' The two descendants of Greater Nobles concluded near-instantly.

    No matter how they looked at it, Michael did not deserve this ridicule and mockery right now. Michael might have great potential given that he didn''t belong to a noteworthy family, but that was already it. But that made it even easier to scheme against him, and to use him as a pawn to put pressure on the Zenovia family ¨C precisely Alice Zenovia, who could be considered Michael''s official teacher.

    As Michael''s personal teacher, Alice officially proimed that she would take responsibility for Michael''s actions in exchange for making sure that no teacher would try to steal him from her. Given his status, Michael should also be able to avoid trouble with most teachers and students ¨C under normal circumstances, at least.

    "Isn''t that Mr. Klein, the teacher of the Soul Manifestation Course?" Annabelle asked aloud, the surprise in her voice clear.

    She was not the only one surprised. The Soul Manifestation Course was a minor course, and something that was useless for most students, but it was very important for the minority whose Soultraits met the specific requirements.

    Mr. Klein stared at the Zan Twins scornfully. He didn''t seem to be particrly worried about their well-being either. Instead of trying to help them, or call a healer to ensure that they could get treatment as soon as possible, Mr. Klein simply stared at Michael.

    A small smile formed on his lips slowly. Michael''s reaction had been even better than anticipated.

    Everything was going ording to n!

 Chapter 287 Scheme

    ?

    At this moment, Michael''s presence was like that of a fierce beast. He towered in front of the Zan Twins, and was looking at them as if he would pounce upon them and end their lives.

    His killing intent reached its peak before fusing with the dragon might of his Legendary Ring Artifact, guiding Michael''s rage, channeling it straight into the ring to unleash true dragon might.

    However, he held himself back from killing the twins, knowing that it would put him in an even worse situation.

    "Restrain your killing-intent you idiot! Are you trying to kill your fellow ssmates?!? Do you have the slightest idea about what you''re doing right now?" Mr. Klein red loudly, but Michael could only shrug his shoulders.

    He was painfully aware that he fell victim to these dirty bastards'' scheming, but he didn''t mind ¨C not anymore.

    "I think I was already nice enough to leave them alive. They''re not dead¡­yet," Michael responded coldly, not even bothering to avoid Mr. Klein''s gaze.

    "How about you spout less nonsense and call a healer? Otherwise, you will be at fault if they cannot get their arms reattached. Or do you want to be my aplice? Feel free to join me!"

    Michael rolled his eyes and turned away. He felt that his anger had not dissipatedpletely yet, but it would be better if he could avoid fighting a teacher of the Saphirke Military Academy. It was quite obvious that he was already in enough trouble for attacking the Zan Twins in the middle of the Saphirke Military Academy''s grounds.

    As he turned around, Michael noticed Kaleb, the Barbaric Couple, and everyone else. Their gazes kept flicking between his face and the Sword Qi des that were still moving around him.

    Michael didn''t force a smile on his lips. Instead, he stared calmly at his friends.

    Kaleb was stunned seeing the des revolving around Michael, but he snapped out of it quickly. He essed his crystal watch and called for the Medic team. As long as the twins wouldn''t sustain any permanent damage from Michael''s attack, everything would be fine. Kaleb was certain that his sister could solve this issue quickly and not let Michael receive any serious punishment.

    There was only one big problem; Mr. Klein.

    Kaleb knew that Mr. Klein taught the Zan Twins, but it was unusual for the teacher of the Soul Manifestation Course to be on this side of the campus. Precisely, neither the Zan Twins nor Mr. Klein ought to be on this side. They didn''t have a reason to be here.

    Mr. Klein''s smile was creepy. It made Kaleb nauseous. Simultaneously, Michael''s uncontroble rage made things moreplicated as well.

    "Do you think you''re something special just because you''re Alice''s disciple? Nobody in the Saphirke Military Academy is obliged to pity you just because your brother died. Get down from your high horse and ept reality. Your brother is dead!!" Mr. Klein shouted when he noticed that Michael was about to leave.

    The n was perfect, but Mr. Klein felt that the situation could be worsened even further. Thus, he started where the Zan Twins had stopped.

    Kaleb narrowed his eyes at this. He essed his crystal watch once again, and said coldly, "Send a team big enough to treat two students and a teacher."

    "A teacher? What happened?" The Medic on the other side of the call asked in confusion, but Kaleb didn''t answer.

    "Just do what I say." He insisted, his voice demanding submission.

    Then he disconnected the call and stared at Michael, who was still contemting. The fury in his eyes was obvious, but he was still holding back. Severing the arms of two students was already troublesome enough.

    Just as Michael was about to make a decision, Zeke''s voice rang out.

    "Since you''ve already started, you might as well continue. Beat the shit out of this asshole!"

    Lincoln''s right eyebrow rose hearing his childhood friend''s words.

    "That''s quite surprising!" He remarked, only for Zeke to shrug his shoulders, "Since they thought he was an easy target, he might as well use this opportunity to make an example. He should show everyone what happens if you mess up with the wrong person."

    Lincoln smiled at that.

    ''So you think Michael can deal with a Tier-3 Adventurer? Didn''t you always say that Michael¨C....'' He thought, shaking his head lightly.

    Zeke''s thoughts were iprehensible. It was hard to understand what was going on in his mind, and how he thought about certain people. He didn''t talk a lot, and he was not known for his great socializing skills either. Instead, he was excessively honest, to the point of sounding blunt if he wished to express his opinion. Most of the time, he would never bother saying something unnecessarily, or something that wasn''t true.

    While Lincoln wondered about his friend, the ground beneath Michael crackled when he heard what Zeke said. His overflowing rage didn''t allow him to concentrate much on his friends, but the words that reached him were more than enough for Michael to agree wholeheartedly.

    Mr. Klein might be a Tier-3 Adventurer, but he was alone and didn''t seem to bother putting up a defense either.

    Thus, Michael nted his feet firmly on the ground, narrowed his gaze, and stared deep in the eyes of his teacher. Until now, Michael had never mentioned anything about Alice nor had this whole fiasco urred because of him demanding others to pity him for his loss. Mr. Klein was clearly trying to pick a fight and rile him up as well ¨C just like the Zan Twins.

    ''They''re connected. Are their families scheming against Alice¡­using me as the weakest link to harm her?''

    Michael felt a little bit sorry for Alice because he was dragging her into trouble, but he didn''t really care at this point.

    "Don''t you think you''re a little bit too old to pick a fight with freshmen? Is that how a teacher is supposed to act? Though looking at it, you seem to be nothing more than these freshmen''s pawn, either way. I guess it''s fine to pick a fight in that case," Michael mocked, his eyes still ice-cold.

    However, he didn''t attack Mr. Klein yet, not physically at least. Even though Zeke said that he should beat the shit out of Mr. Klein, Michael was still hesitant to beat up a teacher at the military academy. He didn''t know how much trouble it would cause to attack a teacher.

    He had already held back from killing the Zan Twins, so he might as well hold back from attacking Mr. Klein.

    But Mr. Klein didn''t want to leave it at that. Listening to Michael''s mocking words enraged the teacher. He was not as patient and tenacious as Michael and immediately snapped.

    His face turned red and white fog emerged from his back. Yet, before Mr. Klein unleashed his entire Soultrait, he recalled something that caused him tough lightly.

    "The Sacred Desert was it, right?" He asked, stillughing, "What was it called? Primal¡­no Primedival Pyramid¡­what a beautiful yet fierce ce¡­"

    Michael''s eyes widened. He stared nkly at Mr. Klein.

    How did he know? The Primedival Pyramid was in the Sacred Desert''s hidden region. Not many should know about the hidden region, let alone the Primedival Pyramid.

    Michael''s blood began to boil and the hair all over his body stood up on its end.

    "Do you know¨C..." He began, his voice cracking with raw emotion at the memory of his brother, only for Mr. Klein''s smile to widen.

    "I''m merely a pawn, isn''t that what you said? How would a pawn know how your brother died?" Mr. Klein interrupted Michael. He continued to speak with a much wider smile on his face, seeing that he had hit a nerve. "Well¡­even pawns can get hold of some interesting information. Don''t you think so?"

    The instant Mr. Klein''s words left his mouth, the ground beneath Michael''s feet moved. Michael kicked his feet off the ground after instinctively utilizing severalyers of 5-Star Enhancement on his entire lower body. His eleration was shockingly fast, and he appeared in front of Mr. Klein the next moment.

    His left hand shot forward, reaching for Mr. Klein''s head while his Soultrait, Mind Reader, was fully unleashed. Michael didn''t care about the scheming against him anymore, or the fact that Mr. Klein was a Tier-3 Adventurer and a teacher at the Saphirke Military Academy.

    All he desired was to find out how Mr. Klein knew about the Primedival Pyramid, who told him, and what else he knew.

    His fingertips were just about to reach Mr. Klein''s forehead when he collided with something hard. His fingers were repelled, forcing Michael to respond by releasing the Sword Qi des that had been revolving around his body.

    The Sword Qi des shot forward to support his first attack. But Mr. Klein had already reacted. He pped Michael''s hand away and let his Soultrait deal with the Sword Qi des.

    Then he shot forward and punched Michael straight in the stomach, hard.

    Unlike Michael, he didn''t hold back and used his entire strength to punch Michael, flinging him several meters through the air. Michael collided against a wall and he felt like his breath had been taken away, but he shot up from the ground like nothing happened.

    He ignored the blood that trickled down the corner of his lips, and stared valiantly at Mr. Klein and the Armored Knight that had appeared behind him. It was Mr. Klein''s Soultrait [Armored Knight], which evolved his Soul into a Martial Soul that could be manifested outside his body to aid him in battle.

    Michael, however, didn''t pay any attention to the Armored Knight. All he cared about was procuring Mr. Klein''s memories about his brother and the Primedival Pyramid.

    Michael forgot about the people around him, where he was, and that he wasn''t supposed to attack a teacher. He was not supposed to break the hierarchy in the Saphirke Military Academy nor disrupt the decorum. But how did that matter if he could find out more about his brother''s death?

    A burst of energy shot out of Michael''s body, forming a sphere of white golden light around him.

    His presence changed entirely, and the ground around him began to tremble while the grass, soil and the surface of the watchtower were removedyer byyer simultaneously.

    "Tell me everything I want to know," Michael demanded, his voice as cold as ice.

    "Or I will make you."

 Chapter 288 Armored Knight

    ?

    The Armored Knight behind Mr. Klein was a unique existence. Its entire body was white, and it was semi-transparent, allowing Michael and the others to see through it. Yet, its body seemed solid, except for the parts of the Armored Knight, which Mr. Klein could change to gaseous form at will with precisemands.

    Manifestation-type Soultraits were rare, and they were hard to control. However, upon learning to control them precisely such Soultraits would grow extremely powerful ¨C possibly rivaling the power and efficiency of Soultraits of a higher rank.

    Michael wasn''t really fazed by the Armored Knight. His entire body was engulfed in a six-fold Enhanced Extraction field that was precisely aimed at the connection between the Soul Manifested Armored Knight and Mr. Klein. Michael''s origin energy was drained quickly but Mr. Klein lost control of the Armored Knight in exchange. This exchange was clearly in Michael''s favor.

    His entire focus was on Mr. Klein as the Wyverntooth Spear manifested in front of him.

    Michael grasped the spear and engulfed it in severalyers of Enhancement before he did the same to the Legendary Ring Artifact. Afterward, he swallowed a few energy pills before kicking the ground beneath him to dash forward.

    Michael''s body turned into a blur as he elerated rapidly. He thrust the Wyverntooth Spear toward Mr. Klein''s shoulder while using a many-fold enhanced Spirit Whip tosh out at his teacher.

    Not expecting a mental attack to strike him down, Mr. Klein''s expression changed. The smile on his face was wiped away, reced by a deep frown. Unable to control the Armored Knight, Mr. Klein was forced to move aside. He evaded Michael''s thrust, only to realize toote that the field of extraction around Michael began to affect him.

    Mr. Klein''s clothes were removedyer byyer, only for the hair all over his body to follow suit.

    Michael could instinctively tell that his Extraction wouldn''t be strong enough to gouge Mr. Klein''s eye out. He was only a Tier-2 Lord, while Mr. Klein was a proficient Tier-3 Adventurer. Even Spirit Whip hadn''t been powerful, given that Mr. Klein''s mind and soul had been refined several times. But extracting Mr. Klein''s clothes and hair was already enough to rattle him. Once Mr. Klein realized that he was naked and that his body looked like that of a humongous baby ¨C without a single strand of hair ¨C, he would be affected mentally.

    It didn''t take Mr. Klein long before he realized that he was magically stripped off by his student. He wanted to do something against it, but he couldn''t afford to unleash his origin energy outside the body. That would consume too much energy and even more focus, which was required to regain control of the Armored Knight and to keep it manifested.

    The Armored Knight didn''t stop moving even after its connection with Mr. Klein was disrupted. It was not wholly sentient, but fiercely loyal so it could follow orders and move swiftly ¨C even if it was weak. The self-consciousness was just enough to know that it was part of Mr. Klein''s being and that Mr. Klein''s death would mean it would perish as well. All enemies of Mr. Klein were thus also the Armored Knight''s enemies!

    The Armored Knight lifted its sword and charged at Michael. It was fast, much faster than most Tier-2 Monsters. Michael guessed that the Armored Knight was at the Peak of the 2nd Tier, missing only a little push to cross the barrier separating the Tiers. Right now, that was Michael''s great fortune.

    Dealing with a single Tier-3 Adventurer was already cumbersome for someone like Michael. However, dealing with a Tier-3 Adventurer who was fighting alongside a manifested Soul at the 3rd Tier was near-impossible without suicidal tactics such as throwing Chaos Pills all over the battlefield.

    Michael ducked his head, avoiding the horizontal sword sh that would have most likely beheaded him. As he ducked, he could see the Armored Knight''s knee shooting upward, ready to bash his head with tremendous force. Luckily, Michael reacted just in time. With Eagle Eyes fully unleashed it hadn''t been too difficult to predict the Armored Knight''s move. Michael could have evaded the attack but he didn''t have any time to spare.

    He was unsure how much time he had until the authorities would show up, and Michael had yet to get hold of the information he wanted to know. Michael didn''t even know how long it would take to extract a conscious being''s memories, and how helpful Mind Reader would be against an enemy of a higher Tier.

    Given those unknown factors, Michael manifested several Sword Qi des that had been further enhanced by Enhancement. The Sword Qi des shot toward the leg that was about to smash into Michael''s face.

    And just before Michael''s face could be mashed and broken into pieces, enhanced Sword Qi des cut through the air. They impacted one after another, aiming precisely at the same area; the joint.

    Michael twisted his body to ensure that the Armored Knight couldn''t target him immediately. Simultaneously, his field of extractionpressed into a huge stream. The stream of extraction flooded the Armored Knight, precisely the joint that had been cut by several enhanced Sword Qi des. The des hadn''t been powerful enough to cut through the Armored Knight''s leg, but that was also fine.

    Michaelpressed the field of extraction and forcefully intruded the Armored Knight''s body through the joint. He began extracting the Armored Knight''s energy thereafter.

    The Armored Knight had its own energy storage, but it had a much smaller storage capacity than most other beings. It was merely a manifestation-type Soultrait with restricted prowess, after all. But while its storage capacity was low, and just enough to maintain its solid form, and fight using a minuscule amount of origin energy to reinforce its attack, the Armored Knight''s energy storage was also shared with its master, Mr. Klein.

    Draining the Armored Knight forced the manifested Soul to tap into the energy storage of Mr. Klein, draining him rapidly. At first, Mr. Klein wanted to support the Armored Knight to ensure that it could fight by his side. After all, it was much better to outnumber his opponent in a battle. However, Mr. Klein quickly realized that the Armored Knight was draining way too much energy. At this rate, his entire energy storage would have dried up in less than a minute. That was not something he could handle.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s energy storage had been fully replenished.

    Since the Armored Knight didn''t have a strong self-consciousness, let alone a mental defense that could restrict Extraction, Michael had an easy time devouring the Armored Knight''s energy. Once his energy storage was filled to the brim, Michael began to fill Dragon Might''s crystalized eyes with the Power of Enhancement.

    He didn''t apply Enhancement on the Legendary Artifact but filled the storages with the Power of Enhancement forter use. Since his energy storage was already filled to the brim he may as well fill Dragon Might''s storage now that he had an easy time absorbing the Armored Knight''s energy.

    Michael''s attention moved away from the Armored Knight when he saw that the bright, shimmering hue around it grew fainter. He switched his attention to Mr. Klein, who had appeared next to him.

    Seeing the naked middle-aged man would have usually caused Michael to feel funny or smile foolishly. But all Michael did was stare at Mr. Klein with an ice-cold gaze and a dead-serious expression. This made Mr. Klein even more ufortable than the loudughter to his left, or so he thought.

    He was just about to arrive in front of Michael, two swords manifested in his hands when he heard someone to his left shouting loudly, "This video will definitely gain millions of views all over Sta!"

    In a moment of shock, Mr. Klein''s head flicked to the left where he saw that a freshman couple were joking with each other while pointing their high-quality video recorders in his direction. The azure eyes of Frederik Kolbenheim glimmered in joy all while Jaqueline Ondo also could not suppress a chuckle. She pushed her hair back and zoomed closer to ensure that their video picked up every little detail ¨C including the tiny worm that looked hideous enough to put even the ugliest Goblins to shame.

    "You bastard!! Stop filmi¨C..." Mr. Klein began but was unable to shout anything else.

    Several Spirit Whips impacted heavily on his mind just before the Wyverntooth Spear pierced through his shoulder with tremendous force. A humongous golden stream shot out of Michael''s palm, coiling around the Wyverntooth Spear before it shot inside Mr. Klein''s body where his origin energy was drained even faster.

    Mr. Klein screamed out in shock. He was just about to grasp the Wyverntooth Spear when Michael''s right hand shot forward. His right hand was engulfed in a Reinforced Qi Sword that had been further enhanced by eightyers of Enhancement, attaining a power threshold the Reinforced Sword Qi had never reached before. Michael''s right hand shot forward, drawing blood and inflicting horrifying pain as the enhanced Qi Sword pierced through the joint connecting Mr. Klein''s arm and shoulder.

    The sound of cracking bones rang through everyone''s ears as Michael''s attack went through Mr. Klein''s arm. But Michael was not yet done. He twisted the Qi de and used his brute force to sh to the right.

    Blood spurted through the surroundings and a severed arm followed soon.

    Mr. Klein stumbled backward, but Michael didn''t allow him to escape his grasp. Driven by rage, Michael released another burst of Extraction''s golden streams to invade Mr. Klein from a second spot.

    In the next moment, Michael began to drain Mr. Klein''s origin energy even faster, all while destroying his mental defenseyer byyer, slowly draining his life force as well.

 Chapter 289 Memories

    ?

    At the end of the day, Mr. Klein was not a greatbatant. He might be a Tier-3 Adventurer, but it was quite obvious that he hadn''t been fighting in the Origin Expanse for years. He was rusty and his movements were sluggish. Lords like Taros and Tac Lec would have an easy time dealing with Mr. Klein ¨C if not for his Armored Knight.

    The Armored Knight was extremely strong atbat, and if not for 6-Star Extraction enhanced sixfold with 5-Star Enhancement, Michael would have had a much harder time dealing with the Manifestation-type Soultrait. Itsbat prowess was at the Peak of the 2nd Tier, and on the verge of breaking to the 3rd Tier, after all!

    Michael turned the tides of the battle against the Armored Knight after he inflicted a shallow injury to it with several enhanced Qi Sword des. He overwhelmed its faint self-consciousness and drained its entire energy, pushing both the Armored Knight and Mr. Klein into a tricky position.

    Being weak in realbat, Mr. Klein could only rely on the Armored Knight to sh with Michael head-on. However, the Armored Knight drained most of its energy after fighting Michael for a few minutes. This put Mr. Klein in a bad position, which could only be solved by retracting the Armored Knight and attacking on his own.

    Unfortunately, being a prideful person, the Barbaric Couple''s shouts had distracted Mr. Klein. He wouldn''t have minded being naked in front of his enemy. Defeating his enemy would have been more than enough to cover up for being naked. But the video recording of the bystanders was not something Mr. Klein could ept. And that was when Mr. Klein''s loss was determined.

    Being rusty didn''t cause his defeat. Mr. Klein would have been able to fight head-on against Michael. Using some tricks he had learned over the course of the years, Mr. Klein should have easily defeated Michael. But his pride and clear underestimation of his opponents'' powers and trickery led to his defeat.

    Mr. Klein fell hard onto the ground when Michael''s Extraction tapped into his Lifeforce. A wisp of fear emerged in his heart, and a trace of confusion stered his face.

    Michael''s eyes glowed in a golden sheen that ought to spread warmth andfort. Yet, to Mr. Klein, the warm golden hue felt as cold as ice. He saw fury and hatred in Michael''s eyes¡­and the intention to kill.

    ''Is he really going to kill me? This kid is insane!'' Mr. Klein screamed in his mind.

    They were in the Saphirke Military Academy, and he was a teacher. How dare a student attempt to kill him?! It didn''t matter that Mr. Klein was not a well-known teacher and that hisbat prowess ranked the lowest, just like his Tier. He was still a teacher and ought to be respected, no matter what he said or did!

    But being a faculty was not going to be of much help to him. The moment Mr. Klein mentioned the Primedival Pyramid, he invited trouble and ridicule for himself. Michael didn''t even think about holding back anymore. In fact, he wouldn''t give up until he obtained the information he desired ¨C even if that meant he had to torture and humiliate a teacher in the middle of the academy''s grounds, making a public spectacle of him.

    Staring nkly at Michael''s crazed expression, Mr. Klein finally realized that they made a big mistake. He had already gotten a bad feeling when the Zan Twins were attacked mercilessly. Michael might have said that the twins could be healed easily ¨C which was true ¨C, but Michael broke the sacred rules of the military academy, nheless.

    Was he not afraid of the aftermath of his actions?

    At this point in time, Mr. Klein could clearly tell that Michael did not care. He might have been holding back before but that was a thing of the past.

    ''Who the hell said that Alice''s student is a naive weakling? What kind of dumb idiot gave us this order?!?'' Mr Klein screamed in his heart all while watching Michael retrieving the Wyverntooth Spear.

    He twisted the spear de in Mr. Klein''s shoulder to inflict more damage before pulling it out. He then stored the weapon artifact back into the War Rune while unleashing Mind Reader enhanced with the Power of Enhancement that had been stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact.

    Simultaneously, he unleashed the ring artifact''s full dragon might. The dragon might fused with Michael''s fury and killing intent, impacting heavily on Mr. Klein. A seed of fear and despair had long since been nted in Mr. Klein''s heart, but it blossomed into a huge, thorny nt that wanted to tear him from the inside out. Staring at Michael felt like staring at a ferocious monster that was about to tear him apart.

    For the first time in thest decade, Mr. Klein felt the Grim Reaper slowly creeping closer. His body was twitching horribly, but Michael was merciless. His left hand shot forward and clutched Mr. Klein''s head tightly.

    "Now tell me everything you know about the Primedival Pyramid and how my brother died. If I sense that you are lying to me, I will kill you and get everything I want from your memories, you fucking bastard!" Michael growled, continuing to unleash both Extraction and Mind Reader simultaneously.

    Mr. Klein''s mental defense was already weak. However, Michael did not hesitate to further attack his defenses and removed thest remainingyers of Mr. Klein''s mental resistance before he started to read his mind ¨C every single thought that shed through it!

    [I don''t want to die!]

    [Please, just let the teachers arrive. PLEASE COME!!]

    [I shouldn''t have listened to their orders. Why would anyone want to scheme against Alice by using such a monster as a target!?]

    [Easier target? That guy is a monster!!!! Hiro¡­I hope your sons will never be able to reattach their arms ever again!!!!]

    Michael''s expression worsened as he kept listening to the nonsense shing through Mr. Klein''s mind. His grip around Mr. Klein''s neck tightened and his right hand pierced into the teacher''s abdomen, inflicting tremendous pain.

    The enhanced Qi Sword shrouding his right hand could easily cut through Mr. Klein''s skin and flesh. However, to inflict pain, Michael mostly released small waves of Sword Qi inside Mr. Klein''s body after he cut inside his flesh.

    Mr. Klein screamed out in pain, but Michael only stared coldly at him.

    The weaker the lifeforce and mental defenses the easier it would be to read his mind and extract Memory Orbs. That was something Michael had learned after using Extraction for months.

    Michael also learned that inducing fear and despair was exceptionally useful to further weaken the mental defense of his targets.

    Thus, he kept torturing Mr. Klein while simultaneously weakening his mind with Spirit Whips that struck the teacher''s mind, hard.

    A minute felt like an eternity for both Mr. Klein and Michael. While Michael was trying to get hold of useful information, Mr. Klein could only scream in horror and pain. His voice grew weaker by the second, which decreased the influx of useful and coherent information even further.

    Michael grit his teeth and pped Mr. Klein, just to change his tactics.

    He stopped extracting the teacher''s lifeforce and origin energy. Instead, he used six-fold enhanced Extraction to extract Mr. Klein''s memories ¨C focusing on the information rted to the Primedival Pyramid and Daniel Fang.

    By now, Michael had found out that the head of the Minor Noble House, Hiro Zan, had given Mr. Klein a mission for thest decade. Michael first thought that Hiro Zan was somehow involved in the incidents revolving around his brother''s death, but he quickly realized that Hiro Zan was merely a pawn as well. It was just that Hiro Zan had a higher authority than Mr. Klein, and that he was given the mission to forward them to the lower-ranked pawns.

    It confused Michael a little bit when he heard that the patriarch of a Minor Noble house was merely a pawn, but given the powery and shifting dynamics of the human race''s hierarchy, it did make sense for Minor Nobles to work for High Nobles, Supreme Families, Great ns, or possible even the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies.

    Politics were never something Michael was interested in, but he could tell that he was already dragged into some dirty politics.

    The moment he epted Alice''s personal lessons, Michael indirectly epted to be a chess piece in the game of the powerhouses. The only question was what kind of chess piece he was. He was schemed against in order to drag Alice''s name and reputation into the mud. The n worked out well, but the damage caused by Michael was beyond everyone''s expectations.

    He had severed the arms of the Zan Twins, cut off one of Mr. Klein''s arms, and also collected a considerable number of useful pieces of information.

    Michael focused Extraction upon Mr. Klein to extract his memories. He used the vast majority of his stored energy, and broke past the teacher''sst strands of resistance before a small Memory Orb manifested in Michael''s hand. Atst, Michael extracted his first Memory Orb from a living being ¨C though draining tens of times more energy than usual.

    Michael ignored the ghastly expression on Mr. Klein''s face as he absorbed the Memory Orb. He then grasped Mr. Klein''s face, closed his eyes, and overexerted himself to extract the memories of thest few seconds from the teacher''s mind.

    After all, Michael didn''t want Mr. Klein to share with everyone that he could extract someone''s memories.

    The other bystanders might have seen the orb in Michael''s hand, but they wouldn''t know what he had actually done. As for the rest they witnessed, Michael wouldn''t bother exining. There was simply no need to do so.

    His Soultraits were his, and he wasn''t obliged to tell anyone about it just because they were curious.

    He destroyed the second memory orb containing Mr. Klein''s understanding of his Soultraits. That way, Mr. Klein would forget what exactly the golden streams did to him after they entered his body.

    At the same time, Michael began to frown deeply as his mind began to digest the teacher''s memories rted to the Sacred Desert, the Primedival Pyramid, and his big boss.

 Chapter 290 Proud

    ?

    Michael frowned deeply when he finished digesting the information and memories of Mr. Klein.

    All he got to know was basic information about the Sacred Desert, and that the hidden region couldn''t be essed anymore. Mr. Klein was familiar with a few human adventurers who had been spending thest few years in the hidden region. They had almost been thrown out of the Origin Expanse after losing their territories, only to be picked up by Hiro Zan and the unknown mastermind, who nurtured them into loyal underlings.

    The human adventurers in the Sacred Desert died ording to their broken Lord IDs, which Mr. Klein got to know in the same period when the government''s AI sent Michael a message about Danny''s death.

    Michael wasn''t a genius but he could put two and two together.

    ''The adventurers were probably the humans Danny had talked about in the past. There were only a handful of human adventurers in his region, and they all ended up working for him. Well, given that they were the mastermind''s underlings, it''s probably more likely that they tricked Danny¡­these bastards¡­'' Michael cursed in his mind before various questions shed through his mind.

    ''Did they backstab Danny? But how did they die then? Did Danny kill them after getting backstabbed? But if that''s the case, Danny should have survived somehow¡­ They shouldn''t have killed each other. There has to be something else. I''m definitely missing some pieces.''

    It was annoying that Mr. Klein didn''t even know who the mastermind was. Mr. Klein obtained various benefits and rewards in exchange for working for someone he never met. That might have worked well until now, but the teacher made a mistake when he tried provoking Michael.

    Underestimating Michael ¨C his fury and poor anger management ¨C was Mr. Klein''s biggest mistake. He shouldn''t have done that.

    Looking down at Mr. Klein, who was lying on the ground near his feet, Michael bent down and punched fiercely. He wanted to kill Mr. Klein for being useless and for setting up a trap. The Zan Twins and Mr. Klein had been ordered to provoke him. They had most probably been instructed to enrage Michael until he couldn''t hold back anymore.

    That worked out well ¨C much better than they could have hoped for. Michael ended up snapping, severely injuring two fellow freshmen and a teacher. Their n had yielded good results, too good results. The broken arms of the trio lying in puddles of their own blood were hard evidence for that.

    ''To think that other people are so worried about the Zenovia family''s ns. Politics is really scary.'' Michael thought, punching Mr. Klein once more for needlessly dragging him into the scheme of other families and powerhouses.

    The reason Michael had been targeted was Alice, or the Zenovia family, to be precise.

    The Battle Exchange would happen soon, and the mastermind wanted to tarnish Alice''s image just before she would meet up with the Berserker race and the Warlock Centaurs. It would be best if she had to step down from her position as a representative of the freshmen, and that she would be restricted from attending the meeting of the Tritan Alliance.

    She was not supposed to gain the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs respect in the Battle Exchange, otherwise, she was likely to seed in approaching them for future business deals with the Zenovia family by establishing cordial business rtions. The Zenovia family was trying to push forward and surpass other Supreme Families by bing a core piece of the Tritan Alliance, and many families disliked that.

    Speaking of Alice, Michael was not surprised to spot her running to the watchtower alongside arge team of medics a whileter. The medics had already spotted the injured and rushed to the twins. They didn''t dare to approach Mr. Klein yet, because Michael was standing next to him, lightly bent over, his fists smeared in blood from punching Mr. Klein.

    The presence Michael exuded was unnatural and exceedingly dangerous. Looking at Michael was enough to see the goosebumps spreading all over the medics'' bodies.

    Michael straightened his upper body and moved away from Mr. Klein after kicking him in the medics'' direction.

    "Make sure he won''t die," Michael snarled before he stored his artifacts back in the War Rune.

    Once Dragon Might disappeared, Michael''s killing intent dispersed as well. He was still angry about the things the twins and Mr. Klein said, but beating the shit out of them had helped him let out some steam. At the same time, Michael got to know a few pieces of information that might be useful in the future.

    His gaze moved to Alice when he perceived that she was staring at him. A trace of disbelief and iprehension could be found in her eyes as she stepped closer. Michael was also surprised to see concern in Alice''s eyes. It was rare for her to show so many emotions at once, especially since she was usually not that concerned about anyone or anything ¨C except her family, maybe.

    Kaleb and the others saw Alice as well. Seeing her look at Michael, Kaleb couldn''t help himself. He rushed over to her and began to exin the situation from a bystanders'' point of view, hoping that Alice wouldn''t be angry with Michael for causing trouble.

    However, Michael didn''t feel the need to do so. He wanted to return to his room and wash up. The blood on his body and clothes made him feel disgusted. After all, it was Mr. Klein''s blood. The teacher''s sight was already enough to make him feel nauseous, forget about roaming around with his disgusting blood smeared on his body.

    But before Michael could move he heard Alice''s lecturing voice, something he was very familiar with at this point.

    "You didn''t do anything after you heard that? Didn''t you say that you''re Michael''s friend?! At least the idiotic couple of the brute brats recorded everything. What the hell did you do, other than watching??" Alice cursed her brother loud enough for everyone to hear.

    The medics looked up in surprise. They couldn''t recall having heard Alice speaking that loudly ever. It astonished them greatly, even more so that she was lecturing her younger brother. Alice was a strict teacher, she was known as the Frozen Duchess for being emotionless, but people also knew that she pampered her brother ¨C except when it came to training.

    Seeing her like this was quite unexpected.

    "What was I supposed to do then? I didn''t want to stop him after hearing what these bastards said¡­ As for Mr. Klein, nobody likes him either way. He deserved the beating as well¡­" Kaleb responded meekly.

    The other students behind Kaleb nodded their heads in approval. If not for Zeke holding Lincoln back, the descendant of the Piedra family would have happily joined hands with Michael to help him beat the shit out of Mr. Klein and the Zan Twins.

    "Are you an id¨C... You did a good job by not stopping him. But that was not what I meant. You should have helped him beat the shit out of these three bastards!" Alice dered, pointing at the twins and Mr. Klein, who were all being tended to for their injuries.

    The medic team were busy using the levitating stretchers to pick up the three injured, storing the stumps of the trio''s arms in technologically advanced boxes that had been invented to preserve severed limbs, and releasing special mist that ought to heal the arm, allowing perfect reattachment to the body.

    But just as the medic team was about to leave, they heard what Alice said. Their eyes widened and they looked back at Alice for the second time. However, this time, Alice looked back at them, her agitated expression reced by utter coldness.

    "If they die while you''re staring at me, I will personally skin you guys alive. My student won''t take responsibility if any of you mess up," She said in a seething tone that was barely loud enough for the medics to hear. They gulped hard and left hurriedly.

    By the time Alice scared off the poor medics, Michael had calmed down a little. He stepped closer to Kaleb and Alice, and met their gazes.

    "It seems like I caused you some trouble," Michael said straightforwardly, without a trace of guilt in his eyes. "But I won''t apologize for that. Had they not chosen me as your weakest link, they would have picked on Kaleb for sure. He would have fallen into their trap even if I hadn''t."

    Alice had already suspected that something would happen soon. The other families had been too quiet in thest few weeks. It was almost as if they silently agreed to allow the Zenovia family to be an important part of the Tritan Alliance. After all, it was quite obvious that Kaleb would rock in the Battle Exchange. The Zenovia siblings were bound to gain the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs'' respect since they were both young, powerful, and talented.

    But all while Alice paid close attention to Kaleb to shield him from bullies and low level politics, she forgot to pay close attention to Michael. Under ordinary circumstances, Alice was certain that Michael would answer provocations and fight back people using petty tricks much better than Kaleb. That was something she had sensed in her first meeting with Michael at the afterparty of his and her brother''s graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, Alice totally forgot to take into consideration that Michael was not exactly in high spirits, and that Daniel Fang''s name could be used to easily provoke Michael at this point.

    Alice was pretty sure that nobody would have been able to hold back as long as Michael did if they were in his position. He did well, and Alice was proud of him after she heard what he did from Kaleb.

    She took a step closer to Michael and gently flicked his forehead.

    "There is no reason for you to apologize in the first ce. Everything will be fine," Alice reassured him with a small smile blossoming on her face, "Trust me. I''ll handle it!"

    Michael looked at her in surprise and his heart felt warm for the first time since his brother died.

 Chapter 291 Call

    <h4>Chapter 291 Call</h4>

    "Would you really be alright if I had joined Michael to beat up Mr. Klein and the Zan Twins? Wouldn''t that implicate you, and create bad blood with the Zan household, and cause problems in the academy?" Kaleb asked Alice as the siblings walked across the pavement.

    They were on their way to the security department where Alice hoped to receive a copy of recordings made by the watchtower''s security camera before anyone else could. She wanted to ensure that nobody could alter the recordings.

    The recording made by the Barbaric Couple existed but it was quite obvious that the recording focused on Mr. Klein. The couple wanted to humiliate Mr. Klein and release the footage all over Sta ''anonymously''. However, Alice made sure that this wouldn''t happen. She took their recording in her custody and made sure that the Barbaric Couple deleted the original.

    Alice didn''t really care about Mr. Klein''s reputation, or anything like that, but she cared enough about Michael to understand that he would be in more trouble if the video went viral over Sta. The fact that he beat up a teacher was already troublesome enough. If billions of people found out about it, Michael would definitely face a big problem. His actions wouldn''t be in the jurisdiction of the Saphirke Military Academy but the government, and that was something Alice wanted to prevent to make sure that Michael wouldn''t be punished harshly for his actions.

    "Mr. Klein might be the weakest teacher in the academy, and he might have entered the academy through connections, but he is also a Tier-3 Awakened. If Michael had been just a little bit weaker, or if Mr. Klein hadn''t grossly underestimated Michael, the one lying in the medical room would have been Michael not Mr. Klein," Alice mumbled, somewhat absent-mindedly.

    She wanted to add that Mr. Klein was also one of the few teachers, who''re willing to teach the secrets of Soul Manifestation and the unique technique he uses to empower his Armored Knight, but she let it be since she understood that these facts were actually good reasons in Kaleb''s favor.

    Her attention switched to the holographic screen in front of her.

    "Defeating Mr. Klein without sustaining heavy injuries should have been quite difficult even if you and Michael had teamed up. I didn''t expect Michael to¨C..." Alice stopped speaking suddenly, and she halted in her tracks, forcing Kaleb to slow down as well.

    "This¡­" She mumbled, only to close her mouth the next moment.

    Curious as to why Alice slowed down suddenly, Kaleb threw a nce at her holographic screen. She was looking at the video recorded by the Barbaric Couple. Kaleb figured that Alice was not looking at Mr. Klein''s humiliation. In fact, Alice didn''t seem to enjoy the video in the slightest. She wore a deadpan expression and the most she did was frown a few times.

    Kaleb noticed that her frowns deepened whenever golden streams shot out of Michael, and when the silver des manifested around him.

    "If I remember correctly Michael was in a Lord Rift. Did he obtain Soultraits from there?" Kaleb asked when he realized why Alice frowned.

    Michael already possessed a lot more Soultraits than the vast majority of Awakened could manifest, yet it looked like his friend had obtained a few new ones. Kaleb had been too focused on the fight and didn''t even question Michael''s powers.

    "I¡­guess so¡­" Alice said in a tone that made it seem as if she was asking a question.

    Kaleb looked at Alice, who was pulled back to her senses only after she received a call on the crystal watch.

    It was a call from the security department of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Alice furrowed her brows. She epted the call and spoke for a few minutes with the head of the security department. During the call her expression worsened gradually. Her face contorted in fury when the call ended, and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm down her racing heart.

    "What happened?" Kaleb asked, feeling a little restless in his heart.

    "It seems like a few families heard what Michael did. They seem to want to make an issue out of today''s incident, stating that my ''disciple'' is out of control. The head said that these families highlighted that the Zenovia family should pay more attention to their disciples, and that the security department should investigate thoroughly before deciding on a punishment for Michael and me," Alice answered after she sighed heavily.

    "Punish? You?" Kaleb asked, not quite believing what he just heard.

    "Yes, they want to punish me as well. After all, a master is responsible for his disciple''s actions to a certain degree. The head of the security department said that my teaching had too many shorings and that they will have to punish Michael harshly to make an example. After all, a situation like this has never happened before. Well, I expected this kind of nonsense. Some of it, at least."

    Alice looked annoyed but she was not shocked. Her ability to calm down in an instant and to stayposed even after getting schemed against allowed Kaleb to not worry a lot.

    "Michael will be alright¡­right?" He asked nheless.

    Kaleb trusted his sister but that didn''t mean he took the other supreme families, great ns, and high nobles lightly. Kaleb was fully aware that most powerhouses were searching for an opportunity to strike Alice and the Zenovia family ¨C now more than ever.

    "He undermined the hierarchy and authority of the Saphirke Military Academy, and he severed the arms of fellow students in broad daylight. Even though they started insulting him, they didn''t attack him physically," Alice responded. She fell deep in thought and added, "It would have been much easier if they had fought in the arena. Severed arms may not be that problematic given the medical treatment that can be provided in the academy, but his actions are actually enough for them to demand destroying his War Rune. He would probably be considered a criminal by the government''s standards, so destroying his War Rune would be an appropriate punishment."

    "Destroying his War Rune?!? They can''t do that!" Kaleb shouted loudly. He pulled his sister''s shoulders back and stared deep into her eyes, hoping that she was lying.

    However, there was no trace of a lie, or exaggeration in her eyes.

    "Of course, I won''t allow that. Not only did all of that happen because I didn''t pay enough attention to Michael''s mental state, but he was also pulled in the schemes of the adults because of me," Alice said calmly.

    She intentionally left out a few facts ¨C such as the fact that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t be able to trust the Zenovia family if Alice allowed other families to destroy her disciple''s War Rune without a fight ¨C but Kaleb didn''t have to know these facts, in the first ce.

    Alice took Kaleb''s hand off her shoulder and turned away. She essed the crystal watch, typed a few messages before she made a call.

    "It''s me. I have to use the favors your family owes the Zenovias¡­Yes¡­You already know about that? Well, that makes it easier. Help me out a bit¡­. Yes, he is worth it. But don''t bother¡­ No, that''s not necessary¡­.Exactly¡­Thanks¡­"

    Kaleb couldn''t hear everything Alice said but the few sentences were enough to ster a bright smile on his face.

    Even though Kaleb had no idea whom Alice called just now he instinctively knew that everything would be fine.

    He stared at Alice with a broad smile as his shoulders sagged in relief.

    ''My sister is really the best!''

    "Alright¡­I will see what I can do. Bye."

    After talking for a few minutes Alice finally ended the call. She looked at the log of the call and changed the name of the person she''d just called, gritting her teeth.

    "This is a little bit annoying," She mumbled after a while.

    Alice turned to the security department''s building and began walking toward it once again. The holographic screen of Michael''s fight with Mr. Klein was still ying. After she watched the rey a few times, Alice closed the video, and dragged the file to Sta Messenger where she dropped the file in an empty chat with the woman she had called seconds ago.

    "Why is that bitch always so demanding? What''s the use of all those conditions?" Alice cursed under her breath, clearly recalling every single word exchanged in the earlier call.

    She sent the video file, closed the crystal watch and continued to curse as they walked to the security department''s building.

    A few minutester, she received several notifications, containingughing emoticons and a particr message that annoyed Alice the most.

    [Demanding Bitch: Michael Fang was his name, right?]

    "Fuck off."

 Chapter 292 Revoked?

    <h4>Chapter 292 Revoked?</h4>

    Alice advised Michael toy low for a few days and to attend sses like he would usually. Michael did just that.

    He started to attend his courses again, which made him feel that everything about his academy life had returned to normal ¨C with the sole exception being that rumors began to spread.

    Some students had seen Michael severing the arms of the Zan Twins, and his fight against Mr. Klein. That wouldn''t have been a big problem if not for these students being the worst gossipers in the entire academy. Rumors about his fight against the Zan Twins and Mr. Klein spread like wildfire.

    Once the rumor started to make rounds in the academy, students began to pay more attention to him. Michael was looked at differently, and the rumors revolving around him grew wilder ¨C more exaggerated and troublesome, even involving Kaleb, Lincoln, Zeke and the other people around him.

    Some found it questionable for a no-name to be around the descendants of the Zenovia family, and two Great Nobles. Everyone except Annabelle ire was from more-or-less known families, yet everyone seemed to gather around Michael like moths to a me. It attracted the interest of many freshmen, but also students of the second year, and even seniors.

    Michael didn''t like the sudden attention he was receiving, but there was nothing he could do about it. At the end of the day, he knew that he made a mistake by allowing the Zan Twins and Mr. Klein to anger him. Thus, he considered the attention he received as the beginning of his punishment.

    ''I shouldn''t have attacked them openly. Challenging them in the arena and beating the shit out of them before they could even think about surrendering would have been much less troublesome,'' Michael thought, cursing himself for taking the bait and having been too short-tempered.

    He should have known better, but holding back had be too hard at some point. It was as if a switch went off in his head when they mentioned his brother. Was that really his fault?

    Either way, Michael was d that he held back a little when he struck the twins with the Sword Qi des. He didn''t cripple them nor would they sustain any longsting damage. To not let matters turn worse, Alice provided them with additional treatment. The additional treatment was more expensive, but it would strengthen the twins'' bones, nerves and energy veins in their arms after they were perfectly reattached. Rather thanining, the twins should thank him for severing their arms!

    Unfortunately, the treatment Alice provided didn''tpensate for the fact that Michael had attacked the descendants of a Minor Noble with the intent to kill. If he hadn''t held back at thest moment, the Zan Twins would be cold corpses in the morgue by now. It was a tricky situation, especially with the involvement of a teacher, and various troublesome personalities, who wanted to reap benefits from the incident.

    Five days after the incident next to the watchtower had urred, Michael sat down at a table in the cafeteria with his jumbo te with Kaleb and the others. Everything seemed perfectly normal ¨C just like it had been before Daniel Fang died. However, in reality, everything was different.

    Michael didn''t feel the same as before. He was a little bit more energetic than the gloomy self he had been for thest few weeks, but that didn''t mean he had be his former self. No, everything felt different.

    He hadn''t entered the Origin Expanse either. Michael missed the Untamed Jungle that was bustling with work and distraction. But since Alice told him to stay on the academy''s grounds until the next course of actions had been decided, Michael obeyed withoutints.

    Instead of rushing to the Origin Expanse, Michael attended the Old Languages course where he deepened his understanding of the Draconia Era''snguage. After learning the written and spokennguage of the Draconia Era in the Lord Rift, Michael inched one step closer to the secrets of the Temple of the Forgotten. Thus, he shared some of his knowledge with the Professor of the Old Languages Course he attended, only to end up reversing their roles by ident.

    The Professor turned into the student, asking numerous questions about the Draconia Era''snguage, its pronunciation, the writtennguage and much more. Michael didn''t know everything about the Draconia Era''snguage, but he found himselfprehending more as he answered the Professor''s profound questions.

    It was quite intriguing to share his knowledge and deepen it while answering questions. But that was not why Michael spent lots of time in the Old Language Course. He just wanted to distract himself a little bit more.

    The rumors about him grew worse and it didn''t take long before portions of the watchtower''s security camera''s footage was released on the academy''s forum. Michael''s family and personal life were not a secret anymore. Everyone found out about Michael''s background; that his sister disappeared and that their parents abandoned him and his brother when they were young. They even found out that his brother died.

    This made matters worse for him and it was nearly impossible for him to not be subjected to weird gazes, which was also why he chose to stay out of the Memory Lane course for a little bit longer and focus on courses like Old Languages, and Ancient Ruins where Michael was one of the only students.

    The Limit Breaker Course was also fine to attend because he could distract himself by increasing the weight of the heavyweight armor suits as he worked out.

    He had yet to regain his old form, but Michael was already increasing the loads of weight pressing onto his body, just to make sure that he didn''t have time nor energy to think about his brother, let alone allow some nosy gazes to influence him.

    After five days, Alice finally met up with him. The dark circles underneath her eyes clearly showed that Alice was exhausted and that she didn''t receive even a moment of rest for thest few days.

    As a Tier-5 Lord, rest might not be necessary after such a short time, but that made it even more apparent that Alice had been stressed out in thest few days and working hard ¨C just to ensure that Michael wouldn''t be punished harshly. Of course, Alice had to pay attention to her family''s reputation as well. This added another level of difficulty since Michael''s future and her family''s reputation were both at stake. After all, a light punishment for Michael would result in many families voicing out their concerns and disapprovement.

    If Alice didn''t punish Michael for his actions, everyone would call her out. It was highly likely that the powerhouses working against the Zenovias would hire reporters to spread tabloids filled with defamatory news about the Zenovia family all over Sta just to ruin their reputation. But the exact same scenario would happen if Alice allowed anyone to punish Michael harshly.

    A harsh punishment would result in Alice''s reputation taking a hit ¨C in the eyes of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs at least. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t think of Michael''s action as something bad, after all.

    On the contrary, Michael''s action would be praised in the Tritan Alliance. If the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were to hear that Alice punished her own disciple for being brave enough to stand up for himself, to not let anyone undermine him, and for doing something as honorable as defending his dead brother''s name and the honor of his family, they would likely start considering the Zenovia as fools and despicable.

    It was truly tricky, and something Michael was a little sorry about.

    "Don''t worry too much, Michael. If I was in your position, I would have done exactly the same. Maybe, I wouldn''t have been able to hold back at all," Alice said, patting Michael''s shoulder before she sat down on the chair opposite Michael''s bed.

    They were currently in his room since it was still early in the morning when Alice came to meet him.

    "Either way. The reason I hurried to your room is that your punishment has finally been decided," Alice revealed with a tired smile, "These bastards, Hiro, and some other family heads, were quite problematic. You cannot even imagine how annoying these vultures are. Even the principal and the head council of the academy were troublesome to deal with."

    She continued after letting out a sigh. "Even after I gave his boys the special treatment to ensure that they benefit from the wounds they''d sustained, he didn''t calm down. Nheless, Hiro Zan is just an annoying fly. The fact that you undermined the academy''s hierarchy by beating up Mr. Klein was not that easy to deal with."

    As Alice spoke, several questions formed in Michael''s mind. He was a little bit surprised that Alice spoke so much as well. It was a little out of character for words to spill out of Alice like a waterfall, but it was also quite calming ¨C somehow. Thus, Michael continued to listen.

    "To be honest, if we''re following the instructions of the militaryw, which applies in the Saphirke Military Academy, you should be expelled and all your authority should be stripped off. Following that you would probably end up in jail for a while and your War Rune would get shattered in the worst case," Alice revealed, her voice growing more and more serious.

    Michael gasped. They might shatter his War Rune? That was definitely not going to happen! Michael may not love the Will of the Origin Expanse, but the Origin Expanse and his territory had be an inseparable part of him.

    Alice smiled lightly seeing Michael make a face.

    "Fortunately, the twins'' arms could be reattached perfectly. Their arms are stronger than before as well. That means, you will only be charged with excessive violence and assault¡­well, and a few more minor things. Furthermore, the entire situation at the watchtower had been recorded and broadcast, which reveals quite easily that you were trying to hold back even in your current¡­state. All of these factorsbined with the intervention of the biggest investor of the Saphirke Military Academy were enough to change your punishment. As long as you meet certain criteria your punishment can be removed entirely!"

    Michael frowned when he heard thest sentence.

    After all the trouble the nobles caused to use him to scheme against Alice and her family they were willing to revoke his punishment? Michael might not know a lot about politics, but he was fully aware of how petty most nobles were. Furthermore, no organization ¨C including military academies ¨C liked seeing their authority undermined by anyone, especially a no-name like Michael.

    He actually expected some sort of punishment for his actions. It made sense.

    Michael stared intently at Alice, tilting his head. He didn''t have to be a genius to tell that Alice had used her connections and influence to revoke his punishment.

    But something was wrong. Michael could immediately tell that Alice was holding back some information. The hesitation in her eyes exposed her.

    "What are the conditions?"

 Chapter 293 Flag War

    <h4>Chapter 293 g War</h4>

    "What are the conditions?" Michael asked in suspicion.

    Alice hesitated for a moment, exposing herself. Something was definitely wrong.

    "What is it?" Michael inquired once again.

    "Well, it might sound a little weird, but your punishment can be removed if you participate in the Interdimensional g War in three months," Alice answered atst, revealing one of the conditions.

    "What''s that?" Michael asked, confused.

    Participating in some event was enough to revoke his punishment? That didn''t seem logical.

    Alice understood Michael''s confusion and gave him a helping hand, "You remember the Battle Exchange, the annualbat exchange of the Tritan Alliance''s youngest generation, right?"

    "Ah, yes. I remember¡­" Michael nodded, waiting for Alice to keep going.

    "Some Great Nobles, including the Piedra and Lavita household demanded that your punishment be to participate in the Interdimensional g War against the Tekur. That means you will have to take part in the Battle Exchange in two weeks, and win at least three fights to be one of the Tritan Alliance''s representatives in the g War."

    ''Ohhh, now I remember!'' Michael nearly blurted out when Alice mentioned the Tekur.

    He recalled Alice telling him about the Tekur and that they had created a Lesser Dimension Gate to infiltrate the Lumina Ster System.

    ''Did they call it g War because of the Dimensional Pirs that have to be destroyed to prevent the Tekur from infiltrating?'' Michael wondered before he gave it a shrug.

    He was not really sure how the Interdimensional g War was rted to not getting punished, but he didn''t ask immediately. Michael thought about the Piedra and Lincoln household, not 100% sure whether Lincoln and Zeke had somehow influenced this, or if their family''s involvement was a pure coincidence.

    "How high do I have to be in the ranking to attend the Battle Exchange?" He asked, hoping to get answers to a few questions before he ended up even more confused.

    "You have to be the Sun of the freshman year, or be one of the 12 Stars," Alice answered without hesitation.

    There were only 13 spots for freshmen to attend the Battle Exchange. That was a little less than Michael expected, but it was not impossible. The freshmen were mostly his age, some even a little younger, and none of them had as many powerful Soultraits as he did.

    "And I have to win three fights in the Battle Exchange to meet the criteria to join the Interdimensional g War. That''s what you said, right?" Michael asked again, his mind rattling wildly.

    The Battle Exchange was interesting for most students of the Saphirke Military Academy because their families, households, ns, and guilds wanted to get closer to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Both were old war races with exceptionalbat prowess andrge territories in the Origin Expanse. Growing closer to them would elevate their status in their family drastically.

    Michael was also interested in them, but his curiosity was more in their knowledge than anything else. However, the Interdimensional g War seemed more interesting.

    ''Last time, Alice said that the Tekur are known for possessing powerful Soultraits. If I can¡­'' Michael might have enough Soultraits for himself, but he was worried about Tiara.

    Tiara had yet to gain any benefits from his Extraction of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. She would only ept Soultraits that were useful for her. That was only logical but it made things a little bit more problematic. They hadn''t found anything Tiara liked until now.

    ''If Tiara had a strong defensive-type Soultrait, ourbined efforts in the Lord Rift would have been enough to protect everyone.''

    Michael sighed heavily. He thought about providing the Forest Elves with more Soultraits as well, but he didn''t like that they could terminate their Link of Loyalty whenever they pleased. Providing them with more Soultraits, and upgrading them further was not something Michael would do without receiving something of an equivalent value. But Tiara was different.

    While thinking about the Soultraits he could procure in the Lesser Dimension Gate by hunting the Tekur, Michael felt a little confused. For most other youngsters, the Lesser Dimension Gate was merely a training ground and a golden opportunity to realize that other races were extremely powerful, but for Michael, it was a golden opportunity to strengthen himself.

    But did he really want to jump into danger once again? So soon after the terror and injuries he had sustained in the Lord Rift?

    "You will have to kill at least one Tekur in the g War as well¡­that''s the second criterion you have to meet to avoid punishment," Alice said, a heavy sigh escaping her lips soon after.

    At this point, Michael was pulled back out of his train of thought. He was too confused to keep thinking about hunting the Tekur for their Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments.

    "How is all of that rted to my punishment? Shouldn''t the academy be like ''You will have topensate Mr. Klein and the twins for psychological and physical injuries, and you will be sent to detention for X days!''? They should at least give me a Mark, or something like that!" Michael blurted out, his voice containing a trace of desperation. It was almost as if Michael wanted to get punished.

    "I thought someone schemed against me because of the Zenovia family''s attempts to get closer to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Why is there no setback, and why the hell did I have to listen to those bastards''ments, only to end up not getting punished?!?"

    Alice stared at Michael after his sudden outburst, and her eyes widened a little. She didn''t expect Michael to get that emotional all of a sudden. It took her a few seconds to understand why Michael reacted like that. Even then, Alice felt a little odd.

    ''Did he want to get punished for his actions? For satisfaction? No, probably not. Does he not like that others agree that he did the right thing?''

    Almost everyone approved of Michael''s actions after they saw the footage of the watchtower''s security camera. Was that something Michael hated? Why? Wasn''t it nice to receive approval for something like that? He broke the rules yet everyone supported him.

    Michael didn''t really understand himself either. He was not sure if he wanted to be punished. He hated the fact that the twins and Mr. Klein yed with his emotions using his family, but he also knew that he should have handled the entire situation differently. He would rather get punished instead of receiving favoritism from Alice and others.

    ''Ah, I don''t know anymore!'' Michael screamed in his mind while trying to look fine on the outside.

    "To get back to your first question¡­ the rtion between the punishment and the Interdimensional g War is a little bitplicated," Alice said in all honesty before she continued, "To put it in simple terms your punishment is to fight for mankind at the Interdimensional g War. As long as you obtain enough merit points, your punishment will be waived. That has been decided as per the voting of the military academy''s Grand Elders."

    Michael remained silent at that. He knew that he would spout nonsense if he opened his mouth right now. His emotional state was too delicate¡­once again.

    Alice took the silence as a sign to continue, "The biggest investor of the academy questioned Mr. Klein''s credentials. She demanded a detailed report about the reason the Zan Twins and Mr. Klein stalked a freshman for several days, why they provoked the freshman using confidential information they weren''t supposed to have, in the first ce, and why a teacher was not only unable to stop a freshman, but was also defeated by a freshman."

    "The Investor also said that the Zan Twins should be thankful that you held back. You were obviously strong enough to leave them with permanent injuries, but you cut them cleanly, allowing them to reattach their arms without any issues. Adding the special treatment I provided, the investor said that you shouldn''t be punished for teaching the Zan Twins a lesson as a fellow freshman. At the same time, Mr. Klein''s professionalism and intentions were questioned," Alice said before adding lightly, "Overall, the situation was a little bit moreplicated, but that bit¨C...the investor demanded that you shouldn''t be punished."

    ''Who is that investor?'' Michael wondered, continuing to listen to Alice.

    "Unfortunately, the Investor was overruled by the Grand Elders, and the other families and households investing into the academy. Some were impressed by your strength, which included the Piedra and Lavita households. They said that it wouldn''t be a good idea to be lenient with you. That would only cause more trouble in the future. Instead of waiving off your punishment, your strength should be used for humanity''s sake."

    "After a little bit of back and forth it was ruled that you have to use your own strength to participate in the Battle Exchange, be picked as a member of the g War and that you have to kill one Tekur. That will give you enough military merits in the name of mankind to have made up for your ''reckless behavior'' and cancel your punishment. After all, the other party picked a fight, and you merely reciprocated their actions with force."

    Michael was a little confused ¨C quite a bit actually. However, the n didn''t sound too bad. It was definitely better than losing his War Rune.

    There was just one thing that bothered him.

    ''They''re not canceling my punishment but changing it in order to see how I perform. They definitely saw the video footage and are now curious about my power.''

 Chapter 294 Iâ€™m Back

    <h4>Chapter 294 I''m Back</h4>

    "Thank your friend for helping out please," Michael said after he put the pieces together.

    The investor Alice mentioned was definitely one of her friends. Maybe she just wanted to help Alice to ensure that she wouldn''t be affected in any way, but her intervention helped Michael quite a bit.

    "That bitch is not my friend!" Alice scoffed, which caused a smile to blossom on Michael''s lips.

    Michael was pretty sure that Alice and the investor were best friends if Alice cursed her openly like this. After all, nobody could really get close to Alice. She wouldn''t pay attention to people she didn''t like, forget about cursing them with a smile.

    "I am sorry that you''ve been given such an annoying task. A punishment would have been a lot less dangerous than participating in the Interdimensional g War. I think, no¡­ I know that I caused you lots of trouble," Alice said, subtly changing the topic, "Under ordinary circumstances, you would have been expelled at best, or you could have ended in detention for a few months if the nobles pressed on a few more charges. But because of me¡­"

    She trailed off and only looked at the floor with a sad expression. However, Michael didn''t think like Alice. It was not Alice''s fault. Even if it would have been, Michael knew that he would have been involved in the schemes of more powerful organizations, families, and households sooner orter. It was better to be pulled in earlier with badly nned traps like Mr. Klein and the Zan Twins ''set up'' to learn from instead of immediately ending up getting involved with the big powerhouse''s dirty schemes.

    He was still slightly confused about the punishment he had received, but he epted it regardless. Maybe getting expelled from the Saphirke Military Academy would have been a lot less dangerous than being told to join the Interdimensional g War, but Michael didn''t really want to be separated from the friends he got to know.

    Furthermore, the Interdimensional g War seemed like a good opportunity to grow stronger. He was not sure about the rules applying to the Lesser Dimension Gate, but he knew that the Gate had simr restrictions as the Lord Rift in terms of strength. Thus, even though the Tekur were strong, they should definitely not be as powerful as the Red Dragon.

    Of course, Michael didn''t want to die in the Interdimensional g War, but that could be taken care of easily. That only meant Michael had to strive harder than anyone else to get back to his peak form and grow stronger until the Interdimensional g War, which would start in three months. Three months were half a year in the Origin Expanse, which was more than enough to make use of the resources he had obtained in the Lord Rift to increase his strength by leaps and bounds.

    If he could study his Soultraits more in-depth, and upgrade them a little, hisbat prowess would definitely be high enough to fight some weaker Tekur. That was something Michael was certain about. After all, he had nine Soultraits out of which six could be used in battle ¨C seven if Taming was included.

    Thinking about the Interdimensional g War gave Michael a goal to strive for. It allowed him to get his act together and fueled his motivation to grow stronger instead of staying idle in his territory ¨C thinking about Danny all day.

    "I am allowed to enter the Origin Expanse again, right?" Michael asked, the sparks of life shining brightly in his eyes again.

    Alice didn''t expect to see Michael like this. It was almost like his personality changed suddenly.

    But it was a good change.

    "Yes, you''re allowed to enter the Origin Expanse again," She answered with a nod.

    "And we''ll depart to meet up with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in two weeks, is that right?" Michael added another question to make sure that he didn''t hear it wrong earlier.

    His mind was still a mess from the information he had obtained earlier, but he didn''t want to overthink anything anymore. He was tired of thinking too much, which was also why he jumped into action rather than sitting idle.

    "No. The Battle Exchange starts in two weeks. We''ll have to depart in three days. That means you will have to reach the top of the freshman ranking as soon as possible," Alice answered with a smile, even though she didn''t look that confident.

    Michael''s Soultraits may be powerful, but his physical condition wasn''t that great right now. His body had suffered a lot while fighting Mr. Klein, and she was unsure how much more his body could endure before breaking down.

    However, Michael just nodded his head. His eyes regained their former vigor, and a tinge of excitement filled him ¨C which was a little surprising even for himself. He took a deep breath before he got up and charged out of his room.

    "I will be back in three days then."

    That was all Alice could hear from Michael as he rushed across the hallway, her piercing ocean-blue eyes staring at his departing figure.

    She knew that Michael would have a hard time regaining his former physique in merely three days. However, Alice also knew that Michael had entered a Lord Rift a few weeks ago. It was possible that Michael made some useful gains other than the new powers he seemed to have obtained in the Lord Rift.

    Alice had many questions about Michael''s powers but it was hard to ask him about them ¨C especially since the secrets of one''s Soultraits were usually confidential. Most powerful Lords, including herself, wouldn''t unleash their full power in front of other Lords if it was not necessary. Forget about revealing the secrets of their Soultraits, they didn''t even want others to know how strong their Soultraits were.

    All they revealed was their Soultrait''s star rating on the day of their awakening, but that was already it.

    But Michael didn''t seem to be interested in keeping his Soultraits a secret. He exposed them whenever it was necessary¡­ but that was exactly what caused all this trouble.

    Alice''s eyes darted to her vibrating crystal watch, and a holographic screen appeared in front of her.

    "What am I supposed to do with you, Michael?" She sighed deeply, opening sta messenger where dozens of new messages had appeared.

    "I should have tried to delete the video footage. Too many people are interested in you now¡­ Your life will definitely not be as quiet and peaceful as before¡­sorry¡­"

    Silence epassed Michael''s room after Alice''s words resounded. She scrolled through her past chats for a few minutes before getting up to leave as well. The concern in her eyes disappeared and was reced by an eerily cold expression ¨C the expression everyone was used to seeing on the Frozen Duchess'' face. Alice Zenovia had a lot to do, and both concern and worry were not suitable emotions for those tasks.

    Instead, being her cold and unapproachable self was much more suitable for her uing tasks.

    She left Michael''s room and promptly returned to her office where she manifested her Runic Gate.

    "Let''s take a look at how far the Daemons advanced," Alice murmured before she disappeared in the Runic Gate. A trace of her Soultrait''s power had subconsciously leaked from her body, freezing everything in the office instantly.

    While Alice had already returned to the Origin Expanse, Michael was still busy looking through the catalogs of the Bartholomew Shop. He had already used his Diamond membership to order a wide variety of high-quality herbs, concoction tools, medicinal serums, recipes, and other goods.

    Most of the goods were useful to tend to his body and stimte his body''s natural healing process. Michael wanted to practice the Sacred Rectification body refinement technique from the beginning to the second stage in the next three days.

    That would have been impossible if Michael hadn''t reached the second stage with the Sacred Rectification body refinement technique already. His physique may not be great right now. However, his constitution was still refined to near perfection.

    Re-refining his body a second time could be considered both a stimtion for his muscles and a workout ¨C which was all he needed to regain his former physical strength within three days¡­alongside nutrients, origin energy, and Body Strengthening Pills.

    Michael wouldn''t have been confident to regain his former physique within three days without the recipe of the Body Strengthening Pill. But that changed since he had the recipe, a Master Alchemist, and the ingredients to produce several batches of the required pill.

    He used most of his funds to purchase various goods in the Bartholomew Shop. Afterward, he rejected the shop manager''s offer to have an afternoon tea with him and talk about the Agriculture Project.

    Instead of taking a break, Michael rushed back to his room where he willed his War Rune to manifest the Runic Gate. He stepped through it and returned to the Untamed Jungle where his people were already waiting for him.

    Tiara and the Forest Elves of the Adventurer team sensed through their Link of Loyalty with their Lord that Michael had returned with a newfound motivation. They could immediately tell that a different man was walking towards them as Michael reappeared in front of them.

    His physique may be weak but the bright sheen in his eyes didn''t belong to a weak man, that was for sure.

    "I''m d you''re back," Tiara said, a vibrant smile blossoming on her lips.

    "You guys did a good job handling the territory while I was ¡­ out of it," Michael praised.

    He took a deep breath of fresh air and looked high up into the canopy of ginormous trees above him.

    "I''m back."

 Chapter 295 Unpacking Gains

    <h4>Chapter 295 Unpacking Gains</h4>

    Since Michael had been in the Lord Rift for 100 hours, unconscious for a week outside the Origin Expanse, recuperating for two more weeks, and not functioning properly for an additional ten days, he had some catching up to do ¨C quite a lot actually.

    However, before he started extracting the monster corpses that had been stashed up in six different warehouses, Michael handed the recipes of the Energy Nourishing Pill, Blood Replenishment Pill, Body Strengthening Pill, and Warrior Enlightenment Potion to his Alchemists.

    He provided enough ingredients to concoct a few batches of pills and potions before trusting his gardeners and the Botanic Magician with the nts, herbs, trees and various flowers he had collected in the Lord Rift. Michael was not sure how many of them could be rented, but he was confident that his Summons were capable enough to save most of them. He trusted their capabilities!

    Afterward, he handed Lilica the highly valued monster parts of more than 1000 Superior Existences. Lilica stored the body parts of the Superior Existences and rushed over to the Underground Forging Hall where the body parts would turn into high-quality armaments.

    Michael also had several tons of ores that could be used to forge high-ranked Tier-2 and Tier-3 armaments. However, instead of handing them over Michael came up with a different n with them. He had the Relic of Draka, which he handed to Tiara, who was tasked with the construction of a heat and fire-resistant room inside the wooden manor.

    Even though the Relic of Draka may look more aesthetic and pleasant in the Underground Forging Hall, it would be much more secure in the wooden manor. It was a Relic, a magical smithy, capable of creating Artifact-like Armaments. Even low-grade ores could be turned into unique weapons with effects simr to a natural low-quality Tier-1 Artifact. Something like that was better secured in the center of his territory rather than the underground ecosystem. At least, he could supervise and research the Relic much better inside the wooden manor where it will be always in his sight. Michael wouldn''t have to run around like a headless chicken all day.

    Once the monster parts, the exotic recipes and the Relic of Draka had been handed out, Michael began to sort out his spatial pouch and the storage space of his War Rune.

    He retrieved everything and asked several hundred Summons to help him out in sorting through the loot, and store everything they didn''t need.

    Afterward, he gave his best architects, engineers, and Enchanters a new mission; They were told to work on constructing the teleportation array.

    Michael was aware that the creation of a teleportation array was not easy. It would probably require several weeks of hard work, the detailed coordinates of the destination, and variousplex engravings. Michael actually didn''t understand the mechanics and logic behind the teleportation arraypletely, but he hoped that it could be used to create a connection between the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert.

    The array he wished to set up was only a ''short-distance'' teleportation array, but that was something Michael could achieve given the vast knowledge and information he had obtained inside the Lord Rift. One could say that the Laxarta Library was now stored in his head along with the highly advanced knowledge that was lost in the Draconia Era.

    Michael had purchased a few memory crystals to store his memories about certain books inside them. Using memory crystals was much easier than allowing someone to read his mind with the reversed effect of his Mind Reader Soultrait. The idea of using memory crystals was something he came up with inside the Bartholomew Shop. He saw the crystals and the item description by chance and fell in love with it immediately.

    It would take a while to sort out and store the knowledge of the Laxarta Library in the memory crystals for others to easily ess and learn, but it was worth it. After all, the content of the Laxarta Library was not restricted to the history of the Draconia Era, but also its technological knowledge, unique martial art techniques that had gotten lost over the course of time, various Beastarium, Information about Artifacts, Monsters, the Origin Expanse''s Will, Ancient Ruins, various races and so on.

    But the memories Michael had stored in the memory crystals were mostly about the creation of teleportation arrays, how to ovep or alter them, and so on. The team responsible for the teleportation array would have to research the memory crystals for weeks, if not months before they could start experimenting. Only then would they be able to alter the short-distance teleportation array to ''possibly'' connect him to the Sacred Desert.

    Once he was in the Sacred Desert it was only a matter of time before he found the hidden region and both the reason Danny died, and who killed him.

    Michael could also try to find out who Mr. Klein''s master was, but he was pretty sure that this would be a lot more troublesome given his current strength and nonexistent influence. Searching for the truth in the Sacred Desert was bound to be much easier inparison.

    Once his Summons finished organizing his loot, they put everything in the warehouses.

    "6817 Summoning Scrolls, 118,041 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 195 1-Star Tier-2 Artifacts, and 2006 rare blueprints. I should have sold the Artifacts and blueprints to buy more Summoning Scrolls," Michael thought with a grin on his face.

    If he fused the Summoning Scroll Fragments to create ordinary Summoning Scrolls, Michael would have more than 10,000 Summoning Scrolls. He was pretty sure that expanding his territory''s poption by 10,000 would be beneficial ¨C given the influx of Soul Power he would receive from the additional Links of Loyalty.

    But he was not sure if they had enough space to house everyone. Furthermore, Michael had yet to extract thousands of monster corpses that had been stored in therge warehouses.

    That was what Michael did in the next few hours while patiently waiting for his Master Alchemists. The first batch of Body Strengthening Pills should bepleted soon.

    "Extraction on Tier-1 Monsters reward 25 Summoning Scroll Fragments on average. They have a 60% chance of dropping an Ordinary Summoning Scroll, a 45% drop rate for blueprints, and 3% for a Tierless Artifact," The attendant next to Michael said after they returned to him with their statistics.

    "What about Tier-2 Monsters?" Michael asked all whileputing the statistics on his own.

    "My Lord, Tier-2 Monsters have an irregr drop-rate ording to their strength ranking, and rarity," The young attendant answered hurriedly, only to calm down a little after he saw Michael smiling kindly at him.

    He felt stressed being Michael''s attendant for today''s report, especially because their Lord wanted a detailed report about today''s loot and the mass summoning he would initiateter.

    "But we made a rough calction. Tier-2 Monsters are likely to drop more than 3 Summoning Scrolls with Extraction''s use. More than 60 Summoning Scrolls can be extracted from every Tier-2 Monster corpse. They will also drop at least one blueprint, and the drop rate for Tier-1 Artifacts is also quite high at 3%, while Tier-2 Artifacts drop with a probability of 0.09%." The young attendant read aloud while golden streams swirled around him.

    The golden streams of extraction finished dissecting the monster corpses in the sixth warehouse, and dozens of Summons picked them up to store them properly.

    Small piles of Summoning Scrolls, Summoning Scroll Fragments, Artifacts and blueprints were ced all around Michael. The goods had been appraised and everything was noted down precisely to give Michael better insights about the goods in his possession.

    "Adding thest batch of goods, 3842 Tier-1 Monster corpses and 891 Tier-2 Monster corpses have been looted and perfectly dissected. 158,420 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 5870 Summoning Scrolls, 2628 blueprints, 115 Tierless Artifacts, 28 Tier-1 Artifacts, and one Tier-2 Artifact have been harvested."

    A trace of excitement wasced in the attendant''s voice as he calcted Michael''s gains. He was happy for his Lord and felt pure joy at the thought of the territory''s expansion after the mass summoning. Michael smiled at the innocent young man before he made his own calctions.

    "Combining the loot from the monster of the Lord Rift and the prey of my hunters I have a total of 12,687 Summoning Scrolls, 276,461 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 4634 blueprints, and a shitload of Artifacts at my disposal," Michael mumbled before he fell deep in thoughts.

    If he fused the Summoning Scroll Fragments to form ordinary Summoning Scrolls he could add another ten thousand Summons to the 12,000 he was bound to summonter. However, adding more than 20,000 Summons to his territory would be too much. Michael didn''t have enough treehouses, food, and other necessities in ce to take in so many summons at once. Even an expansion of 12,000 ordinary Summons was a bit of a stretch given that his territory housed less than 30,000 citizens at this moment.

    Fortunately, his Summons had already predicted the urrence of such a situation given that Michael had been away for several weeks. Hence, they continued constructing treehouses and prepared everything for a mass summoning in his absence.

    Michael felt truly proud when he first heard that his Summons thought so far ahead. It was as if a huge responsibility had been taken off his shoulders and he was happy to have such thoughtful subordinates.

    But even they hadn''t expected their poption to double at once. Thus, Michael decided to turn the 270,000ish Summoning Scrolls into 27 Mythic Summoning Scrolls. One of his Summons found a stash of 5,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments in the warehouse and handed it to Michael, allowing him to fuse a 28th Mythic Summoning Scroll.

    Once that was done, Michael called everyone who was currently not busy with the Summoning Gate. He retrieved all Summoning Scrolls in his possession and cleared his throat tomand everyone''s attention in the vicinity.

    "Let''s wee the new members of our family!"

 Chapter 296 Expansion I

    <h4>Chapter 296 Expansion I</h4>

    Unleashing the origin energy inside him with a single thought, Michael engulfed the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and broke their seals with a snap.

    In the following moment, thousands of Summoning Scrolls shot into the air of their own ord. They unfolded and revolved around Michael as if he was the center of the storm before they shot toward the Summoning Gate. The Summoning Scrolls disappeared in the energy pool of the Summoning Gate, creating subtle ripples that grew stronger with every additional Summoning Scroll entering the Summoning Gate''s energy pool.

    Michael''s heartbeat elerated and a tinge of excitement spread through him as he awaited the arrival of his new subjects. All this while, his expression remained calm andposed ¨C a huge contrast to his inner feelings.

    Several minutes passed before the first outlines of his summons formed in the Summoning Gate. Starless Summons began to emerge from the energy pool. Michael''s smile widened as he saw dozens of new summons appear at a time back-to-back for several minutes until the streams of newly summoned Starless Summons ceased.

    More than ten thousand Starless Summons had emerged from the energy pool, looking around in confusion in Michael''s territory. They could instinctively tell who their Lord and Master was, and that they had been reincarnated as Summons after dying inside the Origin Expanse, but that was already it.

    "Greet our new friends, and exin everything to them," Michael instructed his older subjects who were standing next to him. They began to move immediately and weed the new Summons.

    After the first Summons moved to greet their new friends, others joined as well to help their new members settle in and share the amount of work evenly.

    Meanwhile, Michael waited patiently. The first star on the Summoning Gate''s ring began to illuminate brightly, indicating that 1-Star Summons would now emerge from the energy pool.

    Time passed slowly until the first batches of 1-Star Summons stepped onto the metal tform of the Summoning Gate. They emerged one after another until there were hundreds of them. Michael could instantly tell what most of their upations were as subtle information about their upation name and age appeared in his mind.

    Links of Loyalty formed ¨C thousands of them near-simultaneously. Under normal circumstances, this would have given Michael a bad headache because too many pieces of information flooded his mind. However, after reaching the second stage in the Ceasurium Menta technique, and undergoing the horror of extracting, processing, and storing the Laxarta Library''s knowledge in his mind, Michael''s mind had be much more efficient at digesting information, and a lot tougher.

    Michael''s mind quickly absorbed the iing streams of information about his new Summons to be stored and digested properly.

    ''700ish 1-Star Summons and close to 12,000 Starless Summons. The ratio is pretty bad, but with the Warrior Enlightenment Potion that shouldn''t be much of an issue,'' Michael thought, not really minding whether the vast majority of his territory was flooded with Starless Summons or 1-Star Summons. They were all of exceptional value to Michael!

    Michael nced at the 28 Mythic Summoning Scrolls and released his origin energy once again. Most Lords would never be able to collect as many Mythic Summoning Scrolls as Michael, but Michael couldn''t be happy at this moment.

    Mythic Summoning Scrolls were exceptional, but that was obvious. However, Michael also clearly recalled thatst time he summoned Masked Saber, his brother, from one of those.

    Even if he knew that he couldn''t summon his brother anymore, what would he do if he was to summon someone he knows? What if he summoned his sister?

    Summoning a deceased acquaintance was unheard of. The probability was so low that it could be neglected. And for Michael, who had a high probability of summoning Forest Elves, the chance of summoning his sister ought to be really low.

    But that ignored the unpredictability of the Fang bloodline''s curse.

    Michael was not yet 19 years old, meaning that an entire year hadn''t passed since he became a Lord. However, he had already summoned the 1st Ancestor of the Fang family, Cleave Fenrir, and his brother. Was it really that unlikely to summon another member of his family?

    Michael was actually not sure about that¡­and that scared him much more than he thought it would.

    It took him two minutes to calm his racing heart, surround the Mythic Summoning Scrolls with his origin energy, and break their golden seals.

    The ck scrolls unfolded slowly, revealing the intricate golden letters within. The letters inside were iprehensible, written in anguage only the Will understood. They began to glow brightly before the pulling force of the Summoning Gate''s energy pool sucked them inside.

    While Michael waited for the Mythic Summoning Scrolls to reward him with great Summons that possessed exceptional potential he focused on the creation of the Links of Loyalty, and how they increased the Soul Power of his Soultraits.

    Summons with weak Links of Loyalty didn''t increase his Soul Power by a lot, but the difference was still apparent if thousands of Links of Loyalty were formed instantaneously. Furthermore, most Summons'' Links of Loyalty would strengthen quickly. Once they realized that they were treated well and that their Lord paid attention to their well-being, education, and their progress, their Links of Loyalty would quickly grow stronger, resulting in a higher reinforcement of his Soul Power.

    Michael tried to look calm and cool as he waited, but the heels of his right foot gave him away as it tapped nervously on the ground. This kind of behavior was humane, and it eased the hearts of the new Summons, who had been scared due to the powerful personality and presence exuded by their Lord. They quickly realized that he was just trying to look cool and nonchnt in front of them.

    A second star formed on the surface of the Summoning Gate''s metal ring and the first 2-Star Summons of the second mass summoning stepped out of the energy pool.

    New 2-Star Summons stepped out of the Summoning Gate one after another, each of them causing Michael''s right eyebrow to continue rising a little higher.

    "Half of them are Demi-Humans," Michael mumbled in surprise, "I never summoned that many Demi-Humans before."

    Out of 23 2-Star Summons that stepped out of the energy pool one after another, a dozen were Demi-Humans. Out of the remaining 2-Star Summons, five were Forest Elves and only six were Human Summons. The ratio was a little messed up, but Michael quickly calmed his heart.

    Most Demi-Humans had more or less useful racial traits. As long as he could make use of them, the 2-Star Demi-Humans would be valuable assets to his territory. That didn''t exin why so many Demi-Humans appeared in his territory all of a sudden even though he was a human Lord with a Forest Elven Summoning Core, but it was not as if he couldin. His first subject was an Awakened from the Tigerfolk, after all.

    Nothing really made sense in his territory, in the first ce.

    The 2-Star Summons at today''s mass summoning were also quite confusing. The human Summons were a Priest, two Doctors, and three Master Chefs. Meanwhile, the Forest Elves consisted of two Enchanters and three Forest Whisperers.

    A Forest Whisperer was the Forest Elven''s version of a human Scout ¨C just several times better. Michael was quite satisfied with that. Nheless, it was quite confusing that none of the 2-Star Human-Summons and Forest Elven Summons was abatant. On the other hand, all dozen 2-Star Demi-Humans were fighters.

    Two Demi-Humans were Wolf Berserkers, five were Frenzy Rabbit Archers and five more were Shadow Panther Assassins. The names of their upation suggested what kind of Demi-Humans they were, and the little information he obtained from their Links of Loyalty gave him some insights about their powers and potential.

    At first, Michael was a little stupefied, but a subtle smile formed on his lips soon enough. The Demi-Humans were quite powerful and talented as well!

    As Michael focused on the new Summons in front of him a third star formed on the Summoning Gate''s metal ring.

    Michael''s attention moved to the Summoning Gate when he realized that five 3-Star Summons had stepped out of the energy pool.

    His eyes widened slightly as he heard a familiar screech and his head flicked to the Summoning Gate, in confusion and anticipation.

    It looked like he was quite lucky today!

 Chapter 297 Expansion II

    <h4>Chapter 297 Expansion II</h4>

    Michael was positively surprised when he heard a familiar screech resounding through the periphery of the Summoning Gate.

    He turned his head and smiled lightly. Today was a good day.

    "A Greater Eagle?" Michael mused quietly as a green-feathered Greater Eagle appeared in his vision.

    It was a little bit smaller than Icarus and its plumage had a unique sheen, which was a clear indicator of its sex. The Greater Eagle was a female.

    As if Icarus realized that Michael was thinking about him, the Greater Eagle appeared above the Summoning Gate. He descended andnded in front of the smaller, green-feathered Greater Eagle and screeched much louder in response.

    The smaller Greater Eagle opened its wings as wide as possible, and everybody watched them in anticipation, fearing that the two would fight. However, the smaller one lowered its head and bowed to Icarus.

    Michael and the Summons in the surroundings were a little stunned at the show that unfolded in front of them, but Michael quickly realized what had just transpired.

    "Since we have a male and female Greater Eagle now¡­we might have to create a nest for Greater Eagles in the future. Maybe, I will be the Lord of the Greater Eagles Army." He joked before moving his attention to the other 3-Star Summons that had stepped out of the Summoning Gate one after another.

    There was not a single 3-Star human Summon, but that was something Michael had somewhat expected. His gut feeling told him that his summoning ratio would be weird today -- and that was definitely the case.

    Instead of a human, there was a Forest Elf, a Demi-Human, another monster, and a Fae.

    The Forest Elf was a 3-Star Master Enchanter, and the Demi-Human was a Mythic Engineer of the Rhinofolk.

    Meanwhile, the Fae was a tiny humanlike being with a height of a few inches. It shot toward Michael and patted his head all whileughing mischievously. The Fae had delicate, ethereal features and a mischievous aura that seemed to radiate from their very being. Her body was slender and graceful, which was highlighted by the delicate wings that sprouted from her back.

    Her wings resembled those of butterflies and were iridescent, reflecting light in a mesmerizing manner. She had long silver hair that bounced around as if the essence of wind wanted to y with the little Fae.

    She was a Pixie, a Forest Pixie to be precise.

    Michael didn''t expect to summon a Pixie anytime soon. Most reports said that they were rare to summon and that some Lords didn''t receive one even after their Summoning Gate was upgraded to the Intermediate rank.

    Pixies exuded an aura of enchantment that affected the surroundings. They naturally attracted origin energy to themselves, which allowed Lords to create energy-rich environments in their territory. But that was not all. Their existence embodied the mysteries of the natural world, elerating the growth of the surrounding Flora and Fauna.

    As for thest 3-Star Summon he had summoned, Michael first didn''t quite notice it. He could only pinpoint the Monster when the little stream of information entered his mind through the Link of Loyalty.

    The Monster was even smaller than the Forest Pixie. It had a slender body and narrow waist, and distinctive ck and yellow stripes marking its abdomen. These markings served as a warning to potential predators as they indicated the Monster''s ability to defend itself with a potent sting. It had two pairs of wings, six legs, and arge golden stinger that gleamed dangerously.

    The Monster he summoned was a 3-Star Golden Stinger Wasp!

    It was tiny and didn''t seem too dangerous. However, the spark of intelligence in its eyes indicated that it was not an ordinary monster and that it deserved its star rating.

    "My little friend, what are you capable of?" Michael asked, only to see that Wasp pointing its stinger at him. It released a burst of energy that looked like a replication of its stinger.

    Michael could have avoided the stinger but he didn''t. He didn''t sense any danger from it. In fact, he didn''t sense anything from the energy stinger. The energy stinger hit Michael, but nothing happened afterward.

    He didn''t feel anything for a few seconds and narrowed his eyes while staring at his smallest summon.

    Yet, just as Michael began to wonder if the Golden Stinger Wasp was a con-artist, something miraculous urred.

    Michael and the Golden Stinger Wasp switched ces. Michael disappeared from his initial position, and he reappeared next to Icarus.

    The next moment the Golden Stinger Wasp ascended higher into the air. Itnded on a tree branch and switched positions again.

    Michaelnded on the branch while the Golden Stinger Wasp was next to Icarus in the blink of an eye.

    "Teleportation? It''s more like switching ces with the person it stung with the energy stinger¡­that''s amazing!" Michael eximed, jumping down from the tree branch.

    "Show me what else you can do!"

    Michael spent the next ten minutes testing out the Golden Stinger Wasp''s powers.

    It could only switch ces with a target it had hit with the energy stinger. Every Switch required origin energy, but the consumption was not all that high as long as the target was nearby. The energy stinger''s effect would disperse after ten minutes. Thus, the Golden Stinger Wasp had to switch ces within a time frame of ten minutes.

    But that was perfectly fine. Ten minutes was more than enough to wreak havoc by switching ces continuously.

    Once he was done testing, Michael understood that the Golden Stinger Wasp was the best Summon he had obtained today ¨C alongside the Forest Pixie, of course.

    Both the Forest Pixie and the Golden Stinger Wasp had unique abilities. That didn''t mean the Greater Eagle, the 3-Star Enchanter, or the Mythic Engineer were of no value. It was just that the Pixie and the Wasp had more unique traits that woulde in handy to trick an opponent.

    Now that all Summoning Scrolls had been used up and the Summons'' information had been noted down, Michael received a detailed report from his attendant.

    "My Lord, here is the report. Please take a look at the second and third page as well. The second page has a detailed report about the daily Summons that appeared while you were in the Lord Rift and recuperating from your injuries. The third page can give you a clear indicator of the territory''s growth, and poption. We measured the strength of the army, everyone''s individual ranking, and the total poption," The attendant said, bowing lightly before he added, "The information of the third page has already been updated to include today''s summons."

    Michael nodded his head in satisfaction. He was thankful that the attendant was meticulous in his work.

    Michael went to the second page without second thoughts. He roughly knew the number of today''s summoning so the second page was more intriguing.

    He was in possession of three Summoning Cores that had been purified with Extraction several times, and roughly eight weeks passed in the Origin Expanse since the Lord Rift had opened. That means 168 Summons should have been summoned through the Summoning Gate''s daily summons.

    [List of Daily Summons since the Lord''s departure to the Lord Rift.

    119x 1-Star Summons: 12x Apprentice Enchanter, 9x Apprentice cksmith, 25x Warriors, 9x Assassins¡­

    49x 2-Star Summons: 8x Berserkers, 5x Knights, 4x Forest Elven Sharpshooters ¡­.]

    Michael was not shocked about the high number of 2-Star Summons. He had already expected that many. After all, his Summoning Cores were of extremely high purity. It was only obvious that the number of stronger, skilled, and resourceful Summons increased in his daily Summons alongside the improvement of his Summoning Core''s quality.

    Nheless, it was nice to see that Extraction had been useful once again. It was a great long-term investment and increased Michael''s desire to focus on collecting more Summoning Cores. Unfortunately, they were too expensive to purchase inrge quantities.

    It was better to purchase tens of thousands of Summoning Scrolls and train his Summons using Instructors, Warrior Enlightenment Potions, and other means to create 1-Star Warriors rather than purchasing a single Summoning Core.

    One way or another, Michael was satisfied.

    He moved to thest page and took a look at his territory''s poption, and the evaluation of his army''sbat prowess.

    A smile crept up Michael''s face as his eyes read through thest page, and he eximed quietly.

    "Ohooo¡­"

 Chapter 298 Relief

    <h4>Chapter 298 Relief</h4>

    Michael was very interested in the charts that had been written down on the third page. It was done meticulously, showing Michael clearly howrge the territory''s army was and how big the territory had grown in terms of poption. That was very interesting and it kept Michael interested for quite a while as he read through the charts slowly to take in all information.

    [Territory Poption Chart

    36031x Starless Summons[55%M/45%W] ¨C 16,532 Lowest Tierless, 8,539 Low Tierless, 5973 Mid Tierless, 3317 Late Tierless, 1502 Peak Tier-0, 168 Lowest Tier-1

    2648x 1-Star Summons(55% Tierless ¨C 45% Tier 1)¨C 19x Architect, 3x Lesser Tamer, 236x Craftsmen, 127x Gardener, 119x Potter, 111x Artists, 86x Tailors, 5x Pub Owner, 3x Financial Managers, 30x Weaver, 3x Surveyors, 121x Masons, 85x Librarian, 249x Cooks, 123x Carpenters, 94x Schrs, 39x Alchemist Apprentices, 25x Enchanter Novices, 207x cksmith Apprentices, 20x Botanists, 415x Warriors, 203x Archers, 2x Aero Crossbowmen, 156x Spearmen, 4x Cavalry Rider, 64x Vanguard, 78x Assassins, 21x Knights in training,

    133x 2-Star Summons(10% Tierless ¨C 90% Tier-1) ¨C 8x Doctor, 1x Architect, 5x Weaponsmith, 6x Expert cksmith, 3x Expert Tailors, 1x Tamer, 1x Old Librarian, 8x Expert Alchemists, 3x Merchants, 3x Master Chefs, 6x Enchanter. 2x Priest, 1x Aerial Scout(Eaglefolk), 1x Courier(Speedster Rabbitfolk), 17x Knights, 25x Berserkers, 11x Forest Walker, 2x Wolf Berserker, 5x Frenzy Rabbit Archers, 5x Shadow Panther Assassins, 14x Sharpshooter, 3x Forest Whisperer, 1x Summoner, 1x Earth Mage.

    8x 3-Star Summons(New Units=Tierless ¨C Others=Tier-1) ¨C 1x Star Cook, 1x Master Enchanter, 1x Mythic Engineer(Rhinofolk), 1x Earth Elemental Mage, 1x Water Elemental Mage, 1x Master Alchemist, 1x Botanic Magician, 1x Tracker.

    1x 4-Star Summon(Peak Tier-1) ¨C 1x Nature Spirit

    6x Awakened (100% Tier-2)¨C 1x Silverfang Tigerfolk, 5x Forest Elves

    82x Tamed Monsters ¨C 73x Bilrox, 1x Sun Demos(+673 Blood Oath Demon Monkeys), 4x 0-Star Horses, 1x 2-Star Heavy Armored Elephant, 1x 3-Star Golden Stinger Wasp, 2x 3-Star Greater Eagle, 1x 3-Star Forest Pixie]

    At first, Michael was a little bit overwhelmed with all those numbers, but he quickly got hang of them. It was actually not that confusing.

    The information provided to him was clearly separated ording to the Summon''s star-rating, Monsters, and Awakened. After reading through it twice Michael had sessfully stored the information in his mind.

    "Now¡­the Combat Chart. I wonder how my subordinates evaluated the military prowess of the territory," Michael mumbled, his attention moving to the second chart.

    [Combat Chart

    Total number of Combatants ¨C 1714 (459x Tier-0, 1249x Tier-1,? 6x Tier-2)

    Size: Small-scale Army

    Types of Combat Units ¨C Vanguards, Assassination, Scouting, Melee, Rangers, Cavalry, Monkey Army, Monster Unit

    Vanguard Unit: 21x Knights in Training, 64x Vanguards¡­

    Cavallry: 4x Cavalry Riders¡­

    ¡­

    ¡­

    Monkey Army: Tier-2 Monkey King(Sun Demos), 673x Peak Tier-1 Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    Monsters: Heavy Armored Elephant(Mid Tier-1), Greater Eagle(Icarus ¨C Peak Tier-1), Greater Eagle(New ¨C Lowest Tierless), Golden Stinger Wasp(New- Lowest Tierless)]

    Michael''s mind rattled once he finished reading the second chart. It was very detailed but Michael couldn''t stay focused on every single bit of information. So, he only paid attention to the rank of hisbatants and the fact that he had only 1700ishbatants overall.

    ''With the Energy Nourishing Pill, the Body Strengthening Pill and the Warrior Enlightenment Potion it should be quite easy to exceed 2000batants and help everyone advance to the 1st Tier within a month. In a month some of the Peak Tier-1 Combatants should be able to break through to the 2nd Tier as well. At least the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys should be able to break through to the second stage ¨C some of them.''

    Given the details about his army and poption, Michael could make a rough estimation of how fast his army could expand and grow stronger quickly. An increment in physical strength alongside the advancement of their Tier through potions and pills meant that Michael could train them using specific body refinement techniques.

    Focusing on certain muscle groups with specialized body refinement techniques was definitely better than turning every Summon into a bulky, physically strong powerhouse. After all, Mages didn''t depend on their physical strength, while Archers relied on their agility and dexterity. Archers would actually have the biggest problems with a bulky physique.

    This fact was obvious, but Michael wrote down everything nheless. He noted down a few things, and was more than willing to keep investing most of his fortune into his army and other subjects. After all, his subjects ¨C especially his army ¨C could be considered the majority of hisbat prowess. Nurturing them wasparable to enhancing himself.

    Using the knowledge he procured in the Laxarta Library, Michael could provide some special secret techniques, share unique tips and tricks, and help his Summons in a lot more ways than he first thought.

    When Michael was done making notes about his to-do list, he was informed that the first batch of pills had been created.

    Both Energy Nourishing Pills and Body Strengthening Pills had been concocted. The proficiency of the Alchemist was not perfect, by far, but Michael could tell at a nce that both pill batches were extraordinary.

    The energy-rich and potent smell they exuded naturally was several times stronger than the faint scent of ordinary energy pills.

    The Energy Nourishing pill was white, and it had a clear, polished surface. It looked like a piece of marble that had been ground and polished for several hours. The pill in Michael''s hand exuded a chill that contained a tremendous amount of energy.

    ''I should purchase some boxes with perfect Seal enchantments.'' Michael thought, looking at the Energy Nourishing Pill slowly losing its energy as it seeped out of the pill. It didn''t release too much energy at a time, but it would only take a few days before the Energy Nourishing Pill'' would lose it exceptional potency and effects.

    Michael''s attention moved to the steamy red pill. It was the Body Strengthening Pill that exuded searing heat. Just looking at the pill was enough to tell that its potency was high enough to cause some difort once consumed and digested.

    But instead of shying away from the iing difort of the searing heat, Michael headed to the training ground where he consumed one white and one red pill. The pills disappeared in his mouth and Micahel swallowed the next moment.

    Near instantaneously after the digestion of the pills started in his stomach, Michael could sense a frosty aura and a heatwave spread through his body.

    The frosty aura spread throughout his body, reaching every single nerve. The frosty aura even spread across his skin, yet it never left his body. It stayed inside him and continued to spread in waves asyer afteryer of the Energy Nourishing Pill was removed through his rapid digestion. The amount of energy released inside his body increased with every wave, filling Michael''s body to the brim.

    ''So much energy!'' Michael eximed while trying to endure the heat waves that spread through his bones, veins, and muscles before seeping inside the marrow.

    Michael was not even sure what was happening to him while the Body Strengthening Pill''s potency affected his entire body. It felt like every cell in his body began to itch and heat up ¨C increasing with intensity with every additional heatwave the Body Strengthening Pill released.

    The difort of the searing heat waves was considerable and quite hard to endure for ordinary people. However, the frosty aura that permeated every inch of his body cooled down the heat spreading through him, while also drastically reducing the itching all over his body.

    It was almost like the effect of the Body Strengthening Pill and the Energy Nourishing Pillplemented each other. Michael was not sure if their effects would weaken upon shing, but that was something he could find outter.

    For now, Michael could think clearly without being too affected by the frosty aura, the heatwaves, and itching. This made it much easier for him to change his stance and start practicing Sacred Rectification.

    Sacred Rectification was a body refinement technique that required a tremendous amount of nutrients and origin energy to stimte the energy veins, muscles, flesh, and so on to precisely refine wed bodies into the epitome of perfection. At least, that was what the description of the technique said.

    Michael was pretty sure that there was no way the technique could create a perfect physique. Nheless, Sacred Rectification stimted his body to grow faster and use the hoarded nutrients and energy to strengthen his physique while refining his body.

    Since Michael had already refined his body to the second stage of the Sacred Rectification technique, all the body refinement technique did was use the energy and nutrients inside his body to regain his former physique.

    Michael quickly noticed that the itchiness and heat all over his body intensified as he practiced Sacred Rectification. Strengthening his physique felt like insects crawling all over his muscles and flesh under normal circumstances. However, the effect was amplified manyfold due to the Body Strengthening Pill''s miraculous effect and high potency.

    Time passed slowly and it was already dusk by the time Michael stopped. Several hours had passed without him realizing and a thin smile formed on his sweat-drenched face.

    He was exhausted beyond measure and sore all over his body. But even then, Michael felt alive. It was a good feeling, something he wished to feel more often from now on.

    Being alive was great.

    Life may be filled with horrors and many bad memories, but Michael was the type of person, who recalled good memories more easily than bad memories. Slumping to the ground exhausted, Michael recalled the times he had been working out with his brother when he was not yet an Awakened. Afterward, he always worked out alone, or with Kaleb and Frederik after forcing them to join the Limit Breaker Course alongside him.

    His friendship with them had a rocky start, but they slowly grew closer to each other. Even the Barbaric Couple''s nasty personality improved over time. Beating them up a few times was enough to punch some sense into them.

    Thinking about the others and everyone''s tireless efforts to grow stronger, Michael knew that it had been a good decision to join the Saphirke Military Academy.

    He might have been pulled into some nasty schemes, but that was something that would have happened to him sooner orter. The timing was messed up, but Michael learned a lot from it. This time, Michael also learned that he had many people to rely on and that he was not all by himself.

    The Barbaric Couple had recorded the battle. Their records were edited and released on Sta even though Alice tried her best to take their original video file away. The Barbaric Couple edited the video to clearly show that Michael had been bullied and that he was innocent, gaining the public''s pity, and sympathy.

    Michael didn''t want the public''s pity, but he could tell that the Barbaric Couple had meant well. It was a means to protect Michael from losing his War Rune ¨C which was one of the worst possible punishments an Awakened could obtain.

    For most Awakened even death would be better than losing their War Rune. It was their only means to be superhuman existences with high status wherever they went. Being an Awakened, whether it was being an Adventurer or a Lord, meant that one''s status exceeded more than 90% of mankind.

    Losing your status and umted power obtained from the War Rune was likely to drive most Ex-Awakened to insanity. The thirst for power and the feeling of a great loss would kill them after they suffered for weeks, months if not years.

    Michael heard some stories about criminal Awakened ¨C people who had betrayed mankind to plead loyalty to other races in exchange for power and great wealth. Some of them had been caught and stripped of their War Rune after their interrogation revealed the dirty secrets of the criminal members of the traitor organizations that had been created to tarnish mankind''s reputation, and the rtionship between the human race, the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs.

    All Michael could say was that the videos he had seen were horrifying. They were a clear example of what would happen to traitors of the human race. Their War Rune would be removed, and they would be driven to insanity.

 Chapter 299 Energy

    <h4>Chapter 299 Energy</h4>

    Zeke Lavita and Lincoln Piedra were a little bit different from the Barbaric Couple.

    They had responsibilities as the descendants of High Nobles, and couldn''t favor a noname like Michael. Their actions were thoroughly eyed by their families and the informants of other households, after all.

    Michael was a little confused because the Lavita and Piedra household inferred in his punishment. He wondered if they talked to their family about him to extend a helping hand. Alice said that the Piedra and Lavita households had interfered in his punishment. They decided to propose that he would have to join the Interdimensional g War to gain merits for mankind''s sake.

    While that may sound like they tried to push him closer to death, Michael felt that it was easier topare their tactics as a means to please all sides ¨C including their curiosity revolving around Michael.

    Michael was not too sure what to think of the Greater Nobles yet, especially Lincoln and Zeke''s families, but he was happy to have them around.

    They were strong and interesting people. Last but not least there were Kaleb and Alice Zenovia. They gave their best to help him, even if it could have harmed their family''s reputation. That was something Michael didn''t take lightly.

    Their actions were also part of the reason he was able to get back to his senses that quickly. He regained his motivation to grow stronger, to fight alongside his friends, and regain the rity he had lost for a few weeks. His sorrow and anguish caused him to lose sight of what was important, and the things he should pay attention to.

    He even ended up neglecting his territory for several weeks, not just his body.

    Daniel would have been disappointed in him if he had known about all of that.

    Regaining the rity and motivation he had lost for a while, Michael found himself back at the starting line with renewed vigor.

    Lying on the ground, Michael smiled lightly. He stared nkly at the thick canopy of the old towering jungle trees and chuckled foolishly.

    "To think that I would end up like this. Who would have thought that my life would be¡­so messed up?" Michael mused to himself.

    His mind was a little bit messy after he exhausted himself physically to the limit. His body required more nutrients and origin energy, but Michael didn''t move. Instead, he kept his pores open to absorb the dense origin energy in his surroundings naturally. He retrieved a few bs of meat that had been grilled this afternoon and began to eat it all while continuing to lie on the ground.

    Even though he ought to be stressed because of the Battle Exchange, and the Interdimensional g War, Michael didn''t feel an ounce of pressure weighing down on his body.

    On the contrary, he felt oddly liberated and free for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Michael couldn''t really exin the feeling, and he felt a little bit guilty to feel like this after his brother died, but he was content with himself.

    He had made some great friends for the first time in forever, and his territory developed rapidly.

    His army would expand rapidly and the Starless Summons who had been training with various weapons in their free time would finally obtain the chance they had been eagerly anticipating for thest few weeks. Using the Warrior Enlightenment Potion they would obtain an opportunity to attain enlightenment and be a 1-Star Warrior. That was something they never expected, but it was an opportunity to grow stronger and be more useful.

    It was an opportunity for those who felt worthless to attain value and some sense of worth, whether it was for themselves or in the eyes of others.

    "Maybe we can mass produce the Energy Nourishing Pills and Body Strengthening Pills soon. Once we can do that even my small-scale army will turn into a ce full of ferocious monsters. Dealing with the Jungle Expedition will be a walk in the park," Michael mumbled to himself, still smiling lightly.

    He guessed that the Energy Nourishing Pill was more than ten times more effective than ordinary energy pills. That was quite exceptional. As for the Body Strengthening Pill, it was just as effective as the Energy Nourishing Pill. Even though Michael never used a different type of Body Strengthening Pill so he had nothing topare it to, he could tell that it was even more valuable.

    After all, Body Strengthening Pills were extremely rare in the market. Not only was it hard to find recipes for ordinary Body Strengthening Pills, but they were also quite hard to make. The ingredients were valuable due to their effects and rarity, and they were hard to process ¨C increasing their value even more.

    nting the ingredients and rare herbs his Alchemists required to concoct all potions and pills would definitely help Michael to decrease the costs required to strengthen his territory and army. They were basically free since Michael had already collected the saplings and seeds for most ingredients ¨C all thanks to the Lord Rift.

    Nheless, there were still many resources Michael had yet to procure. He wanted to take the development of his territory to the next step and focus on mass-producing the new potions and pills. After all, the stronger his army the less likely would they have issues once the Zentika Empire made their next move against the Untamed Jungle ¨C and Michael.

    "If that''s how potent the Energy Nourishing Pill and the Body Strengthening Pill are despite being concocted with low proficiency, I wonder how much stronger the effect of the pills will be once the Alchemist''s proficiency increases," Michael mumbled, looking down at himself with a tinge of surprise and excitement.

    Given the potent effect of the Body Strengthening Pill and the massive amount contained in the Energy Nourishing Pill, Michael was certain that he could recuperate from his weakened physical state in two days. As long as he supplemented his body with enough nutrients other than origin energy and the miraculous Body Strengthening Pill, Michael might as well end up refining his body to a higher degree than before.

    He might actually have enough time to practice the Ceasurium Menta mind-refining technique as well. The Energy Nourishing Pill contained more than enough energy to allow him to practice Ceasurium Menta for a few hours without having to take a break!

    Nheless, the Energy Nourishing Pills were better off being used by other people. Michael could only use them efficiently to refine his body or mind. Refining his War Rune solely by using Energy Nourishing Pill would be too expensive and ineffective. After all, his War Rune required a lot more origin energy to properly improve his refinement degree than most other Awakened.

    The reason he required more origin energy than most other Awakened was pretty simple as well; The star rating of a Soultrait, and the number of Soultraits fused with the War Rune determined the amount of origin energy required to refine your War Rune!

    Not many knew about this fact because most Awakened were only in possession of a single Soultrait with less than five stars, but Michael had noticed this quite a while ago.

    After fusing more Soultraits with his War Rune, Michael first experienced a drastic decrease in his War Rune''s refinement degree. But he didn''t think too much about it at first. Michael simply thought that fusing with a new Soultrait required a considerable amount of origin energy. While there was a bit of truth in it, it was not the whole truth.

    The whole truth was that Michael''s War Rune refinement degree had stagnated for quite a while after the warfare with the Jungle Expedition, especially with Extraction being upgraded to a 6-Star Soultrait.

    Being in possession of several Soultraits with four or more stars meant that his War Rune required several times more energy to be properly refined. His Soultraits grew stronger alongside his War Rune''s improvements. They were one and the same.

    Thus, while Michael received numerous advantages in possessing more Soultraits than most could fathom, the biggest downside was that he required more origin energy to refine his Tier-2 War Rune from Lowest to Low than some Awakened would need to refine their War Rune from Tier-2 to Tier-3.

    Of course, that was only a rough guess he made and not something he could prove yet, but the speed at which his War Rune was refined spoke volumes about the truth behind his theory ¨C even if the exact amount of energy required to increase his rank had yet to be determined.

    For most Awakened with high-ranked Soultraits such as Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb the increased requirement of origin energy could be solved by investing a vast fortune in supplements such as high-quality potions and pills like the Energy Nourishing Pill. However, Michael didn''t have the support of a Supreme Family, or Great Nobles.

    He would rather invest his fortune into his subjects to expand his military force. More Combatants meant that more monsters could be hunted, and more hunted monsters meant that Michael would receive more energy shares.

    Despite that, Michael knew for a fact that he would require much more time than others to refine his War Rune and upgrade it to the next Tier. But that was not a problem. After all, his Soultraits were perfect forbat, allowing him to overwhelm enemies at a higher rank than himself without much difficulty.

    Using the Energy Nourishing Pills and the Body Strengthening Pills, Michael could refine his mind and body to the peak while relying on energy shares to refine his War Rune simultaneously.

    Even if it would take a while to advance to the next Tier, it was not as if Michael made a loss. On the contrary, his power would only increase exponentially with the passing of time, and the increase of his rank!

 Chapter 300 Cobweb

    <h4>Chapter 300 Cobweb</h4>

    After he spent a while lying in the middle of the training ground, Michael got up and went back to his room. He washed up and fell asleep on his bed ¨C or he tried to. Too many thoughts shed through his mind, disrupting him whenever he was about to fall asleep.

    Michael had five days left in the Origin Expanse before the spaceship would leave the Saphirke Military Academy to bring the participants of the Battle Exchange to the meeting ce. That meant Michael had at least three more days before he would have to start challenging the freshman ranking.

    At first, he didn''t think that this would be enough time to recuperate from his weakened state, but now that he tested the efficiency of the Body Strengthening Pill and the Energy Nourishing Pill his opinion changed. Right now, Michael was certain that he had more than enough time to recuperate with some additional free-time which he could use to focus on his territory''s development.

    Michael fell asleep at some point. He woke up with the first rays of sunlight shining through the canopy of the gigantic jungle trees, and got up, feeling greatly motivated.

    He consumed a Body Strengthening Pill and an Energy Nourishing Pill and began practicing Sacred Rectification. His workoutsted no more than two hours, but the results were astounding. Michael was lying on the ground in a small puddle of his sweat, taking in the ambient origin energy in the surroundings.

    He rested for a few minutes before he got up once again.

    ''After lunch, I should be fit enough for a second session. In the evening I''ll have a third session, and six more sessions tomorrow and the day after. That is definitely more than enough to fix my physique,'' Michael concluded with a simple nod.

    He was so lost in thoughts that he noticed toote that his stomach was protesting. He was starving and in dire need of more nutrition. But he was drenched in sweat and his clothes were soiled.

    Thus he forced himself to move, ignoring the difort that spread through his entire sore body, and went to the bathroom. Once he was done washing up he left the wooden manor and went to the open mess that had been built near the training ground.

    The Untamed Jungle''s middle area didn''t have many spots with little to no nts. There was no clearing as it had been in the outer ring. That was a little unfortunate, but it was not a big problem. Michael and his subordinates had long since cleared most bushes and other obstacles before building structures around the humongous tree trunks.

    To be precise, Michael and the others made use of the tree trunks to fortify most constructions. That way, the tree trunks were not considered annoying obstacles but part of the buildings that could be seen everywhere.

    Michael knew that he had a lot of work to do by removing the trees that obstructed others from growing, but it was also quite obvious that Michael''s Extraction worked wonders on the inner area of his territory. Michael''s Extraction had removed everything that was not supposed to be inside his territory a long time ago, ensuring that the jungle trees they used were healthy and the most durable.

    ''Since we''re going to expand the territory, I should focus on removing more of these obstructing trees adjacent to the outermost treehouses. The morebatants receive space to move freely, the better the hunting results. That means more Summoning Scrolls and more Summons.''

    Michael noted another task in his mental to-do list as he sat down on a wooden table bncing several tes in his hands. Once he started devouring the delicious food in front of him, Michael''s mind began to rattle once again. He began to think about what he wanted to do once he returned from the Lord Rift and thought of a way to sort them based on priority. Unfortunately, the situation had been unfavorable after he returned from the Lord Rift. That means Michael had a lot of unfinished work.

    ''Good thing that the trip to the meeting point of the Battle Exchange will take a few days. That gives me enough time to make up for the tasks I''ve missed in thest few weeks.''

    Once he was done with the first serving, Michael returned to the cooks thrice to refill his tes. Even Michael was a little bit surprised about how hungry he was, but he also noticed that the nutrition entering his stomach was quickly used up to nourish his starving cells.

    Practicing Sacred Rectification twice while using the Body Strengthening Pill and the Energy Nourishing Pill as stimnts and means to elerate his practice left his body craving for more food and nutrition, no matter how much he ate.

    Michael listened to his body and filled his stomach to the brim. After that, he took a stroll around the territory to take in the changes that had urred to his territory.

    The daily reports he received were nice and brief, but they didn''t give him a clear picture of his territory. There was still a big difference between staring at a document and observing everything on his own.

    The outlines of his territory were pretty simple, following the structure of a giant cobweb. The center was a bustling ce where the Wooden Manor, the Summoning Gate, and the main warehouse were located. Other than that, most of the space was used to create meeting ces for the citizens. There was a huge pub, a yground, and several other structures leading to the canopy bridges that connected the center with every part of the territory.

    The canopy bridges could bepared to the silky threads of a cobweb. The main canopy bridges were constructed in straight lines spanning a distance of several kilometers. The center was connected to a total of 16 main canopy bridges that had been distributed equally in all directions. The main canopy bridges were connected through side-alley canopy bridges, creating a circr pattern that resembled a giant, functioning cobweb.

    The side-alley canopy bridges oftentimes moved upward and downward, connecting to other canopy bridges that led straight to the treehouseplexes, and high treehouses that could be found everywhere in Michael''s territory. The density of the high treehouses and treehouseplexes was a little higher near the center of the territory, but it decreased considerably as one moved farther from the center of the territory.

    ''Slightly more than 2,000 High Treehouses and 6500ish treehouseplexes. To think that we''vee that far.'' Michael mused to himself as he paced through his territory.

    He looked up to see the base of many treehouses and found it hard to believe that they had built so many huge treehouses. Contrary to most territories, Michael focused on providing enough living space for his people. He tried to give them lots of space high up in the trees to ensure that his subjects wouldn''t be too far away from the center of the territory. After all, it would be quite problematic if his territory spanned tens of kilometers with less than 2000 members of the military protecting everything and everyone.

    Thus the ground was used for farnds, gardens, Enchanter''sirs, alchemy houses, warehouses, schools, wells, libraries, training grounds, barracks, monster ranches, medical houses, and much more while everything above the ground belonged to the citizens; their homes to be precise.

    Living high up in the air was something new for most humans, but they adjusted to the changes quite easily. There were more than enough ways to climb down, whether it was by using the canopy bridges to find their way to their destination, or by using thedders that were included in the construction of every treehouse.

    Michael didn''t really realize how huge his territory had grown. The written reports only gave him detailed numbers, but realization dawned upon him only now that he saw it himself. He could see some of his subjects wherever he went. Most had just woken up, but there were some Starless Summons who were training further away from the training grounds, using heavy wooden sticks as recements for proper swords and spears.

    His subjects greeted him overly politely whenever they took note of him. They were shocked to see their Lord taking a stroll so far away from the center of his territory. This gave Michael a lot to think about.

    He chose to approach the Starless Summons, who were training so far from the training grounds, handed them dulled training weapons, and smiled lightly at them.

    "You''re allowed to use the training ground to train. In fact, everyone is allowed to do so, even if you''re not an official Warrior. Your star rating doesn''t matter," Michael said, looking gently at the young man in front of him as he added, "You can also inform your friends that everyone is allowed to use the training ground. In fact, I will ensure that the most hard-working people will obtain a chance of bing Warriors."

    Michael hadn''t been sure how to tell his subjects about the Warrior Enlightenment Potion without causing a war between his subjects. But that changed upon seeing a bunch of Starless Summons training outside the training grounds. Not even the reports stated that so many Starless Summons were training in their free time ¨C that too at the crack of dawn.

    They would workout in the hope to attain enlightenment before leaving their home for work.

    Thus, Michael chose to allow everyone to train at the training ground where the most promising and hard-working Starless Summons could be recorded.

    ''If we create a file about the people who work the hardest we can reward them once they cross a certain threshold¡­for example, if the attendants noticed their hard work and effort to grow stronger several times - let''s say five or ten times - they''ll obtain a Warrior Enlightenment Potion.''

    Michael felt that this was a good idea to ensure that his Starless Summons would work even harder. It was a clear indicator that showed Michael favored the hard-working, and that he wasn''t stingy in rewarding everyone who worked tirelessly to grow stronger ¨C and be more useful to the territory and their Lord!

    Satisfied with himself, Michael switched his attention to another problem; food and water supply.

    The Water Elemental Mage had been quite useful in filling the water barrels and searching for sources of water underground, but it was quite obvious that this was not a long-term solution. The sources of underground water weren''t huge near their territory, and the poption was expanding rapidly.

    Close to 40,000 people had to receive enough water and food to not only survive but to live properly. If Michael wanted to ensure that their Links of Loyalty grew firmer and that his subjects lived a good life without any issues, he had to think of a better solution than the few wells they had dug out so far.

    For now, the wells would be good enough especially with the Water Elemental Mage searching for more water sources, but that was not a permanent solution.

    As for food, Michael knew that they had more than enough meat stored in their warehouses. Nheless, eating meat all day was not exactly a healthy diet either.

    "Seems like I''ll have to turn a part of the territory into proper farnds, rather than using every bit of ground to nt more ingredients for the potions, and pills," Michael mumbled softly.

    "It''s time to be a farmer, I guess!"

    **

    [A/N: The author is back in the game. I have an important question that has been bothering me for a few days now... What do you think my novel is currently missing? I know I asked this a few dozen of chapters ago but I''m curious if the answer changed. Don''t hesitate to criticize me. It will only help me to grow, and y''all will receive better content in return!]

 Chapter 301 Goals

    ?

    Other than proper farnds with enhanced vegetables that contained traces of origin energy, Michael made mental notes about a few more things they required to be fully independent.

    Right now, the territory didn''t rely on imported goods for food, water, or other resources other than the Agriculture-type blueprints, but he felt that this would change in the future if he didn''t adapt to the developmental changes of his territory a little bit.

    Altering the development path a little should negate his worries about the future entirely.

    "Proper defensive mechanisms other than traps would be quite helpful as well. An Orb of Hostility of a higher grade shouldn''t be neglected either," Michael mumbled as he returned from his long stroll.

    He met up with Tiara, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, ire, and the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, Sun Demos, to discuss a few key points. They had to speak about the development of the territory, news about the surrounding area, new information rted to the Zentika Empire, and so on.

    Sun Demos could only converse with Michael properly because the Taming Soultrait created a channel between them. Their thoughts reached the other party telepathically, which made it easier toprehend what Sun Demos intended to convey.

    The Monkey King pinpointed various locations with rare herbs, small caves, and hunting targets. Sun Demos even pointed out potential taming targets, which was something that interested Michael quite a bit. Michael had yet to tame a second monster using his 5-Star Taming Soultrait.

    He was not entirely sure how many more monsters he could tame, but by taking into consideration how much of Taming''s space Sun Demos took, Michael could make a rough guess.

    "I can probably tame two more Superior Existences at the 2nd Tier at my rank," Michael mumbled, though unsure what kind of monster he should tame.

    Would it be better to focus on taming more monster leaders, or was he better off taming Superior Existences with exceptional potential at this point? Sun Demos'' talent was not bad, but he doubted that the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys could reach the 3rd Tier. Only Sun Demos might be talented enough to barely cross to the 3rd Tier somewhen.

    "You''re not in a rush to use up Taming''s space, so how about you use it once you think that you found a suitable target?" Lilica suggested with a thin smile on her lips.

    "I think Lilica is right. We should also focus more on the farnds and the defenses of the territory. Most monsters avoid our territory because we''re hunting them down one after another, but it''s only a matter of time before the Rulers of the middle area will be fed up with us. The Forest Pixie, the Nature Spirit and the highly potent effect of the Untamed Jungle''s environment will solve the food issue rather quickly, but our weak defenses won''t strengthen themselves that quickly. It will require lots of time, effort, and countless hands of support to create a fortress-like defense strong enough to block the attacks of the middle area''s Rulers," Liopham said seriously.

    Liopham didn''t want to think about encountering one of the Rulers, but given that Michael''s territory expanded much faster than most territories, they were bound to face trouble soon enough.

    Micahel''s territory expanded rapidly. He summoned numerous Starless Summons and even talented 2-Star Summons. However, the number of hisbatants was way too low.

    Michael''s army was barely 5% of his poption. That may sound like a lot at first nce, but his soldiers were not strong enough.

    "We have to find a river as well. The Forest Whisperers said that they traced something but they''re not sure if the energy particles were from a Monster with a water elemental ability, or if the traces of water-attributed energye from a river," Opars Zelk presented another issue.

    He noticed that Michael and the others looked at him with intrigue, which forced him to add, "We will know more in a few days. The Forest Whisperers are still new to this territory, so they''re slowlybing through the Untamed Jungle rather than rushing and making mistakes."

    When ire heard ''mistakes'', she felt that Tiara''s gaze flicked to her. ire tried to ignore her stare but that was easier said than done. She knew very well that she made a mistake in the past, a grave mistake at that, but she tried her best to be better. She imparted many Starless Summons with the knowledge of bing a skilled Tracker to create a vast intelligence system that spread across the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring.

    That way, they procured various pieces of information about the changes urring at the border of the Zentika Empire and the changes in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. Thetter may not seem like anything special, but the opposite was the case. Apparently, dozens of monster groups had returned to the outer ring after it had been utterly destroyed by the Chaos Pills, and they had already begun to work on restoring their numbers.

    Her intelligence system helped collect information that would certainly be helpful in the future.

    Michael took note of everything the others had to say. Most of theirments were of simr nature to the issues he found by strolling through his territory for a few hours. Interestingly enough, most of these issues already had a pretty good answer. Tiara, the Forest Elves, and even ire pointed out a few things while also proposing ways to solve them without too many issues.

    Their proposals were meticulous and it was obvious that they had given the issues a lot of thought beforeing up with their ideas.

    That was also why Michael merely had to add a few more points before their proposals could turn into proper ns. His pointers came mostly from the knowledge he had procured from Alice''s individual teaching and the Laxarta Library. Combining the masterpieces and works of the Draconia Era with the tips and tricks used by modern Lords such as Alice, Michael could widen his subordinates'' horizon.

    Michael''s pointers sounded grotesque and weird when the Forest Elves heard them the first time, but Tiara was overjoyed and excited. ire and the other subjects present at the meeting were also positively surprised. They began to see Michael in a different light. He was not only a powerful Lord, who was kind and forting, but he was also meticulous and sly.

    The Forest Elves realized that as well after they took notes of the finalized ns that came into existence once Michael tweaked their proposals. The changes didn''t seem like a lot, but they increased the overall efficiency of the ns to a significant degree.

    It was alreadyte afternoon when they finished their meeting. Sun Demos returned to his smallir where the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were waiting, while Michael and the others split up.

    Tiara stayed with Michael. They sparred a little for Michael to see how much his physique had improved after two Sacred Rectification sessions. He then practiced Sacred Rectification a third time, washed up, and went to eat ate lunch with Tiara.

    Talking with Tiara in detail had be a routine after she was finally granted permission to talk more about her family, the Silverfang Tigerfolk, and her past. Michael was still not sure why the Will would suddenly remove some of Tiara''s restrictions, but it was a good thing.

    Tiara felt much better being able to talk about her family and the Silverfangs, and Michael foundfort in listening to her and sharing his own doubts and worries.

    By the time he finished his workout it was already early evening. However, Michael was not yet tired enough to go to sleep. Hence, he and Tiara walked to the outskirts of the territory to start working on the surrounding area. Precisely, Michael used Extraction to remove huge trees that obstructed the growth of several other trees, and bushes, whose roots had spread way too far, restricting the growth of other saplings that had yet to be nted.

    With 6-Star Extraction and the means to extract the origin energy out of the surroundings, Michael could work for a few hours before his mind would grow tired. His head began to ache, giving him a clear warning that things were going to get worse if he continued.

    Thus Michael looked at the countless trees that had been properly extracted and separated into even parts and decided that he had done enough for tonight. His subordinates had more than enough materials to build a few hundred treehouseplexes with his work of a few hours. That would keep his subordinates busy for a while.

    "I am not sure if I should say that, but I was a little bit worried about you in the past, Master," Tiara said as they returned to the Wooden Manor.

    Her voice was soft and quiet, barely audible to Michael who was walking next to her. Michael turned to Tiara, who didn''t even dare to lift her gaze.

    "You know¡­you can do whatever you want. You are our Lord, and we will obey you no matter what youmand us¡­even if that means you want to wreak havoc and turn the entire Untamed Jungle upside down¡­or the Sacred Desert¡­" Tiara said hesitatingly. She kept staring at the ground before adding, "Of course, we would also ept a calm andposed life. It''s fine if you don''t desire power. Not everyone is thirsty for power."

    Michael felt a little bit weird listening to Tiara right now.

    What did he desire? Was it power?

    Of course, Michael liked the feeling of growing stronger. He loved being able to overpower those who thought lightly of him and to use his power to protect his territory. It was also great to grow stronger alongside Kaleb and the rest.

    Did that mean he desired power? Probably.

    However, the reason was not because of power itself, but because of the things he could do by being powerful.

    "Actually, I think I already know what I want to do¡­" Michael mumbled mostly to himself rather than Tiara, who lifted her head to look at him.

    There was a lot Michael wanted to do and achieve.

    One of the dreams he and Danny had was to find out more about the Fenrir family. They wanted to find out who their ancestor had been to enrage so many Divine Lifeforms, and how their entire bloodline ended up getting cursed.

    To achieve that they would have to find out more about the Will of the Origin Expanse, and how it worked. Michael and Daniel didn''t even know what or who the Will actually was. Everyone only knew that it was omnipotent and that it ruled over the Origin Expanse ¨C or so most said without any hard evidence.

    But one thing was quite obvious to Michael. The Will''s decisions and actions were weird. Sometimes, Michael felt that the Will wanted to give him a helping hand while doing the exact opposite during other times. Thetter happened most of the time, pushing him into hell by throwing obstacles and enemies his way.

    It felt like the Will had a personal grudge against the Fenrirs ¨C that it paid most attention to them rather than others. That didn''t make any sense.

    Other than fulfilling one of his brother''s dreams, Michael wanted to raid the Temple of the Forgotten as well. His adventurous spirit had awakened when he found the Temple of the Forgotten, and he wanted to know more about it.

    Raiding the Temple of the Forgotten had to be postponed for quite a while, and Michael was not actually sure when he could start the conquest, but he was eagerly working toward this goal.

    But there was one thing he wanted even more than anything else.

    Michael wanted to know more about his brother''s death and avenge him -- even if that meant he had to go against his own kind.

    Nobody was allowed to touch his beloved and escaped unscathed!

 Chapter 302 Colosseum

    <h4>Chapter 302 Colosseum</h4>

    ?

    Michael left the Origin Expanse a few dayster with his physique fully restored.

    After returning to the Saphirke Military Academy, Michael first walked over to the Bartholomew Shop where he handed his shopping list to the staff. He then entered the appraisal room with another attendant while the staff began to get the goods written in the list.

    ''I hope they find everything,'' He thought while retrieving all Artifacts that had been starting to collect dust in his War Rune''s storage space.

    Following the Artifacts, Michael also retrieved the blueprints he didn''t need since they were duplicates.

    "I hope you can give me a good price for everything," Michael said to the attendant, whose eyes widened in surprise.

    The attendant took a while to regain his senses. He then called the shop manager to proceed with the purchase of the Artifacts and blueprints since he was not authorized to make such a big deal on his own.

    Meanwhile, Michael sat down on a chair and opened sta messenger. Unfortunately, his good mood was ruined by a particr chat on sta messenger. It was his parents'' chat where a few new messages were waiting to be read.

    But Michael didn''t even think of opening his parents'' chat. He snorted and closed sta messenger. Now that Danny died they wanted to be back in his life? Sorry, but the train of redemption departed a long time ago!

    His mood worsened the more he thought about their parents. That was something the shop manager noticed the moment he arrived in the appraisal room. Swallowing his saliva when he perceived the ripples in the air Michael''s presence caused, the shop owner hurried to his attendant.

    For the next ten minutes, nobody uttered a word. The shop owner and the attendant appraised the goods as fast as they could before they calcted the price for every Artifact and blueprint using the Diamond Membership''s quota. Michael was satisfied with the money he was about to receive.

    Unfortunately, most of it would be used up to pay for the items he was about to purchase. This robbed him of the joy of earning a fortune near instantaneously.

    In less than half an hour, Michael earned more than a billion dors, only to use up everything the next moment. Michael had entered the Bartholomew Shop without any money and he left the shop with empty pockets as well.

    ''In the past, I would have considered one billion a huge sum. Now¡­it''s still a lot, but I have huge expenses to fortify my territory.'' Michael mused to himself, a faint smile on his lips.

    He felt much better after leaving his parents'' chat unread. His focus switched to the dozens of memory crystals he had purchased to store his memories about the Laxarta Library inside. The memory crystals, followed by more than a dozen body refinement techniques that had been specialized for Summons of particr sses such as Archers, Assassins, Berserkers, Knights, and so on, required most of his money.

    However, Michael was not too bothered about the money he had to pay. If he didn''t use the money he had earned through hard work, why would he even try so hard to earn money, in the first ce? He knew thatbining the specialized body refinement techniques with Pandemonium''s Requiem, and the newly procured pills would provide great results. His territory and people would surely benefit from his purchase!

    Michael entered the Origin Expanse for five minutes to hand the specialized body refinement techniques to the Librarians and Schrs to duplicate them for his Summons before he left the Origin Expanse once again. He then moved to the Ranking Arena, which was also known as the Colosseum.

    It was a huge amphiteather made of stone. The Colosseum was oval with rows of arches and seats surrounding the arena. Michael strode slowly through the entrance, only to freeze in his tracks when he realized just how big the colosseum truly was.

    There were a total of ten arenas surrounded by tens of rows of seats that could house more than 200,000 spectators. But that was not all.

    Michael was also stupefied by the massive enchantements that created an intricate design all over the Colosseum''s surface. The ovepping enchantments wereplex, and they seemed to change into different shapes, depicting various images that told stories of the Colosseum''s history.

    ''Is that a Relic of the Origin Expanse?'' Michael couldn''t help but think.

    The Colosseum felt extremely old. The interior of the Colosseum felt ancient and reminded him of some forgotten era, simr to the presence of the Temple of the Forgotten.

    Michael spent a few seconds gathering his thoughts and observing his surroundings before his attention moved to the two billboards that levitated high up in the air. The billboards were at a height of approximately 20 meters above the Colosseum''s center and were rotating slowly, showing everyone the rankings up to top 100.

    Michael focused on the freshman ranking, where he found Kaleb Zenovia, Lincoln Piedra, and Zeke Lavita amongst the 12 Stars.

    ''None of them is the freshman''s Sun? Interesting.''

    His attention lingered on the freshman ranking for quite a while. Only after the noises of amotion reached him did Michael finally divert his attention.

    "William ck challenged Quinn Karta!!" Someone squealed near Michael.

    "The Sun has been challenged atst," Another voice reached his ears.

    Michael''s eyes moved back to the ranking board where he saw Quinn Karta''s name framed in golden letters and the Symbol of the Sun etched right next to his name. Quinn Karta was the sun of the freshman year!

    On the other hand, William ck was ranked the 10th Star on the ranking board.

    The ck household belonged to the nobility. They were only minor nobles, but that didn''t mean William ck could be underestimated. His Soultrait was much stronger than the Soultraits his family awakened in thest few centuries. He was the hope and future of the ck household and received the vast majority of the ck household''s ie in the form of investments.

    Michael could faintly recall Kaleb speaking about William ck. Kaleb had been challenging the ranking board for quite a while now, and he said that William ck was one of the toughest enemies he had fought. Even his 7-Star Frozen Nova hadn''t been strong enough to prate William''s defenses.

    Of course, that was mostly because Kaleb could not yet unleash Frozen Nova''s full power, but it was surprising that someone couldpletely block Kaleb''s attack nheless. That was also why Michael could remember William ck''s name.

    ''He is only ranked the 10th Star despite such strength? In that case, how strong is Quinn Karta?'' Michael thought, subconsciously turning to the first arena where more than a hundred students had already gathered.

    All of them wanted to watch the battle between the Sun and the 10th Star, and Michael decided to join them.

    He was not really in a rush. Furthermore, it would be better to know how strong the Stars were since he had to defeat one of them until tomorrow. Analyzing theirbat prowess and preparing strategies against the Freshman Stars would most definitely help him to be ready when it was time for him to challenge them.

    "Michael?" A familiar voice from behind attracted Michael''s attention. He turned around and saw Lincoln with Zeke.

    "I didn''t expect to see you here," Lincoln said before he appraised Michael''s physique. He smiled lightly at what he said and patted his shoulder with some force, "It''s good to see that you''re back."

    Michael saw that Zeke nodded his head faintly in agreement. If not for the passive enhancement from Eagle Eyes, Michael wouldn''t even have seen Zeke''s nod. He had to suppress a chuckle and pat Lincoln back in return.

    "Are you guys here for a challenge, or to watch the Sun fighting the 10th Star?" He asked the two childhood friends, who turned to the first arena in anticipation.

    "I would say both. We have a challenge scheduled in an hour or so, but we came earlier after we heard that William challenged Quinn. Their rivalry is really¡­interesting," Lincoln answered, pushing Michael lightly in the direction of the first arena.

    "Come, let''s watch the battle together."

    Michael wanted to watch the battle either way. He joined Lincoln and Zeke, who sat down in the first row to take in every little detail of the battle.

    "By the way, who is Quinn Karta? I don''t think I''ve heard of his name before. Is he like me?" Michael asked lightly when he saw the two young men standing opposite each other in the arena.

    Michael wasn''t mocking Quinn with his question, but it wasmonly known that the descendants of big families were born with stronger Soultraits.

    Awakened with a high Tier, and powerful high-ranked Soultraits were more likely to produce talented offspring because of their DNA''s high potency. However, the highly potent DNA resulted in a low fertility rate due to various reasons.

    Awakened extend their lifespan by growing stronger, yet female Awakened possess only a certain number of egg cells with which they were born. By growing stronger and increasing their lifespan, the body will make adjustments and release their egg cells over a longer period of time. On the other hand, men''s seed increases in potency as they grow stronger. They require the egg cell of a strong Awakened to ensure the survival of their child.

    There were exceptions to both cases, but they were rare to find., which was even more reason why most descendants of big families were treated like treasures.

    But even then there were exceptions ¨C just like Michael. Extraction was extremely powerful. It helped him grow much stronger and rival noble descendants even though he didn''t have his entire family nurturing him into a future powerhouse.

    The training these descendants received changed them. It took away their childishness, recing it with forced maturity and discipline. At least, that was the case for some descendants of Supreme Families and High Nobles. They were taught about their responsibilities from a young age, and that they had to be the best to bring their family honor and glory.

    That was also something Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke had been taught. They had numerous responsibilities and were often not allowed to live the life of an ordinary teenager.

    But that was exactly why Michael was so confused when he stared at the Sun of the freshmen.

    Quinn Karta was jumping lightly up and down with a vibrant smile on his face.

    He didn''t seem nervous about fighting William ck. On the contrary, he was smiling a bit foolishly.

    "I get what you mean. Quinn is¡­different," Zeke said, speaking for the first time since they met in the Colosseum.

    Michael nced at Zeke, hoping that he would say more. However, Zeke merely pointed toward the arena and added,

    "Just watch the battle."

 Chapter 303 Sun vs Star

    <h4>Chapter 303 Sun vs Star</h4>

    "Quinn Karta belongs to a High Noble house that copsed a decade ago. Members of Dark Heavens attacked the Karta household on Quinn''s birthday. Every member of the family was present, yet only Quinn survived. Apparently, Quinn had been with his grandfather at that time, and his grandfather unleashed his power as a Peak Higher Lifeform to protect him," Lincoln told Michael when he noticed that his friend was mindlessly staring at the battlefield.

    "That day we did not only lose against the Dark Heavens for the first time, but we also lost a High Noble household, and one of the few Tier-6 powerhouses of the human race. It was really a terrifying day," Zeke added quietly.

    He looked away when Michael looked at him. It was almost like Zeke didn''t want to talk about that day.

    Lincoln patted Zeke''s back before he pulled Michael closer to him.

    "His sister was married to Quinn''s brother. They both died in that incident," Lincoln whispered.

    Michael figured that he shouldn''t speak more about the incident after hearing that. So he diverted his attention back to the battlefield where Quinn and William were waiting for the start of the battle.

    Quinn''s upbringing was entirely different from the other descendants of High Nobles given that his entire family died a decade ago. Michael was certain that Quinn inherited lots of money, probably even the secret techniques of his family, but none of that was the same as having powerhouses paying attention to your training, studies, and actions.

    Quinn didn''t have the same responsibilities as his peers, and Michael could imagine that he had other goals as well.

    ''If I were him, I would strive to be strong enough to execute Dark Heavens,'' Michael thought as he watched the young man, whose golden hair fluttered in the air.

    Quinn Karta''s physique didn''t seem anything special. He had wlessly fair skin and was lean. His physique was clearly honed to turn him athletic rather than bulky. His muscles were well-defined and his golden eyes were full of vigor. The sheen in his eyes was dazzling.

    Funnily enough, William ck lookedpletely different than Quinn. He had long ck hair that was tied back in a ponytail. His dark eyes seemed to absorb the light in the surroundings, and he had toned skin that highlighted his bulging muscles even more.

    Michael exerted Eagle Eyes at full power as thebatants walked to the opposite sites of the arena. The battle started not long after with the ringing of a loud bell.

    The ringing still resounded in the arena when both Quinn and William jumped into action.

    William manifested a ck armor, along with a thin longsword in his left hand, and a dagger for his right. He then stomped on the ground and sted forward.

    As he shot forward, darkness shot out from the ground beneath him. And his shadow expanded rapidly, coating William''s feet and calves, resulting in a sudden burst of speed.

    And while William charged forward, Quinn didn''t move. He summoned two silver daggers and a leather armor, but he didn''t move from the spot. Instead, he used his own Soultrait, which manifested golden marks all over his body.

    The golden marks were intricate andplex. They released a heavy pressure in the surroundings naturally, and changed the atmosphere over a long distance.

    Even MIchael could sense the heavy pressure despite his seat was more than 50 meters from the battlefield.

    "Dragon might?" Michael blurted out when he recalled what this familiar presence was.

    It was stronger than the Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might, but weaker than the Red Dragon''s presence. Nheless, it was clearly the presence of a dragon that resided within the golden marks that covered Quinn''s entire body.

    The marks were the most apparent on his face, turning Quinn''s already handsome face into a masterpiece. Seeing Quinn''s face covered in the beautiful golden marks, Michael had to acknowledge that Quinn was otherworldly beautiful. It was eerie.

    The dragon marks began to glow as Quinn circted energy through his entire body to enhance himself. He kicked his feet off the ground and shot forward, crossing a distance of more than ten meters in an instant.

    He appeared next to William and shed at his neck mercilessly. William reacted in time, erupting a wall of darkness that shot out of the ground to block Quinn''s sh. Yet, instead of fully blocking Quinn''s attack, the dagger was merely slowed down. That gave William just enough time to lift his dagger and block Quinn''s attack.

    But before Quinn''s dagger could be blocked it disappeared. Quinn disappeared along with the dagger, confusing his opponent for a second. They reappeared behind William, whose head had already flicked to Quinn the moment the Sun of the freshman year disappeared.

    It was obvious that William was aware of Quinn''s powers. Everyone participating in the freshman ranking had to expose some of their powers to jump up in the ranks.

    With their powers exposed, many students created strategies to counter the powerful Soultraits of their opponents.

    William ck had studied Quinn Karta long enough to know how the Sun of the freshman usually fought. His Dragon Mark enhanced his agility, dexterity and perception drastically. But that was not all. They allowed Quinn to jump through space ¨C even if it was only a short distance. William had prepared fighting Quinn for months, and he was finally ready to defeat him!

    William used his Soultrait, Darkness Manifestation, to release several darkness vines from the ground. The vines coiled around Quinn''s leg, pinning him down to the ground. They restricted his ability to jump through space, drastically reducing Quinn''sbat prowess.

    However, instead of panicking, Quinn just smiled. He revealed his empty right hand, which caused many students to gasp. William realized that Quinn''s weapon had disappeared when Quinn teleported behind him.

    He was just about to turn back, only to feel something shoot past his neck. The membrane of darkness covering his neck was cut at once, and the remnants of darkness dispersed in all directions while Quinn moved the dagger artifact in the air using his mind and origin energy.

    The Dragon Mark enhanced the energy density and purity of the origin energy inside his body enough to easily control the dagger artifact. The artifact moved through the air ording to his will. It cut through the darkness vines that had coiled around his leg, freeing Quinn.

    Quinn didn''t seem under any pressure. On the contrary, he exuded far more pressure than most Tier-2 Lord could endure without breaking into a sweat.

    Witnessing how easily Quinn moved through the arena, and how easily he nearly killed him, William could only grit his teeth in frustration.

    He manifested darkness all around him andpressed it into needles. The darkness needles burst forth with terrific eleration. They could cross a distance of 15 meters seemingly instantaneously. Therefore the darkness needles pierced deep into Quinn''s flesh the moment they''d been released ¨C or so everyone thought would happen in the next second.

    However, reality waspletely different.

    The darkness needles shot through Quinn, causing his body to distort. For a moment, Michael was confused. He applied severalyers of Enhancement on Eagle Eyes while continuing to watch the battle with increasing focus.

    ''Mirror Image? A duplicate?'' Michael wondered as he watched Quinn''s body disperse in all directions as if the young man was made of gas.

    Quinn''s real body appeared next to William a secondter. His Dragon Marks shone brightly, dispelling the darkness in his immediate surrounding all while altering the origin energy around them.

    Applying more Enhancementyers to Eagle Eyes, Michael quickly realized that the Dragon Marks were influencing the surrounding origin energy. The Dragon Marks annexed the surrounding energy by slowly altering it. That way, Quinn didn''t have to put in more efforts to empower the Dragon Marks with more energy, and channel it into the dagger artifacts. Instead, he could use his own energy storage to circte it through his body, further amplifying his strength, speed and perception.

    The energy altered by the Dragon Mark possessed quite interesting properties as well. It repelled harmful substances, ensuring that William''s darkness couldn''t touch Quinn wherever he appeared after his teleportation.

    Michael considered this quite helpful, but there was more to the Dragon Mark and the ability to teleport than one could see with the bare eye. Being in possession of Eagle Eyes, which had been enhanced with severalyers of Enhancement right now, Michael could clearly see the particles of origin energy in the surroundings.

    Under ordinary circumstances, the surrounding wouldn''t release origin energy. However, the Colosseum released origin energy naturally to mimic the environment of the Origin Expanse in battle. Michael could see origin energy particles and streams of energy with Eagle Eyes ¨C once fully unleashed and enhanced with severalyers of Enhancement. That may not be useful in most cases, but it was exceptionally helpful right now.

    The ability to see origin energy allowed him to clearly tell the difference between the Dragon Mark, and Quinn''s ability to teleport.

    "Is the Dragon Mark Quinn''s only Soultrait? Isn''t it way too powerful?" Michael asked, exaggerating a little bit intentionally, only to receive a nod from both Lincoln and Zeke.

    "His Dragon Mark is quite powerful. The more energy he channels into the Dragon Marks the stronger he will be enhanced physically. Simultaneously, his energy control and the purity of his origin energy will be enhanced the stronger the Dragon Mark glow. It is interesting that Quinn''s strength increases the longer he fights. That turns him into an even more terrifying opponent than most, especially with the Dragon Mark''s ability to teleport him out of danger, and initiate surprise attacks from every angle," Lincoln exined without looking away from the arena for a second.

    But Michael could only frown deeply.

    ''You guys really think that he has only one Soultrait?''

 Chapter 304 Push

    <h4>Chapter 304 Push</h4>

    It was a little bit tricky to tell, but Michael figured that Quinn''s Dragon Marks had nothing to do with his ability to jump through space.

    The Dragon Marks and the ability to jump through spaceplemented each other well, but they were not the same. The two powers werepletely different Soultraits.

    Dragon Mark was a Soultrait that enhanced the user''s Agility, Perception, and energy control drastically. It also purified the origin energy inside the body while altering and annexing the origin energy in the immediate surroundings, resulting in the creation of energy that repelled harmful substances, and forces to a certain degree.

    Thebination of all effects turned the Dragon Mark into an extremely powerful Soultrait with, at least, 6-Stars. Michael even wondered if the Dragon Marks were a 7-Star Soultrait given that Quinn''s strength continued to increase as the fight progressed.

    Meanwhile, his other Soultrait was rather simple. It allowed him to jump through space, simr to mages in games blinking through space to change their position.

    The Soultrait was most definitely not of a high star-rating, but that didn''t affect Quinn much because his Dragon Mark''s energy purification strengthened the ''Blink'' Soultrait''s power drastically. As the fight progressed and the purity of Quinn''s origin energy increased, it grew much easier to blink through space with shorter dys. It was also much easier to blink more often in session.

    That was something Michael realized quite quickly.

    ''Why is nobody noticing that he has two Soultraits? Isn''t it obvious¡­or does nobody bother?'' Michael wondered, but he figured it quite easily.

    It didn''t really matter whether Quinn had one or two Soultraits since everyone knew what he was capable of. Everyone knew the effects of his Soultraits, whether they thought it was just one overpowered, versatile Soultrait, or twoplementary Soultraits.

    With that in mind, Michael''s attention pulled back to the battle that was about to reach the climax.

    Quinn''s jumps were getting faster while the intensity of his attacks increased as well. He was in front of William initiating a sh one moment, only to blink behind William to continue the sh with the same momentum as before. A wall of darkness shot out of the ground, intending to block the sh just a moment before it was about to connect to William''s flesh. But Quinn had already blinked away a third time.

    He reappeared next to the wall of darkness, his silver dagger only centimeters away from William''s neck.

    The ability to sh while blinking through space, and the fact that Quinn could turn his simple attacks into iprehensible attacks was exceptional. He didn''t even use much of his own energy since he was mostly using the annexed energy in the surrounding to support his blinks through space.

    ''These Soultraits would be quite useful for Tiara,'' Michael thought, the golden sheen in his eyes intensifying as Eagle Eyes was utilized at its peak.

    William was startled by Quinn''s agility. He expected Quinn to be powerful but the lethality of his opponent was beyondprehension. Quinn''sbat style was simple, yet deadly. It had been honed in thousands of battles, turning Quinn''s Soultrait and exceptionalbat awareness into bloodthirsty weapons that sought the blood of their enemies.

    William could barely turn his head away from Quinn while simultaneously releasing a st of darkness from his left hand. The st of darkness wasn''t deadly but it was strong enough to push Quinn away. His silver dagger missed William by a hair''s breadth, which gave William enough time to change his tactic.

    William stored his dagger inside the War Rune, recing it with a dark orb that seemed to melt into William''s palm the moment it manifested.

    The orb turned liquid and coated William''s hand as he channeled energy into it. Following the energy that entered the melting orb, William''s presence changed. His pores opened and darkness began to ooze from them. The darkness was denser than before, shrouding William''s entire body within seconds.

    A fearsome armor of darkness manifested over William''s body, protecting every inch of him.

    The vast majority of William''s darkness gathered around his left hand where the Dark Orb Artifact had molten. The darkness grew thicker and morphed into short sword des that began to circte around William to protect him from all directions.

    No matter which angle Quinn chose, sword des were waiting for him.

    After the dark orb had enhanced William''s Darkness Manifestation Soultrait, his energy consumption increased ever so slightly. But that was worth it. After all, William''s Soultrait grew stronger and his control increased exponentially as well.

    Unfortunately, Quinn didn''t remain idle. His Dragon Marks'' sheen intensified. The glowing golden marks shone brighter with every second that passed. Michael could sense a drastic change in Quinn''s presence. Quinn used most of the origin energy inside him to channel them straight into the Dragon Marks, which reacted instantly.

    The Dragon Marks expanded in size and dug into Quinn''s flesh, causing blood to spill out from the edges of the marks. In response to this drastic measure, Quinn''s power doubled, and his being began to radiate the Dragon Mark''s repelling force. The repelling force expanded and reached Quinn''s daggers in no time.

    Once Quinn''s daggers were coated in the repelling force of the Dragon Marks, it wasn''t too difficult for Quinn to blink behind William and cut through the darkness sword des that revolved around him. I was only a matter of time before the silver daggers collided with the sword des, and lost some of their power. They were split apart with brute force, providing Quinn leeway to shoot forward and thrust the silver daggers into William''s darkness armor.

    Quinn focused the repelling force from all over his body on the tip of the silver daggers, forcefully repelling William''s darkness armor as the silver des cut into the 10th Star of the freshman.

    A sirene resounded through the first arena, causing Quinn to blink backward.

    He was still holding his daggers, warm blood trickling down the des.

    On the other hand, William remained unmoving. His darkness armor and sword des dispersed, revealing William''s pale face that was filled with disbelief.

    He couldn''t believe that Quinn had such an easy time defeating him. Even if he was only the 10th Star, how could Quinn win that easily? William didn''t want to ept that. He just couldn''t ept it!!

    "The victory goes to Quinn Karta! May the sun shine brightly on you!" The referee said loudly while sending the medic team of the Colosseum to William ck to tend to his wounds.

    Quinn Karta bowed to the referee before turning away. He nced over to the rows of spectators and nodded faintly when he saw Zeke seated in the first row. After that, he left without saying a word.

    "I don''t understand why William keeps fighting Quinn. As long as doesn''t find a way to stop Quinn''s repelling force he won''t ever be able to win against him," Lincoln grumbled quietly, clearly dissatisfied with the end of the battle.

    Zeke just looked at Lincoln, shaking his head, "Aren''t you the same? Even if your Soultrait is disadvantageous against opponents like me, you still try to defeat me every single time. Why? Because you want to grow stronger to survive battles against opponents with simr Soultraits in the Origin Expanse. William might desire to win against Quinn just like you want to win against me, but he uses Quinn as a grinding stone to test out various tactics to counter Soultraits that hold an advantage against his own."

    Michael had long since figured that some Soultraits were exceptionally useful against certain enemies. If your enemy had a Soultrait that required lots of focus, Michael could just use Spirit Whip to prevent him from executing his Soultrait. That way, Spirit Whip would even be useful against Awakened with 5-Star Soultraits, or even 6-Star Soultraits ¨C as long as they weren''t able to block his mental attack.

    Michael had been weak against Soultraits such as Lincoln''s Stone Giant, and Zeke''s Eye of Illusion. In fact, Michael still had no clue how to block out Eye of Illusion''s power. It was simply too difficult to block mental attacks, especially if you couldn''t be certain whether you had already been caught in Zeke''s Illusion or if the effect of his Soultrait had yet to take hold of your body and senses.

    Only Lincoln''s Stone Giant was something he should be able to handle now that he possessed Reinforced Sword Qi. Combining his Soultraits, in addition to Extraction, Michael was confident to deal with Lincoln''s Soultrait, which was something he wouldn''t have been able to do without 6-Star Extraction and 5-Star Reinforced Sword Qi.

    Lincoln''s Soultrait was quite powerful and focused greatly on Earth Maniption, Semi-Transformation, and a tank-like defense. The Stone Giant Soultrait was like abination of three 6-Star Soultraits.

    But that was what made it interesting to fight against Lincoln.

    "What are you going to do now? I heard that your punishment has been decided and that you have to participate in the Interdimensional g War. That means you''vee to the Colosseum today to be one of the 12 Stars, aren''t you?" Zeke asked Michael, speaking a lot more than usual.

    It was almost like the battle between Quinn and William triggered a change in Zeke. However, Lincoln knew better. He knew that Zeke was the most interested in Michael''sbat prowess after they witnessed his fight against the Zan Twins and Mr. Klein.

    In the first ce, Zeke was the reason Lincoln called his family to turn Michael''s punishment into an opportunity for Michael to shine during the Interdimensional g War.

    "I guess, it''s a good thing that I have to participate in the Interdimensional g War. It gave me a task to strive for, and helped me get back on the path I''m supposed to walk on¡­I guess¡­ Either way, I''ll have to be one of the 12 Stars until tomorrow, otherwise, y''all will leave to meet up with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs for the Battle Exchange without me." Michael said without feeling any pressure right now.

    He might have witnessed thebat prowess of the 10th Star and the Sun of the freshman, but Michael was also aware of the advantage he held over most Awakened.

    As long as he didn''t challenge Zeke or Quinn, everything should be fine.

    He shrugged mentally.

    It was a little bit annoying that he had to be present at the Battle Exchange, and win three fights there ¨C to participate in the Interdimensional g War, but it was exactly like he said before. Having a goal to achieve kept Michael going forward. It forced him to get back to his senses and look toward the future rather than letting his mind reminisce about the events of the past.

    Maybe it was a push he had needed to get back on the track.

    Thus, rather than being fueled with annoyance, Michael felt that it was much better to look forward to the battles in the Colosseum, the Battle Exchange, and the g War.

    At the end of the day, all of those events would allow him to grow stronger.

    And strength was what he really needed.

 Chapter 305 Destructive Soultrait

    ?

    All Michael had to do was advance to the 12th Star in the freshman ranking.

    Unfortunately, he had to meet a few requirements before he could challenge one of the 12 Stars, otherwise, everyone in the Saphirke Military Academy could challenge the 12 Stars all the time.

    The requirements were a restriction to ensure that the 12 Stars wouldn''t have to be in the Colosseum all day to ept other students'' challenges.

    First of all, Michael had to enter the top 100 in the rankings. Once that was done Michael had to win five challenges in session before he could challenge one of the 12 Stars.

    He had yet to start his thorough research of the 12 Stars and would do so while waiting for the students he challenged to arrive.

    Most students were in the Origin Expanse most of the time. It could take a while before the system found someone who was free and who he could challenge in the top 500 rankings. With that in mind, Michael researched the other Stars.

    ''I won''t challenge Quinn, and William seems a little bit annoying as well. Extraction probably works against his Darkness Manifestation, but I don''t want everyone to focus on Extraction yet,'' Michael thought, feeling a little bit lost.

    He was not hesitant about using Extraction openly, however, he would rather focus on his other Soultraits. Michael noticed that some families took note of hisbat prowess, otherwise, they wouldn''t have punished him by forcing him to participate in the Interdimensional g War.

    The g War entailed participating in the Battle Exchange, where everyone could witness and record his battles to analyze his Soultraits properly. As a prerequisite, bing part of the human representatives for the Battle Exchange required him to fight at least six battles. Six battles would be more than enough to analyze most of his Soultraits ¨C if he exposed their full might that is.

    Since he was not sure what influential families would do to him once they found out about his Soultraits ¨C especially Extraction ¨C, Michael hesitated a little.

    Fortunately, his hesitation didn''tst long. The system found a student who readily epted the challenge he issued to the top 500. Michael entered the first arena less than half an hour after the battle of the 10th Star and the Sun of the freshman.

    After stepping inside the arena, Michael browsed through the bits of information the Colosseum provided about his opponent.

    "Ss Miller, 18 years old, and Peak Tier-1. Well¡­" Michael was a little surprised. He didn''t expect his opponent to be only at the Peak of the 1st Tier.

    ''Am I already that spoiled?'' Michael chuckled inwardly. ''Obviously not every reaches the 2nd Tier at the age of 18. Danny was already 20 when he reached the 2nd Tier. Not everyone is as fast as Lincoln, and the others.''''

    Being surrounded by heavenly prodigies such as Kaleb, Lincoln and Zeke changed Michael''s opinion of other people''s strength drastically. He actually expected everyone in the top 500 to be a Tier-2 Lord with powerful Soultraits.

    However, the bitter truth pulled him back to reality. Kaleb and the others were not only prodigies with exceptionally powerful Soultraits, but they were also in possession of the best energy absorption techniques, and resources most people could only dream about.

    They could hunt monsters at a higher Tier by themselves, and receive their energy influx to improve their refinement degree rapidly. To add on, they had a muchrger pool of Combat Summons from the beginning. Their families supported them with Named Summoning Scrolls to ensure that their descendants would be well-protected, and that their descendant''s Summons would hunt for them, providing additional energy shares.

    Combining their innate talent with the exceptional support of their family, Kaleb, Lincoln, Zeke and the others could widen the gap in their strength and rankingpared to their peers significantly. Most of them were even stronger than those who were one or two years older than them. But that was not umon for descendants of big families. On the contrary, it was quite normal for them to be stronger.

    At the end of the day, there was also a gap between Michael and his friends. Even Kaleb''s refinement degree exceeded Michael''s at this point. But that was only natural. Michael had wasted several weeks recuperating from his injuries. He spent a good amount of time epting his brother''s death, and getting back on his the tracks. Last but not least, Michael required a lot more origin energy to refine his War Rune than others. He was in possession of seven Soultraits at and above 4-Stars, after all!

    But Michael neverpeted with the others with his War Rune''s refinement degree. Rather than that, Michael made the most out of the strength he possessed by fighting Kaleb and the others head-on.

    Rushing to improve his refinement degree wasn''t helpful either. Michael had so many things to do, and so much to improve that he believed it would be harmful for his foundation if he were to stress himself with the advancement of his War Rune.

    While Michael was lost in thoughts, Ss Miller entered the arena no less than ten minutes after he epted the challenge.

    "Hello there. I haven''t seen you in the Colosseum yet. There is no information about you on the Colosseum''s forum either. Looks like I''m your first!" Ss Miller said with a bright smile on his lips.

    He manifested a Chainmail Artifact, followed by a Morningstar Weapon Artifact which he swung around proficiently. Michael merely lifted his eyebrow while pointing at the medic team that was stationed in the middle of the Colosseum. They paid attention to all battles and would rush over when abatant had been severely injured.

    By having high-ranked Awakened with strong Soultraits in the Colosseum one didn''t have to hold back too much. All one had to pay attention to while fighting was to not instantly kill someone. Other than that, everything was fine.

    The medic team noticed Michael, and stepped closer. It was amon urrence forbatants to motion to the medic team. It usually meant that someone would sustain lethal injuries in the uing battle.

    "You''re already calling the medic team? Don''t you think you''re already shitting your pants after merely seeing my morningstar?" Ss Miller asked, but Michael ignored him.

    Michael thought about summoning the Typhern Leather Armor Set, only to recall that the Artifact had been burned to crisp. Instead, he summoned the Wyverntooth Spear and changed his stance, ready for battle.

    Ss lifted an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. He changed his stance as well, and the battle started with the ring of the arena''s bell.

    Ss'' body expanded the moment the battle started. His hair grew longer and a monkey tail grew from his tailbone. His chainmail expanded alongside his size as he charged forward with great speed. The morningstar moved through the air like the deadly weapon it was, but Michael remained untouched.

    Instead of using the Wyverntooth Spear to attack, Michael created several Qi Swords around him. They were shrouded in a white sheen that came from the threeyers of Enhancement he applied to the Soultrait Symbol of Reinforced Sword Qi. After spending a few days training his Soultraits in the Origin Expanse, Michael figured out how to manifest proper Qi Swords. He couldn''t control too many simultaneously yet, but that was not important.

    A bunch of them were more than enough.

    Michael released the enhanced Qi Swords with a burst of energy. They turned into silver shes and cut through the air, heading straight to Ss Miller, whose countenance changed drastically. His eyes widened in surprise, and he found himself unable to react fast enough when the Qi Swords cut through his tough skin.

    A total of five Qi Swords impacted heavily upon him. Four of them focused on Ss'' limbs while thest one pierced through the heavy metal chainmail that ought to protect Ss from exactly such attacks. Sadly, the enhanced Qi Sword cut through the metal like a hot knife through butter before advancing ahead, digging deep into Ss'' chest.

    The remaining Qi Swords cut deep into Ss'' limbs as well. They forcefully stopped his charge, and pushed him back. Forced to retreat, a sense of disbelief and shock washed over Ss. He didn''t even realise when his legs caved in, and when he slumped to the ground in a puddle of his own blood.

    As the Qi Swords dispersed, five fountains of blood spurted out of Ss'' body. Only then did Michael react.

    ''Danny told me that his Soultrait is at the peak of a 5-Star Soultrait in terms of attack power. Seems like that was true,'' Michael thought to himself, feeling certain that the Qi Swords wouldn''t have required threeyers of Enhancement to deal with Ss.

    Meanwhile, the medics looked at the bloody mess in front of them in stupor.

    The fastest medic required two seconds before he rushed to Ss Miller, his healing-type Soultrait already fully unleashed.

    "I should have challenged the Zan Twins in here¡­Nobody would haveined about their severed arms," Michael cursed quietly to himself.

    Challenging the Zan Twins and provoking them if they rejected his challenge would have been much more effective than dealing with them next to the watchtower.

    He didn''t resent having attacked them, but Michael was not foolish enough to think that Alice and others could save him every single time.

    Michael had yet to learn more about the influence and power of the strongest families. He couldn''t afford to act foolish just because everything worked in his favor once.

    He would have to keep this in mind for the future. For now, Michael shook his head lightly and turned to the side.

    "Referee. How about you proim the winner?" He asked the referee, who nodded his head slowly as he watched the medics do their job.

    "Victory goes to Michael Fang. Good job," The referee said, which was responded with a faint nod.

    "Let''s continue then."

 Chapter 306 Consecutive

    ?

    The next three challenges ended just like the first one.

    Michael used enhanced Qi Swords to overwhelm his opponents. He inflicted mortal wounds that nearly killed the poor students.

    The 4th challenge had been a little bit more intense but the challenge was still notparable to his sparring sessions with Kaleb, and Lincoln. The sparring sessions were simply on a different level.

    He had begun to lose interest when he saw his opponent for the 5th challenge. Michael was facing a familiar Awakened; Frederik Kolbenheim.

    "I never knew that you reached the top 100 of the freshman ranking," Michael said to Frederik when they met outside the arena.

    "I''ve been trying my best to deepen my understanding of the Inheritance technique. That means I need to fight as much as possible while feeling my Soultrait, Aeoran, and how it influences my body, mind, and soul. It''s pretty interesting," Frederik answered somewhat nonchntly.

    It was easy to tell that Frederik was a little bit tense at this moment, but he tried to look calm andposed.

    Michael knew that Frederik had been working much harder than most Awakened in thest few months. His control of the 3-Star Soultrait, Aeoran, had improved drastically, and his understanding of the Inheritance technique had deepened a lot as well. His Soul had been altered to fit his wind-attributed Soultrait perfectly, and his mind had been refined with the sole purpose of gaining better control of the wind element.

    One could say that Frederik''s whole being had been attuned to the wind element. His control increased exponentially with the passing of time, and his Soultrait''s energy consumption decreased considerably.

    Other than practicing his Inheritance technique to the 3rd stage within a few months, Frederik also advanced to Tier-2. In terms of his War Rune''s refinement degree, Frederik was among the top 25 of the entire year. That achievement spoke volumes about the work he put into bing stronger and to close the gap between himself and Michael.

    "You''ve been working hard. Good job." Michael said, only for Frederik to scoff.

    Looking at Michael''s body, Frederik could tell that Michael had gotten back to his senses. The monster he had known earlier had returned.

    "How about we get started? We should show how strong we''ve grown rather than throwing pleasantries at each other!" Frederik said as he turned to the arena. He entered the first arena and waited impatiently for Michael.

    Michael was pleasantly surprised by Frederik''s temperament. It looked like he changed a lot in thest few months. Maybe, he noticed that he is not a prodigy, and that he has to work hard topete with the real prodigies in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Possessing a 3-Star Soultrait was a grave disadvantagepared to the prodigies with 5-Star, or even 6-Star Soultraits. However, controlling a 3-Star Soultrait with high mastery and proper techniques, such as the Inheritance technique that focused on attuing the entire being to the Soultrait meant that Frederik was most likely stronger than most Lords with 4-Star Soultraits. Maybe even some Lords with 5-Star Soultraits and a War Rune on the same rank would have issues dealing with Frederik.

    That was also why Michael was a little curious. His fight with Frederik was supposed to be unpredictable.

    Once Michael entered the arena the challenge between Michael Fang and Frederik Kolbenheim started soon after.

    Michael Fang summoned Dragon Might and the Wyverntooth Spear. He readied himself the next moment, and paid attention to Frederik''s movements.

    However, all Frederik did was summon arge staff. The staff had arge emerald crystal embedded at the top. It released a bright sheen as Frederik came in touch with the staff that began conjuring strong winds around him in response.

    "Fight!" The referee''s shout rang through the surrounding alongside the arena''s bell.

    Both Michael and Frederik moved simultaneously. Michael instinctively exerted Eagle Eyes with threeyers of Enhancement to see the traces of origin energy all over the arena. Afterward, he conjured six Qi Swords that were released with a burst of energy.

    Michael then shot forward by kicking the ground with a tremendous force.

    Frederik had seen some of Michael''s challenges so he had an inkling of what would happen next. He didn''t advance toward Michael, knowing that the silver swords woulde for him. Instead, he coated his entire body in strong winds all while focusing on his lower body to enhance his agility drastically.

    His weight decreased and he began to move through the surrounding rapidly. Frederik moved left and right without losing any momentum. He evaded the Qi Swords easily and conjured invisible wind swords in response.

    The invisible wind swords were one of Frederik''s deadliest attacks.

    Frederik released them without hesitation as Michael closed in. However, the invisible wind swords didn''t even make it past his Wyverntooth Spear forget reaching Michael.

    Michael had coated the Wyverntooth Spear in the Power of Extraction. He applied severalyers of Enhancement as well, further strengthening the natural Weapon Artifact. Thereafter, Michael moved rapidly, cutting through the invisible wind sword, and extracting bits of the energy that held them together.

    Once they lost these bits of energy, the entire foundation of thepressed wind swords copsed. The winds that had beenpressed prior were released at once, turning the deadly attacks into warm gusts that brushed against Michael''s face.

    ''Don''t think that I will fall into the trap of your invisible winds again,'' Michael thought, the corner of his lips curling up.

    He was aware of the invisible winds Frederik could conjure. They consumed more energy, but they were also deadlier than the greenish hue that coated his winds normally. The greenish hue around the winds Frederik controlled exposed his ns quite easily normally. That was also why Frederik used mind games against his opponent by relying on abination of the winds controlled normally, and the natural invisibility of winds he controlled using a unique elemental technique.

    But to Frederik''s dismay, it didn''t matter whether Frederik attacked him with invisible elemental attacks, or if he used the wind swords coated in the greenish hue. He could see the invisible wind swords just as well thanks to enhanced Eagle Eyes.

    Michael pushed forward, evading several wind des from all directions with subtle motions. He didn''t have to make any big moves against the wind des that bombarded upon him from all the directions. Instead, he could destroy the most annoying attacks while evading the rest without losing too much momentum.

    By the time, Michael finished evading all attacks, the distance between him and Frederik decreased to less than five meters. Frederik was pushed into a corner due to Michael''s precise movements, creating the opportunity Michael had been waiting for.

    He created a Spirit Whip with severalyers of enhancement andshed out at Frederik. However, a quarter of a second before the Spirit Whip impacted, Frederik unleashed a powerful wall of winds. The winds moved rapidly and wrapped around Michael, instantaneously lifting him from the ground.

    In a second, the wall of winds had turned into a typhoon that drained most of Frederik''s energy. But Frederik was ready to use his entire energy as long as he could throw Michael out of the arena that way.

    After sparring with Michael for months, Frederik knew that Michael was extremely strong in terms of physical strength. He was also aware that Michael had an offensive-type Soultrait with which he could issue mental attacks. Mental attacks were Frederik''s biggest worry while tackling an opponent. Unfortunately, he couldn''t make up for hisck of mental fortitude for the time being. He had to focus his whole attention on his Inheritance technique first, otherwise, he would fall back.

    Thus, by allowing Michael to close in, Frederik was already ready to exploit the Colosseum''s rules to the peak. His n was to carry Michael out of the arena before he couldsh out with his mental attack.

    The typhoon engulfing Michael was not humongous. On the contrary, it was rather small and held tightly onto his arms and legs in an attempt to restrict his movements. The winds were powerful and somewhat eerily sharp, cutting into Michael''s flesh hundreds of times. Michael could only groan in response before he grit his teeth to calm his heart and his fiercely working mind.

    Then he allowed his instincts to take over.

    The Power of Extraction shot out of his body, dyeing Michael''s body golden. The winds around his arms and legs were drained of their energy even before the Power of Extraction could be fully unleashed. A screech rang through the surrounding as the Power of Extraction was released explosively, extracting the typhoon''s energy mercilessly.

    Frederik only noticed that he lost control of the typhoon, which dispersed in all directions with great force. The winds whipped against Frederik''s face, who couldn''t help but stare at Michael with an expression of shock and confusion.

    Michaelnded softly on the edge of the arena with a faint smile on his lips.

    His entire body exuded a golden sheen that enhanced the ever-increasing pressure in the arena. Dragon Might''s presence was fully unleashed for the first time since he started challenging his enemies, and several Qi Swords coated in golden light manifested around him.

    "You better evade them," Michael said just before releasing the Qi Swords with a burst of energy.

    Frederik had seen the golden sheen shrouding Michael''s body a few times already. However, he never figured out what the golden sheen could do. Even now that he lost control of the typhoon that had been manifested with his entire focus, the unique ability of his Aether Wand, and the vast majority of his energy, Frederik couldn''t be certain about the power the golden light represented.

    Nheless, he was scared witless. The golden light was several times stronger than his Soultrait ¨C which was something he hardly ever sensed. He felt overpowered, just like it had been when he fought against Zeke, unaware of the potency of his Eye of Illusion.

    It was scary, but Frederik didn''t want to give up.

    He tapped into hisst reserves of energy, leaned forward until he nearly touched the ground, and released a burst of wind beneath his feet after he kicked the ground.

    Frederik shot through the arena in an instant. The Aether Wand in his hands disappeared and was reced by two dangerously gleaming daggers.

    In an instant, Frederik crossed the distance to Michael. He appeared in front of him much faster than Michael could move. His heightened Agility and Dexterity came to disy for the first time in a while.

    Frederik''s hands moved faster than most could follow, his daggers advancing toward Michael''s vital spots with dangerous precision.

    But Michael could see it all.

    The moment Frederik began to lean forward, he had been prepared to enter a closebat fight with his friend.

    What Michael didn''t expect was how fast Frederik had be. Even though they were at the same rank, Frederik was much faster than Michael. His body refinement solely relied on Agility, and Dexterity build.

    His physical strength was not low by any means, but it hadn''t been refined like Michael''s, whose Sacred Rectification body refinement technique focused on an equal distribution of strength, agility, dexterity, and endurance.

    Unfortunately, Frederik missed out on considering an important point.

    Michael was still full of energy ¨C and three 5yer enhanced Spirit Whips hovered around him, ready tosh out at Frederik at a moment''s notice.

 Chapter 307 People Pleaser

    <h4>Chapter 307 People Pleaser</h4>

    When the 5yer enhanced Spirit Whips crashed down on Frederik''s mind, his world turned upside down.

    Frederik had expected a mental attack to hit him, but three consecutive strikes were too much for him to handle. He didn''t even have any energy left to channel through his brain to protect his mind.

    Frederik couldn''t cope with the mental attack without any protection. He was out of energy, groaned in pain, and blood began to ooze out from his nose just before he copsed.

    ''I wonder if there are inheritance techniques for something like Extraction as well,'' Michael wondered while staring down at Frederik.

    His friend lost consciousness and was lying on the ground in front of him, but his mind was fully focused on the power Frederik had been able to exert with a 3-Star Soultrait. Aeroan was a rare elemental-type Soultrait with a focus on materialization. It was stronger than most 3-Star Soultraits, which was also why Frederik reached the top 100 of the freshman year. Unfortunately, Frederik had no way to defeat Michael.

    Extraction''s power was simply too strong. Michael had a strong will and high mental power thanks to the Ceasurium Menta mind-refining technique, and Extraction was a 6-Star Soultrait. Overpowering Frederik''s typhoon hadn''t been too difficult.

    Nheless, Michael was impressed. He didn''t expect Frederik to grow so strong in such a short amount of time. As long as he learned to fight using the strongest moves with Aeroan, Frederik would turn into a menace on the battlefield. That was good to know.

    ''Maybe, I can help you out a little bit with your Soultrait once I can trust you fully,'' Michael thought, feeling that it was a shame to leave Frederik behind like this.

    Frederik had greatbat senses, and now that he focused on growing stronger with all his might, he could make sure to make the most out of the fortune his family possessed.

    The Kolbenheim and Ondo families were not highly influential nobles or descendants of a powerful bloodline. However, they had great advantages in terms of business because Frederik and Jacqueline''s territories were near an ocean. That was rare.

    Unique ingredients to the ocean, energy infused salt, and fishes with rare properties procured in the Origin Expanse could be sold for a fortune, especially the Origin Siphon Starfish.

    The Origin Siphon Starfish was not killed and sold. Instead, it was a monster that was caught alive and sold for an enormous price because it had a very useful Unique Racial Trait. The Origin Siphon Starfish generated and hoarded origin expanse at the expense of food and dispensed it into the surroundings, creating origin energy-rich environment ¨C even outside the Origin Expanse.

    The Kolbenheim and Ondo family''s business empire had been built upon goods procured from the ocean for centuries, and nobody else had been able to dispute their monopoly until now. On the contrary, The Kolbenheim and Ondo families were unparalleled in that domain, and they were experienced at making use of it.

    That was also why they had such great influence in mankind''s society even though their Soultraits were considered rtively weaker.

    Despite being wealthy enough to create Inheritance techniques, unique elemental techniques, and various other means to increase their strength, the gap between Frederik and Michael would grow in the future. That was bound to happen with Michael possessing a Soultrait like Extraction.

    Even his weakestbat-type Soultraits were 4-Star right now. In the future that would change as well with the star rating of his Soultraits increasing.

    Right now, Michael waited patiently until the medic team had tended to Frederik. Out of all the students he had challenged, Frederik was the least injured. The only wounds he sustained were mental, along with being drained of energy.

    Once Frederik regained consciousness, Michael handed him one of his Energy Nourishing Pills. He smiled at his friend and pulled him up from the ground.

    "I really don''t understand how you can grow so much stronger every single time we meet. Your strength is not increasing normally at all. Even the Wind Sage''s Sacred Body with Initial Mastery at the 3rd Stage is not enough to take you by surprise. I really hate to have a monster like you as a friend!" Frederik cursed while looking deep into Michael''s eyes.

    "At least you look at me as a friend now. Took you quite a while," Michael responded, ignoring Frederik''s curses.

    Frederik raised an eyebrow and shrugged lightly. He was not really sure what they were either.

    Theirpetition was nice, but Frederik felt a sense of hatred and helplessness inside him whenever Michael defeated him. Competing with Michael was really not a good moral booster.

    "But seriously¡­ How the hell are you getting stronger that quickly? I know you said you''ve been in a Lord Rift, which exins where you got these Silver Sword Soultrait from, but that doesn''t exin everything. You really are a mystery¡­and a monster, if I didn''t mention that already," Frederik said, trying to hide how frustrated he was after losing miserably against Michael¡­again.

    Michael thought about revealing bits of his secret for a moment, but he chose against it. He trusted Frederik enough to tell him about some parts of his secrets, but he was also certain that Frederik wasn''t good at keeping secrets ¨C especially with a nosy, clingy lover such as Jacqueline around.

    Michael considered creating a Soul Contract for Frederik, Kaleb, and potentially Alice, but he was not confident enough to cover all potential loopholes yet. Hisck of knowledge about Soul Contracts was enough reason to hesitate. He didn''t want certain facts about Extraction to be exposed to the public ¨C not yet, at least.

    "Maybe, I''ll tell youter. Just know that I''m not going to slow down," Michael teased, a crafty smile forming on his lips.

    Now that he defeated Frederik, Michael entered top 100 with five consecutive wins. He could challenge one of the 12 Stars, which was what he nned to do immediately.

    Unfortunately, the 12 Stars were busy. Except for William who was being tended to, nobody was in the Saphirke Military Academy right now. Well, there were Zeke, Lincoln, and Kaleb, but he didn''t want to challenge them. Michael wished to go with them to the Battle Exchange.

    That was also why Michael had to tell the system that he wanted to challenge the 12th Star, and that the system should inform him once the 12th Star returned.

    Afterward, Michael focused on channeling origin energy into his Legendary Ring Artifact.

    Since his opponent was not here he might as well prepare for the battle properly. Michael felt that he should gift the 12th Star a wee present once she returned from the Origin Expanse.

    With that in mind, Michael joined Frederik and walked over to Lincoln and Zeke. The childhood friends greeted Frederik lightly ¨C neither showing the same enthusiasm they felt for Michael nor being distant like they were usually with other students.

    Frederik didn''t mind their attitude. He knew that they were more interested in Michael. After all, Michael was not affiliated with any big organization, nor rted to one of the Supreme Families, or High Nobles. He was powerful and mysterious, and it should be possible to make him their subordinate.

    Even if Michael wouldn''t be their subordinate anytime in the future, it was obviously easier to deal with Michael ¨C someone who was kind and didn''t meddle in politics and scheming ¨C, rather than dealing with the other descendants, who had been taught how to scheme and exploit others.

    Lincoln liked Michael''s personality and strength. He could tell that Michael was the least likely to betray him in the future ¨C except for Zeke. That, in addition to Michael''s kindness, made it easier to get closer to him.

    On the contrary, Lincoln was not sure what to think about Frederik. It was obvious that Frederik and his lover were spoiled rotten and that they enjoyed the benefits of belonging to a wealthy family. Their Soultraits were not special in his opinion either. The only reasons they epted the Barbaric Couple were that Michael had befriended them and that it looked like Michael''s influence affected them positively.

    "Who are you going to challenge?" Zeke asked straightforwardly.

    Michael smiled lightly at Zeke''s bluntness.

    "The Blood Witch, or whatever she calls herself. The 12th Star," He responded while continuing to channel origin energy into the Legendary Ring Artifact.

    Zeke noticed the faint fluctuations from Michael''s origin energy. He looked at the crimson ring and tilted his head lightly.

    Michael didn''t say anything, but he didn''t hide his n either. He simply waited while continuing to chat with Lincoln and Zeke.

    Meanwhile, a few more students approached the two childhood friends. They tried to get closer to Lincoln and Zeke, only for them to ignore most of them.

    Lincoln and Zeke were not interested in expanding their social circles with weaklings. If anything, the students had to be one of the 12 Stars to gain their attention.

    Michael didn''t really like the way the two thought, but he could understand them to a certain degree.

    "It must be quite annoying to be flocked with strangers all the time. I would have been annoyed for sure," He said at one point. Two dozen students had gathered around their small circle, all of them trying to talk to Zeke and Lincoln.

    Some were also trying to talk to Frederik and Michael in an attempt to get close to Lincoln and Zeke through them. However, Michael simply ignored them. Frederik, on the other hand, decided to turn around and re at them threateningly.

    A few students stepped back, only for others to re at Frederik and step closer.

    "We learn from a young age what it means to be¡­us. Most Descendants of big families are surrounded by people pleasers from the day they''re born. That is also why it''s important to find people, who are straightforward, honest, and would rather beat the shit out of us than trying to please us by losing intentionally," Lincoln said, looking straight at Michael.

    "Hmm¡­yeah, I would rather beat the two of you than lose miserably," Michael said, while silently adding, "...soon¡­"

    Zeke raised an eyebrow when he heard what Michael added silently, while Lincoln smiled.

    "That''s exactly what I''m talking about!"

 Chapter 308 Blood Witch

    <h4>Chapter 308 Blood Witch</h4>

    Michael had assumed that he would have to wait a while until the Blood Witch returned from the Origin Expanse, but he didn''t expect? to be kept waiting until early next morning.

    Hence, he decided to attend the Limit Breaker Course, and deepened his understanding of the Memory Lane technique. Now that Michael could extract knowledge and information from books, Memory Lane''s efficiency decreased drastically. Nheless, it was helpful to have Memory Lane as a back-up to use if he couldn''t extract the information straight from the source.

    Michael had to reach high mastery of Memory Lane''s 2nd Stage until the end of the semester to pass the course, either way. Thus, he might as well pratice the technique whenever he had time.

    Other than practicing Memory Lane, Michael spent some time refining his mind with Ceasurium Menta. He consumed two Energy Nourishing Pills and refined his mind for a few hours before he decided to sleep.

    He only caught a few hours of sleep as his crystal watch rang early in the morning, a notification of the Colosseum''s system waking him up.

    The notification was pretty simple. The Blood Witch had epted his challenge. She was given half an hour to prepare before their battle would start in the third arena.

    Michael immediately shot out of the bed and took a quick shower. He made his way toward the Colosseum where a handful of tired students were already waiting. The students were busy watching all battles of the Sun and the 12 Stars, but not for their own sake. No, they were recording the battles, and analyzed the fights of the strongest freshmen before selling their results to other students. The students strategically analyzed the strongest freshmen''s power, andpared it with other powers in great detail.

    Michael didn''t really like these students. Their gazes made it much harder for him to fight carelessly. Michael was always reminded that someone was recording his battle and that they would analyze the powers he exposed. He didn''t like that.

    But even if he didn''t like that, Michael figured that bits of his power had already been exposed and analyzed. It didn''t really matter if more bits would be added to their finds.

    ''What if I use you vultures to my advantage?'' Michael thought as he looked at the students, who were almost desperately trying to collect information to make a fortune.

    He didn''t want others to challenge him once he defeated the Blood Witch. It would be a hassle if he had to ept more challenges until afternoon when they departed.

    ''So my goal is to instil fear in the hearts of my enemies to ensure that they won''t even think about challenging me?'' Michael asked himself before he gave it a shrug.

    He was overthinking again and realized that it was better to focus on the present.

    Once he saw the Blood Witch entering the Colosseum, Michael entered the third arena. The Blood Witch''s ck wavy hair twirled in the faint morning gust passing through the Colosseum as she strode pridefully through the entrance. She had a voluptuous figure and wore clothes that highlighted her figure even more.

    Michael could tell from a single nce that the Blood Witch was a prideful woman, who liked the attention of men lingering on her. That didn''t mean she allowed them to get closer, but only that she loved the attention she received.

    ''Is she a pervert?'' Michael wondered when he locked eyes with the Blood Witch.

    The spectators stared at her with great interest. They were captivated, and felt drawn to her with every step she took. Michael, on the other hand, couldn''t help but feel a little bit at a loss.

    The Blood Witch had beautiful facial features. She was gorgeous and her ck wavy hairplemented her pale skin very well. However, the Blood Witch''s appearance paledpared to the beauty of Alice Zenovia and Tiara by arge margin at that.

    If the Blood Witch was considered beautiful, Alice and Tiara would be considered otherworldly gorgeous ¨C untouchable and unapproachable.

    "There you are, my little ck horse," The Blood Witch''s seductive voice rang through the surrounding as she stepped in the third arena.

    She moved gracefully, yet Michael could tell that the Blood Witch''s movements were specifically aimed to draw his attention to her bust.

    "Are you a pervert?" Michael blurted out before he realized.

    The Blood Witch froze in her tracks for a moemnt. One of her eyebrows rose faintly, only to be reced by a charming smile.

    "Isn''t everyone a pervert in some ways? Don''t be shy, my little ck horse~" The Blood Witch responded, causing Michael to shake his head.

    He went to the other side of the arena, summoned the Wyverntooth Spear and waited.

    The Blood Witch noticed that her words didn''t have any effect on him, and pressed her lips together before she retrieved two items from her War Rune.

    The referee looked at the twobatants to make sure that they were ready to fight before lifting his left hand high in the air.

    In the next second, his hand shot downward alongside the sound of a siren, initiating the start of their battle.

    The moment the battle started, the Blood Witch threw a vial in the air. She unsheathed a pitch-ck dagger and cut her palm deeply. Following that, her dagger pierced through the vial, releasing a sticky ck substance into the air.

    It was blood, the blood of a Daemon, to be precise.

    The Blood Witch was known for being able to manipte blood. Her standard tactic was very simple. She retrieved a vial of Daemon Blood, cut herself, and fused the Daemon Blood into her bloodstream to receive a temporary yet drastic boost in her strength.

    It was dangerous to circte Daemon Blood through your body for a prolonged period because it was toxic to the human body, but it was no problem to do so for a few minutes. Being able to control her blood precisely, the Blood Witch could easily expel the Daemon Blood once the battle was over.

    Thus, she usually followed the same tactic by cutting herself and infusing Daemon Blood into her bloodstream at the start of the battle.

    Unfortunately, she encountered Michael as her opponent this time who was not fazed by her.

    Michael turned into a sh and advanced rapidly the moment the battle started. The Blood Witch noticed his attempt and smiled lightly.

    With a burst of energy, the droplets of blood that spurt from her wound levitated in the air. The blood droplets turned into bullets that shot toward Michael with terrific velocity. Even Frederik''s invisible wind swords were slower and less lethal than the bullets.

    But Michael wasn''t concerned. He released a burst of Extraction''s power to coat his entire body in a golden sheen. Following that, Michael used the energy he had stored in the Dragon Might ring since the day before. The energy he stored had turned into the Power of Enhancement, which Michael unleashed at once.

    Michael used the stored Power of Enhancement to apply a total of 10yers of Enhancement onto the Extraction Symbol. The 10yer enhancement wouldst mere two seconds, but that was more than enough time for Michael to make full use of Extraction in the strongest form he had ever unleashed.

    By enhancing Extraction with 10yers, the golden sheen engulfing Michael intensified. It expanded rapidly and formed a thickyer in his immediate surroundings.

    The blood bullets were still shooting toward him, and they were about to smash into Michael when something unexpected happened.

    The blood bullets lost all their energy and they disappeared before they could even reach Michael. A quarter of a secondter, the blood bullets appeared next to Michael before they fell powerlessly to the ground.

    Michael had never changed his movement trajectory nor did he slow down at the sight of the blood bullets. On the contrary, he had elerated the moment he unleashed 10yer enhanced Extraction, and appeared in front of the Blood Witch with a vibrant smile blossoming on his face.

    The power that surged through his body was something he had never felt before. It was addictive and made him desire more. Excitement filled his entire being as the origin energy, oxygen, and the Daemon Blood were engulfed by his enhanced dome of Extraction.

    He extracted everything, annexed the origin energy in the surrounding area, and extracted the oxygen from the air all around the Blood Witch. Simultaneously, he took charge of the Daemon Blood to ensure that it would never get close to the Blood Witch, who lost control of her own blood and the Daemon Blood for the first time since she manifested her Soultrait.

    The Blood Witch''s eyes widened in terror when she sensed that tendrils of Michael''s golden sheen shot toward her hand, or the wound on her palm, to be precise. Golden tendrils shot inside her wound, devouring her origin energy before she could even react.

    She was too shocked to put up a mental wall to block the golden tendrils, and could only stare at Michael with utter shock in her beautiful eyes. This shock turned into utter disbelief and a trace of desperation as six Qi Swords manifested around Michael. They shot toward the Blood Witch, mercilessly cutting through her skin, flesh, and joints.

    The Blood Witch''s lips parted, and she was just about to scream at the top of her lungs when she realized that her surroundings had gonepletely silent.

    There was no sound, no smell, no energy. It was almost as if time had stopped around her. All that was left to remind her that she was not caught in a terrifying nightmare was a dark-eyed young man covered in a golden sheen ¨C his dark eyes staring at her emotionlessly.

 Chapter 309 Popular

    <h4>Chapter 309 Popr</h4>

    The news of Michael''s victory against the Blood Witch spread like wildfire.

    It took less than ten minutes before Lincoln, and Kaleb gave him a call to question him.

    He expected some calls, but he didn''t ept any. Instead, he told them to meet at the cafeteria since he was hungry.

    Michael was a little exhausted ¨C more mentally than physically ¨C, so he called them over to talk while he would fill his empty stomach to the brim.

    On his way to the cafeteria, Michael noticed that some students looked weirdly at him. He tried to iste his mind and ignore their gazes, but the respect and fear he sensed was too intense to ignorepletely.

    A sense of pride filled Michael''s heart the longer his fellow students stared at him. This didn''t change even after the lingering gazes disappeared as he entered the cafeteria.

    It was still early in the morning, so the cafeteria was mostly empty. Only a few cooks from the night shift were present. They were bored at theck of studentsing over to the cafeteria at night, only to rejoice when they saw Michael.

    Michael was d that the Saphirke Military Academy was adamant about having a 24-hour service in the cafeteria. Not everyone had enough time to schedule their meals precisely while juggling studies and the development of their territory. Thus, a handful of students could be found in the cafeteria at any time.

    "You old scheming bastard. Did you really defeat the Blood Witch in two seconds?!?" Lincoln shouted excitedly the moment he spotted Michael juggling two jumbo tes while heading towards an empty table.

    His voice rang through the entire cafeteria, attracting the attention of the few students around. Even the cooks looked up to see what was going on, only to see that Michael sat down and started to eat as if nothing happened.

    Lincoln approached Michael hurriedly and sat down opposite him, followed by Zeke, who didn''t say a word. He just listened while staring at Michael.

    "Do you even know how many rumors your fight against the Blood Witch caused? It hasn''t even been an hour since the ranking changed, yet the academy forum is filled with more than 20 threads about you," Lincoln said, pressing his palms against the table while shifting his weight from one leg to another restlessly.

    Lincoln had always been a little impatient, but it was worse when he was excited.

    "Since the ranking can only be changed by the referees and higher authorities, it''s a fact that you defeated the Blood Witch. Congrattions," Zeke said calmly, ignoring the excitement of his childhood friend.

    Michael smiled at Zeke before his attention moved to Lincoln.

    "Most of these threads are exaggerated. I used my ring artifact''s storage ability to overpower the Blood Witch before she could transform. She didn''t expect me to barge through her blood bullets and restrain her daemon transformation, or whatever she calls it," He answered nonchntly before he continued to eat.

    The cooks of the Saphirke Military Academy were the best, and Michael felt captivated by the wonderful taste. The food in front of him was clearly better than staring at the Blood Witch!

    "I went all out to ensure that no one would even think of challenging me before we depart to the Battle Exchange. I am busy and have to do a few things before we leave," Michael added between mouthfuls of food.

    Using the Power of Enhancement stored in the ring artifact allowed him to unleash a power that someone at his rank would never be able to reveal. No one possessed enough energy to do so as a Low Tier-2 Lord.

    "So that''s why you''ve been storing energy in the ring since yesterday," Zeke remarked, suddenly recalling Michael''s actions from before, stating it more as a matter of fact than a question.

    Michael affirmed Zeke''s suspicion with a nod while continuing to eat.

    "But that doesn''t exin why you had to traumatize her," Kaleb said, approaching the group from behind.

    He heard what Michael said as he entered the cafeteria and joined their discussion.

    "I actually expected her to be a little bit stronger: It was a little bit underwhelming, so I ended up piercing her with the Qi Swords even though she had already given up mentally," Michael exined.

    He sounded nonchnt but the disappointment in his eyes was apparent. Seeing his expression was enough to lighten the atmosphere. Lincoln and Kaleb smiled at their friend, and the corner of Zeke''s lips curled upward as well.

    "Aren''t you getting too arrogant now? Do you want me to beat you a little bit?" Lincoln asked jokingly, only for Kaleb to add, "Add me as well. It has been a while since we sparred. Let me show you how strong my Frozen Nova has gotten!"

    Lincoln stared at Kaleb, frowning deeply, "Aren''t you too proud of your 7-Star Soultrait? How about I beat some sense into you as well? You''re getting cocky¡­or is that how you''ve always been?!" He provoked while the smile on his face never ceased.

    Kaleb stared at Lincoln, also smiling as he got up from the chair, "Let''s go then. We have until the afternoon before we depart. I will show you how strong I''ve gotten!"

    Michael and Zeke looked at the quarreling duo before exchanging amused nces. They smiled wryly and shook their heads.

    "I can be the referee," Zeke added when he realized that the quarreling duo was serious.

    Meanwhile, Michael shook his head as he said, "I will have to make a few purchases before I deal with the Bartholomew Corporation."

    He earned a few confused gazes, which led Michael to exin the situation a little bit more in detail, "I''m investing in the Bartholomew Corporation with Agriculture-type blueprints. They expect a monthly quota, which will be hard to fill once we depart for the Battle Exchange. After all, we''ll be staying there for a while."

    The Battle Exchange wouldst for a whole month. After that, the winning batch of students that would be sent into the Lesser Dimension would train to represent the Tritan Alliance as one unit. They would spend two months with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to focus on bing stronger and improving their teamwork until the g War would start.

    That meant Michael couldn''t provide Agriculture-type blueprints to the Bartholomew Corporation for three months straight at the bare minimum. He had to talk to the higher-ups to make sure that he wouldn''t face any penalties for not meeting the requirements stated in the contract, or find another solution.

    "You''re the new Investor of the Agriculture Project in the Barren Lands?" Zeke asked, his eyes widening a little.

    "Hm? Oh, yeah. Didn''t I say that before already?" Michael asked, realizing toote that he never told anyone about the deal he made with the Forest Elves and his sponsoring of the Bartholomew Corporation''s Agriculture Project.

    Zeke stared at Michael for a while, not uttering a single sound. Meanwhile, Kaleb and Lincoln red at each other with battle spirit in their eyes. The quarreling duo didn''t even hear what Michael said. They were only waiting for Zeke toe with them to act as their referee.

    "That is¡­surprising. Or maybe not?" Zeke asked himself. He quietly muttered, "Is that where his fortunees from? I thought Alice decided to nurture him to turn him into her subordinate¡­but that might not be the case?"

    The words spilled out of Zeke''s mouth without him realizing. He had mumbled all of it so silently that Michael could barely hear a small portion of them.

    It took Zeke a few seconds to regain hisposure. His expression reverted back to his emotionless self, and he got up to leave.

    "Seems like I underestimated you. Looks like Alice found a shark among fishes," Zeke mumbled before he turned away, gesturing Lincoln and Kaleb to leave.

    Michael couldn''t tell what was on Zeke''s mind, but it was a positive surprise to see Zeke reacting like a normal human. It was much better to see him react normally rather than his expressionless face, and his monotonous voice.

    After his friend left, Michale continued eating. He opened the holographic screen of the crystal watch, looked at the messages he received from Alice, and the Barbaric Couple, who had also heard about his fight with the Blood Witch. After that, he opened the academy forum to see how exaggerated the threads about him were.

    Michael read through the threads for a few minutes. He scratched the back of his head and smiled lightly.

    "They didn''t really exaggerate. ''Using Powers stronger than his Tier'' doesn''t seem wrong since I used 10yer enhancement with the help of Dragon Might''s storage, and I ''overwhelmed the Blood Witch before she could transform''. Maybe I didn''t traumatize the Blood Witch, but given that she was twitching like a fish onnd after the medics healed her¡­she might have been traumatized."

    Somehow, Michael felt a little bit bad when he read through the threads. He had been genuinely surprised to find out that the Blood Witch was much weaker than he expected. He thought that his attacks had been necessary to emerge victorious. Unfortunately, he didn''t realize how overwhelmingly powerful Extraction had grown with a 10yer Enhancement.

    The Blood Witch hadn''t been able to react at all, meaning that Michael''s Qi Swords hadn''t been necessary.

    The threads described him as a merciless and cruel Awakened who should be avoided at all costs.

    Even Michael felt a little bit disgusted with himself once he finished reading through all threads. But then again, it was not as if he should have held back in the first ce.

    It was better to go all out.

 Chapter 310 Personal Attendant

    <h4>Chapter 310 Personal Attendant</h4>

    Michael thought that the Bartholomew Corporation would stir trouble when he exined his inability to fulfill the contract for a while and the problems that came with it. However, the shop manager merely called Helen Ascaln, who seemed to have already been informed about his situation.

    ["You won''t be able to provide blueprints for a few months. That''s what you were going to tell me, weren''t you?"] Helen Ascaln asked Michael seconds after their holographic video call began, not bothering to small talk.

    She didn''t seem angry, or upset, which surprised Michael a little. He expected Helen Ascaln to throw a tantrum because they would face a scarcity of blueprints for several months just after Michael''s investments started.

    ''She is really good at controlling her emotions. As expected from an Executive Director,'' Michael thought, while faintly nodding toward Helen Ascaln.

    ["That would be quite problematic and it''s not something we can ept. We''ve already adjusted our ns and are dependant on the stable influx of Agriculture-type blueprints."] Helen Ascaln added, causing Michael to sigh inwardly.

    The ideas that had formed in his mind dispersed when he heard that they''d already adjusted the development nts of the Agriculture Project ording to his influx of blueprints. It was only obvious, but it made the entire situation a little bit moreplicated.

    "Sorry about that. It''s not like I ca-..." Michael was just about to say something when Helen Ascaln stopped him by raising her hand.

    ["There is no need for excuses. I never expected you to stay in the Saphirke Military Academy until you graduate. You''re young and full of potential. I researched you and figured that you would participate in the Battle Exchange. Though, I didn''t expect you to participate this year. I thought this ''problem'' would ur next year, not this year"] Helen Ascaln revealed, not hiding anything.

    Compared to theirst interaction, Helen Ascaln seemed much calmer than before. Michael actually thought that she would dislike him for taking away a profit share of 18% from the Agriculture Project. But the opposite was the case.

    Helen stared at him with a trace of trust and respect. She respected his negotiation skills, his ability to procure so many Agriculture-type Blueprints in such a short amount of time, and the fact that he was already strong enough to participate in the Battle Exchange without a great family background.

    ["I''ve already sent one of our Awakened to the Saphirke Military Academy. He should have already arrived. You will meet him once all the formalities have beenpleted. After that, he will be joining you to Meku. You''ll be giving him your Agriculture-type Blueprints, and he will enter the Origin Expanse to hand them over to me. That way, you won''t miss your monthly investments of blueprints ¨C except if you''re incapable of procuring enough blueprints in the first ce."]

    Michael had yet to say more than a sentence to Helen, yet his problems seemed to have dissolved into thin air.

    "You sent an Awakened to the academy to follow me? That''s¡­pretty smart," Michael acknowledged after a second.

    He didn''t even think about the possibility of using an Awakened as a courier to send the blueprints to the Bartholomew Corporation when he met the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in Meku.

    "Will I be responsible for his safety, or can he take care of himself?" Michael asked, revealing his only concern.

    He didn''t really have anything against paying attention to the Awakened, but he was also a busy man. Babysitting someone in Meku was not really something Michael wanted to do. He didn''t have enough time for that either.

    "You don''t have to babysit me. On the contrary, it''s more likely that I will have to take care of you if something happens," A hoarse, old voice rang through the small room in the back of the Bartholomew Shop.

    Startled, Michael jumped up and turned around. His eyes glowed golden as Eagle Eyes was instinctively triggered, followed by six Qi Swords that manifested around him as well.

    "Youngd, if I wanted to kill you, your head would be rolling over the table before you even realized it," The old sounding voice spoke again, this time next to Michael.

    He felt something cold press against his neck, only for a wrinkled finger to appear in front of his face. Michael turned his head, where he saw an old man with short, white hair and a short beard staring intently at him.

    The old man was short and wrinkles covered his hands and face, which was a huge contrast to his radiant eyes. His emerald-green eyes were clear and full of vigor, speaking volumes about his health and well-being.

    His body had aged, but he was eons away from dying due to old age.

    "O..okay¡­" Michael could only say, staring at the old man, and trying to find out how strong he was.

    His gaze moved to the back of the old man''s right hand, but all Michael could see was a glove covering the old man''s War Rune.

    The old man snickered when he saw Michael''s gaze. He didn''t say anything about it, but removed his left hand from Michael''s face. Scaring the younger generation with his sneaky attacks was usually funny, but Michael''s reaction had been boring.

    It was almost like Michael had been prepared to fight against him, even though he knew that he was likely to die. There was no trace of hesitation or a sliver of doubt about his own survival in Michael''s gaze ¨C only the intent to face his opponent''s head-on. It was like Michael was endlessly reckless and that was not something a young man such as Michael should feel.

    Helen Ascaln had already informed him about Michael''s situation, and the incident that happened between Michael, a few students, and one of the academy''s teachers. The old man had done his own research, quickly finding out that Michael''s brother died recently, and that the rest of his family had abandoned the brothers in the past.

    At first nce, it looked like Michael was doing fine, but the intent in Michael''s eyes right now was far from normal. If his fingertip had been a de instead, Michael would have died the moment he sliced through his throat, yet Michael looked like he was confident to handle such a situation ¨C which was definitely not the case.

    There was no way Michael could handle the old man while merely being a Tier-2 Lord.

    "Hello, Sir. I''m Michael Fang. Nice to meet you," Michael introduced himself calmly. He was still staring at the old man''s right hand but found nothing.

    He was still unable to tell how strong the old man was.

    ''I couldn''t sense his presence and even Eagle Eyes was unable to detect his movement when he appeared next to me. That old man didn''t even use origin energy to move through the room. His physical strength is manyfold higher than that of Mr. Klein.'' Michael thought, concluding in his mind that the old man was most definitely a Higher Lifeform ¨C an Awakened who had advanced beyond Tier-3.

    He also concluded that the Bartholomew Corporation wanted to ensure that nobody could kill their golden goose ¨C him ¨C in Meku, or anywhere else. They considered the fact that Michael might face danger outside the Saphirke Military Academy. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have sent over a weak-looking old man, who was actually a powerhouse with immense strength to act as the courier for the Agriculture-type blueprints.

    "My name is Kraft Viton. Don''t stir unnecessary trouble in Ketu. I don''t want to move my old bones too much while I''m traveling around with you," The old man introduced himself. He grasped Michael''s hand and shook it lightly, before his eyes turned cold as he added, "And don''t even think of fighting others suicidally. I will beat the shit out of you if you think that you can handle dozens of Tekur on your own after the Battle Exchange."

    The old man had seen how strong Michael was after watching the video recording of his fight against Mr. Klein, followed by the information Kraft Viton received after entering the academy grounds. He had also looked through Michael''s battle records in the Colosseum just before arriving at the Bartholomew Shop, and could roughly guess why Michael was so confident in himself.

    He had multiple powerful Soultraits and was clearly one of the strongest freshmen in the academy even without the support of his family. He was a self-made Lord, who made it much farther than many descendants of minor nobles, and other influential families.

    Given the profit share he would obtain from the Agriculture Project, it was only a matter of time before Michael could invest a fortune into his territory just like other families spent a big portion of their fortune to nurture their children. Once the Agriculture Project took off and started making money, Michael would be on par with everyone else in terms of funding. By then, Michael''s power would increase even faster than before.

    That was why he was slowly growing a bit too confident, bordering arrogance. He was powerful and knew that he would grow even faster in the next few years.

    But the Tekur couldn''t be handled with a little bit of strength. Theirbat prowess was iparably higher than the power humans could disy. It usually took six prodigies with high mastery of their 5-Star Soultraits to deal with a single Tekur at the same rank and Tier. If the Tekur was a genius with somebat experience even six Awakened with 5-Star Soultraits wouldn''t be enough.

    Participating in the Interdimensional g War with arrogance and overconfidence would lead to death, and that was something Kraft Viton couldn''t allow to happen. Michael was the most important investor of the Agriculture Project, and the Bartholomew Corporation''s means to seed the Olympus.

    He was their golden goose, their treasure.

    He had to be protected by all means!

 Chapter 311 Relic Research

    <h4>Chapter 311 Relic Research</h4>

    ''There is something wrong with this old man¡­'' Michael cursed in his mind as he left the Bartholomew Shop.

    He didn''t say much after Kraft Viton arrived in the room, but it was quite obvious that Helen Ascaln sent the old man after him to ensure that he wouldn''t do anything stupid. Rather than being a babysitter to Kraft as he had assumed earlier, Michael felt like he was the baby, and Kraft Viton was his nanny.

    That was already quite annoying, but it was even worse that both Helen Ascaln and Kraft Viton told him repeatedly that he shouldn''t do something stupid.

    It was obvious that they were mostly worried about the continuation of their trade with blueprints, however, Michael wasn''t really sure why they thought it was important to keep reminding him that doing something stupid would be¡­.stupid. Wasn''t that obvious?

    However, even more annoying than their constant reminders was the fact that Kraft Viton followed him wherever he went, tailing him like a shadow. He didn''t say anything and his steps were eerily silent. Michael had to focus on the sounds around him to sense the old man behind him.

    Now that his business with the Bartholomew Corporation had beenpleted ¨C somewhat ¨C, Michael could divert his attention to other things. He calmed his nerves by participating in the Limit Breaker Course and met up with the Professors of the Old Languages, and Ancient Ruins courses. He talked with them and received their contact details so that he could ask questions and continue studying for his courses even when he was busy in Meku.

    The Battle Exchange and the Interdimensional g War might be rted to the Saphirke Military Academy, but that didn''t mean Michael would receive an exemption from being required to achieve the passing grades for his courses. He had to continue working on his Memory Lane technique, train his physique to pass the Limit Breaker Course''s test in the future, and study more to pass the Ancient Ruins and Old Languages test.

    Michael was not too worried about the knowledge exams. Given the information he had obtained in the Laxarta Library, Michel was confident to pass the tests right now. The Ancient Ruins and Old Language exams for freshmen were not too difficult, after all.

    Nheless, Michael wanted to stay in contact with his professors. He knew that he could pass their exams, but he didn''t apply to their courses merely to obtain some merit points for his graduation. Michael opted for their courses to broaden his horizon and learn more about Ancient Ruins and the Old Languages to raid the Temple of the Forgotten in the future.

    Last but not least, Michael entered the Origin Expanse and his territory. He received the daily report where he saw that a few Starless Summons had been praised several times. It was only a matter of days before they would obtain the first batch of Warrior Enlightenment Potions. At that time, the efficiency of the Warrior Enlightenment Potion would be revealed, hopefully awakening the adventurous spirits of some Starless Summons.

    Afterward, he entered the basement of the Wooden Manor where the Relic of Draka was located. He visited the Underground Forging Hall, the Enchanter''s Lair, and the Alchemy House to witness their rapid progress first-hand. Everyone worked extremely hard, much harder than Michael expected from his Summons.

    However, he understood their excitement to work even harder than before. One of the 1-Star cksmith Apprentices seemed to have recently attained enlightenment, promoting him from a 1-Star cksmith Apprentice to a 2-Star cksmith. Roughly at the same time, a 1-Star Enchanter Apprentice attained enlightenment as well, promoting him to a 2-Star Enchanter.

    Both apprentices attained enlightenment thanks to the memory crystals that Michael had filled with the memories of the Laxarta Library''s knowledge. He separated the memories ordingly to ensure that each memory crystal had specific knowledge. This made it much easier for the Summons to see the memories of the knowledge they were interested in. After gaining some understanding of certain things that had been hard toprehend before, the Alchemist Apprentice ended up concocting a few Energy Nourishing Pills, and Body Strengthening Pills, which had been impossible before.

    He attained enlightenment from the concocting process and the additional knowledge and became a 2-Star Summon.

    Meanwhile, the 1-Star cksmith Apprentice had been visiting the Relic of Draka whenever he had some time to spare. He studied the memory crystals'' knowledge rted to cksmithing and attained enlightenment by watching the Magical Smithy working tirelessly on the Artifact-like Armaments. Using the enlightenment, the Apprentice forged a weapon beyond the limit of a 1-Star Apprentice, promoting him to a 2-Star cksmith.

    Given the high efficiency of the memory crystals, Michael had to put some restrictions on them. Too many Summons wanted to use the memory crystals, and Michael didn''t have the means to provide them to everyone. Thus, only the Summons who worked the hardest were given permission to use the memory crystals for a few days.

    Lilica was the one who came up with the idea of putting restrictions, and conditions on the memory crystals usage. The restrictions fueled ambitious Summons with motivation, just like the Warrior Enlightenment Potion fueled Starless Summons with longing and desire.

    Michael wished to procure more enlightenment potions, or more memory crystals to share his Archery knowledge and every other mastery he had obtained from the hundreds of Memory Orbs he had absorbed in thest half a year. Unfortunately, memory crystals were extremely hard to procure. Even the Bartholomew Shop in the academy was out of stock after his purchase. It would take quite a while until they would be restocked even though Michael was number one on their priority list.

    Michael didn''t rush the Bartholomew Shop to procure the items he needed. He would receive a notification on the crystal watch once the goods he had pre-ordered would arrive. By then, he would have to send the old man to the Origin Expanse to exchange the blueprints with the goods he had ordered. That was the easiest way to ensure that the Bartholomew Corporation obtained their blueprints and Michael could mindlessly order goods and get them delivered wherever he was located.

    Looking at it from this point of view, Michael could exploit the fact that Kraft Viton''s anchor in the Origin Expanse was located in the Bartholomew Corporation''s headquarters. That was also one of the few reasons he decided to ept the old man''spany.

    He swore to himself to make use of the old man''s presence as much as possible.

    Putting aside his thoughts about Helen Ascaln and the old man, Michael focused on the Relic of Draka. The Weaponsmiths and Tiara had been researching the Relic for a while now, and they had no idea how it worked.

    Michael could ess it and sense how to control it, but that was something only he was capable of. The Relic didn''t even use the ores provided by the Weaponsmiths. It just stopped moving once the ores Michael put in its storage had been used up.

    It was almost like the Relic was sentient, and that it considered Michael as its master. When Michael read that in the report he was intrigued ¨C of course.

    He decided to spend a few hours researching the Relic of Draka and trying to configure it. After all, he was in need of the Relic''s magical powers.

    "An Artifact-like Armor would be great," Michael mumbled to himself, scratching the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to give the Relic precisemands.

    After losing the Typhern Leather Armor Set, Michael had been a little bit at a loss. He could bind a new Artifact to his War Rune, but given Dragon Might''s influence, Michael was not certain whether he should try to purchase a 4-Star Tier-2 Armor Artifact, or if it might be better to focus on other Artifacts instead.

    The Dark Orb of William ck had been quite intriguing, and so were Lincoln''s Gauntlets. Everyone had customized Epic Tier-2 Weapons that enhanced their Soultrait''s power. That way, they could exhibit more strength.

    Earlier, Michael didn''t think that it was necessary to possess another Epic Artifact as long as he purchased high-ranked Tier-2 Artifacts. But since he realized how powerful the Legendary Tier-2 Ring Artifact was, Michael''s opinion changedpletely.

    If he could replicate his Artifacts with products of the Relic of Draka, Michael would be free to focus on 2-3 high-ranked Epic, and Legendary Artifacts to further increase his strength, while still obtaining the external enhancement from the Artifact-like products of the Relic of Draka. That way, Michael would make tremendous gains and hold an advantage over everyone else.

    Hours of research revealed that Michael knew a lot less about the Relic than he expected. First, he found out that he was the only one with full authority of the Relic of Draka, and that he could give others specific permissions as well. Other than that, Michael also learned that he could easily configure the Relic of Draka. The easiest way to change the Armament it created was by providing forging blueprints.

    Michael provided a forging blueprint for War-axes, which he had purchased not too long ago. Initially, the blueprint was for the Weaponsmiths to forge better weapons for his Berserkers, but given that the Relic of Draka''s products had additional enhancements, Michael decided to make some changes.

    The Relic of Draka began producing war axes instead of thin-ded longswords.

    ''Now I only need a proper forging blueprint for armor, and suitable material,'' Michael thought, ''I wonder if the Relic can create an armor with simr enhancements to a Natural Epic Tier-2 Armor Artifact. Maybe with the right materials that''s possible.''

    Michael felt a little excited at the thought of creating Natural Epic Artifacts that could be worn and used by Summons as well. His excitement didn''t die down even after he left the Origin Expanse.

    Kraft Viton was patiently waiting at the same spot Michael had left him at. However, Michael didn''t care about that. He was just excited at this point.

    "Let''s go. It''s about time we travel through space!" He said in excitement, feeling that researching the Relic and the opportunity to travel through space once again were an exceptionalbination to boost his happiness and vigor.

    It was almost time for their departure. Thus, Michael left the academy grounds to hail a space shuttle that brought him and Kraft Viton to Kelta''s spaceship harbor.

    Once again, Michael was caught off-guard by the sheer grandeur of his surroundings. He could only stare when he saw the majestic, behemoth-sized spaceship harbor. His heart began to beat wildly as they made their way inside.

    By utilizing Eagle Eyes with severalyers of Enhancement, Michael did a thorough inspection of every single detail in the spaceship harbor.

    He didn''t want to miss anything.

    Once inside the spaceship harbor, the shuttle reached the destination not long after. Michael and Kraft Viton stepped out and walked toward the group of students and teachers that had arrived ahead of time.

    However, Michael didn''t even notice them. His eyes were drawn to the spaceship behind the students, his eyes gleaming in excitement.

    "That''s pretty neat!"

 Chapter 312 Zeus

    <h4>Chapter 312 Zeus</h4>

    Michael''s eyes were locked onto the spaceship and the docking bay behind the other students and teachers. His eyes shone brightly, revealing his excitement.

    The spaceship loomed before him majestically. Its sleek, elongated form exuded grace and power. It resembled a robust, silvery dart with wings that curved gracefully on its side. His imagination was running wild, making him visualize it as abination of a bullet and an airne, designed for both speed and maneuverability. He chuckled at that and kept admiring the stunning piece of craftsmanship.

    The surface of the silver spaceship was smooth and reflective, almost like polished metal. The back of the spaceship had powerful engines that emitted a soft, glowing light that originated from origin energy.

    Just staring at the spaceship was enough to make Michael''s heart beat faster. It was a Tuar-Type spaceship that was smaller than the Dekaloss-ss spaceship, but several times faster.

    The Tuar-type spaceship required only three days to fly them through most parts of the Lumina Ster System to get to Meku where they would meet the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs for the first time.

    Flying through space and encountering other races outside the Origin Expanse were both exciting thoughts. Unfortunately, Michael didn''t have enough time to keep daydreaming. He saw Kaleb approaching him from the corner of his eye and turned to his friend.

    "Hey Michael, you''re just on time. Let''s en¨C..." Kaleb began but stopped talking abruptly. His eyes widened ever so slightly and he looked at something ¨C or rather someone ¨C behind Michael, "Who¡­is that behind you?"

    Kaleb''s voice was quiet but both Michael and Kraft heard him clearly. They also heard the uncertainty and confusion in Kaleb''s voice. The young Zenovia hadn''t even seen Kraft until he was directly in front of Michael.

    "His name is Kraft Viton. You can consider him a shadow sent to apany me by the Bartholomew Corporation," Michael exined before he shrugged lightly.

    Just before they arrived at the spaceship harbor, Kraft Viton told him that he should ignore his presence. That was not really difficult, because Michael could barely sense the old man''s presence, in the first ce. He had to look back every now and then to reassure himself that he wasn''t hallucinating and that the old man was still there.

    "Why would the Bartholomew Corporation send someone with you to the Battle Exchange?" Kaleb asked, his gaze lingering on Kraft Viton for a few seconds before he added, "And why does the name ''Viton'' ring a bell?"

    Michael was not really surprised that Kaleb knew the family name ''Viton''. He could already tell that the old man was not an ordinary Awakened. No human capable of advancing to the 4th Tier and beyond was ordinary. But there was more to that. Michael had paid some attention to the few words Helen Ascaln, and Kraft Viton exchanged during his video call with the executive director of the Bartholomew Corporation.

    Their exchange was not obvious, but given his high perception and the permanent enhancement Eagle Eyes provided to strengthen his eyes, Michael detected a few odd points.

    Helen Ascaln was the Bartholomew Corporation''s executive director, but she eyed Kraft Viton with vignce. She was not afraid of him, but Michael could tell that she was ufortable talking to Kraft Viton as if he was her subordinate ¨C which he was supposed to be the case. That was just one of the few points he figured out, but it was the most apparent reason Michael was certain that Kraft Viton was far from ordinary.

    "You really didn''t listen to what I told you this morning," Michael sighed. He shook his head but didn''t repeat himself. Kaleb would find out about his investment in the Bartholomew Corporation''s Agriculture Project soon enough.

    "Who are you talking to, Kaleb?" A voice resounded from behind Kaleb.

    "Is he your friend?" Someone else added, a trace of curiosity intertwining his words.

    Kaleb turned around with a faint smile on his lips.

    "That''s Michael Fang. And yes, he is my friend," Kaleb introduced Michael, who stepped next to him.

    Michael smiled at the small group before he greeted them with a polite nod.

    "Let me introduce everyone to you," Kaleb said as Michael used Eagle Eyes to take a proper look at the small group of seven people.

    He pointed at the young man who spoke to him first, "This is Killian Zeus. He is in the 4th year and is at the Peak of the 3rd Tier. He would probably be at the 4th Tier if he didn''t restrain his War Rune''s advancement to participate in the g War."

    Killian Zeus nodded imperceptibly in Michael''s direction. His attention was more focused on Kraft Viton, whose presence he noticed only after he looked at Michael for the first time.

    Killian''s expression changed slightly, a trace of confusion spreading across his face for a second or two before he regained hisposure. He cleared his throat and turned to Michael once again.

    "Nice meeting you. I saw your fight against Mr. Klein. Your powers are very interesting. I hope I''ll be seeing your full strength soon," He said, his voice a notch colder than before.

    Michael was a little bit confused about the subtle change in Killian Zeus'' attitude toward him.? He sensed a trace of energy circting around him, and the old man''s voice reached his ears in the next moment, almost like it came out of the trace of energy.

    "The Zeus family is a Supreme Family, and they created the Olympus, our rival," Kraft Viton exined to Michael, whose head flicked to the old man.

    "Our? You mean the Bartholomew Corporation. Why are you including me in your rivalry?" He asked, but the old man only scoffed.

    "The moment you decided to be an investor in the Agriculture Project, you turned into their enemy, and our ally," Kraft Viton said, causing Michael to curse inwardly.

    Kaleb didn''t pay any attention to the conversation between Michael and the old man. He continued to introduce the small group.

    "Cecile Marian, 6th Star of the fourth grade''s ranking, Orion Darr, 9th Star of the fourth grade''s ranking, Peter Gramm 3rd Star of the fourth grade''s ranking ¡­." Kaleb''s introduction took quite a while, yet Michael only noticed one particr thing.

    The entire group was made of Tier-3 Lords, who were part of the top 13 in the fourth grade''s ranking. Simply put, most students were the Suns and Stars of their respective years.

    Other than the Suns and Stars of the ranking boards, Michael could tell that most other students were powerhouses belonging to the 3rd and 4th year, but that was only given. Their War Runes had manifested much earlier than the rest, and they had had more time to strengthen their bodies, minds, and Souls to prepare for the Battle Exchange and Interdimensional g War as well.

    Almost all 3rd and 4th-grade students were Tier-3 Lords with the necessary power topete against the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs head-on. They were eager to participate in the Interdimensional g War, not only because it would bring their family honor and glory, but also because of the rewards they would obtain for participating in the Interdimensional g War, and for eliminating their enemies.

    Not only the Saphirke Military Academy and the government would shower them with rewards such as rare Artifacts, Saphire Points, Mythic Summoning Scrolls, and more, but all races affiliated with the Tritan Alliance created a pool of rewards for those participating in the Interdimensional g War.

    Those rewards included Legendary Artifacts, Mythic-rank nts, Exotic Recipes and knowledge unique to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Obtaining any of those would elevate the power of any Lord ¨C even the descendants of High Nobles, and Supreme Families.

    But that wasn''t the biggest gain in the eyes of the Supreme Families and High Nobles. By participating in the Interdimensional g War, and achieving great feats next to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, the descendants of High Nobles and Supreme Families could garner the attention and respect of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Once they received their respect it would be much easier to obtain the leader''s permission to trade goods and knowledge, opening up the path to more wealth and prosperity.

    All of those reasonsbined were why everyone was a little bit tense and nervous. Most participants of the Battle Exchange were from nobility, or from influential houses. There were also Minor Nobles and merchant families that were trying to be more influential, and they hoped that the Battle Exchange and the Interdimensional g War would allow their breakthrough.

    On the other hand, Michael didn''t really need any of that. Even if he could get closer to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, he didn''t have the means to trade with them. His exchanges with the Forest Elven Tribe and the Bartholomew Corporation required most of his attention, and it was not as if he possessed goods of interest for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs ¨C at least, Michael couldn''t really think of anything except the products of the Relic of Draka that might interest them.

    But the Relic of Draka was required to strengthen him and his army. He didn''t n to hand over the artifact-like armaments to anyone else anytime soon.

    Thus, Michael was rather amused seeing how nervous some students were.

    He kept Eagle Eyes activated while talking a little to Killian Zeus and his friends. Michael could tell that their little chat was more of a formality than an attempt to be friends, but that was fine with him. In fact, it was better that way, given the weird nces he received from some descendants. They weren''t even trying to hide their scornful and condescending gazes.

    ''Even if my background isckluster, I still made it to the Battle Exchange on my own. So keep your judgment to yourself!'' Michael cursed in his heart, a little annoyed that he wasn''t strong enough to challenge them and beat the shit out of them.

    The presence the 4th-grade students radiated was iparable to Mr. Klein''s measly presence. It was obvious that the Sun and the Stars of the 4th year had gone through years of arduous training, and that they collected enoughbat experience to solidify their presence, turning it into a weapon against weaker prey.

    It didn''t take long before Killian Zeus and the others departed. They entered the Tuar-type spaceship after the professors and disappeared from Michael''s sight.

    "Don''t think too much about it. Once they see how hard-working and strong you actually are, they''ll see you in a different light," Kaleb said in an attempt to lift his friend''s spirits, feeling a little sad for Michael.

    He clearly recalled the first time he met Michael. At that time, Kaleb had been certain that Michael was a nobody, who tried to show off his Artifact, and that he was an Awakened.

    Thinking back, Kaleb realized how narrow-minded and foolish he had been.

    He had grown closer to Michael, close enough for Kaleb to consider him one of his best friends ¨C if not his only best friend.

    After all, Michael was a genuine friend, something that was hard to find for a descendant of a Supreme Family.

    "Even if they don''t realize how good you are, it will be their loss, not yours!"

 Chapter 313 Saphire Points

    <h4>Chapter 313 Saphire Points</h4>

    Less than half an hour after everyone entered the spaceship, they departed. Their departure was smooth and you could barely feel the spaceship ascend high into the air until the Tuar-type spaceship elerated to leave the harbor with a burst of energy.

    Micheal expected their departure to be a little ufortable considering that the Tuar-type spaceship was extremely fast, but he had been so focused on a few messages on the crystal watch, and Kraft Viton''s words ringing through his ears that he didn''t even realize when they entered space.

    Kraft Viton was trying to teach him how to send messages through origin energy. The principle was simple. A wisp of energy would be filled with words that were sent to the recipient''s ears where the wisp of energy would disperse, releasing the words it contained.

    However, turning the ''simple'' principle into reality was extremely hard. It required high mastery of origin energy, and the ability to control energy precisely over a long distance.

    Michael''s mastery of origin energy was already quite decent. Given the information engraved on his mind every single time his War Rune fused with a Soultrait, Michael learned numerous ways to use and alter origin energy. Adding the experiences and memories he obtained from extracting Memory Orbs from his enemies, it was only natural that Michael''s mastery of origin energy reached a high level.

    Others would require years to be as proficient at controlling energy as Michael. But Michael still struggled to envelop his words in a wisp of energy, so sending it to Kraft Viton across the spaceship was a far cry right now.

    Michael failed to do so several times, which was also why he ended up using the crystal watch to send Kraft Viton a few messages. He didn''t ask the old man why he was trying to teach him Whispering Energy. Instead, Michael asked the old man about doubts he had rted to Whispering Energy.

    At first, Michael didn''t really want to have Kraft Viton around him. He didn''t want a babysitter of the Bartholomew Corporation observing his every action. However, his view of the situation changed quickly.

    Whispering Energy was quite useful. Not only was learning Whispering Energy a way to further refine his mastery of origin energy, but Michael could think of countless ways to use Whispering Energy inbat. As long as he learned how to use Whispering Energy subconsciously, Michael would be able tomunicate with his allies without alerting his enemies.

    Not only would that benefit him greatly in the Origin Expanse, but it would also be quite useful during the Battle Exchange, and the Interdimensional g War. As long as he used it properly, it might actually benefit him in a one on one battle as well. Using Whispering Energy to whisper into his enemy''s ears to distract him might seem like a petty trick, but Michael was a petty human being, so it was fine to use tricks like that.

    In a life-and-death battle victory is all that matters. Survival was the way, no matter how dirty you fought!

    Growing increasingly interested in Whispering Energy, Michael spent a while chatting with Kraft Viton, and attempted to replicate the old man''s technique. It didn''t work well, but Michael could tell that he was slowly getting somewhere ¨C even if it was at snail''s pace.

    He didn''t know how much time passed but Michael grew a little tired after continuously trying to replicate the old man''s technique. It was a lot moreplicated than he first presumed.

    Thus, he ended up taking a look at something else; the infrastructure of the spaceship!

    Since they had to spend three days in the spaceship to reach Kelta, Michael thought he might as well spend some time analyzing the Tuar-type spaceship''s structure. His interest in spaceships was quite high, yet he had never been able to get his hands on detailed information about the Tuar-Type spaceship.

    This one was one of the newer models as well!

    The first thing Michael noticed was that the inside of the Tuar-type spaceship was extremely spacious.

    Everyone had a tiny room to sleep and manifest their Runic Gate on the highest floor, then there was a spacious cafeteria, arge living room where everyone could meet up to y games, or simply talk about the Battle Exchange, or some other mundane things on the third floor.

    Meanwhile, the second floor was fully upied by the training ground that could also be used as an arena to spar with each other.

    Last but not least, the ground floor of the Tuar-type spaceship was upied by the personnel, and most of the spaceship''s machinery.

    It didn''t take Michael a long time to finish reading through the guide provided in the information channel of the Tuar-type spaceship. The infrastructure was interesting, and so was the technique used. It was only a little bit unfortunate that the minute details about the materials used to construct the spaceship, the technology and pilot training couldn''t be found.

    All those pieces of information were what Michael was looking forward to reading. He wanted to visualize how the spaceship had been constructed, and how the captain controlled it.

    Michael even requested to take a look at the machine room to learn more about the structure and technology used to move the spaceship through space, but the staff declined his request immediately. Michael was a little bit sad about that, but there was nothing he could do about the crew''s decision.

    If they thought that it was too dangerous to allow an ignorant young Lord to enter their machine room while they were mid-space, there must be a reason. Michael didn''t even want to think about the reason but he presumed that some idiot must have pressed buttons that shouldn''t have been touched in the middle of space.

    With a gloomy face, he dropped the guidebook and wondered what to do next. And a momentter, he received a notification on the crystal watch

    [Dear students of the Saphirke Military Academy, please proceed to meet up on the first floor in 30 minutes.]

    The message was not really detailed, but it came from the academy''s official ount. Thus, Michael got up from the bed and went to the first floor without dy.

    He found Lincoln and Zeke talking to a few students? after he entered the training ground, probably 3rd or 4th graders. But instead of walking over to them, Michael kept his distance. Even though he was quite open-minded, he knew that most descendants participating in the Battle Exchange didn''t like people such as Michael ¨C people who didn''t have a noteworthy background.

    Instead of putting Lincoln and Zeke in an awkward position by forcing them to introduce him to others, who were likely to frown upon him, Michael felt much better observing his surroundings.

    He used his Eagle Eyes to take in as much information as possible. Instead of standing around idly, Michael observed the other students. He looked at their War Runes, imprinted their faces and facial expressions into his mind all while trying to determine what type of body refinement they underwent.

    By observing the overall physique of the Awakened around him, Michael could roughly determine what type of Soultrait they possessed. It was not perfect, but a rough indicator of their Soultrait.

    For example, Zeke had an athletic build focusing on his dexterity and agility while Lincoln''s physique was rugged with well-trained, bulging muscles. Lincoln required physical strength to exhibit his Soultrait''s strongest form. Zeke, on the other hand, was better off moving around nimbly. He could use his Eye of Illusion to trick his enemies and evade attacks before attacking his enemies with fast strides.

    Michael could also make out some specific details about the other students such as sparks passing through Killian Zeus'' arms, and a tinge of coldness radiating from Kaleb naturally. The coldness permeated the air around Kaleb, turning the air around him slightly chilly. Even if it was barely visible, Michael could clearly see it thanks to his Eagle Eyes.

    Other than that, there were also some students whose presence altered the origin energy around them. Michael could see that quite clearly.

    All-in-all, Michael spent most of his time on the first floor of the spaceship to analyze his potential allies in the Interdimensional g War, or his future enemies. It was intriguing and definitely worth the time and energy he spent imprinting all the bits of information he could store deep into his mind.

    A loud snap rang through the training ground exactly 30 minutes after the students received the notification. Alice Zenovia and a few more Professors of the academy stepped into the center of the training ground, with half-serious, half-smiling expressions on their faces. Only Alice was ice-cold as usual, which highlighted the small smiles on the faces of the other Professors.

    "Hello everyone. I presume that everyone knows me already, so I won''t introduce myself again," Alice Zenovia started off, her voice as sharp as a de of ice, "Everyone here knows why we''re on our way to Meku, and how we''re supposed to interact with the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs. Thus, I won''t go into detail about that."

    As Alice spoke, the young man next to her stepped forward, "Of course, we''ll be forwarding guides to everyone about the basics you should know. Read through them to ensure that you won''t identally be rude to the Berserkers. Otherwise, you might end up in a Blood Ritual, facing the Berserkers'' wrath. That''s not what anyone here wants to happen, believe me!" The young man said, his gaze moving across the crowd of students.

    His gaze lingered on Killian a little longer than the others before he stepped back once again. He motioned to Alice, who continued speaking.

    "Since everyone present will be representing the Saphirke Military Academy, a part of mankind with the students of other academies and universities who''ll be present at the Battle Exchange, the Dean decided to give everyone some Saphire Points, and the opportunity to purchase some of the rare goods that have been stored in the academy''s treasury," Alice revealed, her gaze shifting to Michael for a second.

    However, Michael was a little bit confused about some things Alice had just noticed.

    ''Wasn''t it just the Saphirke Military Academy that was participating in the Battle Exchange? When did that change?'' He wondered, unsure how many humans would participate in the Battle Exchange this time around.

    ''Is winning three rounds in the Battle Exchange really enough to participate in the Interdimensional g War?''

    Despite the confusion, Michael continued to listen to Alice. Her short speech ended within a few minutes and as stated earlier, a few Saphire Points were credited to every student ount.

    Saphire Points were hard to procure. Most of them could be earned bypleting missions,pleting unique assignments, or passing final exams with high scores. They were valuable, and one could do a wide variety of things with them. This included purchasing unique techniques, recipes, Mythic Summoning Scrolls, and so on.

    However, Michael didn''t even think about using his Saphire Points for something like that.

    A much better n was already forming in his mind!

 Chapter 314 Big Five & Great Three

    <h4>Chapter 314 Big Five & Great Three</h4>

    The Saphire Points in his possession could be very well used to purchase recipes simr to the Energy Nourishing Pill. The recipes would be of a lower level than his Energy Nourishing Pill, but it would be very valuable for most Lords nheless.

    However, Michael had a different n in mind. He first thought of saving up Saphire Points to purchase recipes for potions simr to the Warrior Enlightenment Potion, but he changed his decision when he found something very interesting in the academy shop''s purchase catalog.

    "Zention Ore¡­an ore that attains exceptional flexibility upon being purified in the reduction process. The higher the purity of the Zention Ingot, the higher the origin energy conductivity, and the stronger the force distribution of physical attacks¡­Zention Ore is often used for customized Epic Tier-2 Armor Artifact¡­" Michael read aloud, while nodding his head slowly.

    High energy conductivity in ores indicated that the energy veins within the ore weren''t clogged and that multiple enchantments could be engraved on the Armament once it was shaped into the desired form. Adding the force distribution of highly purified Zention Ingots, they could be considered one of the best materials to forge Armor Artifact.

    Unfortunately, Zention Ore was as rare as it was exceptional. It was extremely expensive and would be sold in auctions most of the time. Even Michael couldn''t easily purchase enough Zention Ore from the Bartholomew Corporation to forge a proper Armor.

    In fact, even if he purchased enough Zention Ore, Michael didn''t really have the means to hire a Saint cksmith, and a Grandmaster Enchanter to create a customized Epic Tier-2 Armor for him earlier. That changed when he found the Relic of Draka. Now the only issue was the amount of Zention Ore he could purchase, and getting hold of apatible armor forging blueprint.

    Michael decided to use all of his Saphire Points to purchase enough Zention Ore to forge one Armor Set and a wide variety of forging blueprints. But before that, Michael had to continue listening to the speeches of the Professors.

    After Alice''s short speech ended, the other Professors said a few more things. They forwarded a few more information guides and informed everyone that they should alwayse to them if they had any questions. The Battle Exchange was a very important event. Therefore, the Professors were even willing to spar with the students and provide specific pointers to help them hone their skills.

    The Professors would then spend some time with them to give them individual lessons and specific advice for the issues they encountered.

    Michael was not too interested in that offer for the time being. He would rather enter the Origin Expanse where he could use most of his time to develop his territory and grow stronger by practicing Sacred Rectification, Whispering Energy, and attain deeper understanding of his Soultraits.

    Researching his Soultraits was far from easy. It might look easy given that Michael learned new things about his Soultraits every now and then, but given that he had so many Soultraits he would have to spend far more time and effort to gain a deeper understanding of each of them.

    Time was definitely not on Michael''s side, but it was not as if that had ever been the case.

    Other than some standard information and general guides, Michael also got to know more about the other Professors, and more pieces of information about the other Universities and Academies.

    The two Professors standing next to Alice were called Ophelia ze and Oliver Zeus. Apparently, Oliver Zeus was Killian Zeus'' uncle. Oliver was only three years older than Killian, but he was already a Professor. Meanwhile, Ophelia ze didn''t look much older either.

    Most Professors, who traveled with the participants of the Battle Exchange were rather young, and all of them belonged to Supreme Families, High Nobles, or Great ns. All of them had the same mission- to approach the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to get closer to them. If possible, they should sign trading agreements epassing the entire Tritan Alliance the moment they arrived in Meku.

    ''It was only obvious that the Zenovia family is not the only family trying to be the pioneers in the trading business with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Everyone wants a piece of the cake,'' Michael thought with a grin.

    The Zeus, ze, and Zenovia family seemed somewhat close. Alice, Ophelia, and Oliver definitely knew each other for quite a while, otherwise, Ophelia and Oliver wouldn''t be able to be chatterboxes in front of Alice for tens of minutes despite Alice''s chilling cold expression that didn''t change even once. Most people would feel ufortable chatting around the Frozen Duchess.

    Michael also noticed that they never really stopped talking and that they even pulled Alice into their conversation, but she kept her replies short. Even though she looked cold and distant, she talked to Ophelia and Oliver for quite a while ¨C and that was not something she would do with many people.

    ''So they''repeting against each other with the teams they trained, but it''s more of a friendlypetition since they''re friends? Or will they fight each other to death even though they''re friends?''

    Michael was not sure how deep friendship between the influential families ran, but he could guess that friendships were either highly valued and that not even business could destroy them, or that the exact opposite was the case. He guessed that they had a very distinct separation between friendship and business.

    "Are you curious about the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies?" Kaleb asked from behind, startling Michael a little.

    He was fully focused on observing Alice and herpany, and the new pieces of information he had obtained so he didn''t even notice when Kaleb arrived behind him.

    "I''m not sure why, but I always thought the Saphirke Military Academy would be the only academy sending students to participate in the Battle Exchange. I didn''t even think about the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies until now," Michael revealed in all honesty.

    "Usually, all sides send 1500 participants to the Battle Exchange. Out of 4500 future powerhouses, 1000 will be picked to participate in the g War. As for why you thought differently¡­I don''t really know. Maybe it''s because the Saphirke Military Academy is the only prominent human-built academy in the Lumina Ster System. The Big Five and the Great Three are located in our native sr system, after all," Kaleb exined a little to which Michael responded with a faint nod.

    After skimming through some of the guides, he also learned about those pieces of information. The Big Five and Great Three would send 150 participants to Meku just like the Saphirke Military Academy. This left 150 spots for the Battle Exchange, which were filled with heavenly prodigies from other academies, talented youths from the Great ns, or other promising Awakened, who were in possession of Soultraits that could influence the oue of a battle to a great extent.

    Some Awakened with Soultraits like that were also present in the spaceship. These students never made it into the top 13 of their grade''s ranking, but their Soultraits were too good to ignore them.

    There was a skinny young man from the 3rd year, who would definitely go to the Interdimensional g War because of the Soultrait he manifested. He was at the Peak of the 2nd Tier and didn''t exude intense pressure either. However, Michael found out that the skinny student''s Soultrait was called War g. Once the War g was manifested, its presence would elevate the morale of the allies within the Soultrait''s range.

    The War g would also enhance the power of all allies, further enhancing thebat prowess of everyone around it.

    Other than the skinny student, there was a female student with a Soultrait called Dome of Vitality. The dome healed everyone in its range, and it lowered the time they required to replenish their energy drastically.

    There were a handful of students like them in the Saphirke Military Academy, and Michael was sure that the other Academies and Universities had students with simr Soultraits as well. In fact, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs should have such Soultraits as well, even if there weren''t many of those since Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were known for manifesting physically attributedbat-type Soultraits.

    "Thepetition this year will be¡­interesting," Kaleb said with a bright smile on his face.

    The Professors might have said that there was nopetition between the Universities and Academies because everyone was fighting for mankind''s survival and growth, but Michael clearly recalled thepetitive spirit in the Professors'' eyes, indicating the opposite of what they''d said before.

    Thepetitive spirit of the Professors was contagious. Kaleb and the other students were exhrated, eagerly awaiting to reach Meku and start the Battle Exchange. They could not wait to participate in the fierce battles and demonstrate that they were prodigies among prodigies. Some of them didn''t even care about the honor they could earn for their families. They just wanted to be the strongest of the youngest generation and showcase what they were capable of.

    They wanted to be praised from all sides and stared at with awe, respect, and a tinge of fear.

    Michael was no different. However, his reasons were not exactly simr. He didn''t need the respect, awe, or fear. All he desired was the strength he could attain by getting ground and polished while battling future powerhouses. They were powerful, and Michael wanted to use their power to be stronger on his own.

    He was in possession of enough Soultraits to grow much stronger than any of them, but he required the pressure from outside to squeeze out more of the potential that was hidden deep within himself and his Soultraits.

    But before he would risk his life to be stronger, Michael returned to his room.

    After talking with Kaleb for a while, he had grown even more excited about the Battle Exchange. He was looking forward to it.

    The Battle Exchange and the future events were bound to be epic. Michael was certain about that.

 Chapter 315 Spark

    <h4>Chapter 315 Spark</h4>

    Michael''s clothes were drenched in sweat and he was breathing heavily, standing next to the Relic of Draka.

    The forge of the Magical Smithy was fully empowered, releasing a zing heat that spread through every nook and cranny in the basement. Standing next to the forge, Michael felt tendrils of smoke rise up from the tips of his hair, and he even began to wonder how much longer it would take before his blood would start boiling.

    Sweat poured down his cheeks, and the difort of the zing heat began to wear him down, yet Michael never took his eyes away from the forge.

    He stayed focused and kept watching intently as the Zention Ore was slowly reduced to metal.

    After talking to Kaleb for a while, Michael finished his purchase in the academy shop. He used all of his Saphire points to buy Zention Ore and a wide variety of forging blueprints before returning to the Origin Expanse.

    Now that he was back in the Origin Expanse, Michael focused on the creation of his Artifact-like Armor Set.

    Michael began to utilize Extraction once the Zention Ore had been reduced to its metal. He engulfed the dark glowing metal inside the forge with the power of Extraction and started extracting the impurities within it.

    The Relic of Draka used a specific forging technique that released some impurities within the metal it processed, however, Michael''s 6-Star Extraction Soultrait was a lot more potent.

    Applyingyers of Enhancement on top of Extraction further increased the Soultrait''s potency, allowing Michael to extract more impurities from within the dark glowing metal.

    At first nce, extracting the impurities within Zention metal seemed quite easy. However, Michael had to pay attention not to extract the energy veins alongside the impurities. Most of the impurities were attached to energy veins, or even clogged them, restricting proper energy circting. Extracting the impurities would solve those issues, and allow the Relic of Draka to unleash more of the Zention metal''s hidden potential. But extraction required lots of focus and time, especially when it had to be detailed.

    Michael''s control of Extraction was quite high, but he rarely used Extraction for detailed extractions. Most of the time he would either throw the golden streams of extraction toward his enemies, extract entire behemoth trees, or dissect bodies ¨C which didn''t really require him to control Extraction with extreme focus.

    Slowly but steadily, Michael applied moreyers of Enhancement onto the Power of Extraction. His golden streams invaded the Zention metal from all sides, carefully working through every inch of the metal to extract the impurities within.

    More than half an hour passed before Michael retrieved the third Energy Nourishing Pill. He consumed it to replenish his used-up energy to keep extracting more impurities within the Zention metal.

    By now, Michael had already extracted most of the impurities within the Zention metal. However, Michael was not yet satisfied. He wanted to ensure that the Relic of Draka could use the best materials to forge his Armor Set. Therefore, he began to use the Power of Enhancement he had stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact to add moreyers of Enhancement on top of his Power of Extraction.

    Extraction ended up with 10yers of Enhancement for a short period. It was just enough time to remove some more impurities within the Zention metal. Michael slumped to the ground afterward, mentally drained, covered in sweat, and dead-tired.

    Hey down on the ground, not caring about the searing heat that filled the entire room. Too tired to move, Michael waited until bits of his origin energy had been refilled before he conjured a few cicles. He put them down next to him so as to cool his surroundings for a few minutes and regte his body temperature.

    Once the cicles had molten, Michael forced himself to get up. He was still sweating but he was satisfied with the result.

    The Relic of Draka had already begun to move, using the purified Zention metal to start processing it.

    After Zention metal had been purified, its ck surface shimmered royal blue. It looked magnificent, and a vibrant smile blossomed on Michael''s lips.

    He had to use up the Power of Enhancement he had painstakingly hoarded and stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact after his battle with the Blood Witch, but he was certain that it would be worth it. The Relic of Draka was most likely proficient enough to turn the purified Zention metal into a natural Epic Tier-2 Artifact without the restriction of having to bind it to his body.

    If he had a Grandmaster Enchanter at his disposal, he could even add enchantments on top of the Armor Set. But even without one, the Zention Armor Set was bound to be exceptional ¨C all thanks to him extracting more than 80% of its impurities!

    Staring at the crimson ring on his right index finger, Michael fell deep in thoughts.

    "I wonder if the Relic can recreate Artifact-like essories like Dragon Might as well¡­If that''s possible, even my Summons could use the Power of Soultraits stored within these essories¡­"

    Theoretically, it should be possible to mass-produce essories with the same effects of artifacts. However, practically it was extremely difficult. In the first ce, Michael would have to procure a blueprint for an Artifact that could store the Power of Soultraits like the Legendary Dragon Might Ring Artifact. Without a blueprint, the Relic of Draka wouldn''t be able to produce the Artifact. Other than that, Michael would have to procure the materials required to forge such a unique artifact like Dragon Might.

    While the materials might be easier to procure, Michael had never heard of a blueprint for essory Artifacts such as Dragon Might. But Michael didn''t really have high hopes, in the first ce. Dragon Might was considered a Legendary Artifact for a reason.

    Despite all of that, Michael felt that it would be great if he could make use of the Relic of Draka a little bit more. Using it to forge Artifact-like Armaments for his Summons was great, but it was rather slow, which meant that he could only equip some of his Summons with those Spirit Armaments, which Michael decided to call the Relic of Draka''s products.

    Unsure how much time the Relic of Draka required toplete the Spirit Armor Set, Michael decided to leave the basement. The Magical Smithy wouldplete forging the Spirit Armor Set without him as well.

    Hence, he returned to his room and took a quick bath. While sitting in the wooden bathtub, he thought about the development of his territory once again.

    After he spent some time in a room with 150 powerful Lords, Michael''s thoughts about the future changed a little bit. He got to know dozens of people with various unique Soultraits, and the number of unique Awakened from influential families would increase further. Michael was about to meet 1500 of the strongest Awakened and Lords of the youngest generation. If he took the strongest Lords of the Berserker and Warlock Centaur''s youngest generation into ount, Michael was about to meet nearly 5,000 Awakened who were bound to be powerhouses in the future ¨C as long as none of them died, that is.

    Each of them had been nurtured meticulously. They were trained from a young age and had been facing the dangers of the Origin Expanse for years. Fighting them would certainly grant him far more benefits than staying in the academy where he would have to waste his time attending courses that were more or less useless to him at this point.

    A spark of determination ignited within Michael''s heart at that thought. Facing thousands of geniuses in the near future excited him. Even the thought of watching their fights and analyzing theirbat prowess, ways to deal with their unique Soultraits, and their special Inheritance techniques, was more than enough to bring a smile to his face.

    This spark of desire influenced Michael''s train of thought. He stepped out of the bathtub and put on one of hisbat suits.

    Not even a minuteter, Michael found himself standing in the center of the training ground, surrounded by the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and Tiara.

    "Are you sure that you want to fight all of us at the same time, Master?" Tiara asked, not sure if she should be happy that Michael wanted to spar with her, or if she should feel insulted that Michael thought he could defeat six Tier-2 Adventurers simultaneously, including herself.

    The Forest Elven Adventurers were in possession of two 4-Star Soultraits each, and Tiara had even better Soultraits. Wasn''t Michael taking them too lightly?

    "I won''t hold back, so make sure that you guys won''t sustain any heavy injuries," Michael retorted, his attention focused on Tiara.

    In the worst case, Lilica and the other Forest Elven Adventurers could leave the Origin Expanse to rush to their tribe''s healers. Their healers should be as powerful ¨C if not more powerful ¨C than the Medic team in the Saphirke Military Academy. However, Tiara couldn''t leave the Origin Expanse. She had to rely on their Priests to be healed.

    "I am the toughest here. My natural regeneration is several times faster than the Forest Elves'' natural regenerationbined!" Tiara grumbled for the first time, showing a sign of frustration toward her master.

    She was already feeling bad for being of little to no use to her master. All she could do to help his territory prosper was train the Summons and go out hunting. But Michael started to treat her as if she wasn''t even abatant right now.

    Her pride as a Silverfang Tigerfolk, and a Warrior took a hit just from hearing that.

    Lilica and the Forest Elven Adventurers were also dissatisfied with Michael''sment. They stared at him and manifested their Artifacts one after another and prepared to give him a tough time.

    Meanwhile, Michael had to suppress a vibrant smile seeing how seriously his subordinates reacted. He was fully aware that hisment was a little bit unfair, especially toward Tiara, but he wanted to ensure that Tiara and the Forest Elven Adventurers would give their best while sparring with him.

    Michael was also fully aware that Tiara''s natural regeneration was in a different league than his. She didn''t even need constant supervision from several Medics with healing-type Soultraits to tend to her after the Dragon breath burned her. Tiara healed naturally while Michael was bedridden in the infirmary under constant supervision and influence of healing Soultraits.

    Nheless, Michael had to provoke Tiara and the others. He ought to tell them to pay attention to their surroundings. After all, he wanted to go all out in order to see how strong he actually was.

    Unleashing his full power in front of the entire Tritan Alliance for the first time was not something Michael wished to do. He would rather practice and perfect his skills until he passed out before showcasing his talent in front of such a huge audience.

    He wanted to control his powers to refine them during the Battle Exchange to be prepared for all kinds of situations that awaited him during the Interdimensional g War.

    After all, the g War was where both the dangers and the treasures were waiting for him!

 Chapter 316 Pressure

    <h4>Chapter 316 Pressure</h4>

    The training ground was emptied and turned into arge arena with hundreds of Summons eying their Lords with respect and curiosity.

    Michael stood at one end of the arena while Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team stood on the other side, their Artifact manifested and ready for battle.

    After listening to Michael''sment, Tiara didn''t think about holding back anymore. She activated her first Soultrait, Silvarean Tiger, to grow silver fur all over her body, which increased her defense drastically. Following that her pupils were altered, enhancing her eyesight, while her physical strength increased substantially as well.

    Tiara''s body leaned forward dangerously close to the ground while moving her spear around herself with great precision.

    Meanwhile, Lilica Balrean gripped her bow tightly. A white ring manifested in her emerald-green eyes after she activated her 4-Star Soultrait, Weakness Detection. A grayish ring formed around the white ring in Lilica''s eyes as she utilized her second 4-Star Soultrait, Precise Aim, as well.

    Both Soultraits had simple utilities. Weakness Detection allowed Lilica to detect the weaknesses of her targets, while Precise Aim improved her uracy with all types of weapons drastically. Bybining her Soultraits, Lilica''sbat prowess increased significantly.

    After Lilica and Tiara unleashed their Soultraits, the remaining four Forest Elven Adventurers followed suit. Liopham Zelc manifested his 4-Star Rage of the Primal in front of their team, targeting Michael before releasing his other 4-Star Soultrait, Swiftness.

    Just like the enchantment swiftness, Liopham''s second Soultrait enhanced his Agility drastically by conjuring winds around his feet.

    None of the remaining three Forest Elven Adventurers unleashed their Soultraits immediately. Mika Zels, Opars Zelk, and Pheli Zan were all either unable to unleash their Soultraits before the battle with Michael started, or they wanted to wait for a better opportunity to take Michael by surprise.

    Michael didn''t say anything, but he smirked. He had seen the Soultrait the EmeraldLeaf Adventurers had awakened upon entering the Origin Expanse several times. He was also the one who granted them a second Soultrait. Obviously, Michael knew what Soultrait he had given them.

    He released his Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might, and swirled the Wyverntooth Spear around his body. The battle started not long after as Icarus'' screech resounded through the territory''s center.

    The moment the battle began, Pheli Zan unleashed her Battle Cry Soultrait. A thunderous roar resounded through the arena, filling the other Forest Elves and Tiara with energy. Their muscles bulged and their power increased by roughly 10% in response. Opars Zelk moved behind the others, a white symbol the size of a piece of paper manifesting above him.

    He pressed his hand against Mika''s back while using his Soultrait, Energy Imprint, to channel energy into Mika as the youngest Forest Elf used both Arrow Duplication and Pierce while pulling the bowstring of his bow backward.

    Mika didn''t hesitate to use the strongest forms of his Soultraits since Opars had his back. He released the arrow with tremendous force and began to move around to spread out and allow their team to attack Michael from all sides.

    Mika''s arrow shot through the air. It split into dozens of duplicates that were aimed either at him or the area around him, forcing Michael to do something big if he wanted to evade, or block the attack.

    With Pierce applied on the main arrow, Mika ensured that the duplicated arrows were also under the influence of Pierce''s effect, making it difficult for Michael to block the downpour of arrows easily.

    While Mika''s arrows garnered the spectator''s attention, Lilica didn''t remain idle. She moved to the side while spying on Michael with Weakness Detection. She pulled her bowstring back and used Precise Aim to target the area her Weakness Detection determined his weakest point.

    She released the arrow and continued to move.

    Liopham and Tiara didn''t focus on keeping their distance from Michael. Liopham exerted a considerable amount of energy to force Michael''s attention onto the Spirit Totem manifested with his Rage of the Primal Soultrait. It couldn''t affect Michael a lot, but Michael''s attention was still constantly drawn over to the Spirit Totem every now and then, distracting him.

    After the Spirit Totem drew Michael''s attention over, Liopham followed Tiara, who had charged ahead to enter closebat.

    As the Soultraits were utilized one after another, Michael used Eagle Eyes with twoyers of Enhancement. He absorbed the view in front of him down to the finest detail and began to move.

    He first released a human-sized cicle which he conjured vertically in front of him. It was enhanced with a singleyer of Enhancement.

    Simultaneously, Michael created a small Qi Sword which he released with a burst of energy toward the Spirit Totem.

    The Qi Sword was faster than the arrows released by the Forest Elves. It was also too fast for Liopham to move the Spirit Totem somewhere else. Unable to block the Qi Sword while also maintaining the Spirit Totem was impossible for Liopham. As a result, the Spirit Totem was hit and pierced through.

    Rage of the Primal was a good tool against monsters and less intelligent races. It was very useful against races with strong wild instincts. However, Rage of the Primal was not that useful in a head-on battle, especially not if the opponent possessed a highly destructive long-range attack.

    Mika''s arrows impacted on the cicle roughly the same time the Spirit Totem was destroyed. Pierce enhanced both the destructive and pration force of arrows and des. Despite that, there was a limit to how much they could destroy.

    cicle was more than a meter thick and Michael continued channeling bits of energy into it to ensure that Mika''s arrows were blocked properly. The arrows impacted and pierced through the firstyers of cicle, but they weren''t strong enough to shatter cicle.

    Despite that, Mika was satisfied. He made a great trade by forcing Michael to unleash a human-sized cicle. It required at least as much origin energy as Mika had to use for his attack ¨C the only difference being that Opars had replenished Mika''s used-up energy immediately.

    Lilica''s attack wasn''t blocked by the cicle. But Michael saw the attack thanks to his Eagle Eyes, either way. His Wyverntooth Spear moved through the air to pick up the arrow and block it. Lilica frowned a little seeing how easily Michael blocked the attack, but the corners of her lip curled upward the next moment when she saw Liopham and Tiara appear next to Michael.

    Tiara thrust her spear at Michael''s chest while Liopham used his rapid speed to kick toward Michael''s legs. Once Michael lost his bnce and fell to the ground, it would be a matter of time before they would emerge victorious.

    But, Michael was not done yet. He responded instinctively by adding anotheryer of Enhancement to Eagle Eyes. He also applied ayer of Enhancement to his legs to elerate his movement speed a little. Being able to clearly see the iing attacks, Michael changed his stance by moving his right leg backward. Simultaneously, he moved the Wyverntooth Spear to block Tiara''s attack.

    But just as Tiara''s spear was about to collide with the Wyverntooth Spear, Tiara utilized her other Soultrait, Internal Force, to change the force of her attack internally, distribute it differently and alter her movement drastically without losing the slightest bit of her movement speed.

    Even though Michael already knew what Tiara''s Soultrait was capable of, countering it was far from easy. It was the first time he was fighting against Tiara seriously, and he had several other opponents to pay attention to as well. Thus, he released an oval-shaped cicle to block her altered thrust while simultaneously unleashing three enhanced Spirit Whips to strike her mentally in quick session.

    But that was not enough. Michael conjured a Qi Sword as the cicle Shield manifested, and he released it with a burst of energy toward Tiara as the three Spirit Whips impacted.

    Another Qi Sword manifested next to Michael. It shot toward Liopham, forcing the Forest Elf to unleash the strongest form of Swiftness to avoid getting impaled.

    Meanwhile, Tiara twisted her body while also using Internal Force to further adjust her stance in order to evade the small Qi Sword flying toward her.

    Her attack had been blocked, providing Michael the opportunity he needed to step back.

    Using Eagle Eyes constantly, all while applying Enhancement on top of Eagle Eyes, and cicle, Michael struggled quite a bit. He didn''t add any additionalyers on top of his Spirit Whips, or the Qi Swords, simply because he was already going over the top by simultaneously controlling five Soultraits with great precision.

    His control did not waver even though his head began to ache. Using so many Soultraits simultaneously affected not only his mental power but also drained his stored origin energy rapidly.

    But even then, Michael was starting to feel exhrated. He felt that the pressure applied by Tiara and the Forest Elves would allow him to master multitasking more Soultraits simultaneously, hopefully with even greater proficiency than before!

    Fully focused on the battlefield, Michael blocked Lilica''s next attack with the Wyverntooth Spear. He manifested a dozen small cicles to block Mika''s second attack. The cicles shot toward the duplicated arrows that would have hit him, destroying any potential danger in its essence.

    Afterward, he had to face Liopham and Tiara head-on once again. But this time, Pheli Zan joined the closebat battle as well.

    She used her first Soultrait [Repelling Shield] to create a semi-translucent shield in front of Liopham and Tiara as Michael''s next counterattack was about to hit.

    The Repelling Shields ought to block and repel the impacting force. However, the Qi Swords were too destructive to be fully blocked and repelled. The shields could only slow the Qi Swords before they burst apart.

    But that was more than enough time for Liopham and Tiara to change their mind. They advanced past the Qi Swords and shot toward Michael, whose energy storage was facing a crisis.

    In response, Michael unleashed Extraction.

 Chapter 317 Everything

    <h4>Chapter 317 Everything</h4>

    Once Michael unleashed Extraction on top of his other Soultraits, he felt like his head would split apart as a searing pain shot through him. However, by using Extraction to extract the origin energy in the surroundings, he could solve the problem of his dried-out energy storage to a certain degree.

    Using too many Soultraits simultaneously was not easy, but it worked ¨C more or less ¨C thanks to the external pressure Tiara and the Forest Elves put on him. Michael was also growing more excited when he felt that Extraction''s potency was strong enough to annex the energy in the surroundings without being fully unleashed.

    At this point, Michael didn''t even have to focus on Extraction to unleash it. A simple thought was all it took.

    The annexed energy was enough to empower Eagle Eyes reinforced with fouryers of Enhancement, and his other Soultraits such as Reinforced Sword Qi, cicle, and three Spirit Whips without an Enhancement.

    Michael would have loved to utilize Enhancement to put severalyers of Enhancement on each of his Soultraits, but given that he was already using six Soultraits, he didn''t deem that necessary, in the first ce.

    Michael had a lot of things to test out. It was the first time he used all of hisbat Soultraits simultaneously, after all. He was exhrated despite the numbing headache!

    Pheli, Liopham, and Tiara were still pushing toward him, only retreating to rush toward Opars, who would use Energy Imprint to refill their energy storage while Lilica and Mika distracted Michael with a downpour of arrows.

    Michael decided to change his tactic the moment Tiara and Liopham retreated. Liopham was extremely fast and Tiara''s attack pattern was unpredictable. Thus, thebination of those two was the most annoying, followed by Mika''s Arrow Duplication and Piercebination.

    Once the melee fighters retreated, Michael received a few seconds to change his tactic. He manifested dozens of cicles which he released toward Lilica and the group around Tiara before kicking his feet from the ground to charge toward Mika.

    After he failed to hit Michael several times, Mika grew impatient. Being the youngest Forest Elf in the group, Mika had always been known as the least patient. He wanted to see the results of his attack immediately and was mildly annoyed that none of his attacks affected Michael.

    In the first ce, Michael didn''t seem to pay too much attention to him. Michael merely released a few cicles to block most of his attacks, infuriating the youngest Forest Elf on the battlefield.

    He knew that Michael grew stronger at a much faster rate than anyone else, but he thought that his contribution in a battle against Michael would be somewhat notable. But that was not the case. His contribution was close to nil. At least, that was how Mika felt.

    Michael thought the opposite because Mika''s well-timed attacks had restricted him more than once. He was often unable to charge toward Lilica, or Opars to deal with them because of the downpour of Mika''s arrows.

    They might not be strong enough to pierce through his human-sized cicle, but the duplicated arrows with Pierce were too dangerous to ignore.

    Thus, Michael sted in Mika''s direction the moment the opportunity appeared. His cicles ought to restrain the others long enough, especially after they had retreated to refill their energy yet again.

    Michael released two Qi Swords toward Mika before moving to the side. Mika was just about to release another arrow with Arrow Duplication and Pierce when he noticed that the Qi Swords shot toward him from ahead while Michael moved to the side.

    The moment he released his bowstring to destroy the Qi Swords, Michael would appear next to him, ending him with the Wyverntooth Spear. But he couldn''t ignore the Qi Swords either. They were too fast and deadly to ignore. Mika''s instincts screamed at him as his survival instincts kicked in. They overwhelmed his rational thinking and forced him to let go of the bowstring, releasing the arrow that duplicated before colliding with the Qi Swords.

    The Qi Swords burst after several duplicated arrows with Pierce impacted. However, just as Mika visualized earlier, Michael appeared next to him, the Wyverntooth Spear heading straight toward his neck.

    Michael''s attack stopped merely an inch away from Mika''s neck, and a faint smile formed on his lips as he said, "You''re dead."

    Mika broke into a sweat at that. His legs caved in and he slumped to the ground, his eyes lingering on Michael, whose expression changed.

    "You were really annoying to fight. I would hate facing someone like you in a life-and-death battle," Michael murmured, all while thick droplets of sweat poured down his cheeks.

    At this point, Michael was extremely exhausted and unable to hide how worn out he was. His clothes were drenched in sweat and his short hair was stered to his temples.

    Even if he had yet to be hit with an attack, Michael felt like he wouldn''t be able to fight much longer. The only advantage he held over the others was that Mika had been defeated, causing cracks in their defense.

    Seeing that Tiara, Liopham, and Pheli stood in front of Opars who continued to use Energy Imprint to refill their energy storages, Michael''s eyes moved over to Lilica. She had evaded the cicles Michael shot in her direction earlier and was now about to release another arrow. Lilica had pinpointed Michael''s weakness and unleashed one arrow after another in quick session.

    However, Michael''s cicles were conjured at a breakneck speed, and released at once with great precision to smash into Lilica''s arrows at once.

    Even though cicle was only a 4-Star Soultrait, it was extremely useful against other projectiles ¨C especially projectiles made out of wood and energy. The cicles shed with the arrows and burst apart, releasing a chilly mist that froze the arrows. Energy-condensed arrows were likely to condense further until they would destabilize and burst apart while wooden arrows would freeze and fall to the ground due to the sudden change in their momentum.

    Of course, multiple different factors yed a role as well, but Michael could conjure and release dozens of cicles while Lilica released two to three arrows. She might be able to pinpoint his weakness and aim at him with great precision, but her arrows were still made out of wood. She didn''t want to use the Pieckers or her other expensive arrows in a spar, after all!

    Michael knew that Lilica wouldn''t use her expensive arrows in a spar. He and Tiara scolded the Forest Elves way too often for wasting money by using consumable items, and breaking expensive arrows in spars and situations that didn''t actually require the usage of costly items that would be better put to use in a real battle.

    Thus, Lilica refrained from using Pieckers and more expensive arrows in a spar. However, they were losing despite having a numerical advantage. Lilica realized her mistake toote. Michael released several Qi Swords amid his next batch of cicles, which forced her to retreat and change her position. By the time she blocked the Qi Swords, several cicles had impacted all around her joints and vital points. The freezing mist of the cicles was unleashed upon impact, affecting Lilica''sbat prowess and movements.

    She couldn''t even do anything against Michael as he appeared in front of her without potentially breaking off her limbs.

    Michael lightly tapped Lilica with the Wyverntooth Spear before he muttered in a low but confident voice, "Dead."

    He then retracted the Wyverntooth Spear and turned around to face the remaining four enemies head-on. Even Opars changed his tactic to join the others in closebat.

    Michael ended up with four des moving in his direction with ridiculous speed. Opars circted a tremendous amount of energy through his body to enhance his strength and speed while Tiara moved unpredictably, thrusting out with the spear just to change the targeted area several times.

    Liopham moved rapidly with Swiftness fully unleashed, and Pheli released her Repelling Shield to protect everyone''s vital spots. Pheli''s energy reserves were used up instantaneously as more than ten Repelling Shields manifested all around her allies. They restricted Michael''s attack enough to allow Pheli and the rest to strike Michael first.

    Unfortunately, Michael didn''t ept that. He intertwined three Spirit Whips with each other to elevate their strength as high as possible before he applied a fewyers of Enhancement. Then Michael struck Pheli with the enhanced 3-fold Spirit Whip. The moment the Spirit Whip impacted, Pheli screamed out. Only the white in her eyes was visible, and the repelling shields destabilized. They disintegrated as Pheli copsed on the ground, allowing Michael to manifest cicles all around his body.

    He turned into a hedgehog covered in icicle needles and released them in all directions at once.

    Following that, Michael observed the response of his opponents before he reacted as well, using his Eagle Eyes'' exceptional eyesight to move in the direction Liopham moved.

    Michael moved rapidly, shing toward Liopham all while manifesting a few Qi Swords to restrict his paths. Liopham could move rapidly, but he required a path to make full use of his speed.

    Michael''s Wyverntooth Spear was just about to drive deep into Liopham''s chest when Michael stopped in his tracks.

    "Dead," He said in-between two heavy breaths, throwing his body around just to detect that Tiara''s spear was about to impact his abdomen.

    Michaelshed out with the enhanced 3-fold Spirit Whip, hitting Tiara hard enough to make her falter. He also had six Qi Swords, and dozens of cicles at the ready. That was enough to put Tiara in her ce and kill her ¨C if Michael desired to do so.

    Maybe Tiara would have been able to escape the danger of the Qi des and cicles, lowering the lethal damage by allowing the attacks to impact in specific areas. However, she would end up severely injured, one way or another, and they were merely sparring right now.

    Thus, Michael let the Qi Swords and cicles hover mid-air instead of striking Tiara. He had never nned on killing her. He merely smiled at her and dealt with Opars attack, blocking it just in time before overwhelming him with the power of six Soultraits.

 Chapter 318 Promotion

    <h4>Chapter 318 Promotion</h4>

    ''I am so dead¡­'' Michael cursed in his mind as hey down on the ground.

    More than ten minutes had passed since he won against Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, but he had yet to stop sweating buckets. His head was still thumping wildly as well.

    Michael was exhausted, but he was quite satisfied with the results of the spar. He felt a lot better. Meanwhile the spark in his heart developed into a small burning me that flickered brightly, bringing light to the darkness inside his heart.

    At one point Tiara appeared next to him. She stood there, biting her lower lip while waiting for him to get up and notice her.

    Michael finally looked at her while slowly pushing his upper body from the ground.

    "What are you thinking about, Tiara?" He asked when he noticed that Tiara hesitated a bit.

    "Master¡­ I think I should take back what I said thest time you asked me if I wanted another Soultrait¡­" She revealed, clutching her clothes tightly while subconsciously avoiding locking eyes with Michael.

    "Hm? Was that ever off the table? Didn''t you just say that you didn''t like the Soultraits I had at that time because they were notpatible with the Soultraits you manifested? I agree with that, mostly," Michael said lightly before he added, "Once I harvest more Soultrait Symbols, I''ll show them to you, and you can tell me which ones you want, and I will give them to you. It''s easy."

    Michael smiled at Tiara, who looked both happy, yet ufortable. As Michael''s subordinate and Battle Maid, Tiara was supposed to be one of Michael''s strongest fighters. She ought to be a great asset to his territory and army, yet Michael defeated her easily ¨C and she requested to be granted some of his most valuable resources- Soultraits.

    Looking at Tiara, Michael couldn''t help but feel that she was a much worse overthinker than he was.

    "I would shower you with Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments in the future, either way. If I can ensure that you grow stronger, and that you and my people will have a higher survivability during the future wars against our enemies, I would do it without a second thought," Michael exined calmly.

    Tiara looked up and locked eyes with Michael, a shimmer of gratefulness and happiness gleaming in her ocean-blue eyes.

    "By the way, you have two 5-Star Soultraits, don''t you?" Michael asked suddenly.

    He noticed that Tiara''s Soultraits were on a different levelpared to the Forest Elves'' Soultraits. She possessed two Soultraits just like them, but each of her Soultrait was on a higher level than theirs.

    Tiara was surprised for a moment, but she nodded her head in the next second. There was no need to hide her Soultraits in front of Michael.

    "I have a transformation Soultrait that replicates the natural transformation a member of the Silverfang Tigerfolk attains upon evolving their lifeforce, which happens when we be Higher Lifeforms at the 4th Tier. Once I ascend to the 4th Tier, my first Soultrait, Silvarean Tiger, will receive a qualitative upgrade that allows me to grow even stronger in my Silver Tiger form. You already know my other Soultrait, Internal Force. It allows me to re-distribute the energy and force inside my body instantaneously. By precisely adjusting the force in my body I can change my attack pattern and movement trajectory at once without losing momentum," She revealed without hesitation.

    Michael fell deep in thought while listening to her exnation. He pressed his palms against the firm soil and got up from the ground.

    ''Upgrading a 5-Star Soultrait cost more than 50,000 SoulStar Fragments. Giving her more Soultraits and upgrading them should be my main goal to enhance Tiara''sbat prowess. That''s much easier than collecting tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments.''

    Michael had yet to upgrade all of his Soultraits to 5-Star, but he was not exactly in a rush. He had other means to increase his strength and had a huge to-do list toplete before he could return his focus on upgrading his Soultraits.

    One of the most important tasks was to improve his control of Soultraits, especially when he utilized multiple simultaneously. He had realized that he fought mostly instinctively against Tiara and the Forest Elves, which was good to a certain degree, but it also revealed hisck ofprehension and mastery of most Soultraits.

    Michael had onlyprehended bits of Extraction, but that was already more than what he knew about his other Soultraits. He could only control his other Soultraits because of the knowledge imprinted in his mind when he fused with them.

    That had to be addressed soon since he wanted to grow stronger. But then again, Michael could also tell that he could unravel more of his body''s hidden potential if he learned morebat techniques, and if he started to use his brain a little bit more mid-battle. He had yet to refine his mind to a deeper level, and his Soul hadn''t been refined at all.

    Other than that, Michael felt that his equipment required an upgrade as well. After sparring with several students in possession of customized Epic Tier-2 Artifacts his interest in powerful Artifact increased. However, the spark of interest evolved into an inferno only after obtaining Dragon Might.

    It enhanced his mental power, and ability to multitask drastically, allowing him to wield six Soultraits simultaneously. Without the Legendary Ring Artifact, Michael would have copsed the moment he attempted to use six Soultraits at once. He might even have sustained permanent brain damage if not for Dragon Might.

    Thus, Michael was extremely curious about the Spirit Armor Set that was currently being produced by the Relic of Draka.

    He smiled at the thought of the Spirit Armor Set and only got back to his senses when he saw ire Tracer rushing over to him.

    "My Lord, three Starless Summons attained enlightenment after watching your battle! They drank the Warrior Enlightenment Potion earlier andprehended the essence of a 1-Star Warrior all thanks to your spar!!" ire eximed in pure excitement. She smiled vibrantly like a little child who received an expensive toy.

    "Where are they?" Michael asked immediately.

    ire turned around and pointed toward a crowd of Summons that had gathered around two young men and a young woman, "Over there."

    Michael nodded and walked over to the crowd. He squeezed his way through the crowd and appeared in front of the three Starless Summons. Then he closed his eyes and lifted his right hand, focusing on his Link of Loyalty with the three Summons that stood right in front of him.

    Their Links of Loyalty were firm, and they shone brightly in his Mind''s eye allowed him to see the deepest parts of his consciousness.

    His Mind''s eye saw the War Rune''s pir of light, the Sphere of Light hoarding his Soultraits, and tens of thousands of Links of Loyalty that branched out from the bottom of the pir of light like countless roots.

    Some roots were thicker while others were firmer, but out of all three small roots attracted his attention. They were shorter than most, and not as firm and stable as the roots around them. These three roots were the pulsating Links of Loyalty of the Starless Summons, who had attained enlightenment.

    Michael closed his eyes and continued to focus on the pulsating Links of Loyalty. By focusing on the Links of Loyalty, Michael could feel their emotions clearly. They were excited and curious, but there was also a tinge of fear.

    What would happen if they failed to be promoted to 1-Star Warriors? What if they wasted the Warrior Enlightenment Potion? Even though they had never been punished unjustly in Michael''s territory, they were afraid. Afraid of failing. Afraid of being of no use. Afraid of staying worthless.

    The fear in their hearts blossomed, and the pulsating of their Links of Loyalty grew unstable. The calm and rhythmical pulse devolved into a frantic mess.

    Michael might have never observed one of his Summons being promoted, but he could instinctively tell that their fears and worries would cause more harm than good. He kept his eyes shut and circted some of his energy through the roots of the pir of light.

    He infused his energy into the pulsating Links of Loyalty, slowly altering the unstable pulse. Michael''s interference was a little risky because he might startle the Summons, which would forcefully interrupt their promotion to 1-Star Warriors. Fortunately, the trust he had earned from his Summons over the course of thest months was enough to keep the Summons at ease even after Michael infused energy into the Link of Loyalty that connected Michael to his subjects.

    His energy infusion was calming, and it made the Summons realize that their Lord was no other than Michael. They recalled his actions and how well he treated them, which instantly dispelled most of the doubts that had popped up in their hearts.

    They calmed down and regained their focus within seconds.

    Afterward, the three Summons paid attention to nothing other than their promotion. They recalled every bit of Michael''s spar against Tiara and the Forest Elves, which they used inbination with the effect of the Warrior Enlightenment Potion to stimte the potential that was sealed in the deepest parts of their being.

    Their focus entered the deepest parts of their being, where the firstyers of their potential were uncovered ¨C slowly but steadily.

    Comprehending the essence of a Warrior after drinking a Warrior Enlightenment Potion was much easier. However, that didn''t mean it was actually easy. Most Starless Summons required several potions and weeks of hard work to trace the essence of a 1-Star Warrior.

    Yet, the three Summons did so by watching Michael''s spar, just like that.

    Theyers of their sealed potential crumbled, and the roots ¨C their Links of Loyalty ¨C grew longer, firmer and they stabilized in the following hours.

    All this while, Michael never left their side. He remained next to them, trying to guide them through the promotion to be 1-Star Summons.

 Chapter 319 Desire

    <h4>Chapter 319 Desire</h4>

    The three Starless Summons were promoted to 1-Star Warriors by unraveling bits of their hidden potential.

    Upon unleashing their hidden potential, the presence of the Starless Summons changed gradually. Their muscles bulged a little bit, and the origin energy coursing through their veins grew more potent.

    They were all born as nk sheets without any special talent granted by the Will of the Origin Expanse, but now they were slowly developing into sharp de. Basic knowledge about the essence ofbat, weapon mastery, and tactics entered their minds, evolving the weaponless sheep into fierce wolves.

    The Starless Summons'' minds grew more mature and affine to the essence ofbat and warfare. They kept changing constantly under the influence of the promotion to 1-Star Warriors. Several hours passed, but not a single spectator left. Everyone observed their transformation and the events of their promotion to 1-Star Warriors with interest.

    It was a magnificent event, and the spark of hope most Starless Summons desperately needed. Almost all Starless Summons were unsatisfied with their potential and progress so far. They didn''t understand why they were resurrected as Starless Summons when thousands of their brethren had been resurrected and summoned as 1-Star Summons.

    Most Starless Summons felt that it was unfair. They were Starless and were thus mostly used as a workforce, whether it was on the farnds to support the Farmers and Gardeners, assist in the kitchen, join the construction sites asborers, or assist the Alchemists, cksmiths, or Enchanters in their work.

    They were merely a workforce to support the Starred Summons. At first, that might have been fine. Some might even think that it was fine to keep working like this forever. They were given a ce to sleep, and enough free time to entertain themselves, and the amount of food they were given was far more than most of them could eat.

    As long as they were given the means to survive and live a pleasant life in Michael''s territory these Starless Summons would be fine.

    However, the majority desired more. They wanted to be more than just helpers. They wanted to be of immense value. But they thought that it was impossible. Their potential was horrendous, and not even 1 out of 10,000 Starless Summons had the chance to naturally attain enlightenment and be promoted to a 1-Star Summon.

    And witnessing the promotion of three Starless Summons to 1-Star Warriors gave them just that- hope to change everything.

    Every Starless Summon, who witnessed the potency of the Warrior Enlightenment Potion was starstruck. Only two batches of these potions had been distributed up to this point, yet three Starless Summons had already attained enlightenment. Their fates changed between one moment and the next. One moment they wereborers, but the next moment they entered Michael''s army, and were given the opportunity to use the energy absorption technique Pandemonium''s Requiem, Energy Nourishing Pills, Body Strengthening Pills, and Sacred Rectification as the warrior-specific body refinement technique.

    Their strength would increase by leaps and bounds within the next few days, their lifespan would increase by advancing to Tier-1, and they were given more opportunities to study more about Berserkers, Knights, and other 2-Starbat upations.

    All it took to change their lives forever was to work hard and be noticed by their Lord''s attendants. Once noticed, they would be given Warrior Enlightenment Potions, and their future would take a new direction.

    Various thoughts ran through the minds of the Starless Summons, whether they were questions, doubts, or foolish thoughts. But all of them circled back to one particr thought, and desire- All of them wanted to grasp the opportunity and be 1-Star Warriors through the Warrior Enlightenment Potions.

    Observing the reaction of his Summons, Michael felt blessed, but also a bit pressured. It was a blessing that his spar with Tiara and the Forest Elven Adventurers resulted in the promotion of three Starless Summons. Hundreds of Starless Summons witnessed the birth of three 1-Star Warriors. It was extraordinary.

    Michael couldn''t have wished for a better advertisement for his Warrior Enlightenment Potion.

    However, there were two downsides ¨C of which one could be considered a peculiar problem.

    The real problem was that Michael witnessed humans'' greed more often than he wanted to acknowledge. He nearly fell victim to it as well. Thus, he knew that the scarcity of Warrior Enlightenment Potions, and thepetition for every bottle would end up with quarrels.

    As long as the Starless Summons fought only a little, Michael''s military force could keep the situation under control. However, once the first murder urred, things would change.

    The crime rate in Michael''s territory was eerily low because everyone was mostly satisfied with the benefits they obtained from being Michael''s subordinates. Michael had always been focusing on creating tight-knit Links of Loyalty with his subordinates, resulting in him treating his subjects like family. He gave them everything they needed and more.

    However, that was not possible with rare resources such as Energy Nourishing Pills, Body Strengthening Pills, and the Warrior Enlightenment Potions. There were many other resources Michael couldn''t share with everyone. Thus, it had been quite a while since he created different levels of treatment.

    Those who didn''t want to do anything were given a small bed and enough food to survive. They shared their High Treehouse with dozens of people but were still given enough space to allow survival.

    The people who worked hard were given their home, enough free time for entertainment, and the opportunity to build a family, go to school, get educated, and make themselves useful for the Librarians and schrs afterward, or to train and potentially be Warriors or practice other Combat upations.

    They often became apprentices and made an effort to be a valuable asset to the territory. Thus, they were given much better treatment than those, who were merely given food and a ce to sleep because they were connected to Michael via the Link of Loyalty.

    Afterward, summons that had jobs with responsibilities and a certain danger level were given better treatment. Their value was determined through their upations, achievements, and how hard they worked and they were given special incentives such as Energy Pills, Energy Potions, highly nutritious meals, and much more.

    The Military was given the best treatment as they put their lives on the line whenever they left the territory. They had to grow rapidly into powerful Warriors to protect the weak with their sharp des, or fast Scouts to scout the surrounding area. It was only given that Michael provided them with Energy Nourishing Pills, Body Strengthening Pills, and special techniques to ensure their growth and safety. After all, they were the first line of defense so if the military crumbled nothing else would survive for long.

    But the treatment and benefits received by those in the military and other upations were not uniform either. Everyone had different responsibilities and they were given the perks and benefits ordingly.

    Tiara and The Forest Elven Adventurers were not only the strongest but they were also the Captains of their respective teams. They were responsible for the lives of hundreds of team members. Thus, they were given a slightly preferential treatment to ensure that they would be strong enough to control their subordinates, and lead their Unit to victory!

    Michael was about to create Spirit Weapons and other Armaments using the Relic of Draka. They wouldn''t be given to just anyone because the Relic of Draka could only create one Spirit Armament in six hours. To be precise, six hours was the least amount of time required for it to produce an ordinary longsword with low external enhancements.

    Michael was certain that products such as a Spirit Armor Set created from highly purified Zention ore would require days. Since Michael wanted to focus on enhancing thebat prowess of his strongest fighters it made no sense to create Spirit Armaments weaker than 1-Star Tier-2 Artifacts. They required 2-3 days to bepleted, meaning that the Relic of Draka produced merely 10 Tier-2 Spirit Armaments a month.

    One month was a long time. It was more than enough to turn a Starless Summon into a 1-Star Warrior, and nourish him into a Mid TIer-1 Warrior ¨C if they worked day-in and day-out. 2-Star Knights and Berserkers had enough potential andprehension of energy absorption techniques to use Energy Nourishing Pills to advance to the 2nd Tier within two months ¨C once Michael''s territory could produce enough Energy Nourishing Pills for everyone.

    Thus, given that Michael summoned dozens of 2-Star Summons alone from daily Summons, he would never have enough Spirit Armaments for everyone. That meant he had to give the Spirit Armaments to those Summons, who contributed the most on the battlefield if he wanted to fuel the motivation of the rest.

    Michael never really liked to manipte others, but there was nothing else he could do about it. ying favoritism in his territory wouldn''t be a good thing, so he had to use his Summons'' contribution to determine their treatment level.

    This only left him with the peculiar problem Michael faced since he came back from the Lord Rift.

    The potency of the Body Strengthening Pill and the Energy Nourishing Pill was exceptional. They were more than tenfold more potent than ordinary pills. Adding the high demand and low supply for them, followed by the desired Warrior Enlightenment Potions his Starless Summons wanted, Michael began to note that hecked ingredients the most.

    He had many Alchemists, but hecked the tools, and ingredients to mass produce anything. His Alchemists could learn to mass produce everything, but that would require time, effort, and resources.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have time or resources given the impatience of his Summons. And Michael understood their desire very well. He wanted to grow stronger as well, after all!

 Chapter 320 Eldersâ€™ help

    <h4>Chapter 320 Elders'' help</h4>

    Other than the Warrior Enlightenment Potion''s effect, Michael started to notice the effects abination of specialized body refinement techniques, Energy Nourishing Pills, and Body Strengthening Pills had on his Summons.

    The Archer''s Agility and Dexterity increased as theypleted the first stage of their body refinement technique. They grew more nimble and were able to release arrows much faster than before without affecting their uracy.

    The Knights, on the other hand, used body refinement techniques that enhanced their endurance and stamina to act as the guardian protecting everyone at the frontlines. Contrary to them, the Berserkers'' focus was raw physical strength. As long as they could hit hard enough to eliminate their enemy with a single strike, nobody would be able to harm them!

    After everyone had witnessed the potency of the Warrior Enlightenment Potions, and the effects of the Energy Nourishing Pill and the Body Strengthening Pill the demand for them increased drastically. Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t find enough resources to supply everybatant with those precious medicines. In fact, most of his ingredients were still growing in the gardens. It would take a few more weeks before the ingredients were ripe and ready to be harvested.

    "What''s the easiest way to procure more seedlings, seeds, and ripe ingredients? They''re overpriced back home¡­but if I want to nurture everyone before the Zentika Empire strikes, I''ll have to ept the horrendous prices¡­" Michael mumbled to himself.

    Michael didn''t hear much about the Zentika Empire after the Lord Rift. However, that worried him more than asional groups of Adventurers barging into the Untamed Jungle. He would have loved to encounter a bunch of Adventurers instead of the silenceing from the Zentika Empire.

    One way or another, Michael was certain that Senator Keltos was unwilling to give up the Untamed Jungle. After the warfare with the Jungle Expedition, other Senators of the Zentika Empire''s Council were likely to have found a new target in the Untamed Jungle. Some must consider Michael a lethal threat ¨C or so Michael thought.

    One way or another, it was a fact that Michael would encounter the forces of the Zentika Empire eventually. Therefore, he had to prepare himself and his people for the inevitable.

    "How about I ask our Elders?" Lilica enquired.

    She looked intently at him and locked eyes when he turned to her.

    Lilica had heard what Michael mumbled to himself. Thus, she decided to offer her suggestion.

    "You want me to ask the Forest Elves? That might actually work better than asking others. No. It will definitely work better," Michael responded, pondering over her words after Lilica pointed out the obvious.

    Contrary to the human territories that were void of flourishing nature, every single inch of territory under the Forest Elven''s control was rted to nature, and its wonders.

    "But would they be willing to trade rare ingredients with me? The Elders must be quite happy with the current trade, and it''s not like I can give them the Spirit Armaments produced by the Relic of Draka in exchange to the rare ingredients," Michael pointed out, mostly to himself rather than Lilica.

    However, Lilica didn''t seem to be too worried about that.

    "The Elders don''t like owing favors, just like any Forest Elf. That means the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team still owes you something for the Soultraits you''ve given us. Unfortunately, it''s hard to put a price-tag on Soultraits since it''s the first time we heard that it''s possible to harvest Soultraits the way you''re doing. We cannot do that on our own, which means that they might be rather easy to procure for you, but they''re invaluable for the entire Forest Elven Tribe," Lilica answered, indicating to Michael that they had not forgotten about the benefits they''d obtained from him.

    She further added reassuringly, "Furthermore, the Elders feel that they''re gaining much more than you from the exchange of Agriculture blueprint against Armaments. The blueprints they hand over have been stored for decades, if not centuries, and they''re essentially useless to the Forest Elves. The Elders have been worrying about overcharging you, especially after we, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, gained new Soultraits for free. You didn''t ask us to pay you for the Soultraits, after all."

    Michael listened intently. He tilted his head a little and wondered if Lilica was twisting the truth in his favor to make him feel better.

    ''I gave you the Soultraits to strengthen you against the Jungle Expedition, and to ensure that you guys won''t run away once the 50,000 members of the Jungle Expedition enter the Untamed Jungle.'' Michael sighed inwardly.

    It was good that Lilica considered him a good guy, but the reality was a little bit different. He had been in dire need of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team''s help at that time. Thus, he exposed his power and revealed additional Soultraits. Even if Lilica and her team had wanted to leave, the Forest Elven Elders would have held them back, forcing them to support Michael.

    He knew the value of Extraction, and that the Forest Elven Tribe would want to make use of it after getting a glimpse of its power. That was only obvious.

    If they could procure Extraction by killing him, they would have probably tried it already. To their misfortune, only Michael was able to extract Soultraits. Even the mythical treasures created by the Will of the Origin Expanse couldn''t extract Soultraits. At least, Michael hadn''t heard about anyone obtaining such a treasure yet.

    "Either way, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team still owes you something, and the Elders want to be of more help as well. I think you understand their intentions," Lilica said, throwing him a knowing gaze, "Either way, you should make use of it if you want to grow your forces rapidly. The Pills and Potion recipes we found in the Lord Rift are extraordinary, and we should make use of them as much as possible before it''s toote."

    Lilica''s words warmed Michael''s heart and he felt d seeing that Lilica was not solely focused on the benefits she could provide her tribe, but also thought about Michael''s territory. Lilica wanted his territory to prosper and develop. Michael had been noticing that for a while now. It was really nice to see.

    "In that case, do you know what the Forest Elves need more than our Armaments? It might be nice to receive rare ingredients for a low price, but I doubt that anyone will be happy if I demand low rates for a long period. If I take rare ingredients in addition to agriculture blueprints in exchange for the same Armaments I will feel guilty, and the Elders will feel like pping me in the near future," Michael said, looking at her with a small smile.

    "The Elders will be happy to help you develop your territory faster. Developing your territory means that the Underground Forging Hall expands, after all. More cksmiths with a higher star rating means that you''ll trade high-level armaments of good quality with our tribe. We''re in need of those armaments, much more than you can fathom," Lilica revealed, a trace of concern shining in her eyes.

    Michael nodded. He was curious why the Forest Elven Tribe had so much trouble procuring Armaments, but Lilica and the other Forest Elves had never been willing to tell him more. All they said was that there were multiple reasons and that it required the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to emerge far away from everyone else before the Forest Elven Tribe could start procuring Armaments made out of metal.

    That had been bothering Michael for a long time now. He thought that their problems were rted to potential enemies located all around the Forest Elven Tribe''s territories. Michael was not certain about that but he imagined that the Forest Elven Tribe had many enemies around them, who were probably blocking their transactions with other races.

    But then again, that was just a thought that had shed through his mind one night. He couldn''t be certain.

    After Lilica offered to use the ingredients harvested in other Forest Elves'' territories, they began to work out a proper n. He first wrote down the ingredients they required to mass-produce Warrior Enlightenment Potions, Energy Nourishing Pills, and Body Strengthening Pills.

    Lilica left the Origin Expanse to speak to her Elders. She had to find out how many ingredients they could produce every month, how much Michael had to pay for them ¨C including the discount ¨C and how many batches Michael''s Alchemists could produce with the ingredients.

    Several days passed quickly as they worked on it and soon there was only one day left before they would also be in Meku.

    Michael spent most of his time in the Origin Expanse dealing with the Forest Elves, trying to solve quarrels between the Starless Summons and sparring with Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.

    Most spars ended up with Michael winning ¨C even if it was by hair''s breadth. Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team quickly adjusted to his tactics, forcing Michael to change his strategy in every battle. Their teamwork improved with every spar, and they forced Michael into the corner more often as time progressed.

    The pressure weighing down on Michael was terrific, but it was exceptionally useful. He grew more ustomed to his Soultraits, and he learned a lot about the hidden potential of some of his Soultraits. Comprehending more about his Soultraits increased hisbat prowess naturally. New ways to use his Soultraits opened to Michael, and he used them without hesitation to learn more and more.

    His days in the Origin Expanse were exceptional, just like his progress with Sacred Rectification and Pandemonium''s Requiem.

    All while using the Body Strengthening Pills and Energy Nourishing Pills to elerate his progress with the body refinement technique, Michael learned how to control origin energy more precisely, and how to absorb the energy in his surroundings at a faster rate.

    His territory developed rapidly, his people grew stronger, and Michael, as a Lord and an Individual, grew stronger as well.

    At the same time, his mastery of most techniques increased rapidly, resulting in a drastic boost in Michael''s confidence.

    He had never felt so ready and pumped up to face his humanpetitors, the Berserkers, and the Warlock Centaurs.

 Chapter 321 Piloq

    ?

    Michael put aside the memory crystals and other goods he obtained from Kraft Viton.

    After handing Kraft a little bit more than 2000 Agriculture blueprints two days ago, the old man entered the Origin Expanse to give him everything he needed before they arrived in Meku.

    Michael used the knowledge that had been imprinted into his mind to record books of vast knowledge into the memory crystals, which were then given to his hard-working Summons.

    He made a short trip across his territory to take a look at the expanding Underground Forging Hall, the Relic of Draka, the Alchemy house ¨C in which everyone was working hard to mass-produce potions and pills ¨C, and the Enchanter''s Lair before he left the Origin Expanse for the time being.

    They were just about to arrive on Meku, and Michael was not sure how long it would take before he could enter the Origin Expanse again to focus on his training, and territory development.

    Once Michael emerged from the Runic Gate back in his small cabin in the huge spaceship, he sat down on the chair, adjusted the three seatbelts that he tied around his body, and waited patiently as theynded.

    He opened the crystal watch to take a look at the messages and information he''d missed out on in thest few days. Fortunately, he didn''t miss anything important.

    To ensure that he wasn''t going to do anything stupid shortly afternding, Michael read through the guides they had received once again. He knew how to behave, and was fully educated about the traditional values of the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs, but it wouldn''t hurt imprinting the rules deep in his mind once again.

    As he focused on the guides that were written by someone who loved details way too much, Michael didn''t even notice that the Tuar-type Spaceship initiated their descent onto Meku. Their descentsted for close to two hours ¨C which was mostly due to the protocols they had to follow ¨C, but Michael didn''t notice anything.

    He was engrossed in the detailed guides and the messy thoughts shing through his mind and only realized that they had arrived when Kraft Viton spoke to him via Whispering Energy.

    "Why are you not leaving the cabin? Is something wrong, or are you too stunned to move?" The old man teased, pulling Michael out of his trance.

    Michael was first confused, only to be stunned by the bright sunlight shining through the window to his right. He squinted his eyes and looked outside, curious about what he had missed out.

    "What the¡­" He blurted out, his eyes widening in shock as a majestic view manifested before him.

    A humongous, majestic city appeared in his view.

    But that was not all. The city was not only humongous but also like nothing else he had ever seen before.

    The Tuar-Type spaceshipnded on top of a ttened mountain range right next to a behemoth mountain that pierced through the clouds easily.

    And adjacent to the mountainy the city. It was a city that blended elements from both ancient and modern times, a seamless fusion of history and technology.

    The city''s architecture was a striking tapestry with ancient structures constructed alongside sleek, contemporary skyscrapers. Cobbled streets wound through districts where historic stone buildings adorned with ornate carvings stood shoulder to shoulder with ss and steel marvels that pierced the sky.

    It looked odd at first nce, but Michael felt that the city had its own charm. He was drawn to the buildings and couldn''t take his eyes off the magnificent cityscape. It was just like the old man said. Michael felt like his pair of eyes weren''t enough to observe the marvel thaty in front of him. He even activated Eagle Eyes with severalyers of Enhancement to see the fine details of the city thaty several thousand meters below their current position on the ttened mountain range.

    At some point in time, Michael was pulled out of his seat. He saw Alice Zenovia ring at him, only to sigh deeply.

    "Since when are you that easily distracted by buildings?" She asked with a little annoyance in her voice.

    If it was anyone else, she would have sent her attendants to bring them over, or she would have red coldly at them until they wished they could disappear. However, Michael was a little different.

    "Oh¡­sorry¡­I was just fascinated by the fusion of several eras disyed in the city''s infrastructure. It looks like some of those buildings have witnessed the passage of time for thousands of years¡­" Michael mumbled while following Alice, who pulled him out of the cabin.

    She grasped his wrist tightly almost like she thought that Michael would disappear the moment she let go of him.

    Michael let her do as she wished while trying to take hasty glimpses outside the windows they passed by. The mixture of ancient and modern times was something that intrigued Michael. He could clearly see the dense energy currents intertwined in the old buildings and had thousands of questions but no answers.

    He wanted to ask Alice some things but they had already left the spaceship when his lips parted to voice out his doubts. Alice Zenovia let go of Michael before pointing to Kaleb, who walked over to her.

    Alice said something to Kaleb, who raised an eyebrow before his eyes flicked to Michael. He nodded afterward and approached Michael.

    "Did you really be a daydreamer during thest few days?" Kaleb asked teasingly, "Though, I have to acknowledge that Piloq looks quite nice. The city certainly has its charm."

    Piloq. That was the name of the city at the foot of the mountain range.

    Michael smiled and nodded his head in excitement.

    "I wonder who came up with the idea tobine the eras," He mumbled, earning a nce of doubt from Kaleb.

    "You do realize that the Colosseum in the academy is also a building from another era, right? Piloq has just more buildings from another era, mostly because the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs worked together to build Piloq hundreds of years ago. It''s the founding city of the alliance between the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers. They''ve been working together to build and expand Piloq over the course of centuries ¨C and it''s the city where the Tritan Alliance was signed," Kaleb exined while looking over to Lincoln and Zeke, who joined them as well.

    "Piloq is also the training grounds for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' youngest generation. The strongest of them spend their prime in Piloq, using the Ancient Origin Structures to temper their bodies, minds, and Souls. The Colosseum in the Academy cannotpare to the structures and effect of the Ancient Structures the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs brought over," Zeke said in his monotonous voice.

    Lincoln agreed and added with a little bit more excitement, "And this ce is where we''ll be training for the next three months to prepare for the Interdimensional g War¡­well, after we''ve been selected as participants during the Battle Exchange. We''ll be given several chances to enter the different Ancient Structures, one way or another. It''s one of the benefits we''ve been granted as members of the Battle Exchange."

    After listening to the descendants, Michael felt like he was a fool. Well, he probably was a little foolish for not knowing what Zeke and Lincoln talked about.

    He knew what Ancient Structures were, and that Ancient Structures could naturally produce origin energy and release it into their surroundings. However, given Lincoln''s excitement, Michael figured that hecked a lot more knowledge about Ancient Structures than expected.

    ''Filling my brain with the Laxarta Library, Old Languages, and Ancient Ruins'' knowledge doesn''t mean I''m all-knowing. I get it¡­'' Michael grumbled to himself, shaking his head at his own stupidity.

    He didn''t think that it was embarrassing tock knowledge. It would only be embarrassing if he stayed foolish and ignorant despite knowing that hecked knowledge. Learning was a never-ending process in everybody''s life, and Michael never expected that he would know everything.

    Nheless, it was quite interesting to learn about Ancient Structures that had been collected in the Origin Expanse''s ancient ruins and brought over to train the younger generation.

    "Piloq is called the Ancient City of Blood, Sweat, and Tears for a reason, you know," Kaleb said, nudging Michael''s elbow when he realized that his friend was too stunned to say anything.

    Michael''s lips curled but he didn''t say anything. Instead, he listened to the three descendants as they descended the mountain range.

    Until now, Michael had yet to see a Berserker or a Warlock Centaur. He was pretty sure that they weren''t hiding, but he didn''t expect that none of them would appear to wee them to their city. It was a little odd in Michael''s opinion ¨C even though it had been stated in the guide he read earlier.

    The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers wouldn''t wee their allies ¨C not if they were in an alliance. After all, the Tritan Alliance turned the three races into one big family ording to the customs of the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers. And it was not necessary to pick up your family at the airport, not if they knew the way home themselves.

    There was a long-winded staircase leading down to the foot of the mountain. It had thousands of steps the students and Professors had to walk down to reach Piloq.

    It was a long way down, but Michael didn''t even feel anything. He was more focused on the humongous city beneath him, and the sounds that filled his entire surroundings, especially thoseing from above.

    Slightly disturbed by the sounds from above, Michael looked high up into the air. Following that, his steps slowed down and a wry smile was stered on his face.

    "It looks like the others arrived," Kaleb mumbled, while Michael kept staring at the eight spaceships that began their descent.

 Chapter 322 Last Week

    <h4>Chapter 322 Last Week</h4>

    Piloq''s marketce was bustling with activity, showcasing a blend of traditional stalls selling handcrafted wares and exotic spices, as well as boutiques featuring modern technology and fashion. Vendors sold goods from woven baskets, Summoning Scrolls, and digital disys side by side.

    The means of transportation at the edge of the city were a symphony of contrasts. Monster-drawn carriages shared the roads with hovering shuttles. The resounding sounds of the horses'' hooves resonated alongside the soft humming of the shuttles all around them.

    As Michael and the rest walked down the staircase of hell with thousands of steps to take, his attention was drawn to the parks and gardens that could be considered oases of time. Ancient sculptures shared space with contemporary art instations. Traditional pagodas provided shade next to innovative outdoor seating areas equipped with sr-powered charging stations.

    Piloq''s skyline danced between the past and the present. The silhouette included Aztec temples and clock towers as well as sleek, illuminated high-rises.

    And then there were the citizens of Piloq, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs, moving through life with unique duality, dressed in a spectrum from flowing robes to modern suits, and evenbat suits.

    Despite the vast disparities between the eras the city was filled with harmony andfort. The echoes of the past had fused with the pulse of the present, inviting its residents and visitors to experience a dynamic blend of cultures, aesthetics, and technologies that bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and structures, and the progress of the modern age.

    It was apletely different worldpared to the ces Michael had been to during thest few months. It was exceptional.

    But Michael''s feeling of awe was yet to subside. In fact, it had just begun.

    Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, Michael and the others encountered the first Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    They were armed to their teeth, almost like they were ready to wage war at any moment.

    The Berserkers were a humanoid race with red skin and mostly crimson eyes. The smallest of them was 3 meters tall, and their wide build and bulging muscles made it seem like they were just as wide as they were tall. Of course, that was not exactly the case. They might have a broader physique, but they looked more like small Giants with bloodthirsty aura engulfing every inch of their body.

    Some of the Berserkers possessed two pairs of arms. Some were bigger than others. And then there was a small batch of Berserkers that had a tail that looked like a flexible Morningstar.

    They looked impressive as they stared down at the humans in front of them. Their presence was enough tomand attention and discipline.

    Meanwhile, the Warlock Centaurs standing next to the Berserkers weren''t much different. Their presence was also imposing. However, their calmness was much more impressive.

    Looking into their calm, deep eyes made Michael wonder if the Warlock Centaurs were calmkes standing next to erupting volcanoes.

    The Warlock Centaurs'' appearance was simr to the description Michael read about them online. Their lower body was more or less that of a horse. On the other hand, their upper body was human-like. But that was not everything. There was a wide variety of Warlock Centaurs as well.

    There were a few Warlock Centaurs with three eyes, others, who could shapeshift into a more human-like form, and others whose lower body looked more like that of a humongous bull.

    It was an interesting sight for Michael, who had only seen pictures of their allies until now.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs smashed their fists against their chest and said something that Michael didn''t understand.

    Alice and the other Professors said something in response. Afterward, some of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs turned around. They motioned the group to follow and walked into the city.

    Meanwhile, the other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs stayed behind. They looked at the middle section of the staircase and waited for the other groups to arrive.

    Michael looked back as well, only to turn around the next moment as Kaleb nudged him from the side to follow the others.

    While entering the city of Piloq, Michael''s attention was drawn to the Ancient Structures. He wanted to enter some of them to study, but the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs guiding them through the city were too fast for him to study anything. They moved them through the outskirts and led the group of human prodigies to a towering skyscraper.

    "This ce has been reserved for all humans. The Professors and Suns will be given the suits. The rest can figure it out on your own. Fight for a better room if you''re dissatisfied," The Berserker standing in front of everyone said after the students of the Saphirke Military Academy had entered the skyscraper.

    It was a hotel and the ce all humans would be staying for the next few weeks.

    "Because there are nine human groups from different ces, you might not know each other well. You can get to know each other today so that the procedures tomorrow will be smoother. There is a gym in the basement, a swimming pool, a gravitation room, and a few more ces that can be used to train and spar," The Warlock Centaur standing next to the Berserker announced.

    The Berserker then added, "I hope you guys are stronger than you look like. Otherwise, I might identally break your bones starting tomorrow."

    A few students stared at the Berserker, feeling a little confused. One of them blurted out what the others thought, "You''re a participant of the Battle Exchange!"

    The Berserker was a Tier-3 Lord with an extremely thick bloodthirsty aura. Most human Lords at the 2nd Tier stared hesitatingly at the Berserker, unable to think of a way to defeat a powerhouse like him during the Battle Exchange.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke looked at the Berserker with a trace of interest.

    "I am, and I wish for grand battles with some of the true geniuses amid you. Most of you seem like puny ants. That''s unfortunate," The Berserkermented with a straight face.

    He wasn''t even trying to provoke. It was just that he was genuinely disappointed at the sight of the students in front of him.

    His gaze moved through the small batch of students. The Berserker''s attention lingered on a few students longer than others, but they were mostly 4th grade students such as Kilian Zeus, andpany.

    After a while, his focus moved to the Professors, Alice Zenovia to be precise. He stared at her the longest, a tinge of excitement and battle spirit surfacing on his face.

    "I would love to fight you." He announced, only diverting his attention when the Warlock Centaur pulled him aside.

    "We''ll be taking our leave now. The staff will handle everything else. They will also add your crystal watches to ourwork system to ensure that you''ll be able to ess the information you may need soon enough. We will also send more details about the Battle Exchange to your crystal watches. Rest well, and prepare for the Battle Exchange!" the Warlock Centaur said before turning away.

    He pulled the Berserker alongside him and left the hotel without a backward nce.

    "The Berserker wants to fight us even before the Battle Exchange starts, or am I misunderstanding something?" One of the 3rd-grade students asked in a low voice, yet he was loud enough for most students to hear given the stunned silence.

    "At the end of the day, the Battle Exchange starts officially in a week. But we''vee to Meku several days before the Battle Exchange begins, not just for show. There are reasons for that," Another student, Peter Gramm from Killian''s group, said without further exining.

    The other students turned around to Alice and the other Professors, but they didn''t receive an exnation. On the contrary, the Professors ignored their gazes pointed toward the reception and changed the topic.

    "Register yourselves at the reception. Then, you can do whatever you want. Keep a close eye on your crystal watches, and don''t spend too much time in the Origin Expanse for the next few days," Oliver Zeus instructed as he moved to the reception to register himself as well.

    The students followed behind, while Alice remained on her spot. She nced over to Kaleb and Michael, who were already back in their own world, chatting excitedly. They didn''t seem worried about the reasons why they had to arrive in Meku a week before the Battle Exchange started. On the contrary, nothing in their behavior seemed to indicate that they worried about anything, not even after the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs revealed some of their participants of the Battle Exchange.

    Alice wasn''t threatened by the Berserker''s presence, but even she could feel the Berserker''s pressure when his gaze moved to her. He intentionally provoked the students and focused on each of them for a moment to disy the might of his presence and power. That was an attempt to clearly indicate that he would start breaking their bones starting tomorrow if theirbat prowess wasn''t up to his standards.

    The higher-ups of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs always used a simr tactic to intimidate the ''fletchlings'' of the human race. They called them fletchlings because they hadn''t attained any achievements yet. The fletchlings had yet to earn the Berserkers'' and Warlock Centaurs'' respect ¨C which was also one of the reasons the human participants of the Battle Exchange arrived a week before it started officially.

    There were more reasons but the Professors wouldn''t tell their students of that. It was necessary that their students learned about the situation on their own to adapt naturally.

    But that didn''t mean Alice was not worried.

    She was restless, hoping that the week would pass smoothly.

    That was all she hoped for.

 Chapter 323 Fletchling

    <h4>Chapter 323 Fletchling</h4>

    "Fletchlings are not allowed in here," The Warlock Centaur facing Michael said.

    His voice was neither cold nor was he condescending toward Michael. Nheless, Michael was confused.

    "Fletchlings are not allowed¡­in the library?" He asked.

    "You want our knowledge, don''t you?" The Warlock Centaur responded.

    Michael nodded in affirmation.

    "In that case, you''ve to gain our respect and trust. We only tolerate the presence of Fletchlings in Piloq, but that''s it."

    Listening to the Warlock Centaur exined why the participants of the Battle Exchange arrived in Piloq a week prior to the official start.

    If they wanted to use any facility in Piloq to improve their strength or knowledge, they would have to work hard to elevate their status beyond that of Fletchlings.

    "I won''t even be able to purchase anything in Piloq with my current status, right?" Michael asked, which was affirmed with a simple nod.

    Michael was a little disappointed but could not find fault with their reasoning, ''Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs have different spawn points in the Origin Expanse. They should have an easier time with most goods that are hard toe by for human Lords.''

    Michael was pretty sure that the Olympus would want to trade Agriculture-type Blueprints with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Kraft Viton told him a few things, including that Oliver Zeus and Killian Zeus had been sent to Meku to gain the utmost respect from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs for various reasons.

    The reasons included establishing a long-term business contract between the Tritan Alliance and the Olympus, and heavy investment in several projects, including the Agriculture Project.

    ''It shouldn''t be too easy to do business with the Berserkers given that the Bartholomew Corporation was willing to give up 18% of their revenue share to make a deal with me¡­'' Michael thought, looking behind him where Kraft Viton was standing.

    The Warlock Centaur hadn''t even noticed the old man until Michael looked behind. He subconsciously stepped back and almost instinctively manifested his Artifacts to prepare for battle. Fortunately, he held back upon sensing that he couldn''t perceive anything about the old man.

    Kraft Viton concealed himself perfectly. It was almost as if the old man didn''t exist. To achieve something like that, the old man was either in possession of an extremely powerful camouge Soultrait, his concealment technique was of the highest quality and mastered to perfection, or he was several times stronger than the Warlock Centaur.

    The Warlock Centaur didn''t require a second nce to confirm that the old man could overpower him without moving a finger if he desired to do so.

    "I hope you can acknowledge our customs. Even if you don''t want to do so, you''ll have to if you want to stay in Piloq," The Warlock Centaur said, trying to calm his nerves. He often faced powerhouses, but they usually respected their customs. They knew what would happen if they were to disobey their sacred rules. However, the human powerhouse might not be inclined to do so.

    "Don''t bother about me. I''m just following him," Kraft Viton said, gesturing to Michael, who smiled somewhat forcibly.

    "I''ll have to change my status as well to enter the library, right?" The old man added, which was reaffirmed after the Warlock Centaur sighed in relief subconsciously.

    Michael observed the exchange between the Warlock Centaur and the old man before he pulled the focus of the conversation back to himself, "In that case, how can I change my status? I know that the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers divide their status into Plerus, Warriors, Champions, Combat Lords, Sacred Diviners, and War Gods, but what exactly do I have to do to be a Plerus, and what are the benefits of bing a Warrior?"

    Michael read that Plerus were mostly citizens, who hadn''t manifested a War Rune. Most Awakened were Warriors, but that was already everything Michael knew.

    "You cannot be a Plerus since you''re not one of us. However, since you''re a Lord with a Tier-2 War Rune, you can be a Warrior by getting acknowledged by five fellow Warriors. As long as a Champion vouches for you, you''ll be a Warrior as well.

    To be a Champion, you need to achieve something in the Origin Expanse, or earn merit points. Merit points can be procured in various ways, including winningbat tournaments, betting in the arena,pleting missions set up by Combat Lords, and so on. Other than that, you also need to cross a certain threshold in yourbat strength to be a Champion," The Warlock Centaur seated behind the reception of Piloq''s Library answered before he added, "The rest¡­you don''t need to know. You won''t be a Combat Lord, either way."

    ''Why do I feel like he doesn''t think I will ever be a Champion in the first ce? Does being a Tier-2 Lord mean nothing, or does he think that I''m weak? Or¡­does he have a prejudice against all humans?''

    The Warlock Centaur working in the Library might answer all of his questions, but Michael wasn''t sure why the Centaur''s eyes revealed traces of dislike and discontent.

    ''Or he just had a bad experience with other humans before.''

    "How different is the treatment given to a Warriorpared to a Champion?" Michael asked. However, he quickly noticed that the Warlock Centaur narrowed his eyes. He even sighed in frustration, loudly enough for Michael to hear.

    The sigh was enough for Michael to raise his eyebrow as he added a little annoyed, "The etiquette guides didn''t tell me the difference in status between Warriors and Champions. Do you want me to treat a Champion with disrespect?"

    Now it was the Warlock Centaur''s turn to raise an eyebrow. Before he could say anything, Michael added, "If so, I will dly tell everyone whom I identally mistreat that it was you who told me it''s fine, Mister¡­Klerus Makal"

    Michael read the name tag written on the Warlock Centaur''s uniform and continued to stare intently at him.

    The Warlock Centaur''s expression changed and a subtle smile appeared on his lips, "Looks like our fletchling has some backbone."

    "Alright. You want to know the difference in status, right?"

    Klerus Makal had a sudden change in attitude. He noticed that Michael didn''t allow anyone to look down at him, and pointed out his issue without losing his temper. That was a lot more than one could expect from Berserkers, or most human prodigies, who came to Piloq during thest few years.

    Michael was a little surprised but he waited patiently until Klerus Makal continued speaking.

    "To put it simply, all Awakened be Warriors. The difference between Unawakened and Awakened is simr everywhere. You receive special benefits, funding from the government, and several years of training in the military to grow stronger. Talented Combatants will be sent to different cities to train with their stronger brethren and hone each other''s skills. The strongest Awakened will receive advanced training in Piloq where most Ancient Structures for all types of training were relocated over the years.

    Warriors are allowed to use one Ancient Structure every week free of charge. Additional training sessions have to be requested and paid for via merit points, and other means," Klerus Makal exined calmly while analyzing Michael''s response.

    Michael merely nodded his head. He thought that it was a pretty good idea to train all Awakened and send the rest of the talent pool to other ces where they could gather and grind each other to unravel their hidden potential. Those capable of unleashing their full potential would then be sent to the advanced training course where the most talented would be trained with advanced means such as Ancient Structures.

    A little bit of research was enough to determine that a few particr Ancient training Structures were situated in Piloq. For example, one of them could be used to examine the energy veins within their body, and research ways to strengthen the weaker parts while also fully utilizing the advantages of having strong energy veins in certain areas. That way, specialized martial arts techniques could be unleashed with much higher destructive force and effectiveness.

    Michael was also interested in the Ancient Structures, so he listened intently as Klerus continued, "Warriors have a much higher status than Plerus. They''re essential for the protection of our races, and provide resources from the Origin Expanse. They''re allowed to enter the second floor of the library and utilize most facilities with a special discount. But Champions are on a whole different level. Most facilities are free of charge for them, and they''re allowed to the second and third floors of the library in Piroq. Disrespecting them is something you should avoid if you''re not confident of surviving a Challenge of Honor. Champions are powerful, bring honor to their people, and provide essential support to the economy for both Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs."

    Klerus stopped to take a breath following the lengthy exnation. Michael was just about to say something but Klerus lifted his hand to stop him.

    "Wait a moment. You should also listen to this. It''s quite important since you''re human ¨C and this is about you," Klerus said, taking another deep breath before he added, "Human Warriors have restricted rightspared to Berserkers or Warlock Centaurs. This includes the rights to enter the library, use our Ancient Structures, and the purchase quota."

    A frown appeared on Michael''s face when he heard that. He didn''t expect Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to be racists.

    Klerus noticed his reaction and smiled wryly as he added, "This is something we did to ensure that humans won''t try to exploit our economy. You shouldn''t frown at me. Your kind is at fault for this. If yourpanies wouldn''t have tried to force some of our Champions to sell all of their goods to them that issue wouldn''t exist. One of yourpanies even tried to kidnap our Champions, forcing the Sacred Diviner to step in."

    "Ohh¡­" Michael added, having no difficulties imagining the greedy human Lords trying to kidnap Champions to exploit them and force them to work for the human Lords.

    For the next ten minutes, Michael continued listening to Klerus. The information he obtained was very helpful. Every piece of information was stored in his mind, and a n soon began to take shape.

    ''Let''s start with bing a Warrior first!"

 Chapter 324 Timing

    <h4>Chapter 324 Timing</h4>

    Since he wasn''t allowed to enter the library and most of the other facilities, Michael chose to stroll through Piloq for a while.

    He wasn''t bored or anything like that, but he wanted to talk a little bit with Kraft Viton.

    Michael asked Kraft Viton a few questions using his low mastery of Whispering Energy to ensure that the conversation between them remained a secret.

    "You volunteered to apany me to analyze the Zeus family''s interactions in the Tritan Alliance, or am I wrong?" Michael asked straightforwardly, slowing down to make sure that he and Kraft Viton walked next to each other.

    It didn''t take a genius to understand that Kraft Viton was not Helen Ascaln''s subordinate. If anything, Helen Ascaln was Kraft Viton''s subordinate. However, Michael never understood why a high-ranked member of the Bartholomew Corporation would apany him to the Battle Exchange. It didn''t really make any sense ¨Cespecially if it was just to protect him.

    "The Zeus family is quite annoying, but watching their interactions with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs is only one of the reasons why I decided to apany you," Kraft Viton acknowledged without hesitation.

    He further added, "I finalized my choice to take a trip to Meku when I heard that you, one of our Investors, were told to participate in the Interdimensional g War. I''ve heard about the ridiculous ''punishment'', and decided to use the opportunity to get a better understanding of our investor while taking care of a few more tasks. "

    Michael had already figured that much. The attention of too many powerhouses had been pulled toward him when he, a normal youth, overwhelmed a teacher at the 3rd Tier using a wide variety of Soultraits. That was also why his ''punishment'' turned out to be an opportunity to grow stronger and make more connections rather than aborious task.

    "There is something I''ve always wondered," Michael said to Kraft, whose head turned to him.

    "Why did Helen Ascaln ept my ridiculous demand for 18% of the Agriculture Project''s profit share?"

    Even though Michael couldn''t purchase anything in the shops all over Piloq with his status as a Fletchling, he was certain that enough human Lords working for the Bartholomew Corporation could settle in Piloq and work their way up the socialdder. It might be a little bit problematic at first, but once they became Warriors, or even Champions, the Awakened would have an easy time purchasing Agriculture-type Blueprints, without the need to give up close to one-fifth of their profit.

    The old man didn''t say anything at first. However, Michael imagined that he saw the corners of the old man''s lip curl up ever so slightly.

    "I think you underestimate the opportunity you and the other participants of the Battle Exchange have been granted. When the Tritan Alliance formed, the first humans were allowed inside Meku''s cities. Everything worked well for a few years, our economy grew rapidly, and ourbat prowess increased considerably. Unfortunately, some Lords grew greedy. They wanted to move back to the human territory, but they didn''t want to give up their connection to the goods of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Thus, these idiots decided to kidnap a few Berserker Champions," Kraft Viton sighed heavily after thest sentence. He shook his head for a second and continued,

    "Of course, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t like that. They considered dissolving the alliance, and waging war with the entire human race. Some higher ups in the government caught the perpetrators, freed the Berserker Champions and brought them back. They handed the perpetrators over as well and asked for forgiveness. However, once you break someone''s trust, it bes increasingly difficult to get it back. It was only fortunate that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had enough problems with the Tekur, otherwise, we would be waging war with them instead."

    Kraft took a deep breath, allowing Michael to digest the new pieces of information.

    "The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs decided to forgive mankind for the time being. They executed the Lords, who''d kidnapped their Berserker Champions, and threw all humans out of their cities and settlements. All humans lost their status, and were given a purchase limit all over the shops and markets affiliated with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Only the youngest prodigies of the human race ¨C the participants of the Battle Exchange and the Interdimensional g War ¨C were given the exception to upgrade their status."

    "That means the Bartholomew Corporation has no chance of procuring a massive number of Agriculture-type Blueprints from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. After all, the Bartholomew Corporation wasn''t found by several Supreme Families, or High Nobles. We don''t have that many prodigious Lords working for us, even less if you include the Lords with enough strength to participate in the Battle Exchange," Kraft Viton revealed in all honesty, before he lightly added,

    "We nearly gave up on the Agriculture Project, in the beginning. It was our dream to change the Barren Lands, so we funded the project. But it was a lot more expensive than we thought, and the results were¡­not so nice. The project might have been shelved if not for your sudden and unexpected arrival out of nowhere."

    As the old man spoke about the dream to turn the Barren Lands into a flourishingnd full of ripe crops, Michael felt a little odd. It was easy to tell that the old man revealed his sincere desire to change the Barren Lands into and of flourishing nature. That was admirable, and it exined why the Bartholomew Corporation was willing to invest so much into him.

    They almost gave up their dreams because it was not feasible at this point in time. If not for his timely arrival, they might have already terminated their project. It was a win win situation ¨C for both Michael and the Bartholomew Corporation.

    Intrigued by the progress of the Agriculture Project and the other projects of the Bartholomew Corporation, Michael decided to chat a little bit more with the old man.

    He had yet to figure out who exactly Kraft Viton was, but that could wait. It was not as if the old man would run from him anytime soon.

    A full hour passed in the blink of an eye until they finally arrived at their destination; the arena.

    Since being a Fletchling was useless, Michael decided to upgrade his status to a Warrior as quickly as possible. It would be even better if he could be a Champion anytime soon, but he was certain that it wouldn''t be that easy.

    Being able to enter the Library''s ground floor as a Warrior should be more than enough for the time being. Whatever happened after the Battle Exchange started was something Michael could pay more attention toter on. For now, he picked the easiest way to get recognized as a Warrior. He was ready to fight a few Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs!

    Michael stepped into therge modern arena with a tinge of excitement. Talking to Kraft might be nice and entertaining, but fighting powerful opponents gave him the much needed boost and motivation to keep going on.

    The arena looked like a modern version of the Colosseum from the inside. There were more than tenbat rings in the center, surrounded by a forcefield and rows of seats for visitors and other Warriors to spectate the fights.

    "Where is everyone?" Michael wondered as he looked for other students.

    By now, the other students should have noticed that they couldn''t do much with their Fletchling status, but nobody was at the arena to fight.

    There might be multiple arenas spanned across Piloq, but this was one of four arenas that were close to their hotel. Michael expected to see a handful of students, if not dozens of them.

    "Most of them should be busy nning their next steps with their family. They''re probably in a deep discussion with their parents and well-wishers to upgrade their status and the changes in Piloq. Other than that, many students will probably spend the rest of the week inside the Origin Expanse to make the most out of their time. Spending one week in Piloq with the Fletchling status seems like a losspared to two weeks in the Origin Expanse, after all," Kraft exined.

    He could name a few more reasons, but the point he wanted to get across was that Michael acted out of the ordinary. Michael didn''t even enter his room in the hotel before he left everyone behind. He merely registered his arrival at the hotel reception, and received the code for his room, just to disappear and rush over to the library.

    "I will also enter the Origin Expanse every now and then¡­but isn''t it a waste of precious time to keep the Fletchling Status? Even without the status issue, wouldn''t it be a good idea to spar with other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs before the Battle Exchange starts?" Michael asked rhetorically.

    He knew that the other students would work hard to grow stronger using the time difference between the Origin Expanse and outside to their advantage, but it was not as if they couldn''t spend some of their time to socialize.

    ''Well, whatever.'' Michael told himself.

    He initially came to the Saphirke Military Academy to get closer to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. He hoped to collect more knowledge about the origin tongue in the library, and he still wished to do so. However, given the knowledge he obtained in the Laxarta Library, Michael wasn''t too sure how much the library of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs could provide him with.

    But even then, Michael always desired to get to know foreign races outside the Origin Expanse. Finally he achieved his goal.

    Now it was about time to find out how powerful Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs actually were!

 Chapter 325 Arena

    <h4>Chapter 325 Arena</h4>

    Michael''s arrival in the arena attracted some attention. He was the first human student to enter the arena, causing a smallmotion among the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    "Look who''s here. A pair of old and young. Two tiny little humans," A Berserker bellowed through the arena, his voice filled with a mixture of scorn and disgust.

    "Is this old wreck your nanny, little one?" The same Berserker asked. He jumped across the arena andnded in front of Michael with a thump.

    The ground around him trembled as hended, causing tremors to spread through Michael''s legs.

    Prideful, bad temper, and always out for a fight. The four meter tall Berserker in front of Michael was one of the best examples to describe the Berserker race. His muscles were bulging and his crimson eyes were filled with battle intent. Michael wouldn''t be surprised if the Berserker were to throw a fist at him in the open.

    Actually, that would be quite interesting.

    Michael used the Eagle Eyes Soultrait with fouryers of Enhancement. Simultaneously he exerted Pandemonium''s Requiem to replenish the energy his Eagle Eyes used up.

    The origin energy in the arena was not dense or of high quality. It was iparable to the origin energy that permeated the air in the Untamed Jungle. Nheless, it was enough to keep Michael''s energy storage filled to the brim.

    "Origin Generators. Six of them in a single arena, at that. Piloq is really a city constructed for the sole purpose of whetting the strongest, and preparing for the worst in the Origin Expanse," Michael mumbled. He looked past the Berserker at the origin generators that generated the origin energy permeating the air using high-ranked monster cores as fuel.

    The Berserker''s provocation was entirely useless against Michael. It would take a little bit more to gain his interest ¨C or wrath. After hisst sh with the Zan Twins and Mr. Klein, Michael grew a lot calmer. He understood that he had to learn how to control his emotions, how to read the room, and what to do if something simr tost time was to happen again.

    "Puny Fletchling! Are you ignoring me?!" The Berserker growled, origin energy circting through his body. A crimson membrane covered the Berserker''s body and his eyes turned crimson. His veins popped up, and his t hand smashed down beside Michael the next moment.

    The Berserker''s hand missed Michael by a hair''s breadth, yet Michael didn''t even blink. He looked over to the Berserker and smiled lightly.

    "I read a lot about your kind, but you guys really have a short temper. Isn''t that why most Berserkers lost their rights as Lords?" Michael asked straightforwardly. He didn''t have to use a sarcastic undertone in his voice, or anything like that. His words cut deep into the hearts of the Berserkers in the range of his voice.

    They began to shout angrily and some of them were about to jump out of thebat rings to remove Michael from the arena first. But before they could do something, they heard bursts ofughter from left and right.

    The Warlock Centaurs couldn''t contain theirughter seeing how easily a few sentences enraged dozens of Berserkers.

    "Why are youughing, Mekhaz?!" The Berserker standing in front of Michael shouted across the arena, staring at a particr Warlock Centaur, who had three eyes and a muchrger body than the rest.

    The Warlock Centaur, Mekhaz, continued to chuckle. He ignored the Berserker, whose expression turned sour.

    "See, even the Warlock Centaurs agree that your temper is messed up. If you were a little bit calmer, you might still have your territory," Michael delivered another deep blow.

    However, this time, the Berserker couldn''t hold back anymore. It hadn''t been long since he lost his territory in a huge war against three enemies, who hadbined their forces to wear out hisbatants and defeat him. He and his army might have been strong enough to fight against enemies five times their numbers, but that hadn''t been enough to win the war. He lost, and had to leave the Origin Expanse to survive.

    Even then, he barely survived by a hair''s breadth. His honor was lost, and his pride took a hit. Everything he had worked for had been taken away from him ¨C just like it had happened to many Berserkers in the past.

    Berserkers were a war-loving race. However, they weren''t strategists. Their temper led to many wars in the Origin Expanse, most often against multiple parties simultaneously. But the Berserkers loved this. They loved the challenge of fighting against enemies no one else could defeat.

    Unfortunately, many Berserkers had overestimated their prowess. Theirbat prowess might be exceptional, but that didn''t mean nobody was capable of using petty tricks to wear down the Berserkers and kill them when they reached their weakest point.

    Pride and honor was the most important to Berserkers, yet it didn''t y an important role for many other Lords. All that mattered was to survive and to obliterate their enemies ¨C no matter what it would take to emerge victorious!

    The Berserker in front of Michael roared loudly. A stream of crimson light shrouded his other arm and he smashed down with the intention to squash Michael.

    Kraft Viton noticed the killing intent and rage in the Berserker''s eyes, and he was just about to move when he noticed that Michael tilted his body a quarter of a second before the Berserker had moved.

    Michael predicted the Berserker''s attack. He moved forward and used the Berserker''s size against him. Michael moved out of the danger zone by slipping under his right arm before his left arm hit the ground. He summoned a cicle the next moment and released it toward the Berserker, precisely hisrge ear.

    Even though the cicle was not powerful, it could pierce through the ear and shatter inside the Berserker''s head, freezing everything in its way.

    Michael controlled the cicle precisely, stopping it right before it drilled deep into the Berserker''s ear.

    Interestingly enough, ayer of crimson light covered the Berserker''s head even before the cicle reached the Berserker. The cicle would have been blocked even if Michael didn''t do anything.

    "At least your senses are pretty good, even when you''re throwing a fit," Michael remarked, clearing his throat before he added, "I apologize for my rude behavior and for provoking you and your people."

    Michael was sincere when he apologized, but his tone was sharp as he added, "But that doesn''t mean I allow anyone to think of me as a pushover. You started this conflict because you hold a prejudice against me."

    His voice grew colder as he spoke, and a freezing chill spread out of Michael''s body.

    "We can solve this issue with a battle. After that, your prejudice against me will disappear. I promise you that," Michael said, his tone rifying that he had just made a statement and a promise.

    The Berserker had been enraged, but also a little surprised. He didn''t expect Michael to move that quickly nor that the human would attack him so fearlessly.

    Michael''s words rang through the arena even before he could initiate a second attack. The Berserker came back to his senses just as the Warlock Centaur he called out earlier arrived next to him.

    "Thaor. I know that you just lost your territory, but the human is not wrong. Just spar with him and go all-out," Mekhaz suggested, turning to Michael as he continued to speak, "This should be interesting."

    Michael agreed with a simple nod. He receded the power unleashed through cicle and waited patiently. Thaor, the Berserker was a Mid Tier-2 Adventurer with an extremely strong physique. The crimson light felt like an extension of Thaor''s body as well. It was different from the bloody aura most Berserkers learned to control when they were close to bing Higher Lifeforms.

    Michael presumed that Thaor was a prodigy participating in the Battle Exchange, and that his crimson aura was part of Thaor''s Unique Constitution. By sparring with Thaor, Michael hoped to gain the respect and acknowledgement of more than five Warriors. Thatbined with hisbat prowess should be more than enough to change his status from a Fletchling to a Warrior.

    "I won''t hold back," Thaor said, looking intently at Michael. He turned around and jumped down into thebat ring where he told everyone to make space for them.

    The other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs moved back instinctively, not daring to obstruct Thaor in any way.

    Michael stared at the scene in front of him with interest. Mekhaz noticed that and exined, "He was a Champion until a few days ago. By losing his territory, he also lost his status. Regaining his status will be increasingly difficult now that he is not a Lord anymore."

    Michael looked over to Mekhaz, his lips pressed together for a moment. Then, a smile formed on his lips.

    "Fighting a Champion only a few hours after I arrived¡­that''s exciting!" He responded, which earned him an interesting gaze from the Warlock Centaur.

    "Do you even know what it means to be a Champion before advancing to Tier-3?" Mekhaz asked.

    Michael shook his head. He didn''t know, and he actually didn''t really care.

    "It means that he could hold his forte against another Tier-3 Champion. He is strong enough to defeat Warriors at the 3rd Tier." Mekhaz borated.

    Michael was thankful for the exnation, but he could only shrug.

    "So what? He is not the only one who can fight someone a league above him."

 Chapter 326 Championâ€™s Might I

    <h4>Chapter 326 Champion''s Might I</h4>

    After Thaor ordered everyone to leave thebat ring, he and Michael had more than enough space to go all out.

    Mekhaz and the other Warlock Centaurs looked for a good ce to sit down and watch the battle. Meanwhile, the Berserkers shouted loudly, telling Thaor to beat the shit out of Michael.

    Michael ignored the Berserkers. He nced over to Kraft Viton, who sat down in the first row without any worries. Rather than being worried about Michael, curiosity could be seen in the old man''s vibrant eyes.

    "Ready, puny human?" Thaor asked while manifesting a set of ck knuckles. The knuckles had various miniature enchantments engraved on their surface, creating a pressure that rivaled the Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might.

    ''Can they customize Legendary Tier-2 Artifacts? That''s¡­amazing.'' Michael thought, his heart stirring in excitement. If he could find the cksmith and Enchanter who created Thaor''s knuckles, he might as well get hold of a customized Legendary Weapon Artifact. By then, he would have even better equipment than many descendants.

    Michael licked his lips at the sight of the ck knuckles, and he manifested the Wyverntooth Spear and his Spirit Armor Set not long after. As for the Legendary Ring Artifact, Michael wouldn''t store it away under normal circumstances. Instead, he would keep it around, infusing bits of energy into Dragon Might''s storage whenever possible.

    The Spirit Armor Set was the most recent creation of the Relic of Draka. It was dark blue and glimmered brightly as the surroundings'' origin energy naturally channeled through it. Michael had used highly purified Zention metal to craft the Spirit Armor Set that fit him perfectly.

    The Spirit Armor Set didn''t have a single enchantment engraved on its wless surface, but that was eptable. The Spirit Armament forwarded its strong external enhancement to Michael the moment he put it on. All of his skills received a considerable boost, while his Agility was enhanced the most.

    Spinning the Wyverntooth Spear around his body, Michael moved around slowly. It had only been a few hours since the Spirit Armor Set had been forged and it was the first time he wore it. He slowly adjusted his body to the enhancement he received from wearing the high-quality Spirit Armor Set by moving around and jumping up and down a little.

    Once both sides were ready, one of the Berserkers stepped forward. He lifted one of his arms high into the air and bellowed loudly.

    "FIGHT!"

    Thaor''s muscles bulged the instant the battle started. His body expanded by a few centimeters and his red skin color changed into a darker tone.

    His foot kicked the ground and he propelled forward, crossing half the distance to Michael in an instance.

    Michael had already activated Eagle Eyes with fouryers of Enhancement. Nheless, he was surprised by Thaor''s speed. He was definitely faster than Mr. Klein had been.

    Michael saw that Thaor''s crimson aura engulfed Thaor''s fists like gloves, so he prepared for impact.

    First, Michael released a small domain of extraction that covered a range of five meters around him. The golden dome caused ripples in the surroundings as the origin energy permeating the air was annexed. Simultaneously, Michael conjured dozens of cicles around him. They were released with great velocity and crashed into Thaor the next moment ¨C just as the Berserker entered the dome of extraction, and his attack range to inflict bloody attacks on Michael.

    Michael willed the dome of extraction to extract the crimson aura engulfing Thaor''s hands when the Berserkers entered the dome of extraction. Unfortunately, extracting the crimson aura didn''t work well. It was just like Michael expected.

    ''Extracting the creations of Innate Powers seems a little bit too hard without enoughyers of Enhancement,'' Michael concluded instantaneously. For a quarter of a second, he considered using the Power of Enhancement stored in Dragon Might to enhance the dome of Extraction, but he chose against it.

    Extracting the crimson aura engulfing Thaor''s hands wouldn''t necessarily result in his victory.

    Michael manifested arge cicle vertically in front of him. It acted as both a shield and a visual blockage against Thaor. Thaor had already seen Michael manifest several cicles before. Thus, he wasn''t surprised to see arge cicle appear in front of him.

    He had also felt the effect of the cicles before since more than a dozen cicles burst on his skin a second ago. The prickling sensation of his body working against the freezing chill that enveloped the areas that had been hit by the cicles was nothing new for Thaor. He easily concluded the effect of Michael''s cicles and acted instinctively ¨C moving around therge cicle with a single stride to avoid releasing a massive amount of freezing mist by crushing it.

    Thaor''s left arm jerked back and propelled forward, ready to bash Michael''s head, as he moved around the cicle. However, what Thaor didn''t expect was to see six silver swords hovering amidst tens of cicles. Six Qi Swords, strengthened with threeyers of Enhancement had been conjured the instant Michael sensed Thaor moving around the cicle.

    His dome of extraction allowed Michael to sense everything that happened in its range even if it was in his blind spot. Thus, by blocking the view of the other person, Michael could rely on the dome of extraction to pinpoint Thaor''s position.

    That was also how Michael could react perfectly in time to retreat a few steps and manifest Qi Swords and cicles in front of him. He sent a burst of energy through the Qi Swords and cicles to release them with as much velocity as possible.

    In the next instance, they smashed upon Thaor.

    Thaor reacted quickly. He forcefully terminated his attack and moved his arms to block his vital points as well as possible. At the same time, a dense membrane of crimson aura covered his body, which began to release smoke.

    Thaor''s hide-like skin tightened as puffs of smoke were released through his pores, allowing the crimson aura to spread smoothly all over the Berserker''s body.

    His defense, reinforced repetitively, was powerful. It was strong enough to block dozens of cicles, and the freezing mist they released upon shattering, easily. However, Thaor''s means of defense wasn''t enough to block six enhanced Qi Swords. The Qi Sword''s destructive power was terrific, and it grew even more terrifying asyers of Enhancement reinforced the des.

    Two Qi Swords shot straight ahead, crashing into Thaor''s ck knuckles, forcefully blocking his movements, while the remaining four Qi Swords shot toward his shoulders and thighs.

    Thaor''s crimson aura erupted when he sensed the danger of the Qi Swords, but he was already toote. The crimson aura was unleashed toote, merely altering the trajectory of the Qi Swords by a few centimeters. They still cut into Thaor''s arms and thighs, leaving deep gashes or so Michael thought.

    Thaor tilted his body after the four Qi Swords cut him. He sustained only light injuries through the cuts ¨C nothing noteworthy. Hisbat prowess wasn''t affected at all. Thus, he moved rapidly, smashing the Qi Swords that collided with his knuckles before he unleashed the power of his ck knuckles.

    A dark sheen spread all over the knuckles'' surface, sucking in the hostile energy that permeated the knuckles'' surroundings.

    Michael released two more Qi Swords, which were crushed as they collided with Thaor''s fist.

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he saw that, but a smile formed on his lips soon after. The dome of extraction regained its original shape when the Qi Swords cut into Thaor, and infiltrated Thaor''s body by bypassing the crimson aura with a considerable amount of energy left within them.

    Thaor didn''t even notice the golden streams that disappeared inside his body, however, everyone else watching the battle saw that. They witnessed the golden dome shaping into golden threads that disappeared in the four cuts Thaor sustained.

    But that was not the most surprising thing that had happened since the battle started.

    The most surprising event was the huge variety of Soultraits Michael had disyed since the battle started.

    His ck eyes turned golden when the battle began. He summoned a golden dome, conjured icicles, and manifested silver swords. That was something everyone could see. However, Mekhaz and Kraft Viton could clearly tell that the white hue around his golden eyes, and some of Michael''s silver swords were another Soultrait, a powerful Soultrait at that.

    The silver swords strengthened through the white hue were a lot sharper, more resilient, and their destructive power was a lot higher than the ordinary silver swords Michael could conjure with a single thought.

    "This Fletchling¡­has five Soultraits?" Mekhaz asked himself quietly, his third eye shimmering brightly. He continued to watch the battle with a lot more focus than before as a single thought shed through his mind.

    ''What kind of monster did these humans breed?!''

    Even Kraft Viton was surprised watching Michael. He had watched Michael''s fight against the Zan Twins, and Mr. Klein several times, and knew that Michael had multiple Soultraits but Michael''s execution left him stunned.

    Michael told him that he obtained the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait from the Lord Rift, which was the truth, but that didn''t exin his other Soultraits ¨C especially not the appearance of the Soultrait he used to conjure icicles.

    Michael hadn''t even revealed cicle in the battles within the Colosseum. Yet, he used cicle and his other Soultraits so easily that Kraft Viton began to question his own talent.

    He had been a prodigy when he was young, yet the ease with which Michael controlled five Soultraits simultaneously was terrifying to watch. They weren''t even low-ranked Soultraits. All of them had to be 4-Star Soultraits or higher.

    ''How did Alice poach this kid into her team?! This¡­freak¡­'' Kraft Viton asked himself before realizing what he just thought.

    ''It''s a good thing that he is Bartholomew''s ally¡­''

 Chapter 327 Championâ€™s Might II

    <h4>Chapter 327 Champion''s Might II</h4>

    Thaor didn''t know what happened after the Qi Swords cut his arms and thighs. However, he could feel that something was wrong.

    Yet, instead of trying to figure out what exactly happened, Thaor stared at the human in front of him with uncontroble anger in his eyes. The human smiled cockily at him, and moved around nimbly, avoiding his attacks, and restraining his advances.

    Dozens of cicles were manifested in batches repetitively. They weren''t powerful, or endurable enough to pierce through the Berserker''s crimson aura without bursting apart. But that was exactly what Michael wanted. The freezing mist in thebat ring grew denser as the battle between the human and the Berserker continued.

    Michael didn''t rush anything. He focused on distracting Thaor with cicles, and asional Qi Swords to restrain the Berserker''s attacks. Thaor was physically a lot stronger than Michael, but he didn''t have an easy time approaching Michael. The freezing mist affected his crimson aura, forcing Thaor to use more origin energy to keep his aura stable.

    He tried to retract his crimson aura to slow down his energy consumption, but the freezing mist permeating the air all over thebat ring affected him at once. Thaor''s body was searing hot, enhancing his physical strength in every aspect. Yet, the freezing mist dampened the effect, cooling his body the moment the crimson aura receded.

    Forced to maintain the crimson aura spreading across his entire body, Thaor''s origin energy was naturally consumed. But what Thaor didn''t even seem to realize was that four golden threads of energy were slowly extracting some of the origin energy circting through his body as well.

    The origin energy was slowly extracted and transferred to Michael, who annexed it instantaneously. Michael then used the annexed origin energy to create more cicles which he crushed intentionally to fill the entirebat ring with freezing mist.

    Michael controlled his energy consumption precisely. He used only as much energy as he annexed from Thaor to ensure that he had enough energy reserves for the worst-case scenario. Michael would love to go all-out and attack Thaor head-on, but the vast difference in their physical strength was the first thing he realized when the battle started.

    The gap in their physical strength was not something Michael could cover just because he wanted to. He wasn''t a Berserker whose physical strength was innately superior to humans, neither was he in possession of a Soultrait that enhanced his physical strength passively and actively like Thaor''s Soultrait did.

    Not even the external enhancement provided by the Spirit Armor Set was enough to bridge the vast gap. If anything, the Spirit Armor Set barely allowed him to move away from Thaor whenever the Berserker attacked, thereby allowing him to escape being defeated.

    In the next five minutes, Michael focused on draining Thaor''s origin energy, and filling the air with freezing mist. The mist was not thick, but it made it much harder for them to see each other. Michael was fortunate that Thaor was four meter tall, and that his red skin continued to smoke. That allowed Michael to retrieve Zark and condense energy arrows which he released mercilessly.

    Michael moved rapidly through the mist to avoid Thaor whenever he attacked. Everytime Michael released an energy arrow he moved to apletely different spot, preventing Thaor from pinpointing his exact location.

    Over the course of the battle, Thaor was growing restless. He could tell that he was getting yed, and that Michael tried to stall time. It was not difficult to perceive that Michael''s energy storage was either huge or that his Soultraits didn''t require a lot of origin energy to be activated. On the contrary, Thaor''s crimson aura consumed a considerable amount of energy as it engulfed his entire body constantly, and his Soultrait drained his stamina, slowly wearing him out.

    His origin energy was drained much faster than he expected, but Thaor presumed that this was rted to the potent effect of the freezing mist. It affected his crimson aura.

    Only after more than five minutes into the battle did Thaor finally realize what happened to him. His senses picked up the four golden threads that had infiltrated his body, and that the threads drained his origin energy.

    Once Thaor understood that Michael drained his origin energy, the cogs in Thaor''s mind began to move rapidly. Thaor''s biggest weakness had always been that he didn''t use his head in battle. Hisbat awareness, physical strength, and natural awakening of a Unique Constitution allowed him to grow stronger than most peers, but he was not capable of applying his wits mid-battle. It didn''t feel right to him to use his rational thinking in the battle. On the contrary, it was most natural to allow his instincts to take over.

    And that was exactly what Thaor started doing when he realized that Michael was not a puny human; a fletchling who could bark but not bite. Instead, Michael was a powerful opponent against whom the Berserker could go all-out without any worries.

    Thaor unleashed the full power of his Red Giant Soultrait, elevating his physical strength rapidly. After his body reacted to the active utilization of Red Giant, Thaor took a deep breath. His muscles bulged and the crimson aura covering his body seemed to mend into his skin, further enhancing the power of his Soultrait.

    The temperature in thebat arena increased drastically, and the crackling of embers resounded through the surrounding area. The Berserker''s body began to glow as he expanded until his height reached 4.5 meters. His presence intensified gradually, and the red in his eyes expanded until it covered his eyes entirely ¨C even the white.

    Michael retreated instinctively. He reced the Zark Bow with the Wyverntooth Spear and manifested several Qi Swords which he sted toward Thaor. However, before the Qi Swords could impact, Thaor moved quickly. Despite erging his size and his muscles inted, his agility never decreased. On the contrary, his agility increased.

    Thaor released six rapid punches with exceptional precision. His knuckles hit the tip of the Qi Swords precisely, destroying each of them with a single hit. In response to the sudden destruction, the ck knuckles began to shine brighter. They seemed to grow more resilient as they sucked in the energy released from the dispersing Qi Swords.

    Michael could faintly fathom ck des growing from within the ck knuckles. He raised his eyebrows in response but didn''t have enough time to think about the unique power of the knuckles when Thaor appeared next to Michael.

    The Berserker crossed the distance between them in an instant ¨C much faster than Michael could react. He barely fathomed what was about to happen when the Berserker''s right fist shot out. Michael instinctively manifested a firm cicle between him and the Berserker, hoping that it would be enough to slow down the Berserker''s attack. But it was far from enough. Thaor''s right fist smashed into Michael''s side. The next moment Michael flung through the air.

    Michael felt his abs tightening and a shockwave of energy spread through the Spirit Armor Set the instant Thaor''s fist impacted. He crashed into the ground several meters ahead, turned around with the intention to jump up, only to see Thaor towering above him.

    His fist smashed down once again on Michael.

    Feeling severe pain in his sides, Michael wondered if something broke, but he couldn''t pay attention to his injuries right now.

    Instead, he used a considerable amount of energy to manifest six Qi Swords right next to each other. There was no gap between the Qi Swords. The tips of the des were stacked against each other as Thaor''s fist collided. Michael pushed his body to the side as the Berserker''s fist and his Qi Swords collided. Afterward, he used ayer of Enhancement on the Symbol of Extraction.

    He enhanced the energy drain of the four golden threads that had invaded Thaor''s body earlier.

    Michael shot up from the ground and released another batch of six Qi Swords toward Thaor. But this time the Qi Swords were enhanced by threeyers of Enhancement and spread out. They shot through the air much faster than before and pressured Thaor into blocking the attacks if he didn''t want to sustain more injuries.

    Meanwhile, Michael took a deep breath. He circted origin energy through his body to perceive how severe the injury to his sides was. Fortunately, he quickly figured that it wasn''t too bad. The Spirit Armor Set blocked most damage before distributing the remaining force across his body. The injury would hurt for a while, but it wouldn''t affect hisbat prowess in the slightest.

    After observing Thaor for thest few minutes, Michael couldn''t help but feel a little bit jealous.

    Thaor was born with a Unique Constitution, his physique was naturally stronger than most Berserkers, and his Soultrait further enhanced his physical strength ¨C passively and actively. His Crimson Aura was highlypatible with his Soultrait as well, further strengthening his physical strength.

    But that was not all.

    Michael realized that Thaor was a monstrosity. Being able to rely on hisbat instincts to fight against someone with several high-ranked Soultraits was far from easy. Yet, Thaor had overpowered him ¨C quite easily at that.

    The only downside was that the Berserker underestimated him at the start of their battle. Thaor didn''t seem to focus on training his mental resilience to a high degree. He used some sort of technique to refine his mind to integrate hisbat instincts perfectly into the battle whenever he wanted to, but that was not enough to resist 6-Star Extraction''s light energy drain ¨C forget about 10yer Extraction''s mega drain.

    "You would have won, had you not underestimated me earlier," Michael mumbled as he unleashed the Power of Enhancement stored inside the Legendary Ring Artifact.

    "Seems like I got lucky today."

    In the next moment, the Power of Enhancement was fully unleashed and Extraction began to wreak havoc within the Berserker.

 Chapter 328 Insider

    ?

    At the end of the battle, the Power of Enhancement stored in Dragon Might had been applied to the Symbol of Extraction. Thereafter, the four golden threads of extraction inside Thaor grew several times stronger.

    Compared to the light energy drain before, 10yer Extraction evolved into a mega drain of energy, emptying Thaor''s energy storage near instantly.

    The sudden drain of Thaor''s remaining energy took the Berserker by surprise. His crimson aura was forcefully retracted, and the freezing mist in thebat ring took effect. Simultaneously, Michael''s origin energy was rapidly replenished by annexing the energy Extraction had extracted within Thaor.

    Six Qi Swords and close to a hundred cicles manifested around Michael as Thaor appeared in front of him. Thaor was about to deliver one fierce blow after another when his eyes widened in surprise. His energy storage was empty, his crimson aura had forcefully receded due to theck of energy to maintain it outside his body, and his physical strength decreased ever so slightly.

    Michael released the Qi Swords and cicles with a burst of energy. He dived to the side, rolled over the ground and jumped up smoothly. As he jumped up, Michael manifested more Qi Swords and cicles, ready to release them toward Thaor at any moment. But that didn''t seem to be necessary.

    Thaor could barely destroy the six Qi Swords before nearly 100 cicles shattered all over his body. Thaor''s body temperature decreased rapidly, and it exhausted a tremendous amount of his stamina to increase his body''s temperature once again. His stamina was rapidly exhausted to work against the highly potent effect of the freezing mist each of the cicles released upon shattering.

    Michael released several batches of cicle and Qi Swords one after another. Thaor''s movements slowed down, his body temperature decreased, and his hide-like skin began to freeze slowly. Meanwhile, the Qi Swords seemed to elerate with greater velocity as they bypassed Thaor''s ck knuckles, inflicting deep gashes all over the Berserker''s body.

    Not even a minute passed since Michael drained Thaor''s energy storage to annex his origin energy when Michael disappeared from Thaor''s sight. The Berserker was panting heavily. His stamina was drained, and his body made loud crackling noises as every single move broke some of his frozen hide-like skin, chipping it off.

    When Michael re-appeared, he was in the air above the Berserkers, standing on one of his Qi Swords. His Wyverntooth Spear was coated in Reinforced Sword Qi, and severalyers of Enhancement. Michael kicked his feet from the Qi Sword and propelled himself downward with the speed of a cannonball. He smashed into the Berserker''s shoulder just moments before the Wyverntooth Spear cut into the Berserker''s neck.

    "Dead," Michael said quietly as he pulled the Wyverntooth Spear away from the Berserker''s neck. Blood gushed out of his neck like a fountain, but Michael didn''t pay much attention to that.

    He retracted the Wyverntooth Spear and lifted his right hand high into the air. In the next moment, a strong suctioning force pulled on the freezing mist that enveloped thebat ring. He retracted the freezing mist into his body, where cicle would dismantle the freezing mist and turn it back into energy ¨C though much less than he had used to create the cicles.

    Once most of the freezing mist in the arena had been retracted, Michael retracted the golden threads of extraction within Thaor''s body as well. He looked into the Berserker''s eyes, where shock and disbelief were the most apparent. Michael sighed, hoping that Thaor wouldn''t cause problems now that he had been defeated.

    He didn''t realize that the opposite was the case. As Thaor regained his senses, he looked over to Michael with a meaningful smile on his face.

    "You''re strong," His voice cut through the silence of the arena.

    "I shouldn''t have underestimated you. My prejudice against humans led to my miserable defeat. I owe you an apology," The Berserker said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "I am sorry for my ignorance in front of a brave fighter such as you. I embarrassed myself."

    Michael never expected Thaor to apologize, let alone that he would be loud enough for everyone to hear. It took him by surprise, but it was not bad. On the contrary, Michael felt quite good after hearing Thaor''s apology.

    "Lions use their full strength even when they hunt rabbits. You learned after losing to this young Warrior. This lesson might save your life in the future," Mekhaz, the Warlock Centaur, said.

    He had appeared next to Michael and Thaor at some point. A vibrant smile stered his lips as he looked at the wounds all over Thaor''s body. Mekhaz called for a medic who rushed over to tend to the Berserker''s wounds. Mekhaz''s attention moved over to Michael with great curiosity gleaming in his three eyes.

    "Seems like I should apologize as well. I didn''t expect Thaor to lose either. The prodigies, who can defeat Thaor with a lesser refined War Rune, can be counted in just one hand. At least in Piloq," Mekhaz revealed in all honesty, "I apologize for my ignorance."

    Michael didn''t worry too much about being underestimated. In the first ce, he knew that he only won against Thaor because he grossly underestimated him for being a human. If Thaor had unleashed the full power of his ck knuckles, and the fusion of his fully released Soultrait and his Crimson Aura, Michael would have lost within seconds.

    The Qi Swords would have been destroyed easily, and the cicles would have been repelled.

    Fortunately, Michael could inflict four shallow cuts to infiltrate his body with the golden threads of Extraction before the Berserker went all out. It secured his victory, which was great for Michael, but also a little disappointing. He used most of his Soultraits without holding back, yet he could only win because his opponent underestimated him.

    ''I''m still not strong enough.''

    "Little Fletchli¨C....no, I should call you young Warrior now. I challenge you for a spar!" A loud voice resounded from behind Mekhaz.

    A Berserker ¨C shorter than Thaor ¨C jumped down into thebat ring. Excitement gleamed in his eyes as he stared intently at Michael.

    "Your Soultraits are extraordinary. Show me your power in an honorable battle!"

    Michael looked over to Mekhaz and Thaor, who didn''t say anything. However, Kraft Viton''s voice reached him through Whispering Energy.

    "It''s normal for Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs to challenge you after you defeat one of their strongest. They want to see how strong you''repared to them, or if you were just lucky. They also want to defeat you to defend the honor of their race that might get tarnished after you earned your victory against Thaor."

    Michael nodded his head in understanding. He nced over to Kraft and smiled thankfully.

    Then his attention returned to the Berserkers, who jumped down into thebat ring one after another.

    ''You guys cannot defeat Thaor, but you want to gain honor by defeating me ¨C who defeated Thaor. You sly bastards¡­I''m up for it!''

    "Give me five minutes to replenish my energy," Michael replied calmly to the challenger.

    He retrieved a normal energy pill from his War Rune''s storage and consumed it. His energy storage was almost full due to the vast amount of energy he had annexed from Thaor, but Michael didn''t want to make it too obvious.

    Five minutester, his second fight in the arena began.

    His enemy was a Mid Tier-2 Berserker, who had still a long way to go before he would be promoted to a Champion. He still had his powers as a Lord, but hisbat awareness, andbat prowess was much lower than Thaor''s. Michael bombarded the Berserker with hundreds of cicles before entering closebat using fouryer Eagle Eyes, and the Wyverntooth Spear with Reinforced Sword Qi and threeyers of Enhancement.

    Reinforced Sword Qi couldn''t be applied to the whole Wyverntooth Spear, but it could be used on the Wyverntooth Spear''s de. The Soultrait''s potency wasparatively lower than it would have been if applied on a proper Sword, but Michael was not really a sword wielder. He had only used a sword before because Danny taught him how to wield swords ¨C and because Danny gave him Tigerfang.

    But now that he obtained Danny''s Soultrait, Michael wondered if he should switch back to wielding a sword. In the end, Michael decided to focus on long-rangebat these days using cicles and Qi Swords as his primary strategy.

    By using cicles and Qi Swords,bined with Eagle Eyes to pinpoint the movement patterns of his enemies, and Enhancement to further empower his other Soultraits, Michael defeated two more Berserkers before Mekhaz pulled him aside.

    "You should check your notifications. I made sure that your status will be upgraded as soon as possible," Mekhaz said, giving him a thumbs up before he looked over to the Berserkers, whose expressions were overflowing with sourness.

    "It was about time that someone beat the shit out of them. Fighting these muscr no-brainers is quite¡­mentally draining. Unfortunately, theirbat awareness, battle instincts, and physical strength is quite terrifying. They''re perfect if you need a punching bag with anger issues, who punches back at the slightest inconvenience," Mekhaz joked lightly.

    Thaor frowned deeply upon hearing Mekhaz.

    "At least we''re revealing our honest feelings rather than umting it in our hearts. We might be considered a short-tempered race, but you Warlock Centaurs are even worse. The moment someone sparks the wrath that has been umted within your hearts for weeks, months, if not years, you brutes won''t even calm down before your bodies are covered entirely in blood. If anything, we Berserkers are an honest race, while you guys turn into maniacs when someone triggers your wrath!"

    Mekhaz was still smiling at Thaor, but a glint of anger shed through his eyes. He pointed at thebat ring and stomped with his hooves on the ground.

    "You know nothing, brainless fool! Fight me, and you''ll witness what I can do once I''m angry!"

    While Mekhaz and Thaor quarreled with each other, Michael stared at the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs with a faint smile.

    If he felt like an outsider before entering the arena, Michael now felt like he had been fully epted by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    It was a weird feeling, but it was certainly not bad.

 Chapter 329 Back

    <h4>Chapter 329 Back</h4>

    [Congrattions! Your Status in the Tritan Alliance has been upgraded. Sessful promotion from ''Fletchling'' to ''Warrior''. Read thoroughly through the attached files to get to know more about your benefits and responsibilities.]

    Michael finished reading through the newest notification on his crystal watch and opened the attached files. The files weren''t big, so Michael read through them before the battle between Thaor and Mekhaz reached the climax.

    Once he was done reading, he sat down next to Kraft Viton to observe the battle of the former Champion Thaor against Champion Mekhaz. They were both extremely powerful, granting Michael a great opportunity as he watched the fight with fouryer Eagle Eyes.

    Using Eagle Eyes with fouryers of Enhancement drained his energy considerably, but it was definitely worth it. Watching two powerhouses of the Berserker and Warlock Centaur race fight each other without holding back provided far more information than he could have hoped for.

    Several cracks formed on the ground of thebat ring during the fierce battle. Interestingly enough, thebat ring repaired itself using bits of the origin energy that permeated the air in the arena.

    Observing thebat ring repair itself magically was quite interesting. Nheless, Michael got up after a few seconds, and prepared to depart.

    He fulfilled his mission by attaining the status of a Warrior. Atst, he could enter Piloq''s library now.

    But before Michael could leave, he noticed both Thaor and Mekhaz walking towards him. They could tell that Michael wanted to leave and approached him.

    "How about training with us until the Battle Exchange starts? You can improve your fighting style against opponents who are physically much stronger than you, while we can attune our instincts to deal with your long-range attacks better. Everyone would gain something," Thaor proposed, but Michael shook his head.

    "Maybe, I will visit you guys in the next few days, but I think I will be busy for a while. I learned a lot while fighting you guys, and I think I found a few ways to improve my strength as well," Michael politely declined their request before he added, "Furthermore, I wanted to visit the library to study a little. I had to be a Warrior to enter the first floor, which is why I entered the arena in the first ce."

    After fighting for a while, Michael felt that it was about time to read. He was still excited about the prospect of fighting the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but it was not as if his sparring partners would disappear all of a sudden. Michael was bound to have more than enough opportunities to fight during the Battle Exchange ¨C for an entire month at that.

    "The library?" Mekhaz asked, staring at Michael.

    Even Thaor looked at him a little oddly.

    "What about it?"? Michael couldn''t help but ask.

    "Nothing, really," Mekhaz said, pulling Thaor away from Michael.

    "Let him go to the library," He told Thaor before turning back to Michael, "I hope you have a¡­good time in the library. Juste back to train with us whenever you feel like it."

    "I will."

    Michael turned to the entrance of the arena and departed without saying anything else. He would return soon enough. There was no need to worry. After all, he was looking forward to learning more about his strength, his Soultraits, and ways to deal with opponents such as Thaor.

    Today Michael learned that he was still a rookie. He might be powerful, but that didn''t mean he was omnipotent ¨C not that he ever felt like that. He left the arena and headed to Piloq''s library, hoping that the first floor would have some records about old Ancient Ruins, and the origin tongue used before the First Epoch.

    ''If I''m lucky they might have some books about the Dragon Tongue. It should be simr to the Primal Origin Tongue ¨C or whatevernguage the Temple of the Forgotten uses.''

    Michael was deep in thought, and didn''t even notice the glimmer of surprise in Kraft Viton''s eyes. The old man had been surprised several times since Michael''s battle with Thaor.

    One thing about Michael was that the youngster was pretty good at making friends and connections. He wasn''t even trying but naturally got closer to the people around him ¨C especially the people who insulted him first.

    Now that Michael left the arena Thaor was clearly the most upset about his departure. Seeing how the Berserker''s attitude toward Michael changed so quickly was quite intriguing for Kraft. The old man recalled the Barbaric Couple and the fact that they had grown attached to Michael. The Barbaric Couple even defended Michael when Mr. Klein and the Zan Twins schemed against him.

    Kraft Viton heard enough rumors about the Barbaric Couple, and how they had been before meeting Michael. Calling their behavior ''bad'' was a gross understatement. It was much better to consider them freakish devils ¨C until they met Michael, who was said to have beaten them up pretty harshly, several times at that.

    The old man knew so much about the Barbaric Couple because they were the reason why the Ondo family and the Kolbenheim family were nearly rejected as business partners of the Bartholomew Corporation. After all, the Bartholomew Corporation would rather avoid bad publicity than add the two families to their list of business partners.

    Fortunately, the Barbaric Couple''s attitude improved after they joined the Saphirke Military Academy. They were still spoiled, but the Barbaric Couple realized that their strength was not as exceptional as they initially thought. They left their little pond and jumped into a huge ocean where the true powerhouses resided and their inted egos took a hit.

    Their arrogance was dampened, and their motivation to grow stronger was fueled as the gap between them and the other students ¨C including Michael ¨C widened.

    Thinking about Michael''sbat prowess was reason enough for Kraft to furrow his eyebrows. Kraft Viton had seen many young prodigies appearing out of nowhere. However, nobody was as confusing as Michael. Especially Michael''sst attack against Thaor had left him stunned.

    The Berserker''s energy had been drained suddenly, resulting in hisbat prowess decreasing drastically, only for Michael''s energy to erupt all of a sudden, allowing him to counterattack and take advantage of the Berserker. Michael was destined to lose the moment Thaor unleashed his full strength, yet Michael changed the tide of the battle with a single attack.

    ''The golden threads¡­'' The old man recalled. ''The golden threads are the reason he won. What kind of Soultrait was that? Were those energy leeches? Is that it? Can he drain the energy within the air and objects his golden threads touch¡­and annex them?''

    The more the old man thought about it the more sense it made. He had reyed and watched Michael''s fight against Mr. Klein a lot more often than he wanted to acknowledge. He had been drawn to the golden energy because it was something he couldn''tprehend. However, now that he witnessed the power of the golden threads, Kraft Viton gained a better understanding.

    ''Energy Leeches,bined with at least four more Soultraits¡­one to enhance his sight, one to enhance his other Soultraits, and two Soultraits that can be used with great versatility¡­ None of those Soultraits is weak either¡­ However, Energy Leeches is the strongest. Is it a 5-Star Soultrait?''

    The old man shook his head. The silver swords were more likely to be a 5-Star Soultrait. On the other hand, the icicles felt more like a weak ice-elemental Soultrait. It was probably a 4-Star Soultrait given that Michael had little to no problem controlling it as a Tier-2 Lord.

    But if that was the case, what about the golden threads? They were clearly stronger than the silver swords ¨C and the gap was not that small either.

    Kraft Viton''s frown deepened even further as he looked intently at Michael''s broad back.

    ''It couldn''t be a 6-Star Soultrait¡­right?''

    Michael didn''t know what was on the old man''s mind. He could only tell that Kraft Viton wasn''t even trying to hide his stare. But Michael didn''t really mind. He was also deep in thought, wondering what to do with his new connections.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were prideful people, but they were also honorable. It wasn''t a disgrace for them to lose against a powerful opponent. On the contrary, they would honor the fight and show respect to their opponent. That was something Michael noticed quite clearly.

    The moment he defeated Thaor, everyone showed much more respect toward him. They challenged him officially and did not hold a grudge against Michael. In fact, after losing, they felt much closer to Michael as well. It was really interesting.

    Recalling the scars covering the bodies of every Berserker that served as clear evidence of the bloody battles they had fought over the course of years, Michael couldn''t help but feel a little bit jealous.

    ''I wish I could hire some of them to be my subordinates. With the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs leading my Summons at the frontlines, I wouldn''t have to worry about the safety of my army ever again,'' Michael thought, sighing deeply.

    Kraft Viton told him that some humans kidnapped Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Thus, he doubted that he could hire the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in the future. Even if he could, many would frown upon him.

    It was not that Michael was bothered about the opinion other people had of him, but he cared about his subordinates more than anything else. That meant the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs he would hire would have to be trustworthy. Michael would also pay a lot of attention to ensure that the Link of Loyalty''s uses would restrict Adventurers from harming his other subordinates.

    ''Most of their Awakened lost their powers as Lords. Can I take advantage of that somehow?'' Michael wondered as he turned around thest corner to arrive in front of the library entrance.

    Michael stepped inside, where he found the Warlock Centaur still seated behind the reception counter.

    A frown appeared on the Warlock Centaur''s face when he saw him, only for Michel to chuckle lightly.

    "I am back!"

 Chapter 330 Analyzed

    ?

    Piloq''s library was pretty simple and ordinary. There were rows of shelves holding countless books on different topics.

    Every now and then Michael spotted cozy chairs and tables where he could sit down to read and study. It was a ce to explore new worlds through the pages of the books that could be found everywhere ¨C just like any other library.

    Once Michael made it past the Warlock Centaur receptionist, Michael stepped into this new world ¨C a world full of books to read, and knowledge to devour.

    Michael wished he could extract the knowledge of all the books around him, but he knew that his wish was not feasible. He would destroy the books the moment Extraction extracted the Wisps of Knowledge from within the books. But that was fine. Michael was not in a hurry right now.

    He walked past the rows of shelves, trying to get a rough understanding of the library''s structure. But what he got to know instead was that he was one of a few visitors, not the only one. On the first floor of the Piloq Library Michael saw only three Warlock Centaurs and one Berserker. The Berseker didn''t seem too invested in the book in front of him, and the Warlock Centaurs whispered to each other. Michael didn''t find a single book on the table in front of the Warlock Centaurs.

    "Are you surprised?" Kraft Viton asked Michael through Whispering Energy.

    Michael turned around, his lips tightly pressed together.

    "I am more curious to know how you entered the library rather than finding out why the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs don''t love to spend their freetime reading some books. They love the arena, and are races that grew up with the desire to wage bloody wars, and not a war of philosophy," He responded to the old man also using Whispering Energy.

    Kraft didn''t say anything. He just smiled seeing how confused Michael was. Michael shook his head and turned back to the front.

    After walking through Piloq''s library for a few minutes, Michael found a librarian ¨C or so he presumed. The Librarian was a colossus with a height that easily crossed 5 meters. He was six-meter-tall, and the white coat he wore did a miserable job of covering his huge, ripped body.

    Michael could clearly see the way the Berserker''s muscles twitched with every move the librarian made.

    Noticing a gaze lingering on his back, the Berserker turned around. His eyes moved to Kraft Viton first, only to show a glimmer of surprise when his attention moved to Michael.

    "It looks like someone was in a hurry to receive a promotion," The six-meter-tall Berserker said, his sonorous voice resounding in the surroundings, "Were you in a hurry to enter the library?"

    Something in the librarian''s voice caused Michael''s body to tense up. He instinctively changed into a defensive stance and circted origin energy through his body. Michael was ready to manifest his Soultraits and run for his life.

    He could have attempted fighting the librarian, but something deep inside Michael told him that fighting the monstrosity in front of him would be suicidal.

    A bead of sweat trickled down his temple, resulting in a smile blossoming on the librarian''s face.

    "It seems like your perception is quite high. That will probably help you survive a long time in the Origin Expanse," The librarian said lightly, "I am merely a tired warrior, who finds joy in reading. There is no need to be wary of me."

    It was odd, but Michael felt that he could trust the librarian''s words. The tension all over his body dispersed at once. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as his gaze flicked to his right where Kraft Viton rxed visibly as well.

    ''Even the old man was affected? That''s¡­surprising¡­''

    Michael wondered how strong the librarian must have been before he decided to switch his job. The librarian didn''t even have to release his presence or circte energy through his body to affect both him and the old man.

    ''Is he Tier-5? No, that''s probably not it. I don''t know how strong the old man is, but Alice talked to him with respect. Kraft is probably also a Tier-5 powerhouse. Doesn''t that mean the librarian is either at the Peak of the 5th Tier or already a Tier-6 powerhouse?''

    "The two of you are not really talkative, are you? Well¡­that doesn''t really matter. Quiet people are usually preferred in this little ce of silence," The librarian said lightly before adding, "What books are you guys looking for?"

    Michael required a few seconds to realize that the librarian asked him a question. He shook his head lightly and looked up to meet the Berserker''s eyes.

    "I am searching for records about old Ancient Ruins that were raided sessfully, and oldnguages that were used before the Second Epoch," Michael replied, just to carefully add, "The older thenguage the better."

    The Berserker nced toward Kraft Viton for a moment before his attention was pulled back to Michael.

    "So you found an Ancient Ruin, and you don''t know its danger level. If we take into consideration that you rushed over to my library in Piloq not even half a day after your arrival in Meku, you must be quite worried," The librarian remarked. He then fell deep in thought.

    The librarian kept looking at Michael, the glimmer of curiosity in his eyes intensifying, "The Ancient Ruin you found must be quite old if the knowledge umted by humans is not enough for you. Before the Second Epoch you said, right? Interesting."

    "It''s a good thing that you decided toe to the library instead of rushing to enter the Ancient Ruin. Most of my kind would barge into an Ancient Ruin the moment they find one. Instead of doing the same, you want to learn more about the Ancient Ruin before you decide if you can enter it right now, or if you have to achieve a certain level of strength to enter it without dying miserably. That''s good."

    The librarian was a lot more talkative than Michael expected. Most librarians shushed everyone, who was daring enough to talk loudly. Yet, the Berserker Librarian was the loudest by far. His voice was extremely loud, and it attracted the interest of the other visitors.

    It bothered Michael a little how easily the librarian could guess Michael''s n. However, it was not as if Michael was trying to hide his interest in the oldnguages, and Ancient Ruins. Anyone with enough brain cells could connect the dots ande to the same result as the Librarian; Michael found an Ancient Ruin, a very old one, and was looking for answers about it.

    Even if onecked crucial information, one could easily determine that Michael''s interest in Ancient Ruins was umon. Alice Zenovia should have alreadye to the same result as the Berserker Librarian, even though shecked information.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t really care whether someone knew about the Temple of the Forgotten or not. No other human had a territory in the Untamed Jungle, after all.

    "Can you help me, or is the information I need hidden on the second or third floor? If so, what''s the fastest way to be promoted to a Champion?" Michael asked straight ahead.

    The Berserker Librarian seemed different from the other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs he had gotten to know until now. Rather than focusing on fighting and improving theirbat prowess, the librarian was wise, or so Michael felt.

    As long as one was interested in the history of their own race, one could learn a lot about their past mistakes, and how to avoid repeating them. The same could be said about the history of other races. Reading reports about the experiences other Awakened went through would allow Michael to prepare everything to counter them.

    Other than history and detailed records, Michael had also learned from a young age that war strategies taught by strategists and schrs were essential in every territory. Michael and his territory would have ceased to exist if not for the war strategies he had learned in the past, and Michael wanted to learn a lot more.

    But first of all, he hoped to procure more information about Ancient Ruin raid records, and the oldestnguage books stored in Piloq''s library.

    "If you have notes written in thenguage the Ancient Ruin used at the entrance, I might be able to help you. After all, it is just like you said. The information you desire is stored on the third floor, and being promoted to a Champion will require a considerable amount of achievement points. They''re hard to acquire, and it will take you more than a year ¨C 3 months minimum if you want to break the record for the fastest promotion ¨C to be a Champion." The librarian said calmly, causing Michael to scratch his head.

    He didn''t really want to go as far as to reveal the text written in the origin tongue. Even Lilica said that thenguage used by the Temple of the Forgotten was extremely old ¨C much older than her own race¡­and the Forest Elves were likely to be older than the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    "Looks like your Ancient Ruin is a lot more special than I first presumed. You wrote down what it said, but you don''t want to show me because you''re uncertain if I will exploit you once I find out that the Ancient Ruins are extremely old. That is very interesting, little boy," The librarian said with a cheeky smile.

    Michael''s lips parted for a second, only for him to close his mouth again. He pressed his lips together and stared at the librarian, who acted as if he could read his thoughts, which was something Michael hated to the core.

    ''Is he trustworthy? Will he be able to help me? What is the worst that could happen after I show him the paper?''

    Countless questions rang through Michael''s mind, but he couldn''t answer any of them.

    On the contrary, more questions surfaced the more he thought about it.

    Meanwhile, Kraft Viton stared at Michael with furrowed brows.

    ''Just what is this kid?!''

 Chapter 331 Who?

    <h4>Chapter 331 Who?</h4>

    At the end of the day, Michael decided to show the librarian the piece of paper he had shown his brother.

    There were two reasons for that.

    First, Michael was too curious to find out more about thenguage used by the Temple of the Forgotten. He wanted to obtain an answer to the question that had been tormenting his mind ever since he found the Temple of the Forgotten; How dangerous is the Temple of the Forgotten?

    Michael wanted to know how much stronger he had to grow to raid the Temple of the Forgotten, and what kind of treasures he could find inside the Temple of the Forgotten. He was too curious not to ask others for help.

    Second, Michael hated himself for overthinking too much. The Berserker Librarian couldn''t really do much against Michael even if the Berserker grew interested in the Temple of the Forgotten.

    Only Michael knew about the location of the Temple of the Forgotten, and he was the only Lord in the Untamed Jungle. Forget about other human Lords, Michael hadn''t seen any other Lords in the Untamed Jungle either ¨C except the Gogi Lord, who had been exterminated a long time ago.

    Even if the Berserker Librarian would be interested in his Ancient Ruin, he was unlikely to act right now ¨C not when the Interdimensional g War was about to begin, and the threat of the Tekur race still existed.

    The piece of paper was small in therge hands of the Berserker Librarian as he looked at it. His brows furrowed deeply as he imprinted the letters into his mind.

    "I¡­don''t know thisnguage. I can trante parts of it, but it doesn''t really make sense. It feels iplete," The Librarian said, tilting his head to look at the letters from a different angle. "Some sort of Origin Tongue, but it''s a lot older than the oldest books I''ve retrieved from the Blood Asura Dungeon¡­"

    The librarian stared at Michael, his frown even deeper than before, "I don''t think thenguage books on the third floor will help you. I can hand them over, but you won''t gain anything. The records of Ancient Ruin raids might be helpful¡­"

    The librarian halted in his tracks. He seemed irritated and sighed deeply. "...let me give you one piece of advice."

    "Don''t enter this Ancient Ruin until you be a Divine Lifeform."

    Michael''s eyes widened in surprise. Even Kraft Viton couldn''t contain himself after he heard what the Berserker said and blurted out, "Huh?!"

    The old man took a stride forward and took a look at the piece of paper shared by Michael as well.

    He was asking Michael to be a Divine Lifeform, a being whose life force evolved a second time as a result of advancing to the 7th Tier. The Berserker Librarian told him to be such an existence before entering the Temple of the Forgotten. That was crazy, or so Michael would have said if he hadn''t suspected something simr as well.

    Since Lilica told him that thenguage used in an Ancient Ruin determined its danger level, Michael had had a bad feeling about the Temple of the Forgotten. However, being told that he should be a Divine Lifeform before entering the Temple of the Forgotten was a lot different than merely thinking about it. Receiving affirmation was like a fierce p of reality on his face.

    Michael realized toote that Kraft Viton was staring nkly at the piece of paper thatnded in his hands. The old man had been too baffled about the Berserker Librarian''s words to pay attention to his behavior. He didn''t care that it was rude of him to look at Michael''s possession.

    His eyes widened while staring at the letters, followed by utter confusion recing his surprise.

    Michael retrieved the piece of paper with his expression eerily calm. "It seems like I have to trust you now. You said that we''re allies, after all."

    His voice was eerily calm as he added, "I decided to trust you once." But his eyes were far from calm. A zing me of fury could be seen within them.

    Kraft Viton noticed that he made a mistake. He might be older, and stronger than Michael, but his mission in Meku was to ensure that nothing bad would happen to Michael and not to meddle in his affairs in any way.

    Locking eyes with Michael, Kraft Viton felt a little bit weird. Michael''sst words were a warning, but the gaze was a promise.

    ''Break my trust, and I will make sure to crush the Bartholomew Corporation, even if that means I have to sell my soul to the Olympus,'' Michael''s eyes seemed to scream. That was at least what Kraft imagined to hear in his mind as he kept staring into Michael''s eyes. It was ominous.

    Michael turned away from the old man and focused on the librarian once again.

    He might not be able to procure useful information about thenguage used in the Temple of the Forgotten, but he could take another path to take one step closer to his final goal.

    "Does the library sell duplicates ofnguage-rted books from other Epochs? Many Awakened should be studying othernguages in case they encounter an Ancient Civilization or Ancient Ruins¡­so you should have some books to sell, or at least to read, right? Can a Warrior buy these books, or do I have to be a Champion to purchase them as well?" Michael asked the Librarian, while storing the piece of paper back into his storage space.

    "Records of Ancient Ruin raids are very interesting as well. If you allow me, I would like to study them," He added carefully.

    The librarian smiled at Michael. He gave him a thumbs up.

    "You''re quite interesting, little Lord. I wonder how far you will make it in the Battle Exchange. This year will probably be a lot more interesting than usual," He said before manifesting a holographic screen in front of Michael.

    "Usually, you can only purchase books when you''re a native Champion, but I''ll make an exception for you. Tell me which books you want to read," The librarian said, resulting in a smile appearing on Michael''s face.

    "The duplicates are in physical form, right?" Michael asked after he threw a nce at the catalog the librarian had manifested in front of him.

    "Of course. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be able to take them inside the Origin Expanse."

    "In that case¡­I would like to take all of them," Michael said after he saw the list of books that interested him, which was a lot given that he wanted all of them.

    Despite the unpleasant news he learned a few minutes ago, Michael was still excited. He was slowly getting somewhere. His pace may be extremely slow, but he made progress. That was already worth quite a bit.

    "Yes, of cou¡ª...wait, you said all of them?" The librarian asked, his amiable expression reced with another deep frown.

    No matter how he looked at it, the little human in front of him was always throwing new surprises. It was quite surprising, but also refreshing.

    "You do realize that there are more than 1000nguage-rted books in this catalog, right? You¡­do realize that I''m not running a charity, and that you will have to pay for them¡­right?"

    "Of course, I will pay," Michael said immediately. However, he realized that he missed out on an important point in his excitement.

    Rubbing the back of his head he added, "But can I pay in installment? I might have gone overboard without asking how much I have to pay, in the first ce. Well¡­I don''t even have any Tritan Credits either, but I should be able to use items from the Origin Expanse as a recement for Tritan Credits, or does that not work?"

    "You don''t even have Tritan Credits? How in the worl¨C..." The Berserker Librarian was slowly losing his nerves. He had a good impression of the little human, but his sudden foolish attitude didn''t make any sense. It was irritating, and no Berserker liked to be irritated.

    Yet, the librarian wasn''t even able to finish his sentence as Michael retrieved a ck scroll with a golden seal, and a crimson pill that increased the temperature in the surroundings.

    "What''s better¡­Body Strengthening Pills, or Mythic Summoning Scrolls? Or do you want some Energy Nourishing Pills, or maybe a Warrior Enlightenment Potion in exchange?" Michael asked, his eyes gleaming.

    At first, he didn''t want to reveal so many trump cards. However, the more he talked to the Berserker Librarian, the more obvious it was that the librarian was far from ordinary. Not only was the librarian probably a Tier-6 Lord, but he mentioned the Blood Asura Dungeon as well.

    Michael didn''t know a lot about dungeons, but he had heard a lot about the Blood Asura Dungeon. The strongest powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance had joined their forces to conquer the Blood Asura Dungeon. Many died within the dungeon. Only the strongest survived, and they continued to grow much stronger in the following years.

    No matter how Michael looked at this situation, the Berserker Librarian was far from ordinary. Kraft Viton must have noticed that as well. Thus, Michael chose to reveal some of his trump cards.

    Maybe, he could strike a deal with the Berserker race using his new connection with the talkative librarian.

    "Who is that kid?" The Berserker Librarian asked Kraft Viton.

    It was already rare for participants of the Battle Exchange to havepany, and Michael had a powerhouse following him like a shadow.

    Despite that, it didn''t look like Michael and Kraft were close. In fact, they didn''t seem to know much about each other. That was something the Berserker Librarian learned in the conversation of thest few minutes.

    But even if that was the case, the librarian couldn''t help but repeat his question a second time.

    "Who is that kid?"

 Chapter 332 Michael, the businessman

    <h4>Chapter 332 Michael, the businessman</h4>

    After Michael left the library, the librarian was both irritated and curious. Somehow, the little human''s questions and requests about Ancient Ruins and oldnguages had turned into a business deal and a proposal for future exchanges, and he didn''t even know how that happened.

    It was interesting but he also felt like he had been led around ¨C by someone who wasn''t even one-tenth his age at that. That was what irritated the librarian the most.

    "Maybe, I''ve grown too old for this¡­" He murmured, ncing at the three Body Strengthening Pills, one Warrior Enlightenment Potion, and two Mythic Summoning Scrolls that were lying in his hands.

    "...I should send the pills and potion to theboratory."

    **

    Michael felt quite good with more than 1000nguage-rted books resting in his War Rune''s storage space. He wasn''t in a rush to read, and didn''t n to do so in the first ce ¨C not in the conventional way, at least.

    Michael would extract Wisps of Knowledge from the 1000nguage-rted books to consume the knowledge and imprint it in his mind at once. That may burden his mind a little, but it would be a lot more efficient than reading through the books several times to study and understand the content properly.

    Even as a Tier-2 Lord with Ceasurium Menta at the 2nd stage, Michael couldn''t memorize andprehend everything he read once. He wasn''t even sure if Alice was capable of something like that. She would probably be able to memorize it. Butprehendingplexnguages after a single read through unfamiliar books wasn''t something anyone could do easily ¨C if not for the existence of Extraction.

    Michael was satisfied with his encounter with the librarian in Piloq''s library. Nheless, he was exhausted. The cogs in his brain had been moving on full power way too long. It was about time that he rested a little.

    However, Kraft Viton didn''t allow that. He stared at Michael for quite a while, numerous questions waiting to escape his lips.

    "Why would you exchange Mythic Summoning Scrolls with the Berserker instead of using more Pills and Potions in exchange? The Mythic Summoning Scroll should be a lot more valuable than the Body Strengthening Pill, and the Warrior Enlightenment Potion," Kraft remarked as they walked through Piloq''s streets.

    Michael nced to his right, but he didn''t say anything. For him, Mythic Summoning Scrolls were actually not that rare. All they required was a lot of corpses that had to be extracted. 10,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments were enough to create a Mythic Summoning Scroll.

    Meanwhile, the pills and potions in his possession were more valuable. Michael didn''t have a surplus of ingredients yet. In fact, his territorycked ingredients the most. That was also why he handed over only a handful of pills and only one potion.

    But that was not something he wanted to tell Kraft Viton.

    "Don''t you think it''s better to be on the librarian''s good side? He is stronger than you, and he helped me even though I am ¨C no, I was ¨C a stranger to him," Michael said instead.

    "Is that why you started prioritizing the Berserkers?" Kraft Viton asked, his voice exposing his inner feelings.

    "Hmm?" Michael raised an eyebrow and stared straight at the old man, who returned his stare.

    "You could have made a deal with the Bartholomew Corporation. Why didn''t you do so?" He asked calmly, "Body Strengthening Pills, Mythic Summoning Scrolls, Energy Nourishing Pills, and Warrior Enlightenment Potions. Each of those goods is worth a fortune, and they''re in high demand. Every Lord would run behind you and try their utmost to please you if you could provide them with as many resources as they demand."

    Kraft Viton didn''t seem to be jealous, or angered by Michael''s action. It was the opposite. Michael felt that the old man''s curiosity about him grew and that he began to consider Michael a full-fledged adult roughly after they arrived in Piloq.

    "Well, it''s actually pretty simple," Michael said with a shrug, "I think the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs can give me a lot more in exchange for revealing some of the most valuable goods my territory can procure and produce. The books are far more valuable than the vast majority of books that can be found in the Saphirelike Military Academy, and I was able to procure more than a thousand of those in exchange for a few pills, a potion, and two scrolls. But that is not everything I obtained, obviously."

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled up, and the gleam in his eyes grew brighter.

    "I made a powerhouse of the Berserker race curious about me. I showed them some goods, which they probably need to ensure that their people grow strong enough to survive in the Origin Expanse, and potentially even retain their Lord Powers. Furthermore, I showed the librarian that I''m not taking advantage of his generosity. I know that he didn''t have to sell me the books that I''ve purchased just now. In fact, it was against thew considering that he said only natives with the status of a Champion or higher are allowed to purchase these books."

    Michael''s thin smile grew wider the more he spoke, resulting in a vibrant smile as he reached the final conclusion.

    "All in all, Inded a great deal, a deal that could be a long-term business venture with the Berserkers ¨C maybe even the Warlock Centaurs once they find out about my goods. By then, I can reap all profits by leveraging my advantage to the max."

    Michael had a lot more to say, but he kept a few obvious facts hidden. The Bartholomew Corporation couldn''t provide him with the ingredients Michael''s Alchemists required to mass produce the pills and potions. Almost no human was capable of doing so given that mankind''s major territories were either barrennds, infertile, frozen, or deserts. Growing the rare nts and herbs Michael required to concoct the pills and potions was basically impossible.

    He knew the market well enough to say for certain that the Berserkers would be a better partner in that regard. That was something Kraft Viton had to agree to as well.

    But that didn''t mean he liked it.

    Kraft concluded that Michael researched enough about business and socializing. Otherwise, he couldn''t exin how Michael made so many valuable connections less than 12 hours after they''d arrived in Piloq. Michael learned a lot in a short amount of time. It was a valuable experience for the young Lord, who seemed to have a much more mature mind than Kraft Viton first presumed.

    Interestingly enough, Kraft Viton''s analysis of Michael was not entirely correct. He predicted that Michael wanted to obtain cheaper resources such as rare nts and herbs from the Berserkers. However, Michael''s n was theplete opposite.

    He didn''t really have to pay too much attention to purchasing ingredients since Lilica promised to help him out. She would deal with the Forest Elven Elders to procure arge batch of ingredients from the Forest Elves who had the best environment and knowledge when it came to growing rare nts, and using nature to their advantage.

    Lilica could procure a lot more alchemy materials than anyone else.

    However, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs could do something else for him. Their primary spawn locations were near the ins, mountains and savannah regions. They could provide Michael with all kinds of ores, forging recipes, and Named Summoning Scrolls ¨C preferably cksmith rted.

    Michael researched a lot about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, and he had heard rumors that some Berserkers were able to procure 2-Star Weaponsmith Summoning Scrolls, and Named Summoning Scrolls of simr nature.

    Michael wanted to obtain all of those to expand his Underground Forging Hall, which would increase his production of Armaments. That would result in more profits from exchanges with the Forest Elven Tribe. Once the Forest Elves'' goodsnded in his possession, Michael could mass produce various pills and potions, equip his people with all kinds of Armaments and resources to grow stronger, AND he could earn a fortune by selling Agriculture-type Blueprints to the Bartholomew Corporation.

    Michael''s n was to create an endless cycle of growth with his territory towering in the center, and the thought of having taken a step closer to dealing with the Berserkers excited him a little.

    He smiled foolishly at the possibility of striking a special deal with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Potentially, he could even gain their trust in the next few months to have the Berserker race send some of their Awakened to his territory ¨C working as his subordinates to continue dealing with him.

    Once the Interdimensional g War was over, Michael would have to leave Meku once again. He would return to the Saphirke Military Academy, which meant that someone had to follow him in the real world, or the Origin Expanse to keep trading goods with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Of course, that was something Michael didn''t have to worry about¡­yet. Nheless, he was excited and in a good mood.

    He may be a little bit tired, but he obtained new contacts and a vast amount of books in exchange for his effort. It had been an eventful day.

    And only now did he allow himself to rest a little.

    After they returned to the hotel, Michael entered his room for the first time, but he entered the Origin Expanse to sleep in the Wooden Manor rather than wasting his time sleeping in the hotel.

    He yawned loudly after he fell on the soft mattress inside his room.

    A smile crept up his face, and he fell into a deep slumber with a thought shing through his mind.

    ''I wonder what''ll happen in the next few days¡­no, weeks¡­.''

    Afterward, darkness embraced him like a long-lost friend, and he fell asleep.

 Chapter 333 Honorless

    <h4>Chapter 333 Honorless</h4>

    Michael slept much longer than usual so when he woke up he felt energized and ready to rumble.

    However, rather than rushing outside, Michael ended up retrieving the books he purchased the day before. He released Extraction and started to extract the Wisps of Knowledge within the books.

    The content and knowledge of the books were extracted one by one, slowly but steadily. He was being careful not to tear off the pages which meant that he spent the next four days in the Origin Expanse to extract countless Wisps of Knowledge, which he devoured immediately.

    The amount of information and knowledge flooding his mind was mind-numbing, but it was also quite exciting. Michael learned three newnguages ¨C written and spoken ¨C, and he could slowlyprehend the connections between thenguages. Understanding the origin of thenguages he had learned was quite intriguing, and it allowed him to take a small step closer to his final goal. At least, that was what Michael felt. He was certain!

    Now that four days passed in the Origin Expanse, Michael could either spend the remaining five days outside the Origin Expanse, or he could make use of the time difference to spend the next ten days in the Origin Expanse. He learned a lot about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs and felt that he could learn a lot by analyzing their strategies, strengths, and weak points.

    Michael was busy refining his body and many other tasks as well.

    But then again, he was too excited to stay idle. Thest four days had already been rather boring ifpared to his exciting fights against Thaor, and the other Berserkers.

    "I should visit them," Michael mumbled to himself.

    He finished his business in the territory after a long talk with Lilica, who was still negotiating with the Forest Elven Elders. Afterward, he approved the development ns suggested by Opars, Liopham, and Tiara before he left his territory through the Runic Gate.

    Michael returned to his cozy hotel room, where he jumped onto his bed to feel morefortable while reading through the messages he received in thest two days.

    For one, Alice had sent him a short message. She asked how he was doing, and what he was up to. Her message was informal, and it made Michael wonder if the Frozen Duchess considered him a friend rather than her disciple, or as one of her students.

    Michael didn''t feel bad at the thought of being treated as a friend rather than an ordinary student. It was a lot better actually.

    He sent her a short reply to answer all of her questions. Then Michael asked her how she was doing, and what exactly she had to do now that they had arrived in Piloq.

    His questions were not really important. It was just some nonsense Alice didn''t have to answer. Nheless, Michael tried to be nice before he moved to the next chat.

    [Kraft Viton(Bartholomew): Thanks to you I''ve been really busy. Message me once you''re back from the Origin Expanse, and I''ll meet up with you. Even if you want to walk through Piloq alone, give me a heads up. I won''t follow you, but it would be better if you tell me where you go. That way, I can rush over if something happens. Prioritize your safety!]

    Somehow, the old man sounded like a caring grandfather to him. He never had a grandfather, but Kraft Viton was probably the closest to one. It didn''t feel bad either. On the contrary. Michael enjoyed the warmth in his heart.

    Other than that, Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke messaged him as well. They''d been wondering where he was and if he wanted to challenge some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in the arenas.

    And then there was Annabelle ire and the Barbaric Couple asking him how meeting the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had been, and if they acted just like they''d been described by everyone.

    Michael answered their doubts before responding to Kaleb and the rest. He told them that he would go to the arena near the library.

    Only then did he see that he received another message from an unknown ount.

    [Unknown: It''s me Thaor. Get your ass up, ande over to the arena. We''ve been waiting for you for days. Your brethren are mostly arrogant pieces of shit. How about youe over instead? Otherwise, I might actually cripple them before the Battle Exchange starts.]

    Michael raised an eyebrow when we saw the message. He didn''t know how Thaor got his contact details, but he did. He got up from the bed and sent Thaor a message while leaving his room.

    [Michael Fang: Why would I care whether you break their bones, or if you cripple them? If they annoy you, do it. That means lesspetition for me and more trouble for you.]

    Michael closed the sta messenger once he finished reading through all the messages. Then he moved over to the Ulran Arena, which was where he met Thaor and the others before.

    Even if there wasn''t any trouble, Michael would have visited Thaor and the others. He had a few doubts about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' fighting styles, and he wanted to analyze them a little bit more before the Battle Exchange started.

    Mekhaz was a Champion, and Thaor was a former Champion. Both were certainly strong enough topete against students in their 3rd year. Only prodigies such as Killian Zeus, his subordinates, and others with simrly highbat prowess were stronger. However, that was also owed to their highly refined War Rune at the Peak of the 3rd Tier.

    "Thaor and Mekhaz are probably not much older than me. I wonder if I''ll have to sh with them during the Battle Exchange," Michael mused to himself. He arrived in front of the Ulran Arena and entered.

    Michael tensed up the moment he stepped inside the arena. The smell of burned flesh permeated the air, and the murmurs of the people in front of him reached his ears.

    "Are all humans that merciless? Where is their honor? Do they even know what honor means?" A Warlock Centaur asked, the anger in his voice apparent.

    "Even if these humans are powerful, they don''t deserve an ounce of respect. How dare they¡­" The Berserker standing next to the Warlock Centaur growled, manifesting a huge broadsword as he strode forward.

    Michael frowned deeply.

    He looked to thebat rings and saw Killian Zeus standing in front of a half-charred body ¨C Thaor''s body.

    Lightning kept zapping through Thaor''s body, continuously burning him. Thaor was struggling to move, attempting his utmost to escape Killian''s power, but he was unable to move an inch. Not even his Crimson Aura fused with the Red Giant Soultrait was powerful enough to block the lightning that shot out of Killian''s fingers. The lightning bolts were dark purple and they looked deadly.

    Michael didn''t even have to activate his Eagle Eyes to see the streams of energy that had been channeled into the lightning bolts to further reinforce them.

    The healers of the Ulran Arena rushed over to Thaor, but they couldn''t start healing the Berserker before Killian stopped releasing his bolts of lightning, otherwise, they may also sustain mortal injuries.

    All while the healers tried to talk Killian into making him stop, the young descendant of the Zeus family didn''t seem to bother. He was eerily calm as he continued to use his Soultrait to burn Thaor from inside out.

    The Berserkers manifested their Weapon Artifacts one after another, which was followed by the Warlock Centaurs, who were doing the same. They were ready to attack Killian with theirbined forces if it was necessary.

    Mekhaz stepped forward, his expression filled with anger and disgust, "You have no honor, human."

    Killian nced over with a nonchnt expression stered on his face. He shrugged lightly before responding, "In a life and death battle all that matters is your survival. No matter how miserable your victory may be, your enemy''s death and your own survival are the only factors that truly matter."

    "This Berserker insulted me with his mere presence, so we sparred a little. How was I supposed to know that ''spars'' are amateurish battles in this ce? I thought Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were races raised in War, ready to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives on the battlefield. Do you think it makes sense to spare him if he is too prideful to surrender on his own? As long as he surrenders, I will stop."

    Michael couldn''t find fault with Killian''s words or actions, notpletely. However, Killian acted like a hypocrite by saying that he would stop once Thaor surrendered. It was not possible for Thaor to surrender in his current position, after all.

    Killian smiled vibrantly at Mekhaz. He then pointed at one of his subordinates that Michael recognized as Peter Gramm, the 3rd Star of the Saphirke Military Academy''s 4th year.

    "Defeat my friend over there, and I will forgive this idiotic Berserker. Lose, and you will end just like him," He said to Mekhaz, whose expression contorted.

    His anger and disgust were increasingly hard to control. Thus, Mekhaz didn''t even try to fight against his natural wild instincts. He epted the fight and entered thebat ring, summoning his Artifact to fight.

    Michael watched as everything unfolded right in front of him. He was a little overwhelmed but felt like he had to do something.

    But he was too weak to restrain Killian, and he couldn''t fight in Mekhaz''s stead either ¨C also because he was too weak.

    All Michael could do was watch¡­for now.

    He crept around the arena, a n forming in his head.

    ''A little suicidal, but feasible¡­probably.''

 Chapter 334 Nutcase

    <h4>Chapter 334 Nutcase</h4>

    The battle between Peter Gramm and Mekhaz began soon after they entered thebat ring.

    Mekhaz summoned a highly flexible metal armor that encased his entire body. It looked like a single piece of metal was constantly moving, adjusting itself to fit the Warlock Centaur perfectly like a second skin.

    Peter Gramm frowned when he saw the armor. It was clearly Mekhaz''s Soultrait.

    He exerted his own Soultrait following Mekhaz, and manifested a huge mace that weighed heavily in his hands. The mace was ck, and intertwined with crimson lines that resembled veins. The crimson veins connected to the crimson thorns that protruded all over the mace.

    Peter Gramm channeled some energy into the heavy mace, thus decreasing the weight in his hands considerably. He issued rapid strikes and moved slowly toward the Warlock Centaur, who had yet to initiate an attack.

    Once Peter Gramm was in Mekhaz''s proximity, the Warlock Centaur made a sudden move. He shot forward, manifesting a three-meter-long spear in his hands.

    The spear whirled around Mekhaz before he thrust out with deadly precision. Peter twisted his body and lifted the mace to block the attack. He altered the spear thrust''s direction ever so slightly. It was just enough to evade the spear de by a few centimeters. His body inched closer to Mekhaz after the attack, and using the tiny gap in his opponent''s defense, Peter Gramm attacked.

    His mace smashed heavily onto Mekhaz''s chest, causing ripples all over the Warlock Centaur''s Living Armor. Peter expected Mekhaz to try to avoid the attack, yet the Warlock Centaur didn''t even budge. He wasn''t forced to retreat nor did he show any response to the mace''s heavy impact.

    No Tier-3 Lord had been able to block Peter''s attacks that easily. His Mace of Destruction was one of the most destructive weapons he had ever seen. No armor ought to be able to block his attacks. Not even the armors manifested through manifestation-type Soultraits!

    However, Mekhaz''s Living Armor was different. Living Armor was a Soultrait that absorbed a considerable amount of force of impact, both physical and elemental. The remaining force would be spread through the Living Armor ¨C distributed evenly across the body once it was released, thereby decreasing the injuries one would sustain.

    Blunt attacks could numb Mekhaz, but killing him with brute force was near-impossible, not as long as his Living Armor was intact!

    That was something Peter Gramm noticed after his first attack impacted on his opponent. Mekhaz continued to move without showing any signs of disturbance. Not even his rhythm was disrupted. It was almost as if he allowed Peter''s mace to impact rather than Peter tricking Mekhaz intonding the first blow.

    Michael noticed the same from outside thebat ring. He was currently moving around thebat ring to slowly advance toward Killian Zeus, who had never stopped using his Soultrait to charge Thaor''s half-charred body. Michael was not too sure how much longer Thaor would be able to endure Killian''s attacks, but it didn''t look good. That was certain.

    Michael moved slowly to prevent attracting any attention. He had long since activated Eagle Eyes to keep a watch on the other human prodigies standing near Killian, and the battlefield. Once the battle between Peter and Mekhaz ended, the situation in the Ulran Arena would change once again.

    Michael had to help Thaor before that. He didn''t want the tension to escte. After all, it was already bad enough that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs of the Ulran Arena never retracted their Artifacts. Their weapons were still sitting tightly in their hands, ready to be used at any moment.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' opinions of the humans they''d encountered didn''t seem to be great. Michael was probably the only reason why they would hold back. Differentiating their opponents once their anger and wrath were unleashed wasn''t that easy, especially not since most humans looked quite simr in the eyes of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    The humans were small and looked frail. It was not as if some of them had three arms or two sets of legs to be able to tell one from the other. Only their skin and hair color seemed a little different.

    Michael hoped that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs could be a little bit more patient, just a little while longer.

    As Michael continued to move around thebat ring, the battle in thebat ring intensified.

    Mekhaz moved nimbly within thebat ring all while shing and thrusting his spear toward Peter Gramm. Peter was forced to retreat as he was unable to keep up with the Warlock Centaur''s nimble movements and fierce blows.

    Peter''s eyes narrowed as he realized that Mekhaz was a heavily armed cavalry unit with great movement speed and tremendous physical strength, not just a mighty beast. He knew that the Warlock Centaurs were powerful, but he didn''t expect to be overpowered in a challenge of brute force. His Soultrait was the essence of destruction, and his physical strength had been increased to the peak. All of his Artifacts enhanced his physical strength and endurance. Even his Soultrait reinforced his constitution on top of his body''s refinement.

    Until now, Peter Gramm had been confident to fight the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in a head-on battle even without his Mace of Destruction. Unfortunately, that didn''t seem to be the case.

    Or his opponent was just too strong ¨C an anomaly amid his ordinary kind that he had the misfortune of sparring. Taking a deep breath, Peter Gramm''s lower arm began to glow. The glow encased the Mace of Destruction''s handle, influencing the manifested weapon considerably.

    The glow dimmed a few secondster, revealing the Mace of Destruction fused with Peter Gramm''s lower arm. His lower arm and Soultrait had fused, resulting in a massive increase in Peter''s strength. Crimson red veins shot up toward Peter''s upper arm, tightening around it with a vice like grip. Peter released a muffled groan in response.

    Mekhaz witnessed all of this, but he didn''t stop the fight. On the contrary, his attacks elerated. He inflicted several cuts all over Peter''s arms and legs, pushing the human Lord backward ¨C until Peter gained full control of the power he gained after fusing with the Mace of Destruction.

    The moment the intensity of the battle increased, Michael figured that he didn''t have much time left. His steps elerated and he appeared amid the group of Killian''s subordinates.

    They were fully focused and didn''t even notice Michael as he had concealed his energy fluctuations as much as possible. Killian and his subordinates paid attention to thebat ring and noticed Michael only after it was already toote.

    Michael appeared next to Killian Zeus seemingly out of nowhere. He took a deep breath and used the Power of Enhancement that had been stored inside the Legendary Ring Artifact to empower Extraction as he unleashed his full power.

    A Dome of Extraction burst forth from Michael''s body. It expanded rapidly, shrouding Killian Zeus and Thaor entirely. Michael stopped expanding the Dome of Extraction once everyone he wished to target had been engulfed. He extracted all the origin energy permeating the air to further empower the Dome of Extraction.

    Following that, Michael focused on the origin energy channeled into the bolts of lightning and lightning currents all around and within Thaor. The energy he extracted ended up inside Michael''s body, where he annexed the altered origin energy. The lightning energy tingled quite a bit, but Michael ignored the sensation. He continued annexing and extracting the origin energy within the lightning bolts, ignoring everything that happened around and within him.

    Thus, Michael didn''t even realize that the tingling sensation of the lightning energy was stimting him. It allowed him to annex the energy faster, which was quite helpful as it allowed him to obliterate the lightning currents spreading through Thaor before he was punched in the face.

    Michael slumped to the ground, his jaw hurting like hell. He looked up, just to see Killian''s furious face. His face was red in anger as he towered in front of him, bolts of lightning manifesting in his palm.

    "Don''t touch my lightning, you fucking peasant!!!" He roared, but Michael was neither shocked nor scared. There was a vibrant smile blossoming on Michael''s face.

    "Since the day I met you, I realized that you were a nutcase. You see¡­I am pretty good at figuring out people. And you¡­you are a piece of shit, but that is not something I have to tell you, right?" Michael responded, still smiling brightly.

    His focus never left the Dome of Extraction that had finished extracting the lightning currents all around Thaor. This allowed the healers to rush over and move Thaor aside while simultaneously casting numerous healing Soultraits to tend to the Berserker''s wounds.

    Killian Zeus frowned deeply when he saw what the healers did, but he turned back to Michael, his face overflowing with wrath.

    The bolts of lightning had shrouded Killian''s entire arm by now. Michael knew that he couldn''t avoid fighting Killian, but that was suicidal. He was ready to use the entire energy he had annexed in thest few seconds to create a humongous cicle before he would run away.

    However, that didn''t seem to be necessary as Michael perceived something from behind him.

    But before he could make sense of it the next moment heavy pressure descended all over the Ulran Arena. The lightning crackling alongside Killian''s arms dispersed, and both the Mace of Destruction and the Living Armor dissipated.

    Killian paled and slumped to the ground. He was having a hard time breathing, all while Michael didn''t sense much.

    The heavy pressure didn''t affect him. It was not directed at him, after all.

    Michael turned around, just to see that someone had appeared at the entrance of the Ulran Arena.

    The moment Michael saw the figure, he frowned deeply. Simultaneously, the Berserkers kneeled onto the ground while the Warlock Centaurs bowed deeply.

    "Chieftain!!" They shouted in unison.

    Meanwhile, Michael''s frown deepened.

    This someone at the entrance of the arena ¨C the Chieftain they were bowing to ¨C was someone Michael was quite familiar with.

    It was the Librarian.

 Chapter 335 Chieftain

    <h4>Chapter 335 Chieftain</h4>

    The tense situation in the Ulran Arena was solved rather easily at the end of the day.

    The Chieftain of the Berserker race appeared in the arena, and intervened before anything bad could happen. He merely released his pressure to restrict the humans and end the battle between Mekhaz and Peter Gramm.

    "You must be the descendant of Zeus," The Chieftain, also known as Librarian by Michael, addressed Killian without a change in his expression.

    The Chieftain was eerily calm, and it was impossible to read his train of thoughts from his face.

    "That''s me," Killian responded while taking deep breaths.

    The Chieftain''s presence still weighed heavily on Killian, restraining his movements drastically.

    "Leave the arena and stay in the hotel until the Battle Exchange starts," The Chieftain ordered in a? calm yetmanding voice.

    Killian wanted to say something but speaking took a whole lot of effort right now. His mind had trouble gathering his thoughts and blood trickled onto the ground from his nose. But he was still faring well whenpared to his subordinates who had copsed onto the ground, bleeding from their ears, nose and eyes.

    "We will leave¡­ Just retract your presence¡­" Killian agreed reluctantly. The anger surging through his mind was like a zing inferno but he forcefully swallowed all of it. Facing the Chieftain was not something Killian was capable of¡­not yet at least.

    The pressure encasing the Ulran Arena dispersed, releasing Killian and his group atst. Killian got up from the ground. He red at Michael since he was unable to unleash his anger toward the Chieftain. But he didn''t do anything. Instead, a smile crept up on his lips.

    "Beg for mercy! Plead that you won''t face me or my people during the Battle Exchange, otherwise, you''ll be shipped back crippled, and in a cage, like the rat you are," He cursed.

    Michael raised an eyebrow, but he didn''t feel like lowering his strength and holding himself back to be on par with Killian Zeus. Michael merely smiled without saying a word.

    Killian and his group got up from the ground and left the Ulran Arena, not daring to look at the Chieftain as they passed by next to him.

    ''Is that how strong I have to be before others stop looking down at me?'' Michael wondered seeing how easily the Berserker Chieftain suppressed some of the descendants of mankind''s strongest families.

    Killian and the others were still young, and they would grow rapidly in the next few years, but they were still descendants of powerful and highly influential families. Suppressing them as easily as the Berserker Chieftain was something Michael could only dream about with his current strength.

    The Chieftain retrieved a small book. He turned a few pages and wrote down something before he nced over to Thaor. As his gaze moved past Michael he halted in his tracks. A trace of surprise gleamed in his eyes.

    "I think you should return as well," He said.

    Michael didn''t react immediately. Was he just imagining it, or was the Chieftain disappointed? Well, Michael was disappointed as well. He couldn''t really deny that. But weren''t fights between the strongest Awakened of the younger generation quite normal? Everyone thought that they were the strongest, only to end up facing someone, who had a natural advantage against you.

    Fights were normal. Unfortunately, the way Killian Zeus handled the situation did not mean it was a normal fight anymore. It was a clear provocation and a warning for all Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    That was what disappointed the Chieftain.

    After understanding the situation, Michael nodded his head. He looked back to take a look at Thaor, whose body had been fully regenerated. Thaor was still a little dizzy and affected by the aftermath of high voltage lightning currents coursing through his body for several minutes, but he would survive and heal without any permanent damage.

    Michael took the stairs that led to the entrance and was just about to leave when Mekhaz''s voice rang through the arena.

    "If I may say something, Chieftain¡­" Mekhaz began, barely waiting until the Chieftain looked over to him before he continued, "I hope you can let Michael train with us."

    Some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs standing near Michael nodded their heads in unison. Thaor spoke up as well, "I agree with Mekhaz."

    The Chieftain was a little surprised. He didn''t expect someone to speak up for Michael.

    In the first ce, he was unsure what Michael was doing in the Ulran Arena with the descendants of the Zeus family. He met Michael in the library two days ago, and their interaction gave him some understanding of Michael''s personality. It was hard to imagine Michael working together with someone like Killian Zeus and his subordinates. Their personalities would sh way too often.

    Nheless, the Chieftain put aside his personal opinion of Michael and turned to Mekhaz. He had yet to gain a full understanding of the situation.

    "Why do you want Michael to stay? I expected you wouldn''t want to have another human near you after this¡­encounter," The Chieftain said, intentionally stressing the words ''human'' and ''encounter''.

    "Michael is a good guy. We met him earlier, and he earned my respect," Mekhaz started, only for Thaor to interrupt, "I fought Michael, and I respect him as well. He is not like this lightning freak."

    Mekhaz frowned at Thaor for interrupting him, but he nodded toward the Chieftain before he continued.

    "Most of us have Soultraits, which are closely tied to physical boosts, power enhancement, aura creation, and armament manifestation. We don''t have anyone with mental attacks, nor many Awakened with Elemental-type Soultraits. Michael, on the other hand, has everything. We need him, otherwise, we will have a hard time finding our problems, adjusting to our weaknesses, and fixing our problems before the Battle Exchange starts."

    "Fighting Peter Gramm wasn''t too much of a problem. Defeating him would be a little bit annoying, but it''s not impossible. As long as I use my secret technique, I could defeat him. However, this Killian Zeus and his bolts of lightning are different. My Living Armor can weaken them, but the bolts of lightning can easily pierce through my armor, rendering most of our defenses useless. His Soultraits andbat style is¡­different than ours."

    "And this young human can help you fix your problems?" The Chieftain asked, only for Michael to add another question aimed at Mekhaz.

    "How do you know that I have a Soultrait that affects your mind?"

    He didn''t really try to hide Spirit Whip, but Michael couldn''t recall having used Spirit Whip on Thaor or anyone else in the Ulran Arena.

    Mekhaz looked at him, just to smile without saying a single word to exin himself. Michael pressed his lips together, trying to suppress a sigh.

    ''Did I just expose myself, or did he already know?''

    Meanwhile, Thaor nodded grimly at the Chieftain''s questions. Even the other Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs who had witnessed Michael''s battle against Thaor nodded in agreement.

    If anyone could help them learn more about long-range Soultraits and Elemental Soultraits, it was Michael. He might not be a Tier-3 Lord, but he had enough Soultraits to switch between variousbat styles. It was hard to find someone like Michael, let alone convince him to help out. After all, many races considered each other rivals even if they were in the same Alliance. Some sort ofpetition existed everywhere.

    Fortunately enough, Michael didn''t really care about mundane things such aspetition between allies. Having a rival and friendlypetition was nice, but he wouldn''t go as far as hating the others forpeting with one another.

    Seeing how everyone agreed to train with Michael, the Chieftain couldn''t hide his surprise. He had researched Michael a little before but hadn''t been interested enough to start a thorough investigation. Michael was just a young Awakened of the human race, and not worth more of his attention. Even the goods in Michael''s possession hadn''t been enough to pique the Chieftain''s interest. He was busy enough with his work in the library, and the preparations for the Battle Exchange.

    However, now that he saw dozens of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs show their respect toward Michael his opinion changed considerably. It was not difficult for human Fletchlings to attain the status of a Warrior. But the same couldn''t be said about earning the respect of a Champion, a former Champion, and dozens of Warriors. That was a lot different.

    The Chieftain grew more curious and he made a mental note to request Michael''s data from the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Michael noticed the subtle change in the Chieftain''s expression and quickly interfered.

    "I would like to learn more about the physical traits and instinctive-based fighting styles of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It should help me a lot for the Battle Exchange, and in future encounters against races with simr traits ¨C whether it is during the g War, or in the Origin Expanse. By helping Mekhaz and Thaor I will gain a lot as well. It''s a fair exchange."

    "You will encounter all kinds of enemies in the g War. Tekur is a neutral race that can awaken all kinds of Soultraits. Once their War Rune manifests and their Soultrait is awakened, they focus their whole attention on building a foundation around their Soultraits. But that is obvious since that makes them even stronger and more dangerous. After all, their techniques are on a different level than ours. The Interdimensional g War is merely a yground for the youngest generation to gain somebat experience. They won''t even send their prodigies since the g War is of no interest to them," The Chieftain exined, providing Michael with some pieces of information he didn''t know beforehand.

    Looking at the Berseker, whom he had first gotten to know in the library, Michael felt that the librarian''s attitude had changed once again. From being overly talkative in the library to trying to contain his anger, only to revert back to his talkative self, he kept seeing varying types of behavior. Nheless, something was different.

    Was it curiosity that Michael sensed? He was not too sure.

    "In that case, do whatever you want. Just don''t stir any trouble. I don''t want more issues before the Battle Exchange starts," The Chieftain remarked before he left without saying another word.

    He disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared. Michael couldn''t even thank the Chieftain for separating Killian and his group from the rest and not letting the dispute escte.

    After the Chieftain left, Michael and the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs started to train.

    The following five days passed in the blink of an eye. Michael barely got any sleep. He was either in the Ulran Arena to train, or he rested and tried toprehend thenguage he had learned by resting a few minutes in the Origin Expanse. Then he practiced his body refinement technique, improved his mastery of the energy absorption technique, and kept progressing in his mind refinement degree.

    Sparring with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs helped him a lot to improve rapidly. Not only did he gain a better understanding of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs but he also understood their racial traits, their strong points, and weaknesses.

    Last but not least, Michael gained the most by being under heavy pressure fighting the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The pressure allowed him to breakthrough and increase his proficiency with his Soultraits.

    Within five days, Michael grew a lot stronger.

    He felt that he was slowly improving himself and getting ready for the Battle Exchange.

    No, he was definitely ready for the Battle Exchange!

    [A/N: It''s me, the author. I hope you''ve been enjoying reading Supreme Lord as much as I enjoy writing the story. It has been a rough journey for me, but I hope I could deliver an enjoyable story until now. First of all, I wanted to ask if the story is progressing nicely, or if there are major ws that have to be fixed ASAP. If you found something that bothered you excessively don''t hesitate. Write it down in thements and inform me. I can only improve the story with your help ;D]

 Chapter 336 Start

    <h4>Chapter 336 Start</h4>

    Atst, the day of the Battle Exchange''s start arrived.

    The strongest Awakened of the Tritan Alliance''s youngest generation would face each other in various disciplines for the next 30 days. The annual event was held to allow the Tritan Alliance to grow closer and learn more about each other. At the end of the Battle Exchange, the strongest members of the Tritan Alliance would be picked to spend two months of time training together to participate in the Interdimensional g War together.

    The Tekur race''s influence in the Lumina Ster System wasn''t that high yet. However, their influence expanded slowly. It was about time to close the Lesser Dimension Gate.

    Everyone participating in the Battle Exchange knew about the importance of the event, but not everyone joined the Battle Exchange with the same goal in mind. Some were more interested in establishing a strongwork with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs while others were more interested in crushing their allies'' confidence.

    They wanted to establish dominance and instill a bit of dread in the hearts of the youngest generation of Awakened to assert their race''s superiority over others.

    Michael thought that something like this was stupid, but he saw it happen quite often in thest few days. In the five days he spent training in the Ulran Arena, Michael saw eight groups of humans barge into the Arena with the intention to humiliate the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Of course, there were also pleasant encounters with other human Awakened, but they could be counted on his fingers. It was quite disappointing. Michael could clearly see how the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs grew more distrustful of the human Awakened after every unpleasant encounter. If not for Michael training with them, pointing out their weaknesses, and giving his utmost to guide them, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs might have ended up considering every human Awakened as distrustful, and honorless.

    Even though most encounters with human groups were rather unpleasant, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs learned a lot fighting them. The war-loving races were quick learners, allowing them to defeat some of the most annoying brats from the human race. Other than that, Michael asked Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb toe over to train as well.

    They were busy with their own stuff, but they came over one day to spar with Michael, the Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs.

    On the day of the Battle Exchange, Michael met up with the three descendants to then walk towards the underground arena. The underground arena had been closed until today for the authorities to prepare everything needed for the Battle Exchange.

    It was a humongous underground Colosseum that could easily fit tens of thousands of spectators. A total of 25bat rings were installed in the center of the arena, ready for the 4500 participants of the Battle Exchange to be used.

    Despite the small number ofbat rings, Michael was quite pleasantly surprised. The underground Colosseum was humongous. It looked majestic, and almost like it had been carved out of a single piece of stone. There was not a single gap that indicated how many bricks had been used to construct the humongous structure. This piqued Michael''s curiosity. However, even more so did the dense origin energy permeating every inch of the underground Colosseum.

    No other arena in Piloq released as much origin energy as the underground Colosseum. It was the perfect ce to train tirelessly for tens of hours, and to fight without the need to hold back.

    Once Michael and the others arrived in the Colosseum, they searched for a ce to sit down. They arrived a bit early, but there were already hundreds of participants upying the first two rows. Some were chatting lightly with each other, while other groups were visibly worried about the Battle Exchange and their performance.

    Thaor, Mekhaz and a few other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who Michael got to know in the hardcore training of thest few days, were already seated as well. They motioned to Michael toe over. There was enough space behind Mekhaz and Thaor for others to sit, so they did just that.

    "Urgh¡­" Kaleb cursed the moment he sat down. He looked ahead, only to realize that his sight of thebat rings was blocked by a massive red wall of muscles.

    "How am I supposed to see anything?" Kaleb asked quietly, looking over to Michael who began to grin.

    "Thaor, how about switching seats with us? We can hardly see anything but your back," Michael asked loud enough for Thaor to hear. He turned around and saw the small group of four little humans fully engulfed in the shadow of his back.

    He didn''t stand up. Instead, he scoffed and motioned to the Berserker seated in the first row. Thaor said something to the Berserker, who turned around. An expression of displeasure appeared on the Berserker''s face but he got up nheless. Thaor turned back and pointed at the empty seat in the first row.

    "You guys won''t see much if you don''t sit in the first row. Jugh is more than willing to switch ces with you and your friends," Thaor said, ignoring the growling Berserker in front of him.

    Michael nodded and got up. He walked over to the first row and sat down. Kaleb and the others followed him and sat down as well.

    "This will be interesting," Zeke mumbled in a low voice, making his friends raise an eyebrow.

    "I don''t think anyone except Michael spent enough time with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to get on friendly terms with them. I don''t think any Berserker or Warlock Centaur would be willing to switch ces with the Awakened who annoyed and humiliated them before," Zeke exined when he noticed that his friends'' attention didn''t move back to the center of the arena.

    "You think fights will break out even before the Battle Exchange starts? Because of seats?" Michael asked, which Zeke reaffirmed with a simple nod.

    He pointed to their right side where three Berserkers and two Warlock Centaurs were in a heated discussion with a group of humans, who were forced to sit behind the huge Awakened ¨C where they couldn''t see anything but broad backs covered in well-trained muscles.

    The Berserkers'' eyes were already bloodshot, and the Warlock Centaurs looked like they were about to grasp the leader of the human group to squash it at once. Meanwhile, the group of humans was totally unbothered by that. They continued to shout at the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in front of them, voicing outints, insults, and worse.

    "They''re clearly trying to provoke the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," Kaleb cursed silently, and the others agreed.

    Even Thaor and Mekhaz took note of the issue, a frown forming on their faces.

    "They hope that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would attack. Once one party attacks another, Party A will be held ountable for anything that happens. First of all, it is forbidden to fight in the spectator area of the Underground Colosseum. Second, the Battle Exchange explicitly forbids fights in public areas. No innocent citizens shall be wounded. Third, Party B is allowed to fight back with full power ¨C which means that they won''t be punished even if they kill Party A," Mekhaz exined with a deep sigh.

    "Usually this rule applies to Berserkers because they''re considered short-tempered and prone to violence. But¡­it never happened that human Awakened provoked Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs that openly. This is not like it wasst year," Thaor added, openly acknowledging his race''s ws.

    Fortunately, a group of humans, Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs appeared in the center of the arena before unpleasantries in the spectator area turned into serious issues.

    "Wee to the Underground Colosseum. My name is Palika Mervenham, and I''m the Berserkers'' Chieftain, " A familiar voice resounded in the Colosseum, silencing everyone with two simple sentences.

    "Next to me is Silvana Zentur, the War Priestess of the Warlock Centaur race, and Franklin Wolfheart, the Dean of the Octagon Council of the Big Five Universities, and the Great Three Academies," Palika Mervenham introduced the War Priestess standing next to him, and the Octagon Council''s dean, who stood in front of the small group of humans.

    Eight humans, probably each representing one of the Great Academies and Big Universities, stood behind the dean. On the other hand, there was also Alice Zenovia and Oliver Zeus standing a bit farther from the group. They weren''t introduced nor was any attention paid to them.

    ''Is that what happens when you''re new to the Battle Exchange?'' Michael wondered, not sure whether he should like what he saw or not. The whole situation was a lot moreplicated than he initially thought.

    He found out recently that the Saphirke Military Academy was rather new to the Battle Exchange. They had yet to earn some reputation during the Battle Exchange, and the Interdimensional g War, which was probably why the Berserker Chieftain didn''t even introduce them to everyone.

    The Saphirke Military Academy was not yet acknowledged by the Tritan Alliance. Fortunately, that would change soon enough.

    "I am not the type of person who likes talking a lot. Rather than talking too much, I love to let my actions speak up for me. That''s why I won''t say much before we get started. Several messages should have been forwarded to everyone at this point. The Battle Exchange''s rules have been noted down neatly. Read through them to understand what you''re allowed to do, and what''s forbidden. Breaking the rules will result in a severe punishment," Palika said, contradicting himself immediately.

    Michael rolled his eyes when he heard that the Chieftain was not talkative. He clearly recalled how much the Chieftain spoke when they first met in the library.

    "The Battle Exchange can be summarized rather simply. There are a total of five disciplines that will be tested in the next 30 days. Each discipline has a total of 200 open slots with special rewards such as Summoning Scrolls, Unique Artifacts, and the participation token for the Interdimensional g War. That means the top 200 of the respective disciplines will participate in the Interdimensional g War to represent the Tritan Alliance," The Chieftain exined with a smile on his face.

    As Palika took a deep breath, the War Priestess continued to talk about the Battle Exchange.

    "It is possible to participate in all disciplines. Of course, that also means you can procure a total of five g War Tokens. Each g War Token represents one participant in the g War. Therefore, if you procure five Tokens, you can keep one for yourself and distribute the rest however you''d like to distribute them. You can also trade the Tokens or simply sell them," The War Priestess exined, only for her expression to turn ice-cold as she added,

    "But you can also lose your Tokens. Everyone with more than one g War Token can be challenged indiscriminately as long as the other party offers something of simr value in exchange."

    As the War Priestess'' words resounded through the arena, the Dean of the Octagon Council murmured quietly.

    "Or you just steal the Tokens of other people."

    As the dean''s voice rang through the Colosseum, everyone and everything turned eerily silent for a few seconds.

    Then some human Awakened began to smile brightly, while the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs looked at the dean in disgust. As honorable Warriors, thievery was one of the worst sins they could imagine.

    Yet, the Chieftain and the War Priestess didn''t say anything about the Dean''s words. On the contrary, they seemed to agree.

    This was enough reason for Michael to open the holographic screen of the crystal watch where a few notifications popped up.

    He opened the Battle Exchange Rules Guide the moment he found the message and started to read through it.

    A few minutester, his expression was distorted and he began to curse.

    "The Battle Exchange will be a fucking mess¡­"

 Chapter 337 Ominous Rules

    <h4>Chapter 337 Ominous Rules</h4>

    The speech of the representative took much longer than anyone expected. Everyone wanted to say something, resulting in a drastic loss of interest from the spectator area.

    Instead of focusing on the representatives speaking about the Battle Exchange, how important it is for the Tritan Alliance to remove the threat of the Tekur race, and that teamwork was essential, most humans ended up opening their crystal watch''s screen to read through the Battle Exchange Rules Guide.

    After they heard what the dean said about stealing the g War Tokens, everyone was interested to know if it was truly allowed to steal the Tokens, or if the dean blurted out thoughts aloud without thinking.

    Only the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs kept paying attention to their leaders'' speeches.

    Michael was quite surprised about the guide''s structure. It wasprehensive and quite easy to understand. The Chieftain did a great job summarizing everything without leaving out any important piece of information.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t really make it better. The rules of the Battle Exchange were clear ¨C or was it better to say that theck of rules was clear? Michael was baffled when he saw the short list of rules for the Battle Exchange.

    They could be summarized quite easily as well.

    1¨C No fighting in public, and no murder.

    2¨Cidents can happen, but you have to call a healer the moment you injure someone.

    3¨CFighting in the other arenas is allowed, and will be counted into your ranking as long as a neutral witness was present. Nheless, it is preferred that you either fight in the Underground Colosseum or record the battle if no trusted neutral witness is present.

    4¨CIf you lose your g War Token you can only me yourself for being too weak to keep it. How did you even make it into the top 200 if you cannot even protect a Token?

    5¨C All g War Tokens in your possession have to be affixed to your clothes.

    6¨C Hiding in the Origin Expanse, or hotel room is not allowed.

    7¨C There are a total of 200 permanent g War Tokens for Support and Healing-type Soultraits. You don''t want to die during the g War, and be strong enough to face the Tekur head-on? If that''s the case, leave the Awakened with Support and Healing-type Soultraits alone!

    The rules didn''t encourage stealing, but they stated indirectly that thievery was allowed. It was¡­interesting. Until now, Michael had been curious as to why the Battle Exchange wouldst an entire month. But now everything made sense.

    In the next five days, the five disciplines of the Battle Exchange would be held. The 1000 g War Tokens would be distributed, leaving 25 days to challenge Token holders, or to steal them.

    The Token holders would have to focus on protecting their tokens until the end of the month while the other participants would have to give their utmost to get hold of a token.

    Once the Battle Exchange ended after 30 days, only the Token holders ¨C the participants of the g War ¨C would remain in Piloq. The remaining participants would be sent back to their academies and universities. In the following two months, a hellish training would be initiated ¨C supported by a vast amount of resources provided by thebined efforts of the Tritan Alliance.

    The ranking of your g War Token would determine the amount of resources allocated to the respective Awakened, meaning that it was essential to have a Token with a lower number.

    Therefore, thepetition between Token Holders would be fierce as well. Especially since the difference in allocated resources between a single rank was likely to be ginormous. After all, the Tritan Alliance wished to close the Lesser Dimension Gate as soon as possible ¨C preferably during this year''s g War.

    The amount of resources invested in this year''s Battle Exchange was several times higher than before. This was also mentioned in the guide ¨C probably a means to fuel every participant with more motivation and make them strive for a better ranking.

    The guide also mentioned that the rewards handed out to the top 200 of every discipline would be worth fighting for. Michael noticed the particr way some sentences were left ambiguous while others were written with great detail, giving precise information about the gains one could make by attaining a high ranking at the end of the Battle Exchange.

    It was written in a way that made everyone ¨C including Michael ¨C immensely interested in reaching the top 200 in all disciplines.

    However, even then, Michael wouldn''t participate in all disciplines. That would not only be extremely stressful, but it was also nonsensical because Michael was not strong enough to enter the top 200 in certain disciplines.

    He might have many Soultraits, but he was still a Tier-2 Lord. Trying to reach the Top 200 in the Solo Combat discipline meant that he would have to be among the top 200 among 4500 participants ¨C with more than 1000 being Tier-3 Lords with Inheritance techniques.

    Michael didn''t want to use up his strength early in the Battle Exchange, not if the Battle Exchange allowed him to fight strategically and take someone else''s g War Token in the next four weeks. He had to fight strategically to make most use of the Battle Exchange, and its ''unique'' rules.

    "Solo Combat, Duo Combat, Team Combat, Survival of the Fittest, and Support Assessment. All of that seems quite important for the g War," Kaleb mumbled when he reached the section rted to the five disciplines of the Battle Exchange.

    "They want the cream of the crop in terms of Individualbat prowess, teamwork, strategic warfare, survivalists, and supporters. That makes sense," Michael replied with a shrug.

    He figured that his individualbat prowess was still not up to the mark. His strength increased considerably, but there were many young prodigies at the Peak of the 3rd Tier with Inheritance techniques and powerful Soultraits. Killian and his group of annoying brats were just one of more than a dozen groups.

    The Sun and 12 Stars of the 4th year in all Academies and Universities were Mid Tier-3 Awakened at the very least. Theirbat prowess was likely to be above their rank as well. And this excluded the powerful Warriors of the Berserker race and Warlock Centaur race. Thus, Michael wouldn''t be able to deal with them. He made a mental note to avoid the Solo Combat discipline.

    The Duo Combat discipline was simr in that regard. Michael fought alongside Kaleb a little, but they were both only 1st year students, who had little to no teamwork experience. The opposite was the case for many 3rd and 4th year students. Overpowering 4th year students with their powerful Soultraits may be possible, but it was unlikely to produce a pleasant result.

    Last but not least, Michael scratched out the Support Assessment as well. He had Eagle Eyes, which could be used to support himself, but it was not exactly a Soultrait that supported others.

    Thus, Michael was only left with three options. Either, he created a team with others for the Team Combat discipline, or he tried his best in the Survival of the Fittest discipline.

    "The Duo and Team discipline reward only a single Token. That means only one in the Duo ranking will receive a Token while the other Awakened has to obtain their Token through other means," Zeke noticed.

    "Why would you even participate in the Team discipline then? A team of five is supposed to give the g War token to a single person? What nonsense is that?" Kaleb grumbled, but both Zeke and Michael shook their heads simultaneously.

    "It''s much easier to enter the top 200 in the Team Discipline. The Battle Exchange has 4500 members, which can create at most 900 teams of 5 members. There will probably be less teams because not everyone will have enough time to spare for the Team Discipline. Four victories are probably enough to enter the top 200, which rewards one Token, and a considerable amount of resources to train for the next few weeks," Zeke said, to which Michael added,

    "The resources obtained in the Team Discipline can be used to grow stronger rapidly, which will then allow you to challenge Token Holders to obtain your own Token. That''s also why I''ll probably focus on the Team Discipline. If my team can reach a high rank in the Team Discipline, we''ll obtain more resources which I can then use to train in the Origin Expanse."

    Lincoln and Zeke looked over to Michael when they heard ''my team''. However, Kaleb was the first to say something.

    "Do you already have a team? Did you just include me and the others in your team on a whim, or did you already n something?" He asked but Zeke interrupted him.

    "I will probably focus on the Duo Discipline with Lincoln, and the Support Assessment. Lincoln will obtain the Token obtained from Duo Combat, and I will definitely enter the top 100 in the Support Assessment. We won''t participate in the Team Combat Discipline."

    Michael fully agreed with Zeke''s reasoning. Zeke''s Eye of Illusion was an exceptionally powerful Soultrait. If used properly mid-battle, it would most definitely change the tide of the battle. Just like Zeke said, he would definitely enter the top 200 ranking in the Support Assessment.

    Lincoln and Zeke were childhood friends. They knew each other better than anyone else. Theirbat experience as a pair was extraordinary because of their years of experience fighting and training side-by-side. Thus, Michael was also confident in the duo''s chances to enter the top 200 in the Duo Combat discipline.

    But that was something Michael had already taken into consideration.

    "Do you have someone else to team up with?" Michael asked Kaleb with a small grin on his face.

    Kaleb just shook his head, which was enough for Michael to turn around to Thaor and Mekhaz.

    "How about you guys? Ready to team up with us?"

 Chapter 338 Siblings

    <h4>Chapter 338 Siblings</h4>

    Five days training had been more than enough for Michael to determine Mekhaz and Thaor''sbat prowess, their weaknesses and their most exceptional advantages.

    Combining the two frontline fighters, who had exceptional endurance and useful physical Soultraits, with Kaleb''s Frozen Nova, and Michael''s great versatility, they would have good chances of overpowering other teams. All they missed was one more member ¨C preferably an Awakened with a Support-type Soultrait, or maybe even a healer.

    Kaleb was great at controlling the surroundings with his Soultrait, and he could inflict a considerable amount of damage as well. Michael, on the other hand, was more of an assassin, a long range fighter and everything else except a Supporter and a Tank. But thetter could be solved by Thaor and Mekhaz rather easily.

    "Sounds good to me. I doubt anyone else would be willing to join their forces with other humans at this point. That makes it easier for us to take advantage of the other teams'' weaknesses," Mekhaz agreed without feeling the need to think about the proposal for a long time.

    Thaor also nodded his head. He didn''t know Kaleb, but Michael had earned his respect. He didn''t think that Michael would be around bad people so he decided to give Kaleb a chance.

    "It should be interesting. I''m in," He said.

    Michael turned to Kaleb, who had yet to officially agree to join. Seeing the glimmer in Kaleb''s eyes, Michael was certain that his friend would join the Team Combat discipline.

    "Of course, I''ll join. I don''t want to reveal my full strength during the Solo Combat, or Duo Combat discipline. My trump cards should stay hidden as long as possible," Kaleb said, shing a sly smile at his team members.

    At this point, Michael wasn''t sure how strong Kaleb had grown. Kaleb''s War Rune had a higher refinement degree, but it wasn''t that much higher. However, his 7-Star Soultrait had grown much stronger, and Kaleb focused on practicing his Inheritance technique, refining his body, mind and Soul to adjust his entire being to the Frozen Nova.

    Michael was certain that Kaleb could deal with an ordinary Tier-3 Awakened if he didn''t hold back. That was enough to determine that he was strong enough to team up for the Team discipline.

    "You''ll probably want an Awakened with a Support Soultrait, right? We won''t be strong enough to deal with enemies like the lightning freak, so a Support Soultrait should be perfect to fill in the gap," Thaor remarked suddenly. He had already started nning who to pick next in order to set-up their team perfectly.

    "I know some Lords with Support Soultraits, but other teams should have picked them already. Or they might not bother about thebat disciplines and apply only for the Support Assessment discipline," Kaleb pointed out after agreeing with Thaor''s assessment.

    "If everyone agrees that we''re missing an Awakened with a Support Soultrait, I can get someone. She won''t be willing to participate in the Support Assessment because she considers herself a pure-blooded warrior and not a backliner, but¡­she is a little bit difficult to deal with. Her personality is messed up," Thaor revealed, his expression a little bit sour.

    It was almost as if he didn''t want to invite the person he had just mentioned, yet he proposed to invite her. Michael was quite amused at this sight.

    "If her Soultrait is as powerful as her personality is messed up, we will be fine," Kaleb responded, which resulted in a light chuckle from Mekhaz.

    "I second that," Mekhaz added with a thumbs up, while Michael nodded his head as well.

    Thaor sighed heavily when everyone agreed to his proposal. He actually didn''t want to invite that nutcase, but he blurted out his thoughts when he recalled her. That crazy freak''s Soultrait was just too useful for them, and the exact thing their team was missing after all.

    "Alright¡­I will talk to her¡­" He grumbled before disappearing for the next 30 minutes.

    After half an hour, Thaor returned with another Berserker beside him. The Berserker looked just like Thaor, with the sole difference being their gender. The neer was a woman with a fierce expression that prevented anyone ¨C even most other Berserkers ¨C to approach her.

    "That''s my sister Lokai. She has a mutated Soultrait that e¨C...." Thaor began to introduce his sister to the team, only to be interrupted by a heavy smack to the head.

    Lokai hit Thaor on the back of the head ¨C hard enough to make him lose bnce. Thaor''s head nearly hit the bench in front of him.

    "Don''t reveal my Soultrait to strangers, little Thaor. I will decide whether I join this team or not after seeing how strong these tiny human Lords are! After that, I might tell them about my Soultrait," Lokai chided, ignoring her little brother after she stared smugly at the others.

    "That shouldn''t be too difficult. How about we leave the Colosseum and spar in the Ulran Arena? Since we''re participating in the Team discipline we should be focusing on our teamwork as long as we can," Michael agreed with what Lokai said.

    He turned to Mekhaz, a question forming in his mind, "Will you guys participate in the Solo or Duo Combat discipline?"

    "We''re brave Warriors. Of course, we''re participating in allbat-rted disciplines!" Lokai bellowed, visibly offended at Michael''s question even though he had not even directed his question solely at her.

    Michael turned to the female Berserker and raised an eyebrow, "Are you stronger than Thaor? If yes, by how much?"

    Mekhaz had yet to answer Michael''s question, but he didn''t know what to answer, in the first ce. He wanted to participate in the other disciplines but theycked time, and they would be extremely exhausted if they were to participate in allpetitions.

    Afterpeting in the Solo Combat discipline and fighting more than a dozen of fights, they would have to participate in the Duo Combat discipline the day after the Solo discipline. The day after the Duobat discipline would be the Team discipline. There wouldn''t be any time to rest.

    This year''s Battle Exchange was obviously different than usual. It was not only a battle of raw power. The Awakened would have to think strategically to ensure that they wouldn''t be exhausted when it was crucial to be in their prime, along with knowing when to attack and when to retreat to recuperate.

    "Stronger than Thaor? I was not blessed by the War God with such an exceptional Soultrait, forget about his Unique Constitution. He may be younger than me, but I''m not stronger than this little brat. Though, I am not weaker either!" Lokai answered, straightening her back proudly as she looked down on Michael, whose expression didn''t change in the slightest.

    "In that case, you should focus on the Team discipline rather than wasting your time and energy in the Solo and Duo disciplines," Michael said before pointing at Thaor, "I don''t want to sound like a dickhead, but he won''t make it into the top 200 in the Solo discipline and neither will you."

    Thaor was the first to react. His fingers curled into fists and he was just about to say something when he saw the seriousness in Michael''s eyes. He saw Mekhaz from the corner of his eyes as well. The Warlock Centaur nodded his head subconsciously, fully agreeing with Michael''s conclusion.

    "There are at least a dozen Peak Tier-3 Lords with powerful Soultraits and exceptional Inheritance techniques in the 4th grade of the Saphirke Military Academy. If it''s like that in every academy and university, you''ll have more than 100 Peak Tier-3 Lords with powerful Soultraits to face ¨C and that doesn''t even include the powerhouses of the Berserker race and Warlock Centaur race. I think Thaor is roughly my age, and you must be a year, or at most two years older than your brother. There are still older participant who''re most definitely at the Peak of the 3rd Tier. They will snatch the top 200 spots of the Solo discipline easily," Michael exined calmly.

    He ignored Lokai''s fierce expression and looked toward Thaor, "The Duopetition might be interesting, but you will be dead-tired if youpete against everyone else. By the time the Duo discipline ends the Team discipline will start. Do you think you can handlepeting in the Team discipline with your full strength, without holding your team back due to your exhaustion?"

    Michael could say a lot more, but he didn''t think that it was necessary. His arguments were convincing enough to silence Thaor. Meanwhile, Mekhaz agreed wholeheartedly.

    "And how do you know that Thaor is not strong enough to deal with them?" Lokai asked, taking a step closer to Michael to intimidate him with her height and immense pressure.

    Michael, however, looked up to the female Berserker with a seemingly unbothered expression, "I think that convincing you with words is useless. How about I show you with actions?"

    Lokai raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything at first.

    "Let''s spar in the Ulran Arena. If you''re not satisfied with our team, you won''t have to join us. However, if you join us, you should reconsider participating in the other disciplines," Michael proposed, not letting the smile on his face waver.

    Lokai was still silent. However, she turned to the door of the Underground Colosseum and motioned Michael and the others to follow.

    Michael got up and followed without saying a word. Meanwhile, Kaleb looked at Thaor and Mekhaz with a wry smile. Mekhaz returned a faint smile, just to ask the question that shed through his and Thaor''s minds.

    "Is Michael always like that?"

    "Like what?" Kaleb asked.

    This time it was Thaor, who asked, "Is he always trying to pick fights with the most troublesome people?"

    Kaleb chuckled hearing the question. He recalled the times Michael had picked a fight with him, and the Barbaric Couple. It hadn''t been once. In fact, Michael kept fighting with them until they grew tired of it.

    "Yeah¡­that''s normal."

 Chapter 339 Like Sister Like Brother

    <h4>Chapter 339 Like Sister Like Brother</h4>

    Michael didn''t want to waste too much time convincing Lokai to team up with them. Instead, he wanted to show her how strong he was, and what he was capable of. That should be enough to gain her respect as a fellow Warrior.

    It didn''t take long before they reached the empty Ulran Arena. Since everyone was still in the Underground Colosseum, Michael and the others had enough space to train without getting disturbed.

    Lokai nced over to Michael and scoffed at his charade. He was obviously trying to act calm in front of her to seem more confident than he was. It was as clear as day. There was only one thing that confused Lokai.

    Why would her brother ask her to join the Team Combat discipline if the little humans were weak and useless?

    ''No¡­in the first ce¡­why is Thaor so calm andposed even though this little human brat said that he won''t make it into the top 200 in the Solo Combat discipline? Thaor wouldn''t allow someone weaker than him to say that. He would try to beat someone stronger than him for calling him weak as well¡­ That doesn''t make any sense¡­''

    While she pondered over that, Michael manifested the Wyverntooth Spear and the Spirit Armor Set as he jumped into thebat ring before he walked around calmly.

    His crimson ring glimmered lightly, releasing bits of its dragon might. It was strong enough to be perceived subtly, but too shallow to affect Lokai. She entered thebat ring as well and summoned a pair of metal gauntlets and a ne that had been made out of a skull and several bones. It looked fierce, but Michael spent only a few seconds observing the ne.

    His attention moved back to Lokai as Mekhaz''s voice rang through the arena.

    "Start the battle at mymands," He shouted, starting the countdown.

    "Three, two, one¡­fight!"

    The moment Mekhaz said ''fight'', Lokai charged forward. She elerated rapidly and looked like a train at full speed as she appeared in front of Michael. In the blink of an eye, her right arm pulled back to gain maximum velocity and she punched forward.

    Her presence, speed and the force behind her punch increased all of a sudden as a crimson glimmer manifested in her eyes. She had activated her Soultrait, Burning Fury, to enhance her strength, agility and perception considerably. The next moment, her fist crashed down, punching in Michael''s direction.

    However, Michael had long since moved from his earlier position. He took a long stride forward the moment Lokai appeared in front of him. With his Eagle Eyes fully unleashed and further amplified with severalyers of Enhancement, Michael pinpointed Lokai''s blind spot immediately. He moved the moment he detected that Lokai was about to strike, and appeared to her right side by disappearing beneath her arm.

    Under normal circumstances it was advantageous to be big and physically strong. However, Michael took advantage of the difference in their size by moving below her arm as Lokai punched out. A strong gust sshed against the back of his head as Lokai''s punch cut through the air, but that was all he felt from her attack.

    In the next moment, Michael revealed his Legendary Ring''s dragon might. He released his dragon might at full power, while simultaneously manifesting dozens of cicles around them.

    But Michael was not yet done. He applied sixyers of Enhancement to Reinforced Sword Qi and conjured six Qi Swords that shot toward Lokai from all directions alongside the cicles. Following that, Michael used Spirit Whip to conjure three Spirit Whips that were intertwined with each other to maximize the damage he could deal. The three-fold Spirit Whipshed out just as Lokai was about to unleash her bone ne''s enchantments.

    She wanted to protect herself, snatch Michael, and throw him to the side to win the battle immediately in a single move. Sadly, she ended up losing control of her Soultrait and the origin energy surging through her body as something heavy smashed onto her head, no¡­inside her head.

    The Spirit Whip bypassed Lokai''s mental defense easily, smashing heavily onto her mind, stunning the female Berserker for a second. And that was all it took for the cicles and enhanced Qi Swords to impact.

    The cicles shattered, releasing freezing mist all over the Berserker''s skin while the Qi Swords cut deep into her flesh. Lokai''s skin grew colder and it was only a matter of time before her tough skin would freeze and be brittle. But before that would happen, Lokai was bound to lose the battle with Michael.

    She didn''t even know where he had disappeared at this point, and could only feel something cold and extremely sharp pressed against her neck.

    It took Lokai a moment to realize that Michael was standing on her shoulder. No, he was squatting on her shoulder, pressing the Wyverntooth Spear against her neck all while another batch of six Qi Swords revolved around her neck, ready to cut her from all directions.

    "Why does everyone underestimate my strength when I fight them for the first time? Do I look that weak?" Michael asked quietly.

    However, his voice was such a big contrast to the silence that reigned through the entire arena that everyone heard him.

    Michael''s silentint caused Mekhaz to look at Thaor, who kicked the ground. Meanwhile, Kaleb stared at his friend in shock.

    "Since when did you obtain an ic¨C...Did you always have an Ice-type Soultrait?" Kaleb asked in a voice that was just loud enough for Michael to hear.

    Michael retracted the freezing mist in thebat ring before removing the Qi Swords as well. He turned to Kaleb and smiled lightly.

    "I got cicle in the Lord Rift. It''s not a powerful Soultrait but the cicles have a pretty good freezing property, and they''re quite cheap to create and easy to control," Michael said with a shrug.

    He didn''t intend to hide the truth. However, Kaleb continued to frown.

    "But¡­you obtained the silver sword Soultrait in the Lord Rift as well¡­" Kaleb added.

    "Nope. I obtained the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait as a reward for my contribution in the Lord Rift¡­even though I would have preferred not obtaining it at all¡­" Michael said, his expression suddenly filled with sorrow and a tinge of anger.

    It was evident that Kaleb had many questions, but Michael didn''t intend to answer all of them right now. Exining everything would not only waste several hours, but he would have to expose Extraction''s powers. That was not something Michael wanted to do in a public ce, let alone with strangers around.

    He jumped down from Lokai''s shoulder and looked at the female Berserker, who had trouble regaining her senses for a while. She was too shocked to move or say anything.

    "I¡­just lost, didn''t I?" That was the first thing she said after several minutes of silence.

    "Yup. Either you''re weaker than your brother, or you underestimated me a lot more than any Warrior should underestimate their enemies no matter how weak they may be," Michael said bluntly, not even trying to sound nice.

    Lokai grit her teeth when she heard what Michael said, but she knew that it was the truth. She had underestimated Michael even though there hadn''t been a reason to do so. He was only a Tier-2 Lord, but both Thaor and Mekhaz respected him. That should have been more than enough reason to consider Micahel a powerful opponent ¨C not someone one should underestimate easily.

    "You''ve grown a lot stronger in thest few days, Michael. Seems like you''ve analyzed our weak points more thoroughly than I expected," Mekhaz pointed out, trying to console Lokai a little bit with his words, while also showing Michael that he noticed what the young human Lord had done.

    But Michael merely shrugged.

    "Either way, I hope you can take my words more seriously now that you''ve seen some of my Soultraits," He said, trying to pull the subject back to the more important topic; the Team Combat discipline.

    "I don''t really know what your Soultrait does other than enhancing your strength, agility, and perception a little bit. If that''s all you can do, we''ll have a problem in the Team discipline," Michael said straightforwardly, "Can you only support yourself, or can you use it on someone else as well? How many allies can you strengthen and does your Soultrait have a side-effect? How long does the enhancementst?"

    Michael''s questions could be considered rude, but if Lokai wanted to join them in the teambat discipline, she would have to reveal the utility of her Soultrait to a certain extent. A Support-type Soultrait was a little bit different than other Soultraits, after all. If they wanted to make full use of it ¨C which they had to in order to fight opponents of a higher rank and Tier ¨C they had to know the special perks of Lokai''s Soultrait.

    Lokai nibbled her lower lip for a few seconds, her whole attention drawn to Michael.

    She looked over to Thaor afterward and sighed heavily.

    "I understand why you want me to join this team¡­but I hate you for not warning me, you piece of garbage!" She cursed Thaor, who shed a smile toward his older sister.

    "I am in. There is no reason not to join this team," Lokai said, before adding, "But let''s beat up everyone thoroughly. There are a few Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who''ve been starting to look down on me and my brother. It''s payback time!"

    Michael didn''t know what made Lokai say that but he didn''t really care too much. Since Lokai was willing to join their team they could register as a full team.

    "By the way, my Soultrait is called Burning Fury. It is a mutated Support-type Soultrait. It enhances everyone''s Strength, Agility, and Perception as long as I''ve enough energy stored. Using Burning Fury on five people is rather simple. I can maintain it for an hour before I have to consume an energy pill," Lokai exined, revealing the secrets of her Soultrait rather nonchntly.

    "But the mutation of my Soultrait is the most important," She added.

    "Burning Fury''s potency increases alongside the danger we''re facing. The stronger the opponent we''re facing the higher the enhancement!"

 Chapter 340 Unique Logic

    <h4>Chapter 340 Unique Logic</h4>

    After they registered their team, Michael and the others spent most of their time in the Ulran Arena.

    On the official first day of the Battle Exchange the Solo Combat discipline was held. Michael decided to watch a few battles with Kaleb and the rest of his team to find out more about their potential opponents in the Team discipline.

    Interestingly enough, Lokai, who had beenining all day about not being able to participate in the Solo discipline, kept her mouth shut after watching the third battle with everyone else. She realized that nobody was given much time to rest in between their battles, and that the strongest Awakened at the Peak of the 3rd Tier wouldn''t show any mercy to their opponents.

    They unleashed their strongest attacks to end their battles as quickly as possible. By ending their battles quickly, the Awakened had more time to rest up than the others. Furthermore, they could establish dominance over others, potentially forcing them into surrendering and weakening their confidence.

    Just like Michael predicted, the top 200 spots of the Solo discipline were all filled with Peak Tier-3 Awakened, and Late Tier-3 Awakened with extremely powerful Soultraits, and special powers. Neither Michael nor Thaor were confident of defeating them. However, that was only normal.

    Both Thaor and Michael had manifested their War Rune less than a year ago. Meanwhile, almost everyone in the top 200 of the Solo discipline manifested their War Rune close to four years ago. The difference may only be three years, but that was equivalent to six years inside the Origin Expanse!

    They could close the gap if they were more talented, in possession of stronger Soultraits, or given enough resources to elerate their growth. However, even closing the gap of strength was not something that happened overnight. Everyone was already striving hard to grow stronger, making it already difficult to maintain the gap, forget about closing it.

    By observing the fights of the Solo discipline with great interest, Michael learned a lot. He made mental notes about certain opponents and told himself to collect more information about themter. But even if Michael was very interested in the Solo discipline and the Awakened''s Soultraits, they didn''t spend too much time watching others fight. Instead, they returned to the Ulran Arena where Kaleb was told to spar with Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz.

    Kaleb had yet to gain their respect as Warriors. Thus, the young descendant of the Zenovia family had to show them what he was capable of.

    Fortunately, it was not really difficult for Kaleb to take the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur by surprise. He tapped into the Power of Frozen Nova and unleashed one of the strongest moves he could control ¨C though just barely. One moment everything was perfectly normal, and the next moment everything in the Ulran Arena froze. The temperature in the arena dropped rapidly, and breathing the chilling air in the arena was both ufortable and painful.

    Every breath was harder to endure, and his opponents felt like their lifeforce was being frozen into a block of solid ice.

    Michael had to create a small dome of Extraction around him to extract the chilling air around him. He was unaffected as Kaleb used his 7-Star Soultrait. However, the opposite could be said for Mekhaz, Thaor, and Lokai. They didn''t expect Kaleb to have such a powerful Soultrait, and were taken by surprise as the flood of ice and chilling air hit them.

    Kaleb had to stop using Frozen Nova after a few seconds. His energy storage had been drained rapidly, and he felt a little dizzy. It was far from easy to control Frozen Nova, especially the Frozen Tsunami.

    It would be easier to control Frozen Nova if his energy storage was bigger. He wouldn''t have to restrain Frozen Nova''s extraordinary powers to use weaker attacks with great precision. Unfortunately, as a rather powerful 7-Star Soultrait, Frozen Nova''s weakest action would still drain one-fourth of his stored energy. The attack was extremely strong, but it drained too much energy. Thus, Kaleb had been focusing on controlling Frozen Nova, and further splitting up the power output of Frozen Nova to use his Soultrait with lower energy consumption.

    Once Kaleb gained the Berserker''s and Warlock Centaur''s respect, it was about time toe up with battle strategies. Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were known for their aggressivebat style, but Michael and Kaleb wanted to take their opponents by surprise. They hoped that their tactics could be different from the norm. That way, they could overwhelm their opponents even if their overallbat prowess might be weaker than that of the enemy team''s.

    It was not easy to discuss battle strategies with the stubborn Berserkers, but Mekhaz made it a lot easier. At least, the Warlock Centaur listened to their ideas andbined them with other important factors that hadn''t been taken into consideration.

    As such, several hours passed and it was not long after their heated debates came to an end when the second day of the Battle Exchange started. The Solo discipline finished at midnight, and the Duo discipline started one minute after midnight. The second discipline started the moment the first finished, giving those who participated in both disciplines no time to rest or recover.

    The second day of the Battle Exchange was rather uneventful for Michael and the rest of his team. They spent the whole day in the Ulran Arena, testing a fewbat strategies, and sparring with each other in two versus three teams. The teamposition was changed after every spar after they talked thoroughly about their teamwork, how to fix the ws in their teamwork without letting it negatively impact theirbat prowess, and how to improve their tactics further.

    Even though they didn''t watch the Duo discipline''s battles, their team received many reports about the battles. Apparently, the battles of the Duo discipline were even fiercer than they had been during the Solo discipline. Many Awakened had been injured, and two Awakened ¨C one human and a Berserker ¨C were brought to the nearest hospital because they had been crippled. They had to be tended to immediately to save their lives after they had been mortally wounded since not even the Healing Soultraits of the attending healers had been strong enough to tend to them.

    After the incident in which the human Lord and Berserker Adventurer had been injured, the tension in the Underground Colosseum reached a new height. The Berserkers began to fight more fiercely than before, all while the human Lords used their Soultraits to inflict more injuries on the weaker opponents. Even the Warlock Centaurs had a hard time controlling the rage surging through their bodies.

    "What a mess¡­" Kaleb mumbled, staring at the screen in front of him. It was alreadyte at night, and their team was just about to split up and sleep a few hours when more reports flooded Kaleb''s crystal watch.

    Michael and the others received a few reports as well, but Kaleb''s informationwork was the most developed due to his family''s effort. But even the few reports Michael and the others received were more than enough to frown deeply.

    "Was it really a good idea to throw the Tritan Alliance into the Battle Exchange? I already had a bad feeling about Killian and the others, but this doesn''t feel like allies fighting for a better spot in the ranking¡­ Isn''t that more like arch-enemies trying to kill each other¡­for the sake of killing?!" Michael cursed loud enough for everyone to hear.

    "It''s not that bad. Injuries make Berserkers only stronger. The wounds inflicted to the weak will heal rapidly and make them stronger than before. We think of wounds as lessons and don''t hold grudges...usually. The lightning freak never intended to kill me either. He wanted to establish dominance, but he never released the strongest form of his lightning ¨C not after he saw how much damage his strongest lightning made after our first sh," Thaor tried to pacify Michael while looking up from the report he read.

    "The lightning freak might be a piece of shit for acting the way he did, but that was his way of gaining our respect ¨C through domination and an attempt to inflict fear. It was honorless, but our race always respects the strong," Thaor added, only for Lokai to intervene, "You might not understand this yet, but the strong can do whatever they want. The strongest beings determine the rules of society. A singlemand can kill tens of thousands."

    Michael had already guessed that Thaor was not angry at Killian Zeus for attacking him because Thaor spoke rather lightly about the ''lightning freak''. Nheless, it was a little bit weird of him to act like that after nearly getting charred to death.

    ''Even if Killian didn''t reveal any killing intent¡­isn''t the fierceness a little bit too much between allies? Or is that actually normal? Can cultural differences be that huge?''

    He already knew the answer to thest question that had shed through his mind. Every race had a unique culture. In fact, even within the races cultural differences existed. It was perfectly normal.

    ''Looks like I have to adapt a lot more to the cultural differences than I thought.''

    Michael smiled faintly and nodded his head.

    "But if that''s true, why are the Berserkers more aggressive in battles than before?" Michael asked out of curiosity.

    "That''s also pretty simple. They''re getting more excited to fight human Awakened. Sustaining injuries in battle is perfectly normal for us. In fact, it brings great glory to leave a bloody battlefield with scars. By allowing our excitement and battle spirit to take over, we''re showing our allies that we consider them valuable allies with great power. Furthermore, it is also a sign that we would never turn our backs on them, and leave the Underground Colosseum as one unit ¨C just like it''s supposed to be as allies!" Thaor announced, his voice growing louder with each spoken word as his chest swelled with pride.

    However, Michael and Kaleb could only look at each other in confusion.

    ''That¡­seems fucked up¡­'' Michael thought, blinking his eyes irritatedly, ''But why do I feel like it makes sense?''

 Chapter 341 Surprise

    <h4>Chapter 341 Surprise</h4>

    After the Battle Exchange started, Alice Zenovia and the other Professors of the Saphirke Military Academy had a hard time befriending the higher-ups of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The cultural differences were a lotrger than they had anticipated, and the Dean of the Octagon Council didn''t really help Alice and the other Professors either.

    On the contrary, the Dean and the representatives of the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies were trying their utmost to hold back the representatives of the Saphirke Military Academy. They wanted to keep their benefits to themselves and continue to develop their rtionship with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Thus, the Saphirke Military Academy was a thorn in their eyes. The Military Academy was clearly trying to squeeze and push its way through before throwing everyone aside.

    It was only obvious that the heads of the Great Three and the Big Five didn''t look happy with this.

    Therefore, Alice Zenovia, Oliver Zeus, and Ophelia ze had a hard time getting close to the Berserker Chieftain, and the War Priestess. They were always surrounded by the Dean of the Octagon Council and the other representatives. It was truly a nuisance.

    Fortunately, the events on the second day of the Battle Exchange created a great opportunity for Alice, Oliver, and Ophelia to move near the heads of the Berserker race and the Warlock race. As the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs grew more aggressive in the battles against human Awakened, some representatives of the Big Five Universities made some unpleasantments.

    Thements earned them a deadly re from the Chieftain and the War Priestess. Afterward, they began to ignore the representatives. Taking advantage of that, Alice pushed past them.

    "Looks like we finally gained some recognition," Alice said just loud enough for a few people around her to hear.

    The Chieftain was one of the people who heard her. They had been observing the Duo discipline''s battles from the VIP section where nobody could bother them ¨C or that was how it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, most representatives of the human race didn''t know when to keep their mouths shut. They couldn''t enjoy the weing sight of a fierce battle when it unraveled in front of them.

    However, the frosty female human, who appeared next to him didn''t say much ¨C and the few words she said weren''t unpleasant to her. Her words showed that she understood the reason the Berserkers were fighting more aggressively all of a sudden. That was more than the Chieftain expected after hearing thements of the other human representatives.

    "Allies are supposed to show their true selves in battle. How else are they supposed to get to know each other?" The Chieftain asked while turning his head back to the center of the Underground Colosseum.

    Alice nodded her head in response. Seeing that the Chieftain had given her some attention, Alice figured that it was not time to strike. Her family had researched the Berserker race and Warlock Centaurs for months. Their extensivework system had been used to collect countless reports about their allies, and Alice studied every single report.

    She spent several months preparing for this day, and she wouldn''t let it slip past her fingers.

    Other representatives would have been angry at the little attention they received, but Alice knew that the Battle Exchange was an important event for the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs. The war-loving racespeted with the human Awakened with all their might to determine who would be the leading force in the Interdimensional g War. Everyone wanted to be the leading force, but that was not possible.

    To fight the Tekur race head-on, they were in need of a united team, trust, and explosive power. Having a single entity leading the rest would make things much easier than a loose group of a thousand Awakened thrown into the Lesser Dimension Gate ¨C especially with the Tekur race being theirmon enemy. Fighting alone against the Tekur race was simr tomitting suicide. That was something the Chieftain and the War Priestess had realized after they were nearly annihted in a single attack from a Tekur powerhouse.

    Without the help of the human Lord, they would have died, and the portal connecting the Tritan Alliance and the Tekur race wouldn''t have been altered, preventing powerhouses from slipping through.

    Alice used every piece of information that had been stored in her mind to her advantage. Since her earlier words had been enough to garner the Chieftain''s interest, Alice continued to drop a few sentences here and there. She didn''t speak a lot, but every sentence she said clearly pointed out that she had extensive knowledge about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Others tried to copy her tactic, but they failed after a few minutes. They approached the Chieftain without patience or preparation, resulting in angry outbursts and frustration.

    The Chieftain continued to ignore them. He merely answered some of Alice''s questions once he realized that Alice had done her homework and took her time to find out more about their allies, the way they thought, and why they acted the way they did. Other representatives might have done some research, but it was beneath them to actively spend weeks, if not months, of their valuable time as powerful Lords and higher authorities of the human race to learn more about their allies. They didn''t think it was necessary to learn everything since they could do so in the future.

    Palika Mavenham, the Chieftain, didn''t like this sentiment. He would rather be in possession of too much information thancking important pieces of information.

    But that was also why he regretted hisck of interest in a particr individual after their first encounter. As the Berserker''s Chieftain, he had been too busy in thest few weeks. He had been unable to research a certain individual of the human race''s youngest generation.

    Thinking about the young man with eyes that were as dark as the night, and short ck hair, Palika Mavenham looked across the spectator area. He had yet to see the young human, whom he had encountered in the Library and in the Ulran Arena.

    The clock struck midnight and Duo discipline ended after dozens of fierce battles. Many Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were excited because they finally found some worthy allies to fight against with their full power. Unfortunately, It would take a few more minutes before the teams for the Team discipline would enter thebat rings.

    After his gaze moved past the spectator area, the Chieftain observed the representatives of their allies. He looked at the emblems and medals that were fastened to the representatives'' clothes, indicating the ce they represented. However, a particr emblem attracted his interest. The emblem was a small sapphire-coloredke drawn in front of a humongous tower.

    It was the emblem of the Saphirke Military Academy attached to the cor of the young woman standing next to him ¨C the same emblem that had been attached to the ck-haired youth''s clothes.

    A tinge of interest flickered in the Chieftain''s eyes when he realized that the woman and the young man were from the same ce.

    However, before he could ask something, the exmation of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs in the arena attracted his attention.

    The first teams of the Team Combat discipline had entered the arena.

    "Oh? That is¡­unexpected," Oliver Zeus eximed next to Alice all of a sudden.

    Alice had noticed the curious nce from the Chieftain earlier, and she wanted to say something, but both Oliver and Ophelia distracted her.

    "Why didn''t you tell us that your little brother has applied for the Team discipline with Berserkers and a Warlock Centaur? Didn''t you say that your brother is leaning toward being anti-social? Teaming up with strangers doesn''t really seem anti-social to me¡­" Ophelia zeined to Alice.

    Alice''s head flicked to thebat rings, and her ice-cold expression crumbled for the first time in a while.

    ''What is Kaleb doing there?'' She nearly blurted aloud.

    Since they arrived in Piloq, Alice had been too busy to take care of her brother. But that was fine with Kaleb as he didn''t like being treated like a little child. He hated that Alice pampered him, which was also why she had to promise her little brother not to bother him after arriving in Piloq.

    But that was even more reason for Alice to end up confused. She knew Kaleb better than anyone else. Kaleb was not as hard to approach as Alice, but he didn''t bother getting close to other people. It was hard to be his friend and to stay friends with him for a long period.

    Yet, Alice''s little brother ended up being the only team consisting of the three races of the Tritan Alliance. How was that possible?

    "There he is."

    Alice heard the Chieftain''s voice to her right and turned around. She was still shocked, but Alice would never forget the mission the Zenovia house had given her.

    Her gaze followed the direction the Chieftain looked at, only to end up staring at Kaleb and his team again.

    "Huh?" She blurted out, the confusion in her voice apparent.

    "I wasn''t eavesdropping, but your colleague was rather loud," The Chieftain said all of a sudden, "The blue-haired youth is your brother, and not Michael, right?"

    It took Alice a moment to register that the Chieftain was speaking to her. Afterward, a few more seconds of doubt passed until some words slipped through her lips.

    "Kaleb is my brother, yes¡­but how do you know Michael?"

    The Chieftain nced at Alice from the corner of his eyes, and his lip curled upward ever so slightly.

    "I had two encounters with this kid before, one more surprising than the other," Palika acknowledged before he added, "...let''s hope that the third encounter is even more surprising."

 Chapter 342 Teamwork

    <h4>Chapter 342 Teamwork</h4>

    At first, Alice could only see her brother amid the group of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. She was so stunned after seeing Kaleb in the group of the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur that she missed Michael Fang chatting with the Berserkers.

    Michael looked rather calm and inconspicuous in the group. It was almost like Michael was an extra character, who didn''t receive much attention from the people around him because of the way he acted and his weak presence.

    Alice had known that Michael could control his presence to a certain degree, but she realized only now that Michael''s Ring Artifact helped him naturally suppress his presence. But then again, Michael didn''t stand out too much even among other humans. He was handsome, for sure, but being handsome and beautiful was rather ordinary among the descendants of powerful families and households.

    The impurities within the bodies of Awakened were expelled whenever their War Rune advanced to the next Tier. At the same time, the gics of powerful families was known to be top notch. Thus, Michael ended up looking inconspicuous with his short ck hair, dark eyes and ordinary clothespared to the others whose hair and eye color was much brighter, pulling everyone''s attention away from Michael. To boot they wore expensive clothes that had been woven out of the silky threads of an Imperial Spider and other unique ingredients.

    Nheless, everything seemed to make sense now that Alice discovered Michael in Kaleb''s team. In fact, Alice was certain that Michael had pulled her brother in the group of the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur.

    Alice''s eyes shone brightly when she saw the team around Michael, and she didn''t even notice that the corner of her lips curled upward.

    Alice was not sure what it was exactly, but something about him made it easy to get along with. Michael never did anything special to please anyone. On the contrary, he was quite feisty when he disliked something. Michael was straightforward and wouldn''t allow anyone to take advantage of him, or his friends. But most importantly, Michael was genuine. He meant what he said, and one could trust that he would do whatever he promised. Michael was not the scheming type of person, who befriended others because of selfish interests.

    If he wanted to benefit from you, he would say that. That was what Alice believed firmly after knowing Michael for more than half a year.

    But despite being blunt and straightforward, Michael had an easy time getting along with many people. That was something Alice could hardly understand. Even the young descendants who thought too highly of themselves were drawn to him. The Barbaric Couple was the prime example.

    The Barbaric Couple were truly problematic. If Alice had been responsible for the admission of new students in the Saphirke Military Academy, she would have rejected Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Ondo without a second thought. She wanted to train powerful Lords, not pamper unreasonably violent students, who didn''t know that their only advantage was their families'' wealth.

    But Michael tamed the Barbaric Couple. They weren''t the only ones either. Lincoln, Zeke and Kaleb were also quite hard to approach. They had few friends, yet Michael befriended them rather quickly.

    And now Michael got close to some Berserkers, a Warlock Centaurs, and he even attracted the interest of the Berserker''s Chieftain? How was that even possible?

    It was the first time that the Berserker''s Chieftain showed genuine interest in a human participant of the Battle Exchange.

    This was a great opportunity; something Alice desperately needed.

    **

    All while Alice was trying to grasp the opportunity that appeared in front of her, Michael and his team had been called intobat ring number two.

    Their first fight was about to start.

    A group of five humans entered thebat ring after them. They were all smiles as they looked at the mixed group they were about to face first.

    "I don''t know who is dumber here. The two idiots who ended up teaming up with the brutes, or the brutes for teaming up with the two idiots," One of them said loud enough for everyone in thebat ring to hear.

    Michael just chuckled when he heard the young man''sment. He didn''t expect many prodigies participating in the Battle Exchange to be proficient at spouting nonsense. They should pursue a career in bullshitting and name calling rather than being a Lord in the Origin Expanse.

    "Just beat the shit out of him once the fight starts. The two taller men are probably their tanks. You guys can focus on them first. We''ll adjust our strategy once we have more information. Though, I doubt that it will be necessary to use some special tactic against them," Michael told his team.

    Lokai was already a little angry at their opponents, but that was fine. In fact, it was advantageous since it meant that Lokai would go all out the moment the battle started. That was what Michael was hoping for.

    Once everyone was ready, the referee lifted one of his four hands high in the air.

    "Begin!" He shouted, starting the battle immediately.

    Mekhaz summoned his Living Armor instantaneously. His hooves kicked the ground with great force, propelling him forward. Summoning his Spear Artifact, Mekhaz was ready to sh with his opponent.

    Lokai and Thaor weren''t far behind Mekhaz. Only centimeters separated them from taking the lead.

    Thaor''s body was steaming. He had unleashed his Red Giant Soultrait without hesitation. His size increased in response and his muscles bulged, inting several times as the Crimson Aura of his Unique Constitution merged with his body.

    Lokai, on the other hand, had used her Burning Fury on herself and everyone else in her team. It enhanced their Agility, Strength and Perception considerably, further boosting the speed of the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur who charged at the five human opponents.

    The human team stared at the humongous opponents that charged at them. They swallowed their saliva as the intimidating force inched closer with every fraction of a second that passed. Even though most Awakened in the human team were Tier-3 Lords, they were baffled at the sight unfolding in front of them. However, the situation grew even worse.

    The temperature in thebat ring dropped rapidly, and moving through thebat ring grew increasingly more difficult. It was almost like their feet were glued to the ground. The team of humans required a few seconds before they realized that their feet were not glued to the ground but that a thickyer of ice had suddenly shot up, freezing their feet to the ground. Theyers of ice slowed down their movements at first, only to fully lock their feet in ce, restraining their movements.

    Even if the Awakened wanted to avoid the charging Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur, they couldn''t move. They didn''t have enough time to destroy the ice engulfing their feet and evade the iing attack right after. Thus, they could only try to block the attack.

    But that was easier said than done.

    One of the burly guys at the front roared out loudly. A humongous shield manifested from altered origin energy manifested in front of him. The shield was ck in color and it released an ominous feeling that reverberated through thebat ring. Interestingly enough, the movement path of Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz changed suddenly. They began to move toward the burly man ¨C his ck shield to be precise.

    ''A Soultrait that taunts enemies? Looks like this guy is a born tank.''

    Michael smiled lightly when he saw what the burly man did. Unfortunately, the team of humans focused mostly on the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur, considering them as the stronger opponents. They barely took note of Kaleb, who continued to release his Frozen Nova, expanding the ice that engulfed their feet and calves by now.

    As for Michael, they didn''t even know he existed. They only realized that something was wrong when a sh passed by. The burly man groaned in pain as something heavy smashed upon his mind, and he lost control of his Soultrait. The ck shield dispersed, returning the Berserkers and Warlock Centaur''s control to attack their designated targets. Meanwhile, Michael appeared in the back rows of their opponents. Six Qi Swords shot forward, and his Wyverntooth Spear thrust out, nearly piercing deep into the nearest enemy.

    If not for the referee releasing a trace of energy to block Michael''s attack, he would have pierced his opponent''s neck. Meanwhile, the Qi Swords would have done the same, if not for the interference of the referee.

    Michael might not possess the strongest presence or the strongest attack power in this team, but he was nimble and had great control of his Soultraits. His Spirit Whip destroyed the burly man''s focus, allowing the others to finish their attacks, while his weak presence allowed him to move past the frontlines taking the remaining opponents by surprise.

    But even then, Michael knew that his interference hadn''t been necessary. Kaleb''s Frozen Novabined with the brute force of the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur would have been more than enough to defeat the human team.

    That was not only because Kaleb''s Frozen Nova was powerful, but also because Lokai''s Burning Fury further enhanced Kaleb''s power.

    If their enemies couldn''t move, how were they supposed to block the charge of three heavyweights that charged at them like humongous enraged bulls?

    It didn''t take long before Lokai hurled the other tall human through thebat ring. The human crashed hard on the ground outside the ring, while the burly man ended up facing the charge of both Thaor and Mekhaz.

    Lokai saw the referee interfering, ensuring that the burly man wouldn''t end up as a sack of crushed bones and meat.

    She scoffed and shook her head, ignoring the silence that engulfed the arena as she blurted out,

    "Well¡­that was rather boring, wasn''t it?"

 Chapter 343 Control

    <h4>Chapter 343 Control</h4>

    "I hope our next opponents are stronger. There was nobody for me to fight with my full strength. I even had to share my target with Mekhaz. How disgraceful!" Thaor thundered, kicking the ground.

    The frozen surface of thebat ring cracked and burst apart as the force of the kick rippled through it. In the next moment, Kaleb used Frozen Nova to destroy the ice spread throughout thebat ring. He freed their opponents'' legs and turned over to Michael.

    "Looks like everyone is a little bit confused," He said, lightly pointing toward the spectator area. Kaleb was the first to notice the silence that shrouded the Underground Colosseum as their battle ended.

    Their team fight didn''t even take more than ten seconds before it was already over. Even the representatives of the Tritan Alliance were a little surprised. After all, every single participant was a future powerhouse. All youths participating in the Battle Exchange were prodigies. Defeating them shouldn''t be that easy.

    Michael had to acknowledge that their victory looked quite easy and simple, but that was actually not the case.

    There were multiple factors one had to take into consideration, including the fact that Michael''s team went all out the moment the battle started while the other team used apletely different tactic to start the fight. The other team wanted to spread out and get some feelers to test their opponents'' strength. Because of that, they didn''t unleash their Soultraits immediately with the intention to surprise their opponents once they found out more about them, specifically their weak points.

    Keeping your Soultraits hidden while testing your opponents was amon tactic. It allowed Awakened to take advantage of their knowledge to surprise their enemies, under normal circumstances.

    However, their tactic failed miserably as the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur used their full power to charge ahead. They unleashed their Soultrait without any hesitation and charged ahead with terrific speed.

    Combining the sudden charge with Kaleb''s Frozen Nova and slowing down their opponents'' movements before freezing them to the ground created enough mental pressure to force them into action.

    But that was not enough. Just as the first human Awakened used his Soultrait to counter the Berserkers and Warlock Centaur''s charge, a mental attack struck him heavily, nearly knocking him out.

    Everyone focused on the three huge enemies charging toward them, only to miss the smaller human who shot alongside the edge of thebat ring to stay out of his opponents'' line of sight. Michael appeared at the backlines where he pinned down the other Awakened, who were too stunned to use their Soultraits in time.

    In fact, they had been able to trigger their Soultraits already, but the terrifying pressure released by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs restricted them to a certain degree. It was almost as if the Berserkers and Warlock Centaur''s entire being was in fury.

    The group of humans considered the team discipline of the Battle Exchange as a friendly spar, not as a life-and-death battle. Thus, they weren''t mentally prepared to face the Burning Fury of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaur.

    That was also why Lokai thought of the entire battle as rather boring, and disappointing. There was no climax. It started¡­then it ended, just like that.

    Of course, the events of the battle looked different from outside. It looked like the team consisting of humans was sluggish and that they weren''t professional. Meanwhile, Michael''s team was the exact opposite. Their teamwork was not too bad. There were some points that required improvements, but there weren''t any ring mishaps.

    The way they yed out their tactics by utilizing everyone''s strengths was a pleasant surprise. It was a great demonstration to show what future battles against the Tekur race could look like.

    Michael and the others left thebat ring after the fight ended. They practiced their energy absorption technique to replenish the energy they''d used up in the battle and discussed the earlier fight while resting up until their team was called up for the next battle.

    After their first fight, Michael and his group gained more attention. That was what Michael had expected, but it didn''t really change anything. They would continue to give their best until they would encounter an opponent who was too strong to deal with.

    Michael saw a few teams full of Peak Tier-3 Lords. He had seen some of their earlier battles during the Solo and Duo disciplines, and knew that their Soultraits and Artifacts were both powerful and extremely valuable.

    Despite being powerful enough to fight opponents at the 3rd Tier, Michael, Kaleb, and Thaor were only at the 2nd Tier. If they encountered someone at the 3rd Tier who could also fight people above their rank, Michael and the others would have issues dealing with them. That might be obvious, but it was also no reason to be intimidated. Michael''s team would continue to give their utmost, either way.

    Their second battle was against six Berserkers. They didn''t say anything but the smug smiles on their faces, and the sheen of excitement in their eyes was enough to determine that they would go all out the moment their battle started.

    Thaor knew the six Berserkers quite well.

    "None of them has a Support-type Soultrait. The huge Berserker on the left has a Soultrait called Herculean Strength. It''s a passive Soultrait that is always active. It drains his Stamina faster but enhances his physical strength to a monstrous level. The one next to him has a Soultrait called Titan Arm. He can expand his right arm to inflict devastating damage," Thaor exined loud enough to be heard by their opponents.

    The Berserker team stared at Thaor in anger, but they didn''t say anything as he continued to reveal their Soultraits to his team, "The one in the middle has a Soultrait called Double Impact. He can only use it on his feet, but that is more than enough since he trained in martial arts that focuses on kicks. Upon using Double Impact, the first impact of his kick will be doubled, and a shockwave ¨C a mix of energy and force¨C will be sent through the enemy. I can tell from experience that it''s quite painful to be hit by that. Other than that, there is a young Berserker with a Silver Aura that amplifies the destructive power of his attacks, and the one on the right has a Soultrait called Sword of Doom. it''s sharp and can cut through most stuff rather easily, so¡­don''t get cut in half."

    Thaor had a lot more to say about the Berserkers'' Soultraits, but the fight was just about to start. Thus after listening to him intently, they went into position, summoned their Artifacts and waited for the referee''s signal.

    The signal that started the battle rang out mere momentster alongside the referee''s shout.

    "Begin!"

    Just like before, Lokai used the full power of Burning Fury to enhance the Agility, Strength and Perception of the entire team. The presence they exuded after Burning Fury was applied to each of them was intense and ominous. However, it didn''t affect the five Berserkers, who kicked the ground to charge forward without any hesitation.

    They unleashed their Soultrait and burst forth. Meanwhile, Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz did the same. With their Soultraits fully unleashed, they charged ahead as well. Meanwhile, Kaleb unleashed Frozen Nova once again.

    However, this time, Kaleb''s tactic changed a little. He manifested his Staff, an inheritance he had obtained from his sister a few weeks ago ¨C a Legendary Tier-2 Artifact. The Staff had three purposes. First, it decreased the energy consumption of Ice-type Soultrait. Second, it increased the control of Ice-type Soultraits. Last but not least, the Ice Staff reinforced the sturdiness of Ice manifested with an Ice-type Soultrait.

    Unleashing the power of the Legendary Ice Staff alongside the effect his Inheritance Technique had on Frozen Nova, Kaleb''s 7-Star Soultrait grew even stronger.

    A simple wave with the Legendary Ice Staff was enough to manifest tworge ciers in front of the Berserker with the Titan Arm Soultrait, and the Berserker with the Sword of Doom. The Berserkers charged into the ciers at full speed. The ciers trembled alongwith thebat ring as the heavy Berserkers crashed into it, but it didn''t break. The cier remained standing, blocking the advance of the two Berserkers.

    Meanwhile, the remaining three Berserkers collided with Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz. Mekhaz collided with the Silver Aura Berserker, Thaor faced the Herculean Strength Berserker, while Lokai ended up shing with the Double Impact Berserker.

    However, Kaleb was not done supporting his team. He waved the Legendary Ice Staff through the air once again, releasingrge ice walls in between the five Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs less than a second before their weapons would have shed.

    Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz were prepared for this. They knew that Kaleb would erupt several ice walls to block their sight ¨C and the sight of their enemies ¨C mere moments before they would collide. Fully aware of the abrupt appearance of the ice walls, the three changed their trajectory all of a sudden. Lokai charged at the Silver Aura Berserker from the side while Mekhaz''s target changed to the Double Impact Berserker.

    Meanwhile, Thaor moved to the left side of the ice wall to attack the Berserker with Herculean Strength. But he was not alone. While Thaor appeared on the left side of the ice wall, Michael emerged on the right side, his body shrouded with six enhanced Qi Swords and dozens of cicles.

    The Silver Aura Berserker and the Double Impact Berserker smashed into the ice wall without hesitation. They believed that their enemy was waiting behind the wall and smashed the ice wall with brute force. The two Berserkers didn''t expect to face a different opponent all of a sudden, let alone that their previous target would charge from the side.

    They were also taken by surprise as the fragments of the ice shards shot toward their heads instead of falling to the ground.

    Kaleb was breathing heavily after using Frozen Nova with such great precision several times in session. His Soultrait was more of arge-scale power that erupted with tremendous force rather than a Soultrait that required great precision to do minor things such as controlling ice shards. Yet, to use everything on the battlefield, Kaleb had to adjust himself, and the Power he possessed.

    That was extremely difficult, but both the Legendary Ice Staff and the results of his daily practice with the Zenovia family''s Inheritance technique allowed him to achieve this feat. His mind was screaming at him to stop tormenting himself and to use Frozen Nova the way it was supposed to be used. But Kaleb didn''t listen to the voice in his mind.

    Instead, he smiled vibrantly as he watched Michael''s tactic unfold right in front of him just like it was supposed to be.

    ''I''m in control of everything!''

 Chapter 344 Support

    <h4>Chapter 344 Support</h4>

    Bybining the changes caused by the Inheritance technique with the exceptional power of the Legendary Ice Staff, Frozen Nova was too strong to be blocked easily. Even Thaor''s body and Mekhaz''s Living Armor couldn''t block Kaleb''s attacks easily. After Lokai''s Burning Fury was applied it became even more difficult to block the Frozen Nova.

    Despite the great attack power of the Frozen Nova, Michael felt like Kaleb wasn''t using his Soultrait''s full potential which he told his friend straightforwardly. The attack power of Frozen Nova may be great, but was that really all? Was a 7-Star Soultrait not capable of more than that?

    Due to the versatility of Michael''s Soultraits, he learned to use them in various ways, sometimes even in ways they weren''t supposed to be used. Reinforced Sword Qi, for example, ought to be used to reinforce a Sword. However, Michael was not good with Swords. His weapon was the spear, which was mostly due to the memories and experiences that had been engraved onto his mind after he absorbed the Memory Orb of Cleave Fenrir.

    Michael was wasting an effective Soultrait by not using its full potential. He applied Reinforced Sword Qi in a unique way that disrupts the enemy''s rhythm. If Michael were to switch to a Sword and apply Reinforced Sword Qi in the way it was intended to be used, in addition to the unique way he used it currently, he would be able to use much more of the Reinforced Sword Qi''s potential.

    Thus, Michael wanted Kaleb to experiment a little bit more rather than using Frozen Nova the way everyone told him to use his Soultrait.

    A long discussion between Michael and Kaleb resulted in an attempt to use Frozen Nova to control the battlefield with great precision.

    And that was exactly what Kaleb did right now. He restrained the movements of the Titan Arm Berserker and Sword of Doom Berserker while also aiding the others.

    He erupted ice walls ording to their n and transformed the shattered ice walls into deadly projectiles as the Double Impact Berserker and the Silver Aura Berserker destroyed them.

    The ice shards shot toward the two Berserkers right after they lost great momentum from crashing into the ice walls. Lokai and Mekhaz didn''t hesitate either. They shot toward their new targets from the side and began assaulting the Berserkers. Mekhaz twisted his wrist while thrusting his spear forward. Meanwhile, Lokai''s mace shot to the side, pulling back to create enough momentum to finish off the Silver Aura Berserker at once.

    After losing momentum, the two Berserkers were faced with attacks from two sides. The ice shards burst forth with great velocity, aimed at their heads ¨C their eyes to be precise.

    The Berserkers didn''t feel tremendous power oozing from the ice shards. They thought about leaving their eyes open for a moment to keep focusing on their opponents'' movements. However,pared to the rest of the body, their eyes were sensitive and not very well protected, just like everyone''s eyeballs. Losing their eyesight ¨C even if it was just momentarily ¨C was not something they could afford. But blocking the ice shards was also not feasible. Why? Because Mekhaz and Lokai''s attacks were about to impact as well!

    The Berserkers reconsidered moving back, but they felt some resistance around their legs the very moment the thought of retreating surfaced in their minds. They didn''t even have to look down to know that their legs had been covered in ice. Their movements were restrained, and they had already lost momentum earlier. The two Berserkers could only unleash their Soultraits and Artifact, close their eyes to protect them from the impacting ice shards, and raise their weapons to block Mekhaz''s spear thrust, and Lokai''s heavy strike.

    Even though their opponents were physically stronger on average, and two Berserkers were Champions ¨C signifying their exceptionalbat prowess ¨C, Thaor, Mekhaz and Loaki couldn''t be underestimated either. In the first ce, they were stronger than their opponents in a one-versus-one fight. Adding Lokai''s Burning Fury, and Kaleb''s exceptional crowd control all over the battlefield gave them even more advantage.

    And then there was Michael, who had decided to aid the others in their battle rather than entering a battle head-on by himself. He appeared on the left side of the Herculean Strength Berserkers, but released enhanced Qi Swords and cicles in all directions.

    The enhanced Qi Swords and cicles hit the joints of their enemies precisely, taking the Silver Aura Berserker and the Double Impact Berserker by surprise. Their eyes were still closed, Kaleb''s ice shards had just impacted in their faces, and they had just blocked Mekhaz and Lokai''s attacks, only to be taken by surprise by projectiles from the opposite direction.

    Michael''s enhanced Qi Swords cut deep into the wrists of the two Berserkers'' weapon arm. Taken by surprise, they could barely hold onto their weapon all while Lokai and Mekhaz retracted their weapons to initiate a second attack. Their movements were smooth, rapid and with extraordinary force.

    Michael nced in their direction for a mere moment, but that was enough to determine that Lokai and Mekhaz would defeat their opponents in the next few seconds. Thus, he decided to focus elsewhere.

    The thunderous noises of Thaor shing with the Herculean Strength Berserker attracted Michael''s attention. He turned around, his Eagle Eyes allowing him to assess the situation at once.

    Thaor and the Herculean Strength Berserker moved rapidly, their fists colliding over and over again. Both Berserkers moved with a blinding speed, not allowing the other party to gain an advantage. Thaor shot to the side, punching out with his ck knuckles glowing gloomily, only for the Berserker with Herculean Strength to counter the attack with a feisty punch.

    The Herculean Strength Berserker wielded a unique set of gloves. A tremendous amount of energy was channeled into them, releasing bits of energy shockwaves with every attack. It was a weakened version of the Double Impact Berserker''s Soultrait, creating a second impact with an energy shockwave. But Thaor didn''t even react to the shockwaves. It was almost as if he didn''t feel them.

    Steam rose from his skin as the fusion between his Crimson Aura and the Red Giant Soultrait were fully unleashed, granting him tremendous power and a great advantage in terms of natural regeneration. Thaor healed rapidly, much faster than the Herculean Strength Berserker could inflict damage.

    Michael moved forward while observing the battle between the two Berserkers. Berserkers didn''t like it when others interfered in their battle, however, Michael couldn''t care less about that right now. They were in a team battle, and it was only obvious that he would help his teammates. In the g War, no member of the Tekur race would care about the Berserker race''s desire to fight individually. They would either get steamrolled or overwhelmed at once.

    A team battle was supposed to be fought as a cohesive force, and that was something most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had yet to ept.

    Fortunately, Michael''s team was the first team to showcase the great synergy between humans'' Soultraits and unique powers, and the physical superiority of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Michael conjured a sixyer enhanced three-fold intertwined Spirit Whip as he charged at the Berserker with Herculean Strength from his blind spot. He waited until the Berserkers'' fists were about to collide once again beforeshing out with the sixyer three-fold Spirit Whip.

    The moment his Spirit Whip struck, the Berserker with Herculean Strength groaned out loudly. The white of his eyes became clearly visible as he stumbled and his energy cirction failed miserably. His punch missed Thaor''s fist by a hair''s breadth, creating a great opportunity for Thaor. Thaor didn''t like that Michael helped him out against his opponent, but he was also fully aware of the given situation.

    Michael had already made it clear that they were a team and that they were supposed to fight together even before they applied for the Team discipline. If they wanted to fight alone, they shouldn''t have epted Michael''s invitation. Instead, they should have fought in the Solo discipline and lost miserably against the Peak Tier-3 powerhouses who were several years older than them.

    Thaor couldn''t suppress a grunt when he noticed that Michael had intervened in his fight, but he didn''t say anything else. He also exploited the opportunity created by Michael.

    The corner of Michael''s lip tilted upward in response as he followed behind the Berserker with Herculean Strength who smashed onto the ground. Six Qi Swords and the de of the Wyverntooth Spear pressed against the Berserker''s neck not even a second after the Berserker had been punched in the face.

    "Dead," Michael uttered quietly, yet just loud enough for everyone in thebat ring to hear.

    "Dead here as well! He was dead before you guys killed yours! I just forgot to say it!!" Lokai shouted, using raw power to smash her fist down onto the unconscious body of the Silver Aura Berserker lying beneath her.

    "Here as well," Mekhaz announced, his spear pressed against the chest of the Double Impact Berserker.

    That left only the Titan Arm Berserker and the Sword of Doom Berserker, who had used their brute force and Soultraits to smash their way through the ciers that had imprisoned them.

    After they''d charged into the ciers, Kaleb had used Frozen Nova to seal the gap behind them, imprisoning the two Berserkers as long as possible.

    He was dead-tired and drained of energy by now, but Kaleb''s performance and disy of power all over the battlefield had been exceptional. He was clearly the most important member of the team at this point, allowing the others to unleash their full power while restraining their opponents'' movements severely.

    But now that three out of five Berserkers had been defeated, Kaleb was tired. In the Origin Expanse he had yet to fight an enemy at the 3rd Tier. Yet, while being teamed up with Michael, Kaleb was forced to fight a multitude of Tier-3 monsters with his full strength.

    It was a new experience, but it was definitely not something he hated.

    On the contrary, it filled his heart with excitement.

 Chapter 345 Reason

    <h4>Chapter 345 Reason</h4>

    Even though Kaleb had run out of power, Michael and the rest were more than enough to deal with the remaining two opponents.

    Thaor charged toward the Berserker with the Titan Arm Soultrait, while Lokai and Mekhaz focused on the Berserker wielding a humongous ck sword.

    Mekhaz focused on countering the humongous Sword of Doom by altering its trajectory with great precision. Since he had fought the Berserker with the Sword of Doom Soultrait a few times before, he knew how the Berserker would move and how powerful the Sword of Doom was. It could cut through most metal armors, which included Mekhaz''s Living Armor. Mekhaz didn''t dare to get hit by the Sword of Doom, but that was even more reason for him to act carefully and forcefully divert the Sword''s trajectory with his spear.

    Meanwhile, Lokai focused on inflicting damage to the Berserker. But she was not alone. Michael appeared next to Lokai with dozens of cicles and six Qi Swords revolving around his body. The freezing mist of the cicles was even stronger than usual thanks to the decrease in temperature Kaleb''s attacks caused. The entirebat ring was freezing cold, enhancing the cicle''s power and freezing effect.

    Combined with enhanced Qi Swords, Michael could inflict several deep cuts all over the Berserker''s body while also aiming the cicles to pierce into the freshly inflicted wound to freeze the Berserker''s flesh. As a result, the Berserker groaned in pain, but he couldn''t move away. Lokai was to his right side, throwing her mace around like a mad woman, while Mekhaz blocked his Sword of Doom no matter how he moved.

    Michael conjured more cicles and Qi Swords. He also shot forward with the intent to inflict some damage with the Wyverntooth Spear. But that was not even necessary. After the second batch of cicles and Qi Swords hit the Berserker, Lokai and Mekhaz had overwhelmed him. The referee lifted one of his hands, announcing the Berserker as dead. In the next instance, Michael, Lokai and Mekhaz charged toward the Berserker with the Titan Arm Soultrait.

    Thaor was fighting him with all his might, but his opponent retaliated with great fervor. None of them was strong enough to overwhelm the other party, resulting in a stalemate until Michael and the rest arrived.

    A few seconds after everyone arrived, the Titan Arm Berserker lost.

    "Victory goes to the team Best Mix. Congrattions for advancing to the next round!" The referee announced after a few seconds.

    He stared at Michael and the others with newfound interest. None of the members of Michael''s team had been defeated, while every single one of the Berserker team had been eliminated more or less easily.

    Most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs knew how strong their brethren were. They fought each other at least once a week. Everyone knew that Thaor, Lokai and Mekhaz were roughly as strong as the Berserker with Herculean Strength, and the Berserker with Double Impact. Yet, the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur overwhelmed their opponents in today''s battle. In fact, Mekhaz and Lokai were feeling so pumped that they could continue to fight a few more battles before they would tire out.

    Thaor was a little tired but his stamina replenished rapidly just like his origin energy. A little bit of rest and he would be overflowing with energy once again. Only Kaleb waspletely drained. However, solving that was not a mission impossible either.

    The referee regained hisposure and nced over to the VIP section where the Chieftain and War Priestess were located. It was then that understanding dawned upon him.

    ''I finally understand what he meant. I get it.'' He thought, recalling something the Chieftain said a long time ago.

    Berserkers were innately against using greater numbers to defeat their opponents. The Chieftain alwaysmented his past self because he thought that it would reward him with more honor and glory if he fought against his enemies in a one versus one battle. It was even better if their enemies had a numerical advantage because every Berserker and Warlock Centaur was told that winning a war against the odds would reward most glory and achievements.

    In the minds of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs strength was all that mattered, not numbers, or petty tricks. They would rather restrain themselves to fight fair and square than taking advantage of others ¨C even if the other party was their nemesis.? The two war-loving races were certain that they could gain more honor and glory for their people that way.

    They were certain that more achievements waited for them in the Origin Expanse if they followed that mindset until death. But was that really the case? That question was something the Chieftain had asked in the past.

    Why would they fight ''fair and square'' against the Tekur, who were endangering their livelihood by infiltrating the Lumina Ster System? If they couldn''t force the Tekru into retreat, the Lumina Ster System would get conquered by the Tekur race, and the Warlock Centaurs would be annihted as an aftereffect.

    Was it really a good idea to fight fair and square for the sake of honor if their races faced potential extinction? In the first ce, was it really unfair tobine their forces and overwhelm their enemies with numbers, or trickery? Was it honorless to make use of their numerical advantage, or to exploit their knowledge of their territory to surprise attack their enemies with their tremendous physical strength?

    Wasn''t it more humiliating and honorless to intentionally restrain their strength to fight fair and square and somehow be responsible for their race''s annihtion? Wouldn''t it be far more respectful and honorable to use their full power and everything at their disposal to fight their enemies, no matter how weak or strong they were? Using their full power against everyone and saving their home was an act of respect.

    That was something the Chieftain always thought, but the traditional values that had been engraved deep into the heart and soul of the old Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would lead to the never-ending inner conflict. The Chieftain might be the strongest Berserker, and the leader of the Berserker race, but that didn''t mean he possessed all the power. Even as the Chieftain of the whole race, he had to respect and honor their age old traditions, values and ethics. Disregarding their teachings was equivalent to disrespecting them, and everything they stood for.

    Thus, the Chieftain had been forced to find a way tomunicate and spread his inner thoughts subtly to everyone¡­and he decided to use the Battle Exchange to achieve that.

    The Battle Exchange was mainly created to work against the Tekur race andbine the forces of the three races within the Tritan Alliance to pick the strongest prodigies and nurture them before the g War started. However, it was also a way to get to know the traditional values of other races, to learn that the world was not only ck and white and that many questions had more than one answer.

    Therefore, the Chieftain was satisfied when he saw that a mixed group emerged in the Team discipline. It was the first time that the Berserkers epted humans in their team, and vice versa. Usually, they would have issues with each other, and there wouldn''t be an ounce of teamwork between the humans and Berserkers. Thebat style differences were simply too huge, just like the traditional values of an individual race that applied to a battle.

    But the mixed team in front of them had found a way to make it work.

    It was obvious that Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz weren''t too pleased that Michael and Kaleb supported them throughout the battle against their opponents, but they also respected their power and insightfulments. Spending a week with Michael, and a few days with Kaleb was enough to tell what was on their mind during a battle.

    Michael defeated both Thaor and Lokai because they underestimated him at first. Michael made clear that this kind of action was disrespectful, and that it was not something an honorable Warrior should do. Honorable Warriors were supposed to unleash their full strength against their opponents. The only exceptions were training lessons and other unique circumstances. Other than that, fighting with full power was a necessity to show respect to your enemy.

    And what could be better to show how much they respected their opponents thanbining their powers to unleash even more power?

    Michael used this type of ¨C more or less ¨C fucked up logic to convince Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz to use their full power andbine it with the aid given by Kaleb and him to overpower their enemies. It worked out somewhat fine, but there were still a few major points Michael wanted to improve.

    Fortunately, they had more than enough time to improve further.

    That was also what the Chieftain was hoping for. He continued to watch the mixed team, hoping that they would improve further and that the victories of the mixed team would attract more attention ¨C possibly even curiosity.

    Meanwhile, Alice didn''t know what to think anymore. She was baffled at Kaleb''s disy of power, and that was not because his strength had increased by leaps and bounds. That was not the case. Her surprise was because Kaleb''s fighting style waspletely different than what he had been taught.

    Alice taught Kaleb meticulously to ensure that his means of attack and defense would be as advanced as possible. Kaleb''s mastery of Frozen Nova was still rather low because the Soultrait wasyered like an onion, and way too powerful to be fully controlled by a Tier-2 Lord, but his offensive techniques and defensive measures were quite good already.

    But in today''s battle Kaleb revealed himself as the coreponent of the team by taking charge of the battlefield, controlling everything precisely. For a moment, Alice saw glimpses of herself in Kaleb, his style reminding her of the time when she was younger and using Frozen Kingdom. Her Soultrait had arge area of effect, something that could be well utilized to control the battlefield. However, Alice never expected that Kaleb would use his Soultrait the same way she usually used Frozen Kingdom.

    Their Soultraits were of a different type. So why would he change his way of fighting all of a sudden?

    That was already enough to baffle her. But there was something she couldn''t understand at all.

    "Michael¡­has an Ice Soultrait?"

 Chapter 346 Unfortunate Set-Up

    <h4>Chapter 346 Unfortunate Set-Up</h4>

    ?

    After their second battle, Michael''s team had a little longer break before they would have to enter thebat ring once again. The schedule gave them just enough time to rest a little and replenish their origin energy just before the 3rd fight started.

    They won the third battle by applying the same tactic as before and advanced to the next stage. The 4th and 5th battle ended with the victory of the Best Mix team, however, it was progressively harder to win against their opponents. But that was only obvious. Thebat prowess of their enemies increased alongside their Tier.

    The fifth battle was against a team of humans with two Late Tier-3 Lords as members. Each of the two Tier-3 Lords would have been strong enough to exterminate the Best Mix team if they had been in possession of offensive Soultraits. Even without offensive Soultraits, the two Tier-3 Lords were stronger, faster, and more perceptive than everyone else on the battlefield. Not even Thaor and Lokai were strong enough topare with the tremendous power the War Rune provided upon getting refined to a high degree.

    Most Awakened said that the natural power scale didn''t apply to true powerhouses and extraordinary prodigies. They were certain that those with powerful Inheritance techniques, exceptional Soultraits, and individual teaching from the old and well-seasoned war veterans allowed the younger generations to break the natural power scale.

    While that might be true to a certain extent, there were numerous factors that had to be taken into consideration. The higher the refinement degree of the War Rune the deeper the pool of power that could be essed. Even if someone wasn''t in possession of a powerful Inheritance technique, an exceptional Soultrait, or profound teaching from old monsters of society, they could be stronger than those who received all of this.

    If a Tier-2 descendant who had high mastery in his Inheritance technique, was in possession of an exceptional Soultrait and had also been taught and trained for more than a decade could tap into a pool of power and extract the equivalent of a droplet of water, that droplet of power would undoubtedly be of high quality, pure and iprehensibly strong. Furthermore, it would be increasingly difficult for a descendant armed with this single droplet of power against someone at the Peak of Tier-3 with a pool of power equivalent to the size of a sea.

    Even a normal Awakened at the 3rd Tier would be strong enough to defeat a descendant at Tier-2. That was the natural order of the War Rune''s power scale that couldn''t be ignored even if one wanted to.

    Fortunately, the Best Mix team had Lokai with Burning Fury in their team. Facing two Late Tier-3 Lords with great power resulted in a drastic increase in Burning Fury''s enhancement. This allowed the two Tier-3 Awakened in the Best Mix team to stall the Late Tier-3 humans all while Thaor faced the three remaining human opponents by himself.

    Michael and Kaleb continued to use their powers to aid the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur in battle. They made sure that the Late Tier-3 human Lords couldn''t move away from Lokai and Mekhaz while using various means to slow down the three other human Lords.

    Michael and Kaleb slowed their enemies before narrowing their paths of escape, creating better opportunities for Thaor to make full use of his size, physical strength, and powers.

    The fifth battle was extremely difficult to win, but the effect of Burning Fury allowed their team to narrow the gap in strength just enough to defeat the five humans.

    After the fifth fight everyone was exhausted, but the huge round of apuse they received from the spectators allowed them to forget about all the pain and suffering.

    The first and second fight hadn''t been apanied by cheers. Everyone had been a little bit stupefied seeing humans, Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs fight together. It was hard for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to ept that the humans in the Best Mix team interfered in Lokai, Mekhaz, and Thaor''s fights, destroying the natural bnce the war-loving races honored usually.

    But after watching the third and fourth battle of the Best Mix team, their opinions changed slowly. The Best Mix team was set up against opponents stronger than them. All Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs knew how strong Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz were. Yet, despite knowing their powers better than anyone, the teams of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs fighting them in the third and fourth round ended up losing ¨C even though they had always been stronger than the two Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    The fourth and fifth battle against Mid and Late Tier-3 opponents sealed the deal. Everyone began to understand slowly that Kaleb and Michael''s subtle intervention in their allies'' fights allowed them to take out their opponents one after another. Kaleb and Michael allowed Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz to make full use of their strengths while also bncing out their weaknesses.

    It was an exceptional sight and a miraculous feat that was hard to ignore.

    The Chieftain was pleasantly surprised with the Best Mix team''s results. They entered the top 100 even though their strength should have barely been enough to enter the top 200. Unfortunately, their opponent in the sixth round was on apletely different level than their enemies before.

    "Why¡­do we have to fight them? That doesn''t make any sense. Isn''t the result of the fight obvious?!" Kalebined to the others.

    Michael could only respond with a wry smile. He felt that they were quite unlucky to be put up against the zing Sun team. The zing Sun team had four members at the Peak of the 3rd Tier, and one member at the Peak of the 2nd Tier.

    The student, Ludwig Pearl ¨C Lord at the Peak of the 2nd Tier ¨C was someone Michael was somewhat familiar with. He was the student with the War g Soultrait, a Soultrait that enhanced the morale, energy cirction and Soultrait Power of all allies in range. Unfortunately, the worst was that the War g Soultrait could be overclocked with the use of more energy. Its range of effect decreased the higher the War g was overclocked, but it could increase the Power of all allies'' Soultraits in its range by roughly 50%.

    This Support-type Soultrait was of exceptional value, especially for the four Peak Tier-3 Students, who had 5-Star and 6-Star Soultraits.

    Their leader was a woman called Maria Wang. She had a 6-Star fire elemental Soultrait. Her right hand was also a woman, Sera Kani, with a 5-Star Wind attribute Soultrait, and her left hand was a young man, Ashryn Hard, with a 6-Star Soultrait that was simr to Liopham''s Rage of the Primal. The only difference was that his Soultrait enhanced his means of defense alongside taunting his enemies.

    Last but not least the zing Sun team''s fourth Peak Tier-3 member is called Zelda Norman. She had a Soultrait that manifested an ominous dome all over thebat ring. The dome weakened the Soultraits of the designated targets. The higher the difference in stars the stronger the weakening effect, resulting in a drop of more than 50% for 3-Star Soultraits.

    Combining the effect of all of those Soultraits precisely granted them a great advantage, alongside the fact that the entire zing Sun team was several years older than the Best Mix team. They had several years of time to grow stronger, enhance their War Rune''s refinement degree, and reach a higher stage of their individual Inheritance techniques.

    "So what? We will definitely not give up, if that''s what you''re thinking about, Kaleb!" Thaor dered, his voice fiercer than usual.

    At this point, Thaor had fully acknowledged Kaleb. He even began to call him by name rather than saying "you", or "hey".

    "That''s obvious¡­but I still want toin, okay?!" Kaleb cursed quietly to himself.

    "We will win!" Lokai growled, causing Michael to smile wryly.

    "That''s the spirit."

    Lokai was a slow thinker and rather dense, but she had a strong battle spirit and would never give up. Herbat prowess and battle instincts made up for what shecked.

    Michael was deep in thought after he recollected the information he had about their next opponents. Fighting against a team of Peak Tier-3 Lords who had powerful Soultraits and a great team set-up was rather annoying.

    But it was also exciting.

    A tinge of excitement spread throughout Michael''s entire being as the cogs in his mind rattled tirelessly. A few ideas formed in his mind, but he couldn''t refine any of the ideas because the referee called them onto thebat ring.

    Michael bit his lower lip while staring at the zing Sun team as they entered the arena before he pulled Kaleb next to Lokai.

    "I think we can try something," Michael mumbled, revealing one of the ideas that formed in his mind.

    Kaleb began to frown deeply as Michael finishedying out his n.

    "But I am not a Supporter. I am a brave Warrior!" Lokai dered with a tinge of anger in her voice. She stared down at Michael and took a step closer to him, making use of her size to tower above the young human.

    However, Michael didn''t back off. He sighed deeply and lifted his hand.

    "You can fight the moment we finish my n," Michael responded, not budging at all as Lokai took another stride closer to him.

    "I like his n," Mekhaz said, having listened to Michael''s idea, "It''s just like he said. Join the fight once you guys are done. We might have a chance to win if it works out."

    Thaor agreed as well. He nodded while a glint of excitement spread through his eyes.

    Lokai cursed aloud but she ended up nodding her head.

    Michael and Kaleb looked at each other, unable to control their facial expressions. Vibrant smiles formed on their faces.

    "Let''s kill them all!" Kaleb announced, only for a chuckle to escape his lips.

    Michael patted Kaleb''s shoulder, also chuckling lightly.

    "Killing might be a bit too much. Let''s just freeze them alive!"

 Chapter 347 Might of the Frozen Nova

    <h4>Chapter 347 Might of the Frozen Nova</h4>

    "Who the hell put Best Mix in the samebat ring as the zing Sun team? Aren''t there more than enough other teams?!" Alice asked, not quite understanding how the schedule could be that messed up.

    The Battle Exchange focused on putting Awakened with simr power levels against each other until there were no more enemies at the same power level to fight with. That way, the strongest Awakened across the different power levels would fight each other in thest few rounds of the respective disciplines.

    The Best Mix team''s determined average power level was Late Tier-2. That was one of the lowest power levels left in the top 100 of the Team discipline. On the contrary, the zing Sun Team''s power level was between Late, and the Peak of the 3rd Tier. There was no way that the zing Sun team would be put in the samebat ring as Michael and the others, not yet at least.

    "Looks like they attracted too much attention. The Saints must have interfered," The War Priestess remarked as she appeared next to the Berserker Chieftain.

    Until now, the War Priestess didn''t say anything. However, her attention was pulled to the Best Mix team. She only noticed that she responded to Alice''sint when it was already toote.

    "The old ones¡­ Well, that was expected. They don''t like the attention this mixed team receives," The Berserker Chieftain said, the corner of his lips uplifting as he added, "But it''s already toote."

    The Chieftain looked across the spectator area with a satisfied smile as he saw dozens of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs pointing at the Best Mix team. They gossiped about the Team discipline and the tremendous power Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz could unleash with the two humans by their side.

    "The Saints¡­you mean the old Warlocks, who''ve long since retired, right?" Alice asked the Berserker Chieftain.

    She knew the answer to her question already, but by making it sound like she was interested Alice got the Berserker Chieftain to talk more to her.

    "We call the retired Warlocks Saints, yes. They value our traditions more than their lives because they braved death to protect them during thest thousand years. That makes it harder to create new traditions, or alter old-fashioned traditions," He revealed, which got the War Priestess to add, "But it looks like this group ignited a spark within my people. Some will view humans in a new light after the Team discipline."

    The Chieftain agreed with a nod.

    "That would be great. Maybe we can help each ot¨C..." Alice was just about to use the opportunity that appeared in front of her when she sensed something.

    She suddenly felt goosebumps spring up all over her body, and her eyes widened in bewilderment. Alice''s head flicked to thebat ring where the fight between the Best Mix team and the zing Sun team had just begun, her entire focus on Kaleb, and both Michael and Lokai who stood beside him.

    Kaleb grasped the Legendary Ice Staff tightly with both hands alongside Michael, whose eyes were shut closed. Meanwhile, Lokai pressed her t hand against Kaleb''s broad back, using more than three-quarters of her energy to overclock Burning Fury as she used it on Kaleb ¨C and no one else.

    Burning Fury jumped into effect, enhancing Kaleb''s strength, agility, and most importantly, his perception. The Soultriat''s mutation was also fully unleashed. Burning Fury determined the four Peak Tier-3 Lords as enemies immediately, further enhancing Kaleb''s strength, agility and perception.

    Following the enhancement he had received, Kaleb could perceive everything in his surroundings down to the finest detail. He could easily perceive the changes that urred within his enemies as a humongous War g manifested on the other side of thebat ring. The War g hovered high in the air, enhancing the power of the designated targets.

    Simultaneously, Kaleb could easily determine the changes in his surroundings as a dark, semi-translucent dome expanded all over thebat ring, with Zelda Norman in the center of the dome.

    Kaleb perceived the changes in space as Ashryn Hard unleashed his Soultrait, but he didn''t pay any attention to them. He watched Thaor and Mekhaz charge at Ashryn all while a terrific power was unleashed to his left.

    Michael tapped into the Power of Enhancement that he had stored in his Legendary Ring Artifact. He grasped the Legendary Ice Staff even tighter than before and used the stored Power of Enhancement at once, enhancing Kaleb''s Legendary Ice Staff with eightyers of Enhancement.

    Enhancement''s effect was a lot weaker if applied to objects unrted to Michael. Its energy consumption was much higher as well. However, Michael didn''t pay any attention to the weakened effect nor the tremendous energy consumption as the eightyers of Enhancement shrouded the Legendary Ice Staff with a dense white hue.

    From one moment to the next, the Legendary Ice Staff''s effects grew exponentially. Kaleb realized this at once as he tapped into the Power of Frozen Nova through the Legendary Ice Staff.

    His energy consumption upon using Frozen Nova dropped drastically. Frozen Nova was much easier to use and control all of a sudden, and Frozen Nova''s creations grew even sturdier than before.

    One moment the battle started, and in the next moment, Kaleb used the entire energy stored inside his body to unleash Frozen Nova.

    Time slowed down, the temperature in the entire Underground Colosseum dropped below zero at once, and the ominous ck dome of Zelda Norman began to crack, long white gashes of ice spreading across the dome like cobwebs.

    Thebat ring froze and cracked open as humongous pirs of ice shot out of the ground. The pirs of ice split up thebat ring, separating Maria Wang and Sera Kani from the rest of her team.

    Ashryn Hard, Zelda Norman, and Ludwig Pearl were separated from each other as well as several thick ice walls burst out of the ground.

    Last but not least, Ludwig''s War g was pierced as dozens of human-sized ice shards shot across thebat ring, tearing huge holes into the War g before it began to freeze and crumble.

    The battle had just begun but thebat ring lookedpletely different than before. Kaleb split up the zing Sun team, and he even destroyed both Zelda''s gloomy dome and Ludwig''s War g.

    After Kaleb had unleashed his full power, he copsed to the ground. Meanwhile, Lokai took a step to the side, put her hands together, and bent her knees. She looked at Michael, who charged toward her.

    He lightly jumped upon her t palms just to use his entire strength with the second jump as he propelled himself high into the air by kicking his feet from her hands. Simultaneously, Lokai straightened her legs as Michael jumped the second time. Her hands moved upward alongside Michael''s kick, providing Michael with even more momentum.

    Michael flew across thebat ring, avoiding the ice pirs and ice walls beneath him. The moment Lokai threw Michael, she used her remaining energy to pass along an overclocked version of Burning Fury to everyone else. Though much weaker than the earlier version she had given to Kaleb, Burning Fury was stronger in its usual form.

    Afterward, Lokai charged toward Zelda Norman, who was trying to erect a new gloomy dome.

    Burning Fury''s mutation effect came to full disy as Lokai faced Zelda Norman. The same could be seen as Thaor and Mekhaz charged toward Ashryn, unleashing the tremendous power that surged through them.

    Michael was no different. He used the chilling air around him to manifest more than a hundred cicles as the gravitational force pulled him back to the ground. Michael crashed hard onto the ground right after the cicles poured down on Ludwig Pearl. Using Enhancement on his body as hended, Michael remained unscathed as he smashed onto the brittle frozen ground. He looked up and turned into a white sh as he dashed ahead.

    The Wyvertooth Spear manifested in his hands while the Spirit Armor Set covered his entire body, further enhancing his strength. Threads of Extraction''s power shrouded Wyverntooth''s de alongside Enhancement''s white hue and Reinforced Sword Qi''s silver energy.

    Bursting with strength, Michael faced Ludwig head-on. He made use of his Soultraits and means to artificially increase his strength to move rapidly, inflicting several injuries all over Ludwig''s body, thus allowing the threads of extraction to break past his enemy''s defenses, infiltrating him.

    Michael slowly drained Ludwig''s origin energy, which he then used to slowly elerate the energy drain. Simultaneously, Michael made use of cicles, Qi Swords, Spirit Whip, and the Wyverntooth Spear to wear down Ludwig and inflict more injuries, slowly but steadily defeating him.

    Unsure how much time Michael had, he decided to elerate his pace and defeat Ludwig quickly. Since Ludwig was focused on supporting others, hisbat prowess was not as exceptional as most descendants of powerful families. Nheless, he was at the Peak of the 2nd Tier, and a descendant of a powerful family. He couldn''t be underestimated. Fortunately, Michael could still make use of Burning Fury''s effect to defeat Ludwig atst.

    However, once he turned around, the scene shocked him greatly. He felt searing heat burning down his back even before he had turned around but had not expected to be face to face with a humongous inferno that ravaged throughout thebat ring. Thebat ring burst apart due to the sudden increase in temperature that followed the rapid decrease in temperature.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed as his Eagle Eyes found the Peak Tier-3 Lords Maria Wang and Sera Kanibining their Soultraits'' powers to create the humongous inferno. They could control the inferno precisely, melting down the ice pirs and ice walls rather quickly. But despite the marvelous disy of great power, it took the inferno several seconds to break down the ice walls and pirs. However, that was something Michael had been hoping for when he came up with his n.

    The ice walls and ice pirs were the results of thebined effort of two Legendary Artifacts, a 7-Star Soultrait, and two overclocked Soultraits.

    Michael''s eyes moved quickly across the battlefield. He saw that Ashryn had been defeated by Mekhaz and Thaor, but also noticed that the Berserker and Warlock Centaur had been greatly weakened. Due to their sorry state, the zing inferno was all it took before the referee had to interfere. Knowing that he dragged Mekhaz and Thaor out of thebat ring, just like he had done with Kaleb as the young Zenovia had copsed on the ground.

    Lokai ended up dragging Zelda Norman out of the arena. The Berserker didn''t want to lose, but she realized toote that Zelda Norman was too strong to defeat after she had used her entire energy to overclock Burning Fury several times. A Peak Tier-3 Lord was not easy to defeat, yet Lokai used her weight and strength to her advantage to sacrifice herself by grasping Zelda and throwing her and herself out of thebat ring, disqualifying both of them.

    Zelda had been fighting against Lokai''s grasp, but the Berserker overcame and endured the heavy injuries she sustained to drag Zelda out of the arena.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb was in an even worse state than anyone else. He was bleeding from his eyes, ears and nose. Only the white of his eyes was visible as well. Alice had already appeared next to Kaleb outside thebat ring to tend to his condition alongside the healers.

    That left only Michael, Maria Wang and Sera Kani in thebat ring. Unfortunately, the effect of Burning Fury wore off.

    Then the inferno hit Michael, burning him¡­and his hair.

    **

    [A/N: The Author is back in the game with bad news. Michael...lost his hair... Poor him. How dare I burn his hair again? Will he always stay a baldie, or will his hair grow out sooner orter? Find out in the next episo--... Joking aside. I hope everyone enjoys the story as much as I do.

    If you enjoy the story, how about leaving a nice review to support me? That would be great.

    Either way, back to work.

    Over and out,

    Your hideous author :]

 Chapter 348 Baldie

    <h4>Chapter 348 Baldie</h4>

    "Did I faint?" Michael murmured as his heavy eyelids opened slowly.

    He looked up at the ceiling of the Underground Colosseum and forced a wry smile on his face. Thest thing he remembered was his attempt to unleash Extraction to extract the oxygen in his surroundings to extinguish the zing Inferno. Unfortunately, he had grossly underestimated the power of the two Peak Tier-3 Lords and ended up draining his energy storage near-instantaneously before the searing hot mes of the inferno reached him.

    He copsed right after.

    ''It doesn''t look like much time has passed. Did I ck out for a few seconds?'' Michael wondered as he got up from the ground.

    Alice was still tending to Kaleb, but she nced over at him every few seconds. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw Michael getting up from the ground, and she returned her full focus to her little brother.

    "Please don''t strain yourself too much. I will take care of your wounds in no time!" A young woman in her mid-20s appeared next to Michael, releasing a strong healing current that washed over his whole body.

    Michael looked down at his body for the first time, only to see that most of his clothes had burned along with his skin. However, the most disgusting was that the skin beneath his Spirit Armor Set was now glued to it. Michael tried to loosen the Spirit Armor Set but he quickly noticed that he had to rip out his skin to remove the Spirit Armor Set.

    Michael considered doing that, but he changed his opinion when he sensed that his energy storage was replenished enough to extract the Spirit Armor Set. He pressed his t hand against the chestte of his Spirit Armor Set and exerted Extraction. A thin golden membrane shrouded the Spirit Armor Case before it disappeared inside the War Rune''s storage space.

    The young healer was a little bit surprised seeing how easily Michael detached the armor set from his molten skin, but she sighed in relief seeing that he didn''t rip the Spirit Armor Set out of his body like a brute. That made her job much easier.

    Michael ignored the pain spreading throughout his body as he moved. He put on a new set of loose pants and afortable shirt all while his gaze moved through the Underground Colosseum.

    It shouldn''t have been a full minute since their fight ended considering that the fights in the otherbat rings were not over yet, but something seemed to have changed. The dynamic in the otherbat rings had been disrupted, and nobody seemed to be paying attention to their own fights. Their full attention was lingering on the Best Mix Team and the zing Sun team.

    Michael and his team might have lost, but none of the gazes thrown in his direction were filled with ridicule or boredom. On the contrary, the gazes that fell onto him were full of excitement, curiosity, and seriousness. It looked like everyone wanted to fight the Best Mix team even though they''d just lost.

    The Underground Colosseum was deadly silent. Only asionalments of the attending healer resounded in the Colosseum. However, even those didn''t instigate others to start talking again.

    "It looks like we underestimated your team. To think that a team with three Awakened at the 2nd Tier was strong enough to defeat three members of our team. You guys did a really good job countering our tactic," A young woman with zing red hair said, breaking the silence as she approached Michael and Kaleb.

    The woman was Maria Wang, the leader of the zing Sun team, and the heir of the Wang Family. She manifested the 6-Star Soultrait zing Sun, a Soultrait that was said to be able to create a me as hot as the Sun. Michael was not too sure about that, but he clearly recalled the zing mes burning him alive rapidly. It had been more than just a little bit hot.

    "The two of you did a great job¡­or should I say that yourbination of Soultraits and Artifacts did a great job?" Sera Kani remarked as she appeared to Maria''s right side.

    Both Maria and Sera were the only members of the zing Sun team, who didn''t sustain any injuries. However, they were the most prideful, and it wounded their pride to win against the Best Mix team by a small margin. They ought to be dominating the Best Mix team rather than struggling the entire match to win. Something had gone terribly wrong, and it looked like they were searching for excuses right after the battle.

    "Artifacts and Soultraits are part of our power if that''s what you''re trying to get at. But you''re correct. We did great atbining our powers," Kaleb said, holding his head as he got up from the ground.

    He regained his senses when Maria Wang approached them. It didn''t require much intelligence to see and hear that Sera Kani was displeased about the result of the battle. But Kaleb could understand them. The power he unleashed thanks to Lokai''s overclocked Burning Fury, and Michael''s weird power that strengthened his Legendary Ice Staff by more than 150% was terrifying. Kaleb had never felt that much power before. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.

    "You can store the Power of Soultraits in your ring, right?" Maria Wang asked Michael, pointing at the crimson ring with the Red Dragon emblem. Michael didn''t answer immediately, which Sera Kani used as an opportunity to add, "It''s a Legendary-rank Artifact, ain''t it?"

    Once again, Michael didn''tment. However, both Maria and Sera regarded his silence as an affirmation.

    "A Legendary Ring Artifact that stores the Power of Soultraits¡­That''s quite rare," Alice mumbled to herself, eavesdropping on the conversation between the youngsters as she continued to tend to her brother.

    "My family wasn''t able to procure a good Tier-3 Artifact yet. But I took a liking to your Legendary Ring Artifact. How about selling it to me?" Sera Kani asked, her hand already reaching out for Dragon Might.

    Michael pulled his hand back and furrowed his brows and she would have seen it¡­ if his eyebrows hadn''t burned alongside his hair.

    It was only at this moment when Kaleb realized that Michael''s hair was no more. He burst intoughter while pointing at his friend''s head.

    "You are allowed to grow hair, you know? Michael, you should really avoid mes for the next few months, otherwise, your hair might never grow back. But now that I think about it¡­maybe being bald is your fate!"

    Kaleb''sment alongside his loudughing was loud enough to resound throughout the whole Underground Colosseum. In response, Michael subconsciously touched his bald head, a heavy sigh escaping his lips when he realized that he was actually bald again.

    ''I just grew back some hair¡­is that a bad joke, or something??''

    Michael began to curse in his mind, ignoring Sera Kani, who was still trying to reach out for his hand.

    "Oii. I asked you something. Don''t ignore me, baldhead!" Sera shouted in frustration when she was unable to catch his hand.

    Michael froze in his tracks the moment ''baldhead'' resounded in thebat ring, and he turned back to the young woman.

    "Hold your damn horses right there," Michael growled, numerous curses shing through his mind, "First of all, why would I sell my Legendary Ring Artifact to anyone when I need it myself? Second, and most importantly, everyone even remotely responsible for my loss of hair would get nothing except a beating."

    Michael didn''t care whether Sera Kani or Maria Wang belonged to a big noble house, or some other influential household as his words tumbled out of his mouth. He was slowly getting angry at losing his hair whenever it was about to regrow. Michael couldn''t even remember if it was the third or fourth time he ended up as a baldie. He didn''t even look that great without hair. It was frustrating and saddening.

    "Beating me? You could barely defeat some of our members only because of Kaleb and his 7-Star Soultrait. Don''t overestimate yourself, baldhead!" Sena Kari shouted,pletely forgetting about the Legendary Ring Artifact. Her cheeks were red and she continued to point at Michael and stare at his smooth, round head.

    "Just try and fight me. I will beat you up at any time!" She chided, only to squeal aloud as Maria Wang pulled her back.

    "Either way. You guys did a great job. I didn''t expect your Frozen Nova to be that powerful. It looks like your strength will skyrocket once you advance to Tier-3. I will probably have evolved to a Higher Lifeform by then, but you can try and fight me. I want to see if my Burning Sun can burn through your Frozen Nova!" Maria Wang praised Kaleb before she turned around, ignoring Michael after he said that he wouldn''t sell the Legendary Ring Artifact to them.

    "I will definitely beat you!" Kaleb promised, just to nce at Michael before he added, "We will beat you two together!"

    Sera Kani stopped in her tracks and turned her head to Kaleb, but she couldn''t utter a single word as Maria pulled her along, dragging her away from thebat rings.

    Left alone, Michael sighed deeply. He looked at the Legendary Ring Artifact and smiled lightly. He knew that essory Artifacts were rather rare, especially essory Artifacts with unique abilities such as Dragon Might. It could unleash a dragon''s might to a certain extent, and store the Power of Soultraits forter use. The storage capacity was extremely high thanks to the ring being a Legendary Artifact, which further increased its value.

    It was likely to be of equal value as Kaleb''s Legendary Ice Staff. Maybe, it was worth even more.

    Michael and Kaleb joked a little bit with each other now that they found a good target to provoke ¨C Sera Kani. Meanwhile, Alice stared at Michael for quite a while.

    It took her a few seconds but when Michael nced over to her, Alice spoke out what had been lingering on her mind since the start of the Best Mix team''s first battle.

    "So¡­you have an Ice Soultrait?"

 Chapter 349 Talk

    ?

    "So¡­you have an Ice Soultrait?"

    Alice''s words rang through Michael''s ears, and he broke into a cold sweat almost immediately.

    He knew very well that it was getting more difficult to hide his Soultraits from the people around him. It was already quite weird for him to possess five Soultraits, but everyone knew that he had been inside a Lord Rift. Thus, he could have procured a Soultrait Symbol from there. If his contribution was extremely high Michael could have procured two Soultrait Symbols from the Lord Rift.

    However, Michael knew as well as anyone else that the probability was extremely low. He didn''t really want to lie to Alice Zenovia, but he didn''t feel at ease revealing Extraction to her.

    It was not that he didn''t trust Alice, or Kaleb, but it was a fact that they were members of the Zenovia household, a Superior family that controlled their lives. From the day Alice and Kaleb were born they''d been raised as future powerhouses of the Zenovia family. They were conditioned to act in the Zenovia family''s favor, train every single day and do everything necessary to expand and grow their family''s business and influence ¨C whether that was through marriage or other means.

    Michael was not yet certain how much control the older generation held over Alice and Kaleb. However, he could tell that Kaleb had been suppressed before they met each other. Kaleb had already been engaged even before he Awakened. While his engagement might have been terminated it was a fact that Kaleb''s family had already found him a fianc¨¦e long before he was legally considered an adult.

    Michael didn''t know what would happen once he told them about Extraction''s power. He might gain many benefits, such as Alice and Kaleb''s full support in terms of influence, wealth and knowledge, but it might also backfire. The older generation such as the patriarch might kidnap and imprison him to ensure that nobody else would find out about Michael''s power. It was obvious that nobody would want to share a power like Michael''s and keep it for themselves. All families would want to have monopoly over his power. Thus, the families would give their utmost to tie him to themselves ¨C or to ensure that nobody could get him.

    None of those options sounded nice. Thus, Michael only told the Forest Elves about his powers so far. The Forest Elven Tribe was nowhere close to their Ster System. The tribe''s Awakened were also nowhere close to the human territories in the Origin Expanse. There was close to no chance for them to take advantage of Michael after he revealed his power. That was ensured through the Links of Loyalty he created with the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and the fact that he was the Lord of thousands of Forest Elves by now.

    One wrong move from the Forest Elven Tribe, and he could kill the Forest Elven Adventurers and Summons ¨C which would be the worst that could happen to the Forest Elven Tribe since they valued their ancestors more than most races.

    It was not that Michael trusted the Forest Elves more than Alice and Kaleb, but the circumstances around the Forest Elves were more in Michael''s favor. In the worst case, Michael could kill the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to cut all ties with the Forest Elven Tribe. But the same couldn''t be said about the Zenovia family.

    "I got it in the Lord Rift," Michael revealed truthfully while leaving out the most important pieces of information.

    "Is that so? You don''t look like you''re lying, but that''s not all¡­" Alice mumbled, almost as if she could read his mind. She smiled lightly at Michael and nodded her head in understanding, "Don''t worry, you don''t have to tell me everything. Just be careful, because many have started to observe you. I hope you cane to talk to me about your situation, and problems before you get into trouble. I want to help you, after all."

    Alice''s voice was not as cold as usual. On the contrary, her voice was filled with warmth and kindness. It was rare for Alice to reveal this side of herself, so rare that Kaleb ended up staring nkly at his sister.

    "You have many secrets, and you have no idea if you can reveal some of them, or if it will endanger you and the people around you. If your secrets ever grow too much to keep, talk to someone you can trust. After all, some secrets grow heavier the longer you keep them to yourself. But don''t worry too much," Alice added, somewhat repeating herself.

    Michael nodded his head, his head hanging lower. He rubbed the back of his head for a few seconds before he looked Alice straight in the face.

    "You know about my brother, right?" Michael asked even though he knew the answer.

    The Zenovia siblings nodded their heads simultaneously.

    "Yes, I know. I was informed about his¡­demise¡­just before you entered the Lord Rift."

    "I know about it as well."

    Michael forced a smile on his lips. He didn''t want to talk about his Soultrait right now. However, something told him that he would feel better if he talked a little bit about his brother. It had been a while since he thought about his brother intensely, and something deep within told him that he was a bad brother for rarely talking about Danny.

    "Well, our parents abandoned us after Hesta disappeared. Oh. Hesta is our elder sister. She was the pride of our parents. After Hesta disappeared our parents abandoned us. We were still quite young and we had to look after ourselves¡­" Michael said as a matter of fact.

    He continued to reveal more about his past, and how he and his brother grew up.

    "...Then I summoned a 4-Star Summon called Masked Saber. We established a Link of Loyalty the moment I summoned him. He could control silver energy that looks like Sword Qi. I trained with him for several months¡­. We fought together¡­and we entered the Lord Rift together¡­.Targeted by the Red Dragon, he sacrificed himself¡­ and it was only after his mask shattered that I realized that Masked Saber, the 4-Star Summon, was actually my brother¡­who was resurrected right after dying in the Sacred Desert¡­."

    Michael was not sure why, but he didn''t cry anymore. His voice cracked after talking too long about his brother, and sadness overwhelmed him, but no tear escaped his eyes. He summoned the Reinforced Sword Qi in the form of a highly detailed Qi Sword and smiled sadly at it.

    "And this 5-Star Soultrait, Reinforced Sword Qi, actually belonged to my brother. I received it for my contribution in the Lord Rift¡­"

    Michael didn''t look at Alice or Kaleb anymore. He was also not sure where they were at this moment. At some point, Alice and Kaleb had pulled him away from the center of the Underground Colosseum. He also subtly recalled that Thaor, Mekhaz, and Lokai had been talking to him, but the memories dispersed the moment he recalled them.

    All that had been shing through his mind was the need to talk about Danny. It was weird, creepingly weird¡­but it didn''t feel too bad to talk about Danny with someone other than Tiara. On the contrary, it was oddly liberating.

    "The Will rewarded you with your brother''s Soultrait¡­that has to be a cruel joke¡­" Kaleb mumbled after he stared nkly at Michael for more than half a minute.

    Michael almost never talked about himself, and he finally understood why. Kaleb always envied ordinary families for their lives because they didn''t have to carry heavy responsibilities from the moment they were born. However, Kaleb didn''t envy Michael''s life. He felt bad for envying Michael in the past, instead. Kaleb felt like the worst human being for being jealous of Michael when he didn''t know anything about his friend''s past.

    Digesting Michael''s story took a while. It was a sad story, filled with a lot of drama. Yet, Kaleb couldn''t help but feel like a jerk for secretly feeling happy that Michael was willing to share his burden with them.

    He noticed that Michael avoided talking about the Soultraits he manifested in the Origin Expanse, but he told them a lot about himself, his rtionship with his brother, and how close they''d been.

    "It must have been hard on you. Thanks for telling us about your past," Kaleb said, ncing over to Alice, who hadn''t said anything yet.

    ''What''s wrong with her?'' Kaleb wondered when he saw Alice staring at Michael with a nk look on her face.

    "Hesta¡­Hesta Fang¡­Wait. You''re Hesta''s brother?! The War Empress Hesta Fang??" Alice asked atst, her voice much louder than usual.

    In fact, Kaleb couldn''t remember having heard Alice speak that loud, let alone that she would stare at someone looking utterly baffled. That was definitely not normal, and out of her usual character.

    "War Empress? I don''t know anything about that. She must have been in her early 20s when she disappeared. I doubt that anyone called her a War Empress then," Michael said, not sure if he and Alice were talking about the same person, "But it''s not like I care¡­not anymore."

    Alice regained her senses after her outburst. She noticed that she had hit one of Michael''s sore spots and pressed her lips together. She wanted to ask more about Hesta Fang, but it was also quite obvious that Michael didn''t know more.

    But now everything made a lot more sense. If Hesta Fang and Michael were siblings everything would make sense.

    Hesta Fang disappeared ten years ago. She had been an Awakened for less than five years, yet herbat prowess was among the most terrifying in all of mankind''s youngest generation. Hesta might not have been one of the fastest Awakened to reach the Peak of Tier-3, but she was as fast as the descendants even though she never had anyone backing her with resources and techniques. However, that turned her into an even more terrifying opponent than anyone else.

    She didn''t have anyone backing her with resources, yet Hesta Fang was strong enough to defeat a group of Awakened from the Tekur race by herself.

    And that was not all.

    While Hesta Fang was still a Lesser Lifeform, she could handle a group of dozen descendants, who had already evolved by bing Higher Lifeforms at the 4th Tier.

    Words would fall short to exin herbat prowess. She was inhumanly powerful, earning her the title of a War Empress as a gift for her premature promotion to a Higher Lifeform.

    However, on the day she advanced to the 4th Tier ¨C evolving her lifeforce to the next level ¨C, Hesta Fang disappeared.

    And now Hesta Fang''s younger brother who was just as inhumanly powerful as his sister had been rumored to be was standing in front of her.

 Chapter 350 Secret Files

    <h4>Chapter 350 Secret Files</h4>

    Various thoughts shed through Michael''s mind when he realized that Alice knew his sister. He had been convinced that he didn''t care about his family anymore. Only his brother had been of importance to Michael. Despite that, something in the back of his mind kept nagging at him, telling him to research more about his sister, and find out more information about her.

    Doubts popped up in his mind, and he began to wonder what must have happened for Hesta, the ''War Empress'', to disappear the day she advanced to the 4th Tier. While his mind went down the rabbit hole, Michael didn''t even realize when he opened his parents'' chat.

    He listened to the messages they''d sent, only to end up frowning deeply. The audio files they sent through sta messenger were deleted shortly after Michael listened to it, but Michael didn''t pay much attention to that. He could only frown, staring nkly at the now-empty chat between him and his parents.

    "I really hate you," Michael cursed quietly.

    His parents barely mentioned Danny before switching their focus to talk about him, Hesta, and how their lives have been in thest few years.

    Michael figured that his parents wouldn''t be useful, but he was once again disappointed about how little they seemed to care about him and his brother. Danny died, yet they didn''t even sound sad in the audio files. Michael even thought that he heard a trace of curiosity and excitement in his father''s voice, but he genuinely hoped that he was mistaken.

    ''Why am I even disappointed in them? Does that mean I still have expectations? Am I hoping that they will return, bring Danny back from the dead, and that we can be a happy family once again? That''s nonsense¡­''

    Michael hated himself for the thoughts shing through his mind. He subconsciously knew that he wanted everything to return back to normal, and that he would forgive his parents for abandoning them if they could bring Danny back from the dead. However, that was just wishful thinking. His brother was no more, and his parents wouldn''t return. Even if they woulde back, they wouldn''t be able to bring Danny back.

    Michael didn''t even realize that he was still in Alice''s office with the Zenovia siblings. They silently kept observing the constant changes in his expression, and could even listen to his parents'' audio files since Michael didn''t bother to use headphones to listen to the audio files alone.

    Alice and Kaleb looked at each other for a while,plicated expressions stered all over their faces. Then their attention moved back to Michael, who opened the crystal watch''s research engine to look up information about his sister.

    "War Empress Hesta¡­no information?" He mumbled, pressing his lips together in annoyance.

    Why was everything about his family so difficult? He couldn''t find a single piece of information about his sister even though Alice said that she was a prodigy amid prodigies.

    Michael nced at Alice, who wanted to say something. But before she could say something, Michael had already opened the Bartholomew Network. His Diamond Membership ess granted him permission to research information that was restricted to even Tier-4 Awakened. His hands moved smoothly across the holographic keyboard''s surface, looking up his sister''s name.

    "Oh? There are three files," Michael blurted out, not expecting to find anything. He tapped on the first file, only to be rejected. A red notification popped up on the holographic screen.

    [ess denied. Higher authority required!]

    Michael frowned and looked over to Alice, who had shut her mouth after seeing him continue to research.

    "Did the government delete her information, or was that the work of the High Nobles, the Superior Families and the Great ns? Or is there another reason because it makes no sense that I cannot find any information about my sister if she was as powerful as you mentioned," Michael pointed out, not sure whether he was angry, frustrated, or just helpless.

    He didn''t even know why he was researching his sister after having repressed thoughts about his sister and parents for so long. Would it change anything if he found out who Hesta was? So what if she was powerful and special?

    "Actually it''s none of that. News about your sister has always been suppressed. Many families were curious about her and started collecting information, but they found almost nothing. Only private channels and information agencies were able to find and collect information about her. Even then some information got lost. It was always presumed that Hesta was rted to a world-ss hacker who was capable of bypassing the most secure security system to delete all information about her. But that was never confirmed," Alice revealed, making him feel mildly annoyed.

    "After she defeated the group of Tekur, and a bunch of descendants at the 4th Tier, people got more interested in her. However, they quickly lost interest after the War Empress disappeared. Some descendants in their 20s and 30s might still know about her because some of them encountered her in the past, but most families must have forgotten about her. After all, she never resurfaced after disappearing nearly a decade ago."

    Michael nodded his head slowly, trying to digest the information.

    ''Deleting information. Isn''t that just like the chats with my parents? Everything is deleted shortly after the audio files have been deciphered and listened to.''

    Michael''s gaze returned to the three files stored in the Bartholomew Network. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to feel at ease without finding out more. Michael hated his own curiosity right now more than ever.

    "Do you know where the old man is?" Michael asked Alice.

    "Old man?"

    "Kraft Viton. Do you know where he is?"

    "Oh¡­there were some problems with an important client of the Bartholomew Corporation. Something happened with the Kolr¨CKolbenschein family''s territory or something like that," Alice answered, clearly not really interested in the Bartholomew Corporation''s business.

    However, Michael felt that something was odd. Even Kaleb frowned when he heard the family name.

    "Do you mean the Kolbenheim family?" Kaleb asked, and Alice nodded.

    "I think that was it. But I''m not too sure. I was focused on the Berserker Chieftain when Kraft told me that he would be busy for a while," She said, causing both Michael and Kaleb to look at each other with widened eyes.

    "You mean something happened to Frederik''s family?" Michael asked, while opening his chat with Frederik Kolbenheim to write a message.

    [Michael Fang: Hey, I heard that something happened. Are you and your family fine?]

    He sent a message to Frederik before switching to Jacqueline, hoping that he would receive a reply as soon as possible.

    [Michael Fang: What happened to Frederik''s family?]

    Michael forgot about the files rted to his sister and frowned deeply staring at the chat in front of him. Frederik might not be his best friend, but Michael took a liking to his tenacity with time. The Barbaric Couple''s personality improved a lot during thest few months as well. Frederik and Jacqueline were more likable now, especially since both were trying their utmost to grow stronger.

    They realized that the world didn''t revolve around them and that everyone worked hard to be stronger. Thus, they did the same, spending day and night to improve their strength, deepen their knowledge, and expand their territory to grow even more powerful.

    ''I hope it''s nothing too bad,'' Michael thought when he received a message from Jacqueline.

    [Jacqueline Ondo(Annoying Girl): Igor Kolbenheim''s territory was attackedst week. He suffered major losses, but he is not severely injured and his territory won''t fall. However¡­now Frederik''s territory is under attack¡­.He¡­has been in the Origin Expanse for the past three days, and there are no signs of him¡­I can''t do anything to help him¡­I am so useless¡­I hope he is fine. He has to be. I will kill him if something happens to him!!!]

    "Huh," Michael and Kaleb blurted out simultaneously. They looked at each other''s crystal watch, only to see that they''d received the same reply.

    Jacqueline must have copy pasted her message.

    "A territory attack. It''s not like that''s something abnormal," Alice said with a shrug after she read the message from Kaleb''s sta messenger.

    Alice was not worried about Frederik. That was a little reassuring, even though it was quite obvious that the Frozen Duchess couldn''t care less about Frederik Kolbenheim. All Alice cared about was her family, her territory, and results. At least, that was the public consensus. She was cold and heartless to everyone but her family.

    "His family is rather small but they''re filthy rich. Their connections might not beparable to the Zenovia family, but they have enough money to invest as much ¨C if not more ¨C into their offspring as High Nobles and Supreme Families invest in their descendants. Igor should have invested a great fortune in Frederik''s territory and growth. Don''t worry too much," Alice said somewhat coldly as her eyes moved between Kaleb and Michael.

    Her voice might be cold but her words were reassuring. Michael and Kaleb looked at each other and smiled lightly.

    "I would rather fight myself," Michael said, which was approved by Kaleb.

    "Same here."

    Neither Michael nor Kaleb had been too worried about Frederik because they knew that their friend had been working hard to grow stronger recently. Oveing this ordeal would allow him to grow even stronger than before. A territory attack was a great opportunity even though it could also devolve into a disaster. Nheless, it required Alice''s intervention to reassure them that everything would be fine.

    The tiny traces of worry and doubt dispersed as Alice cleared her throat.

    "Either way. Let''s get back to business," Alice said, changing the topic while intensely staring at the two youths.

    "Business?"

    "Yes, business," Alice said, smiling lightly at the two youths, "Precisely, your business as students is to give me - your teacher - a report about your battles, tactics, and future ns for the Battle Exchange."

    Alice smiled at Kaleb and Michael, but the two young men could swear to have never seen a more devilish smile. It wasn''t Alice''s ordinary cold and nearly expressionless smile. No. It was something far more terrifying.

    "Are you serious, sis?" Kaleb blurted aloud, only to groan in pain as Alice''s hand smacked t on his head.

    Tears welled in Kaleb''s eyes. That was how hard Alice hit him.

    "I am your teacher right now, and I''m disappointed as your teacher!"

    "Disappointed? But we almost defeated Maria Wang and her team! That''s amazing, don''t you think?" Kaleb said stubbornly, only to receive another loud smack on the head.

    "If winning against them involves sacrificing yourselves, I don''t even want to imagine how you and Michael will end up fighting in a life-and-death battle when your territory is under attack," Alice thundered, "Will you rely on others to protect you after you copse onto the ground mere two seconds into the battle? In that case, you might as well rush into the enemy''s camp and present them your head on a silver te!"

    As Alice said thest few words her head flicked to Michael. She stared at him coldly, causing Michael to press his lips together, knowing damn well that herst sentence was directed at him.

    "If you guys fight like that against the Tekur, you might as well go home. That way you will live at least."

 Chapter 351 Territory Attack

    <h4>Chapter 351 Territory Attack</h4>

    Micheal didn''t really understand how their discussion about his past, his sister being the War Empress who disappeared a long time ago, and Frederik''s territory being under attack turned into a lesson for Michael and Kaleb.

    Alice criticized their strategy and attitude in the Team discipline for more than half an hour before she ordered them to write a detailed report about their thoughts before the battle, their tactic, and what they nned to do now that they obtained one g War Token.

    Michael felt that Alice had gone a little bit over the top with her critique, but he understood her main focus. The Best Mix team would have died miserably facing the zing Sun Team as enemies. If they had been real enemies, who were after each other''s life, Michael''s n would have failed miserably, and all of them would have died.

    But Michael''s n was created with that in mind. He knew that the referee would interfere before anyone would be harmed. That was also why he chose tobine Enhancement with the Legendary Ice Staff while Lokai used most of her energy to overclock Burning Fury to strengthen Kaleb''s Frozen Nova.

    It would have been even better if Michael could use Enhancement on Frozen Nova directly, but it was not like Michael could touch Kaleb''s Soultrait Symbol. Even then, Michael was very satisfied with the result of the battle against the zing Sun team.

    They had been a lot stronger than them, yet thebined efforts of the Best Mix team eliminated most enemies. Alice feared that Michael and Kaleb would be under the impression that the same tactic would work well against the Tekur race, but that was something she didn''t have to worry about. Michael didn''t really n to use the same tactic against the Tekur either way. Even if he did, he would apply moreyers of Enhancement onto the Legendary Ice Staff to ensure that all Tekur in Frozen Nova''s range would be frozen in an instant.

    For that, Michael had to store more Power of Enhancement in his Legendary Ring Artifact, but that was quite easy. There were almost three months left before the g War started.

    Except for Alice''s critique, Michael was quite satisfied. The fight against the zing Sub team was exciting, which was mostly due to the result he achieved frombining the effect of multiple Soultraits. It was interesting to apply the tactics he came up with in real battles andbine Soultraits to create miraculous effects and unleash their full power.

    "What are we going to do now?" Kaleb asked him, looking at Michael with dead-tired eyes.

    It looked like Kaleb had fought against a wave of monsters for three days straight even though they had only been listening to his sister''s nagging for half an hour.

    "There is nothing much to do. Mekhaz, Thaor, and Lokai said that they don''t want the g War Token. They want to continue fighting others to obtain their own Tokens. I guess they still don''t like that they could only reach the top 100 of the Team discipline with your support. You were our team''s MVP, after all. That means you can take the Token," Michael responded with a shrug, "As for the Battle Points for entering the top 100, they''ve already been distributed."

    "How about you take the Token? I will fight others to get my own token," Kaleb said, but Michael shook his head.

    "I''ll join the Survival of the Fittest discipler. If I cannot enter the top 200 there, I will enter the Origin Expanse for a few weeks. I can buy some resources with the Battle Points from the Team discipline. I can grow stronger in the Origin Expanse with more time to use, and then get my own Token. You deserve this token since your contribution was the highest in the Team discipline," He said, patting his friend on the back.

    Michael could have taken the g War Token, but he didn''t want to take Kaleb''s coin. Furthermore, he secretly hoped that he wouldn''t make it to the top 200 in the Survival of the Fittest discipline because that meant he would have to stay out of the Origin Expanse most of the time. ording to the rules, every Token Holder would have to leave the Origin Expanse once every day to receive challenges. Their schedule would be filled with challengers trying to take their Tokens, which meant that they had less time to spend in the Origin Expanse.

    Michael would rather spend most of his time in the Origin Expanse and obtain his token at the end of the Battle Exchange than stay in Piloq fighting dozens of battles a day ¨C even if that was also very helpful to gain experience.

    "Hmm¡­okay, if you say so," Kaleb responded and epted the g War Token.

    "It''s almost time for the Survival of the Fittest discipline. Are you ready?" He asked, trying to change the topic a little.

    Kaleb was still tired, but too many things happened today. He felt like distracting himself a little bit.

    "Of course, I''m read¡ª...." Michael was about to agree when he stopped in his tracks.

    Kaleb nearly ran into his friend, who looked at the back of his right hand, his brows furrowed.

    "What''s wrong?"

    "I think my territory is under attack¡­probably?" Michael responded slowly.

    The Links of Loyalty with his subjects told Michael quite clearly that some of his Summons had been injured.

    Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurers were distressed. Their emotions were fluctuating wildly, confusion filling their connection with Michael.

    Despite the injuries and chaotic Links of Loyalty, none of his Summons died¡­yet.

    "First Frederik and now you? What the hell is going on here?" Kaleb cursed silently, staring at his own War Rune as if he was wondering if his territory was about to be attacked as well.

    "Looks like I have to skip the Survival discipline," Michael said, trying to calm his emotions as he manifested the Runic Gate leading to the Untamed Jungle in front of him, "Maybe it''s something minor. Nobody died yet."

    "If you have some spare time, please inform Alice. I doubt that it''s anything major but I might have to stay in the Origin Expanse for a while," Michael added before stepping into the Runic Gate.

    Michael disappeared, leaving Kaleb alone in the hallway.

    He reappeared in his room inside the wooden manor and rushed outside immediately. When he was back in the Origin Expanse and closer to his subjects, Michael felt the pulling force from the Links of Loyalty much stronger than before. At that moment he realized that he might have underestimated the severity of the situation.

    Trouble awaited him.

    The first subjects Michael found was a group of injured Warriors. Their armor was burned and burn marks covered their bodies. Michael kicked the ground and crossed 20 meters in an instant, emerging in front of the warriors.

    "What happened to you guys?" He asked, ignoring their surprise.

    Two Warriors wanted to kneel down in front of him to pay respect to their Lord, but Michael pulled them back up.

    "My Lord, you''re back!"

    "My Lord!"

    "You''ve finally returned!"

    Michael rolled his eyes and pointed at the Warrior who had yet to say something, "Tell me what''s going on!"

    Nobody had died yet, but the situation felt urgent. Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team''s Links of Loyalty were filled with irritation, anger, and killing intent.

    "M-Me?... My L-Lord¡­I am not sure myself," The young Warrior said hesitatingly before he revealed everything he knew, "We were training the whole morning when Commander Tiara and Captain Lilica received reports about Elementals wreaking havoc near our territory. We have never encountered Elementals before so Commander Tiara sent ire and the others to investigate the situation. I don''t know what they found out but we were ordered to eliminate the Lesser Elementals, while Commander Tiara, Captain Lilica, and many others left in the direction the Elementals came from. While fighting the Lesser Elementals, we realized toote that the Fire Elementals explode once their Monster Cores are on the verge of drying up¡­"

    Despite being intimidated by Michael and rather shy, the young Warrior recalled everything that had happened since this morning with enough details to give his lord a rough idea of the situation. Nodding his head grimly, Michael retrieved a handful of potions which he handed the Warriors.

    "Take these and rest for today. You did a great job protecting the territory," Michael said and was about to step away when he recalled something. "In which direction did Tiara and the others leave?"

    "T-Thank you, my lord! They left for the western part of the middle area, my lord!" The young Warrior eximed, saluting Michael as his lord left with a nod.

    Michael channeled energy through his lower body to elerate. He retrieved a small crystal and infused some origin energy into it to call Tiara via the messaging crystal.

    ''There haven''t been any reports about Elementals. The Untamed Jungle shouldn''t have any Elementals. If any, there should be Nature Elementals, Wood Elementals, and maybe Water Elementals¡­but what''s that about Fire Elementals?''

    Just as Michael was trying to figure out what was going on while rushing to the western part of the Untamed Jungle''s middle area, themunication crystal glowed up.

    Michael''s focus split up as he continued to move nimbly through the forest while paying attention to themunication crystal.

    "I heard that Elementals appeared. Tell me about your situation. Is everyone fine?" Michael asked loudly.

    "Master, you''re back!" Tiara''s excited voice rang through themunication crystal.

    The excitement in her voice calmed Michael immediately. Tiara wouldn''t sound excited and full of vigor if she or anyone around her was injured. That was a good sign.

    "We''re perfectly fine¡­though the situation is a little bit confusing," Tiara began but was interrupted by a rustling noise beside her. Tiara squealed out, "That''s mine! Let me talk with Master! It''s not your turn yet!!"

    Tiara groaned in the next moment and Lilica''s voice rang through Tiara''smunication crystal.

    "Wee back, Michael. You must have noticed that something was wrong with our Links of Loyalty¡­" Lilica said, sounding both excited and confused at the same time.

    "It''s umon for Tiara, and the entire EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to create strong ripples in the Links of Loyalty. Furthermore, two dozen Summons sustained injuries almost at the same time. I was worried that the territory was under attack, so I came back," Michael revealed his worries though hearing their voices diminished some of those thoughts.

    "The Lesser Elementals must have injured the Warriors. I hope nobody died," Lilica responded, but Michael reassured her, "They were only injured. But tell me about the situation. I''m already on my way."

    "Well¡­actually, it is pretty simple, yet also confusing. We found a cave full of Elementals a few days ago. But the cave is not normal. Or should I say, the Elementals are not normal. They have been subdued and are enved¡­"

    Lilica''s voice rang out from themunication crystal, her words causing the cogs in his mind to work tirelessly.

    "Enved¡­do you mean there is another Lord in the middle area?" Michael asked, a mix of confusion and excitement shing through his eyes.

    "Yes¡­"

    And that was when Michael found out about the second Lord in the Untamed Jungle.

 Chapter 352 Kitsun

    <h4>Chapter 352 Kitsun</h4>

    After the initial confusion, Lilica summarized the situation once again to make sure that he could think of countermeasures as soon as possible.

    "This morning, ire and her scouting team discovered a group of Lesser Elementals hunting in the western part of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. But they were not ordinary Lesser Elementals. We noticed all of them wore chokers made from crystals. They were controlled by a group of beings which ire and her scouts determined to be Summons," Lilica began her summary.

    However, Michael was a little doubtful. He was not sure how ire and her scouts could be certain that the beings controlling the Elementals were Summons, but Lilica gave him a quick exnation.

    ire attained enlightenment from spending several days with one of the memory crystals Michael had prepared a while ago. She acquired the advanced Intuition of a Master Tracker, allowing her to gauge the strength, danger level and state of existence of most beings in her field of vision instinctively.

    That was quite helpful, and Michael could already imagine how useful such a natural ability would be in the future. It would be even better if more scouts would learn from her to ensure that everyone could act more intuitively in the face of potential danger.

    "These Summons look like a mix of hideous demonlings and spirits. Their upper body is mostly humanlike except for the monstrosity of their hideous head. Their head looks like that of a fox, just bigger, uglier, and they have one or two horns jutting from their forehead. Either way, their lower body looks like a cloud. It should be a ck gas they expel through their torso to levitate in the air and move around," Lilica described the Summons in as much detail as possible. She thought about it for a moment, and carefully added, "They also seem to possess fox-like tails. The stronger their rank the more tails protrude from their rear."

    Michael was pretty sure that he had never heard of such a race before, but Lilica''s detailed description was more than enough to research the race. It was only a matter of time before he would know what race the other Lord belonged to, and how powerful the race was.

    "Good job finding them. But tell me more about the situation for now. You told me about the Elementals wearing chokers, and that Summons controlled them. What about the cave you mentioned earlier? Are you in the other Lord''s territory, or can you retreat? Give me some more information!" Michaelmanded after throwing a barrage of questions.

    "ire and her scouting team retreated after encountering the Lesser Elementals. They split up to scout the surroundings and lead the Knights, Warriors, and Sun Demos'' Demon Monkey unit to deal with the Lesser Elementals that were about to stumble upon our territory. Meanwhile, Tiara, and we, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, decided to find out more about the other Lord and his powers. That''s how we found some Awakened working for the other Lord," Lilica exined but was quick to add, "Don''t worry, we didn''t hunt the Awakened. We decided to hide and, somehow, stumbled upon a cave. The cave I mentioned earlier."

    Lilica was not yet done exining everything, but before the Forest Elf could continue sharing more information about the current situation, Tiara fought valiantly against the Forest Elf to retrieve hermunication crystal. Muffled screams and groans rang out from themunication crystal just before Tiara''s voice reached his ears once again.

    "Don''t worry, Master. I will hunt one of these Awakened, and bring him back for you! Can I kill him, or do you want a hostage, master?" Tiara asked, her breathing rough from the excitement flooding through her entire being.

    Michael chuckled upon hearing her excitement. He sometimes forgot that Tiara belonged to the Tigerfolk and that her wild instincts overwhelmed her every now and then. It was a nice change, and definitely much better than the scenarios he had imagined when he left Piloq to rush into the Origin Expanse.

    Encountering another Lord in the Untamed Jungle might not be what Michael expected, but it might not be that bad either.

    "Since we know nothing about the other Lord, we should collect information first. Capture one of the Awakened alive and return without attracting any attention. I don''t want an army charging into our territory tomorrow morning!" Michael said, repeating himself a few more times to make sure that Tiara would be vignt and stealthy.

    "Consider it done, master. Just wait for us!" Tiara eximed before throwing hermunication crystal back to Lilica.

    "Ehh¡­Oof¡­My Lord, I am not sure if you should trust Tiara right now. She has probably one of ''those'' days¡­" Lilica said carefully and hesitatingly.

    She cleared her throat and added, "Either way¡­where was I? The cave is filled with Elementals, right? There are many Elementals in the cave, with the Lesser Elementals wearing these crystal chokers, and stronger Elementals, who have been chained to the wall using crystal chains. They''re fully restricted, and cannot move an inch."

    Lilica''s voice cracked after she said thest bits. She quietly revealed that they couldn''t enter the deeper parts of the cave because of the high security in the cave and that something was amiss.

    "It feels¡­abnormal, and weird. Their existence in the cave is already against thews of nature, but the cave feels unnatural as well¡­ Something is very wrong here¡­"

    As Forest Elves, Lilica and her team were very close to nature. They were quite familiar with the flora and fauna of all the forests. That also meant the unfamiliarity and weird feeling Lilica mentioned was quite concerning.

    "There is no need to go deeper. Just return home. I will send ire and the others to scout the Untamed Jungle''s western outer ring and parts of the middle area to find out more about the other Lord, his territory''s size, and whatnot. Once I know more about the Lord, his race, and his attitude toward other Lords, we can initiate countermeasures. For now, make sure that you guyse back safely¡­including Tiara."

    "We will return safely," Lilica said in all seriousness, "I don''t know the Lord''s race, but the Elders might know. You can ask the Elder. He will probably help him."

    Michael nodded his head subconsciously. He had been talking to one of the Forest Elves Elders every now and then about oldnguages and future business prospects between him and the Forest Elven Tribe. The discussions had been quite pleasant, which was also why Michael retrieved anothermunication crystal from his War Rune.

    He ended his call with Lilica and infused energy in the dark blue crystal he''d just retrieved. Putting onemunication crystal back into the War Rune''s storage space, Michael called the Forest Elven Elder.

    "Good evening, Lord Michael. It has been a while since we chatted. How can I help you today? Do you want to talk about oldnguages with this old man again?" A sonorous voice filled with wisdom swept out from themunication crystal less than a minute after Michael infused energy into it.

    "Hello Elder Silram. I hope you''re doing well as always. Unfortunately, I''m not calling you to discuss more about oldnguages. We encountered a small problem ¡­" Michael greeted the Elder before jumping straight to the point.

    He exined the predicament with as many detailed pieces of information as he had ¨C which was not exactly a lot. The Elder of the Forest Elven Tribe listened intently and did not answer immediately.

    Several minutes of silence passed before a heavy sigh escaped Elder Silram''s lips.

    "It looks like misfortune pursues you like a possessive lover, young Lord," Elder Silram said, trying to lighten the tension in his body with a little joke. However, the seriousness of the situation didn''t allow any jokes.

    Michael furrowed his brow in response to the Elder''sment, "I take that as a bad sign."

    "A bad sign? That''s for sure. I know the race you described just now much better than I want to. In fact, I fought them twice in the Origin Expanse, and it always ended disastrously even though I emerged victorious," Elder Silram''s voice was devoid of his usual cheerfulness.? Everything around Michael seemed to turn silent as he listened intently.

    "You will have to fight them, the sooner the better. They''re called Seven-tail Spirits, also called Kitsun. Kitsun are known for being a cruel, treacherous race, who cannot be trusted. In fact, they don''t even trust each other if no Soul Contract has been established between them. Even then, the Kitsun will search for loopholes in the Soul Contract to take advantage of their brethren," The Elder told Michael everything he knew.

    He spoke for more than ten minutes, making unease crawl up Michael''s spine.

    "They don''t know mercy, and their strength cannot be underestimated either. Don''t take them lightly!"

    Michael could only curse his luck the longer he listened to the Elder''s description of the Kitsun race. He already guessed that it would be pretty difficult to talk with the other Lord and that it was highly unlikely that they would end up on good terms, but the information he obtained was even more unpleasant than the worst he had imagined.

    "I guess that leaves out the option for peace, and a friendly, business-rted rtionship. That is quite unfortunate," Michael mumbled, mostly to himself instead of Elder Silram.

    However, Elder Silram heard what Michael said, and he couldn''t help but frown on his side of themunication channel.

    "You don''t seem to be displeased about the change of events," He pointed out.

    "Am I not displeased? Howe you think I''m in a good mood?" Michael asked curiously.

    "You''re excited, aren''t you?"

 Chapter 353 Information

    <h4>Chapter 353 Information</h4>

    Just like Elder Silram thought, Michael was not in a bad mood. He was a little excited and felt that it was good to know that the Kitsun were treacherous and merciless.

    Elder Silram''s knowledge meant that Michael could fight the Kitsun without the need to hold back. There was no need for further questions, let alone considering approaching the Kitsun with peace and business prospects in mind.

    Nheless, Michael decided to wait for Tiara and the Awakened she had promised to capture alive. It wasn''t bad to wait for more information before taking action.

    He returned home and waited for Tiara and the Forest Elves back in the wooden manor. At the same time, he met up with ire and several scouting teams to redistribute a handful of missions. They would focus on the western part of the Untamed Jungle now, their main focus being the outer ring and the middle area.

    ''Maybe I should send a few scouts to the eastern part as well. Maybe there are also a few surprises waiting for me,'' Michael thought before he sent one of the smaller scouting teams to the eastern part of the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and middle area.

    Since the Untamed Jungle was ginormous, it was already hard to gain control of the southern part. Michael had been focusing on the southern outer ring since it bordered the Zentika Empire, which resulted in missing out on the Kitsun Lord in the western area. If the Kitsun Lord had found him earlier, he would have probably attacked Michael already. But then again, Michael wasn''t even sure whether the Kitsun Lord had found him by now, or if the Kitsun Lord was still oblivious to his existence. After all, the Lesser Elementals and Summons who shed with his Warriors and Knights were dead.

    ire and the others said that there hadn''t been anymunication crystals, special signals, or scouts either.

    ''Let''s wait for Tiara before jumping to conclusions.'' Michael told himself while reading through the daily reports.

    "I missed so many things¡­and I don''t even have the time to focus on them now that I found out. How annoying," Michael grumbled, his eyes scanning through quickly as he finished the daily reports. Too many interesting events happened while he spent his time outside the Origin Expanse to grow stronger and get to know the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Unfortunately, he had to deal with the Kitsun Lord first before he would have some more time to focus on the happenings in his territory. He was too busy for his own good, which was both amusing and frustrating at the same time.

    Michael finished reading the daily reports that were pending for thest few days when Tiara came back with her prey. It was an unconscious Kitsun with a sturdy upper body and arge War Rune on the back of his right hand.

    "You captured a Mid Tier-2 Awakened. Good job," Michael praised as he left the wooden manor to wee Tiara.

    Other than her disheveled hair and dirty clothes, Tiara was unscathed. She smiled brightly, shing her white teeth as she threw the unconscious body in front of Michael.

    "It''s a small bonus. I caught him quite easily. He didn''t expect someone to appear behind him," She bragged.

    Michael bent down and pressed his palm against the unconscious Kitsun''s forehead. He closed his eyes and used Mind Reader to read the Kitsun''s memories.

    All of a sudden, just as Michael breached past the Kitsun''s mental defense, severe pain spread through his head. It felt like an electricity current wreaked havoc inside his head, making him unable to focus on anything.

    He wasn''t able to read the Kitsun''s memories like that.

    "Should I use Extraction? No, the Memory Orbs don''t contain nearly as many memories as Mind Reader," Michael mumbled.

    As long as the target was unconscious, Mind Reader could be used to read the memories hidden deeper inside the target''s mind. Subconscious thoughts, even dreams could be read using Mind Reader ¨C at least theoretically.

    Michael started to use Extraction in an attempt to break through the Kitsun''s natural mental defense against mind attacks. He used Mind Reader after that once again.

    This time, he could read some of the Kitsun''s thoughts without feeling any pain. Unfortunately, Mind Reader wasn''t advanced enough to read everything in the Kitsun''s mind while the target was still unconscious.

    "In that case, I will upgrade you a little bit," He murmured, essing the SoulStar Fragments that were waiting patiently to be used.

    Michael had a total of 816 SoulStar Fragments, and Mind Reader was a 1-Star Soultrait. Upgrading it to 4-Star didn''t even require 250 SoulStar Fragments, under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, Mind Reader was at the outermost area of the Sphere of Light. Advancing Mind Reader to the next level costs 2.5 times the price.

    Despite the heavy price, Michael decided to follow his gut feeling. He spent 606 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Mind Reader to a 4-Star Soultrait. Even though he cursed the expensive upgrade in his mind, Michael remained calm on the outside as he used Mind Reader once again.

    The unconscious Kitsun was just about to regain consciousness when a powerful force infiltrated his head.

    "Who is your Lord? How manybatants does the Kitsun Lord have? Does he know about any other Lords? What is his n? How many Awakened are working for the Lord? How strong is yourbat force? Provide me with as many details as possible!" An indomitable voice swept through the Kitsun''s ears, one question after another. The Kitsun groaned in pain, and his entire being tried to retreat instinctively.

    His mind tried to shut off and restrain the invasion of any kind of force. However, before the mind could shut off, Michael''s Extraction tore down every little bit of resistance that was built. The Kitsun thought about the answers to Michael''s questions subconsciously. It was only natural. He didn''t want to answer the questions but he still thought about everything questioned as a reflex.

    That was exactly what Michael had hoped for. He read the Kitsun''s mind using Mind Reader, imprinting every bit of information in his mind while continuing to ask more questions. The Kitsun couldn''t even resist as his mental defense was torn down the moment it was raised.

    Almost an entire hour passed before Michael released the Kitsun, who crashed to the ground motionless.

    Michael was not sure if the Kitsun was dead or not, but he couldn''t care less about that right now. A sadistic bastard, who received pleasure from inflicting pain on innocent young girls and children was not someone who deserved to stay alive. Thus, Michael moved subconsciously, manifesting a Qi Sword that pierced through the unmoving Kitsun''s head, eliminating the sadistic piece of shit at once.

    An energy influx entered Michael''s body, and he used Extraction to extract a few dozen SoulStar Fragments, a Tier-2 Artifact, a few more goods that were stored in the Kitsun''s storage space, and a Memory Orb.

    Michael stared at the Memory Orb in hatred and crushed it. He had seen enough through Mind Reader to know what the Memory Orb would show him¡­and that was more than enough to know that he had to eliminate the Kitsun Lord ¨C the sooner the better.

    One of the most important facts Michael found out while reading the Kitsun''s memories and thoughts was that Elder Silram''s information had been correct. The Kitsun Lord and his subordinates were all bastards and assholes.

    The Kitsun caught by Tiara had been one of the oldest Awakened working for the Kitsun Lord. But he was not the strongest, which was something hepensated by torturing young and innocent children. He didn''t even care whether the children belonged to other races, or if they were also Kitsun. The more thoughts Michael read and the more memories he saw the more disgusted he felt. It was definitely not enjoyable to read the thoughts of a jackass, sadistic bastard such as the dead Kistun lying in front of him.

    Either way, the Kitsun didn''t have any real power even though he had been working for the Kitsun Lord for a decade already. ording to the memories and thoughts of the Kitsun the Lord had tricked him and made him sign a tight Soul Contract holding him back from abandoning, or betraying the Kitsun Lord.

    A Soul Contract was a more binding version of a Link of Loyalty. It was expensive to establish a Soul Contract between two parties, and it was usually used for important business deals between two parties rather than strengthening a Link of Loyalty to ensure that the Lord''s subordinates wouldn''t betray him.

    However, the Kitsun Lord did exactly that. All Awakened working for him were under a Soul Contract in addition to the Link of Loyalty. That was also how the Kitsun Lord ensured that nobody betrayed him even after he became a Lord in the Untamed Jungle a decade ago.

    The Kitsun was a rather old Lord in the Untamed Jungle. However, ording to the Kitsun''s memories the Kitsun Lord had been focusing on expanding his territory outside the Untamed Jungle because the inner area was way too dangerous for him and his people. Furthermore, the Kitsun preferred the savannah region adjacent to the Untamed Jungle''s western side. The Untamed Jungle was the ce he hated the most.

    "So now he wants to expand his territory in the Untamed Jungle? So he wants to fight us¡­I see¡­" Michael mumbled, the corner of his lips curling upward.

    He didn''t have anything against a challenging battle. Defeating a Lord and many Awakened would allow him to grow much stronger in a short period. Tiara and the other Awakened in his territory would benefit a lot from the battles as well, just like his Warriors, who would earn experience and energy influx from every enemy they yed.

    But the most satisfying would be to get rid of a pest like the Kitsun Lord.

    Being able to survive for a decade in the Origin Expanse might have been possible until now.

    Now it was about time that the Kitsun Lord got a taste of his own medicine.

 Chapter 354 A bunch of birds and one stone

    <h4>Chapter 354 A bunch of birds and one stone</h4>

    By the time Michael finished digesting the memories and thoughts of the dead Kitsun, ire and the first scouting team had returned.

    "My lord, we came back with the information you asked for," ire reported, her breathing still rough from running through the Untamed Jungle for thest few hours.

    ire and the first scouting team scouted the area between Michael''s territory and the territory of the Kitsun Lord to gather intel and to make sure that the Kitsun Lord couldn''t initiate a surprise attack.

    "Go on," Michael indicated to ire, who was still panting heavily to catch some air.

    "We didn''t discover any more Summons, or Elementals between our territories. However, the first scouting team told me that two of their members were able to infiltrate the Kitsun Lord''s territory without being discovered," ire began her report. She took a few heavy breaths and continued.

    "The scouts reported that they know where the Kitsun Lord''s main base is located, and that the Awakened working for the Kitsun Lord didn''t consider the death of a few dozen Lesser Elementals and Summons as unique. Either they don''t know about our existence and think that a group of monsters killed them, or they don''t consider us dangerous enough to act against us¡­."

    15 minutester ire finished her report. It was very detailed considering that her team and the first scouting team had only been sent out scouting for a few hours. ire only stopped talking during her report to breathe. Afterward, she stood in front of Michael, her back straightened and her eyes shining with an unwavering spirit.

    "Good job. You, your team, and the first scouting team can rest now. Everyone in your team and the first scouting team deserves to be praised for your courage and stealthiness. Don''t hesitate to request an additional Energy Nourishing Pill and a Body Strengthening Pill. You guys deserve it," Michael was generous with his praise of the scouts.

    He rewarded them handsomely, which caused surprise, excitement and a trace of disbelief to appear on the faces of the people around Michael. Even Tiara and the Forest Elven Awakened were a little surprised at Michael''s generosity. The pills he handed out so lightly were expensive and in high demand. Not even Michael had enough Body Strengthening Pills and Energy Nourishing Pills to use for himself.

    Michael ignored the reaction of the people around him. Instead, his mind drifted to something else. ire''s report affirmed that the dead Kitsun''s memories and thoughts had been correct.

    Michael had been a little worried that the memories and thoughts had been falsified through brainwashing, or the aftereffect of the Soul Contract between the dead Kitsun and the Kitsun Lord. However, that didn''t seem to be the case.

    Thus, Michael could confirm the truth of the dead Kitsun''s information.

    ''Even if the Kitsun Lord''s territory manifested in the Untamed Jungle at first, why didn''t he move his headquarters to the savannah after he expanded his territory? Why was it better for him to create several settlements across his territory instead? They should have moved if they really hated the environment of the Untamed Jungle. It''s not like his territory is small¡­''

    Given the information Michael procured from the dead Kitsun, the Kitsun Lord had multiple settlements spread across his territory. However, there was only one big headquarters in the Untamed Jungle. The headquarters was also where the Summoning Gate and the wooden manor were located. It was also the ce with the tightest security alongside the cave filled with Elementals.

    Even though the headquarters and the Elemental cave were protected the best, the Kitsun Lord didn''t neglect his territory in the savannah. It was also well protected ¨C his people split up evenly to ensure that no other Lord could attack his settlements easily. The dead Kitsun informed Michael about various means of defense the Kitsun Lord had installed in the savannah, including thousands of traps and special monster ranches that breed bloodthirsty monsters trained to hurt everyone but the members of the Kitsun race after they were released for the hunt.

    At first, Michael thought that it might be necessary to gather his forces immediately and attack the Kitsun Lord in a rush. But that wasn''t the case apparently. ording to the dead Kitsun''s memories and thoughts, the Kitsun Lord knew about the issues between a Lord in the Untamed Jungle ¨C Michael ¨C and the Zentika Empire. However, the Kitsun Lord couldn''t be bothered to interfere.

    The Kitsun Lord didn''t even bother to send scouts to check Michael''s territory ¨C not even after Michael emerged victorious against 50,000 members of the Jungle Expedition.

    The disinterest of the Kitsun Lord was quite confusing until Michael learned that hemanded roughly 1000 Awakened Kitsun, more than 35,000batants and that he had a few bloodthirsty beast ranches spread everywhere across his territory with thousands of beasts that had been starved and were thirsting for fresh blood and flesh.

    None of the Awakened Kitsun working for the Kitsun Lord was a Tier-1 Awakened at this point. Most were at the 2nd Tier with some being Tier-3. The only good thing was that none of the Kitsun ¨C not even the Kitsun Lord ¨C broke through the threshold to be a Higher Lifeform. None of the Kitsun was a Tier-4 Awakened, and that didn''t seem to change anytime soon because the Kitsun Lord was more focused on his business than anything else at this point.

    The Kitsun might be treacherous, merciless, and bastards, but they were not actually powerful either. That was also the reason why they let the Lesser Elementals fight the monsters in the Untamed Jungle ¨C because they were too weak!

    However, that was also a problem. The Elementals were the reason why Michael didn''t charge at the Kitsun Lord''s headquarters with his entire army right off the bat. After all, not even the dead Kitsun knew how many Elementals had been bred, how strong the strongest Elementals under the Kitsun Lord''s control was, and what exactly the Kitsun Lord was nning with the Elementals he didn''t need.

    It wasmonly known among the Awakened Kitsun working for the Kitsun Lord that he ruled over the Elementals in the Elemental cavern. However, nobody truly knew how the Kitsun Lord brought the Elementals to the Untamed Jungle, or how he subdued all of them. Some rumored that the Kitsun Lord was the one who brought the Elementals to the Origin Expanse, but that was never affirmed or denied.

    Michael felt bad for the Elementals. If he could avoid the Elementals'' capture and very in the cave just to get rid of the Kitsun Lord he would do it.

    Lilica and the others felt the same. She told him in detail how badly the Elementals were treated in the Elementals cave, and the things she saw had merely been the tip of the iceberg. The exhausted screams and desperate cries deeper down in the cave still made her shudder.

    But the pity he felt for the Elementals was not the entire reason why he decided that it would be a shame to annihte the Elementals enved by the Kitsun Lord.

    Sure he felt pity, but Michael wouldn''t endanger the safety of his army just for the sake of a noble cause of freeing the caged, after all. However, the benefits of keeping the Elementals alive and rescuing them exceeded the potential risk by far.

    Elementals existed not only as monsters but also as intelligent lifeforms. Once their intelligence developed far enough they could learn how tomunicate using the tongue of the Origin Expanse. They even created societies muchrger than some civilizations.

    Despite that, many considered Elementals as lowly lifeforms because they were formed from the elements. A simple rainstorm could devastate a society consisting solely of fire elementals, a drought could weaken water elementals, and so on. Their powers were exceptional, but their weaknesses were even more apparent.

    Last but not least, most intelligent lifeforms couldn''t help but consider Elementals as lowly lifeforms because they were not chosen by the Will of the Origin Expanse. Every race incapable of manifesting War Runes and entering the Origin Expanse on their own ord was considered a lowly lifeform ¨C just like the human race more than 500 years ago.

    But Michael didn''t think like that. On the contrary, it was much better for him if the Origin Expanse didn''t allow them to manifest War Runes. After all, that meant the Elementals living in the cave were desperate to survive and create their own foothold in the Origin Expanse ¨C the Untamed Jungle to be precise.

    The mere existence of Elementals in his proximity was already enough reason to give his utmost to save some of them from the Kitsun Lord''s control. After all, their presence was already enough to create elemental crystals in caverns, and elemental spirit seeds. Both weremon products for the Elementals and they were both helpful and valuable especially for Michael and his territory since many potions could be concocted from the ripened products of the elemental spirit seeds. Fertilizers could channel the elemental energy of elemental crystals to grow nts that would usually only grow in other environments than the Untamed Jungle.

    And that was not even all. Elemental crystals could also be used for Armaments, and they could be given to Mages to amplify their strength inbat.

    Last but not least, having amiable Elementals next to him would mean that Michael had to worry less about enemies. Elementals were quite powerful, and everything Michael read about them indicated that they would repay good deeds a hundredfold, and hatred ten-thousandfold.

    Rescuing the Elementals and fighting side-by-side against the Kitsun Lord could propel Michael''s territory development further ahead all while getting rid of potential danger.

    A n slowly formed in Michael''s head ¨C A n to kill as many birds as possible with one stone.

 Chapter 355 Night Attack

    <h4>Chapter 355 Night Attack</h4>

    It was interesting that the Kistun Lord didn''t seem to consider Michael and his people as a threat. Did he think that Michael was a pushover or was he confident in his own strength? If so, what exactly made him so confident?

    Michael''s army grew a lot stronger since the space shuttle arrived in Piloq. His ownbat prowess couldn''t be underestimated either. He grew a lot even if it was not directly rted to the refinement degree of his War Rune. Thus, Michael was more than willing to test out the limits of his own strength, and his army''s prowess.

    "The downside of expanding your territory and creating multiple mid-sized settlements is that you cannot keep your entire army in one spot. You fight on too many sides and risk too much, Kitsun Lord," Michael mumbled, while continuing to rummage through the memories and thoughts of the dead Kitsun.

    The Kitsun Lord had to defend four borders in the Savannah region, the eastern side of his headquarters in the Untamed Jungle was constantly endangered due to the existence of powerful monsters lurking nearby, and the northern side faced attacks every now and then.

    Michael was not certain, but he predicted that the Kitsun Lord didn''t have enough manpower to wage a war with Michael''s people in the south of his region as well. He had ignored Michael''s territory until now to avoid fighting him as well.

    Unfortunately, Michael was not the type who avoided fights and waited for the opponent to make the first move. He called his army to arm up and get ready for the battle before waiting patiently until more scouts reported the situation in the western part of the Untamed Jungle.

    Even if Michael didn''t avoid fights, he was not reckless enough to charge inside the enemy''s territory mindlessly. He called Sun Demos and his Demon Monkey Unit to infiltrate the Kitsun Lord''s territory to stir trouble north-east from the Kitsun Lord''s head-quarters. Sun Demos and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys moved silently through the thicket of the Untamed Jungle, avoiding monsters and Kitsun until they reached the north-west part of the Kitsun Lord''s territory.

    This travel required most of the day, which was perfect as Sun Demos and his subordinates could immediately take advantage of the darkness enveloping the Untamed Jungle at night to attack. In the meantime, Michael read enough reports from his scouts to have a rough understanding of the Kitsun Lord''s territory, his problems, hisbat prowess, and much more information.

    Using the newly acquired information, Michael came up with a small addition to his n. He informed Sun Demos about the new order through their telepathicmunication in addition to the permission to do whatever the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King wanted to do ¨C as long as he made sure that his subordinates heed the orders.

    Following the established n, Sun Demos and close to a thousand Blood Oath Demon Monkeys attacked at night. They even included the youngest generation of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys to show them what they were made of and give them some real battle experience. They began wreaking havoc by massacring hundreds of Kitsun in the outskirts of the main settlement. They caused a bloodbath, creating enoughmotion to wake everyone in the middle of the night.

    Startled and unsure of what had suddenly attacked their brethren in sleep, the defending Kitsun that were still alive could only watch in horror as the leaves ruffled and they saw bloody eyes retreat into the darkness.

    Seeing bodies that had been ripped apart mercilessly and squashed, the Kitsun defending the main settlement upped their guard. They tripled the guards and stared vigntly into the Untamed Jungle that looked even more ominous and deadly than ever.

    However, tripling their guard at the walls of the settlement was not enough. A pair of Greater Eagles shot through the darkness like ck-emerald meteorites. Icarus and the female Greater Eagle dived down in the center of the main settlement. They attacked the barracks, and captured the drowsybatants that were still half-drunk from drinking in the pub a few hours earlier, only to face death head-on in the middle of the night.

    They died, their heads drilled with a beak, their chests torn apart from the razor-sharp ws of the Greater Eagles, or picked up and dropped from a high altitude.

    But that was just the beginning. A golden sh shot through the air one moment, and the next moment a Heavy Armored Elephant with a weight of more than 12 tons appeared out of nowhere ¨C almost as if the tiny golden sh had swapped ces with the Heavy Armored Elephant.

    Following the Heavy Armored Elephant that appeared out of nowhere, the golden sh reappeared from the darkness of the ominous Untamed Jungle once again. It shed brightly, only to be reced by an otherworldly beauty with silver hair. A beauty from the Silverfang Tigerfolk had emerged from the golden light, her eyes gleaming in excitement. The bloodlust in her eyes intensified as she activated her Silvarean Tiger Soultrait.

    Tiara''s body slowly transformed in the middle of the night. Her eyes shone brightly and she was just about to charge ahead when the golden sh appeared next to her once again. It was the Golden Stinger Wasp that had the ability to swap ces with everyone it stung in thest ten minutes.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp was reced by Lilica, whose handnded on Tiara.

    "Calm down a little bit. We have only ten minutes. Our mission is to cause chaos and kill a few Awakened, who are either drunk or running around alone, nothing else. Michael will flog you if you stir trouble again!" Lilica warned Tiara, whose expression changed only when she heard Michael''s name.

    "Master will never flog me!" Tiara responded, but she became calmer than before nheless. She wanted to go for a hunt, challenge the Awakened enemies, and bring the prey back to Michael. However, Michael had given them another mission. They were instructed to wreak havoc in the main settlement for the next ten minutes until the Golden Wasp would switch ces with everyone once again to safely and quickly transport them back into the darkness and protection of the Untamed Jungle.

    The mission was as simple as that; wreak havoc and in the thicket of the Untamed Jungle until Michael returned.

    Tiara and the five members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had been sent inside the Kitsun Lord''s main settlement alongside the Greater Eagles, the Golden Stinger Wasp, and the Heavy Armored Elephant. Sun Demos and the Demon Monkeys, on the other hand, would attack the weak spots in the settlement''s walls to keep the Guards busy so that they couldn''t abandon their spot on the walls and rush to aid theirrades even though a bunch of monsters appeared in the center of the settlement.

    The guards on the walls didn''t even realize that the six enemy Awakened were already behind them,bining their forces to release a few batches of arrows into their backs before merging with the darkness in the settlement''s gloomy side alleys. A dozen guards died on the spot, signaling to Sun Demos and his subordinates to strike once again.

    This continued for nearly ten minutes until the Heavy Armored Elephant disappeared all of a sudden, reced by the tiny golden light that shed through the darkness. The light shot out of the settlement, swiftly moving Tiara, Lilica, and the four other Forest Elves out of the danger zone. Simultaneously, the Greater Eagles and the Demon Monkeys disappeared as well, leaving the main settlement in a state of chaos and despair.

    None of the Kitsun had expected a monster attack of this scale, let alone the infiltration of monsters and Awakened in the center of the settlement. They appeared simultaneously and disappeared at once after a few minutes. It had only been ten minutes in total, yet those minutes felt like an eternity to every citizen. It was horrifying¡­and it could happen again at any time.

    Scared of the unknown, the guards requested backup from the Elemental cave''s security. They informed the Awakened in charge who then left the Origin Expanse to forward the report to the Kitsun Lord. The Kitsun Lord was currently not in the Origin Expanse. In fact, he hadn''t been present for several weeks ording to the dead Kitsun''s intel. Taking advantage of that, Michael came up with his n.

    The Awakened in charge ordered a third of the Elemental cave''s security to aid the settlement''s guards. After all, it would be bad for every Awakened if something happened to the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate. ording to the Soul Contract established between the Kitsun Lord and the Awakened, nobody was allowed to touch the Summoning Gate and wooden manor other than the Kitsun Lord himself. Thus, the Awakened were worried that the invaders would attack the Summoning Gates and move their forces to the settlement ¨C which was exactly what Michael was hoping for.

    Using the Golden Stinger Wasp he could have teleported the Heavy Armored Elephant straight to the wooden manor. However, he didn''t want 1000 Awakened to be informed about the breach of their Soul Contract simultaneously. Inflicting fear in the hearts of the Kitsun with the possibility that someone could invade the settlement and attack the Summoning Gate was much better.

    It created an opening for Michael to enter the Elementals cave alongside his army.

    Initially, Michael wanted to enter the Elementals cave on his own, but the scouts'' reports stated that there would be more than 2000 Lesser Elementals alongside thousands of Kitsun Summons and close to a hundred Kitsun Awakened defending the cave.

    The guards and protectors of the cave might be spread alongside the humongous cavern system, but Michael wouldn''t be able to deal with them on his own.

    Thus, he brought his army along and merged with them before disappearingpletely from the radar of the people around him.

    With his energy concealed, Michael became one with his army.

    Now all he had to do was to fight like his people and wait for the opportunity to strike and see whether or not he could help the Elementals.

 Chapter 356 Cave Attack

    <h4>Chapter 356 Cave Attack</h4>

    After careful consideration, Michael decided to enter the elemental cave alongside his army. The information in his possession determined the cave system to be humongous with numerous intersections spreading out further as they went deeper.

    Lilica and Tiara mentioned that the cavern entrance was already huge, and Michael could see it for himself now that he stood in front of the entrance hall. The hall was more than ten meters high, over a hundred meters in width, and even longer than that. It provided enough space for his army to infiltrate.

    Only a few hundred had been left in the territory to protect his subjects from unpredicted attacks, whether they came from monsters or the Kitsun.

    The remaining 1,500batants moved slowly inside the cavern entrance hall where they split up into five groups of 300batants to enter each of the five tunnels that spread out at the end of the entrance hall. The five cavern tunnels led deep underground where more intersections waited for them.

    He split up his group evenly to ensure that everyone had enough vanguards, archers, and mages by their sides. Furthermore, every unit was given a scouting team to move deeper into the cavern tunnels to easily locate the enemies, determine their numbers, and alter theirbat formations.

    If the enemies were determined to be too difficult to deal with by a single team, Michael would rush back to thest intersection to join their forces as reinforcement. However, he hoped that wouldn''t be the case too often. The security team of the Elementals cave had asked a third of their forces to leave their current spot and support the guards in the main settlement. Therefore the security team had to readjust their positioning in the elemental cave to cover every major intersection of the Elemental cave to some extent.

    Despite the fact that they had to face fewer enemies at once, Michael was a little worried about his army. He might have allowed them to follow him inside the Elementals cave, but he felt bad. In fact, the members of his military force had openly expressed their desire to join the battle against the Kitsun Lord. They were displeased at how little Michael thought about their prowess or strength when he came up with the n to deal with the Kitsun Lord.

    Michael understood their point of view, but he couldn''t send them to the main settlement because the attack there was supposed to be a decoy. He couldn''t deploy more than a thousandbatants as decoys ¨C not if he didn''t want anyone to die right there.

    Thus, he reluctantly epted the military force of his territory to join his mission in the Elementals cave. This decision yed out much better than expected when Michael''s unit approached the first security post. The 300 Summons readied their weapons while Michael merged into his group, retrieving the Spirit Armor Set and Zark.

    With Eagle Eyes utilized, Michael''s eyesight improved drastically. The dimly lit cavern tunnel didn''t pose any hindrance to Michael anymore as he saw the manned security post where less than 100 Kitsun Summons, a dozen Kitsun Adventurers, and more than a hundred Lesser Elementals had been deployed.

    The Lesser Elementals were mostly Fire Elementals, their bodies entirely made of zing mes. They attracted quite some attention due to their zing mes that lit up the entire security post, but Fire Elementals were also among the strongest types of Elementals when it came to destructive power.

    "Aim at the chokers," Michael ordered just loud enough for every archer in his Unit to hear.

    The faint rustling of a few dozen Archers, retrieving an arrow and nocking it on their bowstring reached his ears. In the next moment, Michael''s voice rang out once again.

    "Ready¡­set¡­shoot!" Michael ordered, moving alongside his archers, pulling Zark''s bowstring back after he condensed an energy arrow, aiming for a second before he released the energy arrow as hisst uttered word rang through the cavern tunnel.

    A thundering twang echoed through the entire tunnel reaching the unaware security post a second after the arrows were released near-simultaneously.

    Some Awakened reacted fast. Their danger senses tingled and they manifested their Artifacts without any hesitation. Their reaction was rapid, but they could only protect themselves with that. The Kitsun Awakened were too slow to warn the rest of the security team. All they saw was a volley of more than 50 arrows emerge from one of the cavern tunnels in front of them.

    Most Awakened utilized their Soultraits and Artifacts powers instinctively. However, what they realized way toote was that none of the arrows had been aimed at them. The realization struck them only after a second barrage of arrows followed. A white energy arrow cut through the stale air of the cavern tunnel four times simultaneously as the two barrages of arrows shot out of the cavern tunnel, each of them precisely aimed at the Fire Elementals ¨C their chokers to be precise.

    The best Archers with the highest uracy such as Michael and most Elven Archers had a special mission; they were supposed to shoot the chokers that hung around the Lesser Elementals'' necks rather than the cores that were barely visible in the center of their bodies.

    Instead of killing the Lesser Elementals, Michael wanted to free them. He didn''t want to fight the Lesser Elementals to death. Instead, they focused on restraining the movements of the Kitsun Summons and Kitsun Awakened while crushing the chokers with energy arrows and highly prative Pieckers.

    It was a little bit harder to aim and destroy the Lesser Elementals'' chokers, but the difference in difficulty between killing the Elementals and freeing them was not that huge ¨C only the end result was. By breaking their cores, Michael and his team could kill the Elementals. However, by breaking their chokers, they could free them ¨C adding a new ally to their team.

    The decision was obvious, and the result was immediate.

    Once Michael''s arrows reached their targets, the crystal chokers burst apart. The Fire Elementals, who had just regained freedom, red up in excitement. However, their excitement was short-lived. In the next moment, the Fire Elementals turned to their former masters to take revenge for the misery they had to go through because of them.

    More chokers burst apart as Michael''s archers continued to release barrages of arrows. They freed more Elementals, who either helped their own brethren by breaking their chokers, or joined the battle to attack the Kitsun Summons and Kitsun Awakened.

    In the meantime, a handful of Kitsun Summons and Kitsun Awakened had made their way into the dimly lit cavern tunnel. Unfortunately, dozens of Warriors, a handful of Berserkers, and an Elemental Mage were already waiting for them ¨C other than Michael who enhanced Zark to release a powershot aimed? between the closest Kitsun Awakened''s brows.

    After more than 20 Elementals had been freed, Michael and his Archers could divert their focus to deal with the Awakened and Summons. They determined the power of their enemies rapidly and killed the most annoying enemies on the spot ¨C if possible ¨C, or injured their vitals with a dozen arrows aimed at the same position.

    By taking advantage of the surprise attack, Michael and his people turned a head-on battle into a war of attrition. The only downside for Michael''s unit was the heavy price they had to pay for every barrage of arrows they''d released. However, that was something Michael could live with since he was forcing his Archers to use the Pieckers ¨C one of the most expensive arrows in the barracks.

    If not for the Pieckers lying around in their warehouses, Michael wouldn''t have allowed his army to follow him inside the Elementals cave. After all, his army was not yet strong enough to deal with opponents at the 3rd Tier on their own. Even a powerful Tier-2 Awakened could prove troublesome for his people. That was where the highly prative Pieckers came into use.

    Not even Michael was confident at blocking a barrage of more than 50 Pieckers all alone. He might not have problems evading them, but blocking so many arrows was not even something Thaor could do. He feared that even Mekhaz with his Living Armor couldn''t ignore them ¨C such was the might of the Pieckers.

    Michael paid millions to have a few thousand Pieckers produced a while ago, but he was fine equipping his Archers with all of them. First of all, the Pieckers could be picked up and repaired for reuse if necessary, and it was always better to be safe and sound ¨C especially with the weird feeling Michael got.

    Taking a deep breath, Michael emptied his mind of the negative thoughts as well as possible. He condensed one arrow after another, shooting a Kitsun Warrior in the chest, drilling one energy arrow deep into the eye socket of another Kitsun Summon, and releasing a barrage of three arrows aimed at the wrists and kneecap of a Tier-2 Kitsun Awakened.

    Afterward, Michael continued to release powershots with enhanced energy arrows. He killed one Kitsun after another, until thest of them was lying on the ground lifelessly.

    Some Kitsun Summons and Awakened made it as far as shing with his Vanguards, but none of them died in the exchange. The Vanguards used their numerical advantage to switch ces and block one attack after another, while leaving enough space for the Berserkers, Warriors and Archers to deal damage.

    Their armor and shields broke apart due to the heavy impact of some Kitsun Awakened, but that was a small problem. It was a mary issue that could be solved easily.

    Once the first battle was over, the Fire Elementals deployed at the security post were all freed. Michael stepped forward, releasing his Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might as his lips parted.

    "Free your kind, take revenge, or do whatever you want," He announced, his eyes turning ice-cold as he added, "But touch my people, and I will hunt you down until the end of the Origin Expanse!"

 Chapter 357 Chained

    <h4>Chapter 357 Chained</h4>

    Even though Michael was not sure if Lesser Elementals were intelligent enough to understand thenguage of the Origin Expanse, he gave them a fair warning. If his words were not enough, the ring''s dragon might was certain to be threatening enough.

    Furthermore, Michael and his people were the ones who had freed the Lesser Elementals. That should be more than enough reason for them to feel gratitude and note to them for revenge. They were the Elementals'' benefactors, not their enemies.

    The Fire Elementals red up, the mes shrouding their bodies reaching the ceiling high above their heads before they returned to their former appearance. They turned to the deeper parts of the Elementals cave and rushed inside, ignoring Michael and his people.

    "It seems like we have some new scouts. Though¡­I doubt that they''re harmless scouts with those bright mes," Michael murmured, spreading out his origin energy as he stepped toward the security post of the Kitsun. He stored the corpses of all Kitsun inside his storage space to extract themter.

    Whether it was Memory Orbs, SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Summoning Scrolls or something else, Michael wanted to gain as much as possible from the Kitsun Lord. That was also why Tiara, Lilica and the others had been out hunting in the main settlement to lure the Kitsun Lord by acting as bait. If they were already in the main settlement hunting Awakened and Guards and risking their lives to distract them, they might as well take their corpses with them.

    Why wouldn''t they take everything if their enemy was giving them the opportunity to strike it rich? Wouldn''t it be stupid to leave behind the corpses and everything else of value?

    Instead of following closely behind the Lesser Elementals to join their forces, Michael entered the security post. It was a small barrack where the products of the Elementals cave were supposed to be stored until the couriers from the main settlement woulde to bring them outside the Origin Expanse for sale.

    The goods were stored in a secret vault. Fortunately, Michael found the vault at once, and opened it with ease putting in the password he had obtained from the Kitsun that Tiara brought him before the war began.

    Being one of the oldest Kitsun Awakened in the Kitsun Lord''s territory, he knew most of the Kitsun Lord''s secrets ¨C including his vaults'' passwords.

    Michael didn''t spend a lot of time studying the goods he retrieved from the vault, but they were mostly elemental spirit seeds and elemental crystals. That was exactly what Michael had been hoping for. He stored the crystals and seeds in his storage and left the barracks with his unit, following the Lesser Elementals he had freed earlier.

    At the same time, Michael retrieved a few smallermunication crystals to stay updated about the situation in the four other tunnels.

    ["Mylord, wepleted your order. The surprise attack against the first security post allowed us to free a handful of Lesser Elementals, and kill two dozen Kitsun Summons. Following the second and third barrage of Pieckers, we were able to break two dozen chokers, resulting in an overwhelming victory against the Kitsun.

    The Fire Elementals helped us avenge the three Warriors, who sacrificed themselves to protect the rest of the group against a Tier-2 Kitsun Awakened. They died an honorable death. We will always be grateful for their sacrifice. The Lesser Elementals moved deeper into the cave. We think that they''re either after the lives of the Kitsun or that they want to rescue their brethren."]

    Three reports stating simr events followed the second scouting team''s report. Michael felt that a few Links of Loyalty had been cut earlier but hearing the same through themunication crystals hit differently. It made him nauseous.

    ''Will I ever get ustomed to the death of my people? Death ismon in the Origin Expanse. War is normal. So why do I get so affected? Am I that weak-minded?'' Michael wondered, shaking his head in frustration.

    He considered moving back to the cavern intersection to store all corpses and loot the vaults in the other security posts, but he decided against it. Michael was not in a rush to collect the corpses and empty the vaults full of resources. There was no need to run around like a headless chicken. Instead, he should focus on the battles thaty ahead of him.

    They had yet to reach the bottom of the Elementals Cave.

    "Let''s get moving," Michael ordered through themunication crystals before he gestured to his people to follow him.

    They entered the next cavern tunnel and went deeper inside.

    As their group ventured further into the Elementals cave, the path moved downward like a winding staircase. Their steps resounded through the cavern tunnel as they moved ahead, and the origin energy around them intensified. Vigor filled their bodies as the origin energy, altered through the elements of the Elementals swirled around them.

    The element-attributed energy grew denser and heavier, making Michael feel that he and his units were approaching the secrets of the Elementals cave. The walls around them spread out further, and the air was growing heavier. The dimly lit crystal torches were hung on sconces on the walls at regr intervals across the Elemental cave, casting eerie shadows on the rocky walls. It revealed small, sparkling crystal deposits that glimmered brightly in the darkness. Michael considered harvesting some of the crystals for a moment to analyze them as they moved downward, but he ignored his inner insatiable greed and moved ahead.

    Every step took them deeper into the hidden world of the Elemental cave, following the twisting trail as it led them further beneath the surface.

    More than half an hour passed before Michael realized, and he checked up on the other units with hismunication crystals. However, nothing special happened. They encountered small intersections that had been dug to harvest the elemental crystals in the Elementals Cave, but other than that there was nothing special.

    It felt like hours passed until bright lights appeared at the end of the cavern tunnels.

    Atst, they reached another cavern hall, where the five units of Michael''s army emerged near-simultaneously.

    The cavern hall was even bigger than the hall with the first security post or the entrance hall. The ceiling was more than 20 meters high, and it was several hundred meters long and wide. No matter where Michael looked his vision was either filled with crystals sprouting out of the ground, hanging down ceilings, or growing out of walls, or Elementals pinned down to the wall with thick crystal chains.

    These Elementals were muchrger than the Lesser Elementals and their natural presence was stronger as well. However, they were weakened and their energy levels, which Michael could perceive were faint as well. Even if they used to be much stronger than the Lesser Elementals, their current power level was likely to be lower than that of the Lesser Elementals.

    Other than the elemental crystals, and therger Elementals, Michael also found a muchrger security post. It resembled a thick pir that was located in the center of the humongous cavern. Close to a thousand Kitsun Summons, and a few dozen Kitsun Awakened stood in front of the pir-like security post, their full attention cast on the thousands of Lesser Elementals, who had been forced to attack a smaller group of Lesser Elementals ¨C the group of Lesser Elementals Michael and his people freed earlier.

    Michael wanted to rush to help the Lesser Elementals he freed earlier, but charging into a battlefield filled with Fire Elementals that erupted every now and then, creating an inferno that filled most parts of the battlefield for a few seconds would do more harm than good. Michael couldn''t act recklessly.

    He scanned the humongous cavern hall once again and noticed that the Kitsun didn''t pay much attention to them. They were either too focused on the fight of the Lesser Elementals to realize that something was wrong, or they had already sensed that Michael and his people had infiltrated the Elementals cave and dismissed them as a lesser threat.

    Michael turned to the other Scout team leaders when he thought about thetter.

    "Any news about the Awakened that moved out of the Elementals cave earlier? Did anyone enter the cave after we invaded?" Michael asked them before he retrieved a fewmunication crystals from his War Rune.

    "How is the situation? Did they return?" Michael asked into the firstmunication crystal before he moved on to call Tiara and Lilica''s troupe.

    "Move back and surround the Elementals cave. Look out for our scouts. Something might have happened."

    He then moved on to the thirdmunication crystal, the crystal that connected them with their home, and ordered, "Pay attention to your surroundings. I am probably just overreacting but send the Forest Whisperers out, and order the Nature Spirit to halt all tasks to scan the surroundings as far as possible. Increase the danger sense level of the Orb of Hostility as well. I don''t care how much it costs, just make sure that you can find the Kitsun if they dare to invade our territory."

    Michael was actually pretty certain that the Kitsun Lord hadn''t predicted his attack. The reaction of the guard and Awakened had been genuine when he sent out the decoy at the main settlement. No Lord would deploy hundreds of Awakened and thousands ofbat Summons to trick a ''nobody'' like him.

    If he wanted to trick him, the Kitsun Lord could have attacked Michael when he was outside the Origin Expanse instead of revealing his existence by sending a few Kitsun Summons and Lesser Elementals close to his border.

    Despite that Michael''s gut feeling kept telling him that something was wrong. Therefore, he told his people to increase their vignce and up their guard in his territory. Sun Demos, his Demon Monkeys, the Greater Eagles, and the Heavy Armored Elephant were already on their way back home as well. His territory would be fine, leaving merely his task in the Elementals cave to bepleted.

    Themunication crystal belonging to the scout that had followed the Guards and Awakened outside the Elementals cave rang out a momentter. However, the content brought up more questions.

    ["The Guards and Awakened the Elementals cave security deployed is¡­resting, and drinking beer¡­ They entered the settlement half an hour ago and have been drinking since then. It doesn''t feel like they''re vignt, let alone worried that the settlement might be attacked again."]

    After the scout''smunication crystal lit up, Lilica sent him a message as well.

    ["We''ve entered the Elementals Cave, and will guard it. The Golden Stinger Wasp stung us and will return to the territory. In case someone attacks, we can swap ces with the Wasp at any time. Don''t worry and finish your mission. Bing the benefactors of the Elementals could prove even more important than annihting the Kitsun Lord!"]

    Michael nodded his head in agreement with that. The Elementals in the cave had been subdued if they were too weak-willed to resist the submission of the crystal chokers, or they had been pinned to the walls. But even then, their natural properties grew elemental crystals in the cave. Having the Elementals on their side would prove extremely valuable in terms ofbat power and in terms of financial gains.

    The warriors and fighters around him were also unwilling to leave. On the contrary, their eyes were vibrant, overflowing with the desire to defeat their enemies, grow stronger through their energy influx, and support Michael in the expansion of his territory by all means.

    "Report immediately when something goes wrong on the surface okay, Lilica?" Michael asked. He received Lilica''s affirmation not long after, which was everything Michael needed to get moving.

    He split his army into two groups that moved around the battlefield. They kept close to the walls and slowly inched closer toward the cavern center where the Kitsun Summons and Awakened began to move as well. It might look like they were fully focused on the fight between the Lesser Elementals, but some of the Awakened further in the back rows decided to pay full attention to the movements of Michael''s people.

    However, Michael had long since noticed that. He split up from his groups and moved to the battlefield, releasing cicles to cover his entire body with tiny cicles to keep his body cold even after the temperature around him increased.

    He condensed an arrow and pulled Zark back all while approaching the battlefield.

    Michael released the arrow that cut through the air, shattering one of the crystal chokers, and thereby freeing another Fire Elemental.

    In the next moment, the 210 Archers Michael brought to the battle released their arrows simultaneously.

    But they didn''t aim at the Lesser Elementals to shatter their chokers. No, Michael''s army focused on the Kitsun Summons and Awakened.

    Meanwhile, Michael was given a few minutes to unleash his power to turn the tides on the battlefield.

    **

    [A/N: Today a little longer chapter than usual. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Finally, we''re back at wreaking havoc in the Origin Expanse. What do you think will happen? Will the Kitsun lose miserably, or will Michael face his first big challenge(other than the Zentika Empire)?]

 Chapter 358 Essence of War

    <h4>Chapter 358 Essence of War</h4>

    He only had a few minutes to free the remaining Lesser Elementals on the battlefield before his subjects would be crushed by the Kitsun Summons and Awakened.

    However, a few minutes was all he needed. As a matter of fact, it was more time than Michael required to take care of the subdued Lesser Elementals that ranged in the thousands.

    There were roughly 3000 Lesser Elementals still under the control of the Summons and fighting against close to 500 freed Lesser Elementals.

    The Lesser Elementals that broke free of their very ties thanks to Michael focused on shattering the chokers that forced their brethren into submission. That way, they were not that easily overwhelmed even though they had a huge numerical disadvantage.

    Michael intensified the shroud of cicles around his body as he charged into the battlefield. He didn''t mind the severe heat and the zing mes in the most crowded parts of the battlefield. Instead, he charged right at them.

    Michael didn''t even think about holding back his strength as he conjured six enhanced Qi Swords around him. The Qi Swords revolved around his head and cut through the air with great velocity when Michael released them with a burst of energy. The Qi Swords cut through the air, piercing precisely through the crystal chokers around the Lesser Elementals'' necks before they continued their path, sting through the Elementals'' necks.

    Michael didn''t hold back since there was no need to. Elementals could only be killed by crushing their cores. Thus, bursting their heads alongside their chokers was not a major problem. On the contrary, Michael could crush several chokers with each enhanced Qi de before they dissolved. They could simply regenerate their heads, either way.

    For every broken choker, Michael and the freed Lesser Elementals gained one more ally. Precisely controlled and conjured in batches of six, Michael spent half a minute breaking close to 200 crystal chokers. That was extremely fast, but it was not fast enough for Michael. The enemies'' numbers were too high, and he could feel the heavy pressure weighing down on his subjects.

    Their Links of Loyalty were filled with a burning passion to bring glory to their territory and Lord ¨C to fight for their survival and the expansion of their territory. But, at the same time, Michael could also sense a tinge of worry in their hearts and Links of Loyalty through their shared connection. The enemy was not that easy to defeat without Tiara, the Forest Elven Adventurers, and Michael by their side. They had to injure their enemies by themselves and deal the finishing blow on their own as well. There was no powerhouse aiding them throughout the whole battle.

    Michael sensed that his army was not yet in its prime state, but that was only obvious. He had yet to train vice captains and team leaders among his military force''s Summons. The Summons followed his orders right now, but Michael wasn''t by their side to boost their morale and calm them with precisemands in the middle of the battle.

    Therefore, Michael continued to release enhanced Qi des while simultaneously releasing a thick golden thread of Extraction from his palm. The thread advanced toward the closest crystal choker in his vicinity, extracting theponents within the choker one by one.

    After the first choker burst into thousands of shards, Michael raised his eyebrow when he noticed something. He changed his focus to the next target, extracting a particrponent of the choker ¨C the part that held everything together. The choker fell apart the moment a tiny red grain had been extracted. That was more than enough for Michael to change his tactic.

    He stopped conjuring enhanced Qi Swords. Instead, Michael released his Dome of Extraction with full focus on two tasks; one- extracting the origin energy in the air and the second extracting the red grain concealed within the crystal chokers.

    Michael expanded the Dome of Extraction as much as possible without consuming more energy than he extracted from the surroundings. He then charged straight ahead into the army of Lesser Elementals to let the Dome of Extraction work its wonders. Dozens of chokers crumbled and fell to the ground in countless pieces after Michael passed by. He released severalyers of Enhancement on his lower body and kicked the ground to turn into a sh amid the zing infernos erupting around him.

    Hundreds of Lesser Elementals were freed within the first minute, and the number easily crossed 1500 after three minutes. Post that, the freed Lesser Elementals overwhelmed their subdued brethren, breaking most chokers to regain their freedom. Michael broke thest few chokers with the Dome of Extraction before he decreased the size of the dome. He refilled his Origin energy storage by extracting the energy in the air before he unleashed the Legendary Ring Artifact''s full dragon might once again.

    His eyes glowed golden as he turned to the Lesser Elementals all around him before he shouted aloud, "CHARGE!"

    The Lesser Elementals felt the pressure of a dragon sweep past them as Michael burst toward the enemies who had tortured them for as long as they could remember. Rage and the desire to take revenge filled their entire being and they charged, following their Savior onto the next battlefield.

    Michael had hoped that his people couldst more than three minutes against the Kitsun Summons and Awakened, but that wasn''t the case. His army killed many enemies by using various potions and the Pieckers to their advantage. Nheless, Michael''s army was not as powerful as Awakened who had received several years of experience and time to refine their War Runes, or the Kitsun Summons who''d been in the Kitsun Lord''s territory for years, if not a full decade.

    Only two enemies might be at the 3rd Tier, but that was more than enough to charge ahead and kill a few dozen Warriors and Knights in the first few minutes of the battle.

    Of course, they were not overly powerful with their rather fragile constitution as a Kitsun, and mere 1-Star and 2-Star Soultraits. Nheless, their high Tier, high-ranked Artifacts, and their experience made up for their weak points. At least, they could deal with a bunch of Summons at the 1st and 2nd Tier ¨C or so they thought at first.

    Michael''s army was a lot more resilient than the Kitsun Summons and Awakened assumed. They lost far more people on their side as the Warriors, Knights, Vanguards and Mages made sure that the Archers were well protected as they released one barrage of Pieckers after another.

    The Berserkers and Knights at the highest Tier focused on stalling the Tier-3 Awakened. They trusted that Michael woulde soon to help them out and they would survive. Unfortunately, some of them still died.

    Michael felt more than 300 energy shares fill his body, but that didn''t fill him with happiness. After all, he could also feel that more than 50 Links of Loyalty had been severed.

    He couldn''t remember having lost that manybatants in any battle. Even the fight with the Minotaur had fewer casualties. But Michael knew that this was the essence of war. He had already prepared himself mentally to lose subjects in the future.

    Michael might have told himself that he would protect everyone, but was that even possible? The stronger he grew the more his territory would expand ¨C the more Summons andbatants Michael would obtain. The dangers of the battles in the Origin Expanse would only increase, and the time woulde when he would lose thousands of subjects in arge-scale war. That was bound to happen even if Michael didn''t like the thought.

    In fact, he hated the thought of leading his people in a dangerous battle. He would rather fight a single war with a certain victory than dozens of battles with pyrrhic victories. Unfortunately, that was wishful thinking and something that would never happen in the reality. The reality was cruel, and Michael knew that he had to be prepared for the worst case at any time.

    However, now that Michael negated the worst enemy ¨C the unknown threat the subdued Lesser Elementals could have posed to his army ¨C he appeared next to the first Tier-3 Awakened. He was already restricted and covered in several cuts, allowing Michael to react swiftly.

    He manifested a huge cicle, shaped it in the form of a sword, and used Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement to cover the cicle Sword. Reinforced Sword Qi''s full potential was unleashed for the first time in a while. It increased the sharpness and durability of the cicle Sword, while also creating a silveryer that could be released into the enemy''s body with a burst. And that was exactly what Michael did.

    The cicle Sword burst forth with great velocity. It cut through the Kitsun Awakened''s half-broken armor and pierced deep into his side before theyer of Reinforced Sword Qi was released inside the Kitsun''s body. Toote to react because he had been restrained, the Kitsun Awakened hastily released his 2-Star Soultrait. His eyes glowed silver for a moment, stunning Michael for a moment as he felt an ominous presence staring deep into his Soul.

    However, the effect of the Kitsun Awakened''s Soultrait didn''tst long. Michael was barely affected as he pierced the Wyverntooth Spear deep into the cicle Sword that burst into the freezing mist as Sword Qi shrouding it had been released.

    The Kitsun in front of him was not yet dead, but Michael didn''t have to be a medic to know that the Awakened was on the verge of dying. The Kitsun Awakened''s condition worsened as one of Michael''s Berserkers cleaved down with his humongous war axe. The war axe''s de sliced cleanly into the Kitsun''s shoulder, severing the shoulder from the Awakened''s body.

    As Michael saw this, he turned away, understanding that the battle against the Tier-3 Awakened was over. The Knights and Berserker surrounding the Kitsun struck with all their might. They cleaved, stabbed and thrust their weapons, ending him. There was no need for him to interfere.

    Instead, Michael could move ahead. He continued to enhance his lower body to move faster through the surroundings. Five Spirit Whips manifested around him and he began charging forward as he struck one powerful Awakened after another with the Spirit Whip whenever he passed by them. He sliced through their vital points whenever his position didn''t allow him to slice their throat before invading their bodies with a trace of Extraction.

    Michael extracted their origin energy and life force as the Kitsun began to fight desperately for their survival. There was no trace of their earlier overconfidence or ridicule left.

    All they felt was terror and despair.

    They didn''t want to die.

    But the same could be said about their victims. The Elementals had never asked to be killed and tortured.

 Chapter 359 Baron Of Fire

    ?

    The fury of the Lesser Elementals couldn''t be underestimated. They didn''t care about surviving and were willing to sacrifice themselves if they could eliminate as many Kitsun as possible. Even if their lives ended after they took down as many enemies as possible they would be satisfied.

    But since there were more than 3000 Lesser Elementals, and Michael''s army consisted of 1500batants, it was hardly a problem to kill a thousand Kitsun Summons and a few dozen Awakened. They used their numerical advantage to eliminate the Kitsun one by one, all while Michael focused his full power on eliminating the stronger Awakened.

    The battle ended soon after the Lesser Elementals joined Michael''s side, unfortunately a little bit toote for 51 of Michael''s Summons. Michael and his subjects were sad about the loss, but everyone knew that something like that could happen on the battlefield. Death would always lurk near a battlefield so it was not a new experience, but it was also not something one could easily adapt to. Witnessing the death of theirrades would never be easy.

    After the battle was over, Michael noticed that the Lesser Elementals split up. Most rushed to therger Elementals with the intention to destroy the crystal chains pinning therger Elementals to the walls. Meanwhile, the rest entered the security post that looked like a pir. They sought more enemies to ughter because they had yet to satiate their fury. Michael followed them to ensure that the Lesser Elementals wouldn''t destroy everything. He still wanted to loot the warehouse located in the security post on this floor, after all.

    The Lesser Elementals didn''t mind him following them. Quite the contrary, they made sure to follow closely behind Michael instead of being disrespectful by charging ahead of him.

    Michael was not too sure about the Elementals'' culture, but he could tell that they revered the strong ¨C just like everyone else.

    He looted the warehouse and stored a few other things inside his War Rune''s storage before gesturing to the Lesser Elementals. They were free to destroy everything now that he got what he wanted.

    He left the security post, just to see that his people collected all the corpses for him to store. They didn''t differentiate between the charred Kitsun that had been killed by the Lesser Elementals and the Kitsun that had been killed by them and piled all of them on one giant stash of corpses.

    Looking at the charred corpses of an Awakened and a Kitsun Summon at the top of the pile, Michael grew a little curious. Something in the back of his mind told him to keep the corpses instead of discarding them. Therefore, he used Extraction on the two corpses, thereby extracting a handful of Summoning Scrolls, dozens of SoulStar Fragments and much more.

    ''Battles with allies count as contributions as well? Does the Will consider the Lesser Elementals as my allies now, or is it because I saved them?'' Michael wondered, after confirming that neither he nor one of his subjects had inflicted any wounds to the two corpses that he had just extracted.

    He came to realize that the Kitsun Summons and Awakened would still give him the same loot he would usually only obtain if he or his subjects made a contribution in the specific fight.

    That was an interesting find, but it shouldn''te as a surprise now that he thought about it.

    ''I could loot the monsters and the members of the Jungle Expedition killed by the monster hordes and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys as well. So why did I never wonder how the Will works? Does it consider my actions as a contribution to the battle, or does the Will consider the Lesser Elementals my allies because we fought the same enemy? Or was it because we considered each other as temporary allies since we didn''t fight each other¡­though I burst their heads to break the chokers¡­''

    Michael stored the corpses of the Kitsun away before moving onto the neatlyid out Human and Elven Summons'' bodies. His expression turned grim upon seeing their corpses. A heavy sigh escaped his lips and a wave of sadness swept through him.

    "My Lord, don''t be sad. They wouldn''t want you to be sad. Instead, we should be proud of them. Everyone who died today did so to protect theirrades, and their friends and new family back at home," One of the old Berserkers said somewhat informally, yet sounding respectful.

    He was a real fighter, someone with great experience from before he died in the Origin Expanse.

    A younger Knight came to the Berserker''s side, agreeing with the old Berserker''s point of view, "They were brave and loyal. Their death was an honorable one."

    "Everyone here knew what they asked for when we made the request to join your conquest of the Elementals cave. You didn''t want us to follow you into this battle at first, but we made the request nheless. That is also why we will take responsibility for our actions," The Earth Elemental Mage agreed, before adding with a faint smile on his lips, "We can tell how valuable the Elementals''bat prowess is, and I am pretty sure that these elemental crystals and seeds will also be very useful for our territory."

    Michael nodded his head slowly. He clearly recalled having told his people that the Elementals cave was dangerous and that he would be morefortable raiding the cave alone. However, his Summons pleaded with him to take them along with him. They didn''t want to sit back at home when their master was risking his life. Besides, they needed and wanted some more realbat experience against tough opponents¨C not the little experience they gained in spars and against the weaker monsters in the Untamed Jungle.

    They had to prepare themselves for real battles, and Michael knew that this was the bitter truth. The Zentika Empire wouldn''t wait much longer for them to grow stronger either. The Empire had been silent for too long. Something would happen in the next few months. Michael and everyone else could feel that.

    "Alright alright. I won''t speak about it any further. Just make sure to retreat when I tell you to," Michael said, both d that his Summons were willing to fight for his territory, and a little bit uncertain what to do once something far more dangerous and unpredictable than the encounter with the Kitsun territory would ur.

    Trying to clear his mind of the doubts, Michael turned to the Lesser Elementals. Some hard turned to him, gesturing to him, and then their necks before they pointed at the chains that pinned therger Elementals to the walls.

    "Since I''m already here, I might as well free all of you," Michael mumbled, moving to the firstrger Elemental. A golden stream of extraction flowed out of his palm as he stepped closer to the crystal chain. The Lesser Elementals stepped back in response, giving him more space toplete the task.

    He pressed his palm against the crystal chain and began using Extraction to dismember the crystal chain slowly. Contrary to the chokers that were held together with a red crystal the size of a grain, the crystal chains were different. The chokers were used to subdue and control the Lesser Elementals. However, the chain''s task was focused on restraining. The crystal chain was mostlyposed of the same red crystal used in the choker. But it was not the chain''s mainponent.

    Michael spent more than ten minutes trying to find out what the mainponent was. Only after he extracted a small te that had numerous engravings etched on its surface did the chain fall apart, releasing therger Elemental.

    Therger Elemental slumped to the ground. He was weak and could barely move.

    Hundreds of Elementals gathered around therger Elemental, their ming body emanating terrific heat as they ripped their own bodies apart to offer them to therger Elemental as a tribute and a means to invigorate him.

    Every Elemental sacrificed a part of their body and strength to strengthen therger Elemental. This surprised Michael quite a bit. He had never seen anything like that.

    Reinvigorated, therger Elemental''s shape changed slowly. His size expanded by several times as therger Fire Elemental''s mes red up. A ming giant appeared in front of Michael, towering over him with great power. His presence was heavy, and his mes were searing hot.

    However, all it took was ayer of cicles shrouding him to make sure that the mes couldn''t burn him. Whenever the cicles started to melt, they burst open and released freezing mist which lowered the temperature drastically for a while.

    Therger Elemental kneeled down with one leg and pressed his right hand upon his chest. The zing Giant Elemental lowered his head for a few seconds before lifting its body again.

    Others might consider this action as a sign of submission, but Michael felt that it was more a sign of respect, and the zing Giant Elemental''s way of thanking him for rescuing him and the Lesser Elementals.

    The zing Giant Elemental waved his hand, releasing flickering mes that formed letters in the air.

    Michael took a few steps back so as to not break his neck to take a look at the letters.

    ''It''s not written in the originnguage.''

    That was the first thing Michael noticed upon seeing the letters. But instead of frowning deeply becausemunication would be much harder if the zing Giant Elemental couldn''t speak or write in the originnguage, Michael ended up breaking into a smile.

    "To think that I will be able to use this so soon. I am quite lucky, aren''t I?" Michael mumbled to himself before he switched to one of thenguages he''d learned from digesting the Knowledge Wisps. Atst, the books he procured from the Berserker Chieftain in Piloq''s Library came to some use.

    "Nice meeting you Baron of the Fire Tribe. My name is Michael Fang, and I''m d that I could help you."

 Chapter 360 Empress

    <h4>Chapter 360 Empress</h4>

    [I can feel that our Empress is still here. Please rescue her by all means ¨C even if you have to massacre the remaining Elementals in the process.]

    Michael had beenmunicating with the zing Giant Elemental for a few minutes by now. He got to know a bunch of useful information. However, the most important piece of information was unveiled to him only now; an Elemental Empress was imprisoned in the cave.

    He read the zing letters in the air in front of him and nearly blurted his thoughts aloud as he reached thetter part of the text.

    ''Woah, calm down bro.''

    "I will try to rescue her. Where exactly is she located? I cannot see a cavern tunnel leading deeper into the cave," Michael asked, feeling a little confused.

    ording to the memories of the very first Kitsun he killed, there was no Elemental Empress, or a way further down into the cave. The Kitsun''s memories told him that this was the bottom of the cave.

    [I can feel her presence from underneath the pir.]

    The zing Giant Elemental pointed toward the security, which was enough reason for Michael to step in the direction of the security post. He heard the steps of his army resounding behind him and stopped.

    Turning around, he saw that his summons were still looking forward to keep fighting. They were a little tired but notpletely exhausted. Unfortunately, there was no enemy to deal with right now. If not even one of the oldest Awakened working for the Kitsun Lord knew about the Elemental Empress, he doubted that the Kitsun Lord would be willing to share this piece of intel with anyone else. After all, hiding the Elemental Empress'' existence was the best way to ensure that nobody could take her away even if the Elementals cave would be raided one day ¨C which was exactly what happened today.

    But the zing Giant Elementals knew this fact, and Michael as well, now that he received the intel.

    ''An Elemental Empress¡­amazing!'' Michael eximed inwardly.

    An Elemental Empress would be extremely valuable. The greatest Elemental societies came into existence because of Elemental Emperors and Elemental Empresses.

    It was extremely rare for an Elemental Empress or Emperor to be born as they were in control of all elements. They had one main element at which they excelled, but they could control all elements to a certain degree. Furthermore, Elemental Empresses and Elemental Emperors had the innate power to expand their poption rapidly by creating the cores of Elementals using any kind of element as a base.

    [The Kitsun bastard caught our Empress when she was born. He forced her into a Soul Pact¡­ We¡­do not know the uses of the pact¡­please rescue her even if you would have to sacrifice all of us¡­We cannot let her die, no matter what¡­Even if it costs all of our lives¡­.rescue her]

    New words manifested in the air in front of Michael as he looked at his subjects for a moment. The zing Giant Elemental was restless and definitely not the patient type. Michael was also not sure why the Elemental had to talk about everyone''s death so many times. It was almost as if the zing Giant Elemental was trying to manifest everyone''s death by mentioning it over and over again.

    "I will do what I can," Michael mentioned, his focus returning to his people.

    "Instead of following me, how about you use your energy and excitement to harvest the elemental crystals?" He asked his army while retrieving hundreds of silverage pickaxes.

    The pickaxesnded in front of him, creating a big pile for the Summons to stare at with a mix of disbelief and uncertainty.

    They had rushed after him to fight, not to end up asborers in the middle of the enemy''s territory. But instead ofining to Michael, they started to move. The Elemental cave was humongous and elemental crystals could be seen everywhere. Harvesting would definitely help the territory to advance. Unfortunately, it would take a while.

    Nheless, the Summons began to move.

    Michael turned to the security post where the zing Giant Elemental was already standing, burning down the wooden entrance gate. The Elemental entered the security post, his body ring up to destroy what the Lesser Elementals had yet to obliterate.

    Michael quickly followed behind. He entered the security post with Extraction released to clear the smoke he was about to inhale. Burning everything might not affect the Elementals, but Michael was human. He was still in need of oxygen to survive.

    After entering the security post, Michael stepped closer to the zing Giant Elemental, who was surrounded by dozens of Lesser Elementals.

    The Lesser Elementals released zing mes at an inconspicuous bookshelf. The bookshelf ought to be turned into ash, yet it remained standing. It didn''t even heat up and stayed unscathed throughout the zing inferno that epassed it entirely.

    Once the Lesser Elementals were out of energy, the mes disappeared as well. Despite the zing mes and scorching heat, the bookshelf didn''t catch fire though it was made of wood.

    After the fire died, the zing Giant Elemental got started. He began to do the exact same as the Lesser Elementals, releasing zing mes with the intention to reduce the bookshelf to ash. Yet, not even the zing Giant Elemental''s searing mes were capable of burning down the bookshelf.

    The zing Giant Elemental''s mes were several times hotter than the Lesser Elemental''s mes, yet they were useless against the bookshelf.

    Michael stepped forward, lifting his hand to gesture to the zing Giant Elemental to stop. He pressed his palm against the bookshelf and released Extraction. His entire energy storage was drained in the blink of an eye, but it was worth it.

    The bookshelf was extracted and disappeared inside his War Rune where Michael would keep it for research.

    Once the bookshelf disappeared from their view, a small door appeared in front of them. This time the zing Giant Elemental stepped forward and ripped the door out of its frame, revealing a staircase that moved deeper underground. It was a narrow staircase that was almost too small for Michael, let alone the huge zing Giant Elemental.

    He would never fit into the staircase.

    "Looks like I will have to enter alone. Don''t worry, I will free her!" Michael said, not even looking at the zing Giant Elemental anymore as he approached the staircase.

    He released the Dome of Extraction to extract anything that could act as a trigger for traps before he squeezed himself through the narrow staircase that moved downward like a spiral. Michael saw some zing letters from the corner of his eyes, but he didn''t pay attention to them.

    Michael''s full focus was on the Dome of Extraction. After all, a single mishap would be his death. He couldn''t evade anything in this kind of narrow and ufortable space.

    He was not sure how much time he spent climbing down the stairs, but he reached the end of the staircase at some point. The bottom of the staircase led to a small room made out of ck material. Michael was not sure what the material was but it looked quite old.

    It was not of great importance either way. The only important thing that was located in the small room was a small and fragile Elemental pinned to the wall through dozens of crystal chains.

    Michael''s mind nked out for a second staring at the little Elemental. She looked human, if not for her body made ofpressed mes. Only a few dozen strands of her hair weren''t zing mes. The dozen strands of hair were in different colors, with every strand having a distinct shade of the color spectrum.

    Michael was not a pro at sensing altered origin energy, but he could tell that the Elemental Empress'' main attribute was fire and that the few dozen strands of hair indicated her minor affinity toward the other elements.

    After staring nkly at the Elemental Empress for a second or two, Michael regained his senses. He approached the Elemental Empress and began to use Extraction to destroy the first crystal chain.

    The crystal chain was thinner than the chain that had pinned the Giant zing Elemental to the wall, but it was a lot moreplex. Michael spent half an hour destroying the first chain.

    At some point, the Elemental Empress noticed Michael''s presence. However, nobody said a word. The Elemental Empress stared at Michael in silence and let him work until the first crystal chain crumbled.

    Once the first chain crumbled, the tremendous force pinning the Elemental Empress to the chain loosened by a fraction. But that fraction was enough to change the Empress'' expression.

    An expression full of terror appeared on her face.

    "NOOOO!!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs ¨C if she had something like that, in the first ce.

    Michael''s ears rang loudly as her scream reached him, and he stepped back subconsciously.

    "What''s the issue? Do you not want to regain freedom?" Michael asked, not quite sure what was happening.

    All he could tell was that the Elemental Empress was in pain, which shouldn''t have been the case.

    "I doubt you like it here."

    "The¡­Soul Pact¡­" The Elemental Empress said weakly as if her scream from earlier drained her entire remaining energy.

    "Ah. There was that. I forgot the pact for a moment," Michael mumbled, scratching the back of his bald head.

    A Soul Pact was a special Soul Contract. It had a lot more restrictions than a Soul Contract ¨C which was already more binding than an ordinary Link of Loyalty.

    Only a True Link of Loyalty could bepared to the binding force of a Soul Pact. Even then, Michael was not sure if a Soul Pact might not be even more binding.

    "Can you tell me more about your Soul Pact? Maybe we can find a loophole to get rid of the Soul Pact somehow," Michael offered.

    If he was already standing in front of the Elemental Empress, he might as well try to help her properly. The Kitsun Lord and his Awakened might notice that something was wrong inside the Elementals cave, but Michael wasn''t too worried. His army and the Lesser Elementals were above them, making sure that nobody could bother him.

    Furthermore, it would leave a sour aftertaste to abandon the Elemental Empress now that he had gotten this far.

    While he waited for a response, the Elemental Empress hesitated for a moment. She stared straight at Michael, whose eyes were clear and filled with determination. In the next moment, the Elemental Empress made her decision and began to tell Michael about her Soul Pact''s uses.

    Ten minutes passed in which Michael listened intently before he spoke again.

    "Fuck this Soul Pact"

    **

    [A/N: Sad News. I might not upload too regrly in the next 3-5 days. My grandma died, and I have to take care of a few things. Sorry for that.]

 Chapter 361 The Idea

    <h4>Chapter 361 The Idea</h4>

    If put in simple terms the Soul Pact ¨C no, Soul Pacts ¨C affecting the Elemental Empress were a big mess.

    ording to the Elemental Empress, she was under the influence of a dozen Soul Pacts. One for each year she spent in the Origin Expanse ¨C in the small ck room, pinned to the wall.

    She didn''t recall the exact content of the first Soul Pact. It waspleted even before her Soul had fully formed. She was? under the Kitsun Lord''s influence the moment she was born.

    All the Elemental Empress could tell was that every new Soul Pact changed something inside her, and that she wasn''t allowed to move without being ordered by the Kitsun Lord.

    All in all, Michael figured out quite a bit about the Kitsun Lord''s personality and attitude. He was cunning and merciless. A sly bastard to put it simple.

    The first Soul Pact couldn''t be anything special. It was formed even before the Elemental Empress'' soul had beenpleted. As it was not fully formed yet moments after her birth, not even the soul of an Elemental Empress would be able to survive a tight-locked Soul Pact. In fact, Michael was already surprised that the Elemental Empress survived so far despite being bound by the Soul Pact. It was close to a miracle, even if it was more like a nightmare for the Elemental Empress.

    ''Even if the first Soul Pact didn''t do much, multiple Soul Pacts means I have no idea which uses are still valid, which uses have been removed entirely due to the effect of the newer pacts, and which uses fused forming more restrictive uses for the Empress¡­what a mess.''

    Michael was starting to feel irritated at the sight of the Elemental Empress. He wanted to help her but couldn''t do anything without potentially killing her.

    Multiple Soul Pacts meant that each new Soul Pact was less binding than the former. That wasmon knowledge ¨C for someone with the knowledge of a whole library that had been constructed centuries before the Second Epoch began.? But Michael couldn''t say with confidence that he knew to what extent were the new Soul Pacts less binding and predatory, how the new Soul Pacts affected the older Soul Pacts, and whatnot.

    There were too many ifs and buts for Michael''s liking.

    The Elemental Empress was also not that helpful. The more she spoke the more questions shed through Michael''s mind. It truly made his head spin.

    The only good thing was that Michael found out more about the Kitsun Lord. He was more of a merchant and a tyrant than a fighter. He expanded his territories through trickery and deceit rather than head-on fights.

    Michael was aware of that but he didn''t know that the Kitsun Lord was also a madman, a man willing to sacrifice his people without batting an eyelid. He was also extremely possessive. Nobody was allowed to see the Empress except for him, and it took him years before he allowed the Awakened working for him toe in contact with his elemental crystals and his elemental spirit seeds.

    Everything in his territory belonged to him, whether it was animals, nts, or the Awakened. They ought to sacrifice themselves the moment he desired their death or deemed them useless.

    The new intel was crucial for Michael in his war against the Kitsun Lord. Unfortunately, it didn''t really help in the rescue mission.

    ''How about I use Extraction on her? But will I be able to extract her Soul Pacts, in the first ce?'' Michael wondered, frowning deeply.

    Extraction was not omnipotent. It was a 6-Star Soultrait and using 10yers of Enhancement on Extraction allowed him to strengthen Extraction to make it strong enough to increase its potency and efficiency to the next level. However, at the end of the day, Enhancement merely enhanced the existing power of the enhanced object, Soultrait or being. It was merely a catalyst, a pseudo star increase.

    "I can sense something," The Elemental Empress said all of a sudden, breaking Michael''s train of thoughts.

    Michael didn''t quite understand her.

    "Sense what?"

    "I can sense something about you," She said.

    "About me?"

    "It feels animalistic. A scent¡­no, a presence¡­it''s attached to you, a part of you in a way. Yet, it''s different from you. It''s you but not¡­"

    Michael''s frown deepened upon hearing her. He stared at the Elemental Empress but was unsure what to say. He wasn''t even certain he understood her properly. The Elemental Empress could speak in the Originnguage, but she might be malfunctioning after being confined for a dozen years. Her words felt like gibberish to him at first.

    But before he could say something he realized what the Elemental Empress had been talking about.

    Sun Demos.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, Sun Demos. The monster he tamed a few months back.

    "Taming," He mumbled, tilting his head as numerous thoughts shed through his mind.

    Taming. True Link of Loyalty. The truest bond.

    Even Sun Demos Soul had now be a part of Michael, to a certain extent. The bond of a tamed beast was something that couldn''t be broken by any means but death. Being a 5-Star Soultrait, Taming''s bond would be even stronger than the norm. It provided a supernatural connection.

    "Use it on me," The Elemental Empress said in a tone thatmanded attention and submission.

    She didn''t sound fragile and weak like she was on the verge of death at this moment. On the contrary, her entire being seemed to change.

    ''Taming?'' Michael wondered with furrowed brows, only for the Elemental Empress to answer his thought.

    "Tame me," She repeated herself, staring intently at Michael while still pinned to the wall.

    "Are you craz¨C..." Michael began to curse her out when he stopped abruptly as he realized something.

    He considered the possibility of taming the Elemental Empress. It sounded crazy, yet oddly usible. The sheer amount of Soul Pacts made by the Elemental Empress weakened the pacts and put them in disarray. After all, a portion of the Soul was getting upied by a Soul Pact''s binding force. This was a measurement to ensure that the Soul Pact could punish the party that vited the pact by inflicting injuries through the upied part of the Soul. The injury would be forward, thus harming the entire Soul and being of the party.

    The only downside with Soul Pacts that upied a portion of the Soul was that the 2nd Soul Pact ¨C and those following ¨C would have a smaller portion to upy. A Soul Pact would always upy between 5% to 10% of a soul. Therefore, the 2nd Soul Pact would only be able to upy 10% of a Soul that had only 90% space left to upy. Following that, the 3rd Soul Pact could only upy 10% out of 81% of a Soul''s space.

    But that was not all. A Soul would grow more resilient to new Soul Pacts as the unupied space decreases.

    Therefore, thetter Soul Pacts should be a lot weaker than the True Link of Loyalty, even though they affected the first Soul Pacts'' uses.

    The bond of taming would alter the Elemental Empress'' soul, which should ¨C no, could ¨C, turn the Soul Pacts invalid. After all, all Soul Contracts and Soul Pacts were signed with the Soul. If the Soul changed their signature would change as well.

    ''Should I tame her and order her to discard the Soul Pacts if they''re still valid after the taming process? Will Taming overwrite her Soul Pacts? Or will the pacts kill her if she is tamed and her Soul is being altered?''

    Since the Kitsun Lord was said to be a cunning person, Michael didn''t doubt that some uses in one of the dozen Soul Pacts would mention the possibility of the Elemental Empress'' soul changing. A mutation in the Soul ''could'' happen at any time even if it was highly unlikely to happen in a lifetime.

    Michael seriously doubted that the Kitsun Lord would have mentioned specific cases, such as a Soultrait like Taming being used to tame the Elemental Empress. He was close to 100% certain that the Kitsun Lord would never imagine someone with a Taming Soultrait to appear in front of the Elemental Empress, let alone that a prideful Empress would be willing to get tamed ¨C to be someone else''s pawn.

    "Taming you won''t give you the freedom you desire," Michael stated as a matter of fact.

    Taming her wouldn''t give her the freedom she desired. It would just shift her prison and change her master from the Kitsun Lord to Michael. The taming bond couldn''t be easily severed without consequences either. It would most likely scar their souls forever even if he used Extraction to remove the True Link of Loyalty that would be created between them. Even if he was not certain about that, Michael didn''t want to risk injuring his soul by taming the Elemental Empress for a short period just to remove the bond by force again. It was not worth it.

    "Anything is better than this¡­" The Elemental Empress said, a trace of desperation in her earliermanding voice that sounded weak and fragile once again.

    Michael wanted to say something, but he couldn''t. Her argument was valid. Anything was probably better than being imprisoned in this dark ce. Maybe even death.

    "Are you sure that you want this?" Michael asked carefully, "It might not work and you may even die. I cannot promise you anything. I''ve never studied Soul Contract, let alone Soul Pacts. All I know is somemonly known facts."

    "I am sure. Please do it," The Elemental Empress insisted, her voice growing weaker by the second.

    If Michael didn''t know better, he would guess that the Elemental Empress was on the verge of death. However, she couldn''t die just like that. The Soul Pacts were at fault for her condition. They burdened her soul and weighed her down. That was also why she was still a Tierless existence even though she had been exposed to ambient origin energy for thest 12 years.

    Michael did not immediately reply but looked at the Elemental Empress for a while. He thought about all known variables and calcted the probability of sess.

    The chance was low. It was extremely low, to be precise. The known factors were already enough to determine that the Elemental Empress was likely to die. Her survival rate wasn''t even close to 1% in Michael''s opinion.

    Nheless, he wanted to give it a try.

    Michael didn''t like the Kitsun Lord after everything he had gotten to know about him. He pitied the Elemental Empress as well. However, he also wanted to tame the Elemental Empress because of the benefits he could obtain.

    Even if Michael wanted to deny his ulterior intention, he couldn''t. He wanted to obtain the Elemental Empress to make use of her powers and the fact that she could create more Elementals in the future. He could expand his army using the Elementals, and he could give them more than enough living space to create elemental crystals and elemental spirit seeds as well.

    The only difference between Michael and the Kitsun Lord was that Michael wouldn''t force the Elemental Empress to do anything she didn''t want to. He would treat her well, and make sure that she could enjoy her life for the first time since she was born.

    He hoped to see her smile, to rescue this innocent little soul.

    "Alright, I will do it."

 Chapter 362 Taming the Empress

    <h4>Chapter 362 Taming the Empress</h4>

    The first thing Michael did was to use Extraction on the crystal chains to extract as manyponents as possible. He left only a tiny part of the mainponent hanging to prevent the crystal chains from breaking.

    Why did Michael do that? He wanted to break the crystal chains simultaneously with little to no energy consumption once the taming process had beenpleted.

    Once Michael replenished his energy storage, he conjured the magic circle of Taming for the second time since he procured the Soultrait. He weaved the magic circle meticulously and added as much energy as possible to fortify the taming circle. The circle''s shape changed slowly, morphing into a crimson-colored pentagon as it moved below the feet of the Elemental Empress.

    The Elemental Empress twitched once after the taming circle appeared beneath her, but she didn''t reject it. The Soul Pacts weighing down on her didn''t seem to affect the taming process either. Nothing seemed out of ce. Step one of the taming process had beenpleted sessfully.

    Unfortunately, step one was the easiest step. Followed by the manifestation of the taming circle, the real taming process was initiated.

    Michael''s focus remained on the taming circle to keep it intact. Simultaneously, he used the taming circle to enter the Elemental Empress'' consciousness where her soul resided. It hadn''t been necessary to enter Sun Demos'' consciousness when Michael used Taming for the first time. However, the same method asst time couldn''t be applied here.

    He had a dozen Soul Pacts to pay attention to while taming the Elemental Empress after all.

    At first, Michael wanted to crush the Soul Pacts while taming the Elemental Empress, but he decided against this idea. Rather than doing something dangerous like that, Michael chose to tame the Elemental Empress first to alter her soul before waiting for the response of the Soul Pact. Afterward, Michael would still be able to enter the Elemental Empress'' consciousness since the Elemental Empress would be a part of him; his second tamed monster.

    The crimson pentagon, the taming ''circle'', manifested in the Elemental Empress'' consciousness. But instead of focusing on the taming circle right off the bat, Michael looked around. In the center of the consciousness, a thin, and fragile pir of light could be seen. It was as fragile as the Elemental Empress, and it was restrained by chains that were tightly coiled around it in a vice-like grip.

    There were a total of a dozen chains coiled around the pir of light, preventing it from growing or expanding further. The pir of light was unmoving. It didn''t even respond to a foreign existence infiltrating its realm. Every trace of energy entering the pir of light inflicted pain, forcing the Elemental Empress to distribute the energy to create new elemental cores to create new lives.

    While staring nkly at the dozen chains and the weak pir of light, Michael was once again reminded that the Elemental Empress was used as a breeding facility by the Kitsun Lord. It was disgusting and beyond cruel.

    Michael came back to his senses and was filled with the mad urge to skin that bastard alive. But for now, he had an important task to do. Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, he returned his full focus to the application of the taming circle inside the Elemental Empress'' pir of light.

    Instead of affecting the Elemental Empress'' pir of light from the outside like each of the chains, the taming circle would influence the pir of light from the inside. This particr fact was also the sole reason why Michael felt that it was possible to overwrite the Soul Pacts. The taming circle would be much higher on the list of priorities after all.

    Time slowed down as Michael inserted the taming circle inside the pir of light. It was a slow task that required a tremendous amount of energy, and focus. Not a single mistake was allowed as both tamer and the tamed monster would have to face the consequences.

    Michael would survive it rather easily. He might end up with a bad headache for a few days, but that was it. However, the same couldn''t be said about the Elemental Empress. Even if the bacsh was not noteworthy, it would probably be enough to kill the Elemental Empress. She had been confined for too long and grown very weak.

    As the taming circle was inserted into the pir of light, the pir of light began to ripple. Michael could hear the Elemental Empress groan in pain, forcing him to slow down. He didn''t want to inflict pain on her since he was pretty sure that the removal of the Soul Pacts'' chains would hurt like hell. It was not necessary to torture her even more.

    Realizing his mistake, he slowed down his speed of inserting the taming circle and observed the changes urring in and around the pir of light. The pir of light continued to ripple but the Elemental Empress didn''t wince anymore. Her breathing grew ragged but that was her only response.

    After what felt like an eternity, Michael finished inserting the taming circle inside the pir of light. Thereafter the changes revolving around the pir of light became more prominent. The pir of light was shrouded in a faint crimson hue as it began to expand ever so slightly. What followed next caused shivers to run down Michael''s spine.

    The Elemental Empress screamed out at the top of her lungs, the chains holding her back rattling wildly. She was in immense pain as the pir of light expanded, pushing against the Soul Pacts'' chains that ought to restrain her pir of light. However, the pir of light continued to expand. It was not affected by the Elemental Empress'' screams. Michael froze in response, unsure what to do next. He had a n, but he didn''t expect the Elemental Empress to start screaming in pain so soon.

    The Elemental Empress continued to scream for a full minute until she went silent all of a sudden. Theck of noise worried Michael even more than her screams. He worried that she might be too weak to scream and that she was actually on the verge of death now.

    Suddenly, a faint crackling noise resounded in the eerily silent room. The pir of light began to ignore the Soul Pacts'' chains and expanded past their restrictions, resulting in cracks appearing all over the chains.

    As Michael took note of the cracks, a sudden idea shed through his mind. He closed his eyes and used Extraction. He was already inside the Elemental Empress'' consciousness, and the True Link of Loyalty between him and the Elemental Empress was about to be established as well. Therefore, he could use Extraction inside her consciousness, and try to extract the Soul Pacts'' chains.

    It might work, but it was more likely to fail. Despite that, he wanted to give it a try. Michael wanted to weaken the chains if extracting them was not possible.

    Extraction''s golden threads shot out, a dozen at once. Each golden thread pierced through the Soul Pacts'' chains, infiltrating the inside to extract it slowly.

    Several hours passed as he focused on the task, but Michael didn''t feel anything. A mere minute, an hour, or weeks could have passed, yet Michael wouldn''t be able to notice anything as he focused entirely on extracting the Soul Pacts'' chains.

    Atst, the cracks spread all over the surface of the chains. A loud noise reverberated throughout the Elemental Empress'' consciousness as the chains grew even more weak.

    Michael left her consciousness in response, but he was still using Extraction. He added another use of Extraction to reach out to the crystal chains that pinned the Elemental Empress to the wall and extracted thest mainponent.

    In the next moment, the chains restraining the Elemental Empress'' soul and body broke simultaneously.

    Michael expected to hear the Elemental Empress scream resound through the small room, but all he could hear was a heavy sigh, a sigh of relief.

    The Elemental Empress slumped down to the ground right after the crystal chains shattered to pieces. She stayed on the ground, panting heavily and unable to even think about moving around. Not having been able to move freely even once in her life, the Elemental Empress felt like she had plunged head-first into an entirely new world; a world full of things to explore.

    She could feel that a connection between her and Michael had been established, a connection that would force her to obey Michael''smands even if it meant that she would have to sacrifice herself. But she didn''t even bother thinking about that. After living in a literal hell her entire life, the Elemental Empress could only think that her situation would improve after today.

    There was no way that her life could get worse.

    Michael observed the Elemental Empress for a while and gave her some time to calm down. He expected that something would happen. The Soul Pacts'' chains had been broken, indicating that the Soul Pacts weren''t valid anymore. Thus, something should be happening now. The Kitsun Lord must have noticed the termination of the Soul Pacts. He must be fuming in anger, initiating some sort of n to get rid of Michael and take back what ought to belong to him.

    And that was exactly what happened right after the Soul Pacts broke. The entire building around them began to tremble as a thunderous explosion resounded from above them.

    A tremendous heatwave shot down the staircase, nearly burning Michael alive. He could barely react and manifest a thickyer of cicle around his body in response. The cicle lowered the temperature in his vicinity and took the brunt of the searing heatwave. A secondter, the mes and heat were pulled toward the back of the room. Surprisingly, the Elemental Empress absorbed the mes and heat.

    She converted the mes and heat into energy to replenish her vigor and strengthen her pir of light. For the first time in forever, the Elemental Empress was able to use her power however she pleased. She felt energy coursing through every inch of her zing body along with a newfound confidence.

    Despite the joy of regaining freedom and being able to feel power for the first time in her life, the Elemental Empress didn''t look happy.

    A wave of sadness swept through her entire being.

    "Thank you for serving me," She mumbled sadly, while a deep frown appeared on Michael''s.

    The Elemental Empress didn''t speak to him. Her words were not directed at him at all. She stared in the direction of the Elementals - seemingly staring through the walls - and bowed down in gratefulness.

    "What is going on?!?" He asked, a bad feeling resurfacing.

 Chapter 363 Death Command

    <h4>Chapter 363 Death Command</h4>

    "What is going on?!?" Michael asked, clearly able to tell that something was wrong.

    The Elemental Empress was staring at the mes she devoured while expressing her gratitude. The questions surfacing in his mind were simple; who was she grateful for, and who served her?

    The answers were just as simple as the questions.

    "The Baron of Fire died. He sacrificed himself to grant me his power before it was toote. He hoped that I could survive what''s about to happen," The Elemental Empress exined as if it was obvious.

    "What are you talking about??" Michael asked, his voice filled with frustration.

    Michael was irritated and frustrated. He had a faint inkling of what was about to happen, but he couldn''t help but feel irritated.

    "Survive what?" He asked, taking a stride toward the Elemental Empress.

    While towering above the Elemental Empress, he didn''t look like the kind young Lord who wanted to give his utmost to rescue her. Quite the contrary, his eyes and presence were eerie. The Elemental Empress shuddered in fear when she looked up at him.

    "I¡­was not the only one under the influence of a Soul Pact," She said, not daring to answer Michael''s question directly.

    "What do you mean?" Michael asked even though he could clearly tell what was about to follow.

    The Elemental Empress hesitated for a moment. However, the True Link of Loyalty forced her to answer Michael''s question even if she didn''t want to.

    "The strongest Elementals I''ve created were also forced into a Soul Pact. However, their Soul Pact is different. It was much simpler to ensure that they won''t die from the aftereffect when the Soul Pact was established," The Elemental Empress exined, "I¡­forgot about the Soul Pact and its intricacies since I was too young when I created the nobility¡­I forgot...until the zing mes of the Baron of Fire reached me. The mes were shrouded in his memories, so I recalled the Soul Pact applicable to him and the others again."

    The Elemental Empress was still sad, but something was different. Michael was not entirely sure what it was, but his bad feeling intensified as more explosions resounded from above. They were weaker and much quieter, but their number was on the higher side.

    "n B¡­Of course¡­If the Elemental Empress can escape the Soul Pacts, someone has to take action to either capture her or finish her off¡­" Michael mumbled to himself.

    The Kitsun Lord was not only sly, but also possessive. If he couldn''t have the Elemental Empress, nobody was allowed to have her. He would rather see her dead than with anyone else.

    "The Baron of Fire sacrificed himself before the Soul Pact could force him tomand the Lesser Elementals to self-destruct," the Elemental Empress said what was on Michael''s mind using the ming memories she had just obtained from the Baron of Fire.

    "They were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect you. Why didn''t they tell me about their Soul Pacts?" Michael asked loud enough for the Elemental Empress to hear, "...They could have warned me."

    "They were scared¡­scared that you would abandon me. Scared that you would be unwilling to help me after finding out that they were under the influence of the Soul Pacts as well," The Elemental Empress revealed meekly, not daring to look into Michael''s eyes. At this moment, the Elemental Empress could feel a tremendously heavy killing intent oozing out of Michael. His eyes were ice-cold and his voice cut through the room.

    "So these bastards couldn''t tell me that they will turn into suicide bombers after I seed in rescuing you?" Michael growled, his hand lunging forward. He grasped the Elemental Empress'' neck tightly and stared at her like she was dead to him.

    "Aren''t you lucky to have such loyal subordinates? They were even willing to risk my life, and the lives of my people just to save you," Michael said, slowly losing control of his emotions as he heard the sound of explosions ring through the entire cavern hall above them¡­alongside the sensation of dozens of links of loyalty disappearing.

    "If they knew what was about to happen, they should have killed themselves before the situation escted," Michael bellowed, his presence shrouding the Elemental Empress, "Your loyal dogs are nothing more than cowards. They sought the help of others, aka me, hoping that I was naive enough to rescue you without asking any questions."

    Michaelughed dryly, his eyes still as cold as ice, "Lucky you. You found the naive Lord. Aren''t you happy?!"

    Michael shouted thest words aloud. They resounded in the room, causing the Elemental Empress to shrink ¨C or so it seemed.

    He felt enraged that thousands of Lesser Elementals had been ordered to self-destruct through the Soul Pact of the Elementals'' Barons and higher beings, yet the Barons and other nobility hadn''t been willing tomit suicide to protect their Empress from the aftereffect of their Soul Pacts. They were willing to sacrifice others, but unwilling to kill themselves. They didn''t deserve to live after having pushed his loyal subjects into the clutches of death.

    Cursing in his mind, Michael wished them to die. If possible, he would cut his taming bond with the Elemental Empress and crush her core in front of her entire nobility. However, the worst was that he hated himself for believing every word the Baron of Fire had said. He didn''t even question anything. Michael believed every word of the Elementals just because they had been chained to the walls and tortured for years.

    Therefore, he missed noticing that they had been desperate¡­desperate enough to leave out crucial information that could lead to the death of thousands of his own¡­

    All they cared about was their Empress'' survival. She was all that mattered to them.

    The only issue was that his army was still in the same cavern hall as the suicide bombers. They were taken by surprise and died alongside the Lesser Elementals, who self-destructed by unleashing every bit of their elemental energy at once after realizing that their Empress was now free.

    "Did your idiotic, ignorant subordinates not even think about the possibility that I will torture you much worse than the Kitsun Lord after realizing that your rescue will result in the death of my people?!?" Michael roared, shaking the Elemental Empress.

    She didn''t dare to move, and Michael couldn''t care any less about her at this point. He cursed under his breath and released the Elemental Empress from his grasp.

    He turned around, ignoring the Elemental Empress'' existence, and began ascending the staircase.

    Hundreds of Links of Loyalty had been cut already, and the tremors caused by the thousands of explosions above him seemed quite dangerous. However, all that weighed on his mind was the desire to rescue as many of his subjects as possible. He didn''t want to leave them behind. He couldn''t, not after realizing they would die due to his naivety.

    "I am sorry¡­" The Elemental Empress said all of a sudden, appearing in front of Michael through a golden sheen. She shrouded their bodies in a golden light, ignoring that Michael pushed her aside,? "They just tried to rescue me. I¡­am sorry¡­"

    In the next moment, the space around them twisted. Michael lost footing and the world began to spin.

    He felt nausea and was just about to vomit when the fresh air of the Untamed Jungle swept past him.

    The next time he opened his eyes, he saw the entrance of the Elementals Cave. The Elemental Empress was lying next to him with mere traces of energy left inside her body.

    Teleporting them outside the cave had used up the entire energy she absorbed from the Baron of Fire, in addition to herst reserves. Just a faint trace of energy was left behind, barely keeping her alive.

    "Fuck this shit," Michael cursed aloud as several dozen more Links of Loyalty disappeared.

    Michael received the bacsh of hundreds of Links of Loyalty getting cut. A fresh wave of pain and anguish hit him whenever a new link was cut. It spread all over his body, causing his emotions to be in disarray.

    All of a sudden, the ground on the surface of the Untamed Jungle began to tremble. A heatwave shot out of the entrance of the Elementals cave, mere seconds before searing mes shot outward. Michael was forced to erupt arge cicle which he shattered with a thought of releasing freezing mist in the surroundings.

    It was barely enough to prevent sustained heavy burns. Forced to continue manifesting cicles to keep the mes at bay, Michael witnessed in terror as more Links of Loyalty were cut. He clenched his fists tightly until his nails dug deep enough into his palms to draw blood.

    Then it happened.

    The Elementals cave copsed with a thunderous explosion that reverberated through the surroundings. The ground shook violently¡­and hundreds of Links of Loyalty were cut near-simultaneously.

    Michael stopped conjuring cicles. He froze in his tracks and stared nkly at the copsed entrance of the Elementals cave. His heart skipped a beat and his hair stood up to its end.

    Death was all that remained inside the Elementals cave. Out of the 1,500 fighters he brought to the Elementals Cave¡­no one was left alive. 1500 Links of Loyalty had been cut, the remnants of their deaths lingering in Michael''s heart and soul.

    The bacsh of that many Links of Loyalty being cut for the first time at once was not something that could kill Michael. The pain of his injured soul would heal quickly. However, the searing pain in his heart would not ebb for a long time.

    Only his Adventurers, Sun Demos, the Demon Monkeys, and his monsters were alive. The vast majority of the army he built up with painstaking effort had been annihted. The people who trusted him¡­just died while fighting for their lord, for him and he had been unable to do anything about it.

    The Kitsun Lord lost a lot as well, but Michael knew very well that he would have never touched the Elemental Empress if he had known what was about to happen.

    Maybe, he would have helped her after ordering his army to retreat. But he would have hesitated even then.

    ''Fuck fuck fuck!!!!''

    Unable to control his emotions, Michael kept cursing in his mind. The mes around him dispersed in all directions before they died down. The next thing Michael remembered was that he stood in front of the Elemental Empress. He picked her up without a care for her well-being and shook her hard.

    "You killed my people!" He screamed, despite being fully aware that the Elemental Empress was not at fault.

    Michael knew deep down that the Kitsun Lord was at fault¡­and that it was his fault as well.

    The Elemental Empress didn''t do anything wrong. If possible, the Elementals nobility could have killed themselves to make sure that no Lesser Elemental would receive themand to self-destruct. However, then again, the Kitsun Lord was likely to havee up with several other ns as a backup to ensure that nobody would be able to get hold of the Elemental Empress ¨C if he couldn''t have her.

    Michael was fully aware that the nobility acted in favor of their Empress, hoping that at least she could survive. They were probably not even allowed to talk about their Soul Pact and couldn''t warn Michael and his people.

    However, none of that mattered. All Michael cared about was the fact that 1500 of his loyal subjects died in exchange¡­for what? A fragile Elemental Empress?

    Michael couldn''t care less about the Elemental Empress at this point. If he could exchange her to resurrect his army Michael would do so without a shred of hesitation. He would throw her back at the Kitsun Lord and probably add a few presents of gratitude as long as he could resurrect his army.

    But that was not possible, and Michael was fully aware of that.

    "...It''s all my fault¡­"

 Chapter 364 My fault

    <h4>Chapter 364 My fault</h4>

    The Elemental Mages, the Summoner, Knights, Berserkers¡­all of them died.

    Not even the scouting teams ¨C except the main team that stayed back to scout the territory had survived.

    A meticulously trained army with nearly 2,000batants dwindled down to less than 500 fighters in the blink of an eye. All of a sudden, the vast majority of Michael''s hard work went down the drain.

    Realization struck him hard. He slumped down to the ground as his legs went limp, staring at the copsed entrance to the Elementals cave. Michael couldn''t believe how his glorious conquest turned out to be nothing but a trap, an illusion.

    One moment they had been killing everyone, gaining a foothold in the enemy''s territory, and in the next moment almost everyone was dead.

    It was his fault.

    He should have been more stubborn, forcing his people to stay behind like he nned initially. But he gave in. He listened to their pleads and allowed them toe with him. He ordered them to rescue the Lesser Elementals instead of getting rid of the potential threats first. He was gullible and didn''t even verify the authenticity of the ims of the Baron of Fire. He was blinded by greed and the desire to y hero trying to save the Elemental Empress.

    He¡­killed them all¡­

    Staring at Michael on the ground, the Elemental Empress pressed her lips in a thin line. Despite knowing that everything was her fault to a certain extent, the Elemental Empress remained silent. She just wanted to be saved, and the Elementals she created also knew that. They did their duty and sacrificed themselves for her. It wouldn''t be fair to give excuses and apologize for their actions either. After all, she was d to have escaped the Elementals Cave, and the Kitsun Lord''s grasp.

    Apologizing and pleading for forgiveness might console Michael, but it wouldn''t be sincere. The Elemental Empress knew that her Elementals would do the same again even if they were given a second chance. They didn''t want Michael to leave in fright so they intentionally left out some information to make sure that he would stay behind and rescue her. That was not nice, but it had been necessary ¨C or so did the Baron of Fire think.

    At the end of the day, the Elemental Empress had no excuses. The Elementals did all of this for her, after all. They died to rescue her and give her back the freedom she deserved.

    But even then, the Elemental Empress didn''t feel good. She felt worse physically and mentally with every passing second. However, the worst was that the True Link of Loyalty created between the Elemental Empress and Michael allowed her to feel Michael''s emotions like they were her own.

    The True Link of Loyalty allowed him to sense the Elemental Empress'' turmoil as well. She was on the verge of death. But Michael couldn''t care less about that at this moment. He was far from reasonable at this point. The sudden death of 1,500batants, all of whom had firm Links of Loyalty with him, hit Michael extremely hard. He couldn''t protect his people. He led them straight into hell.

    He should have gone alone.

    Michael got up from the ground after a while. His eyes were focused on the entrance of the Elementals Cave, almost like he was hoping to witness a miracle. Deep inside his heart, he hoped that his subjects would emerge from the copsed cavern entrance. However, he knew that it wouldn''t happen. It was nothing but wishful thinking.

    At some point, familiar voices reached him from behind.

    "That explosion was terrifying. What actually happened here?" Tiara''s voice resounded in Michael''s ears, followed by Mika asking curiously, "And who is this little girl¡­or Spirit¡­or is she an Elemental?"

    Michael turned around to see Tiara and the five Forest Elven Adventurers. Seeing them felt like a thousand hot needles pierced in his heart.

    He didn''t want them to find out what had happened. However, he also knew that it was impossible to hide his failure, his idiocy.

    "Everyone died," Michael revealed slowly.

    Lilica, who had just approached the Elemental Empress with a few potions in her hand, stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened and her head flicked to Michael. The disbelief and shock in Lilica''s eyes was intense. It felt like her gaze was burning holes in his body.

    "How?" Liopham asked, stepping past Lilica to force Michael to look at him.

    Michael''s eyes moved to the Elemental Empress, but he couldn''t say anything. He wanted to say that it had been the Elemental Empress'' fault and that the Elementals loyal to her were at fault. But was that really the case?

    At that moment, the Elemental Empress'' weak voice reached their ears as she attempted to answer, "The Kitsun Lord¡­tortured us all. He is obsessed with us¡­because we can give him what he needs¡­power¡­and wealth¡­ He would never allow anyone other than himself to possess us¡­to possess me¡­ He killed everyone¡­"

    While listening to the Elemental Empress'' voice grew weaker with every word she said, Michael cursed himself inwardly. He knew that all of this was actually the Kitsun Lord''s fault. In fact, calling anything a ''fault'' during war was foolish. It was a war act of Michael to attack his main settlement and conquer the Elementals Cave. The Kitsun Lord''s meticulous preparations resulted in the destruction of the Elementals Cave, and the deaths of both most of the Elementals and Michael''s army.

    Michael took a deep breath and clutched his chest for a second or two before he began summarizing what happened.

    "After reading the memories and thoughts of the Kitsun Awakened Tiara brought back as a prey, I felt like we could make use of the Elementals. It would have been the easiest to rescue them andbine our forces. That was also why I came up with the n. So, while you guys acted as a distraction, I decided to¡­."

    Michael was not sure how much time he spent summarizing the events of thest few hours, but he was very detailed. It was already noon when he finished ¨C which was not further surprising because Michael spent the entire night and morning in the Elementals Cave.

    "Finally, my people are free. They don''t have to be tortured and chained until the end of their days," The Elemental Empress said all of a sudden, ignoring the fact that ''free'' meant death.

    Everyone turned to her, unsure what to think about the Elemental Empress and her attitude.

    ''Liberation through death.'' Michael thought gloomily.

    He hated the fact that so many of his people died, but he was also fully aware that he couldn''t change anything about it anymore. He had known that the Kitsun Lord was sly and cunning so he should have expected a trap to beid out for him.

    He didn''t expect this kind of retaliation, but it was not further surprising. The Kitsun race was considered treacherous, sly, and merciless. They would sacrifice their own people if it provided benefits. Killing the vast majority of Michael''s army could be considered a benefit ¨C even if the Kitsun Lord lost one of the most important resources in his possession in exchange.

    The Kitsun Lord lost a lot, and Michael was fully aware that someone as possessive as the Kitsun Lord wouldn''t stop before he killed him for good.

    That meant he had to change his way of thinking, and his attitude while facing the Kitsun Lord.

    "We have to leave."

    Tiara was the first to speak after Michael finished summarizing the events. She was still shocked about what happened, especially since she had been out hunting with most of the fighters over the course of several months. Tiara might not have been extremely close to any of the subjects, but she had trained all of them and trusted them a lot.

    Their death shocked her, but she couldn''t allow it to affect her. Not here, not right now.

    "We had to kill a few dozen Awakened, and hundreds of Kitsun Summons while you were busy rescuing the Elemental Empress. The Kitsun Lord should have returned to the Origin Expanse as well at this point. I doubt he will remain silent now that the Elementals Cave is destroyed. Let''s retreat ande up with a new n," Lilica suggested to Michael, who nodded absentmindedly.

    "We attacked his main settlement as well. He will definitely respond to our provocation," Mika said, trying hard to suppress the sadness and guilt caused by the death of 1,500batants.

    Mika ¨C just like most people in Michael''s territory, including Michael ¨C had been too naive about the danger of the Origin Expanse. Since Michael became a Lord, he faced many dangerous situations. One problem after another was thrown at him, yet he survived all of them, with little to no casualties at that.

    However, the Origin Expanse was merciless, and war and death were always following them like a shadow. Listening to Michael''s summary made him, and the other Forest Elven Adventurers recall how they lost their territory back in the days. Their time as Lords had been short¡­and it had been one of the most terrifying periods in their lives.

    Recalling their short stint as Lords, the Forest Elves sighed deeply. Fighting side-by-side with Michael made them forget the dangers of the Origin Expanse, and the difficulties of being a Lord. A Lord was not only responsible for himself but also his territory and subjects. Their freedom was restricted as well. They couldn''t travel through the Origin Expanse, and selfishly escape their enemies alone.

    No. As a Lord, you had to face your enemies head-on, otherwise, you would lose your territory.

    "No, we cannot leave," Michael said, looking at Tiara, who was already ready to leave.

    "Why? Are you¡ª..." Tiara was just about to confront Michael when she saw the hatred and the thirst for blood in his eyes.

    However, that wasn''t what caused her to shut her mouth. Other than the hatred and thirst for blood, Michael''s eyes were also filled with determination.

    "We cannot leave because the Kitsun Lord will probably open gates to the beast ranches with bloodthirsty monsters soon. He should have already realized that the majority of my army died in the Elementals Cave. The Kitsun might be weaker than others, but he won''t hesitate tobine his forces and charge at my territory. We have to restrain them and attack now," Michael pointed out, knowing damn well that his words made him seem suicidal.

    So what? He was tired of being the reasonable one.

    Tiara looked at Michael for a while and ended up nodding, "They won''t expect an attack now that they''ve struck us heavily. Master is right."

    "It might be worth a try, probably?" Lilica asked, a lot more uncertain about what was going to happen in the next few hours.

    She fed the Elemental Empress with a few potions to tend to her wounds. Meanwhile, Michael began to strategize.

    "But before we attack, let''s gear up," he said, retrieving the corpses of the Awakened he''d killed in the Elementals Cave.

    It was time to get stronger and take revenge on those sly bastards!

 Chapter 365 Gear Up

    <h4>Chapter 365 Gear Up</h4>

    Once Michael retrieved the corpses of the Awakened he and his people killed in the Elementals cave, Tiara and the Forest Elves realized what he was about to do.

    They essed their War Runes'' storage and pulled out the Awakened they''d killed in the main settlement.

    "Tiara. What kind of Soultrait do you need? You wanted to focus on creating a great synergy with Soultraits, but you never said what Soultrait you''re looking for," Michael asked as several golden threads of Extraction emerged from his palms.

    He began extracting the corpses, focusing on the SoulStar Fragments, and Soultrait Symbols. Michael hoped to strengthen himself and the Awakened working for him to create a small group that was strong enough to throw out the Kitsun Lord''s territory from the Untamed Jungle and the Savannah. Of course, that was easier said than done, but Michael had to give it a try. The fighters left behind in his territory were not as strong as the rest of his army had been. They hadn''t been summoned that long ago, nor had been promoted to 1-Star Warriors less than two weeks ago.

    Therefore, fighting in the enemy''s territory was a much better idea. It was especially useful considering that the Kitsun Lord''s territory was humongous, while his settlements were located far apart.

    The Kitsun Lord''s army was spread out across his territory. Even if he wanted to attack Michael immediately, he wouldn''t be able to gather his entire force, not without giving his other enemies a great opportunity to attack by leaving some of his territories vulnerable.

    Michael had only one enemy to focus on right now. He didn''t have to pay attention to his other borders that much at this moment. That factor was something Michael wanted to exploit as much as possible.

    "I am very interested in Spirit Whip. My Soultraits should work well with a Soultrait like Spirit Whip," Tiara said after some consideration.

    She had been thinking about this question since Michael had asked her the same thing a while ago. Being able to change her attack pattern all of a sudden using Inner Force to create feints beforeshing out with several Spirit Whips ¨C or one strengthened Spirit Whip ¨C before once again changing her attack pattern to inflict lethal damage would give her a good advantage over her enemies.

    Adding her transformation Soultrait to the fray, Tiara would have no problem fighting enemies of a higher rank. Once she learned to implement an ability like Spirit Whip into her attacks and use them instinctively herbat prowess would skyrocket.

    A Soultrait that attacked the mind out of nowhere might not be perfect for Tiara, but it was as close to perfection as it could be. Fighting enemies on the same level as herself wouldn''t even require her to use trickery to win a fight. She could use several Spirit Whips, or a strengthened Spirit Whip tosh out and charge at her enemies rapidly after using Silvarean Tiger to transform partially.

    The more Michael thought about Tiara''s decision to pick a Soultrait like Spirit Whip the better he found the idea.

    He looked deep into her eyes and thought about something. By the time he made up his mind, Michael realized that he had finished plundering the Awakened corpses as well.

    There had been a total of 135 Awakened, with five of them at Tier-3, 121 at Tier-2, and only 9 Tier-1 Awakened.

    The Tier-1 Awakened had been new recruits, whom the Kitsun Lord had gotten hold of less than a year ago. They were pretty talentedpared to the rest, but they still sumbed to the offer made by the Kitsun Lord. Michael decided to consume the Memory Orbs he extracted from their corpses, only to find out that the Kitsun Lord used his wealth to convince the poor and slightly talented Kitsun to be his subordinates through a Link of Loyalty and a Soul Contract.

    Michael didn''t feel pity for them even though he knew that they had been tricked into believing that they epted a great offer. And as expected, all the young Kitsun Awakened obtained was endless work and little to no free time in exchange for a small fortune. The small fortune allowed their family to prosper, but was that really worth it? They ended up dying either way.

    The Memory Orbs of the Kitsun disgusted Michael. Even though he learned a lot, he witnessed the memories of the Kitsun like he was the one doing all of the things they did. It made him feel nauseated. He offered the other Adventurers to consume the Memory Orbs if they wanted to because he wouldn''t use the Memory Orbs of the Kitsun for himself, but he wouldn''t strongly rmend them to do that either.

    Tiara and the Forest Elves were curious how the Memory Orbs worked. Therefore, they consumed one Memory Orb respectively. Five minutester, the Forest Elves shouted aloud, cursing themselves for not having killed more Kitsun when they had the opportunity.

    Meanwhile, Tiara remained silent. She just clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in anger.

    Michael could understand their reactions well. He felt simr.

    He diverted his attention from his subordinates'' reactions and moved on to the piles of SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits.

    A simple scan with enhanced Eagle Eyes allowed him to take a proper look at his loot.

    "3605 SoulStar Fragments and 13 Soultrait Symbols. Adding the 254 SoulStar Fragments I already have, we can use a total of 3859 SoulStar Fragments," Michael mumbled, not surprised about the gains they made.

    Even a Tier-2 Awakened with a 1-Star Soultrait dropped between 15-20 SoulStar Fragments thanks to Extraction being a 6-Star Soultrait. The Tier-3 Awakened dropped roughly 100 each. That was actually less than what Michael expected. But that was probably because their Soultraits were miserable.

    None of the Awakened Kitsun had a powerful Soultrait. The only Soultrait that intrigued Michael a little was the Soultrait of the Kitsun he fought in the Elementals Cave. The Kitsun''s eyes pierced deep into his Soul, distracting him ¨C even if it was just for a second.

    He remembered having extracted the Soultrait Symbol of the Kitsun with the Soultrait that changed his eye color to silver, and it was not difficult to find the Symbol in the pile of Soultrait Symbols either. The emblem on the Soultrait Symbol was a pair of silver eyes, a dead giveaway.

    For a quarter of a second, Michael reconsidered using his SoulStar Fragments to create a new socket for the Sphere of Light. That would allow him to bind a new Soultrait to the Sphere and to fuse his War Rune with it.

    However, he changed his decision now that Tiara wanted a Soultrait like Spirit Whip.

    If she wanted something like Spirit Whip, why couldn''t he just give her Spirit Whip?

    It had been a while since Michael began to doubt Spirit Whip''s utility. His current fighting style was also quite questionable since he didn''t use his Soultraits in an orthodox way. The utility of his Soultraits was rather abstract, which resulted in mixing Soultraits that ought to be used for closebat to be Soultraits with long-range attacks.

    Unfortunately, Spirit Whip couldn''t be used in as versatile a way as his other Soultraits. Thus, Michael used it less as the number of his Soultraits increased. Maybe, he would stop using Spirit Whip in the future entirely.

    Therefore, Michael used Extraction on himself. He entered the deepest parts of his consciousness and essed his Sphere of Light. Extraction shrouded the Sphere of Light in a golden sheen that moved toward the Symbol for Spirit Whip. Once Extraction reached Spirit Whip, Michael began to extract the Soultrait Symbol.

    A severe headache overcame Michael instantly. However, instead of giving up extracting Spirit Whip, Michael continued. The headache grew more severe over time, but the Soultrait Symbol was finally extracted. This left the Socket that had been upied by Spirit Whip empty.

    However, Michael was not worried about that. He pressed the Soultrait Symbol with the silver eyes emblem against the back of his right hand. Arge white tentacle shot out of the back of his hand, coiling around the Soultrait Symbol before pulling it back.

    The Soultrait Symbol found its designated ce with the empty socket in the Sphere of Light. This lessened the headache quite a bit. It allowed Michael to turn to Tiara with a faint smile.

    "Here, use Spirit Whip. It''s already a 4-Star Soultrait. It should be enough to increase yourbat prowess considerably once your proficiency with Spirit Whip increases," Michel said as he handed Tiara the Soultrait Symbol. He closed his eyes afterward in order to digest the information provided by his new Soultrait.

    The Soultrait''s name sounded rather simple, and so was the effect. [Piercing Gaze] did exactly what the name suggested. It was a piercing gaze that stared deep into the Soul of the target. The information provided by fusing Piercing Gaze didn''t even suggest that it was a Soultrait with the ability to harm the mind or soul. However, Michael was of a different opinion.

    He instinctively used Eagle Eyes and Piercing Gaze together, creating a silverish-golden sheen in his eyes. His eyesight was enhanced drastically, and he could tell that he could create something simr to a shockwave that would affect his target at will.

    It was a weird feeling to use Eagle Eyes and Piercing Gaze together. However, it was not an ufortable feeling. Michael felt rather good using these two Soultraits together.

    Instead of hesitating to upgrade Piercing Gaze as it might be useless in the given predicament, Michael spent 392 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Piercing Gaze to a 4-Star Soultrait. The cost to upgrade Piercing Gaze was that high because it had upied the empty socket located in the middle area of the Sphere of Light. Nheless, Michael was far from disappointed with the upgraded version of Piercing Gaze.

    A flood of information swept through Michael''s mind, informing him that Piercing Gaze had been upgraded to [Spirit Gaze]. A simple look with Spirit Gaze would be enough to intimidate those around him. If utilized with the intention to harm his enemies, the designated targets would feel a sense of inferiority upon looking at Michael. They would feel exposed and highly vulnerable as if their entire being could be read by Michael. Last but not least, Spirit Gaze could create an effect called ''Spirit Disturbance''. It could cause severe headaches to the target, and even knock them out if their defense was not strong enough.

    It was very interesting and even stronger than Spirit Whip in Michael''s opinion. First of all, Spirit Gaze enhanced his eyesight. It allowed him to see the origin energy permeating the air with much more precision than before. Other than that, it could be used to investigate his enemies'' powers, and used as a means to strike them.

    But there was even more that Michael discovered once all information about Spirit Gaze had been digested. The thin thread ¨C? a link ¨C had been established between two Soultrait Symbols. Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze had established a connection with each other. Something like this happened to Michael for the first time. It was a huge surprise ¨C a wee one.

    ''So Soultraits cannot only develop and be stronger, granting them a ''new'' name, but they can even create links? What does that mean? Will their powers be amplified if used together, or will they fuse in the future? What if they continue to develop? Eagle Eyes should regain its name as Divine Eyes once it bes an 8-Star Soultrait¡­but will that still be the case now that it is connected with Spirit Gaze?''

    Too many questions shed through Michael''s mind, but none of them was bothersome. The questions in his mind filled him with curiosity, and a sense of desire to find the answers to those questions in the future. They gave his gloomy heart a little bit of hope.

    But for now, Michael had to deal with the Kitsun Lord first. The questions could be answered in the future.

    After all, his future was bound to continue. It wouldn''t end with an enemy such as the Kitsun Lord!

 Chapter 366 Trust

    <h4>Chapter 366 Trust</h4>

    Michael had never heard of Soultraits of a simr nature creating a connecting link, but that was only natural. Awakened rarely had more than one Soultrait, and even if they ever awakened two Soultraits, they were rarely of the same kind. Furthermore, even if they were of the same nature, creating a link between each other, nobody would share this find with the outside world. It would be kept a secret until the end of time.

    Therefore, he was more curious about the effect of the link and how much it influenced the two 4-Star Soultraits.

    Testing the power of Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze after the link between them had been established, Michael spent only a few minutes to realize that he struck the Jackpot. The two 4-Star Soultraits felt even stronger than an ordinary 5-Star Soultrait when used simultaneously. To test the potency and energy consumption of the Soultraits, Michael used it on Tiara, Lilica, and the other Forest Elves.

    They told him how they felt after the Spirit Gaze struck them, providing crucial information that Michael could useter on.

    Satisfied with the power of his Soultraits, Michael watched Tiara bind Spirit Whip as well. She smiled from ear to ear and rushed toward Michael to hug him tightly.

    "Thank you so much, Master!!" She eximed in excitement.

    Tiara kept bobbing on her heels while continuing to embrace Michael firmly. Her hug was tight and warm, causing a small smile to blossom on Michael''s face.

    Tiara thanked him profusely, but Michael''s attention moved to the Forest Elves after the third time Tiara expressed her gratitude.

    ''What am I supposed to do with you guys?''

    Michael''s expression stiffened a little while staring at the Forest Elves. He was not sure what to do with them.

    If he kept the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols to himself, he could upgrade one of his Soultraits. If he was lucky enough, Michael might even receive enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade a second Soultrait to 5-Star. That was if he crushed the remaining Soultrait Symbols.

    The Soultraits harvested from the Kitsun Awakened were not that powerful, either way. Nheless, the Forest Elves might take a liking to some of them. Upgrading them could elevate the prowess of certain Soultraits drastically, after all. Last but not least, upgrading Soultraits from 1-Star to 4-Star was rather cheap for the Forest Elves. They didn''t have the Sphere of Light that increased the cost of upgrading Soultraits, after all.

    With the amount of SS Fragments and Soultraits in his possession, Michael could give the Forest Elves one or two new 4-Star Soultraits¡­but was that really what Michael wanted to do right now?

    Michael kept looking at the Forest Elves for a while before he cleared his throat.

    "I want to be honest with you. In fact, it shouldn''te as a surprise, but I cannot give the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team anymore Soultraits without adding a few uses to the Links of Loyalty established between us. To be entirely honest with the lot of you, I am notfortable trusting a mere Link of Loyalty if I keep handing out more Soultraits to you. I can upgrade your Soultraits as well in the future, after all," Michael revealed slowly, trying to make sure the Forest Elves wouldn''t misunderstand him.

    "At this point, the Link of Loyalty won''t be enough for me. Providing you the second Soultrait in the past was to gain your favor, and to make sure that you guys won''t run away from the danger of the Jungle Expedition. I needed you when they attacked, and your task was to ensure my survival. I am putting in a lot more than I receive. After all, finding out about my powers could change your lives, and the livelihood of the Forest Elven Tribe entirely.

    I understand that you weren''tpletely business-minded when you helped me against the Jungle Expedition, but my powers should have yed a role in your decision-making process, whether it was a major one or a minor role."

    He took a pause to read their expressions and continued,

    "But now I cannot keep investing in the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team if I cannot even be certain that you guys will stay with me and my territory. I don''t want to invest in the entire team just to be abandoned when the Zentika Empire attacks or something simr happens. To be fair, it was already very foolish of me to give you Soultraits and enhance them, yet to never consider that you could leave me once the dangers in and around the Untamed Jungle increase considerably. I shouldn''t be that naive, and I hope you guys can understand my point of view."

    Michael tried to bepletely honest with the Forest Elves. He didn''t want to lie to them or lead them around with a carrot and a stick. That was not how he acted.

    Michael knew that he was currently not that rational and that he was affected by the loss of arge number of loyal subjects today, but all of this made him realize that he had been too naive and gullible until now. He trusted others too much.

    Trust was not a bad thing. However, it was bad if you trusted everyone blindly even if there was no reason to trust.

    The Forest Elves listened intently to every word Michael said, and they realized quickly that the issue was not with them. It was more about the fact that Michael realized what one of his biggest ws was. He was too gullible. He even trusted those who caused him harm without doubting them for a second.

    Starting from ire making a big mistake the day she was summoned, resulting in a big fight against another Lord less than two weeks after Michael became a Lord, to the mishap caused by Mika Zels of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team...Michael had given the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team several chances and favors. He had easily handed over the Gogi Lord''s corpse, but they caused him harm and trouble, even though they didn''t do so intentionally.

    But instead of punishing ire, or hating Mika for what he did, Michael forgave everyone without a second thought. He continued to trust them ¨C which could have caused various problems.

    It was only today that Michael''s patience and naive attitude began to change. The incident in the Elementals cave with the Elemental Empress, and her nobility caused great harm to his people. Michael couldn''t afford to act foolish anymore.

    That was something Lilica and her team understood very well. Therefore, they looked at Lilica who nodded her head to agree to Michael''s standpoint.

    "Don''t give us another Soultrait for the time being. Focus on yourself and upgrade your Soultraits first. Once we''re back in the base we can make a Blood Pact, undergo a Sacred Ritual, sign a Soul Pact, or whatever you want. I am quite certain that our Elders want us to stay with you, so we can talk about altering the Link of Loyalty, or doing one of the things I mentioned just now," Lilica said, not opposed to signing a binding Soul Pact ¨C not anymore.

    "To be honest with you, I like it in the Untamed Jungle, in your territory. It''s very warm and weing in your territory and does not only entail the temperature in the Untamed Jungle. I also want to grow stronger, and I doubt that you will force us to sign the disgusting type of Soul Pacts like the Kitsun Lord did to his subordinates. So¡­I will be fine!"

    "Same here," Liopham added.

    "Ditto!" Mika joined.

    "I also agree," Phelia chimed in, while Opars only nodded vigorously in agreement.

    Michael was quite pleased with the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. He might have been a little bit too trusting with them at first, but they didn''t betray his trust. That was a good thing and it reassured Michael quite a bit.

    He nodded his head subtly as well, only to turn to the Elemental Empress once Tiara released him from her tight embrace.

    "Our bond allows me to feel many things, and I can tell that you didn''t intend to harm me or my people. Unfortunately, your freedom came at an exorbitant cost. It cost the lives of your people and my people. What are you nning to do now?" Michael asked the Elemental Empress while trying to show little to no emotions.

    The Elemental Empress was still weak, but Michael decided to give her a few Energy Nourishing Pills to fill her with vigor and allow her to grow stronger quickly. Even if the Elemental Empress ended up causing him harm indirectly, it was not actually her fault. She had been the Kitsun Lord''s pawn just like the Elemental nobility she''d created.

    "I¡­can n what I want to do? You are my master now, so there is nothing for me to decide¡­especially not after what happened¡­"

    The Elemental Empress'' voice was weak and low. She wasn''t feeling well, not after her people sacrificed themselves to rescue her. And the worst was that they killed their benefactors as well. Even the Elemental Empress couldn''t forgive herself for that.

    However, Michael''s voice pulled her out of the gloomy thoughts that shed through her mind incessantly.

    "I told you that I won''t treat you the same as the Kitsun Lord did. My mind is still in a mess because my emotions are in disarray, but the bond established between us shows me quite clearly how you feel and that you didn''t want any of that to happen. Unfortunately, it happened and we cannot change the past so I am asking you once again. What do YOU want to do?" Michael asked, staring intently at the Elemental Empress.

    The Elemental Empress regained her vigor slowly. She got up from the ground and looked up to Michael, her eyes filled with a tiny trace of determination.

    "I¡­I want to take revenge. Let me fight the Kitsun!"

 Chapter 367 Ready for War

    <h4>Chapter 367 Ready for War</h4>

    The Soultrait Symbols in Michael''s palm began to crack. Small white cobweb-like cracks spread across the Soultraits moments before they burst apart, revealing hundreds of SoulStar Fragments.

    Michael didn''t hesitate to store all SoulStar Fragments inside his War Rune before he entered his consciousness.

    He ended up in front of the pir of light and the Sphere of Light, which he inspected for a while. While observing the link between Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes Michael felt that the link was oddly stretched out. Spirit Gaze was located in the middle area of the Sphere of Light, while Eagle Eyes was in the Inner area. They felt too far apart and distant from each other.

    Feeling that the two Soultraits belonged next to each other, Michael began to use Extraction to remove a few Soultraits from their socket and relocate them to a different position. That was how Spirit Gaze ended up next to Eagle Eyes in the Inner area of the Sphere of Light, while cicle was relocated to the middle area.

    Positioned right next to each other, Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes felt the most natural. It was like they were a part of a set that belonged to each other. It was truly miraculous.

    Unfortunately, repositioning a few Soultraits in the Sphere of Light cost 1000 SoulStar Fragments. The cost was exorbitant, but Michael was certain that he would gain tremendously from this slight adjustment.

    Now that Michael had the majority of SoulStar Fragments obtained from crushing a dozen Soultrait Symbols, he was only left with roughly 3,500 SoulStar Fragments. He first used 2500 SoulStar Fragments to form the fifth star on Spirit Gaze''s Soultrait Symbol. It was upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait, which resulted in a huge influx of information.

    As he digested the new information about his upgraded Soultrait, Michael used the remaining SoulStar Fragments in hopes of upgrading Eagle Eyes. Michael had been spending SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Eagle Eyes every now and then in the past. Therefore, he could only hope that 1109 SoulStar Fragments were enough toplete Eagle Eyes'' fifth star as well.

    Several minutes of silence passed until a flood of knowledge and information burst straight into his mind. It was an overwhelming amount of knowledge that caused Michael''s head to buzz loudly, but Michael barely felt the pain as his entire being was filled with euphoria.

    "Yes!" He eximed, clenching his fist with a vivid smile on his face.

    At some point, Michael began to doubt whether Eagle Eyes could be upgraded today, but it looked like the link between Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes created strong stimtions to both Soultrait Symbols. The stimuli affected the creation of Eagle Eyes'' fifth star. It allowed the creation to progress faster and even required fewer SoulStar Fragments than usually required to be upgraded. The small discount was a wee present, something Michael actually needed toplete Eagle Eyes'' upgrade to a 5-Star Soultrait.

    He seeded in upgrading two 4-Star Soultraits to 5-Star Soultraits in a single go. Michael didn''t even remember when he did something like this thest time. In fact, he never did that. His biggest aplishment until now was to upgrade Extraction to 6-Star. But now Michael was not only in possession of a 6-Star Soultrait but also five 5-Star Soultraits, two 4-Star Soultraits and one 1-Star Soultrait. That was quite amazing.

    The most amazing thing was that the link between Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze was strengthened and both the Soultraits grew a lot stronger.

    Eagle Eyes'' name didn''t change but he could see the movements of the Forest Elves and Tiara in his vision even before they actually moved. It was barely visible and caused some mind-splitting headache at first, but Michael quickly realized that he could predict others'' movements with much more precision than before. His eyesight was also several times more precise and sharper than before, and origin energy was visible to him even without having to activate his Soultraits.

    Both Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes used together allowed him to enhance his eyesight even further, and the precision in detail of objects several hundred meters away from his position was frighteningly urate. The improvement of his powers surprised him quite a bit, and he couldn''t help but test out how powerful his Spirit Disturbance was now that both Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze were 5-Star Soultraits and activated at once.

    He tested it out at Mika and Lilica before he had to stop his experiments. Mika copsed the moment Spirit Disturbance hit him, while Lilica barely remained conscious. She was visibly struggling and would pose no threat to Michael if he decided to attack her. Lilica would die facing him alone without being able to do anything against him. That realization was terrifying.

    Of course, the energy consumption was extremely high, but Michael didn''t think of that as a problem. It was quite obvious that such powerful attacks would consume a considerable amount of energy. He would be more confused if he fully unleashed Spirit Disturbance with two 5-Star Soultraits and it would still not consume lots of energy.

    After upgrading his Soultraits, Michael was done gearing up. He was ready to attack, and so were the Elemental Empress, Tiara, and the Forest Elves.

    The first thing Michael did was to give the Elemental Empress a lot more Energy Nourishing Pills to consume and strengthen herself. His entire storage of Energy Nourishing Pills was handed to the Elemental Empress so that she could recover. Elementals could absorb most energy from the surroundings naturally and digest origin energy rapidly after all.

    The Elemental Empress would quickly regain her vigor and grow much more powerful. Her natural fire affinity and the fact that she could control most elements to a certain extent would help a lot. It might not be equivalent to a recement of his army, but her powers were certainly helpful in their conquest. Furthermore, the Elemental Empress loathed the Kitsun as well. She would give her utmost to eradicate them.

    "The Heavy Armored Elephant returned home, Sun Demos and his subordinates are still in the northern part of the Kitsun Lord''s territory, and Icarus¡­is here," Tiara informed as a screech filled the surroundings. Icarus and his lovely mate, the green-feathered Greater Eagle shot through the treetop andnded in front of them.

    Icarus screeched a few times. He rubbed his head against Michael''s chest and bumped against him afterward before stepping back. The female Greater Eagle only screeched, observing how Icarus showered Michael with affection.

    Michael caressed through Icarus'' silky smooth plumage absentmindedly. Icarus didn''t usually act like that. The Greater Eagle was prideful and wouldn''t allow anyone to see him seeking affection from Michael. However, today was different. Today, Icarus could sense that Michael was in a bad mood. Therefore he tried to console Michael.

    Michael sighed lightly. His people were dead. Of course, that was shit, and he hated himself a little bit for his stupidity. But then again, Michael knew that he could only try his best to improve from now on. He could apologize to the people who trusted him when he returned to his territory after annihting the Kitsun Lord. He could tell his people what happened and apologize for betraying their trust. That was the least he could do.

    pping his cheeks with some force, Michael pulled himself out of the depressive thoughts that tortured his mind. Everything would be fine.

    He was left with the Elemental Empress, Tiara, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, two Greater Eagles, the Golden Stinger Wasp, and Sun Demos'' Monkey troupe. It was not a lot, but Michael felt that it was more than enough to wreak havoc.

    A n began to form in his mind, an idea to make use of their powers, abilities, and the advantages at their disposal together.

    First, Michael sent Sun Demos and his troupe further north to travel to the western side near the borderline to the Kitsun Lord''s territory. A mid-sized settlement was located in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. It was located dozens of kilometers away from the main settlement and it was not that well known because it was more of a guard post that had been constructed to locate waves of monsters from up north.

    Michael made use of the distance factor and the fact that Sun Demos and the Monkey troupe could travel quickly through the Untamed Jungle to initiate a surprise attack. The Kitsun and most other races had issues traveling quickly through the Untamed Jungle. Michael and his human Summons would have faced the same dilemma given that the Untamed Jungle was flourishing with thick nts, huge bushes and ginormous trees blocking the view and most paths. However, the canopy bridges created by the Forest Elves, the way they moved through forests and other factors allowed Forest Elves to move in straight lines where others would have to take a detour. It was the same with the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    Fortunately, Michael had an even easier method to travel; he flew over the Untamed Jungle and traveled on Icarus'' back above the highest trees to cross dozens of kilometers within a few minutes.

    Icarus and his lovely mate wererge enough to transport Michael and the others to the settlement they targeted in no time. They prepared a few things while hiding far enough from the settlement until Sun Demos and his troupe arrived. By then the Golden Stinger Wasp had long since infiltrated the settlement. The monster released its golden energy stingers shooting the strongest Awakened within the settlement before returning to Michael and the rest.

    Once the Golden Stinger Wasp was back, it switched ces with one of the Kitsun it stung before; an Awakened who''d been having a hard time in the toilet.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp disappeared, reced by a golden light and a Kitsun with pants down ¨C if he''d any pants, in the first ce.

    In the next moment, zing mes engulfed the Kitsun, followed by several razor-sharp des piercing through the ignorant Kitsun''s body.

 Chapter 368 Guard Settlement

    ?

    Despite the broad daylight, Michael and the others didn''t hesitate to attack the guard settlement. On the contrary, the broad daylight created various openings.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp''s golden sheen was harder to make out as it flew high above the settlement''s walls to move back and forth, switching ces with the Kitsun Awakened she stung every now and then.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp could swap ces with a total of three Kitsun Awakened before their disappearance was noticed. But at that point, Sun Demos and the Monkey troupe had already made their move. They attacked the settlement from north, and distracted the guards, who moved rapidly to up their defense and deflect the attacking monsters.

    Meanwhile, Michael, Icarus and the others ascended into the air once again. Ignoring the potential dangers, Icarus and his mate began to circle above the settlement at an altitude of more than 200 meters with everyone on their backs.

    Since all towering trees in the vicinity had been cleared to make space for the settlement and its wide-spread structures, Icarus and his mate weren''t hidden. A single nce up in the air was all it would take to discover the two Greater Eagles. Fortunately, Sun Demos and his Monkey Troupe worked well as a distraction.

    Theck of towering trees allowed the Guards to discover the threats in the surroundings more easily. Defending against Sun Demos and the Monkey Troupe was much easier as well. All attacking monsters had to cross a t area void of trees and other hiding spots before they reached the settlement''s thick walls.

    That was a little annoying for Sun Demos, but it was not an issue that affected Michael and the rest. Icarus and his mate continued to circle above the settlement while Lilica, and the other Forest Elves retrieved their Bow Artifact. A bunch of arrows followed right after. Nocking their arrows on the firm bowstring, the Forest Elves moved in unison. They channeled energy into the arrows and twisted their upper bodies to peek right over the Greater Eagles'' wide back.

    It was not easy to stay still in the air while a few Forest Elves kept moving on their backs, but the Greater Eagles did their utmost to move as little as possible as the Forest Elves pulled their bowstring back. They aimed to the ground, the settlement''s walls to be precise, and released their arrows in unison.

    Mika Zels was the only one using his Soultraits just before he released the arrow. He used Arrow Duplication and Pierce together, ignoring the high energy consumption that followed up. His arrow that was coated in white light cut through the air. It dove downward with high-speed and split up into several dozen copies. A simple series of arrows turned into a downpour of deadly Pieckers that had been further enhanced by Pierce.

    Michael witnessed the arrows'' impact with Eagle Eyes fully activated. The Forest Elves'' aim had been impable, creating a graphic image of death, blood and disbelief on the ground. Only a few seconds passed, yet Michael felt energy shares reaching him. The Forest Elves first batch of arrows killed more than 30 Guards. It was a good way to start the assault ¨C a very very good way.

    Following the Forest Elves first attack, they released a second batch of arrows in the same direction. They hunted the Guards stationed on the northern walls, creating the opportunity Sun Demos and the Monkey Troupe had been waiting for.

    Following the Forest Elves'' actions, the Elemental Empress began to move as well. She was still Tierless, but she had umted enough power to create a handful of fireballs. The fireballs revolved around her for a second before she released them on the settlement. However, her aim was not very precise. It was already hard enough to maintain the shape of the fireballs over a distance of 200 meters, and urately hit the target. After all, she was merely Tierless.

    Despite her inurate aim, the Elemental Empress'' attack was far from useless. She aimed at therge wooden buildings and hit most of them. The buildings caught fire and were set aze in no time, causing more chaos and distraction.

    Michael manifested the Wyverntooth Spear in his right hand and nced at Tiara, who was holding her spear as well. In the next moment, Michael disappeared, reced by a small, yet energetic Golden Stinger Wasp.

    Michael reappeared near the barracks of the settlement. At the same time, the Golden Stinger Wasp began to move once again, moving Tiara down to the settlement.

    Without waiting until Tiara arrived, Michael began to move. He released Extraction to cover his body in a goldenyer while summoning the Spirit Armor Set. His strength increased in response and the energy in the surroundings was pulled in his direction.

    Right after Michael sensed that Extraction absorbed the dense origin energy in the vicinity, he began to utilize Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze as well. His vision sharpened, the energy streams around him became more prominent, and even the minor details in the street opposite him were easy to make out.

    Michael channeled energy through his lower body and kicked the ground. He dashed to the barracks'' open gates where more than a hundred Guards put on their armors hastily. It was not their shift yet, but the rm bells had rung, indicating they were under an unexpected attack. All they knew was that some monsters attacked from the north. Some said they''d seen arrows pour down from the sky, but all the Guards saw were two eagles circling above the settlement.

    It was umon for aerial monsters to hover above the settlement, but it happened asionally. Sometimes vultures from the savannah circled above the guard settlement, usually when a beast wave was about to ur, or when the smell of death lured them to the Untamed Jungle.

    Thus, the guards didn''t think too much about the news of the first batch of arrows. However, the second and third batch rmed them. Most Guards had a bad feeling, which intensified when they sensed something approaching the barracks. Some Kitsun halted in their tracks with their armor in their hands when a terrifying presence epassed the barracks. Their heads flicked to the left, where they saw a young human covered in a golden sheen rush in their direction.

    One moment they saw Michael, and the next moment they groaned out loudly. A wave of indomitable force smashed into them out of nowhere. Their hearts'' constricted and a sharp bolt of pain shot through their heads almost like their brains were about to burst apart. Not even a secondter, most of the Guards looking in Michael''s direction copsed on the ground, unconscious and twitching like fishes pulled out of water.

    Michael had consumed a considerable amount of energy to experiment with the power of Spirit Disturbance, but the result was quite satisfactory to look at. A few dozen Guards copsed on the ground, attracting the attention of their brethren. They looked over to their brethren in shock, missing the most crucial timing to finish their preparations against Michael''s attack.

    He arrived in the barracks, manifesting six Qi Swords that revolved around his body as he began to wreak havoc with the Wyverntooth Spear. Michael observed everything in the barracks with great precision. Nothing escaped his sight, not even the few Awakened, who''d retrieved some objects from their War Runes. Some retrieved metal balls, while others retrievedmunication crystals from their War Runes. However, before they could do anything, Michael''s Qi Swords propelled forward, piercing the heads of the Awakened, who were just about to throw the metal balls at Michael.

    Michael switched his position on the ground and moved to the Awakened with themunication crystal.

    "He arrived? That''s earlier than predicted¡­ Stall for some time until reinforcement arrives!" Michael heard through themunication crystal before he pierced the Wyverntooth Spear through the Kitsun Awakened''s throat. He twisted the de inside the Kitsun''s throat and tore downward, ending the Awakened''s life instantly.

    ''They expected us? Well, that is not exactly surprising,'' Michael thought, turning around to see Tiara arriving.

    "We have to speed up. Reinforcement is on the way," Michael said aloud.

    Everyone in the barracks heard him, but the Kitsun, who were still more-or-less alive, weren''t happy. On the contrary, fear filled their entire being witnessing how calm the attacker sounded when he announced that the reinforcement of the Kitsun Lord was about toe.

    Michael''s silverish-golden glowing eyes moved across the remaining survivors of the barracks, Spirit Disturbance activated with the lowest possible energy consumption. The Tier-1 Guards groaned in pain and nearly copsed, while the Guards and Awakened at the 2nd Tier grit their teeth, trying to endure Michael''s attack.

    Unfortunately, they didn''t expect another mental attack to strike them from behind. Tiara used Spirit Whips to strike the Tier-2 Awakened and Guards heavily, not without inflicting a few deep gashes on their bodies with her spear. Tiara changed her attack pattern every few strikes.

    First, she struck everyone around her with Spirit Whips, then she moved around, using Inner Force to change her attack trajectory while thrusting forward with the spear. Her spear de ended up in a different target than her previous one with every attack. She reaped one life after another, yet her thirst for blood was not sated. She kept using one feint after another to attack straightforwardly without a change in her brute force or strength.

    Moving through the barracks with rapid speed and nimble movements, Tiara never stopped smiling. Her smile widened as her experiments with Spirit Whip created much better results than she could have hoped for. It was extraordinary¡­It was addictive!

    Learning new moves and using her new Soultraits to create entirely new fighting styles was difficult. At first, it took her a while to utilize her Soultraits efficiently, however, that was fine. It was definitely worth the effort.

    Looking over at Michael, excitement mixed with a tinge of envy swept through her entire being.

    ''He is amazing¡­''

 Chapter 369 Evil

    ?

    Eliminating the Guards and Awakened in the barracks wasn''t that difficult. No one had reached the 3rd Tier, and none of the Awakened had an overly powerful Soultrait to counter Tiara and Michael''s prowess either. They were overwhelmed with brute force, unable to do anything.

    Their only fortune was that their deaths came fast. The Kitsun didn''t have to suffer too long before they died. Michael and Tiara didn''t have enough time to reconsider letting the Kitsun suffer and draw out their deaths. They didn''t know how much time they were left with before the reinforcement of the Kitsun Lord would arrive.

    Michael didn''t want to face the reinforcement right now. He didn''t know the number of the opponents that would arrive as reinforcement, and how many powerhouses the Kitsun Lord sent over to get rid of the invaders. Instead of facing the Kitsun Lord head-on, Michael decided to change his tactics. He decided to use his brains and attack the Kitsun Lord where he least expected it. The only exception was the current attack.

    Michael chose to attack the guard settlement north to the Kitsun Lord''s territory intentionally. He figured out that the Kitsun Lord had realized by now that there was a connection between Michael and the Monkey Troupe that had attacked the main settlement. The Kitsun Lord should also have noticed that the Greater Eagles were under his attacker''s control as well.

    Thus, instead of wasting time to order Sun Demos to retreat, it would be the easiest to cross arge distance with the Greater Eagles and attack the northern guard settlement. The Kitsun Lord expected his attack, yet he didn''t fathom that Michael would attack so soon. The reinforcement was still moving through the Untamed Jungle''s undergrowth, and making detours around obstacles while Michael moved swiftly.

    ''Since the reinforcement is focused on me, my territory won''t be facing too many difficulties. The Kitsun Lord seems a little dumb¡­ No, he just lost his reasoning like me after losing the Elemental Empress and thousands of Elementals.''

    Michael was rather quick in regaining hisposure. pping himself to get back to his senses had been sessful. However, the Kitsun Lord wouldn''t have it that easy. His hard work of 12 years had been destroyed just like that. The Elemental Empress was now free of his clutches, and both Lesser Elementals and Elemental nobility were dead. Nothing had been left behind.

    The Kitsun Lord hadn''t even been able to get rid of the trespasser and thief. It was the exact opposite. The thief was still in his territory, wreaking havoc, and the worst was that the Elemental Empress was by his side.

    ''It''s really good that this crazy, sadistic bastard is extremely possessive,'' Michael thought. He was grateful that the Kitsun Lord was overly possessive of the Elemental Empress.

    The fact that she was alive and traveling with Michael would be more than enough to distract the Kitsun Lord from Michael''s territory. The Kitsun Lord''s full attention would be on the Elemental Empress'' whereabouts and the most important question; how to get her back?

    Since the Kitsun Lord lost his most important source of ie, he wanted to retrieve it if possible. The death of a few thousand Guards and dozens of Awakened must have hurt quite a bit, but it was worth the investment as long as the Elemental Empress returned into his grasp of control.

    Michael came to the same conclusion. That was also why he led the Kitsun Lord''s army and reinforcement as far away from his territory as possible. Even if they wanted to attack his territory now, the army and reinforcement would have to travel more than 100 kilometers through the densely grown Untamed Jungle. A few individuals could travel this distance in half a day, but what about an entire army? Forget about a few hours, even an entire day wouldn''t be enough for such arge group to reach Michael''s territory.

    Thus, Michael had more than enough time to initiate his next ns after the northern guard settlement had been eliminated.

    Michael spread his origin energy through the barracks with a wave of his arm. He stored the corpses and everything of value inside his War Rune''s storage before he turned to Tiara.

    Tiara stepped out of the barracks, where she saw a small group of citizens. They were either the family of some Guards or worked for the Guards to feed them and tend to their needs in the guard settlement.

    Michael saw Tiara rushing toward the citizens, tightly clutching her spear. He was just about to stop her when a tinge of hesitation resurfaced. For a quarter of a second, killing citizens didn''t seem okay. It felt wrong, but only for a moment.

    He recalled the terrifying things the Kitsun Summons had done ¨C and were still doing ¨C to other citizens of the Origin Expanse. The Kitsun Lord had enved thousands of Summons after killing other Lords. The Kitsun Lord destroyed their territories and turned the Summons into ves, just like the Lesser Elementals. The Kitsun then publicly tortured the new ves almost like it was a tradition to do so whenever the Kitsun Lord came back from war ¨C victorious, of course.

    Now that he thought about it, Michael hadn''t seen a single kind-hearted Kitsun in the memories he''d read until now. It was strange, but it was also why Michael believed that the entire Kitsun race might be sadistic and devilish. Some races were just like that ¨C pure evil, without a shred of mercy.

    The mercy and hesitation that shrouded Michael''s mind for a moment disappeared, and he watched Tiara do what Michael ought to have done. She killed the Kitsun in front of her and stored their corpses after they dropped dead to the ground.

    After killing the citizens in front of her, Tiara moved to the settlement''s walls. She saw countless corpses littering the northern wall and turned to Michael.

    "Mika is really a one-man-archery-unit. If he signs a Soul Pact, giving him some Archery-rted Soultraits would be great, don''t you think?" Tiara asked, the excitement of the countless possibilities Michael''s Extraction unraveled spreading through her entire being.

    She was already amazed with her own powers, and how much a single Soultrait changed her fighting style. And, watching Mika''s rain of arrows pierce through dozens of enemies from more than 200 meters away was just as amazing. Mika''s Soultraits had yet to be upgraded to 5-Star Soultraits, and he could fuse with a lot more Soultraits to further improve his prowess as an archer.

    The more Tiara thought about it the more excitement filled her heart at the prospect of Michael creating powerhouses all around him.

    As long as Michael was given the opportunities and enough time, he could turn weak Awakened into powerhouses and dominate other Lords. If he kept progressing at this speed he could even rule the Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire one day. It was truly amazing and made her feel giddy.

    "I think so too. Creating my powerhouses from scratch seems like a good n," Michael said, switching the Wyverntooth Spear with Zark. He condensed an energy arrow and released it alongside a barrage of cicles.

    Since he wanted to keep most of his energy aside for stronger opponents, Michael used only as much energy as he could replenish with Extraction tapping into the energy streams in the surrounding area. Being able to see the energy streams, Michael could easily target them and drain the energy for himself to useter. He used as much energy as he annexed to keep Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze activated. Other than that, he used bits of energy for his cicles to target the Kitsun around him. Most nonbat Kitsun Summons had never received any special techniques to fortify their bodies or increase their ranks. They were either Tierless or Tier-1 without strong defenses.

    Killing them was rather easy. A single cicle was enough to pierce their throats and freeze parts of their throat and neck. Meanwhile, Zark''s energy arrows were released one after another to kill the Guards roaming through the settlement. Many Guards were trying to extinguish the fire on the buildings that had been set aze, but before they could even do something more fireballs poured down from the sky, setting more houses aze, and some got caught in the melee too.

    The Forest Elves from above had been focusing on the guards stationed on the walls from the beginning. This resulted in a huge gap in the guard settlement''s defenses on the northern wall, which Sun Demos and the Monkey Troupe had long since exploited. Sun Demos and his Blood Oath Demon Monkeys crossed the open area to the settlement and climbed up the walls. After reaching the top of the walls, they began to overwhelm their enemies with their numbers and tremendous power.

    They retrieved some sharp stones they''d collected and put them in small satchels that had been given to the entire Monkey Troupe a while ago. Aiming at the guards, they threw the stones with tremendous force. After energy was channeled into the stones they turned into deadly forces ¨C especially if thrown by Superior Existences at the Peak of Tier-1 and at the 2nd Tier.

    The physical strength of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys was not something Kitsun could go up against. Kitsun were physically much stronger, and their battle awareness was also much lower. All the Kitsun could do was use trickery and deceit to fight slyly. Unfortunately, the traps installed all around the settlement had not caught a single monster, or intentionally triggered beforehand. Almost no Blood Oath Demon Monkey died due to the traps, leaving the Guards and Awakened no chance but to face the Monkeys head-on ¨C or to be shot and killed by a downpour of arrows.

    Even if the Kitsun wanted to do something against the Greater Eagles and the Forest Elves, who attacked the settlement from above, they would have to reach the barracks, or defense towers first.

    Unfortunately, the Elemental Empress turned the inside of the towers into zing torches, while Michael and Tiara killed everyone in the barracks before plundering everything.

    The guards didn''t have the means to attack someone more than 200 meters away from their location now that the towers were about to turn into cinder and the barracks were filled with nothing but death¡­at least not since their enemies were located high above them rather than being somewhere far away on the same height.

    All the Kitsun in the guard settlement could hope for was the reinforcement to arrive soon. They prayed and begged in their hearts, hoping to be among the fortunate to survive. In fact, many Kitsun were even daring enough to push their friends and lovers in front of their enemies to stall for a second or two.

    However, all they received was death. That was all they deserved.

 Chapter 370 Beast Ranch

    ?

    zing mes burned everything in the proximity. The flickering mes spread rapidly, sweeping through the guard settlement like an inferno.

    The attack on the northern guard settlement was a great sess. The raid had beenpleted, everything valuable plundered, and no Kitsun had been spared. One moment the guard settlement stood strong in the outer ring of the Untamed Jungle and the next moment the settlement turned into a burning ghost town ¨C void of life, and slowly being reduced to ash with the passing of time.

    40,000 Summons had been killed which included 4000batants. Other than the Summons, there had also been 80 Awakened. They died first without a chance of survival.

    Everyone had been ughtered mercilessly and the raging fire was still burning brightly when Michael and the rest disappeared. Michael, Tiara and the Forest Elves traveled on the two Greater Eagles'' backs while Sun Demos and his Monkey Troupe moved rapidly through the Untamed Jungle.

    "Notify me if something goes wrong. I''ll start extracting the Awakened corpses now," Michael told Tiara before sending a message to Sun Demos through their telepathicmunication.

    ["Split into smaller groups and spread out a little. Observe the surroundings and inform me once you find the Beast Ranch, or more Kitsun."]

    Their next target was not another settlement. No, Michael figured that it might be better to get rid of the beast ranches across the Kitsun Lord''s territory first. The threat of starving, bloodthirsty beastsing at them was a lot higher than some Guards, or Tier-2 Kitsun Awakened. The Awakened of the Kitsun race didn''t have a great physical build, but that was not the sole reason why Michael was so calm andposed.

    His biggest reason to feel that the Kitsun Awakened were not much of a threat was the fact that the Awakened who fell victim to the Kitsun Lord''s scheme never had strong Soultraits. Those with somewhat decent Soultraits came from poor backgrounds and were desperate for quick money due to various reasons. One way or another, Awakened with 4-Star or 5-Star Soultraits were usually trained to be Lords. They were the pirs of support to the society and could protect themselves if necessary.

    ''Why am I even doing this?!'' Michael asked himself a little bit frustrated as he looked at the Memory Orbs hovering in his palm five minutes into the Extraction session. He finished Extracting 81 Awakened corpses, rewarding him with a bunch of loot ¨C including the Memory Orbs from two Peak Tier-2 Kitsun.

    They had been old and stronger than the first Kitsun Michael had interrogated. That was also why Michael ended up swallowing the Memory Orbs, digesting the grotesque memories of the most devilish race he had ever heard about.

    Only a few minutes passed after he began digesting the Memory Orbs before he began to curse loudly.

    "These fucking bastards! How is it even possible to be that evil? Why, in the name of the Origin Expanse, is this race even alive? How is that even possible¡­like for real?!?"

    Tiara and Lilica, who were both seated behind him on Icarus'' back, looked at him with concern. They didn''t know why Michael was torturing himself by digesting the Kitsun''s Memory Orbs. It was not necessary for him to continue to suffer. Both women had had enough of the Kitsun''s Memory Orbs after digesting just one of them, yet Michael had already digested close to 10 in total.

    "Ahhhh¡­.I really want to kill them all¡­Annihting them should be considered a good deed and a huge favor to the whole Origin Expanse, maybe even the Universe¡­" Michael continued to curse and he didn''t stop shouting insults at the Kitsun race for the next half an hour until they finally closed in to their destination.

    However, before they arrived, Michael decided to reward Tiara with the SoulStar Fragments he had extracted from the 81 Awakened.

    "Since most of the Awakened were Tier-2, but without any great Soultraits, I could only extract roughly 1600 SoulStar Fragments. I didn''t crush the Soultrait Symbols yet though. The Awakened rewarded five Soultrait Symbols, but I want to put them aside for now. Maybe we can use themter," Michael said, still agitated and fuming in anger.

    Tiara stared at the SoulStar Fragments Michael gave her with slight surprise. She didn''t expect Michael to give her anything else after obtaining his Spirit Whip Soultrait. But from the looks of it, Michael wanted her to upgrade Spirit Whip to a 5-Star Soultrait quickly.

    Michael didn''t want to reveal his feelings after the death of his army, but Tiara could tell that her Master was worried about her well-being. He knew that he couldn''t order her to stay back and return to the territory because he needed her, but he wanted to provide her with as many benefits as possible to ensure her survival.

    "Thank you¡­" Tiara mumbled softly as tentacle-like streams of energy shot out of the back of her hand.

    The streams of energy coiled around the SoulStar Fragments before retracting back into the War Rune. Tiara used the SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Spirit Whip as much as possible. It was not enough to form aplete star, but the outlines and a small portion of the inner area had already been filled with energy. Tiara wouldn''t have to wait too long before upgrading Spirit Whip.

    Once Spirit Whip was upgraded, Tiara would be in possession of three 5-Star Soultraits with great synergy. Herbat prowess was bound to skyrocket, yet Tiara was fully aware that all of this was merely the beginning. She knew Michael well enough to know that he would love to give everyone as many Soultraits as possible ¨C if that meant that his people could ovee all kinds of ordeals.

    Unfortunately, Summons couldn''t use Soultraits. They couldn''t fuse with them, turning the Soultrait Symbols into useless objects for the Summons.

    Lilica''s gaze moved between Tiara and Michael. She didn''t say anything but a small seed of envy germinated in her heart.

    Even though she knew that Michael would treat her the same if she signed a Soul Pact to ensure her loyalty to him and that she and her team wouldn''t disappear at the first sign of looming danger after obtaining a few more Soultraits, Lilica wasn''t satisfied.

    Tiara wasn''t forced to sign a Soul Pact either. Michael treated them differently, yet not.

    Tiara didn''t have a home to return to anymore. Michael''s territory was actually her home. It was only obvious, but she would give her utmost to protect her new home. Meanwhile, Lilica and the rest of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team could leave the Origin Expanse at the first sign of danger. That was the difference between them, and the reason why Michael gave Tiara the Soultraits she desired without batting an eye.

    From a rational point of view, it made sense. Nheless, Lilica didn''t like it and felt that Michael was ying favorites. It irked her.

    "Let''s get ready," Michael said loud enough for his voice to reach the back of the green-feathered Greater Eagle near them as well.

    Liopham lifted his arm and gestured to Michael that they heard him and they changed their position.

    Not wanting to wait until Sun Demos and his Monkey Troupe arrived, Michael ordered the Elemental Empress to get moving. Icarus lowered his altitude until they were less than 50 meters away from the Beast ranch.

    The Beast Ranch was a ginormous structure. It was surrounded by humongous stone walls with the interior looking like an arena used by diators in ancient times. Coarse sand covered in dried blood entered Michael''s sight almost immediately. However, he didn''t pay much attention to that.

    Instead, he focused on the Elemental Empress and Opars. Opars released his Soultrait, Energy Imprint, to fill every strand of fire within the Elemental Empress'' body with tremendous strength as she unleashed her zing mes.

    The Elemental Empress might only be a Tierless being for now, but she was on the highest level of a Superior Existence. Her existence was bordering the threshold of a Mythical Existence. This factor was the reason she could release zing mes from the female Greater Eagle''s back for several minutes, creating a circle of zing mes around the Beast Ranch.

    At the same time, Michael, Tiara, and Lilica waited until the Golden Stinger Wasp stung them with its energy stinger before they jumped down from Icarus'' back.

    They bypassed the stone walls and jumped straight through the open ceiling, entering the bloodthirsty Beast Ranch without hesitation. Michael and the others knew that the subdued bloodthirsty beasts were stronger, restless, and starving. That meant they would not hesitate to attack anyone around them once released, but that was no reason to be afraid of them.

    On the contrary, Michael and the others felt much morefortable dealing with enemies, who confronted them head-on. Nobody liked crafty, scheming enemies such as the Kitsun Lord. That was also why Michael decided to fight thebat forces of the Kitsun Lord head-on and force him toe out of his hiding to deal with him and his people.

    ''I hope you are even greedier and more obsessed with the Elemental Empress than these fucking memories in my head suggest.''

    Michael jumped down to the ground, ignoring the Kitsun workers all around him. He heard their screams and shouts as Tiara and Lilica appeared next to him. The two women disappeared the moment theynded next to him. Their weapons cut through the air, drawing blood, and reaping the lives of the Kitsun working in the Beast Ranch.

    Lilica and Tiara stored the corpses in their War Runes'' storages before they rushed back to him. Involuntarily, their eyes moved to the iron fences located in front of them.

    They didn''t see anything at first, only for a tinge of surprise to appear on their faces as bloody-red eyes peered at them through the darkness of the huge hall behind the iron fences.

    There was only one pair of bloody-red eyes glowing in the darkness in the first moment, but a second, third, and more than a hundred pairs of eyes followed soon after.

    The moment the bloody-red eyes locked on the women, they broke into a sweat.

    An overwhelming amount of bloodlust impacted heavily on their minds and souls.

    Only Michael was able to stay calm facing the heavy bloodlust. In fact, he was not only calm but even smiled lightly.

    "Eliminate the Kitsun while I pay attention to these small doggos."

    **

    [Author Note: Hey Guys, I''m back again. Unfortunately, not everything is as easy as it had been before. I should get back into my zone soon, but I hope that the chapter quality is still the same as before. Please leave some juicyments and a review to support me.

    Remark -- Today only one chapter because I''m busy with the funeral and other stuff.]

 Chapter 371 Abomination

    ?

    The circle of mes created by the Elemental Empress prevented anything alive inside the Beast Ranch from escaping. The Kitsun and bloodthirsty beasts were imprisoned in the Beast Ranch alongside Michael, Tiara, and Lilica.

    At the same time, the Elemental Empress controlled the circle of mes precisely. She received a flood of energy when Opars used Energy Imprint on her several times. It allowed her to utilize her power to push the mes closer to the Beast Ranch to burn her enemies and push both beasts and Kitsun closer to the center of the Beast Ranch.

    This allowed Mika and the other Forest Elves to focus on archery, releasing batches of arrows without the need to aim precisely. After all, there were more than enough bloodthirsty beasts that barged through the iron fences in a desperate attempt to escape the zing mes.

    Michael was in the middle of the Beast Ranch, staring at the iron fences and watching the desperate bloodthirsty monsters whimper and shriek pitifully. He actually felt a little bit sorry for them. They''d been tortured by the Kitsun just like the Elemental Empress. Each of the bloodthirsty beasts looked skinny and mutted. There was also something else about them that felt a little weird. The bloodthirst they exuded was so dense that Michael could actually see a red hue when he used Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes together.

    That was a little surprising, but that didn''t mean Michael was affected by it. Only Lilica and Tiara were slightly affected by the dense bloodthirst. Thus, he sent them away to deal with the remaining Kitsun in the Beast Ranch.

    ["How long until you guys arrive?"] Michael asked Sun Demos telepathically.

    ["Soon. Leave us some ythings to toy with!"] Sun Demos answered hurriedly as he and his troupe traversed through the Untamed Jungle even faster than before.

    ["We will see about that. You will have more than enough funter, either way."]

    Michael released a few smaller cicles to destroy the remaining locks. The iron gates sprang open, releasing the desperate and starving bloodthirsty beasts in the arena-like center of the Beast Ranch.

    Opars, Liopham, Mika, and Pheli saw the beasts and readied their bows. Not waiting for Michael to start the fight, they released their arrows with great force.

    Simultaneously, Michael''s high perception kicked in. He sensed the arrows from above and created a thick cicle above his body. It acted as a super durable shield and blocked the duplicated arrows of Mika that would have hit him by ident. Afterward, Michael manifested six cicle Swords which he covered in Sword Qi. He enhanced the cicle Sword with ayer of Enhancement and released the attacks in the crowd of bloodthirsty monsters.

    Simultaneously, he summoned the Wyverntooth Spear to attack every monster that dared to get too close to him. Any desperate attempt to strike him was easily disrupted and countered, ending in the death of the bloodthirsty beast.

    The only time Michael''s first attack failed was when a van-sized wolf emerged from the shadows of the hall behind the iron fence. It''s once silver fur was stained in a deep gruesome crimson, leaving mere strands of silver behind. Michael was usually not easily impressed but the chilling sight of the wolf, its coat matted and soaked in a dark hue of fresh blood and crimson fur was quite impressive.

    In the back of the room the wolf emerged from, Michael could pinpoint a few corpses. The corpses belonged to three Kitsun and a few bloodthirsty beasts. Michael didn''t have to look twice to know that the wolf had killed all of them. Every step the wolf took left behind a sinister trail, a testament to the fierce battle it had endured and ovee.

    Its eyes had turned into fiery orbs of blood-red, but there was also a tinge of darkness. They glowed like smoldering embers, radiating malevolent energy that overshadowed the dense bloodthirst in the Beast Ranch.

    Despite the blood-soaked visage, the wolf moved with an eerie grace, every movement calcted and precise. It was a creature of terror, a wild existence, never to be tamed nor subdued.

    ''This is what the Kitsun Lord is trying to breed. A killing machine with intelligence. An abomination that can take care of the enemies he cannot deal with¡­what a crazy bastard¡­''

    Now that Michael thought about it, the Beast Ranch looked less like a breeding ground simr to the Bilrox Ranch, and more like a ce that allowed only the strong to survive. The center of the Beast Ranch was an arena, and only the strong would be allowed to survive. Pitting bloodthirsty beasts against each other after they''d been starved would make them angry and fierce. Their desperation and strive to survive would grow strong enough to attack their own brethren, kill them and eventually eat their own kind for the sake of survival.

    Michael shuddered thinking that abominations like the ominous wolf existed in all Beast Ranches. He was d to face the wolf inside the Beast Ranch rather than the open world where it could feast and strengthen itself before striking Michael when he least expected it.

    The wolf had gorged on the corpses just now, but it was still starving, and its bloodthirst was still not sated. It was merely working on its primal instincts to move around the center of the Beast Ranch to observe Michael''s prowess and strike when he was the most vulnerable.

    To its misfortune, Michael didn''t n to create such an opportunity for the Crimson Wolf. He willed the six enhanced Qi cicle Swords to change trajectory and propel toward the crimson wolf with a burst of energy. Simultaneously, Michael didn''t hesitate to consume a chunk of his origin energy to utilize the strongest form of Spirit Disturbance.

    A wave of pain impacted heavily on the crimson wolf. It growled in response while trying to ignore the pain and effect of the spiritual attack.

    However, the crimson wolf was still not strong enough to do something. The monster had been starving for too long. It was still in a weakened state, allowing the Kitsun workers to control it precisely at theirmand. Only upon getting released in the wild would it slowly gain powers that transcended the threshold Kitsun Awakened at the 2nd Tier could ever fathom reaching.

    The crimson wolf was unfortunate enough to encounter Michael when it was at its weakest. It tried to evade the six enhanced Qi cicle Swords but realized toote that a second charge of pain hit it hard as Michael used Spirit Disturbance once again. The crimson wolf faltered and could barely shroud its body in dark energy when the enhanced Qi cicle Swords impacted, shredding the dark energy engulfing the wolf.

    The cicle Swords pierced through the wolf''s fur and dug deep into the monster''s flesh before the Sword Qi coating the cicle Swords was released inside the monster''s body with a burst. The wolf winced in pain and slumped to the ground, barely noticing that the cicle Swords shattered. Upon shattering, the cicle Swords released freezing mist inside the monster''s body, freezing its flesh and organs from the inside.

    ''To think that it took two uses of Spirit Disturbance and six enhanced Qi cicle Swords to push it to the brink of death despite being so weak,'' Michael thought, not hiding his surprise. The crimson wolf was only a Tier-2 Monster, and it was severely weakened, yet it endured Michael''s attacks quite well.

    It was not yet dead, but the monster would die in the next few seconds. There was no need to pay any more attention to it. Yet, the monster oddly fascinated Michael.

    ''My highest priority should be to get rid of all Beast Ranches. These ces are evil.''

    With that thought in mind and a n set in stone, Michael manifested more cicle Swords which he engulfed in Sword Qi. He controlled them precisely and cut through the horde of bloodthirsty monsters, reaping dozens of lives alongside the Forest Elves'' hail of arrows.

    At some point the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys appeared. They surrounded the circle of mes, which the Elemental Empress extinguished with a wave of her hand. This allowed Sun Demos and his subordinates to charge inside the Beast Ranch and wreak even more havoc.

    A few minutester, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys left the Beast Ranch, their bodies soaked in fresh blood. Thest Kitsun and bloodthirsty beasts had been annihted, their corpses stored away.

    Everything else of value was collected within a few minutes before they began to move once again. Since the reinforcement of the Kitsun Lord should have reached the northern guard settlement by now, they must have received a report about the Beast Ranch as well. The reinforcement sent by the Kitsun Lord was probably already on their way to the Beast Ranch.

    Therefore, it was about time to travel a little bit farther away to remove the looming threat of the iing reinforcement.

    They decided to leave the Untamed Jungle for the first time in a while. Their small group traveled west to enter the Savannah.

    "I hate to break it to you, but¡­don''t you think Sun Demos and his horde of subordinates will attract a lot of attention in the Savannah? I mean, they''ll be fine in the Untamed Jungle because they can move fast wherever they want, and hide behind bushes and tree trunks to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack, but the Savannah is an open area. There are few trees and bushes, and none of them should be big enough to hide a thousand ck-furred monsters," Lilica pointed out as they traveled to the Savannah on Icarus'' back.

    Michael looked down to the ground where he saw numerous ck dots moving through the Untamed Jungle, his lips tightly pressed together.

    "They''re targets in the Savannah, quite literally," Lilica added.

    Tiara nodded, "Our position will be exposed if we''re moving together."

    Michael sighed, but he agreed with their concerns.

    "In that case, we''ll be splitting up."

 Chapter 372 Savannah

    <h4>Chapter 372 Savannah</h4>

    Contrary to Michael''s expectations, the Savannah region was like a vast, golden sea of grass that stretched as far as he could see. Shrubs of grasses and thorny bushes swayed gently in the breeze, creating an illusion of soft waves that rippled across thend.

    The ground was mostly t, offering little to no hiding spots for monsters and others. However, one could also spot some low, rounded hills every now and then. It was just that there were so few of them that one hardly noticed them.

    In the distance, Michael found scattered trees that offered patches of shade to the monsters of the Savannah region. These trees had long, slender branches and leaves that rustled softly in the wind.

    Flying through the sky on Icarus'' back, Michael''s gaze moved across the brilliant blue of the sky high above them. The sun hung high up in the air, casting a warm golden light on thend. It was a simplendscape with its beauty being the openness and the feeling of endless space.

    But it was also a ce full of death and danger. The Savannah had many predators traveling through the vast openness to hunt their next prey to feed their families. However, there was also Michael and his people. They didn''t travel to the Savannah region to witness the beauty of the vast expanse. They came for blood.

    While flying high above the ground of the Savannah region, Michael was able to pinpoint various things. He saw many small farm houses in areas that looked like gatedmunities. Fences, towers, and guards protected the farms from wild monsters and other invaders. For a moment, Michael considered attacking these gatedmunities to burn down the fields and eliminate everyone, but he quickly decided against it.

    He noticed that no Kitsun was working in the fields, and that the Guards were actually Awakened, who belonged to another race. Amid hundreds of ves, only a handful of Kitsun could be seen voicing out orders while swinging ck whips through the air in a threatening manner.

    The ves of other races were Summons of the Lords who were defeated by the Kitsun Lord in the past. The Guards of these gatedmunities were the Awakened of those Lords who had been defeated and eliminated. The Awakened had been forced into submission by the Kitsun Lord.

    Though Michael wasn''t sure how exactly the Kitsun Lord forced the Awakened into submission. But it was highly likely that the Kitsun Lord promised to not kill them and their people if they epted the Soul Pact that bound them to him and his territory.

    The Kitsun Lord was thus able to create several structures that used the ves as free workers, and the Awakened as cheap guards. Only a handful of Kitsun Summons were required to manage everything, thus creating arge source of food for his entire territory.

    Michael felt like throwing a few cicles into the farmhouses to pierce the throats of the Kitsun and free the ves of the other races, but he didn''t want to expose his location to the Kitsun Lord right now.

    Chances were that the Kitsun Lord was already informed about the two Greater Eagles flying across the Savannah region, but it was not as if the Kitsun Lord could teleport his reinforcement to the other side of his territory in the blink of an eye.

    Even if the Kitsun Lord had a n up his sleeve, Michael was not afraid. After all, he spent his time on Icarus'' backing up with a batch of ns as well!

    ["How is the n progressing? Did you already encounter the reinforcement, or are you still splitting up?"] Michael asked Sun Demos telepathically.

    Since Sun Demos and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys would be easily exposed in the Savannah region, Michael had decided to split up their groups.

    Sun Demos and his troupe were the strongest, fastest, and deadliest in ces such as the Untamed Jungles. The environment was perfect to initiate swift attacks before disappearing in the densely grown jungle. The monkeys could move rapidly, using their long and flexible arms to grasp tree branches and change their movement pattern in the blink of an eye.

    That was why Michael decided to order Sun Demos and his troupe to stay in the Untamed Jungle and to split up. Even if it was better to stay in arge group to ensure that their enemies couldn''t overwhelm them with numbers, Sun Demos and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were not exactly hard to pinpoint as a group of nearly 1,000 individuals in a ce with hardly any cover to hide them.

    Instead of moving ahead as one big group, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were split up into 200 groups with five monkeys in each group. The number was perfect for swift attacks to disrupt a few enemies, potentially kill one or two Kitsun in the progress, before they would retreat at once.

    Given that the Kitsun Lord had several small settlements across the Untamed Jungle and the Savannah region, giving him a much bigger span ofnd to control than Michael, it wouldn''t be easy to safeguard most parts of the Untamed Jungle with only 1,000 individuals. Fortunately, Sun Demos and his subordinates didn''t pay much heed to control. They traveled through the Untamed Jungle to ambush scattered groups of Kitsun, and the reinforcement sent by the Kitsun Lord.

    ["I found the reinforcement a while ago. My subordinates struck them from the side and the back, killing some weaklings. Two young Blood Oath Demon Monkeys sustained minor injuries, but it''s not worth mentioning."] Sun Demos reported to Michael.

    Michael was d that the Gueri Warfare worked once again. Using this kind of tactic in the Untamed Jungle was efficient yet also dangerous. A single mistake and the whole strategy would fail miserably. Fortunately, nothing went wrong.

    Over the course of the next ten minutes, Sun Demos and his people found a few small groups that had separated while traveling from the main group of the reinforcement and were a bit further. They targeted such groups, struck them from all sides, killed almost everyone and disappeared the moment the warning sounds reverberated through the surroundings.

    After that, the Gueri Warfare was halted for a few minutes to organize the groups and strike the enemies where they would never expect it.

    The Greater Eagles, on the other hand, reached the second Beast Ranch. The Beast Ranch was at the other end of the Kitsun Lord''s territory ¨C close to 150 kilometers away from the Untamed Jungle. Michael and the others passed by a few Beast Ranches on their way to this particr Beast Ranch, but that didn''t matter. They would burn them down sooner orter, either way.

    Upon reaching their destination, Opars released Energy Imprint two times to fill the Elemental Empress with energy as she created the ring of fire around the Beast Ranch. The searing mes flickered brightly as they burned the dry grass in the vicinity. Afterward, the Elemental Empress pushed the mes of the ring of fire inward, burning down everything that entered the path of mes.

    Michael, Tiara, and Lilica jumped down into the center of the Beast Ranch once again to deal with the horde of bloodthirsty monsters as well as the Kitsun managing the Beast Ranch. Mika and the others readied their bows and arrows on the back of the Greater Eagles, patiently waiting for the horde of bloodthirsty monsters to charge into the center of the Beast Ranch.

    Michael broke the locks of the iron gates that held the starving bloodthirsty beasts imprisoned with a wave of his hand before he manifested several enhanced Qi cicle Swords. Each of them was strong enough to not only cut through the strongest defenses of a Late Tier-2 Monster, but also the starving and weakened bloodthirsty beasts. Not even the abominations that were born through the ritual of blood and death were strong enough to survive Michael''s Qi cicle Swords.

    They tried to evade the attacks, but using Spirit Disturbance with Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze was enough to disorient the abominations andnd a hit.

    ''There are more abominations inside this Beast Ranch. Was the Ranch in the Untamed Jungle new, or did they intentionally nurture more abominations in this ce?'' Michael wondered, only to realize a few secondster why the Beast Ranch had six abominations.

    "We killed the Kitsun. A dozen Awakened and a hundredbat Summons," Tiara came back to report, ignoring the warm blood that trickled down her hands. She smiled vibrantly at Michael with a map of the Savannah region in her hand.

    "Look what I found!" She eximed excitedly.

    Michael looked at the map while continuing to control the Qi cicle Swords around him. His attention fell on the ck marks located in the territories of the rival Lords. There were a total of six marks with each of them being located quite deep in the enemy''s territory.

    ''The Kitsun Lord is really a bastard. Blessing his enemies with those abominations and bloodthirsty beasts¡­"

    Even though the abominations were only Tier-2 Monsters, they were mutants working with the power of death ¨C if Michael was right about their powers. If they were able to grow into Tier-2 Monsters within the Beast Ranch, Michael didn''t even want to know how quickly they could advance to Tier-3 killing machines upon iming freedom. They would feast and regain their peak strength before growing stronger by devouring their enemies.

    Last but not least, the abominations were extremely intelligent. They would avoid their enemies until they were strong enough to face them head-on. Or they would avoid attacking them head-on forever, focusing entirely on using sneak attacks to exhaust theirbat power by attacking their weak spots when they least expected it.

    One way or another, it was a good thing that Michael got rid of the abominations. He wouldn''t want such a deadly beast in his territory either.

 Chapter 373 Team Up

    <h4>Chapter 373 Team Up</h4>

    Instead of burning down everything inside the Beast Ranch, Michael, Tiara, and Lilica made sure to gather as much information as possible.

    They stored everything of value in his storage space before they allowed the Elemental Empress to burn everything down to a cinder.

    As the Elemental Empress vented her emotions, using her sadness and anger as fuel to strengthen her mes, Michael started to retrieve a bunch of files.

    He used Extraction on the files to extract the Knowledge Wisps which he consumed without any hesitation. The knowledge entered his mind, where Michael digested everything rapidly.

    Since Michael didn''t know much about the other Lords and territories, he had to use the information provided by the Kitsun to find out more about the other Lords. A n was slowly forming in his mind, but he didn''t want to provide the other Lords an opportunity to expand their territory and grow stronger if they were not good people. Or, at the very least, they shouldn''t be worse than the Kitsun Lord.

    If they were worse ¨C which should hardly be possible ¨C Michael would exclude them from the n that formed in his mind.

    Even though the memories of the Kitsun bothered Michael quite a lot, he continued to consume a few more Memory Orbs from the Awakened they''d killed in the second Beast Ranch. While using Extraction with full focus on extracting memories rted to the other Lords and their territories, Michael obtained Memory Orbs rted to those topics . Of course, there were also other memories stored in the Memory Orbs, but Michael learned a lot about the other Lords.

    It was more than enough to move forward with his n.

    Michael gave the Golden Stinger Wasp a small note before he sent it to the closest settlement of the Lord living adjacent to the Kitsun Lord''s territory. The first settlement Michael sent the Golden Stinger Wasp wasn''t too far away. The Golden Stinger Wasp was fast and wouldn''t have to travel too long to reach the destination.

    It would release an energy stinger with the note once it reached the settlement and hit one of the stronger Awakened in the settlement so that the Awakened can notiy the Lord about the n Michael came up with. Afterward, the Golden Stinger Wasp would travel to the two other territories and do exactly the same.

    Sending notes to all three Lords living adjacent to the Kitsun Lord''s territory might take a while, but Michael wasn''t in a hurry. He returned to Icarus'' back and they began to travel to the 3rd Beast Ranch. The memories of the Kitsun kept bothering Michael but he tried to hold back the anger and disgust he felt until he encountered the starving, bloodthirsty beasts in the third Beast Ranch.

    And the moment he reached the destination, Michael unleashed his fury, channeling his anger and disgust into power. He wreaked havoc in the third Beast Ranch while the Elemental Empress created a circle of fire, ensuring that nobody could escape. Tiara and Lilica killed the Kitsun again, while Michael spent merely five minutes killing close to 500 bloodthirsty beasts.

    The 3rd Beast Ranch fell much faster than expected. It allowed them to take a short break in which Michael focused on his Link of Loyalty with the Golden Stinger Wasp and his bond with Sun Demos.

    During a few instances, the Golden Stinger Wasp had been in danger. The Link of Loyalty forwarded a strong pull to Michael, indicating him to help the Golden Stinger Wasp. However, he was too far away to help his loyal subordinates. It was the Golden Stinger Wasp''s great fortune, rapid speed and nimble movements that allowed the monster to survive and finish the tasks it had been given.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp sessfully sent notes to the three border settlements of the Lords fighting the Kitsun Lord. It was uncertain whether the Awakened of the border settlement would take the note seriously, or if they would consider it a trap of the Kitsun Lord, but none of that mattered. Michael merely wanted to attract the other Lords'' curiosity with the notes.

    Once curiosity germinated in their hearts, the Lords would send scouts to the border to investigate. The scouts were unlikely to find anything near the border after Michaelpleted his n. Thus, the scouts would invade the Kitsun Lord''s territory, hopefully to see burned down settlements and ack of defenders.

    Michael hoped that the other Lords would then try to im the territory as their own and grow stronger. All Michael had to do was to create an opportunity for the other Lords to attack and kill the Kitsun Lord''s forces. Afterward, Michael could retreat and watch the other Lordspete with each other for the Kitsun Lord''s territory. This would ¨C most likely ¨C stir problems between the Lords, which would distract the Lords from the source of this chaos. Distracted, the Lords would forget about the anonymous individual, who created the opportunities for the Lords to strike and eliminate the Kitsun Lord ¨C or so Michael wished.

    All Michael had to do was to kill as many Awakened as possible, plunder the Kitsun Lord''s territory a bit more, and eliminate the Kitsun Lord to open and destroy his Summoning Gate.

    Michael didn''t want other Lords to obtain the Summoning Cores installed in the Kitsun Lord''s Summoning Gate after all. He was the mastermind so it should be Michael who obtains all Summoning Cores.

    At least, that was the ultimate goal of Michael''s n.

    His n also included the Gueri Warfare in the Untamed Jungle. Sun Demos and his subordinates had to seed in eliminating the threats within the Untamed Jungle, restraining the Kitsun Lord from considering attacking Michael''s territory in the Untamed Jungle. Sun Demos ought to instill fear and chaos in the hearts of the Kitsun within the Untamed Jungle, all while reports of Michael and the others wreaking havoc reached the Kitsun Lord and his strongest subordinates.

    The Kitsun Lord would likely have a tough choice to make between eradicating the threat looming in the Untamed Jungle, and sending his reinforcement to eliminate Michael once and for all.

    And while the Kitsun Lord was in a tight spot, unable to decide what to do, Michael would create openings for the other Lords by destroying the Kitsun settlements close to the borders. The border settlements required strong defenses to endure the attacks of their enemies. This was very important for the Kitsun race since their physical capabilities were lower than that of other races.

    Comparing the Kitsun race with Berserkers, Michael was pretty sure that a single Berserker could deal with a handful of Kitsun simultaneously. The Kitsun were a sly and crafty race that focused on expanding businesses, and using overwhelming numbers to defeat their enemies ¨C if they hadn''t already formed a separatebat force by creating Monster Ranches, or by suppressing other lifeforms such as Elementals.

    Each border settlement had roughly 100 Awakened, and 5,000bat Summons. The number was simr to the northern guard settlement, with the sole difference being the equipment and vignce of the guards.

    Skirmishes at the borderline to the other Lords happened every now and then. Thus, the Kitsun in the Savannah were more prepared and experienced to fight other Awakened. The same couldn''t be said about the northern guard settlement that had been turned to a pile of ash.

    "Is everyone ready to depart?" Michael asked, receiving nods from everyone around.

    They spent the next ten minutes flying through the Savannah region at a high speed until they reached the closest border settlement.

    However, before they could even think about attacking, Michael received a worrying message.

    ["We''re under attack!"] Sun Demos reported to Michael all of a sudden.

    Michael halted before he could initiate the attack, his eyes narrowing at the message.

    ["What do you mean? Did the Kitsun attack you and some other smaller units, or¨C..."] Michael asked, only for Sun Demos'' voice to ring out in his head once again.

    ["They trapped my people. These foolish monkeys were tricked. They ran straight into a hail¡­I need to save them!"]

    Sun Demos sounded both desperate and calm, something that ought to be hardly possible, in the first ce.

    A strong pulling force spread through Michael''s entire body as Taming was triggered. The 5-Star Soultrait activated without the need for Michael tomand it. A secondter, a strong presence spread out within Michael''s consciousness, tapping into the powers fused to his War Rune.

    For the first time since Michael obtained Taming, he was able to feel Sun Demos'' presence inside his consciousness. The taming bond expanded, strengthening their connection to new heights.

    In the next moment, Michael felt a surge of strength surging through his body. Simultaneously, Sun Demos grasped the Power of his Soultraits.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s superior physical strength began to enhance Michael. In exchange, Sun Demos gained ess to Michael''s Soultraits.

    Taming''s full power was unraveled for the first time, burning through Michael''s and Sun Demos'' stored energy like cinder through me.

    However, neither Michael nor Sun Demos cared about the energy consumption at this moment. A weird feeling spread through their beings. It affected them and made their hearts skip a beat at the same time.

    The new feeling was something neither had ever felt before. It was magical.

    Their earlier n seemed to have failed, and it looked like Sun Demos'' subordinates were on the brink of death after they failed to discover the traps that had beenid out in front of them. Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t travel through the Savannah in the blink of an eye to help Sun Demos.

    But there was something he could do now that Taming''s full power was unleashed.

    He could give Sun Demos free reign of his Soultriats!

 Chapter 374 Counter

    ?

    **[Five minutes earlier in the Untamed Jungle ]**

    ck shadows shot through the tree canopy of the Untamed Jungle with rapid speed.

    Two groups of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys moved silently but swiftly, arriving right next to a small group of Kitsun Summons. The Kitsun grasped their bows tightly while vigntly observing their surroundings.

    However, being unable to perceive every inch of the Untamed Jungle simultaneously, the Kitsun reacted a quarter of a second toote. They moved to the first group of five Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, nocked arrows on their bowstring and pulled back.

    Just as they released their arrows with a twang, the group of monkeys grasped the branches next to them and pulled with great force, swinging themselves to the side near-instantly. They moved several meters away from the arrows'' range, easily evading them. The five monkeys were unable to attack the Kitsun immediately for they''d changed their movement pattern a mere second ago. But that was no problem. The second monkey group used the opening to barge through the thicket, arriving next to the Kitsun.

    Three Kitsun pulled back in surprise, leaving six Kitsun directly facing the monkeys. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys didn''t hesitate to pick up the Kitsun and use their great physical strength to pluck their heads and tear them apart.

    Only two Kitsun barely received enough time to scream in horror and drop their wooden bows before the monkeys ripped their bodies apart as well. Their blood sprayed through the surroundings and their organs spilled out of their bodies, leaving a grotesque sight on disy. The Kitsun, who had pulled back, stared at the gory remains of their brethren, their eyes trembling in fright.

    Their cloudy lower body wavered as the monkeys averted their attention to the remaining Kitsun. They were just about to push ahead and kill the remaining Kitsun when the Kitsun''s expression changed once again. A vibrant smile formed on their lips, and their trembling eyes began to shine as they stared down at the monkeys like they were already dead.

    No warning was issued but the monkeys noticed that something went wrong. The five Blood Oath Demon Monkeys who''d torn apart the Kitsun realized toote that their partner group had yet to arrive. The other monkey group that had been with them didn''t make a single sound. It was almost like they hadn''t even been present.

    It was toote when the five monkeys smelled the fear and blood of their own brethren.

    All of a sudden, a loud sound reverberated through the Untamed Jungle. Blood spilled from the head of the monkey at the front and it copsed in the next second, its face filled with shock rather than pain. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys died on the spot.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were extremely fast and strong. Not even Mid Tier-2 Awakened were fast enough to catch up to them. They knew the Untamed Jungle the best, and might even be capable of escaping a Late Tier-2 Awakened if they were vignt enough. But they were not in their right state of mind at this moment.

    None of the Kitsun had been able to stop them before. Their enemies died way too easily since they were unable to react to the surprise attacks from the blind spots. A simple feint was enough to outwit the Kitsun ¨C or so the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys thought.

    They didn''t realize that they had only killed the weakest Kitsun who had been sent out to scout the monkey troupe''s position before acting as a living bait.

    Several loud sounds resounded through the surroundings ending the remaining Blood Oath Demon Monkeys on the spot. There was only one wound all over their bodies; a small bullet hole in their heads.

    As thest Blood Oath Demon Monkey of the two groups died, the surroundings flickered. Ripples passed through the surroundings right after, changing everything in the vicinity. A group of Kitsun Awakened, and close to a hundred Kitsun wielding swords, axes and a wide variety of other weapons appeared out of nowhere.

    "Your Veil of Invisibility has grown weaker. How did this brute beast at the end notice me?" One of the Kitsun Awakened red at the Awakened next to him.

    The Awakened shrugged and turned away like it was not his business. He approached the corpses of the monkeys and squatted down to inspect them.

    Another Awakened appeared next to the Kitsun leading the group. "Your Thunder Bullet has grown much stronger. You can kill Low Tier-2 Monsters with one hit now. The bullets are also much faster than before. You''ve grown a lot stronger, Pustan."

    The Awakened continued to praise the leader, Pustan, but Pustan didn''t seem impressed. He looked through the vicinity to spot the corpses of the 10 Blood Oath Demon Monkeys and narrowed his eyes.

    "My power is great, I know. However, these monkeys are a problem. Their strategic attacks killed more than a quarter of the reinforcement, and they stalled our advance greatly. From the looks of it, we won''t have a chance of leaving the Untamed Jungle without losing another 25% of the reinforcement. It will take too long as well," Pustan revealed, his head flicking to the vice-leader of the reinforcement, who moved around the monkey corpse.

    "Those are Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. They shouldn''t have a habitat anywhere nearby¡­" The Kitsun inspecting the corpses remarked with a deep frown on his face.

    "The southern part of the Untamed Jungle has a small spot with mutated fiendish great trees. Maybe they''re living over there? What do you think, Zaram?" Another Awakened inquired, his guess spot on.

    "That should be possible. It sounds usible. In that case, we can also confirm that the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys are working together with those other brutes," Zaram concluded, staring intently at themunication crystal attached to his belt.

    It was almost as if he expected themunication crystal to light up at any moment. Never in his life did he hope that themunication crystal would stay shut like now. Thest 24 hours were truly horrendous.

    First, the main settlement had been attacked, and then the Soul Pact of the Elemental nobility was triggered, killing everyone in the Elementals Cave and destroying years of their hard work in the process. To make matters worse, the Elemental Empress was still alive and with another Lord who was raining down attacks on the territory while flying on the back of two Greater Eagles.

    The Kitsun Lord was in fury, not because he lost his entire fortune, but because someone else had stolen what belonged rightfully to him; the Elemental Empress.

    If she couldn''t be with him, the Elemental Empress ought to be dead. That was her fate. The Elemental Empress wasn''t supposed to run around freely, setting the world on fire.

    She ought to be in the Kitsun Lord''s grasp, chained to the wall, unmoving and beautiful.

    Just as the Awakened Kitsun were about to leave the ce, amotion rang out from behind. All 100+ Kitsun eximed in shock simultaneously. Their attention moved to several groups of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, who''d appeared out of nowhere.

    The monkeys saw their fallen brethren and began to scream their lungs out. Their shrill screams reverberated through the surroundings, their fury apparent. None of the monkeys hesitated to barge into the group of Kitsun where they began to wreak havoc.

    They jumped down from the trees and crashed into the Kitsun, their impact squashing some of their enemies. However, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey didn''t even pay attention to the Kitsun they had squashed. They kept looking around and pounced at the nearest enemy, wing at them and soaking in their blood before moving to the next Kitsun to repeat the same. Their movements were rapid and powerful, just like before. But now there was something else as well. A sudden addition that changed thebat prowess of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeyspletely.

    Instead of fighting like intelligent monsters and making use of proper tactics to kill the Kitsun while avoiding head-on fights as much as possible, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys began to fight viciously. They let their wild instincts and the rage that surfaced from the bottom of their hearts take over.

    The Kitsun were torn apart but the Awakened simply watched the massacre. A joyous smile blossomed on their faces while witnessing how much their people suffered. Even if the Kitsun were their brethren, watching them suffer and get squashed under the vicious blows of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys was delightful.

    Zaram moved next to the other Awakened after savoring the bloodbath for a second. He activated the Veil of Invisibility, hiding every Kitsun from the Monkeys'' eyes. Even the Kitsun under the attack of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys disappeared from their sight. However, they didn''t actually vanish from the spot, they were just rendered invisible to the eyes of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    Despite the invisibility, the monkeys continued to attack the invisible enemies after staring around a second in shock. They first presumed that their enemies ran away and used some sort of magical power to vanish. However, the smell of metal was still apparent. The smell of blood, metal, and fear hung heavy in the air, and the monkeys could smell it all, everywhere around them ¨C wherever the Kitsun were located.

    They started to attack where they presumed their enemies to be without wasting a moment. Instead of running away, and re-organizing their groups, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys began kicking and wing, drawing their enemies'' blood, and rendering the Veil of Invisibility partially useless as the newly drawn blood smeared all over the veil.

    Despite that, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys couldn''t see the razor-sharp weapons in the Kitsun''s hands. They sometimes smashed their fists right at the great axe swinging at them and reacted too slowly to the sound of swords and axes cutting through the air as the Kitsun swung their sharp weapons at them.

    It turned out to be a gruesome battle in which many Blood Oath Demon Monkeys died. Too many.

 Chapter 375 Monkey Might I

    <h4>Chapter 375 Monkey Might I</h4>

    [As the title suggests, this chapter will focus on the Monkeys and their battle]

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King moved quickly through the Untamed Jungle. Being inside the enemy''s territory, Sun Demos ought to be more careful, but his movements were far from silent. The tree branches crackled underneath his feet as he kicked them with great force to propel his body further ahead.

    Hisrge hands and upper body were soaked in blood, making the Sun Demos look vicious. It was entuated even further by the crimson glowing eyes that stared menacingly at his destination. He could only helplessly witness the death of his brethren. His subordinates were cut apart as they were unable to even see their invisible enemies.

    Sun Demos had been in a different area when a premonition germinated in his heart. He had a really bad feeling about his subordinates and began to move through the Untamed Jungle without thinking about the attention he attracted by rushing through the dense foliage all around him.

    All Sun Demos could think of was protecting his subordinates and saving them before he waste.

    Unfortunately, he arrived toote to save them all.

    ["We''re under attack!"] Sun Demos reported to his Master, grinding his fang-like teeth.

    He was fuming in anger, but he still had to report to Michael.

    ["What do you mean? Did the Kitsun attack you and some other smaller units, or¨C..."] Michael asked, but Sun Demos couldn''t think straight anymore. He wasn''t even sure if he heard Michael correctly before his voice rang out once again.

    ["They trapped my people. These foolish monkeys were tricked. They ran straight into a hail¡­I need to save them!"]

    His voice was filled with desperation, yet he sounded oddly calm. The voice carried an ominous feeling that filled Sun Demos'' heart. It was almost like every word was filled with the desire to protect his subordinates and prevent any more casualties.

    Sun Demos'' head was spinning but all he could think about was his subordinates. This was something he learned from his master. It was a trait he inherited from Michael after their Taming bond deepened to a certain level.

    Sun Demos grew more intelligent ¨C even if it was only by a small margin¨C and he learned a lot from Michael''s kind yet somewhat vicious soul. He was kind and loving, but would mercilessly stomp on his enemies to eliminate everyone who posed a potential threat to his people.

    His desire to protect his people, which Michael had passed on to him, seemed to talk to him. Sun Demos didn''t even realize what he was doing as he grasped the firm taming bond in his consciousness. He created a strong pulling force that momentarily reinforced the taming bond even further.

    A mythical feeling spread through Sun Demos'' entire being as the taming bond pulled on Sun Demos and Michael''s Souls. It began to ripple and move, creating waves filled with vibrant energy and emotions. Unbeknownst to Sun Demos, the Taming Soultrait had been triggered. Sun Demos activated the 5-Star Soultrait through his taming bond with Michael.

    However, what Sun Demos noticed was that Michael''s presence within him grew stronger. Michael''s presence towered above him, forcefully gaining ess to his energy storage and power. In exchange, Sun Demos gained something as well. He felt mythical powers surging into him. No. They weren''t surging into him. The feeling was different. It was more like he gained ess to the mythical powers from a different source ¨C from his master.

    Streams of information filled Sun Demos'' mind as he arrived in front of his brethren. He crashed down in front of a Blood Oath Demon Monkey, whose arm had been sliced off a moment ago.

    Sun Demos clenched his fists as he took in the carnage visible in the surroundings. More than two dozen Blood Oath Demon Monkeysy dead on the ground in a pool of blood. Their own blood.

    Rage filled his heart at the sight, resulting in his silver gloves vibrating violently. It was only now that Sun Demos recalled he was wearing the metal gloves in the first ce. They were Spirit Armaments that had been created using a rare blueprint and rare metals to provide Sun Demos with a high external enhancement, and a powerful weapon with a unique function.

    After channeling a trace of energy into the gloves, several des shot out of them. The gloves were actually deadly weapons with extendable des stored within. They began to vibrate ever so slightly as Sun Demos'' origin energy passed through them. However, what happened next was even a surprise to Sun Demos.

    The extendable des were coated in silver energy all of a sudden ¨C their sharpness increased drastically. Sun Demos moved instinctively before he could make sense of what was happening. He twisted his body, instinctively evading three iing attacks. In the next moment his hands lunged out, drawing several lines of blood through the air. The extendable des cut through the metal armor of a Kitsun, digging deep into the enemy''s body, thirsting for the blood and flesh like a starving beast.

    Sensing how easily the des pierced through the metal armor of the enemy ahead, Sun Demos was startled for a moment. Nheless, he never stopped moving. He elerated instead.

    His body moved rapidly. Sun Demos kicked the invisible enemy he had just killed to push the dead body onto yet another invisible enemy. He listened to the sounds that followed the kick and pinpointed the location of even more enemies. His crimson eyes stared ahead, and it didn''t take long until Sun Demos found the deep imprints left by his invisible enemies.

    The Veil of Invisibility was a great Soultrait. It hid all targeted allies from the enemy''s sight, preventing them from being seen. It was? a shame that it was merely a 1-Star Soultrait that could only obstruct the sense of sight.

    Veil of Invisibility was a cheap Soultrait that didn''t require much energy to be activated and maintained. But one of its biggest problems was that the consumption increased exponentially as the number of targeted allies under the cover of the veil increased.

    Furthermore, those with high perception could easily determine the ripples of energy surrounding the Veil of Invisibility and the invisible beings. Sun Demos couldn''t sense or see the ripples of the ambient origin energy. Fortunately, that was not necessary after receiving Michael''s support.

    Sun Demos kicked the ground and lowered his body. In the next moment his body shot forward. His hands shot to the side, the extendable des moving left and right, cutting and slicing through the enemy line of invisible Kitsun.

    Blood spilled all over the ground while screams of unbearable pain filled the air. All of a sudden, Sun Demos felt something. The pulling force within him grew stronger. The taming bond expanded, his connection with Michael further strengthened to new heights. A golden glow manifested in his crimson eyes, and the streams of origin energy all around him were visible suddenly.

    Being able to see the origin energy all around him, Sun Demos could also pinpoint the location of every enemy much more easily. They were invisible but the Veil of Invisibility soon turned into a hindrance and restriction. It seemed to hinder the reaction of the Kitsun, resulting in a clumsy fighting style against the fast and nimble Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    Despite the slow reaction, being invisible was a great advantage against ordinary monsters. Unfortunately, Sun Demos was far from ordinary. He was able to grasp the Power of Michael''s Soultraits and possessed enough intelligence to trigger simple Soultrait shortly after a wisp of knowledge streamed into his head.

    Eagle Eyes activated, allowing him to see origin energy, thus rendering the Veil of Invisibility useless. In fact, the Veil of Invisibility turned into a nightmare as Sun Demos could fight without any restrictions while the invisible Kitsun were slowed down due to being surrounded by the Veil.

    And that was something Sun Demos exploited to the fullest.

    His des cut through the air with exceptional swiftness, rapidly reaping the lives of his enemies. Fueled with rage and extraordinary power, Sun Demos ended the lives of two dozen Kitsun before they realized that something was wrong.

    The Veil of Invisibility was removed shortly thereafter, sharpening the dulled senses of the Kitsun once again. But that came with a drawback as well.

    As they were clearly visible again, the Kitsun were easily found by the remaining Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, who ignored their own injuries to attack and kill those who harmed them.

    Meanwhile, Sun Demos'' attention moved to the Awakened that were further away from the group of Kitsun Summons.

    One of the Awakened pointed at Sun Demos, a purple bullet forming at his fingertip. Lightning crackled and a rumbling swept through the vicinity.

    Sun Demos made his move. The thunder bullet was released with shocking velocity, hitting the area Sun Demos had been standing just a moment ago. However, there was no sight of Sun Demos.

    He saw Pustan using the Thunder Bullet to kill a Blood Oath Demon Monkey earlier and reacted quickly by diving to the side, entering a thick bush to disappear from Pustan''s sight.

    Sun Demos shot through the bush, got up with a quick roll, and moved closer to the Awakened. Simultaneously, cicles formed on the ground, shooting through the bush to hit the remaining Kitsun Summons.

    Instead of aiming at the Awakened, Sun Demos supported his subordinates to kill the Summons before moving on to attack the Awakened. Simultaneously, he tried his utmost to distract the Awakened.

    Under normal circumstances, Sun Demos would have a hard time fighting Tier-3 Awakened. However, he was a Superior Existence at the Mid of the 2nd Tier and had ess to Michael''s Soultraits right now.

    Meanwhile, the Awakened were Kitsun ¨C physically weaker than other beings at the same Tier. Maybe even Sun Demos was stronger than them. He was definitely faster, and he enhanced his physical strength even further by using Enhancement on his entire body to further increase his strength and agility.

    Taming''s full power was unraveled for the first time, burning through Michael''s and Sun Demos'' stored energy like an oil coated candle, but Sun Demos didn''t even notice at this point.

    By now, all he could feel was tremendous power surging through him, and the addictive sensation it brought along.

 Chapter 376 Monkey Might II

    ?

    Sun Demos and Michael only had enough energy to maintain the Power Share function of Taming for three minutes. Adding the use of more Soultraits would reduce the active period for Power Share even further.

    But that was perfectly fine because Sun Demos chose to fight aggressively against the Awakened. His entire body further strengthened through Enhancement, and Reinforced Sword Qi utilized to cover the extendable des of his gloves. Due to that, Sun Demos had efficient means to kill his enemies.

    Eagle Eyes fully unleashed acted as the icing on the cake, creating the means to predict his enemies'' next moves and attack or dodge properly.

    Sun Demos released several cicles toward the Kitsun Summons as he appeared in front of the Awakened. One of the Awakened shouted loudly, his gaze wavering as he looked at the Kitsun falling prey to the cicles. The cicles shattered on the Summons'' necks, freezing them partially before the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys made their move.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were already in a fierce battle with the Summons, and they used the opening created by Sun Demos to eliminate their enemies. The cicles shocked the Summons because they didn''t expect to get attacked from behind. They were under the impression that the Awakened would have their back, but that was their grave mistake.

    Despite the shock and pain, the Kitsun moved instinctively. Some stared back in horror, expecting more deadly attacks from behind to hit them. They shouldn''t have done that. It was a fatal mistake.

    Instead of more cicles attacking them from the back, the Summons were torn apart by the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys from the front.

    It took less than half a minute to kill the remaining Summons. Unfortunately, not all Blood Oath Demon Monkeys survived. Some had sustained mortal injuries when the Kitsun had been invisible. All they could do was endure and kill their enemy before they sumbed to their wounds.

    The rest attacked the remaining Awakened that were fighting their king. Sun Demos was having a hard time fighting several Awakened. Two were Tier-3 while the rest were Tier-2. Their Soultraits weren''t strong except for Thunder Bullet but their numbers and Artifacts were impactful. They granted the Awakened and Kitsun an upperhand, allowing Pustan to drill three thunder bullets into Sun Demos'' arm.

    Sun Demos could evade the thunder bullets aimed at his head thanks to Eagle Eyes. Unfortunately, by closing the distance to Pustan to a few meters, Sun Demos turned into a huge target for the Awakened. He could see the thunder bullets approaching him, but the Monkey King wasn''t fast enough to respond in time. The thunder bullet was almost moving towards him with the speed of lightning.

    It was only fortunate that the bullet holes left by the bullet were rather small and that Sun Demos has superior regenerative abilities as well. All Blood Oath Demon Monkeys could regenerate extremely fast. As long as they didn''t sustain lethal wounds, or lost a limb, they would be able to recover.

    Sun Demos'' left arm was rendered useless due to the bullets piercing his arm, but he ignored the wounds and pain. He achieved his goal by closing his distance to Pustan before utilizing Spirit Gaze. Most of his energy was consumed as he used Spirit Disturbance to catch Pustan off-guard with a spiritual attack. It reduced Sun Demos'' Power Share period to less than 10 seconds, which was more than enough to eliminate Pustan and to get rid of Zaram as well.

    The remaining Awakened were not that powerful, but Pustan and Zaram were troublesome. The Veil of Invisibility and Thunder Bullet were deadly Soultraits if used againstrge armies. If Zaram found Michael ¨C or worse ¨C barged into their territory with the reinforcement, Michael''s territory would be no more. Only the Nature Spirit and the Forest Pixie might be able to sense the energy ripples caused by the Veil of Invisibility. The rest would be helpless against the power of the Veil of Invisibility.

    Pustan could barely release his thunder bullet when Sun Demos'' Spirit Disturbance hit him. It struck him hard, much harder than anything he''d anticipated to face. His vision blurred and it grew increasingly more difficult to stay focused to initiate an attack. For a moment he felt like copsing on the ground, but his body didn''t move anywhere. In fact, he could clearly feel that his body froze for a quarter of a second ¨C which was just enough for Sun Demos'' arm to pierce forward.

    The extendable de cut through Pustan''s armor with ease, digging deep inside the enemy until the de disappeared entirely in the Awakened Kitsun. Pustan''s eyes widened, but the shock and pain grew even worse as the silver Qi covering the extendable de was released, bursting the Kitsun''s organs.

    A cackle escaped Sun Demos'' lips as he retrieved the extendable de to tear through the next enemy. He released two cicles straight to Pustan''s eyes, bursting his eyeballs before freezing the Kitsun''s brain from within. By the time Pustan began to scream, he was already on the verge of death. Zaram was shocked to see his friend bleeding and injured all of a sudden, but he attacked Sun Demos nheless.

    He was mentally prepared for everything that could happen, including mental attacks while his longsword cleaved down on Sun Demos.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King confused Zaram. He had seen monsters with Unique Racial abilities, even Monsters with unique powers granted from mutations. However, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King in front of him seemed like an Awakened with numerous Soultraits ¨C powerful Soultraits. None of Sun Demos'' powers was weak. They were all extremely powerful and deadly.

    It was truly frightening.

    Zaram cleaved down with the aim to split Sun Demos into two. However, all Sun Demos did was to reveal a hideous grimace and cackle wickedly, manifesting a Qi Sword in front of himself. The Qi Sword broke through the tremendous force behind the cleaving sword, but the trajectory was altered.

    Zaram moved back, changed his stance with a smooth motion and thrust the sword forward. His movement speed elerated all of a sudden, taking Sun Demos by surprise. The attack was unleashed through a technique that strained the muscles in the entire upper body to the limit to create a singr, smooth thrust.

    It drained a considerable amount of energy, and would leave Zaram exhausted, but the Kitsun understood that he had to kill Sun Demos right now if he wanted to survive. He had to go all out. There was no way that he could afford to underestimate the monkey just because it was a monster, otherwise, he would end up like Pustan.

    His old rival had copsed nearby, blood pooling around him on the ground. Pustan was still screaming but his voice lost power. His lifeforce would soon dry out, leaving the Awakened without any energy. He was bound to die, and Zaram didn''t want to end like him.

    As Zaram''s sword thrust was about to pierce deep into Sun Demos'' heart, the monkey king made his move. Zaram''s body couldn''t respond fast enough to evade the attack. He couldn''t move a single finger. Fortunately, his eyes and mind were faster. Meanwhile, Sun Demos'' mind responded the moment his Eagle Eyes perceived Zaram''s attack. A thick cicle manifested right next to the sword''s de.

    The cicle shattered at Sun Demos'' will, releasing a burst of freezing mist that filled the vicinity. It shrouded Sun Demos and Zaram instantaneously, hiding what happened next from everyone''s sight.

    All they could hear was the sound of a de piercing into flesh. In the next moment, Zaram cursed aloud, and the slick sound of a de piercing through the flesh echoed again.

    The freezing mist spread outward and dispersed in all directions, revealing Zaram and Sun Demos.

    Zaram''s longsword was stuck deep in Sun Demos'' shoulder. It looked like it pierced the monkey king''s heart, but Sun Demos stared at the Awakened Kitsun in amusement. The grin on his face was wide. The Kitsun missed his heart by a few centimeters due to the explosion of the cicle, and the freezing mist that had forcefully altered the trajectory of the sword by a few centimeters.

    And to make matters worse for Zaram, Sun Demos'' de had found its target. epting Zaram''s attack in exchange for being able to deliver an attack as well might not have been the best decision, but Sun Demos had to use thest second of Taming''s Power Share to eliminate Zaram before he would lose ess to Michael''s Soultraits.

    Sun Demos couldn''t evade the attack either way. Thus, he decided to attack instead.

    Zaram stared at Sun Demos with wide eyes after sensing his near-suicidal move. The moment his sword cut deep into Sun Demos, he realized that the attack was not going to kill the monkey king. It would weaken him and drain him as the fight progressed, but that was already it. Zaram had been about to pull back to get a grip over himself and prepare a second attack, but Sun Demos moved ahead, ignoring the razor-sharp de sinking deeper into his chest.

    His focus had been on counterattacking even if the injury grew worse and more painful.

    But Sun Demos endured it all. He endured the pain and used it to dig his extended de deep into the Awakened Kitsun''s neck.

    Cackling like the madman he was, the monkey king twisted the de before tearing it out of Zaram.

    Zaram''s eyes almost popped out of his skull. In the next moment, blood spurted out of his neck, and he copsed on the ground.

    ''I can''t believe I''m actually dying. How can this be? At the hands of a monster at that¡­ How¡­This¡­ I¡­I am not supposed to end like this¡­It can''t be¡­''

    But before he could finish the thought, the world turned dark.

 Chapter 377 Power Share

    <h4>Chapter 377 Power Share</h4>

    **[Back in the Savannah region]**

    The energy within Michael''s body was drained rapidly as Taming''s Power Share was unleashed to the fullest.

    He released threads of Extraction in the surroundings that connected to the streams of origin energy all around him. Extracting and annexing the energy in the surroundings via Extraction allowed him to make up for the drainage of energy to a certain extent. Unfortunately, it was not enough to replenish his energy storage.

    ''Power Share consumes way too much energy. I feel physically much stronger than before, but how am I supposed to use Power Share properly without affecting the utility of my other Soultraits?'' Michael wondered for several minutes before they reached the nearest border settlement in the Kitsun Lord''s territory.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp would soon be back from its courier mission, which meant that they use all kinds of tricks to deal with the Kitsun''s settlements.

    But before they attacked, Michael had to make sure that he replenished his energy storage a little. Hence, he retrieved one of the Energy Nourishing Pills from the Elemental Empress and consumed it. The energy within the pill was released in waves as theyers of the pills were removed inch by inch.

    With his eyes firmly shut, Michael practiced the Pandemonium''s Requiem technique to aid the digestion of the Energy Nourishing Pill and the annexation of the energy stored within the pill.

    Several minutes passed silently before Michael opened his eyes once again. The Power Share between Michael and Sun Demos ended, and the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King spoke to him telepathically.

    ["I killed the assassins. Thank you for guiding me in this fierce battle, Master!"]

    Michael was not sure what he did to receive Sun Demos'' gratitude because it had been Sun Demos who unraveled the Power Share function of the Taming Soultrait. Nheless, it was a good thing that Sun Demos had been able to take care of the problem in the Untamed Jungle.

    ["I''m d that you survived. I hope you could avenge some of your fallen brethren. If you and your troupe are confident of continuing with the gueri warfare tactic, you can do so. However, I think that you should retreat to reorganize your troupe, and ensure that everyone''s wounds have been tended to before youe up with a new n. They know that you move around in small groups, and I doubt that the Kitsun Lord sent out only one group of assassins."]

    ording to Sun Demos'' earlier reports, the reinforcement consisted of 20,000bat Summons, and several hundred Awakened. It was basically the Kitsun Lord''s whole army. After all, the Guards and Awakened stationed in the border settlements couldn''t just abandon their posts and leave for war.

    Michael never thought that Sun Demos and his monkeys were strong enough to deal with the entire reinforcement. The gueri warfare tactic was merely a means to stall the reinforcement and enrage the enemies to force them to make mistakes. Through provocation, Michael hoped to outwit the Kitsun Lord sooner orter.

    Maybe, he had already outwitted the Kitsun Lord. But that was still questionable ¨C especially after the majority of Michael''s army had been eliminated even before the war between them began officially.

    ["If you want to continue fighting, retreat in the evening at thetest. The Kitsun Lord might change his ns and send the reinforcement over to our territory. In case that happens, I want to be informed the moment the reinforcement changes their trajectory. You and your brethren can stall time in the worst case scenario. After all, you can use my Soultraits to a certain extent now ¨C even if it''s just for a short time."] Michael ordered before adding a few moremands.

    His mind was racing, and ns were formting like crazy. Unfortunately, making use of most ns was quite difficult, and the scenarios were unlikely to happen, in the first ce.

    Nheless, it was better to be safe than sorry.

    After allmands had been sent out whether it was to Sun Demos, or ire and the main scout team ¨C which Michael had left at the base to stay vignt and report anything that looked and felt suspicious ¨C, Michael used the next five minutes to test out something.

    He first tried to use Power Share on his own. Since Sun Demos could use it subconsciously in a fit of desperation, Michael hoped that he could use it actively and intentionally now that he had already felt the sensation of Power Share once before.

    Trying to replicate the feeling of Power Share a second time was not easy. Activating it intentionally was different from feeling it from the bottom of his heart ¨C Sun Demos'' heart, to be precise. Michael closed his eyes and entered his consciousness where he moved to the Symbol of Taming. He began to insert traces of energy inside the Symbol of Taming by activating the Soultrait.

    But instead of trying to manifest a third taming circle, or tomunicate with Sun Demos or the Elemental Empress, Michael focused on the two taming bonds that were anchored in the deepest parts of the Taming Symbol.

    Sun Demos'' taming bond was thick and firm. It was much easier to perceive than the Elemental Empress'' taming bond. Thus, Michael began to channel more energy into Sun Demos'' taming bond. He tried to send a portion of his consciousness to the monkey king to recreate the same feeling from before.

    Sun Demos'' consciousness within him had been much more apparent when Power Share was activated. Thus, Michael did exactly the same. The energy inside him surged toward the taming bond, and something began to change. Michael felt his physical strength increase and his thoughts be more violent.

    Sun Demos'' wrath and anger about the death of his subordinates flooded Michael alongside the monkey king''s superior physical strength.

    ''So emotions will be transferred as well when Power Share is activated? It feels like my personality is being affected as well. My thoughts feel¡­wilder than before. Are our emotions and instincts ovepping?'' Michael fell deep in thoughts, wondering what else Power Share affected.

    ''It feels like our beings are being fused to a minor degree. A temporary fusion of power¡­that''s great, but also weird¡­''

    It was obvious that the Power Share function required way too much energy to be maintained over a long period. Three minutes was the maximum limit of the fusion, and that didn''t take into consideration that both Sun Demos and Michael had to utilize their origin energy to use other Soultraits and consume it to enhance their body as well.

    ''I wonder if our physical features change through Power Share as well.''

    Looking over to the Elemental Empress, Michael decided to end his experiment with Sun Demos.

    His taming bond with the Elemental Empress was not that firm and strong like with Sun Demos, but Michael''s perception was well developed. He pinpointed the taming bond and inserted traces of energy into the taming bond. Alongside the energy, Michael channeled a trace of his consciousness through the taming bond.

    All of a sudden, the Elemental Empress screamed aloud, startling Michael just as he felt a faint connection to the Elemental Empress'' fire attribute.

    He looked over in worry and stopped his experiment at once. Michael felt that the energy consumption upon activating Power Share had been extremely low, but the pained expression on the Elemental Empress'' face showed him quite easily that the prerequisite for Power Share was a firm and strong taming bond.

    "Sorry for startling you. I hope it didn''t hurt too much," Michael said as he rushed over to her.

    "So much information¡­what are you? So many powers¡­" The Elemental Empress bbered, looking at Michael as if he was a monster.

    ''Looks like she is not hurt. That''s good.''

    Michael smiled lightly in response to the Elemental Empress'' words, but his train of thought changed quickly.

    ''Could it be that the energy consumption increases with the distance between the two targets? Or is it the amount of power that is being shared at once? But then again the Elemental Empress has great powers even if she is currently Tierless.''

    At the end of the day, Michael had to do a lot more experiments to find out how Power Share worked and how to decrease the energy consumption. Michael was not discouraged by the thought of experimenting with the Taming Soultraits. On the contrary, it was quite exciting.

    If Taming had a variety of other functions that would be great. Furthermore, with Taming possessing functions that had to be explored, his other Soultraits were probably just like that as well. The information one receives upon fusing with Soultraits was merely basic information and innate inferior proficiency.

    To put it in simple terms, one learned how to use the Soultrait upon manifesting, or binding it. However, the more in-depth yourprehension and understanding of the Soultraits''plexity, their powers, origin and foundation, the more functions could be unraveled.

    He had known that Reinforced Sword Qi and Extraction could be used in different ways than it was ''supposed'' to, given that the information he received was different from the way he used these Soultraits right now. However, it had been quite natural for Michael to manifest Qi Swords thanks to the fact that his brother had always yed around with Qi Swords.

    As for Extraction, it was a power he couldn''t quite understand. It felt like he could Extract anything he wanted to as long as he possessed enough energy. But that didn''t really sound feasible. After all, Extraction was not a God-like power. It was currently only a 6-Star Soultrait and Michael didn''t even know how much longer he could upgrade it.

    Was there even a limit to upgrading Soultraits? Did some Soultraits have a limit, or would they all evolve at some point?

    What if Extraction became a 10-Star Soultrait? Would he be able to extract the Origin Expanse itself? What was the limit of his Soultrait?

    Could he upgrade Extraction past 10-Stars? Would he break thews of the Universe that way?

    Each question was worth researching. They were interesting and Michael desired an answer to all of them.

    However, the answers were not something he could acquire just because he wanted to. It would take a while before he reached the level required to find an answer to the questions.

    But that was fine. Michael had a lot more to do aside from researching.

    He was in the middle of a war, after all!

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 378 Portal & Intentions

    Once the Golden Stinger Wasp had returned, Michael''s energy storage was also filled to the brim.

    Icarus and his mate ascended into the air. However, nobody was sitting on the Greater Eagles'' backs. Instead, the Greater Eagles had be decoys for the guards of the border settlement.

    By now, everyone should have been informed about the Greater Eagles, Michael, and the others. It made sense to travel quickly through the Savannah region on the Greater Eagles'' back, but they were quickly exposed as well.

    It was rare to find two Greater Eagles in the Savannah region, let alone that the Greater Eagles were headed to Beast Ranches, only to depart a few minutester, leaving behind death and chaos.

    Wherever they went, the Beast Ranches were destroyed at those locations. They were even present when the main settlement had been under attack. Therefore, it didn''t require a genius to conclude that Michael was in control of the Greater Eagles.

    The border settlement''s watchguards should have found the Greater Eagles the moment they ascended into the air. That was reaffirmed by the sound of a loud horn reverberating through the border region and themotion that ensued.

    "Are you sure that you can handle it?" Michael asked the Elemental Empress for the hundredth time.

    His words may feel like he was uncertain but the confidence in his eyes was a big contrast to his voice. The Elemental Empress was not sure what to think of Michael, but she nodded her head.

    "As long as I don''t have to teleport anyone other than this little wasp back and forth, I will be fine. I might not be strong yet, but I know what I can handle," The Elemental Empress responded, resulting in a nod from Michael.

    He held his arm out and looked at the Golden Stinger Wasp.

    "Go for it," Michael said, and the Golden Stinger Wasp stung him with an energy stinger.

    Now that he was marked, the Golden Stinger Wasp could swap its location with Michael for the next ten minutes. The distance didn''t matter.

    Tiara, the Elemental Empress, Lilica, and the other Forest Elves were marked as well. Thispleted the first step of their n, which was followed by the second step.

    The Elemental Empress waved her hand, creating a swirl of golden energy in front of her. The swirl expanded and morphed into a fist-sized portal through which the Golden Stinger Wasp disappeared when it received Michael''s permission.

    In the meantime, the Greater Eagles had long since arrived above the settlement. They dove down to the settlement, their wings pressed tightly against their bodies. The two monsters screeched loudly and continued their dive until they reached the range of the guards'' arrows. The guards standing on the walls released the first barrage of arrows. They aimed precisely at the Greater Eagles, certain to hit them with most arrows.

    But just as the first arrows were about to hit, the Greater Eagles spread their wings wide open. Their descent stopped mid-way, and their fall slowed down to a minimum. The Greater Eagles pped their wings and ascended higher into the air once again, their screeches loud and clear.

    Less than 10 arrows had hit the Greater Eagles, and only one of them had been strong enough to push through the monsters'' thick plumage. They continued to screech and mock the guards all while initiating a second dive to distract the guards and enrage them.

    Michael sensed that the Greater Eagles were not injured, and sighed in relief. He didn''t really like using his monsters as bait, but it would be fine as long as they didn''t move too close to the settlement and the guards. Ordinary arrows shot from Tier-1 or Tier-2 Summons wouldn''t kill them immediately even if some may hurt a little.

    Less than a second after the Golden Stinger Wasp disappeared, Michael felt the space around him twist. Embraced by a golden membrane, the energy stinger lit up. His position was swapped with the Golden Stinger Wasp''s position thereafter.

    One moment he stood next to the others hidden from the sight of the border settlement''s watchguards, and the next moment Michael appeared inside the border settlement. He had bypassed the settlement''s walls thanks to swapping positions with the Golden Stinger Wasp, which appeared next to him again.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp had jumped through the spatial portal created by the Elemental Empress. It switched locations with Tiara, who appeared next to Michael with a faint smile.

    "Having someone with the Power of Space is quite useful. Having the Golden Stinger Wasp and the Elemental Empress work together was a good idea. The Elemental Empress can be helpful like that while she is Tierless," Michael said with a thin smile on his lips.

    He gave Tiara a thumbs-up and added, "Your idea was great!"

    Tiara''s smile widened at thepliment, but her joy was disrupted by the interference of Lilica. She appeared next to Tiara, followed by the remaining Forest Elves, and the Elemental Empress, who arrived soon after.

    In the meantime, the first guards and Awakened appeared in the small alley in the outskirts of the border settlement. That was where Michael and the rest had appeared, while the Greater Eagles endangered their lives to distract as many enemies as possible.

    ''Looks like they have a hostility orb as well. Well¡­that is not surprising. They can easily locate and pinpoint us everywhere now.'' Michael chuckled lightly at the thought.

    It was quite obvious that the Kitsun Lord made ample preparations to protect every border settlement. The border settlements had to be protected, otherwise, the enemies of the Kitsun Lord would barge into his territory and destroy everything, just like Michael had done.

    The Kitsun Lordmitted a grave mistake by ignoring Michael''s existence in the southern part of the Untamed Jungle. He didn''t consider Michael a worthy enemy because he was only a Tier-2 Lord with a few dozen Tier-2 subordinates. Michael never expanded his territory quite like the Kitsun Lord either. He had only a single settlement, if one could consider it a settlement, in the first ce.

    Michael had a small town without thick and well-developed defensive walls to aid in the defense of his people. But that was also the most likely reason why the Kitsun Lord underestimated him.

    Michael used the flora and fauna as a means to hide his territory and protect it. He focused on a single town to turn it into the core of his future territory and used his funding to strengthen his people, provide the best armaments, and much more.

    The Orb of Hostility in his possession was of extraordinary quality, and always activated. It was configured at an output of 100%, and consumed far more monster cores than most Lords were willing to spend for 5-10 settlements. Even with the Orb of Hostility activated at its limit, Michael used his scouts to check for hostile activities before moving through the surroundings at all times. Every change in the surroundings would be directly reported to him and his people, allowing them to make ns for all kinds of adverse scenarios.

    Michael didn''t require walls to defend his territory because no enemy would be able to reach his town and citizens. The traps, hisbat forces, and more than a hundred ns for various scenarios had been created to counter all kinds of problems and possible invasions. Furthermore, it was much better to make use of the Untamed Jungle''s flora and fauna rather than cutting down everything. It was harder to find the territory as it was located deep in the wild and unruly jungle, and easier for him and his army to attack the enemies from all directions.

    Michael was the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, and he wouldn''t start neglecting the Untamed Jungle if he could instead use it to annihte the threats from outside. He could eliminate the strangers, who never fought in the Untamed Jungle by exploiting the topography, and everything habituating in the Untamed Jungle, just like he did against the forces of the Jungle Expedition.

    One way or another, the current threat was different from the time he fought against the Jungle Expedition.

    Michael was not the same as before, and the same could be said about his allies. Not even the faintest glimmer of worry could be found in their eyes facing arge group of Kitsun Guards and Awakened.

    The space around them was narrow. But Michael had expected that. He told the Elemental Empress to teleport the Golden Stinger Wasp to a secure ce near the settlement''s outskirts. A dark, and narrow cobblestone alley between time-worn, half-timbered buildings were certainly a secure ce for a tiny wasp to appear. The alley was a quiet, hidden gem, shielded from the bustling main streets. It allowed Michael and the rest to arrive safely inside the border settlement without any obstructions.

    Unfortunately, the defensive measures of the settlement were ringly visible ¨C which was also expected.

    The cobblestone alley was uneven and speckled with moss and weeds, creating a slippery surface. But Michael''s focus had long since moved to the crowd of Kitsun charging into the narrow alley. It looked like the Kitsun attacked without a shred of hesitation from a distance, but with Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze activated, he could see the hesitation and the tinge of fear that shed through their eyes.

    The Kitsun all over the Kitsun Lord''s territories had already been informed about the attacks of thest 24 hours. They could gauge how strong Michael and his people were. Seeing the determination and fearlessness of the small group that had been insane enough to attack an entire settlement with a group that didn''t even have 10 members didn''t help either. On the contrary, it added fuel to the mes of fear that began to ravage inside the hearts of the Kitsun.

    Nheless, they had to get rid of the invaders, otherwise, the wrath of the Kitsun Lord would be waiting for them. The Kitsun Lord wouldn''t kill them. No, he would torture them until they wished that they''d died thousands of deaths.

    Satisfied with how things were moving ahead, Michael smiled. The air was tinged with the scent of aged wood, earth, and the faint whiff of herbs from a nearby garden. However, the most apparent was the smell of fear permeating the dark alley.

    Origin energy circted through his body, and he kicked the ground all of a sudden.

    Michael crossed a distance of ten meters in the blink of an eye, the Wyverntooth Spear manifesting in his hands.

    In the next moment, Tiara appeared next to him, her body transforming.

    Pure excitement flickered in her eyes and she elerated, pushing past Michael to enter the horde of Kitsun in front of her without a shred of hesitation.

    Today was going to be a bloody day.

 Chapter 379 Blazing Globe

    ?

    The moment Tiara used the Silvarean Tiger Soultrait, silver fur grew out of her body. Her hair shimmered vibrantly, and her eyes transformed, bing much sharper than before with a tint of gold mixed into her tiger-like eyes.

    A blueish spear danced around her as she manifested her Artifacts. It was a Spirit Weapon, which Michael specially crafted for Tiara in the Relic of Draka not too long ago. It enhanced Tiara''s Agility drastically, further reinforcing herbat prowess.

    Charging into the crowd of Kitsun, Tiara struck everyone in the first row with a Spirit Whip before she swiped the Spirit Spear across their necks. Her motion was simple but extremely fast. The velocity of her spear swipe couldn''t be blocked as the Kitsun was momentarily stunned by the sudden mental attack.

    Rendered incapable of blocking Tiara''s attack, their throats ended up severed in an eerily simple manner. Fountains of blood spurted out of their throats, painting the old cobblestone pathway of the abandoned alley crimson.

    The Kitsun in the second row and behind were shocked to see her. Their eyes widened and they instinctively wanted to retreat. However, all they could do was to move ahead. Their brethren from behind pushed them ahead, forcing the Kitsun at the front to face Tiara head-on.

    Tiara moved quickly. The space around her was narrow, but she could make full use of every inch of it. The Spirit Spear thrust forward, piercing through the steel chestte of the Kitsun in front of her before drilling deep into the Kitsun''s chest. But instead of decelerating and being forced to put some effort into pulling the spear de out of the Kitsun''s chest, Tiara used her Inner Force Soultrait to naturally reverse the force of her spear thrust.

    Instead of slowing down as the spear de dug deeper into the enemy''s chest, the Spirit Spear was pulled out naturally without the need to use additional force. It was time-saving as well and ensured that nobody could attack Tiara as she focused on other opponents.

    Her Spirit Whipsshed out again, but she didn''t strike one of the enemies close to her. Instead, her focus was on the weaker Kitsun Summons in the middle of the crowd. It was not difficult for her to perceive the strength of her opponents. Therefore her Spirit Whips struck the Tier-1 Summons, whose bodies tensed up and froze in their tracks as the mental attack impacted heavily.

    Being pushed from behind, but unable to move further ahead, the Summons struck by the Spirit Whip couldn''t even keep their body steady. The heavy impact of the Spirit Whip resulted in the Summons losing their bnce. They fell down to the ground all while the Kitsun from behind were pushed further ahead.

    The Kitsun on the ground were unable to get up because there was no more space above them. However, they weren''t stomped upon either because the Kitsun''s lower body was in apressed gaseous form. Their lower bodies looked like ck clouds that were interconnected with each other.

    Earlier that day, Michael told Tiara and the rest that the Kitsun''s cloud-like lower body was maintained by consuming energy and the surroundings'' oxygen. This was something Tiara decided to use against them. The Kitsun were still in need of oxygen to survive.

    The Kitsun lying on the ground regained theirposure soon after they''d been struck by Tiara''s Spirit Whip. But they were unable to get up due to the crowd above them, which resulted in the space between the Kitsun and the ground bing a prison without oxygen.

    ''This girl is really cruel,'' Michael thought as he watched Tiara''s fight.

    It had been quite a while since he arrived next to her, but the narrow alley didn''t allow Michael and Tiara to fight side-by-side. They wielded spears and required some space to unleash the full power of their attacks. But that wasn''t really a pressing issue. Tiara was doing an exceptional job, and Michael could release cicle Swords enhanced with Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement to strge holes into the crowd of Kitsun, shredding their bodies cruelly.

    It might be a little bit annoying to fight a flood of Kitsun in a dark, narrow alley because they could easily stall time and turn the fight into a battle of attrition. However, Michael and Tiara could easily rip through their enemies with the use of their Soultraits.

    A single enhanced Qi cicle Sword was powerful enough to burst six to ten heads before the Kitsun could do anything against it. Meanwhile, Tiara''s swift and nimble movements allowed her to reap a life every second.

    But Michael felt that they were still a little bit too slow despite killing more than a hundred Kitsun in the first minute they''d arrived at the border settlement. They had been slow enough to allow the stronger guards and Awakened stationed in the settlement to gather ande up with a n to eliminate the invaders after their stamina had been drained.

    Michael didn''t want to give the strongest Guards and Awakened a chance to strike them at a bad timing. He whistled twice and pulled back. Tiara''s tiger ears flinched when she heard the whistling. She used Inner Force to pull most of the strength she was about to exert to attack into her legs. Tiara jumped back and appeared next to Michael with a trace of sadness spread all over her face.

    Tiara didn''t want to end the battle already. She wanted to strive forward and advance with the spear, just like a spearman was supposed to. The spear existed to advance, and not to retreat.

    But Michael ignored her grumbling. He smiled gently at her while sending a telepathic note to the Elemental Empress, who moved in front of him.

    "Don''t hold back," Michael told the Elemental Empress before he released his Dome of Extraction to devour the origin energy in the surroundings.

    In the next moment, he sent a wave of energy through the Elemental Empress'' taming bond, filling her with the purified energy of a Tier-2 Lord.

    The Elemental Empress'' body red up. Arge zing me conjured in front of her, looking like the sun. Streaks of fire pushed out of the globe of fire as the Elemental Empress used her mental power topress the mes. A tint of azure blue shone through the center of the zing globe as the Elemental Empress conjured more mes topress them within the globe.

    The zing globe waspressed, yet the raging mes expanded rapidly. In a matter of mere seconds, the globe of fire filled the entire path in front of Michael and the rest.

    Then the zing globe was unleashed upon the panicking Kitsun.

    Despite being mes conjured by a Tierless being, the Elemental Empress was still¡­the Elemental Empress. Her main attribute was fire as well, indicating her great control and innate affinity toward fire.

    Not even fire-attributed monsters at Tier-1 were likely to survive the Elemental Empress'' mes without sustaining burn marks from her mes. But now that Michael had given the Elemental Empress his origin energy, the zing mes were even stronger.

    Screams of despair and unfathomable pain spread through the surroundings as the globe of fire paved its way through the dark alley that shone brightly as if it had been blessed by the sun.

    The pungent smell of burned flesh and smoke filled the searing hot air in the alley. However, nobody said anything as they stared at the devastating sight in front of them. Michael had just transferred a little bit over half of the origin energy stored inside him to aid the Elemental Empress, but he never expected that this much energy would be enough to annihte the crowd of Kitsun inside the alley in a single move.

    Unable to evade the attack, the crowd of Kitsun had been forced to take the impact of the zing globe of fire head-on. The Tier-1 Kitsun died on the spot, burning to cinder even before the globe passed by them. However, even the Tier-2 Summons were having a hard time. Their gaseous lower bodies evaporated into thin air, while their skin and big portions of their flesh were scorched and melting.

    Losing their gaseous lower bodies meant that they had to recreate the ck cloud of their lower body from scratch. That would usually take a day or two ¨C or a few hours if one was proficient at controlling the power that allowed them to move around freely. But they didn''t have hours. In fact, the Kitsun didn''t even have minutes.

    Seconds was all they received as a hail of cicles manifested and rained down within the searing hot alley. The alley was so hot that the cobblestone path had molten, yet the cicles were unaffected by the heat ¨C even if it was just for a quarter of a second. Michael released them with a burst of energy before they could melt.

    The cicles pierced into the half-burned bodies of the Tier-2 Kitsun, ending their miserable lives.

    Michael didn''t feel any mercy for the Kitsun. If not for being pressed on time, he would probably ignore the half-burned bodies of the Kitsun.

    They would die with those burns sooner orter, either way. Unfortunately, he was running short on time and needed the energy influx he received from every kill. The energy influx and energy shares he obtained during thest 24 hours had been a lot more than he expected. The energy surging into his pir of light was enough to refine his War Rune to a considerable degree.

    If he continued to fight like this with his team, it would only be a matter of time before he reached the Mid-rank of the 2nd Tier.

    He could catch up with the other participants of the Battle Exchange, fight for his own g War Token, and fight in the Interdimensional g War.

    Of course, that was just a distant goal on Michael''s list.

    Obliterating the Kitsun Lord and all Kitsun in and near the Untamed Jungle was the highest priority for now.

 Chapter 380 Burned

    Now that the alley was cleared, Michael and the others had a much easier time moving through the settlement.

    But instead of randomly moving through the settlement without a goal, Michael channeled more energy into the Elemental Empress'' taming bond. He replenished her energy while continuing to extract the energy from the surroundings via the Dome of Extraction.

    In the meantime, the Golden Stinger Wasp marked the Elemental Empress once again. After the Empress was marked, the Golden Stinger Wasp shot higher into the air to fly above the buildings.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp flew through the settlement and swapped ces with the Elemental Empress wherever it found old and dry wooden constructions. Once teleported to such structures, the Elemental Empress would set everything on fire. The Golden Stinger Wasp continued to swap ces more than a dozen times until the mark on the Elemental Empress wore off. In those dozen swaps, the Elemental Empress burned down several smithies, two barracks, three old watchtowers, and an entire district constructed with study, yet inmmable wood.

    As the Golden Stinger Wasp and the Elemental Empress worked together to burn down the border settlement, Liopham used his Swiftness Soultrait to reach the center of the settlement in the blink of an eye.

    He unleashed his other Soultrait, Rage of the Primal, at its full power, creating a two-meter-tall totem that lured every Kitsun to the center of the settlement. An interesting thing about Rage of the Primal was that it enraged its targets, forcing them into a Berserk-like state that enhanced their strength. The stronger the target the stronger the effect of the Berserk-like state, and the more intense the rage surging through their entire being.

    Therefore, the strongest Kitsun quickly gathered near the totem of the Rage of the Primal Soultrait. They charged at the totem and destroyed it in less than a minute. During this minute several hundred Guards and two dozen Awakened had gathered in the za at the center of the settlement, attracted by themotion and the totem.

    Mika and Opars made use of this vast space to go all out. They didn''t want Liopham''s preparation to go to waste. Mika retrieved a Piecker from his War Rune''s storage. He put it lightly on the bowstring and used the entire energy stored inside him to use Duplicate Arrows.

    The Piecker began to glimmer brightly in response. However, the preparations for the attack were not yet done. Opars released his Soultrait, Energy Imprint, several times on Mika. Filled with energy once again, Mika used his energy to activate Duplicate Arrow at its full power a few more times. He then used thest burst of energy provided by Energy Imprint to activate his other Soultrait, Pierce.

    The Piecker shone bright like a shooting star as Mika released the bowstring, unleashing the strongest attack the young Forest Elf had ever created.

    The tension all over the za skyrocketed as the Kitsun realized that they had been lured to the wide-open area through Liopham''s Rage of the Primal Soultrait. A trace of confusion and fear enveloped the air like a heavy shroud as surges of energy pulled their attention to the two Forest Elves.

    One of the Forest Elves released a brightly shining arrow from his bow as the Kitsun''s gaze began to linger on them. The shining arrow cut through the air with great velocity. It pulsated brightly as if it was a living, breathing being and began to twinkle as it reached the highest point of its journey through the air.

    The moment the arrow reached the highest point, the vibrant shimmer engulfing the arrow dispersed. The Piecker split into two, then four, then eight, then sixteen. Not even a full second passed before the glimmering Piecker evolved into a hail of shooting stars. A hail consisting of 1,024 arrows descended from the sky.

    At first, there was a distant, haunting whistle, like the mournful cry of a ghost that reached the ears of the Kitsun. The haunting whistle quickly evolved into a cacophony of harrowing sounds that drowned every other noise. The hail of arrows blocked out the sun for a moment, casting ominous shadows across the za.

    Then they fell down like relentless rain that blurred the line between the sky and the earth. Each arrow was like a deadly missile that sought the blood of their enemies.

    The Guards and Awakened in the za scrambled for cover, seeking refuge behind their shields and Soultraits'' powers, or even the bodies of their living brethren as the arrows reached them.

    Then the sound of arrows piercing deep into the flesh of the targets reverberated through the surroundings followed by screams of pain andmands. The metal armors were ripped apart by the tremendous prative force of the Pierce-enhanced Pieckers. The Pieckers didn''t even slow down as they continued to tear deep wounds into the flesh of the unprotected Kitsun.

    The result of Mika''s attack was devastating. If the arrows didn''t kill the targets, the Kitsun either ended up severely injured, or barely evaded the full onught of the duplicated arrows. But those who could evade the arrows were few. They either used their own brethren as meat shields, or they were Awakened with Artifacts, or Soultraits that allowed them to protect their bodies with the use of a considerable amount of energy.

    Most Summons ended up with several arrows in their chests, each of them having easily pierced through their armor. The destructive force and prative power of Pieckers after they''d been strengthened with Pierce was simply not something a Summon or their ordinary armor couldpete with.

    Those who survived the hail of duplicated arrows were shocked, but also relieved. They had survived against all odds, and could retreat now ¨C or so they hoped.

    As long as they didn''t have to face the invaders anymore, the Kitsun were fine with everything else. At this point, even the cruelty of the Kitsun Lord''s punishments and the fear of his fury didn''t seem that bad.

    At least they had managed to survive and could escape the enemy now.

    But just as the Guards and Awakened in the za thought that the worst was over, Pheli and Lilica arrived at the za. They appeared next to Mika and Opars, only for Liopham to arrive next to them as well.

    "We should clean up this mess. Michael wants some more Awakened to extract," Lilica said, her eyes shining in excitement.

    After witnessing the tremendous firepower of the Elemental Empress, her worries about the future of their territory were set aze. They burned down and the ash dispersed in all directions just like the surroundings. If she had been sad and worried about the growth of their army earlier, the bloodthirsty beast corpses and Kitsun corpses in their spatial storages were enough to resolve them.

    The Elemental Empress would also add to their economic power gradually. Lilica''s only worry had been Michael and the dangers of facing the Kitsun Lord. Elder Silram messaged Lilica via themunication crystal after Michael''s chat with him. He informed Lilica about the dangers of the Kitsun race, and what they should pay attention to.

    Unfortunately, Lilica received the message a little toote. Michael and the army he brought along to the Elementals Cave had already been outwitted. The army had been decimated, leaving Michael in an irrational and emotional state.

    It was great that Michael could ovee the loss of so many trusted subordinates to make sure that he wouldn''t endanger even more subordinates. Despite that, Lilica felt that Michael''s actions were too risky. She initially didn''t like that Michael was hellbent on charging into the Savannah region to fight the Kitsun Lord''s forces there. She thought he was being rash and it was not the best move.

    That is why Lilica was relieved to see the Elemental Empress'' great prowess and that Michael could make use of her properly. He didn''t hold a prejudice against her even though his subordinates died because of the Lesser Elementals'' self-destruction. This allowed them to progress that far into the Kitsun Lord''s territory, and to destroy a big portion of the border settlement 15 minutes into their invasion.

    "EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. Get ready to strike!" Lilica shouted while using her Soultraits, Weakness Detection, and Precise Aim. With her longbow tightly grasped in her left hand, she nocked a Piecker on the bowstring, pulled back, and fired after a second.

    The arrow whizzed through the air and imed the life of a Tier-2 Awakened, whose energy barrier was lifted a quarter of a second before her arrow impacted.

    The four remaining members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team prepared themselves for battle as well. They readied their bows and began to reap one life after another, using their eerily urate aim and the fear they''d instilled in the hearts of the Kitsun to their advantage.

    As the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team killed everyone in the za, Michael and Tiara split up as well.

    They began to hunt down the remaining Awakened stationed in the settlement. The corpses of Summons were not that useful to Michael anymore since his storage was already quite full at this point. But the same couldn''t be said about Awakened corpses. Michael could always make space for Awakened in his storage space.

    Their value was a hundredfold higher than Kitsun corpses, and Michael wouldn''t leave behind any if he was given enough time to clean up the settlements properly. But time was a luxury he could not afford.

    Thus, he moved through the border settlement with Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze fully unleashed. Michael used Spirit Disturbance on his enemies, and he even applied severalyers of Enhancement onto Spirit Gaze to further strengthen the lethality of Spirit Disturbance. That way, harvesting the lives of the Awakened Kitsun became even easier.

    Barely an hour passed before Michael left the border settlement with Tiara, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, the Elemental Empress, and the Golden Stinger Wasp by his side.

    Icarus and his mate were already waiting outside for them, ready to bring them to the next destination.

    Concurrently, the settlement behind them was set aze and in utter chaos.

 Chapter 381 Kitsun Lord

    <h4>Chapter 381 Kitsun Lord</h4>

    **[Back in the Untamed Jungle]**

    "Why is everyone here so useless? I''m not feeding you to be worthless trash!!" A loud voice thundered through the surroundings as a short Kitsun emerged from arge tree. He had been observing the Kitsun reinforcement struggle against a group of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    The Kitsun''s eyes were crimson, and his skin was as close to pitch-ck as it could be. His appearance was already uniquepared to every other Kitsun, but his presence was even more noticeable and prominent. It was a mixture of wrath, desire, possessiveness, and desperation.

    The unique-looking Kitsun was the Kitsun Lord, Haro Ki.

    He waved his hand through the air and activated his Soultrait to control the dark gas every Kitsun produced to create their cloud-like lower body. Tapping into the dark clouds of the Kitsun in his range, the Kitsun Lord created a strong suctioning force to shape arge cloud in his hands.

    Haro Ki released the dark cloud toward the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys before he began to move as well. He turned into a ck sh and appeared behind the monkey that was the furthest in the back. In one moment the Kitsun Lord had been walking near the reinforcement and in the next moment blood spurted through the surroundings. Two furry arms flung through the air and the Blood Oath Demon Monkey that was the furthest in the back began to scream out loudly.

    Faint trails of blood trickled down from the Kitsun Lord''s finger as he looked at the two fountains of blood that spurted out of the arm stumps of the monkey he faced. In the next moment he licked his fingers, tasting the monkey''s blood.

    "It''s not as bad as I thought. Seems like you ugly bastards have some talent," Haro Ki said while the dark cloud under his control engulfed the heads of each Blood Oath Demon Monkey, cutting off their ess to oxygen.

    The monkeys screamed aloud, their voices filled with surprise and a tinge of fear. The screams rang through Haro Ki''s ears, but he only smiled. He willed the dark cloud to invade the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys'' bodies through their nostrils and wide-open mouths.

    The monkeys began to writhe in pain, and they tried to resist the attack, but their efforts were rendered futile. The dark clouds entered their bodies, where they expanded by draining their energy and the remaining oxygen that resided within them.

    Merely seconds passed before the first monkey copsed on the ground, twitching helplessly. More Blood Oath Demon Monkeys followed soon. Some wed at their own throats, hoping that they could breathe in some oxygen that way. However, every attempt to get rid of the ck cloud and to take in oxygen ended up failing miserably.

    Not even half a minute passed since the Kitsun Lord arrived, yet the Blood Oath Demon Monkey group had been decimated. A total of 31 corpses were now littered over the ground around him, dark gas oozing from their bodies.

    Haro Ki pulled the dark gas out of the corpses and moved it inside his lower body. His ck cloud expanded ever so slightly before it waspressed into its former size.

    While staring at the monkey corpses, the smile on Haro Ki''s face disappeared. A deep frown reced the satisfactory smile of the sadist.

    "Thank you for rescuing us, Mylord!" A young Kitsun Awakened at the 2nd Tier approached Haro Ki.

    The Awakened bowed respectfully to his lord and began summarizing the happenings of thest few hours, "We''ve received several reports of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys attacking us with smaller groups ranging from five to 25 members. They usually focus on smaller parties of the reinforcement, simr to our group. The vice-leader sent out Pustan and Zaram to deal with the monkey king, but it looks like they died as well. We''re honored to meet our Lord again after such a long absen¡ª..."

    Even before the Awakened could finish his sentence, he felt that something was off. His heart skipped a beat as a streak of pain swept through it. A single nce down at his body told him what had just happened.

    Haro Ki cut off one of his Awakened''s arms in rage. Blood spilled through the vicinity and the Awakened began to scream aloud, the shock amplifying his pain massively.

    "Shut up."

    The Kitsun Lord''s blunt words barely reached the now amputated Kitsun and a dark cloud formed around the Awakened''s head, muffling his screams before finally cutting his ess to oxygen as well.

    "You bastard! How useless can you guys be?! Why did you not eliminate the grotesque monsters yet? Do you think I raise and feed y''all to stand around and let yourself be killed?" Haro Ki thundered, his crimson eyes turning cold like ciers, "If that''s the case, then die at my hands."

    The moment his words reached the Awakened''s ears, Haro Ki''s t hand shot forward. His speed and strength were extremely high, posing no problem as his t hand pierced through the Awakened''s chest. The Awakened flinched and tried to escape his Lord''s wrath. Unfortunately, it was all for naught.

    Haro Ki''s t hand coiled around the Awakened''s heart. He twisted his hand and tore the Awakened''s heart out of his body with brute force. The ck cloud shrouding the Awakened''s head disappeared as the Awakened slumped to the ground. A momentter, Haro Ki threw the Awakened''s heart at his face, ignoring the tears trickling down the young Awakened''s face.

    A smug and superior look stered on his face as he watched the miserable end of the Kitsun Awakened in front of him.

    The satisfaction died down quickly, reced by anger and frustration.

    "Who else wants to report how useless they are?" Haro Ki asked, clearly not done relieving his stress.

    The small group of Kitsun Summons and Awakened didn''t dare to say anything. They avoided their Lord''s eyes and lowered their heads as low as possible.

    "Trash. Utter trash. Why do you guys even exist?!" The Kitsun Lord cursed, turning away from the small group, "Bring me to the rest of the reinforcement. The vice leader owes me an exnation!"

    The wrath of the Kitsun Lord was easy to perceive by everyone. However, little did anyone realize just how enraged Haro Ki truly was.

    The Kitsun Lord''s family heirloom had been stolen and nobody could exin how that was even possible. Nobody dared to exin the situation to him face-to-face. Even the Captain of the Elementals Cave security didn''t dare to meet him head-on. The captain decided tomit suicide instead of facing the Kitsun Lord''s wrath.

    That was probably for the best, but it enraged the Kitsun Lord even further.

    He didn''t even have anyone to torture for the next few months after his useless subordinates lost the Elemental Empress, his family''s most important asset ¨C also considered his family''s heirloom. He had to get back the Elemental Empress, otherwise, he might not survive the wrath of his elders. It had been his mission to nurture another Emperor-ranked Core for the next generation of the Ki family, after all.

    But now¡­now the Elemental Empress had escaped. She was in the clutches of another Lord, a Lord who had been foolish enough to invade his territory to reduce his forces one by one.

    The Lord didn''t even bring ten subordinates with him to attack Haro Ki''s territory. It was only obvious that the foolish Lord sought death.

    But there was also something that bothered the Kitsun Lord.

    The invading Lord and his subordinates possessed too much knowledge. They were only Awakened at the 2nd Tier, yet their knowledge of the Kitsun race, the mechanics of Haro Ki''s territory, and the traps and trickery used by Haro Ki was simply too profound.

    It was almost like the invading Lord and his subordinates could see the future, or that they knew the infrastructure of Haro Ki''s territory as well as the Awakened, who had been working for the Kitsun Lord since the days he entered the Origin Expanse.

    It was eerie and confused Haro Ki because it didn''t make any sense.

    ''Did he torture my subordinates to obtain these pieces of information? Are they using Soultraits to procure insider information?''

    The Kitsun Lord was led to the main group of the reinforcement where the vice-leader was already waiting for him.

    "Wee back your majesty. I have been waiting for your return for a long time. I sincerely hope that your breakthrough to a Higher Lifeform seeded. There had been a minor incident, but you don''t need to worry about that. Your majesty didn''t have to grace us with his majestic appearance!" The vice leader greeted, his voice overflowing with seriousness.

    Haro Ki ignored the vice leader''s slimyments and stared at him like dead meat instead. Of course, his breakthrough to the 4th Tier didn''t seed. Haro had been pulled away from the enlightenment chamber to return to the Origin Expanse because his useless subordinates were neither strong nor intelligent enough to kill a handful of Tier-2 Awakened.

    Instead, his trashy subordinates allowed close to 20,000 Summons, and 170 Awakened to die. But that wasn''t even the worst because they had yet to catch the invaders, who had continued to wreak havoc and already destroyed three Beast Ranches.

    The Kitsun Lord''s losses were terrifying, especially the fortune he wasted for attempting to upgrade his War Rune. His advancement to the 4th Tier failed, and all his invested money had been burned to a cinder.

    Haro Ki was not merely angry at this point. He was fuming in fury and longed for the death of the invading Lord and his subordinates.

    "I hope you have good news and an even better reason why the reinforcement is still in the Untamed Jungle and not hunting down the invader in the Savannah. If not, hope that I''ll get back what belongs to me, otherwise, you won''t see the outside of the torture chamber for a very long time," The Kitsun Lord said coldly.

    "And I''m not talking about a few weeks."

 Chapter 382 Lordess & Lords

    **[In the Savannah region beyond the Kitsun Lord''s territory]**

    A middle-aged woman with red skin and zing mes for hair rested her back against arge crystalized chair. She stared at a crumpled note, a grim look etched on her face.

    "So you''re saying that this note arrived through a fist-sized wasp? From the direction of the Kitsun Lord''s territory at that?" She asked in a hoarse voice that didn''t fit her small feminine body.

    She had a voluptuous humanoid body, two long ck horns jutting from her forehead, and arge tail with a morningstar at the tip growing out of her tailbone. However, the most intriguing feature about the middle-aged woman were the bloody-red leathery wings that adorned her back.

    "The golden wasp had arrived from the Kitsun Lord''s territory''s direction, yes. But it traveled east to the neighboring Lord with two more notes attached to its stinger. Our strategists are guessing that the golden wasp will send the two notes to the other Lords living adjacent to the Kitsun Lord. However, we''re not sure if the note can be trusted," A bulky man with one ck horn and a morningstar tail said.

    He was the Awakened whom the Golden Stinger Wasp had shot with an energy stinger. The note had been attached to the energy stinger, which was why the bulky Awakened traveled to their headquarters as quickly as possible to report to the Valyr Lordess.

    "It has been a while since the Kitsun Lord tried to scheme with us Valyr. He doesn''t possess enough strength to attack thebined force of us three neighboring Lords either. Just what is that bastard scheming?" The Valyr Lordess grumbled in anger, her zing hair ring up.

    Her hands clenched the armrest tightly, nearly breaking it off. She only stopped as the sound of crackling crystals reached her ears.

    "How high are the chances that a Lord was daring enough to leave his territory and invade the Kitsun Lord''s territory?" The Valyr Lordess asked after a second of silence, "No. The more important fact is to find out how likely is it that an unknown group of invaders is strong enough to destroy three border settlements before the Kitsun Lord reacts? I heard rumors about the Kitsun Lord leaving the Origin Expanse to prepare for his ascension to a Higher Lifeform, but his subordinates are numerous enough to block most attacks¡­under normal circumstances."

    It was already unlikely that some unknown Lord appeared in the Savannah region without the Valyr Lordess and the other Lords hearing about it. That either meant the information on the note were wrong, or the Lord came from another region. The Valyr Lordess was vaguely aware of the Zentika Empire and knew that they were more interested in the Untamed Jungle, and the Ice Mountains. They had to conquer a portion of the Untamed Jungle before freely entering the Savannah region.

    That meant the unknown Lord was either from the Untamed Jungle or another region. Or he was lying?

    Just as the bulky man was about to reveal some of the information the Valyr Scouts had collected over thest few hours, a young woman wearing a tight ruby armor set barged into the chamber. She was breathing heavily and gasped for air for several seconds. However, even the gasps for air couldn''t hide her bright smile, and the excitement on her face.

    "The Kix border settlement of the Kitsun Lord has been set on fire! I saw a pair of big Greater Eagles, a silver-furred Demi-human¡­and a group of Forest Elves leaving the Kix settlement with another humanoid and a Fire Elemental¡­ If I''m not mistaken the Fire Elemental was the Elemental Empress!!" The young woman eximed in between several breaths.

    Her vibrant smile met the stoic face of the Valyr Lordess.

    "You ''saw'' them? How did you even get close enough to them, Zira? You are not even supposed to be near the border region, let alone close enough to see anyone leaving the Kix settlement. Did you invade the Kitsun Lord''s territory? How far did you go?!" The Lordess shouted, jumping up from her chair.

    She stared intently at the young woman, whose smile turned even brighter than before. "Mother, I was just having fu-..."

    "No, don''t tell me. I don''t want to know what trouble you''re making¡­Little troublemaker¡­" The Valyr Lordess sighed deeply and sat down back on the chair. Even if it was already quite difficult to control a territory and manage it properly, raising a tomboyish and foolish daughter was even harder.

    She thought it was a good idea to bring her to her territory once she manifested her War Rune instead of allowing her to be a foolish Lordess herself, but that n didn''t seed. Instead of being raised as the future Lordess of her mother''s territory, the young and foolish daughter turned into a carefree spirit.

    She was not restricted by responsibilities and could thus go wherever she wanted to ¨C basically.

    "Mother, don''t worry about me. I''m strong enough to eliminate most issues. Am I not already one of the strongest Valyries?" Zira asked pridefully.

    "Either way, mom¡­This is amazing. I sensed so much chaos, death, and fire energy in the Kix settlement. We should strike now and expand our territory! Let''s kill these disgusting Kitsun!"

    The Valyr Lordess could only rub her temples in an attempt to not shout at her daughter. She couldn''t listen to her daughter anymore. Even if her words were true, what if everything was a trap? The Kitsun Lord was known for his disgustingly crafty tricks.

    There was only one point that attracted her attention.

    "Are you sure that the Fire Elemental was the Elemental Empress and not just some High Elemental?" The Lordess asked again, her eyes moving from Zira to the bulky man.

    Both the bulky Awakened and the Valyr Lordess knew how important the Elemental Empress was to the society of Elementals. Their research about the Kitsun Lord, Haro Ki, also resulted in definite results. Haro Ki and the Ki family of the Kitsun race were obsessed with their Elementals ¨C especially the Elemental Empress and Emperors.

    The Kitsun Lord would never allow his Elemental Empress to leave her hiding spot. Not for some petty tricks and neither for any other reason.

    "Eh¡­I have never seen an Elemental Empress but you told me that the Elemental Empress has one main element and that she has minor control of most other elements," Zira said, not feeling so sure anymore, "She had a zing body but some strands of her hair were of different color. I know that some Elementals with two elements exist, but the Elemental I saw must have control of at least 10 elements. That can only be the Empress, right?"

    The bulky Awakened and the Valyr Lordess nodded their heads subconsciously. They had never heard of a High Elemental with more than three elements. It was even rare for the Elemental Empress to have control of more than 10 elements. One way or another, the Elemental Zira saw was a rare specimen, something the Kitsun Lord would never risk losing for some petty tricks.

    "So it''s true?" The Valyr Lordess mumbled, her gaze lingering on the crumpled note.

    It had been more than two years since the Kitsun Lord and the three Lords bordering the neighboring territories in the Savannah region had entered a cold war. They stopped attacking each other, but focused on strengthening their military power. Instead of bashing each other mindlessly, it felt like all sides were trying to improve faster than the other to initiate an all-out attack.

    Unfortunately, the poption in the Kitsun Lord''s territory expanded the fastest, creating an imbnce of power between the three bordering Lords and the Kitsun Lord. The only advantage of the Valyr and the two other Lords was that their Summons and Awakened were a lot stronger than the Kitsun.

    Zira was the best example. She was strong enough to fight a dozen Tier-3 Awakened of the Kitsun race simultaneously. Her Soultrait might only be 1-Star, but she was considered a prodigy in terms ofbat awareness and martial artsprehension. Her innate potential was also strong, resulting in her War Rune advancing to Tier-3 before she turned 21 years old.

    All while the Valyr Lordess doubted the course of actions and the truth of the crumpled note, simr scenarios happened in the headquarters of two more territories. The Lords held a meeting with everyone''s gaze lingering on the crumpled notes on the table in front of them.

    Everyone assumed that the note was most likely a trap created by the Kitsun Lord. But a trace of suspicion emerged in the hearts of the three Lords as the news of the Kix settlement reached them. The Lords sent out several scouts to reaffirm the news.

    Receiving reaffirmation took a while. The scouts made sure not to sh with the scouts of the other Lords who sought affirmation about the Kix settlement as well. They collected as many pieces of information as possible and connected the dots to prepare a detailed report.

    Once they were done, the scouts were just about to return to their own territory when they noticed something on their way back. Their curiosity triggered and their gut feelings telling them to make a detour, the scouts moved somewhere else before returning.

    What they found shocked them greatly. They collected additional information while being dazed and returned home right after.

    Still bbergasted by the additional information they had collected, the scouts forwarded their detailed reports, which contained the additional information as well.

    "The Xia settlement has been set aze," The report stated, stirring the hearts of the Lords and Awakened who''d been seeking to take revenge on the Kitsun Lord for years.

    "The second border settlement has fallen."

    "Our time to strike hase!"

 Chapter 383 Real Start

    Chapter 383 Real Start

    "Arghhh!! These fucking bastards!!!! How useless can someone be!?!"

    The Kitsun Lord''s wrath reached an entirely new level as the news of the downfall of the second border settlement reached him.

    His forces were still traveling across the Savannah region to reach the border area to fight the invading Lord when several pieces of news reached Haro Ki.

    The oldest report stated that the invading Lord and the Elemental Empress were indeed working together to burn down the border settlements. But they did not just set everything on fire. No, they first eliminated arge number of Kitsun Summons before moving over to eliminate the Awakened stationed in the border settlement.

    Once the Awakened had been killed, more fires would be ignited before the invading Lord ventured deeper in their territory. All-in-all they didn''t spend more than an hour reducing a fully intact, thriving settlement into a burning pandemonium.

    It had been years since the Kitsun Lord lost connection to so many Summons and Awakened within such a short period of time. However, that was not even the worst. Two particr factors didn''t allow the Kitsun Lord to regain his calm and calctive persona.

    The first factor was that the Kitsun Lord couldn''t ept reading about the Elemental Empress running around his territory, unrestrained and freely using her powers, especially against him.

    And second, another worrisome report arrived. The first half of the report stated that the scouts of the three neighboring Lords had been seen crossing the border. The Lords found out about the burning settlement. But the spark that set aze thest shred of patience left in the Kitsun Lord''s mind was the second half of the report.

    It stated that the second border settlement had been set aze as well.

    The Awakened inside the second border settlement had been eliminated and everything was on fire. All of that happened not even one hour after the invading Lord left the first border settlement with his people.

    That meant the invading Lord took less than an hour to travel close to 100 kilometers ¨C using the Greater Eagles as a means of transportation ¨C and to find and kill a total of 84 Awakened. Several hundred Links of Loyalty had been cut in close session as well.

    "This bastard is a menace! A pest that has to be removed as soon as possible!" The vice-leader of the reinforcement growled loud enough for the Kitsun Lord to hear.

    The Kitsun Lord''s head flicked to the vice-leader, his eyes bloodshot.

    "If you guys weren''t entirely useless, we would have already been at the settlement before this piece of thievery trash would have been able to reach the Xia settlement!!" He shouted, every word leaving his mouth filled with rage and fury.

    Haro Ki continued to curse loudly, and his voice grew even louder as a young Kitsun rushed up to him.

    "What do you want?! If it''s nothing important, you''ll be dead meat!" The Kitsun Lord snapped at the young Kitsun, who flinched violently.

    "S-Sir¡­The enemy¡­the invading L-lord arrived at the Zum settlement¡­"

    For a moment the Kitsun Lord was too stunned to speak. He stared at the young Kitsun hoping to find a lie in the Kitsun''s words. But the Kitsun was not lying. If anything, his words couldn''t be closer to the bitter truth.

    "Already? How?" Haro Ki asked, unable to get his act together.

    However, before the young Kitsun could say anything the Kitsun Lord retrieved arge golden crystal from his storage space.

    "No. Don''t tell me. It doesn''t matter," The Kitsun Lord said, a sudden sense of understanding dawning upon him, "I don''t have to know."

    Even though Haro Ki had been fueled with nothing but wrath, anger and obsession for thest few hours, he calmed down all of a sudden. The losses of his territory along with the casualties had reached a dangerous level. He couldn''t allow the third border settlement to copse as well. If the third border settlement were to fall, the three neighboring Lords would most-definitely initiate an all-out war against him.

    They would probably gang up against him and divide his territory among themselves once everyone had been killed.

    The Kitsun Lord''s patience had been reduced to a cinder, yet he remained eerily calm as he charged the golden crystal with his origin energy.

    "My Lord! Do you really want to use the Spacika Crystal for this? We nned to use it to destroy the Valyr once you advanced to the 4th Ti-...." The Vice-leader of the reinforcement began hesitantly, staring into the bloodshot eyes of his master.

    "If I don''t use it now, my territory might not exist anymore by next week. Forget about the Valyr¡­ I want this Lord. No matter what it costs, I want this bastard''s life! He took my Empress, killed my people, and destroyed my ns¡­" The Kitsun Lord grit his teeth, anger resurfacing on his calm face, "I will show this puny existence that he made enemies with the wrong race!!!"

    The Kitsun Lord spit thest words out, while continuing to channel energy into the Spacika Crystal.

    The crystal stored a teleportation skill that could be used to transport people from one anchored ce to another. Its cost was tremendous, draining more than two annual ies of the Kitsun Lord''s territory just to purchase the Spacika Crystal. After purchasing the Spacika Crystal several years back, only now did he feel the need to use it. Hence, the Kitsun Lord began to charge it with energy.

    By now ¨C yearster ¨C the Spacika Crystal had just enough energy to teleport 30,000 people to another location.

    Haro Ki''s effort and meticulous nning over the past few years would have been sessful, allowing him to invade the Valyr Lordess'' headquarters in a few weeks. His spies had already installed an anchor in the Lordess'' headquarters, and he would have initiated an attack with the bloodthirsty beasts and his strongest forces once he evolved to a Higher Lifeform.

    However, the arrival and actions of the invading Lord destroyed all of his carefully crafted ns. Not only that but the invading Lord''s actions actually endangered the future of his territory. That was something Haro Ki never imagined to be possible. It was totally out of expectations. After all, the initial reports of his scouts in the Untamed Jungle had clearly stated that the invading Lord was not powerful and 100% not a threat.

    ''I will torture those scouts and bathe them in the blood of the invading Lord once all of this is over. They won''t be able to escape my wrath. WEAK? NO THREAT? This bastard is strong enough to sweep through my settlements with less than 10 members!! How can that be weak?!?''

    "I will move a few thousand Guards to the Xia and Kix settlement to extinguish the fires and up the defenses against an attack of the bordering Lords¡­ The rest wille with me to annihte this thieving bastard!" The Kitsun Lord announced.

    There was no time to waste. It was now or never. He wouldn''t underestimate the thieving Tier-2 Lord anymore. If anything, the Kitsun Lord would use all of his remaining means to obliterate the sneaky Lord.

    The all-out war against Michael Fang, the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, thus began for the Kitsun Lord.

    **

    After they attacked the first border settlement, Michael and the rest improved their tactics. They used the blitzkrieg tactic to attack the second border settlement. The Golden Stinger Wasp and the Elemental Empress brought them inside, Liopham lured everyone to the center of the settlement, and the remaining members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team began to hunt both Guards and Awakened while acting as the main distraction.

    At the same time, the Golden Stinger Wasp and the Elemental Empress used their remaining energy to move through the entire settlement. They set a few fires before focusing on spreading the mes across the settlement to inflict as much damage as possible.

    The rapidly spreading mes and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team created enough chaos so that Tiara and Michael could slip past most Guards amidst the chaos unnoticed. They moved through alleys and jumped over buildings searching for Awakened. Due to the rising smoke and anguished cries, that was not further difficult.

    All Awakened were under a Soul Pact. They were forced to aid the Kitsun in case the settlements were under attack. Michael and Tiara made use of this to observe their surroundings, find their target, and strike from the shadows.

    Interestingly enough, the second border settlement had two Tier-3 Awakened to defend the settlement. To their misfortune, Michael went all out as he attacked from their blind spot. Six enhanced Qi cicle Swords and a fully empowered Spirit Disturbance were more than enough to kill a Tier-3 Kitsun Awakened from a blind spot. His surprise attacks bore much better results than Michael fathomed.

    Thus, they didn''t even spend 20 minutes before they disappeared with a killcount of a few hundred Summons and 84 Awakened.

    Once their attack waspleted, they rushed to Icarus and his mate. Their next target was the third settlement that they advanced towards while Michael extracted the corpses of the Awakened.

    He focused on extracting SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols and ignored the rest for the time being. The other loot might be of great use in the future, but the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols were more important right now.

    Michael crushed the Soultrait Symbols with Extraction to amass more SoulStar Fragments, which he then used to form the outlines of cicle''s 5th star. He didn''t possess enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade cicle in one go, but that was no problem.

    cicle''s power output increased considerably as the outlines of its 5th star formed.

    Even though cicle was a simple power, Michael liked it quite a lot. It was not as powerful as Kaleb''s Frozen Nova, or Alice''s Frozen Kingdom, but the essence of their power was different in the first ce.

    Michael''s focus would never be on cicle. If anything, cicle was a good weapon to deal withrge numbers of enemies, and that was something he would have to do soon enough.

    A big battle would break out soon. He could feel that clearly.

 Chapter 384 All-out War

    Chapter 384 All-out War

    The Guards and Awakened were already prepared for Michael''s arrival when they reached the third border settlement.

    "Will they invite us inside or do we take that honor to ourselves?" Tiara snickered lightly.

    While satiating her thirst for blood almost constantly during thest two days, Tiara''s personality changed slightly. Usually, she was stiff and task-minded, acting like the future of her race depended on her alone. However, right now, Tiara felt more like a yful girl. That was a wee change ¨C though Michael was not sure if it was appropriate in this situation.

    A total of 4,000 Guards and close to a hundred Awakened were eagerly waiting for them. That was a little bit different from the earlier attacks.

    Obliterating the Beast Ranches had been quite easy. Meanwhile, the border settlements required more work and finesse to make the most use of their powers. If a single member of their small team had been missing, the invasion of the border settlements would have been useless.

    The Greater Eagles easily transported them across the Kitsun Lord''s territory, and both the Golden Stinger Wasp and the Elemental Empress made use of their elemental powers to aid the main fighting force of their team. Without their support, none of Michael''s ns would have worked out.

    That was also why Michael was grateful for everyone, who continued to fight by his side. Theyined not even once to Michael and fought withoutrge resting breaks for a long time.

    Everyone other than Michael was a little tired ¨C mentally and physically ¨C, but none of them wanted to stop aftering this far. Now that they made it this far, they wanted to deliver one more big blow to the Kitsun Lord before watching how the domino effect would lead to the end of the Kitsun Lord''s territory, toppling everything down.

    "How about we show our presence a little bit more, and watch how they''re going to react? Maybe they will actually invite us inside," Mika asked with a tinge of excitement. He chuckled lightly and watched the responses of his colleagues with a gleeful expression.

    Meanwhile, his Bow Artifact was already resting in his hand, waiting to be used once again.

    "Hmm¡­ why not? Since they know that we''reing to kill them, we might as well greet them properly," Michael responded by manifesting Zark.

    The bow rested nicely in his palm, and an energy arrow condensed on its bowstring. Michael pulled the bowstring backward smoothly. His back arched, the arrow tip tilted higher, and a golden glint manifested in his eyes.

    Three seconds was all it took to condense an arrow, pull the bowstring back, aim, and shoot.

    The arrow was released with great momentum. It cut through the air in a high arch over a distance of several hundred meters. The arrow descended after reaching its climax, and it rained down, piercing the designated target''s throat urately.

    The target fell over the wall, crashed down, and remained lying on the ground, unmoving.

    One shot. One kill.

    Lilica nced at Michael, one eyebrow raised, but she didn''t say a word. That was not necessary.

    Instead, Lilica retrieved her Bow Artifact and an arrow. The other members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team followed their leader''s action and manifested their weapons and projectiles as well. The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team moved in unison, nocking an arrow on their bowstring, pulling back, aiming, and shooting in a beautiful arc.

    With enough energy channeled into their Bow Artifacts, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team''s arrows could cover a distance of several hundred meters with their bows. Their range was nearly as high as Michael''s. The only issue was their eyesight. Forest Elves had good eyes, but they couldn''tpare to the power of a 5-Star Soultrait that enhanced one''s vision.

    Nheless, years of experience yed a major factor as well. The Forest Elves'' arrows hit most of their targets, killing two Guards on the spot. They followed with a second barrage of arrows right after, which killed two more Guards.

    Tiara, the Elemental Empress, and the three monsters didn''t do anything other than crane their necks while observing the arrows fly through the air until they impacted.

    They stood in the wide-open Savannah with their heads held high and simply watched as chaos ensued on the settlement''s walls.

    After six barrages of arrows the chaos in the settlement died down. Silence enveloped the entire settlement all of a sudden, and the Guards stationed on the walls disappeared.

    Following that, Michael returned Zark inside the War Rune. He moved over to Icarus and got on the Greater Eagle''s back.

    "I need to see what is going on in the settlement. Fly up," He ordered Icarus, who shot high into the air.

    Using both Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze, Michael''s eyesight was amplified to its peak. He ignored the cold wind sshing in his face and stared intently at the settlement.

    ''Huh?'' Michael nearly blurted aloud, his eyes wavering for a moment at the sight that unfolded in front of him.

    A golden swirl that looked just like the Elemental Empress'' spatial portal had formed in the center of the settlement. It was the size of a small house and allowed hundreds ¨C no, thousands of Guards and Awakened ¨C to emerge in the settlement.

    ''He is bringing everyone over¡­ but why only now? Why didn''t he do that earlier?'' Michael wondered, his eyes fixated on the center of the settlement.

    2,000

    5,000

    10,000

    The number of Kitsun emerging from the portal continued to increase rapidly. It looked like the portal would never stop spitting out more Kitsun.

    "It must be an expensive item that can only be used once. Is he getting serious now? After sacrificing thousands of subjects, and losing most of your fortune you decided to finally take me seriously?" Michael was both amused and confused by his enemy.

    It was about time that the Kitsun Lord took him seriously. He was already bored to death with creating new speedrun records. If the third border settlement attack would have been even easier than the second, Michael would have eliminated the Kitsun Lord and his subjects in no time.

    ''How many are there now in total? 25,000? That is¡­quite a lot to deal with¡­with our small gr¨C....'' Michael couldn''t finish his train of thought as he saw something from the corner of his eyes. Something that shot straight toward them with terrific velocity.

    "Fuck!"

    Just as Michael''s curse rang out, something impacted heavily. Icarus screeched loudly and blood spurted through the air.

    In the next moment, Icarus began hurtling down from the sky, one of his wings burning like a ck sun.

    It was odd that Michael couldn''t see what exactly had hit them, but there was no time to think about that. He and Icarus were falling down at a terrific speed, and they would die upon impact.

    Michael''s mind was rattling, but he couldn''t think of a perfect solution in an instant. All he could think of was to conjure cicles around Icarus'' burning wing in an attempt to extinguish the fire. The cicles burst apart, releasing its freezing mist. Facing the ck mes that coated Icarus'' right wing, the freezing mist melted quickly. However, it was their fortune that cicles'' freezing mist was the Soultrait''s strongest property. It was extremely cold and had a freezing effect that affected even the ck mes.

    The ck mes flickered vigorously as they fought against cicle''s freezing effect. The mes grew weaker, but it was not enough for Icarus to stabilize his mind. It was not as if the pain disappeared all of a sudden. On the contrary, Icarus felt like the pain grew much more intense with every passing moment.

    Michael closed his eyes and released the Dome of Extraction upon sensing Icarus'' pain. His target was the ck mes, which he tried to extract with a burst of 5yer enhanced Extraction.

    The mes dimmed slightly, but they weren''t extinguished immediately.

    Michael continued to curse in his mind as he thought of various solutions to rescue Icarus and himself. He could use Icarus'' body to protect himself and decrease the intensity of the impact, and he could abandon Icarus by jumping from Icarus'' back before creating a Qi Sword below himself.

    He could also try to rescue both Icarus and himself with an enhanced Qi Sword, but Michael knew that he couldn''t keep them in the air since they were too heavy. The Greater Eagle was not a lightweight, after all.

    Gritting his teeth, Michael was just about to do something suicidal when he felt a heavy impact from below.

    A green sh entered Michael''s sight, and it was at this moment that he realized Icarus'' mate had propelled herself high into the air.

    She ignored her own safety and wed Icarus tightly while using every bit of strength inside her body to ascend higher into the air. She fought against the gravity that tried to pull her, and Icarus downward, but it was a helpless fight.

    The green-feathered Greater Eagle was not strong enough to stop Icarus'' fall. She slowed the fall a little bit, but that was already everything she could achieve with her burst strength. Afterward, she was being dragged down to the ground as well.

    She struggled to p her mighty wings in a desperate attempt to rescue everyone and never let go of Icarus. But that was her downfall.

    Dragged to the ground and unable to change the inevitable, the female Greater Eagle screeched loudly and desperately.

    Michael looked over to the green-feathered Greater Eagle, a smile full of warmth forming on his face.

    ''I should think about a name for you once all of this is over.''

    As the thought shed through his mind, their distance to the ground decreased drastically. However, not even a trace of worry could be found on Michael''s face. Instead, he nced over to the Elemental Empress with a knowing smile.

    ["Now!"]

    In the next moment, a portal appeared beneath Icarus and the rest.

 Chapter 385 Command

    Chapter 385 Command

    A portal coalesced below Icarus and the rest a few meters before they were about to crash into the ground.

    The portal was notrge and it could only be maintained for a few seconds before the unstable energies dispersed in all directions. But those few seconds were all they required to rescue Icarus, the female Greater Eagle and Michael.

    Icarus and the rest disappeared inside the portal, only to be spit out from the portal''s exit in the next moment. The exit was also a small portal that hovered above the ground vertically. Michael, Icarus and the female Greater Eagle''s position changed all of a sudden. Their momentum decelerated and their fall slowed down further. One moment they had been falling to the ground like a meteorite shower and in the next second their position was swapped, their momentum changed, and they slumped to the ground without sustaining any major injuries.

    Icarus was still screeching in pain as the ck mes continued to burn his plumage, but that was taken care of as the Elemental Empress interfered. She was dead-tired and could barely move. However, the Elemental Empress forced herself to keep going. She waved her hand to create a suctioning force that pulled the ck mes toward her.

    The Elemental Empress gathered the ck mes in her hand before shrouding the mes with her zing fires. She started to devour the ck mes and annexed them.

    Devouring the ck mes didn''t take a lot of time, but it felt like an eternity to the Elemental Empress. After creating a portal to rescue Michael, Icarus and the female Greater Eagle, she still had to move and devour the strange ck mes. That was a little bit too much for her to handle, especially since her spatial affinity was not that great.

    Her proficiency andprehension of spatial affinity was still not up to the mark. The Elemental Empress never had the time, or permission to study the elements. All she was allowed to do was create all kinds of Elementals. Therefore, it was a big thing for her to regain freedom.

    She might be bound to Michael, but the Elemental Empress was d that she could learn so many new things. Her revenge was also on the way. It was only a matter of time before she could set the Kitsun Lord''s body on fire and witness his miserable death. At least, that was what the Elemental Empress hoped to happen.

    But, for now, all she wanted was to take a break. After spending thest two days fighting and traveling, the Elemental Empress was tired, but also excited after a long time. How couldn''t she not be excited? Fighting for such a long time allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of her powers and she advanced to the 1st Tier.

    By killing hundreds of Tier-1 Kitsun and contributing to the death of many Tier-2 Kitsun, the Elemental Empress received more than enough energy influx to break through her first threshold, and advance to the 1st Tier.

    That was a great achievement, which was apanied by a major increase in herbat prowess and better control of the elements.

    The Elemental Empress was not the only one who was tired. Opars heaved heavily as well. His face was covered in ayer of sweat and his ragged breathing was clearly audible.

    Opars'' use of Energy Imprint on the Elemental Empress allowed the Elemental Empress to rescue Michael and the two Greater Eagles. The use of Energy Imprint consumed Opars'' stamina, which was also why he ended up in a worse condition than the Elemental Empress.

    The Elemental Empress would feel better in a few minutes once her energy storage would be considerably filled. Meanwhile, Opars had to rely on natural recuperation to replenish his stamina which could have been worrisome in the current circumstances. Fortunately, he possessed the Soothing Waves Soultrait which stimted natural recuperation.

    Opars would be refreshed and all ready to fight in half an hour.

    Unfortunately, Michael was not sure if they had that much time.

    "Stay vignt. This is going to be¡­difficult," He ordered, his head flicking to the settlement walls while his mind was rattling.

    ''The Greater Eagles are done, the Elemental Empress shouldn''t overexert herself for a while, and Opars won''t be able to handle a full-blown battle without running out of stamina.''

    As Michael''s mind worked tirelessly, he nced at Icarus and the female Greater Eagle for a moment. The female Greater Eagle had sustained some more or less serious injuries while overexerting herself to rescue her mate. She had strained a few muscles and her ws looked awfully disfigured. It was nothing that couldn''t be tended, but it would take a while to heal her. As for now¡­the Greater Eagle was probably not even in the condition to fly.

    Icarus couldn''t fly either for obvious reasons. Thus, Michael''s means of transportation had been destroyed at once.

    He looked back to the settlement with Eagle Eyes fully unleashed.

    ''Hmm, isn''t that¡­'' Michael thought, his eyes narrowed as he noticed a ck zing bullet forming in the palm of a Kitsun.

    The Kitsun''s head was covered in blood, and a lot more blood seemed to gush out of his nose and eyes. However, the Kitsun didn''t pay attention to his wounds. His eyes were fixated on Michael, who stared back without batting an eye.

    All of a sudden the ck zing bullet disappeared. The bullet turned invisible, barely leaving some minor traces of its existence behind. Michael activated the strongest form of Spirit Gaze as well. Distorted energy fluctuations entered his sight and the ck zing bullet disappeared. But not even a secondter the distorted energy fluctuations moved. They shot straight at Michael with great velocity.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and twisted his body. He took a step aside, predicting the trajectory of the distorted energy fluctuations, and evaded the iing attack.

    "Invisible bullets, huh? So that''s what I missed earlier¡­" Michael mumbled to himself as the invisible ck zing bullet brushed past him.

    The bullet exploded uponing in contact with the ground farther behind Michael, creating a small crater. The dry grass around the crater burned to ash and the surrounding temperature increased drastically.

    ''Evading the invisible bullet without being able to see distorted energy fluctuations seems quite difficult. What a hassle.''

    Michael figured that the others wouldn''t be able to evade the invisible bullet. He looked over to Icarus and the female Greater Eagle, who refrained from moving too much. They were the easiest targets for the bleeding sniper on the settlement''s walls.

    "Move Icarus and his mate away," Michael ordered the Golden Stinger Wasp and the Elemental Empress. Even if the Elemental Empress was tired, she could create a tiny spatial portal for the Golden Stinger Wasp to go through.

    Meanwhile, the Golden Stinger Wasp could easily move the Greater Eagles using its unique racial ability to swap ces with everyone it stung in thest ten minutes.

    Michael channeled some energy into the Elemental Empress to ensure that she had enough to create a small spatial portal. After that, he looked over to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and Tiara.

    Recalling the death of his army in the Elementals Cave, Michael''s heart felt heavy. However, the thought of Tiara and the members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team dying as well stung even worse. It felt almost like hundreds of searing hot needles pierced through his heart at once.

    ''I don''t want to lose them. Not them as well¡­''

    "I want you guys to return to the Untamed Jungle with Icarus and his mate," Michael thus ordered, his voice as calm andposed as possible.

    "Huh?!" Tiara blurted out subconsciously. Her eyes darted to Michael, a deep frown stered on her face, "Are you serious right now??"

    "You shouldn''t joke around at times like this. That''s not fun, at all," Lilica added, her frown even deeper than Tiara''s.

    However, Michael''s expression remained stoic. He stared at the others grimly and repeated himself, "I want you guys to go home. This fight is a little bit too much to handle¡­"

    "For us, you mean?" Tiara asked, looking like she was about to throw a fit for being called weak.

    "No¡­well, yes. In some way it is too much for you guys to handle. It might even be too much for me to handle. There should be 25,000 Kitsun waiting for us inside the settlement, after all," Michael answered, not even trying to hide the overwhelming number of enemies that were waiting for them in the settlement.

    "25,000? How about we retreat and wait until the other Lords respond? They should have heard about the two settlements we set on fire. Maybe, their forces are already gathering. We should retreat, organize our military, and focus on protecting what''s important to us¡­" Liopham voiced out hesitantly.

    Retreating never felt great, but facing 25,000 enemies with a few Awakened at the 2nd Tier didn''t seem like a good idea. There must also be Tier-3 Awakened and Adventurers among the Kitsun army. It would be much better to stay calm and retreat. Even Michael had to agree that it was more logical to retreat and prepare a second overwhelming attack.

    "If the Kitsun Lord can bring 20,000 Kitsun to this settlement through a portal, he should have done something simr in the other settlements. Sun Demos informed me earlier that the reinforcement from the Untamed Jungle should roughly have 30,000 members. If 20,000 came to this settlement, the remaining reinforcement must have split up to help out in the other settlements," Michael said, shaking his head.

    He saw that the Kitsun Sniper created another ck zing bullet. However, this time the target was someone else.

    With Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze activated Michael could roughly pinpoint the trajectory and the target. He moved over to Pheli and pulled her to the side as the bullet turned invisible. The bullet was released and exploded on the ground exactly where Pheli had been standing a moment ago.

    The Forest Elves and Tiara stared nkly at the crater and smoke. It was not difficult to understand that Pheli would have died if Michael hadn''t intervened.

    However, the Forest Elves and Tiara couldn''t bear to say anything. They didn''t want to retreat and leave Michael with the heavy responsibility.

    "I don''t want to see the Kitsun Lord''s forces invade our territory. Attacking him inside his territory will inflict much less damage to my territory, and my people. I don''t want to take the risk of facing a counterattack after retreating. The Kitsun Lord is too scummy and crafty. If I don''t deal with him today, I am not sure if I will ever have the chance to eliminate him¡­not without losing far more than I already did," Michael grit his teeth as thest few words escape his lips.

    He knew that it was suicidal to fight the Kitsun Lord right now. But Michael could also tell from various memories of the Kitsun that Haro Ki would do everything in his power to eliminate Michael and everyone close to him the moment he retreated.

    The Kitsun Lord was fully focused on him and the Elemental Empress right now. However, that would change once they retreated.

    The Kitsun Lord would attack his territory and hunt down his people one by one¡­and that was not something Michael could ept.

    Thus, he did something he never wanted to do. He used his power as Lord tomand his subjects.

    "Leave!"

 Chapter 386 Resistance

    Chapter 386 Resistance

    "Leave!"

    The Power of the Link of Loyalty was fully unleashed the moment Michael''smand rang through his subjects'' ears. Following that, the Golden Stinger Wasp and the two Greater Eagles began to move at once.

    The Elemental Empress created a small portal for the Golden Stinger Wasp, which stung the Greater Eagles before disappearing through the portal. In the next few seconds, Icarus and his mate disappeared. They were reced by the Golden Stinger Wasp that was about to continue stinging the remaining people when Mika groaned loudly.

    The Power of the Links of Loyalty couldn''t be underestimated. They forced Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team to listen to Michael''smand even though they didn''t want to.

    Mika was the first to approach the Golden Stinger Wasp with a beet-red face. He was trying his utmost to resist against Michael''s order but that was easier said than done.

    "Even if you want to fight alone, wouldn''t it be better if we help you? Let us fight a little bit from a distance and leave once the danger level reaches a high-risk threshold?" Mika asked through his gritted teeth.

    He was visibly struggling, but Michael ignored the Forest Elf.

    Leaving the Kitsun Lord on his own after causing this much damage would lead to a worse reaction. Furthermore, Michael didn''t want to give the Kitsun any more time. They ought to cease to exist in the Savannah region and the Untamed Jungle. Every second of their continued existence made Michael feel restless and angry.

    "That sounds like a good idea, but I cannot protect everyone from these invisible bullets. In fact, there might be other long-range attacks that I cannot protect you from as well. It''s already hard enough to ensure my safety. I really don''t want any of you to die!" Michael answered, his voice cracking a bit at thest line.

    He knew that his subjects thought of his approach as risky and suicidal. However, Michael had a n. The Kitsun Lord could be better prepared this time, but that was given. All fights of life and death held a certain risk.

    No risk, no fun.

    But the others didn''t have to take the same risk. It was not necessary for them to jump straight into the Lion''s Lair. He carried the responsibility, so he ought to jump into the pit of fire alone.

    "No. We won''t leave," Lilcia announced, suppressing the power of the Link of Loyalty with sheer willpower.

    Using her willpower to fight against the Link of Loyalty was tiresome, and not a permanent solution. The moment her willpower was used up, Lilica would naturally follow themand she''d been given.

    "If you force us to leave, we will break our Links of Loyalty with you and stay here, either way. So, how about you ept your fate and let us fight alongside you?" Lilica shouted, reminding Michael of the special uses that had been added to the Links of Loyalty of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.

    The conditions to break their Links of Loyalty with Michael could be fulfilled at this moment. Breaking the Links of Loyalty by force was impossible for subjects with a firm Link of Loyalty. Even those with a weak Link of Loyalty could hardly break it without dying due to the bacsh. Breaking a Link of Loyalty was the same asmitting suicide. It was simply not worth it and unheard of.

    However, the special conditions of the Forest Elves'' Links of Loyalty would suppress the bacsh. They had the right to break their Links of Loyalty.

    Michael''s eyes furrowed deeply as he looked at the members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. His gaze moved to Tiara, who struggled the most against Michael''smand.

    Her Link of Loyalty with Michael had reached perfection. Tiara trusted Michael wholeheartedly, and she would do everything he wanted her to do, no matter what it was. Her loyalty and trust resulted in a strengthened Link of Loyalty; a Perfect Link of Loyalty.

    Having a Perfect Link of Loyalty with Michael, Tiara couldn''t disobey hismands anymore. Yet, here she was, struggling to stay by Michael''s side even after she heard hismand. Blood trickled out of her nose and her eyes were bloodshot too.

    ''Are they serious? Why can''t they listen to me right now? I am just worried about their well-being!''

    Michael sighed heavily. He didn''t want to cancel hismand, but he still waved his hand nheless. It was hard to witness their pained expressions knowing that he was the cause of their pain.

    "Ignore mystmand. I take it back¡­"

    The moment he said that, Mika slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. He stared at his colleagues and forced a smile on his face. After giving Lilcia a thumbs-up for recalling the special uses of their Links of Loyalty, Mika got up from the ground again.

    He saw that the gates to the settlement were pulled down. Rows of dozens of Kitsun Guards moved through the gates simultaneously. They moved in formation and were heading to Michael''s position. It wouldn''t take long until they reached Michael and the rest.

    "But you have to retreat when I tell you to leave. I have a n¡­well, somewhat like a n," Michael said, the corner of his lips curling upward.

    It was annoying that Tiara and the Forest Elves didn''t want to listen to him, but it warmed his heart as well. The Forest Elves and Tiara didn''t owe him their lives, yet they were willing to take the risk to fight by his side. How could Michael not be grateful?

    It felt great to have people around you, especially those who genuinely care about you.

    "As long as the Golden Stinger Wasp has marked us we will be fine. We will leave once the situation gets too tricky. Trust me, we don''t really want to die today," Lilica joked lightly, d that Michael epted their decision.

    It might be easier if they broke their Links of Loyalty with Michael right here. That way, they could leave Michael whenever they wanted to. However, no member of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team wanted to leave Michael.

    Lilcia turned serious and added, "You should also leave once you realize that you cannot handle it anymore. I know you''re powerful and that you can handle your energy and stamina well with Extraction, but there are many Tier-3 Kitsun. The Kitsun Lord should be at the Peak of Tier-3 already as well!"

    Michael nodded toward Lilica subtly. Then he summoned Zark and condensed an energy arrow. Activating Eagle Eyes, Michael readied the bow, pulled back and shot the arrow at the gate.

    He was not sure how strong the sniper was, but watching the Kitsun sniper condense two ck zing bullets was enough to collect some details. First, Michael found out that the sniper consumed his lifeforce to create the ck zing bullets. This drained his mental power gradually as well.

    With the consumption of his lifeforce, the ck zing bullet would continue to grow stronger. This resulted in the creation of enough force to kill most powerful enemies before they even realized that they had been targeted. The only downside of this kind of attack was that the bacsh paralyzed the Kitsun Sniper for a few seconds after the bullet was released.

    The third ck zing bullet was released, and Michael reacted naturally to it. He manifested a cicle in front of Liopham, who was the target of the bullet and released the energy arrow. The ck zing bullet shattered the cicle, but it gave Liopham enough time to use Swiftness to move a few centimeters to the side.

    The bullet didn''t hit Liopham. It narrowly missed him and impacted heavily on the ground next to him. The crater created through the explosion of the bullet affected Liopham a little, but other than searing heat and some dirt hitting him in the side nothing major happened.

    Meanwhile, the sniper received the bacsh. He couldn''t move for a few seconds, which was perfect for Michael, Lilica, and Mika who had moved near-simultaneously to eliminate the snipe.

    A yellow barrier manifested around the unmoving sniper when Michael''s energy arrow was about to eliminate the sniper. The energy arrow dispersed after leaving a small mark on the barrier. The next arrow to hit was Mika''s. Like before, the yellow barrier ought to block the arrow.

    However, Mika''s arrow was reinforced through Pierce. The arrow shattered the damaged barrier and hit the sniper alongside Lilica''s arrow. The arrows dug deep into the sniper''s chest and throat, eliminating one of the most annoying threats.

    Mika turned to Opars in the next second. He didn''t say anything to his colleague, but Opars knew exactly what was going on.

    "Let''s do three barrages. After that¡­I won''t be able to continue fighting anymore¡­" Opars said, ignoring that his stamina had already hit rock bottom. Since they wanted to stay by Michael''s side to fight, he might as well give his all and copse before the Golden Stinger Wasp moved him out of the danger zone by bringing him to the two Greater Eagles.

    "In that case, I''ll give my best. I shall go beyond my limit and knock myself out!" Mika said, a tinge of excitement in his voice as he retrieved a bunch of vials from his storage space.

    "But all I need is a single try, so you should give me your all right off the bat, Opars!!"

    He consumed the content of the vials without hesitation before he retrieved an arrow that looked simr to Pieckers. However, it was not quite the same.

    Lilica and the others looked at Mika a little surprised, but they smiled in the next second.

    "It looks like Mika took a liking to you," Lilica said to Michael, who didn''t quite understand what was going on.

    "This arrow belonged to Mika''s father, who got a handful of them from his grandfather. He had the same Soultrait as Mika. Precisely, everyone in Mika''s family had the same Soultrait, and these arrows are their family heirloom. They amplify the Duplicated Arrow Soultrait or something like that. We''re actually not sure what they can do. Nobody in Mika''s family used their heirlooms in thest 300 years," Opars said, curious about the power of Mika''s family heirloom, yet also unsure what to think about Mika''s action.

    "Don''t sweat it. I still owe you a big one for telling the Lionheart about your fault. Being drunk is no excuse. I shall repay my debt with interest. I am a man of my word!" Mika said, smiling at Michael before he nocked the arrow on his Bow Artifact.

    "Furthermore, my dad said that I should make use of these old things. I shouldn''t be as stupid as he and his ancestors had been for not using their heirlooms when they needed it the most," Mika added, unable to contain his vibrant smile anymore.

    "Last but not the least¡­I''ve always wanted to see how powerful these arrows truly are. I was just waiting for this opportunity!!"

 Chapter 387 Heirloom

    Chapter 387 Heirloom

    Slowly but steadily the area separating Michael from the settlement was being filled with Kitsun Guards and Awakened. There were thousands of Kitsun, all equipped with armor sets and weapons of good quality. The Kitsun didn''t charge at Michael straight-up. Instead, they moved slowly and spread out to surround their enemies once themand to attack had been issued.

    Rather thanmanding their army to attack in a rush, the Kitsun finished their thorough preparations to go all-out against Michael and the rest in a quick manner. Archers moved up to the top of the settlement walls, and various siege weapons were installed.

    Big wooden catapults with silver metal covering the siege weapon''s joints appeared on the walls, followed byrge ballistae, and threerge-scale weapons that looked eerily simr to cannons.

    It took the Kitsun a while to install the siege weapons, but that didn''t mean Michael and the others could calm down. On the contrary, the sudden appearance of a dozen siege weapons was quite unexpected. Usually, siege weapons were not used against a small group of enemies.

    In the first ce, Michael was certain that the projectiles of these siege weapons would inflict more damage to the Kitsun than they could do to Michael, Tiara, and the Forest Elves.

    But even if that was the case, Michael didn''t want his people to face the full force of a cannonball, a ballista bolt, or huge catapult rocks. It would be almost impossible to evade those projectiles while surrounded by a bunch of Kitsun. The Kitsun would most-definitely die getting hit by these projectiles as well, but that was not something the Kitsun Lord was concerned about. If he could kill one of ten enemies by sacrificing a few hundred Kitsun Guards, Haro Ki would definitely do that.

    "Can you deal with the siege weapons, or is your family heirloom something that can only be used against the living?" Michael asked Mika, who had already begun to channel origin energy into the heirloom arrow.

    Mika slowed down channeling energy into the heirloom arrow and looked over to Michael with a thin smile, "My dad said that the arrow can be used as a weapon of mass eradication, or mass destruction. Sooo¡­.I guess it works against the living and inanimate things with the same efficiency."

    "In that case, bring down the settlement walls while killing as many Kitsun as possible," Michael ordered right after he heard Mika''s answer, "Good luck. You can do it!"

    Hearing the words of affirmation, a foolish grin stered itself on Mika''s face. In the next moment, Opars released an Energy Imprint to fuel Mika''s body with energy. The flood of energy pulled Mika back to his senses. The young Forest Elf turned more serious and he returned his focus to the heirloom arrow again.

    The entire charge of Energy Imprint was used to fill the heirloom arrow. Opars released another Energy Imprint, which Mika used once again to fuel the heirloom arrow with even more energy.

    The heirloom arrow responded to the infusion of energy with vigorous humming that felt like a request; a request to be charged with even more energy.

    Following that request, Mika didn''t hesitate to continue to fill the heirloom arrow with five more fully empowered Energy Imprint charges. At this point, Opars was having a hard time standing on his feet. He swayed left and right, and his sight turned hazy. Nheless, the Forest Elf stayed behind Mika. He released three additional fully empowered Energy Imprints to fill Mika''s body with energy to the brim.

    Then Opars staggered backward. His legs couldn''t carry him anymore and the world all around him began to spin at a terrific speed. Opars legs caved in and he slumped to the ground a secondter.

    However, instead of groaning in difort, or saying anything else, Opars used his remaining focus to watch what Mika would do next. He wanted to see the power of Mika''s heirloom arrow.

    Mika used the energy provided by Opars''st three Energy Imprints to apply a fully empowered Pierce on the heirloom arrow, and to use Duplicate Arrows as often as possible.

    As the first use of Duplicate Arrows applied on the heirloom arrow, its humming grew louder and more vigorous. A vibrant white sheen enveloped the heirloom arrow, and it didn''t take long before the entire heirloom arrow was fully coated in denseyers of vibrant white. This process was repeated several times, leaving Mika with little to no energy left inside his body.

    Thest bits of energy inside him were used to course through his body and the Bow Artifact. The Bow Artifact was strengthened enough to endure the power of the heirloom arrow in its current state.

    Then Mika began to pull back the bowstring, an expression ofplete seriousness stered on his otherwise childish, yful face.

    All of a sudden, Pheli utilized her second Soultrait, Battle Cry, on Mika. A surge of vigor passed through his body, allowing the young Forest Elf to pull the bowstring back in one smooth move. He adjusted the bow and tilted the arrow upward, ignoring his trembling arms and the fact that his sight was starting to blur.

    As the bowstring was fully drawn back, the heirloom arrow''s humming changed. The humming slowly turned into silent roars; the roars of a predator that was out on a hunt.

    The roars grew in intensity. They ovepped and continued to grow louder until they filled the entire surroundings. Even the Kitsun, who slowly approached Michael and his people while impatiently waiting for themand to attack, could clearly hear the roars.

    The roars filled their ears, and they forced them to stop moving for a few seconds. An ominous sensation overcame them all of a sudden.

    Mika released the bowstring as the ominous sensation reached its climax. The heirloom arrow was released and its tremendous power unleashed. The roar of a fierce and bloodthirsty dragon reverberated through the surroundings. The humming intensified, almost sounding like the dragon took flight as the arrow gained altitude, and was the loudest when it reached the highest possible position.

    Everyone''s attention was drawn to the vibrant white sheen of the heirloom arrow as it reached the zenith. A loud noise that resembled something getting ripped apart rang through the surroundings as the heirloom arrow split in two. The heirloom arrow duplicated. First two, then four, then eight. After a while, the number of arrows whizzing through the air reached 2048, then 4096, and finally 8192.

    The vigorous white sheen of 8192 duplicated heirloom arrows dyed the entire sky white. The bright light dazzled everyone, forcing even Michael to shut his eyes tightly for a second.

    The hail of 8192 arrows began to pour down on the enemies, but almost no one was there to see it. Everyone''s eyes were tightly shut, and all one could hear was the arrows whizzing through the air before they impacted heavily.

    Upon impacting, screens of pain filled the air for a second until the true horror of the heirloom arrows was unleashed.

    The duplicated heirloom arrows exploded upon impact!

    The entire settlement and the surrounding area of the Savannah region were filled with the thunderous sound of explosions. The explosions ovepped and turned into a cacophony of destruction and terror, drowning the pitiful screams of the Kitsun.

    ''What the hell'' Michael nearly blurted out aloud as he watched the chaos unfold in front of him.

    Since he had activated Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze simultaneously, Michael could adjust his sensitivity toward light greatly. He could see nearly perfectly at night, and he was only a little affected from sh grenades and the like. The dazzling light of the heirloom arrows had been intense, but Michael could still see something without having to fear bing blind.

    However, what he saw amid the dazzling lights as the duplicated heirloom arrows exploded was terrifying.

    More than half of the duplicated heirloom arrows reaped one ¨C if not multiple ¨C souls upon exploding. If the heirloom arrows didn''t kill the enemy, they either inflicted severe damage to their enemy, forced the strongest Kitsun to use their Soultraits, or the special effects of their Artifacts to protect their bodies, while simultaneously inflicting tremendous damage to the surrounding area.

    The duplicated heirloom arrows wreaked havoc, destroying almost everything in their sight. The thick towering walls of the settlement and the gates had been torn apart, and more than 5,000 Kitsun had been killed. Roughly the same number of Kitsun had been injured, whether it was through the explosions of the duplicated heirloom arrows, or the rubble that shot through the air due to the explosions.

    As the dazzling light of the duplicated heirloom arrows dispersed the true extent of its destruction was unraveled. The entire southern wall of the settlement had copsed. The siege weapons were either destroyed, or had fallen over. The ones that were toppled had to be re-installed to be used against Michael and his people.

    However, the most terrifying thing was the death count.

    Mika felt the energy influx of more than 5,000 Kitsun, with mosting from Tier-2 Kitsun Guards. The simultaneous influx of energy from thousands of kills impacted heavily on Mika''s mind and body. He was already weak and barely able to stand on his own legs as the impact reached him.

    Mika was still wearing a vibrant smile on his face when all one could see in his eyes was white. He swayed a little and iIn the next moment, he copsed on the ground.

    Lilica was the first to respond to Mika''s fall. She rushed over to him with several potions in her hand.

    Lilica hastily took off the lids and fed Mika the potions to make sure that they wouldn''t lose him today. Not even a secondter, she began to smile as she looked at the youngest of her adventurer team.

    "Good job, Mika. I''m so proud of you!"

 Chapter 388 The Early Bird Catches the Worm

    Chapter 388 The Early Bird Catches the Worm

    ¨CThe early bird catches the worm.

    This quote perfectly described the current situation. If the Kitsun Lord''s army had been ordered to attack a few seconds earlier, they might have been able to prevent the worst-case scenario.

    However, since they didn''t move to interfere with Mika''s attack, the heirloom arrow''s power came to full disy. It destroyed the southern wall, killed thousands of Kitsun, and injured just as many.

    Mika was the early bird and he caught the worm before the Kitsun could do anything.

    Unfortunately, Mika was rendered incapable of continuing to fight. He used one of his few heirloom arrows before using every bit of power inside his body to kill as many enemies as possible. Therefore, Mika ended up utterly exhausted and unable to move now that he achieved his goal.

    Opars was exactly the same. He was barely conscious after his continuous usage of fully charged Energy Imprints. His stamina had hit rock bottom, and all he could do at this moment was to smile foolishly.

    "Stinger," Michael called out through a pull of the Link of Loyalty, while trying to suppress his shock for a moment.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp sensed the Link of Loyalty''s pull and began to swap ces, bringing Opars and Mika to the ce where the Greater Eagles were resting safely for the time being. The Greater Eagles, Opars, and Mika wouldn''t be moved away immediately. Instead, they would recuperate a little bit to wait for the rest to arrive. Once everyone was present, they would leave right away to return home.

    They were far enough from the battlefield allowing them to rest up a little. Nheless, they couldn''t be careless. A single vicious monster of the Savannah region was likely to be strong enough to kill the two Forest Elves and the Greater Eagles if they dared to be careless for a moment. Opars couldn''t afford to copse right away. He had to endure a little longer until Mika woke up.

    Once Mika and Opars left the battlefield, Michael could focus on the Kitsun once again. However, he couldn''t hide his shock well. The power Mika disyed with a single arrow was too devastating to ignore. It was only obvious, but Michael was left speechless for a moment.

    The only downside of the duplicated heirloom arrows was that two powerful Adventurers copsed, and that they wouldn''t be able to fight for quite a while. Nheless, it was worth it. The heirloom arrow was truly powerful. There was no doubt about that.

    The heirloom arrow decimated arge chunk of the opposing army, leaving Michael, Tiara, three Forest Elves, an Elemental, and a Wasp without anybat power to fight against 15,000ish unscathed enemies ¨C though most of them were on the stronger side.

    "I wonder if we can recreate these heirloom arrows in the future. If not, weapons simr to the heirloom arrows would be great as well. This is¡­too amazing!" Michael eximed, momentarily forgetting that they had yet to deal with the remaining enemies.

    There were still more than ten thousand uninjured Kitsun, and a few thousand injured Kitsun waiting to be killed.

    Michael cleared his throat and began to release energy arrows at the enemies. He shot them one by one, with his focus on Low Tier-2 Kitsun. A single energy arrow aimed with great precision was enough to kill a Low Tier-2 Kitsun Summon. Therefore, he reaped their lives one by one.

    Meanwhile, Lilica, Pheli, and Liopham did the same. They used Pieckers as if they were cheap, ordinary arrows to kill as many enemies as possible.

    In response to their attack, a loud chiming resounded through the surroundings.

    The Kitsun''s charge began atst.

    The Kitsun Lord''s forces began their counterattack. Various long-range attacks were released. There were arrows, crossbow bolts, long-range projectiles conjured through Soultraits, and other special devices that resembled rocketunchers.

    The rocketunchers were something Michael never expected to see. They looked quite expensive, and one could tell that every charge of energy damaged them a little bit more. However, that was not something the Kitsun cared about at this point. They were forced to ignore their own well-being and told to use any means at their disposal to injure Michael and his people.

    The Kitsun Lord was fuming in anger, which resulted in the cloudy lower body of the Kitsun all over the battlefield to expand and spread further. The ck cloud was about to reach Michael and his people when a golden sheen emerged from Michael''s body.

    The golden sheen slowly began to expand. It spread all around them and extracted the energy within the ck cloud. The ck cloud resisted at first, but given that the Kitsun Lord was too far away from Michael and the expanding ck cloud, Michael could easily anchor a few threads of Extraction within the ck cloud.

    He began to drain the energy and annex it to form a handful of enhanced Qi cicle Swords. Michael released the enhanced Qi cicle Swords with a burst of energy to propel them into the masses of Kitsun. The enhanced Qi cicle Swords burst six heads before they shattered, releasing a massive amount of freezing mist in an explosive manner.

    The freezing mist spread through the Kitsun''s masses, and weakened the ck cloud-like lower body of the Kitsun. The freezing mist slowed down the cirction of the ck cloud, thus decreasing the movement speed of the Kistun considerably.

    Michael''s Soultraits were strong enough to deal with dozens of enemies at once. Nheless, he wasn''t invincible. The bombardment of projectiles affected him and everyone around him as well.

    Michael could evade most attacks thanks to his exceptional predictions. Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze used together was simply too useful. It allowed him to move through an arrow shower consisting of more than a hundred arrows. Meanwhile, the arrows he couldn''t avoid were blocked with Qi Swords or a thicker cicle.

    One time, Michael lowered his body and burst forward to pierce a Kitsun with the Wyverntooth Spear that had manifested in his hands ¨C recing Zark. He used the Kitsun as a meat shield to block a dozen arrows before throwing the severely injured and bloodied body aside.

    Michael didn''t spare the arrow-spiked Kitsun a second nce. Instead, he focused on his subordinates and the enemies thaty ahead.

    At first, the situation all over the battlefield was still somewhat fine.

    Tiara could still make use of her powers when she charged into the crowd of Kitsun ahead of her. Instead of hesitating and waiting for the Kitsun Guards to arrive and reach her, Tiara pushed forward. Her transformation Soultrait was already fully unleashed to enhance her strength, flexibility, and agility drastically. Adding Inner Force, and Spirit Whip''s power, Tiara was able to advance through the horde of her enemies without further issues.

    The problems that followed were simple yet not. First of all, Tiara couldn''t replenish her origin energy storage as she fought. She could retrieve energy potions and Energy Nourishing Pills, but that would affect her movement, leaving her vulnerable amid a dozen enemies. It was more likely that she would sustain heavy injuries while consuming energy potions in this situation rather than replenishing energy to keep up with her energy consumption.

    The energy she consumed while fighting against a single Tier-2 enemy wasn''t that high. Unfortunately, Tiara didn''t have to deal with a single enemy. Her enemies were numerous ¨C too numerous to deal with all of them simultaneously.

    While Tiara had no problem dealing with the crowd of enemies at first, it grew into a big problem as her stored energy decreased slowly. The number of enemies didn''t seem to decrease either.

    Lilica had it even worse than Tiara. She could detect the weak spots of her enemies using Weakness Detection, and urately target them with Precise Aim using any type of weapon, However, Lilica couldn''t move as fast as Tiara after the woman of the Silverfang Tigerfolk transformed. She was put in a prickly situation as several Peak Tier-2 Kitsun attacked her simultaneously.

    The Kitsun were weaker and had a less refined body. Nheless, Lilica was only a Low TIer-2 Adventurer. Even though her Innate Talent, her constitution, and her Soultraits were much better than her enemies, she was not like Tiara, let alone Michael.

    Even Liopham was doing better than Lilica. The Swiftness Soultrait improved his movement speed drastically, allowing him to fight several enemies at the same time. This was even easier with Pheli by his side. Pheli used her Battle Cry Soultrait to enhance the allies in her range consistently. Simultaneously, she made use of her other Soultrait, Repelling Shield, to block the most threatening attacks and repel some of their force before counterattacking.

    The shield could be used to protect herself and counterattack right away. Meanwhile, Battle Cry was perfect to give her allies an additional edge to theirbat prowess.

    It was only obvious, but Michael''s impact on the battlefield was the most crucial. As the others around him killed a dozen enemies in total, Michael''s enhanced Qi cicle Swords had already reaped the souls of a few dozen enemies.

    He didn''t have to pay too much attention to his energy consumption. His energy was rapidly drained, but it was refilled just as fast. Using Extraction with twoyers of Enhancement was enough to cover up the energy consumption of Eagle Eyes, Spirit Gaze, and the manifestation of six enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    It affected his focus quite a bit, but the external enhancement of his mind owed to the Legendary Ring Artifact allowed Michael to maintain his peak form.

    Meanwhile, the Elemental Empress stayed in the back with the Golden Stinger Wasp to make sure that they could rescue everyone if the situation grew worse.

    And that was exactly what happened once the strongest Kitsun decided to join the battle.

 Chapter 389 Enough

    Chapter 389 Enough

    Michael could clearly tell that the situation was getting out of hand as the stronger Kitsun Guards and Awakened paved their way to the frontline. They ignored their brethren, and pushed them aside while utilizing their uniquebat techniques and Soultraits.

    Some Soultraits inflicted damage to the surrounding Kitsun, but that was not something the Awakened cared about. On the contrary, they harmed their brethren intentionally.

    They had savored the pain, the suffering and the deaths of their own brethren long enough, and decided to heed to their master''s orders. But that didn''t mean they couldn''t pursue their desire and bloodlust while following the orders they had been given. They continued to harm those around him and stared ecstatically at those who were suffering.

    ''How did nobody eliminate them until now? Like¡­literally¡­From the looks of it these sadistic idiots must have killed their own more than an enemy.''

    Michael could never understand how the Kitsun survived that long as a race. They loved violence way too much. As long as they were not the one in pain, they would sadistically watch and observe whoever was being tortured. Their love for pain was simply too overbearing. It even affected their minds in the middle of a huge war. That was the sole reason Michael and his people had been able to kill that many Kitsun until now.

    The strongest Kitsun working for the Kitsun Lord simply hadn''t bothered joining the war because watching the desperation and suffering of their own kind had been too enjoyable to watch.

    Michael was at a loss as he observed the sadistic race. They were simply unpredictable.

    Therefore, Michael steadied his feet on the ground as he awaited the iing attacks. He released several enhanced Qi cicle Swords which he willed to rotate around him rapidly. Michael ensured that the weaker Kitsun couldn''t approach him. In fact, they had to retreat and make space for Michael as the Qi cicle Swords moved outward.

    Following the manifestation of the rotating swords, Michael made use of the information he took in by observing the surroundings. He used Spirit Disturbance on a Peak Tier-2 Awakened, who had been about to stab Lilica in the back, and released a handful of cicles to pierce and freeze his neck.

    Lilica spun around and thrust her weapon into the Awakened, killing him on the spot. She wanted to thank Michael, but too many powerful enemies attacked her simultaneously. Lilica had hardly enough time to take a breath. Her entire body was tense as she continued to move through the rows of her enemies. She pinpointed her enemies'' weaknesses and aimed precisely at them, killing or crippling them on the spot.

    However, at one point she couldn''t handle the sheer number of enemies anymore. A de found its way through her defense. The de pierced through the seams of her leather armor and dug deep into her side. Blood spurted in the surrounding area as the de was pulled out of her body viciously.

    Lilica groaned out in pain, rming those around her. Liopham and Pheli moved quickly to aid her. Pheli summoned several Repelling Shield around Lilica to protect her from further damage while Liopham appeared behind three Tier-2 Summons. His hands moved rapidly, and his daggers found their way into their hearts, and necks. He killed the three Tier-2 Kitsun swiftly before he sensed something from behind approaching him with terrifyingly high speed.

    Liopham upped his usage of Swiftness and was just about to disappear from the spot when his legs stopped moving. His eyes widened and he looked behind himself, just to see that arge Kitsun had appeared behind him. The Kitsun''s cloud-like lower body seemed to have merged with the ground. However, that was not where the cloud stopped. No, it moved through the shadows and created new shadows wherever it passed by.

    Engulfing Liopham''s shadow with his shadows, the Kitsun could restrain Liopham''s movements. That was the Tier-3 Kitsun Awakened''s Soultrait; Shadow Cage.

    Liopham cursed under his breath as he tried to escape the Shadow Cage with brute force. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Shadow Cage might only be a 2-Star Soultrait, but it had been cast from the refined origin energy of a Tier-3 Awakened. The Kitsun Awakened used a considerable amount of energy to manifest Shadow Cage as well, thus rendering Liopham unable to move.

    Following the Shadow Cage, another Tier-3 Awakened appeared near Liopham. He raised his longsword and utilized his Soultrait, which resulted in several spikes shooting out of the shadows. The spikes were ck in color and condensed shadows that could only bloom in absolute darkness. It was a 3-Star Soultrait, but required shadows to be utilized, in the first ce. The darker the shadows the stronger the Shadow Spikes.

    His Soultrait possessed a great synergy to Shadow Cage as it expanded existing shadows at the wielder''s will, creating a perfectbination for a small team of two.

    Liopham''s legs were pinned to the ground through the Shadow Spikes. They pierced through his calves and thighs mercilessly, drawing blood and energy. Liopham screamed out even louder than Lilica did before. However, he had yet to give up. He activated Swiftness at full power, hoping that the Shadow Spikes weakened the Shadow Cage. The Shadow Spikes removed the shadows from Shadow Cage to manifest lethal spikes. This should result in Shadow Cage weakening.

    To Liopham''s relief, his guess was correct. He could force his way through the weakened Shadow Cage and move again ¨C even though it was still hard. Liopham forcefully elerated his movements through Swiftness. His daggers cut through the Shadow Spikes that pinned him to the ground, and he kicked the ground to st ahead with a burst of energy.

    Unfortunately, there was nowhere for Liopham to run. All he could do was rush to Lilica and Pheli, who were also struggling against their enemies.

    Pheli was still unscathed, but using Repelling Shield tens of times, and keeping up Battle Cry consumed most of her energy. She was running on low storage and was about to use herst bits of energy.

    Once she was out of energy, the Kitsun would flood her. It was only a matter of time before Pheli would sustain her first injury.

    Meanwhile, Liopham struggled to control his feet. Fountains of blood poured out from the punctures left behind by the Shadow Spikes. Even if he wanted to keep moving and fight, his physical condition wouldn''t allow him to move much longer.

    The shadows on the ground expanded once again and they would connect to the Kitsun Awakened''s shadows in a second or two. By then Shadow Cage would restrain Liopham''s movements once again, and a bunch of Shadow Spikes would pierce him as well.

    But just as the Shadows were about to expand, Liopham''s body began to glow golden. Space around him twisted and the Forest Elf disappeared from the spot. He was reced by a fist-sized Wasp that glimmered golden.

    A momentter, the Golden Stinger Wasp released two stingers aimed at Pheli and Lilica. A fist-sized spatial portal manifested, and the Golden Stinger Wasp disappeared once again. In the next moment, the Golden Stinger Wasp''s swapping power was utilized once again. She switched ces with Lilica and reappeared at her earlier spot.

    Just as the Golden Stinger Wasp was about to disappear through the fist-sized portal once again, Shadow Spikes shot out of the ground. The Golden Stinger Wasp was about to be impaled when several Repelling Shields manifested around the fist-sized monster. The Shadow Spikes'' force was repelled, providing enough time for the Golden Stinger Wasp to disappear through the portal unscathed.

    Meanwhile, Pheli had overdrawn her origin energy with thest fully empowered Repelling Shield uses. She copsed to the ground and was about to be consumed by the Shadow Cage and impaled by Shadow Spikes when her body began to shine brightly. The Golden Stinger Wasp reced Pheli just in time.

    But this time the monster ended up getting caught by the Shadow Cage. It couldn''t move anymore no matter how much it struggled.

    Yet, instead of struggling desperately to escape the Shadow Cage''s grasp and avoid the iing Shadow Spikes, the Golden Stinger Wasp began to glow golden. It regained itsposure as it switched ces once more.

    This time, however, the Golden Stinger Wasp brought someone to her ce.

    A young human, shrouded in a vibrant golden dome appeared where the Golden Stinger Wasp disappeared.

    "They''re done? Well, it''s better to be rescued in the middle of the battle than dying. They should have learned their lesson," Michael mumbled to himself after he appeared where Liopham, Lilica, and Pheli had been located just a few seconds ago.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp left the battlefield through the Elemental Empress'' spatial portal to bring the Forest Elves to Opars and Mika.

    Their fight was over.

    "Good job! You can leave the rest to me now!!" Michael shouted loud enough for the Forest Elves to hear.

    He hoped that Tiara could hear him as well, but a single nce to the side was enough to tell that Tiara was slowly losing herself. She sustained a few minor injuries, but Michael could tell that she was unable to feel the injuries. The adrenaline coursing through her veins, and the bloodlust spreading through her entire being were enough to block the pain receptorspletely.

    All Tiara could feel right now was the desire to ughter her enemies.

    "Don''t ignore us, peasant!" The Tier-3 Kitsun Awakened using the Shadow Cage roared.

    His Shadow Cage expanded further, but Michael didn''t pay much attention to him.

    He expanded the Dome of Extraction and shrouded the entire surrounding in golden light. The golden light dispersed the shadows in the surroundings.

    A deep frown appeared on the Kitsun''s face, but Michael just chuckled,

    "You don''t have to try to push away the light. It won''t work," He said lightly, "Your Soultrait is a little bit too trashy to work against mine."

 Chapter 390 Soultrait Supremacy

    Chapter 390 Soultrait Supremacy

    The Awakened Kitsun stared daggers at Michael as he realized that his shadows were repelled by the ominous golden light that filled the surrounding entirely.

    Not a single inch in a radius of five meters around Michael was able to capture the Kitsun''s shadows. Everything was saturated in a bright golden sheen.

    "Like I said. It won''t work," Michael repeated as a light chuckle escaped his lips.

    Watching a Tier-3 Awakened struggle to use his Soultrait against him felt oddly satisfying. The inferiority of Shadow Cage was revealed at this moment.

    ''Is Shadow Cage a 3-Star Soultrait? No, it shouldn''t be. I doubt the Dome of Extraction is powerful enough to repel the power of a 3-Star Soultrait. Even if it could, the Dome of Extraction would drain more energy than it does usually. My consumption is close to zero, right now.''

    Michael channeled more energy into the Dome of Extraction and strode closer to the Awakened Kitsun. The two Kitsun narrowed their eyes seeing how confident Michael was. They were Tier-3 Awakened, yet the youthful Tier-2 Lord in front of them showed no signs of hesitation as he approached them.

    His strides were slow but steady and confident, his gaze calm andposed.

    "Who the hell are you?!" The Awakened with the Shadow Spike Soultrait screamed at the top of his lungs. He stepped back and condensed the shadows around him intorge shadow spikes.

    The shadow spikes were released with a burst of energy, propelling through the air straight at Michael.

    Michael moved his right leg back and twisted his body a little to evade the shadow spikes with as little movements as possible. The Shadow Spikes shot past him and dispersed as the Dome of Extraction devoured their energy slowly.

    "But this should be a 3-Star Soultrait. The spikes are quite sturdy and fast as well. The power is definitely above an ordinary 3-Star Soultrait. However, you''re restricted. You are dependent on the shadows around you. cicle is still better," Michael said loud enough for the two Awakened to hear.

    Both of them were too stunned and stared nkly at Michael, unsure what to respond. What was he even talking about? How did he analyze Soultrait''s superior attack power, and its deficit so quickly?

    Michael smiled brightly. Using Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze together was truly a heavenlybination. The Soultraits allowed him to analyze the power of his enemies with great precision. Not even their Soultraits could escape Michael''s eyes. His attention to detail was truly spectacr at this point.

    Of course, his enemies didn''t have to know any of that.

    ''I wonder what others think about my powers. What would these idiots think if they knew that I have several more 5-Star Soultraits than all of thembined together? Would they fall into depression? Would they rage? OR would they try to capture me to extract my Extraction Soultrait?''

    Michael was unsure why these thoughts shed through his mind at this moment, but they didn''t really make him feel good. It was a weird feeling; a tinge of difort mixed with fear of the unknown future.

    Michael hated this feeling. It was a weakness. His fear of the unknown future, and his worry of the reaction of other people once they found out about his Soultrait always made him ufortable.

    Michael knew that he worried too much about it. It was a needless worry because he had told the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team about Extraction already.

    But, of course, it would be a little bit different to tell other humans about Extraction because they could hunt him down and attempt to steal his Soultrait or make use of Extraction through force. The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer was under a Link of Loyalty as well. They couldn''t do anything against him even if they wanted to ¨C especially since they were only five members with no more Forest Elven Awakened nearby.

    ''Why am I even thinking about this?'' He asked himself in frustration.

    In a fit of rage, Michael created six enhanced Qi cicle Swords. He kicked his feet off the ground and dashed forward. The six enhanced Qi cicle Swords rotated around him calmly, but it didn''t take long until they burst past Michael. They shot toward the shadow duo, who struggled visibly as they felt the immense power residing within the enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    Being unable to use their Soultraits, the two Kitsun Awakened ended up as mere Tier-3 Awakened. Usually, the physical strength of Tier-3 Awakened would y a crucial role in one''sbat prowess. It was a major contributing factor since the external enhancement of most Artifacts depended on the physical strength, the refinement of the mind, and the essence of the soul.

    However, as they belonged to the Kitsun race, the two Awakened couldn''t even exploit their superior physical strength. They weren''t a lot stronger than Michael, who still had numerous Soultraits at his disposal.

    The Kitsun Awakened released theirbat techniques and channeled origin energy through their bodies. They wielded their weapons and blocked the first enhanced Qi cicle Sword. But just as the cicle Sword collided with the Kitsun''s de something unexpected happened. The cicle Swords burst apart, releasing a tremendous amount of freezing mist in the surrounding area.

    The freezing mist formed a dense cloak around the Kitsun, which made it much more difficult for him to pinpoint and block the remaining four enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    Two enhanced Qi cicle Swords cut the arms of one Kitsun before they shattered, releasing more freezing mist into the world. On the other hand, thest two cicle Swords missed their target as the other Kitsun retreated several steps. The cicle Swords exploded but they didn''t injure the Kitsun any further.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed when he noticed that the Kitsun split up. One of them abandoned his friend.

    ''If you insist that I kill your friend first¡­okay. I can do that!'' Michael said in his mind, changing his target to the Kitsun, whom he had injured already.

    He twisted his body and entered the freezing mist without any hesitation. Using cicle, he could sense everything within the freezing mist. He could not yet control the freezing mist. However, there was something else he could do. Using the massive amount of freezing mist in his surroundings, Michael could create new cicles with extremely low energy consumption.

    Now that he was inside the freezing mist, the Dome of Extraction reached the Kitsun as well. He couldn''t even try to tap into the power of Shadow Cage because there was no response. The Kitsun sensed that he would have to retreat several steps before Shadow Cage could be utilized once again.

    But just as the Kitsun was about to do that, Michael''s outlines appeared in front of the Kitsun. Smiling at the stupidity of the peasant Lord, the Kitsun raised his weapon high into the air. He cleaved down just as Michael thrust the Wyverntooth Spear forward.

    Yet, instead ofpleting his attack, Michael stopped in the middle of his tracks. He used Spirit Disturbance at full power to hit the Kitsun heavily. The Kitsun didn''t expect an attack on a spiritual level. Therefore, he was exposed to the full extent of Spirit Disturbance.

    The Kitsun groaned loudly. He struggled to keep his ground and cursed loudly as he forced his attack to continue. His downward cleave cut through the freezing mist, splitting it apart as the origin energy channeled into the de began to pulsate. A thin membrane of energy coated the Kitsun''s longsword. All he had to do was to cut through Michael to slice him apart in one go.

    But Michael wasn''t hit that easily. He didn''t blindly charge at the Kitsun without a n either.

    By the time the Kitsun cleaved downward, Michael had already moved aside. At the same time, several cicle Swords appeared around the Kitsun. They were enhanced through Enhancement and the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait. Both were applied to the cicle Swords, enhancing their destructive power drastically.

    Unable to spin his body around due to the momentum of his downward cleave, the Kitsun could only stare at Michael''s face which was filled with smiles and mockery.

    In the next moment, the enhanced Qi cicle Swords pierced the Awakened Kitsun from all sides.

    The Kitsun grit his teeth and tried to strike Michael once again. But before he couldnd another blow, Michael decided to release the Qi that shrouded the cicle Swords inside the Kitsun''s body. The Kitsun spit out blood and his upper body inted. The Qi spread quickly through the Kitsun''s body inflicting severe damage. But that wasn''t even the worst.

    Worse than the Qi coursing through the Kitsun with ill Intentions were the Sword cicles that burst into millions of particles. The Sword cicles turned into apressed smoke of freezing mist that ravaged the insides of the Kitsun, flowing through his veins and bloodstream.

    Michael applied severalyers of Enhancement right after he evaded the Kitsun''s cleave. Michael was unlike before. He was not inferior to the Kitsun in terms of physical strength anymore!

    Michael lowered his body and pushed upward with newly gained speed and strength.

    He turned into a sh, and the Wyvenrtooth Spear alongside him also turned into a blur. It swept through the freezing mist, humming dangerously.

    One sweep was all it took. Warm blood spurted through the freezing mist. It filled the air for a moment before it solidified in the chilly air and fell down to the ground frozen solid.

    Michael created a few more cicle Swords around the Kitsun, but he didn''t have to release them. A torrent of energy entered his body. It was the energy influx of the Kitsun in front of him. He was dead.

    ''That was¡­easier than expected¡­'' Michael thought, his gaze moving over to the other Kitsun, who had retreated even further. The Kitsun disappeared into the crowd of scared Guards, leaving hisrade and everyone else behind.

    "Disperse"

    The freezing mist dispersed on hismand, and he looked around to find Tiara. She was the only one left with him if he excluded the Elemental Empress and the Stinger Wasp.

    However, what he found astonished him quite a bit. His eyes narrowed at themotion that originated not too far from his position.

    "What is going on with Tiara over there?!"

 Chapter 391 Rage & Fury

    Chapter 391 Rage & Fury

    Tiara was having the time of her life. She was bleeding from several shallow wounds but kept moving despite the pain. Her movement speed increased as the battle progressed. It was almost like Tiara was growing more adept at using the power of her transformed Silvarean Tiger form.

    The sudden changes in her movement added through Inner Force were also helping her have great agility. Tiara feinted attacks left and right, all while slicing through the throats of a handful of enemies. Most of them couldn''t even pinpoint the true direction in which her attacks would hit and reacted when it was already way toote.

    Tiara''s kill count increased rapidly, but so did the injuries that umted on her body. Her energy consumption was not too low either. Continuously supplying her Soultrait Spirit Whip with energy while allowing Silvarean Tiger and Inner Force to consume her stamina to be maintained and used continuously was depleting her of stamina. Tiara was slowly growing tired.

    The pressure on her body and mind increased, while the same happened to the strength of the enemies all around her. Tiara didn''t realize it yet because her entire being was caught in bloodlust, but Lowest Tier-3 Guards were already near her, putting more pressure on Tiara to slowly wear her down. As long as Tiara was out of stamina and energy, she could be crippled, caught, and tortured.

    Torturing ordinary beings was already highly pleasurable for most Kitsun. However, seeing the desperation and suffering in the eyes of beautiful existences was even better. Tiara belonged to the Silverfang Tigerfolk, and she was an otherworldly beauty. The Kitsun wouldn''t want to waste such a great opportunity to obtain a new toy to torture.

    ''She should leave,'' Michael thought, his eyes narrowed as Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze unraveled every little detail in his sight. Tiara was faring well, but the number of enemies, and their strength, was slowly growing into a burden.

    If Tiara had the means to replenish her stamina and energy it wouldn''t be much of a problem to let her continue fighting. However, since she didn''t have the means, Tiara had to leave the battlefield now.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp swapped ces with Tiara as her Spirit Spear cut through the neck of a Peak Tier-2 Adventurer. She twisted her body and was just about to strike the next opponent when the space around her twisted. Tiara disappeared and reappeared next to the Elemental Empress, who looked at Tiara with wonder in her eyes.

    "Michael told me to tell you that you did an amazing job. You stalled enough time for our Master''s n to be set in motion on the battlefield. It''s fine to rest and retreat home with the others. Don''t worry about Master. He''ll be fine!" The Elemental Empress informed just before a golden light shed across the battlefield.

    Stinger moved back to the Elemental Empress, where a small fist-sized portal manifested. The portal led to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and the Greater Eagles. Stinger moved through the portal and forcefully deported Tiara by swapping ces once again.

    Afterward, Stinger remained next to the Elemental Empress.

    "You don''t want to leave yet? Master said that you can rest if you want. You must be out of stamina and energy from using your ability so often," The Elemental Empress asked the Golden Stinger Wasp, which shook its head vigorously.

    The Elemental Empress didn''t say anything else. She observed the battlefield in front of her, her expressions grim.

    Despite giving their utmost, Tiara, Lilica, Pheli, and Liopham hadn''t been able to do as much damage as thebined efforts of Mika and Opars. The power of the heirloom arrows had been too strong inparison. Unfortunately, Mika couldn''t use the same kind of power several times in session. Not only would that use up hisst remaining heirloom arrows, but it would also permanently damage his energy veins.

    Using one heirloom arrow was already enough to leave him weak and injured for a few days.

    Nheless, Michael''s subordinates did an amazing job.

    Roughly 7,500 Kitsun had been killed, and there was still a batch of 4,000 Kitsun injured. Most of them were lying on the ground, unable to get up after the explosions of the duplicated heirloom arrows hit them. Meanwhile, the other injured Kitsun either retreated or remained where they were.

    They didn''t bother getting up to attack Michael. After all, there were only so many people who could attack a single enemy at the same time.

    Given the tight space around Michael it was impossible for more than ten Kitsun to strike him simultaneously. But then again, there were more than enough Kitsun Awakened who couldn''t care less about the Summons around them. They used their Soultraits to strike Michael as heavily as possible ¨C even if that meant that their own brethren would sustain injuries.

    In fact, it would be even better if their brethren were injured in the crossfire. And that was something Michael exploited to the fullest. He moved deeper into the crowd of enemies with hundreds of tiny golden threads squirming all around him. The golden threads were jutting out from his skin all over his body. They wiggled vigorously and shot toward those who had sustained injuries.

    The golden threads infiltrated the injured Kitsun''s body through their wounds and anchored themselves inside them. They tapped into their pool of energy and drained it slowly. Most injured Kitsun targeted by the golden threads were either Tier-1 Guards or Summons at the lower end of the 2nd Tier. This was to ensure that Michael wouldn''t have to focus on the extraction of energy within the bodies of his enemies. The threads of extraction could naturally extract their energy, as long as their mental resistance wasn''t strong enough to block them.

    Therefore, Michael chose the weaker Kitsun as easy targets to be his extended energy storage. The extracted energy naturally entered Michael''s body. It was annexed inside his body and used to create more golden threads. These golden threads were then used to anchor inside more enemies, therefore draining even more energy that was annexed by Michael.

    Michael repeated the same course of actions in a seemingly endless cycle while his subordinates had fought desperately to stall for some time. That way, Michael could go all out with a tremendous amount of replenishable energy now that he was alone on the battlefield.

    No. He wasn''t even alone right now.

    The Elemental Empress was still nearby. She advanced to the 1st Tier, increasing the strength of her Powers drastically. The only downside of her Powers was that shecked fighting experience with them and that she couldn''t control her energy precisely to fight many enemies simultaneously.

    But, of course, Michael''s n not only took that factor into consideration but also used it to their advantage!

    If she couldn''t control her energy consumption precisely, why wouldn''t he help out a little bit with his extremely high replenishable energy? Even if he created a thousand cicles right now, Michael would have enough energy to keep his energy storage filled to the brim. However, ordinary cicles were not powerful enough to deal with more than ten thousand Kitsun ¨C forget about their strongest powerhouses.

    Thus, Michael could only rely on the Elemental Empress and their taming bond. He channeled energy through their taming bond that had grown a lot firmer over thest few hours.

    Witnessing Michael''s care and the attention he paid to his subjects allowed the Elemental Empress to trust her new master a lot more than before. The Elemental Empress realized that she would not only be a mere toy for Michael but that she might even turn into a part of his family.

    By sending energy through the taming bond, Michael filled the Elemental Empress with enough purified energy to create dozens ofpressed fire spears. The Elemental Empress released them in batches, finally not forced to focus on her energy consumption.

    Being allowed to go all out without the need to think of anything, the Elemental Empress could finally unleash her fury. The fury as the Empress of the Elementals, and the wrath of all the Elementals that died protecting her coursed through her body. After getting abused, exploited, and chained to a wall for a decade, and forced to use her Core to create more Elementals with the essence of the elements she could control, the Elemental Empress finally got a chance to take revenge for herself and all those who shared her suffering. Atst, she could ensure that the deaths of her subjects had not been an utter waste.

    Feeling determined, she tapped into the Power of the fire element, and her fire spears grew stronger and stronger. She manifested more fire spears at the same time with every batch released, and shot them toward the battlefield not caring whether lowly Tier-1 Summons died, or if her attacks hit Kitsun Awakened.

    All she wanted was to be the cause of the Kitsun''s death no matter what kind of Kitsun. None of them was void of guilt. They were all at fault for the suffering of other races, and none of them deserved to stay alive ¨C not even as Summons.

    A dozen fire spears turned into two dozen, and then three dozen. Once the number of fire spears reached 50 in a batch, the Elemental Empress'' mind couldn''t handle anymore. However, being mentally limited to roughly 50 fire spears didn''t mean that the Elemental Empress was willing to ept this limitation.

    She might only be an existence at the 1st Tier right now, and at the lowest rank at that, but her rage and fury couldn''t be measured on a power scale. So what if she would suffer a little bit by pushing past her mental limitations? Would she die from it if she overdid it? Maybe¡­but so what?

    If she could take revenge on all Kitsun and eliminate them one by one, why wouldn''t she give her all to achieve it¡­even if it would cost her life.

    Thus she continued to attack mercilessly. And, as her barrages of fire spears struck the Kitsun, killing dozens in every charge, the Kitsun focusing on Michael were slowly drawn to the Elemental Empress.

    They had been ordered to kill everyone else before paying attention to the Elemental Empress and capture her alive. However, the Elemental Empress was too powerful to be ignored. If they ignored her any longer, thousands would die long before Michael was killed.

    Therefore, the first few Kitsun charged over to the Elemental Empress.

    But before anyone could reach her, a golden light filled the air. Stinger disappeared from the Elemental Empress'' sight and Michael appeared in its stead.

    "Not so fast, you disgusting bastards," Michael growled deeply, the Elemental Empress'' conscious slowly seeping into the taming bond, rage filling his entire being.

    "We''re just getting started."

 Chapter 392 Fusion

    Chapter 392 Fusion

    Michael struggled a little bit against the strongest Kitsun before he swapped ces with Stinger. Most of the energy he obtained from Extraction was sent right to the Elemental Empress, allowing her to kill more than 400 Kitsun in half a minute.

    Her fire spear charges had been sessful and the kill count would continue to increase as time passed. But while the Elemental Empress could attack her enemies freely, Michael had been forced to block the advance of five Low Tier-3 Guards and Awakened. Fortunately, that worked out somewhat fine since he possessed enough energy to create a resilient defense and use his reliable firepower to inflict some damage as well.

    His energy level was more or less at par with a Tier-4 Awakened. However, he could replenish his energy as well.

    Unfortunately, he was only a single individual fighting against thousands. It was only obvious to see him struggle under the pressure of enemies at and above his rank, especially when they had a numerical advantage.

    But with the Elemental Empress by his side, his struggles turned into an opportunity.

    As he and the Elemental Empress fought together, their taming bond grew stronger. It grew strong enough for Michael to feel the uncontroble wrath and fury that was coursing through the Elemental Empress once he and Stinger switched ces.

    "Not so fast, you disgusting bastards," Michael growled deeply, the Elemental Empress'' conscious slowly seeping into the taming bond, rage filling his entire being.

    "We''re just getting started."

    In the next moment, a small part of his consciousness drifted inside the taming bond with the Elemental Empress as well. The Elemental Empress flinched subconsciously as she sensed what was about to happen. She nced over to Michael, who smiled lightly as he looked at her.

    "Trust me."

    These two words were all the Elemental Empress had to hear. They carried a much deeper meaning that could only be understood by the Elemental Empress.

    The Elemental Empress epted the minuscule part of Michael''s consciousness that drifted into hers. Simultaneously, the portion of her consciousness that had unknowingly entered the taming bond moved toward Michael.

    Their consciousness ovepped in response to their actions, and their powers were shared equally. But that was not everything. There was another point, a factor that hadn''t been taken into consideration when Sun Demos used Power Share for the first time.

    Michael and the Elemental Empress were drawn to each other. A powerful suctioning force existed between the two of them, pulling Michael and the Empress closer.

    As they moved closer the energy consumption of Power Share decreased drastically. It was iparably lower than the massive consumption of energy Sun Demos had required. The distance increased the energy consumption.

    Filled with rage and fury equally, and pulled towards each other, the Elemental Empress didn''t even realize what was happening as her body expanded naturally. She grew as tall as Michael and her zing mes began to flicker violently as her form began to change.

    The Elemental Empress began to turn into a living torch as she moved closer to Michael until her zing mes touched him. Her zing mes engulfed Michael''s fingers. The mes slowly traveled to his hand, and up his arm before they shrouded his entire upper body.

    The mes continued to move around Michael, engulfing his body like a tight armor; an armor made of fire. Despite the zing mes all over his body, Michael didn''t feel hot. On the contrary, there was a cooling feeling to the mes all over his body. It was a good feeling¡­a great feeling.

    By sharing his power with the Elemental Empress, Michael naturally gained ess to her fire element. However, the sensation he felt right now didn''t feel like mere ess. It was not the same as his control of Soultraits either¡­but it was weirdly simr.

    He gained control of the Elemental Empress'' elemental affinities, and his control continued to increase as her zing body engulfed him like a second skin.

    Her form slowly dispersed as the zing armor set around Michael waspressed. However, she didn''t disappear. It was more like the Elemental Empress'' consciousness drifted deeper into Michael''s mind, fusing their minds and bodies simultaneously.

    Michael could feel whatever the Elemental Empress felt, and he could read her mind naturally. The two of them had be one. They had fused into one entity.

    Despite the fusion, Michael could tell that he was still in full control of his body. He was the dominant force of the fusion, allowing him to do whatever he pleased as long as the fusion was intact. The Elemental Empress allowed Michael to gain full control of her body. She decided to trust him and allow him to do whatever he wanted under the condition that he would eradicate the Kitsun.

    The rage and wrath filling her was enough to temporarily give Michael control of her mind and body. She could tell that Micheal was much stronger than her and that he was more capable of achieving what she desired. If she hesitated only for a moment, or if she didn''t trust Michael enough the fusion would be dissolved forcefully. However, the Elemental Empress didn''t even think about distrusting Michael right now.

    All she desired was the death of the Kitsun Lord and his subjects.

    Micheal gained control of the Elemental Empress'' elemental attributes. Most were not powerful other than her major attribute, fire, and his understanding of the elements was not that high either. That changed gradually as a wisp of knowledge entered his mind through the Elemental Empress'' consciousness. The wisp of knowledge provided Michael with enough information about the elements to control them to a certain degree.

    The Elemental Empress'' experience would guide him further, allowing himplete control as if he manifested them inside his body months before.

    All of a sudden, the Elemental Empress used Enhancement on herself. The zing armor set expanded andpressed further around Michael, who had to tap into the golden threads of Extraction to elerate the energy drainage of the injured Kitsun around him.

    He then conjured dozens of zing swords and added ayer of Reinforced Swords Qi to increase the destructive power of the zing swords, only to further enhance them via Enhancement.

    The Elemental Empress'' fire affinity grew stronger through Enhancement and so did her outburst. Her power output increased rapidly, only to reach a whole different level as thebined forces of Michael''s Soultraits and the Elemental Empress'' elements met.

    The temperature of the zing swords increased just before Michael released them with a burst of energy. Sizzling through the air, the zing swords increased the temperature in the surroundings all while altering the ambient energy ever so slightly. The ambient energy changed slowly into fire-attributed energy that nourished the surroundings.

    It was drawn to the Elemental Empress after being altered, who absorbed the attributed energy naturally. With more energy in their fused body, Michael could conjure more zing swords. But instead of foolishly creating more and more zing swords without a n, Michael decided to tap into his strongest and most versatile power; the Power of Extraction.

    He created hundreds of tiny golden tendrils of Extraction alongside hundreds of zing spears. He didn''t use Enhancement or Reinforced Sword Qi to enhance the zing spears. Instead, the spears were solely used to attach the golden tendrils of extraction to it.

    The tendrils of extraction were easily attached to the fire spears, and they were released without any hesitation. The fire spears shot through the air, passed the strongest Kitsun and impacted heavily on their designated targets.

    The fire spears burned through the targets'' armors and pierced through their bodies ¨C without killing any of them instantly. The targets were blown back and heavily injured, but none of them died. They were left with grave injuries that would kill them in the next few minutes. In the meantime, the tendrils of extraction invaded the targets'' bodies and sucked them dry until their energy was extinguished, giving them a miserable death.

    Michael extracted their remaining origin energy slowly but steadily while leaving their lifeforce untouched. They should survive a little longer until their energy pool was drainedpletely. Once they were out of energy, their lives would lose its value. All they had left was their lifeforce to make sure that Michael would never lose his vigor mid-battle. He could devour their lifeforce with Extraction after all.

    The designated targets Michael had aimed at were the remaining Tier-1 Summons, the lightly injured Guards and Awakened, and those Kitsun further in the back. Since the Kitsun in the back didn''t expect to be struck heavily in the chest, they were met by surprise when a reddish-orange sh hit them. Hit off-guard, all they could do was struggle against the burning sensation as their chest was pierced.

    ''All my powers increased by more than 30%. Even my Soultraits are much stronger now¡­ The Elemental Empress'' mythical fire is also much stronger now that we are fused. Is that the power of the Elemental Empress, a being that could be considered a Pseudo Mythical Existence?''

    Michael had never felt this powerful before. Fusing with the Elemental Empress granted him the power he yearned for; the power he needed to fight the Kitsun head-on.

    The Summons and Awakened he struck with the spears conjured from the Elemental Empress'' mythical fire couldn''t do anything but struggle against the burning sensation that spread throughout their bodies, slowly burning them alive.

    Meanwhile, the tendrils of extraction leeched on their energy storages. They were drained rapidly, creating more energy for Michael, whose body was overflowing with energy. The zing armor set continued to expand as the energy within Michael continued to increase. It was like the zing armor was an external energy storage that could also be used to keep most enemies at bay. After all, the armor set was also made from mythical fire.

    The Elemental Empress'' entire body was made of mythical fire that could burn everyone at her rank with a simple touch. Being fused with Michael, the mythical fire burned all enemies at and beneath Low Tier-2 easily. All Michael had to do was to give the mes themand to do so.

    But Michael didn''t.

    He was in need of the Tier-2 Summons. Michael needed their energy and lifeforce to deal with the remaining enemies. Thousands of Kitsun might have died, but more than ten thousand were still left to be killed.

    Furthermore, Michael had yet to deal with all Kitsun at the 3rd Tier. Many Awakened with considerable strength were left as well. And then there were still the Tier-3 Awakened who exceeded the Lowest and Low rank.

    There were a handful of Peak Tier-3 Awakened, and a Peak Tier-3 Kitsun Lord to deal with.

    Michael required every bit of power and energy he could use to eliminate them.

    Otherwise, he would be the one who ended up dead.

 Chapter 393 Killstealer

    Chapter 393 Killstealer

    Kitsun were sly and treacherous, but Michael learned one particr thing about their mindset; they were afraid of pain.

    Even though they loved to inflict pain and watch others suffer, no Kitsun liked to feel pain. They were hypocrites of the highest level, and they would lose their desire forbat quickly at the possibility of sustaining injuries.

    Their mindset and constitution turned the Kitsun into one of the worst types ofbatants. However, that w was made up for by their high fertility, their fast maturity circle that spanned less than two years, and the fact that they were both business-minded and focused on enving monsters and other races to fight for them.

    But that was exactly where Michael held an advantage over the Kitsun. The nearby Beast Ranches were destroyed, and the ves that had been trained forbat were now dead. The Elemental Empress and her Elementals had been the Kitsun Lord''s main strength in terms of Battle ves, after all.

    Therefore, all that was left were the Kitsun Guards and Awakened.

    Conjuring hundreds of fire spears with the Elemental Empress'' aid, Michael attached tendrils of extraction to them before he released them with a burst of energy. The fire spears propelled through the air and pierced through the steel armors and chests of the targets, leaving them gravely hurt ¨C but far from dead.

    The tendrils of extraction invaded the gravely injured Kitsun and extracted their energy for Michael to annex. Using the annexed energy, Michael possessed enough energy to face the onught of Tier-3 Guards and Awakened. No more than 500 Awakened and around 200batants at the 3rd Tier were left behind for him to tackle.

    The only issue was that not all Tier-3 Awakened were easy to deal with even with the energy he hoarded.

    Hisbat prowess after fusing with the Elemental Empress was clearly on par with a Mythical Existence. His Soultraits and the Elemental Empress'' Powers allowed him to fight enemies above his Tier without too many difficulties. He could thus be considered a Tier-2 Mythical Lord.

    As for the Kitsun, theirbat prowess was Inferior. It was weaker than the average Awakened at the same Rank and Tier.

    Thunder crackled in the sky, and crimson roots shot out of the ground. The crimson roots coiled around Michael''s leg but quickly caught fire when they came in touch with the mythical fire armor that shrouded him tightly. Nheless, the crimson roots were sturdy enough to hold Michael in ce for a second.

    It was long enough for a bolt of thunder to st down from the sky and travel towards him with a tremendous speed.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed at the course of events. His body glowed golden, and he vanished. A tremendous amount of energy was consumed but Michael used the Elemental Empress'' spatial affinity to jump through space. His understanding of the spatial affinity was minuscule, but it was just enough to warp him three meters through the air.

    He escaped the crimson roots and began to charge into his enemies right after using sixyers of Enhancement on his body to enhance his physical strength. His constitution reached an entirely new level, but this didn''te without a downside. Using Enhancement on himself strained his body quite a lot. One wouldn''t notice the strain too much with one or twoyers of Enhancement, but sixyers of Enhancement were too much to handle for Michael''s body.

    The only reason why his body wasn''t ripped apart due to the sudden increase in Strength and Agility was his high refinement degree. All the work, effort, and money he spent on his body refinement had been worth it. He could increase his Strength and Agility to be on par with another Human at the Peak of the 2nd Tier. That was more than enough to deal with the enemies around him.

    More bolts of lightning burst down from the sky, crimson roots emerged from the ground, and mental attacks struck him heavily. And if that was less, barriers and shields emerged in front of him, trying to block his path, and elemental attacks poured down on him like there was no tomorrow.

    There were even Kitsun Awakened with simr transformation Soultraits like Tiara''s Silvarean Tiger. Michael saw an Awakened transform his inferior physique into that of a Minotaur ¨C to a certain extent at least. The Awakened''sbat prowess skyrocketed, but Michael didn''t give the Kitsun Awakened a chance to finish his transformation.

    Michael released a four-fold enhanced Qi ze Sword toward the Awakened in the middle of his transformation. The attack burst straight through his chest, reaching his heart where the zing mythical fire burned down everything obstructing its path.

    Using the surplus of energy surging through his body, Michael easily controlled the battlefield around him. Exploiting the power of his Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze and the lethality of enhanced Spirit Disturbance, Michael could temporarily weaken Tier-3 Guards before finishing them off with an enhanced Qi ze Sword.

    Michael grew more adept at using the Elemental Empress'' powers with time, but the fights grew increasingly more difficult as well. That was why, whenever he felt a tinge of mental, or physical tiredness, he annexed the lifeforce of those he had left alive with the intention to sap them dry once needed.

    Nheless, Michael''s focus grew weaker as time passed, and the pain in his head intensified. Maintaining the fusion with the Elemental Empress all while using her elements and several Soultraits in an exaggerated manner was far from easy.

    The tendrils of Extraction may not require much of his focus, but that didn''t mean they could be left without supervision.

    Being fused with the Elemental Empress didn''t really increase his focus either. In fact, it was the opposite. Her rage and fury distracted Michael far more than they helped in the battle.

    Thus, the following hours on the battlefield were more of a struggle to stay alive, keep his energy storage filled to the brim, and ensure that his stamina would never run out. As long as he was alive, he could wear down his enemies. Once dead everything would be over¡­and that was not something Michael wanted to happen ¨C obviously.

    All while Michael fought with his life on the line, killing thousands of Kitsun in a matter of hours, his War Rune was churning. The energy influx of everyone he had killed over thest few hours had entered his War Rune, which tried to refine the energy influx as quickly as possible. Michael''s War Rune was refined rapidly, but it would take hours, if not days for all energy influx and energy shares to be digested.

    Unfortunately, Michael didn''t have that much time. He was already in the middle of the final battle.

    He was faced with seven Awakened at the 3rd Tier, two of them being at the Peak of the 3rd Tier. Their Soultraits were too weak to hold a candle against Michael, but their numbers and power were quite high. Using Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze to analyze their attack pattern, Michael slipped through the gaps like a slithering serpent.

    He evaded their attacks with great precision while searching for an opening to attack as well. Manifesting a few ze Swords, he released them without hesitation. The Wyverntooth Spear lunged forward in an attempt to reap a life as well. Unfortunately, his spear was blocked while a series of barriers and shields blocked the ze Swords.

    Moving closer to one of the Low Tier-3 Inferior Awakened, Micheal tried to utilize his knowledge of the Kitsun race''s personality traits to perfection. His tactic worked out more or less. The Peak Tier-3 Inferior Awakened continued to target Michael without caring about his brethren who were nearby. The attacks struck weaker Tier-3 Kitsun heavily, only for Michael to have warped three meters behind the same Kitsun.

    An enhanced Qi ze Sword had manifested in his palm, and it burst forth, piercing straight into the back of the Kitsun, who had just been hit by his own brethren. Michael killed the Kitsun and received another energy influx. However, the number of enemies didn''t seem to decrease.

    On the contrary, the dead Kitsun was immediately reced by two more Kitsun.

    ''Fuck this nonsense¡­ Can''t they just form a line to get killed one by one?'' Michael cursed, gritting his teeth at the arrival of the two Kitsun. They were not Awakened, but Tier-3 Summons. Unfortunately, that did little to improve Michael''s situation.

    The only thing that improved Michael''s mood was the gossiping Kitsun. They had yet to enter closebat against Michael because their superiors were in the middle of the battle, but that didn''t matter. All Michael cared about was the content of their gossip.

    "The Kitsun Lordmanded us to hasten up. The Valyr have already barged past the border watchtower. The other Lords are also on their way here," One of them whispered to hisrade, only for the other Kitsun to growl loudly.

    "We need to finish this bastard quickly! Our settlements cannot fall¡­or we will fall¡­"

    ''The neighboring Lords finally started to move? Why did they take so long, either way?!'' Michael asked himself before his focus moved back to the battle.

    He spent another half an hour struggling to kill a few more Tier-3 Guards, and a few hundred weaker Kitsun. In the meantime, Michael sustained a few injuries as well. The Elemental Empress'' mythical fire armor absorbed the impact of most attacks rather easily, but not everything could be blocked.

    Some attacks were softened but they reached his skin and flesh nheless.

    One of his arms was mangled, leaving Michael wondering whether the bones had just cracked or if they had shattered into countless pieces. All Michael knew was that he had difficulties moving his arm without searing pain shooting up from his shoulder de.

    But the injury was of little concern since the forces of the neighboring Lords arrived atst.

    "The kill stealers have arrived," Michael scoffed.

    "A littlete, but that seems to be normal for those who want to reap the benefits of the hard work of others."

 Chapter 394 Backup

    Chapter 394 Backup

    The thought of getting his prey stolen by the other Lords didn''t sit right with Michael, but he was too tired toin about help.

    He would rather ept some help in thest leg of the final battle against the Kitsun Lord instead of dying against him. His right arm was badly crushed, and his headache was getting worse. Not even absorbing the lifeforce of the Kitsun he had injured before was of much help.

    The lifeforce eased the pain in his head a little bit, but it primarily focused on tending to his wounded arm. Michael''s right arm was hanging down limply. He couldn''t even move it at this point. But even worse was that his fusion with the Elemental Empress was about to dissolve.

    It grew increasingly difficult to focus on their fused state, which was mostly caused by one particr fact; Michael was growing tired and hesitant to charge mindlessly into the masses of powerful Tier-3 Kitsun, while the Elemental Empress was willing to sacrifice her life as long as she could kill as many Kitsun as possible.

    Their wavelength had matched before, but over the course of six hours of battling Michael changed his mind. The instant his right arm was crushed, Michael knew that he couldn''t continue like this. He knew that he would have to retreat if he sustained any more injuries.

    That was why he was d when he first heard about the arrival of the neighboring Lords'' forces. He didn''t know much about the Valyr Lordess and the two other Lords, but what he had learned was more than enough to know that Michael and the three Lords were on the same side; they all hated the Kitsun Lord.

    His information about the Lords and their subjects originated from the Kitsun''s Memory Orbs that Michael had digested before the battle. A few battles between the Valyr and the Kitsun could be seen in the snippets of memories he had digested and they showed how much the Valyr hated the Kitsun race.

    The first time Michael recalled the snippets he thought that the Valyr hated him because the Memory Orbs of the Kitsun he digested made him think that the Kitsun''s memories belonged to him. It had been terrifying.

    Fortunately, they hated not him but the Kitsun, whose memories he digested.

    While thinking about the forces sent by the three Lords, Michael ended up getting distracted. It was only for a quarter of a second, but that was enough for the Awakened opposite him to grasp the opening and strike simultaneously.

    Crimson roots shot out of the ground, locking him on the spot for a quarter of a second. Afterward, a grey dome shrouded him and everyone else in a radius of five meters. Michael couldn''t use the Empress'' elements in the grey dome. It felt like his ess to the elements of the universe had been abruptly cut off.

    The grey dome would disperse a few secondster, but that was more than enough for the Kitsun Awakened to appear in front of Michael and brandish their des.

    Michael used sevenyers of Enhancement on his body to temporarily reinforce his strength. Then he conjured a Qi Sword to cut the roots that had coiled around his legs.

    Since he couldn''t control any elements right now, Michael couldn''t even conjure a cicle. Fortunately, Reinforced Sword Qi was not considered an element in that regard. The same could be said about Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze. They were no natural elements and could be used in the grey dome.

    Michael continued to use Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze to observe his enemies'' movements in great detail. He was pushed back but could prevent sustaining grave injuries for the time being as he dodged the rapidly iing attacks.

    He was just about to unleash the Dome of Extraction and up his game a little to initiate a counterattack as soon as he found an opening when a red sh shot past him.

    A sonorous humming reverberated through the surroundings as a crimson sh cut through the air, severing the head of a nearby Kitsun Awakened.

    The Awakened didn''t even realize what had hit him when his head rolled over the ground.

    A fountain of warm blood gushed through the surroundings, onto a young woman wielding a crimson longsword.

    "Who are you?" Michael asked subconsciously even though he had already a fair inkling of who the unknown woman was. The memories of the Valyr race were still crystal clear in his mind.

    The woman stared at Michael with a deep frown. Her darkish-red eyes locked with Michael''s dark eyes. They widened in surprise as if she realized something.

    "Wait, you''re not a Valyr?" She asked.

    Michael was momentarily stunned. He looked at the unknown woman and raised an eyebrow.

    The woman looked quite like a human woman if not for various indicators suggesting otherwise. She had red skin that matched almost perfectly to her red steel armor. A ck Morningstar tail grew out of her tailbone and zing mes reced most of her ck hair. Two short ck horns and a long purplish horn jut from her forehead, drawing lots of attention to them.

    However, the most impressive was the bloody-red leathery wings that the woman spread out proudly.

    "Do I look like one of you?" Michael asked after he analyzed the woman''s appearance for a moment.

    Now the woman observed him intently for a few seconds. zing mes coated Michael''s body, but the skin beneath his mes was not red. He didn''t have any horns either, let alone wings or a Morningstar tail.

    "Not really¡­" The woman answered, pushing past Michael to slice through a Tier-3 Awakened with ease.

    Her movements were highly efficient and pleasant to the eye. She moved gracefully without any unnecessary actions. Her actions made Michael wonder when he would be able to find a high-rankedbat technique suitable for him.

    ''As long as it''s not the Wicked Spear Arts, I''ll be fine with anything of decent quality,'' Michael mused before he conjured an enhanced Qi Sword that shot past the unknown woman.

    The head of three Peak Tier-2 Guards burst apart, attracting the unknown woman''s attention. She looked back at Michael with a tinge of envy in her eyes.

    "Looks like you have a good Soultrait, stranger," The woman said, not even trying to hide her envy, "We''re also attacking the same bastard, so how about we fight together for a while?"

    Michael raised an eyebrow, but he wasn''t against teaming up with the unknown woman. He was already quite tired. Teaming up with someone as powerful as this young woman didn''t seem like a bad idea.

    "My name is Michael. You must belong to one of the three neighboring territories. Seems like you got my note," Michael said lightly as he continued conjuring enhanced Qi Swords to throw at the enemies around them.

    "That was you? Interesting," The woman mused, feeling embarrassed that she hadn''t figured it out sooner, "I''m Zira, the daughter of the Valyr Lordess."

    "Nice meeting you. But let''s stop chit-chatting for the time being. These sadistic disgusts won''t wait for us to finish our chat," Michael said, pointing at the Peak Tier-3 Awakened in front of them with his unscathed arm.

    The grey dome dispersed, allowing Michael to use the Elemental Empress'' affinities once again. This time it hurt a lot more to use her affinities, but Michael tried to maintain his fused state with the Empress a little longer.

    ["Now that reinforcement has arrived we can focus on killing everyone. Calm down a little bit and follow my guidance. I will make sure that we survive and kill the Kitsun Lord. Just trust me and believe in your own power!"]

    Michael tried to talk to the Elemental Empress and motivate her a little bit, but that was not as efficient as he had hoped to be. The splitting pain in his head eased a little and it was a bit easier to use the Empress'' affinities once again, but the Empress was about to lose her patience.

    They had to hurry, otherwise, the Elemental Empress would wreak havoc in the fused state and Michael didn''t know what would happen to him then.

    "I like the way you''re thinking, Michael. Let''s kill those disgusting bastards!" Zira apuded with a tinge of excitement in her voice.

    She turned back to the enemies and changed her posture. The enchantments all over Zira''s Artifacts began to glow as she activated them. In the next moment, she burst forward and turned into a sh.

    Her steps were nimble and extremely fast. She left behind a trail of mes on the ground as she moved and cut through her opponents, ignoring the Soultraits that were activated and released upon her.

    A weak shimmer coated Zira''s red skin. It covered her entire body, but Michael couldn''t pinpoint what exactly the shimmer did at first.

    Only after he watched her for a few seconds did he realize what she was doing.

    ''Her Soultrait absorbs a portion of the iing attacks and turns them into energy. That''s great¡­if not for the horrible conversion rate. Is that a 2-Star Soultrait? No. It''s probably a 1-Star Soultrait.''

    Michael couldn''t quite understand why Zira focused on her Soultrait almost obsessively. She endangered her life for the sake of using her Soultrait in battle. It didn''t make sense for her to use the Soultrait and jump into her enemies'' attacks. After all, she still sustained injuries and barely got any energy back in return.

    Michael was pretty sure that the energy consumption to maintain her Soultrait was higher than the energy she received from the iing attacks.

    All she gained was injuries and a loss of energy. Going by her performance, Zira shouldn''t even bother using her Soultrait, in the first ce.

    However, watching her fight desperately using her Soultrait and recalling the envy in her eyes when he used the enhanced Qi Sword, Michael realized something.

    ''No matter how great your innate talent is¡­Soultraits are still the core of yourbat prowess.''

    Some people grew powerful by relying on unique techniques and their tireless efforts not to fall behind the truly powerful. However, they were fated to never surpass those with excellent Soultraits. It had been their destiny to awaken a low-ranked Soultrait and to stay beneath the truly gifted.

    But what if someone with the powers to change fate existed? Someone with the powers to grant and strengthen Soultraits?

    ''Creating my own army of hard-working Adventurers who''d been forsaken by fate¡­.that doesn''t sound too bad.''

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    It would be great if you could leave a review as well. Every bit helps :D

 Chapter 395 Cloud Domain

    Chapter 395 Cloud Domain

    After the reinforcement of the three neighboring Lords arrived, Michael began to use bits of his focus to store away the corpses of those he and his people had killed.

    He couldn''t be sure how amiable the other Lords and their forces would be and if they would allow him to take away the prey that was rightfully his. Thus, Michael stored the corpses whenever he retracted the tendrils of Extraction that had anchored in the corpses of those he killed before.

    Paving a way through the rows of enemies with Zira allowed him to store the corpses of the Guards and Awakened killed through Mika''s duplicated heirloom arrows as well.

    Michael helped clean up the battlefield, which allowed Zira and the other Valyr to use more space to fight the Kitsun. The force of the Valyr Lordess was only a little bit over 1,000 ze Warriors and Awakened, but almost all of them were either at the Peak of the 2nd Tier or already at the 3rd Tier. Theirbat prowess was several times higher than the Kitsun as well, granting them the power they required to fight up to five Kitsun simultaneously.

    As for Zira, herbat prowess was even higher. She could be considered an Elite as herbat prowess was above average, even though her Soultrait was more of a burden than a useful utensil.

    Watching Zira''sbat style demonstrated clearly that Michael relied too much on his Soultraits. He could be much stronger if he learned a proper martial arts technique and a movement technique. If learned to a high degree, the techniques could be adjusted to boost their potency with the use of his Soultraits. This would further elevate hisbat prowess.

    "Where is the Kitsun Lord?" Zira asked loudly, her grumbling voice traveling through the rows behind her.

    The forces of the Valyr Lordess had caught up with Zira, and they fought violently, using unique movement techniques that left behind trails of fire to elerate their movement speed.

    None of the Valyr answered Zira. They were busy dealing with the Kitsun in front of them. The forces of the two other neighboring Lords were doing the same. However, they attacked from different sides to ensure that they had the Kitsun Lord surrounded.

    Michael had been trying to use the Empress'' spatial affinity to warp behind a few Kitsun Awakened to kill them while the Valyr distracted them. Unfortunately, it seemed like the neighboring Lords used a device to block all spatial fluctuations to ensure that the Kitsun Lord couldn''t flee anymore.

    Therefore, Michael was forced to stay near the frontlines where he would conjure enhanced Qi ze Swords to kill all Awakened in his sight. He would then use the remnants of energy left behind inside the Awakened corpses to store them away.

    The Valyr, who had been fighting the Awakened only for Michael to steal their prey from right under their noses, could only re daggers at Michael. They didn''t dare to say anything because their Lord''s daughter respected the unknown stranger.

    But Zira''s respect was not the only reason why the Valyr decided to respect Michael. They had seen the mountains of corpses as they joined the battle and witnessed the tremendous power Michael''s attacks harbored. Even if some of them were confident at blocking one or two of them, they wouldn''t be proud of this achievement. After all, it was easy to tell that Michael was merely close to the Mid-rank of the 2nd Tier. Meanwhile, those who could block Michael''s attack were all at the 3rd Tier.

    "Haro Ki is in the center. He is currently eradicating the forces of the¡­I think they were called Zynur," Michael said, his eyes shimmering in a silverish-golden sheen.

    Michael wanted to kill the Kitsun Lord, but he didn''t think that it was necessary to rush anything. Now that the reinforcement of the three neighboring Lords had arrived, Michael could move a little bit slower. He had been fighting for six hours against more than 20,000 Kitsun and killed thousands of them. Thus he decided to slow down a little and let the neers do some hard work too. Instead of rushing anything, Michael rather acted as a thief to kill all Awakened before anyone else could do so.

    Killing all Awakened provided far more long-term benefits than rushing through thest forces of the Kitsun Lord just to struggle to kill the Kitsun Lord.

    Haro Ki might as well struggle to fight against the forces of the neighboring Lords and tire out before Michael would deal the finishing blow.

    "The Zynur are getting killed? These idiots! Have they already forgotten that the Kitsun Lord''s Soultrait is highly effective against them?!?" Zira cursed aloud.

    She kicked the ground beneath her and propelled herself high into the air. Right after she reached the highest point in her jump, Zira looked around to pinpoint the location of the Kitsun Lord and the Zynur''s forces. And it did nto take her long to spot them on the other side of the battlefield.

    The forces of the Zynur Lord could barely be seen. Everything was covered in a humongous cloud; the same cloud that formed the lower body of the Kitsun race. It was just that the humongous ck cloud was¡­humongous.

    It enveloped the majority of the Zynur Lord''s forces and continued to expand at the Kitsun Lord''s will. The ck cloud devoured the oxygen and origin energy in its surroundings, restraining the use of Soultraits, the ability to breathe while being caught inside the smoke, and it grew increasingly more difficult for those trapped inside to see farther than three meters through the haze of the ck cloud.

    Pinpointing the location of the Kitsun Lord was extremely difficult and time didn''t y in favor of the Kitsun Lord''s enemies. But they could at least roughly gauge his location. The Kitsun Lord was definitely somewhere in the middle of the humongous ck cloud. After all, he couldmand the cloud to release back energy and oxygen to keep his energy storage replenished and his oxygen level at afortable level.

    "We have to kill him before it''s toote! If we allow him to keep expanding his Cloud Domain we won''t be able to kill him this time either!!" Zira shouted.

    Michael didn''t say anything. He rather listened to the other Valyr nearby, who murmured to himself, "Will we ever be able to kill this monster? How manyrades will his Cloud Domain kill before we can finally stop him!? Too many people died already¡­"

    The Valyr seemed to be in a mid-life crisis as he saw the ck cloud expanding on the horizon at the other side of the battlefield. His heart skipped a beat, and the same could be said about the other Valyr. Their fighting spirit and morale plummeted as they witnessed how rapidly the Cloud Domain expanded.

    At first, Michael was a little confused. He couldn''t understand why everyone would be that worried about the ck cloud. However, it quickly dawned upon him that the ck cloud ¨C the Kitsun Lord''s Cloud Domain ¨C was a horrifying issue for people other than Michael.

    If one couldn''t find and kill the Kitsun Lord in time, the ck cloud would suffocate everybody slowly but surely. Even if one could find the Kitsun Lord, one wouldn''t be able to conjure anything from the surroundings that were sucked dry of energy. The ck cloud would devour the conjured object''s energy before it could be used against the Kitsun Lord, either way.

    Yet, the Kitsun Lord could control the ck cloud at will. He could do as he pleased since he never encountered an enemy capable of destroying his Cloud Domain. It was the perfect tool against the masses of enemies that threatened him in the past and the present.

    The Cloud Domain was the sole reason why the Kitsun Lord could expand his territory so quickly, and why he had never been defeated even though his subordinates and Awakened were ranked Inferior in terms ofbat prowess.

    Not even the races ranked Common, or Elite in terms ofbat prowess could do anything against him.

    That was the true extent of power; The power only he, the Kitsun Lord, possessed!!

    "If you can promise to give me the corpse of the Kitsun Lord, and everyone I''ve killed on the battlefield, I can give you a helping hand," Michael said while terminating his fusion with the Elemental Empress.

    The mind-splitting headache had been too much to endure after several hours of being fused. Therefore, Michael and the Elemental Empress decided to end it. Slowly the Mythical Fire Armor Set detached from his body. It morphed back into the Elementa Empress'' shape right in front of him.

    Observing how the fire coating Michael reshaped itself to turn into the Elemental Empress, Zira was momentarily stunned. Shepletely forgot about the Elemental Empress, and the original appearance of the unknown Lord, who had infiltrated the Kitsun Lord''s territory not even three days ago.

    The Elemental Empress was exhausted, and her head slumped down on Michael''s shoulder where she decided to lean on for some time.

    Michael was at least as exhausted as the Elemental Empress, but he couldn''t allow himself a break just yet. He had to continue even if it was not for much longer.

    "His corpse? I don''t think my mother cares about his corpse. As long as we kill the Kitsun Lord with your help, we can even give you the bodies of the Kitsun we''ve killed. I don''t think the Zynur or Laprix care about the Kitsun''s bodies as long as Haro Ki dies a miserable death!" Zira rolled her eyes.

    Wasn''t it obvious that the death of the Kitsun Lord was a thousandfold more important than some disgusting Kitsun corpses? The Valyr had no use for them. Their only use was their death. Unfortunately, the Cloud Domain was not that easy to bypass no matter how Inferior the Kitsun race''sbat prowess ought to be.

    But Michael broke into a vibrant smile contrary to Zira''s expectations of seeing him argue.

    "That''s a deal! Don''t disappoint meter," Michael said, draining the energy within every Kitsun he had invaded with tendrils of Extraction.

    From one moment to the next, Michael''s body began overflowing with energy.

    Then he applied Enhancement on Extraction several times.

    "I will give you guys only one opportunity. You better take it¡­cause I''m dead-tired already!"

    **

    [A/N: The author is back in the game. We are slowly nearing the end of the war against the treacherous Kitsun Lord. The arrival of the three Lords'' reinforcement changed the dynamic drastically. Will the Kitsun Lord struggle to fight, or will he sumb to the power of his enemies? How much stronger will Michael grow after the war?]

 Chapter 396 Final Blow

    Chapter 396 Final Blow

    Once sixyers of Enhancement had been applied to the Symbol of Extraction, Michael utilized Extraction immediately.

    He created tens of tendrils of Extraction that were as thick as his upper arm. The tendrils of Extraction shot toward the strongest Kitsun that had already been injured while the rest shot into the surrounding area where they tapped into the streams of ambient energy.

    Michael didn''t show any mercy as he willed the tendrils of Extraction to annex the streams of ambient energy in the surroundings and both the energy and lifeforce within his enemies.

    The lifeforce soothed his splitting headache and eased the pain in his right arm, while the extracted origin energy was annexed and put to good use by conjuring more tendrils of Extraction.

    Feeling a tremendous amount of energy surging through every cell in his body, Michael began to stride toward the ever-expanding Cloud Domain of the Kitsun Lord.

    He merely turned to Zira for a second to give her a short notice, "My Soultrait allows me to devour the energy in my enemies and surroundings. Don''t think too much about the restrictions created by the Cloud Domain and give your best to kill this piece of shit."

    Zira stared at him in shock, her mouth wide open. She thought that Michael''s Soultrait had been something otherworldly, only to realize that her naive mind had fooled her.

    Michael didn''t possess only one powerful Soultrait¡­but multiple!

    The envy in her eyes intensified as realization sunk in. There was nothing she could do about that. Zira had always been jealous of those born with a great innate gift, and powerful Soultraits. Her innate talent wasn''t bad, but it wasn''t good enough to allow her to outweigh the disadvantage of possessing a trashy Soultrait.

    "...Alright. We''ll pay attention," Zira mumbled once she got back to her senses.

    But by the time she replied, Michael had already walked past her, his golden tendrils infiltrating those who had been injured by her and her people.

    Michael didn''t leave much behind once his tendrils of Extraction brushed past his enemies. But that was only given. Extraction was a 6-Star Soultrait with sixyers of Enhancement.

    However, Michael didn''t bother sparing a nce to the enemies around him anymore. He focused on annexing as much energy as possible to apply two moreyers on Enhancement before he reached the Cloud Domain.

    The Cloud Domain was evenrger than Michael expected. It was more than 50 meters in height and easily crossed the majority of the battlefield by now. That meant the Cloud Domain was more than a kilometer in width and length at this point.

    ''Now I understand why everyone was so worried about the Cloud Domain. This is truly deadly. If not for Extraction, I would have been forced to run away.''

    Those with Soultraits and Willpower far stronger than the Kitsun Lord would be able to use their energy to use their Soultraits, but the Kitsun Lord was at the Peak of the 3rd Tier and he was about to evolve to a Higher Lifeform by advancing to Tier-4. His Willpower couldn''t be weak, and his Soultrait was certainly on the stronger side as well.

    Therefore, nobody had been able to defeat the Kitsun Lord until now. That was about to change.

    "Follow me!" Michaelmanded Zira and the Valyr following her.

    "Hold tightly," He said to the Elemental Empress, who tightened her grasp over his arm.

    Michael didn''t look back at Zira and the other Valyr to see if they were following him, but dashed straight toward the Cloud Domain without any hesitation. The tendrils of Extraction retracted and Michael used the energy he gained to release the Dome of Extraction.

    The Dome of Extraction was activated immediately. It devoured the energy that maintained the Cloud Domain and freed the oxygen that had been held hostage by the ck cloud.

    The Dome of Extraction could only extract the energy of the Cloud Domain wherever they touched. Thus, the Cloud Domain could still expand even though Michael began to extract it from within. But that was not a problem.

    Michael began to expand the Dome of Extraction using the energy he drained from the humongous ck cloud. This resulted in a pleasant chain reaction. First, the Dome of Extraction continued to expand rapidly. But most important was the second effect wherein the Cloud Domain stopped expanding.

    Deprived of some of its energy, the Cloud Domain was forced to subside the energy it had just lost, resulting in stagnant growth. The moment Zira and the Valyr noticed this phenomenon they followed Michael''s trails and charged inside the Cloud Domain.

    At first, they didn''t believe that Michael would be capable of creating an opening to strike the Kitsun Lord, but he proved them wrong ¨C fortunately. After they hesitated for a quarter of a second, they pushed inside the Cloud Domain and reached Michael''s Dome of Extraction. The golden dome continued to expand, repelling the Cloud Domain all while devouring its energy rapidly.

    At some point, Michael noticed that thousands of Kitsun ended up getting caught in the Cloud Domain as well. He sensed them and a snort escaped his lips. Not even the Kitsun could escape the same fate as their enemies. They required oxygen to survive and suffocated in the Cloud Domain.

    Only the Kitsun Lord could survive in his own humongous domain.

    "If you''re already dying, you might as well turn into my War Rune''s nutrition," Michael said before he invaded the inside of the suffocating Kitsun with threads of Extraction. The threads of Extraction protruded from the edges of the Dome of Extraction, and invaded the enemy, draining them slowly until death was all that was left.

    Michael was not sure how much time passed before they reached the center of the Cloud Domain. However, once they did, his Dome of Extraction had reached a radius of more than a hundred meters. That was not enough space for 1000 Valyr to fight against the Kitsun Lord. But it was enough space for the Valyr to move in and out of the Cloud Domain without having to fear dying from theck of oxygen.

    The Valyr moved in small groups of 50 members and began to initiate powerful attacks. They took Haro Ki by surprise as the Kitsun Lord didn''t expect anyone to be able to overpower his Cloud Domain.

    He was already aware that the unknown Lord could repel the weakest state of his ck cloud, but he never believed that his Cloud Domain could be repelled and devoured that easily as well. The Cloud Domain was his strongest power; an ability that required the sacrifice of 5,000 Kitsun to be manifested in the first ce.

    This ability had never failed him. In fact, it always exceeded his expectations!

    The Cloud Domain once reaped more than a hundred thousand lives, including the life of a Lord he fought for months beforeprehending the true power of the Cloud Domain.

    It was not a power one could take lightly because the Cloud Domain could cover entire battlefields once nurtured.

    The Kitsun Lord couldn''t believe that a power surpassing the Cloud Domain existed in this part of the Origin Expanse. He had never seen anyone with a power like that. It didn''t make sense, even less that the user of this power was a mere Lord between the Low and Mid-rank of the 2nd Tier.

    How powerful must a Tier-2 Lord''s Soultrait be to surpass the true power of his Cloud Domain ¨C manifested by a Lord who was just about to cross the border to the 4th Tier?! What was going on? Who was this guy? And why did he have to appear just before he evolved to a Higher Lifeform? Couldn''t he have waited...just a few more days?

    That was not fair...

    Michael had no idea how depressed and furious the Kitsun Lord was. He didn''t really care either way.

    All Michael cared about was maintaining the 100-meter radius of the Dome of Extraction while continuing to extract more and more energy to prepare for his final attack as well.

    He was certain that the Valyr could deal with the Kitsun Lord now that the Cloud Domain posed no lethal threat anymore. Nheless, Michael wanted to be the one to kill the Kitsun Lord. For one, it was a part of revenge that he owed his subordinates who died in the Elementals Cave. But there was also the vengeance he promised the Elemental Empress.

    Michael wanted to show the Elemental Empress that he would always keep his promise and that she didn''t have to worry about getting disappointed. He would make sure that this would never happen!

    Following that, Michael manifested a huge cicle Sword. It was more than ten meters long and two meters wide. Right after the cicle Sword manifested, Michael shrouded it with Reinforced Sword Qi.

    However, instead of using the Reinforced Sword Qi as he usually did, Michael used the Qi topress the cicle Sword as much as possible. The ten-meter-long sword waspressed into a one meter long de. Once the cicle Sword waspressed, Michael used cicle once again to shroud thepressed Qi cicle Sword with anotheryer of cicle. Following that, the cicle Sword expanded to its former size, only for Michael to use Reinforced Sword Qi once again topress the cicle Sword a second time.

    Michael repeated this cycle several times all while hoarding more energy. He watched as the Valyr inflicted several deep gashes all over the Kitsun Lord''s body. But in exchange for inflicting injuries, the Kitsun Lord was given a handful of openings to kill the Valyr opposite him.

    The Kitsun Lord killed almost 50 Valyr while Michael prepared his final attack. That was a lot more than Michael expected, especially since thebat prowess of almost all Kitsun was ranked Inferior.

    Once the cicle Sword had beenpressed over and over again and coated in severalyers of Reinforced Sword Qi it looked like a refined de of a humongous two-meter-long broadsword. The ice shone like polished steel, which glowed even brighter as Michael used the majority of his hoarded energy to apply sevenyers of Enhancement on both the Symbol of Reinforced Sword Qi and cicle to finish up the finalyer of the highlypressed enhanced Qi cicle de.

    The energy utilized to create this attack was more than most Peak Tier-3 Awakened could hold in their storages, and the time was more than enough to create numerous killing attacks. However, Michael didn''t allow anyone to rush him, not even the mind-throbbing headache that had been haunting him for quite a while now.

    Michae raised his hand slowly. He retracted the Dome of Extraction in one go before using the entire energy he had just retrieved to supply Extraction. He coated the highlypressed enhanced Qi cicle de with the Power of Extraction.

    In the next instant, his hand shot down in a straight line and the Qi cicle de burst forth.

    "Get out of the way!!" Michael shouted at the top of his lungs as his vision blurred.

    Drained of energy, all Michael could witness was the Qi cicle de cutting through everything in its way.

    It froze everything in its path. The zing trails left behind by the Valyr extinguished at once, and even the ming hair of the Valyr flickered violently in an attempt to survive the freezing hell that had descended all around them.

    The highlypressed enhanced Qi cicle de released menacing pressure all of a sudden, just before Michael used thest bits of energy and willpower within him to use Spirit Disturbance on the Kitsun Lord.

    The Kitsun Lord roared loudly, trying to use Cloud Domain against the Valyr around him to push them away and move aside. But before he could even attempt to do so, multiple new wounds appeared all over their bodies. A quarter of a secondter the cicle de arrived.

    The tip cut straight through the center of the Kitsun Lord''s chest. He couldn''t even resist anymore.

    In the next moment all the Valyr around the Kitsun Lord could see was blood, followed right behind by pure terror stered on the Kitsun Lord''s face.

    "That can''t be¡­"

    Suddenly the Valyr screamed out in pain. The cicle de cut through the Kitsun Lord and sliced him in two right before bursting apart, releasing a terrifying amount of highly enhanced freezing mist.

    The freezing mist shrouded the vicinity at once. It was just about to freeze a few Peak Tier-2 Valyr and even three injured Low-rank Common Tier-3 Awakened to death when Michael retracted the freezing mist more as an instinctive move rather than a nned decision.

    Right after, he slumped to the ground, his back drenched in sweat. Breathing heavily, all Michael could feel was the energy influx of the Kitsun Lord reaching his War Rune. It was much stronger than any energy influx he had ever obtained before.

    ''Maybe I will reach the Mid-rank of Tier-2 once I''ve digested everythi¨C...'' That was all Michael could think of before the world around him turned dark.

 Chapter 397 Gift

    Chapter 397 Gift

    Several hours passed before Michael regained consciousness. He still felt like his head was about to burst apart, but his physical condition was much better than before. Even his right arm didn''t hurt as much as before.

    While pushing his t hands against the soft ground beneath him, Michael felt that something was odd. He forced his eyes open just to realize that he was lying on a mattress inside arge tent.

    ''How did I end up here?'' Michael wondered before he noticed that the taming bond of the Elemental Empress gently tugged at him.

    ["Where are you?"] He asked the Empress immediately.

    After taking a good nce around the tent, Michael could tell that he was still in the Savannah region. Given the smell that hung in the air, he couldn''t be far away from the border settlement of the Kitsun Lord either.

    ["I''ming!!"] The Empress responded a moment before she barged through the entrance of the tent.

    She threw herself against him and hugged Michael tightly.

    "Thank you¡­thank you for taking revenge for my people!!" The Elemental Empress began to sob bitterly, her hug even tighter than before.

    Michael was just about to tell the Elemental Empress that he took revenge for his people as well, but before he could do so, he saw Zira, another Valyr that looked like an older version of Zira, and two unknown men enter the tent.

    "You woke up faster than expected," Zira winked at Michael, who raised an eyebrow.

    Zira''s look-alike stepped forward with a thin smile on her face. She held her hands together and her lips parted as she greeted him. "We''re d that you woke up. My name is Valkyria, but most call me the Valyr Lordess. You must be Michael. The Elemental Empress told us about your actions. You are very brave!"

    "...Or foolish," one of the men next to the Valyr Lordess added. His physique looked somewhat humanoid, but it looked like his body was made out of fluids. Michael saw the liquid flow all over his body ceaselessly. He had a reptilian head with long ears and razor-sharp teeth. He had spikes jutting out from his spine and extraordinary long legs that didn''t quite fit his proportions.

    He was a member of the Laprix race.

    His remark earned the man a frown from the Valyr Lordess, who tried not to roll her eyes at him. "He is the sole reason why we could defeat the Kitsun Lord. Even if you think his actions were foolish, you should keep your mouth shut!"

    The man, the Lord of the Laprix race in the Savannah region, was about to respond to the Valyr Lordess'' outburst, but the Zynur Lord standing next to him held him back.

    "She is right. Haro Ki was about to advance to the next Tier and be a Higher Lifeform. If not for this young man''s actions ¨C foolish or not ¨C we would have much more trouble defeating the Kitsun Lord. Our losses would have been too high to recover from," The Zynur Lord said before he turned back to Michael.

    The Zynur Lord had a silver metallic body. His appearance resembled a werewolf with silver metallic fur covering his skin that was also silver. Additionally, he had silver wings as well, but they looked too heavy to fly around. If Michael was not wrong, the wings were merely decoration. At least, at the Zynur Lord''s current level. Maybe he could learn how to fly once he reached a higher Tier.

    The Zynur Lord''s eyes were ocean-blue and quiterge. They stared at Michael intently as he approached the young Lord.

    "You seem to be in pain. Let me help you a little," The Zynur Lord said, pressing his cold metallic w upon Michael''s chest.

    Michael flinched and was about to pull back when the pain in his head and arm disappeared. Crackling noises rang out from his arm as the bones in his shattered right arm were rejoined and realigned. The sounds were far from pleasant, but Michael could clearly feel that his broken arm was healed, so he ignored his instinct telling him to pull back and stay vignt.

    The Elemental Empress eyed the Zynur Lord warily, ready to strike the moment the Zynur Lord did something foolish and tried to harm her master. However, that time never came. The Zynur Lord fixed Michael''s arm and stepped back right after.

    "Your arm is fine now. As for your headache¡­fighting for several hours the way you did must have drained your mental power beyond its limit. Resting a day or two would be the best for you. The headache should be no more after you''ve rested well. If it continues to bother you, just rest a little longer."

    "Thanks," Michael replied, d that someone was there to heal him.

    He didn''t really want to travel home with a broken arm. After all, Michael had no idea what awaited him on his way back home. Hopefully not much.

    ["By the way. Where is Stinger?"] Michael asked the Elemental Empress via telepathy. The Elemental Empress turned to him and smiled lightly.

    ["Sun Demos told me that Tiara and the Forest Elves might need the Golden Stinger Wasp. I am not sure what happened, but it seemed important. So I sent it back home."] She informed him.

    "You canmunicate with Sun Demos?" Michael blurted aloud, staring at his second tamed subject in surprise. He didn''t know that the taming bonds worked like that.

    Michael had been certain that Sun Demos and the Elemental Empress could onlymunicate with him telepathically, not with each other but that didn''t seem to be the case.

    ["After our fusion I was able to hear Sun Demos'' voice. He was worried when he sensed through the bond that you copsed. I reassured him that everything is fine and that there is no need to worry. That was a good thing, right?"]

    The Elemental Empress sounded worried. For a moment, she feared if she had done something to irk her master. Luckily, Michael just scoffed in response. He found it hard to believe that the Elemental Empress was the same as before. It seemed like having taken her revenge removed the heavy weight she had been shouldering since the death of her people.

    The Elemental Empress was finally free. She could do whatever she wanted without having to fear getting tortured, or that Michael would chain her to some wall until the end of time. Michael would never do something like that. That was something the Elemental Empress figured out during thest few days.

    Michael would rather jump into dangers head-first than let his people sacrifice themselves instead.

    Michael was just about to ask the Elemental Empress why Tiara and the others needed Stinger''s help, but he noticed the confusion in the eyes of the three Lords and Zira. Thus, he changed the topic.

    "How long was I asleep?" He asked first.

    "You have been out for almost 24 hours. But that was to be expected. The attacks you released were far above your Tier. I don''t quite understand how you did it, but you cut the Kitsun Lord in half while you''re only a Low-Mid Tier-2 Lord. Yourbat prowess must be ranked Mythical if not higher!" Zira answered, trying to hide the envy in her voice.

    However, her eyes gave her away and Michael noticed the jealous gaze directed at her. The Valyr Lordess scolded her daughter and pulled her back in the next second.

    "Putting aside your monstrousbat prowess, we would like to thank you properly for attacking the Kitsun Lord. Others would have avoided the Kitsun Lord and his territory until they grew a little stronger. But not you. You attacked the Kitsun Lord even though you are only a Lord at the 2nd Tier. That is why we felt obliged to thank you properly, not only as the Lords but also in the name of everyone you rescued from the Kitsun Lord''s disgusting clutches!" The Valyr Lordess said to Michael, handing him a small satchel.

    Michael epted the satchel and eyed it in his hands. After a few seconds, he channeled some energy inside the satchel. His eyes widened in shock and he looked at the three Lords with great surprise.

    "A non-Artifact storage device?! It has so much space as well¡­wow¡­" Michael''s eyes shone excitedly. He had a Spatial Pouch Artifact, and the War Rune''s storage space. However, theirbined storage space was at most a quarter of the non-Artifact storage satchel.

    ''They stored all corpses inside the satchel as well¡­even the Kitsun Lord''s corpse is inside. Amazing!''

    "Since you know the rarity of the satchel, we hope that you''re satisfied with it. A quarter of the annual funds of all our territories was used to purchase the satchel for you. That is the least we can do to show our gratitude. Your help was far more important than you might realize!" The Zynur Lord gave him a short bow to express his gratitude.

    He wasn''t even trying to hide that the Kitsun Lord would have caused much more problems if not for Michael. Instead, he remained truthful ¨C to a certain extent.

    ''Spending a quarter of your annual funds is much better than losing your territory against the Kitsun Lord. That is quite¡­obvious,'' Michael thought, suppressing a light chuckle.

    Michael had never nned on demanding anything from the three Lords ¨C other than the Kitsun corpses ¨C but if they were willing to gift him something, why wouldn''t he ept the present?

    "It can be essed by everything, so that is a little downside. But you can also use that to your advantage," Zira added, earning herself res from the three Lords.

    But Michael just nodded, "That''s the downside of non-artifact storage devices. It''s normal that they don''t have a seal."

    "Is there something else we can help you with?" The Valyr Lordess inquired, suddenly feeling pressured because of her own daughter''s continued stupidity.

    Michael thought about it for a moment and tilted his head. There was something he wanted to talk about, but he was not sure how the three Lords would react. The three Lords seemed amiable with each other, but he didn''t know what would happen now that theirmon enemy had been killed.

    But at the end of the day, Michael had to know the answer to the question that shed through his mind over and over again,

    "What are you nning to do with the Kitsun Lord''s territory?"

    **

    **

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 Chapter 398 Nightmare Horse

    Chapter 398 Nightmare Horse

    "What are you nning to do with the Kitsun Lord''s territory?"

    Michael''s question was answered with silence. The silencested too long for his liking. It made him feel that he shouldn''t have asked this question. The difort within him grew even more when the three Lords looked at each other for a few seconds only to return their attention back to him. Their intense gazes locked on him, leaving him confused and unsure what they wanted.

    ''They don''t expect me to answer my own question, do they?'' Michael wondered as awkwardness filled the entire tent.

    "Whatever you guys are nning to do... How about you stay out of the Untamed Jungle? I don''t really want to fight with the three of you for the Untamed Jungle. That doesn''t feel right after we fought together against the Kitsun Lord."

    Even though he would have preferred to receive an answer from them, the three Lords looked reluctant to state their opinion. They knew that Michael worked the hardest to kill the Kitsun Lord. Their help was nothing more than a little push and clean-up.

    "That''s all you wa¨C..." Zira asked, just to get interrupted by her own mother. She covered Zira''s mouth with her hand and smiled thankfully at Michael.

    "Forests like the Untamed Jungle are not really one of our most favored environments to be honest with you. We wouldn''t want to infiltrate the Untamed Jungle, either way," The Valyr Lordess revealed with a genuine and vibrant smile on her lips.

    "We will split the Kitsun Lord''s territory in the Savannah region amongst the three of us. You can keep the Untamed Jungle for yourself," The Zynur Lord said before adding, "Of course, I hope we can stay in contact and establish some trading routes. If you want to nurture the Elemental Empress properly, she will have to use her surplus energy to create more Elemental Cores. By then, you should give her a portion of your territory to create her own society. Or merge her society with your people ¨C though that won''t be too easy."

    "Either way, with the Elemental Empress by your side, your territory will naturally produce elemental crystals and elemental seeds. If you ever want to trade them, send me a message. I will offer you a good price," The Zynur Lord suggested, retrieving amunication crystal from his storage space.

    He handed themunication crystal to Michael and smiled lightly ¨C which looked extremely vicious on the Zynur''s face. The Valyr Lordess and the Laprix Lord didn''t hesitate to retrieve a pair ofmunication crystals as well. They said something simr to the Zynur Lord and handed Michael one of theirmunication crystals.

    Michael didn''t really care about the Savannah region. He was already busy enough with his small settlement in the Untamed Jungle. However, trading with the three Lords sounded rather nice.

    Now that the Kitsun Lord was dead, Michael and the three Lords felt much better. Michael didn''t have to worry about his territory getting attacked by the sly and treacherous Kitsun, while the three Lords wouldn''t have to worry about getting annihted. The tension the three Lords had felt for thest few years finally subsided, reced by freedom and the open question about their territories'' future development.

    They could expand their territory quite a bit as well!

    ''Didn''t I forget to mention something? What did I want to say?'' Michael scratched the back of his head while trying to recall the fact..

    "Oh, I just thought of another condition," He said when it finally hit him. The three Lords frowned in unison but Michael waved his hand, telling the Lords to calm down a little bit, "It''s nothing major. I just want to make sure that we''re on the same side about this point. I want to get rid of all Kitsun. So, none of us will be allowed to turn the Kitsun into their ves, or anything like that¡­just kill them!!"

    Michael didn''t want to give the Kitsun an opportunity to survive, increase their poption rapidly, and potentially revolt against the Lords, killing them, and creating their own native territory where Lords and Awakened of the Kitsun race could spawn and grow strong enough to manifest their War Rune.

    To make sure that no more Kitsun like Haro Ki ever saw the light of the day again, they would have to eliminate all Kitsun.

    But that was not the sole reason Michael wanted to get rid of the Kitsun. It was also for revenge; the Elemental Empress'' revenge.

    The death of the Kitsun Lord eased the Empress'' anger quite a bit. However, there were still remnants of fury burning deep inside her. The remnants would only disperse with the disappearance of the Kitsun from the Untamed Jungle and the Savannah region, wiping out their existence from thepletely.

    The Lords sighed in relief and epted Michael''s condition. Even without him saying anything, the three Lords wouldn''t have allowed the Kitsun to stay alive. That race was simply too evil to be offered a second chance at survival. Every single one of them had to die and the problem had to be plucked straight from the root.

    Michael was d that the three Lords thought like him when it came to the Kitsun. He wouldn''t have to worry about that anymore.

    All that was left for him to do was to remove the Kitsun from the Untamed Jungle and everything would be alright.

    After some polite discussion with the three Lords and Zira, Michael received a call from his people back in the base.

    -"Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team have returned. They brought the Greater Eagles and the Golden Stinger Wasp along. But¡­somehow they seem battered. My Lord¡­are you sure that it was a good idea to leave them alone?"-

    It was ire Tracer who had called him. She knew almost everything that had happened in thest few days because she was the leader of the main scouting team. ire required as much information as possible to be prepared for the worst-case scenario ¨C which included the possibility of the Kitsun Lord attacking his base against the odds.

    Fortunately, that didn''t happen. The Kitsun Lord acted just like Michael had predicted. He followed the Elemental Empress in his blind obsession and moved farther away from Michael''s territory with every minute passing.

    Now that the Kitsun Lord was dead there shouldn''t be many issues, other than the possibility of the Kitsun going crazy in the Untamed Jungle. But that was not something Michael was worried about.

    "Tiara was a little injured before, but only Liopham from the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team should have sustained some injuries. Well, and Lilica. But the others should be dead-tired rather than injured. Do you know what happened, ire?" Michael asked through themunication crystal.

    He stepped away from the three Lords and Zira and focused on themunication crystal.

    ¨C"I am not so sure either, but it looks like they sustained some additional injuries. Their faces are filled with smiles though. I doubt that anything bad happened, my Lord!"

    Michael couldn''t help but frown at that. Tiara and the others looked bruised and battered, but they were happy? What exactly happened in the Untamed Jungle to make them happy?

    Confused, Michael was just about to tell the Lords that he would return to his territory when Zira approached him.

    "It looks like you have to get going. If your work is done here, how about I take you back to the Untamed Jungle? I have a fastpanion, who can take you to the Untamed Jungle faster than you think!" She offered, just before she let out a low whistle.

    Nothing happened in the first few seconds.

    However, Michael heard something outside the tent less than ten seconds after Zira whistled. Zira walked outside and Michael followed suit, just to feel a presence that caused chills to erupt all over his body. A monster with an ebony coat and an otherworldly bright sheen appeared in front of Michael. It was a horse¡­or so Michael presumed. The monster looked like it was made out of obsidian forged in the fiery depths of the abyss.

    It had a muscr frame and looked like shadows from the pits of the darkness clung to its very existence.

    The horse''s mane was a cascade of hellfire, a zing torrent of crimson and orange mes that danced and flickered in an infernal life on their own.

    Just looking at the horse made it difficult to breathe as the heavy malevolent aura of the monster swept through the surroundings.

    "That¡­is yourpanion? Is that a Nightmare Horse?" Michael asked, not quite believing what he was seeing in front of him.

    "Yup. The one and only Nightmare Horse raised by none other than me!" Zira said pridefully.

    Michael could only acknowledge her capabilities. Nightmare Horses were known for rejecting riders. Even those who could ignore their malevolent aura would either be burned to a crisp, or the Nightmare Horse would attack them with violent kicks and torrents of hellfire if they dared to approach it.

    Yet, Zira patted the Nightmare Horse without a worry in her heart, almost as if it was a tamed pet.

    ''You can definitely be proud of yourself.'' Michael thought to himself, but said something else, "You want to take me back¡­on this? Are you sure that it will allow me on its back?"

    Michael didn''t really want to be burned to death by a Nightmare Horse shortly after he survived fighting against the Kitsun Lord. However, Zira didn''t seem to be too worried about Michael''s doubts.

    "The Nightmare Horse likes the Elemental Empress, and the Elemental Empress told her that you are a good guy. The Empress told my little girl a lot about you, so my girl made the offer. I wouldn''t have offered to take you back if my girl hadn''t given permission first," Zira said in a tone that suggested she was dead-serious.

    "Okay¡­" Michael could only respond, "Let''s go then."

    There was no need to waste anymore time in the Savannah region. The Kitsun Lord was dead, Michael obtained hundreds of Awakened corpses, tens of thousands of Kitsun corpses, and he was given a pretty expensive gift for killing the Kitsun Lord.

    Now it was time to return to the Untamed Jungle; home where a few troublesome days awaited him.

    After all, he had yet to tell his subjects about the death of the 1,500 Combatants, and how all of it happened.

    ''That will be troublesome¡­ I have a really bad feeling¡­'' Michael thought as he swung his leg on the Nightmare Horse''s back and jumped up, sitting right behind Zira.

    Riding the Nightmare Horse seemed a lot less dangerous at the thought of going back home, where he would have to stand his ground against his own subjects.

    ''That will be fun¡­or a disaster.''

 Chapter 399 Cores

    Chapter 399 Cores

    The ride on the Nightmare Horse was¡­not as bad as Michael expected it to be. The Nightmare Horse was fast, but it ran through the Savannah region with a natural rhythm and gracefulness, which made it much easier for Michael to stay on its back.

    Of course, the Greater Eagles were faster since they could fly in a straight line to the destination and didn''t have to adjust their speed to the terrain. Nheless, Nightmare Horses could turn into great mounts for his Cavalry.

    ''If my territory was in the Savannah and not in the Untamed Jungle I would most-definitely get one of those!''

    Riding back to the Untamed Jungle on the Nightmare Horse''s back didn''t take long. Michael would have to spend much longer traveling through the Untamed Jungle until he finally got back to his territory by ordinary means. But that was not much of an issue either.

    He swung his left leg across the Nightmare Horse''s back and jumped down to the ground.

    "Thanks for the ride back. If you ever want toe over to my territory, just send me a message and it will be fine," Michael said to Zira.

    At first, he didn''t really mean what he said and thought of his words as pleasantries, but then he recalled her interestingbat style. If Zira were toe over to his territory she would be able to teach Michael''s people quite a lot. Even Michael could learn a lot from Zira.

    "I''ll think about it. Thanks for the invitation. It was nice meeting you," Zira responded, tugging at the Nightmare Horse''s reins to steer herpanion.

    "By the way¡­I know that it''s a taboo to ask this but¡­" Zira hesitated. She stared back at Michael, unsure whether she should ask what had been on her mind for quite a while. However, upon seeing the vibrant glimmer in Michael''s eyes Zira couldn''t hold back, "How did you obtain so many powerful Soultraits? I really didn''t want to count them, but I noticed that yourst attack against the Kitsun Lord used at least 5¡­if not 6 Soultraits¡­and they were all powerful. The weakest Soultraits must have been a 4-Star Soultrait¡­"

    Michael returned Zira''s gaze and stared into her eyes without a change in his expression. He tried to recall hisst attack against the Kitsun Lord and nodded slowly. He used cicle, Reinforced Sword Qi, Enhancement, Extraction, Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze in his final attack. cicle was almost a 5-Star Soultrait, but that didn''t change the fact that Zira''s analysis was correct.

    He had used six powerful Soultraits against the Kitsun Lord.

    In fact, considering his fusion with the Elemental Empress, Michael had exposed a total of seven Soultraits.

    "I obtained some of them in a Lord Rift. But I wouldn''t suggest you to enter a Lord Rift. I am not sure if I would enter the Lord Rift again if I had the chance to go back in time and change my decision¡­" Michael responded, his expression turning sour.

    He sighed heavily and continued, "Either way, everyone has their secrets, right? Just know that I won''t tell anyone about my secrets to anyone if they''re not my subordinates and in a highly secure Soul Pact."

    Michael felt that he had revealed too much already. Thus, he waved at Zira before he disappeared inside the Untamed Jungle, leaving the Valyr alone at the border.

    The Elemental Empress was still clinging onto his shoulder, but she hadn''t said anything until now. Only now that Michael and the Empress were alone did she finally regain her talkative spirit.

    "Are we going home now? Will we finally be away from the Kitsun? Will I get my very own cave? Do you want to establish Links of Loyalty with every Elemental I create, or will it be fine if I control them? How about you make the Links with stronger Elementals and we leave the Lesser Elementals up to them?" The Elemental Empress bombarded Michael with questions; questions that Michael hadn''t thought about until now.

    With the Empress'' questions ringing in his ears, Michael traveled through the Untamed Jungle. They didn''t encounter any Kitsun Summons or Awakened on their way back, but they didn''t actively search for them either. The Kitsun Hunt could start a littleter.

    Michael spent a few hours traveling back to his territory. On his way back, he focused on his chat with the Empress. That way, he learned a lot about his second tamed monster, such as the way she hoped to live.

    The Empress hoped to obtain her own cave to create a society for Elementals underground. As she was the Elemental Empress, her core would create a surplus of elements. These elements had to be released in the outside atmosphere, orpressed to form Elementals Cores. Thus, the existence of the Elemental Empress alone was already enough to change the surrounding environment.

    Michael had to make many mental notes about the intel provided by the Empress. However, he was not dissatisfied. On the contrary, Michael was quite happy about the numerous notes he had to make in his mind. Each mental note would help to improve the economy and develop his territory even faster.

    He was not sure how much time passed while traveling, but it was alreadyte evening when he returned to his small settlement. Initially, he wanted to gather his people and tell them about the incidents that had urred in the Elementals Cave the moment he returned. But it waste, Michael was still tired, and the headache from thest battle hadn''t subsided yet.

    He wanted to go to sleep and tell everyone about the incident first thing in the morning.

    However, before he could fall asleep and rest a little bit longer, Michael had to check on Tiara, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, and the Greater Eagles.

    Thus after entering his territory, he first moved to the Greater Eagles'' nest. Icarus and his lovely mate had already fallen asleep. Their wounds had been tended to by the Priest and all they needed was rest and highly nutritious food. They wouldn''t have any longsting injuries which was a relief.

    Michael went to Tiara and the others next. He saw the Golden Stinger Wasp on his way and thanked it for its hard work by channeling bits of his purified origin energy into its monster core. Stinger hummed loudly, pleased to hear the praise, and disappeared in the next moment.

    Then Michael entered the wooden manor where Tiara and the Forest Elven Adventurers were resting. They were still awake and impatiently tapping the wooden nk floor with their feet. The six Awakened had been waiting for his return.

    Upon seeing Michael, their expressions lit up, and they rushed over to greet him.

    "Michael, you''re back!"

    "It was about time that you returned. We''ve been waiting for ages!"

    "I''m so tired. Let''s get this done and jump straight into bed."

    The cacophony of voices reaching Michael''s ears caused him to frown deeply.

    "If you guys are so tired, why didn''t you go to sleep already?" He asked, which earned him an earful from the Forest Elves.

    "Of course, we couldn''t leave Tiara and Lilica. They would take away our joy and keep it for themselves!" Mikained, pointing at the two women with trembling fingers.

    Mika was still exhausted from using an heirloom arrow with several uses of Energy Imprint from Opars. His energy veins and muscles were sore and had sustained minor injuries. Yet, he didn''t dare close his eyes and fall asleep. There was something he and the others had to do first.

    "Okay?"

    "Here. Take a look at those!" Tiara eximed, pushing Mika to the side to arrive right in front of Michael.

    She held tworge orbs in her hand and smiled brightly. Lilica arrived next to Tiara with two more orbs that looked the same as Tiara''s. Opars and Pheli followed suit holding the exact same objects.

    "Those are¡­Summoning Cores. Eight of them at that¡­" Michael blurted out seeing the eight Summoning Cores resting in the arms of the Forest Elves and Tiara, "By any chance¡­did you ask for Stinger because you wanted to invade the Kitsun Lord''s main settlement?"

    The only way to procure eight Summoning Cores was through Summoning Gates. However, there weren''t any active Summoning Gates nearby ¨C other than the Summoning Gate of the Kitsun Lord.

    "Bingo!" Mika eximed while Tiara nodded her head vigorously, feeling proud of herself.

    "We noticed that the Kitsun went crazy and thought that the Kitsun Lord died. Sun Demos confirmed our guess ¨C though it was quite difficult tomunicate with him. Once we made Sun Demosmunicate with the Elemental Empress to bring Stinger over to the Untamed Jungle, we were refreshed enough to kill the remaining Awakened in the main settlement, to loot the wooden manor and empty the Summoning Gate," She revealed, only for Lilica to add,

    "We took all Summoning Cores, stored all valuable goods, and brought the Awakened corpses back for you to extract as well!"

    "So¡­instead of returning to the base and resting as ordered, you guys decided to invade the main settlement and fight in your current state, injured and exhausted¡­ I am not sure if I should praise you guys for that, especially since the three neighboring Lords promised me that they wouldn''t enter the Untamed Jungle," Michael said, the frown on his face deepening.

    They had no reason to rush, yet the bunch of Forest Elves and Tiara ignored their wounds and exhaustion to invade their enemy''s territory and steal the valuables that they would obtain one way or another.

    ''You guys could have died,'' Michael wanted to say, but he couldn''t get himself to speak the words aloud. Tiara and Lilica stared at him with puppy eyes that demanded treats and caresses, while the others looked at him with the hope to receive praise.

    "But someone else could have stolen the valuables and Summoning Cores if not for you taking them first. So, you guys did the right thing. I''m proud of all of you!"

    ''Just don''t jump into any more danger when you''re already dead-tired¡­''

 Chapter 400 Blame

    Chapter 400 me

    Michael was exhausted as well, but he decided to purify the Summoning Cores and install them in his Summoning Gate before going to sleep.

    Eight additional purified Summoning Cores meant that he would receive eight more daily summons ¨C each with the prospects to be a 2-Star Summon. That meant he could summon 11 2-Star Summons every day if he was extremely lucky. That was amazing!

    The gains Michael made from fighting the Kitsun Lord were tremendous. He could make up for the losses of 1,500batants quickly. That was, of course, only in numbers. It didn''t make up for the fact that three-fourth of his army died in the Elementals Cave.

    ''I really hope that everything will be alright.'' Michael thought as he finished installing the Summoning Cores. The hatch of the Summoning Gate closed automatically, and Michael went to his room in the wooden manor.

    He actually wanted to focus on digesting the energy influx and energy shares to refine his War Rune quickly, but he knew that tomorrow would be a tiresome day.

    Michael went into the bedroom and fell asleep at once. He fought for two days straight and didn''t sleep at all. It was about time to make up for theck of sleep.

    Several hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the rays of the morning sun shone onto Michael''s face, waking him from the slumber the next day.

    He opened his eyes slowly and got up from the bed. Afterward, he washed himself well to get rid of all the dirt, grime and blood that had been stuck to him for thest few days and put on a neat, clean set of clothes after drying. Michael sighed heavily several times in the process of washing up, putting on clothes, and leaving the wooden manor.

    His subjects had already heard about his return and that he would be holding a speech early in the morning. Therefore, it was no surprise to find hundreds of Summons gathered in the center of the settlement. Most Summons gathered on the ground, but there were also hundreds of people gathered on the canopy bridge above the ground. Some Forest Elven Summons even decided to sit down on the tree branches near the settlement''s center.

    Last but not least, Michael found a bunch of Forest Elves sitting on the rooftops of some buildings to make sure that they could see Michael as he held his speech.

    Michael stepped in front of the wooden manor''s entrance and was just about to start his speech when he heard a voice amid the crowd of people.

    "Where are our friends? I haven''t seen David and the others even after the Commander, and My Lord have returned. Did something happen? That cannot be. You would never allow anything to happen to them¡­right, my lord?!"

    The voice was not loud, but those words pierced straight through Michael''s heart. For a moment he felt helpless, unsure what to say. Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team arrived next to Michael a few seconds after the voice died down. Other voices of concern followed up soon, but Michael couldn''t hear them. All he could hear and feel was the reassuring words of Tiara and Lilica.

    They patted his shoulder to encourage him to stay calm and hold his ground in front of his subjects as they said, "It will be fine. We''re here."

    "Don''t worry. You did everything you could. Nobody could have saved them. It was unfortunate, but you warned them, and they didn''t listen. They forced you to take them with you. It was not the other way around!" Lilica said, tightly gripping his shoulder. Her emerald eyes glimmered brightly as she stared deep into Michael''s eyes.

    "I know," was all Michael could say to Lilica. He then turned back to the crowd of people in front of him, ready to face his own people, face his own fight¡­and ept that everyone died in the Elementals Cave because of¡­because of what? His actions? His subjects'' desire to fight? Or because of their enemy''s sly tactics?

    Clearing his throat, he looked up at the hopeful faces as all the voices of concern died down. Michael''s lips parted and he began his speech.

    "First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone. I didn''t expect such a situation to happen. However, it happened because we desired to free the Elementals and because we wanted to get rid of our enemy''s biggest source of ie. We wanted to weaken him¡­and ran straight into a trap," Michael took a deep breath, his voice shaking a bit as he said that. Taking a moment to calm himself down, he gathered his thoughts and began anew.

    "It all started with the scouts'' reporting potential threats and enemies moving slowly into our direction. We found Elementals, controlled by Summons by a race called Kitsun. The Kitsun race is evil¡­."

    Michael didn''t know how long he spoke, but the entire settlement was eerily silent the whole time. Not even the younger Summons said anything. They didn''t even move. Everyone listened intently to Michael''s summary of the battle. He didn''t mention that the army pleaded to him to take him with them inside the Elementals Cave because that would sound like a petty excuse.

    However, there was no excuse for the death of the 1,500 Summons. Michael didn''t want to mock their deaths after they sacrificed themselves by pushing his responsibility onto them. That didn''t feel right. That was not how a leader was supposed to be.

    Michael even spoke about the events that happened right after the Elementals Cave incident. He didn''t go into detail when speaking about the invasion of the main settlement, the destruction of the Beast Ranches, or the actions of the Blood Oath Demon Monkey troupe. Nheless, he said more than enough to pinpoint that he, and his people never stopped attacking the Kitsun Lord until he was dead. They had been in danger for two days and only came back once it was safe to say that the Kitsun Lord and his subjects wouldn''t be able to stir trouble ¨C not anymore.

    But even after telling them the danger he and the others were put in, Michael noticed that the expressions of the people around him grew sour. Their Links of Loyalty took a hit as well. The Links of Loyalty of more than 800 subjects grew fainter, even if it was not by much. It was a clear indicator that their trust in Michael had decreased a little.

    "You told us that you would give your utmost to protect everyone. But¡­now you''re unscathed and our friends, and potential future family is dead. Do you have nothing to say about that¡­My Lord?..." One of the subjects asked, forcing himself to add the salutation ''My Lord'' at the end of his question.

    "WE trusted you just like your Warriors, but now they''re dead. What does that mean, my Lord?"

    "How can you expect us to fight for you if you cannot even protect those fighting by your side? They worked so hard to grow stronger, only to die for you? Don''t make meugh¡­my lord¡­"

    ¡­

    ..

    More and more subjects were pulled along after the first people began toin to Michael. Most Summons were just sad to hear what happened to their friends and colleagues. They didn''t hate Michael, or thought about holding him ountable for what happened. However, they needed someone to me for their friends'' deaths. Michael was their Lord, and he was responsible for taking the army with him inside the Elementals Cave. He was the only one they could curse in their hearts. After all, they had never seen a Kitsun, let alone the Kitsun Lord.

    Every time his subjects said "My Lord", Michael felt like someone pushed a dagger deep inside his heart. It was hard to bear, but Michael did it. He silently endured and listened to theirints and curses without trying to defend himself.

    "Ya¡­is everyone here stupid, or mentally challenged? Is it really that difficult for them to use their brain to think for once?" Tiara asked Lilica in a loud tone. Her vocal cords were enhanced with origin energy to make sure that her voice would overshadow the voice of everyone else.

    "I don''t really understand them either. Since when is the Origin Expanse a peaceful ce? Michael achieved too many impossible feats. Maybe these idiots expect him to be a War God, capable of killing everyone with a snap. Of course, it''s sad that so many loyal warriors died, but everyone willing to join the territory''s military force knows what awaits them. They''re not foolish enough to be Warriors and to expect to never face any danger," Lilica responded even louder than Tiara, the anger in her voice apparent.

    "I couldn''t agree more. Everyone was willing to follow Michael into the Elementals Cave knowing that they might die. The incident was unexpected and quite misfortunate, but situations like those will always happen during War. The sole reason why Michael focuses on nurturing the military force with most of the territory''s funds is to strengthen his Warriors to prevent situations like those from happening. It happened once, and it won''t repeat itself again. In fact, I''m sure that Michael hates himself more than anyone because he couldn''t do anything about the disaster in the Elementals Cave," Mika said, happy that he could finally p the idiotic subjects with words.

    Tiara took a step forward to make sure that everyone''s attention was on her.

    "He hates himself for having been too weak. For being unable to protect those who trusted him. Yet, after fighting for two days straight to make sure that his territory would be safe and sound, the same people he wanted to protect with his life on the line are ming him. To think that such disgraceful bastards exist!" Tiara cursed, her voice growing louder and louder.

    However, she was not done yet. In fact, Tiara was just getting started. How dare they attack Michael?!

    "This is the Origin Expanse! A ce full of war and dangers. It''s not a yground where we y war. This is real. We put our lives on the line to protect the civilians and to give them a better life. Don''t you dare to me my Master for something that wasn''t his fault! Fuck you all!!"

 Chapter 401 Honor the Deceased

    Chapter 401 Honor the Deceased

    Blood, war, and death were a way of life in the Origin Expanse. They have always been there and will never disappear. After all, everyone desired wealth, influence, and strength.

    All records about the Origin Expanse made it clear that the Origin Expanse was a golden opportunity to break past your natural limits and grow truly powerful. However, it was also a tremendously dangerous ce where death was like a closepanion. Death was like a constant shadow in the Origin Expanse.

    A life full of war and danger was what everyone living in the Origin Expanse had to ept. Awakened could escape the dangers by staying outside the Origin Expanse, but the same didn''t apply to Summons. They had to survive by adapting to the Origin Expanse and its rules, or they would fall and die again.

    One could avoid fighting in the front lines by doing other jobs. Even those who had been summoned as Warriors and Knights could stay in the base to focus on being Guards, or training newly promoted Warriors. Their decision to stay away from the frontlines wouldn''t be frowned upon. On the contrary, everyone would be thankful for their decision to guide the new generations and ensure that the crime rate in the settlement remained low.

    However, those Combat Summons who grasped their weapons tightly and were ready to fight next to Michael had to ept their fate, whether it was their fate to be a War God on the battlefield or to turn into a corpse. All they ¨C and Michael ¨C could do to ensure that they lived longer was to give their utmost to train and consume various resources to elerate their growth.

    "I think everyone is too shocked about the death of their friends and future family to understand that our Lord is not at fault. Has everyone forgotten the past incidents where our Lord gave his utmost to protect and strengthen his people whenever he got an opportunity? Our Lord would never abandon his people in the Elementals Cave!" One of the Schrs, who had been summoned as one of Michael''s first 1-Star Summons, spoke loudly.

    "Well¡­that''s true. I couldn''t really believe it when someone said that our Lord would abandon his people in the Elementals Cave¡­ That doesn''t really make sense," Another Summon added, starting to doubt those who med Michael for the death of his people.

    "Our Lord treats us nicely. He tries the hardest to increase our strength and produce more high-quality Armaments for hisbatants. He is not like other Lords who throw their subjects onto the battlefield mindlessly. No¡­our Lord always fights on the frontline, never paying attention to himself. He might not look like he sustained an injury, but has anyone seen the bags under his eyes? Our Lord looks like he didn''t sleep for a whole week!" A Soldier whom Michael had trained once in the past, dered, pointing at Michael''s exhausted face that had deep ck bags under his eyes.

    Michael didn''t even know that he looked like he didn''t sleep for a long time. He had just woken up from a long sleep, after all.

    ''Rather than sleepy, I''m hungry. The rations I ate in thest few days were¡­not exactly nutritious.'' Michael thought, unsure when it had been thest time he ate a proper meal. It had probably been a few days.

    Now that the Schrs, Soldiers, Librarians, and other Summons took his side, Michael felt much better. He had been worried that everyone would go against him, but it seemed like he had been too worried about their reaction.

    More and more of his subjects began to speak in support of Michael, resulting in those who had questioned his leadership and intentions growing more silent as the minutes passed. At some point, only two to three Summons remained adamant at finding fault in Michael''s actions. They were 100% certain that Michael would throw everyone onto the battlefield sooner orter, and that he would abandon them once his territory would be near destruction.

    After a long time, Michael spoke again. He cleared his throat and stared at the crowd of people.

    "I will store the memories of what happened in the Elementals Cave in a Memory Crystal for everyone to ess. That should be more than enough for everyone to see what I did and form their opinion of the situation," He said, retrieving one of the many Memory Crystals he had wanted to use to store some martial arts techniques and the information he had collected in thest two days.

    However, he believed that it was more important to show everyone his point of view through his memories. Of course, that also included his little conversation with his army and the fact that he told them to stay behind. It would show that Michael had sensed early enough that something was off yet his people had still been adamant about following him.

    ''It''s a bit cowardly to do that, but those who want to find fault with me will take advantage of me if I skip some memories. I cannot leave out this conversation.'' Michael thought a little bit regretfully right before he filled the Memory Crystal with his memories.

    The next thing he did was to throw the Memory Crystal to the subject who had med him first for the death of the 1,500 militants.

    "Look at it and tell me clearly how I could have saved my people after we were stuck several hundred meters underground," Michael said.

    He then turned around to face everyone else, "Some might say that I made a grave mistake in the Elementals Cave, but all I can say is that I have always given my best to strengthen my people and to protect them. Of course, I am not perfect. Of course, I will make mistakes. However, everyone present here can be certain of one thing; I will always give my best to learn from my mistakes and ensure that such incidents won''t happen again. I will invest more into the protection of our military force, and make sure that my orders will be meticulously thought through and executed properly. Your trust in me won''t be broken again!"

    Michael could say a lot more, but he was pretty sure that a longer speech would have a negative effect and sound like a sorry excuse. So he let his words resound through the heads of the Summons around him for a whole minute before he began to speak again.

    "Since I have been on the battlefield since the incident happened, I wasn''t able to pay homage to their souls yet. I have yet to bid them a proper farewell and allow their souls to the afterlife," He said, his tone changing slightly. His voice grew louder and more emotional as the heavy weight weighing down on his heart crumbled ever so slowly, "Therefore, we shall feast in the name of the brave soldiers who sumbed to the treacherous Kitsun Lord''s traps. May they rest in peace!"

    Regaining the trust of his subjects wouldn''t be an easy task. But Michael never considered it to be achievable just in one short speech either. He knew that his achievements as a Rookie Lord created the image of a Lord who always had an upper hand, someone who could win against all odds.

    Of course, he wouldn''t be able to win every single time. Michael would fail again. Not because he was too weak, or because he was too young to know better. No. He would face losses because that was normal in the Origin Expanse or even in ordinary life. Inrge-scale wars of hundreds of thousands of soldiers opposing a force with equal numbers, thousands ¨C no, tens of thousands ¨C would die.

    Of course, Michael would give his utmost to ensure that the enemy forces would suffer bigger losses, but the future that awaited them was bound to lead to the death of many. This included the lives of his people. Something like that couldn''t be avoided.

    Both Michael and his subjects had to be prepared for the future.

    Thus, in a way, it was better to face a setback now thanter. It was still possible to argue with his subjects right now and to exin everything thoroughly. Once the poption in his territory surpassed 100,000, or maybe even one million, it would grow increasingly more difficult to exin ''mistakes'' or the death of the citizens'' friends and family members.

    Michael had to set up the foundation of understanding to not be med or live in guilt in the near future.

    Luckily, when he mentioned about a feast to honor the deceased, everyone regained theirposure. The Summon, who had med Michael for the death of his friends, was the only one who stared at him intently. He had seen a few glimpses of the memories stored in the Memory Crystal and finally understood what had happened.

    Michael had warned his people that it would be dangerous in the Elementals Cave and that he got a bad feeling. However, his people pleaded to him to let them follow him inside the Elementals Cave. Even if one wanted to me Michael for the death of 1,500 Combat Summons, it was hardly feasible.

    Michael noticed that the Summon''s gaze was lingering on him. However, he didn''t pay any more attention to him. Instead, Michael focused on the preparations for the feast. He was starving.

    The preparations took a while, but Michael helped without thinking aboutining. He used Extraction to help the cooks purify the water they used and to remove as many impurities from the meat and vegetables as he could. Several hours passed in the blink of an eye and a wide variety of dishes had been mass-produced for the entire poption of the settlement.

    36,000 citizens could feast on the wide variety of dishes until they would fall into a fooda from eating too much.

    Of course, Michael wouldn''t make the amateurish mistake of falling into a fooda. He wouldn''t waste this opportunity.

    No, he would eat as much as possible and continue until his stomach burst.

    If not now, when else would he treat himself to feast until he would drop dead?

    Michael deserved to treat himself to something special.

    He survived fighting tens of thousands of Kitsun, and he killed the Kitsun Lord. In the meantime, Michael wanted to give something to his subjects as well. Not everyone was ready to fight near the front lines, but everyone gave their utmost regardless. There were only a fewzy subjects in his territory.

    Of course, thosezy subjects had been the loudest when it came toining about the Elementals Cave incident.

    But that didn''t bother Michael too much anymore. The subjects who were important regained a firmer Link of Loyalty and that was all that counted.

 Chapter 402 Kitsun Cloud

    Chapter 402 Kitsun Cloud

    Michael woke up the day after the feast to honor the deceased. Thest thing he could remember was to fill his stomach with food equal to or higher than his own weight. It had been heavenly.

    Relieved that his subjects took the news of the disaster in the Elementals Cave much better than he could have hoped for, Michael turned into the incarnation of gluttony. He was like a starving beast, devouring a portion of all dishes like there was no tomorrow. The feast to honor the deceased had been too good and sumptuous.

    After eating way too much, Michael ought to feel like dying once he woke up. But Michael didn''t feel stuffy or bloated. If anything, he felt quite good.

    His headache was no longer there to annoy him, and he was full of energy.

    "Should I start Extracting now?" Michael asked himself as he left the bed to get a quick bath.

    He washed up quickly and put on afortable set of clothes before he left his room. Outside the wooden manor he met Tiara, who had been waiting for him.

    "Good morning, master! I forgot to hand over the Kitsun corpses I''d stored away when we went out raiding the settlements. Lilica and the others also have some bodies for you to extract," She said with a bright smile on her face.

    Tiara was probably the happiest that the Summons didn''t continue to me Michael for the disaster in the Elementals Cave. She smiled vibrantly and waspletely at ease.

    "Can you get the Forest Elves and a hundred workers for me? I want to start extracting the Summons, Awakened, and the corpses of the bloodthirsty beasts," Michael requested, which Tiara epted with a nod.

    She turned around and rushed to the archery parkour course where the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was currently practicing. After the battle against the Kitsun Lord and his forces, the Forest Elves felt that their archery skills had grown a little rusty. Of course, they were still excellent archers, but living in the Untamed Jungle where they had to fight their enemies at a close distance most of the time decreased their long-range uracy considerably.

    Observing Tiara as she ran through the thicket, Michael smiled faintly. He was d to have Tiara by his side. Even if everything else would go south, Tiara would be by his side. That kind of reassurance was great to have. It fueled Michael with far more confidence than Tiara or anyone else could fathom.

    In the meantime, Michael headed straight to the Alchemy''s Lair where he found a few alchemists working on a wide variety of potions and pills. They were too engrossed in their work to notice Michael, but that was exactly what Michael was hoping for. Alchemists shouldn''t be easily distracted.

    He waited until one of the Alchemy Masters finished concocting a batch of Energy Nourishment Pills before he approached the Forest Elven Alchemist. She noticed Michael a little bitte and was surprised about the unexpected visitor, but the Forest Elven Alchemist regained herposure quickly.

    "Good morning, my Lord. How may I be of service?" She asked formally and nodded politely.

    "Good morning. It''s nothing. I am merely visiting the Alchemy Lair because I wanted to give you some resources to experiment with," Michael said as he retrieved a batch of elemental crystals and a handful of element seeds.

    The seeds could be nted to produce element-attributed fruits, but Michael had to know how valuable they were first. If his Alchemists couldn''t handle the element seeds yet, he would wait with the mass production and put the resources required to mass produce elemental attributed fruits aside for more important investments.

    The Forest Elven Alchemist''s eyes widened when she saw the elemental crystals and the element seeds.

    "These¡­Are those what I think they are?" She asked, her gaze flicking from the crystals to Michael.

    "They''re elemental crystals. I have a decent stockpile of elemental crystals and wanted to split them up for the Alchemists, cksmiths, and Enchanters," Michael responded.

    "No no no. Don''t give it to the cksmiths and enchanters. How about you give us your entire stockpile instead?" The Forest Elven Alchemist proposed, her eyes glimmering in excitement and desire.

    ''So they''re that valuable¡­That''s good.''

    Michael raised an eyebrow, but he didn''t say anything at first. He took his time to consider what to do and spoke his mind afterward, "I will split up the stockpile equally. There is no way I will favor anyone right now. Everybody will get an equal chance to prove themselves. Provide the best results, and I will provide you with more elemental crystals in the future."

    "There will be more in the future?"

    "Of course. But your department won''t get as much as others if the results are not good enough," Michael said, the corner of his lip tilting up.

    The Forest Elven Alchemist pressed her lips together and nodded her head.

    She then opened her hands with glimmering eyes, "In that case, can I get the portion for our department right now?"

    Michael scoffed but didn''t reject her request. He retrieved arge pile of elemental crystals before putting thest elemental crystal of their portion into her cupped hands.

    "What about the element seeds?" Michael asked the distracted Forest Elven Alchemist, who shook her head to get back to her senses.

    "Since I don''t know what fruit will grow from the element seeds, I cannot say anything for sure. But the fruits should be useful one way or another. All elemental attributed fruits can be used to create potions. The only question is whether the potions will be useful for our purposes or if the potions can only be digested by certain races, who use them to temper their elemental attribute."

    Michael considered her response and thought about it for a while. The Forest Elven Alchemist was very knowledgeable about the utility of various potions and ingredients. Thus, he thought about something that may or may not be useful.

    Michael retrieved the corpse of a Kitsun and pointed at the gaseous lower body that was still intact even though the Kitsun was long since dead. Somehow, the gaseous ck cloud was still hovering around the dead Kitsun''s waist.

    "I am not sure if you have ever seen something like that, but can this gas be used somehow? I could extract it for you if you want. It''s mainly made out of oxygen and energy. The Kitsun race''s body naturally absorbs enough energy and oxygen to maintain the cloud so they can float around. Maybe we can make use of that. What do you think?" Michael asked without any expectations.

    He was pretty sure that the Kitsun''s ck cloud couldn''t be utilized easily. There might be ways to make use of it, but it was more likely that the processing would require too much time.

    "Floating you said? We could try to use the gas as a substitute for a Siburus Cloud and concoct a Siburus Swiftness Potion. I am not sure if it will work, but if it does, we will be able to create potions that can temporarily lighten the user''s weight, thus increasing their swiftness," The Forest Elven Alchemist said after a minute of reconsideration, "If the cloud is potent enough, we might even be able to process it into a levitation potion. That way we can temporarily levitate over the ground, which could be useful for our archers to swiftly move through the Untamed Jungle."

    Michael didn''t expect the Forest Elven Alchemist''s knowledge to be that vast. He thought that she would ask a few more questions or focus on experiments beforeing up with possible uses of the Kitsun Cloud, which was what Michael decided to call it.

    Of course, the Forest Elven Alchemist had yet to analyze the Kitsun Cloud, but her train of thought had proven useful. The Alchemists would most definitely find a way to make use of it. Therefore, Michael found another use for the tens of thousands of Kitsun bodies. Not only would the loot generated by the Will of the Origin Expanse be highly valuable, but the Kitsun Cloud might actually be just as valuable.

    That was great news.

    "Do you have a container in which I can seal the Kitsun Cloud upon extracting it? I don''t really want to waste the Kitsun Clouds since our stockpile will be limited."

    Michael''s question was legitimate. He had yet to hunt the remaining Kitsun within the Untamed Jungle, but their number would decrease quickly as well. Once annihted, Michael wouldn''t be able to replenish the stockpile of Kitsun Clouds. Therefore, a container that could be sealed was a must.

    "I don''t have a container big enough for arge amount ofpressed gas. But if you give me three to four days, I will have something ready. That is if the stubborn Enchanter doesn''t fail me¡­again."

    The Forest Elven Alchemist could tell that the Kitsun Cloud possessed great potential as a material. Thus, she didn''t want to disappoint her Lord, and herself by wasting such a precious resource. The only problem was that she couldn''t create a sealed container on her own. She could create a liquid that could temper ss containers to create near-perfect seals. However, to have a perfectly sealed container, the Forest Elven Alchemist would require the help of Enchanters and cksmiths.

    "They will help you. Just tell them that I gave you an order that has to be prioritized above everything else. If they trouble you, just report to me and I will take things into my own hands. But that¡­will be ugly for those who disobeyed my orders." Michael said as a matter of fact.

    His voice was nonchnt, but that was exactly what caused goosebumps to spread all over the Forest Elven Alchemist''s body.

    "I will make sure that you will be satisfied, my Lord!"

    "Of course, you will," Michael smiled before he turned around, apparently done with the discussion.

    He stored the Kitsun''s corpse away again and left the Lair.

    Now that he finished his task, Michael could finally focus his mind on Extraction. It was time to progress!

 Chapter 403 Extracting

    Chapter 403 Extracting

    When Michael finally reached the warehouse, Tiara and the Forest Elves were already waiting for him. They retrieved all corpses and the other loot they collected in the Kitsun Lord''s territory and handed all of it to Michael before waiting for further orders from their Lord.

    Michael epted the corpses and stored them in the satchel to organize everything a little. Then he looked over to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team.

    "I''m not sure if you got enough time to think about this already since we returned but we started talking about this topic in the war against the Kitsun Lord. It''s about the Soultrait Symbols and upgrades of Soultraits. Have you guys considered what to do? Do you want to change to a proper Link of Loyalty and establish a Soul Pact with me to gain ess to more Soultraits and the possibility to upgrade them, or will everything remain the same?" He asked the Forest Elves, who looked at each other for a few seconds.

    After they witnessed Michael''sbat prowess over and over again the Forest Elves wanted to grow stronger as well. They knew that there were many other ways to grow stronger than relying on Soultraits, but it was alsomon knowledge that Soultraits were as important ¨C if not more crucial ¨C than the Innate talent.

    So what if you could absorb more energy than others, orprehend martial arts techniques faster than everyone else? The moment you had to face an enemy at the same Tier with a 7-Star Soultrait, you would have to run away, or fight desperately hoping that your enemy couldn''t control his mighty Soultrait.

    Zira was the best example for such a case. Her Soultrait was utter trash, yet she was quite powerful. Zira worked hard to master a few rare martial arts techniques, resulting in her currentbat prowess. She could deal with several Inferior Awakened because herbat prowess was ranked Elite. She was stronger than the average Awakened after all.

    However, Zira was not strong enough to deal with enemies like Kaleb. Kaleb''s 7-Star Soultrait was unique and extremely powerful. It was hard to control Frozen Nova, but Kaleb did a good job with studying his Soultrait. He was about to reach the Mid Tier-2 and was probably strong enough to deal with a Tier-3 Awakened single-handedly.

    As long as they didn''t have specific Soultraits that weakened Frozen Nova''s might, even Tier-3 Awakened wouldn''t be able to deal with him.

    At least that was what Michael thought. He knew how high Kaleb''s mastery of Frozen Nova was and that Zira had no way of destroying Frozen Nova''s creations with a single attack. Kaleb could stall Zira and inflict minor injuries on her to wear her down slowly. Or he could go all out and obliterate her in one go by using his entire energy storage.

    Therefore, Michael hoped that the Forest Elves would ept his proposal to change their Link of Loyalty into a proper one, and to sign a Soul Pact. He would be able to provide more Soultraits and upgrade their Soultraits to turn them into powerhouses like Kaleb.

    "I don''t think anyone here has a problem bing your subordinate after working together with you for the past months. We might not love bing the subordinates of another race''s Lord, but you are different. So that fact can be safely overlooked," Lilica said, her cheeks a little red, "Nheless, we will have to speak to our family and the Elders about this. Bing someone else''s subordinate is a big thing for us Forest Elves. I hope you can understand that we will have to leave for a few days to talk it out with our beloved."

    "That''s only obvious. I didn''t expect you and the others to ept my proposal immediately. Take your time and talk it out," Michael responded to Lilica, unable to hide the smile on his face.

    Since the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team was willing to follow him, Michael felt that the most important problem had already been solved. That was a good way to start the day.

    "Now that that''s cleared, I should focus on looting!" Michael said, his smile growing brighter than before.

    As his voice faded, hundreds of golden tendrils shot out of his palms. The tendrils flickered brightly as they sought their targets. Michael essed his Spatial Pouch and retrieved the bloodthirsty beasts he had hunted while wreaking havoc in the Kitsun Lord''s territory.

    There were around 3,000 bloodthirsty beasts in his possession with most of them being Peak Tier-1, or Low Tier-2 corpses. Using Extraction on them wasn''t difficult. The only difficulty was that Michael did not only have to extract the loot generated by the Will, but that he had to dismantle the bloodthirsty beast corpses properly. Their fur, fangs, bones and most other parts of their body were quite valuable. At least that was what a quick analysis of their body parts suggested.

    Dismantling 3,000 corpses was not a difficult task with 6-Star Extraction, but Michael had to spend a few hours to finish his job nheless. He wanted the corpses to be dismantled as perfectly as possible without any sort of damage. Wasting precious resources was not something Michael wanted to do, after all!

    The workers Tiara brought to the warehouse moved the dismantled body parts to their designated area in the warehouse before they updated the information sheet of the warehouse''s stock ordingly. They knew what they were doing and moved nimbly through the warehouse, putting everything away shortly after Michael finished dismantling the corpses.

    Michael stared at therge piles of loot generated by the Will for a second before he stored everything away. Instead of daydreaming about his gains he might as well continue doing his job. There were close to 41,000 Kitsun corpses waiting for him to be extracted.

    The number was a little bit higher than Michael expected, but it made sense.

    More than half of the Kitsun had been killed and harvested in the final battle against the Kitsun Lord, and at least 10,000 Kitsun had been killed by the three Lords and their forces. In fact, Michael was pretty sure that the three Lords had given him the corpses of the Guards from the two other border settlements as well. The three Lords had conquered the border settlements shortly before Michael regained consciousness.

    ''Usually everyone from an alliance can obtain the Will''s loot even if they didn''t participate in the battle. That should mean as long as they haven''t imed the Kitsun bodies yet, I should be able to obtain all the loot¡­right?'' Michael asked himself even though he knew that he was theoretically correct.

    First of all, he was the first to attack the three border settlements. Therefore, he was considered as a contributor in the three Lords'' conquest of the border settlements either way. Second, if the Lords conceded their loot to Michael, the Will of the Origin Expanse would ept it ¨C under normal circumstances, of course.

    Taking these factors into consideration, Michael was a little curious about how many Summoning Scrolls, Artifacts, blueprints, and Summoning Scroll Fragments he was about to extract from 41,000 corpses.

    He began to extract 1000 Kitsun corpses at a time. He inserted the tendrils of Extraction into their bodies, extracted the Will''s loot, and stored them back inside the storage satchel. Other than the Kitsun Cloud, Michael didn''t really require any body parts of the Kitsun. Thus, he had to wait for a few more days before the sealed container for the Kitsun Clouds had been manufactured and ready to use. Michael could then extract the Kitsun Clouds and carry them safely before throwing the Kitsun corpses into the wild where the Untamed Jungle would devour them to receive nutrition.

    A few more hours passed before Michael finished extracting the loot of 41,000 Kitsun. Huge piles of loot had been generated, and Michael stored all of them in his War Rune. He had to make enough space since he was not yet done with Extraction. More than 600 Awakened were still waiting to be extracted.

    "59 Tier-3 Awakened, and only two Peak Tier-1 Awakened. That leaves exactly¡­565 Tier-2 Awakened. It looks like it''s about time to get rich," Michael mused to himself before retrieving a box with multiple gemstones embedded in the frame. It was the same box Michael had procured inside the Lord Rift ¨C the box that contained the recipes for the Body Strengthening Pill and the Energy Nourishing Pill.

    A locksmith had been able to open the emerald box without breaking it. To be precise, the locksmith altered the configuration of the emerald box, allowing Michael to imprint his energy into the emerald box to open and seal it as he pleased. No one but Michael with his energy imprint could ess the emerald box now without breaking the box and destroying everything stored within. It was a pretty good safety, even though it would be a little bit problematic if someone actually broke the emerald box. After all, Michael wanted to store the Soultrait Symbols he extracted inside it.

    But Michael was not too worried. It would be good if the content of the emerald box would be destroyed the moment the emerald box was crushed.

    ''If the box breaks that only means someone stole it before. It''s better to lose all Soultrait Symbols than identally empowering my enemy with dozens of Soultraits. That would be more disastrous than just losing the Soultrait Symbols!'' Michael told himself before he began extracting the Awakened corpses.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the Artifacts, blueprints, and Summoning Scrolls he extracted. His main focus was on the SoulStar Fragments, the Soultrait Symbols, and the Memory Orbs. They were of the most value and had to be treated with great care¡­or not.

    Michael destroyed all Memory Orbs other than the Kitsun Lord''s Memory Orb without batting an eyelid. Why did he do so? It was pretty simple. The Kitsun race''s memories were disgusting. Most people wouldn''t be able to ovee living through the memories of the Kitsun as if they were their own.

    These weak-willed people would have an existential crisis and they might end up losing their sanity. It hadn''t been easy on Michael, Tiara, and the Forest Elven Adventurers to consume a Memory Orb of the Kitsun, and Michael didn''t want to be at fault for identally turning one of his subjects into a mindless idiot.

    As for why he decided to keep the Kitsun Lord''s memory orb¡­Michael was not yet sure whether he should consume the Memory orb or not. He was certain that the Kitsun Lord''s most valuable treasures were hidden somewhere, and the only way to find them without any further trouble was through the Kitsun Lord''s memories.

    However, Michael was not sure if he wanted to live through the memories of the Kitsun Lord as if he was the onemitting all those disgusting acts. Since he hesitated it was better to store the Memory Orb away until he knew what he wanted to do. As long as the other Memory Orbs were crushed indiscriminately everything would be alright.

    "Soo¡­first I''ll store the Artifacts, blueprints, and Summoning Scrolls away," Michael mumbled, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the two stashes of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments.

    It was great to look at. That was for sure!

 Chapter 404 Soultrait Experiments

    ?

    404 Soultrait Experiments

    "Setting aside the Artifacts and other loot...I extracted 32,359 SoulStar Fragments, and 43 Soultrait Symbols...amazing!" Michael eximed once he was done counting the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    While staring at the pile of SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits, Michael broke into a bright smile. He was not sure how many SoulStar Fragments Extraction had required to be upgraded to 6- Star, but he was pretty sure that it had been roughly 30,000 SoulStar Fragments. That meant he should have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade another Soultrait to 6-Star - if not for the Sphere of Light had not increased the amount of SoulStar Fragments required to upgrade his Soultraits.

    "I am fine with allbat Soultraits being at 5-Star already. Well, cicle will probably require 1,000 SoulStar Fragments toplete the upgrade to 5-Star, but after that my Soultraits should be powerful enough for the time being," Michael mused to himself, falling deep in thought.

    He had a total of 9 Soultraits right now. Most of them were extremely powerful and that was something Michael was grateful for. However, the biggest downside was that his War Rune required a lot more energy to reach the next rank than others. Even with all the energy he had absorbed during thest few days, Michael''s War Rune would barely reach Mid Tier-2 once everything had been digested.

    Killing dozens of Tier-3 Awakened and the Kitsun Lord wouldn''t be enough for him to break the barrier to reach the Late rank of the 2nd Tier. And that didn''t even include the tens of thousands of Kitsun he and his people had killed in thest few days.

    ?

    That was shocking but also understandable. High-ranked Soultraits were known for increasing the amount of energy required to refine the War Rune. That was also why Kaleb and the rest were so focused on gathering resources and utilizing the best energy absorption techniques - which they did either way by practicing their Inheritance technique.

    The most suitable energy absorption techniques had been incorporated into the Inheritance techniques, allowing Kaleb and other Descendants to consume and digest far more resources than others. Therefore, they progressed faster than others even though they required far more energy to reach the next rank. The only downside was that they used up a tremendous amount of resources. Ordinary people wouldn''t have enough money to afford the monthly expenses of the Descendants. Even if ordinary Awakened possessed the same techniques as the Descendants, they wouldn''t be able to grow as rapidly as the Descendants. That was the reality most people didn''t want to ept. It was simply too cruel for those born in an ordinary household.

    Fortunately, Michael wasn''t in a rush. He didn''t have to progress as fast as the others. As long as he studied his Soultraits in-depth, he could grow much stronger even if his Tier didn''t increase as fast. As long as his Soultraits and mastery of them grew proportionally, Michael would never be weaker than Kaleb, Lincoln, Zeke, and everyone else. That was something Michael believed firmly.

    Michael studied the Soultrait Symbols for a while. Since he hadn''t fused them into his War Rune, he didn''t know the Soultraits'' names nor their true power. All Michael could use as a means to determine their power was his memories. He recalled some Kitsun Awakened and what they could do with their Soultraits. Unfortunately, that was not too helpful.

    "Master, may I suggest something?" Tiara asked, seeing how much Michael struggled to determine whether the Soultraits were worthy to be stored in the emerald box or if they would be totally useless for their purpose.

    "Go on," Michael said without thinking twice. He nced over to Tiara who pointed at the Soultraits first and then at herself.

    "How about I fuse the Soultraits with my War Rune? Then I make notes about them using the information influx provided by fusing with the respective Soultrait. Once I''ve finished taking notes, you can Extract the Soultrait again," Tiara proposed lightheartedly.

    At first, Michael''s eyes lit up hearing what she proposed, but it didn''t take long before he began to frown.

    "What about thesting damages? I am pretty sure that tearing a Soultrait out of your War Rune will result in a bacsh," He pointed out his doubts, only for Tiara to shrug.

    "We can test it out with one Soultrait Symbol and see how much it will affect me. If the Soultrait is not fused to me for too long, extracting it shouldn''t result in too much damage. I might feel a little weird for a few days, but I should be fine. It should be worth the effort in exchange for finding out the name and additional information of the Soultrait Symbols you''ve extracted. You can create a proper rank for the Soultraits to determine whom you want to give certain Soultraits in the future. That should be quite helpful, don''t you think so?"

    "Tiara has a good point. I would offer my help as well, but you might not ept my help since we have yet to switch to the proper Link of Loyalty and establish a Soul Pact between us," Lilica said a little bit regretfully, but Michael waved his hand off.

    "If the bacsh of extracting recently fused Soultraits is not too high, I would dly ept your help. That way, we can share the burden evenly among the two of you. Of course, that is only feasible?if the bacsh is not too painful and if it''s temporary. If the War Rune is permanently damaged from the bacsh we will have to think about something else," Michael informed honestly. He had no intentions of rejecting Lilica''s help but he also wanted her to be aware of the possible risks.

    She had already obtained a Soultrait from him that he upgraded to 4-Star, yet Lilica didn''t flee. Even if he gave her another 1-Star Soultrait to test out its power and write down the information and name of the Soultrait, Michael genuinely doubted that Lilica would run away with it. In the first ce, she would have to leave the Origin Expanse to escape his grasp because he would be right in front of her while she made notes.

    Furthermore, Lilica wouldn''t be able to return to the Origin Expanse without finding a way to spawn somewhere else than the Untamed Jungle. Michael would hunt her down if she betrayed him, after all. 3

    Simply put, the effort to escape from Michael''s grasp was not worth it. Not in exchange for betraying Michael...for a single 1-Star Soultrait at that. Only stupid fools would try to run away from Michael instead of tightly holding onto him like the golden goose he was. 2

    "I can help as well," Mika said, raising his hand high into the air.

    "Me too," Opars added, followed by Liopham and Pheli who joined as well.

    "That''s great. In that case, let''s start right away," Michael said before he released a white tendril of energy from within his War Rune. The tendril devoured the 32,359 SoulStar Fragments, leaving only 43 Soultrait Symbols behind.

    Contrary to Soultraits, SoulStar Fragments could always be taken out of his War Rune. As long as they hadn''t been used for other purposes that is.

    ?

    The initial test to find out the bacsh caused by extracting a newly fused Soultrait was done by Tiara. The Soultrait she fused to her War Rune was bound to her in less than 20 minutes. Tiara wrote down the name of the Soultrait, what it could be used for, and how much it cost to use the Soultrait. After that, Michael used Extraction to remove the Soultrait.

    Given that Tiara had epted the tendrils of Extraction to invade the deepest part of her being where the Soultrait Symbols were anchored, it was not that difficult to extract the Soultrait. It would have been a little different if she rejected the tendrils of Extraction and if she was hanging at the Soultrait Symbol desperately to prevent Michael from extracting it. But since that was not the case the extraction was smooth. It hurt Tiara a little but the damage was barely like a prick of a needle, something she could deal with.

    It was far less painful than the time Michael removed Spirit Whip from his Sphere of Light. Therefore, they could continue with their experiment. Everyone fused a Soultrait to their War Rune at a time. They made detailed sheets and wrote down everything that could be useful to know. Once they were done they would walk up to Michael and allow him to remove the Soultrait Symbol once again.

    By the time Michael called it a day, he was satisfied with their first trial. In total they had spent four hours fusing with 43 Soultrait Symbols, writing down their names and information, and removing the Soultraits once again.

    Tiara and the Forest Elves were a little exhausted, but they were d to be of help. Michael studied the information sheets and began to rank the Soultrait Symbols. He even ordered the Soultraits to make sure that he would put the Soultraits aside, which he wanted to give to Tiara and the Forest Elves after the other tasks had been finished.

    ''Invisible Projectile should definitely go to Mika. He will be our Divine Archer. But what about Shadow Cage and Shadow Spikes? They seem like a greatbination to give someone who has no good Soultrait. Or maybe someone who already uses a Soultrait rted to shadows and darkness?''

    Creating theories about who to give certain Soultraits and how the Soultraits would affect their attack power was something Michael loved to do. It was very interesting and most definitely something he could work on all day.

    However, instead of doing it all day, Michael put the Soultraits in the emerald box once he was done.

    Interestingly enough there was only one big disappointment among the 43 Soultraits he had extracted. Everything else could be somewhat useful once upgraded, probably at least.

    But not the Kitsun Lord''s Soultrait. Shockingly enough, the Kitsun Lord''s Soultrait was useless to Michael and the other Awakened. It had a highly restrictive pre-requisite to be utilized properly. It required the Awakened to possess a cloud-like lower body such as the Kitsun race''s Kitsun Cloud to unleash its full power.

    Therefore, the Kitsun Lord had been lucky to manifest his Soultrait, but it was of no value to Michael.

    That was a shame.

    ''Well, whatever. I got 42 useful Soultraits and a shitload of SoulStar Fragments. And there are thousands of Summoning Scrolls waiting for me to be used!

    **

    [A/N: The Author is back in the game. Finally we reached this point --> Michael defeated the Kitsun Lord and Extracted a massive pile of SoulStar Fragments and 43 Soultrait Symbols. Fortunately, he didn''t use Extraction on the Soultrait Symbols immediately. Will he finally make use of the Soultrait Symbols? If so, how?

    ?

    What will happen now? The Kitsun Lord has been defeated but there are still Kitsun roaming around! What about the situation outside the Origin Expanse? Will Michael be fine against the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs and his own people in the Battle Exchange? Stay tuned and gimme a review hehe ;D]

 Chapter 405 One Million

    Chapter 405 One Million

    Since the Sphere of Light increased the number of SoulStar Fragments required to upgrade a Soultrait, Michael didn''t have enough Fragments to upgrade one of his Soultraits to a 6-Star Soultrait. It was unfortunate, but maybe that was for the better. After all, his Soultraits were already quite powerful, and it might be better to save the SoulStar Fragments to upgrade the Forest Elves'' Soultraits once they decided to follow him until the end.

    The only thing Michael desired to do with his SoulStar Fragments was to upgrade cicle to 5-Star. It was already at the border separating 4-Star from 5-Star, so Michael wouldn''t have to spend too many SoulStar Fragments toplete the upgrade. Therefore, he did just that. He spent 1251 SoulStar Fragments toplete cicle''s upgrade to a proper 5-Star Soultrait.

    As the outlines of the fifth Star were filled to the brim, traces of information entered his mind. At first, the traces of information were shallow, but the pieces of information quickly evolved into tidal waves. Michael learned various new things about cicle, including a new power on how to use it. Thetent potential of cicle was unleashed, unraveling new powers to use with little to no effort.

    Michael tried to use one of the new powers right off the bat. He focused on cicle and created freezing mist around his hands. Since cicle was upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait, Michael''s immunity to cold temperatures increased drastically. The cold resistance was heightened with every creation made by cicle itself. Therefore, Michael didn''t feel any difort as he controlled the freezing mist in his hands. It moved around him at his will and transformed into cicles onmand. Creating and controlling freezing mist to a certain extent was one of his new powers.

    The other new power was to alter the form of cicles to a higher degree. He could easily transform the freezing mist into cicles, or objects of simr shape. Conjuring a cicle Sword was also much easier than before. Even thepressed cicle Sword was not too difficult now that cicle was a 5-Star Soultrait.

    ''Control, a wider variety of uses, and the energy consumption for ordinary cicles decreased considerably. Compressed cicles cost as much energy as ordinary cicles required before I upgraded the Soultrait. That''s pretty neat.''

    Now all of Michael''sbat-type Soultrait had reached 5-Star. This left Soul Grimoire as the only 1-Star Soultrait, and Mind Reader at four stars.

    That was 9 Soultraits in total, creating a tremendous powerful ability set for Michael. The ability set was more than enough to deal with powerful enemies even if their War Rune was more refined than his. It was exceptional!

    With dozens of Soultrait Symbols and more than 30,000 SoulStar Fragments left to use, Micheal had a great starting point. However, he decided not to rush anything. Instead, he diverted his focus to the loot extracted from the Kitsun.

    "I extracted a total of 2,496 Artifacts. 469 Tier-1 Artifacts with most of them being either 1-Star or 2-Star, 1,995 Tier-2 Artifacts with the majority being 1-Star Artifacts, and 32 Tier-3 Artifacts. All Tier-3 Artifacts are either useless for me, or they don''t fit anyone''sbat style. What even is a Cloud Enhancing Belt?! I don''t have my own personal Nimbus Cloud!" Michael grumbled a little but the smile on his face widened.

    No matter how little use the Artifacts had to him, most of the Tier-1 Artifacts were Weapon Artifacts. It was a simr case for the pile of Tier-2 and Tier-3 Artifacts, even if it was not as prominent as it was in the pile of Tier-1 Artifacts. One way or another, Michael could earn more than two billion dors by selling the Tier-1 and Tier-2 Artifacts. And that was the bare minimum he could get without negotiating. After a thorough inspection and finding the right buyers, Michael was more likely to get four billion, maybe even more.

    This number didn''t even take into ount that he had 32 Tier-3 Artifacts. Procuring Tier-3 Artifacts was extremely difficult, especially natural Artifacts generated by the Will. The type of Artifact didn''t even matter as long as its external enhancement was powerful. They were sought after and could be sold for hundreds of millions as long as they found the right customer.

    Selling his gains to Kraft Viton was probably the best way to earn a fortune. But then again, Michael was not sure if he shouldn''t try to barter with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They might not be able to give him the same amount of money as Kraft Viton ¨C since they didn''t use the same currency in the first ce ¨C but he should be able to purchase a wide variety of goods that were hard toe by in the human market.

    ''The Forest Elves might give me a good price as well. I should have someone appraise the Artifacts before collecting the offers from the Forest Elves, the Berserkers, and Kraft Viton to figure out from where I can gain most.''

    Putting the Artifacts aside, Michael looked at the stash of blueprints. There were a total of 18,724 blueprints spread out in front of him. Michael saw a few familiar blueprints, but most of them were unknown.

    Interestingly enough there were three types of wells, and fountains that were empowered with the energy umted within monster cores. They were quite interesting and could be used well in his settlement. It was worth taking into consideration to construct one of them since the Water Elemental Mage of his territory died in the Elementals Cave as well. Michael had to provide enough food and water for tens of thousands of subjects. Therefore, an abundant source of water nearby would be wee. That was for sure.

    "Sort the blueprints and write down every single one of them. I want a report about the blueprints once you''re done," Michael ordered the workers, who immediately started to organize the blueprints right off the bat.

    ''Now to the most important part of the day!'' Michael ticked off one item off his to-do list, letting the workers do their jobs without paying too much attention to them.

    A huge pile of Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments emerged in front of him. Michael took a deep breath and smiled vibrantly as he released his energy to engulf the Summoning Scrolls and Fragments to count them properly.

    "27,040 Summoning Scrolls, and 1,331,200 Summoning Scroll Fragments. That''s what I call a jackpot!" Michael eximed, rubbing his hands in excitement.

    In fact, the number of Summoning Scrolls he extracted was a little less than what Michael expected. He thought that he would easily obtain more than 30,000 Summoning Scrolls since most Kitsun were already at the 2nd Tier. Despite that, the Fragments were the reason why Michael was truly happy.

    The Summoning Scroll Fragments were enough to form exactly 53,248 Summoning Scrolls, or 133 Mythic Scrolls with an extra 1200 Summoning Scroll Fragments. That was quite exciting, and it made Michael''s heart do a little happy dance.

    133 Mythic Scrolls should be enough to summon a dozen 3-Star Summons. The probability of summoning a 4-Star Summon was also not too low. One 4-Star Summon should appear within 133 Mythic Scrolls. At least, that was what Michael was hoping for.

    Losing 1,500 trainedbatants had been quite harsh on Michael and his people, but that could be solved with 133 Mythic Scrolls or more than 50,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    However, before Michael could decide whether he wanted to transform the Summoning Scroll Fragments into 133 Mythic Scrolls or 50,000+ Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, he noticed that the Summoning Scroll Fragments began to stir.

    Some Fragments escaped his shroud of energy by force and ascended high into the air where they revolved around each other. More and more Summoning Scroll Fragments escaped Michael''s grasp. They revolved around each other as thousands, no, tens of thousands of them began to swirl around in a circle.

    The number of Fragments shrouded by Michael''s energy decreased rapidly. Several minutes passed in the blink of an eye before less than 350,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments were still in his shroud of energy. There were exactly 331,200 left now.

    As for the one million Summoning Scroll Fragments that revolved around each other¡­ they pulled closer to each other and merged with one another. The merging process was simr to how Mythic Scrolls were formed from 10,000 Fragments. But it was not the same. It was on apletely different scale!

    The parchment of the fragments changed in color as the million Summoning Scroll Fragments were sucked into each other until there was only one left.

    A single Summoning Scroll conjured from the merging of one million Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    The Scroll was golden in color and had a vibrant ruby seal that contained the tremendous power of the Summoning Scroll.

    "Is that¡­What is that?!?" Tiara blurted out as goosebumps appeared all over her body. She had never seen, let alone felt something like the golden scroll. Its presence was enough to stir her heart and force her to retreat.

    It was terrifying, yet a vibrant smile appeared on Michael''s face. He nced over to Lilica, whose expression was filled with shock. She barely regained her senses and her gaze flicked to Michael, only to shudder ever so slightly.

    "Is that what I think it is?" Lilica asked uncertainty in her voice.

    "I guess it is," Michael responded, his eyes shimmering brightly as he stared at the golden scroll that was engulfed in a golden hue. The golden hue felt heavy which made it hard to approach it. However, Michael ignored the heaviness as much as possible.

    "It is a Legendary Summoning Scroll!"

 Chapter 406 Legendary Cripple

    Chapter 406 Legendary Cripple

    Michael''s hands trembled in excitement as he picked the Legendary Summoning Scroll. It weighed heavily in his hands even though its actual weight was not even 500 grams.

    ''A Legendary Summoning Scroll¡­is that actually one?!'' Michael wondered, barely able to contain his excitement.

    Legendary Summoning Scrolls were said to be among the most precious treasures within Ancient Ruins, Rifts, and Dungeons. They could also be procured outside these unique ces, but there was only a minuscule chance to have one Legendary Summoning Scroll dropped from the corpse of a Mythical Existence.

    Just like Mythic Summoning Scrolls dropped from Superior Existences every now and then, Mythical Existences dropped Legendary Summoning Scrolls ¨C though rarely.

    Yet, someone like Michael could procure Legendary Summoning Scrolls bybining a million Summoning Scroll Fragments. How insane was that?

    ''If I extract the Summoning Scroll Fragments from an Ordinary Summoning Scroll¡­.will 27,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and 331,200 Fragments be enough to form a second Legendary Scroll?'' Michael wondered all of a sudden. His eyes moved to the stash of Ordinary Scrolls and his eyes began to glimmer. There was only one way to find out.

    Thus, he used Extraction on ten Summoning Scrolls to find out how many fragments he obtained.

    Unfortunately, he was disappointed big time with this experiment. Using Extraction on 10 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls rewarded him with merely 100 Summoning Scroll Fragments. That was a lot less than Michael had hoped for.

    ''100,000 Summoning Scrolls for 1 Legendary Summoning Scroll¡­

    Well, that is actually better than I expected. A Legendary Summoning Scroll is likely to Summon a 5-Star Summon, after all.''

    Michael had yet to use Extraction on Summoning Scrolls purchased on the market. He never tried to do that, but he could instinctively feel that Extraction wouldn''t be able to obtain as many Fragments as he received from the Scrolls he had procured through hard work.

    ''Even if Extraction can only extract 5 Fragments from a purchased Ordinary Scroll that means I would need 200,000 Scrolls to form one Legendary Summoning Scroll. If an Ordinary Summoning Scroll costs 5,000$, I would have to spend one billion¡­that is¡­actually quite feasible.''

    Even if the rate of Extraction were to be much lower than anticipated, Michael doubted that he would have to pay more than 10 billion to procure enough Ordinary Scrolls to form a Legendary Summoning Scroll.

    The only issue was that no shop would allow Michael to mass purchase that many Summoning Scrolls. The demand for Summoning Scrolls was always extremely high. Thus, shops were regted to avoid selling too many Summoning Scrolls to Lords. Every Lord had only a specific monthly quota that was adjusted ording to their Society Rank, Tier, and unique achievements.

    As a Tier-2 Lord without special Society Rank or achievements, Michael could probably purchase 50,000 Summoning Scrolls a month, but that was about it.

    Therefore, it would be much easier to use his funds differently. He could still get hold of 50,000 Summoning Scrolls a month and extract them to slowly umte the Fragments required to conjure another Legendary Scroll, but it would be a slow and arduous process. Even then it should be worth it.

    But those thoughts and ideas were for the future. For now, he has one Legendary Scroll, 27,040 Ordinary Scrolls, and 331,200 Summoning Scroll Fragments to use.

    330,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments were merged into 33 Mythic Scrolls, leaving Michael with enough chances to summon a few 3-Star Summons.

    While that would have excited him before, Michael''s whole attention had moved to the Legendary Scroll.

    "Even if I''m extremely unlucky, the worst Summon I can get will be a 4-Star with one unique trait," Michael mumbled, while Lilica spoke his next thought aloud,

    "Of course, you hope to be lucky enough to summon a 5-Star Summon, maybe even a 6-Star Summon."

    Michael was not too sure about the probability for each star rating, but he had heard rumors about someone summoning a 7-Star Summon with a Legendary Summoning Scroll. That was something one could usually only get by being extremely fortunate when using a Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    Michael knew his luck well enough to understand that he wouldn''t Unable to contain his excitement and expectations anymore, Michael left the warehouse and moved to the Summoning Gate. All Scrolls were stored in his storage whereas the Legendary Scroll rested in his hands. It vibrated violently as if eager to be used immediately.

    That was exactly what Michael intended to do. He tore the ruby seal from the Legendary Scroll the moment he reached the Summoning Gate. His impatience was evident as Michael stared at the Legendary Scroll as it unfolded itself.

    The golden scroll ascended into the air through the will of unknown forces. It revolved around Michael while revealing the content written within it.

    Michael was curious about the ominous ck letters written on the golden parchment, but he didn''t dare to use Extraction to extract the wisp of knowledge that the Legendary Scroll contained.

    It would be interesting to get to know more about the summoning principle, but it wasn''t worth potentially destroying a Legendary Scroll merely to obtain some sort of information.

    The golden scroll stopped revolving around him as a trace of resolve entered Michael''s mind. He knew what kind of Summons he required the most right now.

    Combatants!! The more high-rankedbatants with great potential the better.

    Michael stared at the Legendary Scroll with a firm resolve. However, the moment the Legendary Scroll dashed toward the energy pool of the Summoning Gate, Michael closed his eyes.

    He didn''t dare to look at the Summoning Gate, fearing that his cursed luck would result in turning the Legendary Scroll''s great power into a nonbat 4-Star Summon.

    Of course, that wouldn''t be bad either, but it was not what Michael wanted.

    obtain a 7-Star Summon. But what about a 6-Star?

    "Oh my gosh!" Liopham blurted aloud. That was notmon for the Forest Elf, but the same could be said for the usually quiet Pheli.

    "Wow. That''s amazing!" She squealed, shaking Opars who was standing next to her with his eyes wide open.

    Curious about what was going on, Michael opened his eyes. He looked straight at the Summoning Gate where six bright stars illuminated the Gate''s frame.

    "6-Star!!" Tiara eximed at the same moment.

    ''As if?!'' Michael''s mind thundered, and his heart began to beat wildly. He pressed his hands together and grit his teeth trying to suppress his excitement.

    Any type of 6-Star Summon would be great, but Michael hoped that hisst bits of luck wouldn''t betray him right now.

    ''Abat Summon please!'' He screamed in his heart as the outlines of the Summons formed in the energy pool.

    Time slowed down for Michael as his entire being focused on the situation ahead of him. The 6-Star Summon emerged from the Summoning Gate, revealing his imposing figure to the outside world ¨C or so Michael had hoped to happen.

    Unfortunately, reality looked a little bit different from what Michael had been hoping for. The 6-Star Summon in front of him was not a huge wall of muscle but an old man wearing silver armor that seemed way too heavy for him.

    The old man moved slowly from the Summoning Gate''s stage, the heavy armor pulling him downward. But that was not all. A huge broadsword was fastened to the backside of his armor. A single nce was enough to tell that the huge broadsword was, at least, as heavy as the old man''s heavy armor.

    ''What the fu¨C...'' Michael was just about to curse when he noticed that the old man slipped. The old man was about to fall when Michael shot forward to break his newest summon''s fall. He caught the old man and felt the weight of the old man''s armor and sword for the first time as well.

    "Holy shit!" Michael cursed aloud. ''That''s fucking heavy! How can this old man even move in this heavy armor? Isn''t he Tierless?!?''

    Despite looking like a roughed-up man in his 70s or 80s, the old man summoned to his territory as a 6-Star Summon was quite powerful. The armor and sword he wielded must be weighing hundreds of kilograms, yet the old man could walk around it despite being Tierless.

    He might have had difficulties walking and fell over near the edge of the Summoning Gate''s tform, but that was not the important part.

    Michael removed the heavy broadsword from the old man''s back, which allowed the old man to move freely. Circting energy through his body to make sure he could carry the broadsword somewhat easily, Michael stared at the old man for a while. Only then did he realize that one of his arms was missing, reced by a prosthetic arm that moved like an ordinary arm would.

    ''That is my 6-Star Summon? I¡­don''t know what to think about that¡­'' Michael thought, feeling a little let down as the Link of Loyalty with the unknown old man was formed.

    The Link of Loyalty was not firm, but it wasn''t shallow either. It provided him with a fair amount of information upon gettingpleted, which was how Michael found out who the old man was and what he was capable of.

    "Head of the Sacred Knight temple. Also known as the Immortal Knight Siegfried Dracoon," Michael mumbled which the Immortal Knight responded with a faint chuckle.

    "Since you were able to Summon me I can hardly call myself Immortal Knight don''t you think so¡­my Lord?" Siegfried Dracoon asked with a chuckle. He realized quickly that the Link of Loyalty suggested he call Michael ''Lord''. That didn''t sit well with the Head of the Sacred Knight Temple. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do anything about that since his Lord had yet to allow him to ignore the formalities.

    "You must have survived countless battles to be honored as the Immortal Knight. Of course, a title is just that, a name given by others. It doesn''t mean that you''re actually immortal," Michael responded with a shrug, his gaze lingering on the old man.

    "Something about you feels different. Will you ever be able to fight?" Michael asked rather straightforwardly when he sensed that something about the old man was off. Siegfried Dracoon might be physically powerful, more so than others. However, something deep inside him seemed to torment him. That was what Michael sensed through the faint link of loyalty at least.

    "Your perception is quite good. Our Link of Loyalty has just beenpleted, yet you can already tell that something is wrong with my constitution," Siegfried Dracoon said, a sad smile forming on his lips. "Since you''re worried about mybat prowess, I think I should tell you about it now rather thanter."

    Siegfried paused for a second before he continued.

    "I won''t be able to fight for you."

    Michael tried not to sigh the moment the words rang through his ears. He could have guessed that already. It was such a shame.

    Unfortunately, his 6-Star Summon didn''t seem tha¡ª " But I can reconstruct the Sacred Knight Temple with the powers I possess." Siegfried said, a smile forming on his lips.

    "Your powers?" Michael asked, a glimmer of hope resurfacing in his eyes.

    "I have the power to instruct and train your subjects. I can stimte theirtent potential and turn them into 1-Star Blessed Squires, 2-Star Holy Knights, or even 3-Star Sacred Knights if their potential, loyalty, and belief are strong enough!!"

    Michael froze in front of the old man when he heard what he said. It took him a few moments to digest what he heard just now.

    ''I hit the fucking jackpot!!''

    **

 Chapter 407 Sacred Knight Temple

    Chapter 407 Sacred Knight Temple

    Too many aspects about the 6-Star Immortal Knight called Siegfried Dracoon confused Michael quite a bit.

    For a Summon to have 6-Stars, their potential must be impable, they must have attained various achievements and their power must have been great. However, all Michael could see in front of him was an old man, who was quite strong but unable to participate in battles, let alone war.

    The only reason Michael was not frustrated about summoning Siegfried Dracoon with the Legendary Scroll was that the Immortal Knight could reconstruct the Sacred Knight Temple.

    Temples were facilities simr to the training grounds. But while training grounds didn''t provide any special advantages, Temples possessed the function to harness the power of the beings entering it. Theprehension and training progress of anyone entering the temple would improve drastically. At the same time, Temples had the power to promote and change the upations of Summons as long as they reached the necessary requirements.

    These requirements didn''t include enlightenment, but that didn''t mean the conditions to be promoted in a Temple were easy to fulfill.

    That was part of the reason why the Immortal Knight said that he possessed the power to stimte thetent potential of Michael''s subjects.

    Unfortunately, constructing a temple wasn''t an easy task. It required hundreds of unique devices that could only be produced with blueprints. Therefore, one had to collect hundreds of blueprints before one could even think about starting the construction of a temple. As for the Sacred Knight Temple, it was an advanced construction with the means to promote Summons to 1-Star Blessed Squires, 2-Star Holy Knights, and even 3-Star Sacred Knights.

    If Michael was not wrong, he would have to collect more than a thousand blueprints and collect various objects that harbored Divine Energy.

    "You don''t have to be worried about the blueprints or the Sacred Knight Temple''s library. The Will provided me with a storage device that contains all the books and blueprints required to construct the Sacred Knight Temple. If not for the Will''s generosity I would have been quite useless until the Sacred Knight Temple had been constructed," Siegfried Dracoon said in all honesty before he added, "Even though my unique traits are dependent on the level of the Sacred Knight Temple, I can use my traits to a certain extent. It shouldn''t be an issue to train a few Blessed Squires while you focus on the construction of the Sacred Knight Temple."

    The Immortal Knight retrieved a small medallion which he handed over without a second thought. The medallion was a storage device that contained tens of thousands of books, and hundreds of blueprints.

    ''Well, damn. Looks like I have a newrge-scale construction project to work on.'' Michael mused to himself before he turned back to the Immortal Knight.

    Michael had noticed something particr when Siegfried spoke and he was intrigued enough to find out more.

    "What do you mean that your traits depend on the level of the Sacred Knight Temple? Does that mean you are bound to the Sacred Knight Temple and that your traits will get stronger alongside the construction progress of the temple? If that''s the case, what are your traits and how powerful are they right now?" Michael asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.

    Having a powerful 6-Star Combat Summon would have been nice as well, but Michael felt that having the means to create his own army filled with Sacred Knights, Holy Knights, and Blessed Squires was a lot better. He was not sure how strong Blessed Squires were, but 1-Star Summons with unique upations were usually a lot stronger than ordinary upations. Therefore, Blessed Squires should be stronger than Warriors.

    "I am indeed bound to the Sacred Knight Temple. The bond is also why I am capable of channeling Holy Power through others to stimte and harness their bodies. That way, I can help soon-to-be Knights gather Holy Power a lot faster than they would by practicing the techniques that I''ll teach them. Other than the Holy Power stimtion, I am also pretty good at instructing others. This is the second trait I possess; Instruction. Summons will learnbat from me within half the time they would usually require to understand certain facts about their weapon and how to utilize it efficiently. My traits will grow stronger as Iplete the Basic Level of the Sacred Knight Temple. It won''t be difficult to train dozens, if not hundreds of Blessed Knights at that point."

    The more the Immortal Knight spoke the better Michael felt about having summoned someone like that old man. His earlier worries and disappointment disappeared into thin air as he realized what a valuable resource he had obtained. It was truly exceptional.

    Of course, Siegfried required numerous things to unleash the full extent of his power. The Sacred Knight Temple had to be constructed, which was an extremely expensive task. It was a humongous project since the Sacred Knight Temple required various training facilities, sleeping rooms with special engravings that allowed the trainees to gather Holy Power even in their sleep, a gigantic library, ces to pray and harness their minds, and whatnot. It wouldn''t be easy to create the temple even if Michael was not in possession of the blueprints and books for the temple''s library.

    ''Should I just sell the Mythic Scrolls alongside the Artifacts? Maybe that will be enough to purchase the materials to construct the Sacred Knight Temple. Or maybe it won''t be enough? Though¡­it should suffice for the Basic level of the Sacred Knight Temple. That would already be quite helpful to create a small army of Blessed Squires, and a handful of Holy Knights¡­right?'' Michael thought, retrieving a bunch of blueprints to figure out what materials he required and how high the level his engineers, crafter, enchanter, cksmiths, and other subjects had to be at to construct the unique devices.

    "It looks like the next few months will be a big mess. I need money¡­

    loads of it," That was Michael''s first thought. Lilica, Tiara, and the other Forest Elven Adventurers moved to Michael''s side, intrigued about the blueprints their Lord had just retrieved.

    Siegfried looked around and sensed the atmosphere around him. The Lord was the center of the territory, but as an old man who had lived for centuries before he sumbed, the Immortal Knight was able to tell a lot more about territories and the pirs that supported the development of the territory.

    Using his superior perception, the Immortal Knight could immediately sense that the atmosphere in Michael''s territory was filled with trust and loyalty. Both were required to be trainees in the Sacred Knight Temple. However, there was also something else that hung heavily in the air.

    ''The trust of some Summons decreased not long ago. But not for all of them. Why? The aura of death around the Lord is thick and heavy. He killed many enemies less than a week ago. Was his territory in war with another Lord? Did he lose the trust of some Summons because his military force was not on par with the Lord''s individualbat prowess? Or was there something else?... Seems like I have to find out more about our Lord before it''s toote¡­The Sacred Knight Temple and my powers cannot be in the hands of an unworthy Lord,'' The Immortal Knight thought, his gaze shifting back to Michael.

    ''If you''re unworthy, I will take back everything I gave¡­and I will make sure that nobody will be able to possess my powers. I would rather die and let my legacy disperse than follow an unworthy Lord!''

    Michael noticed the attention he received from his new Summon. He couldn''t guess what the Immortal Knight was thinking about, but Michael didn''t have to be a genius to understand that most Summons with a high star rating were stubborn and unwilling to serve someone they didn''t consider worthy. That was quitemon to find among Summons with a high star rating since most of them had been powerful Lords in the past themselves.

    For someone like the Immortal Knight to be a 6-Star Summons even though he was incapable of fighting he must have been a powerful Lord in the past. Siegfried Dracoon''s achievements must have been exceptional and his knowledge as vast as the ocean to be resurrected as a 6-Star Summon even if he didn''t possess the means to fight for himself.

    ''Just watch me!'' Michael shouted in his mind, staring back at the Immortal Knight with a confident smile.

    He then retrieved the remaining blueprints and gave them to Tiara.

    "Please organize the blueprints and check what we need to construct the Basic level of the Sacred Knight Temple first. If you have the time, make a thorough report about the workforce required to construct the temple, the materials we need for every level, the costs to maintain the temple oncepleted, and whatever else you can think of," Michael ordered Tiara, who nodded her head.

    He nced over to Lilica and Opars before gesturing with his head to make sure that the two Forest Elves would follow Tiara.

    Now that he could put aside the issues about the Sacred Knight temple for an hour or two until Tiara returned with the detailed report to read through, Michael returned his focus back to the summoning process.

    He decided against selling the Mythic Scrolls and used all 33 Mythic Summoning Scrolls simultaneously. Michael was in dire need of powerful subordinates right now, and he couldn''t get himself to sell the Mythic Scrolls. They were just too valuable for his territory''s development. Furthermore, he had yet to hunt the remaining Kitsun in the Untamed Jungle.

    By killing the remaining Kitsun, Michael could probably farm enough SoulStar Fragments and Ordinary Scrolls to make some quick cash.

    Then again, Michael had a much better idea to make a fortune even if the prospect of actually doing it disgusted Michael.

    ''If it helps my territory¡­I might as well do it¡­''

 Chapter 408 Trade

    Chapter 408 Trade

    Michael was now standing in front of the Summoning Gate with 33 Mythic Summoning Scrolls and 27,040 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls surrounding him. He released his energy outside his body and broke the seals of all Scrolls simultaneously.

    The Ordinary Scrolls and Mythic Scrolls began to unfurl and ascend into the air before they shot straight into the energy pool of the Summoning Gate.

    What followed was rows of Summons stepping out from the Summoning Gate. There were thousands of them and most of them were confused, unsure what was going on.

    Fortunately, Michael had already notified his people to move to the Summoning Gate and act as tour guides through the settlement. His subjects would show the neers around and tell them all about the settlement to make sure that the new Summons could settle down quickly into their new home.

    It was a good thing that Michael didn''t have a lot to do to integrate his new subjects into the territory. 27,073 new Links of Loyalty were formed near-simultaneously, which affected Michael for a while. It didn''t hurt to create many Links of Loyalty simultaneously, but the information about his new subjects, and the bits of Soul Power every new Link of Loyalty provided weren''t something one could digest that quickly.

    Michael had 39,000ish Links of Loyalty until now, but the number increased to more than 66,000 within minutes. It was only obvious, but Michael had to spend a minute or two to digest the influx of information.

    ''Is that some sort of joke?'' Michael nearly blurted aloud when he foraged through the new Links of Loyalty to learn more about his new subjects'' upations.

    "Since when is my luck so twisted?" He wondered when he noticed that 25,952 out of 27,040 Summons resurrected through Ordinary Scrolls turned out to be 0-Star Summons. Among the remaining 1,088 Summons not even 100 turned out to be Warriors, Archers, Assassins, or any other type of Combat Summon. Most 1-Star Summons in today''s Summoning session were carpenters, engineers, Alchemy Apprentices, Locksmith Apprentices, and a lot more other nonbat upations.

    Even among the 33 Summons that entered his territory through the Mythic Summoning Scrolls, only two of them were Combat Summons; Berserkers at that. The remaining 31 Summons were either Alchemists, cksmiths, Architects, or Master Engineers. He was lucky enough to summon four 3-Star Summons with 33 Mythic Scrolls, but they weren''t Combat Summons either. One was a Master Locksmith, another one was a Grand Thief, while the remaining two were Supreme Bakers.

    Michael was happy about the Bakers. Their arrival was more than wee for a glutton like him.

    But despite the happiness, Michael felt a little weird as well. Until now he never summoned such a low number of Combat Summons. He didn''t summon any monsters, or Demi-Humans either.

    ''Did I mess up the summoning probability by inserting the Kitsun Lord''s Summoning Cores in the Summoning Gate? No¡­that shouldn''t be it. Was I just unlucky? No. I cannot really call myself unlucky either. I have the Sacred Knight Temple and Warrior Enlightenment Potions to create morebatants¡­''

    At first, Michael was a little displeased about theck of Combat Summons in today''s summoning session. Given the number ofbatants he lost in the recent war against the Kitsun Lord, he had been hopeful to fill up the numbers to some extent. However, he quickly found himself epting the situation. Even without the Sacred Knight Temple, Michael didn''t really have a reason toin. He had a total of 11 purified Summoning Cores that would summon 11 Summons with either one or two stars every day. There was no need to worry too much about theck of military power in his territory.

    If anything, Michael should worry about theck of funds for the Sacred Knight Temple. Once Michael''s assistants finished taking notes about the new Summons, Michael read through their reports. He found out that many Starless Summons were willing to fight as long as they could gain the benefits provided to the military.

    These benefits included special techniques, Energy Nourishing Pills, and Body Strengthening Pills. While it was likely that the military force would have to fight life-and-death battles in the future, the Energy Nourishing Pills and Body Strengthening Pills allowed the Summons to change their fate, receive better perks, and improve their status amongst peers.

    They had been no names in the past, but now they gained the opportunity to change this. Their new lives as the subordinates of a generous Lord were an opportunity to make up for the regrets of their past. If they died at the hands of monsters in the past, they would now give their utmost to grow strong enough to be the ones hunting monsters. In the future, they would get to know the other people in the settlement, and they might even find the love of their life. By then, they would need the strength to protect their loved ones and earn enough to make sure that their loved ones would live in luxury.

    Michael had yet to learn how to motivate his subjects actively to ensure that his military force would expand quickly, but that didn''t seem to be much of a problem now that he had the opportunity to construct the Sacred Knight Temple. The Sacred Knight Temple''s existence would be more than enough to motivate thousands of Starless Summons to try and change their destiny. If they had the means to fulfill the requirements, the Starless Summons might as well be 3-Star Sacred Knights in the future. Bing 3-Star Summons would elevate their status significantly, and they would be given far more resources than most, therefore resulting in their Tier increasing faster.

    In turn, that would increase their lifespan , allowing them to live a much longer life than the average. Their fate would change and they would enter an unknown future full of possibilities.

    After understanding what hecked the most, Michael wanted to construct the Sacred Knight Temple as soon as possible. Since he was not good at holding speeches, and maniption, he wanted to use other means to make up for everything hecked.

    Thus, Michael retrieved the Memory Orb of the Kitsun Lord once he received Tiara''s thorough report about the materials and manpower required to construct the Sacred Knight Temple.

    "I looked through the materials and noticed that the Forest Elven Tribe might have everything you need. Do you want me to ask if I can bring the materialster?" Lilica asked not long before Michael wanted to digest the Memory Orb, "The goods for the Basic Level of the temple may be expensive, but I am pretty sure that I can negotiate with the Elders."

    Michael tilted his head and considered the possibilities for a moment. Instead of leaving the Origin Expanse and asking the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs and Kraft Viton how much they would offer for his Artifacts, he might as well stay in the Origin Expanse and make use of the time dtion effect inside the expanse to have more time to spend elsewhere.

    Lilica and the other Forest Elves of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had to leave for a while to speak to the Elders either way. They had to talk to them about the changes of the Links of Loyalty and the Soul Pact that Michael had proposed in exchange for providing the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team with SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Since they had to leave the Origin Expanse for some time either way, Lilica might as well make use of that time to sell all Artifacts, or trade them for the materials to construct the first level of the Sacred Knight temple. The Artifacts should be valuable enough to purchase the required materials. Even if they weren''t, Michael could provide more goods soon enough.

    "Do you need Artifacts ranging from Tier-1 to Tier-3?" Michael asked Lilica, who nodded almost instantaneously.

    "Of course, we need Artifacts. Which race doesn''t need Artifacts?" She responded with a light chuckle. Michael just smiled and retrieved all Artifacts he had extracted from the Kitsun not too long ago.

    "In that case, please trade them with the materials required to construct the Sacred Knight Temple''s basic level. If it''s not enough, tell the Elders that I will pay the rest in a few days," Michael told Lilica, who shed a bright smile at him.

    Somehow, her smile looked scheming, which worsened even more as Lilica added, "Don''t worry. I will get everything you need even if I have to sell my kidneys!"

    ''You don''t have to go that far.'' Michael thought but he just smiled back at her.

    "Can you provide one of our best rooms to Siegfried Dracoon if he wants to rest now? If not, please give him a tour of the settlement. He must be curious about his new home," Michael ordered Tiara, while knowing that the Immortal Knight was actively listening to their discussion.

    Michael had also noticed that the Immortal Knight inspected his surroundings with great interest and vignce. Even if Michael hadn''t ordered Tiara to give him a tour, the Immortal Knight would have found his way through the territory sooner orter.

    "I will excuse myself now. I have a date with a sadistic bastard," Michael said, joking lightly before he turned away.

    The Immortal Knight didn''t know what Michael was talking about but Tiara and the Forest Elves frowned when they heard what he said. They saw the Memory Orb in his hands and knew exactly what would happen.

    Michael didn''t really want to witness the Kitsun Lord''s memories, especially not the memories of himmitting all those disgusting acts, but the potential gains were more than enough reason to give it a go ¨C even more so now that he needed to find out where the Kitsun Lord hid his wealth. He had a Sacred Knight Temple to build, after all!

    "No risk no fun¡­or so they say¡­" Michael muttered as he reached his room in the wooden manor.

    He consumed the Kitsun Lord''s Memory Orb and witnessed the memories of Haro Ki as if they were his own.

 Chapter 409 Memories

    409 Memories

    Haro Ki''s life and choices had been predetermined from the moment he was born.

    The Ki family was not a family with high social standing, but they were sessful merchants that focused on the production of elemental crystals and element seeds. One of the Ancestors of the Ki family raised a newborn Lesser Elemental to be an Elemental Emperor by nurturing it for several centuries. Unfortunately, the Elemental Core of the Elemental Emperor sustained massive cracks as the Core of a Lesser Elemental was never supposed to advance to an Emperor-level Core.

    Despite the cracks, the Elemental Emperor was able to produce an heir by sacrificing a part of his damaged Core. The Emperor created another Emperor-Level Core that would birth an Elemental Emperor once enough origin energy had been supplemented to it.

    The Ancestor of the Ki family from a thousand years ago was already old and he didn''t have anything of value left. His territory was about to disappear due to his unhealthy obsession with the Elemental Emperor. All that was on his mind had been the Elemental Emperor rather than the protection of his territory.

    Therefore he lost his territory all while the Elemental Emperor he raised with painstaking efforts died. Only the Emperor Core was left behind. Too old and weak to raise another Elemental Emperor, the Ancestor of the Ki family decided to hand over the Emperor Core to his youngest son. His youngest son was still in possession of a territory. It wasrge and filled with resources that could be used to nurture the Emperor Core, create an Elemental Emperor, and use the Elementals to fight one''s enemies.

    From the day the ancestor handed over the Emperor Core to one of his descendants, it became a tradition to create Emperor and Empress Cores for the descendants of the Ki family, therefore allowing the subsequent generation of the Ki family to create their own society of elementals that would fight for them.

    Haro Ki was no different. His War Rune manifested when he reached adulthood, and he obtained the only Empress Core his father''s Elemental Emperor had been able to produce over the course of decades. Raised in an environment filled with the desire to torture their servants and ves, Haro Ki never thought that it was wrong to hurt others. On the contrary, he believed that others should feel grateful that he was willing to hurt them. It was a sign that he was interested in witnessing their pain. They should thank him for that kind of generosity!

    However, while Haro Ki was interested in inflicting pain and suffering on others, he quickly lost interest in continuously torturing his ves and servants. They didn''t react much to his actions, which made him feel bored quickly. Therefore, the Origin Expanse turned out to be a heavenly ce that was made for him.

    The moment he entered the Origin Expanse, he learned about the true pleasure provided by torturing those who never felt much pain, in the first ce. His territory was located in the Untamed Jungle, which ought to be a disadvantage. The weakest monsters located in the Untamed Jungle were at the Lowest Tier-1 with Commonbat prowess. That should be strong enough to deal with a Mid Inferior Tier-1 Kitsun. In fact, even three Mid Inferior Tier-1 Kitsun might not be able to deal with the monsters of the Untamed Jungle. The jungle monsters knew their territory well and possessed enough intelligence to use the surrounding environment to their advantage.

    But it was not a disadvantage for Haro Ki. He awakened the Cloud Domain less than a minute after he entered the Origin Expanse. Afterward, he used the ten days grace period granted by the Will through the protection barrier that protected every newly constructed territory for the first ten days of its appearance. Haro Ki umted the Cloud Domain while being still inside the territory''s protected area. Then he spread the Cloud Domain to strike monsters in their sleep. He shrouded them with the Cloud Domain, deprived them of their sight, the ability to absorb the surrounding energy, and the oxygen they needed desperately to survive.

    Suffocating them slowly, Haro Ki''s Cloud Domain expanded and he continued to hunt monsters without a need to enter the dangerous areas. His Soultrait might have been rather low-ranked but since it possessed an extremely high restriction, it harbored tremendous power. Not everyone possessed a gaseous body part. Therefore, Haro Ki had been extremely fortunate to manifest the Cloud Domain ¨C even more so since the Cloud Domain was a perfect tool to torture arge number of people at once and make them suffer as much as possible.

    Haro Ki enjoyed watching the monsters of the Untamed Jungle suffer as they suffocated due to his attacks. He advanced to Tier-1 quickly and expanded his territory inch by inch. It didn''t take long before he had umted enough energy to awaken the Empress Core he had obtained from his father.

    It was time to awaken the Elemental Empress of his territory. But beforehand, Haro Ki collected a wide variety of Soul Pacts to make sure that he could bind the Elemental Empress to himself by force.

    Haro Ki spent his time channeling energy into the Empress Core in which several weeks passed. The Elemental Empress was born after the 4th week, and her fate for the next decade was predetermined by her birth. She was forced into signing a Soul Pact even before her form had taken shape, and she was bound to Haro Ki.

    After this day, a period of excitement and pleasure began for Haro Ki. He began to torture the Elemental Empress, and force her to create more Elemental Cores which would then result in the birth of dozens of Lesser Elementals. While he tortured the Lesser Elementals, many died at Haro Ki''s hands until he decided to use the Lesser Elementals as abat force against his enemies in the Savannah region.

    Five territoriesy adjacent to the border of the Untamed Jungle. None of the territories dared to expand into the Untamed Jungle, but they fought each other to determine the true Ruler of the Savannah region. Neither had expected the attacks of a Lord who spawned in the Untamed Jungle. One of the territories was overrun by 10,000 Lesser Elementals ¨C mostly because the Fire Elementals turned themselves intorge-scale bombs that tore down the settlements of their enemies. The memories spreading through Michael jumped a few years ahead to Haro Ki using the Cloud Domain against a Lord who had annexed several other territories. The Lord''s military power exceeded 100,000batants and he was crowned as the most likely candidate to be the ruler of the Savannah region. He was feared by many due to his tremendous power.

    However, the Lord couldn''t do anything against Haro Ki''s Cloud Domain¡­not after Haro Ki sacrificed 20,000 Kitsun to drain their energy and Kitsun Cloud to expand his Cloud Domain faster and increase its power. The Cloud Domain continued to drain the surrounding energy and oxygen to expand over the course of 24 hours, watching the enemies suffer until Haro Ki finally decided to infiltrate the enemy''s territory with it. The Cloud Domain spread throughout arge portion of the enemy''s territory, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians even before it reached the main army of the Lord. The Lord put up a brave fight against the tremendous power of the Cloud Domain, but he failed at the end of the day. Haro Ki utilized the exceptional power of the Cloud Domain very well. All he had to pay attention to was to cancel the utilization of Cloud Domain once it reached a specific size. After it crossed a certain threshold even the Kitsun Lord couldn''t control the Cloud Domain anymore. This threshold naturally increased as Haro Ki umted more Soul Power by advancing his Tier and expanding his territory''s poption. Once the Lord and his army of 100,000 members had been eliminated, the Kitsun Lord was unstoppable. He looted his enemy''s corpses with a simple touch and harvested the goods generated by the Will of the Origin Expanse to expand his territory and summon more Kitsun. At the same time, he digested the energy influx obtained from every kill slowly and steadily, improving his Tier over the course of time.

    Even though Cloud Domain was a powerful Soultrait, it had a long cooldown. Therger the size of the expanded cloud and the longer he used it, the longer Haro Ki had to wait for the cooldown to end before he could use his Soultrait once again. That was a big downside of his¡­1-Star Soultrait. It was extremely powerful due to its restrictions but the restrictions were also what deemed such a lethal Soultrait to be just a 1-Star Soultrait. It could only be utilized by a few beings, and those beings could only draw out their full potential once every few months. Therefore, Haro Ki decided not to rely on his Soultrait all the time. He created Beast Ranches with bloodthirsty beasts and focused more on the Elemental Empress ¨C something he loved to do. His obsessiveness with the Elemental Empress increased, which resulted in the creation of many more Soul Pacts that wore down the Elemental Empress both physically and mentally.

    Instead of continuing to expand his territory right after the cooldown of Cloud Domain ended, Haro Ki decided toe up with a foolproof n to eliminate the three most tenacious Lords bordering his territory; the Valyr, the Zynur, and the Laprix. Their territory was located next to each other and Haro Ki wanted to make use of that.

    He desired to attack the three Lords simultaneously, using Cloud Domain''s true power to the full extent once he advanced to a Higher Lifeform. He had amassed more than enough wealth and means of transportation for everything necessary. Yet, before he could even make use of his entire wealth an unknown variable had shown up, foiling his carefully crafted n.

    Michael Fang, a Lord from the Untamed Jungle appeared out of nowhere¡­and he took what was the most important to him.

    He took the Elemental Empress!!

 Chapter 410 Kitsun Lordâ€™s Wealth

    <h4>Chapter 410 Kitsun Lord''s Wealth</h4>

    The day Haro Ki lost the Elemental Empress his obsessiveness overshadowed rational thinking and his gut feeling that was telling him to stop right there and to eliminate his enemy''s roots before anything else.

    Haro Ki could have eliminated Michael easily, however, his obsessiveness forced him to search for the Elemental Empress and pursue her to get her back no matter the cost.

    But that was exactly what cost his territory a lot¡­and the reason why Haro Ki died at the end of the day.

    **

    Groaning in pain, Michael regained his senses after what felt like an eternity. It had been the first time that someone''s Memory Orb had been this detailed, sharing vivid memories that spanned over a decade of someone''s life.

    If it had been anyone else, Michael might have been fine with that. For example, Cleave Fenrir''s memories would have been worth it. Michael would have loved to see decades of his ancestor''s life¡­but not Haro Ki''s.

    Michael gagged and doubled up when he recalled all the things the Kitsun Lord did to his enemies. After spending hours witnessing everything as if he were the onemitting the heinous actions, Michael ended up vomiting on the ground. His breath wasbored and his mind was in a big mess.

    "Fucking bastard! Good thing I killed you, son of a bitch!" Michael cursed as the memories continued to torment him.

    That was one of the biggest downsides of the Memory Orbs. One digested the memories and lived through them as if they belonged to that person ¨C even though they were someone else''s. If Michael''s willpower had been just a tad too weak, he would have never been able to understand that the memories weren''t his own. He could have ended up thinking that he was this disgusting monster, which would have yed tricks with his mind and changed his kind nature drastically ¨C forever.

    Fortunately, Michael understood that the memories originated due to a viin''s actions, a true psychopath at that. He understood that the Kitsun Lord''s memories made him feel uneasy and were trying to overwhelm his mind. That made it easier to differentiate between his own memories and the Kitsun Lord''s. Nheless, it would take him some time to get used to the acts of that heartless monster.

    "The Kitsun have to die. It would be even better if their entire race disappeared¡­ They should just annihte each other. How can an entire race be so evil?!?"

    Michael pitied the Elemental Empress. He couldn''t believe that the Empress was still so talkative and energetic even after living through hell for a decade. Most beings would have been crushed mentally, or their personality would have taken a huge toll. However, not the Elemental Empress.

    The Elemental Empress was just happy that she was finally free. It was even better that Haro Ki had been killed. The fact that she would never have to meet the Kitsun Lord again was the best. Of course, it was a little bit annoying that she was still notpletely free to roam the Origin Expanse. However, the Elemental Empress was not dissatisfied with Michael, his people, the territory, or the Untamed Jungle.

    If anything, Michael could clearly sense through the taming bond that the Elemental Empress was eager to eliminate the remaining Kitsun to start a new life from scratch. She was eager and looking forward to witnessing the events of the future and the Elementals society she desired to create.

    "At least I found out where that bastard hides his most valuable treasures. To think that he had been hoarding a portion of his fortune every year. That''s good for me, but shitty for you, dead asshole!" Michael murmured to himself. He released his origin energy to clean up the mess he made in his room.

    Then Michael began to sort his thoughts and memories. He wanted to make sure that not even a snippet of the Kitsun Lord''s memories would merge with the memories that ought to be his own. They had to be clearly distinguished!

    Michael spent two hours sorting through his thoughts and memories until his mind was finally a little bit more organized than before. The memories of the Kitsun Lord still bothered him, and they might eventually affect his train of thought and personality a little bit, but Michael could say with certainty that he wouldn''t turn into a sadist.

    He would revert to his true nature soon enough. That was more than enough in exchange for a vast fortune of wealth.

    Now that Michael knew about the Kitsun Lord''s wealth and where it was hidden, he was ready to leave his territory and collect everything. Of course, he wouldn''t tell the other Lords about this. He might not have anything against the Valyr Lordess or the two other Lords, but that didn''t mean he would share the Kitsun Lord''s wealth with them. His help had been far more crucial against Haro Ki than their support in the final battle to allow them a generous share of his hard-earned loot. Furthermore, their territory was about to expand quite a lot thanks to his intervention.

    "If I send out my people to clear up the Untamed Jungle from Kitsun, it shouldn''t be a problem for me to enter the Kitsun Lord''s former territory to collect the loot as well. The Lords won''t even notice that I moved from my territory!" Michael mumbled, leaving the wooden manor while informing Sun Demos about his new mission.

    ["I know that you want to eliminate the Kitsun. Take the Elemental Empress with you, and get rid of them. The Elemental Empress will have a spatial satchel that can be essed by everyone. Insert your energy into it whenever you want to ess it and put the corpses of the Kitsun inside it. I will harvest the loot once you''re done cleaning up the Kitsun in the Untamed Jungle."] Michael ordered Sun Demos, who reacted with great vigor.

    ["I have been waiting for this moment, Master! Thank you for allowing us to take revenge for our fallen brethren. I will pick up the Elemental Empress at once!"]

    Michael chuckled lightly before he responded to Sun Demos once again, ["Pay attention to the scouts. I will send out ire Tracer and her team to find the Kitsun that will flee and hide in the Untamed Jungle. Make sure to kill them all. Don''t leave them the chance to reach their former glory again. It will be a hassle to fight them again. Let''s do a thorough job!"]

    After that was said, Michael searched for ire Tracer whom he gave the mission to scout the former territory of the Kitsun Lord. She was given the task of pinpointing the Kitsun''s location and making sure that none of them could escape.

    It was important to note that Michael didn''t n to im the Kitsun Lord''s former territory yet. He was better off with only one settlement right now. First of all, Michael didn''t have enough guards to protect two settlements. The members of his military force hadn''t crossed the number of 650 yet. That included the new Warriors and Archers he summoned in today''s summoning session.

    Even if it wouldn''t take long before his military force exceeded 1,000 or even 2,000 members with Siegfried Dracoon''s support, Michael wanted to make sure that each of his settlements was impossible to raid. Therefore, it was better to have only one settlement at this point.

    He didn''tck space to expand his main settlement, in the first ce.

    Other than that, his poption was not exactly high just yet. Once the poption of his territory crossed a few hundred thousand it might be worth setting up a second settlement. As for now, Michael didn''t see the need to do that in the next few months.

    Because he didn''t need the Kitsun Lord''s territory anytime soon, Michael decided to give the territory back to the monsters of the Untamed Jungle. Once his territory''s poption was considerably high and he had enoughbat prowess he would expand his territory to the western part of the Untamed Jungle. But that was something the future could tell. Michael had no idea when exactly he would expand his territory.

    He was not exactly in a hurry.

    It was better to develop his main settlement until no one harboring ill intentions could get close to it without being found and executed on the spot rather than spreading his forces to protect several settlements. That was one of the reasons why the Kitsun Lord ended up losing against Michael. His territory was ginormous but each settlement had only a few thousand guards and dozens of Awakened. The Kitsun Lord''s entirebat force had been more than 50,000 Combat Summons and close to 1,000 Awakened, but dealing with a small portion of that at a time wasn''t really a big problem ¨C especially due to their Inferiorbat prowess.

    Michael approached the Elemental Empress and handed over the satchel. Sun Demos and his subordinates arrived not long after. Once all pending tasks werepleted, Michael looked for Tiara, only to hear that she went out to hunt the remaining Kitsun with others.

    That was not unexpected, but Michael would have felt better if Tiara had informed him before her departure. It didn''t really matter much though. Tiara would be fine and she would ensure that her subordinates would survive as well.

    ''There is no need to worry about her. Tiara should soon reach the Mid-rank of Tier-2. Herbat prowess is ranked Superior as well now that she obtained Spirit Whip.''

    Michael was a little worried but it was not as if the remaining Kitsun were powerful. If anything, the remaining Kitsun were utterly lost and probably much weaker than ever. Tiara would hunt them easily.

    One way or another, Michael had to travel to the Kitsun Lord''s former territory as well.

    His treasures were waiting to be plundered, after all!

 Chapter 411 Secret Vault

    <h4>Chapter 411 Secret Vault</h4>

    Michael traveled to the former territory of the Kitsun Lord alone while Sun Demos and his subordinates worked together with the Elemental Empress to kill the remaining Kitsun.

    He didn''t encounter many Kitsun until he reached his destination. As for the few Kitsun he encountered, Zark was more than enough to deal with all of them.

    He traveled through the Untamed Jungle for three hours with great speed until he reached the main settlement of the former Kitsun Lord. Contrary to earlier, the main settlement was in a big mess now that the Kitsun Lord had been killed. Michael could sense Tiara somewhere inside the settlement. She paced through the demolished alleys, avoiding rubble of the copsed buildings while hunting thest survivors of the Kitsun race.

    Michael ignored her and moved to the wooden manor. He found a Tier-2 Awakened rummage through the wooden manor''s rooms in the hopes of finding something of value. However, all the Kitsun Awakened found was Michael. As the Awakened noticed Michael, he panicked and conjured the Runic Gate that ought to lead him out of the Origin Expanse. But even before the Awakened could rush into the Runic Gate to escape Michael''s grasp, Michael had already made his move.

    He used Spirit Disturbance to slow down the Awakened, and conjured a cicle Sword which Michael released with a burst of energy. Only half a meter separated the Awakened from the Runic Gate, but the Kitsun never reached his goal. The cicle Sword pierced through his chest, pushing him further back. Groaning in pain, the Kitsun crashed on the ground, and stayed there, unable to get up.

    Warm blood pooled onto the wooden floor. It drenched the Kitsun, who writhed for a few seconds before he stopped moving forever.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the Kitsun. He merely released his energy to engulf the corpse and store it inside his War Rune''s storage. Afterward, he walked through the wooden manor to collect a total of 10 keys. The keys had been hidden in the weirdest ces all over the wooden manor. Some were easy to find while others were near-impossible to find if one didn''t know where to look for them.

    After he collected the 10 keys, Michael retrieved an 11th key from his War Rune''s storage space. The 11th key was one of the gains Michael made when he extracted the Kitsun Lord. Without the 11th key, nobody would be able to open the secret vault of the Kitsun Lord. As for breaking the secret vault open¡­that was easier said than done. The Kitsun Lord''s memories stated quite clearly that not even Tier-4 Higher Existences with Superiorbat power could open the secret vault with force.

    Of course, Michael was likely to be able to open the secret vault once he reached the 4th Tier, but he could not afford to wait that long.

    Therefore, the 11th key was crucial to him.

    Michael left the wooden manor and he traveled to one of the most conspicuous spots where one could hide a huge ''secret'' vault. He approached the Summoning Gate''s tform and began searching for six holes. Other than the keys, Michael would have to open the locks in a specific order. But that was not all. The order was only one of the requirements to open the secret vault properly. He had to use the right keys to open the right lock at a specific time.

    One had two tries to use the rightbination before the secret vault would be sealed. It was possible to open the seal but that would require some conditions to be met. If one failed to remove the seal of the secret vault within 24 hours and open the secret vault properly the vault would incinerate everything stored within.

    All in all, the mechanisms the Kitsun Lord had used to store his most valuable goods were much moreplex and meticulous than his means to defend his territory. It showed quite clearly that he valued his wealth a lot more than his people andnd when he was still alive.

    But that might have been a good thing for Michael, so he wouldn''tin. Of course, he wouldn''t. He was happy that the Kitsun Lord favored his treasures and neglected everything else. That was one of the main reasons why Michael could defeat the Kitsun Lord, in the first ce!

    "Don''t worry. I will take care of your treasures. Just burn in hell, or some other shitty ce!" Michael mumbled, a smile blossoming on his face as he finally found the fifth and sixth keyhole.

    He searched his memories to find out which keys were used for what keyhole. Then Michael began his first attempt without showing a shred of hesitation. He moved swiftly, Eagle Eyes fully unleashed.

    Four seconds after the first key was used the second one had to be opened. After that Michael was given six seconds to open the third lock on the other side of the Summoning Gate. 10 secondster the fourth and fifth lock were supposed to be opened simultaneously.

    Then Michael had to wait half a minute before he used the sixth andst key to open the path to the secret vault. Counting to thirty slowly, Michael hoped that he wasn''t too fast or too slow. Fortunately, that was not an issue. He seeded at his first attempt, opening a staircase that led under the ground ¨C right beneath the Summoning Gate.

    Michael stepped away from the tform. He approached the staircase and climbed down the stairs. The staircase was dimly lit by crystal torches, but it was not bright enough to see a lot. Only with Eagle Eyes was Michael able to tell what awaited him at the bottom of the staircase.

    It was a humongous gate that spanned ten meters in width and twenty meters in height.

    "Did you want topensate for something with an entrance that big?" Michael asked, looking for four keyholes. He found them quickly and opened them in a specific order to open the humongous ck metal gate.

    The Gate opened, only to reveal a second Gate right behind the first one. But this time Michael didn''t have to use numerous keys. He had only one key left that he used to open the final gate.

    As he pushed the gate open, Michael''s heart was filled with anticipation. His eyes scanned through the inside of the vault and his expression lit up.

    The inside of the vault was more than 30 meters wide, 30 meters long, and roughly 20 meters high¡­and most of the space was filled with treasures.

    There was not even ordinary stuff like elemental crystals or element seeds. No, the treasures were far more interesting and crucial. For once, Michael picked up a few tattered books that described experiments about elemental seeds, which fruits they produce, and what kind of seeds the Elemental Empress was the most proficient at producing. The experiments stated how many seeds the Elemental Empress could produce without problems and how much force the Kitsun Lord had to use to force the Elemental Empress to go beyond her limit.

    The experiments were interesting if one ignored the part about the Kitsun Lord torturing the Elemental Empress. Hatred surfaced within Michael, but he had to suppress it. The Kitsun Lord was already dead. It didn''t help being angry at the dead. Some of them were not worth thinking about. The Kitsun Lord definitely wasn''t!

    Other than the element seed experiments, Michael quickly found various potion recipes that used the fruits produced by the element seeds. Michael merely skimmed through the recipes but they seemed quite interesting. Michael would definitely use some of them in the future.

    Other than the potion recipes and experiment logs, Michael found a wide variety of books. These books included instructions for Summons and how they could stimte theirtent talent to be Archers. That was quite intriguing. It was definitely a lot better than the books about torture methods and simr stuff he found right after.

    ''If I used Extraction on these books, I can get the Wisps of Knowledge from everything of value and store the knowledge in Memory Crystals. That should be the best way to train a bunch of Archers.'' Michael thought right before his eyesnded on crates filled with tools.

    He searched through the crates and found various forging tools, alchemy tools, and enchanting tools of extraordinary quality. Storing them in the secret vault was a huge waste. Michael stored the tools alongside the books, potions recipes, and experiment logs.

    The secret vault was not really well organized. However, Michael quickly found some sort of logic in the chaos. He collected the rare ores that had been thrown in the corner of the secret vault. Then he found a few maps that showed the Savannah region and the regions thaty around the savannah.

    The Untamed Jungle was also outlined. Most of it, at least. That was when Michael found out for the first time that the Savannah region and the Zentika Empire''s ins bordered a rather small part of the Untamed Jungle. Apparently, the Untamed Jungle was much bigger higher up in the north.

    "Seems like I have loads of work to do if I ever want to control the entire Untamed Jungle," Michael joked lightheartedly after he finished studying the maps.

    What Michael and others had considered the outer ring, and middle area of the Untamed Jungle so far couldn''t even be considered the outer area of the entire Untamed Jungle. In fact, Michael''s territory and everywhere he had been in the Untamed Jungle was just a small, somewhat isted area, a negligible chunk of the vast and real Untamed Jungle.

    It was just a small dot on the map of the Untamed Jungle.

 Chapter 412 Add-on

    <h4>Chapter 412 Add-on</h4>

    It felt a little bit weird to find out that his territory was located in a small part of the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts. Simultaneously it was not that annoying either.

    The new information he obtained merely meant that the Untamed Jungle was a lot bigger than he initially thought. There was nothing wrong with that.

    Other than the goods Michael had already plundered from the secret vault there was a lot more. There were various items and misceneous stuff that attracted Michael''s curiosity.

    "All those materials are required to upgrade the Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank. It looks like the Kitsun Lord was onlycking 4 Basic Summoning Cores and 1 Intermediate Summoning Core. Well¡­and maybe some more or less minor stuff that can be procured with enough funds," Michael mumbled, not sure if he should be surprised or not.

    He wanted to start collecting the materials required to upgrade his Summoning Gate soon as well. The number of Summoning Cores installed in his Summoning Gate were almost enough to meet the requirement, after all!

    All Michaelcked was a single Basic Summoning Core, and the Intermediate Summoning Core to upgrade the Intermediate Summoning Gate now that he plundered the materials the Kitsun Lord had been hoarding for years. It must have been very difficult to procure some of those materials, which was why Michael was thankful for the Kitsun Lord''s hard work, despite hating him for being a psychopath.

    Michael''s gratefulness reached new heights when he found out that the Kitsun Lord had obtained an add-on blueprint for Intermediate Summoning Gates. It was of extraordinary quality.

    ''Had the Kitsun Lordpleted his Intermediate Summoning Gate and added the add-on, I would have never been able to eliminate him. Hah¡­''

    The extraordinary-quality add-on blueprint was called [Summoning Gate Attachment: Portal]. It was special because of a very simple reason. Using the add-on''s unique function one could travel in between Summoning Gates that have been linked to each other.

    It was important to note that Intermediate Summoning Gates could link two Basic Summoning Gates to its base. Therefore, the add-on would have allowed the Kitsun Lord to move across his territory via Summoning Gates rather than spending half a day ¨C or longer ¨C in the Untamed Jungle.

    A Lord could always travel through his linked Summoning Gates since his War Rune was connected to all linked Summoning Gates. But his subordinates couldn''t do the same without the add-on. Using the Portal Attachment, Michael coulde up with a wide variety of strategies to overpower his enemies in a battle ¨C whether the battle focused on attacking his enemies or defending his territory.

    All the Portal Attachment required to be used was Monster Cores.

    It was only obvious, but the Portal Attachment was one of the most valuable goods he obtained from the Kitsun Lord. It could be extremely useful in the future.

    For now, he would have to procure the resources required to upgrade his Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank and manufacture the Portal Attachment to use it once his Summoning Gate had been upgraded.

    Fueled with excitement about his finds, Michael momentarily forgot about the most important point, and the reason he opened the secret vault in the first ce- the treasures he wanted to sell to procure the funds to construct the Intermediate and Advanced levels of the Sacred Knight Temple.

    When Michael recalled the motive with which he had begun searching for the secret vault initially, he continued to smile.

    ''I can produce a wide variety of potions now. Given the experiment log made about the Elemental Empress, I can use some of the elemental fruits to substitute a wide variety of materials as well. It should elerate the mass production of Energy Nourishing Pills. Then again, elemental fruits are also quite useful for various other potions. I should talk to the Alchemists and ask them which potion will be the easiest and cheapest to mass-produce withoutpromising on quality.''

    Now that Michael had plundered the secret vault of thete Kitsun Lord, he knew that he couldn''t sell most treasures. They were too valuable to sell. He would require most of them in the future, either way. Therefore, selling them wouldn''t be profitable.

    But that didn''t mean Michael didn''t have other ways to make a fortune. He had yet to plunder the warehouses spread all over the settlements. The barracks and other ces were also filled with items that could be sold for a small fortune. Michael would be an idiot if he didn''t plunder everything, now that he had the opportunity.

    Michael emptied the secret vault with a target in mind and returned to the surface. Dozens of energy shares reached him, indicating that Sun Demos and the Elemental Empress found arge group of Kitsun to ughter. Michael epted the energy shares and focused on his War Rune for a moment.

    ''I wonder how long it will take before I advance to Tier-3¡­Well, it''s not like I''m in a rush. I haven''t even been in the Origin Expanse for an entire year. It should have been roughly 8 months now.''

    Advancing to Tier-3 before the age of 19 would be exceptional. However, it was very unlikely. He had too many high-ranked Soultraits that slowed down his War Rune''s progress.

    Michael thought that it would be good enough to reach Tier-3 before he turned 20. That was still pretty fast ¨C almost two years faster than Danny ¨C but it was somewhat feasible given his current progress.

    ''But I should upgrade Extraction and my other Soultraits until I turn 20. Maybe, I should prioritize upgrading my Soultraits as a goal rather than improving my Tier.'' Michael thought before he chuckled lightly.

    His train of thought was vastly different from everyone else. Others focused on studying their Soultraits in-depth and improving their Soultrait to unleash their power to the highest limit. Meanwhile, Michael had yet to properly study one of his Soultraits. Everything he discovered of his Soultraits was by chance and instinct. He never really took time to diligently study his Soultraits until now.

    Maybe that had to change.

    Unfortunately, time was of the essence, and he had to focus on too many things that he had been neglecting quite a bit. This included his body refinement technique, Sacred Rectification, and his mind refining technique, Caesurium Menta.

    Other than that, Michael had yet to procure proper martial arts techniques to learn. He had many Soultraits and could probably use some of them with manybat, or movement techniques, yet Michael never really put his focus on researching such techniques.

    Only after meeting Zira did Michael''s focus divert a little. He grew more interested in those techniques, which meant that he had to start researching soon to satiate his curiosity. Therefore, Michael had even less time for other things¡­and that was quite annoying.

    Why was the day so short? Couldn''t a day be 48 hours, or maybe even 72 hours?

    Grumbling in his mind, Michael began to move through the Untamed Jungle. He visited all Kitsun settlements within the Untamed Jungle and plundered everything of value. Michael worked thoroughly and spent two days making sure that he didn''t miss out on anything.

    After that, he finally returned to his territory. Sun Demos and his subordinates, the Elemental Empress, Tiara, and close to a hundred Combatants who had followed Tiara into the battlefield returned a few hours after Michael. They got rid of all Kitsun and returned with the corpses and loot of those they had ughtered mercilessly.

    There were a lot more Kitsun residing in the Untamed Jungle than Michael expected. Therefore, he had to spend two hours extracting the Will''s loot before he added the corpses to the satchel storage where the other Kitsun bodies were kept safely until the sealed container was manufactured.

    "Wait. Shouldn''t the sealed container be done by now?" Michael wondered. He paid a visit to the Alchemy Lair where he found the Forest Elven Alchemist from a few days ago. She smiled brightly upon seeing him and retrieved a huge container that looked simr to a metal barrel. It was around the size of a human, which ought to be enough to store all Kitsun Clouds inside.

    "You are already done? Good job. Here is a small reward," He said nonchntly as he retrieved more than a dozen potion recipes. The alchemist''s eyes widened and she stared nkly at Michael for a few seconds.

    Michael just smiled in response and stored the tank-sized metal barrel. After that, Michael returned to the warehouse where he retrieved a total of 54,000ish Kitsun Corpses whose Kitsun Cloud Michael extracted. The Kitsun Clouds were stored in the metal container and sealed right after.

    Once everything of value had been extracted from the Kitsun bodies, Michael got rid of them. He told his people to carry them out of the territory and offer the corpses to the Untamed Jungle as a tribute.

    Even though the Untamed Jungle was not on his side, Michael didn''t want to destroy the Untamed Jungle. It provided him with various opportunities. That was something Michael was grateful for. Thinking about it that way made Michael wonder if the Untamed Jungle was maybe actually on his side, or if it was neutral.

    Thanking the Untamed Jungle by nourishing it with the corpses of his enemies was a good way to get rid of worthless corpses and to make sure that the Untamed Jungle would never be destroyed. If anything, the Untamed Jungle would expand and its environment would flourish, bing even more beautiful and nourishing.

    Once Michael was done with the Kitsun corpses, he spent the rest of the evening using the Summoning Scrolls he obtained from extracting the Will''s loot from the thousands of Kitsun his people hunted in thest few days.

 Chapter 413 Learning

    <h4>Chapter 413 Learning</h4>

    This time again, Michael wasn''t really lucky. The small summoning session didn''t lead to exceptional results.

    He didn''t really expect a lot so he wasn''t too disappointed that he didn''t summon a single Summon withbat-rted upations. That was weird, but also something he could ept now that he had the Immortal Knight, the Warrior Enlightenment Potion, and the Archer Book that taught a technique on how to stimte Starless Summons to be Archers.

    Therefore, it might actually be more useful if he didn''t summon any Combat Summons.

    Michael greeted his new Summons, introduced himself, and gave a short exnation about his territory. Then he told his other subjects to guide the new Summons through the territory and to exin all the rules to them.

    ''Since it''s alreadyte, should I just focus on practicing Pandemonium''s Requiem?'' Michael wondered as he sensed the massive unrefined energy inside his body. The War Rune wasn''t working fast enough to refine the energy inside him faster than his subjects hunted Kitsun and monsters during thest few days. The unused energy resided within Michael and kept on amassing, forming an ufortable reserve that had to be removed sooner rather than toote.

    Using Pandemonium''s Requiem would aid the War Rune''s refinement progress, which in turn would take care of the ufortable mass inside him on its own.

    Michael made a decision and returned to his room in the wooden manor. He sat down on the bet cross-legged and closed his eyes. In the next moment, he started practicing Pandemonium''s Requiem while simultaneously entering his consciousness where he saw the pir of light and the massive amount of unused energy that had yet to be utilized to refine the War Rune.

    Michael cleared his mind and focused on his technique. He had yet to reach a higher mastery of Pandemonium''s Requiem, but he could tell that he was slowly getting closer to the Profound Mastery. The effects of Pandemonium''s Requiem would improve drastically with higher mastery, therefore allowing him to refine his War Rune faster and absorb more energy from the surrounding area.

    With that in mind, Michael spent the next 12 hours focusing on the individual steps of Pandemonium''s Requiem. He controlled the energy that surged through every nerve of his body with great precision and willed it to revolve around the pir of light where it was pulled inside and digested. The pir of light brimmed with great vigor. It shone brightly as it expanded ever so slowly.

    Refining his War Rune was not an easy task that could be rushed. It had to be done slowly if one wanted to avoid sustaining injuries. In the worst case, rushing to digest arge amount of energy could crack the War Rune, breaking it in the process. That was not worth the risk.

    Hence, Michael stayed focused and only channeled as much energy as he wanted his War Rune to digest in half a day. He was done elerating the refinement process of his War Rune for the night when the darkness shrouding the Untamed Jungle was reced by the first rays of the sun. Happy with his day''s efforts, he went to sleep peacefully. The sun had risen above the horizon when Michael got up from his bed.

    He quickly took a bath put on somefortable clothes to walk around his territory and left his room.

    ''If I keep going like this at night I should be able to finish digesting the rest of the amassed energy in a week¡­maybe 10 days,'' Michael concluded with a wry smile.

    Since he was still a Low-rank Tier-2 Lord, Michael obtained far too many energy shares and energy influx from Awakened and Summons of a much higher rank and Tier during thest few days. His War Rune was not ustomed to digesting the energy of hundreds of Tier-3 Summons and Awakened, let alone the energy influx of enemies at the Peak of the 3rd Tier.

    Thus, Michael was actually quite happy with his n. Spending 10 days to sweep through the Low rank and advance straight to the Mid-rank in a go was quite amazing. It would propel hisbat prowess to the next level.

    ''I wonder how far I can go in the Battle Exchange. Will I be able to take away the g War Token from someone in the top 100?'' Michael wondered, smiling at the thought of showing off hisbat prowess as soon as he left the Origin Expanse.

    But that wouldn''t happen anytime soon. Michael had too many unfinished tasks to leave the Origin Expanse now. First and foremost, he had yet to digest the amassed energy within him. Before that was done, Michael wouldn''t return to Piloq.

    He left the wooden manor and received the daily report from one of his hardworking assistants. Reading through the daily report that included the content Michael had missed out on in thest few weeks, a smile crept up on his face. In thest few weeks, Michael had either been busy dealing with the Tritan Alliance, or invading and killing the Kitsun Lord and his subordinates. That is why he hadn''t gotten time to look after the development of his territory.

    But he couldn''t afford to neglect it any longer. Now that the poption of his territory had expanded once again, more work was waiting for Michael. The piled-up work had to be dealt with, otherwise, all his hard work so far would go down the drain if Michael kept pushing work aside.

    Michael took that into consideration and went to his small office where some files were waiting for him. He didn''t really like sitting around doing nothing except reading through reports, but it was necessary¡­or was it not? Questioning the necessity of his work in the office, the young Lord''s eyes widened.

    His eyes began to gleam brightly and he shot up from the chair when he recalled an easy way out. Michael utilized Extraction to release a golden tendril of extraction from his palm. The tendril of extraction shot toward the stash of paper. In the next moment, the tendril began to extract the wisps of knowledge weaved into the paper. Michael''s mind was filled with information about his territory''s needs, the tasks of his workers, the stashed-up goods from the warehouse, the proposed development path of his territory, and much more.

    His smile turned even more vibrant than before. He retracted the tendril of extraction once he was done and nced at the now nk sheets of paper. The wisps of knowledge weaved into the paper had been extracted, therefore removing the ink in the process.

    Michael grabbed the stash of paper to look through them and ensure that he had extracted all wisps of knowledge. Then he ced a nk paper in front of him and retrieved a pen. If he didn''t have too much piled-up work, Michael would have told his assistant what they would do now. However, since he had a lot to catch up on, Michael would have to write down the orders for each task.

    Digesting the newly gained pieces of information wasn''t too difficult. Caesurium Menta and Memory Lane guided his memory and elerated digestion while he wrote clear instructions for his assistants.

    ¨C-The duplicated blueprints stored in the warehouses can be reorganized and moved to the wooden manor. The Lord will sell them alongside the next batch of Agriculture Blueprints to our human business partner. The distribution of the funds will be decidedter.

    ¡ªAs the number of applications who want to be Warriors and Blessed Squires skyrocketed, the territory will hold a tournament to determine the first batch of Summons to be trained by the Immortal Knight. Once the Basic Level of the Sacred Knight Temple has beenpleted we will alter the rewards given out in the tournament. Energy Nourishing Pills, Body Strengthening Pills, and a wide variety of Potions can then be won in the tournament.

    ¡ªThe treasury of the Kitsun Lord brought forth various treasures. New potions will soon be brewed. We need to find out how effective these potions are for Humans and Forest Elves.

    ¨CThe Alchemy Lair is allowed to use more funds than before to experiment with the newly procured materials. The Alchemists shall be rewarded for sessful experiments.

    ¨CThe Craftsmen, Carpenters, ¡­ shall be allowed to create new inventions. However, they must take prior permission from their higher-ups so that the necessary precautions are taken beforehand to ensure that no idents ur.

    ¡­

    ..

    .

    The list of tasks and orders Michael scribbled down in the next hour or two was astounding. He used every single piece of paper on the desk to write down the orders before he called the assistant who rushed towards Michael.

    "How may I help you, my Lord?" The assistant asked hesitantly. He knew that the amount of pending tasks was a lot and that the Lord was likely to spend the entire day in the office. But not even two hours had passed yet. Was their Lord tired already?

    "I am done here. Take these and forward my orders. If you need something, I''m either here studying the maps of the surrounding regions, or moving through the territory to take a look at the territory''s development."

    "My Lord¡­you are done? But there was so much to¨C..." The young assistant began but closed his mouth abruptly when his eyes fell on the papers Michael handed to him. He noticed that the sheets were not the daily reports and information given to their Lord to read through. Instead, the sheets had an exhaustive list of tasks their Lord wanted him to forward to the others.

    ''He is already done? It has only been two hours?!?'' The assistant stared at his Lord nkly, not daring to speak his thoughts aloud.

    He felt like he was looking at a whole different person.

    ''The Lord hates staying inside the office¡­why is he suddenly so focused on the office and studying?'' The assistant wondered, finally realizing that their Lord was not only powerful, and kind, but that he was also learning from his past mistakes.

    Instead of hoping that nobody would attack him and his territory in the near future, Michael wanted to know all about his potential enemies.

    Therefore, he began to study the Maps plundered from the Kitsun Lord''s treasury and the memories of the Kitsun Lord.

 Chapter 414 Promise

    <h4>Chapter 414 Promise</h4>

    Michael didn''t use Extraction on the maps spread all over the wooden desk. It might be easier to study the maps by extracting the knowledge wisps, but using Extraction on the maps would also erase the drawings. That was not something Michael wanted since he was sure that the maps would be useful in future warfares.

    Hence, he studied the old fashioned way, trying to understand the vast terrain, topography and the distance of his territory from that of the other lords. While intently studying the maps for a second time, Michael learned lots of new things. He learned more about the Savannah region and the surrounding regions. Unfortunately, there weren''t many detailed pieces of information about the surrounding regions. That was a shame, even if it didn''t affect Michael too much. He wouldn''t encounter anyone from the other territories anytime soon.

    If anything, Michael was the most interested in the Savannah region since it was rtively close to his territory.

    ''Thepetition in the Savannah region is really fierce. I am really lucky here in the Untamed Jungle. Though¡­I have a lot more other issues to pay attention to. An entire Empire to deal with, for example.'' Michael chuckled lightly.

    He imagined what he would have done if he had spawned in the Savannah region instead of the Untamed Jungle. With Extraction as his Soultrait that would have been great. After all, there were dozens of small territories with various Awakened and Summons to kill and extract. It was a treasure trove for someone like Michael.

    Of course, the Untamed Jungle was not bad either. So far, Michael obtained a lot from the Untamed Jungle, and he was grateful for that. The only big issue was the Zentika Empire. Thinking about the Zentika Empire, Michael wondered why the Zentika Empire had gone so silent. It had been a while since the Lord Rift closed.

    ''I really thought that they would attack as soon as the Lord Rift concluded. Maybe they have to fight some other kingdom, or empire right now? Not that I have anything against that. Stay busy for the next few years, Zentika Empire!!''

    Michael felt a little bit of pressure after he learned about the dozens of territories in the Savannah region. The Lords of the other territories must have learned about the Kitsun Lord''s death and that the Valyr, Zynur, and Laprix''s territory was about to expand rapidly. The three Lords were not his allies, but they weren''t his enemies either. If anything, Michael could consider them as thest line of defense separating other Lords from the Untamed Jungle and his domain.

    The information Michael collected by studying the maps of the Savannah region was something he could use in the future even if they might not necessarily be useful for the time being. It was better to know all about one''s potential enemies than to be ignorant until it was toote.

    Sensing that more territory battles await him in the next few years, Michael felt the hunger for power arise within him once again.

    Michael had always been in need of power, but now his needs had be a necessity. If he wanted to protect his territory, and people, and continue to expand to find out more about his ancestor and the Will of the Origin Expanse, Michael would have to grow a lot stronger.

    He also required strength to ensure that no one could trample upon him, neither his own kind nor anyone else.

    At the thought of other humans, Michael was reminded of his parents and he told himself that he would find them sooner orter. But before he found them, Michael wanted to be strong enough ¨C mentally and physically ¨C to be able to stand in front of them and face them head-on. He didn''t want to search them just to hesitate to shout at them and me them for everything they had done to him and Danny.

    They were at fault for the brothers'' miserable childhood and they ought to learn about this misery. Michael wanted to see their reaction and watch their expressions either crumble while faced with guilt and regret. But he also feared that they would simply stare at their own child emotionlessly. And If his parents would not give a damn about their older son''s death, Michael wasn''t sure how he would react. All he knew was that he was unlikely to control his emotions in such a moment and erupt with all the pent-up frustration.

    But that was something for the future. For now, Michael required strength¡­a ton of it. He might have to deal with dozens of Lords and a whole Empire in the near-future, after all!

    The easiest way for Michael to gain strength was through Links of Loyalty. More Links of Loyalty and more useful Summons would provide the best result to improve Michael as an individual and his entire territory. The Links of Loyalty would strengthen all of his Soultraits by providing Soul Power, therefore empowering Michael drastically.

    Thus, Michael had to pay a lot more attention to the Links of Loyalty than others. He relied on his Soultraits'' power and the advantage he gained over others by utilizing his numerous Soultraits.

    Taking into consideration that firmer Links of Loyalty provided more Soul Power that was better in terms of quality, Michael began to note down the Links of Loyalty that were rather weak. Michael could roughly determine how long ago a Link of Loyalty was established and how it developed. He could feel whether the Links of Loyalty had once been firmer, and weakenedter or if they had always been fragile.

    Using this function, Michael began to note down the weaker Links of Loyalty. He forwarded the information to his assistant who would then find out what exactly the subjects with weaker Links of Loyalty disliked. If it was just their personality that was rotten and disgusting, Michael wouldn''t pay much attention to them. It might be better to keep their Links of Loyalty like that, or possibly to get rid of the rotten apples in his territory altogether.

    However, if some subjects with weaker Links of Loyalty had a good reason to lose trust in their Lord, Michael would pay more attention to satisfy their needs. That way, Michael could make sure to develop his territory into a ce liked by everyone who was sincere in ce of the disgusting and rotten apples.

    Noting down all the information took much longer than Michael expected. But since it was needed Michael would have been forced to do it sooner orter either way.

    Once done with the arduous task, he met the Elemental Empress.

    "Finally, I found you!" The Elemental Empress eximed. She rushed up to Michael and barely stopped before smacking her head into his face.

    "What''s wrong? You know that you can speak to me via telepathy if something is urgent, right?" Michael wasn''t too worried about the Elemental Empress. She didn''t seem distressed right now.

    If anything, she was excited.

    "I know, I know. But I wanted to talk to you face to face!" She responded, waving her hands excitedly before continuing, "Either way, I talked to the Nature Spirit and the Forest Pixie earlier. They told me that I should make a request if I have an issue that has to be dealt with as soon as possible."

    "That''s not wrong, yeah. But wait¡­ You canmunicate with the Nature Spirit and the Forest Pixie? How?"

    "Master, that''s not important right now!" The Elemental Empress eximed

    ''It is though.''

    "Far far far more important than that is my request. I heard that you imed a huuuugeeee cave and that you turned arge underground ecosystem into an Underground Forging Hall. I also want a cave for myself!"

    Michael recalled that the Elemental Empress had mentioned her desire to create her own Elemental Society some time ago. Arge cave would be the best for her to contain the energy Elementals would naturally alter by simply being around on the surface.

    "We destroyed the tunnels leading deeper into the cavernplex. If you want we can open one or two tunnels again. Once open we might have to face some monsters living deep inside the cavern system but we should be able to find a fewrge cavern halls for you to start creating a small society. Of course, I cannot say for sure how deep the cavernplex is. However, I might be able to expand the tunnels and cavern halls using extraction."

    Michael didn''t want to promise anything he couldn''t provide. He had never ventured too deep into the cavern system, so he had no idea how dangerous it was deep down. All Michael knew was that the pressure deep down had been intense when he first sensed it. That meant something powerful lived down there. Other than the potential dangers, Michael never paid much attention to the structures of caves to learn how to expand them while ensuring that the cavern''s strength wouldn''t bepromised.

    He had to be careful. Michael didn''t want the entire cavern system to copse because of him, after all.

    "The same cave? Working together with the Underground Forging Hall¡­. That sounds great! We can provide Elemental crystals straight to the forging hall then! As long as the Society of Elementals has enough space everything will be alright. I will make sure to turn my cave into the most important source of ie!!" The Elemental Empress eximed. She sounded exhrated and happy to be of help.

    It was even better that she could freely do whatever she wanted to do. She didn''t even have to hesitate and could freely talk to her new master about anything she wanted. That was amazing as it was something she had never experienced before.

    It was a new and wee change that she embraced with open arms.

    "You want to develop into my biggest source of ie? That will be quite difficult," Michael replied in all honesty, "But I''m looking forward to it. I hope you can do it."

    "Let''s make sure to turn the Lizard cave into the Cave of the Elemental Empress!"

 Chapter 415 Cave Hunting

    Chapter 415 Cave Hunting

    Utilizing Extraction made it much easier for Michael and the others to remove the stones blocking the cavern tunnels.

    Michael only opened two cavern tunnels that led deeper into the lizard cave, making sure that hisbat force wouldn''t get lost by straying too far from the entrance. He sent Sun Demos, and the Monkey Troupe down the second path while picking the first cavern tunnel with the Elemental Empress and Tiara.

    Meanwhile, the rest of his military force was busy training a wide variety of techniques that Michael had inserted into Memory Crystals using the knowledge he had extracted from the Laxarta Library. Other than that, the Immortal Knight decided to train everyone equally on the training ground until he found some good seedlings to start teaching techniques that allowed the Starless Summons to amass Holy Power. After generating some Holy Power within their bodies, the Starless Summons would learnbat techniques that used Holy Power to reinforce their attack move, movement and whatnot.

    Michael was interested in Holy Power. However, he didn''t want to alter his origin energy permanently. Once he were to start practicing techniques that amassed Holy Power, his pir of light would permanently be altered, turning into a Holy Sea. Thereafter, his future would be dependent on collecting martial arts techniques and Holy Power creation techniques. After all, the Immortal Knight''s techniques were not perfect for someone like Michael. Michael was not even sure if he would still be able to use his Soultraits with Holy Power since not all Soultraits werepatible with Holy Power.

    Thus, Michael decided not to test out techniques that involved the alteration of his Pir of Light, and origin energy for the time being.

    On his way deeper into the lizard cave, Michael had to listen to the Elemental Empress'' constant chatter about her big dreams. It was interesting to listen to her, but the Elemental Empress was way too talkative. Her talkative nature turned even worse after thest Kitsun hiding inside the Untamed Jungle had been exterminated. After the death of the Kitsun all over the Untamed Jungle, the Elemental Empress felt liberated and freed from the shackles of the past.

    Her true quirky personality was revealed and she seemed much brighter and optimistic than before. The Empress'' attitude made Michael wonder if she was just a little child, but he had to acknowledge that it was quite calming to watch someone be mindless and overly happy about the smallest things in his little territory.

    She didn''t even seem to bother about the immense pressure that shrouded their entire being as they went deeper into the lizard cave''s tunnels. The pressure continued to increase as they moved further down.

    ["We encountered some monsters. Large Lizards, Superior Existences, Mid rank of the 2nd Tier."] Sun Demos informed Michael at some point.

    ''It was a good thing that I destroyed the cavern tunnels when I was still weak. Superior Tier-2 Monsters would have been a hassle to deal with at that time,'' Michael patted himself on the back mentally.

    Defeating a bunch of Superior Tier-2 Monsters was hardly a problem for the current Michael. Because of that, he was fairly confident as they continued their journey deeper into the cave.

    ["Alright. Deal with them if you can. If they''re too powerful, or have Unique Racial Traits you cannot counter with your numbers and physical strength, retreat. Retreating and re-organizing your formation and tactics is not shameful. Just make sure that you don''t lose too many of your loyal subordinates!"] Michael advised Sun Demos.

    Not long after, Michael obtained a few energy shares. That meant Sun Demos must have killed some of the Superior Tier-2 Lizards. However, before he could ask Sun Demos about the fight, he and his small team of three encountered a nest of Superior Tier-2 Lizards.

    Michael had yet to attack the lizards when they released zing blue mes in their direction. He was just about to manifest a wall of cicle in front of him when the Elemental Empress pushed herself forward. She released her own mes and shrouded the zing blue mes that leapt toward Michael and Tiara. One moment the zing blue mes had shot threateningly toward Michael and in the next moment, the Elemental Empress'' mes devoured the mes entirely.

    "That makes it a lot easier," Michael mused, using Enhancement on his lower body four times right before kicking the ground. The firm stone beneath his feet crackled as heunched himself forward. The Wyverntooth Spear manifested in his hands right as he arrived in front of the closest Superior Lizard. He was certain that the Elemental Empress would continue to devour the zing blue mes of the Lizard, eliminating the lethal danger from around them.

    Showing not the slightest sign of hesitation, Michael shrouded the Wyverntooth Spear in fouryers of Enhancement as well. Then a silver hue coated the spear de. It was Reinforced Sword Qi that Michael had used to further reinforce the power of the Wyverntooth Spear.

    The spear de thrust forward rapidly and drew out blood as it sliced through the neck of the three-meterrge Superior Lizard. Michael aimed precisely, piercing right through one of the Lizard''s soft spots. His attack was sessful. The Superior Lizard roared out loudly in pain. It tried to w and bite Michael before it was toote. However, Michael twisted the Wyverntooth Spear de calmly. And just before pulling the de out of the lizard, he released the coat of Sword Qi deep inside the wound he had inflicted.

    The Superior Lizard''s neck bulged suddenly, and a fountain of blood gushed out of its neck. Michael stepped aside quickly, expecting therge lizard to copse on the ground and die miserably. However, that did not happen. The Superior Lizard was unwilling to die. Its movements grew weaker and slower than before, but it continued to attack Michael fiercely.

    Michael had to resort to utilizing Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze to evade the Lizard''s attack with ease and to inflict more injuries every time he evaded one of the monster''s attacks. It drained some of his energy, but by coating his body in ayer of Extraction''s golden light, Michael was able to refill most of his storage even before the battle ended.

    Contrary to Michael''s calm andposed fight that focused on testing the power of the Superior Lizard, Tiara, and the Elemental Empress fought together in an entirely different way. Tiara used her transformation Soultrait, Silvarean Tiger, to morph partially and obtain tremendous strength temporarily.

    Her Inner Force and three intertwined Spirit Whips were also used and unleashed tirelessly to strike the Superior Lizard with heavy and powerful attacks. Simultaneously, the Elemental Empress released spears conjured from mythical fire in the direction of the Superior Lizard Tiara dealt with. The mythical fire spears were hot enough to burn through the Superior Lizard''s scales. However, the spears'' speed and force were too weak to pierce through the scales in one go. Therefore, Tiara struck the molten scales that had been struck by the mythical fire spears. She utilized the openings created by the Elemental Empress to kill the Superior Lizard as quickly as possible.

    By working together, Tiara and the Elemental Empress defeated one of their enemies less than five seconds before Michael defeated his opponent.

    Michael took note of the prideful expressions on Tiara and the Elemental Empress'' faces when they noticed that they won against their Master.

    ''So¡­you guys want to challenge me?'' He raised an eyebrow as he manifested six cicle Swords, which he coated in ayer of Reinforced Sword Qi. The next thing Michael did was to apply fouryers of Enhancement on all cicle Swords.

    Then the real struggle began¡­for Tiara and the Elemental Empress.

    "Try to keep up with me!" Michael provoked the duo, his cheeky smile stirring Tiara and the Elemental Empress'' emotions.

    They did not want to lose against Michael. But just as Michael''sst words resounded through the cavern, he''d already disappeared. He dashed ahead, his cicle Swords wreaking havoc with the dozens of Superior Lizards that ought to be stronger than the average¡­superior to other existences at the 2nd Tier.

    But Michael didn''t care. He sted through the lizard cave, ughtering one Superior Lizard after another.

    The only time Michael slowed down was when he found a humongous cavern hall that was connected to several tunnels leading upward. He controlled the cicle Swords to revolve around him and slowed down to appraise the cavern hall.

    It was not an underground ecosystem, but it was certainly asrge ¨C if notrger ¨C as the Underground Ecosystem where the Temple of the Forgotten and the Underground Forging Hall were located.

    "This ce should be perfect for the Elementals Society," Michael mumbled to himself. He reached the other side of the cavern hall after walking for five minutes and found a single thirty-meter-high tunnel that led even deeper.

    After he inspected the cavern tunnel and a few other tunnels that seemed to lead down as well, Michael took a step inside thergest cavern tunnel. A sense of curiosity filled his entire being, pulling him closer to the bottom of the lizard cave. He didn''t really understand why he was so curious about the lizard cave, but the ever-increasing pressure weighing down on him certainly yed a role.

    But just as he took the second step into therge cavern tunnel the pressure intensified. His hair stood up on its end and a gust of hot air brushed past his face.

    But the gust of hot air was not all that came from the bottom of the lizard cave. There was also something even more ominous. Whispering voices traveled through the cavern tunnel as well, making his skin prickle.

    "Stop right there, Cursed Child!"

    "You are not ready for this Trial. Not yet!"

    "There is no need to rush anything, Cursed Child. Follow your destined path, otherwise, only death will await you!"

    Michael listened to the whispers, his feet frozen to the ground.

    ''What the hell?!''

 Chapter 416 Whispering Voices

    Chapter 416 Whispering Voices

    Michael''s feet were still rooted to the ground when the Elemental Empress and Tiara reached him.

    "Master, I collected the Superior Lizards you killed earlier. Don''t worry, I didn''t leave a single corpse behind!" Tiara eximed, hiding the fact that she had been eager topete against Michael.

    The disappointment she felt when Michael ughtered the Superior Lizards with ease single-handedly while she had to team up with the Elemental Empress to hunt them down so as to not sustain an injury was evident on her face. It was only fortunate that Michael was not there to see her expressions.

    Tiara calmed down quickly, happy that Michael was powerful enough to fight strong enemies without breaking into a sweat, but unhappy about the fact that she felt useless and not needed. Did Michael really need her if she was this weak?

    Her Master gave her his beloved Soultrait as a gift, and he even upgraded it for her to make sure that Tiara''sbat prowess would increase drastically. But why did Tiara still feel so weakpared to Michael? Was the difference between them really that much?

    The Elemental Empress didn''t sense anything weird. She knew that Michael was just too powerful. If not for his unique powers he wouldn''t have been able to defeat and kill the Kitsun Lord, after all.

    It would be even weirder if Michael was not stronger than Tiara. That was also why nothing was wrong about this situation in the Elemental Empress'' mind. All she cared about was finding a ce to establish her Elementals Society.

    That is why the Elemental Empress'' joy knew no bounds when they found the humongous cavern hall. She ran towards Michael, who was still far away from them even after they reached the cavern hall, and in her haste almost bumped into him.

    "W-What¡­is that?!? This pressure¡­this¡­thing?!??" The Elemental Empress asked, her voice barely audible. She stuttered and retreated involuntarily until she was outside the entrance of therge cavern tunnel. Her zing body flickered violently, her fear apparent.

    Michael regained his senses upon hearing the Elemental Empress. The whispers in his ears had yet to disperse but he tried to ignore them to retreat slowly. Michael didn''t dare to look away from the darkness that shrouded the cavern tunnel until the whispers in his ears disappeared.

    "What was that?" The Elemental Empress repeated herself.

    Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t answer that either, "I don''t know."

    It was not the first time Michael was called ''Cursed Child''. In fact, Michael had always known that he and his family were cursed. Their first ancestor was the culprit and the reason his descendants were still suffering was due to the curse of the Will of the Origin Expanse. But Michael didn''t really understand how the whispering voices determined that Michael was Cursed Child, why would they refer to him like that, let alone what the whispering voices meant by ''trial''.

    The intense pressure originating from the bottom of the cave was peculiar and somewhat unique. It had to be something that was either created by the Will of the Origin Expanse or something man-made, created by a powerful being. Maybe it was a monster with great power as well.

    Michael had no idea, and he didn''t really want to find out either, not at the expense of his life, at least. He was curious about the things he would find at the bottom of the cave, but he took the warning of the whispering voices seriously.

    ''So the cave has the Temple of the Forgotten on the first sub-level, and something else at the base?'' Michael asked himself rhetorically.

    He sighed heavily and shook his head in denial. However, just one gaze at the Elemental Empress was enough to tell Michael that he had not imagined anything. The Elemental Empress was overflowing with fear. Their taming bond made that quite clear.

    "I don''t think we will have any issues as long as we stay on this level. Do you want to build your society here? The cavern hall is huge, and it shouldn''t be too problematic to use the paths that lead sideways. Maybe there will be more cavern halls connected to this one," Michael suggested.

    He was not sure why but the whispering voices sounded friendly and trustworthy. Michael asked the Elemental Empress if she heard the voices as well, but she shook her head. Apparently, he was the only one who could hear the voices. Tiara, curious as to why Michael and the Elemental Empress were so distressed, decided to step into therge cavern tunnel. She barely put her right foot inside the cavern tunnel when something eerily assaulted her. Tiara screamed aloud and fell onto her butt. She scrambled back hastily and escaped the eerie power even before she could get up from the ground.

    "Did you hear something?" Michael asked Tiara, who could only shake her head.

    She had gone deadly pale and looked like she was about to faint. Fortunately, she remained conscious.

    "If we create arge gate at the entrance of therge cavern tunnel ¨C and every other tunnel that may lead downward ¨C I will be fine. The pressure in the cavern hall is quite intense but getting ustomed to it will strengthen the mentality of all Elementals born and raised here. It should be quite useful to temper our minds," The Elemental Empress expressed her opinion hesitantly.

    She felt that the cavern hall was the perfect ce to establish her society, but the ''thing'' at the bottom of the cave worried her. Not knowing what might await them in the future was bothersome. Therefore, a sealed gate would be the bare minimum to be safe ¨C or at least feel like she and her society would not be under a constant threat.

    "It won''t be a problem to seal the cavern tunnels with gates. Once we''re strong enough we can venture deeper down. But I feel like that will take a while," Michael said, trying to keep his cool.

    He didn''t like that some whispering voices called him Cursed Child and that they called the thing at the bottom of the cave a ''Trial''. Michael had never heard the term Trial used with respect to the creations of the Will. If anything, the Will would create Legacy Ruins, or Inheritance Dungeons to honor the achievements of the deceased, and to make sure that their achievements could live until the end of time.

    ''Fuck this nonsense. Let''s just put this aside until I know how to deal with it.''

    Michael didn''t n to end up frustrated today. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done now that he encountered another mystery. To vent his frustration, Michael decided to kill the remaining Superior Lizards. The cavern hall was humongous and they had many monsters residing within it.

    Michael didn''t distinguish between them and cleansed the cavern hall. The next thing he did was to test out whether therge cavern tunnel was the only tunnel with whispering voices or if there were more of them.

    Interestingly enough all tunnels leading downward could be marked with a sudden increase in pressure. It was suffocating to move through the tunnels that led deeper into the cave. However, only thergest cavern tunnel inflicted deep fear within the Elemental Empress and Tiara. It was also only thergest cavern tunnel that sent whispering voices to warn him.

    Michael did some experiments with the cavern tunnels, but he ended them quickly when he received a message from Sun Demos.

    ["We ventured deeper into the cave and found arge cavern hall. It is very dark, but I think I can see the Elemental Empress'' mes."] Sun Demos reported.

    A few minutester Sun Demos and the Monkey Troupe found the Elemental Empress, Michael, and Tiara.

    "The cavern tunnels from above must be connected to this cavern hall. That means we should venture into the other cavern tunnel that leads to the surface to take care of the remaining monsters," Michael mumbled to himself before he gave out orders, "Sun Demos. Take Tiara and the Elemental Empress with you to eliminate the remaining monsters. I will take care of the gate. Nobody is allowed to enter therge cavern tunnel. If you do, you might die, either way. I''m just warning everyone beforehand."

    Once his order reached the others, Michael turned away and went to the Underground Forging Hall. He walked to the Warfare Department where every member was fully focused on creating siege weapons for war. They didn''t have as much work as others because they had been focused on inventing defensive measures that could be well-hidden amid the flourishing environment of the Untamed Jungle, camouging their weapons and attacks.

    Michael never constructed thick walls to protect his territory. The walls would have to rise high above the tree top of the tallest trees to block the invasion of all types of enemies. That would defeat the purpose of having a defensive wall in the first ce as it would attract too much attention and point a huge target on the huge settlement in the middle of the flourishing Untamed Jungle rather than safeguarding it.

    In an effort to invent various means to improve the camouge of the settlement, many hade up with unique ideas ¨C including the Warfare Department. They createdrge-scale weapons that could be hidden beneath the canopy of humongous trees. By working together with Enchanters and Alchemists, the cksmiths of the Warfare Department were able to create a mechanism to reduce the size of Ballistae and Scorpions. They were hidden within the trees inconspicuously and would unfold once certain enchantments engraved into the trees would be triggered.

    A small storage of Scorpion bolts and other projectiles was kept with thepromised siege weapons to ensure that the defenders would be ready for battle at any point.

    Meanwhile, in times of peace, nobody would be able to pinpoint the siege weapons other than those who''ve been shown and talked about the exact location.

    Understanding the expertise of the Warfare Department, Michael chose to give them a big order.

    "Please build a huge gate that can only be unsealed with my energy!"

 Chapter 417 Habit & Fool

    Chapter 417 Habit & Fool

    ?

    Even though there was something at the bottom of the cave neither Michael nor the Elemental Empress wanted to leave the cave. For one, the cave was in his territory, so he had to deal with potential issues sooner orter, either way. Other than that, Michael had already constructed the Underground Forging Hall in the cavern.

    The Temple of the Forgotten was also in the cave. Even his miners could mine day in and day out in the cave since the humongous cavern system had various ore deposits. Meanwhile, the Elemental Empress'' decision was mostly based on her gut feeling. She felt that it was dangerous to move deeper into the cave through therge cavern tunnel, but she could also tell that nothing bad would happen. If anything, the pressure spreading through the entire cavern system was something that could aid her society to grow stronger and more resilient.

    Therefore, the Elemental Empress decided to create her base in the cavern hall on the second sub-level after clearing all the potential threats from the other tunnels with the help of Tiara and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    Michael, on the other hand, returned to the surface. He had a lot to do.

    First of all, Michael strode through the settlement to absorb the changes all around him with his senses. The settlement was bustling. People were busy working wherever Michael looked, some were distressed, while others smiled brightly. As Michael passed by the training ground, he noticed that more Summons than usual had decided to join the daily training session of the military. Upon seeing a familiar old man, the Immortal Knight, Michael finally understood why.

    Everyone was hoping to be picked as the first students of the Immortal Knight. They hoped that their fate would change and that their power and status would elevate to a new height.

    Theoretically, that was not a bad thing. However, Michael figured that the Immortal Knight wouldn''t pick anyone as his student if all Summons were too obsessed with power and status. Siegfried Dracoon was rather strict, put great importance on loyalty and determination, and he relied on his senses and gut feeling to determine which Summons would be good seedlings and who would never be able to be a Blessed Squire.

    Michael greeted the Immortal Knight with a thin smile, to which the Immortal Knight responded by gesturing to him toe closer.

    ''I wanted to go to the Bilrox ranch¡­ Well, I can do thatter as well,'' Michael thought. He shrugged and approached the Immortal Knight.

    "Good morning, My Lord! How about joining my first training sequence held on this humble training ground?" Siegfried asked in a pleasant voice.

    Having expected as much, Michael gave Siegfried a simple nod, "Of course. But I hope you don''t expect a miracle. I have never been trained professionally in a martial arts technique, and my knowledge about weapons is not exceptional either."

    Michael couldn''t consider his brother''s training proper tutge. If anything, his brother only provided him with some basics about the sword and how to not cut off his fingers. Daniel Fang''s teaching was iparably different from the proper teachings provided by the Instructors who trained the Descendants.

    The Instructors inside the Saphirke Military Academy were also much better than Danny because they spent lots of time fixing their students'' ws. That was also what Alice had been trying to do. The only issue with Alice Zenovia had been that she''d never expected Michael''s mastery of weapons to be that low. She had no idea how to fix someone''s ws if he couldn''t even execute a simple technique properly.

    But that was only obvious. Michael never learned a specific technique to begin with. All he did to survive was to rely on Cleave Fenrir''s memories and his experience with the spear and the bow to make it seem as if he knew what he was doing. Practically, Michael knew what he was doing thanks to the memories that had been etched deep into his mind. But theoretically¡­Michael''s fighting technique relied heavily on his instincts. He had no proper technique to rely on. Therefore, he would usually enter a state in which his instincts took over his mind to fight his enemies.

    This worked very well since the memories of variousbat styles, tactics and tricks had been deeply imprinted into his subconscious. Having devoured close to a hundred Memory Orbs up until now, Michael had a lot more practicalbat experience than anyone his age. But, once again, that was practical, not theoretical.

    Michael witnessed the memories of the Awakened whose Memory Orbs he had consumed as if he was the one who fought, and trained.

    "You have never been trained by a professional? Then you must be a natural. Your people have been praising your god-likebat prowess for thest ten minutes. And we gathered on the training ground maybe 11 minutes ago," Siegfried Dracoon said, sounding a lot more serious than before.

    "It''s difficult to exin. I mostly rel¡ª..." Michael was about to exin his circumstances when the Immortal Knight shot forward. His humongous broadsword had been reced by a dulled longsword that swung out to meet Michael head-on.

    After the Immortal Knight removed his heavy armor set and the heavy broadsword, his reaction speed, movement speed, and tremendous physical strength came to full disy.

    Michael narrowed his eyes, twisted his body to evade the sudden attack by a hair''s breadth and coated his left hand in ayer of Reinforced Sword Qi. The silver coat of Qi shrouding his hand turned into a razor-sharp de that cut through the t side of the Immortal Knight''s longsword.

    ''Who the hell said that he cannot fight?!'' Michael cursed in his mind. Siegfried was slightly surprised after seeing how easily Michael evaded his attack. His Lord was not just able to disarm him but even destroyed him while evading the surprise attack.

    "Never been trained properly, huh?" He mumbled, kicking the ground to push himself ahead.

    The Immortal Knight hurled the remains of the broken longsword toward Michael''s head while his right leg moved forward. He was just about to pull Michael''s left leg away when he noticed that a cier-blue icicle had formed right in front of Michael''s left foot. Siegfried''s leg collided with the cicle, blocking his second attack easily.

    In the next moment, Michael pushed forward, his eyes glowing golden. Michael blocked the sword hilt that had been thrown at him and he arrived in front of the Immortal Knight, his left hand stopping mere centimeters away from Siegfried''s exposed neck.

    Siegfried looked at Michael, a thin smile blossoming on his face.

    "I think I understand what you mean. You have more Soultraits than most people I know, and you know how to use them instinctively. But that is also why you rely a lot on your Soultraits and the advantage you gain from them. That''s not bad, per se, but it turned into a habit for you to rely on your Soultraits. I wonder what would happen if you ever encounter someone with a Soultrait that blocks your energy cirction or seals your Soultraits temporarily. You know, there are even devices that can block Soultraits for a short period. They might be rare, but it wouldn''t surprise me if you were to encounter an enemy with such a device in the future," The Immortal Knight exined, ignoring the Qi de''s tip that was hovering less than five centimeters away from his neck.

    "Would you still be able to overpower your enemies, or would you lose against them in a fight without Soultraits?" The Immortal Knight concluded easily after a quick spar that didn''t evenst half a minute.

    "Given your habit, you would end up distressed, unsure what to do after your Soultraits have been sealed. You yourself said that you don''t have a technique and that you have no great expertise with weapons. So¡­why the hell are you still relying on your Soultraits instead of fixing your ws, my Lord? Because it is easy? That is just foolish!"

    ''Because it is easy¡­That certainly is foolish,'' Michael forced a smile on his lips. His time in the Origin Expanse had never been ''easy'', and he had always given his utmost to grow stronger, protect his territory, and strengthen everyone around him. Expanding and fortifying his territory, ensuring that he had enough funds to pay for everything that had to be taken care of, and finding business partners to earn even more money was far from easy.

    It was also far from easy to be thrust into battles against enemies far stronger than yourself. Using Soultraits to close the humongous gap that existed between the Tiers might be considered ''taking it easy'', but Michael didn''t have the time to spend decades until his weapon mastery reached a level where he, a Tier-2 Lord, could kill a Peak Tier-3 Awakened as easily as he did with his Soultraits and little to no training.

    Michael could say all of this aloud and give the Immortal Knight an earful, and that he shouldn''t speak so lightly about taking it ''easy''. But Michael was not that much of an idiot. He had his episodes of stupidity, but Michael could also tell that the Immortal Knight wanted to teach him. He wanted to guide Michael to make sure that the young Lord could pinpoint the ws in his strength on his own and work on them. Siegfried Dracoon was trying to show him a path to grow far stronger than he could fathom.

    Michael had yet to experience the potential of powerful techniques and the true essence of weapon mastery, after all!

 Chapter 418 Queen

    Chapter 418 Queen

    "Since you have so many Soultraits, it will feel unnatural to stop using them for a while. However, I hope that you can attend my training sessions once in a while and that you won''t use your Soultraits while training with me. Once you find a technique and a weapon that arepatible with you, you will notice that yourbat prowess increases drastically," The Immortal Knight exined Michael calmly.

    "After you reach a higher mastery with your technique and gain a great understanding of your chosen weapon, it will feel natural tobine both your techniques and weapon with your Soultraits. The first time youbine your Soultraits with your techniques you will know how much you''ve grown."

    The Immortal Knight shared a lot of information and tips with Michael. He spoke for more than 15 minutes about the difficulty to deepen one''s mastery with high-ranked techniques and to learn the true essence of a weapon, and that it would take years. Right after telling Michael how difficult everything was and how long it would take, the Immortal Knight switched over to pinpointing the benefits of techniques and the essence of weapons.

    Michael didn''t understand everything the Immortal Knight said, but one thing was obvious; He had to find a high-ranked martial arts technique that was suitable to him. In fact, Michael would have to find several high-ranked techniques, including a proper movement technique that allowed him to adjust his stance andbat style at any moment, and a breathing technique.

    It was a good thing that his body refinement technique and mind refinement technique were neutral and that they didn''t change his physique, or train of thought. If not for that, Michael would have to work much harder to either ''fix'' the changes, or find techniques that werepatible with Sacred Rectification and Caesurium Menta.

    Since that was not necessary, Michael was satisfied.

    That left only one prerequisite to solve- He had to find a suitable weapon.

    Michael was certain that he would be fine with spears and that he was quitepatible with them. However, the Immortal Knight gave him a mission- to test out a wide variety of weapons before making his decision.

    Just like that Michael''s to-do list expanded by several points.

    He ordered the Weapon Department in the Underground Forging Hall to forge all weapons they had ever learned to forge. Then he had to procure a few more weapon forging blueprints to tick off the first point on the to-do list which was finding the weapon he was the mostpatible with.

    Then he had to study the essence of his new weapon, procure a Breathing Technique, a Movement Technique, and a Martial Arts technique that were all suitable to him and his weapon. In fact, if the weapon he chose was highly suitable for a wide variety ofbat styles, Michael might have to procure multiple martial arts techniques.

    But that was not even all. Another point on his to-do list was to join the Immortal Knight''s training sessions to fix his bad habit of relying too much on his Soultraits. Michael realized that he had been naive to believe that no one could temporarily seal his Soultraits and that he never considered the possibility.

    If all it took was a device that sealed all energy in a specific range, Michael wouldn''t be able to use any energy other than the one residing within his body. Maybe it was possible to use Eagle Eyes, and Enhancement on his body, but Michael couldn''t be certain about that either.

    The ultimate truth boiled down to the fact that Michael had a lot to prepare, a lot to do, and his expenses were bound to increase even higher given that high-ranked techniques were hard to find. Furthermore, they were extremely expensive if purchased, and practicing them over a long period would consume lots of energy, nutrition, and possibly a valuable resource. Michael would have to prepare a batch of Energy Nourishing Pills and Body Strengthening Pills to fuel his body with energy and nutrition if he wanted to practice high-ranked techniques over a long duration. And that was something he would have to do if he wanted to catch up with the mastery his peers had already attained of their Inheritance techniques.

    Michael learned once again that no matter how much money he had he would always stay poor. His territory, his people, and his own progress drained his wallet much more than the gains he made. All his funds were already reserved for future tasks. No matter how satisfying it was to grow stronger and how far his territory developed, it was a little bit frustrating to know that he was just a poor fool with a huge list of never-ending expenses.

    This made him chuckle a little. He thought that he would be a wealthy tycoon now that he emptied the treasure trove of the Kitsun Lord. But the opposite was the case. He was dirt poor all over again.

    Michael tried to distract his mind from thinking too much about his financial status. He began to train with the Immortal Knight for the next two hours while giving his best not to use his Soultraits. That was easier said than done. Michael had been using his Soultraits instinctively whenever he was in need of more defense, more attack power, or the ability to predict his opponent''s movements with great precision. Whenever his strength fell short against his enemies, he would applyyers of Enhancement to his body. If his weapon was not sharp enough,yers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi would be applied instinctively to make sure that he could cut his enemies, and so on.

    Aplete overhaul of his naturalbat style that relied on instincts and the usage of Soultraits to intentionally not using his Soultraits changed everything. Michael never expected that it would be this difficult, but training two hours with the Immortal Knight proved him wrong.

    It had been disastrous, but a good experience to understand where he was standing right now¡­a painful and jarring reality that opened his eyes.

    Once his training session ended, Michael left the training for the Bilrox ranch. After the Summoning Gate and the wooden manor had been shifted to the central area of the Untamed Jungle ¨C or what Michael had presumed to be the central area until the Kitsun Lord''s maps proved him wrong ¨C Michael hadn''t gotten the time to take a look at the development of the Bilrox ranch.

    Bilrox feathers might be of decent value, but their value paled inparison to most of Michael''s sources of ie. Therefore, he began to consider the Bilrox as animals that could carry heavy weights. They were rather fast and strong, but that was already it. Michael had some ns with the Bilrox, but to make them work he would need an even and smooth path in the Untamed Jungle ¨C possibly even a street ¨C and connections to different territories in the Savannah region and beyond.

    Turning the Bilrox ranch into a huge caravan of traveling merchants sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately, he didn''t possess enough rare resources, let alone the necessary workforce to put aside enough guards, merchants, and other helping hands to send out a caravan of traveling merchants.

    The guards of the traveling merchants would have to be Tier-3 at the very least. If they were weaker, the caravan would probably be raided long before it passed through the Savannah region. That was something Michael wanted to avoid by all means.

    Thus, he had been putting aside the development of Bilrox ranch for quite a while. The importance of the Bilrox ranch changed only after a unique phenomenon appeared. Michael read about it in the daily reports not too long ago. Apparently, one of the Bilrox gave birth to a Bilrox Queen.

    As a result of the Bilrox Queen''s birth the tamer who had been tending to the Bilrox Queen''s mother was promoted to a 2-Star Breeding Master. It was an interesting change of events and something that intrigued Michael quite a bit.

    ording to his knowledge about Bilrox, Bilrox Queen could only be born in a safe environment. There could only be one Bilrox Queen in every Bilrox horde, controlling every single one of them through telepathy. Rumors said that the Bilrox Queen was connected to all Bilrox through the Link of Loyalty.

    Therefore, Michael wanted to find out more about the Bilrox Queen, especially after he found out that the Bilrox Queen''s presence would naturally nourish the Bilrox of her herd. They would reproduce faster and give birth to stronger Bilrox. Some of the newborn Bilrox may even be born with Unique Racial Traits and elemental affinities.

    If that was really true the appearance of the Bilrox Queen could prove quite beneficial for his territory. It could turn the Bilrox Ranch into one of the most profitable businesses. After all, all Elemental affinities could be used in various ways. A Pyro Bilrox could help the cksmiths in the Underground Forging Hall to forge, a Nature Bilrox could help the farmers tend to the farms, and cial Bilrox could help the cooks preserve foods, or aid them in the invention of ''new'' dishes.

    Elemental Bilrox would naturally improve the living conditions in the territory. But they could also change all war tactics drastically. If the Bilrox Queen''s existence strengthened Bilrox that would mean that the Bilrox''s racial limit would increase. That meant ordinary Bilrox would be able to reach the 1st Tier, or possibly even the 2nd Tier. A physically strong and fast Bilrox at the 2nd Tier would be a perfect mount for the Cavalry. This would be even better if such a Tier-2 Bilrox had a Unique Racial Trait or an Elemental Affinity!

    Hoping that his wild imagination would be somewhat close to the truth, Michael finally reached the Bilrox Ranch.

    ''Beautiful Queen, where are you hiding?''

 Chapter 419 Freedom

    Chapter 419 Freedom

    The Bilrox Queen was round and fluffy with bright, golden feathers. She hadrge, round eyes that glimmered like a starry night and rushed to Michael upon seeing him. Rather than looking majestic and powerful, the Bilrox Queen looked cute and harmless.

    Her short, stubby wings fluttered vibrantly as she wobbled her way to Michael with her small feet.

    Even though the Bilrox Queen couldn''t fly, her legs were strong and sturdy. She could run much faster than many monsters at the same Tier. Upon reaching Michael, the Bilrox Queen opened her small, cheerful beak and issued a distinct series of tones. The sounds she made were a mixture of chirping, and sharp, piercing whistling notes.

    "Little Queen, don''t run away from me!!" A young voice resounded far behind the Bilrox Queen. It was a young man with short brown hair, clear dark eyes, and slim stature.

    He was the Tamer with the mission to tame the Bilrox Queen. The young Tamer had to make sure that the Bilrox Queen wouldn''t try to riot and escape the Bilrox Ranch with the other Bilrox.

    Unfortunately, the young Tamer''s attempts until today weren''t fruitful. The Bilrox Queen didn''t attempt to escape yet, but it was not difficult to tell that she didn''t like to be confined in the Bilrox Ranch''s fences.

    "You can open the Gates. It''s fine," Michael said, caressing the Bilrox Queen''s otherworldly soft plumage. She lowered her head to rub it against his chest. It was almost like the Bilrox Queen could understand every single world Michael said just now.

    "Open the Gates? But the Bilrox would run away then. That''s just foo¨C...Oh my! My Lord, I apologize. I am terribly s-sorry!!" The young Tamer hadn''t realized it was Michael who had given the orders before. All the young Tamer had seen was the Bilrox Queen running away from him, and that she barely stopped when she reached someone else. The young Tamer thought that another Tamer had arrived to give him a helping hand.

    "It might be foolish, but Bilrox love freedom and safety the most. Before the poption of the Bilrox herd increased, the Bilrox Ranch was more than enough for them. However, their numbers are increasing. Therefore, the Bilrox Ranch won''t be enough for them to stay happy and not feel cooped up like hens. This will decrease their reproduction rate and the value of their feathers. They release special hormones that aid reproduction, and the growth of young Bilrox, and hormones that make their feathers glimmer brightly," Michael exined calmly, not minding the tamer who had just deemed his suggestion ''foolish''.

    Bilrox had been mentioned several times in the books of the Laxarta Library. Having extracted and consumed the Wisps of Knowledge from the books, Michael''s mind was filled with a tremendous amount of knowledge. Unfortunately, Michael had yet to learn to tap into this knowledge at his will. That was also why he had to continue practicing the Memory Lane technique. At a higher level, Memory Lane allowed him to search through his memories and mind with far greater precision.

    Despite the difficulties of remembering some things onmand, Michael was not too worried. He remembered a lot whenever he was doing something rted to specific fields. Michael recalled information about the Bilrox after he saw the Bilrox Queen and her brightly shimmering plumage.

    "But wouldn''t they run away then, M-my Lord?" The young Tamer asked, lowering his head in front of Michael.

    Even though Michael didn''t intend to intimidate the young Tamer, the difference in their strength and status was enormous. Micahel''s gaze was straightforward, filled with determination, and some sort of power that made it hard to lock eyes with him. But that was not all. Michael''s presence was unique. It enveloped everyone andmanded both attention and submission. The young Tamer was not sure if that was because of the Link of Loyalty established between them or if the reason was something else. However, the Tamer was certain that Michael''s power was far greater than his own and that his Lord was thousands of times more important than he would ever be.

    "I already said it before. Bilrox love freedom and safety. They know that they''re safe and sound here. Open the gates and give them the freedom they desire. They will notice soon enough that the Untamed Jungle is not as safe and sound as the Ranch. Don''t worry, and wait patiently for their return. Once they''re back they can leave whenever they want, but they won''t move too far away from the territory knowing that dangerous monsters could attack them at any time," Micheal finished his exnation neatly as he continued to caress the Bilrox Queen''s plumage.

    He was not sure if he wanted to let the Bilrox Queen hear everything he said, but it might actually be better if she could understand him. As long as the Bilrox Queen understood the true intent behind his words it would be fine. After all, Michael wished to give the Bilrox everything they desired. In exchange, he hoped that they would learn to value the worth of the Bilrox Ranch and the safety they received by living in his territory.

    "As youmand, my Lord!" The young Tamer said, lowering his head even further. The Bilrox Queen looked at the young man and chirped loudly. It sounded almost like the Bilrox Queen was scolding the Tamer for daring to keep her herd confined for such a long time.

    Michael smiled and patted the Bilrox Queen. She continued to rub her head against his chest to thank him ¨C or so Michael thought. He was not sure why the Bilrox Queen approached him earlier when he showed up. Michael could only make guesses about her behavior.

    Once the gates were opened most Bilrox were confused. They stared at the open gates with a glimmer of excitement. But instead of charging outside, they looked around to see what would happen when one of their brethren would dare to step out of the fenced Bilrox Ranch.

    "You are their Queen, their leader. Take the first step and be a role model for your kind," Michael said before he gently pushed the Bilrox Queen away from him. He looked over to the opened Gates and smiled, "Go. Bute back with your little friendster again. And make sure not to stray too far. The monsters of the Untamed Jungle are not to be taken lightly."

    The Bilrox Queen only stared at Michael for a while. She took her time to nod and turn away. Her focus diverted from Michael and turned to the opened gates. Once she kicked the ground, the Bilrox Queen''s big and fluffy body propelled toward the gates. She ran with short but quick steps and charged outside while making a long series of high-pitched chirping noises.

    The other Bilrox noticed their Queen''s movements and listened to hermands before they began to move as well. They followed their Queen and charged outside.

    The Tamers stared at the scene in front of them with uncertainty and confusion. Not everyone had been informed about Michael''smand just yet. They thought that something bad must have happened and were just about to pursue the Bilrox to capture them and bring them back when they noticed their Lord standing in the center of the Bilrox Ranch, looking at the Bilrox with an amused smile.

    "It''s fine. They wille back," Michael reassured his subordinates, "I hope everyone present can start taking notes of the changes the Bilrox will undergo now that we allowed them to roam around freely." They nodded quietly to him in response.

    ''And I hope that there will be major changes, otherwise, I put the Bilrox Ranch in danger without generating any positive results.''

    Michael was certain that his decision had been correct. He didn''t want to confine the Bilrox because they ought to be free. It would be even better if they could get morefortable with the citizens of his territory. Maybe some of them would even be friends by chance. Bilrox were great mounts with high endurance and even higher speed. If anyone could turn into a Cavalry Duo with them it would increase the prowess of his army considerably!

    Michael hoped for the best. He spoke to the Tamers a little bit longer to find out what they needed and what theycked to progress further. He recalled a few books from the Laxarta Library that may or may not be useful for them. Therefore, he retrieved a few Memory Crystals, copied some of his knowledge into them, and gave the Crystals to the Tamers. By inserting bits of energy into the Memory Crystals, Michael could help them to read the Taming, and Breeding Books from the Laxarta Library through his memories.

    "If there is nothing else, I shall leave. The Farmers are still waiting for me," Michael said to the Tamers, who seemed to hesitate, "Tell me whenever something bothers you. I will try my best to give a helping hand. If you don''t want to tell me now or think that now is not the time, please report to my assistants once you are ready to speak. There is no need to worry."

    Michael was not sure if his presence was too intimidating, but many Starless, or 1-Star Summons had a hard time facing him after he defeated the Kitsun Lord. It could also be the tremendous amount of energy surging through his body that made it hard and suffocating to look in Michael''s direction. He had yet to digest all energy and refine his War Rune to the Mid-rank of Tier-2 after all.

    "We¡­we talked about it before in our group¡­b-but how about creating more Beast Ranches? Some of us are not cpatible with Bilrox¡­so we¡­we have a hard time adjusting to the Bilrox¡­Some of us are morepatible with ordinary livestock, or other monsters¡­" One of the tamers dared to speak up. He was pulled back by the other Tamers, who looked at him in horror, but Michael just smiled.

    "More Beast Ranches? Please tell me more about it!"

 Chapter 420 Synergy of Nature

    Chapter 420 Synergy of Nature

    Since he decided to spend more quality time with his subjects after defeating the Kitsun Lord, Michael didn''t rush anything. He didn''t want to waste his time doing anything, but talking and discussing crucial topics about the development of his territory was certainly not a waste of time.

    Michael ended up talking to the Tamers close to two hours before he left the Bilrox Ranch. He promised them to create two more Beast Ranches. One with livestock like Titan Pigs, and Servant Cows to breed in order to procure highly nutritious milk and meat. Titan Pigs and Savant Cows could be bred inrge numbers to feed the Soldiers to make sure that they would have enough nutrition to practice Body Refinement techniques. That was a good way to save precious money and to be independent of the meat procured through daily hunting in the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael agreed to the livestock Beast Ranch but was a little hesitant about the other Beast Ranch. Apparently, two Tamers were famous for taming Bloodhounds, and Silver-eyed Sparrows. Bloodhounds were fierce monsters but once tamed they could be used in hunting parties to pursue monsters. Meanwhile, Silver-eyed Sparrows were easy to tame, but hard to train. ording to the tamer, Silver-eyed Sparrows could be trained to send messages to each other through their high-pitched voices.

    As long as they built their nests far away from each other, one nest could warn another about threats and the invasion of enemies all over the Untamed Jungle. It was aplexwork of Silver-eyed Sparrow nests that required finesse and hard work to train the Sparrows until they could forward warnings properly. However, once the Sparrows reached that level they would turn into an extraordinary rm system.

    Michael was curious about the Silver-eyed Sparrows but he was a little worried about Bloodhounds in his territory. If not trained properly, they might wreak havoc inside his territory. In the worst case, they may even attack the Bilrox. If Bilrox felt unsafe in a previously safe environment, they would flee and create a new safe haven somewhere else. Michael couldn''t afford to lose the Bilrox now that a Bilrox Queen appeared. Therefore, he had to think a lot about what to do now.

    ''In the first ce, where am I supposed to be getting my hands on a stock of Titan Pigs, Savant Cows, Bloodhounds, and Silver-eyed Sparrows? The Zentika Empire is off-limits, and the Untamed Jungle doesn''t have such monsters. Should I send the Valyr Lordess a message? Maybe they have what I need?'' Michael wondered on his way to the Farmers, the 4-Star Nature Spirit, and the Forest Pixie. The Botanica Sorcerer was also present, patiently waiting for Michael''s arrival with the Head of the Farmers.

    Once Michael arrived at the farnd, he was greeted by a beautiful sight. In between the humongous trees of the Untamed Jungle stood a majestic tree that seemed to embody the very spirit of nature. Michael couldn''t determine the type of tree very easily as the majestic tree seemed to change every moment. It had gnarled and weathered bark resembling the wrinkles on the face of a wise elder. The tree''s roots reached deep into the earth, anchoring into the ground to withstand all kinds of disasters.

    It was the Nature Spirit that had grown into the majestic tree after months of absorbing energy and nutrition.

    Around the Nature Spirit, a mesmerizing scene unfolded. The Forest Pixie, tiny and radiant, danced in the sunlight that filtered through the Nature Spirit''s leaves. Its delicate, semi-translucent wings shimmered like spun gold, casting tiny shimmering rainbows upon the earth.

    The ethereal being continued to dance around, itsughter bright and tinkling like wind chimes. It weaved intricate patterns through the air, each movement delicate and as majestic as the Nature Spirit itself. In its presence, the air and origin energy seemed to merge, creating ripples in the surrounding area as the energy and potent power were led to the farnds.

    Michael never witnessed how exactly the synergy between the Nature Spirit and the Forest Pixie worked. He always thought that the Nature Spirit would absorb energy through its leaves and send it into the ground through its roots to nourish the ground and stimte the farnds. However, it seemed that the essence of life itself pulsed through the Nature Spirit and that the Forest Pixie aided the Nature Spirit in the distribution of pure lifeforce. The soft rustling of leaves filled the air as the Nature Spirit swayed gently in the breeze. The Nature Spirit was still smaller than the trees around it. Nheless, Michael felt that the Nature Spirit was the center of it all. The energy of the forest converged in the Nature Spirit, creating a haven where the boundary between the natural and the mythical was blurred. The tree was not merely a living entity, it was the embodiment of Michael''s territory, a sanctuary where the magic of nature thrives and the cycle of life begins.

    Michael was enchanted by the beautiful scenery in front of him. He noticed toote that his entire body was covered in goosebumps, or that the Botanica Sorcerer and the Head Farmer were staring at him. Upon noticing them, Michael smiled lightly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

    "It is a majestic sight, ain''t it, my Lord?" The Botanica Sorcerer asked, looking excited. He understood the Lord''s reaction since he had felt just like his Lord when he first witnessed the yful synergy between the Forest Pixie and the Nature Spirit.

    "Thanks to their hard work everything grows faster and we have fewer issues with snails. In fact, ever since the Forest Pixie joined the territory we have yet to find any rotten crops. All ripe fruits and vegetables are of great quality and we were able to expand the farnd without any issues. After all, the range of the Nature Spirit''s domain expanded thanks to the Forest Pixie," The Head Farmer exined before hurriedly adding, "My Lord."

    Michael didn''t say anything at first. Thus, the Botanica Sorcerer spoke up once again, "The Nature Spirit will soon advance to the 2nd Tier. By then its domain will expand again. The Forest Pixie will probably be stimted enough to reach the 1st Tier. Once both the Nature Spirit and Forest Pixie have advanced, we should start nting herbs, flowers, and other rare ingredients of better quality. Once ripened their quality will be even better than before. This should help the Alchemists to create potions and pills of better quality. The Energy Nourishing Pills'' effectiveness would increase by more than 30% with ingredients of higher quality! That would be great, My Lord, wouldn''t it?"

    Michael regretted a little bit to have talked so little to the Farmers and the Botanica Sorcerer. They were knowledgeable and knew what they had to do and what they needed to make the most use of the environment within the Untamed Jungle, and the domain effect created by the Nature Spirit and the Forest Pixie.

    "That''s exactly why I came here. I have some rare goods that require experienced farmers to tend to," He said, retrieving two pouches filled with Element Seeds from his War Rune.

    The Element Seeds were produced by the Elemental Empress. Michael collected them from the treasury where they had been collecting dust. The Kitsun Lord had yet to meet the necessary requirements to nt the Element Seeds. They would have withered under his observance. Fortunately, Michael had the Untamed Jungle, the Nature Spirit, the Forest Pixie, a Botanica Sorcerer, and hundreds of Farmers to help him out with that. He was certain that the Element Seeds could grow easily with the aid of everyone ¨C especially with the notes made by the Kitsun Lord''s subordinates. Most conditions to grow the Element Seeds had been written down in great detail. Therefore, it would hardly be a problem to grow elemental fruits and vegetables in his territory.

    The Botanica Sorcerer and the Head Farmer picked one pouch each and looked inside. The insides of the pouches were filled to the brim with grain-sized seeds. They didn''t look anything special other than their vibrant color distinguishing them. Traces of elements could be found within each of the seeds, but it was hard to notice with the bare eye. The traces of the elements were not as vibrant as the seeds'' color but they were definitely there.

    Michael retrieved the notes made by the Kitsun seeing that the Botanica Sorcerer and Head Farmer were having problems figuring out what exactly the seeds were. Their perception was not as high as Michael''s. Thus, they couldn''t sense the traces of elemental energy within them.

    "This will probably help you understand what you''re holding," Michael said before he chuckled lightly. He was not sure how rare element seeds were but most people he asked about them knew about their existence. Therefore, he expected the Botanica Sorcerer to know about it.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t seem to be the case.

    "Wait¡­what?!?" The Head Farmer eximed as he finished reading the first page of the notes. His hands began to tremble and he hurriedly closed the pouch filled with elemental seeds. He rushed over to Michael and returned the pouch.

    "I don''t deserve to hold such treasures. Please pardon me. I don''t want to be flogged!!" The Head Farmer apologized profusely and was about to kneel down on the ground when the Botanica Sorcerer reacted as well. His eyes were filled with shock and his hands trembled as well. However, he didn''t act as quickly as the Head Farmer.

    "My Lord¡­is that what I think it is? Do you want us to nt all of these? There¡­must be hundreds of Element Seeds¡­.each of them is worth a fortune. And¡­a-and I cannot really promise anything. I was never given a privilege like this¡­Tending to Element Seeds¡­This¡­This is a dreaming true!!"

 Chapter 421 Appreciation

    Chapter 421 Appreciation

    The Farmers and the Botanica Sorcerer were even more talkative than the Tamers. They asked Michael a lot about the notes, how he found them, and if he verified the truth about everything written in the notes.

    Unfortunately, Michael could hardly answer any questions. He could somewhat verify the notes because he had some of the Kitsun Lord''s memories in his mind, but that was already it. The Kitsun Lord failed at properly growing the Element Seeds because the Elemental Empress'' Element Seeds were somewhat unique. They were even harder to grow than ordinary Element Seeds.

    The difficulty in growing mythical nts such as Element Seeds was usually directly proportional to the preciousness and quality of the ripened fruits they could grow. Therefore, the harder the difficulty to grow them, the better the finished product. While that sounded extremely nice, it was also a tremendous challenge. It required time and effort to grow the Element Seeds. That was also where the Farmers and Botanica Sorcerer began to make requests. They requested special fertilizers, an elemental converter ¨C a machine that converted neutral energy into elemental energy using elemental crystals as a medium ¨C, various agriculture devices and tools, and a dozen more items and devices. Michael, who didn''t really like where this was going, could only agree to the demands. He was the one who wanted the Farmers and Botanica Sorcerer to grow the Element Seeds. Thus, he had to give them what they demanded to ensure that the Element Seeds wouldn''t wither once nted.

    It would be quite expensive to grow them, but Michael was certain that the final results would generate a great fortune and make up for the investment. It would be as useful as the Beast Ranches, if not more. Once he handed the Element Seeds to the Head Farmer and Botanica Sorcerer, Michael looked at the other farnds. The farnds were built around thergest trees. They were rather small, but that was necessary because Michael couldn''t clear thend and remove too many trees of the Untamed Jungle without destroying the environment in turn. It would start with just one humongous tree of the Untamed Jungle to make space for the farnds, but would soon result in Michael removing more and more trees until his entire territory would be exposed to the enemies that would chance a nce upon it through the air.

    Michael wanted to stay hidden in the Untamed Jungle under the dense canopy of the trees, unable for anyone to find him by observing the Untamed Jungle from above. At the same time, he would have to reconstruct the entire infrastructure of his territory if he were to start removing too many trees. The trees had turned into the residents of his subjects, after all.

    It was also not that bad to have small farnds. Michael had many fruit farms spread across his territory, and each of the small farnds produced more ingredients than most could hope for. The Untamed Jungle''s highly nutritious ground and environment aided the growth of most nts ¨C including everything Michael had grown so far. Adding the effect of the Nature Spirit''s Domain and the power of the Forest Pixie, most nts required a quarter or less than usual time and nutrition to germinate.

    The small farnds made it much easier to nt different herbs, nts, flowers, and other nt-based ingredients all over his territory. Every farnd had a different nt that required a specific method to be nurtured in the most effective way.

    Michael learned a lot from the Head Farmer as he was led through the farnds. He got to know more Farmers and learned about the methods they used to ensure that the nts would grow in the most efficient way. It was very interesting to learn new stuff.

    Learning so many new things was also why Michael decided to help out in the kitchen. His cooking skills were below average. However, he was willing to learn. It mighte in handy in the future. But before he went to the kitchen to help out cooking for the masses, Michael had to take a bath as he was covered in sweat. He thought about the events of the day and smiled to himself while letting himself soak in the water. His head was submerged in the cold bathing water, but his smile never ceased.

    It was truly nice to be away from the battlefield, learn new crafts, and experience the expertise of veterans in their respective fields. Michael learned a lot more new stuff, and he decided that it was necessary to appreciate every craft a little bit more. Until now, Michael had been focused on his Alchemists, cksmiths, and Enchanters. These three jobs were considered the mostmonly known lifestyle upations in their territory. They were very important. However, they were not the only lifestyle upations that had to be appreciated.

    Cooks were very important to the territory as well. In war times a good meal was as valuable as some potions. A delicious meal could fill your stomach, provide enough nutrition to recuperate faster from injuries and it could release hormones in your body to heighten your morale. During cold nights, a warm jacket and a woolen nket could turn into your savior. Feeling warm and cozy on a chilly night was a luxury, but it was also something his lifestyle upations could provide to the territory.

    The more Michael thought this way the more foolish he felt. He decided to use the next few days to learn more about his people, the other upations, and their work. Michael wanted to make sure that everyone felt appreciated. This was not only a means to increase the loyalty of his subjects, which would strengthen his Links of Loyalty and generate more Soul Power for his Soultraits to grow stronger, but it would mean a lot to his subjects as well.

    Michael was still a Rookie Lord. He learned a lot and had considerable theoretical knowledge from various sources, but that didn''t mean Michael was adept at using his theoretical knowledge in practice. As a young Lord, he had to learn a lot.

    However, he was already aware of the most important aspect- His territory would be nothing but an empty shell without his subjects. Michael might be the exoskeleton of his territory, but his people were the heart, liver, brain, and everything else that turned his territory into a functioning, well-established society.

    Michael merely held it together. That was all he did.

    His train of thought went deeper and deeper as he stayed underwater. Only after he felt like suffocating did his train of thought disperse. He jumped out of the bathing tub, dried his body, and put on some ordinary clothes. Then he rushed to the kitchen where he began to help his people.

    At first, the cooks felt a little bit weird to see their lord peeling potatoes, cutting carrots, and dicing meat, but they became ustomed to their Lord''s new behavior quickly. Bright smiles appeared on their faces as Michael continued to praise his people every now and then, and countless Links of Loyalty grew firmer than ever.

    The result of Michael''s hard work was even more impressive once the first Summons returned from the training ground for their meal. They went to the newly constructed treehouse canteen, only to find their Lord distributing food. The young Summons saw their Lord, the enigma of power, who saved their territories and destroyed their enemies countless times against all odds and were taken aback. They had only seen him fight or work. But now he was standing right in front of them, joking around with the other cooks and volunteers while distributing food.

    At first, the young Summons were shocked to the core. They only regained their senses when they saw the older Summons get their food. The older Summons were also a little ufortable in front of Michael. However, the veterans who had been with Michael for some time knew that Michael''s presence and appearance were the opposite of their Lord''s usual behavior.

    Michael might be dangerous and a terrifying monster to their enemies, but he was an innocent and harmless sheep in front of his subjects. Realizing that Michael was but a mere human, who liked to joke around, make friends, and get to know his subjects, the younger Summons were both shocked and exhrated. They never expected to be resurrected in such a territory, where they were granted the opportunity to grow stronger through the Immortal Knight, and with a powerful, yet kind Lord ruling over them. It was truly perfect.

    Time passed slowly, and darkness enveloped the Untamed Jungle as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. However, Michael''s territory was still bustling with activity. Crystal torches empowered with monster cores had been installed all over his territory to allow Michael''s subjects to work, or y around at night. The night duty of Guards moved steadily through the territory while the muffled noises of Summons could be heard from all directions.

    Tonight''s atmosphere was a lot better than usual, and Michael knew exactly why. At the same time, he hade across as a little bit more distant and reserved after the incident with the Kitsun Lord, today''s interaction with his subjects proved to be a much-needed icebreaker. Michael had finally been able to get closer to his people once again.

    He told himself that he would get even closer to his people, not only to umte more Soul Power to strengthen his Soultraits, but mostly to get to know his people and learn more about the countless paths he could choose to develop his territory.

    Michael learned a lot, and he was willing to learn a lot more. He had more than enough time to do so as well.

    The only thing that bothered him was that he was still a participant of the Battle Exchange.

    ''The Battle Exchange can still wait a little longer. I am not in a rush. Once my War Rune finishes digesting the remaining energy within me, I can return. But¡­for now, I shall make use of my time here to get closer to my people!''

    Michael clearly forgot that some people outside the Origin Expanse were worrying about him. They didn''t know what was going on with Michael, or how he was doing. All they knew was that he rushed into the Origin Expanse because his territory had been attacked ¨C or something like that.

    But, of course, the news of the female Greater Eagleying two eggs was of far more importance.

    ''Right, I have yet to name the little girl.''

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

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 Chapter 422 Naming

    <h4>Chapter 422 Naming</h4>

    Michael had never been good at naming others. The only good name he came up with was for Icarus. However, now Michael had to name the female Greater Eagle, and the Elemental Empress.

    The Elemental Empress had already bothered him a few times to give her a name, and it was about time that Michael fulfilled his promise.

    "Mary, Tatjana, Zeroa, Hannah, Yvelta, Asura¡­No. None of these names sound nice with Icarus. The Greater Eagles are a set. A couple. It would be great if their names fit somewhat. Icarus and¡­and¡­I don''t know," Michael cursed under his breath and approached the Greater Eagles'' nest.

    The nest of the Greater Eagle was close to the farnd. Icarus built it in the intertwined tree tops of five humongous trees that were close to each other. The nest was more than 20 meters in diameter, which provided more than enough space for Icarus'' offspring to grow up until they could leave to create their own nest.

    Michael, of course, hoped that the Greater Eagles would stay inside his territory, but they had to search for a mate as well. As long as Michael didn''t summon more Greater Eagles it was unlikely that Icarus'' offspring would stay in his territory. But then again, they might think of the Untamed Jungle as a great ce to give birth to their next offspring. The Untamed Jungle had high energy density, the energy was filtered and purified and the monsters of the Untamed Jungle could be hunted to provide arge energy influx. It was a good region to grow up and grow stronger.

    ''I hope they will return once they find their mate,'' Michael mumbled to himself after jumping from one branch to another until he reached the Greater Eagle nest. Icarus greeted him with excitement. He pped his healed wings and rubbed his head against his Lord''s chest. Michael caressed the Greater Eagle and smiled lightly. After Icarus stepped back, Michael''s eyes fell on the two oval-shaped eggs. They were emerald-colored and looked quite exquisite. However, the most intriguing thing was that they were even bigger than a newborn human baby.

    Staring at the eggs, Michael suddenly felt the urge to create an Aerial Combat Unit. Eagle Riders would be a great addition to his territory, allowing Michael to create far more tactics to overwhelm his enemies. Greater Eagles were fast, intelligent and not to be underestimated in closebat as well. They were perfect for an Aerial Cavalry. Unfortunately, he had to put that thought aside for quite a while.

    He cleared his throat and looked at the female Greater Eagle with an apologetic smile, "I thought of many names for you but I am not sure which one you would like the most. I wanted to find something that suits you as an individual and as Icarus'' partner. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. That was why I decided to let you choose from the options. After all, the name is all about your identity, so you ought to make the final decision!"

    The female Greater Eagle''s interest was piqued. She moved closer to Michael by pushing Icarus away. A squeal was all Michael had to hear to understand that the female Greater Eagle was ready.

    "So¡­I got a few names. Listen carefully," Michael said calmly before starting to list down the names he thought of, "Mary, Tatjana, Zeroa, Hannah, Yvelta, Asura, Lilith, Mira, Orevia, Ariadna,?A¡ª"

    The female Greater Eagle shrieked loudly, and Michael stopped listing more names.

    "You liked Orevia? No? Then you liked the name Ariadna?" Michael didn''t expect the female Greater Eagle to like this name, but she pped her wings excitedly when he repeated the name ''Ariadna''.

    "Ariadna it is then. From now on you are not just a nameless Greater Eagle. You are Ariadna. Congrattions!" Michael said, smiling brightly. He was happy to see that the female Greater Eagle ¨C no, Ariadna ¨C was overjoyed and excited. She finally received her own name!

    Michael ''celebrated'' with the Greater Eagles a little bit longer after he gave Ariadna her official name. However, since there was not much else to do in the Greater Eagle nest, Michael could leave soon after.

    ["What do you think about Zeroa, Yvelta, Asura, or Lilith as your official name? You said you didn''t want to be called Elemental Empress all day since that is more of a title that identifies your kind and status. So what do you say?"] Michael used telepathy to talk to the Elemental Empress.

    She was busy dealing with the second sublevel of therge lizard cave and Michael met her not too long ago. He didn''t want to bother her by rushing over to her again. Furthermore, there was still quite a lot he had to aplish. Running around mindlessly wouldn''t be helpful.

    Michael didn''t expect to receive a response less than half a minute after he informed her about his decision to name her officially. The Elemental Empress, however, was even more excited than Ariadna. She dropped all of her things and was about to rush to Michael only to recall that she had a lot of pending tasks toplete, and that Michael was even busier.

    Therefore, she bombarded him withments via telepathy.

    .["A name¡­for me?!?!? Yes, yes, yes!!!! I want¡­I want¡­They all sound so nice! Hmmmmmm, maybe not Lilith or Asura¡­Zeroa and Yvelta sound cool and majestic. What do you think? I think Zeroa sounds more mysterious. Imagine someone asking who is ''Zerooaaaa~'', just for me to appear. The Elemental Empress, a powerhouse amid powerhouses. Tehehehe~ I love it. Yeah. Let me have Zeroaaaaa, pleaseeeeee~"]

    Michael raised an eyebrow. He figured that the Elemental Empress would be excited, but he didn''t expect her excitement to be that intense.

    But that was a good thing. The Elemental Empress made a quick decision, which made things a lot easier for Michael.

    ["Zeroa it is then. You picked a very good name. I think it suits you very well. Wee to the team, Zeroa!"] Michael weed Zeroa into his team and territory. Zeroa squealed loudly via telepathy. Her voice was loud enough to cause a headache. However, Michael didn''t say anything. Instead, he let Zeroa be happy. She deserved some joy in her life after everything she had to ovee after being confined and tortured for a whole decade.

    Now that he had named both the Greater Eagle and the Elemental Empress, Michael wanted to name the other monsters in his territory as well. The Golden Stinger Wasp''s name was also shortened to Stinger, which was a name that received the Golden Stinger Wasp''s approval. Meanwhile, the Heavy Armored Elephant didn''t want to be called any names. It was not intelligent enough to understand what Michael was saying, in the first ce. All the Heavy Armored Elephant could do was to followmands.

    But that was fine. Naming someone should hold a special meaning ¨C to some extent. Thus, Michael chose to name the Bilrox Queen as well. The Bilrox Queen was special and she deserved to receive a name.

    ''Fluff would be the easiest, but that is not really a good name. How about Raphelia? Shortened to Raph? Let''s try thatter.'' Michael was slowly getting better at naming his monsters, or so he thought. Proud of his achievements, he decided to meet the Immortal Knight once again.

    It was about time for him to start practicingbat without using his Soultraits! But Michael didn''t even have the luxury to reach the training grounds. Many Summons found out that Michael had begun to visit all establishments spread across his territory to watch them doing their job and observe what they did every day. Therefore, the Tailors, Craftsmen, and dozens of other people were looking forward to receiving heaps of praises from their Lord, expecting him to generously brag about their talents and extraordinary work.

    Michael was all-in for observing their work and analyzing their techniques, but he wanted to grow stronger as well. Unfortunately, he was too much of a softie to deny being an audience to their disy of craft or strength and cheer for them.

    Before Michael realized three days had already passed. In those three days, he never reached the proximity of the training ground. Instead, Michael felt like he was pulled farther and farther from the training ground.

    It was only fortunate that he learned a lot from his subjects. They taught him thoroughly and answered his doubts with great detail. Spending three days being dragged through his territory felt a little bit weird, but it was also a great experience. It was something Michael wanted to repeat in the future. The Links of Loyalty of thousands of Summons grew firmer. In response to that, Michael could sense that his Soultraits grew stronger. They were nourished by the additional Soul Power that entered his body, granting him more power than he used to possess.

    That was also a great feeling and even more reason to repeat this exercise of interacting with his subjects in the future.

    But now Michael finally reached the training ground where the Immortal Knight was already waiting for him.

    "Wee back, my Lord. I heard lots of rumors about you, and I''m d that you finally found your way to the training ground," The old man teased lightly. He turned more serious and added, "You did a really good thing in thest few days. I am d that the Origin Expanse allowed me to serve you."

    The Immortal Knight had yet toplete his analysis of Michael, but he was positively surprised about his Lord''s actions and personality. Given that he heard many rumors about Michael''s mercilessness when faced with enemies, Siegfried expected Michael to be a little bit stiff and arrogant, maybe even harsh. However, Michael was far from that. In fact, it felt like Michael had two personalities. One for his enemies, and one for his allies and subjects.

    "I am also happy to be back. Finally, I can start training for good!" Michael said with a smile.

    "That''s right. But there is something else I must tell you. It''s a small surprise," The Immortal Knight said mysteriously.

    He pointed toward two Summons, which caught Michael''s interest as he felt something stir within him.

    "Please wee the first two Blessed Squires of your territory!"

 Chapter 423 Aether

    Chapter 423 Aether

    "Two Starless Summons were promoted to 1-Star Blessed Squires three days after you started to train them¡­is that correct?" Michael asked the Immortal Knight, still not quite believing what he was seeing.

    The Basic Level of the Sacred Knight temple hadn''t even been constructed, yet Siegfried''s teaching and guidance had already allowed two Summons to be Blessed Squires. The Summons received an influx of information that revolved around their new upation. This influx of information included knowledge about Holy Power and basic-level mastery of the longsword. Even if they''d been unable to wield a longsword before, the two Blessed Squires were now able to perform some tricks with the longsword.

    The influx of information about a promotion to 1-Star was usually worth 1-2 years of training. That was something Michael had been taught in school. It was also why many Lords were so focused on promoting Starless Summons to Warriors, Archers and so on. Even if they were talentless, being promoted meant that they obtained knowledge and experience equal to two years of experience as Warriors or Archers.

    Using promotions as a means to build an army from scratch was amonly seen tactic for veteran Lords to make up for their casualties in previous wars.

    "Actually, bing a Blessed Squire is not that difficult. It would be easier with the Basic Level of the Sacred Knight Templepleted, but it is not impossible to be a Blessed Squire without the Sacred Knight Temple either. All you need to do is open your Holy Sea andhoard 10 droplets of Holy Power in your Holy Sea. Once the Summon meets the requirement they can decide whether they want to be promoted to Blessed Squires or if they want to hoard more Holy Power before epting their first promotion," Siegfried Dracoon exined in simple terms.

    "That''s it?" Michael asked, not quite convinced.

    "That''s it. The requirements to be a Blessed Squire are not that harsh. But, of course, not everyone can achieve that. These two students of mine are exceptional. They opened their Holy Sea within six hours, whereas others would need a few weeks without the aid of the Sacred Knight Temple," Siegfried chuckled lightly.

    If it would have been that easy to open your Holy Sea and collect 10 droplets of Holy Power, Michael would have an army of tens of thousands of Blessed Squires within weeks. Of course, it was far from easy.

    Michael realized his foolishness, and also understood how important Instructors were. The Immortal Knight was on a whole different level than Archer Instructors, or Warrior Instructors, but that didn''t change the fact that Instructors were extremely valuable. In fact, given that Michael had a book that could be used by Summons to potentially be Archers, and the Warrior Enlightenment Potions, he should be getting hold of a bunch of Archer Instructors and Warrior Instructors. But that was easier said than done.

    Named Scrolls such as Archer Instructor Summoning Scrolls were not easy to procure. Most Lords would never sell them, in the first ce. They would either use them to strengthen their own territory, or they would trade them for favors. Their value was only a tad lower than Mythic Summoning Scrolls even though these Instructors from Named Scrolls were usually only 1-Star Summons.

    Compared to 1-Star Instructors, the Immortal Knight was hundreds of times better as a 6-Star Instructor. He had his own temple and the unique ability to elerate his students'' progress. That was extraordinary. It was amazing!

    ''Should I trade a few Mythic Scrolls for Instructor Summoning Scrolls? It would be a good long-term investment.''

    Others might have difficulties procuring Mythic Summoning Scrolls, but not Michael. Their true value was not that high for someone like him. Instructor Scrolls seemed far more valuable to him inparison.

    ''Even without other Instructors, I should be able to make up my losses against the Kitsun Lord once the Sacred Knight Temple''s Basic Level has been constructed,'' Michael concluded, ''I wonder how long Lilica and the others will need before they return. Hopefully, they got all the materials in their storages!''

    Michael hoped that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team would return soon. It would be even better if they decided to be permanent residents of his territory, and were willing to sign a Soul Pact to grow stronger alongside him. Michael also hoped that the Forest Elven Tribe was willing to pay a huge sum of money in exchange for the Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments he handed over to them.

    Of course, Michael wanted to strengthen the Forest Elves in his territory, but that didn''t mean he would hand over all of his Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. Instead, they would receive a proper contract and a specific amount of SoulStar Fragments every month. There would be a special bonus for participation in warfares and other extracurricr activities, but those additional expenses were something Michael had to look through at ater time.

    For now, Michael was in need of funds and materials to construct all levels of the Sacred Knight Temple, build several Beast Ranches, fill them with the livestock he needed, provide enough resources for the Bilrox Queen and her kind, nourish the Greater Eagles to make sure the offspring would return once they found their mate and much more.

    Basically, everyone Michael had visited in thest few days requested more funds and resources. The only ones with enough work and tools were the leather workers and the butcher. Even the Craftsmen requested more unique materials to construct, and new tools to work more efficiently.

    Thus, Michael had to make use of the 43 Soultrait Symbols in his possession. Even the lowest-ranked Soultrait could be sold for a fortune as long as Michael got hold of the perfect customer. This was even more true given that Michael had detailed notes about all types of Soultraits and their powers. He had a huge advantage and a headstart to bring his ns to fruition.

    The only issue was that Michael had no idea how much to ask for. It was obvious but the demand for Soultrait Symbols was enormous. Everyone would want to obtain more Soultraits if possible. The only problem was that nobody could ''produce'' them just like Michael. At least, Michael never heard about anyone being able to extract Soultraits as he could.

    ''If I sell the Soultrait Symbols to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team, they can grow stronger and be the pirs of the Forest Elven Tribe in the future while simultaneously protecting my territory. I don''t know how many enemies they have to face outside the Origin Expanse, but the Forest Elven Tribe would definitely pay a lot as long as any of them obtains more Soultraits. Therefore I should deal with the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team first.''

    ''Should I auction one Soultrait Symbol to the Tritan Alliance? I can auction it anonymously, or just say that I entered a dungeon and received it as a reward. Everyone knows that I have more than enough Soultraits already, so they might be suspicious, but they would also be consumed by greed and think more about purchasing the Soultrait Symbol that is up for sale rather than asking me too many questions¡­ That is dangerous though¡­ If I make a single mistake, I could end up kidnapped, confined, and turned into a guinea pig ¨C exposed to countless experiments to figure out how I managed to get hold of so many Soultraits¡­''

    The Forest Elven Tribe seemed like the safest option for the time being. Maybe, he could trust the Tritan Alliance and mankind enough in the future to provide them with Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. But that was not the case for the time being. He didn''t feel secure enough with his current strength. He still had loads to improve.

    To solve that issue, Michael abandoned his useless thoughts. His focus switched to the Immortal Knight''s teachings, and to Sacred Rectification, Caesurium Menta, and the refinement of his War Rune.

    Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and Michael''s War Rune finally reached the mid-rank after digesting all Energy Influx and Energy Shares he had obtained since his first encounter with Kitsun. The feeling of vigor and energy surging through his body was addicting. His physical strength increased, his control of origin energy improved, and his senses heightened, reaching an entirely new level of sensitivity.

    In the meantime, Michael did not only focus on the refinement of his body, mind, and War Rune. He also focused on testing a wide variety of weapons. Michael didn''t use his Soultraits all this time, spending his first ten days without using any of his Soultraits ¨C not even once. It felt weird at first, but Michael got ustomed to it, to a certain degree, at least.

    The result of using various weapons was also a little bit confusing. Michael had several sparring sessions with others using sabers, katanas, battle axes, broadswords, daggers, longswords, shortswords, ives, bows,nces, harpoons, crossbows, and more exotic weapons. Yet, it only increased his confusion to find out what weapon he was the mostpatible with because Michael felt that his familiarity with all weapons was more or less the same.

    Michael was unable to tell if that was because he was actuallypatible with all weapons, or if that was an effect of consuming a hundred Memory Orbs. The memories of various weapon masteries were etched on his mind, after all. That might affect hispatibility with them considerably.

    When he told the Immortal Knight about his worries, Siegfried Dracoon didn''t seem too bothered.

    "It doesn''t matter where yourpatibility stems from. The fact is that you are quite talented with every weapon you wield. It doesn''t matter if this talent stems from the experience and memories of others, or if it is the talent you were born with," The Immortal Knight tried to calm him down with some basic facts, though he did not paint a rosy picture in front of his Lord. "The only slightly disadvantageous point is that we are not in possession of some Aether. Aether would solve all of our issues. Or a Soultrait simr to Aether. A Soultrait might be even better in your case."

    "Aether?" Michael asked.

    "Aether is basically a material that is said to be as old as the Primordials. It exists in a limited amount. But that is of no importance right now. All you have to know about Aether is that you can bind it to your War Rune like a Soultrait. You can nurture it with energy and precious resources to upgrade its quality gradually. Its'' Tier will increase alongside your War Rune''s refinement degree. Though the downside of possessing Aether is that your progress will be slower due to the high energy cost of upgrading it as it is an extraordinary material," The Immortal Knight revealed, his expression filled with mncholy.

    "Aether can change its form ording to your will, turning into any Armament you can think of in an instant. As long as you have enough Aether it can even morph into a mount or coat your mount to protect it. There are near-infinite ways to use Aether. Even better is that you can give it specific forms with unique enchantments. Enchantments can be slotted to Aether. Though the slots are numbered, increasing the Aether''s quality can increase the number of slots. I¡­used to possess some Aether. It was not much, but it was amazing.

    Unfortunately, Aether is also the reason I died. Every powerhouse wants Aether. Even the true powerhouses of the Universe turned me into their target when they heard that I possessed some Aether¡­thus, I died¡­"

    Michael didn''t expect the Immortal Knight to talk about the past all of a sudden. He listened with great interest, but Siegfried didn''t say much else. He just smiled at Michael knowingly.

    "The old days were truly unique," He took a pause and looked at Michael before adding,

    "But I think the future will be even more interesting."

 Chapter 424 Shift of Power

    Chapter 424 Shift of Power

    Time didn''t stop while Michael was busy growing closer to his people. Everything continued to move on at its usual pace as the young Lord in the Untamed Jungle spent his time refining his body, mind, and War Rune.

    While Michael was busy, the Valyr Lordess, the Zynur Lord, and the Laprix Lord began with the expansion of their territory. They divided the territory of thete Kitsun Lord equally and split up the assets evenly as well. Their armies conquered the territory, killing every Kitsun without a shred of hesitation.

    In a matter of mere days close to 500,000 Kitsun were killed, their corpses burned or fed to the carnivores raised in their territories. Meanwhile, the ves of thete Kitsun Lord were freed and given a choice to make. Either they would be part of the three Lords'' territories by creating a Link of Loyalty with the respective Lord, or they would have to leave the territories and search for a new ce to stay.

    Most ves didn''t want to give up their newfound freedom. They decided to leave thete Kitsun Lord''s territory or their new Lord''s territory and search for a new ce to stay. The three Lords epted their decision. They provided enough food and water before giving the ves a grace period of ten days. By the time the grace period ended the freed ves had to be outside their territory, otherwise, they would be captured or killed on the spot.

    Expanding one''s territory was an expensive task. It was even worse if the imed area wasrger than their entire territory. To manage and protect their new territory, the three Lords had to spend a fortune to create new settlements, split up their forces to ce guards across all the settlements, and send over civilians to reside in the newly constructed settlements. Watch towers had to be constructed and thework system had to be expanded rapidly. Information about the newly imed area had to be collected and new ways to earn money were researched.

    Last but not least, the three Lords had to find out about the threats within and adjacent to the new area.

    The Valyr Lordess and the Laprix Lord learned a lot about new enemies. These enemies were both Awakened Lords and Monster Overlords, who had been reigning over a small area of the Savannah region for years. They sensed the changes alongside the border to thete Kitsun Lord and quickly realized that a new Lord imed the Kitsun Lord''snd. It was not long after that they began to test thebat prowess of these new Lords. All they wanted was to test how strong these new Rulers were and if they were capable of managing such arge piece ofnd as the Kitsun Lord had been capable of.

    Forced to send their army deeper into their newly imed region, the Valyr Lordess and the Laprix Lord had no choice but to act more vignt. Their older settlements were not as well guarded as before since the army had been deployed. Therefore, their old enemies grasped the golden opportunity and attacked.

    The Valyr Lordess and the Laprix Lord were able to hold their stronghold. However, they could only fight back against their enemies after the Zynur Lord chose to give them a helping hand. The Zynur Lord''s territory was surrounded by the Valyr Lordess''nd and the Laprix Lord''s territory. Expanding his territory wasn''t that troublesome because the only new border he received was the border leading straight to the Untamed Jungle. The only threats looming in the Untamed Jungle were Monsters, and they didn''t leave the Untamed Jungle under normal circumstances.

    If anything, the Untamed Jungle was a treasure trove for the Zynur Lord. After all, Michael resided somewhere inside the Untamed Jungle. The Zynur Lord hoped that Michael would soon message him through themunication crystal. He wanted to establish a firm business rtionship with Michael. Being friendly and trading with each other was a much better option than fighting a crazy maniac, who fought tens of thousands of enemies and a bunch of Peak Tier-3 Awakened while merely being a Low Tier-2 Lord.

    The Zynur Lord hadn''t witnessed Michael''sbat prowess first-hand, but he''d heard enough from the Valyr Lordess'' daughter and her Valyries ¨C the elite troupe of the Valyr Lordess ¨C to know that Michael Fang was not someone he should fight against.

    Since the Zynur Lord didn''t want the Valyr Lordess and the Laprix Lord to lose their territory either he decided to give them a helping hand when they faced attacks from multiple sides. He demanded some reimbursement for his help and simultaneously ensured that neither the Lordess nor the Lord bordering his territory would dare to attack him anytime soon. He used the Lordess and the Lord as protective shields against other Lords, and established three new settlements alongside his newnd ¨C with one of the settlements scratching the border to the Untamed Jungle. It was an invitation for Michael, a sign of trust, and an opportunity for the young Lord to establish a trading route with the Zynur Lord.

    Over the course of three weeks, all Lords of the Savannah region found out about the death of the Kitsun Lord. Not many knew what exactly happened because the three neighboring Lords concealed the news about the truth as if their lives depended on it, but everyone realized that the Valyr, Zynur, and Laprix had joined hands to defeat the Kitsun Lord. Therefore, the Lords in the Savannah Region considered the three Lords allies. They presumed that they formed an alliance, and that the Alliance might continue to exist until the entire Savannah region was in their control.

    Because of these thoughts, and worries infesting their minds, the Lords of the Savannah region began to change their tactics. They began to pay more attention to their defenses, summoned more Combat Summons, andmunicated more with their neighbors to learn about their intentions and future ns. Some Alliances were formed, while others began to wage an all-out war due toplications and misunderstandings during theirmunication.

    The bnce of power shifted all over the Savannah region, chaos ensued slowly, and the first of many big shes to determine the Ruler of the Savannah began.

    The power shift all over the Savannah region was not the only change that would affect Michael. It was just one of many changes. Even bigger events urred in the Zentika Empire. To pinpoint the precise location, the border between the Southern Ice Mountains and the Zentika Empire was where the bigger events urred.

    The Council of the Zentika Empire had faced various losses after the Lord Rift closed. The only survivor of the Zentika Empire''s participants was Tac Lec. However, Tac Lec received his Lord Rift entrance ticket through hard work. He never signed a soul contract with the Zentika Empire. Therefore, he never had to pay the Zentika Empire with a percentage of the gains he made in the Lord Rift.

    In the first ce, Tac Lec escaped the Lord Rift barely alive. He was lethally injured and half-burned when he emerged from the Lord Rift. He barely escaped outside the Origin Expanse where his servants found him lying on the ground, writhing in pain. His life was on the line as he was brought to the medics of his race. But even they couldn''t help him immediately. Tac Lec spent several weeks in aa, and he had to recuperate for even longer. Even after so much time had passed, Tac Lec barely regained his former strength, allowing him to make use of the items he procured and earned in the Lord Rift.

    The only participant of the Lord Rift who hadn''t sustained any injuries was Taros. Taros was uninjured and he made most gains as well. Not only did rumors state that he was granted a powerful Soultrait Symbol as a reward for his contributions and achievements in the Lord Rift, but he brought back something else from the Lord Rift. Hushed but excited discussions of how he brought back a Dragon Egg ¨C the egg of the Red Dragon, were ripe. It was the same Red Dragon that had wreaked havoc near the end of the Lord Rift''s countdown.

    Had Michael known about the Dragon Egg, he would have concluded that Taros stole the Dragon Egg, thus enraging the Red Dragon. Michael wouldn''t hesitate to travel to the Southern Ice Mountains to wreak havoc in Taros'' territory, killing him and his pet altogether. After all, Taros'' actions were the sole reason Masked Saber ¨C Daniel Fang ¨C died in the Lord Rift.

    Fortunately, Michael was oblivious to the truth. The Zentika Empire and Taros were engaged in a cold-blooded war for thest few months after all. From the day the Red Dragon youngling was born, Taros began to wreak havoc alongside the borders of the Zentika Empire. He first attacked some small viges and towns. He devoured them and used his Soultrait to grow stronger rapidly.

    Simultaneously, he taught his Red Dragon to fight and hunt alongside him. The Red Dragon grew rapidly. As a Mythical Creature, even the weakest Dragon was capable of hunting Elite Tier-1 Awakened. Common Tier-2 Guards were not difficult to hunt as well. However, the most important aspect of Mythical Creatures was that their growth rate depended on the amount of energy they absorbed.

    The Red Dragon killed thousands of enemies in its first battle. It absorbed the energy influx of those thousands and grew rapidly. Not even a full day passed before it advanced to Tier-1. Two weekster it broke through the next barrier, reaching the 2nd Tier. By that time, the Red Dragon was already big enough to carry Taros on its back. The Red Dragon, capable of fighting Elite Tier-3 Awakened, crossed hundreds of kilometers in no time.

    Taros guided the Red Dragon across the Zentika Empire to obliterate two settlements. Both Taros with Gluttony and the Red Dragon with its unfathomable power as a Mythical Creature grew stronger at a much faster rate than anyone else. Their natural limits shattered and they advanced until they finally conquered one of the Zentika Empire''s cities.

    From that moment onward, the Zentika Empire couldn''t ignore Taros and the Red Dragon anymore. They gathered their forces, and their magical devices and initiated their counterattack.

    The Council forgot about the ancient ruins they had wanted to conquer in the Untamed Jungle as well as the young Lord residing in the Untamed Jungle. Since the Untamed Jungle wasn''t a threat as of this moment, the Council focused on the extermination of Taros and the Red Dragon. They had to hunt both and get rid of them before it was toote.

    Their full power was utilized and a fierce battle ensued against Taros, his army, and the Red Dragon.

    Meanwhile, Michael could finally spend some time at ease. All while the Origin Expanse around him was set on fire, Michael spent his time growing stronger and getting closer to his subjects.

    It was not yet his time to shed blood, sweat, and tears.

 Chapter 425 Piloqs Battles

    Chapter 425 Piloq''s Battles

    But the Origin Expanse was not the only ce full of events and dangers.

    Piloq, the city where all participants of the Battle Exchange had gathered, was full of intriguing events and fierce battles. After Michael rushed to the Origin Expanse to find out that another Lord resided in the Untamed Jungle, Kaleb and the others continued to fight other participants of the Battle Exchange in the hopes of increasing their ranking.

    After all, a better ranking indicated that they would receive more resources and support to prepare for the Interdimensional g War. Some participants without a g War Token decided to return to the Origin Expanse where they used the benefits of the time dtion to train for several weeks. The growth spurt allowed them to fight specific opponents head-on.

    In one such spar, a young woman, an Awakened at the Peak of the 2nd Tier, with a Weapon Manifestation Soultrait called [Cursed Dagger of the Vervail Queen] was studying her opponent, a Berserker at the Lowest rank of the 3rd Tier, with great detail and focus. She researched hisbat tactic, the Soultrait he used and got to know that her Soultrait outmatched the Berserker''s.

    The Berserker''s Soultrait [Crimson Blood], enhanced his Power, improved his natural regeneration, and he could churn through his blood to temporarily increase his physical strength drastically. Regenerating the blood his Soultrait used up would leave him weakened after the effect of Crimson Blood was unleashed to its peak, but the Berserker''s naturally high regeneration ensured that the weakened state was not long.

    Cursed Dagger of the Vervail Queen had two unique abilities. First, the dagger manifested through the Soultrait had a strong bleeding effect. Even shallow cuts would bleed for several minutes. Stopping the bleeding was too difficult. This was even worse for deeper cuts. However, the second effect of her Cursed Dagger was even more important. It strengthened the power of the bleeding effect by inflicting a curse upon the target. The Curse was not permanent because it drained too much energy from the wielder of the Cursed Dagger, but its effect was as strong as a Curse was supposed to be. It weakened the natural regeneration of the injured target, increased the target''s sense of pain while dulling every other sense, and drained a portion of the target''s power.

    As the young woman challenged the Crimson Blood Berserker in a narrow alleyte at night, the Berserker didn''t hesitate to attack. The Battle Exchange allowed the participants to challenge their opponents wherever they were. Those who were challenged weren''t allowed to reject the challenge, otherwise, they would lose their g War Token by default.

    The Berserker used Crimson Blood at its full potential, increasing the Berserker''s power quite a bit. A huge war axe manifested in his hands and he struck out without hesitation.

    All the young woman did was to lift her hand and slightly bend her index finger sporting a silver Ring Artifact. The Ring Artifact hummed lightly right before the sound of something cutting through the air resounded behind the Berserker. The Cursed Dagger of the Vervail Queen propelled through the air, controlled by the silver Ring Artifact. It burst through the Berserker''s right arm that was lifted high into the air to cleave down with the war axe.

    There was nothing the Berserker could do. The Cursed Dagger had been too close and the Berserker didn''t expect an attack from behind. He had been too focused on the young woman engulfed in the darkness of the narrow alley.

    The young woman smiled as her Cursed Dagger sliced through the Berserker''s arm. The natural power to worsen the bleeding and the Curse took effect simultaneously. It was only at that moment that the Berserker realized that it might have been a stupid idea to attack his challenger in a narrow alley. His war axe crashed against the walls of the building next to him and he lost control of his weapon as the pain in his right arm reached an unbearable degree. As the weapon slumped down from his hand limply, the Cursed Dagger shot out once again, piercing the Berserker''s other arm.

    The Berserker roared out and charged at the young woman, both arms covered inyers of warm, oozing blood. Twoyers of the Curse had been applied, worsening the Berserker''s situation even more.

    The young woman pulled back. She used her Soultrait to retrieve the Cursed Dagger and manifest it in her hands once again. A mere momentter, she threw the dagger out again, piercing the Berserker''s chest with a quick motion. The Berserker senses were too dulled, his sight too hazy to perceive the Cursed Dagger as it plunged into his chest, digging deep inside.

    Not even five minutes into the start of the battle the Berserker was lying on the ground ¨C in a puddle of his blood.

    "Is that the medic team? Yeah, I sent you my coordinates. Someone is bleeding out here. I already released the Curse, but I am not sure if that''s enough to make sure that he can survive," The young woman called the medic team, following the protocol of an outside match. The injured party had to be tended to, and the winner was supposed to inform the medics even if their opponent was not badly injured.

    The young woman followed the protocol before approaching the Berserker to retrieve his g War Token.

    "That''s mine now. If you want it back, challenge me once you''re back at your peak," She said just before turning away, leaving the Berserker staring at her in shock.

    Situations like this have been normal since the start of the Battle Exchange. Bloody battles of simr scale happened all over the cities. In fact, the battle between the Crimson Blood Berserker and the Cursed Dagger Human hadn''t been that bad. They didn''t destroy anything, which waspletely different from the battles fought by Thaor, Lokai, and most other Berserkers.

    Even the battles fought by humans were usually far more destructive. That was especially true for Lords like Killian Zeus. He didn''t hold back against his enemies to instill fear in his opponents and not let them muster the courage to challenge him. Through this he conveyed a message that challenging him meant that they would end up in a state worse than death! That way he could ensure that no weaklings would bother him until the end of the Battle Exchange.

    However, not everyone fought straightforwardly. There were also more unique situations happening all over Piloq.

    While Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were known for fighting head-on and challenging others in the open to honor their battle spirits and ancestors, not all Humans were the same. In fact, most humans had been taught that victory was all that mattered. To defeat opponents with higherbat prowess than oneself, special techniques and strength might not be enough. It required trickery, conniving tactics, and sometimes more than that to defeat the stronger party.

    Humans didn''t mind how others looked at them after they used trickery to win against their opponents, but Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs valued their morals and ethics more than their lives. They would rather lose than dishonor their race''s values and ancestors.

    That was something the human participants of the Battle Exchange decided to make use of. They formed groups to protect their Healers and Supporters and imed several buildings to create a stronghold to defend. The Healers and Supporters in the groups were out of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' sight, which made it increasingly difficult for them to be challenged.

    Only thebatants of the group could be challenged by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but that was where trickery came into y. The rules of the Battle Exchange didn''t forbid other participants from intervening in outside battles. Therefore, the human groups decided to team up against the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to defeat them together. Using this tactic was more than enough to defeat the stronger Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs that had been ranked much higher than them. The groups of humans took their g War Tokens and returned to their stronghold to create arge barricade.

    At one point, the Berserkers formed a group as well. The strongest Berserkers decided to charge into the fort and raze it to the ground. To their misfortune, they failed miserably.

    The Berserkers didn''t expect the stronghold to have several powerful Supporters and an even stronger Healer residing within. Whereas the Supporters aided their members to improve theirbat prowess greatly, the Healer tended to the wounds of everyone mere moments after they had been inflicted.

    After their first attack failed, the Berserkers cursed the Healers residing within the stronghold. The Healers of the stronghold were simply too powerful, and too many to deal with since the Berserkers didn''t aim to kill their enemies. Killing the participants of the Battle Exchange was not desired. It could lead to more problems and split up the Tritan Alliance in the worst-case scenario. Yet, that nearly happened when the Berserkers charged into the stronghold the second time.

    Two humans were nearly split in half by powerful battle-axe shes. The battle halted for a moment and a beautiful young woman appeared from the center of the stronghold. She was the Healer residing in the stronghold ¨C the only healer they needed.

    There was no hesitation in her actions as she released her Soultrait''s power to the fullest. A halo manifested above the woman''s head as she tended to the lethally injured. The insides of the cleaved bodies squirmed as thousands of tiny little tendrils seemed to move within the injured. The tendrils connected to one another and pulled the cleaved bodies together.

    They healed rapidly, clearly for everyone to see ¨C to witness the miracle that happened right in front of them.

    The woman looked at the two bodies and nodded her head faintly, "That was quite easy."

    Her sonorous voice resounded through the vicinity as she got up. She looked at her surroundings calmly and did not seem the slightest bit exhausted from healing two lethally injured patients who had been on the brink of death.

    No. The two humans had been more dead than alive, yet the young woman healed them and brought them back from death''s door easily.

    She was Maria Seraph, one of the 10 Heavenly Chosen, and the most promising healer across the Tritan Alliance.

 Chapter 426 Losing everything

    Chapter 426 Losing everything

    Alice sat on afortable chair, looking at dozens of holographic screens. Each screen showed the location and condition of her students. They were either busy training to challenge Token holders in the future, or spread out across Piloq. A handful of students decided to stay in the Colosseum where official matches were held. Petty tricks were not allowed in the official matches, only straight-forward one on one battles.

    Her focus had been on Kaleb for thest few hours. Since Michael left Kaleb was busy fighting against others. He once lost his g War Token against a Peak Tier-3 Awakened, but that didn''t hinder his progress. If anything, losing against an older Descendant gave Kaleb the push he needed to move on and forget about his friends ¨C even if it was just temporarily.

    Kaleb had been worried about Michael. His friend left suddenly and hadn''t returned for quite a while. Michael didn''t even send them a message about his situation. That may not be umon but it left Kaleb worried about his friend''s well-being.

    And then there was Frederik''s situation. While Kaleb was certain that Michael wouldn''t die, Frederik and his family seemed to be buried neck-deep in never ending problems.

    Frederik didn''t leave the Origin Expanse in thest four weeks. He might still be in a fight with the enemies that invaded his territory, or he was possibly reconstructing his territory after a fierce battle. Or¡­he was running away from his enemy after losing everything. Thest option was a possibility, but it was not something Kaleb wanted to think about.

    He was not actually that close to Frederik, but Kaleb was certain that Michael liked Frederik though he had been a bit annoying in the past. Kaleb had to acknowledge that Frederik''s unique personality was a wee change. It was something he could enjoy every now and then. Nheless, Kaleb cared only a little bit about Frederik ¨C mostly because Michael wouldn''t want anything bad to happen to Frederik.

    Unfortunately, Igor Kolbenheim, Frederik''s father, lost his territory. He was unable to reim his territory against the forces that barged into his territory, leaving Igor no other choice but to retreat. Igor Kolbenheim used his full power, and arge portion of his umted wealth to retaliate against the invading forces. But by the time he decided to use his fortune to fight back with everything he could it had already been toote.

    Igor Kolbenheim''s Intermediate Summoning Gate had been crushed, his wooden manor destroyed, and the majority of his trusted army had been annihted. The damage he and his territory sustained was terrifying. Igor lost his powers as a Lord, and his subjects'' loyalty in their former Lord plummeted. The string of events that followed Igor''s defeat was even more terrifying.

    The adjacent territories decided to initiate arge-scale attack against Igor Kolbenheim to take advantage of the easy opportunity. Despite being long-term business partners, the Lords ruling over the adjacent territories didn''t hesitate to break their contracts and charge into Igor''s territory with one goal in mind: conquest.

    Karek Ondo''s territory was situated right next to that of Igor Kolbenheim, his best friend. He had been exposed to the same attack as Igor Kolbenheim, but he could exterminate the evil forces with the help of the Ondo family''s special force. The Ondo family deployed their Sacred Warriors to ensure the survival of Karek Ondo and the highly valuable Kingdom-level territory. In fact, Karek Ondo''s territory didn''t meet the requirements of a Kingdom-level territory. However, by putting Igor Kolbenheim''s territory and Karek Ondo''s territory together they barely fulfilled the requirements to consider theirbinednds a kingdom.

    This kingdom ruled by two kings crumbled because only Karek Ondo and his territory survived, while Igor Kolbenheim lost everything. Karek sent the Sacred Warriors to Igor''s help, but by the time they arrived, the territory had been conquered. Foreign armies had imed Igor''s territory, forcing Karek to fight against the forces of several lords with the Sacred Knights.

    After a fierce battle thatsted ten days and nights, Karek and his people won. But at what price?

    Karek was able to reim Igor''s territory, but he couldn''t return the territory to Igor. The Elders of the Ondo family intervened. The Elders had never truly trusted Igor Kolbenheim, and they finally had hard evidence to prove that Igor Kolbenheim was not fit to lead a Kingdom-level territory alongside Karek Ondo.

    Because Karek Ondo had been forced to ask for the aid of the Elder''s Sacred Warriors, he couldn''t even retort to them. The Elders had the upper hand and gained more influence in the Ondo family. Using this influence, the Elders convinced the patriarch of the Ondo Family to reject Karek''s proposal to return Igor Kolbenheim''s territory to him.

    Instead, Karek was ordered to im the territory as his own and to allow the survivors to take refuge. In the span of several weeks, Karek became the sole ruler of the Kingdom-level territory, while Igor lost his earlier status and title. He became an Awakened, a cripple, who lost his eyes and an arm in his desperate struggles against the invading forces.

    And now Frederik was forced to fight his own battle against the forces that had invaded his territory. He didn''t want to end up like his father. If anything, Frederik wanted to win against his enemies and find ways to heal his father''s eyes and regrow his arm. The responsibility for reiming his family''s lost territory and glory was now weighing down on Frederik heavily, yet he struggled in one of his firstrge-scale battles.

    **

    Kaleb was training hard with Thaor when he received a message from his sister. He first thought that Michael sent him a message to tell him that he was back, but that was just wishful thinking. It was Alice, who asked him to meet in her office.

    ''Can''t she tell me what''s going on through Sta Messenger? Is it really necessary to run arou¨C...'' Kaleb''s mind went nk at this moment. He just realized that something big must have happened if his sister told him to rush to her office as soon as possible. Did something happen to Michael? Or was there some news about Frederik?

    Kaleb didn''t know what the news was about, but he had a bad feeling. He stopped training and rushed over to his sister''s office without showering or changing his clothes.

    Drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, Kaleb reached Alice''s office in no time.

    "What happened?"

    "Frederik lost his territory. He sustained heavy injuries and barely escaped the wrath of his enemy," Alice Zenovia read the message she''d just received in a loud and clear voice.

    Those were the first words Kaleb heard from his sister. He stopped in the doorframe and stared at his sister.

    "Fuck."

    Alice sighed deeply and nodded grimly.

    "It would be great if that was all, but it''s merely the tip of the iceberg," She added right before telling Kaleb what happened after Frederik returned from the Origin Expanse by escaping death by a hair''s breadth.

    "Jacqueline is going crazy right now. Frederik fell into aa right after he returned from the Origin Expanse, and the Elders of the Ondo family are trying to force Jacqueline to return to her family''s mansion. They want her to resign from the Saphirke Military Academy and terminate her engagement with Frederik. The Kolbenheim family is much smaller than the Ondo family in reputation, which is also why the Elders of the Ondo family consider the Kolbenheims a lost cause. Frederik''s Soultrait is not even that powerful, and it''s not favorable for the Ondo Family to produce offspring with stronger inheritable Soultraits."

    "That is even more fucked up," Kaleb cursed under his breath. He picked a chair opposite Alice''s desk and sat down, his eyes focused on his sister. Kaleb was certain that his sister was not yet done telling him about the events revolving around the Barbaric Couple.

    "Well, you know how politics work. We are from a different world than others, if you want to put it like that," Alice said, a sad smile stered on her face, "Michael has it much better in that case."

    Thinking about Michael caused Kaleb to let out a frustrated sigh.

    "I guess so¡­" Kaleb mumbled in response, recalling his own engagement and how it had been canceled all of a sudden.

    "The Ondo family wants to be a High Family and create the foundation to join the rows of Superior Families in the next few centuries. However, they''re not that powerful yet. Arge portion of their fortune originated from Karek and Igor''s territory as well. The sole reason they epted Frederik as Jacqueline''s spouse was because of Igor Kolbenheim''s territory. It was a bonus that Frederik''s territory was also in a unique location. He was bound to make a fortune¡­not anymore, of course. The medics don''t even know if Frederik will be able to regain his full strength or if he will have to live with permanent injuries for the rest of his life."

    "So¡­Frederik lost everything, even his fianc¨¦?" Kaleb asked gloomily.

    "Jacqueline is fighting against the Elder''s orders, but from the looks of it¡­its likely, yeah."

    "Michael won''t like that," Kaleb blurted his thoughts aloud.

    "Michael? It''s not his business," Alice was slightly surprised about her younger brother''sment, but Kaleb just smiled wryly.

    "Of course, it''s not his business. But he likes to mingle in other people''s business."

    "Well, that¡­is true¡­" Alice had to acknowledge.

    "And he likes the Barbaric Couple, no matter how weird and annoying they are."

    "That¡­is also true¡­" Alice agreed, which led Kaleb''s smile to widen a little.

    "That is why I wonder what Michael will do once he finds out about Frederik and the Barbaric Couple''s struggle."

    "If hees back you mean," Alice reminded Kaleb, which caused him to slump his shoulders.

    "Of course, he wille back. You know how tenacious this bastard is!" Kaleb responded, shuddering as he recalled the tons of times Michael returned from the Origin Expanse severely injured but much stronger than before he departed.

    Alice didn''t say anything, but the corners of her lips curled upward.

    ''I wonder how he is doing.''

 Chapter 427 Best Instructor

    Chapter 427 Best Instructor

    Michael was doing perfectly fine.

    His biggest worry was to keep his subjects entertained, to refine his body, mind, and War Rune, and to study the techniques Immortal Knight was teaching his students. After ten days of hard work, 15 Starless Summons advanced to 1-Star Blessed Knights. They were promoted automatically, which elerated their natural talent to absorb energy, theirprehension of the body refinement technique Siegfried taught them, and how to harness the Holy Power within their Holy Sea.

    Michael learned a lot too. His biggest gain was that he finally learned a Standard Martial Arts technique. It was an Inferior version to the Sacred Sword style the Immortal Knight was teaching his students, but that was something Michael had expected. He didn''t have any Holy Power so he had to use an altered version of the Immortal Knight''s technique to substitute Holy Power with Origin Energy.

    Practicing a properbat technique was quite stimting. Michael learned to move in ways he never expected to move. He was quite stiff at first, but his muscles obeyed hismands once he warmed up a little. Michael quickly learned that the practical knowledge he procured from Memory Orbs was getting in his way. The practical knowledgemanded him to move differently than suggested in the Inferior Sacred Sword style introduced by the Immortal Knight.

    Michael told the Immortal Knight about his experience, but Siegfried didn''t have much to offer.

    "To be honest, I never came across a case like you. Your memories are trying to teach you techniques you''ve never practiced before. That''s what it looks like ording to your exnation. While that might be helpful in the future, it could harm you right now. I am currently teaching you some basic techniques that force you to use the majority of muscles in your body. You will quickly advance to the Novice Mastery with your highprehension, but the Novice Mastery is where everything starts to get a little bit moreplicated.

    "Your mission is to practice the techniques I taught you to Perfect Mastery. Once you reach that point you will be extremely flexible. To be precise, not many Awakened at the 2nd Tier will be able topare to you in terms of flexibility. By then you won''t have any issues differentiating the techniques from your practical experiences.

    "However, if you practice the techniques from the Memory Orbs at a higher mastery than you''re ustomed to, you might suffer great harm. Your muscles might tear, and you might face bigger bacshes as well. Thus, using and tempering your muscles and every part of your body to use it in various ways will be your top priority. That way, I can ensure that nothing bad will happen once we move to the second stage of your training!"

    The Immortal Knight exined everything in a calm andposed manner. Michael understood most and agreed with no hesitation. It felt like he had struck a jackpot to have summoned the Immortal Knight with the Legendary Summoning Scroll.

    Maybe some other Combat Summons would have been great as well, but the Immortal Knight was an exceptional instructor. He could quickly assess his students'' strong points and their weaknesses. Once his assessment waspleted, he came up with a customized training n that forced his students to go beyond their limits. But the training n was not over the top. It forced the students to go just beyond the limit; to exceed their limit by 0.5%, not drain them beyond measure. As long as the students followed the customized training n, they would grow stronger naturally. Even if not all Starless Summons would be Blessed Squires, they would grow strong enough to be Warriors after consuming a single Warrior Enlightenment Potion.

    But that was not all. The Immortal Knight provided his students with several paths to choose from. They could choose what type of Knight they wanted to be, and he would even aid his students if they didn''t wish to be Knights. He always gave his utmost to give a helping hand, no matter what they decided. After all, not everyone was made to be a Warrior, a Blessed Squire, let alone a Holy Knight. It required strong willpower, loyalty, dedication, strength, and a tinge of craziness to ovee all ordeals and rise to the level of a Holy Knight from a nameless Starless Summon.

    Michael almost forgot about his other worries as he was busy with his subjects and the harsh training the Immortal Knight pushed onto him. Unfortunately, his subjects reminded him a little bit too often about the promises he made. He had yet to leave the Origin Expanse to sell some goods and purchase everything needed to construct more Beast Ranches, and to provide more resources for everyone else.

    But Michael didn''t want to leave the Origin Expanse just yet. He was waiting for the EmeraldLead Adventurers. They had yet to return with the resources the construction workers required to construct the Basic Level of the Sacred Knight Temple. Once Lilica and the others returned with the promised goods, Michael would dly leave to take care of his business outside the Origin Expanse.

    He had yet to get hold of his own g War Token, and he missed the banter with Kaleb and Alice a little bit as well. Michael was also wondering what Lincoln, Zeke, and the Barbaric Couple were up to.

    As for Thaor, and Lokai, they were probably fighting somewhere, thrashing each others'' heads. Mekhaz was the only level-headed Warlock Centaur. Michael was certain that Mekhaz would be fine ¨C as long as the Berserker siblings didn''t drag him into trouble somehow.

    Finally, on the 14th day after their departure, the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team returned. Michael received a report, finished his training, and met up with the five Forest Elves.

    The Forest Elves looked dead-tired almost like they never received a chance to sleep outside the Origin Expanse.

    "Did you guys even sleep?" Michael asked lightly, only to receive heavy sighs from the Forest Elves.

    "I had to exin to my mother and the Elders that I used one of my heirloom arrows. They¡­were not too pleased about that," Mika said, scratching the back of his head, "But I don''t really care. I fell in love with the heirloom arrows and I don''t regret having used it. Though my mom said that I should be a Higher Lifeform to use its power to the fullest."

    "I told the Elders about our fight against the Kitsun Lord. They now know that you tamed the Elemental Empress and also that you obtained dozens of Soultraits, in addition to tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments. Of course, I didn''t tell them anything I wasn''t supposed to say. Since you gave us permission to reveal everything I''ve mentioned just now it should be fine, right?" Liopham added, also sounding a little tired. Michael could only presume that Liopham had been asked to repeat the story of his conquest of the Kitsun Lord''s territory, the strategy they used, and the gains they made in excruciating detail.

    The Elders and the Forest Elven Tribe were most likely trying to reassess Michael''s worth ¨C including the value of his territory and the gains it would bring them.

    "My parents forced me to train my Soultraits until I copsed. They said that I was useless in the territory warfare against the Kitsun Lord so I had to train a lot¡­like a lot lot," Pheliined once before falling silent once again. She was as talkative as usual¡­so not that much¡­

    Opars and Lilica had yet to say anything, however, it looked like Opars didn''t really want to say anything. All he did was retrieve a ring from his finger and hand it over to Michael.

    "You might not know about that, but my family manages the Forest Elven Tribe''s fortune and goods. We decided to ept the trade you proposed before. The Artifacts you handed Lilica will be enough to pay for all the materials required to construct the Basic Level of the Sacred Knight Temple," Opars said reluctantly. He then sighed heavily and added, "That is the official answer. Unofficially, the materials are much more expensive than we initially expected. Everything is a little pricey, but the massive amount required is what is truly painful. The Forest Elven Tribe only epted your proposal because you gave everyone a 4-Star Soultrait as a present."

    "Of course, a single 4-Star Soultrait as useless as the ones you gave us is more valuable than the materials we''ve provided, but the Elders hope that you can give us a little discount. After all, they didn''t ask you to give us these 4-Star Soultraits. You gave them to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team because you wanted to¡­because you needed their strength. That is not what I think about the situation, but it''s the words of two Elders¡­Elders I don''t really like."

    Opars lowered his gaze and studied the ground. He was visibly ashamed that he had to ry the thoughts and opinions of the two Elders he disliked the most. However, Michael didn''t think too much about it.

    "Well, they''re not that wrong. I never expected you to pay me for the five 4-Star Soultraits I gave you, either way. It was a sign of my trust and hope that we could strengthen our rtionship in the future. That worked out pretty well, so I''m quite happy. As for the materials, please thank your parents and the Elders for providing everything we needed to construct the Basic Level of the Sacred Knight Temple," Michael responded calmly, a big smile on his face.

    He didn''t care about the Elders'' words. All he thought about was the Sacred Knight Temple. Therefore, he forwarded the spatial ring to one of his assistants whom Michael assigned the responsibility of starting and supervising the construction of the Sacred Knight Temple.

    "But tell me about thest few days. How did it work out? Are you allowed to stay here and sign a Soul Pact, or are there some difficulties?" Michael asked, ncing over to Lilica who had yet to say anything.

 Chapter 428 The Elves are Back!

    Chapter 428 The Elves are Back!

    Since Lilica hadn''t said anything after they returned to the Origin Expanse, Michael''s gaze flicked at her.

    However, Lilica seemed a little lost in thoughts. She was staring straight-ahead with a nk look.

    "Hellooo, Lilica?" Michael asked, waving his hand in front of her. Only then did she regain her senses.

    "W-what happened?" She asked, which resulted in chuckles from behind her. The other Forest Elves looked at her smugly. Atst, Opars decided to give Lilica a helping hand, "Michael asked if we''re now allowed to sign a Soul Pact, and if we''re allowed to stay in his territory permanently."

    "Ahhh," Lilica murmured. She looked back to Michael and smiled lightly, "Sorry, I am a bit distracted. Talking with my family was a little bit¡­tense. Either way, we''ve been given permission to sign Soul Pacts, and to stay with you in the Origin Expanse. As long as we won''t have to fight Forest Elven Lords in the Origin Expanse, that is. And there are some other uses we need such as the permission to leave if something happens back at home."

    "We also need to rify the price for Soultraits and so on. That can also be der because we don''t want to obtain more Soultraits right off the bat. For now, we want to train with our current Soultraits, study them in-depth and incorporate them into ourbat styles. Nheless, the price of Soultraits will be important at ater time," Lilica rified.

    Michael couldn''t agree more, "Pricing Soultraits is something I have issues with as well. For now, I would like to change our Links of Loyalty to ordinary Links of Loyalty without any alterations. Then I would like to use Soul Pacts to act as business contracts. That means the Soul Pacts are like employee contracts. You will be given a certain number of SoulStar Fragments every month. Joining territory battles will increase your share of SoulStar Fragments ording to your contribution after the territory battle ends. I am willing to give your team credits such as Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments. But, of course, you would have to pay back the creditster."

    "As for pricing Soultrait Symbols, I am not sure how to price them. When you leave the Origin Expanse the next time, can you ask your parents what they demand for an Intermediate Summoning Core, and a Neutral Basic Summoning Core. I want topare the Forest Elven Tribe''s pricing with my kind''s market, and that of the Tritan Alliance," Michael exined calmly.

    Every race had their own unique market. Forest Elves lived in forests, and they spawned in flourishing environments in the Origin Expanse as well. Meanwhile, mankind was the opposite. Their spawn points in the Origin Expanse were mostly the Barren Lands, the Frozen Tundra and the Sacred Desert.

    Therefore their market was different. Humans paid a lot for agriculture-type blueprints while Forest Elves had those blueprints stored away, numbered in millions.

    "I can do that. But I doubt that we can provide you with the resources required for the Intermediate and Advanced levels of the Sacred Knight Temple. My parents told me that selling those materials would use up the stock of certain highly valuable resources, resources that our people require quite often as well. Maybe, I can negotiate a little bit and obtain some resources, but that will only be a portion and not everything," Opars said.

    Michael fell deep in thought. He had been hoping to splurge a little bit with the 43 Soultrait Symbols in his possession to procure the resources needed toplete the construction of the Sacred Knight Temple soon. Oncepleted, the Sacred Knight Temple would be the holy training ground in Michael''s territory. He was not sure how long it would take for the first Holy Knights and Sacred Knights to appear, but given that it required barely two weeks for 15 Blessed Squires to appear even without the Sacred Knight Temple''s support, Michael was certain that he wouldn''t have to worry about his heavy armoredbat unit.

    Now that the construction of the Sacred Knight Temple had begun, all Michael had to do was to make enough space for the foundation before waiting patiently until his subjectspleted the task ahead. Michael deployed a total of 3,000 subjects to work on the Basic level of the Sacred Knight Temple. He hoped that it was enough toplete the Basic level within a month.

    If his calctions were urate, the construction of the basic level would bepleted just before the Battle Exchange ended. Therefore, Michael would have two more months ¨C four if the time dtion of the Origin Expanse was applied ¨C before the Interdimensional g War would begin.

    Until the Interdimensional g War started, Michael wanted to grow a lot stronger. He required more subjects, stronger subjects, and firmer Links of Loyalty to ensure that his Soultraits were stronger than the Tekur. After all, the Tekur were said to be a tough nut to crack.

    Michael cleared his mind to stop the thoughts from overwhelming him. He discussed the Soul Pact with the Forest Elves for a while before they changed the conditions of the Links of Loyalty once again. The altered Link of Loyalty was removed, and an ordinary Link of Loyalty was created instead. Thereafter, Michael felt much closer to the Forest Elves. Whereas altered Links of Loyalty were good for ensuring fairness between the two parties, an ordinary Link of Loyalty was much stronger. It provided far more Soul Power to the Lord ¨C the dominant force ¨C, and it felt different.

    The firmness of the ordinary Link of Loyalty was much more durable than the altered Link of Loyalty. That might be the usual for ordinary Links of Loyalty, but it also showed that the Forest Elves trusted Michael a lot.

    "Since the Sacred Knight Temple is under construction and we''ve finished recing the Links of Loyalty, how about I show you something before we write down everything for the Soul Pacts?" Michael asked, smiling slyly.

    The Forest Elves didn''t know what to expect, but they agreed nheless. Michael looked over to Opars, who recalled something. He retrieved a blueprint in addition to a handful of tendons originating from a Superior Tier-4 Monster.

    "I nearly forgot about those. Actually, I don''t really understand what you want to do with them. We can produce artificial 2-Star Tier-4 Artifacts with those¡­so my parents were reluctant to give them to me¡­" Opars mumbled, shaking his head to dispel his weird thoughts.

    He handed the tendons and the blueprint to Michael, who gestured at them to follow him.

    "I might not be able to produce a Tier-4 Artifact, but I am pretty sure that this will be at least as useful, if not better," Michael mumbled.

    It didn''t take long before they reached the basement of the wooden manor where the Relic of Draka was located. A bunch of recently forged Spirit Armaments were waiting to be collected. Michael put them aside, and reced the installed blueprint with the one he obtained from Opars just now before he put the tendons and arge batch of wooden nks inside the metal cart located right next to the Relic of Draka.

    The wooden nks were something Michael had extracted from the bookshelf that had once blocked the path leading to the cer where the Elemental Empress, Zeroa, had been confined. The bookshelf had been extremely hard to extract. It was extremely tough and extracting it to obtain a wide variety of wooden nks hadn''t been that easy either.

    Ignoring the effort Michael put into the extraction, all he could hope for was that the Relic of Draka could also work with organic materials. Until now, Michael used ores and metals to have the Relic of Draka forge stuff. But now he hoped that the Relic could produce a handful of bows for the Forest Elves. Spirit Bows would enhance the Forest Elves externally without being counted as an Artifact. That would give them an upper hand over others, especially if the Spirit Bow enhanced them as much as an Epic Tier-2 Artifact, or maybe even a natural Tier-3 Artifact.

    Michael waited patiently to see if the Relic of Draka was about to start moving, but nothing happened. He waited ten minutes only to realize that he might have been a little bit too excited, thinking that the Relic of Draka could create Spirit Bows as well.

    "It was worth a try, I guess. Sorry to disappoint y''all, but how about we write down all notes about the Soul Pacts now?" Michael could only say, leaving the Forest Elves a little stupefied. They were just about to turn around when Lilica pointed at the Relic of Draka.

    "It began to move!"

    "Yes!!"

    His n worked! Michael had no idea how the Magical Smithy would turn the wooden nks and tendons into a bow without crushing them into little pieces, but the Relic of Draka epted it as a raw material and began to work. That was some good news!

    "Now the Soul Pact!" Michael dered in excitement. He cleared his throat and led everyone outside. On the first floor of the wooden manor, they gathered around a table. Interestingly enough, Michael and the Forest Elves found Tiara who seemed to have been waiting eagerly for their arrival.

    Tiara smiled, and the others returned a vibrant smile. They greeted Tiara like she was their sister whom they hadn''t seen for years.

    Michael was not sure if they were a little bit over the top, but it was fine. In fact, it was more than just fine. It was nice to see his people grow attached to each other.

    "Let''s start with the real deal now!"

 Chapter 429 Weird Encounter

    Chapter 429 Weird Encounter

    It took a few hours before they finally agreed on and finalized all the uses required for their custom Soul Pact. After that, it was only a matter of minutes before the Soul Pact between the EmeraldLeaf Adventurers and Michael had beenpleted.

    Now that everything waspleted, Michael spent another day in the Origin Expanse to see if the Relic of Draka was actually capable of producing a Spirit Bow.

    Fortunately, it worked out much better than Michael could have hoped for. The Spirit Bow was radiant and seemed fluid. It was near weightless to hold. The bowstring emitted a soft hum as Michael drew it back and glimmered brightly, almost as if stardust had been collected to forge the Spirit Bow.

    The external enhancement provided by the Spirit Bow was not as powerful as that of the Legendary Ring Artifact, but it was simr to the enhancement his Spirit Armor Set gave him. That was what Michael had hoped for. It would enhance the Forest Elves'' power significantly, especially Mika''s.

    ''The strength required to draw the bowstring is quite high, but it should be fine with enough practice. The power it can exhibit should be more than enough to deal with strong enemies.''

    Now that the first Spirit Bow was finally ready to use, Michael decided that it was about time for him to leave the Origin Expanse once again. It had been a while but it was definitely time.

    After a quick stroll through his territory to ensure that everything was fine, Michael manifested the Runic Gate and stepped through it. Michael closed his eyes as space around him twisted. He only opened them after he emerged back in Piloq.

    Taking a deep breath of Piloq''s air was enough to understand that he had truly left the Origin Expanse. The origin energy permeating the air was scarce, almost non-existent, and it wasn''t as fresh as the air in the Untamed Jungle. Michael had just stepped out of the Origin Expanse, but he felt like returning already.

    But before Michael could reconsider returning again, he was bombarded with messages. Michael didn''t think that anything was wrong when he saw that Alice and Kaleb messaged him. However, his danger senses rang wildly when he noticed that Jacqueline had left him a message too ¨C more than once at that.

    Jacqueline Ondo never sent him messages. She didn''t like him because he always beat up Frederik. At least, that was what Michael picked up from her. That was why it was even weirder to see that Jacqueline sent him more messages than Alice and Kaleb together.

    He opened the messages on Sta Messenger and began to read through them slowly. Michael went through them one by one, reading each of them with full focus. In the meantime, he walked through Piloq, hoping that he would somehow end up near Alice''s office ¨C though he had no idea where it was actually located.

    But that was fine since Michael''s instincts led him straight to the Colosseum where he could ask others for more information. Michael finished reading through Jacqueline''s chaotic chat when he reached the Colosseum. His expression was sour and his eyes filled with anger.

    "What a fucking mess," Michael cursed under his breath without realizing that a small group of Awakened was standing next to him.

    "I totally agree," One of the Awakened said. He was a young human, who was either his age or one year older.

    Michael looked up just to see that the young Awakened and his group were looking at another group that stood near the entrance of the Colosseum and whispering among themselves. Their group consisted of more than 20 members, surrounding a young woman as if they feared that someone would kidnap her.

    "I didn''t mean tha¨C..." Michael said, but the young Awakened didn''t pay attention to Michael''s words. Instead, he stretched out his hand with a thin smile stered on his face. It seemed fake.

    "My name is Fernando Jochez. Nice meeting you ¡­?"

    "Michael. I''m Michael Fang," Michael responded automatically.

    "Nice meeting you, Michael. But I cannot recall having heard about your family before. Where is your family from?" Fernando asked with great curiosity. His hand reached out for Michael''s hand, but Michael pulled back before Fernando could grasp him.

    "I am not from any influential family," Michael answered, his difort increasing the longer he spoke to Fernando.

    Fernando''s hand pulled back and he clicked his tongue. From one moment to the next his kind and weing expression turned into disgust. Fernando looked at his hand, d that Michael had not shaken it.

    "At least, this nobody knows that he shouldn''t shake my hand," Fernando mumbled, turning away to ignore Michael.

    Michael nearly burst into aughter hearing such nonsenseing out of the young Awakened''s mouth. It had been quite a while since he encountered such an idiot.

    "Michael! Why didn''t you message us that you''ve returned?!"

    Michael heard a familiar voice from behind him and turned around with a smile. He forgot about Fernando and looked at Kaleb, who rushed toward him with a relieved smile. Interestingly enough, Alice Zenovia was also there. Her pace had been slower than Kaleb''s but seemed to elerate suddenly to arrive in front of Michael before Kaleb did.

    "Good thing I saw you on one of the observation cameras," Alice said, looking at the holographic screen next to him before adding, "You were too engrossed in some messages to see that we''ve been messaging you as well. Did Jacqueline write to you?"

    Michael was a little surprised that Alice urately guessed what he had been up to, but he gave her a nod. "Her chat is a mess, but I think I got the gist of her situation. I hope Frederik is doing fine now¡­"

    Because of Fernando Jochez, Michael had momentarily forgotten about the Barbaric Couple''s problems. Jacqueline''s problem could be considered less troublesome than Frederik''s issues, but it was still something that could decide her or their future.

    Would the Barbaric Couple split up in the future, or would they elope and run away from the Elders of the Ondo Family? If it was in Jacqueline''s hands, Michael was certain that they would run away. However, Frederik would never be able to forgive himself for not being able to provide for Jacqueline. Jacqueline was a spoiled brat, and Frederik loved to spoil her. But now Frederik was still in aa and had also lost his entire fortune. His father was also a cripple, and it was still uncertain whether Frederik would recuperate from his wounds, or if he would never be able to regain his former strength.

    The only advantage was that Frederik''s Pir of Light and War Rune weren''t injured. He could still refine his War Rune without issues. As for the rest¡­it was uncertain what would happen to Frederik, and how he would be able to handle everything.

    As Michael chatted with the Zenovia siblings, Fernando Jochez and his colleagues turned around. They didn''t care who called out for Michael because they believed that nobody of great importance would value someone as worthless as a nobody without a big family backing him up. However, the voices calling out for this nobody sounded extremely familiar. Too familiar to ignore.

    Thus, looking back to Michael, who was now apanied by an otherworldly beauty and a terrifyingly handsome young man, the group froze in their tracks.

    "I must be hallucinating¡­" One of them mumbled, only for the second to add, "The Zenovia siblings. Is that for real?!"

    Fernando stared nkly at the group of three for a few seconds. He tilted his head and wondered,

    ''Did he lie to me? He could have just said that he is affiliated with the Zenovias!!''

    Fernando reconsidered joining their conversation, but he decided against it after weighing the pros and cons. It looked like the Zenovia siblings liked the nobody quite a lot given that they stood so close to him while talking. The siblings were fully invested in their conversation with Michael and didn''t take note of anything around them.

    Therefore, Fernando had to back off. Joining their conversation would backfire after just treating Michael like trash because of his non-existent family background.

    Frustrated, Fernando entered the Colosseum, ignoring thements of his colleagues.

    Alice looked at Michael, precisely his bald head, and suppressed augh. Her cier-cold facade nearly burst seeing that Michael lost his hair¡­once again.

    Kaleb, on the other hand, didn''t suppress his chuckle. Heughed aloud and teased Michael about losing his hair once again.

    "Just keep your look like this. You can get an eyebrow tattoo. That way you don''t have to worry too much about losing your eyebrows the next time you let your enemies burn your hair!"

    For a moment, Michael considered actually tattooing some eyebrows, but he recalled that his skin burned way too often as well. His tattoo would probably burn alongside his hair.

    ''I should get hold of a healing Soultrait. If I cannot find one¡­at least give me a Soultrait that elerates hair growth¡­'' Michael cursed inwardly, while maintaining a poker face on the outside.

    The siblings had fun for a few minutes, until Kaleb noticed something, "Wait! Since when are you at the Mid-rank of the 2nd Tier?!"

    Michael pressed his lips together and stared at Kaleb as if he wanted to say ''Are you serious right now?.'' But he then recalled that he had yet to tell Kaleb and Alice about the Kitsun Lord and the territory warfare.

    "I just fought some enemies and advanced. Yay," Michael said lightly, fully understanding how curious Kaleb was.

    "A few enemies? Advancing just like that? Don''t fool me, Michael! Tell me in detail!" Kaleb demanded while Alice nodded eagerly as well.

    She was also curious about what Michael had to go through to refine his War Rune so quickly. After all, she knew that Michael required more energy than most others. He had too many Soultraits, after all.

    "Alright, Alright. So it started like this¡­"

 Chapter 430 Supportive Friend

    Chapter 430 Supportive Friend

    Michael grew stronger in a noticeably short time. Not even two weeks passed outside the Origin Expanse, yet Michael advanced one rank. Only people like Alice and Kaleb who were Descendants with high-ranked Soultraits, could fathom how much energy Michael must have obtained and refined in such a short time.

    Kaleb knew that his progress would slow down after a while. In fact, it had already slowed down a little. Refining his War Rune up to the 2nd Tier had been simple thanks to the power of Frozen Nova inbat, and the generosity of his family. The Zenovia family provided him with mountains of potions and pills to elerate his progress with the Inheritance technique, and thus also with the energy absorption technique integrated into the Inheritance technique. But now that he reached the 2nd Tier, Kaleb realized how difficult it was to continue progressing quickly.

    The resources provided by his family helped a lot, but he consumed more resources with every day that passed as his War Rune''s refinement progressed. That meant his family had to distribute more resources to him if they desired Kaleb to progress as fast as possible. In the future, he would consume resources worth billions of dors to progress a tiny bit. That was not worth it, and it was certainly not something the Zenovia family would pay for. They merely focused on the early progress and gave their younger generation a headstart to prepare them for the dangers of the Origin Expanse before challenging them by saying that they were on their own now.

    They would still support their Descendants if necessary, but they wouldn''t do so for free. The Elders would ask for favors, favors nobody would want to pay back if possible. Alice always told Kaleb that he shouldn''t ask the Elders for favors. Why? It was simple; The Elders would use the favors to their advantage and turn Kaleb into their marite. If Kaleb was lucky, they would marry him off to a beautiful woman, someone he might learn to love in the future. If unlucky¡­well, nobody wanted to think about the worst case.

    "So you fought this Kitsun Lord¡­A Lord at the Peak of the 3rd Tier, who had close to 50,000 Combat-trained Summons, and close to 1000 Awakened working for him all by yourself?" Kaleb asked, raising one eyebrow while staring at his friend.

    "He said almost alone. He has¡­Forest Elves working for him¡­That seems weird as well, just saying," Alice noted, also staring at Michael. She was pretty sure that she had heard something about the Kitsun race before, but all she could recall was that they were one of the races with Inferior Combat Prowess that prevailed against Elite Races over the course of thousands of years ¨C or so her rusty memories recalled.

    "There is not much to hide. I requested aid from the three Lords who had been fighting the Kitsun Lord for years. After creating openings for them, they finally mustered their courage and came over. Once their forces arrived it was quite easy. But, of course, before that, I struggled quite a bit. That is also why I could increase my War Rune''s rank so quickly."

    Now that Michael thought about his fight against the Kitsun Lord and how stupid he had been, he couldn''t help butugh aloud. It was quite funny.

    Alice and Kaleb continued to eye him, but they didn''tment anymore. It was quite obvious that Michael was a weirdo. But that was not breaking news.

    "I should research the strength of the Token Holders for now," Michael said suddenly. He turned to the Colosseum and stepped in its direction, just to switch to a different topic, "Will it be possible to hire a healer for Frederik? Someone who can ensure that Frederik will recuperate fully? Even if he struggles mentally, I want to make sure that he has no physical restrictions. That would only burden him more."

    Michael felt bad for Frederik. He lost everything, so suddenly at that.

    "Hire a healer? It will be expensive, and I doubt the Zenovia family would allow us to use the family''s connections to ask for a favor. If I use my personal funds it''s possible, but people will still notice it. They will wonder what the Zenovia family has to do with Frederik Kolbenheim. It might cause more trouble for Frederik, and that is something he doesn''t need right now."

    "Can you still ask someone? I will pay. The price doesn''t really matter too much," Michael insisted, ignoring the fact that his bank ount was already empty and that he had way more expenses to pay for in the next few months than he wanted to acknowledge.

    "I can do that. But it will be really expensive. Most don''t even ept dors as payment. They will probably ask you for Mythic Summoning Scrolls, rare resources, or other stuff."

    "I will pay in Mythic Summoning Scrolls then," Michael said with a shrug, ''That will be the cheapest option. I should test out extracting Summoning Scroll Fragments from purchased Ordinary Summoning Scrolls soon then.''

    "You¡­will have to prepare 20ish Mythic Scrolls¡­probably¡­" Alice said, but Michael just shrugged, "As long as it''s not 100, I''ll be fine, somehow. Don''t worry too much about the expenses. There are more than enough Superior Existences in my surroundings. A few hunting trips might be enough to procure some Mythic Scrolls."

    Michael felt a little bit guilty because he lied to Alice, but he couldn''t tell her ''Well, I can produce my own Mythic Scrolls by using Summoning Scroll Fragments. You are asking what Summoning Scroll Fragments are? That is simple. I can use my Soultrait to extract a lot more stuff from my prey than others. Summoning Scroll Fragments and increased loot are just the appetizer. You ask what the main dish is? Well, how about Memory Orbs, Soultrait Symbols from Awakened, and some SoulStar Fragments as a dessert?''

    Yeah, Michael could definitely not say that. He trusted Alice and Kaleb, but not their family. If anything, Michael felt more and more reluctant to tell any of his friends about the secret of his power as he learned more about the politics of the wealthy and influential. Michael might have met good people such as Alice, Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke, but that didn''t mean their families were the same.

    If he would tell his friends, they would have to sign a Soul Pact¡­probably. Maybe that didn''t apply to Frederik anymore, but Michael was not too sure about that. Frederik could be desperate. He might be doing anything ¨C literally ¨C if that meant he could keep Jacqueline by his side.

    One way or another, Frederik''s situation was messed up and Michael wanted to help. He couldn''t do much except hire a proper healer for Frederik, but that should be enough ¨C to start with.

    "If you say so, I will hire someone. I know someone from the Holy Sun guild. Well, she is the Guild leader. But whatever. I can ask her to send out a request to the healers of her Guild. It might take a few days but with a mission reward of 20 Mythic Scrolls, some healers should be interested in traveling to the Saphirke Military Academy to tend to Frederik. They should have Soultraits more suitable to Frederik''s wounds than the healers hired by the Saphirke Military Academy. I guess." Alice said, giving in to Michael''s request.

    Actually, Alice wasn''t quite sure why the Saphirke Military Academy wasn''t using its resources to heal Frederik. Well¡­that was not the entire truth. Alice knew why they didn''t do it, but she was a little bit disappointed in the reasoning they applied. Frederik''s family copsed before they could rise properly. Therefore, Frederik was nothing more than an ordinary Awakened right now. He lost his territory and given his wounds it was unlikely that his enemy would allow him to step into the Origin Expanse ever again.

    As long as Frederik didn''t submit to someone else by bing another Lord''s subordinate, Frederik''s chances of ever being able to return to the Origin Expanse were slim. As for the number of Lords who would hire Frederik, a youngling with a 3-Star Soultrait¡­there were many, but the number dwindled a lot if Frederik wanted a secure ce to grow stronger, a Lord who paid well, and a Lord who would treat him well.

    Frederik was likely to be consumed by anger and frustration, and no Lord needed an Awakened with anger management issues in their territory. They were more dangerous than useful. Frederik was well known for his anger management issues even before he lost his territory. Only some desperate Lords in dire need of strength would hire him, but Frederik wouldn''t want to submit to them.

    It was an endless cycle of despair and frustration, and likely the biggest reason why the Saphirke Military Academy was unwilling to spend a fortune to tend to Frederik''s wounds. If he could get back on his feet on his own that was fine, but they wouldn''t invest additional resources. Frederik had already received quite a lot from the basic set of resources provided by the Saphirke Military Academy, after all!

    "Thanks a bunch. You are the best!" Michael said, giving Alice a thumbs up. Alice looked at Michael for a while before turning her head away.

    She coughed once before walking past him to enter the Colosseum.

    Kaleb chuckled before following suit, leaving Michael alone.

    He was not sure what happened but gave it a shrug. With hurried steps, he followed his friends inside the Colosseum.

    Michael rushed past the group of 20ish people that surrounded the young woman and stepped into the Colosseum.

    Meanwhile, the group finally began to move.

    They stepped into the Colosseum as well.

 Chapter 431 Maria Seraph

    After stepping inside the Colosseum, Michael''s attention was pulled to the young woman surrounded by close to two dozen Awakened.

    The Awakened were participants of the Battle Exchange and so was the young woman wearing white linen clothing. She had silky golden hair that cascaded down her back and ocean-blue eyes. Her presencemanded attention and praises ¨C and that was something she was getting more than enough.

    Michael could only see the two dozen Awakened fawning over her as if she was a precious treasure. But then again, Michael had to agree that the young woman was beautiful. Her beauty was on par with Alice''s.

    "Who is that?" He asked the Zenovia siblings out of curiosity, wondering what was up with this young woman.

    "Who? Do you mean Maria Seraph?" Kaleb asked, pointing at the woman Michael had been talking about. Michael gave it a short nod, which rewarded him with confused gazes from both Kaleb and Alice.

    "You really don''t know her?" Alice asked, not quite believing what she heard just now.

    "I know that you don''t really care about politics and such, but you are very interested in Soultraits usually. You are one of the people who researched Soultraits the most, but you don''t know the Seraph family, and their precious diamond, Maria Seraph?"

    Michael could only smile as a response. Should he know the Seraph family? Well. He was pretty sure that he had heard about the Seraph family, but that was it. Michael didn''t care about the nobility,rge families and ns enough to start researching them and their family tree for hours together. He didn''t have that much time to waste on such nonsense.

    "As if¡­" Kaleb mumbled, shaking his head. Thankfully, Alice regained herposure faster than Kaleb. She realized that Michael was truly ignorant of the Seraph family, and Maria Seraph.

    "To put it in very simple terms, the Seraph family is known for their healing Soultraits. They''re among the best of the human race, and the Tritan Alliance. Maria Seraph is on a different level though. She is a Heavenly Chosen just like Kaleb," Alice exined.

    "So¡­she has a 7-Star Soultrait like Kaleb?" Michael asked, only for Alice to lift her fingers and correct him.

    "Maria has a 7-Star Soultrait but the Soultrait is far from ordinary. She has a healing-type Soultrait. The only 7-Star healing Soultrait all over the Tritan Alliance. If that''s not enough for you to understand the importance of her Soultrait, I know of only two Lords with 6-Star Healing Soultraits. There are only two of them as far as I know, and both belong to the Seraph family!"

    Kaleb listened intently and added, "Maria once said that she doesn''t know the true extent of her own power. She mentioned that she might be able to bring someone back from the dead provided they didn''t die more than 3 seconds ago. If her powers grow stronger ¨C which they will ¨C Maria might be able to go beyond that time constraint and resurrect someone several minutes after they died. That will change everything. Her potential and value is immeasurable. Thus, everyone is trying to get almost her."

    Michael was quite surprised to see Kaleb praising someone else that much. He always thought that Kaleb had a hard time praising others because that might mean he epted that others were better than him. Thus, it was even more surprising that Kaleb praised Maria Seraph to the stars and beyond.

    Then again, Maria Seraph''s Soultrait seemed far more special than any other 7-Star Soultrait of mankind''s Heavenly Chosen.

    ''Healing Soultraits are that rare? Not that it affects me. In the future I will get my hands on a healing Soultrait, no matter the star rating.'' Michael thought, not giving in to all the hype around the healer girl.

    "Are you interested in her as well?" Alice asked, a faint frown appearing on her face. Michael smiled teasingly and responded, "If her Soultrait can regrow hair, maybe. If not, probably not."

    Maria Seraph was beautiful, young, and extremely talented given that she was in possession of a 7-Star Soultrait with healing properties, but all Michael could think about when he heard about the uniqueness and rarity of her Soultrait was that he had yet to get hold of his own healing-type Soultrait.

    "Hair? Well¡­I don''t know if she can do that," Alice mumbled, suppressing augh as she looked at Michael''s bald head once again.

    "You don''t know? So there is a possibility¡­Well, okay then. I can just ask her," Michael said right before walking over to Maria Seraph and the small group of people surrounding her.

    Michael suppressed his presence and gave them a friendly smile as he approached them. He wasn''t noticed until he moved two Awakened to the side. They were standing in his way, so they were removed on the spot.

    The Awakened grumbled and were just about to start a fight with Michael when they noticed that Michael was already standing directly in front of Maria Seraph.

    "I''m sorry for butting into your fan meeting, but I have a small question to ask you," Michael said, clearing his throat right before he got straight to the point, "Can your Soultrait elerate hair growth as well, or is that impossible?"

    Maria Seraph hadn''t noticed Michael at first. But she sensed something from her right side that attracted her curiosity. First, Maria turned her head to look at Michael, only for her eyes to lock onto the crimson ring Michael wore.

    Only after a second or two did her gaze move up to lock eyes with Michael. Maria tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Michael''s question didn''t sound like the usual requests she received. His words weren''t filled with the usual heaps of acim and ttery either.

    "Is it possible to some extent at least, or not?" Michael repeated, but Maria Seraph didn''t answer immediately.

    "Who the hell are you to crash our lovely discussion?" Some hoodlum interfered in Michael''s chat with Maria. It was a Descendant at the 3rd Tier, a second-year student from one of the Great Academies.

    "You filthy brick. How dare you speak to our Saintess?!" Another Descendant joined the hoodlum''s side.

    However, Michael couldn''t even hear him. He locked eyes with the vibrant ocean-blue eyes of Maria Seraph, the young woman whom many called Saintess, and smiled, waiting for her to answer.

    Maria spent several seconds trying to escape the enchantment of Michael''s dark ¨C nearly ck ¨C eyes that seemed to trap her. However, once she regained her senses, Maria answered Michael''s question atst.

    "Even if it''s possible, I wouldn''t want to waste my power to regenerate hair," She said, gently touching one of her ears.

    Her ears were oddly warm and they had a faint pinkish tint.

    Michael could only concede with her reasoning. If Maria Seraph would use her power to regrow his hair many powerhouses would feel betrayed. First of all, the powerhouses would think she used her powers on trivial things. Meanwhile, others would demand her to use her powers to heal their small injuries as well. Therefore, it was only logical that Maria used her healing trait only for wounds nobody else could tend to.

    But it was a shame for Michael. It would be great if he could use Maria as his personal hair growth expert.

    "Alright then. Thanks for answering my question. Have a nice day," Michael said, not bothering to stay in Maria''s circle of fans anymore. He ignored the two Descendants who were still staring at him and walked away.

    Maria''s eyes followed him, and she noticed that two people were already waiting for him a few meters ahead.

    ''Isn''t that Alice Zenovia, and her brother? Weird.''

    "Oi. Where do you think you are going?!" One of the Descendants who had been angered by Michael''s interruption. He stepped forward, only for a young girl standing next to him to stop him from doing something stupid.

    "Don''t bother about him. He must like his hair, otherwise, he wouldn''t have asked such a stupid question. He is not worth it." She said, right before seeing that Kaleb Zenovia patted Michael''s shoulder and beganughing aloud.

    The others noticed that as well, but only the Descendant, who had been ready to fight Michael, retaliated to the scenario in front of him.

    "He belongs to the Zenovias?" He asked, looking at the girl next to him, who responded, "I don''t know. Either way, it''s a good thing that you didn''t hurt him. Alice is way too overprotective of her people. Some even say that she is obsessed with their well-being and that she is willing to kill even Descendants if they do something to her people."

    Kaleb continued tough at Michael and he said something that the group surrounding Maria didn''t hear. Michael gave Kaleb a shrug and didn''t bother about Maria Seraph anymore.

    Meanwhile, Alice looked over to the group, staring straight at Maria Seraph.

    ''Hmm? What was that?''

    Maria didn''t shy away. She stared shoulders at Alice Zenovia, who locked eyes with the young healer for a few seconds before she turned around. Alice followed Michael and Kaleb, who walked away a little bit further before they sat down to talk and watch some official battles in the Colosseum.

    Maria was confused, unsure if her eye contact with Alice had a deeper meaning. Her eye contact with Michael had been a little bit different. It had been more intense but less stressful and tense. Her eye contact with Alice on the other hand was extremely stressful.

    ''I must be imagining things,'' Maria thought, the pinkish tint of her ears intensifying as she recalled her eye contact with the unknown Awakened, who strolled around Kaleb and Alice.

    ''What was his name again?''

 Chapter 432 Bulk

    After watching some battles, Michael was actually a little bit disappointed in hispetition.

    He fought against the Kitsun Lord and Haro Ki''s subordinates for several days and spent weeks in the Origin Expanse to increase his strength rapidly so he had expected some worthy opponents here as well. Sadly, thebat prowess of the other participants of the Battle Exchange didn''t increase by much. If anything, Michael felt that some of the Token Holders were a lot weaker than before.

    But was that really the case, or did his strength increase to a higher extent than he predicted? Or maybe Michael was just better at pointing out the other participants'' weaknesses after everything that happened in thest few weeks.

    With Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze activated simultaneously, it allowed him to see far more and far better than ever. That allowed him to pinpoint his opponents'' weaknesses and ws without too many difficulties. Michael could, in fact, imagine several scenarios in which he fought the Token Holders in official battles, and he couldn''t help but furrow his brows at the result of the imagined battles.

    If it had been a few weeks ago, Michael would have lost against some of the Token Holders. To be precise, most of the second-year-students would have defeated him with a high probability. Theirbat prowess was ranked either Elite or Superior and most of them were at the 3rd Tier.

    But now that he obtained Spirit Gaze, which linked to Eagle Eyes, and that cicle was upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait the situation changed. And that didn''t even include the changes he underwent by refining his War Rune to the Mid rank of the 2nd Tier, in addition to the new experiences and fighting styles he got to know. Last but not least, there was also the heavy and intense training he obtained from the Immortal Knight.

    While the official battles were a little bit disappointing, Michael was quite satisfied about his own strength. The fight against the Kitsun Lord had been quite fierce, and he was still irked about the loss of 1,500 Combat Summons, but the increase in strength he obtained from it was clearly notable.

    Therefore, Michael decided to research the other Token Holders and find out more about the Descendants who had yet to bother challenging Token Holders. He could just challenge some other Token Holders, but Michael didn''t want to obtain a g War Token with a low rating. If anything, Michael desired to obtain a Token with a good rank. He required far more resources than others to increase his strength rapidly. Therefore, he had to give his all to rank higher to obtain more resources.

    Researching everything took quite a while, but Michael was not in a hurry. He had close to two weeks left before the Battle Exchange would end. If he entered the Origin Expanse until the end of the Battle Exchange Michael would have close to a month''s time to grow even stronger andplete his research. Then again, Michael was not patient enough to wait until the end of the Battle Exchange before he would start challenging other Token Holders.

    Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Michael was once again in the Colosseum observing a few official matches of the Token Holders he researched. Their fights were somewhat interesting, but the messages he received on that day were a little bit more important.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): A healer of the Holy Sun Guild epted your request. The healer was already stationed in a military base located near the Saphirke Military Academy. That was very fortunate for Frederik because the healer traveled to the Saphirke Military Academy immediately and started to tend to his wounds. Apparently, he had been afflicted with a Minor Curse that would have killed him if not tended to in the next few days. It was a good thing that the healer''s Soultrait can cure Minor Curses. The Curse was alleviated and Frederik woke up. There is only one downside¡­]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): The healer demands additional pay for curing the Minor Curse. Apparently, she can only cure Minor Curses once a month. Furthermore, Frederik''s condition seems to be worse than stated in the medical report. She uttered that she would have to stay with Frederik for a month to make sure that his condition would improve and he would be back to its former peak. To put it simply; she wants 50 Mythic Summoning Scrolls or something of equal value¡­]

    Michael didn''t expect Frederik''s condition to be that bad. All he had known was that Frederik was in aa and that he sustained various injuries.

    [Michael Fang: The payment is not a problem. Can you please tell the healer to focus on Frederik''s condition and that she doesn''t have to worry about the Mythic Summoning Scrolls?]

    The price he had to pay was fairly expensive, even for someone like Michael. Procuring 500,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments to create 50 Mythic Scrolls wasn''t that easy.

    It was a relief that he had one particr advantage. He opened his chat with Kraft Viton since he was not sure where exactly the old man from the Bartholomew Corporation was and wrote him a message.

    [Michael Fang: Hello Mr. Viton. I noticed a particr use written in the special privileges provided to Diamond Members of the Bartholomew Corporation. Is it true that I can use the backlog of Summoning Scrolls from thest few months to boost my monthly purchase limit for one month?]

    The purchase limit of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls was rather annoying for anyone interested in purchasing them in bulk. But given that the society was reigned by capitalists there would always be people with special rights and privileges. If not for the special privileges, it would be unlikely for Descendants of truly influential families to be so much stronger than anyone else.

    Atst, Michael could make use of such a special privilege as well. He never used the purchase limit for Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. Therefore, he could use his privilege to purchase the unused Scroll purchases and add the backlog to the current month. Therefore, he could exceed his purchase limit by the number of Summoning Scrolls he ''could have'' purchased over thest few months.

    This worked only for people with special privileges such as being a Diamond Member of the Bartholomew Corporation.

    Michael didn''t have to wait long before Kraft Viton sent him a reply.

    [Kraft Viton: Do you want to boost your Soul Power for the Battle Exchange? If you don''t have the capacity to keep the Summons alive and treat them well in your territory I advise you not to purchase too many Summoning Scrolls at once. Of course, you can do whatever you want, but I hope that you will listen to my advice.

    If you still want to purchase the backlog of Summoning Scrolls that you haven''t used in thest handful months, you can purchase a total of 684,650 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls for 3,500$ a piece. That is the current market price. The Diamond-level discount happens to apply to Ordinary Summoning Scrolls as well. You don''t have to pay an extra fee for bulk purchases as it would usually be the case when someone purchases a bulk of Summoning Scrolls either. Therefore each Summoning Scroll will cost you 2,800$, or a total of 1,917,020,000$.]

    The price stupefied Michael a little bit, but it was not as if he couldn''t have expected something like that.

    ''Almost two billion for 680,000ish Ordinary Summoning Scrolls!! No wonder that some Descendants are that powerful. Ordinary people won''t ever be able to purchase that many Scrolls. They would never have that money to spare. Well¡­I can''t either, but it''s not like I have a choice.''

    Michael would rather not buy the Scrolls from the Bartholomew Corporation and wait a handful weeks until his subordinates hunted enough monsters to extract Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments. Unfortunately, Alice sent him a message just now ¨C a message that forced Michael to spend far more money than he could afford.

    ["Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Apparently the healer won''t continue until a deposit of 20 Mythic Scrolls has been paid. I told her that I can vouch for you¡­but she doesn''t seem to care. That is rare, but it happens since not everyone trusts big families. It''s not the first time that Descendants of Superior families have taken advantage of their family''s influence and authority to get freebies from Guilds and their members. So¡­you would have to send 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls to the Saphirke Military Academy in the next handful days, otherwise, Frederik''s treatment won''t continue¡­"]

    Alice was trying to keep her cool but she was frustrated. She couldn''t even help Michael. All the power and influence she possessed was rendered useless. She wasn''t even capable of helping her only student to pay for his friend''s medical treatment. Why? Because her family would notice and question her. They would notice her unusual behavior, take note of Michael, and pay more attention to him ¨C attention she didn''t want Michael to obtain just yet.

    Michael was not yet ready to be thrown that deep into the politics of big families. If possible, Alice wanted him to stay out of it forever. Unfortunately, she knew that the Patriarchs of the Piedra and Lavita family had already taken note of Michael. Once the g War was over, Michael was likely to end up being pushed into the hell of high society. That was a shame, but it gave Alice enough time to prepare Michael at least a little bit. She couldn''t afford to waste that time¡­even if that meant Michael would have to struggle a little bit to pay for Frederik''s treatment.

    [Michael Fang: No worries. I will be fine.]

    Michael expected something simr. It was a shame, but it was also a good thing that his ties with Kraft Viton and the Bartholomew Corporation were fairly strong. Thus, he sent Kraft Viton a reply without wasting any time.

    [Michael Fang: I will purchase everything, but can we deduct the bill from the profit I made with my percentages of the Agriculture Project? There should be some profits by now, so¡­if it''s possible can we just deduct the 1,917,020,000$ from the profits?]

    He felt a little bit sorry for asking a big favor, but he felt that it was necessary. In the worst case, he could just harvest more Agriculture-type Blueprints and sell them on the spot. In fact, that was something Michael wanted to do in the first ce. But the funds earned from selling the Agriculture-type Blueprints were something he wanted to invest into his territory ¨C and not into Frederik.

    That was why Michael hoped that Kraft Viton would allow him to use his portion of the profits from the Agriculture Project to purchase the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    [Kraft Viton: How did you know? I wanted to surprise you by saying that you don''t have to pay anything since the Agriculture Project''s first profits are about to get distributed. You really are a sly fox!]

    Michael didn''t expect such a reply. It was poles apart from Kraft Viton''s serious character. But it was not a bad thing. On the contrary, Michael was happy about the message''s content.

    [Michael Fang: Does that mean my portion of the profit is close to two billion dors, or even higher?]

    "Damn!"

 Chapter 433 Great Fortune

    Michael didn''t expect the first profits toe in so early. But now that he thought about it, Michael felt that it made sense.

    It had been a while since he started to sell the Agriculture-type Blueprints to the Bartholomew Corporation. And even before he started doing that, they''d already started with the Agriculture Project. They progressed faster now that Michael provided enough blueprints, but it made sense that the first Human Lords in the Barren Lands started to develop and cultivate theirnd, building farms and all necessary devices to turn the barrennds into flourishing green ins with highly nutritious soil to grow special wheat and other nts.

    Months passed by in the Origin Expanse since Michael first sold his blueprints. Therefore, the first harvest must have beenpleted, generating a lot more wealth than Michael could have fathomed.

    If his first profit was already worth more than his purchase of 1.9ish billion dors, how much would he earn once the entire barrennds had been conquered by the Bartholomew Corporation? Michael couldn''t fathom the wealth he would earn in the next few months, and he realized for the first time that he lucked out with his contract.

    But as realization struck Michael, confusion followed alongside his excitement.

    ''Why was the executive director willing to give me 18% of the profits? Wasn''t she well aware that they were going to make so much money? Or were they scared that I would leave them? Maybe she thought that I would switch to the Olympus and that the Olympus would be able to develop much faster than them with my help? They were scared to lose the monopoly of the Barren Lands. In fact, they must still be uncertain if they can maintain their monopoly!''

    [Michael Fang: Let''s meet up somewhere. I have arge stash of blueprints to sell as well. There should be enough rare Agriculture-type blueprints to keep the Directors calm and happy for a while, if that''s necessary, in the first ce.]

    Michael was bad at politics and the stuff rted to it. However, he knew that humans were innately greedy beings. The best example would be himself. Michael was extremely greedy. He tried to suppress his greed most of the time, but he noticed often enough that his greed was growing. It began to grow since he became a Lord¡­since he tasted the addiction of power, the necessity of wealth, and the importance of influence. Everythingbined together stimted his greed even more. It would consume him if not for the people around him. Having Tiara, Lilica, Mika, and the other Forest Elves, Kaleb, Lincoln, and even Zeke around him calmed him a little bit.

    Having them around him was enough to see that not everyone was greedy and that he shouldn''t act like a selfish brat. He had important people around him, people he wanted to protect. Last but not least, Michael didn''t want to make his brother sad. Danny always told him that being greedy is not abnormal, but that being excessively greedy would bring unhappiness and dissatisfaction to him. On the other hand, showing generosity and kindness would bring happiness. Making other people happy and being the cause of their satisfaction and joy was true happiness. Michael slowly realized that this was the truth. Watching his subordinates being happy was nice. Freeing the Bilrox Queen and her herd had made him feel nice as they pped their small wings and strolled around, chirping excitedly.

    Therefore, Michael swore to himself that he should never be too greedy. It was nice to grow strong by fusing more Soultraits to his War Rune and by using SoulStar Fragments on himself. However, he also knew that he would never be able to protect his territory on his own. He couldn''t be everywhere, after all. As long as his territory expanded, Michael would need more trustworthy, and powerful people by his side. Therefore, Michael wanted to use the Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments in his possession to make that happen.

    It would be expensive, and Michael was certain that he would hesitate often to investrge portions of his wealth into others, but if the results of his investment created wealth and happiness, what kind of monster would he be if he didn''t invest in his people''s dreams and hard work?

    [Kraft Viton: I am currently in the library. We can meet there if you want. If you want to exchange the Summoning Scrolls directly, I will have to return to the Origin Expanse for a while to collect the Summoning Scrolls. We could meet in your room ¨C if you don''t want anyone to find out about your mass purchase, which is what I think you would agree with. I will transfer the remaining 634,456,540$ to the bank ount linked to your Diamond membership card if you have nothing else to purchase.]

    Michael was stunned once again. He realized that he never even asked how much profit the Agriculture Project made. Michael found out just now. For a moment, the young Lord felt a little bit stupid ¨C though not for the first time in his life. It was definitely not thest time either.

    ''2.5 billion dors¡­damn¡­and I have yet to sell the remaining blueprints in my possession. That is crazy.''

    He spent a minute or two staring nkly at his chat with Kraft Viton before he began to write a message again.

    [Michael Fang: I will return to the Origin Expanse to retrieve the designs as well. Let''s meet in my room. As for the money¡­just add it to my bank ount for the time being. I have many things to purchase. The remaining revenue in addition to the money made from selling the Agriculture-type Blueprints won''t be enough to cover everything, so I have to scroll through the shopping catalog for a while before I can start my shopping spree.]

    With that being said, Michael manifested the Runic Gate in the middle of the Colosseum. He disappeared and emerged in the Origin Expanse where he rushed to the warehouses to collect all blueprint duplicates, he didn''t need anymore. It didn''t matter whether they were Agriculture-type designs or blueprints of other things. Michael didn''t need any of them anymore. They were all duplicates, either way. Selling them was their only use for him.

    After his War Rune''s storage was filled with blueprints, Michael reappeared in the Colosseum once again. He was eyed weirdly from the sides, but Michael ignored them. He walked out of the Colosseum, barely nodding toward Maria Seraph, who nced in the direction of his Runic Gate as well.

    A small crowd of annoying pests surrounded her once again.

    "That must be tiring," Michael mumbled quietly enough for nobody to hear.

    However, Maria had seen his lips move ever so slightly. "That must be¡­tiring." ''Is that what he said? What a weirdo.''

    Michael ignored her after his nod and left the Colosseum in a rush, a bright smile stered on his face.

    "Does he think he is on a vacation? I researched this idiot a little bit, and it looks like he never challenged anyone. All he did was participate in the group battles. He teamed up with Kaleb Zenovia, two Berserkers, and a Warlock Centaur, and they entered the top 100. Other than Michael Fang, everyone from the group was able to be a Token Holder. The Berserkers are quite annoying because they keep challenging other Token Holders every day. But Michael Fang just disappeared. Now that he is back he seems to focus on fooling around and watching official matches of Token Holders like a child watches his favorite TV show," One of the Descendants uttered with a fair amount of disgust. He hatedzy people who didn''t understand the importance of special events such as the Battle Exchange.

    Were they fine being useless and lowly peasants? Did they not have any grand dreams? Was it fine to ept their fate and to allow others to trample upon them just because they were born into a better family and with better Soultraits?

    The Descendant shook his head. He was also lucky to be born in a good family and with great Soultraits, but he respected those who were willing to give their utmost to fight against fate and carve new paths for themselves. Unfortunately, Michael Fang didn''t seem to be someone like that. At least it didn''t look like he was willing to fight his fate.

    Maria Seraph didn''t know about the Descendant to judge him. Nheless, she listened carefully.

    ''Michael Fang¡­ is that his name? Something about him feels off. Is he reallyzy?''

    While the Descendant continued to rant about him, Michael Fang was oblivious to it and had already returned to his room. It didn''t take long before Kraft Viton knocked on the door. Michael let him inside before removing more than 20,000 designs from his War Rune''s storage space.

    "Not all of them are Agriculture-type Blueprints, but half or more of them are. As I mentioned before, it should be enough to make the Directors not regret giving me such a big share of the Agriculture Project''s profit," Michael half-joked as he saw Kraft Viton''s expression.

    "The Directors will definitely think twice before theyin to Helen Ascaln. Looks like she struck a great deal by giving you such arge profit share. Losing you to the Mount Olympus or some other big family would have been a great loss for the Bartholomew Corporation," Kraft Viton revealed in all honesty.

    "At the end of the day, it''s all a give-and-take rtionship. It''s not like I''m not hoping to get anything from the exchange," Michael responded with a shrug. He knew that Kraft Viton praised him but he was not sure what to do with it. All he needed was money, and the Bartholomew Firm and the Agriculture Project had been a golden opportunity served on a silver tter.

    Another great point for Michael was the influence and connections he obtained from the Bartholomew Corporation. Helen Ascaln and Kraft Viton were both very helpful connections. Kraft Viton was especially resourceful and ready to procure everything he needed at the drop of a hat.

    Michael knew that Kraft Viton must have someone with higher authority than the head executive Helen Ascaln, but he never found out who exactly Kraft Viton was. Alice Zenovia never told him about Kraft Viton either ¨C even though she definitely knew who he was.

    That was as interesting as it was annoying.

    "Sometimes I really wonder who you are. That might sound rude, but it doesn''t feel like you belong to a small family without a major background. There have only been few cases of people like you appearing out of nowhere, and most of them either got married into big families at the end of the day, or they¡­well they disappeared or died."

    Michael felt something sting him when he heard thest sentence. He recalled something and tilted his head.

    "Since we''re already talking about this topic. Can you give me ess to the files of the War Empress?

    "The War Empress? Why would you ne¨C...Hesta Fang¡­Fang¡­Michael Fang¡­Is she your sister?!"

    The first time since Michael got to know him, Kraft Viton was speechless. He stared nkly at Michael, unsure what to say.

    "I guess she is" ¨C ''or was''

 Chapter 434 Achievements

    Chapter 434 Achievements

    Michael didn''t really like talking about his family. It was one of the topics that caused him to feel a pang in his heart.

    Just thinking about his family was enough to sour his mood. This had gotten even worse after Danny''s death.

    Nheless, Michael wanted to procure more information. Since the Bartholomew Network had some information about his sister, he might as well ask about it and try to find out something about his sister, and maybe even clues that connected the dots to her disappearance.

    But Kraft Viton was surprised, even shocked upon finding out about Michael''s lineage. The old man took a while to regain his senses, and he stared at Michael for a long time.

    "To be honest¡­if she is your sister, everything makes a little bit more sense. I should have thought of that¡­" He murmured.

    "But I have to disappoint you. I can send a special request to unlock the files for you to read, but if I remember correctly the files are not that interesting. If anything, the files show the tremendous power your sister possessed from a young age. Her family was unknown, yet someone as powerful as the War Empress emerged out of nowhere. That was something the Supreme Families, Great ns, and High Nobles feared because their Descendants were defeated easily by someone without much wealth, great techniques, or influence. All the War Empress possessed was exceptional power ¨C and that she knew how to use well.

    The Supreme Families, Great ns, and High Nobles were defeated over and over again. Their Descendants didn''t learn from the mistakes of their peers and they began to challenge the War Empress to show everyone that they were better than her, and everyone she defeated with ease. Unfortunately, they failed, and created the first cracks in the so-called ''omnipotent foundation'' of the higher society. A nobody ¨C a peasant as some High Nobles might call moner'' ¨C defeated those who ought to be the strongest, who ought to be humanity''s pir of support; their future rulers. Therefore, High Society wiped away every single mention of the War Empress from the records when she disappeared; everything except the three files in our possession.

    "You know, the founder of the Bartholomew Corporation was just like the War Empress. However, instead of being powerful in terms ofbat prowess, his powery elsewhere. He had the wits and the mind of a businessman. Even his Soultrait was rted to business. Thus, he faced simr challenges as the War Empress. He was impressed with how she dealt with her enemies and even envied her. That is why her files are still there, mostly for the founder to read through if he ever felt that some other organization, or a member of High Society would try to take advantage of him or his people," Kraft Viton exined with ease as if everything happened merely a few days , or maybe a week ago.

    It had been a while since he heard about his sister, so Michael listened intently. He made some mental notes about things he should pay attention to in the future, including the fact that he shouldn''t beat up too many Descendants as long as he didn''t want toe under the radar of the ''High Society''.

    Michael recalled Alice having mentioned the High Society a while ago. Apparently it was themunity of all higher authorities of the Supreme Families, Great ns, High Nobles, and highly influential organizations. As long as the Descendants reached a certain amount of power, influence, or wealth they would be put to test and invited to the High Society if they passed the test.

    Michael had never been too interested in politics, which was also why he didn''t really care about the High Society. All he wanted from them was to leave him alone and never procure about his secret. Once found out, he would turn into a nameless testing subject, after all.

    "Some members of the High Society were convinced that the War Empress'' ancestor must have been a hidden powerhouse, who used up all of his achievements to bless his Descendants with great luck during the Soultrait Awakening ceremony. That was what many thought, in fact," Kraft Viton continued to speak, only to notice that Michael''s expression changed a little, "You know how achievements work, right?"

    Michael was engrossed in the old man''s story and didn''t expect him to ask him a question out of nowhere. He gathered his thoughts and tilted his head, "I do know some stuff, but I don''t know everything about achievements since I''m only a freshman. I think the lecture about the basics of achievements is something only students in their 4th year are taught. In the first ce, High Society seems to hide the most crucial pieces of information about achievements so that ordinary people cannot reach their level ¨C ever."

    "Ah right, you are just a freshman. I forgot about that. You don''t really act like one, so I treated you¡­Well. Let''s forget about that. It''s not that important," Kraft Viton waved his hand in dismissal, "Since you don''t know everything about achievements let me tell you a little bit about them. Achievements are pretty interesting, after all."

    Michael nodded eagerly as he continued,

    "To put it in simple terms everything is an achievement. Subjugating a Monster of a higher Tier or rank, killing X Monsters in Y amount of time. Defeating an Awakened stronger than you. Quite literally, everything can be considered an achievement by the Will. However, more important than acquiring all kinds of achievements is the difference in their value. Subjugation Achievements are usually ranked the lowest since the Will doesn''t provide many achievement points for unlocking them. Of course, there are some exemptions such as hunting Mythical Creatures at the same rank and Tier, and achievements with simr difficulty. It''s simr to Title Achievements and Ranking Achievements. Ranking includes how far your War Rune has been refined, and to what extent your territory has been developed. As long as your territory meets the requirements you will receive the Baron Title and Achievement from the Will of the Origin Expanse. Once your territory has developed further, the Will will consider you a Viscount, Earl, Duke, and so on.

    "You might think that your title doesn''t matter if it''s ''merely'' the Will granting the title to you. But that is not true. Titles unlock special sections in the achievement shop, a function your War Rune unlocks upon advancing to Tier-4. Once the achievement shop is unlocked, your understanding of what I''ve just said will improve drastically. You will notice that you can buy nearly everything you want using Achievement Points ¨C as long as you unlock the items you desire with the specific titles. You can even purchase Curses and Blessings. Therefore, many assumed that Hesta received a Blessing because she was the first of her family, who possessed enough power to exceed the power level rank of a Mythical Being. Her lineage must have been hoarding countless achievements over the course of centuries, or something along the lines was what everyone presumed."

    Kraft Viton''s exnation ended atst. It had been a bit straining to listen to everything intently, but Michael was d that he did.

    ''How many achievement points do I have?'' He wondered as a thought shed through his mind.

    "Can you resurrect the dead? A literal resurrection, not just as a Summon, I mean¡­" Michael asked, not quite sure if that was something his parents wanted to do after Danny died.

    His parents messaged him that they could bring back Danny¡­so using achievement points to achieve that might have been something they had wanted to do. Or was that a foolish thought? Their parents abandoned them. Would they be willing to use their achievement points to resurrect someone they left to die once?

    "Resurrection¡­is a little bit difficult. I think I heard someone trying to resurrect their lover, but they could only Summon them at the end of the day. The resurrected woman was unable to leave the Origin Expanse, but she was brought back to life. But maybe a true resurrection would work with enough achievement points? But then again, if the person you want to resurrect was already summoned it wouldn''t work anymore. Someone else tried that already ¨C attempting to resurrect one of their ancestors to procure about the ancestor''s secret technique, ¨C only to find out that their ancestor had already been summoned somewhere else a long time ago. Their ancestor died as a Summon as well, making a second resurrection virtually impossible," Kraft Viton said, revealing some files an outsider wasn''t supposed to know.

    Michael sighed deeply. He was a little bit disappointed that he couldn''t resurrect Danny, but he actually expected that. It was not as if he was delusional enough to think that the entire Universe revolved around him and that everything would go his way just because he wanted something to happen.

    That would be ignorant, narcissistic, and an entirely new level of arrogance.

    "The files won''t help you that much, and I''m not sure if you want people to procure that you are the War Empress'' brother. Many members of the High Society loathed her for her actions and ignorance. If I were to send the founder a special request to unlock the files for you, you might garner some unwanted attention," Kraft Viton revealed, giving Michael a lot to think about.

    Since Kraft Viton told him a lot about his sister, Michael wondered what else could be written in the files about Hesta. However, attracting too much attention now that he was about to fight against Descendants in the Battle Exchange before fighting with the Descendants against the Tekur might not be the best decision.

    The Interdimensional g War would already put him in the spotlight.

    "Let me think about it for a bit. Maybe, I will request the files once the g War is over," Michael mumbled.

    Kraft Viton nodded.

    "In that case, here are your Summoning Scrolls. If you need me, I will be in the library. I found some books that piqued my interest!"

    No sooner had he said that, stashes of Summoning Scrolls, hundreds of thousands of them, appeared in front of Kraft Viton.

    They filled Michael''s room to the brim.

 Chapter 435 Scroll mass-production

    Chapter 435 Scroll mass-production

    Even though he was distracted by the news he obtained from Kraft Viton, Michael began to use Extraction on the piles of Summoning Scrolls filling his room.

    Kraft Viton was already back in the library, leaving Michael alone with his thoughts and the Summoning Scrolls.

    Michael used Enhancement on Extraction to elerate the extraction process a little bit. Following that, Michael began a ''fun'' night focused on Extracting as many Summoning Scroll Fragments out of 684,650 Summoning Scrolls as he could.

    The next morning, Michael was exhausted but satisfied with the result of his work.

    684,650 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls turned into a total of 1,026,975 Summoning Scroll Fragments, an average of exactly 1.5 Fragments per Summoning Scroll.

    This reaffirmed Michael''s theory that purchased Scrolls gave him less Summoning Scroll Fragments when extracted than the Summoning Scrolls of self-hunted monsters.

    ''Maybe it also depends how long the Scrolls have been stored away. Some Scrolls crumbled without rewarding me with even a single Fragment, whereas other Summoning Scrolls provided three Fragments when I extracted them.'' Michael thought.

    Of course, that was just a theory he came up with. It was not something he could say for sure, not without any further experiments. But that could wait for now. The most important fact was that he had more than one million Summoning Scroll Fragments in his possession.

    Michael hesitated for a moment. One million Fragments meant that he could create another Legendary Summoning Scroll. But if he created a Legendary Summoning Scroll, he could only fuse two Mythic Summoning Scrolls. That was far from enough to pay the healer.

    ''The healer won''t wait, and it''s not like I''m in a rush. I can collect more Summoning Scrolls and Fragments to create a Legendary Summoning Scrollter.'' He concluded, certain that Frederik''s well-being was several times more important than fusing a second Legendary Scroll right now. Thetter could be postponed for a few months without causing any harm. The former would result in Frederik''s death in the worst-case scenario.

    After he took everything into consideration, Michael created a total of 102 Mythic Summoning Scrolls. That was twice as much as he had to pay.

    "102 Mythic Summoning Scrolls for nearly two billion dors. Is that worth it? Maybe it''s not, but I doubt many people can procure Mythic Scrolls as easily as I can. As for Legendary Scrolls, paying two billion for them would be a steal deal," Michael concluded, storing the Scrolls in his War Rune''s storage before he left his room.

    Michael headed to the library where he found Kraft Viton, who was surprised to see the young Awakened again so soon.

    "Good morning, Mr. Viton. I forgot to ask a small favor yesterday," Michael scratched the back of his head, hoping that Kraft Viton would help him.

    "Of course. How can I help you?"

    "Well, I have these¡­and they need to be transported to the Saphirke Military Academy. It''s a payment for a healer from the Holy Sun Guild," Michael said, retrieving a total of 50 Mythic Scrolls from his War Rune.

    Kraft Viton''s eyes widened a little seeing that many Mythic Scrolls emerge in front of him. He had seen Descendants trade with Mythic Scrolls, the number sometimes being more than Michael had retrieved in one go. But Michael was in need of more subjects. Why would he give up on Summoning dozens of 2-Star Summons with a high chance of summoning several 3-Star Summons, and even the probability of obtaining a 4-Star Summon?

    The old man felt like asking Michael if he was in trouble, but the clear shimmer in Michael''s eyes was enough to tell that this was not the case.

    "I don''t know if you heard about it, but the Kolbenheim family is going through a tough time. Frederik, a friend of mine, was afflicted with a Minor Curse and various wounds. I didn''t want him to die, and his father is¡­currently not in a situation that allows him to hire an experienced enough healer to take care of Frederik''s wounds and the Minor Curse. So¡­I just hired a healer from the Holy Sun Guild. That''s the payment the healer demanded because Frederik''s situation seems to be worse than expected," Michael exined calmly after he saw Kraft Viton''s expression.

    It was obvious what the old man thought, but Michael made his decision already.

    "You hired a healer from a guild? They''re arrogant and think too highly of themselves. It makes sense that you have to pay this much if it''s true what you said about your friend," Kraft Viton said, a warm smile forming on his lips, "You know that you are a really good friend, right? Not many would do the same, you know?"

    Michael could only shrug his shoulders. He didn''t expect the suddenpliments and had no idea how to respond.

    "I am just trying to help him out a little. Frederik will have it hard enough without physical injuries and the Minor Curse. I didn''t want to find out what would ur to him if the wounds of his battle torment him alongside everything else he''ll have to carry on his shoulders in the future."

    "Alright. I will send the Mythic Scrolls to the headquarters at once. Don''t fret. The Scrolls can be collected by that healer of yours at once. Just message this greedy bastard, and everything will be fine." Kraft Viton said right before manifesting a Runic Gate next to him. He collected the Mythic Scrolls with a wave of his hands and disappeared in the Runic Gate.

    Michael sighed heavily and opened Sta Messenger to click on his chat with Alice.

    [Michael Fang: The healer can pick up her Mythic Scrolls at the Bartholomew Shop in the academy.]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): That was much faster than I expected you to collect 20 Mythic Scrolls. Don''t strain yourself too much to collect the rest. You should value your health a bit more!]

    Michael chuckled upon reading Alice''s message.

    [Michael Fang: I already got everything. All 50 Mythic Scrolls. Hehe.]

    After he finished the message and sent it over, Michael thought about something. He looked at his chat with Alice and pressed his lips together before he continued to type.

    [Michael Fang: In fact, I got 52 Mythic Scrolls. Do you want to purchase two of them? Or better even, trade the Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Summoning Scrolls? I want to increase the poption of my territory to increase my Soul Power. I also got an Instructor and the Warrior Enlightenment Potion to promote my Starless Summons quickly. If you want the Mythic Scrolls, I would appreciate it if you could trade them with Ordinary Scrolls!]

    ''If I can start trading Scrolls with Alice, I should be able to mass-produce Mythic Scrolls and maybe produce a few more Legendary Scrolls within one year. As long as she provides enough Ordinary Scrolls for me to remove and turn into more Mythic Scrolls via Extraction and the fusion of Fragments, I should be able to create a small infinite cycle to make more money and summon more powerful Summons.''

    As long as one Mythic Scroll was worth 10,000 Ordinary Scrolls, Michael should make a profit with an average extraction rate of 1.5 Fragments for every Ordinary Scroll he obtains. 10,000 Scrolls were currently worth 35,000,000$. For some Lords that may exceed the price they could afford to purchase a Mythic Summoning Scroll, but that was not the case for someone at Alice''s level.

    Someone at Alice''s level would probably pay a lot more if she could get hold of someone who sold a certain number of Mythic Scrolls every month.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Wait, wait, wait. So you not only procured the 50 Mythic Scrolls for this bitch of a healer, but you got two more? Did you jump into a hive of Superior Tier-2 Death Curse Bees, or what?!?]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): And why do you want to sell Mythic Scrolls to me? I mean, I understand what you''re trying to do, but you will only harm yourself if you hurry anything. Are you sure that you want to trade yourst two remaining Mythic Scrolls with me? Of course, I will offer a good price¡­but¡­]

    Alice didn''t write anything else. She just trailed off, letting Michael wonder what she wanted to imply. While that confused Michael a little bit, he could only smile.

    His smile died down when he recalled that he lied to Alice. He didn''t really want to bait them with the Summoning Scrolls. All Michael wanted to do was to obtain more Scrolls to extract and form more Mythic Scrolls which he could trade again for more Summoning Scrolls.

    Unfortunately, telling her that was rather stupid since it would reveal bits of his power; a power everyone would want toy their hands on. But Michael couldn''t get himself to lie to her with a straight face. Therefore, he added a small message.

    [Michael Fang: I want to trade my Mythic Scrolls with you. Just know that I won''t hurry anything. I have a n. I won''t use your Scrolls to summon thousands of Starless Summons mindlessly without thorough preparations.]

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Alright. I will send you an offerter and you can think about it. For now, you should focus on the Battle Exchange. I heard that you haven''t challenged anyone yet. Isn''t it about time that you got moving? Practical experience gained by challenging the Token Holders will help you a lot more than merely observing them. You are not fighting a life-and-death battle against them. Nobody will die. So don''t worry and get some practical experience against strong Token Holders to learn as much as possible. Then get your own Token. That''s my order as your teacher!]

    "Calm down. I have a n, ''teacher''," Michael mumbled, closing the chat with a smile.

    Now that the Kitsun Lord was overpowered and the Battle Exchange was slowly moving toward the end, it was about time to do one thing; Train.

    There were still a bunch of days left before he had to fight someone, and Michael was not really in the mood to rush.

    If anything, he was quite happy with how things were right now. It was enjoyable and opened up quite a lot of possibilities.

    That made him happy.

 Chapter 436 Analysis

    Chapter 436 Analysis

    Michael still had 12 days left before the Battle Exchange would end. Alice and Kaleb urged him to start challenging Token Holders before the easiest picks were taken by others, but Michael didn''t even think about that, not even after Lincoln and Zeke met up with him to watch some official battles.

    Both Lincoln and Zeke were surprised to see how far Michael''s War Rune had been refined because their own War Rune was at the same rank. Lincoln wanted to challenge him to a fight to find out how much Michael progressed since theirst battle, but Michael didn''t take the bait. He didn''t have to since he was not in possession of a g War Token. Zeke, on the other hand, eyed Michael with great curiosity.

    If Michael had been the same as before he would never reject a spar with Lincoln. On the contrary, Michael would have proposed the spar long before it was Lincoln''s turn to do so. That made Zeke believe that Michael had changed. No. He was in the midst of a change. Michael''s eyes were locked on thebatants in the Colosseum arena, moving left and right along with them. He followed the movements of the Tier-3 Lords with ease and analyzed theirbat prowess, the power of their Soultraits, their strong points and their ws.

    Most Descendants didn''t have a lot of ws. Their foundation was great as they had been taught the basics of fighting from a young age. However, everyone had some bad habits, whether it was a flick of their wrist, a subtle move with their legs, or their eyes subtly locking onto the area they wanted to target. Everything in Michael''s sight was devoured, consumed, organized and put to good use.

    The pieces of information he gathered were not necessarily helpful for the Battle Exchange, but they would certainly allow Michael to grow stronger, learn more techniques and how to counter his opponents in the future. After all, Michael was bound to encounter a bunch of Descendants in the future, whether he wanted it or not.

    Even if it was not the Descendants, Michael could learn a lot about the Inheritance methods used by their families. Close to a thousand ¨C if not more ¨C different Inheritance techniques were served on a golden te right in front of him. How could Michael neglect this opportunity and not study the 1,500 human participants of the Battle Exchange?

    Michael might be a little bit foolish, maybe even gullible and naive. But he didn''t fall on his head when he was an infant.

    Michael might not be able to reproduce the Inheritance techniques, however, he was confident that using Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze together would allow him to find some simrities andmon points. And that he did. Michael found severalmon points in the Inheritance methods used by everyone. He wouldn''t be able to use thesemon points just yet, but Michael noted them down to make sure that he had everything ready when it was time for him to create his own Inheritance technique ¨C or a series of techniques that replicated existing Inheritance techniques.

    Of course, now was not the time to do something like that. Michael''s weapon mastery was not that high, and his theoretical understanding wascking. But that was even more reason to watch others fight. He analyzed them with his theoretical understanding, improving where he wascking and traveled back to the Origin Expanse where he could use the time dtion to refine his body, mind, and absorb energy to deepen his War Rune''s refinement degree alongside training in martial arts using various weapons with the Immortal Knight and his subordinates.

    Michael spent a whole week doing nothing but studying, and training. On thest day he was finally too tired to move and fell asleep on the training ground next to the construction site of the Sacred Knight Temple. Michael woke up half a dayter in his bed. He took a nice, rejuvenating bath, put on thebat clothing Alice had prepared for him a few days ago and he left the Origin Expanse ¨C after reminding everyone that he would soon purchase everything they needed for the Beast Ranches, more building inventions, and other expansions that would cost a fortune in every possible section of his territory.

    Over thest few days, Michael had been wondering if he should invest some SoulStar Fragments into his Soultraits to increase their star-rating by a quarter or half a star. This would be enough to increase the power of his Soultraits considerably. But Michael decided against doing so because he began to understand that he relied too much on his Soultraits. His Soultraits made him strong, and they allowed him to be the person he was right now, but they shouldn''t be the major reason for his exceptionalbat prowess. He shouldn''t be helpless without Soultraits.

    Another reason was that Michael wanted to increase his subordinates''bat prowess. However, they had a very good reason to reject his Soultraits even if he had yet to offer them anything. Lilica, Tiara and the others uttered that the energy they require to refine their War Rune increased drastically after they obtained their second 4-Star Soultrait. They didn''t want to rush into fusing more Soultraits to their War Rune since they were not Lords anymore. They were Awakened and would only acquire energy from absorbing it actively, or by killing monsters on their own. In fact, even if they killed monsters, a portion of their energy inflow would be split and transferred to Michael.

    Michael understood their reasoning, he supported it, and to be entirely truthful, their reasoning was also enough to convince Michael that he shouldn''t rush upgrading his Soultraits. The further he upgraded his Soultraits the more energy he would require to refine his War Rune. If each of his Soultraits was to reach 6-Star, Michael might end up getting stuck as a Tier-2 Lord for decades. That was definitely not something Michael wanted to happen.

    Therefore, refining his body, mind and War Rune was more important than upgrading his Soultraits.

    If he should enhance anything it was the methods he used.

    Michael was still using the basic technique, Sun Soldier''s Breathing, for his breathing, and his martial arts was an Inferior version of the Immortal Knight''s most basic Sacred Sword Style. The technique didn''t even suit Michael''sbat style with the Wyverntooth Spear. The weapon was not even the same!

    Fortunately, Michael had already picked a Token Holder to challenge in the Colosseum. Whether it was a coincidence or fate, Michael had chosen one of Maria Seraph''s fanboys as his opponent. It was the young Descendant, who had insulted him several times, to be precise. But it was not Fernando Jochez.

    The Descendant was called Jirah Loar, a second-year student of the Ascending Phoenix Academy, which was one of the Great Academies of the human race. Jirah Loar had the 23rd Token of the Duopetition. He procured it from a Berserker in one of the many unofficial battles Maria''s group had held in Piloq.

    Michael was surprised how Jirah Loar was still able to hold such a high-ranked g War Token even though the Battle Exchange was about to end. Jirah Loar might already be a Tier-3 Lord with a decently powerful Soultrait, but his analysis pinpointed that there were a bunch of stronger Battle Exchange participants who had yet to procure a g War Token. Jirah Loar''s token was perfect for them.

    Thus, Michael did some research to find out why nobody challenged Jirah Loar.

    The answer was pretty simple even if it was a little bit hard for Michael to understand- Nobody wanted to get on Maria Seraph''s bad side.

    Jirah Loar was Maria Seraph''s childhood friend. At least that was what he called himself. But since Maria Seraph never denied this im, everyone believed Jirah Loar''s words. Michael would be just like them. However, there was only one difference; He didn''t care whether Maria Seraph liked him or not.

    So what if she disliked him? Was he supposed to cry a river because the most prestigious family of healers didn''t like him? Michael needed the Seraph family as little as they needed him. In the worst case, he would actively seek enemies with healing Soultraits and be a better healer than them to show them who the boss was ¨C that was if they started to stir trouble.

    There was only one thing Michael had to avoid; challenging Maria Seraph. Michael actually thought about challenging her because she had the number one g War Token of the Supportpetition. It was a good thing that he didn''t do something as stupid as challenging her. He wouldn''t survive this foolishness.

    Michael was certain that he would win against her, but he would die facing the wrath and hatred of her loyal fan club. He might actually die if he didn''t y it right.

    One way or another, Michael picked the perfect target ¨C someone with a high-ranked g War Token: an opponent whom he could go all-out against to make an example of him. That would not allow the majority of them to be daring enough to challenge him in thest few days of the Battle Exchange. Of course, there could still be someone who could challenge him, but Michael didn''t n to fool around. The healers appointed by the Tritan Alliance, and Maria Seraph''s presence were more than enough to ensure that his opponents would survive.

    Holding back was not an option.

    With that in mind, Michael entered the Colosseum and walked up to Maria Seraph''s group. Everyone noticed his approach and got into position to avoid the repetition of a faux pas like before. They wouldn''t allow a random nobody to talk to their Saintess, not anymore!

    However, Michael didn''t even nce once at Maria. He eyed Jirah Loar and smiled at him.

    "I''m not here for the Saintess, don''t worry," Michael said, a faint golden glow emerging in his eyes.

    "Get ready to fight. I''m challenging you!"

 Chapter 437 Speedster

    Chapter 437 Speedster

    "Get ready to fight. I''m challenging you!" Michael said, his eyes trained on Jirah Loar.

    Jirah Loar didn''t say anything at first. It took him a few seconds to register what happened.

    "Are you perhaps drunk, or maybe even suicidal?" He asked upon realizing that Michael was talking to him, and that he was foolish enough to challenge him.

    "Suicidal or not, get ready. We will fight in the Colosseum arena in ten minutes," Michael responded, "Or you can just give up without fighting and hand over the g War Token. That would be even better."

    Jirah''s eyes narrowed upon hearing that. However, it was not until he noticed that Maria and the rest of her loyal fan club were waiting for his reaction that he reacted.

    "You are a fool to dream that you can win against me. Don''t even think about getting off lightly. I will beat the shit out of you!" Jirah bellowed, but Michael merely shrugged.

    "In ten minutes be in the arena. Don''t bete."

    Michael left right after his words reached the Saintess fan club. Jirah grit his teeth but didn''t say anything else. He merely nced over to Maria, whose eyes trailed Michael for a moment. After a moment, her attention moved back to the arena as if nothing happened.

    Jirah was perplexed with his childhood friend''s reaction ¨C or theck of reaction, to be precise. Were they actually friends? Did she ever see him as a friend, or was he just one of her many marites, an easy-to-control servant?

    Jirah didn''t know. All he knew was that he had to teach a lesson to Michael, and that he could release the stress and anger that had built up deep inside him.

    Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Michael was already waiting in the Colosseum arena, stretching his body to prepare for whaty ahead.

    Jirah Loar was a littlete, but he showed up. That was all that mattered.

    "Let''s get over this quickly," He said, his eyes filled with fury.

    The corner of Michael''s lip tilted upward right before he nodded his head. The twobatants then moved to the opposite ends of the arena and manifested their weapons.

    While Michael manifested his Spirit Armor Set, the Wyverntooth Spear, and the Legendary Ring Artifact, Jirah manifested a leather armor, a sapphire-blue rapier and a set of boots.

    Bothbatants changed into theirbat stance and awaited the starting signal from the referee. The referee nced left and right to see if thebatants were ready to fight and raised his left hand.

    "3¡­2¡­1¡­Fight!!"

    As the referee''s words resounded in the Colosseum, Jirah kicked the ground. He moved quickly and crossed arge distance in the blink of an eye. Michael was just about to move as well when Jirah''s body turned into a sh. He disappeared from the spectator''s sight and appeared right beside Michael, the tip of the sapphire-blue rapier eerily close to his neck.

    The rapier was thrust forward with terrific velocity, but Michael was already on the move to evade the attack. The moment the battle began, Michael utilized both Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes. He applied a fewyers of Enhancement on his eyes as well. Therefore, only Michael and the referee had been able to follow Jirah''s movements. Michael even predicted how Jirah would move, creating an opportunity for him to evade the rapier thrust.

    But Jirah was too fast. The rapier shot past Michael and scratched his neck a little. A drop of blood trickled to the ground, but that was already it. Michael''s counterattack was simple. He twisted the Wyverntooth Spear the moment he noticed the direction from which Jirah was going to attack. Therefore, the Wyverntooth Spear lunged forward threateningly right after the rapier was thrust toward Michael''s neck.

    Jirah''s eyes narrowed when he noticed that his rapier didn''t pierce through Michael''s neck. A wave of confusion followed right after as Michael''s spear de threatened to cut off one of his arms. Jirah changed his trajectory with one of his movement techniques and increased his distance to his enemy once again.

    He then canceled the use of his Soultrait [Speedster] to save some energy and observe Michael. His initial n to defeat Michael in an dominant manner had failed. However, Jirah was not too sure why. He researched only bits and pieces about Michael Fang before, but none of the pieces of information he collected could be the cause for Michael''s blindingly fast reaction.

    Meanwhile, Michael smiled lightly. Jirah Loar''s Soultrait was rted to his Agility. Using his Soultrait enhanced his Agility drastically. It was a tremendous enhancement. The Speed Soultrait was also one of the few reasons why only a handful of people dared to face him since it was too dangerous to fight an enemy whom you could not even follow with your eyes.

    But Michael had long since analyzed Jirah Loar''s Soultrait, including its downside. First of all, the Soultrait would put a heavy burden on the body. Using it for a long duration would damage Jirah''s legs and lower body. Furthermore, it drained lots of energy. But the worst was that Jirah had to wield a weapon that could utilize the tremendous agility the best. He had to wield a weapon that didn''t slow down his movements speed and attacks due to the increased air resistance upon activating his Soultrait. At least that was what Michael guessed.

    There was also something else that made Michael feel like Jirah was forcing himself to wield the rapier instead of other weapons that may suit him better, but it was not like Michael was a professional when it came to weapon masteries.

    He never fought an enemy like Jirah, a Tier-3 Descendant with a Speed-type Soultrait.

    But that was exactly what made it interesting.

    Even with Eagle Eyes, Spirit Gaze, and Enhancement utilized to reinforce his eyesight as much as possible, Michael could barely make out Jirah''s movements after he reached top speed. Being able to see Jirah''s movements meant that Michael could predict his movement path and where he wanted to attack. Once all of that was known, reacting in time to face Jirah with all of his Soultraits would be an easy task.

    But Michael wanted to know something else first.

    After training without the use of Soultraits for so long, Michael wanted to know if he was strong enough to fight Jirah with Eagle Eyes, Spirit Gaze, and Enhancement to strengthen his eyes and body. He didn''t want to use Spirit Disturbance or any other unique attack, or Soultrait to gain a huge advantage against Jirah. All Michael desired was to see and predict Jirah''s movements and to be able to respond fast enough to them.

    Therefore, Michael ended up applying fouryers of Enhancement to his entire body ¨C not just his eyes.

    Jirah noticed the silverish-golden shine in Michael''s eyes and the white hue that shrouded Michael''s body and activated Speedster again. He kicked the ground, turned into a sh, and appeared in front of Michael a quarter of a secondter. Michael''s eyes followed Jirah''s movements with ease and his body responded to the attack. Michael lifted his Wyverntooth Spear and thrust it right where Jirah was heading.

    Jirah noticed that Michael''s movements elerated. However, Michael was still way too slow to even think about catching up to him. All Michael did was react to the movements he saw in front of him. But what if Michael couldn''t see his attack?

    Jirah changed his movement path at once. His feet kicked the ground to push his body to the left and change his trajectory. Thereafter, Jirah appeared behind Michael, his rapier lunging forward even faster than before.

    Michael was already in motion to turn around when he noticed what Jirah was going to do. Being slower than his enemy had many disadvantages, and it was easy to tell that Jirah was adept at making use of his exceptional speed. He quickly adjusted his fighting style when he noticed that Michael could see his movements and react to them just in time.

    ''Should I use the Energy Imprints within the Legendary Ring?'' Michael asked himself for a moment. Since Opars and the others had returned from the Forest Elven Tribe''s home, Michael had been requesting Opars to fill the Legendary Ring Artifact with the Power of Energy Imprint.

    Michael could use an Energy Imprint to apply eightyers of Enhancement to his body for nearly two minutes. That would certainly be enough to move fast enough to deal with Jirah''s speed. But Michael was unwilling to use Opars'' power just now. He hadn''t even used his other Soultraits, so why would he resort to someone else''s power now?

    Wanting to stick to his earlier decision, Michael applied anotheryer of Enhancement to his body. The increase in his physical strength and agility was notable. It was enough to take Jirah by surprise. He didn''t expect Michael to move faster all of a sudden. Michael''s response was now fast enough to twist his body and push the Wyverntooth Spear against the rapier, narrowly escaping getting poked by the ppy stick.

    Michael then pushed forward. He knew that Jirah couldn''t change his movement trajectory too easily. Jirah had to generate enough momentum to change his movement path, or forcefully change it. However, by forcefully changing his movement path, he put a heavy toll on his ankles. That was why his family customized Boots Artifacts. After all, everyone in the Loar family had simr issues with their ankles.

    Jirah was just about to kick the ground and retreat when something pulled his attention to Michael''s eyes. The silverish-golden shimmer intensified. It seemed to turn into a swirl that sucked him inside. In the following instance, Michael used Spirit Disturbance at full power.

    "Are you done already? Is that all you can do? Come on, that''s boring. Show me the Inheritance technique you and your family are so proud of!"

 Chapter 438 Fighter a Speedster

    Chapter 438 Fighter a Speedster

    Jirah was forcefully pulled out of the trance and thrown into hellish pain. His head felt like splitting apart and a guttural scream escaped his lips.

    Then Michael''s spear thrust forward.

    "You fucking bastard!!!" Jirah roared inhumanly.

    Following the humiliation he faced, the young Descendant began to use his Inheritance Technique ¨C at full power at that.

    ''Are you finally warmed up? Me too!''

    There was something interesting Michael noticed whenever Descendants fought against each other. They were trying to hide their Inheritance techniques'' true power from others. The Descendants were taught several martial arts techniques to use in a battle. The Inheritance technique was the strongest, but it was also easier to counter if one had studied the respective families for a long time. It happened often enough that rivaling Descendants studied their enemies for weeks to counter their Inheritance techniques and defeat their opponents. Thus powerful techniques were invented to prevent the enemy from the use of an Inheritance technique and to potentially overwhelm those who nned to counter one''s Inheritance technique.

    That was how it usually worked. It was a hassle and not something Michael would be bothered about under normal circumstances. However, he learned a lot in thest two weeks. Observing and analyzing the Descendants made him realize one thing; All the Descendants tried to hide their Inheritance techniques from others. They didn''t want to show others how far they had progressed with their Inheritance technique.

    In future events held by the High Society, they might have to fight each other again. Therefore, it was better to hide their power during events such as the Battle Exchange. That was fine as long as the Descendants, who''d been ordered to im a g War Token and participate in the Interdimensional g War, would obtain their Token.

    Michael also learned that some students didn''t participate in the Battle Exchange to im a g War Token. Instead, they had been ordered to get to know other Descendants, befriend them, and interact with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Their mission was mostly to mingle socially rather than exposing their powers.

    Michael thought that it made sense. Not everyone had to participate in the Interdimensional g War like him. In fact, most first-year students participating in the Battle Exchange merely joined to befriend the Descendants and prodigies of other Academies and Universities. A freshman was not someone who could deal with a Tekur easily after all. It would already be a wonder if they could survive fighting a Tekur on the same rank and Tier.

    But Michael''s situation was a little bit different. He had to win.

    Though he was quite certain that nothing major would happen to him if he failed to meet the requirements to participate in the Interdimensional g War, Michael didn''t want to risk it. He was interested in the Tekur as well because he saw them as a challenge and a golden opportunity to learn more about powerful races, mankind''s enemies, and to earn a decent number of Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments.

    It would be dangerous, but with the increase in danger came opportunities to grow stronger much faster than everyone else. And that was something Michael was in dire need of.

    ''Descendants usually hide their Inheritance technique. Jirah is done hiding and waiting. Looks like I enraged him enough,'' Michael thought as he pulled the Wyverntooth Spear back. It narrowly missed Jirah''s neck after the young Descendant of the Loar family had been struck with a Spirit Disturbance.

    Jirah had subconsciously retreated right after Spirit Disturbance struck him. This made Michael wonder whether Jirah was subjected to a stressful and unbearable training session to artificially create this type of protection mechanism, or if the Descendant had developed this particr mechanism to protect himself after getting struck by a mind, or spiritual attack.

    The answer didn''t really matter, but Michael was d that Jirah had such a protective mechanism. It allowed him to go all out against a Descendant who used the full extent of his Inheritance technique.

    Jirah moved back, activated Speedster, and used his Inheritance technique, God Speed, to gather the power of his Soultrait and charge ahead. The moment Jirah shot forward with the use of God Speed, the young Descendant created ripples in the space around him. An explosion resounded where he kicked the ground and the foundation of the arena began to tremble.

    For the first time since he became a Lord, Michael witnessed the real power of an Inheritance technique in a fierce battle. His heart was beating wildly, and he thought he would be too stunned to do something. But the opposite was the case.

    The cogs in Michael''s brain moved much faster than usual and his perception reached new heights as the tension in the arena increased. Michael held his breath so long that his lungs cried for air, but his eyes shimmered brightly. His pupils dted and he saw a glimpse of Jirah charging at him too fast for Michael to respond with his body. Not even eightyers of Enhancement would be enough to increase his Agility enough to evade Jirah''s straightforward charge. His physique was simply not enough against God Speed.

    But that was fine.

    Jirah''s speed might be exceptional after being boosted by both Speedster and the Inheritance technique, God Speed, and his reaction speed might have been trained to a terrific degree as well. Despite that, Jirah''s reaction speed was not faster than Michael''s. That was something Michael tested in his first shes against Jirah.

    He was fast and reacted quickly, but Michael reacted faster. Therefore, no matter how fast Jirah was, Michael could react. Theoretically, at least.

    And that was where the distance reaction calction came into y. The distance Jirah passed before he could react was determined by his current speed and his reaction time.

    Given his extraordinary speed that allowed him to cross 100 meters per second for a short instance and his reaction time being around 50-70 milliseconds, Jirah would cross a distance of roughly 5 meters before he could react to Michael''s attacks.

    Of course, God Speed was likely to reduce Jirah''s reaction time since it was a powerful Inheritance technique, but Michael already took that into consideration when he came up with his n to defeat Jirah in an overwhelming and destructive manner ¨C which was something Michael had nned to do when he first decided to pick Jirah as his target.

    Using Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes to perceive Jirah''s movement path and the exact moment of his arrival, Michael received just enough time to prepare for his attack and go all-out. Michael conjured a total of 12 cicle Swords in front of him. He coated them in Reinforced Sword Qi and further enhanced them to boost their resilience, and eleration as Michael released them with a burst of energy the immediate he finished conjuring the Enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    The dozen Swords shot through the air to Michael''s left, shining in vibrant colors of silver, white, and cier blue just as Jirah was about to arrive next to Michael ¨C to his left.

    Just as Jirah propelled forward to pierce a hole into Michael''s neck, the dozen Enhanced Qi cicle Swords manifested and shot toward him.

    Jirah wanted to react in time, but the cicle Swords were already right in front of him, giving him no leeway to move aside. All Jirah could do was channel his momentum and release the Speedster''s Rapier Style all while God Speed enhanced his movement speed. The Rapier pierced through the air. It moved around in shes, drawing sapphire-blue pictures in Jirah''s vicinity as the rapier collided with the dozen Enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    Four of a dozen cicle Swords burst apart, releasing a tremendous amount of freezing mist that Michael willed to move around Jirah, obstructing his sight from the next attacks that were just about to follow.

    Michael used Spirit Disturbance with fouryers of Enhancement applied and he created a second batch of a dozen Enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    His energy storage was slowly drained, but that was of no concern for Michael. He unleashed the freezing mistpressed within the first batch of cicle Swords and shrouded Jirah with them. Right after the second batch pierced through the freezing mist, the freezing mist transformed into thousands of tiny icicles. The freezing mist turned into solid cicles, uncovering the frightening sight thaty behind the shroud of the freezing mist.

    Jirah''s chest was impaled by six cicle Swords, his neck was hanging by a thread as one of the cicle Swords must have cut cleanly through his neck, and his left leg had been severed. Meanwhile, his right leg was impaled with the remaining cicle Swords.

    The sight was hideous but even more frightening was the irresistible fear and disbelief in Jirah''s eyes. Thest thing he could remember was tremendous pain in his head and that his feet seemed to have been frozen to the ground. He couldn''t move no matter how much he wanted.

    Then it all ended. The Enhanced QI cicle Swords impacted. They pierced through his skin and bone and nearly killed Jirah in an instant.

    But Michael was not yet done. There were still a thousand small cicles ready to conclusion Jirah''s life painfully.

    "Stop!!" The referee bellowed loudly. He released some of his energy to destroy the cicles and appeared next to Jirah. Then he released some of his energy to keep his body intact. A strand of his energy picked up Jirah''s leg as the referee looked around to call for the medics.

    Michael looked at Jirah and the state of his body and nodded.

    ''That should be sufficient to ensure that nobody will bother me until the conclusion of the Battle Exchange,'' He thought right before turning to Maria Seraph and her group.

    "I went a little bit overboard. Could you heal him, please?" Michael asked Maria nonchntly.

    He didn''t force a smile on his face nor did he fake interest in whatever she was going to do. If Maria didn''t want to rescue her childhood friend that was on her. All Michael did was fight with all he had. That was exactly what the Battle Exchange was being held for, after all.

    Maria''s expression changed for the first time. Michael literally had no interest in her. He looked at her like she was some side character, an unimportant extra.

    That was new. Refreshing.

    **

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 Chapter 439 Value

    Chapter 439 Value

    Michael chose to observe Maria Seraph as she saved Jirah Loar''s life.

    As Maria arrived in front of Jirah, her hair fluttered in the soothing aura that emerged from her body. The soothing aura was warm andfortable. It suppressed pain and stimted the natural regeneration process of all targets. Maria shrouded Jirah Loar with the soothing aura before a bright light emanated from her hands.

    The pain in Jirah''s eyes dispersed as the bright light shone onto his weary body. The essence of life seemed to fill Jirah as color returned to his wounded face, and deathly pale cheeks as a glimmer of vigor manifested inside his eyes.

    "Dispel the des," Maria ordered in a low voice.

    The referee was about to release his energy to crush the cicle Swords, but Michael was faster. He transformed the cicle Swords into freezing mist which he pulled away from Jirah instantaneously. The freezing mist swirled around Michael before it disappeared inside him.

    Fountains of blood gushed out of Jirah''s wounds as the cicle Swords dispersed, however, Jirah didn''t sense anything amiss. The vigor in his eyes never wavered. All he did was nce at Maria, whose entire body emanated bright light. A white, glowing halo had manifested above her head and the outlines of semi-translucent, whitish wings formed right behind her.

    The power of Maria''s Soultrait increased significantly. The gaping wound on Jirah''s neck healed rapidly as thousands of tiny flesh tendrils shot out to stitch back the flesh and close the gaping wounds once again. The injuries visibly mended as if Maria reversed time itself. The deep gashes closed with a shimmering seam, which disappeared as well. Not even a scar was left behind once Maria finished mending the wounds. It was as if Jirah had never been injured.

    However, what interested Michael the most was how easily Maria reattached Jirah''s leg. A single wave of her hand was enough to stimte the severed ends of the leg. She gestured to the referee to put the leg down next to the leg stump and to step away afterward. The referee didn''t say anything as he followed hermands. He knew better than to talk back to a healer, even if the healer in front of him was still a fletchlingpared to him.

    The severed bones reconnected with a soft, almost musical chime while the nerves, veins and flesh rejoined with slick noises. Regaining the feelings in his severed leg, the ache and suffering Jirah had been feeling before Maria arrived dissipated from his memories. His emotions were reced by a profound sense of relief. He wouldn''t be a cripple!

    Jirah felt a rush of strength surge through him. He felt blessed and happy.

    ''Interesting.'' Michael thought, getting slightly interested in the ability of Maria''s Soultrait.

    Not only was Maria able to mend the wounds easily and much faster than any other healer Michael had ever seen working, but she could also block pain and manipte emotions in a way. Maria''s Soultrait healed the body, soothed the soul, and dispelled the darkness of afflictions such as ill-intentions and Curses, recing the negative emotions with the joy of life and renewal.

    It was truly wondrous.

    ''Yup. I should definitely get my hands on such a Soultrait in the future. Did she use her Inheritance technique to heal Jirah near-instantaneously or was that only her Soultrait''s tremendous power'' He wondered, unsure if the halo and the semi-translucent wings were rted to her Soultrait, or if they were the manifestation of Maria utilizing her Inheritance technique. One way or another, the halo and wings further elerated the restoration of Jirah''s body. They allowed Maria to ensure that Jirah wouldn''t have to face any mental trauma after today''s battle.

    Michael stared at Maria. She didn''t break into a sweat and it looked like the young woman hadn''t used arge amount of her energy either. This,bined with how easily Maria healed Jirah''s wounds, gave him a good idea of Maria''s power and her value. It was understandable why so many Descendants and people from the High Society tried to get in her good books.

    If something were to happen to them and they were to be on the verge of death, or afflicted with a major Curse, they would want to receive Maria Seraph''s help. As long as Maria happened to be close to the patients or their family, or owe them a favor, there was a big chance that she would help out. Her powers were especially useful for old patriarchs and the elders hailing from the big families. They probably hoped that her Soultrait could rejuvenate them, or ensure their lifespan extended for a few more years.

    ''That must be annoying,'' Michael thought, looking at Maria with pity, "But it''s a good thing that she was born in the Seraph family. I don''t want to imagine how she would be treated if such a Soultrait manifested in a nameless family."

    If a young woman from an ordinary household had appeared Maria''s Soultrait, the big families would have invited that woman to join their families. The moment she rejected, she would have been kidnapped and abused as a pawn by the big families. She would have turned into an asset whose ability was sold to others at the highest price.

    Michael shuddered at the thought.

    Maria was lucky to have been born in the Seraph family, a family full of medics, and healers that nobody would dare to harbor ill intentions toward. All they could do was to try their utmost to please her and get close to her.

    Maria Seraph heard what Michael mumbled quietly to himself. She nced over to him, only to notice that Michael had already diverted his attention from her. He looked at the g War Token D#23, which the referee handed to him. With the g War Token, Michael would receive a tremendous amount of resources once the Battle Exchange was over. He would be able to spend the months training until the g War started, increasing his strength drastically.

    As for the goal he wanted to achieve; he wanted to advance to Tier-3 until the Interdimensional g War started. If that was not possible due to ack of resources, money, or enough enemies in the Origin Expanse to hunt and procure energy shares, Michael would be fine advancing to the Peak of the 2nd Tier as well.

    That was already enough of a challenge given that he possessed nine Soultraits with seven being 5-Star or higher. But where was the fun without a real challenge?

    Michael would have a hard time in the Interdimensional g War even if he advanced to the 3rd Tier, but that was fine. Michael was already prepared for this.

    ''One Tekur is roughly as strong as six Berserkers at the same rank. However, they don''t possess a versatilebat style. Their Soultraits are the foundation of theirbat style, and they build their strength around their Soultrait as the foundation. So, I should either create a team and pinpoint Tekur with weaker Soultraits, or Soultraits that are not good against me and my team. That way, we can deal with them one by one¡­probably.''

    Instead of worrying about thest few days of the Battle Exchange, Michael was already thinking about the Interdimensional g War. But that was quite obvious since Michael was not worried about losing his g War Token.

    The probability of someone challenging him after his battle against Jirah was low. It was not nil, but Michael had the means to use even more ability against his enemies. He had yet to use the Power of Energy Imprint that Opars had stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact over thest few days.

    Michael wanted to continue storing Opars'' Energy Imprint in the Legendary Ring Artifact until the Interdimensional g War started. That way, he would neverck the energy to fight even if his War Rune''s refinement degree would be stuck at the Mid rank. Having more energy than others was crucial for someone like Michael. He could let himself loose a little and wreak havoc, killing everything in his path.

    At least, that was the n.

    Unfortunately, Michael''s ns tended to fail miserably. That was exactly what happened right now.

    Michael was just about to leave the Colosseum now that he obtained what he desired when he heard amotion from outside.

    "The Tritaenus returned!" A Warlock Centaur announced loudly to his colleagues.

    "The Tritaenus? The War Priestess said that they would be out in space to explore the cosmos for the next five years. Why are they already back?" Another Warlock Centaur responded, sounding more confused than excited.

    "Are you an idiot, or are you just trying to garner attention? The Tritaenus must have returned because they found something! That means we have a new sr system to explore, news to colonize, new enemies to fight with our lives on the line, or new friends to create trading routes with!" The first Warlock Centaur eximed, his excitement clearly evident.

    Michael didn''t like one out of the four possibilities announced by the Warlock Centaur but his curiosity was piqued.

    ''Is the Tritaenus a spaceship? Since they''re talking about the exploration of space it should be a spaceship.''

    Michael was just about to walk to the Warlock Centaurs to ask some questions when his perception picked up something weird. His eyes moved to the ceiling of the Colosseum and he narrowed his eyes.

    In the next moment, a thunderous explosion resounded through the Colosseum. No. It did not only resound through the Colosseum. Thunderous explosions reverberated throughout Piloq.

    Following the thunderous explosion, the Colosseum began to tremble wildly. The ceiling copsed where Michael was looking at with Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze, which activated instinctively, yet all Michael could pay attention to was the metallic, elongated cylinder with a pointed tip that burst through the ceiling.

    It was a missile ¨C a high-destructive Perses Missile used inrge spaceships.

    No. It was not just one missile either. It was just the first Michael saw.

    And the next moment, all hell broke loose.

    [End of Volume 7]

 Chapter 440 Under attack

    Chapter 440 Under attack

    As the Perses Missile impacted, chaos and destruction followed alongside.

    The first Perses Missile crashed into the ground where the Warlock Centaurs had been talking excitedly about the expedition ship, Tritaenus. The Warlock Centaurs were torn into shreds in an instant. They couldn''t even react as their bodies disintegrated, the shreds of their bodies shot through the surroundings by the shockwave caused by the missile''s impact. Then the missile exploded with a powerful burst of energy. The highly explosive contents of the missile released a tremendous amount of heat and erupted, creating a second shockwave that radiated outward. Whereas the first shockwave was not that loud, the second shockwave was ear-deafening and highly destructive.

    It tore apart the Colosseum, turning the majestic building into a huge pit of dirt, debris and corpses. Rubble poured down on the young participants of the Battle Exchange as the Colosseum''s ceiling copsed on top of them. The referee ¨C as shocked as he might have been ¨C reacted quickly. He stirred his energy storage and released a burst of energy outward to conjure a dome of protection around the young Awakened and Lords near him. Large parts of the Colosseum collided onto the energy dome, causing the energy to ripple through the shield. However, it didn''t break ¨C at first.

    As more Perses Missiles shot through the open roof of the Colosseum, the referee''s eyes widened. He grit his teeth and channeled more energy into the dome to protect the youngest generation. But it was all for naught as two Perses Missiles smashed into the energy dome soon after. The content of the missiles was released at once, causing a humongous explosion that ravaged through the entire arena of the Colosseum. The explosions ruptured through the energy dome, tearing it open to make way for the remaining force of the explosion to wreaked through the referee and the young generation alongside.

    Screams of terror and groans of unbearable pain resounded through the Colosseum ¨C or what was left of it ¨C after the third Perses Missile impacted. The third missile seemed to have been thest missile fired at the Colosseum, but that was already more than enough. It caused enough destruction, death, and terror in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to survive.

    When the dust settled, the Colosseum''s grand and imposing structure was nowhere near the same as before. The walls were blown apart, the roof was no more and even the ground had huge cracks as some parts of it caved in due to the weight of the rubble. Debris was scattered inside and outside the Colosseum and scorch marks could be seen everywhere. The corpses of two Berserkers were torched and horribly mangled to a point where no one would be able to recognize them. Their bodies were still burning, and so were some of those who had been lucky enough to survive the missiles'' impact. But now they were burning like oil-coated torches.

    More thunderous explosions echoed through the entire city, but the Colosseum was spared from further attacks. That was the biggest fortune of those who survived.

    Michael moaned in pain. His left arm hung down his shoulders, unmoving. It was half-burned, half-frozen. When the first Perses Missile impacted, Michael tried to use Extraction to extract the shockwave and explosive contents that were discharged with a terrific burst of energy. That didn''t work as well as intended, forcing Michael to use sevenyers of Enhancement on himself and cicle as he created walls of ice in front of him.

    Michael tried to continue using cicle and Extraction to extract parts of the explosion and block the rest with the cicle walls. He had lifted his left hand to use his body to control his Soultraits with ease. Unfortunately, the impact was too heavy. Perses Missiles were not something ordinary people could block simply. They were weapons of destruction used in spaceships, to fight other spaceships and enormous monsters residing in space. It had been years since someone dared to use space weapons to attack a. At least, Michael hadn''t heard any news about something like that happening recently. Everyone knew that using space weapons against civilians would end up in retaliation of the same kind, if not worse. Nobody wanted their kind to cease to exist, after all.

    So why did someone attack Piloq, especially during a time like this when the youngest generation of the Tritan Alliance had gathered? Was there an unknown race attacking them with ill intentions? But if that was the case the space defensive mechanism would have reacted, enveloping the City of Piloq with huge Protection Spheres as well as the other cities long before the enemy forces could reach the attack range to fire Perses Missiles. The Perses Missiles would have damaged the City Protection Spheres rather than passing by all the defensive mechanisms before impacting innocent civilians and destroying everything in its path.

    ''But if an unknown race attacked us, why would there be Perses Missiles? Onlyrge-scale spaceships engineered by humans would use them¡­or the Tritan Alliance¡­The Tritaenus?''

    The only spaceship close enough to Piloq and equipped with Perses Missiles was the Tritaenus. But what did that mean? Did some other race capture the Tritaenus¡­or was there something else?

    Michael didn''t know and he figured that he wouldn''t be able to find out more for now, either way. He could make up theories but that was not very helpful. However, there was something else he could do. Michael could get his act together and help the wounded.

    His injury was not that bad. His arm was limply hanging down his shoulder, but consuming some potions and circting energy through his arm would heal it in no time. In the worst case, a healer could take a look at it for a second and snap everything back in ce. He was not in a rush.

    Retrieving a healing potion from his War Rune, Michael removed the lid and swallowed the content. He then looked around the Colosseum and made some quick calctions.

    He remembered where some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had been seated before, but everything around them was buried underrge rocks and debris. The walls and the ceiling had copsed on top of some of them. With a grim look, Michael recovered another potion, this time, an energy vial. He swallowed the contents and rushed to the walls where he used Extraction to remove the copsed walls with ease. He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the sounds around him, but that was easier said than done. It looked like his eardrums burst when the shockwaves impacted.

    Michael opened his eyes again and discharged tendrils of energy from his body. He hoped that the tendrils of energy would help him find some of those who had been buried. Sensing some vibrations through his feet, Michael noticed that someone knocked against the fell wall from beneath. He quickly removed the wall via Extraction and found a group of injured Berserkers underneath. One Berserker had thrown himself on top of hisrades to protect them from the impact of the Perses Missile and the aftermath of the attack. His back was now a mangled blob of flesh and several metal pipes had impaled him. Moving the Berserker to the next healer without killing him would be increasingly difficult.

    Michael frowned and used Extraction to remove the metal pipes. Fountains of blood gushed out of the wounds, which Michael sealed temporarily by channeling freezing mist into the holes right before turning the mist into cicles. Michael knew that freezing wounds like this was dangerous. His act could block the Berserker''s cells, potentially killing him. However, the Berserker was already as good as dead with the metal pipes impaling him. Therefore, Michael chose the second best option ¨C freezing the wounds until a healer could take a look at them.

    Michael used every bit of force in his body to throw the Berserker over his shoulder and carry him through the hall. Carrying a four-meter-tall Berserker as a human with average height was not easy, but it was not as if Michael expected it to be an easy task, in the first ce.

    He looked toward the center of the Colosseum and found Maria. She was unscathed other than the droplets of blood oozing out of her ears. The same couldn''t be said about the people around her. Maria''s loyal followers looked even worse than the Berserker who had been scorched and impaled several times. Not all of them looked that bad, but they must have jumped in front of Maria to block the majority of the explosion''s force to protect her. No matter how bad Michael''s opinion of Maria''s followers was, they were certainly not cowards. They made sure that the future''s strongest healer of the Tritan Alliance would survive the two Perses Missiles that exploded near her.

    Michael pulled the Berserker to the arena ¨C or what was left of it. He put the Berserker down and noticed her staring at him for a second. Her gaze flicked to the wounded Berserker for a moment before returning to him once again. Her lips parted, but Michael didn''t understand anything.

    He pointed at his ears and the fresh blood that was trickling out of it. Maria nodded in understanding and took a few steps forward. Her hands began to glow brightly and a soothing sensation surrounded Michael.

    Maria''s hands cupped Michael''s face. Her soft and warm fingers ran across his face gently, stunning Michael momentarily.

    Then her lips parted again.

    "I thought you were dead. You did well surviving," Maria said, her eyes locked with Michael''s, "Now help me out a little."

 Chapter 441 Heavens Descent

    Chapter 441 Heaven''s Descent

    Before Michael realized what was going on his arm was healed, and so were his ear drums.

    Maria let go of his face and turned around to focus on the severely injured patients once again. Meanwhile, Michael stared at Maria, lost in thoughts.

    He spent a second or two in confusion before he regained his senses. "Help you out? How?" Michael asked.

    Maria didn''t look up from the patients and continued to tend to their wounds. "I cannot heal everyone simultaneously. I will focus on those who''re dying¡­," She mumbled, gritting her teeth, "I want you to freeze the wounds of the severely injured to give me some more time. Once you''re done with that, move those with the worst wounds closer to me." Michael had a few more questions that needed answers, but he could tell that Maria had no time to divert her focus from the injured. She was already sweating trying to tend to as many injured as possible in the shortest time.

    Michael turned around and looked at the injured. He was not a medic and his medical knowledge was not exactly deep. However, freezing the wounds of the injured didn''t sound too bad. The only issue was that freezing the injured''s wounds for a prolonged time would destroy their cells, maybe even some of their body parts if he was forced to freeze their limbs to make sure that they wouldn''t die. However, losing a limb or two was better than dying.

    It was not the best option, but it was certainly better than leaving the wounded to bleed to death.

    Michael was just d that Maria was around. With her presence, nobodyined as Michael began to follow her orders. But Michael was not too worried about that, in the first ce. He would freeze their wounds even if they were daring enough toin. All he cared about were the dying patients and the threat hovering above their heads. It was uncertain whether the attack from above was over, or if it had just begun.

    However, that was something Alice and the other powerhouses would be taking care of. Therefore, Michael focused on the wounded around him. He froze most severe wounds with cicle before moving through the Colosseum with the Dome of Extraction unleashed.

    Michael used the Dome of Extraction to pinpoint the location of the wounded but still alive people who were buried underneath debris and the copsed walls. They were injured and not exactly in good shape so they could thereby be invaded by the tendrils of Extraction. Michael didn''t intend to extract their lifeforce or energy. Instead, he pinpointed their location as the tendrils of extraction searched through the remnants of the Colosseum.

    It didn''t take long before Michael''s tendrils connected to several buried Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. He found a group of humans that had been buried as well. Unfortunately, it was already toote for them. The tendrils of extraction didn''t sense any lifeforce within them. They were dead.

    It was a shame that he couldn''t help them anymore, but Michael couldn''t resurrect the dead. As for Maria, she was already busy enough trying to keep the living alive. Even if she could resurrect the dead, it would probably consume too much energy and focus. Maria would tire out too quickly and be unable to rescue those who were still alive.

    ''It has been too long since they died. Not even Maria can help them at this point.'' Michael concluded before extracting the rubble and stones all around him. He freed a few groups of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but he couldn''t carry all of them at once. There were too many and they were too injured to be thrown around mindlessly. Michael grit his teeth and picked up one of the most severely injured Warlock Centaurs. His legs were crushed and several rocks had pierced his chest. A long metal pipe had pierced his abdomen and there was arge hole in his shoulder.

    Michael tried to be as careful as possible as he carried the Warlock Centaur to the center of the Colosseum. There he saw several humans crying their hearts out, their gut-wrenching cries filling the air with gloom and despair, and pure terror in their eyes. It was a pitiful sight, but all Michael could feel was anger.

    "Are you going to stay here like pitiful bastards, or what? Get fucking moving and help out!!! Do you want everyone to die?" Michael bellowed, activating Spirit Gaze to use Spirit Disturbance on each of the crying idiots.

    Two of them slumped to the ground as Spirit Disturbance impacted, but the rest turned their heads toward him. Their eyes widened and they were just about to say something when they saw the fury in Michael''s eyes. Michael was carrying a Warlock Centaur who was twice his height on his shoulders, the wounded''s blood drenching his clothes.

    "Move!" Michael ordered, his voicemanding obedience. At this point, Michael couldn''t care less about the reason they acted like pathetic cowards. Some of these bastards were Descendants with Soultraits that didn''t require them to fight, while others could be considered merchants who used the Battle Exchange to establish multiple alliances and new trading routes. But so what? If they couldn''t even keep their calm in a disaster like this, how were they supposed to lead their families in the future? ''Their parents must be proud of these fucking idiots. If any of them bes the head of their family or business, I will shoot myself!'' Michael cursed in his heart, using the rage churning inside him to move the Warlock Centaur faster to Maria.

    He saw Jirah Loar and Maria''s loyal fan club staring through the surroundings with great vignce. Most of them had unsheathed their weapons as if they were waiting for some Invaders to charge into the Colosseum to attempt kidnapping, or killing Maria.

    "Are you guys going to stand around doing nothing? Get the injured and bring them over. I removed some of the rubble burying some groups of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," Michael told them when he saw that the Descendants circling around Maria had already ovee their shock. They looked surprised but they weren''t shaking anymore. It was quite obvious that they didn''t face a near-death experience for the first time in their lives. They were not like the sobbing idiots, who were too shocked to move. They were real Descendants.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t mean they were keen on helping him. The fan club didn''t move even after everything Michael said. Michael put the injured Warlock Centaur down near Maria''s feet, which received variousplicated expressions.

    "Maria will focus on healing humans. Don''t make her waste too much of her energy tending to them." One of the Descendants said, pointing at the Warlock Centaur. "Waste energy?" Michael''s eyes narrowed, "Maria will heal everyone. So get your ass up and help the others!" Michael''s voice grew fiercer with every word that escaped his lips. The Dome of Extraction expanded, and the full power of the Legendary Ring''s Dragon Might was unleashed.

    Michael''s Dragon Might and the Dome of Extraction seemed to merge and impact heavily on the group of Descendants. The pressure weighing down on them increased as Michael took a stride toward the Descendant who''d spoken against him.

    Michael grasped the Descendant''s cor and stared into his eyes coldly, "We are allies and ought to rely on each other in emergency situations like this. If you were in their stead, you would want to be rescued as well. So you better stop spouting nonsense and help!"

    The Descendant was only a 2nd-year student at the Peak of the 2nd Tier. He had a Support-type Soultrait and didn''t expect some nobody to confront him when he was still shocked by the incident that happened mere minutes ago.

    Staring into the deadly cold eyes of the young man, whose presence weighed heavily onto him, the young Descendant felt as if he was suffocating.

    "Michael is right. Let''s save everyone we can. Zayn, Lily, and Pierre will stay here to protect Maria and the injured with everything you got. The rest should get moving!" Jirah Loar intervened. He appeared next to Michael and looked straight into the enraged youth''s eyes.

    Michael released the young Descendant who slumped to the ground with trembling legs. "Thanks," Michael said half-heartedly to Jirah when he saw that the other Descendants began to move. They stared daggers at Michael since he was a mere nobody who confronted one of their people and gave them orders. However, Michael couldn''t care less. He had begun to hate the Descendants more and more. Some were entirely useless because all they cared about was their ownfort, safety, and establishing connections with other families, while others were too arrogant for their own good. Worse even, they cared only about their own kind. They would leave the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to die if that meant that they could rescue one more of their Descendants from rubble and ashes.

    "But what about Maria''s energy reserves? She won''t have enough to tend to all of them?" One of the Descendants asked, his eyes moving to a young woman who was being tended to by Maria.

    The bright lights emanating from Maria''s hands had dulled and it was not difficult to tell that her Soultrait''s power began to dwindle. Maria didn''t have enough energy left to use her full power to heal everyone equally. Therefore, some Descendants wanted to ensure that their own kind would be tended to rather than the Berserkers or Warlock Centaurs. They had their own healers, after all!

    Unfortunately, the medic team of the Colosseum had been struck and killed by one of the Perses Missiles. Maria was currently the only healer in the Colosseum.

    ''Am I in the wrong here?'' Michael wondered at this moment. He strained Maria too much by bringing everyone who was severely wounded to her. She was only a Low Tier-3 Lord, therefore her energy reserves were highly restricted. 7-Star Soultraits required a tremendous amount of energy to be used at full power. The effects were grand, but the energy consumption was terrifying. Of course, Maria couldn''t heal everyone by herself.

    ''No. I''m not wrong¡­'' Michael grit his teeth. He didn''t prioritize any of the Descendants. If anything, he treated every patient the same. They were all allies and should thus care for each other.

    "Ah fuck off. Just help everyone. I will make sure that Maria has enough energy to heal everyone!" Michael cursed the Descendant before turning to Jirah.

    "Trust me, please." He told Jirah, looking at him hopefully.

    The resolve and determination in Michael''s eyes caught Jirah by surprise, and the corners of his lips curled upward.

    "It looks like my research about you waspletely wrong. I owe you an apology," Jirah said, clearing his throat before he waved to the other Descendant, "Get moving everyone! We got to save everyone!" The Descendants followed Jirah''smand. They didn''t trust Michael, but they knew that they could trust Jirah. If Jirah said that everyone would be tended to, it was a fact. "We will help as well!" A familiar voice from nearby resounded. It was Fernando Jochez, whom Michael had met only once.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but nodded his head without saying anything else. He then headed to Maria, whose clothes were drenched in sweat. He caught himself looking at her beautiful form for a moment before regaining his senses in the next.

    "Don''t reject it," Michael said as he pressed his right hand against Maria''s back. Once his palm connected to her back, Michael used the Power of Energy Imprint stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact.

    A tremendous amount of energy swirled through Michael''s right hand right before traversing to Maria. Sensing the cold energy that traversed from Michael''s hand and seeped into her back, Maria gasped. She let out a startled gasp and looked back at Michael, her eyes wide open.

    "Better?" Michael asked gently, hoping that the Power of Energy Imprint stored in the Legendary Ring Artifact would be enough tost for a while. Maria''splexion improved drastically. Her cheeks turned faint pink and herbored breathing slowly returned to normal.

    "Thanks," She mumbled, ignoring the heat that rose to her ears.

    Her clothes were drenched in sweat and sticking to her body. It was ufortable to be looked at by many in such a state as Maria would never allow anyone to see her exhausted like this. But now a young man pressed his hand against her drenched back; against the clothes clinging to her body like a second skin. Maria felt like there was no gap between Michael''s hand and her back, almost like she was naked.

    ''So warm.'' Michael''s warmth pressed against her. It filled Maria with energy and vigor.

    Staring into the dark eyes of the young man, who supported her without anyints, Maria felt reassured. She thought that everything would be alright and that she could save everyone.

    "Are you at your limit?" Maria asked right after finishing healing the female Descendant in front of her. The young woman got up and thanked Maria several times for tending to her wounds, but Maria''s full attention had already returned to Michael.

    Maria could feel that the crimson ring was the source that allowed Michael to provide her with so much energy. However, she didn''t know how much energy the ring stored and if the Artifact''s output was already at its limit.

    "Not yet. I can channel more energy into you, but that will strain your body further. I don''t think your body can handle more," Michael said, only for a corner of Maria''s lips to tilt upward.

    "Don''t underestimate me. Increase the output and witness Heaven''s Descent!" Maria dered loud enough for the Descendants around her to hear.

    The three Descendants who had been ordered to protect Maria were already stupefied at her abrupt change of personality. Maria Seraph was calm andposed. Her majestic appearance highlighted her gracefulness, and theck of emotions created a hue of enigma around her.

    But the same graceful and emotionless beauty they had worshiped as the Saintess was now staring at Michael with flushed cheeks and shouting in excitement like a little girl. That was already enough to shock the Descendants to the heart since none of them had ever been able to change the way Maria Seraph looked at them emotionlessly, but that was not everything.

    Maria was about to use her Inheritance Technique, Heaven''s Descent. "Are you ready to take on responsibility for what you said before?" Maria asked, staring at Michael with a dead-serious expression.

    "What I said before? You mean earlier when I shouted at these idiots?" Michael asked, only to narrow his eyes.

    "And what do you mean ''bear responsibility''?! We''re here to safe everyone, not to sleep with each other!"

 Chapter 442 Troublesome

    Chapter 442 Troublesome

    The situation all over the Colosseum was a lotworse than they initially thought. Dozens of participants died, the medic team had been obliterated and almost everyone was either severely wounded or on the verge of dying.

    Only those tended to by Maria could currently help bring the other injured to Maria. Some tried to use their crystal watch to call for help, but nobody answered their calls. Thework system had been blocked.

    "Don''t worry. Nothing will go wrong. There won''t be a need for you to bear any responsibility!" Maria said right before shrouding her entire body in a dazzling light.

    A halo manifested above her head and semi-transparent wings sprouted from her back.

    The dazzling light slowly expanded. It covered Michael''s hand until the dazzling light reached his War Rune.

    "Channel more energy into me, and please don''t reject me, otherwise, it might be painful for both of us," Maria ordered a moment before the dazzling light infiltrated his War Rune.

    There was no time to waste with too many dying people waiting to be tended to. Maria couldn''t heal everyone solely with her Soultrait. That was why she had to resort to her Inheritance technique.

    As the dazzling light infiltrated his War Rune, Michael sensed that the Sphere of Light and all of his Soultrait Symbols began to light up. He didn''t activate his Soultraits simultaneously, but it felt like Maria reached out to his Soultraits ¨C the storages of his Soultraits'' Soul Power, to be precise.

    Maria connected to the Soul Power stored within each of his Soultraits to use it temporarily. That was what her Inheritance technique did. Using Heaven''s Descent allowed Maria to expand her divine light and tap into the Soul Power of those who were willing to aid her in the creation of a miracle.

    Michael didn''t like that Maria might be able to sense how many Soultraits he possessed ording to the amount of Soul Power residing within him, but if he could save hundreds of prodigies from the Tritan Alliance it would be fine. It was not as if she could find out the power of his Soultraits that way, either way.

    He allowed her to use his Soul Power temporarily to boost the power output of her 7-Star Soultrait. Simultaneously, Maria drained the entire energy stored within the Power of Energy Imprint within seconds.

    She broke into a sweat, and her veins bulged at the massive amount of energy residing within her body as she unleashed her Soultrait [Archangel''s Grace].

    The semi-translucent wings sprouting from her back transformed and became real. Simultaneously, the halo levitating above her head began to shimmer brightly as well. The halo and wings radiated a white light that expanded throughout the entire Colosseum before stretching even farther.

    As the white light stopped stretching it gathered in dozens of spots. The white light congregated and formed various silhouettes of humanoid lifeforms. Large wings spread out from their back and halos adorned them all. The silhouettes lifted their left hands right into the air. They conjured staffs out of thin air and gestured downward.

    Beams of light shot to the ground where they spread like a flood. But instead of water, the flood spread divine light wherever it passed by. The divine light radiated soothing warmth and dazzling lights that sought the confused and wounded to tend to their wounds.

    Once the wounded were located, the silhouettes of Angels used their divine light to release divine pirs in various locations.

    The entire district around the Colosseum was flooded in dazzling lights and divine pirs. The wounded were healed and the jumbled feelings of the desperate and confused dispersed. Their pain was eased and their fears controlled to calm everyone.

    Michael felt the effect of Maria''s Soultrait and the terrific power of her Inheritance technique up close. His Soul Power was momentarily drained from him, leaving less than 10% for him to use. He felt extremely weak for a moment. However, Michael was not worried. If anything, he was shocked upon realizing how vast the area of effect of the Inheritance Technique was. It was terrifying, yet also impressive.

    His mind was put to ease as a divine pir shone upon him and everyone around him. Michael watched as dozens of dying Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were healed in a matter of seconds. Their condition improved drastically and they regained consciousness not long after.

    Once everyone was tended to, and the energy surging through Maria had been used up, the divine lights dispersed. The Angel silhouettes vanished and a soft groan escaped Maria''s lips.

    Michael stared at Maria, his impression of her changing drastically. The young woman of the Seraph family was gasping for breath. Her sight turned blurred, she grew pale like a sheet of paper and her knees wobbled due to the exhaustion soon after. She was on the verge of copsing, yet a faint smile stered her face.

    "I got them all," She whispered softly, her hair sticking to her pale face.

    "Good job," Michael said, ready to remove his hand from her back. But just as he was about to pull back, Michael noticed that Maria didn''t have an ounce of strength in her body left. A slight blow of air would be enough to push her around.

    While Michael''s Soul Power returned to him, Maria felt extremely weak and drained. She had never used Archangel''s Grace on such arge scale before. It was a first for her, including the use of the Inheritance technique with someone outside the Seraph family.

    Maria felt Michael''s warm hand pressing against her back to support her. She nced at him and noticed something from the corner of her eye. Maria''s eyes widened in surprise and confusion. The next moment she began to chuckle, looking at the back of his right hand.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t expect it to be that troublesome¡­" She mumbled right before copsing, taking him down with herself.

    Michael caught Maria, one eyebrow raised at herment but the unexpected weight of hers threw him off guard and he smacked his back against the ground.

    ''Troublesome? What was?''

    Michael tried to position Maria a little bit better to help her get up. However, she was not conscious anymore. Her head bobbed against his chest and she would have smacked her head against the rubble if Michael allowed her to slip away. She was oblivious to his plight and the tension bubbling inside his chest while Michael was slowly trying to get up from the ground without identally hurting her.

    Atst, help arrived. A group of Champions consisting of several Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs arrived at the remnants of the once glorious Colosseum. Following the Champions, human helpers arrived as well. Michael saw Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke. They found him and began running in his direction. But then their eyes fell on the young woman who had her head resting upon his chest. Their eyes widened and they slowed down visibly.

    Just as Michael was about to call them out he noticed that Jirah appeared next to him.

    "Can you help me out a bit?" Michael asked as Jirah stared at him.

    "I¡­can''t¡­" Jirah said, "Not like this¡­"

    A frown appeared on Michael''s face. He then looked down at Maria to see that some of her clothes were see-through now that she was drenched in sweat.

    ''It wasn''t like that before. Using her Soultrait, or her Inheritance technique shouldn''t have turned her clothes see-through though¡­Weird¡­'' Michael thought, essing his War Rune to retrieve a bunch of nkets. He put them around Maria and looked over to Jirah once again.

    "Is it better now?"

    "As long as I don''t have to touch her it will be fine," Jirah said, staring at Michael as if he was an extraterrestrial lifeform.

    ''Wasn''t he her fan and a childhood friend? What is the problem with helping her? He didn''t look like someone with OCD.''

    Michael decided to not bother thinking about it. Instead, he helped Jirah pick up Maria to bring her to the nearest medic, who could observe her condition.

    But just as Jirah was about to take Maria away he noticed something shining on the back of Michael''s hand.

    "Shit." He blurted out, taking Michael by surprise.

    Michael was just about to ask something when he saw Jirah pressing his lips together in a thin line. He looked at Michael again and stared even longer at the back of Michael''s right hand.

    "This is very troublesome¡­" He said, repeating what Maria mentioned earlier.

    Michael tilted his head, but Jirah left in a rushed manner. It was almost like he didn''t want to be connected to him, as if Michael was a disease. He eyed Michael with concern and mumbled a quick "Sorry for the trouble," and disappeared.

    "What the hell was that?" Michael asked, only to notice that more members of Maria''s loyal fan club were staring at him.

    Some stared at him in fury, but Michael predicted that they simply hated him for confronting them earlier. Their anger was normal. It was something Michael could understand and file away into the section of ''arrogant Descendant, who cannot deal with no names confronting them'' of his mind. They followed the clich¨¨ lifestyle of the Young Masters that were mentioned often in some of the books he read when he was younger.

    But the others, those who eyed him with mixed emotions, confusion, and even jealousy- Michael couldn''t understand them.

    Were they jealous that he talked with Maria, or that he touched her back? That was not impossible given that none of the fan club members must have been able to approach her that closely. They must have wanted to make sure to keep a polite distance from their idol. That would make sense ¨C somehow, in a twisted way.

    But Michael couldn''t understand the puzzlement and the other mixed feelings that he saw in their eyes.

    "What are they so confused about?" He murmured, not noticing that Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke arrived next to him.

    "Why was the Saintess leaning against you?" Zeke asked straightforwardly.

    Michael looked at Zeke and tried to read his expression.

    "When the Perses Missiles impacted, many sustained heavy injuries. I brought them to her, shouted at the crying pseudo-Descendants, andmanded her fan club to start helping out. Then I channeled more energy into her with my Ring Artifact since she was getting tired. After that, she used Heaven''s Descent. You probably witnessed the rest. Maria''s Soultrait is really powerful. I understand why everyone is so interested in her," He summarized within a few sentences.

    Michael thought nothing special of it, but the three Descendants stared at him like he was some sort of alien.

    "So you could touch her just like that?" Zeke asked.

    "Wait¡­so she used her family''s Inheritance Technique WHILE you touched her?" Lincoln added.

    "And you gave her permission to use your Soul Power¡­and it worked without giving you a bacsh¡­" Kaleb''s voice grew increasingly frantic with each spoken word.

    Listening to each other, the three began to stare at the back of Michael''s right hand and cursed out in unison.

    "That is troublesome¡­"

 Chapter 443 Mark

    Chapter 443 Mark

    Michael scowled while staring at the back of his hand. His War Rune didn''t look the same as before. It looked like it expanded to his fingers where it morphed into an Angel with wide-spread wings.

    Only a small portion of the War Rune''s upper area had changed, but the changes were quite obvious. It was enough to attract everyone''s attention¡­and for everyone to say that ''it'' was troublesome.

    "What is that? Why did my War Rune transform?" Michael asked his friends.

    Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb looked at each other but didn''t answer immediately.

    "Basically, you were marked," Lincoln responded atst.

    "Marked?"

    "You really know nothing about the Seraph family, do you?" Zeke responded with a deep frown on his face. He was visibly annoyed.

    Lincoln tapped Zeke''s shoulder and responded in Michael''s stead, "Calm down, Zeke. It''s only obvious that Michael knows nothing about the secrets of the Supreme Families. You tend to forget that he is not yet a member of High Society. Who would have told him about our secrets?"

    Zeke stared at Lincoln and clicked his tongue, "Right."

    His head flicked to Michael before he uttered a silent apology. "Sorry about that."

    The next moment Zeke sighed deeply and began to exin Michael a few things.

    "The Mark on the back of your hand means that your Soul Power is highlypatible with Maria''s Soultrait. It was very easy for her to use Heaven''s Descent, the Seraph family''s Inheritance technique, while tapping into your Soul Power. The Inheritance technique allows her to temporarily use the Soul Power of the allies within her range to enhance her Soultrait. This effect is even stronger if several conditions are met. First, if your bodies are in contact, Heaven''s Descent can naturally traverse through her body to reach your War Rune. Second, your Soultraits have to bepatible to ensure that your Soul Power is not ipatible with Maria''s. The higher thepatibility rate the more Soul Power she can use temporarily. Third, if you trust Maria enough to use your Soul Power to achieve the goal you want to achieve as well, you can naturally increase the amount of Soul Power that is transferred to her momentarily. All of those reasonsbined are probably the reason why Archangel''s Grace''s full power was unleashed.

    To exin it without using all thoseplicated terms, your War Rune was altered as a trace of Maria''s Soultrait infiltrated your War Rune ¨C because you and Maria met all conditions I''ve mentioned just now," Zeke exined, only for Kaleb to interrupt.

    "Something you should know is that the shape of the Seraph family''s War Rune was always a little bit different from everyone else. There are a few families with War Runes of different shapes. Some say that their altered War Runes are more powerful when using certain Soultraits, while others say that the shape of the War Rune doesn''t change anything."

    Lincoln then added, "You don''t have to worry too much about that though. Everyone from the Seraph family, including the members who married into the Seraph family, have altered Soultraits."

    Michael''s scowl deepened.

    "So, you mean that the War Runes of those who married to the Seraph family look like mine?" He asked, pointing at the dimly glowing Angel on the back of his hand.

    "Yeah¡­basically," Lincoln said, noticing that he might have given Michael too much information when he was, in fact, not yet ready.

    "Everyone, including you guys, told me that this is troublesome. What exactly is troublesome about this?" Michael asked. He looked over to Lincoln and added, "You don''t want me to believe that anyone can force me to join some family through marriage? That sounds like the story of a cliche drama show with overused tropes."

    "Well, it is troublesome because I heard that everyone marked by the Seraph family will have to join them one way or another. I think they heard the same, otherwise, they wouldn''t have said that it is troublesome," Zeke responded, his heterochromatic eyes lingering on Michael''s face. He was trying to read Michael''s expressions and how he would react to the news.

    "I have to join the Seraph family? I don''t think I will though," Michael responded lightly. There was no way that they could force him to join their family. It didn''t make sense. All Michael tried to do was to help Maria tend to everyone''s wounds. It was an emergency, and not like he wanted to be marked by her.

    "If our Soultraits weren''tpatible, or I wouldn''t have allowed her to use 90% of my Soul Power temporarily, would I have gotten marked¡­or not?" Michael then asked, still trying to understand the principle behind the Seraph family''s Soultrait and Inheritance Technique.

    "How do you not know how rare it is for someone to be mark¨C...Ahh, right. You are not a Descendant. I forgot again," Zeke cursed quietly, clearing his throat to answer Michael''s question with a much calmer mind. "It is very rare to get Marked randomly. Usually the Seraph family searches for years to find a suitable Amplifier for their descendants. The Seraph family searched for Maria''s mother for almost two decades. Her father is one of the two Lords with a 6-Star Healing Soultrait in the Seraph family if you didn''t know that. Yet, Maria has a 7-Star Soultrait¡­"

    The more Michael listened intently, the more his head began buzzing with doubts. "So the stronger the Soultrait the harder it is for the Seraph family to find a suitable Amplifier¡­because an Amplifier needs to havepatible Soultraits ¨C usually one Soultrait ¨C with an enormous amount of Soul Power. And since high-ranked Soultraits usually have more Soul Power than weaker Soultraits, Maria has to find her Amplifier among the offspring ¨C or those with powerful Soultraits¡­I guess?"

    Heaven''s Descent was definitely a weird technique.

    Michael understood what an Amplifier was since he witnessed it first hand. An Amplifier enhanced the power of the Seraph family''s Soultrait through their Inheritance technique.

    With a suitable Amplifier the Seraph family could create miracles just like Maria did in the Colosseum.

    "So I am now Maria''s Amplifier¡­because we wanted to rescue everyone? That sounds like¡­bullshit," Michael grumbled. "Can''t she search for another Amplifier? Maria might have to search for a while, but if nobody tells the Seraph family about the incident everything will be alright, right?"

    The moment the words left his mouth, Michael realized how stupid he sounded. Too many people ¨C Descendants at that ¨C had seen the tremendous power Maria''s Soultrait unleashed thanks to him. If that was not enough, many had also seen the changes his War Rune underwent. It was near-impossible to ensure that everyone would keep their mouth shut in front of their parents and the Seraph family.

    "If it was that easy, you would be a very lucky guy¡­or unlucky since most people would love to be linked with Maria. I don''t think you understand how many people are ¨C and will be ¨C envious of you," Kaleb said, causing Michael to retort, "Like you?"

    Kaleb shook his head lightly but nced over to Lincoln. Lincoln was a good guy, but Michael could tell that the Descendant of the Piedra family looked at his War Rune longingly.

    ''Does he like Maria? Well, she is beautiful and her personality doesn''t seem to be too bad either. She wanted to rescue everyone while those idiots of her fan club wanted to help only their kind. It''s understandable that Lincoln fancies her.''

    "Let me be blunt with you," Lincoln said once he''d gotten his emotions under control, "Many would be jealous of you for being Maria''s Primal Amplifier. Numerous Descendants who won''t inherit their family''s business or won''t be patriarch/matriarch would love to join the Seraph family. Even heirs of Great Families would consider joining the Seraph family if they were Maria''s Amplifier ¨C her Primal Amplifier at that!"

    Michael was just about to ask what a Primal Amplifier actually is and what it meant to be Maria''s Amplifier when Lincoln lifted his hand.

    "Maria never used her Inheritance Technique with someone else other than her family. As a member of the Seraph family and household, you are either rted to Maria by blood, or you are an Amplifier of Maria''s parents or rtives. None of them can be Maria''s Amplifier because blood rtives and those who were already Amplifiers of her family cannot establish a connection with her. If you are blood rted, or your Soultraits are too simr, an Amplification Mark can never link you two together. You are different¡­too different ¨C if I were to be blunt ¨C, yet somehow Maria''s Soultrait still epted you. That''s weird, but let''s leave that aside for now.

    Fact is that you are the first potential Amplifier, whom she used Heaven''s Descent with. You werepatible enough to create the Mark of Fate¡­That''s what the Seraph family calls the first Mark that can only be established between Maria and the Primal Amplifier.. Therefore a tiny portion of her Soultrait now resides in your War Rune. Your connection will grow stronger, thus nurturing the power Maria will be able to exhibit with her Soultrait even if she doesn''t use her Inheritance Technique.

    "Through your connection, Maria''s power will always be amplified as long as she is close to you, whereas you are the only Amplifier of Maria, who will ever be able to naturally strengthen the shard of Maria''s Soultrait within you. You will naturally collect Soul Power within the shard which both of you can use," Lincoln exined, his voice growing more and more tired.

    He had no energy to speak to Michael any longer. It pained his heart too much.

    Kaleb didn''t really care too much about Lincoln''s pain as he added, "You will be able to hoard a portion of her Soultrait''s power as well when you stay close to her. That way you can use Archangel''s Grace as well even if it won''t be as powerful."

    Michael listened intently, but he sincerely wished that he didn''t understand a single thing. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

    ''So only one Primal Amplifier can exist, which is the first person who is marked by the Inheritance Technique due to highpatibility of Soultraits and some other factors. That dude is quite unlucky¡­aka me¡­''

    Being able to use a portion of Maria''s Soultrait sounded like a blessing, but turning into the Primal Amplifier of Maria Seraph would push him in the center of attention¡­the High Society''s attention no less.

    Michael could already imagine hundreds, if not thousands, of people ming him for bing Maria''s Primal Amplifier despite being a nobody. Many would definitely try to bully him and give him a hard time wherever he went. At the same time, the Seraph family would probably think that he had ill intentions and selfish motives for trying to get close to their beloved prodigy. Michael could already imagine them ''interrogate'' him via torture to find out what intentions he had when he approached Maria.

    He was just a nobody without a family. That made everything even worse in the High Society''s eyes.

    The impression he was bound to make in the eyes of others was certainly sub-zero.

    "That will be fun," Michael murmured, not feeling funny at all.

    "But let''s look at it from the brighter perspective," Kaleb said, causing everyone to turn to the blue-haired youth.

    "We don''t have any time to dwell upon the subject of Maria and Michael turning into her Primal Amplifier. There is something far more troublesome waiting for us!"

    "Is there something more troublesome than the chance of being forced to join a family I know nothing about?" Michael blurted out right before he realized something.

    Ah¡­right. They had been under attack.

    [A/N: It''s me, the Author. November has just begun but we''re already in a big dilemma with Michael and his...his what? What will Maria Seraph be? Is she the female lead or...is it someone else? Give me your guesses and drop some fancy reviews on the site. :D]

 Chapter 444 Primal Amplifier

    <h4>Chapter 444 Primal Amplifier</h4>

    "ording to the news we''ve heard, the expedition ship Tritaenus was hijacked, and we don''t know who was behind it yet," Zeke revealed, "All we know is that the Tritaenus released 108 Perses Missiles all over Piloq before disappearing. The Tritaenus hasn''t been seen since it left, meaning that the GPS and special navigation system got hacked."

    "As you can imagine the higher-ups are now utterly bewildered and enraged ¨C for good reason," Kaleb included heavily. He had never seen his sister that angry and flustered. It was terrifying.

    "The Battle Exchange was interrupted and too many lost their lives, civilians as well as prodigies. The families who lost their precious Descendants won''t sit quietly. They will definitely get moving to nab the culprits. As for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who died in the attack¡­their families are even worse. To see their children die in such a manner is one of the most dishonorable ways to die possible. It is a disgrace to their families and the honor of their children''s Battle Spirit."

    The group, or organization that hijacked the Tritaenus was bound to get hunted down by thebined efforts of the three races. Everyone desired to catch them and tear them apart publicly. Michaelprehended that point very well.

    "Did the Tritaenus encounter a foreign race that hijacked the ship?" He inquired.

    "No, that''s not possible. Therge-scale radars in Piloq would have sensed the frequencies of foreign races several hundred thousand kilometers before they entered Piloq''s range. The Tritaenus had to be much closer than that for the Perses Missiles to hit the targets in Piloq precisely¡­and that they did¡­" Zeke exined.

    "That means the Hijackers were¡­"

    "Humans, Berserkers, or Warlock Centaurs," Lincoln rified, only for Zeke to add, "Humans are the most likely though. Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would never do something as honorless as attacking weakly with missiles. In fact, they don''t use weapons like missiles in the first ce."

    Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were naturally fond of closebat battles. Their inborn Battle Spirit was extraordinary and they were honorable fighters who could only find eternal peace by dying on the battlefield, covered in scars. Even the most annoying, arrogant, and disgusting Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t dishonor their existence by using the Perses Missiles to kill the innocent in a cowardly attack.

    That was what the history books of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs said. Of course, the history books might not be 100% right.

    "We have to deal with traitors," Kaleb got straight to the point.

    Zeke nodded before he continued summarizing to Michael what they had theorized on their way to the Colosseum, "We predict that some hostile organization is trying to destroy the delicate rtions between Humans, Warlock Centaurs, and Berserkers. That is also why we rushed to the Colosseum. We were hoping that everyone survived and that the Tritan Alliance helped one another. Therefore, it was very good that Maria didn''t distinguish between the races when she used her Inheritance Technique to heal everyone. If she healed only the injured humans¡­it would have been a lot more troublesome than you can imagine."

    "Losing the trust of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would have been the worst¡­that''s true," Michael concurred wholeheartedly.

    ''It was a good thing that I confronted the Descendants,'' He could only think, giving himself a pat on the back, only for Zeke to hit his sore spot. "But you seem to have gained a bunch of enemies. I genuinely doubt that it''s all because of Maria and bing her Primal Amplifier."

    "Hmm?"

    Michael''s gaze swept around the remnants of the Colosseum and he smiled lightly at what he saw. A bunch of Descendants were staring daggers at him. It felt like their hands were itching to tear him apart on the spot. Michael found that quite entertaining.

    "Yeah¡­well¡­ I might have shouted at them, telling them that they''re fucking cowards and losers. Maybe I also added some other stuff, but I don''t really care that much. They didn''t want Maria to heal the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs and chose to abandon them to focus on their own well-being. Fucking bastards!" He cursed, resulting in a stifledugh from Zeke.

    Meanwhile, Lincoln looked at Michael with a faint smile. It was truly hard to dislike Michael.

    "I can tell why they hate you. Most Descendants don''t take insults well. And most of them are selfish because of the way they''ve been treated as they grew up. Though I understand their way of thinking to a certain extent. Maria was the only healer who survived the attack, and she is not yet a High Lifeform who can use the full potential of her 7-Star Soultrait. The Descendants wanted their friends and colleagues to be saved as long as Maria had some energy left ¨C rather than having her use up her entire energy for strangers of another race." Zeke said, seemingly torn between what to say.

    "But it was a good thing she used her Inheritance Technique with you since you have so many Soultraits storing Soul Power. If not for that, she would have never been able to rescue everyone, which would have worsened the rtions of the Tritan Alliance."

    Michael didn''t react to the part where Zeke mentioned his Soultraits and shrugged. "I am just d that we could save so many people. The Mark of Fate issue is still a little bit annoying, but that can be solved at ater point. The most important was to survive!"

    "But what are we supposed to do now? The Tritaenus ship disappeared and too many people have either been injured or killed. Will the Battle Exchange end now, or will we continue like normal? The Interdimensional g War won''t wait for us¡­so we will continue, I guess?"

    Michael was not really close to anyone who died. He was pretty sure that Thoars, Lokai, and Mekhaz were fine. As for Alice, Kaleb just told Michael that she was furious but physically in top form. That meant he wasn''t too affected by the attack of the Tritaenus spaceship¡­or so he thought at first.

    He didn''t even realize that he stared at the cloudless sky through the copsed rooftop of the Colosseum every few seconds. It was almost like Michael expected another barrage of Perses Missiles to strike them.

    The attack of the Traitors was a great surprise. It was terrifying. If he had been an ordinary citizen in Piloq, Michael wouldn''t have been able to do anything against the Perses Missiles. Even today he had been lucky that his arm received most of the impact and that the Perses Missile impacted far enough from his position.

    The destructive power of the Perses Missile must have been weakened, in the first ce. The Colosseum had its own defensive mechanism that was activated in emergencies. Michael hadn''t noticed anything but upon thinking about it a little longer, he realized that Perses Missiles were uttered to be far more destructive than the damage he had witnessed.

    When he was young he researched all kinds of spaceships and the weapon system they''d installed. Perses Missiles had been introduced as one of the deadliest missiles that could be manufactured on arge scale.

    ''Did I survive because I was lucky¡­again? No. We all survived because we were lucky. The Colosseum saved us¡­some of us¡­ I am still too weak¡­''

    Attacks like today could happen on any day, any time, and anywhere in the future. The Space Guards tried to protect everyone, but who uttered that it was possible to protect everyone? Traitors of mankind could appear anywhere, and they could cause devastating damage.

    ''I need to grow stronger. Strong enough to make sure that I don''t have to be worried about a Traitor''s terrorist attack ever!''

    "Our mission for now is pretty simple. We''re trying to catch these bastard traitors!" An unfamiliar voice reached Michael and his friends as a Berserker appeared next to him. He was four meters tall and Michael recalled him as the Berserker, whom he had carried to Maria after getting impaled by several metal pipes.

    "I owe you my life. Thank you for saving me¡­No, for saving everyone. You stood up for us and made sure that your people helped us. Your help allowed us to escape an honorless death. We Berserkers don''t forget something like that. No matter what others say or do to push you down, don''t ever forget that you are a true warrior!" The Berserker said, making a unique gesture, and left after expressing his gratitude.

    ''What was that?'' Michael thought, his eyes following the Berserker as he disappeared from his view.

    Michael then headed to the entrance ¨C or what had been the entrance ¨C of the Colosseum. They wanted to leave together now that everyone had already been tended to by Maria. There was a lot for them to do.

    But before he could leave, Michael was stopped by a group of Warlock Centaurs.

    "Thank you for saving us. Your people might dislike you now, but I hope you know that your actions meant a lot to us. If you ever need help don''t hesitate to ask for it. I am Kdra Velchion. Remember my name, and know that we will do everything in our power to be of use to you whenever the need arises! We owe you big time!" The head of the Warlock Centaur group said before they all did a simr gesture as the Berserker before leaving as well.

    "It looks like you collect enemies and friends side by side. That''s quite entertaining. Except that you make enemies of your own kind and friends with others," Zeke said, teasing Michael a little, "You will have a hard time once the Seraph Family pushes you into the circle of the High Society."

    Michael pressed his lips together and gazed at Zeke.

    "I liked you better when you judged me silently," He responded, but Zeke only chuckled at that.

 Chapter 445 Rival?

    Chapter 445 Rival?

    Chaos ran rampant wherever Michael looked. The crowded alleys with dozens of prestigious training grounds and Ancient structures from the Origin Expanse were now utterly devastated. Dozens of missile pits, copsed buildings, and corpses of unfortunate victims could be seen everywhere.

    Debris and rubble had been flung in all directions, harming the few buildings that didn''t copse from the Perses Missiles'' explosions.

    "They targeted the Ancient Buildings," Zeke mumbled quietly, "How did they even know the location of all those ces? Had they been nning to attack Piloq for a long time? But that¡­"

    Zeke''s voice became more silent as his confusion increased. But who could me him for that? The ce they had intended to use to train tirelessly for the next two months had been bombarded with destructive missiles by one of the Tritan Alliance''s most valuable spaceships. It was said that the Tritaenus had been the most secure exploration spaceship. Unfortunately, that hadn''t been enough to deal with the traitors of their own kind.

    The Tritan Alliance had been betrayed, resulting in the loss of dozens of prodigies ¨C if not hundreds ¨C, and the loss of the Sacred City of Training. Even though the city hadn''t been obliterated, the vast majority of training facilities had been damaged beyond repair. Therefore thebined efforts of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had been destroyed. Just like that their efforts of several decades had been diminished to nothing but debris and debris.

    While that was already a severe hit to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, the destruction of the training facilities and the death of hundreds of prodigies meant that the participants of the Interdimensional g War wouldn''t be in their best condition, physically or mentally.

    The exact names and numbers of the prodigies who died from the sudden bombardment were not yet out, but Michael could guess that dozens of Token Holders had been killed.

    ''Without the training facilities, it will be increasingly more difficult to train in Piloq. But we have to train in Piloq if we want to improve our teamwork andmunication with everyone else. Even the advantage of the Origin Expanse''s time dtion will be of little use in this regard.''

    Training in the Origin Expanse meant that he had twice as much time. However, Michael was also fully aware of the advantages a great team consisting of the Tritan Alliance''s three races had. He and Kaleb had teamed up with a Warlock Centaur and two Berserkers. Therefore, he could tell how important it was to understand the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' mindset to create a functioning team with exceptional teamwork.

    "I think I will meet up with Quinn and figure out which organization attacked us," Zeke mentioned after a while, his eyes gleaming intensely.

    "I wille with you," Lincoln said, while Kaleb looked from Zeke to Michael.

    Michael smiled lightly, "I will return to my room if the hotel is still standing that is. You won''t see me until tomorrow. I will probably enter the Origin Expanse."

    Michael''s mind was in a mess. Too much happened in such a short amount of time, and he didn''t really want to be faced with anymore Descendants. He considered meeting up with Alice for a moment, but Michael could already imagine her reaction upon seeing the changes of his War Rune.

    Most Descendants and higher authorities must have already heard about the miracle Maria manifested with her Inheritance technique. Therefore, Michael was put in a tight spot. He didn''t want to annoy himself with politics, a concerned teacher, or a bunch of annoyingly arrogant brats. Thus, withdrawing to the Origin Expanse for a day might be the best to calm his mind.

    Michael had many tasks to take care of in the Origin Expanse, either way.

    "That might actually be the best idea. I am not sure how everyone will react to the Mark of Fate. You better prepare yourself mentally before youe back from the Origin Expanse," Lincoln said, suppressing a heavy sigh as his eyes involuntarilynded on Michael''s War Rune.

    "Thanks for your concern. I will be back soon," Michael responded, smiling at Lincoln before turning away to leave.

    Michael left the three Descendants by themselves as he returned to the hotel with steady strides.

    "How can Michael handle all of this so easily? He looks so unconcerned and unbothered," Lincoln mumbled as his eyes followed the retreating figure of his friend.

    "Are you talking about the terrorist''s attack or the future issues he''ll have with the Seraph family and the High Society?" Zeke asked swiftly.

    "Both, I guess."

    Kaleb looked at the two childhood friends and sighed deeply, "It''s not that Michael doesn''t care. He is just good at hiding how he feels. Michael is probably one of the people who overthink way too much. Though, I suspect that his mind is nk right now. The news about the Mark of Fate, the Seraph family, and the fact that he will soon be pushed into High Society politics must have shocked him quite a bit.

    "As for the attack, it is the first time most of us lived through a terrorist attack on such a scale, but we''re all quite calm ¨C on the outside, at least."

    Lincoln shook his head, not quite sure if Kaleb understood his friend properly.

    "I never understood Michael. He was not trained as intensely as any of us, from a young age at that, but his mental fortitude might as well make us look like rookies." He said, a tinge of admiration lingering in his voice.

    Lincoln had always been impressed with Michael. Michael had no one to support him yet his War Rune''s refinement degree was on par with his own. But that was not all. Michael was also extremely strong, his determination was extraordinary and it looked like he progressed much faster than everyone else.

    By now, Lincoln was not sure if he could defeat Michael without the use of his Inheritance Technique. Even then it would be a close match. Lincoln was not certain of his victory, which was also why he desired to spar with Michael with all his might. He wanted to find out how much Michael had improved since they first fought.

    The only thing that irked Lincoln about Michael was the fact that he underestimated himself. Putting aside the fact that Michael became Maria''s Primal Amplifier, which saddened Lincoln quite a bit, Lincoln couldn''t help but think that Michael was horrifyingly good at socializing without even trying.

    Michael''s personality was very adept at making enemies as well, but it was almost like Michael could subconsciously tell who he could offend without problems and which families he had to get close to. He befriended Alice while being oblivious to her prestige and influence. Then he offended Kaleb, only to end up bing one of his good friends several months before Kaleb manifested his 7-Star Soultrait.

    And now Michael had gotten close to two heirs of High Nobles, received the Mark of Fate from the Saintess of the Seraph family, and it was rumored that Michael had gotten close to the Berserker''s Chieftain as well.

    "I told you. This guy is a monster," Kaleb chuckled lightly, "If you pick him as your rival you will grow stronger much faster than you can imagine. I hated that he was stronger than me, so I might have worked myself to death until my War Rune rivaled his. Just as I thought that I caught up to him, his War Rune''s refinement degree improved alongside his presence. He seems much stronger than before, not only physically but also mentally. Sometimes I really wonder how someone like Michael isn''t a Descendant or a direct disciple of a Great n."

    "Rival¡­" Lincoln mumbled quietly, the corner of his lips curling upward as he realized that he considered it. ''My past self would have never epted someone other than the strongest Descendants to be my rivals. But this guy¡­this guy shattered my view¡­ He really is a monster¡­''

    "Whether you pick him as your rival or not, that''s on you. But let''s meet up with Quinn and the others first. We have to find out who survived," Zeke said, ncing at his friend for a minute before he pulled him away.

    "To think that my rival would cause trouble to so many Descendants. He is a true troublemaker!" Kaleb chuckled, following right behind Lincoln Pierre and Zeke Lavita.

    In the meantime, Michael arrived in front of the hotel. It had been razed to the ground, diminished to bricks and broken furniture until there was nothing left of it.

    "Looks like I will anchor somewhere else," He mumbled, before moving to the nearby library. The surroundings of the library had been bombed, yet the structure of the library was standing strong. It survived the bombardment of Piloq...somehow.

    Michael entered it and was about to report to the receptionist that he wanted to anchor in the library when he noticed that no one was there.

    "Whatever¡­" Michael shrugged and manifested the Runic Gate.

    He stepped into the Runic Gate and returned to the Origin Expanse ¨C escaping the chaos of Piloq and his worries about the Mark of Fate and the potential course of events that were bound to follow with today''s happenings.

    ''Should I just live in the Origin Expanse permanently?''

    It was just a fleeting thought, but Michael felt drawn to it. In the Origin Expanse, it was highly unlikely that someone would bomb his territory out of nowhere. The Origin Expanse would also not force him to mingle with arrogant pricks and theds of High Society.

    Michael wouldn''t have to deal with Maria Seraph, or her family either. The only ones bothering him would be the Lords and Empires adjacent to his territory ¨C maybe the threats of the Untamed Jungle as well. Fortunately, those threats were fine for the time being. Michael could deal with them.

    ''But do I really want to live here permanently?'' Michael wondered.

    The answer was simple and unsurprising.

    "No. I don''t want to be like my parents. I won''t ever abandon anyone close to me!"

    **

    [A/N: The Author is back in the game with some questions hehe. First of all, I know that this chapter doesn''t seem very important to some of you guys, but it''s not a filler! That is something I''m very inquisitive about as well. Do you guys think chapters like these are actually filler, or is it more about other things that annoy you? Were you anticipating something bigger to happen now? What are your thoughts? Let me know, I will be waiting! :D]

 Chapter 446 Adapt and Overcome

    Chapter 446 Adapt and Ovee

    [Author Note: Thank you @Denis_Veremiy for gifting a Magic Castle. I am so excited! Thank you so much!!! A bonus chapter will be released Monday! Stay tuned everyone!]

    An eventful day passed with Michael copsing on the bed, feeling dead-tired.

    After he arrived in his territory, Michael began to work tirelessly. He didn''t want to think about the events in Piloq, the Mark of Fate, or anything else. All he wanted was peace of mind. Michael went on and beyond in the training session that followed his return to the territory. The Immortal Knight could tell that something happened to Michael but he didn''t inquire about anything. Instead, he gave Michael what he desired; a hellish training n that forced the young Lord to focus solely on training.

    Michael learned several new movement sequences to stretch his body and a few training courses that trained muscle groups he rarely used. His trainingsted half a day untilte into the night, but Michael was satisfied with himself. He broke through his limit and didn''t copse until the Immortal Knight''s training course had beenpleted.

    The result was a deep sleep devoid of any thoughts about the events of the day before. His body felt sore when he woke up the next morning. Michael got up slowly and felt the soreness spread through his entire body. It made him recall that he was still alive and that he was human and not a robot. Because that was how he felt sometimes ¨C like a robot. The attack on Piloq was the best example.

    As the Perses Missiles impacted, Michael had been worried about his well-being and the condition of his friends. He was concerned about them. However, he didn''t really care about the others. Michael tried to save everyone and make sure that everyone would survive, but he didn''t grieve for the dead. In fact, he didn''t even have the time to pay attention to the dead because he was struggling to keep the living alive.

    He was happy to have saved so many people with Maria, but Michael realized that he didn''t think about the dead until the others mentioned them. In the past, Michael would have been sad for the dead, maybe even concerned about the families of the deceased and their reactions. But ever since he witnessed so many people die ¨C since he caused so many deaths ¨C Michael was not the same anymore. He was not the same innocent youth as before. His hands were drenched in blood, and so was his mind.

    Were those changes caused by the Origin Expanse, or by society? Michael felt that it was rted to both. Society epted the rule ''might makes right'' to a degree that allowed Supreme Families and the truly powerful to do as they pleased. However, the origin of everything was probably the Origin Expanse.

    The Origin Expanse taught the Awakened that they had to be strong to survive. It was either kill or get killed. That was the most basic rule in the Origin Expanse. If one was not strong enough to kill their enemy, at least you had to be strong enough to protect yourself as you retreat.

    This was something Michael witnessed often enough since he manifested his War Rune. From day one he had been taught to ughter his enemies if he wanted a chance of survival. He even killed his ancestor, Cleave Fenrir, before he could practice the Wicked Spear Arts to a high level. If he hadn''t killed Cleave Fenrir, Michael would have ended up being the one dying in a puddle of his own blood.

    Too many instances in the Origin Expanse taught Micheal that only the strong could survive. That was also why he and the Elemental Empress were the only ones who survived the incident in the Elementals Cave, and the reason the Kitsun Lord was defeated. Michael had grown stronger, more resilient, and crazier with time.

    "What a mess!" He mumbled as he left his room.

    "What is a mess, master?" Tiara asked, her head peeking out from her room. She smiled gently at him, causing Michael to scoff.

    "Other than your hair, you mean?"

    It was obvious that Tiara had just gotten up given that her hair looked like a flock of birds had created their nests inside it. Tiara blushed and disappeared into her room upon hearing him. Not even a minuteter she returned to the door where she found Michael waiting for her ¨C the mess of hair brushed andbed to a smooth bun.

    "S-so¡­W-what is a mess? You didn''t answer, master," Tiara stuttered, trying to suppress her blush.

    "I don''t know either. It''s either my mind or the rest of the universe," Michael responded, sounding somewhat uncertain.

    "When was the universe ever in order? Is that even possible, master?"

    Michael slowed down in his tracks and looked at Tiara. Her bright silver eyes were locked onto her master and a bright smile blossomed on her face upon receiving more attention from Michael.

    "It''s always a mess, huh? Just like the Origin Expanse, I guess¡­"

    "Yup, yup. The Origin Expanse is just as messy. Maybe not as much...actually, I am not too sure about that. Sometimes I feel like the Origin Expanse is a nice ce, whereas I feel like my life had been less tense outside the Origin Expanse...until...well, you know what happened..."

    "In the Origin Expanse, you know that your neighbors are either enemies or friends. That is a great advantage, even though it is a little bit annoying that most neighbors will be your enemies, creating loads of trouble. But with troublee rewards, so that is still nice most of the time. As for the rest, they''re only your allies as long as you guys benefit from each other. Or as long as they don''t consider you as too dangerous. That ismon knowledge. You could consider that as ''orderly'' in that regard. The strong will devour the weak to grow even stronger and encounter stronger enemies and continue growing in power and strength."

    "However, everything is a little bit moreplicated, a mess even, outside the Origin Expanse. Politics y a much more vital role, your public image is also crucial, and your responsibilities are even bigger outside the Origin Expanse. After all, your actions outside the Origin Expanse create an impact that affects your entire race and not only your territory once you reach a certain threshold of strength. The difference in technological advancement inside and outside the Origin Expanse changes the dynamic of power drastically as well. After all, Higher Lifeforms can still be sted into smithereens byser beams. That won''t happen in the Origin Expanse. Well¡­it shouldn''t happen."

    Michael listened to Tiara intently. Her race lost theirnds outside the Origin Expanse. They''d been betrayed and exiled, forced to find refuge in the Origin Expanse. Tiara knew much better than most, how different the Origin Expanse and the realms outside the Origin Expanse were.

    "But no matter how different the Origin Expanse and the world outside are, one thing is always the same," Tiara said as her voice grew more serious, "You either adapt to the environment surrounding you, or you will always remain weak, fragile and dependent on others. You will get buried and trampled upon if you cannot adapt.."

    ''Adapt to the environment surrounding you¡­Consumed if you cannot adapt..'' Michael thought, his eyes widening ever so slightly as he realized something.

    It was not that Michael became an entirely new person. It was just that the environment around him changed drastically. The Origin Expanse was a ce where he had to fight to survive. He reaped first gore in the Origin Expanse and took the lives of tens of thousands of enemies that came after. He adapted to the environment of the Untamed Jungle and continued molding himself to adjust even further when he was thrown into the same pit with the Descendants and heirs of wealthy families.

    Michael adapted and fought for himself to be who he was right now; a young Lord with the potential to make it big.

    "In that case, I only have to adapt to the Mark of Fate, and the changes it will bring. Is that it?" Michael mumbled to himself before he turned to Tiara with a bright smile.

    "W-what is it, master?" She asked, surprised about Michael''s sudden alter of behavior.

    "Thanks a lot. You are the best!" He said, his bright smile growing wider. It felt as if a heavy stone which had been weighing on his heart, had been finally removed.

    Michael rushed outside to train a little bit longer, leaving Tiara bbergasted in the hallway. She stared at the retreating figure of Michael, whose moody presence had been reced with a sense of fulfillment and determination.

    His body was sore, but the energy surging through his body invigorated him. There was no time toin about feeling sore, or tired. He had to prepare himself mentally and physically to face the challenges of the new environments he was bound to reach soon enough. There was no need to avoid the new environments because change was the only constant in life and growth was its sessor if one managed to improve and adapt.

    Therefore, rather than avoiding them, Michael would have to embrace the changes warmly, and make use of them!

    "The Interdimensional g War will start whether the Tritan Alliance is in shambles or not. That means the g War Token in my possession is still very valuable. The Battle Exchange should have ended now that Piloq was attacked. I should get my resources and be considered an official member of the cohort joining the Interdimensional g War. All I have to do is to be powerful enough to kill a single Tekur ¨C at the bare minimum. They have strong Soultraits, so if I want to extract a bunch of them I should thrive even stronger. That way, more Soultraits of the Tekur, and their SoulStar Fragments will end up in my possession."

    The g War was a great opportunity for Michael. He joined it a little bit early because he was merely a Tier-2 Awakened, but the first tendrils of the High Society''s binding ropes had already coiled around his neck, forcing him to participate in the g War.

    Michael realized toote that he had already be a pawn of the High Society''s scheming. Some High Nobles and Supreme Families had already taken note of him. Therefore, bing Maria''s Primal Amplifier might be easier than expected. Nheless, Michael decided that it was better to remain vignt. He had to thrive stronger as rapidly as possible, otherwise, the powerful would end up consuming him.

    ''I need to move up a gear. I''m way too slow!!'' Michael told himself on his way to greet his new Summons. Almost three weeks passed in the Origin Expanse since he paid attention to his daily Summons. That had to change.

    After all, he was in possession of 11 purified Basic Summoning Cores, each giving him the possibility to summon a 2-Star Summon every single day!

 Chapter 447 Supreme Human Alliance

    Chapter 447 Supreme Human Alliance

    "A total of 220 daily Summons have been added to my territory since Ist checked. Half of them are 2-Star Summons as well. That''s pretty neat," Michael mumbled, closing his eyes to sense the most recently established Links of Loyalty.

    The newest Links of Loyalty were already firmer than ordinary Links of Loyalty, but that was something Michael expected. He spent a fortune to create various facilities to entertain his subjects and make themfortable. Close to 200 Starless Summons had been taught to be guides for new Summons. They took care of the confused Summons when they stepped through the Summoning Gate and introduced them into their new home before giving them a warm andfortable ce to sleep and delicious meals to eat.

    Their needs were taken care of the moment they stepped into his territory. That was something Michael paid attention to. It was one of the easiest ways to improve his subjects'' Links of Loyalty from day one, and it made his subjects happy. Therefore, Michael was happy as well.

    "Finally I got some 2-Star Combat Summons again. There are Knights, Berserkers, and Sharpshooters among them. Hmmm¡­other than that there are 2-Star Forest Walkers, Scouts, Master Artisans, and Shadow Panthers. That is interesting. Using the Shadow Panthers in the Untamed Jungle will be amazing. Good, Good!"

    Other than the 2-Star Summons Michael obtained, there were also many 1-Star Summons that attracted his interest. Among the 1-Star Summoners were Farmers, Gardeners, Botanica Researchers, Cooks, Artists, Pub Owners, Surveyors, Enchanter Novices, Mythic Alchemy Researcher, Spearmen, and Archers.

    Whereas the number of Combat Summons was not that high among 1-Star Summons, Michael found Summons with two new upations. Botanica Researchers and Mythic Alchemy Researchers were new to his territory. Both were Forest Elven Summons, and Michael hoped that they would turn into valuable assets in the near future.

    However, the most interesting Summons among 1-Stars were three Titan Pigs!

    Michael didn''t even know that he could summon 1-Star Monsters. He always thought that he could only summon 2-Star Monsters as Summons. Anything weaker was usually livestock, just like the Titan Pigs. But that was where the confusion started. Titan Pigs were livestock. They might be special because of their size and the uniqueness of their energy-rich and highly nutritious meat, but they were widely known for being used as livestock. Yet three of those Titan Pigs turned out to be linked to Michael''s War Rune via Links of Loyalty. Killing the Titan Pigs would destroy the Links of Loyalty.

    ''That is actually weird. Not that it matters much, but it''s just weird.'' Michael thought, happy that he didn''t have to purchase any Titan Pigs to create a Ranch for them. Now all he had to do was build his second ranch and start breeding the Titan Pigs.

    Once Michael got hold of the required resources, he would start constructing the Titan Pig Ranch first. That wouldn''t take long, fortunately.

    But for now, Michael turned his attention to the daily report where he was notified about some pleasant news.

    "6 Starless Summons from Siegfried''s sses switched to archery upon noticing that bows were morefortable to wield for them. They worked hard and were promoted to Archers. They read the Memory Crystals about the Archery technique that stimted the promotion of Archers. Very nice!" Michael smiled right before his attention switched to the Immortal Knight''s achievements, "Exactly 150 Starless Summons advanced to Blessed Squires since Siegfried joined the territory. The Basic Sacred Knight Temple is not yet done but there are150 Blessed Squires already. That''s amazing!"

    The Basic Sacred Knight Temple would probably finish in less than two months. Until then, Siegfried would have trained close to 500 Blessed Squires. After the Temple''s basic level waspleted, the number would only increase, alongside the number of Blessed Squires with the potential to advance to Holy Knights.

    Michael couldn''t wait any longer. He was excited about the news and curious about the development of his territory in the next two months. His territory''s poption expanded by 11 daily Summons a day and the overall strength of his subjects was slowly rising as well. More and more Starless Summons found their passion and received enlightenment with every passing day. Several Starless Summons were promoted to Miners, Cooks, Potters, Masons, Warriors, Archers, Scout Rookies and even Settlement Guides. Their passion, diligence and desire to help the territory grow stimted their potential. It ignited something deep inside their being, something they hadn''t felt in their first life. And Michael noticed that.

    His territory expanded slowly but steadily. He didn''t rush summoning hundreds of thousands of Starless Summons to increase his Soul Power drastically, and it was not in Michael''s interest to establish more settlements either. Instead, he strengthened the foundation of his territory and expanded at a steady pace.

    Michael decided to spend some time with his new Summons. He met up with them and got to know more about their expertise. The experiences and knowledge of every Summon was different. They were of different ages and had witnessed different events in their past lives. The locations they hailed from were different as well as the opportunities to procure more knowledge and grow stronger.

    Thus, Michael had a lot to learn. After all, every single one of his subjects was likely to be able to teach him something, even the Starless Summons that were considered useless by most.

    Another day passed in the blink of an eye. Michael''s Links of Loyalty grew firmer and he decided to return to Piloq ¨C not before devouring more than ten tes filled with various delicacies. Michael''s tes were asrge as the jumbo-sized trays, yet Michael finished a total of ten of those before he felt full. The nutritious and energy-rich ingredients used in each dish he ate were a blessing to his soul, stomach and pir of light. His entire body was finally filled to the brim with energy and nutrition. It was the perfect state to start refining his body and mind.

    However, instead of doing so and thereby emptying his body''s nutrition and energy storage in the process, Michael decided to leave the Origin Expanse once again.

    Back in the Library of Piloq, Michael felt pretty good.

    The library was still unscathed, but it looked like some normality had returned to Piloq. At least, the receptionist had returned to the counter. That meant Piloq was not in danger anymore. The emergency state had been revoked.

    Michael greeted the librarian, who was a little surprised to see that someone had been inside the library. However, he recalled a small note on the counter the day Piloq had been attacked and nodded faintly in Michael''s direction. It didn''t look like the receptionist wanted to talk to him.

    ''Why is he so tense?'' Michael wondered, not sure what to think about the receptionist''s awkward behavior.

    He left the library and stepped into the open street where he saw construction sites in all directions. The streets had already been fixed, and it was pretty easy to tell that most destroyed buildings would be repaired in a day or two. Piloq would be fixed soon enough, but the dead couldn''t be resurrected.

    ''The mood is really low¡­well, that''s expected¡­''

    Michael strolled through the city to take a look at the condition of some Ancient Structures. He wondered if they could be repaired, or if they had been damaged beyond repair. Unfortunately, it looked like the Perses Missiles did a good job in totally demolishing most Ancient Structures. Only two out of dozens were under repair. The remaining Ancient Structures had been abandoned since nobody present possessed enough expertise to repair them.

    It was a sad sight. However, even worse was the ever-increasing gloom permeating the air. The closer Michael stepped to the Colosseum, the worse the despair and sadness hanging heavily in the air. It pressed hard on Michael, who was even more confused when he found the source of the dull, mncholic atmosphere. Zeke, Lincoln, dozens of other Descendants, and the prodigies of the Berserker and Warlock Centaur races were standing in front of a huge building ¨C the source of the heavy mood.

    But other than the building the prodigies of the Tritan Alliance didn''t seem to feel much better. Some of them had an even worse mood than the people inside the building.

    Zeke was one of them. His heterochromatic eyes glowed brightly andpressed energy oozed out of him uncontrobly. His energy was intertwined with intense bloodlust, something Michael had never seen Zeke unleash.

    "What is going on with Zeke?" Michael asked once he arrived next to Lincoln.

    "Oh. Hey, Michael. You''re back already," Lincoln greeted him. His expression didn''t light up. If anything, he looked over to Zeke upon hearing Michael''s question.

    A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

    "To put simply, Zeke is angry. Why? We found out which organization was behind the attack on Piloq. It was one of the terrorist groups that came into contact with another human race. They call themselves Hyuman and want to connect the human races all over the Universe to rule the Universe as the Supreme race, or something like that. I don''t know how much you know about the ''Supreme Human Alliance''...soo¡­" Lincoln exined, waiting for Michael''s reaction before he continued to speak.

    Michael pressed his lips together. He heard quite a lot about other human-like races and races that look just like humans, but it was the first time he heard about the Supreme Human Alliance. Lincoln noticed Michael''s hesitation and confusion. Therefore, he revealed more information to guide Michael a little bit.

    "It''s understandable that you don''t know much about it. This information is a secret of the High Society. Either way, as I already told you the Supreme Human Alliance wants to rule the entire Universe. Their views of other races are pretty¡­bad. They consider themselves the Supreme race because humans exist all over the universe. In their opinion, humans are the origin of all races, and those who mutate and evolve into different races are inferior. Therefore, they want to get rid of all other races and eliminate the ''fools'' who''re idiotic enough to think that being at peace with other races, and establishing Alliances was eptable."

    "Wait¡­so the organization is a branch of this weird Supreme Human Alliance?" Michael asked, his eyes narrowing, "You want to tell me that the Traitors of mankind teamed up with other human races and are now attacking us for being in an alliance with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs? What is that bullshit? Supreme Race? The beginning of all races? I''ve never heard something more delusional¡­"

    Michael was not sure why but Lincoln''s revtion infuriated him more than it should have. Of course, it was messed up, but Michael was not someone who reacted in such an overblown manner under normal circumstances.

    Yet, Michael felt miserable, as if something deep inside revolted at the mere reference of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    It was almost like his entire existence loathed the Supreme Human Alliance to the core.

    The essence around Michael grew heavier and stronger. Golden sparks crackled all around Michael,pelling Lincoln to retreat.

    A red glow shed through Michael''s eyes, causing Lincoln''s hair to stand up on its end.

    ''What is going on?!''

 Chapter 448 Dark Heavens

    Chapter 448 Dark Heavens

    "I can totally understand why Zeke is so angry," Michael snarled quietly as the disdain and anger within him continued to rise.

    "I don''t think youpletely understand," Lincoln replied carefully. He stared at Michael in difort. The pressure Michael released was quite different from Zeke''s. It was far more intense ¨C eerie and ominous.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance is an issue everyone will have to deal with in the future once Hyumans found a way to traverse the entire universe. They have yet to pinpoint our exact location and are merely connected to the traitor organizations through the Origin Expanse," Lincoln exined, "Zeke''s issue is the traitor organization that attacked Piloq. It was Dark Heavens¡­"

    Michael calmed down a little. It was a good thing that the Supreme Human Alliance had yet to create a portal to directly reach them. Nheless, it was already a nuisance that some humans came in contact with the alliance and Hyumans. The result was bad enough already.

    He recalled some things about Dark Heavens, and he looked over to Quinn, who''d lost his entire family in one of the incidents caused by Dark Heavens'' members. Zeke lost his sister in the same incident. But whereas Zeke was overflowing in anger, ready to obliterate Dark Heavens, Quinn was eerily calm.

    Michael felt that this was even more terrifying as he got to know Quinn to be a quite energetic youth. His calmness was horrifying.

    "It was Dark Heavens? That''s bad." Michael responded.

    He knew that Dark Heavens had been hunted for almost two decades by now, yet nobody found them. Members of Dark Heavens were rarely caught, and in such a case, they usually killed themselves before any information about the dark organization could be leaked. The only good thing about Dark Heavens was that they rarely attacked civilians. They didn''t hate the ordinary folk, but they loathed those who actively sought help from other races ¨C races deemed as inferior by the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Dark Heavens was one of the few dark organizations that targeted the High Society. They didn''t attack the weak but did terrible things to the High Society and its members.

    But this time was different. Civilians were killed.

    Of course, Dark Heavens didn''t really care about this kind of civilians. The dead civilians were all Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. No human civilian died in the attack.

    "It is bad, yeah. But it can get even worse. Do you want to know what''s even worse?" Kaleb asked, joining the conversation. He found Michael''s shimmering bald head amid the crowd of prodigies quickly and hurried over to his friends to join their conversation.

    "Worse is that it seems like Tritaenus located a ster system with six inhabitables. The captain of the Tritaenus survived long enough against the forces of the Dark Heavens to send a voice message to the Tritan Alliance''s messenger center. From the looks of it, Dark Heavens hoped for this type of information when they decided to hijack Tritaenus. They hit the jackpot by hijacking Tritaenus before bombarding Piloq and disappearing into thin air."

    "Do you think Dark Heavens want to relocate to the ster system found by Tritaenus? Or maybe they want to colonize the ster system with people with the same mindset as the Hyumans?" Michael asked, but the others didn''t really have an answer.

    "That might be the case¡­but we have to find them first to interrogate one of them¡­" Lincoln mumbled, to which Kaleb replied,

    "Actually, a member of the Dark Heavens was caught in the act. The Traitor belonged to the Ascending Phoenix Academy. He is a Tier-4 Awakened whose Soultrait allowed him to transform into other people. He could even use his Soultrait to insert their DNA inside his own temporarily. It''s pretty scary given that this Soultrait can even trick the Lord ID, which means that he can temporarily steal the identity of someone else. Even his energy fluctuations can be altered!"

    It was a good thing that they caught a member of Dark Heavens, but Michael pondered if they could interrogate him properly. A Tier-4 Awakened would have many ways to kill himself, and it was unlikely that Dark Heavens sent him out without thinking of various ways to eliminate all unknown variables. They definitely had some ns up their sleeves.

    "So they want to interrogate him but are not certain how to do it without him blowing up?" Zeke asked, pinpointing the exact problem.

    "That''s basically it. We need information not only to find out what Dark Heavens will do, but also to retrieve Tritaenus before it''s toote. The exploration spaceship they hijacked was quite important. It might only be an exploration spaceship in the eyes of most, but it is also considered a military ship with various vital pieces of information about the Tritan Alliance''s military power, and their future development ns¡­"

    "Well, shit¡­" Michael cursed, while both Lincoln and Zeke said the same in unison as realization dawned upon them.

    "Shit"

    "Shit"

    Kaleb nodded, "Shit, indeed."

    He then turned to Michael, "My sister wanted to talk to us about the Battle Exchange and some other stuff. Since Piloq cannot be used as the perfect training ground anymore she wants to do something else. She mentioned something about the Sacred City of Training being destroyed and thebined efforts of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs being for naught. I didn''t listen to everything. Alice was speaking too much¡­"

    Michael raised an eyebrow and agreed to follow Kaleb. Meanwhile, Lincoln bid them farewell before turning to Zeke to calm down his friend.

    Kaleb led him inside the building which acted as the source of everyone''s bad mood. He led Michael to arge room where Alice Zenovia, Oliver Zeus, Olivia ze, and many other higher-ups of the Battle Exchange sat. However, there were also more. Kraft Viton and many elderly Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were also seated around arge round table.

    The heavy mood seemed to emanate from there.

    ''Wouldn''t it have been better for us to wait until their meeting is over?'' Michael wondered, but he didn''t ask it out loud. The entire hall was silent even though there were dozens of powerhouses present to solve the given problem. He didn''t dare to speak up to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

    Unfortunately, Alice Zenovia didn''t even think of doing the same. She jumped up from her chair upon seeing Michael and rushed up to him. She grasped Michael''s right hand and inspected his War Rune intently. Alice''s eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. "The rumors were¡­true?"

    Michael could only smile at her warily. He noticed that dozens of heads flicked in his direction and suppressed a heavy sigh.

    "Some rumors are true. But let''s just say that it was not by choice."

    Since his talk with Tiara, Michael didn''t feel too bad in the new environment. He understood that he had to adjust to the new changes to survive and get something out of them. Therefore, he lifted his head and didn''t avoid the dozens of pairs of eyes that stared intently at him.

    "We¡­should talk about thatter¡­" Alice muttered upon realizing how she''d just reacted. She straightened her back and lifted her head high before letting go of his arm. She turned around on her heels and returned to the round table, with her usual ice-cold expression.

    "We were just talking about bringing an Inspector with an Interrogation Soultrait over, right? Can we ensure that the Inspector can crack the Traitor''s mind without triggering the suicide mechanism installed inside him?" Alice inquired in a neutral tone, trying to divert the others'' attention from Michael to her.

    "I know someone who can do it, but he is in the Origin Expanse and I don''t think he will arrive in Piloq within the next five weeks. By that time, a lot of things can go wrong. Dark Heavens will have hacked the secret channel of Tritaenus by then. Once that happens, we will have to change the development of everything we''ve nned in thest three years. Our ns would be exposed and Dark Heavens could strike us anywhere they want," Oliver Zeus said, giving Alice a helping hand while continuing the conversation from before, "We cannot afford that."

    "Our current ns will be exposed as well. They will know that the Tritan Alliance''s rtions are stronger than before and that we nned to take down the Dimensional Portal of the Tekur race after capturing some of them to find out the secrets of their immense power. They might as well interrupt the Interdimensional g War¡­and that is something we can definitely not afford to let happen!!" Silvana Zentur, the War Priestess of the Warlock Centaurs said, while her eyes continued to linger on Michael and Kaleb.

    "How about we dissect him while continuously healing him? Maria Seraph and the healers can tend to the criminal''s wounds while we remove all possible mechanisms that could allow him to kill himself. As for possible Soul Pacts and Soul Contracts with suicide uses, we have two Awakened with high-ranked Seal-type Soultraits. They can temporarily Seal Soul Pacts. If the Soul Pacts are of a low level they can be sealed permanently as well." Chieftain Palika Mavenham asked, his attention lingering on the Dean of the Ascending Phoenix Academy.

    The dean was in a tricky situation. He couldn''t force Maria Seraph to do anything if she wasn''t willing to do it. Torturing someone while she cast her healing Soultrait on the tortured individual was something she wouldn''t do. In fact, she couldn''t do it because it broke one of her family''s sacred rules. They had to abide by these rules, otherwise, they wouldn''t be able to unleash the full power of Heaven''s Descent.

    Therefore, participating in the torture of another individual was not allowed.

    Unbeknownst to them, the dean''s right hand was the criminal they were talking about. His right hand was the member of Dark Heavens, who damaged the security system all over Piloq right before the bombardment of Perses Missiles started.

    The dean cleared his throat and nced over to Michael. His eyes glimmered and he thanked his quick thinking and fortune silently.

    "I¡­am not sure if Maria Seraph would help. We would have to ask her Primal Amplifier to find out more," He said while gesturing to Michael, the Primal Amplifier in question.

    Michael didn''t expect the dean of the Ascending Phoenix Academy to drag him into the conversation all of a sudden. However, it seemed to work very well. Everyone turned to Michael, who decided to hide his right hand behind his back.

    "How am I supposed to tell whether she will help or not?" Michael inquired the dean while trying to ignore the stares upon him.

    "Aren''t you her Primal Amplifier, MR. MICHAEL FANG?" The dean asked, shouting thest few words aloud.

    ''Bastard. Am I supposed to fix the problems you caused? Fat bi¨C...'' Michael was about to continue cursing in his mind when he got an idea.

    "How about we don''t bother Maria Seraph?" Michael asked, causing the dean to scowl at him. Some of the higher authorities were just about to say something to disregard hisment when Michael added,

    "How about I help you instead? As Michael Fang, not some Primal Amplifier!"

 Chapter 449 Inside

    Chapter 449 Inside

    Michael''s gaze slowly swept through the entire hall. He studied the reaction of the powerhouses in front of him, while continuing to smile faintly.

    His clear eyes gleamed brightly, without a trace of fear or worry. It felt like Michael didn''t feel the heavy pressure in the room, or understood the gravity of the situation.

    Palika Mavenham, the Chieftain of the Berserkers, stared at Michael for a few seconds and beckoned him toe closer.

    "Are you certain that you can do it? You are not ying around, right?" The Chieftain asked in a gruff voice. He was exhausted but that didn''t change the tremendous aura enveloping the huge Berserker.

    "I can probably do it, and I am certainly not ying around," Michael responded with a nod.

    "Probably? That''s not very convincing," The War Priestess intervened, her voice sharp as a de.

    "Then let me be more convincing," Michael merely said, "I can most likely do it. However, you have to take into consideration that I''m only a Lesser Lifeform at the 2nd Tier, and that the criminal is a Higher Lifeform at the 4th Tier. As long as there is a way to weaken his mind by inflicting mental attacks or something like that, I can do it."

    Michael''s voice was filled with confidence and determination. He wanted to catch Dark Heavens just like everyone else. However, there was something else residing deep within him that increased Michael''s desire to find and obliterate Dark Heavens. It was just that he had no idea what exactly made him strive for that goal.

    "We shouldn''t assign such an important task to a lowly¨C...I mean low-ranked youth. It''s just like he said. He is a Lesser Lifeform and not 100% certain that he can get what we want. We don''t even know if he has what it takes!" A middle-aged woman from one of the Great Three Academies suggested. She insisted on waiting for a professional to arrive to crack the Traitor''s mind.

    "If we lose him we will not only lose the Tritaenus, but also the only way to find out more about Dark Heavens'' future ns and the names of their spies!" Another human opined. This time, it was an elderly man, an elder from one of the Big Five Universities.

    He looked at Michael sharply, only for his eyes to linger on his War Rune for a quarter of a second, "To think that a nobody like you has been chosen. What a disgrace to the Seraph Family."

    "I think the Seraph family would be happy to have someone like me in their family. That''s much better than some old pervert bing Maria''s Primal Amplifier. I don''t look that bad, and I''m definitely not some old pedophile, who would ogle at their beloved treasure," Michael retorted, staring straight into the Elder''s eyes.

    A bright smile blossomed on his face as he saw the Elder''s wrinkled face twitch twice.

    "What did you just say? How dare you insult me like that?" The Elder bellowed, his hand smashing on the table as he jumped up. His energy erupted and it looked like he was about to attack as Michael scoffed lightly.

    "I never said anything about you. In fact, I don''t even know your name, esteemed elder," Michael said, bowing to the Elder with utmost respect, "Howe an esteemed Elder like you thought that I was talking about you? I don''t understand."

    The Elder grit his teeth and stared at Michael menacingly. He wanted to break a few bones of that young Lord''s body. Unfortunately, the Berserker''s Chieftain lifted his hands, interrupting the Elder.

    "Please calm down, Elder Hun. We are not here to fight each other, but to find a solution to our problems," The Chieftain said, his head turning to Michael. "Since you rescued my kind from dishonorable deaths, I will trust you for once. I am in favor of using this youngmb''s aid."

    The War Priestess looked at the Chieftain for a moment and asked, "Is that the human from the Colosseum?"

    The Chieftain nodded in affirmation, resulting in the War Priestess appraising Michael once again.

    "I believe in this young human as well. If he thinks that he can help us, the Warlock Centaurs shall trust him!"

    "Bu¨C..." Elder Hun began, only to be interrupted by Alice, who raised her hand, "I agree as well. If Michael says that he can help us, he can!"

    "I can use Psych Obliteration against Mihal-" Kraft Viton added, also agreeing to trust Michael.

    He gave Michael a thumbs up and sent him a note through Whispering Energy.

    ["Psych Obliteration weakens Mihal''s mind drastically in its weakest form. That gives you enough time to rummage through his mind. After all, I cannot read his mind or force him to spill Dark Heaven''s secrets. You will have to do that, Michael."]

    Michael continued to smile, but he noticed something interesting when he saw the reaction of the other Elders and old people seated near Kraft Viton.

    ["When did you n on telling me that you are also a member of High Society? Psych Obliteration should be a powerful Soultrait as well if its weakest form can weaken a Higher Lifeform''s mind to allow someone like me to rummage freely through his mind."]

    Kraft Viton didn''t owe him an exnation, but Michael was curious. It was obvious from the beginning that the old man was not an ordinary old man tasked with the job to tail him, however, Michael didn''t expect that nearly everyone decided to ept Michael''s help after Kraft Viton agreed to it. That meant Kraft Viton was even more Influential than Alice Zenovia.

    Or was it because Kraft Viton was more trustworthy? Contrary to Alice Zenovia, who was evidently biased about Michael and his capabilities as his teacher, Kraft Viton''s stance toward him was neutral.

    ["I am nothing special anymore, but you could say that I was well known in the past. My territory is located in the Barren Lands, and it''s considered the Tower of Defense. The Bartholomew Corporation''s headquarters is located there as well."] Kraft Viton exined calmly, catching Michael off-guard.

    ''Huh? He really told me¡­''

    ["You don''t have to look at me like that. None of the things I told you just now are a secret. You just never searched my name online, did you? If you did, you wouldn''t be that surprised right now. Haha, you really are a weird child. If you n to do it now, focus on some stories. Most are exaggerated but there is always some truth intermixed in them. Some of those stories are pretty good."]

    ''Now he is bragging. Why did I even ask him?'' Michael shook his head.

    In the meantime the scene around him changed. A handful of loathing gazes were thrown at him, but most people nced at him with a tinge of curiosity. They were wondering what made Michael so special. Not only was the Berserker''s Chieftain and the War Priestess willing to ept the help of a random youth, but the Frozen Duchess and the Legend of the Tower Defense vouched for him as well.

    The prisoner, Mihal, was carried into the hall, his mouth gagged, and his entire body chained by a wide variety of metal chains. Some of the chains looked like the elemental chains the Kitsun Lord had used to pin the Elemental Empress to the wall, while the other chains restrained the prisoner from using energy in any way. He couldn''t even sense the energy around him.

    One of the Guards who brought Mihal inside, taken off the prisoner''s gag to begin the questioning.

    "You disgusting bastards! Traitorous swines!! How can you sit in front of your enemies and judge me?!? I did the only right thing by following the¨C..." The prisoner couldn''t speak any further as his mouth was gagged again.

    "Thanks for this nonsense," Kraft Viton said all while his body radiated purple fumes. The purple fumes gathered around his hands and condensed. It formed a purple shimmering droplet of fluid. Kraft Viton released the droplet with a burst of energy. It collided with the prisoner''s brow and pierced through it. Yet, instead of leaving a deep hole behind, the droplet disappeared into the prisoner''s head.

    "Since I have to restrain my power as much as possible to avoid activating any self-destructive mechanism, it may take a few minutes before his mental defense copses." Kraft Viton exined, his eyes trained on Michael.

    "When you invade his mind, make sure to not release too much energy. Most self-destruction mechanisms are triggered when theye in contact with origin energy. If something goes wrong, I will try my best to save you, but I cannot promise anything."

    The War Priestess watched Michael intently. If he was not 100% confident to deal with this issue, she would interfere and take back her vote. This matter was too important to leave it to a youngling who was simply relying on his gut feeling to take the responsibility of such an important task. Even if the Chieftain and the old powerhouses of the human race decided to trust Michael, he was still a youngling who had yet to acquire years of experience with his Soultraits.

    The War Priestess doubted that Michael had had enough time to self-study his Soultraits in-depth. And she was not the only one who was doubtful of Michael''s power.

    Unfortunately, they were pressed for time, and the closest professional Inspector was somewhere in the Origin Expanse. Nobody knew where exactly, and it was unknown when he would return. They didn''t have the luxury of waiting patiently.

    "Was his head already scanned for explosives, or self-destructive devices? If that''s already done and the results are negative, I will be fine," Michael responded confidently.

    He then closed his eyes to tap into his consciousness. The Sphere of Light manifested in front of his closed eyes and he took a look at Mind Reader''s Soultrait Symbol. The Soultrait Symbol had four radiant stars.

    ''Let''s make sure that we won''t mess this one up.'' Michael thought as he used 3,800 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Mind Reader to a 5-Star Soultrait.

    Mind Reader was upgraded right in front of everyone, but all the powerhouses around him felt was a subtle change in Michael''s presence.

    The fifth star formed on Mind Reader''s Soultrait Symbol and a flood of information affected him heavily.

    Michael took a deep breath to soothe his nerves, his hand lunging forward with tremendous precision. His palm pressed against the prisoner''s forehead, and Michael exerted Mind Reader.

    Simultaneously, Kraft Viton released the power he hadpressed into the purple liquid droplet. The prisoner screamed out at the top of his lungs as one mental barrier after another was forcefully taken down by Psyche Obliteration.

    Michael felt some resistance, but he passed through it as easily as taking a stroll through a park.

    "I''m inside him."

 Chapter 450 Suicide Squad

    Chapter 450 Suicide Squad

    Mind Reader was not some sort of overpowered Soultrait that allowed Michael to control the target''s mind. If anything, Mind Reader was full of restrictions since it required touching the target to read his/her mind.

    Even after touching the target it would be better to be as close to the brain as possible, which usually meant that the target''s movements had to be restricted to read his/her mind easily.

    ["Stop touching me you filthy bastard! DON''T TOUCH ME!!!"]

    ["Great Mother will tear you apart, you bastard! She will skin you alive, cut your miniature cock, cook it and feed you your own useless thing! She will starve you before plucking out your nails andyers of flesh slowly over the course of weeks. When you finally think that you''re going to die, she will send her subordinates to heal you and start from scratch. You will be fed your own meat and your piss, you fucking bastard!"]

    "Great Mother? Who is that?" Michael asked, trying to ignore the intrusive thoughts that shed through the prisoner''s mind.

    Michael could only read the target''s mind. That meant all information he procured were from the man''s thoughts. However, there was one particr function that was added to Mind Reader as it advanced to a 5-Star Soultrait. Michael was able to lead the conversation, subtly switching the topics to make the target think about the information Michael wanted to know.

    "Did he say Great Mother? How does he know that name?" An Elder mumbled, his eyes narrowing as he nced over to Alice Zenovia.

    "I didn''t tell him anything," She responded without diverting her eyes from Michael.

    ["He knows about the Great Mother? Of course, he knows her. Who wouldn''t know Dark Heaven''s Beauty Butcher?! Great Mother is a beauty with an otherworldly majestic figure. A single nce at her slender body can enchant every man. If you''re not entranced by her body, you are either a woman, gay, or a eunuch! Ballless bastards, how dare you say that the Great Mother is not beautiful?? Only because she wears a mask to hide her identity doesn''t mean that she is ugly!!"]

    ''I don''t want you to start jerking off thinking about your Great Mother. What the fuck.'' Michael thought, shuddering before he changed the topic.

    "Tell me about your mission and how you found the Tritaenus. How did you hijack the Tritaenus without letting anyone find out before it was toote?"

    ["What is wrong with this bastard? Is his brain damaged, or what? Why does he think I will tell him about my mission? Who would be stupid enough to tell him about the suicide squad? After hacking the servers with myrades, I received the honor of being the first one to be caught by the traitorous bastards. Being in the presence of these disgusting humans, who betrayed the Supreme Human Alliance to team up with these inferior existences is disgusting, but as long as I can eradicate some of you it will be worth it. Dying to liberate my kind is the greatest honor!"]

    ''Suicide squad. He is the first to receive the honor of getting caught¡­Doesn''t that mean there are more unidentified turncoats lurking in Piloq?'' Michael''s eyes widened and he turned to Kraft Viton, whom he sent a message via Whispering Energy.

    ¨C[He is a member of some suicide squad, and he was captured intentionally. There are more turncoats in Piloq, and they''re going to eliminate themselves. I don''t know when, but they want to kill as many as possible!] ¨C

    Kraft Viton squinted his eyes. He was about to forward the knowledge when he noticed another change in Michael''s expression.

    ["Elder Xerx did a good job damaging the tempered crystal chains. I can already feel a trace of energy!"] Mihal, the captive thought while his expression remained neutral.

    Michael''s eyes widened as he sent another message to Kraft Viton.

    ¨C[Do you have any more tempered crystal chains? And who the hell is Elder Xerx?! I think he is a traitor. The prisoner said¡­] ¨C

    Michael couldn''t speak any additional when he saw sparks of purple light erupt to his left. Several tempered crystal chains shot past Michael. They coiled around the captive and flung him backward. The tempered crystal chains smashed into the wall behind, pinning the prisoner to the wall.

    A momentter, Michael sensed a tremendous amount of energy pulsating next to him. A freezing chill shrouded Michael and he saw Alice appear next to him. Her body was coated in a frozen armor while a sapphire-blue ive rested in her arms. Pirs of ice shot out of the ground to protect herself and Michael from the happenings around them.

    Kraft Viton''s power erupted through the hall. A shrill, high-pitched cry resounded around them soon enough, but that died down quickly as well.

    "What the hell are you doing, Kraft Viton?!? And Alice, what are you doing there?" The Dean of the Ascending Phoenix Academy demanded the veins in his forehead almost popping out.

    Michael hated that guy the most. He could shout aloud, but he was thest to move to do something. The chubby dean was the perfect example of an annoying piece of shit.

    Michael tried to see through the thickyers of ice that blocked his sight but Alice''s Frozen Kingdom Soultrait was not 6-Star for naught. The ice pirs she had created were extremely thick and could withstand the forces that were unleashed in front of them.

    Unsure of how to help the people around him, Michael decided to do the only thing he could do with hisck of strength. He tapped into the energy streams around him and used Whispering Energy tomunicate with everyone in the hall at once.

    ["Elder Xerx is a traitor!"]

    Themotion would muffle his voice, but the same did not happen to the message forwarded with Whispering Energy.

    "Elder Xerx? That cannot be¡­" Olivia ze uttered in disbelief, but her eyes moved to the old man whom Kraft Viton attacked just a moment ago.

    A ck glint manifested in the old man''s eyes and dark substances began to ooze out of his pores. The Elder''s skin turned gray, almost as if his body was about to decay. His physique grew weaker and weaker, whereas the energy around him intensified. A whirlpool of energy burst from Elder Xerx''s decaying body.

    "Die, you filthy traitors!" Elder Xerx bellowed right before shaping the whirlpool of energy into ck stars. The stars glimmered brightly as they morphed into a singr mass. The mass looked highly vtile and unstable as it ignited, unleashing destructive power that far surpassed the Perses Missiles.

    A shockwave of darkness erupted from within the mass of darkness. It expanded rapidly, ruptured through the building, and razed it to the ground before continuing to expand as quickly as before. The buildings in a radius of one kilometer were obliterated within seconds, leaving behind nothing but destruction, chaos, and debris.

    However, Michael didn''t feel much about the darkness shockwave. Because he warned the others early enough about Elder Xerx''s betrayal, everyone else could react in time. It was not the first time for the powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance to end up in a tricky situation. They had to survive countless life-threatening situations to achieve their current status and power.

    A surprise attack would have taken them off-guard, but Michael''s warning gave them just enough time to manifest their Artifacts and unleash their Soultraits.

    Everyone disappeared from their spot and appeared near Michael and Alice Zenovia, while Alice churned through her entire energy storage to create a humongous wall ofpressed ice.

    The Berserker Chieftain and War Priestess appeared next to Alice, their Artifacts and Soultraits unleashed to block the darkness shockwave as it cut through the wall ofpressed ice. Due to that obstacle, the darkness shockwave lost some of its force. It was just enough for thebined efforts of the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and the remaining human powerhouses to block the shockwave with their Soultraits and bodies.

    In order to protect the prodigies of the youngest generations from the darkness shockwave, they used their powers and techniques to the fullest. They ignored the fear of sustaining injuries because the well-being of their youngest generation was all that weighed on their minds.

    The prodigies camping in front of the meeting hall were confused at first. All they sensed was tremendous energy manifesting in the meeting hall. The next thing they sensed was terror; immense terror.

    In the following seconds, the buildings around them toppled down like a house of cards and the sensation of certain death shrouded them. Yet, none of them died. The powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance present in the meeting hall had blocked the darkness shockwave from cutting through the youngsters.

    They couldn''t restrain the darkness shockwave in its entirety, but at least the young prodigies escaped unscathed.

    The Berserker Chieftain roared in rage when the darkness shockwave dispersed. A gaping wound appeared on his chest, but Palika Mavenham didn''t care. His eyes were filled with hatred and disgust as he jumped across the remains of Alice''s ice wall. He smashed into the ground right in front of the decaying figure of Elder Xerx and grabbed him by the neck. His thick hands coiled around Elder Xerx''s neck as he growled deeply, spitting out words in disgust and hatred.

    "Who do you think you are to attack me and my folk in MY city?! How dare you?"

    Elder Xerx stared back at the wrathful face of the Berserker Chieftain, a slim smile stered on his decaying face.

    "We are your Supreme Rulers, you filthy beast!"

    Palika''s grip around Elder Xerx tightened and the sharp sound of bones twisting and snapping under his fingers reverberated through the room.

    "Don''t eliminate him!" Michael shouted loudly, "I can get some more knowledge out of him."

    The Berserker Chieftain, however, didn''t listen. He tossed the decaying body into the air and cleaved his heavy war axe downward, splitting the Elder into two halves.

    Then he turned to Michael and they locked eyes.

    "He didn''t deserve to live even a second longer."

 Chapter 451 Interrogation

    Chapter 451 Interrogation

    Michael didn''t really feel like the Berserkers Chieftain thought about what he was doing when he killed Elder Xerx. It would have been much better to interrogate the decaying old man until he died due to unbearable pain.

    Not only would that have been a better punishment, but Michael was certain that Elder Xerx had more useful information to share than the prisoner, Mihal.

    Unfortunately, he would never find out.

    "Don''t think too much about it. Berserkers are a very emotional race. Emotions control and strengthen them¡­or weaken them in certain situations. It is how it is," Kraft Viton tried to reassure Michael as they walked through a long hallway.

    After the incident with Elder Xerx and more potential enemies, the emergency meeting had been postponed until Michael had collected more information. Michael found out about Elder Xerx''s betrayal quickly enough to convince everyone present that he was capable of collecting all further information. Therefore, the prisoner was transported to a secret ce that only the Berserker Chieftain, the War Priestess, and two more people got to know. Both of these people were human; Michael and Kraft Viton to be precise.

    It was a secret prison located deep underground.

    If not for the attack on Piloq and the unknown identities of the suicide squad''s remaining members, neither Michael nor Kraft Viton would have been led to the underground prison. No human would have ever found out about it.

    But since Kraft Viton had to keep using Psyche Obliteration on Mihal while Michael read the prisoner''s mind, both received a glimpse into the secrets of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    After using ten different elevators and walking through a myriad of various pathways, Michael and Kraft Viton reached the secret prison atst.

    Its appearance created a stark contrast to the outside world. It was isted and harbored a sense of loneliness. The prison''s walls were constructed from cold, unyielding material that looked just like obsidian, giving it an oppressive and unweing atmosphere. Harsh, artificial lighting cast long shadows, amplifying the feeling of despair all around ¨C and within ¨C the underground prison.

    Narrow, dimly lit corridors wound through the undergroundbyrinth, creating an eerie path that was nearly too narrow for the Chieftain Berserker to pass through. Silver metal bars and heavy, pitch-ck doors secured the prison cells ¨C hundreds of them ¨C with minimal furnishing. There was no mattress, or nket, forcing the inmates to sleep on the cold and unforgiving ground.

    As Michael and Kraft Viton entered the prison, heavy and musty air prated their nostrils. Echoes of distant footsteps and hushed conversations filled with a tinge of insanity and despair bounced off the obsidian walls, creating an unsettling feeling in Michael''s heart.

    The worst punishment for the prisoners in the underground prison was the utter state of solitude. They were cut off from the world above had no sense of time and were oftentimes forced to confront their own thoughts in the eversting silence.

    It was a ce of punishment and istion, a ce that served as a constant and harsh reminder of the consequences that followed every action.

    ''I would rather die than end up in this shitty hole¡­'' He thought as he made his way to the Berserker Chieftain and the War Priestess, who were already waiting for them to arrive.

    Michael had to suppress a shudder due to the gloominess of the surroundings as he reached the Chieftain Berserker.

    "We don''t know how much time we are left with before the remaining members of the suicide squad jump into action. Figure out their numbers first and their names second. Once you get more information, inform us immediately. We need to clear this as quickly as possible!" Palika Mavenham announced.

    Michael could only nod before he was forced to enter one of the underground cells where Mihal was already waiting for him, chained to a chair, gagged and his eyes blindfolded.

    The appearance of the prisoner was miserable, but Michael didn''t feel even an ounce of pity. The prisoner aided the attack on Piloq, which resulted in the death of hundreds of youthful prodigies, and more than 200,000 citizens. Why would Michael feel pity for someone like him?

    "I will start now," Michael said after clearing his throat and stepping forward to use Mind Reader. His palm pressed firmly against the prisoner''s forehead and the second mind reading session began.

    Several hours passed in the blink of an eye before Michael stopped reading the man''s thoughts. By now, he had forwarded various pieces of information about the Dark Heavens'' ns, their secret spies and other tidbits.

    However, what he found out just now was the most shocking.

    "Dark Heavens sent out people to the Sacred Desert and the Barren Lands to destroy the Desert Mines, obliterate the Ten Ethereal Oases, and the farms all over the Barren Lands. Apparently, Dark Heavens obtained Seeds of Demonic Breed from the Hyumans. They seem to have created a trading hub in the Origin Expanse. The Seeds of Demonic breed drain the resources in the surroundings ¨C including nutrition and origin energy ¨C to create an Infernal Nest. The Seeds of Demonic Breed are only of a lower level but the Infernal Nests can give birth to Tier-3 Demons once they''ve collected enough energy."

    "The Hyumans want to show our people that they''re serious with their threats. The Seeds of Demonic Breed are their final warning and a message- Get rid of your allies and return to your roots, or we will consider you as enemies of the Supreme Human Alliance."

    Michael forwarded the new information without looking at Kraft Viton, the Berserker Chieftain, or the War Priestess. His eyes were locked on Mihal, a weird feeling passing through his body. Something was off.

    "I also know where the Tritaenus is located right now, and where they''ll go next. But I am not sure how reliable the information is. Maybe the other members of the suicide squad told their superiors about the incident with Elder Xerx already? It could be a trap as well. They might have told the suicide squad that their mission is to kill as many enemies as possible via self-destruction, but the real task might be to reveal all those pieces of information¡­" He told the three powerhouses staring grimly at Mihal.

    "Why do you think so? I don''t doubt that the Supreme Human Alliance, or the higher ups of Dark Heavens, would kill their pawns for a multiyered n with several oues, but if you''re just saying that this might be a trap because of your gut feeling you might as well not say it at all," The War Priestess remarked.

    The remaining members of the suicide squad had been caught thanks to Michael''s help. That improved his image significantly among the higher ups. However, that did not mean they would trust everything Michael said. It was good that he could give them a helping hand, but that didn''t mean Michael turned into a master strategist with decades of experience in a matter of hours.

    Michael understood their point of view, but he still had a nagging feeling that something was off. He just could not quite put a finger on it yet.

    "You might consider it a gut feeling¡­but don''t you think that it was way too easy for me to procure all those ''crucial'' pieces of information? Why would a member of the suicide squad know this much? If it was Elder Xerx, I would consider that fine, but this guy doesn''t strike me as an important and high-ranked member of Dark Heavens. His word choice and mental fortitude are not really great. He feels like an idiot with an exceptional Soultrait. A pawn rather than a leader."

    Kraft Viton nced at Michael and nodded in agreement. "We''re dealing with humans here. They won''t fight as straightforwardly as Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. If anything, Dark Heavens would set up a multitude of traps to ensure that they can kill as many enemies as possible before ites to a melee fight. That is also why they retreated after bombarding Piloq. They''re probably waiting for our response¡­and they know that we need the Tritaenus. If Dark Heavens came up with a multiyered n that means the information about the Seeds of Demonic Breed was supposed to reach us, either way. That also means they told the suicide squad about it to inform us indirectly, and that these bastards are already several steps ahead of us!"

    Palika looked at Kraft Viton with sharp eyes. "So what do you want us to do? Sit back and let them leave with the Tritaenus and not retaliate against their sickening hidden attack? Do you think that the Old Ones of my kind will ept that? They will rip me apart alive, rece me and then it''s over with the Tritan Alliance."

    "Maybe that''s exactly what Dark Heavens wants." Michael murmured to himself. Since most of hisments were ignored either way, Michael did not expect that the three powerhouses would listen to him now.

    "What did you say?" Kraft Viton asked.

    "I¡­I just said that they might have been expecting that very oue. All they care about is ''bringing mankind back to their roots'' or something along those lines. The biggest problem they have with us is the alliance between humans and other races ¨C races they deem inferior. The Superior Human Alliance wants to get rid of all inferior races and rule across the universe¡­so wouldn''t it be the most logical to sow the seeds of enmity in the Tritan Alliance and then ''reform'' the human race to bring them back to the ''right'' path?" Michael exined himself slowly as the cogs of his mind spun.

    He had a lot more to say but he was certain that one of the three powerhouses would kick his ass if he dared to continue speaking like that.

    Michael would have loved to rephrase his exnation to convey his message clearly, but it was not exactly easy to make sure that Palika and Silvana understood him properly. They shouldn''t think that he was part of the Supreme Human Alliance, or that he agreed with their ideologies.

    He was not like some idiotic Descendants.

    Michael froze in his tracks thinking about some Descendants and how they reacted after the Colosseum had been attacked.

    ''It did not feel like they''re members of Dark Heavens¡­but why does it feel like some families and their Descendants have a mindset that fits way urately to that of the Supreme Human Alliance?''

    **

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 Chapter 452 [Bonus ] Extracting the Living I

    Chapter 452 [Bonus ] Extracting the Living I

    Even if the Supreme Human Alliance had yet to reach mankind with their disturbing view of other races, Michael could imagine various Supreme Families, Great ns, and High Nobles joining their mission. Maybe, they would do so secretly once Hyumans found a way to travel to the sr system, or the Lumina Ster System, but their mindset would change quickly once they realized how wealthy Hyumans and the Supreme Human Alliance were.

    Michael didn''t hear a lot but reading Mihal''s mind was enough to understand that the Supreme Human Alliance was currently solely dependent on their small amount of money to support Dark Heavens and other shady organizations. Yet, this pocket change was more than most Supreme Families and High Nobles earned in decades.

    It was enough to sustain hundreds of Higher Lifeforms and to use them as sacrificialmbs whenever the need arose.

    No matter how much Michael disliked the idea of forming a alliance with Hyumans, he could see the greed of humankind throwthe Tritan Alliance aside in exchange for the Hyuman''s financial support, their knowledge, and their strength.

    It was the first time Michael heard of the race ''Hyumans'', but that didn''t mean they were weak. Countless races lived all over the vast expanse of the seemingly infinite universe. Of course, Michael didn''t know all of them. Unfortunately, that meant he had no idea how old Hyumans were and how technologically advanced they were either.

    ''How long will it take them to reach the sr system?Will mankind split up and turn against each other once they arrive? No¡­that already happened. It''s just that the scale is quite small for the time being.''

    Michael told Palika, Silvana and Kraft Viton everything he''d gotten to know. From the location of Tritaenus to their next steps and movements, Michael didn''t leave out anything. He repeated his worries again, but the War Priestess didn''t seem to take him seriously. She was fueled with fury and hellbent to obliterate Dark Heavens. They dared to attack her people and kill the innocent. Therefore, Dark Heavens chose death as the only option ording to her.

    Michael pressed his lips together. He knew that he couldn''t convince the War Priestess. Palika Mavenham was also beyond enraged and ready to kill the members of the suicide squad at once before proceeding to join hands with the War Priestess to skin every single member of the Dark Heavens alive. Fortunately, Michael could restrain the Berserker Chieftain.

    "If you want me to continue to collect information and forward everything new I''ll get to know, you should leave all of them alive. Break their bones and examine their brains for self-destruction mechanisms and we''ll be fine. That way, I can collect more information while you guys move out, if you really need to rush it."

    Michael didn''t desire to be a Samaritan who spent his days doing something that didn''t help him improve and grow stronger. However, spending the days with the traitorous pigs of mankind was something Michael was actually willing to do.

    And that was not because he was happy to see them in pain ¨C he was not a sadist, after all. Instead, Michael desired to be alone with the members of Dark Heavens'' suicide squad to use Extraction on them. The first thing he wanted to do was extract Memory Orbs to validate some information. After that, Michael had a lot to experiment with. Michael wanted to see if he could procure both, a pile of SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols, from living Awakened. He desired to find out whether he could gain more by using Extraction on the living, or if it would be much harder and not as rewarding.

    The desire to use Extraction in the underground prison of the Berserker race didn''te from nowhere. Michael found out that Mihal, the prisoner, possessed two Soultraits. One of the Soultraits was called Second Skin. It was a 4-Star Soultrait that allowed Mihal to transform into someone else and create a second identity. Even Higher Lifeforms would struggle to tell the doppelganger apart from the real person and Mihal once he used Second Identity. The only thing that could expose Mihal was the difference in their intrinsic personalities and bodynguage. He would have to study his targets to impersonate them urately.

    But while Second Skin sounded like an interesting Soultrait, Michael was more interested in Mihal''s second Soultrait. It was a 1-Star Soultrait called Insert. Michael was so interested in Insert because it was the exact opposite of Extraction ¨C quite literally. Mihal could insert objects into others. Unfortunately, since Insert was only a 1-Star Soultrait, Mihal rarely used it. And if he used it, Insert was mostly applied to channel poison into his enemies'' bloodstream through a simple touch. The effectiveness was negligible but Michael could see tremendous potential in Insert ¨C especially whenbined with Extraction.

    Michael wanted this Soultrait. He needed it!

    "You want me to keep them alive and leave you alone with them? Remember, no one else is allowed to enter this underground prison. You won''t be allowed to leave on your own as well. Are you sure that you''re willing to stay here alone? It''s your decision because I would much rather crush some bastards of Dark Heavens than stay here to protect you!" Palika Mavenham uttered in a serious tone.

    Kraft Viton was about to mention something when Michael nodded.

    "In case anything goes wrong, I will kill the members of the suicide squad before they escape their confinement. I can protect myself quite well, don''t worry. As long as you guys make sure that some droplets of Psyche Obliteration are inside them to break their mental defense, I shouldn''t have an issue. Ensure that their limbs are broken and that the chains restrict thempletely and I will procure all the information I can get out of them. Though I cannot promise you that I can hold back my emotions. It all depends on what I am going to find out¡­ If they did something to children or tortured¡ª..." Michael didn''t have to speak any further. The three powerhouses understood what he was talking about.

    "I am proud of you. You truly are a brave Warrior. Thaor and Lokai didn''t lie when they praised you a lot. You are a good kid!" Palika Mavenham apuded him, only for the War Priestess to agree more or less willingly.

    She had seen and heard enough about Michael to understand that he was a good kid. His heart was in the right ce. Michael was genuinely hoping to strengthen his rtionship with the Tritan Alliance. He wanted the Tritan Alliance to not just survive but thrive rather than copse.

    "I will allow you to stay here. If you''re bored, use the prison''s ess to the library''swork to read a bit. I''ll allow you to read whatever you want. Consider it as a part of the reward for rescuing the Warlock Centaurs in the Colosseum and for offering your help to interrogate the traitors. You will be rewarded generously once we return. The pieces of information you provided were very helpful. Good job!" The War Priestess was not good at dishing outpliments. However, she knew that she had to say something good about Michael.

    He deserved it.

    Kraft Viton cleared his throat and pulled Michael next to him, "Of course, Michael will be rewarded generously by us as well. Not only did he procure so many useful pieces of information, but he also even provided us with the names of the spies in the Sacred Desert and the Barren Lands. His quick thinking and the fact that he offered help despite knowing that everyone would frown upon him as a rather young Lord ensured that the main regions of mankind wouldn''t face an economic disaster. The Bartholomew Corporation will definitely reward him for his selfless actions as well."

    "Of course, our reward will be an addition to the reward the Tritan Alliance ought to give him if¨C.. No. Once we get back Tritaenus. I will make sure of that," Kraft Viton added proudly, staring at Michael with glimmering eyes.

    Somehow, it felt like an old, faintly flickering me deep inside Kraft Viton''s heart had been fanned to burn brightly. From remnants of a tiny wisp, Kraft Viton''s passion returned in the form of a zing inferno.

    ''If you want to give me something¡­how about all the resources I need to build the Sacred Knight Temple, a bunch of Beast Ranches, a bunch of high-quality tools, and everything else I need to construct both a Teleportation Array and the Intermediate Summoning Gate?'' Michael thought of a better reward for himself, but he didn''t speak his mind aloud.

    He needed too much, and he didn''t want toe off as greedy in a situation like this. If anything, what Michael desired the most was to procure the bodies of all criminals in the underground prison. Unfortunately, that was something he could hardly ask for without looking like an idiot.

    "If it''s possible and the Tritaenus is not used as a trap, how about you try to kill as few enemies as possible? I should be able to procure a lot more information from higher-ranked authorities of Dark Heavens," Michael asked instead of demanding anything openly. But secretly he hoped that he could use Extraction on as many criminals as possible. After all, he had numerous things he wanted to know about Extraction, and experiments were the easiest way to find out new things.

    "I am not sure if we can overwhelm their higher-ups and retrieve everything they stole without killing them. Not without sustaining heavy injuries at least. But I will try. I want to destroy Dark Heavens as much as you, so we should try our best to keep them alive and interrogate as many of them as possible if it means that we get a opportunity to find out more about Dark Heavens and the possible location of their headquarters," Palika opined, burning fury gleaming in his eyes.

    The Berserker Chieftain was ready to obliterate Dark Heavens in one go.

    Meanwhile, all Michael could think about was his experiments, and the fact that he could use Extraction to extract the SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits of a bunch of Higher Lifeforms.

    ''How hard can it be?''

    **

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 Chapter 453 Extracting the Living II

    Chapter 453 Extracting the Living II

    It turned out that Extracting SoulStar Fragments from a living Awakened ¨C a Higher Lifeform, at that ¨C was far more difficult than Michael imagined.

    After the Berserker Chieftain and the War Priestess granted him special permission to ess the librarywork, they left for an emergency meeting. Kraft Viton joined the emergency meeting as well once he finished channeling several droplets of Psyche Obliteration into the war criminals of Dark Heavens.

    He was worried that something might happen to Michael so he took extra precautions for the worst-case scenario. Afterward, Kraft Viton left Michael alone as well. He joined the emergency meeting to n their next steps against Dark Heavens.

    Left alone, Michael felt a little bit weird at first. He was in an underground prison with hundreds of criminals who were all extremely dangerous and Higher Lifeforms. None of them was below the Lowest-rank of the 4th Tier. Fortunately, Michael didn''t have to worry about anything. Most criminals were confined, and their bodies were broken beyond repair. Even if they wanted to kill Michael, they wouldn''t even be able to lift a spoon.

    "I wish I could remove all of your Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments. With every single one of you here, I would definitely be able to upgrade Extraction to a 7-Star Soultrait!" Michael mumbled. Unfortunately, he didn''t have ess to the prison cells of the other criminals.

    In the first ce, it would be suspicious if he opened the cells of the other prisoners. A notification would appear in the log, which could be checked by the War Priestess and the Berserker Chieftain at any time. Therefore, all Michael could do was spend some quality time with the seven crippled suicide squad members.

    Michael first thought that it would be a simple task to extract the SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits within them. It had never been difficult to extract them from the dead, after all. But it was theplete opposite in case of histest targets, which made sense.

    Upon starting to use Extraction on Mihal as his first target, Michael noticed that the essence of Mihal''s entire being was trying to fight against Extraction. Despite his body being crippled beyond repair and his mental defenses getting crushed even before it could be rebuilt, Mihal''s existence put up a fight against the invasion and power of Extraction.

    Michael used severalyers of Enhancement to strengthen Extraction as the tendrils of Extraction entered Mihal''s body through his mouth, nose, and ears. Mihal began to writhe in pain immediately. He screamed aloud and began thrashing his body around. To his misfortune, Mihal was chained to a chair that had been reinforced and firmly attached to the ground. There was no way for Mihal to escape Michael''s Extraction. All he could do was struggle and scream.

    Meanwhile, the remaining six members of the suicide squad began to shiver. The crystal chains that restricted their movements and the cirction of their energy clinked loudly as the war criminal twitched uncontrobly. They had all been trained to endure suffering all their lives so they had been taught that physical pain was nothing but an illusion. But now, upon hearing theirrade''s gut-wrenching cries, they couldn''t fathom what kind of torture tactics Michael used to make Mihal scream that loudly

    The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward when he saw the violently twitching war criminals seated around Mihal. Though he broke into a sweat while fighting against the remnants of Mihal''s existence and was struggling against Extraction, he noticed that he was slowly gaining an advantage. Mihal''s mind and body had already given up against the highly prative force of Michael''s Extraction. Therefore, Michael could extract Mihal''s lifeforce and the bits of energy that had umted within his body to further weaken him and put an end to his already insignificant and miserable struggle.

    ''How can he umte energy with those tempered crystal chains? Shouldn''t they restrain his usage of energy, and deprive him entirely?'' Michael wondered before unleashing more tendrils of energy to invade the remaining six war criminals.

    They began to scream, writhe in pain, and fight desperately against the invading force. However, struggling was all they could do. Their minds were already weakened and they couldn''t use the bits of energy inside them to fight against the invasion of Extraction either.

    ''They''re all collecting energy traces. Did they learn a technique that allows their bodies to generate energy out of nowhere? If not for that, how else would they be able to collect energy while they''re in a state like this? ¡­ That means they could have umted enough energy to trigger their suicide mechanisms had I not observed the traces of energy within them¡­ Good thing I have Extraction.''

    Michael made sure to devour all of the energy traces within them. Afterward, he continued to drain their lifeforce. He didn''t kill them but he weakened them as much as possible to keep their future struggles at bay. Dealing with Mihal was already annoying enough. Michael didn''t want to spend the next few days struggling to fight against thest remains of a Higher Lifeform''s natural resistance. That was a hassle and way too arduous.

    In the next few days, Michael didn''t leave the underground prison chamber even once. He couldn''t leave, either way. However, Michael didn''t sleep, and he ate much less than usual. All he ingested was Energy Nourishing Pills to replenish his energy storage as often as possible.

    Michael spent most of his time using the Power of Extraction on the War Criminals. They killed civilians, children at that, and didn''t deserve nice treatment. If anything, they deserved the worst possible treatment. Their screams rang through Michael''s ears but there was no remorse or pity in his eyes. His actions remained as merciless as before as well.

    The prison chamber was void of furniture and there was no security camera inside the prison cell as well. Michael was left alone with the seven war criminals, who had grown much weaker over the course of thest few days. By now, even their Souls had grown much weaker. There was no natural resistance left.

    The first thing Michael had tried was to extract SoulStar Fragments from the Awakened. Under normal circumstances, Michael would extract both SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols simultaneously. But since the Soultrait Symbols ended up being Starless or 1-Star, Micahel felt like he could first extract the Soultrait''s SoulStar Fragments before removing the Awakened''s Soultraits.

    It worked just like he wanted. The only downside was that it took way too long to extract SoulStar Fragments from a living target. Fortunately, that was something Michael could solve as his skill of handling living targets improved. The natural resistance of the targets decreased over time whereas Michael''s proficiency and efficiency increased.

    At the end of the first day, Michael ended up with a pile of 634 SoulStar Fragments. That was a lot less than he would obtain from killing a Higher Lifeform and extracting their Soultrait Symbol and SoulStar Fragments straight from the corpse, but there was also an advantage. Michael didn''t wring out Mihal dry. It was just the beginning.

    On the second day, Michael extracted 1859 SoulStar Fragments, and in the morning of the third day Mihal died as his Soultrait Symbols were ripped out of his Soul. Mihal had already been on the verge of death, and the bacsh of losing his Soultraits in such a painful manner had been enough to kill the young man. Fortunately enough, Michael had been able to extract a total of 2734 SoulStar Fragments from Mihal before he extracted both Second Skin and Insert.

    "2734 SoulStar Fragments and two Soultrait Symbols in roughly 50 hours. From a single Tier-4 Awakened¡­ That''s decent," Michael mumbled to himself in satisfaction. He realized that the droprate of Soultrait Symbols was much higher when the Awakened was still alive. That was some crucial piece of information Michael could make use of in the near future.

    However, for now he had to spend his time extracting more Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments from the remaining six war criminals. They were crippled and defenseless against the terrifying power of Michael''s Extraction. However, even better was that Michael obtained the energy influx from killing Mihal. The energy influx of a Higher Lifeform swamped Michael. The energy ravaged his body and nearly caused his skin to burst. Therefore, Michael was forced to enter the Origin Expanse for a while to not suffer permanent damages to his body and War rune. He made use of the advantageous time dtion to assimte bits of the energy influx to refine his body, mind, and War Rune.

    Since his skill of practicing Sacred Rectification, Pandemonium''s Requiem, and Caseurium Menta had increased over the past few weeks, Michael could properly handle the energy influx of a Tier-4 Awakened in two days. He digested it all and returned to the underground prison where he began to extract the SoulStar Fragments and the Soultrait Symbol of the next war criminal ¨C another Lowest-rank Tier-4 Awakened.

    This time, Michael spent only 24 hours extracting 2794 SoulStar Fragments and a Soultrait. He delivered the final blow by ripping the Awakened''s Soultrait out of his Soul, once again providing himself with a tremendous energy influx.

    Over the course of the next 10 days, Michael switched between extracting SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols and jumping into the Origin Expanse to spend most of his time refining his body, mind, and War Rune.

    He advanced much faster than he could have ever hoped for and smiled foolishly when thest of the seven war criminals fell dead to the ground. It was a Lowest Tier-5 Lord, who''d been an Elder at the Silvermoon University. Michael didn''t really care who or what he was. All he had to know was that the Elder was a traitor of the human race, and partially at fault for the death of hundreds of prodigies and millions of innocent citizens. That was enough to know that his death was justified and that there was no need for Michael to feel remorse.

    If anything, Michael felt ecstatic. After all, he was able to procure seven massive energy influxes from six Tier-4 Awakened and a Tier-5 Lord just like that.

    ''This is already a decent prize for the help I provided. I''m a fucking Tycoon!''

 Chapter 454 Risk and Reward

    Chapter 454 Risk and Reward

    The impact of thest energy influx was the worst. Even though Michael used the energy influx of six Tier-4 Awakened to refine his body, mind and War Rune, the energy influx of a Tier-5 Lord was several times worse. It circted through his entire body like moltenva and seemed to burn down everything in its path.

    Michael screamed at the top of his lungs right before he disappeared inside the Origin Expanse. He forced his eyes shut to focus on his refinement techniques and use up as much energy as possible. He tried to refine his body, mind, and War Rune simultaneously so as to utilize the energy that wreaked havoc inside his body.

    Several days passed before Michael opened his eyes once again. His entire body was drenched in sweat and he felt eerily weak. Yet, the power that surged through his body was amazing. It was exhrating.

    Instead of rushing to leave the Origin Expanse, Michael decided to eat something. He devoured more than a dozen jumbo-sized trays until he finally felt full. He then rubbed his stomach with a satisfying smile and copsed on the bench.

    When he woke up again, Michael found himself in his room. The tiredness that had apanied him for thest two weeks was no more to harass him. Michael finally rested a bit. He talked a little bit with Tiara, and the Forest Elves about the territory development. Michael then checked the progress of the Sacred Knight Temple and a few other projects as well.

    A few hourster, he returned back to the underground prison where a surprise was waiting for him.

    The War Priestess, missing an arm, and the Berseker Chieftain, covered in various wounds that stemmed from explosions and razor-sharp des, were back in the prison.

    "Ohh¡­W-wee back!" Michael greeted them, shing a forced smile in the direction of the two powerhouses.

    "You are still alive. That''s good." Palika Mavenham said, patting Michael''s back.

    The force in Palika''s pat was nearly enough to fling Michael across the room. Fortunately, his physique had improved quite a bit in thest few weeks so he could absorb the impact.

    "The security system''s sound detectors perceived your screams. The vital signal radar then showed us that you killed the traitorous Tier-5 Lord. I should have warned you about the energy influx. Good thing your limbs are still where they ought to be," The War Priestess exined, draining all the color from Michael''s face.

    ''I forgot about the vital signal radars! Fuck this shit¡­ Were they able to sense the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols as well?'' Michael broke into a sweat at this thought. His breathing grew rougher and a lump formed in his throat. He was about to hyperventte when he pped his cheeks to force his body back under control.

    ''No. If they noticed something like that they wouldn''t have asked about my well-being first. They would probably ask about the Soultrait Symbols and the SoulStar Fragments first¡­right?''

    "H-how can I help you? Did youe just to look out for me? That''s¡­nice¡­" Michael managed to say, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

    "Actually, we just returned from Kirata. You were correct. It was a trap. Thankfully, we were prepared to jump straight into a trap. We created a strategy to counter most traps, and were able to overwhelm the bastards from Dark Heavens. We got the Tritaenus back and our people are currently checking the internal systems to check whether Dark Heavens'' hackers were able to procure all or any information. They will also check for viruses and all the other stuff," Palika exined, not hiding that he had no idea about technology.

    All the Berserker Chieftain cared about wasbat, strength and the death of his enemies. Everything rted to technology and modern science was not his forte, so he let others do what they were good at.

    "You can read the reportter. For now, we came to pick you up and check on you. The security system worried us a little bit because nobody would be stupid enough to kill a Tier-5 Lord while being a Tier-2 Awakened, but it''s a good thing that you survived," The War Priestess pointed out.

    Her gaze told Michael that she was mocking him. However, Michael could only sigh in relief ¨C inwardly, of course. First of all, the War Priestess seemed to have epted him. She didn''t consider him as a stupid youngling, who trusted his gut feeling like a naive fool. The War Priestess might have lost an arm, but her expression didn''t show any signs of worry or resentment. Michael didn''t understand that quite well, but it was possible that the War Priestess was unburdened by the loss of her arm.

    ''They probably have the means to heal her. If Maria is willing to help out they can definitely regrow her arm. That should hardly be an issue.'' Michael thought, happy that the security system didn''t seem to have picked up on the Soultrait Symbols and the SoulStar Fragments.

    He felt a little bit foolish for forgetting about the countless functions most modern security systems possessed, but it was a good thing that he Extracted the SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits of the war criminals.

    He procured a total of 24,900 SoulStar Fragments and 8 Soultraits. Second Skin, Insert and a bunch of other rather useful Soultraits entered Michael''s possession. The gains Michael made were exceptional, but there was still more. Other than the SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, and energy influx, Michael also procured arge portion of the war criminal''s goods, and several Memory Orbs.

    Their War Rune''s storage was emptied by Michael and the Memory Orbs were consumed at once. The dead couldn''t speak, but their memories could.

    After putting himself in a dangerous situation that could have exposed his secret, Michael obtained what he desired. It was definitely worth the risk. Of course, that didn''t mean Michael didn''t feel stressed out and under enormous pressure. His heart was palpitating, and he had a hard time talking to either of the races'' leaders.

    "The Battle Exchange must have ended by now. What will happen now? We have only like¡­six or seven weeks left before we have to depart, right?" Michael asked, trying to change the topic.

    "The Battle Exchange is over, yes. The participants of the g War have already been informed. You should also have a notification. In fact, you should have received multiple notifications by now. As for the rest, they''ll leave Piloq in the next few days," Palika exined, looking back at Michael before he added, "But why did you kill that Tier-5 Lord? I mean, I understand why you did it, but I don''t understand why you would put your life in danger like that. Don''t you know that the energy influx of someone two Tiers higher than you is already dangerous? I didn''t say anything because I was pretty sure that you would be fine killing the Lowest-ranked Tier-4 Awakened. But you went ahead and killed the Tier-5 Lord as well? You can consider yourself fortunate for being alive!"

    It was interesting to know that many Awakened criminals were executed in the past. Since killing Awakened rewarded an energy influx to the executioner, various families began to search for high-ranked criminals to let their children kill them. The young Descendants were at a simr Tier and rank as Michael when they killed the Higher Lifeforms in the hopes of refining their War Rune rapidly. While that worked most of the time, it created two major problems.

    The first problem was pretty simple. It was a fact that Awakened provided an energy influx upon getting killed. Various criminals were executed by young Descendants, but that was not all. Some big families were getting greedy. They wanted to grow faster than others and exceed them all. They wanted to be the sole and unrivaled rulers of mankind. Therefore, they began to hunt criminals to capture them for their children to kill.

    Most families epted this. They did the same in the beginning. However, they didn''t kill innocent Awakened or smaller criminals. However, there was one family that began to frame powerful Awakened from unknown families. They captured and killed them for their energy influx. But that was not all. Smaller criminals who stole their party''s goods were also captured by this family ¨C and mercilessly killed by the younger generation. The family changed a lot, and they developed techniques to procure more energy influx from killing ''criminals''. Their hair turned crimson like the blood they shed when they killed the innocent and criminals alike.

    Their family''s name was added to history''s books as the Crimson Hunters, the Arcania family.

    The second problem was the danger of the highly potent energy influx a Higher Lifeform provided. The energy influx was on apletely different level from the energy influx of a Lesser Lifeform. Therefore many Descendants with weaker Soultraits suffered major bacshes from killing criminals, who were two Tiers above them in rank. Only the strongest Descendants with powerful Soultraits to strengthen their Soul, and a sturdy foundation epassing both physical and mental fortitude could ovee and endure the energy influx provided by an Awakened two Tiers above their rank.

    Michael met that requirement mostly because he was in possession of so many Soultraits. Even if his mind and body would crumble, his Soul provided enough protection to his existence to endure and use the energy influx of a Tier-4 Awakened. As for the Tier-5 Lord¡­Michael would rather be in unbearable pain and be considered an idiot for thinking that he could endure the energy influx of a Tier-5 Lord rather than keep his guinea pigs alive.

    He had used the war criminals as guinea pigs for his experiments. He removed their Soultraits and extracted their SoulStar Fragments. Leaving them alive was not an option. Therefore, Michael chose to be the stupid fool, who overestimated his capabilities. That was much better than his secrets getting exposed.

    Michael was still alive and he was almost done with the second refinement stage of Sacred Rectification. Caesurium Menta was also nearing the limit of the second stage. It was only a matter of time before he reached a bottleneck. By then, Michael would have to change his refinement technique to a better one or advance to the 3rd Tier to practice the 3rd stage of Caesurium Menta and Sacred Rectification.

    "Well¡­how about I show you something? You might understand why I killed that old bastard on a whim," Michael responded to Palika. He retrieved a Memory Crystal and channeled some memories inside it.

    The memories originated from the Memory Orb of the Tier-5 Lord he''d killed. Michael was disgusted just thinking about the memories, but he kept a straight face as he handed the Memory Crystal to Palika Mavenham.

    The Berserker Chieftain''s expression remained neutral for the first few seconds. However, upon reaching a certain point his expression turned sour. It worsened until hisrge hand twitched and his grip on the Orb tightened. Not even a secondter, the memory crystal burst into thousands of pieces.

    "This¡­Is that how humans can be? Not even the worst criminals of our kind would dare to do something so cruel and evil to children¡­and innocent women. How could someone let loose Goblins and Kobolds onto them¡­.?"

    Palika Mavenham had seen a lot. He had seen many bad people. However, most of the time the Chieftain could sense the bad within people. But that was not the case with the Elder. In fact, the Elder of the Silvermoon University had a likable personality. Many liked him. Even Palika had had a favorable impression of him¡­until now.

    "That is terrifying¡­" The War Priestess mumbled as she received a simr memory crystal from Michael.

    "Yes, it is. He is one of the worst humans I''ve encountered until now¡­so I couldn''t hold back¡­especially with his memory being imprinted in my mind¡­I hate it¡­I want to get rid of them all¡­but I needed that to collect information¡­" Michael swore under his breath, clenching his fists.

    He really hated some of the memories that had been imprinted deep into his mental with exceptional rity. It was horrifying to have someone else''s memories in his mind, especially if those were foul. The only good thing was that Michael could organize his memories and thoughts. If not for being able to differentiate his memories from those of others, Michael would have crumbled by now. That was something he was certain of.

    ''But I need to know how disgusting mankind can be and how low they can stoop. I need to understand that not everyone is good. If I extract the memories again, I will lose every memory connected to the bad ones. The weapon mastery, their knowledge, and how disgusting they are. I¡­have to use their memories as a source of energy to grow stronger, and to remind myself about the dark side of mankind¡­''

    "Their memories are inside you? That¡­must be your Soultrait''s doing¡­ I am sorry for you. That must be terrifying. I understand why you killed them," The War Priestess said, looking at Michael with a tinge of pity, and newly found respect.

    Despite knowing how vile the war criminals had been, Michael spent the previous two weeks procuring as many useful pieces of information as possible. Silvana couldn''t imagine how horrifying it must have been for Michael, and how much he had to endure. Yet, he worked so hard to help everyone. He deserved to bemended and respected.

    "Don''t worry about what others might say. I will make sure nobody can even harm a single hair of your hair for killing these bastards!"

 Chapter 455 Sorry

    Chapter 455 Sorry

    Michael was fortunate that his worries didn''t turn into reality. Solving the problems about the two powerhouses that tormented his mind had been rather easy.

    He ended up worrying more about potential problems with the War Priestess and the Berserker Chieftain than necessary. Thankfully, they didn''t find out about Extraction''s existence. Therefore, there was no problem, in the first ce. If anything, the two Leaders'' opinion of Michael improved even further after they found out that Michael''s Soultraits were capable of storing the memories of the war criminals in his mind.

    ording to their point of view, Michael had sacrificed a lot to procure crucial information. His sacrifice was far bigger than they''d anticipated.

    Silvana and Palika felt bad for thinking that Michael didn''t have anything to sacrifice. In their opinion, the youthful Lord lost nothing to procure the information they had required to find and retrieve the Tritaenus spaceship. But that was wrong. They had been wrong.

    Watching Michael''s expression change several times as the memories of the war criminals shed through his eyes flooded the two older Awakened with guilt. Observing the anger in his eyes as he lived through the memories of those merciless and terrifying men was definitely not easy.

    Silvana and Palika clearly recalled what had happened in the memories stored in the Memory Crystals, and they couldn''t help but feel that Michael was worthy to be called a brave and tenacious Warrior. Michael was a brave soul, and he should be protected at all costs.

    Not only did Michael protect their kind more than once, he was also one of the few who actively approached other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to establish connections. He protected others and offended his own people to make sure that the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers were treated on equal terms. His determination to keep the Tritan Alliance intact and protect it was obvious. If not for his selfless offer to interrogate the war criminals ¨C even if that meant that he had to imprint their memories in his mind ¨C they would have never gotten back the Tritaenus, and their future ns would have been destroyed.

    But that was not all. Michael was also powerful. Silvana and Palika couldn''t even guess how many Soultraits Michael possessed at this point. He was like an onion with countlessyers. He¡­was a treasure and a true prodigy.

    Michael noticed the changes in both Palika Mavenham and Silvana Zentur''s bodynguage and way of interacting with him, and he was not sure if he deserved this kind of treatment. He wanted to help Alice and the others, but he also had selfish intentions when he offered to interrogate the war criminals.

    Of course, Michael wasn''t a fool to be upset about their preferential treatment. He didn''t have the luxury to do so. The only luxury he had was to be in possession of a bunch of Tier-4 and Tier-5 Artifacts he''d extracted from the war criminals. Their quality was also pretty decent.

    Selling the Artifact would provide enough funds toplete a few tasks on his to-do list. After adding the rewards he was about to obtain from his Battle Exchange ranking, and for offering his help, Michael hoped that he had enough funds toplete the Teleportation Array, start upgrading his Basic Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank and maybe even continue with the Intermediate or Advanced level of the Sacred Knight Temple ¨C once the Basic level had been constructed.

    ''But then again¡­better techniques might as well be better than some funds. Neither Sacred Rectification, nor Caesurium Menta, or Pandemonium''s Requiem are top-tier techniques. They''re not as potent and efficient as Inheritance techniques. As forbat techniques¡­ I have too few of them¡­quite literally¡­''

    Michael was deep in thought as he was led outside the underground prison. Silvana and Palika thought that he needed some time to fight with the demonic memories that had taken root in his mind. Therefore, they left him alone to clear his mind. Instead of bothering him right now, Palika forwarded a few files to keep him informed about the most recent changes about the Interdimensional g War and the happenings in Piloq. Silvana then shared a file about the battle with Dark Heavens.

    Michael was led to arge room, or a ginormous bedroom to be precise, that had been emptied for him. In the center of the room hung arge chandelier. It shimmered brightly and attracted Michael''s interest for a moment. His eyes moved to the king-sized bed and the dozens of cushions spread all over it. He then looked over to the huge wall of bookshelves on the other side. The bookshelves were filled with books, probably hundreds of them.

    Their titles were quite interesting as well.

    [Compendium of Mythical Creatures]

    [Origin of the Expanse]

    [The Will''s Nature: The Foundation of Power]

    [The Will''s Nature II: Utilizing the Will]

    [Achievement Stores and its Utilities]

    ¡­

    Michael was curious about the previous owner of the room. Thus he asked the Berserker Chieftain.

    Interestingly enough, the room had been Elder Xerx''s residence before the¡­incidents¡­happened. Michael was given the room as a small gift of gratitude for the support he offered. He was given a few more pieces of information before the two Leaders left Michael alone ¨C not without forgetting to profusely thank him once again.

    By now it was obvious that the Leaders were going out of their way to ensure that he was taken care of. They were too forting. It was ufortable at this point.

    Once left alone, Michael began to skim through the messages and notifications on his crystal watch.

    [Congrattions for sessfully protecting your g War Token. As the 23rd Seed of the Duo Campaign, you can collect your resources from the Management Department *Now*. You may also select delivery to hire a courier to send over your reward package!]

    [Dear Mr Fang. We would like to inform you that the Vice President of the Bartholomew Corporation provided a detailed report about your selfless actions for mankind''s sake. The Seeds of Demonic Breed have been detected and removed thanks to your contribution. The Bartholomew Corporation wants to thank you for your extraordinary achievement. Your diamond-level discount will increase and your profit share of the Agriculture Project will increase to 21%. This is just a small gift of gratitude for saving the Barren Lands and the Agriculture Project from going extinct before it could flourish properly¡­.]

    The second message was quite long. It unlocked a bunch of functions he couldn''t use before. But the most intriguing was a particr function that hadn''t been avable before.

    [You may now use the Anonymous Trading and the Mysterious Auction. If you want to trade or auction rare materials through the Bartholomew Corporation you may go to any of our shops to do so. We ensure 100% anonymity and excellent customer service.]

    Anonymous Trading sounded like a very useful function for Michael. He could use this function to trade his Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. Using the Anonymous Trading function, Michael wouldn''t have to look for trading partners actively. He could use the Bartholomew Corporation to amass Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    But since Michael didn''t want to rely on the Bartholomew Corporation, he would trade with Alice and maybe talk to Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb as well. A few more connections might be suitable targets to trade his Mythic Scrolls, but Michael was not in a rush, not anymore.

    [Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Hello Michael¡­ to be honest, I am not sure what I''m supposed to say right now. As you might know, I''ve never been in a situation like this. Jacqueline told me that she informed you about my¡­situation. It''s a little bit embarrassing, to be honest. But¡­I think I should thank you for what you did. I don''t think I deserve your help, but I''m relieved that I was unconscious and couldn''t reject it. The healer is a little bitch whoins about everything, but she does her job well. Thanks to her ¨C and your support ¨C I will be able to heal again.]

    [Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Putting aside my thankfulness¡­I''m at a loss. My condition will improve enough to start training soon, but I won''t be able to return to the Origin Expanse. The Arygats ¨C that''s the name of the enemies I faced-. they''re monstrosities whose attacks inflicted curses and destroyed everything I owned. I was thest survivor of my people, and the Arygats'' Lord knows where I opened my Runic Gate. He must have created a trap around my anchor to ensure that if I dare to return I won''t be able to go anywhere. So¡­I don''t know what to do. Jacqueline tells me to elope with her and run away, but¡­I can''t do that. She loves her family too much, and I don''t want to be the one to force her to make that difficult choice of who to abandon.]

    [Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Please ignore my rumbling. I have nobody to rant to, so¡­please just forget everything I''ve been messaging you. I¡­just feel helpless. I need strength but my father has been crippled and I am useless. I am a nobody, my Soultrait is not strong enough, and our Inheritance technique is of Inferior qualitypared to other Inheritance techniques. How am I supposed to give Jacqueline what she deserves? How am I supposed to protect my father, and heal him? I need strength, but I cannot even use the Origin Expanse¡­]

    Frederik had never been an obedient and calm child. He was known for his bad temper and ugly personality. But these messages¡­they were different. Michael was not sure what to say or to think.

    He stared at his chat with Frederik and pressed his lips together before he typed something.

    [Michael Fang: There is no need to thank me. Focus on your recovery first. That''s the most important. You might feel like you owe me something, but I don''t really think like that. I don''t mind helping out a friend as long as I have the means to do so.]

    Michael had more than enough to give Frederik a helping hand. Frederik Kolbenheim was about to lose everything. He shouldn''t have to worry about his physique as well. He licked his lower lip, his fingers hovering over the holographic keyboard.

    [Michael Fang: Would it be enough if you gained enough strength to oppress the potential marriage candidates the Elders have chosen for Jacqueline? Would that satisfy the Elders, or is there more you have to do? Like regaining your territory?]

    He was not yet sure why he asked this question, but he sent the message after a while. There was a lot Michael had to reconsider, but he felt like he was doing the right thing by sending the message.

    The chat with Frederik Kolbenheim closed and another chat opened. It was his chat with Alice Zenovia, and a bombardment of questions appeared on the holographic screen. Alice had been asking him where he was, how he was doing, and when he woulde back. She mentioned the end of the Battle Exchange, the fight for Tritaenus, and the death of various powerhouses. Apparently, her friend had been injured quite severely as well. Fortunately, Maria Seraph chose to offer her help and tend to the wounds of the injured.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I really don''t understand this little girl. Sometimes she avoids people by all means and runs away from healing the wounds of those who are on the brink of death, and other times she goes beyond her limit to tend to everyone. This time she even said that she would umte enough energy to heal the War Priestess'' arm and tend to everyone else who''s still injured by the time she returns. I really think that she has a few loose screws in her head.]

    Michael raised an eyebrow while reading the secondst message but the message that followed right after was even more ridiculous.

    [Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): Are you ghosting me now, or did Maria kidnap you and thrash your crystal watch? I swear, I will beat you during our next training session if I find out that you''ve been ignoring me!]

    He let out a faint chuckle and shook his head in denial.

    ''This girl is getting more insane the more I get to know about her.'' Then Michael typed a short message.

    [Michael Fang: I was doing some tasks for the War Priestess and the Chieftain. Now I''m back. We can continue our Mythic Scroll trade if you''re still interested. My subjects should have collected a few more by now. If you''re interested you might be able to make a once-in-a-lifetime deal with me!"

    Michae sighed deeply, feeling satisfied with himself. Atst, he sent another small message to Alice.

    [Michael Fang: I wouldn''t ignore you. Don''t worry.]

    **

    If you want to backing me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character pictures on my discord. If you''re interested, participate ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    If you want to backing the author rather than the tform, here is my Ko-Fi and Pat.reon

    ko-fi/hideousgrain

    https://.patreon/HideousGrain

 Chapter 456 Reward Package

    Chapter 456 Reward Package

    Oddly enough Michael received a few messages from Jacqueline as well.

    She told him that Frederik woke up a while ago and that he isted himself from everyone else. The only person allowed to enter his room was the healer, who tended to his wounds. Jacqueline used her chat with Michael toin about Frederik and reveal her insecurities about the future.

    ''How did I end up bing their therapist? Don''t they have other friends to talk to¡­? No, forget that. Of course, they don''t have any friends¡­''

    The Barbaric Couple was always together. Sometimes, Michael wondered if they were glued together. It was a miracle that they could survive apart from each other inside the Origin Expanse.

    Staring at his chat with Jacqueline it was no wonder that Michael felt weird. He rarely had to console someone in such a situation. The Barbaric Couple was in trouble and they needed someone to talk to. Unfortunately, it was not like Michael was an expert in rtionship advice or had much free time. Therefore, he figured that he could message them now that he had some time to spare.

    After he read through Jacqueline''s bombardment of text messages twice, Michael decided to reply to her with one long message. He exined to Jacqueline how Frederik must be feeling and what he was thinking in this situation. Michael made sure to tell Jacqueline that she should be patient and that she should only go to meet Frederik once he was in the right frame of mind. He also advised her to not be too forting or act differently than usual. She should give him a helping hand when needed, but not go out of her way to do everything for Frederik. That would only result in a more ufortable situation. It wouldn''t help Frederik adjust and ept his new life.

    Michael took his time to reply to Jacqueline. He read through his own message thrice before sending the text. Afterward, he opened the file Silvana Zentur sent him. It was the report of the Tritan Alliance''s counterattack.

    Instead of skimming through the report, Michael read through it with great interest. The report was exhaustive and exined the fight against Dark Heavens in great detail.

    "It was just like I suspected. A trap," Michael mumbled, "But to think that Dark Heavens would hide the Tritaenus in theary ring of Kirata to use the surrounding meteorites to bombard the Tritan Alliance''s spaceships. That''s pretty impressive. Too bad that Higher Lifeforms can survive in space for a while."

    Dark Heavens'' trap worked out decently. They used the meteorites in theary ring as weapons of mass destruction. The meteorites'' trajectory was altered, and they were thrown toward the Tritan''s spaceships that had just entered theary ring. Most meteorites were destroyed with the use of the Tritan spaceships'' weapon system and some Soultraits, but other meteorites had been enhanced with the use of various Soultraits. They were resilient enough to endure a few attacks and smashed heavily into the smaller Tritan spaceships, destroying them in one go.

    After the first two spaceships were destroyed, a human powerhouse used her Spatial-type Soultrait to teleport the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs inside Tritaenus. Given the way the report was written, Michael presumed that they sacrificed two spaceships intentionally to distract Dark Heavens. Thereafter the real attack began.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wreaked havoc inside Tritaenus, whereas the remaining powerhouses surrounded the Tritaenus spaceship to keep the Dark Heavens members, who wanted to flee, at bay. Dark Heavens had two Awakened with Spatial-type Soultraits, but they were low-ranked ones. The Tritan Alliance''s anti-element devices that they''d installed after the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs invaded the Tritaenus were potent enough to restrain the use of those low-level spatial affinities. Thereafter one of the strongest powerhouses present released a seal that restricted the manifestation of Runic Gate in a radius of 10 kilometers. No one could escape their fate by fleeing into the Origin Expanse.

    After reading through the first steps of the Tritan Alliance''s ns which were exined in detail, Michael noticed that the climax of the battle was only skimmed through. All the report stated was the death of dozens of powerhouses, including humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs¡­and that they died in honor. The report continued to state that the Tritaenus had been retrieved and that dozens of powerhouses from Dark Heavens had been caught.

    Every single one of the powerhouses caught was, at least, a Lowest-rank Tier-4 Awakened. However, most of them were even stronger.

    Dark Heavens'' Trap worked out to a certain extent as they destroyed two spaceships and killed close to 1000 Awakened with the potential to be a threat to Dark Heavens. However, Silvana''s report stated that the honorable deaths of herrades-in-arms allowed them to capture many enemies ¨C something that could result in potential future gains.

    As long as they could interrogate the enemies they''d captured, the Tritan Alliance could procure more knowledge about Hyumans, the Supreme Human Alliance, and the other human race of the alliance. It was highly likely that the interrogation would prove useful against other dark organizations as well.

    ''As long as they can find out Dark Heavens'' future ns, the Tritan Alliance should be fine for a while,'' Michael thought, right before his mind drifted away, ''Maybe¡­I can use Extraction on the Dark Heavens members this time as well. That would be pretty great!''

    Each war criminal from Dark Heavens was a Higher Lifeform. Therefore, spending a few weeks with them would prove useful for Michael. He could extract the SoulStar Fragments within them, get hold of their Soultraits, and make use of their energy influx by killing them once he''d sucked them dry with Extraction.

    By the time Michael was done reading through Silvana''s report, he heard someone knocking at the door. Right after the sound of knocking reached his ear, a notification popped up on his crystal watch.

    [Your reward package has arrived. Please verify your identity when you pick up the package!]

    Michael got up from the bed and walked over to the door. A small drone hovered right in front of him. It scanned Michael from head to toe to verify his identity and dropped a leather bracelet with a small crystal embedded into it once the scan waspleted.

    The drone disappeared with a loud hum as Michael picked up the bracelet. The crystal was a dimensional shard, an ingredient that was often used to create storage devices. Its value was considered quite high because the storage devices created with dimensional shards didn''t have to be bound to your War Rune to ess them.

    It was simr to Michael''s spatial satchel, only much smaller.

    The space within the spatial bracelet was not humongous, but it wasrge enough to fit piles of stones that looked like marble and shelves filled with vials that contained chestnut brown liquid.

    The vials didn''t look that pleasant to the eye, but Michael knew what they were. That was also why he was quite happy.

    "Energy Stones and Apex Nutrition Serums? That sounds like a good reward, indeed," Michael mumbled as he recovered a small Energy Stone and one of the Apex Nutrition Serums.

    The Apex Nutrition Serums were the most potent reagents that could be used by Lesser Lifeforms. Under normal circumstances, it was a waste for Tier-2 Awakened to use them since most Awakened couldn''t absorb even half of the nutritionpressed into the small vial. They were simply too expensive to be wasted like that.

    Thus, only young Descendants with their Inheritance technique would purchase those Apex Nutrition Serums at enormous prices. Their Inheritance techniques allowed them to digest most of the highly potent Apex Nutrition Serum to improve their mind, body, and soul.

    Since almost all participants of the g War were either wunderkinds or adept at using Apex Nutrition Serums, one of the rewards ended up being shelves filled with Apex Nutrition Serums.

    ''There should be more than 200. Each of them is worth millions if I''m not mistaken. That''s a few billion just for the Apex Nutrition Serums I''ve been given. My rank was quite high¡­. but how many Apex Nutrition Serums have been distributed to those at the top spots? How many did the Tritan Alliance distribute to everyone altogether? Their expenses must be in the trillions¡­maybe hundreds of trillions if we add the Energy Stones¡­''

    Michael was having a hard time calcting the numbers in hundreds of trillions. Nobody would bother calcting such high figures. Why? Because one would easily lose count after reaching astronomical numbers. Instead of using dors as a currency, most races used Energy Stones as the universal currency. The reason was pretty simple as well: Everyone needed Energy Stones.

    Inferior Energy Stones were considered the most potent sources of clean power to absorb as a Lesser Lifeform. They were filled to the brim with energy and it was easy to consume the energy stored within. As long as your energy assimtion technique was potent and your mastery high enough, one could easily improve one''s War Rune using Energy Stones.

    Of course, they weren''t cheap. Even the Inferior Energy Stones piled up in the storage bracelet were worth tens of millions ¨C each of them.

    "Filthy rich¡­" Michael mumbled, stopping for a moment before he added, "Or I''m just too poor."

    "Well. Not anymore. It looks like I am about to start my grind soon."

    He was quite excited. The thought of using trillions to improve his strength ached his stingy heart quite a bit, but Michael understood that it was necessary.

    If the rewards distributed by the Tritan Alliance could help a few Descendants to attain enough strength to defeat some Tekur that would already be a sessful investment. If it saved a bunch of Awakened from dying at the Tekur''s hands that would be even better.

    [Tritan Alliance(Official ount): Dear Michael Fang, we''ve been informed that your reward package has been delivered. We hope that you''re satisfied with the rewards.

    Unfortunately, we have to tell you that your remaining rewards will be given outter. The Officials are still trying to think of a proper reward for your extraordinary actions and contribution. We will inform you soon. Stay tuned!]

    Michael raised an eyebrow while staring at thest message.

    "Can''t I just make a request? I have loads of things I need," Michael grumbled,

    "Don''t you dare to give me something shitty!"

 Chapter 457 Variable

    Chapter 457 Variable

    [Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): Well...I think with enough strength everything will be okay¡­I guess. I have no idea, Michael. I don''t know anything. Maybe, I will never be able to return to the Origin Expanse¡­and maybe, the Elders of the Ondo family won''t ever ept me if I were to ask Jacqueline to create a Link of Loyalty with me. In fact, that would aggravate them even more if I were to be daring enough to ept Jacqueline''s help. The Elders would always think that I am beneath her and not worthy of her¡­not that I am worthy of her right now¡­]

    "This guy is nuts. Consider yourself lucky, Frederik. The next time I''m near you while you act like this, I will drag you to Silverean''s hellish training. I will make sure you cannot cry like a little child because you will be too tired, or unconscious after we''re done!" Michael cursed Frederik quietly.

    He wanted to distract Frederik, but that was hardly possible given the distance between them. Therefore, he had to listen to his self-loathing, and nonsense on repeat.

    Michael thought a lot about Frederik and his situation. He had a few ways to help him but he hesitated. For now, Michael couldn''t really do much to offer Frederik a helping hand. Frederik was quite far away¡­but if he traveled to Piloq, would that be worthwhile?

    ''I wanted to build my own army either way. But do I already want to invite humans? Am I willing to share my secrets with humans, or would that be too dangerous? If I invite Frederik to my territory and upgrade his Soultrait he would obtain a sudden increase in strength. But that would attract unwanted attention¡­''

    Michael shook his head. He wanted to help Frederik, but he was not willing to take the risk just yet. It was not as if Michael needed any more attention. He had been under the spotlight for quite a while.

    ''Maybe after the g War is over, I can start searching for some targets.''

    With that in mind, Michael decided to leave the room. He was about to meet up with Alice to talk about the g War and their future training program when he received a notification from the official ount of the Tritan Alliance.

    [Tritan Alliance(Official ount): Dear participants of the Interdimensional g War. After oveing the recent events the officials decided to tweak the training program until the start of the Interdimensional g War. Lia, our AI, analyzed thebat prowess, personality, andpatibility of every participant to create Combat Teams with five to ten members each. The teams will meet up with their designated Instructor and work on their teamwork for the next six weeks. For further information don''t hesitate to contact your designated Instructor.]

    A file was attached to the notification. Michael opened the file to see which team he had been assigned to.

    What he didn''t expect was to find his name nowhere on the list.

    "Did they forget me?" Michael murmured to himself as he entered Alice''s office. He looked up and realized that Alice was not alone. Oliver Zeus was right next to her, his expression overflowing with seriousness.

    "My timing seems a little bit off. Sorry for disturbing you two. I will wait outside," Michael said hurriedly, pedaling backward to leave the room.

    However, Oliver pointed at Michael and gestured to him to stop.

    "I understand that Killian has been appointed as a variable because of his Soultraits, and his nasty personality. But what is with this kid? How can he be given a spot as a variable? This kid is quite literally a Tier-2 Lord. How could you deem him fit to be a variable? Do you want to see him dead that much?" Oliver used Alice, whose expression turned colder by the second.

    Oliver noticed toote that he blurted thest sentence aloud, but he didn''t take back what he said. Alice''s decision didn''t make sense, after all!

    "What exactly does that mean? Is that why I can''t find my name on the team list?" Michael asked upon realizing that Oliver and Alice were talking about the team list for the g War.

    Alice averted her eyes from Oliver. She looked at Michael intently and exined the situation, "You are not in a team because I got you a spot as a variable. That means you can freely roam around the isted dimension where the g War is held. Most variables are Peak Tier-3 Lords like Killian Zeus. His Soultrait is highly destructive, and his mastery of the Zeus family''s Inheritance technique allows him to fight the Tekur head-on. He can help other teams when they''re in danger or fight on his own against the Tekur."

    Oliver then turned to Michael, "His Soultrait and personality make it quite difficult to team up with others. He is adamant about being the man in charge even though he fights at the frontlines. Killian cannot even see the entire battlefield, yet he wants to have the final say in everything rather than guide the supporters, who can oversee and control the battlefield much easier."

    "But that''s not the point. I understand that Killian Zeus and the others have been picked as variables but¡­" Oliver continued to look at Michael and sighed, "I really don''t understand why you''ve been picked as a variable. I mean no harm, it''s the opposite actually. I am worried that you will be in danger if you encounter some Tekur without a team. I saw your battles and know that you''re strong, a treasure in the making even. But you don''t have an Inheritance technique and your Tier is simply too low. I want to see you blossom to prove it to the High Society that someone without family backing can make it big. I would hate to see you die right now!"

    Michael was not too sure what to think of Oliver Zeus. The Zeus family sounded rather problematic given that they had Killian Zeus. The Zeus family was also the founding family of the Olympus. But then again, Oliver sounded sincere. It didn''t look like Oliver had a specific reason why he hated that Michael had been picked as a variable.

    "I just want you to use yourmunication crystals to team up with those who need your help. Of course, it would be best if you stay with some teams for a while, but I think you will do a better job running around without anyone holding you back," Alice merely said. She didn''t shy away from Michael and stared straight into his eyes.

    He trusted Alice, and he actually liked that she chose to reserve a spot as a variable for him. That was pretty neat.

    ''I can hunt the Tekur, extract them in secret, and help the others in that case.''

    "Sounds good to me. But what kind of training do I have to undergo then? I can adapt pretty fast to other teams, but I am not sure if our teamwork will be great if Ie to help other teams," Michael pointed out, "Do you want me to focus on growing stronger with the resources I''ve obtained, or is there some special training regime nned for variables?"

    As hisst words left his mouth, Michael noticed a faint change in Oliver''s expression.

    ''So that''s it?''

    "The Tritan Alliance decided to give the variables a few additional resources. Everyone was allowed to rmend one Variable. I rmended you since I believe that Kaleb will do better in the team I created around him. Two officials had to approve my pick ¨C which happened. Therefore, you are now officially the variable. You will be given additional resources soon. After that, we can talk about your training n. I will give you a helping hand," Alice exined, the corners of her lips curling upward, "But I wonder how you convinced the War Priestess and the Chieftain to approve of you. They didn''t hesitate to agree when I rmended you as a variable. Everyone was surprised because they didn''t agree with any variable we picked before."

    Alice watched Michael curiously. Oliver Zeus noticed that and frowned, but he didn''t throw a tantrum ¨C which Michael expected him to do. Instead, Oliver began to smile as he turned back to Michael.

    "It is true that you will be given additional resources. However, the danger you will have to face in the isted dimension is not to be taken lightly. You will have to grow stronger much faster, otherwise, you will die miserably."

    "Either way, you did a good job collecting information. You deserve the additional resources whether you are a variable or not."

    Micheal listened, but it had been quite obvious that his earlier assumption of Oliver had been wrong. He was not sincere, at all. Thus, he turned to Alice.

    "I heard that more war criminals possess been caught. If you need any more help, I could spend a week or two to interrogate them. Killing them would provide an intense energy influx, so I wouldn''t fall behind in training too much either way," He proposed his help once again.

    "No!" Alice eximed near-instantaneously, taking the two men by surprise.

    "You are not allowed to help any further! The Inspector has already returned from the Origin Expanse, and he will be in Piloq within a week or two. You will be busy training and as far from the war criminals as possible!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow. He''d hardly ever seen Alice lose her coolposure.

    "The War Priestess and the Chieftain told everyone to deny you if you ever proposed your aid to Interrogate some disgusting bastards. That''s what they said," Oliver exined, "They told us concerning the downside of your interrogation Soultrait, about the fact that their memories are engraved onto your mind."

    Michael nodded in understanding, but he frowned inwardly. This had been not going ording to his n.

    ''Well¡­that''s a bummer¡­''

 Chapter 458 Leviathan Diffusion

    Chapter 458 Leviathan Diffusion

    After Oliver Zeus finished talking to Alice Zenovia, he left her office. He felt like dragging Michael behind him but was also aware of the good rapport he had with Alice.

    Oliver clicked his tongue just loud enough for Michael to hear before he closed the door behind him.

    "Is he into you?" Michael asked suddenly.

    "Hmm? You mean Oliver?" Alice responded with a slight surprise, "I don''t think so. I never asked him though. We''re better off as friends and colleagues, either way."

    She looked into Michael''s eyes and shrugged, "More important is that you''re officially a Variable now. That means you will get a stash of resources that have been adjusted to the special training we''ve handpicked for you. The special training is customized and will help you to grow rapidly in the next few weeks."

    Alice retrieved a tome from her War Rune. She threw it toward Michael and continued exining, "Leviathan Diffusion is a technique that focuses on energy cirction and how to weave energy into your body and Artifacts to unleash their full potential. I am going to teach you an energy cirction technique that will allow you to unravel the Origin energy''s potential, and absorb more energy from the surroundings and Energy Stones."

    "So you''re hoping that I''ll advance to Tier-3 in the next few weeks using Leviathan Diffusion and the massive number of Energy Stones I''ve been given?" Michael asked to see if he understood Alice properly.

    "That would be the optimal result," Alice nodded, "But I think you won''t advance to Tier-3 that easily. If I''m not wrong you need as much energy as Kaleb to refine your War Rune, maybe even more. That shouldn''t make any sense because an Awakened with a 7-Star Soultrait requires nearly thrice the energy an Awakened with a 6-Star Soultrait requires. Either you have multiple 6-Star Soultraits, which I genuinely doubt, or you have Soultraits that require more energy to be refined. It could also be because you have so many Soultraits as there is a theory that possessing more Soultraits leads to an exponential growth in energy demand."

    Alice simply shrugged but didn''t try to probe Michael about the number of his Soultraits or their power. It was obvious that she was curious, but she knew better than to ask Michael. He wouldn''t give her the answer she hoped for, and their rtionship might turn awkward as a result.

    "Okay, but the goal is to give me enough resources to refine my War Rune rapidly. The Apex Nutrition Serum is for my body and mind to be refined to perfection at the 2nd Stage, whereas the Energy Stones ought to be used for my body, and mind, but mostly my War Rune. I see," Michael murmured to himself, retrieving Leviathan Diffusion from Alice.

    "Let me teach you the basics first. After that, you should spend most of your spare time in the Origin Expanse to make use of the time dtion. Other than joining some teams to spar with them every now and then, and asking me for pointers about Leviathan Diffusion and everything else that might be of interest, you should stay in the Origin Expanse!" Alice said in a tone that left no room for refusal.

    "Yes, yes. I understand," Michael said nonchntly, opening the tome to start reading, "Do you want the tome back, or is it mine now?"

    Alice didn''t think much about Michael''s question since he didn''t sound particrly interested in hearing the answer, but the opposite was actually the case. It was crucial to know whether he could use extraction on the tome to procure a Wisp of Knowledge from it, or if he had to study the energy cirction technique in the old-fashioned way.

    "Keep it. We don''t really need this technique anymore. It has been years since we used parts of Leviathan Diffusion to integrate it into our Inheritance Technique. The tome is of no value for us at this point," Alice answered, her words attracting his curiosity.

    ''A portion of Leviathan Diffusion has been used to improve their Inheritance Technique? Doesn''t that mean the technique is a lot rarer than Caesurium Menta and the other techniques in my possession?''

    Michael was starting to feel excited. He stepped closer to Alice and smiled brightly, "Let''s get started. I can''t wait to practice Leviathan Diffusion!"

    Four hours of thorough teaching followed Michael''s excited exmation. He listened intently to Alice''s guidance and tips until she thought that he should pick up his resource package as Variable and enter the Origin Expanse to experiment with Leviathan Diffusion.

    Michael was more than fine with that. He rushed home while simultaneously sending the drone courier to his ce with the variable resource package.

    The package arrived at the perfect time. He arrived in front of his room as he saw the drone approach. Michael let the drone scan his body to identify him before dropping the resource package into his hands. Afterward, the drone disappeared, leaving Michael alone to enter the room.

    A second spatial bracelet had been delivered to him, just like that.

    Michael essed the spatial bracelet, only to notice that it was filled with Inferior Energy Stones. There was nothing else.

    He tried to ignore the enormous wealth he''d been given today and focused on the task ahead. In the meantime, hepletely forgot about his trade with Alice. Initially, he wanted to trade some Mythic Scrolls with her, but Leviathan Diffusion distracted him too much.

    As of now, Michael wanted nothing more than to extract the Wisps of Knowledge from Leviathan Diffusion to improve his mastery and understanding of the technique as quickly as possible.

    Michael entered the Origin Expanse and sat down on the floor inside his cozy room. He unleashed Extraction and enveloped the Leviathan Diffusion tome in a dazzling golden glow.

    Six hourster, Michael''s clothes were drenched in sweat. His breathing was ragged, and he felt like he was about to copse on the ground.

    It had been much harder to extract Leviathan Diffusion''s Wisp of Knowledge. Still, he made it possible ¨C after using the purified energy within two Energy Stones to keep his energy storage full.

    The tendrils of Extraction made it easy to devour the purified energy within the Energy Stones. The energy entered his body near-instantaneously through the tendrils of Extraction where Michael could then use Pandemonium''s Requiem to circte the energy through his body wherever it was needed.

    However, circting Origin Energy through his body was not the forte of Pandemonium''s Requiem. Absorbing energy was.

    Michael could use Extraction to absorb energy from the surroundings and other objects. Therefore, Leviathan Diffusion was perfect. It was almost as if the technique had been created for him. Its'' forte was energy cirction, not energy absorption, after all!

    Michael consumed Leviathan Diffusion''s Wisp of Knowledge right away without taking even a moment to rest. He was impatient and desired to start practicing the technique right away. Unfortunately, the flood of information was more intense than he anticipated. Michael''s mind was flooded with information and knowledge imprinted straight into his brain.

    He spent another six hours panting, his clothes drenched in sweat, and his entire head feeling like sttering into countless pieces. Fortunately, nothing like that happened.

    Michael digested the Wisp of Knowledge within six hours before he fell asleep right after. He woke up the next morning with a wide variety of new knowledge in his head.

    "Reaching profound mastery of Leviathan Diffusion in the next few weeks shouldn''t be an issue. By then¡­I should be able tobine Extraction''s power and Leviathan Diffusion well enough to improve my strength several times faster than before!"

    Since he was eager to start, Michael didn''t waste any more time. He retrieved a small stash of Energy Stones from one of the two spatial bracelets and released dozens of extraction tendrils. Each of the tendrils tapped into the purified energy stored within one Inferior Energy Stone. He devoured the energy within and transferred it straight inside his body.

    From one moment to the next, Michael''s body began overflowing with origin energy. He began to practice Leviathan Diffusion and circted the origin energy through his body. Using Leviathan Diffusion to control tides of origin energy felt a little bit weird at first, but since Michael possessed the knowledge of the tome he knew that it was normal to feel like this. Therefore, he persisted knowing that the difort would disappear with time.

    Controlling the tides of energy precisely, Michael led small streams to the pir of light where the energy was absorbed and consumed. As the pir of light was filled with energy his War Rune was being refined. Michael''s War Rune worked tirelessly to refine as much energy as possible. But this time everything was much easier. Leviathan Diffusion controlled tides of energy that were split into countless small streams. The streams were weaved into the pir of light in a natural setting where the War Rune had a much easier time digesting the energy to improve its refinement degree.

    Michael was a little clumsy at first but given the knowledge he''d extracted earlier, he took note of his mistakes quickly. He noticed his ws and mistakes and fixed them within minutes. By the time the first batch of Inferior Energy Stones was consumed, Michael reached the basic mastery of Leviathan Diffusion.

    Three dayster Michael attained the Intermediate mastery, and one weekter his mastery was already at the Advanced level.

    Michael continued to focus on his War Rune''s refinement degree until the end of the third week. He''d been tirelessly consuming Inferior Energy Stones to improve his War Rune and didn''t leave the Origin Expanse even once. Michael had yet to start refining his mind, and body as he wanted to either way.

    Nheless, he attained profound mastery of Leviathan Diffusion, creating the foundation to consume a tremendous amount of energy at once. That was perfect to not only improve his War Rune in the future but also to elerate the energy cirction for his body refinement and mind refinement.

    ''I have only 5 weeks departed before the departure. Let''s make use of that!''

 Chapter 459 Power Up

    <h4>Chapter 459 Power Up</h4>

    Michael didn''t leave the Origin Expanse even once in the five weeks that passed in Piloq. Only a few days were left before the Interdimensional g War started and they would have to depart soon to reach the dimensional portal, yet a bunch of Awakened were still inside the Origin Expanse ¨C Michael included.

    Ten weeks had passed in the Origin Expanse since Michael disappeared and Alice was getting worried. She didn''t expect Michael to ignore her advice and stay in the Origin Expanse without asking her for any pointers. Did he think that he could reach a high mastery of Leviathan Diffusion just like that?

    ''What if something went wrong?'' She wondered, a seed of worry taking root in her heart.

    She poked at her dinner with a fork, having lost her appetite suddenly and ignored the people around her.

    "Michael returned!" Kaleb eximed all of a sudden. He jumped up from his chair, his eyes trained on the holographic screen in front of him.

    "He is back? Is he fine? Why did he not return earlier?" Alice bombarded her little brother with questions, but all she received was a scowl.

    "How¡­am I supposed to know all that? All he messaged was that he''s back¡­" Kaleb frowned at his sister, who pressed her lips together and sat back on the chair.

    ''As long as he''s fine.''

    "I will meet up with Michael. See youter," Kaleb said right before disappearing, leaving Alice alone.

    Meanwhile, Michael was lying in his king-sized bed, calmly reading through the new notifications he''d received over thest few weeks.

    Many things happened in thest few weeks. The Basic Sacred Knight Temple had beenpleted ¨C a little bitter than expected due to certainplications ¨C and the first batch of Blessed Squires was promoted to Holy Knights. A total of 10 Blessed Squires were promoted to Holy Knights, while two Starless Summons received enlightenment after training tirelessly in the Basic Sacred Knight Temple for several days. They were promoted straightaway to 2-Star Holy Knights without the need to be Blessed Squires first.

    That was very intriguing as the news motivated hundreds of Starless Summons to train with the Immortal Knight in the Sacred Knight Temple. The small army of Blessed Squires expanded as well. By now Michael had 550 Blessed Squires and 12 Holy Knights under hismand, and their numbers would increase even faster in the future. Once the Immortal Knight adapted to his newly acquired powers, and the Starless Summons were morefortable with the Sacred Knight Temple, Michael would have a surplus of Blessed Squires and Holy Knights.

    That was great, thought it posed one big disadvantage. More than half of Michael''s army consisted of Blessed Squires and Holy Knights, resulting in ack of versatility. Only having Blessed Squires and Holy Knights in his army was certainly not the best. Holy Knights were trained in different Swordstyles and Spearmanship, and they could move nimbly through the surroundings while wearing hardened leather armor sets, but they had various disadvantages.

    Holy Knights weren''t Archers, Healers, or Mages. They were not Assassins either. Even though the Holy Knights could use their Holy Power to create an aura that blocked pain and healed wounds to a certain degree, there were several limitations.

    Fortunately, the Summoning Gate provided an influx of 11 Summons every single day. Since two and a half month passed in the Origin Expanse, Michael summoned 770 daily summons with the lowest ranked being 1-Star Farmers, and the highest ranked being two 2-Star Elemental Mages.

    Michael couldn''t grumble about the development of his territory either. His subjects went out to hunt every single day and they brought back a wide variety of monster corpses. They were dissected near-perfectly with Michael''s Extraction and their loot was collected. Instead of using the Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments immediately, the young Lord opted to store them for the time being. He hoped to procure another Legendary Scroll soon.

    The Elemental Empress'' cave slowly transformed into a proper home for Elementals. She created close to a hundred Lesser Elemental Cores and was about to create her first Noble Elemental in Michael''s territory. That attracted Michael''s interest. Unfortunately, he had no time to spend several weeks watching Zeroa creating Elemental Cores.

    Michael did not have that much time to spend with anyone since the vast majority of his days were dedicated to refining his body, mind, and War Rune. That was a little bit sad for Michael and his subjects, but the results were amazing. Sacred Rectification and Caesurium Menta reached perfection in the 2nd Stage. He even reached the Enlightened mastery of Leviathan Diffusion, leaving only perfect mastery to topple it.

    In merely two and a half months, Michael achieved something others could only dream about achieving within a few years. That was how valuable the knowledge and understanding Michael obtained from the Wisp of Knowledge truly was. His energy cirction speed was on an entirely different level than before and Michael could now naturally infuse energy into his movements. This further increased his strength, nimbleness, and reaction speed.

    The energy cirction speed and energy weaving expertise would certainly help him a lot in the future.

    However, the most intriguing aspect was that Michael''s War Rune reached the Late rank. In fact, his War Rune was about to reach the Peak of the 2nd Tier. He was really close to reaching peak refinement, but there was only one downside. He had used up all of his resources ¡­resources worth close to 10 trillion dors.

    Michael didn''t really like thinking about the fortune he''d burned through within two and a half months because the energy consumption was way too shocking, but he had to acknowledge that refining his mind, body, and especially War Rune would consume a lot more resources in the future.

    It was possible to rely on the surrounding energy, energy shares, and energy influx to increase his strength slowly, but if he wanted to grow stronger rapidly, Energy Stones, Nutrition Serums, and a wide variety of other highly valuable resources would be the only feasible way ¨C other than massacring hundreds of thousands of enemies in the Origin Expanse.

    "I should be fine for the g War. Killing a bunch of them should reward me with some merits. It should be possible to convert them into funds, or resources. Ah¡­I still have the Mythic Scrolls as well¡­ And the Tier-4 and Tier-5 Artifacts of those war criminals¡­"?Michael mumbled to himself.

    He got up from the bed and sent a message to Kraft Viton and Alice Zenovia without a second thought. Over thest few weeks, Michael had to pay attention to theints of his people way too often. They were displeased by the favoritism he disyed for the military section and a few even told him that he shouldn''t neglect them for too long.

    It was good to hear his peoplein because that meant they weren''t afraid of being reprimanded by him. They didn''t fear approaching him directly. Instead, they thought of him as a sensible enough person who would listen to their requests and demands. Michael was not certain if he was walking down the perfect path to manage and lead his territory, but he was quite satisfied with how things were going right now.

    Listening to his subjects'' nagging motivated Michael to get moving. It was odd.

    [Michael Fang: Hello Kraft Viton. First of all, I want to thank you for increasing my share of the Agriculture Project''s profits. I observed arge transaction on my Bartholomew ount. It made me very happy. I''m d that the Agriculture Project is prospering. With that in mind, I procured a handful of Agriculture-type Blueprints(several thousand) to hand over to you. Other than that, there also are a bunch of expensive Artifacts I want to sell to the Bartholomew Corporation. I hope we can meet up before the departure to the dimensional portal because I have a huge list of items and materials I need for my territory. If possible, I would appreciate to send the materials and items to the Origin Expanse before I have to enter the dimensional portal. Otherwise, I will get beheaded by my own people for not keeping my promise.]

    Michael joked a little bit at the end of the message he sent Kraft Viton. However, there was also a trace of truth in hisment. He needed the materials and items soon, otherwise, his people would start rebelling, calling him a liar. It wouldn''t end with his head rolling over the ground, but Michael didn''t want to lose his subjects'' trust.

    Hoping things wouldn''t turn that bad, he opened Alice''s chat to send her a message.

    [Michael Fang: Hello Alice. Nice meeting you again. To give you a little report, I reached the bottleneck of my body and mind refinement techniques. I''ve also advanced to the Later ank of the 2nd Tier. I''m very close to the Peak though. Unfortunately, I used up all of the resources before I could reach the Peak. I will probably advance to the Peak rank in the dimensional portal. But that''s fine as well.

    ¨C Either way, I want to trade a bunch of Mythic Scrolls with you before I have to depart to the dimensional portal. If that''s possible, and you''re still engrossed in the Mythic Scrolls, that is.]

    Michael didn''t waste any time talking about his progress in detail. He shared enough information with Alice and Kraft Viton to inform them about the most important things and keep them updated. Thereafter, Michael came back to the Origin Expanse to empty the warehouses where all unused monster parts and the blueprint duplicates were stored. He returned and met up with Kaleb.

    "How about you tell me about the happenings of thest few weeks while we walk around for errands?" Michael asked, causing Kaleb to frown a little. Then he recalled how hard he worked in thest few weeks and nodded his head.

    "Hmm, okay. It''s about time that I rest a little bit. Some gossiping won''t hurt," Kaleb chuckled,

    "But let me warn you. A lot happened in thest few weeks. Loads of interesting things!"

 Chapter 460 Errand Boys

    Chapter 460 Errand Boys

    Michael quickly found out that it was a good idea to allow Kaleb to apany him on his short journey through Piloq.

    Kaleb told him a lot about the happenings of thest few weeks.

    "Did you know that Frederik messaged me only because you weren''t avable? This little jerk picked me as a substitute to cry his heart out," Kalebined, though he smiled, "At least, Frederik is finally back on his feet. He recuperated well and the healer left. Jacqueline still has a hard time getting close to Frederik, but that is mostly because Frederik is trying to get back to his peak state. I am not sure what he is going to do going forward, but he hasn''t given up on himself just yet. Maybe the thought of getting stronger for his beloved ¨C his father and Jacqueline ¨C pushes him to keep moving. Maybe that little jerk is not as bad or hopeless as I first thought."

    Michael observed Kaleb as he talked freely about Frederik. There was no need for Kaleb to act overly polite or force himself to behave like a noble in front of Michael. He could be himself.

    "His temper is a bit problematic, but Frederik is a good guy. Jacqueline as well. Maybe, if I lecture them a little bit more, both can turn into decent human beings," Michael said half-jokingly.

    "True that. But that might not even be necessary if they can ovee this ordeal. IF they ovee it that is. My sister said that it won''t be easy. The Elders of the Ondo family garnered more influence across their extended rtives and family tree and they''re pressuring Karek and Jacqueline to terminate the engagement with Frederik. Sis is not sure how much time they received until it esctes," Kaleb sighed deeply.

    The politics, scheming, and two-faced behavior of most nobles were truly the worst. As long as you were valuable you would be used as a chess piece. Either you would be married to some other family to strengthen your rtionship and increase your influence, or you would be married to someone with a simr Soultrait ¨C or a Soultrait that could strengthen your Soultrait. If thetter was the case, the engagement would proceed quickly after the age of 20 and you would be told to procreate and give birth to heirs as quickly as possible. After evolving to Higher Lifeforms at the 4th Tier, procreating was a lot more difficult and time-consuming, after all.

    It was truly troublesome.

    "Putting aside Frederik''s troubles, what else happened over thest few weeks? The Investigator must have arrived to interrogate the war criminals. Did he find out something useful, or were the Dark Heavens'' members not as well informed as we were hoping for?" Michael asked, recalling the grand opportunity he had lost because he told the War Priestess and the Chieftain about the memories of the war criminals ¨C and that the memories were imprinted on his mind. He still regretted having shared that. Unfortunately, he couldn''t take his words back anymore.

    "Oh, that? The Investigator arrived a week after you departed. He spent ten days investigating the Dark Heavens members and came back with good and bad news. The Investigator retrieved various information about incidents of the past. ording to his investigation, more than 200 incidents where Awakened either went missing or were found dead can be led back to Dark Heavens. That included the incident revolving around the death of Zeke''s sister. Zeke and Quinn are going crazy right now. They want to eliminate Dark Heavens, but neither of them is strong enough ¨C and nobody knows where the headquarters is located either. That being said, two potential locations of their branches have been retrieved. Unfortunately, the Investigator cannot be certain whether it is a trap or not. He is suspicious about how easily he retrieved those pieces of information from the Dark Heavens members. Usually, it would be much harder."

    "A trap¡­in a trap? So not only hijacking Tritaenus was a trap, but maybe also easily letting them assume that they captured these Dark Heavens members was a devious trick? Is it really feasible for Dark Heavens to sacrifice so many high-ranked members?" Michael asked.

    "Sis thinks that there were no high-ranked Dark Heavens Members involved in these incidents. The highest ranked members were probably the members of the suicide squad you''ve interrogated," Kaleb exined, which resulted in Michael slowing down in his steps.

    "Higher Lifeforms are ordinary members? That seems extravagant¡­and dangerous," Michael mumbled as they reached Kraft Viton''s room.

    Kaleb didn''t know where they''d been heading, but upon seeing Mr. Viton open the door, his countenance changed quickly. His eyes widened and he paid the old legend his respect.

    Both Kraft Viton and Michael stared at Kaleb with a subtle smile.

    "I didn''t expect you to bring your friend," Kraft Viton pointed out.

    "Is that a problem? I didn''t really think much about it but the Bartholomew Corporation might be bothered if our partnership is exposed." Michael replied. He merely wanted to talk to Kaleb to be able to speak with someone about the events of thest few weeks and didn''t think much about the trades he was going to make while doing so.

    "If you trust him it''s fine. You are getting exposed as our partner.The Bartholomew Corporation is not shy of revealing our partners ¨C as long as they''re willing to step out into the open, of course," Kraft Viton added, giving him a meaningful expression.

    Michael looked at Kaleb and shrugged, "It''s fine. Kaleb probably knows already."

    "Knows what?" Kaleb asked.

    "That I am a small partner of the Bartholomew Corporation''s Agriculture Project," Michael answered lightly, only for Kraft Viton to intervene.

    "A small partner doesn''t own a 21% share of the Agriculture Project''s profit."

    "You are a partner of the Bartholomew Corporation? Was I asleep when you told me that¡­or am I missing something?" Kaleb asked, stupefied.

    ''Alice didn''t tell him? I expected her to tell Kaleb everything. That''s¡­a lot better than I expected.''

    "Yeah, either way¡­" Michael turned to Kraft Viton and retrieved all the blueprints and Artifacts he''d collected and Extracted over thest few weeks. The piles of blueprints filled the room entirely, departing little space for the three Awakened to standfortably.

    Kraft Viton released his energy with a wave of his arms and collected everything in one go. Michael then held out a spatial bracelet.

    "Monster parts of roughly 10,000 Tier-1 and 1,500 Tier-2 Monsters are stored inside, and¡­here is the list of items I need to calm down my lovely subjects," Michael said lightly. Now it was him who grinned with a smug expression on his face as he retrieved a small book filled with several pages of materials and goods he needed.

    "You can deduct as much as you need from my bank ount. I don''t really understand how much I have, either way."

    "In the worst case, I''ll deduct some from your future profits. After helping us find out about the Seed of Demonic Breed, the head of the Bartholomew Corporation decided to give you some more leeway than others, either way. Of course, only in the legal range. We won''t break thews for you," Kraft Viton remarked, causing Michael to smile.

    "I would never request you to break thews for me."

    While Michael and Kraft Viton discussed their future deals and the value of certain goods Michael had requested, Kaleb''s eyes flicked from the old man to Michael. They never stopped jumping from one of them to the next, but his expression worsened the more he heard.

    ''Is Michael really only a few months older? How can he deal so easily with Kraft Viton, and how did he be a small ¨C no, a major ¨C partner of arge-scale project such as the Agriculture Project? Wasn''t that a Tier-5 Artifact earlier as well? Thousands of Blueprints¡­all of them looking rare and valuable¡­ and hundreds of Artifacts. Who the hell are you, Michael? Are you really the same youth from the Golden Sun Province?''

    No matter how Kaleb looked at it, it was obvious that Michael had grown a lot. From dealing with the Barbaric Couple and participating in the Saphirke Military Academy''s exam to dealing with High Nobles, Supreme Families, and finally helping old powerhouses in Interrogating members of dark organizations and bing a major partner of arge-scale project that could topple the power bnce in the Origin Expanse, and the financial situation for the entirety of mankind.

    On the other hand Kaleb did¡­what exactly? He manifested a powerful Soultrait and summoned a Mythical Creature as his first Summons. He expanded his territory and focused on bing stronger. But¡­all of that was only possible because of his family''s support. Without the Zenovia family''s support, Kaleb wouldn''t have been able to achieve half of everything he did. His territory wouldn''t have expanded nearly as much, and without the Inheritance Technique, special tutge revolving around Frozen Nova, and resources such as Apex Nutrition Serums and Inferior Energy Stones, Kaleb would be¡­a nobody.

    Kaleb was happy for Michael. Michael had worked harder than everyone else. He deserved to grow rapidly and be well-known all over the human race''s territory. But that didn''t mean Kaleb could ept that Michael surpassed him in every possible aspect. He was d that Michael was great, yet he didn''t want to see himself bing left behind so easily.

    It felt like Michael didn''t even consider him a rival¡­as if he was in a one-sided rivalry with Michael. Michael treated him nicely. He was the best friend Kaleb could have wished for.

    But that was not enough.

    ''I need to get stronger.'' Kaleb realized once again.

    ''I need to use the g War to bridge the huge gap between us¡­otherwise¡­''

 Chapter 461 Aethyr

    Chapter 461 Aethyr

    Michael finished his trade with Kraft Viton, while Kaleb was deep in thought.

    "You will get everything before the departure to the dimension portal," Kraft Viton said before sending the two youths away.

    Michael and Kaleb left the office and made their way back to Alice.

    "Did something else happen while I was away, or was that everything important you told me?" Michael asked Kaleb.

    "Something else? Well. If you didn''t know that yet, the Sacred Desert is in danger."

    "In danger?" Michael inquired.

    "Apparently, many Lords encountered Undead forces in the Sacred Desert. The Undead appeared out of nowhere in astronomical numbers, and have already exterminated several human territories. Other than human territories, the Undead must have obliterated dozens of enemy territories as well. Their strength and numbers increase as the gue of Undead continues to spread. It''s¡­kinda difficult to tell what is going to happen now," Kaleb exined to his friend.

    ''Undead?'' Michael frowned deeply, a seed of uncertainty blossoming in his heart. ''Are the Undead rted to Danny''s death? Is that possible?''

    Michael was not really sure, but the Undead of the Sacred Desert made him feel things. Something was definitely wrong with them.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing Michael could do about the Undead of the Sacred Desert.

    The only thing he could do was to focus on the Interdimensional g War. There was not much of a choice in that regard since he had to stay alive a little longer to find out more about the Sacred Desert, Danny''s death and the role some higher ups of High Society yed ¨C and maybe how the Undead were involved in his death.

    Strength was what Michael needed the most to achieve each of these points. Therefore, he had to utilize the g War!

    The youths talked a lot about the Sacred Desert and its issues until they reached Alice''s office. Alice was already waiting for them, but she was surprised to see Kaleb apanying Michael.

    "Hey Alice. I hope you''re going to give me a nice deal!" Michael greeted her lightly, "The Mythic Scrolls are already waiting for you."

    "Before we begin discussing our little trade, I''m curious about something," Alice said.

    "Did you really use up all the resources that were given to you? How did you do that? Leviathan Diffusion is rather new so your mastery shouldn''t be too high yet. Its absorption rate of purified energy is not that high either. Did you mix two techniques to increase the absorption rate of another technique with Leviathan Diffusion''s energy cirction?"

    "I am just a Glutton. There is no need to think too much about it. I got the knack of Leviathan Diffusion quite fast as well."

    "But that was enough to bring¡­" Alice nced over to Kaleb and shook her head, "Forget it."

    "So you are about to reach the Peak of Tier-2. That should be fine with yourbat prowess and the Aethyr Artifact."

    "Aethyr Artifact?" Michael inquired but Alice just smiled.

    "Let''s finish the trade first. How many Original Scrolls do you want in exchange for one Mythic Scroll? You know that you can ask for specific Scrolls as well. Given the rarity of Mythic Scrolls, you can get your hands on Named Summoning Scrolls quite easily as well," Alice exined, providing Michael a chance to pick Named Summoning Scrolls other than Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    Michael had already thought about that. However, he initially thought to wait a little longer before switching from trading Mythic Scrolls for Ordinary Scrolls to demanding Named Scrolls.

    "I know that the Zenovia family has several Adventurer teams hunting for them. You have great hunting grounds that reward a high number of Ordinary Scrolls. That''s why the inted price due to the limited purchase ability of Ordinary Scrolls doesn''t really apply to the members of the Zenovia family," Michael said, clearing his throat to give his idea a second thought before he added, "I hope you can give me 20,000 Ordinary Scrolls and 100 Named Scrolls of my choice in exchange for a Mythic Scroll."

    Alice raised an eyebrow, "15,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and 50 Named Scrolls at most!"

    Michael smiled in response and raised his hand to shake Alice''s. "That''s perfect! You obtained a deal right there."

    Instead of trying to y around with Alice by negotiating, Michael epted the trade right away. His offer had been a little high with the Named Scrolls in addition, but he obtained exactly what he wanted ¨C if not more ¨C through Alice''s counteroffer.

    "15,000 Ordinary Scrolls and 50 Named Scrolls of my choice for every Mythic Scroll I''m giving you or a member of the Zenovia family. Is that fine? If it is, let''s proceed to prepare a proper formal contract, please," Michael uttered with a smile on his lips.

    Alice expected some more resistance from Michael. She didn''t think that he would ept her counteroffer just like that.

    Named Scrolls were quite hard to procure but Ordinary Scrolls were basically procured for free for the Zenovia family.

    ''Is it because he inquired for specific Named Scrolls? Since he can decide what 1-Star Summon he wants, he can develop his territory with more precision. For someone whocks funds, it might actually be better to trade his Mythic Scrolls or Named Scrolls of his choice.'' Alice thought, preparing the contract right away.

    She quickly signed the contract once she was done drafting and setting it up. Alice handed Michael the contract with a flick of her wrist. He read through it and was satisfied with the uses. There was nothing that could be used against him. The contract was very simple and transparent. Michael signed it without hesitation.

    Once both parties signed the contract, Alice put the Zenovia family''s seal on it before making a copy with a magical device. She handed the copy to Michael while keeping the original.

    "Do you want to move to the next subject right away? How about I introduce you to the Aethyr Artifa¨C..." Alice stopped her sentence mid-way as she watched Michael gather 10 Mythic Scrolls in one go.

    "Before that, I would love to finish my business with the Mythic Scrolls first. That''s 150,000 Ordinary Scrolls, and 500 Named Scrolls. I need 200 Archers, 50 Instructors for Archery and Spearmanship. Assassination, Scouting, and Riding. If you have any Instructors for cksmithing, Alchemy, and Enchanting I''m all in. The remaining Named Scrolls should be focused on Agriculture. A batch of 10 Lesser Tamers would be great as well."

    Michael smiled at Alice, his expression nonchnt as he shared an exhaustive list of what he wanted with Alice. He thought about retrieving 52 Mythic Scrolls in one go, but he figured that he wouldn''t procure enough Fragments to create a Legendary Scroll. Thus, it was not worth retrieving all Mythic Scrolls since it would attract too much attention. Michael didn''t need 2500 Named Scrolls right now either way, let alone 780,000 Ordinary Scrolls.

    It was better to wait until after the g War to trade the Mythic Scrolls when he was in need of more specific Named Scrolls since he could choose whatever Named Summoning Scroll he desired.

    "That¡­Well, alright." Alice said, staring at the Mythic Scrolls for a moment.

    "I will get your Summoning Scrollster," She added, "Are you ready for your gift atst?"

    "Gift?" Michael was not sure why he would be given a gift.

    "To be more urate, it''s the reward you were supposed to get a while ago. The reward for helping interrogate the war criminals and revealing their tactics. Without your help many more would have died. Maybe, we would have lost the Tritaenus and the secret information stored in itswork forever.

    "You might not realize how valuable your help was. That was also why it was much harder to find an appropriate reward for you!"

    Alice twirled the paperweight on her desk with her hand as she continued, "Of course, there were some higher-ups who were not really in favor of giving you something valuable. They''d been hoping to secure the Aethyr Artifact for their families. Fortunately, the War Priestess and the Chieftain were adamant of not letting that happen. It is only thanks to them that you can receive ''this''!"

    As herst words reached Michael, Alice retrieved something from her War Rune.

    It was¡­ a mass of silver liquid¡­

    "That¡­thing is the Aethyr Artifact?" Kaleb inquired instead of Michael.

    He was not sure whether his sister was joking, or not, but given Alice''s usual demeanor and her overly serious expression the silver mass must be something good¡­probably?

    "We didn''t want to give you some sort of martial arts technique since you wouldn''t be able to reach a high enough mastery until the start of the Interdimensional g War. That is where the Aethyr Artifactes into y. It''s an alloy created from a trace of Aether. The Aether content is about 0.001% within the alloy, but it has highpatibility with the other materials used to create the alloy," Alice exined.

    "You can use it just like Aether even though it is countless times weaker than pure Aether. Nheless, it is extraordinary. Aethyr is a Unique Artifact that can be upgraded up to Tier-3. In fact, most Descendants would still use it even after bing a Higher Lifeform since the Aethyr Artifact can change into 28 different types of weapons."

    Alice noticed that Michael stared at the silver mass intensely. She thought that he must be wondering what Aether was.

    "I guess you don''t know what Aether is since it''s rare to find and retrieve. Only a few humans were ever able to gather a few grams of Aether. So Aether is¡ª"

    "I know what Aether is," Michael intervened. "It''s amazing! I didn''t even know that you could create an alloy with bits of Aether to substitute the required volume to form Armaments with other raw materials. Even though Aether''s power and wide variety of uses were downgraded a lot, I love it!"

    The Aethyr Artifact was ideal for Michael. Only pure Aether would be better. After all, Michael was somewhat adept with all weapons thanks to the Memory Orbs of more than 100 Awakened he''d digested.

    He loved it!

 Chapter 462 Insert

    Chapter 462 Insert

    The silver mass wiggled as Michael touched it. A white tendril emerged from his War Rune. It shot straight into the wiggling silver mass, coiled around it and encased it into a cocoon.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed because he had never ordered the War Rune to do this, but he didn''t use his will to stop the tendrils. Instead, he watched in rapt attention as the tendril as it pulled the cocoon inside the War Rune.

    His War Rune began to shimmer brightly and before Michael knew a silver droplet coalesced in the bottom of his War Rune.

    "Great. Another change in my War Rune," Michael murmured quietly. He eyed the Mark of Fate for a second before he turned his attention away.

    "The Aethyr Artifact doesn''t enhance me externally. It doesn''t feel like an Artifact either."

    Instead of calling it an Artifact, Michael decided to refer to it as just that; Aethyr. He sensed a faint connection to Aethyr. It was stronger than the link he had to the Soultrait Shard of Maria''s Archangel''s Grace.

    Michael tried using Archangel''s Grace once but it didn''t work. ording to Kaleb, that was because he had to be near Maria so that her presence could charge the Soultrait Shard that had invaded his War Rune. She could also charge it actively, but Michael couldn''t bother asking Maria at this point. They hadn''t met since the incident and Michael was not about to rush to her to ask her to fuel the Soultrait Shard before disappearing once again.

    "It''s not a natural Artifact so it won''t enhance you externally," Alice exined, "Either way. There are a few things you have to understand. First, you have to strengthen your link with the Aethyr Artifact to use all of its forms. You can order the Aethyr Artifact to change its shape onmand. The stronger your connection to the Aethyr Artifact the faster you can change forms and summon it in your hand. To adjust the shape of the 28 weapons you can form with it, you need a high understanding of those weapons. That means you will either have to learn to wield all the weapons until you reach the Intermediate mastery, or you have to focus on a few forms. From what I can tell, you should be able to use the Bow, Longsword, and Spear forms quite easily. I will teach you in the next few days and continue to do so until the Interdimensional g War starts so that you can use the Aethyr Artifact well enough in fights. Don''t worry, I''m good with many weapons!"

    Michael had already closed his eyes while listening to Alice. He sensed the silver mass inside his War Rune. It was attached to the pir of light, yet it was somewhat distant. It revolved around the Sphere of Light, but was far enough to avoid affecting the Sphere.

    There was something odd about the Aethyr Artifact. It was notpressed into its mass. Instead, silvery tentacles tried to spread out to the pir of light, the Sphere of Light, and¡­SoulStar Fragments.

    None of the silver tentacles could reach either because they were repelled, but Michael''s curiosity was piqued.

    ''I understand the pir of light. Aether is sentient ording to the Immortal Knight. Therefore it wants to grow stronger at all times to strengthen its forms and attain more intelligence. Increasing its Tier by devouring origin energy makes that happen. But¡­why is Aethyr drawn to the Sphere of Light and the SoulStar Fragments? Or is the trace of Aether within Aethyr drawn to both?''

    Michael wished to do a few experiments with Aethyr because it felt like his SoulStar Fragments and the existence of the Sphere of Light could change something about Aethyr ¨C maybe even enhance it somehow.

    That would be amazing.

    Unfortunately, Alice wouldn''t allow him to leave just like that.

    He kept his eyes closed and concentrated on the silver mass. Once his mind was fully focused on the silver mass, he manifested the Aethyr in his right hand.

    "Sword." Michael mumbled, and the silver mass morphed into the shape of a silver longsword ¨C precisely a replica of Tigerfang.

    "Spear."

    The longsword changed to a spear that looked just like Wyverntooth.

    "Bow."

    Now the spear changed to Zark''s replica.

    "It''s using my memories and imagination to change its form," Michael theorized.

    "War Axe," He murmured and Aethyr shaped itself into arge two-headed axe ¨C one of the weapons Immortal Knight wished him to test out.

    "Mace."

    "Saber."

    "Dagger."

    "Whip."

    "Scythe."

    Michael experimented with Aethyr a little bit. He first changed its form using verbalmands. The verbalmands triggered Michael''s memories to create an image of the weapon he wished Aethyr to change to.

    Aethyr changed between the forms rather quickly. He didn''t even give it exactmands to do so. A simple word to provok his memories and imagination was more than enough. Once Michael imagined a new form for Aethyr to assume it would change. The switch in forms was much faster than recing the Wyverntooth Spear with Zark mid-battle manually¨C and it could go even faster than that once his connection with Aethyr improved. Michael was certain to take his enemies by surprise with Aethyr. It was a great weapon that ought to give him an edge in battle as long as he could wield it with high proficiency.

    ''Mentalmands should also work.'' He thought right before starting to change Aethyr''s form with mentalmands.

    The response rate was a little bit slower but Michael was certain that this would improve as he got more ustomed to the act.

    "Are you proficient with that many weapons? I didn''t expect that," Alice revealed honestly.

    "I got a good Summon, who''s teaching me how to fight without Soultraits. He told me to practice with a wide variety of weapons to find out what''s the best for me. That didn''t work too well since most weapons are quite suitable as far as I can tell," Michael said, swinging the scythe around his body.

    He rotated it smoothly and changed Aethyr''s form into a dagger right before hitting Kaleb. Aethyr then turned into a longsword that nearly pricked Kaleb.

    "Don''t y around when someone else is around. Especially if that someone is me!" Kaleb protested.

    "Well, you guys can persist to y. I will get Michael''s Summoning Scrolls," Alice uttered all of a sudden, "She then turned to Michael and disclosed a frosty expression, "After that you will have some fun training with me until you break down!"

    "...Yay¡­" Michael mumbled, summoning the Runic Gate before he informed, "I will be in the Origin Expanse for an hour or so. There is something I have to do before someone beats me up with lots of love. What a wonderful way to spend the days left before the Interdimensional g War. Beaten until I''m unrecognizable¡­"

    Michael disappeared inside the Runic Gate before Alice, or Kaleb could say something. The siblings looked at each other, and Kaleb couldn''t contain himself anymore.

    "You know. Sometimes, I feel like Michael is doing much better than me. You look somewhat human with Michael around."

    "Somewhat?" Alice raised an eyebrow, only to see Kaleb nod.

    "Yup."

    "Cheeky brat."

    Alice ruffled her brother''s hair and manifested her Runic Gate as well. She left to collect Michael''s Summoning Scrolls, leaving Kaleb alone for the next hour.

    There was one particr thing Michael had wished to do before the Interdimensional g War started. He wanted to fuse Insert with his War Rune.

    Michael felt that Insert was a powerful Soultrait with extremely highpatibility with Extraction. The future potential of Insert was nothing to scoff at. At least, that was what Michael sensed.

    Combining Insert with Extraction should allow him to insert tendrils of Extraction inside other beings without the need to injure them. That should help him drain their lifeforce and origin energy from within without them realizing what was going on at first. Simultaneously, Michael felt like experimenting with Insert and Extraction might help him quite a lot. He had always been curious about Unique Racial abilities and Innate abilities. If he could extract them, shouldn''t it be possible to Insert them into others?

    Would Inserting Unique Racial Abilities change their DNA, would their DNA copse, or would the Unique Racial Abilities be repelled? Was it possible to insert Unique Racial Abilities into others, in the first ce? Michael had no idea, but he could find out.

    In one way or another, Insert and Extraction were a greatbination. Furthermore, thinking about the wide variety of Insert''s uses, Michael felt that it should be possible to use Insert to insert the Power of Enhancement onto others. It may only be temporary but it was definitely worth fusing with Insert.

    With that in mind, Michael retrieved the emerald box. He opened it and removed the Soultrait Symbol of Insert. Then he created the 10th socket in the Sphere of Light using 3,000 SoulStar Fragments before allowing the white tendrils of his War Rune to devour Insert.

    The Symbol of Insert appeared in the Sphere of Light where it linked to the 10th socket.

    Michael expected it to stay in the outer ring of the Sphere of Light, but Insert''s position changed almost instantaneously. The socket was dragged through the Sphere of Light until it began to revolve around Extraction. A faint link was created between the Symbol of Extraction and Insert thereafter.

    It was very very faint, but Michael could tell that it was the beginning of something big. He then spent 3,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Insert from 1-Star to 5-Star right away.

    The link between Extraction and Insert grew stronger as Insert''s star rating increased.

    Michael licked his dry lips and a bright smile blossomed on his face as the stream of information flooded his mind.

    ''That¡­is very interesting!''

 Chapter 463 Beaten

    Chapter 463 Beaten

    In a small, cobbled arena with dim lighting, Michael faced Alice head-on. Alice wore a set of simplebat clothing. It was dark and highlighted her shape and curves perfectly. However, Michael had no time to stare at her mesmerizing figure. He was too concerned about the deadly weapon that rested in her hands. It was Alice''s Wintertusk Saber, a Tier-5 Artifact ¨C a thin saber ¨C embedded with a sapphire gemstone in the handle.

    The sapphire gemstone decreased the consumption of ice elemental spells and increased the coherence of ice spells cast on the Wintertusk Saber.

    Michael, on the other hand, wore the Spirit Armor Set, and the Legendary Ring Artifact while wielding Aethyr. He stepped through the arena trying to locate a w in Alice''s regr stance. However, there was none. It was almost like Alice was ready to face her enemies at all times.

    Two days passed since Michael procured Aethyr and many things changed. First of all, Michael experimented a little bit with Insert, and he learned how to use the Soultrait with his other Soultraits. Thereafter, Michael used some SoulStar Fragments to see how it would affect Aethyr. The result was surprisingly good.

    His connection to Aethyr stabilized and it grew firmer. At the same time, Aethyr seemed to grow more powerful. The silver droplet on Michael''s War Rune expanded a tad and faint lines formed around it, creating various symbols of tools and weapons. Michael learned instinctively that he could transform Aethyr into more than 28 weapon forms.

    He kicked the ground to dash in Alice''s direction. Aethyr changed into a pole and swung against her head. Alice inched closer and blocked the attack to her head by lifting Wintertusk Saber. The tip of her saber was just about to block Michael''s attack when the quarterstaff morphed into a dagger. Michael didn''t lose any momentum as the dagger whizzed past Alice''s saber.He transformed the dagger into a spear and thrust forward, using the opening his feint created.

    Alice lowered her body, and one of her legs lunged out to pull Michael''s feet away, while her saber shed through the air. The saber''s pommel collided with the t side of Aethyr Spear and pushed it aside. Meanwhile, her left foot reached Michael''s right foot and hooked it to drag him down. But right before Alice was about to do so, Michael moved closer to Alice. The spear in Michael''s hands turned back into a dagger. Entering closebat against Alice may not be the best idea due to her extremely high martial skills, but she couldn''t use the length of the Wintertusk Saber to her advantage if her opponent was too close.

    Wanting to utilize that to his advantage, Michael pushed forward as fast as he could without the use of his Soultraits. He weaved origin energy into every movement and sped up just enough to arrive in front of Alice. The dagger in his hands lunged out, ready to draw blood. Unfortunately, Alice wasn''t a fan of injuries. She didn''t even think of giving her students a sense of fulfillment. On the contrary, Alice desired to observe Michael''s expressions up close as he realized in desperation that he had no chance to reach her.

    Alice had already pulled her left leg back when Michael pushed forward. Her left leg lifted, and she kicked out with great force. But instead of hitting Michael''s side as she intended to, Alice noticed with slight surprise that Michael had already reacted to her attack. He forcefully terminated his attack to transform Aethyr Dagger into a small shield right before Alice''s kick impacted.

    Her attack crashed heavily into the Aethyr Shield. The attack was strong enough to push Michael back and make him feel like he lost his right arm. His right arm was numb and he doubted that this sensation would go away quickly. To his misfortune, Alice didn''t seem hurt. If anything she was surprised ¨C a tiny little bit.

    She expected Michael to respond a little slower, but that was a good thing. Alice trained Michael to strengthen his martial skills and unravel the hidden potential of his body. She hoped that he would grow much stronger, faster, and more responsive to her attacks in the next few days. That way, she could be certain that Michael would survive the Interdimensional g War.

    Michael was not sure why she worried so much about him, and why she didn''t focus on training Kaleb right now. In his opinion, Kaleb was in far more danger ¨C except for the fact that Kaleb was in a team of ten Lords, and Michael was given a spot as a variable. Maybe, Alice held Kaleb in higher regard because she knew that he could survive or escape if the fight ended in a certain loss. Meanwhile, Michael wouldn''t¡­or so Alice must be thinking.

    At least, that was what Michael guessed.

    After training with Alice for a while now, Michael learned that Alice''s experience and martial skills were exceptional. Not that he did not know it before but fighting her head-on made him realize just why she was looked up to by many. Even by restraining her strength to the Peak of the 2nd Tier, Alice could easily deal with Michael. Of course, Alice''s refined body, and heightened senses couldn''t be restrained and dulled that easily, but the biggest reason for her superiorbat prowess was her exceptional reaction speed and the way she fought instinctively. It felt like centuries ofbat experience had been engraved into Alice.

    As for herbat techniques, they were exceptional as well. She could weave origin energy perfectly into her body to unleash her hidden potential and overwhelm Michael.

    Meanwhile, Michael struggled to use his creativity against Alice. The passive empowerment Michael received from some of his Soultraits was exceptional, especially his eyesight, but it felt like his body was always a quarter of a second toote. His mind could barelye up with a way to counter Alice''s bombardment of attacks when Alice initiated a new attack. His eyes saw everything early enough but both his mind and body were still a tad too slow to react in time. And that was the case even though he''d reached the perfect state for the second stage of his body refinement technique and mind refinement technique.

    Alice''s saber sliced through the air with great velocity. Michael could barely jump back to protect his neck. He changed Aethyr''s form into a pole once again and smashed it against Alice''s leg, which was about to kick against the side of his head.

    Aethyr changed into a longsword right before Alice''s kick impacted. Michael grasped Aethyr''s handle with two hands, but the force of Alice''s attack was too strong. His hands went numb and Aethyr fell out of his hands. A good thing with Aethyr was that he could recall it at all times. Therefore, Aethyr returned back to his War Rune onmand, giving Michael the means to summon it again.

    Michael looked at Alice just to see that herbat suit had been scratched. The longsword formed by Aethyr was razor sharp. It could easily cut through Tier-2 and even Tier-3 monsters. However, Michael hadn''t used the longsword to attack. Instead, he''d been hoping to cut Alice by utilizing her momentum and the force she''d applied to the kick.

    That didn''t work as well as intended.

    Alice''s clothes had been cut, but her leg was unscathed. There was not even a scratch. No mark at all.

    ''Did I grow too confident after I killed that Tier-5 war criminal? Why did I even think that I could pierce through her defenses?'' Michael wondered,ughing at himself in his mind.

    Killing the war criminals had hardly been difficult for Michael. If anything, the members of Dark Heavens had been served to him on a silver tray. They were no challenge at all. But Alice was on a different level altogether.

    She was a Tier-5 powerhouse with extraordinarily high mastery of her Inheritance Technique. Michael didn''t know much about the Zenovia family''s Inheritance Technique but given that Leviathan Diffusion was only a small snippet of its true potential, Michael figured that the Inheritance Technique was exceptional.

    He was a little bit jealous but also intrigued. When was he going to create his own Inheritance technique?

    Unfortunately, Michael didn''t really have the time to create a customized Inheritance Technique. He was getting beaten up way too much to even think about analyzing Alice''s martial arts. How could he spare time bothering about Inheritance Techniques?

    His spar with Alice ended after half an hour. The only injuries sustained on Alice''s side were a small tear in the fabric of her clothes¡­just once. Meanwhile, Michael''s face was wounded ck and blue. The other wounds were hidden underneath his Spirit Armor Set and his clothes.

    "That''s domestic violence¡­abuse¡­" Michaelined silently.

    "Do you want to continue? I doubt you need a break if you can still spout nonsense," Alice joked lightly, wiping a single droplet of sweat from her forehead. Her head flicked to Kaleb, "How about you join us for a spar?"

    "I''m fine, sis. I rather watch Michael getting beaten up than being the one who''s beaten into a pulp," Kaleb rejected Alice''s ''offer'' before adding, "I already trained with my team in thest ten hours. We''re slowly getting somewhere. The teamposition is pretty good. Our only problem is that everyone wants to be the team leader. It doesn''t make sense for some of them to be adamant about bing the team leader but they desire the fame and honor thates with it. Some nonsense like that."

    Kaleb shrugged as if it didn''t concern him, but Michael noticed that his friend wanted to be the team leader as well. It would be highly beneficial if Kaleb became the team leader of a team that killed a dozen or more Tekur. That way, the Zenovia family''s honor could be upheld and possibly increased, and it was also possible that their connections to the Tritan Alliance could be strengthened.

    Kaleb wanted to help his family extend their connections and procure more wealth. He wanted to give them back what he received with interest¡­and without the need to marry someone he didn''t love.

    But that was difficult.

 Chapter 464 Departure

    Chapter 464 Departure

    The day of departure arrived atst.

    Michael never thought that he would be this happy when Alice told him that it was time to leave Piloq. But he couldn''t be more wrong. It felt great to leave since that meant he could escape Alice''s beating. One or two spars with Alice a day would have been great, but it was definitely not great to spar with her tens of times close to 16 hours a day¨C if one could call the beating he received a spar, in the first ce.

    "There is no need for you to be so happy. I will continue to train you until the day the Interdimensional g War starts. That''s five more days to train you!" Alice said, the faint smile on her lips speaking volumes. She enjoyed herself. Good for her. Bad for Michael.

    "Ah¡­Great¡­" Michael cursed in his heart, trying to force a happy expression on his face.

    Alice understood why Michael was unhappy. He was known for using his Soultraits to overpower his enemies. Unfortunately, that wouldn''t work whenever he encountered strong opponents. One fluke and he might lose his life. Alice wanted to prevent flukes by training Michael relentlessly until he could learn to evade her attacks instinctively without having to use his Soultraits.

    Once he reached that level, Michael could easily evade attacks with his Soultraits utilized right before unleashing a barrage of attacks to counter and kill his enemies. Immortal Knight thought like Alice. That didn''t make things easier, but it showed Michael that their approaches were indeed important. They cared about him and hoped that their merciless lessons would help him survive in the Origin Expanse and outside.

    Michael thought a lot about the Origin Expanse. Unfortunately, he didn''t have too much time to spend in his territory. All Michael could do was hand Opars his Legendary Ring Artifact to fill it with the Power of Energy Imprint until the Interdimensional g War started. Other than that, Michael received the requested materials and items from Kraft Viton a day ago. Kraft Viton brought everything and told him that he was not in debt. Just a little bit¡­of course¡­

    The profits of the Agriculture Project should negate his debts soon enough. There was no need to worry.

    Alice procured Michael''s Summoning Scrolls even before their training session began. Michael used the Named Scrolls immediately whereas the Ordinary Scrolls were stored in the warehouse. He thought about extracting them immediately, but there was something he wanted to test out first.

    Given the resources Michael had stocked in his territory, he didn''t have too much to do in the Origin Expanse. He could train, refine his War Rune, and spend time with his subjects to train, hunt, or get closer to them, but his presence was not required for the next few weeks. That was good. After all, nobody had a clue how long the g War wouldst. The dimensional portal would open just once in a year for three to ten days. The exact duration was uncertain. All the Tritan Alliance knew was that some g Warssted only a few days while otherssted ten days. The participants that survived the g war would be expelled from the dimension and brought back to the ce they entered once the active duration of the portal ended.

    "Don''t worry. You will be at your peak when the g War starts," Alice said reassuringly before turning a bit more serious, "I know that you understand why I''m doing this. I hope that you can kill one Tekur to satisfy the High Nobles. Because the Zan family is still bothering some of the families and ns affiliated with them. The only reason why nobody took any severe actions against you is because you didn''t kill the Zan Twins and also because of the video the Barbaric Couple shared online.

    "It would disgrace the Zan''s affiliates to hunt you down for what the Zan Twins did. Other than that, it is pretty good that you are Maria''s Primal Amplifier. The Zan family will probably shut their mouths soon enough. That means you only have to kill one Tekur toplete your ''punishment'', and everything will be back to normal¡­somehow¡­"

    Alice didn''t sound pleased talking about Maria, but Michael shrugged that off. He was pretty sure that the Zenovia family and Seraph family were not on good terms. Even if they were, it was not as if their rtionship mattered to him.

    "I will be fine, don''t worry. The Zan family should wait patiently until Ie to interrogate them. They understand something about my brother''s death, so they should wait for me. I wille to them on my own sooner orter," Michael responded, his eyes turning ice cold. Thinking about his brother and what the Zan Twins said when they provoked him openly, Michael felt like crushing the Zan family in their entirety.

    However, Michael alsoprehended that the Zan n were merely the pawns of some organization or High Nobles. They heed themands of someone stronger than them. That someone probably had some connection to Danny''s death or was aware of more information. Michael had to investigate further soon enough.

    "You can think about that once you''re strong enough. For now, your mission is to survive and avoid attracting too much attention from the High Society. It''s not like you''ve already attracted more than enough unwanted attention at this point," Alice scolded him. She shook her head and gestured to him to get moving.

    The day of departure had reached and they had to get inside the spaceship. The next few days would be spent in a small, but cozy spaceship. As for their destination, it was a small ¨C the native of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs ¨C where the dimensional portal had manifested.

    They had to return to the ginormous hill surrounding Piloq to get to the spaceship. It was a massive, sleek, and incredibly advanced vessel that appeared to be a mix between a spaceship made by humans and an ancient, intricate relic of old times. The spaceship had a circr gate-like structure at its core with shimmering, glowing symbols.

    The spaceship could travel through vast distances with incredible velocity. Once the symbols etched all over the vessel were activated, it emanated an otherworldly hum, and the ring-like gate at its center woulde to life, releasing a mesmerizing whirlwind of energy.

    Michael had never seen a spaceship like this. He read a lot about mankind''s space exploration technology due to his vast interest in space, but he had yet to find time to study everything in-depth. Hisck of knowledge about spaceships manufactured by other races irked him a little bit seeing the oddly shaped spaceship, but that only fueled his motivation to research more once he had the time and focus to spend his little time on things other than the Origin Expanse, training, training, or training.

    Michael and Alice were among the first to enter the spaceship. They didn''t have to wait for anyone else. Instead, they used the time to start sparring. Their spars didn''t even stop as more participants and powerhouses entered the spaceship. Alice ignored their existence entirely whereas Michael had to learn to endure their res and the hushed discussions about him.

    Ever since the attack on Piloq, Michael was not just another ''nobody'' as before. Now he was a well-known nobody whom everyone researched to find out what made him so special. The answers they received were all the same; there was not much about Michael to find online.

    His parents abandoned him after his sister disappeared. The brother was dead, and all properties of the Fang Family could be counted on one hand ¨C one finger to be precise. It was a small apartment, nothing special.

    The only special thing about Michael''s Family was the fact that the name of his sister couldn''t be found out. It was almost like his sister never existed. Only by digging deeper was it possible to find out that a sister existed ¨C but her name was still unknown.

    Most were not interested enough in Michael''s n to put more effort into researching his sister as well. Instead, they studied hisbat prowess ¨C something that turned out to be much harder than initially expected.

    Michael ignored the people around him and the only reason their spars ended for a few minutes was to sit down when the antique spaceship was about to take off. While sitting down, Michael didn''t even realize that Maria Seraph had appeared next to him. She seemed just as surprised to see Michael and looked at him with wide-open eyes.

    Michael and Maria hadn''t seen each other since the bombardment of Piloq. Michael had no idea what Maria had been doing, but he did not really care that much either. All he cared about was that the Mark of Fate didn''t restrict him in any way. That was a pleasant surprise since it meant that Maria and the Seraph family were the only ones with issues, for now.

    Maria''s lips parted and she desired to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. She was not certain how to behave around Michael because she dragged him into a big mess. However, Michael didn''t seem to hate her. It didn''t look like he did. Seeing Michael grin at her calmed her considerably. Thus, she decided to strike up a light conversation.

    "Hey, Michael. It has been a while," She greeted him and attempted to add a little tease, "Looks like your hair grew back since we metst time. You look much better now!"

    It was true.

    Michael was not bald anymore!!

 Chapter 465 Portal

    <h4>Chapter 465 Portal</h4>

    As the spaceship traversed the Lumina Ster System, it moved gracefully, almost as if it was gliding through space. The entire vessel was imbued with a sense of mystery and wonder ¨C something Michael wanted to study and explore. He wished to dismantle the spaceship, inspect every single piece, and put it back together. Then he would do it all over again until he got answers to all of his questions.

    But there was something that obstructed him. Not only was it the fact that they were in space and would all die if he started dismantling the spaceship, or the fact that Alice distracted him by beating his ass regrly. It was more the fact that the antique spaceship seemed to harness the power of the universe itself to move through space. It was almost like the spaceship could connect distant points in space and create anchors to push itself forward in a magical and highly technological way.

    It almost felt like the spaceship warped through space.

    Atst, the antique spaceshipnded.

    "So¡­what are you doing now? You are not really nning to run through the realm all alone, are you?" Maria asked as she removed the multitude of seatbelts around her. She nced at Michael, waiting to hear his answer.

    "I''ve been training alone to focus on my individualbat prowess. That''s also the only reason why I''m about to reach the Peak of Tier-2. If not for that I would probably end up a nameless corpse on the battlefield before others realize that I''m missing," Michael joked lightly.

    Michael spent some time talking to Maria in the antique spaceship ¨C not that he had much free time, in the first ce. However, it was quite pleasant. Maria didn''t seem arrogant like other prodigious Descendants, and she was quite smart. Michael never found himself in awkward silence around Maria, which was a little odd because there were so many things they wanted to talk about¡­just to not talk about them.

    Maria never mentioned the Mark of Fate or the fact that Michael became her Primal Amplifier. Both noticed that Maria''s Soultrait Shard inside Michael was slowly getting charged and that the connection was growing stronger.

    Michael tried using Archangel''s Grace once and he noticed that he could heal himself rather quickly. The interesting thing was that his natural regeneration elerated his stamina and energy recovery as well. Even if Michael didn''t want to think about his connection with Maria Seraph, he felt that the Soultrait Shard within him could be of great use.

    As long as he was around Maria, the Shard would be fueled and empowered. Its effect would be stronger when he was closer to Maria, but the fuel could also be churned to use Archangel''s Grace despite being far away from her ¨C in a weakened state. Maria, on the other hand, could use her Soultrait without any restraints. If anything, the power of her Soultrait increased as her distance to Michael decreased. She didn''t even have to use Heaven''s Descent to amplify her Soultrait''s power given that Michael was close to her.

    That was exceptional. It was too good to be true. And it was the reason why Maria didn''t dare to speak to Michael about the future. All she thought about when she used Heaven''s Descent was to help the injured around her. Maria never expected Michael to bepatible with her Soultrait. It didn''t even make sense¡­yet it somehow happened.

    Fate brought them together.

    It was bittersweet¡­and it would create problems in the future, mostly for Michael. That bothered Maria the most. She was the reason why Michael would be forced into the treacherous games and political alliances of High Society. It was not what Maria wanted to happen to Michael¡­to anyone for that matter¡­

    Alice didn''t join Michael and Maria during their breaks. She was busy dealing with the other higher-ups who''d fly to the capital of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs where they would wait for their students to return from the g War. They would focus on establishing trading routes and socializing while their lovely students would fight for their survival.

    This year''s mission was pretty simple; destroy one Dimensional Pir in the g War and strengthen the rtions with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Alice was certain that she could do thetter rather easily now that she could use her rtionship with Michael to her advantage. Palika Mavenham and Silvana Zentur held Michael in high regard. Since she was his teacher, their respect and attitude toward her improved significantly. The other human Awakened didn''t like that, but Alice was more than pleased. She was overjoyed.

    Once the participants of the g War got out of the antique spaceship, the scene around them surprised them quite a bit. Even the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were left stunned. They didn''t expect to see a humongous purple Runic Gate the height of a skyscraper near the antique capital.

    Michael''s eyes were drawn to the antique capital for a while. It was an impressive sight to behold. There weren''t many skyscrapers or structures made with the help of highly advanced technology. Instead, it was a city from ancient times that hadn''t been forgotten by history. It was bustling with life. The buildings were made of wood and stone.

    They stood proudly in the radiance of the sun and the architectural marvel surrounding him left him speechless. The facades were weathered by time, and flowery vines had imed ownership of some of those moss-draped structures. But that just added to the rustic appeal of the ce.

    Just looking at the old buildings made Michael feel many things.

    "Beautiful¡­" Michael mumbled, taking Maria by surprise. She''d been watching the dimensional portal and its eerie resemnce to a Runic Gate.

    "W-what do you mean?" She asked, fumbling around only to see that Michael was not even looking at her. He didn''t even notice her standing next to him.

    All Michael saw were the narrow, winding cobblestone streets that created awork through the entire city. People were going about their lives, and he observed them in fascination, their attire and how idyllic everything in the ancient capital seemed to be.

    "You don''t have to ignore me, you know?" Maria grumbled, ring at Michael who finally turned back to her.

    "What did you say?" He asked, his eyes gleaming with joy.

    ''Is he not nervous, at all? Where is this confidenceing from? Or is he just an idiot? Maybe an overconfident idiot?''

    Maria studied Michael for a few seconds but it was not long before people began to gather around her. She had some alone time in the antique spaceship because everyone was assigned specific seats. Unfortunately, there was no alone time outside the spaceship. It was not that she could flee into the Origin Expanse either. Suppressing a sigh, Maria turned to her team.

    Instead of consisting of only 10 members, Maria''s team had a total of 25 members. Her Soultrait was powerful enough to tend to the wounds of many Awakened simultaneously. But that was not the whole reason.

    Most members of Maria''s loyal fan club wanted to be part of her team. They would want to enter the isted dimension with her, either way. Therefore, the higher-ups of the Tritan Alliance made the least problematic decision; they allowed everyone who wanted to join Maria''s team.

    Adding the Support Soultraits of two Descendants, Maria could easily heal everyone while paying attention to their surroundings.

    She had been jointly with the people around her for a long time ¨C much longer than she wished. Maria even trained with some of them from a young age. Their families must have been hoping that training together would increase theirpatibility for one of them to be Maria''s Primal Amplifier once she manifested her Soultrait. Once one of the Descendants would have be her Primal Amplifier, their engagement would have been announced and they would marry the moment both turned 20 years old.

    Fortunately, Maria manifested a 7-Star Soultrait, giving her some leeway. She didn''t have to utilize her Inheritance Technique because her family was searching for a perfect candidate to be her Primal Amplifier. It would be best if her Primal Amplifier was the second child of a Supreme Family or a High Noble with great influence. Their families could expand their influence and power whereas their children could be the strongest couple of the century to further increase their poprity.

    Little did anyone expect that Maria would use her Inheritance Technique in Piloq with a ''nobody'' and in an extreme twist of fate, this said ''nobody'' would turn out to be extremelypatible with Maria and Archangel''s Grace.

    Maria didn''t want to implicate Michael for now. She researched enough about him to understand that he was already busy enough. It would be troublesome to tell Michael about certain¡­issues. Therefore, Maria decided to bid Michael farewell and to meet up with him once everything was over. Maybe the Interdimensional g War could solve some of their problems. Hopefully.

    Her eyes flicked to Killian, who red at Michael with uncontroble fury in his eyes and she had to clench her hands into fists and summon her entire focus and control not to do anything stupid.

    ''Don''t do anything stupid¡­please¡­''

    Michael spotted that Maria left, but he didn''t mind. The hateful stare locked on him disappeared the moment Maria stepped aside. Only a few pairs of eyes remained locked on him. It was a good thing that Michael didn''t care about them ¨C especially not the daggers shooting out of Killian''s eyes.

    It didn''t take long before the purple portal began to hum loudly. Energy burst forth from the dimensional portal and it opened by manifesting a swirl of energy within the replica of the Runic Gate. The swirl expanded and turned into a purple mass that resembled the blue liquid inside Summoning Gates.

    Michael was intrigued and he stepped closer to the portal.

    "You seem to be in a hurry," A voice next to Michael called out.

    Marie Wang and Sera Kani from the zing Sun team approached him.

    "Did your girlfriend leave you behind?" Marie Wang asked, gently pushing a strand of crimson hair out of her face.

    "She is not¨C"

    "Not your girlfriend? Even better. Enter the dimension gate with us."?Sera Kani offered hurriedly.

    Michael beheld Ludwig Pearl with the g War Soultrait standing next to the two young women. There were also Zelda Norman and Ashryn Hard in that group. It was the same old zing Sun Team Michael fought jointly with Kaleb earlier.

    "Why?" He couldn''t help but ask.

    "Why? That''s simple. Because you are strong!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow. Faced with four Peak Tier-3 Lords and another Tier-3 Awakened, he didn''t think he gazed too strong ¨C at least in his head.

    In reality, Michael didn''t possess much less energy than the Peak Tier-3 Lords. Refining his War Rune while being in possession of 10 Soultraits was certainly not great, but one of the advantages it generated was arger energy storage. That was definitely a big advantage - especially for someone like Michael.

    He could only smile at that thought. If he had been the same as a few weeks ago, Michael would have felt like the zing Sun team was joking. But he was not the same as a few weeks ago. Many things happened in thest few weeks and Michael was certain that he''d grown stronger.

    The energy that coursed through his body didn''t feel any weaker or lesser than the energy that resided in the body of Peak Tier-3 Lords.

    He was¡­strong. A lot stronger than ever.

    "We beheld you spar with Alice. Even without your Soultraits, you''ve got some decent moves. How about this? Enter the dimension with us and fight with us against the Tekur once. After we beat the shit out of some Tekur, we can see where we''ll go." Marie Wang offered again, lifting her hand to shake Michael''s.

    Michael grasped her hand and returned a smile.

    "It''s worth a try. I always desired to see the true power of the Wang Family''s zing Sun!"

 Chapter 466 Tekur

    Chapter 466 Tekur

    Michael didn''t expect Marie Wang and the others to approach him. Their team worked together since the start of the Battle Exchange, spending a total of three months on improving their teamwork and tactics.

    Since four out of five members of the zing Sun team were already at the Peak of the 3rd Tier they could only focus on fortifying their body and mind refinement as well as training together. Asking Michael to join them all of a sudden didn''t really make sense.

    Nheless, Michael was curious to know how much the zing Sun team had improved. He wanted to see them fight.

    Since the dimensional portal was now active, several teams rushed to it. Michael saw Kaleb and his team near the entrance of the dimensional portal, as well as Lincoln and Zeke, who had teamed up with Quinn.

    ''Zeke''s Illusions should be quite useful against the Tekur. They have another Supporter in their team with an boost Soultrait. Hmm¡­They want to focus on enhancing their individualbat prowess as much as possible beforebining the crowd control Soultrait of their 5th member with Zeke''s Illusions. That could work very well.''

    Michael analyzed the people around him. He''d researched every participant of the g War. Therefore, he could tell who everyone was ording to their appearance. Even if Michael didn''t really focus on their names or background, he could tell what type of Soultrait they possessed and how strong they were. That was all that mattered right now.

    "Did you know that you''re very popr among the Descendants these days?" Sera Kani asked, her eyes darting toward Michael.

    She grinned at him, causing goosebumps to spread all over his body. That was how creepy her stare was when she looked at him.

    "Popr? If you mean to tell me that I''m the most hated among the Descendants I''d like to inform you that you suck at your choice of words," He responded without really paying attention to Sera.

    "Most hated? I''m not so sure about that. Sera probably meant to say that many talk about you these days," Marie Wang joined the conversation as they approached the dimensional portal.

    "Talk about me?"

    "Yeah. They talk about you and it''s actually not about the fact that you''ve be Maria''s Primal Amplifier. Some talk about that but most Descendants don''t dare to say anything wrong. After all, they don''t want to get on Maria''s wrong side. They have better things to do than offending the Seraph family, especially since every family will sooner orter need the Seraph family''s help to heal one of their own."

    "What are they talking about then?"

    "It is actually pretty simple. They talk about your rtionship with the Zenovia family. Everyone knows, by now, that you possess multiple Soultraits. Nobody really knows how many you have since you never announced it openly. However, it is well known that you have a Soultrait rted to Ice. That is why some Descendants wonder whether you are an illegitimate child of the Zenovia family ¨C precisely an experiment of the Zenovia family to grow a supernatural warrior with a handful of Soultraits."

    Michael raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

    "I am not rted to them though. I procured the Ice Soultrait within a Lord Rift," Michael revealed.

    Sera Kani appeared next to him. Her shoulder bumped into his side and her eyes glimmered with curiosity and the spirit of gossip as she asked, "In that case¡­why are Kaleb and Alice so nice to you? You were even able to get close to Lincoln and Zeke. The Piedra and Lavita Heirs are quite¡­difficult to approach."

    "I don''t know," Michael shrugged and pointed at the dimensional portal, "But what I know is that we should stop gossiping."

    It was time to step into the dimensional gate.

    Once they stepped through the whirlwind of energy the space around them twisted. Sera Kani had many questions to ask but Michael had already disappeared.

    The zing Sun team was right behind Michael, hoping to end up near him. After all, the dimensional portal teleported everyone to various locations all over the isted realm if they didn''t enter the portal simultaneously.

    At least, that was how it usually worked.

    Michael was already ustomed to space twisting around him. It was a little bit more intense than the Runic Gate''s teleportation, but it was simr to Zeroa''s portals. Therefore, Michael could focus on his environment the moment he appeared inside the isted dimension.

    The first thing Michael noticed was that he was not alone. The zing Sun Team appeared near him, but there was more. There were at least 20 teams of the Tritan Alliance that had been teleported to the same location.

    Michael saw Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke, who looked just as surprised at the other teams as him. It was not normal for so many teams to end up in the same location right from the start.

    However, even more startling was the surrounding environment. They had emerged in arge in with little to no trees and bushes to find cover. The soil was blueish-gray and dark-blue grass was the only natural flora Michael could find for as far as his eyes could see. There were no monsters either.

    The only object that provided some cover from potential attackers was a humongous ck pir. The pir was ck like charcoal. It had a rough surface and was several hundred meters tall. The ck pir was thick and was as wide as the Colosseum.

    ''The Dimensional Pir!'' Michael realized, his heart skipping a beat.

    Until now no team had ever emerged near a Dimensional Pir during the g Wars. It was the first time for something like that to happen ¨C with close to 200 members of the Tritan Alliance at that.

    Many Awakened figured that the Dimensional Pir stood in front of them, and they began to strike it. Despite being humongous and extremely thick, the Dimensional Pir was not indestructible. It was resilient but attacks with the destructive power of a Tier-3 Awakened were enough to hurt it. It was just that destroying a Dimensional Pir would take a while.

    Even if hundreds of Awakened attacked the Dimensional Pir simultaneously, they would have to spend a few hours until it would copse. That was more than enough time for the Tekur to reach them and attack. The Tekur would gather around the Dimensional Pirs to protect them, after all.

    "If we spawned so close to the Dimensional Pir¡­who says that the same¨C..." Michael trailed off as he watched the other Awakened rush at the Dimensional Pir to destroy it as soon as possible.

    Suddenly a rock the size of a house manifested in the air. At first, everyone thought that the rock belonged to their allies. Therefore, nobody stopped in their tracks. Only a small group of selective individuals realized that something was wrong. Nobody possessed a Soultrait that could manifest a dark rock that radiated immense heat.

    No warning was given as the dark rock smashed down in front of the Dimensional Pir. It burst into countless pieces that propelled into all directions with tremendous force. An explosion resounded through the vicinity. Screams and shouts rang out only to be silenced by a second explosion that reverberated through the frontlines.

    Tworge craters emerged in the ground beneath the feet of a Warlock Centaur who had been charging at the Dimensional Pir just a moment ago.

    Not even the remains of the Warlock Centaur were left behind as the craters swallowed him whole.

    While only one Warlock Centaur died, many sustained injuries. The meteorite that burst into countless shards upon impacting, inflicted wounds on every single being on the frontlines. For a moment the healers of the teams were stupefied. Fortunately, their instincts kicked in quickly. Hearing the muffled screams of the injured, the healers began to move to heal theirrades.

    Michael nced at the injured only for a moment before his eyes traveled to a small group of beings that appeared from behind the Dimensional Pir.

    The beings were somewhat humanoid. At least, they walked on two legs and possessed two arms. Silver carapaces covered their bodies and wings sprouted out of the backs of some of them. Their heads looked like a cross between a honey bee and an ant, with long silvery mandibles growing out of their cheeks.

    The beings hadnky legs and looked skinny at first nce, but Michael didn''t make the mistake of underestimating their physicalbat prowess.

    He knew what those beings were.

    The Tekur race had arrived.

    There were only a dozen Tekur, which a group of 200 members of the Tritan Alliance could deal with, but the initial strike of the Tekur was already enough to tell that they were not to be taken lightly.

    The power of the meteorite had been enough to kill a Tier-3 Warlock Centaur and injure more than 20 Awakened ¨C prodigies of the Tritan Alliance.

    "Are they usually that strong, or is that just one of them?" Michael heard someone ask. It was a Descendant, whose entire body was trembling in fear at the sight of the two-meter-tall Tekur.

    Michael had no answer and the same seemed to apply to the other people around them.

    "If you don''t dare to strike first, we will," A loud voice with a heavy ent rang through the surroundings. The ttering of the speaking Tekur''s mandibles caused shivers to run down the spines of many humans.

    One moment the dozen Tekur were together and in the next moment four Tekur disappeared. The remaining eight Tekur released their energy with a burst and used their Soultraits to get started. Meanwhile, the four Tekur who''d disappeared a moment ago appeared on the front lines.

    Theirnky arms lifted high into the air as they appeared next to the healers.

    "Try not to die too quickly. We want to enjoy this a little bit!"

 Chapter 467 On the move

    Chapter 467 On the move

    Chaos ensued the moment the Tekur made their move.

    Four Tekur appeared next to the healers who had been tending to the wounded. With their w-like hands raised high into the air, they were ready to strike at once and remove the most annoying members of their enemies in one go. As long as the healers were taken care of, the Tekur would have much fewer issues killing the remaining enemies.

    But before the Tekur could behead the healers something happened. Quinn Karta used his Soultrait to jump through space. He appeared next to one of the Tekur, his entire body covered in radiant marks. His strength increased significantly, and he received an additional boost as his team members amplified hisbat prowess using his Soultrait. Thereafter, Zeke used Eye of Illusion to create an illusion to distract the Tekur, granting Quinn just enough time to push the healer aside. The Tekur''s w cleaved down and narrowly missed the healer.

    The next moment vines shot out of the ground. The fifth member of Quinn''s team used his crowd control Soultrait, Vine Domain, to shoot vines out of the ground. He intended to pin the Tekur to the ground to ensure that Quinn Karta could kill the Tekur swiftly.

    Meanwhile, Lincoln used Stone Giant''s lesser earth affinity to shift the earth all over the battlefield. He moved the healers and injured people away from the frontlines, while Quinn, Zeke, and the two other members of their team faced one of the Tekur.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs made their move as well. Lokai and Thaor appeared next to another Tekur.. The Awakened with Support Soultraits used them to empower their allies before hastily giving out orders to reorganize their groups. Everything was a mess, but they couldn''t run away to escape the Tekur before reorganizing and attacking again.

    The speed of the four Tekur who decided to jump into the crowd of enemies was too high. Theirbat prowess was not to be underestimated either. The Tekur facing Quinn was affected by Zeke''s Eye of Illusion and the vines coiling around him, yet he could easily evade Quinn''s attack. No matter where Quinn tried to attack the slightly restricted Tekur, his attacks were blocked.

    The Tekur loudly snapped his mandibles at some point. Thereafter the remaining eight Tekur made their move as well. Their Soultraits had already been unleashed and they were only waiting for permission to join the battle as well.

    The moment the sound of ttering mandibles rang out from the side of the Dimensional Pir, the situation turned even worse. Thebat prowess of the melee-fighting Tekur improved drastically, and the minor scratches that covered their carapacesmenced to heal as well.

    There was at least one Tekur with a Healing Soultrait and another one with a Soultrait that strengthened the Tekur physically. Both were strong Soultraits. However, nobody could tell for sure how strong they were exactly because the Tekur race was known for focusing on reinforcing the power of their Soultraits to the peak. Each of them ought to have a technique that was customized to fit their Soultrait perfectly, yet Michael couldn''t tell if they were already using these custom techniques, or if they were simply ying with their opponents.

    Another meteorite appeared in the sky high above the battlefield. However, this time nobody believed that it was an allies'' creation. Marie Wang utilized her zing Sun, amplified by the War g Soultrait of herrades. A highlypressed fireball manifested atop Marie Wang''s staff. A rich and vibrant azure-blue me erupted and shot toward the Meteorite that shattered as it collided with the azure-blue fireball.

    As the meteorite shattered, a mysterious force shrouded the thousands of pieces of the meteorite. The shards stopped moving mid-air and pointed downward.

    One of the Tekur was controlling the shards with his Soultrait and was just about to shower the Tritan Alliance members in a downpour of meteorite shards when Sera Kani created her move. Shebined her Soultrait with the power of other Descendants and unleashed a typhoon out of nowhere.

    The typhoon was about to destabilize the meteorite shards when something silvery passed through it. The energy used to maintain and control the typhoon was corrupted. Sera lost control of it ¨C and of the meteorite shards alongside.

    But that was fine. Zelda Norman reached the group of 8 Tekur with a group of close to 50 allies. He unleashed his 6-Star Soultrait, Dome of Weakness, and targeted the eight Tekur simultaneously. An ominous dome covered Zelda and the eight Tekur alongside her allies. The dome weakened the Soultraits of the designated targets, therefore lowering the effectiveness of the Support, and Healing Soultraits that gave the melee Tekur an upper hand over Quinn and others.

    Even the Telepathy Soultrait that was supposed to control the meteorite shards was weakened considerably.

    The biggest downside of the Dome of Weakness was that it lost potency the stronger the target''s Soultrait. A 3-Star Soultrait''s power would be weakened by 50%, but a 5-Star Soultrait would barely sustain a drop of power equal to 10%.

    Interestingly enough, the Tekurs'' Soultraits were all weakened considerably. By at least 10%, whereas the telepathy Soultrait''s power dropped by close to 50%.

    That meant the Tekur''s Soultraits were not as high-ranked as suspected in various detailed reports. It¡­also meant that the tremendous power of their Soultraits either stemmed from the Tekur race''s Unique Racial abilities, their extremely high mastery of their Soultraits, or their techniques.

    Or¡­the number of their subjects with a firm Link of Loyalty was tens of times higher than the Links of Loyalty most Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs possessed.

    Michael frowned deeply as he analyzed the battle all around him. Everyone tried to join the battle in some way, but it was way too chaotic. The 200 members of the Tritan Alliance hadn''t been taught to fight together like this. They were trained to fight in their own small team. Fighting one member of the Tekur race with five to ten members was the most efficient way to deal with the Tekur.

    However, the Tekur didn''t fight alone. They''d teamed up as well, which was obvious. Not every single Tekur had a powerfulbat-affine Soultrait. Some were Healers and Supporters just like it was the case with the others.

    Michael grabbed a deep breath and activated Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze. He summoned Aethyr in its spearform and coated the de with ayer of Sword Qi. Michael user Insert to insert a trace of Extraction into Reinforced Sword Qi, resulting in a subtle change within the Sword Qi. Veins, golden in color, spread through the silver Sword Qi that shrouded Aethyr Spear''s de.

    Origin energy coursed through Michael''s body. He weaved the energy into his movements and applied severalyers of Enhancement onto his body. Once ready, Michael licked his lip, lowered his body and kicked the ground with great force.

    His physical strength at the Peak of the 2nd Tier came to full disy. Utilizing Leviathan Diffusion at full power and with Enhancement added to the y, Michael''s physical strength easily surpassed an ordinary Tier-3 Awakened. He was not an ordinary Awakened to begin with. Michael was a Lord- A lord withbat prowess exceeding the norms of a Mythical Existence!

    He shed through the battlefield and passed by Lokai and Thaor, who''d been fully focused on the battle ahead.

    "Give me Burning Fury," Michael ordered Lokai right before jumping into the air. He utilized Thaor as aunchpad to propel himself higher into the air. As he kicked Thaor, Michael used Insert on the Berserker, granting him twoyers of Enhancement. The effect would wear off in five to ten minutes but that was more than enough time for Thaor, Lokai, and Michael to deal with a Tekur or two.

    Aethyr transformed into a bow mid-air. He manifested a cicle Arrow inserted with a trace of Extraction, pulled the bowstring back, and shot at once. The Tekur noticed the cicle arrow but he quickly dismissed it as the power behind the cicle arrow was not that great.

    He rather focused on the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs around it.

    Michael didn''t use his entire strength when he attacked with the Aethyr Bow. Instead, he utilized his understanding of cicle to his advantage.

    The cicle arrow burst apart even before it collided with the ground or the Tekur. Thepressed freezing mist within was unleashed at once. It spread around and engulfed the Tekur and the two Warlock Centaurs he had been facing.

    Michael ignored the Warlock Centaurs and how they might be affected by the freezing mist. He willed the freezing mist and transformed it into a hundred tiny icicles. Their pointed ends were directed at the Tekur and they shot toward him. Their impact didn''t cause any serious harm to the Tekur, but it distracted the Tekur from his signature move ¨C utilizing the trace of Extraction.

    The trace of Extraction didn''t disperse as the cicle arrow turned into freezing mist. It hung into the air and was shrouded as the freezing mist turned into icicles. The icicles were too weak to burst through the Tekur''s carapace but the Power of Insert was still effective five seconds after Michael utilized it.

    The ice needle didn''t even have to break through the Tekur''s defense for the trace of Extraction to invade his body. All that was needed for the trace of Extraction to invade the Tekur''s body was to get close enough while the Power of Insert was still active.

    And that was exactly what happened.

    The ice needles were repelled, their freezing effect barely affecting the Tekur.

    But that was not important.

    All that mattered was that Extraction grabbed root in the Tekur''s body. It was only a matter of time before the Tekur would die.

    Realizing that, a sly grin appeared on Michael''s lips.

    ''How nice it is to have such a great skill set.''

 Chapter 468 Insert Extraction

    Chapter 468 Insert Extraction

    Even though the trace of Extraction invaded the Tekur''s body without any difficulties, it was not that easy to kill them. Michael was forced to nourish the trace of Extraction slowly, ensuring that the Tekur wouldn''t realize anything until it was toote.

    Therefore, Michael willed the trace of Extraction to devour minuscule portions of the Tekur''s lifeforce and origin energy. Even if the Tekurfelt something, since he was not injured in any way, he was likely to presume that one of his 200 enemies possessed a Soultrait with the power to drain lifeforce and energy of designated targets. He hadn''t been injured nor did he sense that anything entered his body. Therefore, the option that something foreign took root inside his body didn''t even cross the Tekur''s mind.

    Michael released a few more cicle arrows to distract the Tekur while Thaor, Lokai and a few more Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs entered closebat. The Berserkers understood that it was not feasible for tens of them to face a Tekur simultaneously. They created a tactic to fight the Tekur with a rotation system. The Berserkers would face the Tekur, three at a time, to inflict some damage and then rotate smoothly. A new batch of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would face the Tekur with a differentbat style and varying approaches to attack and kill the Tekur, wearing him down.

    The Tekur, who''d been daring enough to enter closebat knew what they were doing. They altered the trajectory of the Berserkers'' attacks with fluid motions and counterattacked rapidly. Their means of defense were exceptional, and even if they failed to evade or block the enemies'' attacks, their carapace would save them.

    Despite having a great numerical advantage on their side, the Alliance members weren''t able to overpower the Tekur easily. If anything, it looked like the dozen Tekur could easily fight with the 200 Descendants for a while. The only ways the Alliance could hold their fort against the Tekur was the Alliance''s training and the fact that their Soultraits ended up being much more useful than expected.

    Adding the Alliance''s teamwork ¨C which was much better than ever ¨C some of the Tekur were pushed back. Thaor managed to crack the carapace of the Tekur he fought, whereas Quinn Karta''s daggers pierced into the thighs of another Tekur.

    Meanwhile, the Dome of Weakness decreased the support the Tekur in the back could provide to theirrades near the frontlines.

    Michael moved through the battlefield as quickly as he could. He inserted a fewyers of Enhancement onto the Awakened who seemed to have the biggest advantage against the Tekur to further increase the slight upper hand his people had gained in the fight. Simultaneously, he continued to release cicle arrows inserted with traces of Extraction.

    Michael managed to insert more of Extraction''s power inside the group of Tekur. A total of eight Tekur were infected by Extraction before Michael decided to will the traces of Extraction to devour the insides of his enemies. He focused on their lifeforce and origin energy to weaken them, but Michael didn''t hesitate to break through their mental defenses and devour their blood and flesh as well ¨C at least, he was trying to.

    The Tekur''s mental defense was much stronger than anything he''d ever seen before. It was already a wonder that the traces of Extraction managed to devour bits of origin energy and lifeforce inside them. Fortunately, the traces of Extraction took root in the Tekur before they spread out. Ordinary mental defenses, no matter how sturdy, couldn''t block the traces of Extraction. If the Tekur desired to remove the traces of Extraction, they would have to use their energy to iste the power of Extraction and expel it. That required time and full concentration. Right now, the Tekur had neither to spare.

    One of the Tekur possessed a Soultrait that blocked the trace of Extraction subconsciously. It couldn''t find a ce to take root inside his body and was naturally expelled. Therefore, Michael didn''t even try to infect the remaining Tekur. Instead, he focused on weakening the eight infected Tekur to kill them. Applying someyers of Enhancement on Extraction was enough to reinforce the extraction efficiency.

    Michael''s vigor was overflowing, and his energy storage never dried out. He created apressed cicle Sword, coated it in ayer of Reinforced Sword Qi, and added severalyers of Enhancement on top. The cicle Sword glimmered above Michael as he lifted his hand. His hand cut down in a straight line and the cicle Sword burst forth.

    ["Throw yourself to the ground if you like your head!"] Michael shouted at Thaor and Lokair with Whispering Energy.

    A quarter of a secondter, the two Berserkers reacted. They stopped focusing on the Tekur in front of them and dived to the ground. The Tekur''s attack missed the Berserkers by a hair''s breadth. He didn''t expect the Berserkers to jump to the ground just like that. But their sudden change in tactic made sense as a cier-blue glittering sword whizzed past the Berserkers, impaling the Tekur.

    The cicle Sword pierced the damaged area of the carapace and pierced through the Tekur in one go. The Tekur''s eyes widened, and his mandibles snapped viciously. Energy burst forth from the Tekur, whose size expanded. His silver carapace darkened and the presence around the Tekur intensified. Michael ignored the Tekur''s presence as much as possible. He released the Reinforced Sword Qi shrouding the cicle Sword explosively into the Tekur. The Tekur''s insides were shredded, his intestines damaged, and some internal organs obliterated in one go.

    It was only after the Reinforced Sword Qi was unleashed that the cicle Sword''s freezing took effect. The area around the sword wound froze and the strong freezing effect expanded. The Tekur crushed the cicle Sword with his tremendous physical strength ¨C or tried to. The moment Michael noticed what the Tekur was trying to do, he willed the cicle Sword to burst into freezing mist that would block the Tekur''s vision and invade the insides of the Tekur.

    The Tekur screamed aloud, his mandibles ttering uncontrobly. This was a sign for the other Tekur to pay more attention to the wounded Tekur, who couldn''t even continue screaming as several des pierced into him from all sides. That was not even all. A heavy mace smashed down on the Tekur''s head. Not once. Not twice, and not thrice either. Three Berserkers at the Peak of the 3rd Tier took turns smashing a heavy, several hundred kilograms, mace to crush the Tekur''s head and kill the monstrosity.

    But the Tekur twitched and continued releasing a burst of energy. He continued to move and managed to injure one of the attackers severely before his legs were pinned to the ground. The assault continued until the energy influx of the Tekur reached one of them. The Tekur stopped moving after his head was mashed entirely.

    Everyone but Michael turned away from the dead Tekur. They had to help the others fight the remaining 11 Tekur. Michael waved his hand to retrieve the trace of Extraction and the freezing mist. Simultaneously, he stored the corpse of the dead Tekur in his storage. Some Awakened observed that but they were too busy supporting theirrades to ask Michael what he was doing or why. That was something they could doter as well.

    Once the corpse was stored in his storage, Michael made his move. He enhanced his body again and manifested a dozen cicle Swords around his body. Michael weaved energy into his body to enhance his strength and perception before inserting traces of Extraction into each of the cicle Swords. The cicle Swords shot in all directions, one to each enemy.

    The cicle Swords were under his precise control. He shattered them right before they impacted and willed the freezing mist that burst forth from the cicle Swords to shroud the Tekurs'' heads. The freezing mist then transformed into hundreds of cicle needles that tried to pierce through the Tekur''s carapace. However, the only thing that could harm the Tekur was the trace of Extraction that managed to invade the Tekur ¨C every single one of them.

    Michael didn''t even consider slowly devouring the energy and lifeforce of the Tekur at this point. He used the vast majority of his energy to increase the power of Extraction, which was how Michael seeded to weaken the remaining Tekur enough to create opportunities for hisrades.

    Zeke continued to use Eye of Illusion to cast a life-like illusion onto three Tekur, whereas the Awakened with Vine Domain focused on restraining the Tekur. The other Alliance members, on the other hand, were either focused on weakening the Tekur, strengthening their allies, or inducing small injuries.

    Some of the Alliance members gained confidence watching one Tekur die after another. They were infused with the much-needed confidence to deliver the final blow against one of the Tekur. Unfortunately, their confidence resulted in an aggressive fighting style. Since they wanted to deal the final blow, the Awakened didn''t withdraw when the Tekur changed their targets. They were assaulted and ripped into shreds. In addition to that, several tiny meteorites formed in the air. Some concentrated on destroying them, but there were some Awakened whose entire focus was fixated on the Tekur. They were hit by the tiny meteorites and suffered heavy injuries, resulting in deaths for some of them.

    Nheless, the Tritan Alliance gained a major advantage. The Tekur were slowly overwhelmed by the number of enemies and Soultraits they had to face simultaneously. All they could do was attempt to run away to reorganize and lead more Tekur toward the Tritan Alliance or die while taking as many enemies as possible with them.

    Confident in their superiorbat prowess, the Tekur continued to fight. Despite the numerous disadvantages they faced, the Tekur were extremely sturdy and didn''t die that easily.

    The dozen Tekur died at the end of the battle, but they seeded to kill a total of 15 Alliance Members while facing close to 200 of the Tritan Alliance''s stronger prodigies.

    They were still at an advantage¡­and there were still hundreds of Tekur waiting to fight them.

 Chapter 469 Gains

    Chapter 469 Gains

    "Where is Michael Fang?" A young Descendant asked.

    He was worn out, but a tinge of anger mirrored on his face.

    "Why are you looking for Michael?" Kaleb frowned.

    "He stored one of the Tekur''s bodies in his storage space." The Descendant answered.

    "He collected one here too!" Another Descendant said, only for a Warlock Centaur to note.

    "I think he collected most of the bodies. I see only two corpses."

    "Did he run away? That bastard stole our merit points!!" The young Descendant roared angrily once again, not hesitating to use Michael.

    "I did not run away, brickhead."

    Michael''s voice resounded from behind the Dimensional Pir. He walked around the pir with a mocking smile on his face. "I stored the corpses to make sure that nobody will obliterate the corpses by ident, and to ensure that nobody else could take them while we were busy fighting."

    Michael retrieved a total of 10 Tekur from his storage space and snapped at the man who''d used him just now, "How about you think before you use someone? That might help you stay alive a little longer. Maybe, you can get a girlfriend if you keep your foul mouth closed."

    He turned to the remaining Alliance members and pointed at the corpses, "Let''s make sure that everyone receives a contribution for killing the dozen Tekur. After all, everyone participated in the battle so it''s only fair that everyone should receive merit points."

    Michael did not really care about glory, or honor. The merit points he could procure were not that important either. The sole reason Michael took the corpses mid-battle was to disappear near the end of the battle to extract the SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols and Memory Orbs from the dead Tekur. He contributed to their death. Therefore, he could easily loot the Tekur.

    To make sure that nobody would notice anything, Michael extracted only the rewards nobody else could procure. Memory Orbs, Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments were not something others could procure. Only Michael''s Extraction was capable of that.

    Unfortunately, he had to be extremely fast. Almost the entire energy he extracted from the Tekur was used up to further amplify the Extraction used on the Tekur. He didn''t even have a minute to extract as much as possible and had to collect everything in a rush before returning from behind the Dimensional Pir.

    The bodies of the Tekur were now spread out in front of Michael but he was unable to use Extraction on them. He didn''t n to expose Extraction in front of the Alliance after all.

    "You want to make sure that you''ll get your contribution in the battle toplete your punishment sentence and be done with it, don''t you? That''s smart!" Kaleb blurted out, his voice loud enough to reach everyone around them.

    Most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t know about Michael''s punishment, but the human Descendants had heard something about it. The man who had used Michael stared daggers at him, but Michael didn''t really pay much attention to it.

    He secretly thanked Kaleb for saving him froming up with an excuse, but he didn''t answer Kaleb. The thought of punishment had not even crossed his mind. It was not that important at this point.

    The Dimensional Pir was of greater importance. It would take the Alliance members a few hours to destroy the pir, but it was certainly worth it. They would get closer to their final goal: to close the Isted realm and seal the dimensional portal for good.

    "We can talk about everyone''s contributionter. For now, we have to recuperate and destroy the Dimensional Pir," A four-meter-tall Berserker said, his voice thundering through the surroundings, "But one thing is for sure. This kiddo deserves the contribution he needs, whatever his punishment may be. He was running around to help everyone on the battlefield and his attacks weakened the Tekur over time. If not for him we would have lost more brave warriors!"

    Michael didn''t like that the Berserker pushed him into the limelight. He felt that the Berserker thought of him too highly after what happened in Piloq. It was not as if his influence in the battle had been much higher than Kaleb, Lincoln, and the rest. Everybody gave their utmost to kill the Tekur, but all Michael could do about it was nod and hope to stay out of the Alliance member''s radar.

    Almost everyone noticed Michael at some point in the battle. They realized that Michael had been everywhere on the battlefield to use his Soultrait once or twice before disappearing once again. Once he disappeared the Tekur''s power output and resilience seemed to weaken over time. As the battle progressed the Tekur''s resistance decreased even further.

    The most perceptive Alliance members observed that Michael did something to weaken the enemies over time. They were not sure whether it was poison or the freezing of his Soultrait. But one thing was easy to tell; Michael''s attack pattern had been simr from start to end.

    He utilized his Ice Soultrait which was shrouded in a whitish-silver aura intertwined with golden vein-like threads to distract and inflict damage over a long range. His body was covered in a white hue, which amplified Michael''s strength and speed, allowing him to cross the limits of his Tier.

    "Okay okay. Fuck this shit." The man, who''d used Michael said, the anger in his tone apparent.

    "I will rest a little bit then. I wasn''t wounded but I need to recuperate my energy before I can be of any help," Michael said, not even minding the Descendant. He shifted near the teams of Kaleb and Lincoln to stay close enough to them if anything was to happen. Simultaneously, he disappeared behind the crowd to make sure nobody could bother him with more questions.

    He then closed his eyes and focused on the goods he''d extracted from the Tekur.

    ''Ten Tier-3 Tekur provided 4100 SoulStar Fragments¡­and that was in a rush. But I didn''t get a single Soultrait Symbol. That''s a shame¡­''

    Michael was quite surprised about the massive amount of SoulStar Fragments. If he was given enough time to use Extraction on the Tekur he would have procured 30% to 50% more SoulStar Fragments and at least three Soultrait Symbols. Even though it was a bit unfortunate that he didn''t obtain everything, Michael was satisfied with his gains. His life was never in danger, yet he procured enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade a Soultrait to 5-Star.

    The only issue Michael had to solve now was to figure out what he should do with the SoulStar Fragments he''d umted.

    A total of 50,000 SoulStar Fragments were eager to be utilized to upgrade some Soultraits. Unfortunately, it was not enough to upgrade Extraction. As for Insert, it was already quite powerful as a 5-Star Soultrait. It wouldn''t increase hisbat prowess drastically.

    ''If I umte 100,000 SoulStar Fragments it will still not be enough to upgrade Extraction to 7-Star. The gap between a 6-Star Soultrait and a 7-Star Soultrait is even wider than that between 5-Star and 6-Star. The price to upgrade Extraction to 6-Star was more than 20,000 SoulStar Fragments. That means¡­I''ll need 200,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Extraction to 7-Star, at the bare minimum.''

    Michael was actually not in a hurry to upgrade Extraction. The amount of energy he required was already high enough to bother him. Nheless, the easiest way to increase his strength was to upgrade his Soultraits. It was the fastest and most potent way to acquire power. Furthermore, the more energy his War Rune required to be refined, the more tempered his origin energy would be.

    Upgrading his Soultraits was like ying with a fiercely burning me. As long as he could control the me it was fun to y around. But once he lost control, the me would burn him down mercilessly.

    ''The Tekur are even stronger than I''d anticipated. Their teamwork is a little bit sluggish, but that was probably because they underestimated us. They didn''t expect our Soultraits to be that effective against them.'' Michael thought, retrieving one of the Memory Orbs he''d removed from one of the Tekur.

    He extracted a total of three Memory Orbs and decided to consume them one after another. Maybe the Tekur''s memories could give him more insight into their power system, their weak points, and their n for the Interdimensional g War.

    Michael consumed the first Memory Orb and closed his eyes. He distributed origin energy through his entire body to stir the surrounding energy and absorb it while also watching the memories of the first Tekur.

    Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, yet Michael was not done digesting the memories of the first Tekur. An hour psed before Michael opened his eyes. Michael tilted his head, pressed his lips together, and scowled lightly. He was not exactly sure what he''d observed just now.

    He consumed the second Memory Orb and closed his eyes once again. Half an hourter his eyes shot open again, the frown on his face even deeper. Thest Memory Orb disappeared in his mouth and his frown disappeared as the third flood of memories attained his mind.

    The third Memory Orb was fully digested within half an hour. Michael licked his lips, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple.

    "That is¡­fucked up¡­" He mumbled to himself.

    He found out why the Tekur were a superior race and how their Soultraits ended up so powerful even though they were not of a high rank. It was pretty simple.

    First of all, the Tekur were much older than the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Michael could not be certain about this but he was pretty sure that the Tekur were even older than the Forest Elven tribe¡­ and that exined quite a lot of things.

    Due to their age, the Tekur were able to procure lots of knowledge. But that was not because their intelligence was superior to others. They didn''t research much. If anything, the vast majority of their knowledgees from conquering other races.

    And that was how the mess all began.

 Chapter 470 Elite

    <h4>Chapter 470 Elite</h4>

    The moment the Tekur acquired the knowledge to maximize the profits of Soul Power, learn how to create portals to random habitable locations all over the universe, and create customized techniques that suited their Soultraits best, the Tekur race''s power and desire to expand would increase exponentially.

    Michael procured various memories from the Tekur''s Memory Orb, and he got to know that the Tekur had hundreds of dimensional portals like the portal in the ancient capital of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They led to various ster systems which they wanted to conquer and colonize to spread their humongous poption throughout the entire universe.

    The Tekur''s poption has grown too big too fast. They''re like Goblins ¨C their poption rapidly expands and their individuals are hard to kill once they reach a certain threshold. Goblins typically evolve into Goblin Warriors, Goblin Champions, or even higher forms of life. Meanwhile, the Tekur grew into terrific lifeforms as their territory expanded. Their Tier increased and the power of their Soultraits seemed to evolve. But that was not exactly it.

    The Tekur didn''t care about the life and death of their Soldiers. If anything, it would be a good thing if the Soldiers died because it gave the rest of the Tekur race a little bit more space to live.

    One of the reasons why the Tekur were so powerful was the number of their Links of Loyalty. Almost all Tekur manifested War Runes from a young age, but most of them died at a young age. They were not even teenagers when the War Rune manifested and were pushed into the Origin Expanse where they had to fight fully grown monsters and Lords with years of experience.

    Those who died miserably turned into Starless Summons within the Origin Expanse. They turned into the subjects of those Tekur, who''d survived a little longer than the rest, allowing the strong to grow even stronger while the weak became their Lord''s ves.

    Millions of subjects from the Tekur race resided in the territory of each Tier-3 Lord, granting them an enormous amount of Soul Power. The Soul Power could be amassed and utilized in the customized techniques the Tekur Lords executed to fight against their enemies, resulting in the misunderstanding that the Tekur race had tremendously powerful Soultraits.

    ''The Tekur participating in the Interdimensional g War are only¡­Soldiers¡­ They survived longer than most members of the ordinary folk, who decided to grab the opportunity to enter the Origin Expanse after their War Rune manifested. Their desire to procure strength and be more than ves tempered them, allowing them to be powerhouses in the eyes of other races¡­yet they''re only ordinary Soldiers¡­''

    The Tekur race pursued a simple caste system. Since every Tekur manifested a War Rune they were considered the norm; citizens. However, it was also possible to reject the gift of the Origin Expanse. If the Tekur who''d manifested a War Rune didn''t enter the Origin Expanse within the first 24 hours after their War Rune appeared, it would disperse. The War Rune was unstable at first and one had to enter the Origin Expanse since the War Rune required ambient origin energy from the Origin Expanse to stabilize.

    Therefore, the Tekur who''d been unwilling to join the Origin Expanse were considered trash: The Cowards.

    Tekur who survived for 2-3 years in the Origin Expanse were considered Elite citizens, whereas soldiers were those who''ve been trained using a simple customized technique. The most important aspect of being a Lord was that they were still in control of their territory. They were still Lords!

    Customized techniques required a specific amount of Soul Power. Even a simple customized technique required far more than most Awakened of the Tritan Alliance could acquire as Lesser Lifeforms. The Soul Power would empower the customized techniques and allow the user to overclock their Soultrait''s power to defeat opponents with stronger Soultraits easily.

    That was also how a dozen Tekur ¨C mere soldiers ¨C were able to fight off and hold back 200 Alliance members simultaneously. They couldn''t kill all and died at the end of the day but their strength allowed them to dampen their enemies'' spirits and deliver the alliance a harsh blow.

    "Not only Soldiers are participating in this year''s g War¡­there are also three Elite Soldiers with multiple simple methods and an Elite ss Technique," Michael mumbled once he was done digesting and organizing all memories.

    He learned a lot, including that the Tekur were much younger than Michael expected. The Soldiers were merely 11 years old, whereas the Elite Soldiers might only be 14 or 15 years old¡­at most¡­

    That felt wrong, but it gave Michael more insight into the tactic used by the Tekur ¨C precisely, theck of tactics. It confused him at first, but the Tekur roamed through the isted realm together, yet theirbat style was not really adjusted to suit one another. They didn''t fight as a team even though they fought together.

    They were just too young to have been taught everything. Their desire to defeat the enemies in front of them made them lose all rationality.

    ''That is good. As long as I can make use of their childish tendencies, I might be able to survive until the end of the¨C...'' Michael was deep in thought when his body froze all of a sudden as he opened his eyes.

    He observed the Alliance members work together to take down the Dimensional Pir. However, there was something he saw that bothered him. He saw the countdown disyed on the Dimensional Pir ¨C the countdown that revealed how long the dimension would be active and when they would be thrown out once again.

    "14 days?! The g War has never been that long. 10 days was the highest two years ago!" Michael cried out in a voice loud enough for one of Kaleb''srades to notice. He smiled lightly at Michael.

    "You just noticed? I hoped that the dimension would close after three days now that we''re about to destroy a Dimensional Pir so soon after everything just started. Unfortunately¡­it looks like we will have to deal with a few more groups of Tekur until the dimension throws us out," Kaleb''s team member said.

    Michael was not willing to chit-chat with the Descendant. But he didn''t want to be rude either. He talked to Joseph, Kaleb''s team member, for a few minutes before excusing himself. Michael had to continue replenishing his energy. Well. That was not true, but there was something else he had to do.

    ''In 14 days I will definitely encounter a bunch of Tekur. Maybe even the Elite Tekur if I''m unlucky. That means I need more power to deal with some of them on my own.'' Michael thought, slightly worried about the possibility of encountering an Elite Soldier who''d used Elite ss methods to obliterate him and his friends.

    Elite ss methods required five times more Soul Power than simple customized techniques. That meant the Elite Soldiers had several times more Soul Power than the ordinary Soldiers ¨C meaning his Soultrait was either extremely powerful from the get-go, or he had tens of millions of subjects.

    Thetter was a possibility, but it was more likely that the Elite Soldiers had decent Soultraits. After all, Soultraits with high star ratings had an easier time umting Soul Power. Michael knew that best as someone who''d used various Soultraits at different stages. Upgrading his Soultraits not only increase their power and potency but also the amount of Soul Power residing within them ¨C thereby increasing their efficiency drastically.

    Michael was already on the verge of advancing to the Peak of Tier-2. One of the two energy influxes from killing the Tekur would be enough to break the barrier and reach the Peak of the 2nd Tier. That was fine and actually not too difficult to achieve. In the worst case, Michael could also ask Kaleb for a handful of Energy Stones and stay near the Dimensional Pir for the next few hours to break through.

    But advancing to the Peak of the 2nd Tier was not enough to deal with multiple Tekur and their Elite. That meant he had to strengthen his Soultraits.

    Why?

    Using Extraction on the Tekur meant that he could procure a portion of their wealth and treasures stored inside their War Runes'' spatial storages ¨C that included the possibility of extracting their customized methods as well as their mind, body and special techniques. Michael could research and alter them and possibly make use of them atst.

    Then he could extract their Artifacts, and most importantly both their Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. Thetter was the most important because Michael never gained as many SoulStar Fragments from an Awakened at Tier-3 as each Tekur had dropped. It was highly likely that each Tekur would reward Michael with more than 500 SoulStar Fragments, probably more. If he could extract them while they were still alive it would be even more than that.

    So what was the best way to hunt down the Tekur and make the biggest gains? A total of 1000 Tekur entered the dimension, at least 12 were already dead, and there were a total of 3 Elite Soldiers. The rest were roughly as strong as the ordinary Soldiers Michael and the rest had faced.

    HOW could Michael make as much use of the SoulStar Fragments in his possession to gain as much profit as possible?

    The Interdimensional g War was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone like Michael, and he had to grab it.

    ''It would be best to upgrade Extraction¡­but that will cost way too much. I don''t have enough SoulStar Fragments. It''s not enough toplete one-fourth of the 7th Star¡­So what else can I do?''

 Chapter 471 Second 6-Star

    Chapter 471 Second 6-Star

    ''50,308 SoulStar Fragments.''

    Michael''s eyes were shut and his attention was on the SoulStar Fragments residing in his consciousness. The Sphere of Light was right in front of him, and so was the Aethyr.

    ''How about Insert? It could invest some into Aethyr as well to strengthen our connection and enhance its power.''

    There was a faint link between Insert and Extraction, but Michael didn''t know enough about Insert yet. He didn''t have any time to research the Soultrait in-depth. Therefore, he wouldn''t be able to use the full power of Insert even if he was to upgrade it to 6-Star.

    ''cicle? No. If cicle doesn''t evolve into something better, I will make a huge loss using cicle. Its utility is restricted to the freezing mist and creations rted to icicles. My proficiency with cicle merely allows me to make bad replicas of arrows and Swords. Even if my proficiency were to increase, all I can do is create ''better'' Swords and Arrows. cicle is not like Frozen Nova, or Frozen Kingdom¡­''

    Michael liked ice elemental Soultraits but it was not like he could use it like an elemental maniption ability. Something like Frederik Kolbenheim''s Soultrait with the Ice element would be much better than cicle since cicle focuses on offense. It was rather fragile and thus not usable as a proper defense Soultrait.

    Other than Insert and cicle, Michael discarded all thoughts of upgrading Taming, Mind Reader, and Soul Grimoire. Michael was not too sure why he was still in possession of Soul Grimoire, in the first ce. Somehow, it bothered him that he didn''t know how to use Soul Grimoire. But, he didn''t remove it yet because his ego was in the way.

    Reinforced Sword Qi was also not Michael''s forte. Since he started to use Aethyr to wield all kinds of weapons, Reinforced Sword Qi was only asionally extremely useful. Most of the time he used it to enhance the cicle Swords. If it evolved into Reinforced Qi and removed the Sword tag, that would be great. However, Michael didn''t want to spend close to 30,000 SoulStar Fragments on a gamble.

    That left three Soultraits, namely, Spirit Gaze, Eagle Eyes, and Enhancement. Enhancement was the most versatile Soultrait as it could bebined with all of his Soultraits. Michael could even enhance his body. Now that he possessed Insert, it was also possible to use Enhancement on his allies. It was an all-rounder.

    Despite that, Michael wondered if it might not be better to upgrade Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes. They were tightly linked together and enhanced one another as their star rating increased. Once one of them was upgraded to 6-Star, the power of the other Soultrait would be amplified drastically as well. Their power would be like no other once both reached 6-Star. Spirit Disturbance was quite powerful, and so was being able to see the energies in his surroundings and within other people. Being able to see origin energy would help him a lot since it granted him the time needed to observe how his enemies circted energy through their bodies to predict what they would do and where they would strike him.

    Other than that, his eyesight would improve drastically. Upgrading Eagle Eyes and Spirit Gaze would strengthen Michael actively as well as passively.

    ''I have 50,000 SoulStar Fragments. I can upgrade Eagle Eyes immediately and create the outlines for Spirit Gaze. Killing 15-20 Tekur should be enough to upgrade Spirit Gaze to 6-Star afterward. That should work.''

    With that in mind, Michael took a deep breath and began to channel SoulStar Fragments into the Symbol of Eagle Eyes. Thousands of SoulStar Fragments were consumed in the blink of an eye. The Symbol of Eagle Eyes began to hum. It vibrated and emanated dazzling radiance and as a result, Michael''s entire consciousness was filled with radiance.

    A piercing pain inflicted through searing des assaulted his eyes. It took him by surprise and nearly pulled him out of his consciousness. But Michael was not yet done channeling more SoulStar Fragments into the Eagle Eyes Symbol. He couldn''t stop now! Gritting his teeth, Michael endured the throbbing pain. His loud, pained groans attracted the attention of the teams around him.

    Joseph called out for Michael, which attracted even more attention, however, Michael couldn''t hear anything.

    Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke appeared next to him. They checked on Michael, but all they could see was that their friend was bleeding from his eyes. He bled profusely, yet nobody had an idea why that was the case. The temperature around Michael increased all of a sudden. His body temperature rose enough to heat up his immediate surroundings.

    Kaleb conjured ice walls around Michael to cool Michael and the vicinity. He wanted to do more but he had no idea what Michael was going through. Lincoln and Zeke were also clueless. All they could do was stare at Michael and check up on him.

    Meanwhile, Michael continued to fight his little battle with¡­himself. He continued to channel into the Eagle Eyes Soultrait until 31,500 SoulStar Fragments had been consumed. The drawing on the Eagle Eyes Symbol began to change. The details on the drawing increased and the Eagle Eyes grew more intense. Information flooded Michael''s mind, causing a headache alongside the searing pain that spread through his eyes.

    Michael grit his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but he suppressed it all. Upgrading Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait hadn''t been that painful. It might have enhanced his physique quite a bit, yet Extraction never caused that much pain before.

    Eagle Eyes was different. It was a Soultrait that had affected Michael passively since he fused it to his War Rune, and now it changed his eyes forever.

    As Michael opened his eyes again several hours had passed.

    The first thing he saw was a rupture of energy ¨Cpressed purified energy that glimmered in a bright white light. The Dimensional Pir copsed atst. The 200 Alliance members had been tirelessly hacking and shing at the Pir. It released a shockwave of energy that swept through everyone. The energy umted within the Dimensional Pir over the course of years was unleashed. It spread through the surroundings and merged with the ambient energy, amassing and purifying it.

    Michael swallowed his saliva. He could sense the purified energy in his surroundings, of course. But¡­he could also see it now. The glimmering purified energy in the surroundings looked like tiny little stars that permeated the air all around him. Michael instinctively reached out to the stars, his energy absorption technique unleashed on pure instinct.

    He absorbed the glimmering stars ¨C the purest and mostpressed energy he had ever sensed ¨C and a bright smile blossomed on his face.

    The sound of ttering chains rang through his body, followed by ss shattering. Michael broke through. He advanced to the Peak of the 2nd Tier!

    "What is wrong with your eyes, Michael?" Kaleb asked, the ice walls around Michael shattering into tiny shards.

    Michael nced at Kaleb not understanding what his friend was talking about.

    "You look like you have no clue what is going on with you. Your eyes are not ck anymore," Zeke arrived next to Michael, his expression eerily serious. He stared deep into Michael''s eyes ¨C vigorous golden shimmering irises entering his sight.

    Michael could see his eyes mirrored in Zeke''s eyes, and it made him gasp in shock. His eyes were not dark, nearly ck, anymore. They were radiant gold in color and overflowing with vigor.

    "Can you exin to me why your eye color changed?" Zeke asked, sounding even more serious than before, "Do you even know why I have heterochromatic eyes?"

    Michael had no answer to either of Zeke''s questions.

    "Because of my Soultrait, you idiot," Zeke dered, catching Michael by surprise.

    "Idiot¡­" Lincoln mumbled, staring at Zeke, not sure what was going on with his childhood friend.

    Of course, it was surprising to see that Michael''s eyes turned golden, but it was not normal for Zeke to react like that.

    "My Soultrait, Eye of Illusion, is not a Soultrait that focuses purely on Eyes since its priority is the creation of realistic Illusions. That is also why the eye color of one eye changed instead of both. After all, Soultraits rted to the eyes can change the color of one''s eyes¡­but only Soultraits with 6-Stars or above¡­"

    ''Ohhh fuck¡­'' Michael cursed in his mind. He understood immediately what Zeke was trying to tell him.

    Zeke exined that the change of his iris hue didn''t make any sense ¨C except if his Soultrait was suddenly upgraded to 6-Star. Adding the pool of his own blood around him and the dried blood on his face, Zeke could easily tell what must have happened ¨C but it didn''t make any sense.

    Michael''s Soultrait Hawk Vision advanced to a 6-Star Soultrait. If it had remained just Eagle Eyes, there might not have been a problem. Unfortunately, the link with Soul Stare stimted a mutation. Eagle Eyes evolved to Roc Eyes as the upgrade to 6-Star waspleted. Simultaneously, Spirit Gaze and Roc Eyes were pulled closer to each other inside the Sphere of Light. The connection between the two Soultraits intensified and they looked like they were about to touch each other.

    Therefore, Michael tried to distract himself by using the remaining Star Shards to upgrade Spirit Gaze a little. Upgrading Spirit Gaze was not that painful. It hurt him, but Michael could keep his eyes open and maintain eye contact with Zeke at the same time.

    He began to bleed from his sight again, a tinge of silver spreading through his pupil. Soul Stare began to fuse with Roc Eyes. However, the Spirit Gaze Symbol had yet to reach the requirement toplete the fusion. It was iplete and ended with both Soultraits being attached to one another.

    Michael could instinctively tell that he had to upgrade Soul Stare to 6-Star toplete the fusion, but he didn''t have enough Star Shards to do so. The entire stockpile of 50,308 SoulStar Fragments had been used already.

    Zeke was getting impatient, but Michael didn''t feel pressured anymore. The pressure he''d usually feel from making eye contact with Zeke was no more. Resolution filled his heart and he smiled at his friend.

    "I don''t think I need to tell you what''s going on."

 Chapter 472 Hidden Benefits

    Chapter 472 Hidden Benefits

    Everyone had their own little secrets. Rarely anyone was an open book, revealing their deepest secrets to the outside world. Michael was no exception. The only difference about Michael was that he dered just now that he had a secret¡­and it caused Zeke to frown.

    Zeke Lavita had a rough idea about what happened to Michael''s eyes, but he couldn''t believe it. It didn''t make any sense. It made even less sense that a silver ring appeared around Michael''s pupils. Why did his eyes change so suddenly? What was actually going on?

    "Can''t you tell me?" Kaleb asked, his eyes resembling that of a kicked puppy''s.

    Kaleb was interested in Michael''s secret, but that was not because of the same reason as Zeke. In fact, Kaleb could ignore the fact that Michael had secrets. To him, it was more about the feeling that his first ''real'' friend was keeping secrets from him. Kaleb was not sure how to feel about that. Was he not trustworthy enough? Did Michael even think of him as a real friend? Why did it hurt so much even though he knew that everyone had their little secrets?

    Michael bit his lower lip after noticing the change in his friends'' expressions. He didn''t expect Kaleb to be this hurt from hearing that he wouldn''t tell what was going on with his eyes.

    "I¡­don''t think I want the Zenovia family to know," He responded slowly after a few seconds, "I think I can tell you if you made a Soul Pact with me, but I don''t think that the Zenovia family would want that. If they find out that their beloved Heavenly Chosen made a Soul Pact with me to hide something they would get suspicious, don''t you think so?"

    Now that he thought about it, Michael figured that he could tell Kaleb about his secret. He trusted his friend enough. The problem was that if some problem urred in his family, Michael couldn''t be 100% certain that Kaleb would keep his secret hidden. It was just a possibility ¨C a low one ¨C but it could happen that Kaleb would spill the beans. The same applied to Alice as well.

    Maybe things would change a little bit once he became a Higher Lifeform with dozens of Soultraits. His strength would be high enough to ensure that the Zenovia family, or any other family, would have difficulties causing problems in his life upon finding out about Extraction.

    ''It would be much easier if I knew more about the Zenovia family. Maybe I can tell Kaleb some things once I know for sure that the rest of the Zenovia family is like the siblings. If that''s the case I might even be able to trade Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments with them in the future.''

    But for now, Michael wanted to keep Extraction a secret, even if he believed that he couldn''t keep the secret for long anymore. Maybe a year, two at most. He was changing too much, too fast, after all.

    "But¡­" Kaleb didn''t really know what to reply. He understood that the Zenovia family would want to know why he signed a Soul Pact ¨C if he signed one. They would interrogate him and Michael until they found out the reason behind their secrecy. That was something Michael wanted to avoid. Nheless, it felt weird that Michael wouldn''t share his secret with anyone without a Soul Pact. It meant that Michael was hiding something of utmost importance, something High Society would go crazy for.

    "I am keeping my secrets hidden because I don''t want to endanger those I care about by letting them in on the secret. I''m still new to this political stuff, and all I know is that everyone warns me to stay away from the High Society and how influential every big family is. So I hope you understand the reason why I won''t tell you. It''s to keep myself protected and those I would love to tell everything to. I really have nothing against you," Michael exined further.

    He was sincere when he said that he had no idea how other families would react to his secret. If he told Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb, who knew what their families would do if they found out? Would they want Michael for themselves and obliterate each other to keep Michael''s Extraction a secret from the rest of the world, or would they share him like amunity ve? One way or another, Michael could only see himself as a marite in the ys of High Society once they found out about Extraction.

    Zeke was starting to get even more curious about Michael''s secret, but he figured that he couldn''t sign a Soul Pact to make Michael spill the beans. A Soul Contract might be fine, but a Soul Pact was simply too much. He was the heir of the Lavita household and couldn''t afford to lose everything because of a Soul Pact. Knowing Michael to a certain degree, Zeke figured that his Soul Pact would be highly restrictive, granting no leeway to do anything with the information and secrets Michael might reveal.

    Nheless, the pieces of information Zeke obtained just now were enough to understand certain things. He made a few mental notes and decided to keep Michael''s words in mind. The information would probably help him in the future.

    Lincoln was also curious about Michael''s secret. He couldn''t help but feel like signing a Soul Pact with Michael just to relieve himself of the curiosity that had been tormenting him for quite a while now. Unfortunately, he couldn''t sign a Soul Pact without consulting the household. That was not something Lincoln or Zeke wanted to do because they figured that Michael wouldn''t tell them about his secret anymore. Telling their families about Michael''s secret and that he demanded a Soul Pact was like revealing it to the entire world that Michael had something very very important to hide. That was counterproductive.

    He wouldn''t be able to trust them anymore if they were to disclose their families. That was something Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb understood very well. They figured that Michael had already begun to test their loyalty. He trusted them enough to tell them that there was a secret, but that was all they would get from him for now.

    "Is there something you can¡­or want to tell us then?" Zeke gave it another try. He didn''t want to give up. Meanwhile, Kaleb added, "Anything¡­"

    At this point, Kaleb sounded a little bit pitiful, a bit desperate even. He hoped that his friend could trust him wholeheartedly. On the other hand, Kaleb understood why Michael was careful. If it was really important to hide his secret from High Society for his own safety, or those he loved, it might be better not to tell anyone. It was like his brain and his heart were at war right now.

    "Well. The only thing I hope from you guys is to stay the same even after bing part of your family''s higher-ups. I don''t want you to change. Maybe you can influence your families in the future. You guys are strong enough. Or¡­" Michael didn''t speak anymore but the vigor in his golden shimmering eyes intensified. His expression turned more serious.

    The others expected Michael to continue, but he had no intention to add something.

    He ended up breaking into a smile.

    "Let''s not think about such depressive things. I''m already torturing myself enough because I want to disclose everyone about it. But¡­Forget it. We shall wait and see what the future awaits," Michael looked troubled for a moment but the smile returned to his face.

    He cleared his throat and decided to depart from the group of 200 Alliance members.

    "Since I''m a variable, I shall do my job properly. I''ll take my leave and search for more Alliance members," Michael announced to his friends, who could only nod.

    One of Michael''s missions was to gather astray groups of the Tritan Alliance to make sure that their fighting power was gathered. Simultaneously, he ought to collect information about the Tekur, and the location of the remaining Dimensional Pirs. He couldn''t stay with the others to do so.

    "Take care of yourself," Lincoln said lightly.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb looked at him, his expression much better than before, "I don''t think you need to think too much about your secret. Just disclose us when you''re ready¡­ Sorry for pressuring you¡­"

    Michael grinned and patted Kaleb''s shoulder.

    ''He has matured quite a bit, hasn''t he?''

    "Alright. See ya!"

    Michael weaved energy into his body and kicked the ground. He left the group of Alliance members and paved his way through the empty ins.

    On his way through the ins, many thoughts popped up in his mind. Most of them were worries about his talk with Kaleb and the others just now. Fortunately, he could put those thoughts aside when he sensed the drastic transformation upgrading Eagle Eyes to Roc Eyes brought.

    Now that his Soultrait advanced to 6-Star, Michael sensed various changes. First of all, Michael sensed that his physique was sturdier and that the origin energy inside his body had been purified, even if it was just a tiny bit. The transformation was not extraordinary, but it would be notable as he continued to progress on the path as an Awakened.

    Michael didn''t expect his physique and origin energy to transformation as Eagle Eyes evolved into 6-Star Roc Eyes. However, he recalled a simr scenario with the exact same results. It was when Extraction had been upgraded to 6-Star. His physique changed a little bit as Extraction reached 6-Star and the origin energy within him became purer.

    ''Upgrading all of my Soultraits would strengthen my physique and purify my origin energy even more. Once all of my Soultraits are 7-Star¡­I will probably be as strong as an Awakened of a higher Tier even if I don''t use my Soultraits. That is not overpowered at all¡­of course, not¡­''

    Just like that Michael found out about the hidden benefits of possessing a 6-Star Soultrait or above.

 Chapter 473 Alone

    Chapter 473 Alone

    Other than the hidden benefits of upgrading 5-Star Eagle Eyes to 6-Star Roc Eyes, Michael obtained the normal benefits as well. And those were truly amazing!

    First of all, his eye color changed to a vibrant gold. That may not seem like anything big, but the transformation of his eyes was apanied by various benefits. Michael could now see the streams of energy in front of him at all times. The energy streams were vivid and extremely detailed.

    Other than the streams of energy around him, Michael was now capable of seeing the energy within and around objects and other people as well. Michael could clearly tell that Lincoln possessed a little bit more energy than Zeke, but that the purity of the origin energy within him was a little bit lower. Both Zeke and Lincoln possessed less origin energy than Kaleb even though his War Rune''s refinement degree was lower. Kaleb''s origin energy had a higher purification degree as well.

    ''The alteration of everyone''s origin energy is also pretty interesting. I can analyze everyone''s origin energy and find out what their Soultrait is capable of, to a certain extent, at least. Nice.''

    Every energy was a little bit different, whether it was the alteration, purity, potency, the amount of energy within an Awakened and so on. Being able to see everything clearly was a great means to measure the power of his enemies.

    As for his eyesight, Michael was not even sure how far he could see at this point. Everything in his view looked crystal clear. He could pinpoint the faintest details far ahead without straining his eyesight.

    ''Two or three kilometers?''

    Other than the benefits provided by the transformation of his eyes, Michael noticed that his eyesight could be further amplified by weaving origin energy into his eyes. An important factor about Roc Eyes was that channeling energy into them allowed him to see everything around him as if time itself had slowed down. It was not an extraordinary change but Michael was certain that it could be very useful in battle, both to predict the attacks of his enemies and to counter the enemies'' attack patterns by moving even before they could initiate their movements and attacks.

    Spirit Gaze''s connection to Roc Eyes was the most impressive change though. It was easy to tell that Spirit Gaze would fuse with Roc Eyes in the future. Even now Spirit Gaze and Roc Eyes were already fused by a small margin. The fusion had already begun and all it took was upgrading Spirit Gaze to 6-Star. At least that was what Michael presumed.

    Upgrading Spirit Gaze would require a ''bunch'' of SoulStar Fragments. Therefore, it was about time to get moving. Michael released tendrils of Extraction outside his body to tap into the streams of energy. Simultaneously, he channeled more energy into his eyes, activating Roc Eyes'' full power for the first time.

    Information about the surrounding area entered his mind, including all the misceneous details that nobody needed to know.Michael discarded the useless pieces of information instantaneously and moved over to the fewer important details.

    ''A group of¡­four..no, five Tekur five kilometers to my right. Alright.''

    Michael pinpointed a group of enemies and made his move at once. He released more tendrils of Extraction into the surroundings and activated Insert simultaneously. He inserted the tendrils of Extraction precisely into the streams of energy around him to increase the efficiency with which the golden tendrils extracted the energy from the surroundings.

    He used the energy he''d absorbed immediately to create apressed cicle Sword. The cicle Sword waspressed until Michael''s mastery reached its limit and couldn''t go any further. Michael then used Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement to coat thepressed cicle Sword. The third step was to create anotheryer of cicle Sword around thepressed cicle Sword which hepressed again. Then the secondyer of Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement was applied.

    Michael didn''t stop until the cicle Sword had beenpressed thrice with threeyers of Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement applied within and outside the triplepressed cicle Sword. He then repeated the process four times until he had a total of five triplepressed enhanced Qi cicle Swords.

    The energy required to create each of the triplepressed enhanced Qi cicle Swords was equivalent to almost 15% of his entire storage, yet Michael''s energy storage was still field to the brim ¨C all thanks to the tendrils of Extraction. Maintaining five of those terrific tendrils drained him mentally a little. However, it consumed more energy than it put a mental strain on him. Fortunately, the tendrils of Extraction were still activated.

    Once the distance between him and the Tekur was less than a kilometer, one of them must have noticed him. They turned in his direction and charged at once. Michael realized that two of them were extremely fast. Therefore, he applied sevenyers of Enhancement to his body. He weaved the Enhancement into his body in the same way he utilized origin energy to strengthen his physique temporarily.

    His body felt like bursting apart as the sevenyers of Enhancement took effect. However, Michael endured it all. He epted the power that surged through his body and made his move. His feet sunk deep into the ground, creating spider web-like cracks all over the coarse surface. Loose soil was sprayed in all directions as Michael''s feet kicked the ground with terrifying strength. He turned into a sh, the five triplepressed enhanced Qi cicle Swords swirling around him.

    Michael''s body acted instinctively. His eyes flicked left and right to pinpoint anymore potential threats and determine the course of actions of his enemies. They circted a tremendous amount of energy through their bodies and moved. Yet, just as they were about to attack, Michael had already appeared in front of the closest Tekur. Aethyr manifested in his hands and formed into a scythe coated in a bright golden light.

    Extraction had been applied to the scythe''s de. It devoured the energy in the surroundings which was then used to actively apply Insert onto the golden sheen of extraction that coated the Aethyr Scythe.

    As the Aethyr Scythe collided with the highly durable w of the closest Tekur, the power of Extraction invaded the Tekur. However, before he could notice anything, a triplepressed enhanced Qi cicle Sword burst forth. It elerated with a rush of energy and crossed the remaining distance to the Tekur in an instant. The cicle Sword collided with the Tekur.

    Simultaneously, the remaining four triplepressed enhanced Qi cicle Swords were released as well. Each cicle Sword targeted one enemy. Yet, instead of using the cicle Swords to obliterate his enemies with one attack, Michael willed the cicle Swords to burst apart. Eachyer was released with a burst, whereas the Reinforced Sword Qiyer was released to spread the freezing mist into the surroundings.

    The cicle Swords burst apart right before the four Tekur could block, or evade the attack. They were taken by surprise as the cicle Swords burst into a dense cloud of freezing mist. The Tekur intended to charge through the freezing mist but they realized toote that the freezing mist around them was moving.

    Smaller cicle Swords formed within the freezing mist and burst in their direction from all sides. The Tekur couldn''t even see the cicle Swords. All they could see was a blinding white light. As for their senses, they were overwhelmed by the freezing cold and the energy that permeated every bit of the freezing mist.

    Michael was having a migraine trying to cope with the four Tekur that were a little bit further away as well as fighting the Tekur right in front of him. The cicle Sword that shot toward the Tekur in front of him didn''t burst apart immediately. It impacted at first, nearly crushing the Tekur''s head but at thest moment, he used his Soultrait to block the attack and step away.

    The sword burst apart in the next moment. Michael was now fully aware of the Tekur''s Soultriat and its power. Therefore, he could modify his fighting style if necessary. He willed the freezing mist to transform into cicle Swords and used Insert with Extraction to insert golden threads everywhere within the freezing mist.

    After applying severalyers of Enhancement onto Extraction, Michael began to bombard the Tekur with cicle Swords from all around him. Insert''s duration didn''t wear of immediately. It allowed Extraction to infiltrate the Tekur from several positions and debilitate him over time.

    Michael retrieved the freezing mist around the closest Tekur in the next moment. He stared deep into the pitch-ck eyes of the Tekur and used Spirit Disturbance in its strongest form. The Tekur froze in his tracks for a moment, his mental fortitude unable to do anything against Michael or the threads of Extraction inside it. Extraction''s strength spread out and devoured both lifeforce and energy simultaneously.

    Michael''s head stopped aching as the lifeforce entered his body. Meanwhile, the energy was utilized to use a second Spirit Disturbance. This time, Michael used Enhanceemnt on the Aethyr Scythe. He struck out with all his mind and shed through the Tekur''s head, cutting it in half.

    An energy influx reached Michael as the Tekur crashed onto the ground. Thest remnants of lifeforce and origin energy entered Michael''s body, filling his energy storage to the prime while also returning his mental state back to the peak.

    ''I just used more origin energy to kill one of those bastards than most Mid Tier-3 Awakened have. My energy consumption is really out of this world¡­

 Chapter 474 Summons, Helmets, and a lot more

    Chapter 474 Summons, Helmets, and a lot more

    Michael realized quickly that using his Soultraits in such an extravagant manner was not eptable. He overwhelmed the first Tekur and managed to insert a tendril of Extraction in the remaining four Tekur, but his mental power was drained rapidly. If not for being able to extract the lifeforce of the first Tekur, Michael would have been forced to run away from the remaining four Tekur.

    Fortunately, he could reset his mental power to its original peak before the four Tekur escaped the formation of cicle Swords and the freezing mist.

    Michael dispelled the freezing mist and stopped utilizing most of his Soultraits for a moment. Only the tendrils of Extraction within the Tekur were in his focus other than Roc Eyes being fully unleashed to study the Tekurs'' course of action.

    The Tekur were usually confident and wouldn''t shy away from attacking an enemy in the Interdimensional g War. However, seeing the upper half of their brethren''s head lying next to the rest of the Tekur''s body was enough reason to be more vignt.

    A Tekur used his Soultrait to summon a Fiery Bloodhound. The Fiery Bloodhound''s shoulder height was one meter, he had sabertooth-like fangs and his entire body was coated in fiery mes. The Fiery Bloodhound charged ahead and opened his maw wide once it was only 20 meters away from Michael. The distance was just enough to release a crimson me ¨C a me that used the Arts of Blood and Pyromancy simultaneously.

    Michael''s eyes glowed weakly as he analyzed the cirction of energy within the stream of crimson mes and within the Fiery Bloodhound.

    ''Zeroa''s mes are worse.'' He thought as the mes reached him.

    However, Michael didn''t do anything against it. He embraced the mes, felt the warmth and continued to smile.

    Strengthening his taming bond with Zeroa had been worth it. Not only did he obtain a powerful ally such as the Elemental Empress but his natural resistance to Zeroa''s strongest element increased manifold as well. The crimson mes of the Fiery Bloodhound were nothing against the terrific power of the Elemental Empress'' mythical mes.

    The Tekur stared at him, his mandibles ttered angrily and the energy within him swirled violently once again. He was about to summon another Fiery Bloodhound.

    Thanks to Roc Eyes, Michael instantaneously noticed that summoning the second required far more energy than the first. The cirction of her energy was also different. She didn''t summon the second Bloodhound as easily as the first. Instead, she first created a summoning circle on the ground in front of her before using her simple customized technique ¨C or at least that was what Michael presumed she was doing ¨C to summon the second Fiery Bloodhound.

    Michael decided to call the bigger one Bloodwolf simply because it looked more like a big wolf rather than an obedient dog. Its fangs were thrice as long as that of the Fiery Bloodhound and its entire body was packed with dense muscles. The Bloodwolf was two-meters-tall in shoulder height and the mes it unleashed were far stronger as well.

    Freezing mist burst from Michael''s body to block the zing crimson mes that burned everything in their path. The freezing mist melted rapidly but the full force of the mes never reached him. And the weakened mes that reached him eventually were not strong enough to harm him. His natural fire resistance was simply too high.

    "I wonder if killing the Summoner will expel the Summons from this space as well," Michael murmured as the remaining three Tekur made their move. One had already appeared next to Michael by using the distraction caused by the Bloodwolf to strike him from the side.

    A blue armor set covered his body and carapace. The Tekur was even wearing a helmet and wielded two lengthy des that looked like the fangs of a dragon. The des were special but they didn''t attract Michael''s interest. Instead it was the helmet that piqued Michael''s curiosity. Roc''s eyes allowed him to sense something special about the helmet. It was a helmet with small wings that fluttered weakly in the air. As the wings spread out, the Tekur''s finesse increased rapidly.

    The helmet was the Tekur''s Soultrait, enhancing his Dexterity, Reaction speed and mental resistance.

    Michael sensed instinctively that the tendril of Extraction within the Tekur in front of him was not of great use. It drained his energy slowly but the naturally heightened mental resistance of the Tekur prevented a drastic drain of energy. Extracting the Tekur''s lifeforce in this state was not possible either.

    But Michael just smiled. He dashed head first into the Tekur''s des. Summoning Aethyr happened instantaneously. Aethyr split up into two tiny shields with which Michael blocked the iing des. The Tekur tried to change his trajectory but a burst of freezing mist took the Tekur by surprise. Michael transformed the freezing mist into arge cicle that shrouded the Tekur''s arms and des. The cicle would break soon, but that was exactly what Michael wanted. He used Insert onto the cicle and configured it perfectly. The moment the cicle burst into countless shards, the freezing mist released from within the cicles would be inserted into the Tekur''s arms and the des.

    Even if he couldn''t kill the Tekur like that, Michael was certain that the Tekur''s arms and des would sustain some damage. Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t focus too long on the Tekur. The Bloodwolf arrived behind him and released a crimson me. Michael used sevenyers of Enhancement for three seconds to dash behind the Tekur with the helmet, inflict a wound with Aethyr as it transformed into lengthy des and push the Tekur into the crimson mes of the Bloodwolf.

    The Tekur''s reaction speed might be high as well as his Dexterity but the freezing mist was great at slowing down enemies. It didn''t affect Michael but everyone else had to endure and ovee the adverse effects once the freezing mist hit them.

    By now all Tekur had been hit by the freezing mist several times. They were slightly slower than usual, but didn''t sense a major difference yet. In their opinion the biggest problem was the unknown human in front of them. He used too many Soultraits, which made it increasingly more difficult to find ways to counter him.

    The Summoner ordered the Bloodwolf to stop releasing the crimson mes. The Tekur with the helmet was scorched at a few spots but the energy and vigor within him hadn''t weakened much. He began to use his customized technique to heighten his reaction speed and Dexterity and dashed after Michael. Simultaneously, a ray of light epassed the Tekur, healing his wounds rapidly.

    ''They have a healer as well,'' Michael mumbled. He''d expected some Healer to participate in the Interdimensional g War on the Tekur''s side, but even amid the Tekur race, healers were rather rare. Therefore, their numbers ought to be lower. But most importantly, their Soultraits were weak. No Tekur with a Healing Soultrait at and above 3-Stars would end up bing a mere Soldier. They would be nurtured painstakingly.

    That meant the Healer in the Tekur''s group had a 2-Star Soultrait or was even weaker. It drained a tremendous amount of energy out of the Tekur to heal someone over a distance of more than 50 meters. That was the distance between the remaining two Tekur and the Melee Tekur. Michael''s eyes drifted to the remaining Tekur. He pinpointed the Healer instantaneously and got to know the Soultrait of the other Tekur as well.

    ''A Soultrait like Opars'' Energy Imprint. The customized technique is a lot stronger than Opars'' Energy Imprint. Unfortunately, you seem to be using up a considerable amount of mental power. That''s even worse than Opars using up his stamina to use Energy Imprint!''

    Given that none of the Tekur had a Soultrait that allowed them to block attacks or move rapidly, Michael allowed his energy to erupt from within him. The tendrils of Extraction spread through the surroundings to tap into the energy streams around him whereas his biggest focus was on the creation of a thousand cicle needles. Michael used most of his energy storage to create the ice needles that were not enhanced but inserted with a trace of Extraction each.

    The ice needles shot through the air with terrifying velocity. The Summoner ordered her Summons to block the cicle needles and burn them, but they couldn''t block all of them. Dozens of cicle needles struck the two Summons, resulting in traces of Extraction entering their body. Insert pushed the traces of Extraction through their natural defenses and allowed the traces to invade their bodies and take root inside naturally. The Summons'' mes burned down many cicles but hundreds of them still struck the two Tekur far in the back. They didn''t cause any harm on their carapace but each of the cicles that hit their target resulted in one more trace of Extraction entering the bodies of the Healer and the Healer''s Support.

    Even though nobody could tell yet for sure what exactly the human was trying to do with the needles, it was obvious that he was satisfied with the result of his attacks.

    It was only after a while that the healer''s Supporter groaned in pain. Her mental power was already extremely weak due to the drainage caused by her Soultrait and the special customized technique. The Supporter''s mental defense crumbled as the Power of Extraction ravaged through her entire body, draining her life force and energy rapidly.

    A headache was creeping up Michael''s head, but he could eradicate the pain due to the lifeforce that entered his body. The lifeforce refreshed the psychological power he''d utilized up just now. Meanwhile, the energy allowed him to concentration more on the tendrils of Extraction within the Healer. He focused on draining her energy, rendering the Tekur''s healing Soultrait useless.

    The Tekur in the back snapped their mandibles viciously, resulting in a sudden change of the Summoners and Melee Tekur''s tactic.

    It looked like they''d realized what Michael had been doing. Unfortunately, it was already toote for the Healer and the Supporter. The Healer''s energy was being drained, and the Supporter''s psychological defense couldn''t even protect her lifeforce from being drained rapidly.

    The Summoner used her remaining power to summon three ordinary Fiery Bloodhounds. Michael could sense that she was linked to them through the Summoner''s energy fluctuations. She could control the Fiery Bloodhounds and the Bloodwolf as she pleased. But upon further inspection, Michael observed something interesting.

    The Summoner was holding an Inferior Energy Stone in her hand. Thepressed purified power within the energy stone entered her body, but instead of spreading through her until it entered the pir of light, the Summoner''s energy was split between the five Summons. The Summons utilized the Summoner''s energy to release their crimson fire and channel energy through their body to enhance their physique temporarily.

    ''Looks like this will be a little bit more fun than expected.''

 Chapter 475 Freezing and Cutting

    <h4>Chapter 475 Freezing and Cutting</h4>

    The Melee Tekur was somewhat fast, but Jirah Loar was actually faster once he used his Soultrait and the inheritance technique, God Speed, together. Michael had to apply a six-foldyer of Enhancement to his body to surpass the Melee Tekur''s speed.

    Due to his Soultrait, the Tekur''s reaction time was extremely short. However, Michael was almost on par with that by using Roc Eyes without any amplifications. Due to the connection between Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze, Michael gained the upper hand in terms of reaction speed. The only issue for Michael was that the Tekur''s mental fortitude and armor were quite hard to pierce through.

    Michael spent a few seconds inserting tendrils of Extraction inside the Summoner''s five Summons. The Monster Summons'' instincts told them to block the tendrils from taking root inside their bodies, but Michael used Spirit Disturbance on them to crush their mental defenses in one go. Spirit Disturbance unleashed a spiritual attack within the minds of the targets Michael had aimed at. Since Roc Eyes advanced to 6-Star and Spirit Gaze was on the way to be a 6-Star Soultrait, Spirit Disturbance''s lethality reached new heights. Even Awakened at the 3rd Tier had to focus on their mental fortitude and actively use a technique to protect their minds to ensure that Spirit Disturbance wouldn''t affect them too much.

    Nheless, they would feel a sharp sting in their mind. On the other hand, those who didn''t block Michael''s attack would feel like a thunderstorm had suddenly brewed up in their heads. As a result, their minds went nk and some even lost control of their bodies for a moment. Michael could have killed the Monster Summons ¨C including the Bloodwolf ¨C using Spirit Disturbance,pressed cicle Swords and some other Soultrait, but he didn''t want to make it so easy for them. Michael desired to use the Monster Summons to replenish his energy and lifeforce while fighting the remaining Tekur.

    The Melee Tekur with the Helmet Soultrait was the only one whose Soultrait supported him actively inbat. The Summoners, the Supporter and the Healer had Soultraits with other uses. However, that didn''t mean they couldn''t fight. They might not have a customized technique that strengthened theirbat prowess, but they were trained inbat and could make use of their superior physique to pose a threat to Michael.

    ''Is it their body refinement technique or are they innately physically stronger than humans? Their carapace is highly resilient and thus perfect to block attacks, whereas their ws are razor sharp. Why does it feel like the Tekur were born to be killing machines?''

    Michael took a deep breath to calm his raging mind. Next, he manifested a huge cicle around the Melee Tekur and applied Insert into it. Insert was configured to channel the cold and the freezing mist into the Tekur if he dared to destroy the cicle. That way, Michael could ensure that the Tekur would either be incapacitated for a few seconds, or that he would be weakened if he dared to break the fragile cicle around him.

    But he didn''t pay much attention to the Melee Tekur''s actions. Instead he arrived behind the Bloodwolf, who''d released a crimson me to burn Michael into cinder. Michael applied two moreyers of Enhancement onto his body for five seconds to tear open the ground beneath him as he elerated. He appeared next to the Bloodwolf and inflicted various injuries with the Aethyr Saber. The Aethyr Saber cut deep into the Bloodwolf''s legs, severing its tendons cleanly. The Bloodwolf yelped in pain and slumped to the ground, blood spurting like a fountain out of the monster''s legs. Michael didn''t hurt the Fiery Bloodhounds that much. He pierced the Saber into their hind legs and severed them in one go.

    Enhancing Aethyr with Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement was truly magnificent. It granted Aethyr tremendous power.

    The Summoner''s pets were rendered useless. They turned into Michael''s assets as he continued to drain their energy and lifeforce. The three nonbat Tekur rushed toward Michael. Their intentions were obvious. They wanted to kill Michael in closebat now that they realized that Michael could drain their energy and lifeforce. The Supporter was the most desperate. Her mental defense had already taken a hit due to the use of her Soultrait and customized technique. She couldn''t even try to stop the tendrils of Extraction within her body that rapidly spread out to devour her lifeforce and energy.

    She appeared in front of Michael andshed out. Michael released tens of tendrils of Extraction as he backtracked. Insert was used in the next moment. Michael applied Insert on the tendrils of Extraction that lunged out to collide with the Supporter''s body and armor.

    Some tendrils infiltrated her armor, slowly extracting the molecules that held the armor together, whereas the remaining tendrils of Extraction took root all over her body. Unable to block the attacks due to her weakened mental fortitude, all the Tekur could do was perceive her energy storage drying out. Not long after her lifeforce reached a dangerously low level.

    Meanwhile, Michael was brimming with vigor and energy. He used Enhancement on Roc Eyes, activated Spirit Gaze and used Enhancement on Spirit Gaze as well before unleashing Spirit Disturbance right as the Tekur''s Healer was about to reach him. The Healer stared straight into Michael''s vibrant golden eyes. The next moment his body stopped listening to him and his mind was assaulted from all directions.

    He screamed at the top of his lungs, but that was all he could do before the Aethyr Longsword coated in severalyers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi at full power pierced through his throat.

    Michael twisted the de once and was just about to pull out when he sensed something behind him. The Summoner and Melee Tekur had arrived. The Melee Tekur had destroyed the cicle, resulting in his arms being half frozen. Michael let go of Aethyr and retrieved it into his War Rune. He summoned Aethyr in its shield form again to block the Summoner''s ws. The Melee Tekur''s des, on the other hand, didn''t miss Michael this time.

    The Melee Tekur closed the distance between them and shed Michael''s upper arm. Blood gushed out of the wound, but Michael didn''t divert his full focus to the Melee Tekur. Instead, he allowed him to sh him twice in total while he pounced forward with the Aethyr Shield. He bashed the shield into the Summoner Tekur right before transforming the shield into two daggers. The Summoner was pushed back, one of his feet slipping into a small hole Michael had hurriedly excavated with Extraction. The hole was not deep enough to fall in, but it was more than enough for the Summoner''s foot to get sucked in.

    The Tekur lost his bnce and fell to the ground. Michael was still towering above the Tekur and expected the enemy to fall. He used the momentum to drive the Aethyr Daggers through the Tekur''s eyeballs, deep into his head.

    The Summoner screamed but not for long. Michael pushed the Aethyr Daggers deeper into the Tekur''s head before retrieving them into his War Rune. The moment the daggers disappeared, Michael released a series ofpressed cicles through the Summoner''s eyeballs. He willed the cicles to shatter once they reached the deepest part of the Tekur''s head and kill him by freezing his head.

    Michael rolled to the side the moment he sensed something from behind him. Roc Eyes located the Melee Tekur instantaneously. The Tekur was already behind him, ready to pierce his des through Michael''s head.

    Michael used his ability to pinpoint and predict the exact movements of his enemies to twist his physique and move aside a little. However, the Melee Tekur was not slow either. He reacted rapidly and changed the trajectory of his dragon fangs. Michael had to make a decision now. He grit his teeth, lifted his arms, and summoned arge Aethyr Shield to protect his vitals. In the next moment, the Melee Tekur''s des pierced through Michael''s thighs.

    If he couldn''t kill Michael in one go, he might as well weaken him and render him immobile!

    Michael groaned in pain but he endured it well. He grit his teeth and stared deep into the Melee Tekur''s eyes. Aethyr disappeared and Michael''s hands shot forward. He caught the Tekur''s wrist and broke into a smile.

    "I got you!"

    Then Michael unleashed freezing mist in the surroundings in an explosive manner. He used a bit of the Power of Energy Imprint stored within the Legendary Ring Artifact to unleash a ten-foldyer of Enhancement. He applied the ten-foldyer of Enhancement onto cicle to release a second burst of freezing mist around Michael and the Melee Tekur. His next move was to use Insert right before willing the freezing mist all around him to infiltrate the Melee Tekur''s body.

    "Freeze to death, bastard!"

    The freezing mist around them began to stir. It intensified and swirled around the Tekur. From the outside, it looked like a snowstorm emerged out of nowhere, a beautiful shimmering snowstorm in a vast, empty expanse. The freezing mist was attracted to the Tekur. It was pulled to him and entered his physique upon touching him. At first, the suction force was weak. Only bits of freezing mist were pulled toward the Tekur.

    But in a matter of ten seconds, the freezing mist bombarded the Tekur. It infiltrated him from all sides and froze his skin and carapace alongside. Michael tightened his grasp around the Tekur''s wrists. He applied every bit of strength within his physique and heard a loud crackling sound in front of him. In the next moment, Michael saw himself holding two frozen ws in his hands.

    The ws were still holding onto the dragon fangs but Michael drew them to make sure that the razor-sharp des wouldn''t cut deeper into him. A fountain of blood spurted out of his thighs.

    Michael groaned but the pain did not stop him from extracting the remaining lifeforce out of the enemies that were still alive. The Summoned Monsters died and so did the Supporter. As for the remaining enemies, Michael made sure that they were dead by conjuring several cicle Swords to pierce their bodies over and over again.

    The Melee Tekur looked like a statue. His entire physique was frozen, his eyes staring loathingly at Michael. Michael only stared at him pointedly, manifested Aethyr in the longsword form, and sliced through his head. Only then did he receive the Tekur''s energy influx.

    "Ten energy influxes. That means all of them are dead¡­finally¡­" Michael slumped to the ground in relief, his legs quivering as the adrenaline rush died down. His breathing wasbored, his chest heaving up and down heavily.

    "These bastards are fucking strong¡­" Michael murmured to himself, but he broke into a faint smile.

    "That''s amazing. Their Soultraits were definitely not on par with any of my Soultraits yet their powers cannot be underestimated. I need their techniques!"

    **

    Remark-- Today only one Chapter

 Chapter 476 Soul Technique

    Chapter 476 Soul Technique

    A faint halo manifested above Michael''s head as he used the Soultrait Shard of Archangel''s Grace for the first time to heal someone ¨C himself. He used up some of the power that had umted within the Soultrait Shard to heal the two gashes on his left arm and the deep wounds in his thighs. He had to make sure that his condition would be at the peak if he wanted to be ready to fight at all times.

    "Marie''s Soultrait is really overpowered. Even the weakened version is much stronger than the Tekur Healer''s healing. It required much less energy as well," Michael mumbled, starting to wonder if the Healer''s Soultrait was actually a mere 1-Star Soultrait, whose power was amplified with the use of the simple customized technique. Given how helpless the Healer had been once the Supporter''s constant supply of energy deteriorated, that would make sense.

    Michael''s gaze roamed over to the battlefield, only to end up staring at his weapon. Aethyr was extremely powerful. If not forAethyr, Michael was not sure if he would have won against the Tekur. Being able to switch between a wide variety of attack movements and means of defense had been crucial in the fight against the five Tekur.

    Even though Aethyr was only a replica of Aether with a tiny, negligible trace of Aether , Aethyr was extremely versatile and powerful. It was definitely one of the best things he could have obtained from the Tritan Alliance as a gift of gratitude for the support he provided.

    Michael released a few strands of Extraction in the surrounding area. The strands anchored themselves to the bodies of the fallen Tekur around him and began to extract their Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments.

    He didn''t rush the extraction process. Instead, Michael used Roc Eyes to keep an eye on the surroundings to ensure that nobody could approach him without his knowledge. Additionally, it also assured him that nobody observed him sneakily while he was busy extracting his enemies'' Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments.

    One SoulStar Fragment after another was extracted. They piled up in front of Michael and turned into a big stash. In less than half an hour, Michaelpleted the extraction process. He had been patient and double checked to make sure that he wrung the corpses dry until there was nothing left. He wanted to obtain as many SoulStar Fragments as possible, after all.

    "A Memory Orb from each of them, four Artifacts in total, two Soultrait Symbols, and¡­2750 SoulStar Fragments. That''s a lot more than I expected¡­" Michael murmured to himself as he finished calcting everything he procured.

    He looked at the two Soultrait Symbols and realized that they originated from the Healer and Supporter. One thing attracted his attention as he looked at the two fragile Soultrait Symbols.

    "These Symbols are more fragile than usual. They don''t have a single star either. Usually that only happens when I extract Soultraits with low star ratings. But then why did I obtain so many SoulStar Fragments from the Healer and the Supporter? If I''m not mistaken both generated roughly 700 SoulStar Fragments while the others generated 450 respectively."

    Michael had a rough idea about the SoulStar Fragment scenario. The theory that formed in his mind would also exin why the Berserk Minotaur and the Big ck Bear of the Tamer he''d killed a long time ago dropped SoulStar Fragments.

    ''What if extracting Soul Power generates SoulStar Fragments? Lords drop more SoulStar Fragments. That''s something I already know. Or is it rted to the number of Links of Loyalty and how much Soul Power the individual Links of Loyalty create?'' Michael wondered.

    He decided to find an answer to all of his questions by consuming the Memory Orbs dropped by the Tekur. Digesting each Memory Orb required roughly half an hour. Michael then spent another half an hour organizing the new memories properly, discarding the useless pieces of information, and making up his theories.

    His focus was on two things when he digested the Memory Orbs: Find out how Individuals with weaker Soultraits can drop more SoulStar Fragments and the origin of their special customized techniques.

    Michael found a lot about both. First of all the special techniques utilized Soul Power, something Michael possessed a lot. He tried to focus on themon points between the special customized techniques the Tekur were using andpared them with what he had seen using Roc Eyes. Roc Eyes allowed him to create variousparisons with the techniques'' exnations and the Tekur''s execution of the respective technique.

    Only after spending close to an hourparing everything did Michael understand something intriguing, "The techniques are not exactly customized. Well, they''re altered but it''s not a major alteration to be tailor fit ''perfectly'' to each of the Tekur. It is merely tweaked a little ording to the effects and requirements of each Soultrait."

    ''So if someone had an Elemental Soultrait such as Wind Maniption, the Tekur would be given an Elemental Technique, altered to fit the wind element. If the Wind Maniption Soultrait would use energy to manifest something simple such as wind des, it wouldn''t be altered a lot. But if origin energy was merely utilized to conjure winds and mental power was required to shape them, the technique would have to acquire more alterations¡­''

    The customized techniques overclocked Soultraits several times by using up the Soul Power umted by the Soultrait. That way the Tekur could exhibit power up to fivefold their usual strength. That was what a Common ss technique ¨C used by the Soldiers of the Tekur race ¨C could achieve.

    The Soul Power utilized to overclock a Soultrait would be ''used up'' in the process of using the technique, but that was not permanent. The Soul Power would be emptied like a battery and could be charged again. As the Soul Power was drained, the Soultraits'' power would weaken until the Soul Power was recharged. That was also why the Tekur''s Soultraits seemed weaker after they utilized their Common ss technique. Their Soul Power was used up, thus their Soultraits'' ordinary attack reverted to its original weaker prowess.

    Given that the Soul Techniques churned through Soul Power, most Tekur didn''t use their Common ss Soul Techniques often. They merely utilized them when they desired to overwhelm their enemy and finish him/her instantaneously.

    "As long as I find something like an Elemental Soul Technique I can alter it to fit cicle. Hopefully, I can then use the same Soul Techniques that enable the Tekur to be so powerful. Well¡­that also means I would have to possess as much Soul Power as these mass-breeding insects."

    Michael''s words were certainly true, but one of the major reasons the Tekur were so overpowered and feared was their innate ability to recharge their used-up Soul Power rapidly. When they were still a fairly young race, they didn''t know about this innate ability. They struggled to fight against powerful enemies and only got to know about Soul Techniques after being pushed closer to extinction than most races had ever been. The Tekur learned to use Soul Techniques, they found out about their Innate ability and began to rely on the Soul Techniques to overpower their enemies.

    It took a long time before they collected other techniques and began to alter Soul Techniques, but once theymenced manufacturing their own techniques it was only a matter of decades before they possessed powerful Body, Mind, and Soul refinement techniques that were perfectly adjusted to their Soultraits. They learned how to nourish their Souls in the best possible way to execute the strongest force with their Soul Techniques whereas their body and mind refinement techniques reached new heights, allowing them to grow stronger than other races.

    The biggest advantage of the Tekur race was quite obvious. They possessed the number to create full use of Soul Techniques. Even their Soldiers could use Soul Techniques that allowed their Soultraits to generate five times more power than usual.

    Most Tekur participating in the g War were already Tier-3 Lords. Their body and mind refinement was extremely high as well, forcing Michael to use up to sixyers of Enhancement to keep up with them. His refinement degree of the mind and body were already at the Peak of the peak¡­of the 2nd Tier. That posed a slight problem since using sixyers of Enhancement at all times inbat taxed his body. The energy consumption was also quite high but Michael had various means to handle that.

    His biggest problem was the toll exerted on his body and mind as he utilized Enhancement and several other Soultraits to a much higher degree than usual to keep up with the Soldiers of the Tekur race.

    A huge hurdle in finishing them off sooner had been the Soldiers'' Soul Techniques. They slowed down almost all Alliance Members and various other races that struggled to keep up with their movement speed. Soul Techniques were actually quite rare. They had been unique and limited for the Tekur as well ¨C not anymore though.

    Michael learned a lot about Soul Techniques. He understood that a tremendous amount of Soul Power was required and that not everyone could use every Soul Technique. That was also why he was certain that he could replicate most of them now that he had seen the Tekur using their Common ss Soul Techniques against him in battle. Roc Eyes showed him everything.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have a Summon Soultrait to use the Summoning Soul Technique, nor an Armament Soultrait like the Feathered Helmet. Michael couldn''t use the Supporter''s Soul Technique either because he didn''t possess Opars'' Energy Imprint. Even then Michael would have to alter the technique to drain stamina instead of weakening mental fortitude.

    Then there was the healing Soultrait, but Archangel''s Grace was not his Soultrait. He only had a small shard of Archangel''s Grace within his War Rune thanks to being Maria''s Primal Amplifier. Michael could merely use bits of Archangel''s Grace. It was powerful but it was not even like he could use the Soultraits'' full power, let alone Soul Technique which required a terrific amount of Soul Power.

    None of the Soul Techniques he''d acquired fit him.

    But that was something Michael could change.

    He could go out and hunt more Tekur, procure more Soul Techniques, and create his own Soul Techniques using the knowledge and information he deprived from the Tekur he''d killed.

    Michael was certain that he could create a Soul Technique for each of his Soultraits, increasing his strength manyfold in the process.

    All he required was a decent number of Soul Techniques, more time to study them, more guinea pigs to watch using Soul Techniques with Roc Eyes, and more Soul Power to use the Soul Techniques'' full potential.

    A new goal formed in his mind.

    ''The Hunt for techniques and SoulStar Fragments shall begin!''

 Chapter 477 Stay Away

    <h4>Chapter 477 Stay Away</h4>

    Michael used the SoulStar Fragments in his possession to upgrade Spirit Gaze. He would need several thousand more SoulStar Fragments to finish Spirit Gaze''s upgrade to 6-Star, but Michael was slowly getting closer to his goal and making progress. That was good.

    Michael shifted his attention back to the research he made before. He was still not 100% certain why so many SoulStar Fragments dropped from the Healer and Supporter but he had a rough idea. The Tekurs'' memories showed quite clearly that both the Healer and Supporter had low-ranked Soultraits and that they required more subjects than the others. They had been in need of 1.5 million more subjects than the other Soldiers since their Soultraits required more Links of Loyalty to umte Soul Power!

    They possessed as much Soul Power as everyone else but their Links of Loyalty numbered far more ¨C roughly 50%. This percentage was about the same as the disparity in SoulStar Fragments Michael obtained from the Supporter and Healer-duo versus the other Tekur. The former dropped about 700 each and thetter 450 on average.

    It was not a perfectly urate calction but something Michael could take into consideration to make up a theory.

    ''So the star rating of a Soultrait, the number of their Links of Loyalty, and the total Soul Power they''ve umted y important roles in calcting how many SoulStar Fragments I can extract with Extraction? Those could be three major factors out of¡­who knows how many¡­'' Michael tried toe up with some numbers and he felt like he was going somewhere.

    Lords usually dropped more SoulStar Fragments than Awakened. Meanwhile Awakened with Soultraits of a high star rating usually dropped more than Awakened with lousy Soultraits. Andst but not least, the disparity in drops from using Extraction on the Tekur was also an additional factor to consider.

    Each of those situations could be researched more in-depth, but Michael did not think that it was necessary. He was quite certain that his theory was correct.

    With all corpses stored securely inside his War Rune''s storage, Michael continued his journey. He traveled through the empty ins for a good hour until he found a group of humans far to his left.

    Michael weaved a little bit of energy into his body with Leviathan Diffusion and charged ahead. Roc Eyes was activated, allowing him to urately assess the strength and condition of the human group. None of them was injured and they seemed strong enough to deal with a few Tekur on their own. As long as they weren''t overwhelmed by the Tekur''s Soul Techniques that is.

    Even 1-Star Soultraits acquired the power of 5-Star Soultraits in the hands of the Tekur ¨C without the use of Soul Techniques. The mass of millions of Links of Loyalty was enough to achieve that as long as the Awakened were still Lesser Lifeforms.

    Once they used their Soul Techniques, the 1-Star Soultrait with the power of a 5-Star Soultrait used up their umted Soul Power to put the Soultrait on an equal footing with an Apex Tier-6 Soultrait used by a Peak Tier-3 Lord.

    Michael knew a bunch of Awakened with 6-Star Soultraits but none of them could unleash the same power as the Tekur. Even Kaleb had to use the Legendary Ice Staff and every bit of Frozen Nova''s proficiency to battle the Tekur head-on. That was mostly because he was not yet a Tier-3 Lord, but hisck of control of Frozen Nova yed a major role as well. After all, low-ranked Soultraits were much easier to control than Soultraits with a higher star rating.

    Therefore, the advantage of the Tekur race was even greater.

    Michael shook his head to dispel the thoughts that tormented his mind. He reprimanded himself for thinking too much about the Tekur''s power. If anything, Michael should be thinking about ways to counter them with more ease than relying on Insert, Extraction, Enhancement, and Roc Eyes.

    "Hello, Michael. I didn''t expect to see you so soon," A somewhat familiar voice that he couldn''t quite recall the owner of, rang out from within the group of humans.

    Michael had already seen everyone in the group and recognized Fernando Jochez''s voice a secondter. He looked at the somewhat familiar young man and nodded his head.

    "Hello Fernando," Michael greeted, resulting in a smile in return from Fernando.

    ''What is with that guy? Didn''t he think of me as a filthy peasant before?'' He wondered, noticing the drastic difference in Fernando''s attitude.

    "We have yet to encounter any Tekur. It looks like they''re either gathering somewhere, or everyone was spread out further than usual. Given the longer period of this year''s g War, I presume that the dimension''s space must have expanded quite a bit. It will be harder to gather the Alliance members, and to find a Dimensional Pir," Fernando stated in a gentle tone.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but didn''tment on Fernando''s attitude. The attitude felt wrong, somewhat forced. But that didn''t matter correct now. Michael decided to forward the information he had.

    "200 Alliance Members spawned together in front of a Dimensional Pir, alongside a dozen Tekur. We killed them but lost roughly 15 members on our side. The Dimensional Pir was destroyed as well. There are only a total of four Pirs departed by now."

    "You guys destroyed a pir already?" Another Descendant asked. He was a Mid Tier-3 Awakened ¨C a perfect example to exin the high mortality rate in the Interdimensional g War.

    Not only was the Descendant not a Lord anymore, but he was not even at the Peak of the 3rd Tier. In fact, more than 70% of the Alliance Members participating in the g War were not at the Peak of Tier-3. They were still stronger than the vast majority of prodigies in the Tritan Alliance but that didn''t mean they held an advantage against the Tekur, 90% of whose participants were at the Peak of the 3rd Tier.

    ''Our strongest prodigies can barely handle a single Soldier of the Tekur race if they''re at the Peak of Tier-3 and have a decent mastery of their Inheritance Technique. That''s everything but fun.'' Michael thought, looking at the Descendant before he answered.

    "Yup. Are you guys heading somewhere special? If not, how about teaming up with the other Alliance Members? They''re in that direction," He pointed behind himself, his attention pulled to Fernando.

    Fernando was staring at Michael for quite a while now. The color change in Michael''s eyes surprised Fernando quite a bit, but it was even more surprising that Michael''s presence waspletely differentpared to before. He felt like¡­a threat, a force to reckon with.

    It was not that Fernando believed Michael would pounce on him and rip him apart at any moment. No. It was merely the fact that Fernando could instinctively tell that he had no chance to win against Michael. A single nce in Michael''s eyes was all he needed to understand that clearly.

    Michael was on his guard. It was evident that he was ready to jump into battle at any point in their conversation. He wouldn''t allow a Tekur to take them by surprise.

    At that moment, Fernando felt relieved that Michael was on their side. Even if he was a filthy peasant, Michael was everything but weak.

    "We will follow your advice," Fernando said, "If you want to find more groups you should go departed from here. We encountered Killian earlier¡­but that guy is just crazy. I really don''t like to say this out loud since Killian is from the Zeus family, but it might be better if you don''t get too close to him. His Soultrait is weird, and his personality is¡­well let''s just leave it at that."

    "You don''t have to worry about him either. Hisbat prowess is terrifying. Killian has at least two Legendary Artifacts and his mastery of the Zeus family''s Inheritance Technique reached the Enlightenment realm. He is a decade ahead of everyone else to reach that realm in the Zeus family!"

    Michael never nned to fight Killian in the first ce. He didn''t really desire to get too close to that idiot either. His impression of Killian was not really great, after all.

    "Alright. I''ll leave then. Killian can do whatever he wants. If he can kill some Tekur everyone would benefit from that. That''s good, isn''t it?" Michael said, weaving energy into his body before kicking the ground. He departed Fernando and his group behind with fast steps.

    "Is it just me, or is this guy oddly strong despite being merely at the Peak of the 2nd Tier? The energy within him is even purer than my brother''s and he might as well have more energy than me¡­" The Mid Tier-3 Descendant from earlier murmured to himself, but everyone around him could hear the young man clearly.

    "Well, he has more Soultraits than most people can dream of. I don''t understand how he did that but some say that he procured two Soultraits from a Lord Rift. He is a quintuple Awakened with five Soultraits or more in total. Of course, he has more origin energy than others," A female Descendant with short brown hair and thick sses revealed as she pushed the sses back up her nose.

    Michael was one of the few people she''d researched with all her might, eventually using her Soultrait and even Inheritance Technique to analyze Michael''sbat prowess and every single probability rted to his Soultraits powers, star rating, and how they might influence Michael''s physique, mind, and soul.

    "Reba. You''re usually nuts and one of the few high nobles I loathe, but I kinda began liking you now," Fernando Jochez joked, only to hear the young woman retch and act like she was going to die from vomiting.

    "Are you trying to kill me with yourme attempts at flirting, you disgusting pig? Stay away from me!"

 Chapter 478 Power of Zeus

    <h4>Chapter 478 Power of Zeus</h4>

    A group of three Tekur entered Michael''s sight. But the group was not anything like the other Tekurs he had seen before.

    Their silver carapaces were charred and cracked in various spots, and two of them were missing an arm. One Tekur lost his mandibles and the wings sprouting from his back were broken and twisted.

    It was obvious that the Tekur had been fighting someone, but Michael couldn''t see anyone around that could be an enemy to them.

    ''They don''t look like they won. Maybe they fled?'' Michael predicted, his eyes narrowing. Analyzing their condition, he wondered if they''d been fighting Killian. The wounds would fit the destructive power of Killian''s Soultrait.

    ''Whatever.''

    Michael used 8yered Enhancement on himself and executed Leviathan Diffusion to weave a considerable amount of energy through his body. He turned into a sh as he dashed toward the group of injured Tekur. Michael crossed the distance to them in no time and unleashed Spirit Disturbance once the Tekur took note of him. Spirit Disturbance was a spiritual attack that could be used over a long distance as long as the targets looked into his eyes. The only downside was that the lethality of the spiritual attack deteriorated with an increase in distance.

    Michael utilized Spirit Disturbance at full power, momentarily stunning the three injured Tekur. The energy circting within and around the Tekur stirred. It was weak and fragile, unable to block Michael. He appeared in front of the Tekur, whom he deemed the weakest given his weak aura and the minuscule amount of energy remaining inside him. The next moment, Aethyr manifested in his hands. It transformed into a longsword, coated in severalyers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi as he shed out. The Aethyr Sword cut through the air and cut horizontally through the Tekur''s head, cleanly severing it.

    The upper part of the Tekur''s head flung through the air, but Michael didn''t even take note of that. He was already moving ahead, summoning dozens of cicle Swords around the next target. Each cicle Sword was shrouded in silver Sword Qi as they burst toward the one-armed Tekur from all sides. The Tekur was just about to use thest remnants of energy within his body to do something when Michael used Spirit Disturbance from a close distance. The Tekur lost control of the origin energy within him for a moment, which was enough for the cicle Swords to pierce through the cracked spots in the Tekur''s carapace with eerie precision.

    Once the cicles pierced through the Tekur''s carapace, Michael used Insert on all cicle Swords before shattering them. They transformed into freezing mist that was inserted deep into the Tekur''s body. The Tekur froze and turned into a statue before a Qi Sword manifested in front of the Tekur''s heart ¨C and pierced it.

    Thest Tekur was a little bit more annoying. It had some more energy left, which Michael countered by using Spirit Disturbance six to seven times in a row. The mental state of the Tekur was already extremely bad after fleeing from a fight it would have certainly lost. His confidence was shaken as well. Therefore, each Spirit Disturbance application hit harder and harder until the seventh spiritual attack knocked out the weak and injured Tekur. Michael pierced the Tekur''s heart with the Aethyr de and looked around.

    A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

    "When you guysck the needed energy to use your Soul Techniques, you''re actually not that annoying anymore. If anything, this is a nice snack for the time in between."

    The battle against the three Tekur was over long before Michael could insert tendrils of Extraction inside them. He didn''t drain their energy nor their lifeforce, leaving him with a mild headache and little to no energy reserves. Using his Soultraits in such an extravagant manner granted him great power, but it left him with little to no origin energy to use after the battle.

    He essed the Legendary Ring Artifact to use bits of the Power of Energy Imprint stored within to refill his energy storage a little bit. It was just enough to release dozens of Extraction tendrils that tapped into the streams of energy all around him. The tendrils'' range was over 50 meters at this point. The only downside was that Michael had to focus on each of the tendrils a little bit. Splitting his focus to control each tendril was quite bothersome. It added onto the already high toll being exerted on his mind, which was not exactly what Michael wanted. Fortunately, he didn''t have to control the Extraction tendrils too long. The energy within the isted dimension was as dense and pure as the energy within the Untamed Jungle. It was just enough to replenish his used up energy in 10 minutes using Extraction and Leviathan Diffusion to annex the absorbed energy.

    Once his energy storage was filled to the brim, Michael used thest remnants of excessive energy to start extracting the three Tekur. He extracted 1400 SoulStar Fragments ¨C roughly 465 Fragments from each Tekur ¨C, and a Soultrait.

    In addition to that, Michael extracted a portion of the Tekur''s innate spatial storage, some of their Artifacts and their Memory Orbs as well.

    Michael was curious about the enemy the Tekur fought before encountering him. Thus, he consumed the three Memory Orbs in quick session. Memories flooded him and he began to witness everything shown to him as if he was the one who experienced it all.

    Like usual, Michael learned a lot about the Tekur''s caste system, theirws and living standards. He got to know how the Tekur were trained and what martial arts techniques the ordinary Soldiers were taught.

    By now, Michael could replicate the Tekur Soldier''s basic martial arts as if he''d been practicing it for decades. Given that he experienced training the martial arts techniques in the memories of ten Tekur, a decade of experience was nothing. Interestingly enough, Michael didn''t learn much about the three Tekur''s Soul Techniques. All he got to know ¨C or feel, to be precise ¨C was the Tekur using their Soul Techniques against Killian Zeus.

    The three Tekur had been a group of seven when they encountered Killian Zeus. They were confident to obliterate Killian Zeus in no time, but the reality was different. Killian used his highly destructive Soultrait to coat his entire body in thunder. He then summoned a thundercloud and created a thunderstorm. The thunderstorm gathered electricity currents by absorbing the energy in the surroundings. Tremendous power condensed within the thunderclouds until humongous lightning crackled in the sky and poured down from heaven. The lightning bolts intertwined and formed one ginormous lightning bolt that struck all seven Tekur simultaneously.

    The Tekur survived the first attack since two of them used their Soul Techniques with their Soultraits to erupt an earthen dome that was further reinforced. However, the two Tekur who''d blocked the attack were rapidly drained of energy and Soul Power. Their Soul Technique failed them even before the ginormous lightning strike dispersed. They were struck by thest remnants that stunned them. Stunned and frozen due to the surprise attack for a second, the two Tekur could barely watch Killian disappear from the distance. Killian appeared in front of them in the subsequent second. Their heads fell to the ground with loud thuds and their bodies followed soon after.

    Killian released several thunder bolts from all over his own body. It felt like the lightning armor covering his body was alive. It struck the Tekur, who wanted to attack him from behind and charred his arm. Thereafter, Killian continued to ughter the Tekur as if they were enemies that weren''t worth his attention.

    Atst, three Tekur retrieved a white talisman from their War Runes. They tore the white talisman and disappeared from the battlefield.

    The memories ended as they encountered Michael. The terror the Tekur felt the moment Michael charged at them was evident. It lingered in Michael''s heart even after he was pulled out of the Tekur''s memories.

    He finished digesting everything and sighed heavily.

    "I really look like a humanoid monster once I''ve activated all those Soultraits. Even I wouldn''t want to face myself like that," Michael said half-jokingly and half-serious, but his own attention was quickly drawn to the memories showing Killian Zeus''bat prowess.

    "He has only one Soultrait, but it enhances his speed drastically. He can summon a semi-sentient armor that attacks living beings inside a certain range, and he can deliver long-range attacks," He murmured, "And then there is still this thundercloud. It''s a K.O attack. His Soultrait and the wide variety of techniques he uses allows him to generate more than enough power to obliterate the advantage of the Tekur race¡­something I need six to seven Soultraits for¡­"

    Kaleb once told him that most Inheritance Techniques had various Unique Martial Arts that could only be used once their mastery of the Inheritance Technique reaches a higher mastery degree. Killian was definitely one of the few people who reached a high enough mastery to learn several Unique Martial Arts ¨C Arts that unleashed the potential of the Zeus family''s Soultraits.

    "Now that I''m strong enough to defeat my peers and deal with Tekur¡­you really had to show me Killian''sbat prowess¡­was that really necessary?" Michael grumbled, cursing the Memory Orbs for a moment.

    Kiin was two years older than Michael, and he would have advanced to a Higher Lifeform a year ago had he not been obsessed with the Interdimensional g War so much. He desired to find powerful enemies to kill and ording to rumors, he obsessed over Maria Seraph as well. Apparently, she was part of the reason why Killian Zeus decided to participate in the g War.

    Killian''s body, mind, and soul refinement degree had already reached the Peak of Tier-3 a year ago, just like his own War Rune. Therefore, Killian spent the entire year training his Unique Martial Arts and deepening his understanding of the Zeus family''s Inheritance technique. It was part of the reason why he''d grown this powerful.

    Once he became a Higher Lifeform he would grow even stronger and he would progress at an even faster speed than before.

    Michael did not really care about that.

    However, he realized one particr thing now that he thought about it a little bit.

    "If he is obsessed about Maria, and I have her Mark of Fate¡­does that mean¡­"

    Michael began to shudder, wild thoughts shing through his own mind.

    ''Fuck me¡­Why is my life soplicated?''

    **

    [A/N: The Author is back in the game. The g War is slowly moving somewhere. What do you think will happen in the subsequent 10-20 chapters? Will Michael finally upgrade some of his own Soultraits? How powerful will the other Tekur be? What actually are the Tekur and why are they so feared by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs? If you know, you know. If not. Well, I''m sad :c

    Either way, I hope y''all enjoy the story so far. We will reach 500 chapters soon. The novel is already old old.

    Byeee~]

 Chapter 479 Break

    <h4>Chapter 479 Break</h4>

    Michael tried to forget about the possibility that Killian Zeus would want to tear him into shreds and focused on the tasks ahead.

    He used the SoulStar Fragments in his possession to upgrade Spirit Gaze a little bit more, resulting in the intensity of the silver hue in his eyes to increase. The outlines of the 6th Star were long since drawn, meaning that Spirit Gaze required merely 6000 or 7000 more SoulStar Fragments until the upgrade waspleted.

    Michael looked forward to that, not only because he could clearly sense that the power of Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze was increasing exponentially as both Soultrait neared 6-Star, but more because of the fact that they were likely to fuse into a single Soultrait. Michael wanted to know whether Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze would turn into an Apex 6-Star Soultrait, if the Soul Power the two Soultraits had umted would fuse, and how the fusion would proceed exactly.

    It was something he''d never heard before, and attracted his curiosity therefore.

    The Tekur''s memories showing some Soul Techniques were also enough to attract his curiosity. Unfortunately, none of them werepatible with him. But that was fine. Michael was getting to know more about Soul Techniques. He felt like he was making significant progress the more he watched and experienced the Tekur using their Soul Techniques. The same could be said about their body and mind refinement techniques.

    Michael actually procured a body refinement tome from the War Rune''s storage of one Tekur. Michael could decipher it despite never having studied the mother tongue of the Tekur race. That was mostly owed to the vast amount of experience he gained from witnessing the memories of the Tekur race as if he was present when the incidents urred. He learned the Tekur race''snguage to a certain extent without studying anything.

    Michael''s only issue about the Tekur race''s body refinement technique was that he couldn''t be certain if the technique was suitable to him. Did he have to alter the technique to fit it to the human anatomy, or could he use the Tekur race''s body refinement technique just like that? The former was likely to be a necessity since most races had a vastly different anatomy.

    Other than the body refinement tome, Michael procured arge quantity of Inferior Energy Stones as well as Artifacts. The loot was actually quite intriguing because Michael never expected ordinary Soldiers to own so many Inferior Energy Stones.

    ''Maybe they have an Energy Stone mine? If Inferior Energy Stones are not rare for them it would make sense why all of those Soldiers are at the Peak of Tier-3 despite being so young.''

    Michael was intrigued by so many things. However, he decided to spend some more time testing the Soul Techniques and stored the loot inside his storage space right away. Instead of doing nothing while roaming around the dimension, Michael chose to test out more about the Soul Techniques and experiment a little bit with his already existing techniques and Soultraits. He wanted to alter some of his techniques with smallponents out of the Soul Techniques he extracted from the Tekur to test how difficult it was to create his own Soul Technique and how deep his understanding of Soul Techniques was at this point.

    Despite extracting Lifeforce from his enemies whenever possible Michael noticed quickly that his mind was not in its best state. He''d used his Soultraits too recklessly, too often, and too many simultaneously to deal with the Tekur.

    Roc Eyes, Spirit Gaze, and Enhancement had to be activated at all times against the Tekur to be on par with their physical capabilities ¨C to some extent. 6yers of Enhancement applied to his body were needed topete with the Tekur, and origin energy weaved into his physique with great precision was required to decrease the toll Enhancement put upon his body.

    Meanwhile, Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze had to be kept at their peak as well to analyze his opponents'' movements by seeing everything, including their energy cirction. Therefore, his eyes, mind, and body were already highly stimted by those few Soultraits, yet Michael had to use more Soultraits and increase the intensity of his Soultraits ordingly to deal with multiple powerful enemies at once.

    Aethyr and the fact that it could shapeshift at any moment was not exactly helpful in decreasing the toll exerted on his mind.

    Of course, Aethyr was powerful. It was part of the reason he could defeat the Tekur with considerable ''ease''. Nheless, Michael needed a little break after three fights and digesting nearly a dozen Memory Orbs. Eagle Eyes upgraded to Roc Eyes not too long as well, altering his body permanently.

    Hence, it was a relief when several hours passed in the blink of an eye without him encountering a single enemy or ally. Not a single group of Tekur or the Alliance arrived his view. That was great but also confusing. Was the isted dimension really that big, or were people avoiding the area he walked through?

    Michael had no idea, however, he was grateful. He received half a day''s break to think about all kinds of things and experiment with Soul Techniques and his own techniques. Michael tried to alter some techniques he had learned and test them to see if he could create his own technique. It was something he had never done before.

    He never expected to enjoy it this much.

    Unfortunately, half a day was not enough to create his own technique. It would have been weird if Michael ended up creating his own Soul Technique in such a short duration. He was not a heavenly prodigy, after all.

    Just as Michael was about to decide whether he wanted to end his break and start searching for some Tekur to hunt, a few Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs arrived his sight.

    They were still a few kilometers away from his current position but crossing that distance was hardly an issue.

    Michael ran in their direction, temporarily teaming up with their merged groups.

    "I presume that you''re Michael Fang. You don''t look as strong as the rumors say;" The Warlock Centaur leading the merged group spoke to Michael first. His hoarse voice conveying his judgment reached Michael with no dy.

    The leading Warlock Centaur smashed his heavy broadsword to the ground right next to Michael, who didn''t move an inch. The only thing Michael did was to gaze back at the Warlock Centaur, his eyes glowing vibrantly as the tension around them increased.

    "No, forget that. Your eyes look intense and you look like you''ve fought some Tekur. Did you kill some of them?" The Warlock Centaur added, the left corner of his mouth curling upward.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and used Enhancement on Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze three times before he bombarded the Warlock Centaur with a single use of Spirit Disturbance.

    "I fought some Tekur and killed them. That''s indeed correct," Michael replied as Spirit Disturbance impacted hard upon his target.

    The leading Warlock Centaur expected Michael to do something, but he wasn''t prepared to face a spiritual attack, even less an attack with such lethal force.

    The Warlock Centaur''s grip around his heavy broadsword loosened and he nearly let go of it as a wave of destruction swept through his mind. He groaned in pain and blood began to trickle from his nose, yet the Warlock Centaur didn''t move. His legs didn''t cave in and neither did he?retreat. All he did was stare at Michael, the corners of his lips tilting further to transform into a bright smile.

    "What a cocky bastard. I like you!" The Warlock Centaur shattered into a hearty chuckle, "How about joining our team for a while? We could make use of someone like you!"

    "Of course. I''ll make sure you survive," Michael responded, shing a crafty smile.

    "That''s what I wanted to say," The Warlock Centaur said, patting Michael''s shoulder with great force.

    The other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs looked at their exchange with mild interest. It was intriguing that their leader epted Michael so easily but everyone had listened about Michael already. It was well-known what Michael had done for their people in the Colosseum, and how he nearly attacked his own people for their sake, as well as the great service he provided to the entire Tritan Alliance.

    The Chieftain and War Priestess had already informed them not to disregard Michael in the g War and to support him as long as he didn''t do anything dishonorable and disrespectful.

    "I just want to make one thing clear," Michael said, his gaze flitting across the faces of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, "I don''t care if you guys want to fight a head-on battle against the Tekur alone. I will join the battle, either way. If you don''t like someone interfering in your Sacred individual battles, I have no problems with leaving either."

    Michael knew that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were too honorable for their own good. Against the Tekur, that was extremely problematic. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t attack the Tekur if their brethren were already in a head-on battle against them.

    That was also why 15 Alliance members died in the first battle against the Tekur. Michael did not want a repeat of that.

    "We will see whether you''re fast enough to join our battles, or if we finish them long before you can lift your finger to act," The leading Warlock Centaur boasted with great confidence in his voice.

    Michael epted that answer and indicated to their left. Far away from their current position, a group of eight Tekur were traveling through the ins.

    "We will see about that. Eight Tekur on your west. Prepare for battle!"

 Chapter 480 Teamwork

    Chapter 480 Teamwork

    Michael didn''t rush to the Tekur like a mindless puppet. He observed the Tekur using Roc Eyes and kept on weaving through the charging masses of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    There were less than 20 members in their team but a total of seven Tekur. Under normal circumstances, it would be suicidal to charge at so many Tekur with a group as small as theirs, but none of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs seemed to care.

    Armament Soultraits, Constitution Soultraits, Reinforcement Soultraits, and Aura Soultraits were utilized simultaneously, giving the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs an advantage in closebat. They used the Heritage Techniques they''d been taught by their Tribes to unleash their hidden potential and attain the highest possiblebat prowess, even if it was only for a short time.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were fast. Their rapid movements were even faster than Michael could move with six-fold Enhancement applied to his body.

    While Michael was a little surprised about the burst of power oozing out of each of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, the Tekur seemed unimpressed. Their Artifacts manifested and their Soultraits erupted.

    One of the Tekur summoned arge golden bell. The bell hovered in the air and chimed loudly. Michael''s ears rang and he felt a sudden wave of disorientation sweep through him. The Tekur didn''t have to use his Soul Technique to affect all enemies simultaneously. The thunderous chiming did not affect the other Tekur, at all. On the contrary, their coordination and teamwork seemed to reach new heights as they began to move simultaneously.

    The second Tekur unleashed his Soultrait as well. However, instead of holding back, she used her Soul Technique instantaneously. Michael could tell at a nce that something big was about to happen. Crimson energy burst from the Tekur''s body in the form of lengthy threads. The threads connected to the other Tekur and engulfed their bodies, creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere around them. The crimson energy was dark, almost ck. It was ominous and increased the tension all over the battlefield instantaneously. It also enhanced the strength, pressure, and energy cirction of the Tekur.

    It was an Infernal Aura that inflicted fear in the enemies while also strengthening all designated allies.

    The Golden Bell and Infernal Aura were already enough to stir some trouble. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were drastically restrained. Disorientation was already enough hassle, yet the Infernal Aura cranked it up further - it was extraordinary. It intimidated the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs and slowed down their energy cirction, therefore weakening the efficiency of their Heritage Techniques.

    Other than the two Tekur, there were five more Tekur with strong Soultraits and even stronger Soul Techniques.

    One of the Tekur manifested a Shadow replica of himself, another Tekur conjured close to a hundred light spheres around his body, and the third Tekur manifested a staff that emanated a soothing warmth. Once power was channeled into the staff, healing currents would spread through the surroundings, invigorating all those who were in need of vigor, and origin energy.

    The fourth Tekur seemed to disappear from one moment to the next. He used his Soultrait and immediately utilized his Soul Technique to turn invisible to his enemies. Meanwhile, the fifth Tekur circted origin power through his body in a unique way, enhancing his physical might even further. His muscles bulged and he created a small crater beneath his feet the moment he kicked the ground.

    The physically strengthened Tekur was the forerunner. He emerged in front of the leading Warlock Centaur and engaged in a fierce battle. Thunderous sounds reverberated through the surroundings as their weapons collided and the leading Warlock Centaur was pushed back rapidly. His high-ranked armor set artifact was torn into shreds and his thick skin was pierced through with ease.

    It was already a wonder that the Warlock Centaur survived more than five seconds against the tremendous power of the physically strengthened Tekur.

    Michael observed their first encounter from a distance but didn''t rush forward at once. He weaved energy into his brain and shut his eyes using energy to negate the effect of the Golden Bell upon himself. Knowing how exactly the Tekur using the Infernal Aura spread fear and gloominess through the surroundings was also helpful in minimizing the intimidation effect of the Internal Aura to a bearable degree.

    This only left the Shadow Doppelganger, the Light Spheres, a Staff, an Invisible enemy, and the Tekur with tremendous physical strength to counter.

    Michael used Insert and Enhancement together. He applied twoyers of Enhancement on every Berserker and Warlock Centaur in his group. A faint hue of Extraction coated his body to pull the surrounding power in his direction and devour it to replenish his used-up energy as quickly as possible. He used Roc Eyes with severalyers of Enhancement to pinpoint the location of the invisible Tekur. Once enhanced, Roc Eyes rendered the Invisibility Soultrait of the Tekur useless. That was great, but it was also something Michael had to y out well.

    He manifested Aethyr in the Swordform and used Reinforced Sword Qi with a handful ofyers of Enhancement to strengthen it. Michael then watched the remaining Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs sh with their enemies.

    The first encounter was disastrous.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were not physically weaker than the others ¨C other than the Tekur with the Soultrait that reinforced his physique ¨C but they weren''t stronger either. The effect of the Golden Bell and the Infernal Aura were enough to strengthen the Tekur, whereas the Mysterious Staff invigorated them.

    Michael was about to jump into the fight when his eyes flicked to the not-so-invisible Tekur. The Tekur stealthily sneaked up behind the leading but oblivious Warlock Centaur, who was still engaged in a desperate battle with the physically-enhanced Tekur and was just about to drill his ws through the Centaur''s neck when warm blood was sprayed on the Warlock Centaur''s back. The leading Warlock Centaur''s entire back was drenched in blood in seconds. Startled, the Warlock Centaur turned around just to see a Tekur struggling against a silvery longsword that impaled its chest.

    Michael was standing near the Warlock Centaur''s rear, looking down at the Tekur and the Warlock Centaur alongside.

    "Sorry for jumping on you. I had to deal with this little pest," Michael said lightly, his golden eyes glimmering as he used Spirit Disturbance on the Tekur. He transformed Aethyr into a dagger while his left hand shot forward to catch the Tekur mid-air. The Aethyr Dagger pierced through the Tekur''s neck in the next moment, killing the enemy before the Mysterious Staff could invigorate the Invisible Tekur to close his wound and heal him.

    The next moment, Aethyr transformed into a guard that was thrown past the Warlock Centaur''s head to protect him from the physically enhanced Tekur''s attack. The Aethyr shield was pierced through in one go. Its shape dispersed and Michael had to recall it into his War Rune before summoning it once again. Aethyr transformed into a spear, which Michael coated inyers of Enhancement and Sword Qi to aid the Warlock Centaur in the battle against the physically enhanced Tekur.

    It took him a while, but the Aethyr Spear scratched the Tekur. It was not enough to make him bleed profusely but it was certainly enough to insert several Extraction tendrils in one go. Michael used the Power of Energy Imprint stored within the Legendary Ring Artifact to refill his energy storage just enough to use Insert on the leading Warlock Centaur to reinforce his might by inserting severalyers of Enhancement. He increased the Peak Tier-3 WarlocK Centaur Lord''s strength with sixyers of Enhancement, allowing him to stand on equal footing with the Tekur.

    Michael conjured close to a hundred cicles the size of tiny needles to bombard the Tekur and use Insert with Extraction tendrils on him more often before he decided that it was time to leave. He rushed to the two Tekur in the back with a dozenpressed cicle Swords appearing around him. The cicle Swords shot forward, but the Tekur evaded them with ease. Their movements were graceful as they moved around the cicle Swords.

    What they didn''t expect, however, was the cicle Swords to burst apart and turn into freezing mist. The freezing mist transformed into hundreds ofpressed Galcicles that shot toward the two Tekur from all directions.

    The cicles were extremely fast, but interestingly enough only one of them hit the Tekur. The Tekur reacted swift enough to evade the cicles and move around majestically. Even Michael was a little stupefied watching the Tekur evading eachpressed cicle. It was not as if the cicles could actually do any significant harm to them. The only harm was caused by the freezing effect, the freezing mist, and the traces of Extraction inserted into cicle.

    ''Can they sense the Extraction traces, or were they taught to evade all attacks?'' Michael wondered. He used Spirit Disturbance on the Tekur with the Golden Bell and focused on that one for a while. Hundreds of cicles shot toward him from all directions, leaving no space for the Tekur to move.

    Finally, some more cicles ended up hitting the Tekur, which Michael used to insert both freezing mist and traces of Extraction into the Tekur''s body. Unfortunately, Michael was not allowed to move freely all this while. He couldn''t strike all the time without receiving some sort of retribution in exchange. Dozens of Light Spheres came flying at him with an incredible velocity.

    The real battle was just about to start.

    Fortunately, the leading Warlock Centaur gained the edge over the physically enhanced Tekur now that sixyers of Enhancement reinforced him.

    The downside, however, was that every Tekur unleashed the full power of their Soultraits along with their Soul Techniques.

 Chapter 481 Out of Power

    <h4>Chapter 481 Out of Power</h4>

    Other than Enhancement, there were many other Support Soultraits at y. Two Berserkers used Soultraits simr to Lokai. They enhanced their physical strength and those their allies by arge chunk, while simultaneously elevating their energy cirction.

    Their Soultraits made it much easier for Michael to use his Soultraits with a single thought and unleash a barrage of attacks. Given his usualbo of cicles that were either strengthened through Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi to increase their lethality or used as mass-produced projectiles to Insert traces of Extraction inside the enemies, Michael could nowbine both means of attacks.

    That was definitely not helpful for his rapidly decreasing mental power but the Extraction traces inside the enemy took root quickly. They drained the enemy''s origin energy and tapped into their lifeforce as well once Michael used Spirit Disturbance on them several times in a row.

    Unfortunately, the Soul Techniques of the Tekur were quite powerful, nheless. The physically enhanced Tekur''s power skyrocketed, and he pushed back the leading Warlock Centaur even after sixyered Enhancement and the Support Soultraits of the two Berserkers strengthened him.

    The Golden Bell and the Infernal Aura''s power increased thebat prowess of the physically enhanced Tekur even more. He shed through the Warlock Centaur''s abdomen, inflicted various deep gashes and nearly severed the Centaur''s left arm.

    The other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t have it much better. The Spheres of Light transformed into dazzling bullets. They werepressed and elerated rapidly once they were released. Their velocity didn''t reach the speed of light but the thunderous explosion that rang out once the Tekur released them was more than enough to instill worry and a seed of fear in the hearts of the prideful Warriors.

    The Spheres of Light broke through the sound barrier and pierced neatly through the highly refined bodies of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    A single nce was enough to tell that Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would either bleed to death in the next ten minutes or they would end up dying in some other way.

    Meanwhile, the Tekur with the Shadow Doppelganger turned out to be even more frightening than the Tekur using the Spheres of Light. Once his Soul Technique was unleashed, the Shadow Doppelganger split into five. Each of them was as strong as the original!

    The Tekur and his five Shadow Doppelgangers began to beat the living shit out of six Berserkers. The Berserkers gave their utmost to deal with the Tekur, but not even their physical strength was superior at this point. Too many adverse effects of the enemies'' Soultraits affected them, whereas too many enhancing Soultraits amplified theirbat prowess.

    The only advantage on Michael''s side was that he was not yet injured. His Extraction traces had taken root in the enemies'' bodies and they hadn''t even been noticed yet. Maybe the Tekur could sense them but they thought that eliminating their enemies swiftly would be the most efficient way to deal with this issue.

    While that was certainly true, Michael would never allow them to kill him. The reason was obvious. He didn''t want to die.

    Michael used the numerical advantage of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to his advantage. He used Leviathan Diffusion and eightyers of Enhancement to move in a zigzag pattern. Another use of the Power of Energy Imprint stored within the Legendary Ring was used up as he initiated the next step of his attack: He used Insert to insert severalyers of Enhancement inside every Berserker and Warlock Centaur before Inserting Reinforced Sword Qi, and the Power of Extraction inside their weapons.

    His mind was going crazy as a throbbing pain began to torment his mind, but Michael couldn''t think of a better way to help the others. This time the Tekur were much harder to deal with than the ones before. They used their Soul Techniques early enough to inflict considerable damage. Simultaneously, their Soultraits weren''t that bad. The Golden Bell and Infernal Aura were the most annoying. However, it was even more bothersome that the Mysterious Staff of the Tekur in the back invigorated all Tekur with vigor. It seemed like they were suddenly blessed with infinite Stamina now that the staff-wielding Tekur used his Soul Technique.

    Fortunately, Michael''s support allowed the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to hold their fort against the enemies. He then used some of the power umted within Archangel''s Grace to tend to the leading Warlock Centaur''s wounds. Thereafter Michael used Spirit Disturbance with a total of eightyers of Enhancement on the physically enhanced Tekur.

    The Tekur had once encountered Michael''s Spirit Disturbance so he was prepared for the impact. However, the impact was not as strong as before. It was thrice as strong, sweeping through the Tekur''s mind like there was no tomorrow. The physically enhanced Tekur was momentarily stunned, creating the opportunity the leading Warlock Centaur needed to cleave down with the heavy broadsword.

    The heavy broadsword cleaved down and cut deep into the Tekur''s shoulder¡­and stopped. Blood spurted out of the Tekur but he didn''t die. If anything, the Tekur''s body blocked the advance of the heavy broadsword. He wouldn''t die from such a wound, not as long as the staff-wielder would keep on invigorating him continuously.

    Michael''s breathing grew ragged. He had long since tapped into the Extraction traces that had taken root in each of the remaining six Tekur, and more traces of Extraction found their way into the Tekur''s bodies while he took a moment to catch his breath.?However, Michael didn''t allow the Extraction traces to unleash their full power yet. It was only now that he retreated to focus on using Enhancement onto the Symbol of Extraction. A surge of energy streamed out of the six Tekur and Michael devoured it all. He reused the energy he''d absorbed to apply moreyers of Enhancement onto the Symbol of Extraction until the energy consumption of enhanced Extraction reached a terrific high.

    Michael took note that the Tekur with the Golden Bell, the Infernal Aura, and the Mysterious Staff started to attack him. However, he evaded all their attacks using Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze. His mental power was hitting an all-time low, but Michael couldn''t stop anymore.

    Extraction devoured energy which was instantaneously consumed to maintain enhanced Extraction at its peak whereas the lifeforce channeled into his body. Most of the lifeforce entering his body was immediately consumed by his mind which converted the lifeforce into mental power to aid him in the final moments of his battle against the three Tekur, who''d decided to attack him simultaneously.

    Michael was cut dozens of times but none of the injuries were lethal. Two or three attacks were serious but Archangel''s Grace managed to heal him long before the wounds could turn into serious problems.

    Atst, the Soul Techniques of the six Tekur stopped. Their Soul Power was used up and their Soultraits'' tremendous power deteriorated drastically. Their Soultraits were not even powerful enough to harm the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs anymore. After all, their Soul Power ¨C the only means they could use to turn their weak-ass Soultraits into the highly dangerous Soultraits everyone feared ¨C was drained and had to be recharged.

    Michael managed to kill the Tekur with the Golden Bell Soultrait and the Tekur with the Infernal Aura before he slumped to the ground, bleeding from his eyes and nose. His entire back was drenched in sweat. The leading Warlock Centaur killed the physically enhanced Tekur. Meanwhile, the numerical advantage of the other Alliance members finally came to use once the tremendous power of the Tekur''s Soultraits disappeared. The Tekur were still powerful in terms of physical strength but there was no way they could deal with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs by relying only on their physical strength ¨C not after Michael and the two Berserkers used their Soultraits to empower theirrades as much as possible.

    Atst, the battle ended. It was a fearsome battle, yet, oddly enough, no member of the Alliance died.

    However, that didn''t mean everything was fine. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were knocked out. Some barely managed to retrieve a bunch of potions to tend to their wounds before they slumped to the ground. Others, on the other hand, crashed down and fell unconscious in the middle of the battlefield. Theirrades had to feed them potions to make sure that they would survive.

    Michael forced his breathing to steady. It took him a while, but he managed to get up. He retrieved a Nutrition Serum from his War Rune and swallowed the content in an instant. The Nutrition flooded his body and mind, easing his headache considerably.

    ''I need a better mind-refinement technique or a Soultrait that focuses on enhancing my mind strength drastically. Or I should advance to Tier-3 and refine Caesurium Menta to the Peak of Stage three as quickly as possible.'' He thought, running a hand through his hair.

    He had been certain that he finally got ustomed to the tremendous power of the Tekur, but they surprised him with every encounter. The seven Enemy they''d fought just now had been much stronger than the rest. Why? Because they fought in a team. Their individual Soultraits were already quite strong given the Soul Power they''d umted but the reason they managed to nearly annihte He and a group of Coalition members was their teamwork and the great synergy of their Soultraits.

    Michael didn''t like to acknowledge it, but he was 100% sure that he would have died miserably if he had encountered the seven Enemy all alone.

    "Strength," He mumbled, eyeing the Enemy corpses. He really had to get his first Soul Technique.

 Chapter 482 Self-way

    Chapter 482 Self-way

    "Can I get the Tekur corpses for a while?" Michael asked the leading Warlock Centaur, who''d introduced himself as Zeron Polik after the fierce battle against the Tekur.

    "You want the Tekur corpses? Why?" Zeron asked.

    "I want to test something with my Soultrait. You know, the Soultrait that allowed me to read the memories of the war criminals? Sometimes, I can still read the memories and thoughts of the dead. I am not too sure how long the duration is, but it should be worth a try, don''t you think?"

    Zeron frowned deeply. He didn''t really want to give Michael the corpses of the Tekur because some of them were the kills of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Michael deserved some of them as his personal trophies, but all?

    However, he recalled what Michael had done for their people and their leaders'' words as well.

    "As long as the merits of killing the Tekur are split fairly ording to everyone''s contribution I¡­we will be fine." Zeron answered, only for a Berserker from the side to add, "You can just return the corpses once you''re done with your memory reading session, or whatever magic you''re performing."

    Michael was quite happy with that. It would be a little bit annoying to use Extraction in front of everyone without making it too obvious but it was not impossible.

    He froze the ground around him using cicle and let sledges grow from beneath the Tekur. The sledges moved to him with a slight tug of origin energy.

    "I will need full focus toplete my experiment. Please disturb me only if we''re about to be attacked."

    Once the corpses were handed over to him, Michael created a thick dome of cicle around him. The dome was thick enough to obstruct the curious mind from spying inside. Michael released the Dome of Extraction thereafter.

    He began extracting the Memory Orbs, the treasures stored within their War Rune, their Artifacts, arge stash of SoulStar Fragments and two Soultrait Symbols. One of the Soultrait Symbols belonged to the Tekur with the mysterious staff whereas the other Soultrait was from the physically-enhanced Tekur.

    Thetter interested Michael quite a bit. However, he didn''t even consider creating another soul socket in the Sphere of Light. The Soultraits were stored in the emerald box which disappeared in his War Rune alongside the other loot. Among the loot were Inferior Energy Stones and various other goods that none other than Michael could retrieve from dead Lords.

    3100 SoulStar Fragments entered his consciousness where they were immediately used up to empower Spirit Gaze. Soon Spirit Gaze would advance to 6-Star!

    Michael consumed the Memory Orbs he''d extracted from the Tekur, retrieved the Dome of Extraction, and shattered the dome of ice around him. He walked over to Zeron and handed over two Artifacts and the bodies of the Tekur they killed.

    "I am done. Though I might need a few hours to rest. My mind is fuzzy and my energy storage hit rock bottom," Michael said, issuing a small lie.

    His energy storage was not a problem. If anything, his mind was the issue. His mind was assaulted by a torrent of memories which Michael had to digest slowly to study the Tekur''s Soul Technique training method.

    Three hours passed in the blink of an eye until Michael got up with a heavy sigh.

    "Can I use the Compact Light Soul Technique with cicle?" Michael wondered.

    He had a good understanding of the Compact Light Soul Technique and even received the tome to Compact Light to study it properly. He had yet to use Extraction on the tome because he didn''t want to destroy the Soul Technique. The tome mighte in handy. But then again, Michael figured that he could just insert his knowledge into Memory Crystals if he wanted to share his understanding and knowledge of Soul Techniques.

    He erupted the Dome of cicle around him once again and retrieved all Soul Technique tomes that he had extracted since the start of the Interdimensional g War. Michael didn''t hesitate anymore. He unleashed Extraction and retrieved a Wisp of Knowledge from every Tome. The Wisps of Knowledge were pulled inside his mind where the information, knowledge, andprehension of the Soul Techniques impacted like a weird mixture of all possible natural disasters at once.

    Michael felt like he was slowly turning into a masochist given that he tormented his brain so continuously these days. Unfortunately, there was no way that he could allow his mind to take rest now. He could rest once the g War was over¡­or once he was dead.

    ''I saw everyone using their Soul Techniques clearly. Their energy cirction and the powers of their energy circtions are clearly etched in my mind. I can do it. I should be able to use Compact Light to turn it into a Compact cicle¡­or something along those lines!''

    Michael licked his dry lips recalling how the Tekur had used his Light Sphere Soultrait to create bullets made frompressed light. That was the basic concept- Compress a Light Sphere into bullets using the Soul Power stored within the Soultrait.

    The energy cirction of Compact Light allowed the Tekur to tap into the Soultrait Symbol of Light Sphere and intertwine Soul Power into his energy. The energy was then utilized to activate a Light Sphere and initiate the whole process.

    All Soul Techniques started in a simr fashion. They tapped into the Soul Power stored in their Soultrait Symbols, channeled their energy through the Soul Power to intertwine some of it and circte everything through the body in a specific order to fuse Soul Power and Origin Energy. Once fused, Soul Energy was created which could then be used to activate and overclock their Soultraits.

    After that thest steps of the Soul Techniques would be followed with great precision and the attacks were released, wreaking havoc on their enemies.

    ''All Soul Techniques require a different amount of soul energy. It is very specific so I will have to test around a lot using cicle instead of Light Spheres. It should be fine after a while, but I don''t even know how much stronger cicle will be once used with a Soul Technique, or how long I need to replenish my used up Soul Power.''

    ''Can I use the Soul Power of Extraction, or Roc Eyes to fabricate Soul Energy and activate cicle with that Soul Energy as well? Or is it necessary to use the Soultrait specific Soul Power? Can I strengthen Soul Techniques by using other Soul Power, or create new hybrid techniques? What about unleashing stronger attacks? Most Common ss Soul Techniques have only one or two utilities that require a very specific amount of Soul Power to be used. There is almost no way to create variations¡­''

    Variations would be harder to control. Therefore, the Tekur Soldiers didn''t learn them just yet. They were mere Soldiers and already had difficulties unleashing the Common ss Soul Techniques mid-battle. Their age and absence of talent was a clear testament to theircking experience.

    Meanwhile, Michael had loads of experience. It wasn''t exactly his own experience, but he saw a lot, witnessed even more, and he got the feeling that it was worth trying out everything little by little.

    Maybe he could overpower the Tekur in the next battle using a self-made, or altered Soul Technique?

    But before Michael could do various tests using cicles, he had to learn how to fabricate Soul Energy. At first, it would be fine if the Soul Energy inside his body was produced slowly but to utilize Soul Techniques mid-battle, he had to learn how to create them in an instant without getting distracted.

    Fortunately, the principle of producing Soul Energy was already engraved on his mind. He saw it often mid-battle with Roc Eyes and experienced the Tekur creating their own Soul Energy through their memories as well.

    The Wisps of Knowledge and underlyingprehension Michael had absorbed from the Soul Technique tomes created another pir of support.

    Michael used Leviathan Diffusion to circte origin energy through his body and channeled it straight into his Sphere of Light. The Sphere of Light was easy to target. It was much bigger and umted some of the excessive Soul Power his Soultrait Symbols released every now and then. Michael decided not to tap into cicle''s Soul Power but to intertwine the Soul Power of the Sphere of Light with his Origin Energy.

    The origin energy and Soul Power collided and shed at first. That was normal and it was quickly resolved as Michael took control of both origin energy and Soul Power. He intertwined the two powers slowly and began to circte them through his body using Leviathan Diffusion. His Enlightenment Mastery of Leviathan Diffusion was exceptionally helpful. It elerated the fusion process and created the first bits of Soul Energy in no more than five minutes.

    That was not enough to use it in battle, but Michael was satisfied. It was a pretty good starting line.

    Michael continued to practice the production of Soul Energy. He didn''t rush anything and fused more Soul power with Origin Energy within the next hour. As he got more adept at the most basic production method of Soul Energy, creating more Soul Energy became easier. It required less focus to fabricate Soul Energy and he could do other things simultaneously as well.

    However, instead of multi-tasking, Michael''s entire focus remained on Soul Energy Production. At least, until he''d umted enough Soul Energy to initiate experimenting with the Common ss Soul Technique aka Compact Light ¨C just a bit altered.

    One of the issues Michael had to pay attention to was cicle''s characteristics. Every Soultrait had different characteristics. Light Spheres materialized spheres that dazzled like the sun. It could be morphed into any shape of his liking and wouldn''t break easily either. Evidently light was very flexible. The same couldn''t be said about cicle.

    cicle was rather fragile and couldn''t be shaped as Michael pleased. It had one particr shape and all Michael could do with it was to alter the size, length, and girth of that one standard shape. It was an Icicle whetherpressed, elongated, or expanded to make it seem like a humongous wall.

    The shape was a huge downside, which was also why Michael hoped to rece cicle somewhen. However, its strongest point made up for the downside of its singr shape. cicle could turn into freezing mist onmand and revert back into cicles just as fast. The freezing effect and the freezing mist were what made cicle so special.

    Michael believed that he could examine a lot with cicle and Compact Light Soul Technique, but he was not sure how long it would seize before he would locate eptable results.

    It was a gamble to experiment with cicle and possible ipatible Soul Techniques, but Michael was willing to seize the gamble if it could expand his strength significantly.

 Chapter 483 Soul Power Recovery

    <h4>Chapter 483 Soul Power Recovery</h4>

    Michael tried to make use of the altered Soul Technique in a real battle to see if his alteration and understanding made it possible to use his very first Soul Technique in a fight.

    Interestingly enough, the start of the next battle was much better than expected. Since there was no storage for Soul Energy within the human body, Michael had to create some Soul Energy before they shed with the next group of Tekur. He instantaneously circted the energy intertwined with Soul Power through his body to create Soul Energy and channel it into cicle''s Soultrait Symbol to overclock the Soultrait.

    By activating cicle with Soul Energy, arge amount of the Soul Power stored within cicle was used-up to change into the overdrive state. Michael created several cicles. They were highlypressed into tiny needles and shimmered in an intense dark-blue hue. The cicle needles didn''t look like the usual creations of his Soultrait. They radiated immense cold and tremendous power, which only intensified as severalyers of Enhancement shrouded them.

    Michael could create a total of six cicle needles with the little Soul Energy he''d created. He didn''t strengthen one of the needles, applied only oneyer to the second, twoyers on the third, and so forth. Every cicle needles that followed had one moreyer of Enhancement applied to it.

    This was part of Michael''s experiment. He wanted to see how much influence Enhancement had on the power output of overclocked Soultraits. Would it be 50% like usual, or would the effectiveness of everyyer diminish?

    Michael found out the answer soon. He unleashed the barrage of six Soul cicle needles to attack a Tekur. The needles burst through the sound barrier as they whizzed through the air and they easily pierced through the Tekur''s carapace. One second the Tekur was ready to tear apart the Berserker in front of him and in the next moment his body was pierced and frozen from within.

    ''Enhancement'' effectiveness deteriorates if used with Soul Techniques. Is it because Enhancement was not supplied with Soul Energy as well?'' Michael wondered as he initiated the second experiment.

    He disappeared from the Tekur''s sight and let the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs fight with their lives on the line. Michael took a while to produce enough Soul Energy to use cicle once again. He took a deep breath and channeled the Soul Energy into cicle to create a single bullet made of ice. The cicle took the shape of a bullet. It was a little rough and wouldn''t fit perfectly in a gun, but that was not of great importance. Important was just that Michael managed to use the entire Soul Energy to conjure a single cicle.

    The Soul Energy that had been drained to create six Needles was not used within the cicle Bullet. Michael''s breathing grew heavier. He clearly sensed that the Soul Power within cicle''s Soultrait Symbol was being drained every moment the Soultrait was kept activated with Soul Energy.

    The origin of Soul Energy was not of great importance. Michael could even use Soul Power of other Soultrait Symbols to create Soul Energy and use it to activate other Soultraits. However, upon activating a Soultrait with Soul Energy, their Soul Power would be drained rapidly until the Soul Energy was consumed in its entirety.

    This factor was also why it was so important to create a specific amount of Soul Energy for every time one wanted to overclock their Soultrait. You had to be prepared beforehand with enough Soul Energy to be able to fuel your attacks, otherwise, your Soul Power would be drained rapidly.

    Michael didn''t have too many issues with that. Compact Light was a Soul Technique thatpressed the user''s Light Spheres. Each Light Sphere required a specific amount to bepressed. Therefore, one could create more Light Spheres if one produced an excess amount of Soul Energy.

    cicle was simr to a Light Sphere. Michael could create more cicles with a simplemand and didn''t have to pay much attention to the amount of Soul Energy inside him. All he had to be mindful of was to use up the Soul Energy until thest trace.

    The cicle Bullet pierced through the air and hit one of the Tekur in the back. The Tekur had ascended into the air to attack the Alliance members with a series of wind des and wind spears. Michael had been sneaking behind the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs to attack their enemies. His presence was barely noticeable. It was not noteworthy for the Tekur ¨C until two of them died that is.

    The cicle Bullets shot through the air and froze everything in its path. Even The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs standing in front of Michael were not spared from the tremendous potency of the Soul cicle Bullet. It froze their skin as the bullet brushed past them. The Bullet prated the chest of the Tekur and lodged itself deep inside the target before it exploded, releasing a tremendous amount of freezing mist. The freezing mist was also overclocked and therefore several times stronger than usual. The Tekur hit by the Soul cicle Bullet froze on the spot, unable to do anything against the tremendous power that suddenly turned him into a frozen statue.

    ''An ordinary Common ss Soul Technique drains roughly a quarter of cicle''s Soul Power. Fortunately, cicle is already a 5-Star Soultrait. That means its raw power is already quite powerful. Contrary to the Tekur Soldiers with their low-rated Soultraits, I won''t have that much of a disadvantage once cicle''s Soul Power is used up entirely.'' Michael realized this before he joined the battle against the Tekur actively.

    He had a lot to test, but it was more important to make sure that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs around him wouldn''t die. His individual power was bound to increase soon, but he felt bad for leaving the others to fend for themselves.

    The second battle continued for a while. Unfortunately, the result of the second battle with Zeron and his team was not as sessful as the first. Michael killed three Tekur once again, but it became more apparent that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs around him were at a huge disadvantage against the Tekur.

    Two Warlock Centaurs and one Berserker died in the battle.

    Tension hung heavily in the air after all Tekur in the vicinity had been killed, but nobody was overly depressed. It was an honor to die fighting against powerful enemies. Tekur were definitely powerful and the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs considered the Tekur as worthy opponents. Therefore, it was an honor to fight them head-on with all their might. Of course, it would be an even greater honor to win against their powerful enemies, but it was not a disgrace to die in battle. If anything, it was one of the few deaths all Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs epted unanimously.

    Michael felt a little bit weird about that, but who was he to judge their traditions and values? If anything, he should respect them and learn from them.

    The Origin Expanse was a ce full of war and deaths. If it was honorable to die in battle ¨C especially if you died fighting for your race, or territory ¨C it would be much easier for Michael to stand in front of his subjects and tell them to get ready to fight. But then again it was mostly Michael''scking expertise in leadership that stirred trouble when it came to controlling his subjects.

    Michael shook his head and collected the Tekur''s bodies. He created a dome of cicle around him and began using Extraction on them.

    His focus was on one Tekur at a time as Extraction produced the SoulStar Fragments and extracted the remaining loot. That was also how he noticed something very interesting.

    The pile of SoulStar Fragments thatnded in front of him was a little bit smaller than before. The first Tekur he''d extracted created fewer SoulStar Fragments than the rest. But that was not the only thing Michael noticed. Michael clearly perceived that Extraction drained remnants of Soul Power residing within the dead Tekur.

    The Soul Power umted within cicle''s Soultrait Symbol was being replenished¡­via Extraction.

    ''Wait, wait, wait. So you''re telling me that I can refill my Soul Power by extracting dead bodies of Awakened and Lords?? That is¡­amazing!''

    Michael knew that Extraction was astonishing but he didn''t even have the time to think about using Extraction in such an overpowered manner. The quantity of SoulStar Fragments he obtained after Extraction replenished his used-up Soul Power was less, but only by a small margin.

    Replenishing his used-up Soul Power consumed roughly 10-15 SoulStar Fragments. Michael hadn''t been using his self-made Soul Technique often, or in an exaggerated manner, which meant that the loss of 10-15 SoulStar Fragments might be considered rather high. However, each of Michael''s utility of his Soul Technique resulted in the demise of one enemy. He could gain much more by abusing Extraction''s newfound power!

    ''Does that mean I can convert SoulStar Fragments into Soul Power as well, or do I have to retrieve them straight from a recently killed Awakened?''

    Michael was not sure about that but he could procure an answer rather easily. He produced some Soul Energy and created a small Soul cicle Needle which he released high into the sky. Now that some Soul Power was drained once again, Michael consumed a handful of SoulStar Fragments with the intention of recovering the used-up Soul Power.

    And it worked. It actually worked!!

    Michael licked his dry lips and finished Extracting the gains from all Tekur bodies. He then absorbed their SoulStar Fragments and stored away the two Soultrait Symbols he''d extracted.

    ''I don''t really have to hold back inbat as long as I have enough SoulStar Fragments to regain the used-up Soul Power instantaneously.''

    After that, he nced at the Memory Orbs with an peculiar smile.

    ''If I were the Tekur¡­I would run¡­''

    Michael then consumed the Memory Orbs. There was still a lot he had to learn about Soul Techniques if he wanted to generate his own Soul Techniques for each of his Soultraits¡­and that was exactly what he was nning on doing!

 Chapter 484 Fusion

    Chapter 484 Fusion

    Now that Michael knew what he had to do to increase hisbat prowess rapidly, he could focus on studying the Tekur''s memories and alter the wide variety of Soul Techniques he''d procure. In fact, Michael was pretty sure that he could experiment a lot and create a new series of Soul Techniques. These techniques wouldn''t be on par with Common ss Soul Techniques right off the bat, but that was something he could work on.

    But before he focused solely on his Soul Techniques, Michael had to finish the upgrade of Spirit Gaze. Thest battle helped him procure enough SoulStar Fragments toplete Spirit Gaze''s 6th Star. The Soultrait Symbol shone brightly and exuded tremendous power.

    Michael''s pupils were now entirely silver, creating a stark contrast to his vibrant golden irises. Upgrading Spirit Gaze didn''t stimte an evolution. It didn''t hurt that much either. Michael could easily endure the pain.

    However, there was something else he realized. The link between Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze was growing stronger. It pulled the two Soultraits closer until they shed. The fusion of Spirit Gaze and Roc Eyes began.

    The moment the actual fusion was initiated, his eyelids grew heavy. He was forced to close his eyes and experience tremendous pain as millions of tiny melting needles pierced through his eyeballs. The pain was even worse than it had been when Eagle Eyes evolved to Roc Eyes. Michael could barely muffle his screams as he began to bleed from his eyes once again. But what Michael didn''t expect to happen was that the pain would spread further. The pain of millions of searing hot needles piercing through his eyeballs spread over his eyelids and continued to expand.

    ''Why is it so painful to upgrade most of my Soultraits. How about giving me some power without tormenting me? Wouldn''t that work??''

    Michael cursed in his heart but all he could do was endure the pain and hope that it would be over soon. There was nothing else to do.

    He tried to adjust his breathing using the Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique but it had little effect. All it did was pass some time.

    Michael grit his teeth and clenched his fists until his nails dug deep into his palms. Blood trickled down his fists as he kept enduring.

    Time seemed to pass eerily slowly. The pain reminded him that a single second could feel like an eternity. It was terrifying. However, Michael endured it knowing that the rewards would be generous. He knew that his strength would skyrocket once again once all of this was over. Thus, he waited impatiently, pushing himself to his limits.

    The Soultrait Symbols of Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze shed with each other. Cracks formed all over the Symbols and they burst into countless tiny pieces. Following that, the Soultrait symbols disappeared.

    The Sphere of Light within Michael hummed loudly. It was almost like the Sphere of Light was grieving the loss of its two Soultraits. Michael lost control of Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze, yet he didn''t realize any of it. All he could sense was that the severity of pain increased manyfold all of a sudden.

    The Sphere of Light glowed brightly whereas the shards of Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze were pulled together. The Essences of Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze swirled around each other like a helix. The link created between the two Soultraits had spread alongside the helix, connecting the two Soultrait to create a proper double-helix. If Michael could see the structure of the Soulraits just now he would probablypare it to the physical structure of the DNA.

    The Essence Helix as it was formerly called attracted the shards around itself. The shards were sucked into the Essence Helix that began to shape from anew, merging and fusing with each other over the course of several hours and took root in one of the two Soul Sockets they''d left behind.

    The majority of the pain coursing through Michael''s body dispersed the moment the newly fused Soultrait took root. A flood of information and understanding flooded his body and wiped away the pain that had tormented him for thest few hours. Michael grit his teeth and slumps to the ground onto his sweat-drenched back.

    His wet clothes clung to his body like leeches. It was disgusting and made him feel ufortable. However, Michael couldn''t move at this point.

    All he could feel was his eyes and the difort inside his body. After Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze fused, only one of the two Soul Sockets were upied.

    The Sphere of Light revolved against this. He couldn''t destroy the Soul Socket without harming the Sphere of Light, and harming the Sphere of Light was definitely not something Michael wanted to do. He had no idea what would happen if the Sphere of Light ended up damaged, or if it broke apart. The second possibility was the worst-case scenario but Michael couldn''t be certain that it would never ur. It was not worth the risk.

    That meant he had to use another Soultrait to fill the empty Soul Socket, otherwise, he would feel this ufortable emptiness within him until the end of time ¨C or something like that. Michael didn''t really n to fuse a new Soultrait to his War Rune but it was not like he had a choice. Either he had to fuse a new Soultrait, or he would feel empty until he finally gave in to the demands of his Sphere of Light.

    But before he gave in to the Sphere of Light''s desires and demands, Michael had to find out more about the power of his fused Soultrait.

    Spirit Eyes.

    That was the name of his Soultrait. The flood of information and understanding he''d obtained told him about that quite clearly. The mass of information had been far more than usual as well. Nheless, Michael was struggling to understand everything.

    ''Spirit Disturbance still exists. The only difference is that the name changed to Spiritual Domination. Spiritual Domination is¡­thrice as strong as Spirit Disturbance¡­amazing. But there is also more now. Spirit Sight allows me to see the unseen. I can detect basically everything now. Ranging from Spirits to everyst detail in the energy in my sight¡­and I can even process and understand most of it near-instantaneously. That''s amazing¡­''

    Michael was deep in his thoughts, going through the vast amount of information he''d obtained when someone approached him from the side. He saw arge hand reaching out for his shoulder.

    Michael merely saw the figure from the corner of his eyes but he jumped into action at once. He rolled backward and jumped up in a smooth motion, steadying his feet and changing into abat stance, ready to use his Soultraits and disy Aethyr to fight the unknown figure when he realized who it was. It was Zeron.

    But something was odd.

    The figure was Zeron, the leading Warlock Centaur, but that was not the confusing part.

    Zeron was not yet near him. The dome of cicle broke down somewhen in thest few hours, but there were still some of the dome''s remnants. Zeron hadn''t even crossed the dome''s remnants yet. He was several meters away from him.

    Only then did Michael recall something: Spirit Eyes had a third ability.

    Prognosis.

    Prognosis was simr to being able to predict the target''s movements. The only difference was that he could see the movements before they actually happened.

    Michael decided to use Prognosis on Zeron to see what he was doing and to find out how Prognosis worked, but all he could tell was that he had no idea whether Prognosis allowed him to look into the definite future or if the ability merely calcted the information at hand to anticipate the target''s movements long before Michael''s mind could do the same manually.

    It was ominous, yet also extremely cool.

    Michael was certain that Spirit Eyes would be very useful in the uing battles. After all, the Soultraits'' power increased manifold, and the Soul Power which the Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze had umted merged within Spirit Eyes. Once he came up with a proper technique to use Spirit Eyes with a Soul Technique, his enemies would learn to fear him ¨C if they didn''t already.

    "What is wrong with your eyes, kiddo?" Zeron asked Michael after he regained his exposure.

    Michael''s eyes had already been weird before, but the current state of his eyes seemed even more abnormal and out of ce now.

    "My eyes?" Michael asked, summoning Aethyr in its Shield form to look at the reflection of the polished silvery metal.

    Michael''s eyes didn''t look much different than before. His iris was still radiant golden, and his pupils glimmered silver. His eyes were bright and full of vigor. But there was also the point Zeron mentioned. There was still something different in his eyes, and around them.

    The blood vessels in his eyes were not red anymore. The white in his eyes was now permeated with golden and silver veins that had reced the red blood vessels.

    His eyes didn''t look human anymore.

    But that was not all.

    The area around his eyes had changed as well. The golden and silver veins spread across his eyelids and the area around his eyes. The vein-like marks were faint, but upon activating Spirit Eyes they began to glow dimly, forming a symbol ¨C a mark.

    The mark didn''t look special at first. But looking at his own eyes in the polished shield made him realize something after a while.

    Michael was not sure why or how that happened but the Symbol etched on Spirit Eyes'' Soultrait was now etched on his face.

    ''How am I going to hide this?''

 Chapter 485 Constitution

    <h4>Chapter 485 Constitution</h4>

    Michael figured that it wouldn''t be easy to hide the marks around his eyes. Even without activating Spirit Eyes one could see them, though subtly.

    But then again, Michael didn''t really n to exin anything, in the first ce. He felt like it would be the best idea to let others make their own spections about the visible changes of his body ¨C just like Zeke did. It bothered Michael a little bit but it was something that would have happened sooner orter. He couldn''t hide his secrets forever. The only thing of importance was to hide it until he was barely strong enough to protect his skin from High Society and other greedy bastards.

    ''Well, whatever.''

    In the worst case, Michael could attribute the Tekur for the changes of his body by saying that he obtained some tome and that he started practicing after heprehended something. It was really not that troublesome. Probably.

    "Since you don''t want to talk about your eyes, let''s talk about our next few steps. What are you going to do now?" Zeron asked Michael after realizing that Michael did not want to talk about his eyes.

    "If we''re going to continue traveling and fighting in this constetion, I would join your team for the time being. However, I was also told to travel around and search for other groups to make sure that everyone gathers to fight the Tekur together. So I might as well leave if you and yourrades decide to make a different move," Michael answered.

    "I think we''re going to join the other Alliance members to fight side by side. We were lucky to confront rather small groups of Tekur, yet everyone nearly died. If not for your active participation in every battle, most of us would be dead by now," Zeron sighed heavily.

    He didn''t know how the young human did it, but he was strong enough to defeat some Tekur while being a mere Tier-2 Lord, though he was at the Peak of the 2nd Tier. It didn''t make sense that Michael was this powerful, let alone that hisbat prowess increased with every battle.

    ''Does he own some sort of Soultrait that allows him to refine his physique, or strengthen his Soultraits after defeating powerful enemies?'' He began to wonder.

    After observing Michael for a while now, it was pretty obvious that his eyes changed a lot since the young human Lord joined their team. Zeron saw how the silver sheen in Michael''s pupils intensified whenever he finished his business with the Tekur corpses. The change in Michael''s presence was also noticeable. It was only slight at first, not anymore though. Now that silver and golden veins spread through his eyes and around the eyes, Michael''s presence was on another level.

    Zeron was certain that Michael was much stronger than before.

    ''I should inform the Chieftain about this once we''re out of here.''

    Michael didn''t know what was going on in Zeron''s mind. They continued to talk for a few minutes and went their separate ways. Zeron and his group would meet up with the other Alliance Members whereas Michael decided to travel through the isted dimension alone.

    Having too many people around him meant that it was more likely for someone to find out about his secrets. Michael felt that it was already hard to keep his secrets in front of a few dozen Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. How was he supposed to keep Extraction a secret when he wanted to extract the Tekur corpses with hundreds of Alliance members around him.

    That wouldn''t work.

    Therefore, it was time for him to travel around alone. He felt strong enough to do so, either way.

    There was only one small issue he would have to solve now that he was leaving; he had to fill the empty Soul Socket that Spirit Gaze left behind by fusing with Roc Eyes.

    Michael left after exchanging some pleasantries with Zeron and hisrades. His steps were nimble as he rushed in the opposite direction. He hoped to confront a bunch of Tekur in the next few days. It was also time to practice his altered Soul Technique a bit more and to use his creativity, knowledge, and understanding of Soul Technique to piece his own Soul Techniques together.

    Once the distance to Zeron and his group was significant enough, Michael retrieved the emerald box and opened it. A stash of 55 Soultrait Symbols appeared in his view and he began to think hard.

    "Second Skin is a really good Soultrait. Unfortunately, I don''t think I can change into a different race while Second Skin is at a low rating. I cannot transform into a Tekur to backstab them by sneakily infiltrating their own rows. Invisible Projectile should be given to Mika in the future, and I''m not a fan of Soultraits that drain my lifeforce, or Soultraits with severe conditions to use them.

    "With Archangel''s Grace I have a Soultrait of some sort as well. I might want to fuse my own Soultrait in the future, but not now. It won''t increase mybat prowess drastically while the g War is still on."

    "How about Invisibility? Or the Tekur''s Physique-enhancing Soultrait?"

    At the end of the day, Michael had to make a decision. Invisibility might be rather useful but Michael liked to fight in the open. He could give Invisibility to someone else, who could make more use of it. Thus, he switched his attention to the physically-enhanced Tekur''s Soultrait.

    It was a 0-Star Soultrait right now, but that could be changed swiftly.

    He retrieved the Soultrait with the Symbols that showed the human anatomy with great precision and fused it into his War Rune. A white tentacle shot out of the War Rune. It coiled around the Soultrait Symbol and devoured it instantaneously. In a matter of seconds, the Soultrait Symbol found its way to the empty Soul Socket where it was attached. Michael gained a new Soultrait just like that.

    Information spread through his mind. The pieces of intel found a ce to take root quickly and showed Michael everything he had to know. In the meantime, streams of moltenva began to course through his body. The pain was not as unbearable as it had been when Eagle Eyes evolved to Roc Eyes or as Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze fused to Spirit Eyes. Nheless, the pain was not to be taken lightly.

    "Constitution, 0-Star Soultrait. Improves the Constitution in all aspects. Meaning that the body, mind, and soul are tempered and some of the existence''s ws will be removed." Michael mumbled through his gritted teeth.

    More information entered his mind, but one thing was evident. His entire body was being altered. The changes were not drastic but Michael could clearly feel the muscles in his body squirm and bulge. His energy veins entangled and some of the impurities clinging onto them like leeches were loosened.

    Michael''s pores burst open and a considerable amount of blood gushed out of him. The blood, however, was not pale red like usual. It was almost dark in color, shrouding the loose impurities within his body before expelling them all-together.

    Michael shrouded his body with ayer of energy to store the blood-shrouded impurities in his storage bracelet. They could be thrown away and burnedter. But for now it was best to store them away.

    Nearly an entire hour passed before the changes within his body werepleted. Michael had to consume several Apex Nutrition Serums and absorb the purifiedpressed energy within a handful of Inferior Energy Stones to provide enough energy and nutrition toplete all changes. However, the result was certainly worth it.

    Constitution was merely a 0-Star Soultrait right now but it was far more unique than most Soultraits Michael had encountered until this day.

    Just like the information said, Constitution improved his constitution in all aspects. His Body, Mind, and Soul felt stronger and his movements ''smoother'' than before. His energy cirction improved, his mind was clearer than ever, and his body naturally absorbed the energy in the surrounding area. It even annexed the energy that entered his body naturally.

    Using Leviathan Diffusion to boost the effect, Michael could now digest thepressed purified energy within Inferior Energy Stones much faster than before. Most important of them all, however, was that he could use the Tekur''s Soul Technique along with Constitution. Constitution might still be a 0-Star Soultrait, but that was something Michael could change quickly.

    Hunting a group of Tekur should do the deed.

    Michael was getting a little bit arrogant and full of himself but he understood his limits regardless. He was aware of the various advantages he obtained by possessing so many powerful Soultraits, and what it meant to be in possession of the ability to create his own Soul Techniques.

    It was draining to use various Soultraits with immensely high output, but he possessed as much origin energy as a Peak Tier-3 Awakened. That was something Michael got to know by observing the Awakened and Lords around him using Roc Eyes before. Now that he possessed Spirit Eyes, Michael could see the amount of energy residing within everyone with clear precision.

    The things he saw made him understand that the amount of energy coursing through his body was abnormal. But why was that the case?

    The answer was obvious.

    Michael used several times more energy than others to refine his War Rune. He was in possession of 10 Soultraits and required far more energy than others to increase his rank. Only few possessed nearly as much energy as Michael while being on the same rank as him. Kaleb and Maria were like that.

    But even their situation was different, somewhat. Michael presumed that the Sphere of Light was part of the reason why his War Rune required more energy to naturally strengthen his mind, body, and soul.

    It was a Curse and Blessing at the same time.

    However, now that he obtained Constitution, the Curse might turn into a full-blown Blessing. After all, he should be able to absorb far more energy than before.

    All he needed was enough resources to absorb and upgrade Constitution.

 Chapter 486 Heavenly Beast Physique

    <h4>Chapter 486 Heavenly Beast Physique</h4>

    In the following six days, Michael was as busy as ever.

    He learned that Spirit Eyes was a much stronger Soultrait than he initially expected and that bybining Spiritual Domination with the Soul cicle Bullet, he could kill one enemy at a time.

    The Tekur didn''t expect him to be capable of using Soul Techniques. Therefore, the first attack was always a great surprise. He used the Soul cicle Bullet thrice in a row to take out the most annoying enemies instantaneously before slowly wearing out the remaining ones.

    Michael''s tactic was rather simple. He killed the Tekur with Support-type Soultraits as quickly as possible. Their Soultraits would either weaken Michael or strengthen their allies. Therefore, they had to be killed before they decided that Michael was too powerful for them to tackle without using their Soul Techniques.

    To their misery, Michael was faster in utilizing the Soul cicle Bullet and Spiritual Domination to take down those enemies before they even thought about using their Soul Techniques.

    Some battles were a little cumbersome, but Michael managed to not get truly overwhelmed and make serious mistakes. The only issues Michael faced were that the power stored within Archangel''s Grace was about to be used up, and that the Power of Energy Imprint within the Legendary Ring Artifact was empty as well.

    Fighting alone resulted in more injuries and a much higher energy consumption on his side, after all.

    Despite the dangers he faced, the results of his hard work were apparent. First of all, Michael earned an enormous amount of loot, ranging from Soul Technique Tomes, and Inferior Energy Stones, to Artifacts, Soultrait Symbols, and SoulStar Fragments ¨C a ton of them.

    It was perfect.

    Hisprehension and understanding of the Soul cicle Bullet were also pretty high. It was not difficult for him to produce just enough Soul Energy to conjure a Soul cicle Bullet in an instant. He could use the Soul Technique mid-battle, and the same could be said about Dark cicle Needles. It was a variation of the Soul cicle Bullet, a split version that released six slightly weaker needles instead of a Soul cicle Bullet.

    While hisprehension of the Soul Techniques was impressive, Michael was even more satisfied with the development of the Constitution Soultrait. Constitution was upgraded to Superior Constitution when it became a 5-Star Soultrait. His natural physical strength, energy cirction, speed and every other aspect of his constitution were now on par with a Tier-3 Awakened.

    Michael required lessyers of Enhancement to fight head-on against Peak Tier-3 Tekur than before. Yet, instead of using less, he continued to apply sixyers of Enhancement onto his body to overwhelm the Tekur with his physical prowess.

    Once Constitution upgraded to Superior Constitution, Michael''s body turned into a ck hole. At least, that was what it felt like. The surrounding energy was naturally pulled toward him and Michael could retrieve tens of Inferior Energy Stones around him to absorb their energy passively. The energy was first used to fill his energy storage to the brim and keep it full before the excess energy was supplied to his War Rune.

    His War Rune received a constant influx of energy. Michael didn''t even have to think about refining his War Rune as the Superior Constitution and his War Rune worked autonomously. The only thing Michael had to pay some attention to was to move around to make sure that there was enough energy in his surroundings or to retrieve a handful of Inferior Energy Stones every few minutes.

    Michael could decrease the time needed to refine his War Rune given the passive effects of Superior Constitution. It was a godsend, and exactly what Michael required to keep up with everyone else around him. As long as he improved Superior Constitution, he should be able to refine his War Rune and stay on the same rank as his peers and others without having to ughter millions of monsters and enemies for their energy influx.

    It would be really expensive to get hold of enough Inferior Energy Stones, but at least Michael now had the means to refine his War Rune swiftly even if he needed much more energy than others.

    There were only five days left before they would be thrown out of the isted dimension, but Michael had yet to find another Dimensional Pir.

    The Dimensional Pirs were actually not easy to walk past and miss. They ought to be easy to find given that the entire isted dimension was a t area. The only elevations were near the Dimensional Pir. How was it possible for Michael to miss the remaining Dimensional Pirs while traveling through the dimension for so long?

    Interestingly enough, he didn''t encounter many groups of humans either. He found some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs on his way, but Michael''s highest probability was to find a bunch of Tekur.

    That was also how Michael ended up with 19,500 SoulStar Fragments in his possession. Michael felt like using his SoulStar Fragments to upgrade a 5-Star Soultrait to 5.5 Stars. That way he could increase the Soultrait''s power considerably without having to upgrade it fully.

    But Michael was also in need of SoulStar Fragments to replenish his used-up Soul Power. He spent several hours everyday training Soul cicle Bullet, experimenting with his self-made Soultrait Symbols and increasing his mastery of the Heavenly Beast Physique ¨C the Common ss Soul Technique that had been used by the Tekur owned Constitution before him.

    The Heavenly Beast Physique didn''t require much Soul Energy to be activated. However, his Soul Power was rapidly drained with every second the Common ss Soul Technique was kept activated. It drained an enormous amount of Soul Power, yet the effect of the Common Soul Technique was tremendous. For a few seconds Michael could fight head-on against a Tekur Healer at the Mid of Tier-3 without using a singleyer of Enhancement. His physical prowess ended up being on par with a Mid Tier-3 Lord without Enhancement!

    Michael wanted to reach Perfect Mastery of the Heavenly Beast Physique to increase the Soul Techniques'' output and maximize the utility of Soul Power. It might allow him to fight with someone at the Peak of Tier-3 without having to rely on Enhancement. Adding severalyers of Enhancement to boost his power even further would turn him into a powerhouse with the ability to crush his enemies.

    Just thinking about the Soul Techniques'' Perfect Mastery made his heart leap. Then he thought about Spirit Eyes, Extraction, Enhancement, and his other Soultraits. They were in need of an amazing Soul Technique to increase his strength even further. Maybe if all of his Soultraits obtained a Common ss Soul Technique, he could deal with a Higher Lifeform at the Lowest rank of Tier-4. It was unlikely ¨C highly unlikely, maybe even close to impossible¨C but a possibility, nheless.

    Michael was satisfied with the gains he made in the g War one way or another. The Soul Technique Tomes were all safely secured in his mind as highlypressed knowledge. Michael could store his knowledge and understanding in Memory Crystals, which was probably something he would do to help the Forest Elves and Tiara to increase theirbat prowess. He was not sure if they possessed Soul Techniques and if they could use them given that none of them was a Lord with a tremendous amount of Soul Power, but he hoped that they could use some sort of Soul Technique in emergencies.

    Other than the Soul Techniques, Michael extracted a bunch of Body, Mind, and even Soul refinement techniques. Michael had to research the techniques to make sure that humans could use the techniques without facing any consequences, but he was confident that he would finally be able to start refining his Soul, even if it was just by a little.

    Michael''s strength, his resources, and the treasures at his disposal umted slowly. He was not as weak as before and he had the means to support his own expenses to a certain degree. Selling the trantion of a single Soul Technique should bring in a fortune. If that was not enough, Michael could still make use of his loophole to create an infinite amount of Mythic Summoning Scrolls to trade and sell.

    Last but not least, there were still a bunch of Soultrait Symbols he could sell. He wouldn''t sell them easily but if he was desperate for money, Michael could sell his Soultrait Symbols and a bunch of SoulStar Fragments. Fortunately, it would nevere to that. Michael would make sure that he wouldn''t sell his most valuable treasures just like that.

    If anything, he would make use of them to establish connections with other races, strike deals with true powerhouses to gain their favor, and bind them to himself.

    Every single Soultrait Symbol would turn into a valuable asset once sold or traded.

    But to make sure that he was considered seriously, Michael needed even more strength than he possessed right now. The results of the g War would pull lots of attention to him, and it was not as if his vibrant golden eyes with silver pupils would lessen the attention he already received. If anything, the situation would turn worse.

    Other than that, there was still the Mark of Fate that connected him to Maria Seraph, somehow. High Society was likely to pounce on him like starving Hyenas. Therefore, Michael had to be prepared.

    "I might as well hunt until the g War is over. If I can upgrade Superior Constitution to 6-Star I should be able to further elerate the refinement of my War Rune. Using Heavenly Beast Physique with 6-Star Superior Constitution should give me an advantage over everyone else as well. That''s perfect!" Michael murmured to himself when he noticed something from the corner of his eye.

    Arge group of more than 100 Descendants entered his sight.

    Amid them was Maria Seraph, and he also spotted Killian Zeus, who was following her like a neglected puppy.

    Michael squeezed his lips together and was ready to turn away. He''d rather evade a troublesome encounter like this.

    Unfortunately, a group of Descendants, scouts, noticed him.

    "Isn''t that Michael Fang?"

    "What is Maria''s Primal Amplifier doing here? I thought he was dead."

    "Looks like he is alive though."

    "This is getting troublesome. Killian is here as well¡­"

    "Will they kill each other?"

    Michael sighed inwardly and shook his head. He had the bad feeling that today and thest days of the Interdimensional g War would be annoying.

    "I wonder. Will we kill each other?" He murmured, surprised that he was not sure if he wanted to sh with Killian, or if he should evade it.

    Deep down a zing me ignited within him. Michael didn''t want to back down against Killian or go out of his way to please that jerk. Why should he?

    There was no need for Michael to retreat.

    He didn''t do anything wrong, and he would beat the shit out of Killian if he said otherwise, or he would try to, at least.

    ''This is getting interesting¡­''

 Chapter 487 Killian, The Shadow & Death

    <h4>Chapter 487 Killian, The Shadow & Death</h4>

    "It''s good to see you, Michael. I was already wondering where to go looking for you," Maria Seraph greeted Michael with a smile.

    She grasped his hand and pulled him behind her, not even waiting for Michael''s greeting. Maria ignored his subtle resistance and urged him, "I need your help with something. Please follow me!"

    Michael raised his right eyebrow and stared nkly at Maria. She ignored the people around her and continued to drag Michael through the small camp. It was a basic camp made with Artifacts created from thebined efforts of cksmiths, alchemists and enchanters. Expanding tents, campfires with enough firewood and even a miniature infirmary that expanded once enough origin energy was channeled inside it appeared in Michael''s view.

    Maria''s actions didn''t go unnoticed. Many saw the way she tightly held Michael''s hand as she rushed through the basic camp with him in tow.

    "This bastard," One of them cursed under his breath. His thinking escaped his lips before he realized it, but the Descendant didn''t really care. All he could pay attention to was the anger and jealousy that blossomed in his heart.

    "Who the hell does he think he is? Why is Maria holding his hand, in the first ce?!"

    The tension in the camp increased exponentially within seconds. Michael was not even in the camp for five minutes, but he had overthrown the camp''s power bnce and had managed to irk quite a lot of people without doing anything. Bolts of lightning zapped through the surroundings. They crashed into the ground and tore the earth apart.

    Killian Zeus was standing in the center of the camp. He had been near Maria when they heard about the scouts'' encounter with one of the variables ¨C Michael Fang. Maria was beyond exhausted from tending to the wounded for so long but upon hearing that Michael Fang arrived she regained her vigor. There was no hesitation in her actions as she jumped up from her chair to rush toward Michael and pull him behind her.

    To others, it looked like a lonely beauty had reunited with her lost lover after decades of separation.

    Killian Zeus'' eyes were filled with fury. He stared at the scene in front of him, his eyes turning into sharp slits.

    "That bastard was Michael Fang?" Killian asked, faintly recalling a youth who''d been around the Berserkers on the first day they arrived in Piloq, "This weakling ispatible with Archangel''s Grace? That is utter nonsense!"

    Hisrades seated near Killian didn''t even have to answer their friend. It was obvious that Killian wouldn''t hear them either way. He was already in his own little world of dangerous, rage-fueled thoughts. Even if they wanted to say something it was better to stay put. Killian can be dangerous in ''these'' situations. He was like a different human being ¨C not that he had ever been a warm and pleasant person to be around.

    Killian grit his teeth and red loathingly at Michael, who disappeared with Maria in arge tent.

    ''If Maria could select another Primal Amplifier I would kill you on the spot, you motherfucker!'' He growled in his heart, the lightning bolts around him crackling ominously, causing more and more destruction. The Descendants seated around him had to jump back to evade the lightning bolts. They erupted energy shields around their bodies and stared at Killian with mixed emotions.

    Maybe today he was going a little bit out of hand, more than usual.

    A lightning armor manifested naturally around Killian as the raging thinking overwhelmed his rational mind.

    Everything would be so much easier if he can just kill Michael and retrieve the Mark of Fate. He could be Maria''s Primal Amplifier by epting the Mark of Fate and allowing his War Rune to transform. Everything would be perfect if it was that easy.

    Once he became Maria''s Primal Amplifier, the Zeus family wouldn''t shy away from using the majority of their resources to make sure that their prodigious Descendant and Maria can get married. That way the Zeus and Seraph family could be close allies and create the strongest partnership, thus solving various future problems.

    It would be perfect!

    The children born to Killian and Maria were bound to be prodigies and their families can prosper. But all of this was not reality. And there was only a single person stopping him from turning it into one.

    Killian growled silently as he turned around. Thinking about marrying and having her bear his children was a pleasant thought, but it left a sour aftertaste to think that the woman he wanted acted like an innocent maiden overflowing with excitement around another man.

    He took a deep breath in, let the oxygen circte through his lungs, and exhaled slowly. Electricity currents filled the air as Killian exhaled.

    ''Only one person can be a Seraph''s Primal Amplifier. Even if I cannot be her Primal Amplifier anymore¡­I can still be her First Amplifier. All I need to do¡­ ''

    It was difficult to scheme against others in a world filled with technology, security cameras, and recording devices. Killian would have a hard time getting rid of Michael without leaving any traces. Inside the Origin Expanse, something like that would be pretty simple. Unfortunately, they were not in the Origin Expanse right now.

    But what about the isted dimension? Recording devices didn''t work in the isted dimension and the crystal watch malfunctioned as well.

    "I need to lure him away from everyone else," Killian mumbled, his eyes glowing maliciously as a n formed in his mind.

    He turned away from therge tent and moved aside. Now was not the time to let anger fuel him. He had to stay calm,e up with a wless n, and execute it neatly.

    Killian walked over to his tent and entered it, his mind churning with various thoughts. Several pairs of eyes peeked through the shadows, their attention locked onto Killian and the emotions that ravaged through his body like torrents of wild, uncontroble energy.

    "Should we use him, Sir Raven? His insatiable condition is perfectly suited for ''it''." One of them murmured while hiding in the darkest parts of the shadow where a pair of violet eyes glowed brightly.

    "Seems like we found a perfect target. His mental instability and emotional turmoil are the definition of perfection. To think that Killian Zeus will be our target. All he needs is a little push," Another figure, Raven, d in shadows responded, his eyes shimmering in a bright purple hue.

    The figure retrieved a small object, an orb filled with darkness. Purple threads spread across the surface of the orb like bolts of lightning, but that was not it. The threads were not what they resembled. They were millions of miniature seals that had been woven into the orb to confine the things inside forever. Wrinkled, bony hands pressed tightly against the inside of the orb, their nails scratching the surface from within.

    "We''ve only got one chance. Do you really want to use this, Raven?" A third figure asked, her voice filled with bits of uncertainty.

    "One chance is all we need. We''ve got the main target and this. It should be more than enough to get rid of those disgusting traitors and show High Society what it means to go against the natural order," Raven responded, his voice growing colder as the words left his mouth. He took a deep breath to calm his boiling emotions, closed his eyes before his voice echoed through the vicinity once again, "Our mission is crucial. No room for mistakes. Capture the targets alive and kill everyone else! Auar Hyumana Supremaca!"

    "Auar Hyumana Supremaca!" The other figures repeated, pledging their lives to humanity''s supremacy.

    The figures disappeared in the shadows one after another, leaving Raven all by himself.

    He eyed the ck orb for a moment and watched death within moving around, desperately trying to escape the eternal seal.

    "If that''s what it takes I''m willing to sacrifice all the Descendants," He murmured before his eyes traveled back to Killian''s tent.

    Raven traveled through the shadows in the next moment and appeared inside Killian''s tent. Killian was standing in the middle of his room, one hand pushing back his short, golden hair. His hair all over his body stood up on its end when he sensed the energy fluctuations inside the tent. Instinctively, he turned around, ready to summon the thunder armor in an instant.

    Raven''s eyes shot wide open as tremendous power surged through him at once. Killian acted a little bit faster than he expected. He''d grown stronger once again.

    Soul Energy surged through Raven''s body as he activated an Elite ss Soul Technique, the technique he''d obtained not too long ago. Raven activated his Soultrait in its strongest overclocked form and faced Killian Zeus, whose body stopped obeying hismands.

    Killian Zeus'' eyes widened. He stared at a familiar face, a good friend of his, but the friend looked nothing like usual. The charade was over. There was no need for Raven to hide his real self anymore.

    "Isn''t it funny? By using a mere Elite ss Soul Technique I can strengthen my Soultrait enough to stop you with brute force. Isn''t that amazing? That''s the power of the Supreme Human Alliance, you know?" Ravenughed, staring at the arrogant bastard in front of him with a devious smile.

    "Well, I guess you don''t like us, but that will change soon enough, don''t worry," Ravenughed, yet his voice was emotionless, ice-cold.

    "I have a small present for you, straight from the Hyumans, who were generous enough to lead me away from the wrong path I''ve been treading. The present shall help you find your way back to the correct path ¨C the path to humanity''s supremacy!"

    Raven stepped forward with slow and confident strides. His smile widened even further as he appeared right in front of Killian. He used his Soul Technique to force Killian''s mouth wide open.

    "Have fun witnessing thousands of deaths before you turn into death itself. I will savor every moment of you bringing a cmity to your own people!" Ravenughed like a maniac and was just a second away from pushing the dark orb into Killian''s mouth when a noise from behind him forced him to a halt.

    "What kind of kinky y is going on here?!?"

    **

    [A/N: The author is back! What do you think about Killian Zeus? Is he a psychopath, a maniac, or just a fool in love? Tell me about your opinion. I''m very intrigued! What do you think will happen now that more and more troublesome enemies appear around Michael...and even within the human race? Can they defeat their enemies, or will the trouble inte and be too hard to remove? What will happen?]

 Chapter 488 Interlocked

    <h4>Chapter 488 Interlocked</h4>

    Michael didn''t even know what happened until he was dragged inside therge tent.

    The tent was spacious but it was crowded with dozens of Descendants lying on mattresses. They were wounded and had to be tended to. Some lost a limb or two, whereas others were covered in deep, visceral injuries. Injuries caused by elemental wounds were also visible everywhere.

    It was not pleasant to look at.

    Michael felt a little weird staring at the Descendants in front of him. The strongest prodigies of the youngest generation were in front of him, beaten up, some even on the verge of death. Were those Descendants really the same people Michael had been worried about?

    Reflecting on his behavior, Michael felt that everything was just a big joke.

    "I think you understand what I want to do," Maria Seraph said, still holding Michael''s hand. Her fingers were intertwined with his and they locked hands.

    Michael stared at Maria without saying anything. He couldn''t hide his surprise.

    "I''ve never done this. Please, don''t block my ess to the Mark of Fate and such," Maria pleaded while trying to suppress the heat rising to her ears.

    She utilized Archangel''s Grace at once, conjuring a pair of white wings behind her and a dazzling halo above her head. Simultaneously, Michael''s War Rune began to shine brightly. The Mark of Fate glowed and a small projection of a miniature angel conjured on the backside of his hand.

    The miniature Angel moved on top of the interlocked hands and knelt down to pray. All of a sudden, a second pair of wings sprouted from Maria''s back. Her dazzling halo expanded and the range and power of her ability increased rapidly alongside.

    Michael heard Maria exim quietly under her breath as she sensed the tremendous power that was surging through her body. He could see her power thanks to Spirit Eyes, and he had to acknowledge that it was nothing like before. The only time her power felt even stronger was during the bombardment on Piloq. That time Michael had been channeling a tremendous amount of energy into her body. It was not the same as this time.

    Right now, Maria relied on her own energy and the Mark of Fate to unleash the power of Archangel''s Grace. Michael activated Spirit Eyes and watched intently as healing currents swamped the spacious tent. He observed keenly as the pained expressions of the injured Descendants dispersed. The tormenting pain vanished as their wounds were stimted to heal rapidly.

    Even those unlucky enough to have misced their limbs in the earlier fights encountered a surprising change in their bodies. Their bodies were stimted, and the lost limbs began to regrow. Michael observed the regrowth of their limbs with great interest. A single use of Maria''s Soultrait wouldn''t be enough to regenerate their limbs entirely but their bodies might actually attain enough stimtion to regenerate the rest on their own.

    Michael couldn''t be certain about this, but he was confident that the crippled Offspring could be tended to. Maybe, they would recover and be hale and hearty before the isted dimension threw them out after the g War ended.

    ''So that is the raw power of Archangel''s Grace solely enhanced with the Primal Amplifier. Maria didn''t even have to tap into my Sphere of Light to borrow my Soul Power. She didn''t use her Inheritance Technique, either. How potent would Archangel''s Grace be if used with the Primal Amplifier, multiple other Amplifiers, and Heaven''s Descent?'' Michael wondered, swallowing hard as he imagined the grand prowess Maria could attain in the future.

    She didn''t have a Soultrait like Michael, but he was certain that Maria would be one of the strongest powerhouses across the Tritan Alliance ¨C maybe even farther.

    Michael''s attention was pulled to a particr thought, something he began to wonder now that he''d learned some Soul Techniques on his own.

    ''I wonder how powerful an Inheritance Technique would be whenbined with a Soul Technique.''

    Maria''sbored breathing pulled Michael out of his train of thought. He nced at her and noticed that Maria was about to copse. Michael gently held her by the shoulder with his left hand to support her. His other hand was still tightly interlocked with Maria''s left hand which was now drenched in sweat.

    "Are you done, or do you want to keep holding hands?" Michael teased lightly. Maria, still breathing heavily, nced down at her hand squeezing Michael''s tightly, and turned beet red. She let go of him in a hurry before hiding her hand behind her back.

    Maria''s legs were about to give in once again when Michael used his other hand to steady her.

    "Good job. Archangel''s Grace is even stronger than I expected," Michael changed the topic lightly. The tips of his ears were red and hot as if they''d been set on fire. However, he ignored that sensation and acted like usual.

    "That''s¡­That''s only because of the Mark of Fate. It increased my power tremendously. Without you, I wouldn''t have been able to save half of them. Now each of them will survive. Thank you!" Maria said, grinning sheepishly.

    "I don''t really think I deserve to be praised for this. I was just standing there holding your hand. It''s not like I strained myself like you did," Michael responded with a shrug.

    Most people would kill for the chance to hold Maria Seraph''s hand and to be close to her, yet Michael could do it just like that. It was very unfair in the eyes of those desperate souls who''d been yearning just a nce from Maria. Of course, Michael didn''t care about their opinion.

    Nheless, he had to acknowledge that Maria''s personality matched her otherworldly beauty. She ignored the people around her to drag him into the tent and heal everyone. She went on and beyond to ensure that everyone would survive ¨C that everyone would get back to their prime. Michael wouldn''t have healed the cripples just yet. They''d misced some limbs but wouldn''t have died from the wounds. All he would have done in Maria''s stead was to ease their pain and simply ensure that they survived.

    However, Maria was different. She was not someone who merely wanted to pay her patients a quick visit and dust her hands off saying they were too injured to be saved. Maria wanted to ensure that her patients could get a life worth living for. The Offspring who misced their limbs would have a hard time regrowing their limbs after a certain period. The longer they waited the higher thesting damage would be. Therefore, Maria did everything she could to ensure that they wouldn''t havesting damage to begin with. She made sure to utilize her skills and talent to the best of her ability.

    Maria cleared her throat, noticing how intently Michael stared at her. She felt odd maintaining eye contact with him right now. A weird sensation caused her body to tense up and her heart to beat wildly. Michael''s vibrant golden eyes pulled her into a trance. Yet, despite feeling odd, Maria couldn''t say that she hated this feeling.

    It was ufortable, yet not something she didn''t like ¨C even thrilling to some extent.

    Maria cleared her throat after a few seconds of silence.

    "It''s good to see that all of them will survive. But that''s not because of me. We would all be dead by now if not for Killian''s help. He arrived when the Tekur struck us. With his support we were able to kill the remaining Tekur and save many Descendants."

    Michael raised an eyebrow hearing Maria appreciate Killian so much. Maria didn''t feel like a person who would praise others a lot.

    "Are you guys a couple? You and Killian." He thus asked, just making sure that he knew what was going on and if Killian''s hatred toward him as Maria''s Primal Amplifier might be justified.

    Maria blushed, but her answer surprised him quite a bit, "I¡­never had a boyfriend."

    Michael looked at her and smiled. Suddenly, his eyes were pulled to somewhere behind Maria and his eyes widened. Spirit Eyes was still activated from before and he saw something that shouldn''t be there. He was certain.

    "Someone activated a Soul Technique in the camp," He murmured, turning back to Maria with a dead-serious expression," Does anyone hereprehend about Soul Techniques? Is that a thing for Descendants?"

    Maria didn''t expect Michael to grow so serious all of a sudden, but she thought about it for a moment.

    "Soul Techniques? I think I heard about that term from my mother before. I think it was about finding a secret tome in some ancient ruin. It''s written in an ancientnguage and the researchers of the High Society are currently deciphering the texts. They''ve yet to make any major breakthroughs though. Oh, yeah. I think my mom said that they assume that the Tekur might be using Sou¨C..." Maria was stopped abruptly by Michael as he lifted his hand.

    "So nobody knows how to use a Soul Technique?"

    "N-no¡­why?" Maria was still unsure where Michael was going with the conversation.

    "Well¡­we might have a problem then," Michael murmured, using Leviathan Diffusion to weave energy through his body. His Superior Constitution came to disy as he charged out of the tent with shocking eleration.

    Maria was still tired but she got a bad feeling seeing Michael run off. She rushed behind him, her eyes narrowing.

    "Killian''s tent? Why are you going there?" Maria asked while trying to catch up with Michael.

    "Killian?" Michael asked aloud, but his eyes narrowed.

    What he''d been seeing was definitely not Killian. It was someone else¡­and a weird mass of something dark. But it was not darkness. Through his Spirit Eyes, it looked more like¡­death¡­

    Michael didn''t hesitate and barged into Killian''s tent where he found an unknown Descendant overpowering Killian with a powerful Soul Technique¡­and the Death Orb that was about to enter Killian''s mouth.

    "What kind of kinky y is going on here?!?"

 Chapter 489 Skeleton

    <h4>Chapter 489 Skeleton</h4>

    Maria had no idea what was going on but her instincts told her that the ck orb near Killian''s mouth was nothing good.

    Killian''s head was red, and veins protruded from his temples and neck. A droplet of sweat trickled down his forehead, showing how much he struggled. Yet, Killian couldn''t escape the cloaked man''s grasp.

    His movements were sealed.

    Michael frowned deeply, his eyes lingering on the Death Orb. He produced Soul Energy on a whim and manifested a Soul cicle Bullet. It drained his Soul Power considerably, but Michael didn''t pay any attention to that. He released the Soul cicle Bullet without asking any questions.

    The bullet shot through the tent with a terrific velocity. It burst through the chest of the Descendant attacking Killian and exploded once it was deep inside Raven''s chest. Raven was bound to freeze to death.

    Raven didn''t expect anyone to intervene in his n. He shouldn''t have made enough sounds to attract attention. Nobody dared to enter Killian''s tent or get close to it, in the first ce. There was no way that someone would simply decide to barge into Killian''s tent, all of a sudden, at that. But it happened. It didn''t make any sense.

    Raven was surprised about the sudden entrance of Maria and Michael, and it was even more astonishing that Michael didn''t hesitate to release an attack with the intention of killing a fellow human. It was totally unexpected and caught him off-guard.

    Fortunately, Raven had a backup n.

    He looked down at the gaping hole in his chest, smiled lightly, and nced at Michael, "Looks like we got a change of ns."

    Raven pulled the Death Orb closer and pushed it deep inside the gaping hole in his chest. A pained expression appeared on his face but he forced a smile on his face once again.

    Dark blood gushed out of the gaping hole. It mantled the Death Orb that began to hum. The millions of miniature seals etched on the surface of the Death Orb lit up and cracked. The seals were coated in blood. They distorted into grotesque letters before dispersing entirely.

    The Death Orb cracked open, unleashing the eerie energy that had been stored within it for thousands of years.

    Killian regained control of his body as the Death Orb cracked. He retreated and appeared next to Michael and Maria. His breath was heavy but his eyes focused entirely on the situation ahead of them.

    The three young Lords witnessed a sudden change in Raven''s expression. His eyes lost their luster and the vigor in his body was devoured. Deep wrinkles suddenly covered Raven''s youthful face as he aged several decades in a matter of seconds. His skin decayed and the flesh beneath his skin corroded, leaving a putrid smell in the air.

    Michael swallowed his saliva when he saw through his Spirit Eyes that the Death Orb''s energy swept through Raven''s body. It drained his life in an instant before doing¡­something to Raven. Michael was not even sure what was going on before the Death Orb shattered.

    The death energy stored within the Death Orb was unleashed at once. It drained thest bits of life within Raven and turned him into¡­something. Meanwhile, the majority of the death energy burst out of Raven. It filled the air in an instant and decayed Killian''s tent within seconds. Thereafter, the death energy expanded rapidly, filling the entire camp of survivors.

    Killian groaned as the death energy passed by him. His skin began to corrode, forcing him to summon the Lightning armor. The lightning coating his body zapped violently, trying to repel the death energy that permeated the air all around him.

    Meanwhile, Maria was forced to use Archangel''s Grace to cleanse the air around her. She was already drained from tending to the injured Descendants'' wounds, yet she was forced to use her Soultrait once again.

    Meanwhile, Michael covered his body in a thinyer of extraction. He separated the purest portions of energy within the death energy and pressed one hand against Maria''s back.

    Michael sensed that she was drained and understood that it was necessary to help her. Maria''s remaining energy was not nearly enough to evenst for two minutes. She was utterly exhausted.

    His War Rune glowed up and the projection of the miniature angel manifested once again. However, Michael only paid attention to Inserting some purified origin energy into Maria to ensure that she could cleanse the air around them.

    Afterward, his attention was pulled to Raven, who stood still in the same position as before. At first nce, it looked like Raven was nothing more but a bunch of useless bones. However, it didn''t take long before the bones began to move. The motions were subtle but there was certainly movement. The Death Orb had shattered but the death energy within Raven had taken root in his heart. It had evolved into a swirl of death energy that spread through every single bone within Raven''s body.

    Michael saw the tiny dark threads that connected Raven''s bones and the brightly flickering soul fire that formed in his empty eye sockets.

    ''Are we ying Undead Arise, or what?'' Michael cursed in his mind, his head flicking to the back when he heard pained groans and desperate screams from the back.

    "The others!" Maria eximed, her eyes widened in terror. She turned around, only to see that everyone had already breathed in some of the death energy that rapidly spread through the surroundings. Everyone clutched at their throats in terror, their eyes wide open in shock, and their skin slowly began corroding.

    "I need to help them!" She screamed and was about to rush to the others and overdraw her energy storage to unleash Archangel''s Grace once again.

    "Don''t be an idiot. We''ve got to kill this bastard first, otherwise, the death energy will never cease!" Michael shouted back at Maria before letting her go. He could continue to Insert to give her more energy, but Michael was certain that she would run away and use every bit of energy in an instant to help the others. However, her solution was not feasible.

    Defeating Raven and cleansing the air afterward, on the other hand, was a permanent solution.

    "Kill him? Sandro looks more than dead already, "Killian cursed, "He is nothing like before. He attacked me all of a sudden¡­his strength manyfold higher than before. He was babbling about some Elite ss Soul Technique, Hyumans, and the Supreme Human Alliance "

    Killian might not like Michael, but he figured that he needed some help. Sandro''s Soul Technique was strong enough to overpower him. Meanwhile, Michael''s ice bullet had been quite powerful. Killian sensed the power within the ice bullet. It was certainly enough to kill most Late Tier-3 Awakened.

    Sharing the information in his possession ought to help Michael gain a better understanding of the predicament and find a solution together.

    As for the hatred Killian felt toward Michael, it could be ignored for the time being. At this very moment, all that mattered was to survive and to defeat mercilessly Raven.

    They could fightter to resolve their issues.

    ''Supreme Human Alliance? Elite ss technique¡­ The Hyumans reached some households of the High Society already. Traitors are participating in the g War! Fuck!!'' Michael shook his skull disbelievingly.

    He was about to say something to Killian when he noticed that Sandro/Raven began to move. The Skeleton shot forward, his entire bony body cloaked in death energy. His hand shot toward Michael''s neck but Michael didn''t even think of allowing Raven to get closer. He used the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique in an instant and manifested another Soul cicle Bullet.

    Michael didn''t want to drain his Soul Power this rapidly, but he was not sure how strong Raven was in his new form. The Death Skeleton screamed danger. It was definitely not an opponent Michael wanted to deal with at this point.

    But there was nothing Michael could do about it. He added severalyers of Enhancement to his body and weaved origin energy throughout his entire body using Leviathan Diffusion. That way Michael''s body reached the highest possible state at his current rank. His body was brimming with strength, yet he could barely evade the bony hand that shot out towards him.

    The Soul cicle Bullet burst forth, smashing hard against Raven''s Skull. Yet, instead of breaking anything, the Soul cicle Bullet shattered without causing anysting damage. Not even the freezing mist seemed to cause much damage. All it did was disperse some of the death energy coating Raven''s skeleton. However, the bits of death energy that dispersed were quickly reced by more death energy.

    "Your attack is too weak!" Killian shouted, unleashing a tremendous bolt of lightning in Raven''s direction. The bolt of lightning zapped through the air and struck hard on the target''s chest. Raven was flung backward the moment the lightning impacted. However, he wasn''t injured or slowed down. Raven got up from the ground, more death energy coating his chest.

    "The hell¡­" Killian cursed, whereas Michael shouted aloud, "The swirl of death energy in his chest is a storage. It''s being used up to spread the deadly fog through the camp and to renew him!"

    Michael was d to possess Spirit Eyes. It allowed him to see far more than most people could. He swiftly figured out the secrets of the Skeleton''s tremendous power. The only question was; how the hell were they supposed to kill an Undead being whose body was protected by an enormous amount of death energy? The death energypressed into the Skeleton''s chest was not small by any means!

    "Is that so? In that case, let''s pummel that bastard until there is no more energy left!" Killian thundered, expanding his thunder armor.

    Lightning filled the entire tent, destroying the deadly fog all around him.

    Michael and Maria had to retreat to avoid Killian''s uncontrolled lightning.

    "Cleanse the air. I will give you more energy. Go all out, okay?"

 Chapter 490 Bickering

    <h4>Chapter 490 Bickering</h4>

    Michael''s train of thought was pretty simple.

    Since the deadly fog that drained everyone''s lifeforce was connected to the death swirl in the Skeleton''s chest, cleansing the deadly fog would force Raven to release more energy to keep the entire camp shrouded.

    MIchael had no idea what Raven''s n was but given the little intel at his disposal, he figured that Raven had been ordered to kill as many Descendants as possible. Was that a punishment for allowing the Tritan Alliance toe to existence? Michael had no idea. All he knew was that the Skeleton focused on the deadly fog while fighting with Killian.

    ''Once the death energy swirl is drained, the Skeleton should copse. It''s ''kept alive'' by the energy swirl, after all.'' Michael concluded. The only downside was that the death energy swirl was overflowing with a tremendous amount of energy. It possessed more energy than ten thousand Inferior Energy Stones. That was bad.

    The only advantage was that Raven''s Skeletal structure couldn''t bear the death swirl''s entire energy. The death swirl could only circte a minuscule amount of its energy through the skeletal structure of Raven to control him with great precision. It was not as if Raven''sbat prowess increased by leaps and bounds. The only downside was that the death energy enveloped Raven''s body as well, granting him an extraordinary defense.

    Michael considered bombarding Raven with Extraction, but his Soultrait didn''t remove the death energy lingering in the air. Even after he extracted the purified energy within the death energy, the essence of death would remain. That meant Maria had to do the deed. She had to cleanse the camp.

    It was a relief that Michael could aid Maria. He released Extraction through the ground and exerted Insert to insert threads of Extraction everywhere in the deadly fog. The deadly fog was drained of its purified origin energy. In response to his actions, the ground shimmered in a golden hue. Extraction threads shot out of the ground for everyone to see.

    Michael hated that he had to expose the Extraction threads but there was hardly anything he could do about it. He noticed the shocked expression on Maria''s face and pressed his lips together in a thin line.

    ''Surviving is more important.'' He told himself, using Insert to channel the energy that entered his body and traveled straight into Maria.

    Michael had already stopped using his Soul Techniques and he was now looking straight into Maria''s eyes. "Use Heaven''s Descent."

    He allowed Maria to tap into his Soul power and use her Inheritance Technique. The Inheritance Techniquebined with the natural amplification of the Primal Amplifier ought to be enough to cleanse the camp of survivors swiftly.

    Maria looked at Michael, epted the energy that flooded her veins, and swallowed hard. She had no idea what Michael was doing, but it was apparent that he had done something. It was now time for her to do something as well. She grasped his right hand with both of her hands and channeled origin energy into Archangel''s Grace.

    The projection of the miniature angel manifested above her hands and knelt down in front of her. But that was only the beginning. The might of Heaven''s Descent was unleashed as three pairs of majestic wings sprouted behind her and a dazzling halo conjured above Maria''s head. In the blink of an eye, Michael''s Soul Power was momentarily drained.

    The Sphere of Light vibrated violently as if trying to revolt against Michael''s decision, but he discarded his body''s natural instincts to retain everything that ought to belong to him. He allowed Maria to take every bit of Soul Power within him even if he ended up feeling extremely fragile and vulnerable until his Soul Power returned.

    Maria''s eyes widened in shock when she realized just how much Soul Power resided within Michael. She stared at Michael in disbelief just to see the youth smiling at her cheekily.

    "Quit staring and start cleansing. You can stare at me as long as you want once this is over," Michael joked, causing Maria to scoff.

    "Who wants to stare¡­" Maria could only say before a beam of death energy shot past her head. Michael barely saw Raven initiate an attack and he instinctively pulled Maria closer to him.

    "Focus hard on your fucking task, Killian!" Michael bellowed, causing Killian to re at Michael through his thunder armor, "I''d love to swap ces with you. I would much rather hug Maria than fight Raven in this bone-bastard form!"

    Killian continued to curse in his mind when he saw that Maria''s cheeks blushing red. Michael had pulled her into his embrace to protect her from the death beam, but that didn''t mean Maria could act all flustered and shy¡­in front of another man at that. Killian grit his teeth, cursing himself for allowing the Skeleton to attack Maria, and hating Michael for being such a lucky bastard.?Fortunately, he could redirect his anger and frustration toward the Skeleton, letting loose the turmoil of emotions in his heart to beat the shit out of the seemingly unbreakable Skeleton.

    Michael nced at Killian from the corner of his eyes, a wry smile blossoming slowly. Killian might be a jerk, and a feisty, annoying asshole, but he was straightforward and honest. Those were actually not bad traits. Michael enjoyed having a rude, but honest person around him much more than a people pleaser who talked bad about others behind their backs. Killian might be a bit too violent, yet that was something Michael did not mind.

    He''d thought about challenging Killian before and now that urge increased once again.

    ''Once we get rid of this bastard, I will challenge you!'' Michael promised himself.

    Meanwhile, Maria fought in Michael''s embrace. He''d pulled her close to his chest to protect her from the death beam and to keep her near him. It was much easier to protect Maria while she was right next to him rather than keeping some distance. Maria''s heart beat wildly, which Michael realized once he noticed that he was embracing her like a lover. He rxed his embrace a little but didn''t let go of Mariapletely.

    "Trust me and focus on cleansing. I will pull you away if something happens," Michael whispered into her red, blushing ear. Maria closed her eyes shut and tried to focus with her entire being on Heaven''s Descent and Archangel''s Grace, but not only to ensure that the cleansing would work out. Instead, she also tried to cleanse her mind of impure thoughts.

    Raven tried to attack Maria once before the remnants of his memories made him recall that he was not supposed to kill her. Maria was the only one in this group whom he was not allowed to kill. As for the rest¡­they had to die.

    Raven switched his target back to Killian. Since he was already in a battle with Killian he might as well kill that fool. His protectionyer of death energy and the non-existence of pain in his new form meant that he could fight tirelessly for days. Meanwhile, Killian''s energy decreased swiftly. His breathing technique allowed him to reduce his stamina consumption and ensure that the energy in his body was distributed equally to keep him full of vigor, but it did not mean that he had infinite stamina and energy. He would run out of power soon if he continued to fight in such an extravagant manner.

    By the time Killian was taken care of, Raven could deal with the remaining Descendants and Maria''s Primal Amplifier. That was under the circumstances that the Descendants were still alive. He hoped that some would still be alive, otherwise, he''d transformed into the Incarnation of the Death Knight Likar for no reason.

    The only issue Raven had to face was that he couldn''t use his Soul Technique anymore now that he sacrificed his mortal body. He epted the death energy inside him and transformed into a being that was neither truly dead nor alive. But that was what Raven had to do to defeat Killian.

    If it had only not been for the inopportune timing of Michael and Maria, he would still be alive and Killian would have be a Death Knight. That would have been a lot better. Fortunately, Raven''s emotions had been strong enough to ry several missions to his incarnation before his memories and thoughts were devoured alongside his fleshly body.

    Maria got hold of her emotions and executed Heaven''s Descent at full power. Pirs of light epassed the entire survivor camp and hundreds of projections of Angels manifested all around the base. They unleashed their divine power and cleansed the proximity swiftly. The divine power first shrouded the injured Descendants. They calmed down and fell asleep soon after their skin stopped corroding. Divine power entered their bodies to expel the death energy most of them had breathed in before.

    Maria''s breathing grew rougher as the projected Angels used more of their divine power to tear apart the tenacious resistance of the deadly fog. The energy Michael channeled into her was rapidly drained, forcing Michael to insert more energy into her. That meant he had to expand Extraction''s tendrils and tap into more of the death energy around him and purify it.

    Extracting every bit of purified energy around him meant that he left the death essence behind, but Spirit Eyes revealed that Maria''s Soultrait could tear apart even the essence of death. It was a terrifying Soultrait that had no limit as long as enough people around her were willing to lend their Soul Power for Maria to use.

    The deadly fog dispersed slowly, forcing Raven to unleash more energy from the death swirl. Michael and Killian were slowly turning into a burden to fight against.

    It was only fortunate that Raven was not alone.

    At that moment, six figures emerged from Michael and Maria''s shadows.

    Raven''s reinforcement had arrived.

 Chapter 491 Tension

    <h4>Chapter 491 Tension</h4>

    Michael was shocked at the sudden arrival of six enemies. Each of them used a Soul Technique to attack him.

    Michael felt ayer of darkness pass through his eyes. His eyes dimmed for a moment and he lost the ability to see. Simultaneously, the sounds around him were muffled, which made it increasingly difficult to pinpoint where everyone was located.

    It was the first time that someone tried to blind him, and it was far more ufortable than expected. He pulled Maria even closer to him and unleashed the Dome of Extraction to sense everything within. Every little movement was easily detected, thus pinpointing the location of the six Descendants attacking them.

    Michael sensed a sword shing toward his head. He twisted his body and pulled backward, while still holding onto Maria. Michael channeled a tremendous amount of energy into his Spirit Eyes and added a fewyers of Enhancement, therefore dispelling the blindness lingering on him.

    ''Their Soultraits are stronger than that of the Tekur, but they don''t possess nearly as much Soul Power. Spirit Eyes is stronger than your idiotic blindfold!'' He cursed in his heart, manifesting a Soul cicle Bullet which he further strengthened with Reinforced Sword Qi before unleashing it at once.

    The Soul cicle Bullet whizzed through the air with shocking velocity. It reached the nearest enemy in an instant and pierced through his chest.

    "Wha¡­." The Descendant could barely exim in shock when blood sttered through the air. His chest was pierced through neatly and a flower of frozen blood blossomed. Michael released a small Qi Sword to slice it through the Descendant''s forehead. It was a safety measure. After all, Michael had no idea if the other Descendants could transform into a disgusting Undead Skeleton as well. And he was d he did not wait to find out.

    Blood and brain mass spurted from the Descendant''s forehead right before he copsed to the ground. Michael didn''t pay much attention to this. Instead, he was more worried about the rapid attack of another Descendant. He''d summoned a Sword using his Soultrait and used his Soul Technique to appear behind Michael, backstabbing him with ease. Michael had yet to manage producing enough Soul Energy to activate Heavenly Beast Physique. He was too slow to react and ended up with a de pierced through his back.

    All Michael could barely do was to prevent his internal organs from sustaining damage. He groaned in pain and managed to procure more Soul Energy to use Heavenly Beast Physique. His physical strength shot to its peak and his natural regeneration increased rapidly.

    Michael didn''t move an inch. The enemy''s de was still inside him.Thus, he manifested two dozen cicle Swords with severalyers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi shrouded before unleashing them onto the Descendant behind him from all directions. The Descendant had twisted his de inside Michael''s body and was about to tear it out with great force when the Enhanced Qi cicle Swords came from all directions.

    The young Descendant was about to use his Elite ss Soul Technique a second time when he noticed that his Soul Power had been drained entirely. He possessed just enough Soul Power to use the weakest form of the Elite ss Soul Technique he''d obtained from the Hyuman. It was not possible for him to use it a second time.

    All he could do was use his Inheritance Technique to unleash his Perfect Mastered Sword Style. His movements were smooth and fluid. He destroyed a dozen Enhanced Qi cicle Swords before they could reach him. But that was not nearly enough. The remaining dozen smashed into him. Some shattered upon impacting on his armor set, whereas the other pierced through his clothes, skin, and flesh.

    The destroyed and shattered cicle Swords turned into freezing mist, which was then sucked toward the Descendant as Michael had also used Insert to push the freezing mist inside the enemies'' bodies.

    Two Descendants were dead, leaving only traitors to deal with. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Two of the Descendants had weakened Michael for a moment, using their Soultraits to blindfold him and muffle his hearing before they moved on to trying to capture and kidnap Maria Seraph.

    They tried to remove Michael''s hand from around her, at first, only to end up stabbing and cutting his arm until his embrace around Maria would loosen. However, Michael didn''t let go of Maria. His arm was soaked in his warm blood and was trembling like a fragile branch caught in a typhoon, yet Michael never let go.

    He promised to protect Maria so he would do that!

    His Dome of Extraction expanded. He used Insert onto Extraction and allowed thousands of tiny Extraction tendrils to burst forth. The Extraction tendrils shot toward the four Descendants and entered their bodies without waiting to search for injuries to pass through their skin. Insert was the only shortcut they required to invade the targets'' bodies.

    Michael then used severalyers of Enhancement onto Spirit Eyes once again. He used Spiritual Domination on the two traitorous Descendants who were trying to kidnap Maria Seraph. Their vision turned white for a moment and rolled up the moment the spiritual assault impacted heavily on their mind. In the next moment, they sensed something weird within their bodies. The spiritual attack nearly knocked them out, and it weakened their mental defenses for more than ten seconds. That was just enough for the Extraction tendrils to spread throughout their bodies to drain their origin energy and start growing by devouring their lifeforce.

    The Aethyr de manifested in Michael''s left hand. Strengthened with sixyers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi, Michael shed out. He pierced through the leather armor of the young man to Maria''s left and severed his arm at once. In the next moment, Michael whirled Maria around himself to shield her with his body while simultaneously slicing through the throat of the Descendant, whose arm was flung through the air.

    Simultaneously, a Soul cicle Bullet formed next to Michael. He''d produced just enough Soul Energy to produce the Soul cicle Bullet and release it a second before the other traitorous Descendant could recuperate from the shock left behind by Spirit Eyes'' Spiritual Domination.

    The Descendant''s forehead was decorated with a hole and a crimson flower blossoming out of it. The next moment he copsed, his brain and head chilled to ice.

    Michael was slowly growing tired. Using his Soul Techniques was still eptable but protecting Maria while dealing with six Descendants, all of whom were capable of using Soul Techniques was not exactly an easy task. As if that was not enough work, Michael was also supplying Maria with energy to ensure that she could cleanse the deadly fog soon.

    There were still two more adversaries to kill as well.

    Michael was just about to assault the remaining two traitorous Descendants when he saw a mass of thunder shoot through the air. The mass of thunder was none other than Killian Zeus, who was hurled through the surroundings like a Ping Pong ball. He crashed into thest two traitorous Descendants who screamed at the top of their lungs.

    Killian roared loudly and jumped up. His armor of lightning and thunder expanded, shrouding one of the traitorous Descendants, who could only scream for a few more seconds before he fainted. The smell of burned flesh permeated the air, but Killian didn''t care about that. He was about to charge back at Raven, only to realize that the Undead Skeleton had disappeared.

    The deadly fog was still around but Maria was working hard to cleanse it. Cut off from the death swirl within the Undead Skeleton, the deadly fog couldn''t recuperate. It was cleansed and expelled from the other Descendants, who''d breathed it in, just before Maria copsed.

    She was drenched in sweat, leaning against Michael, who could barely hold her. His arms were soaked in blood and so was his lower back. He trembled violently and felt like falling asleep at any moment. But instead of being foolish enough to copse now, Michael stopped channeling energy into Maria. Instead, he used Leviathan Diffusion to weave energy into his body before using the bits of energy his Shard of Archangel''s Grace had umted.

    A faint halo created above his head as he used Archangel''s Grace to stop the several bleeding wounds all over his body. Killian saw Michael using Maria''s Soultrait and grit his teeth. He felt like unleashing his anger of having lost against the Undead Skeleton near the end by thrashing Michael, but that didn''t seem right.

    They had other things to do.

    Maybe, he could deal with Michaelter.

    Killian thus turned to the other traitorous Descendants. Only one of them was still conscious, but that could be changed quickly.

    "Don''t kill them," Michael said weakly.

    "Why? They deserve to be executed on the spot! Nobody will question me if I tell them that they were traitors. I have Maria as a witness," Killian retorted, not hiding that he was displeased with Michael.

    Michael noticed that Killian mentioned only Maria as a witness, not him, but he wasn''t particrly bothered about that. If anything, it was quite fun. He was still a nobody to Killian and High Society.

    ''Well, that will change soon probably. I exposed Extraction and Insert in front of Maria. She must have noticed that I have a lot more Soul Power than before as well. The Soul Power increase is something I could exin with some white lies, but the rest¡­definitely not¡­''

    Michael shook his head. They had to solve one issue at a time. He was slowly getting tired of hiding his secrets and was starting to think that he couldn''t care less whether others found out about them or not. It would make some things more difficult for him once Extraction''s power was exposed, but other stuff would be easier to exin and deal with.

    "I can read their minds. We need to know if there are more traitors among the Descendants, who they are, and what their n is," Michael exined, his voice filled with seriousness.

 Chapter 492 The Devilish Plan

    <h4>Chapter 492 The Devilish n</h4>

    Killian didn''t want to agree but Michael''s words somehow made sense.

    "We need to figure out if the Descendants are the traitors or if their families turned against us. That''s true¡­" Killian mumbled. He looked at Michael with more determination than before and nodded before throwing the unconscious body and the semi-conscious Descendant toward Michael, "Do your thing then. I will take a look at the others. They''re unprotected and probably weakened. If a group of Tekur attacks, we will be doomed."

    Killian couldn''t bear to look at Michael and Maria all huddled up right now. They were so close to each other that it made him feel like throwing Michael to the side and running away with Maria. As long as Michael wouldn''t be close to her it would be fine¡­but given how the current situation looked like there was nothing he could do about it. He grit his teeth and began cursing himself for being at fault for what happened. If he had been faster to defeat the Undead Skeleton he would have been able to take care of Maria instead of Michael.

    Unfortunately, the Undead Skeleton had been a lot faster than expected. Michael rescued Maria from the death beam and the attempt of the six traitorous Descendants to kidnap her.

    ''Fuck this shit!''

    Killian left Michael alone with four corpses, an unconscious Descendant and a semi-conscious Descendant.

    Michael retrieved a mattress and a nket from his War Rune to let her rest in a corner and give her somefort in her sleep. He then turned to the semi-conscious Descendant.

    Four cicle Swords manifested, strengthened with fouryers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi. The swords pierced through the Descendant''s arms and legs, pinning him to the ground. His screams reverberated through the camp of survivors, but nobody said anything. In fact, nobody could even see Michael at this point. Everyone but Killian was unconscious. And Killian did not even think about turning around to look at Michael.

    Michael retrieved a handful of ss vials from his War Rune and fed Maria the viscous liquid inside them.

    ''She would wake up in an hour or so. That''s just enough time for me to deal with these traitors!''

    He looked at the semi-conscious, traitorous Descendant whom he had pinned to the ground with four cicle Swords and smiled before using both Extraction and Mind Reader inbination. Extraction was used to torture the Descendant by tearing his insides apart to extract SoulStar Fragments and his Soultrait Symbol, whereas Mind Reader allowed Michael to read the idiot''s mind and force him to think about stuff he wanted to keep hidden.

    Michael did not even think of having mercy on someone who killed his own kind and nearly killed him as well. There was no need to be merciful to trash like those traitors. Instead, Michael tortured the Descendant while asking a wide variety of questions.

    By the time Michael extracted the Descendant''s Soultrait Symbol, his body began to react violently. The Descendant copsed and¡­died. His Soul received a severe bacsh from having his Soultrait ripped out when the Descendant died. Michael figured that the Descendant had been weak and that the idiot suffered a bit, but he did not expect him to die like this.

    "Good thing Killian wanted to kill them, either way. At least, I got some intel," Michael murmured before he moved onto extracting the Descendant''s Memory Orb. Thereafter he continued to use Extraction on the other Descendants, extracting a portion of their War Runes'' storages, their Artifacts, Memory Orbs, SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Michael was not sure how much time he spent on Extraction, but he noticed that Maria was staring at him.

    ''Did she see me use Extraction? No. More importantly¡­did she see the SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits?'' He wondered, his heart skipping a beat.

    Fortunately, it looked like Maria did not see anything. If she had seen the Soultrait Symbols, Maria would have been shocked. However, she just smiled faintly through her eyes while hiding everything below her eyes behind the nket.

    "Did we win?" She asked after they kept staring at each other for a few seconds.

    "Of course, we won. I don''t think you would be lying on a cozy mattress like this if we''d lost," Michael raised an eyebrow as Maria scoffed lightly.

    She was just about to retort when her eyes fell on his blood-soaked clothes. Maria pulled the nket aside and jumped up from the mattress.

    "I''m sorry. I forgot that you were not injured. I will heal you immediately!" She uttered hurriedly, only for Michael to wave his hand, "I am fine. I healed myself."

    Maria recalled that Michael possessed the shard of Archangel''s Grace and sighed in relief. A smile blossomed on her face.

    "That''s good."

    Her words were not filled with warmth and sincerity, taking Michael by surprise.

    "I''m d that you''re fine as well. You did a good job clearing the deadly fog."

    Neither was sure what to say after their words fell. It took Michael a few seconds before he cleared his throat and pointed toward the camp''s center.

    "How about we go to the others? I finished reading their minds. Unfortunately, they died shortly after. I was lucky enough to get some useful pieces of information though," Michael asked to which Maria could only agree.

    "Pleasant information, hopefully," She murmured.

    "Well. if it''s good news to know about bad news. Then yeah, I got some pleasant information to share with everyone."

    Maria''s smile stiffened but she did not ask further. She had a bad feeling.

    They made their way to the center of the survivor camp where a bunch of Descendants had already gathered around Killian. The Descendants looked distressed and worried. That was only obvious. Even Michael would be worried if he copsed in the middle of the deadly fog. Killian must have shared the news of traitors in their own rows as well, therefore, creating the tense atmosphere in the camp.

    "I really hope that you have some useful pieces of information. We lost close to 35 Descendants to these traitorous assholes. The only good thing is that they did not manage to kill more people before they moved onward to attack you. Their mission was probably to kill as many Descendants as possible before kidnapping Maria," Killian shared with Michael and Maria, whose expressions soured.

    Michael was not exactly surprised by the news. He had expected some Descendants to die. The reinforcement of the Undead Skeleton arrived way toote, probably because they had been busy killing the injured Descendants, who had been further weakened in the deadly fog, giving them no chance to retaliate. They died just like that.

    "Your prediction is pretty correct. They wanted to capture Maria Seraph and kill everyone else. I''ve got some useful information, though it might not be nice to hear," Michael responded to Killian, who gestured to him to go on.

    "To summarize the information, we''ve got to deal with 100 traitors in the g War. All of them are Descendants of members of the High Society''s families, nobility, and ns.?However, everyone seems to have obtained different missions and items to make use of. Raven, or Sandro, or whatever he is called must have been a rather high-ranked disciple of a Hyuman because he led a few groups of traitors and gave them their missions," Michael began exining.

    "Basically, the mission with the highest priority can be divided into two tasks. First, everyone was told to keep their identity a secret as long as possible. The traitors were not told to wait until our guard was weakened. By the time they attacked, we would be helpless. That was the n with the mission being to eliminate all prodigies from the Tritan Alliance. It does not matter whether the prodigies are Warlock Centaurs, Berserkers, or Humans.

    Killing the prodigies during the g War would be the easiest way to keep the identity of the traitors a secret. The second task of the high-priority mission would be to capture Kaleb Zenovia and Maria Seraph."

    Michael had to catch his breath and stopped his exnation for a moment. He allowed everyone to digest what he was talking about.

    "One way or another, killing every Alliance member but the prodigies with 7-Star Soultraits was their n. By failing to destroy the Dimensional Pirs, mankind would be forced to request help from the Supreme Human Alliance sooner orter. After all, if the Tekur race managed to turn the Lesser Dimension Gate into a permanent portal they would infiltrate the Lumina Ster System and start their conquest by sending a handful of Divine Lifeforms over.

    By then it would only be a matter of time before the Tekur reached Kelta and the sr system atst. Tekur would reach mankind and force us to the verge of extinction, thereby forcing humanity to ept the ''generous'' proposal of the Supreme Human Alliance to join their ranks in exchange for protection, resources, and whatnot."

    Michael finished his exnation with a deep sigh.

    The tactic of the Supreme Human Alliance was dirty, but it would allow them to achieve what they desired ¨C bringing all human races under one umbre and teaching mankind a lesson they would never forget.

    "That sounds fucked up," One of the Descendants next to Killian said. He wanted to shout at Michael and use him of lying, but Killian''s serious expression stopped him from doing anything.

    "So we actually have some traitors in our own rows? Well, given that Raven turned against us¡­against me¡­I can only assume that we cannot even trust our friends anymore."

    Michael stared at Killian and nodded his head weakly. Meanwhile, Maria added, "That means the g War is not only a fight against the Tekur but also a battle against our own people."

    Michael felt something deep within himself resonate with Maria''s words.

    "It''s a struggle against the Tekur and the restraining chains of the Supreme Human Alliance¡­a necessary battle to retain our freedom¡­."

 Chapter 493 Challenge I

    <h4>Chapter 493 Challenge I</h4>

    It was interesting that the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t seem to care about Awakened with High ss Soultraits. They were willing to kill them rather than making some effort to kidnap the Human Awakened with 6-Star Soultraits.

    Maybe there were not yet enough traitors to kidnap that many Awakened, or they didn''t have the necessary resources to control and restrain such a huge number. Thetter was unlikely but it was possible that the Supreme Human Alliance was trying to wear down the Tritan Alliance slowly rather than smashing them to smithereens with a single bombardment of attacks.

    None of their attacks caused tremendous damage, after all. That was until now. Since they decided to send out younger traitors, who were also Descendants and members of High Society, the Supreme Human Alliance took a great risk. If their ns failed ¨C which happened to some of them ¨C their ns and secrets would be exposed. That was exactly what Michael achieved. He exposed the traitorous Descendants and found out some of their names as well.

    Michael felt like moving out at once. He wanted to find the traitors and get rid of them right away. KIllian was of the same opinion. Unfortunately, too many Descendants were still weakened and reeling from the aftermath of being exposed to the deadly fog. Maria would have to spend a day or two tending to all of them.

    In the meantime, Michael and Killian had to protect the camp of survivors. Raven coulde back at any time to kill the weakened Descendants and kidnap Maria. That was not a risk they could afford. Thus, Michael and Killian ended up bored and without anything to do other than making sure that Maria was safe and sound and that the Descendants weren''t attacked by a bunch of traitors or the Tekur.

    "Fight me," Killian challenged Michael after they spent a day doing nothing special.

    Michael was busy altering the Soul Techniques in his possession to create his own customized Soul Techniques for each of his Soultrait. He wanted to create a technique for Spirit Eyes, Enhancement, and Extraction as soon as possible since those Soultraits elevated hisbat prowess to an entirely new level.

    But he was also curious about Killian''sbat prowess. Michael wanted to fight Kilian as well.

    "Hmm, alright."

    Michael summoned Aethyr and the Spirit Armor Set at once before unleashing the Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might. He exerted Leviathan Diffusion and began with the production of Soul Energy.

    Killian was not a patient person, nor was Michael. Killian smiled when he saw that Michael was ready to fight him at once. He summoned his longsword, coated his body in the thunder armor set andpressed it tightly around his body. Thereafter several thunderbolts appeared around him.

    "Try to survive, not that I bother about your survival though," Killian sneered while saying in a voice barely loud enough for Michael to hear.

    Michael merely raised an eyebrow and he changed his stance at once.

    He coated his body in ayer of enhanced Extraction to pull the surrounding energy toward him. The energy would be absorbed at once whereas Leviathan Diffusion would annex it within moments, turning the absorbed energy into usable energy in no time.

    Michael conjured several cicle Swords, the tips of the des coated in a golden hue. He released the cicle Swords the moment the thunderbolts zapped toward him. The cicle Swords shed with the thunderbolts at once and shattered into countless pieces. The durability of cicle was not that high. Therefore, the thunderbolts pierced through the cicle Swords in one go. But theyer of Extraction used to coat the thunderbolts drained their energy rapidly.

    Michael didn''t enhance the cicle Swords because all he needed was to send the hue of Extraction toward the thunderbolts to drain their energy and to spread some freezing mist in the surroundings. The thunderbolts slowed down, but they were still extremely fast. Fortunately, Michael had already unleashed Spirit Eyes to predict Killian''s attack pattern. He evaded the thunderbolts and noted Killian''s next actions through the thickyer of freezing mist that separated the twobatants.

    He was able to see every trace of energy within and around Killian, thus pinpointing him with ease. Meanwhile, Killian had more difficulties doing the same. Michael created three dozen cicle Swords in one go and released them toward Killian. The cicle Swords reached Killian, who evaded most of them, only to realize that the cicle Swords would shatter upon colliding with his thunder armor.

    However, it didn''t even matter whether they collided with the thunder armor or not. Michael willed them to burst into freezing mist once they reached Killian''s proximity, either way.

    He then unleashed the portion of Insert he''d utilized on the cicle Swords. The freezing mist was drawn to the thunder armor and sucked inside.

    Killian raised an eyebrow when he noticed that his thunder armor was fighting a fierce battle with the freezing mist around him. His body temperature cooled down and the hair all over his body stood up on its end, resulting in Killian making a move. He charged through the freezing mist to the right while firing a few firebolts through the mist. His aim was not perfect since he couldn''t see Michael through the fog. However, he could roughly perceive his current position, and the fact that Michael had yet to move far away from his earlier position.

    Killian released a burst of lightning from behind him and turned into a purple sh. He made a detour around the freezing mist and continued to charge around until he had elerated long enough to reach his maximum speed without the use of his Inheritance Technique. He circled around Michael in a wide radius and noted the young Lord.

    Michael was only at the Peak of the 2nd Tier and was not supposed to be able to follow his movements. Neither should he be able to pick up his movements after he reached his max speed nor was Michael supposed to be able to respond quickly enough to turn in all directions with amazing agility as Killian circled around him.

    But Michael did all of that with ease. The mark around his eyes ¨C Spirit Eyes'' stigma¨C shone brightly as he followed every single one of Killian''s movements. His body turned around fast enough as well. It felt like his body responded instantaneously to everything Michael saw. It was confusing and definitely not something a Peak Tier-2 Lord ought to be able to do. Not against an opponent like Killian, at least.

    ''I heard he defeated Jirah. Seems like that was not a fluke.'' Killian thought while creating several thunderbolts. He released them to bombard Michael from all directions while continuing to circle the young Lord.

    Michael, however, responded even before Killian finished conjuring his thunderbolts. cicle Swords with golden tips appeared around Michael at once and they shot in the direction of Killian''s thunderbolts even before Killian could release them.

    ''His reaction speed and predictions are¡­on a higher level than mine?'' Killian realized, his eyes widening in surprise.

    It was also evident that Michael utilized less energy. His cicle Swords diminished his thunderbolts just enough for Michael to evade them. He didn''t have to spend any surplus energy to block anything. All Michael did was to weaken the attacks with the sole purpose of evading them with nimble movements.

    Killian grit his teeth. It was the first time he was struggling to defeat someone at a lower rank. Usually, even the opponents at the Peak of Tier-3 were easily defeated. Most wouldn''t require him to use his Inheritance Technique at this point. He could summon his thunder armor without the Inheritance technique due to his high mastery and his thunderbolts were among the most lethal attacks one could unleash with a 6-Star Soutrait.

    His Soultrait allowed him to gain enormous speed and strength, yet Michael seemed to be able to counter both advantages. Michael Fang possessed far more energy than Killian expected. He was also a lot calmer and didn''t panic for a single moment. His responses to the iing attacks were well-organized and highly efficient.

    It was easy to tell the reason Michael had been picked as one of the four variables in the Interdimensional g War. Killian had underestimated Michael as well. He didn''t think much about the young Lord because he didn''te from a noble background. However, it was evident that Michael was one of the few extraordinary Awakened who had been discovered from a huge pool of ordinary folk.

    Killian hated to acknowledge Michael''s strength, but he was truly caught off-guard by Michael''s physical strength, his body''s reaction speed, and the calm and sorted way in which Michael was able to handle the situation. But the most shocking of them all was that Michael could easily predict Killian''s next course of action. It was almost as if Michael could see the energy circting through his body and manifesting around him.

    ''Wait? Can he see the energy around me? Is that how he predicts my thunderbolts and my next movements?'' Killian wondered as he tried to figure out Michael''s true strength. His movements were naturally amplified by origin energy. Killian had been taught from a young age to always use origin energy to strengthen his body and amplify his movements. That way his body would be always at its peak, and it would always exude an intimidating presence to those weaker than him.

    Some called it the presence of nobility, while it was just some excessive origin energy hovering around the Awakened.

    Killian''s energy naturally moved through his body the moment he thought about making a different move. His energy would move first, and his body would follow suit. That was how Michael had a much easier time predicting Killian''s course of action than everyone else. Killian''s ''noble presence'' was much more pronounced than that of everyone else.

 Chapter 494 Challenge II

    <h4>Chapter 494 Challenge II</h4>

    Michael immediately sensed the sudden shift in Killian''s tactic, energy cirction, and positioning. His movements grew sharper and the energy within him traveled through his body with a slight dy, which made it increasingly more difficult to make precise predictions.

    Fortunately enough, Prognosis was still working properly, just not at the same efficiency as before.

    Killian was still surprised about Michael''s ability to predict his attacks even after he made so many sudden changes. It showed that Michael was just as good at adapting to new situations as he was. That was a bit troublesome, but certainly something he could work with. Killian switched to using smaller thunderbolts that required less energy and a much shorter period to be manifested and released.

    The smaller thunderbolts were still as fast as before but they were manifested earlier, making it increasingly more difficult for Michael to create cicle Swords in retaliation. He could still react in time thanks to Prognosis and his high proficiency in cicle, but Killian didn''t show any mercy. He manifested dozens of thunderbolts at once and released them in various directions, precisely blocking Michael''s paths of escape.

    Two smaller thunderbolts grazed him, leading to high voltages of electricity coursing through his body upon impact.

    Michael groaned in pain and stared down on his body. He hadn''t used Enhancement or the Soul Technique of Superior Constitution yet, therefore his physique was not at its peak. The electricity currents that passed through him caused some harm.

    Killian smiled in response and chose to enter closebat. Even though long-distance attacks seemed to work against Michael, Killian decided that it was time for the melee battle. He was much stronger in closebat with his great versatility, either way.

    Killian''sbat prowess couldn''t be underestimated by any chance. He was good at almost everything. However, his swiftness, the fierceness of his thunder, and the thunder armor''s characteristic to strike everything living in its range ¨C other than Killian ¨C was terrific. Adding his high Sword Style Mastery of the Lightning Saint''s 42 Lightning God''s shes, it was obvious that Killian''s closebat fights would be far more brutal and several times more dangerous for Michael to handle and counter.

    Michael had much less time to respond to Killian''s rapid attacks in closebat, after all.

    But Michael was not in the mood to go easy on Killian and give him the opportunity to hit him once again. He had umted enough Soul Energy to use the heavenly Beast Physique thrice and manifest several Soul cicle Bullets. Michael wasn''t about to jump into the hot water by using up every trace of Soul Energy at once.

    Instead, he focused on a single use of Heavenly Beast Physique and to maintain it while simultaneously weaving enough origin energy through his body to use Leviathan Diffusion at full power. The energy weaved into his body and enhanced his strength further, only for sixyers of Enhancement to join the fray, pushing his physique''s capacity to the limit and above. His skin burst open and blood gushed out of him, taking Killian by surprise.

    He was not sure what happened to Michael but his presence intensified all of a sudden. Michael charged ahead, cracking the ground beneath him as he kicked it. Michael turned into a sh, his body coated in a thick hue of white. Atst, golden glittering stars coated Michael from all sides.

    The Aethyr de burst forth. It transformed into a longsword coated in Enhancement, Reinforced Sword Qi, and a hue of Extraction. The de whizzed past Killian''s head, narrowly missing him. A strand of hair was cut off, resulting in an instinctive action from Killian. He unleashed his Inheritance Technique purely on instinct.

    There was no way that he could deal with Michael without going all out. That was what his body and mind told him near-simultaneously.

    ''How can someone at the 2nd Tier be so fast and strong? What kind of fiendish technique did he use? Is that a Sacrificial Technique? No, his Lifeforce is not being drained. A special technique that boosts his physical strength? No, his energy level isn''t dropping rapidly either. He is growing stronger instead of weaker. Is that an Inheritance Technique? A Soultrait?...ANOTHER Soultrait?!?''

    Killian was going crazy trying to understand what Michael was doing. He had no clue what this young Lord was, but one thing was clear. Michael was a monster. There was no other exnation.

    He''d seen Michael fight the six Descendants who betrayed their own kind, while simultaneously protecting Maria. He''d channeled energy into her while dealing with the six traitors using a wide variety of Soultraits and powerful attacks. Killian had yet to determine the potency and effect of all of Michael''s Soultraits, but he had seen more than enough to understand that Michael had too many powerful Soultraits.

    Was he also a traitor? That shouldn''t be the case. He protected Maria and killed the other traitors. He searched their memories and shared the intel he procured without hesitation. Michael helped the Tritan Alliance before as well. His swift help allowed them to retrieve the exploration spaceship and find out about various ns of the Dark Heaven organizations.

    But what if that was a trap? What if the Supreme Human Alliance tried to use Michael as the rising star of the human race just to expose him as one of their members? They could reveal his identity to the whole human race across the sr system and Kelta once Michael was strong enough before sharing knowledge about the Supreme Human Alliance, their ideology, the massive amount of their resources at their disposal, and the offers they had to make for everyone willing to join their mission.

    The more Killian thought about Michael the more his confusion and doubts grew. Michael didn''t seem like a bad guy, but he was confusing. He gave Killian the chills, which was something not many were capable of ¨C even less in the case of people at his Tier. Yet, Michael was capable of doing that while he was at a lower Tier. He was merely a Tier-2 Lord, yet Killian couldn''t help but feel that the young Lord was creepy.

    His Inheritance Technique was unleashed to the peak of Killian''s understanding and mastery. The thunder armor erupted and expanded, turning into a half-armor, half-domain. The domain portion of the thunder armorshed out at Michael, who was standing in the middle of a small thunderstorm before he could respond.

    All Michael could do was endure the attacks that impacted. The thunder hit him, resulting in high-voltage electricity coursing through him from all directions.

    Oddly enough, it didn''t look like Michael was in unbearable pain. He was suffering and in pain but it seemed bearable. Michael''s clothes and skin burned, but he was still standing on his feet. It was almost like his physique possessed natural elemental resistance. Or was it lightning resistance?

    Michael was no stranger to pain and he could tell that he had been hit worse before. There was no problem for him to endure the pain. The only issue was that he couldn''t move properly and he couldn''t initiate a counterattack easily. Fortunately enough, that was not necessary. Michael had already responded to the lightning strikes hitting him. Every lightning strike that struck him would Insert more and more Extraction threads into the thunder armor and domain.

    The Extraction threads would spread, therefore depleting Killian''s energy even faster.

    Killian could clearly sense that his energy was drained rapidly, but he didn''t worry much about that. He sensed an opportunity to attack Michael and charged ahead, swinging his longsword rapidly. Lightning enveloped his sword as he struck out and a sudden burst of strength elongated the sword de. The de elerated and sliced through the air, leaving an arc of electricity currents behind as it was on the verge of cut through Michael.

    Killian could already see Michael''s dead body in front of him when he recalled something: Michael was not actually a monster. He was a human, and he was on his side. Michael saved his life once ¨C doing something a betrayer wouldn''t have done in this situation.

    Instead of helping Killian, he would have helped Raven in the tent, forcing Killian to consume the Death Orb before disappearing with Maria, kidnapping her while Killian would have turned into an Undead Skeleton that wanted to destroy everyone. Michael had received several chances to do that if he wanted to, yet he didn''t take any. If anything, he stayed loyal to the Tritan Alliance.

    He had the potentiality to grow into a valuable support pir for the Tritan Alliance and the human race. Killing him was not something Killian should have thought about in the first ce.

    "Fuck!" Killian cursed aloud, dispersing the thunder around him, and stopping in his tracks.

    He thought about what he was on the verge of do just now, grit his teeth, and removed his Artifacts. The raging anger within him died down and a cursed expression appeared on his face.

    "I really sense shit now. Feel lucky that I want to beat the shit out of the Tekur and the Supreme Human Alliance more than you¡­ Fuck off, bastard!" He bellowed, only to turn around and walk away.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed.

    ''What was that? Did our fight end just like that? We were just on the verge of reach the climax!''

    Michael had seen the de approaching him with the intention to kill. It was not surprising to have such intentions in the heat of the moment while fighting an exciting battle. However, Michael was also fully aware that he could change the trajectory of the attack by sustaining a more or less severe injury before counterattacking.

    Aethyr was already transformed into a sevenfold enhanced glow with des sticking out of it. The des were further reinforced by Extraction, Insert, and Reinforced Sword Qi.

    Michael was certain that he would have won the fight if they''d continued just a bit more. The only cumbersome task would have been to alter Killian''s Sword Path.

    But¡­the battle ended just like that¡­with Killian surrendering because he didn''t want to end up identally killing Michael.

    ''Why is he acting like he is a cool yer? Bastard! I want my thrill back!!''

 Chapter 495 What now?

    <h4>Chapter 495 What now?</h4>

    Michael was confused about the sudden end of the battle. It was truly a shame that Killian stopped mid-way.

    ''Did he think that he won and decided to end the battle before identally killing me? That idiot should have known that I''m not that easy to kill¡­''

    At the end of the day, Killian''s thought had been nice. He didn''t want to kill Michael. Nheless, it was a little bit dissatisfying. Michael wanted to say something to Killian and rify that their fight was not yet over, but Killian Zeus had already turned into a sh and left.

    "Where the hell do you think you''re going?" Michael grumbled. Wasn''t it their mission to protect Maria and the other Descendants in the camp, right now?

    Michael shook his head. Thinking about Killian Zeus, he was a little surprised. He was actually certain that Killian would try to kill him since he was known for being violent, and possessive. It was easy to tell that Killian liked Maria.

    "Maybe he is a more decent human being than everyone thinks?" Michael mumbled, recalling Killian''s words, ''He hates the Tekur and the Supreme Human Alliance, huh?''

    It was interesting that Killian hated the Supreme Human Alliance given that most humans would suggest that joining the SHA was a good idea. The protection, resources, High ss Soul Techniques and other things the SHA offered were extremely valuable. By using the Supreme Human Alliance''swork, their technological advancement and various other advantages, mankind would be able to advance rapidly.

    The only problem was that the SHA would limit their contact to other races drastically. Their ideals were mind-blowing, and their hatred toward other races was intense enough to consider anyone a traitor whomunicated, or traded with other races. That was also why the SHA despised those supporting the Tritan Alliance. They were extremists in that regard.

    But then again, human greed didn''t know any bounds. The boundless greed of humans was also why Michael was quite surprised that so many members of High Society wanted to get closer to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, instead of cutting ties with the Tritan Alliance to join the SHA.

    However, thinking about possible reasons for High Society to reject the Supreme Human Alliance, Michael quickly found a handful.

    ''The Supreme Alliance and the dark organizations they founded ended up killing too many humans. The bad blood between the SHA and our people should be reason enough to make it impossible to return to friendly terms. So many big families and households suffered due to their merciless punishments. They will never join the Supreme Human Alliance.''

    The Lavita family was one of the best examples. They lost their precious family members in a terrifying attack of Dark Heavens. It was only obvious that the Lavita family would never join the Supreme Human Alliance, and they would give their utmost to persuade others from joining as well. Many families shed with Dark Heavens and other dark organizations led by the Supreme Human Alliance. Their encounters ended in a bloodbath at all times.

    And now they chose to send traitors into the g War to kill all human Descendants other than Kaleb and Maria. Their n failed, but it was only a matter of time before the Supreme Humana Alliance would switch to more dangerous ns.

    Was it really the Supreme Human Alliance''s n to make humans join their mission? Why would they resort to such extreme violence to achieve their goal then?

    Michael had a hard time understanding their course of actions and reasoning.

    Their ns and ways to ''convince'' other human races to join their mission to be the supreme ruler all over the universe were far from logical. It made him wonder how many human races had been forced to join the Supreme Human Alliance, and how many ended up bing the servants and ves of the Hyumans.

    Michael couldn''t tell for sure, but his entire being revolted whenever he thought about the Hyumans. His gut feeling told him to stay vignt of them and to never think about trusting them.

    ''I really hope we can catch the traitorous Descendants and their families. If not, High Society will end up in chaos.''

    He might not have a favorable opinion of High Society, but Micheal was also not naive enough to believe that the general popce would be unaffected if High Society ended up in chaos. The copse of the High Society would result in even more chaos, and uncertainty about the future. That was not something Michael wanted to happen.

    "What are you doing standing around here, Michael?" A voice reached him from behind. It was Maria, "I saw your fight with Killian. You did well. I didn''t expect that any Descendant could fight on par with Killian. Seems like I was mistaken."

    Maria smiled as she approached him. A faint halo manifested above her head and semi-translucent wings sprouted from her back. She used Archangel''s Grace to heal his burned skin. Her fingers brushed past his head once she was done healing him. The corner of her lip uptilted.

    "There is no need to worry about your hair. It didn''t burn."

    Michael didn''t have the time to worry about his hair yet, but hearing that his hair was intact was great news. Her words pulled him out of his train of thought, finally freeing him from the tormenting worries that had shed through his mind.

    ''There is no need to ponder too much about future issues. One step at a time, idiot.'' He told himself, before smiling back at Maria.

    "Thanks for that," Michael pointed at the skin that had regrown.

    "How is the situation over there?" He asked, his eyes lingering on the infirmary in the camp.

    Maria shifted her weight from one foot to another in difort, her shimmering hair waving in the air.

    "I did everything I could. As long as they survive the bacsh of having consumed the Essence of Death for a few minutes, they will be fine. If not they were either lucky enough to sustain some more or less serious damage from the Death Essence ¨C damage I cannot tend to without the necessary tools and resources ¨C, or they will die¡­" Maria''s voice was grim as she neared the conclusion of her reply and her shoulders sagged defeatedly.

    Michael patted her back lightly, "You did everything you could. Now it''s on them whether they can survive or not."

    "What are we supposed to do now? Most of them are weakened and they won''t be able to reach their peak condition until next week. Theirbat prowess is severely restricted. Fighting Tekur resemble that is close to impossible¡­and that leaves¡ª..." Maria couldn''t even finish her sentence. She pressed her lips together and looked to the ground.

    Never did she believe that joining the Interdimensional g War would end up like that. All she''d wanted to do was to join the Battle Exchange to get closer to her peers and try to figure out if there were any potential Amplifiers for her. She discarded that idea quickly and decided to focus on training and getting stronger to make sure that as many Alliance members as possible would survive in the Interdimensional g War.

    Unfortunately, her n didn''t work out too well. The attack on Piloq happened, Michael turned into her Primal Amplifier, and now there were traitors among the Descendants.

    The Tekur were already difficult enough to fight against, but there were now enemies in their own rows as well. How were they supposed to survive like that?

    Michael agreed that their situation was not the best. However, he was not as worried or gloomy as Maria. That was probably because he could kill a bunch of Tekur on his own, whereas Maria had to depend on others to protect her. Archangel''s Grace was not exactly a Soultrait used forbat, after all.

    "We will protect the camp until everyone is fit enough to travel. It might not be the best n, but I know where more than 200 Alliance members have gathered. Most of them are Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. We can trust them ¨C more than the Descendants, at least."

    It was a bit troublesome to ponder that they couldn''t trust theirrades anymore, but they could work around that somehow. Michael decided that it would be better not to think about the traitors too much. If they exposed themselves, Michael would dispose of them, but that was it. He didn''t have to seek them actively.

    "So we stay here for a day or two and join the otherster? You want to make sure that the traitors can''t find an opportunity to attack us, don''t you?" Maria asked, her voice slowly regaining confidence and determination.

    "Basically. Raven and the others attacked because they were at an advantage. If we didn''t reach Killian before it was toote the entire camp would be dead and nobody would know that there are traitors among the Descendants. With a few hundred Alliance Members around us, it is more unlikely that the traitors would dare to attack us again. Their mission is to eliminate us silently without getting exposed, after all."

    Michael felt that his n was pretty simple, but it should work. The only issue was that he couldn''t say with 100% certainty that the traitors wouldn''t dare to attackrge groups of Alliance members. Not every traitor had the same mission, and Michael didn''t know the true extent of everyone''s mission either.

    All he had was some pieces of information that may or may not be useful if applied properly.

    "If no Tekur finds this camp, we can stay here until the conclusion of the g War. Destroying one Dimensional Pir is already a good achievement. We''re slowly getting closer to destroying the Lesser Dimension Portal, and expelling the Tekur for good," Maria suggested while also agreeing with Michael''s view.

    Unfortunately, Maria''s suggestion was shattered into smithereens as Killian returned, the energy inside him boiling resemble crazy.

    "Three groups of Tekur are on their way!" Killian shouted, causing Maria and Michael to look into each other''s eyes.

    "Looks resemble we''ve got to dismiss your suggestion."

    Maria sighed heavily, but she gave him a nod. The halo above her head intensified while the wings sprouting from her back expanded.

    It was time to fight.

 Chapter 496 Exposed?

    <h4>Chapter 496 Exposed?</h4>

    Killian, Michael, and Maria were lying on their backs, their chests heaving up and down heavily. Their muscles were sore, and their brains felt like someone had trampled on them for ten minutes straight. The clothes were clinging tightly to their bodies.

    They stared into the cloudless artificial sky in silence. All one could hear was their heavy breaths.

    Marial felt like she would faint at any moment, whereas blood pooled around Killian and Michael. Not all of the blood belonged to them, but a considerable amount of it was actually theirs. Their arms and legs had been cut deeply, and Michael''s stomach had been cleaved open for a few seconds in the battle against 22 Tekur as well. Fortunately, Maria had been ready to heal him and Killian at all times. She healed Michael the moment his stomach was cut open.

    It hurt like hell, but Michael hadn''t been in mortal danger thanks to Maria''s quick actions.

    One way or another, the two young men and Maria defeated 22 Tekur on their own, while protecting the camp of survivors behind them. It was an achievement worth celebrating. However, nobody felt like celebrating. All they felt was pain all over their body alongside soreness. The soreness continued to spread through their body. It was nasty.

    "How many Soultraits do you have, Michael?" Killian asked after fifteen minutes of silence. His breathing had stabilized and he could lift his arms to retrieve a bunch of potions to recuperate faster. His energy began to replenish and the soreness all over his body subsided.

    Killian''s question didn''t hold an ounce of frustration or jealousy. He was just¡­shocked.

    Because they fought against 22 Tekur at once, Michael had been forced to Insert origin energy into Killian mid-battle. He Inserted sevenyers of Enhancement into Killian''s body as well. It was a necessity, otherwise, everyone in the camp would have died.

    The 22 Tekur were arge group with more than 10 Tekur possessing Soultraits and Soul Techniques that further enhanced theirrades. Michael and Killian had to work together and use everything at their disposal to take out one Tekur after another. Sometimes, they were injured but their trust in Maria was enough for them to keep fighting with all they had. Meanwhile, Maria focused on tending to their wounds and keeping an eye on the situation all over the battlefield.

    She warned Killian thrice about an iing attack from behind. Meanwhile, Michael moved around and acted fast enough to protect himself. He didn''t need Maria''s warnings.

    Killian''sbat prowess with sevenyers of Enhancement and enough energy to release his strongest attack several times in a row was terrifying. Michael witnessed it first-hand, but he was still having a hard timeprehending that someone could be this strong as a Lesser Lifeform. It was quite shocking.

    But then again, Killian was only able to deal this much damage because of Enhancement, his origin energy, and Insert.

    Michael knew that he used most of his Soultraits to their limit as well as the Soul Techniques he''dprehended. No matter how he looked at the fight, anyone could tell that Michael used at least six Soultraits.

    "More than enough," Michael responded, not willing to talk more about it.

    Killian noticed that, but he wasn''t going to leave it at that, "I know that you got more than enough Soultraits."

    He clicked his tongue and added, "You''ve got some unique power that allows you to create Soultraits, and strengthen them, don''t you?"

    Michael''s heart skipped a beat, but he kept staring into the cloudless sky without a word.

    "I didn''t think too much about your Soultraits and strength before, but when we fought, I noticed something. I recalled a few chats with my Uncle when he came back home from drinking too much." Michael continued to stay silent as Killian added,

    "Oliver, my uncle, oftenined about Alice and her disciple. He was drunk, so started talking gibberish after a while. But I clearly recall him saying that it made no sense for Alice to pay so much attention to her disciple. He might have had two Soultraits during the assessment at the start of the year, but they didn''t contain much Soul Power. The Soultraits of Alice''s disciple were only 2-Star, or 3-Star at the highest," Killian said, propping himself up on his elbows.

    His head flicked to Michael, who was still staring into the sky.

    "But, did you know that Alice never had an official disciple? She only taught her brother¡­and you. And you have more than 2 Soultraits, and they''re definitely not mere 3-Star Soultraits. Oliver is in love with Alice so he researched a lot about you. That is also how I know that your Ice Soultrait and the Sword Qi Soultrait came from a Lord Rift. At least, that is what you uttered before. You might not have lied, but I feel like it''s not the entire truth."

    A knot formed in Michael''s throat, but the more he listened to Killian the calmer he got. The knot in his throat loosened and was untied.

    "Even if I change my answer, what are you going to do with it?" Michael didn''t intend to sound threatening, but he was ready to do what had to be done to safeguard his secret. It was that simple.

    "What I''m going to do with it? Nothing, really. I am just curious about the truth," Killian gave it a shrug. His eyes turned sharp as his eyes moved across the battlefield where the severed corpses of the Tekury. The Tekur''s unmoving bodies were spread all over the battlefield. Not even one escaped their grasp.

    "I''m certainly the strongest Descendant below Tier-4, but even I cannot easily block the techniques of the Tekur. I guess that they use Soul Techniques like Raven did before he transformed into the Undead Skeleton. His Soul Technique forced me to stay in one spot. I couldn''t move a single inch even though I am usually stronger than that bastard," He revealed in all honesty.

    "But I could disregard their debuffs and curses thanks to Maria cleansing them instantaneously and the boost you provided. I doubt that we could have defeated this many Tekur with only myself and Maria protecting the rest of the camp.

    Maybe we could beat the shit out of the Tekur and the Supreme Human Alliance using your power. That might allow mankind to grow in its entirety without having to rely on the Supreme Human Alliance. You can read the memories and minds of the Tekur with one of your Soultraits. That should allow you to learn about the Tekur''s Soul Technique which you could then store inside a Memory Crystal. The memory crystal could be analyzed by our researchers and we could start creating our own Soul Techniques in the next few years.

    Don''t get me wrong. I hate you, but your powers are really useful. Even your Mind Reading Soultrait can be of great use. It has the potential to help us procure Soul Techniques which would strengthen mankind as a whole, giving us a huge leverage in dealing with the Tekur once everyone is in possession of their own Soul Technique."

    Michael never heard Killian talk this much, and he was not exactly sure if he liked this side of that nasty bastard. Killian was not dumb, and he was not as narrow-minded as Michael initially thought. He respected those with useful Soultraits and strength. Michael possessed both. So it was obvious that he was curious.

    While the two chatted, Maria''s condition had improved a bit. She lifted her upper body to look at the two Awakened and decided to join their conversation, "I think your power is unique as well, Michael. I could sense something old, ancient, within you. It was something I never experienced before."

    Killian furrowed his eyebrows. He didn''t like where the conversation was going, but he chose to keep listening to Maria.

    "But, I understand that you will attract the attention of High Society, and the traitorous families if you were to reveal your power. Since you''re not officially affiliated with any family yet, you will probably turn into the prime goal for most dark organizations, maybe even High Nobles, Sects, and Guilds the instant you expose yourself. It makes sense for you to attempt hiding your power, for the time being, at least."

    Michael heard the tone hidden in her voice. Maria stressed on a few words intentionally.

    ''Not yet officially affiliated with any family¡­for the time being¡­Are you calling dibs on me, or what?''

    He felt a bit odd conversing indirectly about his power. However, it was also weirdly relieving that someone finally found out about his Soultraits'' power.

    Michael guessed that more people had found out about his secrets at this point. Some thorough research should be more than enough to tell that something about his strength was odd. Not even a year ago, Michael had been tested to have less than 300 Soul Power Units with two Soultraits. If they were to repeat the same test now, he might easily surpass his former record ¨C by a huge margin.

    The only reason High Society didn''t find out about his secret yet was that their interest in his progress had been close to non-existent. That was about to change.

    Interestingly enough, Michael wasn''t too worried about the future. If anything, he could finally put the pedal to the metal and get moving. Lots of trouble might await him once everyone found out about his secrets, but Michael had ovee so many ordeals and adversaries that a few more didn''t really matter.

    He was confident to survive and grow stronger after every challenge.

    A smile crept up on his face as he realized something.

    ''It seems that my secret is not that much of a secret anymore. Looks like I can tell Kaleb and the others the truth soon.''

    His heart experienced much lighter than ever. Finally, he didn''t have to worry about his secret anymore.

    Now the only worry left behind was how to make sure that nobody might kidnap him and turn him into a prince locked up in a tower.

 Chapter 497 Envy

    <h4>Chapter 497 Envy</h4>

    Michael couldn''t hide that he felt a little bit weird at the thought of his most important secrets being exposed, but he figured that it would have happened sooner orter either way.

    The transformation his eyes underwent due to Spirit Eyes'' evolution was just the beginning, but it was certainly enough to take others by surprise. As long as someone interested in him put two and two together, they would obtain the answer they sought. That was fine with Michael. The hiding game was over.

    This made many things a lot easier than before. With that in mind, Michael collected the corpses of the Tekur and created a dome of cicle around him without telling Maria and Killian what he was going to do.

    The dome surrounding him allowed Michael to be at ease. Nobody could stare over his back to watch what he was doing and it was a lot more quiet inside the dome, giving him enough freedom to focus entirely on the task ahead.

    Michael began to use Extraction on the 22 Tekur. He spent the next three hours procuring Memory Orbs, SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Artifacts, and small portions of their War Runes'' spatial space.

    He obtained several Soul Technique tomes on which he used Extraction to extract Wisps of Knowledge. Michael then consumed the Memory Orbs and Wisps of Knowledge, further widening his understanding of the Tekur race, the creation of Soul Techniques, and the other techniques they used.

    Even though Michael believed that he made the biggest gains from procuring so many Soul Techniques, it was evident that the Tekur race''s other skills were not bad either. As long as they were suitable with human anatomy, Michael could start practicing them, recing most of his techniques in one go.

    ''The knowledge and techniques they''ve umted over thest centuries or even thousands of years is crazy. It''s no wonder that old races with great legacies are usually considered to be of a higher ''ss''. Even Tekur Soldiers possess better body, and mind refinement techniques than I do. Only Leviathan Diffusion might be on par with their energy cirction technique.''

    Michael was not really surprised. The Tekur race was several times older than the humans of the sr system. The progress of the human race might be fast, but it was not yet on par with a race that had ess to the Origin Expanse for an entire millennium.

    That might change in the future given that he obtained so many Soul Techniques, but they would have to see how it would change the tides in the future. For now, Michael was more interested in the SoulStar Fragments he''d procured. The 22 Tekur bodies provided him with 11,423 SoulStar Fragments, therefore totalling to an amount of 30,923 SoulStar Fragments in his possession. That was enough to manifest the 6th Star of another Soultrait ¨C even if it was only one of the Soultraits from the Inner area of the Sphere of Light.

    ''Should I save them up until I get enough to upgrade Extraction?'' He wondered for a moment, only to shake his head.

    Michael had a bad feeling about thest few days of the Interdimensional g War. Saving up would mean that he didn''t use all of his means to increase his strength, which was something he couldn''t afford right now. The g War was merciless and if they were unlucky, the Alliance would have to face a pincer attack from the Tekur and the traitors in their own ranks.

    The only Soultraits he could upgrade with close to 31,000 SoulStar Fragments were Enhancement, Reinforced Sword Qi, and Superior Constitution. Out of them, Reinforced Sword Qi was put aside because Michael didn''t use it that often. That left only Enhancement and Superior Constitution.

    ''Am I going to focus on providing more Support for my existing Soultraits and inserting Enhancement into my allies, or will I focus on Superior Constitution? I will be able to use Heavenly Beast Physique for a much longer period and the effect will be twice ¨C if not thrice ¨C as strong. My natural recovery will be much faster and I can absorb more energy naturally. It will mix well with Extraction and allow me to fight longer and strain my body even more than before¡­''

    The more Michael thought about it the easier it was to find the answer he sought. While Enhancement was an amazing Soultrait, Michael''s body was already at its limit when he tried applying sevenyers of Enhancement onto it. Even if the potency of Enhancement increased significantly, it was not as if Michael could apply more Enhancementyers onto his body. For that, he would have to strengthen his physical body with Superior Constitution, or more intense body refinement sessions.

    That left Superior Constitution as the most suitable 5-Star Soultrait to be upgraded. The only downside was that upgrading Superior Constitution had been rather taxing. It was quite painful to improve his constitution. Fortunately, that was something Michael could solve rather easily.

    ''Spreading out the upgrade over a long period should do the deed.'' He thought before starting to put 100 SoulStar Fragments near Superior Constitution''s Soultrait Symbol.

    The Soultrait Symbol began to vibrate violently. Dozens of tiny milky-white tendrils shot out of the Soultrait Symbols and inched closer to the SoulStar Fragments. They coiled around the Fragments and dragged them inside the Soultrait Symbol where they were devoured and digested in one go. Following the digestion process, the SoulStar Fragments took effect. Golden specks moved across the surface of the Soultrait Symbol for Superior Constitution and gathered next to the 5th Star.

    The outlines of the 6th Star didn''t form yet but the golden specks were gathering, eagerly awaiting to digest more SoulStar Fragments. Michael didn''t sense any major changes within his body. However, he could subtly sense the minuscule movements within his body.

    Thus, he decided to add a batch of 10 SoulStar Fragments every minute, hoping that injecting 30,000ish SoulStar Fragments over the course of more than two days at regr intervals would help him avoid the difort and pain of upgrading Superior Constitution to a 6-Star Soultrait.

    Spirit Eyes had been painful enough and Michael was not sure if he could afford to be incapable of fighting for the next few hours. Another group of Tekur could appear at any time, and Michael would have to be ready to fight at once.

    He destroyed the dome of cicle around him and got up from the ground.

    "ording to the memories of these Tekur, no Alliance member or group of Tekur was nearby for thest two days. I cannot promise anything, but I believe we should be somewhat safe until tomorrow," Michael said, pointing at the Tekur bodies next to him.

    Neither Maria nor Killian uttered anything, but they looked at him intently. He wondered if they could sense the SoulStar Fragments inside him, but that didn''t seem feasible.

    "Ah, right. You can read the memories and minds of others. I forgot," Maria mumbled, only for Killian to ask, "Do you have to touch them or can you read our minds from a distance as well?"

    Killian red at Michael, but that was nothing new.

    "I need physical contact. The closer to the head, the better," Michael answered with a smile, "But I don''t need to read your mind to tell you that you cannot stand the sight of me. You might not feel like killing me anymore because I helped you in your tent, or maybe because you think my abilities are useful enough to let me live, but I can say, for sure, that you hate me."

    Michael nced over to Maria after an intense stare-down with Killian, only for Maria to tilt her head.

    "Anymore? Why would you want to kill Michael, in the first ce? If he did something to harm you, how about talking it out now that we have some spare time?" Maria proposed.

    Killian''s lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but he recalled Maria''s blush when Michael embraced her and that her behavior around Michael was different than her usual attitude around others. She was reserved and distant around others. But with Michael¡­she seemed more open. Not a major difference yet, but small differences that would sooner orter develop into something else.

    He shut his mouth and shook his head, "It''s a guy thing. There is no need to talk about it. I fought with Michael before and can tell that he deserves to stay alive. That''s the only thing you have to know."

    Even if it hurt, Killian knew that Maria never considered him as something more than a friend. Their families were quite close because their parents had been in the same ss before. They traded a lot and never lost the connection they established decades before. Therefore, Killian knew Maria from when she was a little child. They were both children and yed together a lot.

    However, he was never more than a childhood friend ¨C one of many at that. Maria treated him with great respect and was always polite to him, but she never treated him like he was special.

    Even if he were to confess his feelings, Killian felt that the time was not right and¡­that he was already toote. Maria didn''t have a trace of romantic feelings toward him. They were merelyrades and childhood friends.

    ''I really hate this bastard!'' Killian thought, ring at Michael, who could easily imagine what Killian was thinking.

    He didn''t have to use Mind Reader to read an open book, after all.

    "Either way. Let''s stay vignt until the others have recuperated. We shouldn''t stay here for too long. Encountering more Tekur groups in this location is only a matter of time," Killian pointed out and the others agreed at once.

    Less than five days were left before they would be expelled from the isted dimension.

    All they had to do was to survive that long. It couldn''t be that difficult, right?

 Chapter 498 Cohort

    <h4>Chapter 498 Cohort</h4>

    It took 36 hours before all injured Descendants regained consciousness and enough strength to travel a long distance without hindering the rest of the group. That was just enough time for Michael to upgrade Superior Constitution to a 6-Star Soultrait.

    After the first Descendants woke up, Michael realized that investing 10 SoulStar Fragments a minute was not enough. He elerated the upgrade by channeling 15 to 20 SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol for Superior Constitution. It was quite easy to adjust the input ording to the level of difort, which made everything far less painful than fusing Spirit Eyes had been.

    Now that 36 hours passed, Superior Constitution advanced to a 6-Star Soultrait officially, and Michael had to acknowledge that the changes in his body were drastic. After the upgrade waspleted, a surge of information and pain passed through his body. The star level advancement provided him a final spurt of strength before connecting the reinforced areas all over his body with great precision.

    Michael closed his eyes to perceive the changes in his body and realized quickly that he possessed far more Soul Power than before. He could use the highest threshold of Heavenly Beast Physique for more than a minute without having to sacrifice a SoulStar Fragment to replenish a portion of his Soul Power instantaneously. However, Michael was not even sure if he would have to use Heavenly Beast Physique that often, or that long, in the first ce.

    The changes to his physique were far more advanced than the increase in his Soul Power. If Superior Constitution at 5-Star allowed him to attain the physical strength of a Lowest Tier-3 Awakened, Michael was now stronger than a Low Tier-3 Lord, who possessed a physique enhancing Soultrait.

    Once Superior Constitution upgrade had beenpleted, Michael''s body expelled arge amount of impurities. The people around him were surprised, at first, and disgusted when the pungent smell of his impurities reached them. The odor was too overwhelming, however, Michael felt relieved to see therge, smelly mass of impurities. His body felt lighter and he could absorb the surrounding energy three times faster than before and two times more in volume. It was only a matter of time before Michael naturally advanced to Tier-3.

    His energy storage expanded as a result of Superior Constitution''s upgrade and he felt more refreshed than before. Michael could also sense that his Stamina was drained much slower and that his Soul Power replenished much faster. The energy veins within his body had grown thicker and firmer and his natural regeneration was several times higher than before.

    Last but not least, his skin was smoother than ever and the old scars that had covered his body from previous injuries had disappeared. Michael''s skin had an even texture and one could easily make out his muscles, veins, and energy veins. Staring at them pulled Michael into a trance for several minutes.

    "We''ll be leaving now. You''reing with us, right?" Maria asked, pulling Michael out of the trance.

    He looked at her and nodded.

    "I will probably separate from the group once we find out where the others are gathering. I want to deal with a few more Tekur and search for the remaining Alliance Members. Maybe I can find a few traitors as well. It would be great if I could find out more about the Supreme Human Alliance''s ns before it''s toote."

    Michael felt that it was much easier to talk to Maria since their fight with the Undead Skeleton. Maria was still formal with him but she was a bit more rxed, and their conversations were not sprinkled with awkward silences like before. There was no need for her to live up to someone else''s expectations around Michael. Everyone expected something from her. They wanted her to be at her best 24/7 and had countless demands, ranging from acting as someone''s healer to being interested in their marriage proposals and reciprocating favorably.

    Everyone had some sort of expectations and hopes when they talked to her. But that was not the case with Michael. He didn''t demand anything from her.

    They had enough time to spend talking about various things in thest 36 hours. Maria was interrupted every now and then because some members of her loyal fan club woke up and rushed at her to ensure that she was doing well. Most of them copsed after they moved so suddenly moments after regaining consciousness, whereas others felt weak to even lift a finger.

    However, Maria was oddly thankful that her fan club didn''t bother her. It was great that they were busy taking care of their own well-being because it permitted her to find out more about Michael, how he felt about the Mark of Fate, and what he thought about High Society, the Seraph family, Dark Heaven, the Supreme Human Alliance and many other things.

    Maria could be herself for once and she made full use of it.

    "I really hope that everything will be alright," She mumbled to which Michael reacted with a smile. He didn''t fill her heart with fake promises that everything would be fine and that everyone would survive. Instead, he only gave her a smile that was reassuring and looked at her with eyes filled with determination.

    Michael may not be able to promise her something he couldn''t be 100% certain of, but he was capable of giving his utmost to bring them to a safe ce and help as many as possible to survive.

    It didn''t take long before the tents all over the survivor camp were removed. In no time the surroundings were cleared. It looked like the camp never existed, in the first ce. Michael moved to the front of the group, activated Spirit Eyes to scan the surroundings for any danger, and started with a light jog toward the fallen Dimensional Pir.

    He was the only one who knew where to run, thus he was at the front. But Michael also had Spirit Eyes, which allowed him to see in a radius of several kilometers in any direction with great precision. He could see even further if one added the slight distortions behind his sharp field of view. That was enough to pinpoint enemies and allies long before they could reach therge cohort of more than 100 Descendants.

    At first, the Descendants were displeased that Michael seemed to lead them, but Michael made it clear that Killian was the leader of the group. Michael didn''t really care about the leader position and it was much easier to push all responsibility on Killian. Everyone trusted him because he was a member of the Zeus family and because hisbat prowess was well known. Most people hadn''t seen Michael fighting now that he was much stronger than ever, and it was not like he nned to reveal his strength to everyone, in the first ce.

    Some people were better off not knowing about his strength. They were a hassle.

    Unfortunately, that was not easy because it didn''t take long before their cohort was weed by two groups of Tekur. One group of five Tekur ran through the ever-expanding ins five kilometers to their left, whereas another group of four Tekur appeared to their right. The group to their right was only four kilometers away from their location and it was only a matter of time before they saw the 100+ Descendants jogging through the ins as well.

    "Killian,e over for a moment," Michael called out. His voice resounded through the rows of Descendants, causing some to grumble. They felt that Michael was impolite and rude. He was not even a noble, yet he dared to talk to their leader and the savior of their group like this!?

    Killian hated Michael but he didn''t care about the way the young Lord spoke to him at this moment. Michael''s expression clearly showed that there was no time toin.

    Killian appeared next to Michael, where he found out about the two groups of Tekur.

    "Should we take them by surprise, or do you think it would be better to wait until they approach the group?" Michael asked.

    "They won''t approach a group of Descendants that big. If anything, they''ll be trying to createrge-scale attacks to injure as many Descendants as possible before retreating. They''ll stalk us and repeat the same tactic until everyone is worn out, or dead."

    "So you want to deal with them before they can be a problem," Michael questioned and Killian nodded.

    "We should split up and deal with one side each," Killian added, to which Michael agreed.

    He used Insert to apply sixyers of Enhancement on Killian before using Insert once again, but this time, he used it on theyers of Enhancement he previously applied on Killian''s body. That way he could prolong the duration of Enhancement working on Killian before it would wear off.

    "You got five minutes to reach, and kill them," Michael exined before applying sevenyers of Enhancement onto himself.

    He used Leviathan Diffusion to weave more energy into his body and began to produce enough Soul Energy to execute Heavenly Beast Physique. However, Michael did not yet use Heavenly Beast Physique. Instead, he pressed his feet against the ground causing the ground to burst open as he dashed ahead.

    "Don''t be embarrassed if I''m done before you."

    That was all Killian could hear before Michael turned into a sh. The Tekur noticed Michael quickly, and it didn''t take long before he unleashed his Soul Techniques, further elerating his speed. He appeared in front of the closest Tekur from the left group, summoned the Aethyr de, and cut him in half, using the razor-sharp de and brute force in great harmony.

    Killian cursed in his heart, unleashed his Inheritance Technique in its strongest form, and turned into a bolt of lightning. He appeared in front of his enemies shortly after Michael, where he wreaked havoc using the tremendous power that surged through him.

    In less than two minutes, Killian finished the battle. He stored the Tekur''s corpses and jogged back at full speed. Killian was 100% certain that he would be faster than Michael, but he didn''t realize how close it would be before he noticed that Michael was also on the way back to the group.

    Killian elerated further, allowing him to reach the assembly just before Michael arrived, but not the slightest bit of happiness could be seen on Killian''s face. Michael had to run a longer distance to reach the Tekur and get back.

    Killian seemed to lose out on everything when it involved Michael.

    ''He has grown even stronger!''

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

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    The link is also in my profile.

    If you want to support the author rather than the tform, here is my Ko-Fi and Pat.reon

    /hideousgrain

    /HideousGrain

 Chapter 499 Chaotic Battlefield

    <h4>Chapter 499 Chaotic Battlefield</h4>

    After their encounter with the two Tekur groups, the situation in the Descendants cohort changed considerably. Nobody took Michael lightly anymore. If anything, the Descendants started to respect him. Witnessing how Michael was able to challenge Killian as an equal was enough to catch them off-guard. It made them rethink their first impression of Michael.

    Michael and Killian started challenging each other without speaking a word. They didn''t talk about the challenges out loud but whenever they encountered one or multiple groups of Tekur they nced at each other and charged ahead at full speed. Usually, Michael would Insert severalyers of Enhancement on Killian to make sure that the Zeus'' Descendant could deal with the enormous number of enemies. It might not be necessary, but Michael thought that it was better to take the safe route. After all, they had yet to encounter one of the three Elite Soldiers.

    Michael was wondering where the Elite Soldiers were located, however, he was far more concerned about the situation with the traitorous human Descendants. The Descendants cohort found a group of Berserkers that was being attacked by human Descendants. Some Descendants from the cohorte knew those traitors. They were friends, or had been.

    While the other Descendants hesitated to attack their friends ¨C or former friends ¨C Michael didn''t even think about showing mercy. He used the Heavenly Beast Physique, applied severalyers of Enhancement onto his body, and conjured one Soul cicle Bullet after another. His speed was shockingly high, allowing him to appear behind the traitorous Descendants before they could kill the Berserkers using their Soul Techniques. Using the advantage of his extraordinary speed, high reflexes, and perfect vision to advantage, Michael released one Soul cicle after another, bursting the traitorous Descendants'' heads and chests in one go.

    Only 24 hours were left before the isted dimension would expel all of them, but it looked like the real battles were just about to begin.

    "Thank you for saving us," One of the Berserkers said, recalling Michael from the team battles. He had seen Michael?around Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz, and knew that they were friends.

    "But do you know what happened there? They attacked us out of nowhere. Aren''t we a team?"

    The Berserker didn''t strike Michael as the smartest, but that made things easier.

    "Our group was attacked by some traitors as well. It seems like the Supreme Human Alliance''s influence reached us," Michael exined briefly. There was no need to go into detail. The only important thing was that some traitorous Descendants attacked them before as well.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance? I think the Chieftain warned us about them before. He said that we shouldn''t trust every human we encounter in the Origin Expanse. Not everyone is our ally."

    Michael forced a smile and nodded, "That''s basically it. The downside is that we have no idea who betrayed us. Do you want to join us on our way to the destroyed Dimensional Pir? We want to gather as many Alliance Members as possible before the g War ends."

    Since only 24 hours were left before the g War ended it was not exactly important to band together. They could sit out the next 24 hours and wait to get expelled from the isted dimension. But Michael had a bad feeling about that.

    "That sounds good. We were just about to move in the same direction. I sense death from over there."

    Michael didn''t know that the Berserkers could sense death, but apparently that was a thing. And it was not something he looked forward to. He bit his lower lip, stored all corpses in his storage device and gestured to the Berserkers to join them.

    By now, there were corpses of roughly 30ish Tekur and nine Descendants stored in his War Rune''s storage. He had yet to extract their SoulStar Fragments, Memory Orbs, a portion of their storage, and their Artifacts. It would be best if he could extract them instantaneously and use the SoulStar Fragments to strengthen his Soultraits a little bit more, but that was not possible. He would need some more time and privacy to do so.

    Killian didn''t love the Berserkers but he could respect their fighting spirit. They exchanged some words before departing to the destroyed Dimensional Pir. Michael and the others expected to encounter maybe 200 to 250 Alliance Members over there. Maybe, there would be less if they had decided to change their position and search for more Dimensional Pirs to destroy.

    But that was not the case. There were not only 200 to 250 Alliance Members near the destroyed Dimensional Pir. When Michael and the others reached the pir, they found arge camp with almost 500 Alliance Members, and they were not alone. There were also 150 Tekur, with three of them having an obsidian-colored carapace.

    The Alliance members were struggling. They struggled against the tremendous power of the massive number of Tekur they had to face simultaneously.

    Unfortunately, there was more they had to take into consideration. Four small groups of human Descendants raised their weapons against their allies. They stabbed their ownrades in the back, further weakening the already fragile line of defense.

    Michael narrowed his eyes the moment he picked up the happenings on the chaotic battlefield with Spirit Eyes.

    "150 Tekur with three Elite Soldiers attacked our people. The human traitors exposed themselves as well. We''ve lost more than 30 alliance members to them already," Michael revealed, barely loud enough for everyone to hear.

    His head flicked to Killian, who nodded grimly. Michael then nced at the Berserkers and the other Descendants who had mostly recuperated. It looked like everyone was ready to fight.

    Michael used Insert with Enhancement on Killian and the strongest Descendants and Berserkers in the cohort. He had been umting the Power of Enhancement within the Legendary Ring Artifact. Therefore, he could use all of it right now. After applying fiveyers of Enhancement on more than a dozen Awakened, the umted Power of Enhancement had been used up. But that was fine. The dozen Awakened gained tremendous strength from Enhancement, even if it would onlyst five minutes.

    These five minutes ought to be more than enough to reach their opponents and aid theirrades.

    "Charge!!" Killian roared at the top of his lungs, his body turning into a humongous thunderbolt as he charged ahead.

    The others charged ahead as well, including Maria, who''d executed her movement technique to reach the injured as quickly as possible.

    Michael stared at the ground for a moment, a trace of uncertainty lingering in his eyes. However, this uncertainty dispersed quickly. Itsted only a mere second before the Dome of Extraction erupted from his body.

    He activated the Heavenly Beast Physique, added sevenyers of Enhancement onto his body and kicked the ground to catch up with the others. He passed by most of them and reached Killian just before they barged into the chaotic battlefield. Killian''s gaze locked on to the Tekur right off the bat, whereas Michael decided to eliminate the human traitors first.

    They split up without saying a word, however, their understanding of each other''s n was precise. Michael could easily take out the enemies within their own rows. That was not something Killian could do with his Soultrait. He would, most likely, injure hisrades in the process of hunting down the traitors. Michael did not have such a problem.

    He manifested two Aethyr Daggers, coated them in severalyers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi and began his dance of death. Spirit Eyes fully unleashed allowed Michael to pinpoint his enemies with ease. He moved through the rows of allies and cut down the human traitors one by one.

    Simultaneously, he unleashed the Dome of Extraction to drain their lifeforce, origin energy, and to continue draining them even after they died. Extraction tendrils shot out of the Dome of Extraction and extracted their SoulStar Fragments even after the enemies were already dead. The SoulStar Fragments entered Michael''s body immediately. Nobody could see them, but even if someone could, it wouldn''t matter at this moment.

    Michael had acknowledged that his Powers would get exposed in the next few days, or weeks. At most, it would take a few months before even the densest person around him figured out what his Soultrait was capable of. Therefore, Michael focused on the fight ahead instead of holding back just to keep Extraction a secret. He, or the people around him might face severe consequences if he was to hold back, and Michael didn''t want to be responsible for the deaths of the people around him. If anything, he wanted to help them.

    He extracted the SoulStar Fragments from the corpses of the human traitors and used some of the SoulStar Fragments to replenish his rapidly drained Soul Power for the Heavenly Beast Physique. Using the Heavenly Beast Physique drained the Soul Power umted within the 6-Star Superior Constitution quickly. It was not instantaneous, but he could only utilize the Heavenly Beast Physique for a minute before the Soul Power within the Soultrait Symbol was drained. Fortunately, that changed by using SoulStar Fragments as a fuel.

    It was painful to watch his precious SoulStar Fragments getting used up the moment they were extracted, but the utility was tremendous. Michael could continue to use Heavenly Beast Physique and focus on manifesting some Soul cicle Bullets to deal with the more annoying human traitors.

    The human traitors used Soul Techniques as well, but it was evident that they were not adept at producing Soul Energy. Their mastery of the Soul Technique in their possession was also not that great. Michael, who possessed the experience of dozens of Tekur, was on a whole different level than them.

    Michael''s Soul Energy production was rapid and his mastery of both Soul cicle Bullet and Heavenly Beast Physique were leagues above the human traitors.

    This allowed him to overwhelm the traitors and kill them with a single strike, or Soul cicle.

    Not a single trace of guilt was visible in his eyes as he reaped lives.

 Chapter 500 Hold his Fort

    <h4>Chapter 500 Hold his Fort</h4>

    The human traitors were dealt with, their corpses , and the SoulStar Fragments within had been extracted and stored safely inside Michael.

    The energy influx he obtained from killing them increased his War Rune''s refinement degree, resulting in ripples of origin energy passing through his body. Superior Constitution altered his physique to naturally absorb the energy in the surroundings and annex it at once. Therefore, the energy absorbed by the Dome of Extraction was annexed instantaneously, ready for Michael to use.

    It was only a matter of time before Michael advanced to Tier-3, but that wouldn''t happen before the g War ended. Michael doubted that he could absorb so much Origin energy in such a short amount of time.

    With Spirit Eyes fully activated, Michael''s eyes flicked across the chaotic battlefield. He pinpointed the 150 Tekur Soldiers, followed by the three Elite Soldiers with their obsidian carapace. However, there were no more human traitors for him to hunt. Michael had defeated them all.

    ''I only killed 30ish traitors just now. There should be some more somewhere,'' Michael guessed after adding the number of traitors he and Killian defeated before to the traitors he killed just now. They had defeated a total of 46 traitorous Descendants until now. That still left arge chunk of potential traitors alive.

    It was frustrating that he couldn''t urately point them out, but there was nothing he could do about that. That meant, Michael had to change his strategy. He decided to start dealing with the Tekur.

    A burst of pain swept through his Spirit Eyes as hundreds of Soultraits were unleashed simultaneously all over the battlefield. Michael could see every trace of energy that was being used, altered, or repelled. It hurt for a moment, but he forcefully adapted to the sensation.

    He witnessed death and destruction everywhere and began to search for the perpetrators. Instead of searching for the Tekur that caused the most physical damage, Michael wanted to find those who caused the most overall harm. That usually referred to the Awakened with Support-type Soultraits, Curses, or Amplifications. However, it could also refer to the Healers. In such arge-scale battle, the Healers were usually the most threatening to either side. They had to be dealt with and killed as quickly as possible.

    Michael pointed out a few Healers, but they were well protected. The Elite Soldiers were positioned near most Healers. They protected a few Supporters as well, probably because their Soultraits yed a major role inrge-scale battles such as this one. Michael didn''t want to deal with the Elite Soldiers at once. Instead, he focused on the people around him and made sure to watch the teamwork of the Tritan Alliance.

    The members of the alliance worked together much better than Michael expected. It was nice to see that not many died even though they faced the full power of so many Tekur.

    The Tekur were already utilizing their Soul Techniques, draining their Soul Power rapidly to unleash K.O. attacks. Many worked out, killing dozens of Alliance members in one swoop, but most were either blocked or evaded. Michael took that as a sign to start moving.

    He stopped utilizing Heavenly Beast Physique for a moment, removing the intense presence that shrouded him instantaneously and rushed through the rows of humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs. Michael utilized Enhancement to give the strongest Awakened around him a burst of strengthsting several minutes.

    It was not a longsting reinforcement to their power, but the burst of strength ought to be enough to give them an upper hand on the battlefield for quite a while.

    Michael''s energy was drained rapidly, but he recuperated the used-up energy just as quickly. The Dome of Extraction was unleashed to the fullest, draining the energy in the surroundings to keep Michael''s energy storage filled to the brim. That was also why he was brimming with vigor and energy when he finally reached Kaleb, the rest of Kaleb''s team, Lincoln, Zeke, and the others. Quinn Karta was also there, the corner of his lip curling upward when he saw Michael.

    "You always arrive at the perfect timing!" Lincoln eximed, erupting a huge earthen wall to block a house-sized fireball from incinerating him and his allies. The fireball burst apart, the flickering mes spreading across the battlefield. Another Descendant used his Inheritance technique to manifest a dragon frompressed water. The dragon looked like a humongous snake that slithered through the air, extinguishing the dancing mes in the air before they could affect anyone.

    "I wouldn''t want to miss this," Michael responded with a smug smile. Lincoln rolled his eyes, but he halted in his tracks for a moment when he saw the marks around Michael''s eyes.

    Zeke had seen them as well.

    "Like seriously¡­What the fuck is wrong with your eyes?!" He cursed loud enough for Michael to hear.

    It was rare for Zeke to react like that, but Michael guessed that it was obvious. The marks around his eyes and the intense, vibrant silver of his pupils made it clear that his eyes had changed even morepared to thest time they saw each other.

    "I will exin everythingter. Focus on the fight, and use Eye of Illusion on the Tekur I will attack with Spiritual Domination!" Michael could only say, forcing everyone to return their focus to the battlefield. He could always exin everythingter. Now was not the time to do so!

    "Spiritual Domination? Wha¡ª..." Zeke asked, unsure how to tell what exactly he was going to do, only to witness firsthand what Michael meant soon enough.

    Zeke''s voice reached Michael''s ears while he was already busy introducing severalyers of Enhancement into Zeke, and most importantly, his eyes. Once that was done, Michael amplified his own eyes which glowed brightly alongside the marks on his face. Spirit Eyes was released to the fullest, smashing into a group of Tekur that was about to barge into their frontlines.

    The Tekur began to sway left and right. Blood gushed out of their eyes and they screeched aloud. Two Tekur, who were flying across the sky, lost control of their wings and crashed heavily to the ground. Zeke''s eyes widened in surprise, but he felt Michael''s gaze on himself and reacted quickly.

    He unleashed his Inheritance Technique, World of Illusion, and used Eye of Illusion at its strongest. The Tekur were unable to block the illusion from taking root in their minds as Michael''s Spiritual Domination rendered their mental defenses useless. Michael used 7yered Enhancement and Heavenly Beast Physique to unleash the full potential of his physical strength and speed to cross the gap to the Tekur. Aethyr des appeared in his hands, shrouded in enhanced Reinforced Swords Qi right before they cut through the enemies, killing them one by one.

    Quinn Karta appeared next to Michael, using his Soultraits to teleport to another position and aid Michael in the battle against the weakened Tekur. Three Tekur were capable of blocking some attacks of the duo, but most attacks prated their defenses and inflicted severe injuries. Michael continued to elerate, making his team members wonder about the threshold of his physical limit as silver lines cut through the air. It looked like Michael''s de cut through the fabric of space itself as his power sted at his enemies in ripples, reaping his enemies'' lives one by one.

    Tendrils of Extraction shot out of the Dome of Extraction the moment the first Tekur died. They invaded the Tekur bodies through the inflicted wounds and drained their SoulStar Fragments, and the remnants of origin energy left within the corpses. Once the bodies were drained of Fragments and energy, Michael stored them inside his War Rune''s repository space before retreating with Quinn Karta.

    He smiled at the fallen noble, who returned a serious nod.

    Michael used up a handful of SoulStar Fragments to replenish the Soul Power he''d used up in the earlier fight and prepared for the next battle.

    Kaleb stared at Michael in confusion and excitement. He was not sure what happened to his friend, but Michael''sbat prowess had heightened even more than before. Michael had been rather average in terms of physical strength before. Not anymore though. Right now, Michael''s physical strength exceeded the brute force most Tier-3 Awakened could unleash. At least, that was the case as long as the terrifying presence of a fierce beast shrouded him.

    However, even without the terrifying presence, Michael''s physical strength exceeded the norms of a Peak Tier-2 Awakened. Michael had long since surpassed the limits ordinary Tier-2 Awakened could reach.

    Michael expanded the Dome of Extraction, consuming more ambient energy. He rushed over to Kaleb, pointed to a group of ten flying Tekur, and said, "I will shoot them down from the sky, you finish them!"

    In the next moment, a surge of origin energy was inserted into Kaleb Zenovia alongside a 6yered Enhancement.

    "Go all out!"

    Michael released Spiritual Domination to strike the ten Tekur one by one. Their bodies stiffened and they screeched out at the top of their lungs as they lost control of their wings for two seconds. That was just enough to pull them down from the sky, push them into the ground, and for Kaleb Zenovia to unleash six-fold Enhanced Frozen Nova with surplus of energy.

    Kaleb Zenovia''s Legendary Ice Staff rose high into the air and the temperature plummeted below zero instantaneously.

    His cier-blue eyes shimmered in excitement as tremendous power surged through him. In the next moment a humongous ball ofpressed ice, releasing freezing chill and cier-blue liquid that looked like melting ice ¨C just really cold ¨C manifested above the ten Tekur.

    Kaleb broke into a cold sweat and the energy within him was drained in an instant, but the assault connected. The Frozen Nova crashed down onto the humongous in, smashing the ten Tekur into smithereens before freezing their remnants for all eternity.

    "Damn."

 Chapter 501 Grim Reaper

    <h4>Chapter 501 Grim Reaper</h4>

    The Frozen Nova was muchrger than Kaleb intended. It was around the size of a family house and froze everything it touched instantaneously. Upon crashing into the ground, Frozen Nova burst, releasing the frozenva like liquid in all directions.

    A chilly shockwave spread out in all directions, freezing the ground in a 100-meter radius. Some Awakened retreated instinctively, but some were struck by the chilly shockwave. It froze their clothes and bodies, turning them into statues and forcing them to close their eyes. They were fortunate that the Tekur died on the spot. None of them was able to escape, which was a relief. Otherwise, closing their eyes would have been the Awakened''s death sentence.

    After the Frozen Nova wreaked havoc, killing ten Tekur at once, the power bnce all over the chaotic battlefield changed drastically. More Tekur diverted their focus to Kaleb, Michael, and the others, including the Elite Soldiers. They had yet to enter the battlefield since their focus had been on guarding their Healers and the strongest Supporters. However, now that an enemy capable of defeating 10 Tekur in an instant appeared, they decided to move out as well.

    "Can y''all deal with the Elite Soldiers for five minutes? There is no need for you to kill them. Just¡­survive¡­" Michael asked, looking over to Lincoln and the others.

    Kaleb was exhausted after he used Frozen Nova in such an extravagant way. His energy reserves were drained and his mental power was also used up considerably. Michael used Insert and transferred most of his energy into Kaleb. Thereafter, his reserves were refilled through the Dome of Extraction''s high efficiency at absorbing the surrounding energy.

    Michael used Insert with Enhancement on the people around him, only to notice Thaor, Lokai, Mekhaz, and a bunch of other Berserkers rushing to their aid. There were also a few Descendants, including Maria, joining their fight.

    "I guess we can handle the Elite Soldiers for a short while. But I cannot promise that we willst five minutes. We have no idea how strong these obsidian freaks are, after all!" Zeke cursed quietly, but loud enough for Michael to hear.

    "In that case, I''ll join you," Quinn Karta said to Michael, "I guess you want to deal with their Healers and the stronger Supporters while the Elite Soldiers are busy beating them into pulps. Or am I mistaken?"

    "Your guess is correct. Let''s move then," Michael said, using Insert with Enhancement on Quinn Karta as well. He used sixyered Enhancement on Quinn, allowing the young man to gain a tremendous burst of strength. Michael then used Enhancement on himself and exerted Heavenly Beast Physique.

    In the next moment, he shot to the left, brushing past Maria and the other Descendants to detach himself from the group without attracting too much attention. He moved through the rows of Alliance Members and appeared on the other side of the battlefield at once. Quinn Karta appeared next to him with a thin smile on his face.

    "You''re much stronger and useful than Zeke and the others said. I thought they were exaggerating, but it looks like they underestimated you," He said, his tone growing more serious as he added, "Not me. I won''t underestimate you. Believe me."

    Michael ignored Quinn''sment and dashed into the rows of enemies. The Aethyr de manifested in his hands, taking on Tigerfang''s shape. In the next moment, a silvery-white hue shrouded Aethyr Tigerfang. Enhanced Reinforced Sword Qi strengthened Aethyr enough to cut through the tough carapace without any problems. Michael and Quinn saw that happen as they emerged in front of three Tekur.

    The Tekur had been killing several enemies in thest few minutes, using up their entire Soul Power. Therefore, they weren''t able to use the full power of their Soultraits right off the bat. Michael and Quinn used this opportunity to take advantage of their momentary weakness. Michael''s ridiculously strong physique allowed him to sh through two Tekur with a single strike, whereas Quinn unleashed the Dragon Mark Soultrait to further enhance his power. The marks of a dragon appeared all over his body. They changed Quinn''s presence and elevated hisbat prowess tremendously. Adding the sixyered Enhancement inserted by Michael and the fact that Quinn was currently using his Inheritance Technique, the Tekur opposite him had no chance of escaping the dragonfang-like daggers resting in his hands.

    The three Tekur were dealt with, and Michael allowed the Dome of Extraction to devour the Tekur''s SoulStar Fragments as they continued to move. It was only a matter of seconds before they reached the backlines of the Tekur. The backlines were filled with Tekur using long-range attacks, Healing Soultraits, or Soultrait that mainly focused on Supporting their allies or weakening their enemies.

    Michael and Quinn barged into the group of enemies without hesitation. Michael appeared in front of them, charging at them like a bullet train, whereas Quinn Karta used Blink to teleport from one spot to another without dy. Michael manifested two Soul cicle Bullets and released them to pierce the chests of two Tekur. He spread the Dome of Extraction outward and used Insert on it, allowing dozens of Extraction tendrils to emerge out of the ground.

    The Extraction tendrils pierced through the feet of the Tekur within the Dome of Extraction''s range and inserted traces of Extraction inside them. The traces of Extraction took root in their bodies and began to leech on their origin energy. Michael then began to use Spiritual Domination on the enemies he''d faced. He cut them down one by one, relying on brute force and the tremendous potential of Heavenly Beast Physique, Enhancement, Spirit Eyes, and Extraction.

    Michael was cut several times in the next two minutes, but he tended to the wounds by using the bits of power that had umted within the Shard of Archangel''s Grace. Some of the des used to cut Michael were coated in poison. The poison acted fast and would have rendered Michael incapable of continuing to fight within minutes. That would have been the case, under normal circumstances.

    However, Michael was in possession of Extraction. He extracted the poison and used Insert to plunge it deep inside the bodies of the Tekur who''d poisoned him earlier.

    Revenge was sweet.

    But a not-so-sweet thing was the gory sight all around Michael. He didn''t have a fancy Sword Style to rely on. Immortal Knight''s Holy Sword Style didn''t really fit well into his repertoire and fighting style. Therefore, Michael turned into a madbatant, whose attention returned to focusing on his Soultraits and inflicting maximum damage to obliterate his enemies as quickly as possible.

    This n would have failed against the Tekur under normal circumstances. However, Michael was in possession of the memories of dozens of Tekur at this point. He was fully aware of what kind of techniques the masses of Tekur had been learning since they''d been promoted to Soldiers. Their techniques were deeply imprinted into his mind, therefore, granting him a tremendous advantage. He was fully aware of the movement sequences of the Tekur, the shorings of their techniques, and the special tactics they''d been taught from a young age. Their weak and strong points were deeply imprinted in Michael''s mind, giving him exactly what he needed to fight and obliterate the Tekur in front of him.

    Dozens of SoulStar Fragments entered his subconscious every second, but more than a quarter of that were used up rapidly to replenish his Soul Power, allowing him to use more and more Soul cicle Bullets in a short period. Simultaneously, his Heavenly Beast Physique could be maintained, generating just enough might for him to fight with the Tekur on par.

    No. That was not correct either.

    Michael utilized seven Soultraits inbat, using up a tremendous amount of origin energy every single second. His Soultraits were extremely potent with three being 6-Star Soultraits, and the rest being at 5-Stars. They enhanced each other and created just enough vitality to fight several Tekur even without the employ of the Soul Techniques he''d learned. And then there was the addition of humongous strength Michael obtained from a long-range elemental Soul Technique that could kill a Tekur with a single blow if applied properly and another Soul Technique that increased Michael''s physical strength, agility, and reflexes by near to 200%.

    He was the Grim Reaper on the battlefield. Wherever the Aethyr de passed by, blood would flow and heads would roll.

    Quinn Karta saw what Michael was capable of and his eyes widened. He could clearly tell that Michael had yet to reach his limit as well. Michael had not yet learned about his Soultraits in-depth, and hisprehension of the Soul Techniques hadn''t reached perfection either. In fact, Michael was far from reaching perfect mastery. He was just at the beginning!

    Dozens of Tekur were killed by Michael in a matter of minutes, Meanwhile, all Quinn could do was watch as terror and despair surfaced on the Tekur''s faces.

    "I didn''t expect this to happen," Quinn mumbled, clicking his tongue.

    "I didn''t really want this to happen."

    Quinn Karta materialized behind Michael with Blink. His physique was still strengthened from Michael''s Enhancement and the Mark of Dragon. Quinn produced a tremendous amount of Soul Energy all of a sudden and he activated his Elite ss Soul Technique, further empowering the powers of his 7-Star Soultrait, Mark of the Dragon.

    "I''m sorry that this happens to you, but you''re too dangerous to be left alive," Quinn mumbled, just barely loud enough for Michael to hear.

    His head flicked back and he could instantly see the Soul Energy that surged through Quinn''s body. The cogs in Michael''s mind clicked and he ultimately understood.

    "Traitor¡­" He mumbled while trying to change Aethyr into a sizable shield to block the iing attacks.

    However, it was already toote. Blood spurted through the air as the Soul Technique empowering Mark of the Dragon was unleashed.

    In the following moment, Michael''s arms flung through the air.

    "You shouldn''t have trusted High Society."

 Chapter 502 Roar from within

    <h4>Chapter 502 Roar from within</h4>

    Michael had no idea what was going on, but one thing was clear. Quinn Karta was a traitor.

    ''Did he join hands with the Supreme Human Alliance? Why? I thought he hated Dark Heavens who receive orders from the SHA.'' He thought, trying to distract himself from the fact that he''d just lost both of his arms.

    Michael didn''t see exactly what Quinn had done but given that he used a Soul Technique from the SHA with his 7-Star Soultrait, it was obvious that the power of the attack had been quite impressive. However, the worst was that the remnants of 6yered Enhancement had allowed Quinn Karta to take Michael by surprise. If not for Enhancement, he might have been able to block a portion of the attack.

    But now that he lost both of his arms, Michael was in a tricky situation. Fountains of blood gushed out of the little arm stumps attached to his shoulders, whereas his arms were lying somewhere on the battlefield. The War Rune on the back of his right hand dimmed down, whereas something deep inside his body began to stir.

    After the anchor to his War Rune had been destroyed, Michael would have to ess his War Rune directly. The mark on the back of his hand was just a visual extension of the War Rune that was hidden deep within one''s being. Some say that the War Rune manifesting on the body was merely a medium that allowed new Awakened to gain easy ess to the Runic Gate, their individual spatial storage, their Soultrait, and the pir of light.

    Michael didn''t need the War Rune to keep using his Soultraits!

    He roared in pain and unleashed tenyered Enhancement, which he weaved into his body with Leviathan Diffusion. The focus of his enhancement was around his lower body, causing his skin to burst and his muscles to bulge. He kicked the ground with all his might to jump high into the air. A shockwave erupted around Michael as he smashed the ground with his feet, and the attention of Alliance members and Tekur was drawn to him, especially after a human appeared above his armless brethren to cut him over and over again.

    Michael was fortunate enough to be able to see Quinn with Spirit Eyes now. He could see where Quinn attacked him and twisted his body to evade the worst attacks. He couldn''t evade all of Quinn''s attacks, resulting in several cuts reaching his abdomen and shoulder, but his internal organs and neck hadn''t been damaged.

    Michael grit his teeth and used a ten-fold enhanced version of Spiritual Domination, taking Quinn by surprise. A Soul cicle Bullet manifested between the two Humans, and almost smashed into Quinn Karta who used Blink in time to change his position in an instant. He teleported back to the ground and returned to Michael the moment the Soul cicle Bullet missed him. Quinn Karta was about to sh Michael a few more times, ready tond a finishing blow to end Michael''s life when a solidified Qi Sword manifested underneath Michael''s feet.

    Michael kicked the Qi Sword with all his might, turning his body into a cannonball that reached a terrifyingly high velocity until he smashed into the ground near Kaleb, Lincoln, and the rest.

    Having his arms severed was a huge loss for Michael, however, his mind didn''t even register the pain anymore. His body was overflowing with adrenaline. The adrenaline pumped up his body, keeping the pain at bay, while also allowing his entire being to enter a state eerily simr to hyper-focus.

    Never would have he imagined Quinn Karta to be a traitor, which ended up being his biggest mistake. Michael grit his teeth and empowered the Extraction traces that had taken root within his enemies. He drained their lifeforce while unleashing several bursts of Spiritual Dominion onto those who tried to resist the extraction. Their mental defenses struggled against the ten-fold enhanced Spirit Eyes. Some Tekur even copsed on the ground right away.

    The lifeforce he''d drained was just enough to stop his arm stumps from bleeding.

    Michael felt like the power surging through him increased. As if the sealed potential of his Soultraits and body had been unleashed, something deep within him rumbled, and he felt like he was slowly losing control of his body and being.

    Was he panicking because he lost his arms? Did anger and frustration take over his body, forcing him into a state of rage simr to the hyper-focused fighting state of Berserkers? Or was it just the pain he felt and the despair that took over his body?

    Michael had no idea, but his entire being was instinctively drawn to the rumbling that urred in the deepest part of his entire being.

    "W-what is going on?!?" A Descendant standing near Michael asked when he saw the armless Lord in front of him. Kaleb, Zeke, and the others were also confused.

    They saw what happened in the air, but it didn''t make any sense. Some Tekur must have been using an Illusion Soultrait. That had to be the case. Nothing else made sense!

    "Maybe¨C..." Zeke was just about to say but stopped abruptly when he saw Michael''s expression.

    The pressure around Michael was subdued but the energy around him screamed in desperation. Ripples of energy manifested around Michael for everyone to see. The energy around Michael was sucked in his direction and merged with his skin before seeping inside him.

    Spirit Eyes'' marks around his eyes had expanded. No. That was not correct. Stigmatas formed around his eyes and they spread rapidly. The stigmas covered his entire face and continued to spread across his neck and face. Intricate patterns that glowed dimly covered Michael''s body. The intricate patterns consisted of millions of miniature runes and letters that were even hard to read for Zeke. He could barely make out some of the runes, but he had a hard timeprehending them. His vast knowledge of runes from his studies about ancient ruins and the Second and Third Epoch were of no help. Zeke had no idea what was going on with Michael.

    But the exact same could be said about Quinn. His eyes were pulled away from Michael as Quinn Karta used Blink to appear in front of everyone. 6yered Enhancement''s effect wore off, and Quinn stopped utilizing the Elite ss Soul Technique as well. He could use the Soul Technique again, but there were too many people in front of him. There was no way he could kill everyone with a single burst of his Elite ss Soul Technique. That didn''t mean he couldn''t try.

    "This idiot is really tenacious. I never expected the Spatial des to only sever his arms. His body is a lot tougher than most Peak Tier-3 Lords. Looks like High Society found a little diamond amongst the pebbles they''ve picked up over the years," Quinn scoffed, a faint smile blossoming on his lips.

    "He is definitely better than most of you guys. Fucking weaklings."

    Zeke stared at his friend in shock. His eyes quivered and the de in his hand trembled.

    "WHY?!?" He screamed at the top of his lungs, "WHY are you betraying us? You¡­You hate the Supreme Human Alliance as much as I do¡­They''re at fault for orchestrating the attack on your family. THEY''RE AT FAULT FOR MY SISTER''S DEATH!!!"

    Zeke was slowly losing it. His friend ¨C one of his oldest and best friends ¨C had just betrayed the cause they had been fighting for. Quinn did not only betray his own race but also the goal he and Zeke had been working toward. Quinn became an ally of the enemies he''d promised to kill.

    However, Quinn''s gaze were ice-cold and his expression was one of disgust as he looked at his old friend, "High Society betrayed me, not the Supreme Human Alliance. No, that''s not entirely true either. High Society betrayed my family. You are too unsophisticated and gullible to actually believe and trust everything the elders say, either way. I don''t expect you to understand my reasoning.

    I joined the Supreme Human Alliance for vengeance. I''m not the one who betrays what we have been working for since that day. It''s just that I am working toward it whereas you are still working with those who are at fault for our misery. Believe it or not, but you will join the SHA soon, as well."

    Zeke grit his teeth and energy erupted from his physique in an uncontroble manner. He wanted to say something to Quinn, but they weren''t given enough time. The Tekur had no clue why their opponents were fighting with each other, but they did not care. All they detected was that their strongest enemies were injured and that they could make use of the opportunity.

    The Tekur began attacking once again.

    Meanwhile, Maria''s heart palpitated. She instinctively sensed that something was wrong with her Primal Amplifier, but it was not the fact that Michael misced his arms. It was something else. Something¡­that drained her power. Maria was rushing over to Michael, yet before she could reach him, Archangel''s Grace stirred within her body. Maria lost control of her Soultrait for a few seconds.

    Something was about to happen. Something big.

    Several pairs of white wings sprouted from Michael''s back. They spanned dozens of meters and revealed an unblemished white radiance that Maria had never seen before. Golden patterns epassing millions of tiny seals and runes had been engraved all over the ring. A golden halo revealed above Michael''s head, and one could see his arms regrowing at a visible pace.

    Not even Maria could regenerate an arm as fast as Michael did right now.

    However, that was not even the most surprising thing. The white in Michael''s gaze was shrouded in vibrant gold and the intricate pattern, consisting of millions of seals, continued to spread all over his body, until they engulfed his entire body.

    Something deep within Michael reacted. A roar that arrived the cores of everyone in the isted dimension escaped Michael''s lips.

    For a moment, Extraction''s true power was unleashed.

 Chapter 503 Unsealed

    <h4>Chapter 503 Unsealed</h4>

    The air around Michael crackled and the ground beneath him crumbled.

    First, the grass des around his feet disappeared. Then the wet soil on the surface cracked, burst apart and vanished into thin air. Michael strode ahead, destruction passing wherever he passed by. The area of destruction expanded rapidly starting from the base of his feet to a meter around him. The ground underneath him disappeared and not a single trace of energy in his range could escape his grasp.

    Atst, a radiant light emerged on his chest. It expanded all over his chest beforepressing into a War Rune that spread across his entire chest. The millions of miniature runes that were connected to each other, swirled around the War Rune, forming chains that connected to the War Rune.

    The intricate patterns covered his entire body, but they umted near the War Rune as if it hosted them. Michael nced down at his chest for a moment but there was not much to see. His arms were regrowing and the millions of tiny, connected miniature runes spread all over his body. It made him feel like he''d tattooed his entire body ¨C with squirming runes that never stopped moving.

    His attention naturally moved back to Quinn Karta, who had been focusing on Zeke for a moment. He only realized that something was wrong when the horrifying roar escaped through Michael''s lips. Quinn stared at Michael, his entire being screaming at him, pleading him to run away at once.

    However, he couldn''t move. His body didn''t allow him to move. Quinn''s eyes were glued to Michael''s eyes that were entirely golden. There was no trace of silver, let alone any white left in his eyes.

    Michael raised his half-regrown arm slowly. It was a subtle motion, but it was enough to make everyone on the battlefield tense. In one moment Quinn was standing tens of meters away from Michael, and in the next Blink was activated subconsciously, pulling him further away. The instant he disappeared, the fabric of space in a sphere of three meters with Quinn as the center distorted and disappeared. It was almost like someone devoured everything within the sphere, leaving not even a single trace of energy, oxygen, or grain of soil behind.

    It disappeared and everyone on the battlefield only realized what was happening when it was already toote. The crater was already there when the first Awakened eximed, the shock in their eyes evident.

    "W-what¡­is going on?" One of them asked.

    Michael clicked his tongue and repeated the attack from before ¨C after tweaking it just a little bit. Quinn''s body was about to react instinctively, but when Blink was just about to activate, he noticed that he felt much lighter, yet also heavier. His eyes traveled down his body, realizing toote that his right leg had disappeared.

    Even his body took a few seconds to register that his leg had been devoured. Warm blood gushed out of the small stump, which was all that was left of his right leg.

    Quinn''s eyes widened in terror. He didn''t feel any pain when his leg disappeared. Quinn didn''t feel anything. How did that make sense?

    The atmosphere on the battlefield grew heavier, but Michael ignored the tension. He spread the humongous wings of Archangel''s Grace and continued to heal himself while towering high above his enemies. He nced at the Tekur around him for less than a second before his attention moved back to Quinn.

    No word escaped his lips but there was no need for wasted words. Quinn could tell what was going on even without an exnation. He¡­was going to die.

    However, there was also a trace of hope in Quinn''s eyes. As Michael approached him, Quinn noticed that Michael''s skin burst apart, revealing the raw flesh beneath. He was healing rapidly but that was mostly thanks to Archangel''s Grace.

    No matter what Michael was doing to devour everything around him, it affected his body as well.

    Michael was slowly extracting himself,yer byyer, only for Archangel''s Grace to heal him. Archangel''s Grace could barely keep up with the intensity of self-extraction that was happening to his body. Michael never experienced something like that, but he could instinctively tell that the potency of Extraction was too high right now. The power that surged through him because of Extraction was too strong for his body to handle. He would have killed himself by getting extractedyer byyer if not for Archangel''s Grace working against the Extraction.

    Everything in Michael''s path was extracted. No matter where his energy passed by, Extraction came into effect. It was almost like the essence of Extraction had been fused into his body and origin energy. Nobody was safe from Extraction.

    Kaleb rushed up to Michael, hoping to be of any help. However, the moment he reached the radius of the Extraction Dome, he felt increasingly ufortable. The power around him was non-existent, his lifeforce and stored origin energy were drained rapidly if he didn''t use his entire mental defense to block extraction, and his skin was being slowly extracted as well. Lincoln reached out for Kaleb and hurled him out of the Extraction Dome with all the strength residing within him before he charged out of the Extraction Dome as well.

    "Do you have any idea what is going on?" Lincoln asked Kaleb, and Zeke, looking down at his arms that missed skin on several spots. He had been in the Dome of Extraction for a second or two, yet Lincoln had already been affected by Michael''s Extraction.

    Zeke stared nkly at Quinn. He was shocked at Michael''s disy of power that transcended thebat prowess of a Lesser Lifeform, but the confusion and frustration of having been betrayed hit him much harder.

    "I guess that losing his limbs triggered something within him," Killian Zeus appeared next to Lincoln, his entire body covered in cuts and burns. He''d been fighting one of the Elite Soldiers, and the result was not so pleasant. The Elite Soldier was still uninjured, yet Killian had been beaten into a pulp.

    That was the downside of the Tekur possessing way too many allies with Support-type Soultriats. Killian could barely use half of hisbat prowess, whereas the Elite Soldier had been reinforced by more than ten Tekur using their Soul Techniques to strengthen him.

    "Some high-ranked Soultraits are known for having natural limiters to ensure that the Awakened won''t identally kill themselves. All 7-Star Soultraits have something like that. Their true power can only be unleashed upon bing Higher Lifeforms. However, the limiter exists for weaker Soultraits as well. In that case, the Soultrait is usually extremely powerful ¨C or extremely dangerous for the user," Killian continued to exin as he saw the destruction caused by Michael.

    "I have no idea what this Soultrait is, but it feels old. It naturally dominates everything in its range."

    "What will happen to Michael? Is he losing control of his Soultrait?" Lincoln understood a lot about various Soultraits, but Killian was still more knowledgeable than him. At least, when it came to limiters. Killian''s Soultrait had a limiter, and he managed to remove it without losing control of the tremendous power he was given to use.

    "I¡­have no idea. To be honest, Michael''s Soultraits are a mystery to me. I think he can barely manage to survive as long as Maria''s Archangel continues to heal him. But I think Michael has some other problems to deal with¡­" Killian replied somewhat calmly, whereas his mind was in a mess, ''I still want to kill you¡­Just die for me¡­Well, maybe not now.''

    The Tekur had been preparing arge-scale attack while everyone was busy being distracted. The Elite Soldiers charged at Michael with theirbined power. Numerous elemental attacks and other long-range attacks such as energy-condensed projectiles shot through the air. They were about to impact and injure Michael severely when they disappeared, just like that.

    Everything in the Dome of Extraction was devoured. All effects that would have affected the beings inside the dome were rendered null and void.

    Quinn stared nkly at Michael, uncontroble rage filling his entire being. He wanted to attack Michael and kill that bastard for ruining all of his ns, but a single nce in Michael''s direction was enough to put his revenge to a halt. All of a sudden, Quinn''s left arm disappeared. It had been extracted in an instant.

    Blood gushed out of Quinn''s shoulder and he screamed aloud. Meanwhile, all Michael did was re emotionlessly at Quinn. There was no need to be merciful to those who wanted to kill him ¨C even less to traitors of their own kind.

    Michael was just about to continue dealing with Quinn when he noticed that the Elite Soldiers, enveloped in various effects of Support-type Soultraits, barged into the Dome of Extraction. They could resist the power of Extraction for a while. The Elite Soldiers broke through the Dome of Extraction with all the enhancements they''d received. They expected Michael to be surprised and panic, but the opposite happened.

    More power erupted from Michael''s body. He used tenyered Enhancement on the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction, increasing the power that surged through his body. At this point, not even Archangel''s Grace was potent enough to regenerate his body fast enough to keep him in top form. The regeneration of his arms was temporarily halted as well.

    But that was fine. He could use Archangel''s Grace to slow down the speed at which he was going to die. Meanwhile, the healing effect lingering on the Elite Soldiers was extracted ¨C devoured in an instant. The Tekur didn''t manage to block the Extraction that shrouded their entire being. They couldn''tst against the tremendous power that impacted all of a sudden. Their carapaces crumbled and disappeared, followed by the flesh, muscles, and veins.

    The Elite Soldier Tekur were devouredyer byyer until Michael decided to devour the lifeforce and origin power stored within them. Their origin energy storage hit zero near-instantaneously and the Tekur crashed onto the ground, unable to muster enough strength to lift their bodies.

    A long silver de manifested in Michael''s hand as he strode closer to the Elite Soldier Tekur. The Dome of Extraction transformed into a swirl of power in Michael''s hand. Extraction turned into a highlypressed de that coated the Aethyr de, decreasing the damage that was inflicted on his body.

    Michael gathered the power of Extraction in the Aethyr de and shed at the weakened Elite Soldiers as if they were mere livestock. He beheaded them with a single strike, their heads flinging through the air. A surge of power influx reached Michael, but his focus was fixated on the remaining Tekur.

    Before 10yered Enhancement could wear off, Michael instinctively transmuted the Soul cicle Bullets, inserting a tremendous amount of True Extraction into them. 400 SoulStar Fragments were used up within seconds, keeping the Soul Power Storage of cicle at an all-time high as he began manifesting one Soul cicle Bullet after another.

    The result was tremendous. More than 50 Soul cicle Bullets inserted with extraction whizzed through the air, each unleashing a shockwave as they reached max speed. The bullets pierced into the Tekurs'' carapace, leaving them no chance to block the attack.

    The True Power of Extraction was unleashed within the Tekur that had been hit, killing them rapidly, yet eerily painfully by removingyer afteryer of their bodies¡­from within.

 Chapter 504 Over

    <h4>Chapter 504 Over</h4>

    Batches of energy influx reached Michael in bursts. They invigorated him just enough to let him keep an eye on the battlefield. The Tekur tried to flee, their actions filled with desperation and pure fear.

    After witnessing the death of their leaders and how easily Michael could deal with theirrades, the remaining Tekur could only think about running away. Michael would have pursued them if his legs weren''t about to cave in. His body was still being damaged,yer afteryer removed. Archangel''s Grace managed to heal him, but Extraction''s true power had yet to disperse.

    Energy fluctuations entered Michael''s view from the left. The Undead Skeleton, Raven, and two dozen masked Awakened appeared where Quinn had been standing. They surrounded Quinn and protected the young Awakened. Michael frowned deeply and waved his hand with True Extraction activated.

    The head of the Undead Skeleton was extracted in a single go. However, Raven continued to move even without his head. Dense, deadly fog shrouded everyone, hiding their appearance. In the next moment, their bodies seemed to disappear. Michael hadn''t used Extraction on them but Raven and the others seemed to disappear all of a sudden. Did they leave the isted dimension before the g War ended? Was that?possible?

    Michael smiled smugly as he pinpointed a few masked Awakened within the dense deadly fog, and extracted their hearts with a burst of True Extraction. The masked men didn''t copse immediately. Instead, they were pulled out of the isted dimension. Several secondster, four bursts of energy influx reached him.

    Once Raven and his followers were not there anymore, Michael noticed that Quinn had disappeared as well. In the next moment, his legs caved in.

    He lost the strength in his legs as most of his skin, flesh and muscles had been extracted when he used the True Power of Extraction,bined with tenyered Enhancement. Michael was not sure what had ovee him, but he felt like a suicidal maniac. He could have died.

    Fortunately, he didn''t. That was mostly thanks to the great power of Archangel''s Grace, which he had stolen from Maria. At least, that was what Michael presumed because Archangel''s Grace felt much stronger when he used it in thest few minutespared to the usual power he could unravel from the Shard.

    His arms had regrown and his skin was healing rapidly. The intricate golden pattern all over his body stopped spreading, and the War Rune on his chest traveled to the back of his right hand. It was a weird feeling to sense the War Rune''s anchor move through his body, but he could live with it.

    Michael was beyond exhausted. He had to retrieve three Apex Nutrition Serums and swallow their content whole before he felt a little bit better. His energy storage was filled to the brim since Extraction devoured the surrounding energy at all times. However, his nutrition had been used up to the point until there was almost nothing left. That was why he ended up feeling so weak¡­and probably because he unleashed Extraction''s true power temporarily.

    Michael was still not sure what happened to him, but something in the depth of his being had been revolting against the pain and potential threat to his life. He was not sure if that was his Soultrait''s natural defenses kicking in, granting him ess to Extraction''s hidden potential for a short moment, or if it was something else. One way or another, Michael hadn''t been ready for the power he obtained. His body couldn''t resist the power and he was removed as well, just like everyone else. Even though Extraction gave him natural resistance against its power, just like all Soultraits did, Michael was certain that he could have died. It was an eerie thought, and certainly not something he wanted to experience again.

    Maria regained control over her Soultrait. She was even more confused than everyone else about what happened just now. But one thing was certain; Michael gained full control of Archangel''s Grace, even if it was just for a few minutes. Something like that never happened, not as far as Maria knew, at least.

    Maria saw Michael''s miserable appearance. She instinctively knew how bad her Primal Amplifier''s condition was and rushed up to him, using Archangel''s Grace to restore Michael as swiftly as possible.

    She grasped his right hand to activate the full power of the Mark of Fate. The projection of a miniature angel manifested above their hands as Maria began to restore Michael. He recovered rapidly, his natural regeneration further amplified by Superior Constitution.

    "What did you just do? Do you know that you almost killed yourself¡­well, and everyone around you?! And how did you steal Archangel''s Grace?? That''s my Soultrait!!" Maria was nervous and tensed up, resulting in a flood of words to escape her lips. She didn''t stop talking until her eyes locked with Michael''s.

    "Calm down a little, will you?" Michael mumbled, the exhaustion in his eyes visible.

    "I have no idea what happened either. I can make some guesses, but they won''t be better than wild theories," He revealed in all honesty.

    Michael really had no clue what happened. All he knew was that Extraction had been exposed ¨C in its full glory, and in front of hundreds of Descendants, and the prodigious Warriors of the Warlock Centaur and Berserker race.

    That was definitely not how he imagined the g War to end.

    As Maria focused her attention on Michael''s body, the others pursued the remaining Tekur. That was not further difficult, given how terrorized the Tekur were. They fled with all their might after Michael''s disy of power. In fact, everyone was horrified. However, the Tekur were afraid of Michael and shocked to the core. The alliance members, on the other hand, knew that Michael didn''t want to kill them.

    The Tekur didn''t care about fighting anymore. The g War didn''t matter to them at this point. All they wanted was to escape Michael''s grasp.

    Descendants like Killian, the zing Sun team, and hundreds of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs made use of that. They assaulted the Tekur when they were at their weakest, and killed them all.

    They won against the group of 150ish Tekur and three Elite Soldiers with merely 600 Alliance members. But that was not all. They survived the attacks of human traitors as well! Of course, that didn''t mean everyone survived. Close to 100 Alliance members fell victim to the traitors'' attacks and the tremendous power of the Tekur''s Soul Techniques. The losses were much greater than they could have hoped for, but it was already a wonder that most of them survived. After all, the Elite Soldiers were several times stronger than the Tekur Soldiers.

    They won the battle and didn''t have to flee, all thanks to Michael Fang.

    Once the battle at the fallen Dimensional Pir ended, Michael was given the loot he deserved. He received the corpses of the Tekur he''d killed, including the three Elite Soldiers. Nobody uttered anything to Michael, but he noticed a drastic change in everyone''s attitude toward him.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs treated him like he was one of their greatest warriors, whereas the Descendants had no idea how to talk to him. Everyone was curious about what had just happened, but not even Kaleb or Lincoln dared toe near him.

    As for Zeke, he was a poor fe. He lost his biggest ally in the fight against the Supreme Human Alliance and Dark Heavens. Michael couldn''t even imagine how Zeke must be feeling.

    A few hours passed before Michael''s condition was back to its peak. He consumed a few more Apex Nutrition Serums to maintain his condition. Their price was hefty, but it was not as if Michaelcked resources right now. Every Tekur would reward him with a decent-sized pile of Inferior Energy Stones upon getting extracted. As for the human traitors, their War Rune storages were filled with various treasures ¨C including Elite ss Soul Techniques.

    Michael noticed that nobody dared toe near him right now. Therefore, he decided to concentrate his attention on¡­himself. He tried to sense the thing that had trembled in the deepest parts of his being. However, there was nothing. It was like that ''thing'' never existed in the first ce.

    What was that thing, either way? Was it a part of Michael, his Soultrait, or did it belong neither to his being or his Soultrait? Various questions shed through his mind but there was not a single answer.

    All Michael could tell was that the sudden power-up saved him from dying against Quinn.

    ''I never expected him to be a traitor. Using Enhancement on him nearly killed me¡­''

    Michael shook his head lightly. The Interdimensional g War ended vastly differently than he, and everyone else, could have anticipated.

    He gained a lot. Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes were upgraded to 6-Star Soultraits and fused, creating a 6-Star Soultrait that was much stronger than the vast majority of 6-Star Soultraits. He obtained Constitution and upgraded it to 6-Star near-instantly, and he procured new powers.

    Michael learned about Soul Techniques, procured some, and he gained the experience of dozens of Tekur, allowing him to be a master in using and altering Common Soul Techniques.

    Hisbat power increased tremendously, and so did his worth. He gained several mountains of Inferior Energy Stones, various Artifacts, and other treasures that could be sold for a fortune.

    All of that was great.

    It was even better that he had yet to extract dozens of corpses to procure their Soultrait Symbols, SoulStar Fragments, Artifacts, and great fortunes.

    There was only one downside. A pretty big one, at that.

    Extraction had been exposed. Not just a little bit. EVERYONE present was now aware of Extraction''s existence.

    [End of Volume]

 Chapter 505 How many?

    <h4>Chapter 505 How many?</h4>

    Michael decided that it might be better to iste himself from the rest of the alliance members for a few hours. He had several reasons to do so.

    First of all, there were still more than 20 hours left before the g War would officially end, and they would be expelled from the isted dimension. Michael wanted to finish extracting the Memory Orbs, SoulStar Fragments, and Soultrait Symbols from the corpses in his possession. He could wait and do itter as well, but Michael felt that everyone needed some time to digest the shocking fact that some Descendants turned out to be traitors.

    Other than that, many were also confused about the power Michael had unleashed. He hoped that some troublesome encounters and awkward questions could be prevented by isting himself for a few hours.

    Some of the corpses in his possession had already been extracted. Despite that, there were more than enough Tekur, and even traitorous Descendant corpses that Michael had yet to extract. There were three Elite Soldiers, 91 Soldiers, and nine Descendants who had yet to be drained of their SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Michael resolved that issue over the next few hours. He extracted roughly 1,000 SoulStar Fragments from each Elite Soldier and an average of 450 SoulStar Fragments from each of the 91 Tekur Soldiers. Meanwhile, the human Descendants provided less than 200 SoulStar Fragments.

    ''45,750 SoulStar Fragments were added to the 3,150 I''d extracted mid-battle and still left from continuously fueling my Soul Techniques. That seems pretty neat.''

    48,900 SoulStar Fragments was not something Michael could procure easily outside the g War. The Tekur and traitorous Descendants dropped far more than the enemies Michael usually encountered in the Origin Expanse. Ordinary Tier-3 Awakened would possess roughly 100 SoulStar Fragments. Maybe a few dozen more if they were Lords, or in possession of a high-ranked Soultrait.

    ''I am not in a rush. I could upgrade another Soultrait to 6-Star, but let''s move slowly. No matter how I look at it, I''m satisfied with the current situation of my Soultraits. All I have to do is to create Soul Techniques for them and to study my Soultraits more in-depth. That will be enough to increase mybat prowess by arge margin.''

    Other than SoulStar Fragments, Michael obtained 13 Soultrait Symbols as well. He extracted four Elite-ss Soul Techniques and dozens of Common Soul Techniques from the War Rune storages of the Tekur and human Descendants. Michael didn''t hesitate to extract the Wisps of Knowledge from the Soul Technique tomes and devour them at once. The information and intent that had been written in the techniques entered his mind. It was imprinted deep inside him, allowing Michael to understand every single process of the Soul Techniques'' creation.

    His knowledge of Soul Techniques was far more advanced than before. Simultaneously, his understanding skyrocketed as well. After all, he got to consume the Memory Orbs of the remaining 94 Tekur and the four human Descendants.

    The memories of the traitors were a bit confusing, but Michael learned a lot from them. Not everything was great though. Some of the memories he procured were something Michael had to share with the authorities soon. Michael digested all information and memories over the course of 10 hours. Once he was done, Michael was ready to study more Soul Techniques and to create a wide variety of Soul Techniques for himself to use. This was something he looked forward to doing in the next few weeks ¨C if no one from High Society would bother him too much.

    But now it was time to return from his self-istion.

    Michael felt like he could advance to Tier-3 pretty soon. Basically, he was certain that all he had to do was to spend a week focusing on his War Rune''s refinement and he could advance to the next Tier. However, Michael was not in a rush. He had something else that had to be done beforehand.

    Michael thought a while about what to do now that so many Descendants and other alliance members had discovered Extraction. The answer was pretty simple. He didn''t have to do much. Since so many would soon be able to tell that Michael could procure more Soultraits and that his Soultraits could be strengthened permanently, it was not like someone could kidnap.

    Of course, he could still be kidnapped and imprisoned in a tower to act as the family''s golden goose, but the other families would notice that Michael was missing and they would do their own research.

    Michael doubted that many families would be pleased hearing if other families would kidnap Michael to keep the monopoly of his Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments. Therefore, even if Michael was not strong enough on his own, he wouldn''t have to worry too much about his safety ¨C probably.

    The bigger problem was that Quinn Karta and the others witnessed Extraction''s power as well. The human traitors could find out about Extraction and its great potential as well. It would be a little bit more troublesome if they decided to kidnap him.

    Michael doubted that they would kill him because he was too valuable for their mission to conquer the universe, but that didn''t mean they would hold back from torturing Michael. And if Michael was unwilling to help them grow more and stronger Soultraits, he would be disposed. After all, an uncooperative prodigy was a useless prodigy. It was better to get rid of him than to keep him alive, leaving open the small chance that he could flee and take revenge in the future.

    Michael shuddered at the thought of the Supreme Human Alliance kidnapping him. He really didn''t like the thought.

    Thus, he thought about other things and gathered Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb to talk to them privately.

    "Where are you guys going?" Maria asked when she noticed the group of four guys walking away from the small camp. Her eyes glimmered faintly as she stared straight at Michael.

    Michael pressed his lips together as he returned her gaze. Maria''s puppy eyes drilled deep into his soul. Michael sighed deeply and gestured for her to follow as well.

    "You cane as well. It''s not like you or Killian haven''t figured out what I can do, either way," He mumbled, realizing toote that Killian Zeus was near enough to hear his name being called up.

    Killian walked through the small camp and smiled at the mixed-up group of friends.

    "I''ll join as well." He said, leaving no choice for anyone to refute.

    Michael felt like thrashing Killian for a moment, but he gave it a shrug in the end. It didn''t really matter. Killian was smart and he had already figured out what Extraction could do. All Killian missed was some details.

    He ignored Killian and led everyone far away from the rest of the other alliance members where he could talk freely about whatever he wanted.

    "So what are you going to tell us now? Is it about your weird-ass power?" Killian asked bluntly, causing Kaleb and Lincoln to roll their eyes.

    "His power is not weird. We survived because of him! Killian, be a bit nicer, will you?" Maria frowned at Killian.

    Killian felt like responding, but he kept his mouth shut. Attacking Michael verbally was still fine, but he had to control himself a little in front of Maria.

    "But I''m curious as well. I thought about it for a while and I figured that Killian''s guess was correct. You''ve grown a lot stronger within thest 14 days. Your physical strength and speed are easily on par with Mid-rank Awakened at Tier-3. Once you reach Tier-3, you''re probably faster than most Awakened at Tier-3, especially after you use this technique that changes your presence into that of a Mythical Beast," Maria pointed out with a vivid smile on her face.

    Since Michael was her Primal Amplifier, Maria could sense the changes within Michael''s body more easily than others. She had noticed a few changes within and around Michael when theyst met, but the biggest changes had urred over thest few days when they traveled around together. However, the most apparent evidence was that the Soul Power within Michael increased by more than 30% since their encounter with Raven. Using the Mark of Fate of her Primal Amplifier to unleash Heaven''s Descent allowed her to feel much more than others could tell about Michael.

    That was also why she knew that Killian''s first presumption had been correct.

    "To put it in simple terms, Killian is correct. My Soultrait allows me to obtain more Soultraits and strengthen them," Michael revealed atst, ncing over to Kaleb and the others to see their reaction.

    Interestingly enough, there was hardly any change in their expressions.

    Lincoln justughed, "I don''t think you realize how powerful you''ve grown over thest few months. I was strong enough to overwhelm you easily in our first spar. The second time we fought it was a lot harder already. Then we started to duel more often, and I realized that it was getting more and more difficult to overwhelm you. At first, I thought that Alice''s individual teachings resulted in a sudden increase in power, but that was not it. It was not the entire reason, at least. You''ve grown a lot stronger, but your Soultraits are certainly your strongest asset."

    Killian nodded, "My uncle researched your past and all of your fights. I told you about that already but yeah. He noticed a trend whenever you''ve grown stronger. So, it was pretty easy for me to put two and two together."

    This time Kaleb had to agree with Killian Zeus.

    "I noticed the pattern as well, but I wasn''t certain what was going on. Now that you revealed your power, I think I understand. You drain the Soultraits of your enemies. If I''m not mistaken, you must also be obtaining some kind of ability that allows you to strengthen your Soultraits permanently."

    Usually, Kaleb was not a quick thinker. However, that didn''t mean he was stupid. It was just that he didn''t bother paying too much attention to most things. He was a simple man.

    "I guess, I made it too obvious," Michael forced a smile on his lips, but Kaleb shook his head.

    "You might have been obvious, but that only means you trusted everyone around you enough to use your ability without holding back too much. Maybe it was also yourpetitive spirit or the fact that you hate holding back, but I think you would have held back a lot more if you were overly worried about the future. You tend to overthink a lot, only for your body to do whatever it wants."

    Killian ignored Kaleb''s attempt at constion and pushed the young Zenovia to the side to gain Michael''s full attention.

    "With that in mind, how many Soultraits do you have, and what is the ster grade of your most potent Soultrait?!"

 Chapter 506 Creator

    <h4>Chapter 506 Creator</h4>

    "With that in mind, how many Soultraits do you have, and what is the star rating of your strongest Soultrait?!"

    Killian''s question was straightforward as well as one of the rudest questions one could ask an Awakened. An Awakened''s Soultrait was their strongest trump card. It was their lifeline that determined their future and how long they would live in the Origin Expanse. Asking someone questions about their Soultraits was equivalent to asking about one''s deepest secrets.

    Of course, Killian didn''t care about that. He couldn''t pay less attention to such formalities. So what if he was rude? He was curious and he wanted to know more about Michael''s Soultraits, especially their star rating.

    The others could have called Killian a rude idiot, but they didn''t do so. They were also curious about Michael''s Soultraits and their star rating.

    Michael didn''t particrly mind answering Killian''s question. However, he was not going to tell everything, obviously.

    "The Soultrait rted to the transmutation of my eyes has the highest star rating, and I got a bunch of other Soultraits as well. Definitely more than you or anyone else here."

    Killian was an annoying dude. Thus, Michael made it a mission to anger him.

    "You don''t say, dipshit!?" Killian cursed under his breath. He red at Michael and was just about to get up when he realized that leaving now meant he wouldn''t obtain more information from and about Michael.

    Gritting his teeth, Killian sat back down, his eyes releasing faint electricity currents. Michael, on the other hand, broke into a smile.

    "Since the transmutation makes it quite obvious, I think that revealing more about the Soultrait is hardly an issue. It''s a 6-Star Soultrait, one of the stronger ones at that. As for my other Soultraits, there are not many I kept a secret. If you continue researching me, you should be able to find out about most of my Soultraits."

    Killian calmed down a little as he heard Michael''s exnation. He was still fuming in anger, but that was not an abnormal behavior disyed by him, in the first ce.

    Lincoln looked at Michael. He listened intently and asked about one of the things that interested him the most.

    "Can you give other people Soultraits and can you strengthen other Awakened''s Soultraits permanently as well?"

    Michael figured what Lincoln was getting at. He wanted to know more about his Soultrait''s restrictions and if Extraction could be used to strengthen everyone or if it was restricted to empower only Michael.

    "I can use my Soultrait on other people as well. Since you learned about Lord Rifts and the rewards given by the Will of the Origin Expanse already, you should know about Soultrait Symbols. I have a bunch of them. In fact, I''ve been umting them for a while now, preparing to sell them, or trade them for favors."

    Since Michael was one of the major contributors to everyone''s survival in the g War, he would attract more attention than others. News about Extraction would thus reach everyone. With that in mind, Michael could get ready to start trading Soultrait Symbols with the Tritan Alliance, and the ''utensils'' to strengthen one''s Soultraits. Of course, everything came at a cost ¨C an exorbitant cost.

    Extraction had been exposed but Michael possessed the monopoly on SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols. He could ask for whatever price he deemed fit for the Soultraits. After all, he was the only one capable of rewarding others with the Soultraits they desired ¨C not just some random Soultrait that might as well turn out to be something they never wanted.

    If an Awakened with a Support Soultrait always desired an Elemental Soultrait, Michael could deliver that. If someone was a coward but possessed a powerful Offensive-type Soultrait, Michael could give him a Support Soultrait. Michael could create a business model that turned the downside of Extraction being exposed into a great opportunity.

    That was a good way to ignore the downsides of Extraction being exposed. It helped Michael to keep his mind from overthinking about the downsides and worrying needlessly. He never wanted it to happen but sadly it had happened. Extraction had been exposed. So what?

    Everyone stared at Michael. They listened intently, even Zeke, who had been lost in thoughts about Quinn Karta and what his friend ¨C no, former friend ¨C told him.

    Everyone understood why Michael had been hiding his power. Michael was not affiliated with High Society since birth, and he didn''t know enough about the world of Awakened to reveal Extraction with reassurance. Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke would have acted like Michael in his ce as well.

    While Michael''s friends were happy that Michael finally revealed his secret to them, Killian was angry. He was angry at Michael''s luck with his Soultrait. How in the four hells did Michael deserve such a powerful Soultrait? It was unfair and made Killian feel like killing Michael once again.

    On the other hand, Maria was surprised and intrigued.

    ''Is that why Michael is sopatible with me? Because of this Soultrait? I was right when I sensed something ancient within Michael. It must have been the power he uses to obtain more Soultraits and strengthen them!''

    Kaleb fell deep in thought looking at Michael. "Do you think you could tell my sister about your power as well? Personally, I mean."

    "I don''t mind if you want to tell her. Alice probably knows that I have some sort of power that allows me to grow stronger much faster than others. There is no need for you to hide it from her," Michael responded with a shrug, but Kaleb shook his head.

    "I think you should tell her about it yourself. I believe she would want to hear everything from you personally. Alice will understand that you had to hide your strength as long as possible, but I am certain that she would be joyful if you tell her before she finds out from everyone else," Kaleb rified what he meant.

    "That''s fine with me," Michael agreed.

    It was not like telling Alice would change a lot. In fact, Alice Zenovia was a great teacher and she had always been there to help him. She was the person who introduced him to the vast world of the Awakened. It would also not be wrong to say that Alice was the reason he got to know his friends and how he''d grown so much stronger in such a short amount of time.

    Of course, he survived because he worked so hard, but without Alice, he wouldn''t have made it to the Sapphirke Military Academy, and he would have never even thought about participating in the Battle Exchange and the g War. Either Michael would be dead now, or he would be much weaker without the opportunities he''d received through his initial meeting with Alice.

    It was certainly true that she deserved to get to know about his power personally rather than hearing from others spreading rumors.

    ''The rumors won''t be detailed, either way. Everyone will make their own theories, but only some know about the entire truth. Maybe, I can ask Alice to help me auction a Soultrait Symbol¡­that is something I can figure outter, I guess.''

    Killian continued to grumble while Michael was deep in thought.

    "You didn''t even do a good job hiding your power, in the first ce. Everyone with a single brain cell can find out about your secret. All they have to do is pay some attention to your progress and how your strength increases drastically whenever you ovee some ordeals."

    "That merely means you paid lots of attention to Michael, didn''t you, Killian?" Maria asked, smiling brightly.

    Her bright smile and Maria''s innocent expression caught Killian off-guard. He wanted to retort something and curse at Maria but realized soon enough that this wouldn''t be a good idea. Her broad smile melted Killian''s anger near-instantaneously.

    Kaleb and Lincoln stared at Killian in disbelief. It felt like Maria trained her pursuers well. Killian acted like a well-trained dog, who acted only nice to his owner.

    Despite the confusing attitude Killian showed them, Michael agreed to theirments.

    "Other than my Soultrait, I have something interesting to share. I''ve procured the Tekur''s memories, including their experiences with Soul Techniques. My understanding of Soul Techniques is pretty high. This is mostly about Common-ss Soul Techniques, but there were also some Elite-ss Soul Techniques," He said before retrieving a Memory Crystal from his War Rune.

    He inserted his memories of Soul cicle Bullet inside the Memory Crystal and handed it over to Kaleb.

    "I am not sure if you can use it, but I would like to experiment with your Frozen Nova and Soul cicle Bullet a little bit. It is a Common-ss Soul Technique I procured from a Tekur Soldier before altering it to fit cicle. cicle is the name of my Ice Soultrait, by the way." Michael exined, before he added, "I want to see if I actually have to customize all Soul Techniques to perfectly fit each Soultrait, or if merely some simrities are enough. That would help me understand more about the creation of new Soul Techniques for myself and others, as well."

    Michael could talk a lot more about Extraction, but he didn''t want to bother everyone too much. The others'' heads were already brimming with information and confusing thoughts churning after his revtion.

    "So you want to earn a fortune by bing mankind''s Soul Technique Creator? You want to create another monopoly?..." Killian asked, feeling more and more irate about the fact that he couldn''t kill Michael. The more Killian learned about Michael the more reasons not to kill Michael appeared in front of him.

    Michael''s Soultrait, the strength of Primal Amplifier, the ability to create Soul Techniques. ALL of it was crucial for mankind.

    ''FUCK THIS SHIT!!!'' He thundered inwardly, electricity currents passing through his body as his blood began to boil.

    "If possible, I want to earn a fortune. After all, I''m not someone who''s getting spoon-fed like others. I was lucky with my Soultrait, but it begun out as a Low-ranked Soultrait. I worked my ass off to get this far," Michael said, his eyes ice-cold as he stared at Killian. The killing intent of the Zeus family''s heir was clearly evident.

    "All help I received from my family was getting abandoned and the bits of training with my brother, and the Artifact he gave me as a present when I manifested my War Rune."

    Spirit Eyes'' stigma around his eyes began to glow and the atmosphere around Michael changed at once. He had had enough of Killian''s tantrum.

    "Stop looking down on me, and get your anger under control."

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

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 Chapter 507 Return

    <h4>Chapter 507 Return</h4>

    The tension outside the dimensional portal had been at an all-time high for thest three days. Nobody in the ancient city knew the exact duration of the Interdimensional g War, but it had never been longer than 11 days.

    However, now that almost 14 days had passed, the situation was getting out of hand.

    "How much longer do we have to wait?" Alice asked, not even trying to maintain her image as Frozen Duchess. She nibbled on her lower lip, clearly ufortable with the current situation.

    "I don''t think you have to worry too much. This year''s generation is among the strongest we''ve had as participants. Don''t forget that we have three Heavenly Chosen in this year''s g War. Maria will heal everyone, Kaleb will freeze all enemies, and Quinn can teleport behind the Tekur in an instant, backstabbing them. Their 7-Star Soultraits will be of great use. They won''t die!" Oliver Zeus tried tofort Alice, only for Olivia ze to scoff.

    "It looks like you don''t even bother worrying about your nephew. I understand that Killian is strong, but he is not exactly invincible. If he overestimates his own prowess, or underestimates his enemies, the situation can go south real quick."

    Oliver Zeus rolled his eyes, "Why are you even thinking like that? Being all negative won''t help you, at all."

    Small electricity currents passed through Oliver''s eyes as he stared at Olivia ze. Her eyes seemed to ignite in response, ready to have a heated debate with Oliver.

    However, before the two Professors could start fighting, the area around the dimensional portal started to tremble wildly. The fabric of space around the purple portal was ripped apart and it didn''t take long before the first participants of the Interdimensional g War were thrown out of the isted dimension.

    "It''s open!" One of the Professors from another Academy shouted. Usually that would have earned some sarcastic remarks since everyone could see the dimensional portal with their own eyes, but nobody said a word.

    Everyone kept their eyes trained on the portal and the emerging participants to search for their students.

    "I found Killian!" Oliver eximed not long after the portal opened.

    As if on cue, Killian Zeus'' head flicked in their direction. He saw Olivia ze and Alice Zenovia standing near his uncle and executed his Inheritance Technique to use his strongest movement technique. In an instant, he appeared next to his uncle, who opened his arms as wide as possible, ready to embrace his little nephew.

    "Uncle, call grandfather;" He said, his eyes dead-serious.

    "Wait a moment, Killian. Why should I call the patriarch right now? How about you tell us what happened first?" Oliver Zeus asked, lowering his arms in embarrassment. He was not sure why he expected his nephew to jump into his embrace. Killian would never do something like that.

    "We have no time for that. It''s important for us to be the first to negotiate with Michael," Killian said through his gritted teeth. He hated every word leaving his mouth, but it was a fact.

    Michael possessed powers that could change the well-established bnce of the High Society, or even the entire human race. If they could get on Michael''s good side it was only a matter of time before the Zeus family became one of the strongest households.

    "But if you really need to know what happened, the situation is fucked up. Roughly 80 Descendants are traitors. They''re affiliated with the Supreme Human Alliance and nearly killed everyone. Sandro Piex, Quinn Karta, Leonardo Capidor, and several others are among the traitors. We managed to kill half of them, but the others escaped. They left the g War before the portal opened. How? I don''t know," Killian exined as quickly as possible before dismissing the traitor nonsense.

    They could talkter about the traitors.

    "Negotiating with Michael is more important though. He read the memories and minds of the Tekur and learned their Soul Techniques. He even created his own Soul Technique in the g War, managing to kill far more Tekur than anyone else¡­myself included¡­That bastard¡­" Killian couldn''t help but curse Michael at the end of the sentence. He took a deep breath to calm down his nerves and continued to speak, "Michael can create custom Soul Techniques. Using him, every member of the Zeus family can unleash bursts of strength equivalent to twice or thrice their currentbat prowess!"

    Killian wanted to tell his uncle about the Soultrait Symbols and the fact that Michael could strengthen Soultraits as well, but he decided to do that a littleter. Alice was standing next to him, and Michael had promised Kaleb that he would tell Alice about his power before anyone else. Killian might hate Michael, but it was not as if he could afford to get on his wrong side. Not right now, at least.

    That was what Killian hated the most. Even if he wanted to kill that lucky bastard, there was no way he could do that without sacrificing mankind''s progress toward a better future. It was totally fucked up!

    "So¡­Michael is alive?" Alice asked, sighing deeply in relief, "That''s good."

    "Alive? That guy is a monster." Killian cursed, stomping the ground hard beneath him with a kick.

    It was rare for Descendants to call someone a monster. However, many considered Killian one, simply because he was much stronger than most Descendants. Yet, hearing Killian call someone a monster was new. It was definitely not something the three Professors expected to hear.

    Alice and the others had many questions to ask, but Kaleb and Michael appeared next to Killian before any further questions could be asked. Michael bumped lightly into Killian with a smug smile. Killian stared at Michael, however, that was all he did. He didn''t even confront Michael for bumping into him.

    That surprised Oliver Zeus the most.

    Meanwhile, Olivia ze stared nkly at Michael''s eyes.

    "Your eyes¡­"

    Michael tilted his head and smiled lightly, "Hello, Miss ze. Nice to see you. My eyes are beautiful, I know."

    He teased the Professor before turning to Alice, who was already upied by Kaleb.

    "Sis, you have to marry Michael before Maria steals him from you!" Kaleb demanded loud enough for several Professors and Instructors in the vicinity to hear.

    Most turned their attention to them for a few seconds before shaking their heads with a hint of a smile. Being young was truly a blessing.

    "W-what are you talking about?!" Alice asked, her eyes widening in shock. Her ears turned red and she retreated a step.

    "We need to make sure that Michael is part of the Zenovia family before the Seraph household can nab him!" Kaleb repeated as if everything he said was self-exnatory and it was the only logical step.

    "You treacherous bastard. You act like a dumb idiot, but it seems like you have a brain between your ears," Killian praised and cursed Kaleb simultaneously.

    Kaleb showed Killian his middle finger before his attention pulled back to Michael.

    "We can also ask our parents to adopt him. He has an Ice Soultrait. That should make everything a lot easier."

    Michael frowned deeply and pulled his friend to his side, "What are you doing?"

    "I''m obviously trying to help you out. If you belonged to the Zenovia family nobody would bother you because of your power," Kaleb exined. He winked at Michael, acting like his n was foolproof.

    However, Michael could only sigh deeply.

    "You do realize that everyone would think the Zenovia family gains a monopoly of Soul Techniques and everything else If I were a part of them. Other families would simply join their hands and pressure the Zenovia family to ''ask me nicely'' if I could help them," Michael exined, "By not being affiliated with anyone, everyone might try to pressure me into giving them what they want, but they would restrain each other as well. That makes everything a tad easier for me."

    Even though Killian didn''t like Michael, he was right. Though not entirely. If Michael were to create dozens of Soul Techniques for the Zenovia family before giving them more Soultraits and enhancing them permanently, the entire Zenovia family would grow stronger ¨C potentially strong enough to protect Michael from all possible harm.

    But that meant Michael would have to rely on Zenovia family''s protection, which was evidently not something he wanted to do. Killian didn''t know a lot about Michael, but he understood that Michael didn''t want to rely on anyone. He wanted to be independent and protect himself.

    "I don''t really understand what is going on," Alice intervened once she regained herposure. She looked at the three young Lords and understood that a lot must have happened in the Interdimensional g War.

    "How about we go somewhere and talk about the g War? After that we can talk about¡­anything you guys want to share¡­"

    Killian nced at Michael and agreed readily. As long as he was among the first to start negotiating with Michael about the prize for Soul Techniques, Soultraits, and the enhancement of Soultraits, Killian was fine with everything.

    Kaleb agreed as well. He was a little bit impatient since he saw Maria disappear in the direction of a beautiful woman with a majestic robe, but it was good as long as Michael was next to him. Nobody could take him without rming others.

    "Before that, I would like to talk to you alone," Michael said, directing his words toward Alice.

    "If it''s not about the g War, can we wait until we finish this first?" Alice asked, not sure why she wanted to stall for time. Kaleb''s earlier words rang through her ears, causing her to curse her little brother and herself. Why was she acting like a little child?

    "I think it''s quite important. It is rted to the g War as well, though distant," Michael responded, "You need to hear this to understand everything that happened in the g War properly."

 Chapter 508 Post Flag War

    <h4>Chapter 508 Post g War</h4>

    Since the Interdimensional g War had just ended, rather dramatically at that, the Tritan Alliance had many things to do. Therefore, Michael didn''t upy too much of Alice''s time to reveal a few things about Extraction. He didn''t go into detail, but told her everything he''d revealed to the others before.

    Alice was shocked, but it was not really a surprise that she had already expected Michael to have a simr power. She knew how to use her head, after all.

    After his short talk with Alice, they reunited with the others and began to discuss the Interdimensional g War. The discussion didn''tst long because the Professors and every other higher up of the Tritan Alliance was called to meet up. The post g War meeting was about to begin soon.

    During the meeting, the higher ups would talk about the incidents that urred in the Interdimensional g War, how to improve theirbat prowess for the next g War, new changes, how to distribute the merit points, and much more.

    Alice, Oliver, and Olivia attended the meeting, but only Oliver and Olivia were mentally present. Alice was deep in thought, trying to figure out what would happen to Michael now, how to help him out, and what to do now that his powers must have been exposed.

    Michael didn''t seem to be too worried, but Alice couldn''t help but worry about his future. Everyone ¨C even Killian ¨C seemed to praise Michael''s strength, and Michael said that he was about to advance to Tier-3 in the next few weeks. It was obvious that hisbat prowess would skyrocket once he advanced to Tier-3, especially since he possessed so many Soultraits, but his power turned him into a must have trophy to not only High Society, but also the Tritan Alliance, Dark Heaven and the Supreme Human Alliance.

    "Since everyone is present we should start with the most important topic for the Tritan Alliance''s continuance. Some may think that something else is more important, but I can reassure you that this is not correct," The War Priestess began the meeting, her serious voice thundering through therge, antique, hall.

    Pirs adorned with intricate carvings of vibrant murals and ancient times depicted scenes of rituals and the Berserkers'' conquests supported the hall''s lofty ceiling that seemed to touch the heavens. The air in the room was heavy from the tense atmosphere, but the calming scent of incense wafting from ancient braziers all around the edges of the hall dispelled the tension ever so slightly.

    The floor, paved with meticulously ced stones, resonated with the echoes of ceremonies that had been performed in these halls a long time ago. The walls of the antique hall were filled with grand artifacts of the old days, fashioned with meticulous craftsmanship.

    Overall, the ambiance in the antique hall spoke of their rich heritage. It transported the visitors through the annals of time to an epoch where the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs fought war after war, drenching theirnds in blood and bodies.

    "It is very important that we receive an official statement from the human race given the incidents in the Interdimensional g War. We need to find out which families betrayed the Tritan Alliance, and what your kind will do about the Supreme Human Alliance and the traitors who decided to side with these psychopathic mass murderers!" The War Priestess thundered, her expression filled with fury.

    It was only obvious that nobody wanted traitors in their own rows. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t have a single traitor, but sadly dozens of human Descendants decided to betray their own kind, and the Tritan Alliance to be a part of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    The reason for their betrayal didn''t even matter. All that mattered to the Warlock Centaurs and the Berserkers was to find out if there were more traitors from the Human race and if the advantages of having the human race on their side outweighed the dangers the Alliance with the human race brought.

    If the dangers outweighed the advantages, the Tritan Alliance might cease to exist. In fact, even if the dangers weren''t that high, the way mankind responsed to the dangers mattered as well. It was important that the human race took the problems they caused seriously.

    "The High Society will investigate the Descendants'' betrayal seriously. We have enough witnesses to testify. I hope the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs believe me when I say that we do not want any traitors, or entire traitor families, in ournds or rows. We wouldn''t be able to trust ourselves anymore. How could we ask others to trust our people if we were unable to trust them either?" One of the Deans exined.

    Too many incidents had urred in thest few weeks, ranging from Dark Heaven''s attack on Piloq, to the Suicide Squad. Now even the Descendants betrayed them. The situation with the traitors was slowly getting out of hand, and the effect the betrayals had on the Tritan Alliance was tremendous.

    "Every family affiliated with the traitors will be interrogated thoroughly. It might take some time to find everyone and interrogate them, but it will be done as soon as possible. We want answers as much as everyone else!"

    The War Priestess didn''t seem overly satisfied but she nodded her head. The report stated that more human Descendants died from the attack of the traitorous Descendants than her own people, either way. It didn''t take a genius to figure out that High Society would fall into chaos soon enough and that the internal strife would stir trouble.

    The War Priestess was patient enough to wait and see what was going to happen with High Society. Maybe they would ovee the ordeals and emerge from the internal conflicts much stronger and united than before. In the worst case, the Supreme Human Alliance would swallow the human race. That would destroy the purpose of the Tritan Alliance.

    The chance that something like this would happen was slim, but it was never zero. It was better to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. That way, you couldn''t be taken by surprise!

    "I agree wholeheartedly with everything my colleague said," The representative of another University added, only to rify his throat and nce over to Alice and some other Professors of the Sapphirke Military Academy, "How about we switch to the next topic then? I consider everyone here is very very curious about something, or someone in particr."

    It was not very difficult to tell what the representative was talking about. Almost two-thirds of the Interdimensional g War''s participants witnessed Michael''s power. The participants shared everything they witnessed in the g War, but they could not stop talking about Michael''s power revtion in the final battle. He had taken them by storm.

    The attention of many led to thorough research about Michael, hisbat prowess, his achievements in the past, and much more. Everyone came to some conclusions, with most of them being of a simr nature.

    Michael was in possession of, at least, 8 Soultraits. However, he had only been in possession of two Soultraits before. That meant he must have gained, at least, six more Soultraits within eight months. But that was not everything. Michael did not only gain new Soultraits, but they were growing stronger as well. The first medical examination in the Sapphirke Military Academy indicated that Michael was in possession of two rather weak Soultraits, but the witnesses'' reports and the results of the Interdimensional g War revealed the exact opposite.

    There was no way that Michael possessed only two rather low-ranked Soultraits!

    "I agree. How about we turn rumors into hard evidence first?" A Professor pointed out while pushing the rim of his thick sses back. His smile gave the people around him the creeps, but the Professor couldn''t care less. He was exhrated, "We should test Michael Fang''s Soul Power to prove that he gained more Soultraits and that his Soultraits can grow stronger as well!"

    It was at this point that the previous calm andposed meeting erupted into chaos. Fortunately, Alice was finally pulled out of her train of thought as well when she heard Michael being mentioned.

    "Michael won''t agree to the medical examination. In fact, he won''t elucidate anything about his Soultrait if anyone present were to inquire him," She said, reducing the turmoil all over the hall into hushed whispers.

    "There is no way he can escape us if we force him. If it''s true what we assume his power to be, can be considered a national treasure, which will give us more leeway to work around somews. Forcing him to do a medical examination won''t be an issue," A young woman in herte twenties said, earning a deep frown from Alice.

    "He doesn''t have to inform anyone anything. Do you consider you will gain his favor by forcing him to tell you his secrets? Isn''t itmon knowledge that asking someone about their Soultrait, their unique powers, and star rating is forbidden?" Alice asked, the room temperature dropping as thest words escaped her lips.

    "I never expected you to be this old-fashioned, little brat," An old man from another academy voiced out, "If this young Lord truly possessed the power we suspect him to control, he could change the power bnce in the Tritan Alliance drastically. He would not only be a national treasure to the human race but the entire Tritan Alliance. We should make sure to discover out what his powers can do and how we can use them in the most efficient way to improve the Tritan Alliance''s situation."

    "Your beloved student shouldn''t be too selfish. That is a well-meant advice from an old man. It''s for his own good!" The old man was done speaking ¨C or threatening. Alice pressed her lips together, and clenched her armrest, breaking the reinforced wooden armrest with brute force.

    The room temperature dropped further, and Alice''s eyes turned even colder than ever. Some people never expected that this was even possible.

    Alice was ready to beat the shit out of the old man, even if she might lose thebat with that old monster. Fortunately, the War Priestess intervened before anything could happen.

    She sighed deeply.

    "Sometimes I really wonder how humans managed to survive this long."

 Chapter 509 Token of Transportation

    <h4>Chapter 509 Token of Transportation</h4>

    The entire antique hall went silent at the War Priestess'' words.

    The old man stared sharply at the War Priestess.

    "What is that supposed to mean?"

    "Nothing special. You can ignore myment," She responded with a shrug before diverting her attention back to the majority.

    "Neither the Warlock Centaurs nor the Berserkers will force Michael to do anything. If he can procure Soultraits ¨C like most of the Awakened present in this hall presume ¨C we would be happy to purchase them for a fair price. We can also trade Soultraits for other rarities. However, we won''t force Michael Fang to do anything, and we won''t look favorable to those who attempt to force, or manipte this young Awakened."

    "To be honest, I don''t know much about Michael Fang, but I''ve heard and seen enough to understand that he is a good person. He rescued my kind several times, and I believe that he will continue to do so. He never hesitated to help my people, and he certainly does not care what race anyone belongs to. I don''t want to force him to do anything. Instead, I ¨C No. The Warlock Centaurs ¨C would love to trade with him!"

    There was a hidden warning in the War Priestess'' deration. The Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t like those who dared to force Michael into doing something he didn''t want to.

    It was interesting that the Warlock Centaurs decided to side with Michael like this instead of trying to make use of his power directly.

    "Of course, if anyone dares to do something funny, the Warlock Centaurs will wee Michael into ournds. We are more than willing to ept him as a permanent resident," The War Priestess added atst, causing a small uproar among the human authorities.

    "We will NOT permit this! Michael Fang is a human and he ought to live with us!" One of the older men shouted, only for Olivia tough out loud, "Yeah ''live with us'' to make sure that we can take him out like ab rat. Or do you want to turn him into your Soultrait Breeder? He is just a kid. Calm down a little bit."

    Olivia''s words were not loud but everyone present had a high enhancement degree. It was not challenging for them to make out her words.

    "He is not a kid. He is an asse¨C...." The same old man, Rothaer Melik, retorted, realizing toote what he''d just said.

    "An asset? Seriously?"

    By now, even Oliver couldn''t help but feel pity for Michael. The old folks of the Big Five Universities and the Great Three Academies were just the tip of the iceberg. They were selfish and their avarice was boundless. Unfortunately, they were a prime example of the older generations. High Society was filled with Lords whose greed and selfishness granted them great power and influence. Not everyone was like this, but Oliver was familiar with enough of them¨C too many, if one was to ask him.

    "One way or another, Michael Fang will stay with his people. Therefore, it will be increasingly more challenging for the Warlock Centaurs to trade with Michael. After all, he will return to his studies in the Sapphirke Military Academy. Once he graduates, he will move back to Elyra ¨C his home. The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers won''t be able to trade with Michael easily, EXCEPT if the Tritan Alliance continues to exist and if we start trading on a regr basis. As long as we can find apromise in that regard, we can ensure that Michael will trade with both Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs!" Rothaer Melik replied, his eyes gleaming in greed.

    He hadn''t been able to sign a contract with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs yet. The sole reason he traveled to the ancient city had been to start arge-scale business deal that epassed the entire Tritan Alliance. However, he failed miserably at that. Michael''s existence was THE opportunity he needed to change his ill-fate.

    "That won''t be necessary," The Berserker Chieftain intervened atst.

    "It won''t be necessary? What do you mean by that, Chieftain?" Rothaer had a bad feeling when the gigantic Berserker joined the conversation. The calm andposed expression on the huge leader''s face of the Berserker race didn''t sit well with Rothaer.

    "I talked to Michael Fang a few asions already, and I learned from the Berserkers who participated in the Interdimensional g War about Michael''s fighting spirit and his heroic personality. He might not consider himself as anything special, but that makes him even more unique, and likable. But let''s not talk too much about his personality, or his strength. I will cut to the chase right away," The Chieftain said, yet he took his time looking at the human authorities seated in the antique hall.

    "Zeron Polik, a Champion who lost his territory a few months ago, fought together with Michael against the Tekur and several human traitors. He was shocked about the hidden potential that resides within Michael, and he said that it would be a shame to potentially lose contact with him. Zeron Polik also knows that it will be challenging to trade with Michael once he departs. Therefore, he requested a Silver Token of Transportation from me."

    The moment the words ''Token of Transportation'' reverberated through the room, the cogs in everyone''s head began to rattle wildly.

    Even the War Priestess and some Elders of both the Warlock Centaur and Berserker race were stupefied as they came to the same conclusion.

    "Wait¨C..."

    "Zeron Polik offered to be Michael''s underling to grow stronger and learn from Michael, and to establish a permanent, rather easy, personal trading route between the Berserkers and Michael Fang." The Chieftain dered, the corner of his lips curling upward as he saw the awareness dawn on everyone''s face.

    Not even the War Priestess expected something like that. She stared at the Berserker Chieftain, her mouth wide open, just like the others.

    By offering to be Michael''s subordinate, Zeron Polik indicated that he was willing to initiate a link of loyalty with Michael as his Lord. Zeron Polik would have to use the Silver Token of Transportation ¨C an extremely rare item created by the Will ¨C to change his Runic Gate''s anchor permanently to his new Lord''s aka Michael''s Summoning Gate.

    Zeron Polik could move to Michael Fang''s territory and be a permanent citizen. As long as that worked out, Zeron Polik could meet up with Michael Fang in the Origin Expanse to trade easily. It wouldn''t even matter whether Michael was back in Kelta, returned home to Elyra, or if he traveled to another gxy.

    None of that mattered. The Berserkers wouldn''t have to travel to the sr system to follow Michael and stay informed about his location. They could leave him alone and wait for Zeron Polik toplete all business deals and trades. All Zeron had to do was to go to the Origin Expanse and trade.

    "B-but aren''t Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs reluctant to be the subordinates of another race?!?" Rothaer asked, his voice rising an octave with every spoken word. He was struggling to stay calm andposed. No¡­he was struggling to not cry out in despair.

    "It is correct that we do not be subordinates to other races'' Lords under normal circumstances. But that is mostly because we do not get along with many races. We wouldn''t want to be the subordinates of cowardly Lords or be their meatshields. Usually, we stay among ourselves because we understand our traditions, instinctual behavior, and personalities the best. However, there have been exceptions. Michael is one of those," The Chieftain revealed, his eyes traveling to the War Priestess, "Or would you say that Michael did not earn enough respect and honor in the eyes of the Warlock Centaurs?"

    The War Priestess was being used as a tool to confirm that Michael met the requirements. She understood that very well, but it irked her that the Chieftain hadn''t discussed this with her before. Narrowing her eyes, the War Priestess stared at the Chieftain for a few seconds.

    "It is true. Michael is a True Warrior. We''ve seen him fight, heard about his heroic tales and how he rescued his own brethren, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs all together. As long as a Warlock Centaur or Berserker is willing to fight alongside Michael, they may do so. We won''t hold them back, and neither will the Laws of the True Warrior. He is a True Warrior, and he will be treated like one!"

    Old Man Rothaer stared at the leaders of the Berserker and Warlock Centaur race, his eyes filled with anger and frustration.

    He couldn''t believe what was happening right now. Hundreds of higher-ups of High Society had been working for years to get closer to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, yet they hardly made any progress. But now a youngling, a youth who had yet to reach the tender age of 19 achieved what they''d tirelessly worked for years? It didn''t even look like Michael was trying.

    Michael Fang had been thrown into High Society without trying anything. He attracted everyone''s attention and it was only a matter of time before he would earn a fortune.

    "Just so everyone knows, if something happens to Michael Fang, I will find out about it through Zeron Pilok. Make sure to behave, okay?" The Chieftain warned with a bright smile. However, his eyes weren''t smiling. They were ice-cold.

    Alice looked at the Chieftain, her heart beating wildly. It was great that Michael managed to get on the good side of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. However, there was also a tinge of sadness that had taken root in her body.

    ''Is there anything I can do to help him¡­or am I just useless?''

 Chapter 510 Home

    <h4>Chapter 510 Home</h4>

    Michael had no idea what happened in the post-g War meeting, but he figured that he would find out soon enough. He ended up talking to Kaleb and the rest for a while before he decided to enter the Origin Expanse for the first time in thest two weeks.

    The Runic Gate opened in front of him and he stepped through it without hesitation. A mere secondter, Michael appeared in the wooden manor inside his territory. The dense purified energy that permeated the air in the Untamed Jungle swirled around him, filling his body. Superior Constitution absorbed it naturally, annexing the energy that entered his body instantaneously.

    Even if Michael wouldn''t focus on his War Rune''s refinement degree, staying in the Untamed Jungle for two weeks while working hard ought to be enough to advance to Tier-3. Of course, it was all thanks to Superior Constitution.

    Michael decided to take a quick bath before he left his room. He hadn''t been able to rx at all within the isted dimension. It was time that he spent some of his free time releasing the tension within his body. Michael had no idea when he would receive some free time again. After all, his troubles with the High Society, Dark Heaven and the Supreme Human Alliance were still waiting for him. There was also the fact that he was Maria''s Primal Amplifier. Michael was not sure what was going to happen about that either.

    He thought about extracting the Mark of Fate once, but Michael was not sure if it would do more harm than good. He did not want to risk hurting Maria by removing the Archangel''s Grace Shard in his War Rune. Furthermore, Archangel''s Grace was extremely powerful. Even the weakened version Michael could manifest with the Shard was quite powerful. He didn''t possess a Soultrait just yet, but Michael was also not nning to create an 11th Soul Socket just to bind a Healing Soultrait to his body ¨C not if the Shard of Archangel''s Grace was as powerful as a Pseudo 6-Star Soultrait at full power.

    As long as being Maria''s Primal Amplifier wouldn''t pose a big problem, Michael was fine keeping things as they were. It was not that he hated Maria, after all. She was beautiful, her personality was great, and she was not like most Descendants. If anything, Maria was like Lincoln, and Zeke, both of whom were down to earth. It was difficult not to like Maria.

    Once Michael was done bathing, he dried his body with a wave of energy and put on somefortable clothes. It was refreshing. He felt like he was reborn. It was amazing.

    Nature''s scent wafted in the air, filling every inch around Michael as he stepped out of the wooden manor. Only two weeks passed outside the Origin Expanse since hest returned to the Origin Expanse, but that was equivalent to an entire month in the Origin Expanse. Many things must have happened in the time he spent fighting the Tekur and human traitors.

    "Master, you''re back!!" An overly familiar voice rang through his ears.

    He heard someone approach with quick steps and it didn''t take long before a furball pounced on Michael''s back, hugging him tightly from behind. All Michael could see was a silver tail swishing around frantically. But he didn''t have to see more to know who''d jumped on his back.

    It was Tiara or an overly excited version of Tiara.

    The young woman from the Silverfang Tigerfolk couldn''t contain her joy upon seeing Michael and jumped at her Master. Michael let her be. In fact, he didn''t have anything against such a greeting. It made him feel nice that at least someone missed him, and that he would always be wee in his territory.

    "Wee back, my Lord!" Michael heard another voice from behind where he perceived a handful of energy fluctuations.

    He turned around with Tiara still clinging onto him, just to see the Immortal Knight, and the Forest Elven Adventurers. Lilica and the others smiled brightly upon seeing him and they strode to his side.

    "We were worried that you would nevere back. Well, we knew that you would spend some time in this g War, or whatever it was, but you were due a week ago. Everyone was worried that something happened to you. You couldn''t be dead because we would have sensed that through the Links of Loyalty, but we didn''t know what happened," Lilica said, her expression souring for a moment.

    Her expression brightened in an instant after she discarded the worries that had gued her during thest week, "But you''re back, so everything is fine. In fact, you nce stronger than ever. That''s great!"

    It was not difficult to observe that his eyes had changed, however, far more impressive was the tremendous presence that radiated naturally from Michael''s body. Michael could not yet fully control the presence that oozed out of his body due to Superior Constitution. It was quite difficult to control, and certainly not one of the things Michael was adept at. On the contrary, he could easily control the power level of his eyes.

    Spirit Eyes would, under normal circumstances, intimidate everyone with weaker willpower than Michael. That was one of the effects his eyes gained naturally from the transmutation Spirit Eyes initiated. However, most people around him wouldn''t even notice the effect because Michael restrained it naturally. It was barely noticeable to Unawakened existences.

    "I''ve grown a bit stronger, and it won''t take long before I advance to Tier-3, either. If you want to know more about what happened in the Interdimensional g War, we can talk about thatter," Michael said with a thin smile on his lips. It was great to be among the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team and Tiara. No. It was great to be home, "But I would like to find out what happened in my territory first. Almost a month passed. A lot must have changed."

    Lilica and the others nodded their heads. It was true. Many things had changed.

    Lilica gestured to Tiara, forcing her to get down from Michael''s behind before she cleared her throat, "Do you want to read the daily reports first, or should we tell you about everything instead?"

    "Prepare the daily report for me to read throughter. I want to inspect the changes in the territory with my own eyes and hear what my people have to say first. However, I believe that most subjects wille to me toin about theck of materials, tools, and blueprints that I''d promised to bring when Ie back."

    Michae was still in possession of the notes and everything else his subjects had asked for. Kraft Viton had made sure that Michael was given most of the materials and items his subjects had requested, but it was not appreciate Kraft Viton was an omnipotent magician. He couldn''t snap his fingers to make all the materials requested by Michael and his subjects appear out of nowhere.

    Michael recalled that a bunch of items had been missing when Kraft Viton procured the materials and items from his territory''s ''shopping list''. That was also why Michael was quite curious to find out how much his territory had developed. Did the development stagnate because of the missing items, or were his subjects innovative and ambitious enough to exit out the missing materials if possible, rece them with other substitutes, or simply put the construction aside to pursue another project?

    If it was any of those three options, Michael would be fine with it. However, if his subjects turned out to have grownzy while he was absent, he wouldn''t be happy.

    "You don''t have to be worried. We finished everything you asked for. The list of projects has beenpleted. All we''re missing are the unique materials you''d promised, and the livestock ¨C though Opars has a pretty easy solution for that." Pheli exined upon seeing the subtle change in Michael''s expression.

    "Opars? Do you have a solution to the livestock issue?" Michael asked, his eyes traveling to Opars, whose long, pointed ears twitched.

    "I¡­do have a solution. But I might have done something you don''t like. Maybe, you won''t have anything against it though," Opars responded reluctantly.

    "What did you do?"

    "You understand about the Trnce, the alliance between the Zynur, Laprix, and Valyr, right? The Zynur Lord created a settlement at the border to the Untamed Jungle because he was hoping to contact you for a potential trading opportunity. I might have been interested in his settlement and the development of the Savannah region and found out that they have some of the livestock the Tamers need for their Ranches. Their prices are also fairly decent, especially given the issues in the Savannah Region."

    Michael had nothing against his subordinates traveling around. As long as they didn''t cause trouble to his subjects and territory they could do as they pleased¡­mostly, at least.

    "A business rtionship with the Trnce seems appreciate a good idea. I have no idea where the Valyr, Zaynur, and Laprix have their usual spawn points spread across the Origin Expanse, but it never hurts to create more trading routes," Michael remarked, praising Opars for his quick thinking, "You did a great job. If you have already established a good rtionship with the Trnce, how about you travel to the settlement near the border and request a list of things they need and items, materials and other goods they can provide? Make sure to also ask them about goods their races possess in surplus. If there is anything we need, we can create a few more sources of ie by trading with them and selling the items to our own people, the Forest Elven Tribe, or the Tritan Alliance. We should be able to expand our money-making businesses slowly."

    Michael was d that his subjects acted on their own. He had been worried that everyone would only do what he ordered them to do. Fortunately, that was not the case.

    "But what is going on in the Savannah Region?" He asked atst.

    Opars smiled wryly.

    "It''s not only the Savannah Region. Apparently, there are also some issues in the Zentika Empire."

 Chapter 511 Changes

    <h4>Chapter 511 Changes</h4>

    "After you killed the Kitsun Lord, you didn''t annex hisnd in the Savannah Region. The three Lords of the Trnce annexed the Kitsun Lord''s former territory, therefore expanding their territory drastically in a matter of days. There was only one major problem: The three Lords'' military power had been on a constant low because of the Kitsun Lord''s attacks. Therefore, expanding their territory drastically forced the three Lords to spread their already low number of Soldiers all over their newly imed territory. The other enemies of the Kitsun Lord and the three Lords'' opponents used this opportunity to attack. That was why the Trnce was formed. The three Lordsbined their forces to protect theirnds from invaders, each Lord protecting one border."

    Michael listened intently. He understood that leaving the Savannah region to the Zynur, Valyr, and the Laprix might not have been the best decision. But then again, it looked like they managed to handle most issues.

    "Since the border to the Untamed Jungle doesn''t need much protection other than some Soldiers to hunt down the monsters that may identally stumble into the Savannah region, the Trnce has to protect the north, south, and west. Each Lord takes care of one border, therefore decreasing the pressure weighing down on them. That is a pretty good idea. What is the problem then?" Michael asked Opars, who continued to exin the situation.

    "The problem is that there has never been an alliance in the Savannah Region. There had been a loose connection between the Zynur Lords, Valyr Lordess, and the Laprix Lord, but that had been uniformly acknowledged as necessary by the other Lords of the Savannah Region. Every Lord in the Savannah acknowledged the Kitsun Lord as the biggest threat due to the Cloud Domain."

    "With the death of the Kitsun Lord, the loose bond between the Zynur Lord, Valyr Lordess, and the Laprix Lord was supposed to cease to exist. However, it turned into the Trnce because the surrounding Lords decided to grasp the opportunity and attack them. The Lords decided that it was fair to attack the other Lords, but they were against the Alliance. Therefore, a multitude of alliances were formed over a few weeks and the entire Savannah Region was caught in the mes of war. To summarize the issue of the Savannah Region, I can only say that a chain of unfortunate events turned into a full-blown Region War."

    Michael swallowed hard. Region Wars were unpredictable. An entire region at war was definitely not something Michael wanted to get pulled into. However, he quickly realized something that made him frown deeply.

    "The Trnce has a decent rtionship with me and the Untamed Jungle, but other Lords might try to conquer the Untamed Jungle to procure the rare resources from within. Once the Trnce falls, I might have to join the Region War, even if I don''t want to," Michael murmured, "That means I need to make sure the Trnce won''t copse."

    It was only obvious but if Michael wanted to avoid fighting the Lords in the Savannah region, his cushion ¨C the Trnce ¨C would have to survive.

    Michael had nothing against fighting a Lord or two, but he didn''t really want to join the Region War. It was not worth it since Michael had enough Inferior Energy Stones and other resources to strengthen himself, his subjects, and exchange the Inferior Energy Stones with resources needed to develop his territory. Other than that, Michael also had plenty of things to do outside the Origin Expanse. He was willing to start selling some of the Soultrait Symbols stored inside the emerald box. They would earn him a fortune which could then be invested into his territory once again.

    Michael might have the means to fight other Lords mindlessly as of today, but he was not stupid enough to waste his time fighting enemies he didn''t have to fight. If anything, Michael should focus on earning more money to purchase all the necessary goods to build the Intermediate and Advanced level of the Sacred Knight Temple, expand his army, and improve the living standard of his subjects gradually.

    "You should ask the Trnce what resources they need to guard their settlements and borders. I am pretty sure that our cksmiths can do a pretty good job buildingrge-scale weapons," Michael ordered Opars right before his mind drifted to Zeroa, "The Elemental Empress can probably help the cksmiths. Projectiles channeled with elemental crystals or elemental energy should be quite helpful, for example,"

    Michael could think of a few ideas to support the Trnce, fortify their defenses and maybe even help their military force by supplying a bunch of resources. Of course, he would ask for an equivalent exchange of materials. Michael was not opening a charity organization, after all. Nheless, it was more important to ensure the Trnce''s survival for the time being.

    "Are you sure that you want to support the Trnce this much? What if they turn against us?" Mika asked lightly. He blurted out his thoughts without thinking.

    "Interesting thought, but unnecessary. If they go against us, I will bulldoze them long before they can reach our settlement," Michael responded simrly lightly.

    If nothing much about the Trnce changed while Michael was away, the Valyr had only one Lowest-rank Tier-4 Higher Lifeform. Meanwhile, the Zynur didn''t have a single Higher Lifeform. As for the Laprix, Michael was not too sure. They might have one Higher Lifeform or two at most.

    Higher Lifeforms might be scary to fight, but Michael doubted that the Zynur, Valyr, or Laprix owned Soul Techniques; otherwise, they would have been able to deal with the Kitsun Lord a long time ago.

    Michael had Soul Techniques, and it was only a matter of time before he created more. His War Rune would reach Tier-3 soon, and he could unleash his full power inside the Origin Expanse. After all, Zeroa and Sun Demos were in the Origin Expanse, which meant that he could use the full potential of the Taming Soultrait.

    Maybe he would have been a little bit worried if he were to encounter someone like Killian as a Higher Lifeform on the battlefield. But if someone was as strong as Killian would be once he advanced to Tier-4, they would have already conquered the Savannah Region.

    "I don''t want any trouble right now. That''s the most important. I can deal with future troubles merely fine. There is no require to worry," Michael mumbled. He cleared his throat and switched to the next topic, "So what''s the issue with the Zentika Empire? They haven''t been close to the Untamed Jungle for a while and given that nobody seems to be worried regarding the border to the Zentika Empire I can only presume that the Zentika Empire didn''t even bother to approach our borders. Or am I wrong?"

    This time none of the Forest Elves answered. The border to the Zentika Empire hadn''t been their focus. Luckily, Tiara answered.

    "The Zentika Empire is quite hard to figure out. The border to the Zentika Empire is unprotected, so I decided to infiltrate the empire with Icarus. We were a little bit bored training all day, so we chose to spend some time in the Zentika Empire. Of course, we stayed close to the border to return once someone discovered us. But that never really happened. Thend below us drifted past as we moved closer to the inside of the Zentika Empire and we finally found some settlements. There were many small towns and viges, but also a bunch of cities. However, none of them was well protected," Tiara exposed her adventurous side with a bright expression on her face.

    She then pointed at her ears as she continued, "I used a special technique that allows me to momentarily increase my hearing sense. I could eavesdrop on thements made by the residents within the cities. Apparently, the vast majority of the Zentika Empire''s military power had been called to the Ice Mountains. Taros turned against the Zentika Empire with the Dragon he bound to his blood, and they seemed to be wreaking havoc. That''s all I know."

    Michael had a hard time ignoring Tiara''s twitching tail. It swished left and right like crazy as she told about her finds even though most of her information seemed rather difficult to make use of.

    "So the Zentika Empire is busy dealing with Taros¡­and his Dragon? I didn''t know Taros even had a dragon in the first ce," Michael asked again, his eyes following Tiara''s tail.

    Michael never bothered asking Taros regarding his territory, or subjects. He didn''t really attention about that brute, muscr guy to begin with. Michael fought him once but that was it.

    "I have no idea since when he started raising a dragon either. But I was wondering if that was somehow rted to the Lord Rift since Taros'' attacks happened only a few months after we came back from the Lord Rift," Tiara mumbled, not sure if Michael could handle this information.

    "You think Taros was ountable for the Red Dragon''s rage?" Michael asked, but Tiara could only answer with a shrug, "I have no idea."

    Michael fell deep in thought.

    ''What if Taros started raising a Dragon after the Lord Rift closed? Is it possible that the Red Dragon was a mother, who''s been searching for her egg? Is that possible? ¡­if that''s the case, does it mean that Taros stole the Dragon Mother''s egg, resulting in the chaotic situation at the end of the Lord Rift? That would mean¡­Taros is ountable for Danny''s second death¡­"

    Michael understood that the probability for this scenario to be true was very low. But it was not zero.

    Rage and anger filled his heart.

    "Find out if the dragon is a young Red Dragon."

 Chapter 512 My Monsters

    <h4>Chapter 512 My Monsters</h4>

    After Michael got to know what happened in the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire, he learned a lot about the changes in thest four weeks.

    The Bilrox Ranch had been reconstructed into arge Bilrox Nest. Because the Bilrox were not held captive anymore, a simple reconstruction was the easiest way to make them feel at home in the nest. Fortunately, the Bilrox Queen was of the same opinion. She built a nest at the highest point in the Bilrox Nest and organized her kind to make sure that they wouldn''t run too far into the wilderness without any protection.

    The Bilroxid over a hundred eggs and it was only a matter of time before the newest generation of Bilrox chicken would hatch. Everyone was curious about the newest generation of Bilrox, not only because it was the first generation born after the birth of the Bilrox Queen, but also because some of the Bilrox eggs had beenid by Elemental Bilrox and other recently transmuted Bilrox. Once the Bilrox eggs hatched, the variety of Bilrox living in the Untamed Jungle ¨C in Michael''s territory ¨C would expand rapidly.

    Michael was curious about the existing transmutations and evolutions of the mature Bilrox and he found out various interesting facts. The Bilrox gained special Perks thanks to the natural influence the Bilrox Queen emanated. Slowly but steadily, all Bilrox would gain one or multiple Perks, changing the Bilrox''s appearance and their set of abilities. All they had to do was stay close to the Bilrox Queen.

    It was great to have the Bilrox Queen in his territory. She controlled the Bilrox much better than any Tamer could and she enhanced the strength of her kind just by existing. Michael considered her a cute and fluffy cheat code.

    But the Bilrox Queen was not the only one who was cute and fluffy. The little Greater Eagle younglings hatched from Icarus and Ariadne''s eggs were just as cute and fluffy as the Bilrox Queen.

    Icarus and Ariadne''s Nest was located near a new Monster Ranch that had been constructed not too long ago. The two Greater Eagles didn''t want to be too close to the center of the territory but they didn''t want to be isted from the happenings within Michael''s territory either. Their nest was perched high in the air, just below the canopy of three enormous trees. The Greater Eagles'' Nest was huge. It connected three enormous trees, upying enough space to construct tworge treehouseplexes.

    Michael didn''t spend too much time with the little Greater Eagles but he didn''t neglect them either. He promised himself that he would visit the Greater Eagle Nest in the future to visit the little eaglets every now and then. They should get to know him first before the Links of Loyalty were established.

    Other than the Bilrox and the Greater Eagles, Michael decided to visit the other tamed monsters in his territory as well. That did not only include the monsters he summoned through the Summoning Gate but also Sun Demos and Zeroa. He visited Sun Demos in the area of the fiendish trees. It was not exactly close to the settlement in his territory, however, crossing the distance to Sun Demos was something Michael aplished within a few minutes. He walked through the canopy bridges that had evolved into an extensivework.

    Interestingly enough, the canopy bridgework altered a lot. It was far better hidden than before and almost impossible to make out from the ground due to the existence of three particr Enchantments. The three enchantments had been engraved on a small steel te and merged to be a single Rune to generate a cost-efficient solution to the problems caused due to the sheer size and ease with which an enemy could spot thework of the canopy bridge from a distance.

    The Rune was fused by making use of the Ambient Energy enchantment, the Muffler enchantment, and the camouge enchantment. Fused into one, the Rune''s effects turned out to be pretty simple. Ambient Energy ensured that the surrounding energy was absorbed and utilized, whereas Muffler decreased the volume of sounds in a certain range. Last but not least, camouge did exactly what one expected from the enchantment. It merged the object attached to the enchantment with the surroundings seamlessly.

    The fused Rune had been engraved on a steel te but the steel te had been integrated into the canopy bridgework, therefore hiding the canopy bridge, and silencing the noises made by those traversing with the canopy bridges. More than 1,000 steel tes had to be enchanted with fused Runes to cover every inch of the canopy bridgework with the Muffler and Camouge Enchantment. That was not done in the blink of an eye, but it took a while.

    Fortunately, Michael had more than enough Enchanter Novices, who were in dire need of experience, and resources to practice. Michael provided everything the Enchanter Novices required. Therefore, they had a pleasant time practicing their skills in merged Runes while simultaneously aiding the development of the territory.

    Michael inspected the fused Runes on his way to Sun Demos, and he realized that their effect was much better than he anticipated. It was pretty amazing and would be of tremendous help once foreign Lords ventured to invade the Untamed Jungle ¨C and Michael''s territory. Michael, his archers, and everyone else could bombard his enemies from the canopy bridgework eons before the canopy bridges were found.

    Even if their enemies would find the canopy bridgework, Michael and his subjects had transformed numerous trees into full-fledged defensive towers. They looked like ordinary trees and were still alive and flourishing. However, parts of their insides had been carved out to create hideouts for the watchguards. Large-scale weapons had also been integrated into the watchtower trees, turning each of those trees into a terrifying obstacle one had to cross to get close to the settlement.

    Most enemies would probably be dead before they noticed each defensive tower and the various other means of defense that had been installed over the course of thest few weeks.

    ''I never grasped why the Kitsun Lord destroyed the Untamed Jungle to create his settlements in the traditional way. My settlement is well hidden and the defenses will take far more lives than traditional settlements could have taken when attacked,'' Michael thought as he crossed thest portion of the canopy bridgework.

    Thework was not yet perfect, but Michael was fairly certain that it was only a matter of time before it would be near perfect. His territory''s development was fast enough. There was no need to worry.

    [It has been a while, Master. What brings you to my little kingdom?] Sun Demos'' voice popped up in Michael''s mind and he turned to his right where he saw the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King emerge from the thicket.

    In the past, Michael would have deemed Sun Demos extremely powerful. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case anymore. Sun Demos might be a Superior Existence and he had great control of his subordinates, but that was already it. Michael''s physical strength surpassed Sun Demos'' strength easily. That was not even owned to Superior Constitution. It was just a fact that Sun Demos didn''t progress as fast as his master.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was not yet at the limit of his racial potential since he was the king of his kind, but he was slowly nearing his racial limitation. That was also why Michael resolved to visit Sun Demos'' little kingdom, where more than 900 Blood Oath Demon Monkeys resided at this moment.

    "I brought a bunch of Inferior Energy Stones and Apex Nutrition Serums. There are also a few Memory Crystals filled with Body Refinement Techniques, a technique called Leviathan Diffusion, and so on. All of this should help you reach your racial limitation in the next few weeks. After that, you can try to break past your racial limitations. I have no idea what you might require to break your racial limit or how to aid your evolution, but if you can instinctively tell what resources and materials you need to evolve yourself and your kind, don''t hesitate to tell me," Michael said, his eyes locked with the darkness in Sun Demos'' eyes.

    "I can tell that you''re getting restless. Your kind is strong enough to be the Overlord of the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts, at least this part of the outskirts, but you want to continue fighting alongside me. I can sense that through our bond, so don''t even try to deny it. I''ll try to research more about monster evolutions and racial limitations, but that might take a while because I have too many things that require my full attention. Too much happened in thest few weeks, and I neglected my territory for too long as well. There is a lot for me to do!"

    Sun Demos stared back at Michael. He retrieved the spatial satchel he''d obtained from his master a few months ago and handed it back to Michael. Michael transferred the resources he had been wanting to give Sun Demos and threw the spatial satchel over to Sun Demos again.

    No more words were exchanged, but Sun Demos and Michael knew what the other was thinking and feeling. The firmness of their taming bond allowed them tomunicate without speaking aloud, or through telepathy.

    Atst, Michael broke the silence.

    "Take care of your kingdom and make sure to tell me if you need something. You can also talk to me when you''re bored or confused about something. I can always make time for you. All you have to do is talk. Communication is the key, you know?" He said with a smile on his lips.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King continued staring at Michael for a while before he nodded.

    [I''m d that you''re back.]

 Chapter 513 Lil Army

    <h4>Chapter 513 Lil Army</h4>

    One of the most interesting encounters after he returned to the Origin Expanse was to meet the Elemental Empress once again. Therge underground hall had developed into a proper home for the Elementals and the first batches of elemental crystals could be harvested soon.

    Zeroa jumped at Michael and she coated him in her mythical mes. It was great that her mes didn''t burn him, otherwise, her excitement would have turned him into a pile of ash. Given his natural fire resistance, the mythical mes of his tamed monster kept him warm. That was it.

    [You''re back! Finally! I was already getting worried. You never stayed away from your territory this long!] Zeroa shouted in his mind, inflicting a mild headache.

    Michael smiled lightly.

    "Your society is expanding rapidly. Looks like you''re working very hard. Good job, Zeroa!" Michael praised the Elemental Empress, patting her lightly.

    Stgmites of elemental crystals covered the ground whereas small crystallized stctites could be found hanging down from the ceiling every now and then. Michael focused his attention on the changes of the Underground Hall, just to see that there were hundreds of Fire Elementals going on with their business.

    [Of course, I''m working hard. We''ve alreadybined our forces with the Underground Forging Hall to elerate their forging process. The elemental crystals are also very useful for them. They can create Ranked Armaments with unique traits. That should help the territory''s military force to fight stronger enemies with more ease. There are Swords that can be coated in mes with bits of energy, or metal shields that can be coated inyers of water, or earth. In fact, there is much more, but I was so busy creating an Elemental Baron that I had barely any time to focus on something else!]

    The Elemental Empress sounded excited. That was probably because she was exhrated and overjoyed. Since she was not chained to any walls and could move around freely, the Elemental Empress enjoyed herself thoroughly. Zeroa did whatever she wanted to do, which was to create her own society, oddly enough.

    The former lizard cave had turned into a highly productive underground structure where the cksmiths, Miners, and Elementals lived together in great harmony.

    "So you''re getting started with the Nobility already? That''s pretty fast. Congrattions!" Michael was happy that Zeroa wasfortable in the underground hall.

    Her taming bond was much firmer than ever and Michael could tell that it would grow much thicker in the next few months. That was a pleasant surprise, just like the appearance of the first Elemental Baron.

    [It''s going to take another week or two, but the zing Baron will be born soon enough. Stay patient!] Zeroa said, giggling childishly.

    It was great that Zeroa could relive her childhood ¨C something that the Kitsun Lord had taken from her. Michael talked to the Elemental Empress for quite a while until he decided that it was time for him to leave. He had yet to visit the Underground Forging Hall. However, instead of letting Michael leave, Zeroa decided to go with him.

    She hadn''t seen Michael for several weeks, and the time they spent together before his departure was also not that much. Michael had been busy training and growing stronger in the months before the Interdimensional g War.

    Now that he was not that busy anymore, Zeroa wanted to make use of Michael''s free time. Thus, she continued to stay attached to him like a little leech ¨C a cute one though.

    There were many other ces Michael had to visit with each of them being quite arduous and time-consuming. First he went over to the Underground Forging Hall to observe the cksmith''s work and note down how much everyone had improved. Once he was done, Michael traveled to the Alchemists'' Lairs to have a lengthy discussion with his Alchemists, Mystic Alchemists, and the Researchers for quite a while.

    Apparently, the Researchers and Mystic Alchemists created a bunch of new potions. Not all of them had been tested yet but it looked like they were existing potions that had been altered and mixed with otherponents, therefore creating better potions more-or-less with cheaper materials.

    In fact, the materials were not exactly cheaper in the market. It was merely that Michael''s territory possessed the materials inrge quantities. This included the bones of specific monsters, monster blood, elemental crystals, the petals of certain elemental nts, and a variety of other nts that had been nted in the farm all over his territory weeks ago.

    To put it in simple terms, the new potions were upgraded versions and mixtures of other potions that had been formed with materials Michael''s territory had in surplus. That was amazing, especially for the Archers and Mage Novices in his territory. After all, two potions heightened one''s focus for half a day. By sharpening their focus, Mage Novices could learn new spells faster, whereas Archers could train for a much longer duration, fully focused on their practice.

    These two potions worked on others as well but the results were the most impactful for Archers and Mage Novices.

    Thinking about the progress of his army, Michael chose to visit the Sacred Knight Temple as well. He''d seen the Immortal Knight before, but he didn''t ask him about the progress of the Sacred Squires and Holy Knights that time. Michael wanted to wait until he reached the Sacred Knight Temple to take everything in and observe the changes within his territory.

    Despite being able to sense the Links of Loyalty of his subjects and the changes they underwent as his subjects were promoted to a higher star-rating, Michael waited patiently until the Immortal Knight arrived in front of him.

    "I was already waiting for you. You''ve grown much stronger in thest few weeks, though I presume that you still haven''t learned a properbat technique," The Immortal Knight said, already trying to lecture Michael, "It''s great that you can rely on your Soultraits this much. It is also amazing how powerful you can grow by strengthening your Soultraits, but I hope that you can find some techniques that fit yourbat style!"

    Initially, Michael wanted to smile through the Immortal Knight''s lectures, but he decided against it at some point.

    He summoned Aethyr in the Tigerfang form and started to shape the Aethyr in his hands slowly.

    "My Lord¡­is that¡­Aether?!?" The Immortal Knight asked, both frightened and exhrated.

    Aether was the reason the Immortal Knight died. Too many powerhouses took note of him in the Origin Expanse and it was only a matter of time before he died, struck to death by thousands of enemies. All of them desired to obtain his Aether, yet none was able to procure it.

    "It is not exactly Aether. It has a trace of Aether inside but it''s called Aethyr. It''s a semi-sentient alloy that has some capabilities of Aether, including growing stronger, and transforming into dozens of Armaments. It is bound to me as well. The downside is that the Aethyr is a lot weaker in all aspects than Aether, but that is quite obvious. The content of Aether in Aethyr is like 0.000001 or something like that," Michael exined to the Immortal Knight, whose expression eased up quite a bit.

    He was still excited but the fright and worry in his heart died down. If the Aether content in Aethyr was truly that low, Michael wouldn''t have to be worried about the attacks of powerhouses. The amount of Aether was not enough to wake up the true powerhouses.

    But then Michael chose to reveal some more information about Aethyr, which caused the Immortal Knight to stiffen once again.

    "However, there is something odd about Aethyr. I can infuse SoulStar Fragments into it. Doing so strengthened my bond with Aethyr and it allows me to transform Aethyr into far more Armaments than I have been informed I could. I have yet to research the phenomenon but I believe that infusing SoulStar Fragments into Aethyr nourished the Aether inside."

    "So¡­you''re telling me that you can grow your own Aether using these SoulStar Fragments that you use to upgrade Soultraits?" Siegfried asked, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.

    "Basically, yeah." Michael responded, "Of course, I could be wrong. I might be entirely wrong and I am merely strengthening the entire weapon because the alloy has a great synergy with Aether, transforming the entire alloy into a new object, which can coincidentally absorb SoulStar Fragments. But¡­I believe I can nurture and grow Aether with my SoulStar Fragments."

    Michael was fully aware that the Immortal Knight''s worries were not unfounded. He saw his subjects'' eyes and could tell that the Immortal Knight was truly scared.

    "Don''t nourish your Aethyr too much for the time being. I know that it would be great to generate enough Aether to rece the Aethyr, but you do not want to turn into the center of attention for dozens of Divine Lifeforms, believe me. Dozens might be an understatement. I don''t remember how many Awakened and Lords attacked me and my people. There were way too many to count."

    Michael answered with a nod. It was not like he was in dire need of Aether merely yet. Aethyr was useful for him until he reached the Peak of Tier-3. By then, Michael could infuse some SoulStar Fragments to increase Aethyr''s limitation just a little ¨C just enough to increase it to Tier-4 and start integrating some Enchantments upon the weapon.

    Michael had nned a lot with his Aethyr, as well as the SoulStar Fragments that rested inside his War Rune. He had various ns, all he was missing to execute them was enough time to prepare everything meticulously.

    "Since you''re revealing such shocking news to me, I guess you won''t be too surprised when I tell you that the number of Sacred Squires exceeds 2,000 at this point. Yesterday we managed to wee the 52th Holy Knight as well," Siegfried revealed with a smile before he turned around to look at the Sacred Knight Temple.

    "Maybe, I should step up the game to make sure that the territory will be protected a bit better in the future. After all, it looks like we''re going to wee Divine Lifeforms once your Aether and ability are exposed to the ever-expanding Origin Expanse."

    The Immortal Knightughed, but Michael could tell that it was a forcedughter.

    Meanwhile, Michael merely smiled. He was not yet worried. There was no need to worry just yet.

    All he had to do was grow stronger and y his cards well. That was all it took.

    **

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 Chapter 514 Progress

    <h4>Chapter 514 Progress</h4>

    Michael was a bit surprised when he heard that he had more than 2,000 Blessed Squires and 52 Holy Knights. He didn''t expect his army to expand this quickly. The Basic level of the Sacred Knight Temple was truly unique.

    The high efficiency of the Basic Sacred Knight Temple intrigued Michael and it made him wonder how much greater it would be to have the Intermediate, or Advanced level of the Sacred Knight Temple. He desired to upgrade the Sacred Knight Temple as soon as possible. This feeling intensified when he watched two Holy Knights spar.

    One of the Holy Knights wore a heavy armor set. He brandished arge war axe in both of his hands and swung it down on the nimble Holy Knight who wore a leather armor with steel tes covering the most vital areas. The nimble Holy Knight was not as bulky but he was dexterous, and could wield two shortswords with great precision.

    Both were considered Holy Knights even though they used vastly different armaments. It allowed the Holy Knights to be more versatile than Spearmen or other ordinary Combat Summons.

    The nimbler Holy Knight, who Michael imagined to be named Nimbus, twisted his body until his face contorted in pain to evade the iing axe cleave narrowly. Bulkan ¨C the bulky Holy Knight channeled Holy Power into the war axe to pull it faster out of the ground. He then executed one of the methods he learned recently to fortify his defenses and amplify his physical strength a little. Bulkan might not be as nimble as Nimbus, but he was not going down that easily.

    Nimbus executed a cross-sh imbued with Holy Power but Bulkan blocked the attack with the t side of his war axe. A white hue shrouded Nimbus'' legs and he elerated all of a sudden, using a movement technique that required a considerable amount of Holy Power to be utilized.

    Bulkan eyed Nimbus'' movements intently. He predicted his enemies'' first attack move and took a stride forward. The iing shortsword was blocked, and as a result, the trajectory altered right before Bulkan appeared only a few centimeters in front of Nimbus. Bulkan headbutted Nimbus, or he tried to, only for him to miss Nimbus'' head and meet with the pommel of Nimbus'' shortsword.

    Nimbus couldn''t evade the attackpletely, but he was barely fast enough to snap his head back, spin his other shortsword around, and pull it upward in a sudden movement. Blood spurted out of Bulkan''s nose when the hard pommel of Nimbus'' shortsword impacted hard. Some of the spectators around the sparring grounds could swear to have heard Bulkan''s nose breaking. A loud crunch rang through their ears, causing various expressions to appear all over the spectators'' faces.

    However, Bulkan was not yet done. He circted Holy Power through his nose as he pulled back. His expression was contorted in pain, but his eyes were fully focused on his opponent. Nimbus charged ahead; his des coated in Holy Power. He executed the Sacred Knight Sword Style at an elementary level, issuing various shes that were not only enough to push Bulkan''s war axe to the side but also inflict several wounds all over the less protected areas of Bulkan''s body.

    Bulkan manifested a shield of Holy Power around his left arm to block an attack and he used his superior strength to push Nimbus'' arm to the side. He let go of the war axe and punched Nimbus in the face, ignoring the other shortsword in Nimbus'' hands. Nimbus cut Bulkan through a seam in his armor, but Bulkan ignored that. He continued to punch Nimbus until he fell back.

    Nimbus was lying on the ground on his back with Bulkan towering over him.

    "Stop! That''s enough," The Immortal Knight intervened before the situation could go too bad, "Both of you are dead. Congrattions."

    Siegfried apuded the two Holy Knights sarcastically.

    However, Bulkan didn''t want to acknowledge that.

    "He stabbed into my sides, okay. BUT that is only a minor wound. I can use some Holy Power to execute the Minor Mending technique and heal both my broken nose and the stab wound easily. I am far from dead!" He dered, looking over to Nimbus before he added, "However this guy would be beaten into a pulp in the next minute. My metal gloves would have worked wonders against such a pretty face."

    "Maybe you could have survived this battle, but your Holy Power would be drained, and you would have no chance to deal with a second opponent on the same level. What about a third one? How about hundreds? How many enemies do you think you will have to fight with yourrades once we''re at war with other Lords? Do you think that you can afford to sustain injuries like this, willingly at that? That''s suicidal, and I DO NOT want to train suicidal blokes. I''m training survival experts. Do you UNDERSTAND??"

    Bulkan grunted but he nodded his head. He could see where Immortal Knight wasing from and it was not like it didn''t make sense. Being victorious in a single battle could feel great, but warfare was never just a single fight. It was a humongous battle against countless enemies ¨C enemies that had to be defeated with great teamwork and the support of your allies.

    Bulkan stared down at Nimbus and extended his hand to help him get up. Nimbus responded by grasping his hand and pulling himself up from the ground.

    The Immortal Knight nced over at Michael, whose expression was hard to read.

    "What do you think, my Lord?" He asked.

    "It''s not perfect, of course, but that is mostly because they haven''t had enough time to get used to their weapons, armor, and the versatility of their techniques. I can tell that they learned many methods that demand Holy Power, but they''re not yet experienced with using Holy Power. It is not difficult to see that they''re still learning the basics," Michael responded.

    He thought about something for a moment before adding, "But I guess that makes sense. They shouldn''t have been promoted to Holy Knights too long ago. The experiences and memories that had been engraved into their body upon being promoted seem quite useful, but they''re not game-changers without giving the Holy Knight enough time to adapt to everything."

    The Immortal Knight agreed with Michael''s conclusion, "As long as the Holy Knights are given a few months, they can turn into powerhouses of the Elite-ss. They could not be able to deal with Superior Existences, but they canbine their forces and hunt down Superior Existences with ease. For now, however, they need more training and resources. And, of course, more experience. It''s a good thing that the poption of monsters in the Untamed Jungle has been exceedingly high these days. The Sacred Squires and Holy Knights can easily gather experience in this region!"

    Michael had heard about the overpoption of monsters within the Untamed Jungle before. He presumed that it was due to the Kitsun bodies that hadn''t been collected before the Untamed Jungle devoured them. Or maybe it was because of something else. At the end of the day, the reason for the overpoption of monsters in the Untamed Jungle didn''t matter.

    It was a good turn of events, especially for his Warriors. Hunting down Tier-1 and Tier-2 Monsters provided a considerable amount of energy to his Summons. And since the Blessed Squires and Holy Knights owned energy cirction methods that converted the energy influx into Holy Power without losing too much energy in the conversation process, they could increase their rank and Tier rather quickly.

    Of course, it was not an instant process, but the Holy Knights and Sacred Squires could gain experience while also improving their rank and Tier efficiently.

    Michael talked a little bit more with the Immortal Knight about the events of thest four weeks. After talking for a little over an hour, Michael decided to take a look at the development of the farms in his territory. That was one of the most crucial factors in his territory as itbined the advantageous effects of the Nature Spirit Tree, the Forest Pixie, the Botanica Magicians, the Farmers, and the Untamed Jungle.

    The farms became even more crucial now that the Nature Spirit was evolving and that the Forest Pixie had fully matured. It was especially weird since more Pixies seemed to hover around the Nature Spirit. Michael had no idea how it happened, and it was also quite confusing for the Forest Elves, who could only make guesses as to where the Pixies came from. Nheless, it was advantageous just like the appearance of a dozen Earth, Wind, and Water Elementals that had been sent to the surface by Zeroa. The Elemental Empress wanted to help Michael and his territory to flourish even more.

    But Zeroa was not the only one who wanted to help the farnds flourish. The Bilrox Queen sent over some of her Bilrox with useful Perks to aid the farmers.

    It was only a matter of time before the farnds became highly nutritious, elerating the maturity circle of all nts drastically. The farmers were always at work, harvesting the fully ripened products and nting new seeds. The Untamed Jungle''s effect and the other influences that affected the growth of the nts turned months-long maturity circles into mere days of waiting before the fruits and vegetables were ripened and ready to be harvested.

    Therefore, it was time to expand the farnds and make full use of the advantage at hand.

    It was time to turn into a full-blown farmer!

 Chapter 515 Closing In

    <h4>Chapter 515 Closing In</h4>

    The farnds could be expanded and developed into a precious source of rare resources. A wide variety of elemental seeds had already been nted and it was only a matter of time before he''d umted enough resources to mass-produce a bunch of potions that required ''rare'' resources ¨C resources Michael had in surplus thanks to the Untamed Jungle, the Elementals, the Nature Spirit, the Forest Pixies and so on.

    Michael learned a lot about the nts, their products, their by-products, and how they could be utilized. It was a topic that intrigued Michael. Unfortunately, he didn''t have several days to listen to the Farmers and Botanica Magicians as they talked to him about their finds, the mutation of a few nts and much more. They were in their own little world, and Michael was fine leaving them there as long as they continued to work hard.

    There was only one thing Michael couldn''t leave them alone with. It was the appearance of a nt evolving and gaining sentience. It was rare for nts to gain sentience because it required a tremendous amount of energy and unique resources to initiate an evolution.?But possessing the necessary resources and enough energy was not enough for nts to gain sentience and evolve. They had to meet various requirements.

    At least, that was what Michael had read in a few books and the Botanica Magician who''d been researching the nt Monster. The nt Monster couldn''t be left alone on the farnds. Therefore, Michael told the Botanica Magician to work with a Monster Tamer and create a Monster Ranch for the nt monster. It might be quite difficult, but it was not impossible to tame and reproduce the nt Monster.

    Maybe, they could gain something unique from turning a nt monster into livestock ¨C or maybe into a means of defense that blended perfectly with the flora of the Untamed Jungle. nt Monsters might not be all that powerful under normal circumstances, but if they were raised properly and stimted to mutate in specific ways, it shouldn''t be impossible to turn them into his territory''s weapon to fend off enemies within the Untamed Jungle.

    It was a very interesting topic and something his Monster Tamers and the Botanic Magician should research thoroughly.

    One way or another, Michael was very pleased with the changes in his territory.

    Everyone was working extremely hard. Michael might not have been around for a few weeks but the majority remained highly productive. That was nice to see, even more so when Michael found out that the carpenters and construction workers expanded the housing district in the settlement. His subjects built enough treehouseplexes for more than 20,000 new subjects and it looked like they had yet to stop expanding. The architects came up with a few new inventions and their contagious enthusiasm reached the starless workers, construction workers, and carpenters, resulting in a few new constructions.

    One of those constructions was a treehouse tower, a tower that was constructed around thergest rainforest trees in the proximity. The trees were used as a foundation and support pirs to hold the treehouse tower, which shrouded the entire trunk without harming it. The Architects made sure that the tree could continue to grow while simrly ensuring that as many families as possible could live in the treehouse towers.

    At first, Michael was confused about the treehouse towers and how they came into existence but when he visited the Architects'' offices he found numerous blueprints that had been discarded and thrown aside. There were hundreds of blueprints with most of them being quite interesting. Michael could hardly find any differences in some of the blueprints, but when he asked the Architects about it, they grumbled something about stability, scarcity of flexible material, and various other things.

    Through that, Michael acquired a lot about the thinking process of the Architects in his territory. It was an interesting learning process, though he was more often cursed indirectly than he liked. The Architects seemed to love and hate him at the same time. He allowed them to experiment as they pleased but they didn''t have enough resources to go all out with their experiments. The scarcity of resources seemed to hold them back tremendously.

    That was something Michael would have to solve in the near future. After all, he wanted to support the invention of new structures and such.

    Thinking about ways to support his people, Michael''s thoughts were drawn to the resources he could procure with the knowledge about Soul Techniques, his possession of more than 60 Soultrait Symbols, Inferior Energy Stones, Mythic Scrolls, and more.

    He had yet toe up with a n to handle High Society. His power had been exposed and it was only a matter of time before more trouble would greet him. It was necessary to grow mightier quickly, otherwise, he might get kidnapped. The chance was slim since he was still in the Tritan Alliance and under the protection of the people around him, but it was not difficult to kidnap him in the Saphirke Military Academy, or somewhere else.

    "I should advance to Tier-3 before I return home. At least, I will be able to deal with some problems by being a tad stronger," Michael muttered to himself on his way to the warehouse where he would Extract the bodies of the monsters that had been stored there for thest few weeks.

    He tried to think less about High Society, the fact that he was Maria''s Primal Amplifier and the high possibility that Quinn Karta and others forwarded the news about his power to the Supreme Human Alliance, but that was quite difficult. He was not sure what the greed of the human race would cause to him, and how it would influence his future progress.

    On the other hand, Michael was not too worried about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs because they were honorable people. They focused more on taking care of each other, adhering to their traditions and being respectful to everyone. The only people they condoned were cowards. After all, cowards wouldn''t be allowed to enter the Realm of the True Warriors upon dying. They were not epted and their souls would wander through the realm of the living until the end of time.

    ''I could sell a few Soul Techniques and a Soultrait Symbol or two to the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers to bait them. If they take the bait, I can tell them that as long as High Society doesn''t bother me, I can continue trading without any issues. Of course, I won''t be able to trade easily with them but if the War Priestess and the Chieftain pressure the High Society a bit, I should be able to figure it out without too many issues.''

    A few ns formed in Michael''s mind. He focused subconsciously on the thousands of monsters he had to dissect and loot, but his primary goal was to maximize the efficiency of his ns.

    Once he was done extraction, it came as a great surprise that he''d harvested a total of 11,000 Summoning Scrolls. Michael didn''tbine the Summoning Scroll Fragments into more Mythic Scrolls. Instead, he focused on amassing more Starless and 1-Star Summons. The reasons he had in mind were pretty simple. He gained more Soul Power from the masses of Summons, and his Starless Summons could turn into 1-Star Blessed Squires, Warriors, Archers, cksmiths, Alchemists, or other 1-Star upations as long as they toiled hard. Last but not least, he could also obtain 2-Star Holy Knights.

    Summons with a higher star-rating generated more Soul Power. That meant Michael could gain a lot even if only a dozen out of 11,000 Summons turned into Holy Knights. Last but not least, Michael was still in possession of 42 Mythic Scrolls. They were still unused. If he''d really wanted to, Michael could have used them to summon a bunch of 2-Star Summons with three or four 3-Star Summons.

    But it was not worth it. Michael tore the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls apart and summoned 11,000 Summons without hesitation.

    ''In thest 28 days, I should have gotten approximately 308 1-Star or 2-Star Summons from the daily Summons as well. I almost forgot about them!''

    At this point, it was growing increasingly more difficult to keep track of his subjects. The number of his subjects persisted to increase every single day and it wouldn''t be long before his settlement crossed the threshold of 100,000 citizens. He already had 80,000ish subjects!

    Compared to the enormous number of citizens in his settlement, Michael''s army seemed to be rather small. The overall strength of his army was far better than it had been in the past, but it was still not extraordinary. He needed more to protect his territory and defend against potential invaders from the Savannah Region, or the aftermath in the Zentika Empire.

    There was a lot Michael had to do. But for now, he had to focus on his own strength. He had to advance to Tier-3 quickly to return to the ancient city where he could y businessman to buy numerous things for his beloved citizens.

    Michael moved to a rather secluded area in his territory, and he retrieved a portion of the Inferior Energy Stones he''d extracted from the dozens of Tekur he killed in the Interdimensional g War. Two small hills of Inferior Energy Stones formed around him. There were thousands of these stones, each worth millions.

    If he had been the same as in the past, Michael would have never used such a fortune merely to increase his strength a little bit faster. However, Michael was not the same as before. He had changed. Michael knew what it takes to make the most out of the opportunities that appeared in front of him, and he understood that he had to advance to Tier-3 as swiftly as possible to resolve the problems in front of him quickly.

    He closed his eyes and unleashed the Dome of Extraction. Thousands of Extraction tendrils shot out of the ground, each connecting to an Inferior Energy Stone to suck it dry.

    Leviathan Diffusion was unleashed in its strongest form and the full power of Superior Constitution was unraveled.

    Energy flooded his body which was annexed immediately and forwarded to his War Rune.

    It was time to reach the next Tier!"

    **

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    /hideousgrain

    /HideousGrain

 Chapter 516 Tier-3

    <h4>Chapter 516 Tier-3</h4>

    Advancing to Tier-3 was no different than advancing to the 1st or 2nd Tier. It was just a little bit more intense ¨C especially with Superior Constitution in his possession.

    Superior Constitution had already done miraculous things to alter his physique, strengthening it above the limit of a Tier-2 Awakened. His physical strength was already at Tier-3 even though he had yet to advance to the 3rd Tier. Breaking through to the next Tier would enhance his physical strength once again, therefore boosting hisbat prowess drastically. Simultaneously, his body would be altered once again, not only by the advancement of his Tier but also due to the effect of Superior Constitution.

    Michael had to absorb a tremendous amount of energy and more than a dozen Apex Nutrition Serums to supply enough nutrients and energy as the breakthrough to Tier-3 had been initiated. Superior Constitution sucked him dry to strengthen Michael alongside the advancements provided by the War Rune.

    The pir of light within Michael contracted and expanded. It expanded until it reached an invisible barrier that kept the pir in its ce. Breaking the invisible barrier initiated the final steps to advance to Tier-3. That was exactly what Michael did just now. First, he allowed Superior Constitution to drain as much energy and nutrients as it required before he continued to channel more energy into the War Rune.

    The Dome of Extraction devoured the energy from within each of the thousands of Inferior Energy Stones. It was an enormous amount of energy, yet Michael absorbed and annexed it all. He forwarded it into his War Rune which used every ounce toplete the refinement at Tier-2. The excessive energy was then used by the War Rune to expand itself a little and break the barrier around the pir of light.

    Michael was not sure how much time had passed but it felt like everything happened in the blink of an eye. A burst of power erupted from Superior Constitution and the invisible barrier around the pir of light began to crackle. Michael was astonished, not quite believing what he had just witnessed. His Soultrait, Superior Constitution, aided his breakthrough to Tier-3!

    Several bursts of energy erupted from Superior Constitution in a specific order, using a unique rhythm ¨C the rhythm of his heart and being. Michael naturally attuned his entire existence to the rhythm and released bursts of energy into the War Rune whenever Superior Constitution''s power struck the invisible barrier. The cracks all over the invisible barrier expanded. They grewrger until they epassed the entire barrier.

    Atst, the refinement degree of the Tier-2 War Rune reached 100% and Michael released a horrifying amount of energy just as Superior Constitution released another burst of its power. The invisible barrier hummed for several seconds as it tried to repel the energy that swept through the entire structure before loud crackling noises resounded through Michael''s entire being. The invisible barrier shattered.

    In response to the shattered barrier, Michael''s entire body was flushed with newfound energy. His eyes shot wide open as the pir of light expanded at once, sucking in far more energy than ever. The expansion of his energy storage was great news. It was enough to improve Michael''s mood drastically.

    Unfortunately, Michael''s advancement to Tier-3 was just getting started. The third advancement purification was initiated, resulting in what felt like a stream of moltenva circting through his body, removing the impurities attached to every single cell within his body.

    His body wouldn''t be cleansed of all the impurities in one go, but every purification would remove more impurities. Fortunately, Michael could use Extraction during the purification process. It was only during times like this that Michael could use Extraction on himself to remove the impurities within his body. He was not sure why he couldn''t extract the impurities within him on a regr Monday, or Tuesday, but it seemed like there were more restrictions on Extraction than he could have hoped for. One way or another, Michael unleashed Extraction with ten-fold Enhancement applied onto the Soultrait Symbol to remove as many impurities as possible from his body.

    Michael was meticulous as he jumped straight to work. His proficiency with Extraction had enhanced by leaps and bounds since he removed the impurities within himst time. He was much stronger than before and he would give his all to remove more impurities from within him. And that was exactly what he did.

    Michael spent several hours focused on removing impurities. His body ached from the stream of moltenva that seemed to spread through his body, melting his flesh and bones, but Michael ignored that. His only focus was the impurities within him.

    Unbeknownst to the fully focused Michael, Superior Constitution was also doing something. Not only did Superior Constitution actively aid his physique into growing stronger with every second, but it used the moltenva that passed through Michael''s body to temper it in every possible way. Michael''s energy veins widened and developed firmer. More energy could circte through his energy veins with far more ease than ever before. Simultaneously, Michael''s natural regeneration improved drastically, healing small cuts within seconds.

    Michael was not sure since when but at some point the thousands of Inferior Energy Stones had been drained empty. The highlypressed, purified energy within them had been used in its entirety.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t require a great amount of energy anymore. At this point, the energy dwelling within his body was more than enough to blow a Peak Tier-3 Lord apart.

    All Michael had to do was stay calm and allow the final changes within his body to take ce. There wasn''t much left, either way.

    Superior Constitution continued to alter his body, trying to create a perfect physique that permitted him to move around rapidly, execute tremendous strength, endure mighty blows, and circte energy throughout his entire body instantaneously.

    As for the War Rune on the back of Michael''s hand, it expanded,pleting the final step to be an acknowledged Tier-3 Lord.

    Interestingly enough, the Mark of Fate ¨C the Angel with a huge wingspan that was forcefully integrated into his War Rune ¨C began to move around. The Angel''s head and body disappeared, leaving the wide-open wings behind. The wings expanded and split up, forming two pairs of wings. One embraced the War Rune tightly as if to keep it warm and well-protected, whereas the other pair of wings spread out further than the other.

    Due to the Mark of Fate''s changes, Michael''s War Rune grew and spread across the entire back of his right hand. It looked a little bit moreplex than before, but Michael was not sure if that was a good thing. It was much easier to tell that his War Rune was different than everyone else''s War Rune.

    "Well, whatever. The problems with the Seraph family have to wait¡­until it''s probably toote," Michael mumbled to himself.

    He was fully aware that his train of thought was foolish and naive but he didn''t want to bother overthinking regarding problems that did not ur yet. First and foremost, he had to establish a few ground rules now that his power had been exposed. By the time he was done with most of his business, the Seraph family would contact him. At least, that was what Michael presumed.

    He was still not 100% sure how the High Society worked, and how much trouble having traitors in the High Society would affect everyone. It was something Michael could only find out by observing the situation and waiting patiently.

    Nheless, it was a good thing that he progressed to Tier-3 atst. The power coursing through his body was far more potent than before, and Michael could clearly tell that all of his Soultraits had grown stronger. The Soul Power gained from breaking through to the next Tier was not tremendously high, but it was extremely pure.

    However, the most important changes within his body were the increase in his physical strength, the expansion of the pir of light, and the reinforcement of his energy veins.

    Even if he were to fight a bunch of Tekur ¨C Soldiers or Elite Soldiers ¨C again, Michael was at ease. He was not even in need of his Soul Techniques. At this point, all Michael needed was his body and the tremendous power that surged through him. That was enough to eliminate the Tekur.

    ''If I cannot advance to Tier-4 before next year I should participate in the next g War as well. If I can hunt down all 1000 Tekur, I should be able to gain close to 500,000 SoulStar Fragments, maybe even more. That ought to be enough to upgrade a Soultrait to 7-Star.''

    Michael had no idea what would happen over the next year but he was pretty sure that if he didn''t manage to be a Higher Lifeform by then, he might as well use the Interdimensional g War as his little treasure trove. He could extract more Soul Techniques, Inferior Energy Stones, Artifacts, Soultraits, and SoulStar Fragments. It was definitely worth it. Maybe, it was even reason enough to strengthen his foundation and wait before advancing to Tier-4 and bing a Higher Lifeform.

    That was something Michael had to consider next year. He still had a long way to go to reach Tier-4 and be a Higher Lifeform. He barely progressed to Tier-3, after all.

    For now, all Michael had to pay attention to was to survive and face both High Society and the Tritan Alliance head-on.

    The next year was going to be extremely busy.

 Chapter 517 Mess [Bonus]

    <h4>Chapter 517 Mess [Bonus]</h4>

    [This chapter is dedicated to @Mewba for his generous donation on Patre0n. I''m overjoyed that you enjoy the story. Thank you very much!!]

    Michael was a little nervous when he returned to the ancient city. He had no idea what awaited him.

    Fortunately, he was quite lucky to encounter the Zenovia siblings before anyone else. He met them in the hallway near his room.

    "Michael! I didn''t expect you to return this soon!" Kaleb eximed, and Alice joined the fray, "We thought that you wanted to stay in the Origin Expanse until the excitement about your power died down. Seems like we were wrong. And¡­congrattions for advancing to Tier-3!"

    Michael smiled lightly and shrugged.

    "I would have stayed longer in the Origin Expanse if I was not in need of more resources. My territory doesn''tck anything to survive, but I am not willing to slow down my territory''s development just because I''m a tad worried about what is going to happen. Wasting time until nobody is interested in me anymore is not exactly simple. The moment I return everyone''s eyes will be back on me. After all, I have Soul Techniques, Soultraits, and the means to strengthen Soultraits. Running away won''t help anyone. It might actually harm me in the long run."

    Alice nodded, whereas Kaleb gave him a thumbs up.

    "It is good that you think like that. The Elders of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were already gossiping that you might not be a true warrior and that you''re actually a coward," Alice mentioned, "You know how much they hate cowards. Good that you returned before anyone could spread some ill rumors about you being a coward."

    "I didn''t really return because I was worried that their opinion of me changed. Though, it is a good thing if the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs consider me a True Warrior. That should make everything a little bit easier."

    "You must not have heard about it since you came back just now. The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers threatened the old fogies. They''re willing to trade with you. Apparently, one of their Champions is willing to join you as your subordinate. The Chieftain even ready a Token of Teleportation for the Berserker, Zeron Polik, if I remember correctly."

    "Zeron Polik? Ah, that is the Berserker who led his group back to the Dimensional Pir. I remember him. He wants to join me? That is¡­surprising. I hope he doesn''t expect to receive a bunch of Soultraits in exchange for joining me. If that''s the case, I will have to decline his offer. That would be awkward," Michael responded to Alice, whose full attention was on Michael.

    "How about we go somewhere more private to have food and talk about the post g War meeting? I believe you will be very interested in the news I''ve got to share," Alice invited Michael for lunch. Meanwhile, Kaleb gave his sister a thumbs up before adding, "I will join as well. Mom told me to talk to you about something. It might annoy you a little bit, Michael, but you have to go through lots of private chats in the next few days. Probably. Maybe you''ll receive some direct messages on Sta Messenger as well."

    Michael opened Sta Messenger on the crystal watch in response. More than a hundred messages from unknown numbers were waiting for him. Most introduced themselves as merchants and representatives of Supreme Families, High Nobles, Great ns, Guilds and so on. All of them had something inmon. They extended a formal invitation to Michael to join their families and organizations officially.

    Micheal ought to gain some influence by joining their families and organizations, as well as enough resources to grow stronger as quickly as possible. On the downside, he would be restrained from jumping into dangerous situations like he was used to by taking risks, and he would have to share his Soultraits and the power that reinforced Soultraits ¨C the SoulStar Fragments provided.

    He scoffed at the messages and deleted most contacts after blocking their numbers. Michael left only a few new contacts and their messages on Sta Messenger. This included the representative of the Zeus family, who didn''t talk about an invitation even once. All the representative inquired about was information regarding the Soultraits in Michael''s possession and their price. There were a few more details such as the representative mentioning an additional bonus if Michael possessed Soultraits that suited the Zeus family''s Soultraits.

    The Zeus representative and many other representatives inquired about his Soul Techniques as well. Apparently, Kaleb had been experimenting with Soul cicle Bullet openly, and many had seen him. The information was forwarded to and spread like wildfire.

    ''Maybe I should have warned Kaleb a little bit. Everyone believes that I favor the Zenovia family now. Well, that is not exactly wrong cause I favor Kaleb and Alice, but I have nothing to do with the Zenovia family ¨C not their higher-ups, at least.''

    Just as Michael thought about that, Alice raised her eyebrow. She stared at Kaleb for a few seconds.

    "Mother asked you to speak with Michael? Why would she ask you to do so when I''m here as well?" Alice asked Kaleb.

    Kaleb''s lips parted but he was not sure what to say either.

    "Maybe she thinks that I''m closer to him? I don''t really know. Mom is always a little bit confusing. You know that better than everyone else." He could only respond.

    "That¡­is true. Mother has always been peculiar," Alice decided not to think too much about it. Overthinking her mother''s decision would only harm her mentality.

    "I''m fine with some lunch. I don''t know how many days have passed but I''m starving! All I consumed in thest few days were Apex Nutrition Serums and Lesser Energy Stones. Well, the energy within the Energy Stones," Michael responded, trying to resolve the awkward stress between the siblings.

    He had no idea what kind of rtionship Kaleb and Alice had with their mother, but it seemedplicated. It was not within his rights to pry into their family business either, so all he could do was change the subject. He was starving. Thus, food was the solution.

    The Zenovia siblings agreed to find a nearby restaurant owned by a humongous Berserker. At first, they suspected the Berserker to be some sort of retired warrior from ancient times, and they might actually be correct about that, but his cooking was extraordinary. That was all that mattered.

    Michael turned into the incarnation of Gluttony like usual and devoured te after te while Alice told him about the happenings in the post g War meeting.

    He found out about the old fogies trying to turn him into an asset for the ''human race''s sake'' ¨C which was something he''d expected ¨C and also about the Chieftain, and the War Priestess turning into his imprable shield, and destructive spear. They protected him and threatened High Society to steer clear of him. Michael was very thankful for that.

    ''If only humans were as honorable as the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, it would make everything so much easier,'' Michael thought, only to recall that Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were way too simple-minded and war-driven. Even though they were honorable, Michael considered them even more war-driven than humans. They disliked trickery, which was a little bit ignorant since using dirty tricks was much better than dying, but Michael couldprehend their traditions to a certain degree.

    It was fine to dislike cowards, but Michael heard some bad rumors about how the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs treated cowards. It was not precisely ''nice''.

    Michael finished his eightrge tes and ordered another two before he focused on Alice and Kaleb, who''d been picking at their food without any intention finishing their meal anytime soon.

    "The High Society feels a little bit troubled. They want to make use of my power, which does indeed make sense, but some want to hold me captive and abuse my power to generate as many powerful Soultraits as possible in the shortest time. Others, on the other hand, want to trade with me. They say that it is my Soultrait and that I am allowed to do with it what I want. That means if someone wants to gain something from my Soultraits and Power, they should offer some sort of equivalent trade," Michael summarized the current standpoint of High Society with a few uplicated sentences.

    "I like thetter much better. How many members of the High Society support each side?" He asked Alice, who sighed heavily.

    "Since you can create a monopoly with your Soultraits and the ability to strengthen Soultraits, most members of High Society are worried that you will ask for exorbitant prices. Some are also worried that you will betray the Tritan Alliance once the Supreme Human Alliance offers you something they can never give you. Then there is a minority that is certain you will be kidnapped soon. Your Soultrait can help the Supreme Human Alliance to push forward and progress with their n much faster. You are far more valuable to them than Maria, Kaleb, or any other Heavenly Chosen. After all, you can probably create 7-Star Soultraits, although nobody knows how long that would take."

    Alice didn''t really give him an answer to his question, but Michael could make some guesses with the information at his disposal.

    "It doesn''t look too good, I guess. That means the stress in the Tritan Alliance is¡­quite high. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs threatened High Society to interrogate their members and both find and dispose of the traitors, and they warned everyone to not even think about touching me. What a mess."

    Alice couldn''t agree more. The entire situation was a big mess. It could be solved rather easily, but there were alwaysints from some sides. If Michael was left alone, he could decide who to sell his Soultraits to and which Soultraits to strengthen. That meant if Michael decided to support the Zenovia family they could turn into the Rulers of the human race within a few decades.

    Michael''s power and distribution of Soultraits had to be regted for the sake of the Tritan Alliance''s bnce.

 Chapter 518 Clearing Up

    <h4>Chapter 518 Clearing Up</h4>

    Michael figured that the members of High Society were not certain what they were going to do with him either. There had never been a precedent like this before. That was also why he received over a hundred messages from merchants and representatives of High Society members about deals with Soul Techniques and Soultraits.

    No one had any idea what was going to happen in the future, therefore everyone used several tactics, hoping that one of them would work out. One of the ideas was to please Michael and give him a ''tempting'' deal, whereas the other n was to gather more members of Higher Society to have the majority of support to confine Michael. It was for his own sake, of course. At least, that was what the members of High Society promised.

    The truth, however, was theplete opposite. They wanted to turn Michael into an asset. The easier he was to control the better.

    Michael expected something like this, so he was not surprised. It made sense that those who were always trying to control everything loathed losing control, no matter how trivial it was.

    That was also why Michael decided to make an official post on one of the forums that could only be essed by Awakened of the Tritan Alliance.

    [I will use my Soultrait for myself and those I care for, but there is no need for anyone to worry. I know how important my products are. Some will be sold every now and then, in exchange for a suitable price, of course. To make one thing clear, I do NOT n to hurt anyone or destroy the bnce of High Society or the Tritan Alliance. I won''t use all my power to empower merely one family. And, I also won''t hesitate to react to violence with more violence.]

    The short text didn''t really feel like anything official but it conveyed everything Michael wanted to say. Extraction was his Soultrait and he would use it as he pleased. He needed resources. So, he would sell some Soultraits sooner orter, either way. Michael never nned to hurt innocent people, and he did not n to conquer High Society or the Tritan Alliance either. Therefore, he couldn''t focus his trades on only one family. In fact, Michael wanted to trade with as many families as possible to make sure that everyone depended on him to procure more and upgrade their Soultraits.

    Thest line of his message was a warning, but he hoped that he would never be forced to turn it into reality.

    Michael wouldn''t trade his Soultraits and Soul Techniques with all families either. If he disliked someone or sensed ulterior motives, he wouldn''t give them anything. He was not that stupid.

    The message Michael conveyed to everyone was simple- You guys can discuss whatever you want, but that doesn''t mean I will listen to you. Michael wouldn''t allow anyone to restrain him, but that didn''t mean he would sell his Soultraits and customized Soul Techniques just to get in somebody''s good books.

    "Are you sure that''s fine?" Kaleb asked his sister when he saw what Michael posted in the Awakened forum.

    "It should be. Most Awakened won''t even see Michael''s post. For them, Michael is an ordinary Tier-3 Awakened. His post won''t attract too much attention. Only the merchants and representatives of the High Society members will see the post. They will forward it to their superiors, who will react by messaging Michael, or calling for the assembly of the High Society''s round table," Alice responded, ncing over to Michael who was seated on a chair taking notes in an empty tome.

    Since the tomes that contained the Soul Techniques before were empty after using Extraction on them, Michael could use them to write down everything he knew about Soul Techniques and their customization. He didn''t have to write down every little detail, but it was easier to visualize his knowledge while being focused on writing everything down.

    "The round table? Won''t that be problematic for Michael? What if they decide to imprison Michael? They can easily create some reasons to imprison him before manipting him into thinking that he could regain freedom if he shared his power with ''everyone'', which is the equivalent to High Society keeping everything for themselves."

    "I think you''re forgetting that we are currently in the territory of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The Chieftain and War Priestess protect Michael right now. You might not have noticed it but there are dozens of guards spread throughout this building alone. No one can kidnap Michael, or use him of something without a dozen guards witnessing everything. He is safe in the ancient city."

    "But what will happen once we return to the Sapphirke Military Academy? Do you think that something will happen then?" Kaleb asked, still not convinced, but Alice could only answer with a shrug.

    "I think Michael is already preparing to sell some Soul Techniques and Soultrait Symbols to some families to make them stay on his side to ensure that nobody dares to kidnap him. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs are also on his side. I sincerely doubt that there will be an issue," Alice could only say, "Of course, I might be wrong. But it is a good thing that Michael has close ties with the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, the Bartholomew Corporation, the Zenovia family, the Lavia household, and the Piedra household."

    Kaleb stared nkly at his sister for a few seconds. Alice had no idea what her brother was thinking, but she could see the cogs in his mind rattling.

    "That''s why mom asked me how close I was to Michael. But that happened months ago. Even before the Battle Exchange started, mom asked me how close we were and why you''re training him. I think she researched Michael thoroughly long before the other families noticed anything!" He said all of a sudden.

    Alice nodded in response.

    "Mother was always a control freak. She must have noticed something about Michael a while ago, otherwise, she would have ordered me to stop training Michael and to keep you away from him. After all, she always focuses on the reputation of her beloved family. Being around ''weaklings'' and ''useless'' people will destroy the Zenovia family''s image, after all. That''s what mother thinks."

    At this moment, Michael looked up from the tome in front of him. He smiled at Alice and said, "Your mother seems like the type of person who is increasingly hard to please."

    "It''s quite difficult to deny that without sounding like a notorious liar," Alice mumbled, whereas Kaleb shook his head, "The only time mom praised me was when she heard that I awakened Frozen Nova. Awakening Frozen Nova was sheer luck, yet mom acted like it was the best thing I''ve ever aplished. But it''s not like I actually did anything. I was just lucky."

    Kaleb continued to rant for quite a while.

    "Mom also lectured me for a long time because my engagement with Jasmine de was terminated. She med me for not telling her how useless the de family was and that they were not worthy of joining the noble rows of the Zenovia family. I couldn''t even find the time to tell her that I''ve beenining about the de family''s arrogance and their family issues for months. She is stubborn¡­way too stubborn¡­"

    Michael smiled lightly at the sibling duo. It looked like everyone had their fair share of family problems.

    "Alright. Enough talk about family issues and the High Society. How about the two of you test something for me?" He asked instead, handing over the tome with his notes.

    Alice read through the notes first and frowned deeply before her attention moved to Michael.

    "You want to mass-produce neutral techniques that allow all Awakened to produce Soul Energy? Why?" She asked.

    Michael did not say anything. Instead, he gazed over to Kaleb as if to tell his friend to answer in his stead.

    "Sis, it''s actually pretty simple. Michael is probably trying to teach everyone how to produce Soul Energy because the principle is pretty easy. Everyone can produce Soul Energy even without knowing the technique. All they have to do is to fuse Soul Power and Origin Energy. The only issue is that producing Soul Energy without a specific technique that teaches the characteristics of Soul Energy can lead to injuries. Severe injuries at that. So, one of the reasons he wants to mass-produce Soul Energy creation techniques is to minimize the injuries and casualties of Awakened, who''ll soon witness the true power of Soul Techniques," Kaleb exined.

    Alice thought about it for a moment and agreed, "It makes sense that others will try to replicate Soul Techniques on their own. Whenever we found new techniques such as Soul Refinement techniques, thousands of Awakened died trying to replicate them with the little knowledge that reached the public. Mass-producing Soul Energy production techniques will decrease your earnings drastically but it will also help to ensure that fewer people will die from experimenting."

    "But that is not all," Michael started to exin, "Learning how to produce Soul Energy in a life-and-death battle is extremely difficult. Kaleb, for example, has to spend more than 20 minutes to produce enough Soul Energy to produce a rather weak replica of a Soul cicle Bullet. He cannot even use the full potential of Frozen Nova''s characteristics because his Soul Energy production is too slow. If he desired to create a Frozen Nova Bullet that uses the full potential of his 7-Star Soultrait and the Common Soul Techniques, he would have to umte Soul Energy for more than an hour. Which fightsts for an hour, AND allows thebatant to ignore the opponents and focuspletely on the creation of Soul Energy?"

    "Is it really that difficult to produce Soul Energy?" Alice asked, reading through the notes once again.

    "You could give it a try. I will finish the first version of the Soul Energy Fusion technique. It won''t be good enough to be sold en masse, but you can test it."

    Alice did not respond. Instead, she watched Michael retrieve another empty tome. She observed Michael as he penned down his insights about the creation of Soul Energy. His insights were incredibly detailed, amazing Alice as Michael finished writing after he reached the 12th page. Michael''s insight didn''t originate from his own experiences alone. Of course, they yed a role as well, but that was not all.

    Michael used the memories of the dozens of Tekur he''d killed to write down a perfect guide for Awakened who desired to learn how to produce Soul Energy for the first time in their lives. The Soul Energy Fusion technique was this guide, and Michael aspired that it wasprehensive enough to allow every reader to learn how to produce Soul Energy without a rush.

    Alice perused through the text, and her eyes widened the more she read.

    "This is amazing!"

 Chapter 519 The Mother

    <h4>Chapter 519 The Mother</h4>

    "I expected this to be much easier. How are you doing this so effortlessly, Michael?" Alice asked, droplets of sweat trickling down her temples.

    She quickly realized that it was much harder to create Soul Energy than Michael and Kaleb made it look like. Even after Alice focused solely on the creation of Soul Energy, it took her two hours to get started. That was still several times faster than Kaleb had been, but that was only obvious. She was a Tier-5 Lord, a Higher Lifeform, with extremely high mastery of her Inheritance Technique. She refined her mind, body, and soul to the Peak of Tier-5. That ought to enhance her brain enough to learn most Basic techniques in the blink of an eye.

    Creating her first trace of Soul Energy within two hours was already pretty fast, but this speed was pretty much useless in a battle. Alice had to focus her whole mind onto the production of Soul Energy, which would be a death sentence if done mid-battle. It was necessary to learn how to produce Soul Energy much faster and subconsciously without letting her mind be distracted from fighting.

    Michael produced just enough Soul Energy in an instant to create a Soul cicle Bullet. He manifested the highlypressed Soul cicle Bullet and moved it around freely.

    "My situation is a little bit different from yours. I reached this level pretty fast, but I won''t be able to progress much beyond this point. You, or other Higher Lifeforms will reach my level pretty soon once you get started. I will have to find an even better Mind refining technique, among a variety of other techniques that need to be upgraded, and refine my Mind to the Peak of Tier-3. That will take a while. By the time I''m done mass-producing the Soul Energy Fusion technique and creating customized techniques for some customers, you will be able to produce enough Soul Energy in an instant to use a Common ss Soul Technique."

    Michael could create Soul Energy in small amounts instantaneously due to the memories and experiences he''d devoured from the Tekurs'' Memory Orbs. That was also how he learned to utilize most Soul Techniques. The only issue was that his mastery with the Soul Techniques was not that high. He could manifest them but he had yet to learn how to utilize them at their full potential. At the same time, Michael had yet to learn how to mass create more Soul Energy to potentially use Elite ss Soul Techniques at any point in a battle.

    Alice understood Michael to some extent. She didn''tprehend everything because Michael kept some information to himself, but it was enough to get a gist of what he meant.

    "Allowing everyone to learn how to produce Soul Energy is pretty good. Even if it decreases your ie, since you are not selling them as limited editions, you can earn a lot more if the demand of Soul Techniques increases exponentiallyter on. And that will certainly happen once everyone witnesses the tremendous power Soul Techniques can unleash. As long as you market Soul Techniques properly, you can sell them for a hefty price to the vast majority of Awakened. The only problems you have to deal with is how to turn custom techniques into techniques that can be used by more people," Alice noted.

    She pointed at the Soul cicle Bullet and tilted her head, "If you can remove the freezing trait of the Soul cicle Bullet you could sell this technique to all Awakened with Ice Elemental Soultraits. I noticed that your technique demands the replication of the freezing characteristic, which can be found in your Soultrait, cicle. That makes it harder for Kaleb to replicate your Common Soul Technique faster. By removing it, you will have a ''neutral'' Ice-type Soultrait. Call it Ice Bullet, or something like that, and everything will be alright."

    Michael listened intently. It wouldn''t be easy to remove the freezing trait from Soul cicle Bullet but it was certainly not impossible. The only downside was that the Common ss Soul Technique''s power would decrease drastically.

    "The attack power would decrease as a result but I could sell it to more people. If someone wants a customized technique that utilizes their Soultrait''s unique characteristics, they can put forth a special request for one. Customized techniques can be sold for a small fortune and the masses obtain weaker ''neutral'' Soul Techniques that everyone can use. That will strengthen the Tritan Alliance''s overallbat prowess significantly since everyone should be able to afford a neutral Soul Technique at some point, and it will earn me a fortune," Michael mumbled as more ideas formed in his mind.

    He was slowly getting somewhere.

    But before he could start altering Soul cicle Bullet to develop Ice Bullet and other neutral Soul Techniques, Michael was interrupted. The door to the office they''d moved into, after finishing their early lunch swung open, revealing a woman draped in flowing robes of pure white. She stood in front of the door like a beacon of serenity. Her attire was adorned with golden intricate symbols, creating an ethereal glow as origin energy circted through them. Her dark silver eyes, a pool of wisdom, radiating a calming assurance had a light silver colored rim.

    Alice and the others froze in their tracks as the woman strode gracefully into the office, her demeanor marked by the overwhelmingly calm pressure she naturally emanated. She carried some sort of gentle authority, but underneath the gentleness on the surface, Michael felt something that caused chills to run down his spine.

    The atmosphere around the woman shimmered with hallowed calm, as if the air itself bowed down to her, acknowledging her presence.

    "I apologize for my intrusion, but I have some business with Michael Fang," As the woman spoke, her voice resonated with a soothing cadence. Michael''s hair stood up on its end and he felt like running away. However, the woman had already turned to him, "You must be Michael Fang. I heard that my little girl found an unpolished diamond, but you look rougher and less polished than I expected."

    The woman stared at Michael, whose eyes began to shine brightly. The Stigmata of Spirit Eyes rippled and increased the tension in the office instantaneously.

    Instead of taking offense, the woman chuckled lightly, "I should take back what I said. You might be an unpolished diamond, but the firstyers of dirt and grime have been removed already. I heard a lot about you, and your powers. Your powers might be interesting, but they are not the reason why I''m here today. I just wanted to take a look at the boy who became my girl''s Primal Amplifier. "

    ''Primal Amplifier? Is her ''little girl'' Maria?''

    "Given the look on your face, you must haveprehended who I am. It is quite intriguing to think that there are still people who don''t know about me and my family. I expected everyone to know about me, my husband, and Maria at this point. We have the strongest Healing Soultraits all over the Tritan Alliance, after all," The woman, Maria''s mother, remarked, her sonorous voice resounding through the entire office.

    "But that''s fine as well. It doesn''t matter whether you know me and my family or not. All you have to know is that the Mark of Fate means a lot to the Seraph Family. You are Maria''s Primal Amplifier and I know that you''ve used Heaven''s Descent with Maria more than once. Both of you know how powerful your connection is and that you can save millions of innocent people as long as you stay together and strengthen each other. The stronger your bond grows, the easier it will be for Maria to use the full potential of Archangel''s Grace."

    Michael listened to the woman''s words but he was gradually growing tired of it. He could already tell where this was going, and he didn''t really like it.

    "I want you toe with me to the Seraph family''s household to undergo training as Maria''s Primal Amplifier. I do realize that you have yet to finish your studies at the Saphirke Military Academy, but that can be solved rather easily. We can teach you far more than the Saphirke Military Academy is willing to teach its students. You will also obtain far more resources than most Descendants can dream about. After all, you are Maria''s Primal Amplifier. Nurturing you will strengthen Maria as well. And ensuring that Maria can grow even stronger as the Healer with the most potential all over the Tritan Alliance is the most important ¨C especially now that we have traitors in our own rows," The woman exined.

    She took a short breath to circte some oxygen through her system and continued, "The Supreme Human Alliance is quite problematic but they''re not omnipotent. They want to kidnap and brainwash our Heavenly Chosen children as well. That can only mean that they do not possess many Awakened with 7-Star Soultraits. Kidnapping our Heavenly Chosen children can change that¡­or kidnapping a noname without any family backing. The Seraph family can promise to protect you while you''re growing stronger. We won''t force you to stay outside the Origin Expanse. All we need is for you to stay by Maria''s side and nurture stronger while your connection with her grows firmer. Protecting you and Maria together won''t be a problem."

    Michael didn''t really like the woman. She spoke down to him and acted like it was obvious what he had to do next. Her proposal was pretty intriguing because she didn''t seem to care about his ability to procure more Soultraits and strengthen them. All Maria''s mother cared about was ensuring Michael could aid her daughter in unlocking her full potential by being Maria''s Primal Amplifier.

    But that was something Michael could take advantage of.

    "Your offer is very nice and all, but don''t you think you''re a little bit rude?" Michael inquired calmly, an innocent smile covering his face.

    Maria''s mother didn''t expect Michael to react that way. She stared at the youthful Lord for a second before she regained her senses.

    "What did you just say?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

    "It''s pretty simple. I inquired you whether you think you''re acting rude, or if that''s your normal behavior? Like, barging into someone''s office without knocking, let alone an appointment. Interrupting other people when they''re working hard. Insulting someone. Acting like the world revolves around the Seraph family."

    Michael nced at Maria''s mother, or precisely the small head that peaked out from behind her. It was Maria.

    "You didn''t even introduce yourself properly, and from the look on your daughter''s face you didn''t even ask her about her opinion. You''re just trying to control everything and everyone." Maria''s mother only stared at him as he continued,

    "To put it in very simple terms, you act like the majority of High Society, and I don''t really like the majority of the High Society because most of them are selfish bastards."

    Michael''s golden eyes glowed vibrantly as he stared straight into the eyes of Maria''s mother.

 Chapter 520 Transfer

    <h4>Chapter 520 Transfer</h4>

    "To put it in very simple terms, you act like the majority of High Society, and I don''t really like the majority of the High Society because most of them are selfish bastards."

    Michael''s golden eyes glowed vibrantly as he stared straight into the eyes of Maria''s mother.

    An awkward silence filled the room all of a sudden. The only sound that reverberated through the office was Kaleb cursing Michael and his balls of steel.

    The Zenovia siblings were not sure why but Michael was extremely talented at offending Descendants and members of High Society. He was like a child with no filter.

    Maria pressed her lips together and tugged at her mother''s robe, trying to hold her back and not let the situation escte. However, Maria''s mother couldn''t be held back at this point. She broke into a heartyughter, taking the sibling duo by surprise.

    Maria''s mother, Giuliana Seraph, continued tough while pulling her daughter in front of her to look at her lovely child.

    "I acknowledge that he is an interesting young boy. You were right. He is a little bit cute as well," Giuliana told her daughter, "Though he is a bit too straightforward for my liking. Is that your type? Straightforward, handsome, a little bit cute, and ambitious? Well, that''s not too bad. Definitely better than likingzy slugs."

    "Mooom!!" Maria blushed and tugged at her mother''s robe, trying to pull her out of the office. She felt like dying. Why was her mother so embarrassing?!

    Giuliana turned to Michael and nodded sharply, "I think I owe you an apology for my behavior. Please ignore what I stated earlier. I needed to see more about your personality. Reading reports and analysis about your power and personality might be helpful to create an image of my little girl''s Primal Amplifier, but I had to see it with my eyes to actually believe everything. It''s the same with patients. I need to see them first before I can tell them whether I am powerful enough to cure them, or if they''re incurable."

    Michael watched Giuliana Seraph for a while as the Stigmata around his eyes dimmed down. His eyes didn''t glow anymore and he continued to listen to her.

    "I''m sorry for myte introduction. My name is Giuliana Seraph and I''m the matriarch of the Seraph family. When I heard that my little girl managed to find her Primal Amplifier among the participants of the Battle Exchange, I was both surprised and happy. But I was also worried. Dark Heavens attacked Piloq and I was worried that someone might try to do something to my dear daughter. That was when I decided to rush over to Piloq and the ancient city. I had enough time to research you and your family, which was both calming and worrisome."

    She took a deliberate pause to judge Michael''s reaction but when he did notment, she continued,

    "It is a good thing that you''re not a Descendant because it will solve various problems with political issues. We won''t have to affiliate with any Supreme Family, or High Noble since you don''t belong to either. However, the worrisome part is that you have this unique, ancient power, a power that is as fearsome as the War Empress'' power, if not worse. I''m talking about Hesta Fang, your sister," Giuliana Seraph said, her voice still sonorous and kind, but the intent of her words cutting deep into Michael''s heart.

    "You''re pleased that I''m not a Descendant but my power worries you because it will attract the attention of the Supreme Human Alliance and High Society. That makes sense. I am also a bit worried about the next few days and weeks," Michael acknowledged. "But that doesn''t exin what exactly you want from me. Do you want me to find a way to remove the Mark of Fate, or were your earlier words the truth? Do you want to take the risk and invite me to the Seraph Family and grow closer to Maria? Is that what you, or the Seraph family wants, Mrs. Seraph?"

    Even Alice was starting to feel confused. Giuliana Seraph acted like a Cold Witch before just to test Michael and now she seemed to hesitate to reveal her true intentions. That was certainly not something anyone would expect from the matriarch of one of mankind''s most influential families.

    "What I want and what the Seraph family can afford are nowhere close. I want you toe with me to the Seraph family mansion. That way you and Maria could grow closer, thereby strengthening the Mark of Fate. We never had a 7-Star Healing Soultrait, or a Primal Amplifier with eight or more powerful Soultraits. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I do not want to miss it, to be entirely honest," The matriarch started.

    "Unfortunately, the Seraph family cannot afford to upset the rest of the High Society at this point. The situation with the human traitors is getting out of control and we''re already busy searching and annihting the remaining traitors within High Society. I know that the Supreme Human Alliance wants to kidnap and manipte our Heavenly Chosen children, but they are not too keen on investing a tremendous amount of resources into that task just yet. However, the same cannot be stated about you. You¡­are a ticking time bomb," Giuliana Seraph exined in all honesty.

    The matriarch of the Seraph family was still going around in circles. Fortunately, Maria was getting tired of her matriarch beating around the bush.

    "What my mom wants to say is that she hopes you can transfer to the Ascending Phoenix Academy. The University is in the sr system which is far more secure than Kelta in the Lumina Ster System. It is unlikely that either of us would get kidnapped there, and we can stay together. Of course, only to strengthen the Mark of Fate!" Maria tried to hastily correct herself with thest sentence but she was already blushing.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "I won''t transfer to the Ascending Phoenix Academy."

    "Why?" Maria eximed the moment Michael finished his sentence.

    "Isn''t it obvious? The Suicide Squad''s members had more members of the Ascending Phoenix Academy than any other Academy or University. Meanwhile, the Saphirke Military Academy did not have a single traitor among them. I do not really n to leave my friends alone either, just because your Soultrait deemed mepatible enough to force the Mark of Fate onto me. I didn''t ask for this. If you or the Seraph family wants something, you have to approach me. I''m not a puppet that can be controlled ording to your will and tossed around wherever you deem fit."

    Giuliana Seraph only watched Michael for a second or two. She had met stubborn people like Michael, but most of them didn''t have several trumps and leverage over the Seraph family so it was easy to manipte them. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time.

    "That means, if Maria transfers to the Saphirke Military Academy you''ll be fine being around her and strengthening the Mark of Fate?" The matriarch asked, ignoring that Michael had spoken dismissively of the glorious feat of bing the Seraph Family''s strongest healer''s Primal Amplifier.

    "Huh?" Alice eximed loudly, all of a sudden. She stared at the Matriarch, who smirked. It was almost as if transferring Maria to the Saphirke Military Academy had been her n all along.

    "We will donate more than enough resources to the Saphirke Military Academy to ensure that the academy''s safety can be upgraded. After all, there will be several Heavenly Chosen children and a ticking time bomb like Michael," The matriarch stated before pointing out something else. "I believe the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs will be willing to establish a trading route to Kelta and the Saphirke Military Academy with Michael attending the academy. How about asking them to join the military academy as well? An academy that allows the races of the Tritan Alliance to grow stronger altogether sounds great, don''t you think so?"

    Alice''s eyes narrowed as she stared at the Seraph family''s matriarch for a while, not a single sound escaping her lips.

    Had it been the matriarch''s n all along to transfer Maria to another academy, the Saphirke Military Academy, to be precise? If that was the case, she yed her cards perfectly.

    Giuliana Seraph made others point out the dangers of the other academies and universities, following the fact that the Saphirke Military Academy didn''t have a single traitor in their rows. She made sure to point out that Michael''s powers were not intriguing to the Seraph family and that she was solely focused on Maria''s Mark of Fate, thereby gaining more trust from Michael.

    Michael did not trust the Seraph family wholeheartedly but he couldn''t deny that he didn''t understand her intentions. From acting like a cold witch to testing his personality to asking him to transfer academies, Giuliana Seraph didn''t even pressure him into doing anything even though she was certainly capable of doing so. She merely presented the facts in such a way that it would lead to the oue she wished.

    "Maria is nice. I don''t see a problem being around her as long as our courses ovep. If our courses are not simr, it might be a little bit problematic since I will be busy in the Origin Expanse, but that shouldn''t be much of an issue," Michael responded after a while. Alice was still suspicious of Giuliana Seraph''s actions, but Michael did not care much.

    It would be quite helpful if the Mark of Fate grew stronger. After all, the Shard of Archangel''s Grace inside him was useful. He could use Maria''s Soultrait as long as he umted enough power by staying near her. There was no reason to reject the offer.

    "What do you say, Miss Zenovia? Do you think it will cause problems if my little sweetheart transfers to the Saphirhe Military Academy?" Giuliana Seraph asked Alice, who could only answer quietly.

    "I think it should be fine¡­"

    Meanwhile, Kaleb felt like screaming at the top of his lungs, but no words escaped his lips. The scream echoed through his mind.

    ''Nooooooo!! The enemy infiltrated our home grounds!! MAYDAY!!!!"

 Chapter 521 Helping Hand

    <h4>Chapter 521 Helping Hand</h4>

    Giuliana Seraph left Michael with a few contracts and contacts if he?ever felt like creating customized Soul Techniques for the Seraph family. The contracts were not only about Soul Techniques but also Soultraits and other stuff, but Michael didn''t read through them properly. He skimmed through the texts and wished the mother-daughter pair a nice time together.

    They left the office shortly after.

    Alice stared at the door that closed behind the two women as they disappeared, her expression far from pleasant. Her mood had hit rock bottom and she felt like punching the wall. Kaleb was also frustrated.

    Why was Maria transferring to the Saphirke Military Academy? Was that really necessary?

    "Now that this problem has been solved, how about we move on?" Michael asked, picking up the tome with the Soul Energy Fusion technique.

    He didn''t think too much about Maria transferring to the Saphirke Military Academy. It was quite advantageous for him, and he didn''t hate Maria. She was a nice girl with a great personality. Why would he have anything against her transfer?

    Kaleb stared at Michael and shook his head, "I hope you stay single forever."

    Michael raised an eyebrow, not sure why his friend was acting like that.

    "Let us continue¡­" Alice said, but it was pretty obvious that her mood wouldn''t improve anytime soon.

    Michael decided not to mind the siblings. He had lots of work to do, and he wished toplete the Soul Energy Fusion technique as soon as possible. And that was exactly what he did.

    Michael worked for the next 24 hours whereas the Zenovia siblings experimented with the different versions of his Soul Energy Fusion technique, determining which one was the most efficient for Michael.

    Once he was done with the Soul Energy Fusion technique, Michael and the Zenovia siblings decided to go back to eat. Alice''s mood was a little bit better than before but she was still not her usual self.

    After ate afternoon lunch, it was about time for Michael to meet up with Kraft Viton. At least, that was what Michael nned to do before he received several messages on Sta Messenger.

    [Tritan Alliance(Official ount): Michael Fang, in recognition of your exceptional courage, unwavering dedication, and selfless actions, we proudly award you with the title of a True Warrior. Yourmitment and efforts to the well-being of others has not gone unnoticed. Your deeds stand as a shining beacon for the entire Tritan Alliance.

    The title, True Warrior, does not only symbolize your heroism but it is also a mark of distinction that reflects the noble character you embody. May it serve as a reminder of the positive impact you''ve had on the people around you. Let your title inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

    With utmost respect and gratitude,

    Tritan Alliance]

    Michael frowned once he finished reading through the first half of the message from the Tritan Alliance''s official ount, but he was not done yet.

    [Tritan Alliance(Official ount): ording to the martialws and based on the extraordinary achievements you have aplished during the Interdimensional g War, you will be rewarded with 351 Military Merits. These merit points can be exchanged for invaluable treasures, unique techniques, and a wide variety of resources.]

    "Are 351 Military Merits a lot?" Michael asked, unable to recall much about merit points, or the price of items in the shops that epted military merits.

    "It is a considerable amount, yes. A single Military Merit is usually enough to buy a few Inferior Energy Stones. Of course, nobody would use their Military Merits to purchase Energy Stones. You can only procure Military Merits from the Interdimensional g War and bypleting missions rted to Dark Heavens and the Supreme Human Alliance. Most members of the military try to umte more than 1000 Military Merits to purchase Legendary Artifacts, or Growth Type Artifacts that can be bound to your Souls to grow alongside you," Alice answered somewhat absentmindedly.

    ''Participating in the g War rewarded this many Military Merits? I didn''t even show them the corpses of all the Tekur I hunted, yet they rewarded this many?'' Michael wondered why they''d given him the merits without verifying with him the total number of Tekur he''d hunted and if there were other contributors?to the Tekur hunts that he got the sole credit for.

    It sensed a little bit unfair, but Michael let it be for the time being. He had other stuff to focus on first.

    [Jacqueline Ondo(Barbaric Couple): Michael, I don''t know what I''m supposed to do. The Elders are pressuring me to leave the academy, and Frederik is not saying anything. Frederik has never been this cold to me. I have no idea what I''m supposed to do¡­ Can you talk to him please? I really don''t know what is going on. Does he hate me? Is he doing fine? Please ask him, okay?]

    ''I liked her better when she was feisty and arrogant. This gentle and docile behavior doesn''t suit her, at all,'' Michael thought, but his attention switched quickly to Frederik Kolbenheim, who''d also sent him a message.

    [Frederik Kolbenheim(Barbaric Couple): I''m sorry for throwing all of this at you, but I really don''t know who I''m supposed to speak to. As you might know, I don''t really have any friends, and Jacqueline¡­well, I cannot talk to her right now. The Elders of her family told me that they will make sure that my father will die if I contact her. They also said that if I break up with Jacqueline in the worst possible way without leaving any loose ends behind¡­they will make sure that my father will be healed¡­ I don''t want to break up with Jacqueline. I love her. But¡­I don''t want to lose my father either. He''s all I have departed of my family. I cannot lose him¡­]

    "Ah¡­fuck this shit," Michael cursed under his breath. Kaleb was just about to ask what was going on when he saw the anger in Michael''s glowing eyes.

    "The Ondo Family will get scratched from my list of clients. They won''t get a Soultrait, Soul Technique, or their Soultraits strengthened prior to their higher-ups are reced. Fuck these bastards," Michael continued to curse before he dialed a number on the crystal watch.

    ["I did not think that you would miss me already. Didn''t we just meet?"] Giuliana Seraph''s voice rang out from the crystal watch. Alice froze in her tracks and turned around to look at Michael.

    "I didn''t expect to be forced to call you this early as well. Can I ask for a favor?" Michael questioned straightforwardly. He didn''t hear an answer for a few seconds; seconds that sensed like an eternity so he added, "I can create a customized Soul Technique for Archangel''s Grace in the next three days if you help me out."

    Creating a Common ss Soul Technique for Archangel''s Grace was helpful for Maria, but Michael could use it as well. He would have to create a customized technique for the Soultrait, either way. Doing it a little bit earlier than nned did not change a lot.

    ["What do you want?"] Giuliana Seraph asked, her teasing voice reced with a serious, formal tone.

    "Can you dispatch someone to heal the patriarch of the Kolbenheim family, please? His name is Igor Kolbenheim and he just lost his territory and is in aa. His son¡­is facing some troubles and is not in a position to help him. I want to reduce at least one of his worries for him," Michael requested, knowing damn well that Frederik would feel bad if he learned that his friend requested a favor for his sake once again.

    However, Michael wanted to help Frederik. It was not that he loved Frederik, or that they were best friends. Michael just hated people who threatened others with the death of their beloved and put them in a tight spot. The Elders of the Ondo family deserved to be beaten up.

    ["Of all the things I would have expected from you, this does not even make it to the list. Are you sure that you want to ask for such a favor?"] The matriarch asked, but Michael had already made his decision.

    "I am. The Soul Technique for Archangel''s Grace will be my priority once you promise to give me a helping hand," He responded.

    ["There is no reason for me to reject such an offer. I just hope that you know what you''re doing."]

    With that, the matriarch of the Seraph family terminated the call.

    "What are you doing?" Alice asked, her frown even deeper than before.

    "I''m helping my friend. What else am I supposed to do?" He responded.

    "Your actions might make him feel weak and miserable," Kaleb intervened in the discussion.

    Michael could only agree to that, but there was already a n that formed in his mind.

    "It will be fine. That guy might seem like an extremely rude, bad-tempered brat, but he is a stubborn bull."

    He then opened Sta Messenger and typed a short message in his chat with Frederik.

    [Michael Fang: Don''t worry about your father. Someone wille over to tend to his wounds. You might not want my help right now, but I do want to help you and Jacqueline. That being said, you should sign a Link of Loyalty with me. I will help you grow stronger. Of course, I won''t help you without getting my investment and interest back. You will have to sign a Soul Pact so that you can''t wriggle out of the task of being my subordinate until you''ve paid back everything you have ¨C and will ¨C obtain from me.]

    Since his powers had already been exposed, Michael might as well start with the creation of his Army of overpowered, loyal Awakened. Tiara and the Forest Elves didn''t want to obtain more Soultraits for the time being, but Frederik was in dire need of strength and confidence. While confidence was something, Frederik would have to rebuild on his own, strength was certainly something Michael could deliver, whether it was through Soul Techniques, strengthening of existing Soultraits, or by handing out new Soultraits.

    It was time to get started with his project, Awakened Army!

 Chapter 522 Enticing Offer

    <h4>Chapter 522 Enticing Offer</h4>

    Michael stood in the middle of an antique room. Various antiquities of tremendous value were disyed openly for visitors to observe and analyze. The floor was made of marbled oak, a rare type of wood imported from the Origin Expanse. The marbled oakwood was highly energy dense and had a bright sheen to it. The area beneath Michael''s feet released faint hues, attracting his interest, but just for a moment.

    He was more interested in Kraft Viton and the old Aztec robe he wore.

    "I was already waiting for you. To be honest, I was not sure when you would call. Everyone expected you to spend a few months in the Origin Expanse to grow stronger until you would feelfortable returning from the Origin Expanse. But it looks like you realized that there is no way you can run away from the issues revolving around your power. That''s a good thing. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs will like it," Kraft Viton said, smiling at Micheal like a proud grandfather.

    "Running away was never an option. I hoped to hide my power until I advanced to Tier-4. As a Higher Lifeform, I would be much stronger and be able to use my Soultraits at full potential. After all, I have yet to reach a high mastery for any of my Soultraits. Unfortunately, hiding my power didn''t work out. I realized that after my eyes turned golden."

    Maybe, it would have been possible to hide his Soultraits and Extraction''s power a little bit longer if Spirit Eyes hadn''t transformed his eyes into bright golden globes, but at the end of the day, it was only a matter of time before Extraction was discovered.

    "It was a good decision to hide your power since you have the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs on your side. They pressured High Society enough to pull more High Nobles and Supreme Families onto your side. Many families are actively switching sides as we speak because they want to obtain your power and the wealth of resources from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," Kraft Viton exined, clearing his throat before he switched to the more important topic.

    "But I do not want to beat around the bush. I want to help you out. In fact, I want us to be partners in crime and benefit from one another. You should know how the Bartholomew Corporation works and behaves after providing a vast pool of valuable blueprints as a major partner in the Agriculture Project. I wish to create more projects with your help, right from the creation of Soul Techniques, to the auction and distribution of Soultraits and the means you use to strengthen Soultraits. Of course, we will also sell and auction your Mythic Scrolls, and other goods.

    I, and the president of the Bartholomew Corporation, hope that you be a partner of the entire Bartholomew Corporation, not just the Agriculture Project."

    Michael did expect to receive some sort of offer, but bing the partner of the entire Bartholomew Corporation had not been his key expectations. But it did make sense the more he thought about it. The assets at Michael''s disposal were invaluable. Bing a part of the Bartholomew Corporation meant that the value of the corporation would increase significantly. However, that didn''t sound too bad.

    The Bartholomew Corporation was not closely associated with the High Society or the Supreme Families. The president and Kraft Viton were members of High Society but Michael had already researched and knew for a fact that they were not active members.

    ''Partner of the Bartholomew Corporation¡­''

    "Your offer is appealing but I need more information before I can make a decision about something as important as this matter. To be honest, I think that no one knows the true value of the assets, knowledge and power I possess right now. Except Alice, and Kaleb Zenovia, maybe," Michael responded, retrieving the newest version of the Soul Energy Fusion technique he''d created.

    The Soul Energy Fusion technique was still not perfect but it was good enough to be shown around as a sample of his prowess.

    "I would like to consider this a prototype of a technique I call ''Soul Energy Fusion''. The technique is needed to create Soul Energy from fusing Soul Power and Origin Energy without anyplications. The process can be done without a technique but just like martial arts and otherbat techniques, it is much better to learn the production and utility of Soul Energy from a technique. As long as you follow the instructions you won''t get hurt, which is something that can happen very easily if you try to create Soul Energy without any experience, or techniques."

    Michael handed the tome to Kraft Viton, who opened the first page to start reading at once.

    There was no need to exchange any furtherments about the efficiency of the Soul Energy Fusion technique. It was all written inside the pages of the tome.

    Kraft Viton spent fifteen minutes reading through the tome twice before he returned it to Michael.

    "You''re calling this a prototype? It may not be perfect, but for your first attempt, it''s almost close to perfection. However, no technique is perfect as you may already know. Otherwise, there would be no need for instructors to teach Martial Arts with great focus on proper execution and energy cirction," Kraft Viton remarked andmended Michael for his efforts. His eyes locked onto Michael and he could swear that a shroud of mystery covered the deepest secrets locked in the depths of Michael''s being.

    "From what I can tell, you created the Soul Energy Fusion technique to mass produce it using thebor andworking system of the Bartholomew Corporation. The technique is extremely simple. That was probably a mechanism you installed to ensure that every practitioner would survive. There might be some impatient practitioners who will fail to execute the technique properly by rushing one or all the steps, but they will sustain minor to medium injuries at most.

    Since you can create such a simple technique based on your knowledge about Soul Techniques, I guess that you can create more efficient Soul Energy Fusion techniques as well. They might be moreplex, but it should be possible. Am I right?"

    Kraft Viton could make a few morements to analyze Michael''s course of action, but there was no need to do so. Michael didn''t hide his intentions in the first ce.

    "I can create moreplex Soul Energy Fusion techniques, and it is also possible for me to create both neutral and customized Soul Techniques. Neutral Soul Techniques will be weaker because a wider variety of Soultraits can utilize them, but that is also why we can produce more of them to sell them for a decent price. The price will never be too low because the demand should exceed the supply as long as I remain the only one with extensive knowledge about Soul Techniques. However, all Awakened with a little bit of skill and ability to collect and manage their finances will be able to purchase neutral Soul Techniques in the near future. As for customized Soul Techniques, I can produce them as long as I know as much as possible about the Soultrait, personality, andbat style of the person who requested a technique that is several times stronger than the neutral Soul Technique."

    Kraft manifested the holographic screen of the crystal watch to start noting down a few things Michael mentioned.

    "Your concentration will be on earning for a long duration with mass-produced goods but also on attracting big fishes with the customized Soul Techniques. Most will hesitate to reveal the secrets of their fighting styles and Soul Techniques but with the Bartholomew Corporation vouching for you, there shouldn''t be an issue. The Supreme families, High Nobles, and Great ns will be satisfied with their superior products and you can satisfy the masses with the neutral Soul Techniques at the same time. To put simply, you can satisfy all parties and increase mankind''sbat prowess," Kraftmented.

    "The Tritan Alliance you mean. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs will obtain the same offer," Michael added.

    Kraft took a deep breath but he nodded, "Of course. We were hoping to tap into the market of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but I didn''t dare to mention it just now. By using Soul Techniques as our first product to enter the market of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, we can spread ourwork rapidly. That means the value of your techniques alone is already enough to expand our market to cater to two new races. No other corporation was able to deal with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs until now. That means we can gain a fortune¡­"

    Kraft Viton stared at Michael, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He couldn''t be certain about it, but he presumed that Michael thought of all of these possibilities when he told him that both sides should know each other''s value before they started negotiating the terms of their partnership.

    "I presume that you want to concentration on the creation of more Soul Techniques, the improvement of the Soul Energy Fusion technique, and the customization of Soul Techniques for the wealthy. That means you either want to sell the copyright of your technique to the Bartholomew Corporation or that you want a big chunk of our profits."

    "I prefer royalties," Michael acknowledged, "You can consider me a partner of the Bartholomew Corporation, but I prefer providing the resources to gain money for a long duration. That is also why I poured a lot in the Agriculture Project. I like the Bartholomew Corporation, but as we know¡­business is business¡­"

    That being said, Michael and Kraft Viton engaged in a fierce session of negotiations. They spent close to two hours figuring out the fine details of their partnership and devised specific rules and conditions for various scenarios.

    The Bartholomew Corporation and Michael benefited greatly from the contract they established after the tiresome negotiations. But all of that was just the start of something big.

    They were about to gain a fortune.

 Chapter 523 Teach

    <h4>Chapter 523 Teach</h4>

    "Since you have a monopoly of all Soul Techniques right now, you''ll receive 50% of all profits from mass-produced Soul Techniques. This includes the Soul Energy Fusion technique. Keep in mind that this offer is a one-time thing as your monopoly allows us to enter the market of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs more easily," Kraft Viton pointed out at the end of their negotiation.

    "We will take amission for acting as your agency for all inquiries about customized Soul Technique, but themission won''t exceed 5% of the revenue. We haven''t talked about anything else, but the Bartholomew Corporation is more than willing to have a proper talk about Soultraits and your means to strengthen Soultraits as well."

    Michael had thought about this for a long time already, but he was still not certain what to do with the Soultrait Symbols. Should he sell some of them right now, or was it better to keep them for the time being?

    Thetter was quite dangerous, whereas the former meant that he had to pick someone to sell the Soultrait Symbol to. That was also why Michael made a certain decision.

    He retrieved the emerald box containing all of his Soultrait Symbols. He opened the emerald box, causing Kraft Viton to retreat instinctively as his War Rune started to go crazy. Tens of white tentacles burst out of the back of his hand, trying to charge at the Soultrait Symbols to devour them all.

    "Just so you know¡­you will die if you try to fuse with too many Soultraits," Michael remarked, resulting in Kraft Viton taking arge stride away from the emerald box.

    "You just have to control your War Rune. Or put the Soultrait Symbols into another container that can be sealed properly. It''s not that difficult."

    Michael added as he retrieved six Soultrait Symbols with six different notes. Each of the Soultraits had been tested to find out their powers and characteristics. He handed them to Kraft Viton, who was having a hard time controlling his War Rune.

    "These six Soultraits are all 1-Star, but I can strengthen them. Of course, for an upcharge. It won''t be cheap either. I hope the Bartholomew Corporation can auction these Soultraits, two for each race. I do not care what offers they make, but I want each race to get two Soultraits. That is not negotiable. As for themission fee, the Bartholomew Corporation can forget about it since I let them auction the items. I''m pretty sure you can agree with me when I say that the Bartholomew Corporation does not need amission," Michael stated his conditions, forcefully pulling Kraft Viton out of his train of thought.

    "Nomission? I...see¡­" Kraft Viton wanted to say something but he had to acknowledge that the Bartholomew Corporation already obtained more than enough benefits from being the only distributor for Michael''s Soultraits. Even if they might lose the monopoly over Soul Techniques far ahead in the future it was very unlikely that someone else with a power like Michael''s would appear in the near future ¨C if there would ever be someone like him again, in the first ce. Michael''s power was ancient and probably limited to a selected few all over the universe.

    Michael had some other stuff to trade with Kraft Viton, but he didn''t want to retrieve dozens of Tekur corpses, more than 40 Mythic Scrolls to trade for Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, or thousands of blueprints and monster corpses to sell. The timing was not that good, and it was not as if Kraft Viton was sitting idle. If anything, Kraft Viton was busier than ever.

    "I will see what I can do about the Soultrait Symbols. Do you want to sign a contract for them? If not, why are you handing them over like they''re worthless?" Kraft Viton asked, not quite sure what Michael was trying to achieve right now.

    Michael smiled in response. It was hard to hide his smile.

    "There is no need for a contract. I trust the Bartholomew Corporation, but even more so, I trust you. If you break my trust, the me would be on me, not you. At least, I know where I stand in that case. Furthermore, I know that I''m using the Bartholomew Corporation as another shield to protect me from the greedy fangs and ws of High Society. It is only fair that I return my trust by giving the Bartholomew Corporation a helping hand," He pointed out.

    "I hope that the Bartholomew Corporation can expand rapidly using the new connections you are going to make all over the Tritan Alliance."

    Kraft Viton merely nodded. He was not even sure what he was supposed to reply to that. What could he say? Should he be angry at Michael for extorting the Bartholomew Corporation by using his monopoly while simultaneously seeking protection from the very people he extorted? Was he truly extorting the Bartholomew Corporation? Not really.

    Both sides would benefit from each other, and it was not impossible that the Bartholomew Corporation would gain far more from Michael instead. Michael was their ticket to be the most influential corporation of the entire Tritan Alliance!

    "By the way, you don''t have to worry about your safety. I talked with Alice Zenovia earlier and she went on and beyond to protect you. Apparently, she fought with her family to convince them that protecting you is mankind''s utmost priority. Your existence will help mankind to ovee the threat posed by the Supreme Human Alliance. That''s what she said, quite clearly at that."

    Michael raised an eyebrow. He had been with Alice and Kaleb not too long ago and didn''t hear anything about a sh with her family. That was news to him.

    Michael made a mental note to remember to thank Aliceter.

    "That''s¡­good to know. But I don''t think that my safety can be ensured. After all, I''m also in the Origin Expanse, in a quite dangerous area, to be entirely honest. It''s not like I can avoid threats and obstacles. I am not undefeatable, my enemies are getting stronger by the day, and I still have loads to improve as a Lord. There are so many things I don''t know, or have never learned," Michael revealed in all honesty.

    "But haven''t you been taught by your--¡­" Kraft Viton began, only to halt mid-sentence. He forgot that Michael was not from a prestigious family, a family who teaches their children how to behave and act in the Origin Expanse from a young age.

    Most Descendants were given detailed lessons from a young age on what they had to do in the Origin Expanse, how to develop their territory, and how to train their soldiers and mind. They were not majorly self-taught like Michael. Their minds had been refined to be proper Lords, people who knew what to do in dangerous situations and how to digest the deaths of their subjects after a battle or war.

    "I read various books about Lords and how they''re supposed to act but the vast majority of books don''t fit my persona."

    Michael clicked his tongue reproachfully. He knew that he was not a perfect Lord. He was not bad, but there were too many things that could be done so much better. It was a shame.

    Kraft Viton watched Michael for a while and burst intoughter. Michael stared at the old man in confusion until Kraft Viton couldn''t hold it anymore. Heughed heartily for the next few minutes.

    "You should know that you''re a really weird guy"

    "Hmm?" Michael was unsure what Kraft Viton was talking about. Was he really that weird? Probably.

    Observing the way Michael''s expression changed continuously, Kraft Viton started to chuckle once again. Michael was truly interesting to be around. Despite having this great power that allowed him to grow stronger rapidly, Michael was not arrogant either. In fact, sometimes it looked like Michael underestimated himself. As if the youthful Lord was not aware of the great achievements he attained within a mere year.

    "You know, thousands of families asked me to be their childrens'' teacher, but I never epted their requests. No matter how much they offered me, I never even bat an eyelid. I don''t like most families and the members of High Society. They''re arrogant and difficult to handle. Their true selves are hidden underneath dozens ofyers of lies and deceit. Teaching their children is not worth It," Kraft Viton revealed, pping his thigh as he recalled some of the bad encounters with representatives of Supreme Families.

    Over thest few years, so many people asked Kraft Viton to teach their children, yet the only one who could actually convince him to start teaching again didn''t even know that he had the power and right to do so.

    "I like you," He revealed, not shying away from speaking his mind, "If you want to learn something from an old Lord, I can teach you some stuff. In fact, I previously taught you some things, though I''m pretty certain it you thought I was just being kind when I taught you Whispering Energy. You should know that I don''t teach someone such a technique easily. In fact, except you, only two more Awakened were taught Whispering Energy."

    Michael''s eyes widened. He previously had many teachers in multiple fields, but Kraft Viton seemed to be the wisest. His knowledge, business skills, and social contacts were extensive. Learning from Kraft Viton would be a great honor, especially when it came to knowledge about Lord-rted stuff.

    Michael understood it he had to learn how to ovee the grief pertaining to the deaths of his subjects, or rather, how to ensure that their deaths didn''t affect him a lot. He was being too emotional about their deaths and he knew it.

    Michael also knew it sure things would never change about him and that he would probably always finish up jumping into fiercely burning mes to rescue his people, if possible, but certain deaths couldn''t be avoided.

    The same could be said about war.

    War was bound to happen in the Origin Expanse and some of his Soldiers would die. It was inevitable.

    All Michael had to do was to prepare his heart and mind¡­

    "Please teach me!"

 Chapter 524 Mentor

    <h4>Chapter 524 Mentor</h4>

    Michael wanted to learn how to ovee the burden brought by the death of his people. To be precise, he had to learn how to ensure that deaths wouldn''t degrade his mental strength and sanity.

    Michael understood that he was too emotional about the deaths of his subjects. More subjects were bound to die in the future, and that the numbers would increase as the strength of his enemies increased exponentially. However, Michael knew that his instinct would always make him jump into the fiery pits of hell to rescue his people, even if they had a 0.1% shot at survival.

    But he couldn''t save everyone no matter what. Everyone understood that, and Michael had to learn to live with this understanding as well.

    "Please help me to be a great Lord!" Michael requested Kraft Viton, his voice overflowing with determination.

    He knew that he could be a better Lord. He had to be.

    The old man smiled at the youthful Lord. Michael was a good guy. There was no reason to deny his request ¨C even though Kraft Viton swore himself to never teach anyone ever again. Too many suffered from his tutge no matter how good his intentions had been.

    "My training will be painful. It will burden your mind and spirit. Your will has to grow stronger and you might have to do things that go against your principles. Are you willing to go against your principles and ideals to receive tutge from me?" Kraft Viton asked, his voice deadly serious.

    Michael''s lips parted, but his mouth shut in the next moment. He looked at the old man for a while and furrowed his eyebrows.

    "I won''t go against my principles. All I want is to be a better Lord, and I will definitely not endanger my subjects for that purpose. My highest priority as a Lord ought to be to protect my people and strengthen everyone, including my subjects, NOT hurting them. If that''s what you mean by going against my principles and ideals," Michael shook his head, rejecting Kraft Viton''s condition.

    There was no need to give it any second thoughts. Michael wanted to learn from Kraft Viton, but he was not going to let go of his principles and ideals for that sake. It was not worth it.

    "Good."

    Kraft Viton''s serious expression softened and the corner of his lip curled upward.

    "I wouldn''t want that either."

    Michael raised an eyebrow.

    "Was that a test?"

    Kraft Viton didn''t say anything but the silence filling the office was an answer in itself. His ''condition'' was definitely a test of his character., probably the first of many.

    "I swore to myself to never pick up teaching again. That means I''m breaking my promise to mentor you," Kraft Viton said, taking Michael by surprise. Michael didn''t even know that Kraft Viton had been a proper mentor before, though it did make sense.

    "I¡­"

    "There is no need for you to say anything. I will teach you because I think you should be taught properly. Maybe the Matriarch of the Seraph Family would give you some nice pieces of advice as well, but I would rather teach you myself. That way, I do not have to worry."

    ''Worry? About what?''

    "Either way. The promise I made has nothing to do with you. However, I do hope that you can trust me a little bit more. I''m curious about your powers and I wish to support you in more than just one way. Maybe, I can help you make more use of your power," Kraft Viton requested.

    Michael halted in his tracks.

    "Will you not teach me if I decide to not tell you anything about my power?"

    "No. My request is unrted to the offer. I''m just curious."

    Michael nodded his head slowly.

    "In that case¡­let me think about it," He mumbled, "It should be fine if I tell you about my power, if and only if¡­you sign a Soul Pact with me."

    Kraft Viton was not a Descendant. He wouldn''t be interrogated by the higher-ups of his family, or¡­anyone. Signing a Soul Pact with an NDA with Kraft Viton shouldn''t be a problem.

    "That''s great!" Kraft Viton eximed, slightly surprised that Michael was willing to reveal his powers that easily.

    However, the negotiation about the Soul Pact''s terms that followed after, made it clear that Michael was not a greenhorn anymore. It also showed that Michael valued the secrets of his Soultrait much higher than the facts that have already been exposed to High Society.

    ''How interesting!''

    At the end of the day, the Soul Pact between Kraft Viton and Michael Fang had been established. It was aplex NDA Soul Pact that prevented Kraft Viton from revealing anything about Extraction and the other secrets Michael may or may not reveal in the future. Kraft Viton was forced to ensure that nobody would?ever learn about their discussions and that none of their chats would be shared with anyone else.

    If someone were to hear and forward information that Michael shared with Kraft Viton, the Soul Pact would determine Kraft Viton as the perpetrator and execute the punishment ordingly.

    Under the circumstance that Kraft Viton broke the Soul Pact, Kraft Viton, as an individual, and everyone, and everything belonging to him would be part of Michael''s possession. Kraft Viton would be his ve until the day he died. This included Kraft Viton''s territory, the subordinates linked to Kraft Viton''s Lord Power and so on.

    "Done?" Kraft Viton asked rhetorically, his eyes glimmering. He retrieved a metal box with numerous intricate patterns and letters engraved on the surface and underneath. The box was triggered and thrown to the ground a momentter.

    A semi-translucent dome spread out from the box, covering the entire room, momentarily deactivating all devices within the room. But that was not all the dome did. The dome acted as a sound-barrier as well.

    "Tell me about your lovely power!" Kraft Viton requested, while Michael was engrossed in observing the intricate patterns of the box. The magical container and the dome''s effect were quite interesting, after all.

    Michael grinned at the old man after he diverted his attention from the metal box. Kraft Viton seemed much younger all of a sudden, the vigor in his eyes overflowing.

    Michael gestured to Kraft Viton to wait a second. He retrieved a Mythic Summoning Scroll, 25 Summoning Scroll Fragments, an Artifact, a Memory Orb, a SoulStar Fragment and another Soultrait Symbol.

    "To put it in very simple terms, my power allows me to extract additional loot from the enemies I''ve killed. It''s already enough if I contributed to the battle, or if my subjects killed the entity. I can extract Summoning Scroll Fragments andbine them into Summoning Scrolls," Michael exined right before making a demonstration.

    The Scroll Fragments shone brightly and transformed into a Summoning Scroll. He then pointed at the Mythic Summoning Scroll, "I can also create Mythic Summoning Scrolls¡­and other scrolls. By bartering Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Scrolls, I can create an infinite loop to create more and more Mythic Scrolls. That might take a while but it should be possible with enough discretion and the right connections."

    Michael pointed at the Memory Orb, the SoulStar Fragment, and the Soultrait Symbol, "Awakened provide special loot. This includes a portion of their War Rune''s storage space, a Memory Orb containing parts of their memories ¨C random memories to a certain extent ¨C, Soulstar Fragments ording to the power level of the target, and asionally, Soultrait Symbols as well."

    Kraft Viton''s eyes widened but he was not the only one who was surprised. Michael shut his mouth the moment he finished giving the old man a quick summary of Extraction''s uses. He didn''t n to disclose Kraft Viton this much, yet the words spurted out of his mouth like a waterfall. There was not much he left out.

    However, despite telling Kraft Viton much more than he told everybody else, Michael did not feel uneasy. He was mostly surprised at himself for letting someone in on his secrets, but there was also a tinge of relief. It was a good feeling to disclose someone this much about his powers.

    "Your Soultrait generates more loot, and creates special loot from Awakened. That means events like the Interdimensional g War andrge-scale wars in the Origin Expanse allow you to earn a tremendous amount of strength. That''s amazing," Kraft Viton mumbled.

    He didn''t say anything else for the next five minutes, his train of thought leading to various conclusions and thoughts. The dots connected and various events and power-ups rted to Michael started to make sense.

    "I read reports about thest battle in the Interdimensional g War. Was that the same power?" Kraft Viton inquired atst.

    "It was the same, yeah. I can use this ability in more than one way," Michael nodded, though he was not sure what exactly happened in thest fight against the Tekur. He had been too busy thinking about what to do with High Society, the human traitors, the Supreme Human Alliance, the Seraph family, and the Tritan Alliance, to clear his mind and think about the power residing within him.

    Kraft Viton and Michael Fang spent the next ten minutes talking about his powers. There was no need for Michael to hide too many pieces of information, but it was not as if he revealed everything. Michael left enough secrets to himself to stay safe and sound.

    After their short chat, it was about time to part ways. Kraft Viton was willing to instruct Michael immediately, but he had to finish some other tasks first. He had yet to initiate the Soul Energy Fusion Project, or set up arge-scale auction for Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs respectively. There was a lot to do. Therefore, he gave Michael a few days off before their lessons would begin.

    Once they separated, Michael went to his room. Various thoughts shed through his mind. Most of them were about the issues at hand and possible solutions. However, Michael''s mind was also back-pedaling to the ability he''d unleashed at the end of the Interdimensional g War.

    Only now did he get the time to wonder about it as he scratched his head. What exactly happened during the final battle?

 Chapter 525 Unwelcome Guests

    <h4>Chapter 525 Unwee Guests</h4>

    Michael''s memories of the final battle against the Tekur and the human traitors were still fresh in his mind. He recalled taking control of Archangel''s Grace with brute force and how his skin and flesh were extracted,yer byyer. Everything in the range of Extraction had been extracted, oneyer at a time.

    It was a grotesque way to use Extraction. A brutish method, and certainly inefficient as it drained a tremendous amount of energy.

    But it was also powerful. Powerful enough to kill Lords at the Peak of the 3rd Tier. No one could enter the dome of Extraction at some point. The closer the enemies, the stronger Extraction''s power grew. The Stigmatas that had manifested all over his body unleashed the Essence of Extraction. They strengthened Extraction''s power and unleashed itstent potential. At least, that was Michael suspected.

    Michael recalled that something deep within him had been unleashed after his arms had been cut off. He was certain that there was something hidden deep inside him, and that some sort of seal holding it inside broke when he went all out.

    ''Did I shatter Extraction''s limiter? No. I cannot sense the tremendous power anymore. It''s almost like the power appeared when I was in peril, just to disappear once again. I didn''t unlock some sort of new power either. Also, Extraction feels a little bit stronger than before but there is no major change. Does that mean I can strengthen Extraction by jumping into more perilous situations, or was that just a one-time thing?''

    Various questions formed in Michael''s mind, but there was no answer. He didn''t really n to jump into a dangerous situation anytime soon, either. Michael''s priority was to develop his territory, earn a fortune, and grow stronger. Thest few months had been busy enough. Fighting with his life on the line shouldn''t be a habit. Though¡­maybe, it was already toote for that.

    ''Did I unleash the full potential of Extraction that is sealed within me? Is that how strong Extraction can be at 6-Star?'' Michael couldn''t really believe it.

    Fortunately, he had various other doubts and queries that tormented his mind. The questions revolving around the power he''d executed at the end of the g War were pushed aside. Meanwhile, a particr memory resurfaced in his mind. The memory showed Giuliana Seraph as she spoke to Michael¡­speaking about Hesta.

    ''The Matriarch of the Seraph Family knows that Hesta is my sister¡­'' Michael understood atst, his heart skipping a beat.

    He thought about his sister every now and then. It was not too often these days, but Michael had a bad feeling about it. He was unsure why, but in thest few weeks he would sense increasingly ufortable whenever his thoughts drifted to his family. His gut twisted and he felt like destroying something. Michael encountered a simr phenomenon before Danny died and right before his parents messaged him on Sta Messenger as well. The timing had been so uncanny that now he was dreading two possibilities.

    Either that meant his parents died, or they were about to message him again. Michael was not sure which option he preferred at this point.

    One way or another, Michael figured that something was about to happen. Something rted to his family. That made him feel sick in the stomach.

    "Fuck this shit," He cursed, sensing that his good mood after his talk with Kraft Viton was now in the gutters.

    ''Just forget them. None of them are important anymore. They will nevere back, either way.'' He thought, choosing to distract himself by creating the customized Soul Technique for Maria''s Soultrait.

    Michael retrieved a few tomes and concentrated on the Mark of Fate. The shard of Archangel''s Grace was embedded into it. He closed his eyes and exerted the Inferior power of Archangel''s Grace that resided within his War Rune.

    By spending the next eight hours analyzing Archangel''s Grace in great detail, Michael found out various characteristics and elements of Maria''s 7-Star Soultrait. Archangel''s Grace was not a Healing-type Soultrait at its core. If anything, it was a mixture of a Transformation, Summon, and Domain Soultrait.

    Each type was rted to Angels, but there was a distinct and clear difference, separating them. The weakest power was the ability to Summon the Spirits of Angels. It had to be augmented by the Seraph family''s Inheritance Technique to Summon more than one Angel Spirit in the Heavenly Realm ¨C which is what Michael called the healing domain that coated the entire area in sacred healing power.

    The strongest ability of Archangel''s Grace was the power to transform into an Archangel. Maria was granted temporary ess to all powers of the Archangel. The only issue was that she could not use all of them even though she had ess to them. The transformation drained a considerable amount of energy to be set into motion, which was followed by a constant drain of energy until the transformation wasplete.

    As far as Michael could tell, Maria could decrease the energy demand as the Soul Power residing within Archangel''s Grace increased. That was what she did upon utilizing Heaven''s Descent. The more Soul Power she had, the lower her energy consumption to unleash the transformation into an Archangel.

    That was also why Michael didn''t want to focus on the transformation ability for Archangel''s Grace''s Soul Technique. Soul Techniques drained the user''s Soul Power. Therefore, the energy consumption to maintain her form as an Archangel would increase drastically right after the Soul Technique was activated. The Soul Technique might augment the transformation''s power but given the increase in energy to maintain the form, Maria wouldn''t be able to use the augmented power, in the first ce.

    With that in mind, Michael decided to augment the Heavenly Realm power of Archangel''s Grace using the Soul Technique. Michael used his extensive knowledge of Common ss Soul Techniques, coupled with the fact that he possessed several Healing-type Soul Techniques in addition to his personal experience with Archangel''s Grace. Over the next 36 hours, he diligently crafted several drafts of the Heavenly Realm Soul Technique. He called the technique Heavenly Realm, just like the name he''d given to Maria''s power, because he was the only one who called it such, either way.

    "Urgh. Why does this take so long?" Michaelined, throwing the newest version of Heavenly Realm aside before he slumped onto the bed. Altering an existing Soul Technique to create Soul cicle Bullet had been so much easier.

    ''Maybe I went a little bit overboard. I should tell Kraft Viton to postpone auctioning the customization of Soul Techniques for the time being¡­''

    It had been easier to customize Soul cicle Bullet because Michael knew it like the back of his hand. His proficiency with the 5-Star Soultrait was rather high. Inparison, his proficiency with Archangel''s Grace was close to non-existent. Furthermore, Archangel''s Grace was a 7-Star Soultrait. It was several times stronger than cicle ¨C and tens of times moreplex. cicle was extremely simple, after all.

    Michael was still rather new in the Soul Technique business. It would take a while before he could create a handful of customized techniques in a short period. Fortunately, there was no need to rush anything. He vowed Giuliana Seraph to create a Soul Technique for Archangel''s Grace and that was exactly what he focused on doing. There was no need to ept any more customizations until the demand increased. That would naturally happen once neutral Soul Techniques hit the market in bulk.

    Since he had some spare time now that he finished Heavenly Realm, Michael messaged the Matriarch of the Seraph household and Maria. They could pick up the technique and report issues ¨C if there were any. He doubted that there would be any issues given that the technique was only a Common ss Soul Technique, but he might be wrong. It was not as if he was a perfectionist. Michael was just a human. And humans make mistakes. The only thing he could do was to minimize the mistakes and fix the remaining mistakes after Maria examined the technique and found some issues.

    Michael''s eyes were about to close, but he noticed something. Just as his eyelids were about to shut tightly, Michael noticed some faint flickers of energy from the corner of his eye. The flickers were minuscule and without Spirit Eyes being one of the strongest Soultraits in Michael''s possession, he wouldn''t have noticed them. The energy fluctuations beyond the walls of his room inched closer to his door before they came to an abrupt halt.

    Michael channeled origin energy into Spirit Eyes and he added twoyers of Enhancement to Spirit Eyes to get a better nce at what awaited him beyond the door.

    He jumped up from the bed and swallowed difficult a momentter.

    Three men and a woman shrouded in veils, stood in front of Michael''s room. The veils shrouded their presence near-perfectly. All that exposed them were faint energy fluctuations that were increasingly difficult to notice. If not for Spirit Eyes, Michael would have never noticed them. But he possessed Spirit Eyes¡­and he did notice the four hidden Awakened.

    Michael couldn''t estimate the might of their power as they naturally restrained the power their bodies exuded, but he remembered having seen the faces of the three men and the woman.

    They were Tier-5 Lords, each of them.

    ''I doubt that they came over for afternoon tea.'' Michael joked in his heart, while his expression stiffened.

    It was quite obvious what was going on. No one with good intentions would try to hide their presence like the four Lords by sneaking up to his room uninvited.

    Michael understood at once that the four Lords were about to kidnap him. He opened Sta Messenger in an attempt to send some messages to the people around him and to rm the bodyguards that had been assigned to protect him, but Michael noticed several things simultaneously.

    First, the energy fluctuations of the bodyguards located all around the building were extremely weak. They were not dead, but they had been knocked out and injured severely.

    Second, Sta Messenger was not working. His signal was blocked.

    Third, his ess to the Runic Gate was capped temporarily as well.

    Michael couldn''t even seek protection in the Origin Expanse. He had nowhere to run or hide.

    The four Lords came prepared.

    Interestingly enough, Michael was not as nervous as he should have been. On the contrary, his heart palpated in excitement as a sly grin appeared on his face.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones. I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    If you want to support the author rather than the tform, here is my Ko-Fi and Pat.reon

    /hideousgrain

    /HideousGrain

 Chapter 526 Captured

    <h4>Chapter 526 Captured</h4>

    The four human Lords had yet to barge into his room, but they began to move upon sensing that Michael tried to open the Runic Gate.

    A burst of energy was all it took to break open the door and invade Michael''s room. Yet, instead of finding Michael standing in the middle of the room, possibly cowering in fear, all they could see was freezing mist.

    Michael filled the entire room with a burst of freezing mist. Simultaneously he retreated to the wall opposite the four Lords and executed Extraction to remove the wall blocking his path. Once the walls were removed, a chilly gust wafted through the room. Michael ignored the gust of air and dashed outside.

    As he hastily stepped through the hole in his room, the bright light of the afternoon sun greeted him. He stared at the vast expanse of the ancient city and kicked the ground hard to leap out of his room on the sixth floor. Michael twisted his body to look back at his room where he saw the four Lords peeking out of the hole in the wall. The corner of his lip curled upward, a dozenpressed cicles forming around him. The cicles shot in all directions and burst apart, attracting the attention of civilians and passersby.

    Simultaneously, Michael manifested several Qi Swords beneath him. He turned his body back and kicked the Qi Sword under his foot. He propelled his body several meters ahead before his altitude started to decrease. Another Qi Sword manifested beneath him, allowing Michael to run in the air, further attracting the attention of the people watching him jump through the air.

    ''That should be enough to scare them away,'' Michael thought, only to realize toote that the four Lords didn''t care about the attention Michael attracted. Since they had already been exposed by Michael, they might as well finish their job.

    The female Lord appeared in front of Michael all of a sudden. She didn''t teleport in front of Michael. Instead, she used brute force and bits of energy to propel her body forward. All she had to do was kick the ground and turn herself into a human missile. The woman passed by Michael with ease and kicked the air underneath her lightly toe to an abrupt halt. She circted energy through her body and turned to Michael with a faint smile on her lips.

    Michael expected the woman to fall at any moment, but that never happened. She stayed afloat as if the air underneath her was solid ground.

    He frowned but adapted rapidly. It took a quarter of a second for him to execute a ten-foldyer of Enhancement onto Spirit Eyes right before unleashing Spirit Domination in its strongest form. The woman raised an eyebrow in response, however, she was unaffected otherwise. It was like Michael''s Spirit Domination was nothing more than a mosquito bite to her.

    She raised her right hand,and in response a forcefield of energy condensed around her. Hundreds of violet strings shot out of her right hand. They burst forth much faster than Michael could react and coiled around the youthful Lords.

    "Urgh," Michael groaned as the violet strings cut into his flesh. His arms were tightly pressed against his body and his legs were tied up. However, the most worrisome were the strings that coiled tightly around his neck. A single wrong move and his head would be separated from the rest of his body.

    ''So that''s the power of a Tier-5 Lord?'' Michael wondered, his heart beating wildly.

    Spirit Eyes analyzed the properties of the violet strings rapidly, and it didn''t take long before Michael coated his entire body with Extraction. He applied severalyers of Enhancement onto Extraction and added Insert to insert the enhanced power of Extraction into the violet strings, draining their energy while also extracting their weakest properties.

    The violet strings were extremely powerful, but once the weakest link in their structure had been removed, they turned much less threatening. Unfortunately, that didn''t really apply in Michael''s case. The violet strings were creations of a Tier-5 Lord''s Soultrait. Even if the violet string would have been a low-ranked Soultrait ¨C which it certainly was not ¨C a Lord at the 5th Tier possessed a ridiculous amount of Soul Power. That was something Michael realized with a ring rity now that he encountered the power of a Tier-5 Lord.

    Despite being overpowered and him being barely able to insert a massive amount of Extraction''s power inside the violet strings, the woman''s eyes widened in shock. She felt that her strings were being ripped apart from the inside and that energy was being sucked out of them. It was the first time a Lesser Lifeform was able to do something like that to her, but it was not umon for her prey to put up?a fight against her Soultrait. Even mental attacks against her weren''t anything new.

    The woman exerted a technique that weakened Extraction''s effectiveness against the violet strings drastically. Thereafter, she tightened the strings around his body even further. They cut deep into Michael''s flesh, resulting in several deep cuts and eruptions of blood all over his body.

    "I think you don''t realize the predicament you''re in. I might not be allowed to kill you, but I can still cripple you. As long as your War Rune is intact nothing else matters," The woman responded, crimson eyes peeking out from underneath the veil of invisibility.

    Michael groaned in pain, his eyes gleaming brightly as he stared at the woman in anger.

    The three male Lords appeared next to the woman at some point. They didn''t seem particrly tense or rmed as they looked around the ancient city with little to no interest in the happenings around them.

    "To think that we''re the first to take action. That''s quite the surprise," One of them said nonchntly, while another one chimed in.

    "Right? I expected everyone to be after this idiot. He''s a golden goose, yet nobody bothered to im him. Morons!"

    The woman''s lips parted, and she was about to speak when she noticed something. Her eyes narrowed and her focus returned to her little prey. Michael''s resistance grew stronger while they wasted time in chitchat. The power that had invaded her Soultrait grew stronger suddenly, and the resistance of her repulsion technique deteriorated with every passing second.

    A golden gleam surfaced underneath the blood that gushed out from the numerous wounds over Michael''s body, exposing faint stigmatas.

    Michael opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no words escaped his lips.

    "Stop resisting, you brainless id¡ª...." The woman cursed, further tightening the violet strings around Michael. However, this time, Michael didn''t groan in pain. All he did was grin as the string pierced deeper inside him.

    Something deep inside himmenced to rumble violently, but he didn''t focus on that sensation. All he did was smile at the woman in front of him.

    ''I think you''re the brainless one.'' Michael thought, not quite sure why the four Lords were so confident in their attempt to kidnap him. They were ¨C quite literally ¨C in the center of the ancient city, and it didn''t look like they were in a rush to leave, at all.

    Their ''meticulous'' n of arriving undetected to capture Michael might have worked out just fine, but who said that they were going to make it back?

    "Do you like pain or what? Does it turn you on, you kinky bastar¨C..." The woman asked, her expression turning into one of disgust. But just before she could finish her sentence, she noticed something again. Why were they still in the ancient city? Their n seeded so why were they still here?

    Her head flicked to one of the other Lords, her eyes filled with confusion.

    "Summon the motherfucking portal, you idiot!" She screamed at one of the Lords, but he didn''t react. He didn''t summon the portal that was supposed to safely transport them out of the ancient city, and he didn''t turn around to her, or the others, either. In fact, he didn''t action a single muscle in his body.

    "What the hell is wrong with you, James?!" One of the other Lords asked, hisid back attitude reced by a sense of worry. They had to leave as soon as possible, otherwise, they would be caught even before they could finish their mission.

    The Lord grasped James'' shoulder and pulled him back with some force, but James didn''t move an inch. He utilized some greater force to shake his partner in crime out of the supposed trance, but James wouldn''t turn. All he managed to do was tear out a piece of James'' shoulder¡­his frozen shoulder when he grabbed it hard.

    All of a sudden, James'' bodymenced to crack. Deep spider weblike cracks formed all over his body and clothes. Mere secondster, James'' body explosion into thousands of chunks, frozen to the bone.

    James was dead ¨C frozen to death long before the others could notice anything ¨C and so was their easiest means of escape gone too.

    It was only at this point that the three remaining Lords noticed how cold it was. The temperature around them had dropped below zero in an instant and it didn''t look like the temperature would increase anytime soon. In fact, it was getting chillier by the second.

    The three remaining Lords tensed up upon seeing theirrade die without any warning. Their heads flicked in all directions to find the culprit, and it didn''t take long before they found her ¨C Alice Zenovia.

    She stared coldly at the three Lords, her whole being exuding a frightening killing intent that epassed the center of the ancient city in its entirety.

    An ice-armor coated her whole body and she was tightly gripping a lengthy cier-blue longsword in her left hand.

    She raised her longsword and shed in the Lords'' direction, releasing a crescent-shaped de ofpressed ice with fearsome velocity. The three Lords were forced to make their move. They evaded the de of ice by a hair''s breadth before their eyes locked on their new target.

    "Let''s deal with her first!"

 Chapter 527 The Princess in Shining Armor

    <h4>Chapter 527 The Princess in Shining Armor</h4>

    The three Lords were ready to fight Alice and finish her off quickly. She was only a Tier-5 Lord, just like them. However, given their age andbat experience, they ought to win without even breaking a sweat.

    The woman with the violet string Soultrait, whom Michael named Violet, released her Soultrait through her other hand. Hundreds of violet strings shot out of the tip of her fingers with great velocity. They crossed the short distance to Alice in the blink of an eye and cut through the buildings and concrete around her.

    The surrounding structures were cut apart and diced into small pieces, whereas the violet strings restrained Alice''s movements. Simultaneously, the two other Lords unleashed their Soultraits. The body of one Lord expanded. His physique was reconstructed rapidly, his bones turning into metal and his flesh growing increasingly more resilient. The Lord''s height increased to over four-meters and hair grew all over his body, further strengthening his defenses. The Lord''s Soultrait turned him into a beast, therefore, granting him the name Beast.

    Beast passed through the opening Violet left for him and emerged in front of Alice. Alice was just about to block Beast''s attack when she lost control of the energy residing in her body. Alice required only a moment to realize that her energy veins had been sealed by thest Lord, preventing her from using her energy to reinforce her body physically, or to use her Soultrait.

    Attempting to use the power inside her was painful and exerted a toll on his body. However, Alice was familiar with this Soultrait. She knew the owner of this Soultrait very well, and she was overly familiar with the downsides of this Soultrait; the increasingly high energy consumption. Energy Seal was a Soultrait that required a tremendous amount of energy to be initiated and maintained. As long as the user possessed enough energy to maintain Energy Seal, it was near-impossible to break it. Unfortunately, with increasing resistance of the target, the user would have to use more energy to maintain the Energy Seal.

    With that in mind, Alice resisted the Energy Seal with all her might, while dealing with Beast as well. Beast''s ws swept down, sinking into her shoulder, and tearing her frozen armor apart. Alice didn''t expect the brute force of Beast''s attack to be that high, but she allowed the attack to impact. In exchange, her longsword cut through the highly resilient fur and hide of Beast''s leg. The longsword cut into Beast''s leg but it didn''t cut deep enough to inflict serious damage.

    This left Alice with no other choice but to pull the sword back and struggle a battle of attrition. She had to stall time until the Energy Seal on her would break. She retracted the sword and retreated, only for dozens of violet strings to cut into her frozen armor, slicing it apart piece by piece. Beast pushed closer to Alice, acting like the cut in his leg didn''t bother him. In fact, that was not far from the truth. After transforming into a beast, Beast''s natural regeneration increased rapidly. His wound stopped bleeding and it was only a matter of minutes before the wound would healpletely.

    The Lord using Energy Seal focused on his Soultrait. He didn''t jump into the battle with Beast. Instead, he allowed Beast and Violet to focus on inflicting damage and stalling time. The three Lords required time. Just like Alice, they had an ace up their sleeves. Initially, they wanted to capture Michael and escape using the spatial-type Soultrait of James. Unfortunately, Alice killed James before he could move them out of the city. Therefore, they had to resort to n B.

    The Lord using the Energy Seal retrieved a golden crystal and a dozen Common Energy Stones from his War Rune''s spatial storage. He crushed the Common Energy Stones, resulting in a spontaneous explosion of power to fill the air around them. The highly purified,pressed energy swept through the surrounding for a moment until the Lord tapped into thepressed energy. He channeled the energy into the golden crystal, slowly filling it with energy.

    The golden crystal began to glow dimly as the highly purified power filled it, bright sparks illuminating the sky.

    ''Spatial energy!'' Michael realized, his eyes narrowing the moment he discovered the golden sparks the golden crystal manifested.

    The golden crystal generated spatial energy. It required a tremendous amount of energy, but that hardly seemed like an issue given the purified energy that permeated the air.

    Michael had no idea how much control the Lord had over the spatial energy, but Spirit Eyes allowed him to see that the golden crystal established a faint link to the Lord.

    ''Can he create spatial portals ording to his will?'' He wondered, his expression souring.

    It was only fortunate that the violet strings around Michael grew weaker as Violet''s focus remained on Alice. Michael used the opportunity and unleashed Extraction in apressed and overclocked state, destroying the violet string with some effort.

    Violet noticed that some of her strings were destroyed, slowly ripped apart from within, but all she had to do to fix the issue was to create new violet strings. They coiled around Michael''s body, and cut into his flesh. Michael''s flesh felt much harder to cut through than before but its resilience was weaker. Oddly enough, itcked energy.

    Despite being unable to divert her attention from Alice, it wasn''t further difficult for Violet to keep Michael in check. He was merely a Lesser Lifeform, after all.

    The Energy Seal restrained Alice a lot but the effect wouldn''tst much longer. It was only a matter of time before the Energy Seal would be too weak to contain Alice. The Frozen Duchess was a pain in the ass. She was a naturalbat expert and dealing with her was much more difficult than the three Lords had anticipated. Even though her energy was sealed, restraining her usage of Frozen Kingdom, her Inheritance Technique and the vast majority of her other martial art techniques could be used to tackle Beast and Violet.

    She had yet to sustain any serious injuries, whereas Beast had been inflicted with a few wounds.

    Violet''s patience was waning so she decided to end the battle.

    She executed her Inheritance Technique, Storm of ded Strings, putting more pressure on Alice as the lethality of her strings increased by leaps and bounds. Violet transformed her strings into highly flexible des with razor-sharp edges.

    The strings cut through Alice''s frozen armor and sliced into her flesh. Alice uttered a muffled scream before cutting through the strings. The longsword swirled around her body with deadly precision, severing the strings just before they could inflict severe injuries. However, the attack was not yet over. It had just begun.

    Alice''s eyes narrowed and her focus increased instantaneously as hundreds of ded strings filled her peripheral view. Her body moved instinctively, the longsword in her hand dancing wildly, cutting through the majority of ded strings. Only a few strings managed to reach her body.

    Unfortunately, each string that managed to evade her sword-dance cut deep into her flesh, some even reaching her bones. Two ded strings managed to cut into her bone, nearly severing her wrist in a single go.

    As Alice was busy dealing with the Storm of ded Strings, while the energy in her body was still sealed, Beast didn''t hesitate to attack either. He required a few moments to execute his Inheritance technique, but once his preparations had beenpleted, he initiated a terrific attack.

    His monstrous body was like a bullet-train as he charged at Alice, flinging her through the air like a feather. Alice smashed hard into the nearest building. She crashed through the walls of the old, traditional building, which copsed on top of her right after.

    "How much longer do you need, Esmald?" Violet asked the Lord with the Energy Seal Soultrait.

    She turned her attention back to Michael, who was supposed to be tied up like a lovely christmas present. But he was not there anymore. Her violet strings were coiled around a corpse¡­the corpse of a Tekur. Somehow, the corpse of a Tekur had reced Michael in the tied knot of violet strings.

    Michael managed to escape Violet''s confinement of strings when she executed her Inheritance Technique. Storm of ded Strings required her entire focus, and a massive amount of energy. She executed the Inheritance Technique using her full mastery to eliminate Alice Zenovia before they could run away. By doing so, Violet created a small opening for Michael to escape, and he took it.

    He made use of her distraction and escaped. However, instead of running for his life, Michael emerged in the old, copsed building where he found Alice.

    Her entire body looked like a hundred people had stomped over her. She was bruised ck and blue and dozens of deep gashes decorated her fair skin. Michael had never seen Alice so beaten up. In fact, she had never been beaten, or so he thought.

    The Energy Seal on her body was still intact.

    Michael disregarded that and exerted Extraction to remove the Energy Seal as swiftly as possible. Thereafter, he used his newest creation, Heavenly Realm, with the Shard of Archangel''s Grace inside him. His Soul Power was quickly drained but the wounds all over his body and that of Alice healed rapidly.

    Alice opened her eyes and looked at Michael. The golden stigmatas covering his body grew dimmer and they were about to disappear entirely. Alice groaned and got up from the ground.

    "I didn''t expect you toe to rescue me. They''re here to kidnap you, you know?" She joked lightly, knowing damn well that there was no time to joke right now.

    "How about you beat them up a little bit?" Michael asked, ignoring her bad joke.

    Instead, he used the energy he''d extracted from the air around him to apply severalyers of Enhancement onto Alice''s body.

    "That should be enough," He mumbled,

    "Go, rip them apart!"

 Chapter 528 Castle of Eternal Ice

    <h4>Chapter 528 Castle of Eternal Ice</h4>

    Michael checked his signal on the crystal watch, but quickly realized that he was still unable to message anyone. It was a hassle.

    ''Someone should arrive soon, right?'' He wondered, his eyes drifting through the surrounding area to pinpoint some powerhouses. Oddly enough all he could find were Guards and other Awakened at the 4th Tier or lower.

    The ancient city might be the capital of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but that was namesake. It was the oldest city of the two war-loving races, thus bing their capital. The retired Elders of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs lived in the ancient city, but most of them had been forced into retirement after suffering severe injuries in battle. They were not strong enough to deal with the three human Lords even if they were to try to aid Alice.

    Of course, that didn''t mean the ancient city''s protection was insignificant. The capital''s defenses were extremely strong. The only issue was that the defensive mechanisms were highly destructive. Violet, Beast, and the other Lord were already in the center of the city. Therefore, other Awakened would have to deal with them since the capital''s defensive mechanisms would destroy far more structures and injure more innocent citizens than attacking the perpetrators.

    ''Where are the powerhouses when you need them?'' Michael cursed under his breath, wondering where the other human powerhouses were and what was going on with the Chieftain and War Priestess. Did they disappear into the Origin Expanse? They wouldn''t leave the capital unprotected¡­right?

    It was a little bit frustrating, but Michael guessed that he couldn''t rely on the protection or aid of other Awakened. He unleashed the Dome of Extraction to annex the highlypressed, purified energy in the surroundings. The energy flooded his body, only to be channeled through his veins before he used Insert to provide Alice as much energy as possible.

    Now that severalyers of Enhancement had been applied onto Alice, she felt much stronger than ever. The broken armor around her body regenerated and expanded. Her entire body, except her face, was covered in a highlypressed frozen armor, protecting her from harm. But that was not all. The frozen armor was a Legacy Technique derived from the Zenovia family''s Inheritance technique. It possessed several unique traits that aided Alice in battle.

    For one, the frozen armor blocked environmental effects. It regted her body temperature near-perfectly, insting her from the changes in the temperature outside. This allowed her to swim inva and traverse through Eternal Ice. Second, and most important, the frozen armor blocked various effects that would affect Alice under normal circumstances. Curses and malleable effects of Soultraits were weakened. The effects wouldn''t be nullified but they wouldn''t influence Alice too severely.

    Michael added a fewyers of Enhancement onto the frozen armor. Right after that, he used Insertbined with Extraction and Reinforced Sword Qi onto Alice''s longsword, further strengthening it.

    Alice noticed the changes in her frozen armor and longsword, and she nced at Michael for a second, the corner of her lip curling upward.

    "Your Soultraits are too amazing. Maybe, I should kidnap you?" She said in a teasing voice.

    Michael scoffed and patted her back, "Yes, yes. Kidnap me all you want after you beat up these idiots."

    Alice''s focus returned to the three Lords who had been looking for Michael. They found him next to Alice shortly after, but quickly realized that the pressure around Alice had intensified.

    The Lord with the Energy Seal frowned deeply, "I think Michael drained the purified energy in the proximity. The golden crystal is still not full. I''ll need one more minute. Let''s catch him and then leave!"

    His earlier confidence was now reced with a tinge of worry as he understood the dangers of their mission and felt that the pressure weighing down on him increased with every passing second. After all, spending more time in the center of the capital increased the chances of the failure of their mission. It was only a matter of time before the powerhouses hiding in the ancient capital would arrive and hunt them down.

    Taking a deep breath, the old Lord tapped into his lifeforce and executed the strongest form of his Inheritance technique, Reverser Energy Seal. His Soultrait sealed the energy within the targets under normal circumstances. However, by reversing Energy Seal one could turn the seal into a Support-type Soultrait. The Lord used Reverse Energy Seal onto Violet, Beast, and himself right before retrieving several hundred Inferior Energy Stones.

    He crushed the Inferior Energy Stones and let loose the effects of Reverse Energy Seal, sucking every ounce of energy within the Inferior Energy Stones from the air. The three Lords didn''t have to pay attention to the energy in the proximity as Reverser Energy Seal sucked everything into their bodies. The Reverse Energy Seal annexed the energy, allowing the three Lords to use the energy that had entered their bodies at once.

    Beast unleashed his Inheritance technique once again. His body expanded further and he charged at Alice. Simultaneously, Violet released close to 1,000 ded Strings toward the copsed building, turning the structure into a mountain of tiny dice.

    Michael could only frown as he readied to dash to the side and disappear from the center of the battlefield, but he was too slow. Violet''s ded strings were everywhere. There was no opening for Michael. He was confined in the encirclement of ded strings. He was fortunate that Alice was by his side.

    After Michael healed her using Heavenly Realm, and strengthened her body, frozen armor, and longsword, Alice''s power skyrocketed. She released her Soultrait, amplified with her Inheritance Technique.

    The Duchess'' Frozen Kingdom had been unleashed.

    The temperature in the entire capital dropped rapidly, and a towering castle made of ice manifested out of thin air. A throne of ice conjured behind Alice. She took a step back and sat down, her frozen armor connecting to the throne of her Frozen Kingdom. Alice pierced her longsword in the ground next to her, allowing the power that resided within the sword to connect to the remaining parts of the Castle of Eternal Ice.

    The effects inserted into her sword traversed through the Castle of Eternal Ice as well. The white hues of Enhancement, the silver threads of Reinforced Sword Qi, and the golden shimmer of Extraction swept through the Castle of Eternal Ice, further enhancing its power.

    Violet and the other Lords frowned deeply but they didn''t stop their attacks. Beast barged into the throne hall of the Castle of Eternal Ice and he elerated using his movement technique the moment he found Alice sitting on the throne. Her blue eyes stared coldly at Beast, enraging the Lord even further. He tapped deep into his pool of power and erupted. He kicked the ground and turned his body into a cannonball to crush Alice''s body with a single attack.

    However, long before Beast could reach Alice, thick pirs of Eternal ice formed in front of Beast. Beast had already started running at full speed and the pirs of Eternal Ice were too close to avoid. Therefore, Beast decided in a fraction of a second. He decided to barge through the pir of ice. The Legacy technique of the Sacred Beast''s Inheritance Technique reinforced the endurance of his body while also granting him more destructive power. It ought to be enough to destroy mere ice pirs!

    Alice raised an eyebrow as she observed Beast''s actions with mild interest. Beast crashed into the pir of eternal ice. The impact created a shockwave that reverberated throughout the entire castle, and cracks formed all around the pir of eternal ice.

    Michael realized quickly that Beast was strong enough to crush the pir of eternal ice. It shouldn''t be much of a problem for the Lord to destroy the pir. Unfortunately, there was not only one pir at this point. Alice manifested dozens of pirs around the first pir of Eternal Ice, but that was not all. Alice sealed the cracks all over the first pir of Eternal Ice the moment they appeared. She didn''t even give Beast a fraction of a second to believe that he had the upper hand. If anything, Alice utilized her Frozen Kingdom to control the surroundings as if it was her domain ¨C which was the case, to a certain extent.

    Alice''s Frozen Kingdom was far from simple. It was partially a Domain-type Soultrait that allowed her to control everything in her Frozen Kingdom''s range. Therefore she could slow down Beast with tens of pirs of Eternal Ice. Alice made Beast believe that he could manage to break through the first pir of Eternal Ice and let him willingly walk into her trap before quickly creating dozens of pirs around the first. She then sealed the destruction caused by Beast by trapping him in the Eternal Ice.

    Beast might not be dead, and he could escape the confinement of Eternal Ice, but Alice was confident that her power and technique were strong enough to keep Beast in check for a while. His transformation Soultrait was not strong enough to ovee the tremendous power of Alice''s Frozen Kingdom.

    Michael witnessed Alice and her powers intently. It was the first time he saw her unleash this kind of power. In fact, it was the first time he saw powerhouses go all-out against each other. He had always been certain that his power was grand and that it was only a matter of time before he could defeat the powerhouses of the human race. However, he was utterly mistaken.

    Alice was only in possession of one 6-Star Soultrait, yet her proficiency and techniques were extraordinary. She was on a whole different level than the other Lords. It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

    Michael doubted that he could inflict any harm on Alice even if he were to give his all to beat her.

    In fact, even if he were to unleash the hidden power of Extraction, he wouldn''t be strong enough to reach Alice. Not yet, at least.

 Chapter 529 Trap

    <h4>Chapter 529 Trap</h4>

    The moment Alice''s Castle of Eternal Ice manifested in the center of the ancient capital, Violet and the other Lord figured that they had to go all out, otherwise, they might not only fail their mission but die as well.

    Failure was still eptable. They could try capturing Michael once again at ater point in time. However, death was permanent. Neither Violet nor Beast, or the Lord of the Energy Seal wanted to die.

    Violet retrieved dozens of Common Energy Stones and crushed them into pieces, resulting in a burst of energy to flood the surroundings. The Reverse Energy Seal ced on her sucked in a tremendous amount of thepressed, purified energy, allowing her to relieve the Storm of ded Strings with several thousands violet strings. She then added a Legacy Technique to further reinforce the power of her Soultrait. As a result, the ded strings cut deep into the Castle of Eternal ice, slowly breaking the structure apart.

    Unfortunately, Alice didn''t stay idle as the Castle of Eternal Ice was being attacked. She manifested thousands of Ice Swords and by tapping into the power that had temporarily merged with the Castle of Eternal Ice, Alice could strengthen thepressed Ice Swords by applying a trace of Enhancement, Reinforced Sword Qi, and Extraction on them.

    Alice''s precise control of her Soultrait permitted her to control thousands of Ice Swords with great precision. She transformed the swords into an ice storm of Swords, which she threw toward the Storm of ded Strings.

    Due to the amplification caused by Enhancement, Reinforced Sword Qi, and Extraction, Alice''s Sword Ice Storm was strong enough to cut through Violet''s ded strings.

    "How can you be this strong?!?" Violet screamed at the top of her lungs, unable to understand how a young woman such as Alice could be stronger than her. She was dozens of years older than Alice, yet the disparity in their power level was this vast. How could that be?

    "Being old doesn''t automatically mean that you''re strong. You''ve grown rusty after acquiring enough power to be on par with other races. Your wealth and the strength of your territory might be exceptional, but you stopped practicing your Soultrait. I can tell that you haven''t participated in a real battle of life-and-death for decades. All you do is exploit others with your dominance and wealth," Alice shouted, her voice thundering through the Castle of Eternal Ice, "That''s also why your own people have begun to loathe you, Veronica Park."

    Violet, or Veronica Park, frowned deeply. The veil of invisibility shrouded her expression and identity, yet all Alice required to find out the real identity of her opponent was her Soultrait, Inheritance Technique and the Legacy she used. Veronica Park was far from weak. She was a powerhouse at the Peak of the 5th Tier. She had a territory after attaining the rank of a Duchess with thousands of Awakened following hermands. But despite all of that, Veronica Park was weaker than Alice Zenovia.

    Alice was one of the youngest Tier-5 powerhouses of the human race. She was the youngest Duchess and it was only a matter of time before she acquired the title of a Queen. Her territory was expanding rapidly, and the Will of the Origin Expanse acknowledged this.

    Veronica Park grit her teeth and was just about to unleash a barrage of ten thousand ded Strings when the Lord of the Energy Seal appeared next to her. His right arm was coated in spatial energy, a portal forming to his left.

    "We failed. Let''s leave for now," He urged, ignoring Veronica Park''s struggle as his left arm coiled around her waist. He pulled her toward him and was just about to jump into the spatial portal that was supposed to transport them to a safe spot when the scene around the ancient capital changed.

    The fabric of space and time twisted and everything that had been destroyed in the battle of the Lords was repaired at once. Alice''s Castle of Eternal Ice dispersed, revealing Alice and Michael smiling from ear to ear.

    "I was already wondering when you guys would appear¡­" Michaelined lightly, his vibrant eyes staring at a spot behind Veronica and the other Lord.

    Just as Michael''s voice reverberated through the vicinity, the spatial portal burst apart, destroying the two Lords''st means of escape.

    Veronica and the Lord of the Energy Seal turned around, their eyes widened in shock as a crowd of close to 100 powerhouses emerged out of nowhere.

    The War Priestess and the Berserker''s Chieftain were leading the group of powerhouses, their expressions filled with anger and disgust.

    Two old men stepped forward. They walked through the air and stopped next to the Chieftain and War Priestess, their eyes overflowing with disappointment.

    "It''s just like you predicted," One of the old men said to the other, who was none other than Kraft Viton. He could only sigh deeply.

    "If someone knows about the greed of our race¡­then it''s me," He mumbled, "It''s not something to be proud about, Hugo."

    Hugo, the other old man, could only agree, "A certain degree of greed is good. It motivates us to grow stronger and exceed our limits. Unfortunately, too few can handle the greed that is growing in the core of their hearts. The stronger they grow the more they desire."

    Veronica and the other Lord stared nkly at the crowd of powerhouses, realization dawning upon them.

    "All of this¡­" Veronica mumbled, clearly at a loss of words.

    "All of this was a trap, yep," Kraft Viton said, patting Hugo''s back, "His Illusions have grown much stronger than before. Don''t you think so?"

    "We never had a chance to escape with Michael¡­did we?" The Lord of the Energy Seal asked rhetorically.

    Kraft Viton didn''t pay any attention to him. He merely shrugged and nced over to Michael.

    ''To think that he managed to escape without our help. He stayed calm throughout the entire incident and didn''t even think once about waiting for us to rescue him.''

    It had been quite a while since Kraft Viton came up with a simple n to capture those who lost the fight against the greed that had umted in their hearts. Kraft Viton gave Michael an emergency crystal, which used a different frequency than the crystal watch and the Runic Gate. Crushing the emergency crystal alerted Kraft Viton, who forwarded the emergency situation to the Chieftain and War Priestess. And both of them had already been waiting for this moment.

    Everyone knew that some households of the High Society would be unwilling to leave Michael alone. They wanted him for themselves, and nned to use him as their personal asset to grow stronger. It was only a matter of time before the first families grew impatient.

    Despite that, nobody expected Michael to be strong enough to be able to escape the confinement of four Lords that easily. Alice did an exceptional job distracting the Lords, even finishing one of them, but it was still not easy to escape the violet strings of Veronica Park, as a Lowest Tier-3 Lord, at that.

    "That was intense," Michael mumbled, tapping his chest lightly.

    His heartbeat was erratic and the excitement still hadn''t died down. For a moment he had grown worried amid the battle because Kraft Viton and his reinforcement had been nowhere in his range of sight, but the worries dispersed when he witnessed the true extent of Alice''s power. Her disy of power was terrifying, to put simply. It demonstrated quite easily how strong Alice was and that the disparity in strength between Higher Lifeforms was tremendous.

    Michael was not certain how strong the Soultraits of the four attacking Lords had been but he knew that each of them was a Tier-5 Lord. Alice was currently a Tier-5 Lord as well, however, her attacks had been several times stronger than theirs.

    "Your Soultraits are pretty powerful. No wonder you''re stronger than Killian at this point," Alice remarked. She wanted to sound nonchnt but the astonishment in her voice exposed her true feelings.

    She was certain that she hadn''t been as strong as Michael when she was 19-years-old. It took her years to study Frozen Kingdom and reach her current level. Alice studied her Soultrait for years and she had yet to find its true potential. Yet, Michael was in ownership of half a dozen or more powerful Soultraits while being so young.

    Even if he didn''t procure more Soultraits for himself, studying the Soultraits he possessed was already more than enough to be one of the strongest powerhouses of the human race. That was scary, and it showed the potential of Michael''s first Soultrait.

    If he could produce more powerhouses like himself that meant he could create his own High Society. It was dangerous¡­and an opportunity.

    Alice understood why some households of the High Society would want to kidnap Michael. Getting hold of Michael and his powers meant that a household could reach the top of the High Society within years. In fact, one might be able to overthrow the High Society and be the sole rulers of the entire Tritan Alliance.

    No matter how Alice looked at it, Michael''s power was too unique and tempting.

    "I should be stronger than Killian since I''ve advanced to Tier-3 recently. But I think he will advance to a Higher Lifeform in a few weeks. He''s been postponing his advancement to reach a higher mastery of his Soultrait and Inheritance Technique. Well¡­and to participate in the Interdimensional g War," Michael responded with a shrug.

    "He will be stronger than me once he advances to a Higher Lifeform. Meanwhile, my power level won''t increase drastically for the next few months. I have other things to take care of. I need to earn a fortune, after all."

    Michael was not in a rush to grow stronger than Killian. If anything, Michael hoped that Killian Zeus would grow much stronger. That way, he had another sparring partner who was willing to go all-out against him.

    That sounded interesting¡­right?

 Chapter 530 Proposal

    <h4>Chapter 530 Proposal</h4>

    "Your injuries are pretty grave. Don''t strain yourself much and dissolve the frozen armor slowly," Giuliana Seraph, matriarch of the Seraph household, told Alice upon arriving next to her.

    Giuliana released her Soultrait, coating Alice in a dense miasma of holy power. Upon using her Soultrait to heal Alice, the matriarch noticed something.

    "You''re not injured anymore? I was told that your wrists were nearly severed and¡­" Giuliana''s head flicked to Michael, whose wounds had also healed, an expression of understanding dawning upon her.

    "I tended to our wounds," Michael affirmed the matriarch''s suspicion, "But I focused on the severe injuries. Maybe, I missed out?on healing some cuts."

    Michael had been in a rush to heal Alice mid-battle. He was also not that proficient with Archangel''s Grace, let alone Heavenly Realm. It was the first time he used a Healing-type Soul Technique. Giuliana should take a look at Alice ensuring that he didn''t miss anything.

    "You did a pretty good job," The matriarchmended Michael, eying him with a raised eyebrow, "I didn''t expect your proficiency at controlling Archangel''s Grace to have reached such a high level already. It must have been quite difficult."

    Michael grinned at the words of appreciation and retrieved the Heavenly Realm Soul Technique.

    "My mastery with Archangel''s Grace is horrendous. Fortunately, I managed to finish customizing Maria''s Soul Technique before the four Lords attempted to kidnap me," He exined, handing the tome to Giuliana,pleting his mission, atst.

    "You''re already done? And you managed to exert the technique as well? That is¡­impressive," The matriarch mumbled to herself before opening the tome. She continued to tend to the minor wounds all over Alice''s body as the frozen armor dispersed, and she got engrossed in reading.

    Michael studied her as Giuliana read through the tome. her expressions changed dozens of times. At first, she was intrigued, and shock reced her curiosity, only to be intrigued again about the strategy Michael had used to customize the Soul Technique.

    It was the first time she saw a fully tranted version of a Soul Technique, and the matriarch quickly realized how valuable the technique was.

    No. It was not only the customized Soul Technique that was valuable. The most valuable was the creator of the customized Soul Technique and the speed with which hepleted his job was outstanding.

    Giuliana Seraph read through the tome thrice before she closed it. One eyebrow raised, she stared at Michael, not uttering a single sound.

    "Soul Techniques use up Soul Power so I didn''t want to create a Soul Technique for the transformation part of Maria''s Soultrait. Heaven''s Descent focuses on the Summoning portion in Archangel''s Grace as well. Therefore, I figured that the healing domain should be enhanced. If you, or Maria, want to change Heavenly Realm I can do that, but I don''t think that the Common ss Soul Technique can be improved."

    Maybe that sounded a bit arrogant but Michael was certain that he created the best possible Common Soul Technique for Archangel''s Grace. It might be possible to create better Elite ss Soul Techniques for Archangel''s Grace, but Michael had yet to finish studying the few Elite ss Soul Techniques he''d procured from the Tekur and the traitorous Descendants. He would have to spend some time and focus on studying the technique before he could create some on his own.

    Heavenly Realm was already the best he could create.

    "No, no. It''s fine. Heavenly Realm is great. Don''t worry," Giuliana waved her hand, trying to console Michael, who chuckled lightly seeing that the matriarch of the Seraph family seemed flustered. That was truly unexpected.

    Giuliana''s eyes locked onto Michael. She analyzed the youthful Lord for a while.

    ording to the report she read about Michael, Maria''s statements, and her encounters with him, Michael seemed like a loyal man. He was kind, trustworthy, and far from arrogant. His desire to support his friends was a great trait. Unfortunately, that could also be used against him.

    It hadn''t been all that long since Giuliana epted Michael''s request to help Frederik Kolbenheim''s father. The matriarch researched the Kolbenheim family and their connection to Michael, but all she found contradicted their rtionship. Their first encounter was in a shopping center where the Barbaric Couple ended up in a small scuffle with Michael. After that, they attended the Saphirke Military Academy together.

    Giuliana was not sure how their friendship developed into a bond strong enough for Michael to give away a highly valuable customized Soul Technique in exchange for Igor Kolbenheim''s recuperation, but she loved this about Michael. Almost everything she read about Michael was positive. There was no particr red g in sight. If anything, Michael was a human being overflowing with green and golden gs. Consequently, her respect for him increased.

    "Do you like Maria?" She thus asked the smiling youth.

    "Huh? Where did that questione from?" Alice jumped into the conversation. She yanked Michael behind her and stared daggers at Giuliana Seraph.

    "Why are you butting in our conversation, Alice Zenovia? I doubt that you''re in a rtionship with Michael, so how about you drop the act of a possessive girlfriend?" The matriarch asked sharply, however, Alice didn''t move an inch.

    Michael peeked out from behind Alice, not quite understanding why the two mature women stared at each other like mortal enemies.

    "I do like Maria. She is a nice girl. It''s refreshing to see that the soon-to-be strongest healer of the Tritan Alliance has a good personality. She is different from most Descendants and treats everyone equally. Well, almost everyone," He responded to Giuliana, whose gazended on him again. The corner of her lip curled upward.

    The matriarch was not exactly satisfied with the answer but it was better than nothing. They were not in a rush. Not yet, at least. Alice saw a glimmer in Giuliana''s eyes and cleared her throat to pull Michael''s attention toward her.

    "Doesn''t the same apply to Kaleb and your other friends?" She asked.

    Michael thought about it for a moment before he nodded, "It''s not exactly the same because I had to beat some sense into Kaleb, but Kaleb, Zeke, and Lincoln are good guys. I do like them. Frederik and Jacqueline are fun as well, though they have some trouble these days."

    "But then again. I like you as well, Alice. I got to know you even before I manifested my War Rune. You helped me unconditionally and today you tried to protect me while putting yourself in danger. You might look like a cold person to others, but to me, you''re a nice and caring person. Your personality is great, your strength is unrivaled among your peers, and you are drop-dead gorgeous. I''m pretty sure that everyone would agree with me if they were to see your true self!" Michael added,plimenting Alice.

    He grinned vibrantly at Alice, who was too astounded to respond. She fluttered a few times and stared at Michael before her ears turned beet-red. Her lips parted but she couldn''t say anything. No word escaped her lips. Alice flushed red and she subconsciously used Frozen Kingdom to cool down her rising body temperature.

    Giuliana Seraph observed the two, her eyes narrowed.

    ''That''s going to be harder than expected.''

    She cleared her throat and dropped a bomb, "If you like Maria, what do you think about marrying her?"

    "HUHHH?!?" The embarrassment Alice felt just a moment ago dispersed, shock and disbelief recing it.

    Michael was also stupefied. Had the matriarch of the Seraph family lost her mind?!

    "What do you say? I''m pretty sure Maria likes you, and you have nothing against her either. You said that you like her. Romantic feelings can be developed as long as you and Maria grow closer. The next few years in the Saphirke Military Academy can solve that easily. Growing closer to her will help you umte more of Maria''s power inside you, and you might be able to strengthen the Shard of Archangel''s Grace within your War Rune as well. You and Maria can live happily together while your powers grow stronger. That sounds nice, doesn''t it?" Giuliana Seraph added.

    "Are you¡­serious right now?" Michael asked, still pretty sure that Giuliana Seraph was joking.

    However, the seriousness and determination in the matriarch''s eyes revealed the truth pretty easily. The matriarch reaffirmed his suspicion as well.

    "I am dead serious."

 Chapter 531 Meal

    <h4>Chapter 531 Meal</h4>

    ''What the hell just happened?'' Michael asked himself, still confused about the sudden proposal.

    He was fortunate that Giuliana Seraph received a call before she could put more pressure on Michael, but that didn''t change the fact that the matriarch of the Seraph family was hoping to engage Maria with him.

    "Finally she left," Alice cursed quietly under her breath as the matriarch of the Seraph family left in a hurry.

    Alice didn''t look that well after listening to Giuliana Seraph''s sudden proposal. She nced in Michael''s direction but was at a loss of words for a while.

    "Will you consider marrying Maria? Her family is one of the wealthiest families and they''re connected to almost all members of High Society," She asked Michael.

    Michael was still quite shocked, but he shook his head, "I''m currently too busy to even think aboutmitting to a rtionship."

    "At least, that''s what I want to say. The bitter truth, however, is that even if I find someone I like romantically¡­it will be a mess," He mumbled. "The moment Imit to a rtionship, the person I love would be frowned upon. Everyone would think she''s an opportunist, or that she''s a vixen for making me fall in love with her after my power''s were exposed. One way or another, some households of High Society might attempt to approach my lover and manipte her into bing their tool to approach or harm me."

    "I don''t want to put anyone in danger, and even if the other party doesn''t care about that¡­how can I be certain that they didn''t approach me with an ulterior move?" Michael asked, sighing deeply.

    He knew that he could use Mind Reader to read the mind of his lover whenever he wanted, but if he started doubting his lover¡­how was he supposed to create a firm bond of trust and dependence with someone?

    Alice understood what Michael meant, but her heart ached to see Michael like that. Until a year ago, Michael had been an ordinary person. He wasn''t part of High Society and nobody really cared about him. In fact, he was treated like a pushover by some children of small, and mid-sized families.

    One year was all it took to change Michael''s life drastically. He evolved into a bigshot who was strong enough to deal with Descendants several years older than him, and he attracted the attention of the High Society, in its entirety. Even the Tritan Alliance was interested in him and his power.

    "Are you fine?" Michael asked Alice. She had been staring at him for quite a while, her expression filled with sadness. Her anger and confusion about Giuliana''s proposal to Michael were washed away, sadness recing her hate and helplessness.

    She hated being part of the High Society since the family heads and elders could decide their future. They could order them to marry some other Descendant merely for the sake of strengthening the families'' bonds. Alice was only fortunate that their families didn''t find her a suitable groom yet. That was also why she was desperate to grow stronger. She had a 6-Star Soultrait and was already a Tier-5 Lord. Her parents wouldn''t want her to marry someone weaker, someone with less potential. Her father wanted to create the strongest generation of the Zenovia family using her and strengthen their bloodline.

    Thus, her father was in search of a bigshot with exceptional talent to marry her to. On the contrary, Alice was trying to advance to Tier-6 and grow beyond the control and dominance he exerted on the entire family. Now that she thought about it, Michael was much unluckier. He had no family to protect him. He was alone, yet, everyone wanted to make use of him.

    "I''m¡­fine¡­" Alice responded to Michael after a while.

    Michael observed her and felt a pang of guilt.

    "I''m sorry."

    "Huh? What? Why?" Alice was pulled out of her train of thought and stared at Michael.

    "Well, you were injured because of me. And¡­" Michael started to exin, only for Alice to raise her hand, "What nonsense are you talking about? Sustaining injuries is normal. It''s not the first time that I was injured, and it won''t be thest time either. Why would you be sorry about that?"

    She cleared her throat and some color returned to her face as she added, "If you''re sorry, treat me to a meal, or something like that!"

    Michael''s stomach growled at that moment. It looked like his stomach agreed.

    "Let''s get something to eat then. I''m starving."

    Alice and Michael went to a nearby restaurant and ordered a mountain of dishes. They heard some gossip about the recent events, including rumors about Michael''s power, his rtionship with other Descendants, and the attack of the four Lords. Apparently, Beast, Veronica, and the other Lord had been imprisoned, and their War Runes had been crushed into thousands of pieces to make an example.

    "You''re quite popr, aren''t you?" Alice teased Michael, who could only shrug.

    "Did they really break their War Rune?" Michael asked instead.

    "I''m not too sure, but I don''t think so. Punishing Lords of esteemed families usually takes a while. All I know is that I won''t receive any punishment for killing James Walton and that the others have been put into jail, their energy veins severed. If they want to demonstrate what happens to anyone who tries to kidnap you, they''ll break their War Runes publicly. If they want to divert everyone''s attention from the kidnapping effort they will think of something else to do so," Alice responded.

    "Maybe, I should message Kraft Viton and tell him to change the date of the Soultrait auction. Pulling everyone''s attention to the Soultrait auction should do the trick."

    "You decided to partner with the Bartholomew Corporation?" Alice inquired while ying with her fork, seemingly uninterested in the dishes.

    Michael continued to devour the dishes around him like the Glutton he was.

    "I did. They''re not affiliated with anyone, so I''ll have an easier time."

    "How many Soultraits are you going to sell to the Bartholomew Corporation? Are you considering selling Soultraits privately as well?" Alice inquired all of a sudden.

    "I gave Kraft Viton six Soultraits, two for each race. It''s just an appetizer though. All Soultriats in my possession are 1-Star. Whoever manages to buy the Soultraits will have toe to me and ask for my help to upgrade them. As for private sales, I''m not sure. I was nning to use some Soultraits to get hold of some Adventurers. I should be able to lure a few dozen Adventurers into my group. All I''m missing are loyal and hard-working Adventurers and a bunch of Teleportation Tokens."

    "So it''s like that. That means you''ll probably ept Zeron Polik and everyone else who wants to join your territory, right?" Alice asked.

    "I like Zeron Polik, so¡­yeah, why not? Everyone will have to sign a Soul Pact and undergo a long interrogation under the scrutiny of Mind Reader, but that shouldn''t be much of an issue."

    "Can I buy a Soultrait as well? Not as part of the Zenovia family, but as Alice, a perfectly ordinary Awakened¡­"

    ''Hmm?'' Michael peeked at Alice. He had a hard time keeping his mouth shut and not blurting out the thoughts that shed through his mind.

    Was she nning to slowly detach herself from the Zenovia family? Michael had no idea.

    "Eh¡­sure. I owe you a lot. It''s only fair for me to repay you. What Soultrait are you looking for?"

    Alice smiled at Michael and rocked her head.

    "Not now. I just wanted to ask if I''m allowed to buy a Soultrait from you."

    That was weird, but Michael merely shrugged and switched his attention to the food in front of him.

    They continued to enjoy their meal ¨C at least, Michael did. Hepleted more than 15 tes overflowing with savory dishes in the next 20 minutes, yet his stomach was still empty. His body was in dire need of more nutrition and energy, therefore, he ced a few more orders. He only ordered an additional 30 tes stuffed with delicious food or so. It was not that much.

    Alice eyed Michael as he evolved into the incarnation of Glutton with a smile. Sometimes she couldn''t believe that Michael had be a bigshot. However, the hushed murmurs reaching her ears through all corners of the restaurant rified that Michael''s existence was much more impactful than most people wanted to acknowledge.

    "Did you hear that the Park and Walton family made an official statement? They apologized publicly about the actions of their members, and hope that Michael Fang can forgive them for not raising their future generation Lords properly." One of the voices said.

    "I heard something simr. James Walton, Veronica Park, and the two other Lords went out of control. Their families abandoned them, saying that they have nothing to do with Michael''s kidnapping." A second voice revealed.

    "Apparently, all four families have issues with their territories in the Origin Expanse and the businesses outside the Origin Expanse are slowing down as well. It looks like these poor Lords tried to alter their family''s fate by kidnapping Michael. Unfortunately, it made everything worse. Poor idiots."

    Michael raised his head from the te in front of him and looked at Alice. She''d heard the three Berserkers'' gossip as well.

    "That''s nonsense. Don''t listen to them. Nobody can tell me that the Elders and Patriarchs didn''t know anything about the kidnapping attempt," Alice grumbled, "The Investigator will find out the truth soon enough."

    Michael didn''t respond to anything. He returned to his meal andpleted thest batch of dishes in the next 20 minutes. Once he was done eating, Michael paid for the meal and they departed the restaurant.

    Only a few hourster the result of the Investigator''s investigation was revealed. The three Lords couldn''t remember anything. Their memories of thest 48 hours had been wiped out.

    Weird.

 Chapter 532 Meeting I

    <h4>Chapter 532 Meeting I</h4>

    The Saphirke Military Academy announced new changes for the start of the second semester. For one, the Saphirke Military Academy would change into a ce that epted prodigies of the entire Tritan Alliance. This was a means to strengthen the Tritan Alliance''s internal bonds epassing various races and grow stronger as one entity.

    At least, that was what the official thread imed. However, the truth was that the Saphirke Military Academy turned into the yground of the Tritan Alliance because of Michael. It felt weird to think like that but it was true. The people, races and organizations around Michael changed gradually, slowly adapting to him.

    There were various other changes Michael caused by stating that he would stay in the Saphirke Military Academy until he graduated. Tens of thousands of transfer applications reached the management department of the Saphirelike Military Academy, followed by heavy donations and various unique offers that the Saphirke Military Academy''s administration couldn''t reject.

    Even young core disciples of the Great ns and highly talented rookies of the strongest Guilds decided to apply to the Saphirke Military Academy.

    At first nce, it seemed like everyone wanted to transfer to the Saphirke Military Academy because of Michael, but that was not the sole reason. Since the Descendants and Heirs of the biggest households and organizations suddenly wanted to get admitted there, everyone else followed suit.

    Why? Wasn''t the reason obvious?

    Everyone desired to socialize and establish a clique, or group, to trade the goods they procured in the Origin Expanse. Establishing arge group with hundreds of Descendants was everyone''s goal, allowing the Descendants and Heirs to procure the ingredients and materials they required rapidly. No matter how rare certain materials and ingredients would be, having a group of hundreds of powerhouses to trade with would solve the material scarcity in the blink of an eye.

    Michael understood that he could save lots of trouble by pursuing the same. He could create a group with Lincoln, Zeke, Kaleb, Frederik, Jacqueline, Maria, and maybe even Alice, to trade goods on a daily basis. However, Michael had a much better trump card up his sleeve; The Bartholomew Corporation.

    He considered creating his own organization where he would sell Neutral Soul Techniques, the Soul Energy Fusion technique, Soultraits, and a wide variety of other goods that could only be procured in the Untamed Jungle, but he quickly realized that establishing a trading firm required too much time, effort, and experience. Michael was inexperienced and he couldn''t spare time, and effort in administrative tasks either. Therefore, he decided to turn the Bartholomew Corporation into his yground, to a certain degree, at least.

    ''I will use my unique products to elevate the Bartholomew Corporation to new heights and the Bartholomew Corporation will help me obtain whatever I need. Win-win.''

    That was Michael''s n, and it seemed to work decently fine. The Bartholomew Corporation wished to leave no stone unturned to reveal and advertise the Soultrait Symbol Auction all over the Tritan Alliance. Simultaneously, Kraft Viton had initiated the establishment of the Soul Technique Department, a facility that was fully focused on mass-producing the Soul Energy Fusion, and Neutral Soul Techniques. Kraft Viton was still searching for trusted workers with suitable Soultraits and techniques to mass-produce the Soul Energy Fusion techniques wlessly, but it was only a matter of time before the mass production would start. By the time the products rolled out in the shops all over the Tritan Alliance''snds, Michael should have finished creating several Neutral Common Soul Techniques.

    For now, Michael had to deal with other things. Kraft Viton was good enough at his job to leave him be. On the contrary, Michael had yet to start one of the most important tasks as a Lord. He was about to ept the first Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs into his territory.

    Obviously, Michael wouldn''t allow some random strangers to barge into his territory. Hence, he held a meeting for all Awakened who desired to join his territory as his subordinates.

    The meeting was held in one of therge ancient halls in the center of the ancient city. Michael received permission to use the hall for the meeting as it yed a vital role in the future of Michael''s territory, and the rtionship between Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs. The only condition Michael had to fulfill in exchange for the permission to use one of the ancient halls was¡­to allow a representative of each race to attend it.

    Michael was against this, at first, butter could see where the War Priestess and the Chieftain wereing from. None of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs who openly revealed their willingness to join Michael''s territory had been subordinates to another Lord before. Forget bing the subordinate of a human Lord, they hadn''t even considered obeying themands of other young Berserkers and Warlock Centaur in their lives. Hence, bing a human''s subordinate was an alien concept for the young Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Only tomes about the ancient history of the Berserkers revealed snippets of something simr happening in the distant past.

    At the end of the day, Michael agreed that it was better to give a representative of each Race the chance to convey possible issues. It might cause some scuffles but the long-term results would be far better. With that in mind, the meeting was held the next day.

    "First of all, I want to greet everyone to the meeting. As you all might know, this little meeting is being held to determine whether you guys are suitable to be my subordinates, and if I meet your expectations as your potential Lord," Michael started the meeting with a rather simple introduction, "Let me present myself once again. I''m Michael Fang, I will turn 19 years old in a few weeks, and I''m a Tier-3 Lord at the Lowest rank."

    Michael''s vibrant golden eyes traveled through therge ancient hall once he finished his introduction. He observed the reaction of the Adventurers around him and raised an eyebrow.

    More than a hundred Adventurers were present, most of them being Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers. This was not unexpected for Michael since they were currently in the ancient capital of the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers. The humans that managed to reach the ancient capital were all participants of the g War, and most probably either Descendants or prodigies who''d been picked up and trained by other households.

    "Dimitriv Ruchco, Lamia Lumia, Yves Welt¡­." Michael listed out a total of 31 Awakened, the vast majority being human Descendants, before his gaze stopped on Kaleb Zenovia, "...and Kaleb Zenovia. Everyone I called out just now¡­leave before I add you to my cklist!"

    Amotion rang through the ancient hall. Even the War Priestess raised her eyebrow. Four of the names Michael had just mentioned were Warlock Centaurs.

    A young Descendant, probably around Michael''s age, leaped up and pointed at Michael.

    "Why the hell should we leave? We cleared our schedule to attend in this idiotic meeting. I showed you more than enough respect. How about you learn from me, and everyone else, instead of acting like an all-mighty little child?!"

    Following the example of their short-tempered friend, a bunch of Descendants leaped up andined as well. However, that was all they did.

    ''Barking dogs don''t bite. What an apt saying!'' Michael thought, observing the barking Descendants. They pointed fingers at him and raised their voices, but the words escaping their lips were nothing but hot air.

    Michael shook his head, a light chuckle escaping his lips. As he observed the Awakened participating in the meeting, he noticed something that made him call out a bunch of them. First of all, the majority of the names he''d called out were disinterested. They were clearly not interested in bing Michael''s subordinates. There was no reason for them to be at this meeting if they didn''t even want to listen to his words.

    Meanwhile, other participants were Lords. Lords couldn''t be the subordinates of other Lords. Their powers as Lords would sh, slowly destroying each other, or consuming the weaker Lord. That meant these participants were not here to be his subordinates either. On the other hand, there were also Heirs and a bunch of highly talented Descendants, the most talented children of their families. Obviously, their families wouldn''t want them to be Michael''s subordinates either.

    A single nce was all Michael needed to pinpoint those who were unwilling to be his subordinates from the vast crowd in the jam-packed hall. Most of them were humans, and their intention to attend in the conference was quite obvious. They were trying to get closer to him in the private setting of the meeting.

    "If I cklist you and your families, neither of you will be able to purchase Soultraits, or Soul Techniques. I mean¡­if you don''t care about getting cklisted feel free to stay. I won''t take responsibility for your families'' reactions though. That''s your headache, not mine." Michael scoffed. He cursed silently in his heart. Why the hell were they even here if they were not interested in bing his subordinates? Was he an entertainment program or what?

    Some Descendants cursed, whereas others frowned. Nheless, they got up from their chairs and headed to the door to depart. No matter how confident they were in their family''s influence, they couldn''t afford to get cklisted from purchasing Soul Techniques and Soultraits. Their families would execute them publicly to pacify Michael and revoke their names from the cklist.

    The thought alone was enough to make them shudder. They hurriedly left the ancient hall without a backward nce.

    This included a few Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs who weren''t actually interested in bing Michael''s subordinates. All they desired was the power Michael could grant them through customized Soul Techniques and Soultraits.

    As the number of Awakened in the room decreased, Michael diverted his concentrate to Kaleb, who didn''t move an inch.

    "Me too?" Kaleb asked, staring at Michael with puppy eyes, his lips turning downward.

    "Isn''t that obvious!" Michael asked, pointing to the door. "Go!"

 Chapter 533 Meeting II

    <h4>Chapter 533 Meeting II</h4>

    The meeting started for good and it didn''t take long before more Awakened left the meeting hall. Even some of those who Michael didn''t notice earlier, decided to leave. They realized that Michael was not a suitable Lord for them. They wanted to be Michael''s subordinate to procure Soultraits and Soul Techniques from him, to grow stronger by utilizing Michael''s influence.

    There was nothing wrong with that approach. It was the way of a mercenary- To work and fight in exchange for wealth, connections and influence. It was a temporary aspect, not permanent. However, that was not what Michael wanted. Michael wanted subordinates who stayed with him until death separated them.

    Michael made it clear that if he started to invest his Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments into his subordinates, they would have to stay with him permanently. That was one of the conditions he wouldn''t change no matter what happened.

    If they desired to leave after he granted them several Soultraits, Soul Techniques, and whatnot, they would have to pay the price. Michael was not a charity.

    Michael realized that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs respected him, but it was also quite evident that they didn''t like the prospect of being tied to him permanently. At least, they wanted options to choose from.

    "How about you tell us more about your territory and the current situation in and around your territory?" The Chieftain asked, trying to steer the meeting in the right direction. "Revealing more information about your territory would help everyone assess the situation and danger of bing your subordinates. The details will also affect the uses in the final contract."

    Initially, Michael intended to hold the meeting to investigate the applicants. He totally forgot that both parties would ce their demands and conditions. The Awakened who would ept his proposal wouldn''t work for him for free. That was only obvious. They wouldn''t want to endanger their lives without getting paid. The Awakened were not a charity either, after all!

    "That seems only fair. I don''t want to be usedter, either way," Michael responded lightly.

    He didn''t see a reason to lie about his territory. Michael didn''t have to hide much, other than the fact that he owned an extremely old ancient ruin. Michael was unwilling to reveal the existence of the Temple of the Forgotten in the Underground Forging Hall. Outsiders didn''t have to know about the Temple of the Forgotten. The same applied to the being that resided underneath his territory. Michael didn''t even know what kind of being resided beneath the home of the Elementals.

    "My territory is located in a humongous region called, Untamed Jungle. I''ve been living in the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle near a Native Empire called Zentika Empire, and arge Savannah Region. The growth of flora and fauna in the Untamed Jungle is extremely fast, resulting in periodical cullings to maintain the monster poption. The vast majority of Monsters are at the Peak of Tier-1, and Tier-2. However, the strength of monsters increases as we venture deeper into the Untamed Jungle¡­"

    At some point, Michael began to talk more in detail about his enemies. He revealed his conflict with the Zentika Empire and the fact that they were at war with another Lord on the opposite side of the Zentika Empire. Michael talked about the regional warfare in the Savannah region as well. There was no need to hide that he was in contact with the Trnce and that he considered helping them out at ater point in time.

    Michael didn''t shy away from talking about the Mythic Serpent and other necessary information either. He felt that it was only fair to share a considerable amount of information with candidates, who might be his subordinates in the near future. Michael talked about the Forest Elves as well and the fact that he has already given them Soultraits. He even revealed that most of thend in the Untamed Jungle was now home to monsters after he eliminated the Kitsun Lord.

    Once Michael finished speaking about the Elemental Empress and her setting up her own society in his territory, everyone stared at Michael with a mix of confusion, excitement, and disbelief.

    Even the War Priestess and Chieftain had gotten interested in Michael''s story-telling at some point and everybody maintained a pin-drop silence. The only noise in the silent hall was that of Michael. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who had considered leaving the meeting, stayed behind and listened intently until Michael was done.

    From Michael''s exnations, it was obvious that his territory was overflowing with fierce battles and deadly wars. It was no wonder he advanced to Tier-3 less than one year after manifesting his War Rune. His territory was a treasure trove of resources, energy, and battles. It was¡­great!

    Wars and deadly battles were exactly what the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wanted. Nheless, they required more information to ensure that they wouldn''t fight battles they were certain to lose. Nobody wanted to die a useless death.

    The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers began to gossip among each other. Even the Chieftain and War Priestess joined their conversation now and then. Michael didn''t say anything and let them murmur all they wanted. He listened and came up with a few ideas and ways to alter the contracts he had in mind. The contracts ought to create a win-win situation. That way his subordinates would be satisfied and happier, resulting in a stronger Link of Loyalty and better camaraderie among hisbatants.

    It took a while before the gossip ceased. Michael used the opportunity to reveal information about the trial he came up with, or multiple trials to be precise.

    "First of all, I desire to make sure that everyone present understands that it will be necessary to endorse a Soul Pact if you''re going to be my subordinates. A Link of Loyalty is not enough for me. The reasons should be obvious enough," Michael announced and everyone else nodded. Some asked about the conditions and uses of the Soul Pact to which Michael responded by manifesting a holographic screen with the details of the Soul Pact he had in mind.

    Some uses could be altered but others mentioned a few points that Michael didn''t want to alter no matter what happened.

    "Other than that, I''ll interrogate everyone present one by one. I forwarded a file with a few dozen questions to each of you. Answer all questions honestly before you send the files back to me. The questions are pretty simple but don''t even think about lying to me. If you don''t want to reveal something, leave the answer empty instead of spouting nonsense."

    Michael mentioned the interrogation but he didn''t reveal what exactly he was going to do. But it was quite simple, and easy to tell. Michael would use the file of questions and answers to question the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    He would use Mind Reader which he would further reinforce with severalyers of Enhancement to interrogate them and find out whether their answers were nothing but the truth, or if they tried lying to him. The power of Enhanced Mind Reader was potent enough to control the thoughts of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Peak Tier-3 Awakened might be capable of resisting his control to a certain extent, but if they were unwilling to undergo the interrogation, Michael would reject their application at once. He couldn''t trust someone with his life if they were unwilling to let him read their minds.

    Some might consider that a little bit over the top and an invasion of their privacy, but Michael had a bad feeling about epting people into his territory without a full-blown interrogation. He had heard too many rumors and news about the betrayal of Adventurers to take this lightheartedly.

    With that in mind, Michael spent the next four hours discussing the Soul Pact''s uses, conditions, and demands with his potential soon-to-be subordinates before they underwent the interrogation. After almost eight hours, the meeting was about to end. Everyone was tired of talking about the Soul Pact and the interrogation. It was far additional taxing on the mind than training the body or fighting powerful enemies over a few hours.

    Most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would much rather fight some powerhouses instead of wasting their time talking about contracts and undergoing interrogation. Nheless, Michael and the Leaders of the Tritan Alliance deemed all of it necessary. It was necessary to talk about the contracts and investigate future subordinates to ensure their loyalty. There was nothing wrong with that.

    At the finish of the day, there were only around 30 applicants left. However, that was a lot additional than Michael expected from the first batch of applications. He was certain that he would be departed with less than five Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs by now. Interestingly enough, more Awakened went through the entire tiresome interrogation than he could have hoped for.

    However, one thing was certain- Everyone hoped that Michael could help them gain honor for their races and families. They sincerely hoped that Michael could help them grow stronger whether it was by participating inrge-scale wars in the Untamed Jungle, or by supplying them with Soul Techniques and Soultraits.

    They desired to obtain honor and glory¡­and to be useful for their people.

    Michael was d to have met the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. He remembered Danny''s wise words that he''d told him in the past- We might feel closer to other races than humans at some point in time. That didn''t seem too far-fetched in Michael''s opinion.

    He didn''t hate mankind, but he took a liking to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs as a whole. The two Races were additional honorable and far less treacherous than the vast majority of the human race.

    But, of course, there were exceptions. Every race had some ck sheep.

 Chapter 534 Getting to Know

    <h4>Chapter 534 Getting to Know</h4>

    It was already evening by the time the meeting reached its end. Michael got to know the potential candidates who would likely be his subordinates, and they learned a lot about Michael, his territory, and his situation in the Origin Expanse.

    The news was quite shocking since Michael''s territory was in an unknown region with only a handful of Lords in his vicinity, yet his territory and people were in constant danger.

    Only 30ish Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, in addition to two Descendants with nonbat Soultraits, were left in the hall. The remaining candidates decided against joining Michael''s mission. Their minds and thought process didn''t align. Therefore, it was better to go their separate ways.

    Michael''s eyes lingered on the two Descendants, who stayed behind. He didn''t expect any Descendant to be willing to join his territory after showing them the Soul Pact and forcing everyone to undergo a thorough interrogation. Most Descendants left at that point, leaving only those two behind. They were older than Michael, but also at Tier-3, the Lowest rank. The two Descendants possessed nonbat Soultraits and they lost their territories a while ago, therefore, losing the attention of their families.

    "I don''t know how the other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs see this, but I would love to see you fight. My friends told me to leave because you''re dependant on your Soultraits and that your actualbat prowess is rather low," One of the Descendants, a young woman, said, "I know that you don''t possess an Inheritance Technique, but I don''t believe that you''re weak without your Soultraits. My Soultrait tells me that my friends are wrong¡­but they¡­"

    "They don''t believe you," Michaelpleted her sentence, offering her a small smile, "You''re Reba Zauber, right? We met in the g War."

    Reba Zauber nodded faintly, not daring to look into Michael''s eyes.

    "If I remember correctly, your Soultrait is called Greater Analysis which is an inheritable Soultrait. However, your version of Greater Analysis has mutated, which is why your family''s Inheritance Technique, Perfect Appraisal, works a little bit differently on you. Is that correct?"

    Reba nodded her head once again.

    Michael retrieved the questionnaire Reba had filled out beforehand and read through it once again. He searched for the question [Why do you want to be my subordinate?], and read her answer once again.

    ''Her family disregarded her after she lost her territory. However, Reba ignored that because her territory was not important to her. All she desired was to pursue her research. Reba wants to continue researching in my territory¡­That could be interesting.''

    Michael had requested a basic information sheet from every participant of the meeting. Therefore, Michael knew that Reba had been researching Soul Techniques and the Tekur for quite a while. Her main goal had been to collect information about the Tekur to find out why they were so strong and if there were ways to replicate their path to acquire strength. She wanted to help the Tritan Alliance grow stronger through her research.

    That was a praiseworthy goal, and something Michael adored quite a lot.

    "I''m happy that you''re still here with me. Since you''re not an Adventurer withbat abilities, we will have to find out what you can do to help me and my territory prosper, but I don''t think that will be an issue. Research is very important, and I hope we can exchange our knowledge to create miracles," Michael said to Reba. The words sounded a bit cringe-worthy, but he ignored the embarrassment he felt and turned to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    "I nned to hold a small sparring session after the meeting, either way. It''s important to get to know each other properly, don''t you guys think so?" Michael asked, his eyes glowing vibrantly.

    The easiest way to get to know a Berserker and Warlock Centaur was not throughmunication or through their stomachs. No. It was by fighting them. A Berserker''s and Warlock Centaur''s true personality was exposed through their fighting style, their attitude in battle, and the way they treated victories and losses.

    There were other factors as well, but Michael understood the importance of getting to know everyone before he would allow them into his territory. It was important to ensure that all parties involved would be satisfied and that no further problems would ur in the future.

    "FIGHT!" The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs bellowed, raising their arms high in the air. Their cheers resounded through the entire ancient hall, resulting in faint smiles blossoming on the Chieftain and War Priestess'' faces.

    "We will act as your referees. Go all out. We will not interfere as long as no lives are in danger," The Chieftain announced, resulting in another eruption of cheers.

    The official discussions of the meeting ended just like that. From the initial pool of 130ish candidates who were interested in bing Michael''s subordinates, only 33 were left. That was still more than Michael expected from the first batch of applicants, but he believed the number would decrease further in the next few hours.

    Small groups formed as the small crowd of Awakened followed the Chieftain and the War Priestess to one of the smaller Colosseums in the ancient city. Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz arrived next to Michael, and they upied him until they arrived at the Colosseum. Reba Zauber wanted to talk to Michael about Soul Techniques, but she could only stare at the towering Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur with quivering eyes.

    Michael gave her an apologetic look but he decided to talk to his friends instead of giving them any excuses. He could have a long chat with Rebater. It was not as if they were in a rush, either way.

    Zeron Polik joined his conversation with Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz as well. He was thankful to Michael for giving him an opportunity to show that he was worthy of bing a Warrior in Michael''s territory. Zeron Polik was very excited to work closely with his Lord. Michael didn''t expect that if he was to be honest. However, he didn''t expect his friends to be eager to join his territory either. Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz had applied to be his subordinates.

    It felt a little bit weird seeing them seated among the other applicants, but Michael was also quite happy. They decided to join him and his mission. That was great!

    The only downside was that Mekhaz lost his territory, therefore also temporarily losing his Champion status. Michael had been quite confused while wondering how Mekhaz must have lost his territory. After all, he was still a Lord when they entered the Interdimensional g War.

    "I know that look in your eyes. It''s pretty simple," Mekhaz exined, "I was pulled out of the g War when the Ttan attacked my territory. They were stronger and much higher in number, resulting in a devastating loss. In my opinion, I did a great job decimating the vast majority of the enemy''s army, but they had too many advantages, including the element of surprise.

    My people, and I, didn''t even know that a race such as the Ttan had imed a territory nearby. We were bulldozed and we barely survived. It was a shame, though I''m d that all Awakened under me returned home safely. No Awakened working for me died, though that resulted in a loss of honor and the merits we''d umted for years¡­"

    On the outside, Mekhaz didn''t seem too shaken by the loss of his territory. He was quite open about his disability to act as a Lord. He was more used to fighting at the front lines without the need to bother about providingmands to his subordinates. Nheless, the loss of his territory created various issues.

    Mekhaz lost majority of the honor he''d acquired throughout his time as a Lord, and the Awakened working for him were med for returning without having sustained any major injuries. It looked like they had fled from the battlefield like cowards.

    Mekhaz and his subordinates wanted to regain their honor, and Michael provided the best opportunity to make this happen.

    "How many applicants are your former subordinates?" Michael asked, not further drilling into Mekhaz''s wounds. He was curious about the Ttan, their powers and such, but he could tell that Mekhaz was trying hard to not show how much the devastating defeat he and his individuals had suffered affected him.

    "More than a dozen of the remaining applicants are my former Awakened. I vouch for their loyalty, though I believe that you will test that on your own," Mekhaz answered, not trying to push his former subordinates upon him. He understood that Michael will have to get to know his future subordinates on his own. "Using the Interrogation with your mind reading Soultrait was a good decision. However, that also means you have to return the favor by providing your all in the spar. You obtained to know our secrets by reading our minds, so you will have to reveal your true self in the battle against us!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow, and nced at the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs behind him. They were listening to the chat he had with his friends.

    "Actually, I wanted to show you how strong I am without the use of a single Soultrait. I cannot remove the passive boosts of Spirit Eyes, or Superior Constitution, but I think it''s necessary to demonstrate to everyone that I''m not a pushover without my Soultraits," Michael responded.

    None of the applicants was at the Peak of Tier-3. Lokai, at the Mid rank of Tier-3, was actually among the highest-ranked applicants in the first batch, followed by Mekhaz and two former subordinates. The Descendants were too rather talented, but they were notbatants.

    "You want a Soultraitless fight? That sounds even so better!" Thaor eximed, his eyes brimming with energy, and the Crimson Aura of his unique constitution oozing out of the pores all over his body.

 Chapter 535 Soulless Fight

    <h4>Chapter 535 Soulless Fight</h4>

    Michael''s first fight was against Thaor. The Berserker was curious to find out how much stronger Michael had grown after advancing to Tier-3.

    Thaor was still at the Peak of Tier-2, and there was just a thin line separating him from reaching Tier-3 as well. All he had to do was cross the small hurdle and he would be a Tier-3 Awakened. However, that small gap indicated a major difference in strength. Every breakthrough to the next Tier led to a massive surge of strength.

    Michael ought to be much stronger than Thaor, however Thaor was in possession of a Unique Constitution. It didn''t count as a Soultrait, allowing him to use Crimson Aura in a Soulless Fight.

    Of course, Michael had his own advantages. Superior Constitution strengthened his entire being tremendously even if he actively didn''t do anything. It was a Soultrait that refined his entire being passively, elevating his natural strength, speed, and every other characteristic of his body to the next level. Spirit Eyes was simr. It had a powerful passive effect that enhanced his eyes significantly.

    Last but not least, all 6-Star Soultraits enhanced one''s physique to a certain degree. He was not as strong as an Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3 in terms of physical strength, but the gap was not as big as one may expect.

    "Are you guys ready?" The Chieftain asked Thaor and Michael. The twobatants stood in thebat ring of the Colosseum, surrounded by dozens of spectators, who came to watch Michael''s spars.

    Thaor summoned Glove Artifacts, a Helmet Artifact and aplementary leather armor set. None of the Artifacts looked overly impressive at the first nce but Michael''s Spirit Eyes detected some energy fluctuations within the Artifacts. The energy fluctuations circted through Thaor''s body and connected to the other Artifacts.

    ''A Set of Artifacts? That''s quite rare.'' Michael realized, his body tensing up a little. It was possible to create custom Sets of Artifacts. These Sets connected the Artifacts and amplified their power drastically. The more pieces of a Set werebined, the stronger the Set''s effects.

    Possessing three Artifacts of the same Set was already quite rare. Even if their star-rating might not be that high, the effect of the Set increased their star rating passively.

    Most Sets were creations of the Will of the Origin Expanse as only few races possessed enough knowledge to create their own sets. Thaor had been lucky to collect three Natural Artifacts with a highly potent Set effect that enhanced his Unique Constitution.

    A thick hue of Crimson Aura coated Thaor''s body, however, Thaor was not yet done. A minor portion of the Crimson Aura remained outside his body, tightly pressing against him to act as a secondyer of skin, whereas the majority of Crimson Aura seeped into his hide. The Crimson Aura merged into Thaor. His skin tore apart and a burst of blood gushed out of him. A pained groan escaped his lips, but Thaor endured it all. His eyes dyed crimson, and he stared ferociously at Michael.

    "I take that as a yes," The Chieftain said, his eyes traveling to Michael, who''d already summoned Aethyr in Spear form. His Spirit Armor Set and the Legendary Ring Artifact had been manifested as well. Michael was ready to fight.

    He adjusted his stance slightly and stared at Thaor with full focus, patiently waiting for the Chieftain to give the signal.

    "Everyone ready? Yes. Alright." The Chieftain asked rhetorically before he started the battle unceremoniously.

    "Let the battle begin!"

    Thaor kicked the ground with great force as the Chieftain''s words resounded through the Colosseum. He burst forth with explosive strength and speed and arrived in front of Michael in an instant. The Crimson Aura around his fists expanded as he unleashed a flurry of blows. Michael''s eyes and body followed the flurry of punches, the Aethyr Spear whirling through the air magnificently. Michael blocked the attacks with minimal force, lightly pushing the Aethyr Spear against Thaor''s humongous fists.

    The Aethyr Spear couldn''t cut through the thickyer of Crimson Aura that tightly enveloped Thaor''s fists, but Michael saw through Spirit Eyes'' natural strengthening that Thaor had to use arge amount of energy and Crimson Aura to maintain his defense. Each impact of the Spear strike destroyed a small portion of Thaor''s Crimson Aura. Thaor was aware of that and he epted it with a shrug. If he had to sacrifice some of his Crimson Aura to get in Michael''s attack range¡­so be it.

    Once Thaor was close enough, a surge of Crimson Aura erupted from within him. The thickyer of Crimson Aura coating his hands transformed into ws that reached out for Michael''s throat. Thaor''s change in tactic was sudden and unexpected. The spectators didn''t know that Thaor could fight like this. He was clearly stronger than some Tier-3 Awakened. However, Michael evaded Thaor''s ws with great ease.

    From the outside, it looked like Thaor missed him by a hair''s breadth, but Michael''s movements were calcted with great precision. He retracted Aethyr and manifested it around his feet. Long des shot out of his soles as Michael twisted his body and kicked upward. Thaor''s w missed his throat narrowly, yet his kick impacted. The Aethyr des pierced through Thaor''s Crimson Aura and cut deep into his flesh. Blood sttered on the ground and Thaor groaned in pain.

    Thaor grit his teeth and suppressed the pain spreading through his legs. However, it was already toote. Michael was on the move. He retracted a portion of Aethyr, leaving the rest to coat his boots, whereas the remaining portion of Aethyr transformed into lengthy ws that grew from his knuckles. Michael kicked the ground, lowered his body, and wed Thaor. It was about time that he changed his fighting style from defense to attack.

    Spirit Eyes'' natural enhancement allowed Michael to see the energy and Crimson Aura within Thaor. He could see the energy and Crimson Aura circte through his body and follow its trajectory. It was also not difficult to see the smallest movements in Thaor''s muscles. Every move of Thaor wasid out in the wide open for Michael to see. All Michael had to do was sort the movements of Thaor''s muscles, energy, and Crimson Aura to connect it to his movement pattern.

    That required some time, and it would have taken much longer if the external enhancement of the Legendary Ring Artifact hadn''t focused on reinforcing his mind-rted abilities. Luckily, Michael was multitasking. He analyzed Thaor''s fighting style, his power level, and his next movements, while simultaneously inflicting a wide variety of injuries all over his body.

    Every kick issued was either reinforced with Aethyr des shooting out of his soles, or Aethyr solidifying around his boots, increasing the destructive force of his kick. The same happened to the Aethyr shrouding his hands. A few times, Michael transformed the Aethyr ws into hardened gloves to smash Thaor''s face. Then he transformed the Aethyr Gloves into a sword to inflict a long gash all over Thaor''s body.

    The sole reason why he was still alive and why the Chieftain hadn''t intercepted yet was Thaor''s Crimson Aura. It not only enhanced his assault power and defense, but it also elerated his natural regeneration drastically. The vast majority of Michael''s attacks inflicted minor wounds. The injuries were tended to rapidly, allowing Thaor to counterattack with Crimson energy and brute force.

    Instead of following traditionalbat styles like most Awakened, Michael made use of the countless memories he had collected over thest year. Thebat experience he acquired through the Memory Orbs was worth several decades if not centuries. Some memories showed simrbat styles, but the vast majority ofbat styles executed by the former owners of the memories used special techniques, whether it was Inheritance Techniques, Racial Techniques, or Basic Martial Arts.

    Michael learned everything from their Memory Orbs and he found himself imitating certain fight styles, only to end up switching in-between theirbat styles to gradually adapt himself to his enemies'' fighting style.

    Michael didn''t have the time to study all Martial Arts and organize every single memory he''d obtained over thest year, but he progressed rapidly. His progress amid deadly fights was the highest. While fighting, his full focus was pulled towardbat, drastically increasing his understanding of particr techniques and ways to resist his enemy that would otherwise take hours if he tried to simply read.

    That was what Michael was trying to do right now. He was trying to counter Thaor''s Crimson Aura. He could executerge attacks to finish Thaor with a few sweeps but Michael understood thatrger attacks exposed his openings. Thaor willingly revealed a handful of his weaknesses to pull Michael closer to him, attempting to finish him with a few strikes. However, Michael didn''t allow that. He went against his instincts and kept a distance to Thaor, only attacking him with swift attacks that inflicted minor damage.

    The cumtive damage caused by his weaker, rapid attacks seemed nonexistent but Michael knew better. Thaor looked perfectly fine on the surface but his Crimson energy was about to be sucked dry.

    That was also why Michael changed his attack pattern once again. He switched to mightier and slower attacks after kicking Thaor twice. The Aethyr all over his body gathered in his hands, forming a thin longsword like Tigerfang. Aethyr Tigerfang soared through the air and impacted where Thaor''s Crimson energy was at its weakest. Tigerfang cut through the Crimson Aura in a single go before proceeding to cut deep into his arm.

    Tigerfang reached Thaor''s bone, and it was only then that Thaor''s fist reached Michael''s face. However, before Thaor''s punch could impact, Michael ducked and manifested a small dagger in his other hand. He dissolved Tigerfang and kicked the ground to jump up. His right hand reached out for Thaor''s head while his left held the dagger pressed tightly against his neck.

    Michael crushed the Crimson energy coating his neck before lightly cutting the Berserker. If it was a life-and-death warfare Michael could have killed Thaor.

    The Chieftain realized the same and he announced the end of his battle. His thunderous voice resounded through the Colosseum.

    "Victory goes to Michael!"

    In the next moment, a cacophony of cheers and roars rang out.

 Chapter 536 Your Choice

    <h4>Chapter 536 Your Choice</h4>

    Michael didn''t hesitate to fight a few more times. After his first spar with Thaor, he felt refreshed and his mind was overflowing with various ideas to improve his fighting style.

    It was not the first time that Michael used the memories of those who fell victim to his might, but it was the first time he didn''t use his Soultraits while relying on thebat experience and Martial Arts he''d learned through the memories. In this fight he wanted to use Martial Arts and Experiences derived from the memories of the Awakened he killed in the past to make them a part of his own arsenal.

    It was alreadyte at night when Michael finished challenging the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs and sparring with them to his heart''s content. Michael was very satisfied with the oue. Right after he dealt with Thaor, Lokai and Mekhaz approached him. They challenged him to a spar which Michael epted without a second thought. He fought with his friends and adjusted his fighting style ording to their movements and attack pattern.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael could analyze his enemies'' fighting style in the blink of an eye, but without actively using Spirit Eyes it took a little longer. He had to fight his enemies at a close distance for a few minutes before he could counterattack by utilizing the weak spots in the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' attack and movement patterns.

    It was actually quite interesting to observe his enemies and adapt to their fighting style. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were natural fighters. Their innate talent andbat awareness was great, forcing Michael to change his strategy quite often.

    ''Daily spars with them while the Immortal Knight gives us pointers would be perfect!'' Michael thought, dreaming about growing much stronger without having to use Soultraits.

    His Soultraits were his strongest weapons, by far, but he wanted to not rely on them heavily in the near future. Michael was willing to work hard to turn them into tools rather than necessities. At least, that was what Michael was hoping for.

    He loved his Soultraits but he didn''t want to be dependent on them. That could be dangerous ande to bite back at him when faced with stronger opponents. Michael realized that after seeing how powerful Energy Seal was and how it restrained Alice. Alice Zenovia''sbat prowess was reduced drastically after the Energy Seal targeted her. She was unable to tap into the energy origin residing inside her. It was impossible for her to use her Soultrait, or her Martial Arts since most required energy to be utilized properly.

    If Energy Seal was already so powerful against Alice, Michael could only imagine how severe the effect would be if Energy Seal was used against him. Soultraits like Energy Seal were Michael''s worst nightmare.

    "It would be easier to find a Soultrait that can reverse a Soultrait''s effect. But where am I going to find something like that?" Michael asked himself quietly before parting ways with the Subordinate applicants.

    Some applicants asked why Michael didn''t finish the signing process today, however, Michael''s answer was ambiguous. No one was given an early-ess pass to sign a Soul Pact, and establish their Link of Loyalty with Michael.

    Instead, everyone was given some time to rethink their decision. Michael didn''t want to rush anything. He hoped that the applicants could think about their decision thoroughly. Bing his subordinate would turn into a lifelongmitment in most cases, after all.

    As everyone returned to their rooms, Michael heard the sound of muffled footsteps behind him. He halted in his tracks and saw that the War Priestess and the Chieftain had been following him. They weren''t skilled stalkers, but it was not like they were required to follow him stealthily.

    "Are you busy?" The Chieftain asked his tone a notch more serious than before.

    "I have no appointments if that''s what you mean," Michael responded, wondering if it was even possible not to be busy as a Lord. He had so many tasks on his to-do list that he wondered whether he couldplete all of them soon, or if the to-do list would expand faster than he could finish the tasks.

    The War Priestess scoffed, "In that case, do you want to assign a punishment to the Lords who attacked you? We cut their energy veins but the Tritan Council is divided about their punishment. Some say that removing their energy veins will be torturous enough to count as their punishment. Others, however, want to crush their War Rune and imprison them for life. There is also a third group that wants to execute the Lords publicly to make a clear public statement."

    "Thetter is a punishment for your sake. By killing the Lords who attempted to kidnap you, the Tritan Alliance demonstrates that they''re on your side and that we have no tolerance for attempts to harm you in any way," The Chieftain added, making it clear that he was one of the people who voted for the third form of punishment.

    "The Tritan Council must be torn," Michael mumbled, guessing that neither of the choices gotten the majority of votes, meaning that the Tritan Council couldn''t act merely yet.

    "Because we didn''t procure the majority of votes, we started a second voting with a fourth choice; to give you the right to decide their punishment. Many were displeased with this proposal, but it appears like some seats in the Tritan Council are curious about your attitude towards these Lords."

    Michael fell into deep thoughts. He didn''t expect to receive such an opportunity, but the answer was easy. It was quite obvious what his decision would be¡­too easy.

    "These sly bastards!" Michael cursed quietly.

    "So you''ve noticed." The War Priestess noted without a change in her expression.

    "It''s not that hard to realize what they want," Michael responded with a dry cough, "They want to see how I procure Soultraits and the logic behind my Power to strengthen Soultraits. Observing and analyzing me while I use my Power is their primary goal. Once they know how I use my Power, they''ll try to make use of the information to strike deals with me, probably."

    "That roughly sums it up. Yup."

    Michael licked his lower lip, and the corner of his lip curled upward.

    "Okay. I made my decision," He said, "I want to spend 10 days with the kidnappers in an isted ce with no one else in the room. Just me and the three Lords."

    The War Priestess and the Chieftain anticipated this kind of answer from Michael. They didn''t believe of Michael as a coward who would ignore such an opportunity. It might be dangerous, but Michael was not a cowardly Lord. He was a True Warrior who destroyed the obstacles that tried to hinder his path and face his enemies head-on.

    That was also how Michael ended up in arge isted room underground within the next two hours. The Council had initially prepared a room for Michael with Beast, Veronica Park, and the third Lord waiting for him patiently. The three Lords were chained to the walls, unable to move an inch. All they could do was re threateningly at Michael and the Chieftain who left Michael alone in the room made of marbled meteorite ore.

    ["The Tritan Council has granted you 10 days toplete their punishment. You can do whatever you want. Just keep in mind that we can see and hear you"] The Chieftain''s voice rang through the speakers ced in the corners of the room.

    Michael didn''t have anything against everyone listening to him, but he was a little annoyed that they could see what he was doing. Therefore, he did something to solve that problem. Michael retrieved a few Inferior Energy Stones from his War Rune and crushed them in the next moment. A burst of energy flooded the room and it didn''t take long for the tendrils of Extraction to shoot out of Michael and devour the energy that permeated the air.

    Once all energy was drained, Michael used 10yers of Enhancement on the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction. Michael unleashed the Dome of Extraction with a burst, coating the entire room in Extraction''s Power at once. It didn''t require much effort to pinpoint and differentiate the countless devices that had been installed inside the walls of the isted building and around it.

    Michael extracted the video cameras within seconds before he inserted the Power of Extraction inside the marbled meteorite walls to check if he missed any recording devices. He found a few voice recorders, but Michael ignored them. If someone wanted to listen to the screams of three old Lords over the next 10 days¡­who was Michael to deny that request?

    ["What the hell did you do merely now?!?"] The voice of an old man resounded through the isted room, but Michael just scoffed.

    "I''m sorry. It looks like my Soultrait destroyed some devices. I willpensate the Tritan Alliance for the damages."

    ["No no no. We want to se¡ª"] The voice began, only for Michael to intercept sharply, "There is no issue with the safety measurements, so I''ll continue executing the Lords'' punishment. Since I''ve been permitted to do WHATEVER I want, I won''t need a nanny to look over me, either way."

    ["Urgh¡­okay"]

    It was obvious that the old man on the other side of the speakers was not pleased, but Michael did not care. He heard some hushed voices through the speakers, but they turned silent after a while. The Chieftain, or the War Priestess, maybe both, must have intervened, lecturing the old human powerhouses that it was their idea to give Michael full authority about everything rted to the punishment.

    It was not Michael''s fault that they failed to trick him.

    Michael smiled and diverted his focus back to the three Lords.

    However, before he started with their punishment, Michael unleashed cicle to freeze the marbled meteorite walls, covering the wall with a thickyer of cicle.

    ''Safety first.'' He mumbled, only to break into a smile when a flood of curses reached him through the speakers.

    "You should turn off the microphone if you don''t want me to hear you cursing me!" Michael advised, a vibrant smile covering his face.

    **

    [A/N: The author is back after a looong time. How is everyone doing? I hope y''all are doing fine. I, for one, am doing very well these days. I like the path I''ve chosen for Supreme Lord, and everyone''s support has been amazing.

    However, I''m wondering if everyone agrees with me. Do you like where the story is going, or do you believe it''s rather boring to have these ''slow'' chapters without much action? Please share your view of thest few chapters with me. :D

 Chapter 537 Image

    <h4>Chapter 537 Image</h4>

    Now that Michael had no more people spying on his work and power, he felt much better. He was alone with Beast, Veronica Park and the Lord with the Energy Seal Soultrait, and since their energy veins had already been severed, they weren''t dangerous either.

    Michael was not worried that they could harm him anymore. Therefore, he retrieved dozens of Inferior Energy Stones which he ced around himself. Following that, tendrils of Extraction shot out of his body. They tapped into the highlypressed energy within the Inferior Energy Stones and drained it slowly. As a result, Michael''s energy storage was filled to the brim.

    He thought about what to do first, but decided to wing it. It didn''t really matter with what he started, either way. Thus, Michael inserted traces of Extraction into the minds of the three Lords before he used Mind Reader to read their minds.

    [LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!?]

    Michael regretted using Mind Reader on Veronica Park. Her inner voice was not only extremely shrill and loud but it resounded through his head over and over again. Something like that had never happened before, and Michael was not willing to experience it again. With that in mind, Michael switched over to extracting the three Lords'' treasures. He focused on their Artifacts and the treasures they were hiding in their War Rune''s storage space.

    Michael was not sure if he could remove their Artifacts while they were still alive, but the screams that filled the room in the following two hours were a clear indicator that it worked. And it was painful. Extremely painful.

    The Lords were trying to resist Michael''s attempt to extract their War Rune''s storage and Artifacts, but they were too weak to fight him. The Investigator who investigated the three Lords'' kidnapping attempt had used his Soultrait to poison the minds of the three Lords. Their natural defenses had been corroded and it would require several months of painstaking efforts to reconstruct them. Unfortunately, they weren''t given that much time. Michael invaded their minds and bypassed their internal security to use Extraction on them.

    All the Lords could do was endure the pain and scream at the top of their lungs until they were too tired to scream. Michael would have felt some pity for them if it was not for the fact that the three Lords considered him a mere asset. They would have done even worse things to him if they had seeded in their attempt to abduct him. He would have been tortured and held captive until the end of time to act as their personal Soultrait Creator and Soultrait strengthening device.

    Michael was angry, and he wanted everyone to learn about his wrath. He continued extracting one Artifact after another. Michael didn''t stop even after Extraction notified him that there were no more Artifacts to extract. All Michael did was switch to extracting the three Lords'' treasures, not minding their shrill cries.

    Michael didn''t even take a single nce at the Artifacts he''d extracted. He stored them away and continued to invade the three Lords'' War Runes to extract their Common Energy Stones, the tomes about their Inheritance Techniques, their Martial Arts and countless other treasures that had been stored in their War Rune.

    After 24 hours passed, Michael resolved to take a short break. He nced at the mountains of loot he''d extracted from the three Lords and inspected them for a while.

    All the while, Michael heard some faint whispers through the speakers. Someone must have forgotten to turn off the microphone ¨C once again.

    ["What the hell is going on inside? Is Michael a monster or what?!"] One of the older men asked, his voice quivering.

    The old man was the same who''d considered Michael as a mere asset before. He was the same person who voted for Michael to be confined for the Tritan Alliance''s ''well-being''. Everything he did or suggested was for the sake of the Tritan Alliance ording to his words.

    However, right now, the old man wanted nothing more but to run away and get into hiding. Michael Fang wouldn''t demand his head just because he proposed to confine him for the alliance''s sake¡­right?

    ["They stopped screaming. Are¡­they dead already? Maybe¡­that''s for the better. I never liked Veronica but hearing her scream for 24 hours¡­that''s inhuman¡­"]

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward as he listened to their gossip. Others might think that it would have been better to execute the three Lords publicly. It would have been a public stunt to show that nobody was allowed to touch Michael. However, Michael didn''t like that.

    The demonstration wouldn''t rify anything. All it would show was that Michael didn''t possess the necessary strength to deal with his enemies on his own. It would show that he had to rely on the Tritan Alliance for the next few years until he was strong enough to stand on his own two feet. That was not the message he wanted to give the Tritan Alliance, or more precisely, the High Society.

    He didn''t want to be seen as a weak man who''d have to rely on the Tritan Alliance to stay safe. Therefore, Michael demonstrated what would happen to the power-hungry wolves of the Tritan Alliance, and High Society if they happened to fall victim to him. He created a private demonstration to show everyone wanting to sneakily learn about his powers that he understood the game as well as what would happen to them if they resolved to make a move against him.

    All they could do was hear the three Tier-5 Lords'' screams, but that was far more impactful than one may think. Unable to see the three Lords and what happened to them, the spectators outside could only imagine what cruelties Michaelmitted. They imagined Michael pulling out the Lords'' skin and removing their nails one by one before moving on to wait until the high natural regeneration of the Tier-5 Lords would kick in. The Lords'' wounds would heal promptly and he could start torturing them from scratch over and over again - not that he nned to do anything other than using Extraction on them, in the first ce.

    Michael''s initial n had been to ensure that nobody could see how he extracted the Lords'' Artifacts, a portion of their War Rune''s storage, their Memory Orbs, and SoulStar Fragments, but his innocent n turned into a nightmarish threat to those who had postponed to decide whom to side with.

    Even if Michael told the old fogies to keep the punishment a secret, he was certain that news would spread like wildfire. It would reach High Society in the blink of an eye, and reach every nook and cranny in no time. Michael''s image would probably worsen, but that might be for the better. A seed of fear would be instilled in the hearts of those who had regarded kidnapping Michael or thought of him as a pushover.

    Meanwhile, Michael calmed down a little bit. He was still angry that some people thought of him as a mere asset ¨C not even a living being ¨C but iming the three Lords'' treasures and Artifacts offered him some respite. It was not that bad to be permitted to do whatever he wanted with the perpetrators.

    ''Maybe, I should offer the Chieftain, and Alice to act as bait to draw out more idiots. I will offer them a Soultrait and they will protect me in exchange. As long as some idiotic, but powerful, Lords attack me, I''ll be able to make a fortune,'' Michael imagined, a small daydream forming in his mind.

    Of course, it was unlikely that more people would attack him here in the ancient city. The surprise effect of Kraft Viton''s trap had been revealed and it was well-known that the Chieftain and War Priestess stayed near to protect him if necessary. The safety measures in the Saphirke Military Academy would increase drastically as well. That was not only because of Michael, but simply because the Saphirke Military Academy developed into the trademark academy for the Tritan Alliance.

    Too many important Descendants, and prodigies of the Berserker, and Warlock Centaur races would attend the Saphirke Military Academy from next year. It would turn into a target of the Supreme Human Alliance and dark organizations, therefore, increasing the need for high-quality defensive mechanisms.

    ''Oh. Their Inheritance Techniques!'' Michael nearly blurted aloud as his eyes fell onto the thick tomes. There were Martial Art scrolls as well, but Michael stored them away with little to no interest.

    The Common Energy Stones, Artifacts, Martial Arts, and other less interesting treasures were thrown in his War Rune''s storage, leaving the Inheritance Techniques behind.

    Michael retrieved the three Inheritance Techniques and used Extraction on them. It was a long-winded process but Michael managed to extract Knowledge Wisps for each Inheritance Technique in the following six hours. Michael consumed the Knowledge Wisps and digested the information of the Inheritance Techniques, gaining a lesser understanding and mastery of a few of the Inheritance Techniques.

    He learned about the Body Refinement, Mind Refinement, Soul Refinement, Breathing, and Soultrait Mastery techniques, along with Legacy Arts that utilized the mastery of the Inheritance Technique as a whole to unleash the Soultrait''s full potential.

    Michael couldn''t use the Inheritance Techniques but he could pinpointmon points and divide each Inheritance Technique into different portions to study them. It was only a matter of time before Michael could create his own Inheritance Technique.

    Michael was looking forward to the creation of his own Inheritance Technique. But he was not going to do the same thing as the other big households. Since he had multiple Soultraits, and the means to create his own Soul Techniques, why should he create the same Inheritance Techniques as these old households?

    They were outdated, and it was about time for someone to create something better than the ol'' Inheritance Techniques!

 Chapter 538 Jungle Points

    <h4>Chapter 538 Jungle Points</h4>

    Digesting the knowledge contained within the Inheritance Techniques took quite a while. Fortunately, he didn''t sustain any bacshes from digesting everything at once. All Michael felt was a light headache as he tried to dissect the Inheritance Techniques before mixing them together.

    His knowledge about Inheritance Techniques was not yet enough to blindly separate them and put them together in a different order.

    ''''If I digest a dozen or two dozen Inheritance Techniques it should work¡­right?'''' He mumbled to himself, nearly blurting his thoughts aloud.

    Michael was fine with the others listening to him torturing the three Lords, but he didn''t want to give away anymore secrets about Extraction. Not to the High Society, at least.

    Thinking about the three Lords, Michael''s focus returned to them atst. Now that he had a minor understanding of their Inheritance Techniques, Michael was curious about their memories as well. They were old Lords, whose age had long surpassed 100 years. As Tier-5 Lords, the vitality infused into their bodies prolonged their lifespan to several hundreds of years. Unfortunately, their age wouldn''t be of any help right now. If anything, their vast experiences umted over the decades would turn into a burden for them and a treasure trove for him.

    Michael was going to extract as much as possible, after all!

    He extracted the three Lords'' Memory Orbs, as many as possible, and consumed them once he could instinctively feel that no more Memory Orbs could be extracted. The Lords'' screams died down once Michael stopped utilizing Extraction to extract their memories. However, the desperation and fear in their screams had been imprinted into the hearts of those who''d continued listening to the happenings in the isted room for hours, trying to pick up on anything that Michael would identally give away.

    A few human powerhouses, the Chieftain, the War Priestess and some Elders were still listening, but their faces had paled. No one dared to say a word in the listening room, but the atmosphere grew more intense the more time Michael spent in the isted room to punish the Lords who wanted to kidnap him.

    "This is even worse than a public execution¡­" One of the human powerhouses mumbled half an hour after the screams filled with desperation died down.

    "Is Michael really only 18 years old? How can someone be this¡­cruel? I understand why he is doing this¡­but I never expected him to be able to do something like that," One of the Professors of the Saphirke Military Academy mumbled. He was not as popr as Oliver Zeus, or as talented as Alice Zenovia, but he was still a renowned Professor. He met Michael a few times and always saw him smiling.

    Michael might be a little bit different once he enteredbat, but that was when the young Lord entered a fully-focusedbat state. It was not umon for Lords to have such a state. But¡­this was different.

    "He is not a weak sheep that needs to be herded toward its flock. He is a wolf hiding among sheeps."

    Michael couldn''t hide his smile when he heard the idiots talk about him. By now, he''d realized that the Chieftain had been keeping tabs on the microphone, ensuring that it was switched on all the time. That was fun.

    He ignored mostments and continued to digest the memories that flooded his mind. Fortunately, there was no need for him to rush. Michael spent the next 24 hours eating some of the dishes he''d stored in his War Rune all while digesting every little memory of the three Lords.

    Once the memories were sorted and the useless ones put into the trash, Michael smiled in satisfaction. The memories contained generations ofbat experience against Higher Lifeforms, years of their practice with the Inheritance Techniques, and various other memories that may or may not be useful. He would have to test out a lot in the future.

    After several days of ''torturing'' the three Lords, Michael finally moved onto the main dish. He began to derive the Lords SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits all while they were alive.

    Once again, screams filled the isted room. However, Michael was already ustomed to their screams. He didn''t enjoy them, but he didn''t sense any pity toward the Lords either. They tried to kidnap him and turn a young Lord into a mindless puppet to acquire power and assert dominance all over the Tritan Alliance. If not for the trap Kraft Viton had installed, the three Lords would have killed Alice and thousands of innocent citizens.

    There was no need to show any mercy to such people.

    The 10 day period Michael had been given to carry out his punishment ended right after he finished his job.

    He''d extracted 5624 SoulStar Fragments from the living Tier-5 Lords right before getting hold of their Soultraits. Since Michael had been fully focused on their SoulStar Fragments, their Soultraits turned out to be Starless. Using a few SoulStar Fragments was enough to increase their star rating, but Michael was not willing to make that investment. He preferred keeping the SoulStar Fragments for himself, for the time being.

    ''55,524 SoulStar Fragments and 76 Soultrait Symbols¡­that''s something I can make use of.'' Michael concluded after taking a short nce at the content of the emerald box and the SoulStar Fragments residing in his War Rune.

    Spending 10 days with the Tier-5 Lords had been worth it. Michael was rich thanks to their treasury, he procured three Inheritance Techniques, and he got hold of a small fortune of SoulStar Fragments as well. That was perfect.

    The only downside was that the three Tier-5 Lords turned into vegetables now that they''d undergone days of continuous torture. Their bodies might not have suffered a lot, but their minds and especially their souls suffered greatly. Despite their current state, which was certainly not great, Michael spent a few minutes extracting a portion of their reminiscences of thest few days.

    Michael did not n to remove their traumatic experiences, but he didn''t want anyone to be able to nce into their reminiscences to find out what he had been doing to them, or how Extraction worked.

    The three Lords''plexion improved as they lost the memories of thest few days. Nheless, there were somesting damages.

    Michael considered that the rightful punishment. He didn''t feel an ounce of guilt. If anything, he felt that he could have done more to show everyone that he would never forgive those who harm him, his friends, or innocent people. The three Lords did all of that. They didn''t deserve to be alive, not even as vegetables.

    Michael opened the door to the isted room and stretched his body as he stepped outside, ignoring the pitiful groans of the chained Lords behind him.

    He saw a few human powerhouses, the Chieftain, and the War Priestess as they left the listening room, but he ignored their pale faces and conflicted expressions. It was good if some of them feared him, a mere Lesser Lifeform. They should fear him, and spread news about his actions, lest anyone would be stupid enough to attack him once again.

    Ignoring their gazes, Michael returned to his room. He entered the Origin Expanse and crashed into his bed right away. He spent the next 24 hours sleeping before he left the Origin Expanse once again to deal with the subordinate candidates.

    He met up with the subordinate candidates and quickly noticed that five candidates were missing. They decided against joining him at the end of the day. Other Lords would have been dissatisfied about this, but Michael was d. It was a good thing if those, who were not 100% certain whether they wanted to join him or not, wanted to leave. That made future ordeals much easier.

    In the next hours, Michael signed 30 Soul Pacts, Links of Loyalty, NDA Pacts, and some smaller contracts with the remaining subordinate candidates. He enlisted a total of 2 human Descendants, 18 Warlock Centaurs, and 10 Berserkers.

    "As I''ve told everyone beforehand, you guys don''t have to get hold of the Tokens of Transportation. I will get hold of them," Michael exined once again before he switched to a different topic, "As many of you might be interested in Soultrait Symbols, or the means to improve your Soultraits'' star rating, let me tell you something good. Your first ''purchase'' from me will be discounted heavily. That means if you want to purchase a Soultrait Symbol from me, I will sell it to y''all for a much cheaper price than everyone else. All you need is enough Jungle Points."

    Michael was met with confusion but he only smiled through it.

    "You can purchase whatever you want from me using Jungle Points, also called JP. As written in your Soul Pacts, I can either pay you in your currency, or my territory''s currency ¨C Jungle Points. Everything in my market is cheaper if you use Jungle Points. You may only purchase my service and Soultrait Symbols with Jungle Points. I do not need dors, and I''m capable enough to get hold of Energy Stones as well."

    Michael''s smile widened when he saw a change in his new subordinates'' expressions, "Some of you might sense that I''m taking advantage of you, but think about it. Jungle Points allow you to purchase my service and Soultraits without any surcharge. Jungle Points may not be easy to procure but it''s not impossible to afford Soultraits as long as you operate hard."

    Michael added his very own merit system, Jungle Points, to ensure that his subordinates would operate hard. Purchasing Soultrait Symbols and his service to upgrade their Soultraits wouldn''t be cheap but that was only obvious. The supply of Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments was not infinite. Furthermore, Michael wanted to ensure that a veil of mystery shrouded his Soultrait Symbols and a healthy spirit ofpetition would take root in the hearts of his subordinates. They should never take anything lightly.

    He wanted his Soultrait Symbols to be considered a rarity, and procuring one should be celebrated.

    That way, Michael could ensure that his subordinates would always operate hard, and that they would never even think about betraying him.

 Chapter 539 Preparations

    <h4>Chapter 539 Preparations</h4>

    Most of his new subordinates were Tier-3 Awakened already. The rest were still at the Peak of Tier-2, but they would advance to Tier-3 in the following months. It was all a matter of time.

    Most importantly, thebat prowess of his territory had increased significantly. As long as his subordinates adapted to the environment in the Untamed Jungle and procured some Spirit Armaments from the Relic of Draka, his territory wouldn''t have to fear an invasion from the enemies around him.

    The Zentika Empire was still busy, which left the regional war in the Savannah Region as the main issue. Maybe, Michael could give the Trnce a helping hand in exchange for some amends.

    Now that the Links of Loyalty and contracts had been established, the only issue left behind was to procure 30 Tokens of Transportation. That ought to be a pain in the ass for most ordinary Lords, but the same couldn''t be said about the Bartholomew Corporation and the vast majority of High Nobles, Supreme Families and Great ns.

    A Token of Transportation was not cheap even for them, but they had the means to procure them on arger scale, contrary to Michael.

    Fortunately, that problem could be solved with money, or in-old bartering. However, instead of bartering, Michael told Kraft Viton that he would allow all kinds of bids in the Soultrait Symbol Auction. He rified that each bidder had to bid a minimum of 10 Tokens of Transportation in addition to whatever they wished to bid for the Soultrait Symbols of their choice.

    Kraft Viton epted Michael''s request but he altered it a little bit. He requested a list of materials from Michael ¨C a list with all the valuable items he needed. Michael spent two hoursing up with a proper list with specific items, but he ended up adding vague terms as well. It was only obvious that Michael was in need of exotic potion recipes for Higher Lifeforms, high-ranked techniques, Unique Named Scrolls such as 2-Star Instructors, valuable blueprints that existed in limited numbers, Summoning Cores of all ranks, and so on.

    Despite being a Tier-3 Lord with the ability to fight those of a higher rank, Michael hadn''t been a Lord for a long time. It was not yet aplete year since he manifested his War Rune.

    Once Michael finished his list, Kraft Viton changed a few terms for rity before he forwarded the list to every participant of the Soultrait Symbol Auction.

    "This might sound really stupid¡­but where will you hold the Soultrait Symbol Auction?" Michael asked Kraft Viton at some point. The preparations for the Soultrait Symbol Auction were about to bepleted and the date of the event was approaching, but Michael had yet to hear anything about the venue.

    "The ancient capital doesn''t have an auction house as you may know. Thus, we decided to use the more modern, and anonymous approach for the first Soultrait Symbol Auction. We will do a live-streamed auction in the Colosseum. Whoever wants to be present cane, but it will be easier, and more anonymous if you make your bids online. Only the Bartholomew Corporation will have each bidders'' ssified information."

    Online auctions weren''t umon. However, Michael didn''t expect that such an important auction would be held online. But it did make sense.

    The Bartholomew Corporation was in a rush to release the first batch of Soul Energy Fusion techniques. To do so, they needed to pave their way into the minds of every somewhat influential, wealthy Awakened in the Tritan Alliance. Using the Soultrait Symbol Auction to create awork throughout the entire Tritan Alliance was the most efficient way to ensure that their name would linger in the minds of everyone who desired to purchase a Soultrait. Word-of-mouth publicity would do wonders for them.

    Every merchant, family, noble, n, and guild all over the Tritan Alliance would follow the Bartholomew Corporation to never miss out on a second Soultrait Symbol Auction, and it was only a matter of time before they would receive a notification about the appearance of mass-produced Soul Energy Fusion techniques and Neutral Common ss Soul Techniques.

    By the time the mass-produced products reached the market, the Bartholomew Corporation would turn into a formidable organization surpassing Olympus'' reach and might. At least, that was what the prognosis stated.

    "Though, I''m pretty sure that nobody wants to remain anonymous. They will have their family names stated in their ount names to show off their wealth. Nobody wants to give away the honor they can gain from purchasing a Soultrait Symbol."

    "Honor from purchasing my Soultraits?" Michael asked, not quite certain what the hell that was supposed to mean. Was there honor to be gained from something like that?

    "You might not understand this because you''re already in possession of various powerful Soultraits, but imagine you have only one more or less powerful Soultrait. Your Soultrait''s mastery reached perfection and all you can do is experiment with it, trying to break the Soultrait''s natural limitation ¨C for decades, maybe even centuries. All of a sudden, someone appears, offering your Soultrait Symbols and the power to do what you sought for the vast majority of your life. What would you think of it?" Kraft Viton exined, "Of course, it will be an honor for them to gain a new Soultrait, or grasp the opportunity to strengthen their Soultrait, unraveling untapped potential."

    "Not only will it be an honor, but it will bring back the joy of life within many old fogies," Kaleb added, experimenting with the Neutral Ice Soul Technique Michael created on a whim.

    Kaleb, Alice, Lincoln, Zeke, and a few other friends of Michael were currently in Kraft Viton''s office. They were curious about the Soultrait Symbol Auction, which was why Michael told them toe over and listen to Kraft Viton instead.

    "These old fogies are probably also the reason why you''ll earn a vast fortune, and a huge overpay, for every single Soultrait you''re going to sell tonight," Alice said right before pointing at her crystal watch, "Allowing everyone to bid for your Soultraits will be great for you as well. If you were adamant about holding a traditional auction, only a few people would have been able to rush over to the ancient capital, especially human powerhouses. We''re in a different Ster System, after all."

    Michael agreed silently. It was much easier to auction his Soultraits in a more modern and hassle-free way, allowing more people to bid for the Soultrait Symbols.

    "I suppose that your families will bid for the Soultrait Symbols. Did youe to ask me what types of Soultraits I''m going to sell, and what I decided to give to each race of the Tritan Alliance?" Michael asked, hitting the bulls-eye.

    It was not that weird for Kaleb to be here. Michael asked him to test out his newest version of the Ice Bullet. But he was not so sure about the reason for everyone else to arrive with Kaleb. They looked ufortable as if they were hiding something. Their attempts to hide the truth were miserable, making them likable. Michael wouldn''t want his friends to be good at lying. That was a rather unwee talent.

    "Our families told us to find out more about the Soultraits you''re going to offer¡­yeah¡­" Lincoln answered truthfully, his gaze lingering on the ground. All of a sudden, the floor looked so intriguing. Everyone looked down.

    "It''s fine. I''m not mad," Michael chuckled lightly, "Either way, I''m not going to tell you anything about the Soultraits. That wouldn''t be fair."

    The others agreed silently with Michael, but they couldn''t help but frown. Their elders wouldn''t be happy about their failure.

    "All I may say is that everyone should prepare to pay a lot. Winning the bid for the Soultrait Symbol won''t be the end of the negotiations with me. If anything, it will be a new start."

    Michael''s words took everyone, except Kraft Viton, by surprise. They stared at Michael in confusion but Michael wasn''t willing to say anything else. He''d already revealed more than he appeared supposed to.

    At the end of the day, the auctioned Soultrait Symbols were only 1-Star. Their power appeared highly restricted and purchasing them like this wouldn''t be that helpful. That was why one had to rely on Michael''s service to increase the Soultrait Symbol''s star rating right after they''d purchased the Soultrait Symbol.

    Michael appeared willing to give a discount to the early birds, who sessfully bid for his Soultraits. The discount could allow the bidders to purchase his services to upgrade the purchased Soultrait Symbols to 4-Star. Of course, the price would be hefty, but Michael was willing to generously improve six Soultraits to 4-Star to prove the power of his Soultrait.

    Rumors had spread about his power. Most of these rumors were bad, saying that he appeared exaggerating or tantly lying and that his power didn''t exist. Of course, that was nonsense, but Michael wanted to remove possible issues by plucking out the root of all problems. Furthermore, he could make a fortune by selling the Soultrait Symbols right before offering a discount on his Power-Up service.

    It appeared all amercial stunt to increase the importance of the Soultrait Symbol Auction and guarantee receiving higher bids and more interest from all over the Tritan Alliance.

    Michael appeared not a businessman but as the Lord of an expanding territory, he had to learn how to market his products well. He had a lot to study and learn, and it was only fortunate that he had Kraft Viton by his side.

    The old man supported him unconditionally, and it looked like he appeared growing younger as he spent more time with an aspiring Lord overflowing with youthful spirit.

    "Let''s earn a fortune!" Kraft Viton winked at Michael, who broke into a smile.

    It appeared about time that the Soultrait Symbol Auction started.

 Chapter 540 Soultrait Symbol Auction

    <h4>Chapter 540 Soultrait Symbol Auction</h4>

    "Wee to the first Soultrait Symbol Auction of the Bartholomew Corporation. We hope that everyone watching the stream is having a pleasant time and that you''re as excited for today''s event as I am," Kraft Viton introduced himself from therge recording device that managed the livestream all over the Tritan Alliance.

    The recording device was empowered with several Monster Cores of Higher Lifeforms, allowing everyone who was interested to connect to the stream.

    Kraft Viton smiled at the recording device, ignoring the pairs of eyes that lingered on him. He was a true professional.

    Michael and the others decided to attend the Soultrait Symbol Auction in person. They sat down in the spectator rows in the Colosseum and listened to Kraft Viton as he introduced a handful of new items of the Bartholomew Corporation. He didn''t jump to the Soultrait Symbol Auction immediately, and stalled for some time instead. The vast majority of bigshots interested in the Soultrait Symbols had yet to join the livestream, after all.

    Kraft Viton introduced various herbs, greens and other nts in the stream. It didn''t take a genius to determine that the products shown in the stream came from the Agriculture Project.

    Was the Bartholomew Corporation bragging about their sesses, or was there some hidden agenda behind this?

    Michael presumed that it was thetter but a simple analysis of Kraft Viton''s facial features and attitude made it seem like they were bragging. Well, everyone felt the need to brag every now and then. It was fine.

    Roughly ten minutes passed since the livestream started when Kraft Viton retrieved a small ss vial containing arge, glowing mass. It was a Soultrait Symbol.

    "I think everyone is already tired of listening to my voice, but I hope you can stay tuned for the main event," Kraft Viton said, the corner of his lip curling up, "What I''m holding in my hand is one of the six Soultrait Symbols that will be auctioned today, two for each race as demanded by our ''anonymous'' partner."

    The tension in the Colosseum intensified as all eyes were drawn to the Soultrait Symbol. Lincoln and some other Descendants jumped up from their seats, their bodies tense, and their left hand grasping their right tightly. Small tendrils of energy emerged from their War Runes. They''d sensed the Soultrait Symbol and desired to devour and fuse with it immediately.

    "My War Rune is going crazy¡­" Kaleb mumbled, breaking into a sweat to prevent the tendrils of energy from shooting out of his War Rune.

    "That''s normal. War Runes are instinctively drawn to Soultrait Symbols," Michael responded, while easily controlling his War Rune. He suppressed its desire to im more Soultraits with a mentalmand and observed Kraft Viton. The old man''s War Rune was no different from that of the remaining Awakened. The only difference was that Kraft Viton had received enough time to learn how to control his War Rune''s tendrils. He had been exposed to the Soultrait Symbols a few days in advance than everyone else who was struggling to get their War Rune''s under control, other than Michael, of course.

    "As everyone should be able to see¡­my War Rune is going crazy. This is a natural phenomenon, which is directly rted to the rtionship between Soultraits and War Runes. If you manage to bid for the Soultrait Symbol, you will notice that your War Rune will go crazy for the Soultrait Symbol as well. That I can promise!" Kraft Viton said, trying to sound nonchnt and in control. Unfortunately, that was quite hard with greedy energy tendrils shooting out of his War Rune.

    He managed to control his War Rune within the next few seconds and cleared his throat to disperse the traces of embarrassment he felt.

    "Let me tell you a little bit about this Soultrait Symbol. First of all, it is a Soultrait Symbol that is going to be auctioned to the human race. However, if a member of the Berserker, or Warlock Centaur race thinks that this Soultrait fits perfectly to them, you may bid as well. But keep in mind that we took every races'' fighting style in consideration," Kraft Viton exined, his expression turning serious.

    "If you bid for a Soultrait Symbol that was chosen for another race, one of the Soultrait Symbols we''ve picked for your race will be sold to another race. Therefore, stay cautious while bidding for a Soultrait Symbol that has been reserved for your allies," He added, only to smile brightly once again, "Of course, bidding for the mostpatible Soultrait is the most important. This is an auction, and a biddingpetition. There is no need to be considerate. Who knows how many years it will take before a second Soultrait Symbol Auction will be held?"

    Kraft Viton did an exceptional job ying with fire. He warned everyone that they picked appropriate Soultraits for each race, but enticed the other races to bid for other Soultraits as well. Kraft''s deration was nothing short of war ¨C a bidding war. Michael was not sure if that was the best way to generate more profit, but he trusted the old man. If anyone knew what he was doing¡­then it was Kraft Viton!

    "The first Soultrait traded in today''s bid can be ssified as a rare Elemental-type Soultrait. Like all Soultraits auctioned in today''s special event, it is a 1-Star Soultrait."

    Nobody was surprised to hear that the Soultrait was 1-Star. Kraft Viton rified that before in the notifications he forwarded to every participant of the Soultrait Symbol Auction. He also rified that they can purchase Michael''s service with a discount to upgrade the auctioned Soultraits up to 4 Stars.

    "The Soultrait is called [Aquarius] and it''s very versatile even as a 1-Star Soultrait. It is a water-attributed Elemental Soultrait that can not only control the water in the surroundings, but also manifest water with energy. It''s formless but can take shapes as well. You may use Aquarius to cleanse wounds as an infinite source of water for your territory, or in battle to block attacks by summoning walls of water, or attack via water jets." Kraft took a deliberate pause before continuing,

    "The potential uses with Aquarius are near-infinite. All you need to be is¡­creative. As long as your creativity doesn''t die, you will be able to find new uses for Aquarius. If used with other Elemental Soultraits, or other types of Soultraits, you may as well create stronger versions of your respective Soultraits¡­"

    Kraft Viton turned the bid into a detailed lecture about Aquarius'' potential uses and its uniqueness among Soultraits until he noticed that the first bids had already begun flooding in.

    "Oh! It looks like we''ve already gotten a few bids while I was busy speaking about Aquarius. It seems like the ount with the name [God of Thunder Family] is very curious in this Soultrait. That is certainly an interesting choice," Kraft Viton said, clearly noticing which family the ount belonged to. It was obvious.

    Another bid entered the chat.

    "Zenovia''s Glory made another bid with 20 Silver Tokens of Transportation, a vast variety of exotic resources, and a Bronze Egg of Destruction! To think that Zenovia''s Glory is willing to exchange the Bronze Egg of Destruction. What a plot twist!"

    "We''ve got another bid. 22 Silver Tokens of Teleportation, all resources mentioned in the list of items in section one, and¡­ a Summoning Scroll Set for a Grandmaster Beastmaster Family! A Summoning Scroll Set! It''s very rare to see them! For those who''ve never heard about Scroll Sets, the Scrolls contain a Set of Summons that is linked to each other. Usually it''s a family with a Unique Bloodline. Their unique Bloodline allows them to use special abilities that resemble the powers of Soultraits!"

    More bids moved in, but Michael didn''t pay much attention to them for long. At first, he was a bit curious in iing bids, but he quickly noticed that he was growing too excited about certain items, only for more valuable ¨C but less exciting ¨C bids to be made.

    He was curious about the Egg of Destruction since he had no idea what exactly the Egg of Destruction was, in the first ce. However, the Scroll Set for a family of Beastmasters at the Grandmaster level was far more valuable. The bidding for Aquarius continued for a while until the Zeus family ¨C through the ount of the God of Thunder family ¨C made a final bid.

    "What a shocking bid! The God of Thunder Family bid 30 Silver Token of Transportation, 25 Intermediate Blueprints of Exotic rarity, 8 Advanced Blueprints, including the blueprint for a Hunter Academy, AND a Bloodline Upgrade Token!"

    A Bloodline Upgrade Token possessed the power to upgrade the bloodline of a Summon. It couldn''t be used on an Adventurer, or a Lord. But that was ideally fine. It was exceptional if used on a appropriate Summon as it upgraded the Summon''s potential alongside his/her bloodline. Depending on the target''stent potential, it was possible that their Star Rating would improve in the future.

    However, that was not why Michael valued it so highly. Upgrading a Summon''s bloodline wasparable to a transmutation ¨C an evolution. If used on the Immortal Knight, it was possible to heal his wounds, rejuvenate him, and allow him to fulfill his much-awaited dream; to join the battlefield once again.

    Michael nodded to Kraft Viton, who noticed his action from the corner of his eye. Maybe other bids would be better for others, but the Bloodline Upgrade Token was of tremendous value for Michael. It was probably more valuable than all the other goods that had been bid alongside¡­together.

    "There are more iing bids but none of them can rival the God of Thunder Family''s bid. It seems like we found a new owner for Aquarius! Please congratte the God of Thunder family for sessfully bidding and receiving the first Soultrait Symbol in today''s special event!"

    Soft cheers rang through the Colosseum, but nobody was actually d that the Zeus Family won the bid ¨C other than Michael, of course.

    Michael was overjoyed. Using the Bloodline Upgrade Token might add a 6-Star Summon with enhanced potential back onto the battlefield.

    How could he not be happy?!

 Chapter 541 Filthy Rich

    <h4>Chapter 541 Filthy Rich</h4>

    The Soultrait Symbol Auction continued. The first Soultrait Symbol for the Berserker race, Ferocious Beast, was presented and sold for a small fortune. The Berserkers didn''t hesitate to outbid each other, throwing more treasures into the bidding field one after another. It was as if the Berserkers returned onto a bloody battlefield in the middle of a fierce bidding war.

    Michael loved their bids. They seemed reckless at first, but there were precise calctions behind their actions. At first, they wanted to outbid each other to push their foes into a tricky position. Their intention was simple: Everyone wanted to find out each other''s bidding limit.

    It was not umon for families to restrain themselves during auctions. They determined a specific limit before the auction started and wouldn''t go above the limit.

    The Berserker were the same. There was only one problem; they didn''t want to lose. An auction was a war for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The only difference was that they had to bid their valuable treasures instead of fighting with their life on the line.

    The Berserkers'' bidding for the first Soultrait ended in a massacre. Michael gained mountains of resources, 35 Silver Tokens of Transportation, and 10 Vouchers to create customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts. The Berserker race was not only known for their love for war, but also for their crazy obsession with weapons. Almost all Berserkers were Master cksmiths with enough qualifications as Enchanters to create Ordinary Tier-1 and Tier-2 Artifacts. Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, however, were on a whole different level.

    Grandmaster cksmiths with unique Soultraits could create Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, but it was difficult for them to create customized ones. Nheless, it was possible. All they had to do was spend enough time and effort to fulfill their job.

    Other than the Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, Michael was also granted ess to special blueprints, ores and other resources that could only be found in the territories of the Berserkers. The Berserkers were even willing to give their Racial Summoning Cores. That was a little bit unexpected, but Michael was happy about that as all Berserkers, even Starless Summons, were capable fighters. Every Berserker and Warlock Centaur had the innate potential to be a great Warrior.

    Michael presumed that Starless Berserkers were as powerful as 1-Star Warriors. However, he was not sure how strong Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs could grow after Immortal Knight taught them. What if they became Blessed Squires, or Holy Knights? Their tremendous physical strength and highbat awareness would turn Berserkers and Warlock Centaur Summons into the core members of his territory''s military power.

    That didn''t sound too bad.

    Michael retrieved a notebook and began to write down a few things. He didn''t want to lose count of the items he obtained and how to use them properly. Kraft Viton would probably give him an inventory list of the items he''d procured in today''s special event, but there were certain things Michael wanted to do with specific items so he quickly began scribbling, lest he forgot themter.

    The remaining Soultrait Symbols were sold in the following two hours. The Zeus family purchased the Elemental Soultrait, Aquarius, the Seraph Family managed to win the bid for the Healing-type Soultrait, Healing Surge, the Berserkers seeded in bidding for the Soultraits Ferocious Beast and Scale Amore, whereas the Warlock Centaurs purchased Stompede and Rider of Hell.

    Each Soultrait was powerful in its own way. It all depended on the User''s race, understanding, and mastery.

    One way or another, Michael gained a lot. He procured 205 Silver Tokens of Transportation ¨C more than enough to hire a second and third batch of subordinates ¨C 162 Intermediate Blueprints of Exotic and Extraordinary rarity, 75 Advanced Blueprints with core structures like a Hunter''s Academy, and Recipes for various sought-after potions and elixirs.

    Other than that, there was the Bloodline Upgrade Token, 10 Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, a Legendary Artifact called Domain of Natura, an Orb of Resurrection, a Sacred Charm of Detection, and a Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    Michael would probably use two Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Items for himself before offering the remaining Vouchers to his subordinates. They could purchase the Vouchers using Jungle Points. It was an attractive offer.

    Domain of Natura was a unique Legendary Artifact that did not possess a Tier. It was installed in the center of a Lord''s territory, usually in the wooden manor, and created a domain that would nourish the surrounding flora and fauna, further elerating the growth of all living beings, whether Summons, Monsters, or nts. All beings maturing in the Domain of Natura would be more attuned to their Lord, creating a stronger Link of Loyalty, and a connection toward their territory. Even if their Lord wouldn''t order his subjects to protect their territory, every member of his territory would instinctively feel the need to do something to strengthen Michael''s territory against unwanted visitors and potential dangers.

    The Domain of Natura was a wonderful Artifact. Michael loved it, and he hoped that it would be as useful as promised. The same applied to the Orb of Resurrection, the Sacred Charm of Detection, and the Pir of Territorial Awareness. The Orb of Resurrection could resurrect a deceased, whether Summon or Awakened, within five minutes of their death. It worked only one time and would shatter right after, but that was certainly worth it.

    It would have been great to possess the Orb of Resurrection during the time he spent in the Lord Rift with Tiara and Danny¡­

    The Sacred Charm of Detection was a great item that worked even better with the Pir of Territorial Awareness. The Pir of Territorial Awareness was installed in the center of the territory. It created a map of the surrounding regions using the memories of those who touched the pir. Everyone could share their memories to create arge map of the surrounding regions.

    The Pir of Territorial Awareness would then create districts to determine the location of their enemies, unknown forces, their allies, potential allies, and their territory. Everything would be organized via the Pir of Territorial Awareness, making it easier to n war tactics and hunts.

    The Sacred Charm of Detection was embedded in the Pir of Territorial Awareness, upgrading the Pir to detect mana frequencies and the essence of their intentions. That meant Michael and everyone else in his territory could pinpoint potential enemies with ill intentions and predators using the Sacred Charm of Detection.

    Of course, neither of the items were cheap to maintain, but Michael was d to have obtained them. It was not like hecked the resources to empower them, either way. He obtained enough resources to empower all of his items for decades just from today''s auction.

    The resources he''d obtained were more than enough to start the construction of the Intermediate Sacred Knight Temple. Michael was only missing a few major materials required for the Advanced upgrade of the Sacred Knight Temple as well. It was only a matter of time before the Sacred Knight Temple would be fully restored and its full prospects unraveled.

    Michael procured various unique methods as well. Many families auctioned a wide variety of Superior-grade Breathing Techniques, Core Techniques, Soul Refinement Techniques, Body Refinement Techniques, and Mind Refinement Techniques.

    Michael was already in possession of various techniques, but there was no harm in getting further as the saying goes: The more the merrier!

    Furthermore, there were certain methods Michael never possessed. It was the first time he procured a Soul Refinement Technique and a Core Technique. Other than that, Michael''s Breathing Technique was old and certainly outdated. He even forgot that he had been using the Sun Soldier''s Breathing Technique as he reached perfect mastery of the technique a long time ago.

    Michael was quite happy about the earnings he made from his first auction. He was also pretty sure that the next auction wouldn''t be this crazy. At least, he didn''t think so. It was always worth hoping that his gut feeling was wrong when it came to things like this, but it didn''t matter much. Michael knew that he could always obtain a fortune by selling Soultrait Symbols and his service to upgrade Soultraits for an exorbitant price.

    He had a monopoly, and he sincerely doubted that anyone could take it away from him. Even if that were to happen in the future¡­was it really important? By the time someone else with a simr Soultrait as Extraction appeared on the horizon, Michael would already be a powerhouse that towered above the High Society. Was it really necessary for him to fear losing his monopoly over the Soultrait Symbols and Soul Techniques?

    Michael nced at the eight Basic Summoning Cores he''d procured and smiled brightly. Two bidders had been too invested in the auctioning process to notice that they ended up bidding for four Basic Summoning Cores respectively. That was how Michael got hold of four Basic Summoning Cores for the Berserker and the Warlock Centaur n each.

    The quality of the Summoning Cores was quite bad withrge amounts of impurities damaging the most basic effects of the Summoning Cores, but that was no problem for Michael.

    He could extract the impurities within the eight Summoning Cores and install them in his Summoning Gate, expanding the number of his daily summons significantly. However, that had to wait for a while. Michael had other things to do first.

    He was waiting for his prizes to arrive before he could proceed with the next step on his to-do list.

    Interestingly enough, the bidders didn''t waste any time and handed over the goods they bid on shortly after the main event of the auction ended. They sent their goods to the branches of the Bartholomew Corporation that transferred everything to the headquarters in the Origin Expanse, where Kraft Viton collected uttered goods.

    In return, Kraft Viton was supposed to send the 1-Star Soultraits to those who returned to im the goods they''d won in their bids. However, none of the bidders asked for the Soultraits immediately.

    All of them were hoping that Michael could upgrade the Soultraits. After all, they wanted to fuse with powerful Soultraits¡­not with lousy 1-Star Soultraits.

 Chapter 542 Surprise

    <h4>Chapter 542 Surprise</h4>

    It was not a surprise that everyone who purchased a Soultrait Symbol wanted to have it upgraded as much as possible. Michael epted their wishes, but he decided to send Kraft Viton to negotiate the contract terms instead of doing so by himself. Michael did that because he wanted to show everyone that he trusted the Bartholomew Corporation and used Kraft Viton as his manager. At least, that was Michael''s intention since he was pretty sure that Kraft Viton was a much better negotiator.

    "You want the remaining items in section three and four from your item list in addition to their Inheritance Techniques, and Legacy Arts¡­ Thest two points will be far more problematic than the first two, but I doubt that you''re going to use their Inheritance Techniques, in the first ce," Kraft Viton mumbled, "Are you going to use their Inheritance Techniques to create your own? If that''s the case, I will add a use to promise them that we won''t share our knowledge about their Inheritance Techniques'' secrets with anyone."

    Michael didn''t have to think a second before he answered, "That''s totally fine. It''s like you said. I want to use their techniques to create my own in the near future."

    "That should be fine then," Kraft Viton replied, taking a few notes before he continued, "I will also tell the bidders that the Bartholomew Corporation will have more treasures to sell in the near future if that''s okay with you."

    "That should be fine then," Kraft Viton replied, taking a few notes before he continued, "I will also tell the bidders that the Bartholomew Corporation will have more treasures to sell in the near future if that''s okay with you."

    The treasures Kraft Viton mentioned weren''t Soultrait Symbols or SoulStar Fragments, but Soul Energy Fusion techniques, and Neutral Soul Techniques. ''Now that I think about it. I have yet to create my own Soul Technique. Even Soul cicle Bullet is merely an altered technique.'' Michael realized. He didn''t count Heavenly Realm as his Soul Technique because it was created for Maria and Archangel''s Grace. Michael was only in possession of a small shard of Archangel''s Grace, and couldn''t unleash its true potential. He might be able to use the technique but Heavenly Realm was certainly not created for him.

    "It''s a good idea that you offered to upgrade the first batch of Soultraits to 4-Star, but you shouldn''t overdo it. More people will want to use your service and if you don''t create a tangible service, you will end up suffering," Kraft Viton advised, "Of course, I don''t know how difficult it is for you to upgrade a Soultrait, but from what you told me¡­it''s not worth offering your service to everyone. It should be special."

    22:52

    "I know," Michael sighed, "Either way¡­did you finish the Mythic Scroll Trading Post?"

    Kraft Viton smiled seeing Michael change the topic so quickly, but he nodded.

    "I did. The web designers created a whole featured website for your Mythic Scrolls. Currently, we offer one Mythic Scroll for 20,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. The Bartholomew Corporation will charge 10% as the transaction fee since we''re doing most of the work, either way, but you know that we could take much more than that if we wanted to. You were given special treatment once again."

    Kraft Viton teased Michael a little bit, but it was quite obvious that a trace of truth lingered in his words. Michael was given special treatment, and it was not exactly difficult to tell. "Thank you for your help. And please give my kind regards and my thanks to the president as well. I''m d to be a partner of the Bartholomew Corporation!" "No problem. We''re happy that you chose to stay with us." Michael and Kraft Viton had barelypleted their discussion when a flood of notifications flooded Kraft Viton. He received several calls from the bigshots who''d sessfully bid for the Soultrait Symbols.

    "I will get you a good deal. See ya," He stated to Michael, who waved him goodbye.

    After Kraft left, Michael finally had some time for himself. He returned to his room and entered the Origin Expanse to take a short break and let his thoughts roam freely.

    ''18,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls for a single Mythic Scroll is a great deal. By extracting an average of 1.5 Summoning Scroll Fragments from old scrolls, I can easily construct 2 Mythic Scrolls for every Scroll I trade. I''ll have enough excess to stock up and create a Legendary Summoning Scrollter. All I need is to be patient.'' As long as his n worked out, Michael would never have an issue with ack of Summons again. He would possess enough Ordinary, Mythic, and Legendary Scrolls to expand the poption in his territory at any point. It would take some time before he achieved that feat, but it was possible. And that made it even more exciting.

    The only issue ¨C if one could call it such, in the first ce ¨C about today''s Soultrait Symbol Auction was that Michael had to use his SoulStar Fragments to upgrade the six 1-Star Soultraits to 4-Star. Since the Soultraits were not fused into his body, Michael had to use more SoulStar Fragments to weave them into the fragment of the Soultrait Symbols as well. Therefore, upgrading one 1-Star Soultrait Symbol required 400 SoulStar Fragments.

    He spent a total of 2,400 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade all six Soultrait Symbols. To make up for the cost, Michael would have to kill a few Peak Tier-3 Awakened. But that was fine. Michael gained more than enough from auctioning the six Soultrait Symbols. He was a wealthy man, atst. Though Michael doubted that the wealth would stay with him for a long time as he already had more than enough things to utilize his funds for. But that was the good thing about wealth. It existed to be used, not to collect dust in his War Rune, or in his bank ount.

    Once Michael had rested his mind long enough, he left the Origin Expanse once again. He met up with his new subordinates and gave each of them one Silver Token of Transportation. He made sure that the Silver Tokens of Transportation were linked to his Summoning Gate before he stored the remaining Tokens back into his War Rune.

    Michael returned to the Origin Expanse where he waited for his subordinates to arrive. He informed the Forest Elven Adventurer team, Immortal Knight, Tiara, and a few others about the arrival of more subordinates, which they took with a grain of salt. They expected Michael to expand his arsenal of Awakened pretty soon, but they hadn''t heard a lot from Michael in thest few days. Hence, it was a great surprise to hear that their Lord added a batch of 30 Awakened all of a sudden.

    However, nobody was displeased. They trusted Michael, and hoped sincerely that their territory was going to prosper even more now that their military power expanded.

    It was only a matter of minutes before the first Awakened emerged through the Summoning Gate. Reba Zauber and her friend were the first to arrive. The first thing the two human Descendants noticed was the overwhelming presence of nature all around them. Even though they''d known about the Untamed Jungle from Michael''s exnation, they were shocked by the flourishing fauna and the strong scent of nature that was ever-present.

    "So greatly energy¡­" Reba mumbled, shocked at the quality and quantity of the ambient origin energy. How was it possible for so greatly origin energy to permeate the air all around them, naturally, at that?

    It was wonderful!

    The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers arrived shortly after Reba Zauber and her little friend stepped through the gate. They were just as surprised as Reba, but they could handle their emotions much better. They bowed to Michael to thank him once again for epting them into his territory before they introduced themselves one by one to the citizens.

    Michael didn''t ask them to introduce themselves, but he figured that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were noble and prideful beings. They were honest, friendly, and sociable races ¨C though a little bit too violent at times.

    "Since it''s the first time for most of you to see a region such as the Untamed Jungle, I believe that it will be necessary to adapt to the environment and the lifestyle. Most of us live in treehouses, but I''m not sure if you would like to do the same. Please inform the Architects where you want to live, and they wille up with a proper design to adjust the buildings to your¡­sizes," Michael weed them with a smile.

    He was not sure if his new subordinates wanted to stay and sleep in his territory since everything was still new for them, but he surely hoped that his subordinates would spend more time in the Origin Expanse ¨C in his territory ¨C once they got used to everything. The Untamed Jungle was a treasure trove when it came to finding means to grow stronger, after all.

    "Settle down and get used to my territory in the next few days. After that, we will take care of the work distribution, your training schedule, and so on. There is no need to rush anything for now. We''re not at war." Michael suggested, only for Mika to add quietly, "...just yet."

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs looked over to the young Forest Elf, who could only swallow hard as two dozen pairs of eyesnded on him. Their eyes were filled with excitement hearing about the possibility of war breaking out. However, all Mika could see was the towering giants staring intently at him.

    Michael and the others chuckled quietly. Thanks to Mika''s interference, the ice between the citizens and the new subordinates broke quickly.

    The Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and the two Descendants spent the next two days with Michael and his subordinates. They grew closer and learned a lot from each other. The Awakened''s Links of Loyalty with Michael grew stronger and the Soul Power umted inside his Soultraits increased. Michael was happy. "How about wee back now? The Chieftain wanted to talk to you before you depart for the Saphirke Military Academy," Thaor asked, and everyone else agreed. They had some stuff to do and it was about time they returned.

    However, Michael felt a little odd. Why did it feel like everyone was pushing him out of his own house? Was it really important to depart the Origin Expanse right now? Couldn''t they do itter?

    Unfortunately, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs left. Even the two Descendants didn''t stay back. Michael frowned deeply, but he figured that he shouldn''t let the Chieftain wait. He manifested the Runic Gate and left the Origin Expanse once again. Michael stretched his body after he returned to his room, only to freeze in his tracks when he noticed that he was not alone.

    His body tensed up and he turned around, just to see two beauties sitting on his bed- Maria Seraph and Alice Zenovia.

    "Finally you''re back!" Alice and Maria eximed simultaneously, only to eye each other weirdly. Maria blushed hard, whereas Alice frowned deeply. "What are you guys doing in my room?" Michael asked, but he didn''t receive an exnation. Alice and Maria reached for his arms and pulled him out of the room and across the hallway. They didn''t say a word until they arrived in a dark room at the terminate of the hallway.

    The two girls pushed him into the room and switched the light on, unraveling more than 30 people, including Kraft Viton, Kaleb, Lincoln, Zeke, and more.

    The Chieftain and the War Priestess were present as well. ''What the hell is going on here?'' Michael wondered, his eyes traveling across the room, only to find out that even Killian was there.

    All of a sudden, a cacophony of voices reverberated through the room.

    "Happy Birthday!!"

    **

 Chapter 543 â€™Happyâ€™ Birthday

    <h4>Chapter 543 ''Happy'' Birthday</h4>

    "Happy Birthday!!"

    Michael''s ears twitched as the hysterical shrieks disguised as birthday wishes reached him. He was not sure what was going on, or if he was just at the wrong ce at the wrong time, only for realization to strike him hard in the back of the head.

    ''It''s my birthday¡­''

    "Happy Birthday, Michael!" Kaleb eximed right before giving Michael a brotherly hug. Michael pressed his lips together and sighed heavily in his mind, "Thank¡­you¡­"

    He patted Kaleb on the back, hoping that his friend would let go of the death grip. He sincerely hoped that everybody would leave him alone soon. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Everyone walked over to congratte him personally. It started with Kaelb, Alice, and Maria, and moved to Lincoln, Zeke, Thaor, and the rest. At the end of the queue, the Chieftain, War Priestess, and the professors of the Saphirke Military Academy gave him their sincere wishes for a life filled with fame and fortune. Michael was not sure if their wishes were sincere, but he could only nod in response. He eyed Killian Zeus, who had had yet to move and smiled wryly. Killian raised an eyebrow but he didn''t say anything. There was no need to wish Michael a happy birthday. It was evident that Michael didn''t like the special surprise event the others had been nning for thest few days. So, why should he wish Michael a happy birthday, if he could as well observe the torture and pain in Michael''s eyes? "Hah. What a¡­great surprise event this is¡­ Who nned this?" Michael asked, the corner of his lip twitching. Maria and Kaleb raised their hands, "We were worried that we would miss your birthday so we nned it together. We didn''t want to miss our friend''s birthday. It''s your first big anniversary as a Lord, after all!" Michael felt like bashing Kaleb, but seeing the joy in his friend''s eyes, he couldn''t get himself to say anything. Maria smiled at Michael as well. However, she felt that something was off. She seemed to sense that something about Michael was not quite right, but the atmosphere in the room was great and everyone was smiling ¨C other than Killian. Even Michael seemed happy on the outside. But that was all to it. Michael smiled on the outside, but he didn''t feel the same on the inside.

    The connection between Maria and the Mark of Fate showed her that there was more to it. That something was wrong.

    It was actually pretty simple. Michael didn''t like events such as birthdays, New Year''s Eve, and other holidays where families gathered to spend time together. Birthdays, however, were especially bad. Hesta disappeared two weeks before his eighth birthday and his parents vanished the day before his birthday as well. They left him and Danny to fend for themselves the day before he turned eight. He spent his birthday crying all day, screaming for his parents to return, but nothing happened. His parents never returned.

    Danny tried hard to keep himself and his little brother together, but he was only 12-years-old at that time. He was not supposed to be an adult and raise his little brother. But that was exactly what happened. A heavy responsibility was thrown at Danny from a young age, and it was increasingly difficult for the two youths to take care of themselves. The only advantage they had was that they had a roof on top of them and that they received pocket money. If not for that, their lives would have turned out even worse.

    Michael was grateful for having such a great brother, but it was painful to think about him. Danny sacrificed so much all his life to provide for Michael, only to die by sacrificing all he had left. His life.

    After the disaster on his 8th birthday, Michael never celebrated his birthday again. Danny tried to show him the magic of certain holidays and give him back some of the youthful experiences he''d lost, but nothing helped. Michael never learned to appreciate his birthday. Sometimes, he even wondered if it would have been better if they had never been born. If their parents could abandon them so easily, why did they even give birth to the brothers? That was something Michael asked himself a lot when he was younger. Right now, he was happy to be alive, but he would have been even happier with Danny by his side. He missed his brother. Terribly.

    "Is something wrong, Michael? Do you not like it?" Alice asked, finally noticing that something was not right with Michael. He lifted his head to look at Alice, but it was at this moment when the door to the hallway burst open. Michael used Spirit Eyes instinctively and his eyes widened. He paled, his face turning as white as paper, and his hands began to tremble violently.

    Alice and everyone else turned around, their battle instincts erupting at once. Dozens of Artifacts manifested simultaneously and various Soultraits were unleashed in the blink of an eye, all pointed at a youthful woman who looked like she was in herte 20s.

    The woman had a fairly paleplexion. Her skin seemed as white as a sheet of paper at the first nce, but it was only the stark contrast between her pale skin and long, wavy hair that created the illusion of her white, porcin skin. A pair of dark, almost ck eyes traveled through the room for a mere second before the woman furrowed her eyes at the sight of a bunch of balloons that formed the words ''Happy Birthday''.

    "Who the hell are you and how did you trespass the city security?!" A young Descendant standing near Killian asked, his voice quivering. The presence the young woman exuded naturally was powerful and eerie.

    The Descendant couldn''t hide his anxiety, but he didn''t want to look weak in front of the others. Therefore, he released a bolt ofpressed energy at the young woman without waiting for an answer. There was no second warning. The trembling Descendant attacked the woman. It was better to ask questionster, probably.

    The others didn''t attack. They increased their guard against the unknown woman and readied themselves for a fight with their lives on the line. That was not exaggerated as even the Chieftain and the War Priestess had great difficulties remaining calm andposed facing the unknown woman''s tremendous pressure. She was far from weak. Maybe¡­she was even stronger than the Leaders of the Tritan Alliance.

    The unknown woman lifted a single finger to block the Descendant''s energy bolt. That was all the attention the Descendant received from her. She diverted her focus, her eerily dark eyes traveling to the smallpass she held in her left hand. Her gaze followed the arrow slowly, and her eyes narrowed on Michael.

    The unknown woman scanned Michael''s body from head to toe until she looked him straight into the eyes. Micheal was gritting his teeth, his hands clenched into fists so hard that his fingernails cut deep into his palms. Warm blood trickled to the ground, while the shock and disbelief that reverberated through Michael''s entire being slowly transformed into anger and hatred.

    The woman raised one eyebrow and released a burst of energy to amplify her natural presence. Thaor, Lokai, Mekhaz and the other Awakened lost control of their bodies and crashed to the ground. Kaleb, and Maria groaned, their legs trembling like thin branches amid a thunderstorm. Even Killian was having problems retaining control of his body. He had to circte origin energy through his body and merge it with a portion of his thunder attribute to stay on his feet while facing the unknown woman.

    On the other hand, Michael continued to stare at the unknown woman. His body reacted subconsciously to the increased pressure by inserting severalyers of Enhancement into his body. "Interesting," The unknown woman mumbled, her sonorous voice resounding through the room.

    She didn''t sound threatening in the slightest, but nobody dared to lower their guard. Everyone could tell clearly that a single mistake was all it took to die at the hands of the unknown woman.

    Atst, the woman took her first step into the room.

    The moment she took her first step into the room, everyone made their move. The War Priestess, the Chieftain, and the other powerhouses appeared around the unknown woman in an instant, circling her. They didn''t know what the woman was nning to do, but everyone could sense that she was dangerous. She didn''t belong to the group of human powerhouses who''de to the ancient city, and nobody realized her. That could merely mean she was part of a dark organization, or, in the worst case, the Supreme Human Alliance. One way or another, the unknown woman didn''t belong to this ce. She had to be apprehended before she could harm the younger generation.

    An enormous amount of energy erupted from the powerhouses, causing the walls and ground around them to crackle. They were ready to kill the unknown woman before anything worse might happen.

    "That''s not nice," The woman clicked her tongue reproachfully and raised her right arm where eerily dark marks manifested. The pressure in the room intensified also further, forcing Killian to the ground. Darkness oozed out of the eerie marks that traveled along the woman''s right arm, rming the powerhouses that were about to strike her.

    However, it was just a momentter that the darkness oozing out of the woman''s arm disappeared. All Michael could see was that she consumed the darkness oozing out of her arm to activate something, probably her Soultrait. His vision suddenly grew hazy. He couldn''t properly see what was going on inside the woman. All he might tell was that she did anything and that her move restrained the powerhouses around her. Even the Chieftain and War Priestess lost his/her ability to move. They couldn''t control their bodies anymore!

    6th Tier? No. The way the woman restrained everyone''s movement while several Tier-6 Lords were present indicated that she was stronger. ''A Divine Lifeform?'' Everyone wondered, but Michael didn''t care. He might merely stare nkly at the woman in front of him.

    He never realized that she was this strong¡­that his mother was this powerful.

 Chapter 544 Soul

    <h4>Chapter 544 Soul</h4>

    Even though the powerhouses around Michael were restrained, he was not. His body trembled wildly. Something deep within roared. It felt simr to thest battle in the Interdimensional g War¡­yet, it was different.

    The Mark of Spirit Eyes around his eyes glowed brightly and expanded slowly. At the same time, golden stigmatas formed on his upper body, where nobody could see them. He was itchy all over his body but focused on the not so unknown woman in front of him¡­his mother.

    She looked at thepass once again and strode slowly through the room. Her path led her to Michael, whom she studied intently. Michael could tell that his mother hadn''t aged at all. She looked exactly the same as before. His memories about her were hazy but seeing her again made it seem like she''d never left. But she did.

    He grit his teeth, the hatred in his eyes overflowing. His fury was overwhelming, resulting in Spirit Eyes to activate on its own. The fabric of space around Michael twisted. His mother noticed that Michael could move even though she''d released her power, but she ignored the confusing feeling that blossomed in her heart and arrived in front of Michael, her ice-cold eyes staring into the depth of Michael''s soul.

    Michael heard Alice groan in pain as she tried to escape the invisible forces that restrained her movements, but she couldn''t move. No matter how much she wanted to help Michael, she could not escape the invisible restrictions. Even the Chieftain was having difficulties moving. He regained some strength to move a little, but the movements were sluggish and slow.

    Michael''s mother reached him and killing intent emerged from her eyes as one of her right arm lunged forward. Her fingers coiled around his neck and her grasp tightened. She strangled Michael.

    "Who are you, and why do you have my son''s soul?!" She thundered, while lifting Michael from the ground.

    Alice and the others tried to move. They had no idea what was going on, but they knew that they had to help Michael. He was going to die!

    But Michael didn''t show an ounce of fear even as his mother held him high into the air, strangling her own son with tremendous force. The hatred in his eyes intensified as he sent a message of Whispering Energy to everyone in the room to let him handle this.

    ["You''re asking who I am? Are you serious, right now?"] Michael asked his mother, who raised an eyebrow as the telepathic message reached her. Her grasp around his neck didn''t tighten but it didn''t loosen either.

    ["I didn''t expect a lot from our reunion, but it''s amusing to think that a mother cannot even recognize her own flesh and blood. You really don''t deserve to be called a mother."]

    The woman''s eyes widened and she momentarily lost control of her energy as her eyes locked onto the hatred and disgust oozing out of Michael''s eyes. All Michael could see was disbelief in the eyes of the person whom he called mother in the past. The stigmatas all over his upper body erupted on hismand. True Extraction with 10yers of Enhancement was unleashed in an explosive burst.

    True Extraction destroyed everything in its path, its power far more potent in the area immediately around Michael. The invisible force spread throughout the room was feasted on and devoured by it. His mother let go of Michael as 10-fold Enhanced True Extraction leeched on her energy. Michael used Insert to insert traces of Extraction inside her arm and body right before he was released from the iron grip.

    His mother''s hand left deep imprints on his neck, but Michael did not pay any attention to the pain in his neck. It was difficult to breathe, yet all Michael did was stare at the woman whom he''d once called his mother. His hoodie and shirt were torn apart, revealing his naked upper-body and the golden stigmatas that covered his broad torso.

    "Cursed Seals¡­" His mother eximed, the disbelief in her eyes transforming into shock and horror. The telepathic messages of the young man in front of her were still deeply imprinted in her mind, the truth unraveling itself slowly.

    Her ice-cold expression changed dramatically. Warmth returned to her eyes and Michael could see tears forming in the corner of her eyes. However, all he felt was disgust and pure loathing as he watched his mother''s reaction. He took a step back as her feet moved forward. At that moment, Alice, the War Priestess, and the Chieftain appeared around Michael, their weapons pointed at his mother. They were still unsure about what had just happened, but they felt a sudden surge of power from Michael and a loss of control from the unknown woman. Thisbination allowed Michael to escape the woman''s grasp and the others to destroy the remnants of the woman''s invisible force.

    "Who are you?!" The Chieftain thundered, his vignce reaching new heights as he coated himself in ayer of highlypressed energy.

    However, the woman didn''t pay the slightest attention to the Chieftain. Her watery eyes were locked on Michael.

    "M-Michael? Is¡­that really you?" She asked, tears trickling down her cheek.

    Michael grit his teeth, trying hard to control his emotions. He felt like cursing his mother, shouting at her, and insulting her for abandoning her¡­but he knew that she was not worth the effort. She didn''t deserve his attention. Not after she abandoned him¡­them¡­for almost an entire decade.

    "Is that supposed to be a surprise visit?" He asked Alice, who was taken by surprise.

    Was that really the best moment to ask if she had nned his surprise event? An unknown ¨C extremely powerful ¨C woman had just infiltrated the ancient city and strangled him. They had better things to do than talking about his surprise event.

    "You know, I should have told you guys that I really hate surprise events. I hated them since Danny and I were abandoned the day before my 8th birthday," He mumbled, confusing the powerhouses around himself even more than before.

    However, the woman opposite them responded dramatically to the words escaping Michael''s lips.

    She appraised Michael from head to toe once again and even channeled a trace of energy into Michael, just toe to the same conclusion. The youthful Lord standing in front of her¡­was her youngest child.

    "H-how can that be? What are you doing here, son?!" She asked, tears streaming down her cheeks like a waterfall.

    Her words took everyone by surprise and even the Chieftain did a double take. "You grew up well," She remarked quietly after sensing the tremendous power that coursed through Michael. Even though she was lost in emotions, she was d to see her son. It had been long since shest saw him. Too long.

    But Michael didn''t reciprocate the warmth. His hatred grew worse with every tear that trickled down her cheek.

    "I did. Thanks to Danny. You wouldn''t know, of course," He spat out, "And don''t call me your son, Evalynn. You don''t deserve to be called a mother!"

    Evalynn Fang looked like someone had delivered a tight p to her face. Her expression faltered as she looked at her son, her lips tightly pressed together.

    Silence enveloped the chamber for a while until a telepathic message arrived Michael via Whispering Energy.

    ["I''m not sure how to break it to you, but everyone is in a tricky position right now. Are we supposed to attack your moth¡ª this woman, or leave you alone with her?"]

    Michael would have loved to leave his mother with the others. However, a nagging sensation in the back of his head stopped him from storming out like a little child that had been neglected. He recalled his mother''s words from a few minutes ago when she was busy strangling him.

    "I don''t want to talk to you any longer, but tell me what you meant when you said that I have your son''s soul. If it''s about Danny''s Soultrait, I have it. It dropped in a Lord Rift." Evalynn Fang was still in a trance, imprinting every single detail about Michael into her mind. Her tears ceased after a while and her lips parted only to shut tightly once again.

    She looked at the remaining people in the chamber and waved her hand, releasing invisible forces that were strong enough to throw the powerhouses out of the room.

    "Is she your lover? She''s cute, and very protective," Evalynn asked her offspring as her eyesnded on Alice Zenovia. Alice''s ears flushed red, but Michael could only curse, "Whether she is my girlfriend or not is none of your business. How about you answer the damn question before you return to wherever you came from?!?"

    Evalynn''s expression soured again but she tried to force a smile on her face. She didn''t have to use her invisible force anymore as the remaining participants of Michael''s shock event left on their own ord. They were confused by the turn of events, but it was obvious that Michael wouldn''t be harmed. If anything, it was more likely that Michael would harm the unknown woman, who turned out to be his mother.

    Once the mother-son duo was alone in the room, Evalynn released a dome of force around them to iste them from the rest of the world. Now, nobody could eavesdrop on them anymore.

    "I''m so d to observe you aga¨C..." "Answer the damn question!" Michael cursed again, the Stigmatas all over his physique flickering vibrantly.

    Evalynn sighed deeply. She didn''t expect the reunion with her children to be easy, but she didn''t expect to face this much hatred either. But what did she expect? A hug? Or a teary-eyed greeting, "Finally, you''re back. We''ve been waiting for you for thest 11 years!!?"

    She had to understand that fantasy and reality were different. It was foolish to dream about a happy reunion, especially after what happened to her oldest son.

    "You want an answer to my question? I will give you a very simple answer then," His matriarch said, clearing her throat before pointing at Michael.

    "You''re in possession of Danny''s Soul." Michael''s eyes widened in shock and disbelief, but his matriarch was not yet done.

    "And I want it!"

 Chapter 545 Alive

    <h4>Chapter 545 Alive</h4>

    It was today, on his birthday, when Michael found out that Danny''s Soul had always been with him. Was that fate?

    His mother was not talking about Danny''s Soultrait, Reinforced Sword Qi, but his Living Soul. Michael was not sure what exactly a Living Soul was, however, hisck of knowledge didn''t matter. All that mattered was that Danny might still be alive.

    "We just need his Soul¡­" Evalynn rified, "We can bring him back!"

    Michael''s heart skipped a beat, his eyes following his mother''s finger. She pointed at the Miniature Coffin Keychain that had been with Michael since he returned from the Lord Rift.

    His eyes widened and he retrieved the Miniature Coffin Keychain to inspect it closely.

    "Danny''s Soul¡­.is stored inside this?" He asked the anger and wrath he felt toward his mother slowly being reced by hope.

    So what if he hated his parents? If there was the slightest chance to get his brother back, Michael would take it. He would risk it all to bring his brother back to life!

    However, something felt off. He couldn''t sense anything from the Miniature Coffin Keychain. Michael had been experimenting with the Miniature Coffin Keychain quite often, but he never found out what use it had. By now, he had forgotten about the keychain. It was more of an essory than a useful Artifact. All of a sudden his mother showed up and said that the useless keychain contains Danny''s Soul? That didn''t make any sense. He was appalled, but despite having been abandoned by his mother, Michael believed her. It was odd.

    "Yes, his Soul is stored inside the Coffin. Give it to us, and we will take care of his reincarnation. He might forget about you, but we will make sure that he will grow up well!" Evalynn promised, but Michael retracted his hand. "Reincarnation? Losing his memories? That''s not what you said earlier! And who the hell is stupid enough to believe your promise? You promised us so many things, only to abandon us when we were too young to take care of ourselves! Why the hell should I trust you?!" Michael bellowed and the emotions he had umted over the years erupted from deep within him once again.

    The hatred resurfaced. "Hell no. I won''t give you the keychain!" He said, his grip over the keychain growing firmer.

    Where the hell had his mother been all these years? Why did she never search for her children? Now that Danny died she cares about him¡­his soul¡­ all of a sudden? That didn''t make any sense! His family couldn''t be trusted!

    "His Soul is decaying. Danny has only a year left before his Living Soul cannot be salvaged anymore. The damage will be too big and we won''t be able to reincarnate him anymore. He will not only lose his memories but the curse wi¨C...." Michael couldn''t listen to his mother''s incessant rambling anymore. "One year? That''s more than enough time to search for a solution on my own. I don''t need your help, or whoever you''re talking about when you say ''we'' and ''us''. If it''s father, tell him to fuck off and to never even think abouting here!" He snorted.

    Michael was angry, but he felt like he had been given a new purpose in life. If¡­his mother''s words held even an ounce of truth and Danny''s Living Soul had been preserved in the Miniature Coffin Keychain¡­then he could rescue him, probably. He had Extraction, Insert, and various other Soultraits that he could use. As long as Michael worked hard enough to search for the Soultraits and techniques he needed, he was confident of rescuing his brother. It wouldn''t be necessary to throw Danny into the cycle of reincarnation. If he rescued his brother he had to do it properly. Not some sort of reincarnation that made him forget who he was. Could that be considered ''rescue'' in the first ce? Michael''s mind was overflowing with the confused feelings due to the sudden reunion with his mother and the news about Danny''s soul. He was having a hard time believing his mother, but he could use simple means to verify if she spoke the truth, or if his mother was lying to him.

    Only remnants of the golden stigmatas were left. It was just enough to use True Extraction once more with 10yers of Enhancement.

    Michael unleashed True Extraction on the Miniature Coffin Keychain, tapping into the inside of the coffin with a tremendous surge of raw power. Before today, Michael had never sensed anything within the keychain, but it was different now. Michael thought specifically about Danny''s Soul¡­and there it was. A mass of energy, intertwined with a trace of life¡­and something else ¨C something that felt like Danny.

    The trace of life was weak, and it fluctuated wildly as Michael''s 10-fold Enhanced True Extraction reached it. It felt like the trace of life would break apart if he pulled any harder.

    ''A Living Soul cannot be extracted in portions¡­I have to extract it in one go, altogether. Extraction is not strong enough¡­'' Michael realized, all while tears trickled down his cheeks. The cogs in his mind rumbled as millions of thoughts, ideas, and theories began to form.

    ''But it''s possible. I can extract his preserved Living Soul once Extraction is potent enough. But what about after that¡­where do I put his Living Soul? Do I Insert it somewhere? Is there anything better than the Coffin to preserve a Living Soul?'' As the thoughts shed through his mind, Michael felt a weak pulling force from the deepest parts of his consciousness, the Sphere of Light, to be precise. The pull was weak, but Michael noticed it, nheless. He entered his consciousness instinctively and followed the pulling force until he reached the source.

    "The Soul Grimoire!" Michael eximed, his eyes glowing vigorously. Soul Grimoire was his only 1-Star Soultrait, and if he was to be honest, Michael hadpletely forgotten about it. He forgot that he wanted to extract Soul Grimoire and rece it with another Soultrait, a better one. A Soultrait with additional use.

    But he was happy that he didn''t substitute Soul Grimoire.

    ''Soul Grimoire can preserve and preserve Souls as a 1-Star Soultrait. If I upgrade it a little bit¡­it should be able to store a Living Soul, preserve it¡­and maybe nourish it¡­right? Will it be enough if I upgrade Extraction to 7-Stars? What about Soul Grimoire then?''

    "A Living Soul is like a sentient soul without a vessel, right?" Michael inquired his mother, his gazemanding submission. Evalynn blinked several times. Her son''s sudden change in attitude toward her surprised her. He didn''t seem angry at this point. If anything, he regarded his mother as¡­nothing of importance, right now. "Answer me!"

    Evalynn ignored her son''s disrespectful tone and regarded him for a while. She observed the stigmatas all over his body and witnessed them as they dispersed slowly. It was not difficult to tell that Michael had no control over the stigmatas and that they manifested and dispersed as they pleased. At least, that was what it looked like. "Because of our Ancestor''s Curse, our Souls are different from the norm. It rarely happens that one of us can be resurrected as a Summon in the Origin Expanse. However, that is exactly what happened to Daniel. His Soul spent several months in a foreign, yet familiar body¡­right next to another Cursed Child, giving him just enough time to prepare for the inevitable. However, it seems like the Will of the Origin Expanse had different ns," Evalynn mumbled, trying to contain her emotions. She wanted to give Michael a fair share of her opinion. His attitude was not eptable, but she knew that he wouldn''t care about her emotions. It made sense. "We were looking for Danny''s lost soul, only to find out that it was preserved somewhere¡­with someone. But yes, to answer your question, the current state of Danny''s Soul can be considered a Sentient Living Soul. It''s just that he is hibernating right now to conserve thest remnants of his sentience and life." ''He is hibernating? Is that why I never sensed him? Will it wake him up if I extract him in one go? That will probably happen. I guess? That means I need to upgrade Soul Grimoire quite a lot. Maybe, I need another Soultrait that can nourish and strengthen Souls as well. That is if Soul Grimoire doesn''t improve as I upgrade it. Upgrading Soul Grimoire to 7-Star¡­will be enough to host a Living Soul with sentience¡­right?'' Michael was ready to get hold of various Soul-type Soultraits and experiment with them. He could test out if it was possible to Insert Soultraits into each other to stimte fusions. Maybe, it was possible to create a suitable Soultrait to keep Danny''s Soul safe and sound. After he could ensure the safety of Danny''s Soul he could search for ways to resurrect him without a loss of memories, or anything along those lines.

    "Since his Soul is tainted by a curse, he should stay close to other Cursed Children. The additional Cursed Seals they unleashed, the easier it will be to take care of Danny''s Soul. I unsealed more than enough Cursed Seals to take care of Danny. Trust me, I will reincarnate him without inflicting any more pain. I¡­don''t want to see him suffer anymore," Evalynn said, but Michael scoffed once again.

    "If you were this engaged in our lives and Danny''s suffering, you wouldn''t have dested us. I don''t need you¡­No. WE don''t need you!"

    Evalynn gazed at her son, her eyebrows furrowed deeply. She was getting angry. "Why are all of my children so difficult? First Hesta was throwing a tantrum, and now you''re acting like the world revolves around you. Get your act together!" She screamed, "I''m doing all of this for your sake. I want to assist Danny!!"

    "Hesta?" Michaelughed lightly, his eyes lingering on his mother in disgust, "Seems like she is alive."

    "Not that I care."

 Chapter 546 Cursed Seal

    <h4>Chapter 546 Cursed Seal</h4>

    Evalynn never had so many issues getting what she wanted except when it came to her children. She was not sure why, but her children were like bulldozers. They destroyed her defenses and hit her where it hurts the most.

    She clenched her fists in an attempt to calm her nerves but failed miserably.

    "You don''t even know what you''re doing right now. To ensure that Danny''s Living Soul can be saved and returned to the cycle of reincarnation, we have to initiate a ritual. Only those who broke enough Cursed Seals can start this ritual to break the curse on Danny''s Living Soul and absorb the Cursed Essence residing within him! If the curse stays on Danny''s Living Soul for long, it will devour him and grow stronger, which will turn into an even bigger issue. Think Michael! We need his Living Soul!!"

    "I won''t have that problem," Michael retorted coldly. As long as Extraction reached a high enough level and mastery, Michael could extract portions of Danny''s Living Soul, including the curse fused into the soul. There was no need to depend on his mother''s help. "You don''t understand! If you continue like this, you will not only take away Danny''s only chance of salvation, but you will go down with him as well!!" Evalynn screamed, "Don''t you understand our situation? Our families are cursed. Every member of our families is cursed! We can break down the curses, but you won''t be able to do it. Not alone! With every Cursed Seal you break, you''ll be more dangerous. Unsealing the Cursed Seals unlocks the potential of our being, but it also unleashes something far more dangerous." His mother continued grimly, "The more Cursed Seals you unleash, and the more often you activate them, the harder it will be to control your emotions. It will be more difficult to stay calm when provoked. Even minor provocations will enrage you bitterly. You might even want to feel like killing people who merely look at you with mild interest. For now, you might only sense the tremendous power you receive whenever your Cursed Seals are activated, but you need to control yourself better, otherwise, it will devour you from within!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow at that but he remained silent. He could roughly visualize what the Cursed Seals were, but he didn''t consider them bad. It was just like his mother said. For now, he could only sense tremendous power from the stigmatas, or ''Cursed Seals'' as his mother called them.

    "I''ve never seen so many Cursed Seals on a Lesser Lifeform. Even Hesta was not like that. She broke her first Cursed Seals when she ascended to her Higher Lifeform. Though¡­she broke dozens of Cursed Seals at once, resulting in¡­well, difficulties," Evalynn mumbled, her thoughts wandering.

    "I never asked about that," Michael responded but his heart skipped a beat.

    ''Hesta disappeared shortly after she advanced to Tier-4. Is her disappearance rted to the Cursed Seals, or was she taken somewhere? Did she really run away?'' His mother conversed a lot about Hesta, which made it quite obvious that Hesta was either with his parents or that they had been together for quite a while. One way or another, Michael didn''t like where this conversation was going.

    His heart was in turmoil. On one hand, it was nice to hear that his parents and Hesta were still alive, but on the other hand, ¡­ if they had been alive all along why did they never search for him and Danny? It hurt.

    No matter how much time had passed, Michael was still hurt by the way they abandoned him and his brother.

    "How about youe with me as well? We can help you control your Cursed Seals and teach you about our families. We''re not as simple as you may think!" Evalynn offered, but Michael shook his head without hesitation.

    "I don''t want to have anything to do with you, Hesta, or anyone else from ''our families'', whatever that means," He said, his voice filled with sadness as he added, "You know, you didn''t even ask how I have been after you guys threw us aside 11 years ago. You didn''t even bother to ask about Danny''s life, or how we grew up. What about an apology? Saying the word ''sorry'' never crossed your mind, did it?"

    "Did you expect me to run up to you and give you a tight hug just because you returned? You didn''t even return to reunite with us. No. All you want is Danny''s Soul. But let me tell you something¡­ I won''t give you shit!" "But his Living Soul will turn into Hellbound Cataclysm if we don''t do anything!" Evalynn retorted, shutting her mouth right after the words escaped her lips, "He¡­will nevere back without our help!!"

    She tried to salvage the situation, but the damage was already done.

    "Hellbound Cataclysm? Whatever that is¡­it means that you didn''te back for Danny¡­" Michael stared at his mother in disbelief, a dryugh escaping his lips, "Woah. Why was I so stupid? I''m so fucking stupid to believe that you worried about Danny''s afterlife. Wow. Just WOW!" Michael broke intoughter, tears trickling down his cheek. A minuteter, silence filled the room once again.

    "No. I won''t give him to you. If you want Danny''s Living Soul, you will have to take it from my dead body!" Michael responded, his teary eyes turning menacingly ice-cold, "But I''m not sure if you''re ready to kill me or not. I wouldn''t be surprised if you could do it." Evalynn took a step back. She stared at her son in disbelief, clutching her chest tightly. "I know that Danny wille back to me. I will make sure that it happens. It might be faster if you help, but¡­I don''t need you! Danny would never forgive me if I ept help from¡­the likes of you and father!" "You cannot keep talking to me like that! I''m your mother!!" Evalynn eximed, her voice stocky and shrill.

    "You are? I thought Danny and I lost our parents a decade ago. I''m still pretty sure that they''re dead. At least, to me¡­and Danny."

    Evalynn was about to say something but Michael didn''t want to hear more of her bullshit.

    "If that''s all you''re going to say¡­how about you leave me alone? That is if you don''t n to kill me to get Danny''s Living Soul!"

    "Leave! Us! Alone!"

    However, Evalynn didn''t move. Her feet were rooted to the spot.

    Michael took a deep breath, his lips pressed tightly together and he was shaking from the effort to not start throwing things around just to force his mother out of his room and his life.

    "If you''re not leaving, I will." He walked past his mother without taking a second nce at her. It took only a moment to arrive the door to the hallway but it felt like an eternity passed until he reached the door. Michael swung the door open and left the room. He didn''t even notice that Alice and the others had been waiting outside as he walked past them.

    Their eyes trailed behind Michael, whereas Alice peeked into the room after seeing the fury in his eyes. All Alice could see in the room was Michael''s mother sobbing quietly, tears streaming down her face. "That was a big mess," Kaleb mumbled.

    "A huge surprise, for sure," Killian responded, still feeling the terror Michael''s mother had inflicted by merely spreading her presence through the entire room. ''No wonder Michael is so strong. His mother is a monster!''

    Meanwhile, Maria could only look down to the ground, "I shouldn''t have suggested to celebrate his birthday. If I had known¨C...."

    "It wouldn''t have changed anything," Alice intervened, "Maybe, it was a bad idea to celebrate his birthday, but his mother would have located him, either way. She didn''t recognize him at first, but she looked at apass and was searching for something. His mother would have found him with our birthday party, or without it."

    The Chieftain and the War Priestess looked at each other. Their gazes moved from Michael''s retreating figure to his crying mother. Even if they had no idea what was going on, it was pretty obvious that the situation wasplicated. "She uttered something about ''Son''s Soul'', right? What do you believe that means?" The War Priestess inquired the Chieftain.

    "I have no clue. That woman didn''t even recognize her child. They must have been separated for quite a while and not on good terms, that''s for sure." "She is powerful. I cannot sense any Divinity from her, and the seed of Divinity hasn''t germinated within her either. She is still a Tier-6 powerhouse, yet she could restrain us easily. If she wanted to, she could have killed everyone in the room within seconds."

    The Chieftain nodded. He didn''t want to acknowledge the War Priestess'' analysis, but it was true. Michael''s mother was not yet a Divine Lifeform, but herbat prowess was high enough to eliminate several Tier-6 powerhouses in no time. "What are we going to do now?" He asked, his gazending on the human powerhouse, whose strength surpassed thebat prowess of the High Societybined together, and maybe even the entire Tritan Alliance. "She is a human, right?" The War Priestess inquired instead of answering the Chieftain''s question.

    "Her energy fluctuations are simr to humans. When she restrained us, something felt different, so I guess that she is mostly human. But I cannot say for sure." "Then let the humans deal with her. Since she is so powerful, High Society will want to befriend her to get to know her secrets," The War Priestess said, "One way or another, she will either leave as suddenly as she arrived, or she will follow Michael back to the Saphirke Military Academy to get whatever she came for. No one in the Tritan Alliance can stop her, either way. Let them solve their problems..."

    "What a mess."

    "Indeed. What a messy family."

 Chapter 547 Lost

    <h4>Chapter 547 Lost</h4>

    "Who the hell does she think she is to act like a mother all of a sudden?!" Michael roared, smashing the door behind him. He''d returned to his room to be alone and think about what happened. However, being alone made him recall his mother and everything she said. Just seeing her through fresh memories was enough to fill Michael with uncontroble rage and anger all over again.

    ''She didn''t even recognize me, her son. What a bad joke.'' Michael scoffed and continued to curse his mother in his heart.

    "Does she think she can leave ande back whenever she wants? Why the hell should I trust her with Danny''s Living Soul? And what even is that bullshit about reincarnating Danny? I sensed the lifeforce and sentience in his Soul. Why is it necessary to reincarnate him rather than trying to find a new vessel for him or something along those lines?!"

    If his mother was still powerful, Hesta and his father must be just as strong at this point. They should have the means to find people who could transfer a Living Soul into a suitable vessel¡­right? At least, they should have the capability to search for someone and collect the materials needed to create a new vessel.

    Why did they have to reincarnate him at the cost of his memories? Was it because of the Hellbound Cataclysm? Michael had no idea what that was, but his mother said something about the curse devouring Danny''s Soul. If he removed the curse with Extraction, everything would be fine. In fact, if every member of the Fang family was cursed, wouldn''t that mean that his mother, Hesta, and Michael possessed the same curse? They were still alive and nobody was afraid of them being affected by the Hellbound Cataclysm.

    ''Does that mean I need to find a suitable vessel for him to restrain the curse? Well, if I can remove the curse without a vessel that would be fine as well.'' Michael''s mind was a mess. He tried using Extraction on the Miniature Coffin Keychain once again but only sensed Danny''s Living Soul. He didn''t want to touch it, knowing that he didn''t possess enough power to extract his Living Soul in one go for now. Observing the mass of energy that had fused with Danny''s sentience and lifeforce, Michael''s eyes grew moist.

    However, instead of turning into a weeping child from happiness, his expression soured quickly. His thoughts drifted back to his parents and the fact that they were still alive. They never searched for their children even though they had been living in their old ce untilst year. What did that mean? It was simple. Their family never thought of meeting them in the entire decade the two boys were left to fend for themselves. All they did was send a message into their family group chat every blue moon. The content of their messages was useless as well. Something within Michael rumbled, and the turmoil of emotions deep within him intensified. At first, he didn''t feel much. Michael thought that he had gotten a little bit more emotional because he saw his mother again. However, the anger and fury deep within him grew stronger and more terrifying. Killing intent oozed out of Michael and for the first time in forever, he wished that his parents were actually dead.

    ''Danny died because they abandoned us. They deserve to die¡­'' Michael thought, finding himself shocked and in disbelief as the thought formed in his head.

    Was that really what he thought? Did he really think Danny died because his parents abandoned them? Thinking about it, it might not even be that far-fetched to think that his parents, and Hesta, were at fault for their misery. But did that mean it would have been different if their parents had been with them until now? Maybe, Danny would have died, either way? What about himself? Would Michael be this powerful if he didn''t have to be independent from a young age? Would he have thrown himself into one danger after another if he hadn''t required power and hadn''t been desperate to grow strong? Michael didn''t know.

    But he knew that the hatred and anger within him was growing more intense by the second. ''I should let off some steam,'' Michael thought, manifesting the Runic Gate to the Untamed Jungle in front of him. However, the anger didn''t subside as the Runic Gate opened. On the contrary, it felt like his mood was getting worse.

    The moment he entered the Runic Gate, Michael lost control of his emotions. A roar resounded from the deepest part of his existence and golden stigmatas spread through his entire body. The stigmatas were intricate and highlyplex. Their faint golden light flickered as they connected one by one. However, only stigmatas glowed brightly. They unleashed tremendous amounts of altered energy. But that was not all.

    The three isted stigmatas, the Cursed Seals he''d unsealed in thest battle against the Tekur, were fully activated, bursting forth with an ancient presence that affected not only the living around him but Michael himself as well. Something was differentpared to before. Something was wrong¡­really wrong.

    Michael''s vision blurred and everything around him turned ck for a second.

    **

    The next time Michael opened his eyes, he found himself in the Untamed Jungle. At least, he hoped that it was the Untamed Jungle.

    A disgusting stench permeated the air all around him, and it didn''t take long to find out where the stench wasing from. Monsters were the source, or their corpses, to be precise. There were thousands of them, spread out all around him and stashed up inrge piles for everyone to see.

    Michael was in the middle of arge clearing, and the nearest towering tree was at least 100 meters away from him. Yet, not a single inch in between those 100 meters was void of blood, intestines, or monster parts. Even the trees all around him were covered in blood, body parts, and entire corpses, hanging down the thick branches of the unmoving giants.

    The small mountains of monsters all around him had been decimated ¨C quite literally. Michael''s eyes went wide. ''What happened?!'' He wondered, his heart skipping a beat. ''Did I do that?''

    Numerous questions shed through his mind, but there was no answer. At least not until he was assaulted by a bad headache. Snippets of memories resurfaced in his mind as he held his head to fight the pain. Michael recollected bits of what happened after the world around him turned ck.

    Everything around him was blurry but he remebered having entered the Runic Gate. He emerged in his territory but didn''t stay for long. Tiara and the Forest Elven Adventurers approached him, but they retreated in fear upon reaching the range of Michael''s presence. Even though everything else was blurry, Michael clearly recalled the fear in their eyes. They didn''t know what happened to Michael, however, everyone could tell that they were going to die if they dared to take a step closer to Michael.

    Tiara ignored the warning and was about to approach Michael, but Lilica held her back. A mere momentter, the area around Michael disappeared. The energy around him was devoured in an instant and the ground disappeared as if someone had neatly cut it out of the fabric of the Origin Expanse.

    Michael''s memories revolving around his territory faded. The next thing he remebered was fighting the monsters of the Origin Expanse. Fighting might be an overstatement. He wasn''t fighting them. He obliterated them, one monster horde after another as the Dome of True Extraction, amplified with three Cursed Seals, decimated his enemies. He dissected themyer byyer while they were still alive, and fiercely fighting against the invader.

    Michael recalled that Lilica and the other Forest Elves said that the poption of monsters in the Untamed Jungle was too high and that they had to take countermeasures to cull a few monster hordes around them, so he didn''t expect himself to have ventured deep into the woods all by himself to decimate the overpoption of monsters single-handedly.

    He didn''t even know how deep exactly he had ventured. The clearing was new to him and so were the monster corpses around him. Some of those monsters hadn''t been reported yet. Was he still in the middle area of the Untamed Jungle, or did he already venture into the main part of the Untamed Jungle where the truly terrifying monsters resided?

    Michael couldn''t remember how much time passed since he cked out, but given the number of monsters he''d massacred, it must have been a while.

    He wanted to stand up, but his body didn''t obey his order. Michael endeavored to channel energy through his body, but his energy veins cried aloud in protest.

    ''Did I overexert my energy channels? Or did I injure myself again like I did against the Tekur?'' Michael wondered before using Archangel''s Grace with the Heavenly Realm Soul Technique.

    It was painful to use his origin energy to create Soul Energy, but Michael was fortunate that exerting Archangel''s Grace didn''t drain his energy. All he had to do was ess Archangel''s Grace and utilize the power the Soultrait Shard umted while he had been with Maria.

    The soothing feeling of Heavenly Realm shrouded Michael. It alleviated the pain of his screaming energy veins and the pain that spread all over his body.

    However, his mind was not in sync with his body.

    Michael recalled his mother''s warning and realized just how dangerous the Cursed Seals were. He understood that he had to learn how to control them and that he could never allow the thing within him to take control of his body. Michael didn''t want to push his luck, and he certainly didn''t want to imagine what could happen to the people around him if he were to lose control of his body once again.

    Today, he killed thousands of monsters, but what would happen if he lost control of the Cursed Seals in a city, or with his friends around himself?

    Michael was afraid. The power residing within him was extraordinary, but also exceedingly dangerous and violently explosive.

    But something else drawn his attention. His eyes fell onto the Miniature Keychain and a soothing feeling washed over his entire being.

    Soon, tears began streaming down his face.

    "I¡­can save him¡­"

    **

 Chapter 548 Sealsâ€™ Corruption

    <h4>Chapter 548 Seals'' Corruption</h4>

    It took Michael a while to calm down. However, once he was calmer, Michael quickly reverted back to his usual self. Meeting his mother had been frustrating and certainly not something Michael had wanted to happen, but if he had to search for something positive in all the negative things that happened, he would consider finding his brother''s Living Soul.

    The reunion with his mother caused an emotional turmoil, but it also informed him about the possibility of resurrecting his brother. Michael figured that it wouldn''t be as easy as using the Orb of Resurrection to bring his brother back to life. However, it was possible. That was all that mattered.

    Once he recuperated long enough to move around painlessly, Michael got up and spread his energy in the surroundings. He collected the corpses and body parts in one sweep and decided to head back to his territory.

    ''But seriously¡­where am I?'' He wondered, closing his eyes to sense the location of his Summoning Gate and the Wooden Manor with his Lord powers. ''I am quite far away from my territory.'' Michael realized, feeling slightly surprised. His territory was south from him, which was expected since he was still in the Untamed Jungle, but he sensed that it was much farther away from his position than he thought.

    "These Cursed Seals are really dangerous," He mumbled, afraid that he might lose control of his body once again. Michael had to find out more about the origin of the Cursed Children and Cursed Seals. However, he was not going to ask his mother about any of that. He didn''t want to talk to her again. She was dead to him. Michael knew that he was being unnecessarily stubborn, but he was not going to forget about thest decade just because his mother decided to be generous enough to return when it suited her. She didn''t even return for him, but for Danny''s Living Soul. And it was not as if she wanted to resurrect Danny. She wanted to remove the curse merged into his Living Soul to prevent a Hellbound Cataclysm. She was selfish so he couldn''t trust her.

    On his way back to the territory, Michael moved smoothly through the Untamed Jungle. The terrain was somewhat familiar to him, but it was also new. The origin energy''s density was much higher in the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle. That was reflected in the rapid growth of towering trees and the evolution of powerful monsters. Michael encountered several powerful monsters on his way back home. Some of them were even Higher Lifeforms with tremendous lifeforce and huge bodies. Their massive bodies broke the trunks of smaller trees and squashed bushes and other nts easily. Michael''s bones would break like some of the smaller trees, unable to retaliate in any way, if he found himself underneath their massive hooves.

    Fortunately, none of the massive monsters attacked him. In fact, Michael felt like they were avoiding him. It was almost like they were afraid of him.

    ''Did I encounter them before? Maybe, I shed with them when the Cursed Seals flooded me with hatred and anger¡­But if they avoid me that means I was strong enough to deal with them using True Extraction¡­''

    Michael was a bit confused, but it was a relief that no monster attacked him. He was still weak and his body was sore all over. Fighting was thest thing he wanted to do right now. He didn''t want to get beat up, after all.

    The only reason he rushed back home was to start researching ways to resurrect Danny. ording to his mother, Danny''s Living Soul had only one year left before it deterioratedpletely. That meant he had to find a secure ce to put his Living Soul, a ce where the Soul couldn''t deteriorate.

    Michael sincerely hoped that upgrading the Soul Grimoire was the solution he sought so desperately.

    ''I might be able to bring back Danny¡­He might not be gone forever!'' Michael hoped sincerely, a smile blossoming on his face. The thoughts of destruction and death he''d caused in the Untamed Jungle disappeared from his mind as well as his mother''s return. The only thoughts left in his mind revolved around his brother and the possibility of bringing him back.

    Arge tear trickled down his cheek, onto the Miniature Coffin Keychain which hummed gently in return, the trace of lifeforce within resonating with him.

    Michael chuckled lightly and elerated. He moved faster through the Untamed Jungle, hoping to reach home as soon as possible.

    But despite his attempts to rush home, Michael had to expend an entire day traversing through the Untamed Jungle before he reached his territory once again. Tiara was the first to notice his return.

    "Master!!!" She eximed, tears welling up in her eyes.

    Tiara rushed to Michael and embraced him tightly, "W-where have you been?"

    Michael couldn''t reply the question. He returned Tiara''s hug and patted her back gently. The Battle Maid continued to sob for quite a while, but she let go of him when she observed that more people had arrived near them while looking for Michael. The Forest Elves stared at him intently, shock and a mixture of other emotions shing through their eyes. They didn''t approach him immediately, not until Lilica took the first step, at least.

    Lilica approached Michael, her heart palpating, "I know that it''s not my business to ask this¡­but what did you do in thest week? You emerged from the Runic Gate, your body covered in those golden glyphs, only to disappear. But that''s not what I''m asking. You don''t have to tell me what those golden glyphs are or anything like that¡­" Lilica included carefully, "It''s just that I¡­No. We have never sensed a forest being terrified before, especially not a forest like the Untamed Jungle. What the hell did you do?"

    Michael''s lips parted but he couldn''t reply her properly. He could only guess that the Untamed Jungle was terrified of his Cursed Seals, or the power they unleashed within him. Or, it was not even rted to him. Maybe, the Untamed Jungle was terrified because of something else. However, Michael was pretty sure that this might have been his fault.

    "I''m really not sure," Michael answered honestly, "I lost control of my body. My emotions overwhelmed me. I met my mother again, but¡­it was a disaster."

    Michael forced a smile, meanwhile, Lilica studied his expressions.

    "Either way, I found out that those golden glyphs, as you call them, are actually Cursed Seals. I''ve currently unsealed three Cursed Seals but I seem to have a lot more Cursed Seals than the rest of my family," Michael said, realizing toote that he never told Lilica and the others about his family, "Ah. I forgot to mention that our family is uttered to be Cursed. Apparently, every member of our family has these Cursed Seals, which unleash power if unsealed. But they also make it harder for us to control our emotions. By the looks of it¡­we can also lose control of our bodies and wreak havoc."

    "So you lost control of your body because you reunited with your mother?" Mika asked, taking a few steps closer to Michael.

    He was a nosy little brat, which won over the newfound fear he felt for Michael. Michael was a good guy. He was one of the nicest people Mika knew, but when Michael lost against the corruption of the Cursed Seals¡­he was scary. Mika and the others had been terrified for their lives even though they knew Michael better than most people. They knew he would never hurt them, yet they were afraid to die at his hands at that moment.

    "It''s not only because of my mother''s return, though it ys a huge role. Meeting her was not exactly nice," Michael responded honestly. He felt quite good talking to someone about what happened, "But I also found out that my brother''s Living Soul has been with me since he died in the Lord Rift."

    Michael retrieved the Miniature Coffin Keychain and grinned gently at it, "His Living Soul is preserved in there." He decided to trust the Forest Elves with these new pieces of information as he needed their help. His attention traveled back to Lilica, who looked right back at him.

    "Could you ask your Elders if they understand anything about Cursed Children, Cursed Seals, Living Souls, and how to resurrect a Living Soul that contains a trace of lifeforce and sentience?" Michael was going to ask Kraft Viton, the Chieftain, and the War Priestess to research Cursed Children, Cursed Seals, and Living Souls as well. If their research ended up in failure, Michael would travel to the Trnce to ask them for help. And if that was not enough¡­he would have to ask his mother. Even though he told himself not to ask her anything, Michael''s pride was worth nothing if he could find out more about Daniel''s condition and possible means to rescue him. He could find his own answers by strengthening his Soultraits, but Michael wanted to understand if there were any ''normal'' ways to create a vessel for a Living Soul, or what he could do to preserve and nourish a Living Soul artificially.

    "That''s a lot to digest," Lilica mumbled, but she nodded her head, "But, of course, I will help you." "We want to help you as well!" A somewhat familiar voice reached Michael from behind.

    It was Reba Zauber. She stood next to her friend, the Warlock Centaurs and the Berserkers, who''d joined his territory not too long ago.

    "Please let me help you with the research! I think I can be of some help with Greater Analysis and Perfect Appraisal. No, scratch that. I will be of great help!" She dered whereas the other new subordinates stared at Michael with a mix of curiosity, respect¡­and a trace of fear. They had been sent into the Origin Expanse right after Michael vanished into the Runic Gate. But all they could sense upon entering the Origin Expanse were the remnants of Michael''s ancient power, and the killing intent permeating the air like dense fog.

    However, that was enough to sense primal fear erupting from within them.

 Chapter 549 Soul Grimoire

    <h4>Chapter 549 Soul Grimoire</h4>

    Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers being afraid of someone was very different than was the case for humans. It was not easy to make them feel fear. They didn''t even fear to die in battle. However, if they feared someone because of his tremendous power, it was considered a praise, one of the highest praises a Berserker, or Warlock Centaur could give. Most humans couldn''t understand this because they had different traditional values, but it was a sign of respect and a stamp of approval of your might if a Berserkers, or Warlock Centaur acknowledged that they were afraid of you. And Michael could sense their fear. Their Links of Loyalty shoved their feelings into his face. It was near-impossible not to sense how they felt about him, and it confused him. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' Links of Loyalty grew stronger even though they sensed fear. If Michael didn''t know much about the war-loving races, he would be wondering if he was about to turn insane.

    Well, even without the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, Michael felt like he was slowly turning insane. The events of thest few weeks continued to torment his mind, and they made him feel like he had already gone crazy.

    But instead of letting the events of the past affect him, Michael focused on the most important aspect. "I have one year before our family''s curse devours my brother''s Living Soul. That means, I have one year to find a solution, and upgrade both Soul Grimoire and Extraction," He figured.

    The next thing he did was to push Soul Grimoire to the next level. He spent 7,500 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire to a 5-Star Soultrait. The upgrade cost was astronomical but Michael had already considered this possibility. Soul Grimoire was located in the outer area of the Sphere of Light where he had to spend more than twice the usual price to upgrade his Soultraits. Soul Grimoire was tightly locked in ce and couldn''t be moved around.

    If upgrading Soul Grimoire had been any cheaper, he would have considered upgrading it to a 6-Star Soultrait right away. Unfortunately, he didn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments despite having more than 45,000 SoulStar Fragments to distribute freely. Michael waited patiently for the influx of information, his eyes shut tightly so as to not miss even a single piece of information. ''Please be the right one!'' He pleaded in his heart.

    Even if Soul Grimoire was not the perfect Soultrait to rescue his brother''s Living Soul, Michael hoped that Soul Grimoire would be helpful to ovee his future ordeals.

    Fortunately, it didn''t take long before the influx of information arrived.

    He channeled a considerable amount of energy through his brain and used Enhancement on his brain. The result was great. The influx of information was digested immediately and a slow smile formed on his lips.

    "I can store and preserve souls. It''s possible to nourish Souls as well¡­That''s great!" Michael eximed, only to feel a bad headache creeping up from the back of his head. More information flooded his already overworked brain without a warning.

    "Living Souls, especially Cursed Souls are too potent¡­Soul Grimoire cannot even hold a single Living Soul right now, let alone a Cursed Soul. It won''t be able to nourish a Cursed Soul either. Not at 5-Stars, at least." Michael found out that he could store and preserve Souls with Soul Grimoire. Soul Grimoire could also harvest Souls from the deceased. The probability was extremely low, but it was possible. As for what he could do with these Souls¡­Michael wasn''t sure about that. He could sense that Soul Grimoire could consume the souls it stored, but Michael had no clue what would happen after the Soul Grimoire did that. Was Soul Grimoire a growth-type Soultrait that consumed Souls to grow stronger? Could he use the Soul Grimoire to do something other than harvesting, storing, preserving, and nourishing Souls?

    Because he was not certain about Soul Grimoire''s pool of abilities, and the potential danger it could pose to Daniel''s Living Soul, Michael had to postpone transferring his brother''s Living Soul into the Soul Grimoire for the time being. It was notrge enough to store a Cursed Soul, either way. He would have to experiment a lot with Soul Grimoire before he could use it to store his brother''s Soul. He would have to harvest a few souls, preserve them and attempt nourishing them. If possible, it would be best if he experimented with other souls first before he would throw his brother''s Living Soul into hellfire. He didn''t want to harm his brother, after all.

    ''I should extract the Souls of my enemies. At least, I won''t feel bad experimenting with them.'' Michael thought, somehow hoping that more idiots would try to kidnap him. He could punish them again. This time, however, he would take their Souls instead of just beating them into a pulp.

    Michael felt like a mad scientist to devise such a n, but after thest incident, it was quite obvious what would happen to those who were foolish enough to attack him. If they tried to kidnap him despite knowing what might possibly happen to them, then they didn''t deserve any mercy.

    Why should he be merciful to those who want to harm him? There was no need.

    "I''m sorry to bother you when you''ve just returned from the depths of the Untamed Jungle, but is it possible for you to leave the Origin Expanse for a few hours?" Reba Zauber asked hesitantly. Michael eyed her for a moment until Reba realized that she should exin the situation, "Everything for our return has been prepared. We''ve been waiting for you to return from the Origin Expanse to pick up the new students and return to the Saphirke Military Academy. All you have to do is anchor your Runic Gate to the spaceship. After that, you can return to the territory right away."

    "Oh! I forgot that we wanted to leave the ancient city a while ago," Michael recalled that Kraft Viton said something like that earlier, "Sorry for the dy. I''ll return right away."

    Michael wanted to hide in the Origin Expanse but he returned to the ancient city nheless. He contacted Alice and inquired her about the spaceship''s location and began to walk over right away.

    "You might not like this, but your mother is still around. She made it clear that she woulde to the Saphirke Military Academy as well. If we could do something to stop her we would give it a try, but she is a Peak Tier-6 Lord who is stronger than the Chieftain and the War Priestessbined. It''s¡­quite difficult to order her around. I''m sorry," Alice informed Michael. She was apologetic toward him but there was hardly anything she could do about it. Michael''s mother was probably closer to ascending to a Divine Lifeform than any other Awakened in the Tritan Alliance. "It''s fine. I can ignore her if she bothers me," Michael responded, but Alice was silent for a while.

    "I understand that it''s not my business to intervene in your private matters for I know too little about the history between you and your family, but I don''t think the situation in your family is that simple," She said hesitatingly, "Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe, it''s wrong of me to even say something, in the first ce. But your mother has been silent for thest few days and she is crying all day." when Michael did not reply, Alice continued,

    "I know what she did to you and Danny. I am fully aware of every single detail you told me about your past, but something is bothering me. I don''t think your mother will annoy you while she stays in the Saphirke Military Academy. I doubt that she will approach you in the spaceship either. But¡­I hope that you can talk to her once you''re ready. You should ask her the questions that have been bothering you for thest ten years. You deserve to receive your mother''s honest answers. Maybe, her answers will hurt you, but at least you will receive the answers you were longing for."

    Michael had opened up to Alice and Kaleb and told them everything about his family matters. He felt good talking to them about the time his family abandoned them and what happened afterward. The Zenovia siblings knew about the possibility of their family being cursed as well. Daniel could always try to ease Michael''s mind by saying that the curse didn''t exist and that they were just incredibly unfortunate, but the truth was that their family had been cursed for a while. Michael also told the Zenovia siblings that he didn''t understand where the curse came from and that he had numerous questions that had yet to be answered. Now that his mother returned, Michael could ask the questions.

    He could ask about the Cursed Children, the Cursed Seals, why his mother was so powerful, what happened to Danny''s Soul, what the Hellbound Cataclysm was, and what exactly she meant with "our families". Were there more families that had been cursed just like them? If so, did they gather in a small group to find a way out? If not, why was his mother always talking in plural? However, Michael had been telling himself that he wouldn''t speak to his mother at any cost. That she didn''t deserve to talk to him. She was dead to him.

    "I¡­" Michael hesitated. He didn''t like that Alice was butting into his private matters, but he could also tell that she genuinely cared for him. Would it really help him if he talked to his mother? Would he feel better after obtaining the answers to all the questions he had? Michael was not sure about that. However, he could tell that leaving the questions unanswered forever could torment him until death. Maybe, it was better to talk to her no matter how devastating her answers could be. At least, he could hear the truth from his mother directly.

    ''Fuck this shit!''

    [A/N: Sad news for y''all. Today I will release only one chapter because tomorrow''s chapters are pretty long, and it''s XMAS. Merry Christmas and happy holidays y''all!]

 Chapter 550 Time to Retaliate

    <h4>Chapter 550 Time to Retaliate</h4>

    Even though Michael epted that he had to talk to his mother at some point, whether it was for his brother''s sake or to get the answers he had to find out after their parents abandoned both their sons, it was not like he was willing to talk to his mother right away. Michael was not willing to take the first step anytime soon. He wanted to see how she was going to behave in the next few weeks and if she was going to leave him for good yet again shortly after she realized Michael was not going to listen to her.

    He entered the spaceship, went straight to the room with his room number and manifested the Runic Gate to transfer his anchor to the spaceship. It was time for them to travel back to the Saphirke Military Academy on Kelta. The trip back was going to take a little bit longer because they had to make a small detour through the major cities in the Lumina Ster System. They were going to visit a dozen ces to pick up young Awakened from all over the Lumina Ster System. The young Awakened were new students of the Saphirke Military Academy, prodigies with tremendous potential to grow into great powerhouses, or highly intellectual individuals. Of course, there would also be instructors and professors from the Berserker and Warlock Centaur races. It was a good thing that they didn''t have to rush back to the Saphirke Military Academy. The next semester was not going to start until the reconstruction of the academy had beenpleted, either way. The Saphirke Military Academy received various generous funds from the Tritan Alliance and countless powerful individuals who paid for the privilege of transferring their child to the Saphirke Military Academy and ensuring that he or she received the best tutge. Those funds were going to be used up to strengthen the academy''s foundation and top-up their defenses by arge margin. The Saphirke Military Academy would develop into an imprable fortress against the forces of the dark organizations and the Supreme Human Alliance.

    It was only fortunate that the Supreme Human Alliance''s forces weren''t anywhere nearby, otherwise, mankind would have already been suppressed and forced into submission¡­probably.

    "How long are we going to stay in space?" Michael asked Alice, while finishing thest preparations before he would return to the Origin Expanse. "If there is no dy, it will take three weeks. But the Chieftain said that we''re probably going to take four weeks. Dys are not exactly abnormal when ites to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," She responded nonchntly. Michael could tell that Alice wanted to say more, but he was not willing to listen to her after their earlier talk. He was certain that she wanted to talk about his family, his mother, to be precise, again. Michael didn''t want to hear anything about that.

    "In that case, I will leave for a while. I neglected the Origin Expanse for too long, and I''ve got a lot to do, more than ever now that I found out that I have my brother''s Living Soul," Michael said, bidding Alice a goodbye before he entered the Runic Gate. He returned to the Origin Expanse where life was easier, lessplicated.

    Alice was left behind in his small cabin all alone. She sighed deeply.

    "Maybe, I shouldn''t have said anything about his mother¡­"

    Michael emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate in his small room inside the wooden manor. He stretched his body, ready to spend the next few weeks working his ass off to develop his territory.

    But before he could focus entirely on his territory, Michael had to solve another issue. He had to find a way to umte as many SoulStar Fragments as possible.

    He wanted to work on the expansion of his territory and proper development ns, but the question revolving around his SoulStar Fragments was far more important.

    ''If Extraction requires roughly 300,000 SoulStar Fragments to be upgraded to 7-Star, maybe even more, Soul Grimoire as a Soultrait in the outer area of the Sphere of Light will need 700,000 SoulStar Fragments.'' Michael felt like cursing himself. He wanted to move Soul Grimoire to the inner area of the Sphere of Light, but something seemed to block his advances. Extracting Soul Grimoire didn''t work either. Using Extraction on the Soul Grimoire was extremely painful. It felt like he had to tear his Soul into tiny shreds before he could remove the Soul Grimoire.

    ''But why is that the case? I could remove Spirit Whip easily as well. It was painful but it didn''t feel like my soul would sustain any temporary injuries. Removing Soul Grimoire will lead to a bacsh by inflicting severe permanent injuries to my soul if I continue with Extraction.''

    Many theories revolved around Soultraits and their characteristics. Some people said that certain Soultraits were notpatible with their Awakened. They might have manifested the Soultrait, but that didn''t mean they were suitable for each other. Michael felt something simr with Spirit Whip. He never felt a deep connection to Spirit Whip. That did not mean he was incapable of using it properly, but Michael never felt like experimenting with Spirit Whip. ''Is that why I could remove Spirit Whip, but not Soul Grimoire? Soul Grimoire is highlypatible with me, so it''s anchored deep inside the Sphere of Light?'' Michael wondered, ''Did I never consider removing Soul Grimoire because of that? Because I subconsciously knew that Soul Grimoire is highlypatible with me?''

    Michael didn''t have enough data to make a proper decision, but he felt like he was on the right path. Unfortunately, that didn''t help in the current situation. It was a fact that he couldn''t remove Soul Grimoire from his Sphere of Light without damaging it permanently. He couldn''t even move it.

    ''That means I need roughly 1,000,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire and Extraction to 7-Star. If I can find other Soultraits that arepatible with Soul Grimoire and fuse with it, creating a more advanced version, it might be enough if Soul Grimoire stays a 6-Star Soultrait. But that means I need to find one or multiple Soultraits that can not only fuse with Soul Grimoire, but also evolve it into a suitable Soultrait to house and nourish a Cursed Soul.''

    Time was ticking, especially because he had only one year to solve the problem, but it made one thing clear. Michael had to change his strategy from ying kingdom-building in an uncivilized jungle to spreading out his wings and bing more active in the surrounding regions.

    He was in need of SoulStar Fragments, and the wars brewing to his left and right were perfect locations to get just that.

    That was also why the recent events in the Origin Expanse were quite helpful to make a few decisions.

    First of all, the monsters in the Untamed Jungle had taken note of Michael and his territory. They didn''t charge into his territory just yet but the number of stronger monsters nesting near his territory had increased over thest few weeks. There were multiple reasons for that, one being the development of his farnd. Thebined effort of the evolving Nature Spirit, and the Forest Pixies gathered the ambient energy and spread it through the ground, allowing flora and fauna to flourish even more.

    Michael knew that the threats looming over him would intensify once he installed the Domain of Natura. The quality of the ambient origin energy would improve whereas the nutritious soil would grow even more fertile. Even High Beasts, which were the equivalent of Higher Lifeforms for most Awakened, would travel to his territory to find a ce to inhabit and mark a piece of his territory as their own. But the monsters of the Untamed Jungle were not yet a problem. The massacre caused by losing his control and rationale against the corruption of the Cursed Seals was more than enough to slow down the monsters'' advances for some time. Michael and his subjects wouldn''t have any issues killing more of them once they advanced further in his territory''s direction.

    Simultaneously, with the appearance of stronger monsters near Michael''s territory, tworge incidents happened in the regions around him.

    Taros lost the battle against the Zentika Empire. He did not die, but his territory was destroyed, eliminating his Lord Powers. Interestingly, despite losing his Lord powers, Taros was not restrained anymore. He charged into the Zentika Empire with his Dragonpanion and traversed through therge ins, causing death and destruction wherever they passed by. After a few weeks of causing terror and destruction all over the Zentika Empire, Taros and his Red Dragon disappeared. When Michael heard that Taros''panion was a Red Dragon, he felt miserable. He could tell that Taros enraged the Red Dragon in the Lord Rift by stealing its egg. Taros'' action resulted in Masked Saber''s death¡­his brother''s death as his Summon. Rage filled Michael once again, but he calmed down quickly. Thinking about his brother and the possibility of bringing him back to life was enough reason to take charge of his emotions and stay level headed. He couldn''t afford to lose his reasoning and mess up. Not with something as important as this!

    One way or another, the Zentika Empire was weaker than ever. Michael would have considered invading the Zentika Empire if he hadn''t heard that the Zentika Empire considered invading the Untamed Jungle. At first, Michael couldn''t believe what he heard. He was certain that some of his scouts messed up big time and that they forwarded the wrong information. However, there seemed to be underlying reasons for the Zentika Empire to consider invading the Untamed Jungle ¨C one of them being ack of food and other resources.

    Taros and the Red Dragon destroyed all farms and towns all over the Zentika Empire, burning them down to ash and leaving thends scorched. The merchant routes had been destroyed and the citizens'' trust was lost over thest few weeks. That was what Michael''s scouts presumed after they witnessed the destruction alongside the Zentika Empire''s border.

    Since Michael never sent his scouts deep inside the Zentika Empire, he couldn''t be certain that the news had been affirmed. However, that was going to change pretty soon. He equipped a troupe of scouts with a wide variety of new equipment, including a veil of invisibility. The veils were rare and wouldn''t execution inbat, but that was not necessary for a mission simr this. "Acquire more information and use the Charms of Communication if you cannot reach me through themunication crystals!" Michael ordered, and the group of Scouts nodded their heads politely. They bowed deeply to their Lord, bid him farewell, and moved out of the way. In the next minutes, they began their journey to the border of the Zentika Empire.

    The Scout''s invasion into the deeper parts of the enemy''s territory began.

    Other than the end of the war between Taros and the Zentika Empire, and Taros'' disappearance from the surface of the Origin Expanse, an even bigger event urred on the other side of Michael''s territory. While a situation in the Zentika Empire and their future actions were still uncertain, the situation in the Savannah Region was theplete opposite.

    The Trnce was in a tricky situation. They were pushed back and lost a fraction of their territory after a other alliances within the Savannah region decided tobine their forces and attack them. Michael was not well informed about the happenings in the Savannah Region, but he heard that the other Alliances agreed to a temporary truce to take down the Trnce. As for why that happened, Michael was not too sure.

    Thebined forces of a alliances transformed the region that looked simr a patchwork of dozens of territories into onerge piece ofnd. THe internal conflicts between the alliances didn''t cease, but they had one goal inmon; They wanted to eliminate the Trnce.

    The Patchwork Alliances as Michael decided to call them, turned into a Quasi-Kingdom at this point. All they were missing were powerhouses above Tier-4.

    "Once a Trnce perishes, the Untamed Jungle will be their next goal." Michael concluded, his eyes traveling to the Berserkers, and the Warlock Centaurs who trained diligently with Immortal Knight, the Blessed Squires and his Holy Knights. "I think it''s moment for our initial expedition."

 Chapter 551 War

    <h4>Chapter 551 War</h4>

    "Is everyone ready?" Michael asked the group ofbatants in front of him, a thin smile stered on his face.

    After careful consideration, Michael decided to send smallbat troops into the Savannah Region. They wouldn''t fight under the banner of his territory, or the Untamed Jungle. Instead, they would be considered the Trnce''s reinforcement. Michael extended a helping hand to the Trnce''s leaders and they readily agreed to ept his help, thanking him profusely. It didn''t take long for them to decide that Michael and his people would receive a portion of the Trnce''s revenue once everything was over. The Trnce owed him a big favor and would pay him handsomely if they survived thanks to his reinforcement..

    "We are more than ready. Let us show everyone how strong we are!" Lokai thundered, raising her two short battle-axes in excitement. It was not long since they''d be Michael''s subordinates but arge war had already erupted. How could he not be happy? "Demonstrate your prowess. That way the Trnce will understand that they cannot go against us once all of this is over. We should show them that we will always be stronger!" Mika added with a menacing smile on his face.

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he heard what Mika said. He wondered for a moment if Mika was doing fine, or if something happened to the youthful Elf.

    "Maybe, the Trnce will submit to Michael once they realize that they''re mere peasants in front of his great power!" Pheli eximed. ''Are the members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team drunk?'' Michael wondered, but he put aside these thoughts.

    Their preparations werepleted and they set off to join the Trnce without any more disturbances. They moved fast and followed Michael to the border of the Untamed Jungle where the Zynur''s border settlement had been constructed not too long ago. Michael and his subordinates didn''t slow down as the war horns rang through the surroundings.

    Their steps didn''t falter as they kept advancing toward the towering gate that opened to wee the Trnce''s reinforcement with open arms. Michael and his subordinates made an entrance into the Savannah Region, the Trnce''s territory, their masks and cloaks fluttering in the warm gust that wafted past them.

    Michael didn''t think twice as he activated the Legendary Ring Artifacts'' dragon might. He merged his presence with the dragon might and shrouded his subordinates with it. This seemingly simple move transformed the appearance of the Trnce''s reinforcement significantly. The citizens had heard about the reinforcement that would arrive from the Untamed Jungle, but they never knew how strong the reinforcement would be. All they knew was that their leader had high hopes for the reinforcement. Now that the reinforcement arrived, the citizens realized that there was more to it.

    There were more than a dozen cloaked men and women riding on monstrous war horses, and giants that were just as tall as the cavalry of the reinforcement. Little did they know that the Warlock Centaurs weren''t riding on war horses. Their lower body just looked like that of a horse.

    Michael''s intent behind the masks and cloaks was not primarily to hide the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, or the Forest Elves. No one from the Savannah Region would bother what race their enemies belonged to. However, it was important to hide something else with the cloaks.

    ["Are we going to fight soon? I''m ready to rumble, and I know that my little creations are ready to go all-out as well!"] Zeroa, the Elemental Empress, eximed underneath Michael''s cloak. Michael felt the warmth of her zing body, but he just smiled.

    "It won''t take much longer. Just a little while. Be patient," Michael teased Zeroa, who grumbled quietly. Her impatience was apparent.

    The Elemental Empress didn''t think twice about participating in the battle when she heard that Michael would join the Trnce''s reinforcement. She joined and told Michael that she would follow him identical if he would order her to stay behind. Zeroa didn''t want to focus on establishing her Elemental Society for the rest of her life. She didn''t want the Elemental Society to be her only task. Zeroa wanted to traverse the world, fight powerful enemies, and support Michael wherever she could. Even the Elemental Society was part of her means to help Michael on his path toward achieving great power.

    As an Elemental Empress, Zeroa desired to create her own society, but while that was true, Zeroa was also Michael''spanion. She had a strong taming bond with Michael and felt the instinctive drive to support him in every possible way. But then again, the Elemental Empress would want to help Michael even if he didn''t ask her to do anything. Even without the taming bond, Zeroa would do everything in her power to support him.

    That was also why the Elemental Empress, her nobility and the strongest Lesser Elementals joined the warfare against the quasi-kingdom of the Savannah Region. One Elemental was assigned to each member of the Trnce''s reinforcement to fight and kill together.

    The Elementals learned something specific after Michael and the Elemental Empress fused together. The fusion had been integrated into their essences. They knew how to transform their bodies to coat their allies'' bodies, armors, and weapons.

    It was not easy for Lesser Elementals to coat theirpanion''s bodies, but it was possible for them to shroud their weapons with their elemental might. Other than that, the Lesser Elementals could aid theirpanions through different means as well.

    ''I should create apanion system once we''re back. If enough Elementals are willing to join the military, we could equip several units with Elementalpanions. Maybe they''ll be able to do things like Zeroa and I.'' Michael mused, liking the idea.

    If some of his subordinates were highlypatible with the Elementals, they might be able to execute powerful attacks that exceed their rank. It would take a while to create special techniques to maximize their respective powers bybining them efficiently, but Michael liked the thought of having an Elemental Warriorbat unit. Or maybe a unit of Elemental Archers. It was certainly worth considering.

    "Wee to our humble territory," A familiar voice reached Michael''s ears and his head flicked to the left where he found Zira, the daughter of the Valyr Lordess. She looked just like before. Two horns jutted out from the side of her head with a long purplish horn jutting from her forehead, bloody-red leathery wings that stretched far behind the young woman, and a ck morningstar tail that swished left and right¡­in excitement?

    Zira wore a set of armour that was drenched in the dried blood of her enemies. Michael detected lingering energy fluctuations from elemental attacks all around the young daughter of the Valyr Lordess.

    "I didn''t expect a celebrity to wee us," Michael responded lightly, exchanging some pleasantries with Zira before he added in a more serious tone, "But I doubt that you came over for fun. I can also see that you were in a fight not too long ago."

    Zira looked down at her body and smiled foolishly at the appearance of her armor. She didn''t identical have enough time to clean her armor, or disperse the remnants of malleable energies dancing around her. "We''ve been pushed back. The Council of Xylon raided another settlement. They overwhelmed us with their numbers and didn''t leave us a chance," Zira acknowledged, gritting her teeth.

    The Council of Xylon was the name the Patchwork Kingdom gave themselves. Michael was not a fan of the name since ''Patchwork Kingdom'' sounded much better, but who was he to judge them? It was not like his naming sense was any good.

    "Where is the battlefield?"

    Zira looked up, her eyes locking with Michael''s vibrant golden eyes. Michael was overflowing with confidence. That was something Zira could tell identical though most parts of his face were covered with a raven mask. The only exposed part of his face was his eyes. Zira''s whole attention was naturally drawn to the vibrant glimmering eyes.

    She swallowed hard and instinctively retreated. Michael''s gaze was sharp and piercing.

    ''He has grown stronger,'' Zira realized. She noticed and forced a smile on her lips.

    "We currently have five locations with more-or-less active battles. Where do you want to go?" Michael shrugged, "The closest, obviously."

    Zira gave him a curt nod and turned around. She gestured to Michael and hispany to follow her and moved swiftly through the settlement. The Nightmare Horse, herpanion, was already waiting for her.

    "We can spare some Pyroma Horses for fast traveling. Maybe, we''ll make it to the battlefield before the situation gets worse," She said, after speaking to someone via amunication crystal.

    A small horde of Pyroma Horses, inferior versions to Zira''s Nightmare Horse, was led to Michael and hispanion.

    "We will just run. There is no need for us to use these¡­things," Thaor said, and the other Berserkers agreed. They would much rather run than force themselves to jump onto these tiny horses. The Pyroma Horses looked like regr war horses, except for the zing mes that oozed out of their hooves.

    Michael and the others agreed to use the Pyroma Horses. They could save time by riding through the Savannah Region. Why wouldn''t they use the Pyroma Horses? "Just try to keep up with us, and we will be fine," Michael said, hoping that the Berserkers wouldn''t be much slower than the Pyroma Horses.

    "Thebat zone is not waiting for us. Let''s go," Michael said, swinging himself up onto the back of the Pyroma Horse that had approached him.

    ["This is their leader. It''s the fastest one!"] The Elemental Empress eximed in Michael''s mind.

    "You can talk to the horse?" Michael inquired in wonder.

    ["Yes. But no. I know what it wants to share and how it feels. It''s prideful and doesn''t want anyone but you to ride it. It can sense that you are the Leader. That you are our Lord."]

    Michael patted the Pyroma Horse''s mane and grinned faintly.

    "In that case, how about you show me how fast you are?" Michael asked, his eyes locking onto the Pyroma Horse.

    It neighed loudly and charged behind Zira''s Nightmare Horse as they galloped forward.

    Not identical two hourster they reached the northernbat zone in the Laprix Lord''s territory. The sound of shes of weapons and shrill cries rang through the surroundings, and the heartbeats of the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers elerated.

    It was time for war.

    [A/N: The author is back in the game with a new volume. It''s already volume 10 and the story is slowly getting moreplex. We''re entering the deeper parts of the Origin Expanse and learning more about the universe and its factions and Michael''s ancestry. Will Michael manage to rescue his brother, or will he lose another loved one in the attempt to solve all problems on his own...again?]

    aa46b88fba81f31b3b6caeb69d4b8e3459b94f8ed735311d0aa1f749e1de5041

 Chapter 552 No Jam

    <h4>Chapter 552 No Jam</h4>

    The battlefield north to the Laprix Lord''s territory was flooded with the Council of Xylon''s army. The long-distance fighters such as their Archers, Mages, and Healers built a small camp at a hillside that bordered the nds inside the Laprix''s territory.

    They used the advantage of their altitude and theck of hiding spots spread throughout the battlefield to hunt the defenders. The Trnce''s forces were not necessarily weaker than the Council of Xylon. If anything, they could only survive this long because they were stronger than the averagebatant of the Council''s army.

    The Valkyria, the elite force of the Valyrians, posed the biggest threat to the Council''s army. Their racial trait granted them a minor fire affinity, allowing them to use a wide variety of techniques to overpower their enemies. Even the Valyr Summons were stronger than the average Summon. Their racial advantage was simr to the physical advantage of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It provided them an edge in fights against beings without racial advantages.

    "I want to fight them," Thaor announced, his eyes locked onto the Valyrians.

    "They''re your allies," Lokai pped her brother on the back of the head with great force, "Your enemies are over there. They might seem weaker but look at their numbers. This will be a fun fight."

    Lokai seemed excited just like the other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Zira stared at them in disbelief but Michael could only smile. He was well aware of the Berserkers'' and Warlock Centaurs'' desire to fight and how much they loved to wage war, however, it was something new for Zira. "They''re fine. Don''t think too much about them," Michael said, "Do you want to join us, or will you join the Valyrians?" "How about you join me to fight alongside the Valyrians? Since almost everyone in your group is at the 2nd Tier or above, we should have a good chance to break through their defenses. It shouldn''t be impossible to destroy their camp."

    Once their camp was destroyed, the Council of Xylon would be pushed back and forced to retreat to set up a new camp further in the back.

    "Did you already cut their supply chains, or did you fail in destroying their supply convoys?" Michael asked, his eyes fixed on the campsite on the hill.

    "Their supply chains are well protected. Our cavalry tried to take them by surprise and attack at night, but they must have Orbs of Hostility, or simr devices installed into their caravans. We were detected and blocked long before we could reach their supplies," Zira answered begrudgingly.

    Michael nodded sharply and gathered his people around.

    "I''ve got a n," He said, waking up Stinger, the Golden Stinger Wasp, who had been sleeping soundly in his coat until now. Zeroa kept the little Golden Stinger Wasp warm. Stinger hummed happily as he saw Michael, who smiled back at the little monster.

    Little Stinger was not as tiny as before. The Golden Stinger Wasp grew up well and some Tamers suspected that he was going to evolve pretty soon. Michael was looking forward to that. After all, Stinger was a valuable asset to hisbat force.

    "If you won''t join us, you might as well return to the Valyrians," Michael advised Zira, who happened to be listening to Michael''s n, "We will take care of the rest."

    "Eh. I might as well join you. I''m curious to find out how your n will work out."

    "Suit yourself," Michael said with a nod before he proceeded to tell everyone about his n. It was simple but certain to work out. After all, the Trnce had yet to try something like that. They didn''t have the means.

    Once Michael was done sharing the n, Stinger stung everyone one by one. He disappeared in the next moment, a spatial portal teleporting the Stinger to the peak of the hill. A quarter of a secondter, Michael, Lokai, Thaor, Lilcia, and Tiara disappeared. The Golden Stinger Wasp reappeared in their spot. In the meantime, the five Awakened appeared on the peak of the hill, in the center of the enemy''s camp.

    They appeared in arge tent, on top of arge wooden table where the map of the Savannah Region had been spread out. The army''s general andmanders were in a meeting, their bodies leaned over the map when a spatial portal suddenly manifested above them. A tiny wasp had emerged from the small spatial portal, only to be reced by fiverge figures.

    Lokai and Thaor crashed on top of twomanders. They reacted instinctively and executed their strongest techniques to take their enemies by surprise and end them with one swoop. Michael, Lilica, and Tiara weren''t any slower. Tiara''s body transformed as she exerted Silvarean Tiger, and her body lunged forward. A three-fold intertwined Spirit Whipshed out at the closest enemy, her spear thrusting forward, piercing through the enemy''s chest in one go.

    Lilica, on the other hand, pulled back her bowstring and manifested an energy-condensed arrow to shoot at the Guards who were trying to run away to warn the others. Michael used Insert to apply Enhancement onto Lilica''s bow and insert severalyers of Enhancement onto Tiara. Simultaneously, Lokai''s Burning Fury was unleashed, her Soultrait empowering her allies gradually.

    Michael used his Soul Energy to empower Heavenly Beast Physique with severalyers of Enhancement to overpower the general-inmand. He manifested the Aethyr Longsword and cleaved down on the General, whose eyes were widened in shock and disbelief.

    The General was an Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3, and he was experienced enough to respond quickly. However, he was taken by surprise. He, just like everyone else, didn''t expect enemy forces to appear in themando tent, especially not at this moment.

    Under normal circumstances, the entire camp should have received a warning if foreign energy fluctuations invaded their territory. The energy fluctuations would have been weakened, orpletely dispersed. However, the minute spatial fluctuations of Zeroa''s tiny spatial portal passed through the defensive mechanism by utilizing the tiny gap of ovepping energies in the center of the campsite. The ovepping energies in the campsite couldn''t be sensed by ordinary beings. The interferences were minuscule and they didn''t affect the efficiency of the devices that had been installed in the center of the camp to safeguard the campsite from invaders and long-distance attacks of all kinds.

    In fact, even Zeroa could not sense the ovepping energies in the center of the campsite. Only Michael had been able to see the ovepping energies by channeling energy into his Spirit Eyes. His eyesight improved significantly and the energy fluctuations in his field of vision grew more vibrant. He noticed several dome-like structures that were invisible to the eyes of ordinary beings. The domes existed to warn the camp if an enemy invaded them from all sides, if foreign entities utilized energy within their ranks, and various other means to determine the extent of breach of their defenses by the enemies.

    These means of defense and safeguard weren''t umon. They were ordinary structures used by the majority of Lords since they were the most useful to prevent enemy forces from invading your territory. They were almost perfect. Almost.

    The instruments utilized to create the domes and other structures that protected the campsite were installed in the center of the camp. However, some of these instruments were ced too close to each other, therefore, canceling out each other''s effects, rendering the spatial interference useless in a tiny space. This speck of space was inconspicuous and it was way too small to allow the manifestation of an ordinary spatial portal.

    However, it was big enough to create a miniature spatial portal that could battle a small entity, a Golden Stinger Wasp. And that was more than enough to initiate Michael''s n.

    After Stinger grew stronger, its stinger effectsted much longer. A single use of its racial trait could transport five entities simultaneously. Michael had been worried that the spatial interference would trouble Stinger''s racial trait, but it was different from an ordinary spatial affinity. Stinger''s racial trait was unique. It was not registered by the rms and spatial interference, letting him do his job undetected!

    Michael utilized his overwhelming strength and momentum to take leverage of the General''s shock and disbelief. He beheaded the General after rendering him incapable of defending himself by utilizing a 6yered Spiritual Domination. Michael used Prognosis to determine the General''s path of retreat and cut cleanly through his head.

    The others existed also quite fast. Nobody could escape their surprise attack. One of the generals and twomanders had been eliminated with their initial attack, and more would follow soon. But before that, they had to remove the camp''s protective mechanisms. Those were a hassle.

    To tackle that issue, Michael transformed The Aethyr Longsword into a Warhammer. Next, he moved to the instruments that had been installed next to the table with the Savannah Region''s map and lifted the Aethyr Warhammer. He pulled the Warhammer high above his head and smashed down the heavy tool of destruction, crushing one device after another.

    In less than half a minute, Michael had destroyed all devices. He retracted the Aethyr Warhammer into his body and waited for Zira and his subordinates to arrive. ["That was a bit fun. Not much, but a little bit."] Zeroa spoke into Michael''s mind, and he agreed.

    "The Tekur existed stronger."

    That made sense. The battlefield north of the Laprix Lord''s territory was smaller. Their General was strong, but he was not as strong as the Lords of the Council of Xylon. Michael doubted that anyone in the Savannah Region owned a Soul Technique either. Even if someone did, he was quite sure that their Soultrait was too weak to make full use of a Soul Technique. Otherwise, the Savannah Region would already be ruled by a single entity.

    "But I think this is going to be quite fun. This is just one of the many battles that await us!"

 Chapter 553 Soul Tears

    <h4>Chapter 553 Soul Tears</h4>

    The massacre began after the defensive devices were destroyed one after another. Zeroa opened arge spatial portal, allowing the others to infiltrate the campside as well.

    The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers emerged first. They readied their weapons and activated their Soultraits before charging out of themando tent. The Forest Elven Adventurers followed next with the Holy Knights, Mages, and other Summons whose rank was Tier-2. In total, Michael barged into enemy territory with less than 100 people, excluding the Elementals, who stuck to their assigned partner. The Immortal Knight did not join their expedition. He was still wondering whether he should use the Bloodline Upgrade Token or not because he wasn''t certain if he wanted to get back onto the battlefield, or if upgrading his bloodline would solve his health problem, in the first ce. He didn''t want to get his hopes up just to get disappointed once again.

    Michael didn''t push Siegfried. The Immortal Knight had to make a choice, and Michael didn''t think that it was fair to pressure him. It was not like they were in a rush to begin with. Michael had temporarily abandoned his duties as a Lord to join the expedition into the Savannah Region. Who was he to rush others if he couldn''t even focus on the expansion of his territories after procuring more wealth in a few hours than some procured in two lifetimes?

    Michael stepped out of themando tent once everyone had emerged from Zeroa''s spatial portal. Zira had joined them, and her expression was filled with shock when she saw the corpses of the General and two Commanders.

    "We tried to use portals but that didn''t work. The spatial interference is way too strong. Only Grandmagus with a high-ranked spatial affinity can break through the spatial interference of a Basic Spacium Domain. Do you have a Grandmagus here?! How? Where?" She asked, her voice turning erratic as more words tumbled out of her mouth.

    Michael raised his hand and Zeroa manifested a miniature figure of a zing woman in his palm. The zing figure was a miniature version of Zeroa. It was not her original form but it was the form she chose to use primarily in Michael''s territory. "I don''t have a Grandmagus, but an Elemental Empress. Her spatial talent is not that extraordinary though. Fire is her primary element," Michael said nonchntly following Zeroa urged him to tell more about her.

    Zira had heard about the Elemental Empress. In fact, she had even seen her with Michael before. However, the energy fluctuations she sensed from the tiny figure were several times stronger than before. The Elemental Empress had grown stronger.

    The Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might masked Zeroa''s presence while she was hiding underneath Michael''s cloak, but her miniature figure was different. It fully revealed the true presence of a Pseudo-Mythical being.

    "I understand. But how did you manage to bypass¨C..." Zira had more questions, but Michael lifted his hands.

    His eyes glowed brightly and Spirit Eyes'' Marks began to illuminate. Michael''s right arm was covered in azure mes in an instant and threerge zingnces manifested around him. He furrowed his brows and released the zingnces with a burst of energy. Thences pierced through the walls of themando tent and hit their targets with great precision. Muffled screams escaped the targets'' mouths but they ceased as quickly as they had emerged.

    Three Soldiers at the 2nd Tier had overwhelmed one of his Holy Knights, and it was easy to tell that they would breach his defenses soon. The Holy Knight used his Holy Power with great precision to defend but it was his first time fighting a life-and-death battle against another humanoid race.

    The Holy Knight didn''t appraise the enemies before he charged into battle. He was confident of killing one of them within a few strikes before overpowering the others with his great skills.

    Unfortunately, it was not that easy. The enemies were more experienced than the Holy Knight. They had participated in several smaller wars during thest several years. Compared to them, the Holy Knight was still a greenhorn. Even if his skillset andbat awareness was better, he was not yet experienced enough to deal with three well-trained enemies of the same rank.

    Fortunately, Michael was around to help. "Your defense is great, but your attacksck decisiveness. I know that it''s your first time to fight another race in a war so you make mistakes. Though, it''s fine because I''m here to protect you all. I promised the Immortal Knight that I will give my utmost to bring everyone home alive, but you should keep in mind that wars are cruel and merciless. Even I might not be able to protect everyone. You need to protect yourself. You need to kill your enemies to not be the one getting eliminated instead!" Michael advised the Holy Knight as he moved closer.

    His head flicked to Zira for a moment.

    "Let''s not waste our precious time with small talk. We will be busy from now on," Michael uttered to Zira before he turned back to the Holy Knight once again, "Why didn''t you use your partner''s Elemental Might? I can sense the presence of a Lesser Earth Elemental on you. You could have easily dealt with them." Michael lectured the Holy Knight a little longer before he used the Taming Soultrait to fuse with Zeroa. Power Share was activated immediately, granting Michael minor mastery of all elements. His mastery of the fire element skyrocketed to the Intermediate rank, which Michael exploited instantaneously by manifesting three dozen azure zingnces.

    Spirit Eyes was fully activated and enhanced with oneyer of Enhancement. That was enough to easily differentiate between his allies and enemies. Once that was done, Michael unleashed the azurences. The zing projectiles whizzed through the air, pierced through the tents ¨C putting them on fire ¨C and impaled their enemies with great precision.

    Michael eliminated a bunch of Assassins and Elite Soldiers, who''d prepared to jump on his allies. His subordinates were already busy enough dealing with the enemies they could see. Thus, Michael reached out with a helping hand. That was his mission for today. His focus was not to fight as many enemies as possible. He was going to be more of a supervisor who would jump in whenever necessary. Michael''s priority was to ensure that his subordinates were given enough time to adjust to the sensation of war, and that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would improve their teamwork with the Forest Elves and the Holy Knights.

    Last but not least, his subjects should grow stronger. The energy influx and experiences they would gain in the Savannah Region ought to improve theirbat prowess by leaps and bounds.

    Michael kept an eye on the surroundings but he quickly noticed something that attracted his attention. There was something odd about four corpses. He''d eliminated a several dozen enemies using Zeroa''s mythical mes, but four corpses were weird. Michael could see that something had gathered within the four corpses. It looked somewhat familiar, yet alien at the same time.

    ''Why does this remind me of Danny''s Living Soul?'' Michael wondered, channeling more origin energy into Spirit Eyes. His vision improved and it didn''t take long before Michael could affirm that the gathering mass was simr to a Living Soul. Yet, it was different as well.

    The four masses were white-silverish in color and only Michael could see them. That was something he could tell pretty clearly when the masses ascended into the air. They transformed into tiny wisps that moved around wildly, but no one seemed to be concerned about them. One of the wisps phased through the tent and shot past a Holy Knight, who didn''t seem to notice anything. He didn''t even flinch as the wisp traveled past his head.

    With the ascension of the four tiny wisps something stirred within Michael simultaneously. The sensation was weak, at first, but it grew more apparent as the wisps moved closer to him. They were drawn in his direction.

    Michael frowned in confusion but it didn''t take him long to notice that the Soul Grimoire was wreaking havoc in the Sphere of Light. Understanding dawned upon him and he activated Soul Grimoire, summoning it at once.

    The Soul Grimoire''s cover was decorated with various intricate patterns and countless miniature runes. It was purple in color with a bluish hue, but it was not quite indigo. A lock kept the Soul Grimoire closed. At least, that was the case until now. The lock burst open, unleashing an indigo hue that shrouded the Soul Grimoire in its entirety as it opened, revealing hundreds of empty pages.

    As if sensing the Soul Grimoire, the wisps elerated. Their trajectory changed from Michael to the Soul Grimoire and they didn''t slow down at all. They smashed into the Soul Grimoire where they disappeared inside as if they had never existed, in the first ce. All that was left of the four tiny wisps was faint images that had been engraved onto the Soul Grimoire.

    The images were of different sizes and had slight variations in color as well, just like the real deal. Michael was surprised how lifelike the images looked, but that was probably because the wisps were still the same as before. They didn''t cease to exist all of a sudden. They simply disappeared into the Soul Grimoire.

    ''Right. I can store souls in Soul Grimoire. But why would Souls be naturally pulled toward it? Is it because they hope that the Soul Grimoire will preserve them? Is it their basic instinct to strive for survival?'' Michael wondered, but before he could continue his train of thought, he was bombarded with a small influx of information.

    In the same instance the Soul Grimoire glowed brighter. The lifelike images of the wisps, which were actually the Souls of the deceased, dimmed and a new image formed. The image of a purple tear. The image of one Soul dispersed following some time, and it was not long before a tiny wisp, a fraction of what it had been before, emerged from the Soul Grimoire. ''It doesn''t devour the entire Soul, but it can drain a deceased Soul''s power to create the Soul Tears before dispatching the soul to the afterlife.''

    Michael''s eyes fell onto thepleted Soul Tear, the new information in his mind allowing him to understand some of the things he''d seen just now. Not everything made sense, but he could connect the dots and imagine what was going on and what he could do.

    He tapped into the power of the Soul Grimoire and essed the Soul Tear. Using the Soul Tear''s umted power, Michael could strengthen his Soul, the other Souls that had been absorbed into the Soul Grimoire, or strengthen a Soultrait temporarily.

    Yes. The Soul Tear could temporarily strengthen a Soultrait. As for how potent the enhancement would be¡­ Michael was about to find out.

 Chapter 554 Amazed

    <h4>Chapter 554 Amazed</h4>

    Michael used a Soul Tear on cicle as a small experiment and he noticed a huge difference at once.

    cicle''s potency increased by more than 30%, increasing cicle''s power and characteristics drastically. It was much easier to manifest and shape cicles and various new notions to use cicle formed in his mind.

    Michael decided to test out one of the ideas that had popped up in his Mind. He manifested a small azure me and coated it in a cicle. Fusing the azure me with the cicle was not supposed to work out but by strengthening cicle''s inside to temporarily seal Zeroa''s mythical mes, it was possible.

    He decided to name the attack Pyrocle Spear, a zing spear de frozen in eternal ice, and released the attack into a group of enemies further away. The enemies numbered in the tens of thousand. There were more than enough targets to experiment with, especially since the majority of theirbat power ranged from Peak Tier-1 to Low Tier-2. Dealing with them was not an issue, though their arithmetical advantage was a bit bothersome.

    The Pyrocle Spear shot through the air with a terrific velocity. It was much faster than the azurences and impacted heavily, or so one would think. Michael willed the ice sealing the mythical mes to shatter, bursting into countless tiny shrapnels, right before they impacted their target. The mythical mes that had beenpressed and sealed into the cicle, erupted with tremendous power, pushing the cicle shrapnels further ahead.

    The ice shrapnels dug deep into the enemies, whereas the explosive mythical mes burned everyone who was too close to the center of the eruption. "That was decent, but not great," Michael analyzed his attack critically. It was okay for his first time, but the damage paled inparison to what he could have done with ordinary azurences. Nheless, the attack had potential. All he had to do was practice a lot and alter a few steps and characteristics to increase its lethality.

    Oddly enough, Michael could instinctively tell what he had to improve to turn the Pyrocle Spear into an even more terrifying weapon. It was almost as if his understanding and mastery of cicle had improved significantly. Did he enter an enlightened state of existence all of a sudden? No. All he did was consume the Soul Tear with his primary target of enhancement being cicle.

    "That''s crazy. Soul Tears enhance a Soultrait''s power, mastery, and understanding by nearly 30% for more than ten minutes. That means I can study my Soultraits in constant enlightenment as long as I have enough Soul Tears. That''s awesome." Michael had yet to grasp everything about the Soul Tears, but he learned enough about it to understand one thing; Soul Grimoire was not useless anymore. It was not just a means to store and preserve Souls. No. Now that he found out another use of the Soul Grimoire, Michael could tell that the Soul Grimoire was far more powerful than he could have hoped for. All he had to do was umte more Soul Tears and use them properly. ''If they work on my Soul as well, can I elerate the replenishment of my used-up Soul Power?'' He wondered, waiting for thest Souls that had been stored in the Soul Grimoire to turn into Soul Tears. Once a Soul Tear had beenpletely formed, Michael used it on his soul. The result was even better than he could have hoped for. Not only did his Soul Power replenish much faster, but it was also much easier to produce Soul Energy. Even utilizing his Soul Techniques such as Soul cicle Bullet was much easier. ''I¡­can deepen my mastery of Soul Techniques and create better techniques using the mastery and enlightenment gained from Soul Tears¡­Maybe, I can create Elite Soul Techniques for myself!''

    Just thinking about the possible uses of the Soul Tears was exciting. It provided even more reason to upgrade Soul Grimoire''s star rating. Of course, it was not important to look for more reasons to do that since Danny''s Living Soul was more than enough reason for Michael to upgrade Soul Grimoire as much as needed. Nheless, it was good to find more reasons to focus on Soul Grimoire''s upgrades.

    Michael smiled before using thest Soul Tears to temporarily strengthen Taming. His bond with Zeroa strengthened temporarily and his mastery of her mythical mes reached new heights. He created dozens of azurences and released them to kill those who were about to overwhelm his subordinates. The situation all over the battlefield was growing more intense as the moments passed by. The center of the camp had been imed by Michael and his subordinates, but that didn''t mean they had an easy time.

    Lokai used her Soultrait, Burning Fury, to strengthen herself and everyone around her. Burning Fury''s ability to strengthen others increased as the number and strength of the opponents around her increased. The more disadvantageous Lokai''s situation, the stronger Burning Fury would be.

    As Lokai charged into the masses of enemies, her strength increased. But she was not the only one. Thaor, Mekhaz, and the other Awakened barged into the crowd of Soldiers without an ounce of fear. Thaor used his unique constitution, Crimson Aura,bined with his Soultrait, Red Giant, expanding his body and gaining tremendous power that allowed him to fight three Tier-3 Summons at the same time. He fought valiantly and unleashed bursts of his strength to push his enemies away. Lokai''s Burning Fury enhanced him, granting him more strength, and it was not long before the first Soldiers died at his hand.

    Once Thaor, Mekhaz, and the others breached their foes'' defenses, they gained more foothold in the campsite. The Holy Knightsbined their strength by using special techniques that required the Holy Power of multiple Holy Knights. Together, they managed to defeat an Awakened whose Soultrait manifested a Warhammer that would have crushed them if not for theirbined power.

    Everyone fought valiantly. The Soldiers in the camp were desperate in their attempts to kill the invaders, but it didn''t take long until they realized that the invaders were not that easy to deal with.

    Most Awakened and stronger Soldiers were already busy fighting at the frontlines. Those who stayed back in the camp were either exhausted, or injured, or they had been working on different things. They never expected someone to be able to breach their spatial interference and attack them this brazenly.

    Michael and his subordinates swept through the rows of tents, their attacks ferocious and merciless. The Holy Knights and other younger Summons who''d never participated in arge-scale battle, or massacre, were still hesitant, but they understood quickly enough that their lives were on the line. A single mistake was enough to kill them, or someone they cared about. Michael was d that his subordinates worked well together. They listened to his orders and executed his n with deadly precision. It was only a matter of time before they imed the lives of every enemy who was still in the camp, leaving the remaining enemies on the battlefield with no ce to retreat.

    However, conquering the camp was not enough for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They were overflowing with excitement and entered a frenzy. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs could barely distinguish their friends from foes at this point. They developed into killing machines that sought the deaths of their enemies to quench their thirst.

    Michael didn''t like that. Therefore, he intervened. He used the Links of Loyalty tomand them to hold back a little, forcing the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs out of their frenzy. Their dissatisfaction and irritation proliferate through the Links of Loyalty and impacted heavily, however, Michael did not care. He had to control his subordinates to ensure their survival. ''It makes sense why so many Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs die on the battlefield. This will be troublesome once Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs start working closely with my Summons.'' Michael realized.

    He shook his head and sighed heavily. Their enemies numbered in the tens of thousands, yet the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wanted to charge at them. They wanted to leave the rtively safe environment of the camp to dash onto the battlefield without a n. They didn''t even wait for their allies and moved out alone.

    "You can join the battle again, but use your damn head, please. Your heads are not for decoration. You''re allowed to use them!" Michael bellowed, using his presence as Lord and the Links of Loyalty to convey to everyone that he was not going to ept disobedience. He wouldn''t train anyone who was going to get themselves killed for no reason. If that''s what they wanted to do, they should do so alone without endangering theirrades-in-arms. ''You guys won''t get any Soultraits from me if you act like this. I''m not giving those treasures to people who''ll end up dead a monthter, either way.'' Conquering the camp was the most important goal to cut off the army from their pseudo-kingdom. The army of the Council of Xylon was surrounded by enemies and they didn''t have a ce to hide anymore. Charging mindlessly at them was stupid. It was much better to use proper tactics now that they gained a small advantage. Michael forwarded a fewmands to his subordinates via Whispering Energy. He repetitively told them to be careful and to use Elemental Might with the help of their Lesser Elemental partner. Once allmands had been ryed, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs moved out. They moved with great precision and¡­disappeared.

    Stinger transported the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to a different spot. They reappeared near a group of Mages, Supporters, and Healers. In the next instance, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs did what they were best at. They fought and killed.

 Chapter 555 Elemental Might

    <h4>Chapter 555 Elemental Might</h4>

    The battle against the Council of Xylon''s army continued. The Valyrians and the other forces of the Trnce pushed forward whereas the Council of Xylon tried to retreat. Having lost contact with themando tent and the camp on the hill, the council''s Soldiers were uncertain about what happened. They changed into a defensive formation and used their numerical advantage to safeguard the Valyrians and Trnce. Simultaneously, they ordered a few fast Assassins to check out what was going on in the camp.

    However, before the Assassins reached the hill, they were already faced with unknown forces. Three-meter-tall beings packed with steel-like muscles and an even faster cavalry charged at them, wielding a wide variety of weapons that were coated in the power of elements. A handful of swords and halberts were covered in zing mes, the spears and war axes were amplified from the wind elements coating them, and there were several shields and armors coated in water and earth elements. The Lesser Elementals hidden underneath thebatants'' robes used their power at full disy. They used Elemental Might to coat their partner''s weapons and armor sets while simultaneously exerting their power to manifest earth spikes, water shields, wind des, fire spears and more.

    Combining their magical nature and the ability to fight long-distance battles with the physical advantage of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs created an oddly suitable synergy. Theirbinedbat prowess was much higher than Michael had expected it to be. That way, he didn''t have to pay much attention to the Awakened fighting for him. They were strong enough to protect themselves.

    Thus, Michael joined the battle again. He had to help to outbnce the enemy''s numerical disadvantage.

    The Forest Elves moved rapidly. They held their bows tightly in one hand and moved fluidly as they nocked an arrow on the bowstring. They pulled the bowstring back in a nonchnt manner, aimed for a second, and released the deadly projectile.

    There was no need to follow the trail left behind by their arrows. The Forest Elves could tell whether they hit their targets, or if they failed. Therefore, instead of observing the massive numbers of enemies that began to slowly retreat to the camp, Lilica and the others focused on their task ahead.

    Their Elemental partners decided to guide them. They manifested apressed elemental arrow on their bowstring, allowing the Forest Elves to pull back the bowstring right after releasing thest arrow. The crucial second they required to snatch an arrow and ce it on the bowstring was no more necessary. The Elemental partners acted as a temporary upgrade, evolving the Forest Elves ordinary hunting tactic into a highly lethal weapon to all beings below the Mid ranks of the 2nd Tier.

    Michael watched the Forest Elves for a while and smiled. The Lesser Elementals that partnered with the Forest Elves were great aids. They protected the Forest Elves from iing projectiles and manifested elemental projectiles on their own. Their merged strength yed a huge role in hunting hundreds of enemies in no time.

    The Trnce''s forces regained their morale once they heard that the camp had been conquered and imed. They had slowly begun to lose their confidence and morale before. However, hearing that reinforcement arrived and that the reinforcement managed to kill a General and two Commanders infused them with much required vigor. Their concerns dispersed, reced by newfound strength and determination.

    The Valkyria shot forward in unison. They seemed to expand and grow into terrifying monsters as ferocious mes burst from their bodies. Michael observed the Valkyria for a few seconds. His Spirit Eyes detected energy fluctuations from Soultraits and a sudden eruption of great power. The power of the Valyr''s Soultraits and racial traits merged as they exerted the Valyr Martial Arts. Now that their morale was back at its peak, they didn''t worry anymore. All they had to do was eliminate their enemies.

    ''She''s quite impressive.'' Michael thought as his eyes traveled to Zira. Herbat awareness and Martial Artsprehension were highly profound. The young Valyr''s only issue was her Soultrait. Zira''s Soultrait was as trashy as before. There was no change. She was better off not using her Soultrait, at all.

    At some point, the equation on the battlefield had changed. The council''s army grew more restless and desperate whereas the Trnce gained more foothold on the battlefield.

    Everything was going ording to Michael''s n. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were overflowing with excitement after Stringer transported them to the Mages, Supporters, and Healers. Michael gave the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs permission to go all out and relish themselves in the bloody battle as long as they didn''t break their connection with Stinger.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp used its unique spatial trait to move the frenzy Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs through the battlefield. Stinger unleashed the frenzy Awakened first in the back of the council''s army before transporting them to the nks where the Warlock Centaurs could act as cavalry to send the enemies to death. The Berserkers, on the other hand, were throwing into the middle of the battlefield with the Holy Knights and Michael.

    Michael used Zeroa''s spatial affinity to create several spatial portals for the Valkyria and other elite forces of the Trnce to join the battle.

    Less than one hour after Michael and his subordinates joined the battle, the defenses of the Council were breached and their morale crushed into tiny bits. Michael didn''t expect the council''s army to crumble this fast. He had been prepared for a drawn-out battle of attrition, but he presumed that it made sense. The Council of Xylon was not actually a kingdom in a true sense. It was a patchwork kingdom that consisted of dozens of alliances, alliances that had been at war a few months ago.

    The Council of Xylon had various internal problems and they were projected on their armies as well. The battlefield at the border to the Laprix Lord''s territory was rather small, but one could still tell that the Council of Xylon hastily put together several smaller armies of former enemies. They loathed each other, yet they were forced to fight together against theirmon enemy ¨C an enemy who they''d never fought before. However, their Lords ordered them to fight, so they did. The Council of Xylon''s n would have worked out. All they required was the vast numerical advantage to defeat an enemy with simr strength. The Trnce was only slightly stronger than the other alliances. But that didn''t mean they could go up against a flood of enemies that were only slightly weaker. Fortunately, Michael and his subordinates were capable enough to do what others couldn''t.

    But even then, it was not like the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs escaped the fight unscathed. Almost all of them sustained heavy injuries, most warriors received more than one, but they were too excited and pumped with adrenaline to take note of their wounds.

    Even if they could feel the pain that had been inflicted through severe wounds, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t care. They would be proud.

    Tradition remarked that every enemy in would increase their Wan, which was part of a karmic system that determined how much impact a Warrior had on the people around them, the world in its entirety, and the universe. The more Wan a Warrior umted, the higher was their impact. The higher their impact, the grander their wee into the afterlife into the Sacred Halls of Wyrian. They wanted to be weed into the Halls of Wyrian as Great Warriors, and Warlocks. A few wounds were nothing inparison!

    The Holy Knights and Forest Elves were also feeling ted, even those who sustained injuries. They battled valiantly and found themselves in several near-death situations, but they survived. They experienced the threat of war and learned how warfare worked. Theirbat experience increased, their techniques improved and the energy influxes they''d received from every in enemy fortified them.

    Last but not least, Michael distributed Jungle Points for killing Awakened and ordinary Soldiers. Jungle Points could be umted by both Summons and Awakened, and they could exchange them with various treasures that would help them to grow even stronger in the future. "That wasn''t too bad," Tiara said, appearing next to Michael.

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he saw Tiara again. He saw Tiara once on the battlefield fighting among the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, and he had to acknowledge that Tiara''s wild instincts were not too different from the Berserkers'' frenzy. The only differences were that Tiara could control herself much better than the Berserkers and that she only went ballistic upon transforming via the Silvarean Tiger Soultrait.

    The longer she fought, the stronger the force of her wild instincts. Herbat awareness skyrocketed and she would subconsciously use her Soultraits. Once, Tiara cked out mid-battle, only to regain her senses while being surrounded by a flock of corpses.

    She was not proud of it at that time and worked on herself to learn more about her instincts and how to utilize them well without losing control.

    "We did great for our first warfare with the Holy Knights and Awakened. But, as always, there is a lot we can improve," Michael said, only to hear Tiara snicker. Was it that hard to praise his people without finding faults for him?

    Michael smiled lightly and shrugged, his attention moving to Zira and the Valkyria.

    "Everyone did great," Michael remarked and a smile manifested on Tiara''s smile.

    "But we can do better!" "Urgh," Tiara groaned, staring at Michael, the corner of her lip still tilted upward.

 Chapter 556 Politics and Compromises

    <h4>Chapter 556 Politics and Compromises</h4>

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs pursued thest survivors of the enemy army before they returned to have someone tend to their wounds.

    In the meantime, Michael was given the corpses of all Awakened that had been killed in today''s battle. That was one of the terms Michael had given to the Trnce. If they wanted his support, the Trnce had to separate the corpses of all Awakened ughtered in the Regional War and hand it over to him. It was one of the major reasons Michael contemted helping the Trnce, in the first ce.

    Their help was substantial, so it was no wonder that Michael and his subordinates were permitted to collect the corpses of the enemies they''d killed as well. It was not like Michael was in dire need of their corpses, but he would be stupid not to take them. Summons might drop less loot than most monsters, but with Extraction, Michael could still plunder a considerable amount of goods nheless.

    The aftermath of the battle wasn''t that bad. Two of the strongest Blessed Squires in Michael''s team died, and one Holy Knight lost his weak arm. Michael was a bit bothered about the deaths but he knew that he had never forced anyone to join him. He told the Blessed Squires to rethink their decision and to be careful because they were only 1-Star Summons without decades of experience.

    Unfortunately, that was not enough of a warning. Too many Summons who''d been promoted to 1-Star or 2-Star Summons were excited to test their powers in a real battle. They didn''t act foolish but their imagination was wildly different from the cruel reality.

    Unfortunately, that was not enough of a warning. Too many Summons who''d been promoted to 1-Star or 2-Star Summons were excited to test their powers in a real battle. They didn''t act foolish but their imagination was wildly different from the cruel reality.

    Michael thought a bit about the deceased, but his mind drifted swiftly to the urrences on the battlefield and the effect of actions of his subordinates, the Trnce''s forces, and the Council of Xylon''s small army.

    Since he could see much more than others through his Spirit Eyes, Michael had an easier time connecting the dots and concluding the actions of every party in addition to their reasoning.

    ''I can still enhance a lot,'' He mumbled in his mind,prehending the mistakes hemitted and how to use the unique characteristics of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to his advantage. Michael was certain that he couldn''t change the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Their traditional values were sacred to them. Forcing changes upon them through the Links of Loyalty might be possible, but it would shatter their trust and it might harm their souls because he certainly knew that they would fight against any order that went against their principles.

    Pulling them out of their frenzy and battle-rush once was already frowned upon, and Michael did not really want to repeat the same procedure over and over again.

    Instead, it would be better if he studied the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs intently and guided them in the right direction to use their full potential. There was no need to impose anything upon them. Michael could show them what they had to do to get stronger and they would naturally adapt. In the worst case, Michael would allow the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to let loose where they could cause the least chaos. He would give them what they desired the most by throwing them into the battlefield with Stinger''s help.

    Michael had a lot to think about and he was given some time for himself, to recall everything about the battle to analyze and to study the Soul Grimoire.

    His presence on the battlefield hadn''t been as obvious as usual, but Michael was still an active participant. In fact, Michael had the highest contribution in today''s battle. He killed close to 2,500 enemies while experimenting with the Pyrocle Spear, Soul cicle Bullet, and various other attempts to make full use of the Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tears.

    As a Tier-3 Lord fused with a Peak Tier-2 Pseudo-Mythical Elemental Empress that had a lesser affinity with all elements, and a mythical fire affinity, Michael didn''t need to put much effort into his attacks to kill Summons and Awakened at a lower rank. He wasn''t in an all-in fight against Superior Races such as the Tekur with tremendous power and Soul Techniques. His adversaries were a small army, a fraction of a messed-up kingdom with hundreds of small territories. The territories had been squashed together to gather enough numbers to fight against the Trnce. Yet, the Trnce didn''t crumble even after several weeks of constant fighting against a veryrge horde of attackers. The Trnce might have lost a big portion of their territory, but their military might was still standing strong. That uttered more than enough about the Council of Xylon and theirck in military might. They had the numbers to threaten the Trnce but not the power to conquer them. "How did they even survive this long? If I was that weak, I would have been crushed by the monsters of the Untamed Jungle the moment the beginner protection barrier lifted," Michael mumbled even though he knew the answer.

    "It''s politics. Most of these smaller territories border four, if not more, other territories. Attacking one of them means that you leave an opening for the other Lords to stab you in the back. That''s also why none of their armies have thousands of Peak Tier-3 Awakened in their rows, and why their numbers don''t surpass 100,000 Soldiers either. Even though the Council of Xylon works together, none of the Lords trust each other enough to dispatch their strongest forces to overwhelm us," Zira exined to Michael, who nodded absentmindedly.

    He figured that the Council of Xylon would crumble the moment the Trnce perished. One Lord would attack his neighbors the day the Trnce ceased to exist. Thereafter the Council of Xylon would be destroyed and the intensity of the Regional War would elevate to apletely new height.

    Michael didn''t care about the smaller territories, but he was unwilling to let the Trnce perish. His bond with them was not exactly strong, but Michael would rather have familiar neighbors who could be reasoned with than new neighbors, who may or may not attack his territory at any given time. The Trnce knew how strong he was, and after today''s battle, they would understand that the military might of his territory had been reinforced. Michael and his subordinates were not the same as before. They couldn''t be yed with anymore. Plus, they were still in the game only because of his generous help.

    "You mentioned that this is one of the smaller battlefields. How muchrger are the other battlefields?" Michael asked, still deep in thought.

    "Most battlefields are a little bitrger, but they''re not as massive as you think. The dispatched forces of the council usually reach 30,000 to 50,000 Soldiers. Most of them are 1-Star Summons who have already advanced to Tier-2, but they have a considerable number of Tier-3 Summons and Awakened as well. Most Tier-3 Summons have special abilities, and their Awakened are also a little bit annoying," Zira exined.

    "There are many battlefields along our borders these days. My mother and the other Lords concluded that the Council of Xylon was trying to im ournds to cut off our supplies and finances. Once we lose most of our territory, they will siege our main settlements, create an indomitable Gate Blockade to block all attempts to leave the Origin Expanse through the Runic Gates, and let us starve to death." The n of the council was not extraordinary, but for a temporary coalition of more than a hundred smaller territories, it was feasible. There was no need for special tactics that relied heavily on thebat prowess of individuals or teamwork with the numbers of the Council of Xylon.

    If Michael''s memories of the Kitsun Lord and others were not failing him, the smaller territories had more than two settlements with more than 100,000 citizens. Most smaller territories had a poption crossing 300,000, which, in retrospect, meant that Michael''s territory was tiny with a poption below 150,000 citizens. He was not even close.

    But then again, Michael could initiate a massive poption expansion at any point. It was just that he didn''t think it was necessary right now. He focused on the quality of his subjects rather than quantity. That was also why he hoped that the Advanced Sacred Knight Temple, the Hunter Academy, and a few more ces would bepleted before he began expanding his territory a bit more.

    One way or another, the Trnce was in a tricky situation. Since the patchwork kingdom had the numerical advantage while also maintaining a decent quality of soldiers that rivaled the Trnce''s forces, it was easier to spread their armies across the borders, forcing the Trnce topromise.

    If the Trnce wanted to protect their entire territory including every single inch of it, they would have to spread their forces equally along the borders. However, they didn''t do that. The Trnce chose to protect certain parts of their territory while giving up other parts. It was a painful decision, but also the reason they survived this long.

    Michael discussed the Regional War with Zira for a while. Listening to the young Valyr provided a massive influx of information. It was enough to decide that it was about time to join the next battle when Zira received a notification about another attack near the Laprix Lord''s border. Only six hours passed since thest fight ended. That was not a lot, especially with the additional work everyone had toplete after the battle. Most couldn''t rest for more than three hours, yet another wave of adversaries was about to arrive near their border. Fortunately, three hours of rest was enough to replenish most of their stamina. Being at the 2nd and 3rd Tier decreased the need for rest. They could fight again, though their mental power was still drained.

    But that was hardly an issue for Michael and his subordinates. They were well-rested and could fight for quite a while before exhaustion would take them out.

    "Lead the way to the battlefield!"

 Chapter 557 Lucrative

    <h4>Chapter 557 Lucrative</h4>

    A week full of ferocious battles ended atst.

    Michael and his subordinates joined the Trnce''s forces to defeat and sessfully pushed back the forces of the Council of Xylon seven times. They seeded every time and never sustained many casualties and injuries. Of course, it was not possible for Michael to save everyone, but he gave his utmost to rescue his subordinates once they had been pulled into a situation that they couldn''t escape on their own. Michael''s main priority was to keep his subordinates safe and pinpoint fragile spots in the enemy''s defenses. Other than that, Michael observed the battlefields and watched his subordinates go wild. But that didn''t mean he avoided fighting. Michael focused on experimenting with the Soul Tears that had umted in the Soul Grimoire. There were hundreds of Soul Tears and using them in the midst of a fierce battle seemed like one of the most efficient ways to boost hisbat prowess andprehend new things for the future.

    After a full week of fighting had passed, Michael''s subordinates were dead-tired. Even the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had to take a break. It was good that the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers weren''t as foolish as they seemed to be. They rested when they had to rest and they avoided enemies they couldn''t deal with. Of course, they would never openly acknowledge that they avoided a certain enemy, but it made sense to focus on the foes you could deal with rather than fighting above your weight ss. Dealing with a Peak Tier-3 Awakened while being at the Peak of the 2nd Tier was not something everyone could do. It was even more difficult for an ordinary Adventurer whose Soultrait didn''t do much to strengthen him inbat.

    Despite that, everyone''sbat prowess increased significantly. Michael''s Holy Knights gained morebat experience in one week than they''d umted over thest few months. Their rank improved as well after they''d received countless energy influxes from eliminating so many foes.

    Everyone who had been at the Peak of Tier-1 advanced to Tier-2, and the Awakened who were stuck at the Peak of Tier-2 advanced as well. Atst, they advanced to Tier-3.

    Michael received a share from everyone''s energy influx, but he was not even close to refining his War Rune to the next rank. He was lowkey stuck at the Lowest rank of Tier-3, and it would take a while before he would reach the Low rank as well.

    Fortunately, he didn''t have to rush his advance to the next Tier. He was not in a rush, after all.

    Other than the energy influxes and the experience everyone had umted, Michael obtained a lot more. After helping the Trnce to exterminate five armies and force two more into retreating, they went out of their way to thank Michael.

    The deal with Michael demanded that he would be given the corpses of the Awakened that had been killed on the battlefields where Michael and his subordinates participated. However, instead of keeping it at that, the Trnce send him the corpses of all Awakened they had killed in thest seven days.

    The Trnce didn''t know why Michael was so focused on corpses, but the Lords knew that there were many Soultraits that required certain materials and conditions to be used. Those Soultraits were usually quite powerful. Therefore, they went out of their way to aid Michael. The Trnce was hoping that it would be enough to keep Michael by their side and that he would use the corpses to empower himself and his subordinates to keep fighting for them.

    Michael didn''t n on telling the Trnce about Extraction but it didn''t matter if they knew that he had good use for Awakened corpses. Therefore, he epted the Awakened corpses without hesitation, totaling the number of Awakened corpses in his possession to 1,225.

    That was a little bit less than what Michael had been hoping for, especially since the Awakened corpses were Adventurers with little Soul Power, and most of them weren''t even close to the Peak of Tier-3. But he was notpletely dissatisfied.

    Last but not least, Michael understood that Extraction didn''t work that well on people who hadn''t been killed by him or his people.

    Nheless, he made huge gains. His subordinates eliminated 7,300 enemies on average on the different battlefields, totaling the number of corpses in their possession at 51,100. That meant Michael and his squadron of less than 100 subordinates eliminated a little more than one-tenth of the enemy troops they''d faced.

    The number was a little unexpected, but it didn''t seem too odd, at the same time. Michael''s trials were intense and it was no wonder that he killed close to 2,000 opponents on every battlefield. It didn''t seem odd to anyone. If anything, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs expected this from Michael.

    Their Lord had to be a monstrosity to manage them.

    "I''ve known that wars, especially Regional Wars, will be treasure troves for you, but I didn''t expect this," Mekhaz said to Michael, whose eyes turned to the Warlock Centaur.

    "I mean. You haven''t told the public how you procure Soultraits and what you have to do to strengthen a Soultrait, but now that I think about it, it''s quite obvious," He added, the corner of his lip curling upward.

    "It makes sense that you hide the mysteries of your power. I don''t even want to imagine what some crazy powerhouses would do to please you. Maybe, some would go insane andmit genocide both in the Origin Expanse and outside to collect the corpses of Awakened to exchange with you for a Soultrait Symbol, or some Soultrait upgrades." Michael smiled sadly. He''d already imagined what would happen if he''d requested the right to perform the punishment for all awakened criminals. On one hand, Michael could harvest thousands, if not tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments a week, but the downside was that everyone would get to know about one of the few remaining mysteries of Extraction. For now, it was merely a suspicion, but Michael knew that some older powerhouses were crazy enough about his Soultraits to consider kidnapping him. Since that failed once, some families decided to shower him with gifts. Kraft Viton epted the gifts for Michael, but he never sent a response or let them try to approach Michael. It was obvious that these families were trying to gain his favor, and Michael couldn''t really do anything against that. But what would happen once he told everyone that he procured Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments straight from Awakened? He would turn the suspicion into a fact, therefore giving the crazy powerhouses more reason to shower him with the bodies of Awakened instead of cheap gifts. After all, Awakened corpses were more valuable than some Inferior Energy Stones or the like.

    "Yeah¡­I can already see the Zeus family gifting me the captives from Tartarus just to please me. And the worst is, I would probably feel guilty if I didn''t return the favor. That''s why I should keep my mouth shut and keep the suspicion just that. A suspicion. Otherwise, everyone will throw bodies at me, hoping that I will jump around happily before upgrading their Soultraits," Michael responded, earning a scoff from Mekhaz.

    "That''s a luxurious problem you have right there. Good thing we had to sign a super tight NDA to never tell anyone about anything you don''t want to leave your territory," The Warlock Centaur added, tending to his wounds.

    Mekhaz had been injured a little bit over thest few days, but that was not a big surprise. Michael was, in fact, one of the few people who didn''t sustain any injuries. Even Lilica and the other Forest Elves couldn''t avoid injuries.

    "But you might displease some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs if you don''t change your Jungle Points System a little bit. I don''t know how many Soultraits you acquire from the Awakened we kill, but once the others find out that they''re basically ving away for you, they might demand more Jungle Points. Currently, we would have to kill close to 300 Peak Tier-2 Awakened to exchange a single 1-Star Soultrait Symbols, one of the weakest, at that."

    Since Mekhaz had no idea how high the probability of procuring a Soultrait Symbol was, he couldn''t make any demands. However, he doubted that it required 300 Peak Tier-2 Awakened to acquire one or two Soultrait Symbols.

    "Don''t worry. I am still working on adjusting the Jungle Point system. I will change the prices pretty soon. The first Soultrait Symbol bought from the Jungle Shop will be a lot cheaper. However, the price scale for Soultrait Symbols will increase drastically as you purchase more Soultrait Symbols. I''m not a Soultrait factory, after all."

    Michael figured that it should be easy to purchase one or two Soultrait Symbols and that it shouldn''t be a problem to upgrade them to 4-Star either. However, the price for every subsequent upgrade and Soultrait Symbol would increase exponentially. There was no need to upgrade the Soultraits of his subordinates further than 4-Star, or for anyone to have more than 3 Soultraits. Michael didn''t have enough Soultrait Symbols to give away 6-7 Soultraits to every Awakened just like that, in the first ce.

    "There is no need to change it just because I told you about it. I just wanted to talk to you about the Jungle System and some possibilities since you are still new to the nature of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," Mekhaz exined, smiling gently, but the words that escaped his lips were far from gentle, "We despise dishonesty."

    "Eh¡­okay¡­"

 Chapter 558 Path of Evolution!

    <h4>Chapter 558 Path of Evolution!</h4>

    After losing almost half a million soldiers over seven days, the Council of Xylon was forced to change their tactic. They had been so busy with their internal strifes and establishing political connections with the Lords from other regions that they''d forgotten about the Trnce. In their opinion, the Trnce was as good as destroyed and no more a headache for them. However, the arrival of no more than 100 people changed everything. The Trnce''s reinforcement arrived. At first, the reinforcement didn''t seem like a big problem, but underestimating Michael and his subordinates was a grave mistake. Five armies had been bulldozed and only a few thousand soldiers of two more armies managed to retreat. Those who managed to survive weren''t in good mental condition anymore, either.

    On the other hand, the Trnce''s reinforcement didn''t even lose 10 members. None of the casualties was an Awakened either.

    Since the Council of Xylon couldn''t afford to lose more soldiers needlessly, they stopped dividing their armies into smaller units. Small settlements were under construction near the border to the Trnce''s territory, and it didn''t take long before news reached them. The Council of Xylon changed to a passive tactic and created small skirmishes to keep the tension within the Trnce at an all-time high. The Trnce wanted to retaliate and counterattack but their forces were worn out as well. Their equipment wasn''t well-maintained and sustained considerable damage over thest few weeks. Overall, the Trnce''s morale was low despite Michael''s intervention, and the Awakened working for the Trnce''s Lords considered leaving the Origin Expanse. They would break their contract, but it could be solved by paying an exorbitant fee. Surviving was more important than wealth. Michael''s Soul Pacts couldn''t be broken that easily. Everyone who''d been willing to be Michael''s subordinate knew that it would be difficult to leave him. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were still allowed to leave, but the price to leave him was not only wealth. The memories of their time in the Untamed Jungle would be wiped away and everything they''d procured from the Jungle Shop would be taken away.

    The terms of the contract would be even more binding once they fused their first Soultrait from Michael''s Jungle Shop. Nobody would be allowed to leave anymore, not without paying an even heavier price. Michael was not willing to nurture anyone just to see them leave after they got their fill of his powers. It was only obvious, but he came up with a tight-locked Soul Pact to ensure that he couldn''t be betrayed easily.

    After the Council of Xylon changed their tactic, Michael decided to return to the Untamed Jungle with his subordinates. Everyone was tired, and it was easier to rest in Michael''s territory. The Untamed Jungle''s ambient energy, the effect of the Nature Spirit, and the Forest Pixies'' presence made it easier to calm down, release the tension within the body, and rest.

    But what Michael didn''t expect to see once he returned was Sun Demos and an envoy of his subordinates. Sun Demos and his Blood Oath Demon Monkeys didn''t reside in the settlement. They had a habitat in Michael''s territory but it was not right next to the settlement. Sun Demos and his subordinates wanted a bit of solitude and were not keen to mingle with the rest of his subordinates. They were a close-knit group that way and didn''t allow strangers in their army.

    ["Did you abandon us?"] Sun Demos asked the moment he saw Michael. The Demon Monkey King''s eyesnded on the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, their fresh wounds speaking volumes about the happenings over thest few days.

    [Abandon you? Why would I do that?] Michael responded through Whispering Energy.

    ["If you didn''t abandon us why did you not take us to the battlefield alongside them?"] Sun Demos didn''t have to point at the Berserkers to make Michael understand who he meant by ''them''.

    Michael smiled sensing the Demon Monkey King''s jealousy. Or was he just worried that he and his subordinates would be abandoned and thrown aside?

    ["We want to join the battle as well!"] Sun Demos dered, but Michael shook his head almost instantaneously.

    [I never forbid you toe with us to the Savannah, but I don''t think that''s a good idea. You and your kind have a great advantage in the Untamed Jungle. Your movements in the Untamed Jungle are extremely fast, and deadly silent. You can move smoothly and change your trajectory at any moment by using the dense forest to your advantage. But the Savannah is not like that. You and your little friends will be exposed at all times. There are little to no hiding spots, and you cannot get close to the enemies easily.]

    Michael didn''t want to say this aloud, but the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys weren''t organized enough to be useful in arge-scale battle outside the Untamed Jungle. Inside the Untamed Jungle, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys and their King were extraordinary, but outside they were just like any other Superior Monster at the early ranks of the 2nd Tier.

    ["I don''t want to be useless. The monsters in the surroundings are getting stronger, yet our strength doesn''t increase. We''re stagnating. We will die, or be forced to rely on our Master, aka you, to protect us. We don''t want that. We need to grow stronger. We want to evolve!"]

    Michael had noticed a while ago that Sun Demos was quite intelligent. His intelligence seemed to have improved quite a bit over thest few months as well. Was that because of the taming bond? The taming bond grew firmer, yet Michael was not sure if Sun Demos'' increasing intelligence was rted to that. It would be interesting to find out.

    Putting aside that thought, Michael focused on Sun Demos'' issue. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King and his kind desired to grow stronger. Their personality and attitude wouldn''t allow them to depend on the protection of others to survive, but that was exactly what might happen if the dangers in the Untamed Jungle increased while their strength remained the same.

    Michael understood why Sun Demos wanted to evolve. He had to exceed his racial limitations to grow stronger and evolving was the easiest way to do so, for a monster that is. Initiating a mutation was also possible, but that was rather problematic since it was not easy to determine the direction of a mutation. Certain items could stimte mutations but it was uncertain how the mutation would affect other beings. That was also why Michael didn''t touch these items until now. He didn''t want to give Sun Demos hope just to stimte a mutation that weakened him instead of breaking his racial limit. Therefore, evolution was the only way to ensure a positive oue. The problem with that was on a whole different level.

    First of all, it was important to know that every monster could evolve. Their inborn talent determined how many times a monster could evolve, but it was proven that all monsters could evolve. It was just that some monsters had an simpler time while others were faced with more difficulties along the path of ascension.

    It was important to know that Monsters had to unlock a Path of Evolution before they could evolve.

    [Did you already unlock a Path of Evolution?] Michael asked, his curiosity ignited, [If you did, can you feel what grade the unlocked Path of Evolution is?]

    Even after unlocking a Path of Evolution, it wouldn''t be easy to evolve. Unlocking a Path of Evolution merely meant that the Will of the Origin Expanse acknowledged your achievements and that you met the requirements to evolve into that particr monster.

    The Path of Evolution was more like a feeling. A monster that unlocked a Path of Evolution could sense that they unlocked ''some'' evolution path. However, they were unable to tell the exact details of their evolution path. It was not like a Soultrait that provided an influx of information upon fusing, after all.

    ["I unlocked three Paths of Evolution. One should permit me to achieve the same state of existence as the ming bit¨C... witch."] Sun Demos said, pointing at Zeroa.

    ''A path that increases his Superior form into a Pseudo Mythical Existence. That''s pretty nasty!''

    Most monsters would want to choose the Path of Evolution with the greatest benefits. However, it was not easy toprehend the information hidden within the Paths of Evolution. The better the path, the higher the difficulty to procure pieces of information.

    Sun Demos would have to learn more about himself, his aplishments, and his state of being to find out what items he would have to procure to initiate the evolution. He would be able to find out more details about the extent of his evolution as well. But that was incredibly difficult for most monsters. It was also the reason why most monsters would never evolve. Many strong monsters met the requirements for a Common Path of Evolution, but only a few learned what they needed to evolve. Interestingly enough, it was more likely that a monster would evolve by chance after stumbling upon rare ingredients and energy-dense regions. They would evolve before they realized that they had already met the evolution requirements. [I can research a bit about your kind and read through reports rted to monster evolutions. Since you are a demonic beast, I can procure some objects for you to inspect. If they''re suitable for one of your evolutions, you will be able to sense it.] Michael told Sun Demos before he added.

    [Either way. I want you to solve the problem of overpoption in the Untamed Jungle. Since you want to join me in the Savannah region because you want to be of help, help me with the Untamed Jungle instead. That''s your turf, so make use of it. Be the Guardians of my region and get rid of the ever increasing number of monsters!]

    It was only a matter of time before more powerful monsters would roam around his territory. His region was too attractive and it would grow even more attractive to High Beasts once the Domain of Natura was installed. Sun Demos and his little fes could solve that problem and possibly break their racial limit naturally by fighting slightly above their weight ss.

    Michael believed that they could achieve it. Even if they did not, he was more than willing to give them a light push in the right direction.

    He hoped that Sun Demos and his kind could evolve soon. Michael felt like he needed as much strength as possible.

    The next few weeks were bound to be tiresome.

    **

 Chapter 559 Complaints

    <h4>Chapter 559 Comints</h4>

    559 Comints

    Sun Demos was not the only one whoined to Michael. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was merely the first of his many subordinates.

    Following Sun Demos'' departure to act as the future guardian of his master''s territory,ints from the Lesser Elementals and the members of the Sacred Knight Temple reached Michael.

    ["The Lesser Elementals want to join the war in the Savannah Region. They heard about the heroic tales of their brethren and they desire to create their own heroic tales."] Zeroa informed him. She forwarded a few morements from the Lesser Elementals, making it clear that the Elementals didn''t want to rot away in their society underground. They wanted to help Michael and their Empress to protect and expand their territory, while also seeing the breathtaking scenery in the outside world.

    "My students hope that you can allow them to join the next battle as well. I know that you''re worried about their well-being, but there is no need for that. Each and every single one of them knows what might happen on the battlefield. Thus, you cannot pull them away from all battles. They need to learn how to fight life-and-death battles and the Savannah''s Regional War is the most suitable to achieve that. There are no Higher Lifeforms on the battlefield, after all," Siegfried Dracoon said as he approached his Lord.

    Michael turned to the Immortal Knight and nodded, "I know that I shouldn''t restrain them. They can leave with the Awakened once everyone has recuperated.

    "But tell them that I won''t return to the Savannah Region for the time being. That means they have to rely on their ownbat prowess, tactical understanding and situational awareness to survive," Michael added. He wanted to keep fighting in the Savannah''s Regional War but he had put aside his job and responsibilities as a Lord long enough.

    More than enough time had passed since he obtained the treasures from the Bartholomew''s Soultrait Symbol Auction, but he had yet to extract the impurities within the Summoning Cores. He had been so busy that he didn''t even install the Cores yet!

    He had to tell the Immortal Knight a few more things but that didn''t take long. Once their discussion was over ¨C with Michael allowing everyone who wanted to join the Regional War to do that ¨C Michael retrieved a small obsidian token. Thick crimson veins passed through the token, creating intricate patterns all over the obsidian''s surface.

    "Take this. It''s a Bloodline Upgrade Token. Once you break the token, your bloodline will be upgraded. I don''t know how painful that will be but considering that you sustained some major injuries which decayed a portion of your body, I guess it will be very painful," He exined.

    "It will probably take a while as well, and consume a tremendous amount of resources. So, take this as well!" Michael added, while retrieving piles of Inferior Energy Stones and Intermediate Nutrient Pills to support Siegfried''s bloodline upgrade.

    "I¡­I don''t know what to say. This is¡­unbelievable," Siegfried responded after a while. He''d been speechlessly staring at the Bloodline Upgrade Token and he couldn''t believe what was happening. The Immortal Knight had already epted his fate. He epted that he would never be able to join his students onto the battlefield. The day he was summoned, he knew that all he could do was share his knowledge, train students to be stronger and fend for themselves, and to recreate the Sacred Knight Temple.

    It was not a boring life. Training his ambitious learners was entertaining, and it felt great to witness the reappearance of the Sacred Knight Temple. However, none of that was the same as being out on the battlefield, feeling the electrifying tension spreading all over the battlefield, and fighting with his life on the line.

    The Immortal Knight was thirsty for action. He wanted to fight again, but he knew that he would never be able to do so. His battle spirit remained but his youth and fighting powers had been taken from him.

    But the Bloodline Upgrade Token could change everything. Siegfried Dracoon could tell from the bottom of his heart that the Bloodline Upgrade Token was the solution to all of his problems.

    He couldn''t believe that his master was willing to give him something like this. Just like that. Michael didn''t even request anything in return. If anything, Michael gave Siegfried more than that. He provided the Immortal Knight with everything he could possibly need to initiate the bloodline upgrade and ovee it without any difficulties.

    "There is no need to say anything. But if you want to say something, how about ''Thank you''? That''s all there is to say," Michael shrugged, "At the end of the day, actions reveal more about someone than words. So if you''re really thankful, keep doing what you have been doing. That''s all I wish for."

    The Immortal Knight observed at his Lord, his expression softening.

    "Thank you." He said from the bottom of his heart. "Thank you very much!"

    Michael nodded back at Immortal Knight''s heartfelt expression of gratitude. He didn''t know what to say. Instead, he cleared his throat and wished Immortal Knight good luck and a sessful bloodline upgrade.

    Afterward, they went their separate ways. The Immortal Knight retreated to upgrade his bloodline. He looked ahead to it, excitement filling his heart.

    Michael was ready to dive into his to-do list of things he''d pushed aside for over a week, but there was something else he had to do before he got started.

    He had to integrate some changes into the Jungle Point System. Mekhaz''s words and his piece of advice might not be entirely correct, but his sneakyments were not wrong either. It was not like Michael wanted to restrain his subordinates in some way. Now that he had given it some thought, it would help Michael if his subordinates managed to collect enough Jungle Points to purchase a Soultrait Symbol and Soultrait Upgrades without having to kill hundreds of powerful Awakened. Nheless, it was a fact that Michael didn''t want to turn Soultrait Symbols into something ''ordinary''. He hoped that the Soultrait Symbols from the Jungle Point Shop could remain special. Therefore, the prices couldn''t be too low.

    ''The price for everyone''s first Soultrait Symbol will be heavily discounted. The second Soultrait Symbol won''t have a discount, and the price from the 3rd Soultrait onward will increase exponentially. I should do the same with SoulStar Fragments.''

    ''The price for the first three upgrades, which is equivalent to roughly 500 SoulStar Fragments, will be cheap and easy to procure, but the following upgrades will cost a lot more. Most won''t be able to increase their Soultrait to 5-Star anytime soon, which gives me enough time to harvest more Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments to upgrade my strength as well¡­''

    Michael implemented the changes without further dy. It was a good thing if his subordinates grew stronger. His subordinates were part of his territory''s military force, after all. Stronger subordinates were harder to kill as well. Nourishing a small elite force by giving each of them several Soultraits sounded much more pleasant than hiring thousands of Awakened in bulk. After all, he didn''t have the means to nourish thousands of Awakened.

    It was also a good thing that Micheal integrated a special use into the Soul Pact of his subordinates. Once they purchased a Soultrait Symbol, their Soul Pact would tighten, preventing the Awakened from betraying Michael even if he were to surrender his Lord power. Furthermore, the Awakened would be forced into fusing with the Soultrait Symbol they''d purchased.

    Michael added this use to the Soul Pact to prevent his Awakened from selling Soultrait Symbols to other forces, or to exchange them with others. They would have to fuse the Soultrait Symbol they''d purchased, or their Soul Pact would shatter, bursting the Awakened''s heart and insides in one go.

    It might sound cruel, but Michael couldn''t think of a better use to prevent other forces from procuring his Soultrait Symbols for a cheap price. He didn''t want his generosity toe back to bite him.

    Once he was done altering the Jungle Point System, Michael checked how many Awakened were already close to purchasing their first Soultrait Symbol. Since they''d returned a while ago, the dashboard inside the Jungle Shop had been updated. Everyone''s Jungle Points were listed, and their achievements were neatly written down in the Jungle Shop''s log.

    Bureaucracy was an annoying thing that had to be done properly in every territory, but the paperwork for certain tasks didn''t seem like a big problem. In fact, most people liked paperwork that given them benefits. Therefore, everyone who had been fighting in the Regional War finished their report swiftly. They provided hard evidence to back their ims,pleted their reports, and were given Jungle Points not long after.

    "Thaor is doing much better than expected, but Mekhaz is much faster. That''s not unexpected. But then again, none of the neers can retain up with Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. They''ll have to procure their 2nd Soultrait Symbol and upgrade it to 4-Star before they can desire to keep up with them," Michael snickered lightly.

    He turned away from the dashboard before he gestured to his attendant.

    "Make a list and tell everyone that they have to hand over an official application if they want to join the Savannah''s Regional War. I want to know their strengths, weaknesses, rank, and the reason they want to join the Regional War. If their rank is too low, or their reasoning seems off, reject them," Michael ordered heartlessly.

    "I don''t want anyone who endangers theirrades. If they''re too weak or their reasoning is not serious, they should focus on growing more durable and changing their attitude by training hard in a secure environment. It won''t do them any good if they move out and fight desperately, just to surrender their lives at the end of the day."

 Chapter 560 We Want War!

    <h4>Chapter??560 We Want War! </h4>

    560 We Want War!

    Many Blessed Squires, and Holy Knights applied for the expedition into the Savannah Region. The number of applications crossed 1000 within a few hours.

    Michael didn''t expect everyone to be this interested in the Regional War, but he guessed that it was mostly the internal rivalry between his subordinates that resulted in the massive flood of official applications.

    Since their colleagues gained tremendous strength, confidence, andbat experience on the battlefield all while they had been safe and sound in their homes, they wanted to invade the enemy''s territory as well. After all, nobody wanted to lose out against their rival!

    In the first ce, every Starless Summon who''d joined the Sacred Knight Temple did so to grow stronger. Their reasoning was pretty simple. They either wanted to protect their friends and the people they learned to love in Michael''s territory, or they desired to use the second opportunity they''d been granted by resurrecting in Michael''s territory to change their fate. They didn''t want to stay the same no-names they''d been before they died. Everyone wanted to be something.

    Michael supported them. He didn''t reject many applications. However, since he was not going to join them, Michael decided to reject every application from Summons below Late Tier-1. As long as they were at the Peak of the 1st Tier, they should be able to manage to hold the fort against some foes. Furthermore, at the Peak of Tier-1, a Summon could advance to the next Tier pretty quickly.

    As long as his subjects fought in their formation and didn''t charge mindlessly at their enemies, it would be fine.

    Other than the 1000 official applications, Zeroa told Michael that she would join the battle with an equivalent number of Lesser Elementals. Her Lesser Elementals and the Noble Elementals weren''t that powerful yet, but they could support the Blessed Squires, Holy Knights, and Awakened with their variety of elemental attacks.

    Zeroa would be Tiara''s temporary partner whereas the nobility of the Elementals partnered up with Thaor, Lilica, and Mekhaz.

    ["Please ept the low-ranked Lesser Elementals as well. They want to join, and their elemental powers can be used to protect your subjects, amplify their attacks, and aid them physically in various ways!"] Zeroa requested via telepathy. Michael sighed heavily but he agreed reluctantly.

    Zeroa was responsible for her society. If she deemed the low-

    ranked Elementals strong enough to pose a threat to the Council of Xylon and strengthen his subjects in battle, he wouldn''t reject her request.

    At the end of the day, Michael recalled what happenedst time his subjects asked him to join the battle. That was when the incident in the Elementals Cave urred. Nheless, Michael allowed most subjects to join this fight. It was their decision and responsibility. The only reason he rejected some was because he felt that they might endanger theirrades. It was fine if they took responsibility for their own lives, but Michael wouldn''t allow anyone to harm their allies by being too weak, or reckless.

    It annoyed him a little bit that he wasn''t going to be present for the next few battles in the Savannah''s Regional War, but he had too much other stuff to do. Michael couldn''t run away from his responsibilities any longer. It wouldn''t do him any good.

    Michael realized his foolishness a few days ago. After fighting in the Savannah Region for a while, Michael understood that he shouldn''t keep postponing important tasks any longer, not if that came at the expense of the people he loved.

    That was also how Michael understood that his brother might suffer tremendously just because he was unwilling to talk to his mother. That wasn''t fair.

    However, before Michael was going to jump into the dragon''s nest to talk to his mother, he had a few other things to do. He was responsible for the development of hisnd as well, after all!

    The first thing he did was obtain the Summoning Cores he''d procured in the Soultrait Symbol Auction. Those were four Basic Berserker Summoning Cores and four Basic Warlock Centaur Summoning Cores. They were incredibly valuable even though their purity level was among the worst. Fortunately, something like that was not a problem for Michael.

    He summoned the Soul Grimoire and used two Soul Tears to amplify Enhancement and Extraction. The potency of the two Soultraits increased and it was not muchter that Michael used eightyers of Enhancement to amplify Extraction''s power exponentially.

    Thereafter, Michael began to extract the impurities within the eight Basic Summoning Cores. It would have been even better if he could stack the effect of the Soul Tears because Enhanced Extraction removed a terrifically high amount of impurities from the low-quality Summoning Cores, but the effect was already shocking enough.

    The amount of impurities extracted was evenrger than the impurities he''d managed to extract from the remaining 11 Summoning Cores he possessed. Taking that into consideration, Michael used Enhanced Extraction with the amplification of Soul Tears to remove more impurities from the other Summoning Cores in his possession.

    Once the mess caused by the disgusting mass of impurities sttered everywhere around the Summoning Gate had been cleared, Michael installed the new Summoning Cores in the remaining vacant sockets. Only a single opening was left empty now.

    "I should look for an Intermediate Summoning Core," Michael mumbled, staring at thest empty socket before he closed the hatch of the Summoning Gate. A smile crept up on his face. He felt good now that his first Summoning Gate was slowly approaching its limit. It was about time to upgrade his Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank!

    The next thing he did was to move over to the Architect''s main office where he retrieved 162 Intermediate-ranked Blueprints of Exotic and Extraordinary Rarity, and 75 Advanced Blueprints with core edifices like a Hunter''s Academy, an Advanced Hospital and tens of devices that could be used for advanced farming,nd protection, and a significant improvement of life throughout the territory.

    "Since I''m not as knowledgeable about architecture, and the overall construction process, I hope you guys can meet up with the construction workers to create a priority list for all blueprints. I rmend constructing the Hunter Academy and the Advanced Hospital with its designated medical devices as soon as possible. However, I''ve also been given enough resources to start the construction of the Intermediate Sacred Knight Temple," Michael dropped the bombastic news in front of his subjects nonchntly, however, they could only stare nkly at him.

    The Basic level of the Sacred Knight Temple could be renovated as long as the necessary resources were put aside. The only problem was that they would have to expand the temple, build a second floor, and expand into the second basement as well. In fact, calling it a problem was exaggerated. The only issue was the time and manpower required to renovate the Sacred Knight Temple.

    The sudden influx of workload stunned the architects, but rummaging through the Intermediate and Advanced Blueprints ignited their excitement. The me of excitement burned fiercely in their hearts at the sight of some highly advanced buildings that used incredible techniques, runic engravings, and devices to construct some of those magnificent structures.

    Michael felt like an outsider the moment the architects'' focus switched to the blueprints. It took the architects several minutes to recall that their Lord was still in the room, waiting for their response.

    "We''ll create a priority list ande back to verify the list with you. As you might know, we will require resources¡­lots of resources, if you want us to focus on several construction sites simultaneously. It will be cost-intensive and it will take a while before the first edifices arepleted. Most Advanced Blueprints haverge structures and our workforce is already busy expanding the residencies for more Summons and Awakened," One of the Architects responded.

    Michael expected that response and retrieved one of his rings. He removed the seal of his energy frequency and ced the ring in the Architect''s palm.

    "The materials required to upgrade the Sacred Knight Temple to intermediate level and a batch of other materials are inside the spatial ring. It should be enough to get started with a few projects. More materials will follow soon."

    Michael had yet to sell the remaining treasures he''d obtained from the three Tier-5 Lords who''d attacked him, and that didn''t even include the treasures he had obtained from the Soultrait Symbol Auction and the gains he would make once he finished extracting the corpses of the enemies they''d in in the Regional War.

    The Architects eyed him weirdly, confused about how their Lord procured so many precious materials in such a short amount of time, but Michael didn''t linger in their office for long. He told them to finish the priority list ande find him to discuss the following steps of their n. Once that was done, Michael traveled to the Alchemist''s Lair to repeat what he''d done with the Architects.

    He retrieved arge batch of forms for various sought-after potions and elixirs before telling the Alchemists to create a priority list. However, he also added another request. The Alchemists were told to research more potions, the Warrior Enlightenment Potion, to be precise. If the Alchemists could create their own set of Promotion Potions for other upations, theirnd would find another source to generate a massive fortune.

    ''Should I use some of the Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts already? No. I don''t really need them right now.'' Michael shook his head. He might have enough space left for external amplifications, especially after his physique improved drastically thanks to Superior Constitution, but there was no need to rush.

    He was not sure what type of Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifact he needed. Did he need something like that, in the first ce?

 Chapter 561 Another Legend

    <h4>Chapter 561 Another Legend </h4>

    561 Another Legend

    Following the distribution of blueprints and recipes, Michael moved to a more exciting task. He called a few workers to thergest warehouse where he retrieved the corpses of the Awakened, and Soldiers that had been killed in thest seven days.

    Unfortunately, only slightly more than 700 Awakened had been killed by Michael and his people. The remaining 500 Awakened had been killed by the Trnce''s forces, which made it more difficult to use Extraction efficiently on them.

    But Michael had an advantage. He used a Soul Tear to amplify Extraction, increasing the drop rate for all beings considerably.

    Michael spent no more than an hourpleting the extraction of 1,225 Awakened and 51,100 Summons. The majority of the Summons had been at Tier-2, whereas the Awakened were stronger. They reached the Peak of Tier-2, or even Tier-3 before they met their demise. That was Michael''s great fortune.

    In total, Michael ended up with 766,500 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 20,150 Summoning Scrolls, and 23,950 blueprints with most of them being rted to structures from the Savannah Region. He also realized arge number of unique blueprints such as unique forging blueprints and blueprints for high-ranked tools for Enchanters, Alchemists, and cksmiths.

    But there was more.

    Michael extracted a total of 1,534 Artifacts. Most of them were only 2-Star Tier-1 Artifacts, but the quantity made a huge difference. Selling the Artifacts would make up for the cost of various structures. That was more than he could ask for.

    However, the cream of the crop in the week''s haul were the Memory Orbs, the portions of every Awakened''s War Rune storage, the Soultrait Symbols he''d managed to extract, and the massive number of SoulStar Fragments he''d procured. These gains were the real deal and more than enough reason to be satisfied.

    Most Awakened dropped a Memory Orb, some even two. Since Michael didn''t know what fresh horror awaited him in the memories, he decided to wait before consuming them one after another.

    ''Useless memories will be inserted into Memory Crystals and crushed. I don''t need to know about their love lives and all that nonsense,'' Michael pondered to himself, putting the Memory Orbs aside for a moment.

    His attention moved to the small pile of Soultrait Symbols. There were a total of 71 Soultrait Symbols, most of them extracted from the Awakened he and his people had killed.

    The drop in the other corpses'' gains was quiterge. Michael would have to kill the Awakened either himself or have his people kill them for Extraction to work properly.

    But despite all of that, amplified Extraction was still powerful. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have managed to extract a total of 44,800 SoulStar Fragments on top of the 71 Soultrait Symbols!

    Underestimating it was a grave mistake.

    "91,424 SoulStar Fragments, and 147 Soultrait Symbols. That''s crazy."

    Michael smiled like a little fool as he pocketed the Soultrait Symbols and the SoulStar Fragments. He momentarily forgot about his other gains and continued to grin.

    "If we keep this going, I can manage to upgrade Extraction to 7-Star pretty soon. Once upgraded, I can extract even more. Good. Very good!"

    Michael didn''t start with the creation of Extraction''s 7th star right away because it was only a matter of time before the first Awakened working for him woulde to request a Soultrait Upgrade. Furthermore, Extraction''s potency wouldn''t increase until the 7th star waspleted. Hence, it didn''t make a big difference even if he waited a little bit.

    Since he didn''t intend to move out to the Savannah Region anytime soon, Michael didn''t think about upgrading his other Soultraits either. Superior Constitution seemed like a good investment, but he was not going to join the next few battles in the Regional War. There was no need to spend his SoulStar Fragments right away.

    Instead of staying too focused on his Soultraits, Michael put aside all thoughts rted to his Soultraits and switched his attention to the Scrolls and Scroll Fragments.

    He thought about what to do for a moment and decided to make a simple move. He used Extraction on all 20,150 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls to procure more than 250,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments. Michaelbined the quarter of a million fragments with the 766,500 Summoning Scroll Fragments he had obtained from extracting the Summon corpses, totaling to a whopping more than one million fragments.

    It was just enough to create a Legendary Summoning Scroll.

    That was exactly what Michael did. He formed his second Legendary Summoning Scroll!

    He initiated the fusion of the million Summoning Scroll Fragments and watched as they rose high into the air. The massive pool of Summoning Scroll Fragments swirled around rapidly. They revolved around each other and evolved into a small typhoon of fragments as they pulled closer to each other.

    Michael''s eyes were locked onto the center of the swirling typhoon where a golden scroll attracted his attention. A Legendary Scroll with its vibrant golden parchment and ruby seal formed slowly. The Scroll contained tremendous power, and a vigorous hue was engulfing it.

    Michael licked his lip and stepped forward, ignoring the heavy presence that shrouded him the moment he strode forward.

    His hand reached out to the Legendary Summoning Scroll levitating in front of him and grasped it tightly. He turned around on his heels instantaneously and rushed out of the warehouse.

    "Clean up everything and organize the mess," He ordered right before disappearing, leaving the workers wondering what exactly to do with the remains of 50,000ish corpses.

    Were those corpses worth anything? Did their Lord need them, or should they be disposed of into the Untamed Jungle?

    The workers had no idea, and all they could do was stare nkly in the direction of the Summoning Gate where their Lord was busy being excited.

    Michael smiled from ear to ear as he broke the ruby seal on the Legendary Summoning Scroll. He wasted no time telling anyone about the summoning, but some people were always near the Summoning Gate. They saw the golden scroll as it rose into the air, unfolding its tremendous power andprehended something wondrous was about to happen.

    The Legendary Summoning Scroll shot toward the Summoning Gate and disappeared into the energy pool. Not even three secondster, the stars engraved into the metallic frame of the Summoning Gate began to glow up.

    At first, there was only one star. The second lit up soon after, and the third didn''t take long either.

    However, the fourth star took a while before it shone brightly. As for the fifth star. The fifth¡­never lit up.

    "A 4-Star Summon¡­from a Legendary Scroll?" Michael frowned a bit. His excitement died down considerably and he tilted his head.

    The probability of summoning a 4-Star Summon from a Legendary Scroll was low, but not zero. That was unfortunate.

    "Looks like I used up my fortune when I invoked the Immortal Knight," He mumbled as he watched a young elven girl emerge from the energy pool. She had short silver hair and bright eyes. Michael almost pondered that she was a man if not for her voice resounding through the vicinity.

    "I''m back, bitches!!"

    Michael and the other spectators raised an eyebrow as the elven girl''s high-pitched voice greeted them.

    ''An excited little squirrel, a tomboyish one,'' Michael joked, shaking his head.

    It was a bit sad that the Legendary Summon turned out to be 4-Star, but it was not that bad. Since his people participated in the Savannah''s Regional War, it was only a matter of time before he would procure more Legendary Scrolls. Even if he stayed consistently unfortunate, the worst he could get was an army of 4-Star Legends.

    At the end of the day, all 4-Star Summons from Legendary Scrolls possessed great potential. As long as he treated them right and paid attention to their potential, it shouldn''t be impossible to help them be promoted to 5-Star Summons. All they had to do was unlock their hidden potential, make some great achievements, and grow stronger than they had been in the past.

    How hard could that be?

    ¡­

    "Wee to my territory, Miss¡­" Michael smiled at the young woman, who eyed the center of his territory with great interest.

    Her eyes traveled toward him and locked onto his vibrant golden eyes and the mark surrounding them. A sh of curiosity passed through her eyes.

    "My name is Tatjana from the Moiaralin n," She introduced herself absentmindedly, her eyes never breaking contact with Michael''s.

    "Tatjana Moiaralin. I see," Michael mumbled right before he sensed that the Link of Loyalty with Tatjana was forming.

    Information about the young Legendary Summon entered his mind and he learned a lot about her.

    "The Moiaralin are a n of beast tamers? You are a Grandmaster Beast Tamer at the age of 21. That''s pretty young. You di-...." Michael stopped himself from saying ''you died young''. That was for the better because Tatjana smiled sadly.

    "I''m a Grandmaster Beast Tamer, but that''s not enough. I''m a mistake. Trash¡­ I couldn''t even unlock the Eyes of Evolution, a special perk of the Moiaralin n."

    Michael raised an eyebrow. Tatjana seemed incredibly sad, but he had no idea what was going on.

    "Being a Grandmaster Beast Tamer at the age of 21 is amazing. The Eyes of Evolution trait sounds great as well, but I don''t think that you''re a mistake or trash. You''re amazing!" Michael said, trying his best to console the sad Legendary Summon.

    "But without the Eyes of Evolution, I cannot do what we''re best at." She responded heavily.

    "And what''s that?"

    "My n can see the unlocked Paths of Evolution within monsters. That power is our greatest strength and the reason we''ve been so powerful for thousands of years. My family considered me a failure before I¡­died¡­"

    Michael pressed his lips together. Tatjana had been abandoned.

    He cleared his throat and looked sternly at the young Legendary Summon.

    "I''m d that you''re here. It doesn''t matter to me whether you have the Eye of Evolution or not. It''s perfectly fine," He uttered with a smile," Please help our Tamers. They need you. We need you!"

    It was a bit sad that the Legendary Summoning Scroll turned out like that, but Michael could ept it without letting gloom dampen his mood further.

    Who knows? Maybe, Tatjana Moiarana would unlock the Eyes of Evolution in the future.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

 Chapter 562 Rejuvenated

    <h4>Chapter 562 Rejuvenated </h4>

    562 Rejuvenated

    Michael put some time aside to introduce Tatjana to his territory. He didn''t go into detail, but spent just enough time with her to make her feelfortable.

    After a short tour through the territory, Michael led Tatjana to the taming department where she was greeted heartily. The tamers of his territory never met a Grandmaster Tamer, especially not one who was in their 20s. Michael''s tamers were excited to get to know Tatjana and overwhelmed her withpliments and a bombardment of questions.

    It didn''t take long for Tatjana to feel morefortable and epted into Michael''s territory.

    Satisfied with what he saw, Michael left to send his soldiers to the Savannah Region. They hadn''t left yet and finished theirst preparations before gathering in the territory center to move out together.

    Michael saw Tiara and the Forest Elven Adventurers waiting for the others to arrive. Michael approached them unnoticed, only to see that they were trying tomunicate with the Elemental Partners.

    Tiara had it the easiest because the Elemental Empress had been with Michael for a long time. Zeroa understood the universalnguage and she learned how to write using it not too long ago as well. It was quite easy for her to use her mystical me to write into the air. After all, she couldn''t talk.

    Zeroa could onlymunicate with Michael properly, which was also owed to the taming bond that created a connection between them. The bond made it much easier for them tomunicate via telepathy.

    "Maybe, I should teach my subjects Whispering Energy. That would solve many issues," Michael mumbled when he saw how much the Forest Elves struggled to talk to their Elemental Partners. It was a shame, but the nobility and Lesser Elementals couldn''t write in the universalnguage. It was already a wonder that they understood themon universal tongue.

    Unfortunately, it would take too long to teach the Elementals the writtennguage, or Whispering Energy. Michael''s subordinates would have to deal with thenguage barrier by using gestures and by hoping that the Elementals could understand fractions of what they said.

    That worked out decently fine in the first battles in the Savannah Region, so Michael was not too worried.

    "I wish to join the expedition into the Savannah Region as well!" A loud, energetic voice rang through the territory center and everyone present turned to the source.

    Tiara''s eyes widened, but her reaction was still tamepared to some reactions from the Forest Elves, or the few members of the Sacred Knight Temple that had already arrived at the meeting point. They eximed loudly and pointed wildly at the person who''d just arrived.

    It was the Immortal Knight.

    However, he didn''t look the same anymore. Siegfried Dracoon seeded in upgrading his bloodline!

    The wrinkles in the Immortal Knight''s face had disappeared and his gray hair looked plump while his body was full of vigor. The vigor in his eyes was overflowing whereas the heavy two-

    handed broadsword was calmly swung over his back. Siegfried Dracoon wore the Heavy Armor Set with which he had first emerged from the Summoning Gate. He wielded the monstrosity of a heavy broadsword as if it was a feather for a moment before he put it back. It nocked onto a small spot on the back of his chestte, the broadsword''s weight spreading evenly across his body.

    Siegfried Dracoon''s veins bulged and it looked like something was moving within him, however, the Immortal Knight acted like nothing was wrong.

    "I presume that the Bloodline Upgrade Token worked," Michael teased, but the Immortal Knight nodded seriously.

    "It worked much better than I could have hoped for. My injury is being tended to and I will be back in my prime health within the next couple of hours. In fact, my condition might actually be better than I had been in my prime. I had a condition called astharian canclur, a disease that affected my lung capacity and made breathing painful. Thankfully, it is no more. Upgrading my bloodline removed all injuries and diseases in the blood-rush step," Siegfried exined while grinning from one ear to ear.

    "The Bloodline Upgrade is still not done, but I''m certain that I can be a useful asset in the battle against the Council of Xylon. I hope you can permit me to join the battle!"

    Michael had no reason to reject Immortal Knight''s request. Siegfried Dracoon looked 30 years younger than before and his presence was stronger than ever. Even Thaor, and Mekhaz, whose presence was quite powerful, couldn''t hold a candle against the Immortal Knight''s natural presence.

    It was easy to tell that the Immortal Knight''s presence had been tempered through constant fighting over a long period of several decades, maybe even centuries. It was only obvious for someone like him to have a terrifying natural presence. But interestingly enough, the Immortal Knight didn''t know how to control his natural presence precisely anymore. He had been injured a long time ago, shattering his presence and control of it in the process.

    Now that his body''s conditions had been tended to, his natural presence had been repaired as well.

    "You can join the battle. I''m pretty sure your students would love to be led into battle by someone they know. They''ve been trained by you and trust you the most. Don''t you think it would be nice to lead your students onto the battlefield?" Michael asked, grinning.

    The Immortal Knight looked 30 years younger than before and it was only a matter of time before he would look like an ordinary middle-aged guy. He was currently only a Tier-2 Summon, but Michael was not worried. With an experienced strategist like the Immortal Knight, Michael wouldn''t have to be concerned about his people.

    Even Tiara and the other Awakened should be more secure with the Immortal Knight by their side. His understanding of war and his expansive knowledge were incredibly valuable, after all.

    "As youmand," Siegfried responded formally.

    He didn''t answer Michael''s question directly, but the excitement in his eyes was enough to understand the situation.

    Michael used Whispering Energy to send Zeroa a message and it didn''t take long before three Lesser Elementals appeared in front of the Immortal Knight. They wished to be Siegfried''s partner for the duration of the expedition and hoped that he would ept them.

    Since the Noble Elementals and Zeroa had already found a temporary partner, it seemed better to have others partner with the Immortal Knight. However, Michael didn''t expect the Immortal Knight to be able to handle partnering with three Lesser Elementals. They weren''t even of the same elemental nature.

    One of the Lesser Elementals was an Earth Elemental, the other was a Wind Elemental, and thest was a Fire Elemental. Theirbined prowess was great, but utilizing their power in an efficient manner would be quite difficult, simultaneously at that. Thenguage barrier didn''t make the situation easier, either.

    Discussing the next steps of the Savannah expedition, Michael and the Immortal Knight decided to separate their movements into necessary steps and misceneous steps. The necessary steps involved everything they had to do to ensure the Trnce''s survival. The Trnce''s survival was their highest priority, if one excluded that Michael considered his peoples'' lives more valuable.

    He offered to help the Trnce but that didn''t mean he would sacrifice his people suicidally if he and his people deemed the Regional War lost. They would retreat and solve the future troubles on their own.

    Putting aside the necessary steps, the misceneous steps were just about everything the Savannah Expedition could do to push the Council of Xylon back to reim the Trnce''snd. The most important, however, was to eliminate as many Awakened as possible. He wished to advance Extraction as soon as possible.

    The discussion with the Immortal Knight didn''tst long. It ended once thest participants of the Savannah Expedition arrived at the province center. A few minutester, the Savannah Expedition left with Tiara, Immortal Knight, Lilica and Mekhaz walking ahead.

    The territory center looked empty without the 1,800 people, who decided to join the Savannah Expedition. But that feelingsted merely for a minute because the citizens who''d been making space for the Holy Knights and Awakened returned to the za to do their job.

    Michael looked around and smiled lightly. His subjects were not the only ones with things to do. He should be busy dealing with the to-do list as well.

    It was about time that he installed the Legendary Artifact, Domain of Natura. He obtained it not too long ago from Kraft Viton, who gave him a guide along with it. Michael skimmed through the guide and retrieved the Domain of Natura.

    The Domain of Natura looked like a thick wooden staff used by a Botanica Magician. The staff was dark-brown with moss covering one side of the Artifact. Intricate verdant runic patterns spread across the entire Legendary Artifact. They glimmered faintly when Michael channeled a trace of energy into the Artifact.

    He felt a rush of lifeforce flushing through his body and grinned. There was no need to think about the perfect spot to install the Domain of Natura. He was already sure where he should install the Legendary Artifact. It was obvious.

    He reached the Nature Spirit''s main body in no time. The Forest Pixies greeted him heartily, swirling around him with joy. He smiled and held out the Domain of Natura.

    "I figured that you could make use of this. Maybe, you want to merge this Artifact with your body, or you might install it elsewhere, but I think you know how to utilize the Domain of Natura most efficiently."

    Roots of the Nature Spirit''s main body shot out of the ground the moment Michael''s words resounded through the vicinity. The roots coiled around the wooden staff before they retracted.

    The Domain of Natura''s presence disappeared in the next instance. All He could tell was that the Domain of Natura vanished and that the Nature Spirit''s Loyalty Connection stirred violently.

    The 4-Star Nature Spirit began to digest the Domain of Natura. It was about to receive promotion of evolving into a 5-Star Greater Spirit in the following days..

 Chapter 563 Big Tree

    <h4>Chapter 563 Big Tree </h4>

    563 Big Tree

    "The Nature Spirit evolve? That is¡­unexpected," Michael mumbled, his eyes glued on the Nature Spirit''s main body.

    The Nature Spirit was growing, its roots sinking deeper into the ground and further through the surroundings where it connected with the other trees and nts. A rootwork between the towering trees and the Nature Spirit was formed as a tremendous amount of lifeforce and energy flowed through its trunk, roots, and branches.

    Every inch of the Nature Spirit was flooded, stimting the promotion and evolution into a Greater Nature Spirit.

    The Nature Spirit''s trunk erged, its bark grew more resilient and its branches spread in all directions. In a matter of minutes, the Nature Spirit''s main body grew three meters taller, but that was only the beginning.

    Michael could clearly feel tremendous power surging through the Nature Spirit''s Link of Loyalty. The Nature Spirit hadn''t been at the 2nd Tier for long, but the surge of power was as clear as the difference between day and night.

    It advanced to Late Tier-2, and broke straight to the Peak of the 2nd Tier in one go. But the Nature Spirit''s advancement was not yet over. It approached Tier-3 incredibly fast. In less than half an hour, the Nature Spirit reached the wall that every being had to ovee to advance to the next Tier.

    The Nature Spirit''s advancement slowed down considerably, but Michael could tell that the Nature Spirit was far from done.

    He retreated a little bit and sat down on the ground. He retrieved the Memory Orbs of the Awakened he had extracted earlier and began to consume them one by one.

    Michael was certain that the memories of the Awakened weren''t as useful as the memories of Tier-5 Lords, or the Tekur, but he was certain to gain a lot, nheless. The Awakened''sbat experiences, their memories along with understanding of their Martial Arts and other techniques were enough reason to consume the 1349 Memory Orbs he''d extracted. He wouldn''t spare even a single Memory Orb.

    He nced at the transforming Nature Spirit, smiled, and consumed the first Memory Orb.

    But instead of consuming the Memory Orbs like usual, Michael made a decisive change. He used Extraction on the memories that entered his mind even before digesting them. Using Extracting on the Memory flood was like splitting the sea. Unnecessary memories such as the family lives and private matters of the Awakened were removed straight away whereas the remaining useful memories entered his mind.

    However, that was not where the changes ended. Michael separated the memories into several piles. Knowledge, Combat, Techniques, and Potentially Useful.

    Thest pile was directly rted to information that could be considered private but those memories revealed certain details that may or may not be useful in the near future.

    He took his time separating the memories within the Memory Orbs before he began digesting them. There was no need to rush and it was certainly better to be meticulous. The Awakened of the Council of Xylon ought to have some useful information, after all.

    Michael spent the following 48 hours digesting 1349 Memory Orbs. He didn''t take a single break, allowing him to improve his weapon mastery of dozens of weapons, learn close to a hundred new techniques from the memories of his enemies, and study the martial power and military might of the Council of Xylon in detail.

    Two days passed incredibly fast while he was busy. Michael barelypleted digesting thest Memory Orb before he received a message from the Immortal Knight.

    ["I apologize for interrupting your work, my Lord, but I would like to report the situation in the Savannah Region."] Siegfried Dracoon spoke through themunication crystal.

    Michael straightened his back and got up from the ground. He felt a little groggy and stiff but circting origin energy through his body while stretching worked wonders.

    ["None of the Links of Loyalty broke. That means you guys haven''t battled yet,"] Michael noted, his thoughts merging with the memories he''d digested over thest two days, ["The factions of the Council of Xylon are probably in an internal conflict right now. Our timely arrival in the Savannah Region must have surprised them. They''re probably more careful now that the Savannah Expedition is more than a dozen timesrger than before."]

    Michael and his subjects had been a small force of roughly 100 people earlier, but the number increased to 1,800 all of a sudden. If their force with 100 members had already been enough to force the Council of Xylon to change their tactic, how terrified must they be now that the reinforcement increased to 1,800?

    ["We''re considering attacking one of the Council''srger settlements. It''s currently under construction and willplete in a few weeks at the earliest. The biggest problem about the settlement is that it''s near the border and close to two main settlements. The Zaynur and Laprix''s Summoning Gates and wooden manors are in the main settlements."]

    Michael halted in his tracks and stared at themunication crystal.

    ["The Council is preparing for arge-scale attack to eliminate one of the Trnce''s Lords? That''s bad."]

    Even though the Council of Xylon didn''t have the means to eliminate the Trnce''s Lords straightaway, they could cut the Lords'' powers by destroying their Summoning Gates and wooden manors. The Lords would lose their power and all Links of Loyalty would be terminated. That was bad and quite the blow.

    ["We don''t know which main settlement they n to attack. Furthermore, the army stationed in therge settlement is rather small. There are only 100,000 soldiers for the time being. We think that they''re nning to expand the army to 500,000 before they bulldoze one of the main settlements."]

    Relocating the Summoning Gates and wooden manors was possible, but it would attract too much unwanted attention. It was not exactly the best solution to openly transport your most valuable asset right in front of your enemy''s eyes.

    ["Can you handle it, or do you need me over there?"] Michael asked, ready to leave at once.

    ["I don''t think that your help is needed. The Valyr Lordess received some support from her n. Apparently, she is the daughter of some noble household who granted her temporary control of a Super Elite Combat Unit. Since the Valyr Lordess cannot establish Links of Loyalty with Higher Lifeforms yet, she could only bring 50 Peak Tier-3 Awakened from her home using Teleportation Tokens, but theirbat prowess is great. Each of the Super Elite Valyr is on par with Tiara in terms of raw power and talent, but they''re far more experienced."]

    Michael raised an eyebrow.

    ["The Laprix Lord and the Zynur Lord have also requested aid from their people. They might owe the higher-ups something in return, but they should receive some aid given that the Savannah Region has some rare mineral deposits and interesting regions adjacent to them."]

    Michael thought about it for a moment and nodded to himself.

    ["I trust you. You know what you''re doing. But¡­please don''t hesitate to request my help. I can call Icarus and pump someyers of Enhancement into him to give you a helping hand in no time!"] He said before Siegfried Dracoon began to share some detailed pieces of information rted to the other issues in the Savannah Region.

    Michael listened intently and shared even more detailed pieces of intelligence about the things he''d learned. He told Siegfried about the weaknesses of the 109 territories, their scuffles, what their strengths were and how their soldiers and Awakened were trained and treated.

    The intelligence was very useful for the Immortal Knight. He learned a lot about the happenings in the 109 territories that crafted up the Council of Xylon, how the Council''s settlements were structured and the might of their defensive devices.

    Siegfried was quite confident in defeating his enemies. A single settlement didn''t pose a big threat even if their numbers reached 100,000. If everyone was at the same rank it could have been a problem, but the numerical advantage of the 100,000 Soldiers didn''t hold a candle to the Super Elite force of the Valyr Lordess, let alone Michael''s Elite Force.

    Themunication crystal dimmed once their summon ended, and Michael sighed deeply. He felt like rushing over to the Savannah Region, but he understood that it wouldn''t help anyone if he joined the uing battle. Maybe, he could rescue a few poor souls that would be crushed otherwise, but all he taught them by joining every battle was¡­dependence.

    They would never stop depending on him and his power, and they would learn to hate him once he stopped joining the battles. They would me him, just like some citizens did before if they failed.

    "I should trust the Immortal Knight. Siegfried can do it!"

    Michael turned around and was about to leave when his eyes locked onto the Nature Spirit. No. It was not an ordinary Nature Spirit anymore. It had evolved into a Greater Nature Spirit, a 5-

    Star Summon.

    The Greater Nature Spirit''s trunk was humongous, and its treetop towered above the other gigantic trees. The small Nature Spirit that had been smaller than the other trees around it now stood like a giant among the once tall trees. They looked like tiny saplingspared to the Greater Nature Spirit''s might, presence, and size.

    However, there was something particr about the Greater Nature Spirit that attracted Michael''s attention. It attained a Domain. No. It devoured the domain of the Legendary Artifact and crafted the Domain of Natura a part of the Greater Nature Spirit''s being.

    "Well. That is¡­interesting." Michael mumbled, his eyes still locked onto the Greater Nature Spirit.

    "Morning, Big Tree."

 Chapter 564 Map

    <h4>Chapter 564 Map </h4>

    564 Map

    The Greater Nature Spirit reached Mid Tier-3 after merging with the Legendary Artifact, Domain of Natura. It was a great surprise, especially after Michael found out that the Greater Nature Spirit integrated the Legendary Artifact''s domain into one of its main abilities.

    The domain''s range and full effect was applicable all over the Michael''s territory and extended even further, nourishing the Untamed Jungle''s soil, flora, and fauna. The origin energy in the surroundings was pulled to the Greater Nature Spirit, creating a highly densified energy zone around the Greater Nature Spirit.

    The energy zone was energy-dense and would allow Tierless Summons to advance to Tier-1 in no time as long as their talent and understanding of their energy absorption technique was high enough.

    "I guess High Beasts will be even more interested in my territory now that the Nature Spirit evolved. The Domain of Natura is amazing," Michael mumbled to himself while giving his utmost to ignore the clingy Forest Pixies and their lethal cuddle attacks.

    He could only shake his head and smile lightly.

    The Greater Nature Spirit''s branches rustled and it was not long after that a flood of emotions and images shed through Michael''s mind. The Greater Nature Spirit was trying tomunicate with Michael.

    "You''re trying to talk to me?" Michael asked, only to sense more emotions and images reach him through his Link of Loyalty with the Greater Nature Spirit.

    "You are talking to me. Okay. But why are you showing me pictures of monsters? Wait. I know this ce! I remember this monster habitat near the cavern system!"

    Hundreds of images of monster habitats reached Michael. Most of them were already known and reported, but he didn''t recall seeing some habitats in the reports, yet the Greater Nature Spirit was aware of them.

    "You can sense the presence of all monsters within your domain''s range. Is that it?" Michael scratched his chin. He could instinctively tell that the answer was a solid yes, but he had to ask, nheless.

    Therefore, without thinking much about what he should do now, Michael retrieved the Sacred Charm of Detection and the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    "If I ce the Pir of Territorial Awareness nearby, do you think you can connect to it and keep it updated?"

    A flood of emotions, indicating an affirmation, reached him a momentter.

    Michael broke into a smile, "Great!"

    Being able to live-update the Pir of Territorial Awareness'' map would be a great advantage against all spies and unwee intruders. They would appear on the Pir''s map the moment they entered the Greater Nature Spirit''s domain and could be exterminated on the spot.

    Michael didn''t waste anymore time and installed the Pir of Territorial Awareness. He spent a while installing the Pir near the Greater Nature Spirit but far enough to give the humongous tree enough space to grow evenrger. Then he stepped back to take a good look at the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    The pir looked quite simple. It was a seven-meter-tall marbled pir with countless miniature runic engravings weaved together. They looked like intricate carvings on the pir''s surface that could be mistaken for decoration. However, once energy was channeled into the Pir of Territorial Awareness, the intertwined miniature runic engravings began to glow. They projected a humongous screen, which looked like a giant parchment, in front of Michael.

    The screen covered the pir''s entire height, yet nothing could be seen on the screen. It was just a huge parchment. That was until the Greater Nature Spirit''s root burst out of the ground right next to the pir. The roots coiled around the marbled pir and intertwined, supplying the Pir of Territorial Awareness with energy and a connection to the Greater Nature Spirit''s entire domain.

    The parchment underwent an update as a map of the Untamed Jungle''s southern outer rings and the middle area formed slowly. Michael''s territory was tagged and so were all potential threats and predators in the Greater Nature Spirit''s range. Various dots on the map attracted his attention. Green dots were docile monsters and Michael''s subjects. Yellow dots were potential threats, whereas red dots were confirmed threats.

    Other than these three types, Michael found one indigo dot and a few ck spots. The ck spots meant that the Greater Nature Spirit was not sure where to put them, but that they were strong enough to threaten Michael''s subordinates if they wanted to. On the other hand, the indigo dot was rted to the unknown being underneath the Elementals Society. The Greater Nature Spirit marked it indigo because it could sense that the unknown being was terrifyingly powerful.

    The Greater Nature Spirit had only sensed its existence once, but that was more than enough to tell that it was an indigo threat.

    Maybe, there were more colors to tag an enemy or a friend, however, Michael was already quite satisfied with the information he received through the Pir of Territorial Awareness. It was already a lot more than most Lords could get their hands on. Michael could be proud of his territory''s development.

    But that was just the beginning.

    Now that the Pir of Territorial Awareness had been added and the Greater Nature Spirit connected to it, Michael could add the Sacred Charm of Detection. The name implied the charm''s effect. It was a high-ranked charm that detected the surrounding flora and fauna.

    The Sacred Charm of Detection had multiple stages that could be activated as long as specific conditions were met. Unfortunately, Michael didn''t meet the requirements to trigger the fourth and fifth stages because he was missing some things, but he had enough energy and monster cores to channel and maintain the 3rd stage. That was exactly what Michael did upon attaching the Sacred Charm of Detection to the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    The map was updated once again, and more information and marks appeared all over the known areas of the Untamed Jungle.

    Now that the map was updated once again, it was time for everyone to add information. Touching the Pir of Territorial Awareness and epting the threads of energy that desired to rummage their memories was all they had to perform to share their memories of the surrounding regions with the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    Unfortunately, the map of the pir wouldn''t update if the regions from the Awakened''s memories weren''t directly connected. That meant Michael couldn''t add the Ice Mountains to the map if he didn''t add the Zentika Empire beforehand.

    But that was hardly a problem. Michael could use the memories of the Kitsun Lord, and thousands of other Awakened to update the map rapidly. The memories of the Lionheart people and other Awakened from the Zentika Empire were also extremely helpful. Their memories resulted in providing a major update to the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    The Zentika Empire was shown entirely on the map, though the information on the map was not live-updated. The most recent update he could provide about the Zentika Empire was from the Awakened he''d killed at the end of the Jungle Expedition. That had been quite a while ago.

    At least, the Savannah Region was mostly up-to-date. The information he channeled into the Pir of Territorial Awareness was fairly new, after all.

    "That''s amazing. The map is so detailed," A voice from behind startled Michael.

    He turned around to see Reba Zauber staring at the Pir Map. Her gaze traveled to the ginormous main body of the Greater Nature Spirit, her eyes quivering in excitement.

    "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy studying the Soul Techniques that I''ve manufactured," he smiled lightly at the young Descendant.

    "I finished that a few days ago already. I came looking for you and I noticed that you were busy with this huge Nature Spirit. I saw you sitting in front of it and thought that you were busy refining your War Rune, or practicing your mind refinement technique," Reba shrugged lightly.

    "I didn''t want to bother you, so I came to check on you every now and then."

    Michael gave Reba a curt nod. He patted the Pir of Territorial Awareness lightly before he walked up to Reba Zauber.

    "You''re still interested in Soul Techniques, right?"

    Reba''s eyes shimmered brightly, "Of course!"

    "In that case, you can take these Memory Crystals. They contain all the information I have about Soul Techniques and my creations. Since you signed an NDA forbidding you to tell anyone about the things you learn from me, there is no need for me to hide my knowledge of Soul Techniques from you," he retrieved a few Memory Crystals and handed them to the young Descendant.

    Reba Zauber was extremely intrigued about Soul Techniques. Therefore, Michael hoped that she would start experimenting with Soul Techniques soon. If Reba turned into a Soul Technique Creator, Michael wouldn''t have to invest much time doing the same. He could focus on creating his own Soul Techniques and customized Soul Techniques. Meanwhile, Reba would focus on the creation of Neutral Common ss Soul Techniques for all types of Soultraits and specifications.

    That sounded the most feasible to Michael. In exchange for knowledge, nobody else in the Trnce Alliance could procure much without betraying humanity while Reba would create all kinds of Soul Techniques, earning him a fortune in return.

    "You are really going to give them to me¡­just like that?" Reba''s eyes widened, but her hands lunged forward to take the Memory Crystals before he could change his mind.

    "By the way, did you hear the news about the Sacred Desert?" Reba asked, trying her best to silently stash the Memory Crystals away while changing the topic.

    The Sacred Desert was one of Michael''s sore spots. His brother died in a hidden region within the Sacred Desert. It was not nice to be reminded about something like that. However, since it might be possible to resurrect his brother, it didn''t hurt him that much anymore.

    "What happened in the Sacred Desert? Did the Undead problem worsen?"

    "Worsen? Well..you could say that. It''s just a little bit more disastrous than that," Reba shifted her weight from one leg to the other, clearly feeling a bit ufortable. She felt like she shouldn''t have mentioned the Sacred Desert just to distract Michael.

    "It''s a nightmare!"

 Chapter 565 Undead Issues in the Sacred Desert

    <h4>Chapter 565 Undead Issues in the Sacred Desert</h4>

    565 Undead Issues in the Sacred Desert

    The Undead in the Sacred Desert slowly but surely overwhelmed the rest of the Sacred Desert. Hundreds of Lords'' territories had already been bulldozed, the hard work worth years, if not decades of their lives destroyed within weeks.

    However, the threat of the Undead forces didn''t lessen. The Undead forces were strengthened instead. Most higher-ups believed that a Greater Lich was the core issue. He controlled the Souls of the deceased and forced them into submission before putting them back into the bodies of the deceased, resurrecting them as Undead without emotions, or control over their bodies.

    It was rather easy to tell that some sort of being with profound necromancy mastery was at work, but nobody found the Greater Lich, or whatever being it was that resurrected the dead.

    The only advantage was that only a few Summons and Awakened could be resurrected as Undead. Even better was that theirbat prowess was nowhere near their peak.

    But despite that advantage, no one had been able to overwhelm the Undead forces until now. That was due to a particr factor- The Sacred Desert was a region with few Higher Lifeforms. In a way, the Sacred Desert was simr to the Savannah Region. The regions were not energy-dense, which signaled that the Regions were either not that old yet, therefore, sealing the Sacred Desert for most races, or that something drained the energy within the regions.

    Most Human Lords from the Sacred Desert region were pretty young. There were only a handful of Lords from the Sacred Desert at or above the age of 30. The oldest Lord from the Sacred Desert Region was 32-years-old, and it was said that he unlocked the Sacred Desert for mankind.

    Michael presumed that it would be the same with the Untamed Jungle, the Zentika Empire, and the Savannah Region once he spread out his wings. More Regions would be unlocked for Human Lords to settle as long as a Pioneer unsealed the region for their race.

    The Sacred Desert was just like that. However, they had a simr issue as the Savannah Region. Thepetition was too fierce. Most Lords were killed before they could advance to bing Higher Lifeforms. Ascending to a Higher Lifeform indicated that your chances of survival such as the Sacred Desert and the Savannah Region were pretty high. To kill a Higher Lifeform, one would have to sacrifice a lot. It was not worth the effort for most Peak Tier-3 Lords. They would suffer more by getting rid of the Higher Lifeform.

    Michael didn''t agree with that kind of mindset, and it looked like the Greater Lich was like Michael in that aspect. He and his Undead forces didn''t care about their enemies. All they cared about was the conquest and to get rid of all life in thends they''d imed.

    "Keep me updated with the war in the Sacred Desert," Michael narrowed his eyes. He heard that someone from the Sacred Desert betrayed his brother and he knew that he had to talk to the Zan brothers and their father to find out more about Danny''s death. However, something about the Undead forces irked him. He couldn''t be certain, but he had a nagging feeling that the Undead forces were somehow involved in his brother''s death as well.

    Michael understood that he might be reading too much into the Will of the Origin Expanse''s actions, but the Miniature Coffin Keychain looked a little bit like a sarcophagus. Now that he knew that Danny''s soul was preserved in the keychain, Michael found himself inspecting it more often, and he recalled somements his brother had dropped earlier as well.

    "Primedival Pyramid. Sarcophagus. Undead," He mumbled to himself, but Reba nced over to Michael, "Did you say something?"

    Michael flinched. He didn''t know that Reba was still there. He was certain that he heard her leave after he had asked her to keep him updated. But she had yet to return to her little hole to inspect the memories stored in the Memory Crystals and was staring at him while he was busy thinking about his deceased brother.

    "Can you also look into some reports about the Sacred Desert? Preferable information about ancient ruins from the primal rulers of the Sacred Desert? There should have been some Pyramids and other ruins deep inside the hidden regions of the Sacred Desert."

    "I can do that," Reba nodded. With Greater Analysis and her Inheritance Technique, Perfect Appraisal, it should hardly take an hour to procure the information Michael was looking for.

    "Thanks," Michael smiled, trying to hide the hint of sadness and frustration in his voice.

    Even if he could possibly resurrect his brother, it was not like the pain in his heart disappeared just like that.

    "My Lord!" A young man rushed up to Michael and Reba. He was covered in sweat and his clothes were stained with various potion liquid mixtures, "We finished the teleportation array!"

    Reba eximed lightly in response, but Michael merely nodded, "All we need is a proper anchor and we can teleport roughly 2500 kilometers in an instant."

    "2500 kilometers? Is that all?" Reba''s excitement died down in an instant, but Michael merely chuckled.

    "This is a short-distance teleportation array. I''m not the head of a noble household who has stockpiled rare and exotic blueprints in my treasury, you know?"

    Reba blushed at Michael''s response. Most Descendants didn''t have to worry about collecting a wide variety of blueprints. The rarest and most extraordinary blueprints in their family treasury were loaned to them to createrge-scale teleportation arrays and various other unique structures, and returned to the treasury once the constructions had beenpleted.

    Michael couldn''t do that.

    Well. He could ask other households for their extraordinary blueprints, but no family would hand over their most valuable assets to him just like that. Certain blueprints and structures were the reason some families reached their current status. The blueprints were even more valuable than their Inheritance Techniques and Legacy Arts.

    "2,500 kilometers is already a good distance. It will help us travel through the Untamed Jungle once we start expanding our territory and it will be easier to connect the settlements via teleportation arrays as well. The energy density within the Untamed Jungle can maintain the constant drainage of the teleportation arrays easily." Michael shrugged and Reba Zauber nodded.

    "That''s a good idea. If you want, I can analyze the energy efficiency of the teleportation arrays. Maybe, I can find some ws and upgrade the energy efficiency. That way you will have to worry less about the energy consumption when you activate the teleportation array."

    Reba''s offer sounded nice, but Michael was pretty sure that he wouldn''t have to use the teleportation array anytime soon. It was just good to have an array ready for the time he would actually need it. Constructing a single teleportation array was rather time-consuming, after all!

    Michael was about to say something but Reba jumped around like an excited squirrel. He shut his mouth and allowed her to follow the young man who led the young Descendant back to the teleportation array.

    "Whatever! Improving the teleportation array is not a bad idea," Michael chuckled.

    Now that he was alone again, it was finally time to sort out the techniques he''d obtained. This included Breathing Techniques, Core Techniques, Soul Refinement Techniques, Body Refinement techniques, and Mind Refinement techniques.

    He was already using pretty good techniques, but it wouldn''t harm him to further improve the techniques at his disposal. It was important to stay up-to-date especially when he had better techniques stored in the War Rune''s spatial storage.

    However, before Michael could start retrieving all the techniques he''d procured over thest few weeks, his thoughts went astray. He couldn''t focus on the techniques because something else was bothering him.

    He was thinking about his brother since Reba mentioned the Sacred Desert. While thinking about ways to rescue Danny, Michael''s mind drifted off toward his mother. Michael understood that he had to do something else before he could focus on the massive number of techniques he''d procured.

    Michael returned from the Origin Expanse but instead of meeting his mother right away, he searched for Kraft Viton first.

    He knew that he was avoiding the inevitable but that didn''t mean he couldn''t try.

    Kraft Viton lifted an eyebrow when he noticed Michael standing in front of his office.

    "I didn''t expect to see you today, or anytime soon. I was pretty certain you wouldn''t leave the Origin Expanse until we arrived at the academy," Kraft Viton smiled encouragingly at his youthful student. He could sympathize with Michael. His life was far from simple.

    "I didn''t really want to return, but I cannot avoid it forever. Avoiding the problem means that I stay in myfort zone¡­

    and staying there shall lead to stagnation. I cannot afford stagnation. The price for being weak is too heavy for me to pay."

    "If that''s what you think."

    Kraft Viton gestured to a chair but Michael shook his head. He knew that he would stay too long with Kraft Viton once he sat down.

    Instead of sitting down and findingfort in talking to Kraft Viton, Michael retrieved the goods he wanted to sell. Most of them were spoils of war and the goods he''d extracted. This included a massive stash of blueprints and Artifacts.

    Michael also had a batch of 8 Tier-5 Artifacts, and some treasures of the 3 Tier-5 Lords, whom he had punished, to sell.

    "Can you convert everything into Inferior Energy Stones and Intermediate Nutrient Pills?"

    "Of course. That won''t be an issue. Since you''ll need many Intermediate Nutrient Pills to upgrade your physique, now that your natural constitution is loads higher than before, I will give you more Intermediate Nutrient Pills. You should have more than enough Inferior Energy Stones for the time being. Or do you want more Energy Stones?" He inquired calmly.

    Michael clicked his tongue reproachfully. Sometimes, he felt like Kraft Viton was too smart for his own good. But that was his charm.

    "I assume that you don''t want to start your training session with me just yet. Just tell me when you are ready. I''m rather busy because of you, but I can spare more than enough time as long as I say that it''s for your training," Kraft Viton smiled slyly. He gave Michael a crafty wink as well.

    However, Michael could only nod. Before he couldmence his training with Kraft Viton he had to face a loads stronger enemy.

    He had to talk to his mother!

    [Author Note: I understand that some people mightin about the following chapters, but stay with me. More action - blood, sweat, and body parts - shall appear shortly! What do you think will happen between Michael and his mother? How will the Fang family''s drama unfold? What else will happen? Share your opinion about the Fang family and everything else. Feel free to give me suggestions and your ideas haha~]

 Chapter 566 Family Talk I

    <h4>Chapter 566 Family Talk I </h4>

    566 Family Talk I

    Michael recalled what Alice told him when he objected to meeting his mother before, and he agreed with her point of view. He had to talk to his mother.

    Even if it was just once, Michael would have to confront his mother. It was necessary to find out what he could do to rescue his brother, and how dangerous it could be. Last but not least, Michael had many questions that had to be answered. Not only about his brother''s rescue, but rted to their past.

    "Hesta is alive, and you and father have been with her for a while now, right?" Michael asked the moment he barged into his mother''s cabin. He tried to stay calm but seeing his mother turned this simple task into mission impossible.

    He controlled his erratic breathing and circted origin energy through his body to keep his calm.

    "Huh? Michael? W-What are you doing here?" His mother turned to him, startled, "I didn''t expect you toe and find me so soon."

    Evalynn stared at her son, his vibrant golden eyes ring back at her.

    She hesitated. Her lips felt incredibly dry all of a sudden and no word escaped her lips until it was clear that Michael was not going to answer her question first.

    "You. You asked about Hesta? She is alive. We managed to find and stabilize her after she went off the grid. She is not currently with us though. She left the Nest."

    "The Nest? I don''t know what that means," Michael shrugged, "Either way. Why is it necessary to initiate the reincarnation ritual for my brother? I can roughly understand that the family''s curse is going to feast on his living soul within the next year. I sensed something simr when I used my Soultrait to look into the coffin."

    He pointed at the Miniature Coffin Keychain as he recalled the chaotic mass of Danny''s Living Soul that was preserved inside.

    His mother nced sadly at the Miniature Coffin Keychain, "Usually it''s not necessary for us to do something like that for individuals who haven''t even ascended to a Higher Lifeform, but since his soul did not enter the Cycle on its own, we have to help him. It''s a good thing that the curse weighing down on Daniel is rather weak. That is probably also why his Living Soul could survive this long without sustaining any permanent damage."

    Evalynn nibbled on her lower lip after she finished herst sentence. Her eyes appraised Michael''s reaction over and over again, trying to get a good look at her estranged son.

    "How have you been?" She asked, atst.

    Michael raised an eyebrow, but all he could do was sigh deeply.

    "It''s a bit toote to ask that. I came here for answers, and I will decide what to do after I hear the truth," Michael''s voice grew cold, "If I sense that you lied to me, I will never talk to you again after today."

    Evalynn''s lips parted but she shut her mouth and pressed her lips together in a thin line before a sound could escape. She always knew that it wasn''t going to be easy. The moment she left Michael and Danny in the Golden Sun Province to fend for themselves, Evalynn knew that reuniting with them would be a challenge. Despite that, she and her husband epted the challenge. They left theirds to figure out life and grow into adults without the love and care of parents.

    So it was no surprise that they grew up loathing their family. Evalynn could see that clearly.

    "What is the Hellbound Cataclysm? You mentioned that if you cannot perform the reincarnation ritual to ''rescue'' Danny, his soul will be devoured by the curse and it will evolve into the Hellbound Cataclysm. So what exactly is that?"

    A single tear trickled down his mother''s cheek, but Michael remained calm. As calm as possible, that is.

    "After we heard that your brother¡­died¡­ we sensed that something was wrong, but we were busy at that time and it took us a while to reach you from our location. I think you remember that we messaged you about resurrecting Danny, right? We wanted to summon your brother in the Origin Expanse by giving up some of our achievements and treasures to nurture his soul and transfer it to another vesselter," Another tear trickled down her face.

    "Unfortunately¡­that didn''t work out well. I don''t know how you did it, but you seeded to summon Danny. You spent several months close to him, allowing the presence of your Curse to stimte and ignite the remnants of our family''s curse within your brother. I didn''t know about that before because we haven''t received a report about a new high-ranked Curse User, but your curse is extremely powerful. You have far more Cursed Seals within you than most Cursed Children I have met. That is extraordinary¡­but also dangerous."

    The information Michael received from his mother was helpful, but she was taking her time to answer his question. He wanted to know about the Hellbound Cataclysm. However, he listened to her nheless. The details he got to know today should help him at some point in time.

    "Under normal circumstances, a Hellbound Cataclysm cannot happen even if a curse devours the soul of its deceased owner. However, because Daniel was stuck in a limbo between death and life for too long as a Summon, right next to someone like you at that, the remnants of his curse must have been reformed and reconstructed. The weak Curse that didn''t even possess a single Cursed Seal mutated and began to devour your brother. The only reason he is fine is because of this weird keychain. It restrains the curse''s effect temporarily and preserves your brother''s soul."

    "That''s our great fortune because a Hellbound Cataclysm is a terrific threat that can manage to destroy entire ster systems if left unattended. Once unleashed, it will tear apart the fabric of space and time, creating links to other dimensions where horrifying beings reside. The dangers of the Origin Expanse are nothingpared to the Cataclysmic Portals!"

    There were still many things Michael didn''t understand but he made a bunch of mental notes while conversing with his mother. It was essential to research some terms and verify a handful of information, but Michael could roughly understand what happened and why ''the Nest'', or whatever organization, wanted Danny''s Living Soul.

    To prevent a threat strong enough to destroy entire ster systems, they had to cleanse Danny''s Living Soul and put him back into the Cycle.

    "So, they sent you to discover his Living Soul? Why?"

    If Danny''s Living Soul was truly this dangerous, why would they send his mother? She might be a powerful being at the Peak of Tier-6, but the universe was vast and his mother didn''t even know until a few days ago that her younger son had her oldest son''s Living Soul. She didn''t recognize him, after all.

    "Danny''s Curse is the most attuned to my Soul as his mother and the Curse User who had been with him the longest. That''s how I managed to keep track of his Living Soul''s coordinates," Evalynn exined, before she weakly added, "The Navi-Curse Compass can only detect Cursed Souls without a vessel."

    ''Does that mean my Soul is the most attuned to my mother as well? What does that even mean?''

    "Your Curse is different. I don''t know what happened, but you must have had some encounters with Cursed Children, Chaos Beasts, or something like that. Or maybe your Soultrait is highlypatible with your Curse, thus unlocking three Cursed Seals long before your vessel was ready for it."

    Michael realized that his mother didn''t know that he possessed several Soultraits as he listened to here up with possible exnations. But thinking about it, Michael figured that it didn''t matter.

    ''Many said that Extraction is an ancient power. It has probably fused with my Curse or altered it in some way. Is that it? I could use the three unsealed Cursed Seals to awaken True Extraction.''

    He had a few encounters with beings who recognized him as a Cursed Child. Michael presumed that Cursed Children were the offspring of a powerful Curse User. That would make sense.

    One way or another, Michael didn''t want to listen to his mother for long. He still had many queries abandoned to ask, but there was one particr question that was the most important for Danny''s rescue.

    "Does that mean that I can treat Danny''s Living Soul like a normal Living Soul, or do I have to be more careful because his Living Soul is a Cursed Soul with the characteristics of a Living Soul?"

    That was actually a crucial point. If he couldn''t prevent the Hellbound Cataclysm by transferring Danny''s Living Soul into the Soul Grimoire until he found a suitable vessel for his brother, Michael would have to think of another solution.

    He only had one more year abandoned before the restraints of the Miniature Coffin Keychain would be lifted. By then, his brother''s soul would be damaged and devoured atst. The Hellbound Cataclysm couldn''t be stopped easily after that, and Danny''s Living Soul would be lost for all eternity.

    Michael didn''t want either of that, but that was only obvious.

    "I told you that you cannot save him anymore. You need to let him go to save the rest of this ster system. A lesser ster system such as the sr system won''t manage to survive the Hellbound Cataclysm for more than 48 hours. You need to get your act together!" Evalynn was on the verge of shouting.

    However, Michael could only frown deeply.

    "Can you stop changing the topic, and start answering my queries properly, please?!?"

 Chapter 567 Family Talk II

    <h4>Chapter 567 Family Talk II</h4>

    567 Family Talk II

    It took Michael a while to squeeze the answer out of his mother, but he got everything he wanted.

    His mother reassured him that Danny''s soul was probably a Living Soul with an affliction of a weakened Curse. That was the most likely oue given the current circumstances.

    However, the weakened Curse was bound to grow stronger in the presence of Michael. He was still a Lesser Lifeform but he had already unsealed three Cursed Seals. That shouldn''t have happened, and it made it increasingly more difficult to predict the time his next Cursed Seal would be unsealed.

    The weakened curse affliction would increase around Cursed Children and Cursed Users with more unsealed Cursed Seals as well, but Daniel and Michael had been really close. Danny''s Curse was the mostpatible with Michael, therefore elerating the recuperation process of Danny''s weakened curse.

    It was highly likely that the weakened curse would develop into a Minor Curse until the end of the year. That was also why his mother told him that she would have to bring Danny''s Living Soul back to the Nest in ten months. If she didn''t return after ten months, more Curse users from the Nest woulde to get Danny''s Soul.

    The others wouldn''t be as nice as Evalynn. That was something his mother promised him. They would kill him if necessary, or bring him back to the Nest as well. After all, Michael was dangerous to the outside world.

    Michael ignored the not-so-subtle threat, rolled his eyes, and asked his mother about the techniques required to transfer souls to other vessels. Since his mother had mentioned that earlier, he was pretty sure that she had some useful pieces of information to share. And that was exactly what he obtained; useful information.

    He learned quite a lot from his confrontation with his mother, including that souls withpatible bodies and strong vessels couldn''t devour souls. That was also why the constitution of Cursed Children was on the stronger side. Their Body, Mind, and Soul were constantly being tempered from the moment they were born to withstand the power of the Curse.

    The stronger the curse, the more pressure was put on the body, soul, and mind. That resulted in a higher mortality rate among Cursed Children whosetent potential couldn''t keep up with the lethal potency of their Curse.

    While that meant that Michael was a lot stronger then the majority of Awakened because his body didn''t crumble under his Curse''s pressure, it also meant that he had to prepare a suitable vessel for Danny. If the vessel was notpatible with Danny''s Living Soul, it would crumble the moment the curse finished spreading through the vessel.

    That made everything a lot moreplicated than Michael had hoped for.

    ''Will the Soul Grimoire be enough to solve that issue?''

    ording to what Michael could tell¡­yes, the Soul Grimoire could solve most issues. In the worst case, Michael could extract the Minor Curse and insert it into someone else, maybe even himself. That way Danny''s affliction would be removed and it wouldn''t be too difficult to insert his Living Soul into another vessel.

    Michael was already afflicted with a powerful curse. Inserting Danny''s Minor Curse shouldn''t be too much of an issue. Even if it would turn into a problem, Michael was certain that he could live with it. Michael would be fine as long as he could save his brother!

    BUT to extract the Minor Curse without harming Danny''s Living Soul permanently, he would have to strengthen his own soul first. The problem with that, however, was that he couldn''t even touch Danny''s Soul without potentially harming it. He could use Extraction on Danny to touch his Soul once he applied 10yers of Enhancement onto the Extraction Soultrait Symbol, but that posed some level of risk as well.

    That meant, Michael would have to upgrade Extraction to 7-

    Star and test out afterward if he could extract the Living Soul in one swoop to put it into Soul Grimoire. Of course, he would do that after upgrading the Soul Grimoire as well and potentially strengthen it further.

    ''But what about the Soul Tear? Can they be used as well? If I use them on Extraction while it''s amplified with 10yers of Enhancement, I should be able to do something, right?''

    The Soul Tears could strengthen Souls as well. It was merely a temporary reinforcement but it might be useful in some way, probably. If he used it on Danny''s Soul, Enhancement, and Extraction, he should be able to inspect Danny''s Soul much better.

    Fortunately, Soul Grimoire and Extraction were not his only Soultraits.

    ''If Extraction and Soul Grimoire don''t work¡­what about Insert? Can I insert Soul Tears into the Living Soul? What about SoulStar Fragments? I can strengthen Soultraits, Aethyr, and the Sphere of Light with SoulStar Fragments. I can formpletely new Soultrait Symbols with SoulStar Fragments as well.''

    SoulStar Fragments were simr to Soul Power, but it was not the same. It was more like Soul Essences that had been extracted. It was not artificial like Soul Power felt sometimes, but it was more natural.

    It was worth a try. He ignored his mother for the time being and focused on the Miniature Coffin Keychain.

    He retrieved one SoulStar Fragment from his War Rune and summoned the Soul Grimoire simultaneously. A Soul Tear manifested above the Soul Grimoire at Michael''smand in the next instance.

    His mother stared at Michael, confusion and curiosity glimmering in her eyes. Her eyes weren''t watery anymore. She had to acknowledge that nothing would be the same as it had been a decade ago between her family. That was to be expected.

    She watched with great curiosity as Michael pushed the indigo droplet of water against the Miniature Coffin Keychain. However, instead of sttering on the keychain''s surface, the liquid droplet vanished inside it.

    Michael had used Insert to integrate one Soul Tear into Danny''s Living Soul to temporarily strengthen it. A momentter, Michael used Insert once again. This time, however, he used Insert on the SoulStar Fragment before pressing it against the Miniature Coffin Keychain, hoping that the SoulStar Fragment would be inserted into Danny''s Living Soul.

    Michael couldn''t detect any difference in the keychain''s surface. It didn''t feel like anything had changed. Therefore, he manifested two more Soul Tears which he used on Extraction and Enhancement before using Extraction with 10yers of Enhancement to take a sneak-peek at the insides of the Miniature Coffin Keychain.

    Michael could sense Danny''s Living Soul. The mass of energy infused with sentience and lifeforce was clearly noticeable. But something was different. It was merely a slight change but Michael could perceive a subtle difference. The Living Soul was a tiny bit sturdier than it had been thest time Michael felt it. It was not a tremendous improvement, but it was more than enough to give Michael a few ideas on how to use Insert, Extraction, and the Soul Grimoire with Enhancement and the Soul Tears.

    ''If I upgrade Soul Grimoire to 6-Star and strengthen the Living Soul until it''s strong enough to ovee the ordeal of having the weakened hex removed¡­I should be able to do it much earlier than initially nned. That way the weakened curse won''t be able to transform into a Minor Curse anymore either. After that¡­all I have to do is search for a suitable vessel after I put his Living Soul Inside ¨C without its curse ¨C into my Soul Grimoire.''

    If that worked out, Michael wouldn''t have to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star. Of course, it would potentially be simpler to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star, but Michael doubted that he could easily umte close to a million SoulStar Fragments. He was pretty sure that it would be another annoying ordeal.

    His n, however, was still not asplicated as it could have be. Michael would strengthen Extraction to 7-Star, Soul Grimoire to 6-Star and then integrate thousands of SoulStar Fragments into Danny''s Living Soul. He would do that until it was strong enough to survive having Extraction remove the weakened Curse while it was still restrained in the keychain. In the worst case, Michael could upgrade Enhancement and procure a few other Soultraits to aid the extraction as well. That would hardly be an issue¡­or so Michael thought.

    At the end of the day, Michael''s initial n didn''t change a lot. However, he learned a lot and applied his newly acquired knowledge to make specific changes that would potentially help him rescue his brother. Even if he didn''t want to acknowledge it, talking to his maternal figure had been a good idea.

    It was for Danny''s sake and thus a sacrifice Michael was willing to make.

    But now it was about time to ask other questions¡­questions that were not rted to Danny''s Living Soul. It was something he considered asking because Alice advised him to do so.

    He took a deep breath and felt the hair all over his physique stand up on its end.

    "I''m curious about something."

    Evalynn had been focused on Michael''s use of a handful of Soultraits for a while. She was baffled and visibly confused. However, hearing her son''s voice pulled her back to her senses.

    "What is it, dear?"

    Michael hesitated, but only for a moment.

    "Why did you and father abandon us?" He inquired and his maternal figure stiffened.

    "Why did you never ask for forgiveness? Why do you act like you care about my well-being all of a sudden?"

    Michael took a deep breath to not let his voice waver as ast question escaped his lips.

    "You would potentially have never returned to see us if it was not for the issue with Danny''s Living Soul, right?"

 Chapter 568 Done

    <h4>Chapter 568 Done</h4>

    568 Done

    Michael tried to ask his question in a neutral tone, but his emotions were not easy to control. They had never been.

    However, seeing his mother hesitate and unable to answer his simple questions hurt. It hurt even more than Michael had expected. He knew that his parents abandoned Danny and him, but his mother''s silent agreement to his usations made him feel worse than expected.

    Evalynn didn''t know how to answer. Did that mean she never thought about them, in the first ce, or did she never expect to be asked that question by her sons? Why wouldn''t she expect that?

    "Please, answer honestly. It doesn''t matter if your answer hurts us¡­" Michael murmured in a voice barely loud enough for his mother to hear.

    She swallowed hard and looked to the ground. Her lips quivered but they parted soon. Seeing her reaction, Michael tensed up.

    "I never asked for forgiveness because it''s selfish. Asking for forgiveness¡­we don''t deserve that," Evalynn answered silently, her quivering voice reverberating through the room.

    "It''s selfish to ask for forgiveness after doing something you don''t regret. We left because Hesta needed us more than you and Danny. You and Danny were safe and sound in the small apartment we''d bought. Most things were taken care of which makes it much easier for you and Danny to survive. Daniel has always been mature, and you were also quite mature for your young age. We believed that you and Danny could take care of yourself better than Hesta. After all, Hesta lost herself. She wreaked havoc and was on the verge of death and surrounded by the C¨C....enemies when we found her."

    His mother wanted to say something else instead of ''enemies'' but a sudden headache forced her to change her choice of words. Michael noticed that. His Spirit Eyes noticed something as well. A small intricate symbol appeared on Evalynn''s forehead the moment she mentioned the ''enemies.'' It appeared with the sudden headache and vanished the moment his mother changed her words.

    "I do care about your well-being. It''s not a sudden change. I have always been worried about you guys. But everything changed once we rescued Hesta. We encountered the Nest and other Cursed User, and ¨C..." Evalynn tried her best to continue but couldn''t speak any further. The intricate symbol appeared on her forehead once again. This time, however, it was ck and muchrger.

    Evalynn screamed aloud. Her legs caved in and her hands shot to her head. A burst of energy circted through her hands and shot toward the intricate symbol which Michael recognized thanks to the memories of the Elite Soldier Tekur, and some of the traitorous Descendants.

    "A Geas¡­"

    Geas, also known as Marks of the Soul, were special seals that could only be imprinted into someone''s soul by a Divine Lifeform. It was simr to a ve Mark, only that it was less restrictive, but not by much.

    A Geas was usually imprinted into the soul of a living being to restrict them from talking about certain topics in every possible way. It was a restriction simr to a Soul Pact. The only issue was that a Geas could never be destroyed. It was a permanent mark on a being''s soul. Often enough, beings with a Geas were considered less worthy because their soul had been tarnished.

    Michael frowned deeply as he observed his mother with his Spirit Eyes activated and lingering on the ck Geas. Something in his head clicked, the dots connecting to form the big picture.

    "Tell me what you''re allowed to say without triggering the Geas¡­"

    Michael was not sure if he felt better after hearing what he heard until now. After all, it meant that his parents did abandon Danniel and him. They prioritized Hesta''s well-being over theirs. However, there were also pieces of information his mother wanted to share but couldn''t. Maybe, these details were important to understand their reasoning.

    He did believe what his mother said, but something was off.

    It was never a great feeling to have been abandoned by those who were supposed to love and care for you. It didn''t matter whether his mother wanted to return to them after a few years or not. It was not like they should feel nice about that. They had been abandoned and left to face the cruel world from a young age. That was a clear fact. His mother acknowledged that fact, even if she worded it differently.

    ''We were mature enough to take care of ourselves? Hesta needed them? Hesta was, quite literally, older than ourbined age.''

    Hesta was a mature woman, whereas Danny had turned 12 a few weeks prior, and Michael was about to turn 8 when their parents disappeared. They could take care of themselves? That''s nonsense!

    Michael sighed but he decided to leave it at that. He told his mother to answer honestly. He did want to hear her honest answer. And that was what he received atst.

    "It''s the first time since I left that I''ve been given permission to travel to this part of the gxy. Without that¡­I doubt that I would have ever been allowed to return to see you guys. So¡­to answer your question¡­No, I don''t think I would have ever managed to return to you guys if it was not for the issue with Danny''s Living Soul¡­"

    Michael nodded almost absentmindedly. He tilted his head and felt a mix of anger and confusion surfacing from the depths of his body.

    First of all, it was quite obvious that his mother was trying to tell him more, but the Geas restricted her. But no matter what his mother was trying to say, the Geas wouldn''t restrict her from saying "I''m sorry, I wanted to be there for you guys," or something along those lines.

    His mother was trying to make it sound like she had been forced to leave them and that she didn''t have a choice. And that her actions were the most logical and that her rational mindset allowed her family to survive as a whole.

    While that might contain some truth, it was a fact that his mother didn''t even think about apologizing. The words ''I am sorry'' never escaped her lips. If that wasn''t hurtful already, his mother said that she would never ask for forgiveness. But apologizing for being a bad mother and asking for forgiveness were different things.

    Michael was done. He had heard enough.

    "Alright. If you have anything else to say, say it now. I¡­need time to think¡­"

    "If you have any more questions¡­pleasee and find me. I will answer as much as possible," His mother offered instead of saying anything else. She pressed her lips together and continued to look at the ground.

    Evalynn took a deep breath, and lifted her head. Her gaze was filled with sudden resolution as she locked eyes with her youngest child, "If you cannot manage to rescue Danny in the next few months, or give me a valid reason to believe that you can actually save Danny without causing a Hellbound Cataclysm, I will have to take him by force."

    "That¡­sounds fair¡­Thanks¡­"

    His mother had been given the mission to retrieve Danny'' Living Soul to prevent the Hellbound Cataclysm, but she took a step back by giving Michael a chance to rescue his brother. That was more than he could ask for ording to her.

    The answers he''d received today were not that pleasant, but it could have been much worse. He was hurt, but now that he received some answers to the questions that had tormented his mind for several years, Michael felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest.

    His rtionship with his mother didn''t improve all of a sudden, but he could tell that something had changed. Some of the anger and fury that had been buried deep within his heart had dispersed. It was relieving, if only just a little, however, it was worth a lot.

    Michael decided to part ways with his mother. He had a lot to think about, and it was time for him to fill his stomach once again. It had been a few days since he ate something. He was starving to death.

    On his way to the cafeteria, Michael met a few unknown Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They must have entered the spaceship not too long ago. Their journey back to the Saphirke Military Academy began a week ago, yet it would take a few more weeks before they would arrive. Their detour was longer than expected.

    But it was worth it. The presence of some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs was intense. They were probably stronger than Thaor, Lokai, and the others.

    ''Why did they not participate in the g War? Are they too old, or did they not bother with it?''

    Michael reached the cafeteria in no time. He filled two metal trays with a wide variety of dishes and headed to one of the tables. Most tables were empty. Only few Awakened would spend their valuable time in the spaceship if they could spend twice as long in the Origin Expanse ruling over their territory.

    Even Michael''s subordinates would rarely leave the Origin Expanse. After all, the outside world was not as intriguing as the Origin Expanse.

    He began to feast on the delicacies in his trays while his eyes were glued to the tempered ss windows. His attention lingered on the twinkling stars in space and thes nearby.

    "I wonder what Danny will say about all of this once he''s back."

    His brother would love to travel through space. Michael could imagine his brother spending several years with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Daniel Fang was not the type of person who needed humans. He didn''t really care about mankind either. The things he experienced in the past were more than enough to unravel the most disgusting side of mankind.

    His mother''s return and her honest answers to some of Michael''s questions wouldn''t improve Daniel''s view of humans either. Nheless, he was curious what his brother would do. Michael was looking forward to it.

    "Michael!"

    Michael lowered his fork and looked up upon hearing a familiar voice. Kaleb and Lincoln emerged in front of him with a metal tray in their hands.

    "Hey," Michael waved at them with a thin smile.

    "How have you been?" Kaleb asked, his ocean-blue eyes glued on his friend.

    "I''ve decided to join a Regional War, a Native Empire is probably about to attack us soon after a red dragon youngling and his rider wreaked havoc in theirnds, and stronger monsters are approaching my territory slowly but steadily," Michael shrugged, "Also¡­I talked to my mother beforeing over to eat something. Talking with her was¡­ informative."

    Michael forced himself to chuckle lightly, but instead of borating further, he continued to eat.

    "That sounds rough. Thaor told me a little bit about your Regional War earlier. He returned from the Origin Expanse to rest for a few minutes outside the range of his enemies just to jump back into the Origin Expanse to wreak havoc. He looked like he was having fun," Kaleb responded, clearly recalling the blood and grime covering Thaor when he emerged in the main hallway of the spaceship without warning.

    It had been an entertaining sight.

    "Zeke is also having problems with his territory. In fact, I heard that many people have issues nowadays. It''s probably war season again, especially in the Sacred Desert," Lincoln joined the conversation.

    "I heard a lot about the Sacred Desert''s Undead issue. Do you think it''s going to be solved soon? The Sacred Desert doesn''t have many Higher Lifeforms and as far as I know, none of the Higher Lifeforms is a Descendant. They must be struggling against the Undead forces," Michael fell into deep thought.

    "I think the higher-ups are considering sending an elite unit to aid the Lords in the Savannah region, but the problem is that no Lord is strong enough to create temporary Links of Loyalty with the Elite Unit''s Tier-4 Adventurers. Even the Super Elite Adventurers at the Peak of Tier-3 are too strong for the Tier-4 Lords. The problem is that their Souls haven''t been refined¡­

    which would have been the case if they were Descendants."

    It wasmon knowledge that Lords couldn''t establish Links of Loyalty with beings at a higher Tier. Usually, it was already quite taxing to establish a Link of Loyalty with someone who was only one sub-rank higher than oneself. That meant most ordinary Lords would be struggling to link a Peak Tier-3 Adventurer while being at the Late rank of the 3rd Tier themselves.

    But there were also exceptions. Most Descendants whose souls had been refined over and over again could establish Links of Loyalty with Adventurers one rank higher than them. In fact, Michael was certain that he could do the same easily. He had yet to start refining his Soul with special techniques, but given that his Curse tempered his Body, Mind, and Soul since the day he was born, Michael was confident that he didn''tck inparison.

    "What are they going to do then? Sending a rescue team that''s too weak to handle the Undead forces is suicidal," Michael pointed out, but Lincoln was able only shrug.

    "If the higher-ups want to save the Sacred Desert, they''ll think of something. In the worst case, they will use Obsidian Transportation Tokens or Teleportation Scrolls. That''s an expensive ordeal but if it allows mankind to stay in charge of the Sacred Desert it will be worth it."

    Obsidian Transportation Tokens and Teleportation Scrolls were expensive items that rarely dropped, however, their use was simple. Teleportation Scrolls teleported an Awakened to the linked location. The Transportation Tokens did the same. The good thing about these items was that one didn''t have to be linked to a Lord to teleport to their location.

    That meant Lords and Higher Lifeforms was ablee to the Sacred Desert''s rescue.

    "I doubt that they''ll use Obsidian Transportation Tokens. If they do, it would be tinum, at most. And Lesser Teleportation Scrolls. They wouldn''t want a single powerhouse to crush the Undead forces because he, or she, can im the entire Sacred Desert as his/her territory once the Undeads have been taken care of. The higher-ups aren''t willing to give their shares of the Sacred Desert to anyone."

    "Furthermore, the Sacred Desert is an Inferior Region. It will be harder for Higher Lifeforms to enter the Sacred Desert. The stronger they are, the higher their restrictions. Using Lesser Teleportation Scrolls to allow weaker powerhouses to rescue the Lords in the Sacred Desert is probably the best solution," Kaleb reasoned, attracting Michael and Lincoln''s attention.

    The two boys stared nkly at their friend.

    "W-what?" Kaleb asked in defense, waving his fork at them.

    "Nothing. You just seemed way too smart for your own good," Lincolnughed, "Your sister informed you about this, didn''t she?"

    Kaleb blushed but he didn''t say anything. His focus switched over to the food. Michael smiled at his friends and finished his first round. He got up and went back to the cooks to ask for seconds.

    Michael did that three times before he was done eating. His stomach was filled to the brim and he was happier than before. The confrontation with his mother was almost forgotten, leaving him in a much better mood.

    Since he felt much better, Michael talked a little bit more with Kaleb and Lincoln. They had a lot to talk about since there had been countless interesting events in the Origin Expanse. Simultaneously, Michael prepared a list of items and materials he required for his territory. He''d forgotten to purchase a few things, and it was better to purchase them now when he was able still remember what he had to buy rather thanter when his subjects thrashed him for neglecting them.

    As he forwarded the item list to KraftViton, Michael concluded something else as well.

    He thought that it was time for Kraft Viton to teach him!

    [A/N: Since today''s chapter was really really long (almost as long as two normal chapters) no second chapter will be released. It took me more than twice as long as usual to write this chapter (Urgh). I hope y''all enjoyed Michael''s talk with his mother and the massive influx of information thrown at you!]

 Chapter 569 Speedy Student

    <h4>Chapter 569 Speedy Student </h4>

    569 Speedy Student

    Michael and his friends were sweating profusely. After they ate together, Kaleb proposed to work out together. It had been quite a while since they trained in a group, after all. Michael and Lincoln agreed, not knowing that Kaleb meant to perfect the devilish training session from Silvian Schild.

    The three guys were subjected to weird stares as they practiced, but they didn''t really care. Performing the exercises introduced by Silvian Schild released some of the stress they''d umted over thest few weeks. It elevated their mood to an entire new level.

    Kaleb didn''t make it obvious, but he was relieved that Michael''s stiff expression changed as he neared the end of the devilish training session. He sighed in relief once they were done, d that his friend was doing much better.

    "Do you need help with anything?" Kaleb asked after the three sweaty friends went for a shower. Kaleb was drying his azure-

    hair, his ocean-blue eyes locked onto Michael.

    "I''m fine. Kraft Viton has already received an item list. I''m good to go," Michael shrugged, "He will teach me today. I''m curious how it will go."

    He smiled lightly, and was about to leave the training hall''s changing room when he heard Lincoln from behind.

    "I heard that his students became traitors. Some say that it''s a curse, while others say that Kraft Viton attracts all bad apples for students. But that shouldn''t be an issue now that he trains you. It''s just something I heard. Maybe, the rumors are exaggerated."

    ''That''s why he was reluctant to ept me as his student. It would make sense if his former students are all traitors. That old man is really unlucky.'' Michael nodded in understanding.

    "Yeah, I will be fine. There is no need to worry about me. As long as the assassination and kidnap attempts stop," Michael chuckled lightly, but Lincoln and Kaleb could only press their lips together.

    They acknowledged that it was quite annoying that his own people tried to kidnap him. If that happened too often, they would also turn against their own people. Who would be willing to trust those who broke his trust countless times?

    The two Descendants sincerely hoped that the kidnap attempts would stop soon.

    Michael separated from his friends after the relieving devilish training session and walked over to Kraft Viton''s office. Kraft Viton heard him on the floor and threw a small ring in his direction as the door opened.

    Michael had to rely on his reflexes to catch the ring, but he smiled faintly as a trace of energy channeled into the spatial ring filled with the items he''d requested less than three hours ago. Not a single item was missing. That was quite fast, even though none of the items he''d requested was highly advanced or incredibly rare.

    "Don''t be distracted," Kraft Viton tapped his hand on a stash of books he had piled up next to him, a smile creeping up his lips, "I''m pretty sure that you know what you''re going to have to do as my student."

    This was a little bit different from what Michael expected. He expected to have some practical lessons first to have Kraft Viton determine hisbat prowess and adjust his curriculum ordingly. However, Kraft Viton didn''t seem to care about that at all.

    "You want me to read all of them?" Michael pointed at the piles of books. There were at least 200 books, and none of them was thin.

    Kraft Viton grinned deviously but he didn''t say a word. Michael responded to that with a shrug.

    "Give me a few hours and I''ll be back!" Michael stated, stepping forward while releasing his origin energy to shroud the books in one go.

    He stored them inside his War Rune''s storage space and opened the Runic Gate in the next moment.

    "You just wait!"

    Michael''s deration resounded through the small office even after he stepped into the Runic Gate. He disappeared, leaving Kraft Viton alone less than two minutes after stepping inside the old man''s office.

    Kraft Viton, however, continued to smile, "What an impatient rascal."

    He chuckled lightly and was about to sit down on hisfortable wooden chair when he received a few notifications.

    "Urgh. These pesky bastards are growing stingier as they age. Are they going to bury their old, decayed bodies in their treasure trove, or what?" The old man cursed loudly, "If you guys continue like this, we will lose the Sacred Desert. Not that I, particrly, care."

    Kraft Viton might have uttered that he doesn''t care, but deep down he knew that that was not true. Even after 500 years of hard work, mankind only managed to attain ess to no more than three regions in the Origin Expanse. Of course, it was also true that it was not necessary to im entire regions and rule them on their own, but the benefits of ruling a region were exceptional. The benefits were valuable enough to invest a fortune into protecting the Sacred Desert.

    The Barren Lands were about to turn into a permanent spawn point for Human Awakened. Humans who''d manifested their War Rune not too long ago would be given the opportunity to spawn inside the Barren Lands once Humans became the sole rulers. This could be used as an advantage to turn the Barren Lands into the stronghold of mankind''s Awakened.

    Following that, more Awakened would survive in the Origin Expanse by relying on the Barren Lands'' protection, allowing Humans to grow stronger in a more secure environment. Once they had grown stronger, it would be easy to expand their territory outwards, further away from the Barren Lands.

    The High Society had been hoping to do the same with the Sacred Desert. They hoped that the Sacred Desert and the Barren Lands would turn into permanent spawn points for new Awakened to expand their area of control into the adjacent regions and include areas with higher energy density in their territory. Those regions had more treasures and more unique monsters that dropped a higher variety of exotic loot.

    Those who managed to expand the Human Regions further would be able to earn a fortune, just like Michael did with the Untamed Jungle''s unique drops.

    But now they were about to lose the Sacred Desert, and High Society''s move against the invading Undead forces wasn''t decisive. In fact, their move was the opposite of that. Kraft Viton had been worried about that, but he never expected that High Society would vote against his proposal to send the Exterminator.

    ''Is it necessary for us to intervene before it''s toote? If they do nothing¡­we can still do something with our private forces¡­''

    **

    Michael came back to the Origin Expanse without dy. He retrieved the stashes of books he''d stored in his War Rune before and opened the first to start reading. Yet, instead of reading like a normal person would do, Michael activated Extraction to extract the Knowledge Wisps contained within the books.

    Michael extracted more than 300 Knowledge Wisps within 10 minutes before he was finally done. He reached out to the Knowledge Wisps, used a Soul Tear to amplify Enhancement, and used Enhancement several times on his brain. In the next instant, Michael began consuming the Knowledge Wisps, one after another greedily.

    He didn''t rush the consumption of the Knowledge Wisps. Instead, Michael spent the next 12 hours digesting the knowledge properly. He reorganized the knowledge in his mind and put it under specificbels. Certain pieces of information were more useful while others were either redundant or felt like duplicates from other books.

    It was only fortunate that Michael''s mind refinement technique, Ceasurium Menta, had reached a high refinement degree. His high refinement degree made it increasingly easier to digest information and reorganize information. At this point, he could split up information and tag his synapses to recollect certain information better than others. That was incredibly helpful.

    By consuming the Knowledge Wisps, Michael learned a lot of theory within half a day. His understanding of territory development, warfare, emotional management, and much more stuff improved. It was only theoretical knowledge that had to be applied a little bit differently in a practical situation, but the Knowledge Wisps included anecdotes from Kraft Viton and various other powerhouses. Their experiences had been carefully noted to teach the younger generation about the mistakes made by the old ones.

    There was no need for the youngsters to repeat the mistakes of their elders.

    Michael''s mood improved tremendously. He learned the theoretical knowledge and various tips and tricks from the best of the best of mankind.

    Though he spent 12 hours in the Origin Expanse, only six hours had passed in the outside world.

    Michael manifested the Runic Gate once again and stepped out of the Origin Expanse to return to Kraft Viton''s office. Just as he came back from the Origin Expanse, Michael saw a Runic Gate manifest in front of him. Kraft Viton had been in the Origin Expanse as well.

    "Oh. You''re already back. That was a lot faster than I expected," Kraft Viton uttered nonchntly, "I thought you were exaggerating when you said that you''ll return in a few hours."

    Michael grinned proudly. He knocked his temple, his smile widening, "I''m pretty good at memorizing stuff."

    "That makes everything a lot easier," Kraft Viton bowed in acknowledgment, "Since you''re done, can you return the books?"

    Michael''s smile froze.

    "You wanted them back?" He nearly stuttered ''I should have asked¡­''

    "It''s better if you return them, yes. They weren''t easy to create. I worked together with my old friends to write the best guides for our students."

    Michael''s lips parted but closed at the next moment.

    "That might be a bit difficult" He revealed in all honesty, "I might have extracted the knowledge to consume it instantly."

    Michael retrieved the stashes of books. The only issue was that they were empty. Not a single word was written on any of the thick tomes that were now reduced to mere cardboards.

    "Sorry~"

 Chapter 570 Techniques, Techniques & more Techniques

    <h4>Chapter 570 Techniques, Techniques & more Techniques</h4>

    570 Techniques, Techniques & more Techniques

    Escaping Kraft Viton''s wrath was not as difficult as Michael expected. There was no reason for the old man to be angry, in the first ce.

    Michael might have destroyed the hard work of his old colleagues, but it was not an irreversible damage. Kraft Viton told Michael to write down everything again, or to copy his memories of the knowledge he''d acquired from digesting the Knowledge Wisps into Memory Crystals.

    That was how Michael could keep the knowledge with himself and duplicate everything into Memory Crystals with ease as well.

    It was a good thing that Kraft Viton was not angry. Michael wouldn''t want to betray the old man''s trust even before they started their training for real.

    "I want to teach you a bit more, but I''m a little busy teaching the High Society a lesson. You must have heard about the Sacred Desert''s Undead problem. I''m trying something, which will keep me busy for a while. I hope you don''t mind," Kraft Viton cast a troubled look at Michael.

    "That''s perfectly fine. There is no need for you to break your back to train me. I can use my time differently as well," Michael reassured him that everything was fine, "But it''s funny that we can never find a day and time to start the training for real. The books were insightful but I believe that your teachings will be even more helpful."

    Michael thought about the Sacred Desert and looked troubled, "How bad is the situation in the Sacred Desert? If you need any help, I can give you a helping hand. I don''t want mankind to lose control of the Sacred Desert. My brother was¡­killed in the Sacred Desert, and I have a bad feeling that the Undead forces were somehow rted to his death¡­other than someone rted to the Zan household scheming against my brother, of course."

    It was the first time Michael told Kraft Viton about his brother''s death and the few pieces of information he''d gathered until now. However, the old man didn''t seem to be surprised.

    "I will take that into consideration. But aren''t you busy dealing with your territory? I doubt that you have enough time to wage war against the Undead."

    The corners of Michael''s lip curled upward, "Of course, I would be asking for something. I''m stillcking an Intermediate Summoning Core to upgrade my Summoning Gate to the Intermediate rank. It''s a shame that nobody exchanged one of their Intermediate Summoning Cores in the Soultrait Symbol Auction."

    Michael chuckled lightly, "Either way, I can give you a helping hand. In the worst case, I''ll return to my territory with one of the Silver Tokens of Transportation. Lords can use it to return to their territory as well, after all."

    Kraft Viton stared at Michael for a second or two, a glimmer of something shing through his eyes, "Right. We can send Lords over there. A simple contract is all it takes to pay them generously to fight the Undead. They can return with a cheap Silver Token of Transportation."

    "Like I said, I only need an Intermediate Summoning Core. And I wouldn''t sign a contract that forces me to return to my territory once the Undead forces have been exterminated. I want to research the causes of my brother''s death thoroughly."

    Kraft Viton didn''t pay any more attention to Michael, causing the youthful Lord to grin. Usually, he was the absentminded person in a discussion.

    "I will return to the Origin Expanse. You can use the Superior Communication Charm to inform me when you need me. I''ll leave the Origin Expanse and we can talk," Michael retrieved one of the few Superior Communication Charms he''d procured not too long ago.

    They were rather simple. While it was not possible tomunicate over a distance of millions of kilometers, it was possible to trigger the effect of the linked Communication Charms. All one had to do was channel a bit of energy into one of the Communication Charms to inform the person with the linked Communication Charm that someone wanted to talk to them.

    It was unfortunate, but Michael hadn''t managed to convince the Forest Elven Elders to sell him their Apex Communication Devices. They allowed the Forest Elven Elders tomunicate easily no matter how vast the distance between the caller and the recipient. The only issue was the increasing power consumption. The farther the recipient, the more energy would be consumed per second.

    "That''s a good idea. Your insights are pretty good as well. Don''t get hurt, and enjoy your life a little bit more. There is no point in stressing about things you cannot change," Kraft Viton advised Michael.

    "Good luck with your lecture. Teach the High Society a good lesson. I want to see them suffer a bit," Michael joked, manifesting the Runic Gate once again to return to the Origin Expanse.

    ''Will he ask me for help? What if he does? Dealing with the Undead shouldn''t be too hard with my strength, but will I be able to find out more about Danny''s death?''

    Michael scratched the back of his head after he emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate. He reappeared in the wooden manor, and decided to do something useful, such as sorting out the techniques he''d obtained over thest few weeks.

    It was about time that he upgraded his Breathing Technique, Body Refinement technique, Mind Refinement technique, and that he started practicing his first Soul Technique and Core technique to reinforce his Pir of Light properly.

    He already had a pretty good Mind Refinement technique, but Ceasurium Menta was not considered one of mankind''s Apex-

    rank techniques. In the first ce, apex-rank techniques from the human race were equivalent to some of the better Common ss Techniques Michael had procured from traitorous Descendants and the Tekur.

    That meant he had to study the Tekur''s techniques to see if he could use them given the difference in their races'' anatomies, and if the traitorous Descendants'' techniques were dangerous.

    Michael was not sure if the Supreme Human Alliance had manipted the minds of the traitorous Descendants by altering the techniques they had gifted to the traitors for betraying their own kind. It wouldn''t surprise Michael if some of the techniques had some nasty alterations that messed with the mind.

    One way or another, Michael had various tomes and scrolls to extract. He could learn a lot from the techniques, including the creation method used to produce Legacy Arts and Inheritance Techniques.

    He retrieved all techniques he''d umted over thest few months and extracted their Knowledge Wisps. The content written down in the books dispersed, forming the Knowledge Wisps thatnded in Michael''s palm.

    He consumed the Knowledge Wisps one after another while applying severalyers of Enhancement on his brain. Contrary to the theoretical knowledge he''d procured from the massive number of books Kraft Viton had given to him, Michael learned a lot more practical knowledge, advice, tips and tricks, and improved hisprehensive understanding from the techniques'' Knowledge Wisps.

    His understanding of each technique improved significantly. But that was not all. The memories of the techniques'' former owners resurfaced in his mind. The experiences of the technique users merged with theprehensive understanding of the techniques, further deepening his mastery.

    He didn''t steal all techniques from the Awakened he''d killed. Instead, most rare techniques entered his pockets, thanks to the Soultrait Symbol Auction. It had been very useful and an easy way to procure Superior ranked, and Apex ranked techniques from the elderly powerhouses of the Human, Berserker, and Warlock Centaur races.

    Interestingly enough, the mind refinement techniques and the breathing techniques of the Warlock Centaurs were much better than the equivalent received from the old human powerhouses. Michael didn''t expect it, but it was certainly a great gain.

    "I should rece all my elderly techniques, but what perform I want to focus on?"

    Each technique had specific characteristics they focused on. Combining techniques wildly without paying attention to their forte could lead toplications. Furthermore, Michael should have to alter some techniques to use them. The biggest issue was the body-refinement technique. He procured some useful techniques from the Tekur and Berserkers, but he was not certain which one to use.

    The Berserkers'' body refinement techniques were incredible. Their potency was on par with a peak-quality Common ss Body Refinement technique. However, their techniques were tailormade for a bulky body with high endurance and strength. Michael didn''t like that. Until now, he had been more focused on power bursts and agility. His body''s resilience was also not that bad thanks to Superior Constitution, but that didn''t mean he had to focus on further strengthening his endurance.

    Michael spent the next two days altering some techniques before testing them out. His initial tests failed miserably, forcing him to ask Reba to help him out with her Soultrait and Inheritance Technique. She pointed out the mistakes in the techniques, the domino effect caused by the changes he made, and potential risks.

    Reba''s help was incredible. Without her, Michael should have been injured hundreds of times and he would have been sitting in confusion for several weeks before finallying to a conclusion.

    He finally knew what techniques he wanted to practice, and he had already adjusted all of them to fit him. They were customized to suit him perfectly!

    [Breathing Technique ¨C Breath of the Underworld]

    [Core Technique ¨C Primordial Pir]

    [Soul Technique ¨C Sanctum of Life]

    [Body Refinement ¨C Consirat of War]

    [Mind Refinement ¨C Wisdom Breaker]

    [Energy Cirction ¨C Leviathan Diffusion(Upgraded)]

    [Energy Absorption ¨C Pantheon''s Dawn]

 Chapter 571 Triple Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 571 Triple Trouble</h4>

    571 Triple Trouble

    A silent week passed quickly in which no untoward incident urred. Michael had been focused on his new techniques to gain a higher mastery, while simultaneously re-refining his Mind and Body.

    Since his Mind and Body had already been refined to a higher degree, it didn''t consume too much of his precious time topletely re-refine his physique and mind to the Peak of the 2nd Tier. Following that, Michael practiced Sanctum of Life to refine his Soul and Primordial Pir to conjure supporting structures around the Pir of Light.

    Michael consumed far more Energy Stones in a single week than he''d been willing to usest year. The energy consumption of the techniques was tremendous, but the results were equally great. It was certainly worth using so many Energy Crystals and Intermediate Nutrient Pills to elerate his progress.

    After the week of silence passed, the situation all around his territory had changed considerably. The dangers posed by the Zentika Empire increased. ording to the scouts sent into the Zentika Empire, the Empire''s citizens were displeased with the Zentika Empire''s council. Their morale was low and a civil war was not far away. The revolutionary forces hiding within the Zentika Empire spread rumors all while preparing for the final strike against the Zentika Empire''s Council.

    However, the rumors dispersed swiftly. The Native Empire used their connections to procure expensive materials from outside the Origin Expanse to make up for their farmers'' losses. Taros and his Red Dragon disappeared after destroying most farms in the Zentika Empire. This resulted in a severeck of food, which was resolved temporarily with goods from the outside world.

    The long term solution was to reconstruct the farms and to expand the empire''s range of authority into the Untamed Jungle. The monster poption of the Untamed Jungle was incredibly high, and it was a high energy dense area. Reconstructing the farms near or within the Untamed Jungle would grant various benefits to their crop.

    Invading the Untamed Jungle turned into one of the council''s campaigns to soothe the poption''s anger and to show their people that their military prowess was still high and mighty.

    Micheal had to control himself to avoid bursting outughing like a crazy maniac when the first scouts returned to report their finds. They said that some of the Zentika Empire''s forces had set up a camp near the Untamed Jungle''s border. However, instead of choosing the direct path that led straight into the Untamed Jungle, the forces took a detour.

    They set up the camp on the northernmost border to the Untamed Jungle to avoid the outer ring that had been bombarded with Chaos Pills a year ago.

    [Sun Demos!] Michael reached out through his mind using the taming bond, [Come to me and pick up some Scouts and Archers to observe the Zentika Empire''s camp. Allow them to enter the Untamed Jungle and hunt some monsters. Strike the monsters from behind when they expect it the least, but don''t kill too many at once. Don''t overdo it, otherwise, they will move out withrger groups, which will make it more difficult to hunt them down inconspicuously.]

    Michael had been preparing a bunch of weapons for the Immortal Knight and his people in the Savannah Region, but Sun Demos could make use of them as well. He retrieved the Spirit Armaments ordered from the Relic of Draka to hand them over to the Savannah Region''s expedition and transferred a few Overcharged Elemental Crystals into a small pouch.

    The pouch had been sealed to prevent any energy fluctuations from escaping. That was necessary to prevent the Overcharged Elemental Crystals from exploding. He handed them to one of the Scouts and gave precise orders.

    "Channeling a trace of vitality into the Overcharged Energy Crystals is enough to trigger the countdown. Install the crystals in the camp, whenever you can. Do it either close to the most crowded areas where all tents are located, or close to the center where most magical devices have been installed. Once you trigger one of the Overcharged Energy Crystals, you have to run away, or you will die 30 secondster. I didn''t have enough time to experiment with the explosion''s radius, but since we''re using low-quality Energy Crystals, it shouldn''t be too big."

    The Scout could only nod weakly. His hands trembled as he epted the pouch filled with Overcharged Elemental Crystals.

    It didn''t take long before Sun Demos and a small unit of his Blood Oath Demon Monkeys arrived in the domain center to pick up a few dozen Archers and Scouts to carry them to the northernmost borderline between the Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire.

    The Legendary Summon, Tatjana, decided to join Sun Demos'' group as well. She was curious about Michael''s tamed monster and the characteristics of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. They intrigued her, and it was not like she was overly busy right now. Tatjana hadn''t been assigned a proper task just yet. But to keep herself upied, she taught the other tamers about the taming techniques and principles that she had been taught in the past.

    "The Zentika Empire could turn into a problem if the Savannah Region''s expedition fails, My Lord!" One of the older attendants standing next to Michael mentioned.

    "I know, but we will be fine," He responded while tapping one of the Spirit Armaments created by the Relic of Draka.

    Michael had been preparing a few simple Spirit Weapons for a while now. His initial n had been to sell them in the Jungle Shop, but it didn''t seem like a bad n to start loaning out weapons and armaments. The Immortal Knight and other powerful Summons would do fairly well with the external enhancements provided by Spirit Armaments. Theirbat prowess would increase considerably.

    Michael called for another Scout, whom he gave three pouches filled with Overcharged Emerald Crystals and a small spatial satchel filled with the Spirit Armaments and some other goods he''d created with the intention to support Immortal Knight and the Savannah Expedition.

    Combining the Overcharged Elemental Crystals with Zeroa''s spatial affinity and Stinger''s unique perk, it should be feasible to bombard a few settlements with a lethal attack.

    Michael wanted to help the Savannah Expedition further but he figured that his current position was the most helpful. If something happened to his left, he could use Icarus to help the Savannah Expedition swiftly. The same was possible if Sun Demos and his Demon Monkeys were to fail their mission. Michael could reach them in no time to help out.

    That wouldn''t be possible if he joined the Savannah Expedition. Last but not least, the monster poption in the Untamed Jungle kept increasing. Facing enemies from three sides didn''t allow Michael to make any big moves.

    The only help Michael could provide to the Immortal Knight was a bunch of resources, Spirit Armaments, and as many pieces of information as possible. The information included more details about his people''s personality, the Awakened''s Soultraits, strengths and weak points, and the true extent of Stinger and Zeroa''s power.

    "My Lord!!!" A flustered voice reverberated through the domain center when Michael was just about to return to his room to continue practicing his new techniques.

    He turned to the source of the voice and raised an eyebrow. A young Summon, a teenager, who had been killed too early for his own good, rushed toward him.

    "We noticed something unusual on the Pir of Territorial Awareness!" The teenager blurted out, his voice filled with confusion and a trace of fear.

    "Take a few deep breaths to calm down. Tell me what you have noticed," Michael spoke calmingly to the young boy, whose chest heaved up and down heavily.

    "There are¡­red dots¡­northwest of the jungle''s outer ring¡­

    dozens of them. They are heading toward the settlement of the Trnce, in the direction of the settlement that is connected to the Untamed Jungle."

    Michael tensed up instantly. He stared intently at the young teenager and gave him a curt nod.

    "Thanks. I will take over from here."

    Michael circted origin energy through his lower body and exerted his physical strength to the fullest to kick the ground and dash toward the Greater Nature Spirit. He saw the Pir of Territorial Awareness from far away, including the red dots that were rapidly approaching the border settlement of the Zynur Lord.

    ''Sun Demos and his people are already moving to the east, and the Savannah Expedition won''t be able to do anything even if I warn them now. They must be in a fight right now.''

    The timing was impable. It was too good to be true. The appearance of the red dots was not a coincidence.

    ''Interesting.''

    Without wasting time, Michael manifested the Legendary Ring Artifact and the Spirit Armor Set. He utilized Enhancement on his lower body and jumped on top of the Greater Nature Spirit to cross over to the nearest canopy bridgework. Once he reached the canopy bridge, Michael''s movements elerated.

    He turned into a sh and disappeared. It took only a few seconds to leave the safety of his domain and only a minute before he reached the end of the canopy bridgework. He jumped across the railing andnded smoothly on the closest branch. Michael kept jumping from one branch to another whereas his eyes traveled to the faraway location of the Zynur Lord''s border settlement.

    He activated Spirit Eyes to see the vitality variability through other objects. It was hard to see through the high energy dense air and the energy conducive trees that were filled with lifeforce and purified origin energy, but Michael managed to make out some details.

    The reinforcement of the Council of Xylon had invaded the Untamed Jungle.

 Chapter 572 Xylonâ€™s Invaders

    <h4>Chapter 572 Xylon''s Invaders</h4>

    572 Xylon''s Invaders

    Michael could easily tell that the invading forces belonged to the Council of Xylon. He didn''t know any other alliance with this many different races. Other than the Council of Xylon, of course.

    There were more than a hundred Awakened from more than 50 races, and it didn''t take Michael long before he realized that the number of invaders was higher than indicated on the Pir of Territorial Awareness. More Awakened must have entered the Greater Nature Spirit''s domain on his way to the border.

    ''200? No. There are almost 300 Awakened. Every single one of them is at the 3rd Tier as well,'' Michael was perched high up on a treetop near the invading forces with Spirit Eyes fully unleashed.

    Spirit Eyes allowed him to see a lot. That included the threads that connected the Awakened with their Artifacts. Michael could easily pinpoint Awakened through the special threads of Artifacts. Summons didn''t have those threads even if they were wield an Artifact. It was just an ordinary Armament in their hands.

    The connection between the Artifacts and the Awakened allowed the wielder to retract the Artifacts at will and to benefit from the advantages of the Artifacts'' external enhancement.

    Michael had a great advantage by being able to pinpoint Awakened easily. Most would have to look out for their War Rune, or wait until an Awakened used their Soultrait to determine whether they were Summons or Awakened, but Michael could identify them easily.

    Spirit Eyes was also how Michael distinguished thebat prowess of his enemies. Awakened were usually stronger than Summons at the same rank. There were exceptions like the Immortal Knight, obviously, but Artifacts and Soultraits made up for a big chunk of an Awakened''sbat prowess.

    ''It''s still a surprise to see close to 300 Awakened attack the Trnce from behind. They''re rather strong as well. Is that the Council of Xylon''s Elite Unit?'' Michael wondered, only to recall something he had heard quite often in the past few days.

    If the Trnce could request support from their ns and higher-ups outside the Origin Expanse, the Lords from the Council of Xylon could do the same.

    ''So some Lords from the Council of Xylon asked for help, and they sent over a bunch of Elite Awakened? Or are those forces the Elite Awakened that had been held back until now, like a trump card to be used at the right opportunity?''

    Either way, Michael had to intervene. The border settlement of the Zynur Lord was protected by some guards, but the majority of the Trnce''s military power had been called to the battlefield.

    ''Smart n. Unfortunately, you are missing out on the fact that the Untamed Jungle is not a yground!''

    It was fairly intelligent to send out a small group of powerful Awakened to take a detour around the Trnce''s territory and invade the Untamed Jungle to strike the Trnce where they expected it the least. But their intelligentwork didn''t seem to be all that great, otherwise, they would have known that there was another Lord in the Untamed Jungle; the Lord who exterminated the Kitsun Lord, resulting in the start of the Regional War, in the first ce.

    Michael returned silently to the ground, Spirit Eyes'' power amplified with a Soul Tear and severalyers of Enhancement. He used the thicket and monstrous tree trunks to hide from his ignorant enemies while stalking them. They couldn''t see him, but Michael could see through the trees and thicket. Their lifeforce and the origin energypressed into their pir of light was easily perceptible for him after Soul Tears and Enhancement amplified Spirit Eyes'' potency and efficiency.

    The cogs in his mind began to rattle and he was just about to manifest Aethyr when he noticed something. The Awakened didn''t move in one unit. They were split up into small groups to stay close to each other. Only two groups seemed tomunicate with each other, but Michael felt that they were only moving as a huge group because they looked almost the same.

    ''They don''t like to mingle with other races. Not the best move if you were to ask me,'' Michael mumbled in his head.

    He reached the back of the group and had yet to be noticed. Michael was surprised that nobody had taken note of him, but that yed in his favor.

    He used Extraction around his body to extract his body odor, the vibrations of his steps, and the sounds he made while stalking around the group of Awakened as well as possible. It was not perfect, but the sounds, sweat, and vibrations of the Awakened did enough to overshadow thest bits of smell, vibrations, and sounds of himself that he couldn''t extract.

    Michael held his breath and appeared behind the group that was the furthest in the back. The distance to the next closest group was only ten meters but a thicket separated them. Michael shot forward, manifested the Aethyr dagger, covered it in a thickyer of Reinforced Sword Qi, and sliced the throat of the nearest Awakened.

    He covered the Awakened''s mouth to muffle the noises he was about to make, but the two Awakened who had been walking with him noticed that something was off. They turned around, confused as to why their colleague stopped talking all of a sudden, only to see the Grim Reaper stare down upon them with vibrant golden eyes.

    Both Awakened held their heads and fell to their knees when Michael''s Spiritual Domination impacted heavily on them, making them feel as if their heads would burst apart. However, they couldn''t even groan in pain as a Soul cicle Bullet covered in Reinforced Sword Qi shot via their parted lips. The Soul cicle Bullet pierced through the soft flesh in their mouth and burst apart, releasing highlypressed freezing mist down their throat.

    Michael jumped forward, the Aethyr dagger transforming into a long de correct before he beheaded the two Awakened with swift shes.

    He didn''t have any time to calm down or take a breather. Michael extended his origin energy to store the corpses of the three Awakened the moment their energy influx reached him. In the next moment, he disappeared into the densely grown jungle again.

    The group near the three Awakened that fell victim to Michael didn''t notice anything. One of them looked to the left with a boring, almost lethargic gaze, only to realize that the three Awakened were missing.

    "Are we thest in line? I could swear that someone had been behind us," He mumbled, only to give it a shrug. Maybe, he was mistaken, or maybe, the group next to them had moved ahead with fast strides. Whatever it was, he couldn''t care less.

    It was not until a faint rustling sound behind the Awakened triggered his rm. His danger senses went haywire and he jumped around, raised his weapon, and attacked. His eyes glimmered as he triggered his Soultrait, but it was already toote. The Grim Reaper with golden eyes had already appeared in front of him.

    A long silver de pierced forward and the Awakened''s sight turned hazy as a bad headache impacted him. He could barely open his mouth to utter a single word before the world around him turned dark.

    "Run¡­"

    His voice was silent, but following the squishing of the Aethyr de piercing via the Awakened''s neck, the danger senses within the other Awakened next to their colleague were triggered. They turned around, their Soultraits activated instinctively. However, as their heads turned around, all they could see were hundreds of Icicles covered with a silver membrane.

    The icicles were manifested from cicle and heightened with Reinforced Sword Qi. They shot forward as Michael unleashed them with a burst of energy, impacting heavily onto the Awakened and their Artifacts. The freezing perk of cicle came to full effect as they froze the Awakened''s Armor, skin, and the flesh underneath in the instance the cicle shattered. One of the Awakened reacted just in time to conjure a shield using his Soultrait in front of himself, but Michael was even faster to react.

    He noticed that the Awakened would respond fast enough to survive and utilized his physical superiority to appear behind the Awakened correct after the cicles shattered the Awakened''s shield. The Awakened tried to conjure a second shield and move around to face Michael head-on, but Michael''s physical strength, speed, and his reaction time were much higher than the Awakened due to Enhancement, Spirit Eyes, and Superior Constitution being in full use.

    The Aethyr de pierced via the Awakened''s chest, cleanly cutting through the armor''s seams. Michael twisted the de in the wound before sting ayer of Reinforced Sword Qi inside his body to turn a severe injury into a mortal wound.

    Michael transformed the Aethyr de into a small dagger instead of retracting the weapon. He didn''t waste any momentum and issued a second attack, slicing the Aethyr dagger via the Awakened''s throat. Following that, a fountain of blood gushed out of the Awakened''s throat. His eyes widened, terror and disbelief glimmering inside them until the traces of life dispersed.

    The Awakened''s eyes turned hollow and cold. He was dead.

    Michael, however, was not yet done. The other Awakened were half frozen, but not yet dead. He transformed the Aethyr Dagger into a huge Warhammer and spun around his axis, using the momentum to crush one of the half-frozen Awakened. The other Awakened released a bullet conjured from air to attack Michael but he didn''t even try to evade him.

    The air bullet was aimed at the Spirit Armor Set and it didn''t even put a dent into it. Even if it would have destroyed the Spirit Armor Set, it wouldn''t have enough power remaining to harm Michael. Thus, instead of evading the attack, Michael took it head-on to finish the final Awakened of the second small group and end the battle a bit faster.

    "7 Awakened down. 290ish left to kill."

 Chapter 573 One vs All

    <h4>Chapter 573 One vs All </h4>

    573 One vs All

    Michael collected and stored the Awakened''s corpses in the War Rune before retreating once again.

    He expected to attract the attention of the groups close to him, but nobody turned around in a hurry. Themotion of his surprise attacks was not as attention-grabbing as he had expected. Erupting the Dome of Extraction to extract the majority of the sounds, smell, vibration, temperature changes, and energy fluctuations during the fight had been quite helpful.

    It was not perfect, but it was good enough that most of them did not suspect an enemy lurking in the shadows or expected to be in immediate danger. Nheless, some Awakened turned around in confusion. They felt that something was wrong but they couldn''t make out what happened.

    ''That won''t work anymore,'' Michael figured, sensing that everyone was a lot more vignt than before. Their danger senses picked up something, and it affected the Awakened subconsciously. They raised their guard to be ready to fight at all times.

    Michael changed his position and retreated further. His head flicked to the right where some predators were hiding in the shadows of the towering trees. The creatures avoided the Awakened, their instincts telling them that the Awakened were strong enough to end their lives. Maybe, they could kill one of them, but that was not enough against enemies ranging in the hundreds.

    Michael appeared behind the predators suddenly and unleashed the full power of the Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might. The dragon might enveloped the predators, who reacted instantaneously. Their instincts told them to run for their lives, and that was exactly what they did.

    They dashed away from Michael and the dragon might. The predators made amotion as they ran hither thither like headless chickens, which attracted the Awakeend''s attention. The Awakened unsheathed their weapons and nced to their left side where they saw dozens of predators charge ahead.

    Their first thought was that the predators noticed them and decided to initiate a astonish attack on them. However, they noticed quickly that the monsters were running away from something.

    Their vignce increased by a notch, while the tension in their bodies skyrocketed.

    The Awakened stared at their left, ready to face a monstrosity strong enough to scare mighty Tier-3 predators. But nothing came. No more sounds reached them from the left. Instead, screams of pain and muffled noises resounded through the vicinity from the other side.

    Michael didn''t attack the hidden force of the Council of Xylon openly for now. He used the fleeing predators to distract the Awakened and pull their focus away. He then shot to the other side, utilizing the Heavenly Beast Physique.

    Michael had been altering the Common ss Soul Technique a little bit, adjusting the technique to Superior Constitution''s characteristics. Simultaneously, Michael used up several Soul Tears to strengthen his Soul, along with his Soultraits, Superior Constitution, Enhancement, and Reinforced Sword Qi.

    Heavenly Beast Physique''s potency raised to new heights thanks to Soul Tear''s potency amplification while applying severalyers of Enhancement to his physique, Reinforced Sword Qi, and the Aethyr de that had grown out of his hand.

    Everyyer of Enhancement resulted in increased efficiency, and power amplification of roughly 63% due to Soul Tear''s potency reinforcement. Enhancement''s tremendous power was enough to elevate Michael''s raw physical strength to the Peak of Tier-3. Meanwhile, Heavenly Beast Physique granted enough strength to push him beyond the Peak of Tier-3.

    Michael''s raw physical strength skyrocketed and was eerily close to the raw force a Higher Lifeform could unleash.

    He appeared on the other side of the hidden force, the Aethyr de mantled in Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi, and initiated a gruesome massacre. He twisted his body and lunged forward, the Aethyr de beheading one Awakened with a single strike. Using the umted momentum to his advantage, Michael released the Reinforced Sword Qi at the tip of the Aethyr de, creating a projectile with tremendous destructive power.

    The Sword Qi projectile burst through the 1-Star Tier-1 Leather Armor Artifact of the next closest Awakened, piercing deep into his chest.

    Michael kicked the ground the moment the umted momentum had been used up. A single push was all it took to cross the remaining distance to reach the next group of Awakened. The Aethyr de transformed into a huge war axe as Michael plunged the Aethyr downward. Warm blood gushed in all directions as the targeted Awakened split in two.

    Michael''s danger sense kicked in a quarter of a secondter. He retracted the Aethyr and leapt high into the air. A Qi Sword manifested beneath him in the air barely a fraction of a secondter. It was angled and pointed a little sideways, allowing Michael to push to the side the moment his feet touched the Qi Sword.

    Michael didn''t hesitate a single second. He kicked the Qi Sword, shattering it as he propelled his body to a different spot within the vicinity. He somersaulted as he was about to crash into a nearby tree and kicked the tree trunk just in time tond back on the ground.

    While showing off his acrobatic talent, Michael didn''t stay idle either. He conjured hundreds of cicles in the undergrowth within his range and inserted a trace of Extraction into them. Everyone''s focus was pulled to him, hiding the subtle energy fluctuations his cicles exuded naturally. Only a few observed the cicles, and even they didn''t react fast enough as Michael unleashed them with a burst of energy.

    The cicle shot in all directions, impacting near-

    instantaneously as they reached the closest targets. The traces of Extraction entered the bodies and Artifacts of the Awakened naturally due to Insert''ssting effect. The traces took root inside the enemies and devoured their energy at once.

    Michael erupted the Dome of Extraction to extract more lifeforce and energy from his surroundings. Hundreds of Extraction tendrils shot out of the ground and tapped into the flora and fauna around him to replenish Michael''s stamina and energy instantaneously. Michael used the replenished energy to empower Extraction and insert therge tendrils into the Awakened, which were daring enough to get close to him.

    Dozens of Awakened rushed at him, but none of them could block the Extraction ¨C Insertbination. They tried to block the golden tendrils as they entered their bodies but it was to no avail.

    ''These guys are definitely not an Elite force from the Council''s ns.''

    Michael had enough time to analyze his enemies and it was pretty obvious that though the Council''s forces were stronger than ordinary people, they weren''t extraordinary. The Valyr Lordess'' Super Elite Force would crush the 300 Awakened in the Untamed Jungle with ease, probably without losing a single Valyrian as well!

    ''Maybe, the Council''s Lord didn''t receive as much help as the Trnce because everyone is certain of their victory? They''re a Patchwork Kingdom with more than 100 Lords, after all. There is no need for all of them to request the help of their respective races'' Super Elite forces¡­''

    Michael was not certain whether his guesses were right or not, but he could tell fairly easily that the teamwork of the Awakened could have been better. Their Soultraits were well-

    trained, but as they were ordinary Adventurers without Lord Powers, the Soul Power they''d umted left much to be desired. The Adventurers'' Soultraits were hardly amplified.

    Theplete opposite was the case for Michael. His Soultraits were all powerful and each of his Soultraits had amassed a tremendous amount of Soul Power, granting him the power needed to manifest close to 100pressed cicle Swords that were further amplified with Reinforced Sword Qi and traces of Extraction inserted in them.

    The cicle Swords appeared around Michael seemingly out of nowhere. They appeared all of a sudden, almost as if retrieved from Michael''s spatial storage, and were released with a burst of energy a quarter of a secondter. The Awakened in his immediate surroundings tried to react in time, but they didn''t manage to evade the iing attack despite their quick reflexes. They erupted with origin energy and retrieved shields from their War Rune''s storage, or utilized their defensive-type Soultraits, but the massive cicle Swords rained down on them like a shower of deadly projectiles.

    Following Michael''smands, the cicle Swords pierced through the defenses until they were forcefully stopped. By the time the cicle Swords were stopped, theyer of Reinforced Sword Qi erupted with tremendous power. The cicle Swords shattered, releasing the freezing mist that had beenpressed within, while simultaneously pushing the Sword Qi projectile ahead.

    Chaos and death descended on the Awakened soon after.

    [A/N: I released a new - rather short - story on Royalroad. It''s called Forgotten Lands. If you''re interested check it out. The story has been collecting dust in my docs for a while. Read it and give it a rating. It might turn into a proper story if you guys like it/rate it well ;D]

 Chapter 574 Roots & Dragon

    <h4>Chapter 574 Roots & Dragon</h4>

    574 Roots & Dragon

    As the fight progressed, the pull of the Cursed Seals grew stronger. Michael''s insides felt like burning as the Cursed Seals demanded to be activated, their power unleashed, and their terror rapidly spreading through the Origin Expanse.

    Since the day Michael learned more about the Cursed Seals, he could feel their presence within him more easily. He could manifest them at will and unleash their power at once. However, Michael didn''t want to do that. It was not necessary to unleash the Cursed Seals. They were dangerous, and it was not unlikely that he would lose his mind mid-battle.

    Michael was not willing to manifest the Cursed Seals if it was not desperately required, or if he was not in a safe environment to experiment and study the Cursed Seals.

    The burning sensation of the Cursed Seals bothered him a little bit, but Michael didn''t have any time toin. He was focused on the situation ahead because he had underestimated the strength of his enemies.

    The hidden forces of the Council of Xylon were stronger than he initially thought. After the initial surprise attacks seeded, Michael didn''t think too highly of them. Almost half of them were dead by the time they realized what cmity had struck them. However, once they regained their senses, they managed to expel the traces of extraction that had been inserted into them.

    After that, their defenses grew stronger and they managed to slow down Michael''s killing spree.

    Maybe, his initial assessment of the hidden forces had been a little bit too hasty.

    The Awakened gathered in a small open area. One of them released zing mes to burn the undergrowth and surrounding bushes, removing all potential hiding spots and dead angles with ease. The second batch of cicles hidden within the undergrowth was exposed and burned slowly.

    The mes were not as strong as Zeroa''s mythical mes, but they were quite powerful nheless. It was enough to melt the fragile cicles rather easily.

    Michael disliked that cicle was quite fragile. He liked the Ice-

    type Soultrait for its freezing trait and low energy consumption, but it was way too fragile and weak for his liking.

    He clicked his tongue and disappeared in the tree top of the towering trees. Several Qi Swords plunged toward the ground with great velocity, only to be shattered by arge obsidian hand that manifested out of nowhere. The Obsidian Hand blocked two Qi Swords right before crushing them easily. Following the Obsidian Hand, more Soultraits were unleashed.

    Michael had Spirit Eyes fully unleashed and pinpointed more than a dozen Armament-type Soultraits, two Summon-type Soultraits, and a handful of Elemental-type Soultraits. The remaining Soultraits either amplified the Awakened physically, acted as a means of support for their allies, or ought to inflict a negative effect upon Michael.

    However, Michael couldn''t sense anything. His senses weren''t restrained and nothing else felt odd or different either.

    ''Weird,'' He thought right before lightning bolts zapped past his head. One of them missed him by a hair''s breadth. If he hadn''t tilted his head at thest possible second, he would have been struck right in the center of his face.

    His eyes widened, realization dawning upon him.

    ''Prognosis is dyed, and I cannot sense their projectiles anymore!''

    But that was not all. Michael was on top of one of the bigger trees and his energy was concealed perfectly. It should have been impossible for the Awakened to sense him. Yet, instead of being unable to detect him, they found him easily and attacked him with great precision.

    ''Is that a Detection Soultrait?!"

    That made everything a little bit more difficult. He initially nned to retreat and attackter at night or warn the guards in the border settlement before toying with the Awakened a bit more. Unfortunately, that didn''t seem feasible anymore. The Detection Soultrait made everything a tad more difficult, especially since it wasbined with a Soultrait that hid projectiles from Spirit Eyes.

    It had been a while since his eyes weren''t able to detect something. That wasn''t a wee change.

    Michael jumped down to the ground, created the Soul Grimoire, and used two Soul Tears, one for Extraction, and the second to amplify Taming.

    The Dome of Extraction spread through the vicinity and tapped into every source of lifeforce and energy in its range right before Michael tapped into the Taming Soultrait to activate Power Share.

    He was not that close to hispanions but it was still possible to use Power Share. The energy consumption increased with the distance, but Michael and the Elemental Empress were fine with that right now. Zeroa was in the middle of a battle against some powerful forces, and she had signaled that she was in need of more strength, requesting his support.

    Michael provided this strength by unleashing Power Share, sharing his Soultraits with Zeroa whereas her Elementals Affinities were temporarily unlocked to Michael.

    He sensed that the Elemental Empress tapped into the power of Superior Constitution, Extraction, and Enhancement all at once. Meanwhile, Michael coated his body in the Elemental Empress'' mythical mes. The sudden surge in temperature took the Awakened by surprise as they were greeted by a st of heat.

    However, even more surprising were the roots that shot out of the ground all around the Awakened. The Awakened were guarded against Michael and the zing mes that enveloped him like a sacred armor. They didn''t expect something to emerge from the ground. A handful of the smaller roots prated through the calves of the Awakened without leg protection, whereas thicker roots coiled around their lower bodies, restraining them. Their movements were slowed and it didn''t take long before they were rendered immobile.

    Not even the Mid Tier-3 Awakened with physical Soultraits could move no matter how much they tried as dozens of roots that were as thick as an adult''s waist coiled around them, suffocating their bodies.

    A momentter, a humongous dragon headpressed from azure mythical mes manifested in front of them. The dragon head was several meters high and wide and it radiated the terrifying pressure of a real dragon. The Awakened unleashed their Soultraits once again before shing at the roots restraining them. However, before they could cut through the roots, more roots shot out of the ground.

    More and more roots emerged from the ground, tightly coiling around the Awakened as the humongous dragon head shot forward, burning everything in its path.

    Screams of pain and terror filled the air alongside the smell of burned flesh. However, Michael didn''t pay much attention to the screams. He shot forward and created dozens of Reinforced Qi Swords to pierce through the small gaps in the burning roots, piercing the razor-sharp Qi Swords into the helpless Awakened.

    Dozens of Awakened managed to block the majority of the azure mythical mes, but Michael managed to strike enough to receive more energy influxes in the following 30 seconds. The scenery around him was filled with a huge azure campfire, dozens of burning Awakened, and the desperate survivors, who had barely escaped the roots'' restraints.

    Michael experienced the strain on his body and he dispelled his control of the roots and the zing armor. He continued to use Power Share, allowing Zeroa to tap into his Soultraits'' Power, but he stopped using her power. She was too far away from him to make full use of her Lesser Nature Affinity.

    ''That was interesting!''

    Michael chuckled to himself before unleashing the Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might once again. This time, however, Michael merged the dragon might with the Dome of Extraction and his naturally intimidating presence. His first actions instilled fear and desperation in the hearts of the survivors, nting the seed of fear inside them. The full extent of dragon might that was merged with his intimidating presence was enough to stimte the seed of fear and let it blossom into pure terror.

    The Awakened retreated subconsciously. They took a step back, their legs quivering in fear and disbelief, and their eyes widened in shock as the scenery around Michael changed once again.

    The area all around him transformed, hundreds of Qi Swords and cicle Swords manifesting at a time, rising in the air behind him. As the screams of the burning victims around him died down, thousands of cicle Swords and Qi Swords had been manifested, filling the proximity with deadly projectiles.

    "How do you have so much energy?!?" One of the Awakened screamed at the top of his lungs.

    "Soo many Soultraits¡­" Another one weeped.

    Michael merely smiled in response. He had more energy than ordinary Awakened, but it was not like his energy storage was several times bigger. However, he had Extraction, his trump card that could replenish his energy tens of times faster than others could only dream of. As long as his energy consumption didn''t exceed Extraction''s rapid drainage, Michael could fight for days, weeks, maybe even months without a break¡­until his body would break apart due to the excess wear and tear.

    A corner of his lips tilted upward. The survivors took this as a bad omen and retreated further. But they didn''t even manage to take two steps back before the thousands of Qi Swords and cicle Swords were released.

    A deadly hail ensued and chaos descended. The Awakened created Obsidian Hands, protective shields, and summoned their monsterpanions to protect themselves, but none of that was enough. The cicle Swords and Qi Swords shot through the Untamed Jungle ording to Michael''s will. Some crashed into the shields of the Awakened survivors, but the majority shot past them, prated deep into their flesh.

    In a matter of seconds, the remaining survivors turned into lifeless hedgehogs. Dozens of Swords prated each of them from all sides, bleeding them out. Those who nearly managed to escape Michael''s attacks were restrained and turned into victims of Michael''s Spiritual Domination. They didn''t expect the spiritual attack and suffered the bacsh.

    Their bodies were prated from all sides, thest remnants of life dispersing before they copsed lifelessly on the ground.

    Michael clicked his tongue reproachfully. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and rubbed his aching temples.

    "Well¡­that was a little intense."

 Chapter 575 Councilâ€™s Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 575 Council''s Trouble </h4>

    575 Council''s Trouble

    Michael didn''t waste much time after he dealt with thest Awakened. He collected their corpses and traveled to the Zynur Lord''s border settlement. The Guards were shocked and changed into a defensive stance the moment they saw Michael. But who could hold them ountable for that? Michael''s body was covered in blood and his clothes were half-burned.

    His appearance was fearsome enough to shake the bored Guards. Fortunately, one of the Guards on the walls recalled Michael and what their Lord had said about their friend from the Untamed Jungle.

    "He is an ally. Let him inside!" The Guard''s voice boomed through the vicinity and it didn''t take long before therge steel gate to the Untamed Jungle was opened.

    Now that the Guards knew that Michael was an ally, they saluted and greeted him formally. Michael, however, merely waved his hand.

    "Someone bring me a Communication Crystal that connects me with the Zynur Lord." His voice wasn''t loud, but itmanded obedience.

    Two Guards left at once, and it took them no more than ten minutes before they returned with an Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3.

    "I didn''t expect the Lord of the Untamed Jungle toe visit us. Especially not looking like¡­this," The Zynur Awakened managing the border settlement cleared his throat and added, "It''s an honor to meet you. Why do you have to speak with our Lord?"

    Despite sounding calm and kind, the sharpness within the Zynur Awakened''s voice was notable. However, Michael merely shrugged the Zynur''s attitude off. He retrieved some corpses from his War Rune''s storage instead of answering. The corpsesnded on the cobbled main street of the border settlement with loud thuds.

    "I found almost 300 Tier-3 Adventurers near the border settlement. You should understand what they would have done if they''d reached the settlement."

    The Zynur Awakened swallowed hard. His eyes were wide open and his jaw dropped to the ground.

    "The Council of Xylon," He realized, recalling some of the races that were part of the council.

    "All of them were decently powerful. Probably Elite at the lower scale."

    It took the Zynur Awakened a while to regain hisposure. However, once he regained his senses, he retrieved amunication crystal and handed it over to Michael.

    "It''s connected to the Trnce''s Lords. You might want to talk to all of them."

    Michael smiled, "Thanks."

    In the following half an hour, Michael called the Trnce''s Lords to report what happened in the Untamed Jungle. He didn''t leave out too many details. Michael revealed everything that had to be said.

    It was no surprise yet the Trnce''s Lords seemed surprised by the sudden attack from the Untamed Jungle. The Trnce had been certain that they wouldn''t have to worry about the dangers of the Untamed Jungle. Evidently, that was a mistake. A grave mistake that would have cost them the border settlement if not for Michael''s timely intervention.

    Michael proposed some changes in the Trnce''s ns and strategy and they assured him that they would think about it. The Trnce''s attitude toward the incident left a sour aftertaste, but Michael decided to ignore that for the time being. The Trnce was already under pressure from fighting continuously for thest few months. Pressing them to change their tactics just because he deemed them useless would harm their rtionship.

    That was not something Michael wanted for the time being. He didn''t want to make another enemy with the Trnce, not with the Zentika Empire stirring trouble, the increasing strength of monsters in his proximity, and the Council of Xylon overwhelming the Savannah Region.

    If anything, Michael would continue to use the Trnce as meat shields to eliminate more Awakened from the Council of Xylon without pulling their attention to the Untamed Jungle and his territory. Until the Council of Xylon was taken care of, Michael could somehow bear with the Trnce''s attitude. Afterward¡­

    Michael was not sure.

    Maybe, the dynamic between the Untamed Jungle and the Trnce would change once the Council was dissolved. But that was a question the future would answer. It was not necessary to break his head over that just yet.

    "Please keep the Communication Crystal, my lord! The Zynur Lord informed through his private channel that he would send me another one shortly," The Zynur Awakened''s attitude toward Michael changedpletely. He was overly formal and spoke to Michael with deep respect.

    Michael chuckled to himself but nodded. He kept the Communication Crystal and departed the border settlement not long after. His trip back to his territory was short. He was about to head for a short bath but stopped when his gaze fell on one of the warehouses.

    "I might as well¡­"

    Michael turned to the warehouse and went inside. He tapped into his Lord power and tugged on some Links of Loyalty ever so slightly. A minuteter, a dozen Starless Summons appeared in the warehouse. They''d sensed the slight pull and immediately went to their Lord.

    "Once I''m done extracting the Will''s loot, I want you guys to bring the corpses to theboratory. Maybe, they can find some valuable organs, or find something that the Mythic Alchemists can use," Michael ordered before retrieving the corpses of the 297 Tier-3 Adventurers.

    He manifested the Soul Grimoire and retrieved a Soul Tear to use it on Extraction before he unleashed Extraction to work on the bodies of the Adventurers.

    Extracting 297 bodies did not take long. However, Michael didn''t rush anything to extract as many Memory Orbs, SoulStar Fragments, and Soultraits as possible.

    The gains were quite decent. He procured 309 Memory Orbs, 31,035 SoulStar Fragments, and 41 Soultrait Symbols.

    Michael stored the loot away and gestured the Starless Summons to get to work. He returned to the Greater Nature Spirit''s side and sat down next to its massive trunk. Sitting next to the Greater Nature Spirit cross-legged would have been quite annoying under normal circumstances, but the Forest Pixies didn''t bother him right now. Instead, he found himself surrounded by tranquility where the Greater Nature Spirit''s domain and presence were the strongest.

    He initiated consuming the Memory Orbs once he found calm and peace deep inside him.

    Consuming 309 Memory Orbs took a while. However, since Michael had focused on Extraction to extract the Awakened''s memories about theirbat experiences, their techniques'' masteries, their Soultraits, and the missions they''d been given, he managed to procure the information he was looking for easily.

    "It''s exactly what I initially suspected," He murmured to himself.

    The Council of Xylon had been receiving support just like the Trnce. It gazed like the Lords of the council were preparing to destroy the Trnce in the following months before using their established settlements and the Untamed Jungle in the back as a protective wall to create indomitable fortresses in the final fight of supremacy against their allies.

    From what Michael could tell, almost all Lords of the council were thinking about betraying each other once the Trnce ceased to exist. Several alliances within the Council of Xylon had already been formed, including factions of Lords who''d signed Soul Pacts to rule the Savannah Region together once everything was over.

    Three bigger factions attracted Michael''s attention. More than 20 Lords were members of these factions, splitting the Patchwork Kingdom into threerge pieces ofnd once the Trnce perished.

    The politics and scheming of the 100ish Lords working together to kill the three Lords of the Trnce were disgusting, but they were also the reason why the Trnce was still thriving. All Lords had been given reinforcement from their ns and the Higher-ups of their races, yet none of them was willing to send out all of their forces.

    The majority was hiding their strongest forces, merely sending out the least experienced members of the Elite forces that had been sent to them as reinforcement.

    It was a mess, but the massive influx of information he''d procured through the Memory Orbs was also something Michael could use. He could take advantage of the distrust within the Council of Xylon to break them from within.

    Michael licked his lips, the excitement within his heart exploding. The Savannah Region could be a Lesser Region that was rather uninteresting for Michael as a Lord from the Untamed Jungle. However, the Savannah Region could develop into a higher-ranked region under the Untamed Jungle''s influence.

    Thend bordering the Untamed Jungle was already more developed due to the influx of the Untamed Jungle''s high energy density. It was only a matter of time before more energy would spread into the Savannah Region, thus transforming the flora and fauna of the Savannah Region.

    Even if the Savannah Region was only a Lesser Region, it possessed some unique ore deposits and other unique materials. Once they developed to a higher quality, the Lords of the Savannah Region would turn into wealthy tycoons overnight.

    Michael desired a piece of that fortune as well. But that meant he would have to work even harder. The Trnce was on the losing side, after all.

    Since he learned quite a bit about the Council of Xylon''s ns against the Trnce, Michael retrieved a Communication Crystal. However, instead of calling the Lords of the Trnce, he called the Immortal Knight.

    Michael shared crucial information about their tactics, strengths, weaknesses, and the military could stationed within every settlement. But most importantly, Michael managed to retrieve a particr piece of information.

    He got to know that the Council of Xylon nned a surprise attack, their target being the Laprix Lord''s main settlement.

    The attack had to be stopped, otherwise, the Trnce would lose a third of their could in the following 24 hours.

 Chapter 576 Counter

    <h4>Chapter 576 Counter</h4>

    576 Counter

    "Retreat into the groove and wait for themand to attack!" Immortal Knight''s booming voice resounded through the surroundings.

    His hawk eyes flicked left and right, observing the movement of his Soldiers as they finished thest preparations for the ''surprise'' attack of the council.

    Since Michael forwarded the details of the surprise attack, it was possible to turn the tide and use the surprise attack to execute a deadly counterattack.

    A little bit more than half a day passed since Michael forwarded the details of the surprise attack, leaving mere minutes before the surprise attack was supposed to happen.

    The Immortal Knight, his Soldiers and the Awakened were hiding in arge grove with a camouge spread out above them. It should be impossible to pinpoint their hiding spot. There was no reason to believe that the camouge didn''t work. The Super Elite Unit of the Valyrians and the forces of the Trnce were well hidden underneath camouges as well, after all.

    It hadn''t been easy for the Immortal Knight to convince the Trnce to move their armies and deploy the Super Elite Valyrians near the Laprix Lord''s head settlement. There were no signs indicating an attack from the Council of Xylon was about to happen. The Immortal Knight had to use his trump card to convince the Lords that he was right.

    He told the Trnce that Michael had interrogated the Awakened who''d invaded the Untamed Jungle to strike the Zynur Lord''s border settlement from the back before killing them. That left a few questions unanswered, such as the reason why Michael didn''t tell them about the surprise attack earlier, but Siegfried Dracoon couldn''t be bothered to answer.

    The Trnce chose to believe him ¨C or his Lord, to be precise ¨C, and deployed their Elite forces near the Laprix Lord''s main settlement.

    Time passed slowly, but there was no sign of enemy forces. Almost 20 minutes of silence passed, yet there was nothing. The ground didn''t tremor due to the arrival of the tens of thousands of enemies that had been prophesied to charge at them. There was nobody!

    The forces of the Trnce grew restless. They had a premonition, a bad feeling that the Council of Xylon was about to attack the Zynur Lord''s main headquarters instead. However, just as the forces of the Zynur Lord were about to jump up to rush back to their territory, something changed.

    The fabric of space twisted and distorted. Vibrant sparks manifested in the middle of nowhere. There were hundreds of thousands of them. They revolved around each other and interlinked. The sparks transformed into a vibrant swirl of energy. It expanded and kept on expanding until it was dozens of meters in range. Only then did the mass of energy stabilize.

    Everyone held their breath underneath the camouges. Nobody dared to breathe, their eyes locked onto the mass of energy.

    The following seconds felt like an eternity. Dark outlines appeared in the mass of energy and it didn''t take long before the first beings emerged from the mass of energy.

    At first, only a few emerged. However, the number skyrocketed quickly. The few turned into dozens, hundreds¡­and it was only a matter of 30 seconds before the number reached a thousand. But that was not all. That was just the beginning.

    Soldiers, Archers, Mages, Priests, Beast Tamers, Cavalry Riders, Tamed Monsters, Knights, Champions, and countless more types of highly qualified Combat-type Summons appeared from the mass of energy. Their numbers crossed ten thousand in less than five minutes, and the number of neers didn''t seem to decrease. If anything, they kept pouring out of the mass of energy like a never-ending waterfall.

    The first Awakened riding on monstrosities that looked like a cross between an elephant and a rhinoceros emerged from the portal, followed by prehistoric animals such as house-sized Basilodons that had threerge-scale catapults strapped onto their backs.

    The Awakened stepped ahead of the humongous army once more than 50,000 Summons crossed the portal. The mass of energy flickered once but it didn''t close just yet. More Summons, Awakened, and monsters emerged from the portal.

    There were easily more than a thousand Awakened, most clustered together, moving in unison. They were led by a few individuals riding on the Rhinoceros-Elephant monsters. On the other hand, the number of Soldiers kept increasing. It wouldn''t take more than 15 minutes before their numbers crossed 100,000.

    100,000 Soldiers led by 1,000 Elite Awakened were the numbers Michael had forwarded to Siegfried Dracoon. He informed Immortal Knight that he couldn''t promise that the numbers were correct, but he feared that it would be the case. Michael coulde to help them but the situation at the border to the Zentika Empire was growing dire as well. He would have to travel on Icarus to reach the battlefield in time before instilling chaos in the surroundings just to leave to aid Sun Demos, Tatjana, and the rest on the other side of his territory soon after.

    The Immortal Knight did his best to reassure his Lord that there was no need to worry. He would take care of the counterattack and ensure an overwhelming victory.

    He raised his hand slowly and Zeroa appeared next to him. The tension in the air increased the moment the Elemental Empress moved next to Siegfried. She nced at him in anticipation, sincerely hoping that the battle would start soon. However, Immortal Knight didn''t signal them to charge just yet.

    He observed the armies through a small hole in the camouge and watched them as they approached the Laprix''s main settlement. The forces of the Trnce tensed up as the nks brushed past the grooves they were hiding, but none of them moved. They overwhelmed their instincts and didn''t run away. They waited until more than 50,000 foes passed by their location.

    The moment his eyes fell onto the most crowded area within the army of the enemies, Immortal Knight gave the final signal. Zeroa eximed and her mythical mes erupted. She pulled back to Tiara while observing the chain reaction she''d caused with a simple release of her mythical mes.

    As Zeroa pulled back, crackling noises filled the surroundings. The sounds were the loudest near the center of the council''s forces. Some Awakened and more perceptive Mages looked down, their eyes narrowing as they perceived something particr. Their eyes widened in shock in the next second and they screamed aloud, warning their allies about the danger from below.

    But it was already toote.

    By the time the warnings resounded, the ground underfoot the council''s army burst apart. Mythical mes exploded all over the battlefield, tearing apart the ground and the people overhead simultaneously. The smell of burned flesh filled the air alongside desperate, pained screams.

    Humongous pirs of azure mythical mes, dozens of them, erupted all over the region that was about to turn into a terrifying battlefield. Hundreds of people died instantly and several thousand Soldiers were still burning. Most of them wouldn''t make it through the next few minutes, let alone an hour.

    "Wohooo!" Zeroa eximed at the top of her elemental lungs, while Siegfried, Tiara, and the others could only smile wryly.

    It became not honorable to fight like this, but fighting honorably was only something fools and heroes would do. Siegfried and the others were neither. They were not foolish enough to charge at their enemies with a disadvantageous numerical ratio of 1:50. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs cursed the Immortal Knight for his deceiving tactic, but they had to acknowledge that many wars were fought with trickery.

    Overcharging Elemental Crystals with the Elemental Empress'' mythical mes to give the low-grade elemental crystals some more destructive power once triggered wasn''t the worst that would have happened. Furthermore, it was not like the zing pirs killed everyone. All they performed was kill close to a thousand enemies, injuring a few thousand more, and pulling a tight hit on the enemies'' faces for being overly confident.

    Initially, the Immortal Knight wanted to use the overcharged elemental crystals against the settlement that had been constructed near the main settlement of the Laprix and Zynur Lords, but he changed his mind after listening to the information he had been given by his Lord. Overcharged elemental crystals were a bitplicated to produce, but Michael had Extraction and Insert. This was enough to turn theplicated process into child''s y.

    The zing pirs destroyed the orderly formation of the council''s forces entirely. Even the well-disciplined Awakened and the Commanders felt a seed of uncertainty and fear blossom in their hearts. Their eyes flicked left and right, only to be pushed on the verge of death right after the pir of azure mythical mes erupted. The tamed monsters began running around, resulting in a stampede. Their instincts destroyed all means of control, and they charged in every possible direction haphazardly, bulldozing the Soldiers and Awakened around them.

    Many died in the aftereffect of the overcharged elemental crystals'' eruption, and more would die shortly. Sensing the opportunity, the Trnce''s forces moved out in unison. Their timing became impable. They removed the camouges at once and charged at the enemy forces from all sides, their morale at the peak.

    Watching the chaos in the rows of the council''s army and the battle cries and shouts of the Trnce''s forces that surrounded them, Siegfried Dracoon would only snicker.

    The first step of his n seeded.

    The Immortal Knight recalled his Lord''s words distinctly as the humongous pirs of azure fire died down slowly.

    [I know that you''re tired of staying back, but it''s okay to let loose a little bit. Go wild!]

    And that became exactly what Siegfried Dracoon did. He let loose for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

    "Charge!!!"

 Chapter 577 Savage Battle

    <h4>Chapter 577 Savage Battle</h4>

    577 Savage Battle

    The initial n of Immortal Knight''s strategy was pretty simple. Zeroa fueled the altered elemental crystals with her mythical mes, overcharging them. She could trigger them with a burst of energy, which was exactly what she did.

    The overcharged elemental crystals had been spread out evenly across the prophesied battlefield to cause maximum damage and destroy their enemies'' formation. That worked out very well.

    Following the sessful attempts to stir chaos in the council''s army, the well-hidden warriors revealed themselves and charged at the enemies from the front with the majority of the Trnce''s power, and the nks using the great prowess of their Elite forces and the reinforcement.

    The formation of their attack was like the colliding des of a scissor. The ovepping section of the des was the area where most Summons and Awakened collided with each other, whereas the tapering ends of the des represented the powerful forces that charged at the enemy. Slowly, the des tightened until the scissor snapped shut, cutting through everything stuck between the des.

    The Immortal Knight led his people onto the battlefield. They attacked the left nk where most zing pirs had erupted.

    Taking advantage of the chaos and the lowered morale of their enemies, the Immortal Knight and his soldiers gained a foothold on the battlefield within seconds.

    Holy Power circted through the Immortal Knight''s body. His strength skyrocketed while his presence intensified. The enemies facing the Immortal Knight trembled while the allies around him felt calm, all of a sudden. Their wildly beating hearts and the uncertainty that bugged them for thest few hours dispersed, and their morale as well as the focus on the battle ahead heightened.

    The Immortal Knight''s sword was coated in dazzling light and the ground under their feet crackled suddenly. Siegfried Dracoon''s movement speed changed from one moment to the next. He elerated suddenly, his holy movement technique granting him a burst of strength and speed.

    The instance right after he executed his movement technique, raging winds conjured behind him. The wind burst forth and pushed against his back, further elerating Immortal Knight''s movement speed. Sparks exploded around his feet and small zing mes exploded whenever he kicked the ground.

    The earth seemed to make way for the Immortal Knight whereas the wind and mes pushed him beyond his limit. He was among the first to reach his enemies, a massive group of Summons. There were Knights, Mages, ordinary Warriors, and Archers. They were troubled and still shocked due to the sudden eruption of the zing azure pirs, but they reacted faster than the Summons around them. The Knights jerked around, lifted their weapons and prepared for the impact.

    However, before they encountered the Immortal Knight head-

    on, raging winds sted into their faces. Loose grains of soil were carried through the air, sshing right into their eyes, forcing them to take a step back and rub their eyes to remove the dirt. They couldn''t keep their eyes open to face the Immortal Knight head-on.

    Siegfried was astounded at the great synergy and teamwork of the three Lesser Elementals that had partnered up with him. The corner of his lip curled upward, and he made his move. He strode to the side, twisted the heavy broadsword in his hands and struck out. Despite the heavy weight of his weapon, it whizzed through the air like a feather. The heavy broadsword cleaved through the closest Knights, two with one strike, killing them on the spot.

    Simultaneously, several fireballs manifested around his head. They fired toward the Mages and Archers, who''d already cast a spell and nocked an arrow on their bowstring. The fireballs were a little slow, but they diverted the Mages and Archers enough to miss the earth spikes that shot out of the ground.

    Surprised squeals and pained screams resounded through the vicinity, resulting in carelessly released arrows flying past the Immortal Knight. Meanwhile, the Mages didn''t even manage to release their spells. Their feet and calves had been pierced with earth spikes, forcefully disrupting their spellcasting. Their spells broke down, revealing several gaps that could be used to end the Mages in one swoop.

    But the Immortal Knight couldn''t charge through the dozens of Mages and Warriors that appeared in front of him. He could disrupt the Mages using the Elemental Might of his partners, but it was a little difficult to use the Lesser Elementals'' weak prowess to kill dozens of enemies at once.

    Fortunately, the Immortal Knight was not alone. The Forest Elven Adventurers and a handful of the territory''s strongest Archers and Sharpshooters were present, and ready to aid the Immortal Knight at once.

    Lilica was the long-range unit''s captain. She used her 4-Star Soultrait, Weakness Detect, to detect the weakest points in the enemy''s forces and strike them with her fellow archerpanions. Precise Aim, her other 4-Star Soultrait, allowed Lilica to hit every arrow in the bullseye, reaping the lives of one Tier-2 Summon after another.

    Pheli didn''t stay behind with the other forces either. She and Liopham moved closer to the frontlines to use their Soultraits with more precision. Liopham used Rage of the Primal to attract the attention of the strongest forces, leading them closer to the Immortal Knight where Siegfried could stall time.

    It was better to push the strongest enemies in Siegfried''s direction rather than allow strong Summons and Awakened to deal with the weaker Holy Knights. Simultaneously, Pheli was there to unleash Battle Cry, her second 4-Star Soultrait, enhancing her allies'' strength considerably.

    Pheli observed the battlefield intently and exploded her Repelling Shield wherever it was deemed necessary. She protected one of the Holy Knights who was nearly cut in half from a war axe plunging on his head. The Repelling Shield did not only block the war axe, but it absorbed a portion of the war axe''s force and released it right back. The Champion Summon fighting the Holy Knight was surprised and lost bnce. He couldn''t even react in time as the Holy Knight initiated a counterattack.

    The Holy Knight''s vibrantly glowing Holy Sword sliced across the Champion Summon''s throat. A fountain of blood gushed through the air and the Champion Summon copsed to the ground, choking on his blood. He died mere secondster.

    While Pheli and Liopham chose to take the risk and approach the front, Mika and Opars stayed back. Opars''s hand pressed tightly against Mika''s back. He released Energy Imprint, refilling Mika''s body with Energy as the young Forest Elf used his two Soultraits, Arrow Duplication and Pierce together.

    He nocked an arrow on the bowstring and pulled the bowstring back while raising the bow high into the air. There was no need for Mika to aim precisely. All he had to do was shoot the arrow straight into the crowded areas where his enemies had gathered. That was exactly what Mika did. He released the arrow a second after he pulled the bowstring back and watched the arrow duplicate into two arrows¡­four arrows¡­eight arrows¡­sixteen arrows before inertia pulled the arrows back to the ground.

    The individual force of the arrows was not extraordinary, and it was hardly enough to kill a Tier-2 Summon if they weren''t hit in a vital spot, but Pierce enhanced the prative force of the duplicated arrows drastically. Each arrow that hit an enemy would impact the enemy''sbat prowess. Even if the effect wouldn''t affect some of them drastically, the tiny disruption in their power and concentration might be the crucial factor in deciding between life and death!

    Mika didn''t eye his arrow for long. There was no time to do so. He sensed the impact of three energy influx, indicating that his duplicated arrows had reaped the lives of three enemies, but he was already on the way to release his second batch of duplicated arrows. He used Duplicated Arrow and Pierce together once again, triggering both Soultraits several times as he pulled the second arrow nocked on the bowstring back.

    The Forest Elves''bat prowess was tremendous. They were natural hunters and their expertise with bows and arrows was exceptional. Archers were always of great use on the battlefield whererge-scale armies collided.

    But then again, there would be a time when ordinary arrows would lose some of their magic. Their use against metal armor sets, strengthened physique, and various other means to block physical projectiles decreased drastically. They wouldn''t be as efficient as they were against Tier-1 and Tier-2 Summons at some point.

    However, that issue was a concern for the future. However, the Immortal Knight and the Forest Elven Adventurers were pretty sure that they wouldn''t have such an issue in the future either. They had various advanced arrows that required mere bits of energy to pierce steel armors and the highly durable physique of Tier-3 Summons and Awakened.

    Such arrows were quite expensive, but they were worth the price. Furthermore, there were also other means to improve an arrow''s power. The Elemental Might of the Lesser Elementals was one of such means.

    The Lesser Elementals'' Elemental Might strengthened ordinary arrows, set them on fire, and covered them in raging winds to decrease the air resistance and elerate them, along with providing other means to improve their prowess drastically.

    But the Forest Elves and the Archers supporting Immortal Knight were not the only powerful unit under Siegfried''s wing. Many more powerhouses were fighting next to the Immortal Knight.

    The Holy Knights fought side-by-side, utilizing their Holy Formation to elevate each other''s prowess, allowing them to fight opponents that had higherbat awareness and more years of experience.

    Some Holy Knights died, but their deaths weren''t for naught. Whenever a Holy Knight died, they released a burst of power that strengthened their allies temporarily while shaking their enemies to the core.

    [A/N: A new story has been released on Royalroad. Follow - A Tamer''s Path - with the nickname AnaHyde for more information (It''s free to read!! hehe)]

 Chapter 578 Holy Sword

    <h4>Chapter 578 Holy Sword</h4>

    578 Holy Sword

    A pained groan escaped one of the Holy Knights'' mouths as a ck de pierced through his thick armor. His chest was pierced in an instant, but he didn''t scream out in desperation. His gaze was firm and filled with determination. The grasp around his weapon loosened and he felt the strength in his body disperse slowly.

    He instinctively knew that he had only seconds left before the darkness of eternal death would engulf him, however, the Holy Knight was not afraid. His trembling hands grasped the ck de, its razor-sharp edges cutting into the Holy Knight''s flesh.

    "Kill¡­him¡­." The Holy Knight gargled, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

    The Holy Knights around their fallenrade grit their teeth. They executed the Sacred Sword Style, and the holy movement technique taught by the Sacred Knight Temple Master, and circled the three-armed Awakened, whose de was stuck in theirrade.

    The Awakened had two more arms to move and two more ck des to wield, but that was not all. An eye the size of a head conjured from darkness manifested overhead. The Holy Knights slowed down and it was increasingly more difficult to observe the enemy.

    Their focus was intercepted, allowing the three-armed Awakened to shake the ck de stuck in the Holy Knight. He twisted the de and used his superior physical strength to hurl the dying body away.

    Unexpectedly, the Holy Knight died the moment the ck de was ripped out of his body, and the remnants of his umted Holy Power were unleashed in the surroundings. The Holy Knight''srades received a temporary boost in strength from the Holy Power''s Blessing and the influence of the Darkness Eye decreased considerably.

    The three-armed Awakened didn''t expect a shockwave of holy power to impact the moment he killed one of the Holy Knights.

    His eyes flicked around, keeping an eye on all directions. Simultaneously, responded to the holy power shockwave by coating his body and weapons with his dark-attributed origin energy. A momentter, he cut through the holy power shockwave.

    The three Holy Knights took advantage of the three-armed Awakened''s hurried actions. A dozen fireballs conjured around the Holy Knights as they raised their weapons high into the air.

    Their weapons glowed vibrantly. Their Holy Sword technique was unleashed, draining their holy power rapidly as they plunged their weapons down at the Awakened. The fireballs were unleashed simultaneously, putting heavy pressure on the three-armed Awakened. The Darkness Eye overhead shook, destroying half of the fireballs instantaneously, but the remaining fireballs impacted heavily.

    Simultaneously, the three-armed Awakened tried to block the iing Holy Swords. He managed to block one attack and redirect the second Holy Sword to interfere with the strike of the third Holy Knight. However, his movements were toorge. He managed to evade getting sliced apart, but it was impossible to evade the iing fireballs.

    The fireballs reached him as thest Holy Sword cut past him. The fireballs impacted, three hitting the Awakened''s writs and two exploding right in front of his eyes.

    The Awakened didn''t die, and he didn''t sustain any mortal injuries as he managed to close his eyes and coat his eyelids with a tremendous amount of dark-attributed origin energy in time, but closing his eyes was a fatal mistake.

    The moment he opened his eyes, the Awakened realized his mistake. Another foe appeared in front of him, his Holy Sword thrust forward.

    The Awakened didn''t know when the fourth Holy Knight appeared, and he didn''t have enough time to react. The razor-

    sharp tip of the Holy Sword was already in front of him.

    The tip pricked the Awakened''s throat, drawing a droplet of blood, and the de''s momentum was still at top speed.

    All the Awakened could do was curse and unleash the remaining bits of strength inside him in a desperate attempt to evade the fatal attack. However, it was to no avail. The Holy Sword pierced his throat, and a fountain of blood erupted.

    The Holy Knight twisted the de and ripped it out of the Awakened''s neck, his eyes following the three-armed Awakened. The light in the Awakened''s eyes lost their luster. They went dull. The Awakened was dead.

    A massive energy influx flushed through the Holy Knight, but his expression remained stoic. He grit his teeth, his eyesnding on the dead body of another Holy Knight¡­his friend, and colleague.

    They had been Starless Summons of the same batch. Their decision to join the Sacred Knight Temple had been simple. They desired strength and they hoped to help the territory to prosper. Immortal Knight, the Captain of the Forest Elves, and their Lord told them more than once that it was dangerous in the wilderness, that they might die in battle against other Lords, and that they should choose carefully whether they wanted to join the military, or if they were more fit to be the Guardians of the Untamed Jungle, the defenders of their Lord''s territory.

    Some decided to be Guardians of the Untamed Jungle. They decided that it was more secure to be a Guard rather than joining deadly battles outside the Untamed Jungle.

    While that was certainly true, Guardians didn''t receive certain benefits that were given to the remaining Combatants.

    The Untamed Jungle''s Guardians enjoyed a lot but would never grow as strong as their colleagues who chosen to join the Savannah Expedition. The Guardians exchanged their benefits for higher safety. That was fine, but it was not what everyone wanted. It was certainly not what the Holy Knight, who''d in the three-armed Awakened, and hisrades wanted. They desired more.

    The Holy Knight grit his teeth and grasped his Holy Sword tightly, wondering if he''d done something wrong, At that moment, another Awakened emerged in front of them. Thick, spiked roots burst out of the body of the Awakened. The roots slithered around the Awakened like they were alive and lunged forward, ready to reap the lives of the four Holy Knights in an instant.

    However, before the roots could reach the Holy Knights, silver shes filled their surroundings. A quarter of a secondter, a silver figure burst past them, azure mythical mes coating her silver fur.

    The azure mythical mes burned down the spiked roots, instantly turning them into cinder, whereas Tiara appeared in front of the Awakened, her spear gracefully spinning around her body. Mythical mes coated the spear de as she thrust out, piercing through the Awakened''s armor and chest in one go.

    The Awakened coughed up blood and a burst of mythical mes erupted within his chest, but Tiara didn''t pay any attention to the Awakened. She used Inner Force to redirect her spear''s momentum and retract it at once. A second use of Inner Force was enough to change her momentum once again and move around the Awakened, whose body copsed lifelessly to the ground.

    "Holy shit," One of the Holy Knights blurted aloud, their wide-

    open eyes following Tiara''s dashing figure.

    Tiara''s Silvarean Tiger transformation was fully intact. Her eyes turned into dangerous slits that inflicted fear in the hearts of those who were daring enough to look into her eyes, whereas silver fur grew out of her body. Zeroa''s body covered Tiara, transforming the youthful woman of the Silverfang Tigerfolk into a replica of the humanoid Netherworld Sabertooth Tigerfolk.

    Her movements were dangerously fluid as she moved through the rows of enemies. Inner Force was used a dozen times in a matter of seconds, her spear severing limbs and heads without losing a fraction of her momentum.

    Tiara left behind a terrifying carnage, however, she had yet to lose her reasoning. Her wild instincts didn''t overwhelm her mind yet.

    She was still in charge of her body and made full use of that.

    Tiara protected herrades with all her might. She knew that most Holy Knights were not yet experienced enough to deal with Awakened, or Elite Summons, who had umted morebat experience than them. They may be strong enough to fight most enemies based on theirbat prowess, but theirbat awareness and strategic minds have not developed that well yet.

    They had a lot more to learn, and Tiara wanted to give them the opportunity. She gave her utmost to ensure that they survived and that they could use today''s battle as an experience for future ordeals.

    However, Tiara was not undefeatable either. She was not yet a Tier-3 Awakened and herbat prowess was certainly not high enough to deal with several enemies at Tier-3 either.

    Fortunately, she had the Elemental Empress by her side. Zeroa was her partner, and together they were able to do much more than they could manage alone.It was not enough to defeat some of the Peak Tier-3 Awakened that led the Council''s army to the Laprix Lord''s main settlement, but that was not necessary.

    The Super Elite unit of the Valyrians was doing that much already. The Valkyr and their Super Elite Unit burned through the enemies. The Trnce breached through the enemies'' defense mere seconds after the azure-zing pirs had erupted.

    Their timing was perfect.

    In record time, the Valkyr reached the center of the council''s army where the Awakened with Support and Healing Soultraits had retreated.

    However, the Valkyr and the Valyr''s Super Elite Unit were not the only ones who managed to invade deep into the enemy''s rows.

    10 Berserkers and 18 Warlock Centaurs had been released into the center of the council''s army when Immortal Knight noticed that most Awakened with Healing, and Support-type Soultraits retreated to more secure grounds. They mistakenly believed they could focus on their Soultraits to aid their allies.

    Stinger worked with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to send the frantic monster-like Awakened into the center of thebat zone where they didn''t have to hold back anymore.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t have to pay attention to their allies. They could go all-out and fight to their hearts'' content!

 Chapter 579 Meeting of Xylon

    <h4>Chapter 579 Meeting of Xylon </h4>

    Some time had passed and the chaotic battlefield had been reorganized. The forces of the council reformed and tried to retreat, but the Trnce''s Cavalry and the Warlock Centaurs cut their path of retreat easily.

    Tiara was still focused on protecting her allies, whereas Zeroa aided her with great precision. But there was more to it.

    At some point, Zeroa began to use power that didn''t belong to her. She tapped into the power of Michael''s Soultraits and used them to strengthen Tiara.

    Zeroa used Enhancement onto Tiara while also unleashing Extraction to absorb the surrounding energy at once. The Elemental Empress'' used-up energy was rapidly replenished, allowing her to use her mythical mes more often and experiment a little with them by conjuringrger attacks.

    However, Tiara and Zeroa didn''t have the biggest impact on the battlefield. It was just that their actions fit well into the others'' ys. The Immortal Knight had an easier time controlling the Holy Knights, Mages, and other Summons from the Savannah Expedition, whereas Stinger and the Savannah Expedition''s Awakened teleported wildly throughout the battlefield to wreak havoc where their prowess was required the most.

    The Council''s forces were far from weak, but the course of events didn''t y in their favor. The Awakened yed against the Council in the worst possible ways and disrupted their rhythm entirely. This allowed the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to deal considerable damage.

    Mekhaz led the Warlock Centaurs with his Soultrait, Living Armor fully unleashed. Living Armor coated his entire body, leaving not a single inch of his body unprotected. Charging into the masses of enemies with his naturally high physical strength shook his foes to the core. It felt like a train at max speed crashed into them.

    Mekhaz wielded a long spear with great precision. He never paid much attention to evading attacks. Instead, he prioritized rapid attacks and swift movements. As long as he moved around fast enough while putting pressure on his enemy, it would be impossible for his opponent to retaliate and hit him.

    This worked out decently against most Summons. They had already a hard time weaving around the razor-sharp spear de and sustained several injuries in no time. Blocking Mekhaz''s attacks was not feasible either. The spear''s force was too much for most Summons, and even Awakened at the lower range of physical strength, to handle.

    Only thebined effort of several Summons, or a Summon with a high star-rating ¨C or decades of experience ¨C would know the ways to block Mekhaz''s rapid and mighty spear attacks.

    His unique spear technique didn''t make it easier for his foes to handle Mekhaz. If anything, it turned Mekhaz into a far more dangerous opponent since the technique focused on executing unpredictable killing blows.

    Thaor and Lokai''s tactics were vastly different from Mekhaz''s. The Berserkers relied on their physical strength to execute the most terrifying attacks in quick session. They didn''t focus on defense too much just like Mekhaz. However, their offense was far more brutal. They charged ahead, relying on their massive physique to smash their enemies left and right.

    The Forest Elves'' additionpleted the perfectbination of disciplinedbat, fight to protect, wildbat, and calculus.

    The Immortal Knight and his students represented disciplinedbat, Tiara and the Elemental Empress fought to protect, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wreaked havoc with their wildbat, and the Forest Elves focused on calctedbat, taking out the enemies that were the most likely to turn the tides on the battlefield before they could do something.

    The Council of Xylon''s army tried to turn the tides several times but they were stopped before they could do something.

    Three hours passed in the blink of an eye and it was no sooner that the prophesied surprise attack ended with a miserable defeat of the Council''s forces. A few Awakened managed to escape, but none of them was unscathed. Some lost a limb, while others were burned severely.

    The Super Elite Unit of the Valyr pursued the remaining forces of the council whereas thunderous cheers reverberated all over the battlefield.

    The counterattack was a great sess. They repelled the Council andnded a feisty blow, repaying some of the pain the Council of Xylon had inflicted on the Trnce.

    **

    "General Ratan''s army was annihted. The surprise attack failed."

    Only a few hours had passed since the surprise attack on the Laprix Lord''s main settlement started, but the conclusion of the battle had already reached the Council of Xylon.

    Good news traveled fast, but bad news spread even faster, like a wildfire of death and destruction.

    Right after the news reached the Council of Xylon, the Lords, more than a hundred, gathered around a massive blood oak table.

    They were seated in arge hall, staring at each other with a mix of fury, killing intent, and disbelief.

    "How could this happen? Only our people knew about the surprise attack. We didn''t even tell our Soldiers the location of our attack to prevent the Trnce''s Seer from unraveling our n!!" One of the Lords smashed his fists onto the massive table, jumping up in fury.

    "Calm down, Lord Xyrz. Everyone is displeased about the turn of events. Everyone here lost precious Monsters and Awakened that had been painstakingly nourished," A second Lord said calmingly, his voice apanied by a soothing aura.

    Lord Xyrz grit his teeth, his nails scratching over the blood oak table''s surface, but he sat down without uttering another word.

    "We lost too many good men," A woman covered in purple scales pointed out.

    "Just tell your n to send more backup then. Your territory sent the least Awakened to support the attack. You should keep your mouth shut, fishface!" A man on the other side of the table grunted, smoothly pointing his middle finger in her direction.

    The woman leaped up, herrge eyes expanding even further in fury.

    "What did you ju¨C..."

    "Shut up. Both!" A thunderous voice boomed through therge hall.

    "There is no use going against each other. We can deal with our internal issues once the Trnce has been removed. Let''s focus on our main problem first!"

    The source of the thunderous voice was a four-meter-tall man covered in ck hide. Large bat-like wings sprouted from his back.

    "Our main problem is to remove the Trnce, or am I wrong?" One of the silent Lords asked, not quite understanding what the temporary leader of the Council was trying to get at.

    "The Trnce would have been destroyed if we worked together a little bit earlier. It won''t be a problem to crush them with ourbined forces. Even the Super Elite Awakened sent to reinforce their defenses are not of any help," the Leader uttered casually before pointing out what the others seemed to miss, "The main problem is the backup that arrived a few weeks ago. They were the first to arrive, but they don''t belong to the three Lords."

    "At first, I was certain that the reinforcements were mercenaries who''d been hired from the Zentika Empire, but I was mistaken. The Zentika Empire wouldn''t do something like that."

    The Leader retrieved a crystal that projected a few pictures overhead once energy was channeled into it. The picture showed the Immortal Knight, his students, Tiara, the Berserkers, the Warlock Centaurs, and the Forest Elves with great precision.

    "Hyumans?!?" A Lord eximed in shock right before falling from his chair.

    He was not the only one in shock. Many Lords eximed, the terror in their voice clear.

    "They''re not Hyumans. Not exactly, at least," The Leader shook his head, "If they were Hyumans, we would have been crushed already. I''m pretty sure that they''re a weaker race that''s closely tied to Hyumans."

    "Either way, the backup sent out from them is the main problem. They obstructed our surprise attack and have been killing far more enemies than the Trnce''s armies."

    "It took a while to research this, but our Truthmaster was able to verify that there is a fourth Lord, a Lord supporting the Trnce, who''s joined the game. This Lord has a territory in the Untamed Jungle. The exact whereabouts are unknown though. However, it is presumed that the Lord isn''t located too far, or too close to the border settlement of the Trnce. The invading Adventurers didn''t report that anything was amiss¡­.before they were killed on the spot."

    "They were killed?!" A woman eximed, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

    "Yes. We lost the 297 Adventurers who had been sent out to take a detour through the Untamed Jungle to conquer the border settlement of the Zynur Lord. We lost them and didn''t even realize it, at first. The Adventurers didn''t even have enough time to retrieve theirmunication crystals and warn us. Not even their emergency crystals were triggered in time!"

    Everyone had known about the secret attack, but only the Lords who''d sent out their Adventurers knew that it failed miserably. The Links of Loyalty of the Adventurers had been severed at some point, informing the Lords that their subordinates had been killed.

    However, to prevent everyone from panicking their mission''s failure was maintained hidden until the surprise attack on the Laprix Lord''s main settlement seeded.

    The attack did not seed. It was another failure.

    "I think that our portal attack was discovered out due to the interference of a capable Interrogator. Somehow, the Interrogator must have bypassed the restrictions put on the Adventurers'' Soul Contracts, otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to find out that we were about to attack the Laprix Lord''s main settlement. They would have never managed to execute a perfect counterattack like this otherwise!"

    The Lords around the table swallowed hard.

    "What now?" One asked, visibly confused.

    Was the Lord from the Untamed Jungle a Higher Lifeform already? How strong was he exactly?

    "We have to eliminate the backup from the Untamed Jungle and bulldoze the Trnce before preparing the final attack against the biggest threat; The Lord of the Untamed Jungle!"

    **

 Chapter 580 Michaelâ€™s Wondrous Techniques

    <h4>Chapter 580 Michael''s Wondrous Techniques</h4>

    At the same time as the Council of Xylon''s meeting was held, Michael found himself busy with his new techniques.

    His understanding of Leviathan Diffusion was as high as before, but the upgraded version was even better now. Michael had used the most advanced fractions from a Tekur race''s Peak Common ss Technique to rece the leastpatible portions in Leviathan Diffusion. They might have been useful for the Zenovia family, but they didn''t suit Michael.

    Michael could annex the energy that entered his body instantaneously now. There was no need to circte the absorbed energy through his body in a full circle before it was annexed. All he had to do was follow the principle of Leviathan Diffusion''s enhanced version to absorb energy more smoothly.

    Combined with the advantages of Superior Constitution, Michael was having a much easier time refining his War Rune and replenishing his energy storage.

    But both factors could be further improved with the use of Consirat of War. The Body Refinement technique was one of Michael''s unique creations. It used the principle of Leviathan Diffusion and four Body Refinement techniques, with two being from Peak Common ss techniques from Elite Tekur. Merging the techniques allowed Michael to create a Body Refinement technique that elerated the natural absorption rate of energy permanently.

    As he used Consirat of War to refine his body, Michael''s physique would grow more adept at naturally absorbing energy to strengthen his physique and refine his War Rune. That way, Michael could grow stronger and refine his War Rune while he was asleep, busy studying, or doing something else.

    Combining Leviathan Diffusion and Consirat of War with the Neutral Energy Absorption technique, Pantheon''s Dawn, Michael managed to create a set of techniques thatplemented each other. By practicing the techniques together, Michael could refine his body and War Rune simultaneously, rapidly at that.

    Pantheon''s Dawn and Leviathan Diffusion used together with a powerful source of origin energy would allow him to refine his War Rune at an incredible pace. The only ''issue'' that slowed down his refinement was the ever-increasing demand for origin energy. The number of his Soultraits was bound to increase and so was their star rating as well, therefore further increasing the needs of his War Rune.

    His War Rune was bound to develop into a bottomless pit.

    Michael had also some Soultraits that required a tremendous amount of energy as their star rating increased. This included Superior Constitution which drained a tremendous amount of energy and nutrients as he integrated more SoulStar Fragments. Michael was pretty sure that the demand for energy and nutrients would be even worse once he upgraded Superior Constitution''s star rating.

    Superior Constitution was also the reason his body refinement technique was having such a hard time refining his physique. Superior Constitution altered his physique drastically. His body was in a near-perfect state, yet Consirat of War desired to alter his physique even further, adding certain features and functions, removing what it deemed excessive, and so some further changes that would only take effect as Michael''s physique improved even further.

    Superior Constitution didn''t work against Consirat of War, but it increased the demand for energy and nutrients exponentially. What ought to cost only a few dozen Intermediate Nutrient Pills, and Inferior Energy Stones would now cost hundreds of Intermediate Nutrient Pills, and Inferior Energy Stones.

    When Michael practiced Consirat of War for the first time, he was shocked. However, after practicing it for a week, Michael noticed how beneficial Superior Constitutionbined with Consirat of War was.

    Michael was certain that his physique would be equivalent to a Higher Lifeform once Consirat of War reached the Peak of its 3rd Stage. The technique would devour an enormous amount of resources until it would reach the 3rd Stage''s Peak, but the effect would be tremendous. That was all that mattered.

    Wisdom Breaker was the technique Michael had chosen to refine his mind. In fact, he mixed an Elite ss Mind Refinement technique with the Inheritance Technique of a family that was known for their great intellect and tremendous mental power.

    Their technique was known to be controversial and Michael understood why. The Mind Refinement technique this family used relied on damaging the mind before forcefully regenerating the damage using the purest essence of willpower. This required the condensation of Willpower Essence and the purification of the essence. That portion was already difficult to achieve, but it was considered the easiest part.

    The more difficult part was to damage your mind intentionally using a special method to damage it just enough to avoid fatal damage. It required extreme precision, willpower, and most importantly; resources. Without enough resources, Wisdom Breaker was bound to fail. That was already the case for the Inheritance Technique, but it was even more true in Michael''s case.

    After all, Wisdom Breaker was even more dangerous than the Supreme Mind Family''s Inheritance Technique.

    Consirat of War and Wisdom Breaker required both a seemingly infinite amount of energy and nutrient to be practiced properly. Both techniques could turn Michael into a dangerous weapon, but malpractice would lead to severe bacshes. Michael nearly failed to execute Wisdom Breaker properly once. Fortunately, he managed to fix his mistake at thest moment, otherwise, he would have sustained lethal damage to his brain.

    If he had failed, Michael would either be braindead, or crippled, by now. As for whether Archangel''s Grace and Heavenly Realm would be enough to fix him or not¡­Michael was unsure. No. He was sure. It was just that the answer wasn''t pleasant to the ear.

    Unfortunately, the Breathing Technique, Breath of the Underworld, was not exactly less dangerous, or painful. It was merely a breathing technique and thus less important in the eyes of most Awakened, but proper breathing regted the stamina consumption, increased the perception and focus in the middle of fierce battles and it allowed the execution of powerful techniques beyond their designated limit.

    Breath of the Underworld was unique. It didn''t focus a lot on the regtion of the User''s stamina consumption, but instead focused on thest aspect, allowing the User to implement powerful techniques beyond their designated limit bypressing and purifying energy within the body¡­by breathing.

    It was quite hard to believe at first, but by practicing the Breathe of the Underworld method for an extensive period, it was possible to release a burst ofpressed and purified energy into specific regions of the body to unleash the strongest forms of certain Martial Arts without any prior preparations.

    This was not easy and it was usually quite painful, but the effect was tremendous. Martial Arts that would require some time to charge could be utilized at once, taking the enemy by surprise, and overwhelming the foe with sheer power.

    Michael wanted to focus on that portion of the breathing technique because his breathing had already been altered permanently by the Sun Soldier''s Breathing Technique. The Sun Soldier''s Breathing technique was not great, but it was enough to decrease his stamina consumption decently.

    He was busy enough practicing the Burst ability from Breath of the Underworld without trying to rupture his lungs and die from internal bleeding. That would be rather disadvantageous and certainly not something Michael wanted to achieve. He would much rather stay alive and splurge his wealth.

    Splurging his wealth was something Michael could do rather easily. The issue, however, was that everything was so expensive. His Mind and Body Refinement techniques were already extremely expensive. Only refining his War Rune required more resources than practicing Consirat of War and Wisdom Breaker¡­well, and Sanctum of Life, his Soul Refinement Technique.

    Michael had yet to start refining his Soul because it took him quite a while to procure the assets required to refine his Soul securely. He required a immense amount of lifeforce, purified origin energy, and nutrients. Following that, Michael made sure that he harvested enough Soul Tears to strengthen his Soul before he started practicing Sanctum of Life.

    The problem of his Soul Refinement Technique was that refining a Soul was quiteplex and difficult because everyone''s Soul was different. Most techniques require the User to study their soul thoroughly. That was something Michael had to spend several days doing, only to realize that he failed miserably since his Soul was not only infused with 10 Soultraits, but also Aethyr, the Sphere of Light, but also the Cursed Seals, and the True Curse, which was still sealed inside him.

    Fortunately, the Soul Tears helped him understand more about his Soul, allowing him to start practicing Sanctum of Life to create the Primal Sanctum from his Soul.

    The first stage of the Sanctum was called Primal Sanctum. It was the first step that had to bepleted to refine his Soul properly. Refining his Soul using Sanctum of Life would invigorate his Soul, create a barrier that weakened spiritual attacks, and strengthen the potency of his Soultraits.

    But there was another function of the Sanctum of Life, a function that turned the Sanctum of Life into one of the most important techniques Michael created: His Soul turned into a literal Sanctum overflowing with life. His Soul Power would be imbued with Life and so would his Soultrait Symbols.

    Michael hoped that the Soul Grimoire would be influenced by the Sanctum of Life''s presence, and mutate, or evolve. That would allow him to nurture Souls more easily. But Michael understood that it was a little bit far-fetched. It was unlikely that the Sanctum of Life''s presence would be enough to stimte Soul Grimoire''s evolution. Nheless, he hoped for the best.

    In the worst case, Sanctum of Life would merely strengthen his Soul Power, thus reinforcing the power outbursts of his Soul Techniques. That wasn''t too bad either.

    Last but not least, the Primordial Pir was a rather simple technique, though it drained a immense amount of resources. Primordial Pir was a Core Technique that reinforced the Pir of Light. It was not a refinement technique, but it strengthened the Pir of Light to protect it well from external threats.

    It was more of a safety measure than a necessity, though specific hidden traits could be utilized once Michael''s mastery of the method increased.

    All he had to do was work hard and practice.

 Chapter 581 Lions in the Jungle

    <h4>Chapter 581 Lions in the Jungle</h4>

    Michael felt the loss of dozens of loyal subjects. Their Links of Loyalty had been severed. He instinctively knew that his subjects were in a deadly battle against the Council of Xylon.

    The first Links of Loyalty severed suddenly¡­unexpectedly, but the following Links were more predictable. The severed Links followed a series of energy shares, or right before a single energy share with more impact reached Michael.

    Several hours passed in the blink of an eye until Michael calmed down. No more Links of Loyalty were severed. However, almost a hundred Links of Loyalty had been cut in total, resulting in a wide variety of emotions surfacing in Michael''s mind.

    More subjects than he had anticipated died in thest fight. It was unexpected, though Michael could have expected it. He had been too positive about the battles against the Council of Xylon and didn''t want to imagine the worst-case scenario or any scenario that was slightly worse than the best-case scenario.

    He didn''t rush to call Immortal Knight. Instead, Michael closed his eyes to sense the remaining Links of Loyalty. The Links of Loyalty were a direct connection to the souls of his subjects. He called for their souls and the Links of Loyalty reciprocated. An influx of information, emotions, and senses was sent to Michael, who could instinctively tell how Immortal Knight, the Forest Elves, Tiara, and the others were doing. The turmoil of their emotions and the extent of their injuries were no secret to Michael.

    ''Two Holy Knights sustained lethal wounds. That''s all? No more severe injuries?''

    Other than the two Holy Knights, everyone else who''d sustained severe injuries died on the battlefield. This was not an umon urrence, but it was unfortunate. Michael''s Savannah Expedition didn''t have many Healers and Priests. They weren''t very experienced either. It was a shame.

    ''The potions were not enough to secure more lives?''

    Michael grunted in frustration. He received more than ten thousand small energy shares, which was great, but the loss of 100 subjects bothered him. If the Regional War continued like this, the Savannah Expedition''s forces would dwindle until no one was left.

    That was not eptable, no matter how many enemies were in for every casualty.

    ''Get your act together!'' Michael reprimanded, pping his cheeks firmly.

    He got up from the chair, put the development ns for the territory aside, and left the wooden manor. His feet lead Michael straight to the Greater Nature Spirit. The Greater Nature Spirit''s Link of Loyalty pulled him over to the spirit''s main body. Something was going on again.

    "Really? Again?" Michael groaned the moment his eyes locked onto the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    A handful of red dots mixed into a batch of yellow dots appeared on the outskirts of the Greater Nature Spirit''s domain. They escaped the Greater Nature Spirit''s perception shortly, but Michael had seen the dots. He knew where he had to go, and could guess who to expect.

    The Zentika Empire''s camps were northeast from the first appearance of the dots. Furthermore, Sun Demos, Tatjana, and the Demon Monkey Unit were nearby. Tatjana and Sun Demos had informed Michael that the Zentika Empire''s people made their move.

    While he trusted Immortal Knight, Tiara, Zeroa, the Forest Elves ¡­basically everyone who volunteered to join the Savannah Expedition, Michael couldn''t do the same on the other side of his territory. Sun Demos, Tatjana, and the Demon Monkey Unit were a little bit different.

    They weren''t weak, but the Zentika Empire was capable of sending Higher Lifeforms into the Untamed Jungle, potentially even entities at Tier-5. Of course, it was unlikely that the Zentika Empire''s council members would attack the Untamed Jungle, but it was not impossible.

    Sun Demos and the others were only at the 2nd Tier. They could hardly manage to deal with Tier-3 Summons by using the environment and their great teamwork to their advantage.

    That was great, but it was not enough to reassure Michael. He traveled east and approached the border to the Zentika Empire once again.

    Fortunately, the situation turned out much better than Michael had been hoping for. He called Tatjana, Sun Demos, the Demon Monkeys, and the Scouts back to meet up with him. Their reports contained enough information to bring Michael''s knowledge up to date.

    "The Zentika Empire''s camp is located as far from your territory as possible, my Lord. Though, it is still near the border between the Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire''s ins, it is nowhere near your territory," One of the Scouts said, only for Michael to interrupt.

    "I heard that there is more than one camp. What about the other camps?"

    This time, Tatjana spoke, "Currently there is only one fully equipped camp. There are two more camps under construction but they''re right next to the other camp. Considering the three camps as a single, bigger camp seems more feasible."

    Michael rubbed his chin.

    "The Zentika Empire''s forces are currently not a threat. Most of the people invading the Untamed Jungle are Soldiers. They''re concentrated on hunting monsters. There are only a few Awakened, who apany the Soldiers. The Awakened are very vignt and they move around alone asionally. It looks like they''re searching for something while protecting the Soldiers."

    Only the Adventurers of the Zentika Empire traveled deeper into the middle area. That didn''t confirm Michael''s suspicion, but bybining the red dots on the Pir of Territorial Awareness with Tatjana''s intel provided enough clues about the situation.

    The Awakened were looking for something, his territory, or someone, him. Whether they desired to discover his territory to stay away from him until the issues within the Zentika Empire had been solved, or to confront him, mattered a lot. It was crucial to find out if he had to prepare for an all-out war against the Zentika Empire, or if the Zentika Empire would spend the next few months using the Untamed Jungle as a mere hunting ground to secure food.

    ["Master, I killed two of those disgusting Lions!"] Sun Demos intercepted in Michael''s train of thought.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King disappeared in the woods and reappeared ten minutester with the corpses of two Lionheart Adventurers.

    Michael was pretty sure that he ordered everyone to avoid engaging inbat until they found out more about the Zentika Empire''s actions. Sun Demos seemed to notice Michael''s displeasure and responded swiftly.

    ["They found my subordinates and were about to kill them. As their King, I had to protect!"]

    "Yes yes. You had to protect them, I know," Michael scratched the back of his head.

    He gestured to Sun Demos to bring the corpses, which the monkey did. Sun Demos ced the corpses in front of Michael, who used Extraction on them. He concentrated Extraction on the Lionheart''s Memory Orbs to procure as many useful pieces of information as possible.

    Since Sun Demos killed the two Lionhearts, Michael might as well make full use of their bodies.

    He extracted less than 100 SoulStar Fragments and two Memory Orbs. There was no Soultrait Symbol, but Michael didn''t anticipate to procure one, either way.

    He absorbed the SoulStar Fragments swiftly before his eyes fell onto the Memory Orbs. Michael devoured them with is eyes closed, his entire being concentrated on digesting the Memory Orbs.

    Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Michael''s eyes shot wide open, worry glimmering in his eyes.

    "That¡­will be quiteplicated¡­"

 Chapter 582 Complications

    <h4>Chapter 582 Complications</h4>

    The situation was so simple that it wasplicated again. At least, that''s how Michael felt.

    The memories of the two Lionheart Awakened showed Michael that the Adventurers in the Zentika Empire''s camps had been given special missions.

    One of the special missions was to look for settlements in the Untamed Jungle and to watch out for the Lord of the Untamed Jungle while procuring food rations from the overflowing poption of the Untamed Jungle.

    Meanwhile, others were given other missions. For example, one of the Lionheart Adventurers heard from his friend to mark the Untamed Jungle with his Soultraits and install small magical objects that acted simr to the Orbs of Hostility and the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    The quality and effectiveness of the magical objects were incredibly low, but that was what made it much easier to mass-produce them.

    Michaelpared the magical objects to security cameras in his mind, though they were not the same. The objects were a hassle, and it would be better to remove them soon.

    It was a good thing that he knew what to look for with Spirit Eyes now that he got to know about the magical objects'' existence.

    Interestingly enough, only Adventurers were given those special missions. That was what made it so simple to solve the situation; Killing all Adventurers would remove the threats.

    Unfortunately, that simple solution was also what turned everything far moreplicated than it had to be. Killing the Adventurers would attract the Zentika Empire''s attention. This was even more problematic since the Adventurers roamed around with the Soldiers of the Zentika Empire.

    The Adventurers forwarded detailed information about their whereabouts and their movements for the day in case an ''ident'' happened. That meant, killing more Adventurers would provide the Zentika Empire information about Michael''s whereabouts.

    The Zentika Empire''s forces would slowly spread through the Untamed Jungle until they met with resistance, blocking them from further advancing. That would give them hints about potential locations of settlements, or monster hideouts.

    ''Annihting their camps wouldn''t be an issue, but the aftermath is not something I can handle. If the poption''s morale decreases further, the council might make a move. I might be able to handle a few Tier-4 Adventurers with shameless cheating, but I cannot deal with the council''s members.''

    Fighting Natives, or Adventurers at the 5th Tier was not something Michael could aplish anytime soon. Therefore, he had to avoid pushing the Zentika Empire into a corner. It might be a bit easier to do something if the Savannah Region didn''t pose any danger, but that was not the case. The Regional War in the Savannah Region was growing more intense by the day.

    ''If Sun Demos and the Demon Monkeys stir the predators up north it should be feasible to slow the Zentika Empire''s advances without exposing myself.''

    Instead of exposing himself openly, Michael felt that it might be better to y with the Soldier''s psyche. He made a decisive decision by allowing the ordinary Zentika Soldiers to enter the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle.

    However, that didn''t mean that Michael would allow them to return safely. Not without causing some mental trauma, at least.

    The Untamed Jungle was already renowned as a fiendish existence, a magical forest born from ill intentions.

    Michael''s actions in the past, such as his merciless movements against the Jungle Expedition, the bloody murders at night, and the detonation of Chaos Pills that had terrific aftermath on the small city bordering the Untamed Jungle, had been more than enough to nt a small seed of fear in the hearts of the people all over the Zentika Empire.

    Enraging the Untamed Jungle was not something the poption wanted, but they would starve soon. The Zentika Empire had loans to pay back as well. They were in dire need of food, and resources. The Untamed Jungle was the perfect solution to all problems.

    Michael understood their feelings. The Lionheart Awakened''s memories showed him precisely how everyone in the Zentika Empire felt, what they feared, and what they were hoping for.

    He could use their emotions and fears against them by relying on the Greater Nature Spirit''s power, and the Elemental Empress'' Nature Affinity to his advantage.

    Michael was going to y dirty.

    ''Let''s give it a try.''

    **

    Several weeks passed since therge battle in the Savannah Region and Michael''s meeting with Sun Demos.

    The members of the Savannah Expedition managed to grow stronger. Their teamwork improved and theirbat experience skyrocketed. Most Holy Knights managed to increase their rank, and many members that had been stuck at the Peak of the 2nd Tier achieved their long-awaited breakthrough to Tier-3.

    This was only possible because the Trnce decided to take advantage of the momentum and attack several settlements of the Council. They managed to destroy two settlements that had been constructed not too long ago, therefore, pushing the Council of Xylon further away.

    The Savannah Expedition lost a few members due to unforeseen events, but the casualties remained on the lower end of the scale. They didn''t face another disaster like the death of 100 members either. The members of the Savannah Expedition learned from their mistakes.

    Michael wasn''t idle either. He managed to use Zeroa''s Nature Affinity through Taming and Power Share. It took him a while tobine the Elemental Empress'' lesser nature affinity with the Greater Nature Spirit, but it was possible to control the Greater Nature Spirit''s roots to a certain extent.

    His firm Link of Loyalty with the Greater Nature Spirit helped a lot. Using the firm Link of Loyalty and Zeroa''s Lesser Nature Affinity, Michael managed to kill a few dozen Awakened and inflict mortal injuries upon others.

    The forces of the Zentika Empire were quite annoying. They moved around in small groups, using small magical objects that cast shrouds of distortion around them. The magical objects distorted their presence, which made it much harder for others to perceive them.

    Even the Greater Nature Spirit had a hard time finding the forces of the Zentika Empire.

    The only good thing was that Michael grew tremendously in thest few weeks. He managed to use trickery to hunt the Zentika Empire''s Soldiers and Adventurers. Roots burst out of the ground, swallowing Soldiers when they expected it the least, only for High Beasts to appear out of nowhere.

    Michael didn''t hunt any High Beasts, butbining Extraction, the dragon might, and his natural killing intent startled some monsters enough to push them closer to the Zentika Empire''s forces. Startled, and enraged, the monsters attacked the nearby Soldiers and Adventurers.

    It was a little bit difficult to control roots in the distance in the first few weeks, but with enough practice, effort and a lot of willpower, Michael managed to properly use his powers with the Greater Nature Spirit to attack the Zentika Empire''s forces.

    At first, the attacks were merely meant to scare the Zentika Empire, ensuring that the seed of fear in their hearts would blossom. However, the initial attacks were not enough to scare most Adventurers.

    They had to be struck, pierced, and whipped by the roots, wed, and ripped apart by the monsters before theyprehended that the Untamed Jungle retaliated against their invasion.

    Once the Adventurers realized that the Untamed Jungle worked against them, the seed of fear infested every part of their being. Their minds and hearts were filled together with doubts and worries, which created it easier for Michael to focus on other tasks.

    The Greater Nature Spirit, the Forest Pixies, Sun Demos, his Demon Monkey Unit, Tatjana, and the rest could take care of the scared forces of the Zentika Empire, while Michael could lean back¡­and torture himself by training tirelessly.

    Torture was the most suitable word for what Michael did to himself. He spend nearly 80% of the day researching his soul in-

    depth before attempting to practice Sanctum of Life. Unfortunately, his soul was a lot moreplex than expected. Even after weeks of research, Michael couldn''t practice Sanctum of Life without feeling constant pain.

    Practicing Sanctum of Life wasn''t supposed to be painful, but Michael had to ept that w if he couldn''tprehend the essence of his soul. And that was going to take a while.

    IF he''d managed toprehend the essence of his soul, it would require months, if not years of research. Why? Because his Soul was everchanging. Every single SoulStar Fragment channeled into the Sphere of Light or Soultrait Symbol altered his soul.

    It was only a minuscule change, but the massive number of minuscule changes created a big impact. Even worse was the impact whenever he created a new Soul Socket, and upon fusing together with a new Soultrait. Even the Soultraits he''d removed from his War Rune had permanently marked his Soul.

    Other than Sanctum of Life, Wisdom Breaker was also a self-

    torture device. Michael felt stupid for being such a masochist, but he desired to develop stronger as quickly as possible. Thus, he cracked his mind, mended the wound, and cracked his mind all over again. The process was not physically painful, but it was mental torture.

    The only advantage of cracking his mind and mending it all over again was the incredible effects of Wisdom Breaker. It refined his mind much faster than any other technique, mostly thanks to the additional portions of the Tekur''s Elite ss Technique, but it also strengthened his mind.

    Michael was certain that his mind might be capable of blocking various mental attacks together with his indomitable mind. Wisdom Breaker''s intensity increased as his mind grew stronger, and more resilient, allowing his mind to develop stronger and stronger by the day.

    Following the Mind and Soul refinement, Consirat of War was much more pleasant to practice, just like Primordial Pir, Pantheon''s Dawn, and Leviathan Diffusion. The only other technique that was painful to practice was Breath of the Underworld. It was true torture, just like Wisdom Breaker and Sanctum of Life.

    However, his strength was not the only thing that changed. His territory changed a lot as well.

 Chapter 583 Territory Development

    <h4>Chapter 583 Territory Development</h4>

    Michael used some of the resources he had amassed to expand his territory.

    Following his orders, Michael''s subjects constructed enough residencies for 150,000 subjects. The domain of the Greater Nature Spirit expanded and the farnd flourished. Small patches of farnd were created everywhere to nt and grow the rare herbs and nts Michael procured from the Tritan Alliance.

    The Trnce imported some of their races'' unique flora as well, granting Michael more ess to resources. Due to the influx of herbs and nts, the Alchemists in his territory managed toe up with new recipes and practice some of the rare potion recipes that had been collecting dust for a while now.

    The Mystic Alchemists found a way to rece some highly valuable gases with Kitsun Clouds, which had been stored for quite a while now. It wasn''t an easy feat to experiment with Kitsun Cloud but most issues could be solved with some effort and determination.

    The Mystic Alchemist''s finds and experiments intrigued Michael. It was worth paying more attention to their work in the future, especially with their research into Chaos Pills and simr dangerous concoctions.

    Michael was still at the Lowest rank of Tier-3 despite receiving arge number of energy shares from the Savanah Expedition''s hunts. It wasn''t going to be that easy to refine his War Rune. Once he upgraded Extraction and Soul Grimoire, his War Rune would require even more energy to breakthrough to the 4th Tier.

    His ascension to a Higher Lifeform would take a while.

    It was a good thing that Michael was not in a rush to be a Higher Lifeform. His foundation was far from perfect, and to generate the most benefits from his ascension, Michael would have to spend a lot more time, effort, and resources on his foundation, either way.

    Other than the recently constructed residencies and the Mystic Alchemist''s research results, many other things changed in Michael''s territory. The canopy bridgework had been expanded. It spread across the majority of the Untamed Jungle''s middle area and outer ring at this point.

    The Enchanters ensured that the canopy bridges were well hidden, using Camouge, and Presence Distortion runes to cover the canopy bridges with great precision. Even Michael would have difficulties pinpointing the canopy bridges with Spirit Eyes if he didn''t know where to look for them.

    The work efficiency within the territory improved drastically since it was not as cumbersome as it used to be to move through the Untamed Jungle.

    Unfortunately, the renovation of the Sacred Knight Temple wouldn''t finish anytime soon. This slowed down the progress of the Blessed Squires and Holy Knights, who stayed back in the Untamed Jungle instead of moving out with the Savannah Expedition. Even the number of newly promoted Blessed Squires decreased drastically.

    That was a shame, but everyone knew that renovating the Sacred Knight Temple was going to bring more long-term benefits. It was not like the temple was going to copse and disappear.

    The Blessed Squires and Holy Knights were dedicated to their craft. They trained tirelessly and motivated the Warriors, Archers, Assassins, Vanguards, Knights, Berserkers, and other Summons to train hard even though they couldn''t use the benefits of the Sacred Knight Temple right now.

    It was nice to see that his Summons worked hard. Michael gained more motivation to work even harder watching his subjects.

    Therefore, Michael used his now-vast knowledge about a wide variety of techniques to create some upgraded versions of the neutral techniques his summons used to refine their bodies and minds.

    It was unusual for Summons to be able to refine their souls, but Michael opted to give his Summons a Neutral Soul Refinement technique as well. He heard that a few selected Summons could refine their souls. It was just that finding those selected few wasn''t easy.

    Michael would have loved to give his Summons his techniques, but Wisdom Breaker was too dangerous, and Consirat of War wasn''t going to work on most Summons. Consirat of War required a strong, near-wless, physique to show its true effect. Furthermore, the technique was too expensive for the masses. Michael''s wealth of resources would disappear in a single day, maybe even hours if his Summons began practicing a technique like Consirat of War.

    Techniques that were cheaper to practice, and highly efficient for unrefined physiques and minds were the most useful for Summons. Their strength increased drastically without the need to drain their Lord''s entire fortune.

    If his Summons showed talent toward Body Refinement or Mind Refinement, Michael could always upgrade their benefits and reward them for being dedicated and talented by giving them better techniques. These techniques would be moreplicated and require more resources to practice but their efficiency and effects would be much better.

    Since Immortal Knight was on the battlefield, the other Instructors had to work even harder to train the territory''s military. Their training was not as efficient as the training regime of the Sacred Knight Temple''s Leader, but it was better than letting the Summons do as they pleased. Some might be capable enough to train on their own, but others would learn certain movements wrong, turning the wed movements into habits.

    Habits were cumbersome to remove. It was an unnecessary waste of time to remove bad habits if one could learn everything properly from an Instructor instead.

    The number of high-ranked Instructors in his territory was still a little low, but that was something Michael could solve over time. The Hunter Academy would open some spots to train higher-ranked Instructors to instruct the students of the academy thereafter.

    The more training facilities Michael created in his territory the easier it was to train Instructors for specific upations. It would take some time, but the Instructors required to fill the Sacred Knight Temple and the Hunter Academy were bound to be promoted naturally or summoned sooner orter.

    The Greater Eagles and the Bilrox were also having a good time. Their numbers kept increasing, and so did their rtionship with the remaining citizens of the territory.

    Michael learned that a dozen mutated Bilrox joined the Underground Forging Hall to stay near the forges. Their mutation manifested a Seed of Fire deep inside their bodies, attuning them to hot environments.

    The exterior of the Untamed Jungle was still suitable to the Pyro Bilrox, but they were even morefortable near the burning forges. They supported the cksmiths of the Underground Forging Hall and received the best food, beverages, and a personal hut to sleep in in return.

    The Underground Forging Hall Expanded. Grandmaster Smithies and antiquated forging methods reached the Forging Hall. The cksmiths studied the Grandmaster Smithy Blueprints and spent several weeks recreating them with the materials they had. The final result of the first Grandmaster Smithy was not as exceptional as it could have been, but the following Grandmaster Smithies were extraordinary.

    The cksmiths hired some Lesser Elementals to be temporary Spiritual mes for the Grandmaster Smithies. Spiritual mes were eversting mes that couldn''t be extinguished. It was not impossible, but most researchers said that it was near impossible. Spiritual mes could be bound to the Soul where they would grow alongside their contractor.

    Lesser Elementals couldn''t be bound to the Soul like Spiritual mes, but the cksmiths couldmunicate with the Lesser Elementals, allowing the cksmiths to use several new forging methods that required precise control of the mes'' temperature and properties.

    The Pyro Bilrox, the Lesser Elementals, and the cksmiths developed into a team to utilize the Grandmaster Smithies'' potential. They couldn''t unleash the Grandmastre Smithies'' full potential, but their working efficiency improved drastically. The results of their work were also much better.

    Studying the antiquated forging methods Michael obtained from the Soultrait Symbol Auction wasn''t easy. Most 1-Star cksmith Apprentices and the majority of 2-Star cksmiths had to give up any attempts to study the ancient methods because theirprehension was not high enough.

    They were cksmiths but they didn''t understand the Heart of Forgers, nor the True Essence of Forging properly. If they ever managed toprehend the Heart of Forgers and the True Essence of Forging, they might attain insight and understand the antiquated methods of forging.

    Some 2-Star cksmiths were elevated to 3-Star Disciples of the Ancient Forge.

    Michael had never heard of a name for a Summon''s upation like that, but he predicted that it was simr to 1-Star cksmith Apprentice, or 1-Star Enchanter Novice. Mastering the craft of the Ancient Forge to a certain degree would probably be enough for the 3-Star Disciples of the Ancient Forge to be elevated to 4-Star Summons.

    That was very intriguing, and it was something Michael looked forward to.

    Overall, Michael''s territory expanded quite a bit. He managed to start more than a dozen new projectsst week and finished more than a hundred mid-sized projects that had been bothering him for quite a while.

    Some of the projects were rted to his territory''s defenses, residencies, and the supplies his territory would require once he started another summoning session. However, other projects were for younger and older subjects in his territory. He built arge-scale retirement home for older Summons, who wanted to help somehow, but were too weak to help anywhere. They shared their vast experience of life and their craft in exchange for being tended to until they died in old age.

    The youngest received a kindergarten and an elementary school. The kindergarten helped families to go to work without having to worry about their child''s safety. The children attending the kindergarten would socialize with each other and learn to live in themunity before they would learn some basic knowledge in elementary school.

    They would get to know more about the Origin Expanse and the necessities to survive in the world. Teaching the young generation would help the territory survive for eons toe.

 Chapter 584 Monster Horde

    <h4>Chapter 584 Monster Horde</h4>

    ["Another High Beast passed by our hideout. Monsters keep ignoring us."] Sun Demos reported.

    It had been a few days since the monsters of the Untamed Jungle started ignoring Sun Demos, the Demon Monkeys, and Tatjana''s people. Several High Beasts have been sighted in the northern area of the outer rings. They''ve been seen hunting the invading forces of the Zentika Empire.

    Currently, the tension in the Savannah Region was rising, but Michael couldn''t make a move. Too many High Beasts followed by thousands of monsters passed through his territory every day. They didn''t attack his subjects and ignored his territory, but that worsened the predicament. Michael had a bad feeling about this.

    The monsters of the Untamed Jungle started to ignore him. How could he not be confused and worried?

    It didn''t take long before Michael''s premonition came true. The High Beasts, more than a dozen of them, lead more than ten thousand monsters outside the Untamed Jungle to obliterate the enemy, the forces of the Zentika Empire, who dared to invade their territories over and over again.

    Michael didn''t quite understand why the High Beasts reacted like this against the Zentika Empire while ignoring him and his subjects, but the turn of events was not great.

    He traveled to the border close to the Zentika Empire''s northern camp and watched as the Beast Wave bulldozed the camps.

    A humongous truck-sized serpent that was dozens of meters long smashed head-first into the first camp''s walls. It charged only once, but that was enough to destroy the camp''s wall. The huge serpent released tremendous energy through its head, shattering the fortified camp walls at once.

    Hundreds of arrows poured onto the humongous serpent, but they were repelled easily. The serpent''s scales weren''t even scratched. They glimmered faintly, looking like polished onyx in the afternoon sunlight.

    It didn''t take long until the polished onyx-like scales stopped glimmering, dirt and blood covering the deadly beauty. The humongous serpent charged into the camp, swallowing some Soldiers alive, while bulldozing others with its heavy body. It was attacked from all sides but the onyx-like scales seemed near indestructible.

    It took more than a dozen Tier-3 Knights to inflict some scratches on the surface of the High Beast. The serpent barely noticed that someone tickled it before its tale swept the Knights from the ground. The Knights were flung through the air like they didn''t weigh anything. One of them crashed heavily into a massive tree, breaking the unfortunate man''s spine in one go. The other Knights were luckier. Their faces smashed heavily into the soil, merely dirtying it.

    No bone in their bodies was broken and they had yet to sustain heavy damage.

    The Knights jumped up, ready to block the serpent''s next attack when they noticed that the High Beast wasn''t paying attention to them. The High Beast slithered to the center of the camp where the Commander and other powerhouses were.

    Before the Knights could even think about intercepting the ck serpent, dozens of beasts appeared next to them. A huge Wolf appeared in front of a young Knight, pouncing at the young fe without mercy. The wolf''s ws ripped through the young Knight''s throat three times in quick session. The Knight was trying to scream for help and raise his weapons, but the energy in his body dispersed rapidly.

    It took mere seconds before the world around him turned dark. He died, just like that.

    The wolf kicked the lifeless body away in disinterest and turned around to face its next prey. However, before the wolf could lock onto its next target, a bony Gori brushed past therge wolf. The Gori flung a corpse through the air, picked up the wolf''s dead prey, and hurled it across the camp. The corpse smashed into a group of Soldiers, the impact pushing them to the ground.

    The Gori roared, enjoying the scenery and death around it, and charged ahead. The wolf, who would have attacked the Gori back in the Untamed Jungle, ignored the monster. It kicked the ground and charged past the Gori with its superior speed.

    The enemies teamed up to obliterate theirmon enemy¡­

    A Lionheart Awakened could be seen coating his entire body in ck mes. The mes spread through the surroundings and burned everything in its path, whether friend or foe. Two allies, who didn''t heed the Lionheart''s warning, approached him and were burned on the spot. They wanted to help the Lionheart as he dealt with a dozen monsters simultaneously, only to fall victim to the ck mes.

    The Lionheart burned the monsters around him to cinder and didn''t hesitate to charge ahead.

    He was just about to aid his friends and colleagues when a sapphire-blue panther appeared in front of him. The panther''s sapphire-blue fur was coated inrge streams of water that shot forth with incredibly high pressure. The Lionheart had to erupt a wall of fire to block the high-pressure water stream. He retreated, his eyes widening in terror when he realized that the water pressure was not the only issue.

    The sapphire-blue panther''s water possessed special properties. It was infused with energy which increased the water''s qualities drastically, especially the property to extinguish fire. The panther was not slow either. It kicked the ground and appeared behind the Lionheart after making a small detour around the dying firewalls.

    The panther released several high-pressure water streams from a close distance and pounced at the Lionheart Awakened as well. The mes shrouding the Lionheart crackled loudly as the water extinguished them slowly. The ck mes sizzled in despair and red up again as the Lionheart unleashed his Soultrait once again. The ck mes burst forth and enveloped the sapphire-blue panther, who hissed loudly.

    In an instant, a bubble of water shrouded the sapphire-blue panther, the Lionheart, and his ck mes, severing the mes'' connection with the surrounding energy and oxygen. The sapphire-blue panther wed the Lionheart, his fangs digging deep into the Lionheart''s chest.

    The Lionheart struggled to breathe. His muffled scream never reached anyone and it was only a matter of seconds before water entered the Lionheart''s lungs.

    The sapphire-blue panther willed the water around them to stream into the Lionheart''s mouth, nose, and ears, filling the Awakened with water. The Lionheart''s ck mes flickered desperately but they grew dimmer. The mes evaporated some of the water around and within him, but the sapphire- blue panther''s ability to conjure more water worked easily against the mes'' weakening prowess.

    The following seconds felt like an eternity to the Lionheart. His eyes widened in terror as he realized what was going to happen.

    He was going to drown¡­die of suffocation tens of kilometers away from the closest river.

    Many Soldiers and Awakened saw the disastrous scene in front of them. Their eyes were locked on their drowningrade and superior, but they couldn''t do anything. Their lives were on the line as well.

    The situation didn''t look good. The Soldiers were at a numerical disadvantage against the sudden Monster Horde. Even their strength was not on par with the monsters that attacked them out of the blue. The umpteen High Beasts would have been enough to annihte the Zentika Empire''s camps.

    However, the High Beasts didn''t move out alone. More than ten thousand strong monsters from the Untamed Jungle followed them.

    ''Is the Untamed Jungle trying to show the Zentika Empire that they''re tired of its invasion? Or is there more to it?''

    Before Michael got to know Sun Demos, Zeroa, the Bilrox Queen, and the Greater Nature Spirit, he would havepared monsters with ordinary animals. The only difference between monsters and animals was that monsters'' bodies had been refined with origin energy.

    They could grow stronger because their bodies could contain origin energy and absorb more to grow stronger. However, many monsters were more intelligent than Michael had thought before he entered the Origin Expanse. All monsters that managed to be High Beasts possessed the intelligence of a 10-year-old. They might even be more intelligent given that Zeroa and Sun Demos were still Tier-2 Monsters but intelligent enough tomunicate.

    Sun Demos felt like a jealous 8-year-old boy most of the time. However, at other times, Sun Demos showed a glimpse of more intelligence. Meanwhile, Zeroa was a Pseudo-Mythical Existence. She was a little bit smarter than Sun Demos, but she was still inexperienced and young. It had only been a few months since Michael managed to rescue her from the Kitsun Lord''s grasp, allowing her to see the vast world of the Origin Expanse.

    Michael took his experiences with intelligent monsters into consideration as he observed the umpteen High Beasts'' course of action. The High Beasts attacked the strongest enemies, Awakened, and eliminated them one by one. Their targets were usually at a disadvantage against the unique powers of the High Beasts.

    The massive ck serpent targeted the Awakened whose physical strength was higher than the rest, the sapphire-blue panther countered the ck me Lionheart, while the other High Beasts did exactly the same. Meanwhile, the weaker monsters chose to bundle together and overwhelm the weaker Soldiers and Awakened with their massive numbers and overwhelming strength.

    They bulldozed the four camps of the Zentika Empire in less than a day. Everything was utterly destroyed, and not a single life was spared. But the High Beasts were not yet done. They didn''t invade the Zentika Empire, but they did something to demonstrate the Untamed Jungle''s anger.

    They dragged the corpses of the defeated to the border of the Untamed Jungle and created a line of corpses with the Soldiers and Adventurers of the Zentika Empire.

    Even Michael couldn''t help but shudder when he realized what the line of corpses meant.

    ¨CCross the line, and you will end up just like them; A nameless corpse ¨C

 Chapter 585 Trap

    <h4>Chapter 585 Trap</h4>

    The rebellion of the Untamed Jungle, as Michael named it, was merely the beginning of a much bigger event. It triggered a domino effect of unknown extent.

    Michael''s earlier actions had already been enough to stagnate the progress of the Zentika Empire''s invasion, however, the Monster Horde''s attack and the annihtion of the Zentika Empire''s camps was on an entirely different level.

    Michael could have destroyed the camps as well, but he didn''t want to attract more attention from the Zentika Empire. He had been hoping to reach a silent agreement with the camps to live peacefully alongside the camps, for a few months, at least. A few months would have been more than enough to focus on the Savannah Region and their Regional War.

    He would have traveled to the Savannah Region once the situation allowed him to move freely, and attack the Council of Xylon alongside the Trnce and the Savannah Expedition. Unfortunately, that was not feasible.

    The Scouts, which Michael had sent into the Zentika Empire, reported back to him, sharing that an army of the Zentika Empire gathered. One of the Zentika Empire''s armies was deployed to the Untamed Jungle!

    ''They will arrive in a few days. More than 150,000 seasoned Soldiers¡­''

    Michael didn''t receive much valuable information. All he knew was that the Zentika Empire''s army was called Heart of the zing Lion and that they had 150,000 seasoned Soldiers left after utterly destroying Taros'' territory in the Southern Ice Mountains. It was not a lot, but the information made him recall something he''d learned in the past.

    Since he digested many Memory Orbs from Adventurers who had been living in the Zentika Empire for years, Michael could tap into their memories to recall certain facts about the Heart of the zing Lion. It was a powerful army with many powerful Adventurers. Most native members were 2-Star Firebender, 2-Star Pyromatic Knights, or 2-Star Ashen Berserkers.

    The memories were interesting but they didn''t show him the Rank and Tier of his opponents. The Heart of the zing Lion could be an army with most members at the 2nd Tier, or they could be an Elite force with a vast majority of Tier-3 powerhouses. In both cases, Michael was certain that their Generals, Commanders, and Captains were Higher Lifeforms, otherwise, the Heart of the zing Lion would have never deployed to deal with a Monster Horde led by a dozen High Beasts.

    ''Since the Untamed Jungle ignores me¡­should I participate in secret as well? I can deal with the Monster Hordeter if the High Beasts turn against me, but the Zentika Empire¡­I rather eliminate them and fight some monsterster¡­''

    The current situation of his territory was certainly not bad, however, the strongest forces of the military were busy bashing some heads in the Savannah Region. Facing the Heart of the zing Lion army head-on was certainly not the best move.

    He fell deep in thought, the cogs in his mind rattling wildly.

    But before he could make a decision, Michael''s heart began to thump wildly. Something inside him pulled tightly, inflicting pain and a burning sensation deep within Michael.

    A flood of terror and pain passed through two Links of Loyalty, taking Michael''s breath away.

    ''Fuck''

    **

    A few minutes earlier in the Savannah Region.

    Immortal Knight emerged next to a Holy Knight, his heavy broadsword shimmering brightly as he cleaved down. The de split the Awakened in front of him in two parts. The Awakened didn''t even have the slightest chance to block the attack. His Soultrait was unleashed at full power, but Immortal Knight''s Supreme Holy Sword cut through the Awakened''s Armament Soultrait like it was nothing.

    Hot blood gushed onto Immortal Knight''s face and armor, drenching his armor in fresh blood. Dried blood covered his entire body at this point. He weaved left and right, evading the majority of iing attacks while blocking the remaining attacks with the t side of the heavy broadsword.

    It had been a while since the Immortal Knight overflowed with this much adrenaline. However, he couldn''t feel happy about that¡­not right now.

    Siegfried Dracoon passed through the rows of enemies, eliminating a dozen Soldiers in a matter of seconds until he arrived in a small depression. Only a dozen Adventurers were in the depression, but those Adventurers were the most fearsome enemies on the entire battlefield. That was what Siegfried''s gut feeling told him.

    The Immortal Knight''s eyes traveled to the bottom of the depression, his attention locking onto the only unmoving body.

    It was a corpse. The Laprix Lord''s corpse!

    One of the Trnce''s Lords had been taken out, and killed. The Laprix Lord was kidnapped right in front of his allies'' eyes, pulled into the depression, and stabbed to death by the dozen Adventurers.

    The Valkyr, the Immortal Knight, and the other Super Elite forces rushed into the depression, but they had been toote. The death of the Laprix Lord severed his Links of Loyalty, releasing the Laprix Summons and the Adventurers under hismand. They regained freedom and were allowed to do as they pleased.

    Every Laprix all over the Savannah Region sensed their Lord''s sudden death, and they froze in their tracks. Nobody was sure what they were supposed to do now.

    The Laprix Soldiers panicked. Some let go of their weapons and fled, whereas others remained where they were, their eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

    "We have to eliminate them! They have a Soultrait that allows them to pull someone in their range toward them!" One of the Valyr eximed.

    The others regained their senses as well and charged into the depression. The dozen Adventurers observed the charging Super Elite Forces and other powerhouses, the corner of their lips tilting upward.

    Immortal Knight instinctively understood that something was wrong. He slowed down, his left hand lunging forward to stop the Holy Knight next to him from charging ahead.

    "Stop charging!" He thundered through the vicinity suddenly.

    The Holy Knights and other members of the Savannah Expedition listened to hismand. They didn''t hesitate and stopped at once. Some went a step further and stepped back as well. Their hearts were racing, and their bodies were telling them to charge ahead and eliminate the Adventurers given the opportunity, but they trusted Immortal Knight unconditionally.

    "Holy Shield Formation!" Immortal Knight bellowed, churning most of his umted Holy Power through his body. He twisted the heavy broadsword and pierced it into the ground.

    Both hands held tightly onto the broadsword''s handle as he infused his Holy Power into it. The broadsword began to shimmer at once, however, there was more to it. The Holy Sword expanded. It grew wider and transformed into a shield, a Holy Shield empowered with Holy Power.

    The Holy Knights arrived next to the Immortal Knight. They retrieved their shields and used the Holy Shield formation with their shields as a medium. Hundreds of Holy Shields manifested in the following seconds. They connected and fused into a humongous barrier that separated the Immortal Knight and his people from the depression.

    All of a sudden, the 12 Adventurers, who''d been standing in the center of the depression, disappeared. They were in the depression one second and disappeared when the first Valkyr were about to reach them.

    ''Illusion? Teleportation?'' Siegfried wondered, now certain that his course of action had been correct.

    As the Adventurers disappeared, the scenery within the depression suddenly changed. Crackling noises resounded through the entire depression. At first, the crackling was quiet. Only a few heard the noises through the thunderous sounds surrounding them. However, the crackling grew louder by the second.

    It overwhelmed the surrounding noises, forcing everyone to halt in their tracks.

    All of a sudden, a burst of energy flooded the vicinity.

    A momentter, the depression with everyone inside, erupted in fire.

    A horrifying explosion reverberated throughout the depression, bursting the ground and everyone overhead apart. The Valkyr tried to respond timely, but they could barely cover their bodies with a firm membrane of energy when a zing inferno ruptured through the ground, erupting in a bright pir that burned everything within alive.

    The Zynur and Laprix burned to death within seconds, whereas the screams of the Valyr reverberated through the surroundings.

    The Immortal Knight and the others stared at the zing inferno that erupted in front of them. They were safe and sound behind the Holy Shield formation, but their minds were in a mess.

    Who reported that the Council of Xylon couldn''t fight as dirty? They could y with fire as well!

 Chapter 586 Space-Lock

    <h4>Chapter 586 Space-Lock</h4>

    The Laprix Lord''s death and the deadly trap set up by the 12 Adventurers changed the situation in the Savannah Region at once.

    The stalemate was intercepted the moment the 12 Adventurers appeared. One of them used Pull, a Soultrait that pulled a marked target through space. The Soultrait''s range of effect wasn''trge and the prerequisite to use Pull was to have marked the target beforehand. It was aplex Soultrait despite its rather simple effect.

    Combining Pull with a wide variety of other Soultraits allowed the 12 Adventurers to set off two traps simultaneously. First, they managed to mark the Laprix Lord in one of the battles in thest few weeks, therefore, meeting the requirement to pull the Laprix Lord into the depression. Second, the other Adventurers had the power to seal and restrain the Laprix Lord. They managed to take him down mere seconds after he was pulled into the depression.

    Third, the Soldiers working for the 12 Adventurers set up a trap in the depression with explosives, Pyro Stones, andplex runic engravings to trigger the trap at a specific moment.

    The specific moment was when three Adventurers used their Space-type Soultrait to teleport the 12 Adventurers out of the depression. The three Adventurers were known as Teleporters, their Soultraits allowing them to travel through space and bring other people along.

    The Space-type Soultraits triggered the trap, sealing the surrounding space right after the Teleproters moved everyone out of the trap''s range. Even if the Super Elite force of the Valkyr and the other forces of the Trnce owned special devices, or Soultraits that would have normally allowed them to escape the trap, they weren''t able to escape this time. The space around them was sealed and the trap erupted, killing everyone in the inferno''s wake.

    Siegfried Dracoon and the others outside the depression stared at the disaster in shock. They realized, atst, that the Council of Xylon shouldn''t be taken lightly. Just because some ns worked out pretty well against the Council of Xylon didn''t mean they were on the brink of destruction.

    "Retreat to the next line of defense!" Immortal Knight bellowed. He was the first to regain his senses. His confident voice thundered through the surroundings, silencing the murmurs around him instantly. Even the Trnce''s force who had been about to charge into the depression, only to watch their friends and allies burn to death, heed Immortal Knight''smand.

    They retreated together, changed their stances again, and prepared for the next course of events. However, the Council of Xylon didn''t attack anymore. Their army retreated as well.

    "Are they going back now that they killed the Laprix Lord?" Tiara asked, only for Lilica to frown deeply, "The morale of the Trnce is at its lowest, most Laprix are panicking, and half of the Super Elite forces have been eliminated. It doesn''t make sense to retreat now. Their chances to overwhelm us are the highest right now. They wouldn''t waste such an opportunity¡­right?"

    Lilica''s attention fell onto the Immortal Knight. Siegfried Dracoon was deep in thought. His eyes traveled across the members of the Savannah Expedition, his eyebrows furrowed.

    "Didn''t we fight one of those Adventurers before?" Pheli asked Liopham at this moment. She tilted her head, recalling to have fought against one of the 12 Adventurers two weeks ago.

    "That''s rig¨C..." Liopham''s answer was cut in half as a golden hue engulfed him.

    Tiara''s hair stood up to its end when the golden hue entered her view. Her head flicked back to the battlefield where a particr set of 12 Adventurers stood calmly. The 12 Adventurers had emerged in the middle of the emptied battlefield. They were in the center between the forces of the Trnce and the Council of Xylon, watching the Savannah Expedition calmly as they retreated to the first line of defense.

    Both armies retreated to their first line of defense, a gap of 1,000 meters separating them.

    One of the Adventurer''s arms shimmered in the same golden hue as Liopham. One moment, Liopham''s sentence was cut in half, and in the next second, Liopham disappeared.

    He reappeared in front of the 12 Adventurers, his eyes widened in shock and terror.

    Tiara was already on the move. She ignored Immortal Knight''s warning and dashed forward. Silvarean Tiger strengthened her physique while transforming half of her body. Simultaneously, Zeroa coated Tiara, shrouding her body in zing azure mes.

    Tiara''s fur was set aze and her eyes burned fiercely, but she didn''t care. She motioned Zeroa to manifest a spatial portal to close the distance to Liopham, but the Elemental Empress found herself incapable of setting up an anchor on the battlefield.

    The 12 Adventurers had triggered the space lock again, restraining all uses of spatial affinities and abilities for the next few seconds. It was only a few seconds, but that was more than enough to deal with their enemy.

    The Adventurers were already at the 3rd Tier. Each of them was strong enough to deal with Liopham on their own, yet, they charged at him together when he was pulled into their range of attack.

    Liopham had no chance to defend himself. He used the Swiftness Soultrait in its strongest form to push back and flee, but the pulling force of the Adventurer with the Pull Soultrait was simply too strong. Liopham was pulled closer to his enemies. He retrieved his Spirit Dagger, ready to give his utmost. There was no way he would die without resisting.

    However, it was helpless. The dozen Tier-3 Adventurers weaved around him. They circled him and unleashed six different Soultraits simultaneously, dulling Liopham''s mind and body.

    Liopham''s mind nked out for a second, but that was already enough. Something felt odd. He looked down at his body and saw a dozen des pierce through his body.

    His Spirit Leather Armor Set blocked many attacks, however, it was not strong enough to resist thebined attack of a dozen Adventurers with Tier-3 Weapon Artifacts. Their des were razor-sharp, sharpened through enchantments, and capable enough to pierce through Liopham and his Spirit Leather Armor.

    Liopham coughed up blood. The strength in his legs left him. His legs caved in and he slumped to the ground.

    A puddle of blood formed beneath his twitching body.

    "Didn''t they say that the reinforcement from the Untamed Jungle is powerful?" One of the Adventurers mumbled in displeasure, twisting his swordde in the Forest Elf''s body before ripping it out in disinterest. He clicked his tongue and locked eyes with Tiara.

    "She''s only Tier-2 as well. What a shame," The Adventurer mumbled, the glimmer of interest in his eyes dying down slowly.

    Tiara''s overwhelming fury and rage intrigued him, but no matter how angry a little kitten was, it would be impossible to harm a Tiger. That was the disparity in strength felt by the Tier-3 Adventurer.

    He chuckled lightly and nced at thepass, the space lock, they''d used to seal space around them. It was a Legendary Artifact, a national treasure they''d been given by the Council of Xylon to participate in the Regional War against the Trnce. All they had to do was one thing; Eliminate reinforcement from the Untamed Jungle.

    It was a fortunate incident that they managed to mark the Laprix Lord, allowing them to set off a deadly trap. However, their main mission was to remove the most cumbersome enemies on the battlefield; the Savannah Expedition.

    The Adventurer deactivated the space lock, which the man next to him used as a sign to use Pull once again. After Liopham had been pulled to the dozen Adventurers, everyone knew what was going to happen.

    Siegfried shuddered at the thought of losing Liopham and Pheli, but he didn''t have the means to protect Liopham. The sudden disruption in space and Liopham''s transportation right in front of the Adventurers was not something Siegfried could have prevented. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do. He had to remain strong and protect those he could protect.

    Therefore, the Immortal Knight altered his tactic and ordered the Savannah Expedition to charge.

    "Charge ahead!"

    He stared at Stinger, who stung Pheli and a dozen other powerhouses simultaneously. Not even a secondter, Pheli was shrouded in a golden hue and transported to the dozen Adventurers. However, Immortal Knight, Zeroa, Stinger, and the rest were prepared.

    Zeroa created a spatial portal to transport Tiara to the Adventurers, whereas Stinger switched ces with Pheli. Stinger switched ces a second time, allowing four Mid Tier-3 Berserkers and two Low Tier-3 Warlock Centaurs to take its ce.

    Zeroa conjured anotherrge spatial portal right in front of the Immortal Knight, allowing him and the remaining Forest Elves to move toward the dozen Adventurers.

    But not everyone handled to pass through the spatial portal before their enemy used space lock once again. The surrounding space was locked again, leaving eight Adventurers of the Council with the strongest powerhouses of the Savannah Expedition.

    The Immortal Knight was the first to notice that the Teleporters disappeared, including the Adventurer with the space lock. He also realized that the remaining eight Adventurers panicked.

    They had been calm andposed until a moment ago, certain that their Teleporter Comrades would pull them along. However, the Teleporters alongside the Adventurer with the Pull Soultrait disappeared, leaving their allies behind.

    ''They sacrificed theirrades to stall time!'' Siegfried realized faster than the rest, his head flicking back where he saw the three Teleporters and the other Adventurer appear¡­right in front of Pheli.

    Their Weapon Artifacts arced through the air, and fountains of blood spurted everywhere.

    Pheli''s body slumped to the ground.

    Her severed headnded in the wet soil with a thud.

 Chapter 587 Doubts

    <h4>Chapter 587 Doubts</h4>

    "Fuck fuck fuck!!"

    Michael had no idea what exactly happened in the Savannah Region, but he sensed that Liopham and Pheli died.

    What the hell happened?!?

    Their death waspletely out of his expectations and too sudden to ignore.

    Their Links of Loyalty shook first and then¡­it was all over.

    Michael was bombarded with a flood of fury, despair, and sadness. The influx of information overwhelmed him, forcing Michael to sit down and close his eyes. The Cursed Seals deep inside him began to rage and threatened to explode outward, but Michael forced them into submission with a mentalmand.

    He focused on the Links of Loyalty among the Savannah Expedition''s members and noticed that everyone was overwhelmed by their own emotions.

    More Links of Loyalty were severed, but no more Awakened died. This time, it was mostly Warriors, Knights, and two Archers, who died. The Summoned had been overwhelmed and struck down one at a time. All it took was one strike to kill them.

    Michael prepared his heart for worse, but no more Links of Loyalty were severed.

    The battle ended as suddenly as it began when eight energy influxes reached him through his War Rune. The energy influxes were highly potent. They originated from Tier-3 Adventurers, providing Michael with more information to digest.

    He could piece together what must have happened, but he couldn''t believe it. It didn''t make any sense.

    Liopham and Pheli had been killed. Just like that.

    He had the Orb of Resurrection¡­but it was of no use if he was not next to the corpses to use it right after their death. He couldn''t resurrect them¡­

    Even if he was present¡­who was he supposed to resurrect? Liopham? Pheli? What about his other Summons? Who deserved to live¡­and who deserved to die?

    Michael''s mind was in a mess. He was not particrly close to Pheli and Liopham, but it was a fact that the Forest Elven Adventurers had been with him the longest. Their Link of Loyalty had been firm as well. They trusted him the most, right after Tiara. His expression turned sour

    He waited impatiently until Immortal Knight called him through themunication crystal.

    Michael wanted to call first, but he couldn''t be certain that Immortal Knight and the others had already retreated into a more secure location. Maybe, they were still in the middle of a battle, or they retreated just now. Calling them in such a situation would put them in even more danger.

    It took Immortal Knight two more hours before he called Michael. These two hours felt like an eternity. Michael felt like cursing Siegfried for taking so long to call, but he quietly listened to Siegfried''s report. He had to know what happened.

    "Tell me what happened!" He said, his voice cold as ice.

    "..."

    Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

    "...The Teleporters and the Adventurer with the Pull Soultrait managed to flee. Thebination of their space-sealing Artifact and their Soultraits was impable. I''m certain that these four Adventurers are the Council of Xylon''s secret weapon!" Immortal Knight revealed at the end of his report, only to break into silence.

    "I apologize for reacting too slow. If I had known that Liopham and Pheli had been marked I would h¨C...."

    Michael cleared his throat, interrupting Immortal Knight. He was a mess himself and angry. However, his anger was not directed at Immortal Knight. It was directed at himself and the Council of Xylon.

    The Council had to die!

    "It''s not your fault. I think you know better than anyone that wars are unpredictable," He said, trying hard to stay strong andposed. He wasn''t on the verge of tears, but the pang of guilt in his heart was heavy.

    "How are the Forest Elves doing? What about Tiara?..."

    Michael was sad about Liopham and Pheli''s death, and he could only imagine how terrible Lilica, the other Forest Elves, and Tiara were feeling. The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had been together for years. They were closerades, friends, and family.

    "We managed to calm them a little bit. They were not doing great and were about to charge into the retreating Council of Xylon''s retreating army. Fortunately, I managed to stop them with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' help. I''m not sure if they can continue participating in the Savannah Expedition without endangering their lives or their allies. Not right now, at least."

    Immortal Knight''s words reached Michael, who fell deep into thoughts.

    Due to the appearance of the Teleporters, the Regional War was bound to turn even more dangerous than before. It would be increasingly more difficult to apply their tactics, especially against the Legendary Space-Lock Artifact. The Savannah Expedition was not prepared to deal with enemies like this.

    The Teleporters'' presence would lead to slower fights all over the Savannah Region. Michael was certain that the Council of Xylon would turn the Regional War into a war of attrition, while also using the Teleporters and the Adventurer with the Pull Soultraits to eliminate one powerhouse after another.

    Michael was just about to ask something when Immortal Knight was interrupted. Michael heard only snippets from the other side of themunication crystal, but that was enough to get to know some details about the Trnce''s future actions.

    "The attendant of the Trnce''s military forces notified me just now that more reinforcement will arrive from the Zynur and Valyr''s ns. Their higher-ups must be annoyed that a big portion of their Super Elite Unit had been killed that easily." Immortal Knight revealed.

    Michael nodded but he didn''t say anything for a while. The cogs in his mind rattled wildly, trying to digest the death of the pair of Forest Elves, and attempting to figure out a cost-efficient way to deal with the Teleporters without losing anymore Awakened.

    An important factor in his train of thought was that It was quite obvious that the Valyr and Zynur didn''t want to lose an entire Lesser Region to rule. The regions surrounding the Savannah Region were also useful given the abundant resources and rare monsters that could be found everywhere.

    If the higher-ups weren''t interested in the Savannah Region, they wouldn''t sent more reinforcement to aid the Valyr Lorddess and the Zynur Lord. Instead, they would tell everyone to pack up and leave the Origin Expanse before they would be killed mercilessly.

    That was enough to create a decisive decision.

    "The Savannah Expedition is not strong enough to deal with the Tier-3 Teleporters. They can go wherever they want before sealing the surrounding space. They will likely avoid the strongest enemies to deal with the most annoying enemies¡­

    which is probably the Savannah Expedition in their eyes," Michael nibbled his lower lip nervously and sighed heavily. He would love to trash the Council of Xylon right this instance, but that was not possible¡­not without endangering everyone else¡­

    "I cannot join the Regional War in the Savannah Region either, not with the Heart of the zing Lion army moving toward the Untamed Jungle," He mumbled to himself before forwarding the final order.

    "Return to the Untamed Jungle. Tell the Trnce that we wille back. Don''t mention the Zentika Empire''s army just yet."

    Everyone was tired from fighting almost daily for two months. Michael knew that the Savannah Expedition members were exhausted, not only physically but also mentally. The death of Liopham, Pheli, and the two dozen members who''d been killed by the Teleporters crossed the line. Their deaths were a clear indicator that it was time to retreat, reorganize, and rest.

    The Savannah Expedition members were much stronger than before but they were dead-tired

    But the biggest reason for Michael to ry the order to retreat was that he didn''t rely the Trnce. Their words, promises, and actions didn''t align well. The Laprix Lord''s death was too easy. It didn''t create sense that the Trnce''s Lords survived for months, only for one of them to die like this. It was anticlimactic and didn''t fit well into the big picture of the Savannah''s Regional War.

    Michael''s bad feelings about the Trnce''s actions worsened when he heard about the Valyr and the Zynur receiving more reinforcement less than two hours after the Laprix Lord died. It might have been a coincidence, but Michael didn''t want to end up getting fooled.

    "It would be great if you manage to collect a few corpses of Laprix, Zynur, and Valyr Adventurers on your way back. Secretly, of course." Michael ordered, continuing to nibble on his lower lip.

    Everything might have been a coincidence, but it was always better to research on his own. That way, he couldn''t be fooled by those he considered his allies.

    It was not the first time his allies betrayed him.

    Thinking about Quinn, Michael''s arms twitched. Trusting Quinn had been a fatal mistake, and he didn''t want to repeat the same mistake all over again¡­ not when he was responsible for so many lives!

    "As youmand, my Lord! We will retreat immediately!" Immortal Knight responded, "Since we have already a few corpses collected from the battlefield, including the corpses you want, we won''t have to take a detour!"

    Michael was not sure why they had already Awakened corpses of the Valyr and Zynur, but he didn''t ask. He told Immortal Knight to be careful ande back.

    Right after he ended the call, Michael sent some scouts to the border of the Savannah Region.

    "Scout the border and pry into the Savannah Region now and then. Inform me about every little detail. If you think that something is weird, but you''re not sure if it''s important, tell me. Even if it''s not of great significance, I want to understand about it!" Michael ordered the Scouts sternly.

    He then notified Sun Demos to pay attention to the monsters in the Untamed Jungle.

    The Monster Horde might have retreated into the Untamed Jungle after obliterating the four camps of the Zentika Empire, but the Untamed Jungle was growing restless as time passed.

    ''If the Untamed Jungle turns against me suddenly, I''ll have to deal with opponents from three sides. I cannot even rely the Trnce anymore¡­what a mess¡­''

    Michael grit his teeth and fell deep in thought. The current situation was not easy, but one advantage was that the Untamed Jungle''s monsters ignored him, his people, and his territory. That never happened, and Michael was certain that it only urred because the High Beasts were more annoyed at the Zentika Empire''s invasion than the internal struggles within the Untamed Jungle.

    The High Beasts must have considered Michael as a native of the Untamed Jungle, whereas the Zentika Empire''s Soldiers were invasive forces.

    The Untamed Jungle dealt with invasive forces before resuming to their internal territorial fights.

    At least, that was what it looked like.

 Chapter 588 Betrayed?

    <h4>Chapter 588 Betrayed?</h4>

    It was alreadyte at night when Immortal Knight and the rest of the Savannah Expedition returned.

    Michael ordered his subjects to prepare a feast for the Savannah Expedition and a humongous campfire to honor Liopham, Pheli, the Holy Knights, and everyone else who fell victim to the dangers of the Savannah''s Regional War.

    The Forest Elves weren''t that hungry and Mika bawled his eyes out in front of Michael. He hugged Michael tightly and wept like a little child. Michael was younger than Mika ¨C only a few months ¨C but Mika considered Michael as someone who was much more mature and older than him. He cried his heart out while Michael patted his back lightly.

    Michael expected that Mika and the others would throw a fit in their emotional turmoil. He was prepared to listen to theirints and be shouted at for ordering them to join the Savannah''s Regional War. However, nobody said anything.

    The members of the Savannah Expedition were fully aware that their Lord gave them the chance to join the battle or stay behind in the Untamed Jungle. Everyone was given the opportunity to stay back. Michael never forced anyone. In fact, even if he had forced the strongest Soldiers to join the Savannah Expedition, nobody would have said anything. His course of action was correct. Michael didn''t do anything wrong.

    The casualties of the Savannah Expedition weren''t that low. However, they weren''t high either, considering that the Savannah Expedition participated in the Regional War for a while now.

    Less than 200 members of the Savannah Expedition died, most of them in the first tworge-scale battles. The casualties were a result of the expedition member''s inexperience and impatience. They overestimated their strength and underestimated their enemy''sbat prowess grossly, thus, creating prickly situations that resulted in severe injuries or death.

    Fortunately, the mistakes of their fallenrades turned into great lectures for those who survived. They learned a lot and improved rapidly. Their strength, tactical understanding, andbat awareness skyrocketed, improving their survivability on the battlefield drastically.

    Michael didn''t join the feast. Heforted Mika and the others, instead. Mika and Tiara clung onto Michael like leeches for the rest of the night.

    He tried to carry them to their rooms to ensure that they would sleep, but when he tried to loosen their iron-tight grips around him, the pair of Awakened grumbled something iprehensible.

    At one point, they fell asleep while clinging onto him. Michael felt like throwing them into theirfy beds, but they wouldn''t let go of him.

    ''That''s a one-time thing¡­'' He said to himself before he returned to his office.

    Immortal Knight was supposed to be sleeping as well, but after today''s miserable loss, Siegfried couldn''t keep his eyes shut. The dull eyes and the pale faces of the Soldiers he''d failed appeared in front of him whenever he closed his eyes.

    Michael found Immortal Knight cramming through a bunch of reports. He made notes on one of the Savannah Region''s copies and pointed them out to Lilica, who was also awake and in his office. Opars was also present but he fell asleep after a Healer used up the Forest Elf''sst bits of energy and nutrients to tend to his wounds. Michael moved Tiara and Mika next to Opars once he managed to loosen their iron-tight grips.

    They huddled together and slept on the small couch.

    Lilica sighed heavily when she nced at them.

    "I have yet to go back and report Liopham and Pheli''s death. I''m¡­not sure what to tell their families¡­" She said at some point.

    She tried to avoid talking about her friends'' deaths but it was hard. Lilica saw them die right in front of her¡­and she couldn''t do anything about it.

    At one point, she''d wished that the Adventurer with the Pull Soultrait marked her instead of Pheli and Liopham, but then again¡­she didn''t want to die either. It was a selfish thought, but Lilica didn''t want to die. She hated herself a little bit for that selfishness.

    Lilica retrieved three spatial rings. One of them belonged to her, whereas the others belonged to Liopham and Pheli.

    "Immortal Knight told me that you asked for some corpses of the Valyr and Zynur. I collected some of their bodies after the Laprix Lord was killed. Before the trap of the Council went off inside the grove, I noticed that the Trnce split up. The strongest forces slowed down instead of elerating and they stopped in front of the grove even before Immortal Knight ordered everyone to stop charging. I found that weird, so I collected their bodies after they had been killedter. Nobody should have noticed something."

    "I forgot about that because of what happenedter¡­and only recalled it when Immortal Knight mentioned it." Lilica''s voice crumbled. She choked and was on the verge of breaking out into tears.

    Lilica didn''t speak any further. She ced the three spatial rings in Michael''s hand and turned back to the reports as if she hoped that the reports could drown her tears and sorrow.

    Michael decided that it was better not to bother Lilica any further. Instead, he inspected the spatial rings. Michael channeled a trace of energy into the rings to see what was hidden inside and retrieved the corpses of four Valyr Adventurers.

    The Valyr Adventurers were part of the Valkyrs'' Super Elite Unit. Even now, hours after death, their bodies were still strong. Fickle mes flicked around their heads, but they died down quickly.

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he saw that the four Valyr had been killed with a precise stab to their neck. There were no signs of resistance on their bodies. They had been stabbed to death with a razor-sharp de before they could retaliate.

    ''Interesting.''

    Michael used Extraction on the bodies, focusing on their memories to extract as many useful memories as possible.

    It didn''t take long before the first Memory Orbs formed in front of him. The extraction waspleted within a few minutes, leaving Michael with a few dozen SoulStar Fragments, one Soultrait Symbol, and five Memory Orbs.

    He was a bit surprised about the SoulStar Fragments and the Soultrait Symbol since neither he nor his subjects killed the Valyr, but he pushed that thought aside. The Memory Orbs were far more important.

    Michael consumed the Memory Orbs at once. He ignored the oldest memories, stored thebat-rted memories in a separate file to digestter, and put his mind entirely on the newest memories.

    Shards of memories shed through his mind. There were thousands of them, yet Michael''s attention pulled toward a particr set of memory shards.

    ''There we are. Mere minutes before the Laprix Lord died.''

    At first, Michael couldn''t find anything useless. Certain clues made him doubt the actions of the Valyr and Zynur but most doubts were proven wrong quickly.

    There was only one memory that attracted his attention. A memory showing the Valkyr slow down when they heard something through the Zynur''s secretmunication channel.

    The Valyr Lordess would never acknowledge it openly, but she had infiltrated the secretmunication channel of the Zynur and Laprix Lord.

    The Zynur race used a special technique, not quite unlike Whispering Energy ¨C just inferior ¨C, tomunicate with each other secretly.

    The Valkyr learned the specialmunication technique as well. Thus, they heard when the reinforcement of the Zynur race told their people to be careful of the groves.

    The Valyr were confused, but they were even more shocked when the Laprix Lord was ughtered and the Council''s trap went off.

    The Valkyr were shocked and spun to the Zynur to question them. However, before they could confront the Zynur¡­they were killed.

    The Valkyr didn''t even know what happened. They died, and their memories ended.

    "I cannot be certain¡­but I think the Zynur betrayed the Trnce. If I''m not wrong, they must have changed sides not too long ago. Or, all of this is a misunderstanding? But if it''s a misunderstanding, and they used other means to find out about the Council''s trap, I don''t understand why the Zynur didn''t warn everyone."

    Michael was not certain what to make of the memories. It was highly likely that the Zynur Lord betrayed them, but he couldn''t say so for sure. He didn''t have enough pieces of evidence to prove his betrayal.

    It was possible to inform the Valyr Lordess about the intel he had. However, Michael could not give her any hard evidence as proof of his suspicion. It was not possible to tell the Valyr Lordess about his suspicion without attracting the Zynur Lord''s attention either.

    The Valyr Lordess didn''t have a great temper. She would definitely ask the Zynur Lord about what happened. That would either worsen the situation all over the Savannah Region, though Michael was not sure how much longer the Zynur Lord would keep the charade up.

    ''I should keep it for myself until I have more pieces of evidence.''

    That was not a permanent solution. However, Michael had to avoid confronting an all-out attack from the Savannah Region for a while.

    He had to take care of the Heart of the zing Lion army first, after all.

    Nheless, Michael determined to prepare some memory crystals that contained the little pieces of memories that could be used as evidence and grounds to be suspicious of the Zynur Lord''s actions.

    He would be ready to throw the memory crystals at the Valyr Lordess once the time was ripe.

    Lilica was raging while Michael was busy preparing the memory crystals. She didn''t expect that the Zynur could have betrayed them.

    It was totally unexpected and more than enough reason for her to feel like charging into the Zynur Lord''s territory to question him.

    Michael was understanding, but he had to calm down the furious Forest Elf.

    "We will confront the Zynur Lordter. Calm down a little bit and take care of the tasks with higher priority first."

    It was obvious that Michael was talking about Liopham and Pheli''s families. Their families must have observed something by now. After all, most races had simr devices to mankind''s Lord IDs.

    Michael wished that Lilica would take care of the deceased''s families first.

    After that, they would have to deal with the Zentika Empire''s army, and only then would they have some time to spare to confront the Zynur Lord.

    That was¡­if the Regional War in the Savannah Region wouldn''t escte all of a sudden.

    **

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 Chapter 589 7-Star

    <h4>Chapter 589 7-Star </h4>

    Even though Michael tried not to think too much about Liopham and Pheli, it was not like he could shut off his brain. The harder he tried to think about something else the more he was reminded about the two Forest Elves.

    It was even worse since the sorrowful band of Mika, Opars, and Tiara stayed close to him. They clung to him as if he could drain their sorrow and pain. On the other hand, Lilica left the Origin Expanse for a while. She had to report Liopham and Pheli''s deaths and meet their families.

    Michael decided to distract himself by looting the spatial rings, spatial pouches, and other objects with isted pocket dimensions. The first thing he did was transfer all Energy Stones and other useful resources into his War Rune''s storage. Following that, Michael moved to thergeplex of warehouses where he began retrieving the corpses of all Adventurers that had been killed in thest two months.

    The Savannah Expedition worked hard, but the majority of battles were small skirmishes. It was also impossible to retrieve all Adventurer corpses. Despite that, Michael ended up with more than 3,500 Adventurer corpses that waited patiently to be looted.

    More than a third of the corpses had been given by the Trnce. That was a little bit less than expected, which was another reason to start doubting the Trnce''s sincerity, but Michael didn''t let that doubt disturb his focus.

    His entire attentionsted on the Adventurer corpses.

    Michael summoned the Soul Grimoire and retrieved a Soul Tear to use on Extraction. The potency of Extraction''s power increased temporarily in response. Following that, Michael spent the next few hours looting the Adventurers with Extraction.

    Michael put the extracted Artifacts, blueprints, Summoning Scrolls, and Summoning Scroll Fragments aside forter. His attention lingered on the piles of Memory Orbs, Soultrait Symbols, and SoulStar Fragments.

    ''Damn''

    Michael swallowed hard, his eyes lingering on the massive piles.

    Since the drop rate for Awakened that hadn''t been killed by him or his people killed was lowered, Michael didn''t expect a lot. However, that was a grave mistake.

    He ended up with 3,095 Memory Orbs, 283 Soultrait Symbols, and a total of 189,529 SoulStar Fragments!

    It was the first time that Michael saw such a huge pile of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. Of course, he''d never seen so many Memory Orbs piled up in one spot either, but the Soultrait Symbols and Fragments shocked him the most.

    Michael has umted 122,459 SoulStar Fragments and 188 Soultrait Symbols until now. All of a sudden, these numbers increase more than twofold.

    Michael''s mind went nk as he reached out to the piles of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments.

    "It''s a good thing I procured arger Sealed Container to keep the Soultrait Symbols," He mumbled at some point, retrieving the Emerald Box, where his old Soultrait Symbols had been squeezed into without anymore space to breathe, and a new container that was five times the size of the Emerald Box.

    Michael stored all¡­471¡­ Soultrait Symbols into the new container and sealed it with trembling hands. The next thing he did was to store all SoulStar Fragments. That was rather easy. Dozens of energy tendrils burst from his War Rune and devoured the piles of SoulStar Fragments rapidly.

    The pile of SoulStar Fragments inside his War Rune expanded, slowly turning into a massive mountain with 311,988 SoulStar Fragments.

    ''I have enough to upgrade Extraction to 7-Star!''

    Not only did he have enough to upgrade Extraction, but it might as well be enough to upgrade some other Soultraits. That was pretty great, and it was also why Michael didn''t bother continuing to extract the corpses of the 200,000ish Summons that the Savannah Expedition brought back.

    Extraction''s potency would increase tremendously upon upgrading it to 7-Star. That also meant Extraction''s drop rate would increase. Michael would be able to gain more loot after Extraction reached 7-Star. Thus, he chose to be a little bit more patient.

    He was about to feed the Extraction Symbol with tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments at a time when he recalled how painful it had been to upgrade Superior Constitution. The changes caused by upgrading Superior Constitution''s Symbol were more drastic than the changes of other Soultraits since it affected Michael''s physique directly.

    However, Michael didn''t forget that upgrading his Soultraits to 6-Star had always been rather painful. Upgrading a Soultrait to 6-Star changed his physique, even if it was only a slight alteration. Michael suspected that the same ¨C just more intense ¨C would happen once he upgraded Extraction to 7-Star.

    Michael considered the pain and began infusing five SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction. He added five SoulStar Fragments every second and stopped whenever he felt that his body required more time to assimte the SoulStar Fragments into Extraction.

    He was not in a desperate rush. The Heart of the zing Lion army was on the way, but their army was massive. It would take a while before they crossed the Zentika Empire.

    Several hours passed in the blink of an eye, yet Michael didn''t feel any major changes in Extraction. Still, he could tell that the Extraction Symbol pulsated vibrantly and that it was full of vigor.

    Michael felt like the Extraction Symbol was excited, but that might as well be him being excited about Extraction''s changes.

    He was going to upgrade his first Soultraits to 7-Star. How could he not be excited? Was that even possible?

    More than half a day passed before Michael''s body reacted to the assimtion of close to 200,000 SoulStar Fragments. The outlines of the 7th Star had already beenpleted and the iing energy of the SoulStar Fragments was used up to fill the outlines.

    However, it was only now that the cells in his body began toin. Extraction''s presence weighed hard on his cells. Michael began to shudder as an increasingly ufortable sensation swept over him. The pores all over his body opened and sharp pain spread through his entire body. It felt like someone was trying to rip out his internal organs.

    But all Michael could see was dark spots mixed with blood oozing from the pores all over his body. His head thumbed violently all of a sudden and his heart skipped a beat. Michael began to bleed dark blood from his nose and ears. He coughed up clots of impurities and dark blood.

    All of a sudden, Michael felt like he was freezing. The warmth of his body disappeared and his view blurred. He stopped assimting more SoulStar Fragments into the Extraction Symbol for a while and breathed heavily. His condition improved the moment he stopped integrating more SoulStar Fragments with the Extraction Symbol. To test whether it was Extraction''s fault or not, Michael rested a few minutes before he began to channel some Fragments into Extraction again.

    The first few SoulStar Fragments didn''t do anything to Michael. However, as the number increased, Michael felt a wave of weakness pass through him.

    ''My body cannot handle a 7-Star Soultrait? But that''s not possible. Kaleb awakened a 7-Star Soultraits as a Tierless Lord. If he can do that, why shouldn''t I?''

    Michael wondered if it was a big difference to manifest a natural 7-Star Soultrait or upgrade a Soultrait with external help. However, he quickly disregarded that thought as he recalled something else.

    ''The Awakening Stone!''

    Every Lord was given an Awakening Stone to ensure a secure manifestation of their Soultrait. It was widely known that one could only manifest a Ability trait with an Awakening Stone, but that might not be everything the Awakening Stone was capable of. Maybe, Awakening Stones protected the Lords from the difort and suffering one would sustain for manifesting a Soultrait that was too powerful to handle as a Tierless Awakened.

    That was merely a theory, but Michael thought that it made sense. Even Awakened with 5-Star Soultraits were usually not powerful enough to unravel the full potential of their Soultrait as Lesser Lifeforms. Only by ascending to Higher Lifeforms would they be able to unleash their Soultrait''s full potential and do magical things that were deemed impossible as Lesser Lifeforms.

    This phenomenon was even worse for Awakened with 6-Star Soultraits. They knew that their Ability trait was extremely powerful, but they didn''t possess enough energy to experiment and unleash their Soultraits'' tremendous powers.

    Michael sensed something like that with his Soultraits as well. However, even though he couldn''t unleash the full potential of most of his Soultraits, the power he did manage to unleash differentiated vastly depending on whether he used his 5-Star Soultraits or 6-Star Soultraits.

    Even if he couldn''t unleash Extraction''s full potential once it reached 7-Star, Michael was certain that it would help him grow stronger¡­and rescue his brother.

    No matter how painful it was, Michael knew that he had to upgrade Extraction. His brother was waiting for him!

    Michael grit and integrated more SoulStar Fragments into the Extraction Symbol. He channeled the Fragments into the Ability trait Symbol slower than before. He decreased the rate from five Fragments every second to two Fragments and slowed down even further once he couldn''t bear the pain anymore.

    It was good that enhancing Extraction removed some of the additional tenacious impurities that were stuck in some spots for a very long time. However, he didn''t want to risk dying just to remove more impurities from his body. He endured the difort of upgrading Extraction as well as possible while coughing up more dark blood clots and exuding more dark blood all over his body.

    Michael grew weaker as the hours passed, but he never sumbed. He continued to endure the difort until Extraction''s 7th Star was filled.

    Once Extraction was upgraded to a 7-Star Ability trait the world around Michael turned dark. He copsed.

 Chapter 590 Great Haul

    <h4>Chapter 590 Great Haul</h4>

    Michael''s eyes opened slowly. He was not sure how much time had passed but he felt much better.

    His body was warm and overflowing with vigor. The energy surrounding him was highlypressed and purified. He felt great.

    His eyelids were heavy, threatening to close once again, but Michael fought against it. He kept his eyes wide open and looked around to figure out where he was. It was only now that he realized that he was lying in arge bathtub filled with glimmering green liquid.

    ''Intermediate Nutrient Solution?''

    Michael recalled the familiar smell of Intermediate Nutrient Solutions, but he didn''t expect to be bathing in it. There had to be at least a thousand Intermediate Nutrient Solutions dissolved in the bathtub. However, more shocking was that the nutrients inside the Intermediate Nutrient Solution bath had¡­disappeared.

    The nutrients had been sucked dry.

    It was also interesting that the floor around him was covered in Common Energy Stones. There were at least 500 spread through the room, probably even more than that.

    "You don''t have to look so shocked. This is nothingpared to what you used up in thest two days. You consumed the energy within 11,000 Common Energy Stones and the nutrition from 2900 Intermediate Nutrient Solutions."

    Immortal Knight''s voice reached him from the side. Michael turned to the old man, whoseplexion had improved a lot. The effects of the Bloodline Upgrade Token rejuvenated Immortal Knight a lot. He was doing much better.

    Immortal Knight wasn''t wearing his armor like usual. Instead, he wore ordinary clothes like most citizens. That was a rare sight to behold.

    "You cannot imagine how shocked we were when your attendants told us that you copsed and that you''ve been spitting out blood and other extremities for hours. We were worried until we found you copsed on the ground in your blood. Well. It was mixed with lots of impurities and retched worse than my ascension to a Higher Lifeform when I was still alive and a Lord."

    Siegfried teased Michael a little, but it did not take long before Immortal Knight turned more serious again.

    "I think you should control your aura a little bit better. You almost killed the attendants who changed your water and added more Energy Stones and Nutrient Solutions. I had to jump in and protect them, only to end up recing them because you started dissecting their bodies while they were still alive. I can tell you one thing. That was¡­creepy!"

    Michael looked apologetic to some of the attendants. He saw their bandages and the shimmers of fear in their eyes and pressed his lips together. He lifted his arm and used Archangel''s Grace. Michael added Heavenly Realm by swiftly converting Soul Power and Origin Energy into Soul Energy. His Soul Energy was drained rapidly but the attendants'' wounds regenerated swiftly. The skin that Michael had subconsciously extracted regrew rapidly.

    Thereafter, Michael sent the attendants away after giving them some rewards, including Warrior Enlightenment Potions. His attendants did great work. They stayed by his side even though they feared getting skinned alive.

    Michael closed his eyes once the attendants left. He enters the deepest parts of his consciousness and nced at the Sphere of Light. Extraction was at the center of the Sphere of Light. Seven vibrant stars had been etched on Extraction''s Soultrait Symbol. Upgrading Extraction seeded!

    Michael''s attention was pulled to the pile of SoulStar Fragments. Only 11,958 SoulStar Fragments were left.

    ''Upgrading Extraction required 300,000 SoulStar Fragments. That''s an increase of more than 10xpared to Extraction''s upgrade to 6-Star.''

    Michael licked his lips. He was pulled out of his train of thought when Siegfried spoke up again.

    "You were asleep for two days because you severelycked nutrients and energy, you know?"

    ''Hmm?'' Michael frowned deeply ''Upgrading Extraction shouldn''t have required that many nutrients and energy. Is that why I felt so cold and weak? I thought my body was revolting against Extraction''s upgrade¡­''

    Michael recalled something and a flood of information about Extraction impacted heavily on his mind. He instinctivelyprehended more about Extraction''s uses, limitations, and hidden powers.

    The information also told him that Extraction altered his entire body to release some of the impurities that had been stuck within him since he was young. Simultaneously, Extraction altered his cells to tune them better. His cells were adapted to fit better to Extraction.

    Michael could use Extraction far easier now that it upgraded to 7-Star and his body used Extraction subconsciously. A passive effect of Extraction had been unlocked, creating an Aura around Michael''s body. He had to pay more attention to Extraction to block the Aura, otherwise, he would dissect everyone around him without his knowledge.

    Injuring his subjects like he did when he was asleep would happen more often if he didn''t pay attention to the Extraction Aura.

    The changes to his body and his increasing understanding of Extraction were terrific. Michael closed his eyes and unleashed Dome of Extraction to measure the dome''s range of effect. He didn''t extract anything with the Dome of Extraction, but Michael could instinctively tell that its power was tremendous.

    Everything around him was d in a golden hue, and Immortal Knight shuddered. The dome''s presence was several times more terrifying than it used to be. Siegfried felt that if Michael wanted to kill him he could do so with a simple mentalmand. His hair stood up to its end at the thought.

    Even Michael couldn''t help but shudder as he retracted the Dome of Extraction.

    ''Powerful''

    Upgrading Extraction to 7-Star was definitely going to help save Danny. Mixed with Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tear, and Enhancement, Extraction''s power should be enough to remove the weakened Curse before it could regain some of its former power.

    ''Now¡­all I need is to gather more Soul Tears to strengthen Danny''s Living Soul and upgrade Soul Grimoire. Then¡­I can finally rescue him!''

    Only slightly more than two months passed since his mother told him about Danny''s Living Soul and the 1-year-period he had to rescue him. His mother told him that she would take Danny away two months before it was ''toote''. That meant Michael had more than enough time to solve his other issues and ensure his brother''s safety!

    A sigh of relief escaped Michael''s lips, but his thoughts quickly traveled to the uing battles and threats he had to remove soon.

    The Council''s Teleporters were dangerous and Michael couldn''t be certain that the Heart of the zing Lion army wouldn''t have equally dangerous members. That worry drawn his attention to the 471 Soultrait Symbols and the remaining 11,000ish SoulStar Fragments.

    But before he put too much focus on the Soultraits and Fragments, Michael decided to finish his other task first. He wanted to observe Extraction''s power.

    Michael stepped out of the bathtub, cleaned his body, and stored the remaining Energy Stones inside his War Rune''s storage with a wave of his hand. He dried his body swiftly and put on a neat set offortable clothes.

    Once he was ready, Michael left the room, ignoring that he had been exposed to Immortal Knight the whole time. He ordered Immortal Knight to follow him and made his way to the warehouseplex once again.

    He retrieved some of the 200,000ish Summon corpses brought back by the Savannah Expedition and used Extraction.

    ''Should I focus on Mythic Scrolls this time, or will it be better to get some Legendary Scrolls to have some powerhouses to increase my chances against the Zentika Empire?'' Michael wondered but he shook his head.

    The Soul Power amassed within Extraction''s Soultrait Symbol increased drastically over thest two days. As a Soultrait with a higher star rating, Extraction possessed a higher conversion rate than his other Soultraits. The conversion rate was directly rted to the Soul Power every single Link of Loyalty provided.

    If the Soul Power provided from the Links of Loyalty of a Starless Summon would be 0.001 Units at its strongest, a 1-

    Star Summon could provide 0.01 Units at its strongest. However, most Awakened couldn''t attain a higher conversion rate than 50% due to their Soultraits'' limit.

    There were multiple ways to exceed a Soultrait''s limit via external means, but there was one particr fact that couldn''t be shaken; The higher a Soultrait''s star rating the higher the conversion rate.

    Upgrading Extraction to a 7-Star Soultrait increased the conversion rate drastically, therefore, increasing the Soul Power provided from every Link of Loyalty.

    That meant it might be more beneficial for Michael to increase his strength by summoning as many Summons as possible. Their Links of Loyalty would increase his Soul Power manyfold, granting him tremendous power to deal with the Zentika Empire''s army.

    Michael had enough residencies for 100,000 new Summons, but he shook his head quickly.

    ''First, I need to check what resources I have.''

    It felt like an eternity passed but Michael was done extracting the loot from 200,000ish Summons.

    The drop rate of Extraction at 7-Star didn''t increase tremendously. Actually, that was not correct. Some drop rates changed drastically, while others didn''t seem to have changed so much. However, the slight changes were enough to create a massive increase in gains since he had so many corpses to extract.

    A few Summoning Scroll Fragments more from every corpse was equivalent to 1 to 2 Legendary Summoning Scrolls given the sheer mass of corpses he had looted.

    He made a massive haul. The gains were enough to shock Immortal Knight to the core. He stared at his Lord, his hands trembling in excitement.

    ''I''m d that you resurrected me,'' Immortal Knight nearly blurted out loud.

    Michael didn''t see the glimmer in Immortal Knight''s eyes. He was too excited and shocked about the gains he made. He incorporated the Scrolls, blueprints, and other loot he procured from the Awakened corpses and spread his entire energy through the warehouseplex to count his gapins- Even though he gained a lot from extracting a portion of the Awakened''s War Rune storage¡­it was nothingpared to the gains he made from the 200,000ish Summons.

    He looted a total of 12,405 Artifacts. More than half of them were Tier-1 Artifacts, but even among those were a few interesting gains. One natural Epic Tier-1 Weapon Artifact, and close to 250 4-Star Tier-1 Artifacts. Other than that, Michael gained various Tier-2 Artifacts. Most of them were 2-Star Artifacts, but there were some rare finds as well. The overall haul from Artifacts was better than ever.

    But the Artifacts were merely the beginning of Michael''s great haul. He procured 124,580 Blueprints, 145,600 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, and 6,001,430 Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    He couldbine the Summoning Scroll Fragments into 600 Mythic Scrolls, or 6 Legendary Scrolls!

    The big question, however, was¡­what was he going to do??

 Chapter 591 Expanding

    <h4>Chapter 591 Expanding</h4>

    Michael had only a day or two left before the Zentika Empire''s forces would reach the border. That was barely enough to prepare a little bit to ''wee'' the Lionhearts and other forces.

    Meanwhile, the Savannah Region was a little bit more silent than before¡­but that was what worried Michael even more.

    ''They''re nning something. Are they aware of the Zentika Empire''s issues? Do they know about the Heart of the zing Lion Army?''

    Many questions shed through his mind, but he figured that it was impossible to answer most of them. All he could do was to deploy a few dozen Scouts near the Savannah Region''s border. His stealthiest Scouts were told to infiltrate the Savannah Region and procure as many pieces of information as possible.

    However, Michael didn''t expect a lot. He was pretty certain that his Scouts wouldn''t be able to find out much.

    ''If the Council attacks, they''ll probably deal with the Valyr Lordess first. Or they ignore the Valyr Lordess and use the Teleporters to invade the Untamed Jungle and my territory to take me by surprise.''

    Michael considered a few ns to stop the Teleporters from invading his territory, but he decided against them.

    Instead, of blocking the Teleporters, Michael hoped that they would invade his territory.

    He adjusted some configurations on the Pir of Territorial Awareness and increased the sensitivity to energy fluctuations. That increased the energy consumption of the Pir of Territorial Awareness drastically, but Michael could live with that.

    Countless dots appeared on the Pir of Territorial Awareness. Most of them were green, indicating no threat to him or his territory. The new green dots that appeared showed old trees and weaker monsters. Their energy fluctuations were insignificant to Michael and the like, but by adjusting the Pir of Territorial Awareness'' sensitivity they were picked up nheless.

    ''It should be impossible to hide spatial fluctuations now.''

    Michael made a few more changes to trap the Teleporters if they dared to infiltrate his territory before he called some workers to the warehouseplex.

    "Separate the duplicated blueprints and store them in the storage near the entrance. If you think that you found a rare blueprint bring it to the architect''s office to have them appraise the blueprint. Report the find of valuable blueprints in the daily report."

    The workers nodded slowly and followed his order. Michael stored the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and decided to use them all.

    Maybe it wouldn''t be the most the best idea to use all 145,600 Ordinary Scrolls simultaneously, but the settlement had enough residencies to fit everyone. It would be a little bit crammed since most of his treehouseplexes wereparable to multi-leveled apartments where everyone would have to share rooms, however, that was merely a temporary issue.

    By summoning 145,600 Summons, his territory would obtain a huge influx of workers. With more workers, it would be possible to expand his territory, either way. More residencies could be constructed in no time.

    Michael put away the Artifacts, leaving merely the humongous mountain of Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    6 Million Scroll Fragments.

    He considered using the six million Scroll Fragments to form 600 Mythic Scrolls, but Michael decided against this quickly.

    Legendary Scrolls had the highest probability of summoning an extremely powerful Summon.

    Of course, Divine Scrolls would be better, but Michael didn''t even want to imagine how many Scroll Fragments he required before he couldbine them into a Divine Scroll. He was pretty sure that it would be far more than ten million. If Michael was unlucky, he would have to collect hundreds of millions of Scroll Fragments before he could form his first Divine Scroll.

    But then again, Divine Scrolls summoned Divine Summons. If he were extremely misfortune he would summon a Peak 6-Star Summon with a Divine Scroll. Other than that, it was considered average luck to summon a 7-Star Summon and decent luck to summon an 8-Star Summon.

    He was looking forward to procuring his first Divine Scroll, even though it might take a while.

    Michael was far away from reaching that goal. For now, Legendary Scrolls were the best opportunity for him to gain extremely powerful Summons. Someone like Siegfried would be great, but even Tatjana was quite powerful.

    She was a Grandmaster Beasttamer but could use a bow and arrow as well. Her Tier progressed rapidly as well, as expected from a Legendary Summon. Legendary Summons are among the fastest to grow stronger. It was one of the Blessings granted from the Legendary Summoning Scrolls ¨C a temporary boost in the Summon''s energy absorption and annexation rate.

    Mythic Scrolls provided a simr boost, but it was inferior in any possible way.

    Providing Legendary Scrolls with enough resources and suitable techniques would allow them to attain Tier-1 in no time. If the Summons were old and experienced like Siegfried, they would reach Late Tier-1 within a few days.

    As they fight the Heart of the zing Lion''s army they would advance to Tier-2 much faster than everyone else.

    Thus, Michael created six Legendary Scrolls from the six million Scroll Fragments. Six golden scrolls with intricate crimson seals formed in front of Michael. The process ofbining Scroll Fragments into Legendary Scrolls was as impressive as ever, but Michael didn''t waste any time admiring the Legendary Scrolls.

    It was time to start his next summoning session.

    Michael called his citizens ¨C the people who weren''t at work ¨C to gather in the territory center. They gathered around the Summoning Gate where Michael was busy retrieving the Summoning Cores.

    Since Extraction was upgraded to a 7-Star Soultrait, Michael had tomit to the standard ritual. He had to extract the impurities within the Summoning Cores.

    Even though he''d already extracted the impurities within some Summoning Cores five or six times, upgrading Extraction allowed him to find more specks of impurities to extract. Michael manifested Soul Grimoire and used a Soul Tear to amplify Extraction''s potency once again.

    Michael felt a surge in Extraction''s power and shed a vibrant smile as he unleashed the tremendous power of Extraction. The 19 Summoning Cores in his possession were clouded in golden light. They shimmered brightly, the prismarine white inside the Summoning Cores glistening as if tiny stars were sealed within.

    Disgustingly reeking clots of impurities covered the Summoning Cores'' surface. Michael spread out his energy to clean the Summoning Cores, revealing the glistening, well-

    polished Summoning Cores. He didn''t spend more than 30 minutes cleansing the Summoning Cores from impurities, but the results were quite satisfying. Michael inserted the Summoning Cores back into the Summoning Gate prior closing the metal hatched once again.

    Unfortunately, his daily summons for today was already over. He would have loved to see whether he could summon 3-Star Summons through daily summons or if that was still impossible. Michael sensed that it was possible but he couldn''t see how high the probability was. That was something he had to find out in the following weeks.

    Once he was done, Michael thought a bit about the daily summons of thest few weeks. He weed some of them, but there were simply too many everyday to wee everyone.

    Thest eight weeks had been quite fruitful. He managed to Summon 500+ 2-Star Summons and slightly less than 200 1-

    Star Summons through his daily Summons. That number was several times higher than the number of 2-Star Summons many Lords managed to summon in half a year.

    Most would have to depend on Mythic Scrolls to summon that many 2-Star Summons.

    Michael took a deep breath and retrieved the mass of Summoning Scrolls in his possession. He spread out his energy and tore the seals of all 145,600 Ordinary Scrolls simultaneously.

    A raging gust of wind swept through the territory center as the Summoning Scrolls unfolded near-simultaneously. The Scrolls ascended and swirled around Michael twice prior they shot into the energy pool of the Summoning Gate.

    One minute passed before thest Ordinary Summoning Scroll disappeared inside the Summoning Gate''s energy pool, and it took a few more minutes before the first Starless Summons emerged from the Summoning Gate.

    The Starless Summons were confused. They looked left and right, their expression filled with fear, disbelief, and uncertainty. The flood of Starless Summons increased. More and more Starless Summons emerged from the energy pool, yet Michael weed all of them. He ordered the citizens to wee the neers and introduce them into the territory.

    His citizens turned into guides for the neers, leading them away from the territory center to make more space for the new summons to emerge.

    Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. It was only now that thest Starless Summon emerged from the Summoning Gate.

    The summoning of the 1-Star Summons was about tomence.

    A few hourster, thest of the 145,600 Summons emerged from the Summoning Gate.

    Michael didn''t obtain a new 2-Star Summon, but he couldn''t care less. The Links of Loyalty of 145,600 new Summons had been established, and their trust and loyalty slowly amplified as they obtained to know more about their Lord''s territory, his actions, and his strength.

    The tour guides did not only demonstrate the neers around. They spread the word about their Lord, creating a vivid image of Michael.

    This vivid image naturally resulted in a firmed Link of Loyalty. His subjects felt safe and sound with Michael fighting in the frontlines, and with him treating everyone nicely. He paid attention to everyone. He neglected nobody, and he improved everyone''s living standard as plenty as possible.

    He was a good Lord.

 Chapter 592 Legendary... Awakened

    <h4>Chapter 592 Legendary... Awakened</h4>

    "119,529 Starless Summons, and 26,071 1-Star Summons," Michael stared at the list of neers, a smile blossoming on his face, "It looks like today''s summoning session was pretty good. The number of 1-Star Combatants is disproportionally low, but that can be solved."

    Michael didn''t expect his newest Summons to fight against the armies of the Zentika Empire, either way. He wouldn''t send his subjects into a death trap as long as he could avoid it.

    Nobody below Tier-2, except those who were strong enough to fight against a Tier-2 Summon on their own, would be allowed to join the fights against the Zentika Empire and join the future battles in the Savannah''s Regional War.

    Michael was satisfied despite the low number of Combatants among today''s summoning batch. His territory''s poption skyrocketed from 105,000ish to more than 250,000 in the blink of an eye. The recently established Links of Loyalty were also much firmer than Michael had anticipated, generating a considerable amount of Soul Power for each of his Soultraits.

    Michael was confident that he could deal with far more powerful opponents now that Extraction reached 7-Star and that his Soul Power had increased.

    However, he used the six Legendary Summoning Scrolls nheless. Having more powerhouses by his side couldn''t be bad!

    Michael tore the crimson seals apart and watched the Legendary Scrolls in anticipation. The golden parchment unfolded and ascended into the air slowly. His eyes darted to the intricate letters and runic symbols engraved on the inside of the golden parchments, but the parchment disappeared before he could get a good view. The Legendary Scrolls disappeared inside the energy pool.

    The Summoning Gate''s frame lit up, and it was only a matter of seconds before four golden stars illuminated the Gate.

    ''Hmm¡­four 4-Star Summons? Well¡­'' Michael''s first reaction was disappointment when he saw four outlines appear in the energy pool, but he quickly regained his senses when he noticed something.

    The Links of Loyalty with the new Summons were created even before they appeared in his territory.

    ''Awakened? Why am I summoning Awakened?''

    There was a distinct difference in the Links of Loyalty with Summons and Awakened. First of all, Links of Loyalty with Summons forced obedience. Summons would naturally trust their Lord and be loyal to him. Awakened had to obey their Lords as well, but they had more freedom than others.

    In exchange for the freedom, their Links of Loyalty would provide more Soul Power.

    And that was happening right now. Michael sensed a substantial growth in Soul Power from the six Links of Loyalty that had been established even before the Legendary Summons emerged.

    However, once the first 4-Star Legendary Summons emerged, everything seemed to make sense.

    Two young men, a teenager, and a youthful woman emerged from the energy pool. But they weren''t Humans, Forest Elves, Berserkers, or Warlock Centaurs.

    No, the four Awakened had a second pair of fluffy ears protruding from the sides of their heads and long, silver, ck striped tails growing from their tailbones

    The four Awakend were members of the Silverfang Tigerfolk!

    But they were not the only members of the Silverfang Tigerfolk that emerged from the portal. A fifth star lit up on the Summoning Gate''s frame and a burly man stepped out. The burly man wielded a spear and his muscles flexed while his eyes darted in all directions. He was ready to fight in an instant.

    "Legion. Calm down," A silent voice thatmanded obedience resounded behind the burly man of the Silverfang Tigerfolk as a sixth star manifested on the Summoning Gate''s frame.

    An old man, also from the Silverfang Tigerfolk, emerged from the Summoning Gate. He walked past Legion and ruffled through the teenager''s hair before heading straight to Michael.

    Michael''s eyes widened in surprise, confusion, and disbelief.

    ''Tiara''s people¡­I can summon them? They didn''t die tho. And how is that kid here? He shouldn''t have Awakened yet.''

    His eyes traveled to the teenager, the youth''s War Rune, to be precise. The War Rune was much smaller than ordinary War Runes. It looked more like a mole than an actual War Rune.

    "You seem surprised, yet not." The old Silverfang noticed, "We had to use up the achievement points our n umted to allow everyone, even our youngest, to seek asylum in the Origin Expanse. A fraction of their War Rune awakened, just enough to bring them inside the Origin Expanse. However, they didn''t manifest a Soultrait, and it will be harder for them to procure an Awakening Stone. Most won''t be able to procure an Awakening Stone."

    Sadness overcame the old Silverfang.

    "We were too weak to protect our people and the youngest have to suffer because of that. We''re seeking asylum within the Origin Expanse, but we are not even allowed to wander around. It was our only option to escape our enemies, but we never expected that we would end up imprisoned and at the Will of the Origin Expanse''s disposal."

    The old man was quite talkative, probably because he hadn''t been able to talk to someone for quite a while.

    "Fortunately, our time stopped. Years passed but it felt like seconds. Our bodies didn''t age while we were waiting¡­waiting for the Will of the Origin Expanse to release one of us¡­to create an opportunity for us to regain our freedom."

    Michael nodded slowly. The old man''s words made sense, to some extent. He knew a little bit about Tiara''s folk and their sacrifices.

    "I don''t know if you''re truly free because the Links of Loyalty bind you," Michael pointed out the obvious, but the old man just smiled.

    "That''s true," Old Silverfang said, "But there must be a reason you managed to summon us. You should have some connection with the Silverfang who has been released by the Will. May, I inquire where our kin is?"

    Michael raised one eyebrow. Legion, the burly Silverfang approached the old man and added,

    "Where is our kin? Did you torture our kin? If that''s the case, I will ki¨C..."

    Legion couldn''t speak any further. His mind was assaulted by a severe headache. Saying that he would kill his new Lord and Master wasn''t exactly a smart move. The Link of Loyalty assaulted Legion for a while, while his questions remained unanswered.

    ''They don''t know that the Will sent Tiara to me as personal Battle Maid. Maybe, I should keep that a secret.''

    Tiara wasn''t really his maid anymore. She was more of a warrior, in the first ce. Michael also knew that Tiara held a high position in the hierarchy of the Silverfang Tigerfolk. If he wasn''t mistaken she was their Leader''s¨C....

    "Master Tigris!!"

    Tiara''s voice interrupted Michael''s train of thought. Her exmation reverberated through the territory center, her shock apparent.

    Michael turned to Tiara, whose expression lit up. She had dark circles under her eyes because she hardly slept in thest few days. Her entire focus had been to grow stronger and prevent an incident like the deaths of Liopham and Pheli.

    Tiara had been gloomy all day and her mood expanded even worse knowing that Michael was busy dealing with other stuff. She, Mika, and Opars felt like staying close to Michael all day, but Immortal Knight shooed them away. They would only distract him.

    However, seeing a familiar face from the past changed Tiara''s mood instantaneously. She charged toward the old man and embraced him tightly.

    Legion received back to his senses, the headache subsided and stared nkly at the young woman.

    "Princess!"

    ''Right. Tiara uttered she was the Chief''s daughter or something like that.''

    Michael nodded subtly. He didn''t care whether Tiara was a Princess, Queen, Empress, or a normal civilian. Tiara was a good girl. Her personality was great, she worked hard to grow stronger, and she improved everyone''s mood with her presence.

    Thetter hadn''t been the case in thest few days, but that was only obvious. Tiara had been in a foul mood since Liopham and Pheli died. She felt miserable. Of course, her presence wouldn''t improve everyone''s mood when she felt like that.

    But that changed all of a sudden. The four Silverfang who''d emerged from the Summoning Gate first rushed to Tiara. They circled her and embraced Tiara while bursting into tears.

    Legion stared at the intimate scene in front of him, a single tear trickling down his cheeks.

    "As you can see, your kin is alive and well. Tiara is a bit tired, but that''s it. She''s working hard to grow stronger, to help her people and protect this ce." Michael told Legion before pointing at the spear, "I can take the spear for a moment if you want to join them."

    The corner of his lips curled upward when he noticed Legion twitching. He red at Michael, but his expression softened quickly when he saw that Michael smiled amiably at him. Michael had a nice smile, and his eyes were clear as well. There was no sign that he mistreated Tiara or one of his other subjects.

    Taking a good look at the surroundings, Legion caught sight of that multiple races lived in the territory. They lived together like the Demi-Humans in ancient times. It brought back memories of the past.

    "I''m fine. It''s enough to know that they''re all alive and well."

    Michael shrugged. He didn''tprehend everything about the Sivlerfang Tigerfolk''s situation, their traditions, and values. There was no need to nudge Legion into doing something he didn''t want.

    "But I''m curious about something," Legion uttered all of a sudden, his following words attracting the attention of the hugging Silverfangs as well.

    "How did you manage to Summon us? You''re only a Tier-3 Lord, and I don''t believe you''ve umted enough achievement points to summon us. Meanwhile, our Princess has yet to reach the 3rd Tier. I doubt she has enough achievement points either. She was too surprised to be rted with this."

    Michael rubbed his head and smiled dryly.

    "To be honest, I am not sure either."

 Chapter 593 Loans

    <h4>Chapter 593 Loans</h4>

    Michael shrugged helplessly.

    "I didn''t even know that I could summon Awakened. I''m just as surprised as everyone else," He revealed in all honesty, "All I did was use six Legendary Scrolls. I expected to summon some deceased powerhouses¡­not Awakened¡­"

    Michael nced at Master Tigris. It was easy to tell that the old Silverfang couldn''t fight anymore.

    The old Silverfang had a hunched back and could barely walk two steps before it looked like he lost bnce. Michael didn''t even know how often he imagined the old Silverfang on the ground already.

    Maybe, he was a magic user, but Michael didn''t get that feeling from Master Tigris. The same applies to the teenager. The young Silverfang was not old enough to manifest his War Rune. He was, at best,parable to a Starless Summon.

    The others might be able to fight, but only Legion looked like a proper warrior. That was quite disappointing. Six million Summoning Scroll Fragments down the drain¡­

    Of course, he was happy for Tiara, however, the timing could have been better. Only Legion might be able to help them against their enemies. Even that might not be feasible.

    Tiara''s eyes shot wide open.

    "You summoned them through Legendary Scrolls? That''s possible?"

    Michael nodded slowly.

    "Master Tigris emerged through the Summoning Gate when six stars lit up. Legion stepped out when five stars were lit up, and the rest came in a batch with four stars."

    He didn''t try to sound displeased or anything like that, but Michael had never been a good actor. He sighed deeply and raised his hands helplessly.

    "It''s great that we can bring your n to my territory b¨C.... Nevermind that. I don''t want to mess up your reunion. You have been working hard. Spend some time with your people. I''ll finish thest preparations for war."

    ''War?'' Legion''s ears perked up, his eyes locked onto Michael, who could only shrug. He gestured to Tiara.

    "She can tell you about the issues and enemies. Make sure to rest up a little and talk about everything you have to talk about. The next few days might be a little bit busy for everyone."

    A guilty expression covered Tiara. Michael smiled in response and ruffled through her hair.

    "Don''t overthink. Everything will be okay."

    Tiara pressed her lips together but nodded. The news that Legendary Scrolls could summon her kin was great¡­for her, at least. It was not that great for Michael because he needed powerful subjects right now. The six Silverfangs were Tierless and only Legion was both experienced and healthy.

    Michael turned around and left, giving Tiara and her people some privacy

    He sensed the Links of Loyalty established with the Silverfang Tigerfolk people and noticed that the link was unusual. It felt like their Link of Loyalty was connected to Tiara as well.

    The sensation was weird, however, Michael could tell that he obtained the usual benefits. Simultaneously, the toll each Link of Loyalty with an Awakened ought to inflict¡­wasn''t there.

    ''Tiara carries the burden. She is taking responsibility for her entire n¡­'' Michael realized.

    Tiara might not be a Lord, but she was the reason the Silverfang Tigerfolk had been summoned to his territory. Thus, the Will of the Origin Expanse forced her to take responsibility for her kin.

    In the meantime, Michael obtained all the benefits. The Silverfang Tigerfolk had to obey him and they would fight for him sooner orter as well.

    ''Maybe it''s not that bad. Their Link of Loyalty is growing stronger rapidly now that they know about their Princess. Tiara will tell them about me, which will further strengthen the Link of Loyalty, providing a boost in Soul Power. I have no time to act like a spoiled child. Get your act together!''

    Michael pped his cheeks firmly and focused back on the most important issues.

    The Heart of the zing Lion army had roughly 150,000 seasoned Soldiers. Dealing with all of them was never supposed to be a walk in the park. The number of seasonedbatants in his territory didn''t exceed 2,000 and the remaining 8,000ish Warriors, Knights, and otherbatants would have tobine their prowess to inflict considerable damage.

    Michael''s strongest weapons were hisbat prowess, the Awakened fighting by his side, his tamed monsters, and the unique environment in the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael and his subjects knew the outer rings and middle area better than most monsters. The terrain was advantageous for them and it would allow them to do considerable damage to the Heart of the zing Lion.

    However, the advantageous terrain was not a permanent solution. It wouldn''t win the war against the Zentika Empire, not even with the Monster Horde''s aid.

    Dealing with the Zentika Empire''s army alone was not feasible either. Well, at this point¡­Michael was not certain if he could be strong enough to obliterate the Heart of the zing Lion army alone. However, Michael couldn''t split his body. He couldn''t fight everywhere at the same time. It was possible that he would survive fighting against the Heart of the zing Lion army alone, but he couldn''t fight 150,000 enemies simultaneously.

    Some would escape his grasp and attack his territory, bulldozing it mercilessly.

    That was also why Michael decided to call the Untamed Awakened ¨C which he called them lovingly ¨C to gather.

    Mika and Opars were also avable at the meeting. They were caught in a bad depression, but the thought of getting stronger to fight against the Teleporters in the future and tear their bodies apart was enough to force them to get up and get their act together.

    Michael didn''t expect Lilica to arrive until a few dayster, but she appeared from her Runic Gate merely as Michael was about to talk about Jungle Loans, Soultrait Symbols, and Soultrait Upgrades.

    "You''re already back?" Michael seemed at Lilica, who looked both exhausted and distant.

    However, upon looking at Michael, her expression crumbled. She pressed her lips together and sighed heavily.

    "Liopham and Pheli''s parents didn''t take their deaths well. The Elders told me to make certain to take revenge. They also told me to ask if you require reinforcement. They''ll dly help to get rid of the Council of Xylon¡­."

    Michael raised one eyebrow but he didn''t say anything to that. He gestured to the other Forest Elven Adventurers, which Lilica took as a sign to walk over to them.

    Mika embraced Lilica tightly. She patted the young Forest Elf''s back and consoled him.

    Michael cleared his throat, attracting everyone''s attention.

    "From today onward, the Jungle Shop will give out loans. Jungle Loans are simple credits with low-interest rates. You can get Jungle Points through Jungle Loans, allowing you to purchase Soultrait Symbols, and Soultrait Upgrades up to 4-

    Star. The purchase of two Soultraits and three upgrades to 4-

    Star are discounted heavily since we''re at war. HOWEVER, purchasing a discounted Soultrait and Soultrait Upgrades means that you cannot terminate your contract with me anymore."

    Michael didn''t have an endless supply of SoulStar Fragments and couldn''t offer too many Soultrait Upgrades Fortunately, he was certain that the Untamed Awakened would focus on procuring more Soultrait Symbols. Getting something new was more exciting than upgrading something old, after all.

    The strongest Soultraits were still expensive, which made it difficult to purchase multiple Soultraits while simultaneously upgrading all of them to 4-Star.

    "The Jungle Shop has already received all necessary pieces of information about Jungle Credits and the Soultrait Symbols that can be purchased. I realize that some of you have already umted a decent amount of Jungle Points. Use them wisely to upgrade your equipment, procure new Soultraits, or upgrade your existing Soultraits!"

    Since he couldn''t split his body to fight on all frontlines simultaneously, Michael could as well empower his subordinates and ensure that they would be strong enough to deal with multiple Adventurers at their level, simultaneously.

    By investing in the Untamed Awakened''s growth, Michael would gain a lot more in return. His military force would grow rapidly, and the Untamed Awakened would be able to eliminate more and stronger enemies. Investing in the Untamed Awakened would grant excellent benefits. That was something Michael learned from the Savannah''s Regional War.

    He had too many enemies to fight at once. The Trnce was probably doomed at this point, and the Council of Xylon found out about him as well. They didn''t like him either. But that feeling was reciprocated. Meanwhile, the Zentika Empire wasn''t in favor of his existence either.

    He had too many sides to fights. Michael presumed that the majority of enemies were either at the higher ranks of Tier-2, or lower ranks of the 3rd Tier. Even if they were weaker, their numbers would transcend theirs manyfold.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs cheered loudly. Their thunderous cheers reverberated throughout the territory center before spreading deeper into the Untamed Jungle. Meanwhile, the Forest Elven Adventurers nced at him.

    Mika was the first to speak up

    "Will the discount count for us as well? For two Soultraits and three upgrades?" He asked.

    The young Forest Elf knew that they had already been given various benefits from Michael, but he had to be brazen. Michael''s answer determined whether Mika, Opars, and Lilica could utilize the same benefits of the Jungle Shop and Jungle Loans as the Untamed Awakened.

    "I gave you your Soultraits and upgraded them because I needed your strength then. I don''t expect to receive anything in return," Michael answered slowly, "But if you want the benefits of the Jungle Loans and Jungle Shop, you''ll be given the exact same requirements."

    If they purchased discounted Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades, the Forest Elven Adventurers would never be able to abandon Michael. Even if he were to lose his Lord Powers, the Soul Pact would prevent them from doing anything to harm Michael.

    "That''s fine then. Please give me the biggest Jungle Loan. I need more power!!" The young Forest Elf dered, a zing me igniting in his eyes.

 Chapter 594 Quick Trip [Bonus]

    <h4>Chapter 594 Quick Trip [Bonus]</h4>

    [Everyone! Please thank @thecrazypuppet for sponsoring today''s bonus chapter! Thank you very much!!!]

    Most Untamed Awakened could only afford one new Soultrait Symbol, one Soultrait Upgrade to 4-Star, and one Soultrait Upgrade to 3-Star.

    Nobody could afford to upgrade their Soultrait to 5-Star, but that was expected. Upgrading a Soultrait all the way to 5-Star costs between 2500 to 3500 SoulStar Fragments. Michael couldn''t give a discount for such a heavy expense even if he wanted to. He had less than 12,000 SoulStar Fragments left.

    Maybe, everything would have been a little bit easier if he had more. However, upgrading Extraction to 7-Star had been high highest priority. It was his main Soultrait, after all.

    Most Untamed Awakened decided to purchase one Soultrait that suited theirbat style and upgraded it as high as possible. But there were also a few Awakened who chose to purchase two Soultrait Symbols. They upgraded them to 2-Star before fusing with them. Their reasoning was pretty simple. They wanted to use three Soultraits whose powers could bebined to create a more versatile fighting style with more surprise effects.

    At the end of the day, the Untamed Awakened purchased a total of 53 Soultrait Symbols and 4,560 SoulStar Fragments for Upgrades. Michael doubled down and secretly added more SoulStar Fragments to upgrade all 2-Star Soultraits to 3-Star Soultraits. He asked some Awakened if they were willing to expand their Jungle Loan with a special loan to upgrade some of their Soultraits to 4-Star.

    That way, Michael ended up with 4,000 SoulStar Fragments and 418 Soultrait Symbols left in his possession.

    He didn''t spend the remaining 4,000 SoulStar Fragments because he recalled that their trip through space would end soon. It was almost time for their spaceship to arrive at the Saphirke Military Academy. Michael was not certain if the leftover SoulStar Fragments woulde in handy, but he had a feeling that the SoulStar Fragments would go farther in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    After the g War, Michael didn''t manage to get many Human Awakened as his subordinates because there were mostly Descendants from prestige families who''d participated in the g War. However, there were various Adventurers in the Saphirke Military Academy, not only Descendants.

    The Saphirke Military Academy was the best ce for Michael to get his hands on well-trained Adventurers with great techniques and Soultraits. But then again, it was unlikely that dozens of Adventurers would flock to him just like that since most Awakened were already affiliated with other big families.

    Descendants who lost their territory would usually try to fight their way through the Origin Expanse to reim their Lord Powers by re-establishing their territory somewhere more secure.

    "The Heart of the zing Lion army has been sighted near the northern border. The reports state that they''ve begun with the reconstruction of arge military camp. We''ve already recorded several energy distortion devices, spatial seals, and several other means that prevent Zeroa and Stinger from infiltrating their camp with their spatial affinity and special abilities." One Scout reports while another one adds.

    "My Unit was discovered and we were bombarded with arrows, fire spears, and other long-range projectiles. I cannot be certain about what or who attacks us, but their attack range is roughly three kilometers. Their uracy was not that great, but two Scouts in my unit were hit. They sustained severe injuries and are currently in the infirmary fighting for their lives."

    Michael had been busy dealing with the Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades of the Untamed Awakened until the Scouts found him. Their reports were a bit worrisome, but it was good that the Heart of the zing Lion army decided to set up a military camp and rest instead of attacking right away.

    The Untamed Awakened need some time to get used to their new Soultraits. Getting used to their new powers and experimenting a little bit until they can use them well enough in battle will require a few days of practice. Michael hoped that the Zentika Empire was afraid enough of the Untamed Jungle to spend a few more days resting and preparing thoroughly for the invasion.

    It was a risk, but Michael had to take it, especially now that they were about to reach the Saphirke Military Academy. Maybe, he could get his hands on more reinforcement.

    He told Reba to stay in the Origin Expanse for the time being. Reba could leave the Origin Expanse and call him on the crystal watch the moment the forces of the Zentika Empire were to make their move.

    Michael, on the other hand, left the Origin Expanse to take a look outside after he told the Medics to use whatever they needed to tend to the injured Scouts.

    Upon emerging in his cabin within the spaceship, Michael noticed that they were not in space anymore. They''d alreadynded in Kelta.

    He was weed by a small robot that moved through his cabin upon sensing the energy fluctuations of his Runic Gate.

    A projection appeared above the robot.

    [Wee back. Please follow me to the shuttle. I will bring you safely to the Saphirke Military Academy!]

    The robot left the cabin a few secondster and Michael followed.

    Half an hourter they arrived at the Saphirke Military Academy. At least, that was what he thought.

    The shuttle glided through the air, granting Michael a good view of the Saphirke Military Academy from a bird''s view. However, what he saw underneath shocked him to the core. The Saphirke Military Academy didn''t look anything like before. The academy grounds expanded fivefold, hundreds of new buildings had been constructed while he was away, and a single nce with Spirit Eyes showed that the number of students had increased even more.

    Michael could see the energy fluctuations of countless students from his elevated position, and he couldn''t quite believe it. There were so many students. Most were Lesser Lifeforms, but Michael detected hundreds if not more than a thousand Higher Lifeforms as he channeled some energy into Spirit Eyes.

    There were not only Descendants and Human Awakened but also hundreds of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The first batch of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had already arrived, and they got used to their new home quickly.

    A smile crept up on his face as he observed the changes at the Saphirke Military Academy. A few minutester, the shuttlended and Michael stepped out.

    His nose wrinkled after he took a lungful of air and he chuckled lightly. A notification attracted his attention. It was a message from Kraft Viton. Michael messaged Kraft Viton earlier to find out whether the elder was in the Origin Expanse, or if he was outside right now. Fortune was on Michael''s side. Kraft Viton was in the Saphirke Military Academy and his office was close as well.

    Michael hurried to Kraft Viton''s office and entered with a sly smile.

    "You didn''t change a lot in thest few weeks. Looks like you''re doing well," Kraft Viton said, but Michael merely shrugged.

    "I doubt that you''re here for a lesson. You want something from me, or the Bartholomew Corporation, don''t you?"

    Michael smiled at the old man. Kraft Viton had a great perception.

    "Thest few weeks had been quite busy. I joined a war against a Council of more than 100 Lords. That didn''t work out as well as I expected, but it''s not that bad either. The Council is a mess. They fight against each other internally. Either way, I''m here because i need lots of things to defeat the shit out of some enemies. Of course, I have various goods to sell."

    He retrieved a spatial pouch where he''d stored all duplicated blueprints, 115,345 to be precise, followed by 12,405 Artifacts. Both the blueprint duplicates and the Artifacts were incredibly valuable, but Michael threw the spatial pouch toward Kraft Viton as if they were worthless.

    Kraft Viton''s eyes widened slightly after he inserted a trace of energy into the spatial pouch. The surprise in his eyes disappeared in the next second, a nonchnt expression appearing on his face.

    "What do you need?"

    Michael retrieved a sheet with items listed. There were only a few items, but they were all quite valuable. Michael would have a hard time procuring most of these items without Kraft Viton and the Bartholomew Corporation. Fortunately, he had the best Master, a Master with great intellect and connections.

    "That should work. When do you need them?" Kraft Viton inquired.

    Michael stared deep into Kraft Viton''s eyes.

    "As soon as possible. The enemies are already knocking on my doors."

 Chapter 595 Combine

    <h4>Chapter 595 Combine</h4>

    Kraft Viton raised an eyebrow.

    "Do you have to leave immediately? Is your territory under attack?"

    The worry in the old man''s voice warmed Michael''s heart.

    "My territory hasn''t been attacked yet. However, a Native Empire deployed one of its armies after some¡­ unforeseen events happened. They''re setting up a military camp at the border to my region," Michael shrugged, "I had some issues with them in the past. The Native Empire is looking for me as well, so I might as well attack them with the High Beast Horde."

    Kraft Viton had a bunch of questions but he didn''t inquire more. He was sure that Michael woulde to him and tell him about his problems when he was ready. Michael knew that he could alwayse to him and ask for help.

    "But no. I don''t have to leave immediately. Reba will return from the Origin Expanse and call me if something happens."

    "That''s good then. My attendants will need two or three hours to collect everything on the list. That gives us a few hours to hold a short lesson. How about it?" Kraft Viton proposed with a thin smile. Michael responded with a nod.

    Michael spent the next 15 minutes telling Kraft Viton about the creation of his techniques and his Soultraits'' powers. He didn''t reveal everything, but it was enough for Kraft Viton to put the pieces together and analyze his student''sbat prowess.

    But why did Michael tell Kraft Viton about all of this? Wouldn''t it be better to keep his custom techniques and his Soultraits'' properties a secret?

    While it was certainly risky to tell others about his Soultraits and custom techniques, Michael needed a wise, and experienced person to help himprehend his weaknesses faster. Michael had to grow stronger as quickly as possible. Allowing someone to look at his powers and techniques from a different point of view would help.

    Michael could fuse with more Soultraits, or keep upgrading his existing Soultraits as he did with Extraction, however, Kraft Viton might be able to think of some ways for him to use his Soultraits better. Michael''s view of his Soultraits was rather narrow because the influx of information from each Soultrait showed him the ''most efficient'' ways to use his Soultraits, but Kraft Viton didn''t have any special knowledge about Michael''s Soultraits.

    The old man was experienced and Michael trusted him. Kraft Viton was a trustworthy person and he signed a tight non-disclosure agreement, either way.

    "Did you ever try using Insert outside the battlefield? Like inserting some nts into another nt, or inserting elemental energies into nts to see if the nts will mutate, or rot? Did you ever try to insert a Summoning Scroll into another? Or Artifacts? What happens when you insert an Artifact into a monster? Will the Artifact be a part of its body, or will the monster break apart? Will the Artifacts'' external amplification apply to the monster if it works out?"

    Kraft Viton asked a wide variety of questions about Insert. He had a lot to say about Michael''s other Soultraits as well, but from Kraft Viton''s point of view, Insert seemed to be the mostpatbile with Extraction.

    "What about Soultrait Symbols? You are the only person who can procure Soultrait Symbols, but did you ever think about inserting one Soultrait Symbol into another? Will the Soultrait Symbols merge, or will one of them devour the other? Maybe, they end up shattering, but don''t you think it''s worth a try?"

    Michael''s eyes widened. He actually thought of something simr before but he always forgot about his experiments with Insert or thought that it would be a waste to destroy his Soultrait Symbols. Thetter was nothing to worry about at this point. Michael had 400+ Soultrait Symbols and he was bound to procure more in the next few days, or weeks.

    "You never tried that? I expected that from you though¡­" Kraft Viton frowned at his student. Sometimes, Michael was not as smart as he looked and acted. However, that only showed that Michael was still a youth. He was only 19 years old. Kraft Viton forgot that sometimes.

    Michael recalled arge batch of the Soultrait Symbols in his possession and wondered what would happen to them if he used Insert tobine them. Would they transform into higher-ranked Soultraits?

    He swallowed hard, and the corner of his lip curled up.

    "You also said that you want more Adventurers in your territory," Kraft Viton interrupted Michael''s train of thought, "I rmend you not to take too many Adventurers into your territory. Too many Links of Loyalty with Adventurers will burden your Soul, especially if special contracts have been established."

    "Newly ascended Higher Lifeforms are usually unable to have more than 1,000 Links of Loyalty with Adventurers because that''s the most their Souls can tolerate. You seem to have a strong Soul, but you have never refined your Soul yet. So¡­don''t go over the top, please. If you feel like you can handle 250 Awakened Links of Loyalty, that''s fine, but don''t go above 500 before you''re a Higher Lifeform."

    Kraft Viton was visibly worried about Michael''s well-being. He gave him a few more pieces of advice as an old Lord, hoping that Michael would listen.

    "I have to find this many Adventurers, who''re willing to be my subordinates and ept my conditions, first."

    Michael didn''t mention anything about the Silverfang TIgerfolk yet, but he wondered what would happen to Tiara.

    ''I don''t feel the toll of the Silverfang Tigerfolks Links of Loyalty, but Tiara¡­will she be fine if I summon more of her kin? Can her Soul handle the burden?''

    "You think that you''ll have issues finding suitable Adventurers¡­

    really?" Kraft Viton mocked his student a little, "Just release an online thread in the Awakened Forum of the Tritan Alliance and you''re done. You''ll get flooded with thousands of applications in no time."

    The old manughed.

    "You don''t even have to pay attention to their Soultraits, or their background. After all, you can create Soul Techniques, your own Refinement Techniques, you have the Bartholomew Corporation helping you out with resources and connections, AND you can remove and add Soultraits as you please."

    "You should really start taking advantage of your powers and link to pick the most suitable Awakened. Adventurers with the best personalities and the right mindsets are what suit you best. That way, you will obtain subordinates who''ll grow attached to you. They''ll be loyal until their death, subordinates who''re willing to jump into the fiery pits of hell at yourmand, powerhouses, who can trample armies with ease!"

    The light in Kraft Viton''s eyes was vibrant. The old man was full of vigor and excitement.

    Michael had to suppress a chuckle. It was quite difficult to stay serious.

    ''But it makes sense. It shouldn''t be that difficult for me to find suitable candidates all over the Tritan Alliance. Many with unsuitable Soultraits but the desire to grow stronger and be someone nobody dares to look down upon will apply to be my subordinates. I might not be able to extract their Soultraits, but I can always give them more, better, Soultrait Symbols to fuse.''

    Kraft Viton''s words made sense.

    "That''s a good idea. I can use Mind Reader to find out the applicants'' true intentions and sign a Soul Pact to ensure that they cannot backstab me as well." Michael''s mind drifted further away. It might not be possible to get hold of arge number of Adventurers in the next few days, but it was possible to send out a thread on the Tritan Alliance''s Awakened forum.

    "The Bartholomew Corporation can handle the applications and the forum thread if you want. You should be busy with your warfare," Kraft Viton pointed out.

    Michael stared at the old man for a few seconds before he nodded slowly.

    "That sounds good as well."

    Michael could tell that the Bartholomew Corporation wanted to have their branches everywhere he went. They wanted to be associated with him, therefore, increasing their value as more members of High Society would be curious concerning the Bartholomew Corporation.

    Everyone would think that they had to go through the Bartholomew Corporation to reach Michael. It was almost such as the Bartholomew Corporation was an Agency and Michael was their most popr signed celebrity.

    That might restrict Michael a little when it came to spreading out his wings and building connections with High Society, but it was not like Michael desired to get closer to High Society, either way.

    Michael wasn''t their fan. If anything, he disliked most Supreme Families and High Nobles.

    He met some reasonable people, but most encounters demonstrated the superiorityplex of High Society. They thought they were better than everyone else, even their allies.

    However, what Michael hated the most was how High Society treated those weaker than them. That was not the case for every Supreme Family and High Nobility, but many considered those weaker than them as mere pawns. They weren''t even considered humans.

    Thinking about the Zan Twins, and how even the patriarch fo the Zan household had been used as a pan to provoke him shortly after Danny''s death, Michael felt even less inclined to get closer to High Society.

    If the Bartholomew Corporation offered their aid to manage his stuff, Michael might too approve their help. They treated him nicely long before they learned concerning Extraction and his powers.

    Furthermore, Michael had too many things to do. He couldn''t split his body and pay attention to everything inside and outside the Origin Expanse.

    He was not some sort of God, after all!

 Chapter 596 Interesting Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 596 Interesting Encounter</h4>

    It didn''t take long before Kraft Viton was informed that all items had been collected.

    The old man picked up the goods in the Origin Expanse and returned to hand them over to Michael.

    Their talk about Michael''s powers and what tactics he should bemitted to had been entertaining and essential for Michael. He was certain that things were going to change¡­soon. Of course, he didn''t forget about the threats from all sides in the Origin Expanse, but he calmed down a little bit.

    The tension all over his body dispersed a bit. Michael could take a deep breather after so long. He recalled something, someone, to be precise, as the tension left his body.

    ''Frederik!''

    Michael had been thinking about Frederik now and then, but he had been too busy in the Origin Expanse for thest few weeks.

    ''Since I''m already here, I might as well invite him.''

    Michael didn''t know if Frederik was willing to be his subordinate, but his friend had to grow stronger if he wanted to stay by Jacqueline''s side. The wars against the Council of Xylon and the Zentika Empire were good ways to grow stronger. But, of course, Michael''s Soultrait Symbols would help Frederik to grow even stronger.

    Michael knew Frederik well enough to know that he was determined, and ambitious He would give his utmost to help the people he loved. Frederik''s father had been healed, but his mental state was still not good. Meanwhile, Jacqueline''s situation was unknown. Michael had no idea how they were faring.

    However, he knew that Frederik needed strength¡­and that he could give his friend what he sought.

    ''Upgrading Aeroan to 5-Star and adding one or two 3-Star Soultraits to further strengthen Aeroan should be perfect.''

    Michael understood that Frederik would feel ufortable because he owed his friend a lot. However, Michael wasn''t too worried about that. If Frederik wanted to pay him back, bing the Lord of the Untamed Jungle''s subordinate and obliterating all threats would be perfect.

    Aern was a useful Soultrait againstrge armies. Frederik had always been good at conjuring various deadly projectiles. The Invisible Wind des that hide Aern''s hue were the deadliest. They would be perfect to take the Heart of the zing Lion army by surprise.

    Taking various things into consideration, Michael used Spirit Eyes to search for familiar energy fluctuations. It didn''t take long before he found some familiar energy pools, however, they belonged to Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb. There were other somewhat familiar energy fluctuations from acquaintances, but Frederik was nowhere.

    Michael had to search for Frederik for more than ten minutes until he found his friend''s energy fluctuations. However, something bothered him about the energy fluctuations. The energy fluctuations were weaker than expected.

    There was another, much bigger, energy fluctuation near Frederik. Frederik was thrown around whenever the bigger energy mass approached him.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed. He subconsciously used Enhancement on his lower body and cracked the ground as he dashed ahead. He passed through the Saphirke Park in no time and arrived in one of the smaller, well-hidden training grounds.

    Michael barged through the entrance and arrived near the small and cozy arena. There he found his friend. Frederik''srge azure eyes shimmered vibrantly as he stared intently at his opponent. His muscles flexed and he kicked the ground to dash to the right. Simultaneously, a gale shrouded in an azure hue pushed him further. Frederik''s momentum improved the instance the gale impacted. His top speed increased and he appeared next to his opponent.

    However, his opponent reacted even faster. Arge, callused hand covered Frederik''s face all of a sudden. The youth tried to stab his enemy with his daggers but his opponent made perfect use of the opportunity and his momentum to hurl Frederk through the air.

    Frederik crashed heavily into the training hall''s wall and coughed up blood.

    A re of anger surfaced from the depths of Michael''s being. His eyes darted to the unknown opponents and he saw red.

    It might have been cause Pheli and Liopham died without him being able to do anything, or because he felt helpless in thest few weeks, but the emotions that had umted within his entire being surfaced all of a sudden.

    He kicked the ground, spreading spider-web-like cracks all over the floor, and dashed ahead. The heavenly Beast Physique was unleashed with a Soul Tear further amplifying Superior Constitution. Thereafter, Michael added severalyers of Enhancement, shrouding his body in a white hue.

    Michael appeared in between the massive opponent and Frederik in an instant. His arrival took Frederik and the otherbatant by surprise. Frederik''s eyes widened at the surprising arrival of his friend, whereas his opponent stared at Michael, the corner of his lip curling upward.

    A powerful foe had appeared.

    Michael appraised the other party in an instant. He was mistaken to believe that Frederik''s adversary had been a Berserker. It was a dark-skinned human whose entire body was covered in tattoos. The Awakened was more than two meters tall, probably close to 2.2 meters, and he was jacked.

    His physique was closer to the constitution of a Berserker than an ordinary human. That was also why Michael mistakenly believed that Frederik''s adversary had been a Berserker.

    The man had long ck dreadlocks, and vibrant silver eyes that stared straight into Michael''s soul. The Awakened''s gaze was razor-sharp. He didn''t show a sign of hesitation. He was ready to fight Michael. There was no way that Michael would back off after seeing how Frederik had been hurled around.

    However, neither of them made a move. The fight began only when a groan escaped Frederik''s lips. The youth wanted to say something but the burly Awakened and Michael shot forth.

    A tremendous amount of energy surged through the Awakened. His body expanded rapidly and he executed a smashing kick. Michael twisted his body, easily evading the Awakened''s massive leg. He used Spirit Eyes to determine his opponent''s weak spot and skipped to the side. He kicked the ground again, dashed ahead, and exchanged several blows with the Awakened.

    The Awakened was more than four-meter-tall after he executed his Soultrait and he was still growing. More energy surged through his body, further increasing his physical strength. He was highly resilient and didn''t lose out in a head-

    on battle against Michael, whose physical strength was at its highest. Superior Constitution was amplified, Heavenly Beast Physique had been unleashed to the fullest, and severalyers of Enhancement had been applied, yet Michael didn''t gain an advantage against the Awakened.

    On the contrary, Michael could see himself losing in a physical bout against the Awakened as his size continued to increase.

    However, the Awakened was surprised. He didn''t expect his new sparring partner to be this powerful. His body expanded to more than six meters in height suddenly and his skin turned greyish-silver. His strength exploded, surpassing the limits of a Lesser Lifeform instantaneously.

    He was just about to unleash a barrage of kicks and punches when Frederik jumped up.

    "Stop, Hiraku!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Frederik spun around to Michael and eximed "We were just sparring!!!"

    The gigantic Awakened stopped in his tracks. Michael stopped as well. He had been ready to use some of his tricks and other Soultraits to deal with the Awakened head-on, but it looked like he misinterpreted the situation.

    It was just a misunderstanding.

    The gigantic Awakened shrunk. The greyish-silver tone of his skin reverted to normal, however, his sharp silver eyes continued to linger on Michael.

    "Michael. That''s Hiraku Teranos. He''s my friend!" Frederik introduced quickly to solve the misunderstanding.

    "Training partner," Hiraku Tearnos added. Frederik smiled wryly, but he ignored Hiraku''sment and looked at Hiraku intensely, "That''s Michael Fang. I told you about him."

    ''They''re friends? Would a friend hurt another like t¨C....'' Michael wondered only to recollect the things he had done to Frederik.

    ''Well¡­whatever¡­''

    His attention drifted toward Hiraku Teranos. He heard about the Teranos family, a Supreme Family that was also known as the Stars of Creation. They were known for their Inventions and numerous creations. As far as Michael knew the Teranos family were more like Mad Scientists thanbatants.

    Hiraku seemed different.

    Michael could tell at a nce that Hiraku was a fighter. He was like the Berserkers.

    ''Distant, cold, and distrustful of strangers. He doesn''t seem to acknowledge Frederik as his friend, openly that is¡­but Frederik sustained fewer injuries than I expected. It looked really bad earlier''

    Michael eyed Hiraku for a while, the corner of his lip twitching.

    ''Is he a tsundere, or what?''

 Chapter 597 I need you!

    <h4>Chapter 597 I need you!</h4>

    Michael was not sure what to think about Hiraku. Of course, Hiraku was extremely strong. He was a Peak Tier-3 Awakened and had a unique Soultrait.

    However, Hiraku looked distant and cold. It was hard to approach him.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t intend to approach Hiraku, in the first ce. He came here to talk with Frederik about thest few weeks and to invite his friend to join his territory.

    Even though Frederik had been in aa for a few weeks and recuperating from the Minor Curse and various wounds, he had advanced to the Mid rank of Tier-2. That wasn''t too bad given that he couldn''t enter the Origin Expanse to exploit the time dtion to the fullest. However, Frederik was dirt poor now. His family''s savings were used up and it would be difficult to improve any further.

    "I never managed to thank you properly. I would love to give you something in return¡­but I don''t have any money anymore. I''m already in debt because I have to take care of my father. His physical wounds have been tended to thanks to your help¡­but his mind has been damaged. He is not the same person he used to be¡­" Frederik grit his teeth.

    "I considered everything as given¡­as if it was normal to have everything¡­ My father''s wealth, his health, my rtionship with Jacqueline. I never thought of any of that as something special. I¡­am such a piece of shit¡­"

    He clenched his fists until his fingernails dug deep into his palms. Warm blood trickled to the ground.

    "Now¡­I have nothing left. Our family lost everything, and I lost Jacqueline. Even though my father is still there¡­it feels like he left me. Jacqueline¡­I don''t dare to look into her eyes anymore. I have nothing to offer. All I have is debts and huge favors that I have to repay. Who would want to be together with a loser like me?" Frederik''s eyes watered, but not a single tear escaped.

    Michael and Hiraku heard the pain in Frederik''s voice. Hiraku eyes Frederik for a while. It looked like Hiraku heard all of this for the first time. Michael saw a minor change in Hiraku''s gaze, but the change reverted to normal when he noticed that Michael looked at him.

    "I can solve your problems," Michael intervened in Fredeirk''s miserable monologue before it could get even more pathetic, "And you should know that."

    Frederik lifted his head, and Hiraku''s gaze followed. The burly youth looked at Michael, his head tilted to the side.

    "Join me, and protect my territory, and you will be able to solve all your problems on your own. All you need is to be determined, hard-working, and a little bit lucky."

    Hiraku frowned hearing what Michael told Frederik. Enving one''s friend didn''t seem like a nice proposal. It felt like Michael was kicking Frederik in the gut even though Frederik was already miserable and in pain. That was not something a good friend should do.

    No matter how much Michael did to help Frederik, he shouldn''t ask his friend to be his ve.

    That was Hiraku''s point of view. His opinion of Michael plummeted at once and a deep frown masked his cold and distant expression.

    Michael noticed that and could hardly suppress smiling. It was not difficult to tell that Hiraku didn''t know anything about him or his powers. The burly Awakened wasn''t up-to-date.

    Michael retrieved two Soultrait Symbols and integrated some SoulStar Fragments into them. Both Soultrait Symbols were upgraded to 3-Star Soultraits at once. He reached out to hand Frederik both Soultrait Symbols while paying little attention to Hiraku. All he noticed was that Hiraku''s War Rune twisted and distorted as if trying to escape the confinement of the back of his right hand.

    ''He is quite good at controlling his War Rune,'' Michael noticed when he saw how easily Hiraku calmed down his raging War Rune.

    Frederik, on the other hand, wasn''t faring nearly as well. The youthful Awakened with azure hair couldn''t control his War Rune. Frederik''s desire andck of control got the better of him. Several energy tendrils burst forth from his War Rune. They coiled around the two Soultrait Symbols and pulled back into the War Rune.

    He absorbed the two 3-Star Soultraits and fused with them.

    "Oh fuck. Sorry, Michael!!! I-I didn''t want to do that. I couldn''t control my War Rune!!!" Frederik screamed all of a sudden once he realized what he had just done. His eyes went wide as the influx of information reached him. Two floods of information overwhelmed him, granting him basic knowledge and mastery of his two new Soultraits.

    "It''s fine. I put these two Soultraits aside for you, either way," Michael waved his hand, disregarding Frederik''s apology, "The Soultraits are called Enhanced Wind, and Wind Mastery. Their names are pretty simple, and so are their effects. Wind Mastery elevates yourprehension and understanding of the wind element drastically. It will allow you toprehend more about Aeroan in no time. You will have no issue creating your own Legacy Arts and a wide variety of Martial Arts with Wind Mastery."

    "Enhanced Wind, on the other hand, is a Soultrait that requires the wielder to have a Wind-attributed Soultrait, otherwise, the Soultrait is useless. Enhanced Wind naturally amplified Aeroan''s power output, control, and also mastery."

    Michael didn''t know anyone else with a Wind-attributed Soultrait. There might be some Supreme Families with Wind-type Soultraits, but Michael couldn''t care less about them. He had Frederik whose 3-Star Soultrait, Aeroan, had always been quite troublesome to deal with.

    Adding Enhanced Wind and Wind Mastery to Frederik''s repertoire was a good move. It would amplify Frederik''s prowess by a few times.

    However, Michael was not yet done.

    "I want to upgrade Aeroan to 5-Star. Combined with Enhanced Wind and Wind Mastery, Aeroan''s power output, control, and your mastery over it will be enough to turn Aeroan into a Pseudo 6-Star Soultrait," He exined while staring deep into his friend''s eyes, "I need you!"

    Michael was in dire need of someone like Frederik to fight and cause considerable damage to the Heart of the zing Lion army. The Kolbenheim family''s Inheritance techniques, the Wind Sage''s Sacred Body Refinement Technique, transformed Frederik''s body. His body was attuned to the wind element and wind-attributed energy.

    Frederik was not a Descendant, but by upgrading his Soultraits, and by customizing a Soul Technique for him¡­it should be possible to create a powerhouse to deal with the Zentika Empire.

    Frederik was still overwhelmed with the influx of information. However, he heard what Michael said.

    His friend''sst words reverberated through his mind, over and over again.

    ''I need you! I need you!''

    Tears welled up in his eyes suddenly. He didn''t expect to hear these words ever again. Frederik thought that he lost everything and that his life was over¡­that it was not worth living anymore. However, Michael never abandoned him. Michael never considered him as baggage.

    Their first encounter and the following meet-ups had been rather difficult, but Frederik knew that Michael never mistreated him. If anything, Michael helped him get his act together and grow stronger.

    Michael never hesitated to help those important to him. He gave Frederik everything he could have wished for.

    And now, the person who helped him unconditionally needed his help.

    "What can I do for you? Join your territory? No problem!" Frederik clenched his fists tightly.

    The light in his azure eyes returned, and signs of a grin blossomed on his face.

    "You will have to ept the Link of Loyalty, and there will be a Soul Pact as well. There is no need to rush anything. You can read through the terms a-..."

    Frederik interrupted Michael, "No need. I will ept the terms and conditions. I trust you. If, after everything you''ve done for me, I cannot even trust you enough with a Soul Pact, I should be ashamed of myself!"

    If it was anyone else, Frederik would have hated to be someone''s subordinate. However, his bond with Michael was different.

    Frederik''s expression soured when he thought about the time Jacqueline had offered him a Link of Loyalty to change his anchor in the Origin Expanse. He had rejected her offer because the Ondo family would never acknowledge him as worthy enough to hold Jacqueline''s hand and be with her. How could they ept Frederik, if he had to depend on Jacqueline to survive in the Origin Expanse?

    If Frederik was not even capable enough to protect himself, would he be worthy enough to be with Jacqueline? Of course¡­

    not!

    That was the Ondo family Elders'' standpoint. They didn''t acknowledge Frederik and they would never ept him if he epted Jacqueline''s support. Their family''s image would crumble to dust.

    The Ondo Elders would rather kill Frederik than see their family''s image deteriorate because of their foolish youngest generation.

    Fortunately, Frederik didn''t ept Jacqueline''s offer. He wouldn''t be able to look into her eyes if he allowed her to save him.

    His territory had been bulldozed by another Lord and turned into a magma field, ensuring that Frederik would never be able to return. However, that didn''t mean he could give up on Jacqueline. Joining her territory as Jacqueline''s subordinate would be like giving up. Frederik couldn''t do that.

    He didn''t want to give up Jacqueline. She was the love of his life. She¡­was his everything.

    Frederik wanted to get her back, take care of his father, and retrieve their wealth.

    All he had to do to achieve his dreams was to join Michael''s territory and grow stronger.

    How hard could that be?

 Chapter 598 Societyâ€™s Ranking

    <h4>Chapter 598 Society''s Ranking</h4>

    As an Awakened your standing was high throughout all societies, however, that didn''t mean every Awakened was the same. There was a special hierarchy among all Awakened. The High Society acknowledges this hierarchy and holds great importance to it.

    The hierarchy was split into three major groups. The group with the highest standing in the High Society was the Lords. Lord gained the most glory and honor everywhere they went.

    Lords were known for generating resources en masse. They created a safe ce for the other Awakened and expanded their range throughout the Origin Expanse and generated more opportunities for new Awakened to enter and spread in the magicalnds of the Origin Expanse.

    Mankind''s technological advancement and rapidly improving living standards were a result of the Lords'' achievements, sacrifices, and efforts.

    Lords were strong enough to protect their territory from the surrounding threats. That was something only the minority of Awakened managed to do. It was a sign of strength, great leadership, and a wide variety of other traits.

    Lords were stronger than other Awakened. They amassed Soul Power and their ess to more resources allowed them to progress faster as well. They were the Overlords and Rulers of the human race.

    Of course, not all Lords were the same. Rookie Lords didn''t hold as much prestige as Senior Lords with a barony.

    Rogues, also known as Adventurers, had the second-highest standing in society. They might have lost their territories, but most Rogues were capable of surviving in the Origin Expanse on their own. Their survivability was essential, and they were strong enough to collect resources to grow stronger without a Lord''s help and protection.

    Some well-known Rogues managed to im a new territory, regaining their standing as Lords. Their tales were known throughout the entire Tritan Alliance.

    Thest group with the lowest standing among all Awakened was ''Subordinates''. As the name suggested the Awakened group with the lowest standing were Awakened who submitted to other forces. They became subordinates of other Lords and acknowledged them as their Master.

    Subordinates were known as being the weakest among all Awakened. Their Soultraits weren''t any good, they lost their territory, and they couldn''t even survive in the Origin Expanse without someone''s protection. That was the case for most of them, at least.

    Despite being considered as the group with the lowest standing in High Society, they were still Awakened.

    It was also a fact that not all subordinates were weak. Nheless, being a Subordinate was like a mark¡­a sign that one wasn''t capable enough to survive in the Origin Expanse without someone else''s support.

    Ordinary citizens didn''t know about this, but some Supreme Families and High Nobles would never consider bing someone else''s subordinate. The younger generation had been taught that bing someone''s subordinate wasparable to willingly entering envement!

    Of course, not everyone thought like that, otherwise, Reba Zauber and others wouldn''t have joined Michael''s territory under any circumstances.

    Frederik was certain that the Ondo Family would think badly of him. They would ridicule him.

    But did that matter?

    For how long would they be able to make fun of him? A year? Two?

    Frederik realized how much stronger Michael had grown within a few months from the short bout his friend had with Hiraku. Michael''s physique changed drastically just like his eye color, but the biggest impact had been that Michael managed to fight head-on against Hiraku.

    Michael didn''t even rely on the Soultraits he was known for. He blocked Hiraku solely by relying on his physical strength!

    Michael was already at the 3rd Tier, which was ridiculously fast given that Michael was a self-made Lord who''d barely turned 19 years old, but he was only at the Lowest Rank. Hiraku, on the other hand, was a Peak Tier-3 Awakened with a Soultrait that allowed his physical strength to transcend the limits of Lesser Lifeforms.

    Hiraku''sst attack should have been strong enough to knock out Tier-4 Lord at the Lowest rank, yet Michael managed to withstand it.

    Frederik could also tell that Michael didn''t go all out yet. He had yet to unleash his strongest powers.

    Bing the subordinate of a powerhouse like Michael wouldn''t be frowned upon for a long time. It was not the best idea to ridicule anyone willing to be Michael''s subordinate right now, either. After all, it was well known that Michael could procure Soultrait Symbols and upgrade them.

    Even if Frederik was part of the Subordinate group, would the Ondo family be willing to go up against Michael, orugh at Michael''s subordinates for initiating a Link of Loyalty with him? Was the Ond family truly willing to offend Michael like that?

    Frederik could only imagine other families making fun of the Ondo family for digging their graves if they dared to say something against anyone who''d been willing to be Michael''s subordinate.

    Michael had more influence than various families, including the Ondo family. His connections spread across the entire Tritan Alliance. Hardly anyone would be foolish enough to go up against Michael, or those important to him.

    The Ondo family might eventually try coaxing Frederik, but neither Michael nor Frederik desired to give them a pleasant time, let alone benefits. Frederik desired to attain enough strength to force the Ondo family to acknowledge him and his strength. Not because of Michael''s backing, but because of his talent and prowess.

    He desired strength to be with those he loved, protect them, and take care of them. That included Jacqueline, his father, and now also Michael.

    Meanwhile, Michael felt like beating the shit out of the Ondo family''s Elders. However, he was patient enough to allow Frederik to go wild first. That was also one of the reasons he decided to support Frederik like this.

    But the most important reason for him to hand Frederik two 3-Star Soultraits and offer to upgrade Aeroan to 5-Star was that he didn''t want Frederik to die on the battlefield.

    That was the crucial point why Michael decided to retrieve more SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Aeroan to 5-Star. It was expensive at a price of nearly 3,000 SoulStar Fragments, but Michael was certain that it was worth it.

    Frederik''sbat prowess would skyrocket, and it was only a matter of time before the investment would be returned to him with interest. Michael was not worried about that.

    If anything, Michael was worried that he didn''t invest enough into Frederik and the others. He was a little bit anxious and hoped to upgrade the Forest Elves and Tiara''s Soultraits soon. Whether they had enough Jungle Points or not didn''t matter.

    The Untamed Awakened were not that close to him, but Thaor, Mekhaz, Lokai, the Forest Elven Adventurers, and Tiara were. They should be given some benefits¡­even if it was because of Michael''s selfishness rather than goodwill.

    He¡­didn''t want to see the people he held dear die.

    Frederik was shocked when Michael used Insert to insert 3,000 SoulStar Fragments straight into Aeroan, upgrading it straight to 5-Star. He was unsure what else to say.

    Their Link of Loyalty had already been established and the Soul Pact had been signed. Michael didn''t think that it was necessary to say anything else.

    Hiraku tapped Frederik a bit brutally. He stared at Frederik and frowned as the youth didn''t say anything even after Hiraku gestured to Michael.

    "You don''t want to thank him?"

    Michael nearly burst intoughter but his poker face sustained. Hiraku seemed cold and distant but he had good manners. That was for sure.

    Michael smiled as Frederik turned to him.

    "Thank you¡­I mean it!"

    Michael patted Frederik''s back with a smile. He was d that he managed to help Frederik.

    Now that his friend regained his spirit, it was only a matter of time before Frederik grew stronger. He would turn into one of the powerful assets in the Untamed Jungle in the next few weeks and help Michael defeat the invading forces.

    Reba hadn''t messaged Michael yet, so he was not in a rush to leave with Frederik. Nheless, it was not necessary to stay in the training hall any longer. He handed Frederik a Silver Teleportation Token and was about to manifest the Runic Gate when Frederik approached Hiraku.

    "Do you want to join the battle? It will be interesting?" Frederik smiled at the muscr Awakened, who stared down at him in return.

    Michael revealed enough about the troubles of his territory to tell everyone that the next few weeks were going to be filled with blood, sweat, and tears.

    Frederik understood that it was going to be dangerous, but he also knew that Hiraku Teranos was bored to death. Hiraku Teranos surrendered his territory the day after the grace period ended. A High Beast obliterated his wooden manor and nearly killed Hiraku, who had been a Tier-1 Lord at that time.

    A few years passed since then, yet Hiraku never managed to reim the territory. The High Beast turned the area near his Runic Gate''s anchor into its nest, making it visibly impossible for him to repay to the Origin Expanse.

    Despite that, Hiraku escaped the High Beast''s nest and established a new anchor nearby, only to realize that his former territory was surrounded by an ocean. His territory had been on a small ind.

    He had a hard time surviving in the Origin Expanse, and theck of resources was not exactly helpful either.

    Thus, Hiraku stayed outside the Origin Expanse most of the time.

    "How about you join Michael''s war? In exchange for your help in the battles, Michael can create a temporary Link of Loyalty with you. That way, you can set a new anchor far away from your ind and move to a different region," Frederik offered, not even asking Michael whether that was fine or not, "You can fight powerful enemies!"

    Hirakue seemed cold and all but the fact that he didn''t beat Frederik to death a long time ago was enough for Michael to reward the muscr Awakened with some brownie points.

    "I don''t mind additional help. However, you would have to indication an additional non-disclosure agreement if you want to help out. That, or I will make sure you''ll forget everything you learned about me, my people, and my territory once you leave."

    Frederik''s eyes lit up at Michael''s approval. He stared at Hiraku with puppy eyes.

    "Go for it!"

    Hiraku raises one eyebrow, but a glimmer in his eyes told Michael that he was interested.

    "I''m itching for a battle." He said calmly.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

 Chapter 599 The Weirdest

    <h4>Chapter 599 The Weirdest</h4>

    Completing the NDA and establishing the temporary Link of Loyalty with Hiraku didn''t even take five minutes.

    The terms of the NDA were quite simple. Meanwhile, the Link of Loyalty would dissolve once the wars were over. Hiraku could also terminate the Link of Loyalty earlier as long as he met the conditions. However, it was unlikely that Hiraku would bother going on and beyond to terminate the Link of Loyalty. It was not worth it.

    Michael retrieved two Silver Tokens of Teleportation and handed them over. Hiraku stared at the Silver Tokens of Teleportation for a few seconds and nodded to Michael. He manifested the Runic Gate and pressed the Silver Token of Teleportation against it. The Runic Gate whirled and shapeshifted. A silver gleam conjured within the Runic Gate as it stabilized. Hiraku didn''t say anything, however, the excitement in his eyes was apparent.

    He stepped into the Runic Gate and disappeared into the Origin Expanse. Frederik hurriedly repeated what Hiraku had done and disappeared in the Runic Gate a few secondster, leaving Michael alone.

    "Restless bunnies," Michael chuckled, leaving the training ground before he manifested the Runic Gate that led back to the Untamed Jungle. He stepped through and emerged in his territory, only to hear Frederik screaming around in ecstasy.

    "This is amazing!!"

    Frederik squealed like a little child as he ascended into the air. The young Awakened was flying through the air, observing everything about Michael''s territory from a slightly elevated position. He hadn''t burst through the treetop yet, but that was only a matter of time.

    "I wouldn''t fly too high, Fred," Michael suggested. He talked to Frederik through Whispering energy but noticed quickly that his friend was stubborn. Frederik didn''t want to descend just yet.

    "Why??" He asked instead of following Michael''s advice.

    "There are multiple reasons. For one, there are various avian High Beasts in the middle area of the Untamed Jungle. But if I had to pick the most important reason¡­I would avoid attracting the attention of the Mythic Serpent. The Mythic Serpent is definitely a Divine Beast. So¡­Tier-7, probably stronger."

    Frederik froze mid-air and dived down to the ground as fast as he could. He turned deadly pale and stares at Michael, his legs quivering.

    "Couldn''t you have said that a bit earlier?!?" Frederikined, only to be red at by Michael and frowned at by Hiraku.

    Hiraku was quiet but his eyes darted in all directions. He analyzed theyout of Michael''s territory swiftly. However, his eyes rested often on theughing citizens, their bright smiles, and how rxed they were.

    "Are they not afraid of the approaching war?" Hiraku wondered.

    "Everyone would be worried about war, but they trust me, my judgment¡­and maybe my anger," Michael said half-jokingly. He noticed that Hiraku didn''t have a change in impression and pressed his lips together, "Jokes aside. We''ve had a few fierce battles until now but the enemy forces never managed to infiltrate my territory. Until that changes everyone will feel safe and sound in the territory. Or until we lose all our men on the battlefield."

    Hiraku nodded slowly, "Your territory seems well hidden. Theyout merges well with the surrounding environment. It doesn''t look like you have many special means of defense but I can sense certain changes within the trees. Did you construct defense towers andrge-scale weapons in the towers?"

    Hiraku had many questions, but Michael answered them readily. There was no need to hide most of these things, either way. Hiraku''s perception was good enough to pick up on these things. However, that was what attracted Michael''s interest.

    "Your senses pick up the surrounding flora and fauna better than other things. You didn''t mention anything about the Summoning Gate and the Summoning Cores, yet you point out the territory''s synergy with the environment," Michael mentioned.

    Hiraku turned to Michael and nodded.

    "You could say so. I might tell you at some point," He said, but didn''t sound as cold as before. Seeing howfortable the Summons in Michael''s territory were, Hiraku couldn''t help but have a better impression of Michael. He had to be a decent Lord if he managed to make his people smile in the adversary of a war.

    Hiraku and Michael chatted a little bit more. Frederik eavesdropped and followed them as Michael guided them through the most important ces in the territory.

    Once Hiraku saw the huge construction site of the Sacred Knight Temple and more than five thousand training Blessed Squires and Holy Knights, he excused himself and moved over to the training grounds.

    "He is nice, ain''t he?" Frederik asked, only to get pped on the back.

    "You''re pretty good at attracting weirdos. You know that, right?" Michael joked, but Frederik had already a response up to his sleeves.

    "I know, otherwise, I would have never met you. You''re the weirdest of all people I know." Frederik joined the banter with a light joke.

    However, deep down he was more serious.

    ''Who else would hire several Healers from the Seraph family and the Sun Guild to help me and my father without asking anything in return¡­ just to throw several Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades at me as well? That''s the work of the weirdest weirdo in the entire universe!''

    Michael shed a smile at his friend. He didn''t expect to be that happy to have Frederik in his territory, but he was relieved. Now that Fredeirk fused with the two Soultraits he''d reserved for his friend, Aeroan was like an unstoppable force. Of course, upgrading Aeroan to 5-Star helped quite a lot.

    Nheless, Michael was happy that he could help his friend. It felt good to know that he managed to affect his friends'' lives positively. He and his territory wouldn''t lose out anything by helping Frederik either. Now that he was here, Michael was certain that the forting battles were going to be much easier. At least, that was what he hoped with Frederik and Hiraku joining the territory''s military prowess.

    An attendant rushed up to Michael to hand him the daily report. Today''s daily report included the Untamed Awakened''s progress. They improved a lot at using their new Soultraits. It would take some time, but the Untamed Awakened were bound to turn into strong powerhouses. All they needed was time, more resources, and encounters straight from the bloody battlefield.

    Frederik peeked into the daily report as well, and his eyes widened in surprise.

    However, before he could say something Tiara and the other Silverfangs appeared. Tiara waved brightly in Michael''s direction and he returned the greeting. Only a few secondster Lilica and the other Forest Elves passed by as well.

    "You have five different races in your territory¡­that''s crazy."

    Michael tilted his head, "What''s so crazy about that?"

    "What''s so crazy about that? Are you serious right now?" Frederik asked, while Michael merely nodded.

    Frederik brust into aughter.

    "You really are the weirdest person I know."

    He shook his head.

    "You don''t even realize how rare it is for other races to trust you with their Racial Summoning Cores, do you? Most races treasure Racial Summoning Cores like national treasures. After all, they don''t want other races to summon their forefathers and learn about their secrets." Frederik pointed out before he added, "You can imagine how bad it could turn out if some ancestor of the human race tells our enemies about our secret weapons, technologies, and so on. They''ll use their knowledge against us."

    "Many races will have difficulties fighting against their forefathers as well. They consider the resurrection of their ancestors as something sacred. They wouldn''t want to harm them."

    Michael heard about thetter part from the Forest Elves. They treated Summons with utmost respect, whether they were Starless or 4-Star Summons. All Summons were their forefathers in some way.

    But the other reasons were new to Michael. He never thought about it that way.

    ''Once I summon Legendary Forest Elves, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs, I can get to know their races'' secrets. That is¡­true. The Link of Loyalty will force them to heed mymand.''

    Handing over their Racial Summoning Cores didn''t seem like a big thing before. At least, Michael never thought of it as something overly dramatic. That changed now that he thought about it a little bit more.

    Frederik didn''t have to say anymore. Michael understood what his friend wanted to convey.

    Michael shuddered for a moment and picked up some distraction. He resumed reading the daily report where a bunch of interesting things were written down.

    Some Scouts who had invaded the Savannah Region came back with news. Apparently, the Trnce was surrounded. The remaining Laprix tried to flee, but they were mercilessly ughtered by the Council of Xylon. The numerical disadvantage against the Council of Xylon resulted in a severe deterioration of the Trnce''s morale.

    But the situation got even worse. The Laprix that had been killed mercilessly were beheaded and exposed to everyone in the Trnce. Their heads were ced atop spears that were ced everywhere around the remaining colonies of the Zynur and Vaylr.

    The Trnce''s spirit deteriorated even further. They were confined to their colonies and thoughts of the iing battles didn''t end well.

    Despite the overwhelming advantage against the Trnce, the Council of Xylon didn''t initiate a final attack. They could bulldoze the remaining settlements, however, none of that happened.

    Michael was curious about their tactics but he had already a premonition. He thought that something would happen near the Untamed Jungle pretty soon¡­and he was right.

    A particrly markedmunication glowed up suddenly.

    The premonition worsened at once and Michael rushed to the Pir of Territorial Awareness, his expression turning sour.

    It was just like he''d expected.

    The Teleporters returned.

 Chapter 600 Controlled Wrath

    <h4>Chapter 600 Controlled Wrath</h4>

    Michael eyed the Pir of Territorial Awareness and his expression turned cold in an instant. Arge mass of red dots appeared in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. The red dots moved irregrly. It almost looked like they jumped through small.

    The masses of red dots moved swiftly through the outer ring but they slowed down at some point. They stopped jumping through space suddenly and moved through the Untamed Jungle''s thicket in one big group. At least, that was what it looked like from the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    But staying in one group turned into a much bigger problem than expected. There were close to 500 members in the group and the Untamed Jungle grew denser. It was impossible to pass through the thicket in proper fashion.

    ''Teleporting is quite hard if you cannot see your target, ain''t it?'' Michael ridiculed the Teleporters in his mind.

    It was easy to teleport to locations you remembered or ces you could see. However, teleporting straight into a trunk would be an unfavorable result. The Teleporters didn''t want to die, after all.

    But the inability to see far ahead in the Untamed Jungle was just one of many problems the Teleporters had to face. Michael made some preparations to install spatial frequency distortion signals near the Savannah Region''s border. The signals increased the difficulty of using Space-type Soultraits.

    The Teleporters could use their Soultraits, but they wouldn''t have an easy time teleporting hundreds of Awakened and high-ranked Summons throughout the Untamed Jungle.

    Despite moving slowly through the unknown terrain, it was only a matter of time before the Teleporters and their followers would reach the Untamed Jungle''s middle area.

    ''They don''t move straightforwardly but are heading close to my territory right away. Did they find my territory already?''

    Michael could already imagine what the Teleproters were going to do and just thinking about it made his blood boil.

    They would mark his Awakened and the strongest Summons in his territory before pulling them out one after another with the Pull Soultrait one of them had. It wasn''t aplex n that required a mastermind toe up with. There were no profound scheming skills required to execute that n.

    All they needed was a Super Elite Unit with powerful Summons and Awakened, and Soultraits that were perfectly suited for the Pull and Space-Lock tactic.

    Michael analyzed the red dots for a moment before he threw amunication crystal to Frederik.

    "Check the map and tell me if they pass by me by chance. I doubt that I will miss them, but who knows," Michael ordered Frederik, his entire being overflowing with seriousness and a mix of coldness and fury.

    Extraction''s Aura erupted, the ground beneath his feet cracked open and the air began to crackle. He took a deep breath, retracted the Extraction Aura, and kicked the ground hard.

    Michael ascended the Greater Nature Spirit''s body and jumped onto the nearest canopy bridge before he charged in the direction of the invading forces.

    He manifested the Soul Grimoire and used several Soul Tears. One Soul Tear amplified Enhancement, another reinforced Superior Constitution, and a third empowered Extraction.

    Thereafter, Michael activated Enhancement several times to enhance his physique.

    Michael activated Spirit Eyes as well and it was only a matter of minutes before he found his targets; the invaders from the Council of Xylon.

    Rage fueled his entire being and Michael elerated once more. He loathed the Council of Xylon and a single thought about Liopham and Pheli''s death was enough to make him lose control of the Extraction Aura. It erupted and nearly extracted the canopy bridge around him. Michael had to jump onto the nearby branches to extract their bark and dissect the misfortunate insects that fell victim to Michael''s wrath.

    Michael took a deep breath when he sensed that something deep within him desired to be unleashed. The Cursed Seals influenced Michael. They lusted for blood, chaos, and death. All Michael had to do was ept them. That''s all he had to do to obliterate his enemies.

    However, Michael didn''t give in to the Cursed Seals'' influence. He unleashed one of the three Cursed Seals he''d unlocked and kept the remaining two hidden. The mark on his face expanded and Michael could clearly feel the intensity of his emotions increase rapidly.

    But despite unleashing one Cursed Seal, Michael was still in control of his body. It was harder to control Extraction since activating a Cursed Seal unlocked more of Extraction''s power, but it was not like Michael intended to hold back.

    There was no need to ask questions. The Council of Xylon invaded the Untamed Jungle. They headed toward his territory. There was no chance that they came over for tea, not armed to the teeth, at least!

    Even if they had good intentions¡­why should Michael be bothered? They killed his people. In his opinion, the Teleporters and everyone who followed them were already as good as dead!

    The Teleporters and remaining members of the invading force didn''t notice Michael yet. He was still several hundred meters away from them.

    But Michael could see them clearly. He produced some Soul Energy and unleashed the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique. His physical strength increased rapidly, but Michael further enhanced his strength by applying moreyers of Enhancement to his body.

    His body creaked loudly,ining about the toll that weighed down on every cell of his body. However, Michael didn''t care at this moment.

    He crossed the remaining distance to his foes and leaped into their masses without hesitation.

    The Teleporters and other forces were shocked to the core. They had been certain that their veils of invisibility and the distortion signals would hide them well enough to stay hidden from Orbs of Hostility and the like.

    The Awakened and the strongest Summons reacted quickly. They unleashed their strongest techniques and Soultraits to prepare for the iing attacks. However, they quickly realized that the young man who''d leaped into their masses was their only opponent.

    Their enemies underestimated them! They weren''t taken seriously. A surge of anger passed through them.

    However, that anger turned into uncontroble fear as an ominous presence reverberated through the vicinity. Their surroundings were shrouded in a majestic golden hue all of a sudden and their bodies felt incredibly weak.

    Massive tendrils of extraction shot out of the bushes, tree trunks, branches, and the ground, sucking the energy and oxygen of the surroundings in an instant.

    The power of Extraction passed through the Artifacts, weapons, and armor sets of the targets and invaded their flesh. Everyone tried to resist the tremendous force that impacted on their bodies, minds, and soul, but only a few managed to block the power of extraction.

    A thunderous roar escaped Michael''s body. He merged dragon might with the Dome of Extraction and infused the Extraction Aura to further amplify the force of the Dome of Extraction.

    The ntlife, the nutritious soil, and the critter that minded their own business suffered tremendously from Michael''s outburst. He didn''t bother controlling the Dome of Extraction or his energy consumption. Michael went all out, sincerely hoping that the Teleporters and everyone else responsible for his subordinates'' deaths would suffer.

    Extraction affected those near him the most. They shed their skin like snakes, their hair dropped out, and some had their eyes extracted within seconds. However, that was not enough.

    It wasn''t over yet!

    Extraction erupted with eightyers of Enhancement, draining his enemies'' energy and lifeforce mercilessly.

    Michael observed that the Teleporters were trying to leave. He tapped into the reserves of his force and further amplified Extraction''s Dome with two moreyers of Enhancement. The 7-Star Soultrait''s fury erupted.

    Everyone was in Extraction''s range, yet nobody could escape unscathed. The Teleporters retrieved something from their War Rune storages and groaned in pain as they unleashed thest bits of energy within them.

    They disappeared.

    Michael frowned deeply, but the corner of his lips curled into a fiendish smile when hismunication crystal lit up.

    His attention turned to the remaining participants of the invasive force, his vibrant golden eyes staring coldly at his enemies as if they were already as good as dead.

    "You shouldn''t havee."

    Michael''s words echoed through the Untamed Jungle, and the screams of his victims followed right behind.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

 Chapter 601 Devil

    <h4>Chapter 601 Devil</h4>

    "What the hell was that monster?!?" One of the Teleporters, Kivan Tamai, asked the other Teleporters.

    His legs jiggled like jelly and the rest of his body didn''t fare better. He breathed irregrly, his face was drained of blood, and he had been skinned alive

    The others didn''t do any better. The Teleporters'' skin had been extracted. They hadn''t been able to do anything against the tremendous power.

    "T-that¡­wasn''t a monster," Misha Marz, another Teleporter, said. He shuddered and added, "I think that was an Awakened."

    The Teleporters bled severely but they tried to ignore the pain that spread all over their exposed flesh. They would heal soon. All they had to do was survive and escape sessfully.

    Thest Teleporter trembled as well, "It makes sense why the Council wants to get rid of them first¡­this one is truly ferocious¡­."

    "He is stronger than the others have been," Kivan noticed. He recalled thebat prowess of the reinforcement sent by the Untamed Jungle and recalled that only a few had been truly dangerous. None of them was as frightening as this one.

    "Maybe, that''s their Lord?" Misha asked, but Kivan could only shake his head, "Lords don''t charge into the frontlines. They hide behind their forces and only enter the battlefield when they''re about to win, or when their territory is about to get destroyed."

    Discontent and disgust could be heard in Kivan''s voice. The Lords of the Council were just like that. They didn''t even consider leaving the secure grounds of their territory to lead their subjects into the battle. It was almost like they never considered doing something like that, in the first ce.

    If the Lords and their Guardians had entered the battlefield, the Council of Xylon would have long since destroyed the Trnce. But now they struggled against two measly Lords¡­even after ''that'' happened.

    "So that Awakened is the Untamed Jungle Lord''s secret weapon?" Misha asked, which Kivan affirmed with a nod, "I think so."

    The Teleporters moved through the thicket with fast strides. They moved as quickly and silently as possible. One of them proposed to use their Soultrait to escape the Untamed Jungle as quickly as possible, but Kivan shook his head.

    "They must have hyper-sensitive energy sensors OR the Untamed Jungle Lord prepared special devices to pinpoint spatial fluctuations after his people fell victim to our excellent tactic."

    The third Teleporter sighed heavily. He was feeling anxious, his heart palpated wildly and his eyes moved left and right in vignce.

    "The n failed. We should hurry up and report immediately!"

    Misha retrieved amunication crystal, but before he managed to insert a single strand of origin energy into the crystal something changed. Blood sttered through the vicinity and Misha''s hand holding themunication crystal flung through the air.

    A scream of pain and anguish escaped Misha''s lips. Misha''s allies turned around, their eyes widened in terror and disbelief.

    The monstrous Awakened they''d been talking about a moment ago emerged from the thick. No. It was more like the thicket disappeared as the monstrous Awakened passed through the Untamed Jungle''s undergrowth.

    His vibrant golden eyes flicked to the two Teleporters, his expression cold and emotionless.

    Michael was covered in blood and brain mass. Every step he took left a trail of blood behind.

    Spiritual Domination on the Teleporter in the back as he attempted to use his Soultrait. The Teleporter screamed aloud, blood gushed out of his nose and ears and he copsed on the ground. He was knocked out for a few seconds.

    "You¡­killed them all?" Kivan managed to ask. He regained his voice upon hearing his allies scream and copse around him.

    "Those little pawns? Yeah, they''re dead," Michael shrugged nonchntly, "Did you think that these weaklings would be enough to kill me or my people? You should havee with Higher Lifeforms if you''d taken us seriously. That was foolish of your people."

    Michael moved slowly. His hands tensed up for a second, and crackling sound resounded through the vicinity. He was having a hard time controlling himself. The Cursed Seal that had manifested around his eyes and temples made it increasingly more difficult to stay in charge of his body and mind.

    Kivan grit his teeth when he heard what Michael said.

    ''He is the Lord. Fuck it!''

    The Teleporters would have loved to bring Higher Lifeforms to deal with the Untamed Jungle Lord and his strongest subordinates, but that had been rather difficult. Hiding the energy fluctuations of a Higher Lifeform was moreplex.

    Most sensitive presence detection devices such as Superior Orbs of Hostility could find traces of Higher Lifeforms even if they used Rare Artifacts to cover their presence. They would have to use Epic Tier-4 Artifacts to hide their presence and energy fluctuations perfectly. Unfortunately, it was not like any Lord had 500 Epic Tier-4 Camouge Artifacts lying around.

    But then again¡­the Teleproters'' tactic to sneak up to the Untamed Jungle Lord''s territory and kill the strongest enemies one by one with their Super Elite Force didn''t work out in the first ce. They didn''t manage ot bypass the territory''s security. They should have brought Higher Lifeforms.

    However¡­it was also the first time that the Teleporters failed their mission. Something like that never happened until now¡­and it would happen never again¡­

    "You can greet your friends in a moment, don''t worry!"

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward. A fiendish smile blossomed on his face.

    His expression turned darker as he unleashed the anger he felt. His Extraction Aura erupted at once. The surrounding flora and fauna were extracted at once. Even the soil around Michael disappearedyer byyer.

    Kivan attempted to unleash his Soultrait at this very moment. However, not even a quarter of a secondter, Kivan realized that he couldn''t do anything. Hundreds of Extraction tendrils burst out of the ground. They coiled around his legs, waist, and upper body right before invading his insides.

    Thest bits of his stored energy were drained while small strands of blueish-red threads were extracted simultaneously.

    Kivan screamed on top of his lungs when he felt excruciating pain spread through his chest. His eyes widened in terror.

    "You¡­what did you do to my energy paths?!?"

    Michael''s fiendish smile widened, "Just a little portion of your energy veins. It''s nothing much."

    Michael''s smile disappeared from one moment to the next causing Kivan to shiver. Michael disappeared from his sight and he appeared in front of Kivan in the next instance.

    The Untamed Jungle''s Lord grasped Kivan''s jaw tightly until crackling noises rang out. He forced Kivan to open his mouth to shove something down his throat.

    Once he was forced to swallow he was hurled through the air like worthless thrash. Michael shifted to Misha and the unconscious Teleporter and shoved something down their throat as well. Misha was still screaming from the loss of his hand, but Michael couldn''t care less. He broke Misha''s jaw and pushed the dark green pill down his throat.

    The pills were something he had prepared for the Teleporters. It was a poison that blocked the energy paths of Teleporters for a few hours.

    Of course, killing the Teleporters was unnecessary since one of them was already a lost cause, while the other was unconscious. Their energy had already been drained and Michael made sure that their lifeforce was at an all-time low.

    However, they weren''t dead yet. Michael wouldn''t allow them to perish easily. Why would he?

    He tightly clutched Misha''s face and lifted the Awakened from the ground. Michael held the Awakened high into the air, his expression ice-cold as he tightened his grip around the Teleporter''s face. Crunching noises resounded, but Michael didn''t care.

    The next five seconds were the most terrifying in Misha''s life¡­

    and hisst¡­

    Michael used three Soul Tears. He applied one on Extraction, one on Enhancement, and one on his Soul.

    In the next instant, he unleashed the remaining active Cursed Seals. It was only for a short moment, but Michael erupted with all of them to remove as many limiters from Extraction as possible.

    Michael could barely control himself for a few seconds without losing himself in wrath. He was already on the verge of going crazy. However, he endured it.

    Tenyers of Enhancement were applied to Extraction. Michael produced Soul Energy to empower Extraction instead of ordinary origin energy. His Soul Power was drained rapidly but the effect of using Soul Energy when using Extraction was terrifying.

    The next thing Michael did¡­was to allow the Extraction Aura to swallow the Teleporter.

    Misha screamed at the top of his lungs. A terrifying pressure weighed down on every cell of his body. The pressure increased and crushed his cells one by one. But everything got worse as something was ripped out of his very being.

    Misha could do nothing to fight against Michael. He was a helpless chicken in front of the butcherer. All he could do was stare deep into the wrath-filled eyes that swallowed him whole.

    Misha screamed at the top of his lungs. He screamed and screamed and screamed.

    Suddenly everything was silent. The Untamed Jungle was eerily silent. Misha''s scream died down from one moment to the next.

    Michael crushed the Teleporter''s face and hurled him through the air. The Teleporter''s corpse was useless.

    Instead, his eyes lingered on the Soultrait Symbols and therge SoulStar Fragment he''d extracted.

    He absorbed the SoulStar Fragment and sensed immediately that therge Fragment was worth 400 ordinary SoulStar Fragments.

    Michael turned around, his eyes falling onto Kivan and the third Teleproter who had returned to his senses. Tears trickled down Kivan''s cheeks as realization dawned upon him.

    He understood what was about to happen, but he couldn''t believe it.

    He¡­didn''t want to die.

    However, nobody was safe in front of the Devil that had emerged in front of them.

 Chapter 602 May The War Begin

    <h4>Chapter 602 May The War Begin</h4>

    The Teleporters writhed in pain as the Extraction Aura impacted heavily.

    They tried using their Soultraits to escape Michael''s grasp but their energy storages were drained and their energy paths had been blocked. Even their Runic Gate ess had been blocked with the poison. There was not a single path of escape left.

    Their eyesnded on the Lord of the Untamed Jungle. The monstrosity. The devil.

    He went all out to obliterate Kivan and thest Teleporter, extracting their Soultraits while they were still alive. The shock of losing a part of their being and the tremendous pain inflicted alongside ended their lives in one of the most miserable ways possible.

    Michael didn''t have to go that far, but he wasn''t willing to give them an easier death. They didn''t deserve to die easily.

    He stored their Soultraits away and consumed therge SoulStar Fragments he''d extracted.

    "Is revenge satisfactory or not? Why don''t I feel better?" Michael grit his teeth.

    Taking revenge for Liopham and Pheli was good. It was great that the Teleporters were dead and that they wouldn''t harm anyone ever again. However, killing them didn''t bring Liopham and Pheli back. They were dead. Even revenge didn''t change that fact.

    "These weak bastards managed¡­"

    Michael cursed under his breath.

    He knew that the Teleporters hadn''t been weak. They were Peak Tier-3 Awakened with useful Soultraits, great Artifacts and lots of experience. It was just their misfortune to encounter someone like Michael. Michael had 10 Soultraits. Extraction was 7-Star, and both Spirit Eyes and Superior Constitution were 6-Star. His remaining Soultraits were all 5-Star Soultraits.

    Each of his Soultraits was quite powerful in its way, and he could use two Soultraits to strengthen his other Soultraits temporarily. Last but not least, Michael had the Cursed Seals that released a portion of Extraction''s limit once he unleashed them.

    If that was not enough to demonstrate Michael''s superiority, he had Soul Techniques as well. The Council of Xylon didn''t possess any Soul Techniques. The Teleporters might have been highly experienced, but they couldn''t do anything against Michael. He was on a whole different level!

    "Fuck this shit¡­" Michael cursed, kicking the dead bodies once he extracted their War Runes'' storages. He left them for the Untamed Jungle to consume and returned to the massacre he had left behind when he killed the 500 Summons and Awakened.

    He released the Dome of Extraction and controlled hundreds of Extraction tendrils to loot the bodies. He absorbed as many Summoning Scrolls, Scroll Fragments, SoulStar Fragments, Soultraits, Artifacts, and so on as possible and stored them away.

    Afterward, he continued to curse before leaving the corpses to the Untamed Jungle once again. He destroyed a part of the Untamed Jungle when he went wild with True Extraction. The invaders'' bodies were a tribute to the Untamed Jungle to fix the mess he had created.

    Michael didn''t know when he started leaving tributes to the Untamed Jungle, but since the High Beast horde didn''t attack him, he felt like he should be a bit nicer to the Untamed Jungle.

    The Untamed Jungle had their own issues but the inhabitants of the Untamed Jungle seemed tobine their forces to deal with pesky invaders. That was something Michael supported.

    "Should I attack the Council of Xylon?" Michael murmured, itching to travel across the Savannah Region and obliterate some settlements. It wouldn''t matter if he lost himself in rage and anger in the Council of Xylon''s territory either. As long as he went alone Michael could unleash his Cursed Seals and empower True Extraction as much as he wanted. No one close to him would get harmed.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the time to turn the Savannah Region upside down. Frederik called him from the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    "The Heart of the zing Lion army crossed the borders¡­The High Beast Horde is on the move!"

    Michael frowned deeply. His head flicked to the corpses around him.

    "Did they know about the attack? They shouldn''t have any connections though¡­"

    He had no clue and there was no time to rake his brain either. Michael retracted Extraction and his other Soultraits and rushed through the Untamed Jungle straight back to the Greater Nature Spirit.

    There was no time to clean his body either. Frederik''s eyes widened when he saw Michael covered in blood, but he regained his senses quickly.

    "I''ve deployed your attendants to tell everyone about the Zentika Empire''s attack," He said, before staring back at the map of the Pir of Territorial Awareness, "But to think that the Untamed Jungle''s monsters have been ignoring our territory to prepare for the Heart of the zing Lion army''s attack. Is the Untamed Jungle a hive-mind, or something like that? Is there an Overlord controlling everything precisely?"

    Michael raised an eyebrow, "You''re oddlyposed given that we''re going to battle 150,000 seasoned Soldiers soon. Don''t act too cocky. I don''t want to tell Jacqueline that you died because you were too assured in your new powers."

    "I''m¡­not overconfident. But have you seen how many High Beasts attack the Heart of the zing Lion army?" Frederik pointed at the Pir of Territorial Awareness.

    Michael turned to the map and smiled lightly. At least two dozen huge red dots were charging out of the Untamed Jungle''s middle area. 30 High Beasts and close to 20,000 ordinary monsters attacked the forces of the Zentika Empire.

    "If we don''t support them soon they''ll be killed either way. Do you think the Zentika Empire is not prepared against the High Beasts? They''ve already suffered a feisty defeat after underestimating the Untamed Jungle once. They''ll eradicate the High Beast Horde quicker than you may think," Michael uttered also pointing at one particr red dot.

    It was arge red dot from one of the Untamed Jungle''s High Beasts. The red dot charged into the huge mass of red dots from the Zentika Empire¡­and disappeared after a few seconds.

    "Oh¡­fuck¡­" Frederik cursed, and Michael just nodded.

    "Gather with the Untamed Awakened if you want to battle with them. You can also shift with the Forest Elves and focus on ranged attacks. Aeroan is the most suitable forrge-scale attacks. Use the Untamed Jungle''s environment to your advantage and take the most annoying Summons out. I cannot get a good measurement of their strength from the mass of red dots but most enemies seem to be at the 2nd Tier, Late, or Peak rank. Take them by surprise and overwhelm them with your Soultraits!" Michael advised his friend.

    He looked deep into Frederik''s azure eyes and repeated the most important aspect.

    "Don''t die." Michael ordered, "Otherwise, I will find and kill you myself!"

    Frederik grinned brightly at Michael, who could only shake his head. There was no time to smile.

    "Go."

    Frederik didn''t wait a single second longer. He continued to smile but turned around on his heels and controlled the winds around him. He kicked the ground and turned into a sh the moment his feet left the ground.

    Michael took a deep breath, his eyes lingering on the Pir of Territorial Awareness'' map.

    "So, it has finally started¡­" He mumbled, the cogs in his mind turning.

    The corner of his lip curled upward.

    The long-awaited prey finally came to him on its own.

    "Took you long enough."

 Chapter 603 Higher Lifeforms

    <h4>Chapter 603 Higher Lifeforms</h4>

    The Heart of the zing Lion army was made up of three groups. Three Commanders, each at the Peak of Tier-4, controlled a portion of the Heart of the zin Lion army to act independently.

    The army moved in unison until the forces reached the entrance to the Untamed Jungle. The moment they collided with the High Beast Horde of the Untamed Jungle everything changed. The army split up into three groups of 50,000 members and acted without paying heed to the other groups.

    Most members of the heart of the zing Lion army were Lionhearts, thus giving the army its ''unique'' name. Each army had more than 40,000 members in the 2nd Tier and close to 10,000 members in the 3rd Tier.

    While that was already extremely dangerous, the most important units of the three groups were their Tier-4 powerhouses. Each of the three groups had roughly 100 Higher Lifeforms. Every Higher Lifeform controlled a small team of natives and Awakened that worked together. They followed the Commander''s orders but it was not umon for the Higher Lifeforms to move out on their own as well.

    Michael quickly realized that the Heart of the zing Lion army had more Tier-4 powerhouses than expected. It was well-known that it was extremely difficult to be a Higher Lifeform, yet so many members of the zing Lion Army achieved such a great feat.

    Most Summons would never manage to ascend to a Higher Lifeforms. It was said that most 2-Star Summons would reach their limit at the 2nd Tier and that their bodies wouldn''t be able to survive the toll of advancing to Tier-3.

    It was still possible to reach Tier-3 as a 2-Star Summon, but that usually required a unique physique or a perfect foundation built with resources and determination. The requirements to achieve such a feat were tremendous.

    That was also why Michael was slightly surprised when he found out that the Heart of the zing Lion army had such a high percentage of Tier-3 Soldiers.

    ''So that''s what an elite army looks like?'' Michael thought, squatting on arge branch high up in a towering tree''s canopy.

    It was not unlikely that the Zentika Empire had simr structures such as the Sacred Knight Temple. Picking out the most talented students and giving them the resources they needed to be Tier-3 powerhouses was still possible. Training them would still take a while though.

    But even with enough time, resources, and determination, it was usually close to impossible for 3-Star Natives to ascend. The mortality rate was said to be extremely high among those 3-Star Summons who were ambitious enough to give it a try.

    It wasmon knowledge that one had to be a 4-Star or higher-ranked to ascend to a Higher Lifeform. Rarely someone below 4-Star ascended to the 4th Tier. It was close to a miracle.

    There were exceptions, of course, but most of them were really old folks who''d spent decades training their Soul, Mind, and Body, or the minority who had been fortunate with a fortuitous encounter.

    ''They don''t shy away from heavy expenses at this point. But, I guess¡­that makes sense.''

    ording to the Scouts'' intel and the memories of the Lionhearts Michael had consumed a while ago, the Heart of the zing Lion Army was the secondrgest army that remained intact after the battle with Taros and the Red Dragon. That was intriguing, but it also made it seem like the Zentika Empire had been weakened quite a bit.

    That might be the case, but the Scouts'' intel was grossly exaggerated. The Scouts didn''t know that the pieces of information they forwarded were grossly exaggerated. But Michael did. Michael was aware of the Zentika Empire''s stunt and what they were trying to do.

    To the Zentika Empire''s misery, Michael knew a lot more than that. He was fully aware that more than two million seasoned Combatants at the 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th Tier were spread all over the Zentika Empire''s territory.

    This included more than 15,000 Adventurers who have been serving the Zentika Empire for decades.

    Most veteran Combatants were either deployed to keep the crime rate in the Zentika Empire''s cities and towns as low as possible, to train neers to rebuild the armies that had been obliterated in the fearsome battle against Taros and his Red Dragon or to keep the Zentika Empire''s neighbors in check.

    Many neighboring kingdoms, counties, and independent Lords bordering the Zentika Empire had been preparing themselves for an all-out war for months. They began with their preparations the day Taros and his Red Dragon attacked the Zentika Empire. As of now¡­all they were waiting for was the perfect opportunity to get a slice of the Zentika Empire.

    Michael was grateful that the Zentika Empire had various enemies to keep in check at their borders, otherwise, the Heart of the zing Lion army wouldn''t be the only Elite Army invading the Untamed Jungle.

    ''But then again, the Lords living in the Zentika Empire haven''t made their move to support the Zentika Empire either.''

    Michael was aware of more than 150 Lords to whom the Native Empire had granted ess to a piece ofnd in the Zentika Empire. There might be more Lords, but Michael was not all-knowing. His informationwork could have been better.

    Nheless, he knew that the Zentika Empire had yet to tap into the power of those 150+ Lords.

    Maybe that would happen soon? Or was there something Michael wasn''t aware of?

    ''That is not important right now.'' Michael shook his head.

    He had to remind himself that the battle near the Untamed Jungle''s border was more important.

    However, one thing was certain: Defeating the Heart of the zin Lion army won''t be easy.

    It was a good thing that Michael never expected it to be an easy feat, in the first ce.

    The meeting with the higher-ups of the territory didn''t take long. Michael had already given everyone precise orders long before the Heart of the zing Lion army decided to attack. The ns had been set in stone a long time ago.

    All they had to do was initiate the ns he, Immortal Knight, and the other strategists of the territory hade up with.

    There was no Legendary Strategist in his territory yet, but Immortal Knight and some other Summons were already old enough to be considered experts on the battlefield. Even if Siegfried Dracoon was more of a fighter, his warfare knowledge wasn''t low either. In fact, Siegfried was a great strategist, even if it wasn''t the reason he was a Legendary Summon. His experience on the battlefield taught the old man well.

    The Forest Elves moved out on their own. They were led by the Forest Elven Adventurers leading them and stalked through the trees. They ignored the monsters barging through the Untamed Jungle''s undergrowth and went into position by spreading throughout the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring.

    As Forest Elves, their ability to detect lifeforms in any forest was extraordinary. They couldn''t see their enemies through the trees and thicket, but it was possible to sense their enemies and their power level rather easily.

    The Forest Elves nocked their arrows on the bowstring, channeled energy into their bows to reinforce their armament''s power, and pulled the bowstring back smoothly in one go.

    The Forest Elves'' wrists glowed faintly as traces of Elemental Might were applied to the arrowheads. Some arrows were coated in gales while others were shrouded in ice. Thousands of Lesser Elementals decided to join the battlefield. Some were hesitant at first, but the Elemental Empress convinced them to support theirnds and allies.

    The Elementals didn''t need to expose themselves. Their presence and Elemental Might were already more than enough to provide the woods Elves with enough destructive power to go up against the Zentika Empire.

    Hundreds of arrows poured down onto the weakest forces of the Heart of the zing Lion army, however, they came prepared. The Heart of the zing Lion army was equipped with strong Pyro Steel Armor Sets. They wielded heavy shields and were well protected against the hail of arrows.

    Only a few couldn''t block the iing arrows. The arrows shrouded in raging winds were too fast for some Soldiers to block. They lifted their heavy barriers but were a quarter of a second toote. The gale arrows prated the chainmail covering their necks and pierced deep into their throats.

    But the gale bolts were not the only arrows that worked out. Each arrow amplified with Elemental Might worked to a certain extent. They didn''t reap many lives but the attacks were still dangerous. Their enemies were forced to pay attention to the treetops which made it increasingly more difficult to block the monster charging at them.

    The barrage of arrows forced the Lionhearts to split their attention.

    Waiting for the hail of bolts that came at irregr times was impossible. The moment they stared nkly into the treetops the Soldiers would get attacked by a group of monsters ahead.

    However, if they focused too much on the monsters around them, a hail of bolts would take them by surprise.

    The Forest Elves, whether they were Peak Tier-1 or at the lower ranks of Tier-2, managed to create chaos wherever their bolts flew. The distraction caused was great, but it was not yet enough. Fortunately, they had stronger arrows and archers by their side.

    Mika, Opars, and Lilica used more expensive bolts and Bow Artifacts with great pulling force and additional enchantments. Their arrows were creations made with the Relic of Draka. Everyone considered it a waste of precious time, but Michael was adamant about creating Spirit Arrows with the Relic of Draka. The Relic of Draka didn''t require more than ten minutes to finish one Spirit Arrow, yet everyone told Michael that it would be a waste. After all, it was not umon for rapid shooters to release dozens of arrows in a minute.

    But Michael did not care. Spirit Arrows were great weapons and they were even more useful in the hands of someone who knew how to handle them.

    The EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team were such people.

    They learned about the Spirit Arrows'' special properties from Michael and fell in love at once. The three remaining participants of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team trained relentlessly. They didn''t want to lose someone dear to them ever again.

    Therefore, they had to grow stronger. Strong enough to obliterate those who endangered their peace!

    It was about time to show the Zentika Empire what it meant to be at war with Forest Elves!

    **

 Chapter 604 An Elfâ€™s Rage

    <h4>Chapter 604 An Elf''s Rage</h4>

    Mika nocked a Spirit Arrow on the Wyvernwood Bow Artifact and pulled the bowstring back smoothly. Simultaneously, he channeled a trace of energy into the Wyvernwood Bow, resulting in a cacophony of sounds. The Wyvernwood Bow roared aloud as if it was trying to escape the confinement of the Bow Artifact.

    The Spirit Arrow vibrated violently as Draconic Power channeled into it from the Wyvernwood Bow.

    Simultaneously, Mika activated Arrow Duplication and Pierce. His two older 4-Star Soultraits were at full disy. Mika repeatedly used Arrow Duplication and used Pierce often enough to shroud the Spirit Arrow in a white hue.

    Mika released the Spirit Arrow once he finished aiming. A quarter of a secondter he activated his 3rd Soultrait. He purchased a third Soultrait from the Jungle Shop and upgraded it straight to 4-Star. Rapid Fire. The Soultrait elerated his upper body''s movements while simultaneously aiding more energy into the energy paths in his arms. This allowed him to retrieve another Spirit Arrow, nock it, and pull the bowstring back in less than a second.

    The second Spirit Arrow was fueled with Draconic Power, and empowered with Arrow Duplication, and Pierce before at once. Mika released the Spirit Arrow.

    Rapid Fire did not only elerate his movement speed for a short moment. It also decreased the toll on his body and created the most efficient pathway to keep as much energy as possible while producing the strongest possible attack.

    The pair of Spirit Arrows that whizzed through the air split up. Arrow Duplication turned the pair of Spirit Arrows into 4¡­8¡­then 16¡­and finally 32 before they poured down onto the Soldiers of the Zentika Empire.

    Under normal circumstances, the Soldiers would have raised their shields to block the attacks. However, the Draconic Power within the Spirit Arrows increased their top speed. The Draconic Power acted as an elerant, increasing the danger of the duplicated Spirit Arrows even more.

    The Spirit Arrows amplified by Pierce, prated the Pyro Steel Armor Sets of the Tier-2 Soldiers as if the armor was made from butter instead. However, the attack was not over. The Spirit Arrows pierced deep into the Tier-2 Soldier''s flesh and reaped their lives. Only then did the Spirit Arrows'' powere into effect.

    Mika received various powerful energy influxes. The energy influxes were more potent than usual, and they were not transferred straight to his War Rune either. Instead, Mika was given the opportunity to tap into the energy influxes and annex some of the energy to replenish his dried energy storage. The leftover energy was pulled into the War Rune where it was consumed to refine and strengthen Mika.

    Mika didn''t rely on the Spirit Arrows'' special ability, but it was extremely helpful to refill his energy storage. He changed his tactic after a moment and focused on Rapid Firebined with Pierce. There was no need to use Spirit Arrows all the time. Instead, Mika was ready to change his attack pattern as often as possible. He wanted to remain unpredictable.

    Therefore, Mika turned over to make use of Elemental Might. Two Lesser Elementals chose to apany him for today''s battle. They charged his ordinary arrows and amplified them with Elemental Might. Simultaneously, they inserted traces of their energy into the Wyvernwood Bow to ensure that the Bow Artifact would continue to expose its Draconic Power

    Even ordinary arrows would turn into deadly projectiles as long as Draconic Power, Elemental Might, and Pierce were applied to them. The arrows would burst apart after one or two uses, but Mika didn''t n to retrieve the arrows, either way.

    He focused on his new Soultrait, Rapid Fire and Pierce as it drained only a little energy while the Lesser Elementals granted him the power he required to kill his enemies.

    Mika managed to release more than 30 arrows in a minute with Rapid Fire. His uracy suffered a little bit, but it wasn''t a major downside. Mika aimed at the enemies'' chests andrger vital points to cripple and weaken them instead of killing most of them straight away.

    Once his energy storage dropped below 50%, Mika retrieved another Spirit Arrow. He used his remaining energy pool to use Arrow Duplication several times before he unleashed a barrage of duplicated Spirit Arrows once again.

    The second barrage of duplicated Spirit Arrow didn''t kill as many enemies as intended, but three energy influxes were already enough to restore his energy storage.

    It was more than enough to continue fighting without having to use potions. He could keep his attention on the battlefield and aid the monsters on the ground and the Forest Elves behind him to decrease the Zentika Empire''s numbers slowly.

    Not many died from their bombardment of deadly projectiles, but hundreds, if not thousands of Tier-2 Soldiers sustained mid-to-severe injuries. Their attack prowess weakened, allowing the High Beast Horde and the Sacred Knight Temple''s forces to eliminate the threats with more ease.

    Opars didn''t fare as well as Mika. He didn''t have as many powerful Soultraits as Mika. Nheless, he had several Artifacts that suited his Soultraits perfectly. He used Energy Imprint on the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact, increasing the pulling force required to pull the bowstring drastically.

    No one at the 2nd Tier should be strong enough to pull the bowstring back. Opars, however, could do so. He managed to solve one of his biggest issues by purchasing a particr Soultrait from the Jungle Shop. Herculean Arms. Opars upgraded Herculean Arms to 4-Star and uncovered that it was even better suited to his tactic than he''d expected.

    First of all, Herculean Arms strengthened Opars'' arms. The Soultrait adjusted the muscles in his arms and developed them until Opars'' muscles felt as strong as tempered steel. However, the most important aspect was that Herculean Arms allowed Opars to alter his physique ording to his will. It was quite difficult but studying the anatomy of the Forest Elves allowed him to make some additional changes, transforming his arm and back muscles into the perfect tools to pull the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact.

    Ordinary arrows were not suitable for the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact. They would splinter upon impacting on the target. Opars had to switch to Reinforced Treantbranch Arrows. These arrows were made from the branches of Treants and they could be further reinforced by infusing them with energy. As someone with an exotic Soultrait like Energy Imprint, Opars could easily imprint energy into other objects.

    He could easily prate the Pyro Steel Armor Sets of the Zentika Empire''s Tier-2 Soldiers, and that was exactly what he did. He used his new toys and newly acquired Soultrait to obliterate as many enemies as possible.

    Opars would have felt much better knowing that his attacks annihted those who were partially responsible for Liopham and Pheli''s death, but he had nothing against assaulting the Zentika Empire''s forces either.

    The Zentika Empire had been their cause of pain and suffering for years. Opars didn''t forget the things they did to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team when they were still official citizens of the Zentika Empire. They had been treated badly.

    It was payback time!

    Lilica wasn''t different from the Mika and Opars. She tried hard to control her raging emotions, but she was having a hard time. The only reason Lilica stayed back was because she was worried about the other Forest Elves and both Mika and Opars. Mika had been hit the worst with the death of Liopham and Pheli. It took him the longest to regain his senses and return to training.

    Opars may have been casting Soothing Wave on both Lilica and Mika, but his mental health wasn''t all that high either. The EmeraldLeaf Adventurers were down and felt regret. They should have been stronger to protect their friends and beloved, but they had grownx andid-back.

    The EmeraldLeaf Adventurers had been certain that their Soultraits would solve all issues. Even if they couldn''t solve all the issues, Michael would solve them instead.

    That was what they''d been thinking about for a while. However, the Savannah''s Regional War changed their train of thought. They knew that Michael couldn''t always be with them and that they weren''t omnipotent. Their force was great given their Tier and Rank, but that was already it.

    ''We need more achievement points!'' Lilcia cursed in her mind, using Weakness Detection, and Precise Aim to adjust her near-

    perfect aim naturally and detect numerous openings spread all over the battlefield.

    Under normal circumstances, these openings would be too small for anyone to hit. However, Lilica upgraded Presice Aim to 4-Star for a reason. Her aim was impable at this point, and hardly anyone could block her attacks even if they saw them.

    Unfortunately, seeing Lilica''s attacks wasn''t that easy anymore.

    Lilica bought Invisible Projectile from the Jungle Shop. Invisible Projectile was a bothersome Soultrait that nearly cost Michael''s life at some point. It was a nuisance for every enemy and a blessing for the user¡­especially if utilized together with Weakness Detection and Precise Aim.

    Lilica''s arrows were camouged with 4-Star Invisible Projectile, allowing her to easily exploit the tiny openings in her enemies'' defenses.

    That was even easier with the use of the Silent Reaper, a Pseudo-Legendary Bow Artifact that blocks all vibrations, sounds and energy fluctuations. Lilica''s arrows were not only invisible, but their energy fluctuations were sealed perfectly from the outside, and it was near impossible to hear or sense them.

    They were among the lethal projectiles one could find all over the bloody battlefield.

    The Forest Elven Elders and the families of Liopham and Pheli had decided to gift Mika, Opars, and Lilica three Pseudo-

    Legendary Bow Artifacts as long as they dealt with the Council of Xylon.

    Of course, the Zentika Empire was not the Council of Xylon, but the Heart of the zing Lion''s attack was the whole reason Michael and everyone else couldn''t barge into the Savannah Region to obliterate the Council of Xylon.

    The Zentika Empire''s forces had to be obliterated first!

 Chapter 605 A Monkeyâ€™s Weapon

    <h4>Chapter 605 A Monkey''s Weapon</h4>

    Of course, the Forest Elves and their arrows were not omnipotent.

    After several barrages their position was exposed and the fire was returned, quite literally.

    The Heart of the zing Lion army unleashed fiery fires. They conjured fireballs, firespears, and various other projectiles and threw them back at the Forest Elves. Most fiery projectiles were not that fast, but their overwhelming number and destructive power were more than enough to force the Forest Elves to retreat.

    The Untamed Jungle caught fire. Everything was about to burn down.

    Lilica and the others retreated. However, they didn''t run away from the battle. They trusted that the Lesser Water Elementals and Lesser Earth Elementals would do a great job extinguishing the mes. In the worst case, the Lesser Elementals would restrain the mes for a while.

    "A bunch of Tier-3 Awakened are onto us," Opars pointed out while pulling the bowstring back. His muscles flexed as the Dryadwoven Bow''s pulling force increased. Opars remained calm, aimed, and shot. The arrow disappeared in the thicket.

    A terrifying scream escaped from the thicket and blood spurted all over the bushes. Opars stored the Dryadwoven Bow away and switched position. He leaped onto another tree''s branch and climbed higher.

    Lilica grit her teeth but activated Weakness Detection. She channeled more energy than needed into the Soultrait, creating a better disy of her enemies'' weaknesses.

    A few Lionheart Awakened entered her view. They headed to Mika and the other Forest Elves.

    Lilica retrieved an arrow, nocked it on the bowstring, and readied herself. Precise Aim and Invisible Projectile were executed at once. Lilica pulled the bowstring back and used her breathing technique. Her body stopped moving all of a sudden and it looked like she was frozen in ce. That was just Lilica taking aim and releasing the deadly projectile into the group of Lionheart Awakened.

    The Invisible Arrow whizzed through the Untamed Jungle unnoticed and found its way into the wrist of the Awakened who looked the strongest.

    The Lionheart Awakened groaned loudly. He tried to hold his longsword tightly but the muscles and veins in his wrist had been ripped apart. Lilica''s arrow had neatly pierced the Awakened''s wrist. It was covered in blood and was visible to the bare eye once again.

    The Lionheart was just about to pull the arrow out of his wrist and switch the longsword to his left hand to continue participating in the battle, but a shadow covered him all of a sudden.

    The Awakened and Soldiers behind him screamed aloud. Earth Spikes shot out of the ground, impaling the Awakened''s calves and thighs. Simultaneously, arrows hailed down. Some were slow and could be evaded easily, but a minority of arrows were incredibly fast and deadly.

    The fast arrows were hard to distinguish from the slower arrows. It was already toote for most Soldiers when they realized which arrows were the deadliest.

    Even if they survived the barrage of arrows, they weren''t prepared for what happened next. Sun Demos and the Demon Monkeys joined the battle. They merged into the mass of the High Beast Horde and dived into their fights, reaped the lives of those who had already been weakened, and pulled out once again.

    That was exactly what happened here. Sun Demos emerged above the Lionheart, whom Lilica had attacked, and swung down a one-handed axe. The axe head was inproportionatelyrge. The de covered most parts of the one-handed axe. It looked unhandy and hardly useful, usually, that is.

    The de-axe cut deep into the Lionheart''s shoulder as Sun Demos cleaved down. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King''s other hand shot forward simultaneously. His ws plunged into the Lionheart''s eyes, gouging them out with a single attack.

    All of a Sudden, Sun Demos felt much heavier than before. The Lionheart''s body heated up, and fiery mes covered his body.

    Sun Demos screeched loudly and retreated. The Demon Monkey King ordered his Unit to retreat and change targets. Once Sun Demos distanced himself a bit from the Lionheart Awakened, the heavy weight that had impacted heavily was no more. He could still feel the weight on his shoulders but it was not impossible to bear anymore.

    ["That''s enough. Focus on the weaker units first. I want you to take care of them!"]

    Michael''s voice rang through Sun Demos'' mind and the Demon Monkey King moved at once. The Demon Monkey King kicked the ground, jumped on top of a tree, and moved rapidly through the Untamed Jungle. The Demon Monkey Unit followed quickly, gaining momentum as they swung from one branch to another.

    Simultaneously, as Michael''s voice reached Sun Demos, a dozen Soul cicle Bullets inserted with a trace of Extractionunched through the air. The Soul cicle Bullets pierced through the seams that held their Armor Set Artifacts together and burst apart. The traces of 7-Star Extraction inserted into the Soul cicle Bullet entered the Lionhearts'' bodies while thepressed freezing mist within the Soul cicle Bullets shrouded the surroundings in an instance.

    The Lionhearts'' mes extinguished at once and their Armor Set Artifacts cooled down in an instant. Cracks formed on their Armor Sets, creating more openings for the Forest Elves to attack.

    Michael knew that he could have killed the Lionhearts at once, but he wanted to utilize the opportunity to drain their energy storage while simultaneously giving the Forest Elves more opportunities to procure more energy influxes.

    His War Rune was far from advancing. It would take months for him to advance to the Low rank of the 3rd Tier. Of course, that was without any energy shares and without resources worth more than most ordinary territories could procure in half a year.

    Michael observed the battlefield intently. He knew that he could just leap into the most crowded area of the battlefield and kill a thousand Tier-2 Soldiers with the Dome of Extraction. However, he was not foolish enough to expose himself and his powers straightaway. The Heart of the zing Lion Army might be split into three minor armies but each of them had a Commander at the Peak of the 4th Tier and roughly 100 Higher Lifeforms.

    Even if Michael killed a few thousand Soldiers at the 2nd or 3rd Tier with a surprise attack, he would end up encircled by 300 Higher Lifeforms. That was not what he wanted.

    Therefore, he looked out for the Higher Lifeforms to hunt them down one by one. Michael thought that he might as well give his people a helping hand at the same time. Soul cicle Bullets didn''t ingest much Soul Energy, and he could replenish his used-up Soul Power by consuming SoulStar Fragments, either way.

    It wasn''t like Michael was going to waste his SoulStar Fragments, but he was unwilling to leave everything to his subordinates!

    Sun Demos and the Demon Monkey Unit had returned to the High Beast Horde. They were having a hard time pinpointing the weakened enemies, but everything happened fast once they did find suitable targets. Sun Demos and the Demon Monkeys would dive onto the battlefield, retrieve their one-

    handed battle axes, behead their enemies, or cleave them apart, before storing their weapons back into the spatial satchels they''d been given.

    The Demon Monkeys might have ws and tremendous physical strength, which they could utilize to an extraordinary degree, but the one-handed war axes were better than their ws. They were enchanted with Sharpness and Sturdiness Runes and allowed the Demon Monkeys to make full use of their superior physical strength.

    The one-handed war axe made up for the Demon Monkey''s racial limits.

    Of course, the one-handed war axe was not a perfect solution. The Demon Monkeys might be Superior Existences but they were still merely at the Lowest rank of the 2nd Tier. They''d reached their racial limit a long time ago and couldn''t y everyone. The Zentika Empire''s forces had a gross numerical advantage, and they knew how to make utilize of that.

    They burned down the forest and moved in small groups. Most groups had either one or two tanks. They blocked the iing attacks, allowing the Assassins, Swordsmen, and other damage dealers to do their job. Other than the tanks and damage dealers, most groups had either a Mage of Priest by their sides. However, since all Lionhearts had a Minor Fire Affinity, each of them could conjure fireballs and other fiery projectiles.

    The Lionhearts learned to utilize their racial affinity for years if not decades, and they made use of it.

    Fortunately, the Untamed Awakened weren''t disturbed by the fiery mes of the Lionheart. They didn''t care that the Untamed Jungle was set aze or that the underground in the outer ring had already been burned down.

    On the contrary, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs loved that. They had been fighting in the Savannah Region for a few weeks, only to return to the densely grown Untamed Jungle once again. The Untamed Awakened didn''t hate the Untamed Jungle, but they didn''t know the jungle as well as the Forest Elves. They couldn''t make utilize of the Untamed Jungle that well. Therefore, they charged ahead and unleashed their multitude of Soultraits to obliterate their enemies with a head-

    on sh.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs looked like they were on ecstasy. They unleashed their Soultraits in excitement and charged into the masses of enemies without hesitation. It was almost as if they didn''t even know that they were at a numerical disadvantage.

    However, in reality, the Untamed Awakened couldn''t be bothered. They didn''t care that the Heart of the zing Lion army had several times more Soldiers and that the quantity of their high-ranked Soldiers and Awakened was much higher.

    It didn''t matter to the Untamed Awakened.

    The Untamed Awakened were going crazy.

 Chapter 606 Titan

    <h4>Chapter 606 Titan</h4>

    Possessing multiple useful Soultraits would make it much easier to fight opponents of a higher weight-ss. It was even better if the foes didn''t possess useful Soultraits, or if they were natives who didn''t own Soultraits, in the first ce.

    That was currently the case. The Untamed Awakened had multiple useful Soultraits that could bebined, further enhancing their might, whereas the Awakened of the Zentika Empire had only one somewhat useful Soultraits. Some weren''t even blessed with half-decent Soultraits.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t seem fazed by the Lionhearts'' fire, and their great physical prowess granted them certain benefits that couldn''t be neglected either.

    Everythingbined, the Untamed Awakened were able to fight Awakened above their weight-ss. However, even that had its limits. Low Tier-2 Awakened couldn''t easily beat Tier-3 Awakened. Maybe with enough Epic or Legendary Artifacts, more Soultraits, and the surprise effect on their side it was possible, but it was not like those things would appear out of nowhere.

    It was not like the Untamed Awakened cared about that, in the first ce.

    They charged ahead and bulldozed through the masses of the Zentika Empire until a Higher Lifeform appeared in front of them. A Lionheart who had ascended to the 4th Tier appeared in front of the Untamed Awakened.

    It had been a while since he advanced to Tier-4, but the Lionheart would never forget about the joy of being stronger than his enemies¡­the addictive feeling of tearing through his enemies as if they were made of paper.

    However, before the High Lionheart ¨C which is what the Lionhearts call themselves upon ascending to a Higher Lifeform ¨C could charge at the Untamed Awakened, something around him changed.

    Dozens of thick, intertwined roots shot out of the ground. Half of them tried to pierce the High Lionheart''s vital spots while the rest coiled around his legs, and waist to hold him in ce.

    The High Lionheart shrouded his body in mes and burned the roots before they could reach him.

    He roared in rage but was still unable to charge ahead as a humongous figure appeared in front of him.

    A colossal being emerged out of nowhere. It was more than ten meters tall and strode through the Untamed Jungle as if it was the embodiment of nature''s might and protection. Towering trees and verdant foliage weave seamlessly into the colossal being''s bark-like skin, creating an organic armor that camouged the colossal being perfectly in the Untamed Jungle.

    The bark-like armor was dark but had a silver sheen to it. Its'' massive frame exuded fearsome strength and resilience. Moss and vines cascade down its form, further intertwining with the Untamed Jungle''s flora, creating a living tapestry of greenery in the middle of the fearsome battlefield. The colossal being created a shocking contrast to the blood-filled battlefield and the burning outer rings of the Untamed Jungle.

    The giant''srge silver eyes stared sharply at the High Lionheart, whose heart skipped a beat. A seed of fear took root deep in his heart.

    "What the¡­" He cursed loudly and immediately used his Soultrait,bined with his racial Minor Fire Affinity to create a fiery inferno.

    The inferno engulfed the bark-covered giant, but that didn''t stop him. The giant barged through the inferno, pressed his hands together, and smashed downward with tremendous velocity and might.

    The High Lionheart created severalpressed fire swords and fire spears around him before coating his entire body in zing mes, but the giant ignored it all. A metallic sheen covered the giant''s arms, protecting him from further damage as the firespears and swords impacted with great momentum and destructive power.

    However, the giant''s attack didn''t stop. His attackmenced and he smashed down, crushing the High Lionheart at once.

    The ground tremored from the giant''s impact, followed by a shockwave that uprooted the nearby nts and bushes. A single smash was enough to create a human-sized crater in the ground. It was just enough to bury the High Lionheart.

    However, there was little to nothing left to identify the former powerhouse. He had been crushed to smithereens, leaving nothing but a disgusting mass of flesh, fur, and blood behind.

    The colossal being released a thunderous roar and the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs followed suit. The Untamed Awakened were shocked but also exhrated. They were overflowing with excitement at the sight that unfolded in front of them.

    Michael was simrly shocked. He observed the colossal being for a while, the corner of his lips curling upward. His eyes shimmered brightly.

    The colossal being was not a High Beast. It wasn''t a powerful monster of the Untamed Jungle. No. The colossal being was Hiraku!

    ''I thought his Soultrait was Gigantification, but it seems like I was mistaken. Does he have multiple transformations mixed into one Soultrait? But then¡­why does it feel like Hiraku is using the Greater Nature Spirit?''

    It wasn''t difficult for Michael to sense that Hiraku tapped into the energy from the surroundings to empower his transformation. To be precise, Hiraku requested the Spirits in the surroundings to aid him. At least, that was what Michael could tell from his connection with the Greater Nature Spirit.

    Of course, Michael allowed the Greater Nature Spirit to lend Hiraku as much power as he needed. But he didn''t expect that Hiraku could turn into a 10-meter-tall giant. Hiraku''s physical strength easily reached the might of a Higher Lifeform, and he gained temporary ess to the Minor Nature Affinity as well. Hiraku would have no problem dealing with some High Lionhearts.

    Hiraku manifested two maces out of thin air. They weren''t his Artifacts, but new creations. They appeared out of nowhere and transformed into a humongous Morningstar with a chained metal spike at the top and a heavy shield in the next second.

    Michael first thought that Hiraku had some Aethyr, or that he might own some Aether, but that was not the case.

    ''Right, he is part of the Star of Creation. Their family has a creation Soultrait.''

    Hiraku had two Soultraits, and both seemed quite powerful.

    There was no need to observe Hiraku and the Untamed Awakene any longer. Hiraku gained the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' trust. They respected his great prowess and the violence he disyed on the battlefield and charged behind him without any words ofint.

    They charged together and wreaked havoc.

    The Untamed Awakened had two to three 4-Star Soultraits and they learned how to use them in unison. Their hard work and relentless training over thest few days finally paid off.

    Thaor''s Crimson Aura erupted and coated his expanding body as he unleashed Red Giant to keep up with Hiraku''s transformation. Thaor couldn''t grow into a 10-meter-tall coloss, but his height reached four meters in an instant. The Crimson Aura fused into his body, dying his skin bright red. Smoke exuded all over his body as his strength skyrocketed.

    Thaor learned a lot about his Soultrait and Unique Constitution over thest few weeks. He had been fighting against numerous powerful enemies in the Savannah Region and his strength increased considerably. However, he had beenckingpared to Mekhaz and the others. He felt that his Unique Constitution didn''t elevate his prowess enough. Thaor knew that he could be stronger than everyone else, but he had been stuck.

    This issue turned into a real problem when Thaor broke through the final threshold as a Tier-2 Awakened. He advanced to the 3rd Tier. The advancement to Tier-3 cleansed his body. His power increased and his Unique Constitution improved. The Crimson Aura grew more sensitive. It had grown stronger, but the increased sensitivity made it harder to fuse the Crimson Aura into his body once the Red Giant Soultrait was activated.

    Thaor was at a loss¡­until he found a particr Soultrait in the Jungle Shop.

    It didn''t seem like the Soultrait would be able to change anything to his particr situation, but Thaor could instinctively tell that it was the perfect Soultrait to improve his situation. The Soultrait could solve all of his problems!

    Thaor purchased his second Soultrait and improved it straight to 4-Star.

    Master of Combat.

    As a Master of Combat, Thaor gained a better understanding of all battle methods as well as weapons. His proficiency with all techniques bettered drastically. However, the most important aspect was that Thaor''s understanding of his body and his physical limitations reached an entirely new level.

    He learned more about his body, and how different he waspared to other Berserkers. His Unique Constitution changed far more in his body than merely creating Crimson Aura. It felt like everything looked the same but behaved differently. It was almost like he was an entirely different race.

    He could use the Berserkers'' techniques, but his efficiency at using them was incredibly low.

    All he had to do to grow stronger was to alter that.

    Thaor changed all of his techniques. He learned a new body refinement technique, switched to a proper mind refinement technique, and he managed to get hold of a Soul Refinement technique that suited his Constitution as well. Once all of that was covered, Thaor studied a breathing techniquepatible with his Constitution and practiced it until he reached a decent mastery.

    After he solved that, everything changed. His battle prowess skyrocketed. Not even Lokai and Mekhaz managed to defeat him. Even theirbined efforts were not enough to defeat him in an overwhelming manner like it used to be the case.

    He was nothing like he used to be! He was powerful!

    Thaor barged ahead and leaped into the battlefield, Master of Combat and Red Giant unleashed at their fullest.

    A Crimson Aura shrouded his hide and fused with the ferocious Berserker.

    He was going wild.

 Chapter 607 The Disadvantage

    <h4>Chapter 607 The Disadvantage</h4>

    Thaor wielded two one-handed war axes with crimson des. The crimson des were etched with intricate patterns ¨C lines of interwoven runes that looked like ck vines. They were the Magma Warhaven Axe Artifact Set, Pseudo-Epic Tier-3 Artifacts with the customized ability topress and enhance Thaor''s Crimson Aura.

    Thaor twisted his upper body after plunging one of the Warhaven Axes into the skull of the closest Tier-3 Ashen Knight. The Ashen Knight tried to block the attack but Thaor was too fast and too strong. The Warhaven Axe chipped the Ashen Knight''s de in two pieces before cleaving the Ashen Knight''s skull in one go.

    The Berserker''s movements didn''t slow down after he killed the Ashen Knight. He stared at the lifeless body with a gleam and charged ahead. Thaor delivered a high kick to the head of another enemy and split another with a horizontal sh. Most enemiesing Thaor''s way were natives from the Zentika Empire. They weren''t any Awakened in his path, but that was what made it even easier for Thaor to pave his way deep into the enemy''s army.

    However, he was not alone.

    Lokai was right next to her brother, her Burning Fury Soultrait''s full potential unleashed. The greater the disadvantage in terms of power and numbers the stronger was Burning Fury''s amplification. By now, Burning Fury strengthened the allies in the Soultrait''s range by more than 20%. That was another reason for Thaor''s greatly amplifiedbat prowess.

    However, Burning Fury was not Lokai''s only Soultrait. She was one of the few Awakened who managed to purchase two Soultraits and upgrade both straight to 3-Star. As a Berserker at the Late rank of the 3rd Tier, Lokai was already among the strongest members in Michael''s territory. Her new Soultraits granted Lokai even more power befitting of a Berserker''s Champion.

    3-Star Recuperation was one of the Soultraits she purchased and upgraded. It was a Soultrait that altered Lokai''s body, granting her stronger natural regeneration. Her wounds healed faster and both her used-up energy and stamina would recuperate faster as well. As her health deteriorated Recuperation''s effect would grow stronger, allowing her to remain on the battlefield even after sustaining lethal injuries.

    The Soultrait suited all Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs since they were known for charging onto the battlefield recklessly. Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were more likely to sustain wounds. Recuperation helped Lokai solve that issue, indirectly at least.

    Her third Soultrait was also 3-Star and it fit perfectly to Recuperation. The 3-Star Soultrait was called Life Conversion.

    The Soultrait''s effect was pretty simple. Life Conversion consumed Lifeforce to strengthen the User''s physical body drastically or unleash the converted lifeforce in the form of an energy st.

    At this point, both Recuperation and Life Conversion weren''t overly powerful. It would be difficult for Lokai topete against Soultraits and Soultrait Combinations like Frederik''s Aeroanbi. However, as she gained morepatible Soultraits or upgraded them, Lokai would transform into an unstoppable killing machine.

    Lokai used Life Conversion to amplify her physical strength in exchange for a portion of her life. It was only temporary, but the amplification of her physical strengthsted quite long. It was long enough for Recuperation to replenish the lifeforce that had been consumed.

    The Berserker smashed her enemies'' shields and armor sets. She didn''t pay much attention to the zing mes that engulfed her and continued to fight fiercely. It was not that the mes didn''t hurt as they burned through her skin, but Lokai couldn''t be bothered to extinguish the mes. The Lesser Elemental that had partnered with her could do that.

    A Lesser Wind Elemental chose to partner up with Lokai. It extinguished the mes by repelling the mes. That was not a perfect solution, but it was the best the Lesser Wind Elemental could do as a being at the Peak of Tier-1. Once the mes burned through his wind repulsion barrier, the Lesser Wind Elemental sealed the mes and removed the oxygen within, slowly extinguishing the fiercely burning mes.

    Lokai and Thaor were not the only ones who fought fiercely against the Heart of the zing Lion army. The remaining members of the Untamed Awakened gave their utmost as well. They unleashed their new Soultraits and mixed them with their familiar Soultraits and Martial Arts. They created a new variety of movements and unleashed more power than ever.

    Their destructive power was not unnoticed. However, three Lowest Tier-4 High Lionhearts and close to 600 Soldiers were killed before more High Lionhearts and other powerhouses diverted their attention to them.

    Traveling through the Untamed Jungle was not easy and it was impossible to watch the entire battlefield. The thicket and nt life of the Untamed Jungle covered most parts of the battlefield. That was the Untamed Awakened''s greatest fortune. They weren''t in the center of the battlefield and moved within the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring to smash their enemies.

    The Untamed Awakened didn''t try to cover their traces or stay hidden, otherwise, they wouldn''t have been making such amotion. Nheless, only a dozen High Lionhearts changed their targets to the Untamed Awakened. They deployed their underlings to charge at the Untamed Awakened and pushed ahead as well.

    Even though the Untamed Awakened weren''t scared of the High Lionhearts, it was a fact that none of them had ascended yet. They were all Lesser Lifeforms and weren''t strong enough to deal with a Higher Lifeform yet.

    Only Hiraku was strong enough to overpower a High Lionheart, but even his strength was not unparalleled. His transformation was not permanent and he didn''t have the means to heal himself either. It was only a matter of time before he would grow tired.

    Lokai and some other members of the Untamed Awakend used their Support-type Soultraits to strengthen Hiraku and their strongest members, but no one was certain to be capable of fighting a High Lionheart head-on.

    Fortunately, the Untamed Awakened were not alone. 30 High Beast from the Monster Horde were also wreaking havoc on the battlefield. High Lionheart Awakened and Soldiers fought them head-on and it looked like they were about to overpower the High Beasts until Lokai and the others decided to spread their Soultraits out.

    Lokai and herrades took a while to consider the ferocious monsters of the Untamed Jungle as their allies, but it was necessary. Their Soultraits amplified the High Beast Horde''s strength. Lokai''s Burning Fury was already more than enough to grant some ordinary monsters enough strength to overpower their enemies and charge ahead.

    All of a sudden, the High Beast Horde gained tremendous strength as a whole, the Lesser Elementals and Demon Monkeys included.

    The sudden power-up was enough to take some High Lionhearts by surprise. The Awakened Higher Lifeforms managed to react in time and use their Artifacts and Soultraits to block the ferocious monsters'' attacks, but a handful of native High Lionhearts weren''t that fast. They had been certain of their victory and stopped focusing on defending. Their sides were open, granting the more intelligent High Beasts the opportunity to strike.

    But even the support from the Untamed Awakened wasn''t enough to protect the High Beast Horde. There were only 30 High Beasts and 20,000 ordinary monsters. They weren''t weak, but their forces were too small to hold a candle to the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    Even the Untamed Awakened were too weak to deal with all of them. The High Lionheart Awakened were the worst enemies, right after the Commanders, of course.

    Only Hiraku and a handful of High Beasts ¨C those who lead the entire monster horde onto the battlefield ¨C were strong enough to deal with them.

    Three High Beasts possessedbat prowessparable to a Peak Tier-4 Awakened. They were fighting fiercely against the Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion army. However, the Commanders didn''t even think about fighting fair and square. Their mission was to obliterate the High Beast Horde and invade the Untamed Jungle to secure food and a particr set of resources. There was no need to defeat their enemies fairly.

    The Commanders ordered their underlings, several High Lionhearts, to join the battle and gang up against the mighty beasts.

    Michael couldn''t stay back and watch anymore. He knew that trouble awaited him and his territory if he allowed more High Beasts to die.

    ''I nted enough Extraction seeds. Their energy shouldst me a while.'' Michael told himself as he utilized Taming to fuse with the Elemental Empress. The Elemental Empress'' body covered Michael tightly like a fiery armor.

    He licked his lips as his eyes wandered across the battlefield once more. Most enemies hadn''t noticed it yet, but Michael had nted Extraction seeds inside them. The origin energy within them was drained slowly. It was a minuscule amount that Michael drained at a time, but the massive number of Extraction seeds was the crux of his tactic. Michael''s energy storage would fill up within seconds even after he used up everything.

    He hadpleted a few more preparations while his subordinates battled valiantly against the Heart of the zing Lion army, and he aided them whenever he could.

    However, now it was time to join the battle as well.

    He manifested the Soul Grimoire next to him where hundreds of Soul Tears had formed from his subordinates'' ughter, and used three Soul Tears to amplify and reinforce his Soul, Enhancement, and Taming.

    His connection with Zeroa was reinforced the moment the Soul Tear''s effect applied.

    Michael made his move.

    He utilized Zeroa''s spatial affinity and crafted a portal to the center of the battlefield. He leapt through the portal with several tiers of Enhancement applied to his body. The Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique was unleashed to the brim and Spirit Eyes was infused with origin energy.

    Michael''s eyes flicked left and right, the position of his targets deeply imprinted in his head.

    It was time to overpower the Heart of the zing Lion!

 Chapter 608 Entering the Battlefield

    <h4>Chapter 608 Entering the Battlefield</h4>

    Michael ignored the enemies around him at first. He released a few cicle Swords shrouded in Reinforced Sword Qi to kill a few natives blocking his path, but that was it.

    Instead, Michael focused on using Insert to apply Enhancement to the strongest High Beasts. The High Beasts and Commanders reacted drastically upon seeing him, but Michael didn''t remain by their sides to give them the slightest opportunity to pummel him.

    He used Zeroa''s spatial affinity to create portals near the three Commanders and the High Beasts they were fighting. After using Insert and threeyers of Enhancement to strengthen the High Beasts, Michael disappeared once again.

    One of the High Beasts was so surprised that it spit venomous mes at him, but he was fortunate enough that Zeroa''s zing armor was made frompressed mythical mes. They destroyed the venomous mes before reaching Michael''s body.

    Michael had been using Enhancement more often and with more energy than necessary to ensure that the effect wouldst longer. If Enhancement''s effect couldst a longer period, Michael would have considered enhancing the Untamed Awakened and all High Beasts. Unfortunately, the effect was too short. Michael didn''t have that much time before the enhanced High Beasts would be ganged up again.

    ''The spatial affinity is useful, but way too weak. Zeroa''s affinity toward the spatial element seems to be the lowest. It''s even lower than her darkness affinity.''

    Even though an Elemental Empress had control of all elements that didn''t mean their affinity to all elements was the same. It was quite easy to tell that Zeroa''s greatest affinity was fire. She had even mythical mes which was a rare sight. Her other affinities were not too bad either given that she could create nobles from all basic elements. But that was already the limit of her extent. She could do some things with every element, but the Elemental Empress reached the limits of her capabilities with Space, Nature, and Darkness quickly.

    There was nothing she could do about that, and Michael wasn''t too bothered. He could fuse with Soultraits to provide what the Elemental Empress couldn''t.

    But, for now, Michael had to deal with the enemies around him. He conjured more than a hundred cicle Swords, coated them in ayer of Reinforced Sword Qi, and unleashed them in all directions.

    Dozens of energy influxes reached him at once. However, instead of continuing to dwindle the number of enemies with attacks like this, Michael''s attention pulled to the Untamed Awakened. Hiraku was busy being coated in zing mes. He had been set on fire while fighting two High Lionhearts.

    It was good that the High Lionhearts were not Awakened with powerful Artifacts, otherwise, Hiraku would have had more issues to deal with.

    Michael kicked the ground, creating a huge dent in the soil, and appeared next to Hiraku. The humongous colossal manifested a shield out of nowhere to block a barrage of dozens of fire spears from the left. Simultaneously his right arm plunged downward. A mace conjured in his hand and smashed heavily into the ground. Hiraku narrowly missed one of the two High Lionhearts, who smiled brightly as bright sparks manifested between their fingers.

    The sparks transformed into swirls of fire. They expanded rapidly and pulsated as if they were alive. The mass of fiercely burning mes changed into various shapes. However, none of the shapes maintained as the High Lionheartspressed the zing mes into dazzling orbs.

    ["Dangerous!"]

    Zeroa warned him about the mes, but Michael''s danger sense had already picked up on the dazzling orbs'' danger. He didn''t do much as he initiated his next move.

    Michael erupted with extraction. Mots of light formed around him They gathered in one ce and merged, transforming into a golden de. The de moved ording to Michael''s will and burst forth as Michael unleashed the strongest form of Reinforced Sword Qi.

    The golden de extended as the silver sheen fused into the de.

    A shockwave resounded through the vicinity as the Extraction de cut through the air. For a moment, it looked like the de cut through the fabric of time and space. The de seemed to disappear from everyone''s view only to reappear as it cut through the first dazzling orb.

    The dazzling orb of searing hot,pressed mes threatened to rupture and explode, however, the golden de hindered that from happening. The dazzling orb''s tremendous heat and energy were drained near-instantly. The golden de swallowed everything, and it used the newly acquired energy to expand and elerate.

    The de surpassed its top speed, weaved around Hiraku''s colossal build, and pierced cleanly through the other dazzling orb as well.

    The same phenomenon as before urred. Michael''s Extraction de swallowed the heat and energy of the dazzling orb and elerated.

    However, this time, something changed. The Extraction de split into two and returned to Michael''s side where it continued to transform. Michael strengthened the Reinforced Sword Qi inserted into the Extraction de and added severalyers of Extraction into the fray. He created a physical frame for the Extraction Sword Qi de with the Aethyr that resided within him.

    Two one-handed longswords manifested from Michael''s hands. Both looked simr to Tigerfang, the first Artifact he had ever wielded, but they had characteristic differences. The Aethyr Swords were a bit broader and their des were much sharper.

    But none of that mattered right now. The Extraction Sword Qi des shrouded the Aethyr Swords, further enhancing each other in the process.

    Michael felt tremendous power surge through his body, but he knew that it was not enough yet. He manifested the Soul Grimoire once again and used several Soul Tears to amplify Extraction, Superior Constitution, and Spirit Eyes. His Soul, Enhancement, and Taming had already been amplified, but with the additional amplifications, Michael could hardly control the power surging through his body.

    But it was not enough.

    Hearing the screams of his dying subordinates, feeling the Links of Loyalty that were severed, and sensing the desperation of those who were on the verge of death affected Michael. He unleashed one of his Cursed Seals. The faint marks of Spirit Eyes on his face shimmered brightly as they expanded. His upper face was covered in the Cursed Seal that had fused with the marks of Spirit Eyes.

    His golden eyes glowed fiercely and his expression turned even more ferocious than before.

    He dashed ahead, leaving deep imprints in the ground, and elerated further. Michael crossed his top speed as he increased the strain on his body by proceeding with the next level of Heavenly Beast Physique. His body groaned but Michael''s focus was on the enemies ahead. Hiraku had just separated the two High Lionhearts, but his assault had failed. None of the High Lionhearts was dead.

    Michael changed that.

    He appeared in front of the closest High Lionhearts, Spirit Eyes unleashed to the fullest. Prognosis, one of Spirit Eyes'' sub-

    abilities, allowed him to predict the High Lionheart''s next move. Michael responded instantaneously, unleashing Spiritual Domination to assault the High Lionheart''s spirit.

    As a Higher Lifeform, the High Lionheart wasn''t too affected by the spiritual attack of a Lesser Lifeform. Nheless, Spirit Eyes was a superior 6-Star Soultrait that had been amplified. It was impossible to block the spiritual attackpletely if you weren''t guarded against it.

    The High Lionheart groaned and lost control of his racial fire affinity for a quarter of a second. That was more than enough for Michael to attack. The Extraction Sword Qi de sliced through the air and a head flung through the air. A fountain of blood sttered everywhere. However, Michael was not there anymore.

    Instead, a Golden Stinger Wasp reced Michael. It had switched ces with him.

    Michael, on the other hand, reappeared next to the other High Lionheart, whom Hiraku had been fighting. Hiraku stared at Michael in shock as he witnessed how the youth decapitated the second High Lionheart with ease.

    A Low Tier-3 Lord killed two Higher Lifeforms in less than five seconds. He did not only destroy their attacks and absorb it, but he bested them without giving the High Lionhearts a single second to retaliate.

    Michael''s skin ruptured and blood spurted out of the tears in his body, but he could slow down.

    The shrieks and despair of his dying subordinates resounded through his mind over and over again.

    He couldn''t stop anymore.

    Michael was full in motion.

    The carnage could begin.

 Chapter 609 Bones and Danger

    <h4>Chapter 609 Bones and Danger</h4>

    Only a few minutes passed since Michael joined the battlefield but he was already panting heavily. The Extraction Qi de devoured the surroundings'' lifeforce and energy to expand and grow into an even more terrifying weapon.

    It was more than 10 meters long and cut through everything with ease. The High Lionhearts'' mes were devoured and their bodies were sliced in half.

    However, Extraction Qi de''s potency was not only harmful for the High Lionhearts. Michael''s skin dissolvedyer byyer. His hands and wrists were in the worst state. His skin and flesh had been extracted, leaving only his bones, loose veins, muscles, and energy paths behind.

    It was terrifying to look at, and it was at least as painful as it looked like.

    Michael gave his utmost to bear the pain but he felt like he was about to lose his hands if he were to hold onto the Extraction Qi des. He retracted the Aethyr des and released the Extraction Qi des with a burst of energy.

    The Extraction Qi des erupted. One moment the Extraction power and Sword Qi had beenpressed into the Extraction Qi des'' form and in the next moment, they were unleashed into the surroundings. The golden mots of Extraction fused with the Reinforced Sword Qi that transformed into tens of thousands of tiny des. The des shot in all directions and inserted into the bodies of all nearby nt life and enemies.

    Michael had to drain their energy and lifeforce as quickly as possible to recuperate and get back onto the battlefield. He''d killed close to 30 High Lionhearts before the Soul Tears'' effect wore off, but that was not enough. It was merely one-tenth of the Higher Lifeforms on the battlefield. There was no way he could leave the battlefield already.

    Right after the Soul Tear''s effect on his Soul had worn off, Michael felt an indescribable pain in his chest. It felt like his Soul was getting pulled apart and pushed together simultaneously.

    ''Extraction Qi des are a bit too taxing on my Soul. Noted.''

    Since his Soul was not yet refined to a high degree, Michael figured that 7-Star Extraction amplified with a Soul Tear, and a Cursed Seal was too much for him to handle. Adding severalyers of Enhancement to Extraction on top of that didn''t make it easier to control Extraction.

    ''Removing the Limiter is dangerous.''

    It was not that Michael didn''t know that, but he never expected the strain to be like that. He activated only one Cursed Seal and amplified Extraction a bit with the Soul Tear.

    The biggest problem was that Michael had difficulty controlling Extraction as a 7-Star Soultrait. Further amplifying its potency and releasing a fraction of the Limiter turned this even more difficult. Using the Dome of Extraction was still quite easy, however, going all-out with True Extraction while trying to shape andpress its power was different. It was more taxing on his Body and Soul.

    ''Good thing that Enhancement doesn''t put a heavy toll on my Soul.'' Michael thought after using the energy that filled his body to insert severalyers of Enhancement onto Hiraku and the others.

    From an outsider''s point of view, it looked like Hiraku was still trying to find the limit to his strength. It was almost as if Hiraku had never been this powerful before.

    Maybe, that was the case. Maybe, he never had a Greater Spirit to aid him, or it rarely urred to him that other Awakened used their Support Soultraits to strengthen him. One way or another, Michael''s Enhancement, Lokai''s Burning Fury, and the other''s Support Soultrait strengthened Hiraku, granting him enough strength to emerge victorious against two High Lionhearts.

    They weren''t Awakened, but theirbat prowess was great. It was an extraordinary achievement that an Adventurer, a Lesser Lifeform, managed to defeat two Higher Lifeforms!

    Hiraku nced back at the Untamed Awakened who''d spread out to jump into fierce brawls as well. His attention was drawn to the multitude of Soultraits they unleashed in quick session. Following the chaos created by close to a hundred Soultraits being used near-simultaneously, the Untamed Awakened consumed several high-quality potions. They replenished their energy, reinvigorated their weary bodies, and gained additional temporary boosts from a particr set of exotic potions.

    Hiraku''s eyes narrowed and his eyes flicked to Michael, Michael''s hands to be precise. All Hiraku could see were bones and loose threads. His arms didn''t look much better. At least, Michael was merely missing a few chunks of flesh in his arms.

    Michael grit his teeth in pain, but he shut his eyes and focused on Maria''s Soultrait Shard. He conjured Archangel''s Grace and used the customized Soul Technique, Heavenly Realm by consuming four SoulStar Fragments. The SoulStar Fragments didn''t matter right now. What mattered was that Michael had to recuperate as quickly as possible.

    Several humongous white-feathered wings spread from his back and dazzling holy light illuminated the area around Michael. The holy light congregated around Michael''s arms and healed him rapidly.

    The missing chunks of flesh in his arms regenerated at a visible speed and his skin regrew as well. His wrists and hands required more attention, but Archangel''s Grace amplified with Heavenly Realm was enough to tend to his wounds.

    But it was not fast enough. A group of High Lionhearts emerged in front of Michael. They circled him and manifested hundreds ofpressed fire spears and other zing projectiles. The High Lionhearts used their opportunity and released the projectiles simultaneously. The mass and power of the thousand projectiles impacted in the same second. They exploded and destroyed the surroundings by burning down everything in their path.

    A huge charred crater was all thepressed projectiles left behind after the explosion. Not even Michael''s corpse survived the fire.

    That was¡­odd.

    One of the High Lionhearts had a bad feeling as he stared at the bottom of the crater, "I obtained no energy influx. Someone else?!"

    Nobody answered. Everyone expected someone to speak up and say that they obtained an energy influx from killing Michael, but there was nothing like that. Nobody received an energy influx because Michael was not yet dead.

    The instance before the zing projectiles impacted, Zeroa erupted with her mythical mes. Her mythical mes burst out in all directions, giving Michael a quarter of a second to conjure a spatial portal and escape.

    However, instead of escaping from the battlefield,Micahel emerged in the center of the battlefield. He appeared above the spot where most enemies congregated.

    His hands were not healed yet, but hecked enough lifeforce and energy to finish the healing process. Therefore, Michael unleashed the Dome of Extraction fused with one Cursed Seal and the Extraction Aura. Inertia pulled Michael to the ground where hended on top of a burly Lionheart. He shrouded his left foot in cicle spikes and smashed his skull with a fierce kick.

    The burly Lionheart''s head burst apart. Brain mass and huge fragments of his skull flung through the surroundings, shocking some of the nearby Lionhearts to the core.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the burly Lionheart who copsed underneath him. He focused on Archangel''s Grace and Heavenly Realm to mend his wounds while spreading the Extraction Dome outward.

    Michael didn''t sustain any further injuries since he didn''t attempt topress and shape Extraction. The only ones who were in unbearable pain as their lifeforce was forcefully ripped out of them were his enemies. The Tier-2 Lionhearts were helpless against the power of True Extraction. They could provide their utmost to block Extraction but Michael was a Tier-3 Lord with more than 250,000 subjects who trusted him dearly.

    7-Star Extraction''s Soul Power was tremendous, and Michael didn''t hesitate to experiment either. He produced some Soul Energy and consumed it to activate Extraction.

    There was no fancy technique involved, but that was not necessary, in the first ce. Soul Techniques allowed the Awakened to unleash the full potential of their Soultrait''s Soul Power. They created specific pathways for the Soul Power to amplify the Soultraits in specific ways. Therefore, crudely unleashing his Soul Energy onto Extraction was not very efficient. Its effects were worse than the weakest Common ss Soul Technique.

    However, Michael did not care. After all, even the crudest empowerment of Soul Energy had some effect!

    One moment the Lionhearts in the effective range of Dome of Extraction groaned in pain. In the next instant, a bright glow reverberated through the surroundings.

    The groans died down and dead silence ruled supreme.

 Chapter 610 Untamed Jungleâ€™s Forces

    <h4>Chapter 610 Untamed Jungle''s Forces</h4>

    Amplified Dome of Extraction conjured with Soul Energy turned into a far more deadly weapon than Michael had expected. Against Lionhearts at the 2nd Tier, who couldn''t block the power of Extraction, it was an instant death.

    More than 1,500 Lionhearts in the range of Dome of Extractin had been killed instantaneously. Their lifeforce and energy flooded him, upying every cell in his body. That didn''t even include the energy influxes he obtained.

    ''This is like¡­an instant drain. Did I elerate the top speed at which I can extract lifeforce and energy using Soul Energy to activate Extraction? It might have been an increase in the amount of energy I can drain at a time. Maybe Soul Energy increases the capacity of lifeforce and energy I can drain? Or is it both?''

    Michael was not sure what it was. However, he knew that his body was overflowing with energy and lifeforce.

    It was great to be full of life, but Michael figured that he shouldn''t use Extraction with Soul Energy like that again. Not, if he wasn''t lethally injured and about to die, at least. His wrists and hands healed rapidly with the overflow of lifeforce aiding Archangel''s Grace.

    Michael deactivated Archangel''s Grace right after he was done tending to his wounds, but he noticed that he was still overflowing.

    Thus, he began to use Insert to provide his injured allies with lifeforce while also channeling origin energy into the healers and others who were about to copse. Many had overdrawn their energy in the battle and they suffered the consequences.

    Once he distributed the excessive lifeforce and origin energy equally to the nearby allies, Michael felt much better.

    ''Having too much lifeforce and energy is just as harmful as having too little,'' Michael chuckled inwardly, d that his hands didn''t look like that of an Undead Skeleton anymore.

    He was back in his prime and ready to move out again. There was no time to think about what he had to do next. Michael consumed a dozen SoulStar Fragments to replenish the Soul Power Extraction and Heavenly Realm had drained. In the next moment, Michael saw the Holy Knights and Blessed Squires push past him.

    They weaved around the corpses and dashed ahead. However, they were not alone. The Holy Knight and Blessed Squires mixed into the masses of the High Beast Horde.

    They had been hesitating to fight with the monsters of the Untamed Jungle at first, but once they noticed that the monsters of the High Beast Horde didn''t pay attention to them, their hesitation turned into determination. They were determined to defeat the Heart of the zing Lion army, determined to grow stronger in today''s battle, and determined to survive by all means.

    Despite being Knights and future Knights, the Holy Knights and Blessed Squires didn''t wear much heavy armor right now. They were covered in tempered armor that had been dyed to suit the colors of the Untamed Jungle. The armor was not as great as hard steel heavy armor sets, but it was perfect to travel quickly through the Untamed Jungle''s thicket.

    The Holy Knights and Blessed Squires worked in teams and issued small attacks simr to Sun Demos and the Demon Monkey Unit. However, they didn''t retreat right after winning their skirmishes. The Holy Knights and Blessed Squires pushed further ahead by following the ferocious monsters of the Untamed Jungle.

    Even though the Holy Knights and Blessed Squires fought with the Untamed Jungle''s monsters, they used them more as meatshields than actually fighting together. Thergest monsters attracted the most attention from the Lionhearts. They were more likely to get attacked, which was what the Holy Knights and Blessed Squires exploited.

    Their Holy Formations allowed them to cast a Holy Shield around the ferocious monsters, decreasing the damage that managed to reach them. Immortal Knight and the strongest unit of Holy Knights was doing the same with a Lesser Behemoth. The Lesser Behemoth was a humongous creature with a length surpassing 30 meters and a height of eight meters. It was a High Beast covered in highly resilient scale-like tes. The tes ovepped, leaving no gaps for the Lionhearts to strike.

    However, the most important aspects of the Lesser Behemoth were its Elemental Resistance and great regeneration ability. It sustained some wounds from physical attacks, but it healed faster than most Lionhearts could cut the High Beast. The Elemental Resistance was not perfect, butbined with the support of Immortal Knight and his Holy Knights, it was possible to elevate the Behemoth''s Elemental Resistance to the next level.

    Even a High Lionheart''s mes didn''t burn the Lesser Behemoth anymore. Only thebined efforts of multiple High Lionhearts, Awakened with high-ranked Soultraits and powerful Artifacts, or their strongest dazzling pyro orbs could damage the High Beast.

    Immortal Knight used this to their advantage, and many ferocious monsters of the Untamed Jungle did the same. Thousands of Michael''s Summons, Warriors, Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, Holy Knights, Holy Squires, Knights, Vanguards, Assassins, and many more followed Immortal Knight onto the battlefield.

    The long-range troops inflicted as much damage as they could by exploiting the weakest spots in the enemy''s army whereas the melee fighters followed the ferocious monsters onto the battlefield.

    The Untamed Jungle united against the invaders. Everyone was afraid of death, but nobody dared to back off. They knew how much was on the line. If the Zentika Empire''s forces managed to invade the Untamed Jungle sessfully everything would be over. The monster''s habitats would be raided and destroyed and Michael''s territory would suffer greatly.

    The forces of the Untamed Jungle couldn''t afford to lose. Their predicament didn''t allow them to give the Zentika Empire even one inch of theirnd. If they allowed the Zentika Empire to im one inch in today''s battle, what would happen the next time they came? Would the Untamed Jungle give up another inch of their preciousnd, or two¡­or maybe even more?

    Once they started with concession it would be toote.

    Therefore, they charged ahead even though their adversaries were powerful and had a numerical advantage.

    The Heart of the zing Lion army was mighty. Even the natives possessed a fire affinity which they unleashed to burn down the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. They inflicted chaos and destruction and managed to overwhelm a handful of High Beasts with the sheer mass and power of their numbers.

    However, they didn''t expect to run into this much resilience. Their knowledge about the Lord of the Untamed Jungle was outdated, but they knew that Michael had been a Tier-1 Lord less than a year ago. It wasn''t supposed to be possible for him and his subordinates to be strong enough to deal with High Lionhearts.

    The retaliation of the Untamed Jungle''s High Beasts and the monster horde was unexpected as well. The Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion army had calcted with a few dozen High Beasts and tens of thousands of ordinary ferocious monsters of the Untamed Jungle. However, it didn''t make sense that the High Beasts were so strong. Three High Beasts were as strong as the Commanders, and given Michael''s Enhancement, they managed to push the Commanders back.

    It was only due to the involvement of dozens of High Lionheart Awakened that the Commanders didn''t meet an early end on the battlefield. It was shocking.

    But the worst forces were still two particr enemies. The biggest threat was the Lord of the Untamed Jungle. He was only a Lord at the Low rank of the 3rd Tier, but hisbat prowess was unpredictable. His Soultraits were otherworldly powerful and he had the means to jump through space.

    The spatial portals weren''t great, but they were enough to appear near the weakest spots in the Heart of the zing Lion army. A single use of his strongest Soultrait was enough to obliterate close to 2,000 Tier-2 Lionheart. He disappeared soon after, his body reced with a Golden Stigner Wasp, which whizzed through the battlefield to cause even more chaos and destruction.

    However, the Golden Stinger Wasp wasn''t the second most annoying force on the battlefield. It was not Hirak, the Immortal Knight, or the High Beasts either.

    No, the second most annoying force on the battlefield remained unseen.

    All the Commanders and High Lionhearts managed to sense were raging gales that burst into their faces right before dozens of Ashen Knights, Pyromancers, and Healing mes were killed. The Tier-2 natives didn''t even know what happened before their throats were cut, their chests gaped open, or their heads flung through the air.

    The culprits were highlypressed wind des with a width surpassing one meter. The wind des were invisible, just like Lilica''s arrows, but there was something different about them. The wind des were controlled precisely. They curved around the bushes, branches, and trees with ease before striking the adversaries in the back or sides.

    The wind des didn''t even stop in their tracks after beheading their enemies. They consumed the winds in the surroundings and continued moving until they were stopped, or Frederik stopped controlling them.

    Frederik was merely a Tier-2 Awakened. He was not supposed to turn into the second most annoying force on the battlefield. However, his Body, Mind, and Soul had been altered to suit Aeroan perfectly. Wind Mastery and Enhanced Wind amplified 5-Star Aeroan even further, granting Frederik exact control of the only Legacy Arts technique he''d learned until now; Invisible des.

    He managed to kill more than 2,000 Soldiers in the backrows before the adversaries tried to retaliate. However, they couldn''t see his unseen wind des or Frederik anywhere.

    Frederik hated hiding, but he knew that he was not strong enough to deal with Tier-3 Lionhearts, let alone the Higher Lifeforms.

    That was not his mission, in the first ce. He was supposed to annihte the masses of Tier-2 Lionhearts.

 Chapter 611 Invincible Armor

    <h4>Chapter 611 Invincible Armor</h4>

    After gaining Wind Mastery and Enhanced Wind, Frederik''s range of control with Aeroan expanded drastically. The range of precise extended even further after Aeroan had been upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait.

    Nheless, Frederik didn''t hide near thest row of defense. Instead, he used one of the presence distortion Artifacts, which the invaders from the Council of Xylon had used to invade the Untamed Jungle. He used the presence distortion Artifacts that were also known as Camea Artifact and positioned himself at the northernmost area of the battlefield.

    Only a few monsters of the High Beast Horde passed by Frederik. Other than that, nobody paid attention to him or his position.

    The one-meter-wide Invisible Wind des removed the biggest downside of Aeroan''s great power. Under normal circumstances, Aeroan would cast a greenish hue around the winds it controlled. This made it much easier for the opponents to pinpoint Aeroan''s winds and its creations.

    Frederik''s Legacy Arts solved that issue in exchange for heightened energy consumption.

    Frederik had to consume one Energy Potion after another, but his killstreak continued until the High Lionhearts had enough of their underlings'' deaths. They unleashed zing mes all over the battlefield and controlled them precisely to spread further.

    Frederik was quite unfortunate. The mes set only a few colossal trees on fire, but one of them was the tree he had been hiding. He was forced to change his position.

    But that was fine as well. He changed to n B, coated his body in gales to elerate, and crossed the distance to the Forest Elves quickly.

    "The Speedy Arrow service has arrived!" He dered with a wink.

    The Forest Elves frowned but they didn''t say anything. Instead, they nocked arrows on the bowstrings and channeled energy into the bows to increase their pulling force as high as they could handle. In the next instance, the arrowheads were coated in hardened soil and razor-sharp ice shrapnels.

    The Forest Elves pulled the bowstrings back, took aim, and released the arrows in one go. Hundreds of arrows soared through the air in beautiful arcs. They reached the highest point in the air and hailed down onto the Lionhearts who had already been waiting for the downpour.

    The Lionhearts were prepared for the impact, but something changed all of a sudden.

    Raging gales coated the arrows, casting a greenish hue around the hail of arrows. The arrows'' top speed increased all of a sudden. They shot down to the ground like meteorites and tore through the enemies like a scythe cutting dry grass.

    Frederik had been using Aeroan and his other Soultraits to enhance the arrows. He managed to double their speed for a short moment and increased their piercing force bypressing gales around the arrowheads.

    A tremendous amount of energy had been consumed, leaving Frederik dry, but he was satisfied nheless. Opars appeared next to him. The Forest Elf pressed his hand against Frederik''s back and used both Soothing Wave and Energy Imprint to ease Frederik''s tension and replenish his dried-up energy storage.

    Not all arrows managed tond a killing blow. The majority of iing attacks were either blocked by the Lionhearts'' shields or their armor. Nheless, the shields and armor pierces ended up damaged or they shattered into countless pieces. The Lionhearts stared into the treetops awaiting another attack. They sensed that something was wrong and waited. A second barrage of arrows arrived.

    But this time the arrows weren''t enhanced. They were ordinary arrows released without using a trace of energy.

    The arrows impacted but the damage they inflicted was minuscule. It was almost as if the arrows were never supposed to cause any damage.

    That was exactly what happened. The second barrage of arrows was a distraction. Stinger appeared above the masses of Tier-2 Lionhearts and used its special ability the moment the hail of arrows ended.

    Stinger teleported outside the battle, Mekhaz and five other Warlock Centaurs recing the Golden Stinger Wasp.

    Mekhaz and the others sensed that Stinger wanted to switch positions with them. They had been marked before and felt the heat within the mark rising. Mekhaz and hisrades-in-arms were prepared for the teleportation and they wreaked havoc at once.

    The distraction caused by the barrage of arrows had been initiated to create an opening for the ferocious monsters of the Untamed Jungle. A Wolf Pack of Tier-3 Vivarean Wolves charged into the masses of Lionhearts. Their leader pounced into the shield wall, wed through the shields like they were made from paper, and ripped the closest Lionheart Shieldbearer''s head from his shoulders.

    The Vivarean Wolf Leader crushed the Lionheart''s skull with a single bite and spit it out right after. The monster howled loudly, casting a gloomy sheen around the entire Wolf Pack The white in the Vivarean Wolves'' eyes was reced by darkness and their speed increased. They elerated and fought more ferocious. Every soul they reaped intensified the darkness that shrouded the entire Wolf Pack. They grew stronger.

    Mekhaz and the others nced at the Vivarean Wolf Pack once but they noticed that their Leader didn''t even nce at them. The Vivarean Wolves pushed past them, weaved around the zing mes that threatened to burn their shimmering fur, and continued their ughter.

    Mekhaz manifested the Living Armor and activated his new Soultraits right after. He didn''t focus on his attack power when it came to purchasing new Soultraits from the Jungle Shop. Instead, Mekhaz desired to power up his Living Armor as much as possible. Therefore, he purchased Energy Absorption and Repel.

    Energy Absorption was a very useful Soultrait due to two particr reasons. First of all, Mekhaz''s innate talent improved right after fusing with Energy Absorption. He learned to absorb the surrounding energy more naturally and efficiently. However, that was only a minor gainpared to Energy Absorption''s actual effect.

    He could use the Soultrait on objects or other Soultraits to grant them the ability to absorb the surrounding energy naturally as well. It was only a temporary effect, but it was perfect for the Living Armor Soultraits and the 3rd Soultraits Mekhaz had fused with.

    Living Armor''s defense increased drastically as long as energy was infused into it. The Living Armor could even repair all kinds of damages as long as it possessed enough energy. That was exactly what Energy Absorption allowed.

    Mekhaz''s third Soultrait, Repel,pleted the set of three highlypatible Soultraits.

    Repel manifested an Ancient Rune with mystical power. It allowed Mekhaz to repel physical attacks and attacks of a magical nature to a certain extent. But that was not how Mekhaz used it. He used Repel on the Living Armor to cover it in Ancient Runes before using Energy Absorption on Repel. By doing this, Mekhaz managed to configure Repel a little bit. Repel wouldn''t throw the iing attacks back right away. Instead, it would absorb the energy within the physical and magical attacks before throwing everything back in one mighty blow.

    Since Repel didn''t block the attacks entirely, it wasn''t a perfect Soultrait. However,bined with the Living Armor''s extraordinary defense, Mekhaz didn''t have to pay much attention to defending.

    The iing fireballs and fire spears lost a portion of their power upon reaching Repel''s Ancient Runes. Energy Absorption stored the portion of energy that had been taken from the projectiles whereas the remaining power impacted on the Living Armor. Mekhaz was already trained to endure mighty blows from a Peak Tier-3 Berserker''s mace. Weakened fireballs and firespears didn''t hold a candlepared to that.

    The Living Armor sustained little to no damage, and the little damage it sustained now and then was mended near-instantly as well.

    Mekhaz acted as the meatshield that charged ahead into the masses of enemies. He wielded his double-ded spear with determination and demonstrated with decisive attacks that meatshields could also transform into terrifying ughter machines.

    Mekhaz''s spear swirled around his perfectly armored body with great velocity and precision. The spear de sliced through the throat of a Lionheart next to him and he pierced the next Soldier a momentter. A third one fell victim a mere secondter.

    The other Warlock Centaurs didn''t allow Mekhaz to take away all the glory. They joined the battle by unleashing their Soultraits as well.

    One of the Warlock Centaurs manifested a massive spiked club. Another one elerated all of a sudden, his legs coated in sparks and electricity currents. Everyone unleashed as much power as possible to obliterate hundreds of Lionhearts in an instant.

    Lionheart Awakened and two High Lionehearts were about to change their targets to them, but the Warlock Centaurs disappeared from this part of the battlefield. It was almost like they had never been there, in the first ce.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp reced them. Mekhaz and hisrades-in-arms reappeared in another part of the battlefield. Their Soultraits were already fully unleashed and it didn''t matter where Stinger teleported them. All they had to know was that the Heart of the zing Lion army was their enemy and that they could beat them.

    As Mekhaz and the Warlock Centaurs disappeared, the Vivarean Wolf Pack continued to charge ahead. All of a sudden, the fasted Holy Knights wielding daggers appeared next to them. They emerged from the thicket and pushed ahead, continuing where the Warlock Centaurs possessed stopped.

    But instead from fighting alone, the Holy Knights unleashed the Holy Power andbined their powers alongside the Untamed Jungle''s monsters.

 Chapter 612 True Warfare

    <h4>Chapter 612 True Warfare</h4>

    Hours passed in the blink of an eye on the battlefield. Corpses, blood, and body parts could be found wherever one looked. It was a terrifying experience¡­and it was not over yet, either.

    Even though it looked like Michael and his subordinates suffered fewer casualties, the situation was not all that bright and sunny.

    The Untamed Jungle''s outer ring was no more. Everything had been burned to the ground, even the humongous trees that had been towering above all for decades. Michael and his people lost the environmental advantage on the battlefield with the disappearance of the outer ring. They were pushed back into the middle area where they couldn''t retreat any further.

    If the Zentika Empire''s forces forced them to retreat any further, the settlement might get exposed. That was something they wanted to avoid if possible.

    Michael and his people had various means of defense in and around the settlement, but it would be better for everyone if the settlement remained well hidden further back in the Untamed Jungle''s middle area.

    The greatest advantage was that more than 60,000 Lionhearts had been killed since they invaded the Untamed Jungle. Unfortunately, most of the dead were Tier-2 natives. The strongest Lionhearts were still alive.

    Less than a third of the High Lionhearts deployed to invade the Untamed Jungle had been ughtered.

    The Lionheart Commanders were also still alive. They had sustained some more or less serious wounds from battling the strongest High Beasts after Michael used Enhancement on them, but their lives were not in danger just yet.

    Most High Beasts had been killed at this point, and the Monster Horde was reduced to a third of their former might. Their corpses littered the battlefield, their bodies either gutted or burned until only shreds were left behind.

    Michael had been on the battlefield the whole time. He was the cause for the death of most High Lionhearts. However, his main mission had been to support his people and rescue them when they couldn''t protect themselves anymore.

    To his misfortune and the misery of his subordinates, Michael couldn''t be everywhere.

    It was impossible to protect everyone on arge-scale battlefield with threerge armies spreading through the Untamed Jungle. They didn''t even move together anymore. The three Commanders pushed their enemies back and spread in three directions to conquer the Untamed Jungle''s middle area.

    Three Untamed Awakened, Tier-3 Berserkers, who had been fighting valiantly against the forces of the Zentika Empire, had grown too confident in their strength. Their strength had skyrocketed after attaining new powers through the Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades. They charged at a High Lionheart with confidence and highly advanced physical strength and delivered feisty blows to the High Lionheart.

    At the end of the day, they managed to take down the High Lionheart after an arduous battle thatsted more than half an hour. It took the three Berserkers thebined efforts of their Soultraits and their tremendous physical strength, but they did it.

    But the three Berserkers didn''t live long enough to celebrate their victory. They died in exchange for killing the High Lionheart.

    It was honorable to die on the battlefield, and it was an even greater glory to die after defeating a Higher Lifeform while being a mere Lesser Lifeform. It wasn''t that bad for the Berserkers to die like that.

    However, Michael didn''t like that. He liked most parts of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' culture, but their eptance of death and the fact that they charged into battles knowing that they couldn''t emerge victorious was something that Michael would never be able toprehend.

    It didn''t make any sense. Michael couldn''tprehend it.

    Michael didn''t even have enough time to mourn the dead.

    Three members of the Untamed Awakened alongside more than one-fourth of his little army had been annihted.

    The worst was that Michael felt a tinge of relief when he sensed how few people died. The casualty rate was a lot lower than he had expected. If they were to fight enemies at a simr Tier, Michael wouldn''t be like that, but the Heart of the zing Lion army was not just ''any'' enemy. It was an Elite Army from the Zentika Empire.

    Unfortunately, the warfare against the Zentika Empire''s forces was not yet over.

    Their forces continued to move ahead and kill everyone in their path.

    The High Lionhearts were the biggest problem on the battlefield. Michael and the Untamed Awakened managed to kill most Awakened, the strongest forces among the Tier-2 and Tier-3 Lionhearts, swiftly. However, the Untamed Awakened were not strong enough to deal with the Higher Lifeforms.

    Michael and Hiraku were the only ones who managed to deal with High Lionhearts without sustaining lethal injuries. The others would have to fight suicidally and sacrifice their lives to eliminate a dozen High Lionhearts before they would sumb as well.

    ''It would be much easier to deal with the Heart of the zing Lion army if the High Beasts didn''t charge in so stupidly. Their death might cause¨C...Forget it!'' Michael pped his cheeks tightly.

    At least, the strongest High Beasts were still alive. They were his means to defeat the Commanders, who were at the Peak of Tier-4. Without the strongest High Beasts, Michael didn''t know how to win against the Commanders, not without losing everything. After all, they were also Awakened with powerful Artifacts.

    The Commanders being Awakened turned the situation even worse than necessary. The only good thing about them was that their Soultraits weren''t that great. One of the Commanders summoned a Sword with his Soultraits, but the Sword Soultrait was quickly reced with a Weapon Artifact, indicating that the Sword Soultrait was of a low star rating.

    Only one of the Commanders had a decent Soultrait. It allowed him to control blood to a certain degree.

    The Blood Maniption Soultrait had been enough to kill hundreds of ferocious monsters, Blessed Squires, Holy Knights, and others. Dozens of Forest Elves were struck with blood spears, their bodies exploding once the blood spears impacted.

    The sight was gruesome, and the survivors were filled with rage. However, their wrath was swallowed whole to remain somewhat calm against the dangers that were waiting for them.

    Hirak was one of the few Awakened whose presence was enough to calm down those around him. He utilized his physical prowess well and picked out the enemies that were unable to do anything against his humongous size, his physical prowess and the weapons he conjured from thin air.

    Many Lionhearts focused on their Racial Trait. Their Minor Fire Affinity was the Lionhearts'' strongest weapon alongside their above-average control of energy. Thebination granted them great versatility with their mes.

    Therefore, most Lionhearts who desired to focus on their Minor Affinity refined their body to attune it more to energy and fire. Their aptitude toward the fire element boosted in response.

    It was not umon for natives to be promoted to 2-Star Pyromancers or 3-Star Pyroxants. Thetter was a unique profession that could only be chosen by the most talented natives. Some managed to be Magus of the Sacred me as well. It was a 4-Star Profession that was gifted to those devoted to the Sacred me, the never-extinguishing me that resided in the Zentika Empire''s capital.

    Choosing one of those upations boosted their control and affinity toward fire greatly. However, it didn''t improve their physical strength a lot. That was usually not necessary, either way. All they had to do was unleash their zing mes to burn their enemies to cinder. What else would they need?

    The sight was gruesome, and the survivors were filled with rage. However, their wrath was swallowed whole to remain somewhat calm against the dangers that were waiting for them.

    Hirak was one of the few Awakened whose presence was enough to calm down those around him. He utilized his physical prowess well and picked out the enemies that were unable to do anything against his humongous size, his physical prowess and the weapons he conjured from thin air.

    Many Lionhearts focused on their Racial Trait. Their Minor Fire Affinity was the Lionhearts'' strongest weapon alongside their above-average control of energy. Thebination granted them great versatility with their mes.

    Therefore, most Lionhearts who desired to focus on their Minor Affinity refined their body to attune it more to energy and fire. Their aptitude toward the fire element boosted in response.

    It was not umon for natives to be promoted to 2-Star Pyromancers or 3-Star Pyroxants. Thetter was a unique profession that could only be chosen by the most talented natives. Some managed to be Magus of the Sacred me as well. It was a 4-Star Profession that was gifted to those devoted to the Sacred me, the never-extinguishing me that resided in the Zentika Empire''s capital.

    Choosing one of those upations boosted their control and affinity toward fire greatly. However, it didn''t improve their physical strength a lot. That was usually not necessary, either way. All they had to do was unleash their zing mes to burn their enemies to cinder. What else would they need?

    To their misery, that was not enough against Hiraku. His body might be coated in durable bark and vines as he transformed into the Titan of the Greater Nature Spirit, but that didn''t mean he was helpless against mes. Hiraku''s natural elemental resistance was already great due to the choice of his body refinement technique. However, there was more.

    Hiraku''s body was covered in the sheen of two Noble Elementals'' Elemental Power. His body had been coated in soil by the Earthen Baron Elemental, he was shrouded in water from the Aqueous Baroness Elemental, and strong gales shrouded him, repelling a minority of the mes that ought to reach him.

    Frederik conjured the gales to support his friend, who barged through the enemy rows with great strength and not an ounce of hesitation. Almost 10 Soultraits to enhance his prowess and block ailments and Curses from other Soultraits had been applied to his body. But that was not all. He had been further enhanced by the Holy Knights'' formation.

    The Immortal Knight lost the Lesser Behemoth as their scapegoat, but they found a much better target to protect; Hiraku.

    ''What a freak,'' Michael murmured, the corner of his lips curling upward as he witnessed the tremendous force behind Hiraku''s attacks.

    He manifested Armaments out of thin air and utilized them to counter his enemies'' attacks easily. Once he had taken advantage of his enemies, Hiraku changed from subtle defending against them into aggressive attacks.

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    His attacks were hard to block and even harder to predict. He weaved through the rows of enemies as if he wasn''t a ten- meter-tall giant. His kill-count was incredible. He was only second to Michael.

    Michael was d to have Hiraku on his side. The casualties on their side would have been much worse without Hiraku''s help. His colossal form kept the morale high and the tension as low as possible. Hiraku never faltered and he advanced swiftly, changing his targets when he perceived a tiny opening.

    It was a great advantage that he obtained energy and lifeforce from the Greater Nature Spirit. However, the toll on his Soul, Body, and Mind couldn''t be underestimated.

    After battling for several hours without a break he was on the verge of death as well.

    Fortunately, everyone showed signs of getting tired.

    ''How much longer can you afford to push forward?'' Michael wondered, his eyes flicking to the Lionheart Commanders and their tired-out Soldiers.

    He licked his lips and nced at Stinger, who created his move the moment he brought attention that Michael nced at him.

 Chapter 613 Tactic Switch

    <h4>Chapter 613 Tactic Switch</h4>

    The Untamed Awakened disappeared from the battlefield. The Forest Elves released several barrages of arrows and retreated deep into the Untamed Jungle as well. Frederik moved along with them whereas Hiraku''s colossal body vanished into thin air.

    The Holy Knights, Blessed Squires, and thousands of melee fighters retreated and merged with the Untamed Jungle, leaving the High Beast Horde to fend for themselves.

    A sudden change in their tactic was required to turn the tides against the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    Now that the armies of the Heart of the zing Lion split up to conquer the Untamed Jungle''s middle area, Michael and his people could move forward with the next n.

    Everyone retreated suddenly, while Stinger used his unique racial ability to push Hiraku, Frederik, and the Untamed Awakened in the right direction.

    Only a few minutes passed since the forces retreated when they congregated and attacked once again.

    This time, however, they didn''t split up to face the forces of the three Commanders. Instead, their target was only one of the three armies.

    The frontline army, as Michaelbeled them for being the only army that continued to push straight ahead into the Untamed Jungle, had to be eliminated,

    Sun Demos and his Blood Oath Demon Monkey underlings waited until the frontline army pushed deeper into the middle area before they leaped onto them from the towering trees.

    The remaining monsters of the High Beast Horde were struggling against the frontline army, but they distracted the enemy forces very well.

    The distraction was more than enough for Sun Demos and the Demon Monkey Unit to cause considerable damage. They used their superior physical strength and axes to kill more than a hundred Lionhearts in the initial dive and continued to attack valiantly. After a fierce battle thatsted merely 30 seconds, Sun Demos disappeared into the thicket with his subordinates.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys climbed the towering trees once again and lurked in the shadows of the Untamed Jungle waiting patiently for the next opportunity to arise.

    Contrary to the outer rings of the Untamed Jungle, the middle area''s environment was much denser and richer in energy. The humongous trees that towered above everyone couldn''t be destroyed that easily anymore, and even the thicket was far more resilient than before.

    The pure energy that permeated the middle area had tempered the flora and fauna of the Untamed Jungle for tens of years. Ordinary mes wouldn''t be enough to burn them down anymore.

    Of course, the mes of High Lionhearts were far from ordinary. They didn''t manage to turn the towering trees into ash the moment their zing mes reached them, but the trees were not fully resistant to mes either.

    Distracted by the remaining forces of the High Beast Horde and Sun Demos'' surprise attack, the frontline army''s Commander expected more attacks to follow up soon. That was exactly what happened. The Untamed Awakened emerged in the back of the frontline army with Hiraku leading them. His colossal figure merged perfectly into the surrounding environment. He emerged in front of the Untamed Awakened and issued an ear-deafening roar.

    The Forest Elves had circled the frontline army and were hiding high up in the trees and thousands of Elementals moved into position as well. Instead of continuing to partner up with the Forest Elves and the other forces, the Elementals decided to make a move as well.

    Splitting up their armies might have been a great tactic against other enemies, forcing them to split their armies to reduce the potential damage to theirnds, but that was not important to Michael.

    The Untamed Jungle''s middle area could burn for all he cared for. As long as he could hide his settlement and territory while eliminating one of the Heart of the zing Lion''s armies, Michael would be fine.

    At first, Michael made it look like he cared about the actions of the three armies. He made it seem like it mattered whether the Untamed Jungle was invaded or not. Only now, after several hours had passed, did Michael stop paying attention to the other armies.

    He focused his forces solely on one of the remaining forces with the intention to bulldoze them.

    The High Beast Horde might be obliterated, which would be a feisty blow to Michael''s n, but he could do the same with the other army as well!

    There was no need to hesitate anymore. Everyone had to go all out with their Soultraits and use theirst bits of mental power to obliterate, at least, one of the three armies.

    Michael observed his subordinates for a moment before he vanished from his spot. He appeared near a group of burly High Lionhearts and a huge deer. The deer was also known as Crysalis Deer due to its huge crystal antlers.

    It was three meters tall and had highly elemental resistance fur covering its entire body. The crystal antlers were special because of their exceptional energy conductivity. They were highly durable, and possessed great elemental resistance. It was also said that the Crysalis Deer could absorb elemental spells into its antlers.

    Michael witnessed the Crysalis Deer block and absorb the zing mes that had been thrown at it. The High Lionhearts, probably the bulkiest Lionhearts Michael had seen until now, flipped from throwing mes at the Crysalis Deer to unsheathing their mighty broadswords. They brandished their weapons, circled the Crysalis Deer, and advocated ahead.

    Meanwhile, the strongest of the High Lionhearts managed the blood that oozed out of minor wounds covering his body. The energy in the surroundings was sucked into the droplets of blood swirling around the High Lionheart, whose expression was a mixture of satisfaction and wrath.

    He was satisfied with the Crysalis Deer''s state. It was a High Beast with enough strength to pose a threat to him, the Commander of the frontline army. The Lionheart Commander had tobine his strength with the Pryar Guardians to weaken the Crysalis Deer and push it closer to death''s door.

    The wrath in his face didn''t stem from the High Beast in front of him. The turn of events within thest minute or two was the source of the Lionheart Commander''s wrath. He realized what was happening, but he was still too busy with the Crysalis Deer to obliterate his ignorant enemies.

    The Crysalis Deer kicked one of the Pryar Guardians before he could swing his broadsword down to cut the High Beast. The kick possessed tremendous force and hurled the burly High Lionheart through the air. He crashed hard into the ground and demanded a moment to regain his senses.

    However, when he looked up, the burly High Lionheart didn''t see any treetops. Instead, he saw a human with vibrant eyes stare down at him.

    Michael stared at the High Lionheart for a moment before he unleashed Heavenly Beast Physique. He manifested Aethyr in the form of Tigerfang, coated the de in sixyers of Enhancement, ayer ofpressed Extraction, and Reinforced Sword Qi before he plunged it deep into the Pryar Guardians'' throat.

    Michael''s position and momentum were at a great advantage. He was not slower than the High Lionheart either due to Heavenly Beast Physique and his naturally superior physical strength, reaction speed, and power.

    A loud squishy noise resounded through Michael''s ear but he didn''t pay much attention to it. He twisted Aethyr Tigerfang in the High Lionheart''s throat and ripped the de out of the writhing body right after.

    ''Their body is a lot more resilient than the other High Lionhearts.'' Michael noted when his eyesnded on the other Pryar Guardians. Most Lionhearts focused on their natural Fire Affinity. They trained their affinity and attuned their bodies to elevate their fire affinity''s control to the next level.

    However, the Pryar Guardians were a little bit different. They used their racial affinity to refine their physical strength and temper their bodies. Their fire affinity control was not exceptional, but their bodies were in great shape.

    ''No matter how great your physique is. If you cannot block my de from piercing you¡­you''ll die.''

    The Lionheart Commander noticed Michael and how fast he''d killed a Pryar Guardian. The Pryar Guardian might have been stunned by the Crysalis Deer''s kick and lying on the ground, but that didn''t mean it should have been easy to kill him.

    The Commander''s gaze trailed across the battlefield and he noticed with a grim expression that his subordinates were ughtered like livestock. Not many could deal with the High Lionhearts, but they were held back temporarily by a group of Awakened.

    Mekhaz, Lokai, and a few more Late Tier-3 Awakened gave their utmost to stall the High Lionhearts. Michael made sure to convince them that stalling time wasn''t a dirty trick. It was not dishonorable, and they wouldn''t lose face in their ancestor''s eyes. Convincing the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs hadn''t been easy, but Michael made sure that theyprehended that they couldn''t gain anymore honor and glory if they died shortly after gaining new and powerful Soultraits.

    Michael''s n worked out decently, however, the biggest asset in today''s battle was certainly Hiraku. Hiraku stalled most High Lionhearts, blocking their paths from aiding their allies as they were ughtered mercilessly.

    ''Hiraku can take care of them for a while.'' Michael thought, understanding how much stronger Hiraku had grown through the various effects, techniques, and powers that had been used to boost his strength.

    That meant he could give a helping hand to the Crysalis Deer as well. The Crysalis Deer was necessary to beat the shit out of the Heart of the zing Lion armies!

 Chapter 614 Crysalis Deer

    <h4>Chapter 614 Crysalis Deer</h4>

    Michael joined the Crysalis Deer to fight against the Lionheart Commanders and the Pryar Guardians.

    He used Insert to channel a tremendous amount of energy and lifeforce into the Crysalis Deer. The High Beast initially rejected Michael''s help but sensing that the energy and lifeforce inserted into it wasn''t hazardous, the High Beast epted it.

    Michael unleashed the Dome of Extraction to tap into the energy and lifeforce of the Soldiers that were about to charge at him. He drained their energy and activated one Cursed Seal to extract their lifeforce more easily as well. Michael followed up by continuing to insert more lifeforce and energy into the Crysalis Deer before exerting Archangel''s Grace as well.

    It required a few seconds and a lot of focus, but Michael managed to tend to the Crysalis Deer''s wounds. Therge gnashes all over its body healed swiftly and the exhaustion that tormented the High Beast was wiped away.

    Michael didn''t stop there. He unleashed Enhancement with Insert to apply severalyers of Enhancement onto the Crysalis Deer. The High Beast''s strength increased drastically, pressuring the Lionheart Commander to unleash the hidden properties of his Soultrait.

    Michael''s Spirit Eyes were fully unleashed, granting him great insights into the Commander''s Blood Maniption Soultrait. He learned a lot about the Soultrait''s hidden properties and unique effects.

    ''His blood has been altered. It has a higher energy conductivity than most Artifacts. Blood Maniption... It has great power but seems to be of a rather low star rating.''

    The Lionheart Commander could control his blood with great precision. He could unleash it into the surroundings to drain the surrounding energy and retract the blood to enhance his physical strength temporarily. The excessive energy would replenish the used-up energy within his energy storage, therefore, granting him more means to continue using Blood Maniption or switch to use his rapidly replenishing energy to empower his Artifacts.

    Michael licked his lips as he continued to study the characteristics of Blood Maniption. The corner of his lip curled up after a few seconds.

    ''That should be feasible.''

    He manifested the Soul Grimoire and used several Soul Tears at once.

    The Soul Tears amplified the potency and power of his Soul, Extraction, Enhancement, Reinforced Sword Qi, cicle, Insert, Taming, and Superior Constitution.

    Michael felt a tuck in his chest as the Soul Tears'' effect was fully disyed. His Soultraits grew stronger and something about his Soul changed ¨C though only temporarily.

    Power surged through his entire being as he unleashed Heavenly Beast Physique and Enhancement simultaneously. Severalyers of Enhancement were applied to his body and Superior Constitution, pushing his physical strength past the limit of a Lesser Lifeform. He turned into a sh and appeared behind another Pryar Guardian.

    The Pryar Guardian noticed Michael, changed his stance in a smooth motion and brandished his broadsword in Michael''s direction. The broadsword was coated in zing mes as it plunged down with the intent to cleave Michael in two parts.

    Michael summoned Aethyr in the form of a shield and used Enhancement twice to reinforce the Aethyr Shield. That didn''t decrease the tremendous force ming broadsword or its impact, but it provided Michael with everything he needed to initiate a counterattack.

    He blocked the cleave which pushed his feet deep into the ground. Simultaneously, Zeroa''s mythical mes erupted. Hundreds of zing des made from azure mes conjured around the Pryar Guardian.

    The des were shrouded in a silver aura, Reinforced Sword Qi, thatpressed the azure mes and shaped them to look more like swords. cicle reinforced with Enhancement shrouded the Reinforced Sword Qi, only for anotheryer of Sword Qi to coat the cicle Swords that coated thepressed Qi me Swords.

    Michael''s energy was drained rapidly, but that problem was solved easily as he allowed the three Cursed Seals to erupt. The upper part of his face was covered in one Cursed Seal whereas the remaining two Seals covered his upper body and right arm.

    Michael could tell that a portion of Extraction''s limiter had been removed. However, alongside that Michael could tell that the emotions wreaking through him grew less stable. His emotional stability suffered greatly and he didn''t have the means to control them precisely anymore.

    Every single Link of Loyalty that had been cut in thest few hours pulled at Michael''s Soul, and it was not like his enemies stopped killing his people either. More subjects died as he blocked the Pryar Guardian''s attack...and more would die the longer the fight continued.

    Something deep within Michael erupted and he unleashed True Extraction in the form of a half-controlled half-uncontroble Dome of Extraction.

    The Extraction Aura had fused into the Dome of Extraction, further enhancing True Extraction''s power in Michael''s proximity. The energy and lifeforce from every being in his surroundings were drained rapidly.

    The Untamed Awakened and Michael''s subordinates noticed what was going on as Michael''s surroundings were shrouded in a vibrant golden hue. Immortal Knight called everyone back to retreat until no one was left in the range of the golden hue. Only then did they continue to attack once again.

    They allowed Michael to let loose and consume his enemies without having to fear killing his people in the process.

    ''Don''t you fucking dare to take control of my body! IT''S MY BODY!!!'' Michael roared in his mind as his body was overflowing with energy and lifeforce. The power that erupted from True Extraction killed more than a thousand Lionheart in his proximity and thousands of enemies were still suffering from the power of Extraction that invaded their bodies.

    The Elementals and Forest Elves attacked with long-range projectiles. They attacked the suffering Lionhearts and ended their lives. There was no mercy in war. Mercy was for the weak.

    Michael sealed the Cursed Seals the moment he sensed that the energy and lifeforce in his body was more than enough to deal with the Pryar Guards. He controlled the Mythical me Qi Swords that had been encased withpressed Qi cicle Swords. The Swords burst forward at Michael''s will and pierced and erupted, piercing through the Pryar Guardian at once.

    The Qi cicle Sword shattered, unleashing a burst ofpressed freezing mist that extinguished the mes in the environments at once ¨C except for the Mythical me Qi Swords. They burned through the freezing mist thanks to being coated inpressed Reinforced Qi and killed the Pryar Guardian before they continued moving through the proximity, killing another Pryar Guardian.

    The Pryar Guardian''s sight had been shrouded by the freezing mist and an additional use of Spiritual Domination was all Michael needed to kill him.

    Three Pryar Guardians, the cream of the crop of the Zentika Empire''s native forces, had been killed in no time.

    Michael was overflowing with lifeforce and he didn''t have a Soultrait to make use of it. He could infuse his lifeforce into others using Insert and use Archangel''s Grace to elerate the mending of their wounds, but he didn''t have enough time to do so.

    The umted power of Archangel''s Grace was also nearing its end. Michael didn''t spend much time with Maria in thest few weeks. He didn''t have enough time to umte more power within the Mark of Fate.

    That was bothersome right now, but it was not something Michael could change right now. He applied Taming to ess Zeroa''s spatial affinity and teleported to the Untamed Awakened.

    He reached Lokai who stared at him with wide eyes when he inserted every bit of excessive lifeforce into her.

    "Don''t you want to kill some High Lionhearts? Go for it." Michael''s lips curled upward into a devilish smile.

    Lokai returned a bright smile and unleashed Life Conversion. She transformed the lifeforce Michael had just inserted into her body and applied the umted authority within Life Conversion to enhance her physical strength. The massive amount of lifeforce that had entered her body was more than enough to cross the threshold of a Lesser Lifeform.

    For the next 15 minutes, Lokai''s physical power reached the standards of a Higher Lifeform!

    Michael moved back straight to the Crysalis Deer. He applied the massive pool of energy that surged through every inch of his body to eliminate the remaining Pryar Guardians one by one.

    The Crysalis Deer protected Michael as if its life depended on it. It guarded Michael against the Lionheart Commander''s erratic attacks and wrath.

    Once the Pryar Guardians were dead, Michael''s concentrationnded on the Peak Tier-4 Awakened.

    It was about time to kill the Lionheart Commander!

 Chapter 615 Overwhelming a Powerhouse

    <h4>Chapter 615 Overwhelming a Powerhouse</h4>

    After the initial disy of power, only 25 High Lionhearts remained in the frontline army. Some sustained heavy injuries but the majority were tired, yet still capable of dealing fierce blows to their enemies.

    Lokai, Hirak, and the other Untamed Awakened gave their utmost to hold the High Lionhearts back for some time. Unfortunately, they didn''t manage to stall all of them. Sun Demos, the Demon Monkey Unit, Immortal Knight, and the remaining monsters of the High Beast Horde fought desperately to restrain the High Lionhearts that the Untamed Awakened couldn''t keep in check.

    However, the price was heavy. Sun Demos'' fur was burned, he was covered in deep gashes, and he was dead-tired. But he was still alive. That was something not all Demon Monkeys could say. Among the 1000ish Blood Oath Demon Monkeys under Sun Demos'' wings, only a quarter was still alive. Even those who''d managed to survive until now were either wounded or too exhausted to move a single muscle.

    Michael''s army didn''t fare much better. Immortal Knight and the Holy Knights were great at blocking physical blows whereas the Elementals, including Zeroa and the Noble Elementals could absorb and weaken most elemental attacks, the prowess of Higher Lifeforms was not something they could take lightly.

    It was a great advantage that Immortal Knight''s Holy Formations and the Elementals'' Might could be used to strengthen Hiraku, Lokai, the other Untamed Awakened at the Late rank of Tier-3 as well as thest two High Beasts that were still standing in front of the High Lionhearts. They fletched their razor-sharp teeth and continued to struggle against the High Lionhearts'' fierce mes.

    Aided from the Healing Soultraits of Opars and others, Holy Formations and Elementals Might, the High Beasts recuperated a little bit. They gained an edge against the High Lionhearts and managed to attack more fiercely once again.

    Nheless, it was only a matter of time before the High Lionhearts would kill the remaining High Beasts. The situation would turn from bad to worse once that happened. Michael had to kill the Lionheart Commander as soon as possible, otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to help his people.

    It was good that Michael knew everything he had to know about the Commander''s Soultrait. He studied its strong points, its unique characteristics...., and the weak points of Blood Maniption.

    Some weak points had only been exposed when the Lionheart Commander used Blood Maniption in front of Michael. It could be used as an attack Soultrait but the Lionheart Commander didn''t use it as a weapon often. Instead, it was used to absorb the energy of the surroundings and replenish the Lionheart Commander''s energy storage.

    The Crysalis Deer fared well against the Lionheart Commander after the Pryar Guardians had been eliminated. It couldn''t gain a tremendous advantage against the Lionheart Commander because he replenished his energy at all times, allowing him to exhibit the strongest powers of his mighty Artifacts.

    However, that was about to change with Michael joining the battle.

    But instead of pouncing at the Lionheart Commander, Michael prepared a proper attack, which exploited the weak spots in Blood Maniption.

    He unleashed Spirit Eyes and marked the Lionheart Commander''s blood droplets. They swirled through the air and spread out further to absorb energy.

    Michael didn''t interfere in the process. On the contrary, he helped the blood droplets to absorb more energy.

    But there was more to it. Michael retrieved a few small vials and used Extraction on them. One of the vials containedpressed Holy Power. Immortal Knight had spent several dayspressing his Holy Power to create a few Holy Drops for Michael.

    Michael could consume them to fill his body with Holy Power. It was a great means to dispel ailments and detrimental effects cast on him via Soultraits. He could have used the Holy Drops already, but he retrieved them via Extraction, splitting a single tear into hundreds of minuscule mots.

    Michael''s energy erupted and spread throughout the surroundings right before he unleashed Insert to insert the mots of Holy Drops into the Commander''s blood droplets. The blood droplets were still absorbing energy when the Holy Drops were inserted into them.

    Michael observed the Lionheart Commander''s reaction intently, but it was just like he expected. The Lionheart Commander didn''t react.

    ''Can he only sense the amount of energy in his blood, or can he not perceive anything about his blood while he controls it with Blood Maniption?''

    Even though Michael couldn''t be certain about his guesses, it seemed to be the case that the Lionheart Commander had a hard time sensing what was going on inside his blood droplets. That was a great advantage and something Michael had been hoping for.

    His physical strength and Tier were iparably weaker than the Lionheart Commander''s, but that didn''t mean Michael was helpless. As long as the Crysalis Deer continued to stall the Commander, Michael was certain toe out victorious. He had a bunch of high-ranked Soultraits, after all!

    He nced at the other vials that contained blood from two sources. One of the vials was filled with darkish-red blood from the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, whereas the other vial contained silver blood... blood of the Chaos Ants.

    It had been a while since Michael used the Chaos Ants, but he figured that the Zentika Empire would be happy about getting seconds. After all, they loved the Chaos Ants, their blood, and the Chaos Pills concocted from it.

    Michael focused entirely on the following procedure. He used Extraction to extract more than a hundred tiny portions of Sun Demos'' blood and the Chaos within the Chaos Ant''s blood. Controlling the tiny portions wasn''t easy, but it was a great thing that his mind refinement degree was rtively high at this point.

    The external enhancement from the Legendary Ring Artifact helped Michael a lot as well.

    Once the tiny portions of Chaos and tarnished blood had been extracted, Michael used Insert to insert the portions into the Lionheart Commander''s blood droplets.

    Some droplets burst apart because of the incredibly high potency of Chaos. Thus, Michael had to split the Chaos even further with Extraction. He inserted the minuscule traces into the blood and watched with Spirit Eyes as the tarnished blood from Sun Demos mixed into the Holy Drops and Chaos. The three energies would soon react with each other and create a catastrophic event.

    But for now¡­ Michael filled the blood droplets of the Commander with his excessive energy using Insert.

    It didn''t take long to fill the droplets and his attention moved to the Commander, whose eyes widened. He didn''t expect the blood droplets to be overflowing with energy this soon.

    He retracted them back into his body and circted the energies through the energy pathways.

    To annex the energy properly, the Lionheart Commander had to distribute the recently absorbed energy through his body twice. That was exactly what he did, without realizing what he was doing to his body and energy paths.

    Michael watched the Lionheart Commander with Spirit Eyes. A smirk blossomed on his face as he observed the tarnished blood, Chaos, and Holy Drops being dragged through the Lionheart Commander''s body as they reacted with each other.

    The Lionheart Commander''s energy pathways were contaminated, and it was only a matter of seconds before the grand event urred.

    One very interesting question many Lords and Awakened asked themselves more often than one might think was how a Lesser Lifeform was supposed to kill a Higher Lifeform.

    They ascended and broke through the limits of most mortal beings. Nothing about Higher Lifeforms could bepared to the weaklings they had been before ascending.

    So¡­how was a Tier-3 Lord supposed to kill a Higher Lifeform at the Peak of Tier-4?

    Michael could have attempted to extract the Commander''s energy and inserted Chaos, tarnished blood, and the Holy Drops into it before re-inserting it into the Commander''s energy system. However, the Commander would have sensed that. He would have been able to react swiftly, separating the properties of Chaos, tarnished blood, and Holy Drops long before they could react and harm him.

    Thus, Michael had to use the Commander''s biggest weakness and the only opening he managed to pinpoint.

    Only a minuscule amount of Holy Power, Chaos, and tarnished blood circted through the Commander, but it was enough to react with each other. The effect wasn''t anything grand given that the Holy Power, tarnished blood, and Chaos didn''t stem from Higher Lifeforms. However, the reaction was intense enough to affect the Lionheart Commander once it jumped into effect.

    The Lionheart Commander''s eyes widened as he lost the ability to convey energy into his Artifacts. The Crysalis Deer was charging at him, yet he couldn''t erupt the enchantments on his Shield Artifact.

    ''What the¡­''

    The Lionheart Commander had more than enough energy in his body to use his Artifact''s strongest effect several times in session, but his energy paths were disturbed. It felt like the paths were blocked even though he could sense that something like this wasn''t the case.

    Michael knew that it was only a temporary state and that the Commander would fix the issue in no time. However, losing the ability to strengthen his physique by channeling energy through his body, and being unable to use his Artifacts weakened the Commander greatly.

    But that was not all. The Commander lost the ability to use his Soultrait and use any of his techniques. All of his techniques required energy, but he couldn''t control a single trace of it.

    He was too shocked to react to the Crysalis Deer''s charge and was hurled through the air. He crashed into a towering tree with tremendous force and coughed up blood.

    His stun was evident as he looked up only to see Michael appear in front of him with a highlypressed True Extraction Qi Sword.

    All of a sudden, Michael''s eyes glowed brightly and the Lionheart Commander, unable to control his energy to erupt with a mental shield, suffered great spiritual damage.

    The next thing the Lionheart Commander recalled was a golden sword piercing through his neck.

    It was also thest thing he remembered before the world around him turned dark.

    He died. Just like that.

 Chapter 616 Retreat

    <h4>Chapter 616 Retreat</h4>

    Michael managed to kill the Peak Tier-4 Commander.

    He was lucky.

    It was luck that the Crysalis Deer survived this long against the Lionheart Commander and the Pryar Guardians.

    It was also a great fortune that he managed to pinpoint the biggest disadvantages of Blood Maniption to exploit it properly.

    However, killing the Peak Tier-4 Commander came with a heavy price.

    Michael had to unleash the Cursed Seals, use 10yered Enhancement on True Extraction, andpress the power of Extraction to conjure a True Extraction Qi Sword.

    Michael''s arm suffered greatly due to True Extraction''s power that had been enhanced andpressed. His arms were dissectedyer byyer. It was painful but killing the Peak Tier-4 Commander was worth the pain.

    He was drained mentally and physically due to the additional use of Enhancement ten times on Spirit Eyes to unleash the strongest form of Spiritual Domination, and 10yers of Enhancement on Superior Constitution to reach the Lionheart Commander the instant he crashed into the tree.

    Michael micro-managed the utility of Enhancement, ensuring that the effect of Enhancement wouldst no longer than three seconds. That was as long as he managed to endure the continuous use of True Extraction, Spirit Eyes, and Superior Constitution at such a high level.

    Even then, Michael felt like his body was about to tear apart.

    Right now, he was out of energy and the lifeforce that had been residing within him with great vigor was reduced to a tiny flickering candlelight.

    The Cursed Seals were retracted the moment the Peak Tier-4 Commander died. Extraction continued to drain the Commander''s energy and bouts of lifeforce that disappeared a momentter, but it was just enough to release a small Dome of Extraction to drain the surroundings'' life and energy.

    Michael''s head felt like splitting apart when he used Dome of Extraction too long. He was on the brink of copsing, but he didn''t give in.

    Michael grit his teeth and used Archangel''s Grace once again. This time, Michael had to use Insert to insert energy into Maria''s Soultrait Shard, otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to use Archangel''s Grace.

    Archangel''s Grace was not as efficient as before and Michael noticed that his body didn''t respond as well as before to the Healing Soultrait''s power.

    That was annoying, but he endured it silently.

    In his current situation, Michael wasn''t able to use Heavenly Realm either. He was too drained, and he didn''t have the means to keep replenishing his mental power. Absorbing the lifeforce in the surrounding nt life was helpful, but lifeforce was not a permanent solution to replenish his mental power.

    He had been using his Soultraits too often and to an extent, most wouldn''t be able to.

    Despite the exhaustion, Michael knew that he had to join the battle again. There were still some High Lionhearts who fought valiantly against Hiraku and the Untamed Awakened. They couldn''t deal with them alone.

    The greatest advantage on Michael''s side was that the death of the Lionheart Commander shattered the High Lionhearts'' morale. Their fighting spirit was crushed and all they were hoping for was to defeat their opponent and run for their lives.

    They had a bad feeling about this.

    But Michael and the others felt simr. A bad feeling crept up their spines. Something in the surroundings changed.

    Michael had already noticed it a little bit earlier but the pressure all around the Untamed Jungle had been growing more intense since the Heart of the zing Lion army invaded the middle area.

    The Crysalis Deer shuddered and so did the remaining monsters that survived until now. Even the Greater Nature Spirit seemed to suffer. The Links of Loyalty shuddered.

    Everyone was afraid.

    **

    "What is going on here?!?" The Lionheart Commander of the southern army shouted into the Communication Crystal. He had two charms attached to his armor, but one of them disintegrated a few seconds ago. At the same time, he sensed heavy pressure weighing down wherever he and his subordinates stepped.

    "Commander Xaar speaking. I don''t know what is happening. We dealt with the High Beast Horde and haven''t seen any enemies since then. What about you, Commander Liram?" The Commander of the northern army spoke in the Communication Crystal.

    Commander Xaar was heavily wounded from fighting the Supreme Thunder Tigress, a High Beast with terrific speed, destructive power, and great intellect. The Supreme Thunder Tigress seeded to kill the Pryar Guardians and heavily injure Commander Xaar before she sumbed to the dozens of injuries she sustained in the battle.

    "Commander Liram?" The Commander of the southern army asked, his expression souring as he realized what happened.

    "He must be dead."

    Commander Xaar frowned deeply, "I didn''t expect Commander Liram to die. But if the High Beast Horde and the Lord focused on Commander Liram and his subordinates¡­it is possible that they would die."

    "Stupid fools. They left the Untamed Jungle for us to ovee only to kill Commander Liram. I''m pretty sure that he managed to deal enough damage for us to kill the remaining forces!"

    "We managed to eliminate the High Beast Horde. I doubt that the Lord has anymore powerful allies. His subordinates were 18:37

    already worn out when they retreated. We can stomp them to death!"

    The remaining two Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion armies decided to gather and seek a fight with the Lord of the Untamed Jungle.

    They encountered some monsters on their way to Commander Liram''sst position and it didn''t take long until they stood face to face with the Crysalis Deer.

    The Crysalis Deer wasn''t injured anymore and it could have destroyed Commander Xaar in his current state easily. However, instead of attacking anyone, the Crysalis Deer withdrawn deeper into the Untamed Jungle alongside thest survivors of the High Beast Horde.

    An ear-deafening roar rumbled through the surroundings and the afternoon sun disappeared all over the Untamed Jungle''s middle area.

    The heavy pressure that had been weighing on the Heart of the zing Lion armies intensified all of a sudden. From one moment to the next, the Lionhearts felt like their hearts were pulled apart. It was almost like they were about to be torn into shreds.

    The Lionhearts were already mentally and physically drained. The weakest of them were unable to endure the heavy pressure alongside the sensation of death that approached them from all directions. They turned around and used theirst bits of strength to escape.

    The terror of the Untamed Jungle was tremendous. It was enough to shake the strongest Lionhearts. Even the High Lionhearts felt like they were about to die. It was almost as if their lives could end at any moment.

    The Lionheart Commanders didn''t want to retreat. However, they realized toote that the fear and terror in their subordinates'' hearts had blossomed. It wreaked havoc in their hearts and minds, resulting in mass panic throughout the remaining forces of the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    Most of the remaining natives at the 2nd Tier were either about to lose consciousness or were already on their way to the outer rings. They fled from the heavy pressure and the sensation of death that seemed toe from the depths of the Untamed Jungle.

    The Commanders hadn''t been talking a lot with each other, but the short time they spent talking was enough to spread the fear of an inevitable death all over the battlefield. The Lionhearts at the 3rd Tier began to flee. They weren''t afraid of battling enemies that they could see. However, dealing with enemies they couldn''t see was not possible.

    They didn''t even see the enemy yet the sensation that engulfed their very existence was enough to be certain about their death.

    Even the Commanders'' mentality suffered under the certainty of death that shrouded them. It was terrifying.

    "Retreat!" Commander Xaar ordered after the shroud of certain death intensified once again. He was not sure what was about to attack them if they stayed here, but he could tell that they had to run for their lives.

    Michael and his subordinates felt the heavy pressure just like the monsters of the Untamed Jungle.

    However, the certainty of death never touched them. But that made sense.

    Michael looked up and stared through the burning canopy of some towering trees. He used Spirit Eyes to enhance his eyesight and smiled wryly.

    "Your punctuality is impable."

    The mysterious winged serpent was gliding above the Untamed Jungle, its towering figure casting a humongous shadow across the jungle''s middle area.

 Chapter 617 Invasion & Chaos

    <h4>Chapter 617 Invasion & Chaos</h4>

    The mysterious winged serpent circled high above the battlefield, casting a shadow all over the Untamed Jungle''s middle area. The Heart of the zing Lion armies ran for their lives. The intense feeling of instant death and the sudden darkness shrouding the surroundings was enough to evolve into a mass panic.

    The remaining Commanders didn''t want to retreat and run away from the fight. They knew what awaited them back in the Zentika Empire if they returned without any gains. The Heart of the zing Lion army might have burned down the northern part of the Untamed Jungle''s outer rings, but they didn''t im anything yet. The Zentika Empire''s scarcity of food had yet to be solved.

    As the Heart of the zing Lion army retreated the huge shadow shrouding the middle area dispersed. The heavy pressure evaporated, allowing Michael, his people, and the High Beast Horde to rx for the first time in hours.

    The mysterious winged serpent left after revealing its presence to the Zentika Empire''s forces.

    Was that good, or would it have been better if the serpent had released its ferocious mes to burn the remaining members of the Heart of the zing Lion army? Michael and the High Beasts managed to kill one Commander, but the others survived. Would he be fine with that?

    Michael was not sure. He couldn''t tell whether he was lucky, or if he would have managed to kill the two Commanders with the Crysalis Deer''s help. Michael had sensed that the remaining two Lionheart Commanders had been rather weak. The fight against the High Beast Horde weakened them. The Crysalis Deer might have been strong enough to eliminate them.

    "What a mess," Michael chuckled bitterly. His legs caved in as thest bits of energy left his body.

    The High Beast Horde split up and separated. It looked like the war against the Heart of the zing Lion army was over for them.

    However, the same couldn''t be said for Michael and his people.

    The following events were the most important, however, their sess didn''t depend on Michael. Instead, it all depended on whether Tiara managed toplete her mission, or if she failed.

    It was a risky mission, but Michael deployed Tiara to invade the Zentika Empire''s military camp before the battle started. He gave her several Artifacts that helped hide her scent, distort the vibrations she made from stepping, and an Artifact that shroud the sounds she made in silence. Tiara was camouged in another high-ranked magical device. She was camouged perfectly and managed to infiltrate the Zentika Empire''s military camp without getting noticed by the Orbs of Hostility and other magical devices that were supposed to detect invaders.

    The greatest advantage about Tiara was that she had yet to advance to Tier-3. Her energy fluctuations were weak enough to cover and distort them with the right Artifacts and magical devices.

    It was a good thing that the Heart of the zing Lion army didn''t expect anyone to be foolish enough to invade their military camp while they invaded the Untamed Jungle. Their security wasckluster and the few hundred Lionheart that had been left behind in the camp to guard it were weak and not very perceptive.

    A single High Lionheart had been deployed to watch the military camp in the absence of the Commanders. However, the High Lionheart was already old. He was a Lowest Rank Tier-4 Native who managed to ascend to a Higher Lifeform as a 3-Star Native.

    Tiara didn''t intend to fight the High Lionheart, but a Higher Lifeform''s perception made it difficult for her toplete Michael''s n sessfully.

    Fortunately, the Scouts with technqiues that allowed them to pry into the Military Camp from a distance managed to discover the High Lionheart''s weakness: He was always intoxicated.

    She stalked through the Military Camp and killed a few low-ranked Lionhearts by utilizing her camouged presence and the fact that nobody expected her to be in the military camp to her advantage. Several Tier-2 and Tier-3 Lionhearts fell victim to Tiara''s power. An intertwined Spirit Whip followed up by a spear thrust to the enemies'' hearts and throats was enough to eliminate potential threats easily.

    The High Lionheart was bored and angry. He didn''t work tirelessly on his Foundation for almost 60 years just to be deployed as a watchdog. That was not what he wanted. He was a Higher Lifeform. He was supposed to be at the frontlines!!

    The old High Lionheart had been drinking since the Heart of the zing Lion army left the camp and he was dead drunk when Tiara arrived at the camp center - just like they''d expected.

    Tiara considered piercing his neck with her spear, but she quickly recalled that neither her strength nor her weapon was good enough to injure Higher Lifeforms properly. As a Tier-2 Awakened, it was already near-impossible to pierce the tempered hide or skin of Peak Tier-3 powerhouses. Tiara had some gruesome experiences with that.

    She recalled clearly how her spear de had been repelled from her enemy''s body.

    The only areas Tiara could damage were the soft spots in the defense of stronger enemies.

    ''If I can reach his head, I can pierce his eyes or mouth. In the worst case, I go after his butt!'' Tiara told herself, readying her weapon only to hesitate.

    Michael trusted that she would manage to deal with this issue. He would be disappointed if she failed.

    ''Would he be sad if I die here?'' She wondered at this moment but shook her head.

    Maybe, it was important whether Michael would be said if she died here, but Tiara knew very well that she couldn''t afford to die. Tiara was fully aware that she had to survive, otherwise, her people would never be able to return to her side.

    The return of six Silverfangs motivated Tiara. Their return demonstrated that her hard work had been rewarded. However, she was feeling guilty as well. Michael had been in need of powerhouses to fight the Heart of the zing Lion army and the Council of Xylon.

    Too many enemies approached them right now, yet the six Legendary Scrolls he''d used in the hope of summoning something useful¡­turned out to be six Silverfangs. Only Legion was somewhat powerful, but even his power required time to be nourished. He didn''t gain the same benefits as other Legendary Summons and had to improve his War Rune''s rank and Tier slowly because of certain restrictions.

    Tiara calmed down and approached the High Lionheart. The drunken, old Lionheart had fallen asleep in his wooden chair. His head had rested calmly on the wooden table, and he snored loud enough to keep everyone in a radius of dozens of meters wide awake.

    It was not yette at night, but the drunken Lionheart didn''t bother to stay awake. He was furious at the turn of events. Tiara could make use of that. However, she didn''t attack him.

    She retrieved three silver pills upon reaching the drunken Lionheart. The High Lionheart sensed something, but he was too drunk to understand what was happening. He didn''t sense any threats¡­until it was toote.

    Something entered his wide-open mouth.

    Tiara channeled a tremendous amount of energy into the drunken Lionheart''s mouth, pushing the silver pills deeper into his throat.

    The High Lionheart swallowed the pills.

    His eyes shot wide open, and he sobered up instantaneously. A fierce roar escaped his lips and zing mes erupted in all directions.

    Tiara groaned as the searing-hot mes reached her and retreated. The High Lionheart spun around and roared at Tiara, whose body expanded.

    Tiara used her Silvarean Tiger Soultrait to the fullest. She was covered in silver-striped fur, ws grew from her fingers and her body expanded ever so slightly.

    Her eyes turned into yellowish-golden slits, and she readied herself for a fierce fight. Though, she hoped that it wouldn''t be necessary.

    ''A few seconds should be enough¡­right?''

    A few seconds ought to be more than enough for the full effect of the silver pills to be triggered.

    The High Lionheart didn''t know that yet, but Tiara shoved Chaos Pills down his throat. She''d activated them to unleash their might as she pushed the Chaos Pills deeper down. It was only a matter of seconds before they would erupt within the High Lionheart.

    Maybe, the High Lionheart would survive the explosion of the Chaos Pills, but they would ur inside him.

    He should sustain heavy injuries and end up getting crippled. At least, that was what Tiara was hoping for.

    The Lionheart was a Higher Lifeform and the Chaos pills had been concocted from the impure chaos of a Lesser Lifeform''s blood. To the intoxicated Lionheart''s misfortune, the Chaos Pills were about to explode within him.

    The old Lionheart charged ahead in anger. He crossed the distance to Tiara in the blink of an eye, his entire body shrouded in zing mes. However, all of a sudden, the mes around him died down. The zing mes transformed into lightly flickering mes.

    The Lionheart also lost control of the energy within him, and his legs caved in. The old Native of the Zentika Empire copsed in front of Tiara.

    Tiara wanted to attack the Lionheart, but she backed off instinctively. Loud crackling noises followed by thunderous explosions urred in front of her¡­the Chaos Pills inside the High Lionheart exploded.

    She retreated as fast as possible while her eyes lingered on the Lionheart. The old Lionheart''s body turned ck, the skin all over his body ruptured and ck-silverish blood spurted out of him.

    His eyeballs sttered all of a sudden and the Lionheart''s fur turned silverish-ck. Even the weakly flickering mes around the Lionheart turned ck¡­and they began to burn the Lionheart as well.

    It was almost as if the chaos itself was not in control of the mes.

    Tiara was shocked to the core at the sight that unfolded in front of her. Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard.

    ''O fuck.''

 Chapter 618 Boom - Chaos and Crystals

    <h4>Chapter 618 Boom - Chaos and Crystals</h4>

    The High Lionheart''s entire body was ck. Blood gushed out of his ruptured skin and chaos spread was expelled from his pores.

    But despite the inability to move or control the changes all over his body, the old Lionheart didn''t die. Somehow, he survived the explosion of the three Chaos Pills inside him, the chaos oozing out of him, and the changes that affected his very existence.

    However, the Lionheart was no better than a cripple at this point. His energy veins were torn into shreds, his eyeballs exploded, and his insides were infected by chaos.

    Tiara retreated even further, her eyes still widened in terror. She knew that the Chaos Pills were highly potent and dangerous. Michael didn''t want to use them after the first time he had been forced to use them against the Jungle Expedition because the Chaos Pills were so dangerous.

    However, it was also Michael who used Extraction and Insert close to perfection to create hundreds of Chaos Pills now that they had to face powerful enemies left and right.

    Even the most talented Alchemists in Michael''s territory weren''t confident at concocting more than a dozen Chaos Pills without failure. Failure was not eptable in this case. Failing to concoct a Chaos Pill usually resulted in an explosion and the destruction of arge piece ofnd. The chaos spread by the explosion would infest the surrounding lifeforms and kill them slowly.

    Michael didn''t want his territory to be destroyed by experiments or the concoction of Chaos Pills. Unfortunately, he didn''t have much of a choice. He joined the concoction of hundreds of Chaos Pills and prevented countless explosions, which would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of innocent people.

    It was a scary experience, but Michael and his Alchemists did a great job at handling the situation. They concocted the Chaos Pills without any deadly explosions. But that was not all. Michael also joined Zeroa, who had been busy overcharging elemental crystals with her mythical mes.

    They continued to use low-quality elemental crystals, but the Elemental Empress grew more adept at channeling her mythical mes into the elemental crystals. The overcharged elemental crystals'' power was much greater than it used to be.

    Michael didn''t want to destroy the Untamed Jungle or everything around it, but he chose to create more Chaos Pills to eliminate his enemies even if that meant he would have to destroy much more than just the military camp bordering the Untamed Jungle.

    Tiara watched the old High Lionheart for a few seconds until she was certain that he couldn''t move anymore. She would have killed him, but Tiara didn''t want to be exposed to the chaos that oozed out of the Lionheart. Tiara knew that she would die miserably if the chaos infected her.

    She left the High Lionheart to die a lonely death and retrieved a few pouches. The pouches were filled with Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals.

    Tiara''s mission was to invade the military camp and install the Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals. She would leave right afterpleting her mission, leaving the military camp to its doom.

    Installing the Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals didn''t take long. It was a simple procedure. Tiara coated the Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals with energy to seal them temporarily. They wouldn''t be triggered anytime soon.

    It was necessary to kill a few more Lionhearts who''d been attracted by the old High Lionheart''smotion, but that was a simple task.

    Tiara utilized the next 60 minutes to efficiently install the Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals. The first seals were about to be removed and it was only a matter of time before they would explode. A little bit energy channeling into the Chaos Pills or overcharged elemental crystals was all it required to create a deadly chain reaction.

    Tiara''s eyes widened slightly when she saw the outlines of the first Lionhearts who were returning from the Untamed Jungle. Their eyes screamed fear and Tiara almost expected them to run past the military camp to return straight to the center of the Zentika Empire where they were safe and sound.

    She left the military camp with a big detour to remain unnoticed as the masses of the Heart of the zing Lion army returned.

    Tiara was baffled to see so many Soldiers return, yet all of them were scared to death. It was shocking.

    ''What the hell happened in there?'' She wondered, staring at the Untamed Jungle, her home.

    It didn''t take long until Tiara discovered the answer. As she approached the Untamed Jungle, she sensed the increase in pressure. At first, it wasn''t that noticeable, but that changed quickly.

    The pressure continued to increase as she approached the Untamed Jungle.

    All of a sudden, the pressure disappeared. Tiara returned to her home, whereas the pressure vanished into thin air. It was almost like it had never been there.

    Meanwhile, the Heart of the zing Lion army returned to the camp.

    **

    "What is going on here?!?" Commander Xaar roared, blood spilling out of his fresh wounds.

    His eyes lingered on the dying High Lionheart, a deep frown covering his face. The High Lionheart deployed to protect the military camp smelled like alcohol, but that was the smallest issue.

    His eyes were no more, and both his skin and fur were dyed silverish-ck. Chaos oozed out of him. The Medics of the zing Lion army tried to tend to the dying High Lionheart, but they were infected by chaos even before they reached the High Lionheart.

    The Medics were affected by the chaos infection almost immediately. Their energy sensors suffered, and they had a hard time perceiving anything.

    It was only a matter of time before they suffered worse symptoms.

    The Commanders roared in anger and fury. Not only were they forced to retreat because of the ginormous winged serpent that had appeared out of nowhere, but their camp had also been invaded. They didn''t even know what the invaders did, other than killing a High Lionheart and dozens of Soldiers.

    A few minutes of rage-filled shouts andmands passed in the blink of an eye. A young Lionheart, a Tier-2 Ashen Knight, arrived at themando tent to report a find.

    "I found an elemental crystal filled with highly potent mes. The mes are really easy to contro¨C..." The Ashen Knight''s voice was cut off.

    Mythical mes were anything but easy to control. It was just that the Ashen Knight believed that it was easy to control because the Elemental Empress wanted her enemies to think they were easy to control. The Ashen Knight fell victim to the Elemental Empress'' trap and channeled too much energy into the overcharged elemental crystal.

    The Commanders sensed that something was wrong the moment the Ashen Knight arrived. However, they were too focused on the chaos oozing from the High Lionheart''s body that they noticed the elemental crystal''s danger toote.

    They were merely a quarter of a second toote to react, but that was enough.

    The Ashen Knight''s energy activated the overcharged elemental crystal and exploded. The mythical mes that had beenpressed into the overcharged elemental crystal ignited and spread outward, triggering the Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals throughout the military camp.

    Dozens of overcharged elemental crystals and Chaos Pills were triggered at once, but that was only the beginning. The deadly chain reaction had been triggered.

    Hundreds of explosions erupted. The ferocious might of a hundred Chaos Pills and just as many overcharged elemental crystals had been unleashed.

    Countless azure pirs of fire ignited throughout the entire camp, but it didn''t take long before they were swallowed. The mythical mes and chaos merged. A ferocious inferno, silver and azure in color formed, burning and decaying everything that obstructed their path.

    **

    Michael didn''t smile when the humongous silver inferno erupted. The Chaos Inferno was between 100 and 150 meters in height and it wreaked havoc wherever it passed. A shockwave reverberated through the surroundings, uprooting the trees, bushes, and other nt life that had been burned in today''s battle.

    The northern outer rings of the Untamed Jungle had been set aze and burned to cinder. It was only a matter of time before the Untamed Jungle would take back what they lost, but Michael couldn''t help but feel a bit sour.

    He really didn''t like Chaos Pills, yet he unleashed them onto the Zentika Empire once again. A humongous crater could be seen where the military camp had been. No structure of the camp had been left intact.

    Everything had been destroyed.

    However, the struggle of Michael and his subordinates was not yet over. There was still another problem they had to solve.

    It was something that apanied the use of Chaos Pills¡­the power of chaos that dispersed in all directions.

    A hundred Chaos Pills had been unleashed simultaneously. It was only obvious, that the chaos energy would dispersed through the surroundings and annihte everything in their path. The power of chaos would fuse with the surroundings and destroy everything living.

    It was great that the majority of the chaos dispersed deeper into the Zentika Empire. However, Michael knew that it was impossible to avoid the flood of chaos that was about to reach them.

    That was, if Michael didn''t have Extraction and Insert, Frederik, hundreds of Lesser Wind Elementals, and thousands of subordinates whose energy he could temporarily drain to ensure that their home would remain safe and sound.

    The power of chaos was about to reach the Untamed Jungle.

    Everyone tensed up.

    A different type of fight was about to start.

    [A/N: Only one chapter today. Why? Because I have a bad headache, and one chapter is better than none. Right? :d]

 Chapter 619 Gales and Clouds

    <h4>Chapter 619 Gales and Clouds</h4>

    Everyone was dead-tired at this point, but it was impossible to stop now. A dense silver cloud shrouded the northern border to the Zentika Empire, and it was getting closer.

    Chaos erupted from the silver inferno and spread in all directions. The majority pushed deeper into the Zentika Empire, but the remaining Chaos was more than enough to bother Michael and the rest.

    They survived against the Heart of the zing Lion army. They couldn''t give up now that they were so close to oveing the final hurdle from today''s battle!

    "Frederik!" Michael called his friend, who arrived next to him within seconds.

    Frederik didn''t enter closebat until the end of the battle. He merely sustained minor injuries. However, his mental power was drained, and his energy storage was empty. There was no way that Frederik could use his Soultraits again today.

    "You have to use Aeroan to push the Chaos away," Michael pointed at the humongous silver cloud that was about to swallow the Untamed Jungle''s outer rings.

    Frederik stared at his friend, his eyes widened in shock as he realized that Michael wasn''t joking.

    "I¨C..."

    "You have to. The Elemental Empress and Lesser Elementals will help you, but nobody has as much control of the winds as you. You have three Soultraits rted to the wind attribute and your body has been attuned to Aeroan near-perfectly as well. Please!"

    Michael was pretty sure that he could solve the problem as well. However, not only would he have to unleash the three Cursed Seals, but Michael could tell that he would have to give in to the insanity exposed by activating the Cursed Seals to swallow the silver cloud in its entirety.

    But that wasn''t even the worst. To swallow the silver cloud as a whole, Michael would probably end up killing hundreds of wounded soldiers...his soldiers. He wouldn''t be able to control True Extraction once he lost the battle against the Cursed Seals'' power.

    He stared intently at Frederik who swallowed hard.

    "I...will give it a try."

    "You can do it!"

    Opars appeared next to Frederik and used Energy Imprint. The Forest Elf was exhausted and burned heavily in various spots but he was still alive and able to use his Soultrait.

    Michael stared at the silver cloud and grit his teeth firmly. He forced his Body, Mind, and Soul to go beyond their limits as well.

    Michael essed his War Rune and retrieved 1,000 Energy Crystals. They were spread out around him to provide easy ess. Exactly 1,000 Extraction tendrils burst out of Michael in the next moment. He attached the Extraction tendrils to the Energy Crystals and began to extract thepressed energy within.

    Michael forwarded the extracted energy to Frederik right away with Insert.

    Frederik''s eyes bulged in surprise at the burst of energies that entered him through Opars and Michael. However, instead of saying anything, Frederik turned around and used Aeroan.

    First, hemanded the winds in the surroundings to submit to him. Then, he used the massive amount of energy that flooded him to manifest more winds.

    Raging gales swept through the outer rings of the Untamed Jungle.

    The Lesser Wind Elementals and the Elemental Empress aided Frederik in controlling the raging gales. It was difficult, seemingly impossible to do so, but they gave their utmost either way.

    They didn''t have to do a lot, in the first ce. Their mission was not to disintegrate the silver cloud. All they had to do was push it back and change its movements.

    The bushes at the border to the middle area were uprooted and the towering trees creaked loudly as the raging gales smashed against them. Frederik groaned in pain, blood spurted from his nose and eyes, and he felt like copsing on the spot. However, a wide smile blossomed on his face.

    Frederik never felt this much power. It was the first time he felt truly powerful.

    He could instinctively tell that his power was nothing like it used to be and that the raging gales that swept through the surroundings were strong enough to knock out Awakened at the 3rd Tier. Frederik felt true power.

    A mighty roar escaped his lips as he summoned thest bits of mental power from every inch of his body. Hebined his power with the hundreds of Lesser Wind Elementals that had appeared to aid Frederik and hurled the raging winds against the silver cloud.

    The raging winds collided with the silver cloud.

    At first, Michael didn''t see much. He could only tell that the raging winds forced the silver cloud into stagnation. It didn''t move further ahead, but it was not pushed back either.

    That was not great, but it wasn''t too bad either.

    Michael apologized inwardly to Frederik as he pressed his palm against his friend''s back. He closed his eyes and tried to sense Frederik''s Soultraits and used Enhancement with Insert on his Soultraits. Frederik''s pained groan worsened as he recognized that his strength surged even higher.

    Frederik was overflowing with energy, but both his Mind and Soul couldn''t take it anymore. His bleeding nose and eyes worsened, and blood squirted from his ears as well. He unleashed Aeroan in its strongest form once more before he copsed to the ground.

    Frederik was writhing on the ground even as he lost consciousness, but it was great that Opars was there. He used Soothing Wave to tend to Frederik''s condition.

    Meanwhile, Frederik''sst burst of power showed effect. The silver cloud was pushed back by the raging gales and changed trajectory. It was pushed deeper into the Zentika Empire where the remaining Chaos was headed to as well.

    ''He used Soul Energy.'' Michael noted as he looked at Frederik.

    He didn''t teach Frederik a lot about Soul Energy, but he''d given him a copy of the Soul Energy Fusion technique. Frederik studied it, but he never managed to produce Soul Energy.

    That was until today.

    Frederik used Soul Energy for the first time, and he suffered the aftermath of being deprived of Soul Power while being eerily low on mental power.

    "It looks like I underestimated your willpower," Michaelmented to Frederik, who''d stopped writhing on the ground.

    Frederik was still unconscious, but his life was not in danger. A few days of rest was all he needed to get better.

    Michael trembled and experienced like he was about to copse as well when his body was about to ease up. The adrenaline that had been surging through him dispersed and he could feel every inch of his body. It was almost as if his entire being was in unbearable pain.

    He lifted his gaze and stared at the disappearing silver cloud. Of course, not everything had been solved with this, but Michael could easily extract the Chaos that infested thend near the Untamed Jungleter. That was no problem.

    Opars left Frederik''s side after reinsuring that the young Awakened was fine. He offered to use Soothing Wave on Michael, who could only decline.

    Even Opars'' Healing Soultrait wouldn''t change anything about Michael''s condition. There was a limit to how much one could heal at a time. Michael went already beyond that limit today¡­

    by a lot, at that.

    ''I didn''t even do that much, yet I''m feeling like I''m about to die.'' He cursed himself.

    Opars and the others were also dead tired, but they could move, nheless. Michael couldn''t even do that. He was able to tell that his body would copse the moment he tried to move. He had to rest for a bit.

    ''I ended up like that just to kill some Higher Lifeforms. Most of them weren''t even Awakened.''

    Michael ended up ridiculing himself. Most enemies in today''s battle had been natives. They wouldn''t provide any Soultrait Symbols or SoulStar Fragments. That was a shame.

    But it was good that they were dead. The energy influxes and energy shares he had obtained today were also quite huge. His War Rune was bound to progress a little bit after today''s battle.

    That was great, but Michael couldn''t be happy about it.

    Once he experienced that he could move again, Michael dragged his weary body through the outer rings.

    The northern outer rings of the Untamed Jungle were nothing like they used to be. All life had been destroyed. The ground was charred, and the only thing Michael could see was death and destruction.

    The Chaos had been restrained but Michael knew that he would have to tend to thend at some point, otherwise, the infestednd bordering the burned-down outer rings would affect the surroundings, including the Untamed Jungle.

    Fortunately, he didn''t have to solve that issue right at this instant.

    Michael and his people tried to ignore the exhaustion that swept through every bone in their bodies. They tended to the living and collected the dead. They collected the corpses of their enemies, the monsters from the High Beast Horde, and the bodies of their fallenrades-in-arms.

    The monsters that had survived the battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army had already left. They distributed and disappeared.

    It was unsure how the situation in the Untamed Jungle would change after today''s battle, but Michael was certain that something was about to change. The same applied to the Zentika Empire.

    The silver cloud that had threatened to devour the Untamed Jungle caught up to the remaining Chaos and formed a muchrger cloud. It moved deeper into the Zentika Empire.

    ''Will the Zentika Empire''s council charge into the Untamed Jungle to obliterate us, or will they¡­leave us alone?''

    Too many people died today. 10 Awakened had been killed, and more than 15 Awakened had been wounded seriously. 3,500 members of the Untamed Army had been ughtered mercilessly¡­and the number would have been much higher if the mysterious winged serpent hadn''t arrived after the first Commander was ughtered.

    ''Without Hiraku¡­or the addition of dozens of Soultraits that enhanced the Untamed Awakened¡­''

    Michael sighed heavily. He knew that today''s battle could have ended differently really fast. Almost everything could have ended much worse than it did.

    Nheless, Michael never lost that many people before.

    He didn''t feel good about that.

    But that was war.

    War was not supposed to make you feel good, and the Zentika Empire was not to be taken lightly, either.

    It had never been.

    **

    [A/N: I''m feeling a little bit better today. But that might just be temporary. I cannot promise to upload two chapters a day for the next few days until I''m fully recuperated.

    I hope everyone is enjoying the story and that you like where I''m going with Michael''s journey. They repelled the Heart of the zing Lion army, but what will happen now?

    Give me your best guess about the future plot. I''m curious what you guys are thinking.

    And leave a review if you haven''t done that yet. More reviews = Happy Author.

 Chapter 620 Debts

    <h4>Chapter 620 Debts</h4>

    Michael knew that he was not strong enough to deal with Tier-5 powerhouses. He was already lucky enough to defeat the Peak Tier-4 Commander with the Crysalis Deer. If the Crysalis Deer hadn''t protected Michael, he would have been seriously injured or even killed.

    He was also not sure if the other High Lionhearts and the remaining Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion army died in the Chaos Inferno. It was likely that they died, but Michael couldn''t be certain.

    The Zentika Empire must have given the High Lionhearts special items to escape various traps. The Council of Xylon''s Awakened had such items as well. It wasn''t far-fetched to think that the Zentika Empire gave their armies simr items.

    "At least, the Tier-2 and Tier-2 Natives should have been killed." Michael nodded to himself.

    ''I hope they''ll report everything about the mystic serpent. If the mystic serpents react like this with the invasion of Commanders, it should be more violent and erratic if Tier-5 powerhouses managed to invade the middle area.''

    Michael couldn''t be certain that the mystic winged serpent would protect him and his people at all times, but he sincerely hoped that the Zentika Empire''s higher-ups would be too scared to attack the Untamed Jungle.

    His people were either dead or dead-exhausted. Nobody wanted to jump from one battle to the next. Even the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were on the brink of copsing ¨C if they didn''t copse already.

    Michael knew that he and his people weren''t weak. The problem was that their enemies were too powerful. It was a miracle that they survived this long without any major setbacks. He and his people were not yet strong enough to deal with the Zentika Empire¡­yet.

    But soon¡­ Soon that would change! Time was all he needed!

    **

    A heavy hand smashed down on therge onyx table, creating cobweb-like cracks all over the well-polished surface.

    "The invasion failed?!? How can that be???" A Lionheart thundered, bright mes erupting from his mane.

    The mes erupted and threatened to sweep through the humongous hall, but a Jew raised his hand and released a burst of energy to restrain the mes.

    "Calm down, Senator."

    "You want me to stay calm after reading this ridiculous report?!" The Lionheart Senator retorted in fury.

    The Jew stared deep into the wrathful eyes of the Lionheart and nodded.

    "What''s the use of being angry? If you are that angry, how about you shut up and find a solution to our problems? The faster we find a solution the earlier you can n your revenge to the Untamed Jungle and that Lord."

    Even though the Lionheart Senator wanted to respond in anger once again, he kept his mouth shut. He growled deeply and sat down back on his little throne.

    The Senators of the Zentika Empire gathered shortly after the Commanders used their Lifeline Charms to escape certain death.

    The Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion army were on the brink of death, infected by Chaos, and would have to spend months recuperating due to the detrimental effect of having used the Lifeline Charm, but they were still alive.

    They managed to report what happened in the Untamed Jungle before falling into aa.

    "The Untamed Jungle seems off the limit for the time being. I don''t think anyone can deal with this winged serpent, or am I mistaken?" The Jew Senator, a rather young Native, who has gotten to power through his father and other connections in the Zentika Empire, asked.

    "For the Commanders to feel the deep-rooted sensation of instant death¡­. It must have been a Peak Tier-5 High Beast, or maybe a Tier-6 High Beast?"

    "It''s the Azure Quetzalcoatl. I''ve encountered the Azure Quetzalcoatl once when I was young and ambitious. It was during the time we expanded the Zentika Empire¡­and it was also the reason why we had to stop our conquest into the True Untamed Jungle. The Azure Quetzalcoatl obliterated our armies. It killed millions and forced us to retreat," An old, hoarse voice reverberated through the chamber, "But I haven''t heard about the Azure Quetzalcoatl for several centuries."

    Silence filled the chamber.

    "I thought I was mistaken when the reports stated the appearance of a winged serpent in the clouds above the Untamed Jungle. I never expected the Azure Quetzalcoatl to be this interested in such a small part of the Untamed Jungle. It was never bothered when our Adventurers entered this tiny abnormal portion of the jungle."

    The abnormal portion of the Untamed Jungle was the protruding part of the Untamed Jungle that bordered the western part of the Zentika Empire and the eastern portion of the Savannah Region.

    It was just a small part of the Primal Untamed Jungle that was also considered the real version of the Untamed Jungle, the True Untamed Jungle.

    "The Azure Quetzalcoatl? I thought that this monster was a legend. A Divine Beast from fairytales¡­" The young Jew Senator mumbled, but the old voice rang out again. A chuckle escaped the old head of the Senate.

    "It would be great if it was a mere fairytale, but I witnessed its prowess."

    "Even if it is the Azure Quetzalcoatl, why would such a beast be interested in the abomination of the Untamed Jungle? There is no reason¨C..."

    The Senate''s Head interrupted the youngsters again, "Maybe, there is a reason."

    He sighed heavily, only to nce at a Zantur who raised his hand lightly.

    "What is it, Senator Lirat?"

    "The appearance of the Divine Beast was unexpected, but I''m not sure if the Heart of the zing Lion army would have won against the High Beast Horde and this Lord dwelling in the Untamed Jungle. From what I gathered, this Lord has at least six Soultraits. Each of them is very powerful with two of them being special Soultraits that can be utilized to strengthen the other Soultraits¡­and others. It was not a coincidence that they managed to kill one of the Commanders."

    The Lionheart Senator jumped up again and was about to say something when Senator Keltos, growled quietly. The Lionheart Senator calmed down instantly and sat down, ignoring the gazes lingering on him and Senator Keltos.

    "I think I''m one of the Senators who wants to get rid of the Lord in the Untamed Jungle the most. We can deploy some assassins to get rid of him, but that''s it. We have other issues to solve first."

    Senator Keltos hated that he had to divert his attention away from the Untamed Jungle once again. He thought that he could finally get rid of the Lord residing in the Untamed Jungle. However, the Lord''s prowess surpassed their expectations. That wasn''t the first time the Lord in the Untamed Jungle did this, but his reportedbat prowess was several times higher than they had expected. Even his subordinates were incredibly powerful, most being Dual or Triple wielders, Awakened with two or three Soultraits!

    That was totally beyond their expectations.

    "That''s right. We have other problems," The old Head of the Senate acknowledges, his voice heavy and weary, "We have debts to pay."

    Being reminded about their debts, the Senators shuddered.

    "What if theye?" One of them asked, his voice filled with fear.

    The Zentika Empire''s foundation was built upon debts. It was difficult for Natives to gain enough strength to contend against Awakened and other Lords. Natives didn''t have the means to summon Summons or awaken Soultraits. They were not much different than Summons if one excluded the fact that Natives were born in the Origin Expanse. They hadn''t been resurrected.

    The greatest advantage of Natives was that they were exposed to origin energy from birth. Their control of origin energy was much higher than the norm. That made it easier for them to receive enlightenment and receive promotions to upations with a higher star rating.

    Nheless, acquiring power required time, but their enemies didn''t wait for them. The Zentika Empire''s enemies desired theirnds. They lusted for the treasures hidden underneath the surface.

    The Zentika Empire retaliated, but they couldn''t do everything on their own. They required help¡­financial support as well as military support.

    Most citizens of the Zentika Empire didn''t know what happened in the initial years of the empire''s founding. The truth had been erased from all historical records, leaving only faint memories of the truth everyone wanted to hide.

    However, the oldest members of the Senate remembered. They had been alive at that time, and they knew what would happen if they couldn''t pay their debts.

    The Senate was afraid.

    Their armies'' state was a mess and no more Soldiers could be deployed to the Untamed Jungle. Their finances didn''t look any better.

    "How about we ask for another loan from the ¨C..."

    "ARE YOU INSANE?!?

    The Senate of the Zentika Empire entered a verbal battle. They discussed their situation for a long time and it looked like they would never be able to conclude.

    Their situation was desperate, and they didn''t know how to solve all the issues at once.

    Interestingly enough, the Heart of the zing Lion army wasn''t referred again. Their conquer was treated like it never happened, and no one spoke about the Untamed Jungle again.

    For the time being, they had other things to worry about. The resistance from the Untamed Jungle had been too strong, resulting in even more losses than they could ept. Invading the Untamed Jungle to im riches and sufficient food to solve them.

    But now they had to seek other solutions since they couldn''t leave the capital to charge into the Untamed Jungle either.

    First of all, the Azure Quetzalcoatl might kill them if they invaded the Untamed Jungle.

    Second¡­the Untamed Jungle was not their only border.

    They had far more enemies and far fewer resources to deal with all of them than they wanted to acknowledge.

    The Zentika Empire''s situation was far from good.

 Chapter 621 Honor

    <h4>Chapter 621 Honor</h4>

    After the fight with the Heart of the zing Lion army everyone was tired, but nobody could rest soundly. There was no way that they could sleep like nothing happened.

    Everyone was restless. They had felt the great power of their enemies and how big the gap in their strength had been. Clearly, the Untamed Army had been at a disadvantage. Their numbers didn''t even reach one-tenth of the Heart of the zing Army and they didn''t have a single Higher Lifeform in their rows.

    Despite everyone''s doubts and worries, Michael decided that everyone should rest a little bit.

    He wasn''t ready to rush his people from one major battle to the next. That would cause more harm than good.

    Instead of rushing into the next battle, Michael decided to use the following days to honor those who died to protect the Untamed Jungle and his territory. Like many others, Michael didn''t feel like celebrating the win against the Heart of the zing Lion army, but he decided that it was only fair to honor the dead.

    They gave their lives to protect everyone.

    Michael chose to keep a low profile in the next few days and allow his subjects to think about what had happened and to grieve as much as they had to. Michael didn''t join them. Instead, he focused on the Savannah Region and the war between the Trnce ¨C which struggled to survive now that they had only two Lords left ¨C and the Council of Xylon with a massive pool of 106 Lords.

    ''I would rather fight those 106 Lords than the Heart of the zing Lion army...''

    The Council of Xylon, as a whole, was unlikely to have more than 300 Higher Lifeforms. In fact, it would surprise Michael if theirbined forces managed to get close to 100 Higher Lifeforms. However, the most important was that the Council of Xylon didn''t have any Peak Tier-4 Awakened.

    They could ask for reinforcement from their ns and the Government, but it was not possible to bring true powerhouses to the Savannah Region. The Lords would have to be at a higher Tier than the reinforcement to transport them to the Savannah Region, after all.

    Michael sighed deeply when he thought about the Council of Xylon. The movements in the Savannah Region had been quite confusing for a while now. Michael would much rather attack them before his opponents used dirty tricks to kill more of the Untamed Army''s treasured powerhouses. Unfortunately, it was not like Michael''s subjects were strong enough to deal with the forces of 106 established Lords.

    Even if they didn''t have many powerhouses, the 106 Lords were well-established and likely to have close to 100,000batants respectively. Their territories were also not small and certainly not easy to trespass.

    ''Most would be Tier-1 and Tier-2, though...'' Michael thought before pping his cheeks to calm down his nerves.

    He would attack the Council of Xylon at some point, but his people had to rest first. Rushing into the next battle would cause more harm than good.

    At the end of the day, Michael decided to analyze the movements of the High Beast Horde, or what was left of it. At least, that was the n.

    He found the whereabouts of the Crysalis Deer, but most of the other monsters had disappeared. They ran away as if they had joined the High Beast Horde merely to defend the Untamed Jungle.

    ''Using them against the Savannah Region won''t be possible then. I should have expected that.''

    He didn''t want to be idle, but his Body, Mind, and Soul were too exhausted to do anything. Michael decided to rest for the first time in forever.

    He went to sleep early and was still tired even after he woke upte the next day.

    His entire body felt like a mess, but it was a little bit easier to walk around.

    Michael left the wooden manor where he encountered Master Tigris with the other Silverfangs. They greeted him but avoided his eyes in difort.

    Even if it was not their fault that so many people died, the Silverfangs felt responsible for the high casualty rate against the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    The six Silverfangs had emerged from Legendary Scrolls, a Scroll that ought to summon powerful Legendary Summons that had the potential to help their Lord. At least two out of the six Legendary Summons would have been rted tobat, granting them enough power to change the oue of the battle.

    That was how Legendary Scrolls usually worked. They would always give you something you want or need ¨C even if you didn''t know that you might need them.

    But the six Silverfangs were either too weak to battle or just too bad at it.

    Michael didn''t think that they did anything wrong, but he wasn''t going to y nanny and pamper to the Silverfangs. He had other business to attend. Their struggle against the Zentika Empire and the Council of Xylon was not yet over, after all.

    It didn''t take long for Michael to reach the warehouse where he picked up two spatial pouches. One pouch was filled with the zing Lion army''s Soldiers whereas the other spatial pouch contained the bodies of 16,000ish monster corpses.

    Michael retrieved the monster bodies first and began to loot them using Extraction.

    Since he didn''t have to focus on extracting SoulStar Fragments and the like, the removal process was rather simple and fast. Michael acquired a total of 464,239 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 11,680 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, 9,633 blueprints, and 915 Artifacts.

    Most Artifacts and ns were of low quality. Only two Artifacts were 4-Star Tier-3 and 3-Star Tier-4 Artifacts. They were worth a small fortune. Not a single blueprint was overly valuable for Michael. They were Agriculture-type blueprints, which was good for the Bartholomew Corporation.

    ''At least, I can earn a small fortune..I guess¡­''

    Michael shrugged and retrieved the bodies of the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    The Untamed Army and the High Beast Horde managed to eliminate a total of 85,249 members of the Heart of the zing Lion army. They killed 124 High Lionhearts and 853 Awakened.

    It was slightly unfortunate that most Awakened they''d killed had a low Tier, but some of them had been at a higher Tier, just like the Commander.

    Michael hadn''t been fortunate enough to sight any intact bodies near the crater where the Zentika Empire''s military camp had been located, otherwise, he would have more Lionheart corpses to extract.

    He spent the next hour plundering as much loot as possible from the Lionheart corpses. The gains weren''t too bad.

    "1,619,731 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 45,182 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, 25,575 blueprints, and 1442 Artifacts."

    Procuring more than two million Summoning Scroll Fragments, 57,000ish Ordinary Scrolls, 35,000ish ns and more than 2,000 Artifacts from a single battle was a great haul, but Michael wasn''t satisfied. They lost too much in yesterday''s battle.

    Not even the 57,345 SoulStar Fragments and 109 Soultrait Symbols he''d extracted were enough to brighten his mood.

    He had extracted the Memory Orbs of the Lionheart Awakened as well, but Michael didn''t want to see the death of his subjects through the eyes of his enemies at this moment. Michael knew that he would have to consume their Memory Orbs sooner orter to find out what the Zentika Empire had up to their sleeves, however, he was not ready to do this right now.

    ''Maybe, in a few days.''

    Michael took a deep breath and forced a wry smile on his lips.

    It was about time to reward his subjects for emerging victorious against the Zentika Empire.

    [A/N: Today''s first chapter is a bit shorter cause my body torments me.]

 Chapter 622 Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 622 Rewards</h4>

    Michael thought that it would be a good idea to reward everyone generously after they put their lives on the line to protect everyone.

    First, he decreased everyone''s debt to reward the Untamed Awakened for fighting against the Heart of the zing Lion army and surviving. Following that, Michael chose to give everyone an additional discount in the Jungle Shop and a bonus for killing powerful enemies.

    All those gains might not be necessary, but Michael felt that fighting solely for the purpose of protecting their settlement wasn''t enough long-term. Sure, it would be more than enough for a while, however, their enemies would grow stronger and the casualty rate in battles would increase.

    Thus, Michael decided that it would be the best idea to give thebatants additional benefits for fighting against their enemies and for killing more powerhouses. It was not like Michael didn''t gain anything in return either.

    First and foremost, Michael''s subordinates would grow stronger as they procure more Jungle Points andbat experience. Second, Michael would gain a lot more resources as his subordinates eliminated more enemies.

    It was a win-win situation with Michael gaining the most.

    The news of Michael''s actions spread quickly. Everyone was d about the additional benefits, the discounts in the Jungle Shop, and the fact that they had less pressure to pay the remaining Jungle Points that they''d loaned a few days ago.

    Even the Holy Knights, Blessed Squires, and other Summons, who''d been participating in the ferocious fight against the Zentika Empire, received generous rewards from Michael.

    Michael''s wallet was bleeding, but he was d that his subjects were doing better. Handing out generous rewards changed the atmosphere in the settlements a lot more than expected.

    It was quite surprising.

    Once he was done emptying his wallet, Michael approached Hiraku. The young Awakened had yet to ask for the termination of their Link of Loyalty, but it was quite obvious that it was only a matter of time before Hiraku would leave.

    "We haven''t been talking a lot, but I think that I owe you something. If you hadn''t been here we would have probably lost against the Heart of the zing Lion army. Even if we had won we would have lost at least twice as many good men and women. You helped me protect my people, and I''m grateful for that," Michael said, smiling lightly.

    "I would like to thank you. You can pick a Soultrait Symbol from the Jungle Shop and have it upgraded to 4-Star free of charge. Consider it as a gift for helping me protect those I hold dearly."

    Michael was unwilling to let Hiraku go. He was hoping that Hiraku would stay in his territory and that he wouldn''t terminate his Link of Loyalty anytime soon. Hiraku was a powerful ally. Strengthening him with more Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades would turn him into a monstrosity among the Descendants, but Michael was not worried about getting betrayed.

    Despite feeling like inviting Hiraku to his territory, he didn''t throw the invitation out right away. He didn''t want Hiraku to misunderstand his intentions. The gift and the invitation were separate matters. Michael didn''t want Hiraku to think of the gift as a bait.

    Hiraku raised an eyebrow and looked at Michael for a while, "I gained a lot already. You helped me escape the ind and I fought for you in exchange. There is no need to give me anything."

    Hiraku rejected the gift coldly, but Michael sensed a glimmer of hesitation in Hiraku''s voice.

    "Are you sure? How about you take a look at the list of Soultraits and decide then?" Michael offered.

    Hiraku was about to deliver another rejection, but he didn''t say anything.

    "That''s not a trick to show off the resources you grant your subordinates, right?" Hiraku asked in a neutral tone, but his sharp silver eyesnded on Michael, who could only shrug.

    "I''m not here to brag, though I cannot deny that I would love to invite you into my territory. I am sincere when I say that you can pick any Soultrait Symbol listed in the Jungle Shop. I will give it to you after upgrading it to 4-Star. It won''t cost you anything. As for inviting you to stay in my territory permanently, I hope you can think about it. HOWEVER, it has nothing to do with the Soultrait I want to give you! It''s a gift."

    Hiraku nodded slowly. He could tell that Michael was agitated about his suspicion, but who wouldn''t be suspicious about such a generous gift? It didn''t make sense that Michael would gift him a Soultrait and upgrade it straight to 4-Star.

    "I...will think about it."

    That was good enough for Michael. He nodded lightly and chatted a little bit longer with Hiraku to find out more about Hiraku''s Soultrait and his transformations. Hiraku was a little secretive, but it was also a rare asion for him to talk about his powers with someone who was clearly stronger than him. Of course, there were many powerhouses in the Saphirke Military Academy and the Lightweaver Academy where he had been before transferring to the Saphirke Military Academy, but Michael was younger, at a lower Tier, and stronger as well.

    After yesterday''s battle, Hiraku''s respect for Michael soared through the roof. He understood why his subjects trusted Michael. Their unbending loyalty and trust were the result of Michael''s actions and his sacrifices in battle.

    Hiraku''s life had been in danger several times yesterday, but he had never been close to death. Michael always intervened when the tide of the battle was about to turn against them. Michael had been on the verge of death and seriously injured multiple times. It was a surprise that he was still able to stand and talk calmly.

    If it was anyone else, they would have been forced to reside in bed for several days, if they recuperated fast, and for several weeks, if they were ordinary Low rank Tier-3 Lords.

    However, Michael was anything but normal.

    He was an anomaly, just like Hiraku. It was just that Michael was an even more abnormal anomaly than Hiraku.

    In the end, Hiraku ended up revealing some information about his Soultraits to Michael. Hiraku didn''t know how it turned out like that, but he revealed a lot. He wasn''t sure how long it had been since he talked this much with anyone. It had been a while. That was for sure.

    Michael was busy and had to leave at some point.

    "Make sure to check the Jungle Shop. Don''t forget to reconsider my invitation as well. I hope you can join my territory. We need someone like you!"

    He disappeared right after saying those words, leaving Hiraku alone. But he wasn''t alone for a long time. Frederik found Hiraku and rushed to his new friend with a smile.

    "I reached the Late rank of Tier-2!! If I continue to improve like this, I will advance to Tier-3 in a few months! Ain''t that amazing?!"

    Frederik was a lot happier than he used to be. His sullen mood was no more. He was stronger.

    Michael''s action might seem simple, at first nce, but he could change the lives of his people forever. The most interesting was that Michael didn''t even seem to realize what he was capable of. He treated everyone nicely and rewarded those who worked hard generously. At first nce, it felt like Michael was wealthy, but that wasn''t the case.

    He earned a lot from several sources of ie, but his wealth was used up almost instantaneously to improve his subjects'' living standards, expand his territory, and strengthen his people.

    It was necessary to strengthen his people, but most Lords would focus on themselves. They would try to ascend to a Higher Lifeform to expand their lifespan as quickly as possible before dealing with their enemies one by one. Michael didn''t have that much time. He had enemies everywhere, but it looked like he didn''t mind that.

    On the contrary, Michael was rxed and finished his tasks one by one.

    ''Is he calm, or just ignorant about the approaching dangers? Is he smart and calctive, or is it in stupidity? But if he was stupid, he wouldn''t have managed to make it this far.''

    Hiraku didn''t spend all his time in the Origin Expanse after he was teleported to the Untamed Jungle. He had been outside the Origin Expanse for a while to research Michael and his background. Hiraku could tell that Michael was a good guy, but Hiraku knew how fake people could be. He didn''t know Michael for a long time. He couldn''t trust him entirely right away.

    ''He wasn''t always strong. It''s his Soultrait that allowed him to grow stronger slowly but steadily. He gained more Soultraits and started upgrading them, therefore, granting him exponential gains. But reports also state that he had been on the verge of death quite often. His brother died, turning him into a living zombie for a while. And about his parents¡­his mother seems to be powerful, but there is no information about her. Is it a good idea to consider joining him, or should I reside away from him?''

    Hiraku was not sure what to do. People like Frederik were grateful for Michael. They would follow him everywhere simply because he had the means to grant them more power. Frederik was probably a little bit different because he was Michael''s friend, but Hiraku could tell that Frederik had fallen into a deep pit of greed.

    "You ought focus on your own strength. If Michael could grant you Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades, he can probably take them away as well. Increase your strength and don''t even think of blindly relying upon your strength. You will die just like the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs who fell victim to their greed and desires!"

    Frederik''s smile froze. He stared at Hiraku, his lips pressed together.

    "You really know how to kill my vibe, you know?"

 Chapter 623 Insert

    <h4>Chapter 623 Insert</h4>

    "I don''t want any rewards," Tiara pressed her hands against her hips and stared intently at Michael.

    "You gave me more than enough by summoning my kin with the Legendary Summoning Scrolls. I cannot ask for more things. My uncontroble greed was probably the reason so many people died yesterday¡­"

    Tiara nibbled on her lower lip as she spoke to Michael, whose expression changed slowly.

    "You used your Achievements to bring the Silverfangs to my territory, didn''t you?" Michael concluded, "But how is that possible? I thought you could only ess the Achievement Records and the Ancient Market upon ascending to a Higher Lifeform."

    Tiara smiled sadly at her Master, "My situation is a little bit different, Master. I can acquire Achievements, but I cannot use them. My Achievements are naturally used up to resurrect my n. There is no ''decision'' or ''choice'' to take. It happens naturally."

    "But you''re not at fault for anything that happened if that''s the case. If it happens naturally and you cannot influence the Will''s decision, it''s not your choice that I summoned the Silverfangs instead of Legendary Summons."

    Michael didn''t think too much about the Silverfangs and the six Legendary Summons he didn''t manage to summon. It happened in the past and he couldn''t change it. There was no need to think too much about them.

    "But¨C..."

    Tiara was interrupted by Michael right away.

    "Are you sure that you don''t want anything?"

    "Maybe¡­that you don''t hate me for burdening you with my n''s resurrection¡­" Tiara uttered quietly.

    Michael chuckled and ruffled through Tiara''s hair, disheveling it.

    "I don''t hate you. Everything is okay."

    Tiara sighed in relief, and one could visibly see the tension in her body easing up. Herposure and expression improved at once and the little Princess of the Silverfang Tigerfolk broke into a bright smile.

    Michael and Tiara chatted a little bit longer. To be precise, it was mostly Tiara talking about the Silverfangs and how excited she was about summoning more of them. She said that she would give her best to grow stronger and acquire as many Achievements as the Will required to bring her entire n to the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael wondered where her uncertainty had gone, but he smiled as well.

    Tiara was excited and overflowing with ambition. She was determined to resurrect her n. That was great. Michael was happy for her.

    He epted her rejection for additional benefits even though she was one of the Awakened with the biggest impact in the battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army. She didn''t fight them head-on. Instead, Tiara killed tens of thousands with the support of Chaos Pills and overcharged elemental crystals.

    Michael decided to make a mental note about Tiara''s help and to reward herter. He would have to strengthen her sooner orter to ensure that the little Silverfang Princess would be safe and sound wherever she went.

    But to be fair, everyone did a great job on the battlefield the day before. Everyone deserved to be praised and rewarded. That was far from cheap, but Michael wasn''t stingy. His territory required more strength to stand strong against their future enemies. The Council of Xylon wouldn''t wait for them to get stronger, either.

    That led Michael to think about ways to acquire as much strength as possible in the shortest possible period. The answers were simple.

    "Soultraits, Legendary Scrolls, and Artifacts are among the easiest ways to grow stronger. Even Ordinary Scrolls can be considered a way to grow stronger, but only for me as the Lord with all Links of Loyalty." Michael murmured deep in thought.

    Powerful Artifacts were rather difficult toe by. He had still some Vouchers for customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, but he didn''t need them. The Untamed Awakened could purchase the Vouchers at a big discount. They were better off with some mighty customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts.

    Legendary Scrolls were powerful, but they might not be that useful right now, either. Michael didn''t have anything against the Silverfangs, but it was a fact that four ¨C maybe five ¨C out of six Silverfangs weren''t suited forbat. Andbat power was what he needed the most at this point.

    ''Should Ibine the Scroll Fragments into Mythic Scrolls in the hope of summoning a few dozen 2-Star and 3-Star Summons withbat upations? Or is it possible to do something else with the Scroll Fragments?''

    Michael thought about Kraft Viton''s proposal to use Insert in more versatile ways.

    ''I could try inserting Ordinary Scrolls into each other or insert Summoning Scroll Fragments into Ordinary Scrolls. Or insert them straight into Mythic Scrolls. Hmmm¡­''

    Another thing was that Michael had yet to use Insert on Soultrait Symbols and other things. He hadn''t even tapped into Insert''s true potential. His utility of Insert didn''t even scratch the Soultrait''s surface. It was about time to change that.

    Michael had hundreds of Soultrait Symbols sealed away, and he was a little excited to retrieve them to start experimenting. He knew that he could start experimenting with other things first, but Michael''s interest in Soultrait Symbols and how they would react to Insert was the highest.

    Thus, he retrieved a bunch of Soultrait Symbols from the sealed contained that he''d retrieved from his War Rune and began to y¨C...experiment.

    "Use Insert on 1-Star Improved Sight, and 1-Star Inferior Energy Vision," Michael mumbled as he pressed two Soultrait Symbols together while exerting Insert on both.

    Tendrils of energy shot out of the two Soultrait Symbols. The tendrils collided with each other and repelled one another at first. However, the shing tendrils began to interweave and merge a few seconds into their ''fierce'' battle. Michael with Spirit Eyes could see the sh of energies and the adaptability of the Soultraits.

    The integration process of the two Soultraits didn''tst long, but with Spirit Eyes fully activated, Michael was able to see the particles shing, interweaving, and fusing slowly. He managed to record every single step in his head and he reviewed the whole show several times.

    "The fusion of Soultraits is not that simple. 1-Star Improved Sight and 1-Star Energy Vision turned into Energy Sight. Does that mean it''s Inferior Energy Vision without the Inferior prefix, or that something about the ''Vision'' modified to turn it into Sight? And what happened to the ''Improved'' prefix from Improved Sight?" Michael took a few notes on a piece of paper that he had retrieved from his War Rune and continued to test a few more things.

    He retrieved a few more Soultrait Symbols and began to utilize Insert on them. However, this time, Michael didn''t try to search for Soultrait Symbols that should be highlypatible with each other. Improved Sight and Energy Vision were highlypatible, but Energy Vision and Minor Demonic Aura weren''t.

    Michael spent the next 10 minutes fusing ten 1-Star Soultraits into five 1-Star Soultraits. The results were both better than he had expected and¡­very confusing.

    Energy Vision and Minor Demonic Aura fused into Minor Demonic Vision, Energy Bullet and Camouge transformed into Improved Energy Camouge, and so on.

    The integration of Soultrait Symbols was very confusing, but as Michael continued to utilize Insert, he noticed a few things.

    ''The effect of Insert on Soultraits of the same rank is extremely high. The Soultraits do not consider one of them as the Main Soultrait, and the other one as the subsidiary. They fused and created something new with the aspects of each inserted Soultrait Symbol.''

    That changed when Michael added another experiment. He upgraded one Soultrait Symbol to 2-Star and fused it with 1-

    Star Soultraits.

    "2-Star Conjure Arrow and 1-Star Improved Energy Camouge fused into 2-Star Conjure Improved Arrow."

    Michael did a few more tests like this with 2-Star and 1-Star Soultraits and quickly understood that the higher-ranked Soultrait was considered the Main Soultrait.

    No major changes were applied to the Main Soultrait upon fusing. Instead, the lower-ranked Soultrait was employed as a supplement to add some of its power to the higher-ranked Soultrait.

    That was very interesting, and it was something Michael could make utilize of.

    By changing the star rating beforebining Soultraits, it was easier to control the changes.

    "That''s good to know for Soul Grimoire," Michael noted, certain that he could utilize Insert on Soultraits that could aid Soul Grimoire to transform into something that was more suited toward the preservation of Living Souls and their nourishing.

    But his new find was also great for something else, something that had been bothering him for quite a while. It was great to rece cicle.

    Michael''spatibility with cicle was extremely high, which was also why he couldn''t extract it without inflicting serious ¨C permanent ¨C harm on his soul. It was simr to hispatibility with Soul Grimoire, which had been anchored deep into his very existence.

    However, now that he couldbine Soultraits, Michael should be able to transform cicle into something more useful. It was too fragile and not very versatile. That could be changed!

    ''cicle''s freezing property is crazy. Keeping that is a must. But other than that¡­cicle is rather weak. I''m pretty sure cicle won''t be as powerful as Frozen Kingdom if I upgrade it to 6-Star, let alone Frozen Nova if I were to upgrade cicle to 7-Star. cicle is a rather weak Elementa Soultrait if not for the freezing property.''

    Michael decided to do something risky. He employed Extraction on cicle and decreased its star rating to 1-Star. He gained more than 2,000 SoulStar Fragments in return¡­and a punishment.

    Extracting SoulStar Fragments from his own Soultrait hurt like hell. Michael felt like he was about to lose his sanity.

    For a moment, he pitied all those whose SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols he had extracted while they were still alive.

    But his pity disappeared quickly. It was not like Michael kept innocent people alive to drain their SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Only those who deserved to suffer received this kind of Soul-

    torturing.

    [A/N: I released a new - rather short - story on Royalroad. It''s called Forgotten Lands. If you''re interested check it out. The story has been collecting dust in my docs for a while. Read it and give it a rating. It might turn into a proper story if you guys like it/rate it well ;D]

 Chapter 624 Combine

    <h4>Chapter 624 Combine</h4>

    cicle was reverted to a 1-Star Soultrait. The pain Michael felt when he extracted SoulStar Fragments from cicle had been horrifying, but he overcame it somehow.

    ''I spend a lot more than 2,000 Fragments to get you to 5-Star...What a nuisance.'' Heined silently in his aching heart.

    Unfortunately, it was not possible to upgrade his Soultraits and Extract the SoulStar Fragments whenever he wanted to without any losses. That was not how it worked. But it was a good thing that Michael didn''t want to lower his Soultraits'' star rating often. Doing so once was already enough.

    cicle''s freezing property was retained, though it was much weaker than ever. It would grow stronger as the Soultrait''s star rating increased.

    cicle couldn''t be removed from the Sphere of Light without damaging his Soul and the Sphere. However, that didn''t mean Michael couldn''t integrate other Soultraits into cicle.

    Michael had been putting aside certain Soultraits because he liked their powers and special properties. It was no wonder, but he liked using Elements. The more the merrier.

    Fusing with the Elemental Empress opened a door to a much bigger world, which was why Michael considered integrating a bunch of Soultraits into cicle, in the first ce.

    Zeroa''s Elemental Affinities weren''t too bad, but the Mythical Fire Affinity was her only truly powerful affinity. That was not enough for Michael. He wanted more.

    Michael understood that he greedy, but it was a fact that he had the means to satisfy his greed.

    He spent the rest of the day sorting Soultrait Symbols, tapping into the memories of the Soultraits'' former owners to learn more about their uses, special perks, and weak points and used Insert tobine a bunch of Soultraits. Michael was trying to integrate twopatible Soultraits beforebining the results of the integration with one another.

    The process ofbining two Soultraits was neither fast nor slow. Some integrations required half an hour, others required Michael''s attention and two hours toplete.

    Michael was still tired from going all-out against the Heart of the zing Lion army, but integrating various Soultraits was very interesting. It was very helpful for future ordeals and the experience he gained frombining Soultraits was not to be taken lightly either.

    He learned a lot about the processes during the day and digested the information and everything he was able to see through Spirit Eyes at night.

    The next morning wasn''t special in any way. Michael continued tobine Soultraits and experiments. He raked his mind and used Insert to its limit to create the most suitable Soultrait, but something was missing no matter how often Michaelbined the Soultrait Symbols.

    At some point, Michael realized that the Soultrait Symbol''s name changed into something he didn''t want. The Soultrait Symbols turned for the worse after he integrated too many Soultrait Symbols. It was a good thing that Michael had Extraction. He could fix his mistakes by reverting to thest step.

    Extracting a Soultrait Symbol from another Soultrait Symbol was far from easy. Michael had to spend the rest of the morning and the whole afternoon untilte evening finishing the job. It was exhausting and Michael hated himself a little bit for impatiently using Insert tobine the SoulStar Fragments.

    However, he learned from his mistakes and decided that the Soultrait was strong enough as a 1-Star Soultrait. He used 4 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade the Soultrait that had formed out of 13 Soultrait Symbols only to freeze in ce.

    "Four Fragments is not enough? Usually, that''s more than enough to upgrade a 1-Star Soultrait to 2-Star. Is it more expensive because the Soultrait is a high-quality Soultrait with great power?"

    Some Soultraits, just like Extraction, required more SoulStar Fragments to be upgraded. Michael didn''t think too much and continued to channel more SoulStar Fragments into the fused 1-Star Soultrait.

    10 SoulStar Fragments.

    20 SoulStar Fragments.

    50 SoulStar Fragments.

    80 SoulStar Fragments.

    100 SoulStar Fragments.

    Only after the newly fused 1-Star Soultrait had been nourished by 100 SoulStar Fragments did the second star form.

    ''Is that for real now?'' Michael swallowed hard, but he continued upgrading the Soultrait to 3-Star.

    400 SoulStar Fragmentster, the fused Soultrait Symbol reached 3-Star.

    "Oh¡­fuck me¡­"

    Upgrading the newly fused Soultrait from 1-Star to 2-Star costs 25 times to 30 times more than it should have. Even upgrading the Soultrait from 2-Star to 3-Star was 20 times more expensive than it ought to be.

    It was a matter of fact that the newly fused Soultrait reced cicle in the Middle Area of the Sphere of Light since he integrated the Soultrait Symbols with cicle rightaway. The middle area forced Michael to spend 1.75x as many SoulStar Fragments to upgrade a Soultrait. Even though that was a lot¡­

    it wasn''tparable to the exorbitant price to upgrade his newly fused Soultrait.

    "It is because I fused Soultrait Symbols?" Michael wondered, sighing heavily.

    It did make sense even, unfortunately.

    He had noticed that upgrading Spirit Eyes was going to be a lot more expensive than upgrading Superior Constitution but didn''t think too much about it first. It made sense that Spirit Eyes was more expensive because it was a Soultrait that had been fused from two Soultraits. It was a 2-in-1 set and thus more expensive to upgrade.

    But a 20x multiplier ¨C including the Sphere of Light''s multiplier ¨C for a single Soultrait¡­was a little bit over the top.

    ''I created a near-perfect Soultrait. It''s far more useful than most Soultraits, in the first ce. If only-...''

    Michael halted in his tracks and decided to continue experimenting. He had been upgrading the newly fused Soultrait to 3-Star because he wanted to integrate more Soultraits into it. Michael did not n to change the Soultrait''s essence anymore, but instead fuse some properties of 1-Star Soultraits into it.

    The only issue he had, now that he found out that the upgrade cost of the fused Soultraits was exorbitant, was that Michael couldn''t be certain whether upgrading the Soultrait to 4-Star would be a feasible task. Michael had prepared 50 Soultrait Symbols with useful properties to consolidate into the newly fused 3-Star Soultrait. Would the upgrade cost increase to a 70x multiplier, or would it remain the same because he didn''t change the essence of the Soultrait anymore?

    There was only one way to find out.

    Michael spend two more days inserting 1-Star Soultraits into the fused 3-Star Soultrait.

    The 1-Star Soultraits integrated into the 3-Star Soultrait and improved it, subtly changing the Soultraits'' properties, and enhancing them considerably.

    The changes were very nice and pleasant to the eyes.

    That left only one question: Could he upgrade the Soultrait to 4-Star by investing less than 5,000 SoulStar Fragments?

    An ordinary 3-Star Soultrait required between 200-250 SoulStar Fragments to be enhanced to 4-Star. If his multiplier remained at 20x, the newly fused Soultrait shouldn''t require more than 5,000 SoulStar Fragments to reach 4-Star.

    ''At least the multiplier includes the cost increase from the Sphere of Light''s Middle Area. I don''t think I could happily invest close to 9,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade a 3-Star Soultrait.'' Michael halfined.

    The price was still exorbitant but if the result was remotely as amazing as Michael imagined, it would be worth it!

    Michael closed his eyes and began channeling SoulStar Fragments into his newly fused Soultrait. The SoulStar Fragments were consumed like crazy. 1,000 Fragments disappeared just like that.

    Michael nibbled on his lower lip once they reached the threshold of 5,000 SoulStar Fragments. They surpassed the threshold and Michael broke into cold sweat. He was about to curse when the 4th Star formed on the Soultrait Symbol.

    He seeded in upgrading the newly merged Soultrait to 4-

    Star using 5,500 SoulStar Fragments.

    "Yes!!" Michael eximed, clenching his fists. He roared and broke into a bright smile. The newly merged Soultrait did not only advance to 4-Star but it attained a proper upgrade as well.

    His newly merged Soultrait evolved and grew stronger¡­much stronger than Michael had been hoping for. Something within Michael transformed and a vast influx of information bombarded his mind. He consumed the information right away, resulting in his smile widening even further.

    Small changes urred inside his body, within the Pir of Light, to be precise. His energy storage was being altered, tiny spheres of all colors forming within them.

    The Spheres of Elements were given birth to.

 Chapter 625 New Toys

    <h4>Chapter 625 New Toys</h4>

    Shards of Elements was the Soultrait that Michael had created bybining more than ten 1-Star Soultraits. Upgrading Shards of Elements to 3-Star and integrating dozens of 1-Star Soultraits to further reinforce the Shards of Elements'' perks had been enough to stimte an evolution.

    Shards of Elements evolved into Spheres of Elements upon reaching 4-Star.

    Spheres of Elements possessed various great perks. One of them was that the Soultrait constructed tens of Elemental Spheres inside the Pir of Light, therefore resulting in an expansion of his energy storage.

    Expanding Michael''s energy storage was only a byproduct of the creation of the Elemental Spheres. It was not one of the main effects, though it was a pretty amazing perk that had been granted from the 1-Star Energy Pocket Soultrait.

    The Elemental Spheres'' main task was to purify and alter origin energy. Circting origin energy through the Sphere of Fire would create purified fire-attributed origin energy. Using the fire-attributed origin energy, Michael could replicate an innate fire affinity.

    Of course, Michael was not yet certain how strong the replicated elemental affinities would be, but it was a fact that Michael gained the power to recreate all elements and use them.

    It was simr to the Elemental Empress'' power with one major difference being that Michael didn''t have a particrly weak affinity like Zeroa.

    The only downside was probably that he would have to study the elements he wanted to use to unleash their true potential. Fortunately, that was no problem given that he learned a lot about all elements from his fusions with the Elemental Empress.

    Michael''s Elemental Spheres weren''t overwhelmingly strong. Spheres of Element was just a 4-Star Soultrait. It wasn''t a 10-Star Soultrait or the like. However, the Soultrait''s versatility made up for theck of overwhelming power.

    If Michael needed overwhelming power, he could always use a Soul Tear to amplify Spheres of Elements and apply a fewyers of Enhancement on the Soultrait Symbol. That ought to be more than enough to produce some power.

    If used properly and with some trickery, Michael was certain that 4-Star Spheres of Elements could be more valuable than various 6-Star Soultraits.

    The Spheres of Elements were also very useful when he was fused with Zeroa. He could strengthen the Elemental Empress'' Mythical mes and her other affinities as well using his purified elemental energy.

    That meant, Spheres of Elements expanded his energy storage, gave him ess to all elements ¨C with special properties such as the ice element''s freezing perk ¨C, and the Elementals Spheres could be used to strengthen Zeroa when they fused.

    ''Should I upgrade you to 5-Star right away?''

    Michael shook his head. He was curious how much the Elemental Spheres would change upon upgrading Spheres of Elements to 5-Star, but he didn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade it.

    That was not true. Michael had enough SoulStar Fragments to spend 45,000ish to upgrade Spheres of Light. However, Michael had to use his SoulStar Fragments for something else. He was not yet done improving his strength.

    Michael still had a long way to go before he was truly powerful. Others might not agree with that sentiment, but Michael felt oddly weak. No matter how hard he worked and how much stronger he grew....he was always one step behind his enemies. Even his mother was countless times stronger than him.

    Thinking about his mother, Michael cursed quietly. He didn''t have the time ¨C and intention ¨C to talk to her, but it was quite obvious that his mother was not only powerful but also knowledgeable about the Cursed Seals, Cursed Children, and Curse Users.

    There was also some sort of organization called ''Nest''. Michael was not sure what to think about the Nest, or that his mother seemed to have been restrained with a Geas...by a Divine Lifeform.

    Michael was severelycking information and that was getting on his nerves. Unfortunately, he didn''t have much time to procure detailed pieces of information because he was busy fighting in the Origin Expanse. He was not sure if he was going to like the intel once procured.

    He cursed quietly in his room and diverted his attention back to the main task. Three particr Soultrait Symbols appeared in front of him and Michael stared at them for a while.

    [Distorted Portal], [Warped Steps], [Flicker]. Those were the names of the Soultrait Symbols, the Soultraits had once belonged to the Teleporters.

    At first, Michael felt like integrating the Teleporters'' Soultraits into the Spheres of Elements to strengthen its spatial affinity. However, Michael quickly realized that fusing Soultraits was not a perfect solution for every problem.

    If he wanted a Soultrait specialized for a particr issue, he would have to create a Soultrait with a single power. Spheres of Elements created Elemental Spheres, granting him ess to all elements. That was great.

    However, it also meant that all of his elements were simrly powerful. The grand power of the Spheres of Elements was distributed equally among all elements. None was given an advantage other than specific advantageous perks.

    But Michael wanted a Soultrait that focused specifically on space travel and teleportation. He hoped to create a powerful Space-type Soultrait that would evolve and grow even stronger as its star rating increased. Using purified space-attributed origin energy from the Spheres of Elements would further enhance the Space-type Soultrait''s power. Michael didn''t have to think much about his next step of action. He knew enough about the Teleporters'' Soultraits to use Insert on them andbine them. It was possible that he would create something worse than the individual Soultraits by fusing them, but he could always extract them and try again.

    Failure would help him to learn more about his Soultraits, adapt, and improve his mistakes.

    Fusing the three Space-type Soultraits required longer than Michael expected. Completing the fusion process required the energy stored within several hundred Common Energy Stones. That was slightly surprising. After all, Michael didn''t have to use that much energy to fuse his other Soultraits before. Even Spheres of Elements didn''t require too much energy.

    Once the Teleporters'' Soultraits had been fused, Michael noticed golden mots glimmering within the Soultrait Symbol. It looked like tiny stars twinkled inside the Soultrait. His attention was naturally drawn to the Space-type Soultrait Symbol and it was not long before several tendrils of energy burst out of his War Rune. His War Rune lusted for the Space-type Soultrait. That took him by surprise.

    It had been eons since Michael had a hard time controlling his War Rune. His War Rune was in contact with hundreds of Soultraits, yet it rarely reacted to them, at this point. However, that wasn''t the case with his new Soultrait Symbol.

    ''Is it because the Soultrait is powerful, or because I''m highlypatible with this one?''

    Michael was not sure but he took it as a sign.

    He shut his eyes and essed the Sphere of Light. Initially, Michael nned to create a Soul Socket in the middle area of the Sphere of Light for his new Soultrait. However, sensing that his new Soultrait was special to the War Rune, Michael changed his decision.

    He created a Soul Socket in the inner area of the Sphere of Light using SoulStar Fragments.

    Unfortunately, that wasn''t cheap. Since his Sphere of Light had already expanded to hold and stabilize 10 Soultraits, the 11th Soul Socket wouldn''t be cheap.

    ''Good thing I didn''t upgrade Spheres of Elements to 5-Star at once. Missing out on the opportunity to create a Soul Socket and fuse my new Soultrait would be quite annoying.''

    Michael had to spend a fortune of 30,000 SoulStar Fragments to create the 11th Soul Socket in the Sphere of Light. The cost was quite high, but it was nothing inparison to his future expenses. It was impossible to tell how many SoulStar Fragments he would have to consume to create the 12th Soul Socket, but Michael felt that it would be a six-digit number.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t n to create the 12th Soul Socket anytime soon. He allowed the energy tendrils to coil around his new Soultrait and pull it inside his War Rune. Michael closed his eyes right after and observed the process of his newly acquired Soultrait connecting with the empty Soul Socket in the Sphere of Light''s inner area.

    The Soultrait attached to the empty Soul Socket right away and fused with Michael. A flood of information entered Michael''s head, teaching him the Soultrait''s name and a variety of uses.

    "Cosmic Stride. What a beautiful name."

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward, and he didn''t even have to think about the next course of action. He upgraded Cosmic Stride to 5-Star in an instant.

    The first upgrade cost 14 SoulStar Fragments, the second was a bit pricier at 80 SoulStar Fragments. The third upgrade required 750 SoulStar Fragments and the fourth upgrade required 8300 SoulStar Fragments.

    Upgrading Cosmic Stride was three times more expensive than upgrading other Soultraits. However, Michael didn''t even consider cursing his ''back luck''. He was not unlucky, at all.

    Cosmic Stride was powerful, and it grew exponentially more powerful after it had been upgraded to 5-Star.

    The upgrade of Cosmic Stride changed something within Michael. However, the changes were minusculepared to the alteration of his entire being caused by upgrading Extraction to 7-Star, or Superior Constitution to 6-Star.

    But that didn''t mean the changes were less insignificant. Michael''s perception of the surrounding space skyrocketed and he could sense things he hadn''t felt before. At first, it felt weird. But as he spent some time focusing on the space around him, Michael noticed a few things.

    He kicked the ground lightly and dashed in a direction. Michael leaped on a tree branch and continued to move around with nimble strides.

    All of a sudden, Michael used Cosmic Stride. He leaped through space and appeared several hundred meters ahead. However, instead of being demanded to look around to know where he was and how to move next, Michael was fully aware of everything in his surroundings.

    He knew where he was about tond even before he used Cosmic Stride.

    Michael didn''t even have to see where he was going to transport to. He could feel it.

 Chapter 626 Jealousy?

    <h4>Chapter 626 Jealousy?</h4>

    Sensing where he wouldnd even before he jumped through space and being able to see the energies through objects with Spirit Eyes was a greatbination. But then again, Michael didn''t have to use Spirit Eyes for Cosmic Stride to work perfectly fine. It was just that Spirit Eyes gave him another edge whenbined with Cosmic Stride.

    Michael spread his senses and traveled through the Untamed Jungle quickly. He used Cosmic Stride to jump several hundred meters ahead, to change his trajectory without losing any momentum, and to change his positioning ever so slightly.

    Cosmic Stride was several times stronger than Quinn Karta''s Blink. Even after Quinnbined Blink with his other Soultrait, Mark of the Dragon, Cosmic Stride would be more efficient. It consumed only little energy for short-distance jumps through space and even the long-distance jumps through space were rather energy-efficient.

    Interestingly enough, Michael''s jumps through space released little to no spatial fluctuations. As long as he learned how to control Cosmic Stride, Michael was certain that he could cover his traces near-perfectly.

    However, one of the most important aspects of Cosmic Stride was a function called ''Return to the Origin''. Michael could set an anchor that allowed him to return to his territory with Cosmic Stride wherever he was, and at all times.

    Of course, it wouldn''t work if the space around him was locked or if he didn''t have any ess to his energy storage, but Michael could return to his territory in an instant using the Return of the Origin function.

    That was extremely helpful as it allowed Michael to change his tactics and move more openly against his enemies. There was no need to worry about someone attacking his territory during his absence. He could trash his enemies far away from the Untamed Jungle and return at once if needed.

    ''I can go to the Savannah Region!'' Michael clenched his fists tightly, a devilish smile blossoming on his face.

    He could fight the Council of Xylon like crazy without having to worry about his territory. A simple use of Cosmic Stride and he would be back in his territory, ready to defeat whatever opponent was daring enough to attack his lovely little settlement.

    ''It seems like I can bring other people with me using Cosmic Stride, but the energy consumption increases tremendously. The heavier the targets the higher the energy consumption.''

    Michael sensed that it was possible to bring two or three dozen people with him using Cosmic Stride. In the worst case, Michael would have to ask Zeroa to help a little bit. Stinger was also present to stretch out its helpful stinger. Bringing people onto the battlefield with him wouldn''t be a big issue.

    He set up an anchor using Cosmic Stride with that in mind. There was no need to hesitate any longer. Setting up the anchor took up a few hours, but it worked perfectly fine once he was done.

    Once he was done, Michael encountered Lilica and the others. Most of their debts in the Jungle Shop had been paid off. Michael considered that as he approached them.

    "I''m nning to initiate a counteroffensive against the Council of Xylon soon. If you want to jo¨C..." Michael was unable to say anything else as the Forest Elven Adventurers spun in his direction. They stared intently at him and eximed near-simultaneously.

    "I''m ready!" Lilica dered.

    "Let''s go kill them all!" Mika joined.

    Even Opars didn''t hold back at this moment, "I''m lusting for blood."

    Opars surprised him the most, and Michael required a few seconds to get back to his senses.

    "I was going to ask if you guys want me to upgrade your Soultraits since you guys are not yet at the 3rd Tier. But...I guess you want to fight like this..." Michael forced a smile on his lips as he stared at the ambitious Forest Elven Adventurers.

    "We don''t have anymore Jungle Points and cannot afford the more expensive upgrades anytime soon. There is no way ¨C..."

    This time it was Michael who was interested in the Forest Elf.

    "I didn''t n to ask you for Jungle Points. I''m just making sure that everyone will be well-armed for the fight against the Council of Xylon."

    Michael was not too worried about the Forest Elves''bat prowess. However, he learned that even Awakened with three well-suited 4-Star Soultraits were not invincible. Despite spending a small fortune to strengthen the Untamed Awakened, ten of them died against the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    The Council of Xylon was weaker overall, but their numbers made up for theck of great powerhouses.

    Michael did not want to take any risks. He was hoping to strengthen the Awakened working for him, and most importantly, his friends. It might be important to have some rules in his territory, but Michael would rather invest his fortune freely to strengthen those important to him than see them die just because they ''couldn''t afford it''.

    Michael couldn''t afford to see more dear people die. Thus, he decided to invest the remaining 14,945 SoulStar Fragments in his possession to strengthen Lilica, Opars, Mika, Thaor, Lokai, Tiara, and Frederik.

    It would be great to throw a few Soultraits at Hiraku as well, but Michael figured that Hiraku had a very careful personality. Hiraku would doubt Michael''s actions if he treated him too well.

    But, then again, Michael''s reasoning was simple. Investing more in his dear people increased their survivability and strengthened them. They would survive head-on fights against powerful enemies and have a higher chance of defeating them. Their kills would strengthen Michael due to the influx of their energy shares and he would get to loot the corpses of stronger enemies.

    There were no downsides to his intention to strengthen his friends if one excluded the jealousy of other Untamed Awakened and the low possibility of his friends taking Michael''s Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades for granted. Thetter was not something he was worried about. Instead, Michael worried that his friends would grow too confident in their powers, therefore, attacking enemies that were too much to handle.

    But that potential issue was something Michael could restrain. All he had to do was beat up his friends and crush their arrogance repeatedly until they stayed humble.

    ''How am I going to ensure that nobody is going to be jealous? Is that even possible, in the first ce?

    Was jealousy something that could be prevented? Not really. In life, everyone has a different starting point. Some were born into a wealthy family with a great background, whereas others were not as fortunate. They were poor and had to give up their dreams to start earning money early on just to survive.

    Michael had been very jealous in the past as well. Whenever he saw happy families roaming through the markets and shopping centers, Michael had been jealous of their lives. He had Danny, but even his brother was a busy man. Daniel Fang had always given his best to take care of Michael''s health, and well-being. He even neglected his studies to ensure that Michael could enter a promising school in the Golden Sun Province.

    Michael knew that he owed Danny a lot. He often felt guilty in the past, knowing that his brother sacrificed a lot to ensure that Michael would grow up with the best teaching and training. That wouldn''t have been necessary if his family never abandoned them, and Michael found himself hating his family for that¡­but also envying everyone else for having a family to rely on.

    Michael had his brother¡­but who could Danny rely on?

    Thinking about his brother and his youthful jealousy, Michael could only sigh in regret. There were many things he regretted about his childhood, but one of the things was that he never made it easy for his brother.

    ''I will get you back. It''s my turn to ept care of you now!'' He caressed the Miniature Coffin Keychain gently and pressed his lips together.

    Michael understood that he couldn''t prevent jealousy. The only good thing was that Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were open and straightforward.

    ''How about I add somepetition? The winner obtains a Soultrait Upgrade?''

    It was worth consideringpetitions and tournaments. He would strengthen his friends for now and allow everyone else topete inpetitionster. Thepetitions would force everyone to strive for more strength. They would train more and use theirpetitive spirit to grow stronger to obtain more Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades.

    Their jealousy would be consumed by their battle spirit.

    ''Good thing I don''t have many Human Awakened working for me yet.'' Michael joked lightly.

    Humans were far moreplex than the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They were harder to handle, a lot greedier, and they were more likely to ept someone else''s kindness and generosity for granted much faster than the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    ''Humans are annoying now that I think about it.'' Michael thought like he was not a human himself. He chuckled lightly and diverted his focus back to his friends.

    Lilica, Mika, Opars, Tiara, Thaor, Lokai, and Frederik gathered in the office after he ordered a gathering.

    "I can upgrade six Soultraits to 5-Star right now. I''m intending to attack the Council of Xylon soon and I want to strengthen you guys as much as possible. Everyone present is very important to me, and I want to ensure that all of you survive. But I can only strengthen six Soultraits to 5-Star right now. That means one of you guys will possess to take a step back until¨C..."

    Michael was not even done speaking when Frederik raised his hand.

    "You''ve helped me a lot already. I possess yet to pay you back. There is no way, I can ept another Soultrait Upgrade from you right now." he said.

    Michael was about to nod, only to see that the others had also taken a step back.

    "I yield," Thaor uttered briskly.

    "I don''t deserve another Soultrait Upgrade right now." Lokai shook her head.

    "I haven''t paid you back for everything you''ve given me¡­" Tiara mumbled quieter than the rest.

    "Our Elders wouldn''t want us to ept advantage of you." Lilica pointed out, and both Mika and Opars nodded.

    "I was told to stop taking advantage of your generosity. I would love to get dozens of Soultraits and possess all of them upgraded to 10-Star right away, but I was told to hold back and focus on my current Soultraits." Mika looked ashamed to the ground.

    "Mika and Lilica are right. We gained a lot already, and we possess yet toprehend more about our new powers." Opars exined.

    Michael frowned at his friends and rubbed his temples in frustration.

    ''What the hell is wrong with them?!?''

 Chapter 627 Michael, the Mad Scientist

    <h4>Chapter 627 Michael, the Mad Scientist</h4>

    His whole n had been destroyed.

    Everyone rejected his offer, leaving him with almost 15,000 SoulStar Fragments to use. Michael wanted to strengthen his friends and he had no clear way to use the remaining SoulStar Fragments right now.

    It was possible to upgrade one of his Soultraits a little, but none of them could receive aplete upgrade. They wouldn''t advance to the next star rating.

    ''What about fusing more Soultrait Symbols? Blood Maniption should suit Superior Constitution quite well.''

    Using Insert with a bunch of Soultraits to provide his other Soultraits with unique perks would strengthen them tremendously. Furthermore, given his experiments, inserting low-ranked Soultraits into Soultraits of a higher star rating would increase the upgrade cost only a little. The Essence of the Soultrait wouldn''t be changed, after all.

    "But wouldn''t it be a waste to fuse Blood Maniption as a sub-Soultrait?"

    Michael felt that Blood Maniption was a decently powerful Soultrait. Maybe,bining it with Superior Constitution once upgraded to 6-Star would create a Soultrait thatbined the strongest perks of Superior Constitution and Blood Maniption.

    But then again, Michael couldn''t be certain that fusing Blood Maniption and Superior Constitution would result in a stronger Soultrait. It was merely his gut feeling that told him so.

    Some Soultraits would lose certain powerful perks when their essence fused with other Soultraits, therefore, losing some of their unique power in the process.

    The only major downside of fusing Soultraits ¨C excluding the increased upgrade cost ¨C was that Soultraits had only one main power. Spheres of Elements was a good example. The 4-Star Soultrait had various special perks and unique characteristics, but its main power was to create Elemental Spheres inside the Pir of Light.

    The result of that main power was that he gained control of all elements and the expansion of his energy storage, but it was a matter of fact that the power of his elemental affinities was not that great.

    He was better than the Elemental Empress, excluding her mythical fire affinity, but overall, his affinity with the other elements was rather average.

    Even Frederik''s Aeroan, a Soultrait that focused solely on the control and shaping of the Winds, was much stronger and more potent than Michael''s Sphere of Wind.

    That was also why Michael ended up fusing the three Space-type Soultraits without any other Soultraits rather than fusing them into the Spheres of Elements. He wanted a Soultrait that focused solely on spatial control and teleportation.

    ''Combining Blood Maniption and Superior Constitution sounds like fun, but I don''t have enough resources to fuse them properly.'' Michaelined inwardly.

    He didn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Blood Maniption to 6-Star and he couldn''t lower the star rating of Superior Constitution without breaking his body apart, either.

    That was the downside of Soultraits that altered your Body, Soul, or Mind at a certain star rating.

    Michael couldn''t downgrade them or remove them from the Sphere of Light without tearing his body apart. He would end up getting crippled if he was lucky. Or was it a misfortune if he ended up crippled for life rather than dying quietly? Well...it didn''t matter. Michael wouldn''t put his life in danger merely to continue experimenting.

    Michael was probably the only person who wouldin about being unable to lower the star rating of his high-ranking Soultrait. Nobody would want to lower their Soultraits star rating. That was just nonsense ¨C for people other than Michael.

    ''I can always lower the Soultrait Upgrade costs for the next few upgrades in the Jungle Shop. Let''s give everyone some benefits.'' Michael thought with a shrug.

    If his friends didn''t want to get anymore freebies, he might as well improve everyone''s benefits a little bit.

    Once he increased the discount for Soultrait Upgrades in the Jungle Shop, Michael was back to focus on experimenting.

    This time, however, Michael wasn''t going to experiment with Soultrait Symbols. He had a lot more resources to experiment with.

    He retrieved a bunch of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments from his War Rune and used Insert.

    First, Michael inserted one Ordinary Summoning Scroll into another Ordinary Scroll. The result was minor changes to the appearance of the Ordinary Scroll. A letter formed on the Ordinary Scroll''s seal. However, it was iplete.

    ''It probably needs a few more Scrolls?'' Michael wondered, tilting his head lightly as he used Insert to integrate more Ordinary Scrolls.

    Upon integrating 10 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, Michael received a pleasant surprise.

    "A Named Summoning Scroll." He mumbled, staring at the Carpenter Summoning Scroll that had formed in front of him.

    A Carpenter Scroll might not be too valuable for Michael, but it was a 1-Star upation. Being able to form Named Scrolls with Insert was amazing!

    Michael''s hair stood up to its end as various possibilities shed through his head.

    ''Can I create higher-ranked Named Scrolls if I integrate Named Scrolls? What about integrating Mythic Scrolls? And what happens when I use Insert to integrate Scroll Fragments with Named Scrolls? Will their star rating increase naturally?

    Michael swallowed hard, the corner of his lips curling upward. He could tell that he was onto something big.

    He used Insert on more Ordinary Scrolls to see what was going to happen. In a matter of minutes, Michael ended up with more than a dozen Named Summoning Scrolls and a much better understanding of the rules that apply to integrating Summoning Scrolls.

    The minimum number required to create a Named Scroll was 10 Ordinary Scrolls. However, it was possible to integrate more Ordinary Scrolls. Integrating more Ordinary Scrolls didn''t improve the Named Scroll''s star rating, but it allowed him to influence the Named Scroll in another way.

    Michael could influence the type of Summon that would emerge from a Named Scroll if the initial result didn''t suit his demands. The Named Scroll conjured from integrating 10 Ordinary Scrolls was random, but the subsequent integrated Ordinary Scrolls allowed Michael to make minor changes.

    Following that, Michael tried focusing on the creation of Archer Scrolls. He decided to use and integrate 2500 Ordinary Scrolls to create 129 Archer Scrolls. The result wasn''t extraordinary, but Michael''s control of the influence he had on the creation of Named Scrolls improved rapidly.

    He was certain that he could create Archer Scrolls more easily and with far fewer Ordinary Scrolls than before.

    However, now that he had 129 Archer Scrolls, Michael used Insert tobine the 1-Star Named Scrolls. He was curious about something.

    Hebined exactly 100 Named Scrolls before the Archer Scroll changed once again. The parchment turned ck with a silver seal keeping the Scroll locked. The Scroll looked simr to a Mythic Summoning Scroll, but it had words engraved on the seal.

    "Sharpshooter."

    The 1-Star Named Scroll had been upgraded to a 2-Star Named Scroll. Archer evolved into Sharpshooter!

    Michael nibbled on his lower lip. He had a hard time suppressing a vibrant smile. Taking a deep breath, Michael repeated the same process once again. However, this time, Michael didn''t use Named Scrolls of the same upation.

    He used the remaining 29 Archer Scrolls and created 71 Named Scrolls randomly. Once he was done, Micheal integrated them, creating another 2-Star Named Scroll.

    "Enchanter. That''s interesting," Michael murmured, "I used only one Enchanter Novice Scroll, yet it gave me the 2-Star version. Is the creation of the 2-Star Named Scroll random, or is it based on probability?"

    Michael had been sure that it was thetter, but that would mean the probability of receiving the upgraded version of Enchanter Novice had only been 1%. He should have received another Sharpshooter Scroll since he used 29 Archer Scrolls.

    "It could have been luck."

    Michael repeated the test once again but with a slight change. He utilized 71 Warrior Scrolls and another batch of 29 Archer Scrolls. If it was probability-based, Michael should obtain a Great Warrior or Sharpshooter Scroll.

    The result was pretty straightforward. Michaelbined the Named Scrolls and obtained a Great Warrior Scroll.

    "Okay¡­" He made a record in the back of his head right before his attention flicked to the Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    "It should have been a little bit wasteful to use Named Scrolls to enhance their star rating like this. Summoning Scroll Fragments should be more than enough to do the same¡­

    right?"

    Michael retrieved tens of thousands of Summoning Scroll Fragments, several Named Scrolls, and Ordinary Scrolls.

    First, he began using Insert to integrate Scroll Fragments into an Ordinary Scroll. Unexpectedly enough, 9,975 Summoning Scroll Fragments were drained before the Ordinary Scroll transformed into a Mythic Scroll.

    That was something Michael expected, but it was still necessary to test out. He didn''t want to miss any anomalies that may or may not allow him to cheat the system.

    He nced at a Warrior Summoning Scroll and a bunch of Scroll Fragments.

    "I utilized 71 Warrior Scrolls and 29 Archer Scrolls tobine them into Great Warrior. Combining these 100 Named Scrolls required 1421 Ordinary Scrolls which is equivalent to¡­

    14,000ish Summoning Scroll Fragments." Michael mumbled, only to shake his head, "If I buy these Summoning Scrolls from the Bartholomew Corporation, I would only obtain 1800ish Summoning Scroll Fragments."

    That factor made things a little bit moreplicated. If he purchased Summoning Scrolls from somewhere it might be more valuable to use Insert and merge them to form Named Scrolls and enhance them further through a second integration. Meanwhile, the Summoning Scrolls procured through his effort, and the effort of his army, should be extracted and turned into Summoning Scroll Fragments to upgrade Named Scrolls¡­IF the upgrade was not more expensive than the creation of a Mythic Scroll.

    But that was something Michael tested out¡­and the result was just like he had expected.

    Upgrading the 1-Star Warrior Scroll to the 2-Star Great Warrior Scroll required exactly 10,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    "Interesting," Michael murmured, his golden eyes shining brightly.

    "But¡­what happens if I integrate more Fragments into the Great Warrior Scroll?"

 Chapter 628 Human Experiments 1.0

    <h4>Chapter 628 Human Experiments 1.0</h4>

    [A/N: I will only release 1 Chapter a day this weekend(2nd and 3rd March) because it''s my bday.]

    --

    Michael was very curious about new ways to use Insert and Extraction together to gain as many benefits as possible. It was very interesting and it taught him a lot about his Soultraits and the reason Extraction and Insert had such great synergy.

    Michael continued integrating Summoning Scroll Fragments into the Great Warrior Scroll.

    This time, he wasn''t sure how many Scroll Fragments would be used up to upgrade the 2-Star Named Scroll to a 3-Star Named Scroll. He continued to integrate more Scroll Fragments while growing more impatient by the minute.

    "Finally!" He murmured once the Named Scroll changed after 100,000 Scroll Fragments had been integrated.

    The Great Warrior Scroll had been upgraded to the 3-Star Warlord Scroll!

    "100,000 Fragments is equivalent to 10 Mythic Scrolls. The chance to summon a 3-Star Summon from a Mythic Scroll is close to 10% That means the probability would provide me with one 3-Star Summon out of 10 Mythic Scrolls," Michael mumbled, his eyes lingering on the 3-Star Warlord Scroll, "That leaves nine Mythic Scrolls with the potential to summon 2-Star, 3-Star, or even 4-Star Summons."

    Upgrading the Great Warrior Scroll to the 3-Star Warlord Scroll wasn''t really worth it if he cared only about the probability.

    However, the advantage of spending Scroll Fragments to upgrade the Named Scrolls was that he could freely decide what Summons he was going to summon. If he needed high-ranked Architects, he could create a 1-Star Architect Scroll and upgrade it using Scroll Fragments instead of hoping to summon a high-ranked Architect with a stroke of luck.

    Using Insert allowed him to take ''luck'' out of the equation. That was going to be pretty useful if applied it properly.

    "I still have close to two million Scroll Fragments and almost 15,000 SoulStar Fragments left. That''s more than enough to experiment...like a lot!"

    Michael''s smile turned devilish. Many questions shed through his mind, and he had too little knowledge to answer most of them.

    ''Can I insert SoulStar Fragments into people to awaken theirtent potential? Or is it possible to use Summoning Scroll Fragments into Summons to upgrade their star rating even after they''ve been summoned?''

    He tested out thetter with a nearby attendant. He tried to integrate a Summoning Scroll Fragment into the Summon, but it did not work out, unfortunately.

    However, Michael wasn''t too sad about that. Integrating a Summoning Scroll Fragment into the Summon might not have worked, but he clearly sensed that Insert might be capable of doing something simr in the future. It was merely too low-ranked for now.

    That was good to know.

    "I heard that you can give Awakened Soultraits. I...do know that it doesn''t work with Summons, but I also heard that you have unique abilities...so I was wondering if we can grow stronger as well." That question was something Michael heard countless times until now. He lost count of how many times he had been asked by his subjects how they could grow stronger as fast as possible.

    Many were not satisfied by being ''mere'' Starless or 1-Star Summons, but they were simply not talented enough to be higher-ranked Summons. Others were justzy, whereas a third group of Summons had yet to find what they were truly good at.

    Usually, Michael said that he couldn''t help Summons to grow stronger in the same way he could help Awakened to grow stronger. He couldn''t imnt Soultraits into Summons, after all.

    But did that also mean that he couldn''t insert SoulStar Fragments into Summons with stronger Souls? Michael found a few candidates with powerful Souls. They were a selected few who managed to start refining their Soul, which was a rare sight among Summons.

    Michael wanted to test out whether he could insert a single SoulStar Fragment into them and how their Souls would react. Was it possible to integrate more SoulStar Fragments into them in the near future, or would their bodies reject the SoulStar Fragments? Would they regain the Soultraits from their past lives, or would they not awaken any power? If thetter was the case, why was it possible for the Masked Saber ¨C Daniel Fang ¨C to use the silver qi of his Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait even after he died as an Awakened?

    Was that really because he was a Cursed Child, or was the reason even simpler?

    The Summons with stronger Souls than their peers had been willing to undergo certain human experiments. Michael didn''t n to kill them, but he inserted SoulStar Fragments into them. Each of them received exactly one SoulStar Fragment to ensure that the pressure wouldn''t be too high right from the start.

    Michael also summoned the Soul Grimoire and used Insert to apply Soul Tears to the Summons'' souls. Furthermore, he added a fewyers of Enhancement to make sure that his Summons wouldn''t tear apart all of a sudden.

    Michael was not sure what he expected from the Summons, but the results of the first human experiments were¡­not that great. Half of the Summons nearly died seconds after the SoulStar Fragments had been inserted. Their Energy Veins were blown apart and Michael had to remove the SoulStar Fragments right away to ensure that the Summons wouldn''t die.

    The bodies of the remaining Summons didn''t repel the SoulStar Fragments as aggressively as their friends. One of the Summons didn''t notice a alter in his body or soul. Unfortunately, the SoulStar Fragment didn''t react with the Summon. It didn''t integrate and fuse with the Summon.

    Michael could extract the SoulStar Fragment once again without any problems.

    The others, on the other hand, showed some reaction. Three Summons could sense something. They felt that something within them was changing. However, before the changemenced properly, their bodies showed signs of falling apart. Michael had to react swiftly to extract the SoulStar Fragments before they could cause further harm.

    It was a good thing that Opars and some Priests were present to tend to the injured Summons. Michael joined them by using Archangel''s Grace by inserting the light-attributed energy within the Elemental Spheres to empower and enhance Archangel''s Grace.

    ''The three Summons with the greatestprehension and progress of the Soul refinement techniques were about toprehend something. Their bodies were about to change. Does that mean it will be possible to integrate SoulStar Fragments into them once they advanced their Tier and Soul Refinement Technique?''

    Michael couldn''t be certain about that, but he guessed that his brother''s Soul was naturally extremely powerful and sturdy, which is why he managed to use his Soultrait''s power even after he resurrected as the Masked Saber.

    As a Cursed Child, his Mind, Body, and Soul had been tempered since birth. Even after death and his resurrection, Danny must have been able to retain tiny glimpses of his former prowess.

    Thinking about that, Michael was impressed, but he also felt a little bit confused.

    He touched the Miniature Coffin Keychain, closed his eyes, and tried to sense his brother''s Living Soul inside the Miniature Coffin Keychain. Now that he had done this dozens of times, it was much easier for Michael to ess the Miniature Coffin Keychain. He didn''t have to use Extraction to ess the inside of the keychain.

    Sensing his brother''s Living Soul warmed Michael''s heart. Of course, Michael couldn''t be certain what his brother would think if he were to tell him that he was going to resurrect him, but he hoped that his brother wouldn''t hate him for that.

    ''He shouldn''t hate me for trying to resurrect him¡­right? Why would he?'' Michael asked himself in doubt, ''But what if he doesn''t like that I go against fate? Maybe he''s thinking that he was fated to die, so he epted it¡­ Danny was always weird when it came to destiny. He wants to go back, right?''

    Michael couldn''t say anything for sure, but he felt Danny''s will to live in the Living Soul. The Soul clung onto thest remnants of life to prevent losing everything¡­to prevent being pushed into the cycle of reincarnation. That was what Michael felt when he sensed Danny''s Living Soul.

    He was also certain that his brother''s will to live was also the reason why the Nest was so interested in Living Soul. It was probably also the reason the Hellbound Cataclysm was bound to happen as long as nothing changed.

    "Once I removed his Living Soul from the keychain and put it safely into the Soul Grimoire I should be able to tell whether he wants to move onto the afterlife, or if he doesn''t want to leave. Don''t think too much, Michael!"

    Michael cursed himself a little bit for overthinking. There was no need to think so much.

    It was much better to keep his mind calm and to do a few more human experiments!

 Chapter 629 Human Experiments 2.0

    <h4>Chapter 629 Human Experiments 2.0</h4>

    Since it was not yet possible to insert SoulStar Fragments into his Summons without killing them, Michael decided to try something else.

    He had various Artifacts stored in his War Rune and the warehouse. They collected dust and were better off being used instead.

    Michael began a few experiments using Insert on Artifacts to merge them with Monsters and Summons. The first Artifacts he retrieved for that job were essory Artifacts. He inserted Tierless Earring Artifacts into the earlobes of his Tier-1 Summons and some Tier-1 Bilrox to observe their bodies'' reaction to the integration of Artifacts.

    The external enhancement from the Tierless Earring Artifacts was low, but that was fine. The Earring Artifacts focused on amplifying the hearing sense instead.

    Once the Earring Artifact had been integrated into the targets'' earlobes, Michael made them undergo a few tests. They had been examined a few minutes ago and repeated the same process once again to test if the effects of the Earring Artifacts were still active, or if integrating them damaged the Artifacts.

    Interestingly enough, the Artifacts worked like usual. They enhanced the Summons and Bilrox''s hearing sense while also granting a minor external enhancement. Their senses improved as well.

    That was a little unexpected. Only Awakened were supposed to be able to use Artifacts. It shouldn''t be possible for the Summons and Bilrox to gain the external enhancement of an Artifact alongside their special perk.

    ''So Integrating Artifacts with Summons and Monsters does work, but they feel ufortable. They cannot convey what''s wrong with them, but their bodies tell them that something is wrong. Does that mean anything or is it merely because a foreign object entered their bodies?''

    If it was thetter, the problem could be solved rather easily. Desensitizing someone might not be easy, but it was possible. However, if the difort originated from the Summons and Bilrox''s souls, it would be a little bit moreplicated.

    ''I integrated 2-Star Tierless Artifacts into Tier-1 Summons and Bilrox. Is that still too much for them to bear?''

    Michael fell into deep thought and called for some Tier-2 Summons and the Tier-1 Summons whose Souls were stronger than the rest. The trio with the highest progress in the Soul Refinement Technique was also present. Michael had extracted the SoulStar Fragment early enough to ensure that their bodies and souls didn''t sustain any major injuries.

    They were willing to continue experimenting.

    He inserted more 2-Star Tierless Artifacts into the Tier-2 Summons and the Summons with strengthened soul. Their bodies'' responses were simr to the others, but there was a major difference. The difort was present within everyone, but the Summons whose souls were strengthened said that it didn''t affect them.

    On the contrary, the Tier-2 Summons felt only a little bit less ufortable than the Tier-1 Summons.

    Michael made notes about everything and continued the experiments. He changed some Artifacts, improved their star rating, and continued writing down notes. Michael observed everything in great detail and learned a lot.

    ''Ordinary Summons can endure the potency of Low-Tier Artifacts. However, the higher the Artifact''s star rating the higher the pressure on the Summons'' souls. Only Summons whose souls have been strengthened won''t have any issues with Low-Tier Artifacts.''

    The soul-strengthened Summons wouldn''t be able to use Rare Tier-2 Artifacts while being at the 2nd Tier, but it should be feasible to use Tier-1 Artifacts on Tier-2 Summons as long as their progress with the Soul Refinement Technique didn''t stagnate. As they deepen their refinement degree it might even be possible to use Artifacts with higher star-rating.

    That was an amazing find, and it shocked Michael quite a bit. It was not every day that Michael learned about ways to turn a minority of his Summons into little powerhouses.

    ''Does that mean I can integrate both SoulStar Fragments and Artifacts into the soul-strengthened Summons as long as they practice their Soul Refinement Technique diligently? Or maybe, they''ll have to choose between Artifacts and the SoulStar Fragment.''

    Michael was quite satisfied with his findings. He used Extraction to remove the integrated Artifacts once again and rewarded everyone with a few Jungle Points for their great help in today''s experiments. Michael felt like experimenting a little bit more, but he didn''t want to go overboard. He didn''t want to kill his Summons by ident.

    "It won''t be too difficult to find the Summons who can refine their souls. Testing everyone might take a while, but that''s only a matter of time. But...how can I create more soul-strengthened Summons?"

    Michael had been hopeful before. He was hoping that integrating SoulStar Fragments into the Summons would not only awaken their past life''s Soultrait but he could strengthen their Souls as well. Unfortunately, that wasn''t feasible.

    He needed something else to strengthen his Summons'' Souls to integrate Artifacts and SoulStar Fragments into them.

    The human experiments had been quite interesting, but Michael was still not done experimenting. He had yet to use insert on multiple Artifacts to upgrade them, if that was possible, and he was nning to do the same with the Blueprints.

    Michael possessed 35,208 Blueprints in his War Rune and more than 80% were duplicates of blueprints he possessed already. After putting aside more than 5,000 blueprints to store in the warehouse, Michael was left with roughly 30,000 blueprints to use in his experiments.

    He began using Insert on blueprints of a simr type, but he mixed random blueprints as well. Michael possessed a strategy up to his sleeves, but it wasn''t anything special. All he had to do was to check a few things. If they operated out as intended, it would be great. If not, it was also fine.

    Micheal used Insert and fused a bunch of blueprints. However, oddly enough, Michael never managed to procure what he presumed to obtain.

    1,000 ordinary blueprints fused into a single blueprint of higher quality whereas 10,000 blueprints transformed into an Exotic blueprint.

    While that seemed nice at first, Michael couldn''t find any logical reason why the integration of 10,000 blueprints led to the creation of that particr structure blueprint. It felt like the integration of blueprints resulted in random blueprints of a higher quality. While that was still fine, Michael could tell that he could gain more by selling ordinary Agriculture blueprints to the Bartholomew Corporation rather than scrapping them by integrating them into a random Exotic blueprint.

    The Exotic blueprint might not even be useful to him, or anyone else.

    "Maybe, I can control the creation of particr blueprints once Insert is at a higher star rating?" Michael wondered.

    It should be possible, but he couldn''t be certain.

    He decided to stop using Insert on blueprints, for the time being. There was no way that he would continue to waste his precious resources now that he knew that it wouldn''t bring any benefits.

    Michael''s attention drifted to the Artifacts spread around him. He had a little more than 2300 Artifacts from the battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army and he was more than willing to use them to keep experimenting.

    Michael chose to use Insert to integrate a bunch of simr Artifacts and watched as they merged. It was weird to see the density of some Weapon Artifacts increase as they fused. It felt like he was able to create heavy alloys by merging the Artifacts, but it was a little bit moreplex than that. Michael created upgraded versions of low-ranked Artifacts by merging them. The weight of the Artifacts assimted, just like the Artifacts'' special perks.

    Merging Artifacts was almost as energy-draining as fusing Soultraits. He possessed to retrieve dozens of Energy Stones to replenish his used-up energy as he experimented with the wide variety of Artifacts in his possession.

    "This is fun."

    Michael licked his lower lip as he spent tens of hours integrating Artifacts. However, it didn''t end with using Insert. Michael added Extraction into the equation by extracting certain properties of a few particr Artifacts before applying Insert to integrate the extracted properties into another Artifact.

    Michael never learned how to create Artifacts. He was not a cksmith or anything like that. But bybining Insert and Extraction, Michael could create his own Artifacts ¨C specialized works with customized effects.

    There were many things to pay attention to, including the Artifacts'' material limit and the potency of external enhancements and special properties. However, by consulting the cksmith from the Underground Forging Hall and using the Relic of Draka to his advantage, Michael managed to upgrade Natural Artifacts and add special properties from customized Artifacts.

    Michael turned into an Artificer¡­and more than that. He could not only turn ordinary weapons into extraordinary Artifacts, or alter natural Artifacts by engraving special enchantments on them.

    No.

    As long as Michael was given the necessary resources, he could upgrade ordinary Artifacts into extraordinary tools.

    He could use Insert to merge Artifacts and upgrade their star rating and it was also possible to create customized Artifacts using Natural Artifacts as the foundation.

    One of the best results after experimenting for tens of hours was an Epic Tierless Artifact. The Artifact might not be useful for Michael or the Untamed Awakened, but the Epic Tierless Artifact he possessed created was special. Not only performed it possess an extremely high external enhancement, but it had a protection enchantment that was strong enough to protect the Artifact wielder from the attacks of a Late Tier-1 Awakened.

    Creating the Artifact hadn''t been easy. It possessed been extremely pricey as well.

    However, Michael was satisfied. He utilized Insert for the first time on Artifacts and created such an excellent piece of Artifact right away.

    The next time, Michael would be able to create an even better Artifact without wasting any precious resources.

    It was only a matter of time before he created Legendary Artifacts for Higher Lifeforms!

 Chapter 630 Brawl in the Arena [1]

    <h4>Chapter 630 Brawl in the Arena [1]</h4>

    Michael could have continued to experiment, but he was more curious about how much money he could earn from his experiments.

    He never researched the price for some Named Scrolls, and he had never seen a 3-Star Named Scroll either. He wondered if he could earn more from selling 2-Star and 3-Star Named Scrolls than by trading Mythic Scrolls for more than 10,000 Ordinary Scrolls.

    "The anonymous trades should have beenpleted a long time ago. Did Kraft Viton forget about them?" Michael wondered, his voice a whisper.

    He couldn''t me Kraft Viton if he forgot about the Mythic Scrolls since he forgot about them as well, but that would change now.

    ''I should produce a few more Mythic Scrolls to earn more Ordinary Scrolls,'' Michael nodded slowly.

    He retrieved the remaining Scroll Fragments andbined them into Mythic Scrolls. Michael used Extraction on the remaining Ordinary Scrolls andbined the extracted Scroll Fragments into more Mythic Scrolls.

    "One Sharpshooter Scroll, one Enchanter Scroll, one Great Warrior Scroll, one Warlord Scroll, and 195 Mythic Scrolls. That, 16,363 Agriculture-type blueprints, and 1524 Artifacts should be more than enough to earn...a little bit." Michael chuckled lightly, a bright smile blossoming on his lips as he opened the Runic Gate.

    He could have given everything to Reba to forward the goods to the Bartholomew Corporation outside the Origin Expanse, but Michael wanted to check on his friends in the Saphirke Military Academy as well. Using his trades with Kraft Viton and the Bartholomew Corporation as an excuse to leave the Origin Expanse was pretty useful. It ensured that Michael wouldn''t stay in the Origin Expanse all the time ¨C though that was something he felt like doing more often these days.

    The troubles within the Origin Expanse were simple. All he had to do was to kill his enemies. The problems would disperse with the death of his foes.

    However, the issues outside the Origin Expanse were different. They were more problematic.

    But Michael felt that he was capable enough to solve the issues outside the Origin Expanse soon as well. He continued to smile and stepped through the Runic Gate.

    Once he emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate, Michael found himself in front of the training hall where he found Frederik and Hiraku. Recalling his first encounter with Hiraku, Michael smiled lightly.

    Hiraku was a bit cold and hard to approach, but he was a good guy. If Hiraku hadn''t been there to help him, the territory and the Untamed Army would have suffered more casualties. Michael didn''t even want to imagine how much worse the situation would have ended without Hiraku.

    ''I hope he stays.''

    Hiraku didn''t mention that he wanted to leave the Untamed Jungle anytime soon. That was great since Michael had no idea when the Council of Xylon would attack again. Michael deployed more than enough Scouts in the Savannah Region to check on everything, so he wasn''t too worried about being away from his territory for a short while, but he was not sure what awaited him and his people in the future.

    ''How do I convince him to stay and fight for me?''

    It felt like Hiraku wasn''t too interested in Michael''s offer to give him another Soultrait Symbol and upgrade it. That was unexpected and it left Michael with little to offer.

    ''Maybe, he wants some Soul Techniques? No. He doesn''t seem like a materialistic guy. I cannot read him at all!''

    Hiraku was a bit frustrating. It was near-impossible to read people like him.

    Michael sighed deeply and called Kraft Viton to see if he was in his office, or if he was busy in the Origin Expanse. The call didn''t go through, at first, but less than ten minutester, Michael received a message from Kraft Viton.

    [Kraft Viton: I''m busy until evening. These idiots of the High Society are as stubborn as ever. Now they won''t even ept my generous help when I offered them to send reinforcement into the Sacred Desert. These arrogant snobs think that I want to get a piece of their cake. Foolish bastards!]

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he finished reading Kraft Viton''s message. It was clear that the old man was angry.

    That was a rare sight and it surprised Michael quite a bit.

    ''Why does he care so much about the Sacred Desert? He is even more obsessed with it than...I am...''

    Michael wanted to know more about Danny''s death in the Sacred Desert, the incident in the Primedival Pyramid, and the betrayal. He''d been thinking about his brother''s death a lot since the Zan Twins provoked him. Their provocations never made any sense, which was even more reason for him to recall what they said at that time. He had been thinking a lot more about his brother after he found out that his Living Soul was preserved in the Miniature Coffin Keychain, but Michael didn''t feel the same uncontroble anger anymore. He was still angry at those who killed his brother, but he didn''t feel like exploding. Instead, his ice-cold wrath was contained and waiting patiently until the culprit was discovered.

    Michael was not yet sure what he was going to do once he found out who ordered his brother''s death, but that wasn''t going to happen anytime soon either way. For now, rescuing his brother was of a higher priority. It was more important than the fate of the Sacred Desert as well.

    Michael nced at his chat with Kraft Viton and typed a message.

    [Michael Fang: That''s fine. Let''s meet up in the evening. There is no rush.]

    He thought about something and decided to add a second message.

    [Michael Fang: I''m not sure if my Mythic Scrolls have already been traded for Ordinary Scrolls, but I would like to retrieve themter. I''m also considering taking you on the offer about the Bartholomew Corporation managing my threads. That includes my research for workaholics Awakened with remarkable personally, who''re looking for a new Lord to power-boost them.

    I also have a bunch of interesting goods to sell, including Agriculture blueprints, a load of Artifacts, and special Scrolls. That includes a 3-Star Warlord Summoning Scroll and 195 Mythic Scrolls. Yes, 195 Mythic Scrolls. You didn''t see wrong! *devilishugh*]

    After he had experimented with Insert and Extraction for a few days, Michael sensed a lot better. The death of his subordinates was not easy to ovee, but it was a good thing that nobody med him this time. Some Starless Summons ¨C theziest of the batch, at that ¨C stated something, however, they were quickly suppressed by the Untamed Army who''d witnessed how much Michael had sacrificed in a desperate attempt to protect as many people as possible.

    Michael was not a God. He was not invincible either. He bled just like any other mortal, yet, he continued tobat even on the verge of death to protect his people.

    Michael didn''t think of it as anything special, but his subjects contemted differently. They knew that Michael put himself in far more danger than necessary to ensure that their casualty rate would be as low as possible.

    Michael was d that his subjects protected him from thezy Summons that were only there toin. It was helpful to have someone on his side to stop riots long before they erupted.

    His subjects began to work even harder to grow even stronger after theirst battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army. That was reassuring, and it gave Michael the piece of mind ¨C something he definitely needed.

    "Should I return ande backter?" Michael wondered, shaking his head after a second.

    It was not like he had to return to the Origin Expanse just because Kraft Viton wasn''t free until evening.

    ''I can rify my criteria for the Awakened searchter. For now¡­I should rx a little bit.''

    Michael couldn''t believe that he thought about rxing, but the corner of his lip curled upward when he sensed the location of a bunch of Links of Loyalty.

    Frederik, Hiraku, Thaor, and Lokai appeared nearby.

    Their Links of Loyalty flickered.

    Michael utilized Cosmic Stride with a trace of energy and disappeared on the spot. He reappeared several hundred meters further ahead, closed his eyes, and used Cosmic Stride three more times.

    In the blink of an eye, Michael appeared in arge arena, where he discovered his friends.

    Even Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke appeared present.

    Even better.

    Everyone was fighting in the arena!

    ''What the hell is going on here?''

 Chapter 631 Brawl in the Arena [2]

    <h4>Chapter 631 Brawl in the Arena [2]</h4>

    Even Alice Zenovia was in the arena.

    She didn''t fight anyone ¨C fortunately ¨C, but she observed the fight in the arena with Oliver Zeus.

    Both Oliver Zeus and Alice Zenovia turned in Michael''s direction upon sensing that someone new had arrived in the arena. They were surprised to see Michael as nobody expected him to return from the Origin Expanse anytime soon.

    Frederik and the Berserkers mentioned that Michael had been busy for a while and that he didn''t want to be disturbed by anyone. The Untamed Awakened might not have a clue about what Michael was doing, but they could tell that he was working hard. That was also why they returned from the Origin Expanse to spar with the Descendants and the strongest Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs who''d transferred to the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Michael nodded toward Alice Zenovia and Oliver Zeus upon seeing them and turned his attention to Frederik and the others.

    Frederik Kolbenheim dashed left and right. He evaded the mighty blows of two Warlock Centaurs and shattered the water jets that were fired at him. Faced with three enemies at Tier-3, Frederik wasn''t supposed to be at an advantage. However, by utilizing his three Soultraits with the Wind Sage''s Inheritance technique, Frederik''s top speed and movements increased rapidly.

    His understanding of Aeroan had skyrocketed in the battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army. He suffered considerable mental damage to push the Chaos away from the Untamed Jungle, but that allowed him to break through his limits as well. Enhanced Wind,bined with Wind Mastery, enlightened him enough to learn more about his main Soultrait than most would be able to learn about their Soultrait within a decade.

    Frederik''s entire body was shrouded in raging gales. They supported every movement and improved his speed as he moved around effortlessly. It was almost like Frederik managed to alter the''s gravitational force around him.

    ''That''s interesting, but you are at your limit. Your top speed cannot improve further if that''s all you can do,'' Michael thought critically, his Spirit Eyes detecting various things that were hidden from others.

    Frederik appeared behind the Descendant whose Soultrait allowed him to conjure highlypressed water jets. He delivered dozens of mighty punches in a second and was about to deliver a final punch bypressing the winds around his right arm when he noticed that his opponent wasn''t injured.

    The Descendant was unfazed. He observed Frederik lightly as he conjured more than a hundred water jets around Frederik. Frederik tried to move but the water jets reacted the moment his energy fluctuated. The water jets burst forth and were about to pierce through Frederik when Hiraku arrived next to his friend.

    A Sphere made of metal manifested around Frederik as the water jets burst forth. Hiraku transformed into his several-meter-tall Silver Titan form, burst forth, and reached out for the metal sphere. The silver skin around his right arm was covered in draconitum suddenly, protecting him from the water jets as he grasped the metal sphere. Hiraku threw the metal sphere high into the air in one motion and dispersed the sphere, releasing Frederik once again.

    Frederik shouted, voicing hisints, but nobody listened to him.

    He noticed that and grumbled quietly as he conjured some winds around his body to levitate high above the arena. In the next instant, Frederik conjured dozens of invisible wind des.

    Since nobody seemed to pay much attention to him, he might as well make use of that!

    Unfortunately, before he could utilize his seemingly insignificant presence and the invisible wind des to his advantage, an Ice Bullet hit him square in the chest. Frederik was hurled through the arena from the impact. His Armor Artifact cracked and he smashed hard into the ground.

    Kaleb appeared in front of Frederik, a thin smile blossoming on his handsome face, "You''re a lot stronger than you used to be."

    "But I wonder if that''s going to be enough to beat the shit out of the Ondo family''s Elders. Do you think that''s enough?" Kaleb provoked his friend intentionally, the corner of his lips curling upward as he saw the fury in Frederik''s face.

    Kaleb''s body was shrouded in an armor made from his Soultrait. Ice grew out of his body like skin, expanded,pressed, and reshaped. The more time passed on the battlefield the stronger Kaleb''s Nova Armor grew. He had to supply origin energy to the Nova Armor at all times, which increased his energy consumption, but Kaleb had already refined his body using his Inheritance Technique, therefore, decreasing his energy consumption when he used his Ice-type Soultrait.

    Frederik disappeared on the spot instead of answering Kaleb. He elerated from 0 to 100 in an instant and appeared next to Kaleb, his arms shrouded in raging gales that had forcefully beenpressed and shaped into des. Even if Frederik''s Soultrait and Inheritance Technique were leagues below Kaleb, his speed ought to be superior to Kaleb''s.

    They were both at the Peak of the 2nd Tier and Kaleb''s Frozen Nova didn''t enhance his Agility a lot. It might be a 7-Star Soultrait, which meant that Kaleb''s constitution had been reinforced by it, but Frozen Nova didn''t have any functions to enhance his speed upon being used.

    Aeroan was different. Frederik''s constitution didn''t change now that Aeroan was a 5-Star Soultrait, but its power skyrocketed with the addition of the increased star rating and the two Soultraits that further amplified Aeroan''s power. He had to be faster!

    Frederik was indeed faster than Kaleb, but it was unfortunate that he forgot something very important.

    Kaleb''s Inheritance Technique was a lot stronger than the Kolbenheim family''s Inheritance Technique, and Kaleb''s perception had been reinforced drastically to counter Agility- based enemies easily.

    Frederik''s des of Raging Winds were about to pierce deep into the Nova Armor when the scenery around them changed. Icicles shot out of the ground surrounding Frederik and the Nova Armor expanded rapidly in Frederik''s direction, swallowing the unfortunate Awakened in one go.

    Frederik might have been faster than Kaleb with Aeroan used at full power, but he didn''t have the samebat experience, training, awareness of the surroundings, and perception.

    If Kaleb wanted to kill Frederik, he could have done so at this moment. However, instead of ending the battle here, Kaleb released Frederik and grinned at him.

    "I''m d that you regained yourpetitive spirit. But you need to work even harder to catch up to us. You''ll have to find ways to overpower Lords whose Soultraits are amplified by their amassed Soul Power, and you''re at a natural disadvantage due to the difference of resources we can use."

    Kaleb didn''t want to talk down to his friend, but it was a fact that Frederik had been unable to train for quite a while. His battle spirit had been crushed and he ended up depressed after losing almost everything important to him.

    Kaleb was never good atforting people. However, he was naturally talented at provoking people. His sister told him about that more than he wanted to acknowledge¡­while beating him for annoying her.

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    Nheless, Kaleb wanted to help Frederik, somehow.

    The best way to do so was to beat him up repeatedly by exposing his weaknesses. At least, that was what Kaleb believed.

    "You have peculiar friends," Hiraku noted from the distance.

    He was about to help Frederik once again until he noticed that Kaleb freed him from the ice prison right after imprisoning him. Hiraku didn''t hear a lot about their conversation because of themotion surrounding them, but the bits and pieces he managed to grasp were¡­confusing.

    Was Kaleb Frederik''s friend, or was he a bully? Hiraku wasn''t too sure about that.

    "I should still help him, right?" Hiraku muttered to himself while hurling a young Berserker through the air. However, before he could do something, Hiraku sensed something. A trace of energy arrived him, nting words in his mind.

    ["Don''t interrupt them."]

    Hiraku flicked around, kicking a burly human Descendant firmly in the gut, only to discover Michael. Michael grinned lightly in his direction.

    ["I get that you want to help Frederik, but he needs a beating to figure out his weak points. I don''t want him to die once the all-out war against the Council of Xylon begins. He must improve and understand that he is not invincible with three Soultraits."]

    No matter how many Soultraits you had. A de to your heart could still kill you ¨C except if you had a Soultrait that created a second heart. But how likely was it for someone to have such a Soultrait?

    Hiraku felt like responding to Michael''sments, but he was not sure what to say.

    Saying that he didn''t like seeing Frederik getting beaten up was nonsense. Frederik gained a great opportunity to learn about his weak spots by fighting Descendants from Superior Families and High Nobles. It was not all day that Alice Zenovia announced a small-scale Brawl, or that so many Descendants and other youthful powerhouses woulde to participate in a messy Brawl.

    It was a rare asion and something that could be utilized to improve their battle awareness and find their weak spots against a wide variety of Descendants, Warlock Centaurs, and Berserkers who used various Soultraits.

    ''Well. It''s better to get beaten up in a safe environment to learn and adapt rather than getting killed on the battlefield because your enemy managed to find and exploit your weak spots¡­''

    Hiraku decided to leave Frederik alone. The result was efficient but cruel.

    Frederik was beaten up. Over and over again.

 Chapter 632 Careful

    <h4>Chapter 632 Careful</h4>

    The small-scale brawl ended after a while. Everyone was exhausted but they were also satisfied with their improvements. At least, that was the case for most of them.

    Frederik was one of the few Awakened who had a hard time walking. He grumbled loudly and staggered toward Michael upon seeing him.

    "I hate Kaleb."

    Michael chuckled lightly and looked behind Frederik.

    "He hates you. Looks like you were a bit too energetic when you beat the crap out of him, Kaleb."

    Frederik shuddered and turned around slowly. Kaleb was standing there, staring at Frederik menacingly. Frederik swallowed hard and was about to say something when Kaleb broke into a smile.

    The atmosphere eased up at once.

    "You hate me? That''s too bad. I was just trying to teach you how to use your Soultraits more efficiently."

    Frederik felt like throwing bricks at Kaleb, but he held back. He learned a lot from the small-scale brawl. It might look like he was beaten up senseless, but Kaleb didn''t thrash him mindlessly.

    Kaleb pointed out Frederik''s weak points cruelly, forcing Frederik to scrap his usual fighting style to handle Kaleb a little bit better.

    A single fight against Kaleb was not enough to fix all issues and bad habits, but it was enough for Frederik to notice some bad habits and mistakes more easily.

    If he didn''t feel like his body was going to break apart, Frederik would have thanked Kaleb. No. Frederik couldn''t thank Kaleb. Not, after recalling the devilish smile on Kaleb''s face as he ''pointed out his mistakes''.

    ''Kaleb is a sadist!'' Frederik swore in his heart. He shuddered once again and stepped back a little.

    Kaleb''s attention pulled to Michael and his smile widened, "Did you throw everyone at us to show off how beneficial it is to be your subordinate?"

    Michael furrowed his eyebrows, "Hmm?"

    Kaleb chuckled and pointed at Frederik before gesturing to Thaor, Lokai, Zeron Polik, and another Berserker who was also part of the Untamed Awakened.

    "I thought that you sent them over to have them show off their new Soultraits, but it looks like I was wrong. The look on your face tells me that you had no idea about today''s Brawl," Kaleb shrugged.

    Lincoln and Zeke found Michael and approached him as well. They were d to see Michael after so long. Lincoln patted Michael''s shoulder with some force whereas Zeke eyed him for a while.

    "The Awakened working for you are not the only ones who''ve gotten stronger," Zeke mumbled.

    Michael smiled lightly. He wasn''t trying to hide his progress since there was no need to hide it anymore. It felt great that the weight of being forced to keep Extraction a secret was no more. There was no need to create white lies about the sudden increase in his strength, or the appearance of new Soultraits.

    "I know that you''ve always been careful, and I''m fully aware that you can do whatever you want..." Lincoln started, attracting Michael''s attention, "But I think you should be a little bit careful. Strengthening yourself is fine and all, but turning ordinary Awakened into powerhouses will destroy the bnce that the High Society built over thest five centuries."

    Zeke didn''t n to tell Michael about that right now, but he agreed with his childhood friend, "Lincoln is right. Many families will be displeased if ordinary people be powerhouses all of a sudden. They will be pressured to act to remain at the top of the High Society...and they will act."

    Michael could fuse with as many Soultraits as he wanted, and nobody could tell him what to do with the Soultrait Symbols he was hoarding. That was a fact.

    However, it was also a fact that Michael''s actions might displease others. No. His actions would displease most High Society members.

    Of course, it was not like Michael wasn''t prepared to deal with some displeased High Society members. Some wouldn''t like that he gave his Awakened a huge discount for Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades, but there was not much they could do about it.

    The Soultrait Symbols had been extracted with his Soultrait, just like the means to upgrade Soultraits.

    Michael could tell that Extraction''s power wouldn''t be a problem for the time being. However, it was also quite obvious that more problems would arise once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.

    Maybe, he exaggerated the issue at hand a little bit, but Michael was pretty sure that the High Society and the vast majority of influential households would feel threatened by his existence once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.

    He was already powerful enough to deal with Low rank Tier-4 Higher Lifeforms while being a Low Tier-3 Lord. How strong would he be once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform? How long would it take before Michael advanced to Tier-5? Wouldn''t he be strong enough to overwhelm Tier-5 powerhouses while being at the 5th Tier if he continued to grow at this pace? How much stronger would his subordinates be in a few years?

    Michael was pretty sure that some influential households were already asking those questions. It was just that they didn''t dare to act yet. They couldn''t tell what Michael wanted to do, and what he had up to his sleeves.

    It was only a matter of time before Michael was strong enough to potentially rule the entire Human Race.

    That didn''t mean Michael desired to be the supreme ruler of the human race. It was just a possibility based on Michael''s potential. The potential of his main Soultrait.

    But that was the problem.

    Most wouldn''t care if Michael desired to be the supreme ruler of the human race or not. More important was that his Soultrait provided that much potential. It scared some powerhouses. The atmosphere turned heavy as Michael thought about his future troubles. Fortunately, he was pulled out of his train of thought as someone next to him cleared her throat.

    Alice approached the group with her usual cold and emotionless expression. She nced at Kaleb for a moment and pulled her brother closer before her attention turned to Michael.

    "I noticed that Kaleb had some fun in the earlier brawl, but it looks like he isn''t tired," Alice grasped Kaleb''s shoulder a bit tighter, her eyes glimmering lightly, "How about you help him a little bit with that, Michael?"

    Alice was trying to ease the tension and distract Michael. He could sense that, but didn''t expect that Alice would sacrifice her little brother for his sake.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and nced at Kaleb, whose expression soured, and a chuckle escaped his lips.

    "Of course. I dly help you out with that little problem!"

    Alice and Michael locked gazes. The corner of their lips curled upward, and Alice shed him a small smile.

    Oliver Zeus, who approached the group with Alice, stared at Alice in surprise. Her smile disappeared after a second, but that didn''t mean nobody noticed it.

    ''She is even more beautiful when she smiles.''

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    Oliver''s heart skipped a beat. He was a little excited to see Alice smiling and wished to see her smile more like that. She looked like a fierce beauty usually, but her pure and wless looks were even more shocking when she smiled.

    The only downside of her smile was¡­that she didn''t smile because of him. She smiled at Michael.

    ''What a nuisance. Why can''t it be me¡­''

    Oliver sighed deeply in his heart. He felt like twisting Michael''s neck, but he knew that the kid didn''t do anything wrong. He never messed up¡­or did he?

    Oliver squinted his eyes, unsure if Michael deserved his hatred. However, one thing was certain. He envied Michael for managing something no one was capable of.

    He melted Alice Zenovia''s frozen heart.

    Oliver felt a sting in his chest and the desire to curse Michael rose from the depths of his being, but he didn''t do anything. All he did was to observe Alice¡­just like he had done for thest few years.

    ''Does she even realize how much she''s changing whenever he is around?'' Oliver wondered, unable to see the familiar fierceness that Alice exuded usually. Was she really the Frozen Duchess he knew?

    Michael didn''t think that there was anything wrong with Alice''s behavior. Didn''t she behave like usual?

    He observed that two young Descendants stared nkly at Alice while Oliver''s emotions were in turmoil, but that had nothing to do with him. He shrugged inwardly and paid more focus to Kaleb, who retrieved a few potions in a hurry.

    Kaleb gulped the content in no time, replenishing his used-up energy, stamina, and mental power.

    "If I have to fight you, I should be in my best state!" Kaleb dered before gritting his teeth. He avoided ring at his sister, but Alice observed how displeased Kaleb was about fighting Michael right now.

    She leaned closer to her brother with a glimmer in her eyes.

    "Didn''t you say that you would beat Michael the next time you see him?" She whispered, trying hard to maintain her poker face.

    Somehow, being around Michael and his friends made it increasingly more difficult to behave like usual. It was almost as if being around Michael unsealed the child within her. That was new. It was weird.

    After all, she had never been able to behave like a child.

    "Now is your time to shine."

 Chapter 633 Frozen Nova Replica

    <h4>Chapter 633 Frozen Nova Replica</h4>

    Alice was aware that Michael had done something to pull Frederik out of his misery. However, she didn''t expect that Frederik would grow so much stronger within a few days.

    Her little brother might have been able to defeat Frederik rather easily, but that didn''t mean Frederik was weak. It was the exact opposite. Being able to block some of Kaleb''s attacks and reach top speed nearly instantaneously was incredible. If Frederik improved his mastery of Aeroan, he shouldn''t have an issue dealing with most peers rather easily.

    ''He was only with Michael for how long? Ten days?'' Alice calcted, her eyes narrowing as her eyesnded on Michael.

    Michael and Kaleb were standing on the opposite edges of the arena. They faced each other and were about to sh.

    However, Alice''s mind was not with them. She was still bothered about the fact that Michael could transform an ordinary student of the Saphirke Military Academy into a genius capable of facing the Descendants¡­in less than two weeks.

    It was a known fact that the ordinary students of the Saphirke Military Academy could be considered talented. They were the cream of the crop among all Awakened. Nheless, there was still a huge cap in talent between the talented students and the prodigies of the human race. At least, that was how it had been for thest few centuries.

    ''I hope he will be okay.''

    Alice dispelled the dark thoughts that formed in her mind and focused on the match ahead.

    Oliver Zeus stood outside the arena and cleared his throat.

    "Ready?"

    Michael and Kaleb nodded simultaneously.

    "Set."

    The youthful Awakened''s bodies tensed up.

    "Go!!"

    Kaleb kicked the ground and burst forward while coating his body in the Nova Armor. He manifested the Legendary Arktica Staff Artifact from his War Rune and conjured tens of highlypressed Ice Bullets in a swift motion. The Ice Bullets propelled forward as Kaleb released them the moment, he finished conjuring them.

    Michael raised an eyebrow as Spirit Eyes picked up some interesting pieces of information.

    ''He worked really hard to study the Ice Bullet Soul Technique. What a talented little rascal.'' He chuckled in his mind right before disappearing from the spot.

    Using spatial-attributed origin energy from the Sphere of Space to utilize Cosmic Stride lowered his energy consumption to a new low. Michael appeared next to Kaleb, whose eyes widened in surprise. He lifted his arms instinctively and it was not even a full secondter that a fierce kick impacted.

    The Nova Armor coating his arms cracked and shattered from the kick''s force, but that was it. Kaleb wasn''t flung through the air, and he didn''t sustain any injuries either. Kaleb didn''t prevent the Nova Armor from shattering even if he could, allowing Frozen Nova''s terrifying cold to spread out and infest Michael''s body.

    Michael jumped back, the corner of his eyes discovering that his pants were half-frozen. His leg was not unaffected either. Frozen Nova''s terrifying cold invaded his left leg.

    Ordinary Awakened would be at a huge disadvantage in such a situation, but Michael just smiled. He coated his left leg in the power of Extraction and channeled some of Extraction into his leg as well. He extracted Frozen Nova''s cold and inserted the energy that had fused with the cold in one of the Elemental Spheres. The Sphere of Ice absorbed Frozen Nova''s energy and annexed it swiftly for Michael to use.

    He used the Sphere of Ice, which possessed cicle''s freezing property, to create a fewpressed Soul Ice Bullets. The distance to Kaleb was not that big. His Ice Bullets hit the target, but they shattered upon impact. Kaleb''s Nova Armor blocked the Ice Bullets and distributed their force alongside the entire armor to minimize the damage.

    ''Interesting. Unfortunately, you keep repeating the same mistake.''

    Michael could tell that Kaleb was very confident in the Nova Armor. That was not wrong because the Nova Armor provided Kaleb with great defensive measurements. Even the few Awakened who were strong enough to damage the Nova Armor would be infested by the properties of a 7-Star Soultrait. Their bodies would be infested by origin energy that had been infused with Frozen Nova''s cold. It would freeze their limbs within seconds if they didn''t do something against Frozen Nova''s power.

    Usually, the Nova Armor and Frozen Nova''s casual use was enough to defeat his peers. Most enemies in the Origin Expanse weren''t that troublesome either. All Kaleb had to do was to utilize his environment with Frozen Nova and his enemies would crumble.

    But Kaleb seems to have forgotten that Michael wasn''t an ordinary foe. It had been a while since Michael and Kaleb fought each other seriously.

    All Kaleb remembered was Michael''s great prowess in the Interdimensional g War. He did a great job overwhelming the Tekur. Yet, at the same time, Kaleb hadn''t seen everything in the Interdimensional g War, and he hadn''t spared with Michael since then.

    Michael didn''t attack Kaleb with an ordinary Soul Ice Bullet. He used Insert to infuse a trace of Extraction into the Ice Bullets. Following that, the Ice Bullets shattered upon impact, whereas the traces of Extraction found their way into the Nova Armor via Insert.

    Kaleb observed something, but he didn''t have enough time to pay attention to the changes that urred to the Nova Armor. Michael used Cosmic Stride to appear above Kaleb where he released a barrage of fireballs. Kaleb''s eyes widened in surprise, and he instinctively erected a shield of ice to block the mes.

    ''Is that the Tier suppression?'' Michael wondered, trying to figure out why today''s fight against Kaleb was so much different than before. Michael was already a Tier-3 Lord, whereas Kaleb had yet to advance to Tier-3. He was about to advance to Tier-3 in the next week or two, but he was not yet a Tier-3 Lord. That was quite notable. At least, Michael could tell clearly that he had a vast advantage in terms of physical strength.

    But that was not all. There were a few more advantages Michael possessed. Advantages he never really noticed when he spared with Kaleb.

    ''Weird.''

    Kaleb retreated to the edge of the arena. He closed his eyes and produced a few traces of Soul Energy.

    He didn''t own a Soul Technique for Frozen Nova yet, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t use Soul Energy to empower Frozen Nova. The traces of Soul Energy were devoured instantaneously alongside the vast majority of Soul Power umted within the Soultrait Symbol.

    The temperature in the arena dropped to sub-zero as a cial-blue mass conjured behind Kaleb. The floor around Kaleb froze on the spot and the arena tiles cracked open. Alice Zenovia and Oliver Zeus had to use their defensive Artifacts to prevent the biting cold from freezing the spectators.

    Kaleb''s chest panted up and down heavily and the energy reserves in his body were dangerously low. However, the young Descendant of the Zenovia family grinned brightly.

    "I got you!" He roared with thest bits of power in his body.

    Huge walls barred Michael''s path to the left and the right. He could either move forward or escape by surrendering.

    But Michael nned to do neither. There was no need to surrender or charge straight at the iing Frozen Nova replica.

    "Having a unique technique that allows you to put everything on one card is great. It is," Michael said, scratching the back of his head with a wry smile, "But you should fix your timing."

    Michael observed the iing Frozen Nova with Spirit Eyes and chuckled lightly. He was fairly certain that he could crush the Frozen Nova by applying a Soul Tear onto Extraction, while also adding 10yers of Enhancement. Maybe, he would have to trigger one Cursed Seal as well. However, Michael was confident at crushing the Frozen Nova with brute force, nheless.

    He wouldn''t even make a big loss as long as he inserted the extracted frozen energy into the Sphere of Ice to annex and reuse the energy.

    But that was not what Michael wanted to show Kaleb. He didn''t want to show his supremacy to Kaleb.

    No. It was far more important that Kaleb understood why it was stupid to use his finishing blow right now, or against an opponent like Michael.

    Until now, Michael had openly used Cosmic Stride, and two elements of the Spheres of Elements. He secretly used Insert and Extraction, but Michael quickly figured that it wasn''t necessary to go this far. Once he pinpointed Kaleb''s biggest mistake, it was only a matter of seconds before everything was over.

    Michael didn''t even use Prognosis or Spiritual Domination of his Spirit Eyes to overpower Kaleb.

    But Cosmic Stride, as a Space-type Soultrait, was more than enough reason Kaleb shouldn''t have unleashed his finishing blow.

    Kaleb Zenovia barred his paths left and right as well as his view, but Michael had intentionally shown some of Cosmic Stride''s unique properties earlier. The hints should have been more than enough for someone like Kaleb to pick up.

    It was a little bit disappointing that he didn''t notice the clues.

    Michael permitted the Frozen Nova replica to burst forth. It reached his position in no time and crushed the entire arena.

    However, there was no sight of Michael.

    "Why would you leave your back wide open for me to attack?" A voice appeared behind Kaleb.

    Goosebumps run down his spine as he rotated his head slowly, just to see Michael''s devilish smile.

    Michael flicked Kaleb''s forehead, his devilish smile widening.

    "Dead!" He whispered.

    In the next moment, everything around Kaleb rotated ck.

    **

    [A/N: Only one chapter today because I''m busy ying nanny for an adult today. Sounds weird, but that''s how it is. #Shrug]

 Chapter 634 Kalebâ€™s Rival

    <h4>Chapter 634 Kaleb''s Rival</h4>

    Alice Zenovia and Oliver Zeus watched the battle with great interest.

    "Kaleb''s control of Frozen Nova is a lot more delicate than it used to be. He must be training several hours every day to reach this level of control in such a short time," Oliver Zeus praised Kaleb Zenovia when the battle began.

    The creation of Legacy Arts by altering existing techniques was difficult, but it was not impossible. However, it was something most Descendants wouldn''t do as Lesser Lifeforms because it was considered a waste of time. Descendants with powerful Soultraits couldn''t tap into their Soultrait''s full potential, after all.

    Despite that, Kaleb created the Nova Armor.

    His first Legacy Arts was a great sess. Combined with the Ice Bullet Soul Technique that used Kaleb''s 7-Star Frozen Nova as fuel, Kaleb gained a big advantage over most Descendants.

    "That''s amazing!" Oliver eximed as Kaleb conjured the Frozen Nova Replica. Of course, as a Lesser Lifeform, Kaleb was unable to draw out the full potential of Frozen Nova. Nheless, the Frozen Nova Replica was extremely powerful. Everyone could tell that.

    "This should be strong enough to kill Lords at the 3rd Tier. Magnificent!" Oliver mumbled, but Alice Zenovia could only sigh deeply, "If it hits the targets, yes. If not, it''s just a waste of energy."

    Michael disappeared as Alice''s words resounded. The Frozen Nova Replica crushed the arena, freezing the arena tiles before shattering them with great force. However, the initial target wasn''t struck. The attack never reached Michael.

    Michael appeared behind Kaleb and tapped his forehead lightly. A series of cobweb-like cracks spread across the Nova Armor, which shattered into smithereens right before Kaleb copsed to the ground.

    Oliver stared nkly at the scenery in front of him. It had already been quite the shocker that Michael could jump through space earlier, but thest attack was different. The spatial fluctuations were too faint in hisst jump. Even Oliver Zeus and Alice Zenovia had to stay focused to sense the traces of Michael''s Space-type Soultrait.

    Alice was just as surprised as Oliver Zeus. However, she was more baffled about Michael exploiting Kaleb''s weaknesses so easily. They hadn''t seen each other fighting for quite a while, and it was not like Kaleb exposed his weak spots in the earlier brawl either.

    Kaleb was too confident in the Nova Armor, yet Michael crushed it easily. The Frozen Nova Replica was powerful, but it drained too much energy. It left Kaleb vulnerable to a wide variety of attacks. Michael exploited that fact as well. He evaded the Frozen Nova, rendering the attack useless, and crushed Kaleb easily.

    Kaleb regained consciousness mere seconds after he copsed. Michael helped him up and used Insert to replenish Kaleb''s used-up energy reserves a little bit.

    "You got a few new Soultraits¡­" Kaleb mumbled both toin and because he was envious.

    "My Ice-type Soultrait is now a Multi-Element Soultrait. That''s how I managed to conjure fireballs," Michael said lightly, lifting his hand.

    He conjured a small icicle above his thumb, a small me above his index finger, a gust of wind above his middle finger, and so forth.

    There was no need to reveal that he had ess to all elements and that he could control all elements once he studied the remaining elements a little bit more.

    "So you used a single Soultrait to defeat me?" Kaleb asked, clenching his fists tightly.

    That was even worse than he expected.

    It was one thing to lose against Michael when he gave his all, and apletely different thing to lose miserably against someone who wasn''t even trying his best to win.

    Of course, Michael was at a higher Tier at this moment, but Kaleb was also fully aware of Michael''s past.

    ''In one year, he turned into one of mankind''s most important Awakened. He continues to grow rapidly, whereas I¡ª....''

    Kaleb was growing much faster than most Awakened. Even Lincoln, Zeke, and other Descendants weren''t as fast as Kaleb. Most of them wouldn''t be able to defeat Kaleb when they were as old as him.

    Kaleb was still not 19 years old, yet he was about to advance to Tier-3 with his perfectly refined Body, Mind, and Soul. His progress was rapid, and everyone was certain that his ascension to a Higher Lifeform would turn him into an existence strong enough to fight against Peak Tier-4 powerhouses right away. Maybe, if his mastery of Frozen Nova increased a little bit more, Kaleb would be able to defeat Tier-5 powerhouses while still being at the Lower ranks of Tier-4.

    Kaleb''s only problem was that he chose Michael as his rival. At first, everyone frowned upon Kaleb for picking someone like Michael as his rival. That changed. Now¡­ Now, Kaleb felt like everyone was frowning upon him for considering Michael as his rival.

    "I used multiple Soultraits to defeat you," Michael answered Kaleb''s question, interrupting the young Zenovia''s thoughts.

    He used Whispering Energy to add, ["They''re my new creation. A Multi-Element Soultrait and a Space-type Soultrait. How do you like them? Were you surprised?"]

    Michael didn''t even think of underestimating Kaleb. He didn''t know that Kaleb had been harboring weird thoughts, wondering if Michael would consider him too weak. However, there was no ridicule in his voice. Michael wasn''t trying to humiliate him by only using his new Soultraits. He showed him his biggest mistakes.

    "Why did you use your Soul Energy and the Soul Power within Frozen Nova to unleash such arge-scale attack knowing that I could jump through space?" Michael asked rather than waiting for Kaleb to answer his questions.

    "Huh? Well¡­" Kaleb tilted his head and smiled wryly, "Usually you have to be able to see the location you want to teleport to instant teleport. I blocked your view with the ice walls and the Frozen Nova Replica certain that you wouldn''t be able to ignore that restriction easily. But you managed to do that." Michael nodded. That made sense. But it was a bit foolish.

    "I don''t have that kind of restriction," Michael revealed, "Even if I had such a restriction, your walls or the Frozen Nova Replica wouldn''t have obstructed my vision."

    He pointed at his golden eyes. They began to glow brightly as Michael channeled a trace of energy into them.

    Kaleb groaned, "Ah, right. I forgot¡­"

    Michael didn''t reveal a lot about his Soultraits, but Kaleb was one of the few people who knew more than others. He knew that Michael could see origin energy through objects. That means he was likely to be able to see the arena surface and everything around him with great precision even if he was confined in an ice prison.

    Using an ordinary Space-type Soultrait would be possible. There was no need to have a special Soultrait like Michael to evade the Frozen Nova.

    "I shouldn''t waste my entire energy if I don''t know every little detail about my opponent. Or, I will have to seal the space around my enemy when I unleash Frozen Nova Replica," Kaleb murmured as he and Michael returned to the others.

    The arena was repaired swiftly. Two staff members with Soultraits that allowed them to terraform their surroundings made some quick moves and finished the task within a few minutes.

    Michael watched them for a few seconds before his attention pulled back to the others.

    "You gained even more Soultraits?" Zeke asked before the others could question Michael.

    Michael smiled but he didn''t answer. He turned to Alice instead.

    "I procured a few useful Soultraits, but I cannot be bothered to start another Soultrait Auction right away," He mentioned nonchntly.

    A small list with some names ¨C Soultrait names ¨C surfaced in his hand, and a small smile blossomed.

    "Take a look at it and tell me if you or Kaleb like some of them. I can put them aside for you," Michael noticed that the others stared nkly at his words, so he carefully added, "Of course, that includes you guys as well."

    "I cannot throw the Soultrait Symbols at you guys because everyone else would throw a fit if I give you Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades as a present, but I can give you guys a nice discount."

    Oliver Zeus stared at Michael, but he ignored the professor.

    Lincoln and Zeke threw a short nce at the list and pressed their lips together before their attention pulled toward Michael once again.

    "I''m more curious about your strength than the list of Soultrait Symbols. Kaleb plundered big time with hisst move, so we couldn''t figure out how much stronger you''ve grown. Spar with us!" Lincoln challenged Michael, who acknowledged lightly.

    "Of course."

    "I''ll go first!" Zeke announced before Lincoln could jump into the arena.

    Lincoln raised an eyebrow seeing how proactive his childhood friend was, but he gestured to Zeke to move ahead.

    "I want you to go all out," Zeke said in a serious tone.

    "Are you sure?" Michael asked, merely to receive a curt nod from Zeke.

    The young Descendant from the Lavita household transitioned into abat stance and prepared for the battle.

    "3¡­2¡­1¡­Go!"

    Someone started the battle without wasting any time. Zeke discharged his Eye of Illusion with his family''s Inheritance Technique at full power.

    However, before Michael could be caught in the Illusion, Michael used a Soul Tear to amplify Spirit Eyes right before adding severalyers of Enhancement on the Spirit Eyes Soultrait Symbol. Michael added a trace of Soul Energy as well to unleash Spiritual Domination in its strongest form and overwhelm Zeke''s Eye of Illusion in one go.

    Zeke''s eyes widened, blood gushed out of his nose and eyes and he staggered. He fell to the ground, knocked out on the spot.

    "What in the seven hells are they feeding you?!?"

 Chapter 635 Brutes

    <h4>Chapter 635 Brutes</h4>

    Zeke was knocked out in a second. On the spot. Just like that.

    Michael had to insert some lifeforce and origin energy into Zeke to bring him back. He regained consciousness but couldn''t recall what happened. All Zeke recalled was that Lincoln counted down to start the battle. The next thing he remembered was waking up.

    "What did you d-...." Zeke couldn''t even finish the question as burning pain spread through his head and chest. It felt like his brain had been set on fire.

    "I enhanced Spirit Eyes with two more Soultraits to unleash a powerful spiritual attack," Michael answered calmly. He didn''t have to go into detail. Zeke understood him right away.

    "Your Spirit Eyes Soultrait...is stronger than my Eye of Illusion?" He responded, his heterochromia eyes locked onto Michael''s vibrant golden eyes.

    "Spirit Eyes is a Soultrait, which fused naturally from two highlypatible Soultraits. Both were 6-Star Soultraits when they fused. It''s no surprise that Spirit Eyes is a little bit stronger than most 6-Star Soultraits."

    Michael knew that he didn''t have to exin everything, but he wanted to give Zeke some understanding of the situation and how his Eye of Illusion had been overwhelmed so easily.

    However, Zeke was having a hard timeprehending what had just happened. He didn''t want to acknowledge his loss, but he could instinctively tell that his Eye of Illusion was going to be useless against Michael. Even if he managed to unleash Eye of Illusion''s full power, Zeke felt that Michael''s Spirit Eyes would be able to see through the illusions.

    ''My Soultrait is useless against Michael.''

    The only people strong enough to see through his superior illusions were Higher Lifeforms with highly refined minds or the stronger members of the Lavita household. It was exceedingly rare for others to be able to see through the Lavia household''s illusions. Illusions were the reason how they''d grown to High Nobles.

    "I want to fight you as well!" Lincoln dered suddenly.

    Well, it was not that sudden. Lincoln Piedra had been waiting for this moment since he watched Michael''s spar with Kaleb.

    Zeke was still bbergasted but he moved aside to make space for his childhood friend. Lincoln patted his friend''s shoulder lightly tofort him before his attention turned to Michael.

    "I hope you''re ready for a fierce battle!" Lincoln said while manifesting a ne. It was a Tier-3 Artifact.

    Michael hadn''t seen Lincoln use the ne artifact before, but that was probably because Lincoln advanced to Tier-3 not too long ago. He reced his customized Epic Tier-2 Gloves with the Tier-3 Ne Artifact.

    ''A Legendary Artifact?'' Michael could tell that the ne was special via Spirit Eyes. It felt like the essence of earth, or mother nature had been infused into the ne.

    "Go!"

    Michael didn''t hear the countdown, but he noticed that the excited smile on Lincoln''s face had been reced with seriousness. Lincoln was ready to go all out.

    The Legendary Artifact around Lincoln''s neck glowed brightly as the young Descendant of the Piedra family charged ahead. His two-meter-tall figure expanded, his skin was dyed brown, whereas his muscr physique seemed to improve even further.

    Rocks and dirt grew rapidly out of his skin and it was only a matter of seconds before Lincolnpleted his transformation into a miniature-form of the stone giants.

    He could not yet unleash the full potential of his 6-Star Soultrait, Stone Giant, but Gaia''s Ne granted Lincoln more control of the Stone Giant transformation.

    Lincoln roared and charged toward Michael while manifesting several Earthen Walls around him. A humongous Earthen hand conjured above Michael and crashed down to the ground where Michael had been standing a moment ago.

    Lincoln expected Michael to use his Space-type Soultrait to appear next to him and execute a surprise attack, but he couldn''t be more wrong.

    All of a sudden, Lincoln''s conjured Giant Earthen Palm met some resistance. It wasn''t much, at first, but that changed quickly.

    Michael used the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique right before the Earthen Palm crushed him. However, instead of unleashing the Heavenly Beast Physique while also applying Enhancement and Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tears to Superior Constitution, Michael refrained himself.

    He was curious whether Superior Constitution alongside the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique was going to be enough to defeat Lincoln at his strongest.

    A groan escaped his lips as he used every bit of strength within him. He resisted the tremendous force of the Earthen Palm and tore it apart.

    The muscles all over his body bulged as he turned around to face Lincoln in his Stone Giant form, a smile creeping up on his face.

    Lincoln slowed down a little when he witnessed Michael tearing through the Earthen Palm. Michael was still surrounded by the Earthen Walls but he stood there calmly and seemingly unbothered about everything around him. Michael''s smile caused Lincoln and the other spectators to feel the chills. Lincoln didn''t hesitate for long. He released earthen spikes through the ground, ready to pierce Michael''s calves and thighs. However, Michael didn''t remain idle.

    He kicked the ground and propelled his body closer to Lincoln. As the earthen spikes burst out of the ground, the corner of Michael''s lip twitched. He summoned Aethyr around his hands and willed them to shape into gloves. The Aethyr within him responded instantaneously. They transformed gloves with solid knuckle caps, allowing Michael to go all out as he punched the earthen spikes one after another.

    The brute force applied in his punches alongside the Aethyr Gloves was enough to shatter the earthen spikes without sustaining any injuries. Michael slowed down, but only a little. He was still faster and far more agile than Lincoln in his Stone Giant form.

    The greatest advantage of Lincoln''s transformation was increased control of the Earth Affinity, increased physical strength, and amplified endurance. In exchange for those gains, Lincoln''s speed and dexterity suffered greatly.

    Under normal circumstances, that wouldn''t be much of an issue for someone like Lincoln. He could slow down his enemies using his Earth Affinity.

    However, Michael did not allow anyone to believe of his spar with them as ''normal''. It was anything but normal!

    Michael''s Spirit Eyes pinpointed the areas where earthen spikes would appear, granting him the advantage of evading them, or crushing them before they''d been fully formed.

    He evaded some attacks, evaded others, and counterattacked using the Heavenly Beast Physique''s boost in strength to his advantage. Michael dived through Lincoln''s legs and delivered feisty blows to Lincoln''s legs.

    He executed various Martial Arts techniques that he''d learned from the hundreds of Memory Orbs he''d consumed up to this point and crushed theyers of rock and earth that protected Lincoln.

    Lincoln was surprised, shocked even, but he reacted quickly. He twisted his body and manifested several Earthen Walls between him and Michael to spend a second or two regrowing the rock and earthenyers Michael possessed crushed.

    Michael clicked his tongue when he saw through Spirit Eyes what was happening. He crushed the Earthen walls only to notice that the Soul Power amassed within the Superior Constitution Soultrait was about to be used up. Michael was a bit sad that it was already about to end and applied fouryers of Enhancement to finish the battle before Heavenly Beast Physique would use thest bits of Soul Power within him.

    The sudden burst in power and speed granted from Enhancement''s fouryers was more than enough to take Lincoln by surprise.

    Michael appeared above Lincoln and kicked his huge head firmly. Lincoln reacted quickly and managed to manifest an Earthen Shield around his head even though he was surprised.

    Unfortunately, the Earthen Shield was not strong enough to slow down Michael''s fierce kick. The shield burst and the rocks coating Lincoln''s head shattered.

    Michael didn''t hold back, at all. He used every bit of strength within him to kick Lincoln with as much force as possible.

    Lincoln was knocked out cold.

    His humongous, transformed body crashed hard onto the arena tiles.

    Michael looked down at his leg and noticed with a grim smile that he was bleeding profusely.

    "Looks like his defense is stronger than I expected," He chuckled lightly and waited until the Medic team of Awakened arrived to tend to Lincoln. They took care of his leg as well, saving some energy from using Archangel''s Grace.

    "That was¡­great," Lincoln stated reluctantly when he regained his senses. He looked at Michael who smiled back at him.

    "Once you have a Custom Soul Technique, you will be much stronger than this."

    Lincoln smiled wryly and he was about to say something when Alice Zenovia and the others appeared.

    "Great. It''s my turn now¨C..." Alice said, only for Oliver Zeus to step forward. The fire in his eyes spoke volumes as he locked eyes with Michael.

    Oliver Zeus was fired up watching Michael fight three Descendants in a row.

    "I want to fight you!" He said, electricity currents revolving around his upper body, "Go all out. I want to fight you at your strongest, little brat!"

    **

    [A/N: The author is back in business. How do you like Michael''s overbearing power? How will his friends react once Michael ascends to a Higher Lifeform? Will they be able to spar with him, or will they be left behind? What do you believe will happen with the friendship between Michael and the Zenovia, Piedra, and Lavitas family? How will their dynamic change in the future? And how will his fight with Oliver Zeus end? :D

    Leave a review if you haven''t done that yet hehe.]

 Chapter 636 Versus Zeus [1]

    <h4>Chapter 636 Versus Zeus [1]</h4>

    Michael nced unsure at Alice.

    He didn''t know enough about Oliver Zeus to understand if he had some dirty tricks up to his sleeves. He had no idea whether Oliver Zeus was to be trusted, or if he was as annoying as his nephew.

    Alice looked at Oliver in doubt and uncertainty. It looked like she had no idea what Oliver was nning either.

    She turned back to Michael and shrugged. Michael had to make this decision on his own.

    ''I always wanted to know how strong well-trained powerhouses are.''

    Oliver Zeus was one of the prime examples of the human race''s cream of the crop. He might not be on par with Killian Zeus, but he was a young prodigy of the Zeus family. He was in histe 20s and already a Tier-5 Lord.

    Michael was certain that Oliver Zeus was not rusty either, or that he would neglect his training. On the contrary, Oliver Zeus seemed highlypetitive. He wouldn''t ept that his nephew surpassed him without a fight, and he would certainly not back off at the sight of a challenge...whether that was in the Origin Expanse or outside.

    "That''s fine with me. Let''s spar!" Michael said to Oliver Zeus, whose expression lit up ever so slightly.

    "I''ll probably lose myself though," Michael added, turning to Alice Zenovia with a dead-serious expression, "Knock me out when it gets too bad."

    He didn''t even say ''if'' because he was certain that he would lose himself to the terrifying influence of the three Cursed Seals after going all-out against Oliver Zeus. Maybe, it would take a while until he lost himself, but Michael could tell that it would happen at some point.

    The seriousness in Michael''s voice took Kaleb and the other youthful Awakened by surprise. They felt shudders run down their spines before they realized.

    Michael used some SoulStar Fragments to replenish the Soul Power he''d used up in his previous battles. Next, he retrieved one Inferior Energy Stone which he emptied in an instant using Extraction. The Inferior Energy Stone crumbled in his hands.

    His Soul Power had been replenished as well as his energy storage. He was back at his peak and ready to give his all against Oliver Zeus.

    The twobatants entered the arena. The atmosphere tensed up and they went into position.

    Alice and the other spectators observed Professor Zeus and Michael Fang intently, whereas Michael and Oliver Zeus prepared their minds.

    Nobody noticed that someone else had entered the arena a few minutes ago to observe Michael Fang''s spars.

    Evalynn Fang had sensed her son''s fluctuations from the arena and came to observe him. She was curious how strong Michael was and how far he had gotten with the Miniature Coffin Keychain.

    Evalynn Fang was certain that Michael wouldn''t be able to resurrect his brother''s Living Soul. That was not something an ordinary Higher Lifeform was capable of, let alone a mere Lesser Lifeform.

    However, what Evalynn Fang saw surprised her greatly. First of all, she sensed that the Miniature Coffin Keychain had been stabilized. The Curse within Danny''s Living Soul wasn''t growing anymore...or did the Curse stop retaliating against the Living Soul?

    Evalynn Fang would have to analyze the Miniature Coffin Keychain properly to find out what happened. All she could tell from the distance was that the Miniature Coffin Keychain had been stabilized and that the danger of the Hellbound Cataclysm had been postponed. The Miniature Coffin Keychain would break at some point, but there was no immediate threat from the Hellbound Cataclysm.

    That was even more shocking than Michael''s fights against his friends, though she had to acknowledge that Michael was stronger than she expected. Hisbat prowess was a big surprise. It was just that the stabilized Miniature Coffin Keychain was even more shocking.

    Weirdly enough, Evalynn felt that the uing battle would be even more shocking than her earlier finds.

    "Ready?" Alice asked standing at the edge of the arena. Her eyes lingered only for a moment on Oliver Zeus, who nodded calmly before she stared at Michael for a few seconds.

    Michael gave Alice a curt nod before he changed his stance. The cogs in his mind were rattling as a n formed in his mind.

    "Set."

    Michael tensed up, ready to go all-out in an instant.

    "Go!" Oliver Zeus was the first to move. A thunderous shriek reverberated through the surroundings as electricity currents burst from his body. The electricity currents didn''t revolve around Oliver Zeus. Instead, they gathered in front of him and shaped into a humongous eagle with a wingspan of more than 10 meters.

    It was a Thynuder Eagle, a beast that transformed into a pseudo-spirit after it was struck by lightning near a Thunder Vein. At least, that was what most people spoke about the Thynuder Eagle. It was not an ordinary monster anymore because its'' body was a mass of electricity currents and thunder energy, but it was not a true Spirit either.

    Michael didn''t waste any time analyzing Oliver Zeus'' Soultrait. He used Cosmic Stride to appear above Oliver Zeus the moment Alice started the battle.

    He unleashed the Heavenly Beast Physique and applied sixyers of Enhancement on Superior Constitution to amplify his physical strength and speed even further. Michael unleashed the three Cursed Seals at their full potential at once. Power surged through Michael''s body instantaneously and he made use of it at once.

    He condensed a huge sword from Sword Qi and inserted a tremendous amount of True Extraction''s power into it. At the same time, Michael conjured the Soul Grimoire to apply Soul Tears to his Soul and Soultraits. His physical strength skyrocketed at once, but he was still not powerful enough topete against the terrifying power of True Extraction that had beenpressed right in front of him.

    Michael could sense at once that his arms and hands were about to be dissected,yer byyer if he kept holding onto the Qi Extraction Sword.

    This time, Michael didn''t bother to hold onto the Qi Extraction Sword. Instead, Michael released the sword with a mentalmand and a burst of energy. The highlypressed, vibrant golden sword cleaved down like a guillotine''s de. It shot down above Oliver Zeus with terrifying velocity.

    The power that apanied the Qi Extraction Sword took Oliver Zeus by surprise, but he reacted swiftly. The Thynuder Eagle shrieked loudly and unleashed a highlypressed thunderbolt at the Qi Extraction Sword.

    The Qi Extraction Sword vibrated violently when the thunderbolt crashed into it, but the Qi Extraction Sword didn''t shatter right away. It absorbed arge portion of the thunderbolt''s energy before shattering.

    Since Michael was still connected to the Qi Extraction Sword before it shattered, he absorbed the portion of energy that had been extracted from the thunderbolt. Under normal circumstances, Michael would have had some issues annexing the thunder-attributed energy instantaneously, but that was not an issue anymore.

    He channeled the thunderbolt''s energy into the Spheres of Thunder and Lightning, annexed the attributed origin energy at once, and coated his body in electricity currents.

    He used Cosmic Stride to appear next to Oliver Zeus and unleashed a thunderbolt to his side.

    Oliver Zeus turned to Michael before the thunderbolt reached him. The corner of his lip curled upward.

    He twisted his body and elerated in an instant. He sped up from 0 to 100 instantaneously and kicked Michael fiercely. Michael''s Spirit Eyes pinpointed that something was about to happen, but he was too slow to defend properly against the attack.

    The only thing he managed to do was to manifest Aethyr and cover his ribcage. Oliver Zeus'' kick hit him hard, and Michael heard a crunching noise from his insides. Despite the Aethyr Shield protecting him from the worst impact, Michael suffered several broken ribs.

    He was hurled through the entire arena and crashed into the wall of the arena.

    "Oh fuck," Oliver Zeus eximed, his excitement reced with worry.

    He had been so excited about the spar with Michael that he forgot to suppress his strength. Oliver Zeus was just about to dash to Michael to take a look at him when his risk sense tingled.

    The Thynuder Eagle moved to his side and formed a protective coat ofpressed electricity currents around Oliver Zeus.

    Michael appeared in front of him all of a sudden. However, something had changed.

    The stigmas all over his body expanded and it looked like there were more than before either. His shirt had been dissected by the Aura of Extraction that oozed out of him uncontrobly, revealing three tremoring golden stigmata and countless ckish-gray stigmata, which suffered under the influence of the expanding Cursed Seals.

    The activated Cursed Seals expanded and vibrated in fury, influencing the firmly sealed Cursed Seals and stimting them to break out of their seals as well.

    Evalynn''s eyes widened in terror. She reacted instinctively and took a step forward. Several ck Cursed Seals manifested all over her arm, and she was just about to reveal herself and suppress Michael''s Cursed Seals when she saw something that dumbfounded her even more.

    Michael raised his right hand, formed a fist, and¡­punched himself in the face. There was no hesitation. He punched himself with as much strength as he could muster in that second.

    But Michael punched himself not once, or twice. He punched himself repetitively until his cheek burst open and the crunching sound of something breaking resounded.

    "Listen to me, you little fucker," Michael growled from the depth of his body, his entire being overflowing with fury, "This is my fucking body!"

 Chapter 637 Versus Zeus [2]

    <h4>Chapter 637 Versus Zeus [2]</h4>

    Oliver''s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the pulsating Cursed Seals. He didn''t know what the grayish-ck chain-like Cursed Seals were, or what exactly to think about the expanding activated Cursed Seals that showered his body in a golden glow.

    However, he could tell that it was dangerous.

    But Oliver was not the only one surprised. Alice and the others were bbergasted as well. Kaleb had already seen Michael in a simr state in the Interdimensional g War, but today felt different.

    The power that oozed from Michael was far more prominent than before.

    Evalynn was star-struck. Her eyes bulged and the hair all over her body stood up to its end. She stared nkly at Michael.

    ''He can get out of this¡­on his own?''

    Evalynn swallowed hard, a faint memory of her oldest child resurfacing.

    ''Even Hesta didn''t manage to do that after she ascended. Yet, Michael¡­''

    Michael was also not certain about what was going on, but he hated losing control of his body more than anything. Nobody was allowed to control him in any way. NOBODY!!

    He regained control over his body before it was toote, but the emotions ravaging his entire being were still present. They¡­strengthened him¡­

    Oliver Zeus was about to end the battle because he sensed something that made him feel overly ufortable, but Michael was unwilling to end it like this. He wouldn''t go down like that. Not without delivering a few heavy blows.

    The battle continued.

    Michael used Insert to channel some energy into the Soultrait Shard of Archangel''s Grace to activate the Healing Soultrait. Humongous wings sprouted from Michael''s back, but instead of shining vibrantly in its usual white luminescence, the wings were ck and golden.

    Michael''s broken ribs were tended alongside the broken cheekbone. He recuperated near-instantly, and the ck, golden wings disappeared right after.

    As Archangel''s Grace was used to heal him, Michael spread out a bunch of Inferior Energy Stones.

    "Since you got the advantage of being a Higher Lifeform and a Tier-5 Lord with a much bigger energy pool you surely don''t mind me using some external means, right?" He asked, grinning like he lost his sanity.

    Michael didn''t give Oliver any time to answer the question. He devoured the energy within the Inferior Energy Stones in an instant using Extraction and conjured a dozen Qi Extraction Swords around him.

    He raised his hand lightly and pushed his arm down in a straight line. The Qi Extraction Swords reacted without dy. They burst forth and shot straight at Oliver.

    Oliver Zeus could instinctively tell that he was strong enough to crush the Qi Extraction Swords with brute force. However, upon crushing the first Qi Extraction Sword, he noticed something that bothered him.

    His energy was drained the moment the Qi Extraction Sword came close to him and his arms, starting from his skin, were dissected as the Qi Extraction Sword grazed him. The Qi Extraction Sword didn''t even have to collide head-on with Oliver Zeus to drain his energy and dissect his body.

    Oliver Zeus could restrain the power of Extraction, but that consumed a lot more mental power than he expected. A deep scowl appeared on his face, and he fused properly with the Thynuder Eagle.

    His Soultrait was not only a Summon-type Soultrait. It was more like the Thynuder Eagle was a part of him. The Thynuder Eagle grew stronger as Oliver Zeus'' strength increased. More potential was unlocked as the Thynuder Eagle crossed the racial limit that restrained ordinary members of her kind.

    Being able to fuse with Oliver Zeus was one of the unique abilities it had acquired. Large wingspressed from electricity currents spread out behind Oliver Zeus.

    He was coated in shes of lightning and meager electricity currents that intertwined and connected the lightning, creating the Thynuder Armor that granted Oliver Zeus the ability to conjure lightning bolts and thunder charges at will.

    Oliver threw lightning bolts at the remaining Qi Extraction Swords, ensuring that they couldn''t get close enough to affect him.

    From the start of the battle, Oliver Zeus didn''t hold back his strength. However, that didn''t mean he went all-out either. Oliver Zeus knew that the spar would be over too soon if he went all out right away.

    Yet¡­fighting Michael was far more exciting than he initially thought. Oliver Zeus couldn''t help but move up to the next gear. It was about time to unleash some real power.

    Once the remaining Qi Extraction Swords had been shattered, Oliver Zeus changed his tactic. He kicked the ground and pped the Thynuder Wings to elerate in an instant. He was even faster than before and appeared in front of Michael.

    Michael could barely sense what Oliver had nned using Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis when Oliver was already right in front of him. He used Cosmic Stride instinctively and appeared above Oliver, whose head flicked upward almost instantaneously. Michael''s eyes widened, but it was already toote.

    A lightning bolt struck Michael square in the chest.

    He roared loudly and unleashed True Extraction amplified with a Soul Tear and further reinforced with 10yers of Enhancement. The lightning bolt was quickly dissected, its energy absorbed at once. A huge,pressed Qi Extraction Sword coated in lightning currents conjured next to Michael as he was flung back.

    He didn''t crash into the arena walls once again. Instead, Michael used Cosmic Stride while he was still hurled through the air. His vision turned ck for a quarter of a second and he lost control of his body for that short period. The next thing Michael recalled was that Oliver Zeus was surrounded by Qi Extraction Swords and that he stood firmly on the arena lines.

    ''Fuck.'' Michael groaned, angry about his ipetence and the inability to keep his physique under control.

    Oliver Zeus discharged electricity currents in all directions. A thunderous screech resounded through the surroundings, breaking the arena tiles and Qi Extraction Swords simultaneously.

    Michael exerted Cosmic Stride again, but Oliver Zeus was already prepared for that. It looked like he''d analyzed Michael''sbat style in their short exchanges.

    Michael changed his tactic instantaneously using his vast memories that contained thousands of strategies andbat styles, but Oliver Zeus was already next to him. He grasped Michael''s arm and hurled him high up in the air.

    Michael''s vision was about to turn ck again as the activated Cursed Seals tremored, but Michael withstood it. He didn''t lose control of his body this time.

    However, the focus he had to use to keep in charge of his physique made it nearly impossible to keep tabs on Oliver Zeus. Oliver Zeus appeared above Michael, his hands sped together.

    Michael had a bad feeling and instinctively used Cosmic Stride. But just as he reappeared at the other end of the arena, Michael realized that it was too silent.

    Oliver Zeus hadn''t released his attack just yet.

    Michael looked up and was just about to use Cosmic Stride once again when he noticed that Oliver Zeus appeared in front of him, unleashing a giga charge of thunderbolt energy straight into Michael''s body.

    A terrifying roar escaped Michael''s lips. It was almost like the roar of a¡­beast.

    Oliver Zeus'' discharge of thunderbolt energy dispersed all of a sudden, Michael''s vibrant golden eyes turned crimson red and blood oozed from his eyes, nose, and ears.

    "Knock him o¨C...." Alice shouted all of a sudden, but Oliver Zeus had already reacted.

    His hand turned into a thunderw with which he could easily sh Michael''s throat. However, instead of doing so, Oliver Zeus tapped Michael''s forehead lightly, discharging a highlypressed mass of electricity currents straight into his brain.

    Michael''s terrifying roar turned into a whimper. His eyes rolled up until only the white in his eyes was visible. He copsed to the ground.

    Themotion of the fierce fight turned into silence. Nobody uttered a single word.

    Alice appeared next to Michael and nced at Oliver Zeus'' arm in surprise.

    It was only now that Oliver noticed that he was bleeding.

    ''He¡­managed to injure me?'' Goosebumps spread all over his body.

    "I don''t think that I could defeat him if I was a newly ascended Higher Lifeform. No. Even at the Mid Ranks of Tier¡­I wouldn''t be able to defeat him¡­I think," Oliver mumbled, his thoughts flipping over to his nephews.

    ''Killian has a terrifying rival. But¡­well. Killian is also a monstrous genius. There are too many monsters in this generation.''

    Evalynn Fang had seen everything, and she was shocked, to say the least. Even without the Cursed Seals, Michael was extremely powerful.

    "7 Soultraits? No. It felt like he used more than 7 Soultraits. What¡­No. How?!"

    Michael regained his senses after he was knocked out for a few seconds. He groaned and got up slowly, only to see someone familiar in the corner of his eyes.

    ''Mother?'' He nearly called out, taking a step closer to his mother.

    There were still a few more things he wanted to know from his mother. That included information about the Geas and the Nest.

    The Geas shouldn''t restrain her from acting freely and apologizing for whatever his parents had done, but they made it more difficult to exin a few things.

    Michael understood that hating his mother wouldn''t help him or Daniel. Instead, treating her like she was dead might be harmful to his brother. And harming Danny was thest thing Michael wanted to do.

    He turned a deaf ear to the voices around him and stared intently at his mother. Maybe, it was time to talk with her again.

    However, upon seeing Michael approach her, Evalynn turned around and disappeared on the spot.

    She couldn''t face him right now. Not while the presence of the Curse residing within Michael lingered on him.

    The Nest should never find out about Michael.

    [Volume 10 End]

 Chapter 638 The Nest

    <h4>Chapter 638 The Nest</h4>

    "...That being said, the situation is under control. I will be able to bring the Cursed Soul back in a few months. There is no need to worry. We will be able to prevent the eruption of a Hellbound Cataclysm easily."

    Evalynn Fang''s voice rang out from a small marine-blue marble. Her voice resounded through arge, ominous dark hall.

    The hall was covered in intricate patterns of engravings and countless life-like images of various monstrosities. They were mythical creatures that inflicted terror and despair in the hearts of the ordinary. However, engraved on the walls, these mythical creatures seemed pitiful. Their bodies were chained to the intricate runic patterns, their powers sealed forever.

    A burly middle-aged man with long silver hair, azure-blue eyes, and arge scar that spanned from the mid-section of his face down to his neck stored the marine-blue marble and sat down back on his throne. He tapped the table in front of him lightly while his gaze moved through the ominous hall. His attention lingered on a few men and women until itnded on another middle-aged man.

    The man had short ck hair and dark eyes. A neatly trimmed beard highlighted his great appearance, granting him even more charming looks.

    He would have been considered a powerhouse, under normal circumstances. However, in the presence of the silver-haired man and the other higher-ups, the charming man didn''t dare to utter a single word.

    "We know that your wife is intentionally dying her return. Her mission is not that difficult," The silver-haired man told the charming ck-haired man, who could only flinch as heavy pressure descended upon him. He broke into a cold sweat, "Her Geas was triggered in the Lesser Human''s territory. Do you know anything about that?"

    The charming, ck-haired man was none other than Michael''s father, Peter Fang.

    It had been nearly 10 years since he and Evalynn arrived at the Nest where they found their daughter, Hesta Fang, however, Peter Fang was still unsure what to think of the Nest and their actions.

    The Nest was strong. No. Merely calling them strong was an understatement. The higher-ups of the Nest knew what true power meant. They were mighty, capable of obliterating entire races.

    "I''m sorry, but I do not know why my wife''s Geas could have been triggered. I cannot imagine what cou¨C..." Peter Fang recalled something faintly, but he managed not to make a weird expression. However, just as the memory of something, or someone, resurfaced in his mind, one of the people seated near the silver-haired man spoke up.

    "You''re lying."

    Peter Fang flinched again. His lips parted but the silver-haired man lifted his hand.

    "I can sense that you will lie again. Save your breath and don''t waste our time with lies." The silver-haired man shut Peter Fang''s mouth, but his sharp azure-blue eyes lingered on him.

    "He''s not hiding something out of ill intentions. He is¡­worried about someone? That should be enough," A woman from the other side of the table interrupted. She leaned back onto her throne and yawned in boredom.

    "Why are we even here? Is it really because this woman didn''te back yet? It''s not our problem if we cannot prevent the Hellbound Cataclysm. Hesta told me that her mother would make sure toe back with Daniel Fang''s soul to throw him back into the reincarnation cycle. I might not trust Evalynn, but I know that Hesta won''t lie." The woman added, only to hear a snort from her left.

    "Your opinion of Hesta is biased, Fera. Just because she managed to manifest some Cursed Seals upon ascending to a Higher Lifeforms doesn''t mean that her inferior existence is more valuable suddenly," A manmented in disgust, "I don''t understand why you picked up that brat, in the first ce."

    Fera''s presence changed all of a sudden. Dozens of fiery red Cursed Seals manifested all over her body.

    "Jealous bastard. How about you stop talking nonsense about inferior existences and that shit? Even though she was born in the territory of the Lesser Humans, her talent surpasses that of your useless disciples easily. Maybe, I should tell her to crush your disciples'' bones in the next assessment to show you how ''valuable'' an ''inferior existence'' can be." She snorted coldly, "But then again, your disciples might just be useless because of their brain-dead teacher."

    The man next to Fera jumped up with tens of Cursed Seals manifesting all over his body.

    However, before Fera and the man could engage in battle, the silver-haired man tapped against the wooden table once again. Cursed Power surged from his index finger as his fingertip collided with the table surface and spread across it.

    Fera and the man froze in their tracks and nced at the silver-haired man. His azure-blue eyes stared coldly at the pair, which sat back down silently.

    "I don''t care about yourpetitions and fights but keep me and everyone else out of this." He said lightly as if nothing happened.

    Instead of paying any more attention to Fera and the other man, he nced at Peter Fang for a second as he added.

    "Evalynn Fang desired to tell someone about the Nest and its secrets. That''s why the Geas was triggered."

    "But why would she try to do that despite knowing that the Geas will restrain and punish her?" Someone asked, only for the silver-haired man to raise his finger lightly and shake it.

    "That''s not the correct question," He pointed out, "We have received reports about the Supreme Human Alliance reaching the Lesser Humans in the Yeltas Sector. Evalynn knew that, yet she wanted to tell someone about the Nest? Even if that could potentially harm the Nest, harm Hesta? That made me curious because it doesn''t make sense¡­and I don''t like it when something doesn''t make sense."

    The silver-haired man continued eying Peter Fang, whose legs trembled under the man''s pressure as he asked the most important question into the round of Curse Users.

    "WHO is important enough to Evalynn Fang to risk triggering the Geas? Risk endangering Hesta?"

    Fera''s eyes widened, "That''s right. That doesn''t make any sense!"

    "That insane woman is obsessed with Hesta. She wouldn''t do anything that could harm her daughter," She mumbled, her attention drifting to Peter Fang as well.

    It didn''t sound imusible that Evalynn Fang encountered Peter Fang''s rtives that she felt obliged to warn them about the Supreme Human Alliance and that there were organizations that fought against the Supreme Human Alliance. That could have triggered the Geas as well.

    However, as far as everyone was concerned, Peter Fang was an orphan, raised and trained by Evalynn Fang''s father. Peter Fang wasn''t cursed and he would never be a true member of the Nest because he didn''t have the means to be a Curse User. Therefore, there shouldn''t be anyone important enough to Evalynn to reveal certain secrets. Revealing them could lead to the destruction of her Soul, after all.

    An attempt at exposing the Nest and its secrets to strangers¡­

    to non-Curse Users would have been enough to obliterate her.

    Slowly, realization dawned upon the higher-ups in the ominous hall. Everyone''s attention fell upon Peter Fang.

    "Fenrir''s bloodline ended with Daniel Fang, right?"

    "Can we even counter Daniel Fang as an offspring of Fenrir? Isn''t that a disgrace for the Fenrir bloodline?" Someone else pointed out, "He died before ascending and never managed to manifest a single Cursed Seal. He wasn''t even able to be a proper Curse User."

    "You idiot!" An old man eximed, taking the higher-ups by surprise. It was the first time that the old man raised his tone in thest few decades,

    "If Daniel Fang cannot be considered Fenrir''s offspring because he didn''t manifest a Cursed Seal before his death, why would we be able to sense his fluctuations?!"

    The burly silver-haired man looked up, his expression changing ever so slightly.

    "Wait a moment," He raised his hand, gesturing for everyone to stay silent for a moment.

    "How is it possible that we sense the presence of Daniel Fang''s curse if he never rose to a Higher Lifeform? ording to Evalynn''s report his Living Soul is retained in a perfect seal of the Will. His Curse cannot be strong enough to break through perfect seals, otherwise, the Hellbound Cataclysm would have happened a long time ago."

    "Is that so?" Fera asked, not quite sure what was happening, "I thought the fluctuations indicated that Daniel Fang''s Curse was unstable and that it was getting out of control. Isn''t that why Evalynn was given the Compass of Kins to find her son''s Living Soul?"

    "Maybe, we''re missing a crucial detail," A man covered in scars pointed out, his milky-white eyes trailing toward Peter Fang, "Something is wrong, and you know what''s going on."

    The blind man''s aura exploded all of a sudden, humongous outlines ¨C a phantom ¨C of something far more terrifying than most couldprehend, materialized around him.

    "Tell us everything!"

    Peter Fang shuddered, and his eyes dimmed. His lips parted slowly, and his tone resounded emotionlessly.

    "I. will. tell. you. everything."

    **

    Evalynn sighed deeply, throwing the marine-blue marble into the corner of the room.

    It was a good thing that the Geas wasn''t too strong. All she had to do wasplete a few missions now and then and ensure that she didn''t expose anything about the Nest and its secrets.

    The Geas didn''t give the Nest the ability to control her or force her to reveal everything.

    ''They don''t know anything about Michael¡­but for how long?''

    Evalynn knew that if Michael continued like this¡­something bad was likely to happen. She was not certain about that because Michael was good at using brute force to regain control of his body, but was that a permanent answer?

    ''Should I bring him to the Nest? But then¡­''

    Little did she know that it was already toote to think about that. Everything had already been set in stone, and the cascading chips were falling, one by one.

 Chapter 639 Scrolls

    <h4>Chapter 639 Scrolls</h4>

    [A/N: I''m considering switching between releasing more chapters (short tho) and sometimes fewer chapters (long tho) both to experiment and for my mental health. I''ve been slogging for 3 years without any proper breaks. I''ve been writing a lot while I was on vacation as well ¨C meaning I didn''t rest properly even then. That should change. Writing is important to me but so is my health. So don''t be surprised when I release only 1 chapter a day from time to time, or 3 chapters when I feel like it. #TimeToExperiment #MentalHealthTopPriority]

    "Is that intentional?" Kraft Viton asked, raising a small teacup to his lips. He took a sip from the Camille tea and ced the teacup back onto the office table that separated the old man and Michael.

    Michael had retrieved roughly 200 Scrolls, cing them on the office table before he resumed smiling innocently.

    "I''m not sure if I can follow you."

    "You throw one surprise after another at me. Are you a gift box, or something like that?" Kraft Viton wasn''t angry. If anything, he was amused that Michael managed to continue surprising him at this point.

    Michael had surprised him so often that he should have gotten used to it. That was now the case.

    "It''s only one Sharpshooter Scroll, one Enchanter Scroll, one Great Warrior Scroll, one Warlord Scroll, and 195 Mythic Scrolls. I have 16,363 Agriculture-type blueprints, and 1524 Artifacts to sell as well. Some of them Are 4-Star Artifacts. I even got a 5-Star Tier-1 Artifact, though it''s customized by none other than Michael Fang."

    He joked a little, but Kraft Viton''s smile froze.

    "Stop trying to act humble. That doesn''t suit you."

    Michael merely nodded.

    "Why are you not using the Scrolls for your territory?" Kraft Viton changed the topic, his attention lingering on the 3-Star Warlord Scroll.

    Kraft Viton had heard about Michael''s territory fights from Reba Zauber. She had been a little bit worried about the army of the Native Empire. However, Michael seemed to have solved that greatly. The only downside was that too manybatants died on the battlefield.

    Michael needed more, stronger,batants. A Sharpshooter, Great Warrior, and Warlord would be perfect for him.

    "You are the one who told me to use Insert on Ordinary Scrolls and the like. Can''t you remember?"

    Kraft Viton''s expression remained unchanged for a few seconds, but his facial features distorted upon realizing the meaning behind Michael''s words.

    "Those are all made from Ordinary Scrolls?!?"

    "The Named Scrolls are made from Ordinary Scrolls, yeah. But I can create Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Scrolls, Scroll Fragments, to be precise, for quite a while already," Michael pointed out, "You know that I can extract Soultraits and the Fragments to upgrade Soultraits from Awakened, right?"

    Kraft Viton nodded, recalling hisst chat with his student.

    "I''ve always been able to extract Scroll Fragments in addition to Ordinary Scrolls from my enemies as well. That''s also why I requested to exchange Mythic Scrolls with Ordinary Scrolls. I can create an infinite cycle like this."

    Kraft Viton''s eyes widened in surprise, and he had to pinch the back of his hand to get back to his senses.

    He cleared his throat and nced at the Scrolls spread out across the office table.

    "So, you want to exchange the Scrolls with Ordinary Scrolls again to create more Mythic Scrolls to trade with Ordinary Scrolls again while also¡­creating Named Scrolls with higher star rating. That is pretty smart."

    Michael could create an infinite cycle with the creation of Mythic Scrolls. If he used this opportunity properly, he shouldn''t have an issue creating countless Named Scrolls in the following months.

    "You should have told me earlier about this. I would have pressured the traders to give you even better quotes for the Mythic Scrolls you''ve given me earlier."

    Kraft Viton spread out his energy to stockpile the Named Scrolls and Mythic Scrolls in front of him. A momentter, a mountain of Ordinary Scrolls manifested behind Michael.

    "The quote is not bad with an average of 15,550 Ordinary Scrolls for every Mythic Scroll you''ve requested. The little mountain behind you should contain 730,850 Ordinary Scrolls," The old man pointed at the mountain of Scrolls, "I don''t know how expensive the creation of Mythic Scrolls is, or how arduous it is to create 2-Star Named Scrolls. But I''m pretty sure that everyone with more than two brain cells will be willing to toss a fortune at you. Of course, the same applies to the other 2-Star Named Scrolls, especially the Enchanter Scroll."

    Michael agreed with Kraft Viton''s statement. The only issue was that Michael had to use Extract on the Ordinary Scrolls to procure Scroll Fragments. Since the Scrolls bought from shops weren''t procured by Michael or his people and were usually in the shops'' warehouses for a while already, Michael would receive an average of 1.5 Scroll Fragments for every extracted Scroll.

    That was not a lot.

    Fortunately, Michael learned about Insert''s ability tobine Ordinary Scrolls and fuse them into Named Scrolls. He could use Named Scrolls to increase their star rating as well. That could save him lots of losses, which he would have sustained with Extraction.

    "Do you think rare 2-Star Named Scrolls will be as valuable as Mythic Scrolls, or do you think I should focus on Mythic Scrolls for the anonymous trades?"

    "I think Mythic Scrolls will do better. Many might favor purchasing rare 2-Star Named Scrolls, but the funds you can earn from 2-Star Named Scrolls is much lower than a Mythic Scroll. After all, 2-Star Named Scrolls summon 2-Star Summons. Mythic Scrolls have a high probability of summoning 3-Star Summons and even 4-Star Summons if you''re lucky. The gacha effect is more addicting," Kraft Viton thought hard about Michael''s question.

    "But then again, if you''re lucky enough to create rare 2-Star Named Scrolls that cannot be summoned through Mythic Scrolls, you can ask for a huge surcharge. It all depends on how likely you are to create rare Named Scrolls and your expenses. If it''s cheaper to create 2-Star Named Scrolls en masse you might be able to earn more that way. You should keep in mind that the demand for Mythic Scrolls exists everywhere. I''m pretty sure that I can strike some nice deals with some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to exchange the 195 Mythic Scrolls for 20,000 Ordinary Scrolls each."

    Michael acknowledged slowly.

    "Alright. I think I know what I''m going to do," He said.

    Michael stored the 730,850 Ordinary Scrolls in his War Rune. He considered turning the Scrolls into Mythic Scrolls right away but decided against it. Michael had yet to rebuild the Untamed Army. 730,850 Ordinary Scrolls would be enough to aplish that.

    Instead of wasting more time talking about the Scrolls, Michael retrieved the Agriculture-type blueprints and Artifacts. He considered bartering them for Ordinary Scrolls as well, but there were a few things he had to purchase.

    He conjured two lists in his palms and handed them over.

    "One of the list has some items I''ll need to beat the shit out of some Alliance of 106 Lords. There is a Pseudo-Legendary Tier-3 Artifacts mentioned on the list as well. I''m not sure if I have enough funds to acquisition it, but I saw it in the Bartholomew catalog, but I was curious about the Artifact. It should help me bargain more damage to those idiotic Lords in the Savannah," Michael uttered lightly.

    His nonchnt attitude was enough reason for Kraft Viton to chuckle lightly.

    "You are probably the biggest oddball I know."

    He shook his head, not sure how the Bartholomew Corporation ended up with someone like Michael.

    "But you shouldn''t have to worry about money. You were probably too busy to inspect your finances on the Bartholomew ount."

    Hmm?

    Michael raised his head. First, he was confused for a second, until he recollected something.

    "The Agriculture Project!"

    Kraft Viton broke into a smile. Michael checked his finances at once, his jaw dropping to the ground a mere momentter.

    "Wait! Am I rich?!?"

    [A/N#2: I know that I''ve been asking this way too often these days, but what do you think is missing about the story? Are there any major mistakes you''ve noticed, or things that should be mentioned more in the chapters? Your honest critique will help me improve the story going forward.

    P.S Keep in mind that honest critique doesn''t mean that I''ll allow y''all to be rude. Hehe]

 Chapter 640 Awakened Agency

    <h4>Chapter 640 Awakened Agency</h4>

    It turned out that the Agriculture Project progressed much faster than Michael had anticipated. The issues in the Sacred Desert, alongside the food scarcity in the Frozen Tundra, also known as Frozen Cataclysm, created a huge demand for highly nutritious, energy-rich food.

    Before the Barren Lands turned into somewhat fertilends thanks to the Agriculture Project, the human race had been forced to pay a heavy overpay for most food from the Origin Expanse. It was possible to bring food from the outside world into the Origin Expanse, but it was not as energy-rich and nutritious, and therefore not good enough to train Soldiers and maintain the citizens'' morale.

    Furthermore, the production of food outside the Origin Expanse was a much slower process, resulting in a low supply. The supply couldn''t meet one-tenth of the demand.

    But now that the Barren Lands transformed into fertilends it was possible to fight the food scarcity. The Bartholomew Corporation wouldn''t sell their products cheap, but they didn''t ask for the same heavy overpay. They lured more Lords to their side, expanded their business, and earned a fortune.

    Michael, as the main contributor with his supply of the Agriculture-type Blueprints, made the most gains as an individual. Purchasing a Pseudo-Legendary Tier-3 Artifact was no problem for Michael. He still had more than enough money left for other purchases.

    [Finances: 2,399,629,624,246]

    "The money I make by selling the blueprints and Artifacts for the items on the list should be more than enough to purchase everything. I''ve got the Tier-3 Artifact as well," Michael mumbled, tilting his head lightly.

    "What am I going to purchase now? Rare Blueprints? More tools for the cksmiths and Alchemists¡­or¡­No. I know!"

    Michael smiled brightly at Kraft Viton, who tried hard not to chuckle. The old man rarely saw people like Michael. His student was one of the prime examples that there could never be enough money.

    Even if he didn''t know what Michael was nning, Kraft Viton could tell that Michael was going to burn the fortune in his bank ount as if it was only a few bucks.

    "What do you think about creating an Awakened Agency in the Bartholomew Corporation''s name?" Michael asked, his eyes glowing vibrantly. Pure excitement oozed out of his eyes.

    "You need to give me some more details, otherwise, I''ll have no idea what you''re talking about." The old man responded. Even though Kraft Viton could make some guesses about the ideas that shed through Michael''s mind, he had no idea what he was going to do now.

    "We''ve been talking about searching Awakened for my territory, right? Suitable Awakened might not be impossible to find, but if they have to fit my criteria it will be a little bit harder. After all, I want hard-working, loyal, and decentlypetent Awakened in my territory."

    Kraft Viton nodded, "Their background and Soultraits don''t matter because you can provide them with enough resources to turn them into little monsters. I know, we talked about that."

    Michael continued smiling, "That''s where the Awakened Agencyes into y."

    "I want to create several branches of an Awakened Agency across the Tritan Alliance with the necessary devices and resources to test Awakened all over the Alliance''s territory. It will be quite difficult for ordinary Awakened to reach me at the Saphirke Military Academy. Their background might not allow them to travel through space, and, likely, many won''t be confident enough to meet my other requirements. That''s why we need the Awakened Agency and their branches spread out everywhere to test everyone."

    "So, to summarize what you''ve just said¡­ You want to create an Awakened Agency to examine Awakened throughout the entire Tritan Alliance."

    "That''s it. I want the tests to be extremely hard to pass. It would be the best solution if less than 1% can pass the test on their first attempt as well. The fewer the better," Michael added, "The tests will be free of charge and each Awakened Agency will give ess to study material and arge training center with Basic Nutrient Serums and other resources to help them grow a little bit stronger. The study material will contain certain techniques that help them pass the tests as long as they work hard enough."

    Kraft Viton was with Michael until thest sentences reached him.

    "You want to give everyone the same opportunity, and you want to see how desperate they are to grow stronger. How ambitious, hard-working andpetent they are. That way, the tests won''t be the ''real'' examination. Instead, their actions after failing the test for the first time will be the start of the real examination. The more they fight and the harder they work grow stronger the better it will be for you¡­someone who can give these desperate souls everything they had been dreaming about¡­"

    Kraft Viton shuddered slightly.

    "Are you really Michael Fang?" He asked half-jokingly, but the corner of his lips twitched.

    ''Was Michael always like this?''

    Michael''s strategy was good. It was amazing, if one thought Directly support the authors on WebNovel!

    about it a little longer. But it was also sly and unlike Michael''s usual behavior.

    "Not many will pass the tests, and it will take some time before someone eventually passes. It will also be quite expensive to establish Agency divisions throughout the Tritan Alliance.

    "Money is no problem, and I never expected that it would be easy or fast to find the Awakened, who are the most suitable to be trained and nourished from scratch. I want the cream of the crop," Michael shrugged, "But rather than naturals who were born with a golden spoon, powerful Soultraits, and everything they need to grow powerful, I want tenacious cockroaches, Awakened who don''t shy away from difficultbor to grow stronger. That''s the cream of the crop I''m talking about!"

    Kraft Viton could only shrug. The Awakened Agency was worth a try. He wasn''t sure if it was going to be a sess, but it was Michael''s capital and capabilities that were going to be used to support this project.

    All he and the Bartholomew Corporation had to do was to build the Awakened Agency divisions and spread the news.

    "Your examinations will probably crush the spirit of many hopeful Awakened," Kraft Viton warned, but Michael replied mercilessly.

    "But it will also be the nourishing grounds for those who desire strength more than everyone!"

    "Reward the initial three Awakened who sessfully passed the test with a Soultrait Symbol," A devilish smile crept up on his face.

    "''Secretly'', of course."

 Chapter 641 Interlude: Opportunity

    <h4>Chapter 641 Interlude: Opportunity</h4>

    The news spread rapidly.

    A new project was announced by the Bartholomew Corporation and hundreds of buildings sprouted all over the Tritan Alliance overnight.

    It was a great surprise to many organizations and members of the High Society. Everyone had heard about the great sess of the Agriculture Project and the project''s profits, but nobody expected that the Bartholomew Corporation would add another project to their busy schedule.

    The Agriculture Project consumed lots of time, resources, and effort, and it wasn''t their only project either. It was just one of many new projects.

    However, what surprised most members of the High Society and organizations was that the new project was non-profit based. Once they found out that the new project, the ''Awakened Agency'' was non-profit based, it was only a matter of hours before the powerhouses lost interest.

    However, the same couldn''t be said for ordinary Awakened. Some were curious about the Awakened Agency.

    A young lost Soul stumbled through Rivera, a small city in the Silver Moon Province on Elyra. It had only been a few days since he manifested his War Rune, but the initial joy and excitement of bing an Awakened had turned into a huge disappointment.

    Damien Sylva was overjoyed to be the first Awakened of his family. He was exhrated to have been chosen by the Will of the Origin Expanse and that he could earn a fortune as an Awakened to retire his parents and earn enough money to tend to his grandparents'' diseases.

    As long as he managed to kill a few Tier-1 Monsters, and procure some Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and Tierless Artifacts, he would be able to solve his family''s issues easily.

    Maybe, they could even move out of their small apartment in Rivera''s outskirts into arger apartment that would fit the family of 10 members.

    His initial n worked out fairly well. He managed to summon a 3-Star Priestess with the Fortune Summoning Scroll and managed to use the protection barrier shrouding the territory to kill a few Tierless Summons. Damien Sylva was fortunate enough to receive a 1-Star Tierless Sword Artifact from killing a Tierless Sabertooth Wolf.

    The 3-Star Priestess tended to all of his wounds and alleviated his exhaustion, granting Damien Sylva enough stamina to continue hunting monsters for the following days. He earned a small fortune in the following days, and he would have been overjoyed, if not for awakening a 1-Star Soultrait.

    Maybe, the 1-Star Soultrait would have been fine, if not for a Tier-2 Monster building its habitat right next to the protection barrier.

    His great fortune turned into ill-fate ten days after he entered the Origin Expanse. The grace period of 10 days ended, and the protection barrier dispersed. As if the Tier-2 Monster had been waiting for this moment, it attacked Damien Sylva, killed the 3-Star Priestess and thrashed the wooden manor. Damien Sylva escaped death by a hair''s breadth. He managed to conjure the Runic Gate and run away.

    Unfortunately, his ill fate didn''t end there. The Tier-2 Monster moved its habitat to the Summoning Gate and turned the area around the Runic Gate into a death zone. Damien Sylva attempted to return to the Origin Expanse and make a run to turn into a Rogue after losing his Lord Power, but he nearly died as a result.

    There was no way that he could return safely to the Origin Expanse with his Runic Gate anchored to a ce like this. It was worth trying to grow stronger, but he couldn''t afford Energy Stones to absorb theirpressed origin energy, and the training ces that used origin energy generators were not only too expensive, but the quality of the origin energy produced with the generators was below-average as well.

    There was no way that he would be able to advance to Tier-2 to ughter the Tier-2 Monster anytime soon. It might take decades IF he had enough money to spend all day for the next few years in a training hall with origin energy generators. Unfortunately, he didn''t have that kind of money.

    His life turned south after he lost his Lord Power. His grandparents'' condition worsened and the medicine to tend to their medical issues was too expensive. Damien Sylva couldn''t afford it.

    He was poor, his family relied on him now that he Awakened, but he couldn''t even use the golden opportunity granted by the Origin Expanse. He did make some money, but the small fortune was used up faster than he could count to three.

    He nearly died twice.

    His Soultrait was useless, enhancing his smelling sense by a minor degree, and hisnd was inessible. There was no way that he could safely return in the next few years.

    ''Am I fated to be someone''s Subordinate?'' He wondered, his expression turning sourer as he realized another crucial problem.

    ''Who would take in someone like me? I''m Tierless and my Soultrait is trash. I don''t have any expertise or knowledge that allows me to stand out either. Nobody will ept me¡­maybe not even if I ept a Soul Pact that turns me into a ve-like Subordinate.''

    Damien felt that some Lords would hesitate even if he epted to be their ve. Maybe they would hesitate to nourish trash like him? His Soultrait was of no use, after all, and he didn''t graduate from a good school either. Hebor hard, but his grades weren''t extraordinary because he had been busy tending to his grandparents when his parents were busy working all day.

    ''What am I supposed to do now?!?'' He cried desperately in his heart.

    Before he realized it Damien Sylva found himself in front of a fresh building withrge ss windows. A bright and well- designed sign attracted his interest.

    [Are you an Awakened and dissatisfied with your Soultrait and resources? Do you want to attain power? Acquire more Soultraits? Check out the Awakened Agency led by Michael Fang!]

    Damien Sylva scoffed and was about to ignore the sign until his eyes lingered on the name ''Michael Fang''. He recalled having heard something about him in the Awakened forum. There had been many threads revolving around a young prodigy.

    Damien Sylva opened the Awakened forum on his crystal watch and searched Michael''s name.

    "Michael Fang, presumed to have more than 8 Soultraits, capable of procuring Soultrait Symbols¡­has the means to upgrade Soultraits."

    Damien Sylva''s eyes widened the more he read about Micheal Fang. He was shocked, just like everyone else who stumbled upon the Awakened Agency in their cities.

    His eyes drifted from the holographic projection to the entrance of the Awakened Agency.

    ''There is no way that my life can get worse,'' Damien Sylva thought. He gathered the remaining bits of courage inside him and stepped inside the building.

    Merely half an momentter, Damien Sylva could be found lying on the floor in the Awakened Agency, his entire being roughed up like he had been beaten into a pulp over and over again.

    He failed the test.

    "I should have expected tha¨C...." Damien mumbled, only for the receptionist to say.

    "Don''t fear failure. Failure is just another steppingstone to greatness," She smiled at Damien, "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail."

    As the receptionist''s words reached Damien, he received several notifications.

    [The Awakened Agency''s training grounds and hidden library have been unlocked.]

    [There are no failures ¨C just experiences and your reactions to them.]

    Damien''s disappointment was wiped away in an instant, and curiosity pricked him.

    ''It''s not over?''

    No. It was the beginning of something great.

 Chapter 642 Master of Awakening & Light of Enlightenment

    <h4>Chapter 642 Master of Awakening & Light of Enlightenment</h4>

    Now that Michael bought some of the necessary resources to fortify and expand his territory and used his remaining fortune to create the Awakened Agency, all he had to do was wait until the seedlings in the Agency would sprout and transform into potential future powerhouses.

    Others might be worried about Lords stealing their seedlings, but Michael didn''t mind. Not many Lords would be willing to get out of their way to turn someone who didn''t fit their requirements into their subordinates.

    Most Descendants wouldn''t even bother to nce at the weaker Awakened whose Soultraits were of no use for their territories. Instead, the Descendants would focus on nourishing the strongest Awakened, who owned useful Soultraits and powerful Artifacts, but had been unfortunate to encounter even stronger enemies in the Origin Expanse.

    The group Michael targeted was different. His targets were not that easy to handle for ordinary Lords. He was the only one who could give them what they desired.

    The Awakened Agency wouldn''t produce good seedlings in high quantities quickly. It would take a while. Therefore, Michael decided that it was time to get back into the Origin Expanse.

    He manifested the Runic Gate and was about to step through when he halted in his tracks. He channeled some energy into Spirit Eyes and looked around to find his mother''s energy fluctuations, but she was nowhere to be seen.

    Evalynn Fang avoided her son. She didn''t seem to want to talk to him anymore.

    ''Weird.''

    It was not that Michael would be happy to talk to his mother. Instead, he was not sure how he would react once they conversed. However, his mother did avoid him earlier. That confused him more than it should have.

    He shook his head and stepped through the Runic Gate to emerge in his little territory.

    A fresh breeze brushed through his hair the moment he arrived, filling his nostrils with the fragrance of the Untamed Jungle.

    The rich energy in the surroundings felt pleasant on his skin, and Michael found himself breaking into a smile.

    The Untamed Jungle felt more like home to him than the concrete jungles outside the Origin Expanse. It was pleasant to have nature all around him and to adapt to the surrounding environment rather than destroying everything to expand his territory.

    Michael stretched his body a little bit before he returned to the wooden manor where he received the daily report from one of his attendants. He read through the daily report and broke into a bright smile.

    The construction of the Hunter Academy progressed swiftly. The situation of the Intermediate Sacred Knight Temple was simr. If there were no furtherplications the construction of both structures would finish in a few weeks. From then onward, Michael could train thousands of Archers, Hunters, Blessed Squires, Holy Knights, and maybe even some Sacred Knights.

    Unfortunately, a few weeks didn''t fit perfectly into Michael''s n. He doubted that the Council of Xylon would be willing to wait a few months before his Archers, Blessed Squires, and higher-ranked Summons received their promotions, high-quality armaments, and additional training to improve their strategic thinking and teamwork.

    But that was fine. Michael had 730,850 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls to experiment with.

    If that was not enough to create some powerful Summons to make up for the casualties they''d suffered in the battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army, Michael would barge into the enemy rows alone.

    He procured a lovely Pseudo-Legendary Artifact for that purpose, in the first ce.

    The Pseudo-Legendary Artifact was a bracelet called Eneagis. It was a bracelet capable of storing a tremendous amount of energy. The downside of the Pseudo-Legendary Tier-3 Artifact was that it required a considerable amount of concentration to ess and drain its energy. That was also why it would never be considered a Legendary Tier-3 Artifact. In fact, even calling it a Pseudo-Legendary Artifact was mostly due to the incrediblyrge energy storage.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t have a problem with that kind of problem. For him, Eneagis was a Legendary Artifact. Why? He had Extraction to ignore Eneagis'' downside. His Soultrait outyed the Pseudo-Legendary Artifact''s only w.

    Binding Eneagis to his War Rune wasn''t further difficult. The Pseudo-Legendary Artifact was the only Tier-3 Artifact in his possession. The Dragon Might ring might be a Legendary Artifact, but it was only a Tier-2 Artifact, whereas the Spirit Armor Set was a creation of the Relic of Draka. It wasn''t even an Artifact.

    Aethyr was¡­Aethyr. It was not an Artifact, but it wasn''t nothing either. Aethyr was incredibly powerful, which was also why Michael had considered investing the remaining SoulStar Fragments in his War Rune to strengthen it. There was no way he could make a mistake by nourishing Aethyr. As long as he invested enough SoulStar Fragments, Michael could increase the amount of Aether within the Aethyr, therefore, granting it various new functions.

    ''Before I increase the amount of Aether within it, I should upgrade it to Tier-3 properly. Cutting through the hide of a Higher Lifeform with Aethyr at its current level isn''t exactly easy,'' Michael reminded himself before returning into istion inside his office. He prepared enough Energy Stones to supply Aethyr with purified origin energy to upgrade it. It was about time that the upgrade happened.

    Thest thing Michael did before disappearing into his office for a week was to throw a spatial satchel toward Tiara, whom he encountered on the way. She was a little baffled but understood what Michael wanted her to do once she sent a trace of energy into the spatial satchel to find out what was hidden inside.

    Tiara, who wanted to return to training, changed her mission. She rushed past the training grounds, ignored Legion and Master Tigris who greeted their princess with the honor she deserved, and distributed the resources Michael had given to her.

    After spending the first few days in the Untamed Jungle by getting used to everything, Legion, Master Tigris, and the remaining four members of the Silverfang Tigerfolk decided that it was time to help their princess and Michael Fang.

    They heard enough about their new Lord from the princess to understand the situation. It was still a little bit difficult toprehend the true extent of their new Lord''s power, but it was quite obvious that Michael was the reason they had been summoned so soon. He managed to establish Legendary Summoning Scrolls rather swiftly, therefore, creating an opening for six Silverfangs to escape the eternal nothingness of the Will.

    The Silverfangs desired to resurrect their n, but they knew that they couldn''t achieve such a grand goal alone. They learned enough about Michael and the changes of the Will to understand that Michael was their grand ticket toward the resurrection of the Silverfang Tigerfolk.

    It was time for them to use their Soultraits, wisdom, and manpower to support Michael and his territory.

    Legion and Master Tigris were the most useful. Legion used his Soultrait [Master of Awakening], a 1-Star Soultrait, together with Master Tigris'' [Light of Enlightenment], a 3-

    Star Soultrait to create a great synergy on the mentoring grounds.

    Since Michael didn''t n to increase the amount of Aether in Aethyr yet, he''d decided to invest his SoulStar Fragments into upgrading Master of Awakening and Light of Enlightenment to 5-Star Soultraits. Michael didn''t even demand anything.

    The reason was simple.

    Master of Awakening increased the chances of Summons to receive an upational promotion and awaken unique powers. At the same time, Master of Awakening stimted advantageous mutations within monsters and the surrounding nature. It was a multi-purpose Soultrait that coulde in handy if used properly.

    Of course, it was rather useless as a 1-Star Soultrait. Master or Awakening''s probability to awaken was incredibly low at 1-

    Star.

    Using it properly was Legion''s goal. It was also why he stood in the center of the mentoring ground with Master Tigris, whose entire body radiated dazzling light. Light of Enlightenment was not a multi-purpose Soultrait, but it was still quite powerful. It provided everyone with enlightenment as long as the Soultrait''s dazzling light reached them while training.

    Combined, the two Soultraits were perfect for instructions, especially with the Sacred Knight Temple, the Hunter Academy, and Siegfried Dracoon aiding the whole process as well.

    Michael would have to lie if he were to say that he understood everything about the Will of the Origin Expanse, or why the Legendary Summoning Scrolls turned out to summon the Silverfang Tigerfolk, but he was quite satisfied with Master Tigris and Legion''s powers and Soultraits.

    It was difficult to find Soultraits like theirs, especially so if the Soultraits had a high star rating, which was the case thanks to Michael''s SoulStar Fragments.

    The Silverfangs were perfect to expand the Untamed Army and stimte thebatants to receive more upational promotions as they continued to train.

    Master Tigris began to share his vast knowledge about the Origin Expanse and the history of the Silverfang Tigerfolk. He even shared the reason the Silverfang Tigerfolk scared the other Demi races.

    The Primal Silverfang Body Constetion Arts and the Legacy of the White Tiger martial arts were two reasons for the short-lived supremacy of the Silverfang Tigerfolk. They were techniques that strengthened the mind, and energy control, and allowed the body to develop a lot stronger, transcending the limits of the mortal body.

    However, even more importantly, Summons could use those techniques to develop more resilient and enhance theirprehension, therefore, increasing the probability of attaining enlightenment.

    Awakened, who were not part of the Silverfang Tigerfolk had a difficult time practicing the Primal Silverfang Body Constetion Arts and the Legacy of the White Tiger, but it worked for Summons of all races ¨C to a certain degree.

    The peakpatibility of those techniques was with the Silverfang Tigerfolk and other Demis, but it worked for ordinary Summons as well.

    Michael''s Summons would develop much stronger than ever!

 Chapter 643 Santa Tiara

    <h4>Chapter 643 Santa Tiara</h4>

    "Are your muscles made out of rubber?!?" A worker shouted at the group of Berserkers, who carried huge wooden trunks through the Untamed Jungle.

    The densely grown trees and bushes were removed to provide thergest trees with enough space to keep growing. They didn''t have to share the nutritious soil with other trees and wouldn''t have a problem growing twice or thrice as big as before. The construction workers and the Architects worked together to use the growing trees as the foundation of the tower treehouseplexes and expanded their attempts to create a perfect synergy between the Untamed Jungle and the settlement.

    Michael and his people were camouged from enemies and gained resources from the Untamed Jungle. In return, they nourished the Untamed Jungle by removing the aggressive trees and bushes that were stealing the nutrition of the older trees. At the same time, the Untamed Jungle received various nutrients from the Greater Nature Spirit and the fertilizer brought by Michael. Whether the fertilizer was Awakened, or Native corpses or proper fertilizer didn''t matter.

    "If you think we''re cking off, how about you move your fat ass over here and carry the logs on your own?" A Starless Berserker responded to the fat construction worker, who had been assigned as their guide and superior.

    The construction worker was about to respond in anger, but the heavy logs smashed heavily into the ground next to the construction site. The ground stirred and so did the construction worker''s heart as he imagined what would happen if one of the Berserkers was tired of his orders. They would pick him up and tear him apart.

    He shuddered and shut his mouth. It was not like the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were slow workers. If anything, the construction of new tower treehouseplexes was much faster than ever. The only problem was that the residences had to be adjusted.

    To be precise, everything had to be adjusted now that their Lord summoned Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs regrly. Both Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were usually taller than three meters. Therger kind of their race reached almost five meters. The ordinary treehouseplexes were notrge enough for them to live peacefully.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t like treehouseplexes either. That was part of the reason why Michael had to adjust the expansion of his territory and createrge, several-story-tall buildings in between several towering trees.

    Michel was still unwilling to raze entire areas of the Untamed Jungle for the construction ofrge buildings such asrge-scale apartmentplexes to fit thousands of Summons at once, but he made some adjustments to give the Berserker and Warlock Centaur Summons what they needed.

    "Just continue work¡­" The fat construction worker mumbled, breaking into a sweat as he felt the gaze of several Berserkers on him.

    "We''re only doing this until the residencies have beenpleted. Afterward, we will join the others on the training ground," A Berserker grumbled, only for a Warlock Centaur to nod vigorously.

    "I never expected that I would be resurrected as a Starless Summon. I was certain that my achievements and strength would have been enough to be resurrected as a 2-Star Summons, maybe even as a 3-Star Summon." Another Berserker grumbled as he hurled arge log onto the others.

    Everyone ignored the tremoring ground and themotion that resounded through the vicinity as the logs fell onto other logs.

    "Maybe, this is a trial as well," One of the quieter Warlock Centaurs'' mumbled, "Maybe, our ancestors want to see whether we''re capable enough to rise back to strength, or if we end up cking off and epting our fate. The Lord creates countless opportunities for everyone to grow stronger and receive promotions. He focuses on opportunities, which is umon for Lords."

    "That''s true. He wants his Summons to grow stronger and give us enough opportunities to grasp them. We are free to grasp the opportunities or leave them behind and ept our current lives."

    "We were quite lucky with our Lord!"

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs nodded and smiled at each other.

    "Let''s finish our residencies in the next few days. We''ll start training right after and be 1-Star Summons within a week!!"

    The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers roared and went back to work. However, instead of moving slowly, they ended up exhausting themselves until they couldn''t move anymore. There was no time to waste. It was necessary to move fast and grow stronger. After all, a golden opportunity waited impatiently for them.

    After all, the Regional War in the Savannah region was not yet over!

    Some subjects were scared when the first Berserker and Warlock Centaur Summons appeared in the territory. They were twice as tall as the other Summons, their bodies were riddled with scars from the fearsome wars they''d fought before dying and their burly physiques and angry resting faces didn''t help the subjects to think of the Berserker and Warlock Centaur Summons as less scary.

    Fortunately, the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs were overly friendly and forting with their allies. Even the physiques of Starless Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were extraordinary, allowing them to use their raw strength to carry things.

    However, Starless Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were not only extraordinaryborers. Berserkers possessed extraordinary talent in all works rted to forges. Their thick skin was slightly heat resistant, allowing them to work in forges much longer than ordinary beings. Their physical strength and exceptional control of their power made it much easier to forge as well.

    Warlock Centaurs were simr, but they were more attuned to nature than the underground and forging. Most Warlock Centaurs learned enough about medicine and herbs to appraise various herbs in the Untamed Jungle. They weren''t botanists or herb collectors, but their herb-picking talents were extraordinary.

    They were talented at finding all kinds of herbs, rare bushes with ripened fruits, and hiding spots of seedlings thatcked nutrition due to the aggressive nts surrounding them.

    After the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs joined Michael''s territory, many things changed. The production of weapons and other armaments in the Underground Forging Hall progressed rapidly, and the Alchemists'' herb gardens expanded rapidly.

    Michael considered using Insert on some of the herbs and special potions, elemental crystals, and other things to see whether he could stimte mutations or create entirely new nts by merging other nts. Cross-pollination of energy-

    rich nts was something his Botanists worked with, and they were certain that Michael''s Soultrait could skip countless steps to create offspring with desirable traits.

    Unfortunately, Michael was a little bit too busy with other things to pay more attention to the expanding herb gardens. He felt that the herb gardens should continue expanding until the issues with the Council of Xylon were solved. That shouldn''t take too long. Probably.

    The ever-expanding herb garden was useful in one way or another. The Warlock Centaurs cleared the remaining parts of the Untamed Jungle''s outer rings andrge parts of the middle area from the infestation of contaminated weeds and pests while simultaneously harvesting the vast majority of valuable herbs to expand in the herb gardens.

    The Alchemists were very grateful for the Warlock Centaur''s meticulous work. They harvested the herbs without damaging their roots and managed to nt them without causing any harm. However, what made the Alchemists the happiest was when Tiara arrived with two dozen potion recipes and a small mountain of perfectly harvested nts.

    The nts couldn''t be found in the Untamed Jungle and its surroundings, and the same could be said about the rare potion recipes. But that was not all.

    Tiara retrieved a bunch of books and ced them into the Alchemists'' small library. The books ought to help the Master Alchemists to improve and eventually attain enlightenment. The probability that they improved their star rating to 4-Star was low, but it was not zero. In fact, with Master Tigris'' Light of Enlightenment and Legion''s Master of Awakening, their probability improved quite a bit. It was still closer to zero than 1%, but the chance was tens of times higher than it used to be.

    Simr situations where Santa Tiara emerged with presents for everyone urred all over the territory. Tiara had presents for the Greater Eagles as well, specific Typhoon Crystals that could be absorbed to grant the Greater Eagles a minor Wind Affinity if their innate potential was high enough, and various delicacies for the Bilrox had been prepared.

    Zeroa and Stinger, however, acquired the most delicacies. Michael bought various treasures for the Elemental Empress and Stinger to consume since their tireless efforts throughout thest few months had been one of the major reasons Michael managed to expand stronger and protect his territory.

    However, one of the most expensive items that Michael had ordered not too long ago was for Tatjana.

    It was a Bloodline Upgrade Token.

    It was time for the Grandmaster Beastmaster''s offspring to awaken the Eye of Evolution!

 Chapter 644 Elven Lore

    <h4>Chapter 644 Elven Lore</h4>

    Tatjana''s scream resounded through the territory center, attracting the attention of the hard-working subjects nearby.

    They stared in the same direction in surprise and confusion, unsure what was going on. The training grounds were on the other side, and even the wounded warriors didn''t scream that loudly, no matter how serious their injuries were.

    However, Tatjana Moiaralin was different. She wasn''t fighting anyone.

    Her body temperature was rising as the cells within her body were repetitively destroyed and healed. The temperature increased until Tatjana felt like she was about to copse and die at any moment. It was only a matter of time before she would sumb to her ill fate.

    Upgrading her bloodline using the Bloodline Upgrade Token had been a long and arduous task. To stimte the Bloodline Upgrade Token, Tatjana had to spread out severalyers of Inferior Energy Stones and take a bath in a bathtub filled with Nutrient Solutions.

    Her bloodline upgrade didn''t consume as many resources as Extraction''s upgrade to 7-Star, but her need for resources was still higher than anticipated.

    Siegfried Dracoon mentioned the bloodline upgrade wouldn''t be that painful. However, pain didn''t have a proper measurement. It was not possible to scale it like this. Some people, like Siegfried Dracoon, were good at enduring pain. Something that hurt others might not be that bad for someone like the Immortal Knight.

    Then again, it was pretty obvious that thetent potential of everyone''s bloodline was slightly different. For some beings, it was easier to upgrade their bloodline, while it was harder for others. For Tatjana, the young Forest Elf of the Grandmaster Beasttamer family, it was very painful.

    She was crying and screaming for several hours until she was too tired to continue. Her voice ceased and she slumped into a state between being half-awake and unconscious. The pain that coursed through her body intensified, yet Tatjana could only feel a fraction of it.

    Time passed rapidly and before she knew it, Tatjana found herself in a bed. The drained Energy Stones and the bathtub were no more.

    "Did I pass out?" She mumbled, rubbing her itching eyes. It hurt, "Ow¡­"

    Tatjana''s eyes were very sensitive to touches right now. Even channeling cooling origin energy into them wasn''t asfortable as it ought to be. However, Tatjana ignored the difort of inserting energy into her eyes as she realized something. Her vision changed. Something was different than it used to be!

    She jumped up from the bed, ignoring the young Forest Elf, who had been taking care of her, and dashed out of the room. She jumped down the flight of stairs and rushed past Lilica, Opars, and Mika. The three Forest Elven Adventurers found Tatjana and carried her to the wooden manor when she copsed in the bathtub.

    They didn''t know what was happening at first, but Tiara exined the situation soon after. It was a surprise that Michael managed to purchase another Bloodline Upgrade Token. Most people would never sell such a treasure for cheap.

    Lilica and the others doubted that Michael was that wealthy, and they began to wonder if their Lord continued to sell Soultrait Symbols to his people.

    Michael had been certain that he wouldn''t sell any Soultrait Symbols for the time being. However, Lilica and everyone who had been around Michael for a while knew that he showed no hesitation to do everything necessary to strengthen his subjects and help them unleash their full potential.

    "I guess she managed to awaken the Eyes of Evolution," Opars mumbled, his gaze following the excited bunny, aka Tatjana Moiaralin.

    Mika got up with a smile, "It would have been weird if her Eyes of Evolution didn''t awaken after using the Bloodline Upgrade Token, 854 Inferior Energy Stones, and 531 Nutrient Solutions!"

    "You counted? Are you serious?" Lilica scowled at the young Forest Elf, who flinched as if he had been caught stealing candy.

    "M-maybe?" Mika shook his head, "I¡­don''t know what you''re talking about." He turned away and followed Tatjana outside the wooden manor, "Either way! Let''s follow Opars'' ''little bunny'' and see what her Eyes of Evolution are capable of."

    Since Forest Elves were known for holding their ancestry in high regard, it was no surprise that Lilica, Opars, Mika, and the vast majority of Forest Elven Summons had heard about the Moiaralin family.

    The Moiaralin family was decently well-known among the Forest Elven tribe. They were one of the oldest families of the Old Regime and were both feared and loved for their innate ability to raise powerful monsters and the ability to see the potential and evolution paths of monsters.

    As long as a monster possessed enough potential, the Moiaralin family would be able to turn it into a mighty beast.

    Over countless centuries, the Moiaralin family developed into arge-scale family by adopting all Forest Elves with Taming Soultraits. They nourished the Taming Soultraits and helped the Forest Elven Awakened to find the most suitablepanions ¨C for a hefty price, of course.

    The Moiaralin demanded a lot from the Awakened after helping them, and they threatened them by saying that they poisoned theirpanions and that they could trigger the poison at any time.

    That was also part of the reason why Lilica and the others stayed away from Tatjana initially. Forest Elves might hold their ancestry in high regard, but they were also petty and avoided those who harmed their tribe in the past. The Moiaralin family of the Old Regime was like that. They aided the Forest Elves'' progress for several centuries, only to go down the wrong path¡­the path of greed and arrogance.

    They desired to be the sole rulers of the Forest Elven tribe and to annex the tribes that had been daring enough to invade theirnds for millennia. Their attempts to change the ruling system failed. The Moiaralin family crumbled and perished¡­but not without leaving mountains of corpses behind.

    Entire forests were burned down by the Moiaralin family''s tamed monsters, forcing millions of Forest Elves to delve deeper into the woods. They lost their homes, and a big portion of their territory before the Moiaralin family and theirpanions were finally stopped¡­at the expense of countless powerhouses.

    The fall of the Moiaralin family happened more than 700 years ago, but the aftermath of their betrayal and uncontroble greed affected the Forest Elven tribe even now.

    These aftermaths were not only reflected in the small poption of the Forest Elves but also in theck of resources. Forest Elves weren''t aggressive by nature and they didn''t initiate wars on their own, under normal circumstances. Their lifespans were longer than the lifespan of ordinary Elves, but the downside of their prolonged lifespan was increased difficulties in bearing offspring.

    The Moiaralin''s actions resulted in the loss of massive pieces ofnd, the death of countless innocent Forest Elves, and weakened defenses. The Forest Elves'' enemies, even though there weren''t many, used the opportunity and struck hard. The Forest Elven tribe was pushed closer to the brink of destruction. It was a miracle that they survived.

    Therefore, the Forest Elves had sworn to eliminate the Moiaralin family members if they were to summon them in the Origin Expanse. The Forest Elves didn''t want to repeat the mistakes they''dmitted in the outside world.

    Lilica and the others considered killing Tatjana, but it was quite obvious that the young Legendary Summon hadn''t been tarnished. She was probably one of the oldest members of the Moiaralin family, one of the few members who had never sinned. At least, that was what Lilica and the other Forest Elves sensed after they talked with Tatjana a little bit.

    There was no need to kill Tatjana Moiaralin. The situation was not the same as it had been when Michael summoned Cleave Fenrir. Tatjana was of no danger, whereas it had been theplete opposite with Cleave Fenrir.

    Tatjana dashed through the Untamed Jungle, channeling arge amount of origin energy into her eyes. She ignored the increasing difort in her eyes and focused on the Bilrox, Greater Eagles, the Heavy Armored Elephant, Stinger, and the other monsters residing in the territory.

    "I can see their Evolution Paths and potential!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her cheery voice reverberating through the Untamed Jungle.

    Atst, Tatjana could see the evolution paths and potential of the monsters around her.

    Finally, she was not useful anymore. She could grow stronger and stretch out a helping hand to strengthen Michael''s territory as well!

 Chapter 645 Evolution Paths

    <h4>Chapter 645 Evolution Paths</h4>

    ?Tatjana was exhrated and hugged everyone crossing her path while ignoring their difort and confusion.

    She jumped around, happy that the Eyes of Evolution finally awakened.

    Alongside the awakening of the Eyes of Evolution, Tatjana could finally search for her firstpanion as well. As a tamer, Tatjana''s greatest power ought to be taming monsters. However, she had been spending most of her time focusing on her archery skills.

    Tatjana knew that she could tame a fewpanions without the Eyes of Evolution, but she didn''t want to tame any monsters with low potential or weak Evolution Paths. She would regret wasting her few taming slots for a monster that wasn''t up to her standards. Therefore, Tatjana was ready to wait years and focus on her other skills until her Eyes of Evolution awakened.

    Fortunately, it didn''t take that long. Michael helped her, granting her early ess to the Eyes of Evolution.

    ''Where is the Lord?'' Tatjana nearly blurted aloud, her eyes moving left and right searching for Michael Fang.

    However, he was nowhere near, which soured her mood a little. She had been hoping to thank her Lord properly for his investment. Bloodline Upgrade Tokens had been rare when she was still alive, and that hasn''t change until now. Tatjana heard from Lilica and some other summons that the Lord must have high hopes about the Eyes of Evolution to be willing to invest a fortune into Tatjana this soon.

    Tatjana was grateful for Michael''s trust and she didn''t want to break it. She hoped that she could be even more helpful than the Lord was anticipating.

    Therefore, before searching for her firstpanion, Tatjana decided that it was more important to appraise all tamed monsters in the Untamed Jungle, pinpoint their unlocked Evolution Paths and the remaining requirements to initiate the evolutions as well as find some hidden evolution paths that were still sealed

    It was easier to analyze the tamed monsters by getting to know them. The monsters'' histories, their growth, their racial limit, and various information about their persona, strength, and other factors would be helpful to discover more evolution paths using Eyes of Evolution.

    Furthermore, as Tatjana grew stronger and more proficient at using Eyes of Evolution, the difficulty of discovering more sealed Evolution Paths with higher potential wouldn''t be a problem.

    With that in mind, Tatjana decided to use her time efficiently, spending as much time with the tamed monsters in Michael''s territory as possible.

    Sun Demos was the first to arrive in front of her when the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King heard that Tatjana''s Eyes of Evolution awakened. However, Sun Demos was not the only one. Icarus and the other Greater Eagles, the Bilrox Queen and her kin, the Blood Oath Demons, the Golden Stinger Wasp, the Heavy Armored Elephant, and a small group representing the will of all Elementals circled Tatjana, hoping that she could help them grow stronger.

    A clipboard, nk sheets, and a pencil filled with ink were all Tatjana needed as she started her evolution counseling session.

    Sun Demos was the first one she appraised intently using Eyes of Evolution. Her eyes widened slightly and she couldn''t help but nce back at the wooden manor, the window to Michael''s room, to be precise.

    "Blood Oath Demon Monkey King, a Superior Existence with enhanced physical strength, elevated intelligence, and a¡­High Soul? That is quite rare, and it''s probably also the reason why your potential is extraordinary," Tatjana spoke to Sun Demos, certain that the monster could understand her.

    She stopped for a moment and tilted her head lightly, "Three Evolution Paths have already been unlocked. One Ordinary Path, one Elite Path, and one Superior Path. You''ve already been exposed to Chaos Energy and you have consumed enough demonic energy as well. That means all you''re missing is¨C..."

    Sun Demos screeched, shaking his head and smashing his fists onto the ground. It was easy to tell that Sun Demos was dissatisfied.

    "A Superior Path is not enough for you?" Tatjana raised her eyebrow, only to see Sun Demos calm down and nod.

    Lilica was standing next to Tatjana, telling the youthful member of the Moiaralin family about Sun Demos'' history and his rivalry with Zeroa, the Elemental Empress.

    "So you want to tread the path of a Mythical Creature because you want to be stronger than the Elemental Empress?"

    Sun Demos uttered some noises while nodding vigorously.

    Tatjana frowned deeply. She barely awakened her Eyes of Evolution and used them for the first time intently, yet her first client wanted her to find a Mythical Evolution Path for him. Did Sun Demos consider that Mythical Evolution Paths were that easy to discover?

    Under normal circumstances, it was close to impossible for a Superior Existence to advance to a Mythical Creature. However, Tatjana decided to use Eyes of Evolution on Sun Demos again because he had a High Soul. That was rare to find in an ordinary monster. Superior Existences that ascended to be High Beasts rarely had High Souls, but it was a miracle to find something like that in an ordinary monster.

    "Do you know if our Lord''s Soultrait strengthens the Souls of his tamed monsters?" Tatjana queried Lilica while remaining focused on the threads of information that were hidden deep inside Sun Demos'' existence.

    Eyes of Evolution allowed her to pinpoint the threads of monsters'' existences and make sense of them. It was not easy but Tatjana felt that she was slowly getting the hang of it.

    "I''m not sure if the Lord''s Taming Soultrait does something like that. But it shouldn''t be impossible. Why? Do you consider that Sun Demos'' potential is higher than it should be because of that?" Lilica asked, pinpointing Tatjana''s exact train of thought.

    However, she was too focused on the task ahead to answer. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and she began to breathe heavily as she was pulled deeper into the mess of existential threads.

    Atst, Tatjana escaped the chaos, a conflicted expression forming on her face.

    She¡­found a thread belonging to a potential Mythical Evolution Path. No. It was a thread that belonged to a series of evolutions that would eventually lead to the creation of a Mythical Existence.

    "I found something. An Evolution Series. That''s rare, but it''s also very precious."

    Evolution Series was a series of Evolution Paths that led to the creation of a particr existence. It was important to know that an Evolution Series was far moreplicated than ordinary Evolution Paths and that it was impossible to change the path once one started advancing in the Evolution Series.

    "I''m not sure if he has any other Mythical Evolution Paths, but he has an Evolution Series that should transform Sun Demos into a Mythical Existence upon advancing to Tier-6."

    "Tier-6?" Lilica queried while Sun Demos said simr noises, probably asking the same as the Forest Elf.

    "I cannot see much about the Evolution Series yet, but the presence I feel hibernating within the thread is that of a Mythical Existence," Tatjana responded, she concentrated more on the thread until beads of blood pooled down her cheeks.

    She was about to copse when she terminated the use of Eyes of Evolution for a few seconds.

    "Yep. That''s a Mythical Evolution Series. A powerful one at that," Tatjana says, resulting in an uproar from Sun Demos and his kin.

    However, Tatjana''s voice was filled with seriousness.

    "Don''t be too happy about that. Meeting the requirements to start the Evolution Series and continue to tread the path of the Mythical Evolution Series won''t be easy. It might actually kill you."

    "No. It will probably kill you and those around you."

    Lilica knit her brows deeply, her eyes lingering on Tatjana whose expression distorted once again.

    "You will either kill everyone or die long before you advance to Tier-6. That''s the Path of the Infernal King, Su Wukael"

 Chapter 646 Name

    <h4>Chapter 646 Name</h4>

    ?Tatjana spent a long time using Eyes of Evolution to find as much as possible about the tamed monsters in Michael''s territory. She noted all the details without leaving anything. Even the most, seemingly, useless pieces of information were written down.

    That was helpful as it allowed various monsters to find rather rare Elite Evolution Paths and some Superior Evolution Paths. The biggest downside of some rare and powerful Evolution Paths was that their requirements were extremelyplicated. Most monsters would never have the opportunity to unlock these Evolution Paths given their environment and wild instincts.

    However, the situation was a little bit different with Tatjana and Michael by their sides. Tatjana could aid the monsters and pinpoint the evolution requirements and the resources needed to stimte their evolutions, whereas Michael could burn holes into his wallet to procure everything needed.

    It was a bit unfortunate, but Tatjana''s proficiency with the Eyes of Evolution was not good enough to learn much about Sun Demos'' Evolution Series. That was not a problem for the time being because Tatjana managed to find out enough details to initiate Sun Demos'' first evolution in the Infernal King Evolution Series. All Sun Demos had to do was unlock the Evolution Series properly and consume the right resources.

    Resources.

    That was also a big problem. The Infernal King Evolution Series required exotic resources that couldn''t be procured easily. They were rare to find in specific regions, regions with powerful High Beasts. It was no surprise that the materials for Sun Demos'' first evolution would be expensive.

    Unfortunately, the same applied to the evolutions of the other tamed monsters.

    It was only obvious but Michael ¨C like everyone else ¨C was hoping to give the tamed monsters the best possible evolutions to strengthen them and, in retrospect, his territory.

    That led to the biggest problem, a problem that was prevalent for all Lords; Theirck of resources.

    No matter how wealthy a Lord was, there were always huge expenses in their territory. Someone would always be asking for new resources, tools, blueprints, and so forth.

    It was no surprise that many people considered Lords both filthy rich and overwhelmingly poor.

    Interestingly enough, Tatjana managed to procure some information about the Evolution Paths of Elementals as well. The Lesser Elementals desired to evolve and expand just like everyone else.

    They desired to grow stronger and to be more integrated into the territory. That was also why they had be more proactive in their means to show support and reach out their helping hands for a while now.

    The Elementals split up to help keep the soil in the herb gardens and farms nutritious. They supported the construction of all kinds of structures and reinforced the Grandmaster Smithies with their Elemental Might, which made it much easier and faster to forge high-quality Armaments.

    Until now five Grandmaster Smithies had been constructed and each of them received support from a Pyro Bilrox and several Lesser Fire Elementals. The Master cksmiths and the Grandmasters felt a little bit weird, at first, but their opinion of the support changed quickly when they realized how useful the Pyro Bilrox and Lesser Fire Elementals were.

    But the Lesser Elementals were not only good at helping in the territory. Their aid inbat was even better after they learned how to integrate a portion of their Elemental Might into weapons and other objects, allowing Awakened and Summons to ess and wield a portion of their power.

    That way, the Lesser Elementals were not forced into a replicate of Taming''s fusion. Instead, they could join the battle actively while also having a portion of their power stored within their allies to strengthen them even further.

    Using the ability to store Elemental Might to their advantage, the Untamed Army was forced into arge-scale training session. It was no surprise that everyone was willing to give their utmost to grow stronger. However, that didn''t mean everyone could control Elemental Might easily.

    Most Summons had issues controlling Elemental Might. It was a foreign power to everyone and therefore not easy to handle.

    At the end of the day, most Summons had to train their Elemental Might control for a few hours every single day before they managed to use it actively in sparring sessions.

    But now that they learned to control Elemental Might to a certain extent, one could see Humans, Forest Elves, Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and even some Silverfangs swirling zing mes, water bubbles, wind des, and pebbles around their bodies. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads as they controlled the Elemental Might as precisely as possible, but they managed to do it.

    Siegfried Dracoon''s talent was extraordinary. He managed to wield multiple types of Elemental Might simultaneously. This increased hisbat prowess even further, earning him more respect from all sides. The Immortal Knight didn''t like the extent of their respect. He didn''t think that he deserved to be this respected, not after disappointing his new Lord and the members of the Sacred Knight Temple like that.

    He was still too weak.

    If their Lord and the Untamed Awakened hadn''t been there, the Untamed Jungle would have fallen prey to the Heart of the zing Lion army. He and his Knights would have died miserably. Not even their strongest Holy Formations worked against them.

    Why?

    Because they were too weak. All of them!

    Of course, Siegfried could give excuses. He knew that he hadn''t been that long in Michael''s territory and that a Native Empire was not a usual enemy, but would that help him? No.

    Instead of getting a big head from the respect and praises he received, Siegfried Dracoon channeled the respect to transform into a role model for the other Blessed Squires, Holy Knights, and others.

    The week that had been assigned to honor the deceased ended a while ago, but nobody started training only now. Nobody was able to rest. Everyone was dissatisfied with their power. They felt insignificant and useless.

    Nobody wanted to feel the same desperation and helplessness as they did against the forces of the Zentika Empire. Never!

    Atst, Michael emerged from istion once again. He was satisfied with the results of his hard work, but it was even better to observe how much about his territory had changed. Nobody stagnated. Everyone gave their utmost to progress and improve their lives within the territory.

    Surprisingly enough, Michael met Frederik, Hiraku, and some others in the wooden manor''s living room.

    "Michael is back!" Frederik said, jumping up and pointing at Hiraku, "Hiraku asked me a really good question, and I got no clue how to answer it!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow and nced over to Hiraku, whose emotionless expression hadn''t changed much.

    "I was just curious about your territory''s name. Because nobody knows what your territory is called. This ce, your main settlement, has no denominate either," Hiraku pointed out calmly.

    "Hmm?" Michael tilted his head, "A name? I¡­never thought about that, honestly."

    Frederik stared at Michael in disbelief, "You cannot be serious right now."

    "Are you sure?" Hiraku asked, also a little bit surprised that Michael never thought about giving his territory and settlement a name.

    "Well¡­" Michael scratched the back of his hand, "We were always busy fighting with our lives on the line or working tirelessly. I think nobody cared about a name until now."

    "Or¡­" Hiraku continued, "You didn''t care and others didn''t mention it because they were sure that you would denominate the settlement soon."

    Michael looked at Hiraku, not quite sure.

    "Is that so?"

    Lilica was also there and broke intoughter, "I contemted you were joking, but you didn''t think of a denominate for the settlement?"

    She had to wipe a tear from the corner of her eyes from all thatughing, yet she turned slightly more serious after a few minutes of enjoyment.

    "You have to start naming some things, you know? At least your settlements should receive some proper names once you start expanding," She pointed out, "Since this is a jungle, you''ll probably have some tribes spreading throughout it in the future as well. Calling them by numbers wouldn''t be nice, would it?"

    Forest Elves didn''t haterge settlements, but they were morefortable about smaller ces that hadn''t been touched and altered much.

    They loved the raw sides of nature quite a lot.

    "That¡­sounds about right¡­" Michael murmured.

    "I heard some people call me Lord of the Untamed Jungle. That sounds pretty nice. I like it," He said, causing the others to groan.

    It might be a little bit early to call himself the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, but Michael felt that it was suitable. The Untamed Jungle was a major part of his sess. It deserved to be praised and to remain in his name. He didn''t want to leave the Untamed Jungle anytime soon either. It was a good name.

    However, it was a little bit more difficult to give his settlement a name. Calling it anything random wouldn''t be nice. Most people might not be bothered if the denominate sounds interesting or cool, but Michael felt that it might be nice to give his main settlement a meaningful name.

    That made it even harder.

    "How about we call the settlement¡­.Arx?"

    Michael was unsure, at first, but as he called out the denominate it felt right. Almost as if the settlement had always been supposed to be called Arx.

    "Arx?" Frederik frowned deeply, but Hiraku raised an eyebrow.

    "Arx like the invincible fortress?"

    Michael merely smiled in response, whereas Hiraku nodded slowly.

    "Sounds good to me."

 Chapter 647 Zentikaâ€™s Troubles

    <h4>Chapter 647 Zentika''s Troubles</h4>

    ?"Are you really considering yourself as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle already?" Frederik scowled.

    He looked at Michael not sure whether to scold him for getting ahead of himself or if it was time to praise Michael for his grand goal. The map of the Pir of Territorial Awareness showed all explored areas, including the size of the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire.

    The small bulge of the Untamed Jungle, where Michael''s territory was located, was smaller than the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire, yet it was only a tiny portion of the entire Untamed Jungle.

    It was a great final goal to rule the Untamed Jungle, but wasn''t he a little bit too fast?

    "Master is going to be the Lord of the Untamed Jungle sooner orter. He''s taking the title a little bit ahead of time, but he can do whatever he wants!" Tiara appeared at the entrance to the wooden manor, her eyes locked onto Frederik.

    She red at the poor youth, who could only swallow hard and nod.

    "Yeah¡­Michael can do whatever he wants¡­"

    Michael chuckled lightly and the others grinned as well. Even the corners of Hiraku''s lip twitched.

    There was no tension in the air, despite the potential dangers from the Zentika Empire and the Council of Xylon.

    Recalling the Zentika Empire, Michael''s expression changed slightly. He got a bit more serious and retrieved the daily reports.

    "There is no news about the Zentika Empire," He murmured.

    The others heard him and stoppedughing.

    "We are not sure what is going on either," Lilica sighed, "We expected that the Zentika Empire would request an armistice, but there is nothing like that.

    "To think that they don''t ask for a truce despite their perilous situation," Hiraku added.

    Since he was one of the newest members of Michael''s troupe and the only one who was likely to leave, Hiraku had to research a lot about the surrounding regions. He didn''t want to make Michael his enemy since that was one of the stupidest things he could do after escaping the High Beast Ind.

    To avoid annoying Michael and his ns to expand his forces deeper into the jungle meant that Hiraku would have to leave the Untamed Jungle once he requested the termination of his Link of Loyalty.

    After Hiraku studied the Savannah Region''s history and the as much about the Zentika Empire as possible, he realized that the Zentika Empire was on the brink of copsing. They should have requested a ceasefire with Michael, or a non-aggression pact after realizing that Michael had issues to deal with in the Savannah Region.

    "But then again, the Zentika Empire is too proud of their achievements and power. Requesting a truce, or the like, is like acknowledging that they cannot defeat you. It''s like a silent agreement that you are too strong for them to deal with. They cannot acknowledge that. You''re merely a Low-rank Tier-3 Lord, after all. You are not even close to ascending to a Higher Lifeform," Siegfried Dracoon pointed out.

    He hadn''t said anything until now, but he had also been waiting in the wooden manor for Michael to emerge from istion.

    "That makes sense. It would hurt their pride and turn them into aughingstock if they were to acknowledge that I''m too strong for them to deal with right now," Michael nodded, only for Frederik to smile from one ear to the other, "I bet that they wish they could just charge into the Untamed Jungle with their strongest people and raze this ce to the ground."

    The others stared at Frederik with a deep frown.

    "Don''t jinx it, you bastard!" Tiara hissed in anger.

    Frederik''s bright smile crumbled, and he nodded meekly, not daring to say anything.

    If Michael was already a frightening enemy for someone like Frederik, Tiara felt like a wild beast that desired to tear him apart whenever he said something.

    ''How the hell did Michael tame this little beast?!?'' Frederik screamed in his heart.

    It was not difficult to see that Tiara was obedient to Michael. She did everything he uttered without asking a question. But the same couldn''t be said about others. Tiara didn''t listen to most of them. The only ones she cared about were the Forest Elven Adventurers, the Elemental Empress, and her kin.

    "It''s not that easy to cross the chaos-infestednd either. I''ve examined thend between the Untamed Jungle and the chaos-infestednd and it seems like the chaos is seeping deeper into thend," Reba Zauber pointed out an issue, "We will have to solve the issue with the chaos-infestednd soon, otherwise, it will affect the regrowth of the Untamed Jungle''s outer rings"

    "Ah right. I almost forgot about the chaos. That should have done some considerable damage to the Zentika Empire," Michael nodded.

    Thinking about the chaos-infestednd, Michael was d that he managed to protect the Untamed Jungle. Frederik did a good job at changing the trajectory of the chaos fog.

    ''I wonder¡­would the winged serpent attack me if the chaos would have reached the Untamed Jungle? Or would it tell me to remove it as soon as possible likest time?''

    Michael was not too sure about this. He could tell that the Untamed Jungle had epted his existence, otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able tobine his forces with the High Beast Horde to deal with the Heart of the zing Lion army. However, the bigger question was whether this was a temporary solution, or if the Untamed Jungle had something up to its sleeves.

    In the first ce, was the Untamed Jungle sentient, or was it up to its sleeves.

    In the first ce, was the Untamed Jungle sentient, or was it just a natural protective mechanism to block the invasion of powerful enemies that led to the rebellion of the Untamed Jungle?

    Michael couldn''t be certain about this either.

    One way or another, the Zentika Empire didn''t seem like a big problem for the time being. In fact, Michael had the weird feeling that the Zentika Empire might never create any trouble to the Untamed Jungle again.

    ''That''s good right?'' Michael was not sure how to feel about his gut feeling. At the end of the day, he merely shrugged ''I want to beat the shit out of Senator Keltos though.''

    They had to solve the issues with the chaos-infestednd and probably more issues given that the Scouts mentioned some enemies of the Zentika Empire sending Rogues and Mercenaries into theirnds to weaken the Zentika Empire''s prowess even more.

    Thetter was something Michael reaffirmed after he overcame the desire to destroy the Memory Orbs that he had extracted from the Lionheart Commander and the Awakened in the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    He consumed their Memory Orbs and learned a lot about the 18:10

    Zentika Empire''s situation. That was also why he was so certain that the Zentika Empire might not be a problem for him and his people anymore.

    It would be helpful if the Zentika Empire ceased to exist, but it didn''t matter that much. The Zentika Empire would be reced with other enemies who would fight each other to im the Native Empire''snd and resources.

    But the fighting in the Zentika Empire wouldn''t affect him much for a long time. The Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire were separated by the chaos-infestednd, after all.

    It was no issue to heal the chaos-infestednd using Extraction, but Michael did not n to do so right now. The chaos-infestednd ensured that the Zentika Empire would stay away from him.

    That was exactly what Michael needed. After all, he had to take revenge on the Council of Xylon, whose forces were much higher in terms of numbers. Michael and his people desired to obliterate the Council of Xylon. The only issue was that they wouldn''t endure a battle of attrition.

    Every Lord from the Council of Xylon should have pleaded support from their ns, and people, at this point.

    But while that sounded bad, Michael wasn''t too shocked. The good thing about the Council of Xylon was that the strongest Lords in the Savannah Region were barely at the Lowest-rank of Tier-4. Michael was confident that he could deal with them.

    Therefore, the enemies in the Savannah Region couldn''t be considered as deadly as the Heart of the zing Lion Army.

    That was especially true since Michael was intending to attack them rather than waiting until they would attack.

    Taking advantage of the surprise effect, Michael would be able to turn the Savannah Region into a treasure trove of resources.

    At least, that was what he was hoping for.

 Chapter 648 Bad News

    <h4>Chapter 648 Bad News</h4>

    Even though the Council of Xylon was dangerous, Michael felt that its existence could turn into a great opportunity. Defeating them would increase his prosperity significantly.

    He and his people would grow much stronger, and wealthier. Simultaneously, they would have one enemy less to worry about.

    ''But before I beat the shit out of the Council of Xylon, I should pay more attention to the Soul Grimoire,'' Michael figured.

    The Council of Xylon hadn''t attacked them since theirst assassination attempt. They were probably afraid, or uncertain about their next move. That gave Michael enough time to figure out whether he had to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star or if it would be enough to upgrade Soul Grimoire to a 6-Star Soultrait after inserting dozens of useful sub-Soultraits into it.

    The week of istion was not only used on the 730,850 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. Most of the time was spent on dissecting 200 Soultrait Symbols to procure various minor perks and unique traits that wereter inserted into the Soul Grimoire with 7500 SoulStar Fragments.

    The dissection and integration of various Soultrait Symbols and unique perks destroyed 200 Soultrait Symbols and wasted a massive amount of SoulStar Fragments, but Michael felt that the result was worth it. The Soul Grimoire''s preservation and nourishing abilities improved alongside the capacity of its storage.

    Michael could instinctively tell that 5-Star Soul Grimoire was strong enough to house a weak Living Soul.

    It was not yet good enough to contain Danny''s Living Soul and preserve it, but he was getting closer.

    "Upgrading Soul Grimoire to 6-Star should be enough¡­I can rescue Danny then!"

    Michael had left the week of istion happy and satisfied with the results. Once the Council of Xylon was dead, he could get Danny back! No. Maybe even before¡­as long as he obliterated a few territories of the 106 members of the Council.

    ''Rushing into anything won''t help me.'' He pped his cheeks and forcefully calmed down. Even if he attacked the Council of Xylon instead of waiting for their attack, Michael couldn''t know for sure how long it was going to take before they initiated countermeasures. They could attack his territory while he was out.

    Therefore, Michael had to strengthen his territory''s defenses. Arx''s military force had to increase. That was where the 730,850 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls came into use.

    Initially, 730,000ish Summoning Scrolls felt like a lot, but that was not it. Combining 10 Ordinary Scrolls would form a random 1-Star Named Scroll. That was not a bad quote and it was enough to form 73,085 Named Scrolls. However, only half of them werebat Summons.

    Michael considered forming a bunch of 2-Star Named Scrolls, but he didn''t have enough Summoning Scroll Fragments to make good use of the 1-Star Named Scrolls. The next thing he considered was tobine the 1-Star Scrolls into 2-Star Named Scrolls. However, each 2-Star Named Scroll required 100 1-Star Named Scrolls.

    The use of 2-Star Named Scrolls was extraordinary, but their quality was not equivalent to 100 1-Star Summons. Not at first, at least.

    2-Star Summons were faster at adapting, had a higherprehension rate, and their growth spurt was several times faster. However, Michael needed the numbers right now. He had the perfect environment and necessary resources to transform an army of 1-Star Summons into deadly little fighters. Theirbat prowess and growth wouldn''t be extraordinary and the solution was certainly not perfect, but it would be as close to perfection as possible.

    As long as they were given a week or two to train and grow stronger, they should turn into a frightening defense against those who dared to invade the Untamed Jungle.

    Therefore, Michael ended up using 36,542 1-Star Named Scrolls to expand his army rapidly.

    He was lucky to summon many Berserker Summons and Warlock Centaur Summons through the 1-Star Named Scrolls. Their extraordinary physique transformed them into powerfulbat units. Even though they were still 1-Star Summons with the same advantages as other 1-Star Summons, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs had great battle awareness and extraordinary physiques. The only downside was that they were hard to control and that they didn''t have any self-preservation.

    But that was something Michael and his people could take care of.

    Suddenly summoning 36,000ish new Summons pressured the architects, construction workers, andborers a little bit, but it was a good thing that they had already finished a bunch of treehouseplexes. There was just enough space to give them a small ce to sleep and live somewhatfortably until the remaining residences werepleted.

    Michael put the remaining nonbat Named Scrolls away. There was no living space for them right now.

    The Untamed Army expanded rapidly to more than 40,000 members. The stored weapons and other armaments were retrieved to equip the neers and Siegfried, Master Tigris, and Legion stepped forward to train them right away. Everyone could tell what Michael was trying to do. It was not aplex n, after all.

    He created an army of 1-Star Summons, hoping that a few hundred would attain enlightenment from the Sacred Knight Temple''s presence, or the Silverfangs'' Soultraits. The best result would be that a bunch of 1-Star Summons would be promoted to 2-Star within the following week, however, Michael was not sure if he expected too much or not.

    The Sacred Knight Temple and the Hunter Academy were still under construction, but all Instructors in Arx, and everyone Awakened who wasn''t too busy training decided to help train the neers.

    The training program worked out decently fine. It didn''t generate any extraordinary results, but the improvements of the 1-Star Summons were more or less above average. But then again, Michael had to deal with some displeasedbatants as well. They didn''t like that they were thrown into a full-scale training program right after getting summoned.

    It was not helpful that arge-scale war approached them with breathtaking speed either. Various Forest Elves and Human Summons voiced their concerns and displeasure. However, there was not much they could do. They werebat Summons and it was their purpose to fight.

    Nheless, Michael was d that most new Summons were Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They were much easier to handle since they were happy about the uing battles against the Council of Xylon.

    Another week passed in the blink of an eye and the first 1-Star Summons from the most recent batch advanced to Tier-1. Hiraku showed signs of breaking down thest barriers that separated him from ascending to a Higher Lifeform, while the other Untamed Awakened finished consolidating the energy they''d procured from therge-scale battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    Everyone improved slightly faster than anticipated, but Michael couldn''t be happy. He didn''t have the luxury to be happy. The Origin Expanse never gave him that grace.

    News reached him from the Savannah Region. The movements in the Savannah Region intensified and a shocking ¨C or not-so- shocking ¨C piece of news reached Michael.

    The Council of Xylon destroyed the settlements of the Zynur Lord, forcing the Zynur Lord and his people to retreat into the main settlement of the Valyr Lordess. The Valyr Lordess, still certain that the Zynur Lord was on her side, didn''t suspect anything. Unfortunately, her trust in the Zynur Lord was the reason she ended up losing everything.

    The Zynur Lord and his subordinates turned against the Valyr Lordess. They struck at night and ughtered the Valyr mercilessly.

    Michael didn''t know everything that had happened, but the Scouts reported the death of the Zynur Lord and the destruction of the Valyr Lordess'' main settlement.

    The Valyr Lordess was not dead, but nobody had seen her leave the main settlement either. She just disappeared, even though the space around the main settlement had been sealed. The Council of Xylon charged into the main settlement, killing the remaining survivors. They didn''t care whether the survivors were their enemies or their new allies. They ughtered the Valyr and Zynur alongside.

    However, Michael felt that it became too easy. The main settlement fell too easily, too suddenly.

    Something felt wrong.

    Unsurprisingly, his gut feeling became correct.

    The Greater Nature Spirit informed Michael that he might want to take a look at the Pir of Territorial Awareness. Michael rushed over to take a look at the map where he saw more than a hundred yellow dots stalking toward the Untamed Jungle¡­from underground.

    "Oh. Please not," Michael grunted, "Just leave me alone."

    The Valyr Lordess and the strongest Valyr following her were fleeing¡­toward the Untamed Jungle¡­toward Arx.

    Michael had no idea if their direction was a coincidence or if they knew Arx''s coordinates, but both options were suboptimal. He sighed heavily and utilized Cosmic Stride a few times to move to the border of the Untamed Jungle. He was right above the Valyr Lordess and the others and looked down with Spirit Eyes actively utilized to see their energy fluctuations through the ground.

    ''At least, you guys are traveling underground,'' He mumbled in his head before using Cosmic Stride once more to appear in the underground tunnel.

    It was dark and murky, and Michael had to ignite some mes to see the severity of the Valyr Lordess and her followers'' condition.

    "Looks like you were betrayed," Michael mumbled as a matter of fact, his eyes lingering on the half-dead Valyr Lordess for a mere moment.

    Zira and the other followers were surprised at the sudden appearance of Michael and readied their weapons to fight, only to see the Valyr Lordess smile lightly.

    Her lips parted but Michael lifted his hand before she might say anything.

    "I can already inform what you guys want." He hated himself for what he became moving to do and sighed heavily.

    "...follow me."

 Chapter 649 Refugees

    <h4>Chapter 649 Refugees</h4>

    ?The Valyr lost everything. Their settlements were destroyed, razed to the ground, and they had to leave everyone behind to survive.

    Most who escaped barely managed to survive. Some lost a limb or two, whereas others sustained internal injuries. All of them were wounded in some way and it wouldn''t surprise Michael if half of them were to sumb to their wounds in the next 10 minutes.

    Michael figured that it was a stupid idea to bring the Valyr to his territory to let them stay in Arx, but he couldn''t leave them behind like that either.

    ''If they cause trouble, I''ll throw them out right away.'' He told himself, even though he knew that the Valyr wouldn''t have to do much to stir trouble.

    It was already troublesome enough if the Council of Xylon would deploy people to search for the Valyr Lordess and the remaining survivors. And that was likely to happen. Michael doubted that the Council of Xylon would leave the Valyr Lordess alive if they could do something about it.

    Michael''s eyes fell onto the Valyr Lordess, her paleplexion, and weak energy fluctuations and another heavy sigh escaped his lips.

    ''I can bother about thatter.''

    He configured Cosmic Stride to consume a humongous amount of space-attributed origin energy to teleport a dozen Valyr at a time back to Arx. He moved back and forth quickly, draining his energy rapidly.

    Fortunately, Michael had Extraction to drain the surrounding energy and annex it instantaneously with both techniques Leviathan Diffusion and Pantheon''s Dawn activated.

    It was no problem to overexert himself a little bit to move the remaining Valyr into his territory. It was a bit cramped in Arx, but everyone worked hard to expand the settlement. It was only a matter of time before everyone had enough space to move freely and unrestrained.

    The Valyr Lordess copsed the moment she arrived at the infirmary and many of her followers followed suit. Their willpower and a tinge of luck granted them enough strength to reach Arx, but that was as far as they could go. There was no ounce of strength left in their bodies.

    Only a few managed to stay awake and watch their Lordess andrades receive the support they required to survive.

    Michael could kill them easily if he wanted to. It was a good thing that he didn''t feel like doing so.

    Zira was one of those who could barely stay awake. She watched her mother get carried into the infirmary''s emergency treatment room where the Priests, Doctors, and other medical professionals tended to her with everything they had.

    "Do you want to talk about it, or do you want me to wait until your mother wakes up?" Michael asked, slightly impatient and frustrated.

    A nagging feeling flicked against the back of his mind repetitively. It was almost as if someone was telling him that the Valyr didn''t belong to the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael was aware of that, but he could hardly force them to ept his Link of Loyalty to integrate into the Untamed Jungle right now. The timing couldn''t be worse. Furthermore, he was not even sure if he wanted the Valyr to stay in Arx.

    ''I will sacrifice you and your kin if the mythical serpent ising to burn down Arx!'' Michael swore in his heart even though he felt that it wouldn''t be necessary.

    He felt sorry for the Valyr Lordess, but that didn''t mean he would sacrifice his territory and Arx for their sake.

    Michael would rather live with the guilt of sacrificing the Valyr Lordess and her people than end up being the reason that his subjects ¨C more than 200,000 ¨C died. To Michael, the Valyr were not that valuable. It might be great to help them for the time being, but the Savannah Region caused more than enough trouble already.

    "You don''t seem to like that we''ve fled to the Untamed Jungle to seek you out," Zira stared at the floor, unable to look into Michael''s eyes.

    "If most of you weren''t on the verge of death, I wouldn''t have bothered to bring you here. You guys are an unknown variable. If someone had put a mark on you, I wouldn''t have allowed you to take one step deeper into the Untamed Jungle, let alone enter Arx."

    Zira grit her teeth. She knew that Michael was right. If someone marked them, they wouldn''t be able to hide anywhere. Michael''s territory would be exposed and they would put everyone in danger no matter where they went.

    Michael flicked Zira''s forehead lightly, "It''s a good thing that nobody was marked, don''t you think so?"

    Zira groaned softly and rubbed her forehead. She looked up for the first time since they entered Michael''s territory, only to see him smile lightly at her.

    "Aren''t you angry?" Zira couldn''t help but ask.

    "Hm?" Michael tilted his head, "Of course, I''m angry. But it''s not like you were waiting to get betrayed, or that you were hoping for your territory to get bulldozed. The Zynur Lord and the Council of Xylon are at fault. Though, the Zynur Lord received his punishment already."

    Zira nced at Michael, not sure what to say.

    Michael was a weird Lord. He was extremely powerful and could probably crush most of his enemies easily, but he wasn''t arrogant. If anything, he felt more humane than anyone Zira encountered until now.

    He was kind but very confusing. His rapid mood swings especially so.

    "The Zynur Lord is dead?" Zira queried after she gathered her thoughts.

    Michael merely nodded in response.

    "Good. If the Council wouldn''t have killed him, I would have done it!!" She growled, faintly flickering mes coating her body. Her Morningstar tail swished departed and right, nearly knocking out a Doctor, who was passing by.

    Michael had to flick her forehead again to calm down the Valyr Lordess'' daughter. She red at him, only to recall where she was and what had happened.

    "Sorry. My emotions got the better of me," Zira whispered, getting hold of her emotions before she looked back at Michael, "How do you know that none of us are marked?"

    Michael ignored how pitiful her attempt at changing the topic was and answered lightly, "I can see a lot more than others."

    He turned a little bit more serious.

    "Of course, it''s possible that someone with a Tracking Soultrait can find y''all, but that doesn''t really matter. A powerful Tracking Soultrait can also be used to find the reinforcements, which fought in the Savannah Region before," Michael shrugged, "Worrying too much about getting found out won''t help anyone."

    "But isn''t the chance that the Council finds your territory much higher now that we''re here?" Zira asked, realizing toote that she was part of the problem.

    Michael frowned deeply, "Don''t you think it''s a little bit toote to worry about that? You do realize that you and your people fled to the Untamed Jungle to search for me, right? If you cared that much about my safety, you should have stayed in the Savannah or fled in another direction. Don''t even try to act smart with me, hypocrite."

    Zira noticed her mistake toote. Her lips parted, ready to throw out an apology, but Michael shook his head.

    "It''s toote now, either way. I brought you to Arx out of my own volition. My reasons don''t matter. What''s important is just that I did it and that the Savannah Regions belongs to the Council of Xylon from today onward," He pointed out, "Your mother and the others will survive, but I''m not certain how long it will be safe and sound in the Untamed Jungle. I doubt that the Council of Xylon will leave your people alone¡­or me, as a matter of fact."

    One of the reasons Michael saved the Valyr Lordess and her people was that he might need their assist at some point. The Valyr Lordess and three of her subordinates ¨C ex- subordinates ¨C were Higher Lifeforms. They would recuperate faster than others and be ready to fight in a few days.

    The Council of Xylon was previously aware of Michael''s existence. That was another reason he decided to help the Valyr Lordess. Since the Council realized about him, they wouldn''t leave him alone now that they gained control of the Savannah Region.

    That meant Michael would have to make his shift soon.

    He had to deal with the Savannah Region before the Council of Xylon could ce their roots down throughout the entire Savannah region. The 106 Lords shouldn''t be given any time to celebrate. They should feel pressured and tensed up, worrying about their safety and whether they could trust the other Lords of the council, or if the other Lords were their enemies as well.

    Michael didn''t know everything about the Council of Xylon, but he realized enough to know that the 106 Lords were at odds as well.

    "The Zentika Empire won''t bother us for the time being." He whispered, tilting his head as the cogs in his mind began to rattle.

    The Zentika Empire might be annoying but they''ve lost too much to bother him again. The chaos-infestednd was also on Michael''s side, helping him keep the Zentika Empire at bay. They would have to use different means to solve their food shortage.

    The Untamed Jungle''s response to their invasion was crystal clear. The mythical serpent wouldn''t allow them to make any gains.

    An hour passed in the blink of an eye. Michael was still deep in thought, but he was pulled back to reality when Zira informed him that her mother regained consciousness.

    Michael entered the infirmary where dozens of lethally injured Valyr were still being tended to. Michael used Archangel''s Grace to take away a portion of their pain, but he couldn''t do much more right now.

    "Thank you for he¨C..." The Valyr Lordess tried to thank Michael but she was silenced by Michael''s deeply furrowed brows.

    Silence reigned through the entire room for a few minutes until Michael realized that everyone was staring at him.

    He cleared his throat while suppressing another heavy sigh filled with frustration.

    "There is no need to thank me. I just helped you because I hope that you guys can get back to your peak to fightter. I''m probably strong enough to deal with most of those Lords and their Awakened, but I''m only one person. My understanding of the Council of Xylon and the Savannah Region is also not that great."

    Michael shrugged.

    "I helped you because I need you. That''s all it is. There is no need to thank me. Just get better and prepare for some fierce fights."

    The corners of the Valyr Lordess'' lips twitched. A thin grin formed on her lips.

    "Right¡­the battle is not yet over."

    Michael nodded, "Exactly. The real battle is just about to begin!"

 Chapter 650 Charity? Hell no!

    <h4>Chapter 650 Charity? Hell no!</h4>

    ''Was that really a good decision?''

    Michael fell into a deep train of thought. He was rethinking whether his decision to allow the Valyr into his territory was a good thing, or if it had been a mistake.

    ''I couldn''t leave them to die, and I need their strength, either way.''

    It was painfully obvious that most of the Valyr would be dead without his aid. They''d already lost the battle against the Council of Xylon and were forced to retreat.

    By now, the Valyr could leave the Origin Expanse to return home where they could be treated with much better medical equipment, but the Valyr Lordess, or former Lordess, wasn''t happy about that. She didn''t want to return, knowing that her n and the higher-ups of the government wouldn''t value her as much as they used to.

    The prestige she earned in thest few years would crumble and turn into nothingness the moment she returned home after failing her mission to secure the Savannah Region.

    It was highly likely that the higher-ups would pull the remaining survivors of their reinforcement out of the Origin Expanse and deploy them somewhere else. That would further dwindle the former Lordess'' chances to reim the Savannah.

    Not that her current chances were high, in the first ce.

    ''As long as it''s only temporary, it should be fine.'' Michael thought. The surviving Valyr were all powerhouses of the Savannah Region. They were either Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3 or were strong enough to be able to fight a Late Tier-3 Awakened.

    Having more than 100 Valyr with that much strength by his side was going to make things a lot easier for Michael. However, that was not enough for him.

    ''I should scan their thoughts as well.''

    After witnessing so many betrayals, Michael thought that he shouldn''t make the same mistake¡­not again. He was going to demand using Mind Reader on the Valyr, each of them, to ensure that none of them thought about betraying the Valyr Lordess, by suddenly leaving her behind, or that they considered exposing his territory and some other secrets of his territory.

    The Council of Xylon would find his territory sooner orter, but that didn''t mean they would have an easy time pinpointing the exact location and the camouged defense structures.

    Unfortunately, Michael wasn''t able to start reading the Valyr''s mind because he was interrupted by a bunch of young Forest Elves.

    ''Scouts? At least, they''re not the scouts from the Savannah Region.''

    Michael would have been a bit worried if the scouts from the Savannah Region rushed up to him like the Forest Elves, however, the scouts watched the border to the Zentika Empire.

    "My Lord!" One of the Forest Elves eximed while another one rushed past to reach Michael first.

    "We have news about the Zentika Empire, My Lord!"

    "Oi. I won the bet," The first Forest Elf said, pushing his colleague aside, "I won the right to tell him!!"

    The two Forest Elves ended up in a friendly fight. That reassured Michael a little.

    If the scouts could banter like this, the news about the Zentika Empire shouldn''t be too bad.

    A third Forest Elf, a much slower sprinter, arrived next to his colleagues. He saw them banter and Michael watching them in silence and chose to report the news while his colleagues continued fighting.

    "The Lords in the Zentika Empire are retaliating. They managed to break their contracts with the Zentika Empire somehow. The Native Empire is now in an internal war!" He said, attracting Michael''s interest.

    ''Damn.'' Michael nearly blurted aloud.

    ''Were their contracts with the Lords that bad? No, that shouldn''t be the case. I doubt that the Zentika Empire is foolish enough to leave many loopholes in their contracts with Lords and Awakened.''

    Michael tilted his head.

    ''Did someone manage to break their contract because of a Soultrait? Or some sort of expensive Artifact?''

    He couldn''t be sure what happened, but it was quite obvious that the Zentika Empire''s struggles intensified overnight.

    The Forest Elf continued to ry a few more pieces of useful information before Michael allowed them to leave again. He gave them a few days off to rest and sort his thoughts.

    ''The Lords in the Zentika Empire should be stronger than the Council of Xylon. Maybe, they can tear down the Zentika Empire.''

    The corner of Michael''s lip twitched and curled into a faint smile.

    ''Even if they cannot destroy the Zentika Empire, they''ll wear them down. The kingdoms bordering the Zentika Empire should make their move pretty soon as well. That will be a mess.''

    While it was not impossible that the next ruler of therge ins would be an amiable Lord, Michael considered the probability incredibly low.

    He learned enough about the Origin Expanse to know that most Lords and rulers would rather kill their enemies before they could gain enough fortitude to retaliate against them instead of befriending them.

    Michael was an unknown variable in the eyes of most people. He could turn into an incredibly useful ally, or their nemesis. Those who knew Michael knew that he would rather be allies with his neighbors, but strangers would consider him dangerous. They would give their utmost to hunt him down before he grew too strong.

    That was also why Michael was certain that the Council of Xylon would attack him sooner orter, either way. It didn''t matter too much whether the Valyr were hiding in Arx, or if they escaped to a different ce. The Council of Xylon would gather their forces and strike him as long as they still had a chance to defeat him.

    At least, that was what Michael figured. It was the most logical approach. It was also why Michael hoped that the struggles in the great ins would continue for a while.

    "Continue to struggle, while I grow stronger," Michael mumbled, praying that the Zentika Empire would survive long enough for him to take revenge.

    After all, he had yet to obliterate Senator Keltos and his underlings.

    Since the Zentika Empire wasn''t going to cause problems for the time being, Michael turned back to the Valyr Lordess. He asked her about the Council of Xylon''s situation, but the Valyr Lordess didn''t have as many useful pieces of information as expected.

    "I''m unsure whether my knowledge is outdated, or if it is correct, in the first ce. The news could have been fabricated, but that''s what I heard," She warned Michael, "The Council of Xylon''s internal affairs developed into small-scale skirmishes. Some mentioned to keep their forcesbined against the Untamed Jungle, whereas other Lords pointed out that the Untamed Jungle is of no danger."

    "The opinions are split with the Lords who don''t care about the Untamed Jungle mentioning that the other Lords want to stall time to betray them. That hasn''t been openly mentioned but the scouts and assassins eavesdropped on our enemies."

    "The Lords want to im their benefits right now. They desire to expand theirnds and procure all resources. The distribution of resources, however, turns out a lot more difficult than they''d expected. Everyone''s desire to im the best spot with the biggest resource deposits stirs a lot more trouble than they''d fathomed. That''s also how we survived this long."

    The Valyr Lordess turned quiet for a moment. Her mood worsened and she sighed deeply, regret filling her heart.

    "If not for the Zynur Lord''s betrayal, we would have survived a little longer. But¡­at the end of the day, we would have been crushed."

    Michael listened intently to the Valyr Lordess. He heard the gossip of the other Valyr as well and their snarky remarks about the Zynur Lord and the Council of Xylon. Everyone was angry at the Zynur Lord and themselves. They were frustrated that they trusted the Zynur Lord mindlessly.

    Some were also angry at the Valyr Lordess for being gullible and an easy target. Theymented about the Valyr Lordess family and that she was a disgrace for someone with such a great bloodline.

    At some point, they began to gossip about Zira as well, saying that she was nothing like her mother and that it was a shame for her to have a 1-Star Soultrait. They were certain that their family would have invested far more to reinforce the Trnce if Zira had been born with a stronger Soultrait, and if the Savannah Region had been inherited to herter.

    Michael ignored mostments, but the gossip was also quite useful in certain regards.

    He learned that the Valyr had been unable to im a Beginner Region ¨C as they''re called by certain people for being user-

    friendly for Rookie Lords and Rogues ¨C in thest few decades. It would have been a great achievement and a glorious feat for the Valyr to im the Savannah Region.

    ''I can work with that.'' Michael figured.

    He didn''t rush to jump into action to assault the Council of Xylon before they could initiate arge-scale attack. Instead, Michael shared his demands with the Valyr Lordess, Zira, and the other Valyr.

    "If you want to move freely through my territory, you will let me use my Soultrait on you. The Soultrait allows me to find out your true intentions and thoughts. I won''t force anyone, but the Awakened who reject my demand will have to depart my domain and the Untamed Jungle. It''s only obvious, but I''m not doing all of this for charity. I ensured that you would survive to help mebat the Council of Xylon."

    Michael turned more serious and his faint smile seemed to transform into a devilish grin.

    "But don''t get me wrong. I can get rid of the Council of Xylon without you guys as well. All you guys are here for is to ensure that my people will survive. If you want to take revenge on the Council of Xylon, or my trust, you''ll ept the use of my Soultrait. If not, you will be under constant scrutiny and I will mark you as a potential threat. One wrong move and I will have you executed!"

    Michael knew that he was a little bit overbearing right now, but he didn''t care. The Valyr should understand that they were in his domain and that they had to live ording to his rules. If they didn''t like it, they could leave. He wasn''t going to stop them.

    Their existence andbat prowess should make things easier against the Council of Xylon, however, the Valyr would certainly not change the inevitable oue of the Regional War.

    Michael was going to win, one way or another.

    The only important question was who would be left to celebrate the victory alongside him.

 Chapter 651 Strike Force

    <h4>Chapter 651 Strike Force</h4>

    Some Valyr were displeased with Michael''s demand, but interestingly enough, nobody rejected the use of Mind Reader after he made a Soul Contract that stated that he wasn''t going to spill any of their private ¨Cpossibly dirty¨C secrets and that he wasn''t going to use his Soultrait to manipte them.

    The result of utilizing Mind Reader on the Valyr was pretty one-sided. None of them were traitors. The Valyr didn''t even think about betraying him, let alone the Valyr Lordess. The majority of their thoughts were filled with revenge and the desire to tear apart some idiots, aka the Council of Xylon.

    It was a good thing that nobody was going to betray him or the Valyr Lordess. However, it was also surprising, and oddly boringpared to the things he had to go through in the past. It was unusual that he wasn''t thrown from one hellhole into another.?Luckily, he didn''t say that out loud. There was no need to jinx it.

    The Forest Elves hoped that Michael would deploy the Untamed Army soon. They desired revenge just like the Valyr. However, Michael told everyone to calm down and stay patient. He used the pieces of information gained through the Valyr Lordess and his subordinates to research a few things, forward the development of his territory, and seal some deals with the Valyr Lordess, her n, and therefore also the higher-ups of the Valyr race.

    "Rest up until you''re ready to fight again. By then, I will pick you up to join the fight," Michael said lightly to the Valyr Lordess and her injured subordinates, after he finished all preparations, "If you take too long, it will be over and my contribution to the Regional War will exceed yours by a lot. Our pact wi¨C..."

    "I know¡­We will be ready to fight soon. Don''t worry," The Valyr Lordess interrupted him, but Michael merely shrugged.

    "Take your time. The higher my contribution in the Regional War the more I will benefit."

    The Valyr Lordess frowned, which Michael took as a sign to turn around and leave the infirmary once again. A sly smile formed on his lips. He gained everything he could have hoped for. The only thing left for him to do was to stir trouble in the Savannah Region.

    He walked over to the Pir of Territorial Awareness and updated the Savannah region''s map using the knowledge acquired from the Valyrs'' minds. Thereafter, he called over the Untamed Awakened, Zeroa, and Stinger.

    Everyone could tell that something was about to happen, but it was quite difficult to tell what was on Michael''s mind. His actions were hard to predict even though they seemed simple and logical most of the time.

    "We are going to head out in a few minutes. Immortal Knight will continue to train the Untamed Army, the neers included, alongside Master Tigris, Legion, and the other Instructors. That leaves the Untamed Awakened, and a dozen Valyr to create chaos all over the Savannah Region."

    Michael nced in the direction of a small house, where Zira and some Valyr were hiding. Zira stepped forward, her lips pressed together. She stared at Michael but didn''t say a thing.

    The others gossiped and asked each other how Michael noticed them, but nobody asked him aloud.

    "Since you guys are already here, I might as well give you a mission as well," Michael dered.

    "I will split the Untamed Awakened for the first mission. Since Zira and her colleagues know each other best, Zeroa will join them to act as their teleporter and support," He announced right before telling Zeroa via telepathy what she had to do.

    ["Survival is the most important, but I hope that you and the Valyr can move through the Savannah Region to execute small-scale terror acts. Never attack arge group of enemies with several Higher Lifeforms. Your mission is to attack the small and mid-scale groups led by Tier-3 Awakened. Once you eliminate the groups, you will use your space affinity to change your location right away."]

    The mission was simple.

    -Keep moving and attack the enemies where they don''t expect you. Teleport, strike, kill, leave. Rest and repeat.

    "Hiraku will lead the other group and Mekhaz alongside the Warlock Centaurs, who''ve been subordinate to him in the past, will follow him. Stinger will apany you to adjust your location. However, since Stinger''s racial trait is not a simple teleportation, you guys will have to move around a lot. That shouldn''t be an issue since everyone in your group has great stamina but stay focused and rest whenever it''s possible."

    "The others wille with me. Our focus will be to hunt down the reinforcement deployed by the families, ns, and governments of the Council of Xylon''s 106 Lords," Michael pointed out, his attention drifting to Tiara, the Forest Elves, Thaor, Lokai, and everyone else he hadn''t mentioned yet, "The main goal of our strike force will be to kill a few Lords, while Hiraku''s group and the Valyr make use of your prowess and traits to distract everyone all while obliterating as many enemies as possible."

    Frederik''s hand shot high up into the air, "I have a question!"

    ''We are not in school, you know?'' Michael was about to ask but he gestured toward his friend in silence.

    "Wouldn''t it be better if I join Hiraku, or execute you think it will be necessary for me to join your strike force? I am a little bit too¡­weak¡­to deal any considerable damage to Higher Lifeforms. Even Tier-3 Awakened are very hard for me to deal with."

    Michael nodded, "I know that you''re still not strong enough to deal with the strongest enemies, but your Soultraits are perfect to deal with all Summons and Awakened below Tier-3 swiftly. Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs are heavy hitters. Aeroan won''t enhance their overallbat prowess drastically. On the other hand, your Soultraits can aid the Forest Elves."

    Frederik looked like he had something else to say, but Michael raised his hand to stop him.

    "I have a n, don''t worry."

    It would be a lot easier if Michael had a few powerful Awakened with area of effect Soultraits. Unfortunately, it was not easy to find someone like Alice Zenovia or her brother. Frederik''s Soultrait allowed him to move rapidly through the surroundings, granting him enough protection to survive the attacks of Tier-3 Awakened ¨C all while continuing to attack those weaker than him. That was perfect for the ns Michael hade up with.

    "So, we act as a distraction and assault smaller groups before moving along while your strike force will be the main attacking force?" Zira asked, her brows furrowed.

    The other Valyr didn''t seem to be pleased with their assignment, and Zira looked like her opinion didn''t differ from her people either.

    "Feel free to transform your unit into the main strike force if you can jump through space without getting noticed, kill several Higher Lifeforms in an instant, and escape within seconds if necessary," Michael responded calmly, not even allowing Zira to voice out her doubts.

    The other Valyr scowled deeply, but Michael showed no mercy. He didn''t restrain the Extraction Aura and allowed it to naturally fuse with his Legendary Ring Artifact''s dragon might.

    The Valyr sensed a prickling sensation sweep all over their bodies. Their eyes widened as they realized that their hair and snippets of their skin had gone missing.

    Everyone could tell that Michael hadn''t used his Soultraits yet. Not a single trace of energy left his body, yet his natural aura and presence were enough to affect them. Goosebumps covered their bodies as the Extraction Aura merged with dragon might, and shrouded them.

    Michael stared coldly at the Valyr, who backed off in unison. The sensation of threating from Michael was too terrifying. Not even the two Valyr who''d already ascended to Higher Lifeforms could handle Michael''s natural pressure. He was dangerous.

    Zira, just like some of the Valyr, recalled Michael''s fight against the Kitsun Lord. However, they clearly remembered him to be weaker. A lot weaker.

    "I think¡­" Zira mumbled, "You''re good to go. You will execute a better job than our strike force¡­"

    "It''s good if you know," Michael responded lightly, sping his hands to disperse the tension that had enveloped everyone. The atmosphere eased, and some couldn''t help but breathe out in relief.

    "How about we stop wasting our precious time?" Michael asked, smiling brightly. He sensed pretty good right now.

    His gut feeling told him that today was going to be a good day.

    "We''ve got some Lords to y!"

 Chapter 652 In the Savannah

    <h4>Chapter 652 In the Savannah</h4>

    A loud buzzing rang through Arx as the teleportation array was activated for the first time.

    The surroundings were filled with golden mots and sparks as energy gathered in the array that enveloped arge open area. The bushes and branches circling the open area rustled faintly as they yed with the gentle gusts of the surroundings.

    Everyone stood in the teleportation array, waiting impatiently to be thrown through space.

    Once the teleportation array was charged with the Inferior Energy Stones that had been spread evenly around the array, the fabric of space twisted and distorted.

    "No vomiting!" Mika joked lightly, catching a p against the back of his head right after. Lilica red daggers at him.

    Mika screamed aloud, only for his voice to disperse as everyone vanished with a plop.

    Michael and the others weren''t quite sure what to expect from the teleportation, but the ride was a lot easier than expected. At least, that was what Michael thought.

    Mika, Zira, and some Berserkers didn''t think like that. They emptied their stomachs once they emerged from the space tunnel that led them into the middle of nowhere.

    Michael''s stomach revolted a little bit, but he focused on the surroundings right away. They had been teleported into the center of the Savannah Region, after all.

    Since the Savannah Region was toorge to move around swiftly without getting noticed by the 106 Lords, their subordinates, scouts, Orbs of Hostility, and the like, Michael decided that it was time to use the teleportation array. The space fluctuations of the teleportation array were noticeable in the surrounding area, but that wasn''t something Michael was concerned about.

    The temporary anchor of the teleportation array was set up at the coordinates of a small Forbidden Zone. The Valyr Lordess remembered the coordinates and exact location, which made everything a little bit easier.

    "So that''s the center of the Savannah Region?" I expected arge fortress or the like," Thaor mumbled, once he regained control of his stomach. He patted Mika lightly on the shoulders, consoling him for vomiting thrice in a row, and nced over to Michael, whose attention was locked onto something in the south.

    "That''s the center of the Savannah Region," Michael nodded without averting his attention, "And this is the High Beast that turned this area into a Forbidden Zone!"

    His introduction arrived merely a quarter of a second before a huge, winged Lion emerged out of nowhere. It crashed hard into the ground, creating a small crater as rubble and debris hurled through the air.

    The High Beast that appeared in front of them was majestic. It had huge, ck-feathered wings that spanned more than 20 meters and towered above the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Its ruby eyes locked on Michael, who broke into a bright smile. He retrieved arge Energy Stone and threw it toward the mighty beast.

    The Energy Stone was pitch-ck, fueled with the purest darkness energy that Michael had ever seen. The Stone of Darkness was something Michael procured not too long ago from Kraft Viton. Its value was enormous and it was something Michael had prepared for Sun Demos.

    Michael had been certain that Sun Demos would evolve further down the path of a darkness-attributed monster.

    Since that was not the case anymore, Michael thought that he might as well distract the mighty Devil-winged Lion King for a few seconds. It loved snacks, after all.

    ''Good thing I read their minds.'' Michael praised himself quietly. The Valyr Lordess and the Valyr didn''t know a lot about the Forbidden Zone in the center of the Savannah Region, but they''d heard that the Overlord of the Forbidden Zone demanded treasures and resources in exchange for never leaving its territory.

    Michael had been uncertain about the safety of the n, but everything seemed fine ¨C for now.

    The Devil-winged Lion King sensed his amiable intentions and ignored him for a few seconds. These seconds were more than enough for Michael to use Taming''s Powershare and Fusion with Zeroa. He transferred a tremendous amount of space-attributed energy into Zeroa''s space affinity and used his advanced understanding of space to shroud everyone in a golden hue.

    The Devil-winged Lion King eyed Michael for a second but it continued to drain the purified darkness energy within the Stone of Darkness. Michael teleported everyone outside the Forbidden Zone using a mixture of the Elemental Empress'' space affinity, his space energy, and Cosmic Stride.

    Michael had to jump through space three times to leave the Forbidden Zone in the Savannah''s center properly, but that was worth it. They were finally deep into the Council of Xylon''s territory and it was highly unlikely that anyone sensed anything. The Devil-winged Lion King''s territory wasrge enough to hide the spatial fluctuations he and his people had left behind.

    "Nobody will expect us, right?" Hiraku asked lightly. It was not sure whether he was genuinely curious, if he was scared, or if he was just bored. Somehow, Michael presumed that it was thetter, though it was unsure why Hiraku would feel bored.

    ''Maybe, it''s just his face. Or he was born a nonchnt tsundere.'' Michael shrugged before answering, "They might expect us, but I don''t think so."

    "Nobody would expect some suicidal idiots to invade their territory with 30ish people," Lilica said seemingly seriously, but the corner of her lips curled upward. She enjoyed this.

    **

    "How much longer do we have to guard the borders? This is stupid. We''re literally in the middle of nowhere and must guard the border to restrict our allies. We''re not even enemies!!" A young Awakened cursed aloud, his huge mouth wide open and ready to spit out a few more curses.

    He groaned in anger and kicked arge rock through the vicinity. The Savannah was hot and it was certainly not helpful that everyone was obliged to wear the full-metal Armor Set of the Xylon Council.

    "Allies? Official, maybe. But unofficial? Unofficial, we''re already enemies and scheming against each other. Why else would our Lord be so scared to leave the borders open and unprotected? They expect an attack any minute. Though, I don''t think that anything bad will happen anytime soon." An older Awakened responded with a shrug.

    It had been decades since his Lord entered the Origin Expanse, and it felt fancy it had been just as long that his Lord had been struggling to grow stronger and create a prospering territory in the Savannah Region.

    It was not the initial moment that his Lord participated in arge-scale Regional War. However, this time, too many Lords allied against a small number of enemies. The Council of Xylon had too many members. They might have defeated the Trnce, but the damage sustained from scheming, stalling time, and other unnecessary troubles had been severe as well.

    Some Lords had ordered their subordinates to attack their allies in thest battle against the Valyr Lordess. The Trnce went down and perished, but the Council of Xylon''s ''trust'' cracked. Theirmon goal had been aplished, leaving the 106 Lords'' individual goals and their uncontroble desire to their behest.

    "Attack? The Kalivera has been allied with us for years. They would never atta¨C..." The young Awakened couldn''t even finish his sentence.

    His eyes widened in terror and he was about to scream aloud when a golden sh brushed past his head.

    A fountain of blood spurted through the air. The upper part of the Awakened''s head was sliced off neatly. It slid down his head andnded on the ground with a thud.

    If the older Awakened was still able to say something, he would have screamed for help and reinforcement. Unfortunately, Michael''s initial target had been the old man. Aethyr Tigerfang''s de was coated in Reinforced Sword Qi, a sheen of Extraction, andyers of Enhancement jutted out of the Awakened''s chest.

    The old Awakened managed to look right where he saw a glimpse of Michael''s ice-cold golden eyes. However, that was all he managed to see before the world around him twisted dark. Eternal darkness swallowed him, pulling him into an eternal sleep.

    A wisp emerged from the old man and ascended into the air. But before it could disperse and merge with the Will of the Origin Expanse, Michael summoned the Soul Grimoire. The wisp''s trajectory was forcefully altered, pulling it to the Soul Grimoire.

    The Soul Grimoire swallowed the wisp and devoured the power within to form several Soul Tears before spitting it out once again. The wisp was only a small snippet of what it used to be, but Michael didn''t pay any attention to that anymore.

    His attention lingered on the others who were dealing with the remaining Awakened.

    "Seems fancy the Council of Xylon''s internal struggles are even worse than we thought," Michael mumbled, prepared to make use of that fact.

    They could transform the battlefield into beautiful scenery and leave behind some well-hidden ''clues'' that point toward the Kalivera. Michael was not a well-trained conman but he could trick some idiots who have never been able to expand their territory, not even after ascending to a Higher Lifeform decades after they entered the Origin Expanse.

    The Council of Xylon didn''t seem to have much brain, let alone other talents.

    ''But it will be difficult to transform this into something useful¡­'' Michael thought, suppressing a groan as he observed the Forest Elves and Tiara.

    The Princess of the Silverfang Tigerfolk finished her half-

    transformation into a Silvarean Tiger and weaved through the rows of dozen Awakened. Her spear burst forth several times in a second, but she never lost any momentum thanks to her well-coordinated use of Inner Force.

    Tiara made it seem fancy she was dancing through the rows of enemies easily, however, she was fully focused on the use of her Soultraits and staying in top form, while also avoiding getting hit by all means.

    Spirit Whip helped her achieve that. The Soultrait she''d obtained from Michael a long moment ago was fully integrated into Tiara. She intertwined several Spirit Whips andshed out at several enemies in quick session. The sudden mental attacks came out of nowhere and struck the targets heavily.

    They were prepared for physical attacks and some hand-to-

    handbat with the fury of the Silverfang Princess but weren''t guarded well against the mental attack.

    They were struck by the whip right before a de pierced through their throats.

    The Awakened and Summons guarding the border fell fancy flies in front of Tiara, and the same scenario happened in other areas as well.

    It was just that the Forest Elves were not as peace-loving as they used to be.

    Rage filled their beings.

    Their minds were filled with revenge.

 Chapter 653 Slaughter

    <h4>Chapter 653 ughter</h4>

    Lilica twisted her upper body evading an icicle while using Invisible Projectile on her daggers. The daggers didn''t turn invisible right away. Instead, they were camouged first, only to merge with the surrounding colors as she threw one of them at the closest enemy.

    The Awakened was taken by surprise, but he reacted fast enough to raise an ice wall. The wall cracked as the dagger impacted, but it didn''t shatter. Lilica inched closer to the Awakened while evading a downpour of a dozen icicles. Not a single icicle managed to touch her, however, her movement speed suffered greatly in response to her actions to evade all iing attacks.

    She retrieved another dagger from her War Rune and threw it at the Awakened. With Weakness Detection activated, Lilica found a fragile spot in the ice wall, shattering the Awakened''s defense at once.

    Lilica kicked the ground with great force and appeared in front of the Awakened, who''d readied his weapons as well. Their weapons were just about to collide when the Awakened noticed that one of Lilica''s weapons was missing. Lilica had thrown the weapon right before her other dagger was about to sh with the Awakened''s de.

    The Awakened''s eyes widened in terror when his danger sense tingled like crazy. He knew that something was wrong and was about to retreat when Lilica used her empty hand to grasp something out of the air. The invisible dagger turned visible once again in Lilica''s hands. She shed down, piercing the dagger deep into the Awakened''s corbone.

    The Awakened pulled away, d that he was d in a full-body armor set. There were only two things he didn''t take into ount; Lilica was not the same friendly Forest Elf that she used to be, and her Soultrait, Weakness Detection, does not only work on living entities. She could pinpoint the weak spots in heavy-metal armor as well.

    The dagger pierced through the seams of the heavy-metal armor and cut deep into the Awakened''s corbone right before he backed away. He conjured several icicles and was ready to kill Lilica before she could charge at him once again. However, it was at this moment he noticed that Lilica was smiling.

    Something was wrong.

    Suddenly, the Awakened''s shoulder felt like it burned from the inside. He broke into a cold sweat and nced at the dagger that was still stuck in his armor and corbone. His heavy-metal armor set had been well-maintained and polished until it shimmered. Yet, at this moment, the area around the de looked like it was rusting. The rust spread rapidly, corroding the heavy metal armor set rapidly.

    However, the armor was not the only thing that corroded.

    The Awakened looked left, his eyes filled with shock. His veins protruded through his skin and turned purple. The dagger had been poisoned and the poison spread rapidly through his body!

    Distracted from feeling unbearable pain for the first time in years, he noticed toote that Lilica appeared next to him. Her arm shot forward and the sound of metal cutting something resounded in the Awakened''s ears. Only as the fountain of blood filled his view did he realize that his neck had been sliced.

    Lilica left behind a gaping wound in the Awakened''s neck. She retrieved the dagger in the next instance and her Bow Artifact, Silent Reaper, appeared in her hands. She conjured an arrow using an archery technique and applied Invisible Projectile before starting her rampage against the Council of Xylon.

    She released one invisible arrow after another in quick session, reaping the lives of the border guards without paying any attention to her allies'' situation.

    Fortunately, nobody was in a tricky situation. Their surprise attack was a great sess.

    Mika focused on using the Wyvernwood Bow with Pierce and Rapid Fire fully unleashed. He eliminated even more enemies than Lilica.

    His expression was filled with anger and guilt. Even if he grew stronger during thest few weeks, Mika felt weak and helpless. He was useless.

    Nobody would consider Mika useless. He killed more enemies than the rest and had more than enough energy reserves left to keep fighting for a long time. However, the battle at the border ended before he could go all-out.

    "That''s not even a warm-up," Frederik mumbled, his attention drifting to the Forest Elves soon after the skirmish ended. He tried to distract them, but his attempt failed miserably.

    The Forest Elves stared coldly at the corpses. Mika kicked one of the lifeless bodies in the face.

    Lilica and Mika acted unusual since they entered the Savannah Region. It was almost like someone haunted them. Even Opars wasn''t feeling alright.

    Michael looked at them for a moment. He made a mental note to keep an eye on them before diverting his attention to the corpses. Tens of Extraction tendrils shot out of him onmand. The golden tendrils burst forth and smashed heavily into the lifeless bodies, extracting. SoulStar Fragments, Soultraits, Memory Orbs, and the like.

    "Are any Kalivera nearby to kill?" Michael asked lightly.

    Creating an illusion on the battlefield to make it seem as if the forces of the neighboring Lords shed wasn''t supposed to be too difficult. The only issues were that he didn''t have any bodies of the Kalivera and that the Untamed Awakened took down the guards way too easily. There was little to no struggle visible on the corpses. They had been killed within two to three exchanges.

    Anyone with two ¨C maybe three ¨C brain cells could tell that the guards had been killed too swiftly. The Kalivera were not strong enough to take down these idiotic guards that easily. Most of them, at least.

    "I don''t think so," Tiara responded.

    Michael channeled some energy into Spirit Eyes and looked around. Nobody was in their proximity.

    "That''s fine as well," He shrugged and unleashed the Dome of Extraction.

    The Dome of Extraction spread across the entire battlefield, extracting the traces of the battlefield. The corpses, their spilled guts, rolling heads, and missing body parts were collected after Michael finished extracting their Memory Orbs and other goods. Following that, Michael extracted the blood that had been spilled all over the battlefield.

    It might not be possible to remove all traces of the battlefield within two to three minutes, but it was no problem for Michael to turn it into a challenge to find out that there had been a fight. It would be even more difficult to figure out who killed the border guards.

    Michael fused the Extraction Aura with the Dome of Extraction to elerate the cleansing. He retracted both once he was done and retrieved the Memory Orbs of the Awakened he''d just killed.

    There was no need to waste any more time. Michael consumed the Memory Orbs, his focus lingering on the location of the strongest Awakened and the Lords.

    He closed his eyes and digested the memories swiftly. The influx of memories was interesting, but it looked like none of them had an idea where their Lord could be.

    However, the memories shared some other pieces of information that coulde in handy.

    ''If I can''t find the Lords, I might as well look for their most trusted subordinates!'' Michael thought as he found a piece of memory that revealed the location of some Awakened, who were aware of their Lord''s location.

    That was not the best scenario, but it was more than enough for Michael. He wouldn''t want to miss out on eliminating a few more Awakened. After all, Awakened are like walking treasure troves to him!

    "I found some Awakened who''s meeting up with another Lord''s embassy. They''re also Awakened," Michael announced, "Get ready, we''re going to move."

    The embassy was going to meet on neutral grounds instead of a settlement. That was an advantage Michael could exploit.

    The others gathered around Michael, who utilized Cosmic Stride to transport through the Savannah with the least spatial fluctuations.

    In a matter of minutes, they discovered themselves close to a well-guarded camp.

    Dozens of Awakened and hundreds ofbat Summons guarded the camp. They paid attention that no one could enter the camp unsupervised. It would be difficult to enter the camp without getting noticed.

    Fortunately, Michael never nned to go unnoticed.

    He didn''t have to leave any hostages, either. All he truly needed was their corpses!

 Chapter 654 Weak

    <h4>Chapter 654 Weak</h4>

    ?The Forest Elves prepared a bombardment of arrows. They summoned their Pseudo-Legendary Bow Artifacts moved into position and used their Soultraits.

    Michael unleashed Cosmic Stride to teleport everyone closer to the well-guarded camp. The teleportation didn''t remain unnoticed. They were noticed, resulting in amotion from the camp.

    However, it was already toote to raise their defenses. Mika was the first to release an arrow. He''d used Arrow Duplication multiple times on the arrow, transforming the lonely arrow into a flock of 32 arrows in no time. The downpour killed three Summons who were struck by eight arrows.

    They would have survived, under normal circumstances, but the increased prative force granted through the Pierce Soultrait added enough damage to kill the three Summons.

    Opars used Herculean Strength to draw the Dryadwoven Bow properly. He released his arrow a second after Mika, killing one of the burlier Peak Tier-2 Awakened with a single attack.

    Lilica focused on swift attacks with the deadliest potential. Silent Reaper was full in action and her Soultraits were all activated.

    The Forest Elves managed to kill a dozen enemies in the first few seconds of the battle. Unfortunately, the surprise effect wore off afterward. They had to change their position and work harder to kill more enemies.

    Tiara, Thaor, Lokai, and the other Berserkers, on the other hand, reached the well-guarded camp only now. They were a littlete to arrive at the camp to use the surprise effect to their advantage. It was not important, either way.

    Thaor''s body expanded as he unleashed Crimson Aura only to infuse it straight back into his body. He activated Red Giant and paid full attention to controlling the merging process of the Crimson Aura and Red Giant. Master of Combat aided the fusion process, while also granting Thaor the necessarybat awareness to evade a few iing thunderbolts and other projectiles. He picked up arge rock from the side, spun around his axis without losing any momentum, and hurled the rock at the annoying pests that kept attacking him.

    The rock whizzed through the air in a beautiful arc and hit the designated target, squashing a Summon underneath its heavy weight. A muffled scream was all the victim could utter before he was squashed like an ant.

    Tiara and Lokai were the first to reach the camp. Lokai used her brute strength and abination of Burning Fury and Life Conversion to tear apart the makeshift walls. They were supposed to hold the forte against ordinary monsters, not a physical monstrosity such as a Late Tier-3 Berserker whose physical strength had been reinforced twice. After all, they were in the middle of the Savannah Region. There weren''t supposed to be any enemies other than some lowly monsters.

    Nobody was prepared for a sudden attack. However, that didn''t mean that they would die without putting up a fight. The only problem was that the enemy of the strongest Awakened was none other than Michael.

    Michael appeared in themando tent with Cosmic Stride, the Aethyr de raised to slice his enemies. However, what he saw in themando tent attracted his interest.

    The Awakened formed the embassy and the rest stood opposite each other with their unsheathed weapons. Their Soultraits were unleashed and they faced each other with killing-intent glimmering in their eyes.

    "You betrayed the Golden Command?!?" One of them screamed, only for the other side to respond just as loudly.

    "I was about to say the same thing, you ugly fucker! How dare you attack the camp on neutral grounds?!?"

    The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward. Both sides thought that the other betrayed them. They didn''t think that a third party ¨C a total stranger ¨C appeared in the middle of the Savannah Region.

    That made sense, somehow.

    Who would be stupid enough to charge into the center of the Savannah Region to attack the most influential Lords'' embassy?

    Michael was. But he was not stupid, most of the time. He was merely confident that he could beat the shit out of everyone.

    ''That''s fun.''

    He manifested the Soul Grimoire and used several Soul Tears at once. Simultaneously, he applied 10yers of Enhancement to his body while producing enough Soul Energy to exert Heavenly Beast Physique. An Extraction Sword covered the Aethyr de alongside severalyers of Reinforced Sword Qi.

    In the next second, Michael unleashed a dazzling light that filled the entiremando tent. That was pretty simple. All he had to do was to draw some light energy out of his body andpress it instantaneously.

    Michael covered his eyes with darkness energy to protect them from the dazzling light. The others were not as fortunate as Michael, who conjured some Qi Swords to kill the weakest fools in themando tent in an instant. The Qi des shot through the surroundings, impaling a dozen enemies, whereas Michael cracked the ground as he dashed to the Tier-3 powerhouses.

    His physical force rivaled a Lowest Tier-4 powerhouse at this moment. He utilized Spiritual Domination at the lowest level to weaken the Tier-3 Awakened and beheaded them with a swift slice or thrust through their throat or chest to kill them swiftly.

    Once the dazzling light dimmed down, only the embassy leaders were left alive.

    They stared at each other first, but it didn''t take long before they noticed theirrades'' corpses. Michael appeared next to one of them. Heid his arm around the High Awakened, who tensed up as the Extraction Aura removed his clothes, hair, and skinyer byyer.

    Michael smiled lightly at the High Awakened, however, his gaze were ice-cold and ruthless.

    "Surprise~" Michael uttered, the Aethyr de slicing across the High Awakened''s throat.

    Blood sshed onto the ground. It sttered in all directions, but not a single droplet hit Michael. Extraction Aura shrouded his body in a membrane that removed the blood before it could touch him.

    "You guys are pretty weak," Michael said while teleporting next to the other High Awakened.

    "The Zentika Empire''s High Lionhearts were stronger than you guys."

    The High Awakened was not as perceptive as other Awakened, but he was far more experienced than most. He expected Michael to appear next to him and was ready to pierce his chest.

    Michael didn''t move after he teleported next to thest survivor in themando tent. His golden gaze shimmered brightly. It felt like Michael''s eyes expanded and transformed. The High Awakened froze in his tracks. He was petrified and couldn''t move anymore, no matter how much he screamed at his body in his mind.

    "That worked better than expected," Michael uttered to himself, a single droplet of sweat trickling down his temples.

    Michael did a lot more things in the week of istion than most thought. He did not only focus on thebination of Summoning Scrolls, or Soul Grimoire''s fusion to prepare everything for Danny''s rescue. Michael created a few Common ss Soul Techniques for his other Soultraits as well!

    Basilisk''s Petrification was one of the Soul Techniques he''d created to unleash the full potential of Spirit Eyes'' Spiritual Domination. He was not confident about the potency of Basilisk''s Petrification, but it was apparent that his worries were unfounded. The Soul Technique was strong enough to petrify weak-willed Higher Lifeforms for¡­three seconds.

    He lifted the Aethyr de and drove it deep into the High Awakened''s chest.

    ''Inflicting fear into the enemy before using Basilisk''s Petrification strengthens the effect.'' Michael considered as he looked into the dying gaze of the High Awakened, ''His battle spirit shattered when I killed the other High Awakened. What a shame.''

    Michael couldn''t help but be disappointed at those two Higher Lifeforms. They were the worst example to showcase the tremendous prowess of proper Higher Lifeforms.

    Unfortunately, or fortunately, in this case, Michael didn''t have to go all-out to deal with the two High Awakened. He didn''t have to cause a massivemotion or unleash his Cursed Seals to deal with them. That was great. It was just disappointing.

    Michael had hoped that he would have tobat desperately and sustain some serious injuries to deal with the two High Awakened. That was what he expected after dealing with the Heart of the zing Lion army. But that wasn''t the case. The Council of Xylon was not the same as the Zentika Empire.

    They were different. Not everyone in the Council of Xylon was powerful.

    However, that didn''t mean the council was weak.

 Chapter 655 Raw Power I

    <h4>Chapter 655 Raw Power I</h4>

    Michael didn''t have to do much other than kill the Higher Lifeforms. The others were powerful enough to deal with the remaining Awakened and Summons in the camp.

    If Michael had to rate thebat prowess of his enemies, he would probably consider it ''Lesser'', or ''Ordinary''. It was average at best. If anything, the Awakened were a lot weaker than expected. It was almost like they didn''t own a Soultrait, and that their Artifacts didn''t amplify their strength at all.

    On the other hand, Michael could consider the Untamed Awakened as entities with Superiorbat prowess since their strength allowed them to fight one rank above their weight ss without any difficulties. As theirbat prowess increased, they may as well learn how to defeat enemies that ought to be much stronger than him.

    In the meantime, Michael''sbat prowess was ranked ''Mythical'' because he could easily fight above his weight ss, at this point. He was a Low Tier-3 Lord capable of fighting Higher Lifeforms. How many Awakened all over the Origin Expanse could do that? Not many.

    "Is everyone alright?" Michael asked rhetorically after thest enemy fell victim to Lilica''s Silent Reaper.

    He knew that his people were doing fine and that there was no need to worry. As long as they didn''t have to fight against the forces of the whole Council of Xylon simultaneously the Untamed Awakened shouldn''t have an issue escaping fights unscathed.

    "We''re fine," Lilica answered for the Forest Elves.

    Tiara agreed silently as well as she transformed back into her original appearance.

    "This is boring," Frederik mumbled, and the Berserkers agreed not so silently.

    They growled and bellowed loudly, voicing theirints. Only Thaor and Lokai remained silent as the sibling duo saw a glimmer in Michael''s eyes.

    "If this is too boring for you guys¡­" Michael stopped mid-sentence and used Extraction.

    More than 100 Extraction Tendrils burst out of the ground around him. They impaled the bodies of the deceased and plundered as much as possible.

    The SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Summoning Scrolls, and other loot were stored in his War Rune at once. Only the Memory Orbs remained in his hands for a few seconds before Michael consumed them.

    He digested the memories of the dead swiftly and broke into a smile. The Memory Orbs showed him some very interesting things.

    "...we should alter our ns a little."

    "It''s time to make a big move!" Michael dered, his vibrant smile transforming into a devilish grimace.

    As Michael shared the new strategy with his people, Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs stirred trouble in another area of the Savannah Region.

    It had only been a few hours since they parted ways, but many things had changed.

    The burning afternoon sun shone brightly upon Hiraku and his temporary followers as they passed through the vast, open grasnd. Their view of the scenery was unobstructed. Tall grasses stretched across t terrain with scattered trees and asional bushes highlighting the beautiful scenery of the Savannah region.

    The golden green grass swayed with the breeze as Mekhaz and the Warlock Centaurs traversed fast and nimble through the Savannah''s ins, forcing Hikaru to speed up a little.

    He nced up to the wide and expansive sky where Stinger moved around impatiently. Despite being a small monster, the Golden Stinger Wasp was much faster than Hiraku and the rest as they jogged lightly to their next destination.

    Thendscape was beautiful, bathed in sunlight, and overflowing with peace. It was near-impossible to imagine that arge-scale Regional War hit the Savannah Region not too long ago.

    Unfortunately, the peaceful sight was about to change as Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs were about to reach their destination.

    They brushed past some herbivores such as Horned Zebras, Scaled Giraffes, and other weak monsters that added life to the serene and natural beauty of the Savannah, but they focused on something else.

    Stinger descended and used his golden stinger to stab Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs. That was Stinger''s sign, telling the Awakened to prepare for battle.

    "We found a small army of Rievers two kilometers northeast. There shouldn''t be more than 400 Summons and a small batch of Awakened. None of them seems to be a Higher Lifeform," One of the Warlock Centaurs reported, his attention on a smallpass that levitated in front of him.

    Thepass didn''t look special. It was made from argent metal and had three needles. However, only one of the needles was maized and pointed north. The other needles pointed toward nearby natural treasures and enemies. Another interesting factor about thepass was that it gave the user a rough indicator of the number and potency of his enemies. It was a perfect radar to use in times of war.

    It was also the Warlock Centaurs'' Soultrait, a Soultrait that had been deemed useless because it was only a 1-Star Soultrait before the Warlock Centaur joined Michael. Thepass was now a 4-Star Soultrait and was far more useful than before, providing all the necessary pieces of information to prepare for battle.

    Stinger hummed loudly, attracting Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs'' attention.

    Everyone readied their Artifacts and Soultraits for the uing battle. A few seconds passed before Stinger could tell that everyone finished theirst preparations. Stinger disappeared, reced by a small bird that chirped loudly in shock. It looked left and right and pped its little wings to escape the grasp of the towering human and Warlock Centaurs.

    Mekhaz cracked a faint smile, but he remained silent as a dazzling light blossomed from Stinger''s golden stinger.

    Hiraku and some Warlock Centaurs disappeared, their bodies reced by Stinger, who switched position with one of the birds in the flock above the Rievers Army.

    Stinger used his special ability several times to switch ces with others. He scared the flock of birds, but that was of no importance. Important was only that Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs fell from the sky. They dived down and battered heavily into the center of the Rievers army.

    The Riever Summons and Awakened didn''t expect a bunch of towering Awakened to fall from the sky, but they regainedposure quickly. And that was necessary because Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs didn''t waste much time observing their surroundings.

    Hiraku pinpointed arge caravan filled with goods nearby, but he had to evade a spear thrust before he could take a proper look at the goods. His body expanded as he transformed into the Silver Titan. But instead of being in his basic form, Hiraku sensed something within the surroundings that allowed him to change his form slightly.

    Strength filled his body and his humongous figure expanded further, crimson vein-like lines spreading all over his body, etching themselves deep into his skin.

    ''That is¡­new¡­'' Hiraku thought, manifesting arge meteorite-steel shield and arge double-headed conflict axe to block two attacks and cleave one of the Rievers near him in two.

    Blood and internal organs spilled all over the ground, but Hiraku didn''t pay much attention to it.

    He had to pay attention to his surroundings and ensure that the Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t do anything stupid.

    After all, he became the leader of the second strike force. Michael trusted him. That was a weird feeling.

    Michael didn''t know much about him. He never asked Hiraku about his past and didn''t force him to do anything he disliked. If Hiraku didn''t want to join the battle against the Council of Xylon, he could have uttered so. Hiraku was certain that Michael would have been disappointed, but Michael wouldn''t have forced him to participate.

    Michael never seemed to force anything. Yet, simultaneously, it felt like Michael had an odd presence around him. A type of presence that made it hard to reject him and stay away from him.

    Michael pulled people close to him without forcing anything. It was weird.

    However, it was alsoforting. Nobody had to act in front of Michael. They could be their true self in front of him. He didn''t judge anyone.

    ''Maybe, it wouldn''t be too bad to jo¨C...'' Hiraku thought, only for his thoughts to be interrupted as a group of Rievers rushed at him.

    Mekhaz, coated in the Living Armor brushed past him, moving nimbly with a halbert in his hands. One of the Rievers fell victim to Mekhaz''s first strike, while the others backed away.

    Hiraku released a thunderous roar and rushed ahead, bulldozing his enemies.

    Now was not the time to think about the future. Hiraku knew that he had more than enough time to think about his ns soon. There was no rush.

    The present was more important. Arge-scale Regional War was waiting to be won by the Lord of the Untamed Jungle!

 Chapter 656 Raw Power II

    <h4>Chapter 656 Raw Power II</h4>

    ?Mekhaz didn''t have to worry too much about getting injured. He was already a Tier-3 Awakened and his defense was high enough to block most iing attacks.

    The Living Armor covered him entirely, whereas his other Soultraits, Energy Absorption, and Repel could be applied wherever he wanted. He applied several Repel Runes all over his body and connected them with Energy Absorption to increase their storage capacity.

    Combining Energy Absorption with Repel made it easier to absorb more of the iing damage and increase the power output once enough energy had been umted within the Repel runes.

    Mekhaz epted most attacks without paying attention to the inflicted damage. He only blocked or evaded the attacks that would cause too much damage to the Living Armor. It would be a hassle if the Living Armor shattered or if he sustained a heavy injury.

    He missed some attacks but wasn''t injured. As for the Living Armor, it recuperated using origin energy. Combining this function with Energy Absorption and the fact that every iing attack was weakened and drained of a portion of its origin energy, Mekhaz could ensure that all scratches and minor damage were healed instantaneously.

    Mekhaz cut a nearby Rievers'' throat while blocking a dozen attacks with the Living Armor. Each attack that hit his Living Armor transferred a portion of energy into his body and the Repel rune, ensuring that he nevercked energy. Mekhaz twisted his body and kicked a Rievers with his hind legs.

    The Rievers hurdled through the air and crashed into his colleagues. A momentter, Mekhaz released the power umted within the Repel rune.

    The rune broke, unleashing a burst ofpressed energy toward the enemy he kicked just now. The energy st did not unleash Repel''s full power but it was enough to burst the Rievers'' head and injure the Rievers standing right behind his now-dead fellow.

    Mekhaz didn''t pay much attention to the dead. He elerated, swung his halberd, and beheaded the injured Rievers with a swift strike.

    The Rievers tried to block the attack but it was useless. His morale shattered when hisrade''s head exploded before him.

    Hiraku appeared next to Mekhaz as he was about to continue the carnage of brute force. However, Hiraku was much better at that game. His physical strength crossed the threshold of a weak Higher Lifeform easily. He blocked some of the stronger iing attacks with his humongous shield and cleaved through his enemies with the double-ded war axe like they were weeds.

    Some of the stronger Awakened tried to block Hiraku, but their attempts failed miserably. Only one of the Peak Tier-3 Rievers managed to slow Hiraku a little bit. He used his Soultrait, a debuff, also known as Slowness, to slow Hiraku ¨C quite literally.

    Hiraku''s movement speed slowed down a little bit. It was not more than 10%, at most, but that was more than enough to grant the Rievers an opportunity to strike back.

    Unfortunately, slowing down was not enough to eliminate Hiraku. He changed his tactic and used his Creation Soultrait to create a batch of cannonballs. The massive shield and double-headed war axe dispersed. They were reced with the cannonballs, which lingered in Hiraku''s hands like little marbles.

    Hiraku used the remaining bits of momentum left within him to take the iing enemies by surprise. He hurled the cannonballs at the iing targets with every ounce of strength left in his body.

    The cannonballs whizzed through the air with shocking velocity, taking the Rievers by surprise. They tried to evade the projectiles but there were simply too many of them. The cannonballs were too fast as well.

    Two Rievers threw their bodies to the ground, barely escaping a one-way ticket to the afterlife, while the others were either too stunned and overwhelmed to think of a solution, or were too confident in their capabilities to block and evade the attack.

    Thetter didn''t end up as well as they expected. Their weapons, shields, and armors were crushed, and their bodies followed swiftly. Their ribs were crushed into smithereens while their innards ruptured in several spots.

    None of the Rievers, who attempted to block the cannonballs, died instantaneously. They would bleed to death in the next few minutes, unable to move an inch. Their arrogance and confidence stole their opportunity to be granted a quick, painless death.

    Those who didn''t move at all were a little bit luckier. Some cannonballs smashed into their heads, cracking their skulls, and breaking their necks, whereas others were even luckier. Their shoulders or legs were hit and crushed into thousands of tiny bone fragments. However, they were still alive and could move. If they responded fast enough, some of them may survive as well. At least, their chances of surviving were not nil.

    Unfortunately, Hiraku didn''t leave them with a high chance of survival. He was not merciful enough to give them enough time to realize what had just happened and to think of a path to escape. Tworge daggers conjured in his hands right after the cannonballs left his hands.

    He ignored the energy influxes and kicked the ground. The ground underfoot broke apart, leaving deep imprints behind as he crossed the distance to the injured Rievers in an instant. He might be humongous and covered with bulging muscles, but that didn''t mean Hiraku was slow.

    He was faster than ever and regained some of his flexibility in his current form. His well-trained dexterity came into y. He shed one dagger diagonally, slicing through a nearby Rievers'' chest and armor, while his other dagger pierced through another Rievers'' head, prating his skull and brain in one go.

    The crunching noises of breaking bones and the clinking of metal colliding resounded in his ears, but Hiraku didn''t pay much attention to it. He was more focused on the changes within his body and the tremendous raw power that surged through him right now.

    He didn''t feel the slightest bit tired and his transformation Soultrait, Titan Spirit, didn''t indicate to him that his transformation would end soon either. It was almost like he could stay in this form for several days, maybe even weeks without growing tired.

    That was interesting and something worth experimenting with.

    The Rievers quickly realized that Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs were hard to fight. No. It was impossible to defeat them with their small army of 400ish members. Hiraku alone was already enough to overwhelm them.

    In mere minutes, Hiraku and his team managed to crush the Rievers'' spirits. Their morale was crushed and what followed was a one-sided ughter.

    "That was a good fight," Hiraku praised the Warlock Centaurs emotionlessly.

    "You mean ughter," Mekhaz added, but Hiraku merely shrugged.

    It didn''t matter if they fought head-on, or if they ughtered their enemies. They needed to kill them.

    Hiraku walked over to the cadavers and stored them in his War Rune. He inspected the goods that had been guarded by the Rievers but didn''t think much about it. There was only one confusing part.

    "Why are they transporting corpses?" One of the Warlock Centaurs asked, pointing at the insides of one caravan. The caravan was stacked with cadavers of other races.

    "They could have stored the corpses in War Runes, spatial satchels, or the like," Mekhaz added, his expression turning sour.

    Something didn''t make sense.

    "We found another army escorting a caravan further north. They''re heading in our direction," The Warlock Centaur with the Advanced Compass Soultrait reported before Mekhaz and Hiraku could continue their discussion.

    "Merchants?" Hiraku mumbled, tilting his head.

    ''If they came to trade the corpses¡­Well, whatever.''

    "No need to break our heads about that. Let''s kill them and find out what these idiots were trying to trade."

    Everyone prepared for the uing battle. The fight ¨C ughter ¨C against the Rievers had been rather boring. It was a warmup, at best. The real fight was waiting for them.

    Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs made a detour around the caravan and inspected it from far away.

    "There are more people. One Low Tier-4 High Priest. There is nobat Higher Lifeform in the army."

    Hiraku listened to the Warlock Centaur''sment and nodded. He was about to give ament when he heard the Warlock Centaur mumble, "Something is weird. I can sense a monster¡­or something monster-alike amid the caravan."

    Hiraku raised his eyebrow and nced back at the caravan that was still far away.

    ''They''re Kaliveras. There is no need to hesitate.'' He told himself, before giving themand to attack.

    A momentter, they disappeared with a plop and reappeared above the Tier-4 High Priest.

    "Good afternoon~" A Warlock Centaur eximed, crashing into the ground next to the High Priest right before turning dead serious.

    "Die for me, please~!"

    **

    [A/N: Heyho. The Author is back. I''m curious about some things, but I don''t wanna throw everything out here. However, one thing I have to ask. Did you notice a major difference in the chapter''s quality throughout thest few weeks, or is it still the same. -> That''s mostly about grammar and stuff like that, not the story itself (Though I''m also curious if you think that the story''s quality decreased of if it''s ''stable'')]

 Chapter 657 Slaves

    <h4>Chapter 657 ves</h4>

    ?The High Priest of the Kalivera race reacted in time to cast the Divine Shield spell, blocking the iing attacks. He was shocked by the sudden appearance of unknown enemies, but that wasn''t even the worst. His Divine Shield cracked and shattered into countless fragments, revealing Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs.

    Hiraku blocked two Light Shards, weak attack spells from the High Priest and manifested a mace in his right hand. The mace was as thick as Hiraku''s thigh and covered in spikes, adding another level of ''spice''. It plunged toward the High Priest''s head.

    The High Priest manifested several small Divine Shields, but their durability was not the same as the original version. They shattered one by one as the mace smashed heavily onto them. A shockwave reverberated through the surroundings, followed by the crackling of several bones breaking.

    The High Priest and the Kaliveras near him screamed and roared, but neither Hiraku nor the Warlock Centaurs thought about stopping the attack.

    If anything, Mekhaz and Zeron Polik joined Hiraku in the attack against the Higher Lifeform. Hiraku lifted the mace high above his head and smashed down once again. The High Priest tried to retreat but Mekhaz blocked him. His halberd pierced deep into the High Priest''s side, dying his robe in blood.

    The High Priest''s body glowed and a tremendous amount of energy swept through him all of a sudden. Something about the High Priest was changing, and it was certainly not something advantageous to Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs.

    Hiraku observed the transformation of the High Priest for a quarter of a second before his attackmenced.

    Only fools would wait patiently until their enemy finished their power-up. Hiraku was no such idiot. His mace impacted heavily, crushing the High Priest''s skull with a deadly strike.

    The Kaliveras around the High Priest screamed out once again, but they didn''t have enough time to think about what was happening. They were the next to be hunted.

    Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs didn''t hold back. They went all-out against their enemies and ughtered them mindlessly.

    Not only were Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs stronger in terms of battle awareness, and martial arts mastery, but their Tier and physical strength were also much stronger. That didn''t even include the tremendous advantage of possessing multiple high-ranked Soultraits that were highlypatible.

    It was no wonder that the army escorting the caravan was obliterated in less than half an hour.

    Close to 1000 corpses littered the surroundings, but not for long. Mekhaz and another Warlock Centaur collected the corpses for Michael to extractter.

    Hiraku walked over to the caravan, ready to store everything in his War Rune''s storage, only to realize that it was not possible.

    ''Hmm?''

    Something blocked him from storing everything in his War Rune. That either meant the goods were too unstable to be stored in a pocket dimension, that the War Rune''s storage repelled some of the items, or that there was something alive in the caravan.

    "Ah right. He said that there are some ''monster-like''-things in the caravan. Whatever that''s supposed to mean," Hiraku mumbled to himself. He was about to find out at any moment, anyway.

    Hiraku pushed the curtain at the back of the first carriage aside and nced inside. Rays of the afternoon sun shone into the carriage, illuminating the inside for the first time in weeks. At least, that was what Hiraku gathered from the groans and squeals that resounded from the inside.

    Hiraku furrowed his eyebrows and transformed back into his original appearance to get a better view of the situation. However, what he saw took him by surprise.

    "Are¡­well. Were those idiots ve traders?" Hiraku wondered, his eyes lingering on a dozen cages of varying sizes. A dozen pairs of eyes stared at him, their eyes filled with desperation.

    However, there was also a trace of hope in their eyes. They could smell the blood hanging in the air, and death permeating the surroundings. The people who''d enved them were dead.

    Hiraku scanned the carriage and discovered that there were monster younglings as well as young juvenile Awakened, whose War Runes hadn''t fully formed yet.

    That was notmon, and it was rather rare, but it was not impossible. If two Awakened gave birth to a child in the Origin Expanse, it wasn''t umon for the War Rune to form prematurely. The child would be exposed to origin energy in its mother''s womb already, after all.

    While it was normal that Awakened born in the Origin Expanse were stronger than others, it was also a fact that they had a much harder time leaving the Origin Expanse. They didn''t have an anchor in the outside world, and it was usually much harder for them to survive in ces without origin energy. Most Native Awakened would feel like they were about to suffocate outside the Origin Expanse.

    That was also why it was umon for Awakened to give birth to their child in the Origin Expanse. It wouldn''t be able to escape the Origin Expanse. Under normal circumstances, that is.

    But there was also another factor that attracted Hiraku''s attention. It was something he got to know only after he found out about Tiara and the Silverfang Tigerfolk.

    ''Were they born in the Origin Expanse, or are they from one of the races that sought asylum within the Origin Expanse?''

    The answer to this question didn''t matter right now. However, it might be crucial for Michael. Michael would have to decide what to do with these monster cubs and juvenile Awakened. He was the Lord, after all.

    Hiraku retrieved amunication crystal and called Michael right away.

    ["Hiraku? Did something happen? Are you guys fine?"] Michael''s worried voice rang out of themunication crystal within seconds.

    The corner of Hiraku''s lip twitched upon hearing Michael. He cleared his throat and reported the situation.

    ["You found monster cubs and juvenile Awakened with exotic monster traits? That''s odd."]

    Michael didn''t say anything after that. He thought about what to do for a few seconds before he gave Hiraku his next order.

    ["Free them. Allow them to leave. We will make sure not to hunt them while we''re conquering the Council of Xylon. IF they do not want to leave, or if they follow you, assist them to get to the Untamed Jungle. Stinger learned to jump through space not too long ago, but his golden stinger is much more powerful than it used to be. It might take a few hours, but you should help them. They''re just kids. Nothing that happened in the Savannah region is their fault."]

    Even though Michael couldn''t tell that it would be 100% secure to bring monster cubs and Juvenile Awakened into his territory, he couldn''t leave them behind. If they stayed with Hiraku, which was something his gut feeling told him was about to happen, the situation would get a little bit tricky. Michael wouldn''t be able to tell Hiraku to jump into deadly battles if some monster cubs and juvenile Awakened clung onto him like little leeches.

    Hiraku sighed heavily as if he was annoyed, but he was secretly relieved. The battle against the Council of Xylon was very important, especially in the next 48 hours. The Council of Xylon should be able to wonder of some countermeasures against them in the next 48 hours. Until then, Michael and his forces would have it a little easier to wreak havoc and kill as many enemies as possible.

    That was their mission. To ughter their enemies and weaken them enough to instill fear deep in their hearts.

    However, that wouldn''t be possible if Hiraku and his people were busy dealing with kids for half a day.

    Hiraku tore the gates out of the iron cage''s frames and helped the little creatures and Awakened out of their cages. They were starving, parched, and sleep deprived. Their bodies weren''t covered in wounds, but it didn''t take much to kill them. It was not hard to tell that they wouldn''t survive long if left alone.

    Hiraku pressed his lips together and walked over to the other carriages to take a look inside. There were even more cages.

    ''Were they about to trade ves and creatures with corpses?'' Hiraku wondered, his heart filled with fury as he broke the cages open to assist the fragile cubs and Awakened out of the confinement.

    The cubs and Awakened escaped their prison, but they did not yet survive the aftermath. The Savannah would kill them.

    Nheless, Hiraku decided to follow Michael''s order. If any of the monster cubs or juvenile Awakened wanted to leave they could go. He wouldn''t stop them. That didn''t mean it didn''t hurt Hiraku if they were about to leave because he knew that they were going to die out there, but he wouldn''t deprive them of their freedom once again. He wouldn''t be better than the ve merchants in that case.

    "H-Help us¡­." A young juvenile Awakened uttered weakly, his body looking like he was about to melt, "..Plea¡­se¡­"

    He had a special monster trait. It was something neither Hiraku nor the Warlock Centaurs had seen before. He was a slime monster, yet somehow¡­he wasn''t.

    Hiraku gripped his fists, frustrated about killing the Kaliveras painlessly, but he bent down and forced to smile at the youngster.

    "Of course. We will assist you," Hiraku said, his voice filled with kindness for the first time.

    Hiraku stared at themunication crystal for a second and thought about Michael.

    A genuine smile formed on his lips.

    "I can bring you to a great ce."

 Chapter 658 Valyrs & The Settlement

    <h4>Chapter 658 Valyrs & The Settlement</h4>

    ?"Are you sure that we''re strong enough to take this down?" Zira asked, her attention lingering on the Elemental Empress.

    Zeroa levitated next to the young Valyr, a giggle escaping her lips. The vast grasnd of the savannah stretched out as far as one could see, highlighting the small settlement that towered in the middle of nowhere.

    The settlement was the Elemental Empress'' target. It wasn''t well protected given the guards''ckluster attitude, and they didn''t have an active Orb of Hostility either, otherwise, Zeroa and the Valyr would have been noticed a long time ago. However, the deciding factor that determined Zeroa''s confidence to conquer the small settlement was that she couldn''t sense any spatial restrictions.

    There was no spatial lock in the settlement.

    To be more precise, there was probably a device that could lock spatial movements in the surroundings, but it was probably deactivated because these devices were too expensive to maintain. Even an Advanced Orb of Hostility was extremely expensive to maintain all day. It consumed a considerable amount of energy within Monster Cores and Energy Stones.

    In the first ce, most territories with multiple settlements cannot afford to use Orbs of Hostility, spatial locks, and the like for a prolonged period. In fact, even one active spatial lock would drain the funds of most territories if activated every day throughout the year.

    Most Lords didn''t have the means to ''waste'' their scarce resources on a spatial lock, especially not in small settlements that were located in a safe environment. The small settlement targeted by the Elemental Empress was in the middle of a territory without any threats in the surrounding area. There were no powerful monsters, and the distance to the nearest border was also far. The borders were not dangerous either since the adjacent territories belonged to allies. Allies rallied together to fight against their soon-to-be enemies in the Council of Xylon.

    Spatial locks would only be activated in emergencies and with immediate danger in the surroundings, not in a peaceful ce.

    "I''m in," One of the Valyr said, patting Zira''s shoulder.

    "These Huiv bastards killed my sister. I will burn them to death!!"

    Zeroa''s mes flickered brightly. She was ready to rumble and more than willing to jump into action right away. However, she calmed down a little bit for a moment to ry a message to the Valyrs by drawing letters into the air using her mythical mes.

    [Focus Soldiers, Awakened, Treasures. Collect all!]

    Zeroa was not that good with letters. She could barely speak in the universalnguage with Michael. Unfortunately, her mastery of Whispering Energy was not that great yet. Zeroa had to talk with the Valyrs using letters instead. She didn''t want to identally harm them by executing Whispering Energy wrongly, after all.

    "Yes. We will focus on theirbatants and the Awakened. Their corpses will be collected as well. We didn''t forget what Michael told us," Zira said.

    She was not sure why Michael needed their corpses, but the reason didn''t matter. Zira did what she was told to do.

    [Ready?]

    Zira looked at the other Valyrs upon seeing the azure mes flickering in front of her. Herrades-in-arms were more than just ready. Their eyes burned in fury, zing mes coating their bodies.

    "I think so," She smiled lightly, manifesting her leather armor set and two Dagger Artifacts.

    Zeroa didn''t waste anymore time. She conjured a portal and gestured to the Valyrs to get moving.

    Zira was the first to act. She took a deep breath and pushed forth, entering the portal right away. Upon emerging on the other side of the portal, Zira was greeted by an empty room. She looked left and right but didn''t see anyone nearby. Her senses didn''t pick up the energy fluctuations of any living beings nearby. All she sensed was a small treasure trove of magical devices.

    There was an Advanced Orb of Hostility ¨C deactivated obviously ¨C and a few more gadgets that ought to protect the settlement from invaders. However, they were all deactivated due to their enormous power consumption. Zira considered crushing them for a moment but she decided against it.

    "All of this can be considered valuable," She murmured, storing the space lock, the Orb of Hostility, and everything else of value inside her War Rune''s storage.

    The Valyrs, who had also emerged from the space portal, nced at her for a moment, but they didn''t say anything. They guarded the door and waited patiently until everyone was present.

    The Elemental Empress was thest to emerge. Her power was a bit drained from teleporting everyone deep into the center of the small settlement, but she had enough reserves to fight.

    One of the stronger Valyr used his Soultrait, Charge, to barge through the metal door. Themotion caused by that stunt was enormous, but nobody appeared in the hallway for several seconds. It was only after ten seconds that two sleepy guards emerged in the hallway. They rubbed their eyes and nced at the Valyrs in disinterest until they realized that they were not in a dream.

    Their eyes widened and they were about to sound the rm when Zira appeared in front of them. She flicked her wrists in a simple motion and inflicted a deep gash in the two guards'' necks. The Huiv''s eyes widened and they tried to scream for help and warn their people, but it was already toote. Their bodies slumped to the ground, a puddle of blood forming underneath them.

    Zira reached out for their corpses, coated their bodies in ayer of energy, and stored them away. Zeroa brushed past Zira and discovered two more Huiv in the room the other guards had emerged from. She conjured two arrows with her mythical mes and hurled them toward the targets. The Huiv tried to react in time, but the arrows burned a hole into their chest long before they could sound the rm.

    The Elemental Empress continued to proceed through the hallway. She used her high perception to scan the surroundings for enemies and released zing azure arrows through the doors. The Huiv, who''d wanted to take Zeroa and the Valyr by surprise to kill them with one strike, were surprised and killed instead.

    Zira and the other Valyr followed Zeroa, but they couldn''t help but be surprised about the Elemental Empress'' extraordinary fire affinity. Mythical mes were incredibly hard to control. They were too powerful to be contained by most Valyr.

    Only two Valyrs managed to cultivate their mes into mythical mes without burning to death. It was no wonder that those two Valyr were the strongest existences in the Valyr race''s history. One was the founder of the first Valyrian Empire, whereas the other one was known as the Conqueror for expanding the Valyrian Empire to several times its former size.

    The Elemental Empress'' control of the mythical me was not yet perfect, but she was on the right path.

    It didn''t take long before the guards in the building had been eliminated. They stepped outside and entered arge za where hundreds of Huiv moved around busily. Zira hesitated for a moment, but the others didn''t share her hesitation.

    The Valyrs conjured several head-sized fireballs and lobbed them through the za. The fireballs weren''t aimed at the civilians, but they crashed into the surrounding structures, setting the buildings on fire.

    Explosions resounded through the surroundings, and buildings copsed. Screams of terror and desperation followed suit.

    The residents ran for their lives. They pushed each other aside to escape the dangers as fast as possible. Nobody paid attention to their kin. It was almost like they never cared for each other. The young and old were shoved aside and left to fend for themselves. It was a miserable sight that unfolded in front of the Valyrs. But, of course, they didn''t care.

    Their eyes were overflowing with fury and they could barely contain themselves from burning the residents to cinder. Some of them would have done that if they weren''t in a rush. They had to strike as hard as possible as quickly as possible if they wanted to conquer the settlement, kill all guards and Awakened, and take all treasures before someone could send reinforcement to deal with them.

    Zeroa was the first to move. She detected arge group of guards led by two Awakened. They rushed over in a hurry and triggered their Soultraits upon reaching the za. However, before they could do anything grand, hundreds of fireballs covered the sky in front of them.

    The searing hot downpour of fireballs ensued, burning the guards and awakened alive.

    Only now did the Regional War against the Council of Xylon begin for real.

 Chapter 659 One Down

    <h4>Chapter 659 One Down</h4>

    ?Michael was not sure what the other groups were doing, but the energy shares reaching his War Rune increased exponentially suddenly.

    Dozens of energy shares nourished his War Rune every few seconds, slowly increasing its refinement degree.

    The sensation of growing stronger without the need to do something was extraordinary. It was addicting. Michael wasn''t too worried either. He sensed that Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs were fine and that most energy shares reached him through Zeroa.

    The interesting thing about that was that Zeroa hadn''t established a proper Link of Loyalty with Michael for a long time. She had a Taming Bond with Michael as his tamed monster, but she wasn''t ''part of his territory'' officially. That changed when the Elementals requested to be more integrated into Michael''s territory.

    Michael formed a Link of Loyalty with all Elementals, including Zeroa, who wreaked havoc somewhere on the other side of the Savannah''s center. He had no idea what she was doing, but Michael could gauge that the Elemental Empress and the Valyrs were doing something more dangerous than Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs. At least, that was what the influx of energy shares indicated.

    "She will be fine," Michael mumbled, his attention drifting to Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs, "But what am I going to do with the juvenile Awakened? Monster cubs are still fine, but juvenile Awakened? That can be quite troublesome."

    Michael didn''t have much time to think about what to do when Hiraku called. He allowed the juvenile Awakened and monster cubs into his territory, but he was not too sure what to do now.

    Fortunately, he didn''t have to think about that too much. He had a very naughty Lord to kill first.

    The Kalivera Lord was currently located in one of his mid-sized settlements, screwing with a few Awakened. Apparently, that was one of the Kalivera Lord''s hobbies.

    His strength didn''t increase much after he ascended to a Higher Lifeform, yet he used the status as a Higher Lifeform to gain various benefits. He suppressed his people and forced them to do things they loathed.

    Michael was not in favor of such behavior, but it didn''t matter, at this point. He would kill the Kalivera Lord soon.

    Upon reaching the mid-sized settlement by jumping through space a few dozen times, Michael focused on replenishing his used-up energy reserves. He released the Extraction Aura and used his energy absorption technique to speed up the process. Thereafter, he activated Spirit Eyes with enough origin energy to see what was hidden from everyone else.

    ''A spatial lock.'' Michael pinpointed almost instantaneously when he saw the semi-translucent dome that covered the entire settlement and some of thend around.

    It was a little bit unfortunate that there was a spatial lock since he wouldn''t be able to use Cosmic Stride properly. The spatial lock was not perfect because the device used the lowest form of spatial restrictions to reduce energy consumption as much as possible, but Michael couldn''t teleport everyone inside the settlement.

    That was a shame as it would take away the surprise effect.

    Michael tilted his head and thought of something.

    "Wait here," Hemanded before using Cosmic Stride to circle the spatial lock''s dome.

    Michael didn''t waste much time. He continued using Spirit Eyes and circled the spatial lock dome with quick jumps to satisfy his curiosity.

    ''It''s symmetric. That makes everything a lot easier,''

    If the dome''s shape was a little bit moreplicated, Michael would have a harder time. Fortunately, a symmetric dome was likely the easiest to maintain.

    Michael used Enhancement on Spirit Eyes and jumped high up into the air with Cosmic Stride. Arge Qi Sword manifested underfoot as he reached the desired altitude.

    It consumed a little mental power to maintain the Qi Sword and keep it from getting pulled to the ground, but Michael had gone through worse. Levitating mid-air with a Qi Sword didn''t seem like a particrly difficult task at this point.

    Michael observed the mid-sized settlement from a bird''s point of view. It didn''t take long to find the center of the symmetric dome. Arge building towered in the center of the settlement. The building was surrounded by smaller buildings, but it attracted Michael''s interest nheless. The energy congregating within the building was several times higher than the surroundings.

    ''Found you!''

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward.

    "If you''re already paying the exorbitant price to maintain the active costs of the spatial lock, you should be generous enough to fork out enough money to create a permanent protection barrier as well, idiot!"

    There was no use in being stingy after spending a fortune to keep the spatial lock dome activated. To the Kalivera Lord''s misfortune, he wasn''t smart enough to do so. He contemted that the spatial lock and the guards were enough to block all potential threats.

    ''What an idiot.''

    Michael closed his eyes for a moment and gathered some of the altered energies that had been umted within the Elemental Spheres. He used thunder and lightning power alongside several other types of energy to form arge cloud above the settlement. The appearance of the cloud attracted some attention, but it was not impossible for a storm to brew all of a sudden.

    The weather in the Origin Expanse was odd at times, after all.

    Michael gathered lightning power within the clouds, slowlypressing them while also using Insert to add severalyers of Enhancement to the fray.

    The lightning currents within the clouds crackled and thundered through the surroundings. They threatened to escape Michael''s control at times, but he managed to keep the bolts of lightning under control.

    They intertwined with one another and grewrger. Stronger.

    ''This is much harder than it looks,'' Michael cursed in his mind as he influenced the movements of the bolts of lightning. He made a few minor adjustments and ''convinced'' the bolts of lightning to move in a particr direction.

    Finally, he released the reinforced bolt of lightning upon the mid-sized settlement.

    The bolt crackled through the sky as it burst down. It crashed heavily into therge building in the center of themunity and shrouded it entirely. Explosions resounded through the vicinity while the semi-transparent dome dispersed.

    The spatial restriction was lifted, and chaos ensued following the destructive power of the reinforced bolt of lightning.

    Michael used this opportunity to use Cosmic Stride. He appeared next to his people shrouded them in a golden light and used Cosmic Stride a second moment to appear in arge room with a queen-sized bed and a dozen women. The women were naked and some of them looked like they''d been beaten up quite frequently. However, Michael and his people didn''t pay any attention to them.

    Their eyes lingered on the Kalivera who was hurriedly putting on some pants.

    The Kalivera Master heard the explosion and jumped up from the bed to find out what was happening. He was in such a hurry that he didn''t even notice Michael, the Forest Elves, and the rest as they appeared in the room.

    One of the women, on the other hand, noticed them. She screamed at the top of her lungs, rming the Kalivera Lord. His head flicked to the intruders, killing intent flickering in his eyes.

    He was just about to summon his Artifacts and charge at the intruders when he noticed that something was amiss. Something felt wrong.

    His hair stood up to its end and he instinctively turned around only to lock eyes with Michael''s vibrant golden eyes.

    "Toote."

    A silver de shed past his eyes.

    The Kalivera Lord''s head separated from his neck a momentter.

    ''That was number one.''

 Chapter 660 Raid

    <h4>Chapter 660 Raid</h4>

    ?The Kalivera Lord died way too quickly.

    Michael thought that he was mistaken for a moment. It shouldn''t have been that easy.

    ''Did I kill the wrong one? Is that not the Lord?'' He wondered, his eyes lingering on the headless body.

    The energy influx that entered his War Rune was quite potent. It was from a Low Tier-4 powerhouse, a Lord, to be precise. The energy influx ought to be more than enough evidence to tell that he had just killed the Kalivera Lord, but Michael couldn''t help himself. He doubted that a Higher Lifeform, a Lord with more than one decade of experience, would die so easily.

    ''Well. I took him by surprise.'' He shrugged.

    The Kalivera Lord weed him half-naked after enjoying the presence of a dozen women. He had been struggling to pull up his underwear as Michael arrived in the room.

    The women in the room were screaming at the top of their lungs. However, it was not only fear of Michael that made them scream. The death of the Kalivera Lord destroyed the Links of Loyalty connected to them, freeing them atst.

    Losing contact with the Link of Loyalty suddenly was ufortable. It was a weird feeling of emptiness. The Kaliveras felt like something had been torn out of their souls.

    Two women, Tier-3 Awakened, manifested their Artifacts and charged at Michael suddenly. He raised his hand and pointed at the Awakened with his index finger. An electricity current cracked at the fingertip and two bolts of lightning were discharged in quick session. The Awakened twisted their bodies to evade the electricity currents, but they didn''t see the follow-up attacking.

    Michael unleashed Spiritual Domination to strike the two Awakened heavily. They copsed to the ground with a pained groan and struggled to stand up once again.

    Michael sighed and sliced their throats with the Aethyr de.

    Now was not the time to show mercy.

    He nced at the remaining women and scanned them to figure out if there were more Awakened orbat Summons among them. That was not the case. The women shuddered and screamed helplessly under Michael''s scrutiny, fearing to die just like the Kalivera Lord and the two female Awakened.

    ''No. I don''t want to turn into a mindless monster.''

    Michael shook his head and stored the corpses of the deceased away. Whilebat Summons and Awakened were dangerous, Michael couldn''t see any value in killing the civilians. Of course, it couldn''t be avoided sometimes. Some civilians would inevitably die in the crossfire. However, he felt like he would lose thest bits of his humanity the moment he started ughtering innocent civilians for energy influxes and the loot generated by the Will.

    Michael would be lying if he said that the gains weren''t enticing, but this was a matter of honor and integrity. If he couldn''t even keep hold of his principles and idealism¡­what or who would Michael turn out to be in the future? Would he be better than the Kitsun, whom he despised, or would he be just like them?

    Michael didn''t want to find out.

    Despite that train of thought, Michael felt like a hypocrite. He knew that he was lying to himself, but he didn''t want to acknowledge the lie. It made him feel like he would lose something very important if he revealed the truth.

    He spread his energy through the surroundings to ransack all valuable goods in the room and used Cosmic Stride to teleport everyone outside.

    They appeared on a rooftop near the center of the mid-sized settlement.

    The settlement, like the other settlements of the Kalivera Lord, was in chaos. Various Kalivera, ordinary citizens, rushed through the settlement, trying to find a secure ce. However, they didn''t even know what was going on, in the first ce. All they could tell was that their Lord died and that the Links of Loyalty had been terminated.

    The Summons regained freedom and the Awakened could act more freely as well. But with freedom came uncertainty.

    Losing their Leader, whether he was tyrannical or not, created chaos.

    That was exactly what Michael was hoping for. Killing the Lord of a territory was the easiest way to get rid of an enemy.

    The armies of the Kalivera Lord would split up, internal conflicts would erupt, and many Awakened would run away now that they didn''t have a Lord to rely on anymore.

    Most Awakened had only a few choices. They could either escape the Regional War by leaving the Origin Expanse, raid their Lord''s treasure trove, and run away within the Origin Expanse to find a secure ce to set their anchor and be Rogues, or hope that other Lords were willing to take them in.

    The former was problematic because leaving the Origin Expanse in the middle of a Regional War increased the potential of never being able to return to the Origin Expanse ¨C safely that is. The probability that someone would im the Kalivera Lord''s territory in their absence was high, and it was uncertain what the new ruler of the Kalivera Lord''snd would do to the Awakened, who appeared in their territory.

    None of the options were great, but thetter was the most efficient if they desired to grow stronger in the Savannah Region. They would receive resources from their Lord to grow stronger. However, at the same time, they would be sent to far more dangerous missions as Subordinates of a Lord from another race. The chances of dying were much higher in the hands of another race''s Lord.

    Abandoning their Lord''s territory and bing Rogues was the best answer given the circumstances.

    That was what most Awakened concluded once they realized that their Lord was dead and what that entailed.

    None of them thought about battling their Lord''s murderer or doing something to protect the Kalivera Summons. The Awakened didn''t even know who or what killed their Lord. They didn''t care.

    Michael and his people observed the chaos with interest.

    "What now? Do you want to move from one Lord to the next like that?" Tiara asked, tilting her head to get a better view of Michael''s side profile.

    "No. We''re going to spend the next few hours raiding the Kalivera Lord''s treasures and killing all Awakened," Michael shook his head, "We''ll kill allbatants who obstruct us as well. But that''s it."

    Michael considered obliterating the Kalivera''s army before doing anything else, but he was in a race against time. It would be best if a few dozen Lords perished before they found a countermeasure against him and his people. However, Michael didn''t want to leave behind the treasure troves. He couldn''t permit the Awakened and other materialistic treasures to fall into the hands of other Lords.

    There was no way that he would allow anyone to escape with his walking SoulStar Fragments ¨C the Awakened ¨C, or his fortune.

    The Forest Elves readied their bows and arrows, whereas Tiara and the Berserkers jumped to the ground. They break up and began ughtering thebat Summons and the Awakened that entered their sight.

    Meanwhile, Michael had an easy time finding the strongest Summons and Awakened using Spirit Eyes. He located their power fluctuations and teleported near them using Cosmic Stride. A singlepressed Extraction Qi Sword was enough to ughter most Awakened andbat Summons in the mid-sized settlement. The Kalivera Lord had been the only Higher Lifeform in the settlement. There was no way that anyone else could block Michael''s attacks.

    He killed a few enemies, stored their corpses, and moved ahead using Spirit Eyes to locate the warehouses and treasures within the settlement. Unfortunately, there was not much to plunder. The settlement wasn''t that big, and it wasn''t anywhere near a mineral deposit, or the like.

    They had to move to the main settlement for the big gains.

    It didn''t even take half an hour to conquer the mid-sized settlement. The civilians were going crazy, but neither Michael nor his people cared about them. They attacked everyone wielding weapons indiscriminately while leaving everyone else alone. That ought to be enough to warn everyone to drop their weapons if they didn''t want to be poked by a razor-sharp de.

    Tiara and the others returned to Michae and transferred their gains to one of his spatial rings.

    "Ready?" Michael asked lightly.

    The others nodded just before the golden light of Cosmic Stride shrouded them.

    They traveled through the Kalivera''s territory, crossing dozens of kilometers in no time to reach the Kalivera''s main settlement at once.

    Michael replenished his power by extracting the energy within an Inferior Energy Stone while paying attention to the surroundings. They couldn''t enter the main settlement with Cosmic Stride because of a spatial lock, but it was no problem to barge into the main settlement. The chaos of the Lord''s death covered their intrusion.

    They jumped across the walls and killed some of the guards who continued guarding the settlement walls even though their Lord was dead and the Links of Loyalty had been terminated. Michael ignored the people around him and charged straight to the wooden manor where he set everything on fire without a second thought.

    He charged through the hallway and reached the office where a bunch of expensive devices were located. One of the devices created the spatial lock. Michael was ready to destroy it when he saw an Awakened deactivating it and ransacking it. The Awakened pocketed a few more devices and was ready to leave when he saw Michael.

    Michael smiled at the Awakened, kicked the ground, cracked the wooden nks underfoot, and shot forth. Aethyr conjured a dagger in his hands as he appeared before the Awakened, who tried to block his approach with a desperate flying kick. Michael stabbed the Awakened in the leg and twisted the de in his calf. He tore the de out of the Awakened''s calf and pushed ahead.

    The Aethyr Dagger shed across the Awakened''s chest, leaving a gaping wound behind. Blood gushed out of the Awakened like a fountain, whose body glowed faintly. The wound recuperated rapidly, but it was not fast enough to grant the Awakened an opportunity to take Michael by surprise.

    "Interesting Soultrait," Michael mumbled, bending down while unleashing one Cursed Seal. The Cursed Seal spread across his face instantaneously, enhancing Extraction''s power drastically as he unleashed it with a burst of energy.

    A huge tendril of Extraction emerged from Michael''s palm and shot straight into the Awakened''s chest. It entered the Awakened''s body through the healing wound and spread rapidly, draining the young Awakened.

    A horrifying shriek escaped the wounded Awakened''s lips, but itsted only for a second. The scream perished down as the Awakened copsed lifelessly to the ground.

    Michael retracted the Extraction tendril in dissatisfaction and was about to leave silently when he noticed something.

    A Soultrait Symbol emerged from the Awakened''s body.

 Chapter 661 Put on Fire

    <h4>Chapter 661 Put on Fire</h4>

    In the Huiv''s territory, a small settlement was set on fire. It burned to a crisp, destroying everything the Huiv had worked on tirelessly.

    The civilians fled in all directions, their desperate screams reverberating through the wilderness. Zeroa rushed through the settlement and teleported from one location to another to collect some of the valuable goods and corpses before she left the settlement behind as well.

    The Valyrs weren''t focused on the treasures or corpses. Their attention lingered on the Summons and Awakened, with whom they engaged in a fierce battle. The Valyrs, led by Zira, ughtered the Huiv mercilessly. They didn''t even care whether the Huiv wielded weapons and were ready to engage in battle, or if they were unarmed and defenseless, running away from the burning settlement and the demonic foes.

    Zeroa observed the Valyrs for a while, but she didn''t join their mindless ughter. Instead, she collected the corpses they left behind. It was quite difficult to ignore the Valyrs'' anger toward the Huiv, but once mostbat Summons and all Awakened had been ughtered, Zeroa decided to use her right as the group''s leader to teleport the Valyrs somewhere else.

    She dragged the Valyrs out of their mindless ughter and forced them to stop. They had other things to do than ughtering defenseless Tierless and Tier-1 civilians. Powerful Awakened and Lords were waiting to be hunted down.

    In another part of the Savannah region, Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs traveled somewhere with Stinger. To be precise, Stinger was nowhere to be seen because he was already far ahead, taking care of the issue with the group''s baggage. The baggage, also known as juvenile Awakened and the monster cubs, received something to quench their thirst and fill their stomachs.

    One of the Warlock Centaurs had a Soultrait that soothed wounds. It didn''t heal the wounded instantaneously, but it lessened the pain and elerated the target''s natural regeneration to a certain degree.

    The juvenile Awakened and monster cubs were still afraid of the unknown future, yet they felt much better than before. Nobody shoved them into tiny cages. Their movements weren''t restricted and nobody punished them unreasonably. They were given good food as well!

    Unfortunately, the juvenile Awakened, and monster cubs'' peace didn''tst long. It was only a matter of hours before Hiraku and the carriages attracted the attention of a small army that was deployed nearby. The small army was a little bit bigger than the enemies Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs fought before. There were more than 2,000bat Summons to deal with.

    A huge battle erupted.

    **

    The main settlement of the Kaliveras burned brightly as well. Michael set the wooden manor in the center of the main settlement on fire and fueled the mes with more fire-attributed energy once his business was done. The spatial lock was deactivated, granting Michael full ess to Cosmic Stride''s power.

    He jumped through space and appeared in front of the Kalivera Lord''s Summoning Gate. A few guards and Awakened attracted his attention, but Michael didn''t waste any time dealing with them. He used the Soul Icicle Bullet Soul Technique to conjure a few dozenpressed Icicle Bullets.

    A powerful gust of wind shrouded the Icicle Bullets and sparks exploded right behind them as Michael released the elemental attack. The Icicle Bullets whizzed through the air much faster than the cicle Bullets. They impacted hard, hitting the target square in the chest. Some staggered back, but nobody died. The raging winds coating the Icicle Bullets hadpressed at the tip of the bullets right before impact.

    They drilled into the metal breasttes of the guards and Awakened, whereas the Icicle Bullet''s freezing property spread throughout the armor.

    Their armor cracked, but that was it. They were still alive and charged at Michael, who didn''t even look at them. He sensed the targets around him precisely and conjured a dozen small Qi Swords instantaneously. The raging wind swirled around the Qi Swords, pushing them to top speed a quarter of a second after Michael released them.

    The Qi Swords shattered the weakened and cracked armor and pierced deep into their targets.

    Two Awakened managed to lift their weapons fast enough to block the Qi Swords, but Michael used his mental power to alter the Qi Swords'' trajectory ever so slightly. The minor change was enough to brush past the Awakened''s weapons and impale them.

    ''Tier suppression is shit, ain''t it?'' Michael mumbled in his mind. He heard a lot about Tier suppression and how much it affected the course of the battle. However, he rarely sensed the effect of Tier suppression. The only times he sensed it was when he was weak and didn''t possess many powerful Soultraits, and when he encountered Oliver Zeus. Even the Peak Tier-4 Lionheart Commander didn''t inflict the Tier suppression upon Michael.

    The guards and Awakened in the vicinity died following a second wave of small Qi Swords. The small silver des pierced the targets'' throats or cut through their armor''s seams before slicing their vital points.

    Some silver des poked some targets'' eyeballs and brains in one go as well.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to that. He was more focused on the Summoning Gate''s hatch.

    Since the Kalivera Lord was dead, the Summoning Gate lost a big portion of its power. It wasn''t magically amplified anymore, thus reducing its durability.

    Nheless, Michael had to use Enhancement on his body and execute the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique to rip the Summoning Gate''s hatch out of the frame.

    A handful of Basic Summoning Cores entered his view, and a thin smile formed on his lips.

    "Five Summoning Cores. Nice!" He mumbled, reaching out for the Summoning Cores to collect them.

    They were not difficult to remove since the Lord Power didn''t amplify the Summoning Gate anymore. Michael nced at them for a second and stored them away right after.

    "Who the hell are you?!?" A hoarse voice resounded, attracting Michael''s attention.

    He turned around to see a Kalivera approaching him from the other side of the summoning za. The tall Kalivera was an Awakened, a Higher Lifeform, and his presence was stronger than the Kalivera Lord''s.

    "I''m just someone," Michael shrugged, "But you seem to be someone special. You are stronger than your Lord had been. Why are you not the Lord of this territory?"

    Michael wasn''t interested in the answer to this question. Nheless, he was surprised when the tall Kalivera answered.

    "I was unlucky. The Kalivera Lord tricked me. I was used and my power was exploited," The Kalivera uttered truthfully, "But now I''m free. I can finally im mynd and be a Lord once again!"

    Michael scrunched his eyebrows a little when he heard what the Kalivera said, but he remained silent. The Kalivera noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere and shed a hideous grin.

    "Unfortunately, or maybe not, I have to kill you to achieve that, Lord of the Untamed Jungle!"

    "So, you know who I am. Why act like you don''t?" Michael asked, slightly curious about the Kalivera''s reasoning.

    However, the High Awakened didn''t answer him. Instead, he manifested arge warhammer and kicked the ground hard enough to crack the stone underfoot. The High Awakened roared as he appeared in front of Michael. The warhammer crashed down with shocking velocity and was about to hit Michael when he used Cosmic Stride to change his position a few meters to the left.

    The High Awakened raised one eyebrow but he didn''t slow down. He pulled the warhammer out of the ground, ignoring the rubble and stone fragments that shot in all directions, and charged at Michael once again.

    Despite wielding the several-hundred-kilogram heavy warhammer and wearing a heavy metal armor set, the High Awakened traveled swiftly. He appeared in front of Michael once again and executed a powerful technique. He swung the warhammer sideways, ready to smash Michael''s bone into smithereens.

    Michael was about to use Cosmic Stride once again when he noticed something. The High Awakened did something that affected his train of thought. A heavy weight smashed down on his mind, slowing down his thoughts. The Kalivera had used his Soultrait to attack Michael''s mind and restrain his use of Soultraits and techniques slightly.

    At full power, the Kalivera''s Soultrait could slow down his enemies'' train of thought and reaction speed.

    It worked on Michael even though his mind refinement degree wasn''t too bad. Despite that, Michael was fast enough to do something against the iing attack. He unleashed a powerful,pressed gust toward the High Awakened, pushing both himself and the Kalivera away.

    Michael regained control of his train of thought again and hurriedly channeled energy into his mind and Spirit Eyes. He didn''t possess any fancy techniques that blocked mental attacks, but he could weaken their effect drastically by protecting his mind crudely with origin energy. The High Awakened''s Soultrait was bound to make him weaker now that he knew what was about to happen.

    The High Awakened red at him deadly and charged again. His Soultrait affected Michael once again, but the effect was weaker than before. Michael ignored the effect or tried to, as he relied on the effect of Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis to determine the High Awakened''s next attack.

    The corner of Michael''s lip twitched when he determined what was about to happen next. He used Heavenly Beast Physique, severalyers of Enhancement to strengthen both his physique and Spirit Eyes. He used Cosmic Stride a momentter to appear next to the Kalivera, whose head flicked to his new position right away.

    The High Awakened was about to change his attack''s trajectory, only to fall victim to Michael''s trap. Michael unleashed Spiritual Domination at full power upon the Kalivera, momentarily stunning the High Awakened.

    The warhammer was still far from hitting Michael as the Aethyr de shot toward the Kalivera.

    A argent sh, a sting, and a fountain of blood were thest things the High Awakened saw before his vision dimmed.

    His legs caved in as the strength left his body and he slumped to the ground. Regret filled his heart.

    ''If only¡­'' He thought as darkness consumed him.

    However, it was already toote. The opportunity to change his fate had been used up a long time ago.

 Chapter 662 Move Forward

    <h4>Chapter 662 Move Forward</h4>

    Michael saw the regret in the High Awakened''s eyes before thest traces of life in them dispersed. The Kalivera was no more than a lifeless body now that he was dead.

    ''No matter what happens, I won''t die with any regrets!'' He swore in his mind.

    In the first ce, it was much better to regret what you have done than regret what could have been done. At least, that was what Michael thought.

    It was not his motto, but he liked that mindset quite a bit. After all, it was much better to be proactive and give your best with everything you do than regretting having done too little, or nothing at all.

    He collected the corpses around him, shaking his head lightly at the thought of missing the opportunity to resurrect his brother. Michael would give his utmost to resurrect his brother even at the risk of getting injured. Even if he was to fail, which wouldn''t happen, Michael would always know that he had given his utmost. He would regret not being able to protect his brother, but the regret would be different from what he would feel if he wasn''t even going to try, in the first ce.

    ''I will rescue him, one way or another. What am I even thinking about?!?''

    Michael cursed himself a little bit. His focus turned back to the surroundings. He had to find the warehouses and treasure troves, including a bunch of Awakened.

    There was no hesitation in his actions. He used Cosmic Stride after pinpointing a few locations where more energy gathered. A small warehouse entered his view alongside a bunch of Summons and Awakened, who plundered their dead Lord''s treasures.

    Michael released a bunch of Icicle Bullets that pierced through their foreheads or the back of their heads, killing them instantly. He released his energy to store their corpses in the War Rune''s storage and inspected the remaining goods stored in the warehouse.

    "Why are they so fucking poor?" Michael scoffed, storing everything in his War Rune''s storage with a simple wave.

    Cosmic Stride teleported him to the next spot where even more Awakened and Summons looted their dead Lord''s treasures. Michael killed them as well. However, instead of inspecting the goods in the slightlyrger warehouse, Michael stored everything in one go.

    He had already given up on finding any invaluable treasures in the Kalivera Lord''s territory. The biggest gains he could make were certainly from the Awakened''s SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    That was quite easy to achieve given that all Higher Lifeforms in the main settlement had been killed already. Michael could teleport to the locations where energy was amassed to kill everyone who was trying to plunder the dead Lord''s treasures, while the others traveled through the settlement to ughter Combat Summons and Awakened.

    Frederik was going crazy at the barracks. He unleashed his Inheritance Technique alongside the Customized Soul Technique Michael had created for Aeroan, killing dozens of Combat Summons at a time.

    His wind des and aeronces as Frederik named them beheaded and impaled the Kalivera easily. That was no surprise given that Frederik paid much attention to controlling Aeroan to dispel the green hue shrouding the winds under his control. Maintaining the invisibility of his wind des and aeronces was not easy, but Frederik managed it somehow. His mental power was drained rapidly, however, Frederik didn''t even notice.

    He felt a rush of adrenaline surge through his entire being as the enemies copsed lifelessly in front of him. The sight of the destruction and deaths he caused with his tremendous power was addicting. It made Frederik lose thest bits of reasoning. He retrieved his energy reserves and tapped into thest bits of mental power, ignoring the bad headache that crept up the back of his head. All he could pay attention to was the energy influxes that flooded his War Rune and the sight of the dying Combat Summons in front of him.

    At some point, Thaor, and Lokai had to join the battle. They had to help Frederik, who''d killed more than 1000 Combat Summons before his sight grew hazy. He tilted left and right and could barely catch himself before fainting.

    Fainting in the middle of the battlefield was a one-way ticket to hell. It was something Frederik had to prevent at all costs. He pulled back from the battlefield after Lokai dragged him away and replenished his used-up energy and mental power with potions.

    Once Frederik was not in their way anymore, the Berserkers could go all-out against the remaining Combat Summons and Awakened in and around the barracks. The main settlement had severalrge barracks with hundreds of residents. There were more than enough enemies for the Berserkers to fight and struggle. They sought adrenaline, dangerous fights, and near-death situations. It was almost as if they were adrenaline junkies looking forward to dying shortly after.

    Michael knew enough about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to know that the Berserkers were likely to die sooner orter. However, if they survived by chance, the Berserkers would transform into one of the strongest forces in Michael''s army. Protecting his people was great, but Michael was also aware of the growth spurts provided by near-death situations.

    He encountered such situations often enough to tell that they allowed him to tap into powers and potential he wasn''t even aware he possessed. Taking such chances ¨C life-threatening dangers ¨C away from his people was simr to crippling their future potential and growth.

    Of course, not everyone would survive, but those who overcame the ordeals would be stronger than ever.

    Michael jumped to the barracks once to observe the Berserkers, but he moved away shortly. There was not much to see other than a bloody massacre.

    The situation was very simr as Michael appeared near the Forest Elves to watch them for a minute. The only difference was that the Forest Elves didn''t enter closebat. They utilized their Pseudo-Legendary Bow Artifacts and Soultraits to hunt their targets, picking them out one by one.

    Only Tiara traveled alone through the settlement, her movements deadly, nimble, and unpredictable.

    She disregarded the civilians and everyone who was fleeing from her but in everyone obstructing her path with a single strike. There was no mercy in Tiara''s movements. If anything, Tiara acted cruelly, ughtering some idiots who charged at her thinking that she was about to kill their defenseless family.

    Tiara didn''t even think about leaving those people alive. They were a potential future threat. As a Silverfang, Tiara knew better than anyone that underestimating her enemies, as well as showing mercy, was never rewarded. The Silverfang Tigerfolk had been punished for being merciful to their enemies. It resulted in the death of many Silverfangs and their forced retreat into the Origin Expanse.

    Thinking about the Silverfangs that were still waiting for her to rescue them, Tiara sped up once again. Her attacks transformed and got sharper with every passing second. Blood sttered all over her body, but she moved onward.

    There was no way back anymore. Hesitation could kill her and those important to her. All Tiara could do was move onward and do her best to take care of her beloved.

    She didn''t want to lose anyone she loved ever again.

    That wouldn''t happen again.

    NEVER!

 Chapter 663 Next

    <h4>Chapter 663 Next</h4>

    Once the warehouses and treasure vaults were looted, and the Awakened and Combat Summons in it was time to leave and move on.

    Michael considered visiting the other settlements, but he decided against it because time yed against them. Instead, Michael gathered his people and traveled to the Huiv Lord''s main settlement.

    They didn''t invade the Huiv Lord''s main settlement upon arriving and waited until Zeroa''s group arrived at their meeting spot instead.

    The Elemental Empress dashed to Michael and bombarded him with various thoughts and memories, revealing the events of thest few hours. Michael learned about everything the Valyrs did in the small settlement of the Huiv Lord and scrunched his nose. He nced at the Valyrs, tilted his head slightly, and watched them approach him.

    "What is your n?" Zira asked lightly, not even thinking about telling Michael about the happenings of thest few hours.

    He shrugged inwardly and moved onward.

    "It''s pretty simple," Michael said, "We destroy the wall and charge inside. Once inside, we split up and ughter the Awakened and everyone who blocks our path. It''s pretty simple. There is no need for mindless ughter either. That''s just a waste of time and energy."

    Zira raised an eyebrow, her eyes drifting to Zeroa who looked away. Zira was pretty sure that she heard a ''hmpf!'' from the Elemental Empress, but she didn''t pay much attention to Zeroa. Her attention returned to Michael.

    "That''s it?" Zira asked, only for Frederik to join their conversation.

    "I don''t want to interrupt you guys, but I think your n won''t work out as intended," He said lightly, gesturing toward the gates of the main settlement.

    Michael channeled energy into Spirit Eyes to see what was unfolding in the main settlement and its gates. Their current location was three kilometers away from the settlement. They were on a slight elevation, but that shouldn''t have been enough to expose them.

    ''Even Advanced Orbs of Hostility cannot differentiate between monsters and Awakened well. Is there a Superior Orb of Hostility, or something with equal power in the main settlement?'' Michael wondered, only for his attention to drift to Zira and the Valyrs once again, ''Or they received a report about the destruction of their small settlement.''

    One way or another, an army headed their way. They didn''t travel toward them in a straight line, but it was only a matter of minutes before Michael and the others would be discovered.

    But that was fine. It was perfect.

    The spatial restrictions were weaker at the borders of the spatial lock dome. There would be no issue with jumping a short distance through space, especially with a Superior 5-Star Soultrait that could be further amplified and enhanced via Soul Tears and Enhancement.

    Michael was confident that he could break through the low-quality spatial lock with brute force as long as he fused with Zeroa, used spatial energy, and had enoughyers of Enhancement to reinforce Cosmic Stride. However, that didn''t seem to be necessary since his targets served themselves on a silver tter.

    The Huiv''s army moved in a disciplined manner through the Savannah''s grasnd. Their cavalry rode on the outer ring of the formation while their infantry acted as the secondyer of defense.

    Dozens of Healers and hundreds of Sorcerers formed the core of the army. They were surrounded by more than a thousand Archers, who were protected by even more Warriors, Knights, Vanguards, Berserkers, and so forth.

    The formation disyed by the army of 10,000+ Soldiers was a little bit odd. It looked like they expected to get attacked, yet at the same time, that didn''t seem to be the case. Michael''s eyes were sharp enough to pinpoint thex attitude of the cavalry. The cavalrymen were gossiping rather than paying attention to the surroundings.

    It was almost as if they could never anticipate that someone would attack them.

    "Maybe, they were deployed to find out what happened in the small settlement," Michael mumbled.

    "Let''s attack them then!" Thaor eximed, his eyes burning fiercely.

    The passion in the Berserker''s eyes was hard to ignore. A smug smile appeared on Michael''s face.

    "We will strike once they leave the dome of the settlement''s spatial lock."

    "But won''t that expose us?" Lilica asked, gesturing to the settlement, "Won''t it be much harder to reach the main settlement then?"

    Michael''s smug smile widened.

    "Yeah, they will notice us," He nodded, "But they won''t be able to do anything against us. I have a n."

    Lilica, like everyone else, trusted Michael. The Valyrs scoffed, feeling that Michael was too arrogant and that he ought to fall hard on his nose in the near future, but they didn''t say anything. Instead, they waited patiently until themand to assault reached them.

    The army left the range of the spatial lock dome. They passed by Michael and the others with a gap of no more than 500 meters. That distance could be crossed in no time in a full sprint.

    "Charge," Michaelmanded, watching the Berserkers dash forward instantaneously.

    Tiara and the Valyrs followed right behind whereas Lilica, Opars, and Mika stayed behind to aim the Huiv from the little elevation.

    "Are you not going?" Mika asked as the Wyvernwood Bow Artifact manifested in his hands. He noticed that Michael hadn''t moved yet.

    Instead of answering, Michael focused on fusing with the Elemental Empress. A tight zing armor made from mythical mes coated his body. The armor connected every part of his body, turning into a part of his being.

    Michael''s mastery of the elements skyrocketed the moment he fused with Zeroa. Their experiences merged and their powers skyrocketed.

    It was the first time that Michael used Taming''s Fusion with the Elemental Empress after he attained the Spheres of Elements Soultrait. He expected a slightly different experience, but Michael didn''t think that the difference would be like this.

    All of a sudden, Michael sensed things he never noticed. These subtle differences were not only about the surroundings and the strands of elemental attributed energy that permeated the air but also his body''spatibility with the elements. The reinforced elemental mastery granted Michael enough insights into Cosmic Stride and Spheres of Elements that he managed to jump one kilometer through space with a single thought.

    He used Cosmic Stride with spatial energy subconsciously and with a simplemand. There was no need for anyplicated utilizations. Michael just did it.

    Michael appeared in the air above the Huiv Healers and Sorcerers. Their heads shot up, only to uncover a stranger levitating in the sky.

    Powerful gusts swirled around Michael, keeping him in the air as he proceeded to eliminate everyone in his proximity.

    He activated the three Cursed Seals, unleashing their tremendous power and terrifying presence to sweep through every corner of his body. The Cursed Seals manifested in his face and upper body, amplifying his senses, emotions, and Extraction''s potency.

    Michael manifested the Soul Grimoire to apply one Soul Tear to the Extraction Symbol and the Enhancement Symbol. Following that, he pushed the Soul Grimoire aside, allowing it to absorb the countless tiny wisps that would fill the sky in a few seconds. He applied tenyers of Enhancement on the Extraction Symbol and fused the Dome of Extraction with the Extraction Aura.

    True Extraction erupted from Michael''s body, coating the surroundings bright golden. The small domain expanded rapidly. It coated the Healers and Sorcerers in an instant and engulfed the Archers around as well.

    Screams of fear and terror rang through Michael''s ears but he didn''t listen to them. His attention was on the True Extraction Domain and the tremendous amounts of origin energy and lifeforce that surged into his body.

    He split the origin energy into two portions. One portion was used to maintain the True Extraction Domain and expand it whereas the other portion was used to form an azure fireball above Michael''s head.

    The surplus lifeforce was used to replenish Michael''s mental fatigue. Once that was taken care of, Michael inserted the excessive lifeforce into a small, fragile bullet of light. He shot Lokai with the bullet. Lokai''s eyes widened when she sensed that Michael attacked her, but she trusted him enough to understand that Michael wouldn''t harm her.

    The Light Bullet shattered, and Insert came into y, inserting the lifeforce stored within the bullet into Lokai. Lokai''s entire being was overflowing with lifeforce suddenly, taking her by surprise. However, it didn''t take long before she understood what happened. She smiled vibrantly and used Life Conversion, allowing her Soultrait to devour the inserted lifeforce in exchange for a burst of raw power.

    Her power skyrocketed before she barged into the group of cavalrymen and Vanguards.

    Lokai turned into the incarnation of a Warlord Berserker. She wreaked havoc and tore her enemies apart as if they were made of paper.

    Michael did something simr. Since everyone in True Extraction Domain''s range was an enemy, he didn''t have to think about holding back.

    The highly destructive power of True Extraction was unleashed, killing all Tier-1 and Tier-2 Summons in its range within seconds.

    Their origin energy and lifeforce entered Michael''s form where it was recycled and used to expand the True Extraction Domain, nourish the azure fireball overhead, or shoot at Lokai with lifeforce-inserted light bullets.

    As the True Extraction Domain expanded, more and more Huiv were affected. A single touch of the True Extraction Domain was enough to drain the energy around them and extract their hair and skin. Countless tendrils of Extraction forced their way into the Huiv''s bodies, draining their origin energy and lifeforce rapidly.

    The stronger Summons and Awakened could prevent the Extraction tendrils'' invasion, but most were not strong enough to overpower a 7-Star Soultrait that had been enhanced and amplified through diverse means, including three Cursed Seals.

    They died miserably.

 Chapter 664 Fireball

    <h4>Chapter 664 Fireball</h4>

    Michael''s kill-count surpassed 1,000 in less than a minute and the count continued increasing rapidly. The azure fireball overhead expanded for a while before Michael willed it topress.

    But that was not the end of it. Michael utilized more fire-attributed origin energy to conjure mythical mes whenever he had some excessive energy stored up. The mythical mes merged with the fireball expanding it once again.

    Michaelpressed the fireball once again, repeating the cycle over and over again.

    Many Huiv tried to attack Michael, but that was not as easy as it sounded. Most long-rangebatants had already been killed, leaving little to no chance for most Huiv to reach Michael mid-air.

    Michael had killed most Sorcerers and Archers with the True Extraction Domain the moment he arrived. Unfortunately, some Awakened had Soultraits that could be used against Michael. It was only fortunate that Lilica, Mika, and Opars bombarded them with arrows when they revealed their Soultraits and intention to harm their Lord.

    To be precise, Mika bombarded everyone with Rapid Fire, and Pierce, killing various Tier-2 Awakened in no time. He could have used Arrow Duplication, but the Soultrait drained too much energy. Arrow Duplication was more useful againstrge numbers of enemies as well. It was not useful right now given that Michael was taking care of the masses of Low Tier Huiv.

    Since hisrge-scale attack was not required, Mika focused on impaling the Awakened and Summons who didn''t die instantaneously within Michael''s True Extraction Domain. Pierce and Rapid Fire turned out to be a greatbo, as expected. He struck several Awakened who''d been focused on blocking the tremendous power of the True Extraction Domain. They realized toote that a bombardment of arrows whizzed through the golden-coatedndscape.

    Long-range attacks worked decently fine in the True Extraction Domain. Their power deteriorated, but the projectiles weren''t torn apart for the True Extraction Domain focused on the living.

    But since the True Extraction Domain focused on the living, no one from Michael''s team dared to enter the golden-coated domain. Unfortunately, there was always one idiot. One of the Valyrs wasn''t smart enough to understand that Michael''s True Extraction Domain didn''t differentiate between friends and foes.

    There was no friendly fire function given that Michael unleashed as much of True Extraction''s power as possible right now.

    The idiotic Valyr was ignorant enough to charge into the True Extraction Domain as she pursued a Huiv Awakened. Upon entering the golden-coated domain, the mes coating her extinguished immediately. She was drained of origin energy and lifeforce, and her skin was pulled off. The Valyr was dissected alive.

    The Valyr screamed at the top of her lungs and she was just about to turn around and escape the True Extraction Domain when her legs caved in. Lokai was forced to jump into the True Extraction Domain, grasp the idiot at her waist, and kick the ground with every bit of strength to escape the True Extraction Domain before it would affect her as well.

    The woman wept in pain, but Lokai didn''t pay any attention to her after she rescued her. Lokai returned to the battlefield, after making a big detour around the vibrant glowing center of the battlefield. The True Extraction Domain continued expanding, reaping more and more lives in the process.

    Not even ten minutes passed before Michael and his subordinates finished dealing with more than 10,000 Huiv. The only powerful enemies had been two old-aged Higher Lifeforms. Just like any other Higher Lifeform in the Savannah Region, they were Low-ranked Tier-4 Awakened.

    They were much weaker than the Lionheart Commanders.

    True Extraction focused on the old Higher Lifeforms. Michael applied Insert as well, channeling the power of True Extraction inside the old Huiv, weakening them in the process. Lokai and the Valyrs used the distraction caused by Michael tond the killing blows.

    Lokai''s Life Conversion had been used more than two dozen times since the battle started. She was overflowing with raw power, nearly tearing her highly resilient body apart. The power she gained was enough topete with a Lowest Tier-4 Awakened in terms of physical strength and overwhelm him. That was how strong Lokai had grown after using the lifeforce Michael shot toward her now and then in the battle.

    Now that the battle was over and the Huiv army had been obliterated, Michael changed his target to the settlement. Not much time had passed since they charged at the army. The defenders shouldn''t have had enough time to activate all the defense mechanisms yet.

    The main settlement''s defense was bound to be far from perfect.

    Even if it was ''perfect'' in the Huiv Lord''s opinion, Michael didn''t see a reason to be worried. Michael had used half of the energy he''d absorbed from close to 10,000 people into a humongous fireball that had been conjured from mythical mes.

    He retracted the True Extraction Domain and retrieved the 10yers of Enhancement used on it before removing the Cursed Seals to lift the severe mental strain. A wave of energy surged out using the remaining energy that hadn''t been used up by the True Extraction Domain. All corpses on the battlefield vanished into Michael''s War Rune.

    Only a momentter, Michael turned to the settlement, his entire focus on the three-story-tall azure fireball. He applied twoyers of Enhancement to it and paid attention to the next course of action.

    Michael neared the settlement with fast strides. Once he closed the gap to the massive walls guarding the settlement from invaders, he lobbed the humongous azure fireball through the air. The fireball whizzed through the air in a beautiful arc and smashed into the walls right next to the southern gate.

    A fierce explosion erupted, tearing the settlement walls alongside the southern gate apart. Huge chunks of stone and other construction materials were flung in all directions right before a deadly heatwave swept through the surroundings. The rubble was propelled forward and transformed into deadly projectiles as they smashed into the surrounding buildings. The building copsed and transformed into ruins within seconds, whereas the fireball''s heatwave reaped countless lives. The wooden structures were burned to a cinder, destroying more of the surrounding area.

    Not a single building in the proximity of the southern gate survived the azure fireball''s explosion. Everything was destroyed, either burned to cinder, or utterly devastated.

    The settlement was in chaos and the southern wall copsed, leaving a huge hole for Michael and his subordinates to use.

    The Berserkers were the first to charge. Lokai, specifically, was the first to move. She was the fastest right now and had still a few minutes of Life Conversion''s power-up remaining. She kicked the ground, pushing the soil underfoot aside to reach top speed in no time.

    Lokai crossed the distance to the broken wall in no time. She overlooked the searing heat that menaced to burn her hair and skin and leaped through the gaping hole to invade the Huiv''s main settlement. Hundreds of corpses, mostly of Combat Summons who''d been prepared to face Michael and his people, littered the ground. Some were still alive, but they''d sustained heavy injuries. Lokai took care of them swiftly. She in them without a shred of mercy. After all, there was no mercy in war.

 Chapter 665 Fun In The Wooden Manor

    Chapter 665 Fun In The Wooden Manor

    ??The invasion inside the Huiv Lord''s main settlement worked out a lot better than expected. Seeds of fear had been instilled in the hearts of the defenders as the humongous azure fireball exploded, and their mentality didn''t recuperate from the damage in the following minutes either.

    The Huiv''s morale kept deteriorating as the Berserkers barged through the gaping hole in the southern wall. They moved swiftly through the wide streets and utilized their superiorbat prowess, advanced physical strength, and Soultraits advantage to eliminate as many opponents as possible in the shortest period.

    Thebat prowess advantage of Michael''s team yed a huge role. It allowed the Berserkers, Frederik, Tiara, and the Forest Elves to move around independently, without having to worry about each other''s safety.

    And then there was Michael. He didn''t barge into the main settlement without a n. Instead, he used Cosmic Stride for a short-distance teleportation before shrouding his body in raging winds. He exerted the Heavenly Beast Physique and enhanced his physical strength even further with severalyers of Enhancement.

    His first target was the center of the main settlement, the spatial lock, to be precise. He kicked the ground and reached top speed in no time. A few guards and Awakened blocked his path, but none of them were Higher Lifeforms. Their strength was not even close to a Descendant either. They were taken care of swiftly, their bodies riddled with deep cuts, burns, and holes.

    Michael released a wave of energy to collect their corpses as he passed through the wide main street. He reached the settlement center in no time and headed straight into the wooden manor where he found two Higher Lifeforms alongside a dozen Awakened.

    "Today must be my lucky day," Michael mumbled, a devilish smile blossoming on his face.

    The Huiv Lord and the High Awakened standing next to him were probably the only Higher Lifeforms in the entire settlement. After all, Michael had yet to encounter a Lord in the Savannah with more than two Higher Lifeforms in their territory. The sole reason the Trnce managed to block the Council of Xylon''s advances was the fact that they had more Higher Lifeforms than any other Lord.

    The Valyr Lordess had been the strongest. She might not have thergest army, but her people were the strongest with five Higher Lifeforms serving her. By now, the Valyr Lordess was not the strongest anymore. Only two High Valyrs remained from her strongest subordinates. However, that was enough to stall most enemies or ughter their enemies as long as no Higher Lifeform would block their paths.

    Michael was more than willing to get rid of the Higher Lifeforms and Awakened standing around the table in the wooden manor''s living room.

    The Huiv Lord turned to Michael, a faint smile on his lips.

    "You must be the Lord of the Untamed Jungle," He said politely, "Let me introduce myse¨C..."

    Michael couldn''t be bothered listening to the Huiv Lord. The raging winds around Michael burst forth, propelling him ahead as he kicked the wooden nks underneath him. The wooden nks burst apart from the tremendous force, but Michael was not in the same position anymore. He didn''t notice the destruction his movements caused.

    He appeared before the Huiv Lord, a Qi Extraction Sword manifesting from his right palm.

    "Why should I listen to dead people?" Michael asked quietly, the Qi Extraction Sword descending rapidly, cutting through several thick energy shields that manifested in front of the Huiv Lord.

    The Qi Extraction Sword managed to inflict a deep cut into the Huiv Lord''s breastte, but he didn''t draw any blood.

    Michael clicked his tongue and manifested a few dozen Qi Swords before coating them in Zeroa''s mythical mes. The temperature in the living room skyrocketed all while the azure armor around Michael''s body red up. The Qi Swords shot in all directions, impaling a few Awakened while missing others by a hair''s breadth. The mythical mes erupted and jumped over to set the walls, floor, and ceiling on fire.

    Michael used some fire-attributed energy to fuel the mythical mes, pushing them to spread faster. The Huiv Lord frowned deeply, but he wasn''t done speaking. He retrieved arge one-handed saber and charged at Michael. The muscles in his legs flexed and inted as a faint membrane shrouded his lower body. He elerated and reached top speed in the narrow living room near-instantly.

    To the Huiv Lord''s misfortune, he didn''t pay as much attention to his surroundings as Michael. He used Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis to determine where the Huiv Lord was headed and what moves he was about to make. In response to Prognosis'' analyzation, Michael created several paths to eliminate his enemy.

    Michael''s physical strength was as high as the Huiv Lord''s, and even his speed rivaled the Huiv Lord''s shocking top speed thanks to the raging winds shrouding him. Adding Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis and his other Soultraits to the fray, it was no surprise that the Huiv Lord found himself impaled by dozens of Qi Extraction Swords that had been further reinforced by mythical mes and raging winds.

    The Mythical mes and raging winds acted as elerators, adding burst speed to the Qi Extraction Swords as Michael released them. The Huiv Lord might have been fast enough to evade the attacks, but he didn''t have much space to move. The spatial lock blocked all spatial movements whereas the confinement of the wooden manor''s living room prevented the Huiv Lord from changing his trajectory and darting to safety.

    No ce was safe and sound in the wooden manor at this point. It was burning down, the crackling of the burning wood resounding through the vicinity. Michael appeared near thest surviving Awakened. He ignored the dying Huiv Lord and the other Higher Lifeform for a moment and stretched his hands out. His hands coiled around the necks of two Awakened, who were frozen in fear.

    Michael applied some force and broke their necks in a way too simple manner. The crackling sound of breaking bones rang through his ears, but Michael''s attention was already elsewhere. He eyed the Higher Lifeform who pulled the Qi Extraction Swords out of the Huiv Lord to use his Soultrait and heal the deep gashes.

    The Huiv Lord was not yet dead, but it was only a matter of seconds before he would faint. After that, the Huiv Lord''s energy and lifeforce would be sucked dry in less than a minute.

    Michael appeared behind the Higher Lifeform, his attention lingering on the Healing Soultrait.

    "Healing someone while your enemy is still present doesn''t seem like the smartest thing to do," Michael said lightly, but he noticed that something about the Higher Lifeform was off, "Oh. Nevermind. You don''t look like you want to heal him right now, in the first ce. Looks like the Soul Contract with this idiot forces you to tend to his wounds no matter the situation."

    Big beads of sweat trickled down the Higher Lifeform''s temples and his hair stood up to its end with Michael behind him. However, even if he wanted to, he couldn''t stop nurturing the Huiv Lord. That was what the Soul Contract demanded from him, just like Michael had guessed.

    "That''s unfortunate," Michael mumbled, "For you."

    Michael''s hands transformed, ws of Aethyr coating his fingers. He gazed at the Huiv for a second and finished his business. He pierced the Aethyr w deep into the Higher Lifeform''s throat before twisting his hand. The Huiv''s gaze widened and he twitched twice but the life in his eyes dispersed quickly. His eyes dimmed and turned hollow within seconds before arge energy influx arrived at him.

    Since he was at war, Michael couldn''t afford to leave any Combat Summons or Awakened alive. He had to tear all buds of potential future threads apart to ensure that they couldn''t nourish and grow into powerhouses to endanger him or his people in the future.

    Sometimes, that feeling wasn''t great, but it would be more concerning if Michael loved war and bloodshed.

    He turned to the Huiv Lord and transformed the Aethyr w into a saber and beheaded the Huiv Lord without any mercy.

    Michael stored the lifeless bodies after making sure that everyone was dead. He proceeded to the second floor right after to deactivate the spatial lock and store everything of value in his War Rune.

    Next, he burned down the wooden manor and proceeded to the Summoning Gate where he retrieved the Summoning Cores.

    In the following ten minutes, Michael took care of the remaining Awakened in the settlement using the fusion with Zeroa to y the weakest Awakened with a single strike, Cosmic Stride to jump through space, Spirit Eyes to pinpoint the Awakened''s location, and Superior Constitution''s Heavenly Beast Physique to overwhelm the strongest enemies with brute force.

    The Huiv Lord was dead and his Links of Loyalty terminated. Some Awakened residing in the main settlement tried to flee, but Tiara and the others were faster. They targeted them and hunted them down long before the Huiv Awakened could decide whether they should flee away to anchor their Runic Gate outside the main settlement or if they should run right now.

    Their decision-making skills were too slow, and they ended up wasting precious time, which could have saved their lives. But they were too slow and were killed, eliminating more potential future threats.

    The main settlement was conquered in no time. After the Huiv Lord died it was only a matter of time before Michael and his people plundered all treasures and killed everyone holding a weapon.

    They left soon after. After all, there was a much more to do. There was no time for breaks!

 Chapter 666 10%

    Chapter 666 10%

    ??72 hours passed in the blink of an eye.

    Everyone was beyond exhausted. Their muscles felt like tearing apart and their legs jiggled wildly, threatening to cave in at any moment.

    Even Michael, who could replenish his lifeforce and origin energy easily, could tell that he was at his limits. He could barely use his Soultraits at this point. It was almost like his Soultraits were muscles that had been used way too much. They were overexerted and on the verge of tearing apart.

    It was time that they retreated to take a break.

    He chose to use his Soultraits to the extreme one more time by applying a Soul Tear to Cosmic Stride and Enhancement before enhancing and overclocking Cosmic Stride.

    Thebined effects of Enhancement and Soul Tear were enough to coat his subordinates in a golden hue and exert Cosmic Stride''s special function. They disappeared in a golden hue and were transported to Cosmic Stride''s anchor back in the Untamed Jungle.

    Arge portal opened near the Summoning Gate, revealing Michael and the exhausted Untamed Awakened. Michael''s entire being was void of energy and he nearly fainted the moment they returned to Arx, but he managed to force his body to stay awake.

    The others weren''t that lucky. The tension within the Untamed Awakened eased up once they realized that they were back in the Untamed Jungle, in Arx, to be precise. They copsed and slumped to the ground without warning.

    Michael was greeted by his attendants and some subjects, but he barely noticed them. His sight was hazy and his senses were dull. It was almost as if his body was forced into energy-saving mode. He swayed left and right as he staggered to his room and barely managed to reach his bed before he copsed.

    The world around him turned dark as the embrace of the long-awaited sleep consumed him.

    He had no idea how much time had passed when he woke up. A yawn escaped his lips and he got up stretching his body a little.

    "I''m not sore?"

    That was a little surprising.

    ''How long did I sleep?'' He wondered, certain that a long time must have passed because he felt perfectly fine. It was almost as if he didn''t spend three days fighting and overexerting his Soultraits until he could barely move.

    Michael left the room and looked for the others to find out how long he was knocked out, but he didn''t find anyone. He resorted to using Spirit Eyes and pinpointing the Untamed Awakened, only to find all of them sleeping soundly. None of them was awake. Not even Tiara or Hiraku, who were usually the first to get up.

    "Hey," Michael said to one of the Starless Summons as he passed by. The young man was startled and greeted his Lord respectfully. Michael dismissed the unnecessary politeness and went straight to business.

    "How long has it been since the Untamed Awakened and I returned to Arx?"

    He almost expected a few days to have passed, but the Starless Summons lifted one finger.

    "O-one day, M-my Lord¡­"

    Michael was not sure why the Starless Summon was afraid of answering his question, but he didn''t think too much about it. Instead, he gestured for the youth to proceed and do whatever he had been doing.

    ''Only one day passed? Seems like Superior Constitution is a lot more versatile than expected,'' Michael figured, d that Superior Constitution elerated his natural regeneration drastically. He fought with his life on the line for 72 hours without a proper break, but he was the first to wake up fully recuperated.

    Michael felt better than ever. That was not only owed to Superior Constitution but also by his War Rune. Michael gained countless energy shares and energy influxes in thest few days. Every bit of it had to be digested to refine his War Rune properly.

    "If I continue to progress like that, I should reach the Mid-

    rank of Tier-3 once the Regional War ends," Michael concluded, a faint grin emerging on his lips.

    His progress was fast. If he continued progressing at such a rapid pace, he might even reach Tier-4 before turning 21. That would be rather fast among the prodigies of the Tritan Alliance, even more so given that he owned so many powerful Soultraits.

    ''I wonder how strong I''ll be once I''m a Higher Lifeform. The ascension should be a game changer, right?''

    Michael smiled lightly at the thought of ascending to a Higher Lifeform. He was looking forward to it. However, before ascending, Michael would have to solve lots of issues. His brother was still waiting for him, Michael had some questions about the Nest and other things, and he was more than willing to participate in the Interdimensional g War once again.

    This time, he would be prepared to beat the shit out of the Tekur to make more gains, whether that was about procuring Elite ss Soul Techniques or procuring countless SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    He was looking forward to it.

    But before that, he would have to finish dealing with the Council of Xylon. The Regional War was not yet over. In fact, the Regional War was just about to turn into a real nuisance. After all, Michael inflicted some real damage to the Council of Xylon atst.

    The Trnce had been forced to focus on defending because they had been at a disadvantage all along. On the other hand, the Council of Xylon had been offensive the whole time, yet they attacked way too slowly. It indicated that the Council of Xylon wasn''t decisive sufficient to make any grand decisions and that the council was bad atmunicating.

    That suggestion was also why Michael chose to act fast. He struck the territories in the center of the Savannah Region and killed their Lords, transforming the Savannah center into unupiednd.

    Michael was not overly satisfied with his achievement, but he was not displeased either. He managed to kill 11 Lords and ughter 1245 Awakened, after all.

    Most Awakened had been reinforcement that had been deployed by the higher-ups, ns, and government of the Lords to serve them. Unfortunately, they died long before anyone noticed that something was off.

    The 72 hours of his attacks had been a mess, but the earnings were tremendous. Simultaneously, the chaos spread throughout the Savannah Region and the cracks inflicted on the foundation of the Council of Xylon couldn''t be underestimated either.

    The seed of fear had been instilled into the hearts of the Savannah''s Lords.

    All Michael had to do now was to make use of the earnings made in thest few days, grow stronger, and wait for the next opportunity to strike the council as hard as possible.

    "Let''s see what we can acquire from you guys," Michael mumbled, his attention lingering on the corpses stored within his War Rune''s storage.

    Since everybody else was still asleep, Michael walked over to thergest warehouse where he retrieved the corpses of the 11 Lords and 1245 Awakened.

    His eyes glimmered brightly as the power of Extraction erupted from within him.

    Countless tendrils of Extraction erupted from the surroundings. They pierced into the lifeless bodies and plundered their SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, and Memory Orbs, forming several piles of invaluable treasures.

    Michael''s smile widened.

    "I think I can work with that!"

 Chapter 667 In the Name of the War Goddess

    <h4>Chapter 667 In the Name of the War Goddess</h4>

    The Extraction tendrilspleted their work swiftly and thoroughly. Not even half an hour passed before Michael told his subjects to take the bodies and distribute them throughout the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. The Untamed Jungle would consume the corpses and turn them into fertilizer.

    The outer ring would recuperate from the damage caused by the Heart of the zing Lion army soon if Michael provided enough ''fertilizer'' in the next few weeks.

    He didn''t pay much attention to the subjects storing the corpses in small spatial satchels and focused on the piles of treasures instead.

    One of the piles contained a bunch of Artifacts, which belonged to the Lords and Awakened from the Savannah. Some of them were High Artifacts being at the 4th Tier, thus increasing their value tremendously. It was a little unfortunate that their star rating was not that high, but Michael didn''t expect to earn a shocking fortune from the Awakened''s Artifacts, in the first ce.

    It was a decent side ie.

    Since he focused on plundering the corpses of Awakened, Michael didn''t receive many Summoning Fragments, Scrolls, or the like. The Will decreased the drop rate for those goods drastically since Michael could extract a portion of Awakened''s War Rune storages, their Artifacts, Memories, and both SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Micheal didn''t mind that. He was more focused on the 1000ish Memory Orbs, the piles of goods he''d extracted from the War Runes of the 11 Lords and 1245 Awakened, their Soultrait Symbols, and the huge pile of SoulStar Fragments.

    ''First the goods. This mess is tormenting to look at,'' Michael thought, prioritizing cleaning up the mess created by the portion of War Rune storages he''d extracted.

    It was a good thing that Michael had various spatial rings, bracelets, nes, and spatial satchels to store various things. He ordered some subjects to focus on storing specific items while he organized everything. That way, Michael could mark the spatial rings and other devices to know what''s inside without essing them once they were stored in the warehouse.

    Once the warehouse was a little bit more organized, Michael could finally pay more attention to the stash of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments.

    He had yet to research the name, powers, and special attributes of all newly acquired Soultrait Symbols, but he was not in a rush. It would take some time to research the pile containing 99 Soultrait Symbols.

    Michael stored the Soultrait Symbols in the sealed container where the remaining Soultrait Symbols were stored securely and eyed the pile of SoulStar Fragments with greed in his vibrant golden eyes.

    He allowed the War Rune to consume the humongous pile of SoulStar Fragments. The War Rune didn''t hesitate and burst forth with dozens of white tendrils emerging from the back of his hand. The tendrils shot out of his War Rune and devoured the SoulStar Fragments faster than most Tierless subjects could watch.

    The huge pile of 126,934 SoulStar Fragments was there one moment and vanished into thin air only one secondter.

    "That''s a lot," Michael whistled.

    He expected to procure arge batch of SoulStar Fragments given that he defeated 21 Higher Lifeforms, but it was still a bit surprising. Defeating 11 more-or-less weak Lords from the Savannah Region granted him enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade multiple Soultraits to 6-Star!

    Some of his Soultraits were more expensive than the norm, but that hardly mattered given the gains he made within a few days.

    ''I shouldn''t rush anything.'' Michael reminded himself, ''I should think carefully about my next moves. The Untamed Awakened should receive some Soultrait Upgrades and new Soultraits as well. They worked hard, but some situations were too dangerous. If we continue like this, some of them will die before they can tap into the true potential of their Soultraits!''

    Michael considered upgrading Soul Grimoire instantaneously, but he held back. Right now, it was better to refine his War Rune, using the energy influxes and energy shares he obtained in thest few days.

    He killed the excitement bubbling inside him and focused on the consolidation of his War Rune. The techniques Leviathan Diffusion and Pantheon''s Dawn aided the process, elerating the War Rune''s refinement considerably.

    A few days passed in the blink of an eye. Michael digested thest energy influxes and met up with his subordinates. He was still a Low Tier-3 Lord, but he was now certain that the Regional War would push him to the Mid rank as long as he didn''t boost too many Soultraits to 6-Star.

    An attendant rushed toward Michael the moment he reached therge roundtable in the wooden manor. A clipboard with the Scouts'' reports, Arx''s development, and some high-

    priority requestsnded in his hands.

    Tiara, Hiraku, Frederik, and the others greeted Michael, who nodded back without lifting his head. His eyes were glued to the reports.

    He sat down on his designated chair, his attention drifting to the high-priority requests.

    "Since the juvenile Awakened and monster cubs have already been examined, there is no need to be vignt. They''re not marked and don''t have any devices that share their location installed either. It shouldn''t be a problem to give the juvenile Awakened a ce in the orphanage and raise the monster cubs in one of the ranches. Tajana can find out additional about the monster cubs, whereas Hannah from the Silverfangs Tigerfolk can treat the juvenile Awakened. The kids seem to be morefortable around her," Michael stated after he gave it some thought, "Don''t hesitate to point out any ws."

    Despite saying so, nobody raised a hand to say anything. Tiara knew that Hannah was a good girl and that she would take care of the juvenile Awakened as if they were her cubs.

    Tatjana was gentle as well. Her personality was a bit brusque, but it wasn''t bad enough to scare some monster cubs.

    "As for the requests made by the Untamed Awakened¡­ Most umted enough Jungle Points to repay your loans. Given that I offered additional Jungle Points for participating in therge-scale attack against the Council of Xylon, I give everyone permission to pick another Soultrait."

    "If you do not wish to expand your repertoire of Soultraits, you can alsoe to me for a Soultrait Upgrade. An upgrade to 5-Star is expensive but since we''re at war with the Council of Xylon I can give everyone a discount."

    Michael sensed generous with therge stash of SoulStar Fragments in his possession. Upgrading the Soultraits of the Untamed Awakened might be better than continuously upgrading his own Soultraits. He was already strong enough to deal with the strongest Higher Lifeforms in the Savannah Region. Therefore, it was about time for his subordinates to grow just as powerful.

    Tiara and the others were slightly surprised. They had been granted various benefits in the battle against the Heart of the zing Lion army and didn''t expect that Michael would give them even more benefits. It was almost as if he was throwing gifts their way.

    Was he trying to suffocate them with presents?

    "I swear in the name of the War Goddess¡­" Zeron Polik''s voice thundered through therge office all of a sudden, "...that I will never betray Michael Fang. I will fight by his side and heed hismands until my mortal shell breaks apart!"

    Michael had no idea about what was going on, but the other Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers seemed to understand Zeron Polik''s words better than anyone. They were baffled, but their astonishmentsted only for a moment. They understood why Zeron Polik made an oath in the name of the War Goddess and broke into vibrant - hideous - smiles.

    A momentter, the remaining Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs made an oath as well.

    Michael was still unsure what the hell was going on, but it didn''t take long before he sensed that something was changing. His War Rune heated up until it sensed like the War Rune had been set on fire.

    However, there was no fire around his palm. It was chilly in the office, to be precise.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and decided to close his eyes to seek the source of heat inside him. It didn''t take long to discover it.

    The Links of Loyalty with the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers were changing. The Soul Pacts disintegrated. The Pacts'' fragments merged into the Links of Loyalty and altered their essence.

    The Links of Loyalty evolved. They became more

 Chapter 668 Oath of Loyalty

    <h4>Chapter 668 Oath of Loyalty</h4>

    The Links of Loyalty of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs evolved into something bigger. Grander.

    They transformed into something even more powerful than the True Link of Loyalty.

    Michael could instinctively tell the changes in his bond with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It would be impossible for them to betray Michael, and they would die alongside him.

    That was a terrifying restriction. Nobody would want to die just because their Lord died. However, the ''sacrifice'' of their safety came with a drastic increase in power. The Vassals of the Lord were given ess to a portion of their Lord''s Soul Power.

    Despite being Awakened, their Soultrait''s power would skyrocket and reach new thresholds.

    They weren''t mere Awakened anymore. The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers subordinate to Michael evolved into more than that.

    The more strength they gained from being Michael''s Vassals the more responsibilities weighed upon them. Once their gains crossed a certain threshold, they would have to pay even more attention to their Lord and his territory.

    Losing the power they attained through their Lord''s Soul Power would be fatal. That also meant that they would suffer greatly if their Lord were to lose his Lord Powers. In the best case, they would end up in a weakened state for a short period. If they were not that fortunate, they would suffer permanent injuries. However, the worst-case scenario was death. It happened rarely, but the annals of the Berserkers hinted at the death of dozens of Vassals after their Lord lost his territory. The power that nourished inside them had been ripped out by force, leaving a gaping hole in their Souls.

    It was an incredibly rare scenario, but one had to pay attention to it, nheless.

    So, why did Zeron Polik, the Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs initiate the Oath of Loyalty if it was so dangerous? Was it merely for the boost in power granted through Michael''s Soul Power, or was there more?

    The answer was simple, yet far moreplex than it was supposed to be.

    First, Michael granted the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs too many benefits in such a short period. That was enough to meet one of the requirements to initiate the Oath of Loyalty. The benefits they received were great, but it wasn''t eptable. Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were prideful beings. They could ept small gifts and benefits in exchange for their services, but it was nearly impossible to pay back everything Michael had given to them.

    Their lives, bodies, and eternal loyalty were all they could offer.

    That was what they felt like. Michael had given them various Soultrait Symbols, the opportunity to upgrade their Soultraits, granted them ess to various resources that were hard to ess at home, and most importantly, Michael pushed them onto the battlefield, allowing them to go crazy and live the lives they had always dreamed about.

    It was perfect.

    However, with perfection came the guilt. The guilt of being unable to repay Michael for everything he had done for them.

    Since the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were prideful beings, they could not ept owing favors. Their hatred towards debts ¨C their debts ¨C was enormous.

    Therefore, Zeron Polik considered initiating the Oath of Loyalty. He trusted Michael and knew that he was going to stay with Michael, in his territory, forever either way. That was what their Soul Pact decreed when they epted the first Soultrait Symbol from Michael. The Oath of Loyalty didn''t change a lot about that principle. The Oath of Loyalty might have destroyed the Soul Pact, but it actually reinforced the Soul Pact''s rules, while removing the restraining conditions and toll put on the soul.

    The other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs considered Zeron Polik''s opinion and joined him after they witnessed his Oath of Loyalty. Since they wouldn''t be able to leave Michael either way, they might as well make the best out of it.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were totally loyal to him ¨C not that they weren''t before. In exchange for their ''sacrifice'' of never being able to revert the changes of the Oath of Loyalty, and the high potential to end up crippled if Michael were to lose his territory at some point, they had to be treated with utmost care.

    Michael would always be able to sense their dissatisfaction and desires. It was much stronger than the emotions he could sense from his ordinary subjects. Even Tiara, whose Link of Loyalty had transformed into a True Link of Loyalty couldn''t convey her emotions and desires as well as the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers.

    That was interesting, but it could also transform into a nuisance. Michael was also curious about a new feeling that swept through his body. He felt more inclined to provide the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers with more benefits. That was caused by the symbiotic rtionship that had been established through the Oath of Loyalty.

    Michael was still at the top of the rtionship, but he benefited from the Vassals as much as they benefited from him. Therefore, Michael felt inclined to provide the Vassals with more benefits after they provided him with various gains.

    Michael might have gained more than a dozen Vassals at once, but his Soul Power didn''t improve. The gains he made were of another nature.

    The Oath of Loyalty seemed to increase Michael''s physical strength rather than supplying him with more Soul Power, which was usually the case if a Link of Loyalty grew firmer. The influx of Soul Power whenever a Link of Loyalty transformed into a True Link of Loyalty was even more apparent. However, nothing like that happened when the Vassal''s Links of Loyalty transformed into the Oath of Loyalty.

    Interestingly enough, his physical strength was not the only thing that improved. Several factors about his physique changed. His muscles grew denser and he could instinctively tell that he could unleash more of the Heavenly Beast Physique''s Soul Technique. It was almost as if the limit of his physical strength had been lifted.

    His natural regeneration improved as well.

    "What is happening?" Michael asked Lokai, who had been smiling for a while now.

    "Seems like you can sense the changes already," Lokai said with mystery in her voice, "The Oath of Loyalty grants you a tiny portion of our Essence. It''s not much, just a tiny fraction. However, since you are human without any special racial perks, you must have noticed the difference."

    "Your Essence? So, I have the Essence of a bunch of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs inside me now?" Michael asked.

    ''Is that why my War Rune sensed like it had been put on fire?''

    "Basically, that''s correct. But it is not as weird as it sounds. The Essence doesn''t change your race or anything like that. It imnts a tiny portion of our racial trait inside you. There are no catches. Well¡­except the desire to give us more resources and the like. But that is because you will realize that the fraction of our Essences will grow inside you as our strength increases. That is why you will be naturally inclined to give us more resources."

    That answered many questions, but it wasn''t as if Michael understood everything right away. This was far more important than he could have anticipated when he offered the Untamed Awakened to pick more Soultrait Symbols and upgrade their Soultraits.

    "So, to put it in simple terms, a fraction of your Essence is attached to the Oath of Loyalty. It will grow stronger as you grow stronger, and my physical attributes, basically everything rted to my physique, will improve alongside."

    "Yep," Lokai nodded, whereas Mekhaz added, "The Essence nourished in the Oath of Loyalty will fuse with you if we die. That means you don''t forfeit anything even if we die. In exchange, the Oath of Loyalty might ''nag'' you to give us more benefits. The Oath of Loyalty is not sentient but it desires to grow stronger, which happens when the Essence fused into it grows stronger."

    "Damn. Okay¡­"

    Frederik raised his hand, his eyebrows furrowed.

    "What the hell happened just now? What did you guys do?" He asked, only for Hiraku to glimpse at the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs with intrigue.

    "I would like to know more about what happened just now as well."

    "Same here," Tiara entered alongside the Forest Elven Adventurers.

    Mekhaz smiled lightly. He scratched the back of his head.

    "To be honest, I don''t know how it ended up like that. I think some of us did the Rite of the War Goddess on a whim."

    He didn''t mention if he did it on a whim, or if he had been serious about the Oath of Loyalty. Nobody asked him either.

    "We initiated the Rite of the War Goddess. It''s a special rite for Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, stimting an evolution in the Link of Loyalty."

    Thaor appeared next to Mekhaz,ughing lightly.

    "And it''s a huge thing. Usually, we would have to report to the Chieftain and ask for permission before we initiate the Rite of the War Goddess."

    "But you didn''t do that," Hiraku figured.

    "Nope. We didn''t"

    Everyone nced at Michael, who sighed deeply.

    "Let''s just hope that the Chieftain and the War Priestess won''t tear me apart," Michael said, while Mekhaz gestured him not to worry too much.

    "It won''t be that bad."

    **

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 Chapter 669 Soultrait Upgrades

    Chapter 669 Soultrait Upgrades

    ??The boost in his physical strength was refreshing.

    It was not a major augment in power, but Michael felt that it would be a lot easier to refine his physique using the Consirat of War body refinement technique. The technique seemed near perfect for him now that his physique had been altered slightly.

    "Is it possible for others to initiate the Rife of the War Goddess, or are there some restrictions?" Michael asked Mekhaz.

    "We''ve tried it with Berserker Summons and foreign Awakened, but it doesn''t work like that," Mekhaz shook his head.

    Michael fell deep in thought.

    ''So, the Oath of Loyalty can only be used by Awakened and Berserkers or Warlock Centaurs. Is that because of their Essence? Maybe, the Rite of the War Goddess is based on their beliefs, but that shouldn''t be how the Oath of Loyalty came into existence. There has to be some sort of technique that stimtes the Link of Loyalty''s evolution. There has to be a logical exnation!''

    There was a lot to research if he wanted to use the Oath of Loyalty more often in the future. For now, Michael could only shrug and ept the situation.

    "Alright," Michael nodded, "I won''t ask for your reasons to initiate the Rite of the War Goddess out of nowhere. It''s your decision and I''m pretty sure that most of you carefully considered the pros and cons before the final decision."

    Some Berserkers looked at each other with a wry smile. They didn''t think about what they were doing as thoroughly as Michael was hoping for. However, that was fine. Now that they made a decision, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t back off ¨C not that they could, either way.

    "How about we focus on Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades for now?" Michael intercepted the deep thoughts of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They nodded subtly and moved on.

    Michael retrieved the sealed container that contained all Soultrait Symbols. He unsealed the container''s lock and handed it to Reba Zauber. She used her Soultrait, Greater Analyzation, alongside the Inheritance Technique, Perfect Appraisal, to appraise the Soultrait Symbols, old and new, and determined their value and growth potential.

    She created a price list with her friend in less than 20 minutes. Michael and the Untamed Awakened spent those 20 minutes talking about the Council of Xylon and their future actions.

    "Is it possible to decline any benefits from conquering the Savannah Region in exchange for a Soultrait Upgrade to 5-Star?" Lilica asked, only to see some Untamed Awakened tilt their head at her question, "What I mean is that I don''t need anymore Jungle Points for killing Awakened and Combat Summons in the Regional War. Instead, I would like to upgrade one of my Soultraits to 5-Star before we return to fight these bastards again."

    Michael nodded his head slowly, "You want an advance, which you''ll pay back with the gains made in the Savannah."

    "Seems fair to me."

    Everyone liked Lilica''s suggestion. ''Advance pay'' in this case was like a loan because the Untamed Awakened wouldn''t receive any Jungle Points until the benefits procured from the advance pay had been repaid. However, it didn''t feel the same. The feeling about asking for advance pay and taking a loan waspletely different. It was not that burdensome.

    Taking that into consideration, everyone asked for their Soultraits to be upgraded to 4-Star before they inspected the list of Soultraits, which Reba handed out. The majority of Untamed Awakened inspected the list to search for suitable Soultraits. Only some, like Lilica, asked for a Soultrait Upgrade to 5-Star right away.

    Michael upgraded her 4-Star Soultrait, Precise Aim, to 5-Star using 2600 SoulStar Fragments. Enhancing her Soultrait resulted in a change. Precise Aim evolved to Bullseye.

    He offered to upgrade one more Soultrait to 5-Star but Lilica told him to use the upgrades on others.

    That was what Michael did.

    He upgraded Opars'' Herculean Arms Soultrait to 5-Star, evolving it to Herculean Strength. Only Mika''s Arrow Duplication didn''t evolve into a stronger version upon upgrading it to 5-Star

    Frederik''s Enhanced Wind and Wind Mastery were upgraded to 4-Star. He was certain that he did not deserve another Soultrait or a Soultrait Upgrade to 5-Star. Therefore, he rejected Michael''s proposal to take a bigger advance pay.

    Frederik''s look was filled with guilt and frustration. He owed Michael too much at this point, and the gap seemed to widen. It felt like it was impossible to repay Michael for everything he had done for him. All he could do was stay living andbat for Michael with his life on the line.

    Thaor''s Red Giant Soultrait and Mekhaz Living Armor were upgraded to 5-Star. Simultaneously, Lokai''s Recuperation and Life Conversion were upgraded to 4-Star. Once Recuperation reached 4-Star, Lokai had it upgraded to 5-Star. It evolved into Rapid Recovery

    The others asked for alike benefits. Only Hiraku dismissed the advance pay or any other benefits. He said that he had already received enough benefits from Michael. After all, he would still be stuck on a petite ind in the middle of nowhere if it had not been for Michael.

    Michael didn''t think that he did much, but he wasn''t going to force Hiraku into doing, or epting anything. There was no need for that.

    Tiara inquired Michael to upgrade Spirit Whip to 5-Star. Michael didn''t think twice about upgrading her Soultrait. He saw her eying a specific name on the Soultrait Symbol list and collected an orb.

    "I saw you eying this," Michael said, pointing at the Soultrait Symbol ''Thrust''.

    The Soultrait''s name wasn''t special, but Michael could tell that Tiara was very interested in that Soultrait. Silvarean Tiger transformed her body partially, augmenting her physical strength, speed, and flexibility tremendously. Inner Force allowed her to execute surprise attacks and execute a wide variety of attacks in an unpredictable manner, whereas Spirit Whip slowed her enemies by weakening their minds.

    Tiara didn''t have an offensive Soultrait that augmented her attack power drastically for a moment. She was having a hard time defeating enemies of a higher rank. Thrust could solve that issue.

    Tiara eyed the Soultrait Symbol for a while. She hesitated and didn''t move. Michael''s lips curled into a smile and he upgraded the Soultrait Symbol to 4-Star before nting it into her hand.

    "Take it. Survive, grow stronger, and ensure you umte enough achievements to rescue your n."

    Tiara looked up and stared deep into Michael''s eyes. A stream of emotions flooded Michael through Tiara''s True Link of Loyalty, filling him with warmth. He continued smiling and ruffled lightly through her hair when she said nothing.

    "Everything is fine as long as you don''t die. Don''t make me regret giving you Spirit Whip and Thrust."

    Michael was sincerely hoping that his Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades wouldn''t transform the Untamed Awakened into arrogant brats, who are full of themselves. He needed confident Awakened, but they shouldn''t cross the line. Arrogance would kill them a lot faster than fear. After all, fear would make thembat defensively and against weaker or equally powerful enemies rather than enemies above their weight ss.

    ''It should be fine.'' Michael told himself in a whisper.

    ''In the worst case, I will beat everyone into a pulp until they don''t know how arrogance is spelled.''

 Chapter 670 Trading Cycle

    Chapter 670 Trading Cycle

    ??After most of the Untamed Awakened fused with another Soultrait Symbol or upgraded their existing Soultraits, they left for the training ground to get used to the changes.

    Nobody knew how many days they had to prepare for the next battles and everyone wanted to be as prepared as possible.

    Michael liked that about his subordinates. They worked hard to grow stronger. If their training regimen wasckluster, or they ended up idling around, Michael would regret providing Soultrait Symbols and Upgrades to strengthen them. Fortunately, that was not the case.

    The only downside was that he used more than half of the 126,000ish SoulStar Fragments he procured until now.

    He didn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 6-Star, but that was okay. He had 90ish Lords, their Awakened, and Reinforcement to kill. There was no way that he wouldn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade some of his Soultraits once the Regional War was over.

    Fortunately, the following days passed in silence. Michael focused on training. He practiced the body and mind refinement techniques Consirat of War and Wisdom Breaker as often as possible to ensure that his mind and body would be ready for the uing battles.

    However, he paid lots of attention to the soul refinement technique, Sanctum of Life, as well. Michael relied on his physical strength and mental power a lot in battle, but it was a fact that his overwhelming power derived from the use of his Soultraits. Refining his soul as much as possible granted him better ess and augmented control of his Soultraits.

    The Sanctum of Life ensured that his Soultraits wouldn''t break no matter how much he used them. At least, that was supposed to be one of the technique''s biggest benefits.

    Michael could use Extraction to replenish his energy and mental power fast. However, he couldn''t use Extraction to mend his Soul once it was exhausted from using too many Soultraits, too often, and too long.

    Therefore, Michael had to practice the Sanctum of Life soul refinement technique more often, ensuring that his Soul could keep up with his mind and body.

    He considered leaving the Origin Expanse for a while to finish some business in the Saphirke Military Academy, but he assigned Reba Zauber and her friend to take care of that. Reba was deployed to take care of the Awakened Agency''s business and some deals with Kraft Viton and the three Awakened who''d managed to pass the Awakened Agency''s first test.

    Since the Valyr Lordess lost her territory, she had to seek asylum in Arx. Therefore, she didn''t have the means to produce resources anymore. The Valyrs'' progress slowed down and their debt to Michael increased as they asked for more and more resources to recuperate from their wounds and obtain some equipment to fight.

    The Valyrs asked for Energy Stones, Nutrition Serums, Artifacts, and various potions to regain their full strength. Michael never considered gifting them everything. He was not some charity organization. He was a Lord and a businessman.

    The Valyrs owed him several favors. That made it much easier to convince the Valyr Lordess and her people to act as mediators with her n and people.

    Michael desired to trade with the Valyr.

    He already had some business with the Forest Elves and supplied them with as many weapons and other armaments as he could spare. The Forest Elves exchanged the weapons and armaments with Agriculture-type Blueprints that were sold to Kraft Viton with a decent profit.

    Michael nned to add the Valyr into the trading cycle alongside the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It had been some time since he requested a list of items that were regrly harvested in the Sacred Desert, the Frozen Tundra, and the Barren Lands. Some goods from the Sacred Desert and the Frozen Tundra were very valuable to the Valyr. The Frozen Tundra''s materials were exceedingly rare for them given that the Valyrs spawned in warm regions. Not many survived in cold regions for a long time.

    It was hard to procure goods from cold regions for a low price because most partners of the Valyr race knew that they had difficulties procuring them without any help. That was what Michael made use of.

    He offered the Valyr a good price. In exchange for the goods procured in the Frozen Tundra, Michael asked for Magma Stones, Blood Essences, and corpses of monsters that could only be found in regions withrge amounts ofva and magma.

    The Magma Stones, Blood Essences, and monster corpses were then sold to the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers, who required Blood Essences to refine their physique using an ancient technique. The monster corpses and Magma Stones, on the other hand, were required to forge powerful Artifacts.

    Michael demanded a wide variety of ores, forging blueprints, and other materials from the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers, providing enough resources to expand the Underground Forging Hall.

    The expansion of the Underground Forging Hall made it easier to supply more weapons to the Forest Elves, which meant that Michael would obtain more Agriculture-type Blueprints. More schemes meant more materials from the Frozen Tundra and the Sacred Desert. More materials would elevate his gains from the Valyrs, which would widen his profit margin from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs once again.

    The cycle would continue to grow until one of the parties procured enough resources. However, it would take a long time before the supply exceeded the demand. Until then, Michael was bound to generate more profit than most Lords earned in their careers.

    It wasn''t easy to create a perfectmerce system with so many parties involved, but Michael thought that he was doing a good job.

    Unfortunately, the trade with the Valyr was among the most important. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs paid a hefty price for the Blood Essences, the Magma Stones, and the monster corpses, which was how Michael could generate the most profit.

    He was very fortunate to be the only Lord in contact with the Valyr Lordess and her subordinates. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were loyal to him and wouldn''t even think about taking away their Lord''s business model by secretlymerce with the Valyrs. They might have considered doing that with the Soul Pacts, but the opportunity was taken away with the Oath of Loyalty.

    Thanks to the Oath of Loyalty, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn''t dare to take away a margin of his profit, not even for their race''s gains.

    Of course, Frederik, Hiraku, or the two Descendants, who joined his territory alongside the Untamed Awakened, could approach the Valyrs to trade with them, but the Valyr Lordess signed a Soul Contract that she wouldn''t backstab him out of nowhere. She would approach him and offer a proposal if Humans or other people from his territory were to approach the Valyrs for business matters.

    That was one of Michael''s biggest advantages. He helped the Valyrs and ensured that they would be forced to repay some of their favors, thus establishing amerce route and a Soul Contract with them.

    Once themerce cycle had been established, Michael waited patiently to generate the first profits. He didn''t feel rushed when the Scouts returned to report about the Council of Xylon.

    Instead, Michael suppressed the impatience boiling deep inside him and waited for their response to his surprise attack in the center of the Savannah Region.

    What is their response to his domination in the Savannah center?

    Would they gather their masses to barge into the Untamed Jungle to destroy his territory, or would Michael''s interception in the internal affairs of the Council of Xylon create a rift?

    Was it enough to kill 11 Lords in the Savannah center to stir trouble?

    Michael was not sure about that, but he could tell that the Lords were afraid to leave their territory now that they were aware of his ability to travel long distances without getting detected.

    He could appear in the center of the Savannah region without anyone noticing. What would happen if they gathered their forces to barge into the Untamed Jungle only to lose their territory when The Lord of the Untamed Jungle executed another swift attack? Michael was likely to have the means to make a detour around their forces and invade their territories while they were busy entering the Untamed Jungle.

    They couldn''t leave their territory and main settlement unprotected.

    Losing their Lord Powers was what most of them were worried about. After all, Michael was not their only enemy. The other members of the Council of Xylon were also their rivals!

 Chapter 671 Patience Wins

    Chapter 671 Patience Wins

    ??It was only a matter of time before the eastern part of the Savannah Region transformed into a huge battlefield. The Lords bordering thend that had once been ruled by the Trnce desired to upy the abandoned settlements and expand their influence. Unfortunately, other Lords had a simr opinion. They desired the Trnce''snd as well. It upied a quarter of the Savannah Region, after all.

    The eastern part of the Savannah Region had once been ruled by the Kitsun Lord. His death allowed the Laprix Lord, the Zynur Lord, and the Valyr Lordess to expand, atst. They gained tremendous power within months, resulting in their ability to defend against the Council of Xylon for such a long time.

    The Lords bordering the Trnce''snd were aware of that and wanted to use the same tactic to grow stronger as quickly as possible. If they seeded in elevating their strength to an entirely new level, they would have no problems shing with the remaining Lords of the Savannah Region.

    Nobody expected it to be easy, but many Lords were scared. Not of each other, but of Michael. Everyone heard the news about the Lord of the Untamed Jungle and how easily he obliterated 11 Lords. Some Awakened survived the invasion of the Untamed Awakened and reported to other Lords in exchange for safety and resources. They reported that Michael managed to kill Higher Lifeforms without sustaining any injuries.

    Their reports sounded exaggerated at first, but the number of reports increased steadily, turning what ought to be exaggerated into the bitter truth.

    Afraid of turning into Michael''s next target, the Lords sought ways to grow stronger quickly. They used hundreds of thousands of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls to strengthen their Soultraits by amassing more Soul Power while also requesting more reinforcement from their higher-ups.

    Their territories were too small to contain more than 500,000 citizens, but many Lords ignored that. They sought the abandoned settlements in the center and the eastern part of the Savannah Region to reconstruct them and settle the surplus of Summons over there.

    That was what Michael had been hoping for. Or to be precise, it was one of the things he hoped to happen.

    The seeds of fear and uncertainty had been nted followed by everyone''s attention were pulled to Michael. However, due to their fear and ignorance, they forgot that neither the center of the Savannah Region nor the eastern part had enough settlements for the remaining 95 Lords.

    Skirmishes to determine the rightful owner of the abandoned settlements and ims for the Savannah Region''snd erupted. They didn''t ur often at first, but some Lords grew restless. Their numbers expanded as the second batch of reinforcements from the government arrived.

    Confidence and restlessness had never been a greatbination. Thebi was known to lead to foolish mistakes. To their misery, big mistakes weremitted.

    The small skirmishes transformed into full-scale battles between the Lords.

    The Lords forgot about Michael after a few days. Their attention was drawn to their other enemies. After all, Michael didn''t reappear in the Savannah Region for an entire week. It was almost as if the death of the Lords in the center of the Savannah Region had been an illusion.

    Of course, that was not the case.

    Michael did kill the Lords in the Savannah center, and he was not done hunting the Council of Xylon yet. It was just that he waited patiently until the distraught of the council worsened.

    ''Why bother allying if you don''t trust each other? Forming the council just to backstab one another is such a waste of time.''

    Michael chuckled lightly as he read thest reports provided by the scouts in the Savannah region. None of the remaining 95 Lords trusted each other. Even those who formed smaller alliances to rally against the other forces didn''t seem to trust each other fully. It was fun to imagine them scheming against everyone else in the hope of bing the supreme ruler of the Savannah Region.

    Unfortunately, the fact that they had to scheme for years to slowly approach the final destination of the Savannah Region was enough to determine that none of them would be the supreme ruler. They were too weak to overwhelm their foes in an open fight. It would be impossible for them to deal with enemy kingdoms and empires if their biggest strength was their scheming.

    One thing was for sure; The Lords in the Savannah Region were certainly not greatbatants. None of them managed to scratch Michael until now. If anything, Michael was certain that the Valyr Lordess was the mostpetent and powerful among the Lords in the Savannah Region. That was not a good quote.

    The Valyr Lordess and her subordinates had regained their full strength a while ago, but they hadn''t left Arx yet. Instead, they stayed with Michael to join his conquest against the Council. The Valyrs didn''t have anyone else to trust, at this point, and they didn''t want to abandon the Savannah Region after spending so much time, effort, and resources into it.

    Michael was their only option to reim what had been taken from them. Fortunately, the Lord of the Untamed Jungle was open for negotiations. He had already sealed some deals with the Valyrs about the future of the Savannah Region once the Council of Xylon was no more, but there was a need for changes in some uses. After all, the Valyrs decided to stay in Arx longer than they were supposed to stay.

    They received a lot of support from Michael, who was certain that he and his people could conquer the Savannah Region without their help. He and his people had to gain more if the Valyr wanted to get carried through the Regional War by the Lord of the Untamed Jungle.

    The changes in the contracts werepleted swiftly. The negotiation didn''t even take two hours. Michael was satisfied, whereas the Valyr Lordess and her people were rather dissatisfied. Unfortunately, they didn''t really have a choice. Either they epted his demands, or they had to leave and watch Michael conquer the Savannah Region on his own.

    That was what he demonstrated two weekster as he deployed the majority of the Untamed Army to join arge-

    scale battle between ten Lords.

    The eastern part of the Savannah Region bordered the Untamed Jungle, granting various opportunities and openings to initiate a surprise attack. Michael''s army of 40,000 members remained unnoticed until they charged out of the Untamed Jungle.

    The armies of the 10 Lords dwindled to a tiny portion of their former might, whereas the Untamed Army was at its prime.

    Siegfried Dracoon charged ahead with his well-trained soldiers following close behind. Tiarabined her forces with Legion, who''d decided to join the fight as well. He had to grow stronger and chose to grasp the opportunity to acquire Jungle Points to support his Princess in her sacred mission to rebuild the Silverfang Tigerfolk n.

    40,000 Untamed Army members, each at the 1st Tier or stronger, charged at the exhausted armies of the 10 Lords. The Lords issued themand to retreat as quickly as possible, but they realized in terror that a single individual was eagerly waiting for them.

    Michael had teleported to their back, his Cursed Seals unleashed to their fullest.

    "To lose patience is to lose the battle," He mumbled, d that he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike hard.

    "And I win!"

 Chapter 672 Superior Prowess

    Chapter 672 Superior Prowess

    ??Manybatants in Arx had been itching for a fierce battle for a while. The Untamed Army trained tirelessly for weeks without taking any big breaks to rest. They did the bare minimum to allow their mind and body to recuperate just enough to generate the most benefits from training. Other than that, they trained tirelessly since they''d been summoned a few weeks ago.

    The Combat Summons desired to leave the training ground and show everyone how much stronger they had be in thest few weeks. They wanted to show Michael that they were strong enough to face their opponents head-on and that it was time for them to gather more real experience on the battlefield.

    Michael didn''t like that, at first, but he sensed the perfect opportunity to give the Combat Summons what they wanted.

    In the first ce, most new Combat Summons were Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Of course, they desired to jump straight onto the battlefield.

    Michael granted their wish and allowed them to charge out of the Untamed Jungle to charge at the tired forces of the 10 rivaling Lords.

    He used Cosmic Stride to teleport behind the Lords'' forces and waited patiently for their response. Thereafter, he observed the Valyr Lordess and her subordinates as they appeared a few hundred meters to the armies'' left, while Hiraku alongside the Berserker and Warlock Centaur Awakened popped out to the armies'' right.

    The paths of escape had been sealed. All the Lords could do was stop fighting against each other to face the iing danger together. Unfortunately, the call for a truce came toote. No one was willing to fight side-by-side with the enemy who ughtered theirrades just a moment ago.

    There was no trust between the Lords. They had to pay attention to their backs to avoid getting stabbed in the back while facing the force of the Untamed Army head-on.

    The Valyrs charged ahead, their bodies shrouded in fierce mes. The Warlock Centaurs spread out and charged ahead, followed by the Berserkers whose towering figures inflicted fear in the hearts of the defenders. Hiraku''s body expanded to close to eight meters all of a sudden, taking the defenders by surprise. He elerated and conjured a few throwing spears in his hands. He threw them one after another, impaling some Combat Summons before they could react.

    The spears whizzed through the air with terrifying velocity. Not even the exhausted Peak Tier-3 Summons managed to move fast enough to evade them. Hiraku defeated a few powerful enemies even before he entered melee range. His kill count increased exponentially as he reached melee range. Maces manifested in his hands and steel shrouded his boots. Large spikes resembling ws protruded from his boots, increasing the deadly force of his kicks drastically.

    Hiraku''s Soultraitsbined with his Inheritance Technique of Creation and the Soul Technique created by Michael were more than enough to transform him into the incarnation of the God of ughter. His maces squashed the enemies near him all while his spiked boots pierced his enemies, killing them by breaking their rib cages and piercing their hearts and internal organs.

    Sometimes, Hiraku ignored his enemies and stomped them to death. He didn''t even acknowledge their attempts to face him head-on and proceeded to ughter a path to the strongest forces of the 10 Lords.

    The other members of the Untamed Awakened acted simrly. They used their newly acquired and upgraded Soultraits to unleash their strongest powers, just to squash their exhausted enemies. It was simple. Too simple. And way too easy.

    It was almost like their enemies weren''t even trying to resist.

    That wasn''t the case. It was just that the Untamed Awakened were growing stronger much faster than their enemies. They procured powers that were impossible to attain by others, yet they didn''t stop training tirelessly to gain some mastery of their powers. Their desire to grow stronger had been heard.

    The Untamed Awakened weren''t satisfied by the fight. They overwhelmed the exhausted enemies way too easily. Therefore, they charged deeper into the enemy rows to face several Awakened simultaneously.

    All of this was seen by the Untamed Army and the Valyrs. The Untamed Army''s morale skyrocketed as they watched the deadly ughter that unfolded in front of them. They pushed forward and put more pressure on their enemies, forcing them to take a step back. Meanwhile, the Valyrs were shocked to the core.

    It was known that Michael was powerful. They also knew that the Untamed Awakened were decently powerful. However, they never expected that the Untamed Awakened would grow so much stronger in the short period that passed since the Untamed Awakened had been deployed to aid the Trnce.

    Was it that easy to grow stronger? It wasn''t.

    If it was easy to grow stronger, the Council of Xylon would have more than 200 Higher Lifeforms. However, many Lords of the council didn''t have a single Higher Lifeform in their territory. They worked hard for years, some even decades, yet not a single Higher Lifeform appeared in their territory.

    Despite the difficulty of growing stronger, Michael had several Subordinates at the Peak of Tier-3, who possessed enough power to hold themselves against Higher Lifeforms.

    "What the hell is this guy feeding his people in the Untamed Jungle?" One of the Valyr''s Higher Lifeforms asked, only for Zira to blurt out her thoughts aloud.

    "Whatever it is¡­I want it too¡­"

    The Valyr Lordess eyed her daughter for a moment. A profound sigh escaped her lips. She didn''t wish to grow much stronger anymore, but her daughter was not the same. Her daughter was ambitious and desired to attain enough power to hold herself against powerful enemies. Unfortunately, her Soultrait held her back.

    Her Soultrait was part of the reason why Zira hadn''t been given the Valyr Lordess'' territory until now. She was not strong enough.

    "Is it just me, or is everyone using two¨C... No. Three Soultraits? All of them are using three or more Soultraits!" Another High Valyr pointed out. The Valyr Lordess observed the Untamed Awakened while charging into the first defense line of the weakened enemies.

    "And there is not a single weak Soultrait¡­" She mumbled, "What is going on here?"

    Michael popped out a few hundred meters before the Valyrs. He levitated above a Lord and a dozen Awakened. His expression was neutral, but the corners of his lips twitched, curling upward slowly.

    Qi Extraction Swords conjured from True Extraction manifested around him. They plunged down instantly, killing the Awakened protecting their master, leaving the Lord alone and helpless.

    The Elemental Empress coated his body, acting as a secondyer of his armor and an augmentation to his Elemental powers. Azure fireballs were conjured in the air. There were dozens of them, but none of them looked the same. They transformed and changed their colors as elemental-attributed energy fused into them. Some transformed into ck fireballs, others were coated in ice, whereas the shape of others was altered by the addition of the wind element.

    The fireballs transformed into swords, spears, and wind des, coated in mythical mes.

    The Lord stared at the scenery overhead in horror. He raised his weapon, circted origin energy through his body, and executed his strongest Martial Arts technique. He took a profound breath, cursed his fate inwardly, and faced the multitude of elemental projectiles overhead even though he was not ready to face them. The terror of the mythical mes was simply too much for the Lord to handle after he witnessed his Awakened die in such a simple manner.

    Michael wasn''t even trying to make it look like he worked hard to kill the Tier-3 Awakened. He just did it.

    The projectiles didn''t care about the Lord''s fears and descended, nheless.

    However, just as the projectiles descended and the Lord was ready to fend for his life, Michael used Cosmic Stride to appear behind the Lord, piercing his chest with the Aethyr de. The attack was too unexpected for the Lord to react in time.

    The mythical mes dispersed as the True Dome of Extraction erupted, absorbing the energy used to manifest the projectiles.

    Michael broke into a bright smile, his head flicking to the Valyrs. He winked nonchntly and stored the lifeless bodies in his War Rune storage.

    The Valyrs stared back at Michael as he turned around.

    They found the reason the Untamed Awakened were so powerful.

    The culprit had been in front of them all along.

 Chapter 673 Disgust

    Chapter 673 Disgust

    ??As Michael teleported to the Lords and the Awakened protecting them, Frederik and the Forest Elves focused on the strongest Summons. They ughtered them with barrages of arrows and invisible wind des, ending their lives before they could harm the Untamed Army.

    The Forest Elves and Frederik paid the most attention to protecting the Untamed Army alongside Siegfried Dracoon. However, their protection wasn''t required often. The Untamed Army, strengthened through Elemental Might and granted benefits from Lokai''s Burning Fury Soultrait was strong enough to deal with the remaining weakened Tier-1 Summons.

    Even injured Tier-2 Summons were dealt with great care and overwhelming numbers. They were eliminated in no time.

    The Berserker and Warlock Centaur Summons enjoyed their fights. Their excitement shot through the roof as they mowed through the rows of enemies.

    The weakened armies of the 10 Lords were not in their prime anymore, nheless, they weren''t pushovers either. At least, that was the case for most of the Combat Summons. It was just that they were exhausted. Their energy reserves and stamina had been depleted, leaving them with little to no power to defend against the massive army of the Untamed Army.

    Michael faced no major issues in the battle against the Lords and their Awakened. He saw the Valyrs, Hiraku, and the Untamed Awakened circling the strongest forces of the enemy but didn''t pay much attention to it. There was no need to worry about his Subordinates and the Valyrs since he could deal with the Higher Lifeforms in the Savannah Region.

    A few hours passed in the blink of an eye. The Untamed Army retreated into the Untamed Jungle to take care of their wounded and rest. The Untamed Awakened, on the other hand, collected the bodies that littered the ground all over the battlefield.

    Most bodies hadn''t been in by Michael or his subordinates, but that didn''t matter. Michael could extract some loot from the deceased whether they had been killed by him, his subordinates, or the Savannah''s Lords.

    "This was a lot easier than I expected," Mika said while caressing the Wyvernwood Bow. That was one of the weird habits Mika had gotten used to since he procured the Wyvernwood Bow.

    Lilica ignored Mika''s habit of caressing the Wyvernwood Bow and stared intently at him.

    "Sometimes, I wonder if you''re intentionally ignorant, or if your parents gave up teaching you after they realized that you''re cking off," She mumbled.

    Opars appeared next to Lilica and smiled lightly, "He''s fooling around, Lilica. Don''t take him seriously. Mika is happy that we managed to kill 10 Lords rtively easilypared tost time."

    "Michael''s tactic worked out fairly well," Lilica agreed, "Unfortunately, it won''t work a second time. I''m pretty sure that the Council of Xylon will rally their forces to attack the Untamed Jungle soon. They would only continue fighting each other if they were stupid. Or¡­if they have some other issues to take care of before they can attack the Untamed Jungle."

    Once all corpses were stored safely, Michael called the Untamed Awakened and Valyrs to gather.

    "There are two smaller skirmishes nearby. I don''t know if their Lord is among them, but two armies with more than 30,000 members are fighting less than 100 kilometers north. Both armies have only one Higher Lifeform. I can deal with them quickly before we bulldoze both armies," Michael reported, "Is everyone ready to go, or is someone too exhausted or injured to proceed fighting?"

    Almost everyone sustained some injuries, but there was nothing that couldn''t be tended to by Opars'' Soothing Wave Soultrait, the Priests, or potions. No member of the Untamed Army sustained mortal wounds in thest fight.

    "Since nobody is exhausted or too injured to continue fighting we should leave right away. We don''t want anyone to take away our precious treasure troves, right?" The corners of Michael''s lips tucked upward.

    Zeroa mantled his body, initiating Taming''s Fusion to enhance his understanding of the spatial affinity drastically. His mastery skyrocketed, unlocking Cosmic Stride''s hidden potential.

    Michael''s spatial-attributed energy was consumed rapidly as he coated his Subordinates and the Valyrs in countless golden mots. The golden mots glowed brightly right before teleporting everyone several kilometers north. Michael''s energy reserves were drained rapidly. The strain on his mind was also not to be underestimated. Therefore, he didn''t teleport everyone closer to the battlefield anymore.

    Cosmic Stride wasn''t made to teleport more than 100 Awakened tens of kilometers through space. It was extraordinary at teleporting the User through space with a single thought and a fraction of energy.

    "Stinger, it''s your turn," Michael mumbled.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp released its golden stinger more than a hundred times to hit every member of the Untamed Awakened and the Valyrs. A momentter, Michael reached out for Stinger to jump through space with a single passenger.

    Michael left his people alone for a full minute. Afterward, the Untamed Awakened were the first to be reced by Stinger.

    The Golden Stinger Wasp appeared, recing half a dozen Berserkers, only to disappear once again. A single Berserker emerged where Stinger disappeared.

    Stinger was on the verge of copsing after everyone reached the proximity of the battlefield between two Lords, but Opars'' Energy Imprint and Soothing Wave were enough to take care of the little monster''s mental strain and dried energy reserves.

    The battle between the Lords'' forces was about to reach its climax when Michael and his people appeared. The strongest Summons and Awakened could have sensed the spatial fluctuations in the proximity, but they were too focused on bashing each other''s heads to notice anything.

    They only realized that something was wrong when thunderous cheers resounded throughout the entire battlefield. Some fights slowed down, thebatants'' attention pulled to the side where the Untamed Awakened, Siegfried Dracoon, and the Valyrs could be seen charging at the armies. They engaged in battle right away and killed every enemy in their sight.

    There was no dy or hesitation in their actions. In the Regional War of the Savannah Region, it was either kill or be killed, and neither Michael nor his people wanted to end up getting killed. They would much rather cleanly remove the obstacles obstructing their path.

    Michael emerged next to the two Higher Lifeforms, who had been engaged in a fierce battle. Both Higher Lifeforms had sustained some injuries at this point, but they were still strong enough to block Michael''s first attack. He raked the Aethyr de across their breasttes, damaging their armor severely.

    However, it was not enough to kill them with a single strike. It was a good thing that Michael didn''t intend to kill them with one attack, in the first ce. He just wanted to see how strong he was without actively using his Soultraits.

    The physical enhancement provided by Superior Constitution as well as the passive gains from 7-Star Extraction, and his other 6-Star Soultraits didn''t disappear. It was not like he could switch off Spirit Eyes either.

    Michael used Leviathan Diffusion to circte origin energy through his body in a specific pattern. The pattern focused on amplifying all major points in his body, strengthening his physique temporarily. Simultaneously, he unleashed the Breathing Technique, Breath of the Underworld. His mastery of Breath of the Underworld was not that high yet, but Michael could use it without injuring himself.

    He breathed out until his lungs were empty. Michael infused his lungs with origin energy when his lungs threatened to copse. He took a deep breath of energy-infused air and pressed his lips together to keep the air inside him.

    A burst of energy swept through his body as his lungs widened. Michael didn''t hesitate to make his move thereafter. He elerated suddenly, the Aethyr de in his hand transformed into a saber. The silver de glimmered as if countless stars had been infused into it as he shot forth. His lungs burned like crazy but the energy channeled into them protected them from any harm.

    Michael reached top speed and elerated further, crossing the threshold he had always assumed to be his physical limit. He had been certain that he would have to use his Soultraits to surpass his physical limit.

    However, that was not the case. A short burst with Breath of the Underworld managed to do the same.

    His sudden eleration and the terrific speed he reached at the end were enough to take the Higher Lifeforms by surprise. He didn''t manage to outright kill them, but the barrage of attacks he executed managed to injure the Higher Lifeforms.

    A vibrant smile blossomed on his face.

    ''I can injure Higher Lifeforms without using any Soultraits!'' Michael screamed inwardly, his excitement overflowing.

    ''But they''re trashy. Calling them Higher Lifeforms is a disgrace to this title.'' Another voice spoke in Michael''s mind.

    No. It was still his voice, but it was different. Michael was still the only one in his head, but he found himself filled with a new sensation. Disgust dwelled deep inside him as he stared coldly at the Higher Lifeforms.

    It was true. Calling these foolish idiots Higher Lifeforms was a disgrace. No Higher Lifeform ought to be this fragile and easy to kill.

    The disgust within him expanded. It seemed to upy his entire being at some point, overwhelming Michael.

    He activated the three Cursed Seals all of a sudden and unleashed several Qi Extraction Swords to impale the Higher Lifeforms without a warning. They were impaled, and their limbs severed with swift shes right before Michael beheaded them.

    ''You''re controlling me again!'' Michael roared in his mind, using every bit of mental power and willpower within him to suppress the Cursed Seals. He shoved them back into the deepest parts of his being and regained his senses.

    The disgust that overwhelmed him before was no more. It disappeared with the death of the two Higher Lifeforms.

    ''This Curse is a fucking menace!''

 Chapter 674 Overwhelmed

    Chapter 674 Overwhelmed

    ??Eliminating the two Higher Lifeforms on the battlefield created an opening for the Valyrs and Untamed Awakened. They didn''t have to worry about getting overwhelmed and could dominate their enemies instead.

    However, the battle was not over with the death of the Higher Lifeforms. It had just begun.

    Even though the battle had just begun, Michael was quite satisfied. He and his people were at a great advantage against the Council of Xylon because there shouldn''t be more than one or two Higher Lifeforms in every territory. Many Lords didn''t have a single Higher Lifeform in their territory. The only reason those Lords survived so long in the Savannah Region were their extraordinary defenses and business-oriented alliances with the Lords living adjacent to their territories.

    Some Lords, who had yet to ascend to a Higher Lifeform, managed to receive some reinforcement of Peak Tier-3 Awakened from the government. The reinforcement was not strong enough to deal with many Higher Lifeforms, but they were usually not as weak as ordinary Awakened.

    The same applied to Michael''s Untamed Awakened. They were stronger than ordinary Awakened ¨C by far.

    Michael observed the battlefield from the sky after he dealt with the Higher Lifeforms and some Awakened. He considered focusing on the remaining Awakened but couldn''t be bothered to jump through space hundreds of times to kill the Awakened who could be defeated by the Untamed Awakened easily.

    Michael was a bit reluctant about using the three Cursed Seals after the little incident with the Higher Lifeforms, but he activated them, nheless. The Cursed Seals would overwhelm him sooner orter if he allowed fear to take root in his heart. He couldn''t afford to be afraid of the Cursed Seals.

    He shoved his hesitation aside and activated the Cursed Seals. Thereafter, Michael fused the Extraction Aura with the Dome of Extraction, which he spread as far as possible.

    All that was left for him to do was to stay patient and allow the True Extraction Domain to unleash its full potential.

    Michael didn''t even think about holding back. He focused on the True Extraction Domain and the thousands of Extraction tendrils that emerged from the golden-coated scenery. The Summons and Awakened tried to sever the Extraction tendrils or block them, but that was harder than expected. The minority managed to block the Extraction tendrils. They were impaled by windnces or struck by a barrage of arrows. Thereafter, they either died on the spot or were invaded by a second Extraction tendril.

    It was much harder to block the second Extraction tendril, especially after sustaining injuries. Their willpower deteriorated, creating several openings for the Extraction tendrils to break through.

    Michael devoured their lifeforce and energy reserves. He used the energy reserves to expand the True Extraction Domain and to conjure a few fireballs using fire-attributed energy and Zeroa''s mythical mes. The fireballs had enough destructive power to kill a Tier-3 Awakened or cripple them in case his attack missed the target by a hair''s breadth. It was easy to control the fireballs with Zeroa''s help, but Michael couldn''t be bothered to pay much attention to it.

    He was more focused on distributing the floods of origin energy and lifeforce that entered his body.

    Lokai was a great target for his lifeforce. However, distributing the origin energy inside him wasn''t as easy as it seemed. Expanding the True Extraction Domain would consume more energy, but the extended range of effect meant that the True Extraction Domain affected more targets. That meant Michael would have to distribute more energy, which was easier said than done after the Extraction tendrils drained the origin energy of more than 10,000 targets.

    Fortunately, Michael had countless Soultraits, including Insert, which managed to drain his origin energy and insert it into others without dy.

    Lokai, Thaor, and Mekhaz were given the most energy bursts. He inserted a tremendous amount of origin energy into them, granting the trio the means to bulldoze their enemies.

    However, they weren''t the only ones Michael inserted with origin energy. He had enough energy surplus to empower the Untamed Awakened with severalyers of Enhancement and maintain the effect for a while.

    Under the reinforcement of Enhancement, the Untamed Awakened''s power skyrocketed. They didn''t even slow down to y Tier-3 Summons, who gave their utmost to pin the Awakened to the ground. The forces of the rivaling Lords tried to overwhelm the Untamed Awakened with their numbers, only to fail miserably and end up squashed mercilessly.

    All they could do was divert their concentration to the Valyrs and attack them. There were a few Higher Lifeforms among the Valyrs, but the other Valyrs were weaker than the Untamed Awakened. They were easier targets because they didn''t feel like invincible Warlords.

    At least, the Valyrs'' expressions distorted in pain when they sustained injuries. The Untamed Awakened smiled upon getting cut. It was a frightening sight and something the Lords'' forces wanted to avoid.

    Despite their utmost attempts to avoid the Untamed Awakened, it was impossible to escape the inevitable.

    The forces were dominated and obliterated. Thest Awakened survived longer than the rest. They acted like cockroaches as they survived countless attacks against the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, only for Hiraku to intercept them. His mace cleaved down on thest Awakened''s heads, shattering their skulls into tiny fragments.

    The battle against the Lords'' forces ended, and they retreated to Arx.

    Now that they showed that the Lord of the Untamed Jungle didn''t disappear and that he was still a participant in the Regional War, Michael could rx with his people once again. He extracted Memory Orbs from the Higher Lifeforms to update his information once they''d returned to Arx.

    Digesting the memories of the Higher Lifeforms was a little bit more intense than the memories of ordinary Awakened, but Michael was not in a rush. He absorbed the Memory Orbs and digested them slowly. Right after, Michael made a few mental notes to organize his thoughts and memories.

    ''Three Alliances are going to fight for the reign of the east of the Savannah. The battles will reach new heights, and they might affect the Untamed Jungle''s border as well. Maybe, the alliances will alter their n and transform their fight for the reign into a trap. They might invade the Untamed Jungle, or await our attack.''

    ''The central part of the Savannah will also transform into arge-scale battlefield. Everyone is growing restless. They want to end the Regional War and determine the rightful owner, even if that means that they have to attack their former allies.'' Michael smiled lightly.

    ''I was worried that the cracks in the council''s foundation weren''t deep enough, but it looks like I was worried for no reason. They lost the battle of patience. The Council of Xylon will perish in the next few days, leaving a fewrge alliances behind.''

    The memories were quite useful. It was fun to observe the aftermath of his actions. Michael enjoyed it quite a bit.

    The only boring parties of the Regional War were the Savannah''s west and northwest. They stayed back and remained neutral, for the time being, at least.

    Michael was certain that the west and northwest were anticipating patiently to eliminate the triumphant parties of the central and eastern battles.

    But that was a good thing.

    Michael was anticipating for the same, after all!

 Chapter 675 Savannahâ€™s forces

    <h4>Chapter 675 Savannah''s forces</h4>

    In the following days, Michael received various reports of small-scale attacks with an unusually high number of casualties. Neither he nor his people joined the battles. All they did was train and prepare goods for the uing battles.

    Some of the preparations included the integration of powerful Artifacts. Michael fused the Artifacts he procured with Extraction andbined them using Insert. The Artifacts were then distributed to the Untamed Awakened and the Valyrs for a fair price, of course.

    The reports that reached Michael were more or less interesting. They showed that only a few Lords died in the following two weeks since Michael didn''t move out to hunt them. However, that didn''t mean Michael was idle. He traveled through the Savannah Region to invade the settlements of the Lords he''d killed to procure their Summoning Cores and other treasures.

    It wasn''t that difficult to invade the deceased Lords'' main settlements. The citizens were in chaos after losing their Lord, whereas the Awakened began to plunder theirte Lords'' treasure troves. This included the devices that created and maintained the spatial lock dome.

    Michael killed the Awakened who remained in the settlement, but there weren''t many. Most Awakened fled the Origin Expanse or left theirte Lord''s territory to be Rogues. He was fortunate enough that the Awakened didn''t think about looting theirte Lords'' Summoning Gates. Destroying the Summoning Gate'' hatched and removing the Summoning Cores without damaging them wasn''t easy. It was not something most Awakened could do, in the first ce, as it required considerable control over their original energy. Even then it wasn''t certain that the Summoning Cores could be removed without damaging them.

    Even the faintest scratch to a Summoning Core can destroy it. That was also why Michael was d that he had Extraction. He couldn''t be bothered to be careful with the Summoning Cores. Instead, he used True Extraction and extracted them with brute force ¨C basically.

    Michael learned a lot about the Council of Xylon''s future, how the council ended up perishing, and a few more interesting facts he hadn''t been aware of.

    ''Why was I so certain that only 10 Lords died after my people returned to Arx?'' Michael wondered.

    The reports he received over thest few weeks mentioned the death of 10 Lords. However, Michael learned about the assassination of far more Lords. Two dozen Lords died at the hands of assassinations in thest three weeks, leaving less than half of the Lords, who once colluded against the Trnce.

    Only 51 Lords of the council were still alive, and they were members of threerge alliances that had formed before the council broke apart.

    The Westerners Alliance was patient and remained passive for now, whereas the Centrals and Southerners were more active. At least, that was what it looked like on the outside. The Southerners expanded east whereas the Centrals upied therge pieces ofnd that had been abandoned after Michael killed 11 Lords in the Savannah''s center.

    It was quite interesting to observe the tactics of the respective alliances. The Westerners seemed boring on the outside, but Michael was fairly sure that they deployed the assassins to kill the two dozen Lords while everyone else was busy fighting their enemies head-on.

    ''The Westerners are problematic. If they continue scheming and ying dirty, I''ll have to deal with them first. But moving to the west will be a bit difficult without anyone noticing.''

    It was possible to travel to the center of the Savannah Region with the teleportation array, but it would be a little bit annoying to teleport throughout the western part of the Savannah. Michael could travel alone without many issues, but taking the Untamed Awakened and the Valyrs with him would transform any silent movement into a thunderousmotion. They would be exposed for sure.

    Michael came up with some tactics to deal with the Westerners first, but the execution of his tactic was interrupted when the Centrals and Southerners decided tobine their forces. Several armies of the Westerners'' Lords rallied the forces of the Centrals and Southerners with Soul Pacts, promising an entire week of peace.

    That was what Michael learned from the memories of some idiots whose Memory Orbs he consumed on the D-Day of the final battle. That was what they called it. The final battle.

    It was one huge battle that determined the fate of the Savannah Region. It was the grand finale.

    Michael didn''t expect that the Centrals and Southerners would be willing to put aside their quarrel and team up once again, but he was gravely mistaken about one thing.

    The Lords of the Savannah Region feared him far more than they feared betrayal.

    The Savannah''s forces ¨C Michael decided to call them that ¨C gathered in the eastern parts of the Untamed Jungle. They kept enough distance from the Untamed Jungle to avoid any unwanted surprises, but they stayed close enough to the border to strike fast and heavy once everyone''s forces were present.

    Michael was in the Savannah Region, hovering in the air, when he saw the masses of Summons and Awakened gathering to invade the Untamed Jungle. He frowned deeply and retrieved themunication crystal to call Tiara and the others back in Arx.

    "The Savannah''s forces will assault soon. If I''m not mistaken, 42 Lords rallied most of their forces to deal with us once and for all. Each Lord brought an army of more than 80,000 Summons and Awakened to attack."

    "WHAT?!" Frederik eximed through themunication crystal. His voice quivered, "What the hell are you talking about, Michael?!?"

    Michael heard Tiara shove Frederik aside, "Are you sure that there are more than three million Soldiers on the way to the Untamed Jungle? Isn''t that a little bit over the top?"

    Michael chuckled, a trace of nervosity in his voice, "They''re going all out."

    He regained the confidence he''d missed for a moment and grinned lightly, "As far as we know the Lords of the Savannah Region have only 100,000 soldiers on average. Considering that every Lord lost thousands ofbatants in thebats against the Trnce, against us, and their skirmishes against each other, their habitats must be defenseless."

    "I can make use of that," Michael announced, "Stall them as long as you can. I''ll take their Lord Powers while they''re busy over here."

    "Stalling three million soldiers? That¡­is not something we can do," Lilica joined the conversation, but Michael could only shrug.

    "There shouldn''t be more than 50 Higher Lifeforms. They might have many Tier-3 Summons, but you guys are stronger. You''ve got powerful Epic and Pseudo-Legendary Artifacts, and various Soultraits. The Valyrs and the Elementals are also there. Furthermore, the forces of the Savannah Region cannot invade the Untamed Jungle at once. They''ll have to split up or destroy the Untamed Jungle''s nt life to barge through the Untamed Jungle without slowing down. Dwindle their numbers with long-range attacks once they reach your range, and focus on small-scale attacks to kill as many as possible once they enter the Untamed Jungle."

    "Yes, Master!" Tiara shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

    Even if some of them didn''t like Michael''s n it was not like they had a better n.

    "In the worst case, use some overcharged elemental crystals and Chaos Pills," Michael proposed.

    "But I don''t think that will be necessary. I will be back soon!"

 Chapter 676 Grand Finale [1]

    Chapter 676 Grand Finale [1]

    ??Michael jumped through space with Cosmic Stride like crazy, churning through his energy pool as if he had unlimited origin energy to use.

    He unleashed the Cursed Seals and allowed the Extraction Aura to expand. Michael didn''t even think about restraining the Extraction Aura. He unleashed its fury, allowing the Extraction Aura to consume whatever it wanted, ensuring that his energy reserves remained filled to the brim.

    Using spatial-attributed origin energy to supply Cosmic Stride alongside tenyers of Enhancement, Michael managed to cross a distance of dozens of kilometers with every use of Cosmic Stride. He added one of the Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tears to amplify Cosmic Stride''s potency as he invaded the enemy''s territory.

    Michael didn''t hesitate to ughter everyone who obstructed his path, though that was hardly necessary. He leaped across the settlement walls and dashed to the settlement center where the Summoning Gate seemed to await Michael.

    True Extraction Aura obliterated any potential threats in its range within seconds, granting Michael enough peace to approach the Summoning Gates calmly.

    Once he reached the first main settlement''s center, Michael focused the True Extraction Aura on the Summoning Gates to extract the Summoning Cores without wasting his precious time destroying the Summoning Gates.

    The Summoning Gates resisted his attempts to extract the Summoning Cores at first, but 10yers of Enhancement alongside a Soul Tear''s amplification was enough to reinforce True Extraction. True Extraction''s tremendous power impacted, damaging the Summoning Gate barely enough to extract the Summoning Cores.

    The corner of Michael''s lips tucked upward once he held the Summoning Cores in his hands.

    "Stupid fools," He murmured, turning around to set the wooden manor on fire.

    Following the destruction of the wooden manor and the removal of the Summoning Cores, the Lord Power linked to the anchors dispersed. One of the Lords lost his power. That was apparent when Michael''s eyesnded on the citizens, whose terror and confusion he could sense throughout the entire settlement.

    "That''s one," He mumbled, teleporting out of the settlement with a single stride.

    Michael didn''t waste any time looting the treasure trove of the Lord whose power he had just taken away. There was no time for that.

    Instead, Michael elerated. He moved faster and faster, unleashing the Heavenly Beast Physique alongside Cosmic Stride, hoping that he would move a little bit faster.

    Michael elerated a lot, but he somehow doubted that it was rted to the Heavenly Beast Physique. It felt more like his body adapted to the changes made by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' Essences. He got used to them and sensed that they resonated with Superior Constitution and Spirit Eyes.

    He could see much more about his surroundings, including the faintest details that had been hard to point out before. However, it was even more apparent with the origin energy that permeated the air. Michael felt like he could grasp the origin energy around him and that subtle changes in his stance could improve Cosmic Stride''s efficiency. He kicked the ground where most origin energy congregated as he unleashed Cosmic Stride, propelling him more than 15 kilometers ahead.

    ''Interesting,'' He mumbled in his mind as he reached the next territory and main settlement faster than expected.

    He pushed ahead, leaped across the walls, and killed everyone in his path to reach the wooden manor and Summoning Gate. The wooden manor was set on fire without a second thought whereas the Summoning Gate became a victim of True Extraction.

    Michael moved through the Savannah Region rapidly. He managed to take away the Powers of more than seven Lords in less than an hour and he was certain that he could deprive even more powers in the next hour.

    However, there was something that forced Michael to halt in his tracks. He discovered a huge crowd of Summons and Awakened travel through the Savannah Region.

    At first, Michael presumed that more Soldiers had been deployed to the eastern part of the Savannah, but he couldn''t be more wrong.

    The forces he saw belonged to the nine Lords of the Westerner Alliance, who didn''t join in the final battle. The nine Lords and their armies weren''t headed to the eastern part of the Savannah Region. They headed straight to the main settlements of the territories adjacent to the Westerner Alliance.

    ''I thought that you guys had a truce. They signed a Soul Pact, or am I mistaken about something?'' Michael nearly blurted aloud while hovering in the air far away from the nine armies. He tilted his head and realized not long after what was going on.

    ''Maybe not all Lords of the Westerner Alliance signed the Soul Pact. They sacrificed some of their people to rally the forces of the Centrals and Southerners to backstab them when they''re busy dealing with¡­.me¡­''

    Michael chuckled lightly. The Savannah Region was filled with dirty, disgusting betrayals.

    He scoffed, feeling the anger bubbling deep within him.

    The Westerner''s scheming worked out perfectly fine since they managed to convince the other Lords to attack the Untamed Jungle. They were the reason many soldiers of Arx would die in today''s battle.

    However, what enraged Michael the most was the fact that the Westerners not only betrayed the Centrals and Southerners but also that they sacrificed their closest allies to backstab their contracted allies. It was messed up and fueled Michael with rage.

    It was weird. He shouldn''t be this angry, but it consumed him.

    Yet, instead of shoving the anger aside by suppressing it with brute force, Michael decided to ept it. He let the boiling anger to sweep through his body, unleashing the true fury of the Cursed Seals. They grew across his upper body palpating like crazy, amplifying the rage that filled his heart.

    Dozens of chains, created by miniature Cursed Seals that were tightly interlocked, manifested all over his body. They creaked and trembled as the golden Cursed Seals expanded. The activated Cursed Seals raged wildly, but the links of miniature seals never broke.

    Michael experienced immense pain surge through his entire body, but he could tell that the pain caused by the Cursed Seals let him to tap into a bigger pool of power.

    Dealing with the nine Lords and their armies wouldn''t be that difficult, Michael could tell. They didn''t expect a powerful enemy to appear before them, after all. No. Even if they expected him to attack, it wouldn''t be an issue.

    Maybe, it was arrogance, or just the unbending confidence in his Soultraits, but Michael was 100% sure that the Westerner Alliance wouldn''t be an issue to deal with.

    The entire Savannah Region wouldn''t be an issue to deal with at this point. They were nothing but insignificant enemies. They were mere prey.

    He was more than them. Better. Stronger.

    As the thoughts ravaged through his mind, the Cursed Seals continued to expand. One of the seals crackled. Cobweb-like cracks spread across the Seal, unveiling what was hidden underneath.

    The pain surging through him intensified.

    At the same time, one strand of his ck hair changed.

    It turned silver, coated in star-like sparks.

 Chapter 677 Grand Finale [II]

    Chapter 677 Grand Finale [II]

    ??It was about time to beat the shit out of the Savannah''s Lords.

    Michael, overflowing with rage and disgust, jumped through space and appeared above the nine Lords and their armies. He unleashed the True Extraction Domain after strengthening the Extraction Symbol with a Soul Tear and ten uses of Enhancement. The Extraction Aura and the Dome of Extraction merged, and swept through the surroundings, devouring everything in their path.

    The Summons in his proximity stared into the sky where they found Michael hovering. They were about to attack Michael by throwing spears and firing arrows at him, but their weapons and armor sets were dismembered before they could do anything. As their weapons and armor sets were ripped apart by the tremendous power of True Extraction, their bodies suffered as well.

    Their hair was extracted right before they were skinned alive.

    The power of True Extraction infiltrated their bodies where they consumed their lifeforce and origin energy rapidly. Only Summons and Awakened at Tier-3 or above could repel the power of True Extraction temporarily. The remaining Summons and Awakened fell victim to the overwhelming power of 7-Star Extraction.

    It was simply too powerful.

    Michael epted the origin energy and lifeforce that entered his body. He redirected the origin energy to expand the True Extraction Domain while inserting the excessive origin energy into the stronger Summons and Awakened around him. One of the Lords shrouded his body in darkness, creating a darkness armor that blocked the majority of True Extraction''s power. He attacked Michael by conjuring and throwing several darkness spears at him.

    The darkness spears threatened to impale and kill Michael, but his Spirit Eyes detected the projectiles'' trajectory early enough to use Cosmic Stride. He changed his position and appeared behind the Darkness Lord, evading the darkness spears easily.

    The Darkness Lord spun around, but Michael already touched him. A tremendous amount of lifeforce burst into the Darkness Lord''s body. Michael didn''t need that much lifeforce, but he allowed the True Extraction Domain to keep consuming lifeforce. The lifeforce consumed by True Extraction entered Michael''s body, only to be redirected into the Darkness Lord.

    At first, the amount of lifeforce was not much. However, as the True Extraction Domain consumed the lifeforce of more than 20,000 entities at the time, the lifeforce surging into Michael increased exponentially. The True Extraction Domain continued expanding and it was only a matter of time before the lifeforce of hundreds of thousands of entities entered his body at the time.

    It may only be a fraction of their lifeforce at the time, but the quantity made the biggest difference.

    Michael did not need that much lifeforce. He didn''t have any use for the lifeforce as he didn''t possess a Soultrait like Lokai''s Life Conversion. However, that didn''t mean the mountain of lifeforce was useless. He could always transfer it inside others, after all.

    Lifeforce was never supposed to be deadly. Despite that, it wasmon knowledge that every vessel could only contain a certain amount of lifeforce before they would be overflowing with life. That was exactly what happened to the Darkness Lord.

    Michael could have attacked the Darkness Lord with the Aethyr de after strengthening his body and weapons with the wide variety of Soultraits at his disposal. However, Michael had to get rid of the massive amount of lifeforce that threatened to break his body apart. He used Insert to flood the Darkness Lord with the warm energy that seemed to mend his wounds.

    The Darkness Lord was ready to attack Michael, but his body froze for a moment as old, long-forgotten wounds seemed to heal on their own. He was shocked and confused, only to realize toote that his entire being was overflowing with energy.

    The skin all over the Darkness Lord''s body tore apart. Dark blood gushed forth like a fountain, yet the Darkness Lord didn''t feel any pain. He barely sensed that the skin all over his body cracked and split open. The lifeforce flooding him was simply too nice. The Darkness Lord never felt so much pleasure before.

    The darkness armor dispersed, revealing a bright smile as the Darkness Lord''s body inted. Michael''s eyes widened in confusion and terror when he sensed what was about to happen. He stopped inserting lifeforce into the Darkness Lord and was about to kill him with the Aethyr de instead of stopping what was about to happen. Unfortunately, he was a second toote.

    Michael barely managed to shroud his body in a thick hue of True Extraction when the Darkness Lord exploded. Shreds and pieces of the mighty Darkness Lord spurted in all directions, leaving the Darkness Lord''s subordinates in shock.

    Michael shuddered and told himself to never stay so close to someone overflowing with lifeforce.

    Due to Spirit Eyes'' perfect vision Michael had been forced to watch the faintest details of the Darkness Lord''s death. It was not pleasant to look at. Even though Michael was overflowing with rage and disgust through the highly potent effect of the Cursed Seals, Michael couldn''t believe that the Darkness Lord was smiling as he exploded.

    It was terrifying, but Michael wasn''t granted the luxury to take a break. He had to move on, otherwise, the other Lords and Higher Lifeforms would attack him.

    Fortunately, there weren''t many Higher Lifeforms. The army that had been deployed by the nine Lords had no more than 500,000 members. Merely 10% were Summons at the 3rd Tier. Most Tier-3 Summons and Awakened were at the Low or Mid rank as well. They didn''t dare to face Michael head-on.

    They couldn''t approach him without getting dissected alive either. The True Extraction Domain was the strongest around Michael. Only Peak Tier-3 or Higher Lifeforms could touch him at this moment.

    As for the rest, they were about to get sucked dry by the True Extraction Domain.

    Everyone below Tier-3 died by being in the Domain''s range of effect less than 30 seconds. That wouldn''t be a major problem if the True Extraction Domain didn''t expand rapidly.

    Michael diverted his attention from inserting others with a massive amount of lifeforce to inserting his lifeforce into his origin energy. He fused lifeforce into his origin, altering its properties and strengthening it in some ways. The amount of lifeforce drained to alter origin energy was tremendous, but it was not like Michaelcked origin energy at this point.

    He altered his origin energy and infused life into it before sweeping it through the Elemental Spheres. He created attributed Soul Energy and manifested hundreds of Icicle Bullets using the respective Soul Technique.

    The Icicle Bullets were firmerpared to before. Their shape was a lot additional stable and consistent. However, the majority apparent effect of the life-infused origin energy was that the Icicle Bullets'' freezing mist seemed more alive.

    That was not something Michael expected, but it came in handy.

    Some Icicle Bullets pierced through the necks and throats of a handful of Tier-3 Summons, killing them in an instant, while other Icicle shattered in the target''s faces, chests, and backs, unleashing thepressed freezing mist within the Icicle Bullets in an instant.

    However, contrary to the norm, the freezing mist didn''t spread in all directions to affect everything it touched. Instead, the freezing mist that was released near the targets'' faces sought paths to invade the targets through their noses, eyes, ears, and mouths. The freezing mist released upon the chests and backs of the targets didn''t act simr to that either. Instead of targeting the vital points of the targets, they searched for the targets'' weakest points to weaken them even further.

    If its armor was highly resilient, they targeted the seams and froze them, breaking down their defense to create additional openings for Michael to strike.

    Michael was pleasantly surprised and decided to use his other elements to experiment with the life-infused origin energy. He knew that he wasn''t going to use life-infused origin energy often, but it didn''t hurt to know how to use it.

    He created dozens of fireballs, wind des, darkness spears, earth spikes, light bullets, water jets, and additional using life-

    infused origin energy.

    The elemental projectiles shot in all directions, killing hundreds of Tier-3 Summons and Awakened prior they could react.

    ''That is boring.'' Michael noted, diverting his focus to the dozen Higher Lifeforms, who may actually pose a threat to him.

    Or not.

 Chapter 678 Grand Finale [III]

    Chapter 678 Grand Finale [III]

    ??"There are too many enemies. We cannot stay here any longer!" Lilica''s voice reverberated through the surroundings.

    "Retreat into the jungle. Initiate n Zeldron!"

    She stood on a thick branch of a towering tree that separated the Savannah from the Untamed Jungle. Her eyes traveled left and right, but all she could see were the masses of enemies. They filled her entire view, fueling Lilica with intense fear and uncertainty. There were too many enemies. Even if most of them weren''t powerfulbatants at the 3rd Tier, the numbers alone were enough to conquer the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and reach Arx in no time.

    "We don''t have to kill all of them. Just kill as many as you can!" Tiara screamed from the ground, charging into the Savannah, where she engaged in a fierce battle with dozens of Summons.

    All enemies below Tier-3 were killed with a simple cut or thrust. Tiara didn''t have to pay much attention to them because they didn''t pose a threat to her. Her currentbat prowess far surpassed the limits of a Tier-2 Awakened, after all.

    In fact, Silvarean Tiger fully unleashed alongside Inner Force, and Spirit Whip was enough to surpass the limits most Superior Tier-2 Awakened could attain. Even Tier-3 Summons would have severe issues dealing with the Silverfang Princess.

    However, Tiara had a new Soultrait, Thrust, as well. She used her four Soultraits to kill dozens of enemies without losing any momentum by perfectly utilizing Inner Force to change her trajectory.

    However, she suffered from the masses of enemies that were charging at her as well. She had to retreat, which was easier said than done. Tiara couldn''t turn around and dash away just like that. Her foes would use the opening she revealed by turning around to cut her down.

    Therefore, Tiara and the other Untamed Awakened fought with the Golden Stinger Wasp.

    Stinger teleported Tiara back to the Untamed Jungle once the situation got a little bit trickier. She was pushed back and would soon sustain injuries. Stinger''s heightened perception deciphered that and changed ces. Using his tiny size and ridiculous speed, Stinger escaped the iing attacks easily and returned to the Untamed Jungle instantaneously.

    However, there was no break for the Golden Stinger Wasp. Lokai, Thaor, and the remaining Berserker Awakened charged outside the Untamed Jungle near the northern border to the Savannah Region. They avoided frontal attacks and engaged the Awakened and Summons near the Savannah force''s outer forces. There were still many powerful enemies, but the pressure was a little bit lower. It was easier to y hundreds of enemies with brute force and strive forward until the enemies encircled them.

    Stinger had to intervene in the Berserkers'' fierce battle to rescue them. The Berserkers didn''t like that, but they also understood that they shouldn''t die before repaying their debts. They might have initiated the Rite of the War Goddess with Michael, but the Oath of Loyalty was not enough to repay their debts. Their Essence screamed at them, forcing the Berserkers to put their natural instincts aside and survive rather than die in battle before all debts had been settled.

    Stinger saved the Berserkers by pushing them back into the Untamed Jungle, where they retrieved a bunch of throwing spears. The Untamed Army was in the jungle''s outer rings doing something simr.

    The Archers bombarded the enemy forces with barrages of arrows, and the Lesser Elementals joined the forces and lobbed fireballs at them as well. However, the most important task of the Elementals was to alter the surroundings. They focused on terraforming rather than attacking. Only the Fire Elementals joined the Archers in killing the enemies by throwing one fireball after another at them.

    The Earth, Wind, and Water Elementals loosened the ground in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring. They transformed the dry soil into muddy pits while simultaneously, releasing some of the t-rooted trees to destroy some of nature''s naturally created paths. The wildlife trails were blocked as the towering trees crashed heavily to the ground. The noises attracted the Savannah forces'' attention, but only for a second. They had to pay attention to the iing barrage of arrows and fireballs.

    Blocking ordinary arrows and fireballs was not impossible. Even Tier-2 Summons could do that as long as they were given a metal shield and some training. However, not all arrows were the same.

    Tatjana, the Tier-2 Sharpshooters, and the Forest Elven Archers came up with a simple solution to deal with the Soldier''s defense. They split up into units that used different arrows to attack the iing enemies. The Forest Elven Archers used heavy arrows with a hook attached to the soldier''s shields, increasing their weight drastically.

    The soldiers could still lift their shields, but it was more difficult and strained their muscles more than it used to be. The heavy arrows hooked to the shields forced the soldiers to lower their shields at some point. The moment the soldiers lowered their shields was the perfect opportunity for the Sharpshooters to jump into action.

    They released their swift arrows to reap the defenseless soldiers'' lives.

    In the meantime, Tatjana and Lilicabined their power with the Noble Elementals and the Elemental Empress. They retrieved arrows with elemental crystals as the arrowhead and let the Elementals charge them until they were overflowing with Elemental Might.

    There was no way that Michael and his people would fight the Savannah''s forces head-on. There were more than three million enemies whereas their numbers didn''t even reach 50,000. Even if the Untamed Awakened, the Valyrs, and Michael''s army were stronger than their enemies, individual power was not everything. It meant a lot, but individual power was not always the solution.

    Despite that sentiment, it was always a ginormous advantage if the fight prowess of the individuals on one side were stronger. That was also why Michael had been daring enough to leave the Untamed Jungle and his people behind to charge into the Savannah Region. He was certain that his people could stall the Savannah''s forces even though everyone would have to fight more than 60 enemies simultaneously.

    The overcharged elemental arrowheads weren''t of the same quality as the overcharged crystals used to destroy the Heart of the zing Lion''s military army. They were powerful, nheless.

    Hundreds of Soldiers fell victim to the destructive power of the elemental arrowheads. They shattered upon impact, unleashing the elemental power that had beenpressed within them in all directions.

    Most targets in a range of five meters to the explosion died the second the elemental arrowheads shattered. Everyone else in a range of 20 meters suffered serious injuries if they were close to the explosion of elemental might, or were mildly wounded as the distance to the explosion widened.

    Many died. However,pared to the massive number of enemies that were about to invade the Untamed Jungle, it was nothing.

    Mika decided to use one more of his heirloom arrows. He retrieved the heirloom arrow coated in various miniature runes and began to channel energy into it. He nocked it on the Wyvernwood Bow''s string, closed his eyes, and waited for Opars'' Energy Imprint to reach him. He was overflowing with energy and used 5-Star Arrow Duplication over and over again.

    Since the Wyvernwood Bow could hold out a lot more than his other bow, Mika didn''t have to worry about breaking it. He called upon the Drake Soul within the Pseudo-Legendary Artifact as he continued to infuse his energy into the heirloom arrow.

    Mika was not as weak as he used to be. His Soultraits were also stronger than ever. The same applied to Opars.

    Opars continued to infuse Mika with energy using Energy Imprint until thest charge of Energy Imprint had been used up. Once all preparations had been concluded, Mika overcharged the heirloom arrow with Pierce''s strongest form.

    The heirloom arrow glowed brightly, the miniature runes twinkling like thousands of diamonds.

    Mika pulled the bowstring back once he was ready, the corner of his lips curling upward. He aimed patiently into the sky, an image of Pheli and Liopham forming before him.

    He released the heirloom arrow, the smile was wiped from his face.

    "Die for me, you fucking bastards!"

    **

    [A/N: The author is back. It''s march and we''re all happy hehe. At least, I am - or I should be. After all, it''s my birth month. Speaking about my birth month, I won''t release many chapters this weekend because I will celebrate my birthday.

    Either way, how do you like the finale chapters against the Savannah Region? It was a lil different than the fight against the Zentika Empire, right? ;D

    #OPMichael]

 Chapter 679 Grand Finale [IV]

    Chapter 679 Grand Finale [IV]

    ??Chaptre 679: Grand Finale [IV]

    [A/N: Today and tomorrow, only one chapter because it''s my bday :d]

    Mika''s heirloom arrow was stronger than ever. The Drake Soul infused into the Wyvernwood Bow, enhancing the heirloom arrow after Mika used 5-Star Arrow Duplication several times. The overcharged application of Pierce transformed the heirloom arrow in the strongest attack Mika had released since he became an Awakened.

    The heirloom arrow propelled through the air in a beautiful arc. It emerged from the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring, shrouded in bright light and twinkling stars.

    Arrow Duplication jumped into effect as the twinkling miniature runes on the heirloom arrow were triggered. The arrows were duplicated multiple times in quick session. It was only a matter of milliseconds before the heirloom arrow transformed into 131,072 arrows.

    Each arrowhead was coated in Pierce''s effect as they reached the climax, forming what looked like a dazzling cloud in the sky. In the next second, the duplicated heirloom arrows descended upon the massive crowd of enemies.

    Time seemed to slow down as the duplicated arrows plunged from the sky. The deadly downpour attracted everyone''s attention.

    The Savannah''s forces tried to erect shields in time by using some of their protection Artifacts and Soultraits, but there were only a few Awakened among the masses of three million Summons. Some managed to block a few attacks, however, their defense failed them after a dozen arrows amplified by Pierce.

    The first arrows broke the defense down slowly, while thetter burst through cleanly before hitting their targets. The downpour of 131,072 arrows didn''tst long. A few seconds and it was all over.More than 30,000 bodies sprawled all over the area of impact, thest bits of lifeforce leaving them.

    The heirloom arrow had killed tens of thousands, and twice that sustained more or less severe injuries. The injured soldiers groaned in pain and screamed at the top of their lungs, but they weren''t granted much mercy either. The Forest Elven Archers, Sharpshooters, and others targeted them, reaping their lives while they paid the most attention to their wounds.

    Within a few minutes, 100,000 members of the Savannah forces died. Their corpses formed small piles in front of the Untamed Jungle. It almost looked like a warning. Enter the Untamed Jungle, and you will meet the same fate.

    Mika''s initial attack was extraordinary. Seeds of fear had been nted in the hearts of those who survived, forcing them to rethink their decision. They were afraid to move ahead and barge into the Untamed Jungle as it felt like a death sentence. That was not what Mika intended, but it was good enough to slow the advances of the Savannah forces.

    A vibrant smile blossomed on Mika''s lips as he shed his white teeth. Unfortunately, he couldn''t even enjoy the chaos he caused with a single attack. Mika broke into a cold sweat, his eyes rolled up until only the white was visible, and he fainted. Fortunately, Opars was there to catch Mika. Otherwise, the young Forest Elf would have fallen from the thick tree branch. That would have been far from great.

    Mika strained his energy veins, overused his Soultraits, and used way too much energy in such a short time span. However, there was more. The flood of more than 30,000 energy influxes was the final trigger. He was exhausted and on the verge of copsing, only for 30,000 energy influxes to bombard his War Rune.

    A few hundred energy influxes would have been fine in Mika''s condition, but 30,000 energy influxes simultaneously was too much for Mika to handle. Mika was also about to advance to Tier-3 soon. The energy influxes obtained from killing so many enemies was enough to crack the barrier obstructing his path to Tier-3.

    He might wake up as a Tier3 Awakened if he was lucky. Zeroa, the Elemental Empress, observed Mika briefly and snapped her fingers, teleporting Mika away from the battlefield. He did more than enough and deserved to take a break. It was not like he could fight any longer, either way.

    Distracted by the downpour of arrows from the front, many Summons didn''t pay much attention to the sides. The Warlock Centaurs took advantage of that to face the enemy cavalry head-on.

    The Warlock Centaurs were the best cavalry on the battlefield, and they exploited that fact as much as possible. The enemy cavalry was not as fast as them, so Mekhaz, Zeron Polik, and the other Warlock Centaurs used brute force and razor-sharp des to smash into the mounts before striking the riders with fast and heavy attacks.

    Tiara observed the Warlock Centaurs'' attack with great interest, but her attention was pulled to the Savannah forces shortly after. Tiara noticed that thousands of Summons from the Savannah region turned their heads left and right in confusion. They began screaming at the top of their lungs, tears trickling down their cheeks. They clutched their chests and continued looking left and right as if they were confused.

    They didn''t know where they were or what had just happened.Suddenly, anger and fury filled their hearts as they saw who their ''allies'' were. Some Summons couldn''t hold back anymore. They readied their weapons and attacked their allies.

    The corners of Tiara''s lips tucked upward.

    Michael''s tactic was working. Some Lords lost their power, therefore terminating the Links of Loyalty with their Summons and the Awakened. Losing the Links of Loyalty with their Summons turned out to be disastrous. The Summons, who''d just regained their freedom, didn''t hesitate to attack those who''d killed their friends and family several years ago. They ughtered their allies, ignoring the consequences of their actions.

    Now that they finally gained full control of their actions, nothing other than revenge mattered.

    Not all of them attacked each other, but the number increased quickly. Many Lords lost their powers, releasing the leashes that restrained their subjects until now.

    Unfortunately, the chaos created by friendly fire was not enough to block the Savannah forces entirely. The Untamed Army was forced to retreat inside the Untamed Jungle, where Hiraku awaited them.

    Hiraku was nine meters tall after he transformed inside the Untamed Jungle. His entire body was covered in vines, branches, and roots. All kinds of nt life was growing on his body due to his connection to the Greater Nature Spirit.The connection with the Greater Nature Spirit granted Hiraku a Minor Nature Affinity. He could control the surrounding nt life to a certain extent.

    Combining his control of the surrounding nt life with Zeroa''s Nature Affinity, they transformed the surroundings into a death zone. After all, the Lesser Elementals had also been terraforming the surrounding area.

    The Savannah forces could only rush into the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring before they slowed down. They had to stay vignt to avoid falling into a muddy pit or getting entangled in the veins and roots that lunged at them now and then.

    As the Savannah Forces slowed down to enter the Untamed Jungle, they paid the most attention to the surroundings. Nheless, they didn''t notice when the enemies attacked. The Untamed Army knew the Untamed Jungle better than everyone. They traveled swiftly through the thicket and released a barrage of arrows and elemental projectiles from the weirdest angles. The Savannah forces didn''t expect to receive attacks from there and were forced to slow down further.

    Of course, there were also Summons who didn''t want to slow down anymore. They were too impatient and moved onward, only to find themselves struck by various projectiles and a de shing their throats.

    Hiraku could have charged the Savannah forces since he was at a great advantage in the Untamed Jungle but was not in a rush. He focused on controlling the thicket, roots, and veins in his range to restrain as many enemies as possible.

    Hiraku chose to act as a temporary Supporter. That produced more benefits than charging the Savannah forces while blocking his allies'' view. They couldn''t target their enemies with arrows and elemental projectiles if they couldn''t see them.

    Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before the muddy pits and the advantage of the terrain deteriorated. The Untamed Jungle''s effect on the Savannah forces decreased as they had the means to counter it. They had the means to destroy the obstacles in their paths and alter the surrounding terrain as well.

    Some Higher Lifeforms used brute force and their Artifacts to destroy the towering trees that prevented the Savannah troops from maintaining their formation as they charged into the Untamed Jungle. In contrast, others had to use their Soultraits to terraform the ground. Two Awakened filled the ground with their Soultraits, whereas a third Awakened used his Soultrait to drain the moisture in the ground.

    The percentage of Awakened among the three million soldiers was exceedingly low, but that didn''t mean they were nonexistent or weak. It was just a matter of fact that most territories didn''t have many Awakened.

    Lilica and Opars tried to assassinate the Awakened of the Savannah forces. The duo managed to kill a few of them as they harnessed their Artifacts to barge through the undergrowth by destroying everything in their path.

    Opars'' Herculean Strength, alongside Lilica''s means to hunt dozens of enemies without getting noticed, were extraordinarily useful. They managed to kill many enemies. However, they had to change their position way too often to avoid getting found out or overwhelmed by the number of enemies.

    Slowly but steadily, they had to push back deeper and deeper into the Untamed Jungle. Not many members of the Untamed Army died at first, but that changed several hours into the battle. The Untamed Army was forced to alter its stance. They couldn''t continue hunting down smaller batches of enemies while retreating all the time, otherwise, Arx and their beloved would be exposed to the Savannah forces.

    Hiraku and the Untamed Awakened noticed the same. Lokai harnessed Burning Fury alongside her other Soultraits to join Hiraku in a fierce battle. Everyone charged forward to engage in meleebat with the Savannah forces now that they were deep inside the densely grown Untamed Jungle.

    Their troops were split up due to the thicket and densely grown environment, granting the Untamed Awakened the biggest advantage. After all, their individualbat prowess far surpassed the individual power of the Savannah''s forces.

    Hiraku acted as the main attraction ¨C the tank ¨C of the group. He was ready to block most damage using the thick vines and roots that coiled around his entire body in a lively manner. He conjuredrge tes of highly resilient metal to cover his body. However, instead of forming a proper armor with the metal tes, Hiraku willed the roots and vines to integrate them into his body''s nt life.

    His defense increased drastically, but Hiraku was unsure if that was enough. Many Higher Lifeforms paid attention to him and attacked together.

    Hiraku was not a fan of defending. He didn''t like blocking all attacks or that he had to act as a supporter to allow the Untamed Army and other Awakened to assault their enemies. It was an ungrateful job and didn''t have much impact on the result of the Regional War either. Nheless, Hiraku did it because he knew that his actions would help alter the course of the battle, even if it was merely a minor alteration.

    But that was about to change. He could finally assault with full force. There was no need to hold back. If anything, Hiraku had to go all-out if he wanted to use Lokai''s Burning Fury. The stronger their opponents and the more they struggled the more advantages they would gain from Burning Fury.

    However, Hiraku didn''t expect a sudden change in the Savannah forces'' strategy.Less than five minutes passed after he barged into the masses of the Savannah forces, yet he found himself pinned down to the ground.

    He ughtered thousands of enemies before they pinned him down with their overwhelming numbers, but he ended up losing. It was only a matter of minutes before the Savannah troops would break through his defense and kill him.

    Simr situations like this urred in various ces. The tides of the battle turned against the Untamed Army suddenly.

    Suddenly, the atmosphere all over the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and the Savannah changed once again.

    Everyone''s hearts stirred like crazy as fear fuelled their entire being. Something big was about to happen.

    Countless golden mots shrouded the border between the Untamed Jungle and the Savannah Region. Screams echoed through the surroundings, and thousands of Summons copsed to the ground, their lifeforce and origin energy sucked dry within seconds.

    A individual appeared in the sky above the Savannah forces, his body covered in cuts and his face shrouded in wrath.

    Michael had returned.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I released a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

 Chapter 680 Grand Finale [V]

    <h4>Chapter 680 Grand Finale [V]</h4>

    The atmosphere changed drastically as Michael appeared in the sky above the Savannah forces. Everyone was filled with fear and a sudden sensation of death as the surroundings dyed golden.

    Countless golden mots stretched far across the border to the Untamed Jungle. They shrouded everything and dissected the soil, nt life, and enemies while they were still alive.

    The True Extraction Domain expanded rapidly. It spread over a kilometer in all directions, eliminating thousands of Summons instantaneously.

    The pressure weighing on Hiraku and the other Untamed Awakened was lifted suddenly. Hundreds of Qi Extraction Swords pierced the Summons and Awakened, who had managed to overwhelm and pin them down to the ground.

    The golden mots of True Extraction prickled on their skin as the True Extraction Domain washed over them, but they didn''t feel like their insides were being removed. Their skin prickled, and some of their hair was extracted, but their skin and flesh remained where they were supposed to be.

    Michael altered the True Extraction Domain temporarily, switching off friendly fire to rescue his subordinates instead of killing them by ident.

    However, altering the True Extraction Domain while unleashing its full power was not easy. Michael bled from the nose and eyes as the Cursed Seals crackled violently. It was almost like the Cursed Seals demonstrated their dissatisfaction with Michael''s attempts to alter their effects.

    Michael tried to ignore the pain inflicted by the retaliating Cursed Seals. He grunted quietly and broke into a sweat, as he tried to control whatever the Cursed Seals were trying to achieve. But that wasn''t easy.

    Michael sensed that a fourth Cursed Seal was trying to break free from the shackles of countless miniature seals, but it didn''t manage to do so. Something was missing.

    All of a sudden, Michael heard an explosion sound from within him. He wasn''t injured or under the effect of an enemy''s Soultrait either. The explosion within him didn''t hurt him physically. It felt as if something had been ripped out of his soul.

    An Oath of Loyalty broke.

    Zeron Polik died.

    The feeling of loss swept through Michael. It wasn''t a faint feeling like it was supposed to be with Links of Loyalty when they were cut. The sensation was on apletely different level.

    The loss of Zeron Polik and the termination of his Oath of Loyalty suddenly impacted him heavily. It reached every corner of his body until the sensation of loss arrived at the Cursed Seals.

    As if the Cursed Seals had been waiting for this moment, they erupted with tremendous power. True Extraction was further amplified, but Michael didn''t pay any attention now. He was upied with the maelstrom of emotions that flooded his entire being at this moment.

    The Cursed Seals tremored violently, breaking down the locks that restrained the 4th Cursed Seal.

    Michael lost control of his body for a moment. The sudden sensation of a significant loss affected him much more than he thought it would. The Cursed Seals exploited Michael''s momentary weakness to take charge of his body.

    His world was shrouded in darkness as the Cursed Seals took over. Michael could not find out what was happening or how much time had passed. The only thing he could do was to retaliate against the Cursed Seals'' influence. He forced his mind and soul to ovee the loss of a trusted subordinate and an Oath of Loyalty and suppressed the Cursed Seals with all his might.

    His willpower was not as weak as it used to be. shing with the Cursed Seals'' tremendous influence dozens of times strengthened Michael''s willpower. It was nothing like it used to be. After all, he had sworn that he wouldn''t lose control over his body again ¨C though he failed miserably.

    Once light returned to Michael''s world, he immediately noticed something significant had changed. He might have regained control of his body, but the emotions that ravaged his entire being were still apparent. They influenced Michael and put him into a state of fury and uncontroble anger.

    Michael attempted to suppress the influence of emotions, but he noticed that the Cursed Seals were more substantial than they used to be. There was one more active Cursed Seal after all.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed to a slit as he looked down at his body. The Extraction Aura had already dissected his shirt, revealing the multitude of chains. Countless miniature seals appeared before his eyes, but Michael paid the most attention to the 4th Cursed Seal that had been unleashed when his mind and soul were at its weakest.

    Instead of looking like the other Cursed Seals, the irregrly manifested Cursed Seal was different. It was golden with crimson outlines and looked like it had been etched into Michael''s body.

    A vibrant red shimmer passed through Michael''s eyes, dying his ck pupils crimson. His skin ruptured around the 4th Cursed Seal, and crimson streaks that looked like glowing veins surfaced.

    Michael''s breath grew rougher, and the True Extraction Domain that dominated the surrounding area grew more potent.

    An ear-deafening roar escaped from the depth of Michael''s being, further intensifying his presence.

    It was almost like Michael had transformed into a demon. No. It was nearly as if he was about to undergo a metamorphosis into a devil.

    ''I don''t have full control of my body,'' Michael noticed as the rage and anger consumed him. He grit his teeth, but not even his willpower was strong enough topletely control his body.

    All he could do until he lost control of his body was to ess the remaining Links of Loyalty to force the Untamed Awakened and the Untamed Army to retreat.

    [Fall back!!!] He ordered, ignoring the frustration and retaliation of his subordinates. They wanted to stay by his side to fight the Savannah forces with him. All they desired became to be helpful and to obliterate their enemies alongside their Lord.

    However, Michael''smand was omnipotent. His subordinates fell back, but not without cursing Michael. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were especially loud. However, Tiara and Frederik were even more deafening. They aimed to eliminate as many enemies as possible while protecting the Untamed Jungle from the invading forces, only to receive orders to retreat a few minutes after Michael returned from his trip into the Savannah Region.

    Michael didn''t care about their anger and disapproval. He allowed the four Cursed Seals to go all out and flood him with anger, disgust, and uncontroble fury.

    Every single Link of Loyalty that had been severed in today''s battle, alongside the destruction of one Oath of Loyalty, impacted heavily on his mind. More than ten thousand members of the Untamed Army had died, and their numbers were about to reach 20,000. Almost half of the Untamed Army had been obliterated.

    The Cursed Seals took count of that, and they flooded him with the rage and anger of the 18,536 Summons who''d fallen victim to the Savannah forces.

    Michael didn''t hesitate anymore. On the contrary, his focus returned to the battlefield where the True Extraction Domain wreaked havoc.

    The lifeforce and origin energy, which arrived him after True Extraction drained it from tens of thousands of enemies, were used to reinforce the True Extraction Domain. Simultaneously, Michael produced Icicle Bullets infused with a tremendous amount of lifeforce. It became just enough to infuse into Tier-3 Awakened and kill them with an overdose of lifeforce.

    They didn''t know what was happening to them before the Icicle Bullets impacted them, infusing the massive amount ofpressed lifeforce.

    Michael didn''t pay any attention to the enemies below Tier-3. They died like moths in a wildfire once the golden mots of the True Extraction Domain arrived them.

    Michael''s interest in the Tier-3 Summons decreased drastically after he summoned the Soul Grimoire to apply a few Soul Tears on True Extraction. True Extraction''s power potency increased even further, only for the True Extraction Domain''s efficiency to skyrocket as tenyers of Enhancement were added to the fray.

    The stronger the Soultrait and the power used with the Soultrait, the higher the energy consumption of a singleyer of Enhancement. The higher the energy consumption, the more Enhancementyers are applied to the same target. It increased exponentially, forcing Michael to use tremendous energy to apply tenyers of Extraction on his most potent attack. However, Michael used the origin energy nheless. He had more than enough to spare since his energy storages were always filled to the brim.

    True Extraction''s potency and efficiency arrived a new height now that tenyers of Enhancement and a Soul Tear alongside four Cursed Seals were unleashed.

    The fourth Cursed Seal had the most significant impact. It allowed Michael to drain everyone''s origin energy in the True Extraction Domain. Even Tier-3 and Higher Lifeforms couldn''t block the True Extraction Domain''s full effect.

    They could decrease the amount of energy drained by the domain, but it became impossible to block the energy drain entirely ¨C not without using specific Soultraits and techniques, at least.

    The True Extraction Domain expanded rapidly. The farther it expanded, the more enemies and nt life were affected by its effect. Everything became drained of its lifeforce and origin energy, leaving Michael with an overflow of both.

    The origin energy became consumed to expand the domain further, whereas the lifeforce killed thousands of Tier-3 Summons by forcing more lifeforce into them than they could handle.

    Their bodies sttered in countless bits and pieces, leaving no big pieces behind.

    Michael sensed great. His entire being became overflowing with satisfaction as hundreds of thousands of enemies fell victim to his overwhelming power.

    A devilish smile stered his face as the confident forces of the Savannah transformed into a flock of headless chickens.

    Desperation filled their hearts, and Michael enjoyed it.

    His power ruled supreme.

    But it consumed him as well.

 Chapter 681 Grand Finale [VI]

    Chapter 681 Grand Finale [VI]

    ??Dozens of Summons surrounded Zeron Polik. He brandished his pair of des and shed the throats of two enemies.

    His Soultraits, Swift Steps, Haste, and Tempest de were unleashed to the brim, drastically elerating his movement speed. Each sh and strike released an additional second attack conjured frompressed winds. The strength of the Tempest de was directly corrted to the amount of energy and strength used in the initial attack.

    That allowed him to turn minor wounds into mortal injuries. A tiny scratch transformed into a gaping wound as the Tempest de burst out of Zeron''s des.

    He kicked the enemies behind him with his hind legs, hurling them through the air before elerating again. He weaved around his enemies quickly and agilely, killing dozens of Tier-3 Summons. After he released a bunch of Tempest des in all directions, Zeron Polik managed to kill various weaker Summons. The Tempest de had enough destructive power to destroy the defense of those who had yet to reach Tier-3. It was powerful and a threat to many Tier-3 Awakened as well.

    Once Zeron reached top speed using Swift Steps and Haste together, he was faster than some Higher Lifeforms. The Higher Lifeforms of the Savannah forces noticed that and diverted their attention to Zeron Polik to get rid of him before he became a more significant issue.

    The Savannah forces had a hard time dealing with their enemies. Their casualties were tens of times higher than the death rate of the Untamed Army. They haven''t even managed to kill a single Awakened yet, either.

    The Awakened of the Savannah understood the disparity in their strength quickly. They understood that the Untamed Awakened were leagues above them. There was no need topare each other. The Savannah''s Awakened were too weak. Their Artifacts were not that powerful, and their Soultraits weren''t as potent either.

    However, the Higher Lifeforms were still stronger than most Untamed Awakened. Bybining their strength, the Higher Lifeforms managed to pin down a few Untamed Awakened. They targeted Zeron Polik and entangled his legs, forcing him to slow down until the other Higher Lifeforms confined him. Zeron Polik''s most significant advantage was removed, causing him to struggle desperately against the Savannah forces.

    Six Higher Lifeforms struck simultaneously. Some pierced hisrge lower body, which looked like a white stallion, and others struck his human-like upper body. One attack, a crimson crescent de, shed Zeron Polik''s neck, tearing his throat apart.

    A fountain of blood gushed all over the ground as searing pain swept through Zeron Polik''s entire being. His sight grew hazy, and his movements sluggish.

    He knew that he was about to die, but he didn''t want to acknowledge his fate.

    Death might not be something to fear as a Warlock Centaur, but Zeron Polik was unsatisfied with his performance. It hadn''t been long since he grew stronger¡­since he attained true power.

    He had always been weaker than the prodigies of his age, but no more. After he met Michael, his fate changed. He surpassed his peak and grew stronger than he expected. As long as he faced only a single Higher Lifeform of the Savannah''s forces, Zeron Polik was confident he would emerge victorious.

    Unfortunately, Zeron Polik wasn''t granted more time. His legs caved in, and his body smashed hard onto the ground.

    His blood pooled around him on the ground, forming a warm, crimson puddle.

    ''Screw this!'' He cursed in his mind, rage and frustration umting deep inside his heart.

    ''Beat the shit out of them, Michael. PLEASE!'' Zeron Polik thought as thest bits of life escaped his body.

    He went still. His body stiffened. The Oath of Loyalty broke.

    However, before breaking the Oath of Loyalty transferred Zeron Polik''s rage and frustration to Michael.

    Michael was bound to fulfill Zeron Polik''sst wish. It was fated to happen.

    But there was one thing that wasn''t in fate''s control.

    The awakening of the crimson-golden Cursed Seal was not in fate''s grasp. It has never been.

    **

    Michael was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of corpses.

    Their energy influx flooded his War Rune, refining it repeatedly amid the battlefield.

    Michael was fortunate that his soul and body were stronger than the norm. By possessing a Cursed Soul and so many Soultraits, Michael was naturally stronger than others. He also managed to contain so many unprocessed energy influxes and energy shares without feeling stuffy. Others would feel like they were on the verge of exploding, but Michael hadn''t noticed anything yet. He barely saw anything in the first ce.

    The vibrant colors around him were drained and altered as the world dyed crimson.

    All he could see were the masses of enemies.

    Thousands of Qi Extraction Swords manifested in the sky. Before today, manifesting so many Qi Extraction Swords would have been difficult, but that was not the case anymore. Michael could tell instinctively that he was slowly getting closer to Extraction''s Essence. It was only a matter of time before he unraveled his Soultrait''s true potential and potency.

    His understanding of his Soultraits'' properties increased drastically over thest few weeks. However, his sensitivity toward Extraction''s power skyrocketed under the influence of the four Cursed Seals.

    It was shocking how much Michael understood all of a sudden.

    The Qi Extraction Swords had been infused with enough lifeforce to kill any Lesser Lifeform. Michael hurled them in all directions, each Qi Extraction Sword reaping a life.

    Some Qi Extraction Swords barely cut the targets, but that was enough to insert the lifeforce into the Lesser Lifeforms, ughtering them. The lifeforce tore them apart from within, resulting in a gruesome death.

    Michael didn''t care about how they died. All that mattered to him was that the Savannah forces died.

    He teleported to some Higher Lifeforms and circled them with hundreds of Qi Extraction Swords. 7-Star True Extraction merged with 5-Star Reinforced Sword Qi. Michael added bits and pieces of his Elementals Spheres to use spatial and earth-

    attributed energy to restrain the Higher Lifeforms'' movements before the Qi Extraction Swords exploded forth.

    The Higher Lifeforms blocked most attacks, but many scratched them, triggering Insert. Insert arge amount of Extraction''s power into the Higher Lifeforms, further draining their lifeforce and origin energy.

    Michael couldn''t kill many Higher Lifeforms instantaneously, but some of them fell victim to his overwhelming power. He added Heavenly Beast Physique to the fray, appeared the Aethyr de, and focused a portion of True Extraction Domain''s power on it.

    Michael added a few Enhancementyers and applied Reinforced Sword Qi on the Aethyr de. However, that was not enough to contain True Extraction. Its potency had been enhanced several times and was strong enough to overwhelm Michael.

    He couldn''t block the potency and fell victim to it as well.

    His body was torn apart, the skin and flesh all over his hands and arms dissected while he was still alive.

    It was far more painful than Michael imagined, but he tried to ignore it as much as possible. His expression distorted in pain, yet he killed two Higher Lifeforms by beheading them with the True Qi Extraction Sword that engulfed the Aethyr de.

    Right after, Michael inserted a massive amount of energy into Archangel''s Grace.

    Three pairs of humongous white-feathered wings sprouted from his back. However, they didn''t look like they used to look.

    Michael''s wings sparkled in golden mots, and crimson vein-like threads passed through them.

    Archangel''s Grace manifestation looked bloodthirsty. It didn''t seem like a Healing-type Soultrait at this point.

    However, Michael knew that nothing significant about the Soultrait had been changed. The only change was that Archangel''s Grace merged with the True Extraction Domain. Specifically, it tapped into the energy and lifeforce traversed through the True Extraction Domain.

    Michael''s body regenerated rapidly, barely countering the effect of the Qi True Extraction Sword that threatened to tear his arms apart.

    He healed as fast as he sustained damage. That was just what Michael needed, if not for the unbearable pain that continued to sweep through his arms as they were torn apart and healed countless times.

    It was exhausting, but Michael was too happy.

    He didn''t have to hold back for the sake of his mortality.

    He could go all out and break the limits of his mortal body!

    **

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 Chapter 682 Grand Finale [VII]

    Chapter 682 Grand Finale [VII]

    ??Michael understood clearly that the Cursed Seals affected him and that they made it a thousand times more enjoyable to ughter the Savannah forces.

    They were merely fragile peasants, weak ants that dared to go up against him, but it was exciting to kill them nheless.

    Michael broke into a menacingugh. He continued spreading the True Extraction Domain until he couldn''t control it. After Michael reached that point, he released countless Qi Swords, shrouded in various elements to increase their destructive power or velocity.

    He didn''t create any more Qi Extraction Swords and focused on the Qi True Extraction Sword that rested in his hands. Michael teleported all over the battlefield, crossing tens of kilometers instantaneously to behead and pierce the Higher Lifeforms, who were desperately trying to pin him down.

    However, Michael was as slippery as an eel. Whenever a Soultrait was about to hit him, Michael used Cosmic Stride. Sometimes, the enemies'' Soultraits were too weak to affect him. Hepressed the Extraction around him to obliterate the effects of their Soultraits before they could reach him in the first ce.

    The corpses around him piled up. Michael had long since lost count. Time passed rapidly, yet it felt like every second was stretched long. Everything happened in swift session, but at the same time, nothing happened.

    Half of the Savannah''s forces fell victim to the True Extraction Domain that continued to reap the lives of his enemies.

    Something changed at one point. The four Cursed Seals that had pushed Michael to his mortal limit and beyond stopped listening to him. They stopped thrumming all over his body and turned dimmer. Their effect deteriorated rapidly, and they...disappeared...

    Michael heard something crackle loudly in the depths of his being. It sounded like every bone in his body broke, but that was not the case. Something happened, but Michael was not sure what it was.

    ''Now that I need you...you leave me behind?!'' Michael cursed at the Cursed Seals, gritting his teeth. He tried to activate them again, but it didn''t work. It felt like the Cursed Seals retaliated against him.

    They changed their tactic.

    The True Extraction Sword shrouding the Aethyr de dispersed, whereas the True Extraction Domain''s power exploded, erupting in all directions before dispersing as well.

    Michael could instinctively tell that he could still use Extraction, but it was weaker than it used to be. Extraction entered a weakened state, leaving Michael exhausted with the remaining forces of the Savannah Region.

    There weren''t many enemiespared to before, but everyone could tell that Michael was exhausted and on the verge of copsing. The first opportunity to kill Michael appeared in front of the Savannah forces.

    ''What the...''

    Something like that never happened. Extraction had always been his strongest Soultrait. It was always overwhelmingly powerful, but that changed now.

    Extraction was weaker than his other Soultraits. It was only a temporary state, but Michael could instinctively tell that he couldn''t use Extraction to replenish his used-up energy and stamina for a few days.

    The timing couldn''t have been worse. Michael might have managed to kill the Higher Lifeforms and most powerful Lesser Lifeforms, but there were still hundreds of thousands of enemies for him to deal with. He was exhausted and couldn''t refill his stamina rapidly anymore. The only advantage at his disposal was that his energy pool was filled.

    Michael could also use Heavenly Beast Physique for a prolonged period if he consumed a bunch of SoulStar Fragments.

    "This is a bit annoying," He mumbled, descending to the ground to save more energy.

    He had to pay attention to his energy consumption now that he didn''t have a near-infinite amount of energy.

    Michael changed his stance and readied the Aethyr de. He took a deep breath and used Heavenly Beast Physique, enhancing his physical prowess drastically.

    He was physically stronger than the remaining enemies, but there were too many for him to deal with alone.

    Maybe he could kill a few hundred or a few thousand enemies before exhausting his stamina and energy reserves, but that was it. If he managed his energy reserves well and yed some dirty tricks, Michael should be able to deal with a few more enemies.

    ''I can do it!'' He thought, determination flickering in his golden eyes.

    Before Michael could charge the masses of enemies, dozens of Summons near him copsed to the ground. Their heads rolled over the ground, fountains of blood spurting out of their necks.

    Invisible Wind des whirled around Michael, greeting him in all directions right before shooting.

    Michael lifted his head to look at a youth flying through the sky.

    "Don''t keep all the fun to yourself!" Frederikughed, diving to the ground to stand beside Michael, where he conjured hundreds of tiny wind des. He released them in all directions and willed them to move zig-zag at a shocking velocity before piercing their targets'' vital points.

    "Didn''t I order you to leave with the others?" Michael asked.

    "You must not have noticed that you terminated the order a few minutes ago. I''m not the first to return to the battlefield," Frederik exined lightly. He pointed to the Untamed Jungle, where the Untamed Army was fighting with their lives on the line alongside the Untamed Awakened and the Valyrs.

    "This is not your fight, Michael," Frederik said. He puffed his chest out proudly and shoved a finger into it. "This is our fight!"

    Michael was a major ¨C if not the most important ¨C figure in the Regional War, but it was not only his battle. It was thebat of Arx and the Valyrs as well.

    Stinger emerged next to Michael and vanished a momentter. He was reced by the Forest Elves, Tiara, and Legion. Tiara and Legion charged at the iing enemies, their spears glimmering in the afternoon sun.

    They worked together with near-perfect sync and elerated. Tiara executed Thrust while transforming into the Silvarean Tiger. She used Inner Force while Legion struck and changed her trajectory suddenly as an energy bolt was about to crash into Legion''s head. She cut the energy bolt and pushed forward.

    The Silverfang pair disappeared in the crowd of enemies. However, it was not long until they were visible once again. The enemies surrounding them copsed lifelessly to the ground. At the same time, Hiraku and Frederik propelled forward. Frederik jumped on Hiraku''s shoulder, where roots and vines coiled around him to hold him down.

    Frederik could quickly pinpoint his targets at the elevated position on Hiraku''s shoulder. He unleashed countless windnces to kill the diminished forces of the Savannah. Hiraku did the same since almost no powerful enemies were left to deal with.

    The Untamed Awakened caused havoc. Theck of powerhouses in the enemies'' armies was taken advantage of. They were ughtered like livestock, merciless and swift.

    The Valyr Lordess and the Valyrs tried to keep up with the Untamed Awakened, but even the few Higher Lifeforms among them couldn''t push any harder. They were exhausted from the earlier battle, and it was already surprising that they could keep up with the others.

    No. Even more surprising that the Untamed Awakened were still overflowing with strength. Where did their staminae from?

    "Monsters!" Zira mumbled, a trace of envy contorting her expression.

    The Regional War against the 106 Lords was about to end.

 Chapter 683 Sold?

    Chapter 683 Sold?

    ??The days after the Regional War ended shed by quickly.

    Michael and his subordinates dealt with the 106 Lords of the Savannah Region. They overwhelmed them, killed the Awakened, and decimated the remaining defenders spread through the territories of the 106 Lords.

    There were no more surprises if one excluded that Michael was still having issues with Extraction.

    His main Soultrait was no longer weakened, but the Cursed Seals caused problems. Something about them was off, but Michael couldn''t tell what it was. He guessed that they were drained after they had been used too often and too long in a short period. However, that was merely a guess.

    But it was a fact that the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and the Savannah''s eastern area were no more. The abandoned settlements in Savannah''s eastern area had been torn apart by the True Extraction Domain, just like everything it engulfed.

    Michael ripped the towering trees, the densely grown bushes, and the wide variety of nt life that grew in the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring for decades into shreds.

    The damage caused to the Savannah didn''t matter to Michael, but the Untamed Jungle was not the same. Something profound in his chest tremored violently whenever he thought about his debt to the Untamed Jungle for damaging it.

    Michael was indebted to the Untamed Jungle.

    He collected saplings of the towering trees and a wide variety of seeds from the bushes, flowers, and herbs found all over the Untamed Jungle and nted them in the outer ring with Insert. After that, he requested aid from the Botanic Sorcerers and the Greater Nature Spirit to elerate the nt life''s growth.

    The outer ring reconnected to the Untamed Jungle and received enough nutrition and origin energy to grow. However, Michael could tell that it was not enough. His debt had not been repaid yet.

    "Calm down a little, and I will give you more than enough fertilizer," Michael spoke into the depths of the Untamed Jungle, even though he had no clue whether the Untamed Jungle could hear him or if it bothered him in the first ce.

    He had more than enough corpses to give the Untamed Jungle as fertilizer, but Michael had yet to loot them. The Will''s goods were still waiting for him to take.

    Michael would have extracted the goods of the Will if the flood of energy influxes that ravaged his body wasn''t blocking his energy veins.

    Even using Insert on some nts had been a heavy burden. That was something Michael had never expected to happen. However, he could understand why his body was in such a bad state. He obliterated the army of nine Lords, Higher Lifeforms, and their subordinates ¨C hundreds of thousands of them ¨C before rushing back to the Untamed Jungle, where he dealt with more than 1.5 million Summons and Awakened.

    He killed more than 50 Higher Lifeforms and 200,000 Tier-3 powerhouses. The remaining deaths were mostly Tier-2 Summons. That was what Michael guessed from the potency of the energy influxes that ravaged his body.

    If not for the energy influxes, Michael wouldn''t be able to tell the difference between Tier-2 Summons and Summons at a lower rank. After all, they died just as quickly in the True Extraction Domain.

    Too many energy influxes flooded Michael''s body for thest few days. His body was not on the verge of tearing apart just yet, but his War Rune upied most of his energy veins and Pir of Light to digest the energy influxes rapidly. His War Rune''s refinement degree increased quickly, and he was about to reach the Mid rank of Tier-3 shortly.

    "What are we going to do with the Savannah Region?" Lilica asked at some point.

    The Untamed Awakened gathered alongside the Valyr Lordess, her daughter, and the most influential Summons of Arx.

    "We lost 34,000 soldiers in the battle. There is no way that we can im the Savannah Region with an army of 6,000 members," Siegfried announced, "The strongest soldiers of Arx might have survived the Regional War, but they''re exhausted and injured as well."

    The Untamed Awakened talked a lot about the Regional War. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were excited about their gains and the fierce battles they fought near the end of therge-scale battle. Their opinion of Michael improved even more as well. They witnessed the true extent of Michael''s power and learned his limits.

    Their Oath of Loyalty grew even firmer as their trust, respect, and loyalty toward Michael improved. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs subordinate to Michael would never go against his words at this point. They might wonder about his reasoning, but they would obey nheless.

    "We are not going to conquer and im the Savannah Region," Michael announced, stirring the Untamed Awakened.

    "Wait wait wait?" Mika eximed, jumping up from the chair, "We fought with our lives on the line to defeat those motherlicking Lords, but we are not going to im their territories?"

    "We will raid their settlements, but we are not going to im the Savannah Region," Michael changed his phrasing with a smile.

    "So, you''re saying that we should profit as much as possible before pulling back into the Untamed Jungle?" Lilica inquired to reaffirm Michael''s decision.

    Tiara tilted her head, "We don''t have the workforce to im the entire Savannah Region in the first ce. Our workforce will increase soon, but it won''t be enough to establish tens of border settlements. Maybe we can build a second settlement, but that''s about it. The Untamed Jungle is too big to be controlled by two settlements. We shouldn''t stretch our forces too much, otherwise, we will end like the Lords of the Savannah Region."

    "Are we really going to leave the Savannah Region behind like this? Lords living near the Savannah''s border will probably invade the Savannah soon. We will have to deal with other opponents by then¡­ It''s such a hassle¡­" Frederik grunted, but Michael shook his head.

    "We won''t have to deal with threats from the Savannah Region for a while. After all, we have a cushion," Michael gestured to the Valyr Lordess and Zira, "I traded the Savannah Region to the Valyr a few weeks ago."

    Michael considered selling the Savannah Region to the Forest Elves, but they didn''t like the region. They needed extensive, densely-grown forests. The Silverfangs were not allowed to terminate their Link of Loyalty with Michael either. Therefore, no Silverfang could be a Lord, let alone im the Savannah Region.

    The Silverfangs would die when they tried cutting their Link of Loyalty with Michael. It was a little weird, but it was probably a restriction cast upon the Silverfang Tigerfolk by the Will.

    Michael could have sold the Savannah Region to the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, or Hiraku and Frederik, but he didn''t want to do that. He had to ensure that no one from the outside world would get hold of the Savannah Region.

    Nobody he knew from the outside world should be allowed to establish a foothold near the Untamed Jungle. The Origin Expanse was his hideout, and he didn''t want the problems from the outside world to affect him in the Origin Expanse as well.

    Hiraku was an exception, but Michael could discern Hiraku would stay in Arx. The Descendant''s Link of Loyalty was even firmer than Frederik''s Link of Loyalty at this point. It would be a big surprise if Hiraku decided to leave now.

    Michael came up with multiple reasons for selling the Savannah Region to the Valyr.

    First, he didn''t have the resources and manpower to im the entire Savannah Region. Even if he had the resources and manpower to im the Savannah Region in its entirety, Michael wouldn''t do that ¨C not before he was stronger than the strongest powerhouses of the Trnce.

    Michael was not yet ready to im an entire region because it would morph it into a secure territory for more Human Awakened to emerge. The Savannah Region ¨C if asserted by him ¨C would transform into a Human Domain. That would make everything a lot moreplicated than it had to be.

    He might even have to deal with High Society and others inside the Origin Expanse. Michael wanted to prevent that if possible.

    By iming the Savannah Region and focusing on his territory''s expansion into the Savannah, Michael would have to deal with more than 30 enemies bordering the Savannah Region.

    He didn''t like the pondered of jumping from one danger into the next since it felt like fate was going to throw more issues at him either way.

    Michael did not need to expose himself to more danger than necessary, whether it was other Lords or High Society.

    Of course, selling the Savannah Region to the Valyr didn''t mean Michael gave up the resource deposits within the Savannah. That would be foolish.

    Selling the Savannah Region created countless opportunities for the young Lord of the Untamed Jungle.

    That was also why he sealed various deals with the Valyr before they learned about hisbat prowess and the Untamed Awakened''s true power. He ensured the Valyrs pondered they were at a disadvantage until it was toote.

    Some might think that Michael was a fraud, especially the Valyrs, who were foolish enough to underestimate him, but it was not like it was Michael''s fault that the Valyrs didn''t believe he could deal with the Savannah Region''s Lords.

    In their eyes, he had been a mere Low Tier-3 Lords with above-

    averagebat strength.

    To their misfortune, it looked like they were as blind as moles.

    Lucky for Michael.

 Chapter 684 Controlling the Regional Ruler

    Chapter 684 Controlling the Regional Ruler

    ??The Valyr Lordess and her subordinates would have died without Michael. He achieved the ''impossible'' by killing the 106 Lords and clearing the Savannah Region. That was something nobody managed to do in thest few decades. It was a fantastic achievement and the reason Michael could make ridiculous demands of the Valyr Lordess.

    First, he told the Valyr they had to eliminate the remaining soldiers and Awakened, who continued roaming the Savannah Region. Their corpses had to be brought back to Michael.

    Since every Lord had an average of 100,000 Soldiers and they killed less than four million over thest few days and weeks, there were still millions left to kill.

    Traveling through the Savannah Region to search and eliminate the remaining Combat Summons and Awakened was dirty work. Others could have done it, but Michael didn''t want to deploy his Soldiers or the Untamed Awakened to ve away for weeks, if not months, to do something the Valyrs would have to do if they wanted to im the Savannah Region, either way.

    Michael made another atrocious demand besides the Combat Summons and Awakened corpses. The contracts said that if Michael killed more than half of the 106 Lords, he would be given 50% of all profit generated in the Savannah Region. The Valyr Lordess would have to work tirelessly before she could generate profit in the Savannah Region, but Michael was not in a rush. He would wait patiently to earn a fortune from the Valyr Lordess once she reimed territory to expand and generate profit from conquering the Savannah Region.

    Michael would earn a fortune from his initial investment in a few years or maybe a year or two. He wouldn''t have to protect the border with the Valyr Lordess because she was bound to ensure that no monster or Valyr was to invade the Untamed Jungle. The Valyr Lordess would deal with the enemies bordering the Savannah Region once she imed the Savannah Region. Therefore, she would protect hernd, acting as a cushion for Michael.

    Enemies from the west would have to crush the Valyr Lordess before reaching Michael. That was supposed to give Michael some peace.

    He also demanded something particr from the Valyr. It was pretty simple.

    Michael told the Valyr that they would only be allowed to im the Savannah Region if they handed over their criminals. Awakened criminals, to be precise.

    The Valyr Lordess would have to create a temporary Link of Loyalty with the criminals and use a Silver Teleportation Token, but it was possible. The criminals couldn''t be stronger than the Valyr Lordess to establish the Link of Loyalty. Using a Silver Teleportation Token for each criminal brought to the Origin Expanse would be extremely expensive, but Michael didn''t care. His demand didn''t change. He wanted Awakened Criminals.

    If the Valyr didn''t ept this condition, he wouldn''t allow the Valyr Lordess to regain her Lord Power and conquer the Savannah Region.

    Others might consider this short-sighted, mainly because the price of every Silver Teleportation Token was ridiculously high, but the value of every Tier-4 Awakened was enormous for Michael.

    Since he gave up the Savannah Region to the Valyrs, they had to sacrifice something as well. That was only fair.

    The higher-ups of the Valyr were confused about his demand. It didn''t make sense, but Michael didn''t answer any questions.

    He remained silent even after Zira asked him dozens of times about the reason for his weird demand. Michael was not ready to tell the Valyr that he would extract the SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits of the Awakened Criminals after reading their mind to ensure that they were terrible people and hadn''t been victimized.

    Extracting hundreds, if not thousands, of Awakened criminals while still alive should procure enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star. Simultaneously, the Soultrait Symbols extracted from the criminals ought to be numerous and versatile enough to solve all potential issues with Danny''s rescue mission.

    The Valyr were free to reject him. That was fine. But it was most efficient if the Valyrs epted his conditions. It was far less brutal than trying to escape Michael''s control.

    At the end of the day, he demanded a Race Pact with the Valyr to ensure that the Valyr wouldn''t try to harm him in any way as long as he didn''t harm them either.

    Whereas the demand for criminals was weird, the Race Pact was considered over the top. The higher-ups of the Valyr race did not think signing a Race Pact with a single individual was necessary. However, after learning that Michael wielded all Elements and that he had ten or more Soultraits, they quickly changed their opinion.

    The most important aspect was that Michael managed to strengthen his subordinates. The Valyr Lordess and her subordinates were unsure how Michael did it, but they could tell that the Untamed Awakened''s Soultraits were stronger than they used to be. Their Soultraits were stronger and they managed to procure more Soultraits.

    Every member of the Untamed Awakened had at least three Soultraits. Each of them was a 4-Star Soultrait as well. Even the weakest Soultraits of the Untamed Awakened were strong enough topete with the Soultraits of the Valyrs'' Elite.

    It was merely a matter of time before the Untamed Awakened could bepared to the Valyrs'' prodigies.

    Once the higher-ups learned about Michael, his power, and his various incidents with other Lords since he entered the Origin Expanse, they understood why he was so vignt. They epted his conditions and signed a Race Pact.

    Several weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

    Nature reimed the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring and expanded further, stretching across the border to the Savannah Region.

    The Valyr Lordess left Arx with her subordinates. They teleported straight to the Savannah Center, where the Valyr Lordess used the Lord Seal, procured from her people, to re- establish her territory.

    She used the resources supplied by her higher-ups to expand her territory rapidly. Hundreds of Elite Valyrs were sent to the Savannah Region to help the Valyr Lordess im the entire Savannah Region.

    Three months passed until the Valyr Lordess managed to im the Savannah Region. There had been someplications, but she managed to transform the Savannah Region into a domain of the Valyr Race.

    In the meantime, Michael advanced rapidly. Digesting all energy influxes took longer than expected, but Michael hadn''t been in a rush. He reached the Mid rank of Tier-3 and advanced straight to the upper threshold of the Mid rank. It was merely a matter of time before he advanced to the Late rank.

    His body, mind, and soul refinement progressed rapidly in thest few weeks. He was stronger than ever.

    But the most important thing was that Michael regainedplete control of Extraction. His Cursed Seals were still stirring trouble, but he could activate them again. Their effect on his mind and emotions was even stronger than it used to be, however, that was something Michael expected to happen.

    After all, the fourth Cursed Seal was a lot more potent than the first three.

    Michael was still unsure what to think about the Cursed Seals and their influence on him. However, he was d that he could activate them once again.

    Atst, he could use the strongest form of Extraction again.

    That was about time.

    A few million corpses were waiting for him to extract, after all!

 Chapter 685 Divine

    Chapter 685 Divine

    ??Three months passed in the Origin Expanse since the Regional War ended, but Michael had yet to return to the Saphirke Military Academy once.

    He was too focused on his progress and Arx''s development that he forgot the time.

    But Michael was not the only one who improved. Everyone''s pace and progress were rapid at first. The energy influxes from the grand finale of the Savannah Regional War skyrocketed the progress of the entire Untamed Army. The overflowing energy influxes granted a unique effect. They stimted the body, mind, and soul, elerating their refinement drastically.

    The stimtionsted three months for Awakened like Frederik, Hiraku, and everyone else who''d wreaked havoc during the Regional War.

    Fortunately, Michael and his subjects harvested enough resources from the settlements of the 106 Lords to supply everyone with everything they needed to grow stronger. Frederik advanced to Tier-3, and Hiraku was a hair breadth away from ascending to a Higher Lifeform. All Hiraku needed was a slight push, and he would metamorph into a Higher Lifeform.

    The resources hoarded in Arx''s warehouses were enough to rebuild the Untamed Army. To be precise, the Untamed Army grew stronger than it used to be.

    But there was more to it.

    Michael managed to procure the Summoning Cores of all 106 Lords. Simultaneously, the trading cycle with his business partners earned him a fortune. It was possible to expand the trading cycle using the surplus resources. No matter how Michael looked at it, he was sure to earn a vast fortune every month at this point. He wouldn''t have to participate in territorial battles to earn a fortune. His connections and business contracts earned him more than most ordinary Lords could earn in years ¨C if not decades.

    Unfortunately, not everything was excellent. Michael had been forced to practice Sanctum of Life daily for three months to strengthen his soul. He had to ensure that the Cursed Seals wouldn''t overwhelm him again.

    Simultaneously, he was practicing Sanctum of Life, expanding his soul, creating arger foundation to store Soul Power and fuse Soul Traits.

    Michael could use the Cursed Souls once again because of his tireless efforts and the use of mountains of resources over thest three months.

    They affected him slightly, but he barely noticed them while he was in an emotional-neutral state. Even when he was emotional, Michael could control them better than three months ago. It was far from perfect, but Michael knew he had to use his advantages to make the most out of his circumstances.

    The Zentika Empire hadn''t stirred any trouble in recent months, and the Savannah had been silenced, yet Michael didn''t feelfortable. He knew his ''luck'' better than anyone. It was only a matter of time before someone in the Origin Expanse or High Society would stir trouble. Michael had to grow stronger by all means to ovee the ordeals.

    He didn''t have the luxury to take it slow.

    Thus, Michael went all out¡ªusing the Soul Tears, Enhancement, and all Cursed Seals¡ªto extract the massive mountain range of corpses that had umted in his spatial rings.

    He began extracting the bodies of the Summons, Awakened, and Lords, who had once reigned over the Savannah Region. It took him a while to get started as he wasted months before he could use his Cursed Seals again, but Michael knew that True Extraction would produce far better results than Extraction used without the four Cursed Seals.

    Several days passed in the blink of an eye. Michael didn''t leave the main warehouse yet. All one could see were hundreds of workers entering and leaving the warehouse with spatial satchels and other storage devices.

    They entered with empty storage devices and left the warehouse with thousands of lifeless bodies stored away. The bodies were spread throughout the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring to repay Michael''s debts to the Untamed Jungle.

    It took ten days before Michael was done extracting 8,000,000 Summons. Almost 3.5 million Summons had been killed by Michael and his people, which yed a major role in the extraction of the Will''s loot.

    However, the most important gains came from the Awakened corpses, like always. Unfortunately, there had only been 6500ish Awakened, including the Lords of the Savannah Region. There were fewer Awakened corpses than Michael had been hoping for, but his hope had been wishful thinking.

    Michael and his people had already killed close to 4,000 Awakened before the grand finale. Adding the reinforcement they received, every Lord had an average of 100 Awakened under their control. That was a lot more than most average Lords could handle. It showed clearly that the higher-ups of the 106 Lords thought highly of the Savannah Region.

    The 6,500ish Awakened corpses paled inparison to the eight million Summons, but both sides were essential for Michael. He needed the loot generated by the Awakened corpses and the Summons.

    "How much did we get?" Michael asked the attendants who calcted his gains.

    Michael could count them on his own, but that would take eons. That was how much he gained from the Regional War.

    "My Lord, s-starting from the gains produced by the Summons, we calcted that you gained 192,000,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 4,955,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, 2,853,000 blueprints of varying quality, and 245,500 Artifacts ranging from 1-Star Tierless to 4-Star Tier-4¡­"

    Michael couldn''t suppress his emotions when he heard about the gains. His entire body shuddered wildly, and the Cursed Seals within him screamed as if they were trying to tell him that they were why Michael had gained so much. If that was what they wanted to convey¡­they were probably right. He would have never gained so much without the Cursed Seals activated alongside Soul Tear and severalyers of Enhancement.

    Michael''s hair stood up to its end, filled with excitement. Combining all Summoning Scroll Fragments should be enough to create a new type of Scroll. It should be enough to find out if there was a Scroll that was even more valuable than LegendarySummoning Scrolls!

    However, instead of jumping around andbining the Summoning Scroll Fragments immediately, Michael cleared his throat and tried his best to contain his emotions.

    "That''s great. What about the Awakened?"

    The attendant was just about to say something when Michael recalled something.

    "Forget it. I forgot that I stored the Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments already."

    Michael''s mind was in a mess after hearing how much he had gained from the Regional War. He gestured for the attendants to leave and closed his eyes to examine the profits hoarded in his War Rune.

    ''6625 Memory Orbs, 509 Soultrait Symbols, and¡­553,539 SoulStar Fragments''

    He shuddered when he realized how much he''d gained. The most significant profits came from Higher Lifeforms and the ''Elite'' Awakened, who had been deployed to help the 106 Lords to suppress their enemies. Most Elite had decent Soultraits and were Late or Peak Tier-3 Awakened. Those factorsbined transformed into a much better boon than Michael expected.

    He didn''t have any expectations when hepared the meager number of Awakened corpses with the massive pile of Summons, but that had been a misconception from his side.

    550,000ish SoulStar Fragments, as well as 509 Soultrait Symbols, could change everything.

    ''What am I supposed to do now? Spend the SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire? No. I can first use the Summoning Scrolls and Summoning Scroll Fragments to umte more Soul Power. If Soul Grimoire grows strong enough through the influx of Soul Power, I might not even have to invest too many SoulStar Fragments to rescue Danny!''

    Even though Michael gained more SoulStar Fragments than ever, he was more excited about the Summoning Scroll Fragments.

    He retrieved millions of Summoning Scroll Fragments from various storage devices. His heart began to beat wildly as the Scroll Fragments swirled around each other. At first, hundreds of Fragments swirled around each other, but it didn''t take long before a small typhoon of Scroll Fragments formed. Hundreds of Scroll Fragments transformed into tens of thousands. Tens of thousands umted quickly to hundreds of thousands, which formed into millions.

    A maelstrom of over a hundred million Summoning Scroll Fragments formed in the warehouse ¨C or what was left. The surge of power created by the maelstrom tore the warehouse apart. Michael could barely warn his subjects to retreat while extending his energy to store the goods in the warehouse inside his War Rune storage.

    Tens of minutes transpired before the maelstrom controlled every Summoning Scroll Fragment. 192,000,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments had turned into a deadly stream of energy and Fragments. They tore everything in their path apart.

    ''That''s not enough?'' Michael screamed in his mind. He retrieved the 4,955,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, manifested the Soul Grimoire, and unleashed a Soul Tear, ten Extractionyers, and all Cursed Seals to rip the Summoning Scrolls apart with True Extraction.

    Tens of millions of Summoning Scroll Fragments spurted out of the massive mountain of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. They were pulled into the Maelstrom of Scroll Fragments until 250,000,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments were linked.

    The maelstrom shrunk as the Summoning Scroll Fragments congregated.

    Michael swallowed hard and waited patiently as the maelstrom shrunk further. He ignored the destruction caused by the massive pile of 250 million Summoning Scroll Fragments and initiated Spirit Eyes to witness the first of a Summoning Scroll ranked higher than the Legendary Summoning Scroll.

    It seemed like hours transpired before Michael caught a nce of a pristine white Summoning Scroll.

    The Summoning Scroll was wless, unblemished.

    It was a Divine Summoning Scroll.

 Chapter 686 World

    <h4>Chapter 686 World</h4>

    Michael smiled from one ear to another as he approached the Summoning Gate.

    He had no idea what to expect from the pristine Summoning Scroll that rested in his hand, but the uncertainty transformed into even more excitement. There was no way that the Divine Summoning Scroll would summon something useless.

    The Untamed Awakened, Siegfried, Tatjana, and various influential members of Arx gathered near the settlement center to witness the birth of Arx''s first Divine Summon.

    Michael took a deep breath as he stopped before the Summoning Gate. His eyes locked onto the Divine Summoning Scroll and the unblemished seal that contained the Divine Summon.

    He didn''t dare to touch the seal. Instead, he released origin energy and broke the seal with a burst of energy.

    The moment the seal broke, a terrifying pressure swept through the settlement center. The pressure expanded and stretched far beyond Arx. Everyone sensed that something miraculous was about to happen. Nobody could focus on their task ahead, forcing them to stop working. Their heads flicked to Arx''s center, where the pressure was the strongest.

    Michael could barely breathe in the center of the pressure. His legs quivered, and his vibrant golden eyes widened in terror when the true horrors of the Divine Summoning Scroll were unleashed.

    The Scroll unfolded, revealing millions of iprehensible miniature runes. The runes were alive. They freely moved through the pristine white parchment and connected until they transformed into the humongous image of something that felt both impossible and incredibly simple.

    The image disappeared from Michael''s view, and a momentter, he forgot about what he had seen. It felt like his memory of the image had been ripped out of his mind.

    Michael swallowed hard as the Divine Summoning Scroll disappeared inside the Summoning Gate''s energy pool.

    The Scroll''s pressure dissipated when it disappeared in the energy pool, but Michael didn''t ease up. Nobody did. Instead, Michael felt the tension all over his body rise. His Cursed Seals tremored, and a hoarse growl escaped the depth of his being. The growl was more like a whisper, but Michael heard it clearly. It resonated through his entire being, both warning and threatening him.

    It was almost as if the being at the depth of Michael''s being feared what was about to happen.

    Michael clenched his fists and stared at the Summoning Gate as it vibrated. A semi-translucent glow coated the Summoning Gate''s frame when the first stars etched in it lit up.

    The following stars lit up quickly.

    At first, all ten stars of the Summoning Gate lit up, and everyone observing it gasped in shock. However, the Summoning Gate changed again. The stars dimmed down again until no star glimmered in the afternoon sun anymore.

    The Summoning Gate''s energy pool cracked as currents of white energy spilled out. The energy coiled around the Summoning Gates, instantly illuminating eight stars. A few secondster, a ninth star lit up brighter than any other star.

    In the next few minutes, the stars etched into the Summoning Gate lit up and dimmed down one after another.

    All of a sudden, the Summoning Gate''s metal frame cracked. However, this time, the crackling was not just a sound that echoed through the surroundings. This time, the crackling came from the metal frame, which couldn''t endure the tremendous pressure that weighed heavily on it.

    Arge crack formed in the metallic frame. The crack expanded rapidly, exposing the ferocious aura that the Summoning Gate should have contained.

    Michael shuddered when the ferocious aura reached him, but he didn''t back off. Instead, he stepped closer to the Summoning Gate and smiled lightly.

    The crimson-golden Cursed Seal manifested all over his chest, his dark pupils turned crimson, and a thunderous roar escaped his lips.

    Something about the Summoning Gate changed as his roar reverberated through Arx''s center. The spectators retreated several steps, but Michael didn''t notice anything anymore. Only the thing shrouded by the depth of the Summoning Gate attracted his attention at this point.

    He expected the Link of Loyalty to be initiated at any point, but nothing like that happened. Michael should have been worried that something was going wrong, however, his instincts told him nothing was wrong. His mind screamed at him, telling him to run for his life, but Michael didn''t move. He straightened his back and stared into the Summoning Gate, which creaked and twisted as the metal frame expanded.

    The Gate was on the verge of bursting apart as the tip of something massive pushed through the energy pool.

    The following seconds went by in the blink of an eye. A huge creature shot out of the energy pool. It brushed by Michael and shoved him aside before ascending high into the air.

    Much like the winged mythical serpent, a horrifying presence ¨C only worse ¨C appeared in the Untamed Jungle. It swept through the outer rings in a second, only to be redirected upon Michael.

    Michael couldn''t move, and time around him slowed as his eyes fell upon the massive creature, whose golden elliptical eyes locked upon him.

    A trail of energy pierced through Michael''s forehead.

    [A juvenile Curse User. No, you are not yet a Curse User, but you have been marked. Interesting. You are a Lesser Lifeform who defies the marks¡­ It seems like I''m not the first of our kind you''ve encountered, young one.]

    A voice, a hissing, to be precise, resounded through his mind.

    Michael swallowed, falling back. He regained bnce before crashing onto the ground, but the others were less fortunate. Every lifeform in the outer rings of the Untamed Jungle copsed to the ground, unable to move an inch.

    [Your willpower is not too bad. It could have been better, but I cannot sense the presence of a master upon you. All I can feel is a weak Cursed Soul attached to yours. Can you see me?]

    Michael twitched. His head thrummed, and his heart palpated like crazy.

    Of course, he could see the monstrosity that had emerged from the Summoning Gate. How could he not see it?!?

    The massive serpent covered the sky all over Michael''s territory. But that was not the true extent of the gigantic monstrosity. It also shrouded the Untamed Jungle''s outer ring in darkness. One scale of the ginormous serpent covered Arx''s center entirely.

    [Was it destiny or bad luck that brought us together, Cursed Child] The humongous serpent asked.

    The creature continued to stare at Michael, who managed to make eye contact with it.

    A chuckle resounded through Michael''s head.

    [May the future tell us.]

    The serpent lunged forth and dived to the ground. Its head covered Arx''s center at once. The serpent''s snout crashed heavily into Michael, who was still petrified and unable to move.

    He anticipated his body to be mashed and unbearable pain to wash over him, but nothing like that happened.

    There was no pain or pressure.

    The serpent smashed into him¡­and disappeared inside him.

    The picture of a massive, ck-scaled serpent with golden eyes slithering across his entire back and neck was engraved into his body and weaved into his existence.

    [Long time no see¨C...] It said, but Michael knew the serpent wasn''t talking to him.

    A ferocious hiss and a frightening roar reversed through Michael''s body.

    The World Serpent collided with Michael''s Curse.

    [End of Volume 11]

 Chapter 687 Settlement

    <h4>Chapter 687 Settlement</h4>

    A few months passed in the blink of an eye.

    Atst, the Valyr Lordess established a stable foundation in the Savannah Region. In thest six months, they struggled a lot and suffered various defeats, but they overcame all ordeals and managed to transform the Savannah into the domain of the Valyr race.

    But that was not without help. The territories adjacent to the Savannah Region heard a lot about the massacre of the 106 Savannah Lords and decided not to follow their desire to expand into the Savannah Region. The news about the destruction caused by Michael spread quickly into the surrounding regions. Those who escaped Michael''s grasp by a hair''s breadth fled and shared their information with the other Lords. In their stories, Michael was an invincible devil. He was not someone a mortal should enrage if they desired to keep their lives and territories intact.

    Only a small batch of Lords didn''t believe the refugees'' stories. They invaded the Savannah and tried to establish a foothold in the Savannah Region. The Valyr finally defeated them, pushing them away, but their victory didn''te without any casualties. The Valyr lost a lot. However, it was all worth it. They imed the Savannah Region.

    The Valyrs were thankful that Michael''s image instilled fear in the hearts of the enemies bordering the Savannah Region, drastically decreasing the difficulty of conquering.

    Therefore, it was no wonder the higher-ups of the Valyr race were willing to send Michael many criminals. The criminals were all crippled Higher Lifeforms, but they were only at the 4th Tier because the Valyr Lordess was only a Tier-4 Lord. It would have been better if the crippled criminals were stronger, but Michael epted the crippled criminals nheless.

    Up until now, the Valyr shipped 100 criminals to the Untamed Jungle. Michael read their minds before he extracted their Soultraits and SoulStar Fragments while they were still alive.

    He managed to procure 100 Soultraits in total and 1800 SoulStar Fragments per criminal. The gains were good enough to satisfy Michael. After all, the SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits were produced without a fight. Michael obtained them without any additional work. The criminals were a source of passive ie.

    However, Michael had heavy expenses to pay. The SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols extracted from the criminals were used up quickly.

    Michael chose to upgrade the Soul Grimoire to 6-Star after inserting another Soultrait called ''Soul Container'' into it. He first upgraded Soul Container to 4-Star before using Insert to merge Soul Container with Soul Grimoire. Thereafter, Michael utilized 100,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade the Soul Grimoire to 6-Star. The upgrade was expensive, but it was worth it, in Michael''s opinion.

    The Soul Grimoire''s capacity increased drastically, and even the Soul Tear ability grew stronger. Although Michael wasn''t focused on the Soul Tears, he figured they would be useful as well.

    There was only one problem with Soul Grimoire. It was a tiny function that confused Michael a little.

    "Purification. The souls stored within the Soul Grimoire will be purified," Michael mumbled, "That doesn''t seem like a good thing for Cursed Living Souls. If the Curse is connected to the Living Soul''s spark of life, purifying it will be...disastrous..."

    Michael wondered if it was better to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star before attempting to rescue his brother, but he could tell that the Soul Grimoire was alreadyrge enough to contain Daniel''s Living Soul. The only issue was that Michael couldn''t be sure whether Danny''s Curse would cause trouble or not.

    Unfortunately, he had to research a little bit more before he could rescue Danny.

    The only good thing was that the Miniature Coffin Keychain''s preservationsted longer in the Origin Expanse than outside. His mother told him that Danny had only a year. Ten months, to be precise. However, the Miniature Coffin Keychain couldst almost two years in the Origin Expanse.

    It looked like the time dtion between the outside world and the Origin Expanse also affected the Miniature Coffin Keychain.

    Of course, that didn''t mean Michael''s patience wouldst this long. He was anxious and wanted to rescue his brother as soon as possible. His anxiety was big enough to convince Michael that he should talk to his mother as quickly as possible. There was only one problem with that.

    He had to stay in the Origin Expanse until his Summoning Gate had been fixed.

    Michael''s territory didn''t wee a single new Summon in Arx for three months. That was not because Michael disliked Summons, but it was owed to the World Serpent''s summoning. The World Serpent''s emergence through the Summoning Gate damaged it.

    The Summoning Gate was severely damaged. It was impossible to summon anything through it, but that was only a tiny issuepared to the real deal. Michael couldn''t leave the Origin Expanse without threatening to annihte the Summoning Gate.

    His presence and constant maintenance were why the Summoning Gate didn''t break. His presence stabilized the Summoning Gate. If he''d left Arx or the Origin Expanse, the Summoning Gate in Arx would be no more. Michael would have lost his Lord Power with the destruction of his Summoning Gate. That was certainly not something Michael wanted.

    He needed his Lord Powers to rescue Danny. The Soul Power granted through the Links of Loyalty was necessary to strengthen Extraction. Extraction might be a 7-Star Soultrait, but the massive amount of Soul Power umted within the Soultrait Symbol was part of why it was so powerful. The Soul Power was needed to safely extract Danny''s Living Soul and insert it into the Soul Grimoire.

    Fortunately, Michael and his subjects managed to repair the Summoning Gate. It took them three months and a bunch of spare parts from the 106 Savannah Lords'' Summoning Gates, but they repaired it. To be precise, the Summoning Gate was more prominent and sturdier than it used to be.

    Michael and his subjects determined to initiate the Summoning Gate''s upgrade to the Intermediate rank instead of wasting precious resources to repair the Basic Summoning Gate. The extra costs weren''t too high. The only issue was that Michael missed a single part toplete the upgrade.

    Fortunately, thest part wasn''t required to activate the Summoning Gate. Michael could activate it once again, so he did right away. He didn''t want to waste any more time¡ªit was time to expand his territory, after all!

    Even though the poption in Arx didn''t increase, that didn''t mean Michael and his subjects were idle. Countless things have changed in thest few months. Everything in the territory expanded. A second settlement had already been established.

    Michael and his people prepared the second settlement for the surge of Summons that would stream into the Untamed Jungle once the Summoning Gate was ready. Everything necessary to expand Michael''s territory had been prepared.

    The siege tower defense had been installed throughout the middle area of the Untamed Jungle. Not even Higher Lifeforms were resilient enough to survive the bombardment of the weapons Michael and the engineers created in thest few months.

    The second settlement wasn''t too deep inside the Untamed Jungle. Instead, it was in a different spot in the middle area, slightly closer to the inner circle. Its location was very advantageous because it connected perfectly to the Underground Forging Hall, Arx, and the Savannah Region¡ªif necessary. The location was also well-hidden in a shroud of thickets and towering trees. It was easy to get lost in that area. Of course, that only applied to strangers.

    Michael''s subjects knew enough about the Untamed Jungle to find their destination blindfolded.

    The second settlement was close to the inner circle. It was much easier to go out and hunt the monsters in the inner circle ¨C though Michael stopped actively hunting monsters.

    Michael had enough resources to decide that actively hunting monsters was not worth it unless it was to regte their poption.

    He and his subjects altered into the forest rangers of the Untamed Jungle, at least for now.

    Thebat experience gained from hunting monsters was great, but it was not like they had to go out to hunt. Instead, more than enough monsters came their way to hunt.

    The Greater Nature Spirit and the masses of summons gathered in the settlements attracted various monsters from the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle. After all, the energies and essence congregating in Michael''s territory¡ªand the settlements¡ªwere ever-present and highly attractive to various monsters.

 Chapter 688 Repaired

    <h4>Chapter 688 Repaired</h4>

    Now that the Summoning Gate was repaired, Michael could resume summoning more Summons. He''d hoarded the Ordinary Summoning Scrolls procured from trading Mythic Summoning Scrolls at the Bartholomew Corporation andbined them to 1-Star Named Scrolls whenever he had enough Scrolls to spare.

    After several months of anonymous trading at the Bartholomew Corporation, Michael had hoarded more than 100,000 1-Star Named Scrolls and 400,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    He didn''t hesitate to break their seals, summoning 500,000 Summons.

    Atst, Michael could expand his territory properly. He had enough resources to support the rapid expansion of his poption. It was a happy day.

    Michael spectated the spectacr summoning process. Dozens of Starless Summons emerged from the Summoning Gate''s energy pool at a time. A tour guide approached the batches and weed them into the territory. They introduced the new Summons into Michael''s territory and shared all necessary information as they strode through Arx.

    Not all Summons would stay in Arx, but most would be introduced to Arx before they could move to Brynud, the second settlement in Michael''s territory.

    Arx was Michael''s main settlement for now, but that was only for now. Michael had already nned to transform Arx into an indestructible border settlement. Therefore, Arx wouldn''t continue to expand at some point. Instead, it would be fortified until it was near-indestructible.

    Brynud was simr. However, instead of being a border settlement, Brynud would transform into the second line of defense. It would develop simr to Arx. The sole difference was that Brynud was bound to grow into a muchrger settlement.

    Arx was the first border settlement, but it wouldn''t be any more than one of many in the future. Michael was not in a rush, but he nned to conquer the portion of the Untamed Jungle that bulged out of the True Untamed Jungle in the next two years. If his subjects continued to work as hard as they worked currently, two years should be more than enough to im the entire bulging part.

    All he needed was enough workforce, which was not a problem thanks to Extraction and Insert, resources, and measurements to block and eliminate all threats.

    As long as Michael had enough space and resources to provide for his subjects, he could summon as many as he wanted. The anonymous trading of Mythic Summoning Scrolls was far more lucrative than he had expected.

    He didn''tck resources anymore, either. The trading cycle generated mountains of resources. For now, the mountains of resources were utilized to expand the trading cycle. Still, it was only a matter of months before he could use the resources to expand his territory rapidly.

    The only thing Michael cked'' was military might. That was not entirely true. Michael had enough military might to man four to five settlements with guards. However, Michael was not satisfied with the bare minimum. He didn''t want to expand his territories and construct several settlements if he couldn''t ensure that invaders¡ªwhether Monsters, Summons, or Awakened¡ªcouldn''t enter his settlements and harm his people.

    Michael desired to protect his people. He was responsible for them. Therefore, he wouldn''t summon more Summons than he could handle. 500,000 new Summons were a lot, but Michael was confident he could take care of them. Among the 100,000 1-Star Named Summons, 50% were Combat Summons. Michael would add them to the Untamed Army and have them undergo hellish training to advance to Tier-2 as quickly as possible.

    Once they reached Tier-2, they would be perfect to guard his settlements as ordinary Guards. The Elite Guard position would be staffed by Tier-3 Summons, preferably Holy Knights or veteranbatants unwilling to continue fighting at the frontlines.

    The Regional War against the Savannah''s rulers ended half a year ago. That was more than enough time to take care of one of the most important tasks: finding suitable Awakened to bring to Arx.

    Because the Summoning Gate had been broken, it wasn''t possible to bring the second and third batches of Awakened to his territory. However, that didn''t mean Michael didn''t take care of them. On the contrary, Michael ensured that they used thest three months ¨C six months passed in the Origin Expanse ¨C to study, practice and grow stronger.

    Michael had Reba Zauber and her friend take care of the Awakened Agency. She tested the most suitable candidates multiple times and gave them enough resources ¨C Michael''s ¨C to grow stronger. Their progress, determination, and willpower were tested several times until they were found suitable or unsuitable for bing Michael''s subordinates.

    Now that the Summoning Gates had been fixed, Michael weed 175 Awakened into his territory. They had to be flown to the Saphirke Military Academy to establish the Link of Loyalty and allow the Awakened to anchor in Michael''s domain before they used the Silver Tokens of Transportation to appear in Arx.

    The transportation fees and the cost of training the Awakened were not something everyone would be willing to pay. A single Silver Token of Transportation was already extremely expensive, yet He hired a spaceship to pick up 175 Awakened and bring them to the Saphirke Military Academy, which was a 30-day-long trip across the Ster System. However, Michael was willing to invest that much into his Awakened.

    They may look weak in other people''s eyes, but to Michael, they were unpolished diamonds¡­and he had the only means to polish them. After all, he was the only one who could give these ''failed'' Awakened what theycked the most. He could reward them with Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades!

    Michael granted the neers a huge loan of Jungle Points, allowing them to purchase two Abilities and the means to upgrade them to 4-Star right away. The Awakened''s Links of Loyalty were growing much faster than the other Links of Loyalty. They never expected that Michael would give them several Soultraits and the points required to upgrade them. In the first hour of being in Michael''s territory, they transformed from weaklings with useless Soultraits into Elite Awakened with several Soultraits. Their Soultraits weren''t even at a low rank.

    Their lives changed instantly. Nobody would frown upon them anymore. That was all thanks to Michael.

    Their trust, gratitude, and loyalty toward He skyrocketed.

    Michael could sense that, but he was too overwhelmed by the massive influx of Soul Power and the creation of 500,000 Links of Loyalty to focus on the Awakened.

    Newly established Links of Loyalty were fragile and known for getting stimted the most 24 hours within their creation. Poption would get to know their Lord through other subjects, and they would learn a lot about the territory, dangers, and the territory''s condition in the first few days of their summoning. Every bit and piece of information would affect the firmness of their Link of Loyalty and their opinion of their new Lord.

    Michael was not worried about that. If anything, he was curious how strong everyone''s Link of Loyalty would grow in the next few days.

    Maybe the Soul Power generated by the firmest Links of Loyalty would reinforce his Abilities enough to resurrect Danny without their mother''s help.

    But He doubted that. He would have to approach his mother soon.

    Unfortunately.

 Chapter 689 Living Image

    Chapter 689 Living Image

    ??It was an amazing feat that Michael had more than 700,000 Summons and just about 200 Awakened in his territory. He had the means to transform the Awakened into real powerhouses once they were also nurtured properly. However, instead of being overjoyed, Michael thought about his mother.

    A single thought about his mother soured his happiness instantaneously.

    Michael might not like his mother, but she was his only link to the Nest. He was unsure what to think about the Nest, but given his mother''s power and abilities, it was obvious that the Nest was strong and knowledgeable. They knew a lot about Curses and the Cursed Seals.

    ''I wonder what she will think about the World Serpent.''

    The World Serpent hasn''t resurfaced in thest three months. It stayed inside Michael and spoke to him asionally. However, it didn''t provide any helpful information. Michael didn''t even know what exactly the World Serpent was. It merged with him, creating an intricate and detailed image that spread all over his back.

    Michael never heard of a Summon capable of merging with their Lord. In the first ce, no Link of Loyalty was established between Michael and the World Serpent. Since the Summoning Gate didn''t manage to trigger the Link of Loyalty between the two parties, the World Serpent must have been too strong for Michael to handle. But that didn''t make any sense.

    The Summoning Gate always summoned Tierless Summons. Even the Legendary Summons were Tierless entities until they regained some of their strength. The Silverfangs didn''t even die, yet summoning them takes away their progress. That was how it was supposed to be.

    However, the World Serpent was different. The moment he summoned it, Michael knew that it was much more than a Summon. It was different, almost like it was never integrated into the Origin Expanse like it was never supposed to be there.

    But that didn''t make any sense. How could Michael summon something that wasn''t supposed to exist in the Origin Expanse? That was not possible. Michael knew he missed an important piece of information, but he had no idea what it could be. That annoyed him far more than his mother. After all, his mother didn''t turn his insides into a habitat for a massive serpent.

    The World Serpent didn''t act up much, but it moved in his skin all over his back. It slithered across his back ¨C or through his back ¨C and sucked the surrounding origin energy in their direction.

    The World Serpent''s presence was a much stronger origin energy ma than the energy absorption technique, Pantheon''s Dawn, but that didn''t make Michael happy. He was still worried that the World Serpent would devour him from within once he showed a sign of weakness.

    Even though the World Serpent told him it wouldn''t consume him in one of their short talks, Michael couldn''t trust it. The massive serpent merged into his body without asking for consent, either. It would do whatever it wanted to, and Michael didn''t doubt that for a single second.

    "Are all Divine Summons like you?" Michael asked in a whisper. He was not surprised when he didn''t receive an answer.

    ''Cleave Fenrir was not like the World Serpent. Cleave managed to practice the Wicked Spear Arts, and he would have escaped the confinement of the Link of Loyalty sooner orter, but there was a Link of Loyalty in the first ce. But there is none with the Link of Loyalty. Our only connection is¡­that this fucking serpent is inside me.''

    Michael felt a sting in the back of his head.

    "Show some courtesy and stay out of my head. I don''t need a World Serpent rummaging through my mind while the Cursed Seals y with my emotions," He grumbled.

    Interestingly enough, the Cursed Seals didn''t stir any trouble since the World Serpent and the thing sealed within him shed. The World Serpent never attacked him, either. If anything, it felt like the World Serpent was curious about him.

    ''But then again, it sealed itself inside my body.''

    Michael could feel the World Serpent''s presence inside him. It was simr to the Cursed Seals'' presence, but it was intense¡­

    different¡­, and weird¡­

    The World Serpent entered his body and shed with the thing sealed inside him before creating countless Seals to contain the Living Image that slithered within Michael''s back. At least, that was what Michael presumed the seals were there for when they manifested all over the World Serpent''s Living Image.

    He had been mistaking the Seal''s purpose. The World Serpent''s Seals existed to seal its power.

    Michael would never be able to contain the power of the World Serpent within him. His body was not strong enough.

    Only a single Seal of the World Serpent was essible. Michael triggered the Seal to unleash a fraction of the World Serpent''s power. He had been curious, wondering if he could use the World Serpent like he could use the Cursed Seals or if it was even more dangerous and unstable.

    A scale on the back of the Living Image lit up when Michael triggered the Seal. The Seal affected Michael somehow, but it also strengthened him physically. It was almost as if another Curse had entered his body.

    ''What are the Cursed Seals, in the first ce? Is there actually a Curse inside us? It felt more like something was sealed deep inside him, and their existence was like a curse affecting his existence. It was weird¡­but it made sense somehow.

    [I will not enter and leave your body as I please, little one. Your vessel is too fragile to contain my true self for long. But your potential is excellent. You might have what we need. Make sure not to attract too much-unwanted attention, Cursed Child. Trust me when I say that you do not wish to attract too much attention. The universe is ruthless and unforgiving.]

    Despite being able to speak to him asionally, the World Serpent was not further helpful than the Cursed Seals. If anything, the Cursed Seals didn''t confuse him as a lot as the World Serpent. They were silent and left him alone.

    ''I yet don''t understand why they stopped fighting. None should have won the battle. I would have noticed¡­right?''

    The World Serpent didn''t exin much to him, but Michael sensed that some things about his Curse had changed.

    Many things were bound to change in the near future. Michael felt that in every cell of his body.

    **

    Since he was previously thinking of his mother, Michael decided it was necessary to leave the Origin Expanse for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He had questions and needed answers before he could rescue his brother.

    The Runic Gate manifested in front of Michael, and he stepped through. He disappeared inside the Runic Gate and emerged in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Leaving the Untamed Jungle''s energy-dense region after staying for half a year was a lot further challenging than Michael thought. He shuddered upon sensing the scarcity of energy particles in the surroundings.

    Michaelined inwardly but nheless activated Spirit Eyes to hunt for his mother.

    Some of his Soultraits felt distinct since the World Serpent merged with him. His physical Soultraits felt stronger. Different.

    It didn''t take long to pinpoint his mother''s energy fluctuations. Michael utilized Cosmic Stride a few times to cross the campus and emerged in his mother''s room.

    His mother read something, but she noticed him the instant he appeared. However, upon looking up, Evalynn Fang''s eyes widened in confusion and surprise.

    Evalynn''s eyes turned ssy, and several Cursed Seals manifested all over her body, releasing an ominous mist that shrouded her.

    "You¡­."

 Chapter 690 Not Alone

    <h4>Chapter 690 Not Alone</h4>

    Evalynn Fang stared at her son through ssy eyes.

    "You have changed."

    "That''s not a very nice way to say hello," Michael responded.

    "No. That''s not what I meant. Your Curse. Something about it changed. And why can I sense another presence inside you?"

    It was not difficult to understand what Evalynn was talking about. However, Michael didn''t expect the changes of his Curse to be so easy to perceive. He could barely sense the changes.

    Meanwhile, Michael had known that his mother would sense the World Serpent. The Living Image contained countless seals. They weren''t essible, but the Living Image wasn''t stored deep inside Michael''s being. Instead, it slithered through his back as it pleased. Michael figured that his mother could sense the World Serpent''s seals.

    The seals were not like the Cursed Seals, which were linked to create several chains that covered Michael''s entire body upon activation. The World Serpent''s seals formed the Living Image, which was greyed out under normal circumstances. Only by activating the Serpent Seals, the only ones Michael had ess to, did a single scale light up.

    He didn''t n to activate the Serpent Seals, but the World Serpent had different ns. It activated the Serpent Seal to speak into Michael''s mind.

    [No need to be startled. I won''t attack your mother. It would be best not to get killed by that menace.]

    Was the World Serpent talking about his mother? Michael was startled that the World Serpent activated the Serpent Seal without his permission, but he figured it made sense.

    ''It is not talking about my mother.'' Michael figured.

    It was almost like the World Serpent talked about something else ¨C to someone else.

    "You have two Curses? That cannot be. W¨C I sensed only one Curse inside you before. What did you do? Where did you get this¡­thing?!? It is not even sealed!" His mother was hysterical. She charged at Michael and grasped his shoulders tightly.

    Various emotions flickered in her eyes, but Michael couldn''t pinpoint how she felt. Was she confused? Afraid? Disgusted? In disbelief? Or was there more to it?

    Michael was unsure.

    "It is not as violent as the Curse. There shouldn''t be a problem for now. Furthermore, I don''t think that the Worl¡ª That it is a Curse. I summoned it. It is ¡­hiding inside me, I guess?" He felt that saying ''World Serpent'' aloud would cause trouble. The World Serpent tugged at the back of his mind, telling him not to reveal anything.

    "But that is imposs¨C..."

    "Whatever," Michael dismissed his mother''s worries with a wave. At least, he thought that she was worried. He had difficulties reading Evalynn Fang''s mind.

    "I didn''te here to tell you about the second Curse or whatever it is," Michael said dead seriously, "I came here because I think I can rescue Danny now."

    Evalynn Fang was about to say something, but her mouth closed when she heard why Michael approached her.

    Michael didn''t trust his mother, but she was his best option. He began revealing information about Extraction. He told his mother what Extraction was capable of ¨C only the information she had to know ¨C, before revealing his other Soultraits as well.

    He told Evalynn about the Soul Grimoire, the Soul Tears, and Enhancement and that he could control the 4 Cursed Seals to a certain extent. Michael shared that they drastically strengthened 7-Star Extraction and that he had more than 700,000 firm Links of Loyalty, which provided Extraction with a mountain of Soul Power.

    There were some things Michael didn''t want to share, but his secrets were not as important as making sure that his brother could be safely stored and nourished in the Soul Grimoire. His secrets weren''t worth anythingpared to how much Michael valued his brother.

    Michael exined that he would create a customized Elite ss Soul Technique for Extraction. The Soul Technique''s sole purpose would be to extract Danny''s curse without affecting his Living Soul. After that, Michael could extract the Living Soul from the Miniature Coffin Keychain without harming Danny.

    He revealed his n about Insert and the other functions of Soul Grimoire to store Danny in the Soul Grimoire and nourish him until he found a way to create a perfect vessel for Danny''s Soul. While revealing his ns, Michael mentioned the ability to insert Soultraits to strengthen them.

    Evalynn was mostly quiet, but she asked a few questions. Since she witnessed Michael''sst fight against Oliver Zeus, Evalynn researched much about her sons. She discovered how they''d lived and what obstacles they had to ovee to grow stronger. Evalynn was sorry for leaving her children, but she was also proud that the brothers managed to grow this powerful. When she read about the rumors stating that her oldest son had been betrayed, Evalynn was in fury.

    Unfortunately, her mission prevented her from wreaking havoc in the Trnce. She was not supposed to attract too much attention. That part of the mission failed, but attracting some attention was not as bad as hunting down several Supreme Families. Evalynn was not allowed to destroy the bnce in the Trnce. She couldn''t do anything.

    But Michael could. Michael was not part of the Nest yet. He could deal with the bastards who orchestrated Daniel Fang''s death! The only problem was the Nest. No matter how Evalynn looked at it, Michael would be found. It was only a matter of time.

    The only thing she wanted to prevent at all costs was about to happen.

    ''Maybe he can block the Geas. As long as he can¡­it should be fine, right?''

    Evalynn was deep in thought but half-listened to Michael''s exnation and ns. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, bringing Michael to a stop.

    "Do you think that won''t work? I experimented with the Living Souls of some criminals, only the worst of the worst, but I think I learned everything I need to know to extract Danny''s Living Soul without touching his spark of life. The only uncertain factor is the weakened Curse. Do you think I won''t be able to extract it if I used 7-Star Extraction with ten Enhancementyers, Soul Tears, and the four Cursed Seals?" Michael asked, worry filling his heart.

    His mother knew much more about their bloodline''s Curses. She was probably right if she said he wasn''t strong enough. Michael might not trust her, but he had to consider her opinion. It would be foolish to be full of himself or childish and ignore his mother''s opinion.

    Michael decided to put his emotions aside for Daniel''s sake. He wasn''t going to lose him. Not again.

    "You said you can strengthen Danny in the Miniature Coffin Keychain. As long as you can keep his Living Soul stable while extracting the curse¡­it should be fine. But you need to find a better vessel to attach the Curse to. Otherwise, the Curse will tear Danny''s Living Soul in shreds before you can extract it properly," Evalynn said after pushing her worries aside.

    She knew that the Nest would seek her youngest soon, but that was not something she could change. However, she can help Michael rescue Danny. Her past actions might have harmed her children, but she did everything to protect them from the worst evil. Evalynn had always tried to protect them from the worst. Unfortunately, Cursed Children had never been able to escape their fate.

    "Once extracted, the Curse will spread and seek another host to consume. Prepare the vessel beforehand, otherwise, Danny''s Living Soul won''t be the only casualty."

    Michael was just about towards say something when the World Serpent''s voice resounded in his mind.

    [As long as you bring the ''Curse'' towards our yground, we will deal with it, little one.]

    The corner of his lips curled upward.

    "I will insert the Curse inside me," Michael said.

    Evalynn frowned deeply, "Don''t be greedy. No one can handle two malevolent Curses. I don''t know what is happening inside you, but you''ve will not ept Danny''s burden. It will kill you!"

    Michael shed his white teeth.

    "Don''t worry. I''m not alone," he dered. We are not going towards ept his burden either."

    "We will devour it!"

    **

    [A/N: What the hell is going on? Give me your best guess concerning the happenings in the following chapters. I''m curious what y''all think will happen. Will Michael start extracting Danny''s Curse? Will he devour it? Will the extraction fail? What if this fails? Will Danny be dead forever? Will Michael never see himself again?

    WHAT IF this seeds? Will Danny be the same?]

 Chapter 691 Exorcism

    <h4>Chapter 691 Exorcism</h4>

    Evalynn Fang did not favor Michael''s idea, but she agreed that his n might work. If Michael managed to extract Danny''s Curse without damaging the Living Soul, he could insert it into the Soul Grimoire, nourish it while searching for a suitable vessel, or create one from scratch.

    It was still surprising that Michael could control the Cursed Seals and that he unlocked a fourth Cursed Seal before ascending to a Higher Lifeform. Still, it was even more shocking that another existence took root inside Michael. Michael''s Soul didn''t confine the other being. The being restrained its power on its own. It sealed itself to ensure that Michael wouldn''t sustain any injuries.

    That was surprising, and it was also part of why she chose to believe in Michael''s n. If one of them was willing to take root inside Michael, who was she to hold him back? If anything, she should support her child.

    "Can you give me the Miniature Coffin Keychain for a moment," Evalynn asked her son, who backed off instinctively.

    Even if Michael decided to talk to his mother, it was not like he could trust her entirely. He still had to ask many things, and various doubts lingered in the back of his head. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury to throw hundreds of questions at his mother. She wouldn''t be able to answer most of them either way.

    He hesitated and scrutinized his mother, who had to try hard not to crumble, "Please¡­I want to help you and Danny. It''s just a small test, nothing serious. The Living Soul won''t be harmed. I promise."

    Michael pressed his lips together, but he reluctantly agreed. This was not about him anymore. Everything he did was for Danny, and Michael was certain that his mother wouldn''t do anything to harm her oldest son. She was not the type to hurt her children...not like that.

    He removed the Miniature Coffin Keychain from his belt and handed it to Evalynn.

    Evalynn''s eyes turned ssy once again as the Cursed Seals all over her body blossomed. Tendrils of darkness emerged from the ominous mist that shrouded Evalynn. The tendrils briefly engulfed the Miniature Coffin Keychains before retracting with a snap.

    The dark Cursed Seals all over Evalynn''s body disappeared, and the life in her eyes returned.

    "If we want to seed, we will have to start soon. The Curse recuperates faster than expected. Danny''s spark of life is being drained as we speak."

    ''We?'' Michael was about to ask, but he swallowed his words. It would be foolish to reject the help of a Peak Tier-6 Curse User.

    "I can stabilize the Living Soul with Soul Tears. I''ve umted more than enough from thest Regional War," Michael told his mother, "Do you think that will be enough, or should I nourish the Cursed Living Soul while it''s still in the Miniature Coffin Keychain."

    His mother contemted the answer for a second.

    "The Curse will grow faster once Danny''s Living Soul has been nourished. It will have more energy to consume from the Living Soul¡­but will be necessary. The Living Soul is weak, and we need to nourish and stabilize it slightly to increase Danny''s survival."

    "I can take care of that." Michael nodded. Is there a way to contain the Curse for a while when I extract it? I''m not sure what will happen, but I think the Curse will not like what I''m about to do."

    "Don''t worry too much about that. I''m here to take care of that. I might have never defeated a Curse without killing the host, but as long as you extract it before he consumes Danny, it will be fine! It''s not my first rodeo with a Curse. I''m a Curse User and a decent exorcist, after all!"

    The Geas appeared on Evalynn''s forehead, but she wasn''t in pain. The bits and pieces she shared seemed to be in the grey area. They were part of the information she wasn''t supposed to share, yet it was necessary to share them to deal with a Curse. It was eptable to share this much.

    Michael nned to do something Evalynn had never heard before. Evalynn was certain it wouldn''t work if Danny''s Curse was slightly stronger. Fortunately, Danny''s Curse had never been powerful, and it was also in a weakened state right now. There shouldn''t be a problem¡­probably.

    Evalynn hesitated a little bit as she retrieved a vial filled with ck liquid. She released a storm of energy with a wave of her hand to remove the furniture in her room and began to draw aplex circle on the ground.

    Now that they were getting closer to resurrecting Danny, Evalynn worried about the consequences. She always thought that she had to bring Danny''s Soul back to the Nest to return him into the reincarnation cycle¡­.but it became worth a try with Michael''s Soultraits and his Curse. It should be feasible. Maybe.

    Simrly, removing Danny''s Curse could prevent the Hellbound Cataclysm. If Michael and his mother seeded, every involved party would be victorious.

    It was worth a try.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to his mother''s drawing. He could sense that she infused the ominous mist oozing out of her Cursed Seals into the ck paint, but that became about it.

    Instead, he used Spirit Eyes and Insert to pinpoint the Living Soul inside the Miniature Coffin Keychain and insert SoulStar Fragments into its deepest parts. As long as the essence of the Living Soul was strengthened, the remaining parts would also be strengthened.

    Michael infused the SoulStar Fragments slowly. He didn''t want to crush the Living Soul by simultaneously inserting too many SoulStar Fragments. Michael knew best that strengthening a Soul ¨C or a Soultrait ¨C too quickly became harmful. It took him a while to find the most efficient way to insert SoulStar Fragments into the Living Soul, but it worked. The steady stream of fragments merged with the Living Soul, strengthening it swiftly.

    At one point, it felt like someone was tugging at his soul. It was a unique sensation, different from the Cursed Seals or the World Serpent''s attempts to convey to him.

    ''Is that Danny?''

    Michael was not sure if he was hallucinating or if that was real, but he sincerely hoped that it was real. He missed Danny.

    Michael ignored the piles of SoulStar Fragments that vanished into thin air. He only stopped inserting more SoulStar Fragments when his mother grasped his shoulders tightly.

    "I''m done," She whispered before ncing at the Miniature Coffin Keychain. Several dark cracks spread through the keychain. It was on the verge of breaking apart, ck liquid spilling out of the tiny fissures.

    "It''s now or never," she said, triggering the magic circle that covered the entire room.

    The circle lit up in darkness, shrouding the entire room instantaneously. The darkness moved around. Comprised tendrils of darkness emerged from the circle, seeking all that lived.

    Michael''s instincts told him to escape and to run as far as possible, but he ignored them. Instead of running, Michael closed his eyes.

    He manifested the Soul Grimoire and applied a Soul Tear on Extraction, Enhancement, Soul Grimoire, his soul, and Danny''s Living Soul.

    Once that was done, Michael unleashed the four golden Cursed Seals. He applied a Soul Tear on each of them, creating a far more destructive effect than expected.

    Ten Extraction Layers unleashed upon True Extraction, expanding the Extraction Aura that flowed out of him.

    True Extraction was unleashed to the fullest, but Michael concentrated its full power on one point instead of spreading out.

    A terrifying roar escaped from the depths of Michael''s existence. The roar reverberated through the room, tearing it apart. The World Serpent followed suit. It released an ear-

    deafening hiss that seemed to fuse with the mighty roar, amplifying each other.

    The cracks all over the Miniature Coffin Keychain expanded. The keychain crumbled.

    ''Now!'' Michael screamed in his mind, willing True Extraction to invade the Miniature Coffin Keychain and Danny''s Living Soul.

    Michael and his small following invaded the Cursed Living Soul. They pierced through the Curse''s defense and emerged inside. Michael didn''t imagine that he would be able to see the inside of Danny''s Living Soul. However, his brother''s mindscape unraveled in front of Michael''s closed eyes.

    The spark of life, a dim light that struggled desperately to retain its brightness against the massive existence that towered before it.

    The Curse''s outlines expanded and formed into a huge monster. Shrouded in darkness, a Tiger roared at the top of its lungs as its ck tendrils consumed Danny''s life.

    Rage fueled Michael, his presence attracting the massive beast''s attention.

    It turned around and roared, ready to charge at Michael andpany.

    Michael''s first battle with a Curse began.

 Chapter 692 Devoured

    <h4>Chapter 692 Devoured</h4>

    Michael couldn''t visualize much in the Living Soul''s mindspace, but the few things he saw were enough for him.

    Michael initially thought he was mistaken, but he realized it was reality. The faint glimmers that outlined the spark of life looked like his brother. They outlined Daniel Fang.

    Michael felt like charging at his brother to embrace him tightly, but the tiger towering before the spark of life obstructed his path. The tiger was three times taller than the spark of life and seemed to expand slowly. However, it didn''t look like a monster. If anything, the Tiger looked like a mixture of an image, an absolute monster, and an existence created fromprised darkness.

    Small bits of white-glowing stripes dotted the massive tiger, but most parts were shrouded in darkness. The darkness surged outward and expanded as Danny''s spark of life was consumed.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed. He kicked the ground and propelled toward the massive tiger. Extraction tendrils burst out all over Michael''s body. They grew thicker and thicker until each extraction tendril was thicker than Michael''s waist. Michael knew that he would have never been able to control the power of True Extraction now that it was focused on a single point, but the mighty roar of the thing sealed within Michael seemed to aid him.

    For the first time since Michael manifested Cursed Seals, it didn''t feel like they were trying to take control of him. It was almost like the Cursed Seals tried to grant him as much power as needed to defeat theirmon foe.

    Michael didn''t care about the reason. What mattered was that he hadplete control of the Cursed Seals at this moment.

    The extraction tendrils whipped at the massive tiger and instantly coiled around its legs, neck, maw, and torso. Of course, the enormous tiger didn''t even think about staying idle while under attack. The darkness shrouding the massive tiger expanded explosively. The extraction tendrils were just about to be torn into shreds when the light in the mindscape was swallowed. The extraction tendrils exuded the only glimmer left in the mindscape.

    Michael swallowed hard when he sensed that something eerily powerful enveloped the mindscape. However, instead of backing off or waiting to see what would happen, Michael believed that the eerie power belonged to his mother.

    ''It''s her weird-ass magic circle. Calm down!'' Michael screamed at himself inwardly before pushing forward.

    The Extraction tendril''s glimmers alongside Spirit Eyes'' ability to see in the dark and to see energies in every environment were all Michael needed to tell that his mother''s eerie power restrained the darkness shrouding the massive tiger. The extraction tendrils invaded the massive tiger''s body only for a massive presence to emerge out of nowhere.

    The World Serpent surged out of Michael''s back and invaded the Miniature Coffin Keychain. Evalynn''s power already weakened and further restrained the Massive tiger, but the World Serpent''s presence was needed to push the tiger to the ground.

    It was pinned to the ground, allowing Michael to focus on True Extraction.

    The extraction of the Curse could finally start.

    The thick Extraction Tendrils invaded the massive Tiger''s body. Michael didn''t extract the Curse mindlessly. Once they anchored somewhere inside the curse, he spread the Extraction tendrils into hundreds of tiny roots and branches to search for the links between the Living Soul and the Curse.

    Neither the Living Soul nor the Curse was bound to a mortal body, and there was no Soultrait connecting the Curse with the Living Soul. Therefore, the crucial connection between the two parties turned out to be the spark of life, just as Michael and his mother had suspected.

    Michael could remove the other threads and darkness tendrils that connected the Curse to the Living Soul, but he felt some resistance when he tried to sever the Curse''s connection to the spark of life.

    But the resistance diminished as the other connections were severed. Michael removed them one by one until only the link to the spark of life remained. At this point, Michael could channel his power into a single point. The massive Extraction tendrils surged toward the final link and extracted it fragment by fragment. The connecting link resisted for a long time. It felt like hours must have passed, but it could have been minutes as well. Michael only knew that he couldn''t havee this far without the support of his Curse, the World Serpent, and¡­his mother.

    He dismissed the thoughts that shed through his mind and focused on the Curse. The final link connecting the Curse to the spark of life was severed.

    The Curse was extracted and expelled from the Miniature Coffin Keychain.

    Michael was pulled out of the Living Soul''s mindscape a quarter of a second after the Cursed vanished. He found himself in his mother''s room, where wisps of darkness congregated. The pressure in his mother''s room was several times more intense. The darkness wisps that were about to form into a tiger were the culprits.

    Evalynn was already on the move. A dozen Cursed Seals manifested all over her body. They released ominous mist, which restricted the curse from manifesting. The Curse was not in favor of this treatment. It released a terrifying roar and fought desperately against the restrictions. The circle underneath it cracked near-instantly. It would break soon. There was not much time.

    Michael grit his teeth, a wave of emotions and desires sweeping through his entire body.

    "I really don''t know if I can trust you¡­but go for it, guys¡­devour it!!"

    The instant he gave his permission, his skin burst open. His shirt was torn apart by countless golden tendrils that burst out of the Cursed Seals. They shimmered brightly as they coiled around the Curse to restrict its movements while invading and consuming it slowly.

    Simultaneously, Michael''s back cracked. It felt like his shoulder des were shattered as something massive formed. His back burst open, releasing a fountain of blood as the gigantic head of a golden-eyed serpent shot out.

    The World Serpent, a portion of its presence, to be precise, burst out of Michael''s back. It lunged toward the Curse over Michael''s head and opened its maw wide. The Essence''s head grew suddenly right before reaching the Curse¡­and it swallowed it.

    The World Serpent''s essence snapped back into Michael''s body alongside the shimmering extraction tendrils. Meanwhile, the Curse was no more.

    No. That was not true either.

    Michael couldn''t tell what happened, but he recognized the Curse was dead. The World Serpent and the being inside Michael merely changed the battlefield. They released the Curse on their homeground, tore it apart when the opportunity arose, and consumed it.

    He couldn''t tell whether the Curse managed to fight back or was ruthlessly torn apart, unable to resist. However, he sensed that something altered when the being inside him and the World Serpent consumed the Curse.

    The first thing he noticed was that his back didn''t hurt anymore. He also stopped bleeding. But the Cursed Seals were still active¡­and more were being unleashed¡­

    As the two beings inside Michael consumed the Curse, the shackles restraining the fifth Cursed Seal were tore into shreds. The fifth Cursed Seal was smaller than the rest, but it was being nourished. Something nourished it until it was as big as the other Cursed Seals.

    After that, Michael gained ess to a second Serpent Seal. However, it was not like the World Serpent granted Michael ess to it on its own. It felt like something about his connection with the World Serpent changed. It didn''t feel like the being behind the Cursed Seals, but it was getting closer.

    In the first ce, Michael''s connection with the World Serpent wasn''t the only thing that altered after they consumed the Curse. Michael''s rtionship with his Curse had changed as well.

    It was more intense than it used to be but also more amiable. Michael could tell that the Cursed Seals were still trying to overwhelm him and dominate his body to take control. However, Michael''s understanding of the Cursed Seals and the being behind the seals augmented considerably.

    His augmented understanding made it easier to control the Cursed Seals.

    But did Michael want to control the Cursed Seals¡­or the being sealed inside him?

    **

    [A/N: He devoured the Curse...and acquired ess to the second Serpent Seal, breaking down the shackles that restrained the fifth Cursed Seal. Will Michael be fine, or will thate back biting at him?]

 Chapter 693 Final Step

    Chapter 693 Final Step

    ??Evalynn thought she was aware of Michael''s potential and power level, but she was sorely mistaken.

    The extraction tendrils engulfing the Curse had been different before. They were stronger than they used to be. They were more than they used to be.

    ''It felt just like when I use the mist.'' She thought.

    The ominous mist was part of her being, yet it wasn''t. Not exactly, at least. It was not only her power. The extraction tendrils at the end of the battle were just like that.

    "You exorcised the ¨C without killing¡­how?!"

    Michael thought he was mistaken because he couldn''t hear his mother''s words. She was slurring and seemed to have a hard time speaking, and a bad headache crept up the back of her head.

    Evalynn''s mind drifted to the end of the battle when the serpent shot out of Michael''s back. The memory surfaced, and the confusion permeating her mind intensified. She appeared behind Michael and stared at his back, where the Living Image of the World Serpent slithered calmly.

    "You can control ¨C...."

    Atst, the Geas was triggered. Evalynn Fang screamed in pain and began bleeding from her nose and eyes.

    Evalynn had a lot to say, but she couldn''t. Even if she wanted to say something, the Geas restrained her. Her legs caved in, and she smiled weakly. The headache caused by the Geas and the pain worsened her condition considerably.

    Evalynn was weakened from using the Cursed Chain Circle, which had allowed her to restrain the Curse''s power. It would take a while before she was back at her peak.

    However, she was not sad about this. Evalynn expected to end up like this after promising to help Michael.

    "Can you bring Danny back?" She asked, slightly hesitant.

    It was not difficult to sense that Michael was more confident than ever about Danny''s return, but Evalynn was still reluctant to believe it was possible. She didn''t want to hope for her dear son''s return only to be met with failure.

    But Michael was confident. He could sense Danny''s will to live, and there was no doubt that Danny would make it. The only thing Michael couldn''t be sure of was Danny''s condition.

    "I''m certain," Michael answered right before Evalynn copsed.

    Michael caught his mother and smiled at her, "Thank you¡­

    mom¡­"

    He hated her for everything she had done to him and Danny, but Michael couldn''t deny that their mother yed a major role in the fight against the Curse. Without her help, Michael would have failed to separate the Curse from Danny.

    Michael smiled vibrantly and used Cosmic Stride to teleport them to the best infirmary on the campus. Simultaneously, he used Archangel''s Grace to stabilize his mother. She would be weak for a while, but there wouldn''t be any permanent issues.

    Michael stopped using Archangel''s Grace after ten minutes and was just about to leave his mother''s side to give her some rest when he saw that someone familiar appeared in the infirmary.

    "I sensed your Shard. Well, it''s my shard, but whatever."

    Maria smiled lightly at Michael. It had been several months since they talked, and she couldn''t hide the awkwardness. Even though she was the strongest healer of the Trnce, Maria couldn''t help but sense the gap between her and Michael. No matter how she looked at it, Michael was on a different level than her.

    Her mother said nothing specific about Michael except that he would never join the Seraph family. ording to her mother, they didn''t have anything Michael desired. Not even their monopoly of powerful healers was attractive to Michael. Maria learned enough about Michael to understand that he was probably one of the wealthiest Lords among the Lesser Lifeforms. Some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs shared rumors that Michael provided them with high-quality goods. The value of the goods was higher than the earnings of many Higher Lifeforms.

    ording to some statistics, even some minor noble households earned less than Michael. The credibility of those statistics was never 100%, but most could be trusted.

    "Archangel''s Grace is a powerful Soultrait. I''m d that it found the right owner," Michael smiled back at Maria.

    He didn''t know what to say to Maria. Michael had often thought about his friends in thest few months, but Danny had always been a priority. That was even more so right now.

    His brother''s Living Soul was still in the Miniature Coffin Keychain. It was cracked and would crumble into countless pieces soon.

    There was no time to chit-chat with an old friend.

    "How have you bee¨C..." Maria asked, only to be interrupted by Michael.

    "I''m terribly sorry, but I have to go. I need to resurrect my brother!"

    Michael''s words resounded through the infirmary before he disappeared. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport back to his room where he opened the Runic Gate to return to the Origin Expanse.

    He needed a ce filled with both origin energy and lifeforce, and the Untamed Jungle became perfect for that.

    It was time to finish what he started. It was time to rescue his brother!!

    As Michael returned to the Origin Expanse, Maria stared nkly ahead. Michael didn''t even have enough time to talk to her for a few seconds. They saw each other for the first time in months, yet Michael disappeared after a few seconds.

    "I believed we were friends¡­" She mumbled, the corner of her lips tucking downward. Sadness washed over her.

    "Do I mean something to him? Probably not¡­ Though, it looked like he was in a hurry. Maybe the timing was bad. His mother doesn''t look that good either. She is exhausted, but there is something else that is missing as well," Maria cast a nce at Michael''s mother.

    "Mother said that Michael''s mother is probably the closest human in the Trnce to ascend to a Divine Lifeform. I cannot sense her strength, but she seems too weak right now."

    Maria became unsure what happened, but she gave Michael the benefit of the doubt. Michael was indeed in a hurry because of something extremely important. It must be rted to his mother''s exhaustion and his brother''s resurrection.

    "Wait¡­ Isn''t his brother dead?" Maria blurted aloud, her beautifulplexion contorting in confusion.

    ''What are you doing, Michael?!?''

    **

    Michael didn''t know anything about Maria''s confusion. He was a bit sorry that he had left her just like that, but Danny was more important to him.

    He rushed to the Greater Nature Spirit, where he retrieved the Energy Stones and Life Essence, which he had umted for a while now. The Life Essence had been nourished in a small cove within the Greater Nature Spirit''s tree trunk, where it became condensed and liquefied.

    Michael perceived life''s waft permeate the air around the Greater Nature Spirit. He grinned from one ear to another while unleashing the Dome of Extraction to tap into the lifeforce and hundred thousand Energy Stones simultaneously.

    Atst, as the energy and lifeforce flooded his entire being, Michael essed the Miniature Coffin Keychain.

    The keychain could not contain the power Michael channeled into it¡­and burst.

    At this point, Michael only has seconds to grasp the Living Soul and insert it into the Soul Grimoire without inflicting any injuries.

    Michael became not allowed to make a single mistake!

 Chapter 694 Voice

    <h4>Chapter 694 Voice</h4>

    A bead of sweat trickled down his temples as he contained Danny''s Living Soul with True Extraction. Michael couldn''t afford to make a single mistake. The pressure weighing on his being was tremendous. He could barely endure it without copsing.

    A bad headache crept up the back of his head, but Michael managed to ovee it. He saw the fragments of the Miniature Coffin Keychain sprawled on the ground left and right and knew that he couldn''t insert the Living Soul back into it if something went wrong.

    ''I can do it!'' He told himself.

    ''I have to!!!''

    His Cursed Seals trembled slightly. They didn''t try to consume Michael or control him; instead, they were trying to tell him something.

    Michael closed his eyes instinctively and focused on the Cursed Seals. Several pathways inside him began to shimmer, almost like the Cursed Seals were trying to guide him.

    The Living Soul writhed in Michael''s grasp. He frowned deeply, the worry in his face intensifying.

    ''True Extraction alone is insufficient to contain and stabilize the Living Soul. I was too confident. No. I can still do it!''

    He let the Cursed Seals guide him. The Soul Power umted within the Extraction Soultrait transformed slowly into Soul Energy. It was channeled to the Extraction Symbol to strengthen Extraction''s power temporarily. Thereafter, the Soul Energy circted through his body, activating a Soul Technique Michael never heard of.

    The world around him seemed to change. The essence of the Untamed Jungle wasid out in front of him.

    The Greater Nature Spirit before him swayed and moved as gusts overflowing with energy and lifeforce brushed past it. It seemed to exim in excitement, its branches swaying rhythmically. Simultaneously, the Forest Pixies and Dryads hummed in a whisper as they revolved around the massive tree trunk of the Greater Nature Spirit.

    The surroundings were shrouded in millions of tiny, sparkling mots. They reflected the sunlight and glimmered brightly, casting a golden hue through the vicinity.

    It was a magical moment that was etched on the minds of those who passed by. They had never seen such beautiful scenery and stopped to observe nature''s beauty a little bit longer.

    It didn''t take long before the spectators noticed a young man in the center of the beauty. He smiled from one ear to another, a single tear trickling down his cheeks.

    Michael was too focused on the Living Soul to take note of the surrounding''s beauty. The golden wisppressed and contained by Extraction''s tendrils consumed Michael''s attention.

    Michael infused the surrounding origin energy and lifeforce into the golden wisp until it no longer threatened to disperse in all directions. Once the golden wisp had been stabilized, Michael didn''t waste any more time. He summoned the Soul Grimoire and finished thest preparations to insert the Living Soul into it.

    He converted a portion of his Soul Power into Soul Energy and used Perfect Insertion, the Elite ss Soul Technique he''d created for this purpose.

    Michael couldn''t afford to make a mistake, so Perfect Insertion was used to unlock more of Insert''s potential.

    The golden wisp resisted Michael for a moment. However, upon sensing his energy fluctuations, the wisp stopped all attempts to block Michael''s actions. Michael managed to grasp the golden wisp in its entirety using Perfect Insertion. He inserted it into the Soul Grimoire once he was confident that he didn''t miss a speck of the Living Soul and that the Soul Grimoire could contain the entire Living Soul.

    Michael''s heart palpated like there was no tomorrow. He nibbled on his lower lip and observed the Living Soul intently as it was inserted into the Soul Grimoire.

    Michael felt that his soul grew heavier as the Living Soul entered the Soul Grimoire. It was like the weight on his soul doubled. Even the toll of the Cursed Seals didn''t seem as heavy as the Living Soul that weighed heavily on his soul.

    ''Good thing that my soul is stronger than the norm.'' Michael thought, happy that his Curse put enough pressure on his body, mind, and soul to temper them since birth.

    He didn''t like the Curse and the Cursed Seals'' influence on him, but it would have been a lie if he said he wasn''t grateful for it.

    The Living Soul entered the Soul Grimoire, filling it to the brim. Even if Michael wanted to store more souls in the Soul Grimoire, Danny''s Living Soul upied everything. In fact, Michael could tell that the Living Soul was in a tight space and that it was a little bit too cramped. Fortunately, Michael had enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire''s star rating slightly.

    There was no need to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star, but Michael spent 30,000 SoulStar Fragments to give Danny''s Living Soul more space. That was the least he could do.

    After upgrading it a little to inspect the Living Soul, Michael centered on the Soultrait Symbol of Soul Grimoire. It squirmed inside the Soul Grimoire but didn''t try to break out of the narrow space. If Michael didn''t know better, he would think that the Living Soul knew what had happened. But that should be impossible, right?

    Michael was exhausted and retracted True Extraction once his mission was over. He also stopped utilizing Perfect Insertion.

    His back was drenched in sweat, but Michael didn''t care. He smiled from one ear to another while prying into the Soul Grimoire. He seeded. He extracted Danny''s Curse, pulled his Living Soul out of the Miniature Coffin Keychain without harming him, and prepared a decent environment to preserve and nourish Danny''s Living Soul.

    The only tasks left to resurrect his brother were to find or create a suitable vessel and nourish his Living Soul so that it could transfer him into the vessel once the time was ripe.

    His eyes were wet, and it was only a matter of seconds before tears streamed down his cheeks.

    He didn''t care who might see him or what others thought of him. Michael was just too Happy.

    Something tugged at the back of Michael''s head, taking him by surprise. At first, he thought it was the World Serpent, but he wasn''t prepared to hear a familiar call resound in his mind.

    [Michael¡­]

    Michael halted in his tracks at once. His hair stood up to its end, and his eyes widened in shock.

    "DANNY?!?"

    Danny''s call resounded in his head. A shudder ran down his spine, but a vibrant grin formed on his lips.

    He recalled the message the Will gave him a long time ago.

    ¨CMay the Star with the greatest aplishments shine the brightest. May his light ignite the embers of the perishing star from anew. May his Cursed Soul bend fate as he pleases. ¨C

    The golden mots filling the vicinity intensified as golden tears trickled down his cheeks.

    "Danny!! Speak to me!!"

    The Soultrait Symbol of Reinforced Sword Qi resonated with Michael''s wish. It tremored wildly inside the Sphere of Light as the golden light surrounding Michael turned brighter by the second.

    [Is that really you, Michael? I¡­D-didn''t I die in the Lord Rift protecting you?]

    Danny''s call rang out in Michael''s head once again.

    [Don''t tell me that you died as well? That cannot be. Please don''t let it be true¡­]

    Michael would have smiled even brighter if that was possible. The river of tears couldn''t be stopped anymore.

    "I''m still alive, brother¡­" Michael chocked.

    "Wee back!"

 Chapter 695 Brothers

    Chapter 695 Brothers

    ??Michael shuddered uncontrobly as Danny''s voice continued to reverberate in his head. There was no doubt. Danny was back!

    His heart began to beat wildly, and he started loosening it. Michael began to weep like a little kid. That was unlike him, but Michael couldn''t help it. His brother returned!

    [Why are you crying? And where am I? It''s not possible to get summoned twice. What happened?]

    Daniel was moreposed than Michael. He had always been. However, Daniel Fang was also confused. It shouldn''t be possible for him to talk to Michael right now. He was dead, and Michael was alive.

    The period after he died the second time was confusing. He could remember something happening, but Danny was unsure what that was. It was almost as if some memories had been ripped out of his head.

    "I''m just happy that you''re back," Michael said, trying to control his stream of tears.

    He stopped crying after a few minutes but continued smiling from ear to ear.

    "After you died in the Lord Rift, I was rewarded with your Soultraits and a Miniature Coffin Keychain that contained your Living Soul. I didn''t know about that until mom returned to take your soul to throw you back into the reincarnation cycle. I couldn''t ept that and decided to bring you back on my own," Michael stopped momentarily, trying to find the right words.

    "I sensed that you were unwilling to depart into the afterlife, so¡­I nourished your Soul in the keychain and removed the Curse that threatened to devour you with Mother''s help before storing you in one of my Soul Traits. Once your soul regains its full power, I will put you into a suitable vessel, resurrecting you properly."

    Michael figured that most of the things he said would be too much for Danny to handle, but the words flowed out of his mouth like a river. Michael could barely seal his lips when he noticed that his brother hadn''t said anything for a while.

    [Mother¡­returned?]

    "Oh. Yeah¡­ She came back, but it''s not because she missed us," Michael sighed deeply. He recalled the day his mother returned and shook his head.

    "I''m not sure if you''ll like what I have to say, but you want to hear it, right?"

    [Tell me, Michael. Tell me everything about mother.]

    Michael smiled sadly. He had already been in so much pain because of their mother. His brother didn''t have to suffer like him. That wasn''t necessary.

    Michael didn''t want to hear his brother''s sad voice or how hurt he was merely a few minutes after they reunited. Unfortunately, he knew Danny better than most. His brother would torment him until he revealed everything.

    "Alright. I will tell you¡­"

    In the next 30 minutes, Michael told his brother everything he knew about his mother, the Geas, the Nest, his encounters with his mother, and everything she said to him. He didn''t change a single word she said.

    [She didn''t even apologize for leaving you behind?]

    "...for leaving us behind¡­" Michael uttered in a whisper.

    He cleared his throat and forced a smile, "But she helped me remove your Curse. I hate acknowledging it, but I wouldn''t have made it without her."

    [I''m d that you''ve grown stronger. I was certain that my life was over, but it looks like your power grew enough to affect the Origin Expanse. I''m proud of you, brother!]

    Michael had sensed Danny''s will to live in the past, but he was relieved to hear that his brother wasn''t mad. Their family was a mess, but at least the brothers could depend on each other.

    [But it feels like mother''s situation is not that simple. The Geas prevents her from revealing certain information, yet she still revealed some information that maye in handy. She tried to ignore the Geas to tell you important information.]

    It was like it used to be. Daniel Fang was the more reasonable of the brothers. He was Michael''s voice of reasoning and the reason Michael could stayposed now that he thought about his mother.

    [Forget about mother for a moment. How have you been? Are you doing fine? Are you still in the Untamed Jungle, or did you move elsewhere? Do you have many enemies, or did you avoid conflicts?]

    Michael broke into a genuine smile upon hearing his brother''s questions. It was nice to hear Danny''s voice and concern again. He missed it.

    The rest of the day passed in the blink of an eye. Michael informed his brother about the Untamed Jungle, the Zentika Empire, his fights with the Zentika Empire''s army, the Kitsun Lord, and his trouble with the Savannah Region.

    Michael didn''t let out any details. He answered Danny''s questions and told his brother all about his Soultraits, the Cursed Seals, the Winged Serpent, and his friends. Danny asked a lot about Michael''s female friends. It felt like Danny interrogated his younger brother about his potential love interests, but Michael only shrugged.

    He could say that he wasn''t interested in any of the women he had gotten to know since he manifested his War Rune, but Michael was unsure if that was the case. Michael didn''t pay much attention to dating because he had been too busy with his work as Lord. At first, he struggled to grow stronger, only to lose his brother suddenly. He managed to get back onto his feet, but things changed with Danny''s death.

    Michael was so focused on getting stronger and struggling to survive against the never-ending waves of enemies that he started to neglect his friends.

    Thinking about his friends, Michael felt guilty. Recalling Maria''s particr behavior, he felt even worse. Only now did he realize that Maria might be interested in him. Or she had been interested.

    "Do I like her though?" Michael mumbled.

    Maria was bound to be the strongest healer in the Trnce¡ªmaybe she was already the best healer. Yet, instead of being arrogant and full of herself, Maria was genuinely nice. She cared about the people surrounding her and would do her utmost to help them.

    But that didn''t mean Michael liked her romantically.

    He liked Maria''s kindness and genuine care. It was great that she wasn''t arrogant. However, that didn''t mean there was a spark between them. The Soultrait Shard of Archangel''s Grace didn''t mean anything either. It meant that their Soultraits werepatible, which was not further difficult because Michael waspatible with all Soultraits. At least, that''s what he guessed.

    Being her Primal Amplifier was not equivalent to being her destined lover.

    [Do you think about someone more often than others? Who are you the most thankful for? Is there someone you wish to repay, no matter the cost? Even if it inconveniences you¡­you would do all for them?]

    ''Are you my wedding counselor or what?!'' Michael was about to ask, but his lips were sealed. He thought about Danny''s question seriously for a moment and shrugged.

    "Do you wish to find out if there is someone as important to me as you are?" Michael frowned, "There is nobody like that¨C..."

    An image formed in his mind, and his frown deepened.

    [There is someone. I knew it!!]

    "Danny!"

    [Yeah?]

    "Shut up!"

    [...]

    Michael fell deep in thought. The person he''d imagined was not yet as important as Danny. However, Michael had to acknowledge that he would do a lot to repay her for all she had done to help him.

    Did that mean that he liked her?

    ''Alice? Really?'' Michael wondered, ''Do I like her?''

 Chapter 696 Danny, the Blabbermouth

    <h4>Chapter 696 Danny, the bbermouth</h4>

    Michael was d that his brother was back, but it was confusing to hear Danny''s voice in his head all the time. It felt like Danny had transformed into his voice of reasoning and the king of gossipers.

    The reassuring voice asking for gossip made it feel like Michael had a second personality, telling him to stay calm and focus on¡­gossiping.

    Michael was not a fan of gossiping, but it was a nice change to fool around for once. It was entirely out of character, but that was how the umted tension dispersed quickly.

    The brothers talked the whole night about their lives, family, and gossiped about everyone Michael had gotten to know since he manifested the War Rune. Daniel Fang learned a lot about his younger brother. Even after the night had psed and the first sunrays shone through the window in Michael''s room, Danny had more questions and doubts to be answered.

    Daniel Fang was incredibly curious about Michael''s life, and Michael was so happy about his brother''s return that he didn''t even think about hiding something. However, Michael was also confused at times.

    Did he like Alice? He rarely thought about his feelings, especially romantic feelings, but he had to acknowledge that he felt more about Alice Zenovia than Zeke and Lincoln. He was always happy to see her whenever he returned from the Origin Expanse.

    It was weird.

    At some point, he would have to face his feelings head-on to determine whether he liked her or was just thankful for her help.

    But what would he do if he liked her? Would he approach her once he was sure of his feelings? Did she like him as well?

    Michael scratched his head, unsure of the answer. The difort in his heart grew, and he felt helpless. Unfortunately, the difort didn''t originate from a monster. He couldn''t y his feelings like a monster to get rid of them.

    [I''m d that you didn''t change.] Danny said at one point.

    "What are you talking about? I changed a lot¡­ I think," Michael responded with a frown.

    [Yes¡­but no. You changed a lot, but your core is still the same. You are still the same Michael who gets flustered easily. It was always easy to read your emotions. You''re the worst at hiding how you feel. As for your temper¡­well¡­let''s not talk about it.] Danny snickered lightly, only for Michael to groan.

    His brother was a menace. To Michael''s misery, he loved his brother more than anything.

    "So what? Showing my emotions means that I cannot lie. I''m an honest man!" Michael grumbled.

    [Yeahhhh, of course. You are definitely not a hot-tempered troublemaker. That''s not one of your trademarks~] Danny teased.

    Michael responded to Danny''s teasing.

    "Maybe I should seal you in the Soul Grimoire until I find a suitable container for you¡­"

    [You want to imprison me after I''ve been stuck in this shithole for eons?!? How cruel!!!] Danny cried out in Michael''s mind.

    "Urgh. Aren''t you the older brother? Why are you throwing a tantrum?!"

    Michael smiled vibrantly and could feel the happiness permeating his brother''s Living Soul as well. The brothers were happy to be back together. It was a miracle.

    [But on another note. Are you certain that you want to build a new body for me? I don''t think finding a suitable container for me will be easy. I also felt weak after you extracted the Curse. I cannot say for sure, but I think I''m too weak to survive outside your Soul Grimoire for now.]

    Danny''s tone changed. He suddenly became more serious, forcing Michael to put his happiness aside for a moment.

    "I''ve already thought of multiple solutions. The easiest solution would be to contact one of the mechanical races. You told me about them a few times. They have souls even though they''re machines¡ªwell, partial machines, but that doesn''t matter. I think it should be possible to create a suitable vessel with the knowledge of the mechanical races," Michael pointed out.

    "Or I''ll search for a suitable container among criminals. I can tell that you''re disgusted at the thought of having me tear someone''s soul out of their body for your sake. You don''t want me to ruin an innocent soul to make space for yours. I understand that, but I will kill my enemies and countless criminals in the future, either way. If one of them has highpatibility with your soul¡­I won''t hesitate to tear that soul apart to insert yours."

    Danny remained silent for a while. Various thoughts shed through his mind. Michael transformed more than he''d expected.

    [That seems...fair. But make certain that I will be as handsome as I used to be. It would be even better if I were more handsome, though I''m not sure if that''s even possible!]

    "Shut up," Michael responded with a smile.

    His brother epted his n ¨C if one could call it such. It wasn''t much, but it was one step in the right direction.

    Now that he had ensured Danny''s survival, it was time to nourish his Living Soul and search for a suitable vessel. That wouldn''t be easy, but Michael never expected it to be easy in the first ce. That was totally fine. It was not Michael''s first rodeo.

    A few minutes of silence passed. Everyone was in their world of thoughts, wondering about various things, until Danny resurfaced in Michael''s mind.

    [What do you think will happen now?]

    Michael tilted his head, unsure what his brother wanted.

    [You uttered that my Curse looked like a Tiger and that Mother also considered the World Serpent a curse. Doesn''t that mean all curses are mythical creatures or something like that? You also mentioned that unsealing more Cursed Seals affects your emotions. The Curse tries to influence you. What will you do about that?]

    "The cursed Seals and the World Serpent didn''t bother me since I devoured your Curse. It feels like devouring the Curse brought us closer. They are more part of my being than they used to be. That feels¡­weird but not bad. The Curse is more amiable than before. However, I''m not certain if devouring your Curse temporarily satisfied the Curse''s hunger or if something else changed."

    Michael could use five Cursed Seals without being greatly affected. That didn''t mean the Cursed Seals lost their influence on Michael; it was just that their influence was less potent now. The Curse didn''t bother him much at this point.

    The only thing that bothered him was that the World Serpent was radio silent. He''d hoped that it would resurface and talk to him, but there was nothing like that.

    Meanwhile, Danny was theplete opposite. It seemed like the time he spent in¡­nothingness¡­transformed him.

    Daniel Fang was a bbermouth.

    Putting that ''issue'' aside, Michael was quite satisfied. But he was a little surprised when the Soul Grimoire consumed a bunch of SoulStar Fragments to keep Danny''s Living Soul stable and nourish him just enough to ensure that Danny wouldn''t sustain any harm in the Soul Grimoire.

    Dozens of SoulStar Fragments were consumed every day.

    That seemed like a lot at first nce, but it was not that much considering that the criminals sent by the Valyr were more than enough to cover that expense tens of times.

    Michael''s goal to resurrect his brother properly was grand, but the good thing was that he didn''t have a deadline anymore. Michael could gauge how many SoulStar Fragments he had to umte to nourish Danny''s Living Soul to its prime state and how many Fragments the Living Soul needed to be transferred into a different vessel.

    The Soul Grimoire''s space was also a bit too tight to nourish the Living Soul, but that could be solved by eventually upgrading It to 7-Star.

    To sum it up, Michael had to collect a shitload of SoulStar Fragments toplete Danny''s Living Soul and upgrade Soul Grimoire once again.

    Fighting more Awakened would solve that issue quickly, but Michael did not n to search for more enemies in the Origin Expanse. He was more interested in growing stronger and expanding his territory.

    Michael was unwilling to endanger his territory. Fortunately, he didn''t have to attack anyone in the Origin Expanse. A few months earlier, the perfect opportunity to harvest SoulStar Fragments had already unveiled itself in front of him.

    The next Interdimensional g War was waiting for Michael!

 Chapter 697 Soloing?

    Chapter 697 Soloing?

    ??The Tekur race was Michael''s perfect Target. Their poption was high, and they didn''t consider the Interdimensional g War with the Tritan Alliance important.

    The Tekur deployed to the pocket dimension were ordinary Soldiers and many Elite Soldiers. They were Lords with millions of Summons, but that was not enough to transform their weak Soultraits into supreme abilities. Of course, the Tekur were physically stronger than ordinary humans, and it was unusually hard to kill them because they had Soul Techniques, but Michael was not worried about that.

    He had his Soul Techniques and was stronger than any Elite Tekur. After all, only Lesser Lifeforms could enter the pocket dimension when the g War started.

    Michael hoped that more Elite Tekur would be deployed to this year''s Interdimensional g War because more Tekur than usual diedst year. He guessed the Tekur would deploy a hundred Elite Tekur to the pocket dimension. That would be perfect.

    Michael was tens of times stronger than he used to best year. He could deal with the 1000 Tekur deployed to the Interdimensional g War alone and harvest their SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits while they were alive to increase his gains. Adding Soul Tears of 6-Star Soul Grimoire and five Cursed Seals to amplify 7-Star Extraction, Michael was certain to make big gains.

    Michael would also acquire more Memory Orbs from the Tekur, improving his understanding and knowledge of Elite ss Soul Techniques considerably.

    "Will they allow me to fight the Tekur alone if I offer to get rid of the Dimensional Portal?" Michael wondered aloud.

    He was fairly sure that the War Priestess and the Chieftain were already preparing for the g War. It was also likely that they understood how much the result of thest g War would influence the Tekur''s actions. Last year, they deployed more Elite Soldiers to the g War than the year before, yet they sustained more casualties than the previous years. It was only logical to think that the Tekur would change their tactic and deploy even more Elite Tekur this year.

    Killian and others who''d been held back from ascending to Higher Lifeforms the year before wouldn''t participate in this year''s g War. Others would rece them as the strongest Descendants and Champions to deal with the Tekur, but it was still questionable if they were strong enough to fight hundreds of Elite Tekur. Their chances of survival were bound to be low.

    Michael decided to make use of that.

    Michael had many things to do in the Origin Expanse, but he employed people to take care of various things. He didn''t have to stay in the Origin Expanse to observe every step to ensure that his territory would develop, and he was not worried about that. He trusted his subjects and the Awakened to work for him.

    He could leave the Origin Expanse for a while, and that was exactly what he did once he finished talking to his brother. Either way, they had to look for Evalynn Fang. Danny wanted to talk to his mother.

    Michael stepped through the Runic Gate and returned to the Saphirke Military Academy. He was still in his room but activated Spirit Eyes with a few Enhancementyers to find his mother''s energy fluctuations.

    "You can''t sense the surroundings anymore, right? Can you ess the Spirit Eyes Symbol?" Michael asked his brother.

    Danny could tap into the power of Soul Grimoire to sense the souls in the surrounding area. The surrounding souls were usually connected to the energy permeating the air. It was possible to visualize his surroundings with some tricks. However, there wasn''t enough energy in the Saphirke Military Academy. Danny had issues ''seeing'' anything.

    [Your territory makes everything a little bit easier. This ce is a bit worse. I can try to ess Spirit Eyes, but I''m not sure if that''s a good idea. It might hurt you.]

    "Give it a try. I will block you out once it hurts."

    Michael was fine with difort. He could help his brother see something via Spirit Eyes as long as his invasion didn''t permanently harm his eyes. It would be bad if he lost his eyesight or if his eyeballs exploded, which was certainly thest thing Michael wanted to happen.

    Michael shuddered for a moment. He imagined his eyeballs exploding and instinctively upped his guard against invaders. Danny had to tug at the back of his head to make him lower his guard once again.

    Michael took a deep breath before he allowed his brother''s Living Soul to ess the Spirit Eyes Symbol through the Sphere of Light.

    The Sphere of Light, also known as the Soul Sphere, connected all Soultraits. Usually, it wouldn''t be possible for a soul stored inside the Soul Grimoire to ess the Soul Sphere, but Michael reduced his guard to the extreme. The Living Soul in the Soul Grimoire could muster enough strength to release a tendril of energy and ess Spirit Eyes.

    Michael felt like something crawled through his body. It was incredibly ufortable, but he endured the difort without blocking Danny.

    [I can see!]

    His brother eximed after a few minutes, only for Michael to grumble in a whisper.

    "G-great¡­"

    Daniel Fang could observe through Michael''s eyes. To be precise, he could see through Spirit Eyes.

    Danny could not see as well as Michael. Everything was a bit fuzzy and distorted, but it was far better than being blind all day. Danny''s ess to Spirit Eyes forced Michael to keep using Spirit Eyes. The energy consumption was a bit bothersome, but Michael was generous enough to retrieve an Inferior Energy Stone to drain some of the stored energy whenever his energy storage was about to be drained.

    "I can''t find Evalynn. She is not in the infirmary. Let''s talk to Stone to drain some of the stored energy whenever his energy storage was about to be drained.

    Kraft Viton first. I need to finish my business with the g War first before we start hunting our mother," Michael said lightly, only to hear his brother snicker in his mind.

    [Hunting our Mother. Hah. I never thought that this day would happen.]

    "So, you expected that you would torment me with your constant bbering in my head¡­as a Living Soul?"

    [Well¡­not really. I never expected that either. But it''s not as bad as you think. I''m d that you managed to bring me back. You didn''t even cause trouble while rescuing me¡­other than fighting Mother, I mean.]

    Michael smiled and locked onto Kraft Viton''s energy. He found him earlier as he searched for Evalynn, so he utilized Cosmic Stride to jump through space several times. He appeared in a foreign office with a plop. He smiled lightly as he found the representatives of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who had been dispatched to the Saphirke Military Academy.

    He also discovered Alice Zenovia, Oliver Zeus, and a few other professors.

    The corner of Alice''s lips tucked upward upon seeing Michael, but he couldn''t look into her eyes. After the all-night talk with his brother, Michael couldn''t help but feel awkward around Alice. She noticed that he avoided her eyes in surprise but dered nothing. The corners of her lips twitched and curled into a thin smile.

    ''I hate you, Danny!'' He cursed his brother, who burst into a brightughter in Michael''s head.

    [I love you too.]

 Chapter 698 Proposal?

    <h4>Chapter 698 Proposal?</h4>

    ''What is wrong with you?'' Alice nearly blurted aloud when she saw that Michael had avoided her.

    ''Did I do something wrong? No. He would confront me in that case. He isn''t shy, either. Why is he ignoring me?''

    Michael didn''t blush or anything like that, but it wasn''t hard to tell that Michael was awkward and nervous. That was abnormal for Michael. Alice had never seen Michael like that. She had to know why Michael acted like that!

    Alice was just about to say something when Michael cleared his throat. He avoided Alice''s intense stare and smiled lightly at the other professors.

    "I''m sorry for barging into your meeting. I noticed my master''s energy fluctuations and didn''t realize that he was not alone in the room. I hope that I didn''t startle anyone," Michael apologized profusely. His eyes lingered longer on the representatives of the Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs, who responded with a curt nod.

    "If something like that was enough to startle us, we wouldn''t have lived this long. The battlefield would have consumed our corpses already!" The Berserkers said sternly.

    "That''s good to know," Michael said, his attention pulling to Kraft Viton. He had no idea what kind of meeting this was, but it was helpful to have everyone gathered.

    "I have a proposal to make," He told Kraft Viton. It''s about the g War."

    Kraft Viton raised an eyebrow upon hearing what his student said, but he gestured him to proceed, "Today''s meeting is held to solve a few issues between the members of the Tritan Alliance. Either way, someone would have mentioned the g War sooner orter."

    "I want to close the Dimensional Portal. I will destroy the Dimensional Pirs and remove the threat of the Tekur''s invasion," Michael announced, "My only condition is that I want to enter the isted dimension alone."

    Kraft Viton was the first to raise his hand, ready to say something, but he recalled how much stronger Michael had grown. He nced at Oliver Zeus and Alice Zenovia. Rumors said that Oliver Zeus was injured in a spar with Michael. The rumors mentioned that Oliver Zeus went all out and that Michael managed to scratch him despite that.

    A Low Tier-3 Lord managed to injure a Tier-5 powerhouse. That is definitely not something that should be possible. Maybe, if the Tier-5 powerhouse was rusty from not fighting for several decades, or if they had been crippled, thus losing the majority of theirbat prowess, but Oliver Zeus was a Descendant¡ªa powerful one at that.

    Michael was overflowing with confidence as he endured the intense stares of the room''s powerhouses. He smiled calmly and made eye contact with all of them. The only one he skipped was Alice, which was even more reason for the daughter of the Zenovia household to think that something was wrong.

    "I think that''s a good idea. Thest g War was troublesome. We managed to eliminate some traitorous households but didn''t find all the Descendants who betrayed the Tritan Alliance. I''m notfortable about sending my students into the isted dimension where more traitors might surface," Oliver Zeus acknowledged reluctantly.

    He didn''t want to ept the bitter truth, but Michael was powerful. To put it simply, Michael Fang was a monstrosity. He could easily solve their problems with the Tekur race.

    Alice agreed, too. "We can search for the remaining traitors while Michael clears the isted dimension."

    Michael nced at her for a moment. He smiled lightly, attracting Alice''s attention. She stared intently at him once again, her eyes speaking to Michael. ''What the hell is wrong with you? Are you sick?''

    That was impossible for Michael to answer. He didn''t know what was going on either.

    "Our Awakened will be weaklings if they cannot even care for the Tekur. They need the isted dimension to refine their bodies, minds, and understanding of their martial arts. Those who survived the g War came back stronger and more mature. I will rmend that the Chieftain reject your proposal," the representative of the Berserkers proimed.

    Michael groaned inwardly, but his smile prevailed. He gained the others'' attention with a simple gesture and pointed out the obvious.

    "This year''s g War will be more dangerous than all Interdimensional g Wars. Last year was already more dangerous, but the Tekur were beaten. Their Elite was killed, and the Dimensional Pirs were destroyed¡ªsome of them, at least. If they''re truly interested in conquering the Tritan Alliance, they will deploy more Elite Tekurs this year," he said, all while turning more serious toward the Berserker''s representative.

    "Do you want to be responsible for the annihtion of your youngest generation? Do you want to be at fault for the death of all prodigies? If that''s really what you think, you are more foolish than I expected."

    Michael intentionally provoked the Berserker. The colossal Berserker jumped up from hisrge chair, hurling the massive chair through the room. He red at Michael, his presence growing heavier by the second.

    "How dare you underestimate my students and the teachings of the Berserkers just because you are a little bit stronger than your peers?! Since your parents did a miserable job teaching you manners, maybe I should take care of that now. Betterte than never!"

    Michael endured the presence. He didn''t back off. Instead, Michael''s eyes began to glow. The Cursed Seals manifested all over his body, unleashing the Extraction Aura. Michael focused the Extraction Aura to coat his body in a thickyer of True Extraction. Simultaneously, the Serpent Seals were unleashed. The World Serpent''s presence burst out of him explosively, taking the powerhouses around him by surprise.

    Michael''s body cracked and crunched as if the bones in his body were smashed into oblivion, but his expression didn''t falter. A vicious expression stered his face as True Extraction merged with the heavy presence that flooded out of him like a broken dam.

    "The Berserkers will never be truly powerful if they sacrifice their kin like their receable tools," Michael snorted, the pressure around him intensifying, "Dare to say another word about my family, and I will break your neck, Berserker!"

    [Yup. A troublemaker. You''re exactly like I remember you.] Danny dered.

    Alice appeared next to Michael and grasped his left arm tightly.

    "Calm down," She whispered, her gaze widening in shock when she sensed something ominous within Michael. The thing she sensed inside him was terrifying.

    Alice Zenovia couldn''t grip what she saw, but the thing¡­no. The being was terrifying. She swallowed hard and mentally prepared herself to jump into action if necessary. Something was not right.

    However, Michael calmed down. He retracted the Extraction Aura and stopped using the Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals.

    He nced at Alice for a moment.

    "Thanks."

    "No problem," She sighed in relief, "It''s good that you didn''t go further. I don''t want to fight you."

    It was barely audible to the others, but Michael heard her clearly. Unfortunately, Danny also heard her.

    [Michael~ What is going on there? Is that my future sister-in-

    w? Good choice!]

    ''The moment you get your form back, I will punch you!''

    Michael turned to the Berserker while blending out his brother''s voice in his head.

    "As much as we have to adjust to the ways of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, you will have to adjust to our traditions. Humans won''t forfeit their prodigies to train them. Some might do that, but we''re not in a time that requires us to weed out the ''weakest'' prodigies to create monsters. I won''t allow you to sacrifice and endanger our people just because you want to use the g War as a training ground and graveyard for your kind," Michael dered, ignoring that the Berserker''s representative held a higher position.

    Michael couldn''t care less about positions and social status at this point.

    "If you, or anyone else, has a problem with that, send your strongest fighters to the arena and fight me," Michael''s gaze glowed dangerously. I know your rites, and I''m aware of the War Goddess'' Blessing. I''m also knowledgeable enough about your costums to know that you won''t run away from a battle."

    Michael seemed to grow as he stood before the towering Berserker representative. He didn''t budge a single inch.

    "I can fight the other participants of the g War simultaneously. As long as I defeat them without help, you will have to ept my condition. The proposal was my attempt at being polite," A fiendish smile tugged on Michael''s lips, "But I can be impolite if you dare me!"

 Chapter 699 At Peace

    <h4>Chapter 699 At Peace</h4>

    Michael''s words impacted heavily. Everyone in the room understood that Michael was serious. If necessary, he was willing to fight the 999 strongest Lesser Lifeforms of the Tritan Alliance to demonstrate how he would thrash the Elite Tekur in the Interdimensional g War.

    Alice was also impressed. She nced at Michael, her eyes glimmering faintly.

    ''That was hot.''

    It sounded like a statement, but Michael was not shocked about that. He was more surprised that he had heard Alice''s thoughts. Michael''s mind went nk in confusion. He stared at Alice, trying to understand what had happened, only to hear his brother bursting into crazyughter.

    ''You activated Mind Reader?!?'' Michael cursed in his mind as he realized what Danny had done.

    Daniel didn''t deny the usation and continuedughing.

    Michael pressed his lips together, swearing that he would beat the shit out of his brother once he had a physical body to punch and kick.

    The Berserker representative was about to tell Michael that he shouldn''t be too full of himself and that he better be careful with his words, but he said nothing. Michael''s power burst, and his presence had been horrifying. It was shocking to think that a mere Lesser Lifeform managed to exude such terrifying pressure.

    Even the Tier-5 powerhouses at the meeting would have to be careful if they collide with Michael. He was merely a Mid Tier-3 Lord, but nobody could be sure they could escape a life-and-death battle unscathed.

    There was no doubt. Michael was stronger than his peers, and the older Lesser Lifeforms were considered heavenly prodigies all over the Tritan Alliance''s territory.

    "The g War is still a few months away. We can solve all issues rted to the g War by then. There is no need to decide anything right now," Kraft Viton intercepted while throwing a meaningful nce at Michael.

    "That''s fine with me. I''m not in a rush, either. I only came to you to tell you about my proposal," Michael shrugged. And to tell you that I want to auction a dozen 3-Star Soultrait Symbols soon. There won''t be any purchasable Soultrait Upgrades. Whoever manages to win the bids will have to contact me to learn about the price for further Soultrait Upgrades."

    Kraft Viton frowned deeply when he heard what Michael said. It was no surprise that Michael was ready to sell more Soultrait Symbols again, but it was inconvenient that Michael announced this in the meeting. Everyone could tell that Michael was scheming.

    Michael nced at the Berserker representative, his eyes glimmering ice-cold.

    "Your n will be cklisted until the auction ends."

    The room fell into utter silence at Michael''s words.

    "Oh shit." Someone murmured into the silence of the room.

    Nobody could tell who it was, but that didn''t matter. Michael announced what he had to announce. He ignored the Berserker, whose expression contorted and focused on Kraft Viton.

    The old man sighed deeply.

    "Is it my fate to attract troublemakers, or am I so bad at teaching my students that they transform into troublemakers?" He mumbled.

    [Michael has always been a troublemaker!]

    Kraft Viton couldn''t hear Danny''s voice, but Michael could. He continued smiling.

    "Check your sky messenger. I sent you a few reports about the Sacred Desert a few days ago. You might be interested in them," Kraft Viton tried to change the topic smoothly. However, Michael was not that interested in the Sacred Desert.

    "The Sacred Desert? I will check the reports in a few days or weeks, whenever I have time, I guess."

    He shrugged lightly and turned to the others. Kraft Viton took his nonchnt attitude by surprise. Michael didn''t seem too interested in the Sacred Desert region anymore. Or was he just acting? Was it even possible to act that well?

    In reality, Michael''s desire for vengeance wasn''t as strong as it used to be. His brother had returned to him. That was more important than vengeance.

    Of course, Michael would kill those who ordered Danny''s betrayal in the future, but there was no rush. Once he was strong enough, he could force everyone to travel to him and read their minds. Once he was strong enough, the traitors of the Tritan Alliance would die miserably alongside those who schemed against him and his brother.

    It would take a while before he reached that point, but that was perfectly fine. Michael had more than enough time to spare.

    "I think I caused enough trouble for today."

    Michael winked at the Berserker representative before thinking it was time to go. He had already crossed the line by barging into their meeting and proiming that he would end the g Wars forever. Even if he was confident that the Chieftain and the War Priestess thought like him, Michael knew he could have acted differently. A simple message to the Chieftain and the War Priestess would have been enough, but that wasn''t fun.

    Michael wouldn''t have gone that far if the Berserker representative hadn''t been such a jerk. However, it angered him that the representatives considered the sacrifice of hundreds of prodigies during the g War justified. The Trnce needed more Lords to expand. Sacrificing their best candidates before they''d grown up was certainly not the right way to nurture growth.

    He nodded toward Kraft Viton and Alice before leaving the meeting hall. They resumed the meeting after the disturbance - Michael - left while Michael searched for Evalynn Fang.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t find her no matter where he looked. Not even Spirit Eyes amplified with a Soul Tear and reinforced with 10 Enhancementyers was good enough to find her.

    She was either far away from the Saphirke Military Academy or in the Origin Expanse.

    "Sorry, Danny."

    [No problem. I''m¡­not sure if I''m ready to meet her, either way. Thest 24 hours have been a lot. Maybe it''s better for everyone that I haven''t had time to talk to her yet.]

    Michael pressed his lips together. He was sure Danny''s reunion with their mother would be better than his first encounter after ten years of abandonment. Nheless, Evalynn Fang wasn''t an expert at caring for her children. She would mess up her reunion with Danny, Michael was sure.

    On his trip through the Saphirke Military Academy, Michael found Kaleb and Hiraku''s energy fluctuations. Frederik was also nearby.

    Since he had nothing better to do, he met with Kaleb. It had been a while since they got time to chat properly.

    Michael teleported into the arena, finding Kaleb lying on the ground. The youngest offspring of the Zenovia family had been beaten ck and blue.

    "Did you challenge Hiraku?" Michael asked. He gazed at Hiraku, who towered before Kaleb.

    "Maybe¡­" Kaleb murmured between two painful groans, "That might have been a little stupid."

    "A little, yeah." Michael chuckled and essed Archangel''s Grace to tend to Kaleb''s wounds.

    Kaleb healed quickly and got up from the ground after a few seconds.

    "Challenging Hiraku might not have been my smartest move," Kaleb announced without a shred of shame.

    "You don''t say? I expected you to beat the shit out of Hiraku after he ascended to a Higher Lifeform," Frederik mocked Kaleb while trying hard to maintain his poker face. He grinned from one ear to the other. Watching Hiraku beat the crap out of Kaleb had been worth it.

    Hiraku overlooked Frederik and stared at Michael for a few seconds. He dispersed the Titan Spirit Soultrait and returned to his original appearance.

    "I saw what you did yesterday."

    Michael tilted his head but soon understood that Hiraku had talked about Danny''s resurrection.

    The corner of Hiraku''s lips turned upward, transforming into an awkward smile.

    "You are a good Lord and a good brother," He said sincerely.

    It was the first time that Michael saw Hiraku smile properly. Even Frederik was surprised.

    "Dude¡­you can smile?!"

    Michael appeared before Frederik and flicked his forehead with some force.

    "You need to learn when to keep your mouth shut."

    Frederik smiled, embarrassed, while Kaleb chuckled lightly.

    "I missed this," He blurted out, only for Michael to agree.

    "Same here."

    Atst, Michael was at peace. The pressure weighing on him for thest few months was no more.

    He finally had some time to spend as he pleased.

    **

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 Chapter 700 Introducing

    Chapter 700 Introducing

    ??"What? A Lord has invaded your territory, and you had to go all-out to defeat him?" Michael asked with a teasing undertone, "That was about time. How did you even manage to spend a whole year without getting attacked or invaded?!"

    Kaleb''s lips parted as if he was ready to respond to Michael, but he shut his mouth a momentter when he heard Hiraku mumble behind him.

    "Ridiculous. A 7-Star Soultrait alongside an Inheritance Technique, Legacy Arts, near-infinite resources, and he doesn''t even have to face any powerful monsters or Lords for a year."

    "Two years if we use the Origin Expanse''s timeline," Frederik added.

    Kaleb stared at the trio, his eyes narrowed to slits.

    "Why are you teaming up against me?" He grumbled.

    [You seem like an easy target, just like my brother~] Danny said in Michael''s mind.

    For once, Michael was happy that his brother couldn''t use much origin energy in his current form. Danny''s Living Soul was entwined with origin energy, but it was not enough to use Whispering Energy for a prolonged period. He would fall into a weakened state when using Whispering Energy for too long. Therefore, Danny didn''t even think of wasting his precious bits of energy to talk to the others. Talking to Michael was enough for him.

    "We''re not teaming up against you," Michael retorted lightly, "It''s just surprising that you weren''t attacked until now. But that might be better for you. You have your family backing your territory development with resources. It''s not the same in the Untamed Jungle. I had no resources and had to use the Untamed Jungle''s resources to expand my territory. Only by dealing with the Lords and Awakened, who''d threatened to invade my territory, was it possible to grow this powerful."

    Michael wasn''tining. It was just that he never had much time to focus on his progress. He had yet to create custom Legacy Arts, Martial Arts, etc. The only time off he has had was during thest few months. Michael had been very busy with his territory and the creation of Soul Techniques, but he hadn''t been attacked. His enemies were all dead, after all.

    Michael imagined what would have happened if nobody attacked him for two years ¨C Origin Expanse time. He was not sure how much weaker he would have been in that case.

    Footsteps resounded behind Michael. The ttering of heels reached his ears.

    Michael and his friends turned to the noise source and noticed Maria. She entered the arena, followed by her followers, Lincoln and Zeke.

    Lincoln and Zeke approached Michael and the others right away. On the other hand, Maria gestured to her followers before she strode toward the group as well.

    [So that''s the other one?] Danny asked when Michael''s eyesnded on Maria.

    Michael had to use Spirit Eyes to show Danny the outside world, but he regretted that at this moment.

    [She is hot. Not bad, little brother. You''re a charmer~!]

    "Shut up!" Michael grumbled in a whisper.

    Hiraku turned to Michael, one of his eyebrows lifted as if to ask; what is wrong?

    "Nothing," Michael said in a hurry.

    "The busiest Lord of the Tritan Alliance is blessing us with his presence," Lincoln teased Michael, pulling him in a firm hug, "Oh! You''ve gained some muscles since Ist saw you. Amazing! If you continue like this, my muscles will be less impressive than yours."

    "You''re a creep, Lincoln. Keep your muscle talk in your head. Nobody wants to hear it. Well, except the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. You can torment them with your constant talk about muscles." Zeke pped Lincoln''s broad back only to shake his head.

    "Don''t infect Michael with your weirdness," He dered before nodding to Michael, "Wee back. I heard that you cklisted Zigard Kelton from the next Soultrait Auction. Good job! The Berserker representative has been annoying since he reached the Saphirke Military Academy. I''m not sure why the Chieftain sent him. That Zigard is a menace and a real problem to the Tritan Alliance''s rtionship."

    "Let''s not talk about that," Maria intercepted with a faint smile. She looked at Michael with a trace of uncertainty, "You won''t run away from talking to me this time¡­right?"

    Michael felt a pang of guilt sweep through his entire being when he saw the pitiful gaze in Maria''s eyes.

    "I usually don''t run away from anything. I told you that I was in a hurry. It was a life-and-death situation," He exined calmly, earning him a doubting expression from Maria.

    "So, you''re seriously trying to tell me you were serious when you said you''ll resurrect your brother?" She asked loud enough for the others to hear.

    "You wanted to resurrect your brother? Didn''t he die a year ago? Is it possible to resurrect someone after such a long time?" Frederik asked, earning him a flick against the forehead from Hiraku.

    "Oi, that hurt! What was that for?" Frederikined, only to receive two more flicks against the forehead.

    Frederik was about to grumble, but the others red at him. They hardly ever saw someone as inconsiderate as Frederik, who was also a menace.

    "Where do I start?" Michael asked himself lightly. He pondered about it briefly before exining what happened to his brother. He informed his friends that Danny died in the Sacred Desert after a betrayal and that the Undead Pharaoh dealt the finishing blow. Michael continued by telling them about Masked Saber and how he died in the Lord Rift, exposing his identity as his brother moments before he was burned alive.

    Michael had much to say, but the words escaped his lips like a broken dam. He didn''t know how much time passed, but Michael finished exining everything about the Miniature Coffin Keychain, Danny''s Living Soul problem, and everything that had happened in thest few days.

    Michael wasfortable talking about Evalynn Fang, Hesta, the Nest, and their family''s Curse. He activated one Cursed Seal, resulting in the expansion of the Spirit Eyes'' Stigma. The intricate pattern of the Cursed Seals covered most of his upper head. The pressure in the room intensified, and the Extraction Aura engulfing Michael grew stronger.

    His friends sensed the tremendous power within the aura shrouding Michael and the change in his presence caused by the Cursed Seal.

    "That¡­exins a lot," Zeke said, "But I have never heard about Curses like that. I know Soultraits that can Curse someone, but these Curses are¡­different from this Curse."

    Zeke pointed at the Cursed Seal and frowned deeply.

    "Your family is messed up," Frederik merely said, earning another barrage of res from the others.

    [Frederik is a nice one. Keep this guy close to you. He will make sure that you''re never bored.] Danny announced suddenly in Michael''s head. Michael mentioned nothing.

    "So¡­you managed to resurrect your brother by removing the Curse adhered to his Soul. Then you extracted his Living Soul and shoved it inside¡­your other Soultrait?" Maria asked, the doubt in her voice apparent.

    "I stored him inside the Soul Grimoire," Michael said, summoning the Soul Grimoire. The Grimoire floated in the air before his friends and fluttered open. A momentter, Danny''s voice resounded through the minds of Michael''s friends.

    [Hello there. I''m this troublemaker''s brother. There is no need to be nice to him. Beat him up a little to ensure he won''t be too full of himself!] Danny mentioned in their minds, using Whispering Energy.

    It used a considerable amount of energy, but Danny didn''t mind. He could replenish his used-up energy in the next few hours.

    "Thanks, Danny¡­" Michael grumbled. He retrieved the Soul Grimoire, only to smile when he saw his friends'' expressions.

    They were shocked and still in disbelief, more or less. However, they were also pleased to see Michael like this. Michael was happy. It didn''t take many brain cells to tell that Michael was much more rxed than he used to be. It felt like nothing in the universe could shake Michael at this moment.

    Thest time Michael felt like that was...a long time ago. He didn''t even remember when he felt like that before.

    "You managed to revive your brother¡­amazing," Maria mumbled, her eyes glimmering with curiosity.

    "Yes¡­and no. It''s a little bit moreplex than that," Michael acknowledged.

    "But no matter howplicated it is. I will revive my brotherpletely soon. I can do it!"

 Chapter 701 Trust, Greed & Naivety

    Chapter 701 Trust, Greed & Naivety

    ??After the friends talked for a while, Zeke mentioned something Michael had totally forgotten about.

    "By the way, I noticed that you haven''t submitted your final exams yet. Are you nning to leave the academy, or did you forget to apply for exam exemption?"

    Michael tilted his head in confusion.

    "You¡­have no idea what I''m talking about, right?" Zeke figured.

    "No. Well, yes. It''s just that I forgot that I''m still a student at the academy. I don''t know why, but I feel like I graduated already," Michael said in all honesty. He thought deeply, "How do I apply for exam exemption?"

    It was a hassle, but it was better to apply for an exam exemption than leave the Saphirke Military Academy. He didn''t care much about studying there anymore, but he figured that it was good to stay since it was the first ce where Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and Humans were taught together.

    It was a great ce to find suitable Awakened for his territory. His friends were also at the Saphirke Military Academy. He didn''t really want to leave. However, Michael was not willing to continue studying either.

    "Most Descendants apply for study and exam exemption after their second year in most academies. They learned enough in their youth to graduate, but instead of graduating immediately, they socialize with others and focus on their territory development. Most Descendants will improve their understanding of their Inheritance techniques and Legacy Arts after their second year at the Saphirke Military Academy. That''s also why most families consider their children''s growth until they turn 20 as the establishing of their foundation," Zeke exined.

    "It''s still important that we''re not slower than our peers, but our parents think that it is more important to establish a proper foundation in the first two years of our awakening. Two years, or four years in the Origin Expanse, are supposed to be more than enough to solve all issues with your territory''s environment if there are any, and to create the perfect foundation to start expanding aggressively after that," Lincoln added, taking Michael by surprise.

    "So, you''re saying that you guys didn''t even start expanding aggressively yet?" Michael asked. He was certain their families had supported his friends so much to ensure they could expand aggressively, but that didn''t seem to be the case.

    "Well, I didn''t have many enemies to fight in my territory, so I have already begun expanding aggressively. I have four settlements, and thend I''ve imed isrge enough to build a few more settlements if necessary. But by expanding my territory, I found more enemies. I have yet to deal with a few monster habitats, and my scouts found more Lords, who may turn into problems."

    Kaleb''s words seemed to trigger Lincoln and Zeke. They looked at each other with a sense of urgency.

    ''Is that important?''

    [Of course, it is important. Kaleb has a considerable advantage. He has already secured four settlements. As long as he can solidify his defenses, he can create a few more settlements to expand the poption in his territory even further. ording to his words, hisnd is ample as well. As long as hisnd is not dead, he will find deposits of precious resources. He can gain a fortune from his territory using his advantageous starting point.]

    [Combined with the resources provided by his family, Kaleb will be able to expand much faster than his peers. He is also a Tier-3 Lord with a 7-Star Soultrait at a young age. As long as he doesn''t make any big mistakes, he will grow faster than most Lords. Once he ascends to a Higher Lifeform, he will be stronger and more influential than most families. He will be one of mankind''s pirs of support. Staying close to him will be very beneficial for Lincoln and Zeke. HOWEVER, at the same time, they will be pressured to grow faster to not fall behind Kaleb. Their families will push them to expand, ensuring that Kaleb won''t abandon them. After all, Kaleb could consider their friendship useless if they don''t have any assets to use.]

    ''That is weird. Why would Kaleb care whether Lincoln and Zeke are useful to him? We''re friends.''

    [I noticed that everyone considered each other friends as well, but don''t you dare to be foolish enough to trust that friendship prevails over all adversaries. I trusted my Subordinates with my life as well. They backstabbed me the moment I turned into a ''threat''. I wasn''t even a threat. It was just that someone else gave them enough benefits to deceive me just like that.]

    ''It won''t be¨C...''

    [It won''t be like that with your friends? Don''t be foolish. You never know what happens. What if the Supreme Human Alliance offers them your Extraction Soultrait in exchange for betraying you? They might have the means to rip your Soultraits out of your body. The person who betrayed me, or one of them, had a duplication-like Soultrait. What if someone duplicates Extraction, kills you, and extracts your Soultraits? They will get their hands on Extraction that way.]

    It was rare to see Danny this serious. His words were painful, but there was a trace of truth in them.

    [No matter how much you care about them¡­you don''t know how they''ll think about you in the future. You have no clue how influential greed is.]

    ''But¡­''

    [You don''t have to be suspicious of your friends, but never say that they would never deceive you. You don''t know that. The only ones who won''t betray you are Tiara, Frederik, the Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs who underwent the rite of the War Goddess. The True Links of Loyalty and the Oath of Loyalty aren''t things thate into existence if they''re not 100% loyal to you.]

    The others didn''t notice that Michael spoke to Danny. They were busy talking to each other about their territories, their businesses, and the like.

    Michael was a little ufortable as Danny''s words resounded in his mind, but it was not like his brother was wrong. He knew he had been foolish to trust his friends would never deceive him. It was just that Michael didn''t want to acknowledge the possibility.

    Michael was aware that his friends were jealous of his Soultraits. He also knew that they were happy for him. Deep in their hearts, they couldn''t help but think that it was unfair that Michael was so fortunate to awaken Extraction. They didn''t even know half of what Michael had to endure to fuse so many Soultraits. Most people would have died long before they procured their third Soultraits, yet Michael prevailed. He survived. He defeated everyone who obstructed his path.

    He learned to be ruthless in the face of those who wanted to harm him.

    Michael sighed deeply. He didn''t know how their discussion about the exam exemption turned into this.

    "Why are politics such a mess?" Michael mumbled, but everyone could hear him.

    Lincoln and Zeke stared at them with a tinge of guilt and surprise in their eyes while Maria looked at him a little sad. It was not hard to tell that Michael understood only a portion of what was going on in front of him now.

    Michael was still rtively new to the political world and hated it.

 Chapter 702 Flirt?

    Chapter 702 Flirt?

    ??Everyone could tell that Michael progressed faster than everyone else. However, even if Michael hadn''t progressed this fast, he wouldn''t have been worried about Kaleb''s growth. If anything, it would be nice to hear that his friend quickly expanded his territory in the Origin Expanse.

    Unfortunately, Lincoln and Zeke felt the pressure weighing hard on them. The moment they reported to their families how much Kaleb had improved, their lives would turn upside down. For now, their parents didn''t pressure them too much. They told them to stay close to Kaleb, Michael, Killian, Maria, and some other Descendants to find out which families would be best to tie to them, but that may change soon.

    Their focus would transfer to the Origin Expanse, where they would have to expand their territory and construct several settlements to catch up or surpass Kaleb. Their families had high hopes for them. They didn''t want to see anyone surpass them, especially not their friends and those circling them.

    Maria was luckier than the childhood friends. She didn''t have too much pressure weighing her down. None of the Seraphs had much trouble in the first ce. They were known for expanding their territory slowly but steadily. Their focus was on battles of attrition since they had various healers on their side. Even the probability of summoning a Healer as a Summon was higher for the Seraph family.

    The Seraphines, the armies of the Seraph household, could fight for weeks once their Summons performed well enough with the special Seraphine Techniques created by the first Matriarch of the Seraph household.

    Maria didn''t care too much about politics. However, she was pulled into it when she was young as a member of the Seraph household''s main branch. She was the daughter of the Tritan Alliance''s most influential Healers. Her awakening increased her influence and impact on the political world even more. That was the worst for Maria.

    She couldn''t even imagine how Michael must feel. He was never politically influential before his awakening, only to be one of the most important chess pieces in the Tritan Alliance. He was uncontroble, but that was precisely what many families wanted to make use of. He was unpredictable and didn''t hesitate to show how he felt. Michael didn''t see a need to act overly friendly to people he didn''t like. There was no need to be polite to jerks. Some families felt they could use that to get rid of their enemies. They didn''t even have to pull Michael to their side. All they had to do was to push their enemies in Michael''s direction with small tricks.

    Michael was aware of that, but he didn''t mind. He acted as he pleased, which was dangerous.

    Maria could ept that. Michael was not someone born into the High Society. Kaleb was different. However, he was even more foolish than Michael. Kaleb was naive and ignorant about the political world. It was almost as if he was born as a nonpolitical figure like Michael. That was Alice''s fault.

    Alice did her utmost to ensure Kaleb wouldn''t be pulled into the political world. She seeded in her attempt, but Maria was unsure if that was good or bad.

    ''His ignorance makes him more likable, though. He was an idiot before he met Michael, but thinking about it¡­he is kinda cute.''

    Kaleb''s foolishness was adorable. His genuine attitude made it hard to dislike him. Maria hadn''t been friends with the others for a long time, but she could tell that Kaleb was to be trusted. Lincoln and Zeke were still unsure about their stance. However, Maria could feel that they were pulled toward Michael''s side slowly and steadily. They didn''t like the political world either. Escaping it wasn''t easy, but the childhood friends wondered if it would be possible with Michael on their side.

    Or maybe¡­it would be worse if they stayed with Michael.

    They had yet to make the final call. It was only a matter of time.

    ''The next few years are going to be¡­wild¡­'' Maria predicted, ncing at the humans who would be the pirs of the Tritan Alliance.

    She hoped that everything would be alright.

    Looking at Kaleb and Michael, Maria could only hope they would stay on the same side. They fought each other well, and they controlled each other. It was perfect that way.

    **

    "I can''t apply for an exam exemption or a study exemption? That''s¡­annoying," Michael grumbled.

    He called Saphirke Military Academy''s management only to find out he didn''t meet the requirements to apply for the exam exception. The woman he was talking to was hesitant and very apologetic. She mumbled to the other women in the headquarters of the management department, indirectly hinting to Michael that something was going on. He figured that he heard bits and pieces of information from the woman talking to her coworker.

    "Did you offend anyone?" Kaleb stopped midway and smiled wryly. Of course, you did.

    "The better question would be. Who did he not offend?" Frederik chuckled.

    Michael retained his smile. He thought about what to do for a moment before turning to Zeke.

    "If I fail all exams, I''ll be expelled from the academy, right?" Michael asked.

    "Not really. You will receive some bad marks, but that''s what matters. It looks like someone wants to tarnish your reputation without affecting your life in the Saphirke Military Academy too much."

    "What a coward," Michael chuckled before turning to Kaleb. After he considered his options, he typed on the crystal watch and called Alice.

    "Michael? You never call. Is something wrong?" Alice asked almost immediately. Her voice was loud enough to be listened by everyone. Lincoln and Zeke nced at each other in surprise while Maria frowned.

    Kaleb, on the other hand, smiled.

    Perfect.

    "Nothing is wrong. I was just wondering if you need an assistant. I found a cheap aide who is strong, talented, and extremely handsome."

    Frederik frowned now as well. Like the others, he stared at Michael, trying to figure out what he was up to.

    "Why do you want to be my assistant?" Alice inquired right away. She instantly knew that Michael was talking about himself.

    "Easy. I''ll drop out of the Saphirke Military Academy but don''t want to leave the campus."

    No one spoke a word for a while. It took her a few moments to regain her senses, but Alice agreed readily.

    "Are you nning to hire an assistant to do your work while you are registered as my assistant?"

    "I didn''t think about that, but that sounds like a good idea. Less work for me." Michael thought aloud.

    "That''s fine with me. However, you''ll have to meet me at least once a week after I register you as my assistant." Alice pointed out.

    Michael didn''t think that was an issue. If anything, gathering up with Alice alone seemed like a reward.

    "That''s fine with me, but why?"

    "Because I say so," Alice grinned on the other side of the phone.

    "Okay. It''s a date then," Michael teased Alice.

    He didn''t know why he expressed that, but it sensed like the right move.

    "W-what?" Alice began coughing.

    She stared at the holographic screen to see if she was speaking to Michael or on a call with someone else.

    "You don''t want to?" Michael asked, "Fine, then our gathering will be work¨C..."

    "No. That''s fine," Alice said, her voice higher-pitched than before.

    "It''s a date then."

 Chapter 703 Date I

    <h4>Chapter 703 Date I</h4>

    Michael was hesitant initially, but teasing Alice was quite fun.

    She responded better to his teasing than expected. He hadn''t had a good talk with Alice for a while now. The date would change that.

    Maria''splexion distorted drastically upon hearing Michael. She nibbled her lower lip and stared at him, yet Michael didn''t notice anything. He was too busy having fun with Alice.

    Complicated feelings surfaced from the depth of her very being.

    Kaleb, the densest guy in the group, noticed a change in Maria''s stance. She stood there as if frozen in time and continued staring at Michael. Kaleb was happy for his sister, but seeing Maria like this hurt.

    ''She really likes Michael.''

    A burst of guilt swept through Kaleb. He couldn''t help but approach Maria to distract her a little bit. It was partially his fault that Alice and Michae got closer.

    "Hey Maria¡­"

    **

    Michael talked to his friends a little bit longer. It was nice to talk to them as long as he ignored Danny''s warnings. They resounded in his head all day, but Michael learned to ignore them.

    Once the friends split up, Michael finished his business with the Saphirke Military Academy. He quite the academy and filled out the form to apply for Alice''s assistance. The young woman responsible for the dropouts and the application forms recognized Michael. She called someone and worked slower until she was called back. After the second call, the woman smiled hesitantly at him before signing thest documents.

    Michael was no longer a student starting today. He was now Alice''s assistant¡­with an assistant working for him.

    It was alreadyte afternoon when he was done with everything. He nced at his phone and saw that he had some time left for his dinner with Alice. His heart beat a little faster, recalling their appointment, but he forced himself to calm down.

    Michael reached his room and walked past a mirror. What he saw in the mirror shocked him a little bit. He wasn''t covered in dirt and blood, but Michael looked everything but clean. His hair stood in all directions, and it was a wonder that his clothes didn''t fall apart. They were torn in more spots than one could count at a nce.

    He nced at the time again and disappeared into the bathroom. Michael showered first, then used abination of Reinforced Sword Qi and the Sphere of Air to cut his hair.

    Michael wanted a simple hairstyle that wouldn''t annoy him once he returned to the Origin Expanse to fight. He cut the sides short and thinned out the rest of his hair. He yed a bit with his hair to test the different styles he could use that way and decided that his silky hair could stay like this.

    "A silver strand¡­weird. I never noticed that." Michael twirled the silver strand of hair in his fingers while staring at it in the mirror.

    [You look good enough. Stop staring at yourself in the mirror, you annoying narcissist! I don''t want to see your little guy down there in the mirror either!!!]

    Michael raised an eyebrow, "You do realize that you could have stopped essing Spirit Eyes when I went into the shower, right?"

    His brother had often seen him naked when he was younger, which is also why he wasn''t ashamed to reveal himself. There was no need to be ashamed of his body in the first ce. Nothing about his body ashamed him. If anything, Michael was proud of his perfectly toned physique. It was a perfectbination of ginormous power and astronomical flexibility.

    [You''re annoying. I can sense your self-love even in the Soul Grimoire. Don''t act like a Saint!]

    Michael chuckled lightly.

    "Whatever. It''s your fault. Nothing else matters."

    [You!!!]

    Michael smiled vibrantly. He wore clean clothes before departing to the campus shopping district. He didn''t have any fancy clothes for dates and formal events.

    ''I shouldn''t go over the top. A suit would be a little bit too much, right? I think a fancy ck shirt and the like will be enough¡­probably? Alice is not going to be wearing a dress. I don''t think so.''

    Michael was in a tricky situation but didn''t want to ask Danny for help either. Unfortunately, his brother could hear his thoughts easily.

    [Wear a simple suit. There is no need to go with the stuck-up suits, though. No necktie. You can remove your jacket and carry it in your hand to nce a little bit more casual, but you shouldn''t store it in your War Rune''s storage. The jacket is still part of your overall image. If it''s cold, you can offer your jacket to that ice-cold princess, who can only be tamed and molten by you, idiot]

    Michael followed his brother''s advice. He entered the first shop, tried on some clothes, and bought a lot more than he''d expected. At the end of the day, Michael was not sure how many sets of clothes he would need for future dates and formal meetings. He liked the feeling those fancy clothes gave him. His new haircut and fancy clothes made him feel simr to he was apletely different person.

    The clothes werefortable as well. However, that was mostly owned by the material used and the high-ss creators who''d spun several runes into the garment to engrave various effects into them.

    The clothes were pseudo-Artifacts, and thus, very expensive as well.

    (930)

    Atst, it stood time to meet Alice. Michael used Cosmic Stride to emerge near their meeting spot, a small bench surrounded by nature''s beauty. He walked up to the meeting spot, happy that Alice was not yet there. It was good that he arrived before Alice.

    Michael was just about to sigh in relief when he observed that Alice approached the meeting spot a moment after Michael arrived.

    ''Did she wait for me to arrive first?''

    He was not sure how to feel about that, but there was no time to think much. A momentter, Alice arrived before him. She grinned gently and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears.

    "Am I toote?"

    "You arrived early," Michael uttered while pointing at the time on the crystal watch. However, he also hinted to Alice that he knew about her waiting from further away.

    A faint blush blossomed on her cheeks, captivating Michael. He wanted to tease her more, but his entire being stood drawn to her appearance.

    She didn''t wear a graceful dress, but Alice looked drop-dead gorgeous. She wore a dark blue blouse and a short ck skirt. Both pieces of clothing merged well with her long, wavy hair, which fluttered gently in the air. They highlighted her wless skin and the excitement glimmering in her vibrant ocean-blue eyes.

    Alice cleared her throat and circted energy through her body to get rid of the blush before she dared to nce into Michael''s bewitching golden eyes again.

    "Where are we going?"

    Michael winked at Alice, curious what kind of reaction he could get from her.

    "Just follow my lead."

    **

    [A/N: Oh my~ Michael and Alice are on a...date?! We have romance in this story? WHAT IS GOING ON?!? Will Alice be his one love...or will their ways part? Will Michael be happy for once? Who knows?]

 Chapter 704 Date II

    Chapter 704 Date II

    ??Since they weren''t hurrying to the restaurant, they first went for a casual walk in the nearby park.

    It was not supposed to be something special, but Michael knew enough about Alice and the Zenovia family to know one thing for sure: Alice never had an ordinary life. She never had the pleasure of experiencing ordinary things.

    Walking through a park and talking about all kinds of things, whether they were important or not, was one of those ''ordinary'' experiences Alice never got to experience.

    The pair talked about various things as they walked through the park. They started off awkward, but their earlier encounter today helped make things a little bit easier. Alice mentioned the meeting with the higher-ups of the Saphirke Military Academy and Michael''s timely arrival. She grinned, recalling Zigard Kelton''s sour face and the expression he made when Michael cklisted him and his n from purchasing Soultraits in the next Soultrait Auction.

    Alice was curious about his n during the next g War and what he was nning to do now. However, she didn''t ask too much about it. Instead, Alice was curious about Michael''s childhood, his family, and other more private topics they''d never discussed.

    Michael told Alice everything. He didn''t think that it was necessary to hide anything at this point. Sometimes, he had to ask Danny if he could tell Alice about certain stories. Of course, Danny epted without a second hesitation. He only told Michael to avoid talking about three stories since they could shatter the good atmosphere between the couple.

    Michael listened to his brother, d that he had someone to rely on in his mind.

    Michael answered Alice''s questions thoroughly and honestly before he started bombarding Alice with questions as well.

    Since Michael never researched the Zenovia family in detail, he didn''t know much about them. That was something new for Alice, but it didn''t feel bad. Knowing that Michael saw her as herself rather than Alice Zenovia excited her. He was different from the people who approached her usually. They wanted to get to know her for her family. Michael didn''t care about the Zenovia family. He cared about her.

    Both Alice and Michael were a little sad as the time for their reservation neared. They had to leave the park to get to the restaurant. However, that didn''t mean they stopped talking on their way to the restaurant.

    They saw dozens of students and professors walk past them, some even trying to approach them to say something, but the pair was caught up in their world. They didn''t even notice the stares lingering on them. It was almost as if everything around them was turning into nothingness.

    The only thing that mattered to them was each other. Michael hung at Alice''s words just like Alice was glued to everything he said. Every spoken word was imprinted in their minds.

    Michael didn''t even recall the way to the restaurant or how they made it inside the private room. Thest thing he noticed was a short break in their chat, and they started ordering dishes.

    The dinner was fancy, and the restaurant was high-ss. It was nothing unusual for Alice, who''d eaten at simr ces, but everything was different with Michael by her side. Their chat was more intimate, and the vibe engulfing them was different. There was tension between Alice and Michael and bits of a romantic vibe, but it was nothing too crazy.

    However, the tension and the vibes between them were enough for Michael to confirm that he adored Alice. Undoubtedly, he liked her as more than a friend and teacher.

    Alice felt simr. She was always drawn to Michael more than others. At first, Alice was certain that Michael was an unpolished diamond that required refinement to be a powerful weapon and ally. Her feelings toward Michael changed quickly. She didn''t realize it initially, but Michael started attracting her interest from the day he overwhelmingly defeated Kaleb.

    Michael fixed Kaleb. He achieved something Alice had dreamed about.

    Following that day, Alice''s feelings changed every time they met. She found herself worried whenever Michael sustained injuries and whenever he didn''te back from the Origin Expanse for months. He never said what he was up to and did whatever he wanted without confirming with anyone. Alice knew he didn''t have to tell anyone about anything he did, but that didn''t mean she wasn''t curious. Alice wanted to know more. She desired to learn more about Michael and wanted to be informed whenever he would stay in the Origin Expanse longer. After all, Alice didn''t want to be worried all day about his well-being.

    But why was she worried about him in the first ce? Alice wasn''t even concerned about Kaleb when he stayed in the Origin Expanse longer than announced.

    Her date with Michael wasn''t anything out of the ordinary. It wasn''t a blockbuster date that cost a fortune and weeks to prepare. But it was better than anything anyone had ever prepared for her. Michael concentrated on Alice and nobody else. He paid attention to her well-being and her emotions. He listened to her intently and said precisely what she wanted to hear.

    He was there for her.

    Alice found herself drawn to Michael the more she thought about their date¡­and him. But she wasn''t drawn to him like a teacher likes studious students or an older sister adores her brother''s friends. No. Alice felt different.

    A new emotion surfaced from the bottom of her heart. Her frozen heart began to melt, and she opened herself to the possibility of being¡­more than just friends with Michael.

    At some point, Alice received a notification. She wouldn''t have checked the message, but the notification sound was customized. Her brother send her a message. Alice checked the message and froze in her tracks when she realized what her annoying little brother said.

    [Kaleb(Annoying Brat): Do you have fun with Michael? You suit each other. P.S Don''t forget to invite me to your wedding.]

    Kaleb had always been a little bit annoying, but Alice didn''t expect him to be this mischievous at such a time. The unexpected message took her by surprise, and she stared at it longer than intended. Thest word was imprinted in her mind.

    ''Wedding.''

    Alice''s eyes pulled toward Michael as the word resounded through her mind. She swallowed hard and blushed as her fantasy went wild.

    Alice found herself imagining in arge hall, holding hands with Michael. She was wearing a magnificent dress while Michael was wearing an expensive suit. They smiled at each other vibrantly and leaned in¡­to kiss, sealing their eternal love in front of everyone.

    Alice''s cheeks turned beet red as she daydreamed about the potential future with Michael. Michael observed her blush, and the corner of his lips curled upward subconsciously. His lips parted, and a word escaped before he understood what he was saying.

    "Beautiful."

    It was only now that Alice recalled where she was and what was going on. Her dream bubble burst, and Alice understood what Michael had just said. Alice blushed even harder, and even before she could gather a thought, her lips parted as well.

    "You''re mine now!"

 Chapter 705 Pureblooded

    Chapter 705 Pureblooded

    ??"I''m...yours??" Michael''s eyes widened slightly

    Alice was not like that. She was the Frozen Duchess, not a lovestruck girl.

    [Oh wow. Your girlfriend is quite interesting. Is she in a hurry to be my sister-inw, or is she marking her territory?]

    ''Danny...''

    [Yes?]

    ''Please, shut up,'' Michael cursed in his mind, ''Furthermore, she isn''t my girlfriend...or is she?''

    Given that Alice had blurted out a proposal, Michael was unsure if they were together. Was that even a proposal? Michael couldn''t tell. It felt like she wanted to own him..or that he belonged to her.

    Heat rose to Alice''s cheeks. What the hell had she just said? What demon had possessed her just now?

    She jumped up from her chair and stumbled to the ground, only to panic. Alice locked eyes with Michael for a quarter of a second, but that was already too much for her. She panicked, cursing herself for what she''d just said, and escaped.

    "What is wrong with me?" She eximed in a whisper as she disappeared.

    Michael was left alone in the restaurant, but he was not unhappy. Quite the contrary. Michael activated Spirit Eyes to follow Alice as she ran away before disappearing into the Origin Expanse.

    The corner of his lip curled upward.

    "Is it just me, or is Alice cuter than ever?" He mumbled to himself.

    [How am I supposed to know that?]

    "Nobody was talking to you, Danny. I told you to stay quiet," Michael grumbled, but his smile never disappeared.

    [Whatever. Fact is she loves you. Be happy...and help me get resurrected. I don''t want to witness when you and Alice start with the babymaking project!]

    "Alive, you were never shameless. Or did I never know your true self?" Michael grumbled.

    [Who knows?] Danny teased, causing Michael to groan once again.

    He shook his head and opened the crystal watch to message Alice. Michael told her he liked the date and would love to meet her again. He added a few days when he should be free and hoped Alice would return from the Origin Expanse to message him soon. He wanted to go on another date with Alice, after all. It was fun and different from his usual troubles.

    Michael noticed Kraft Viton''s messages once he threw a few messages into Alice''s chat. Michael recalled what Kraft Viton said about the Sacred Desert and subconsciously opened the chat with his teacher. Michael opened the reports attached to the chat and began reading with Spirit Eyes activated. Danny could read the reports alongside him that way.

    [The Undead Pharaoh was probably a Divine Lifeform while he was alive. No Higher Lifeform would be given a grave like the Primedival Pyramid. However, his presence was unlike a Divine Lifeform''s when I encountered him. He was probably only a 4th Tier Higher Lifeform at that time. Of course, I could be mistaken. I was on the verge of death at that time. I could hardly sense anything.]

    Danny tried to joke at the end, but Michael''s joyful expression distorted into anger. His blood was boiling at the thought of his brother''s death and the people who betrayed him. Even if Danny returned to him, Michael would kill those who had betrayed his brother. They would feel his wrath sooner orter.

    "You told me a little about the Undead fighting for the Undead Pharaoh. Maybe we can write down some information about them to help Kraft Viton. I don''t really want to dash into the Sacred Desert right now, but I don''t want Kraft Viton''s effort to go to waste."

    [That''s fine with me. That old man helped you a lot. I owe him one.]

    Michael smiled lightly. It was true that Kraft Viton helped him a lot. At first nce, it might seem like Michael achieved various extraordinary achievements without any help, but that was only what it looked like from the outside. In fact, Michael received lots of help from Kraft Viton, whether it was due to Whispering Energy, little whispers of advice that changed Michael''s tactics entirely, or every single deal he had with the Bartholomew Corporation.

    He owed Kraft Viton a big one.

    "I should give him a bunch of customized Soul Techniques and Soultraits. If he doesn''t want them for himself, he can give them to others," he mumbled after paying for the dinner. Michael left the restaurant and teleported back to his room, where he sat down on the bed.

    Initially, he nned to return to the Origin Expanse, but there were a few things Michael had to do now that he thought about his future steps.

    "Prepping for the Soultrait Auction is easy. Gifting Kraft Viton lots of things won''t take long, either. That leaves...buying many things and essing the highest level of the Bartholomew Network to research Divine Summons."

    Michael spoke to himself, yet not. Danny was listening to everything he said or thought. It was just that his brother made it seem like Michael was a lunatic. He loved making fun of Michael more than anything.

    [You informed me that there are some locked documents about Hesta in the Bartholomew Network. Do you want to ess them?] Danny asked purely out of curiosity.

    Michael frowned deeply and shook his head.

    "My gut tells me that we will see her soon enough. I''m not sure if I like that or not."

    [What could go wrong? Well¡­except her hunting you down or kidnapping you? Who knows¡­maybe you are too dangerous for the Nest? As a Lesser Lifeform, you have several Cursed Seals and a weird World Serpent inside you. Do you even realize how dangerous you will be once you ascend to a Higher Lifeforms?]

    "Daniel Fang. You are THE BEST at motivating people. Seriously."

    [Love you too]

    "Oh,e on.]

    Something within Michael rumbled. The Serpent Seals were triggered.

    [I can hear everything you talk about. Your vessel is not soundproof.] The World Serpent hissed, [And I''m not a weir-

    ass World Serpent. I''m a majestic creature, and you better respect me. Otherwise, I will no longer reinforce your connection with the Soul Sphere. You will be confined in the Soul Grimoire, unable to talk to your brother until he finds a suitable vessel to resurrect you!]

    The brothers were silent for a while. Danny was the first to regain his senses.

    [Sorry¡­]

    "You sound pitiful." Michael snickered.

    [Because I AM pitiful!] Danny cried out.

    "Whatever, crybaby,"

    The World Serpent hissed quietly to silence the brothers.

    [Now that I''ve already used my power to scold the half-dead soul, I might as well talk to you.] The World Serpent uttered to Michael. [Researching Divine Summons won''t help you a lot. I observed that you''re different from your race. Your mother is simr to you, but the rest¡­they''re not quite like you. The difference is minor, yet not. Maybe you''re not a pureblood. That''s nothing umon among Curse Users. Most of you are not pureblooded.]

    Michael couldn''t hide his surprise when he heard that.

    "What are you talking about?"

    Did he just find out that he and his family weren''t humans? No, that didn''t seem correct. The World Serpent uttered that they might not be pureblooded, but it wasn''t sure. It didn''t sound confident.

    ''Maybe the Curses affect our DNA? That seems logical. Cursed Children are stronger than most of their kin, which is also why Hesta and I were so powerful. Or could it be something else?

    "What about Danny? Is he pureblooded?" Michael asked, curious if his theory was correct. If Danny was closer to a pureblood than he was, that could only mean that the Curse changed his DNA

    But deep down, Michael sensed he was mistaken about something. He felt his ancestry was over 500 years - older than Cleave Fenrir.

    Cleave Fenrir was just the beginning of the grand change.

    Unfortunately, the World Serpent ignored his question.

    [I doubt that you will be able to find useful pieces of information about Divine Summons and Divine Scrolls. If anything, you will discover rumors from engravings in ancient runes and other ancient ces.]

    The World Serpent was correct. No matter how much Michael searched, he found nothing useful about Divine Scrolls. The Tritan Alliance didn''t know anything about Divine Scrolls and Divine Summors. There were merely some rumors.

    The same could be uttered about the World Serpent. There were some pieces of information about it, but the thrumming in Michael''s back and the ear-piercing hiss that rang through his mind were enough toprehend that the World Serpent didn''t acknowledge the information written down in the reports.

    [Whoever wrote this¡­FIND HIM! I will eat him alive!!]

 Chapter 706 Intel

    <h4>Chapter 706 Intel</h4>

    Communicating with the World Serpent and Danny simultaneously was taxing. However, it was also intriguing. The World Serpent managed to silence Danny. Even Michael struggled with that.

    But that didn''t mean the World Serpent was reasonable. It was prideful and easily triggered. The reports Michael found in the Bartholomew Network enraged the World Serpent even though it said the Tritan Alliance was unlikely to have any proven facts about Divine Summons, Scrolls, or their ''kind''.

    Michael hoped that the World Serpent would expose some useful information, but it didn''t reveal much about itself. In fact, it didn''t say anything about its origin or why his Mother thought that the World Serpent was a Curse. The only news was that Michael wasn''t a pureblooded human.

    That confused Michael for a bit, but it felt correct. Not being a pureblooded human would exin a lot.

    [It''s possible that Cleave Fenrir''s mother fell in love with a Hyuman. She must have given birth to Cleave Fenrir outside the Origin Expanse, severing all connections to the Hyumans that way. If Cleave Fenrir was half Hyuman, his strength would make a lot more sense.] Danny theorized.

    It was not likely, but the possibility was not nill.

    "But if that''s true, why does it feel like our family''s Curse is ancient? Is the information in the tome wrong? Who was the man in the Origin Expanse? The Tome mentioned Cleave Fenrir''s father often, saying that he thrashed his son and sold him the day Cleave manifested his War Rune."

    [How am I supposed to know? It might have been his stepfather. The point is that Cleave''s mother has never been mentioned in the Tome. She is either dead, or our bloodline is very good at getting abandoned by our mothers.]

    "Not funny, Danny," Michael grumbled.

    "It feels like we''re missing something," He mumbled, "What happened to Cleave Fenrir to transform him into a fiendish figure who enraged one of the Demon Kings, the Elven Empress, the Dragon Emperor, and so on? What exactly did they do to our family''s Curse? Did they trigger the Curse or ask the Will of the Origin Expanse to alter the curse? What even is the Curse inside me?"

    [I don''t know what your Curse is, but you know what my Curse was. That was definitely not Fenrir. Except if Fenrir is a white tiger engulfed in darkness.]

    "The power released from Mother''s Cursed Seals was simr to the darkness engulfing the tiger. It didn''t feel like my Curse," Michael inclined his head. He didn''t know a lot about Curses, Cursed User, and Cursed Seals yet, but he figured that the power of the Cursed Seals was rted to both the Curse User''s Main Soultrait and the type of Curse inside you.

    [Maybe she has a Tiger Curse inside her as well. I wouldn''t know. I also doubt that it''s helpful to break your head about this. Mother is not here and I doubt that we will meet her anytime soon. It''s more likely that the Nest appears out of nowhere. You can question them once they appear.] Danny pointed out as the Serpent Seals on his back glimmered lightly.

    [Your brother is correct. The Nest wille for you. Theye for all Cursed Children. But be careful. Nobody can tell for sure if the Nest wille to eliminate you or to pick you up.] The World Serpent hissed.

    "Great. Thanks for that," Michael grumbled, "When will you stop souring my mood? How about you be a nice tenant and tell me something that will help me in the future?"

    The World Serpent was silent for a few seconds before it came to a decision.

    [It shouldn''t be a problem to tell you some things.]

    Michael felt like throwing a bunch of stones at the World Serpent. It remained silent all this time, only to give in now?

    ''Whatever.''

    "Perfect. Tell me as much as you can, please," Michael swallowed his frustration and listened intently to the World Serpent.

    [I will tell you a little bit about the Achievement Shop in the Origin Expanse and information about races that sought asylum inside the Origin Expanse. That might help you understand more about the future that awaits you with the Silverfangs and your means to grow stronger as you use the Achievement Shop in the correct way.]

    Michael had always been curious about the Achievement Shop. His ears perked up while the frustration umted in his heart dispersed.

    [The Origin Expanse seems like an infinitely stretched realm, but it is more like a distorted reflection of the universe. Many older races are adamant about the theory called Origin Twins. The theory is rather simple and revolves around the birth of the universe and the Origin Expanse. It says that the universe and the Origin Expanse had once been part of the same existence. Something, a certain event, split the universe in two parts. One part of the universe was severed from the primordial source of origin energy while the other was flooded with origin energy. The Will formed from the congregated mass of the purest origin energy, only to establish the Origin Expanse as it is known.]

    [The Will and the Origin Expanse were not perfectly sealed. Origin energy leaked through the origin of the Universe, the only permanent link that remained as the universe split up. As the purest origin energy invaded the universe after billions of years had passed since the universe and the Origin Expanse split up, hundreds of gxies faced destruction. The gxies had been void of origin energy for billions of years. They were too fragile to endure the pressure that invaded every part of space and crumbled. Countless lives were reaped on that day¡­and all were pulled inside the Origin Expanse. They were confined in the Origin Expanse after origin energy contaminated their very being.

    [The bnce created by the Will was about to copse. To maintain the bnce between the universe and its distorted reflection, the Origin Expanse, the Will created War Runes, Summoning Gates, and the system that exists to this day. Of course, you''re missing lots of crucial information, but I will not tell you more about the Origin Expanse''s history. Even I don''t know the whole truth. Only the Will and the Primal see the truth.]

    The World Serpent had yet to tell him about the Achievement Shop and useful intel about the races that sought asylum inside the Origin Expanse, but he would be thest toin about additional information. He had no idea who the Primal was or if that was some sort of organization, but he could tell that the Will and the Primal were old¡ªto put it simply.

    [The Achievement Shop and the option to seek asylum inside the Origin Expanse are also part of the bnce created by the Will ording to the Twin Origin theory. The Achievement Shop is an anomaly. You can purchase whatever you want from the Achievement Shop. You could have resurrected your brother using the Achievement Shop if you''d wanted to. That is if you had enough Achievement Points.]

    That was news to Michael, who had heard he couldn''t resurrect his brother after dying as Masked Saber in the Origin Expanse.

    [You can purchase everything from the Achievement Shop, but the price increases exponentially the more you inquire for. Purchasing a Lord Seal is significantly cheaper than buying a Kingdom automatically linked to your War Rune. The same logic applies to all purchases in the Achievement Shop.]

    Michael frowns deeply as he understands the meaning behind the World Serpent''s words.

    "If that''s true, doesn''t that mean you can also purchase Soultrait Symbols with the Achievement Shop?"

    [That''s correct.]

    "The cheapest Soultrait Symbols will probably be drawn randomly. If I were to ask for something specific, the price for the Soultrait Symbol would increase exponentially."

    [That is additionally correct.]

    "So, theoretically, someone could additionally purchase my Soultrait, Extraction?"

    [That¡­is not how it works. Extraction is¡­different. I can''t reveal you more.]

    "Why can''t you reveal me more? I doubt that anyone put a Geas on you. I don''t think anything can force you to do anything."

    Michael couldn''t reveal how strong the World Serpent was, but he was confident that it was overwhelmingly powerful.

    [Some knowledge is not made for Lesser Lifeforms. Even Higher Lifeforms are not supposed to understand the truth.]

    "The truth? About what?" Michael asked, but the World Serpent said nothing.

    "...Thanks for that¡­"

 Chapter 707 Racial Achievements

    Chapter 707 Racial Achievements

    ??Michael decided to organize the new information he had learned in thest few minutes.

    "So it''s possible to buy everything in the Achievement Shop. Is thatmon knowledge? Maybe not that everything is purchasable. Otherwise, Kraft wouldn''t have told me that it is impossible to resurrect Danny after he died as Masked Saber," He concluded in a whisper.

    If it wasmon knowledge that Soultraits could be purchased in the Achievement Shop, it wouldn''t make sense why everyone was crazy about his Soultrait Symbols as well.

    Or everyone knew about the Soultrait Symbols in the Achievement Shop, but the price wasn''t worth it. Except for random draws of new Soultrait Symbols, which may be cheap, purchasing Soultrait Symbols in the Achievement Shop was probably not worth it.

    Nobody liked gachas if their lives and future depended on the result ¨C except psychos, probably.

    [I never managed to ess the Achievement Shop, but I think Achievement Points are too valuable to waste on randomly pulled Soultraits. The price for customized Soultraits must be incredibly high as well. Purchasing your Soultrait Symbols, including the massive pile of information you provide them, using somewhat valuable resources from the Origin Expanse seems better than using their precious Achievement Points. They must be hoarding their Achievement Points to purchase other things.] Danny reasoned.

    "But what are they saving up for?"

    [How am I supposed to know?]

    The World Serpent hissed in Michael''s mind again, silencing the brothers.

    [It would be great if you guys could be quiet while my Seals are activated. Your constant yapping is even more annoying while I''m awake. How is it possible to talk that much nonsense? Just listen to me until I''m done!]

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he heard what the World Serpent said. The World Serpent was angry, yet Michael felt it begged the brothers to shut up. Nheless, the brothers remained silent.

    [Finally, some silence.] It grumbled.

    [Where was I? I was just about to talk about Racial Achievements and the races seeking asylum in the Origin Expanse. I''m only mentioning this to point out why you''re summoning members of the Silverfang Tigerfolk and to grant you some insights into the mechanics of the Origin Expanse. Maybe that will help you grow stronger a little bit faster. You need to grow stronger quickly, after all.]

    Silence engulfed Michael''s room briefly before the World Serpent resumed the exnation.

    [Back to the Racial Achievements. Racial Achievements and individual merits are different. Racial Achievements are grand achievements that have been achieved by the entire race. This includes annihting other races, conquering whole regions in the Origin Expanse, and various other achievements. Individuals can im Racial Achievements, but only a portion of the Achievement Points will be granted to the individual. The race will umte the remaining Achievement Points. The umted Achievement Points can only be essed by the race''s leader, if there is only one, or the government if you don''t have a single leader ruling your race.]

    "That means the leaders of High Society have ess to the Racial Achievements and the Achievement Points that have been umted for 500 years," Michael realized, his eyes widening slightly.

    [The Lesser Humans, or whatever your race likes to call their kind, shouldn''t have many Racial Achievements until now. They''ve only been granted ess to the Origin Expanse for half a millennium. I''ve read your memories, and they are embarrassing. Your kin has yet to unlock ess to their personalized Soul Techniques. You guys don''t even undergo a proper Soul Awakening. If the leaders of the Lesser Humans were a little bit more intelligent, they would upgrade the potency of the Awakening Stones to strengthen all newly awakened first. But their expenditures are none of my business.]

    Various thoughts shed through Michael''s mind. He was getting increasingly curious about the Achievement Shop and how different the Racial Achievements looked. Was there a different shop for purchases that could only be done by mankind''s leaders?

    [Back to the main topic. Racial Achievements and ess to the Origin Expanse are also part of how the Will manages to ensure that everyone survivesing in contact with Origin Energy and why every being thates in contact with Origin Energy is pulled into the Origin Expanse to be Summoned after death.]

    [Being exposed to origin energy for a long duration had higher chances of manifesting War Runes. If you''re exposed to origin energy in your Mother''s womb, you are almost certain to manifest a War Rune. The eptance of origin energy and the manifestation of the War Rune alter your body naturally to adapt to the origin energy. After entering it for the first time, the grace period you''re granted in the Origin Expanse is also part of the safety measurement to ensure that your body can naturally adapt to the changes.]

    [New Races exposed to pure origin energy would undergo more changes. The Will of the Origin Expanse has to interfere and strengthen their anatomy, ensuring they won''t die when the first Runic Gates open. Of course, the Will''s interference is not free. The entire race will be put into debt in exchange for the opportunity they''ve been given and their DNA alteration.]

    [...]

    The World Serpent talked for a long time. Michael was certain that it hadn''t spoken that long for a few decades, maybe even centuries. He didn''t expect the World Serpent to be this talkative, but it exposed a vast load of intel for an entire hour. It ridiculed the Will of the Origin Expanse and praised it in the same sentence.

    No matter how Michael and Danny looked at the situation, the World Serpent was a weird fellow. Michael was curious about everything the World Serpent said, but the flood of information was too much for him to digest everything. He has to use Wisdom Breaker to store all pieces of information to go through them at ater point.

    Michael was unwilling to miss a single piece of information, but the questions and doubts in his mind umted.

    "What happens if a race is unable to pay the debt? OR what happens IF a race manages to pay the debt back? Will their deceased Awakened not be pulled into the Origin Expanse and used as Summons anymore? What happens if you seek asylum while still heavily in debt?" Michael blurted out one question after another. He was too curious to stay silent at some point.

    [Impatient brat.] The World Serpent hissed, but it answered nheless.

    [If you seek asylum in the Origin Expanse, you must pay back your debt by working for the Will. You won''t remember what you did for the Origin Expanse, but it will scar you forever. As for what happens in the deepest parts of the Origin Expanse where the Will resides, I cannot tell you that for now. You are too weak. The information would put you in more danger than you can imagine. If the Will discovers that a mere Lesser Lifeform knows about it¡­you will be dead when you return to the Origin Expanse.]

    "So Tiara being my ''Battle Maid'' is part of the work they must do to pay off their debt?" Michael asked.

    [No. Tiara was granted permission to leave that ce after the Silverfang Tigerfolk paid off their debt. But I doubt that the Silverfang Tigerfolk expected their Princess to be a mere servant.]

    The World Serpent hissed loudly, but it sounded more like it wasughing.

    "Yeah¡­That''s really funny¡­" Michael mumbled while his mind went astray.

    ''Am I a ma for lunatics or what?''

 Chapter 708 Root Network

    Chapter 708 Root Network

    ??Danny was just as surprised and disgusted about some of the things he learned about the Will and the Achievement Shop.

    "You can purchase the races that sought asylum¡­Isn''t that very?" Michael asked while Danny continued raging on.

    [So they sought asylum in the Origin Expanse, only to be sold off to some disgusting perverts?!? Where is the logic? Justice, where are you?!]

    The World Serpentughed, or the brothers presumed that it wasughing.

    [It is universally known that the Will is not fair. Maybe not in a backwater gxy, but everyone knows it. The racial debts and the Will''s conditions are part of the responsibilities you will have to carry if you ept the War Rune. Nothing is forced upon you. You can still reject the War Rune by not entering the Origin Expanse in the first 24 hours after manifesting it. The Will doesn''t force you to agree to its conditions. However, by entering the Origin Expanse, you ept them. It is as simple as that.]

    The World Serpent hissed again.

    [That was enough talking for a few months. Don''t bother me. If you need my help to extract another Curse, call me. Other than that¡­you can use my Seals. I don''t care. Don''t get killed. It would be annoying to search for another¨C...]

    The World Serpent didn''t finish thest sentence. It disappeared again and deactivated the Serpent Seals.

    "But you haven''t answered my other questions yet," Michael grumbled alone in his room.

    He secretly hoped his brother would say something, but Danny was silent.

    His mind felt empty all of a sudden. It felt weird and unfamiliar. Michael chuckled lightly.

    "I would feel lonely after I''ve been alone for so long. Sharing my mind with two weirdos sure is different."

    At first, he was a bit annoyed that the World Serpent could enter his mind and read his thoughts at will, but it didn''t bother him that much anymore. If anything, Michael was more curious about the World Serpent and what it could do. He was also curious why his Curse didn''t start talking to him. Maybe his Curse could tell him some things about his bloodline or why it was so powerfulpared to the other Curses.

    Michael wanted to know why he awakened Extraction, why the Curse inside him was so strong, and if all of that was more than a mere coincidence. He encountered far more powerful beings that called him ''Cursed Child'' than he wanted to count. In fact, he lived above one of those hibernating beings in the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael was not sure if that being was a Curse or if it was like the World Serpent. Either way, Michael was surrounded by those mysterious beings. It did not feel like a coincidence.

    ''The Achievement Shop can buy everything. What if someone wanted me to have Extraction? But if that''s the case¡­why? That doesn''t really make sense, does it?''

    Michael fell into a downward spiral of thoughts once again. Danny had to pull the back of his mind with some force to pull him back out of the world of thoughts.

    [Focus on your tasks and the things you can change. I don''t know why you''re always overthinking. You cannot spend the rest of your life thinking about all those questions. Get stronger and find the answers through hard work rather than being idle while thinking about something you cannot find out with your current knowledge!]

    Danny returned only to scold him. In the next moment, he disappeared again.

    "Right. There is no time to stay idle. I have to expand my territory!" Michael smiled lightly. He thought about Alice and smiled lightly.

    After sending her a message saying that he would enter the Origin Expanse for the next few days, Michael entered the Bartholomew Shop on campus to pick up the goods he had purchased. Various valuable goods were stored in storage satchels and other storage devices. However, none of them were for Michael. Everything stored in the storage devices was for his subjects and the territory.

    Michael also finished the preparations for the next Soultrait Auction. Rumors about the Soultrait Auction spread through the Saphirke Military Academy''s campus, and it was only a matter of days before every supreme family, noble household, n, and guild would realize about it. That gave Kraft Viton little time to prepare the advertisements for the next Soultrait Auction.

    Michael didn''t interfere plenty with Kraft Viton''s ns. He prepared the Soultrait Symbols, upgraded to 3-Star, alongside information sheets about the respective Soultrait Symbols. Other than that, Michael showed Kraft Viton what he needed, including thest part to initiate the Summoning Gate''s upgrade to the intermediate rank, before he left the campus.

    The Lord of the Untamed Jungle returned to his territory with various treasures.

    Arx looked as beautiful as ever. The origin energy in the surroundings was even denser than before, but that was not the only thing that had changed in thest six months. The energy density entire over the Untamed Jungle had increased drastically.

    However, the area around the Greater Nature Spirit was the most affected. At this point, the Greater Nature Spirit elerated the growth of all life tens of kilometers around it. Its rootwork stretched even farther, reaching into the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire''s ins.

    Michael had to start extracting the chaos in the chaos-infestednd that separated the Zentika Empire from the Untamed Jungle because the Greater Nature Spirit was harmed by the chaos infesting its roots. The environment changed wherever the Greater Nature Spirit''s rootwork reached. More monsters nestled in range of its rootwork, and the flora spread wildly as well. It felt like the border to the Savannah Region was being adjusted as the Untamed Jungle expanded ¨C stimted by the Greater Nature Spirit.

    Michael didn''t really mind the changes, but he willed the Greater Nature Spirit to spread deeper into the Zentika Empire and the Untamed Jungle rather than pushing the Savannah Region aside. The Valyrs were their allies, cushion, and the reason Michael could implement the trading cycle.

    The trading cycle earned Michael far more than the Agriculture Project. But that wasn''t surprising. After all, Michael used the needs of five races and their massive pile of supplies to pay a low surcharge to gain massive profits. He felt a little bit like a scumbag for taking advantage of the Valyr, the Forest Elves, and the members of the Tritan Alliance, but it was not like he was asking for a huge overpay.

    He paid the market price for their goods and sold them at the market price as well. Michael didn''t ask for more. After all, he earned more than enough that way already

    The massive profits, however, disappeared faster than Michael had expected. Preparing the materials for his monsters'' evolutions drained his wealth faster than anything.

    But the investment was worth it. Michael talked with Tatjana for a long time about the monsters'' evolution paths and determined that their evolution would help his territory in every way.

    Michael called the attendants to search for Tatjana and bring her to the Ranch, but she was already there when he arrived.

    Tatjana noticed Michael''s arrival and smiled from one ear to another.

    "Did you bring it?" She asked, her eyes glimmering brightly.

    "Yes," He nodded, "I''m ready to evolve some monsters!"

    "Yay~"

 Chapter 709 Marble

    <h4>Chapter 709 Marble</h4>

    Michael handed the spatial satchel to Tatjana. He didn''t know what to do with the goods to stimte his monsters'' evolutions. Tatjana was the woman for that job. She had the Eye of Evolution and knew precisely how to process the items to evolve the monsters.

    Several vials with ck viscous content appeared in her hands alongside two stones. One of the stones was a Darkness Stone, whereas the other one was a Crystallized Blood Stone. Thetter looked like a Darkness Stone at first nce, but it glimmered brightly as the afternoon sun reflected on the smooth surface.

    Tatjana retrieved another vial, but Michael couldn''t see the content at first nce. The vial was sealed perfectly, and Michael could only see through its red surface by using Spirit Eyes with several Enhancementyers.

    ''The Greater Demon''s Blood,'' Michael recalled what he''d ordered from the Bartholomew Corporation a while ago.

    He nodded subtly while following Tatjana''s actions. She shattered the Darkness Stone without hesitation, and a massive wave of Darkness Energy swept through the surroundings like a shockwave. However, Tatjana made her next move before the wave of Darkness Energy could hurt anyone. She threw the Crystalized Blood Stone into the Darkness Stone''s shards, triggering the Crystalized Blood Stone. It glowed for a moment before devouring the surrounding darkness energy.

    The suction force increased drastically until Michael felt it wash over him. His eyes narrowed as the wave of darkness energy dispersed. It was sucked into the Crystalized Blood Stone. Tatjana eyed the Crystalized Blood Stone for a while until she simultaneously removed the Greater Demon''s Blood cap and the remaining vials. She bent down to the ground and carefully emptied the bottles above the Crystalized Blood Stone.

    The Crystalized Blood Stone cracked and burst apart as the Greater Demon Blood sshed on its surface. The blood of the Greater Demon seeped into the core of the Crystalized Blood Stone alongside the ck viscous liquid. A massive suctioning force drained the origin energy in the surroundings. Tatjana retrieved dozens of Lesser Energy Stones at a time when the energy in the surroundings was sucked dry. The Lesser Energy Stones crumbled within seconds, casting a bright smile on Tatjana''s face.

    ''It works.'' Michael figured that something small had formed in the core of the Crystalized Blood Stone.

    With the aid of the surrounding energy, a small marble formed within the Crystalized Blood Stone. Tatjana continued retrieving Lesser Energy Stones. They crumbled to dust near-instantly, costing Michael hundreds of millions at once. It was a good thing that Michael stopped counting the fortune he paid to strengthen his subjects. He knew that he would receive back much more than he''d invested.

    That was how it usually worked for him. He was willing to invest a fortune into those who trusted him. In exchange, his return on these investments was much more. Of course, not every investment would be profitable, but Michael had been quite fortunate with his investments. Today''s investment would be profitable as well. Michael was sure about that!

    The suctioning force eventually ceased, pulling Michael out of his train of thought. He nced at the marble that Tatjana picked up and smiled. It was a fancy marble with a unique pattern that depicted a mighty demon, but Michael couldn''t sense any energy from it. The marble sealed the energy within it perfectly.

    Tatjana nced at him for a moment, and Michael responded ordingly. He willed Sun Demos to jump down from the towering tree near Tatjana and approach her slowly. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was too eager and crashed down in front of Tatjana. The Forest Elf was startled and nearly dropped the marble, but Sun Demos reacted fast. His hand lunged forward to reach for the marble. He caught it smoothly and stared eagerly at the marble. However, instead of consuming it immediately, he nced back at Michael.

    [Can I?]

    Sun Demos sounded almost desperate as he pleaded with Michael for permission. Michael couldn''t even finish motioning his approval before Sun Demos threw the marble into his mouth. He swallowed it right away as if fearing that Michael would take it away.

    "His first evolution won''t change too much about his appearance. It strengthens his blood and removes his racial limit. You can consider it a necessary precaution to fortify his foundation for the next evolution," Tatjana exined to Michael and Sun Demos. Sun Demos, however, wasn''t listening anymore.

    "He will hibernate for a few days. One thousand Lesser Energy Stones should be enough for him to break past his racial limit. That will be the beginning of a ''new'' path. Sun Demos will have to trott a path that has only been walked on by one more being. The hurdles obstructing his path will be numerous, probably even more than his. But with danger and difficultiese rewards and opportunities. I can sense that Sun Demos will be fine. Just trust him!"

    Tatjana was more confident than ever. Awakening the Eye of Evolution was indeed the best that could have happened to her ¨C and Michael. It wasn''t unlikely that a Soultrait simr to the Eye of Evolution existed somewhere. Still, Michael figured that it would be incredibly difficult to find another user of such a Soultrait. There might only be a few throughout the Universe. How low was the probability of him finding that Awakened?

    It was low¡­too low. Michael didn''t want Sun Demos and the other monsters in his territory to suffer. He was not ready to leave them behind.

    Sun Demos turned to Michael andughed menacingly. Michael rolled his eyes and motioned hispanion to leave. There was no need for Sun Demos to stay here. The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King was in need of silence and a massive amount of energy stones.

    Sun Demos continued gackling like he lost his sanity and disappeared. He leaped on a low-hanging branch and vanished in the Untamed Jungle. His subordinates stayed behind. Their eyes lingered on Tatjana before they moved toward Michael. The pleading eyes drilled deep into Michael''s soul.

    "There is no need to worry," Tatjana said before Michael could say anything. "Your Evolution Paths are different, but that doesn''t mean I¡ªor rather our Lord¡ªdidn''t prepare anything for you guys. The spatial satchel has more than enough resources to stimte your evolutions¡ªfor all of you!"

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys lost their cool when they heard what Tatjana said. They jumped around and issued various iprehensible noises. Michael was not sure what they said, but he felt pretty good. He imagined that they acimed him to the moon and beyond.

    Tatjana retrieved a cauldron alongside tens of materials required to evolve the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. There were hundreds, almost a thousand, Blood Oath Demon Monkeys at this point. Creating a single pill for everyone would take days. Neither Tatjana nor Michael wanted to work that long. Therefore, a different method had toe into ce.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to Tatjana. Instead, he called the Master Alchemist to aid Tatjana as she started the concoction process. His attention drifted to the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys before the Golden Stinger Beended on his right shoulder. Stinger hummed gently and rubbed his face against Michael''s cheek before turning quiet.

    "I know that you''re excited as well. Your turn wille as well. I prepared the best resources for you!"

 Chapter 710 Evolutions & Research

    <h4>Chapter 710 Evolutions & Research</h4>

    The Evolution Paths chosen for the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were a little bit different from Sun Demos'' Evolution Path.

    Some Demon Monkeys grew in size as they evolved. They lost their Blood Oath powers and transformed into Herculean Demon Monkeys. Their firm muscles allowed them to dash through the Untamed Jungle and tear their opponents apart with brute force.

    Other Blood Oath Demon Monkeys evolved into Nightshade Monkeys. They didn''t change much in size, but their physique was altered. Their bodies and muscles were more flexible than before. Their perception and agility increased the most. However, the most apparent change was the ability to move through shadows.

    The Nightshade Monkeys acquired the Racial Ability to move through shadows. The distance they could travel was not huge, but it was more than enough for them to transform into mighty assassins. As long as they fought in the shade of the Untamed Jungle, they would be near-invincible.

    Interestingly enough, the Herculean Demon Monkeys and the Nightshade Monkeys were the most ''ordinary'' Evolution Paths discovered by Tatjana. She found several Blood Oath Demon Monkeys with Rare Evolution Paths.

    One of those Rare Evolution Paths was the Alpha Blood Monkey Evolution Path. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys'' physical strength increased a little bit upon evolving into Alpha Blood Monkeys, but that was not the important point. The Alpha Blood Monkeys'' most interesting factor was the evolution of the Blood Oath''s power. Alpha Blood Monkeys had incredibly strong regenerative powers. They could regrow limbs and regenerate lethal wounds within seconds until their umted nutrition and energy were sucked dry.

    The Alpha Blood Monkeys could transform into the Monkey Unit''s vanguards. They could suffer most injuries and continue fighting as if nothing happened, which was something Michael needed in the Monkey Unit. Combining thebat prowess of the Nightshade Monkeys with the Alpha Blood Monkeys created a near-perfect duo.

    It was simr to the Herculean Demon Monkey and the Demonic Seal Monkeys, the most unique Rare Evolution Path Tatjana had ever seen. The Demonic Seal Monkeys could cast a Demonic Seal on themselves or someone else. Once unleashed, the Demonic Seal shrouded the target in a dark hue. A considerable percentage would amplify their physical traits, and they would go berserk, unraveling their hidden potential. The Demonic Seal Monkeys had different types of Seals that cost a different amount of energy to perform.

    Herculean Demon Monkeys were the perfect target for the Demonic Seals. The Demonic Seal''s efficiency was the highest when applied to the Herculean Demon Monkeys. That created a second pairing for future battles.

    Michael''s heart beat wildly as he imagined Sun Demos leading the Monkey Unit into battle. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys suffered a lot in thest few battles. They had long since reached their racial limit and had been unable to break past it. Atst, they evolved and became stronger than they could fathom. Instinctively, they knew they could grow stronger if they stayed by Michael''s side. He would help them grow stronger and evolve as long as they protected Michael and his territory.

    It hadn''t been long since Michael performed the Links of Loyalty with the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys because they were Sun Demos'' subordinates. Michael didn''t wish to remove Sun Demos'' subordinates with the Link of Loyalty. However, Sun Demos didn''t care. He was fine as long as only Michael controlled his Monkey Unit.

    Michael sensed the changes in the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys as they consumed the liquid prepared by Tatjana and the Master Alchemist. The different liquids prepared for every Evolution Path didn''t immediately trigger the evolution. However, the cells in their bodies were stimted right away.

    Their evolutions wouldmence in no time.

    The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were given a small storage device with Nutrition Solutions and Energy Stones before disappearing into the Untamed Jungle. Michael watched them disappear and excitedly caressed Stinger as the Golden Stinger Bee moved around.

    "It''s not your turn yet. The Heavy Armored Elephants and the Greater Eagles arrived before you," Michael said lightly, but Stinger didn''t want that. Stinger was done waiting.

    "Okay, okay. We can squeeze your evolution in between," He chuckled as Stinger lost his cool.

    Michael nced at Tatjana and gestured to Stinger, who had teleported before Tatjana and had taken her by surprise. Tatjana understood immediately. She prepared the materials for Stinger''s evolution with the Master Alchemist''s aid and fed the Golden Stinger Bee a small pill with a honey texture. It looked just like honey as well.

    Stinger consumed the pill. However, contrary to previous evolutions, a sudden change urred immediately. Stinger issued a pained hum suddenly before honey burst out all over its body. The surrounding energy, along with the energy umted within 1,000 Inferior Energy Stones, was drained instantaneously. The energy merged with the coat of honey as it expanded, forming a cocoon around the Golden Stinger Bee.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed as he worried about Stinger''s well-being. However, Stinger was fine. Their Link of Loyalty didn''t indicate any issues. Stinger was just a little bit startled.

    He sighed in relief and was about to approach the levitating honey cocoon when he noticed a small flock of Forest Pixies shot through the forest. They brushed past Michael and circled the honey cocoon. The Forest Pixiesughed happily and released a strand of green mist from their fingers. The green mist formed into tendrils that coiled around the honey cocoon.

    Their attention was briefly pulled to Michael, but they didn''t pay much attention to him. They happily left the small clearing with the honey cocoon in their grasp.

    "I didn''t take that into consideration. That might be useful," Tatjana murmured, glued on the Forest Pixies.

    "What do you mean?" Michael asked.

    Tatjana grinned at Michael, "You''re fortunate."

    Michael wasn''t sure about that, but he figured Tatjana was unwilling to say anything else. Fortunately, he had Spirit Eyes to reveal some of the information Tatjana hid.

    ''The Forest Pixies drag Stinger to the Greater Nature Spirit. Will that influence his evolution? Maybe. Otherwise, Tatjana wouldn''t act like this.''

    Michael smiled lightly, diverted his attention to the remaining monsters, and observed them as their evolutions began.

    The Heavy Armored Elephant and the Greater Eagles were the next ones to receive an evolution. They followed that, and thest two groups of monsters were also granted the opportunity to evolve. The Lesser Elementals craved to develop into ordinary Elementals, whereas the Bilrox hoped to grow into stronger beings. The Bilrox Queen''s presence had already stimted specific mutations within the Bilrox, but that was not enough for them.

    The Bilrox wanted more, just like the Lesser Elementals and the other monsters in Michael''s territory.

    Initiating their evolution was not that difficult. Thanks to the Bilrox Queen, they met most conditions to evolve, and it didn''t require many materials to initiate one of their few Evolution Paths.

    Michael was curious about their evolution paths. He asked Tatjana various questions, but even the young Forest Elf couldn''t answer everything. That was a little disappointing, but it wasn''t the first time Michael''s queries had remained unanswered. He was known for his bombardment of questions.

    "Most evolutions will bepleted in a few days. You don''t have to be anxious about their well-being either. Except for Sun Demos'' evolution, everyone else will survive with a 99% probability." Tatjana exined, easing Michael''s worries.

    He nodded his head subtly and decided to move onward. Since he couldn''t alter anything first, Michael might as well distract himself with work, work, and even more work.

    Michael went to the Underground Forging Hall, where he retrieved a small fortune of high-quality blueprints, materials with which they could upgrade their Grandmaster Smithies, and a wide variety of Tool Artifacts ¨C specific Artifacts that could be soulbound to Summons. The Tool Artifacts were expensive, but their utility was enormous. As long as they were bound to suitable Summons, Tool Artifacts would develop Innate Abilities that were highlypatible with the Summon''s nature.

    Michael had some Summons in mind when he purchased the Tool Artifacts. He was fully aware of the abilities that could form from some Tool Artifacts, which is why he made sure that the right owner would obtain them.

    The cksmith Summons thanked him from the bottom of their hearts for the Tool Artifacts. Some were so thankful that they embraced Michael, tight and warm. Of course, the cksmiths weren''t the cleanest after working several hours in the Underground Forging Hall in front of their Grandmaster Smithy, but Michael didn''t mind that. It wasn''t the first time that he was dirty.

    Michael ignored the dirt all over his clothes and inspected the cksmiths instead. Compared to a year ago, the cksmiths had improved a lot. They used Fire Elemental Crystals to purify the metal ingots and received constant help from Fire Elementals and some Pyro Bilrox who could regte the fires'' temperature perfectly. Theirbined effort and the high-

    quality forge and tools were more than enough to create high-quality weapons and armor.

    The Weaponsmiths managed to create weapons that rivaled the quality of Rare Artifacts. They only missed special engravings, turning ordinary weapons into Artificial Artifacts. However, instead of creating Artifacts, Michael hoped that the cksmiths would focus on the quality of their work. Artifacts might be worth a lot, but Summons couldn''t use them¡­yet.

    The cksmiths'' research with the Relic of Draka underwent massive changes. They had a breakthrough and retrieved some of the Relic''s methods to create Spirit Armaments. The portion was not enough to recreate the whole technique, but it was a good start to experiment with creating Spirit Armaments.

    Once Michael''s cksmiths created their own Spirit Armor, it would be possible to equip the Untamed Army with Armor that boosted the Summons'' properties like Artifacts.

    Michael nced forward to their research. He was curious enough to deploy Reba Zauber to elerate their research.

    The Spirit Armament creation method was worth it, after all.

 Chapter 711 Research Method

    Chapter 711 Research Method

    ??The Underground Forging Hall expanded further, upying most of the vast hall underground. That was only possible with the resources earned through the trading cycle. The cksmiths continued working on their projects, including the creation of more defensive mechanisms for the settlements in the Untamed Jungle, new enemy detection markers, forest traps, and various misceneous items that were needed to improve the living standard in Arx and Brynud.

    The cksmiths'' progress was interesting but the happenings deeper in the cavern system were even more impressive. The Elementals Empire spread far. The Elemental Empress created thousands of Lesser Elementals and more than a dozen Noble Elementals. The Noble Elementals also had the power to create Lesser Elementals of a certain element. They took much longer to make one Lesser Elemental, but their power aided the Elemental Empire''s expansion.

    It was only a matter of months before the Elemental Empire''s poption crossed 10,000 residents. At that point, many things would change drastically. First, more elemental crystals would be created in the presence of 10,000 Elementals. The quality of the elemental crystals wouldn''t increase, but the quantity would. As thends of the Elemental Empire transformed into a ce overflowing with elemental crystals, more Lesser Elementals would be stimted naturally. They wouldprehend the elements that are the most natural to them and trigger an evolution.

    The probability of Lesser Elementals evolving naturally was low, but it was not impossible. They only had to umte enough energy within their cores over months or years and stimte their cores with impulses.

    Michael''s influence on the Elemental Empress was enormous. She couldn''t be stopped anymore. She expanded in all directions and upied everything underground. The sole exception was the massive gate sealing the cavern tunnel leading to the hibernating monstrosity below.

    Michael and the others were still uncertain about what kind of beings lived deep underground, but it was not like they were eager to find out. It was already scary enough when it spoke into Michael''s mind. He didn''t want to meet it again. Not yet, at least. In fact, the hibernating beast could stay underground forever.

    It was a little bit worrisome that there was no news about the hibernating beast because Michael expected something to happen after the World Serpent''s presence swept through the Untamed Jungle. However, neither the mysterious winged serpent nor the hibernating beast acted. That was nice, but Michael couldn''t help but feel a bit worried. No news was never good news in Michael''s case.

    That was also why he focused on the good news that reached him. He visited the Elementals Empire for a while and retrieved some goods that would aid the creation of more Lesser Elementals. Simultaneously, Michael brought a device that purified elemental energy in the air. As the elemental energy in the Elementals Empire is purified, more Lesser Elementals would meet the requirements to evolve naturally.

    The artificially evolved Elements would also aid the purification process. Their presence increased the quality of the elemental crystals created in the vicinity.

    Slowly but steadily, all Lesser Elementals would transform into ordinary Elementals.

    The Elementals Empire looked better than expected, but Michael didn''t stay behind for long. He visited the Alchemists to hand out presents. The Alchemists had worked hard in thest few months to improve their knowledge. They tended to various nts and worked closely with the Farmers and Botanica Magicians to create and expand their herbal garden.

    Michael rewarded the Alchemists with more seeds, many of which were exceedingly rare to find anywhere. Some of these seeds cost hundreds of Common Energy Stones, which was even more ridiculous than the pricing of some high-quality potion recipes. Even recipes for potions that could only be efficiently used by Higher Lifeforms weren''t as valuable as some of the exotic seeds Michael had procured for the Alchemists.

    The Alchemists were overjoyed. They thanked Michael multiple times before returning to work and leaving their Lord alone in the Alchemy Lair''s meeting room.

    "I will leave the books here then¡­" He mumbled, a little bit bbergasted.

    [Weird people. They fit perfectly into your settlement.]

    After Michael visited the Alchemists, he visited the Architects, the Farmers, the Tamers, the Mages, and others.

    His meeting with each party didn''t take long. He gifted the architects a few new projects, including the expansion of the Ranches and the training grounds for the mages. Like always, Michael purchased countless books and research materials for his subjects. He also bought a bunch of blueprints for the architects to study. Some of them said they were on the verge of a breakthrough. Michael hoped that the goods he purchased could help them somehow.

    The architects were crazy with their inventions. Unfortunately, most of them didn''t work out. Some were implemented into Arx and Brynud but were only torn downter. It was painful to watch their inventions fall apart and be torn down, but the architects didn''t even think about giving up. Their ambition had been ignited. It flickered brightly in their hearts, pushing them to move onward and to keep trying.

    Michael liked that everyone in his territory was doing their best to improve. Some tried to enhance by strengthening, whereas others focused on studying and experimenting. Only a tiny fraction of all subjects decided it was not worth giving their all to improve. The ambition has been extinguished for a long time. They didn''t dare to try other things anymore, for fear that they would fail¡­once again.

    The Untamed Jungle has changed a lot in thest six months. However, one of the most apparent changes happened to the Greater Nature Spirit and its vicinity.

    The Greater Nature Spirit''s rootwork stretched farther and farther. The Forest Pixies multiplied and showed signs of evolving, and the first Dryads formed from the trunk of the Greater Nature Spirit''s main body and the towering trees around it. Dryads and Treants were given birth to. Their presence changed a lot. nt life''s growth was elerated. Flowers blossomed brighter than before, and the potency of medical herbs increased as well. Even mangoes and cacao tasted much better than they used to.

    Michael was overjoyed by the changes happening in his territory. Even the Untamed Army erged rapidly. The construction of the Advanced Sacred Knight Temple had begun a few months ago and was already on its way topletion. But that was not all.

    Another Sacred Knight Temple was being built in Brynud. For the time being, it was only a Basic-rank Sacred Knight Temple, but that was good enough to train Starless Summons into 1-Star Blessed Squires and 2-Star Holy Knights.

    Arx was still the headquarters in his territory, but Brynud was being constructed and erged to fit several times the number of residents. It wouldn''t be a border city built to protect the borders of his territory. Instead, it was a mixture between a highly popted city and a training ground for various academies and ces like the Sacred Knight Temple. Many soldiers would stay in Brynud''s barracks to be read and move toward the adjacent border cities onmand.

    It was the second line of defense and the first line to counterattack those who dared to attack his territory.

 Chapter 712 Completed Evolutions

    Chapter 712 Completed Evolutions

    ??The Elementals and the Elemental Bilrox looked a little different from their lesser versions. The Elementals'' presence was more intense and prominent. Their racial limit changed as well, but that wasn''t visible. It was merely something Michael could sense.

    Elemental Bilrox were sturdier than ordinary Bilrox. They weren''t much more significant, but their physical traits were several times higher. Elemental Bilrox were unique due to their inborn ability to perceive and absorb elemental energy. They could hoard elemental energy and create elemental seeds in their energy pool. However, every energy pool had only a little space for elemental seeds. Therefore, most Elemental Bilrox focused either on one elemental seed to reinforce it as much as possible by refining it several times or they created two elemental seeds in their energy pools.

    Their elemental seeds could be refined, which ordinary Pyro Bilrox and other mutants of ordinary Bilrox couldn''t do.

    Both Elementals and Elemental Bilrox were powerful creatures. They could advance to Tier-2 without any obstructions, and Tatjana was certain they could reach Tier-3 if they were given enough resources. However, Tatjana pointed out that the resources required to aid the Elementals and Elemental Bilrox breakthrough were probably too high. It wasn''t cost-efficient.

    Michael didn''t consider the cost-efficiency too much right now. It was more important to understand the value of high-ranked monsters. The offspring of Tier-3 Elemental Bilrox were naturally stronger than the descendants of Tier-2 Elemental Bilrox. Their offspring with stronger parents would have a slightly higher inborn talent, which would make it much easier to reach Tier-3 with fewer resources.

    The cost efficiency may be low for several generations, but it would be worth it after some time had passed. The investment would be worth it in the long term, especially with someone like Tatjana in his territory. The Elemental Bilrox didn''t have many Evolution Paths, and most of them were dangerous as well. However, by strengthening the Elemental Bilrox over generations, the danger of the Evolution Paths would decrease considerably.

    The Elemental Bilrox''s probability of surviving the next evolution would increase with every generation. That was worth investing a small fortune--at least, that was what Michael thought.

    But the Elemental Bilrox and Elementals weren''t the only ones who needed more future investments. The Heavy Armored Elephant, Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, the Greater Eagles, and the Golden Stinger Bee also finished their evolutions.

    Everyone was satisfied with their gains, especially the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. Their power level had skyrocketed, and they were going crazy. Sun Demos was the only one who wasn''t going crazy. He finished his evolution and surpassed his racial limit, but nothing significant about his powers or appearance had changed.

    Sun Demos was the only one of his kind who didn''t change much.

    Even the Tier-1 Heavy Armored Elephant changed drastically. The Heavy Armored Elephant evolved into a Behemoth Elephant, triggering its breakthrough to Tier-2. Now that it was a Superior Existence at the 2nd Tier, purely focused on its incredible defense, the Behemoth Elephant couldn''t be hurt easily anymore. Not even Elite Awakened at the 2nd Tier could injure the Behemoth Elephant anymore. They couldn''t even reach its vital spots easily.

    The Behemoth Elephant was close to 15 meters tall and covered in severalyers of defense. At first nce, it was hard to see theyers, but the Behemoth Elephant was covered in a thickyer of hide covered in metal-like tes. The Behemoth Elephant would be shrouded in a semi-translucent hue as long as it circted its original energy through its body.

    The semi-translucent hue didn''t block iing attacks. The impacting force was distributed across the hue before it reached the Behemoth Elephant''s monstrous defense. It required a considerable amount of force to pierce through the semi-translucent hue. Even Siegfried Dracoon had to use his special techniques to break through the hue only to fail to pierce the Behemoth Elephant''s natural defense.

    Sun Demos was frustrated just by looking at the Behemoth Elephant. However, the evolution of Greater Eagles and the Golden Stinger Bee made him feel even worse. How was it possible that everyone but him transformed into a powerhouse after evolving once?

    Michael had pampered the Greater Eagles a lot. He provided various natural treasures to them even before Tatjana used Eye of Evolution to determine their most suitable Evolution Paths. The Greater Eagles were given options to choose from. Michael was d to hear that they picked the Evolution Path with the most future potential. He looked forward to their next evolutions now that they transformed into Minor Typhoon Rocs.

    Despite the Minor prefix, the Typhoon Rocs were massive. Their wingspan alone was already 50 meters. They were swift and could carry heavy loads on their backs. Once they unleashed their wind affinity, the Minor Typhoon Rocs could cross the distance to the center of the Savannah Region in no time.

    Michael didn''t have many Minor Typhoon Rocs yet, but their number increased slowly. Sooner orter, Michael would have a whole aerial army filled with Minor Typhoon Rocs¡ªor their evolutions. That was something worth working for. The Minor Typhoon Rocs could advance to Tier-3 rather easily, after all!

    Stinger, the MVP of thest several dozen ofrge-scale battles, didn''t disappoint Michael either. He was already overjoyed with the Behemoth Elephant and the Minor Typhoon Rocs, but by far, Stinger''s evolution was the best.

    The Golden Stinger Bee evolved into the Golden Queen Bee. Michael had been sure that Stinger was a male, but he found out only now that the Golden Stinger Bee didn''t have a gender. Why was that important?

    It wasn''t crucial to determine the gender of the Golden Stinger Bee beforehand. That changed now that Stinger evolved into the Golden Queen Bee. But why? The answer was simple.

    Upon evolving into the Golden Queen Bee, Stinger learned to reproduce asexually. Stinger''s evolution taught him an efficient reproduction method without involving a second parent. The offspring produced through asexual reproduction are usually exact copies of their parent, but it was a little bit different in the Golden Queen Bee''s case. Tatjana said that there could solely be one Queen Bee of a kind. Therefore, the reproduced copy was reduced to its ''lesser'' form, the Golden Stinger Bee.

    The Golden Queen Bee could produce copies of Stinger before it evolved.

    It was solely a matter of time before hundreds of Golden Stinger Bees joined Michael''s territory. The strategies he had been forced to use with only one Golden Stinger Bee could then be used with hundreds of Stinger copies.

    Michael never anticipated Stinger to evolve into the Golden Queen Bee. Initially, Stinger''s Evolution Path was that of the Heir of the Queen Bee. The name was lengthy and sounded more like a title than the name of a race, but Michael did not care about that when he chose this path for Stinger.

    The Evolution Path was perfect because it would possess allowed Stinger to transport instantly freely to all the ces it had been before while still doing all the Golden Stinger Bee tasks. But the Forest Pixies and the Greater Nature Spirit connected to the Golden Stinger Bee and triggered a change in the evolution.

    The Golden Queen Bee did not lose its powers. Instead, Stinger would be able to still do the same as before and transport instantly everywhere. Stinger would also be connected to its offsprings, creating a system for better coordination in future battles.

    Michael looked forward to futurebats as well. The future was bright.

    Excitement filled his heart.

 Chapter 713 EmeraldLeaf Growth & Power

    Chapter 713 EmeraldLeaf Growth & Power

    ??Mika twisted his body, evading the razor-sharp de of a dagger that whizzed past his head. The corner of his lips curled up as he spun his own de around to stab his enemy. His opponent had to retreat to avoid getting cut, granting Mika enough space and time to retreat.

    He retrieved the Wyvernwood Bow and essed the Drake Soul infused inside it while nocking an arrow on the bowstring. He then used his Soultraits Pierce and Rapid Fire in quick session.

    Several arrows cut through the air in the next few seconds. Mika''s opponent, a young Forest Elf around the same age, jumped to the side and rolled over the ground before jumping up in a hurry. He evaded most arrows but didn''t realize Mika didn''t aim at him. Mika''s arrows focused on blocking the Forest Elf''s retreat paths.

    It was only a matter of seconds, but Mika pushed his opponent into the corner of the arena. Thest arrow nocked on the bowstring. An ear-deafening roar escaped the Wyvernwood Bow at the same time as the arrow began to glow. Arrow Duplication was applied to the arrow several times alongside Pierce.

    Mika remained serious even after he pushed his opponent into the corner. The young Forest Elf noticed what Mika was about to do and lifted his hands. Countless roots burst out of the ground. They were as thick as the Forest Elf''s arms and intertwined, forming a root wall before him.

    The Forest Elf couldn''t see anything that happened behind Root Wall, but he wasn''t too worried. His Soultrait might not be suitable for attacking, but its defense properties were extraordinary. Root Wall was a 5-Star Soultrait, yet given that it had only one major function, its entire potency was used to reinforce its defensive properties even further. Even the attacks of mighty Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3 would have difficulties breaking through Root Wall.

    Mika expected Root Wall to manifest between them at this point. He knew enough about his opponent''s Soultrait to prepare the perfect attack to¡­humiliate the Forest Elf.

    He produced some Soul Energy by merging Pierce''s Soul Power and origin energy before utilizing the Common ss Soul Technique, Superior Pierce. Not long ago, Michael created customized Soul Techniques for the Untamed Awakened.

    It took Mika a while toprehend the Soul Techniques that had been customized for him, but Superior Pierce was something he could use well enough at this point. The arrow nocked on the Wyvernwood Bow''s string glowed in a silver light as the Soul Power umted within Pierce''s Soultrait Symbol was sucked dry.

    A bead of sweat trickled down his cheeks, and he let go of the bowstring. The arrow propelled to the Root Wall and duplicated multiple times in an instant. It transformed into a batch of 64 brightly glowing arrows. The silvery light engulfing the arrowhead cracked, unleashing Pierce''s full potential as the arrows impacted.

    Only a small number of arrows were blocked by the Root Wall. Most managed to inflict a gaping hole into the Root Wall and pierce through it before threatening to kill the Forest Elf behind it. The young Forest Elf''s eyes widened as he fathomed the piercing power of Mika''s attacks, but he couldn''t do anything. It was already toote. He couldn''t protect himself anymore.

    He knew his life would have been on the line if this hadn''t been an ordinary spar. A middle-aged Forest Elf appeared before the young Forest Elf. He flicked his wrist to catch the duplicated arrows out of the air and turned to Mika with a faint smile.

    "You''ve grown stronger," The middle-aged Forest Elf praised while removing the remnants of the Root Wall.

    "Thank you very much, Elder Elvan. I have been training hard," Mika responded with a polite gesture.

    "I can tell. You understand your Soultraits very well, but that''s not all. The Wyvernwood Bow has epted you. The Drake Soul has acknowledged you!" Elder Elvan pointed out.

    He turned to the other Forest Elf and scowled, "I told you not to underestimate Mika, Lexion. He is not the same foolish Elfling you used to fight!"

    Lexion''s lips parted, but he shut his mouth and bit his lower lip instead ofining to his teacher in frustration.

    Mika didn''t say anything to Lexion. He merely eyed the Silverwood Town''s ''genius'' with a mocking smile. He couldn''t remember how often Lexion had humiliated him for manifesting a stronger Soultrait. Lexion''s Root Wall was a mighty defense Soultrait that fit perfectly into the Forest Elves'' teachings as a nature-attributed Soultrait.

    One of the Forest Elf Elders, Elder Elvan, picked up Lexion to teach him the Forest Elf''s history and ancient techniques. Lexion became one of the Forest Elf''s prodigies from that day onwards. His strength increased rapidly as Root Walls''patibility with the Forest Elf''s ancient techniques ended up higher than predicted.

    Lexion turned into a menace to his peers, especially those born into strong bloodlines. Mika was someone prefer that. His family was known for their Arrow Duplication Soultrait. It was a powerful Soultrait, but it was ipatible with the ancient techniques of the Forest Elves. Lexion made fun of him because of that. He humiliated Mika often, and he could afford it. He was the Elder''s direct disciple and one of few Forest Elves with a Soultraitpatible with the Forest Elves'' ancient techniques.

    Mika envied Lexio for his fortune in the past, but not anymore. If anything, Mika pitied Lexion for thinking too highly of himself.

    What was the utilize of a 5-Star Soultrait and apatible Legacy Arts if he wasn''t strong enough to block a mere Common ss Soul Technique? Mika now had three powerful Soultraitspatible with each other ¨C including customized Soul Techniques. If he''d wanted to, Mika could have released hundreds of duplicated arrows at Lexion to eliminate him in the first few seconds of the battle. However, Mika was curious to discover how much stronger he had grown. He was curious if he could defeat Lexion without using his Soultraits.

    It would have been much more challenging to defeat Lexion without his Soultraits, but Mika sensed that he had been at an advantage for a while. Lexion''s strategy annoyed Mika too much, so he started using his Soultraits to push Lexion into the corner and finish him with a final attack.

    Mika turned to Lilica and Opars and smiled lightly. They looked a little disheveled, but they smiled as well. They had overwhelmingly defeated their childhood rivals as well.

    Defeating their childhood rivals, considered prodigies since they could remember, had been easier than expected. Their spar wasn''t even worth mentioning. It had embarrassed the Forest Elven Elders, who''d taught their prodigious students.

    Lilica and Opars gave Mika a thumbs up.

    "You fought great!" Lilica praised, "Superior Pierce is pretty good, isn''t it?"

    Mika nodded. His proficiency with the Soul Technique was not yet great, but he was slowly getting the hang of it.

    "The EmeraldLeaf Team did great," A loud voice resounded through the vicinity. It crept closer to the trio, who turned in all directions, only tond on an old Forest Elf who appeared next to them.

    He appeared out of nowhere, spreading goosebumps all over the trio''s body.

    "I''m very curious about our youngest powerhouses~"

 Chapter 714 Elders Plan

    Chapter 714  Elders'' n

    ?714  Elders'' n

    Elder Silram grinned at the trio of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team with a genuine smile. He ruffled through Lilica''s hair and gestured them to follow.

    "How are things in the Untamed Jungle? We noticed that Michael has been sending us more weapons over thest few months. His trading business seems to be booming."

    "Grandfather, you know as much about Michael''s business as we do. Didn''t he exin his strategy to you before?" Lilica asked her great-great-great grandfather.

    "That¡­" Elder Silram grinned lightly, "It looks like I cannot fool you anymore. Yes, I understand about his trading cycle. Michael informed me beforehand to gather information about the Forest Elves'' demands for armaments, Artifacts, and even Spirit Armaments. As you can imagine, we are very interested in his Spirit Armaments. He gave us three Spirit Armaments as presents. They''re outstanding."

    Mika couldn''t hide his grin after hearing what Elder Silram said.

    "Michael got you hooked really bad."

    Lilica red at Mika, but Elder Silram nodded.

    "You could say that he got us hooked with the Spirit Armaments. We cannot afford to do that even if we were hoping to ask for more Armaments in exchange for less Agriculture Blueprints. Who knows what Michael will ask for once he sells Spirit Armaments in masses? We must please him to ensure we''ll stay in his favor. But that is nothing new, right?"

    He grinned at the trio, who knew precisely what the Elder was talking about.

    "His Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades helped us grow stronger quickly. We have yet to tap into the true potential of our Soultraits, but we''re already stronger than Lexion and the other direct disciples. Only the Blessed Children are stronger than us¡­" Lilica said, only for her grandfather to finish her sentence, "...for now."

    "Yes, for now." Lilica acknowledged in a whisper.

    "Spirit Armaments will be very important, but the entire n is more interested in Michael''s Soultrait Symbols. Imagine how much stronger the Blessed Children could grow if they received one or two extra Soultrait Symbols. The Blessed Children who''ve already ascended to Higher Lifeforms would instantly transform into the strongest Forest Elves of thest few centuries. We could change our n''s destiny altogether!"

    Elder Silram''s eyes glimmered. He recalled the Forest Elves'' history much better than any other. After all, he''d lived through the centuries and both ups and downs of his people. He was one of the few survivors of the Great Elven War who was still alive. The other survivors died centuries ago, while Elder Silram stayed strong. He overcame all kinds of obstacles and was certain it was all for his granddaughter''s encounter with Michael Fang.

    "I don''t think that Michael likes handing over Soultraits without having a safety. The Untamed Awakened, including us, had to sign a Soul Pact with Michael. We understand that he sold some Soultraits to his people, but I know for a fact that everyone had to sign something."

    Elder Silram nodded understandingly.

    "That is understandable. Michael is doing a great job by making sure that his investments cannote back at him. Betrayal is nothing new for Forest Elves. We have been betrayed way more often than you think. That is also why the Elders decided to offer Michael a Racial Pact. If the pact is broken by one of our kind, all Forest Elves will be bound to Michael. Breaking a single use will transform the entire Forest Elven n into Michael''s subordinates. You don''t have to look like that, Lilica. It blemishes your beauty."

    Lilica''s expression was distorted as she listened to her grandfather.

    "Why would you sign a Racial Pact with Michael?"

    "Because we want to benefit from Michael''s power. He is still looking in our direction because he needs us, but we are not a powerful race. We have lived for a long time, and our knowledge is vast. However, we are not the smartest or strongest race. Once a stronger and more knowledgable race offers to rece us¡­why would he reject them?"

    "Michael is l¨C..." Mika was about to say, but Elder Silram intercepted him.

    "Michael is loyal? I can tell he is a trustworthy and loyal man, but he is also a businessman and a Lord. His priorities are being a Lord, protecting his people, and expanding his territory. He will terminate his deals with us once his connections improve. And that¡­is just a matter of time. The High Elves wouldn''t hesitate to offer their national treasures for the opportunity to procure dozens of Soultraits, which are not only upgraded to a high star rating but also highlypatible with their existing Soultraits. Theirbat prowess would increase tens of times instantaneously. Their enemies would crumble, and their territories would expand. They would form the next Grand Empire with Michael''s help!"

    The trio of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer group looked at each other, but Elder Silram was not yet done.

    "The Racial Pact alone won''t be enough to attract Michael''s attention. We possess nothing we can give him that other races cannot give him. That''s also why the Elders granted Michael 10% of the Forest Elven future racial achievements. The achievement points granted to the Forest Elves will be divided, and one-tenth will be given to Michael. In exchange, he will have to give us some Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades!"

    Elder Silram shared the Forest Elven''s n and continued telling the trio more and more about their ns. As the full extent of the Forest Elven n''s n unfolded in front of them, Opars, Mika, and Lilica frowned deeply.

    "I think we understand what you''re trying to do, Gramps¡­but I''m not sure what you want us to do. Michael doesn''t mix business with private matters¡ªat least, not in cases like this." Opars pointed out the obvious.

    "I don''t want you to convince him to ept the proposal. It will be enough if you hint that the Elders are trying toe up with a proposal. You don''t need to be obvious. Saying it once or twice will be enough. He will be curious about our offer, and eventually, we can throw a great offer at him, an offer he won''t reject once he knows the true value of Achievement Points."

    The EmeraldLeaf trio wasn''t convinced, but they nodded. They talked to Elder Silram about a few other things and received permission to retrieve a few more Artifacts from the treasury. They continued using the Pseudo-Legendary Bow Artifacts but added a few Epic Arrow Artifacts and one retrievable Legendary Arrow.

    Natural Arrow Artifacts were hard to procure. It was possible to produce them, but most wouldn''t reach the Rare rank. A few artificially produced Epic Arrow Artifacts existed, but only two with the Retrieve Rune had been created sessfully. The rest were like Mika''s Heirloom Arrow¡ªone-

    time consumable.

    The EmeraldLeaf Trio was already stronger than their peers. However, they didn''t feel special. Maybe they would have felt different in the past, but as a member of the Untamed Awakened, they could only be considered average or slightly above average. There were too many powerhouses who''d grown strong with Michael''s help.

    Thepetition was fierce, and it would only grow more vicious.

 Chapter 715 Valyr

    <h4>Chapter 715 Valyr</h4>

    The Forest Elves were not the only race preparing to approach Michael for his Spirit Armaments,bat prowess, and Soultrait Symbols. The Valyr Lordess, her daughter, and the higher-ups of her family''s n were all present.

    "We have sacrificed a good portion of the n''s resources to im the Savannah Region, but we''re still facing too many issues. The Lords and monsters bordering the Savannah Region are intentionally creating as much trouble as possible to slow the construction of the border settlements!" One of the higher-ups, a Valyr with four horns, said annoyedly.

    "But isn''t that obvious?" An elderly woman, the Valyr, seated at the end of the table, asked with a shrug, "My daughter lost her territory in the Regional War. She was betrayed and forced to retreat but managed to im the entire Savannah Region at the end of the day. The Savannah Region is roughly 70 timesrger than before. Valkyria didn''t have enough time to prepare for such arge-scale expansion. It is only obvious that the enemies bordering the Savannah Region test Valkyria''s defenses to determine if she''s a threat or if they can attack to im hernd instead."

    The burly Valyr seated next to the elderly woman groaned.

    "Valkyria didn''t do anything. No, she did something. She lost her territory because she was foolish enough to believe her allies wouldn''t betray her. Then she tarnished our reputation by seeking asylum in another Lord''s territory, only to end up relying on that Lord to im the Savannah Region."

    The burly Valyr was the Valyr Lordess'' father. Valkyria always had issues with her father, who was never satisfied with her. The worst, however, was when she married someone her father hated to the core and when she gave birth to Zira.

    Her father loved his granddaughter from the bottom of his heart, but he was disappointed in his one and only daughter. She was a disgrace in his eyes.

    "I¡­" Valkyria''s lips parted, but she didn''t know what to say.

    Zira hated seeing her mother like this. She was usually not that flustered. Valkyria was strong and determined. The Valyr Lordess knew what she wanted and would do everything to acquire what she desired. However, in front of her father, Valkyria was powerless.

    "Gramps, please don''t be so harsh on Mother. It was obvious that the Trnce would lose. The Zynur Lord''s betrayal was bad, but I never expected that we would survive this long against the massive power of 106 Lords. Their council was filled with ws, yes. Nheless, their numbers were more than a hundred times greater than ours. Don''t you think it was already a miracle that we survived so long against their council?"

    Zira''s grandfather wanted to say something, but his wife elbowed him gently. That''s enough. Her eyes said with a dangerous glimmer in them.

    "How about we pay more attention to the main topic of today''s meeting?" She asked lightly but with a trace of determination in her voice.

    The main topic. That''s what they called their worries and doubts about the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, the man who managed to obliterate an army of millions singlehandedly. He was still a Lesser Lifeform, but his Soultraits and horrifyingly high physical strength pushed hisbat power above the thresholds of an ordinary Higher Lifeform.

    The Lord of the Untamed Jungle killed dozens of Higher Lifeforms, both Awakened and Summons.

    "He has at least seven Soultraits. One of his Soultraits altered his physique drastically, increasing his physical attributes. It should be a High-ss 6-Star Soultrait. His eyes are special as well. It''s very hard to notice in your visualized memories because his eyes usually glow. However, the marks around his eyes intensify alongside his glowing eyes right before his enemies falter. I think he can unleash either mental or spiritual attacks through his eyes. Given that the attack also affects Higher Lifeforms, it should be another High-ss 6-Star Soultrait," A young man pointed out. He projected several short clips that had been extracted from the memories of the Valyr Lordess, Zira, and the Valyr Reinforcements that had survived the final battle of the Regional War.

    "He can teleport through space while carrying multiple people. His teleportation is near-instantaneous and consumes little energy, resulting in an insignificant release of spatial fluctuations. That makes it harder for his enemies to detect him when he appears nearby. It is probably a Supreme ss 5-Star Soultrait or an Elite ss 6-Star Soultrait."

    An image of Michael teleporting all over the battlefield at will appeared on the projection before everyone.

    "However, this Soultrait is the weirdest. If you cannot block it, your body will be dissected. However, there are multiple functions to that. Sometimes, golden tendrils burst out of the ground around the Lord of the Untamed Jungle. The tendrils attach to his enemies and suck them dry. Their lifeforce and origin energy are drained as the Draining Touch Soultrait can achieve. But that''s not the end of it. He can create a domain with this power. The domain was strong enough to kill everyone below Tier-3 near-instantly. Even our Elite forces at Tier-3 had to retreat once the domain manifested," The young man exined, all while various clips yed in front of everyone present.

    Zira''s grandfather shot up from his chair when he noticed a particr clip. He gestured for the young man to stop and focus on the clip before him.

    "Curses," He groaned, his eyes flicking to his wife, who also noticed the Cursed Seals, "Is he an Apprentice Curse User? I heard that only Higher Lifeforms¡­"

    Her attention flicked to her husband.

    "That''s good," She mumbled.

    "Good?! We will be dead if the SHA finds out!" Zira''s grandfather, the patriarch, cursed.

    "Wouldn''t we be dead when the Supreme Human Alliance finds out? It''s not like they like us ''lesser beings'' either way. At least, we now know that the Lord of the Untamed Jungle won''t join the Supreme Human Alliance at any time. He is a Curse User. They don''t fit well into the SHA."

    Zira''s grandfather shook his head, "But that doesn''t mean he''s a member of the Nest. He cannot even control himself!"

    He pointed at one of thest clips from Zira''s memories. They showed the Lord of the Untamed Jungle as he lost control of his body. The memories demonstrated the destructive power Michael could unleash if he used his whole power.

    "ording to my calctions, his main Soultrait is a Mythical ss 7-Star Soultrait. These marks all over his body enhanced this Soultrait''s power drastically, granting him a decisive advantage against the council," the young Analyst from before pointed out. He had been waiting for this moment for a while and couldn''t hold back anymore.

    "I consider that his Mythical ss Soultrait can dissect the living with so much precision that he can rip his enemies'' Soultrait Symbols out of their souls!"

    Zira nodded vigorously when she heard, "I knew Michael was weaker before. He must have gotten his hands on more Soultraits after he defeated the Kitsun Lord. His Soultrait is probably also how his Subordinates got so much stronger. He gives them Soultraits and strengthens them!"

    Zira''s grandparents looked at each other, understanding dawning upon them.

    "That''s also why he queried for living criminals. He takes their Soultraits," The grandfather said, only for the grandmother to nod slowly.

    "We''re feeding him with Soultrait Symbols¡­What a sly fox. He didn''t lose anything by selling the Savannah Region to us. "

    The Valyrs continued to watch the visualized clips of the conversations the Valyrs had with the Lord of the Untamed Jungle. More details and slightly more private topics were mentioned every now and then. A snippet where Michael queried about Zira''s Soultrait appeared as well. Usually, the Valyrs would frown upon that question because their race was known for their low-ranked Soultraits, but the expression on the Lord of the Untamed Jungle''s face attracted the viewers'' interest instead.

    It was almost like there was a hidden intention in his expression. Everyone got more serious as they continued watching the projected snippets of memories. The Lord of the Untamed Jungle was dangerous. It was essential to find out what he wanted and if he could be a threat to the Valyrs. However, at the same time, the Lord of the Untamed Jungle was an opportunity. Maybe it was possible to change the Valyrs'' fate with Michael''s power.

    Over several hours, the Valyr learned a lot about Michael. They understood enough about his business deals, tactics, the powers he''d exhibited, and personality to conclude that the Lord of the Untamed Jungle wouldn''t attack them as long as they were useful to him.

    They understood that Michael didn''t have the means to controlrger areas ofnd yet, that his race didn''t support him like the Valyrs supported their kind.

    The Valyrs finally found something they could make use of.

    If the Lord of the Untamed Jungle didn''t have a race to rely on¡­how about the Valyrs be his pirs of support? For an equivalent exchange, of course!

    Michael knew nothing about the Valyr race''s ideas but would be happy to hear about them. He had always known that the Valyrs'' Soultraits were below average. Providing them with some Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades would help the Valyr Lordess keep the Savannah Region safe. That meant Michael would have fewer adversaries to face from the Savannah''s direction.

    Of course, Michael wouldn''t hand over his Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments for free. He was a Lord and businessman, after all!

 Chapter 716 Sweat

    Chapter 716 Sweat

    ??Beads of sweat trickled down Hiraku''s temples. His back was drenched in sweat, and his muscles were sore. It had been a while since he had worked out so much that his body felt like it was tearing apart. Unfortunately, thest 24 hours hadn''t been kind to him.

    The sweat stung in his eyes as he forced them open. Hiraku nced at the holographic screen of his crystal watch and frowned deeply.

    ''21 missed calls.''

    His family never called him. They abandoned him after he told them he would focus on the Titan Spirit Soultrait and use the Creation Soultrait as an aid inbat. That was not the path the Star of Creation family pursued with unbending determination. They were obsessed with the path the first ancestor had paved for them and expelled everyone who wanted to walk a different path.

    Hiraku knew that very well when he announced that he wouldn''t focus on the Creation Soultrait. He had always been burlier than the rest of his family. He had always been aware that he was not like them and didn''t fit into the stereotype of the Star of Creation. His family was just¡­different.

    Several years passed without a single call. His family told him to never mention them, or they woulde to find him. They were good at threatening, but it was not like Hiraku cared about that. After struggling in the Origin Expanse for a few months, he forgot about his family. But now¡­the same family who had abandoned him called Hiraku countless times.

    "They probably heard that I officially joined Michael''s territory," Hiraku burst intoughter, only to groan in pain as his abs twitched mindlessly.

    Michael was a good guy. Hiraku couldn''t say that about many powerful people, but Michael was genuinely good. He was a little bit naive, but not to the extreme. Michael was not obnoxious about his influence on the entire Tritan Alliance. He knew that his Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades were valuable.

    Despite that, Michael offered them to his Subordinates like candies. Michael was also willing to invest heavily in his friends. He helped Frederik a lot without demanding anything in return. Initially, Hiraku wondered if Michael wanted to exploit Frederik with his initial investment, but he never forced Frederik into anything. If anything, Michael offered Frederik an easy way to ''repay'' his debts by joining the Untamed Awakened.

    But even that was good for Frederik. He could stay by Michael''s side, gain more Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades, and grow strong enough to attain his goals.

    ''Goals¡­''

    Hiraku didn''t know what Michael was nning or what his goals were, but he thought Michael would be fine. Michael was the type of person who''d survived all kinds of ordeals to attain what he desired.

    But what about himself?

    ''What are my goals?'' He wondered.

    The image of someone shed through his mind, but Hiraku could only force a smile. Thinking about her was painful. She was the only reason he''d thought about staying with the Star of Creation, yet she was also why he left. Her words when they parted stung even after years had passed.

    A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He stayed in the arena, his drenched back covered in the sand that covered the entire arena.

    Life would go on even without her, but Hiraku was not sure how much longer her presence would influence him. He was unsure if he''d liked to stop thinking about her or if thinking about her held him back.

    Hiraku was a Higher Lifeform, and his strength was bound to increase with Michael''s help. Michael offered him Soultrait Upgrades and new Soultraits, but Hiraku has rejected his offers until now. Maybe it was time to change that. It was time to grow¡­to be a different man.

    Just as a flicker of determination formed in his eyes, Hiraku received another call.

    ''Can''t they read the fucking roo¨C....'' Hiraku shouted in his mind, only to freeze in his tracks as his gazended on the holographic screen.

    He received a call.

    [Hellen Zuro] ¨C [ept/Decline]

    "W-why?"

    **

    Frederik fell from the sky. His legs were limp, and fountains of blood burst from his arms.

    ''Maybe I shouldn''t use Aeroan like that until I understand more about the changes made by Enhanced Wind and Wind Mastery¡­'' Frederik cursed himself while retrieving potions from his War Rune storage. He removed the cap mid-air and swallowed the contents quickly. A momentter, he controlled the winds beneath him to unleash several sts ofpressed air.

    His fall slowed down, and he wasn''t squashed to death as he crashed onto the ground. It wasn''t long until Maria appeared next to him. She used Archangel''s Grace, healing his legs and arms swiftly.

    "Thanks," Frederik groaned as he turned toy on his back. Maria frowned deeply, but she didn''t respond. Her gaze lingered on Frederik only for a second before she looked at the others, who weren''t doing much better than Frederik.

    Zeke was bleeding from his eyes most of the time. He copsed every ten minutes, forcing Maria to tend to him to avoid furtherplications. Meanwhile, Kaleb and Lincoln shed. Lincoln was trying to increase his brawn and pain resistance. At the same time, Kaleb unleashed a fury of ice, forcing Lincoln to either withstand the pain of getting hit or destroy the iing attacks with his Stone Giant Soultrait.

    However, the group of four wasn''t the only one who trained like crazy. Maria saw Killian earlier as well. He trained using his Inheritance Technique with King of Thunder, his main Soultrait, and the new Soultrait his family had acquired during the first Soultrait Auction, Aquarius.

    Killian''s mastery of the Zeus family''s Legacy Arts and Inheritance Technique was extremely high, but adding another Soultrait, a Soultrait that didn''t fit into the techniques'' criteria, wasn''t easy.

    Maria noticed that Killian grappled a lot. It was obvious that Killian was stronger than he used to be, but she had never seen Killian sustain injuries while practicing. Yet, that was exactly what happened every other minute as he exercised mixing his techniques with both Soultraits.

    Everyone was fixated on getting stronger. Only Maria mused her next move. She was already the strongest Healer of the Tritan Alliance. Even among other races, Maria was the strongest Healer she knew. What else was there for her to do? She could focus on expanding her territory and growing her army. As long as they grew stronger, Maria would have an easier time umting more Soul Power. She could use her Soul Technique more often and experiment a little. But, for now, Maria couldn''t do much.

    ''Why do I feel so useless then? I am a powerful Healer! I can do a lot as well, '' she told herself inwardly, only to recall that her power had been useless several times, times in which she had been in danger.

    ''I am weak. My Soultrait doesn''t protect me. I can only heal and regenerate. I cannot fight. No, I cannot protect myself.''

    She wouldn''t be so burdened if she were powerful enough to protect herself. However, Maria didn''t have another Soultrait to defend herself.

    But was it really necessary to have a Soultrait to protect herself? Couldn''t she learn how to defend herself without a Soultrait?

    ''Of course, I can. A defensive Soultrait would be neat, though!''

 Chapter 717 Wait for Me!

    Chapter 717 Wait for Me!

    ??After Frederik finished his training session ¨C something others started to call a suicidal workout ¨C, he left the other psychos in the arena. Frederik went to his room and considered returning to the Origin Expanse to grow stronger.

    "I haven''t called Dad for a while," he recalled, opening the holographic screen of his crystal watch.

    Frederik called his father.

    [Frederik! I didn''t expect to hear from you today. Is something wrong?] Igor Kolbenheim asked.

    It was rare for his sons to call, especially Frederik, as he was the busiest, keeping up with Michael and the other Awakened working for Michael. Igor Kolbenheim heard about everything Michael had done for his family. He knew that Michael had sent someone from the Seraph family to tend to his wounds and that he had hired someone from the Sun Guild to remove the minor curse from Frederik. Neither was cheap. Most families weren''t influential enough to employ a member of the Seraph family. Their service cost was exorbitant. Nobody would pay for the Seraph family''s service if they weren''t desperate.

    But that was exactly what Michael did. Without hesitation, ording to the rumors.

    "Everything is fine. I noticed that I haven''t called you for a while now, and I wanted to check on you. Are my brothers taking care of you, or are they still¡­" Frederik couldn''t even finish his sentence when he heard his father groan.

    [Your brothers are¡­your brothers. You know them as well as I do. They''re unique and not fans of taking care of other people. I haven''t seen them for a while now. I only know that they''re not dead. Other than that¡­They could be everywhere.]

    ''I could have expected that.'' Frederik murmured in his mind.

    "I guess they''re fine then. Thest time I heard from my brothers, they''d asked me about Michael and demanded that I should get them a bunch of Soultraits. They don''t even listen to me when I tell them I''m soulbound never to give anyone the Soultrait Symbols I procure from Michael''s territory."

    [I spoiled them too much. Well¡­I spoiled everyone too much. My children, all of them, were pampered too much.]

    Frederik smiled wryly but had to acknowledge that his father was right. If he hadn''t met Michael only a few months after he manifested his War Rune, he would probably still be a spoiled brat. Michael''s beating and mocking had been painful, but they had helped him grow stronger.

    [I''m proud of you. You grew up so well. Your mother would have been proud.] Igor Kolbenheim said. His voice cracked mid-sentence, and a somber veil shrouded the father-son duo, [You are the best son I ¡ª No we ¨C could have wished for!]

    Frederik choked a little bit, and his eyes got watery. A vibrant smile blossomed on his face.

    "You are a great father, too," He mumbled before changing the topic.

    Frederik chatted with his father for quite a while. They talked a lot about the past until they moved on to recent issues, worries, and incidents. At some point, Igor Kolbenheim mentioned Jacqueline Ondo.

    Frederik still had some issues with the Ondo family, but his confidence in their rtionship skyrocketed shortly after he joined Michael''s territory. With threepatible Soultraits and the means to grow stronger quickly, Frederik felt morefortable approaching Jacqueline once again.

    They couldn''t meet up often, but he called Jacqueline more frequently. He was confident that he could get her back.

    "I know I''m selfish when I say this¡­but please wait for me. I will grow stronger, and I will show the whole Tritan Alliance that I''m worthy of you!" ¨C Frederik had dered in one of theirst calls.

    Jacqueline burst into tears at that time and bawled her eyes out, saying that she would wait as long as it took.

    Themunicate was cut off after someone entered her room. Frederik couldn''t see everything but was pretty sure Jacqueline was under surveince. She didn''t reveal everything she''d gone through since they ''separated''; however, Frederik could tell him the clues she''d given him.

    Recalling that scenario, Frederik clenched his fists tightly. The white of his knuckles was visible even after opening his palms. The Runic Gate manifested before him as he willed it to open.

    "That''s not enough. I need to grow even stronger!!" He dered and stepped into the Runic Gate.

    Frederik returned to the Untamed Jungle, where he would continue the suicidal workout he''d stopped earlier. There was no time to waste.

    **

    Kraft Viton sighed heavily. He leaned overrge bundles of paper and could hardly suppress his urge to tear the reports into a thousand pieces. Several holographic screens surrounded him with live updates about the Sacred Desert and the number of Undead forces spreading in all directions.

    "Why are these idiots still waiting? What are they waiting for in the first ce? They don''t think the Undead forces disappear just like that¡­right?" He cursed High Society for theirck of action.

    High Society had always been passive and slow to react, but this was a new low for them. It was almost like they didn''t look after about the Sacred Desert.

    "Are they giving up on the Sacred Desert? But why? Decades of our effort will go to waste if we lose it now!"

    Kraft Viton wasn''t that connected to the Sacred Desert. It didn''t have any sentimental value. However, mankind generated a good portion of their wealth from the Sacred Desert and the surrounding areas. If they were to lose everything, mankind would suffer a lot. It was only obvious that they gained a fortune from other regions as well. Many anomalies generated a fortune even though their territories were rtively small. However, the Sacred Desert was unique due to its connection to other high-ranked territories with energy stone deposits and many other resources that were hard toe by elsewhere.

    "The other human domains will gain more importance if we lose the Sacred Desert. But that doesn''t help the other members of High Society a lot. The Bartholomew Corporation will gain the most."

    The majority of the Barren Lands belonged to the Bartholomew Corporation. That didn''t mean they''d imed the Barren Lands. It was more urate to say that most Lords in the Barren Lands signed Soul Contracts with the Bartholomew Corporation. The reason was simple; The Agriculture Project.

    Transforming the wastnds of the Barren Lands into nourishable soil was far from easy, but the Bartholomew Corporation made it possible. They generated enough food for the other Lords in dire need. After all, everyone had to feed their subjects. The better the food, the easier it would be to strengthen their subjects'' Links of Loyalty and to strengthen them as well.

    The Bartholomew Corporation solved the food shortage, but they were not yet done expanding the Agriculture Project. The Bartholomew Corporation prepared for arge-scale expansion and decided to stock enough food to feed billions of Summnons across the territories.

    The biggest problem with therge-scale expansion was that the Bartholomew Corporation desired to expand out of the Sacred Desert. It had the best connections to other highly valuable regions and offered the best conditions for expansion

    ¡ªthat was until the Undead forces appeared.

    "Maybe it''s time to gather reinforcements on my own."

 Chapter 718 Combine

    Chapter 718 Combine

    ??Evalynn Fang was nowhere to be found.

    Since that was the case, Michael decided to focus on his territory. He had a lot to take care of even after he distributed the treasures he bought for his subjects.

    One of the most interesting objects in his possession was a Basic Summoning Core. 251 Basic Summoning Cores, to be precise.

    The Basic Summoning Cores were all Neutral Cores Michael obtained in the Regional War against the council of 106 Lords. Michael got hold of them since the Lords didn''t need their Summoning Cores anymore. He used a Soul Tear on the Extraction Soultrait and removed as many impurities from each core as possible.

    Purifying the Summoning Cores didn''t take too long. Michael was already familiar with the process. However, he wasn''t familiar withbining Summoning Cores.

    His first attempt atbining Basic Summoning Cores using Insert didn''t end that well. Michael didn''t know that it was possible to break a Summoning Core this easily, but he made it happen. The first Summoning Core he wanted to transform into an Intermediate Summoning Core cracked and shattered.

    After failing once, Michael cursed himself. He got his act together and proceeded with the experiment. Michael was a little bit more careful now. He vigntlybined the Basic Summoning Cores using Insert. It wasn''t easy and required several hours of utmost focus, but it worked.

    Michael didn''t even realize that he worked through several nights before he produced the first Intermediate Summoning Core via Inset. 20 Basic Summoning Cores transformed into one Intermediate Summoning Core. For most people, that would be a loss. Every Basic Summoning Core was worth a fortune. Sacrificing 20 Basic Summoning Cores to create an Intermediate Summoning Core didn''t seem worth it.

    But Michael didn''tck money. He missed an Intermediate Summoning Core before, but not anymore. Michael was more familiar with the process after his first experiment seeded. He spent another weekbining the remaining Basic Summoning Cores.

    Once he was done, Michael had 12 Intermediate Summoning Cores and 10 Basic Summoning Cores left to use. 19 Summoning Cores were still installed in the Summoning Gate, but he missed the Summoning Essence to upgrade the Basic Summoning Gate to the Intermediate Rank. Otherwise, he would install the Summoning Cores right away.

    "It shouldn''t be too difficult for Kraft Viton to procure the Essence," Michael stared at the head-sized Intermediate Summoning Cores with a faint smile.

    Once the Soultrait Auction was over, Michael could upgrade the Summoning Gate to the Intermediate Rank with 12 Intermediate Summoning Cores and 29 Basic Summoning Cores. From that day onward, both the quality and quantity of his daily summons would increase drastically. Michael looked forward to it.

    He slept almost a full day after staying awake for more than ten days and woke up reinvigorated. Michael was ready to get back to work right away. He had countless experiments to initiate and various doubts to be answered.

    Therefore, Michael beganbining Scroll Fragments to create new Named Scrolls. He desperately needed various specific Named Scrolls to distribute his Summons equally in Arx and Brynud. Organizing everything and ensuring that all processes were optimized was far from easy. Fortunately, Michael had Reba Zauber and many highly intelligent subordinates, who helped him n everything to expand his territory efficiently. They made a list of Named Scrolls he would need for a highly efficient expansion, leaving Michael only with the task of creating the Named Scrolls.

    Hebined various Ordinary Scrolls to create 1-Star and 2-Star Named Scrolls before experimenting with inserting Mythic Scrolls. First, Michael inserted Mythic Scrolls into Named Scrolls before hebined Mythic Scrolls with other Mythic Scrolls. He created 3-Star Named Scrolls and was lucky enough to initiate a mutation to create one 4-Star Named Mythics Scroll.

    Michael''s experiments didn''t stop with Summoning Scrolls. Hebined Artifacts again, this time with ordinary weapons to find out what would happen to them. He added Extraction into the fray to extractponents of Artifacts and insert them into ordinary weapons. Michael''s n was to find out whether he could artificially create Spirit Armor that way, or if insertingponents of Artifacts would create another Artifact¡ªjust a weaker version of theplete Artifact.

    The result was interesting but disappointing as well. Someponents of an Artifact could create a different type of Artifact once inserted into another weapon. Other weapons broke apart. They weren''t resilient enough to endure the pressure and energies that entered the weapon''s essence through Insert.

    Most experiments with the Artifacts failed, but Michael learned a lot. Heprehended that Spirit Armaments and Artifacts were very simr, and the biggest difference was that Spirit Armaments didn''t put any pressure on the wielder. Their effects were weaker due to theirck of potency, which was why Summons could use them.

    Summons lost something that all Awakened possessed: their War Runes and Soultraits. A War Rune and a Soultrait could act as mediators between Artifacts and the Awakened, decreasing the pressure an Artifact put on the Awakened''s soul.

    With that in mind, Michael considered the creation of a mediator that Summons could use. It was a new invention, but if he''d managed to create a properly functioning Mediator, he would be able to change¡­.everything. His Summons would be stronger than the enemy soldiers at the same rank and Tier. Michael''s Untamed Army would be able to overwhelm everyone.

    That was something worth looking forward to, and Michael considered it valuable enough to invest in researching it!

    The mediator would probably aid his experiments with Artifacts and monsters as well. Michael''s strategy to form an army of monsters equipped with mighty Artifacts was worth investigating, but it was more of a foolish dream than realistic. The Untamed Jungle was overflowing with monsters. Michael liked fighting alongside the Untamed Jungle against the Zentika Empire''s forces. The monsters of the Untamed Jungle were powerful, and they granted him a great advantage against the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    No matter how Michael looked at it, he was drawn to the Untamed Jungle and its inhabitants. He had stopped hunting them mindlessly. His entire focus was on regting the poption in his vicinity and that everyone benefited from each other''s existence. Michael was unsure when it started, but a symbiotic rtionship had formed between his territory and the Untamed Jungle. He didn''t want to give that up either. If anything, Michael wanted to deepen his rtionship with the Untamed Jungle. He was certain that it would be worth it.

    The symbiotic rtionship with the Untamed Jungle also aided Michael''s attempts to create new nts and explore mutations of various nts more intently.

    The Farmers, Botanica Magician, and others helped him examine the depth of the Untamed Jungle''s flora and use Insert on multiple nts to insert the elemental energy within elemental crystals into them.

    Michael created multiple new nts for the Farmers and Botanica Magician, creating joy and excitement. Everyone was curious if the new creations would survive or break and sumb.

    Michael had a good feeling. He was certain that the Untamed Jungle would protect its newest creations.

    It was weird.

    Michael felt like he was part of the Untamed Jungle. It was almost like he had always been supposed to be there.

    He couldn''t imagine how his life would have been if his region hadn''t been in the Untamed Jungle.

    It was hard to imagine.

    Michael didn''t want to imagine it. He was happy in the Untamed Jungle.

    [Weirdo!]

    "Shut up, Danny!"

 Chapter 719 Fun Part

    Chapter 719 Fun Part

    ??Michael also experimented a lot with the blueprints procured from the Regional War. He hadn''t used or sold them until now because it was obvious that he would need them at some point. However, using more than 2.8 million blueprints in experiments was easier said than done.

    Michael didn''t know how many days he spent using Insert and Extraction tobine fragments and extract certainponents of a blueprint in an attempt to create rare, high-quality blueprints. He managed to create Specialized Training Range blueprints, an upgraded version of an Advanced Infirmary, Superior Ranches, Treehouse Apartment Complexes, and the like.

    It was very interesting as eachpleted blueprint advanced the progress within Arx and Brynud. The creation of high-quality blueprints would help simplify the construction of new settlements. The cost efficiency and time required to construct a proper settlement would decrease drastically. That was even more so after Michaelbined more than one million blueprints to form a Basic Settlement Blueprint.

    He spend another 500,000 blueprints adjusting the Basic Settlement Blueprint to fit into the Untamed Jungle. Oncepleted, Michael showed the humongous blueprint to the Architects, who were exhrated. One of the Master Alchemists gained enlightenment and was promoted following several days of working on the Basic Settlement Blueprint.

    Excited and curious about the efficiency of the Basic Settlement Blueprint, the Architects requested to alter Brynud. Michael denied that request because it would affect the livelihood of too many Summons, but he permitted them to work on another settlement. Since most of his Starless Summons had yet to be given a long-term task, Michael thought it might be best to expand his territory. His territory''s poption could be expanded rapidly now that he had the resources to focus on it.

    Brynud was still notpleted, but the surplus of workers allowed the creation of a third settlement. The settlement would have various specialized training ranges, another Hunter Academy, and various other ces that focused on training, enlightenment, and promotions. It would be a schrly settlement perfect for everyone who desired to focus on studying, experimenting, and attaining enlightenment to increase their star rating.

    Once Michael was done taking care of the experiments he''d postponed way too long already, he wanted to focus on his Soultrait Symbols and the SoulStar Fragments umted in his War Rune.

    [Finally, we''re getting to the fun part!] Danny eximed in his mind.

    "Fun part? Well...that''s not wrong," Michael grinned. It was fun to throw around Soultrait Symbols and upgrade them as he pleased.

    He had close to 1,000 stored in the sealed container and still 360,000ish SoulStar Fragments left to use.

    "The only issue is that I need to feed you quite a lot of SoulStar Fragments to strengthen your Soul and that I''ll have to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star to ensure that I can contain your Soul once it regains full power," Michael pointed out.

    [What?! I''m the issue now? Just ignore the Soul Grimoire for the time being. Didn''t you say that you''ll beat the shit out of the Tekur soon? If they bring many Elite Tekur to this year''s g War, you''ll get 1000 or more SoulStar Fragments from each corpse, either way. If you extract them alive, you get Soultrait Symbols and even more SoulStar Fragments.]

    "That is not wrong either," Michael responded. It would be great if the Tekur would throw 1000 Elite Tekur into the Interdimensional g War. That way, he could procure roundabout one million SoulStar Fragments. That was enough to upgrade Soul Grimoire and fill Danny''s Soul to the brim.

    [See. So upgrade your Soultraits!] Danny dered.

    Michael could only nod. He knew upgrading his Soultraits would slow his progress to a Higher Lifeform. However, Michael would also learn a lot more about his Soultraits. Furthermore, every Soultrait with six or more stars would enhance the User''s being ording to their properties. That woulde in handy against the Tekur.

    Michael could also do a lot more with stronger Soultraits. For example, by upgrading Insert to 6-Star, Michael would be able to do things he couldn''t dobeforehand.

    [Upgrade Insert to 6-Star and then upgrade a few more Soultraits, please! Insert is good, but let''s be honest. Upgrading it to 7-Star right now isn''t worth it. Your other Soultraits need some attention as well, especially Reinforced Sword Qi...I think.]

    "Reinforced Sword Qi doesn''t fit me. It''s your Soultrait. I want you to take it back once your vessel is ready for you. I can upgrade Reinforced Sword Qi to 6-Star, but the Soultrait isn''tpatible with me. It''s yours," Michael dered.

    [Mine? Well, I always loved Reinforced Sword Qi. I can show you some tricks if you want. Even if you''re ipatible with it, your Qi Extraction Sword and the like will be much stronger once you upgrade Reinforced Sword Qi. If you want to give it back to me¡­give it to me once it is a 6-Star or 7- Star Soultrait!]

    Michael frowned deeply but he smiled as he blurted out, "Greedy bastard."

    [So what? I''m a soul stuck in your Soul Grimoire. Let me have some fun!]

    "Sorry about that," Michael pressed his lips together, but he couldn''t contain his facial features. He smiled lightly. It was nice to have Danny so close to him after losing him. His brother was also not serious about being ''angry'' about being confined by the Soul Grimoire. He wasfortable being with Michael¡ªasfortable as a Living Soul could be.

    "Okay. Upgrading Insert and Reinforced Sword Qi it is then," Michael concluded, "Enhancement deserves another upgrade as well. Taming, probably, as well. Tamingbined with Tatjana''s Eye of Evolution will be a horrifyingly powerful long-

    termbo."

    [What about Cosmic Stride and 4-Star Sphere of Elements? The only Soultraits you don''t have to upgrade or can''t upgrade right now are Soul Grimoire, Extraction, and Spirit Eyes. Even upgrading Superior Constitution to 7-Star is worth it. In fact, Superior Constitution at 7-Star should help you refine your War Rune faster. The barrier obstructing every Awakened from ascending to a Higher Lifeform won''t be that troublesome for you either with 7-Star Superior Constitution.]

    "Brother¡­I don''t have that many SoulStar Fragments. I can either upgrade one Soultrait to 7-Star or most of my other Soultraits to 6-Star," Michael rolled his eyes slightly annoyed, but his brother was too excited.

    [Demand more criminals from the Valyrs then. They can throw hundreds of Higher Lifeforms at you. Then, you can upgrade all Soultraits without having to worry about your expenses!]

    "The contract says that they have to hand me only a handful of Higher Lifeforms every month. Silver Teleportation Tokens are wasted on criminals under normal circumstances. The Valyrs wouldn''t give me more criminals without demanding more in return as well," Michael said, but Danny didn''t ept his reasoning.

    [Just give them a bunch of Soultraits in exchange. Your 900ish Soultraits are collecting dust, either way.]

    "They''ll find out about my powers then," Michael reasoned, only to realize how stupid that sounded.

    [They understand about you, either way. Just give up trying to hide your power from other races. Throw Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades at everyone who benefits you. That will draw them closer!]

    "Okay, okay," Michael said lightly before deciding that it might be best to prepare a few documents for the Valyrs, the Tritan Alliance, and the Forest Elves. Maybe it was actually better to openly distribute Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades in exchange for criminals. It was morally wrong, but as long as the criminals were not wrongfully incriminated and their crimes were bad enough, Michael didn''t see anything wrong with trading them for Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades.

    [I think I''m a bad influence. You would never have listened to me in the past.] Danny noted when he saw the first drafts of the documents Michael had prepared quickly.

    Michael forced to smile, "You don''t realize how much I''ve changed."

    His voice sounded somber and silence reigned supreme in Michael''s head for a few seconds. Danny took a while before he spoke again.

    [Maybe I don''t. Maybe I can only view my little brother when I speak to you. I might not have realized that you are an adult already¡­and that you have to bear a much heavier responsibility than I ever could.]

    Michael felt a clot in his throat as he listened to his brother.

    [But you''re doing an excellent job. I understand that you can do it. I''m proud of you!]

 Chapter 720 Upgrades

    <h4>Chapter 720 Upgrades</h4>

    All drafts were sent to Reba, who read through them with her friend. They weren''t sure what to think about Michael''s n but understood it could work. It was likely to work pretty well. The only issue was that some powerhouses might think Michael''s Soultraits should belong to them.

    There were many selfish powerhouses in every race, and it was unlikely that Michael would not encounter them, especially now that he had nned to create a new system to distribute Soultrait Symbols.

    Of course, Michael would implement the system only after the Soultrait Auction ended. He would wait another month or two before sharing the Soultrait Symbols with everyone in exchange for a ''fair'' price.

    Once the drafts were taken care of, Michael proceeded to upgrade his oldest Soultraits to 6-Star. He spent 32,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Enhancement to 6-Star. Upgrading Enhancement to 6-Star slightly altered his body, mind, and soul. His physique grew stronger while his mind and soul refined rapidly.

    The slight enhancement attained by upgrading Enhancement to 6-Star was a great bonus, but it was not the main course. The main attraction of 6-Star Enhancement was the Soultrait''s new function. Everyyer of Enhancement reinforced the target by 50%, just like before. However, the Enhancement Layer could be customized. He could apply Enhancement to upgrade specific properties of the target instead of enhancing everything equally. Therefore, Enhancement''s full potential was concentrated in a particr point. Consequently, it would Enhance the specific property by more than 50%

    "That is perfect for Extract and Insert. It can be useful for all Soultraits and whenever I want to upgrade specific body parts. Amazon!" Michael eximed once he finished experimenting with 6-Star Enhancement.

    [Enhancement is very powerful. It''s an overpowered Soultrait, but only if you have enough Soultraits or other means to apply Enhancement properly. Others wouldn''t be able to unleash Enhancement''s power like you can.]

    Michael smiled, d to have upgraded Enhancement. However, he was not yet done upgrading his Soultraits. Taming was next.

    Since Taming was a Soultrait Symbol locked into the Middle Area of the Soul Sphere, Michael had to invest almost 80% more to upgrade it to 6-Star than he would have to invest to upgrade Insert. The price was steep, but Michael had enough SoulStar Fragments. He fetched 43,500 SoulStar Fragments from his stockpile to upgrade Taming to 6-Star.

    Taming''s Upgrade was surprising, yet not. Michael had expected a simr upgrade whenever he thought about the changes Taming would undergo as its star rating increased. The Soultrait''s Taming Circle grew stronger. It was more potent now and, therefore, much easier to tame monsters. Taming''s capacity expanded drastically as well. Michael could tell he could bind many morepanions to him now that Taming reached 6-Star.

    He even felt that Taming was potent enough to bind a Mythical Creature. He''d expected that to happen muchter, but it was a good thing.

    However, the most important change about Taming was that he could finally store hispanions. Michael called the Elemental Empress to test out the storing function. It was much easier than he''d expected.

    Michael had to ess Taming''s storage function with his will and touch the Elemental Empress. The Elemental Empress would be sucked inside his body, and an image of her would be etched on Michael''s body. It was simr to the World Serpent''s Seal, but it was smaller and much easier to ess.

    The Elemental Empress formed a huge image of her on his left arm. It was a sizeable azure-colored tattoo that formed on his arm. It fits perfectly with Michael''s appearance. He had a few Seals and Stigma on his body. A few more wouldn''t change a lot.

    [You look like a gangster!] Danny eximed in his mind, only for the Elemental Empress to agree wholeheartedly.

    As long as hispanions were stored inside him, they could also ess his senses. The Elemental Empress could converse in his mind¡­and talk to Danny.

    "This is not weird at all. Danny, the World Serpent, Zeroa, and Sun Demos can chat in my head¡­That is not weird. Nope. Never."

    [Don''t be a crybaby. You can bring yourpanions out of the Origin Expanse now. If you use that well, you can turn entires into the home of Elementals or a breeding ground for yourpanions¡­though I''m not sure if I should rmend that.]

    "If you don''t rmend that to me, why do you even point that out?!" Michael cursed quietly as he imagined a whole for Zeroa.

    [Yaaaa. I want!!] The Elemental Empress screamed in his mind in her broken universal tongue. Zeroa diligently studied the universalnguage, but it was much harder than expected. She couldn''t pronounce most words even though she knew how they were written and what they were supposed to sound like.

    "Maybe we can get you a outside the Origin Expanse in the future. For now, however, your underground empire is enough. Didn''t you say you have more than enough space for several years?"

    [Future! I want!]

    Michael was unsure if Zeroa was throwing a tantrum, but he heard Dannyughing in the back of his mind. They were way too annoying. Unfortunately, he liked Zeroa and Danny too much to hold a grudge.

    Evolving the Elemental Empress was possible, ording to Tatjana''s research. Tatjana noticed that Zeroa had some hidden evolution paths, but she has had difficulties discerning them yet. The young Forest Elf would have to grow stronger and get closer to the Elemental Empress to unravel the hidden Evolution Paths. She couldn''t do that outside the Origin Expanse. Therefore, it was of utmost importance that Zeroa stayed with Tatjana for the time being.

    Michael once again removed the Elemental Empress from Taming''s storage. Zeroained, but Michael shooed her away. It was time to upgrade the Reinforced Sword Qi.

    It was more expensive than Michael had expected. Even though Reinforced Sword Qi was locked in the Inner Area of the Soul Sphere, upgrading it to 6-Star cost around 50,000 SoulStar Fragments. That was even more expensive than a 6-Star upgrade in the Middle Area.

    Fortunately, Michael''s confusion and doubts were reced quickly as he noticed that Reinforced Sword Qi evolved into Qi. Just Qi. That was all left from Reinforced Sword Qi after he upgraded it to 6-Star.

    Both Michael and Danny were surprised. They didn''t expect the Soultrait to change like this. But both were happy. Qi was much stronger than Reinforced Sword Qi and far more versatile.

    [Fascinating! Can I use Qi to test a few things?] Danny requested, and Michaelplied. He never had a deep connection to Reinforced Sword Qi, and even Qi didn''t seem to suit him very well.

    Michael was sure he could easily remove Qi from the Soul Sphere once Danny obtained a suitable vessel. That was how low hispatibility with Qi was.

    Michael gave Dannyplete control of Qi. His brother could experiment with QI as much as he wanted, as it was his Soultrait.

    Instead of paying much attention to Qi, Michael immediately switched to upgrade Insert. He invested 27,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Insert to 6-Star, yet he couldn''t sense any significant changes after the upgrade waspleted. Fortunately, experiments with Insert showed that the Soultrait was much better than expected.

    Insert''s potency and control improved by leaps and bounds. Michael obtained more power to decide what kind ofbination of objects he could create. It was not perfect, but it was a lot better than the haphazardbinations Michael made by mixing Extraction and Insert.

    It was a major change!

    Michael felt like switching to experimenting with Insert again, but he wasn''t done upgrading his Soultraits yet. He didn''t even use half of the SoulStar Fragments in his stockpile.

    He still had 210,000 SoulStar Fragments left to advance his other Soultraits.

    But He was unsure what to upgrade first. He had many options, but hecked the resources to upgrade everything simultaneously. That was a boon and a gue at the same time.

    It was a bittersweet curse, just like the World Serpent and the Curse hibernating in the depths of his body.

    **

    If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.

    I unveiled a few character images on my discord. If you''re interested, join ;)

    https://discord.gg/EdsDgFVWwZ

    The link is also in my profile.

    If you want to support the writer rather than the tform, here is my Ko-Fi and Pat.reon

    /hideousgrain

 Chapter 721 Blessed Child in the Jungle

    <h4>Chapter 721 Blessed Child in the Jungle</h4>

    Michael didn''t have to think long to determine what to do with the remaining SoulStar Fragments. It was pretty simple.

    He spend more than 82,000 SoulStar Fragments upgrading Cosmic Stride to 6-Star and 55,000 SoulStar Fragments upgrading Sphere of Elements to 5-Star.

    The Soultraits didn''t mutate or evolve, but their potency increased drastically. The Elemental Spheres inside Michael''s energy pool expanded. They stored more energy, which increased the total amount of energy that could be stored inside Michael''s body. As the Elemental Spheres absorbed energy from the energy pool, they infused an element into the neutral origin energy. But that was not all.

    The Elemental Spheres purified the origin energy by infusing elemental properties into it. The purified elemental energy could be utilized to create stronger elemental attacks. Combined with other Soultraits like Cosmic Stride, Michael could unleash attacks several times more efficiently than before.

    Fused with the Elemental Empress, Michael learned that he was capable of doing things he could have never fathomed. It was terrific and terrifying at the same time.

    Cosmic Stride was terrific, as it used to be. At 6-Star, it releases even fewer spatial frequencies into the surroundings. Teleporting farther away was easier, and Michael could quickly bring dozens of people with him without attracting too much attention.

    Upgrading several Soultraits to 6-Star affected him quite a bit. His body could endure the toll of so many powerful Soultraits, but it wasn''t easy. Each 6-Star Soultrait enhanced his physique, mind, and soul to a certain extent. Some Soultraits, like Cosmic Stride and Taming , drastically enhanced Michael''s mental power, while Insert empowered his Souls.

    Several days had passed in the blink of an eye since he started upgrading his Soultraits. He decided to give his body a break and enough time to adjust to the changes he''d undergone. He had enough SoulStar Fragments left to upgrade Mind Reader to 6-Star, but Michael didn''t want to upgrade the Soultrait. Putting aside some SoulStar Fragments to strengthen Danny''s Living Soul was more important.

    But then again, Michael thought about expanding the Soul Sphere. He felt like binding another Soultrait. Fortunately, he didn''t do that. Instead, he left a few thousand SoulStar Fragments to strengthen Danny''s Living Soul while investing the remaining Fragments into his Aethyr.

    The Aethyr linked to his Soul Sphere had been upgraded to Tier-3. That was the limit of the Aethyr he had been given by the War Priestess and the Berserker Chieftain. However, it was not the limit of the Aethyr Michael wanted to use. Therefore, he did what he had nned to do a while ago.

    "Extraction is enough reason for the vast majority of the Universe to be interested in me. They won''t care if I have Aether or not. Extraction will be their main focus!" Michael concluded.

    Unlimited Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades were far more critical than an Aether weapon. Michael didn''t have to hold back anymore.

    The Aethyr inside him expanded as the Aether content increased. He gained ess to more shapes and a wide variety of functions that coulde in handy once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.

    Aethyr''s limit increased. It could now easily reach the standards of a High Artifact. That was exactly what Michael needed--a weapon that wouldn''t break once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform. Aethyr''s forms gained more power now that more Aether had been mixed into the alloy. Michael could cut down Higher Lifeforms even easier now.

    "I''m dead," Michael murmured. Even after he''d taken a few days of a break, Michael was exhausted.

    [I would be exhausted after upgrading five Soultraits to 6-Star and a sixth Soultrait to 5-Star. You do realize that you have two 5-Star Soultraits, eight 6-Star Soultraits, and one 7-Star Soultrait now...right?]

    Michael smiled, "Yup, I know."

    [You can take a more extended break. Study your Soultraits more in-depth, create a bunch of customized Elite ss Soul Techniques for your Soultraits, and continue refining your War Rune, body, mind, and soul. Have some fun as well. Don''t put too much pressure on yourself. Everything will be alright!]

    At first, Michael felt he had much more to do, but he kept his mouth shut. Instead of saying that his brother spoke nonsense, he did precisely what Danny said.

    He worked hard and enjoyed life simultaneously.

    **

    Time passed much faster than expected. In the first few months, he looked for his mother quite often, but he couldn''t find her. It was almost like Evalynn Fang left the Tritan Alliance once again. Daniel was a bit sad about that, but he overcame the sadness quickly. It was not like Danny expected to talk to their mother ever again after she left them once.

    Michael didn''t even have to console his brother. He fared much better than expected. Michael knew that he would never be able to act like his brother. Danny was more mature.

    Michael spent some time with Alice. They got closer after going on multiple dates. After a while, the pair warmed up to each other, but they hesitated to jump into a connection right away. Both were busy with their territories and businesses and growing stronger. Nheless, after several months passed, they made the big jump and got together.

    They shared their first kisses and had a happy time together ¨C even if it was not much.

    The first Holy Knights received a promotion to be Sacred Knights in Michael''s territory, and the livelihood of all subjects improved. More offspring were born in his territory.

    Immortal Knight, the Untamed Army, and all members of the Untamed Awakened continued to work hard. They grew stronger and attended the monthly championships that Reba Zauber had initiated after consolidating Michael thoroughly. The championship winners were given arge number of Jungle Points that could be used to purchase Spirit Armaments, Artifacts, Soultraits, and a wide variety of other stuff.

    The championships existed in various sections. There was abat section divided into Awakened Championships and Summon Championships. The further divisions were Higher Lifeform and Lesser Lifeform to ensure that no Higher Lifeform would thrash the Lesser Lifeform''s battle spirit and fiercely flickering spark topete against each other.

    However, there was also a nonbat section for Craftsmen and magicians focusing on research, etc. Reba was certain the championships would push the territory''s power and progress to a new level. She wasn''t wrong. The championships pushed everyone with enoughpetitive spirit to work even harder than before.

    The championships were the most exciting thing to happen in Michael''s region for a long time. The third settlement was constructed, and his territory''s poption again expanded drastically.

    The trading enterprise with the other races expanded, and the Forest Elves and Valyr approached him with their well-

    prepared offers. They wanted some changes to the drafted proposals Michael had prepared earlier, mainly because they hoped to be more involved with Michael.

    Michael didn''t have anything against that. If anything, their offers were more beneficial for him than his drafted proposal. Interestingly enough, the Valyr had been generous enough to ''gift'' Michael many more criminals than he''d requested in his drafted proposal. That was unexpected and allowed Michael to strengthen the Soultrait Symbols of the Untamed Awakened a lot.

    The Valyr also reasoned that Michael would have fewer issues once the Savannah was safe and sound. Therefore, it would be in his favor if they obtained Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades. Following that reasoning, the Valyr promised toe to his aid if needed. That, followed by other offers ¨C including more criminals ¨C was enough to convince Michael that he should give them some Soultraits.

    On the other hand, the n of the Forest Elves decided to support Michael differently. They allowed more Forest Elves toe to his territory. But there were not only ordinary Forest Elves among the batch of Rogues who''d decided to join Michael''s territory. There was also a Blessed Child, who had lost his region a long time ago in a fierce battle against several High Lords.

    He was a powerful Rogue known for supporting his kin at all times, but Lilica said that the Blessed Child only did that because he liked fighting a lot more than most Forest Elves.

    He was known as the Blood Elf even though he looked nothing like Blood Elves.

    Jason Kleora was his name. He was a Higher Lifeform who''d managed to enter the Untamed Jungle with the help of the Forest Elf Elders. They sacrificed a tinum Teleportation Token to bring Jason Kleora to the Untamed Jungle. It was a sign of their goodwill.

    However, Jason Kleora didn''t n to act like the Forest Elf Elders told him. Instead of keeping a low profile, Jason Kleora challenged the strongest Higher Lifeform in the territory.

    "Are you the Lord of the Untamed Jungle?" He asked Hiraku the moment he found him.

    "N¨C...."

    "There is no need to be shy around me. Fight me with all you have!" Jason dered his challenge.

    "I will beat you!"

 Chapter 722 Dating Life

    Chapter 722 Dating Life

    ??The dating life of Michael and Alice wasn''t as exhrating as they''d expected. Both thought the period between getting to know each other romantically and starting to date would be different. Neither anticipated Alice would be pulled into arge-scale war in the Origin Expanse.

    Alice was always prepared for war but didn''t expect a war near her borders to break out so suddenly. She had been on her third date with Michael when she sensed something was wrong with her territory. Thousands of Links of Loyalty tensed up suddenly, informing Alice Zenovia that something was wrong.

    Alice had to leave. She jumped from the chair and leaned forward to press her lips against his cheek before disappearing for a month. Michael was a bit stunned, but he didn''t hold her ountable for disappearing all of a sudden. He would have done the same if his territory was in danger. As long as Alice was fine, Michael would be alright as well.

    He chose to enter the Origin Expanse as well because he was also busy. His territory was not that easy to manage after all. He returned to check if his Mother or Alice had returned. Two months passed in the Origin Expanse¡ªone month outside¡ªbefore Alice returned.

    She wasn''t injured, but Michael could tell that Alice was exhausted. Alice Zenovia was dead tired after fighting almost every day for the two months she''d spent in the Origin Expanse.

    The first thing Alice did was to drop Michael a message. Following that, she copsed on her bed. Alice didn''t wake up until two dayster. She was still tired from using Frozen Kingdom way too often, to an extent her mind and soul could barely handle. However, that had been necessary to emerge victorious against her enemies.

    Michael and Alice met not long after for their fourth date. Unfortunately, their situation changed a little bit. They were not yet together, but both showed romantic feelings toward each other. Nheless, spending two months in the Origin Expanse was a lot of time, and the time they didn''t see each other affected their emotions.

    It was not like they didn''t like each other anymore, but the awkwardness from the first date had returned. It was almost like their dating progress reset straight to zero.

    Fortunately, both knew that they liked each other romantically. That understanding made reaching the old level in the getting-to-know phase much more straightforward.

    Meeting up with Michael after being tensed up and forced to fight dozens of bloody battles was relieving. Alice Zenovia didn''t expect that she could rx this quickly after witnessing the death of millions, but meeting up with Michael once was enough to disperse the tension that had taken root inside her body.

    On the second date after she returned from the Origin Expanse, Alice could talk to Michael openly about all kinds of things. Most of her stories were rted to therge-scale war that had interrupted their date, but Alice Zenovia also talked about stuff she had never mentioned to others.

    It wasn''t as ufortable as she''d expected, either. Revealing her deepest secrets to Michael felt good. It was almost as if she was supposed to tell Michael everything that weighed hard on her heart and mind.

    Michael was a good listener. He listened intently to everything Alice had to share before carefully considering her words. Only after Michael digested 100% of the things she''d mentioned would he provide her with useful suggestions. That was also something Michael only did if he sensed that she needed advice or after making sure what she wanted.

    Sometimes, it was difficult to tell what others wanted, but Michael was pretty good at picking up the clues. He was usually dense and rather oblivious to clues about women. However, that changed with Alice. She was nothing like the other women he''d gotten to know since he manifested his War Rune. She was special to him.

    Alice liked Michael''s suggestions. They were on point and helped her understand things that were unclear before. That was surprising.

    Alice expected to be the more mature person in Michael''s rtionship. Although she was several years older than Michael, Alice couldn''t help but feel that Michael was far more experienced than she was.

    She was unsure where Michael learned so much in the short period he''d been a Lord, but it was amazing. Michael was amazing. How could a man appreciate Michael exist?

    Alice didn''t seem to realize that Michael possessed the experience of thousands of Awakened. Every Memory Orb he''d consumed provided him with their experiences and knowledge. Of course, the Memory Orbs provided mere snippets of the Awakened''s lives, but Michael had consumed thousands of Memory Orbs so far. The Orbs from the Regional War were already enough to fill an entire room. Michael spent a long time consuming the thousands of Memory Orbs he''d procured from it.

    Alice was also not aware that Michael had simr emotions toward her. She might not have realized it at first, but Alice Zenovia opened up to Michael after some time. She was no longer the Frozen Duchess in front of Michael. Instead, the Frozen Duchess transformed into Alice, a warm and kind person underneath a thick, icy surface.

    The warmth hidden deep inside her began to shine brighter than ever after they went on several dates. Michael was genuinely happy observing the changes in Alice Zenovia''s bodynguage and how she acted differently in front of him than anyone else. It made him feel special. As if he meant the world to her.

    The changes Michael witnessed hit him fiercely in the stomach. They made him feel things he didn''t know he could feel. It was amazing.

    Michael decided it was time to take the next step during one of theirtest dates. His heart beat wildly as he approached Alice. At this point, Michael couldn''t hear anything. His heart beat too loudly, and blood rushed into his ears.

    He appeared before her, smiling vibrantly, and his right hands reached out. Michael pulled Alice closer to him at her waist with his left hand while cupping her head gently with his right. He pressed his lips gently against her lips before pulling back.

    Alice tensed up for a moment, but a smile blossomed on her face. Her arms coiled around his neck, and she pulled him closer.

    Their lips collided once again.

    However, this time, they didn''t share a short peck. Michael and Alice didn''t separate for a while. Their brains shut off, and they allowed their instincts to take over.

    It was not until more than ten seconds passed before their lips separated once again.

    Michael stared at Alice, who chuckled through embarrassment, her ears burning fiercely.

    Neither knew what to say at this moment. The pair could only stare at each other, embarrassment flushing through them.

    However, it did not feel too bad. They were embarrassed together.

    It felt good. Unique.

    **

    [A/N: The time skip made it a bit difficult to include the changes in their rtionship in separate chapters. Therefore, I decided it would be best to write a chapter specifically for the embarrassed couple. I hope everyone likes it. If you don''t appreciate it¡­.eh¡­oopsie heh]

 Chapter 723 Nature versus Nature.

    <h4>Chapter 723 Nature versus Nature.</h4>

    Jason Kleora appraised Hiraku''s towering figure on the other side of the arena and smiled lightly.

    "My name is Jason Kleora and I''m one of the Forest Elves'' Blessed Children. I lost my territory a few years ago and have been fighting for the Forest Elves as an independent Rogue since then," He introduced himself curtly., "I hope you don''t hold it against me, but I''m already at the Mid rank of Tier-4. My greatest achievement was defeating the Leruma Lord, a Tier-5 powerhouse."

    Hiraku raised an eyebrow as he listened to Jason''s lengthy introduction.

    "I''m Hiraku. I ascended not too long ago. My greatest achievement¡­is¡­being part of this territory."

    Hiraku could have said a lot more about his achievements, but he answered after genuinely thinking about them for a few seconds. Being part of the Untamed Awakened and a pir of support for Michael was his most outstanding achievement so far.

    Jason Kleora didn''t respond. Instead, he made the first move. A golden dagger manifested in his hands, and boots with tiny wings appeared around his feet. Hiraku tensed up when he sensed the power residing within the two Artifacts. Both were High Artifacts with a high star rating.

    Hiraku swallowed and conjured his Artifacts as well. A pair of bracelets manifested around his right arm, and a crimson ne highlighted his neck. Hiraku''s mental power skyrocketed. He unleashed Titan Spirit and transformed into a ten-meter-tall Nature Titan. Massive roots emerged from the ground. They moved uncontrobly around Hiraku, whose silver body was covered in vines, roots, flowers, and leaves in no time.

    Jason stared at the towering Nature Titan and smiled.

    "Not bad. Unfortunately, nature will be on my side today!"

    Jason''s veins bulged and pressed tightly against his skin. The grass des, vines, and bushes around him fluttered wildly. It was almost like the nature around Jason grew fiercer by the second. His presence expanded rapidly until it epassed the entire arena. Hiraku froze in his tracks and noticed quickly that he lost control of the roots around him. Only the roots within one meter of him remained in his control. Jason Kleora overshadowed his control of the surrounding nature. Something like that had never happened to Hiraku.

    His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn''t have the luxury to attempt to regain control.

    A bunch of roots burst toward him. They coiled around his legs and kept him in ce. Simultaneously, Jason Kleora appeared before Hiraku. Jason''s body was shrouded in an armor of nature. That was the easiest way to exin his appearance. He was covered in interwoven vines that protected every part of his body. His eyes were bloodred, his Soultrait unleashing the hidden potential of the surrounding nature and his body simultaneously.

    That was what Nature''s Wrath did. Nature''s Wrath, a 6-Star Soultrait, could bepared to a monster''s Berserk modus. The boost in strength depended on the environment''s lifeforce. The stronger the surrounding life is, the higher the potency of Nature''s Wrath.

    "Looks like you take good care of your territory," Jason Kleora noted as he realized that the additional perk of Nature''s Wrath had not been triggered.

    If the surrounding nature around him felt mistreated, Jason Kleora would grow even stronger. The worse the condition of the surrounding nature, the stronger the additional boost. The additional perk was what Jason Kleora had to utilize to kill the Tier-5 Lord a few months ago.

    "But I don''t need anymore power to defeat you. You are an easy target," Jason pointed out, shing at Hiraku with terrifying speed.

    Jason was much faster than an ordinary Higher Lifeform. Nature''s Wrath increased his physical strength enough to push him to the Peak of Tier-4. He didn''t even require the additional perk of his Soultrait to fight Hiraku.

    However, Hiraku was not that weak either. He had ascended to a Higher Lifeform not too long ago but adapted to the vast changes he''d undergone after ascending quickly. Hiraku learned to control his Soultraits much better.

    Arge metal arm guard manifested around his arm, blocking Jason''s golden dagger. The arm guard was cut through, but Hiraku wasn''t injured. He dissolved the arm guard and conjured a Morningstar in his other hand. The Morningstar smashed down upon Jason Kleora, who kicked the ground lightly to dive to the side.

    Jason tumbled over the ground and jumped up while controlling the nature around him to lung at Hiraku. Hiraku used his vast physical strength and heavy mass to tear the roots apart and charge at Jason. A whirlwind of leaves burst past Jason, shrouding the Forest Elf. Jason disappeared from Hiraku''s sight, forcing Hiraku to slow down. He focused on the sounds around him, but the rustling branches and bushes distracted him too much.

    Jason emerged beside him a quarter of a second before Hiraku noticed him. Jason was slightly faster than Hiraku, who responded just a moment toote to block the full blow of the dagger.

    The dagger cut through the vines and roots covering Hiraku''s body and barely managed to scratch his skin. However, that was enough for Jason Kleora. He smiled lightly. It didn''t take long before Hiraku observed what was going on.

    Jason''s Dagger Artifact had the power to slowly sap Hiraku''s lifeforce. The de barely scratched Hiraku, but that was enough to drain his lifeforce slowly.

    Hiraku could tell that the effect wasn''t that strong, probably because it was merely a scratch, but it was enough to know that Jason''s High Artifact was either Epic or Legendary.

    ''I need to finish this soon!''

    Hiraku charged at Jason and used Creation to conjure massive walls out of thin air. Their creations were not permanent, but they were just as durable as the original. Hiraku might not like his family much, but their Soultrait was powerful. All he had to do to replicate something perfectly was to know how it had been created.

    Hiraku studied extensively all his life to exploit his Soultrait to the fullest, but only now did he tap into its true power¡ªin the middle of a fierce battle.

    Highly durable stone walls surrounded Jason Kleora. He panicked for a quarter of a second only to regain his calm a secondter.

    "You have two high-ranked Soultraits. That''s interesting!" He said, charging ahead, only to see a humongous stone appear above him. The stone smashed down, forcing Jason to continue charging straight at Hiraku. " Unfortunately, you underestimate the value of my Artifacts."

    His boots turn golden, and the miniature wings attached to them expanded. Jason elerated and disappeared for a quarter of a second. He moved too fast for Hiraku to follow. A secondter, he spun around only to see blood trickle down the golden dagger.

    Hiraku looked down and noticed that he had been cut several times. The Legendary Dagger''s effect came to disy. Hiraku''s lifeforce was drained rapidly.

    Hiraku bellowed and was about to do something stupid when he suddenly stopped midway.

    Michael emerged on the battlefield, his eyes focused on Hiraku.

    "Why are you exuding killing intent?" He asked, his vibrant golden eyes staring coldly at Hiraku.

    Hiraku''s lips parted, but no word escaped from his mouth. There was no answer. He was about to go too far because he didn''t want to lose.

    But Michael''s eyes didn''t remain on Hiraku. His attention tugged to Jason.

    "And why the hell are you using two Legendary Artifacts in a spar? You spar to train with others, not to show off that you are a spoiled child!"

 Chapter 724 Disappointing Sight

    <h4>Chapter 724 Disappointing Sight</h4>

    "Who the fuck are you even? Why do you interfere in my battle with the Lord of the Untamed Jungle?!?" Jason growled fiercely.

    Michael raised an eyebrow in amusement while Hiraku frowned deeply.

    "I was just about to confirm whether your Lord is worthy of my loyalty or if I will leave this ce once my duty has beenpleted."

    Hiraku and Michael looked at each other, a light smile blossoming on their faces.

    "Am I right to assume you think I''m the Lord of the Untamed Jungle?" Hiraku asked to confirm his suspicion. It had been a little bit iffy before, but now it was crystal clear that Jason Kleora had misunderstood the situation.

    Jason squinted his eyes as if to say Duh, obviously?!?

    However, Hiraku nced at Michael. He didn''t pay much attention to Jason. Jason noticed that and stared at Michael as well, his eyes filled with doubts.

    "How about we fight a bit?" Michael asked lightly.

    He couldn''t hide that he was pissed at Jason. Michael never asked the Forest Elves to send Jason to his territory. They said that Jason was interested in the Untamed Jungle and that he would give his utmost to support him in every possible way.

    They praised Jason Kleora to the moon and beyond, only for him to be a douchebag. Michael didn''t need people like Jason if they behaved like this.

    He was thest person to care about his background, the Soultrait he manifested, or how much the Forest Elves valued him. Michael could create his own Blessed Children with enough time. In fact, he didn''t even need time. As long as he set his mind on it, Michael could turn Opars, Lilica, and Mika into Blessed Children in less than 24 hours.

    "You can use your Legendary Artifacts as well. You will need them!" Michael snorted.

    Jason red at Michael. What the hell was this lowly 3rd Tier''s problem?!

    "What do you think a Lesser Lifeform do against me?! Even if you manage to surprise me, you wouldn''t be a¨C..." Jason couldn''t even finish his sentence when Michael appeared before him.

    He teleported right before Jason using Cosmic Stride and stared coldly at Jason.

    "I can tell," He ridiculed the young Forest Elf while utilizing his Soultraits.

    Qi swords with several Enhancementyers, fireballs, ice shards, and countless other elemental projectiles manifested around Jason Kleora. The swords pressed against Jason''s neck, cutting into his skin and drawing blood.

    Jason got goosebumps. He responded way toote. His eyes widened in shock as Michael''s presence erupted. A flood of energy surged out of him, revealing the massive amount of energy he could control.

    "H-How?!"

    How could a Lesser Lifeform possess so much energy? What kind of fiendish creature was he to attain such a terrifyingly high energy control?

    Jason didn''t have less energy than Michael, but his energy control was insignificantpared to Michael''s. He was not even aware that it was possible to conceal one''s energy level from someone stronger like that!

    Michael didn''t respond. He used Cosmic Stride to appear at the opposite end of the arena. A simple gesture to Hiraku was enough for the High Awakened to return to his original appearance and leave the arena.

    Michael manifested the Legendary Ring Artifact alongside Aethyr. His Aethyr transformed into a simple one-handed longsword, and he changed into an offensive stance.

    "Are you done with your bullshit?" Michael asked while removing the projectiles surrounding Jason.

    Jason swallowed hard. He was bewildered by the Lesser Lifeform''sbat prowess and Michael''s Soultrait. However, that didn''t stop him from standing opposite Michael in the arena, his expression now serious. Jason got his act together. He had note to the Untamed Jungle to get into trouble. His main mission had been to be an invaluable asset to Michael¡ªan asset that couldn''t be reced.

    To his misfortune, it looked like he''d messed up big time before the Lord of the Untamed Jungle had epted him in the first ce.

    [What a funny guy. That one fits perfectly into your territory!] Dannyughed into Michael''s mind.

    Michael rolled his eyes and ignored his brother. However, Danny was not wrong. Jason''s weirdness would fit seamlessly into the territory.

    ''At least he is not obnoxious,'' Michael thought, seeing that Jason now took him seriously.

    "Let''s start right away," Michael dered with a light smile on his face.

    He exerted Heavenly Beast Physique and charged to the side instantaneously. It was merely a quarter of a secondter when massive roots shot out of the ground with terrifying velocity. They reached high into the air until they lunged down toward Michael.

    Jason''s body was coated in the same vine armor as before. He''d already activated the Hermes Boots'' Artifact, increasing his agility by more than 100% for three seconds.

    Michael''s Spirit Eyes detected when Jason activated the Hermes Boots. He utilized Cosmic Stride immediately and vanished into thin air as Jason crossed the distance between them instantly. Jason shed at Michael''s position just a moment ago but cut air instead.

    Jason uttered a quiet curse and spun around. He''d expected Michael to appear behind him. But instead of meeting Michael''s Aethyr de, Jason was greeted by a series of azure fireballs and balls made frompressed darkness. Upon exploding, they released darkness into the surroundings, shrouding the perimeter in darkness instantaneously.

    The azure fireballs exploded, tearing the roots around Jason into shreds while the darkness shrouded his sight. The attacks weren''t powerful enough to harm him seriously, but he was restricted. It was not possible to see beyond the darkness.

    Jason was forced to use Nature''s Wrath to control more roots coated in an emerald sheen. The roots tore through the darkness, unveiling what was hidden behind. But Michael was nowhere to be seen.

    Jason looked in all directions, his head flicking left and right hurriedly, yet he couldn''t find Michael until he thought about looking overhead. And there he was. Michael levitated in the air above Jason, staring down at the Forest Elf with a nonchnt expression.

    "You should learn what true power actually means."

    Michael determined to go all out to teach Jason Kleora a lesson. He unleashed the Cursed Seals alongside the Serpent Seals. Right after True Extraction was unlocked, Michael used ten Enhancement Layers with the highest priority configured to amplify Extraction''s primary function ¨C to extract.

    Michael felt like unleashing the True Extraction Domain, but he altered his decision in thest second. He focused True Extraction on Jason instead of spreading its devastating power in all directions. True Extraction''s potency was not spread evenly. It focused on one point and was amplified many times.

    The full potential of True Extraction impacted before Jason could react. It wasn''t a heavy impact, though. Jason didn''t even sense anything at first. All he could notify was that Michael was doing something crazy with the massive pressure that radiated from him. He couldn''t notice that Michael had already utilized a Soul Tear on Insert to unleash Insert with Extraction.

    Jason was unable to even think about blocking Extraction''s tremendous power. It had already taken root within him and drained his power rapidly when he realized something was wrong.

    Jason leaped into the air to catch Michael, but a wind barrier manifested before the Forest Elf. A house-sized rock emerged above the wind barrier and dispersed right after Jason''s momentum slowed down to break the barrier or make a detour around it.

    Jason Kleora cut the rock in half, only to realize that most of his power had already been drained. Only then did he sense that Michael had emerged behind him with Aethyr gauntlets. Michael smiled lightly, using the energy he''d drained from Jason to enhance his speed and power with focused Enhancement uses on his body.

    Jason controlled the surrounding nature, or so he thought, until the roots in his Soultrait''s range began to resist. Jason''s eyes widened in shock. Something like that had never happened before. What was going on?

    Michael smiled lightly, the True Extraction Domain gushing explosively out of his body.

    Jason''s skin began itching when the surroundings were coated in a golden nket.

    His body was being dissected, and Jason couldn''t do anything against it as the strongest form of Spiritual Domination impacted heavily on his weakened mind.

    Jason''s legs buckled, and one of them caved in. He fell to the ground only for Michael to emerge before him.

    "I expected a lot more from a Blessed Child. You are a disappointing sight."

 Chapter 725 Intermediate

    Chapter 725 Intermediate

    ??The True Extraction Domain receded as the battle ended. Michael ignored the earlierment he made and looked deep into the quivering eyes of the Blessed Child opposite him.

    "I''m Michael Fang, Lord of the Untamed Jungle and the person you''re supposed to work for," He introduced himself calmly, "But I think you gathered that by now."

    Jason got up from the ground. He was just about to say something when Michael added.

    "I don''t really like your attitude. The Forest Elves won''t be given any Soultraits and Soultrait Upgrades for the next four weeks."

    Jason''s eyes widened, "You can''t do that!"

    "I can, and I did," Michael responded with a shrug.

    "But¨C..."

    "6 weeks no Soultraits."

    Jason''s lips parted, and Michael followed suit right after. However, before Jason said a word, he stared at Michael. He considered what to do momentarily and shut his mouth again.

    "Good. You understand the basics of keeping your lips sealed when nobody asked for your opinion," Michael approved in a ridiculing tone. He teased Jason with a thumbs-up, "That means you also understand that I can do whatever I want and that you are the sole reason your people won''t be given a Soultrait for the next six weeks."

    Jason grit his teeth and clenched his fist in anger. His face turned beet-red, and it was obvious that Jason wanted to throw something at Michael.

    "Keep this attitude, and you will have to leave the Untamed Jungle. If you act up again, I will expel you from my territory and have everyone hunt you down if you dare toe back again. Get on my nerves, and I will rip your Soultrait out of your soul while you''re still alive. Yourpatibility with your Soultrait seems pretty high. You will die an excruciating death."

    Michael''s vigorous golden eyes weren''t ice-cold and ruthless as he spoke. There was no single emotion in his voice or eyes as he spread out the hard facts in front of Jason.

    Jason''s eyes widened, but he remained silent. He finally understood with what kind of person he was going to work.

    Michael nodded slowly, "Good job."

    His expression changed, and a smile blossomed on his face.

    "Now that the introduction has been concluded, we can move on," Michael said, acting like nothing had happened earlier.

    "First, you should know some facts about the Untamed Jungle. I''m sure the Elders have already told you, but the territory is connected to the Savannah Region under the Valyr''s control, and the Zentika Empire. The Valyr are our allies. Some consider them my workforce because they earn a fortune for our territory, but I don''t like to call them like that. They deserve to be named properly and acknowledged as an independent territory."

    [They''re still your workers, though. You can tell them they''re amazing powerhouses and other nonsense, but at the end of the day, they''re your cushion, treasure trove, and reinforcements in case your territory faces destruction.] Danny pointed out.

    ''Zip it. The Valyr are the Valyr. We have several deals with them, ensuring that both sides gain something. Even if I gained a lot more than them, we were the ones who imed the Savannah Region. They''re paying the price of buying the Savannah Region from me!''

    [Yes, yes. I never said that you''re lying. But it is a fact that the Valyrs would do almost everything to please you. They act more like your servants than your allies. Isn''t that fun?]

    ''Fun? If you think so?'' Michael shrugged inwardly. He didn''t think that it was fun.

    "Either way, the Zentika Empire was - or is - our enemy. They caused lots of trouble, but their existence and constant attacks are also how I managed to grow stronger quickly.Still, they''re annoying. I desire to deal with a few powerhouses of the Zentika Empire in the future, but the situation over there is very¡­difficult. The Zentika Empire is on the verge of breaking apart. In fact, it''s possible that the Zentika Empire has already copsed - unofficially, that is. Officially, they''re still holding their fort against dozens of Lords."

    Jason was forced to listen intently to Michael, but he noticed something amiss.

    "I read in the reports that you desire to kill someone called Taros and his Red Dragon. Is he part of the Lords, who''ve been rebelling against the Zentika Empire?"

    Michael didn''t care much about Jason''s interception. He had a good point by mentioning Taros. It was one of Michael''s wound points, but the injury had already healed. Masked Saber might have died in the zing mes of the Red Dragon''s mother, but Danny was here with him.

    "I will kill Taros, yes."

    "What about the Red Dragon?" Jason asked, his curiosity picked.

    He might not have recognized Michael as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, but he''d heard various stories about him. Jason was still unsure why he hadn''t been given a picture of Michael alongside the countless documents the Elders had thrown at him to read through carefully. Maybe the Elders had been hoping for this result¡­for him to be humiliated and fail miserably.

    ''Everyone is against me!'' Jason growled in his mind. He clenched his fist again.

    "If the Red Dragon can be subdued, I might subdue it. After all, I know that it''s not at fault for Danny''s death. Taros stole it when it was still an egg. How was it supposed to do anything against Taros'' kidnapping?"

    Michael knew that the chances were slim to tame it, but he figured that the Red Dragon would be a suitablepanion. Of course, it was highly likely that it got attached to Taros and would desire to kill Michael to obtain rid of Taros, but it was not impossible that the circumstances were different.

    Some rumors stated that the Red Dragon rebelled against Taros and didn''t listen to hismands. There was a decent chance that the Red Dragon had been forcefully submitted when it was still in its egg ¨C or shortly after it hatched.

    Michael wouldn''t kill the Red Dragon before he knew more.

    "Either way, let''s obtain back to the main business," Michael said, pointing at therge Summoning Gate.

    After a long time, Kraft Viton produced the essence needed to initiate the Summoning Gate''s upgrade. The Intermediate Summoning Gate didn''t look much different than the Basic Summoning Gate except for the difference in size. The Intermediate Summoning Gate was three timesrger than the Basic version. It could store up to 100 Summoning Cores as well.

    That was the crucial part. Michael installed 12 Intermediate Summoning Cores and 29 Basic Summoning Cores in the Intermediate Summoning Gate, therefore summoning 53 Summons every single day.

    Intermediate Summoning Cores would each summon two Summons every day. That was only twice as many as the Basic Summoning Core summoned, but it was important to know that the Summons from the Intermediate Summoning Cores had much higher potential.

    Their average star-rating was only slightly higher than the basic version, but their innate potential to grow was several times bigger.

    That was all Michael needed. Summons with the potential to be powerhouses!

    After all, he had the means to transform them.

 Chapter 726 Gardener

    <h4>Chapter 726 Gardener</h4>

    The Intermediate Summoning Gate was nothing special for Jason, but the Greater Nature Spirit was.

    At this point, the Greater Nature Spirit''s main trunk surpassed thirty meters. The treetop reached far beyond the ordinary towering trees surrounding it. Yet, from a bird''s point of view, it looked like the treetop merged seamlessly with the surroundings, creating a beautiful scenery all over the Untamed Jungle.

    The Untamed Jungle looked like a massive field of green. There were hardly any spots with little to no trees or areas that looked like they had been terraformed. Only thergest buildings, such as the Sacred Knight Temples, were exposed to the view of a bird from high above.

    However, Jason and the others couldn''t see any of it. The only things Jason saw were the massive trunk of the Greater Nature Spirit, the small puddle of liquefied LIfe Sap, and the creatures that had been pulled toward the Greater Nature Spirit.

    "Your Nature Spirit has already created Dryads and Treants?" Jason asked in surprise.

    "It has been a few months since the first Dryads emerged from the Nature Spirit''s tree trunk, yep."

    Michael responded nonchntly, but Jason stared at him in shock. He gained a lot of respect for Michael after getting beaten to a pulp. Thus, it was a little bit hard to understand how Michael didn''t know about this. Or was he acting ignorant?

    "That might sound rude, but do you know what it means when a Greater Nature Spirit starts creating Dryads and Treants?"

    Michael tilted his head. He heard from Lilica and the others that the Greater Nature Spirit was unique but they didn''t share any details.

    "I don''t."

    Jason groaned, "What are these idiots even doing here if they don''t help you make the best out of such a great opportunity?!"

    Michael frowned at Jason, who tried to ignore it with his best effort.

    "A Greater Nature Spirit creating Dryads and Treants indicates that it wants to be the Essence of the forest¡ªor jungle in this case. It means that the Greater Nature Spirit challenges the other spirits in the Untamed Jungle openly. Usually, a Greater Nature Spirit doesn''t do something like that in an area that is evidently managed by another¡ªeven stronger¡ªNature Spirit, but your Nature Spirit seems very young."

    Jason took a deep breath and thought about his following words for a moment before he proceeded.

    "Your Nature Spirit grew rapidly. It''s already on the verge of ascending to a Higher Lifeform. That is very rare to see in such a young territory. I also think that your Nature Spirit was influenced a lot more by your Link of Loyalty. It wants to help you and expand rapidly. Spreading throughout the Untamed Jungle and taking control of it is the best way the Greater Nature Spirit can help you. Of course, it will have to defeat the other Nature Spirits in the Untamed Jungle, which is the bigger problem."

    Michael listened intently. His opinion of Jason was not too high at this point, but he was a Blessed Child. He was more knowledgeable than Lilica and the others, as he read more secret scriptures than the other Forest Elves.

    "We had more problems with monsters recently, but my territory has a higher energy density and greater life force. That should be the reason all those monsters have been attacking," Michael mumbled.

    "That''s correct, but the Greater Nature Spirit is probably the reason your territory amasses and generates more energy than the surroundings. As for the lifeforce, everything in your territory is overflowing with life. That is not only the Greater Nature Spirit''s doing but also because you have been taking care very well of thisnd," Jason exined. "Looks like it was a good decision to give the Untamed Jungle all corpses as tribute," Michael said to himself in a whisper, but Jason heard him once again.

    "Tribute?" Jason asked, his expression distorting lightly. "Wait¡­ The Untamed Jungle consumes the dead and converts their bodies into nourishment for growth? Are you serious right now?!"

    A hint of both fear and excitement shed through Jason''s eyes.

    "That''s about it. I know it''s not normal, but I have been sensation closer to the Untamed Jungle as we take care of each other. It didn''t seem like a problem when I fed it with those corpses."

    "You feel close to it? Does that mean the Untamed Jungle doesn''t view you and your territory ¨C including the Greater Nature Spirit ¨C not as parasites? That¡­doesn''t make any sense."

    Various thoughts shed through Jason''s mind, but he couldn''t make sense of them. At some point, he noticed that Michael was waiting for him. Michael had many questions, but he could tell that Jason was deep in thought and that his world view was about to shatter. Bombarding the Blessed Child with questions wouldn''t help.

    Jason smiled wryly at Michael and decided to ask one of the most obvious questions.

    "The Untamed Jungle seems to be governed by an incredibly strong Nature Spirit. It has already gained the Consumed trait, a special perk that can only be attained by the strongest Higher Lifeforms of a Sacred Nature Spirit or a Greater Nature Spirit as it ascends to a Divine Lifeform. It could also be a Primordial Nature Spirit, but I don''t have any information on that. Only one of our greatest ancestors came to find a Primordial Nature Spirit and managed to return sane."

    Michael had a few monsters that gained special traits as well. It made sense that a powerful Nature Spirit could end up earning a special trait as well.

    Consume sounded powerful. It could consume everything and turn it into vigor and nutrition.

    "That makes sense," Michael nodded. His tributes had been consumed to recuperate the damages he''d caused to the Untamed Jungle over and over again.

    "But it doesn''t make sense that such a powerful Nature Spirit admits any Lords in its range of control, let alone that it is willing to get attached to you while the Greater Nature Spirit issues an open challenge. Under normal circumstances, a Nature Spirit would eliminate all potential threats long before they''re strong enough to be a problem."

    "I don''t understand why the Nature Spirit of the Untamed Jungle would desire to get closer to you rather than getting rid of you and the Greater Nature Spirit. As you expand your territory, you will destroy a big portion of the Untamed Jungle. Even the Forest Elves cannot expand their territory without causing minimalistic damage to the surrounding forests. Of course, we have our ways to pay retribution and aid the forest to grow stronger than before, but that is not something you can do."

    Michael was not sure if Jason was being stupid or if he forgot what he''d said just now.

    "You do realize that I can just pay tributes to the Nature Spirit whenever I harm the Untamed Jungle¡­right? And before that, I''m not harming the Untamed Jungle much. Most towering trees cannot grow any further because there are too many growing in close proximity. They harm each other, which hurts the Untamed Jungle more than I can harm it by leaving everything as it is."

    "The Untamed Jungle admits me because I''m the cure to its curse," Michael simplified.

    "I''m the Untamed Jungle''s gardener."

 Chapter 727 Sacred

    Chapter 727 Sacred

    ??Michael didn''t think it was a problem to consider himself the gardener of the Untamed Jungle. At some point, the entire Untamed Jungle would be part of his territory. Taking care of it until then--and even after that--was part of his job as a good Lord.

    He continued guiding Jason through Arx, but not long before he found Lilica and the other Forest Elven Adventurers. He told them to show Jason around and added a slight warning with Whispering Energy.

    ["Tell Jason that I will take his Soultrait and give it to one of you guys if he acts up."]

    Michael winked at the Forest Elves, which was enough for Jason to shudder. He had a bad feeling and decided to stay low profile until he got a better view of the territory''s overall situation.

    The Forest Elves left Michael alone, giving him enough time toplete the other tasks that had to bepleted before the Interdimensional g War started.

    These ''tasks'' included taking care of his Soul Sphere. After all, some things inside it had changed again.

    At this point, Danny''s Living Soul could barely fit into the Soul Grimoire. It was time to strengthen the Soul Grimoire and upgrade it to 7-Star. Unfortunately, he didn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire.

    But that didn''t stop him from upgrading Superior Constitution to 7-Star, and that was precisely what he did over thest ten days.

    Michael used tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments daily to slowly upgrade Superior Constituion. He remembered from upgrading Extraction that a significant difference existed between a 6-Star Soultrait and a 7-Star Soultrait. It would be not very smart to rush the upgrade, especially since he wasn''t a Higher Lifeform yet. Maybe his body would break apart because it couldn''t endure the toll of multiple 7-Star Soultraits alongside a bunch of 6-Star Soultraits.

    He had too many Soultraits, and it was near-impossible to determine whether his vessel could ovee the increasing toll or if his body would be torn apart.

    Michael was still at the mid-tier of the 3rd Tier, but he was close to advancing to the Late rank. His progress was as slow as a snail, even though he had more resources to use than 99% of Lords. However, that made sense. His Soultraits were powerful and increased the energy required to refine the War Rune.

    Michael also chose to upgrade Superior Constitution because of his slowed progress. After all, Superior Constitution could regte the speed at which his War Rune could be refined.

    After investing a vast fortune in SoulStar Fragments for ten days, Michael spent 350,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Superior Consitution. That was the entire fortune he''d acquired after draining all SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits from half a year''s worth of criminals.

    At first, Michael didn''t sense any major differences, but he quickly realized that his nutrients and energy reserves were drained. To upgrade his physique, he had to retrieve thousands of Common Energy Stones and prepare arge medical bath filled with Nutrition Solutions, which were usually only used by Higher Lifeforms due to their high potency.

    Now that Superior Constitution was about to reach 7-Star, Michael could use the High Nutrition Solutions as well. He absorbed the nutrients and purified origin energy from the surroundings at a rapid pace, elerating his physique''s evolution. Superior Constitution''s Soultrait Symbol glowed brightly. It transformed, inserting a massive flood of information straight into Michael''s mind.

    ''Sacred Constitution.''

    Superior Constitution evolved into the Sacred Constitution as the seventh star formed on the Soultrait Symbol.

    As the evolution was initiated, Michael felt like his body, mind, and soul were starving. His entire being lusted for origin energy and nutrients.

    Following that uncontroble desire, Michael ended up retrieving most of the Energy Stones and Nutrition Solutions stored inside his War Rune. More than ten thousand Common Energy Stones ¨C each worth a hundred Inferior Energy Stones ¨C emerged around Michael alongside enough High Nutrition Solutions to fill arge swimming pool.

    Everything together was worth more than two months of the profits made by his business deals and his territory. It was a lot, but Michael felt that it was worth it.

    His body devoured the energy that filled the perimeter. He consumed everything rapidly, stimting the changes that happened to his body.

    Time passed much faster than He had expected. At one point, his skin burst open and peeled like a snake. Badly reeking impurities¡ªfar more than Michael had ever seen when he extracted his impurities when he advanced to the next Tier¡ª flushed out of his body. Every cell in his body was purified and refined. His physique improved drastically, his energy veins were cleansed and expanded, and his organs were reinforced.

    His bones grew sturdier, and his skin became more flexible while also growing tougher.

    But the most apparent changes were not visible. His senses enhanced by leaps and bounds and both his mental power and Soul expanded.

    In no time, 30 days passed, and He was supposed to travel to meet the Chieftain and the War Priestess before entering the portal leading to the isted dimension of the Interdimensional g War.

    Michael''s body creaked and groaned as if protesting against his movements as he got up from the ground. He smiled through the pain and punched lightly in the air. The wind around him howled loudly as his fist cut through it, releasing air pressure strong enough to carve deep marks into the bark of a towering tree.

    Not only did he manage to improve his 6-Star Superior Consitution to 7-Star Sacred Constitution, but the great flood of energy he''d absorbed over thest 30 days had been enough to reach the Late rank of the 3rd Tier.

    He was not that far from ascending to a Higher Lifeform at this point!

    Michael sensed the energy in his surroundings and greedily absorbed it. Now that his Soultrait evolved, he could absorb a lot more energy at a time.

    Even though Michael had many Soul features now, he was certain to reach Tier-4 in a year or two¡ªif he didn''t hunt monsters or greedy Lords for their energy influxes. All he needed was enough resources, which were bound to be expensive. Fortunately, Michael was wealthy enough to pay for the cost of ascending to a Higher Lifeform, which was one of his next goals.

    Now that he had two 7-Star Soultraits, seven 6-Star Soultraits, and two 5-Star Soultraits, Michael''s was on the verge of breaking apart. His body, the physical vessel of his being, was at its limit. Only his Soul and Mind had some space thanks to upgrading Superior Constituion and the Curse that had been constantly refining Michael''s Soul¡­since the day he was born.

    Upgrading Soul Grimoire to 7-Star should be possible without dying a gruesome death, but after that¡­Michael would have to ascend to a Higher Lifeform to improve his Soul features or fuse with more Soultraits.

    Neither upgrading Soul Grimoire nor ascending to a Higher Lifeform should be a problem at this point.

    Obtaining the Sacred Constitution elerated his ns. He wouldn''t have an issue ascending.

    As for the Interdimensional g War against the Tekur, He wasn''t scared. If anything, Michael was excited about the massive mountains of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments that awaited him in the isted dimension!

    He was ready to end the g War once and for all!

 Chapter 728 Physical Level

    Chapter 728 Physical Level

    ??The trip to the Chieftain and the War Priestess wasn''t too tricky. Michael anchored his Runic Gate to the spaceship that brought him to his destination while he stayed inside the Origin Expanse to get used to Sacred Constitution''s changes.

    At this point, Michael wasn''t sure how strong he was. His physical strength easily exceeded the limits of a Lesser Lifeform without using Heavenly Beast Physique. Michael was fairly sure that his physical strength was close to the Mid-rank of Tier-4.

    ''Once I ascend, my physical strength should be close to Tier-5. If I upgrade Heavenly Beast Physique to the Elite ss, it shouldn''t be a problem to hold my forte against Oliver.''

    Oliver Zeus was the only Tier-5 powerhouse he''d fought seriously until now. Of course, some desperate powerhouses''d attempted to attack him when Extraction had been revealed to the public, but his condition was different at that time. Furthermore, Alice was present long before he could go all-out.

    ''It''s not like I would have been able to do anything against them at that time, either. I''m a lot stronger now, though.''

    The g War and upgrading the Soul Grimoire to 7-Star were hisst goals before he would put his mind and body into the ascension to a Higher Lifeform. The resources for his ascension were already prepared. It was only a matter of time before he could go all out.

    Once Michael got used to Sacred Constitution''s reinforcement, he left the Origin Expanse to spend some more time with Alice. Alice Zenovia had been announced as the official mediator between the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and Humans. Michael was not sure how she managed to do that while being busy repairing the border cities in her territory after some of them had been crushed in thest Regional War, but she did it.

    Alice''s time management was impable. She nned her move perfectly and had more than enough time to take care of everything that came her way.

    Alice and Michael''s time together was cut short when they arrived near the humongous dimensional portal only a few hours after Michael returned from the Origin Expanse. They were forced to disembark the spaceship and meet with the War Priestess and the Chieftain. The leaders greeted Michael and Alice politely.

    Something about their demeanor had changed. Michael noticed faint changes in their expressions as their eyes fell upon him. Their gazes weren''t hostile. It was just that the two leaders of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were shocked to perceive how strong Michael had grown.

    It was hard for humans to appraise the physical level of other beings. They could sense the energy level of other beings rtively easily with their high energy control ¨C as long as the target couldn''t conceal their energy perfectly ¨C, but the physical level of other beings was something humans could only gauge.

    Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were slightly more perceptive about the physical strength of other beings. They couldn''t sense the energy level of other beings well, but it was easy for them to tell that Michael''s physical strength exceeded the limits of a Lesser Lifeform.

    "I''m not sure if you can still participate in the Interdimensional g War," The Chieftain murmured, surprising Alice.

    "What are you talking about, Chieftain? We didn''t bring anyone else. If you don''t allow Michael to participate¡­how else will we end the g War before the Tekur transforms the dimensional portal into a permanent bridge?"

    The War Priestess smiled lightly at Alice''s question, "I don''t think that''s what Palika means. He''s saying that the interdimensional portal might repulse him due to his extraordinary physical level."

    Alice nced at Michael, who smiled lightly.

    "The dimensional portal cares only about the War Rune. I''m not a Higher Lifeform yet, so my physique won''t cause any issues," He said nonchntly, his words overflowing with confidence.

    The War Priestess and the Chieftain nced at him for a while.

    "That''s true. I was thinking that the dimensional portal might reject you because your physical strength isn''t something a Lesser Lifeform should be able to attain. Even our Warlords and War Monarchs can barely attain the standards of the Lowest Tier-4 Awakened at the Late-rank or Peak of the 3rd Tier."

    The leaders of the Tritan Alliance praised Michael slightly more with indirectments. Alice was stupefied and stared at them for a while before she gestured to the vibrating purple portal that towered near the horizon.

    "I think it''s time to go. The portal is active," Shemented before gently pushing Michael to the side, "What did you do?"

    It felt like Alice was about to use him of something, but her lips were sealed tightly when she saw that her boyfriend smiled at her from one ear to another.

    "How about you spent the rest of the day with Palika Mavenham and Silvana Zentur? You came here to converse to them about some business, didn''t you? Finish that deal before I''m back, and I will tell you some of my secrets," Michael teased, only for Alice''s frown to deepen.

    "You still have secrets from me? I didn''t think you could have anymore secrets. Just how many secrets did you have before?" Alice asked out of genuine curiosity.

    "They''re not really secrets. It''s just that I didn''t tell you everything about some things yet. I didn''t n to throw everything at you at once," Michael responded lightly.

    "So it''s about your family and the tattoo on your back?" She asked, only for Michael to act like he was shocked.

    "How do you know what my back looks like? Did you watch me when¨C...." He acted bewildered and talked loud enough for Palika and Silvana to hear.

    Heat rose up to Alice''s cheeks. She pushed forward and covered his lips with her hands, only for Michael to wink at her.

    Michael''s attention pulled to the Chieftain and the War Priestess momentarily.

    [I will leave now. Please don''t mind the portal when it shatterster. Finish your business with the Frozen Duchess first.]

    Michael said before he poked Alice into the sides onest time. Alice had to suppress a sequel and was about to take revenge when Michael disappeared. He used Cosmic Stride to appear before the massive dimensional portal that towered tens of meters before him.

    The dimensional portal was a massive, purple Runic Gate. It was open and awaited the entrance of 1000 participants. However, this year, only one member would enter the g War from the Tritan Alliance''s side. That was more than enough. It was all they needed.

    A few powerhouses awaited Michael before the portal, but he ignored them. He teleported right before the portal and stepped inside.

    ''Let''s see.''

    Michael emerged somewhere inside the vast, isted dimension likest year. However, this year, his life was not in danger. If anything, he was the biggest threat to all living in the g War. The Tekur didn''t even know what awaited them.

    Knowing he was likely the strongest being in the g War felt good. It was satisfying.

    However, he secretly hoped that the 1,000 Tekur wouldn''t go down so easily. It would be boring if he couldn''t even go all-out against his enemies. ughtering them ruthlessly was fine for he had to destroy the Dimensional Pirs to prevent the Tekur''s invasion, but he wanted a challenge as well.

    "Don''t die too rapidly on me!"

 Chapter 729 Flag War 2.0

    Chapter 729 g War 2.0

    ??The vast expanse around him was barren, as it used to be. Nothing had changed over thest year, as expected.

    Michael would have been worried sick if the barrennds of the isted dimension had changed over thest year.

    Strong gusts shrouded him right before he teleported high into the air.

    The gusts kept Michael mid-air. He exposed his position while levitating high, but that didn''t matter. Michael''s head flicked left and right, and his Spirit Eyes activated with several Enhancementyers focused on enhancing his eyesight. At his position, he could see several dozen kilometers in all directions. It was no surprise when he discovered a small group of Tekur. They moved swiftly across the barrennds, their eyes moving in all directions to discover their prey before they could be discovered.

    Unfortunately, Michael was the only possible prey¡­and certainly wasn''t going to be preyed upon.

    He unleashed Cosmic Stride a few times to shorten the distance before diving to the ground. He crashed heavily, and deep fissures spread through the hard soil, forming a small crater where hended.

    Michael wasn''t hurt. He brushed the dirt from his clothes using the surrounding winds and kicked the ground hard to elerate again. He didn''t use any techniques. Michael just charged ahead, approaching the group of Tekur.

    It wasn''t long before the Tekur discovered him. They noticed that Michael was alone but didn''t think much about it. He was fast and might be strong since he was confident enough to run around alone, but the small group members were all Elite Tekur. Each of them was stronger than several powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance ought to be.

    At least, that was what they were still certain about. They had taken countermeasurements to ensure that they wouldn''t lose as many Soldiers and Elite Soldiers as the year before. However, the Elite Tekur were still confident of their tremendous prowess. Their confidence surpassed their vignce by leaps and bounds.

    All Elite Tekur manifested their Artifacts and unleashed their Soultraits. However, none of them used their Soul Technique right away. Their Soul Power replenished rapidly but that didn''t mean they could waste it needlessly. It was wasteful if everyone used their Elite ss Soul Technique against a single enemy.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed to a slit when he noticed that the Tekur weren''t going all out.

    [I would probably be like them in their situation¡­but they''re stupid to think that you''re going to die just like that. Underestimating your enemy is never a good move.]

    Michael couldn''t agree more, but he kept silent. He wasn''t expecting much from the Tekur either. How could he me them for thinking lowly about him when his thoughts about them were the same? He wasn''t that much of a hypocrite¡­most of the time.

    Michael used Cosmic Stride to teleport above them once the distance to the Tekur was short enough. He used Spiritual Domination on each Elite Tekur and manifested a few dozen Qi Bullets. Qi Bullets were one of the creations he created when he upgraded Kaleb''s Ice Bullet Soul Technique. He wanted to adjust Ice Bullet to fit Kaleb''s Frozen Nova better. After that, he customized Ice Bullet for Alice.

    Researching Kaleb''s Frozen Nova and Alice''s Frozen Kingdom Soultrait took a while, but it was worth it. Michael learned about the simrities of the siblings'' Soultraits and how different they were despite being so simr.

    Michael used that knowledge, in addition to Danny''s incrediblepatibility with the Qi Soultrait, to unleash more of Qi''s potential. One of the masterpieces Michael had managed to create was the Qi Bullet ¨C a massive amount of Qipressed until it formed into a small bullet.

    He didn''t bother applying Enhancement to the Qi Bullets. They were fast enough already. A burst of Qi unleashed their velocity near-instantly. The Qi Bullets whizzed through the air at top speed and cut through the chests of four Tekur before they realized that Michael was above them. They exploded right after the Qi Bullets cracked their thick carapace and invaded their insides.

    Thepressed Qi spread in all directions, ravaging their insides before cutting their energy veins, crippling them. Two Tekur were faster than the rest. They twisted their bodies and used their Soul Techniques instinctive, evading the worst fate. The Qi Bullets impacted heavily, hitting their shoulders instead of their chests. The cracking sounds of their carapace and shoulders shattering rang through their ears, but they weren''t crippled.

    Michael knew that they wouldn''t be crippled even before the two Elite Tekur made their move. Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis was precise enough to show what would happen in the next moment. Therefore, Michael appeared before the first Tekur with an azure fireball flickering in his left palm. Michael released the fireball in the Elite Tekur''s face, instantly bursting half of his face.

    The Tekur screamed for a second before the sound was drowned in the fireball''s explosion.

    Meanwhile, Michael was already next to the other Tekur. He unleashed the five Cursed Seals and triggered True Extraction. Dozens of golden tendrils burst out of Michael. They coiled around the Tekur and invaded his body via Insert. Michael released apressed ice shard, which he released into the Tekur''s mouth as his mandibles parted for a scream. The ice shard shattered in the Tekur''s mouth and released the freezing mist that had beenpressed inside it.

    The extraction tendrils entered the Tekur''s body and rapidly sapped his lifeforce and origin energy reserves. Michael only stopped extracting more lifeforce when only little was left. After all, the Tekur had to be alive to extract as many SoulStar Fragments as possible. That was what Michael started with.

    He drained the Tekur''s SoulStar Fragments, ignoring the miserably Elite Solider''s muffled screams until no more SoulStar Fragments could be extracted. Then, Michael extracted the Tekur''s Soultrait, which killed the weakened Elite Soldier. Last but not least, Michael extracted the Tekur''s Memories.

    Even if Michael was certain that the Tekur weren''t going to be a problem in the Interdimensional g War, he was not foolish enough to believe that everything would go ording to his n. He sapped the Tekur''s Memory Orb and consumed it before turning to the others.

    The other Elite Tekur stared at him, their eyes overflowing with fear and disbelief. The crippled Tekur tried to escape, but Michael appeared behind them before they could get out of his sight. He sapped their energy and lifeforce before tearing their SoulStar Fragments and Soultriats out of their bodies. Like before, he obtained their Memory Orbs as well.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the SoulStar Fragments and the Soultrait Symbols. He stored the Fragments in his War Rune while the Soultraits were stored in the sealed container. Only the Memory Orbs were devoured and digested right away.

    He used Wisdom Breaker to break down the Memory Orbs faster. They were systemized rapidly in his mind thanks to Sacred Constitution, giving Michael a much better view on every memory fragment.

    ''900 Elite Tekur. Damn. They''ve gone all out, didn''t they?'' Michael chuckled, only for Danny to interfere.

    [And 100 Supreme Soldiers. Even the Elite Tekur terror them. Maybe this g War will be a bit more fun than you expected!]

    Michael tilted his head, the memories of the Supreme Soldiers of the Tekur race appearing in his mind.

    "I''m not sure. Hiraku and Jason are probably stronger than them."

    [There is only one way to find out!] Danny announced, causing a faint grin to blossom on Michael''s face.

    "You''re right."

 Chapter 730 Supreme Soldier I

    Chapter 730 Supreme Soldier I

    ??The Elite Tekur couldn''t be considered a problem. They were stronger than most of the Tritan Alliance''s prodigies, but someone like Killian would have been able topete head-on with one of them.

    ''No. Killian could have killed an Elite Tekur if he had an Elite ss Soul Technique.'' Michael figured, his mind going astray as he moved through the barrennds.

    It didn''t take long before he encountered another group of Tekur¡ªmore than a dozen¡ªnone of whom seemed overly powerful at first nce. Nheless, knowing there were Supreme Soldiers in the g War, Michael went all out.

    He activated the Serpent Seals to increase his physical strength and activated Enhancement twice. The Enhancementyers were applied to his body, reinforcing his physical strength, agility, and resilience. But there was more to it. Michael also unleashed Heavenly Beast Physique when he noticed that one of the Tekur wasrger than the rest.

    The Tekur''s carapace was ck and outlined golden, whereas its vast wings, which spanned more than five meters, were dark purple. Its eyes were crimson with a purple frame. They flicked to Michael when he was less than one kilometer away.

    [There he is. Your first Supreme Tekur!]

    The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward.

    He noticed that a mass of energy had congregated between the Supreme Soldier''s mandibles and responded promptly. His body vanished into thin air right before the energy st impacted. A devastating explosion resounded. The dry soil burst in all directions, leaving arge crater behind where Michael stood a moment earlier.

    A scream rang out behind the Supreme Soldier, who spun around, ready to unleash another energy st. However, before the Supreme Soldier could find the source of the screams, it noticed several bodies that were thrown at it. Three headless Elite Tekur had been hurled at the Supreme Soldier in the short moment between Michael''s disappearance and the first scream. However, that was more than enough time for Michael to unleash his fury.

    He beheaded three Elite Tekur with the Aethyr de coated in Qi. Then, he retracted the Aethyr de and used his remaining momentum to throw the dying bodies toward the Supreme Soldier.

    Michael used Cosmic Stride to appear behind the Supreme Soldier as he faced the headless Elite Tekur flying his way. He then conjured several azure fireballs in his palms and lobbed them at the Supreme Soldier, who noticed Michael''s presence behind him only a quarter of a secondter.

    The Supreme Soldier barely managed to cover his back with the carapace-covered wings. A thick sheen ofpressed energy coated his wings, protecting them from the worst damage. It was a good thing Michael didn''t release the fireballs with the intention of inflicting damage. The fireballs covered the Qi Extraction Needles he''d manifested alongside them.

    Michael had shaped enough Qi to form a needle and channeled almost too much of Extraction''s power inside it. He applied Insert and watched the Qi Extraction Needle disappear inside the Supreme Soldier.

    Cosmic Stride teleported him near the remaining Elite Tekur. They''d retrieved their Artifacts and activated their Soultraits, alongside ther custom Soul Techniques to increase theirbat prowess as much as possible. Unfortunately, their enemy was none other than Michael. Elite Tekur weren''t strong enough to inflict any serious harm to him anymore.

    He appeared behind one Tekur, tightly grasped his left shoulder and left side of his head, and applied strength. It took only a quarter of a second, but the Tekur screamed at the top of his lungs as he realized instantaneously what was about to happen. Michael''s horrifying strength pushed his left shoulder down while simultaneously tearing his head to the right.

    It didn''t seem like Michael was strong enough in the first moment, but the Tekur was mistaken gravely about that. The Tekur''s eyes widened as Michael''s monstrous physical power was applied immediately.

    He tore the Elite Tekur''s body apart with one pull.

    The Elite Tekur''s carapace cracked loudly as it was torn apart by brute force. Internal organs and gooey blood gushed out of the Tekur, whose scream died down as the eternal embrace of death engulfed his mind and soul.

    [Damn. You''re a brute!] Danny shouted in Michael''s mind as he witnessed what his little brother did. [I like it!]

    Michael didn''t respond. Instead, he teleported behind another Tekur. However, instead of tearing him apart, Michael extended his fingers into a thin de formed by Aethyr. Michael applied two Enhancementyers alongside Qi to enhance the Aethyr hand de and thrust through the Elite Tekur''s chest.

    Cosmic Stride teleported him besides, before, and behind the other Elite Tekur, who unleashed their Soultraits upon Michael only to find their chests, throats, and heads pierced through.

    Michael had to evade some simple attacks and withstand the massive impact of some Elite ss Soul Techniques, but it was not like the Elite Tekur could harm him easily at this point. Their ws couldn''t prate his skin, and their Elite ss Soul Techniques could only unleash as much potential for low-star Soultraits as they possessed.

    The Elite ss Soul Techniques were amazing. Michael was sure that any Descendant with enough Soul Power could harm him with them ¨C to a certain extent. However, the Elite Tekur didn''t possess the same Soultraits as Descendants. They were still not the same.

    A massive golden hand crashed down upon Michael, but he didn''t even think about evading the hand. It smashed on his back and would have broken several bones in Michael''s body if his physique hadn''t surpassed the standards of a Higher Lifeform''s physique at this point.

    He might not be a Higher Lifeform yet, but his physique was strong enough to make it seem like his existence suppressed the attack of all Lesser Lifeforms. It felt like the Tier suppression of a stronger existence utilized in the battle.

    All Michael felt was an itch as the golden hand impacted. It left an imprint on his shoulder, but that was already the worst. Michael killed the Elite Tekur responsible for the attack with numerous Qi Extraction Swords. The golden hand disappeared just like that.

    Right after the golden hand disappeared, an energy st was about to hit Michael. He twisted his body and transformed the Aethyr hand de into arge shield. Even though severalyers of Enhancement were utilized to the shield, it broke apart and was forced to return to Michael''s Soul Sphere.

    The force st lost some of its power, but it impacted heavily nheless. Michael was struck in the side and hurled through the air. He tried to sense the severity of his injury mid-air but found out that most of the attack had been devoured by the sudden burst of Extraction''s power he''d released at the spot of impact.

    The corner of his lips curled upward as he saw that the Supreme Soldier charged him. Michael blinked once, only for the Supreme Soldier to elerate all of a sudden. The Supreme Soldier''s muscles bulged and expanded oddly, and his top speed doubled. The Supreme Soldier caught up to Michael''s speed.

    Michael''s sight narrowed, all while an excited voice resounded in his head.

    [Yes! Maybe he beats some sense into your little head! Arrogant little brick!]

    ''Danny¡­ You do remember that you''re on my side, right?!?''

    [Eh¡­Of course! Beat him up!]

 Chapter 731 Supreme Soldier II

    Chapter 731 Supreme Soldier II

    ??They were equally fast now that the Supreme Soldier changed something about his tactic, but Michael didn''t understand how the Supreme Soldier was doing it.

    The Serpent Seals were active, Heavenly Beast Physique was triggered, and several Enhancementyers enhanced Sacred Constitution. It shouldn''t be possible for a Lesser Lifeform to be as fast as Michael. Yet, that was precisely what happened.

    Michael frowned deeply and manifested the Soul Grimoire to use several Soul Tears to amplify Enhancement, Sacred Constitution, and Cosmic Stride.

    His top speed increased by a notch the moment the Soul Tears'' power came into effect. The Supreme Tekur screeched and wed at Michael several times in quick session, but he evaded most attacks. His superior speed,bined with Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis, was enough to block most attacks. However, Michael didn''t evade all attacks.

    He allowed two attacks to hit to insert a massive amount of Extraction''s power inside the Supreme Soldier.

    Michael had noticed that most beings wouldn''t notice Extraction taking root inside them when one of their attacks struck. After struggling to hit Michael, the Supreme Soldier was overjoyed that multiple attacks struck his arms. His ws inflicted severe injuries. They cut deep into Michael''s flesh.

    ''His physical strength is not on par with mine, but he is as strong as Hiraku. Maybe he is even stronger than Hiraku!'' Michael noted. He had already guessed that, but it was weird that the Supreme Soldier''s speed and strength doubled suddenly.

    At least Michael had Soultraits that exined his power. The Supreme Soldier didn''t have any Soultraits that enhanced his physical strength. Otherwise, Michael would have sensed that.

    [What if it''s a Soul Technique?] Danny guessed.

    The Tekur race was superior to the Tritan Alliance. They had Soul Techniques and several Divine Lifeforms. It wouldn''t be a surprise if they had some technique that increased their physical powers temporarily. However, such techniques usuallye with a big drawback.

    ''What is your drawback? How long can you keep this up?'' Michael asked himself while activating the Cursed Seals to drastically increase Extraction''s potency. He shrouded his body in a thick membrane of True Extraction and devoured the surrounding energy instantaneously, leaving no trace for the Supreme Soldier to absorb.

    Michael enhanced Extraction''s power and willed the golden roots inside the Supreme Soldiers to spread out and do their work.

    The Supreme Soldier tried to resist the roots of extraction inside him upon noticing them, but Michael unleashed Spiritual Domination with 10 Enhancementyers. That wasn''t enough to knock out the Supreme Soldier, but it shattered his resistance for several seconds.

    The Supreme Soldier couldn''t resist True Extraction''s roots and suffered the aftereffect. His origin energy was drained rapidly, and the same happened to the bits of lifeforce left inside his body.

    ''He has so little lifeforce left. Why does it feel like he''s already on the verge of death?'' Michael asked inwardly, even though he could already guess the answer.

    [The technique he''d used to grow stronger must have drained his lifeforce!]

    That was the same Michael guessed. However, it was hard to imagine that lifeforce was enough to amplify one''s physical prowess to such a high degree. Once he used that technique, the Supreme Soldier easily surpassed the threshold of a Higher Lifeform. Was such an extraordinary technique truly this easy to use? Michael doubted that.

    ''The drawbacks have to be really harsh.''

    Michael focused on devouring the Supreme Soldier''s lifeforce. He used Enhancementyers configured to concentrate on Extraction''s efficiency. The Supreme Soldier noticed that his lifeforce was being drained faster than before. It desperately attacked Michael, executing an onught of w strikes and energy sts.

    Michael noticed quickly that the iing attacks grew weaker. Their power deteriorated as the lifeforce inside the Tekur decreased.

    Meanwhile, Michael grew more ustomed to fighting someone simrly powerful and fast. It had been a while since he dealt with someone truly powerful. Thest enemies who were either equally strong or stronger were Oliver Zeus and the Peak Tier-4 High Lionhearts from more than half a year ago.

    Michael was probably stronger than the Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion army, but that hardly mattered. These days, the Zentika Empire barely upied Michael''s mind.

    ''I should have challenged Oliver and the other Professors more often,'' Michael reminded himself as he appeared beside the Supreme Tekur. Qi enhanced the Aethyr de, and Enhancement shed in his hand. Simultaneously, a massive amount of soil shot out of the ground. The earth buried the Tekur''s lower body up to his thighs inside the ground near- instantly, giving Michael a quarter of a second to severe one of the Supreme Tekur''s wings.

    The severed spot bled severely, which was enough to cast a faint smile on Michael''s face as he manifested several Qi Bullets. They pierced through the open wound and exploded inside the Supreme Tekur, unleashing thepressed Qi in all directions. The Qi ravaged throughout the Tekur''s body like there was no tomorrow, but it was not enough to kill the Supreme Tekur.

    However, the damage was considerable. The Tekur screamed and lost control of his power for a moment. His physical prowess skyrocketed, draining his lifeforce even faster. He broke out of the earthen prison and charged at Michael, who smiled lightly as he teleported high into the air. Hundreds of azure fireballs were already waiting to dive down and destroy everything obstructing their path.

    A deadly barrage ensued, with Michael observing the Supreme Soldier''s final struggles. The azure fireballs impacted heavily, while the True Extraction inside the Tekur continued to drain thest remnants of lifeforce.

    The fireballs exploded upon impact, wreaking havoc in the surroundings while also causing a loudmotion, but Michael didn''t mind. He watched the Supreme Soldier as the Tekur jumped high into the air in an attempt to reach him. However, the Tekur missed half of his pair of wings. He crashed to the ground, where the azure fireballs greeted him.

    **

    "What do you think about this technique?" Michael asked his brother.

    [Since there should only be Lesser Lifeforms in this dimension, it''s pretty good. If every Tekur had such a technique, the Tritan Alliance''s prodigies would have been eradicated in this year''s g War. It was a good decision to enter alone.]

    Michael nodded slowly. His brother was right. None of the Tritan Alliance''s prodigies could survive against the Supreme Soldiers. After all, the g War was a battle of Lesser Lifeforms. At least, that''s what it was supposed to be.

    "I think that technique is pretty good if you want to surprise your enemy or if you fight someone stronger than you. It''s just a little bit problematic once you''re out of lifeforce. You''re literally betting your whole life on winning."

    [Everyone does that in a life-or-death battle. You either kill your enemy with all you have, resulting in a drawback, or you will die. If you''re dead, it doesn''t matter what happens to your body. Dead is dead.]

    The Supreme Tekur writhed weakly in pain. His carapace was crumbling, and his insides twisted and twitched. The Tekur was not yet dead, but his condition was really bad. Unleashing the technique that had drained his lifeforce had been too much for his body. The Tekur used the technique for too long and with too few lifeforce reserves.

    His current condition was the result.

    Michael approached the dying Tekur and unleashed True Extraction upon it. He drained the Tekur''s SoulStar Fragments, slowly tearing them out of the dying Awakened''s soul.

    Several minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Michael finished extracting all Spirit Star Shards and was about to tear the Spirit Trait Symbol out of Tekur''s body when he thought about something else.

    He used Mind Reader on the Tekur for the next few minutes. The minutes felt like eons for the dying Tekur, but they were over shortly for Michael. It was too short. He found out some crucial information about the Tekur race, yet he missed some intel that would have helped him in the following battles.

    Unfortunately, the Supreme Tekur died before Michael could find out everything. His life energy was exhausted.

    "Well. Whatever," he shrugged before proceeding to use Drain again.

    He extracted the Tekur''s Soultrait, three Memory Orbs, and a portion of the Tekur''s War Rune storage.

    The stuff he found attracted Michael''s interest. However, before organizing everything, he was the most curious about the Memory Orbs. If the Elite Tekur''s Recall Spheres were already helpful then the Supreme Tekur''s memories must be even better.

    "Show me everything!"

 Chapter 732 Soullife

    Chapter 732 Soullife

    ??A massive pile of SoulStar Fragments, a mountain of other goods procured from War Rune storages, and a small stash of high-quality Artifacts ended up before Michael when he finished extracting everything from the Elite and Supreme Tekur.

    He ignored the Artifacts and put them in his War Rune before his eyes fell upon the pile of SoulStar Fragments.

    [The Supreme Soldiers are the real treasure troves here. They''re walking treasures, quite literally!] Danny eximed.

    Michael could only agree. He procured more SoulStar Fragments from the Supreme Soldier than three Elite provided. That was already a massive gain, but it was only a portion of the real treasures he''d found in the Supreme Tekur''s War Rune storage.

    "I cannot agree more. This is amazing!" Michael responded to his brother.

    He stored some ores, a small batch of Superior Energy Stones, and other gods in his War Rune storage, leaving various tomes and scrolls behind.

    After consuming the Supreme Tekur''s Memory Orbs, Michael knew a lot more about the Tekur, their power, and why they were so powerful.

    He searched through the scrolls and tomes until he picked up one tome and a scroll. The rest was stored in his War Rune with the other stuff.

    "Who would have thought that the Tekur have such amazing techniques?" Michael murmured, his eyes glimmering brightly.

    To be precise, the tome was Supreme Soul Technique, a portion of a Superior Soul Technique. It wasn''t aplete technique, but it was enough to grasp what was required to unleash the fury of a Superior ss Soul Technique.

    [That''s very interesting!] Danny said as he read through the tome alongside Michael.

    [To think that Superior ss Soul Techniques require more Soul Power than most Tekur can generate as Lesser Lifeforms. I expected the Supreme Tekur to unleash Superior Soul Techniques, but it looks like we encountered one who has difficulties using Soullife Arts alongside Soul Techniques.]

    Michael said nothing. He continued reading the Superior ss Soul Technique, closing the tome and breathing deeply.

    "I should have enough Soul Power to create Superior ss Soul Techniques for Extraction and Sacred Constitution. But I can only activate them once, for a short moment. Once I ascend to a Higher Lifeform, I''ll be able to release them multiple times for a longer time," Michael mused to himself, the corner of his lips wrinkling into a faint smile, "Or I expand my territory and summon more than a million Summons before ascending to umte enough Soul Power to use the technique more than once."

    [Do whatever you want. Either way, your territory will expand a lot before you ascend to a Higher Lifeform. Don''t act like you won''t have several settlements by the time your ascension begins] Danny grew impatient. [Now focus on the Soullife Arts!]

    "Of course, you are more interested in the Soullife Arts. Do you even know what the Superior Soul Technique means?" Michaelined. "I can start creating Superior ss Soul Techniques for Higher Lifeforms once I procure more techniques to study. If used properly, I can help the powerhouses all over the Tritan Alliance either regain or expand their territories. They''ll grow so much stronger than the¨C..."

    [MICHAEL! Check the fucking Soullife Arts scroll! This is far more important than this lousy Superior ss Soul Technique!]

    "Calm down a little, or I''ll restrict your ess to Spirit Eyes while I check the scroll," Michael responded right before expelling his brother.

    [No! Wait wait wait. I''ll calm down. Just¡­please¡­check the Soullife Arts scroll¡­]

    Michael smiled lightly and did as requested. Danny regained ess to Spirit Eyes right before Michael unfolded the scroll.

    It was a Soullife Arts, a technique that consumed both Soul Energy and Lifeforce to provide the user with a massive physical boost. The Soullife Arts could only be used by beings with a lot of Soul Power, an incredibly high Soul Energy control, an enormous amount of Lifeforce, and unbending willpower.

    Supreme Soldiers of the Tekur race were such beings. They possessed enough innate talent to activate and maintain the tortuous technique that burned through their Soul Energy and lifeforce rapidly to temporarily enhance their physical might.

    The longer the technique was used, the more Soul Energy and lifeforce was consumed. Simultaneously, the aftereffect would be stronger as the Soullife Arts was used for a prolonged period. As long as the used has enough lifeforce and decent innate regeneration, the downsides of using Soullife Arts could be shortened. However, it would not be lovely, one way or another.

    [That seems perfect for you and everyone about to die, either way. Anyone forced to fight someone stronger than them and unable to retreat should have a Soullife Arts. Those people, and you, would profit a lot from that technique. See. This is much better than the Superior ss Soul Technique!]

    Danny was not wrong. He could replenish his Soul Power using SoulStar Fragments. As for his lifeforce¡­as long as he wasn''t in a dead zone, Michael could recover his used-up lifeforce rather quickly.

    It was interesting to note that all Supreme Soldiers of the Tekur race learned the same Foundation Break Soullife Arts. The Supreme Soldier he''d defeated was already older and had practiced the Foundation Break Soullife Arts longer than most Tekur. That was also the reason one of the three Memory Orbs Michael had extracted and consumed was solely about the Foundation Break Soullife Arts.

    Even without having practiced the technique once, Michael knew that he could use it right away. He might not be as proficient as the Supreme Tekur, but the effect would be even better. After all, the Foundation Break Soullife Arts had been made for Higher Lifeforms. Lesser Lifeforms could only use the first stage without dying. However, Michael might be able to go further than them.

    [Don''t go overboard. The technique is impressive, but I really don''t want you to die from using the second stage of Foundation Break just because you''re confident that nothing will happen. Don''t use it if it''s not necessary¡­please!]

    Danny sounded really excited before, but his voice turned somber and vignt now that he read the section where all dangers and possible issues of Foundation Break had been listed.

    "I will be fine. Either way, I don''t think I need to push further than the first stage. At my current level, I might have to use the 1st Stage of Foundation Break to fight tens of Supreme Soldiers simultaneously, but that might already be overkill. I''m not sure. Maybe using Foundation Break alongside my Soultraits and Soul Techniques will tear my body apart. That wouldn''t be the first time, though."

    Michael joked a little with his brother, but he knew the situation was a bit additional severe than they''d first presumed. He learned a lot about the Tekur race''s condition, including the issue they had with their collonizeds.

    Michael knew that the Tekur race was on the way to colonize an entire gxy. It was only a tiny gxy, but that was enough to understand the power of the Tekur race. Fortunately, or unfortunately, in the Tekur race''s case, they didn''t manage to take control of the gxy. They didn''t realize that there were more powerful enemies in the gxy and that the races living there were connected to powerful entities.

    The Tekur not only missed their chance to colonize an entire gxy, but they also lost control of several ster systems. Trillions of Tekur had been killed in thest year, and far additional were about to follow. It was the first time in centuries that the Tekur race was defeated. Since their Queen ascended, they''d never been humiliated like this.

    It was a great fortune for the Queen to interfere after the casualties surpassed what they could ept. The Tekur race managed to defend theirs after a while, but thendmasses they could colonize decreased drastically.

    Now that their enemies had located them, the Tekur were restrained and forced to stay in their part of the gxy. Their enemies used various means to ensure that they couldn''t travel past their imed territories, leaving only two ces to expand theirnd.

    One of the ces I visited was the Origin Expanse. Since the Origin Expanse was considered an infinitely vast expanse, for nobody had recorded its edge or connection, it was the best ce to go.

    Unfortunately, not every Tekur manifested their War Rune early. Some were slower than others.

    The Tekur race had to regrow their numbers quickly after losing so many important warriors, but they had issues finding enough living space outside the Origin Expanse.

    Therefore, the Tekur race decided to concentrate more on the portals that lead to different parts of the universe, to the outskirts of the universe where weaker races were located. They believed that it would be no problem to overwhelm the weaker races as long as they deployed more Elite Soldiers and a bunch of Supreme Soldiers.

    Michael believed the same. He was fairly sure that the sudden change in their tactic would be the demise of many races. However, the Tritan Alliance wouldn''t fall victim to their tactics.

    It was their misfortune to encounter Michael. If it had been anyone else, a single Supreme Soldier would have been enough to kill everyone.

    But with Michael present? Never!

    **

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 Chapter 733 Supreme Power

    Chapter 733 Supreme Power

    ??Michael practiced Foundation Break only once before he discovered more Tekur. The burst of power granted by Foundation Break was extraordinary. Even without using Heavenly Beast Physique or Enhancement, Michael felt like he could overwhelm one or two Supreme Soldiers.

    That was verified as he engaged inbat with the group of Tekur who''d entered the range of Spirit Eyes.

    Michael unleashed the Cursed Seals and the Serpent Seals to unlock True Extraction and strengthen his physique. After that, he merged the Dome of Extraction with the Extraction Aura to form the True Extraction Domain, which expanded rapidly and devoured the surrounding energy and lifeforce.

    Only momentster, he disappeared, using Cosmic Stride to appear amid the crowd of Tekur. The surroundings were engulfed in a golden hue, draining the energy and lifeforce of everything in its range. The Tekur were surprised about the sudden attack, but they reacted quickly. Their Soul Techniques were activated at once.

    However, Michael turned into a blur before the Tekur could strike him. He activated Foundation Break against the Elite Tekur while applying Aethyr to his hands. His fingers transformed intorge, razor-sharp ws that cut through the Tekurs'' carapaces like they were made out of paper. Of course, the Aethyr ws'' sharpness and destructive power did not originate solely from his physical strength or the Aethyr. The Enhancement Layers and Qi applied to the Aethyr ws also yed a major role.

    Michael''s Soul Power and lifeforce were drained rapidly. He understood why the Supreme Soldier was exhausted so quickly. Fortunately, Michael could use some SoulStar Fragments to replenish his Soul Power while True Extraction drained everyone''s lifeforce to recover his.

    The Elite Tekur were either crippled or killed in their first sh with Michael. He left some alive intentionally to continue drain their energy and lifeforce, but the rest died at his hands in no time. At some point, he noticed that a Supreme Tekur appeared beside him. However, instead of panicking, Michael unleashed Heavenly Beast Physique alongside Foundation Break.

    His Soul Power was consumed even faster, but his physical prowess skyrocketed. He twisted his body as the Supreme Soldier struck him, evading the attack quickly. The Aethyr w swooped upward and severed the Supreme Soldier''s arm in one go. The Tekur was just about to scream aloud when Michael turned into a sh.

    Several strong gusts swished past the Tekur, who sensed that he had been cut several times only after Michael appeared next to him. The Tekur''s wounds burst open, releasing foundations of blood in all directions. In response to his sudden injuries, the Supreme Tekur tried unfolding its wings to shoot high into the sky. Unfortunately, his wings had already been cut off. They were spread out on the ground behind the Tekur.

    Michael looked down at his arms. Faint crack-like linen spread through his skin. Blood oozed out of the cracks and trickled down to the ground.

    "I didn''t move that much, but my body can''t handle this anymore. No wonder they say that''s a technique for Higher Lifeforms.''

    He had no idea how strong he was at this point. However, Michael was certain he could easily defeat someone like Jason Kleora and the High Lionhearts. It felt like he could crush them within seconds. That was unexpected but amazing¡ªif not for his body breaking apart.

    ''I have to regte my use of Foundation Break.''

    Michael shed the Supreme Soldier onest time before he stopped utilizing Foundation Break. He killed the remaining Elite Tekur, plundered their treasures using Extraction, and healed his cracked skin with Archangel''s Grace.

    "Time to rest," He mumbled as he consumed the Tekur''s Memory Orbs.

    Digesting the Memory Orbs wasn''t really ''rest'', but he didn''t do much while organizing and reliving the memories of those he''d just killed.

    Not even an hour psed before Michael proceeded his mission. He traveled through the isted dimension, finding several smaller groups with less than 20 members. Only once did Michael encounter a group with three Supreme Soldiers. They were a little bit annoying as one used a Superior Soul Technique with a Soultrait that restrained him a little bit. However, he overcame the ordeal and yed the Tekur nheless.

    The only injuries he''d sustained were from overwhelming his vessel. Using the Serpent Seals, Enhancement Layers, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Foundation Break simultaneously was a little bit too much for his body, but Michael didn''t care too much. He had to go all-out against the Supreme Soldiers; otherwise, he would fall victim to their power.

    Even if he was stronger than most Lesser Lifeforms, Michael was not invincible¡­yet.

    Less than half a day psed before Michael found the first out of the four remaining Dimensional Pirs. Arge group of 100ish Tekur camped near the Dimensional Pir. Michael greeted them with True Extraction Domain and a barrage of more than 200 Enhanced Qi Bullets.

    He knew the Tekur were shocked that they had yet to find an enemy. Some even thought that the Tritan Alliance gave up thepetition in the isted dimension. That made it even easier for him when he used Cosmic Stride several times before unleashing every trace of power umted in his body to conjure 200 Enhanced Qi Bullets.

    The True Extraction Domain spread out in a small radius, devouring the surrounding power to expand on its own, whereas the Enhanced Qi Bullets reaped the lives of dozens.

    More than half of the camping Tekur died before they could react. The Enhanced Qi Bullets pierced through their carapace and entered their bodies, only to explode inside them. The Qi spread wildly through their bodies, tearing the Tekur apart.

    Michaelnded on the ground and used Foundation Break instantly. The True Extraction Domain replenished his origin power quickly, but Michael didn''t utilize much of it. He focused on the True Extraction Domain and his physical strength. The Serpent Seals, Foundation Break, and Heavenly Beast Physique were initiated together, and the Aethyr ws were coated with Enhancement Layers and Qi.

    Michael transformed into a sh. He disappeared from everyone''s sight. The only trails he left behind were the pained screams of his enemies, the Tekur''s gooey blood that spurted in all directions, and the corpses of the defeated.

    The Tekur tried to restrain Michael with various Soultraits, but the Curses cast upon him were devoured instantaneously by the World Serpent and his Curse. Neither the World Serpent nor the Curse he housed would allow ordinary curses to affect him. That was something Michael found out only today, but it was a good thing.

    The Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals glowed faintly as they devoured the curses cast upon him, but Michael was too focused on the debuffs and other Soultraits that had been unleashed to harm and weaken him.

    The debuffs were weakened as they applied to his body. True Extraction removed their biggest impact almost immediately. As for the projectiles, mental attacks, and spiritual attacks that impacted heavily, Michael endured them well. Spiritual attacks were blocked easily. His soul was too strong for lowly spiritual attacks to inflict any harm. The Tekur attacking him didn''t even have a 4-Star Soultrait. How could their spiritual attacks harm him?

    Only some mental attacks hurt a little. Fortunately, Michael could pinpoint the perpetrators swiftly. He eliminated them right away by tearing their bodies apart.

 Chapter 734 Golden Globe

    Chapter 734 Golden Globe

    ??Mental attacks had some use against Michael, but it was not like his mental defenses were low. On the contrary, Michael had the Legendary Ring Artifact, which strengthened his mental power, and several Soultraits, which enhanced his mind passively.

    Last but not least, Wisdom Breaker shattered his mind into countless fragments and refined them before putting them together once again. It was incredible painful and dangerous, but it also drastically strengthened his mental defenses. Therefore, he didn''t get knocked out even as one of the Elite Tekur''s 3-Star Mind Stab Soultrait, amplified with a Low Elite ss Soul Technique, impacted heavily.

    It hurt and was enough to distract him for a quarter of a second, but Michael pinpointed the perpetrator almost instantly and used Cosmic Stride to appear beside him. The Aethyr w pierced through the Tekur''s skull before he could again release his Soultrait.

    Some Supreme Soldiers tried to catch up to him, but Michael was too strong and fast. His body was on the verge of tearing apart, his skin bursting apart, blood gushing out of him from dozens of spots, but Archangel''s Grace did an impable job keeping him alive.

    Several minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Michael slumped to the ground, gasping for air.

    [I told you not to overdo it with Foundation Break!] Danny shouted.

    Michael wanted to say something, but he couldn''t. He was in dire need of some oxygen.

    His legs quivered, forcing Michael to sit down for a moment.

    "That was amazing!" He murmured once he was done gasping for air.

    [Amazing? I can tell your body was about to crumble more than three times in thest five minutes! What are you amazed about? Because you''re still alive? What the hell is wrong with you?!?]

    Michael would have loved to shove his brother from his mind for a moment, but he knew that Danny would hold a grudge against him if he avoided this argument.

    "No risk, no reward," He responded lightly, knowing damn well that Danny wouldn''t like this.

    [No risk¡­no reward¡­ Wait! Is that how you normally fight? You charge into the masses of enemies, go all-out, and hope that your enemies die. Is that it?]

    Michael didn''t say anything, but that was the answer enough.

    [A single miscalction and you''ll die¡­ You''re the cause of 90% of my headaches. Seriously.]

    Michael felt like saying, ''You cannot feel headaches,'' but he kept his lips sealed. It was probably better not to provoke his brother too much.

    [Can you try not to get yourself killed¡­please?]

    "I''m already trying," Michael said before realizing he had made another mistake. He hurriedly added, "But I can change my strategy if you want."

    He rested his body for a while, only for Danny''s lecture to torment his mind. Michael had to listen to his brother''sints for an hour before his brother switched to telling him where he could improve.

    Even though Danny didn''t have a body, he had full ess to the changes and movements inside Michael. He could sense the faintest changes in Michael''s body whenever he moved. This applied to every trace of origin energy that passed through his body, Michael''s lifeforce, and every single time Michael used his techniques and Soultraits.

    It took Danny a few months to sense everything as perfectly as he did right now, but now that he was capable of perceiving Michael''s body perfectly, he could give his brother some valuable tips.

    Michael was d his brother stopped lecturing him. Tips and tricks were more useful than lectures. Michael wouldn''t change the way he approached most battles, either. He sincerely doubted that anything would change merely because Danny told him it was foolish to fight like this.

    But while ignoring Danny''s lecture, Michael wouldn''t dare do the same with his tips and tricks. Michael went through the tips and tricks with genuine interest and tried applying them shortly. He''d rested long enough to start experimenting once again.

    He spent the following hours experimenting until his body had fully recuperated. If he had applied Archangel''s Grace a little longer, Michael would have been ready to depart earlier, but he was not in a rush.

    Since he was the only member of the Tritan Alliance who participated in the g War, Michael didn''t have to protect anyone but himself. Rushing from battle to battle would endanger him. Furthermore, he had various Memory Orbs to digest.

    The g War existed to make him stronger, after all.

    The Tekur couldn''t run from him either. No matter where they were in the isted dimension, they couldn''t escape his grasp.

    But now it was time to destroy the Dimensional Pir.

    Michael stood in front of the towering Dimensional Pir, a faint smile blossoming on his face. The Dimensional Pir was eerily ck and thicker than the towering trees in the Untamed Jungle. Even skyscrapers were tiny inparison. However, Micahel just smiled.

    He activated the Cursed Seals and gathered True Extraction at the tip of his finger. A golden glimmer enveloped his index finger. At first, the hue was only faint, but as time passed, it shone brighter. A thick membrane of Extraction''s power formed around his finger. It dazzled brightly at the tip of his finger where most power congregated.

    Michael focused entirely on True Extraction and smiled only faintly when a faint spark crackled above his fingernail. The crackling expanded rapidly until it filled the area before Michael. Michael swallowed hard when he saw that the sparks extracted everything they touched. The surface of the Dimensional Pir was scratched and removed just as easy as the dry soil around them was removed as the sparks impacted.

    The sparks transformed into golden currents that swept wildly through the vicinity. It required considerable effort and time to control the wild currents. However, once Michael gained control of them, hepressed the currents into a small globe the size of a dot. The globe crackled wildly as if trying to escape the confinement.

    Unfortunately, Michael''s willpower overwhelmed the wild currents. The globe expanded as more extraction currents channeled into it, but Michaelpressed it again to keep it at the size of a fingernail.

    Time passed slowly.

    [I know that I told you to improve your control of True Extraction, but aren''t you overdoing it?] Danny asked, only for Michael to snap back.

    "Now you say I''m doing too much. Is it possible to please you, or will youin about everything I do?"

    Compressing the extraction currents several times into the golden globe was far from easy. It put a heavy toll on Michael''s mind, yet he didn''t even think of staying silent. It bothered him even more than usual, to be precise.

    Fortunately, he was done now.

    Michael opened his eyes and disregarded the sweat that poured down his face in streams. He pressed the golden globe lightly against the Dimensional Pir''s surface and pushed further. The Dimensional Pir gave in without any resistance, and the globe consumed everything in its path.

    ''Very good.''

    The faint smile on his lips widened, and Michael released the globe. He refrained from erupting with its full power until the golden globe reached the center of the Dimensional Pir.

    The second the globe reached its destination, Michael stopped trying to control it.

    The extraction currents forcefullypressed inside the golden globe before they erupted outward in an uncontrolled burst. They lunged in all directions and consumed everything in their path.

    There was no loud explosion. On the contrary, an eerie silence filled the vicinity.

    Suddenly, golden currents burst through the pitch-ck Dimensional Pir''s surface. They spread in all directions and consumed everything in their path.

    Then it happened.

    A loud crack reverberated through the vicinity.

    The Dimensional Pir slowly tilted in one direction.

    The cracking noises grew louder, sounding like bell chimes in Michael''s ears. His n worked out even better than expected.

    Atst, the Dimensional Pir copsed.

    [That was¡­not bad¡­] Danny praised reluctantly.

    Michael snorted, hoping that he could hit his brother soon.

    "That''s only one of four. The other Dimensional Pirs are still waiting for me!"

    [And a bunch of Tekur.]

    "And a bunch of Tekur," Michael agreed, the excitement in his heart rising.

    The g War was a lot better than he had wished for.

    **

    [A/N: The author is back to bother you guys once again. How is the current pace? Do you think that the pace has to elerate a bit or that something more interesting will happen soon? Can you guess what I will do soon - in the story? I bet you can guess what will happen :D

    Or maybe not...]

 Chapter 735 Qiâ€™s Power

    <h4>Chapter 735 Qi''s Power</h4>

    Michael spent the following 24 hours refining his control with Qi and Extraction. He tried using the Soultraits differently to test their limits and how far he could derive from their original purpose.

    After 24 hours, Michael had killed another 400 Tekur, and only one Dimensional Pir remained. The Tekur noticed that something was wrong. They had either not seen a single enemy or died at Michael''s hands.

    Upon discovering that three Dimensional Pirs had been destroyed, The Tekur changed their tactics. They gathered near thest Dimensional Pir and waited impatiently for the arrival of their ''invisible'' enemies. Little did they know that there was only one enemy to defeat.

    Michael observed the Tekur as they gathered near the Dimensional Pir. He could have appeared at their dead angle above the Dimensional Pir and destroyed it with an Extraction Globe, but that wouldn''t have created the desired effect. Michael desired the Tekur''s Soul Techniques, SoulStar Fragments, and Soultrait Symbols.

    The Tekur had to be killed before the g War could end soundly.

    But instead of slowly dwindling their numbers or putting himself in danger by throwing himself into the masses of Tekur, Michael decided to end the battle a little bit faster. Even if he was powerful, it would be incredibly difficult to defeat 70ish Supreme Soldiers. It would be easy to beat them one by one, but enduring the attack of 70ish Supreme Soldiers with Superior ss Soul Techniques and the Soullife Arts Foundation Break was not something Michael wanted to test.

    He was powerful, but his body was on the verge of breaking apart whenever he used his full power. A single mistake, and he would die.

    Therefore, Michael retrieved a bunch of Elemental Crystals and emptied them using Extraction. The Elemental crystals transformed into hollow crystals without an ounce of elements-attributed energy. Under normal circumstances, the crystals would shatter, but Michael ensured that nothing like that would happen.

    He infused Enhanced Qi into the crystals, filling them slowly.

    Qi crystals came into existence.

    [You like this stuff, don''t you?] Danny asked his younger brother, who could only smile.

    "Of course I do. Before I manifested Extraction, I never expected to obtain a powerful Soultrait. I had to study convenient ways to destroy my enemies with means other than mybat prowess. You should know how much danger we''re usually exposed to due to our Curses. The dangers are an opportunity to grow stronger, but they''re also filled with numerous possibilities to¡­die¡­ That scared me a bit when I was young, so I studied a lot."

    Michael didn''t want to lie to his brother. It might sound better that he studied to be prepared for the Origin Expanse and to rapidly im and expand his territory using everything he''d learned. However, at the end of the day, Michael knew that the family Curse''s existence was what pushed Michael to study and train as if there was no tomorrow even before he manifested his War Rune.

    And that was a good thing because he would have died even before his territory''s protection barrier disappeared if it hadn''t been for his training.

    Michael spent the next few hours filling the crystals with Enhanced Qi. Then, he used Cosmic Stride with enough space-attributed energy to teleport the Qi Crystals into the Tekur''s rows and their camps.

    The smaller the objects transported using Cosmic Stride, the fewer spatial fluctuations can be sensed. Even Michael could hardly be sensed by highly perceptive Awakened whenever he used Cosmic Stride. Sensing the arrival of the tiny Qi Crystals was highly unlikely.

    Exactly 30 Qi Crystals were spread throughout the Tekur''s camp. Michael used Cosmic Stride to appear above them, attracting their attention momentarily. Then, the mayhem began.

    Michael triggered the Qi crystals, unleashing the devastating force of thepressed Enhanced Qi.

    The crystals shattered.

    Shockwave ofpressed Enhanced Qi swamped the Tekur''s camp. It washed through the entire camp explosively and tore the unguarded men and women apart.

    Most Tekur couldn''t react fast enough to the sudden explosion. Even if they could react, it was not like they could create Soul Energy to use their Soullife Arts right away. Everyone was exposed to the devastating power of Enhanced Qi, which prated their carapace and entered their insides without dy.

    The Tekur screamed only for a moment. A momentter, the Enhanced Qi spread through their insides. It split up into countless strands that exploded, tearing their insides apart mercilessly.

    Michael watched the sudden death of close to 350 Tekur calmly. He conjured tiny Extraction Globes and used Cosmic Stride to transport them beside some of the survivors. The Tekur who survived the sudden assault had either been far enough from the nearest Qi Crystal as they exploded, or they responded fast enough to use their Soultraits.

    Only a few Soultraits were useful enough to block the Qi Crystal''s explosions, and the massive waves of Enhanced Qi, but a bunch of Tekur managed to make it. To their misery, the Extraction Globes couldn''t be blocked easily. The Extraction Globes erupted in cuntless golden currents the instant they appeared behind the surviving Tekur.

    The currents shot in all directions and devoured everyone daring enough to obstruct their path. They didn''t look menacing. Instead, the golden currents had a warm feeling to them. To the Tekur''s misery, they only looked gentle.

    Some necks went missing alongside other body parts. They were devoured a quarter of a second after the Extraction Globes erupted.

    [Even if the Supreme Tekur are more advanced than their kin, they''re still not Higher Lifeforms. They have to produce enough Soul Energy to use Foundation Break. But that is not something they can do in a split second. The Tekur are too young and inexperienced to have such tremendous control of their Soul Power to produce Soul Energy this quickly. You are different, Michael. You can do it!]

    Michael had consumed enough Memory Orbs to have near-

    perfect control of his Soul Power. At this point, he could produce Soul Energy at will, which he used now that there were only a few enemies left.

    He unleashed the Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals before going all-out. He conjured the Aethyr de and coated it with Enhancement, Qi, and True Extraction. Then he used Heavenly Beast Physique and Foundation Break, slowly breaking his body apart by attaining overwhelming power for a few seconds. A few seconds was all he needed to teleport beside the injured Tekur.

    He sliced them to pieces without an ounce of mercy.

    Some Supreme Soldiers tried to use Foundation Break as well, but they were temporarily incapable of producing Soul Energy. Some managed to control their origin energy, but most survivors had difficulties essing it.

    ''Qi is quite powerful,'' Michael figured. He''d always thought that Qi was mysterious, but he never noticed that It affected his enemies'' force control once it entered their bodies. That was something he realized only now.

    [I told you that my Soultrait is powerful! You didn''t believe me!]

    "Yes, yes. You are always right, Danny."

    [That''s not what I meant!]

    "Yes, yes."

    Michael rolled his eyes before his focus returned to the people around him.

    A few more Tekur were waiting for their inevitable deaths.

 Chapter 736 Shattered

    <h4>Chapter 736 Shattered</h4>

    It was no surprise that Michael managed to overwhelm his enemies. The Elite Tekur couldn''t do anything to oppose his tremendous power at this point.

    Meanwhile, even the Supreme Soldiers couldn''t muster enough strength to beat Michael as long as he went all out. The worst for the Supreme Soldiers was that they couldn''t even fight Michael head-on in thest battle. They struggled but couldn''t use what they were best at.

    The Supreme Soldiers couldn''t create enough Soul Energy to activate their Superior ss Soul Techniques or Soullife Arts. The Tekur suffered the consequences of relying on external means to be powerful. They died.

    [See. Using your head is not that bad. You weren''t even close to dying this time, even though you had to fight far more enemies simultaneously than before. It might not be as thrilling to use your head to get rid of your enemies before the real battle begins, but it is certainlypetent to use your head. You can feel the thrill of being one step away from death if your ns don''t work out. However, if they work out, you should go with the flow. Being on the verge of death all the time is not that nice. You should value your life more!]

    Michael tried to ignore his brother, but he knew that Danny was right. At one point, Michael got addicted to the thrill of being in danger. Sometimes, he found himself not using all Soultraits and techniques to make sure that the battle would be thrilling enough. That happened far more often than he''d like to acknowledge. If anything, Michael would love to never think about his addiction to the thrill of gambling with his life.

    It was just too nice¡­as long as everything went ording to his n. As long as Michael was the one who emerged victorious from the battles it would be fine. But a single mistake may take his life. Seeking the thrill might kill him.

    Michael tried dispersing his brother''s words by focusing on the corpses. He gathered the Tekur''s bodies and began extracting SoulStar Fragments, Soultraits, Memory Orbs, and portions of their War Rune storage.

    The stuff extracted from the deceased''s War Runes was of little interest. The most interesting were the tomes and scrolls, but Michael decided to inspect themter. The Memory Orbs were consumed one after another as Michael organized the loot like usual. He digested the Memory Orbs quickly and learned something interesting.

    "Since when are Tekur religious?" Michael wondered when he saw the memories of the Tekur praying.

    It was unfortunate for the Tekur, but Michael overwhelmed them near the end of their prayer session. The Qi Crystals exploded a minute before the prayers would have ended.

    [Looks like their prayers didn''t work.] Danny noted dryly.

    Michael ignored his brother once again. Instead of entertaining Danny, he focused on the memories and learned that the Tekur Queen had paired up with someone new. Apparently, the newly appointed king of the Tekur race was even stronger than their Queen. He possessed the power to grow stronger as the number of people who believed in and trusted him increased.

    It wasn''t even necessary to be connected to the Tekur King by a Link of Loyalty. He would grow stronger as the faith in him increased.

    The Queen used this power to transform her partner into an Apostle of their God. She decreed that everyone had to pray to their God and that their faith and loyalty would be channeled through the Apostle to reach their God. That way, the Tekur would consider the Tekur King as their God''s messenger, which would increase their faith in the Tekur King in retrospect.

    The Tekur King would grow strong enough to deal with the enemies circling the Tekur race''snds.

    "Praying killed a few hundred of your stronger believers. Funny, ain''t it?" Michael mumbled without meaning it.

    He stopped consuming more Memory Orbs and stored the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols away. Interestingly enough, some Supreme Soldiers had two Soultraits. He managed to extract two Soultraits from two Supreme Soldiers, a first for Michael.

    However, instead of focusing on the Soultrait Symbols, which Michael already had more than enough of, he paid more attention to the massive haul of SoulStar Fragments.

    "1.1 million SoulStar Fragments. That''s crazy," Michael murmured, his eyes glimmering in excitement.

    The SoulStar Fragments were more than enough to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star. Of course, Soul Grimoire was an expensive Soultrait to upgrade, but Danny''s Living Soul couldn''t expand properly. Danny hadined a few times that his space was too narrow. He didn''t want to make it sound like a major problem, but Michael knew that his brother wasn''t feeling well. The narrow space within the Soul Grimoire could lead to major problems if left unattended.

    Therefore, hundreds of thousands of SoulStar Fragments had to be used to upgrade Soul Grimoire.

    That was exactly what Michael did. He began channeling SoulStar Fragments into the Soul Grimoire Soultrait Symbol. It would take a while to upgrade Soul Grimoire, but it was good that he wasn''t in a rush. He had more than enough time left in the isted dimension to be at peace and research some of the Superior ss Soul Techniques ¨C the snippets of their techniques, to be precise.

    It was only a matter of time before Michael could create a Superior ss Soul Technique for True Extraction. By then, True Extraction would transform into an even more menacing Soultrait.

    Michael would be even harder to deal with, especially once both True Extraction and Sacred Constitution obtained their Superior ss Soul Technique.

    Just thinking about creating Superior Soul Techniques brought a smile to Michael''s face.

    "The g War was pretty nice," Michael thought aloud.

    He procured enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 7-Star and would have more than 200,000 SoulStar Fragments left for other expenses. Simultaneously, he procured various Elite ss Soul Techniques, learned about Soullife Arts and had decent mastery over one, and procured enough snippets of Superior ss Soul Techniques to recreate them in a few months.

    No matter how Michael looked at it, The second g War was a great sess!

    But now he could end it.

    He continued channeling SoulStar Fragments into Soul Grimoire while creating several Extraction Globes.

    Michael lobbed the Extraction Globes at thest Dimensional Pir, transforming it into a mass of ck rubble in a matter of seconds.

    The Dimensional Pir crumbled, and so did the isted dimension. A tremor reverberated throughout the entire dimension, but that was something Michael had previously expected. He waited patiently until therge, purple Runic Gate appeared before him to return him to the Tritan Alliance.

    Fortunately, the Runic Gate manifested after a few seconds, and Michael stepped through.

    The isted dimension behind him crumbled as he stepped out. It broke apart and disappeared, never to be entered again.

    Thest Interdimensional g War ended, and the threat of the Tekur was removed once and for all, hopefully.

    Michael emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate. The massive purple gate hummed loudly, and cracks appeared on its surface. The cracks spread in all directions until the sound of breaking ss resounded through the vicinity. The gateway shattered.

    Michael nced at the gateway only for a moment. His attention was drawn to the people standing around the portal.

    The powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance had previously been waiting for him¡­including the Matriarch of the Zenovia family.

    [That is going to be fun!]

 Chapter 737 Matriarch

    Chapter 737 Matriarch

    ??The Zenovia household was one of the few families with two people controlling everything. The Matriarch was supposed to take care of all internal struggles. Her mission was to ensure that the Zenovia family would grow stronger with each generation.

    She took care of the youngest generation''s studies, training, and engagements with other families.

    Meanwhile, the Patriarch of the Zenovia household focused more on external tasks. He took care of all pacts and contracts. His priority was to expand the family business, ensuring that the new generation would have ess to more resources than thest, and to improve the existing connections with the powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance.

    Most of the time, expanding the family business and improving connections could bebined. Still, it was asionally a little bit more challenging toe to terms with some families and households. Not everyone was willing to approach other families as openly as the Zenovia family. They liked being among themselves more than being with other people who might betray them when a better opportunity arose.

    Despite the separation of tasks, it wasn''t the patriarch who weed Michael back from his sessful participation in the Interdimensional g War. Instead, Katharina Zenovia, the Matriarch of the Zenovia household, came to appraise the guy who''d stolen her daughter''s heart.

    Katharina Zenovia received enough reports from her anonymous sources about how much Alice''s behavior changed. Alice wasn''t hiding that she dated Michael, but they didn''t make any official posts about it either. It was their rtionship, and it didn''t matter to them if others were aware of it or not.

    Of course, it had been a little bit easier on Alice because they didn''t share the news of their rtionship with the whole Sk. It gave her some peace, only for a little while. Unfortunately, peace was not an option anymore. Her mother approached Michael.

    Katharina Zenovia was as beautiful as her daughter. She had shoulder-long ck, wavy hair, pristine ocean-blue eyes, and a fairplexion. The Matriach''s beautiful lean figure was highlighted as she walked toward Michael like she was one of the Tritan Alliance''s supermodels. There was something about her people couldn''t grasp. Every step Katharina Zenovia took was calcted with deadly precision. Not a single action was random. It was all nned to frame her as the perfect woman and mother.

    However, Michael didn''t pay too much attention to Katharina Zenovia at first nce. He noticed someone looking simr to Alice approaching him, but his eyes were drawn to Alice, who walked toward him alongside her mother.

    Alice Zenovia was having trouble keeping her poker face. The corner of her lips twitched wildly, and she didn''t dare make eye contact with Michael. All she could do was forward him a small message using Whispering Energy.

    ["I didn''t expect Mother toe here. Dad was supposed to be here to deal with some High Society members, the Chieftain, and the War Priestess¡­Sorry¡­"]

    Michael tried hard to cover his frown.

    ''So¡­meeting your Father would have been fine, but your Mom is difficult? We will see about that, I guess.''

    Michael willed some origin energy to wash over his face. That was enough to wipe away the frown and rece it with a faint smile. He took a step toward the Matriarch of the Zenovia household and inclined his head politely.

    "Good morning. My name is Michael Fang. I heard a lot about you¨C..." Michael introduced himself as politely as possible without overdoing it, but he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Alice shaking her head lightly.

    Katharina Zenovia stared coldly at him.

    "I know who you are. Everyone here does. Do you think I''m a fool?" She asked sharply, her voice not containing an ounce of emotion.

    Michael''s lips parted for a response, but Katharina Zenovia raised her hand.

    "Enough of that. I know you''re pursuing my Daughter and that she was just about to give in to her inner demon, but Alice is already engaged. Their wedding will be in a few months, and you will not be the groom. I hope you can stop your attempts to tarnish my daughter and keep a professional distance from her and Kaleb as well."

    Michael didn''t expect Katharina Zenovia to act like this. It had been a long time since anyone had rejected him. After all, most powerhouses wanted to be on his good side because of his Soultraits, Soul Techniques, and his future potential. Yet, the Matriarch of the Zenovia family was the opposite. She didn''t seem to care about his Soultraits and potential in the slightest.

    That was rare and a slight surprise, but Michael was more affected by the ''engaged'' part.

    He nced at Alice, who stared at her mother in shock.

    ["You didn''t know that you were engaged?"] Michael asked Alice via Whispering Energy.

    He had a hard time hiding how relieved he was when he saw Alice shaking her head wildly in denial. His attention returned to Katharina Zenovia, who''d been studying his reaction since the words escaped her lips.

    "I don''t think you heard me correctly. Let me repeat myself once," She said, her voice growing colder with every word she uttered, "I do not wish to see you talking to her again!"

    The Curse residing within Michael churned as the anger in her voice reached him. The Cursed Seals were about to manifest on their own as a silent growl escaped through the depths of his body. Michael could tell that his emotions transformed slowly as the Cursed Seals tried to surface, but his smile didn''t leave his lips.

    He continued smiling, only to nce at Alice for a moment.

    "What do you think about that? Will you do as your mother says?" Michael ignored the Matriarch and smiled gently at Alice.

    Michael could only ept their decision if Alice couldn''t say what she wanted. Both had to fight for their romance to strive and seed. It was impossible to keep the rtionship alive if he was the only one trying.

    Alice nced at her mother for a moment before looking back at Michael. A trace of determination glimmered in her eyes.

    Katharina Zenovia seemed to notice what was going on. She stepped to the side, blocking Alice from saying anything else, and stared at Michael as if he was dead meat.

    "You shouldn''t ignore my warnings," She said quietly, "Nobody interrupts my ns, not even you!"

    A big scowl reced Michael''s smile. His Spirit Eyes Soultrait activated instinctively when he sensed something was off. A momentter, a thick ¨C eerily cold ¨C aura burst out of her body. A giant cier-blue icicle formed beside her.

    "This is myst warning. Stay away from my daughter!" She threatened.

    Michael was just about to respond, but it was Alice who interfered instead, "But I¨C..."

    "Silent!" The Matriarchmanded, sealing Alice''s lips with ayer of cier-blue ice.

    "I think I heard enough," Michael said, a zing me flickering in his eyes, "I don''t think I will listen to your good-meant advice, Miss Zenovia."

    The Matriarch''s expression cracked for a moment, and Michael imagined seeing the corner of her lips curl upward. However, this might have also been an illusion. It disappeared the next moment, leaving the Matriarch with her ice-cold expression.

    "Prove your worth then," She eximed in a whisper, releasing the cier-blue icicle with a burst of energy.

    [Beat the shit out of your mother-inw! You can do it, bro!]

 Chapter 738 Coward?

    <h4>Chapter 738 Coward?</h4>

    The cier-blue icicle was one of the most straightforward creations that could be made with an Ice Affinity, but it was much faster and stronger than most attacks that came Michael''s way.

    Michael could only react in time because Spirit Eyes was active. Prognosis helped him predict the attack early enough to conjure an azure fireball and apply ten Enhancement Layers that focused on enhancing the fireball''s heat.

    He lobbed the fireball at the icicle, which instantaneously burst through the azure mes. Without Insert, the azure fireball would have been useless against the cier-blue icicle. However, with Insert utilized, the searing hot mes invaded the icicle when they touched.

    The cier-blue icicle melted right before the impact.

    Katharina Zenovia raised one eyebrow when she noticed that Michael managed to block her initial attack, but she didn''t seem as shocked as the other powerhouses watching the confrontation.

    Michael frowned deeply.

    ''Is she already a Tier-6 Lord? Even Oliver''s attacks weren''t like that.''

    Danny didn''t have a pleasant answer for him. Therefore, Michael had to change his tactic.

    ''If I have to fight you to prove my worth, you might as well watch me when I go all-out,'' He thought before intercepting whatever the Matriarch of the Zenovia household was trying to do next, "One second, please."

    Next, he ignored the Matriarch and manifested the Runic Gate. A momentter, Michael disappeared into the Runic Gate, leaving the others alone.

    The Matriarch snorted and nced at Alice, "Your boyfriend is a coward."

    Alice looked at her mother and tilted her head, unsure whether to frown deeply at her or to try convincing her mother that Michael was a good guy. But then again, Katharina Zenovia wasn''t even trying to get to know Michael. She rejected him right away.

    "Now you call him my boyfriend? Mother, I don''t understand what you''re trying to do, but is that really necessary? And what is this talk about in rtion to engagement? You know as well as I do that there was never an engagement for me. Didn''t you tell me that it was fine for me to get closer to Michael in the first ce?"

    The Matriarch clicked her tongue, "You are a little fool, sweetheart.

    "I allowed you to get close to him, but you never asked me about my opinion of Michael Fang. Hooking up with him was certainly not something I permitted, sweetheart."

    Katharina Zenovia sighed deeply. Her ice-cold expression melted and transformed into aplex expression.

    "You know better than anyone that Michael is one of the most important beings in the Tritan Alliance. At this point, being close to him will produce various benefits. Yes, you are dating him right now. But what happens when you break up with Michaelter? Everyone with a closely tied rtionship with the Zenovia family will evade us. They will be afraid that Michael will cklist them from future Soultrait Auctions. Everyone would choose Michael Fang over the Zenovia household without thinking twice."

    Alice wanted to say something, but her mother raised her hand to stop her in her tracks.

    "Having Michael by our side can be a blessing. However, everyone would approach us because of him, and they would leave us when he leaves as well. Michael would drag everyone who''s already with us along as well. Everything our household worked for in thest few centuries would crumble just like that.

    Alice shook her head. She didn''t want to listen to her mother anymore, "Who says that we will break up? What if we''ll be together forever?"

    The Matriarch chuckled, seeing how defiant her daughter had be. She was not the woman everyone had gotten to know as Frozen Duchess. Alice Zenovia, standing in front of the Matriarch, was no more than a foolish girl in love.

    "Sweetheart, you don''t have to look at me like that. I taught you enough about High Society to know how fragile trust is and that everyone is always scheming. As for love...love is dangerous. Your love might burn fiercely, but the mes will dwindle, and your love will cool down. That might not happen to everyone, but our lifespan is far from short. You might be able to be a Divine Lifeform, Michael certainly will. By that time, you barely age. What happens if your love prevails for a century only to end in chaos?"

    Alice couldn''t help but think that his mother was exaggerating. She couldn''t imagine that love wasn''t permanent. It may develop and change over the course of the decades and centuries, but Alice was sure that love would prevail over the course of time.

    She had much more to say to her mother, and the same could be said about the Matriarch, but Michael''s Runic Gate appeared before them already. He returned from the Origin Expanse with a faint smile.

    The Matriarch cleared her throat and reverted to her eerily cold expression, "The coward has returned. What a surprise."

    Alice''s frown deepened. What exactly was her Mother trying to achieve? If that was her attempt at bing friends with Michael¡­she was terribly mistaken. Even testing his love and power like that felt wrong.

    The Matriarch winked toward Alice, who could only sigh inwardly.

    Katharina Zenovia didn''t have to be friends with Micahel. However, she had to know how much Michael liked her daughter. Was he ready to go up against the entire Zenovia household for Alice''s sake? Would he take responsibility for whatever may happen?

    It would be easy for him to oppose the Zenovia household in the future as he ascends to a Higher Lifeform, but he was not a Higher Lifeform yet. His actions as a Lesser Lifeform yed a major role in determining whether Michael was the right man for Alice or if their love was nothing special.

    [Did she just wink at Alice?] Danny asked Michael, who nodded inwardly. He''d noticed the wink as well.

    ''Yup.''

    [Either way, beat her up!]

    Michael couldn''t hide his smile when he heard his brother. Both knew very well that Katharina Zenovia was a ''little'' bit stronger than Michael. Of course, that didn''t mean Michael would give up easily.

    He raised his left arm where a massive azure tattoo had appeared. The tattoo glowed brightly and dissolved as an azure figure emerged from his palm. The Elemental Empress emerged before Michael. She turned around and transformed into a zing inferno before coating Michael. A tight armor ofpressed azure mes coated Michael.

    The azure mes expanded andpressed. They twirled around his fingers and every strand of hair, engulfing everything with deadly precision before stagnating for a second.

    "You brought reinforcement?" The Matriarch asked, trying to hide her surprise at the arrival of an Elemental Empress.

    Even if she had never seen an Elemental Empress, Katharina Zenovia had heard enough about them to immediately recognize one. She nced at Michael for a moment only to sense something around him.

    "You didn''t expect me to hold back against one of the strongest Lords in the Tritan Alliance, or did you expect that, Matriarch?" Michael questioned behind the Matriarch.

    The azure armor before her dispersed, disying that Michael was no longer there. She spun around and noticed Michael standing next to Alice. He grasped Alice''s shoulder and disappeared once again. Alice emerged far away near the Berserker Chieftain, who''d appeared at some point.

    Simultaneously, a pir of azure mes erupted underneath Katharina Zenovia. She engulfed her body in an ice crystal instead of evading the attack with a simple side-step. It would have been an embarrassing sight to be forced to retreat by a mere Lesser Lifeform.

    Unfortunately, Michael was far from normal. He wasn''t an ordinary Lesser Lifeform, and the same could be said about Zenoa. The Elemental Empress'' mes were far from ordinary. They were mythical mes that could burn through everything as long as they didn''t extinguish.

    Michael utilized Enhancement on the azure pir to significantly reinforce the mes'' heat. He emerged before the pir and released an Extraction Globe coated in azure mes. Insert had also been applied, creating a deadlybination for someone too proud to move aside.

    "I hope you don''t hold me ountable for responding to your attack with an attack," Michael spoke lightly, but the anger in his eyes was apparent.

    He was getting a little bit annoyed at parents trying to control their children.

    ''I only want the best for you.''¨C Or do you want the best for yourself?

    ''You have to do that. It''s important for your growth.''¨C Or is that what you wanted to do instead?

    ''I only departed you to protect you!'' ¨C Or are you a coward?

    Michael realized toote that he projected his parents in Katharina Zenovia.

    They were not the same, but Michael could only see their parents in the Matriarch at this moment.

 Chapter 739 Crimson

    <h4>Chapter 739 Crimson</h4>

    Katharina Zenovia unleashed a chilly aura in all directions, destroying the zing pir that was about to melt through the ice, shrouding her. In the meantime, the Extraction Globe didn''t sustain any severe damage. It was affected by the chilly aura but didn''t burst apart just yet.

    However, the Extraction Globe erupted once it was close enough to damage the Zenovia household''s Matriarch considerably. Dozens of golden currents shot in all directions, devouring everything obstructing their path.

    Katharina frowned slightly when she noticed that her chilly aura was affected by Michael''s Extraction Globe. She lost control of her chilly aura in every spot touched by the golden currents.

    ''A Lesser Lifeform can do that much?''

    A frown surfaced on her face as realization struck her. However, Michael was not yet done. He unleashed the Cursed Seals alongside the Serpent Seals, only to trigger Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, and Enhancement.

    Michael''s physical might increased drastically, and his skin burst open. He used Cosmic Stride to appear next to the Matriarch, whose expression turned more serious as she sensed the sudden increase in Michael''s power. An Aethyr de coated in Qi and several Enhancementyers manifested in his hands, but that was not all. Michael focused True Extraction''s might on the tip of the Aethyr de and thrust the de toward the Matriarch''s chest.

    The Matriarch conjured arge ice shield before her, only to realize that the Aethyr de''s tip pierced neatly through it. The Aethyr de was coated in Enhancementyers, and Qi was already powerful, but True Extraction added a significant boost to the weapon''s piercing power.

    True Extraction extracted everything it touched, significantly decreasing the difficulty of piercing the ice shield. Unfortunately, that was still not enough to pierce through the entire shield. Merely, the Aethyr de''s tip managed to pierce the shield neatly. That was all Michael needed. He channeled a significant amount of fire-attributed energy through the Aethyr de while also tapping into the Elemental Empress'' power.

    The Aethyr de transformed into a zing de for a second until Michael unleashed thepressed mes through the de''s tip. He used Insert tobine True Extraction with the azure mes as they burst from the de, taking the Matriarch by surprise.

    She didn''t want to move but was forced to take a step to the side to neatly evade the stream of mes. Katharina Zenovia struck Michael with an ice sword she conjured in her hands, but Michael was nowhere to be seen again. Only his zing armor was left where he''d been standing a moment earlier.

    He appeared beside the Matriarch, his eyes glimmering dangerously. The Matriarch noticed a subtle change in Michael''s demeanor at this point. She grasped that Michael was angry and that he was having a hard time differentiating this fight from his life-and-death battles in the Origin Expanse.

    He was ready to fight with his life on the line. Even if his body had to crack and break, Michael would move onward because he thought that his life depended on it.

    ''Did I overdo it?'' Katharina Zenovia wondered, only to shrug lightly, "Cool down a little."

    Her voice was no more than a whisper, but the effect was enormous. A wave of ice engulfed Michael, nearly extinguishing the mes coating him instantly. The cone of ice shrouding Michael was highly resistant to mes and rapidly swallowed the heat surrounding it, threatening Michael and hispanion. Their lives were on the line the moment the ice cone engulfed them.

    Michael was forced to recall Zeroa into his body to ensure that she wouldn''t die instantly. The azure armor dispersed, and a big tattoo of the Elemental Empress formed on his arm.

    "You did very well. I was forced to take you seriously. That was better than expected," Katharina Zenovia acknowledged. ncing down at her feet, she sighed lightly. "You managed to make me move as well. That''s not something a Lesser Lifeform can do easily."

    Michael would have frowned if he could move his body, but he couldn''t even use True Extraction in the cone of ice at this moment. It felt like his entire being, including his soul, had been temporarily frozen.

    "That''s very arrogant to say as a mere Higher Lifeform," An unfamiliar voice resounded beside Michael.

    A young man with crimson hair and eyes appeared next to Michael. He pressed his fingertip gently against the ice cone, shattering it instantaneously with a light burst of white mes.

    The white mes washed over Michael, the horrendous heat taking him by surprise. Somehow, he expected to be swallowed alive and burned to a cinder within a second, but that didn''t happen. The mes flushed past him and retracted back into the crimson-haired guy''s finger without harming Michael.

    "Who are you?!" Katharina asked, her voice filled with vignce.

    She knew better than anyone how powerful the ice cone was. Even fellow Tier-6 Lords would have issues breaking out of the Eternal Ice Prison, like the guy in front of her.

    However, the guy didn''t pay any attention to her. Instead, he appraised Michael from head to toe.

    "So, you''re the one who killed those idiots who joined the righteous path? I thought Quinn and Raven exaggerated when their report about you reached me, but it looks like I was mistaken. I didn''t expect to find someone like you in a backwater gxy like this," The crimson-haired guy mumbled, the corners of his lips curling upward into a fiendish smile.

    He disappeared from Michael''s sight for a quarter of a second, causing him to tense up badly. He tried using Cosmic Stride to create some distance from the crimson-haired guy, but the Soultrait failed him.

    "Your teleportation Soultrait is useless right now," The crimson-

    haired man said, reappearing next to Michael. A white me flickered around his finger before leaping toward Michael''s chest. His Spirit Armor Set burned alongside his shirt near-

    instantaneously, revealing Michael''s well-built body.

    The crimson-haired man frowned deeply at first, only for repulsion to wash all over his face.

    "Two Curses with ess to several Seals. That''s a shame," He murmured, "I guessed that you had one Curse with one or two Seals, but that is a little bit too much. I wonder if you''ll survive Purgatory."

    Michael couldn''t help but feel a bit apprehensive about the crimson-haired guy. His look at the Cursed Seals and the Living Image of the World Serpents was overflowing with disgust.

    "What are you talking about?"

    The crimson guy shrugged lightly, his attention pulling to Michael''s golden eyes, "Not much. Just concentrate on yourself. I''m going to help you."

    "Help me?"

    Goosebumps spread all over Michael''s body.

    "I''m going to remove what tainted you. It''s a little bit dangerous, and you might die, but it''s worth the risk. Removing those disgusting Curses to free your Soul is necessary!"

    Michael''s mind went nk for a moment. He had no idea what was happening but could tell the crimson-haired guy was dangerous.

    "I will bring you to a better ce. The Supreme Human Alliance has been waiting for someone like you for a long time," The crimson-haired man exined, the devilish smile on his face widening, "All you have to do is endure the agony and survive."

    A instantter, white mes engulfed Michael. They didn''t hurt at first. Only when they invaded Michael''s body by tearing open his pores did the agony start.

    The world around Michael went white.

    Unbearable agony was all that followed alongside his desperate scream.

 Chapter 740 Purgatory

    Chapter 740 Purgatory

    ??740  Purgatory

    Michael had no idea how much time passed. He could only tell that his insides were torn apart and burned to a cinder. At least, that''s what it felt like as the white mes flooded his body.

    However, Michael was not the only one in pain. His Curse released a terrifying roar that resounded through his insides. Yet, instead of sounding menacingly, the Curse sounded in pain. Even the World Serpent wasn''t much different. It hissed in pain and wiggled around as if trying to escape the white mes.

    Michael could endure the pain. It tore him apart and threatened to kill him, but Michael was certain that he was familiar enough with pain to tell that he would survive. However, his brother was different. Even Danny''s Living Soul was affected by the white mes. It was unclear how the white mes managed to enter the Soul Grimoire, but they arrived at the Living Soul of his brother. That filled Michael''s heart with worry.

    Danny''s scream tore through Michael''s mind, affecting him severely. Michael didn''t even think twice as he allowed the Curse and the World Serpent to do whatever had to be done to get rid of the zing mes. Even if it would cost him a few body parts, Michael would sacrifice them without hesitation as long as the World Serpent of the Curse could keep Danny safe and sound.

    Every second felt like aeons as the pained screams swept through Michael''s entire being, but Michael calmed down just a little as he sensed that the World Serpent was about to use the opportunity to emerge and kill the crimson-haired man.

    In the meantime, the situation around Michael didn''t remain idle. The others didn''t remain idle as his pained scream swept through the surroundings. The War Priestess appeared before the crimson-haired man with her ive ready to sweep down and be drenched in blood. The Chieftain was also there alongside the Matriarchs of the Zenovia household and the Seraph family.

    They''d moved near simultaneously to stall the crimson-haired man and rescue Michael.

    Crimson, the crimson-haired guy, noted the attackers and red at the War Priestess with disgust. He didn''t retrieve the Purgatory mes that purified the corruption spreading through Michael. Instead, he lifted his other hand and manifested an Artifact. It was a simple-looking sword that didn''t attract too much attention. The flickering mes engulfing Michael were much more apparent.

    However, the Sword Artifact wasn''t as simple as it looked like. Not in Crimson''s hand, at least. He flicked and turned into a blur. Crimson disappeared from everyone''s sight for a quarter of a second before he returned, his Sword Artifact drenched in blood.

    The Seraph Matriarch observed that something was wrong at first. She was the most familiar with injuries and had a Soultrait that let her pinpoint the severity of wounds before they could be healed. Her healing method was highly efficient. Unfortunately, she had to sense a particr possibility that the wounded would survive. That wasn''t the case right now.

    The target''s probability of survival was 0%.

    She swallowed hard, her eyes falling upon the War Priestess, who suddenly slowed down. Her ive crashed to the ground, and her legs caved in without warning. The War Priestess had been about to attack Crimson viciously, only to copse to the ground, her arms slipping from her shoulder.

    Her arms had been severed with two simple strikes that followed rapid thrusts and slices into her chest and abdomen. The cuts were made with deadly precision, inflicting deep wounds into her vital organs before the attacks ended with a clean strike through the War Priestess'' throat.

    The War Priestess gaped for air, but nothing could be done anymore. Her body grew weaker by the second until she stopped moving altogether. The Leader of the Warlock Centaurs had been killed. She died just like that.

    Katharina Zenovia attempted to freeze the War Priestess to rescue her, but she was toote. Crimson flicked a small Purgatory me toward the lifeless body, burning the remnants alive without any qualms.

    It was only at this moment that everyone present realized that Crimson was on a different level than them. He was not a mere Higher Lifeform. The Purgatory mes and his movements were not something an Higher Lifeform could create. They were something only Divine Lifeforms were supposed to be capable of. Higher Lifeforms weren''t supposed to be this powerful.

    Crimson was not a Higher Lifeform. It had been an eternity since he crossed that threshold.

    He was already a Divine Lifeform!

    Crimson was overjoyed at the sight of the burning remnants of the disgusting creature that had been daring enough to attack him. His devilish smile would have widened even further if it hadn''t stretched from one ear to the other. His head flicked to the Zenovia and Seraph Matriarchs, and a small scowl stered his face all of a sudden.

    "Your minds have been corrupted. You cannot be salvaged anymore," He uttered in aversion before releasing two Purgatory mes toward the two powerful women of High Society.

    The two women attempted to retreat, but the Purgatory mes were faster. They arrived at the two women and began to burn the two women mercilessly. The mes expanded and were about to engulf the women when time slowed down.

    The fabric of space was torn open next to Katharina Zenovia, and darkness gushed out of it. The darkness lunged at the Purgatory mes, threatening to devour the women and engulf them. A fierce battle between the white Purgatory mes and the darkness ensued. The Purgatory mes looked like they were about to emerge victorious for a moment, but the darkness expanded as it drained the energy within the Purgatory mes.

    Katharina Zenovia and Giuliana Seraph slumped to the ground, their legs losing thest bits of energy residing within them. Their attention pulled to Michael, surrounded by tendrils of darkness that devoured the Purgatory mes coating him.

    He took a deep breath, and his legs were about to cave in after thest traces of the Purgatory mes had been drained, but he didn''t surrender to the desire to fall asleep. Instead, Michael materialized Archangel''s Grace alongside Heavenly Realm to swiftly tend to his wounds.

    He consumed thousands of SoulStar Fragments to tend to the Living Soul, which had been on the verge of burning into particles of ash and smoke. It was not enough to fully heal Danny, but the Living Soul was no longer in danger.

    A heavy sigh escaped Michael, whose entire being was overflowing with anger and wrath. However, now Michael wasn''t the only one angry. His Curse and the World Serpent were even angrier than Michael could ever be. Michael was, at least, capable of protecting himself with all his might. The Curse and the World Serpent were weakened drastically by being sealed within him.

    Even the World Serpent couldn''t tap into the full extent of its power while residing within Michael. However, manifesting its real body would attract too much attention. Beings it couldn''t handle after being injured woulde after it.

    The World Serpent couldn''t afford to show its true prowess.

    Fortunately, that was not necessary.

    Rescue had alreadye.

 Chapter 741 Nest to the Rescue I

    Chapter 741 Nest to the Rescue I

    ??Michael was forced to regain his senses quickly. Tending to the burns inflicted by the Purgatory mes was no problem, but the harm it did to the Living Soul and the connecting links between the Curses, World Serpent, and Michael weren''t something that could be mended easily.

    A few thousand SoulStar Fragments were consumed immediately, but that wasn''t enough to heal everything. It was sufficient to ensure the Living Soul wouldn''t sustain permanent damage. Also, Michael had to invest close to 100,000 SoulStar Fragments to reinforce the Soul Sphere.

    The Curse hibernating inside him was hard to calm down, but it wasn''t on the verge of tearing everything apart after the Soul Sphere had been mended and reinforced.

    [Kill that bastard!] The World Serpentmanded, [I can lend you some power. Tear him apart!]

    Michael would have loved to obey the World Serpent''smand, but he knew that his body wouldn''t be able to handle it. It was already too much for his body when he used Foundation Break, Enhancement, Heavenly Beast Physique, and the Serpent Sealsbined. If his body hadn''t torn apart, Michael would have added more Enhancementyers and used Soul Tears to strengthen Sacred Constitution and Enhancement.

    Unfortunately, Michael was still not a Higher Lifeform. He couldn''t put even more pressure on his body without actually killing himself.

    [I want him dead as well~] Zeroa dered all of a sudden.

    Michael had forgotten about the Elemental Empress because she hadn''t been affected by the Purgatory mes. Fortunately, nothing happened to her. She was not immune to all kinds of fires, but most mes barely harmed her, even the fire that burned through souls.

    A white me conjured around his left arm right after Zeroa eximed, but she extinguished the me quickly when Michael flinched.

    [Did I hurt you?]

    ''That was you?'' Michael''s eyes narrowed to a slit. He didn''t expect the Elemental Empress to be capable of manifesting Purgatory mes. Wasn''t mythical fire all she could conjure?

    ''Do that again.''

    The Elemental Empress did asmanded. The tattoo that represented her was set on fire, flickering in white glowing mes¡ªCrimson''s Purgatory mes!

    Michael swallowed hard but couldn''t focus on Zeroa''s replication of the Purgatory mes. He couldn''t be sure whether the Purgatory mes were replicated or if she gained the ability to create Purgatory mes by devouring and analyzing Crimson''s mes. One way or another, the Elemental Empress didn''t sustain any harm and managed to develop Purgatory mes.

    ''Good job. That will be useful in the future!'' Michael praised Zeroa before his attention was pulled to the neers.

    After so long, Michael saw his mother again. Evalynn Fang returned.

    She levitated in the air, her eyes glued to Crimson. A deep scowl decorated her wrath-filled face. A dozen ck Curses manifested all over her right arm. They covered her entire arm and released a dark, oozing mist that spread everywhere. The fabric of space pulled and twisted around the dark mist, but nothing else happened. Only when Evalynn willed the dark mist did the scenery around her change drastically.

    The fabric of space tore apart, and the dark mist transformed into ck daggers, sabers, other objects, and tentacles. The objects and tentacles disappeared into the fabric of space and appeared around Crimson. The des pierced into his body, whereas the tentacles lunged at Crimson. They coiled around him and restrained him.

    "That''s cute," Crimson responded to the attack with a smile. He flexed his muscles and released a strong burst of energy to rip the des and tentacles into shreds. He was bleeding from the cuts he''d sustained but continued smiling as the Purgatory mes washed over him.

    Crimson stopped bleeding, and the cuts healed instantly.

    "I didn''t expect to find another Curse User here," He said, only for his attention to pull to Micheal, "Well, I should have expected another Curse User here. That kid is not normal. It would have been weird if the Nest didn''t find him yet."

    He conjured hundreds of spears, daggers, and sabers from Purgatory mes around him and shrugged lightly, "But then again. Finding a Cursed Child who hasn''t lost his sanity after essing so many Seals as a Lesser Lifeform doesn''t make sense. He shouldn''t have gained ess to his Curses long yet. His control is insignificant."

    "I can still cleanse him. The Pariat will reward me generously when they hear I removed the corruption in one of our lost children!"

    The white des around Crimson whizzed toward Evalynn Fang as he began cackling.

    "I don''t think you''re going to be alive long enough to meet anyone from the Pariat again," An unfamiliar voice rang out beside Evalynn.

    Evalynn Fang was just about to call upon her Curse''s power to deal with the Purgatory me projectiles when the source of the unfamiliar voice manifested.

    A silver sheen filled the area before and around Evalynn. It transformed into a semi-translucent shield that swallowed the Purgatory me projectiles before they could reach Evalynn. The shieldpressed and changed shape. It transformed rapidly into something that looked like a mix of a ballistae and a medieval cannon. A massive white bolt made from thepressed Purgatory me projectiles formed in the barrel of the ballistae-cannon mix.

    Michael''s eyes widened as Spirit Eyes determined how much energy was stored inside the projectile. He swallowed hard and watched as the bolt was released upon Crimson.

    Crimson''s eyes narrowed to a slit, but a faint smile blossomed on his face.

    A burst of energy erupted from his body. His muscles bulged, and an eerily red hue coated his entire body. The area around him decayed. It was torn apart simrly that the True Extraction Domain tore apart the surroundings when Michael went all out.

    However, instead of removing everythingyer byyer, the red huepressed everything instantaneously.

    The ground cracked and broke open. Nothing was safe as Crimson unleashed his power to the fullest. He grasped his de tightly and stomped on the ground with the left, breaking everything apart.

    Several deep fissures passed through the ground but neither Crimson nor the unknown man who''d appeared next to Evalynn cared about the damage their presence caused. The coteral damage of their presence was nothing new to them. After all, they were both Divine Lifeforms. An ordinary in a backwater gxy was not supposed to endure the might of two Divine Lifeforms fighting with all their might.

    The disy of power bewitched Michael. The white bolt was released and whizzed through the air with a velocity that Michael could barely perceive after he''d used several Enhancementyers on Spirit Eyes.

    Releasing the white bolt required sufficient force to create a shockwave that whipped everyone in the vicinity from their feet. Not even the Berserker Chieftain was strong enough to withstand it. And that was only the shockwave of the actual attack.

    The bolt cut through the howling air and reached Crimson a quarter of a second after the assault had been released. That wouldn''t have been enough time for any Higher Lifeform to move. However, Crimson continued smiling.

    Everything Michael saw was a blur, and a slight change in Crimson''s stance.

    In the next second, the fissure in the ground tore further apart. The fissures didn''t stop as they reached the nearest mountain range and city. They wreaked through the mountain range and destroyed the city.

    Yet, Crimson remained where he was. He smiled and ignored the two holes that appeared to his left and right, where the split bolt had pierced after Crimson cut them in half.

    [Did you see that?] Danny asked quietly.

    Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t answer. His mind went vacant at the exchange of the Divine Lifeforms.

    How long would it take for him to grow this strong?

    Michael couldn''t wait anymore. His heart beat wildly. He wanted to grow stronger as promptly as possible.

    But for that, he would have to survive. That was easier expressed than done with two Divine Lifeforms colliding before him.

    Michael''s eyes traveled next to his Mother, where he could finally make out a man.

    A burly, middle-aged man with long silver hair, azure-blue eyes, and arge scar that spanned from the mid-section of his face down to his neck stood there, calmly inspecting the situation below.

    He noticed Michael''s gaze and graced him with a wink.

    Watch and see!

 Chapter 742 Nest to the Rescue II

    Chapter 742 Nest to the Rescue II

    ??"I didn''t expect you to be daring enough to leave your little hunting grounds so soon. Don''t you remember what happenedst time you left, Bloodhound?" The silver-haired man standing next to Evalynn asked Crimson.

    Crimson, known as Bloodhound, smirked at the sight of the silver-haired man.

    "I remember everything, but I think you are having problems remembering what happened, Eren Long. Does the scar still hurt?"

    Bloodhound cackled at the sight of the silver-haired man, Eren, and stared holes into him as Eren''s expression distorted.

    "I killed two of you while protecting a Cursed Child. I don''t think a small scar can be considered a loss," Eren snorted, but Bloodhound continuedughing.

    "Yeah? Did your little Cursed Child survive then?" He asked, hitting Eren Long''s sore spot.

    The atmosphere changed drastically mere moments after their short chat ended. The tension increased enough to pull on the fabric of space, twisting it in various ways wherever the presence of the two Divine Lifeforms ovepped. Sparks erupted, dazzling the people involuntarily pulled into the battle of genuine powerhouses.

    Everyone tried to pull back slowly, but it was not like they were safe and sound in the city. Bloodhound destroyed a portion of the nearest city''s outskirts by cutting the projectile that had been fired at him. He didn''t even try to harm the surrounding mountain range or the city, yet he nearly destroyed both simultaneously.

    [I''m not sure whether to be happy that the Supreme Human Alliance arrived alongside the Nest or if that''s our death sentence.] Danny mumbled in Michael''s mind.

    After the Purgatory mes reached him, Danny''s Living Soul didn''t stop trembling. He was afraid to be torn apart by them, and Michael couldn''t hold him ountable for that. It was not like he hadn''t been afraid when the white mes tore his insides apart in an attempt to remove his Curses¡­and get rid of Danny.

    It had been unbearable for him already. Michael couldn''t imagine how Danny must have felt.

    [Just kill that Bloodhound jerk!] The World Serpent thundered in Michael''s mind.

    The Curse issued a terrifying roar in agreement.

    Michael was not sure how he was supposed to kill a Divine Lifeform, but he also wanted to get rid of Bloodhound. He had killed the War Priestess and had been about to exterminate Danny. Bloodhound would have killed everyone if not for Eren and Evalynn''s timely arrival.

    Eren descended to the ground, coated in a thick silver hue. The silver hue expanded in Bloodhound''s direction and was about to swallow him when Bloodhound reinforced the blood-red hue, shrouding him. The corner of his lips curled upward as he brandished his Sword Artifact. He kicked the ground, leaving behind a crater in the earth.

    Bloodhound reached Eren at once and shed the other Divine Lifeform. Even now, Eren didn''t manifest a weapon. Instead, a silver shield conjured around the back of his left hand. His silver hue shrouded the shield, which expanded slightly in response. Bloodhound''s Sword Artifact was coated in white purgatory mes and a blood-red hue, yet the first two attacks didn''t manage to break through Eren''s defenses.

    Michael could barely follow their exchange. All of a sudden, both Eren and Bloodhound elerated. The earth around them cracked and burst apart as Bloodhound issued tens of attacks in a second. Eren managed to block all attacks with the silver shield, but he didn''t remain passive for long.

    Something in Eren''s eyes changed. The azure-blue eyes had transformed into a silver elliptical shape that allowed Eren to see better and react faster. From Michael''s point of view, it looked like Eren reacted to Bloodhound''s attacks even before Bloodhound issued the onught of shes, cuts, and thrusts. But, of course, Michael could hardly make out anything in the mess of blurry figures and debris.

    At some point, a scimitar appeared in Eren''s hand, whereas Bloodhound retrieved a small dagger.

    In the next 30 seconds, the Divine Lifeforms managed to move to the mountain range and destroy it. Humongous rocks were hurled in all directions, destroying everything in their path as they smashed into the ground. Nearby buildings were damaged, and innocent citizens were crushed to death.

    Michael would have worried about the citizens if he didn''t have to be careful to ensure his survival. A single de beam, projectiles, or any other attack issued by the Divine Lifeforms would also result in his death.

    Eren and Bloodhound caused considerable damage to each other, but they looked simrly strong for a while. That was until silver scales shrouded his body. Eren stopped blocking Bloodhound''s attacks. They impacted heavily on his scale armor but didn''t manage to cut through the armor in one swoop.

    Bloodhound groaned in annoyance the moment he saw the silver armor. Unfortunately, Eren was not yet done. His body expanded by over 30 centimeters, and his ears grew into lengthy, pointed ears covered in scales. His clothes tore apart, revealing a set of growing wings jutting out of his shoulder des.

    [Curse Manifestation] The World Serpent uttered without providing any exnation.

    Michael could already guess what that meant, but he couldn''t be certain. It would be great if his guess was correct, though.

    [And a stronger Soullife Arts] Danny added after observing a subtle change in Eren''s stance through Spirit Eyes.

    Eren changed from defending against Bloodhound to attacking aggressively. He conjured various projectiles around him and pushed forward, bashing his barrier into Bloodhound''s face before cutting him deeply with the conjurations circling him and the scimitar.

    Bloodhound suffered several heavy blows, but he didn''t bleed. The cuts were clearly visible, but not a single trace of blood escaped his body anymore. Bloodhound decided it was time to also use one of his special techniques.

    [Primordial Bloodline. That''s one of the strongest techniques of the Supreme Human Alliance and also the reason Hyumans are so obsessed with purity. The stronger your bloodline and the ''purer'', the stronger Primordial Bloodline''s effect. Bloodhound burns through his blood to amplify his prowess drastically for a short period. If he has a high mastery of Primordial Bloodline, he should be able to amplify his prowess by more than ten times for thirty seconds.]

    The mountain range was razed to the ground. It transformed into a massive crater spanning several kilometers.

    Eren and Bloodhound engaged in a fierce, closebat fight once again. Eren had to start blocking Bloodhound''s attacks again because his silver-scale armor wasn''t resilient enough anymore. Nheless, Eren wasn''t going to be overwhelmed. Michael could only see that Eren did something with the power controlling the silver hue, but he had no idea what it was.

    It strengthened him, but there was also something else. Michael had no idea.

    In the next twenty seconds, Eren and Bloodhound wounded each other several times, but nobody managed to overwhelm the other side. However, it was only a matter of seconds before Bloodhound''s Primordial Bloodline would wear off.

    [I believed he was a powerhouse, but this Bloodhound is just a pawn of the Supreme Human Alliance. A little guy who thinks too highly of himself for his good.] The World Serpent snickered while pouring his power into Michael, just like his Curse.

    As if Bloodhound heard what the World Serpent said, he turned around to change his targets.

    If he couldn''t capture Michael, it might as well be better to kill him first.

    Bloodhound removed himself from Eren smoothly and charged at Michael''s position.

    Eren''s eyes narrowed to a slit. He''d made a mistake¡­again¡­

    ''Fuck!''

 Chapter 743 Curse Amplification

    <h4>Chapter 743 Curse Amplification</h4>

    Eren had been focusing on Bloodhound. The wild instincts ravaging through his body, thanks to Curse Manifestation, didn''t affect him much. However, his Curse''s instincts were potent enough to influence his mind to a certain extent.

    Eren gained tremendous strength, enough to fight on par with the Hyumans who''d practiced the Primordial Bloodline technique to the peak. Still, the downside was that his mind focused solely on his enemies as long as the strongest form of Curse Manifestation was unleashed.

    He narrowly missed the moment Bloodhound decided to change his target to hunt down Michael. Even though Bloodhound would prefer to purify Michael and bring him to the Parliat, where his talent would be assessed and his starting position in the ranks of the Supreme Human Alliance determined, he didn''t have an issue killing Michael either.

    It was better to kill a future enemy if he couldn''t salvage him anymore.

    However, just as Bloodhound was about to cut Michael in half, he noticed that the young Cursed Child was nowhere to be seen. His head flicked left and right to find the Cursed Child, but Bloodhound couldn''t find him. He only sensed him as he released his energy explosively in all directions.

    His head shot upward, and his eyes widened as something high in the sky attracted his attention. A humongous mass of energy assembled in a single point high above him.

    "You shouldn''t have attacked my brother and my Curses, you motherfucker!" Michael bellowed, his voice traveling through the perimeters.

    Suddenly, Michael appeared behind Bloodhound with a mass of congregated energy at his fingertip. The World Serpent had used its power to conceal Michael as he gathered the purified energy of 1,000 Superior Energy Stones and thousands of Common Energy Stones in a True Extraction Globe. It also concealed Michael''s use of Cosmic Stride, making it near impossible for Bloodhound to sense Michael as he appeared behind him. It reinforced the True Extraction Globe to ensure that it wouldn''t erupt before the time was ripe.

    However, the World Serpent wasn''t the only creature helping Michael to beat the shit out of Bloodhound. The Curse coursing through Michael''s entire being supported him as well. It altered the True Extraction Globe and reinforced it before channeling its energy into it.

    The golden globe shone brighter than ever. Several vein-like threads ¨C ck and golden ¨C passed through the True Extraction Globe, further enhancing it in every possible way.

    To Michael''s misery, Bloodhound spun around much faster than expected. Michael had witnessed the fight of the Divine Lifeforms, but it was something else to watch and be part of. He ended up underestimating Bloodhound, whose Sword Artifact glimmered dangerously in the morning sun.

    However, before the Sword Artifact could reach him, the fabric of space around it tore open and swallowed its de. Tentacles of darkness shot out of the torn fabric in space to coil around the Sword Artifact and swallow it whole. Bloodhound squinted in anger and was just about to destroy the darkness tentacles when a silver sheen coated them. Eren might not be fast enough to appear physically before Michael, but the time he had was just sufficient to manifest several serpents made from silver energy. They coiled around Bloodhound alongside the darkness tentacles and restrained Bloodhound for a quarter of a second.

    That was all Michael needed to unleash the True Extraction Globe that had been manifested with thebined efforts of his Curses.

    They were just as enraged about Bloodhound''s actions as Michael. It was time to get revenge!

    He released the True Extraction Globe and smashed it straight into Bloodhound''s face, then released the seals that had contained the globe''s power.

    Michael used Cosmic Stride the moment he willed the seals to break open and appeared behind Eren. He had no idea how powerful the True Extraction Globe was going to be. However, Michael sensed the might that had been poured into it. After all, the World Serpent and his Curse had to channel their power through his body once to reach the True Extraction Globe.

    As the True Extraction Globe exploded, everything was coated with vibrant gold. The explosion was eerily silent. It was almost as if nothing special happened. But that was only until the first spectators noticed that there were no sounds at all. There was nothing. Not a single noise of the howling wind, the rubble and debris being hurled through the surroundings, or the cacophony of nature''s chaos that had resounded through the surroundings even as the Divine Lifeforms fought.

    There was nothing until a single scream echoed through the vicinity. Then, everything was silent once again.

    The dazzling golden light that swept through the vicinity retracted not even ten seconds after it expanded explosively. It retracted, revealing the destruction caused by a fingertip-sized True Extraction Globe after an angry Curse and a killer World Serpent had amplified it.

    Nothing was left behind. Everything that came in contact with the golden light was devoured. This included the grass des that had once covered the ground, the oxygen in the air, and a ginormous mass of earth that fell victim to the exchange of the powerhouses. A piece ofnd the size of a town was no more.

    The only thing that remained was Bloodhound.

    His body was torn into shreds. He was still in one piece, which was surprising after the True Extraction Globe exploded in his face, but Michael was fairly sure that Bloodhound was on the verge of death.

    Michael nced at Eren, "Are you not going to finish him?"

    Michael could barely stay conscious at this point. He was d that Eren was there to kill Bloodhound, but the silver-haired man shook his head as a purple cocoon formed around Bloodhound. The threads of the cocoon emerged from an inconspicuous object, an Artifact, to be precise.

    "I can''t kill Bloodhound, but he won''t be able toe back for a long time," Eren said, keeping his attention on the tiny Artifact.

    "Why can''t you kill him?" Michael didn''t understand.

    "The Artifact that activated itself just now is a Divine Artifact of the Mythical grade. It''s a one-time-use item called Safe Return. Safe Return''s effects are triggered when the User is about to die. It grants Invulnerability for 10 seconds before bringing the User back to his home or the ce he anchored instead."

    "So he is invulnerable right now and will be teleported¡­

    somewhere¡­" Michael asked, a heavy sigh escaping his lips, "That''s shit."

    Eren nodded, "It''s surprising that Bloodhound has such an expensive item. He must have saved a long time for it. But then again, I doubt that he wanted to use it today, otherwise, he would have gone all-out against me."

    Michael elevated an eyebrow, "He didn''t go all out?"

    "Neither did I."

    Michael''s eyes widened.

    "You like this, don''t you?" Eren smirked at Michael.

    "I guess?"

    That''s why I didn''t go all out. Bloodhound knew that I wouldn''t go all out with so many innocent people around, and he didn''t go all out, either. He knows that I''m stronger than him and that it will be difficult for him to overpower me. I guess he wanted to take me by surprise earlier.

    ''So they can annihtes. Great.''

    Michael could only shrug. He figured that he wasn''t all that potent yet. The universe was full of monsters.

    A loud crack resounded through the vicinity, and the Bloodhound, coated in a purple cocoon, disappeared.

    "Good job. You are not half bad," Eren said, but Michael could only sigh deeply.

    "Yeah, I did a good job¡­ attracting the Supreme Human Alliance''s attention. Yay."

 Chapter 744 Regeneration

    Chapter 744 Regeneration

    ??While it was great that Bloodhound was nowhere close to the Tritan Alliance anymore, nobody felt reassured. Everyone thought the Supreme Human Alliance couldn''t reach their backwater gxy yet. Obviously, that was not the entire truth.

    A Divine Lifeform of the Supreme Human Alliance managed to reach the Tritan Alliance and kill the War Priestess of the Warlock Centaur race, only to nearly eliminate the Berserker Chieftain, Katharina Zenovia, and Giuliana Seraph as well.

    Michael also survived only by a hair''s breadth. He might have looked confident, but it was not like he could have done anything against a Divine Lifeform without his Curse and the World Serpent. Even then, Michael nearly died. His Curse could only use this much power, and the World Serpent had to conceal its power to hide from something. Michael was still not too sure what exactly the World Serpent was hiding.

    Maybe the World Serpent told him before, but Michael''s mind was too befuddled to register any names or organizations. He only remembered that the World Serpent was trying to hide from something Primal, whatever that meant.

    It wasn''t like he had the luxury of thinking about the World Serpent''s issues. Michael was struggling to stay awake right now. The True Extraction Globe was at fault for that¡ªto be precise, the things the True Extraction Globe did to him right after he destroyed the seals that contained the energy amassed within it.

    At first, he had been certain that Cosmic Stride had moved him away from the center of the explosion fast enough. Now, Michael learned he wasn''t fast enough ¨C though barely. The True Extraction Globe hit him a fraction of a millisecond before Cosmic Stride pulled him to Eren.

    Michael looked down at his body and groaned in pain.

    [Michael! What the hell happened to you?!?]

    He forced himself to smile.

    ''I was just a little bit unlucky.''

    The True Extraction Globe dissected his arms. It took only a fraction of a millisecond to dissect his arm, leaving merely a stump attached to his shoulders. Blood gushed out of the stumps, and it didn''t look like he would stop bleeding anytime soon.

    "Kid. Are you fine?" Eren asked when he realized that Michael''s arms were missing. He retrieved a potion from his War Rune storage and fed it to him, "If we were in the Nest, I would have asked Betzi to heal you right away. But out here¡­I don''t know if anyone here has the techniques required to regenerate your arms in perfect condition."

    Michael felt a flood of energy and nutrients spreading through his body. They reached every corner and slowed the bleeding from his arm stumps.

    His mind cleared up, and the pain dispersed as well.

    "That''s a good potion," He murmured, essing the energy that flooded his body to manifest the Soul Grimoire. He used a Soul Tear on the Soultrait Shard of Archangel''s Grace and Enhancement before using 10 Enhancementyers on Archangel''s Grace. The focus on Enhancement was on its regeneration trait, amplifying it drastically.

    Atst, Michael unleashed Archangel''s Grace, manifesting a pair of glowing wings alongside a miniature Archangel, which levitated before Michael. The Soul Technique Heavenly Realm was unleashed to the fullest andpressed to apply only to Michael''s arms ¨C or what was left.

    Another Soul Tear was used on Sacred Constitution, further amplifying his high natural regeneration.

    Michael closed his eyes and let his Soultraits work. The energy and nutrients inside him were drained rapidly. He had to retrieve a bunch of High Nutrient Solutions and Energy Stones to replenish the used-up nutrients, but that was fine. It didn''t matter that the amount of resources he consumed was immense. It was necessary to regenerate his limbs, which was more than just a little bit important.

    His arm stumps itched, but that was expected. His arms were regrowing.

    The Serpent Seals were suddenly triggered, drastically enhancing Michael''s physical traits. Oddly enough, his natural regeneration was boosted more than usual.

    ''Thanks,'' Michael said to the World Serpent, but it remained silent.

    Eren stared at Michael, his eyes furrowed deeply. The potion he''d provided Michael was supposed to help him regenerate his arms in the future, but that wasn''t enough to heal him suddenly. Yet, Michael''s arms regenerated right before him at a breathtaking pace.

    ''Is it because he''s still a Lesser Lifeform? His body is not thatplex yet. Maybe¡­'' Eren thought, tilting his head as he continued inspecting Michael''s healing process.

    Once he was done healing, Michael inspected his arms. His attention lingered on the Elemental Empress'' tattoo. Zeroa had not spoken to him since he had lost his arms, which made him worry a little bit, even though Michael knew that the Elemental Empress wasn''t dead. She was just stored deeper inside him after he had lost his arms.

    Now that his arms were back, Michael checked on the Elemental Empress and tested whether his movements were restrained in any way.

    Fortunately, that wasn''t the case. Everything was how it was supposed to be.

    Now, it was time for Eren to be shocked. Evalynn didn''t tell him much about her son. She only mentioned that she had another son and that she was hiding him. When Danny died, Evalynn had been forced to expose Daniel Fang''s existence. Until that day, the Nest had been certain that Hesta Fang was the only descendant of Fenrir''s Curse. However, that wasn''t the case.

    First, there was Daniel Fang, an average Cursed Child, who didn''t attract much attention.

    Now, Michael appeared out of nowhere.

    Evalynn Fang would have to defend her foolish actions before Nest''s Elders once they returned, but that could wait. Eren had to get to know Michael first. After all, Michael Fang seemed much different from the rest of the Fenrir bloodline. It looked like he was the first in centuries to inherit the real Curse.

    That could turn into a big problem if Michael''s issues were left unattended.

    At least, that was usually the case, especially with Children who gained ess to their Curse before ascending to a Higher Lifeform. That rarely happened, and it was even less likely that those children would end well.

    But Eren could tell that Michael didn''t have the problems young Curse Users ought to have. That didn''t make sense, or did it? He recalled that Evalynn informed him all issues with the Hellbound Cataclysm had been solved and that there was no need to worry about it anymore. She seemed happy at that time as well, but only did it make sense.

    ''You shouldn''t have attacked my brother and my Curses, you motherfucker!'' Michael said right before attacking Bloodhound. It didn''t seem logical initially because Danny was dead, but everything began to make sense as the puzzle pieces came together.

    "You consumed your brother''s Curse without killing him. He''s with you," Eren concluded with intrigue.

    Michael''s Curses aided him. That was rare for a Rookie as most grappled to gain control of their Curse.

    Eren appeared behind Michael and touched the Living Image of the World Serpent.

    "That is marvelous!"

    The older Curse User inspected Michael intently.

    "Five golden Cursed Seals and two darkish-green Cursed Seals. And you have multiple Soultraits," he swallowed hard.

    Michael intercepted before Eren grew too excited, "I call the darkish-green Cursed Seals Serpent Seals because of the moving image on my back. The other seals are ordinary Cursed Seals."

    "Whatever," Eren waved his hand dismissively, his full attention lingering on Michael.

    "This is perfect!"

 Chapter 745 Misunderstanding?

    Chapter 745 Misunderstanding?

    ??Eren inspected Michael''s Curses for a long time, but there was more to it. Without warning, he pressed his hands against Michael''s back and poured some of his silver energy inside.

    Michael stiffened and tried to move aside. Unfortunately, Eren''s silver energy channeling into him restrained his movements. The World Serpent hissed in Michael''s mind and deactivated the Serpent Seals to enter temporary hibernation. Nobody could sense the World Serpent''s physical body within Michael for a few minutes. All they could feel was that there was a ginormous serpent ¨C a Curse ¨C inside him.

    Eren retracted his energy after a while, releasing Michael once again.

    "What the hell was that about?!" Michael asked in anger, but Eren merely smiled.

    "I noticed something and wanted to check it out," He pointed out, taking Michael by surprise.

    ''Did he sense the World Serpent?''

    Michael was unsure if he had to hide the World Serpent from the Nest as well, but since the World Serpent concealed itself, he figured he should help it a little bit. The World Serpent had already helped him a lot.

    "Is asking for permission that difficult? You can do whatever you want because you are strong enough. I understand that sentiment. However, just because you''re a Divine Lifeform doesn''t mean you should do whatever you want, especially not if you want to establish an amiable connection," He cursed quietly.

    Eren didn''t respond to Michael''sints. He merely studied the young Lesser Lifeform with a tinge of curiosity before he said, "You have the Essences of other races inside you. Your Subordinates must trust you a lot if they''re willing to split their Essences with you."

    The Supreme Human ALliance could remove Michael''s Curses and ept him into their rows, but they would loathe him for epting the Essences of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It tarnished his bloodline and transformed him into an enemy of the Supreme Human Alliance. The Essence that strengthened Michael would turn him into a target of the Supreme Human Alliance ¨C if his Curses were not enough reason to hunt him down now that Bloodhound failed to purge them.

    "Is that a problem?" Michael asked, his eyes narrowed to a slit.

    "Of course not. It''s rather beneficial for the Nest. We know that you won''t switch sides. After all, the Supreme Human Alliance would never ept you," Eren smiled at Michael, who nodded slowly.

    "That makes sense¡­I guess," He mumbled, "But why is someone from the Nest here in the first ce? I took care of Danny''s Curse early enough. There shouldn''t be a reason for anyone toe here. The Curse has been removed from the Living Soul and devoured by my Curses right after. I have enough control of my Curses as well. I don''t think I need the Nest."

    Michael couldn''t hide his prejudice against the Nest. They might have helped his sister when she ascended to a Higher Lifeform¡ªMichael was unsure about that¡ªbut their actions tore his family apart. Of course, his parents were also at fault for that since they didn''t bring him and his brother to the Nest either. That didn''t mean only one party was at fault. Both the Nest and their parents were at fault for the brothers'' suffering.

    Thinking about his mother, Michael red at Evalynn, who''d arrived beside him and Eren a few seconds ago. She''d helped the victims of the chaos and destruction, ensuring that the casualty rate wouldn''t increase any further. It would be a shame if more people died. The casualty rate was already too high in the first ce.

    "Danny was waiting to talk to you for months, but you disappeared just like that. You''re really the wo¨C..." Michael couldn''t finish his sentence because Eren intervened.

    "That''s the Nest''s fault. Please don''t me your mother for leaving like that. She had to pick me up from a little bit further away. Traveling through the universe is difficult, especially into a tiny gxy like this. The energy density in this ce is not high enough to execute an urate long-distance teleportation," He tried to exin, but Michael continued frowning deeply. He wasn''t busying Eren''s excuses.

    "It would have been easier if I had been to this ce before, but since that wasn''t the case until a few weeks ago, we had to adjust the coordinates. Teleporting through time and space is not that easy if¨C...Well, that doesn''t really matter right now. What matters is that it was our fault that your mother had to leave. Probably both times, in fact."

    "So?" Michael asked sharply, "Does that mean my family couldn''t have left behind some notes or any kind of exnation? Let''s say I understand the first time everyone left without me and my brother, who was way too young to be forced to mature and raise his younger brother, BY THE WAY, what about the second time? A short message saying ''I have to do something. I will be back in a few months.'' is that difficult? Even if the Geas restricts her from mentioning stuff about the Nest and such, she could have sent a message!"

    Eren''s lips parted for an answer, but they closed quickly as Michael took a deep breath to continue.

    "As for the Nest, I still don''t know what you guys are doing here or why you epted my parents into the Nest alongside Hesta but left us behind. Or do you want to tell me that my parents left us behind for real?"

    "We usually don''t ept ordinary Awakened. Your Father was an exception because your Grandfather trained him. That doesn''t exin why you couldn''te to the Nest, but we didn''t even know that you or your brother existed until we picked up the awakening of your Curse and the Hellbound Cataclysm started by your brother," Eren exined.

    "Great informationwork," Michael murmured in ridicule, only for his head to flick to his Mother.

    Evalynn Fang had no idea what she was supposed to say right now. She had so much to exin but couldn''t find the right words to say.

    "My Father, your grandfather¡­ He trained me and your father in a very¡­unique way¡­ He always said that he came from the Nest and that the Nest was a lot harsher than he was. He always said I should be happy that I had him by his side and that the Nest didn''te for me. I¡­was scared when the Nest appeared to take Hesta¡­ I was too weak to block them, so¨C...."

    [So you went with the Nest while trying to hide that we exist. You were afraid that the Nest would take us as well and that they would torture us. Is that it?] Danny asked all of a sudden, using Whispering Energy.

    His control of Whispering Energy was not that great just yet. Thus, he spoke in the minds of Michael, Evalynn, and Eren simultaneously.

    "D-danny?!" Evalynn asked, her voice breaking down as tears gathered in her eyes.

    "I thought that they were going to hurt you. I¡­couldn''t return to tell you I had to leave. It would have exposed my home and your existence. I know that I could''ve have stayed behind as well, but leaving Hesta alone with the Nest was not something I couldn''t do either. Hesta might have been an adult, but she has always been my little baby. If I could help her just a little bit by being next to her while the Nest harmed her¡­I thought¡­"

    Evalynn broke down, but Eren rolled his eyes. He looked at Michael, whose attention was pulled away from his mother as well.

    "Your grandfather was a powerful man, but he was obsessed with your mother and the continuance of the Fenrir bloodline. He wouldn''t allow anyone from the Nest toe for aid. I guess that''s why he exaggerated how ''bad'' the Nest is. Of course, that doesn''t mean we aren''t strict and that our training doesn''t hurt. But I guess you understand how hard it is to learn how to control your Curse. You have to learn to control your Curse in every possible situation. That requires training ¨C special training."

    Michael frowned deeply, "So¡­it was all a misunderstanding?"

    Eren scrunched his nose for a moment and shrugged.

    "The Nest is a ce for all Cursed Children and Curse Users. We protect their families as well if they need protection. We rescue Cursed Children who awaken their Curses without any preparations. That''s why we picked up Hesta. If your grandfather was still alive, he would have taken care of Hesta. s, he died a while ago. We had to interfere to protect your sister."

    He nced at Evalynn, his lips pressed together tightly.

    "The rest, I don''t know. Whether you misunderstood your Mother''s intention or if you grasped it properly is not my business."

    It was the first time Michael had heard anyone speak about their grandfather. For a long time, he had been certain that their family was nothing special. He believed the Curse existed, but he hadn''t believed much about it¡ªat least, that was until he manifested his War Rune.

    Everything changed after his 18th birthday.

    His parents were powerhouses stronger than most members of High Society, and his grandfather was said to be a powerful man. Hearing that from someone like Eren meant that his grandfather had been really powerful.

    [What a mess.] Danny cursed in Michael''s mind as he organized and digested the new information.

    ''You don''t say,'' Michael stated in his mind, rubbing his temples, trying to figure out whether to trust everything his Mother had said or continue doubting her.

    [If you cannot trust her¡­ just read her Mind. What''s the issue with that?] The World Serpentmented, attracting the brothers'' attention.

    ''Wouldn''t that be a bit¡­too much?'' Michael asked, but the World Serpent didn''t care regarding his moralpass.

    [Does it matter whether you simr_to it or not? If you desire information, you ask her to reveal everything. If she rejects your request, you can decide whether to trust her or remain suspicious of her real intentions.]

 Chapter 746 Understood

    Chapter 746 Understood

    ??After some back and forth, Michael decided to ask his mother if he could read her mind. It didn''t sit right with him, but he wanted toplete this part of his part. Michael wanted to believe his mother. Unfortunately, her actions weren''t exactly trustworthy. Therefore, Mind Reader had to be used.

    The brothers felt bad, but both wanted to know the truth. It was important enough for them to ignore their moralpass for a while.

    Fortunately, Evalynn Fang epted Michael''s request. She was stupefied at first and a little bit angry, but she also sensed an opportunity to correct what had gone wrong in the past.

    Michael used a Soul Tear on Mind Reader before applying several Enhancementyers on the Soultrait Symbol. After that, he began reading his mother''s mind for a while.

    Entering her mind wasn''t that easy. As a being close to ascending to a Divine Lifeform, Evalynn Fang''s mind was naturally more refined than others. Most ordinary mental attacks wouldn''t cause any harm to her. She had to lower her guard intentionally so that Michael could use Mind Reader properly.

    Once he was inside her mind, it was much easier to read her thoughts. Evalynn Fang tried hiding some things, but Michael heard everything she thought. He subtly altered the train of thought with specific questions, unraveling doubts that had gued the brothers'' minds for a long time.

    Michael learned a lot about his grandfather. He was a strict man who didn''t allow his disciple and daughter to do anything he didn''t permit. Even as romantic feelings blossomed between Evalynn Fang and her father''s disciple, they had to wait until her father gave her permission before they could be officially together.

    Their training was difficult, but they overcame all of their ordeals with hard work and growing power.

    Michael switched to the time after his grandfather''s death. Decadester, Hesta, Daniel, and Michael were born. He read his mother''s mind as the years passed. She was happy. It was almost like nothing in the universe could shatter her happiness. That was until Hesta showed signs of awakening before ascending to a Higher Lifeform.

    Hesta did, in fact, not awaken her Curse before ascending to a Higher Lifeform, but it was obvious that her awakening would be brutal. Evalynn and Peter Fang tried to gather all the necessary resources for the Curse Awakening Ritual. Unfortunately, Hesta ascended too fast. Everything went downhill starting that day.

    Evalynn''s happiness was crushed. She had to decide whether to follow Hesta in the Nest, a ce she had gotten to know as hell from her father''s teaching or stay with her sons. At the end of the day, Evalynn knew that her sons would be fine even without her. Daniel was already a mature boy, and they had enough money to purchase everything they could possibly need.

    The only thing the boys might miss were their sister and their parents, but Evalynn couldn''t grant them everything. She had to ensure that her daughter would survive in the Nest. She went with Hesta to protect her little baby while sincerely hoping her little boys would be fine without her.

    More things happened, but Michael and Daniel were deep in thought once they learned the truth. Their mother didn''t want to leave them. She thought they would be better off without her. The Nest would have learned about her little boys, potentially tearing them out of their little peaceful life and throwing them into an environment in which they might not survive.

    Evalynn''s fear of the Nest was real. The fear had diminished drastically since she lived in the Nest with everyone, but it was clear that she wasn''t sure whether Michael and Daniel would have fared better in the Nest. Maybe they would have been stronger¡ªand alive¡ªbut Evalynn felt that her sons had a better shot at happiness outside the Nest. After all, the Nest was always in danger.

    There were always threats around the Nest. They had to fight the Supreme Human Alliance and struggle desperately to stay alive. Every member of the Nest was powerful, but even the strongest powerhouses could die in battle. It was not like they were invincible. Evalynn''s father was the best example of that. He was a Divine Lifeform ¨C among the stronger ones ¨C yet he died trying to protect his children.

    Only Evalynn Fang and her husband survived. Everyone else met their ill fate. Her father hadn''t been powerful enough to protect everyone. He was strong, but there was always someone stronger.

    [She didn''t want to risk it.] Danny concluded.

    Michael merely nodded. He took a step back and nodded faintly in his mother''s direction.

    "I understand now."

    Even though he said he understood, he wasn''t sure if their mother made the right decision. Was it really necessary for both their father and mother to leave them alone? Their mother told them that they were old enough to take care of themselves, but that was utter nonsense. Yet, it was obvious that she believed her words to be nothing but the truth.

    Eren noticed that he felt a little bit odd after he finished scanning his mother''s mind. It was not his business but he didn''t feel like wasting his precious time solving the Fang family issues.

    "Now that this is solved, let''s take care of the important things," Eren pointed out, "I came to this ce because of you, but also because we sensed something about the Lesser Human race residing in this gxy that attracted our interest."

    Eren''s words attracted Michael''s attention.

    "It is scarce to find Humans teaming up with other races in the universe. It''s a lot more special than you might think. But that is one of the minor points that attracted our attention. The Lesser Humans here have much stronger natural abilities than most races. Even some Higher Races have ¨C on average ¨C weaker Soultraits than the Lesser Humans here."

    The term ''Lesser'' bothered he quite a bit, but he knew it was a fact. High Society had yet to use their Racial Achievement Points to purchase a DNA enhancement via the Achievement Shop. They had yet to amplify their race''s DNA

    "That attracted our attention because there has to be a reason for Lesser Humans to be capable of manifesting 7-Star Soultraits. Under normal circumstances, even the manifestation of 6-Star natural abilities shouldn''t be possible for members of a Lesser Race. Even 5-Star Soultraits are rare to see. Yet, a simple scan of the Tritan Alliance showed that the Lesser Humans have dozens of Awakened with 6-Star Soultraits and almost a dozen 7-Star Soultraits. That is marvelous!"

    Eren was genuinely intrigued as the words spurted out of him.

    "Are you saying that something unique about the people here allows them to manifest stronger Soultraits? Is that why the Supreme Human Alliance is so interested in bribing the Descendants to join their mission?" he asked, his headache threatening to torment him.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance has more 6-Star natural abilities than many races, but even they don''t have enough Awakened with 7-Star Soultraits. There are many, but the probability of Awakening a 7-Star Soultrait is lowerpared to the Lesser Humans in this ce. The Lesser Humans here have only a single ster system, yet they have given birth to more than 10 7-Star Soultraits in thest 30 years, whereas the Supreme Human Alliance governs various gxies only to produce a few hundred 7-Star Awakened in every generation."

    Michael swallowed hard. A few hundred may sound like a lot, but it was an insignificant numberpared to the vast poption of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    It was merely a grain of sand in the ocean.

    The Lesser Humans of the Tritan Alliance were far more instead. They were a sand of grain in an hourss.

    It was still not a lot, but still better than the Supreme Human Alliance by dozens of times.

    "So that''s why they''re so interested in this ce," he mumbled.

    ''Fuck¡­''

    **

    [A/N: Today''s Chapters might be a little bit boring, but they''re necessary for character development and world-building. Nothing much happens, yet the subtle pieces of information added in both Chapters will help you learn a lot about the world/universe. Let''s hope that the following chapters will be a little bit more interesting...maybe I''ve already nned something big? Who knows? Obviously, I do, but will I tell anyone? No~]

 Chapter 747 Bridge

    <h4>Chapter 747 Bridge</h4>

    Michael didn''t expect the people from Nest to be so talkative, but Eren told him a lot. He exined various things that didn''t make any sense at first.

    That was also how Michael learned more about the Nest''s hierarchy, how many Curse Users were at the Nest, how strong they were, and some neat information about their training methods. He was not sure what was going on, but Eren seemed to trust him a lot. That didn''t surprise Michael a lot. He felt that he could trust Eren as well. It was weird.

    "Since you have two Curses, you have to be more careful than others. We don''t have many records of Curse Users proficient at wielding two Curses because most Curses fight each other until only one remains. If both Curses are simrly powerful, the Curse User is highly likely to die in the aftermath of the bloody battle inside him. However, you don''t seem to have that problem just yet. Your Curses are either dormant, or the stronger Curse inside you has decided that the weaker Curse can be useful in the future," Eren exined at some point.

    "But the problem is that your Curses are already too attached to your Soul. Actually, that is not a problem if you retain the upper hand in your rtionship with your Curses, but it can be dangerous when you start doing things your Curse loathes. Your Curses will try to force you into submission and demand that you do everything they want. That is also why most Curse Users are taught to keep their distance from their Curse."

    Eren manifested a few silver scales around his arm, and his pupils changed into silver elliptical-shaped pupils, taking Michael by surprise.

    "But most won''t be able to use Curse Manifestation properly if they maintain a safe distance to their Curse. It''s still possible, but Curse Manifestation will be a lot harder. That, in my opinion, diminishes the true potential of a Curse. It''s not a bad thing, per se. The issue is that Curses are not used properly."

    Michael nodded his head slowly.

    "That means your Curse is very attached to your soul, right? You can easily use Curse Manifestation to transform into a Dragonoid if that''s what you call it," He pointed out.

    Eren nodded, "That''s about it. My situation is still slightly different from yours since I don''t have multiple Curses, but my Curse is quite powerful. I can give you some tips in the next few months."

    Michael''s ears perked up.

    "In the next few months?"

    "Right, you didn''t know about that yet," Eren snapped with a finger and smiled lightly, "We will create a bridge to this gxy soon. If the Supreme Human Alliance decides to attack the Tritan Alliance and kidnap the Descendants - or whatever you called them ¨C we also want to be there to hit them where it hurts the most."

    During Michael and Eren''s chat, Evalynn regained herposure. She cleared her throat and added, "The Nest also decided to create bridges to the gxies where the Cursed Bloodlines originate. Of course, the Fenrir Bloodline is not from a backwater gxy like this, but it already gave birth to several Cursed Children. It was about time to install the bridge¡­especially after I lied to them about your existence."

    Michael listened to his mother, but he didn''t pay much attention to her. He felt like punishing her by treating her invisible for some time. At least until he knew how to behave around her.

    Daniel said that he was childish, but Michael didn''t care. Furthermore, Danny wasn''t justified in calling him childish. He could use Whispering Energy to talk to his mother, yet he didn''t say anything to her. One sentence had been enough for him, even though he had been waiting for her for months.

    Who was childish here?

    At least Michael wasn''t childish alone. That was already a victory for him.

    "I also doubt that you would be willing to return to the Nest with us when you cannot ensure a way to travel back to the people you hold dear. I don''t know much about you, but your mother told and disyed me enough of your achievements and actions to tell that you wouldn''t leave the Tritan Alliance to face the Supreme Human Alliance on their own," Eren contributed to Evalynn''s exnation.

    Michael didn''t expect his mother to tell Eren a lot about him, but the Geas might have forced that upon Evalynn. In the first ce, Michael wasn''t sure what to think about the Geas. It would be removed once a Curse User ascended to a Divine Lifeform. From that point onward, a Curse User was considered strong enough to protect the Nest''s secrets without external ''help''.

    It was a little weird, but Michael figured that the Nest was very secretive and that they didn''t trust others very much. Everyone would have to earn their trust over time. That wasn''t despicable. It was just that they made sure the Supreme Human Alliance wouldn''t be able to find and hunt them down.

    "You won''t have toe with us back to the Nest either. Since you can control your Curses for now, you''ll be fine for now. I can only offer you toe with us because you will suffer if you don''t rely on someone else, especially if your Curses continue to get more attached to your soul. They will grow stronger and tumult at some point. You will need support by then, at thetest," Eren advised before he added,

    "The Supreme Human Alliance won''t be too interested in the Tritan Alliance for a while. They might be interested in the Descendants, but you will be their priority. Bloodhound might be out of order for a while, but they wille to get you once he is back."

    Michael was in trouble and not sure what to do now. The Supreme Human Alliance was troublesome, and the Nest was a huge opportunity. But being so far away from his friends¡­

    and Alice¡ªwas something he didn''t want to happen.

    "You don''t have to leave right away, either way. Your Curses will be content for a while now after you ate your brother''s Curse, but you should decide once the bridge between the gxies has beenpleted. Your Curses will likely cause some vital trouble now that they''ve been feasting on a Curse. Keeping them satiated will be an issue in such a small gxy. Just remember that when you make your decision. By the time the bridge has been established, we will have left, and I hope you wille with us to the Nest."

    Michael sighed inwardly. He didn''t have to make a decision right away, but his brain was troubled nheless. The World Serpent appeared again in his mind as if trying to soothe it.

    [He is right, yet not really. That golden bastard has epted you a little bit. I doubt he will cause any trouble as long as you grow stronger. You are the perfect vessel. He wouldn''t harm you needlessly. Still, the Nest will help you grow stronger, and staying here will risk your friends, family, and Alice. Your own life as well. Danny will have it much easier in the Nest as well. They can help create a suitable vessel for his Living Soul. Their assets are on apletely different scale as well. You will grow stronger much faster, which will help you support yourpanions and family.]

 Chapter 748 Improvements

    Chapter 748 Improvements

    ??Two dayster, Michael was still undecided about what to do. However, he learned more about the bridge Eren had been talking about and how it worked. The gxies were connected through a portal that worked simrly to the isted dimension of the Interdimensional g War.

    One had to enter an isted dimension, where one could step through one of countless portals resembling Runic Gates. One of the portals would lead to the gxy where the Nest was hiding.

    Eren didn''t tell Michael specific details about the Nest''s hideout anymore, but that was unnecessary. Michael didn''t have to know everything about the Nest just yet.

    Other than the bridge, Eren and Michael also talked about other stuff. Michael told Eren a bunch of things about his powers, and Eren would learn some news about him through research, either way. It was only a matter of minutes to find out that Michael sold Soultraits and that he could also upgrade them. Thus, Michael went with the flow and revealed some things about his powers.

    Eren deserved to be trusted, to a certain extent, either way. He protected Michael from Bloodhound and didn''t kidnap him, so there was no reason not to trust him at this point.

    Eren wasn''t an idiot, either. He''d witnessed Michael''s power and what the young Lesser Lifeform was capable of. It was obvious that Michael had multiple extremely powerful Soultraits. That wasn''t something he could hide.

    Obviously, Eren was surprised when he found out about Michael''s power. He reacted more positively than Michael had expected and told Michael that he was hoping to purchase a bunch of Soultrait Symbols and Upgrades as well. In fact, he requested his service as the Nest''s representative.

    [You can ask for favors from the Nest. They''ll owe you big favors if you create a perfectlypatible Soultrait for them. Don''t be mistaken about this guy''s kindness. He might be nice, but business is business. There is a reason they sent Eren to this ce rather than someone with an iron grip. If you fall into his honey trap, I will eat you alive!] The World Serpent warned Michael, who could only frown deeply.

    Eren had already said they would generouslypensate him for suitable Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades. It wasn''t like Eren was trying to scam him.

    The Curse hibernating inside Michael seemed to agree. It growled loudly, sensing Michael''s displeasure with the World Serpent''s warning. That was a bit surprising.

    ''Should I not trust him? I thought we were grateful for him protecting us and the Tritan Alliance.'' He thought, only for Danny to sigh deeply.

    [It is totally okay to trust him, but you shouldn''t trust him blindly. Trust is okay, but depending on someone or thinking that someone is 100% on your side is foolish. You don''t know much about Eren and the Nest. Everything they said might be a lie. Just remember to be vignt. Every Soultrait you give the Nest could be used against you in the future. The Nest might merely be the lesser evil than the Supreme Human Alliance.]

    ''That''s dark¡­'' Michael thought, but he trusted the voices in his head. It was one thing if the World Serpent said anything alone, but neither his Curse nor Danny voiced concern about his trust under normal circumstances.

    "I''m currently in a bind about Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades. We can talk about thatter," Michael exined to Eren, who nodded understandingly. "In that case, I can teach you a little bit about Curse Techniques. Since you have already awakened your Curses, you can already learn how to use Curse Techniques."

    Eren didn''t seem bothered about his rejection at all. He acted like he''d expected this response in the first ce.

    "Some people call Curse Techniques, Cursed Techniques, or Curse Arts, but the terminology doesn''t matter. What matters is that there are only a few universal Curse Techniques and that you''ll have to learn the essence of your Curse ¨C Curses in your case ¨C to create your series of Curse Techniques," Eren exined, conjuring a de of silver energy in his hand. The de manifested before him in one second and split into four in the next second.

    Michael thought that the demonstration would be over when he sensed that the silver energy within the despressed. A trace of energy released the des into the air, transforming them into beams as they shot high into the air. Michael couldn''t follow the breathtaking velocity of the silver de beams. The des reached a height of several kilometers in no time. They exploded, the energy amassed within them, erupting in all directions.

    The starry sky was suddenly dyed silver. A shockwave passed through the air, spreading the silver energy even further. The attack looked beautiful rather than deadly, but Michael knew better. Spirit Eyes determined that the explosions had been fatal. It was even more lethal than some of Bloodhound''s attacks.

    ''A single explosion would have been enough to destroy more than my True Extraction Globe destroyed. He wasn''t lying when he said that he can destroy the easily¡­''

    "My Soultrait is Weaponry. It allows me to create a wide variety of weapons from energy. By studying my Soultrait and Curse in-depth, I managed to create these simple yet deadly Curse Techniques. It doesn''t require much energy as most energy is substituted with my Curse''s power, but the damage that can be inflicted with a single Moon de is enough to kill thousands of enemies. Even Divine Lifeforms have to be careful not to underestimate the Moon de, otherwise, they will sustain severe wounds as well."

    Michael imprinted Eren''s words deep into his mind. He''d always known that he needed to study his Soultraits more in-depth. However, that was even more crucial now that he couldbine his Soultrait''s power with his Curse. If he couldbine Sacred Constitution with the World Serpent''s power¡­how powerful would he be? What if he properlybined his Curse''s power with Extraction once he studied both his Curse and Extraction? How strong would the True Extraction Globe be at that point?

    Michael had difficulty imagining the damage he could cause, but he felt nice.

    "It seems like my demonstration was enough to motivate you to try it, too. How about it? Are you ready to give it a try?" Eren asked.

    Michael nodded without a second of hesitation, and they got started.

    Eren taught him for the next few days. His training was harsh, but Michael noticed some quick improvements. He quickly realized the difference between the teachings of a Divine Lifeform and the teaching he''d obtained from Kraft Viton.

    Michael felt a little bit bad about Kraft Viton, but Eren was several hundred years old, and he had the knowledge of the entire Nest up to his sleeves. At the end of the day, Michael still conversed to Kraft Viton to ensure he was fine. Surprisingly enough, the old man asked Michael to be taught some tips and tricks instead of throwing a fit. He understood that Michael needed a better teacher than him. A Divine Lifeform was perfect for Michael, especially since Eren was from another gxy where the powerhouses were already far more advanced.

    The Tritan Alliancecked knowledge severelypared to them. Their resources and techniques were insignificantpared to the snippets Eren shared with Michael. But maybe that was only a matter of time as well. Michael had Foundation Break, the Soullife Arts, to share with the Tritan Alliance for mary benefits, of course, and Superior ss Soul Techniques to analyze.

    Eren didn''t provide him any unique techniques or his first Neutral Curse Technique that might be used with any type of Curse, but the Curse User''s ocean of knowledge and his disciplined teachings assisted Michael understand his Soultraits better. But that was only a tiny fraction of what he learned.

    Until this point, Michael had already consumed thousands of Memory Orbs, but he never managed to reach profound mastery with any weapon. He was a master of none but was capable enough to wield any weapon more than decently. That changed with Eren''s teachings. Weaponry, his Soultrait, did not only allow him to create all weapons. It granted him increased proficiency with any type of weapon. To study his Soultrait, Eren had to study all weapons and be master of all.

    That assisted Michael improve a lot. They fought a lot if one could refer it that. A massacre was probably more feasible, with Michael being the poor punching bag that was being broken until a new one was needed, which meant that Michael had to use Archangel''s Grace on his body to heal before he was punched until broken once again.

    It was painful, but he learned a lot, mostly thanks to Spirit Eyes analyzing Eren''s movements and the corresponding actions.

    Only a few days had passed, days that felt like months, but Michael''s control of all weapons had improved drastically. Eren had been slightly shocked about his Aethyr and the amount of Aether infused into the alloy, but he didn''t say anything about it. Instead, the Curse User assisted Michael even more eagerly after getting to understand about Michael''s Aethyr.

    It felt like Eren wanted to transform Michael into a killing machine ¨C a worse killing machine than he was to begin with. Michael was fine with that. It assisted him progress and rely less on his Soultraits. The switch-up to relying on weapons was pretty interesting, and it made the Soultrait, Qi, a lot more enjoyable to use as well. Qi allowed him to unleash any weapon''s full potential or create the weapons from scratch.

    It wasn''t the same as Weaponry. Despite that, Michael felt that it was better whenbined with Aethyr.

    At the end of their daily training session, Michael met up with his friends, Alice and the Matriarch of the Zenovia house. Michael thought it would be a little awkward but was surprised to see that the Matriarch''s attitude was nothing like it used to be. Katharina Zenovia exined her reasoning for acting like a bitch in a very straightforward way. She wanted to see what Michael would do if she threatened him to take Alice away and have her marry someone else.

    She wanted to see whether he actually loved her little baby girl and how much he valued her. Alice was a little ¨C very ¨C ufortable because she wanted to take care of herself as the independent woman she had been raised to be, but she was also d that her mother and her boyfriend were on friendly terms now.

    Calling them friends would be over the top, but they were on a good path to epting one another. But that wasn''t Alice''s issue. She thought her mother would be the biggest problem for the time being, only to forget that Michael''s mother was a powerhouse who had disappeared a long time ago.

    Michael''s entire family was full of powerful Awakened, and the reason for their power was unraveled not too long ago. Their family''s bloodline was ''Cursed'', and they were recruited into a mysterious organization where their Curse would transform into a deadly weapon.

    Michael would have to leave her.

    Alice never thought she would worry about something like that. Everyone knew her as the Frozen Duchess, yet Alice felt like a little my-little-pony girl. Alice found herself thinking about Michael more often as time passed. She wanted to cling to him and never let go of him.

    That frustrated her. She had never been the clingy type, yet she turned out to be even worse than those she''d loathed before.

    Putting the frustration about herself aside, Alice couldn''t see herself seeing Michael even less than she already did.

    "Do you ponder it''s possible for me to go to the Nest as well, or do I have to imnt a Curse into my body?" Alice murmured, lost in thoughts, only to have Michael and her mother stare at her in shock.

    "Alice?!" Michael blurted aloud, only for the Matriarch to exim.

    "Darling!"

 Chapter 749 Mission

    Chapter 749 Mission

    Curses were sealed and grew with the Soul. As the Soul grew stronger, the Curse slowly loosened one restraint after another until it finally awoke. That way, it was possible for Cursed Children to survive the immense pressure exuded by Curses.

    If Michael inserted a Curse into Alice''s body, she would be torn apart. The Curse would merge with her soul and awaken instantaneously without giving Alice - her soul - the time she needed to adapt to the Curse''s power and pressure. Even if Alice refined her Soul to the peak of Tier-5, she was unlikely to survive.

    Of course, there were exceptions. Alice''s soul could be much stronger than the norm and, therefore, resilient enough to endure fusing with a Curse, but the rewards weren''t worth the reward.

    It took Michael a few minutes to exin the situation to Alice without making it seem like he didn''t want to see her. Thest thing he wanted was for Alice to misinterpret his words. He would love to see her all day, but that didn''t mean Michael was also willing to risk her life to bring her to the Nest.

    Fortunately, they had a few months to spend with Alice and his friends before Michael would go to the Nest with his mother and Eren. He was still not 100% sure if he would actually go, but the odds were in favor of the Nest right now. The Supreme Human Alliance was bound to trouble the Tritan Alliance in the future. Michael wanted to help out, ensuring that his friends and everyone else would be safe and sound.

    To protect everyone, Michael needed to grow stronger. Fast.

    That was also why he upgraded the Soul Grimoire to 7- Star. Upgrading the Soultrait Symbol cost exactly 765,000 SoulStar Fragments, which was within the range he''d calcted. The Soul Grimoire''s upgrade to 7-Star didn''t change his physique. It didn''t alter his mind either. Instead, Soul Grimoire''s upgrade expanded and amplified his Soul.

    A Soul Socket formed in his Soul Sphere, which expanded to create more space for additional Soultrait Symbols. Interestingly enough, Michael wasn''t forced to use the Soul Socket immediately. It was sealed and required one SoulStar Fragment to unlock.

    The Soul Sphere was only one of the changes that urred to his Soul. The World Serpent notified him that multiple Serpent Seals and Cursed Seals could be unlocked without harming his vessel. That was a great advantage since he didn''t know if he''d needed more Seals before ascending to a Higher Lifeform.

    The most crucial change in Soul Grimoire was that Danny''s Living Soul had enough space to be nourished to the peak. Thest task to finish Danny''s resurrection was to create a suitable vessel to imnt his Living Soul. Michael was not sure how long that would take, but he believed that the resources and knowledge of the Nest would help him in that regard.

    He was satisfied with Soul Grimoire''s upgrade even if the Soul Tear ability didn''t change a lot. The potency of the Soul Tears improved, but the improvement was not significant for a major star-rating upgrade. It didn''t matter much.

    Eren witnessed the changes in Michael''s soul as Soul

    Grimoire was upgraded to 7-Star. He was more than just a little bit surprised.

    Eren sensed that Michael''s Soul grew more prominent. He didn''t interfere in Michael''s business with the Lesser Humans. Instead, he watched Michael from afar to learn more about the youthful Cursed Child. Eren had to understand more about Michael Fang before he made a final decision. He had to know whether Michael was a good kid or if his past records indicated him as a troublemaker. 2

    Nheless, seeing Michael''s soul grow more prominent is far from ordinary. It wasn''tmon among the members of the Nest, either. It was rare for something like that to happen under normal circumstances, yet Michael made it look so easy...so effortless.

    ''Is that how he managed to awaken his Curses without dying? Two Curses and a Living Soul are lying inside him, yet he doesn''t seem to have a problem. His condition is excellent.''

    It hadn''t been long since Eren focused on Michael.

    However, he spent enough time with Michael and researched enough about the young man to understand the type of person he was and what he would be in the future.

    "That kid is talented. He learns fast, and he works tirelessly. But why does it feel like he''s obsessed with working until he''s about to copse? Hard work beats talent when talent doesn''t work hard, but it''s not like Michael is untalented. So why do I feel like I''m observing someone who works day and night, grinding his bones to dust to achieve his goals?''

    Eren recalled the way Michael fought against Bloodhound, and a smile crept up on his face.

    The future was going to be fun.

    Two dayster, Eren returned from a short meeting with Kraft Viton. He was slightly disappointed with Kraft Viton''s expertise, mainly because he''d expected the old-looking man to be wise and powerful. Michael had been praising Kraft Viton a lot. He proimed Kraft Viton, his master, and was proud to be close to him.

    Unfortunately, besides being a good businessman, Kraft Viton wasn''t all that great. Eren expected more from someone Michael praised to the moons and beyond.

    But that was how Michael was. Eren understood enough about Michael''s persona to understand his actions and words better than ever.

    That was also why his talk with Kraft Viton had only been slightly disappointing. There were more than enough things that attracted his interest. Eren met with Michael to talk about something that had been tormenting Kraft Viton for a long time.

    "What do you think about the Sacred Desert?" Eren asked Michael the moment they met.

    Michael was sweating from all openings, breathing roughly since he was still in the middle of his training. He stared at Eren and inclined his head lightly.

    "Do you mean the Undead force or the Undead Pharaoh? Are you curious about him because he talked about the Cursed Children?"

    Eren lifted one eyebrow and inspected Michael for a few seconds.

    "Now that''s interesting. Either you know that he is a Curse, or your brother witnessed something interesting before his death. How about you let me in on your little secrets?" Eren asked, the corner of his lips curling into a faint smile. [The Undead Pharaoh is a Curse?] Danny asked Eren via Whispering Energy, only for Michael to frown deeply.

    "Are the others also Curses then?" He murmured, recalling the Librarian in the Lord Rift and the unknown monstrosity hibernating deep underneath the Underground Forging Hall and the Elementals Empire.

    Eren wanted to know what Michael meant, but he focused on one thing at a time.

    "It''s usually not that easy to determine what a Curse is. Sometimes, Curses are remnants of Mythical Creatures that have been sealed inside objects or people. Other times, Curses are living Mythical Creature that have also been sealed away, or creatures seeking a suitable vessel because their original body is breaking apart. Thetter can have multiple reasons, such as reaching their body''s natural limit or sustaining heavy injuries that are nearly impossible to heal. Either way that shouldn''t be of any importance. The Fact is that most creatures capable of sensing Cursed Children are either incredibly powerful and familiar with Curses, or they''re Curses." 2

    Eren''s exnation was a littleckluster, but Michael figured the Curse User wouldn''t spill all the secrets before they returned to the Nest.

    "Can you tell me about the Undead Pharaoh now?" Eren asked Danny, whoplied.

    Daniel Fang summarized everything he remembered about the Primedival Pyramid and the Undead Pharaoh. Michael frowned deeply whenever Danny reached the point when his allies betrayed him. If the traitors were still alive, Michael would have hunted them until the end of the Origin Expanse. Unfortunately, only the traitor''s unknown benefactors were still alive. Michael had yet to find them.

    Eren nodded slowly after Daniel finished summarizing his time in the Primedival Pyramid.

    "The Undead Pharaoh might have been a Divine Lifeform while he was alive, but since the Sacred Desert seems to be a region that degraded to a Beginner Zone, the Will won''t allow him to regain his entire strength. He shouldn''t be stronger than Tier-5, especially since he takes so long to conquer the Sacred Desert.

    "Hmm...There is something else I didn''t take into consideration before. Now that I know what happened, it makes more sense. If Danny''s blood was needed to bring him back to death, his corpse must have degraded quite a bit. He must be one of the Divine Lifeforms of the old era. Your brother''s lifeforce would have been too little as a Lesser Lifeform, no matter how powerful his Curse was." Eren''s faint grin turned into a broad smile, "The Undead Pharaoh should be a higher-ranked Curse now. The thousands of years he''d been dormant should havepressed his cursed power. That is perfect."

    Michael frowned. "Perfect? For what?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Eren nced at Michael as if the answer was obvious.

    "I have a mission for you," Eren said slowly, waiting for Michael to understand what was happening.

    Michael understood perfectly fine, but he was about to reject Eren when he raised his finger.

    "If you kill the Undead Pharaoh before we leave, I will give you a Curse Technique and help you with your brother''s vessel."

    Michael swallowed, and a smile blossomed on his lips. He stretched out his hand, his eyes set aze.

    "We have a deal!"

    [End of Volume 12]

 Chapter 750 Sacred Desert

    <h4>Chapter 750 Sacred Desert</h4>

    Michael emerged from a twinkling Runic Gate and stepped on the soft sand that stretched as far as he could see. The Diamond Transportation Token he''d received from Eren for his first mission broke in his hand, but Michael paid no attention.

    The Diamond Transportation Token was a consumable that brought him to a specific location without initiating a Link of Loyalty with someone else. Simply put, Michael managed to get to the Sacred Desert without losing his Lord Powers by linking himself to some idiotic Lord struggling to survive in the Sacred Desert.

    The idiots in the Sacred Desert were part of the reason Michael epted Eren''s mission. The Saphirke Military Academy issued a S-Rank Mission on the academy''s mission board. The mission was simple; To rescue the Sacred Desert.

    Michael doesn''t really care about the Sacred Desert or the Lords struggling to survive. The only interests he had were the resources he needed to continue the trading cycle with the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, Valyr, and the Forest Elves, and that Eren would give him a Cursed Technique as well as his support with Danny''s vessel once the Undead Pharaoh was taken care of.

    Thetter was the most important. Michael would need someone''s help to create a vessel for his brother. Eren was his best shot at that.

    It was hot and dry in the Sacred Desert, but that didn''t affect Michael much. What affected him the most was that he was back in the Origin Expanse but that the energy density in the surroundings was nowhere the same as in the Untamed Jungle.

    He nced at one of his Bronze Teleportation Tokens and felt like crushing one to return to the Untamed Jungle immediately. However, he stopped in his tracks before he would do something stupid. Michael didn''t want to return to his territory just yet. The Sacred Desert could help him find out more clues about the people who ordered his brother''s death.

    His thoughts of revenge were not as burdensome as they used to be, but they were still present. He would kill the perpetrators sooner orter. They just had to wait for him.

    [It feels weird to be back here.] Danny murmured in Michael''s mind.

    Michael didn''t know how to respond. Fortunately, he was distracted as some noises reached him. Michael turned right, only to discover a bunch of Undead Warriors riding on Skeleton horses.

    [Nehkarabia Horsemen riding on Skeleton Horses. They''re the mostmon cavalry unit of the Undead Pharaoh''s cavalry. There should also be Nehkarabia Knights riding on Ghoul Serpents nearby. I doubt that the Nehkarabia Horsemen will be out there alone.]

    Unsurprisingly, Giant Ghoul Serpents, as long as cranes, emerged from the ground near the horsemen. Michael stared at them with little interest. He tapped into the Ice Sphere and conjured several Icicles. They whizzed through the air the moment Michael released them with a burst of energy. The Undead reacted too slowly. They were only at the 2nd Tier and moved too slowly to evade the attacks.

    The Icicles impacted and shattered, releasing their freezing property throughout the Undead bodies. Michael released a few lightning bolts through his fingertips to crush the frozen Undead, transforming their bodies into piles of bones and rotten flesh.

    [I don''t think they''ve grown much stronger since I died. When I encountered them first, they were on the verge of Tier-2. They managed to reach the mid-tiers of Tier-2 even though they''re Undead. Shouldn''t it be much harder for Undead to increase their rank?]

    Michael didn''t answer. He was more focused on the Warbeasts that emerged near a small mountain of sand. There were soul-devouring Death Vultures and Undead Dire Wolves. The Death Vultures swallowed the sky, whereas the Undead Dire Wolves covered the beautiful glimmering sand.

    A sigh escaped Michael''s lips. He raised his left hand and released the Elemental Empress. The tattoo engraved on his left arm peeled off, revealing the Elemental Empress that emerged from his palm.

    She giggled and jumped around, happy to be in a warm ce in the Origin Expanse. This ce felt much better than the underground hall. Even though she called hernd underground Elemental Empire, it didn''t feel like home.

    Unfortunately, Zeroa''s glee was disturbed by the masses of soul-devouring Death Vultures and Undead Dire Wolves.

    "You can take one half, while I take the other ha-..." Michael couldn''t even finish his sentence when Zeroa shot forward.

    [I want all~!!]

    Michael shrugged. The energy influx of the Warbeasts didn''t matter much anyway. They were too weak to make a difference. Most were Tier-2, with only some being close to the 3rd Tier. The Elemental Empress was strong enough to burn them to ashes with mythical mes.

    Michael watched the Elemental Empress for a while until Danny pulled his attention away.

    [The Monstrous Infantry has taken notice of you. There are Anubirats and Kleshabits. They''re Superior Existences that reached the Peak of the 2nd Tier when I fought them. If they improved like the other Undead, they''ll probably be Tier-3 Superior Existences now.]

    Michael watched the Anubirats ¨C giant guardian statues carved into the likeness of the Gods and Goddesses that were loved and prayed to during the Second Epoch ¨C with a faint smile. The Anubirats might be imposing monuments reminiscent of the former glory of the Desert Gods in the Second Epoch, but they didn''t feel like much to Michael. Not after he witnessed the battle of two Divine Lifeforms.

    Even though neither Eren nor Bloodhound used their full power, Michael was thousands of times more impressed by their power than the Anubirats'' appearances.

    In ancient times, the living warriors of the Sacred Desert took great strength from the fact that the Anubirats fought alongside them. They believed that their Gods guided and protected them, whether it was in life or in death.

    The Kleshabits were not that much different. They were guardian statues the size of an elephant. However, they didn''t like fighting alongside their warriors. They stood at the back with a huge six-meter-long great bow in their hands ¨C their arrows represent the fragility of life. Each arrow would find its target, eliminating another life. The remnants of the deceased would then be pulled into the Sacred Desert, where all traces of their existence would be washed away.

    A fewrge arrows whizzed through the air shortly after Danny warned him. Michael released a Qi Barrier before him to block the arrows. The barrier crackled lightly after thest arrow was impacted. That was unexpected, but it didn''t matter much.

    Michael used Cosmic Stride to appear behind the Kleshabits, conjured Aethyr in the shape of a massive Warhammer, and coated it with Qi right before taking a swing at the enormous statue. The first Kleshabits was struck by the gigantic Warhammer and shattered, unable to resist the massive force that impacted.

    Michael teleported beside another Kelshabit and struck out once again. Rinse and repeat, Michael in the Kleshabits in the proximity in less than a minute. They fell one after another, leaving nothing but energy influxes and rubble behind.

    "Didn''t you say that they''re powerful?" Michael teased his brother lightly.

    [You tend to forget that I had only one Soultrait, not a single Cursed Seal and that I was at a lower rank than you at that time!!]

    "Excuses~" Michaelughed lightly, only for Danny to curse.

    [Bastard!]

 Chapter 751 Eaten Alive?

    Chapter 751 Eaten Alive?

    "I need some help over here!" A young man shouted at the top of his lungs as the Undead forces inched closer.

    They moved slowly through the sand, but that hardly changed how dangerous they were.

    "I have enough to deal with here myself," A second voice resounded in between two heavy breaths, "What about you, James?"

    "Just die silently if you cannot even stall the Horsemen. How did you even manage to survive in the Sacred Desert this long?" A third voice, James, shouted while killing a Knight riding on a Giant Ghoul Serpent. He twisted his de in the Skeleton Knight''s Core and shattered it instantaneously.

    Following the burst of energy influx that entered his body, James felt a burst of strength pass through his body.

    He retrieved a small dagger from his War Rune and hurled it toward a horseman who was about to pass him. The horseman''s body fell apart, whereas the Skeleton Horse continued running toward the masses of the living.

    The situation was far from easy. The Undead forces reached thest line of defense from three bordering territories. James and the two other Lords tried their utmost to fight the iing forces, but most of their subjects had already been eliminated. The Infantry Units and the Warbeasts had been moving fast enough to overwhelm most human soldiers in no time.

    Only the strongest subjects and the Awakened were left alive. They caused considerable damage to the Undead forces, but their kills barely changed anything. There were too many undead to kill.

    Other than the Horsemen, the Knights riding the Giant Ghoul Serpents, the soul-devouring Death Vultures, the Undead Dire Wolves, the Anubirats, and Kleshabits, there were also Bone Titans, beings that could have been considered Mythical Existences when they were still alive. Even in death, the Bone Titans were incredibly strong. Some had already ascended to a Higher Lifeform, but even the Peak Tier-3 Bone Titans were strong enough to kill ordinary Tier-4 Higher Lifeforms.

    The Bone Titans weren''t many. There were only a few. It wouldn''t be an issue to deal with the Bone Titans if there weren''t countless Undead Awakened and Undeadn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Summons, who''d been resurrected after dying, circling the Bone Titans and the other Undead forces.

    At this point, millions of Undead are passing through the Sacred Desert. In fact, saying millions could create a misunderstanding. By saying millions, it meant that there were tens of millions - if not more than one hundred million undead spread all over the Sacred Desert.

    The total sum was unlikely to exceed one hundred million, but it was certainly possible that their number would reach millions in the three-digit. Almost the entire Sacred Desert had been overrun at this point, and it was fortunate that the Undead Awakened and Undead Summons were resurrected with less than 80% of their formerbat prowess. Including the difficult terrain of the Sacred Desert, the living had an easier time dealing with the Undead Awakened and Undead Summons than most other Undead forces.

    The biggest problem with the Undead Awakened and Undead Summons was their numerical advantage. They couldn''t feel any pain either and smelled the living from far away. Stealthily circling the Undead wasn''t going to be easy.

    James appeared beside an Undead Awakened, swinging his down down at it. He beheaded the Undead and gained a temporary boost in Agility alongside the energy influx. His speed increased as he moved on to thrust his Sword Artifact through the next closest Undead Summon''s skull. This time, his perception increased slightly. 2

    As long as his Soultrait, Chance Kill, was active, he could maintain the wide variety of boosts he''d obtained from killing the Undead. Although his Soultrait''s energy consumption would increase with time, James wasn''t that worried about it right now. It was more important to protect his territory and people.

    He eliminated a batch of more than a dozen Undead, gained various boosts in return, and was about to push further ahead when a huge arrow whizzed past his head. James barely twisted his head ever so slightly, ensuring that he wouldn''t lose a part of his skull to the arrow. The air howled in his ear as the arrow shot past him, and James'' heart skipped a beat.

    He retreated a few steps and discovered a small group of gigantic statues holding huge longbows. James frowned deeply before ncing back at his subjects, who were already forced into retreating.

    ''Fuck this shit!'' He cursed aloud, only to hear a terrified scream from the other side. His head flicked to the right side where the two other Lords had been fighting desperately to eliminate as many Undead as possible.

    One of the Lords had been impaled by a Kleshabit''s arrow, which pinned the poor soul to the ground. The Undead Summons near that young man circled him, tore his clothes apart, and began gnawing on his flesh...while the young man was still alive.

    It didn''t take long before the young man died, but every second felt like hours. The young man was eaten alive, his flesh ripped out of his body. His desperate screams died slowly, but it had been etched into the souls of the witnesses who were still alive.

    Everyone who''d witnessed the Lord''s gruesome death paled at the sight. The death of theirrades was already burdensome, but the Lord''s death was the worst. Whereas the others were killed with one or two attacks, the Lord was slowly eaten alive.

    James shuddered and retreated instinctively. His battle spirit plummeted below zero, and the others were the same. Their spirits had been crushed, and a seed of fear blossomed in their hearts.

    A single nce in the direction of the Undead forces was enough to worsen the fear that permeated every inch of their being. No matter where they looked, they saw the Undead forces. The Undead inched closer and threatened to surround the forces of the two human Lords, who could only watch as their hard-earnednd was being overrun. A loud scream reverberated through the surroundings once again.

    James nced to the scream''s source even though he could already guess what was happening. The other human Lord fell victim to the Undead.

    He grit his teeth and was about to jump back onto the battlefield. If he had to die, James wanted to die a heroic death.

    However, before he could jump into the battlefield like a kamikaze fighter, James felt several powerful presences behind him.

    Small earthen spikes shot out of the ground around James, piercing the cores of the Undead that had threatened to tear him apart in the next few seconds.

    A momentter, dozens of icicles shot past James. The icicles pierced through the first target with a clean hit and continued moving until shattering upon hitting the second target.

    Once the icicle shattered, a frozen flower blossomed around the area of impact. The target ended up encased in the flower, which shattered after all of its power had been infused into it.

    As the frozen flowers shattered, the bodies they''d encased also shattered.

    "They''re weaker than expected," A hoarse voice resounded, only for a second to add.

    "I don''t know what you expect from Undead at the 2nd Tier. Obviously, we''re stronger than them."

    "How about we focus on our enemies?" A third one added, "There are more than enough enemies to tire y''all out. Kaleb. Lincoln. Please focus!"

    Kaleb Zenovia, Lincoln Piedra, and Zeke Lavita arrived in the Sacred Desert.

 Chapter 752 Nova

    Chapter 752 Nova

    ??After the Saphirke Military Academy issued a mission to help the Lords in the Sacred Desert alongside the other Academies and Universities, many Awakened decided to reach out and offer their helping hand.

    The Merits offered by the Academies and Universities were great. Every killed Undead rewarded some merit points. That was great, even though it meant that the dangers in the Sacred Desert were much higher than most anticipated. After all, great rewards usuallye alongside great risks.

    Fortunately, many Descendants decided that the Sacred Desert was a golden opportunity to grow stronger. Kaleb, Zeke, and Lincoln couldn''t enter the Sacred Desert easily. They were still Lords and weren''t willing to give up their Lord powers to help the Lords of the Sacred Desert to survive. They also used higher quality Teleportation tokens. However, their Teleportation Tokens granted them only temporary ess to another location. The three Descendants and many others weren''t willing to create a Link of Loyalty with a Lord in the Sacred Desert.

    Instead of bing someone''s Subordinate, the Descendants decided to use a special Golden Teleportation Token to enter the Sacred Desert for two weeks. That ought to be long enough to kill tens of thousands of Undead and grow stronger. The energy influx of every Undead was more prominent than ordinary energy influxes after all.

    Kaleb, Zeke, and Lincoln desired power. They were shocked when they heard of Michael''s fight against Katharina Zenovia and the unknown Divine Lifeform that had appeared out of nowhere. No matter how they looked at it, Michael had grown even stronger.

    The Descendants didn''t want to be left behind. Thus, they left their territory and did something they wouldn''t have done under normal circumstances. They jumped into a deadly situation with eerily low survivability. As long as they survived the ordeal, their power would skyrocket. If they died¡­ They didn''t want to think about that possibility. Their focus was on growing stronger and surviving.

    Lincoln used his Soul Technique to conjurepressed earthen spikes. Each Earthen Spike drained a fraction of his Soul Power. It was barely noticeable, but the resulting effect was great. Each Earthen Spike pierced through an Undead with ease before continuing to expand. Since the Undead knew nothing about distance and spatial awareness, the Undead Summons and Undead Awakened pushed each other.

    They were in a crowded space and didn''t even notice that something had burst through the ground before their bodies and cores were pierced and shattered.

    Every Earthen Spike killed three Undead on average. Lincoln was not yet proficient with Earthen Projectiles, but he was slowly getting the hang of the Soul Technique. It was more difficult to produce Soul Energy than controlling the Earthen Projectiles Soul Technique.

    It didn''t take long before Lincoln attracted the attention of the Desert''s Guardian Statues. The Anubirats and Kleshabits attacked him, and several huge arrows came flying his way. Fortunately, Lincoln reacted fast enough to erupt arge earthen wall to block the attacks. However, the Anubirats were already near him when the earthen wall crumbled. They wielded a long saber in each hand and executed a beautiful de dance, ready to draw Lincoln''s blood.

    Lincoln evaded the attacks and blocked some with earth pirs and other objects that shot out of the ground to protect him from the worst attacks. In the meantime, the Kleshabits readied their arrows and pulled the bowstring back, ready to kill the nuisance before them.

    However, their longbows froze and shattered before they could release the deadly arrows. Kaleb had released a Nova Bullet¡ªa highlypressed Icy Bullet with more destructive power than most Icy Bullets¡ªtoward the Kleshabits. His control of the Nova Bullets was stillckluster because each bullet was made from thepressed power of his Frozen Nova. It used every bit of the strongest power Kaleb could control of his 7-Star Soultrait.

    If he tapped into a little bit more of Frozen Nova''s power before ascending to a Higher Lifeform, Kaleb would freeze his fingers and hand. That wasn''t something he could afford.

    It was a good thing that the Nova Bullets were strong enough to shatter the longbows before freezing a portion of the Kleshabits'' bodies. The Guardian Statues were powerful and highly resilient but only stone statues. Shattering them with high destructive power wouldn''t be an issue.

    Kaleb cast a few more Nova Bullets before he used cier Bomb, a Soul Technique that altered a projectile to explode upon impact, chilling the energy all around the explosion before shattering, destroying everything in its path.

    Kaleb Zenovia used the cier Bomb to kill the Kleshabits. He gained their energy influxes and smiled brightly, happy that his assaults worked out.

    "If you keep wasting your energy, you''ll be dead in half an hour. We cannot care for you, so you better take care of yourself!" Zeke Lavita cursed. It wasrge that Kaleb managed to kill the Guardian Statues easily, but the amount of energy radiating from the young Zenovia was simply too high.

    They had to kill hundreds of thousands of enemies in the next few hours. Kaleb could not afford to waste his precious energy like that.

    "I have everything under control. How about you eliminate your foes while I take care of my troubles?!" Kaleb grunted, manifesting two Saber Artifacts in his hands before he jumped straight onto the battlefield.

    Kaleb conjured Icicle Bullets around him this time to utilize less energy at a time. He was too excited to try out the Nova Bullets against the Guardian Statues. It was the first time he found suitable foes to utilization this technique, after all.

    Kaleb Zenovia had only a few foes near his territory. There were mostly weak monsters around his territory, and most didn''t dare to fight against him, his Eternal Ice Phoenix, to be precise. The Eternal Ice Phoenix was at the apex of the food chain in his territory and the surroundings. Even the Lords who''d been living adjacent to his territory didn''t dare to oppose the Eternal Ice Phoenix.

    The moment they got to know that Kaleb''s first summon was an Eternal Ice Phoenix, they abandoned their territory and ran for their lives. Therefore, Kaleb easily expanded his territory without any major battles.

    The only fierce battles were against some stubborn monsters and the Tekur in his first Interdimensional g War. The Undead were the perfect targets for Kaleb. He wanted nothing more but to test everything he''d experimented with. Unfortunately, his life was on the line. ying around too much would be a bit foolish.

    He released a few Icicle Bullets to crush the cores of the stronger Undead that were about to pounce on him while slicing several foes apart. Using the Legacy Arts of the Zenovia family in the middle of the Sacred Desert was certainly not the best, as the technique required a low temperature to work perfectly. However, Kaleb Zenovia''s body was innately incredibly cold.

    After Frozen Nova fused with Kaleb, it altered his body. He could naturally exude incredibly low temperatures and survive in all cold environments easily. Therefore, the Zenovia family''s Legacy Art could still be disyed in its full grandeur.

    And that was certainly something Kaleb did.

    But, of course, Kaleb wasn''t the only one who went crazy.

    Zeke was not slower than Kaleb. In fact, at this moment, Zeke fought even more efficiently than Kaleb.

 Chapter 753 Control

    <h4>Chapter 753 Control</h4>

    Zeke fought a throbbing headache as he weaved through rows of enemies, using his Eye of Illusion in its strongest form.

    He used the Eye of Illusion to control some weak-willed Undead, which was easier than expected since none of the Undead possessed a strong will. Even the Guardian Statues were not strong-willed, so they were also easy to control.

    All Zeke Lavita had to do was to create illusions on one Anubirat and a Giant Ghoul Serpent. Their minds were influenced and altered to make them think that the Undead around them were their enemies. It was not that hard to change their perspective of the Undead. All Undead transformed into living creatures in their minds, whereas the living turned into Undead. That way, the Anubirats, and the Giant Ghoul Serpent stopped attacking Zeke and the other Descendants.

    Their focus switched to attacking the Undead.

    Being able to do something like that was not the result of a Soul Technique. Of course, a Soul Technique could amplify the effect and affect more Undead, but Zeke didn''t go that far yet. It could cause more harm if he were to experiment with some Soul Technique in an attempt to control more powerful Undead.

    The technique he used to control the Undead was part of a Legacy Arts'' altered version, which could only be used by two of his ancestors, one of whom created it.

    It didn''t require eye contact. Instead, Legacy Arts'' main focus was to trap the targets into an illusion that would slightly alter their perception. Zeke wouldn''t have to use much energy to maintain the illusion by making only minor changes to the targets'' perception. The only struggle was maintaining his concentration while fighting against the other Undead.

    The Anubirat under his control was not afraid of scratches and bites. He mowed through the Undead, which surrounded him with ease. His sabers shed through the air and cut in all directions, beheading some Undead while severing others in two parts without much resistance.

    Interestingly enough, none of the Undead attacked the Anubirat. Zeke had been certain that the Undead would change their target to the Anubirat soon, but the Undead were too focused on the Descendants to register that one of their allies betrayed them.

    Zeke was surprised, but he figured the Undead were not intelligent enough to perceive that the Giant Ghoul Serpent and the Anubirat were their enemies.

    ''Maybe they can only sense the living and move mindlessly through the Sacred Desert for months because they''re not sentient and cannot think? They''re like mindless walking corpses. It''s just that some of them look better and move like they''re alive.

    Zeke frowned deeply. It was great that the Undead didn''t attack the Anubirats and the Giant Ghoul Serpent, which bulldozed through the rows of Undead Summons, but it made him wonder why everyone struggled to kill the Undead. Why was the Sacred Desert in danger if the Undead weren''t even intelligent? Was their numerical advantage truly the only issue?

    Dozens of soul-devouring Death Vultures dived to the ground, ready to tear Zeke''s body apart. The Anubirat appeared before Zeke and brandished his weapons to cut some of the undead avians apart. The other Death Vultures screeched as if surprised about the sudden appearance of the towering Guardian Statue and pped their rotten wings to ascend once again.

    Zeke noticed a slight change in the Warbeasts'' behavior once they came in contact with the Giant Ghoul Serpent and the Anubirat. They attacked the Giant Ghoul Serpent and Anubirat more often in an attempt to tear their bodies apart.

    ''Where did the sudden changee from?'' Zeke cursed in his mind. He''d been happy that the Undead ignored the beings he controlled and was about to steamroll through their rows, killing everyone and everything, when the atmosphere all over the battlefield changed again.

    Zeke wasn''t given more than 15 minutes to feel like he''d found the perfect tactic to eliminate the Undead forces. The Skeleton Knight riding it delivered a deadly strike to the Giant Ghoul Serpent''s head. The Giant Ghoul Serpent didn''t die because the Skeleton Knight missed its core, but the change in the situation was apparent.

    The Giant Ghoul Serpent squashed several Undead Summons under its weight as it smashed hard to the ground. A momentter, it executed a death roll on the searing-hot sand, shooting it in all directions. Zeke couldn''t see much as the tiny sandstorm blocked his view, but he heard the cracking noises. It was initially silent but grew in intensity as the sound of breaking bones ovepped.

    Zeke backed away and decided to lift his control of the Giant Ghoul Serpent. He couldn''t see what was happening in the tiny sandstorm, but it got harder to control the Giant Ghoul Serpent out of nowhere. One of the Undead had scratched its core, nearly eliminating the Giant Ghoul Serpent. After that, Zeke nearly lost control. That was a little bit annoying, but it was nothing to cry about.

    Zeke left the Giant Ghoul Serpent to die in the tiny sandstorm before sending the Anubirat against the other Guardian Statues. The Anubirats shed, only for Lincoln to appear beside single of them, his body expanded and coated in earth. He used his Stone Giant Soultrait to initiate a full-body transformation. His body expanded, and severalyers ofpressed earth enveloped him like tight body armor.

    His strength doubled, whereas his dexterity and agility suffered considerably. However, Lincoln didn''t see a problem with that. Physical strength was all he needed to crush the Undead. He punched the enemy Anubirats, slowly crushing their stone bodies. One hit wasn''t enough to kill them, but a clean execution of several mighty punches to the same spot was perfect. It was all Lincoln needed ¨C besides the support of Zeke''s Anubirats ¨C to kill the other Guardian Statues.

    High physical strength, deadly uracy, and a good distraction.

    Once the Anubirats near Lincoln died, he diverted his focus to killing the Giant Ghoul Serpents. They might not be the strongest Undead forces since several Undead Awakened had been at the Peak of Tier-3 before they died, but their massive size and weight caused the most disturbance to the Descendants and the surviving forces of the three Lords.

    Lincoln chose to work with the Anubirats under his childhood friend''s control. It didn''t feel good to be next to a walking killing machine made of stone or a simrly-looking material, but Lincoln could tell that the Anubirat was powerful once controlled properly.

    Working with the Anubirat helped Lincoln kill the majority of Undead in the immediate proximity. Unfortunately, a Kleshabit emerged from a small hill, only to shoot Zeke''s Anubirat right away.

    Lincoln, Zeke, and Kaleb continued fighting. Zeke controlled other Undead to wreak havoc, whereas Lincoln continued smashing the Undead around him.

    On the other hand, Kaleb fought closebat while simultaneously releasing deadly missiles to eliminate all Kleshabits before they could cause any more substantial damage.

    The other Descendants were also doing fine, but the situation on the battlefield changed multiple times.

    At some point, it felt like the Undead forces were given orders.

    The orders weren''t that particr or good in any way, but they greatly affected the grand scheme of the battlefield. After all, the Undead forces transferred from blindly attacking the nearest source of life to aiming specific enemies.

 Chapter 754 Azure Meteorite

    754 Azure Meteorite

    At the end of the day, the Saphirke Military Academy did not only allow Descendants to stretch out their helping hand. They also allowed Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to help out.

    At first, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t see a reason to help the humans in the Sacred Desert. Most humans had been discriminating against them for years until Michael and some others appeared to support them. Only now did they create an academy where everyone from the Tritan Alliance could apply.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Despite the Tritan Alliance''s initial problems, the situation has improved greatly sincest year. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t feel that helping the Lords in the Sacred Desert was a bad idea.

    First, they were war-loving races. They enjoyed fighting the Undead forces, and that was what they did. They joined the Descendants and fought the Undead forces with their tremendous physical prowess. They were stronger than most humans and showed that clearly.

    Most wielded war-axes, Morningstars, Clubs, or other blunt weapons which amplified the force applied through the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' physical strength.

    They showed everyone their might and how useful their support was against the Undead forces. The Awakened gained countless energy influxes in response to their actions and kills. This was good training and granted them more strength to advance faster, which was something they needed after hearing what happened to the War Priestess.

    The War Priestess'' death was unexpected and a bad omen, but hearing how their people had been overwhelmed by their ownnd was even worse.

    The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers may not be afraid of dying in battle, but that didn''t mean they wanted their people to die as coteral damage to a fight that wasn''t theirs.

    The Awakened''s desire to protect their people skyrocketed. There was no way that they could sit back and do nothing when treasure troves of merit points, energy influxes, and other treasures were waiting for them in the Sacred Desert.

    They had to do something. They had to grow stronger! A group of Berserkers charged into the masses of Undead Awakened. The Berserkers severed the Undead Awakened in two halves and bashed their heads mercilessly. They killed over a hundred Undead in a minute and continued moving swiftly. Their attacks were powerful enough to kill most enemies with a single strike, as the Undead didn''t evade their attacks.

    Simultaneously, their stamina wasn''t drained as fast as most would suspect. After all, Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were perfectly trained warriors. Their physique was naturally better than most athletes, and they refined their superior physique even further. It was no wonder the

    Berserker and Warlock Centaurs killed thousands of Undead without their Soultraits before their stamina started dwindling.

    Unfortunately, the Undead changed their tactic at some point. They seemed to adapt to their enemies and changed their movements slightly. It initially felt like a minuscule change, but the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs noticed that every subtle adjustment created bigger changes in the grand scheme.

    Maybe tens of thousands of Undead died at the hands of their enemies, but it grew increasingly more difficult to kill them as time passed. It was almost like the Undead learned and adapted from the failure of their kin.

    At some point, Zeke and the others realized that the Undead were like a hive mind. It was not the same, but very simr. The Undead were connected by some unknown means, with an individual¡ªor multiple-controlling the masses, allowing them to adapt and improve.

    "Someone is standing on the Bone Titan!" Zeke shouted at some point. The Eye of Illusion spasmed when he looked at the figure standing on the Bone Titan''s shoulder. His other eye widened in surprise, as it was the first time that he had major issues with his Soultrait.

    His 6-Star Soultrait was powerful, and his Tier was not low either. Nheless, the being standing on the Tier-4 Bone Titan seemed to have the means to affect his Eye of Illusion.

    A heavy pressure descended upon Zeke as the figure nced over to him. His breathing grew rough, and his vision blurred. Beads of sweat poured down his temples, and it was only a matter of seconds before his back was drenched in sweat as well.

    He felt like he was about to copse at any moment.

    The figure leaped high into the air, where it remained. Burst of ck mes emerged underneath its feet, keeping the figure in the air as it raised one arm. A bony arm covered with leathery skin entered Zeke''s view, but he couldn''t pay much attention. A fireball, eerily ck, conjured above the bony arm.

    The fireball expanded rapidly until the ck fireball was the size of arge buildingplex. The Descendants swallowed hard, only for Kaleb to shout, "Soul mes!"

    Zeke and the others paled upon realizing that Kaleb was correct. The ck fireball had been conjured from Soul mes. They couldn''t be blocked with physical means and burned quickly through origin energy and souls.

    The bony arm descended slowly, and the ck fireball followed suit. The fireball was about to smash to the ground when a tiny star blinked high up in the air. It was not even dark yet, but a small star shone brightly high in the sky.

    It was odd that the star high up in the sky was growingrge.

    "A meteorite?" Someone guessed aloud as the star shot down to the ground. It expanded until one could make out a zing object. It crashed down from the sky, leaving behind azure trails, until the body smashed heavily into the bony figure.

    The bony figure didn''t expect someone to appear above it without warning. There hadn''t been a sign that someone had teleported above it, and it would have sensed that. Yet, something crashed into it, hurling the figure to the ground. Simultaneously, the azure mes coating the meteorite split up and shrouded the ck fireball. Everyone''s eyes widened as the ck fireball disappeared. The azure mes had swallowed it, and it transformed into a youthful girl before they returned to the meteorite.

    The girl transformed back into zing azure mes that coated the meteorite, or what the Descendants had presumed to be a meteorite.

    A heavy groan escaped the meteorite''s lips before his eyes fell upon the mountains of Undead corpses.

    "Did I miss the fun?"

    Zeke and Kaleb nced at each other for a few seconds, their confusion apparent.

    They were very familiar with the voiceing from the azure body. It was a voice they would never be able to forget.

    "Michael?" Lincoln was the first to voice out his confusion.

    The azure mes flickered wildly as the man got up from the ground. He stretched his sore body before turning around, revealing his azure-ming armor to the others.

    "Oh, hey. I didn''t expect you toe to the Sacred Desert as well. It''s a little bit boring here, don''t you think so?" Michael asked with a faint smile.

    He conjured arge Qi de when the Bone Titan roared to stomp him to death and frowned deeply. Purgatory mes shrouded the Qi de, transforming it into a dazzling de that whizzed through the air like a shooting star.

    The Qi de pierced through the Bone Titan''s skull and Undead Core, killing the Tier-4 monstrosity before it could attack Michael.

    Kaleb and the others swallowed hard.

    "Yeah...it was way too boring..."

 Chapter 755 Extensions

    <h4>Chapter 755 Extensions</h4>

    It was not a surprise that Michael was too bored fighting ordinary Undead. Even the Anubirats and Kleshabits weren''t worth his attention at this point. They weren''t weak. It was just that Michael could overpower them with Sacred Constitution and the Aethyr Warhammer.

    Fortunately, the Elemental Empress had fun burning everyone with her Purgatory me. Sheprehended how to conjure Purgatory mes, and practicing how to utilize the new me was intriguing enough to push her to eliminate more foes. As she killed thousands of Undead, energy filled her body. She gained enough energy influxes to increase her rank slowly.

    Once they were done killing the Undead in the surroundings, Michael decided it was time to kill the strongest Undead to end the reign of the Undead forces. He didn''t n on wasting his time in the Sacred Desert if he could spend his time doing something more productive.

    But sensing the strongest Undeads wasn''t as easy as he''d predicted. He traveled through the Sacred Desert for a while, ignoring millions of Undead as he flew above them, only to pinpoint the bony figure that was about to throw a ck fireball at Kaleb and others.

    Michael descended with horrifying velocity while fusing with Zeroa. She was excited about the ck fireball and released a portion of her body to dive into it as they crashed heavily into the bony figure.

    "Where is that idiot?" He asked, looking left and right, only to see Kaleb pointing underneath him.

    "Ohhh."

    Michael smiled, embarrassed, but he didn''t have much time to be shy. His Cursed Seals suddenly manifested alongside the Serpent Seals. Michael didn''t even do anything as a serpent head emerged from the World Serpent''s Living Image. The serpent head was as thick as a human head. It lunged for the bony figure''s head, crushing it instantaneously.

    However, that was not all. Vibrant tendrils burst out of the Cursed Seals. Michael narrowed his eyes and swallowed hard when he noticed that the golden extraction tendrils were more resilient and potent than 7-Star True Extraction. His Curse took action and unleashed extraction tendrils through the Cursed Seals.

    But instead of smashing into the bony figure, the extraction tendrils intertwined and merged, forming arge canine head. The canine head was blurry, moving almost too fast for Michael to make out anything. However, he clearly saw the Curse''s massive fangs as they plunged into the bony figure''s chest, devouring it.

    Michael swallowed hard. He didn''t do anything, yet a massive flood of energy swept through his body until it reached his War Rune. His War Rune churned wildly in excitement and epted the energy unconditionally. Simultaneously, the Cursed Seals vibrated rhythmically alongside the Serpent Seals.

    A third Serpent Seal glowed up for a few seconds before dying again. It was simr to the Cursed Seals. But the sixth Cursed Seal didn''t start glowing. Instead, the fifth Cursed Seal glowed stronger than before. Only now did Michael notice that the fifth Cursed Seal wasn''t as potent as the other seals. That was about to change.

    Spirit Eyes discovered something dark and eerie inside the bony figure, something that had been drained rapidly from the World Serpent and his Curse. A single nce at it caused Michael to shudder badly.

    "That thing is sinister. Is that a Curse as well?" Michael asked after he regainedplete control of his body.

    He could tell that the bony figure wasn''t the Undead Pharaoh, but the World Serpent and his Curse wouldn''t jump at his enemies like this if the bony figure wasn''t a Curse or something like that. They usually only acted in uncontroble greed when it was rted to Curses and growing stronger.

    [It''s a Fragment, a tiny portion of the Curse we''re hunting!] The World Serpent answered in his mind.

    "That thing is the fragment of the Undead Pharaoh''s Curse? That means the Undead Pharaoh should be quite strong. If a small portion of his power is already stronger than an Elite Tier-4 Awakened¡­how powerful will he be?" The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward.

    "How many Fragments are there?"

    The World Serpent hissed in annoyance.

    [How am I supposed to know how many Curse Fragments the Undead Pharaoh has? The more Fragments he created, the higher the deterioration of his main body''s strength. He could have split his Curse into hundreds of Fragments, though I doubt that. The Undead forces are too unorganized for the Undead Pharaoh to have hundreds of Curse Fragments spread throughout the Sacred Desert.]

    The World Serpent''s answer was satisfying enough for Michael. He summoned the Aethyr de and coated it in purgatory mes, which was only possible thanks to Zeroa''s tireless training with the newly acquired mes, and pierced it through the bony figure''s core. The Curse and the World Serpent were already done devouring the Curse Fragment. There was no need to stay here any longer.

    Michael turned to his friends and smiled at them.

    "You are doing a great job out there. Everyone is improving so fast. That''s nice to see," He praised them before spinning back to the masses of Undead.

    Michael didn''t jump into the air this time to avoid the Undead. His entire being was overflowing with energy, and everyone, including his Curse, the World Serpent, and Zeroa, was itching for some blood.

    In fact, Zeroa wanted to test out the Soul mes she''d devoured a minute ago, whereas the Curse and the World Serpent lusted for more Curse Fragments.

    ''I have two addicts, a cute little me, and an annoying brother inside me. That has to be a bad joke,'' Michael thought, but the grin on his face never ceased.

    [I didn''t even do anything!] Dannyined, but Michael just smiled.

    He unleashed strands of Qi in all directions. The strands separated from Michael''s body and expanded naturally. They burst outward and contracted,pressing into magnificent double-edged des.

    Michael controlled the Qi des at will. At this point, they felt like extensions of his form and moved with deadly precision. Michael took a deep breath, trying to maintain perfect control of each de. Simultaneously, he urged Zeroa to lend him some power.

    The Elemental Empressplied without hesitation. She shrouded the Qi des with purgatory mes and maintained the fire.

    After that, Michael strode toward the Undead horde that had been inching closer.

    "I''ll be searching for their Boss," Michael told the others, who stared at him as the ughter ensued.

    The Qi des coated in purgatory mes shot in all directions. They pierced cleanly through the cores of the Undead, entering his range of attack. At first, only a few Undead Summons died from the Qi des, but Michael''s control of the Qi des improved until they were indeed like extensions of his body.

    It was a magnificent sensation. Minuscule power influxes reached his War Rune at every moment, and he didn''t even have to use too much energy to maintain the Qi des. Only moving the Qi des around cost energy as long as they didn''t shatter.

    However, it was not like Michaelcked energy. He could insert Extraction threads into the Qi des to extract the Undead''s power as they died. However, Michael didn''t feel like draining the Undead''s tainted energy. He''d rather avoid harming his form by doing something stupid.

    It might not be the first time Michael nned to do something stupid, but he learned from his mistakes. There was no way that he would repeat his foolish mistakes.

    Probably.

 Chapter 756 New Soultraits

    Chapter 756 New Soultraits

    ??The others stared at Michael, their eyes narrowed to slits. He killed more than a hundred Undead in a matter of seconds before using Cosmic Stride to teleport into the Undead masses.

    Kaleb and others could only hear themotion from far ahead. They swallowed hard as they realized once again how strong Michael had grown.

    "I cannot ept this!" One of the Descendants mumbled.

    "We have to catch up to him!" A second dered, only for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to flex their muscles and charge the Undead. They resumed the fight against the Undead forces. However, instead of holding back, they used their Soul Techniques and enteredbat more aggressively than before.

    There was no way they could go back after witnessing Michael defeat the Tier-4 Bone Titan and the bony figure before walking off into the Undead masses like he was on a morning walk.

    "I really didn''t want to use this yet," Kaleb murmured while lifting his hand.

    Arge pir of ice emerged before him. The ice pir had been manifested with Frozen Nova''s power, but Kaleb hadn''t essed Frozen Nova''s Soultrait Symbol. Instead, he''d essed his new Soultrait, Elemental Summon.

    Elemental Summon was a 4-Star Soultrait that required an elemental power to summon a creature from another ne. Kaleb possessed a powerful Ice Elemental Soultrait. It was more than enough to summon a powerful creature.

    The ice pir groaned. Cobweb-like cracks spread alongside its surface. They expanded and pushed deeper until the ice pir shattered.

    A line of ice and mist blocked Kaleb''s view, but he continued staring ahead, a deadly serious expression stered on his face. He waved his hand to disperse the ice and mist, revealing a towering figure made of Frozen Nova''s ice.

    "A cier Golem. That''s not too bad," Kaleb murmured. He was slightly drained from using Elemental Summon for the first time since he''d obtained it from Michael, but the effect was better than expected.

    "Crush them all!" He ordered the cier Golem, who looked back to study Kaleb for a few seconds. Atst, the cier Golem turned around and charged the Undead forces.

    His towering, six-meter-tall figure shot across the searing-hot sand and emerged before some Undead Summons. However, instead of slowing down and punching them, the cier Golem kicked them fiercely and crushed them to death with his heavy weight.

    The rough surface of his body glimmered brightly in the afternoon sun as he continued wreaking havoc. He crushed countless with brute force and never stopped moving. It was almost like his stamina was limitless. The cier Golem was just like the Undead.

    "You don''t have to brag about your Soultrait," Lincoln grumbled, "Did you think that you''re the only one who got something from Michael?"

    Lincoln''s body expanded even further than before. He groaned in pain as loud cracking noises resounded through the proximity. Two horns pierced through his forehead. They expanded and grew intorge horns. Lincoln''s skin ripped apart. Theyers ofpressed earth that engulfed his body burst apart for a moment, revealing the shreds of skin and blood that concealed the dark scales Lincoln had grown.

    4-Star Draconic Transformation.

    That was the Soultrait Symbol Lincoln obtained from Michael. It enhanced his physical strength and resilience even further, transforming his body into a natural fortress. As long as Stone Giant and Draconic Transformation were used together, Lincoln was as strong and durable as an Earth Dragon!

    He kicked the ground, shooting a wave of sand in all directions as he shot past the cier Golem. He grasped a Giant Ghoul Serpent''s tail, lifted it high into the air, and smashed it onto the ground. Lincoln transformed the massive creature into a deadly weapon. He used the Giant Ghoul Serpent to crush the Undead Summons and Awakened next to him. He spun around his axis, hitting dozens of Undead, breaking their bones and crushing some cores in response.

    Atst, Lincoln released the Giant Ghoul Serpent. He hurled it into another Giant Ghoul Serpent and appeared beside them, his hands transforming into huge ws right before they dug deep into the Giant Ghoul Serpents. Once he reached their cores, he twisted his w inside their bodies. His ws retracted with their cores in them.

    The Giant Ghoul Serpents were not yet dead. They stared at the cores, only for a devilish smile to blossom on Lincoln''s face. He crushed their cores, ending the Giant Ghoul Serpents'' misery.

    Zeke appeared next to Lincoln. He looked at his childhood friend with a wry smile.

    "So, we''re all using Michael''s gift now? Didn''t we say we would catch up to him without using his gifts?" Zeke asked, but the hesitation in his voice was apparent.

    He didn''t want to be left behind, either. If Michael continued growing stronger exponentially, nobody could keep up with him. Zeke''s parents were already in trouble because they worried about what would happen once Michael ascended to a Higher Lifeform. Michael''s mother was stronger than everyone else. Evalynn Fang could force everyone in the Tritan Alliance to surrender their rightful ess to the human Race Achievement Shop.

    Evalynn Fang didn''t seem attached to the Tritan Alliance. She was likely to leave soon. However, Michael was more attached. He had friends and was likely to return even if he were to leave at some point.

    How long would it take for Michael to be stronger than everyone else? Would he force High Society to submit to him?

    Kaleb and others said Michael wouldn''t force himself upon others, but most Noble households, Supreme Families, and Guilds and ns didn''t think like that. They knew what they would do if they had Michael''s power¡­and that was what worried them the most.

    Lincoln and Zeke were told to nourish their rtionship with Michael. They were said to reap as many benefits from Michael as long as he recalled they existed. Their parents said Michael would forget them once he left to go with the Nest. Once he returned, Michael would be stronger than ever and force everyone to submit to them. Therefore, they had to ask him for benefits now.

    Little did they know that Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke had already obtained some Soultraits from Michael. It hadn''t been long since Michael gave them the Soultrait Symbols, but they were incredibly useful and suited perfectly to their existing Soultraits and Legacy Arts. It was almost like the Soultrait Symbols had been created for them.

    Yet, the descendants had been reluctant to use them right away. They didn''t want to rely on Michael''s generosity to grow stronger, and they didn''t want to tell their families that Michael had already given them Soul Traits.

    The moment their rtives found out that Michael gave them something without asking for anything in return, they would go crazy.

    However, now that they possess witnessed again how vast the gap between their power and Michael''s might is, they cannot hold back anymore.

    "Let''s just say that Michael allowed us to take a loan and that we possess to pay him back," Zeke murmured, the corner of his lips twitching as he utilized his 4-Star Soultrait, Puppeteer.

    The Giant Ghoul Serpents'' bodies twitched as countless threads sted from Zeke''s fingers. The threads pierced the Giant Ghoul Serpents'' scales and linked to the bodies.

    He utilized his Legacy Arts with Eye of Illusion to cast an illusion on two more Giant Ghoul Serpents before he jumped on one of the moving corpses.

    "Whatever. We possess to mature stronger. Who cares whether we use Michael''s Soultraits or not? Strength is all that matters!"

 Chapter 757 Staff of Epos

    Chapter 757 Staff of Epos

    ??Michael pushed through the Undead masses for a while before replenishing his used-up energy with Inferior Energy Stones. Once he was filled to the brim with energy, Michael returned to search for the strongest Undead forces again.

    He didn''t want to waste his time, but it was not like he would ignore the Undead Higher Lifeforms that entered his path. He killed a bunch of Bone Titans, some Undead Awakened, and a bunch of other Undead before he made his way to a mountain range covered in sand.

    "Am I right here?"

    [Yep. The hidden valley of the Sacred Desert should be around here. Look out for a magic cir¨C...Ah. There it is!]

    Michael''s eyesnded on a small portion of the mountain range. Sand covered arge gate that had been built into the mountain range. If not for Spirit Eyes, Michael wouldn''t have found it.

    Michael released a gust of air to remove the sand and reveal the obsidian gate. He tried teleporting inside the room hidden behind the obsidian gate, but Cosmic Stride failed him.

    "That''s interesting," He murmured, teleporting before the obsidian gate and channeling some origin energy into it.

    Michael flexed his muscles to push the gate open. It was harder than expected, but the origin energy spreading through the gate helped smoothen the sockets. Atst, the gate swung open, revealing a small room of the same darkish obsidian. Aplex of several ovepping magic circles, a short-distance teleportation array, had been engraved into the obsidian.

    "Wouldn''t it be easier to travel through the mountain range? This feels like a trap," Michael mused when his eyes fell upon a trace of the eerie cursed power he''d sensed earlier. The Curse Fragment had the same cursed power. No matter how Michael looked at it, someone altered the short-distance teleportation array. And that someone was the Undead Pharaoh or one of his Curse Fragments.

    [You can try it, but I don''t think you feel like dying today. The Red Dragon''s me was already hot, right?] Danny asked ambitiously.

    Michael recalled their time in the Lord Rift. He shuddered as he recalled the Red Dragon''s breath. The dragon''s breath terrified him even now.

    [Now imagine a being much stronger than the Red Dragon guarding the mountain range. The Lamia Queen, my first Summon, called the mythical creature a Primal Phoenix. They''re also known as Sacred Creatures, though I don''t know precisely what that means. I don''t think that a Sacred Creature is stronger than a Mythical Creature per se. Either way, the Primal Phoenix kills everyone daring enough to enter its territory.]

    Michael pondered about his brother''s words for a moment, "And the mountain range is its territory. It doesn''t care about the hidden valley, but the mountain range is off-limits."

    His brother nudged at the back of his mind as if to agree silently.

    "Great." Michael clicked his tongue, "And the Undead Pharaoh is in the hidden valley?"

    [I don''t know if he is still there, but the Primedival Pyramid is in the valley. The Undead Pharaoh might be there, or he might have left. But we haven''t heard any reports about the Undead Pharaoh yet, and you haven''t sensed or seen him either. He is probably in there. Even if he isn''t, there will be a bunch of powerful Undead creatures for you to kill.]

    Michael sighed deeply, but he gave his brother a curt nod. He stepped onto the short-distance teleportation array and channeled enough energy into it to activate it.

    A momentter, Michael activated the Cursed Seals and the Serpent Seals while shrouding his entire body in Aethyr. He applied severalyers of Enhancement to his body, increasing his resilience, while also applying several Soul Tears to Sacred Constitution, Spirit Eyes, Enhancement, and Extraction.

    The world around him twisted. He was teleported outside the teleportation chamber.

    As Michael''s body left the teleportation chamber, the obsidian gate closed. A gust of wind howled through the surroundings. The wind dragged sand through the mountain range, covering the obsidian gate once again in glistening grains of sand.

    The gate disappeared as it had never been graced with sunlight''s touch.

    **

    Michael expected to be shoved into a pit ofva or to fall into iron stakes, but nothing like that was the case. The trap turned out to be much less dangerous than he''d expected. Despite that, the short-distance teleportation array had been tampered with. Michael didn''t end up where Danny expected he would be.

    Instead, Michael appeared in a humongous throne hall. Huge pirs of sandstone supported the massive ceiling above him. Everywhere he looked, treasures were present. Mountains of gold were to his left, and various valuable treasures were stored to his right. Michael found a stash of Legendary Summoning Scrolls, High Artifacts that exuded immense might, gemstones, and other treasures that attracted his attention.

    However, it wasn''t long before his eyesnded on the intricate murals depicting the mighty''s lives in the Second Epoch. After all, that was when the Undead Pharaoh had been alive.

    [The Second Epoch? The Undead Pharaoh isn''t that old then. But the Curse feels pretty powerful. That''s weird.] The World Serpent mused in Michael''s mind.

    The golden Cursed Seals trembled, and a deep growl escaped through Michael''s mouth.

    [That''s true. Now I remember. The Epos Staff. The Ancient Artifact of the Titans.] The World Serpent responded to the growl that had escaped Michael''s lips.

    [You are a peculiar Cursed Child, Michael. Your existence is filled with fortune and misfortune alike.]

    "What are you talking about?" Michael asked, but the World Serpent didn''t respond anymore. A heavy presence weighed down on Michael, forcing him to flex his muscles to remain standing. He swallowed hard and spun around as a clicking resounded behind him.

    The hair stood up to its end, his eyes filled with both confusion and understanding.

    A bandaged hand holding a golden serpentine scepter was the first thing that attracted his attention.

    Michael''s perception of time seemed to slow down as his eyes fell upon the full body of the mummified figure approaching him slowly. It inched closer, azure mes flickering brightly in its eye sockets.

    The mummified being was adorned with ornate, regal attire reminiscent of ancient pharaohs. It wore a headpiece featuring an ankh symbol, symbolizing power, and life. The headpiece resembled the pharaoh''s crown of the Second Epoch, adorned with hieroglyphs and intricate partners.

    The being''s skeletal body was crested with jewelry, amulets, and sacred relics, a sign of its eternal connection to the long-

    forgotten empire. Upon discovering Michael''s vibrant golden eyes, the being''s eye sockets glowed in otherworldly radiance, casting a gloomy and eerie atmosphere all over the throne hall.

    It clutched the serpentine scepter tightly, intensifying the heavy pressure weighing down on Michael.

    Michael had a hard time breathing. He gaped at the majestic being, whose presence changed slowly with ancient authority, and a sense of enigmatic power channeled into it. Its presence blended in with the appearance of the regal majesty, shrouding the fact that a being, which should have died a long time ago, was standing right in front of Michael.

    ''That''s the Undead Pharaoh?'' Michael asked himself, trying hard to show that he was not affected by the being''s presence. Unfortunately, that was easier uttered than done.

    [Yup. That''s the guy who ughtered me.]

    "Wee to my humble abode, Cursed Child. I have been waiting for you," The Undead Pharaoh said, his voice an odd mix between hoarse and robotic.

    Michael swallowed once again. The Undead Pharaoh was definitely a Mythical Creature, or at least as strong as one. He was also at the 5th Tier¡­or stronger¡­

    "I took the liberty to seal this ce," The Undead Pharaoh uttered lightly, tapping the lower end of the serpentine scepter against the ground, "You won''t be able to use your Soultraits for a while."

    Michael''s eyes widened in terror. At first, he thought that the Undead Pharaoh was bluffing, but Michael was proven wrong instantly. He tried using Cosmic Stride to escape but failed to ess the Soultrait Symbol. It had been enclosed alongside his other Soultraits.

    Only Sacred Constitution, Extraction and the Soul Grimoire didn''t seem to be fully sealed.

    [That''s what I meant.] The World Serpent cursed.

    A tiny seed of fear nted deep into Michael''s heart.

    [You are lucky the Undead Pharaoh is so young, but you are one of the most unfortunate children to be forced to deal with the Staff of Epos. That Artifact was basically made to deal with people like you!]

    Michael groaned in his heart.

    ''Thanks for nothing!''

 Chapter 758 Corruption

    <h4>Chapter 758 Corruption</h4>

    The Staff of Epos was an Ancient Artifact that adjusted to the wielder''s power. It was capable of sealing the Soultraits of all targets in its range.

    That would have been useful to know before the Undead Pharaoh sealed Michael''s Soultrait. The only advantage was that his 7-Star Soultraits hadn''t been sealed. Only Divine Lifeform could unleash the Staff of Epos'' true power. The Undead Pharaoh might have been a Divine Lifeform when he was alive, but his power was still sealed. He could only seal a portion of Michael''s 7-Star Soultraits using the Staff of Epos.

    Nheless, that was enough to put Michael into a tricky situation. He couldn''t escape the Undead Pharaoh''s grasp because he was in the pharaoh''s throne hall, which had been locked moments after Michael emerged.

    The only reason Michael didn''t panic was that he had the World Serpent and the Curse on his side. If not for their presence reassuring him, Michael would be on the verge of losing his sanity.

    [The Staff of Epos is an Ancient Artifact that can only be used by a Curse User. That''s also why it''s overflowing with curse power. If you get us close enough to the Staff of Epos, we can drain some of its curse power. The partial seals on your 7-Star Soultraits will disappear. The curse power inside the Staff of Epos ispressed and highly potent. As long as you stay close to him, we can unlock more Seals to strengthen you!]

    The World Serpent was already in fighting mode, and the deep growl within Michael showed that his Curse was also ready to rumble. However, Michael was not yet prepared. He had to get a hang of the weird feeling that permeated his entire being. It was the first time that he felt naked and powerless.

    Most of his Soultraits had been sealed, including Spirit Eyes. His vision returned to how it had been originally. The Staff of Epos also sealed the passive effects of his other Soultraits. The only passive effect that remained was the Elemental Empress'' tattoo. It was just that the Elemental Empress was sealed inside Michael and that they didn''t have any means tomunicate. Taming was sealed, after all.

    "You are talking to your Curse. That''s interesting," The Undead Pharaoh noticed nonchntly.

    He was eerily calm and didn''t consider Michael a threat anymore. Why would he? Michael''s Soultraits were sealed, and he was merely a Lesser Lifeform. It didn''t matter that Michael was already familiar with his Curse and that he could talk with it.

    "I didn''t expect that the young brother of that Cursed Child to be so much stronger. I felt that you were special when I read your brother''s memories, but to think you were such an anomaly. Very intriguing!"

    Michael frowned deeply, anger bubbling deep inside him.

    "You killed my brother."

    The Undead Pharaoh walked around the throne hall, the Staff of Epos clicking lightly on the polished sandstone floor.

    "I sure did. But I only dealt the finishing blow to your brother. He would have died either way. The people he trusted foolishly betrayed him," He revealed in a light tone, "I wouldn''t be here if not for their betrayal. Your brother''s blood triggered my awakening. It was not within my ns to wake up anytime soon. In fact, I didn''t want to wake up from eternal slumber in the first ce. But now that I''ve been awakened, the Will¨C...."

    The Undead Pharaoh was just about to say something when he groaned. The zing mes in his eyesockets flickered wildly for a second, only to die down once again. The Soul mes regained their normal intensity once again.

    "It seems like I shouldn''t speak any further about this," The Undead Pharaoh shrugged lightly, trying to hide what was going through his mind. Either way, you look just like your brother. He was just a little bit older than you...and definitely weaker. Your presence and stance are entirely different from that naive man''s. The Curse inside you is a lot stronger as well. I can''t remember hearing of a Cursed Child capable of talking to his Curse."

    "Your blood should be enough to help me re-awaken my full power!"

    [Below you!] The World Serpent hissed in his mind, and several thick golden Extraction tendrils shot out of his body. The tendrils plunged into the ground, where Michael saw several pairs of bony hands emerge out of nowhere. The bony hands lunged for Michael''s legs but were shattered as the Extraction tendrils impacted.

    ''Darkness...Is that another Curse affiliated with darkness?'' Michael wondered, recalling that his mother''s Curse was rted to darkness and that Danny''s Curse had also been a nuisance with eerie dark powers.

    However, something else about the bony, dark hands attracted his attention. Something merged into the darkness.

    ''If Spirit Eyes was working, I would have been able to figure out what it is right away. Fuck this shit!''

    Michael jumped back and retreated further. He tried to sense what his Curse''s extraction tendrils had devoured, but his connection to his Curse was not strong enough to perceive much.

    More hands emerged from the polished sandstone floor. Skeletons of various races, coated in darkness, formed. However, the darkness was not eerily ck. Countless green lines spread through the darkness, creating multiple intricate patterns.

    [Corruption. You''re really unlucky.]

    ''What do you mean?'' Michael had a good guess about what the World Serpent meant but didn''t have the luxury to y the guessing game. The Skeletons kicked the ground and shot toward Michael.

    Michael conjured two Aethyr Scimitars and coated them in True Extraction''s power. His Cursed Seals and the Serpent Seals were still active. Fortunately, the Staff of Epos didn''t seal them either.

    Simultaneously, Michael used Heavenly Beast Physique. He shot forward and cut through the shroud of darkness, severing the Skeletons in half.

    [Corruption. His cursed power has been corrupted. You''ll have to extract the corruption properties if you want me to help defeat him.]

    Michael had no idea how it mattered whether the Undead Pharaoh''s cursed strength had been corrupted or not, but he certainly felt something off when he cut through the corrupted darkness shrouding the Skeletons.

    True Extraction tapped into the corrupted darkness briefly, but it was enough to devour a trace of it. The corruption entered the strength of True Extraction, which shrouded the Aethyr Scimitars. At first, Michael didn''t think much of it. He cut through the first two Skeletons, killing them by shattering their cores.

    However, as more corruption entered the Aethyr Scimitar, Michael felt something. It was harder to control the golden hue that coated the Aethyr Scimitars. Michael was slowly losing control! Michael didn''t regain control even as he tapped into True Extraction to thicken the golden hue around the Aethyr Scimitars.

    He frowned deeply and elerated by activating Foundation Break for a quarter of a second. His skin burst open as tremendous strength surged through his entire being. The Skeletons fell victim to his scimitars individually, but Michael was not happy. He retracted as much Aethyr as possible without transferring the corruption to his form before hurling two needles made of Aethyr to the other side of the room.

    The golden hue coating the Aethyr needles dyed sickly green. The Corruption also devoured the True Extraction Hue before swallowing the Aethyr Needles.

    ''How am I supposed to remove¨C...'' Michael was about to continue curse when his Cursed nudged at the back of his head.

    "You can do it?" Michael asked, a trace of hope emerging in his mind.

    However, the hope was shattered and reced by suspicion and a deep frown when his Curse tried to ess his body. It spread through him in an attempt to control his being.

    "But you need my form to do that?"

    Was that worth it? Could he defeat the Undead Pharaoh in any other way?

    At this point, Michael wasn''t sure if he could trust his Curse. It hadn''t bothered him much in thest few months and had been helpful. However, Michael recalled the times the Curse tried forcibly taking control of his body.

    Maybe everything the Curse had down was a trick to take control of his body?

    What if all of this was the Curse''s n to devour him and rece him?

    ''Fuck''

 Chapter 759 Memories

    <h4>Chapter 759 Memories</h4>

    Michael was too focused on the Curse and trying to find its true agenda, and he was toote to move when more bony hands emerged around his feet.

    He tried to evade them, which mainly worked fine. The only problem was that one of the bony hands managed to scratch his calf. The scratch wasn''t too bad since the bony hand barely managed to get through his skin, but the problem was that a trace of corrupted darkness entered Michael''s body.

    He used True Extraction right away to remove the corrupted darkness. Unfortunately, that didn''t work as expected. He could temporarily contain the corrupted darkness and move it around as he pleased, but it was impossible to extract the corrupted darkness without inflicting harm on himself.

    Michael considered shing his calf to cut a piece of it off when he noticed that the corrupted darkness threatened to spread. Fortunately, he didn''t do that. Michaelpressed and contained the corrupted darkness before extracting it alongside a piece of his flesh. It was painful to rip a piece of flesh out of his body ¨C even if it was the Soultrait doing the deed ¨C, but Michael managed to remove the corrupted darkness before it could harm him seriously.

    The corruption was truly bothersome, and it made Michael rethink whether he should give his Curse a chance or solve the situation differently. But what was he supposed to do? The Curse was confident that it could manage all issues with corruption. Even the World Serpent didn''t seem overly optimistic about that right now.

    Michael was unsure why the World Serpent had issues with corrupted curse power, but more things bothered him than that.

    The Undead Pharaoh saw Michael grimacing andughed heartily ¨C if he had a heart, to begin with. He thought that Michael was struggling to face him head-on. The corrupted piece of flesh attracted his attention. He pulled it toward him with a wave of his scepter and put it into his bony jaw. A burst of energy flushed through the Undead Pharaoh. The energy spread through every bone in his body before spreading outward, increasing the pressure in the throne hall.

    "Amazing! To think that a Lesser Lifeform can contain so much lifeforce and energy," The Undead Pharaoh eximed ecstatically, "Your blood will help me regain my whole power!"

    He cackled for a while, only to stare at Michael, who wasn''t moving. It looked like Michael was frozen in fear.

    "You shouldn''t havee here with your puny strength. Foolish child!"

    Michael was far from low, but the Undead Pharaoh could be considered a crippled Divine Lifeform with the same strength as a Tier-5 Mythical Creature.

    Michael frowned deeply. He stared at the Undead Pharaoh while his mind was going crazy. What was he supposed to do now? Should he trust his Curse?

    [You might have to risk it. That bastard is a piece of shit, but he is your only chance. I''m not equipped to deal with the corruption of a Divine Lifeform without going all out. That is not something I can do¡­right now.] The World Serpent sounded downtrodden and frustrated.

    Nheless, it delivered Michael useful pieces of information.

    [That bastard would be better off as a fox Curse, so be careful. But I think you have to do it!]

    Michael cursed inwardly. Even the World Serpent told him to ept his Curse''s offer after calling him a sly fox-like bastard.

    ''Great. That''s really great!''

    Anger filled his body, and it intensified as the Curse made a second attempt to spread through it.

    ''Fuck off! I didn''t permit you to do anything¡­yet!''

    The Curse retracted but remained ready to expand at any moment. The Undead Pharaoh noticed the anger in Michael''s face and decided to end the farce.

    "I''ll grant you a quick death," He said generously while conjuring dozens of bone spikes around him. They levitated in the air and were coated in darkness. The darkness expanded explosively at the lower end, pushing the bone spikes toward Michael at an incredible velocity.

    If Michael had ess to Spirit Eyes, evading the bone spikes wouldn''t have been an issue. Unfortunately, Spirit Eyes was sealed. Michael dove to the side and rolled over the ground with both Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique activated. His skin burst open, but that didn''t matter as much as the bone spike he''d managed to evade by a hair''s breadth.

    He evaded the bone spikes and jumped up, manifesting the Aethyr Scimitars with a thick hue of True Extraction. He also applied Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tears to Sacred Constitution and Extraction, further amplifying the Soultraits. Michael then added another Soul Tear to his soul before producing massive amounts of Soul Energy. The Soul Energy was drained to empower True Extraction, enhancing it enough to cut through the second batch of bone spikes that reached him a momentter.

    Unfortunately, it hardly mattered how powerful True Extraction was at this point. Michael was too slow to cut through all the bone spikes that threatened to pierce him. One bone spike pierced his shoulder, while a second scratched his thigh. The scratch was a little bit deeper than expected, as Michael found himself missing a chunk of flesh, but his movements weren''t as restricted as he''d feared.

    It was painful, but he could still move.

    There was also no corrupted curse power in the attacks. The darkness was only used to elerate the bone spikes. That was Michael''s fortune because he would have been on the verge of death if the corruption had entered his shoulder. Maybe Michael would have salvaged the situation by containing and removing the corruption fast enough, but more barrages of bone spikes threatened to pierce him already.

    The Undead Pharaoh didn''t seem to care that Michael was unwilling to ept a quick death. It seemed to enjoy watching Michael''s desperate attempts to survive.

    Michael cured quietly while trying to find a way to deal with the Undead Pharaoh. He managed to inch closer to the Undead Pharaoh, who retaliated by manifesting a domain of corrupted darkness. The domain was small but more than enough to keep Michael at bay. He instinctively knew that he would be affected if he were to enter the corrupted dark domain. Michael couldn''t afford that as long as he had no idea how to deal with the Undead Pharaoh.

    He continued cursing but went silent when the Curse urged him to make a decision. The World Serpent joined the fray this time. Neither the Curse nor the World Serpent were willing to die. The World Serpent could reveal itself to the Origin Expanse, but it didn''t want to do so. That would be itsst resort before Michael died.

    [Don''t even think that I will help you. I will kill the Undead Pharaoh and eliminate you right after that. You will die a painful death if I''mpelled to reveal myself because of your selfish attitude!] The World Serpent hissed, but Michael ignored it.

    An idea formed in his mind, but it was risky. Michael was not sure if the n was better or if it would be better to trust the Curse for once.

    ''No, I can''t trust it.'' He shook his head.

    [Please. I don''t want you to die. Even if the Curse betrays you, I know you will regain control of your body. I will help you!] Danny eximed when another bone spike pierced Michael, this time piercing his gut.

    Michael''s eyes widened in surprise. He didn''t expect the bone spikes to elerate all of a sudden. They were furthermore faster than before. He might have been able to evade them with Cosmic Stride, but the Soultrait was sealed as well. Now, he could only rely on Sacred Consitution''s exceptional natural regeneration. The Soultrait Shard of Archangel''s Grace was also sealed, after all.

    His condition was far from good, but he was unwilling to take the risk. He didn''t want to give his body to his Curse, not furthermore for a just period. It didn''t feel right to do that after realizing that the Curse might have fooled him intentionally. The Curse might have nned to y nice until he desperately needed it.

    "No." He yelled out through his gritted teeth. Michael was unwilling to give his Curse the benefit of the doubt.

    [So what are you going to do? Die miserably?] The World Serpent hissed in anger. It was the first time Michael felt the World Serpent''s fury. Until now, it had been amiable to him. It always acted like it was on his side. Not now.

    The Undead Pharaoh was pleased with the situation. Michael was desperate to survive, while it could absorb more and more of his blood through the bone spikes. The problem was in his favor.

    Michael was bound to die.

    Suddenly, Michael''s expression lit up. He turned deadly serious, took a deep breath, andmanded the Cursed and World Serpent.

    "You superior listen to me if you don''t want to die or get exposed," Michael said, his entire presence switching from one moment to the next.

    "If you want me to believe you, you superior give your best!" He told his Curse before transforming the Aethyr Scimitars into a long silvery spear.

    He couldn''t be sure whether he did the right thing or not, but Michael felt that it was the only way out of misery without granting the Curse control of his body.

    Michael tapped into a set of memories he hadn''t watched for a long time. He essed memories he initially wanted to ignore.

    It was the first set of memories he had obtained from a Memory Orb.

    Cleave Fenrir''s memories.

 Chapter 760 The Spear That Cuts Through Everything

    Chapter 760 The Spear That Cuts Through Everything

    Michael decided to use the Wicked Spear Arts. That ought to be easier to handle than the Curse iming control of his body. At least, that was what Michael was hoping for. He tapped into Cleave Fenrir''s memories while also recalling the dream he had about Cleave Fenrir the day before his War Rune manifested. Understanding dawned upon him as he created enough Soul Energy to circte through his body. It moved smoothly through him in a circle while steadily elerating.

    The first bunch of circtions was slow, but it didn''t take long before a faint purple hue shrouded Michael''s arms. The purple hue expanded toward the Aethyr Spear and enveloped it at once.

    The Aethyr Spear and the purple hue resonated. Both vibrated weakly in sync. A faint smile stered Michael''s face, but it was reced by deadly seriousness as he let his emotions go crazy. It felt like eons had passed since he allowed his emotions to move freely. However, that was necessary to ensure he could release the Wicked Spear Arts'' strongest form.

    The stronger the emotions raged through his entire being, the higher the Wicket Spear Arts'' potency.

    Michael let loose for the first time in what felt like decades.

    The memories of his brother''s death resurfaced in his mind. Michael recalled Masked Saber jumping before him and Tiara to block the Red Dragon''s breath and clearly remembered his brother''s sad expression and thest words that left his body before the dragon''s breath burned him alive.

    A wave of anger surged through his body. He hated Taros for waking the Red Dragon and himself for being too weak to protect himself. He had been helpless against the Red Dragon''s fury. He had to rely on his brother to survive. The frustration and anger swept through Michael.

    Simultaneously, the faint purple hue shrouding the Aethyr Spear grew more potent. It glowed brightly as it expanded.

    Following Masked Saber''s death came the news of the betrayal of his brother''s trusted allies. The anger within Michael intensified. It erupted and flooded his entire being as he recalled that the real perpetrator was still somewhere in the Tritan Alliance.

    Michael''s face distorted in anger and frustration. The Undead Pharaoh noticed that something was wrong and decided to make a move. Michael was already injured and was bound to have difficulties moving, but the change in his expression showed that he was not yet ready to give up.

    The Undead Pharaoh released several bone spikes alongside the corrupted darkness hands that shot out underneath Michael''s feet. Michael lightly tapped the sandstone underneath him with the Aethyr Spear''s lower end. That should have never been enough to get rid of the hands shooting out of the ground, but it was.T

    The sandstone cracked as the purple hue shot deep into the hardened stone. The purple hue spread across the floor, tearing the bony darkness hands apart before they could touch Michael. A fraction of a secondter, the purple hue retracted. As the purple hue retracted, a golden tinge mixed into the fray.

    Michael noticed that his Curse was trying to temporarily restrict his use of the Wicked Spear Arts. He responded with a burst of defiance. The purple hue glowed stronger than before, forcefully terminating the Curse''s interference.

    "You better fucking listen to me, or I will make sure that you''re the next Curse I''m exorcising!" Michael bellowed while unleashing the Cursed Seals alongside the Serpent Seals again.

    "You better amplify my emotions now. If you don''t listen..." He didn''t finish the sentence. Instead, Michael let his emotions speak volumes.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He recalled how easily his Mother and Father abandoned them in a quarter of a second. Thereafter, the situations, faces, rumors, and words of countless people flooded him. Everyone expected great things from Michael. They projected their hopes and desires upon Michael and didn''t even think about hiding their uncontroble greed. Everyone wanted something from him. They didn''t even care about the things he wanted to do. He was just a tool for them.

    Michael roared out in defiance. He lifted the Aethyr Spear and whirled it around his body with deadly precision. The memories of every Spear user he''d killed surfaced in his mind. The memories he''d drained from their Memory Orbs filled his entire being. Simultaneously, Michael felt something more. He nced at the bony spikes that shot toward him and began to move.

    Michael saw a semi-translucent figure moving before him. It was a young man with ck hair and ck eyes.

    Michael saw Cleave Fenrir move before him and followed his steps. The Aethyr Spear continued whirling around his body as the true potential of the Wicked Spear Arts dawned upon him. Cleave Fenrir''s mastery of the Wicked Spear Arts transferred to him.

    He shed and cut through the bony spikes that threatened to hit him easily, allowing the pain of every action to affect him. The pain and desire to stop moving, to give up and rest, swamped his entire being. However, instead of giving up, Michael used those emotions and feelings to nourish the Wicked Spear Arts.

    Suddenly, the chaos of his emotions amplified. The purple hue of the Wicked Sper Arts trembled. It grew thicker and changed subtly, fusing into the Aethyr Spear that hummed in Michael''s hands.

    ''What the...'' Michael nearly cursed aloud as he lost control of the Aethyr Spear. He had to grasp it even tighter than before to keep his weapon with him.

    "A warning would have been helpful!" He barked before realizing it.

    The Cursed had decided to give Michael a helping hand.

    It understood that he would rather suffer tremendously, or maybe even die, than give up his body to someone else. Unfortunately, Michael had to survive. At least his soul had to survive. The Curse was fused into Michael''s Soul. It couldn''t afford to lose Michael. Therefore, the Curse decided to show Michael that they were on the same side even if they didn''t agree at all times.

    The purple hue expanded in all directions and shrouded Michael, whose attention fell on the thick golden lines passing through the hue. He used Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tears to amplify his Soul, Sacred Constitution, and Extraction, but that was not it. Michael added a Soul Tear to each Cursed Seal and Serpent Seal before adding more to strengthen the World Serpent and his Curse.

    Michael didn''t have the luxury to doubt whether the Curse would attempt to steal his body shortly. His entire focus was on the Wicked Spear Arts, his chaotic emotions that roared throughout his entire being, and the Undead Pharaoh.

    Michael kicked the ground and lunged forward. He crushed the iing bone spikes with deadly, precise attacks and ignored the blood spurting all over the hardened sandstone floor - his blood.

 Chapter 761 Wolf Head

    <h4>Chapter 761 Wolf Head</h4>

    The Wicked Spear Arts was strong enough to cut through the Undead Pharaoh''s corrupted domain. The Undead Pharaoh did not see thating. It was certain that Michael would overestimate his technique''s strength and fall victim to his baseless confidence. That was exactly what happened with the Undead Pharaoh instead.

    He was too confident in the corrupted curse power and didn''t expect that a Lesser Lifeform could cut through it. Not even Higher Lifeforms were capable of such a feat without the perfect Soultrait and Soul Technique. Yet, that was exactly what Michael did. The Aethyr Spear cut through the corrupted domain and struck the Undead Pharaoh''s core.

    The Undead Pharaoh responded quickly after noticing that Michael wasn''t corrupted. He swung the Staff of Epos at Michael, only to see the corner of the youthful Awakened''s lips curl upward. Michael smiled at the Undead Pharaoh as the Aethyr Spear impacted.

    The Undead Pharaoh''s core didn''t shatter, but the Aethyr Spear, amplified by the Wicked Spear Arts, was powerful enough to scratch the core.

    That made it considerably harder for the Undead Pharaoh to maintain perfect control of everything. He was forced to check on his core before his focus returned to the Staff of Epos, the corrupted domain, and the millions of Undead he had to control simultaneously.

    The World Serpent and the Curse used the small opening to attack. A huge serpent head emerged from the Living Image, which had coiled around Michael''s neck. However, there wasn''t only one serpent. There was onerge serpent with a head asrge as Michael''s, but dozens of smaller serpents shot simultaneously out of the World Serpent''s Living Image.

    They all lunged for the Staff of Epos alongside the dozens of Cursed Extraction tendrils that burst out of the Cursed Seals. Each Cursed Extraction tendril transformed into a small canine-shaped head, crunched on the serpentine staff in the Undead Pharaoh''s hands, trying to crush it with force.

    The World Serpent''s serpents coiled around the serpentine staff before lunging at it with razor-sharp fangs. They sapped the Staff of Epos'' power without hesitation. There was no time to hesitate, after all. All the Curse and the World Serpent had was a small opening. They had to make as much use of it as possible.

    Some of the serpentine staff''s power was drained in the quarter of a second they had before the Undead Pharaoh could react. However, that time was also enough to remove the seal blocking Michael''s Soultraits. Michael regained full control over his Soultraits for a moment.

    It was just enough to use Insert with Enhancement on the World Serpent and his Curse. In response to the Enhancementyers, both the World Serpent and the Curse managed to drain even more power of the Staff of Epos. Simultaneously, Michael used the Enhancement Layers on his body.

    His body was already cracking and breaking apart from using too many techniques that artificially increased his physical prowess. Fortunately, the World Serpent took care of some of Michael''s problems. Michael was momentarily strengthened by both the Curse and the World Serpent. The World Serpent used its power to grow onyx-like scales all over Michael''s body. The scales intertwined with one another, creating a perfect armor for Michael while also forcefully ensuring that his body would stay intact.

    Even if Michael''s body threatened to tear apart, his body parts wouldn''t be ripped out of his body. Everything was forcefully kept together, after all.

    The World Serpent kept Michael''s body intact, whereas the Curse ensured that his mind and soul wouldn''t be torn apart as an aftereffect of overheat. Michael was using his Soultraits and other powers to an extent his body, soul, and mind shouldn''t be able to handle. The Curse and the World Serpent were partially at fault for that. After all, they unleashed their power to push a Tier-3 Lesser Lifeform to face a crippled Divine Lifeform head-on. There was no way that there wouldn''t be an issue.

    Fortunately, the Curse and the World Serpent didn''t leave him to die. They tried to salvage as much as possible while Michael gave his utmost to fight like a suicidal maniac against the Undead Pharaoh.

    He regained control of the Elemental Spheres andmunicated with Zeroa once again. That was all Michael needed to summon the purgatory mes and use their strongest form, with 10 Enhancementyers alongside Soul Tears and True Extraction.

    The white mes washed over the ground, spilling in all directions and burning every Curse in their path, including Michael''s Curse. At least, that would have happened if the Cursed Extraction Tendrils had not used extraction in their immediate surroundings, extracting the oxygen and energy within the purgatory mes that would have touched them otherwise.

    It was easy to extinguish the purgatory mes because Michael split his mind seemingly naturally, allowing the Cursed Extraction tendrils to do something while the Undead Pharaoh could not.

    The purgatory mes destroyed the corruption and bits and pieces of the cursed power before pushing closer to the Undead Pharaoh. It was interesting to note that the purgatory mes were not only used by Bloodhound to wash away Michael''s Curses. Michael also used them to burn the Undead to cinder. It had a significant effect on both Curses and Undead.

    The Undead Pharaoh was both.

    He was still a formed Divine Lifeform and a being at the 5th Tier but struggled against the World Serpent, the Canine Curse, and Michael''s tremendous power. For a few seconds, Michael possessed enough strength to fight the Undead Pharaoh head-

    on. And he wasn''t even alone.

    He was constantly on the verge of death, but Michael could also use Archangel''s Grace again. That was exactly what he did to avoid dying.

    It wasn''t a perfect solution, but it was more than enough to unleash every power he had umted within his body. Michael struck the Undead Pharaoh several times with his enhanced purgatory mes, the Wicked Spear Arts, and his terrifying physical prowess. It was barely enough to give his Curses another opportunity to strike.

    The World Serpent continued draining the Staff of Epos, but the Canine Curse changed its target.

    Michael felt his Cursed Seals move through his entire being. They moved to his chest, where theybined temporarily.

    A huge head burst through the World Serpent''s scale armor. It was another golden head of a canine. However, this time, the golden head was more detailed than before. Michael lost ess to True Extraction for a moment and the Soul Power umted within the Soultrait Symbol was drained instantaneously. However, that was not all.

    Several thousand SoulStar Fragments disappeared into Extraction''s Soultrait Symbol. They transformed into Soul Power, which the Curse utilized to empower the Extraction Wolf Head, which persisted expanding. It barred its fangs at the Undead Pharaoh as it grew into a massive head, which snapped at the Undead Pharaoh.

    The Extraction Wolf Head ignored the enhanced purgatory mes shrouding the Undead Pharaoh and crushed the crippled Divine Lifeform.

    A sudden rush of strength swept through Michael. The chains of miniature seals manifested all over Michael''s body again atst. They trembled violently and showed signs of cracking. However, instead of shattering the seal on one of the Canine Curse''s seals, allponents of the miniature curse chains trembled violently.

    More SoulStar Fragments were sucked out of Michael''s War Rune, granting the Canine Curse enough power to sustain the Extraction Wolf Head and strengthen it.

    The golden glimmering cranium changed into a majestic wolf''s head that sucked the strength out of the Undead Pharaoh.

 Chapter 762 Deader than Dead

    <h4>Chapter 762 Deader than Dead</h4>

    As the enhanced purgatory mes burned through the corrupted curse power, the highly detailed Wolf Head devoured the bits and pieces of the Undead Pharaoh''s Curse that wasn''t corrupted. There wasn''t much neutral curse power, but it was enough to empower the Wolf Curse.

    The Cursed Seals, active and inactive, shuddered violently as the curse power surged through the Wolf Curse. It swallowed the Undead Pharaoh''s power, weakening him considerably.

    In the meantime, the World Serpent continued paying attention to the Staff of Epos. The World Serpent continued draining the Ancient Artifact, ensuring that the Undead Pharaoh couldn''t ess it properly.

    As more and more curse power entered the World Serpent, a third Serpent Seal began shimmering. Michael felt a sudden surge of power spread through him, but that didn''t help him feel more alive. He still felt like his body was on the verge of tearing apart. It was a terrifying feeling and much worse than most of the things he''d gone through since his War Rune manifested.

    Even Archangel''s Grace was not enough to help him at this point. It was barely enough to keep him alive, with the serpent armor fixating his body parts where they belonged.

    Michael swallowed hard, but his expression changed dramatically. He grasped the Aethyr Spear tightly and let his emotions lead him once more. The Undead Pharaoh had to be eliminated right now!

    The Wicked Spear Arts'' purple hue washed over Michael. Mots sparkling purple and golden shot in all directions, only for a suctioning force to pull them to the tip of the Aethyr Spear''s de.

    His power surged, and he kicked the ground when he felt that the time was ripe. He lunged forward and shot through the golden Wolf Head, which split up into tworge heads to make space for him. The Undead Pharaoh pinpointed Michael and released its Curse in a straight line at him. An eerie beam of greenish-dark power shot toward Michael, who lifted the Aethyr Spear in response.

    He was barely fast enough to move and pierce the eerie cursed beam with the Aethyr Spear. The beam and de tip collided, and the impact force pushed Michael to slow down. The corrupted curse power threatened to flood Michael as the Aethyr Spear managed to split the beam thanks to the WIcked Spear Arts'' tremendous power.

    An uncontroble sensation of greed, the desire to kill, and fulfillment filled Michael to the brim; they joined Michael''s chaos of feelings and enhanced the Wicked Spear Arts. But that was not all. Michael chose to add enhanced purgatory mes to coat the Aethyr Spear while also shrouding the de''s tip with Qi and several Enhancement Layers.

    Michael''s energy was sucked dry near-instantly, but he wasn''t worried in the slightest. His spear burst through the eerie cursed beam, splitting in several parts while burning the corruption left within the curse power. The Undead Pharaoh didn''t expect Michael''s attack to grow this powerful. He also didn''t expect to lose control of the Staff of Epos and that his curse power would be weakened to such an extent.

    He underestimated Michael''s Curses¡­as well as the youth''s power.

    Michael burst through the curse beam and appeared before the Undead Pharaoh, his eyes glowing vibrant golden. Thest thing the Undead Pharaoh could see was a reflection of his bony skull and the azure mes flickering brightly where his eyes were supposed to be.

    A single thought shed through the Undead Pharaoh''s mind as Michael''s Aethyr Spear thrust forward, its power amplified by the Wicked Spear Arts'' full power, enhanced purgatory mes, Enhancement, Qi, and the Wolf Head''s Extraction.

    ''I am not supposed to be alive.''

    The Aethyr de''s tip pierced cleanly into the center of the Undead Pharaoh''s core.

    The Undead Pharaoh could have responded in time, but the thought that shed through his mind slowed his reaction considerably.

    He realized what was happening only after the Aethyr de managed to dig deeper into his Core. The Aethyr Spear cut deeper and deeper until thunderous cracking noises resounded through the throne hall.

    As the Aethyr Spear cut deeper, Michael felt his power deteriorate. He felt weaker and weaker as thest bits of power left him. His vision grew hazy, and his legs threatened to cave in. His arms trembled violently, and he began wondering whether he would die here or if the Undead Pharaoh would die first.

    His attack was working, but it wasn''t like Michael didn''t sustain any injuries. The Wolf Curse and World Serpent noticed Michael''s deteriorating condition and suddenly pushed forward. It looked like they''d been holding back before, only to move forward with more power than before.

    More curse power entered the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse, invigorating the Seals engraved deep into Michael''s body, mind, and soul.

    ''Are they finally going all out?'' Michael wondered weakly, only to realize that his thoughts were nonsense.

    They weren''t even close to going all out. The Wolf Curse couldn''t strain Michael even further by unleashing more of its sealed prowess. It had already drained too much of Micahel. Any more, and Michael would die ¨C not that he was far from sumbing to his wounds and the strain put on his entire being.

    The World Serpent could probably use more of its power rather easily. It wasn''t entangled with Michael as closely as the Wolf Curse. If the World Serpent wanted, it could leave Michael''s body entirely, exposing its majestic¡ªand humongous¡ªbody to the cosmos.

    But was that really what the World Serpent wanted? First, was it necessary for the World Serpent to use more of its power? Would that help Michael grow strong enough to deal with his problems?

    Michael didn''t think it would be good if the World Serpent helped him too much. He didn''t want to rely on the World Serpent. It would transform into a crutch, just like relying on his Soultraits. Fortunately, he managed to use the Wicked Spear Arts with most of its power.

    He gritted his teeth and pushed the Aethyr Spear deeper into the Undead Pharaoh''s core. Theirbined effort and the sudden increase in their attacks'' intensity were enough. Their tactic worked.

    The cracks spreading through the Undead Pharaoh''s core spread further and dug deeper. It took onest push to shatter the Undead Core with a thunderous bang.

    The Undead Pharaoh was about to be eliminated, but it wasn''t done resisting yet. Bony spikes manifested all around Michael. They rotated around their axis with horrifying velocity and shot toward Michael with tiny explosions as the Undead Pharaoh''s bony body copsed.

    The bony spikes pierced into Michael from everywhere, catching him by surprise. He hoped the serpent armor would be strong enough to block the bony spikes.

    He didn''t want to die.

    [Consider this a thank you for the additional curse power. This was a tasty feat!] The World Serpent hissed quietly.

    Suddenly, the serpent armor grew more resilient as the World Serpent used more of its power to reinforce it. The bony spikes that had managed to pierce the serpent armor before, their tips digging deep into Michael''s body, were suddenly stopped.

    A burst of greenish curse power erupted from the serpent armor, crushing the bony spikes.

    They were ground to powder before theynded on the ground.

    A momentter, Michael finally got the confirmation that the Undead Pharaoh was dead.

    A gigantic energy influx flooded Michael.

    It was stronger than any energy influx he''d ever received.

    Unfortunately, Michael was not in a good condition. The energy influx smashed into him, nearly killing him on the spot.

 Chapter 763 Managing Emotions

    <h4>Chapter 763 Managing Emotions</h4>

    The Undead Pharaoh was dead, and the energy influx nearly killed Michael as it reached him.

    Michael was fortunate that Archangel''s Grace and True Extraction were still active. He used Extraction to drain bits of the energy influx and Insert to insert it into Archangel''s Grace before using the Heavenly Realm Soul Technique to recuperate faster from his injuries.

    It didn''t take long to heal Michael to the peak, but he wasn''t in perfect condition even after the effect of Archangel''s Grace deteriorated.

    His vision was still hazy, and he stumbled around the throne hall with unsteady steps. Nheless, Michael was alive and not on the verge of death anymore. With enough time, he would be fine. That was all that mattered.

    "What are we going to do now? The Curse is dead," Michael asked, only to see arge serpent and a Wolf Head lean over the Undead Pharaoh''s body.

    [The Curse''s vessel was destroyed, but the Curse is still there. We''ll exorcise him for you.] The World Serpent exined, and the Wolf Curse growled in agreement.

    "I doubt that you are doing this for me. If anything, you are doing this to strengthen your body after whatever happened to you before you emerged from my Summoning Gate. The Wolf is also doing this to loosen the restrictions on the Cursed Seals. But whatever. Continue absorb the Curse. I''m only alive because you two decided to help me."

    Michael was about to say more when he sensed something deep inside him. He frowned deeply and felt a surge of annoyance spread through him. Usually, he wouldn''t be that annoyed, but his emotions were stronger than normal. Even though Michael had expected that he felt weird nheless.

    Everything felt more intense than it used to be.

    ''Using the Wicked Spear Arts once was enough to affect me this much. But it was worth it. I would rather have the Wicked Spear Arts affect me than allow something sentient to take over my body and potentially alter it.''

    The Wolf Curse growled deeply. Even the Wolf Head looked up from the Undead Pharaoh''s body to re at Michael.

    "That''s nothing against you. Well, it is, but that''s your fault. You should have been nicer from the beginning. You tried to steal my body from the beginning, only to turn into a lovely puppy after we exorcised Danny''s weakened Curse. That''s suspicious, you know?!" Michael excused his actions, only to receive a snort from the Wolf Curse as a response.

    He felt a pang of guilt and frustration erupt from the depths of his being and frowned deeply. He was on the verge of begging the Wolf Curse for forgiveness.

    ''Fuck. The amplified emotions are much worse than I expected. How am I supposed to survive like that? In the first ce, are the changes permanent, or will the effect wear down after a while? I don''t think Cleave Fenrir had as many problems with the Wicked Spear Arts as I have. He used it for decades before, which was this bad if I recall correctly.''

    Michael tilted his head, unsure if the issue was that he was morepatible with the Wicked Spear Arts or if it was the opposite. Maybe practitioners with higherpatibility have fewer issues with the altered intensification to which they feel emotions.

    Michael had no idea if the issue was with his body or if it was somehow rted to the intensity with which he used the Wicked Spear Arts. It was not unlikely that thetter was the case, but it would require more research to turn the theories in his mind into facts. In the first ce, Michael hoped he wouldn''t have to use the Wicked Spear Arts again. Unfortunately, he felt that he would have to use it more often in the future.

    Hopefully, he could find a way to weaken the detrimental effect of the Wicked Spear Arts by then.

    Michael was deep in thought and busy dealing with the mess of emotions that swept through his entire being. He didn''t even notice that the throne hall began shaking violently or that deep fissures burst through the polished sandstone, swallowing the mountains of gold.

    [Your money!!!] Danny screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice shaking Michael awake.

    He regained his senses but frowned deeply when Danny continued screaming.

    [Get the gold and treasures!]

    "Don''t tell me what to do!" Michael clicked his tongue, only to frown deeply at his curt response.

    His brother was worried that he would forget about the valuables and the mountains of gold. It wasn''t like Danny annoyed him. At least Michael wouldn''t usually be upset at his brother so easily. Well, most of the time.

    ''The Wicked Spear Arts is truly wicked,'' Michael''s frown deepened, but he did what his brother told him to. He spread the bits of energy he''d replenished over thest few minutes and stored everything in the throne chamber inside his War Rune, including the Undead Pharaoh''s body. Maybe it woulde in handy.

    After that, Michael jumped into the fissure that had swallowed his gold. It was dark down there, but Michael could still hear his gold clinking loudly whenever it scratched and hit the walls. Hended hard on the bottom of the fissure and spread his energy out once more. The fissure was eerie, but Michael didn''t think of staying there for long. He got his mountains of gold and utilized Cosmic Stride before anything evil could grasp him. However, it was not like Michael could sense or see anything powerful down there; he could tell there was something.

    He shuddered when he returned to the throne hall, only to look left and right.

    "Where is the Staff of Epos?" Michael asked quietly.

    The Staff of Epos caused him some trouble, but an Ancient Artifact contained a tremendous amount of curse power. If he could give it to the World Serpent and Wolf Curse to devour once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform, they could grow stronger together quickly.

    [The Staff disappeared.]

    "Hmm? How did that happen?" Michael groaned, feeling like throwing some stones at the World Serpent for losing the Staff of Epos.

    Was the World Serpent powerful and wise, or was that just a farce? How could it lose the Ancient Artifact?

    [The Ancient Artifact was pulled away from me when the Undead Pharaoh ceased to exist.]

    "Just like that?" Michael frowned, "Did you even try to keep the Staff? I anticipated you to be stronger,"

    [Mind your words, puny child. You better control your emotions, or I will forcefully beat some manners into you. Beating the shit out of brats is something I''m very good at!]

    The Wolf Curse seemed to agree. However, instead of growling at Michael, it did something entirely different.

    The Wolf Curse suddenly expanded within Michael. He couldn''t even react in time because he was too busy scolding the World Serpent and managing his chaotic emotions.

    One moment, the Wolf Curse spread through his entire being, and the next moment, Michael noticed that the Wolf Curse did something to him.

    The anger and frustration that had filled him until a moment ago seemed to affect him less.

    The Wolf Curse devoured some of Michael''s excessive emotions.

    Was that a peace offer?

 Chapter 764 Reward

    <h4>Chapter 764 Reward</h4>

    Thanks to the Wolf Curse''s peace offering, Michael had fewer issues with the Wicked Spear Arts, and it didn''t affect him that much anymore.

    While the Wicked Spear Arts'' effect hadn''t vanished entirely, Michael found sce in the fact that it was now manageable. It seemed the curse had found a way to extract a portion of his overwhelming emotions, or perhaps it was using its power to iste and control them within him.

    Michael was uncertain about the exact nature of the Wolf Curse''s actions, but one thing was clear-it was helping him. His feelings towards the Curse, a mix of gratitude and wariness, deepened once again.

    "I still don''t like you trying to take my body, but I don''t hold you ountable for your desire to survive. Even if you do not care about me and my survival, you still care about yourself enough to give me a helping hand."

    The Wolf Curse¡ªwhich Michael suspected it to be after it formed into a Wolf Head multiple times¡ªdidn''t respond, but Michael thought that was better. He didn''t need another chatterbox in his head. The World Serpent and Danny were already more than enough.

    The Primedival Pyramid continued its relentless copse, leaving Michael with little time to search for more secret treasure vaults and other valuables. He had to leave, and he had to leave quickly. With a swift Cosmic Stride, he teleported outside the pyramid and materialized high above the crumbling ruins, the urgency of his escape palpable.

    He levitated in the air using a minuscule amount of wind-attributed energy and looked down. The sand surrounding the Primedival Pyramid was stirred up as the massive structure copsed, leaving Michael no choice but to use Cosmic Stride again. Hended on the searing-hot sand more than two kilometers from the Primedival Pyramid.

    There were no Undead in the vicinity, which was good because Michael didn''t feel strong enough to defeat an ordinary Undead Summon at this point. He slumped to the ground and allowed the searing-hot sand to prickle his skin. The rays of the afternoon sun shone dazzlingly on him, but Michael didn''t care.

    He took a deep breath and stopped restraining the Extraction Aura. It devoured the surrounding origin energy and annexed it instantaneously. The Extraction Aura expanded slowly while simultaneously filling Michael''s body with origin energy. Only small amounts of origin energy entered his body simultaneously, but that was better. He had yet to digest the massive energy influx of the Undead Pharaoh, and it was unsure how much more energy his body could handle right now.

    He might have healed, but his body, mind, and soul were worn out. They were sore and felt like they had been ripped into shreds just to put them togetherter.

    Michael was unsure how much time passed, but it got cold at some point. But that was only for a moment. Zeroa emerged from the Taming Tattoo and engulfed Michael in her mythical mes. Under normal circumstances, the mythical mes would have hurt a little since the Elemental Empress was currently not fused with Michael. Still, the Elemental Empress''s control of her mythical mes increased considerably over thest few days.

    [Mythical mes, Purgatory mes, Soul mes. I''m the me master~!!!]

    Michael sighed inwardly. He momentarily forgot that Zeroa was also a chatterbox.

    The silence had been great while itsted. Unfortunately, the Elemental Empress didn''t know how to be as considerate as the World Serpent and his brother. At least they didn''t bother him while he was resting from defeating a crippled Divine Lifeform. It was a matter of fact that Michael didn''t defeat the Undead Pharaoh alone, but he was the only one who had to suffer, being on the verge of death for most of the fight. The World Serpent could have crushed the Undead Pharaoh easily, but it didn''t do that. Why? Cause it desired to stay hidden.

    Michael understood that, which is also why he didn''t say anything. There was no way that Michael wouldin to the World Serpent just because it didn''t want to be discovered. But that was also why it was basic courtesy of the World Serpent to keep its mouth shut when Michael didn''t want to be bothered.

    The Elemental Empress didn''t know what that was. Basic courtesy? Is that tasty?

    At some point, Michael fell asleep. Zeroa had bothered him a little bit, but she was too busy practicing with her new mes to talk to Michael all night.

    He woke up when the sun burned upon him. It was hot, but Michael felt terrific with a faint gust whirling around him. Once he got up from the sand, Micahel stretched his body for a few minutes. After that, it was time to take a look at his gains.

    First of all, Michael retrieved the Undead Pharaoh''s corpse. He activated the Cursed Seals, used a Soul Tear on Extraction, and added Enhancement before unleashing True Extraction''s full power upon the Undead Pharaoh''s corpse.

    "Will¡­if you can hear to me¡­ Please do not give me anything useless. I''m a Lesser Lifeform and managed to deal with a Divine Lifeform. That should be value something!"

    Michael omitted that the Undead Pharaoh was crippled or that he had received aid from some extraordinarily powerful entities, but that should be fine. One way or another, Michael managed to defeat the Undead Pharaoh. He delivered the finishing blow. The Will would reward that under normal circumstances.

    Fortunately, the Will was on his side. For once, Michael felt like he had obtained something valuable, such as a golden metal stamp and a small parchment.

    Mots of light sparked around the metal stamp and the parchment as theynded on the Undead Pharaoh''s corpse. Michael''s eyes narrowed to a slit when he felt that True Extraction wouldn''t be able to extract anything else other than the remaining curse power left within the corpse. He retracted True Extraction and picked up the golden metal stamp and the parchment.

    "You can feast on the Undead Pharaoh''s curse power. I do not need the corpse anymore," Michael allowed the Serpent and the Wolf to devour the remaining parts of the Undead Pharaoh. There was no need for the corpse anymore.

    [He didn''t even drop a Memory Orb. What a loss!] Dannymented, but Michael shook his head.

    It would have been great to receive the Undead Pharaoh''s memories. That was only obvious. However, Michael felt that the two items in his hands were perfect for him.

    The golden metal stamp gazed faintly familiar. It wasn''t big, but Michael''s heart leaped out of his chest when he saw the symbol that could be stamped with it. It was a War Rune.

    [Wait! Isn''t that a Lord Seal?]

    Michael nodded slowly, his smile widening even further.

    [That''s great.] Daniel Fang uttered in Michael''s mind, but his excitement died down quickly

    [But you won''t make much if you sell it. Selling a 3-Star Soultrait Symbol will earn you several times the money offered for a Lord Rune. They''re rare, but why are you so excited about it?]

    Michael continued smiling, his eyesnding on the small parchment. It was old and didn''t look like anything special at first nce.

    However, everything changed after looking at the words written on the old parchment.

    im Note ¨C The Awakened who tears this note will be considered the rightful owner of Paradise Valley. All entities native to Paradise Valley and the zing Sand Mountain Range, Sacred Beasts included, will be amiable toward you and your forces.

    The Lord Seal was amazing, but its true value could only be determined bybining it with the im Note.

    It was perfect.

    It was almost too beneficial to be true!

 Chapter 765 Lord of Paradise Valley

    Chapter 765 Lord of Paradise Valley

    ??The Lord Seal and the im Note were an extraordinarybination. Michael could be acknowledged by the SacredBeast, who reigns over the mountain range. He wouldn''t have an issue controlling Paradise Valley if he''d used the Lord Seal to transform it into his territory.

    "What do you think? Should I use the Intermediate Summoning Gate properly starting today?" Michael asked while his attention remained on the im Note and the Lord Seal.

    [You want to set up a Summoning Gate in the valley? Are you not busy enough with your territory in the Untamed Jungle?] Daniel asked, but Michael merely shrugged.

    "Of course, I''m busy in the Untamed Jungle, but you told me enough about Paradise Valley to know that this ce is worth it. Since the Primal Phoenix won''t attack me, I will have no problem iming the entire valley. The Undead Pharaoh got rid of all potential enemies. Not many were left after you and the other Lords died¡­"

    Since it was possible to connect an Intermediate Summoning Gate to two Basic Summoning Gates, it wouldn''t be an issue to create a second sub-territory in the Sacred Desert.

    The Basic Summoning Gates could be used like the Intermediate Summoning Gate. There wouldn''t be any difference.

    Usually, multiple Summoning Gates were established when a Lord''s territory expanded into a Dukedom. The Portal Attachment would be added to the Summoning Gate to allow all subjects connected to the Lord to teleport from one Summoning Gate to the others. Each teleportation cost a considerable amount of energy, but the price would be worth it as it would make traveling throughrge territories much easier.

    The Portal Attachment was especially useful for warfare on multiple fronts.

    But Michael didn''t want to use the Summoning Gates like that. It would focus on teleportation arrays to transport his subjects through his territory while using the Summoning Gates for other purposes. Of course, teleportation arrays were more expensive to create and use than the Portal Attachment. Still, the increased energy consumption was a low price if he could use the Summoning Gates to create sub-territories in other regions.

    The Sacred Desert''s Paradise Valley was a secret region with various valuable resource deposits required to mass-produce teleportation arrays. Several business partners required the resources acquired within the Sacred Desert as well. Michael could procure them using his workforce to lower the production cost of the Sacred Desert''s product. Improving the business cycle with an even lower budget wouldn''t be an issue. That was perfect!

    Only a few Lords would be daring enough to establish a second territory far from their main territory, but Michael was not afraid of enemies. In the first ce, the Sacred Desert was almost void of enemies. Only a few Human Lords near the edge of the Sacred Desert were still alive. Some of them were somewhat ''powerful'' but couldn''tpare to Michael.

    Now that the Undead Pharaoh was dead, only the Primal Phoenix was stronger than him. No other entity in the Sacred Desert should be able to hold a candle against him.

    Michael could expand freely in the Sacred Desert for quite a while.

    Even if trouble urs in the future, Michael will be able to defeat the Monster Overlords and the Lords in the surrounding regions by utilizing the advantages of the Sacred Desert and the Untamed Jungle. Michael wasn''t afraid of a good fight.

    The corner of his lips curled upward.

    [You can destroy the teleportation chambers leading to Paradise Valley before iming it. If you do that, nobody will notice your presence in the Sacred Desert. After all, nobody should know that Paradise Valley exists.]

    "Except for the family who betrayed you," Michael added, his expression changing slowly.

    He tried controlling his emotions, but the anger boiling at the mere thought of the traitors was enough to enrage him. His brother was with Michael again, but everything would have been so much easier if Danny had never been betrayed.

    [Don''t bother about that family for now. You can find and punish them when you''re a little bit stronger. Either way, it won''t be long before you are strong enough to control High Society. If you persist like this, you''ll be able to deal with the old Tier-6 powerhouses of High Society in a few years at most.]

    Michael didn''t calm down instantly. He had to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths before his boiling anger subsided.

    "Removing the Teleportation Chambers will severely affect my only routes into Paradise Valley and outside. I don''t think I should do that," Michael murmured after he considered about Danny''s proposal.

    [That''s not true. If the Sacred Beast, the Primal Phoenix, epts you as the rightful owner of Paradise Valley is mentioned in the im Note, everything should be fine. You can establish a secure path through the zing Sand Mountain Range. The Primal Phoenix won''t attack you or your subjects while you''re passing through the zing Sand Mountain Range while protecting the path from invaders. You can turn the Primal Phoenix into the Guardian of Paradise Valley!]

    [You won''t have to leave Paradise Valley for now, either. It will take a while to im the entire valley and transform it into a properly working territory. Establishing a territory in the desert is a little bit harder than in the jungle. You might not struggle as much as I did since you won''t have many enemies, but it won''t be easy!]

    It was interesting to see how quickly Danny changed his opinion. At first, his brother was skeptical, only to be convinced that creating a sub-territory in the Sacred Desert was the best possible choice.

    What else would Michael do with the Lord Seal? Sell it? That would be wasteful. The Lord Seal and the im Note were incredibly valuable for Michael. The brothers doubted that High Society could afford to purchase the im Note and the Lord Seal. It was too valuable in their hearts.

    "What do you think, World Serpent? Wolf Curse?" Michael inquired them lightly, ignoring that they crunched on the Undead Pharaoh''s bones to suck him dry of curse power.

    [Don''t care. Please tell me when you tame the Primal Phoenix. I want to make fun of it.] The World Serpent replied, disinterested, whereas the Wolf Curse didn''t even bother looking up from the Undead Pharaoh''s corpse.

    Michael didn''t expect much from those two. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport high up into the sky, and he used Spirit Eyes to search for an intact Summoning Gate.

    Since the Lord in Paradise Valley died roughly simultaneously, Michael had no problems finding an intact Summoning Gate nearby. Many Lords in Paradise Valley were killed before their Summoning Gate had been damaged.

    Reactivating them was fairly simple as the Summoning Gate was intact, one Summoning Core was installed, and a Lord Seal was present.

    Michael found a few Summoning Gates with iid Summoning Cores, but Spirit Eyes detected some damage in their interiors. Therefore, he removed their Summoning Cores and continued searching for a perfectly intact Summoning Gate.

    It took him two hours tond on a small mountain of sand, the frame of a Summoning Gate peeking out of it. He unleashed a torrent of wind, stirring up the sand mountain and dispersing it into the surrounding area.

    An intact Summoning Gate emerged from the mountain.

    Spirit Eyes detected that there was no issue with the Summoning Gate. It merely missed a Summoning Core, which was solved quickly as Michael opened the hatched to the Summoning Gate to install all Summoning Cores ¨C after purifying them thoroughly.

    The Summoning Gate hummed soundly after the Summoning Cores had been installed.

    It was time for Michael to be the Lord of Paradise Valley.

 Chapter 766 2nd Territory

    <h4>Chapter 766 2nd Territory</h4>

    Michael retrieved the Lord Seal and nced gently at it. He studied the small object briefly before channeling origin energy into it.

    The bottom side of the metal stamp glowed dimly as it consumed Michael''s energy. Faint threads of energy condensed around the War Rune Symbol. They expanded and tried moving to Michael''s right hand.

    Michael smiled faintly as he moved the Lord Seal to stamp his War Rune. The energy threads poured out of the Lord Seal and entered the War Rune. It entered the depth of Michael''s War Rune and set up a connection with his War Rune. A strong pull attracted Michael''s interest. He closed his eyes and entered his mindspace where the Soul Sphere and the Pir of Light appeared before him.

    The Soul Sphere levitated to Michael''s side and made space for him to look properly at the Pir of Light. A silverish-golden thread tried to pass by the Pir of Light''s barrier and enter it to get through the Essence of Michael''s War Rune.

    It didn''t work well at first, but the silverish-golden thread prated the pir''s barrier, and a simr thread emerged on the other side. The second thread was much thicker and prominent. It was a thread of the Intermediate Summoning Gate''s power, a fraction of Michael''s Lord Power.

    The Intermediate Summoning Gate''s power sensed a familiar power and aided the Lord Seal''s connecting thread to pass through the Pir of Light''s barrier. After that, the threads connected.

    Since a Lord could only have one primary Summoning Gate, connecting the lower-ranked Summoning Gates to the primary Summoning Gate was necessary. This would put most pressure on the primary Summoning Gate, which was also the reason one couldn''t connect Summoning Gates of the rank. If the primary summoning gate was linked to a Summoning Gate of the same rank, it would be damaged or shatter in the worst case.

    The Lord Seal''s thread attached to the Summoning Gate and Michael''s Lord Powers. It was imnted deep into them and stimted to grow roots inside Michael''s Lord Power and the Intermediate Summoning Gate''s links.

    Michael gasped for air as a powerful tug pulled on his soul. The touch was eerily cold and spread through his entire being.

    ''So that is how it feels when Rogues and Adventurers retrieve their Lord Powers. Would they have issues with the Pir of Light''s barrier, or is that because I was already a Lord when I used the Lord Seal to create a second connection with another Summoning Gate? It would be quite cumbersome to get a second territory without the Intermediate Summoning Gate''s power supporting the connecting link between the Gates.''

    His eyes shot open, a grin stering his face. He pulled closer to the intact but inactive Summoning Gate and bent to the ground. His hand grazed gently across the Summoning Gate''s foundation. Michael lowered the Lord Seal and pressed it against a small indent in the foundation. The indent fit the Lord Seal perfectly. It pushed in smoothly as if it had been made for the Lord Seal to fit.

    Michael smiled from one ear to the other as the other end of the Lord Seal''s threads shot inside the intact Summoning Gate.

    The Summoning Gate hummed quietly as the Lord Seal''s threads spread through the Gate''s foundation. They spread everywhere, attached to the Summoning Cores and the remaining parts of the Summoning Gate in no time.

    Michael felt a faint connection building up with the intact Summoning Gate. It was still not active, but the remnants of energy within the Basic Summoning Gate were enough to establish a faint, almost inconspicuous connection.

    The inconspicuous connection grew stronger as Lord Seal''s power came into disy. The golden metal stamp released waves of highly purified energy into the Summoning Gate. Every wave of energy leaving the Lord Seal inflicted a profound crack in the metal stamp. After the fifth burst of energy, the Lord Seal crumbled into countless pieces. It had been drained of thest bits of energy, fulfilling its purpose.

    The bursts of energy were intense enough to establish a proper connection between Michael and the Basic Summoning Gate. The connecting link grew thicker by consuming the massive amounts of energy entering its foundation.

    The changes in the Gate''s foundation stimted it to hum more. The humming of a Basic Summoning Gate was equivalent to a suctioning force to the surrounding origin energy. The humming drew the origin energy out of the surroundings and sucked it inside the Summoning Gate, where it was used to thicken the connecting link to Michael.

    After that, more origin energy was required to activate the Summoning Gate properly. That was the most expensive step in the re-awakening of most Lord Power. The activation of the Summoning Gate.

    A Lord Seal was already expensive. It was probably one of the most expensive items with only a single rank and one purpose. However, the Lord Seal was usually still cheaper than the fortune that had to be invested to activate an inactive Summoning Gate. Fortunately, the Summoning Gate chosen by Michael was perfectly intact. It didn''t have a single w and looked like it had never been used. That would lower the energy required to activate the inactive Basic Summoning Gate.

    But Michael didn''t think it was going to be cheap. He retrieved a bunch of Superior Energy Stones and fed them to the Summoning Gate, which responded with a thunderous hum. Michael''s smile widened as the Gate''s metal frame began to shine brightly. Origin energy gathered in the metal frame, where it would be altered,pressed, and fused into its individual properties.

    Droplets of energy oozed out of the Summoning Gate''s metal frame, but they didn''t trickle to the ground. Instead, they were drew to the center of the metal frame, where they congregated into the energy pool.

    The number of energy droplets required to create the energy pool of the Summoning Gate was massive. Nheless, Michael had been certain that the purified energy of his Superior Energy Stones would be enough toplete the process rather quickly. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The Energy Stones crumbled faster than he could look, and the congregating of the energy pool ended suddenly.

    Michael frowned deeply and procured more than a thousand Inferior Energy Stones. He fed them to the Summoning Gate, which buzzed to release the purified energy within the Inferior Energy Stones and suck them inside.

    ''That better be enough. I wasn''t nning for such expenses!'' Michael cursed quietly in his mind. He had more than enough Energy Stones in his War Rune storage, but they were his stockpile for the breakthrough to Tier-4. The ascension to a Higher Lifeform was far from cheap. No matter how Michael looked at it, he would have to store tremendous energy to break the barrier to ascend to a Higher Lifeform.

    His Soul Sphere and Soultrait Symbols wouldn''t lower the energy requirements to ascend to a Higher Lifeform. If anything, they increased his expenses tens of times.

    He would have to spend more wealth on his ascension than dozens of Lords would have to spend on theirsbined.

    Even though Michaelined about his expenses, he grinned brightly as the Summoning Gate sucked his Energy Stones dry.

    Finally, the energy pool formed within the Summoning Gate.

    Michael acquired his second territory!

 Chapter 767 Weakened

    Chapter 767 Weakened

    Shortly after the Undead Pharaoh died, the situation all over the Savanah Region changed drastically.

    The Undead forces didn''t crumble or turn into dust, but something about them changed. All Undead within the Sacred Desert seemed to slow down. Their smooth movements across the desert sand transformed into sloppy strides. Their powerful attacks were no more. They were reced by weakened attacks thatcked uracy. "The Undead''s martial power halved!" Zeke bellowed, his eyes squinting into tiny slits when he felt that the resistance to Eye of Illusion''s illusions decreased drastically. He upped his game and expanded the range of his Legacy Arts to control more Giant Ghoul Serpents before doing the same with Puppeteer. At least, he was trying to do the same.

    Zeke quickly noticed that putting the Undead into an illusion was only easier. Controlling their corpses didn''t change much. The only thing that changed considerably was that their corpses were still as powerful as before. Only the moving Undead had grown weaker in every possible way. 2

    Lincoln burst across the desert sand with terrifying velocity, overflowing with joy. He emerged before an Anubirat and punched a hole into his abdomen with a single strike.

    "Yeap. Even the Guardian Statues are weaker than before," He shouted to the others before releasing arge earthen spike from his palm, crushing the Abnurat''s wolf-like head.

    Lincoln changed his target and stared at one of the towering Bone Titans. His expression turned serious.

    "A weakened Higher Lifeform should be feasible," He murmured, channeling more energy into Stone Giant and Draconic Transformation. A mighty roar reverberated through his lungs and escaped his lips as his body expanded.

    Zeke and the others watched as Lincoln''s form changed drastically. He transformed into a five-meter-tall bipedal Earth Dragon.

    "What the hell," Zeke cursed aloud when the Bone Titan and Lincoln shed. They crashed heavily into each other and beat each other with brute force rather than techniques.

    At least, that was what it looked like at first nce. The Bone Titan drilled his bony fists into Lincoln before headbutting his Earth Dragon form with as much force as possible. Lincoln transformed his head using Stone Giant. He added spikes and horns to his head before the Bone Titan headbutted him.

    The result was more than pleasant. The Bone Titan''s head smashed heavily into the earthen spikes that scrapped across its skull. It didn''t look like much, but there was a tiny line on the Bone Titan''s skull. It was a minuscule crack.

    The Bone Titan didn''t feel any pain, and it didn''t think about its injuries either. It was an emotionless creature that died thousands of years ago. Not the slightest speck of a soul was left within it. It merely walked with the remnants of the tremendous power that had been cast upon it to resurrect it.

    The Bone Titan tried to grasp Lincoln''s shoulders tightly before pulling him apart with brute force, but Lincoln dissolved a portion of his left shoulder before the Bone Titan could do anything to him. He transformed the hardened stone into tiny grains of soil until the Bone Titan''s hands passed through his shoulder. After that, Lincolnpressed the grains once again before hardening his shoulder to release a few mighty punches to the Bone Titan''s ribcage.

    "That bastard. He''s actually doing it!" Zeke''s eyes widened in shock. He was bewildered and nearly lost control of Eye of Evolution and Puppeteer. Fortunately, he regained hisposure fast enough to maintain in charge of a bunch of Giant Ghoul Serpent and their corpses.

    He focused on the task ahead again and decided to continue to control the Giant Ghoul Serpents to push forward and bulldoze the weakened Undead forces. Since he couldn''t deal much damage to beings at a much higher rank than him with his Soultraits, Zeke had to pull back and kill the masses of enemies. Instead.

    On the other hand, Kaleb could defeat the strongest enemies on the battlefield now that they''ve grown weaker.

    However, instead of blindly charging ahead, he fought calmly and focused on managing his stamina and energy reserves.

    He might have a 7-Star Soultrait alongside a newly acquired 4-Star Soultrait, but he couldn''t waste his precious energy and Soul Power to kill Undead Summons with an overkill. Elemental Summon was definitely worth the energy it consumed slowly and steadily, but even the weakest icicle of Frozen Nova was too much to kill a single Undead Summon.

    Therefore, Kaleb decided to lower his energy consumption with the Legendary Ice Staff he''d obtained from his father a while ago to maintain the Elemental Summon as long as possible while simultaneously fighting as the Elemental Summon''s aid. The cier Golem was a perfect vanguard. It charged ahead and squashed the weakest forces while slowing the stronger Undead forces to give Kaleb the opportunity to kill them with one precise attack.

    The other Awakened were also high in spirits. Now that the Undead were much weaker than they used to be, everyone''s confidence skyrocketed. They were morefortable with charging ahead to kill a few Undead. After all, every yn Undead would reward them handsomely. Not only would the Academies and Universities reward Merits, but they would also gain energy influxes and the loot generated by the Will. The Undead forces were still considered monsters by the Will, after all!

    After being pushed back for so long in the Sacred Desert, everyone was high in spirit now that the tables had turned. They unleashed their Soultraits and martial arts to kill as many enemies as possible. Of course, the battle didn''t end easily. There were still decently strong Undead spread throughout the Sacred Desert, and the Undead''s number didn''t suddenly deteriorate either.

    Tens of millions of Undead were still spread throughout the Sacred Desert. Killing all of them would take weeks, maybe even months. Of course, nobodyined about that. The Undead were walking treasure troves now that they were weaker than ever!

    A grand total of six hours after the Undead Pharaoh died, an interesting guest appeared in the Sacred Desert. Killian Zeus emerged from his Runic Gate to reach out with his helping hand.

    The moment he arrived in the Sacred Desert, he expected to be thrown into a fierce battle, but he found himself surrounded by corpses and destroyed Undead cores.

    "Am I toote? Father said the Sacred Desert was on the verge of destruction, but that doesn''t look like it. If anyone, the Undead are the ones who''re getting destroyed. That''s weird. Father''s informationwork isn''t that slow."

    Killian titled his head. His family had given him a high- ranked teleportation token to rescue the desperate Lords in the Sacred Desert. He was supposed to be their savior in desperate times. From the looks of it, someone else had already taken that job.

    Now that Killian had thought about it, it was a little bit embarrassing. He flushed a little but was d nobody was there to see him arrivete.

    ''Good thing Father never tried to do a PR stunt with my ''selfless rescue.'' In the first ce, why is everyone in

    Olympus so focused on acting like they''re heroes? They waited way too long to give me that damn teleportation token. I just wanted to help-.....!

    His thoughts were interrupted as the sound ofbat reached his ear.

    "Since I''m toote...I might as well make use of it."

    It was time for Killian Zeus to test a bunch of stuff, including the upgraded version of his Legacy Arts. After all, he had two Soultraits tobine.

    Lightning shrouded Killian Zeus as he bolted toward thebat sounds. He transformed into a purple sh and joined the battle against the remaining Undead. It was not like the Sacred Desert was missing any Undead.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    There were still close to 100,000,000 Undead left roaming the Sacred Desert. They might be weaker than they used to be, but that didn''t mean their numerical advantage disappeared.

    Killian Zeus didn''t know that the Undead were weaker than before, but he was aware of their numerical advantage.

    That was what excited him the most. He hoped his battles would push him to the verge of death and force him to break his limits. That was the reason he came to the Sacred Desert. His Father and the other members of Olympus didn''t matter. Surpassing his limits and growing stronger was what actually mattered!

    Otherwise, how was he supposed to defeat a monster like

    Michael Fang once he ascended to a Higher Lifeform?!

 Chapter 768 The Nest and the Monster

    <h4>Chapter 768 The Nest and the Monster</h4>

    The situation in the Sacred Desert wasn''t the only one that changed.

    Eren sat cross-legged in the middle of space somewhere in the Lunar Ster System, thinking about the recent events with the Supreme Human Alliance, his encounter with Michael, and the fact that Michael had not only control over two Curses but that both Curses had already awakened even before he ascended to a Higher Lifeform.

    ''I wonder if throwing him into the Sacred Desert was too much. Evee mentioned that the Curses in the Origin Expanse have gotten stronger in thest few years. The Will must be overwhelmed dealing with the imbnce of the Origin.''

    He shook his head and sighed deeply. His eyes shut tightly, and he drifted in pace, pondering the future steps. It had been a rushed decision to leave the Nest, but Eren was confident it had been the best choice. Something terrible would have happened if he''d deployed someone else to check on Evalynn and the Hellbound Cataclysm. Bloodhound might be considered a rtively weak Divine Lifeform, but he was one of the few Hyumans with the oldest bloodline.

    The majority of his power didn''t originate from his War Rune or Soultrait. It stemmed from his blood. He was the child of one of the oldest human races. Even among Hyumans, Bloodhound was one of the purest.

    Many Hyumans ended up breeding with other human races. That wasn''t frowned upon and was verymon, unlike interracial breeding, which was punished with execution in the Supreme Human Alliance. Nheless, the offspring of Hyumans would grow weaker after breeding with a younger human race. The difference was not apparent, but it was existent. The changes would be more obvious thousands of generationster, especially upon using the Primordial Bloodline technique.

    Using the Primordial Bloodline technique was still possible, showcasing that they were purely Hyumans or mixed with Humans. Still, only pureblooded Hyumans like Bloodhound could unleash Primordial Bloodline''s true power.

    Fortunately, Bloodhound was scared of Eren. He didn''t want to die just yet, otherwise, the Lunar Ster System might have ceased to exist. That wasn''t within Eren''s ns since destroying an entire ster system connected to origin energy would affect the events within the Origin Expanse. The influence of a single ster system wasn''t tremendous, but it would affect the Origin Expanse.

    When his bracelet lit up, a myriad of thoughts shed through Eren''s mind. A tiny spark lit up from the bracelet, shrouding Eren in a gray membrane that transformed quickly into a bubble.

    Eren lifted an eyebrow and epted the call. Countless mots of light burst out of the bracelet, forming the outlines of a familiar woman who appeared before him. The woman had a small face and a feisty wolf-cut that highlighted her silver hair beautifully. Her emerald eyes stared intently at Eren, still drifting in space.

    "I will never understand why you''re out there in space doing¡­whatever you''re doing. I don''t really get it," The woman said, straightening her white zer. She wore her uniform pridefully. The crisp zer had been tailored to perfection. It fit her better than any clothes she owned and was also morefortable. But thefort might as welle from the blouse that added a formality to her set of clothes.

    Lastly, her skirtpleted her uniform, granting the final touch to the perfect ensemble.

    To highlight her uniform, the woman wore striped ties, meticulously knotted, lending her appearance a sophisticated dash.

    "And I will never understand why you''re still wearing this shitty uniform. It has been centuries ¨C no. Millennials since we fini¨C..."

    "Shut up!" The womanmanded, pointing at Eren, who shook his head in denial.

    It was a matter of fact that her clothes clung perfectly to her figure, highlighting her well-trained body and extraordinary figure, but wearing the same set of clothes¡ªmultiple sets of clothes¡ªover and over for more than a thousand years was overkill.

    The uniform didn''t look that good.

    "Evee, I just thought about you," Eren greeted her with a t smile, trying to change the topic before Evee sent a barrage of missiles his way. They wouldn''t kill him, but Evee could sometimes be¡­hard to predict.

    "Keep that nonsense to yourself," Evee snorted, "This is important."

    Eren raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. He turned more severe and stopped floating mindlessly in space. His expression changed at once as he gestured Evee to proceed.

    "You know no one was stationed near the Sacred Desert, right? The long-distance radars were faulty. They picked up multiple sources of curse power in the Sacred Desert¡­but it was only one. I researched the Sacred Desert and surrounding regions and found some interesting facts about our Curse." Evee stopped there. She stared at Eren, who frowned deeply.

    "Continue," He said, his expression showing clearly that he was not in the mood for jokes right now.

    ''Something was wrong. Why did I tell him to kill the Curse?''

    "You are no fun at all!" Evee pouted, only to be red at, "Okay. Okay. Our Curse is probably the strongest Pharaoh of the Second Epoch. He ruled the Sacred Desert and some surrounding regions for a few hundred years. It has been a while, but we have some pretty nasty information about the Undead Pharaoh. He experimented with Corruption and Curses when he was alive."

    Eren frowned deeply.

    "But that is not even the worst. From what the long-distance radars, the Ancient Curse Spheres, detected, we can be certain that the Undead Pharaoh has enough curse power to rival Nest''s Commanders easily, or he managed to procure a Cursed Artifact, one of the stronger ones. If it''s thetter, the Undead Pharaoh is probably at the 5th Tier and way too strong for a Cursed Child to deal with. No matter how powerful this Michael Fang is¡­you send him on a suicide mission."

    Eren paled visibly. He clenched his fists and didn''t notice that his fingers had transformed into silver ws. The ws dug deep into his palms even as he began to bleed in streams.

    "Funnily enough," Evee''s expression lit up, "Your little Michael Fang is a diamond in the rough. No. I don''t know if we should call him that. Monster probably fits a little bit better."

    "What do you mean?" Eren inquired, his expression still sour and filled with guilt.

    "Your little guy from that backwater gxy managed to kill the Undead Pharaoh! His Curses are either on a higher rank than you''ve reported, or they''re even firmer fused with his Soul than they should be. If it''s thetter, you''ll have to deal with the issue before it''s untreatable. The Ancient Curse Spheres detected the presence of two mighty Curses right before the Undead Pharaoh died. There was something odd about one of the Curses. Its presence was too ''active'' to be a Curse, but we can check thatter when this Monsteres to the Nest.

    Eren''s expression lit up.

    Michael was alive. That was good.

    A momentter, his expression turned eerily dim again. "You could have told me that he killed the Undead Pharaoh right away. Why did you¨C... No, don''t tell me. You fooled me."

    Evee smiled from one ear to the other.

    "Yes, I did~. Either way, bring that kid to the Nest. If he can kill a crippled Divine Lifeform, who has either more power than Commanders or wields powerful Cursed Artifacts, he can do a lot more after undergoing some proper training. He will blossom and be a true powerhouse once he leaves the backwater gxy!"

    "He will be worse than his sister," Eren smiled, still relieved.

    "Hesta? I hope Michael beats the shit out of his sister in no time. She deserves some beating!"

    Eren chuckled but shook his head.

    "I doubt he''ll be able to beat Hesta Fang anytime soon. Is that everything you want to tell me, or is there more?"

    Evee lifted an eyebrow and stared at Eren through the projection.

    "You want to hear more? Isn''t it enough to hear that this freaky little kid, a Lesser Lifeform, was strong enough to kill a Divine Lifeform, crippled or not?"

    "If you say it like this, it sounds like I''m greedy," Eren murmured. He gave it a shrug, "So there is no news about Bloodhound and the Supreme Human Alliance? They haven''t been making a move in the Origin Expanse or the Cosmos?"

    "You don''t want to know additional about your future disciple? Well, that''s fine. You should do your research. It''s quite annoying for me to use my Soultrait alongside the Seer Curse. This kid drains more curse power to get a glimpse of him than most brats I''ve investigated. But that''s not the point. You wanted to know what''s going on with Bloodhound, right?"

    Eren rolled his eyes. Evee was an extreme case of a chatterbox. Unfortunately, she didn''t know when to keep it short. It was almost like that was impossible for her.

    "There is no news about Bloodhound. Since I cannot even see him with my Soultrait, he is probably still in aa. It will probably take a while before he wakes up. Maybe he won''t wake up before the portal is done. You can return with Michael and Evalynn before Bloodhound and the Supreme Human Alliance stir any more trouble."

    "That will be hard. Since Bloodhound managed to get to this ce, additional people wille, even if it''s merely to hunt down the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Michael understands that as well. He might be foolish enough to stay back."

    Evee shrugged, "I know how convincing you can be. Just convince him toe with you to the Nest. He can rip Soultraits out of Awakened and form them into stable orbs. We can fight for him if he provides the Nest with enough Soultraits."

    Eren sighed, "I should talk to the other Commanders soon or the Leader. Maybe the Leader knows what to do with Michael and the Tritan Alliance. I''m tired of leaving other races behind. I don''t want to witness the Supreme Human Alliance extinction of additional races. I''m getting sick and tired of them!"

    A deep growl escaped his lips alongside a thunderous roar. Evee smiled sadly at Eren for a moment before pping her cheeks.

    "Let''s not think about this for now. The Supreme Human Alliance has been less active recently. We discovered another human race, Fera did, to be precise. She managed to protect some lesser races from Searon and managed to kill him!" Evee eximed trying to lift Eren''s mood.

    Her attempt worked out fairly decent. Eren smiled at Evee''s projection.

    "The deals with the Thorn family are doing fine as well, and we found a few additional races with territories in unique regions in the Origin Expanse. We managed to strike great deals with them. However, we had to give them some Origin Sap in exchange. The Leader was not too happy about that, but it''s fine. We gained a lot more than we had to pay."

    "That leads us to the bigger issues," Evee sighed deeply. We need additional powerhouses. Our forces are exceptional. We are one of the strongest forces in the southern parts of the cosmos, but we are simply too few. We need to expand our forces. Shouldn''t we ept more people instead of relying on Curse Users only?"

    "Didn''t we talk about that already, Evee? You know as well as I do that Curse Users are pursued by misfortune wherever they go. Only other Curse Users are unaffected by the influence of other Curses."

    "You might have forgotten about it since it has been so long since anyone close to you has been affected by the influence of Curses, but it''s pretty obvious over here. Bloodhound came and killed the leader of the Warlock Centaurs because of a Curse User. Of course, that could have been a coincidence, but the Undead Pharaoh is not a coincidence. He wouldn''t have been resurrected if Evalynn had never hidden her children from the Nest."

    Eren shrugged slowly, "There are probably far additional instances in which misfortune struck Micahel and his brother, but they survived almost all of them. Michael wouldn''t be strong enough to defeat the Undead Pharaoh if misfortune hadn''t pursued him so desperately."

    Michael had grown powerful quickly, but he also escaped death multiple times. That was the fate of all Curse Users and those unfortunate enough to be around them.

    "I hope Michael epts his fate. He shoulde with you as soon as the anchors are installed. Otherwise, the people he loves will suffer." Evee mumbled, faintly recalling urrences of the past she''d long forgotten.

    Eren sighed deeply as well.

    Michael might be strong enough to handle all kinds of misfortunes, but his beloved wasn''t.

    **

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 Chapter 769 Society

    Chapter 769 Society

    The higher-ups of High Society chose to meet up because of an interesting turn of events. Their Race Achievement Points increased. The increase wasn''t slight either, indicating that the Will considered the feat a major achievement for the Lesser Human race.

    "The Undead Ruler has been defeated," Kraft Viton announced ceremonially.

    Upon hearing Kraft Viton, many sighed in relief. Murmurs spread through the meeting hall, and only a whisper reached Kraft Viton''s ears.

    "Someone found an entrance to the valley..."

    Kraft Viton''s head shot up, and he looked left and right to find the source of the voice, "Who said that?!"

    A deep frown washed over Kraft Viton and some High Society members as they stared at each other. He tried to find out who''d been speaking about the valley, but nobody gave in to Kraft Viton''s threatening re. It was almost like the whisper never urred.

    "How long will it take to reim the Sacred Desert? We can help the Lords with investments, but they will have to surrender a percentage of their profits in the future," An old powerhouse said, rubbing his hands in excitement. The greed in his eyes was overwhelming.

    Katharina Zenovia, seated next to the old powerhouse, snorted, "All you think about is money. If you and your kin had epted our proposal to help the Lords in the Sacred Desert earlier, we would have never lost so many good Lords and Awakened. Your hands are drenched in their blood, yet your disgusting act never changes!"

    The old powerhouse frowned deeply. "You should mind your words, brats. Just because you are beautiful and the Zenovia family''s matriarch doesn''t mean I will allow you to say whatever you want. And what is that nonsense about my kin? I''m still human, just like you."

    Katharina rolled her eyes and diverted her attention away from the disgusting bastard, "You might look at like one, but I doubt you have any humanity left within you."

    Her murmur didn''t reach the old powerhouse, but Giuliana Seraph heard the Zenovia Matriarch. The corners of her lips curled upward.

    "So what are we going to do with the Sacred Desert? The Undead forces are much weaker than they used to be. Removing them in the next few weeks will hardly be an issue. We have to decide what to do once the Sacred Desert is void of enemies," Another High Society member pointed out.

    He cleared his throat and supported the old powerhouse''s proposal, "I think investing in the Lords of the Sacred Desert and asking for a small share of their profits should be fine. They can im the entire Sacred Desert with a handful of Lords. Their territories will be several times bigger than they used to be. Even if they have to surrender some of their profits, they''ll earn tens, if not hundreds of times more than they used to."

    "That might be true, but these Lords are weak. Only one of the survivors is a Descendant, but his records aren''t that great. Do you want to trust a weakling to rule over an entire region? I do not wish to support that. It''s a waste of precious money. No matter how much we invest, the Descendant in the Sacred Desert won''t suddenly transform into a powerful Awakened," A third powerhouse, a two- meter-tall man with long golden hair that had been bound to a ponytail dered, "He is weak-willed, has a lousy Soultrait, and hisbat prowess has been registered as slightly above average. He didn''t even reach the threshold of an Elite Awakened. Even calling him a Descendant feels like a massive exaggeration!"

    "What are we supposed to do then, Zepth?" Kraft Viton inquired out of curiosity. It was rare for the patriarch of the Zeus family to say anything. He didn''t even voice his opinion when the society meetings revolved around the Sacred Desert and the Undead problems.

    "You don''t n to rmend one of your children to take over the Sacred Desert, do you?" Giuliana asked, her eyes narrowed to slits. She tapped the table before her lightly.

    "That would be a great idea!" The old powerhouse eximed, jumping up from his chair. The chair fell over with a loud thud, but nobody paid any attention as the old powerhouse''s voice resounded through the meeting hall, "How about we give Killian the Sacred Desert? I heard that Killian has already upgraded his Summoning Gate. How about he creates a second territory in the Sacred Desert? I would be void of any worries if someone like Killian were to manage the Sacred Desert. He must have defeated the Undead Ruler in the first ce. It is only fair to give him the Sacred Desert."

    "Shut up, Vincent," Giuliana hissed at the old powerhouse. If stares could kill, Giuliana''s deadly gaze would have ended the old powerhouse''s - Vincent''s - life.

    Zepth Zeus sighed deeply, "It would be great if Killian Zeus could rule over an entire territory, but he is already busy with his territory. He entered the Sacred Desert to help the Lords of the Sacred Desert. Unfortunately, you are misinformed, Vincent."

    He shook his head in resignation.

    "Killian didn''t kill the Undead Ruler. The timing is off. We received the Race Achievement Points a few hours before Killian entered the Sacred Desert. Killian didn''t kill it."

    A middle-aged man nodded slowly, "I doubt that Killian can defeat the Undead Pharaoh in the first ce. That thing is way too powerful."

    His words weren''t loud, but many heard them. Katharina Zenovia and Kraft Viton looked at each other, their eyes widening slowly as realization dawned upon them.

    Their heads ked at the man who''d just mentioned the Undead Pharaoh, and they couldn''t help but frown deeply.

    Almost no one knew the identity of the Undead Ruler.

    That''s why they called him like that. How did the Patriarch of the ze family know about the Undead Pharaoh?

    Kraft Viton knew about the Undead Pharaoh from Michael. It took Michael a while before he could trust the old man enough to reveal what had happened to his brother in the Sacred Desert. The news was shocking, and it was also part of the reason Kraft Viton had been so focused on clearing the Sacred Desert.

    He had been worried that the Undead Pharaoh would stir more trouble and im the Sacred Desert in no time. Despite his worries, Kraft Viton never told anyone about the Undead Pharaoh. He doubted that Michael would tell many people about the Undead Pharaoh either.

    Katharina also seemed to know about the Undead Pharaoh, but that made sense. Michael must have told Alice about the Undead Pharaoh. She probably told her mother about Michael and his life to improve Michael''s image in her mother''s eyes before they first met.

    Kraft Viton was unsure how well that worked, but it didn''t matter.

    Danny and the other Awakened, who''d died miserably in the Primedival Pyramid, were the only ones who should know about the Undead Pharaoh.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    No. There was someone else.

    The Master of Danny''s allies, who betrayed him, might also know about the Undead Pharaoh.

    Someone in High Society was the main culprit of Danny''s death...and the resurrection of the Undead Pharaoh!

    And it looked like Katharina Zenovia and Kraft Viton just discovered who that someone was.

    The only problem was that they had no hard evidence to prove their suspicion.

    ''The ze family...really?''

 Chapter 770 Rookie Treatment

    Chapter 770 Rookie Treatment

    ??Michael enjoyed the sensation he got from the second Summoning Gate. It was unnatural, like his link with the Intermediate Summoning Gate, and felt more artificial. However, that''s what made it so unique. The Basic Summoning Gate felt part of the primary Summoning Gate, yet it was also something foreign.

    Michael was so busy staring at the Summoning Gate that he didn''t notice when arge tent formed near him. He was oblivious to the semi-transparent barrier that also conjured a few hundred meters away from him. It shrouded the Summoning Gate and the desert manor while leaving enough space to build anything Michael wished to construct.

    It was the protection barrier Rookie Lords were given when they first entered the Origin Expanse.

    [That''s weird.] Daniel murmured in Michael''s head when he saw the protection barrier forming from the corner of Michael''s eyes.

    "What is?" Michael asked as he regained hisposure.

    [A protection barrier formed around your new territory. There is also a desert tent...and...someone weing you...]

    Danny''s words pulled Michael''s attention to the semi-transparent barrier and the desert tent. His eyes widened slightly when he saw a man emerge from the desert tent. Michael had never seen that man, but he could tell that a Link of Loyalty was forming between them.

    Michael swallowed and studied the man. He wore sandy-brown tunics that covered him, providing relief from the scorching sun and great air cirction. Despite the loose-fitting garment, Michael could tell that the man was well-trained and dangerous if he considered you his enemy.

    His head was covered with a turban, shielding the face and neck from the Sacred Desert''s intense heat and blowing sand. Last but not least, he wore sturdy footwear, which Michael barely noticed as he observed how smoothly the man strode through the Sacred Desert.

    The man appeared before Michael and bowed deeply. However, as he bowed down, he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground. He barely caught himself and shot up, his eyes bulged in shock and terror.

    Michael tilted his head slightly. He noticed toote that he didn''t conceal the Extraction Aura perfectly. It continued radiating from his body, extracting the surrounding heat to keep Michael''s body cool.

    "Sorry about that," He mumbled, but the man shook his head wildly.

    "I have to apologize, Your Excellency. I didn''t expect to be put into service of such a powerful Lord. I never thought that a Rookie Lord could be this powerful," The man swallowed hard, his eyes studying Michael intensely.

    "I''m not a Rookie Lord," Michael responded, but his voice died as he discovered two familiar items in the man''s hand.

    "That''s the Awakening Stone and a Fortune Summoning Scroll," He pinpointed. The man, whom Michael presumed to be the butler designated to his territory in the Sacred Desert, nodded slowly and handed Michael the two items.

    The man continued studying, unsure what to think of his new Lord. He hadn''t been prepared to be someone''s personal butler. That didn''t fit him at all.

    He couldn''t remember much about hisst life, but his knowledge and understanding of the desert andbat were vast. If anything, the environment and fighting were the only things he knew truly well. He wasn''t good at doing chores, but now he was supposed to serve someone else.

    Michael didn''t expect to obtain another Awakening Stone, let alone a Fortune Summoning Scroll. He had never heard from anyone that connecting to more Summoning Gates would give him the benefits every Rookie Lord was given when they first entered the Origin Expanse. He was given a protection barrier as well. Did that make any sense?

    Not really. That was just weird.

    "I''m not a Rookie Lord. Do you know why you''ve been summoned? This is my second territory. It''s not in this region, though," Michael decided to ask the young man. Maybe the Will imnted some knowledge into the man to exin the situation.

    The man didn''t say anything. He stared at Michael, his voice surrendering to the shock that spread through him.

    ''He has another territory? Does that mean my Lord is already a Higher Lifeform? What is going on? Wha--....'' The man''s thoughts were interrupted as something in his head clicked. His bright eyes turned silverish-white, and the presence engulfing him changed suddenly.

    Behold the eternal dance of Life and Death as it unfolds all across the cosmos. As the veil of mortality is lifted, the Soul endures, transcending the confines of Fate''s decree. The Soul, vanquished and entombed, only to be resurrected by the forces surpassing Fate. Once severed, the tether of Fate''s thread cannot be restored. A new thread must be woven to clear the imbnce of life and death. Unable to grasp the anchor that binds eludes existence, Fate imposed a new tapestry upon the anchored Soul that guided the anchorless Soul through the cosmic currents of eternity.

    The silverish-white eyes changed once again. The eerily presence engulfing him disappeared and a bad headache crept up his mind.

    "What was that?" He whispered to himself.

    "I would love to know that as well," Michael replied with a forced smile.

    "What''s your name?" He inquired the man, who was a lot more interesting than Michael first presumed.

    "Hs¡­Hs Nead. That''s my name, Your Excellency¡­."

    "I''m Michael Fang. You can call me whatever. So you don''t know what happened to you just now? Did you sense anything?"

    Hs shook his head slowly.

    "My mind went nk when I wondered what was going on and why a Higher Lifeform is my Lord," He answered truthfully.

    "I''m not a Higher Lifeform just yet, but that is not important now," Michael corrected Hs Nead, but he fell deep in thought.

    [Maybe that was the Will imparting knowledge into this guy. It''s exactly what you expected. That guy must have been called with an exnation to show you why you deserved the same benefits as a Rookie Lord.]

    ''Great exnation. I don''t understand shit about that exnation. It sounds more like a prophecy¡­but at the same time, it makes sense.''

    Michael sighed deeply. He ignored the first sentence of the prophecy and went through the rest of the prophecy in his mind, one sentence at a time.

    ''As the veil of mortality is lifted¡­that should be death. The Soul endured, transcending the confines of Fate''s decree. That could mean that the Soul doesn''t die with the body and goes where Fate orders it to go.''

    [The next part could be about my death, don''t you think so? My Soul disappeared and was entombed, only to be resurrected by Extraction. Maybe Extraction''s full power surpasses Fate. Or maybe that is about the Will transcending Fate''s power over the Origin Expanse.]

    Michael fell deep in thought.

    ''Let''s just say that what you uttered is true. The following sentences would mean that your fate''s thread was severed and cannot be restored and that your new fate ¨C granted through the resurrection ¨C cannot be bound to you because you do not have a physical body yet.''

    [Soo¡­you were given my new Fate¡­]

    ''I¡­was given your new Fate? What¡­ might exin why I was given the treatment of a Rookie Lord. Because of your thread of fate, whatever that means in the grand scheme of the Origin Expanse,'' Michael was deep in thought, only for his frown to deepen, ''But what about you then?''

    Danny snickered in Michael''s head.

    [That means I''m fateless¡­and you have two Fates to fulfill!]

 Chapter 771 Fateless & Twin Fate

    Chapter 771 Fateless & Twin Fate

    ??"We are a little weird, don''t you think so?" Michael asked Danny, whoseugh resounded in his head.

    [How did youe to that conclusion? I think we''re perfectly normal. Isn''t it totally normal for some Fateless Living Souls to exist somewhere? Or for some people to have multiple threads of Fate? I don''t get what you mean] Danny said whileughing.

    The banter of bad jokes continued between the brothers. It went so far that the World Serpent was urged to join their discussion.

    [You guys don''t even know what that means.]

    "What?" Michael responded, "Being Fateless and having two threads of Fate? We know what that means since the name is already enough to understand what that means. But we don''t know what happens to Fateless people or to people with two threads of Fate. How are we supposed to know that?"

    [I have no fucking clue, either.] Danny added.

    The World Serpent hissed in annoyance, and Michael could have sworn that it rolled its eyes at their ignorance. If it could, the World Serpent would probably snap Michael''s neck. Or was that just what he''d imagined? It might have been the best that Michael stayed silent and waited patiently to receive answers.

    [To put it in very simple terms, you ¨C] The World Serpent beckoned Michael to listen with a tug of his mind [You will have to deal with two Fates that are constantly shing with each other. Since it is standard for every living being to have only one of Fate''s threads, your threads will try to eliminate each other. That might not sound like a major problem when you don''t know what that means, but it''s a huge issue. Your Fates will throw even more challenges to emerge victorious from the constant shing with their rival.]

    "So, to simplify it even more, my life will be turned upside down?" Michael asked, frowning deeply, "Even more than it is already?"

    The World Serpent didn''t say anything for a moment. It thought about Michael''s question for a few seconds before it concluded.

    [Yes. What you''re currently going through is nothingpared to the rivalry of two Fates shing for supremacy over a single entity. There have been some records about Twin Fates, but most victims of Twin Fates die before they reach the 25th circle. They''re powerful due to the obstacles and challenges that always appear before them, but they are still too weak to surpass Fate''s decree.]

    "Does that mean I''ll probably die in a few years? That''s annoying," Michael asked, his voice calmer than usual.

    [Do you not care that you will die soon?] The World Serpent asked upon sensing Michael''s emotions spreading through him. Theck of emotions, to be precise.

    "I don''t want to die, but it''s not like a prediction like that will change anything. I was more often on the verge of death than I want to acknowledge. Until now, I''ve always survived, but I also know that this might not be permanent. The Undead Pharaoh would have eliminated me without you and the Wolf Curse. Even with your help, I wouldn''t have made it without the Wicked Spear Arts. At some point, I might have to fight an enemy I cannot defeat, not even with your help, the Wolf Curse, or the techniques I''ve obtained."

    "I know that something like that could happen at any time. However, that doesn''t mean I should run away and hide far away from everyone. If I start running away now, I will die the next time the Supreme Human Alliance appears. They will find me, just like the Nest found me. The time to run for my life and escape all of this nonsense passed long ago. Now, I can only go all-out and give my utmost to obliterate my enemies. Fearing the ''inevitable'' future will only harm me. It will make me weaker."

    Michael stared deeply ahead at the Burning Sand Mountain Range, his vibrant golden eyes twinkling like stars.

    "And I won''t die. I''m unwilling to surrender to something like Fate!"

    [I hope that you''re right. Leaving this vessel will be a nuisance. You better survive a few decades. After that, you can die or do whatever you want.] The World Serpent hissed.

    It acted calm, but Michael could tell that there was something the World Serpent was trying to hide.

    ''The World Serpent is already bound to me. It''s not as closely intertwined with my Soul as the Wolf Curse, but it cannot leave easily. Why are you acting like you can leave at any point and that it is merely an inconvenience if I die? A portion of you would go down with me now that we''re intertwined¡­'' Michael thought while ensuring nobody could read his mind for a moment.

    [Either way. Let''s get back to the exnation. Since you know what Twin Fate is, how about we deal with our Fateless fellow?] The World Serpent inquired while speaking to Danny in Michael''s mind.

    [To be fair, I have never seen anyone without Fate. But since no thread of Fate is attached to you, Fate will ignore you. You won''t have any challenges thrown your way, and you won''t have any luck or misfortune. Your progress will be incredibly slow. After all, you will never have any lucky or unlucky encounters with anything. The only way to grasp opportunities to grow is by benefiting from others'' Fates.]

    Silence spread through Michael''s mind for a few seconds after the World Serpent''s words thundered through them.

    [You can probably change fates by being a Fateless fellow, but you will be nothing more than a leech who drains and devours other beings'' fates.]

    That was interesting. Michael fell deep in pondered and thought about their situation. After some seconds, he shrugged.

    ''Whatever.''

    His brother must havee to the same conclusion. Michael felt like Danny was also shrugging dismissively.

    [I don''t n to leave Michael''s side, either way. Since I''m a leech who drains other''s Fates, I might as well help Michael deal with his Twin Fates issue. I can take care of some challenges and obstacles thrown his way. One of his Fates is mine, either way. I might as well take responsibility and solve all issues rted to my new Fate. Of course, that means I will have to secure my body back first. I won''t be able to deal with his challenges without a body, but that''s obvious, I guess.]

    Michael smiled. That was exactly what he pondered as well.

    "We can do it!" He dered, which his brother affirmed.

    The brothers were confident that they could cope with their issues.

    "If the Twin Fates issues secure too bad, I can focus on upgrading Extraction until the Extraction Soultrait is strong enough to remove one of Fate''s threads. If Extraction is not enough, I can always use Soul Tears from the Soul Grimoire to increase Extraction''s potency or reinforce Extraction''s efficiency with Enhancement."

    [Once extracted, you can use Insert to insert the Fate thread into my body ¨C once I secure one. That''s a good solution if the situation with the Twin Fates gets too troublesome. Easy peasie!] Danny shouted in Michael''s mind, only for the World Serpent to hiss.

    [Helpless Fools.]

    The World Serpent turned silent.

 Chapter 772 Fortune Scroll Nr.2

    Chapter 772 Fortune Scroll Nr.2

    ??Michael didn''t think that it was useful to continue think about the issues revolving around having Twin Fates or being Fateless. Challenges would help Michael and his people to grow stronger. They were good and helped them.

    If the circumstances turned out to be too dire to handle, Michael could always rely on Extraction and remove the Fate and insert it back into his brother ¨C once he got a body to slip in, of course.

    Therefore, Michael focused more on the Sacred Desert and the im Note that had yet to be used.

    He grasped the old parchment tightly and tore the im Note apart. His head flicked to the sky, expecting something grand to happen, but Michael was merely greeted by a beautiful cloudless sky and a burning sun. There was no grand sign telling Michael that he had been acknowledged as the rightful owner of Paradise Valley. That was unfortunate. Michael had been hoping for a grand spectacle.

    Several minutes passed in utter silence, but Michael didn''t divert his focus from the sky. The Elemental Empress had informed Michael that the temperature in Paradise Valley increased steadily since he rippe the im Note apart.

    ''Was the im Note a trap? Maybe it''s one of the Will''s punishments. I might be the rightful owner of Paradise Valley now but what''s the use if the temperature keeps rising. Nothing will survive in here if this continues!''

    All of a sudden, a loud screech reverberated through Paradise Valley. A zing sun shot across the sky until it reached the center of Paradise Valley. The second sun that had appeared out of nowhere was even stronger than the sun. The temperature in the vicinity increased by tens of degrees, which made it difficult to even breathe.

    Michael felt like he''d swallowed magma when he took a deep breath. He could have used Extraction to remove bits of the heat surrounding him, but Michael didn''t dare to use his Soultraits. He stared at the second sun, his hair standing up to its end. The second sun was not actually a sun. it was far from that.

    The second sun was the Primal Phoenix.

    It''s zing body was too dazzling to look at, yet Michael did exactly that. He decided to use bits of his Spheres of Element Soultrait and yed with the darkness-attributed energy that had been purified over and over again inside the Darkness Sphere. Michael called upon the darkness-attributed energy and formed thin darkness membranes that acted like lenses ¨C sunsses ¨C reducing the surroundings into darker shades than they used to be.

    Atst, Michael managed to configurate the darkness membrane to grant him a glimpse at the Primal Phoenix''s majestic body.

    The Primal Phoenix was a magnificen bird, radiant with fiery plumage that shimmered like molten gold in the sunlight. Its wings spanned almost one hundred meters, carrying the Sacred Beast effortlessly through the cloudless sky. With each beat of its majestic wings, the air is filled with a cacophony of crackling mes and overwhelming heat.

    The Primal Phoenix''s eyes were crimson, outlined with intricate golden patterns, which bewitched everyone who was daring enough to gleam into the eyes filled with wisdom and eternal knowledge. Its eyes reflected ancient wisdom of the old ages, causing Michael to shudder involuntarily.

    "Beautiful¡­" Michael blurted out, only to sense a heavy pressure wash past him.

    His legs caved in the moment the heavy weight crashed upon his shoulders, and his face crashed into the searing-hot sand.

    ''What the¡­'' Michael cursed in his mind, trying to resist the heavy pressure only to feel a foreign thought pierce through his mental defense.

    It was a high-pitchedughter. Theughing didn''tst more than a few seconds, but it was enough to crush Michael''s spirit for a few seconds.

    Michael realized in shock that the Primal Phoenix could kill him with a single thought. It was as strong as the Mythical Winged Serpent. Maybe it was even stronger!

    ''As if I give up now!'' Michael screamed in his mind, forcefully ejecting the high-pitched voice.

    He groaned in pain as he urged his body to move, to break through the pressure and surpass his body''s limits once again.

    Michael managed to push his chest from the ground. His arms pushed against the sandy ground. They trembled violently as every bit of strength gathered into them to get up from the ground.

    The Primal Phoenix screeched and Michael felt like the Sacred Beast was trying to say something. However, he couldn''t understand what it was trying to say. Michael was not an expert in thenguage of Sacred Beasts ¨C if they had a specialnguage, that is.

    Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the pressure disappeared before Michael could get up from the ground. His mind nked out at the tremendous power he had tomand to move his body, only for the pressure to vanish suddenly.

    The Primal Phoenix studied him for a few more seconds. He felt something reaching his once again, but couldn''t grasp it properly. It vanished into thin air before he could do anything.

    The Primal Phoenix''s massive wings beat once more before it turned around to leave.

    It had seen more than enough.

    Michael swallowed hard. He didn''t expect to be greeted by the Primal Phoenix.

    [Well. That was a grand entrance. At least, it left. But does that mean the Sacred Beast acknowledges you as Paradise Valley''s Lord and rightful owner as well?]

    Michael shrugged. He guessed so.

    The temperature in Paradise Valley dropped to the point it had been before he tore the im Note apart. It seemed like the Primal Phoenix had been responsible for the fluctuations.

    Now that everything was back to the norm, Michael''s eyes drifted back to the Fortune Summoning Scroll. A thin smile blossomed on his lips.

    He thought about Cleave Fenrir and was flooded by a series of doubts and uncertainties. However, he shrugged at the end and decided to use the Fortune Summoning Scroll.

    In the worst case, Michael would summon a Starless Summon, or a nasty guy whom he had to kill before he would grow too powerful. One way or another, Michael wasn''t going to keep the Fortune Summoning Scroll. He utilized it.

    The seal on the Fortune Summoning Scroll was torn apart easily. It unfolded and shot into the Basic Summoning Gate''s energy pool before Michael could get a good glimpse at the intricate patterns that were engraved on the Scroll''s inside.

    Michael clicked his tongue but he continued to wait patiently as the stars engraved into the Summoning Gate''s metal frame lit up.

    Four stars light up brightly instantaneously and the fifth star followed suit quickly.

    Michael''s eyes widened slightly when a sixth star was ignited as well.

    Even if he''d been hoping to summon something great with the Fortune Summoning Scroll, Michael couldn''t help but to think back to the first time he utilized a Fortune Summoning Scroll. Cleave Fenrir had been an¡­interesting encounter.

    As the seventh star lit up on the Summoning Gate, Michael closed his eyes. He wasn''t sure what he was supposed to hope for. However, there was one thing he was certain about.

    Michael didn''t want to summon anymore fellow Curse Users. It would be even more annoying to summon someone of the Fenrir bloodline.

    [It would be fun if you''d summon our grandfather!]

    "Danny¡­"

    [Yeah?]

    "You''re not helpful."

    [Whate¨C...Wow. The 8th Star lit up!!]

    Michael''s eyes shot wide open.

    "No Curse User please!"

    [Grandfather!]

    "No, fuck that shit!"

    [Pleasee!]

    "No!"

    The outlines of Michael''s second Fortune Summon appered before him, and his eyes narrowed when the figure appeared from the energy pool.

    [That is even better than gramps!]

    "..."

 Chapter 773 Pharaoh

    Chapter 773 Pharaoh

    ??A lean, almost skinny man with gray skin emerged from the energy pool. His natural presence was mighty, his movements graceful, and his gaze was sharp.

    He wasn''t anything like the usual Summons Michael summoned. But that was to be expected from an 8-Star Summon.

    The man was d in a familiar regal attire that reminded Michael of ancient pharaohs. He wore a headpiece featuring an unfamiliar symbol. The headpiece resembled the pharaoh''s crown of the Second Epoch, just like the Undead Pharaoh''s. However, the unfamiliar symbol on the headpiece was only one of the differences that separated the Summon emerging from the Summoning Gate from the Undead Pharaoh.

    First of all, the Undead Pharaoh was dead. He might have resurrected once, but even his Undead form had been destroyed. The World Serpent and the Wolf Curse ensured there wouldn''t be a trace of curse power left in the Undead Pharaoh''s corpse.

    Michael was sure that the man before him wasn''t anything like the Undead Pharaoh. He smiled brightly upon discovering Michael and greeted him in a way unfamiliar to Michael. The man made a hand sign and pressed his hand against his forehead before leaning forward.

    Michael tried hard not to frown when he saw several valuable ornaments falling to the ground following the man''s polite gesture.

    The man cursed quietly when he discovered that the ornaments had fallen to the ground. He picked them up swiftly and straightened his body once he got up again.

    "Why would the Will summon me with an attire like this? I''m the Starhaven Pharaoh, a Warrior. Born in war and died inbat. What''s the use of this disgusting..." The man trailed off and continued talking to himself. He seemed to have forgotten that Michael and Hs Nead observed him intently.

    [Starheaven Pharaoh? I heard of that guy!]

    ''You did? Can you tell me about him while he is...busy with himself,'' Michael asked his brother, who began with a summary of the Starheaven Pharaoh''s grand history.

    [Before I entered the Primedival Pyramid, I had to research the Second and Third Epoch. The Starheaven Pharaoh was thest Pharaoh of the Second Epoch. He is also the Pharaoh who managed to end the reign of the Supreme Pharaoh. Supreme Pharaoh is the name of the Undead Pharaoh, who was still alive, by the way. At least, we can trust that the Undead Pharaoh told the truth when he said he was the strongest Pharaoh of the Second Epoch. He might have lied to us.]

    ''So, the Starheaven Pharaoh killed the Supremea€¡°Undead Pharaoh. That''s pretty interesting. The Will has some humor.''

    [The Starheaven Pharaoh is a powerful Pharaoh, but his whole life was filled with battle. He didn''t have much education or knowledge. He is a powerful Warrior but not a great schr. I think you can tell that the Starheaven Pharaoh has a...unique personality...]

    Michael''s eyesnded on the Starheaven Pharaoh, who was still not done speaking to himself. He turned around and walked left and right as if he was an impatient kid on a call with his friends. He walked around excitedly, a vibrant smile on his face.

    [Either way, his death started the Third Epoch. He didn''t leave behind any heirs, which destroyed thend he''d painstakingly tended. Well, his subordinates tended thend. The Starheaven Pharaoh was mainly busy expanding his territory. When he died, hisnd was split up. Countless Lords desired to obtain his treasures, but most failed to procure anything. The start of the Third Epoch was very chaotic. That''s partially Starheaven Pharaoh''s fault, but I guess we shouldn''t me the death for dying.]

    Michael chuckled and fell deep in thought. His eyes fixed on Starheaven Pharaoh, and he tilted his head. Starheaven Pharaoh looked somewhere far away. His vibrant expression had been reced by pensiveness.

    "Nyx is still out there? Oh, my little baby. You must have been so lonely..." The Starheaven Pharaoh eximed all of a sudden.

    Michael frowned deeply, but he got closer to check where the Starheaven Pharaoh was looking. He used Spirit Eyes in addition to 10 Enhancementyers to check if he could see something. Michael could barely see anything other than sand, but he discovered the Burning Sand Mountain Range far at the horizon.

    "What are you looking for? There is only sand, dunes, and more sand. Well, and the mountain range," Michael asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

    "We...are in Paradise Valley, aren''t we?" The Pharaoh asked, his voice cracking. Tears welled up in his eyes, catching Michael by surprise.

    "Yes, we are."

    "Nyx...No. The Primal Phoenix...is she still out there?"

    ''Ah. I get it now.'' Michael nodded in half-understanding.

    "The Primal Phoenix is still out there. It ¨C she ¨C protects the zing Sand Mountain Range to ensure that nobody can invade Paradise Valley. She has been doing that for a long time already. At least, that''s what I''ve heard. She came by earlier, right before I summoned you."

    Michael thought about something as he kept staring at the Starheaven Pharaoh. The Pharaoh stared back at Michael, barely able to contain his tears.

    "Did you raise the Primal Phoenix? Or maybe it was the other way around? I don''t know what rtionship you have with the Primal Phoenix, but you can visit her. It''s not like the Burning Sand Mountain Range is far from here," He offered the Starheaven Pharaoh, who could only shake his head in sadness.

    "No. I don''t even know if Nyx remembers me. And¡­I cannot return to her after everything I''ve done¡­"

    Michael had to suppress a deep groan and shrugged instead. He wouldn''t force the Starheaven Pharaoh to do anything other than grow stronger and be useful. He had to be useful. After all, the Starheaven Pharaoh was an 8-Star Summon.

    He felt like telling the Pharaoh to get his act together if he didn''t dare to meet the Primal Phoenix, but Danny urged him to stay silent. Instead of doing something foolish, Michael focused on the Link of Loyalty that formed between him and the Starheaven Pharaoh. The Link of Loyalty wasn''t thick yet, but it was already firmer than his Link of Loyalty with Cleave Fenrir. That was a good sign.

    Michael retrieved a messenger crystal and connected it to Reba Zauber.

    "It''s time to start building the Portal Attachments. I need two of them. I grant you permission to install one of the Portal Attachments for the Intermediate Summoning Gate. Bring the other attachment to the other Basic Summoning Gate." Michael uttered the moment Reba epted the call.

    ["Huh? M-Michael? What are you speaking about? I mean, I can issue the construction of the Portal Attachments, but don''t you need a second Summong Gates for that? Aren''t you upied in the Sacred Dese¡ª.... You activated a Summoning Gate in the Sacred Desert, didn''t you?! Are you sure that''s a good idea? What if your territory is found, and what if someone powerfules to get you in the Origin Expanse?"]

    Reba continued blurting out dozens of bad scenarios that may or may not happen now that he activated a Summoning Gate in the Sacred Desert.

    "There is no need to worry about that. Nobody in the Sacred Desert is strong enough to deal with me. I will ascend to a Higher Lifeform soon, either. Furthermore, this ce is quite secure. Nobody will be able to invade this part of the Sacred Desert, except if they''re strong enough to deal with a Sacred Beast. That monster is definitely stronger than an ordinary Divine Lifeform," Michaelughed lightly, "I think I will be fine."

    Reba was still not convinced, but she chose not to say anything. At this point, Reba knew it was better to stay silent whenever Michael did something. She was still unsure how Michael managed to do certain things and what he must have done in his past life to make such outstanding achievements in this life. Every single time Michael called her, he had some grand news.

    Sometimes, his news was about Superior Soul Techniques, other times about exotic potions, and then Spirit Armaments and their production method. At some point, Reba lost count of how often she''d been surprised. She was getting used to it, though.

    She wasn''t shocked beyond the norms when she heard that Michael went to the Sacred Desert to strike the Undead Ruler that had been bothering everyone in the Sacred Desert.

    Nheless, she couldn''t hide her surprise at all times. She was still an ordinary woman, and she was not ready to keep listening to his surprises and the excitement that flowed out of his voice when he nned to do something dangerous and foolish.

    Reba sighed deeply.

    ["You will get your Portal Attachments as soon as possible. It might take a while, though."]

    Michael grinned brightly in response, "You''re the best!"

    Reba didn''t respond and cut the call. All Michael could hear was a pained groan from the other side of the messenger crystal before it turned dim.

    [You''re torturing that poor woman. Shouldn''t you give her some rewards as well? She has been researching Soul Techniques with her Soultrait and Inheritance Technique for a few months now. Her work is quick and precise. She never disappointed you, yet you never provided her anything in return. Meanwhile, everyone who''d fought for you on the frontlines has been rewarded with multiple Soultraits. Don''t you think that''s unfair? She doesn''t work less for the territory!]

    Michael lifted an eyebrow at his brother''s lecture.

    He bowed slowly, "You''re right. Reba deserves some rewards."

    Then his eyes widened.

    "Don''t tell me you like Reba, brother!"

 Chapter 774 Coins

    Chapter 774 Coins

    ??Michael teased his brother for a while before his attention returned to the rewards they''d obtained in the Primedival Pyramid.

    He retrieved everything from the War Rune storage with a snap and began with the inspection.

    His eyesnded on the Summoning Scrolls, the corner of his lips tugging upward.

    "Five Legendary Summoning Scrolls, three Desert Warlords Summoning Scrolls, and a Sandmancer Scroll. The Desert Warlords should be 3-Star or 4-Star Named Scrolls, but what about the Sandmancer Scroll? In the first ce, what kind of Named Scroll is that? It looks like it''s on the verge of tearing apart. How old is that scroll?"

    The Sandmancer Summoning Scroll was falling apart. A single touch was enough to destroy bits and pieces of it. Michael tilted his head and stored the scrolls back in the War Rune. Even though he could use the nine scrolls, Michael didn''t want to endanger anyone. Paradise Valley was great, but the tent didn''t have enough sleeping ces. He was morefortable waiting until the Portal Attachments were installed before summoning any powerful Summons.

    Fortunately, there was no rush. Michael had more than enough time to spare right now.

    His eyesnded on the mountains of gold coins, his eyes glimmering brightly. Massive currents of energy surged through the gold coins. The energy was sealed inside and purified with every cirction they made through theplex tiny paths passing through the golden coins.

    The purity level was extremely high--several levels higher than the purity of the energy stored within Superior Energy Stones. Michael didn''t even want to know how many centuries it took until the golden coins purified the origin energy they contained to such a high degree. It was terrifying.

    Michael was also quite impressed by the amount of energypressed into a single golden coin. The density of the origin energy was much higher than that found within naturally urring Energy Stones.

    Last but not least, the most impressive feat was that Michael didn''t procure only a handful of those golden coins. There were more than 100,000 of those golden coins. The Undead Pharaoh had hoarded mountains of those golden coins. He had yet to count them, but 100,000 was the lowest number he could imagine. There were probably a lot more golden coins.

    "Who''s capable enough to manufacture such tiny yet magnificent treasures? These golden coins are almost too beautiful to use," Michael murmured, only to shake his head, "Scrap thest part. Of course, I''ll use them."

    [Obviously, you will use them. You are not that far from ascending to a Higher Lifeform. These mountains of coins are exactly what you need for your ascension!] Danny dered.

    Michael nodded in agreement, only for the World Serpent to resurface in his mind.

    [Aged Imperial Coins. Not too bad. He''s probably plundered the secret vaults he''d left behind in the Second Epoch. There should be enough aged Imperial Coins to recuperate his wounds and push him back to Tier-7. All he needed was time. Good thing that you didn''t give him the time needed to get back to full power.]

    ''Imperial Coins? They''re quite fierce if they contain enough energy to push the Undead Pharaoh back to Tier-7.'' Michaelmented in his mind. The World Serpent hissed.

    [Your situation is different. You have two interwoven Curses, the Soul Sphere, and way too many decently powerful Soultraits to think that the Imperial Coins will be enough to help you skip a few ranks. The Imperial Coins might barely be enough to aid your ascension, but that''s it. You seem to underestimate the resources required for your ascension, little monster.]

    Michael frowned deeply at the World Serpent''sment.

    "That," He pointed at the massive mountains of aged Imperial Coins, "Will barely be enough to aid my ascension?"

    [Yesss. And you''re still missing the necessary nutrients. The Imperial Coins won''t be enough on their own.]

    Michael''s brows furrowed even deeper. He remembered clearly what he''d calcted for his ascension and was sure that one-tenth of the Imperial Coin mountain would have been enough for his Ascension. Apparently, he was wrong. Terribly wrong.

    ''If I need ten times more energy than I''d calcted, doesn''t that mean I need time times more nutrients as well? No, it might be more. The World Serpent said that the Imperial Coins might barely be enough to aid me. I''ll probably require more. Furthermore, I have several Soultraits that altered my physique. Spirit Eyes changed my eyes, and Sacred Constitution changed about...everything. I cannot rely on my earlier calction. I need more resources.''

    Michael shuddered. He knew that ascending to a Higher Lifeform was expensive. Of course, it was possible to ascend slowly without using many resources. However, that would require tremendous talent and even more time. Even ordinary Awakened would have to spend several years to advance from the Peak of Tier-3 to the lowest rank of Tier-4 if they didn''t prepare the needed resources. There were also variousplications for those who didn''t ascend in one swoop.

    Michael was certain that he would have to spend decades to ascend without any resources. He was not going to waste that much time.

    ''What if I sell the Legendary Scrolls for High Nutrition Solutions? No, that shouldn''t be necessary,'' Michael nced down at a small gue where the number 164,346+1 was disyed in faintly glowing lights.

    The gue had been given to all Awakened who''d decided to aid the Sacred Desert. They counted the Undead they''d in.

    Michael was unsure how urate the calction was or how it worked, but it worked to a certain extent. The +1, which glowed dark red, was especially urate. It stated that Michael defeated the Undead Ruler.

    Initially, he didn''t want to show off that he defeated the Undead Ruler, but the merit points and other benefits Michael could obtain were worth revealing his own identity.

    ''The points should be enough to purchase the nutrients needed for the ascension¡­right? Well, whatever. I''m not in a rush. I have yet to reach the Peak of Tier-3 in the first ce. I have a few weeks to prepare everything.''

    Michael stored the mountains of Imperial Coins again and inspected the other treasures. Most of them were antique and had lost most of their magical power. However, a bunch of treasures attracted his interest. Pouring some origin energy into them granted Michael enough insight into the antique treasures to find out what they could do and what they were usually used for.

    "Jug of Energy."

    "Needle of the Lost Memory."

    "Scroll Creation¡­Scroll¡­"

    ¡­

    ¡­

    Some antique treasures were actually quite interesting. The Needle of the Lost Memory allowed the user to remove the target''s memories. The stronger the target''s resistance, the lower the probability to seed. Michael had few memories he would love, especially about the Kitsun race and their disgusting actions.

    He would love to remove few of those memories, but he didn''t use the Needle of the Lost Memory right away. How was he supposed to know whether the antique treasures were traps or not? It didn''t look like the treasures were traps, given what he could see via Spirit Eyes, but he wasn''t about to prick himself when he had yet to test the other antique treasures.

    The Jug of Energy dissolved Energy Stones into liquid energy. Consuming the liquid energy drastically elerated energy absorption. This was beneficial for Awakened, who didn''t have monstrous talents.

    Michael was talented enough that the Jug of Energy lost its value to him, especially with him owning Extraction. He could extract the purified energy from Energy Stones easily. Absorbing and digesting the energy was easily done for someone like Michael.

    However, it woulde in handy for his own Subordinates and subjects.

    Meanwhile, the Scroll Creation Scroll was entirely useless to Michael. He could create specific Named Summoning Scrolls by sacrificing hundreds of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls to the Scroll Creation Scroll. Michael could do that much easier with Insert,bining a bunch of Ordinary Scrolls into precisely what he wanted. It was tens of times cheaper as well.

    However, the Scroll Creation Scroll might be valuable to others. Maybe it was worth selling the antique treasure to others to buy additional resources for his own ascension.

    The other treasures were also quite valuable, but Michael found that the Needle of the Lost Memory was the majority useful for him. After that, the Jug of Energy was probably the best for his own subjects. It drastically decreased the time everyone spent absorbing energy.

    Michael was somewhat satisfied with the gains.

 Chapter 775 Food, Water & a Roof

    Chapter 775 Food, Water & a Roof

    ??Michael could have tested the other antique treasures as well, but they weren''t that interesting. He had other means to achieve the same effect the antique treasures could generate. Therefore, the antique treasures would be sold to create enough funding for the High Nutrition Solutions.

    However, Michael was still interested in the Awakening Stone. He was curious what would happen if he used the Awakening Stone now that he was already an Awakened with several Soultraits.

    "Will Extraction upgrade naturally when I use the Awakening Stone, or will I be given another Soultrait Symbol?" Michael mumbled while pouring enough origin energy into the Awakening Stone to upy every corner.

    He circted the origin energy through the Awakening Stone for a few minutes, only to ept reluctantly that he wasn''t going to gain anything.

    Nothing happened.

    That was unexpected. Michael expected that something would happen since he had the Twin Fates, with one of them being new and untarnished. The untarnished fate granted him the rookie benefits, so why was he not given another Soultrait as well?

    Michael tilted his head, uncertainty glimmering in his eyes. He thought about it for a few seconds and shrugged.

    ''I can always give Danny the Awakening Stone. It should be useful once Danny''s vessel is done.''

    Since Danny was Fateless, he wouldn''t be given territory by the Will. It was highly likely that he would still manifest a War Rune because Michael would be by his brother''s side, pouring origin energy into every corner of his brother''s vessel, but that didn''t mean Danny would receive an Awakening Stone from the Will.

    Since he was not given a territory, there wouldn''t be a butler or maid to provide him with a Fortune Summoning Scroll or an Awakening Stone. While that didn''t matter much since Michael could give his brother a wide variety of Soultrait Symbols, it would be interesting to find out what the Awakening Stone would do to Danny once he slipped into the new vessel.

    Michael pocketed the Awakening Stone without bothering to think about it more than necessary. The future would tell how useful the Awakening Stone was going to be.

    Instead of thinking too deeply about the future, Michael decided to spend the next few days traveling through Paradise Valley. The Undead forces hadn''t been interested in treasures, but that didn''t mean there were none. Most territories had been bulldozed by the Undead forces, yet not everything had been destroyed. The warehouses were either undamaged, or parts of them remained.

    Michael found the warehouses and secret vaults, which weren''t that well hidden before his Spirit Eyes, and looted them. He procured a bunch of blueprints rted to desert structures, Ordinary Summoning Scrolls, and more or less valuable Artifacts that had been collecting dust and sand for a while. Michael hardly evercked Summoning Scrolls, Artifacts, or blueprints, but some were new to him.

    Since Michael wasn''t in a rush to leave the Sacred Desert, he focused on digesting the Undead Pharaoh''s energy influx. He didn''t pay too much attention to it before but decided to use every bit of energy after he learned that his ascension would be more expensive than expected.

    As he digested the energy influx, Michael tried scouting a somewhat secure path out of the Burning Sand Mountain Range.

    He found a few paths, but they didn''t suit his requirements well. The paths had to be wide open and secure enough to allow multiple soldiers to cross it while walking next to each other. Michael hoped to find a path secure enough to confuse invaders. They should wonder why nobody managed to cross the Burning Sand Mountain Range, only to try walking across it as well.

    By the time they crossed a good portion of the open path, the invaders would encounter the Primal Phoenix, and be unable to escape its wrath.

    Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t find such a perfect path. If he was adamant about having the envisioned path, he would have to create one.

    [Does it even matter? Paradise Valley is not that small, and you are the only Lord here. upying Paradise Valley in its entirety will take a while. There is no need to bother about the paths out of the Burning Sand Mountain Range just yet.]

    "Do you think so? I''m sure Paradise Valley will be upied in the next few months. The only major issues I''ll encounter while expanding my territory in Paradise Valley will be to amodate the Summons with a roof above their heads, plenty water to drown in, and decent meals. Food and water were never an issue in the Untamed Jungle, but using the Untamed Jungle to satiate the dehydration and starvation of millions of Summons in Paradise Valley won''t be that simple."

    [I don''t think that you will have any significant issues with that. The Untamed Jungle is always overpopted. Hunting plenty massive creatures to feed everyone in Paradise Valley won''t be an issue. Well, it might be a bit of an issue, but you can expand your Ranches and focus a little more on your livestock. Massive Ranches will help you feed everyone.]

    "That''s true. As for theck of water, I could use Sorcerers, or¨C...."

    [There is no need for that. There is a massive underground cave that was flooded a long time ago. The underground cave covers most of Paradise Valley. The only thing you have to pay attention to while constructing wells is that each well has a high-grade purifier enchantment. It would be even better if you have a contamination enchantment and a toxin detection enchantment engraved on each well. That will greatly help if someone dares to poison the water in the underground cave.]

    Michael raised an eyebrow but nodded slowly, "It looks like you had your fair share of problems in Paradise Valley as well."

    Danny remained silent at that.

    "But that solved our issue with the water shortage. Even if the cave were to dry up, I could always get down there and replenish it with my mages. It would take a bit to fill the cave, but refilling it should hardly be an issue."

    Another issue was to create plenty amodations for millions of Summons in Paradise Valley. That might be an issue for others, but Michael doubted it would be a problem for him. He had the means to procure more than enough assets in the Untamed Jungle.

    In the first ce, Michael neglected his forestry duties in the Untamed Jungle for a while now. It was about time that he removed a bunch of cumbersome towering trees, bushes, and other nt life in the Untamed Jungle. They restricted the natural growth of the surrounding nt life, which ended up killing each other due to theck of sufficient nutrition and energy.

    The Untamed Jungle was rich in both, but if multiple towering trees grew beside each other, their roots would intertwine and fight for the same space, first restraining each other before slowly killing themselves.

    That was not something the Untamed Jungle or Michael wanted. Therefore, Michael would have to go back soon to fulfill his responsibility as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, or the Untamed Jungle''s Gardener ¨C depending on who asked.

 Chapter 776 Portal

    Chapter 776 Portal

    ??The Portal Attachments werepleted in the third week after the Undead Pharaoh''s death.

    Michael spent some time interrogating the Starheaven Pharaoh, but the results were average at best. Sparring with the Starheaven Pharaoh was much more interesting than asking him various questions, which he could barely answer without crying out loud orining about how stupid he had been when he was still alive.

    At the end of the day, the Starheaven Pharaoh managed to ask Michael more questions than vice versa. The Starheaven Pharaoh emerged more knowledgeable than Michael during the interrogation. That was certainly not what Michael had expected, but it was fine. He learned a lot about moving across the unsteady sand from the 8-Star Summon.

    His footwork improved drastically as he waited for the Portal Attachments to arrive.

    Atst, the Summoning Gate hummed loudly, and a familiar frame appeared in the energy pool.

    Tiara emerged from the Basic Summoning Gate, a bright smile blossoming on her face upon seeing Michael. She rushed up to him and gave him a tight hug. It felt like eons had passed since they hadst seen each other.

    "You''re stronger," Michael praised Tiara when she released him from the tight embrace. She continued smiling and nodded slowly, all while her tail swished left and right erratically.

    "Everyone worked hard while you were away. We''re not nning to give you enough time and opportunities to leave us behind."

    Michael''s lips parted to say something, but Tiara was not yet done.

    "We know that you would never leave us behind, but we''re not nning to stay weak. We don''t want to drag you down!"

    Michael smiled wryly and nodded. Even if he wanted to say something, Michael doubted that Tiara would give him any leeway. She and the others would never stop to grow stronger as long as Michael continued sweeping through the ranks like he was doing since thest few months.

    They wanted to keep up with him. That required painstaking efforts and a tremendous amount of resources.

    "Either way, it''s great to hear that everyone has been working hard," Michaels grinned, "What about the Portal Attachment? Did you rush over without it, or did you bring the Portal Attachment?"

    He could imagine Tiara rushing through the Intermediate Summoning Gate the moment Reba installed the Portal Attachment. The Silverfang Tigerfolk Princess was far from stupid, but she was not the most patient. Tiara liked to act ording to her feelings as well. She followed her instincts and rushed into deadly battles ¨C or into a portal, not knowing if it worked or if it would tear her apart.

    Fortunately, the Portal Attachment worked. Michael didn''t even want to imagine losing Tiara to an error in the Portal Attachment. In fact, he didn''t want to imagine losing her at all. It was the same with the Forest Elven Adventurers and the others. Michael shuddered at the thought of losing more people. He didn''t want that to happen again.

    ''Why the hell am I thinking about death and destruction again?'' Michael cursed himself inwardly.

    He noticed tears welling up in his eyes and frowned even deeper than before.

    ''The Spear Arts!'' Michael roared in his mind.

    It was hard to believe that the Wicked Spear Arts had this much control over his emotions even after the Wolf Curse devoured a portion of his emotions. He would be a living wreck if the Wolf Curse didn''t do anything.

    Michael swallowed hard and thanked the Wolf Curse for helping him. He didn''t lose his sanity, thanks to the Wolf Curse.

    Tiara noticed that something about Michael differed from before, but she refrained from asking him anything. He coulde to her to talk if something bothered him.

    Instead, of asking anything, Tiara retrieved a small coin-sized metal disk. It didn''t look like anything special, but it was the result of two weeks of hard, tireless work. The disk was the Portal Attachment. Tiara installed it in the Summoning Gate''s foundation. She required Michael''s help to open the hatch in the foundation and got to work right away. Her hands moved swiftly and with precise movements. It looked like Tiara had done this dozens, if not hundreds of times.

    She installed the Portal Attachment next to the Summoning Cores, connected all important parts, and ensured that the metal disk was tightly secured. Thereafter, she poured a trace of energy into the Portal Attachment before retrieving a small box that looked like a miniature engine.

    "You might know what that is, but Reba told me to exin to you its function nheless," Tiara said, pointing at the box. Michael was dragged out of the turmoil of emotions and thoughts ravaging his mind. He looked at her and listened intently.

    "This has aplex name that I didn''t bother to remember. It''s very long and cumbersome to remember," Tiara said lightly, without feeling a trace of shame, "To put it simply, this is an energy battery. It can store a tremendous amount of energy, probably equivalent to hundreds of Superior Energy Stones, at once. It converts the energy and channels it through the Summoning Gate to activate the Portal Attachment."

    "Under normal circumstances, you can use your energy to activate the Portal Attachment, but sincerge-distance teleportations drain more energy, you will have issues infusing enough energy into the Portal Attachment to teleport from the Untamed Jungle to the Sacred Desert. In fact, Reba said that we will have to upgrade the energy battery soon because the energy required to jump from the Untamed Jungle to the Sacred Desert is much higher than expected. It won''t be easy to teleport back and forth over and over again."

    Michael frowned deeply. He''d anticipated teleporting to be expensive, but it would be cumbersome if he couldn''t casually use the Portal Attachment. It would make everything a lot more difficult, especially if he wanted his Summons to move back and forth.

    "Is it more expensive to activate the Portal, maintain it, or the teleportation?" Michael asked, scratching his chin in thought.

    Tiara''s lips parted, but she shut her mouth before saying anything. A few seconds passed before the little Princess uttered anything.

    "Reba was worried about the expenses when she activated the Portal Attachment. I don''t know how expensive the teleportation is, but I think Reba was the most worried about the activation."

    ''That means keeping the Portal active at all times could be cheaper. But only if the energy required for teleporting and maintaining the portal is a fraction.''

    Michael was deep in thought, but he had to find out how much power every step required prior to he coulde up with the most efficient solution to the given ''problem'', if one could call it that, in the first ce.

    He was about to tell Tiara to install the battery and activate the Portal Attachment when he saw that the Tigerfolk Princess studied the vast ocean of sand around them.

    "So that is our second base? It is pretty hot here," Tiara mumbled, sweat trickling down her temples.

    "It''s very hot here, yeah. The environment might not be suitable for the Silverfang Tigerfolk. The Untamed Jungle seems better for your kin and the Forest Elves," Michael nodded.

    "But I think that Zeroa would love it here. This ce should be perfect for the Elementals and the Berserkers. I''m not sure about the Warlock Centaurs, but I can figure that outter."

    Tiara appeared at him, the corner of her lips curling upward.

    "You already have a n for Paradise Valley? I should have expected that."

    Michael broke into a bright grin, but to Tiara, it appeared a bit devious¡­too devious.

    She was not sure if she would simr to what was about to happen. It sounded like lots of work¡­even prior to Michael uttered a word.

 Chapter 777 Reports

    Chapter 777 Reports

    ??[A territory for me~?] Zeroa eximed in Michael''s mind. Her excitement was overflowing, spreading through Michael like wildfire.

    It was not like Michael nned to give the Elemental Empress his territory, but he had the heart to say anything. Zeroa was not entirely wrong with her assumption. He did indeed n to share Paradise Valley with the Elementals. Paradise Valley felt much more suitable for Elementals than the Untamed Jungle. Of course, some Elementals were a better fit for the Untamed Jungle, but it was not like they couldn''t split up.

    Both territories under Michael''s control epted the Elementals. He wasn''t going to exile them in any way.

    Instead of crushing Zeroa''s excitement, Michael experimented with the Portal Attachment. He triggered the metal disk and activated the portal. The activation cost was rtively high, as expected. However, the maintenance wasn''t too high.

    Michael ordered Tiara to step through the portal and Hs and the Starheaven Pharaoh to follow. They stepped through the portal and returned a minuteter, each training with a fraction of the energy from the small energy battery.

    Tiara''s teleportation was the most expensive. Meanwhile, both Starheaven Pharaoh and Hs'' teleportation barely drained anything. Their strength was too insignificant, though the Starheaven Pharaoh managed to advance to Tier-1. He was pretty fast.

    Despite that, Tiara''s teleportation was the most expensive.

    Michael nodded in understanding and traveled through the Summoning Gate as well, returning to the Untamed Jungle.

    He emerged from the Intermediate Summoning Gate and sensed how much energy it consumed.

    ''The stronger the individual, the higher the energy consumption. That makes sense, I guess.'' He guessed, ''Maintaining the portal is not expensive. Teleporting is also not that expensive. Upgrading the Portal Attachment to allow mass teleportation should also decrease energy consumption. That leaves only the activation cost. Activating and deactivating the portal after every use would be a waste.''

    Keeping the portal active at all times was undoubtedly the best choice. There wouldn''t be a major issue since he had only two Summoning Gates. The only time Michael would have to deactivate the portal was for the summoning sessions since Summoning Gates couldn''t multitask. Focusing only on one task at a time with Summoning Gates was possible.

    But that wasn''t a problem.

    Michael kept the Portal active and gathered some of his people. His advisors and attendants rushed up to him, handing him several reports. The daily reports were a nuisance to read. Thus, Michael extracted the written word, transforming it into tiny Knowledge Wisps, which he consumed simultaneously.

    Some reports were old and didn''t matter much to him. He thrashed the outdated intel and focused on the most recent reports and the information that interested him.

    ''The Savannah Region is doing perfectly fine. They shoved a bunch of Higher Lifeforms into my little prison and hoped to receive my help. It looks like the Valyrs are getting impatient. That''s fine, though. Let''s give Zira a 5-Star Soultrait to use. Giving them a taste of my Soultrait Symbols, influence, and the future potential of our trades should be enough to pull them closer to me.''

    Michael hadn''t prepared a Soultrait for Zira, but it was impossible to go wrong with a Soultrait that improved the Awakened''s physique in every aspect. Sacred Constitution was the perfect example. It allowed him to grow stronger due to the heightened energy absorption it granted. Of course, there were many other benefits as well.

    He retrieved a Soultrait Symbol from his War Rune and the small emerald box he''d kept for a long time. 2850 SoulStar Fragments were drained from his pile of SoulStar Fragments to upgrade the 1-Star Soultrait Body of Minor Elements to a 5-Star Elemental Physique. The Soultrait Symbol''s upgrade was exactly what Michael had envisioned. It upgraded the Awakened''s understanding andpatibility with its innate elements drastically.

    The Soultrait Symbol would have been perfect for Frederik, if Frederik''s affinity was innately, and not granted from Aeroan. But since that was not the case, Elemental Physique was almost useless to Frederik.

    Showing off to the Valyrs would help him a lot. Therefore, he didn''t think twice when he put Elemental Physique into the emerald box. The emerald box was given to Icarus, who would bring the box to Zira in the next few hours.

    The Forest Elves had already been granted more tiny bites of his power. They''d greatly helped him over thest few months and were rewarded with a few low-ranked Soultraits. The Soultrait Symbols impressed the Elves enough to triple their support in his territory. That wasn''t necessary, but Michael would ept additional help. That would be not very smart. He was not that filthy rich to deny help.

    Other than the Forest Elves and the Valyrs, Michael had to deal with the Zentika Empire. The ounts from the Zentika Empire were¡­unique¡­to put it in simple terms. Hardly any news reached Michael, and the news he received were mostly contradictory. Michael had no idea what the truth was and which reports contained lies and misinformation.

    He put aside the news about the Zentika Empire and focused on his territory. Many things attracted his interest, but he didn''t go into detail. An excellent summary of the ounts was that everything went ording to n. His settlements expanded rapidly; the monsters of the Untamed Jungle stopped bothering him after Hiraku beat up some High Beasts, and everyone was satisfied primarily. There were only a fewints, mainly from Starless Summons, whose hearts were filled with envy and regrets.

    Michael gave everyone various opportunities to change their future, but not everyone was ambitious and determined enough to grasp the opportunities. Some were scared to fail again and in the aftermath. They feared that they would never be able to get up again.

    Michael would love to tell these Summons to try it and that it was worth trying repeatedly. He wanted to tell everyone that hard work paid off. However, some people were helpless. Their ambition was incredibly low, and they would rather spend hours cursing others for their ''great fortune'' than putting the same hours into weapon training or learning a new craft.

    Michael couldn''t force everyone to grow bodily and mentally. All he could do as Lord of an expanding territory was to keep giving everyone opportunities and to encourage his subjects to be better selves. It didn''t matter how slow they improved. If they tried, anyone would be a better person today than they were yesterday.

    He shook his head and took a few deep breaths. Michael could tell that his emotions were taking over again. It had been a while since the Wicked Spear Arts intensified his feelings, but controlling them was as challenging as ever. He was still having a hard time, but that was fine. Michael knew that he would have to live with the intensified emotions. He had to adapt to them and learn to control his emotions better.

    How else was he supposed to use the Wicked Spear Arts again when he was in a dire situation? Was he supposed to stay idle and die, or would it be better to give his utmost and take care of the aftermath once he survived?

    The Wolf Curse might have helped Michael by devouring some of the intensity at which his emotions were amplified, but all it did was aid him adapt more smoothly to the Wicked Spear Art''s aftereffects. That was great, but Michael wondered if it might have been better for him to undergo shock therapy instead. Maybe he would have an easier time being forced to adapt to his intensified emotions over a few hours rather than having his feelings forcefully drained.

    At the end of the day, Michael was not sure what was better. All he knew was that he was getting somewhere. That he was improving slowly and steadily. That things were getting better. Or so he hoped, at least.

    The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent were his allies and mysterious beings whose true intentions Michael had yet to discover. Fortunately, he was not in a rush. Otherwise, he would have struggled when he learned that the Wolf Curse and World Serpent had finished digesting the curse power they''d absorbed from the Undead Pharaoh.

    The curse power they''d absorbed was almost enough to crack the World Serpent''s 4th Serpent Seal, and it cracked all Cursed Seals. It would take a while before the Cursed Seals would break, but Michael feared that the Wolf Curse attempted to break all Cursed Seals simultaneously. That was somewhat problematic since Michael had no idea how to prevent that.

    Each Cursed Seal strengthened Extraction drastically, but it also granted the Wolf Curse more ess to his body and emotions.

    Furthermore, Extraction was already at its limit with five Cursed Seals. Anymore active Cursed Seals and Extraction may kill Michael ¨C so long he remained a Lesser Lifeform.

    Fortunately, that wouldn''t be an issue much longer. He could ascend soon. Michael felt that his ascension would be much sooner than scheduled.

    He shook his head and dismissed all thoughts that impeded him. It was important to start expanding his territory into Paradise Valley. However, he needed various resources to get started. The resources had to be purchased, just like the blueprints, so he called Reba. She was intelligent and had incredibleprehension. Her talent in martial arts was low, forck of a better word, but she was the perfect manager.

    Michael gave her a few Soultrait Symbols, the treasures he''d procured within Paradise Valley ¨C except the Imperial Coins and Summoning Scrolls ¨C and told her to get started with the construction in the Sacred Desert.

    Then, Michael started acting as the Untamed Jungle''s Gardener. It was time to extract a few intrusive trees!

 Chapter 778 Preparing

    Chapter 778 Preparing

    ??Even though Michael was busy with other high-priority tasks, he chose to travel through the Untamed Jungle and extract all nt life that threatened the unrestricted growth of the towering trees, bushes, and fauna.

    This took longer than Michael suspected, but it did make sense. The Untamed Jungle''s flora and fauna flourished even without his help. Pinpointing the intrusive - harmful - nt life wasn''t that easy. Fortunately, Michael had Spirit Eyes and Enhancement to identify the dangerous nt life. He extracted the nt life, mostly towering trees that blocked other groups of trees from growing further, and had his subjects process the material to supply the Paradise Valley territory with more resources.

    Michael considered leaving the Origin Expanse more than once, but it felt like he wouldn''t be able to return for a while the moment he returned from the Origin Expanse. Therefore, Michael deployed the other Awakened to procure everything they needed to expand his business. He informed Kraft Viton that Reba Zauber and Hiraku had been given permission to ess his finances.

    If he ever left for unknown circumstances, which was what Michael suspected would happen soon when he left for the Nest, Michael wanted his territory to expand. Therefore, he permitted Hiraku to purchase everything needed to expand their military force and nourish their subjects, whereas Reba focused on the infrastructure of the territories and the poption''s expansion.

    Michael also configured the Summoning Gates with some help, granting Tiara, Lilica, Hiraku, Siegfried, and Reba the necessary rights and permissions to ess the Summoning Gates function, which included both the Portal Attachment and Summoning.

    He spent more than two weeks in the Untamed Jungle and Paradise Valley, acting as a gardener, rewarding his subjects for their hard work with various benefits, and supervising the rapid progress of the main settlement in Paradise Valley. The Starheaven Pharaoh would lead the armies within the Sacred Desert to clear Paradise Valley once the desert monsters returned to cause terror.

    Before that, the Starheaven Pharaoh would have to grow stronger. He regained his battle spirit and determination to be a better self. Michael had yet to learn much about the Pharaoh, but he could tell that the Starheaven Pharaoh had to fight a lot with himself. But that was fine. He was trying. That was all that mattered. Nobody was perfect, after all.

    At this point, Michael was dead poor. He didn''t have a single Energy Stone after handing everything to Reba and Hiraku. Michael didn''t possess any Artifacts other than the Legendary Ring Artifact and Aethyr. The only things left in his possession were a bunch of tomes, books, scriptures, the Imperial Coins, and a bunch of High Nutrition Solutions.

    Once Michaelpleted all important tasks in the Origin Expanse, he tugged the War Rune lightly to conjure the Runic Gate. The Gate manifested before him, and he stepped through after ncing back at his territory.

    It seemed that many things would change before his next return, but somehow, that excited him. Michael looked forward to it.

    Emerging on the other side of the Runic Gate left Michael with the usual feeling of emptiness. The surroundings wasn''t void of origin energy, but the quantity was insignificant for someone who stayed in the Untamed Jungle for a long time. He tried ignoring the sensation of emptiness that passed through him and used Spirit Eyes to pinpoint Eren Long.

    Michael might not know much about the Nest, and he could not yet be sure if he could trust them, but thest few weeks demonstrated quite clearly that Michael was nothing.

    He was still weak¡­an ant¡­even with his Soultraits. The Undead Pharaoh would have killed him without the Curses helping him out. No. Even with the Curses, Michael would have died. It was a mere stroke of luck that he was still alive.

    Michael hated that.

    He didn''t want to rely on luck to survive. However, fighting the Undead Pharaoh showed him what awaited Michael shortly. It would be even worse once the Supreme Human Alliance returned. Bloodhound was already a problem, but what would happen once more members of the Supreme Human Alliance stormed the Tritan Alliance? Would he run away and witness the genocide of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs as if he had nothing to do with it?

    Michael couldn''t do that. He didn''t want to end up like that. He knew he wouldn''t be able to forgive himself if that happened.

    Michael made his decision.

    "You have returned," A familiar, sonorous voice appeared beside him. Evalynn Fang, his mother, emerged from the shadows with a faint ¨C forced ¨C smile on her lips, "I was worried that something happened to you when you didn''t return for so long. Everyone said the Undead Ruler was killed, but you still didn''t return. I only heard about you from Kraft Viton, and you''re awake. They have been running around busily for thest two weeks. Did you try to avoid me?"

    [Is that our mother?] Danny asked in Michael''s mind, voicing out what he was thinking.

    Evalynn Fang looked the same as ever, but she regained some confidence. Her self-esteem had skyrocketed in thest few weeks.

    Michael scrunched his nose, unsure what to think about his mother''s current state. It annoyed her quite a bit. Nheless, he decided to remain honest ¨C lethally honest.

    "Actually, I forgot that you were still here."

    How could he avoid someone he forgot? That was quite difficult and certainly not something Michael had done. The smile on his mother''s face cracked, but she remained firm. Unfortunately, Michael didn''t care too much about her fragile confidence at this point.

    "Do you know where Eren is? He promised me some rewards for killing the Undead Pharaoh," Michael asked his mother, ignoring the twitching corners of her mouth, "The rewards better be worth it. The Undead Pharaoh was a lot stronger¡ª...."

    Michael didn''t finish his sentence. His head flicked to the sky one moment, and he side-stepped in the next. Eren Long burst through a cloud, sttering it, and smashed hard into the ground next to the mother-son duo ¨C or trio, depending on how they viewed the Living Soul inside Michael''s Soul Grimoire.

    The ground around them should have burst apart, but nothing enjoy that happened. There was not even a single crack or sign of destruction in their vicinity.

    "You want to be rewarded? Do you have evidence to prove that you eliminated this so-called Undead Pharaoh?" Eren asked, his azure-blue eyes locking onto Michael''s eyes.

    "Evidence?" Michael frowned deeply, "I have his corpse, a few hundred thousand aged Imperial Coins, and I''ve unlocked another Serpent Seal, almost two, actually. If you desire to look at my Cursed Seals, all of them are cracked a bit. It''s only a crack as thin as a strand of hair, but it''s everywhere, which I don''t like. Is there a way to control the number of Seals your Curse can unlock at a time, or how to distribute the curse power your Curse devours? Cause I don''t really like that the Wolf Curse splits the curse power equally. I don''t want all Cursed Seals to unlock simultaneously."

    Michael was ready to remove his shirt and activate the Serpent Seals and Cursed Seals while also retrieving the Undead Pharaoh''s corpse and some Imperial Coins when Eren lifted his hand, beckoning him to stop.

    "I wasn''t being serious. The Ancient Curse Spheres spread throughout the Origin Expanse and detected the Undead Pharaoh''s death. They also detected your Curses right next to the Undead Pharaoh when he died, so we know that you, or your Curses, killed him. It must have been more challenging to kill the Undead Pharaoh than you''ve expected."

    Michael scowled deeply but stopped in his tracks.

    "Did you know the Undead Pharaoh would be this strong when you gave me the mission to kill him?" He asked, his voice growing sharper and colder with every word escaping his lips.

    Eren''s mouth opened, but it shut tightly after a second of silence. He tried to grin at Michael but ended up sighing heavily instead.

    "I was aware that the Undead Pharaoh had thebat prowess of a Mythical Existence that ascended to a Higher Lifeform. However, I didn''t know that he kept a Cursed Artifact sealed. That was out of my expectations."

    Michael was about to get angry but calmed down instead. He nodded slowly.

    "If you didn''t know that¡­it''s fine. Dealing with the Undead Pharaoh was only so difficult because my Soultraits were sealed, to some extent. The Staff of Epos was truly bothersome¡­" Michael shuddered, recalling how terrifying the Staff of Epos had been.

    "The Staff of Epos? Are you serious right now?" Eren nearly blurted aloud, grasping Michael''s shoulders, shaking him with enough strength to almost tear him apart.

    "If you keep shaking me enjoy that, you''re going to get me killed, you know?"

    Eren released Michael from his grasp with an "Oops."

    However, he didn''t stop staring at Michael.

    "Are you sure that it was the Staff of Epos? How do you know that Ancient Cursed Artifact in the first ce?"

    "My Curse informed me. How else was I supposed to know what the Staff of Epos is, or what exactly Imperial Coins can do?!"

    Michael scowled deeply, but his eyes widened in shock when he realized what he''d just said.

    "You canmunicate properly with your Curse, can''t you?" Eren asked, fullyprehending what Michael''s words entailed.

    He noticed that Michael didn''t respond, but that was the answer enough. He was right.

    "That''s bad. Your Curses are getting too attached to you while you''re still a Lesser Lifeform. That''s really bad."

    Michael tilted his head at Eren''s words.

    "We have to change that as soon as possible!"

 Chapter 779 Origin Sap

    Chapter 779 Origin Sap

    ??Eren inspected Michael more intently than before and found a few signs that worried him.

    Despite possessing a Healing Soultrait, Michael''s skin was torn in various spots. His muscles bulged with every movement, nearly tearing his skin apart no matter how small Michael''s movements were.

    Michael looked powerful, and it was quite apparent that he had a Soultrait that enhanced the resilience of his body in every possible way. Still, it didn''t require a genius, let alone a Divine Lifeform, to tell that Michael''s vessel was on the verge of breaking apart. Michael''s vessel was already beyond the first few stages of breaking apart.

    ''He shouldn''t have fought the Undead Pharaoh. Throwing that mission at him elerated the destruction of his body. Why did I send a Lesser Lifeform to deal with an Undead Divine Lifeform? No matter how weak the Undead Pharaoh was after his undead awakening, he was still a Higher Lifeform with cursed powers.''

    Eren Long might be a Divine Lifeform with far more experience than he wanted to acknowledge right now, but he mistakenly believed to have found someone who could transcend the norms in every possible way without sustaining any harm. He was too excited about finding Michael to forget that limits existed for a reason.

    "You have to ascend as soon as possible without any more external pressure," Eren repeated. "We need to bring you to the Nest."

    Michael didn''t say anything right away. He noticed that the Curse User had been appraising his body and condition and nodded slowly. Michael was aware of his condition. He knew that he had to ascend soon. Going all-out against the Undead Pharaoh put him in a difficult position.

    To be precise, giving his utmost while using amplified Sacred Constituion, which was further reinforced with Enhancement, only to follow up with the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique and Foundation Break, had been an issue. The situation worsened the moment Michael used True Extraction with the Wolf Curse''s help, only for his physique to be further reinforced by the World Serpent.

    The World Serpent tried to help him, ensuring his body wouldn''t tear apart, but the toll on his body had worn on him. Michael knew that his body would crumble down soon if he engaged in a fierce battle again.

    Evalynn''s eyes narrowed as she listened to Eren. She saw the gaze in Michael''s eyes and swallowed hard.

    "I understand," Michael nodded, taking Evalynn by surprise.

    "Does that mean you wille with us to the Nest?"

    Michael didn''t want to bother answering his mother''s question, but he also saw that Eren was curious.

    "I think I must go to the Nest. I made this decision not only because of my current condition but also because I''ve noticed that I''m too weak." He sighed deeply.

    "Fighting the Undead Pharaoh showed me how fragile my body is and that my Curses have much more control over my life than I expected. I didn''t want to acknowledge it initially, but I have to put my pride aside and ept that I''m not in full control of myself."

    "The Curses might not work against me right now, but they''re self-centered, to a certain extent, at least. I need to ascend to a Higher Lifeform and better control my Curses. Also, Danny needs a body sooner rather thanter. He shouldn''t stay too long in the Soul Grimoire; otherwise, we might get too attached to this state."

    [We are already too attached to each other.] Danny pointed out, to which Michael responded with a frown.

    ''Well¡­yeah¡­''

    [And I''m helping you solely out of goodwill!] The World Serpent announced, only for the brothers to shout simultaneously.

    ''As if!'' Michael cursed while Danny grunted dead serious.

    [You should start working as aedian.]

    [Comedian? Are you trying to fool me, little Soul?! I can swallow your whole existence with one bite. If you don''t get your act together, I can eat your Living Soul and that little Soul Grimoire that protects you at once!] The World Serpent hissed loudly in Michael''s mind.

    Michael figured that the World Serpent didn''t like Danny''s joke, but his brother didn''t take the World Serpent seriously. That could be problematic, but Michael didn''t think much about it. He allowed them to quarrel in his mind while focusing on Eren, who smiled at Michael in response.

    "In that case, how about I change your rewards to something better? Since you''reing with us to the Nest, I might as well give you something that will help you right now," Eren retrieved a tiny transparent ss vial from his War Rune. It contained one droplet of a liquid that Michael had never seen before. However, Michael could tell that it was something special. It was golden and glimmered vibrantly like a miniature sun.

    "What''s that?"

    "It''s a droplet of Origin Sap," Eren said, his voice filled with pride.

    Michael waited a while, but Eren didn''t say anything else.

    "That''s your exnation? Origin Sap doesn''t tell me anything."

    Origin Sap sounded like something special, and it was probably incredibly valuable for the Nest, given that Eren treated the tiny vial with great care, but Michael had never heard of a consumable called Origin Sap.

    Eren was so careful with the vial, almost like he was worried that it might break at any moment. However, Michael doubted that it was possible to break the vial in the first ce. Spirit Eyes showed Michael that the vial had various ''invisible'' engravings. He doubted that an ordinary Divine Lifeform could break the vial easily. That elevated Michael''s interest to a new level.

    What kind of treasure was stored in a vial that could only be broken by a Divine Lifeform ¨C if the Divine Lifeform tried hard to break it intentionally?

    "I don''t want to tell you too much about Origin Sap. You will be surprised when you consume it," Eren smiled deviously, only to casually add, "But be careful. This is not something I would usually give to a Lesser Lifeform. I think you can manage to digest the Origin Sap without dying since your body can endure the weight of so many Curses, Seals, and Soultraits. It''s interesting to see if you can digest the Origin Sap entirely."

    "Test¡­that doesn''t sound too exciting¡­" Michael murmured, only for Eren to wave dismissively.

    "If you digest the Origin Sap properly, you''ll have enough perfectly purified origin energy and highly potent nutrition to advance to the Peak of Tier-3 and ascend to a Higher Lifeform immediately. You won''t have to worry about anything if you manage to digest the Origin Sap."

    "In fact, your energy veins, the Runic Pir ¨C your energy pool ¨C and your body, mind, and soul might receive some additional benefits from consuming the Oriign Sap for your High Ascension. Of course, that is just a guess of mine. We never had anyone consume Origin Sap for their ascension. After all, it is way too valuable to be wasted on Lesser Lifeforms. They cannot digest even one-hundredth of its efficiency."

    Almost everything Eren said didn''t make sense, but Michael didn''t dare to ask anything as the World Serpent''s voice thundered through his mind.

    [Take it! Do it! I''ll help you control that wolf bastard if you consume the Origin Sap!]

    ''You know what that is?''

    [Of course I do! Only a foolish idiot from a backwater gxy wouldn''t know what Origin Sap is!]

    ''The hell. Sorry for being a foolish idiot from a backwater gxy. If you don''t like hiding inside that foolish idiot, how about you leave?'' Michael snorted.

    The World Serpent didn''t say anything for a while, only to hiss loudly.

    [I¡­take that back. Take the Origin Sap, though! It''s a treasure that can only be procured by Divine Lifeforms. It''s an incredible treasure guarded by the cosmos''s strongest entities. A single droplet is worth more than the lives of millions of Higher Lifeforms. It can tend to all kinds of ailments and even remove Curses ¨C not Curses like that Wolf bastard. Actual curses, not Curses who''ve been fused into your ancestry''s Souls through generations. Either way, even Divine Lifeforms fight and betray each other for a few drops of Origin Sap!]

    ''And Eren is giving me that¡­just like that, even though Lesser Lifeforms cannot efficiently use one-hundredth of its potency? That doesn''t create any sense!''

    [Maybe he thinks that you can create use of it. He expects you to consume it entirely, I guess. Though that is impossible without help ¨C my help. Origin Sap will grant you more control over your body as well, by the way. You will have an easier time controlling your emotions. Using the Wicked Spear Arts more often won''t exist a big issue either. The wolf bastard will have to obey you as well. To a certain extent, at least.]

    Michael''s frown deepened even further, but Eren didn''t stop smiling.

    "You''re talking to your Curses, aren''t you? It wants you to stop thinking and ept the Origin Sap before I retract my offer, doesn''t it?" He guessed correctly.

    Michael''s eyes widened, but Eren justughed.

    "It''s good to doubt my intentions," Eren praised Michael, only to shrug, "Let''s just say that you owe me some Soultraits and a favor in exchange for the Origin Sap."

    ''The Soultraits are no problem. If the Origin Sap is as valuable as the World Serpent says it is¡­even giving Eren a 6-Star or 7-

    Star Soultrait would exist worth it¡­as long as I able to digest it entirely, that is¡­ But a favor? What could he wish from me?''

    One way or another, Michael couldn''t aid but feel that Eren had a punchable face.

 Chapter 780 Nest Sphere

    Chapter 780 Nest Sphere

    ??Eren didn''t give Michael much time to decide if the Origin Sap was worth a favor and some Soultraits. He flicked his wrist, and a purple sphere appeared before him.

    The sphere expanded rapidly and transformed into a mass of energy, not unlike a Summoning Gate''s energy pool. The only visible differences were the color ¨C the mass of energy before them being purple ¨C and energy density. The energy before him was incredibly dense and oddly stable, given that it appeared out of nowhere.

    "A portal straight to the Nest," Eren announced, not even trying to hide his vibrant smile.

    "If you can create portals like that, why do you have to create a bridge to this gxy?" Michael asked, activating Spirit Eyes to inspect the portal in detail.

    Cosmic Stride and the Spatial Elemental Sphere granted him a better understanding of everything rted to space. That included the massive pool of energy before him.

    ''Interesting. The energy pool revolves around a structure of runic arrays as thin as a hair. They''re incredibly delicate and will shatter the instance someone tries to influence them. It is impossible to alter the runic array without destroying it. Even inserting a trace of energy into the energy pool can shatter the portal. That seems¡­dangerous.''

    Michael didn''t like that the portal to the Nest was so fragile. He had to jump through that fragile portal to get to the Nest.

    "The Nest Sphere is a consumable object. It will break after one use. We usually use it on missions to disappear after we exorcise the targeted Curse or rescue some idiotic people from near-death situations. They''re quite hard to produce because we ensure that nobody can track us through the Nest Sphere. You might have difficulty sensing the runic arrays, but they block the markings and destroy all kinds of GPS devices. Not even 8-Star Tracking Soultraits, used by Divine Lifeforms, can follow us through the Nest Sphere."

    Michael nodded slowly. That didn''t mean he understood what Eren was talking about, but it exined a few particr things reasonably well.

    ''It will break the moment something, which is not supposed to reach the Nest, gets close to it.''

    Michael was unsure if he should praise the Nest''s safety system or be afraid of its decisiveness. After all, the portal might break apart with them inside if one of them carried something that wasn''t supposed to enter the Nest.

    "Okay¡­what items can I not bring to the Nest? I don''t want to be torn apart by this portal only because I brought my messenger crystals with me¡­" Michael asked in a murmur, only for Eren to wave his hands dismissively.

    He pressed his hand against Michael''s shoulder and shoved him inside the portal. Michael could have used Cosmic Stride to escape, but he was already too close to the Nest Sphere and would have shattered it if he had used his energy now. Evalynn was beside him, and they were just about to step inside the portal when the portal flickered.

    Eren frowned deeply and pulled Michael away from the portal.

    "What''s in your War Rune storage?" He asked, frowning deeply.

    "Imperial Coins, Nutrition Solutions, a container filled with hundreds of Soultrait Symbols, a bunch of clothes, a toothbrush, some other hygiene articles, a few messenger crystals, and stuff like that. Totally normal."

    Michael tilted his head, "I also have an aether-alloy creation, which you should know, a bunch of Soultraits in my Soul Sphere, and the resource needed to upgrade Soultrait Symbols."

    Eren squinted his eyes.

    "A container filled with hundreds of Soultrait Symbols? Tha¨C... You better tell nobody about this in the Nest, otherwise, even I might be unable to protect you. Why the hell would you tell me about that?" He sounded genuinely angry.

    "I asked you if it''s safe to enter that fucking fragile portal!" Michael cursed. Eren might be a Divine Lifeform and angry at that, but Michael literally asked what items weren''t allowed in the Nest Sphere. Eren was also fully aware that Michael could give other people Soultrait Symbols. Was he supposed to create them out of thin air? Obviously not. He had to carry them!

    "If you want to be lied to, look for someone else. I asked you before what I cannot bring to the Nest and you shoved me to the portal. Now that the portal was on the verge of breaking apart, you''re acting like that was my fault. You know damn well what my Soultrait can do and that I carry multiple Soultraits, whether they''re in my Soul Sphere or War Rune storage doesn''t matter! Don''t me me for your impatience!"

    Eren studied Michael for a few seconds.

    "Mind your words," He uttered with unfamiliar coldness.

    Michael raised one eyebrow, not even thinking about shying away from Eren.

    "Alright, alright. It''s not like you''re wrong with that. Still, keep in mind that you shouldn''t tell others about your container full of Soultrait Symbols. You shouldn''t be this cocky in front of other Curse Users, either. I''m nice, but I cannot say the same for others."

    Calling himself a nice guy was a little bit over the top, but Michael understood Eren''s sentiment.

    "What are we supposed to do now?" Evalynn asked, her eyes glued to the Nest Sphere.

    "I''ll call Evee," Eren shrugged, his eyes still lingering on Michael, "And you can tell your friends and your lover that you will leave for the time being. Your ascension will take a while and I''m not sure if you''ll have enough freetime to leave the Nest right after ascending. It might be better for you to train with us and use the Nest''s resources."

    Oh.

    Michael nearly forgot that he would leave the gxy and that it might be a while before returning to the Tritan Alliance.

    "Don''t worry. The bridge back to this backwater gxy will be done once youplete your ascension. It won''t be too problematic to return. I merely meant that it might be easier to stay in the Nest a while longer. Of course, I don''t know you that much yet, but I''ve trained you a little bit. I can tell you don''t want to lose against beings like the Undead Pharaoh or Bloodhound. You desire to win at all times. Your arrogance and pride lead you."

    Michael wouldn''t say that arrogance and pride motivate him to grow stronger, but he wasn''t going to quarrel with Eren.

    "Take care of Evee, whoever that is. I will be back soon," He uttered instead before increasing the distance to the Nest Sphere. In the next moment, he disappeared with Cosmic Stride.

    Finding Alice wasn''t particrly difficult. It was fortunate that she was not in the Origin Expanse. He discovered her training with the Berserker Chieftain. They were engaged in a fierce brawl. Alice could have used her Soultrait on several asions, but neither the Berserker Chieftain nor Alice relied on their Soultraits. They sparred Soultrait-less.

    Michael watched their fight for a while until the Berserker Chieftain stopped. He uttered something to Alice, who spun around to see Michael. A thin smile blossomed on her lips, and she leaped toward him.

    They embraced each other tightly, only for Michael to nearly get gutted by Alice''s sword. Fortunately, he could avoid certain death by a hair''s breadth.

    Alice released Michael from her embrace and stared at him for a while.

    "You have to leave, don''t you? "She asked, a sh of sadness passing through her eyes.

    "Yes¡­" Michael acknowledged slowly, "How did you know?"

    Alice smirked at Michael.

    "I understand many things you''ll probably never realize."

 Chapter 781 Queen, Gift & Farewell

    Chapter 781 Queen, Gift & Farewell

    ??The couple didn''t have much time to be with each other for thest few weeks, and they would separate again. Michael felt bad about that, but it was not like he could bring Alice to the Nest. He''d already asked Eren if he could get someone, but the Curse User said only family members were epted into the Nest.

    Sometimes, even family members were rejected. It happened often enough. After all, Curses drastically affected the Fate of ordinary beings. It was best for their safety to avoid too many Curses, and Curse Users. The farther, the better.

    Peter Fang, for example, had merely been lucky enough to be his father-inw''s disciple. He knew a lot about Curses and had been under enough influence of multiple Curses'' a€¡° Evalynn Fang''s and her father''s a€¡° that it made no difference either way.

    Michael''s influence on his friends and lover was still insignificantpared to the horrors that awaited them if they were toe to the Nest, where Curses were everpresent.

    "You don''t have to look like this," Alice smiled gently. She caressed his cheek lovingly, her eyes locked with his, "As long as you don''t n to break up with me, we can do long-distance. That''s going to be annoying, but I''m sure we will manage."

    Alice retrieved a small object that looked simr to a messenger crystal. However, it wasrger, covered in an emerald sheen, and obsidian-colored runic engravings spread all over its surface.

    "This is an Expanse Prism. It allows us to call each other in the Origin Expanse. As long as we channel enough energy into the Expanse Prism, we''ll also be able to do video calls. Since we''re both busy in the Origin Expanse most of the time, we can talk and see each other using the Expanse Prism. It''s not the same as being with eaca€¡°...."

    Alice couldn''t finish her sentence when Michael leaned in to kiss her. The corner of her lips curled into a smile when she returned the kiss. Her arms coiled around his neck as she pulled him closer. Michael''s right arm wrapped around her waist, adamant about keeping Alice close to him for the next few minutes.

    "I''ll miss you," Alice murmured once they separated.

    Anyone else would be shocked to the core if they''d heard Alice look and act like this, but Michael just smiled.

    "Yeah..." He had to suppress a heavy sigh. Leaving Alice a€¡° even if it wasn''t permanent a€¡° wasn''t easy, "I will miss you too."

    Michael released Alice and retrieved something from his War Rune storage. He hadn''t been sure what to give her because it would be a shame if he were to give Alice something she didn''t need. With that in mind, Michael chose to prepare a Soultrait Symbol for her. It was something only Michael could do. Nheless, he had to make sure that the Soultrait would be special and not like the other Soultrait Symbols he''d sold, auctioned, and gifted to others.

    The result was more than satisfying, even if it cost 20 Soultrait Symbols and 36,640 SoulStar Fragments to create it.

    [Queen], 6-Star Soultrait.

    Queen was a territory-rted Soultrait. To be precise, it required the Awakened to be a Lord to unleash Queen''s full potential. However, that wasn''t the only requirement. Queen''s second condition to work properly was that the Awakened had another Soultrait, a Soultrait containing one of many words.

    Territory, Land, Plot, Barony,...,Dukedom, Kingdom, Empire...World...

    At first, Michael had been unsure why Queen had such unique requirements to unleash its full potential, but the answer was simple. The potency of Queen was dependant on something within the Lord''s territory.

    The only thing Michael wanted to achieve when he created Queen was to prepare something for Alice to stay safe and to be able to defeat her enemies no matter who it was. Queen enhanced all of the User''s attributes. This included the speed at which they absorbed energy, how fast their War Rune digested energy, how strong their physique, brain, and soul was, and various other factors. The degree of enhancement, in the meantime, depended on the number of subjects with True Links of Loyalty.

    That was something Michael found out only after he finished creating Queen. He considered tearing Queen apart but couldn''t get himself to do it. Michael was certain that Queen was perfect for Alice.

    He handed her the Soultrait Symbol with a smile.

    "I wish you''ll like it."

    Alice stared nkly at the Soultrait Symbol resting in Michael''s hand. She didn''t move an inch, yet Michael could tell that the cogs in her head were rattling, trying toprehend what Michael was trying to achieve.

    Even though Alice had greatly improved, she couldn''t help herself in certain situations. Her mind was still stuck with the constant plotting of her family and the High Society. There were no free gifts among High Society members. Every gift that seemed free woulde back, biting you with favors.

    Michael didn''t think like that, though. Was it even a gift if you''d expected something of equal value in return? Why gift something if you would make demands?

    Michael didn''t need anything from Alice besides her being healthy and strong. She should be strong enough to ovee all kinds of adversaries. That was all he hoped to achieve by gifting her Queen.

    Fortunately, Alice''s War Rune wasn''t as reluctant about epting gifts as Alice. Her War Rune sensed a highlypatible Soultrait Symbol in its immediate environment and responded naturally. Several energy tendrils shot out of the return of her right hand. They lunged in all directions at first before getting pulled to the Queen''s Soultrait Symbol. The tendrils coiled around the Soultrait Symbol and ripped it out of Michael''s hand.

    They drew return and returned to where they belonged, alongside the Queen''s Soultrait Symbol.

    "Oh no!" Alice eximed, her eyes widened in terror, "I''m sorry. I didn''t want to ta¨C..."

    "Calm down. It''s yours. You can do whatever you want with Queen. It''s the Soultrait I''ve ready for you. Fortunately, your War Rune seems to think that it suits you very well. That''s nice," Michael smiled.

    The corner of Alice''s lips twitched in pain as the influx of Queen''s information impacted heavily, and her eyes widened again, in surprise and joy this time.

    "This¡­" She locked eyes with Michael, disbelief shimmering in her otherworldly majestic eyes, "You ready a 6-Star Soultrait for me? Why¡ª...."

    Michael raised an eyebrow and met Alice''s gaze.

    There was no need to speak any further. The couplemunicated with their gazes, exchanging thousands of words with a single nce.

    Alice and Michael stared at each other for a while. Their lips parted as if they wanted to say something, but no words escaped from their lips.

    It wasn''t until Eren tugged on Michael''s mind that they had to bid farewell ¨C for the time being, at least.

    They embraced each other tightly once more, feeling like they should never let go of each other. Then they separated, a wave of sadness oveing them.

    "I will be return soon. Make sure you stay healthy. Don''t let anyone bully you," Michael said, forcing a smile on his lips.

    "Bully? Me? I think you''re forgetting who I am," Alice responded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

    "Take care," She mumbled, waving to Michael as he used Cosmic Stride to return to the Nest Sphere.

    Alice pressed her lips together when Michael disappeared. A somber expression stered her entire face.

    "...My little Idiot¡­"

 Chapter 782 Dragons, Fenrir, and a Cat

    Chapter 782 Dragons, Fenrir, and a Cat

    ??"Will it work this time?" Michael asked, not in the mood to get killed by chance.

    Eren studied him briefly before shrugging lightly, "Don''t act like that. I gave you and your little lover girl enough time to say goodbye. Don''t be so grumpy."

    "As for the Nest Sphere. Evee helped me adjust its settings. There shouldn''t be anymore issues."

    Michael nodded slowly, but he didn''t say anything. Eren sighed and was just about to shove Michael through the Nest Sphere when Michael stepped forward. There was no need to waste anymore time. The longer he hesitated, the harder it would be to leave the Tritan Alliance and Alice.

    Michael ignored the difort that enveloped his entire being as he stepped into the energy mass. He closed his eyes and focused on something else as the space around him was torn and twisted. Michael didn''t even dare to breathe as long as the sensation continued. It felt like the fabric of reality was ripped into shreds, and Michael was certain that he could see something unique inside the portal, but he didn''t dare open his eyes. Something told him that Spirit Eyes would discover things he didn''t want to know¡­just yet.

    The feeling was weird, but Michael''s gut feeling hardly ever betrayed him. It helped him more often than he wanted to acknowledge.

    A gust of air brushed past Michael''s face. It shrouded the difort around him and shoved it away. Michael felt something underneath his feet and strode forward, his eyes opening slowly.

    He was in arge, brightly illuminated room. Contrary to his expectations, the Nest wasn''t dark and gloomy. They were in arge hall constructed with grayish-silver materials. Michael couldn''t remember having ever seen this material, but the bricks connected seamlessly to each other. It felt like the grayish-silver hall had been carved from a single stone.

    That was interesting, but not as much as the massive sixyered runic array that covered the ground. The array expanded across the four support pirs surrounding the Nest Sphere''s portal.

    Some of the runic arrays glowed dimly, while the others were either inactive or glowing brighter than the others together. Michael activated Spirit Eyes and studied the intricate arrays. He separated them in his mind and created images of the arrays before they were interwoven with one another.

    "Two Advanced Runic Arrays, three Master Runic Arrays, and one¡­"

    "One Arcane Runic Array. You might have never heard of them since you''re from a backwater gxy. But given your background, it''s already surprising that you can distinguish the arrays and know what Master Runic Arrays look like. Fenrirs are not known for their extensive knowledge about anything other thanbat;" A resonant voice reached Michael''s ears.

    He spun around to spot the source of the voice. A woman with azure eyes and silver hair appeared before him. She graced Eren and Evalynn merely with a nce before her attention pulled back to Michael.

    "But then again, I saw what you did to the Undead Pharaoh. You are still a Fenrir."

    "And you are a dragon," Michael responded lightly, not even trying to hide from the intense eye contact. He smiled lightly at the woman wearing the neat uniform.

    "How do you know?" The young woman, Evee, asked. A trace of surprise shed through her eyes.

    She recalled something and red at Eren, who could only shake his head.

    ''I didn''t tell him anything!'' Eren''s expression seemed to say. Evee didn''t believe Eren in the slightest. Fortunately, Michael decided to intervene.

    "Eren didn''t say anything, but it''s pretty obvious. Eren''s Curse should be a silver dragon, and you should be his daughter. I guessed that your Curse is a dragon as well. I might be mistaken, tho. My mother''s Curse isn''t a wolf, and I know that my brother didn''t have a Wolf Curse either."

    Everyone''s eyes pulled to Michael, including Evalynn, who''d been studying the Long father-daughter duo.

    "I never showed you my Curse," Evalynn murmured, trying to avoid ncing toward Eren at times.

    Michael shrugged, "Your Curse doesn''t feel like mine. I might not have seen your Curse through Curse Manifestation as it happened with Eren when he fought Bloodhound, but I know what my brother''s Curse sensed like. It feels more like your Curse, and I know his Curse wasn''t a wolf. It was a Tiger. So, either you also have a Tiger, or the Fenrir bloodline has some weirdass Curses."

    Evee burst intoughter while Eren tried to hide a smile.

    "You''re right," Evee said while continuing tough until it hurt, "The Fenrir bloodline is weird. Only a few members of the Fenrir bloodline are born with a Wolf Curse. Most are born with a Curse that looks like a feline. The strength and kind of feline depends on various factors, so your Mother¨C...Well, she can tell you about her Curse when she feels like it."

    Evee nced at Evalynn for a mere second. She didn''t acknowledge her much longer than that.

    "Either way, you''re right. Eren, over there, is my dad. We have Dragon Curses, though ours are a little bitplicated, mine is even more so than my dad''s. But that shouldn''t matter much. Aren''t you here for your High Ascension? You shouldn''t squander too much time over here, otherwise, our Curses might also influence you."

    Michael tilted his head, which Evee understood right away.

    "You didn''t know that Cursed Children should elude powerful Curse Users?" Her eyes darted to Eren and Evalynn. She stared at them usatory and sighed deeply.

    "Well. It doesn''t seem like it matters much to you. Your Curse, or Curses, are always awake," She murmured, "But, if you''re curious about what I was talking about. Under normal circumstances, you should elude Curses, or powerful Curse Users ¨C Divine Lifeforms, to be precise ¨C because their Curse''s affect might influence your hibernating Curse ¨C Curses, in your case. But since yours are already awake, you can forget about my warning. It doesn''t matter."

    Michael nodded slowly, recalling his encounters with a few entities whom he predicted to be either Curses, Curse Users, or closely rted to either of them.

    ''Is that why the Wolf Curse awakened so early?''

    It would make sense, but something else attracted his attention. The event that triggered his Curse''s awakening was closely rted to Extraction. In fact, Extraction and the Wolf Curse sensed like one entity at times. It didn''t make sense that Extraction and the Wolf Curse were one and the same, but the Curse Seals amplified Extraction''s power. That was a fact.

    It was also a fact that the Wolf Curse could unleash Extraction''s power with an even higher potency than Michael''s.

    "I''ve been wondering about something," Michael cleared his throat while trying to think of a way not to sound like he was crazy, "But what happens when a Soultrait and a Curse fuse?"

    Evee, Eren, and Evynn stared at Michael. They were still in the portal room and had yet to move out, but it didn''t look like anyone was ready to make a move as Eren and Evee''s expressions distorted ever so slightly.

    "Perfectpatibility. That''s incredibly rare, and it can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on your rtionship with your Curse," Evee mumbled, her expression turning somber.

    "A single mistake and you''re dead," Eren mumbled, his eyes dead serious, "If you like being alive¡­never trust your Curse too much."

    Evee''s eyes turned wet.

    "Or you will end like my mother."

 Chapter 783 The Nest

    Chapter 783 The Nest

    ??Michael never nned to make anyone cry when he arrived at the Nest, and it didn''t sit right with him that his questions triggered memories someone didn''t want to remember.

    He didn''t say another word and left the portal chamber with the others, who led him through a long-winded floor. They reached a small hall with more than a dozen short-distance teleportation arrays and were just about to use one when the World Serpent resurfaced in his mind.

    [These drawings...they''re almost like my Living Image...] The World Serpent noted a hint of seriousness in its voice.

    Michael''s attention traveled to the intricate murals depicting various mighty beasts. There were Leviathans, Dragons, Behemoths, Titans, Giants, Pegasi, Unicorns, Wyvern, and much more. But while there were so many murals, only a handful were incredibly detailed. They looked lifelike, just like the Living Image.

    Eren saw that Michael halted in his tracks and followed his gaze. The mural of a familiar silver dragon unraveled before him.

    "I infused a trace of my Curse into the Nest to aid Nest''s security system. That''s all you have to know for the time being," Eren remarked.

    Michael nodded slowly and moved along as Eren and Evee passed by. Evalynn nced at him thoughtfully but remained silent. She had a lot to say but didn''t know where to start. Now that Michael was in the Nest, the Geas didn''t restrain her that much. Evalynn could tell Michael everything she''d wished to say the entire time. However, Michael didn''t seem to care too much about her presence.

    ''I forgot that you were still here.''

    His words rang through Evalynn''s mind over and over again, hitting her even harder with every time she thought about them.

    The words weren''t what hurt Evalynn. It was the fact that Michael had been honest when he spoke them aloud.

    Michael noticed his mother''s gaze but stepped onto the short-distance teleportation array where the father-daughter duo awaited. Evalynn followed shortly after with a downcast expression. The space around them twisted once again, and they vanished. A deep frown appeared on Michael''s face as they reappeared in the same room they''d been in.

    No. It only looked like the same room. Michael''s attention fell upon the murals, and he a€¡° the World Serpent a€¡° noticed right away that the Living Image of the Silver Dragon was missing.

    "Is everything built in the same style? It would be best if you guys had an interior designer. Everything is so nd and simr," Michael murmured, giving him an appreciative nod from Evee and a lightughter from Eren.

    "Everything looks simr to make sure that outsiders will get lost here. The security system is sentient and will alter the teleportation arrays when it notices that you don''t belong in certain ces. You will not notice the changes at first because everything will look different, but invaders will beid straight to the prison cells or where most Curse Users are gathered. The invaders will be apprehended long before they can cause serious harm," Eren exined, but Michael couldn''t help but frown.

    "I guess that means I wouldn''t have found my way into this hall because my ess level is too low."

    "Exactly."

    At least they were honest. Michael had to give them that.

    Eren turned back and stepped out of the short-distance teleportation array. He stepped out of one of the four doors that were ced in each direction and proceeded to stride through the long hallway. The surrounding scenery hasn''t changed even now. The grayish-silver stone was still everywhere around them, and there was no furniture in which to take interest.

    Michael rushed behind Eren alongside the others until they found arge obsidian gate. Eren swung the heavy gate open effortlessly and stepped inside. Michael followed, only to sense a sudden change in the surrounding atmosphere. The origin energy was much heavier and its presence weighed heavily on Michael''s body, mind, and soul.

    Interestingly enough, the surrounding origin energy was not affected alone. The changes also influenced the origin energy inside Michael. Evee, Eren, and Evalynn didn''t seem affected, but Michael was on the verge of copsing.

    "Definitely a Lesser Lifeform," Evee murmured, but Michael noticed that she frowned deeply when she saw Michael breaking into a cold sweat. Michael''s skin burst open, unable to contain the pressure within and around him anymore, "You...Why is your vessel like that?!"

    Michael groaned in pain, unable to say anything, but he sensed that the Wolf Curse moved. It writhed as if in pain but couldn''t do something because Evalynn made a move.

    Evalynn Fang appeared beside Michael to give him a helping hand, her action subconsciously pushing the Wolf Curse away. She coated Michael in a thick membrane of liquefied origin energy, repulsing the heavy energy that had threatened to crush him while also blocking the influence the energy had on the annexed origin energy inside him.

    Michael nodded to his mother but didn''t utter a word. He was busy figuring out why the Wolf Curse within was about to move.

    ''I could have used Extraction to split to push the heavy origin energy away.'' He noted grumpily and shook his head lightly. His mind stayed with the Wolf Curse, which reminded him of what Eren and Evee had mentioned.

    ''Perfectpatibility. Do we have that? That''s possible, but why does it feel wrong?''

    Michael shrugged inwardly, understanding that he would have to research more about perfectpatibility soon. But before that, Michael had to undergo the High Ascension. It was time to ascend to a Higher Lifeform.

    His eyes flicked through the massive hall that was covered in countlessrge, mid-sized, and miniature arrays. Michael''s head ached when he tried to dissect the arrays in his mind. Some of the mid-sized arrays were somewhat easy to distinguish, but Michael forgot about the array the moment he didn''t focus on it.

    "Don''t even try to separate the arrays. Most of these arrays have been infused with the Immortal Quarz. You''re lucky if you end up with a headache. If you focus too long on the arrays, you might faint. We don''t want that, do we?" Evee asked lightly, but her expression was dead-serious.

    Michael sighed deeply but nodded, "No more prying. I see."

    His attention was drawn to a massive pool in the center of the room. Eren pressed a button near a small podium, and water streamed inside the pool.

    A momentter, he retrieved the vial with the Origin Sap.

    Evee''s eyes lingered on the Origin Sap until a grunt escaped her lips.

    "I always wanted to ascend to a Higher Lifeform with a droplet of Origin Sap," She exined upon noticing Michael''s expression, "But it''s a waste of precious energy. At least, that''s what everyone says. Origin Sap is too hard to procure and waste on a High Ascension. Of course, it will elerate the ascension, but using its full potential is impossible, even in the Ancient Istion Chamber."

    Eren had already told him that no Lesser Lifeform, and even Higher Lifeform, could use the Origin Sap''s full potential. However, Michael didn''t care about that. If 10% of its potency was enough to aid his ascension to a Higher Lifeform...so be it.

    Of course, he would love to digest its full potential to strengthen his energy veins and refine his body, mind, and soul. Who wouldn''t want to reap as many permanent benefits as possible if they could? Still, that wasn''t Michael''s primary goal.

    "Ancient Istion Chamber?"

    "This room. We call it the Ancient Istion Chamber. It''s one of the oldest rooms in the Nest. You could also say that the Ancient Istion Chamber is part of the reason the Nest is located here. As you might have noticed, this room''s energy density is incredibly high. It naturallypresses origin energy into liquid and gathers it in the pool. The pool is for High and Divine ascensions, by the way. You are lucky that no one is using it right now, otherwise, you would have to wait a few months, or maybe years. We have only two Ancient Istion Chambers, after all," Evee exined just enough for Michael to understand.

    He nodded slowly, only to be distracted by Eren, who hurled something in his direction. Michael caught it mid-air and observed at it.

    A book.

    "Seal Fusion. It''s not a Curse Technique, but it can only be used by Curse Users. To be precise, others can use them as well, but there is no reason for others to use them. Seal Fusion helps you merge with your Curse''s Seals without giving your Curse control of your body. To be precise, you will dominate the Seals and slowly take over your Curse''s power as your proficiency with Seal Fusion deepens," Eren exined lightly, but Michael could tell that the matter was far from light.

    "Is it fine to give me this technique just like that?" Michael asked, unsure if Seal Fusion was an incredibly rare technique or if everyone from the Nest had it.

    "Of course. You have two powerful Curses. You should have it. I don''t need it anymore. It''s just one of the copies I made a long, long time ago."

    "So¡­you don''t need this book anymore?" Michael asked, licking his lower lip subconsciously.

    Eren merely shrugged, "Like I said. It''s merely a copy I made, and I no longer use it. You can keep it."

    "Your vessel shouldn''t break apart in the next few weeks if you don''t move too much. You shouldn''t have used your Soultraits too much at that time either. Instead, it might be better for you to get used to the pressure of origin energy in the Ancient Istion Chamber while studying the Seal Fusion technique. The time you have left before your vessel tears apart might not be enough to fully study Seal Fusion, but I think you should study it for a week or two. Maybe you can use bits and pieces of it to influence your High Ascension a little."

    Michael studied Eren, trying to determine what the Curse User wanted from him. It was not exactly typical for someone to throw benefits like that in his direction. What was he trying to get from helping him? Michael was not sure, and he figured that Eren wouldn''t tell him everything, even if he was to ask. Thus, Michael chose a different route.

    "I hope you''re not going back on your wordster," Michael murmured, manifesting the Cursed Seals all over his body. The Soul Grimoire appeared before him, and he used several Soul Tears, applying them on Extraction, Enhancement, his Soul, and each Cursed Seal. Following that, Michael used Enhancement on True Extraction before gathering True Extraction''s full power to hurl it at the Seal Fusion technique.

    Michael expected the Wolf Curse to resist him as he used True Extraction on the book, but nothing happened. In fact, Michael had a much easier time using True Extraction than expected.

    He ignored the gazes lingering on him and focused on the task ahead. True Extraction impacted heavily and extracted a massive, highlypressed Knowledge Wisp. The Seal Fusion book crumbled and fell apart as if the knowledge it contained was the only reason it stayed intact for centuries.

    Michael grasped the Knowledge Wisp and swallowed it whole. At the same time, the Soul Grimoire returned to the Soul Sphere. The Cursed Seals vanished right after.

    Michael closed his eyes, still ignoring the gazes drilling into him, solely focusing on digesting as much of the Knowledge Wisp''s information as possible.

    He groaned as the information spread into his mind, including some knowledge Eren had imparted into the Seal Fusion book from his centuries of experience.

    The information, knowledge, and understanding coursed through Michael''s mind, and he digested it, annexing everything.

    Michael opened his eyes again, a thin grin forming on his lips. " It looks like I''m still too weak for a full extraction."

    He then shrugged.

    "That wasn''t too bad, though."

    The others were still staring wildly at Michael. Evee was the first to say something when she regained her senses.

    "Did you know he can do that?"

    Eren shook his head, "Nope. That''s news to me."

    He observed at his daughter, tilting his head lightly.

    "I don''t have the All-Seeing-Eye. That''s you."

    Evee groaned.

    "That again? That''s not how my Soultrait is called!"

    Michael stared at the father-daughter duo, not sure what to say.

    [Are we like that as well?] Danny asked in his mind, only for the World Serpent to answer instead.

    [You guys are worse.]

    ¡­

    **

    [A/N: Hello there, the author is back in the game. I don''t want to bother anyone for too long, but I think it has been a while since I asked y''all what you think about the story''s progress. I would love to hear what you think about the story and what y''all think will happen in the near future. Will everything be alright, or will his presence in the Nest cause problems? What do you want to see? I''m curious to know what y''all would wish to read about.

    Don''t hesitate and throw a bunch of messages into the chapter, or paragraphments. I''ll take your opinions, wishes, and criticism to heart and try improve the story.]

 Chapter 784 Golden Pool

    Chapter 784 Golden Pool

    ??Michael ignored the fight in his head. Instead of joining them, he focused on the knowledge he''d procured about the Seal Fusion technique. Eren''s intent had been infused into the Seal Fusion technique, which was helpful as it increased Michael''s understanding to a certain extent.

    He tried using the technique only to hear the World Serpent speaking to him again.

    [While that white-haired guy''s words are true, your Seals will weaken if you don''t grant your Curse bits and pieces of control.]

    Michael frowned but continued listening.

    [You cannot gainplete control of my Seals either. I''m alive and not your Curse, not exactly, at least. Still, you can use the Seal Fusion technique on my Seals, but you will be forced to give up on the portion that revolves around gainingplete control of the Seals. As for the little wolfie who has been with you all your life¡­it will be a little bit different, yet not. He is too powerful for you to im his Seals with that kind of technique. Even if the technique is remarkable, you have yet to understand how powerful this wolf bastard is. He might be a piece of shit, but he is a powerful piece of shit.]

    Michael nodded slowly. He expected something like that to happen. However, it was good to know Seal Fusion wouldn''t work properly with the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse as targeted Curses. Michael wouldn''t force his luck since he knew the ''difficulties''. He would use the Seal Fusion technique but surrender a portion of the Seals'' control to them.

    The only thing he could try was to gain as much control of the Seals as possible without losing any of their potency and might.

    "I''m ready," Michael announced, his attention drifting to therge pool and the vial of Origin Sap resting in Eren''s hands.

    "...That''s great," Eren had many questions to ask, but now was not the time to do so. He noticed that Michael''s move to acquire Seal Fusion''s knowledge damaged his vessel, drastically reducing the time he''d left to prepare. There was no more time to waste for that youngss.

    Eren released a trace of his silverish energy to remove the array lock that sealed the ss vial''s cap and handed the Origin Sap vial over.

    "Dissolve the Origin Sap in the pool once we''re outside. You can jump into the pool right after, but I would wait a few seconds before the Origin Sap''s firstyer has been removed. The first wave of energy and nutrition should have evenly spread through the pool before you submerge. After that, the only thing you have to do is to absorb everything."

    Evee nodded, but she had something else to add, "The arrays will ensure that you cannot absorb too much energy and nutrients. That doesn''t mean they will hold you back, but the arrays will sense when you try to absorb more energy than your body can handle. I don''t understand everything about the arrays, but they will adjust their limit fairly precisely to your limit. They''re your lifeline and the reason many Cursed Children managed to survive what they wouldn''t have survived outside the Nest."

    "You cannot drown in there either. One of the arrays will provide you with oxygen. It uses a mix of spatial and wind energy to replicate your breathing underwater," Evee exined, staring intently at Michael, "I hope you can digest the Origin Sap. I don''t want to hearints from my father for the next few decades saying that he wasted his precious Origin Sap on you."

    Michael scrunched his nose but nodded.

    "Good luck," She said, turning around to leave.

    Eren followed his daughter, leaving Evalynn behind. She looked at Michael for a few seconds. Her lips parted, but no words escaped her mouth. She had so much to say but couldn''t find the right words to start with.

    "We can talkter. I have yet to meet Father and Hesta either way. I''m not sure if it will be a happy reunion ¨C I doubt that ¨C but I can talk to them."

    Evalynn nodded slowly at Michael''s words. She pressed her lips together and turned around to leave.

    "I hope your ascension will be a sess. You are strong, Michael," Evalynn said before joining Eren and Evee outside. The door connecting the hallway to the Ancient Istion Chamber closed behind Evalynn, leaving Michael with a massive wall covered in various arrays to look at. The arrays glowed faintly, sealing the gate until Michael decided it was time to leave.

    [Ascension time~]

    Michael walked over to the pool and squatted down. His fingers brushed through the water surface for a second before Michael moved on to the next step. He retrieved the cap of the Origin Sap vial and was just about to drop it into the water when a surge of energy sshed against his face. The ss vial trembled and showed signs of breaking as life energy spread explosively in all directions.

    Michael forgot how to breathe. His eyes widened in surprise, and he nearly dropped the vial inside the pool. He fought against the oppressive sensation that overcame him and swallowed hard. Atst, he lowered the ss vial and emptied the viscous content. The golden drop of Origin Sap trickled on the water''s surface and broke through it.

    Michael made sure that there wouldn''t be remnants of Origin Sap left within the ss vial before he stored it. He waited patiently for the firstyer of the Origin Sap to loosen and for the real game to start. However, nothing happened in the first few seconds.

    A few seconds passed before his Spirit Eyes discovered a massive tidal wave of energy. The life energy swept through the pool, transforming the calm water into massive waves that sshed against the pool''s edges with tremendous force. Michael''s eyes narrowed, but he didn''t waste too much time staring at the pool as the water turned golden. The corner of his lips curled upward, and his clothes disappeared in the War Rune storage.

    Michael jumped into the golden pool, his heart filled with excitement. It was time to ascend!

    **

    The world around him changed the instant he submerged in the golden water. When he tried to keep his eyes open, they hurt like they were about to burst. The water brushed into them, forcefully activating his Spirit Eyes, which could see things that ought to remain secrets.

    Michael closed his eyes and concentrated on the energies that entered his body. It was more important to make utilize of the Origin Sap now that things were getting serious. Nheless, his High Ascension wouldn''t start right away. He was not yet at the Peak of the 3rd Tier.

    Fortunately, the principle was the same as before. Michael had to absorb the energy around him, every little trace of it if he desired to utilize the Origin Sap fully. That was precisely what Michael did.

    He allowed the Extraction Aura to expand freely until it reached the pool''s edge and devoured the nutrient-filled energy swiftly. Michael kept his eyes shut and concentrated on circting the energy through every corner of his body.

    It wasn''t long until his skin burst open as the highly potent energy brushed past him. Yet, instead of feeling pain, Michael was enveloped in warmth. It was almost like his skin was supposed to burst apart.

    He didn''t panic. On the contrary, Michael remained eerily calm as he continued absorbing the energy containing a tremendous amount of nutrients. The nutrients and energy were enough for Michael to practice his refinement techniques ¨C finishing what he should havepleted before ¨C while his War Rune was being refined. After all, he had yet to reach the Peak of Tier-3 with some of his refinement techniques.

    Thus, Michael did just that while his War Rune was busy refining his Energy Pir. He finished refining his Body, Mind, and Soul.

    Time passed quickly.

    Michael didn''t sleep once, and he never left the golden pool either. That wasn''t necessary. The Ancient Istion Chamber and the golden pool kept him living and full of vigor at all times.

    Michael grew stronger. His War Rune reached the Peak of Tier-3 at some point, and his body, mind, and soul felt more profound than they used to. It was almost like his entire being was more as if he''d undergone aplete reconstruction.

    But that wasn''t the case. He hadn''t even started with the High Ascension yet. Despite that, Michael smiled brightly. He couldn''t suppress his emotions.

    His War Rune reached the barrier connecting him to Tier-4.

    The barrier was weaker than expected. Michael tried grasping the barrier subconsciously and shattered it instantaneously.

    His High Ascension thus began.

 Chapter 785 High Ascension I

    Chapter 785 High Ascension I

    ??Every single cell in Michael''s body screamed in a mixture of joy and terror, desiring to devour the highly potent energy that could be found everywhere around him.

    His pores opened wide, creating numerous openings for the energy to enter him. But that wasn''t enough. The energy was too thick and potent. It swamped Michael and squeezed through his pores, tearing his skin apart to make more space. Michael would have screamed if he had sensed the pain, but his entire being was shrouded in a warm pool of high, nutritious energy.

    His skin was ripped into shreds, only for his natural regeneration to pick up. His natural regeneration skyrocketed thanks to the massive amount of nutritious energy passing through him. His torn skin was repaired moments after it was ripped into shreds.

    This process repeated itself numerous times, and various Seals manifested all over his body. The first Cursed Seal expanded Spirit Eyes'' stigma, whereas the remaining Cursed Seals traveled down his neck until they spread across his chest.

    Dark, almost ck, chains of thousands of wrinkled, dried-out seals connected to the active Cursed Seals. The miniature seals formed a chain that covered Michael''s entire body. It almost looked like Michael was the one sealed rather than the Curse he contained.

    The World Serpent''s Living Image moved across his back in response to the miniature seal chains. It slithered upward, coiled around his neck, and traveled down his chest. The World Serpent ignored the active Cursed Seals but coiled around the inactive chained seals as if inspecting them before moving onward. All of a sudden, the World Serpent''s Living Image disappeared. It traveled deeper inside Michael, where it consumed a tremendous amount of the highly nutritious energy that permeated through every cell in his body.

    It devoured the energy, transformed it, and unleashed the altered energy in all directions in a burst. Michael writhed in unbearable difort. A wave of pain swept through him.

    The pain didn''tst long as his body secreted a sickly mass. A dark, badly reeking, viscous mass flushed out of him following the burst of the World Serpent''s energy. If Michael was fully conscious and not entirely focused on his High Ascension, he would have noticed that the ck viscous mass was a good portion of the remaining impurities that had been clinging to his body.

    Even using Extraction when he advanced to the next Tier didn''t allow him to remove that many impurities before. The amount of impurities covering the golden pool was several times the amount he''d managed to extract until now. But he was still not void of impurities just yet.

    The Wolf Curse made its move. It activated Extraction inside Michael. However, Extraction''s potency was nowhere as fragile as Michael''s 7-Star Extraction at this point. The Wolf Curse used a trace of its Essence to use Extraction''s true power. However, instead of extracting only the impurities within Michael, Extraction''s full potential threatened to remove much more.

    The World Serpent hissed at the Wolf Curse and was about to attack when a growl reverberated through the Ancient Istion Chamber. The World Serpent and the Wolf Cursed went silent. They conversed using their curse power andbined their powers to make full use of the opportunity they ¨C and Michael ¨C had been granted.

    The Origin Sap was not something they could quickly obtain. It was already tricky for Divine Lifeforms to obtain them, but Curses and beings like the World Serpent were even less likely to procure a drop of the Origin Sap. They desired to reap the benefits of the Origin Sap. Therefore, they had to join hands, even with Michael, no matter the consequences.

    The Wolf Curse epted this, even if that meant it would have to give up controlling Michael Fang to the fullest. The child had been more resilient than expected. The Origin Sap would help him grow even more resilient. However, at the same time, the Wolf Curse would be granted ess to more of its sealed power. It was only a matter of time before¡­

    The Wolf Curse growled quietly and used its Essence to cleanse Michael, all while the World Serpent infused its power into Michael, influencing his body to trigger the first of many sheddings.

    Michael''s skin sharted shedding, oneyer after another. Even the hair all over his body was removed with the shedding.

    The initial shedding removed the impurities clinging to his skin. His pores expanded temporarily in response to the shedding, creating wider channels for the highly nutritious energy. Michael''s entire being was overflowing with energy once more. However, Michael wasn''t the only one tapping into the highly nutritious energy this time. His Curses, the Soul Sphere, and the Soultrait Symbol also reached out.

    His hair was growing back rapidly as the Wolf Curse''s presence spread through Michael. However, his hair didn''t remain long. It was removed with the second ¨C and every subsequent ¨C shedding. His skin was vibrant pink, and one may wonder if Michael was being cooked alive, but the vibrant color of his skin didn''tst long. The pinkish tone died down quickly, revealing unblemished fair skin underneath.

    His veins, muscles, and energy paths thumped vigorously, almost like everything in Michael''s body had their mind and desires. A single nce at his hide revealed his energy paths and the energy coursing through him, his muscles and how they responded to everything around him, and his vessels alongside the blood flowing through him.

    Michael looked like the sculpture of a god as his High Ascension continuously changed ¨C improved ¨C everything about his very existence.

    Michael''s power increased exponentially. His presence changed as his physical prowess skyrocketed. Michael didn''t move in the pool, yet his presence was enough for tremors to run throughout the Ancient Istion Chamber.

    His Soul Sphere manifested before Michael''s closed eyes and expanded. The Soul Power nurtured within his Soul Sphere expanded explosively before it waspressed, forming small spheres filled with droplets of Soul Power around the Soultrait Symbols.

    Michael wasn''t sure what the changes entailed, but he could tell that he was growing stronger. He continued relying on his instincts and moved onward. His mind told him to tell the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent to stop, but his instincts urged him to continue. Thus, Michael continued.

    His origin power spread out, annexing every little bit of energy it brushed past, only to recede suddenly. The origin energy within his body shed as it was pressed together by force. The sh transformed and changed all of a sudden. It was almost like one of the energy particles emerged victorious from a vicious fight. The origin energy in his bodypressed, forming a single droplet.

    The first droplet of origin energy took an eternity to form. That wasn''t umon. However, umon were the golden thread-like vessels that spread through the energy droplet.

    The changes that apanied the creation of the first droplet were tremendous. His physical prowess increased even further, reaching a state that wasn''t supposed to be attained by someone who was on the verge of ascending, his mental power expanded by more than ten times, and his Soul continued growing stronger, far stronger than anyone had anticipated.

    Even the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse were taken by surprise. They stopped moving, their attention locked on the golden-veined power droplet that coursed through Michael''s body, enhancing his entire being with every cirction.

    Eerie silence spread through Michael''s entire being. No one dared to utter a single noise.

    A trace of the Origin Sap''s essence entered Michael''s body.

 Chapter 786 High Ascension II

    Chapter 786 High Ascension II

    ??The manifestation of a droplet of energy infused with a trace of the Origin Sap''s essence was something nobody expected. Even the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse couldn''t predict this.

    They were certain that Michael would absorb a significant amount of the Origin Sap, primarily because of their presence. Michael shouldn''t be able to absorb more than a quarter of diffused Origin Sap without their presence. Even then, it was unlikely.

    The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent figured that something would change, and they would have to change their ns again, but it was hard to fathom how much would change. It was unknown whether they were graced with fortune or if misfortune haunted them.

    In the meantime, Michael felt the traces of Origin Sap''s essence coursing through him. The power coursing through him was incredibly pure. It was close to perfection. He felt...perfect.

    Michael decided to start using Seal Fusion while clinging to this sensation. He grasped the massive energy that continued trickling into him and exerted Seal Fusion, all while the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse did the same to break down the restraints around their Seals.

    The power coursing through Origin Sap was of a higher order than curse power. It wasn''t necessarily stronger, but its potency was several times higher a€¡° higher enough to be converted into curse power without a major loss in the conversion. The Wolf Curse and World Serpent could use the Origin Sap to unlock more Seals and ess more power within Michael''s body.

    Unlocking Seals during the High Ascension wasn''t umon, but it wasn''t normal to have a potent energy like Origin Sap to tap into.

    In a matter of minutes, the World Serpent several Serpent Seals cracked and burst open. Simultaneously, the Wolf Curse tried breaking down the miniature chains to release the power of thousands of Cursed Seals at once. Michael didn''t allow that.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael wouldn''t have much control over their Seals. He shouldn''t be able to influence which Seal was shattered and whichbination of Seals would be removed next. However, some things changed with the essence of Origin Sap coursing through his body.

    His understanding of himself skyrocketed. It was almost like Michael learned the deepest secrets of his body within a few seconds.

    The secrets of his body included a more in-depth knowledge about the Wolf Curse, his Soul Sphere, the Energy Pir, his War Rune, and the World Serpent. Last but not least, Micheal learned more about Twin Fates as well.

    He willed his pores to open wider than before and to ept the surrounding energy with open arms a€¡° not that it was necessary to say that in the first ce.

    Seal Fusion devoured a portion of the highly potent energy to grant Michael special permission. He could see his Seals a€¡° unlocked or not a€¡° hidden deep within him.

    At first, Seal Fusion''s mastery was very low. Michael could barely use the technique. However, his situation improved rapidly. The newly acquired understanding of the Wolf Curse and World Serpent was enough to elevate his mastery of Seal Fusion to a new level. Michael could control the fusions of Seals and decide which Seals to nourish with energy to break the shackles restraining them.

    The World Serpent and Wolf Curse couldn''t make those decisions anymore. They lost control of the necessary permission to make these decisions.

    The Wolf Curse and World Serpent lost ess to their powers for the first time since they awakened or entered his body.

    It was only temporary. The Origin Sap''s essence shoved the Wolf Curse and World Serpent aside, making space for Michael to nourish the Seals.

    Michael had more control of the High Ascension''s final steps than expected. More golden-veined droplets congregated within him. More traces of the Origin Sap''s essence entered his body, granting him unfathomable power and control.

    Time trickled by. The golden pool lost some of its vibrant luster while more Seals manifested all over his body.

    A golden shimmer covered Michael''s bodypletely. It poured into his skin...and the essence of his existence.

    It felt nice. It was perfect. It was how it was supposed to be.

    At some point, Michael felt his entire being overflowing with power and excitement. His Energy Pir expanded atst. The final step of his High Ascension was about to bepleted. The energy liquid he''d formed throughout his High Ascension entered the Energy Pir and spread out to aid the Energy Pir in its advance.

    The quality and quantity of energy liquid formed during the High Ascension decided the degree of his Energy Pir''s expansion. However, that was not all. The final strides of his High Ascension were not only about his Energy Pir. The final strides were mainly about the connection between his body, mind, and soul. The higher the performance of his High Ascension, the closer his body, mind, and soul would be tied.

    At first, Michael didn''t understand the importance of the ties between the body, mind, and soul. However, as the Origin Sap''s core entered his body, Michael''s understanding of the ties improved by leaps and bounds.

    A perfect elevation fused the body, mind, and soul to transform into an ideal entity. A perfect ascension would elevate one''s talent,prehension, control of Soultraits, and other factors to an entirely new level. It was like the difference between Elite Monsters, Superior Existences, and Mythical Existences.

    Mythical Existences were as close as most beings could get to perfection. They could control their power to a near-perfect level, resulting in their tremendous prowess.

    Michael never overthought about his High Ascension. He only knew that a stronger foundation would grant him more benefits when he ascended. That was why He improved his foundation as well as possible. The Soul Grimoire augmented his spirit as much as a Lesser Lifeform''s soul could be augmented. Sacred Constitution improved his physique to an inhuman level, whereas Wisdom Breaker and his Soultraits empowered his mental energy slowly but steadily.

    Michael was certain that he did his best to create a perfect foundation for his ascension. But he noticed only after the Origin Sap''s Essence entered his vessel that an ideal foundation was so much more than his body, mind, and soul. His Curses were part of his foundation as well.

    Michael noticed that the foundation he''d prepared with painstaking efforts fused.

    His entire being was overflowing with excitement when he felt that the pieces wereing together. The final piece of his elevation to a Higher Lifeform was implemented. The barrier that separated him from Tier-4 shattered atst.

    Michael advanced to Tier-4.

    He was stronger than ever. His vessel better, stronger¡­

    more. He felt nothing like he used to be.

    He followed his instincts and let loose for the first time.

    A primal roar, fused with the Essence of the Canine Hex and the World Serpent, escaped his lips.

    [End of Volume 13]

 Chapter 787 Leader

    Chapter 787 Leader

    ??"Why is Michael''s High Ascension taking so long? Should we check up on him? Maybe something went wrong," Evee asked while fidgeting with her lunch.

    She hadn''t been much around Michael and barely got to know him, but life in the Nest was boring. There wasn''t much to do other than training to grow stronger. They had to hide from the Supreme Human Alliance and preparerge-scale attacks where they least expected. While fighting the Supreme Human Alliance was anything but boring, it wasn''t exciting either. Death and destruction were hardly ever pleasant.

    The drama of the Fenrir bloodline, however, was enjoyable. Evee couldn''t help but feel excited when she recalled the fights between Peter Fang and Evalynn Fang. Evalynn med her husband for being obsessed with power, whereas Peter Fang disregarded her words. Instead of epting the me for leaving his children, Peter Fang was adamant, saying he didn''t make any mistakes. Everything he did was the best choice ¨C for himself, of course.

    Evee was not in any position to me anyone, but it was a matter of fate that Curse Users would separate from their children to ensure that their Curses wouldn''t affect their children''s hibernating Curses. There had been too many idents with Cursed Children in the past. Therefore, most Curse users were told to be careful who they pick as the father/mother of their children.

    As an ordinary Awakened, Peter Fang should have raised his children alone, yet both Evalynn and her father never trusted the Nest. They raised their children, ignoring the danger they exposed their children. Evee wasn''t surprised that Hesta ended up like this. She might be incredibly powerful due to the highpatibility of her Curse and Soultrait, but her parents nearly killed her by being around her. Without the Nest''s intervention, Hesta would have died during her ascension to a Higher Lifeform.

    Evee was also pretty sure that Danny''s death was the result of Evalynn''s presence. Michael''s pain and suffering was probably her fault as well. That was enough drama to excite Evee, who had been ''forced'' to study arrays since there was hardly anything else for her to do in the Nest. She was not a fighter. Evee was a radar, an expert gossip girl, and quite good at studying.

    "We cannot breach the Ancient Istion Chamber. You should know that better than anyone. It''s forbidden, in the first ce, and it''s not like we are strong enough to enter the Ancient Istion Chamber by force, either way," Eren lectured his daughter while finishing his meal.

    "I know, I know. I''m just saying that Michael is taking too long. I want more dra¡ª....I mean, I''m curious how much stronger he''s grown. He never had ess to high-quality resources, so now that he used the Origin Sap, the cream of the crop, I wonder how much he''s changed," Evee cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrassment, but her father stared dagger at her. He knew very well that his daughter was about to stir trouble where trouble wasn''t needed.

    The sounds of heels clicking on the smooth ground rang through their ears. Someone approached them, and the father-son duo turned around. Evee had to suppress a groan when her eyes fell upon a tall woman while Eren got up to greet her. He pressed his fists against his heart and gestured with his fingers before tapping his forehead lightly, a sign of utmost respect among the Nest''s Curse Users.

    The woman waved dismissively and sat down next to Eren. She tied her silky golden hair into a ponytail and smiled mischievously at Evee with her vibrant crimson eyes.

    "Have you been studying hard, or are you still trying to push Hesta against Fera?" The woman asked Evee lightly. Evee wanted to say something, but Eren''s re was intense enough for her to keep her mouth shut.

    "I apologize, Leader. My daughter has been a little bit rebellious in thest few months," Eren apologized to the woman, who turned to him with a bright smile.

    "Didn''t I tell you to call me Selena? Or am I just the Leader to you? I thought we had something special there," The Leader of the Nest, Selena Ryn, sulked.

    ''She is acting again. What the hell is wrong with this woman?'' Evee asked, wondering for the Xth time how someone like that woman managed to be the Nest''s Leader. She was powerful, the strongest Curse User Evee had seen until now, but Selena Ryn was the least serious woman she''d gotten to know. How were they supposed to fight the Supreme Human Alliance with a leader like this?

    Eren had to scrunch his nose to maintain his expression.

    "I''m your Commander. Of course, I''ll call you Leader, Leader!" He said dead-serious, which worsened Selena''s act. She sulked more than before and was about to reach the peak of her acting skills when the ground underfoot tremored.

    No. It wasn''t only the ground that shook. The room, if not the entire Nest, was shaking. It wasn''t anything too bad. The Nest wouldn''t copse from being shaken thoroughly, but the primal roar apanying the tremors was different.

    The primal roar reverberated through the Nest, reaching the Curse Users no matter where they were in the Nest.

    Everyone jumped up near-simultaneously, their hair standing up to its end. The sulky expression was wiped from Selena''s face, reced by unfamiliar seriousness. However, Evee couldn''t pay much attention to it. Her Curse shuddered, and her heart tightened.

    Evee was afraid¡­and so was her Curse. They were overwhelmed by instinctive fear.

    She wasn''t the only one. Evee''s eyes lingered on her father, who flinched as well. He instinctively tapped into the power of his Curse and used Curse Transformation, manifesting a silver scale armor all over his body. A long silver-scaled tail grew out of his tailbone, and wings were about to sprout from his back when Selena brought up her hand slowly.

    The corner of her lips curled upward as her energy spread through the entire Nest in an instant.

    "You were asking about that little Cursed Child, weren''t you?" Selena inquired Evee, who didn''t even manage to nod, "He just finished his ascension."

    A sonorous peal ofughter escaped her lips.

    "And it seems like he wants to brag about it."

    "That ¡­ was Michael?" Evee asked, her voice cracking in shock

    "How about we take a look? We shouldn''t let our neer wait too long. I want to see what he has to show," Selene eximed excitedly. There was no sign of her earlier seriousness.

    She leaped over the table, grabbed Evee, and threw the young girl over her shoulder. Selena''s crimson eyesnded on Eren, who was still guarded and ready to fight, "Move your butt, Commander. It''s time to see how much your little cadet has grown!"

    Selena vanished into a blur, the only thing she left behind was a scream ¨C Evee''s scream.

    Eren took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a second and terminated Curse Transformation. In the next instance, he started praying, not for himself, but for Michael Fang.

    ''You don''t know what kind of monster you''re about to attract. It would have been better if you had finished your ascension silently,'' He thought, shaking his head.

    ''Should I feel sorry for that prick, or is it about time that he''s getting lectured?''

    Eren didn''t know, but he was about to discover what would happen to Michael Fang.

    The Nest''s Leader and the rookie were about to meet. That could only mean trouble.

 Chapter 788 Major Seals

    788 Major Seals

    Selena''s Curse confirmed that Michael Fang''s Curses were far from ordinary. She knew everything about the young man even before he arrived at the Nest. Of course, she wouldn''t allow a potential threat into their headquarters. He was thoroughly investigated, including his actions outside and inside the Origin Expanse.

    Michael''s whole life had been reported to Selena, yet many factors were still hard toprehend. The Living Image of the massive serpent wasn''t in the reports until she reached thest quarter. But while the Living Image attracted her interest, Fenrir''s bloodline was more important to Selena.

    There were multiple reasons why the Fenrir bloodline left the Nest a few centuries ago. Most reasons didn''t matter anymore, but one particr reason affected some Nest members even now.

    The Fenrirs devoured a Cursed family. They devoured the root of another Curse.

    The aftermath of the Fenrirs actions was simple, yet destructive. A Curse family ceased to exist, and the Fenrir bloodline evolved. It changed forever. The White Tiger bloodline would still be with the Nest if not for that horrifying event. Instead, their Curses showed signs of resurfacing in the offspring of the Fenrir bloodline.

    The Fenrir bloodline wasn''t blessed with many Curses. However, after devouring the White Tiger Bloodline, even those who didn''t awaken a Curse of their bloodline would awaken a feline Curse.

    The possibility of awakening a canine or feline Curse was the reason Selena wasn''t too surprised to hear that Michael had two Curses. However, what surprised her was that his second Curse was a serpent. It didn''t fit the Fenrir and White Tiger bloodlines.

    At first, Selena was certain that the Fenrir bloodline devoured another, but that wasn''t the case. It was just that Michael was different. A portion of his life inside the Origin Expanse was foggy. Not even the Nest''s highly advanced equipment could pry into some events that changed Michael''s life forever.

    How could Selena not be excited and worried at the same time?

    She emerged before the entrance of the Ancient Istion Chamber, her crimson eyes glimmering brightly. Evee retched, but Selena didn''t mind the young girl too much. She put her down and stepped closer to the gate. Her fingers caressed gently across the gate''s surface. She pushed the gate lightly, and it swung open.

    The Ancient Istion Chamber''s insides unfolded before Selena, Evee, and Eren, who arrived atst.

    Evee gagged again, this time from the horrendous reeking waft that brushed past the three Curse Users.

    "What the-..." She gagged again, "Did he break the filter array, or what?! Are you guys sure that the Supreme

    Human Alliance didn''t throw him at the Nest to kill us with his impurities?? How is it possible to release that many impurities in the High Ascension? Is he the reincarnation of a trashcan or what?!"

    Selena and Eren shrouded their bodies in an energy membrane to ensure the horrendous smell wouldn''t reach them. Their eyes lingered on the clump of impurities. It was twice the size of a head. An ordinary ascension wouldn''t flush that many impurities out of the body. But it made sense. Eren had given his Origin Sap to Michael. It would have been a shame if Michael''s ascension was ordinary.

    He would have wasted his precious Origin Sap for an ordinary ascension.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Fortunately, Michael''s ascension was anything but ordinary. Severalyers of skin, mixed with even more impurities, floated on the water surface and clung to the edge of the pool. It was Michael''s skin, hair, and a lot more blood than they''d expected.

    The pool was nothing like it used to look. The water glowed dimly golden, but Michael''s blood was mixed into it, transforming the pool into a darkish golden mixture. It looked nothing like it was supposed to look.

    But while the pool attracted some of their attention, the being emerging from the pool pulled everyone''s attention to him.R??adtest chapt??rs atno\vel...\n(e)xt\

    The being didn''t look like Michael anymore. Michael had changed. His presence was iparably denser and wilder. As his figure ascended, his massive tail, covered in thick, ck scales, smashed against the edge of the pool, creating a thunderous shockwave. Evee flinched, her eyes widening in terror when the shockwave reached her.

    The shockwave was infused with curse power, which threatened to enter Evee by force. She could barely restrain the invading curse power and inched closer to her father and Selena. She upped her guard but flinched once more when Michael''s wild eyes moved toward them.

    His god-like sculptured physique was covered in scale-like marks. He didn''t manifest a natural armor like Eren just yet, but the marks were the first signs. Contrary to everyone''s expectations, Michael didn''t reveal any Cursed Seals. Even the Serpent Seals weren''t visible at this moment. However, that didn''t mean his Seals weren''t active.

    His eyes, overflowing with vigor, canine-like, and glowing vibrant golden, stared at the Ancient Istion Chamber''s entrance. He eyes the witnesses but doesn''t consider them fellow Curse Users. If anything, they looked nothing more like prey. That was what Evee felt, who shuddered again. She trembled involuntarily as Michael''s eyes preyed upon her.

    Michael tilted his head lightly, his drenched hair clinging to his body. He raised one hand, revealing razor-sharp weapons of death. Michael''s hands had transformed into ws, a mixture between a serpent''s massive fangs and a wolf''s ws. The ws were slightly curved, its edges sharp enough to cut through anything obstructing Michael''s path.

    Dazzling threads shot out of his ws. Selena and Eren were ready to make a move, but that wasn''t necessary. The golden threads smashed unrestricted into the pool, devouring thest remains of Origin Sap.

    The bits of Origin Sap that remained after his High Ascension were devoured greedily, further empowering Michael.

    "He digested the Origin Sap entirely," Eren murmured, his eyes drawn to the pool. Everything inside was impurities, shredded skin, and Michael''s blood.

    "Not only that," Selena said, the corner of her lips twitching, "He gained ess to two Major Seals during his High Ascension, and he hasn''t lost control of his body yet." Eren nodded slowly, only for Selena to add.

    "Do you know what that means?" Selena asked Eren, who couldn''t focus too much on the Leader''s words. His attention remained on Michael. He was prepared to face a barrage of attacks at any moment. However, nothing like that happened.

    "He manifested dozens of Seals for each of his Curse, enough Seals to form the first Major Seals for each. And, most importantly, he hasn''t lost his cool yet. He is still in full control of his body."

    "It doesn''t look like he is in control of anything," Evee whispered, but Selena shook her head, an excited smile blossoming.

    "Usually, Cursed Children cannot control their Curses right after their ascension. They attack whoever they see after their ascension. Their Curse makes them."

    "That didn''t happen to me, though," Evee recalled nothing like that.

    Selena raised an eyebrow and nced at Eren. Her expression revealed more than a thousand words.

    "I attacked you?" Evee asked her father, only for Eren to remain silent. He was dead serious, his focus lingering on Michael Fang as he descended.

    Michaelnded smoothly on the edge of the pool, his attention still locked onto the three Curse Users.

    An explosion of curse power and origin energy burst out of him as he sighed deeply.

    His stomach growled.

    "Did you bring something to eat?"

 Chapter 789 Canteen

    Chapter 789 Canteen

    ??789  Canteen

    No trace of the Origin Sap was left. It had been devoured entirely. Michael digested the highly potent energy, yet his stomach growled like a little monster. He was hungry beyond measure.

    Selena stared at Michael for a moment before she burst into a peal ofughter.

    "If he''s hungry even though he''d consumed the Origin Sap, he must be¨C... Well, whatever. I think I can work with that one."

    Michael didn''t know the woman, but Spirit Eyes informed him enough about her to stay guarded.

    "This is Selena Ryn. She is the Leader of the Nets and one of its Founders," Eren introduced Selena to Michael, who nodded slowly.

    "I can tell. Her presence is everywhere in the Nest," Michael pointed at his eyes, smiling faintly, "Greetings, Leader. I think you might have heard about me already, but let me introduce myself again. My name is Michael Fang. Thanks for your hospitality. The Ancient Istion Chamber is very efficient."

    Michael''s long, ck tail whipped against the floor behind him again. Evee flinched whenever the whip smashed down, thundering loudly through the chamber. She could vividly imagine the floor cracking open from the tremendous force apanying the tail whip.

    "I did indeed hear a lot about you, but let us talk about this over some food. I wouldn''t want you to destroy the Ancient Istion Chamber over some food," Selene chuckled, "But you should wear some clothes first. Others might not adore you as much if you keep walking around naked."

    She looked down at his body, one eyebrow lifted. A mischievous smile curled around her lips, "You aren''t too bad though."

    Michael looked down as well, his expression even more nonchnt than expected, "Oh, well."

    He essed the War Rune storage and retrieved a set of clothes, which he identally tore apart when he grasped them. His ws tore easily through the cloth.

    "Oops," Michael murmured while his tail iled around, smashing heavily onto the stone ground behind him. He twisted his head, ufortable to look back, where his ck tail greeted him, "Ohhh."

    He gazed back at the others, his head faintly inclined, "How do I remove them?"

    Another burst ofughter escaped Selena''s lips, but she didn''t answer him. The World Serpent answered him instead.

    [You take our powers, yet you do not have the faintest clue how to utilize them. That''s humiliating,] The World Serpent hissed before sending a surge of energy through his body. The serpent tail receded first. The World Serpent''s fang-ws also retracted a secondter, revealing his hands.

    The Wolf Curse growled as well but it didn''t do anything other than aiding the World Serpent in the retraction of the fang-

    ws.

    ''Why are they so moody? Weren''t they adamant about taking the Origin Sap? Did their n not work out?'' Michael wondered. He shrugged, ''Maybe that is for the better. The sess of their ns might as well be my demise.''

    Michael felt something odd when the tail and fang-ws disappeared. He closed his eyes and focused on his Curses. It didn''t take long before he found his Curses in his mindspace.

    ''Wow!'' Michael eximed, his focus on the mindspace skyrocketing as dozens of Seals appeared before him. Michael didn''t start counting them, but there were more than 40 Cursed Seals, roughly the same as Serpent Seals. The Seals could be activated individually, but the more intriguing point about them was that they formed a constetion.

    The Seals weren''t individuals anymore. They were linked correctly and formed two beautiful constetions, one for the Wolf Curse and one for the World Serpent.

    ''That is beautiful!'' He muttered into the mindspace, ''What are those constetions?''

    Michael queried the World Serpent, curious about the constetions, but the World Serpent didn''t say anything. It turned radio silent. That was weird. The World Serpent was rarely silent when he spoke directly to it.

    Fortunately, Michael was pulled out of the awkward situation when his stomach growled again. He opened his eyes again, the canine-like eyes that had preyed upon the Curse Users were no more, and put on a set of neat clothes.

    ''I don''t know what happened, but thank you for helping me,'' Michael informed the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse. He didn''t receive a response, but it was not like Michael expected one.

    He sighed inwardly but decided that it was time to eat now. Michael desperately needed a proper meal.

    Once Michael was done putting on enough clothes to cover him properly, he stepped closer to the three Curse Users. He nced in the direction of the cafeteria through the walls of the Nest and tapped into the power of Cosmic Stride. Cosmic Stride''s power erupted from Michael and enveloped their group in an instant. A momentter, they disappeared, leaving the Ancient Istion Chamber untouched.

    They reappeared in the cafeteria, where the magnificent smell of a wide variety of dishes assaulted Michael''s nostrils. His mouth watered, and he sensed like rushing to the chefs to ask for a bit ¨C or maybe a lot ¨C of everything.

    "Have you been here before?" Evee queried Michael, who shook his head in a hurry.

    He gazed at Selena, his eyes glimmering in excitement, "Can I eat whatever I want, or do I have to pay for the food with some sort of curse currency or the like?"

    "Just¡­take whatever you want¡­" Selena responded quieter than usual. Her eyes followed Michael closely as he rushed to the canteen, where he bombarded the chefs with a load of requests and questions. The cooks didn''t know Michael, but they''d seen him talking to Selena. They followed his requests, though a little bewildered about the amount of food he ordered.

    "He can teleport to ces he''s never been?" Evee asked, not entirely understanding how that would work without knowing the destination''s exact coordinates.

    "His eyes allow him to see through walls. To be precise, he can see all kinds of energies, presences, and whatnot with his eyes. The istions of the Immortal Quarz might be extraordinary, but they are not perfect. It looks like he can see through it," Selena responded, but not in her nonchnt manner. She was more serious and quieter than before.

    Michael''s teleportation had been quite powerful. However, the ease with which he teleported two Divine Lifeforms away interested her more. Neither she nor Eren actively acknowledged Michael''s teleportation. That might not seem necessary for Higher Lifeforms, but the impact Divine Lifeforms had on their surroundings was different. Their impact was tens of times higher for theck of better words.

    Tearing them away from their surroundings without their consent wasn''t supposed to be easy, but Michael did it that easily. It gazed like he wasn''t even trying.

    Selena''s interest in Michael skyrocketed. She had other things to take care of but postponed her appointments. Instead, she sat down in the canteen with Eren and Evee, where their trays had been left behind. Fortunately, the heating runes on the trays kept their food warm.

    It didn''t take long for Michael to walk over with a few trays in his hands¡­and floating around him. He manifested and willed the wind around him topress underneath some trays to move them through the air. After all, Michael didn''t want to run back and forth to get his food.

    Several traysnded gently on the table, resulting in a confused stare from Evee.

    "Did you bring us food as well? But we alrea¨C.."

    Michael frowned deeply. "What are you talking about? That''s my appetizer!"

    She blinked violently.

    "A-Appetizer?"

    "Of course, this isn''t going to fill my stomach!" Michael responded, staring at Evee as if she''d lost her sanity.

    "Of course¡­"

 Chapter 790 Gluttons Return

    Chapter 790 Glutton''s Return

    ??It felt like eons had passed since Michaelst ate so much good food. He tried savoring every bite from every dish but devoured the mountains of meals. Every tray had been filled with food to the brim, yet Michael emptied everything.

    At first, Michael tried to eat like the civilized young gentleman he was, only to recall that he wasn''t much of a well-mannered gentleman in the first ce. Furthermore, the food entered his mouth too slowly while he ate in a civilized manner. He would have to eat for hours if he kept going like that. Therefore, Michael switched up a little bit, transforming into a little starving monster.

    At the same time, Michael bombarded the others with a flood of questions, using Whispering Energy to talk to the Nest Leader, Eren, and Evee without having to stop feasting on the delicacies before him.

    ["What exactly are those constetions of Cursed Seals in my mind? Is that rted to my High Ascension, or is that more rted to my Curses? In the first ce, how much time passed since I entered the Ancient Istion Chamber? What will happen now that I ascended to a Higher Lifeform? What is your mission in the Nest, other than trying to beat the shit out of the Supreme Human Alliance?"]

    Michael remembered something and stopped eating mid-way.

    ["I''m not going to sign any kind of Geas. If you force me to... Well, we will see about that then. I hope it doesn''te to that. It would be a shame for us to be enemies. I kind of like the Nest, even if it seems like my grandfather hated it. It''s probably a good thing that I never met my grandfather. Also, I don''t hate you guys for putting a Geas on my Mother. I don''t know why you put a Geas on her, but it''s not like I cannot understand you. I don''t trust my Mother either."]

    Michael had much more to ask, but his focus returned to the food while waiting for some answers.

    "You should have two constetions somewhere in your mindspace," Eren pointed out, which Michael affirmed with a nod.

    "We consider these constetions Major Seals. Major Seals form whenever you unravel some of your Curse''s Essence. They usually require the Curse User to release several dozen Seals closely tied to each other. Not many Curse Users can unseal their Curse''s Essence, let alone control it. Only a handful of Curse Users essed their Curse''s Essence as Higher Lifeforms. It is usually better to wait until you ascend to a Divine Lifeform before you try to tap into the Essence of your Curse, or Curses in your case."

    Eren nced at Michael, a trace of guilt shing through his eyes, "But it looks like I''m a little bitte to tell you that."

    Michael shrugged nonchntly, ["My Curses used a portion of the Origin Sap to unlock a bunch of Seals, but the Origin Sap''s essence helped me stay in control. Not that I was trying to stay in control. It blocked my Curses before I noticed what happened."]

    He didn''t recall too much about his High Ascension, but putting the fragments of memories and the World Serpent''s attitude together created a clear picture of the situation. His High Ascension created far better results than expected. The World Serpent and the Wolf Curse were the only ones who lost something. They were closer tied to Michael''s existence after the High Ascension without gaining anything in return.

    Michael was pretty sure that he hadplete control of the Major Seals. He was also confident that the World Serpent couldn''t leave his body easily anymore. It would have to permanently cut a portion of its essence to leave him for good. That meant the World Serpent would have to help him more actively if something terrible was to happen. It couldn''t abandon him whenever it desired.

    ''Is it sulky because of that? Well, I don''t believe that it''s my fault. It isn''t like I told the World Serpent to use my body as a hideout,'' Michael found a good excuse and nodded inwardly.

    "We noticed that you absorbed the Origin Sap, but the results are...unexpected," Selena said in all honesty, "But that''s probably the best. The stronger you are, the easier your future will be. Or the sooner you will be faced with stronger enemies. It usually depends on your luck, which you shouldn''t have much with two potent Curses tarnishing your fortune."

    Selena smiled lightly, but she didn''t look apologetic. "The stronger your enemies, the faster you''ll grow. That''s good for the Nest as long as you survive. As for the Geas, we decided to put a Geas on your mother for multiple reasons. One of the reasons was that she endangered your sister''s life. She didn''te to the Nest or prepare the resources for a proper High Ascension.

    "If Evee didn''t find your sister''s curse frequencies in time, Hesta would be dead. Her Curse would have transformed into a Hellbound Cmity, possibly into something worse given how powerful your sister''s Curse is. The SHA would have used such an incident to move against the Nest, obliterating us once and for all."

    ["To put it very simply, you don''t trust her."] Michael summarized.

    It was understandable that Selena didn''t trust Evalynn. Her father was already troublesome and it wasn''t like Evalynn did a good job by hiding her sons from the Nest. If anything, her actions endangered Michael and Danny.

    Maybe Evalynn''s actions endangered the Tritan Alliance as well, but the Supreme Human Alliance would have been interested in the Descendants'' Soultrait Symbols, either way.

    Selena bowed curtly, which was enough.

    "As for your other questions, six months passed since you ventured the Ancient Istion Chamber. As a Higher Lifeform, you''re deemed a Curse User rather than a Cursed Child. You will learn how to control your Curses, which won''t be too hard since you can already control them fairly well, and you should learn how to use them. In the future, you will be deployed to eliminate Curses and fight against the SHA. Hunting Curses and exorcizing them will strengthen your Curses, unlocking more Seals to ess, which will strengthen you."

    "Of course, you will have to learn how to control the Curses as they gain strength, but we will help you with that. As for fighting the SHA, you will have to do that either way. The Nest might be one of their biggest enemies, but your little Tritan Alliance in the backwater gxy has lured the SHA''s attention. The Lesser Humans over there have good Soultraits, yet they''re tarnished ¨C as the SHA members like to call it ¨C by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs."

    Selene sighed, her expression growing more serious

    "The SHA will attack the Tritan Alliance. They won''t hesitate to kill all ''impure beings'' and kidnap everyone ''worthy'' enough. If you want to protect your loved ones, you must fight the Supreme Human Alliance. You will have to grow stronger. The Nest will help you with that."

    Michael figured he and the Nest worked toward the same goal. Bloodhound tried purifying his Curse by force. They had already kidnapped a bunch of Descendants as well. The Supreme Human Alliance had been his enemy all along.

    Michael was about to say something, but his stomach rumble again. It was weird thinking about it. He''d already emptied several trays overflowing with food, but it felt like his stomach was empty. Since hepleted his High Ascension, Michael felt like an endless pit. He could easily eat several times the amount of food he''d already devoured.

    That was exactly what he did. He teleported to the cooks with the empty trays, made a few ¨C quite a lot ¨C requests, and returned to the others. Michael acted like he never disappeared and smiled at the Nest Leader while feeling the nutrients and energy contained in the food coursing through him.

    Now that he thought about it, Michael didn''t feel like an ordinary Higher Lifeform. He felt stronger. It was almost like he advanced further than a Higher Lifeform. At this point, his body was almost void of impurities as well.

    But both the sensation of unfathomable power, his insatiable hunger, and theck of impurities might all be rted to the Origin Sap and the Major Seals.

    "You need strength to defeat the SHA, and I''m fairly sure the Nest can profit from you as well. This is not only about your potential as an individual but also about the potential you can awaken within others. I know you must have heard it very often already and I understand if you''re annoyed, but your Soultrait can change everything. You are different than the¡ª..."

    While listening to Selena''s long-windedmentary, Michael focused on the people around him. There weren''t many Curse Users in the cantine but everyone was powerful ¨C dangerous, if one wanted to put it like that.

    But then again, Selena was the biggest threat ¨C if he had to fight everyone in the Nest. She smiled andughed a lot, almost like she didn''t take anything seriously, but she was a monster. A real monster.

    Nobody he''d seen or perceived was as powerful as Selena. The Winged Mythic Serpent, the Primal Phoenix, and the Curses he''d seen until now ¨C not even the presence of the being underneath his territory ¨C were strong enough to scratch Selena.

    It was a good thing that Michael was on her side and that they had the same goals.

    He shuddered and was d when more food arrived. The food soothed his soul and nourished his entire being, filling his Energy Pir with energy.

 Chapter 791 What Now?

    Chapter 791 What Now?

    ??Michael was in a good mood. He learned a lot about Major Seals, the Nest, which included how the Nest worked, how much stronger everyone was, and what they''ve been doing in thest few centuries. The newly acquired knowledge about Curses was almost as pleasant as the food. But only almost.

    The food was extraordinary. Michael couldn''t remember having eaten so well in thest 20 years.

    ''They should have bribed me with that food. This is insane.'' He thought, almostughing aloud when he recognized how easily he was influenced by good food.

    Unfortunately, his mood was tarnished by the appearance of a familiar man. In fact, calling that man familiar was a big stretch. Michael didn''t really know that man anymore. It was just that he looked the same as a decade ago. He hadn''t changed.

    Peter Fang, his father, appeared in the cafeteria.

    He was alone and walked to the cooks, who didn''t care all too much about his presence. Michael had only been talking to the cooks for a few minutes but was already closer to them than his father.

    Peter Fang froze upon seeing Eren, Selena, and Evee seated around Michael. Michael had his hair bound back to a man bun since it interrupted his meal. His hair was longer than ever and threatened to fall into the piles of dishes. Despite the different hairstyle, Michael doubted that he looked different. Well, maybe he did.

    Peter Fang was unlikely to recognize him, given that Michael didn''t look like the child his fatherst saw. Michael grew up well. Despite knowing that his father was unlikely to recognize him, Michael froze in his tracks.

    Peter Fang briefly locked eyes with Michael and¡­grit his teeth. He spun around, got his food, and sat down in a chair far away from Michael and the others. Nobody paid special attention to Peter Fang. He ate alone and seemed to have forgotten about the world around him.

    Michael could have gotten up to approach his father, but he didn''t move. He was not going to take the first step toward his father. Michael did not need a father anymore.

    [You are petty. Well, not that I care.] Danny murmured, his voice oddly neutral.

    ''Father knows that we are at the Nest. He could have searched for us.''

    [Are you sure you''re doing the right thing?] Danny asked, also not certain what to think about their father.

    ''Let''s say he recognized me. Why would he grit his teeth like that? He could have approached me. I can''t really think of a reason for father to re at me if he didn''t recognize me, either. That''s weird, isn''t it?'' Michael asked his brother, trying to control his emotions.

    His emotions were still a bit messy, but controlling them was fairly easy now that he was a Higher Lifeform. That was probably one of the best changes. He could control his emotions at will¡ªsomewhat.

    [I''m not sure either. Dad has always been a weird one. He was obsessed with Hesta. I never understood his obsession, but given that father was our grandfather''s disciple and everyone considered Hesta''s Curse something powerful, he might have been obsessed with her, thinking he could earn some favors from the Nest.]

    [That''s a little bit far-fetched, but father doesn''t have a Curse. Maybe he was jealous, which turned into obsession? Not that I would understand that. Curses are annoying, and I''m d that you got rid of mine.]

    Michael smiled lightly, a little forced, and turned back to his meal. He was still not done eating.

    ''Putting our father aside, where have you been? Why haven''t you said anything until now? Is everything alright?''

    Danny chuckled lightly, [You worry too much, brother. Your High Ascension changed a lot more than you can imagine. The Essence of Origin Sap spread through the Soul Sphere and stimted your Soultrait Symbols. Soul Grimoire expanded drastically. The stimtion affected my Living Soul as well. I''m stronger than before. In fact, I can probably leave the Soul Grimoire and possess some objects at this point. Not that I want that, but I could.]

    [I can probably possess a somewhatpatible vessel as well now. I don''t even need a perfect vessel. A slightlypatible one would be enough, I believe. Of course, an ideal vessel would be¡­ perfect.]

    "That''s amazing!" Michael eximed, attracting the attention of the others. His cheeks flushed, and he cleared his throat.

    "I was just talking to my brother. Sorry about that."

    ''You are ready. That''s great! Now, I only need to prepare your vessel. That is so much better than expected!''

    Michael had a lot more to say to his brother and wished to check the changes the Origin Sap''s Essence stimted in his Soul Sphere, but Selena interrupted him.

    "The Living Soul. I remember the reports about your brother," Selena spoke loud enough to Michael, forcing him to pay attention to her. Her crimson eyes stared intensely at him, which made it impossible to ignore the Nest Leader. In the first ce, it was a stupid idea to ignore her.

    "What are we doing now?" Michael asked, "Can I do whatever I want, or do I have to register somewhere? Or am I already registered? I want to experiment a little bit with my power. I haven''t gotten a good grasp of my powers, and it seems like a lot more than I''ve expected has changed. I''ll have to return to the Origin Expanse to talk to some people, take care of my territory, call someone, and so on as well. Are there some lectures I''ll have to attend or am I free to move around as I please?"

    Michael was totally fine with staying in the Nest. There were dozens of Divine Lifeforms in the Nest. Eren and Selena were incredibly powerful. They could teach him a lot, and they certainly had a lot more resources to share than the Tritan Alliance. Michael could probably advance to Tier-5 and higher ranks in no time with their connections. That was exactly what Michael needed. The best teachers and resources. The Supreme Human Alliance wasn''t going to wait for him to grow stronger.

    "You look excited," Selena chuckled, "But there is also a fiery me in your eyes. That''s cute."

    She got up from the chair and snapped lightly with her fingers. The sound barely resounded across the tables until they reached the trays. The trays disappeared before Michael could see what was going on.

    "How strong do you think you are?" Selena asked, grinning from one ear to another, "How valuable do you think you are to the Nest?"

    Michael''s lips parted, but he didn''t say anything for a few seconds. Atst, he got up as well.

    "I don''t know how strong I am or how valuable I am. I need some time to find out how strong I am. I''ll have to check my territory as well. Since six months passed in the Ancient Istion Chamber¡­a year must have passed in the Origin Expanse. I didn''t n to stay away that long."

    Michael didn''t rush into the Origin Expanse because of the Links of Loyalty. Almost all Links of Loyalty were intact and incredibly tough. His presence wasn''t required right now. It was almost like they didn''t need him. Fortunately, Michael felt only like that for a quarter of a second. He sensed their longing for their Lord and that his True Links of Loyalty missed him.

    Michael could also tell that there were many new Links of Loyalty. Many was an understatement. There were countless new Links of Loyalty. It was no wonder Michael felt like all his Soultraits were stronger than before. He had more Soul Power to tap into.

    "Ah. You seem to be mistaken about something," Evee pointed out this time, ncing at Selena, who nodded subtly.

    "What do you mean?" Michael asked, still focused on his Links of Loyalty.

    "The time dtion in the Nest is the same as in the Origin Expanse," Evee rified, still ncing at the Nest Leader from the corner of her eyes, "We are in a special ce, a location far away from most enemies. I-¡­I won''t go into detail because it''s not for me to exin the Nest''s location in detail."

    Selena nced at Evee with a raised eyebrow and lightly added what Evee didn''t say, "We''re distinctively attached to the Origin Expanse. That''s all you have to know for now."

    Michael was not sure why they trusted him so much, but it felt quite good. Still, something felt weird about their trust.

    "It''s great that you tell me about the Nest''s location and all, but what if someone kidnaps me and finds out about the Nest''s headquarters by interrogating me? I already said that I won''t get a Geas," Michael couldn''t help but feel suspicious, but Selena burst intoughter.

    She didn''t stopughing in the next few minutes, and Michael could swear that he saw tears trickling down her cheeks¡­

    because sheughed too much¡­

    ''How is she the Nest''s leader? Who allowed someone like her to lead anyone?!?'' Michael inquired in his mind, and Danny agreed.

    [She is insane.]

    Selena calmed down after a while. She stared at him.

    "Wait. You''re serious?"

    Michael responded with a curt nod, to which Selena replied with a snort.

    "Sweetheart, if anyone manages to kidnap you while you''re anywhere close to me, I wouldn''t have survived that long. I would remain long dead," She stared intently at Michael. "I don''t want you to turn into an arrogant brat since you''re quite a lovely child, but I won''t leave you alone that easily. Don''t even think about running away now. I have you in my grasp."

    Sheughed like a maniac, her eyes peering deep into Michael''s eyes until they reached his soul, or so Michael felt. He swallowed hard.

    "I know about your Soultraits, your past, your Curses, and how useful you can be to the Nest. You are the puzzle piece I''ve been looking for."

    Michael shuddered. His hair stood up to its ends. This remained getting creepy.

    "If you be arrogant, I will beat the shit out of you, though, so you better keep your head low enough until you can wipe the floor with my face ¨C or whatever motivates you to grow stronger," Selena shrugged, turning away with creepyughter.

    [Insane woman] Danny thought, while Michael had to give his utmost not to turn around and run.

    ''Yup. She probably threw her sanity away a long time ago.''

 Chapter 792 Gladiator Arena

    Chapter 792 diator Arena

    ??Michael was so focused on his chat with his brother that he missed Selena''s words. He only noticed that something was amiss when everyone stared intently at him.

    "Sorry, I was talking to my brother. Apparently, he feels stronger than before. The High Ascension affected him as well," Michael murmured.

    Selena nodded slowly but looked at Eren instead, "I recall you promised to help him create an ideal vessel for Daniel Fang."

    Eren confirmed what Selena said. She turned back to Michael, smiling devilishly from one ear to another.

    "If you exceed my expectations in a spar with one of our younger Curse Users, I will give Eren a helping hand with the vessel."

    The Neast Leader made an enticing offer, one Michael couldn''t reject. He would be a fool to reject the Nest Leader''s help. She was the strongest being he''d encountered. Her help would impact greatly.

    "Really?" Michael asked, his eyes glimmering, "Let''s go to the arena!"

    Since he had to test his powers in the first ce, Michael wouldn''t reject to spar with other Curse Users. The benefits he could obtain by exceeding Selena''s expectations were merely the cherries on the top ¨C very expensive cherries.

    Selena gestured for Michael to follow her. Eren and Evee got up as well. They didn''t have any other appointments today and were also curious about the course of events.

    The trip to the arena didn''t take long. Nheless, Michael spent the whole time focusing on the changes he''d undergone. At some point, his attentionnded on the golden droplets inside his Energy Pir. They were overflowing with energy and created a vortex that pulled the surrounding energy closer to him. Combined with Extraction Aura, Michael ended up creating a perfect cycle to absorb and annex the thick energy in the surroundings without trying. He didn''t do anything to activate the Extraction Aura or the vortex of the Origin Sap Essence.

    Inside the arena, Michael was forced to open his eyes again. The tension in the arena was suffocating. There weren''t many people in the massive halls that resembled a highly modern colosseum with various holographic screens disying various recordings and statistics.

    Michael eyed two particr screens. One showed the Nest Leader executing some technique using an unknown crimson power, while the other holographic screen showed statistics determining someone''sbat prowess.

    "Average Rating: Higher Lifeform ¨C Elite," He mumbled while taking a more in-depth look at the other statistics, "Physique - Elite. Energy Control - Elite plus. Soultrait Mastery ¨C Superior¡­"

    Michael didn''t manage to see more before Eren appeared before him. Eren stared intently at him and shook his head vividly.

    "You shouldn''t pry at other''s information. They''re not hidden well because we don''t think it''s necessary to hide our strength from each other, but that doesn''t mean we like it when others stare intensely at our Prowess Logs like you did just now," Eren exined.

    "These statistics are called prowess logs? I understand what they''re supposed to do, but why isn''t the Prowess Log more detailed? Shouldn''t it say something like "Tier-4 Higher Lifeform Common, Elite, Superior, Mythical, or the like? Isn''t it way too vague to say ''Higher Lifeform - Elite''?" Michael asked in response to Eren''s exnation.

    "The Prowess Log is more detailed than you think. The data you can download are far more detailed than the ''Elite'' or ''Superior'' you''ve seen just now," Selena said lightly as she appeared next to them, "You must have noticed that not all Higher Lifeforms are the same. The War Rune''s rank is a great way to determine how strong someone is supposed to be, but the Tier ranking is not perfect. Too many other factors determine someone''s actualbat prowess. That includes Soultraits, Techniques, spatial awareness, experience, knowledge, reaction speed, the refinement of the body, mind, and soul, and tens of other factors."

    Michael recalled how weak some Higher Lifeforms had been when he dealt with the 106 Lords in the Savannah Region. Comparing them to the High Lionhearts he''d fought, Michael could only agree. Not every Higher Lifeform was the same. Hiraku, for example, was several times stronger than the Higher Lifeforms of the Savannah Region. Yet, he wasn''t strong enough to deal with the Commanders of the Heart of the zing Lion army.

    Selena noticed the gaze in his eyes and nodded, "Of course, someone''s Tier and rank cannot be underestimated, but that will be included in the more detailed rating as well. A Higher Lifeform at the 6th Tier will have a much higher rating in most subjects since a Tier-6 Awakened has a far stronger physique, among other significant factors the War Rune strengthens by being refined."

    The Prowess Log was slightly more precise to determine someone''s actualbat prowess. That coulde in handy.

    ''I can go all out and test my rating to understand which enemies I can fight fearlessly in the Origin Expanse and who to fight with great vignce.''

    Either way, it was time to get started.

    Selena grinned when she saw the flicker of determination in his eyes and called someone over.

    "I would have loved to bring Hesta over to fight you, but Hesta is a little busy dealing with a batch of Minor Curses. I will spare the details. It''s not that interesting in the first ce," Selena waved dismissively before pointing at the young red-skinned woman. Her eyes were as dark as a moonless night, and her expression fiercer than some monsters. Michael had to suppress his urge to back away as the woman stormed toward them.

    Horns, curved inwardly, jut from the sides of her forehead, and point ears highlighted her appearance. She looked simr to the Valyrs, but her skin color was more prominent, and her eyes were¡­different.

    "This is Ligno''vsh. She will spar with you," Selena introduced her lightly, "You might as well call her Lig. She doesn''t care."

    Lig ¨C Ligno''vsh ¨C gruntend quietly, clearly not liking Selena''s words, but she didn''t dare to reject the Nest Leader. Selena patted Lig lightly on the back while her vibrant, fairly annoying smile never ceased.

    "This is your opponent. His name is Michael Fang. He is a little cute and finished his ascension to a Higher Lifeform a few hours ago," Selena said. "Don''t hold back."

    Ligno''vsh looked at Michael for a second before ignoring him.

    "You want me to spar with a Rookie, Leader?" She frowned deeply, "That''s a waste of my time. Taking him down won''t ta¨C..."

    Selena raised her hand to stop Ligno''vsh right there, "If it won''t take long to defeat him, how about you stop talking and spar with him? You can get back to your training, and I will assign more resources to your monthly allocation if you manage to take him down within sixty seconds."

    Lig''s attitude changed drastically upon hearing the offer. She rotated back to Michael and gestured politely to him.

    "Sorry about that. I need the resources."

    [I don''t like this one.] Danny announced, only for the World Serpent to resurface as well.

    [She smells familiar. I don''t like her and the Curse she''s inhibiting.]

    Michael was about to ask the World Serpent if it felt better or if it was still on an attitude trip, but he held back. It was already good enough that the World Serpent said something.

    ''I don''t like her either. Let''s beat her up.'' Michael announced, receiving several positive responses from his brother and the World Serpent.

    He used Spirit Eyes to procure a bunch of valuable pieces of information about Lig before their spar began. Michael repeated the same somewhat polite gesture to Ligno''vsh and entered the arena. The arena wasn''t anything grand. It was arge circle with a few arrays to ensure nobody would get killed. At least, that was what Michael thought before the runic arrays lit up.

    The arena disappeared as the scenery changed. Michael and Ligno''vsh appeared on a massive in. Michael was still using Spirit Eyes, but that confused him even more. He was fairly sure he was still in the same ce but couldn''t perceive Evee, Eren, or Selena. They''d disappeared.

    "Is that a pocket dimension?" Michael asked himself. The World Serpent was about to answer when Ligno''vshughed.

    "You don''t even know what the diator Arena is? The Leader was right. You are a naive little cutey~" Ligno''vsh said.

    Michael could ept that Selena spoke like that. The Nest Leader was old, probably a lot older than Michael could fathom. She was given the right to act like that because of her age, but not Ligno''vsh. Michael didn''t have the faintest clue about Ligno''vsh age, but the woman was still a Higher Lifeform. Spirit Eyes determined that the energy coursing through her wasn''t that great. She was either close to reaching the Peak of Tier-4 or already a Tier-5 powerhouse.

    That was great and undoubtedly something Michael couldn''t deal with before the High Ascension. However, Michael wasn''t scared to fight a powerhouse like her at this point anymore. If anything, it excited him.

    Michael stared intently at Ligno''vsh, who changed into abat stance. A pair of gauntlets conjured around her hands. They didn''t look special, but Spirit Eyes told Michael they were far from ordinary.

    Michael also switched to abat stance. He manifested Aethyr in its liquid state around his arms, ready to transform it into various weapons onmand.

    Threerge bulbs of light energy conjured before them. The first sttered after a second, only for the remaining bulbs to follow shortly after. The battle began the instant thest bulb burst apart.

    Curse power surged through Lig when the battle began. Her physical strength skyrocket and she appeared before at once. Michael stared at Lig and used Spiritual Domination on her. However, instead of attacking her with an ordinary spiritual attack, Michael assaulted a single point of her spirit. Spiritual Domination impacted heavily and crushed Lig''s spirit. She faltered and was about to copse when a surge of curse power flooded her mind.

    The curse power weakened Spiritual Domination''s potency and repaired Lig''s shattered defense. She groaned but altered her tactic right away. Lig punched Michael in the pit of his stomach, only for Michael''s body to disperse. She hit an afterimage.

    Michael was behind her, conjuring an azure me in his palm. The azure me expanded explosively and swallowed Lig, who charged out of the zing tidal wave of fire instantaneously.

    Lig''s reaction speed was fast. She was physically strong as well, and her control of curse power was impressive as well.

    However, Michael didn''t think Lig was special. He couldn''t tell why she was so arrogant.

    Lig''s body bulged, and her physical prowess increased drastically. She charged Michael again and materialized before him swiftly. Lig punched him, forcing Michael to teleport away once again. However, it was a faint. Lig spun around her body and kicked Michael in the face as he appeared above her.

    Michael converted the liquid Aethyr around his arms into small shields to block her kick, but the force was impressive nheless.

    ''She altered already?'' Michael tilted his head. He was still trying to get used to the changes of his body and didn''t want to use his Soultraits too much. Instead, Michael felt like using his physique, mind, and soul to the limits before going all out with his Curses and Soultraits.

    However, her kick was strong enough to hurl him through the air. He smashed into the ground and was threatened by a barrage of mighty kicks and punches as Lig followed up with a series of attacks.

    Michael teleported away using Cosmic Stride andnded on the ground not far from her. The corner of his lips curled upward.

    This wasn''t going to be easy. He didn''t expect less from the Nest.

    The Aethyr Shields converted into a one-handed scimitar and a short sword. At the same time, the Soul Grimoire manifested next to him. He used a few Soul Tears to augment Enhancement, Sacred Constitution, and his Souls.

    He felt like his skin was set on fire as he used several Enhancementyers on Sacred Constitution before using both Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique.

    The ground underneath him cracked and burst open as his raw strength skyrocketed.

    Lig frowned deeply, but the faintest hint of a smile stered her expression.

    The fight was far from over.

 Chapter 793 Spar I

    Chapter 793 Spar I

    ??Michael dived into closebat. He kicked the ground, closing the distance to Ligno''vsh near-instantly. The Aethyr Scimitar cut diagonally across Lig''s chest with terrifying velocity, but Ligno''vsh managed to twist her body and redirect his attack with a feisty punch at the de''s t side.

    Michael didn''t expect Lig to be able to keep up with him. Several Soul Tears augmented Sacred Constitution and Enhancement, pushing his physical attributes to a very high level, especially after several Enhancement Layers applied to Sacred Constitution. Adding Heavenly Beast Physique and Foundation Break, Michael was certain that no 4th Tier would be able topete with him in terms of physical prowess.

    Even 5th Tier Awakened shouldn''t have an easy time.

    Despite the slight surprise, Michael cut Lig with the short sword on his left. The de disappeared from Lig''s sight when the Aethyr Scimitar shot out and reappeared only when it was already toote.

    However, instead of cutting deeply into Lig''s side, the Aethyr short sword was barely enough to scratch her. Michael added Qi to the weapon des, reinforcing their sharpness and sturdiness before he continued attacking. He pushed further, putting more pressure on Lig, who retreated two steps before entering herbat stance again.

    She eyed Michael more vigntly than before and circted more curse power through her body. Several brownish Cursed Seals manifested. Michael wouldn''t have seen them under normal circumstances because the Cursed Seals covered her chest, back, and legs, but Spirit Eyes showed him enough about the Cursed Seals to visualize them before his bare eyes.

    Lig manifested eight Cursed Seals. They wererger than Michael''s ordinary Seals and more potent as well. Lig''s body bulked, and her skin threatened to tear apart as her physical strength skyrocketed. Michael didn''t even consider giving her the luxury to power up mid-battle. He appeared beside her and whirled around Lig like a tempest.

    The Aethyr des cut deeper into Lig''s skin and infused a trace of Qi into the wound upon contact. The Qi entered the cuts and burst apart, releasing a second impact of the initial attack. Qi''s second impact was more efficient than expected. The shallow cuts all over Lig''s body transformed into mild wounds that would require some time to regenerate.

    At least, that was how it was supposed to be. Lig didn''t mind the wounds. She focused on evading the most serious blows and allowed the weaker attacks to hit her. The second impact issued by Qi was unexpected, but it was not something Lig couldn''t handle. It was much easier to handle than one might think. The Cursed Seals finished manifesting and engraved deep into Lig''s skin.

    Her physical prowess stopped increasing at some point, but the point she reached was more than enough to fight Michael head-on. In fact, Michael was almost certain that she had an advantage in terms of reaction speed and agility. She didn''t move much faster, but Lig managed to evade most of Michael''s attacks after watching him for a while.

    Lig adjusted to Michael''sbat style at a ridiculous pace, taking the newly ascended Higher Lifeform by surprise. Michael''s eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he used Spirit Eyes to determine her movements. He used Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis to analyze her movements and predict where she would move a quarter of a secondter. Michael used this prediction to the advantage and changed his attack pattern.

    He quickly adjusted his tactic andbat style and cut Lig twice in a row. Unfortunately, the cuts were even less notable than before. Even the second impact of Qi wasn''t as impressive as before. Lig''s skin was more resilient than before. Her Cursed Seals enhanced her strength, speed, and reaction speed and reinforced her skin''s durability.

    That was not all, either. Michael didn''t pay much attention to it before, but the wounds he''d inflicted stopped bleeding. He couldn''t see too much through the dried blood covering her wounds, but with Spirit Eyes and a little focus, Michael managed to take a peek at the wounds, or where they were supposed to be wounds. The cuts, both mild and minor, had been healed. If not for the blood covering her sides and arms, it would look like Lig was never injured.

    ''She couldn''t heal earlier. The Cursed Seals reinforce everything about her body, including her natural regeneration.'' Michael noted, the corner of his lips twitching, ''Interesting.''

    The fight with Lig intensified as she started to counterattack. She analyzed Michael''s attacks within seconds and adjusted to them way too fast, while her attacks became more ferocious. Lig managed to block his attacks, move closer to punch him in the gut once, and immediately kick him across the in.

    Michael could have used Cosmic Stride to pull away, but he desired to test the limits of his physical strength. Until he was hurled through the air from a fierce kick, that is. He was unwilling to be beaten one-sidedly, especially with the Nest Leader watching. Selena promised to give Eren a helping hand with Danny''s vessel if Michael exceeded her expectations. He couldn''t risk giving up on such a terrific offer.

    Michael jumped up, teleported beside Lig, and stabbed her twice. This time, the Aethyr des were covered in severalyers of Enhancement and a thicker Qi membrane. The des cut deep into her sides right before Michael shot the Qi into Lig. The Qi membrane, reinforced by Enhancement, disappeared inside Lig, where it exploded, tearing a chunk of Lig''s upper body apart.

    Lig seemed to ignore the pain. Instead of retreating, she punched Michael in the face, only to encounter a fierce gust, highlypressed and incredibly fast, colliding with the side of her gauntlet, forcefully altering her punch''s trajectory. The gauntlet missed Michael''s face by a hair''s breadth. It was too close if anyone was to ask Michael, but it was enough for Michael to twist his body, grasp her gauntlet, and use Lig''s umted momentum against her.

    He hurled her over his shoulder in a single ¨C fast and smooth ¨C motion. Lig should have smashed hard on the ground with her back, bleeding severely from the missing chunks of flesh, but her wounds had already healed, the chunks of flesh healed without leaving a trace of the injury. However, that was not all. Lig managed to twist her body mid-air when Michael threw her over his body. She circted curse power through her veins and utilized the momentum of Michael''s throw tond on her feet.

    Michael noticed something was wrong when he felt her soles touching the ground. He let go of her and released several earthen spikes to smash heavily into her thighs and abdomen while leaping into the distance. The ground cracked, and the earthen spikes fell apart when Lig stood there.

    She spun around on her axis and smiled at Michael.

    "I never knew it was possible to be this strong as a newly ascended High Awakened. But then again, you are a Fang. Hesta is also a monstrous talent," Lig said, her attitude far too nonchnt for Michael''s liking. Something was off, "I think you are more of a monster than Hesta, though. I was forced to manifest a bunch of Cursed Seals while you''re still using your Soultraits, of which you have too many. Who in the cosmos has that many high-ranked Soultraits to use in the first ce?!"

    Michael shrugged lightly, "That should be me."

    He smiled at Lig, who snorted.

    "I don''t like people with powerful Soultraits."

    "That''s a shame," Michael responded, "I have many powerful Soultraits."

    "Indeed¡­ What a shame," Lig agreed while the presence around her intensified.

    The air crackled, and Michael''s Spirit Eyes detected that the fabric of reality disyed signs of being under too much pressure. It didn''t take much more to tear the fabric of reality apart. That was something new to Michael.

    He tensed up and possessed to circte origin energy through his body to calm down.

    All of a sudden, a massive amount of curse power erupted from Lig. The ground around her ripped apart as if a bomb impacted. Rubble and debris were hurled in all directions, creating a thin smokescreen that shrouded Lig, whose body expanded.

    Michael swallowed hard as he observed her grow stronger. He could have attacked, but his instincts told him to stay away.

    ''Are we going all out?'' He questioned himself, only for Danny to answer instead.

    [Of course, we are!]

 Chapter 794 Spar II

    Chapter 794 Spar II

    ??Even now, Ligno''vsh hadn''t used her Soultrait. The powers of her Curse were the only things Lig utilized.

    No, that wasn''t entirely true. Michael noticed something he hadn''t paid much attention to before.

    ''She adjusts her fighting style way too fast. I barely switch to another fighting style, and she''s already adjusted. Even if her Cursed Seals reinforce her reaction time, she shouldn''t have a better reaction time than I have with Spirit Eyes'' Prognosis. I can analyze where she''ll move before she takes action.''

    Michael figured that Ligno''vsh Soultrait allowed her to analyze his fighting styles quickly and create suitable counters in no time.

    Despite not knowing the name of her Soultrait, Michael could tell he was in the right direction. It was a Soultrait that allowed Ligno''vsh to adjust quickly inbat. Her martial arts were also fairly strong. The force of her kicks and punches wasn''t something Michael could endure easily. However, the worst was Lig''s control of curse power. It was incredibly high and gave Lig ess to do a wide variety of things with her Curse.

    That was how she ended up replicating an aura made of curse power. The curse power revolved around her and destroyed everything in its wake. Lig wasn''t affected by the curse power, and she didn''t have to focus too much on the aura either. Her mind wasn''t pressured enough to affect the attention lingering on Michael and every move he made.

    She shot forward and appeared before Michael, her curse aura enveloping him. Michael''s skin prickled, and he could have sworn that his skin threatened to be torn into shreds if not for its high resilience. For a moment, he thought Ligno''vsh had the same curse power. He wondered if her Curse could replicate the cursed power of the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse, but that didn''t make much sense.

    Lig''s control of her curse power was too great for her to use two replicated powers this well. In the first ce, the Wolf Curse was several times stronger than the curse aura enveloping him. The curse aura tore on every inch of his body, trying to tear him apart, but it wasn''t powerful enough to actually turn him in to shreds. The Wolf Curse was capable of that.

    Michael focused back on the battle. He transformed the Aethyr into a shield and a thin longsword and yed around a little bit, switching Aethyr''s form as he pleased to block and alter Lig''s attacks. Her attacks, however, were far more ferocious than before. Every punch apanied a trace of highlypressed curse power. Spirit Eyes determined that the curse power in her punches and kicks had been altered, converted to something far more destructive, but Michael didn''t have enough time to analyze everything in detail.

    Michael was pushed back, but applying a Soul Tear and two Enhancementyers on Spirit Eyes helped him predict Lig''s attacks faster. He learned to adapt to Lig''s rapid adjustments and readjusted almost immediately. Both Michael and Lig adapted to each other''s actions. They fought fiercely but rarely managed tond a blow.

    Michael predicted where Ligno''vsh was going to change his move all of a sudden, but Lig had already predicted that. She released a burst ofpressed curse power into his face, replicating a fierce punch. Michael sensed the curse powering for his face a quarter of a second before he was struck. That was enough to utilize Cosmic Stride and vanish from Lig''s sight. The curse power struck an earthen wall instead.

    Michael released several azure fireballs alongside a congregated mass of darkness. The fireballs exploded first, causing minor damage to the curse aura, whereas the mass of darkness exploded in a burst, spreading darkness in all directions. Lig shot forward and leaped outside the darkness confinement, only to see dozens of Qi Swords around her. A dazzling light filled her surroundings, forcing Lig to close her eyes right before the Qi Swords plunged down, ready to pierce through her.

    The first Qi Sword was about to strike when the curse aura intensified. Lig groaned in pain as she urged more curse power to fuel the aura. The Qi Swords were destroyed, mercilessly shattered rather than disintegrated, and Ligno''vsh opened her eyes again. Her eyes weren''t as ck as the moonless night anymore. Something about them had changed, darkish-crimson threads passed through her eyes. Rage filled her entire being.

    [She is losing control of her Curse.] The World Serpent noted, [She is weaker than expected. To think that she cannot even control the Behemoth. But then again, it would have been great if your willpower was as weak as this girl''s. Hmm¡­maybe not. That wolf bastard would be in charge of your body in that case. I guess you are better than that bastard.]

    Michael didn''t expect the World Serpent to start talking to him, but he didn''t dislike it. The only thing he disliked was that the World Serpent seemed to be ying with his mind. It urged him subconsciously to activate the Serpent Seals and get moving.

    However, Michael was not yet willing to use the Major Seals of his Curses. He was ready to use them but didn''t want to use them just yet. The timing was off. Furthermore, Michael had yet to y with Extraction and his other Soultraits.

    Michael had previously forgotten that he was supposed to impress the Nest Leader. He enjoyed the spar with Ligno''vsh and would continue to experiment with his new powers until Lig would copse.

    Ligno''vsh was about to lose control of her body. The Cursed showed signs of overwhelming her. Michael was curious how much Lig''s fighting style would change once the Curse took over. Would she be stronger, or would her fighting style be filled with wild, instinctive movements?

    It was an exciting thought, but Michael soon understood it didn''t matter. Lig still had control of her body, and contrary to his beliefs, the internal fight between her and the Curse empowered Lig. Her skin burst open, spilling blood in all directions as her power skyrocketed. However, the torn skin regenerated almost instantaneously. Michael wasn''t given much time to use the opportunity against her.

    Suddenly, she was much stronger and faster. Even her Soultrait seemed to have been overclocked, granting her even better control of the overall situation.

    The onught of attacks continued. A barrage of attacks followed another. Michael was pushed back, but Spirit Eyes was fully activated. He didn''t sustain a heavy injury, but the bruises covering his body were growing more in number every second.

    Michael was under a lot of pressure. He was forced to use every bit of power coursing through his body to keep up with Lig. However, his physical strength ¨C augmented by Sacred Constitution, Enhancement, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Foundation Break ¨C wasn''t enough. Michael had to use his mind as well. He had to change his fighting style every few seconds. He had to modify the adjustments made by Ligno''vsh.

    It was tiresome, and his back was previously drenched in sweat, but the corner of his lips curled upward.

    He was overjoyed. The spar was exciting. It was exhrating how strong he''d grown and how powerful the Curse Users in the Nest were.

    This was going to be exciting.

    ''Are you ready?'' Michael asked in his mind.

    The response he received was not great, but it was more than enough. The World Serpent hissed while the Wolf Curse growled at him.

    ''That is nice to hear. It''s lovely to have you guys back. Let''s go for it!''

    The spar was yet not over.

 Chapter 795 Spar III

    Chapter 795 Spar III

    ??Since Michael was forced to use Foundation Break to keep up with the massive physical augmentation Ligno''vsh''s Curse provided, he was losing lifeforce consistently. His lifeforce was nowhere close to being drained, and it would require a lot more than using Foundation Break at the first stage to suck him dry, but Michael didn''t like where the fight was going.

    He sustained more injuries in thest few minutes, and it was clear that the fight was going nowhere a€¡° at least, not in a good direction for him.

    Michael used his control of the Curses and their, more or less forced, agreement to manifest several Seals. He didn''t tap into the power of their Major Seals yet since he had no idea if the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent would gain an opening to infiltrate his mind, but Michael would switch to the Major Seals soon enough. He was just getting used to the new sensation the Seals exuded before going all out.

    A few Cursed Seals manifested all over his chest, neck, and around his eyes while the Serpent Seals on the Living Image glowed. A burst of power swept through Michael as the World Serpent gave him ess to a minuscule portion of its power. The power spread through the Cursed Seals and entered Michael''s body, empowering him. His physical attributes skyrocketed, and he made use of them right away.

    He pushed back against Ligno''vsh, executed a few well-ced shes, and kicked her in the sides. Spikes manifested from enhanced Qi sprouting out of his leg right before the kick impacted. The Qi punctured through Lig''s natural defense and erupted, taking Lig by surprise.

    Yet, despite being taken by surprise, Lig managed to regain herposure quickly. She didn''t expect Michael to have the same power. Vignce overcame her, yet the situation changed once again. Michael continued pushing her back, all while a golden hue erupted from within him.

    He unleashed the Extraction Aura using True Extraction after augmenting it with a Soul Tear and several Enhancementyers. His Cursed Seals empowered the Extraction Aura, its potency much higher than it used to be. Even though Michael had only manifested four Cursed Seals, True Extraction was considerably stronger.

    The Extraction Aura spread and crushed Lig''s curse aura as if it didn''t exist.

    Extraction Aura''s main advantage was its continued spreading without Michael''s intervention. He didn''t have to keep supplying the Extraction Aura for it to spread out further. All he had to do was configure how much of the devoured energy would be distributed to maintain and expand the Extraction Aura. The rest entered Michael''s body to replenish his rapidly declining energy pool.

    The surroundings were sucked dry of life and energy. Golden tentacles shot out of the ground. They coiled around Lig''s leg, all while Insert was unleashed to the fullest, creating an opening for traces of True Extraction. The traces entered her body and drained her origin energy slowly. At first, the energy drained by the traces was insignificant. It was barely enough to empower the traces and expand them by a small margin. However, once enough traces of True Extraction entered her body, Michael went all out. He created hundreds of icicles infused with traces of True Extraction. Minuscule azure mes emerged behind the icicles. The fire exploded, hurling the highly resilient icicles toward Lig.

    Since the curse aura was no longer present, Lig was forced to evade the icicles actively. She tried to evade them for a second, only to realize there were too many icicles. She couldn''t avoid getting hit by all of them. Therefore, Lig unleashed a burst of curse power to coat her skin with a curse power membrane. At least, that was what she was trying to do.

    Michael figured out her n before she could execute it properly. His Spirit Eyes saw more than enough to predict her course of action. Therefore, Michael bombarded her with Spiritual Domination, which was empowered by ten Enhancementyers. Even though the ten Enhancementyers disappeared after a quarter of a second to avoid wasting too much energy, the attack seeded. Spiritual Domination impacted heavily, disrupting Lig''s focus.

    She lost control of the curse power coursing through her. A wave of curse power shot toward her head to block the aftereffect of the spiritual attack, but it was already toote. The sudden attack had already inflicted the most significant portion of the damage.

    The icicles shattered upon colliding with Lig''s thick and highly durable skin. Still, the traces of Extraction were released alongside the freezing mist that filled the vicinity all of a sudden. Michael shot into the freezing mist without hesitation. He used Insert on the freezing mist and the traces of Extraction with Lig as the target and appeared before her. She couldn''t see Michael, but he could see Lig. Her perception was incredible, thus she noticed Michael right before he could thrust his longsword through her chest.

    But Michael never nned for the thrust to seed. He pushed further, the Aethyr Shield transforming into a gauntlet. Michael punched Lig in the face, and tenyers of Enhancement were applied to his arm and upper body. The impact was heavy enough to hurl the woman through the air.

    A gust of wind swept the freezing mist to follow closely behind Lig, who recognized the danger of Michael''s attacks toote. Too many traces of Extraction had entered her body alongside the freezing mist. She...was on the losing side.

    The Extraction traces weren''t overly potent against another Curse User, but Lig''s internal defense system was less extensive and efficient than her skin and flesh. She could block cannonballs with her bare body, easily at that, and regenerated faster than most beings could dream of, but it was difficult to expel something from within her body.

    Lig tilted her head for a second and frowned deeply. Her energy was sapped much faster than she''d hoped for, and her lifeforce didn''t fare much better. She could block some of the lifeforce drainages, but that was it. Her eyes widened slightly before they narrowed into slits. The crimson lines in her eyes intensified.

    Lig''s curse power changed drastically. Itpressed and was altered. It gained other properties. The curse power was more intense than before, and it flushed through Lig, who grit her teeth in unbearable pain¡­as she annihted the Extraction traces by coursing highly destructive curse power through her body.

    Lig obliterated herself to get rid of the Extraction traces. That was insane. It was almost as insane as ¡ª [She is a maniac like you!] Danny eximed. [We found another idiot!]

    Michael cursed his brother. Danny distracted him just enough to miss that Ligno''vsh''s eyes were more crimson than ck. She growled and shot toward Michael much faster than before. Her bones cracked as they broke from the tremendous strength she utilized to reach him.

    [The Behemoth took over.] The World Serpent confirmed Michael''s suspicion.

    ''It wants to kill me,'' He added inwardly upon sensing Ligno''vsh''s ¨C no. the Behemoth''s ¨C bloodlust.

    Michael had no time to waste. His life was on the line. He used Cosmic Stride to increase the distance to Lig, only for her to appear before him again.

    He acted instinctively and unleashed the Major Seals'' power.

    His form cracked and expanded as something within and around him changed. The Extraction Aura transformed, and everything around him was devoured on the spot¡­and transformed into power.

    A primal roar escaped Michael''s mouth as the Major Seals manifested all over his body. Faintly glimmering outlines of two massive creatures formed around Michael, whose form cracked loudly as signs of Curse Transformation appeared on his body.

    The halos around him roared at the Behemoth controlling Lig. She froze in her tracks, only to find Michael''s hand around her neck. His hand tightened, and the urge to use just enough pressure to snap her neck overcame him.

    However, before Michael could do something, a heavy presence crashed down on Michael.

    Selena appeared next to Michael. She grasped his hand with ease and removed him from Lig, whose eyes widened in shock as the ck in them returned.

    Selena chuckled lightly, but her eyes drilled dangerously into the pits of Ligno''vsh''s soul. The gentleness in her eyes returned only as her attention returned to Michael, who''d already retracted the curse strength he''d unleashed. He never lost control of his body, though the Curses urged him to eliminate Ligno''vsh.

    But that was understandable. The Behemoth Curse wanted to kill them first. Michael didn''t see anything wrong with that, and Selena seemed to be of the same opinion.

    "You have a very interesting Major Seal there. Your Cursed Seals are smaller, but they''re very powerful. But that''s to be expected from one of the strongest offspring of your bloodline."

 Chapter 796 The Wolf and the Serpent

    Chapter 796 The Wolf and the Serpent

    ??Michael was still trying to adapt to the changes in his body, but he had near-perfect control of the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent. Of course, Michael couldn''t unleash the full potential of his Seals without them, yet it wasn''t a big issue to urge them to help him.

    They were easily convinced to join the battle against Ligno''vsh and her Behemoth Curse. Much easier than Michael had anticipated now that he was getting a better grasp of the situation and the changes that urred to his body, mind, and soul after ascending to a Higher Lifeform.

    The expansive in transformed back into an ordinary-looking arena circle. The surroundings didn''t look special, which made Michael wonder where the runic array required for the teleportation into the diator Arena was hidden.

    The expansive in wasn''t in the same space as the Nest. Nheless, it wasn''t in a different space either. Michael guessed that the diator Arena was in a small pocket dimension connected to the arena. But even if that was the case, Michael should have been able to see the runic array responsible for the transportation into the pocket dimension. That wasn''t the case, though.

    "You don''t have to understand the mechanics of the diator Arena. Yet, at least. Evee and the others can teach you a lot in the near future. Yourck of knowledge can be cured. It''s not an incurable disease after all," Selena chuckled lightly. She grinned at Michael, who frowned deeply.

    Selena was kind, but her constantughing was way too artificial in some instances. It intensified his urge to curse Selena. Her artificialughing and bad act made Michael sick, and he didn''t even know Selena for a long time. He wondered how he was supposed to be trained by her at some point.

    [She is powerful. No matter how insane your teachers are, there won''t be any issues as long as they train you decently well.] The World Serpent hissed. Michael sensed how content the World Serpent was at this point. That was weird, given the World Serpent had been throwing a tantrum not long ago.

    [If he survives, you mean.] Danny responded to the World Serpent, who hissed in acknowledgment.

    [Survival is the essential requirement of everything other than death.]

    Michael was not sure if that was correct, but he didn''t bother starting a fight with the World Serpent. Not over something like that, at least.

    He closed his eyes for a moment to enter his mindspace, where he found the Major Seals levitating next to the Soul Sphere. This was Michael''s first time seeing the Seals together with the Energy Pir, the Soul Shere, and Aethyr. It wasn''t supposed to be something special, but Michael felt different upon sensing the narrow gap between the Major Seals and the Soul Sphere. It felt¡­good.

    Michael nced at the Major Seals for a moment. He inspected the constetion of the Wolf Curse''s first Major Seal and observed as it shifted around. The constetion of the Wolf Curse didn''t depict a single picture. It showed a scenery of golden twinkling Cursed Seals.

    It was difficult to get a good grasp of the constetion, and it was quite challenging to pinpoint what he was seeing, but the meaning came to Michael''s mind without trying. It was imnted deep into his head.

    One word surfaced in his mind when he thought about the essence of the power of the Wolf Curse''s Major Seal.

    Permute.

    Permute. To change thoroughly. Michael was not sure what he was supposed to think about the word revolving around his mind, but it made a lot of sense when he thought about it now. He used the Major Seal only once, less than a minute ago at that, but he was confident to have figured it out, theoretically, that is.

    Permute allowed him to change everything he''d extracted into power. Michael had yet to get a better grasp of the conditions and limits of Permute, but the word said enough about its effect. It would change something into something different, entirely.

    The World Serpent''s Major Seal was not that different. It was just that Michael didn''t expect it to have such a power. It''s Major Seal showed the World Serpent''s head. There weren''t any details. Instead, the Serpent Seals were tightly pressed together, forming a darkish-green symbol of the World Serpent''s head.

    Whereas the Serpent Seal couldn''t do much more than augment Michael''s physical traits, the Major Seal was on apletely different level.

    At first, Michael thought that the Major Seal''s name was Swallow. He was fairly certain that the World Serpent''s power was to swallow. In retrospect, it would make a lot of sense as to why Michael was so hungry. However, that wasn''t all the Major Seal was. Another word followed Swallow.

    Swallow Domain.

    The World Serpent''s Major Seal was capable of swallowing everything within the User''s domain. Everything too weak to oppose the horrifying force of Swallow Domain would be devoured.

    Swallow Domain was quite powerful against weaker enemies. Michael could form the True Extraction Domain and focus on spreading it through the entire battlefield before using Swallow Domain. The amount of curse power drained to utilize Swallow Domain wouldn''t be low the more expansive the space it had to devour, but Michael was fairly sure that the World Serpent had more than a little curse power to spare if it desired to help Michael.

    Michael wouldn''t rely on the World Serpent but had ess to enough curse power to utilize Swallow Domain on a smaller scale. Combined with Permute, Michael was fairly certain he could form something terrifying.

    He could unleash Swallow Domain to devour everything in his surroundings before utilizing Permute on the things he had devoured to transform them into power, just like he did instinctively when Ligno''vsh, under the Behemoth Curse''s control, attacked him.

    Michael smiled upon realizing how well-tuned the powers of his Major Seals were. Despite hating each other, the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent''s powers were highlypatible. That was odd, but who was Michael toin about something this nice?

    "Hey, Michael! I''m talking to you!! No daydreaming in front of your new boss!"

    Michael had forgotten that he was yet in the arena, and that Ligno''vsh and Selena stood before him. Selena stared at him, one eyebrow raised. She didn''t look displeased and was more interested in what Michael had been doing than listening to her. However, Michael wasn''t going to satiate her curiosity.

    "Sorry, I was a little bit upied."

    "upied?" Selena asked, but Michael merely smiled. He trusted Selena a fair bit, but he had heard and seen enough things about the Nest and its members to stay vignt.

    The Nest was countless times superior than the Supreme Human Alliance, but that didn''t mean the Nest was perfect. They wanted to eliminate his brother because he was a threat ¨C a Hellbound Cataclysm ¨C, without trying to assist him instead of going for the ''kill'' right away. It made sense, but Michael wasn''t going to be forgiving when it came to his brother.

    Other than that, the Nest was filled with oddballs. It was almost like every Curse User lost some sane brain cells while fighting their Curse for supremacy over their very own body.

    [I know that you know that I know you know, but I have to say it, either way.] Danny appeared in his mind again.

    [You are the weirdest of them all.]

    ''Thanks, brother¡­for nothing¡­''

 Chapter 797 Guidance Punching Bag

    Chapter 797 Guidance Punching Bag

    ??"You weren''t desperate enough to go all out, but that''s enough for me," Selena said lightly before giving him an approving nod, "You have surpassed my expectations."

    The Nest Leader didn''t expect too much from the way it looked. If his short spar with Ligno''vsh was enough to take her by surprise, Michael wondered what Selena would say once he got used to his body and new powers. He guessed that hisbat prowess would skyrocket once he figured out the limit of the Major Seals, his Soultraits, his body, mind, and soul, and how to control curse power.

    He was in charge of the Seals but had yet to learn how to control curse power properly. It shouldn''t be too difficult for him, but Michael never bothered trying to control curse power because he was never in charge of the Seals in the first ce. The Wolf Curse and World Serpent had to grant him ess to their powers before he could use the Seals before. If they blocked him, Michael wouldn''t have been able to use their powers. That was slightly different now.

    "What do you think?" Michael asked Selena, who said he''d exceeded her expectations, only to look like thest 10 minutes bored her to death.

    "Your Major Seals seem useful. They''repatible with your fighting style and allow you to grow even stronger. Other than that, you are stronger than I expected. My guess was off the charts. I''m almost sad. Ligno''vsh should have wiped the floor with you, yet you prevailed."

    Selena shrugged. Despite saying that her guess was off the chart, Selena wasn''t smiling anymore.

    ''What the hell is that woman thinking? I cannot get into her mind,'' Michael cursed inwardly, trying to figure out what the Nest Leader was thinking. He hated not being able to understand what was going on in someone''s mind.

    "The Prowess Log is urate, right?" Ligno''vsh asked, her eyes darting to one of the holographic screens. A screen showing Michael and various statistics revolving around hisbat prowess.

    "Michael Fang ¨C Higher Lifeform ¨C Elite Plus," Michael mumbled, tilting his head. He considered himself to have the samebat prowess as a Mythical Existence when he was at the 3rd Tier because he was strong enough to fight Tier-4 Higher Lifeforms. The Elite Plus tag didn''t shock him too much. However, Ligno''vsh reacted differently.

    "Did you really just ascend?" She asked, which Michael confirmed lightly, "It has been a few hours since Ipleted thest bits of my ascension."

    "A¡­few hours?!" Ligno''vsh stared at Michael for a good while, her ck eyes studying him intensely from head to toe. She looked over to Selena for confirmation. All Selena did was nod, but that was enough for Ligno''vsh.

    "A recently advanced Higher Lifeform already has an Elite Plus rating. Where is justice?" She cursed, "Fuck this shit¡­"

    Ligno''vsh got up and excused herself before leaving the arena. Her mood was in the gutters. Today''s training was over. That was for sure.

    "Do you need help adjusting to the changes in your body?" Selena asked, not minding Ligno''vsh storming off.

    "In a spar?" Michael asked, curious how strong Selena was.

    However, the Nest Leaderughed and shook her head, "You can go all out against me while I block your attacks. I''ll give you some useful pieces of advise as you attack me. My pressure will be more than enough to force you to adapt faster to your body''s changes."

    Michael felt like asking about Danny''s vessel and the likes, but he decided to postpone asking. He was not sure that Selena would break her promise. Something about Selena''s attitude and eyes told Michael he could rest at ease.

    "That sounds great," Michael responded instead.

    Selene sped in her hands, "Perfect. Your guidance punching bag is waiting for some feisty hits!"

    Michael changed into abat stance while Selena didn''t move.

    The first of many training sessions began.

    Little did Michael know that the ''guidance punching bag'' was a lot fiercer than the name suggested.

    **

    Several long, seemingly never-ending days passed, yet Michael was still in the arena with Selena.

    Eren chose to visit them once every day to check on them and see if the Nest Leader had killed Michael or if Michael had broken down. However, Michael was still alive and well¡ªas a young man overflowing with anger and frustration could be.

    Michael had transformed into a miserable entity. His hair was messy, and his clothes were drenched in sweat. At this point, Eren didn''t know if the sweat was old or new. Maybe it was both. Michael had probably been sweating a lot for thest few days, as everyone was when they went through the same terrifying procedure.

    Selena called herself a guidance punching bag, but her actions were not even an inch short of being considered torture. Maybe calling it torture was better. It suited the situation well.

    The Nest Leader didn''t allow Michael to leave the arena until he struck her once. Unfortunately, Michael''s attacks never reached her. Well, that wasn''t entirely true. The attacks reached Selena sometimes, but she had to lift merely one finger to block and destroy Michael''s mightiest blows.

    At first, Michael was excited. He was overly motivated to use Selena as a punching bag. He''d hoped to force her into revealing more of her power, to see what she was capable of. The initial excitement died down quickly once the Nest Leader blocked a handful of attacks nonchntly with a single finger. She wasn''t even trying to make it look like the attack affected her. It wasn''t difficult. Catching Michael''s attacks was theplete opposite of difficult. There wasn''t anything easier in the whole cosmos.

    That was how Michael felt after the first few hours passed. Michael grew additional frustrated as time passed. At some point, desperation, alongside anger, of course, added to the equation.

    "He is improving," Eren noted, a sliver of curiosity shing through his eyes.

    Eren never stayed long to watch Selena torture Michael. He was not a fan of the Nest Leader''s initial tests and avoided staying too long. Nheless, one of themanders was forced to check on them once every 24 hours to intervene and rescue the newly ascended Curse User when his battle spirit was about to shatter into smithereens.

    That wasn''t the case for Michael just yet. If anything, Michael was getting angrier and additional motivated to strike the Nest Leader as hard as possible. His anger and spirit didn''t help him actually hit the Nest Leader, but they aided his improvements. Michael improved rapidly. He was doing much better than expected. Not many could continue attacking the Nest Leader without any sleep or major breaks for several days.

    Michael''s biggest advantage was that he never retracted the Extraction Aura. He didn''t care about the damages the Extraction Aura caused to the Nest. He was angry and used the Extraction Aura to ensure his Energy Pir was always filled. That way, his attacks would always be fully charged ¨C not that this helped to deal with Selena. It merely helped Michael adapt to the changes in his body much faster than expected.

    Still, Michael was driven into insanity. He was getting additional desperate as more time passed¡­just like everyone Sleena had tested ¨C tortured ¨C before. She continued blocking Michael''s attacks easily and acted like an ant''s bite would be more harmful than Michael''s attacks.

    "You realize I will keep you here until you break my defense, right?" Selena asked,ughing lightly, "Or if you force me to use additional than one finger."

    She nced mischievously at him, "Isn''t that a great concession? Maybe you can make me move a little because this is getting boring."

    [What a bitch,] Danny murmured, [Didn''t we want to go to the Origin Expanse to inspect the changes? You have yet to call Alice and your friends as well¡­]

    Michael grit his teeth, a growl escaping his lips.

    "I know!"

 Chapter 798 Essence

    Chapter 798 Essence

    ??It was obvious that Michael''s patience was worn out after several days of trying to break through Selena''s defense. It wouldn''t have been that bad if the Nest Leader had remained silent, but she provoked him tirelessly. It was almost like the Nest Leader initiated the ''training'' session solely to provoke him.

    "Is that all you got? I expected more from you when I watched you fight Ligno''vsh. Maybe I was mistaken about you," Selena mocked in a light tone. Herment wasn''t anything special, butbined with the otherments and her promise to never let him enter the Origin Expanse if he didn''t break her defense, were enough to anger him ever so slightly.

    [You''re humiliating us...] The World Serpent dered at some point. Michael was about to respond to that when the Wolf Curse growled in agreement.

    However, the Wolf Curse was also annoyed at Selena. It was obvious that she was stronger. She was an old granny who''d lived longer than most members of the Nest together. How was someone like Michael supposed to injure her?

    Humiliated and annoyed at both Michael and Selena, the Wolf Curse and World Serpent chose to help a little. They aided Michael.

    Michael sensed his ess to the Major Seals improved dramatically. He didn''t have any issues controlling the Major Seals in the first ce, but the Wolf Curse and World Serpent''s approval improved every aspect of the Major Seals. The improvements were significant as well.

    Michael tapped into the power of the Major Seals while retrieving a few hundred Imperial Coins from the War Rune storage. Once the Imperial Coins spread out before him, Michael executed Swallow Domain. The Major Seal manifested as a massive, shadowy serpent maw that swallowed everything in its surroundings with one bite. The Imperial Coins disappeared alongside the surrounding energy and a big chunk of the arena ground.

    Swallow Domain would have devoured Selena as well if she wasn''t as overwhelmingly powerful as she was. The Nest Leader blocked Swallow Domain, and Michael could have sworn that Selena considered breaking the powers unleashed by Swallow Domain the instance he''d released them. But instead of doing so, Selena watched Michael. She didn''t move an inch and observed the scenario that unfolded before her.

    Everything Swallow Domain consumed could be instantly destroyed, but that wasn''t what Michael had nned. He utilized Permute alongside Swallow Domain to consume the Imperial Coins and everything that Swallow Domain had devoured as well.

    He transformed half of the Imperial Coins and the purified origin energy they contained into a massive boost in his physical strength. His body fumed and expanded as the raw force of his body skyrocketed. His skin stretched, his muscles expanded, and his senses improved drastically. However, Michael was still not done. He was just getting started.

    Permute transformed the remaining Imperial Coins into Soul Power. Meanwhile, the origin energy stored within the Imperial coins was purified using Permute. Michael deactivated Swallow Domain and Permute right after to release the Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals, forming the Major Seals'' constetion. He activated the Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals, manifesting them all over his body to gain their basic effect.

    The Serpent Seals enhanced Michael''s physical strength even further. He reached a point far beyond anything he had ever been. The power coursing through his body was exhilirating. It was far more power than he would have needed to eliminate Ligno''vsh.

    ''I should spar with her again now that I''m more used to my new powers!'' Michael told himself while transforming a significant portion of his purified origin energy and Soul Power into Soul Energy.

    Even though he never managed to create a high-ranked Soul Technique for Extraction, Michael''s understanding of Extraction was deep enough to create a decently Elite ss Soul Technique on the spot. He wasn''t alone, either.

    Despite being petty enough tough at Michael''s misfortune to encounter Selena, the Wolf Curse decided to help Michael. It gained a lot from helping him. A lot more than Michael realized.

    The Wolf Curse unleashed a portion of its power to spread through Michael, which made it much easier to guide Soul Energy through the correct pathways. His Soul Energy was divided into two dozen small streams circted through his body simultaneously. It was only a few seconds, but dividing his mind to control two dozen Soul Energy streams simultaneously wasn''t that easy. Fortunately, Selena never attacked. All she did was block his attacks.

    That was one of the few advantages on Michael''s side. The Soul Energy streams circted through his body and pulled back to Extraction''s Soultrait Symbol. Michael infused them into the Soultrait Symbol in proper order, while also manifesting a spear made of Qi. The javelin wasn''t anything special. The only thing making it special was that Michaelpressed a decent amount of Qi to form it. Other than that, it wasn''t too special.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the Qi javelin. He focused on the empowerment of True Extraction. The Soul Energy formed from devouring a few hundred Imperial Coins was churned rapidly, dramatically augmenting True Extraction. Michael couldn''t even tell how powerful True Extraction was. All he could tell was that the Soul Energy would be drained in ten seconds. The energy most wouldn''t be able to absorb and digest within weeks was used up within seconds. If anyone knew about Michael''s massive waste of precious resources, they would flock to him before scolding him for days.

    Fortunately, only Selena and Eren were present. They were more focused on the massive power surging out from Michael as he filled the Qi javelin with True Extraction''s Essence. The Qi javelin shattered after a few seconds, revealing the vibrant golden glow of True Extraction''s Essence. Controlling the Essence formed from the Soul Technique and the Wolf Curse''s aid was far from easy, but Michael did his best nheless.

    He formed a javelin from Extraction''s essence, a single javelin, vibrant golden in color. It was brighter than the sun, in Michael''s opinion. At least, for a quarter of a second, it felt like True Extraction''s Essence had transformed into the sun, desiring to devour everything in its path.

    Michael took a deep breath and unleashed Foundation Break at the highest stage he''d mastered, for a second, alongside ten Enhancementyers on Sacred Constitution, as well as Heavenly Beast Physique. Of course, Soul Grimoire''s Soul Tears were also used on his Soultraits and Soul, further boosting his power.

    Finally, Michael used as many enhancementyers on the True Extraction Essence javelin as he could handle. His arm started dissecting at some point. Even though the Wolf Cursed and the World Serpent used bits of their power to ensure that Michael wouldn''t suffer major side effects from True Extraction''s Essence, Michael was still injured.

    However, he ignored his dissecting arm as much as possible. It was no problem.

    If anything, Michael could use the pain to assault without hesitation. He grasped the Essence spear tightly, gathered every bit of strength and momentum in his body, and attacked.

    He threw the Essence spear at Selena.

    The fabric of reality distorted as the golden spear cut through the air with horrifying velocity. It reached the Nest Leader instantly and impacted heavily upon the finger she''d lifted to block the attack.

    Eren''s eyes widened from the outside. He swallowed hard, a quiet scream escaping his mind.

    ''You can do it!''

 Chapter 799 Factions

    Chapter 799 Factions

    ??Selena lifted only one finger to block the Essence javelin. That was all she needed.

    Michael breathed heavily. His hair stood up to its end, and he broke into a cold sweat. Using the Major Seals was draining. Even though the Wolf Curse and World Serpent chose to help him, they didn''t even consider giving him some of their curse power. Michael had to use the bits of curse power that naturally umted within active Seals to unleash the Major Seals.

    Fortunately, that worked out better than expected. He was drained, but his entire being was overflowing with power ¨C until he threw the Essence javelin, that is. He deactivated the Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals right away. Simultaneously, Michael stopped utilizing Foundation Break and his other Soultraits. He was drained of curse power, and energy, and he didn''t have much lifeforce left either. Foundation Break drained too much at the highest level.

    Michael didn''t want to stay in the arena forever. He had no problem staying in the Nest, but it had been too long since he heard from the others. He had yet to call Alice, and Michael wished to spend more time in his territory. Michael wanted to observe them as his territory expanded in Paradise Valley and the Untamed Jungle.

    Fortunately, the intent channeled into the Essence javelin was enough. Michael had a premonition when he saw Selena lifted only one finger, but the situation turned out better than expected. The Essence javelin pushed forth even after colliding with Selena''s finger. Selena raised one eyebrow in slight surprise and channeled more energy through her fingers to resist the Essence javelin.

    The Essence javelin destroyed everything in its path, but it stuck in one ce when Selena tried blocking the attack a little bit harder. The Essence javelin burst apart as Selena''s pressure erupted. The presence of the strongest entity in the Nest whipped out. It struck Michael, forcing the Rookie High Awakened to his knees. Michael''s head was about to smash heavily on the floor when Selena retracted her pressure.

    "Oopsie," Selena eximed, sticking out her tongue when Michael raised his head. He was about to re at the Nest Leader when he saw her finger.

    "Damn," Eren eximed from their side. He appeared next to Selena, his eyes locked onto her finger as well. "You seeded."

    A tiny, insignificant scratch adorned Selena''s smooth and once-unblemished finger. The scratch was far from enough to make her bleed, yet¡­Selena''s defense was¡­scratched.

    It wasn''t much, but it was enough to say that Michael breached the Nest Leader''s defense.

    "Monster," Eren murmured, unable to hide his disbelief. He was shocked to the core.

    "I expected nothing less," Selena responded calmly, but she turned her hand to look at the tiny scratch for a long time. A myriad of thoughts shed through her mind. The corner of her lips curled upward.

    "You passed the initial test with flying colors," Selena announced once she managed to organize her thoughts, "You''re a member of the Nest now, officially. The rules and guidelines, and whatever can be acquired in the library. Or you can ask Evee. She''ll probably help you."

    Selena''s attitude didn''t change much. She was still nonchnt. However, Eren could tell that the Nest Leader was more interested in Michael than before.

    "How about selling me some Soultrait Symbols?" She asked in a light tone. Still nonchnt, Selena nced at Michael, who got up just now.

    "So¡­I''m a member of the Nest now?" Michael asked, ncing over to Eren. The Commander was more reliable and serious than Selena. Asking Eren was better than relying on Selena for information.

    Eren nodded, but he was absentminded. He was more interested in hearing the answer to Selena''s question than introducing Michael to the Nest''s customs.

    Michael noticed that and sighed deeply.

    "Can we take care of the Soultrait business a little bitter? I have yet to talk to my friends, check on my territory, and inform others that I''m doing fine," He asked, only for Selena to nod nonchntly.

    "Juste to me when you''re done. I''ll buy whatever Soultraits you have to offer. Don''t worry, I will be generous."

    That being said, Selena left. She disappeared from the arena, leaving Michael alone with Eren.

    "You did a exceptional job. I don''t recall thest time someone managed to escape the Leader''s tortuous training so quickly," Eren praised Michael, who smiled subconsciously. Eren remained serious and shook his head lightly, "But you wasted several hundred Imperial Coins to scratch her. It''s an amazing feat that you managed to take her by surprise, but I''m not sure if it was worth it."

    He tilted his head, "But then again¡­ You will make more than enough money from selling your Soultrait Symbols. Since you uttered that you have hundreds of Soultrait Symbols, I guess Imperial Coins are not as valuable to you."

    He shrugged and turned around to leave, "Take care of your friends and the people you hold dear. Most Curse Users don''t live long lives. As long as you live without regrets¡­you can die without regrets as well. Not that you should die, though. Make sure to survive. We require someone like you¡­now more than ever."

    He was left alone before Michael could inquire what Eren meant about thest part. Eren disappeared.

    [We were already aware of the high mortality rate of Curse Users. It''s not exactly something new.] Danny said, but he fell deep into his thoughts.

    "Thest bit was weird. They require someone like me. But I''m not that strong. Or do they mean someone who can provide them with Soultrait Symbols? A few powerful Soultraits are probably enough to elevate Selena''sbat prowess to a new height. She is already incredibly powerful, but with a few more Soultraits, she would probably be at the pinnacle of the cosmos."

    [In the first ce¡­I would like to know how robust Selena ispared to the powerhouses of the Supreme Human Alliance. If all members of the SHA are like Bloodhound, we won''t have many issues, but if there are dozens of people as powerful as the Nest Leader, we''ve got some issues.]

    Danny sounded worried, but Michael didn''t feel the same. The Nest survived for a long time. They must have various means to protect this ce.

    The World Serpent surfaced in Michael''s mind.

    [Don''t forget that there are more factions spread throughout the cosmos. Both the Nest and the Supreme Human Alliance are only two out of a bunch of powerful factions. Even if the Nest ranks rather low among them, that''s mainly because the Nest focuses on exorcising Curses. They''re also quite powerful, but the Nest''s numbers are the most significant reason for their low ranking.]

    Michael had more to ask, but the World Serpent departed his mind once again. A sigh escaped his lips.

    ''Why is everyone running from me?! All I want is some answers!''

    It was frustrating, but Michael wasn''t annoyed for long. He was ready to return to the Origin Expanse atst. He was waiting to utilize the Expanse Prism.

    Alice must be waiting for him.

    He retrieved the Expanse Prism to activate it, but Michael saw quickly that it didn''t work. He scrunched his nose deeply and panicked for a second before he realized that it was only obvious that the Expanse Prism wouldn''t work in the Nest.

    ''They block mostmunication channels. Safety and such.'' He uttered in his mind, trying to reassure himself.

    The Runic Gate opened before him at will.

    Michael looked at it and smiled faintly.

    It was time to return to the Origin Expanse.

 Chapter 800 Odd

    Chapter 800 Odd

    ??Michael emerged in his office in the wooden manor. He was back in the Origin Expanse, the Untamed Jungle''s rich energy swirling around him.

    He walked over to the window and opened it, allowing the flowery and earthy smell of the densely grown nature into his room. He took a deep breath and smiled.

    Atst, he was back in the Origin Expanse.

    [Let''s go. We have lots of things to do!] Danny eximed when he sensed Michael''s happiness. It was contagious and invigorated the Living Soul.

    ''One thing at a time.''

    Michael smiled, but he knew rushing wouldn''t help him. If anything, it would create endless chaos.

    He retrieved the Expanse Prism and infused enough energy to activate it. The Expanse Prism lit up and manifested a holographic screen before him.

    Michael waited patiently for Alice''s familiar face to appear on the holographic screen to appear, but there was nothing. She didn''t appear.

    "Is she busy?" He wondered when the Expanse Prism''s light dimmed.

    ''She should have been notified. There shouldn''t been an issue if I called her again in a few minutes. That should be enough, right?'' Michael asked in his mind, but nobody answered.

    He closed his eyes and reached for the Links of Loyalty connected to his War Rune. The number of Links of Loyalty had increased exponentially over thest six months. That was to be expected, but the number surprised him nheless. It looked like Reba, Hiraku, and the others did a great job summoning and expanding the territory.

    The Links of Loyalty were also quite firm, considering that the newest additions to the territory have never met their Lord. That spoke volumes about his people''s hard work. They did their best to ensure that the territory would expand properly.

    ''I should reward themter.'' Michael nodded slowly.

    He spent the next few minutes with his Links of Loyalty, trying to figure out how many high-ranked Summons he''d summoned in thest six months and how much everyone had progressed. There were a few things he could do with the Links of Loyalty that had been considerably more challenging before. Everyone''s progress, star rating, upation, and happiness were much easier to perceive now.

    It wasn''t necessary for him to be in a close rtionship with the Summons or physically close to them to sense everything. Michael could sense everything instinctively. It was almost like he was given stats for every Summons and Awakened connected to him. That was new, but it coulde in handy. Once he found out how to use the information efficiently, of course. For now, it was just some neat pieces of information.

    He pulled some strings and called Lilica, Tiara, and the others to him. The attendants with the daily reports were probably enough to tell him about everything that happened in thest few months, but Michael wanted to hear the news and reports from his trusted allies.

    As he waited for them to arrive, Michael tried calling Alice again. He supplied the Expanse Prism with enough energy to use it for ten minutes straight. This time, Michael had to wait only a minute before something in the holographic screen changed.

    Alice''s face appeared on the holographic screen.

    "Michael!" Alice eximed, her eyes twinkling, "You''re back!"

    Michael smiled, but guilt spread through him, "Hey Alice. I''m sorry for calling only now. I finished my ascension not too long ago and could not call you. The Nest''s security is tight, and I couldn''t return to the Origin Expanse for a while. Sorry about that."

    "Why are you apologizing? I knew that you wouldn''t be calling for a while. It''s only obvious that the Nest has tight security. Otherwise, the Supreme Human Alliance would have long since found them. If not for their tight security, the Nest would have been annihted long ago," Alice eximed lightly. She shrugged and added, "But I''m d you''re back. You look great!"

    Alice went on and praised Michael for a little longer, but she wasn''t smiling from one ear to another. It wasn''t like Michael expected something grand, but something felt off.

    "How have you been?" Michael asked instead of reacting to Alice''s praises. She never praised him that much, but he thought she might have missed him. But even then, Alice wouldn''t praise him that much. Alice never did that.

    ''What is going on?'' Michael asked, using Spirit Eyes to detect something, but there was nothing. He couldn''t see energies through the holographic screen. However, Spirit Eyes could do much more than that. It detected the faintest movements and details through the holographic screen.

    "Nothing is going on. The Tritan Alliance is prospering after we united our forces. Everyone has been a little scared since the War Priestess died, but how your friend overpowered Bloodhound was enough to calm the masses. We''ve focused on widening our forces in the Origin Expanse in thest three months. Everyone is growing stronger. The government determined to support the smaller Lords in the Origin Expanse more. Kraft Viton devised a great n to prevent disasters like the Undead carnage in the Sacred Desert. He''s doing a great job. That is probably because of your connection to him and the Bartholomew Corporation."

    Michael attempted hard to hide a frown. Alice was not that talkative, and she would have known that he wasn''t asking about the Tritan Alliance. Or did she think that he talked about the Tritan Alliance? Surely not, right?

    [She is acting weird today.] Danny agreed in his mind. His brother didn''t know Alice as much as Michael, but he was with Michael whenever they met. Danny was more aware of Alice''s attitude than most.

    "Fortunately, nothing bad happened since you left. Bloodhound never returned, but who knows how long it will stay like that? We never know what will happen once the Supreme Human Alliancees back. I hope they don''t split the Tritan Alliance. Or do you think they will attack us for siding with other races? They value purity, after all."

    Michael was unsure if it was possible to frown even deeper than before. He forced his expression to ease up when he sensed something through Spirit Eyes. He saw something in the reflection of Alice''s eyes.

    "How are the others doing? Are you still close to Oliver and Olivia? I''ve been wondering how Killian is doing. Didn''t you mention that Killian entered the Sacred Desert to clear the mess?"

    "Everyone is doing fine. Oliver has been training a lot. Your spar with Oliver must have shocked him. I guess he doesn''t want to lose against you when you return. Killian is the same. He is more resolute to defeat you than ever. You did a great job igniting their battle spirit. I hope you return soon. I miss you," Alice said, smiling at Michael through the holographic screen. She stopped for a second and nced somewhere. That way, Michael got a second nce at Olivia''s reflection. Only Olivia ze was in the room with Alice.

    "As for Olivia. She is doing fine as well. I''ve gotten a lot closer to Olivia in thest few months. She helped me a lot. We''re sparing a lot as well. She is stronger than ever. I need to get stronger, otherwise, she will defeat me soon. Her new techniques are amazing. She created them on her own, and I must say. They''re even better than your Soul Techniques."

    ''New techniques? Better than my Soul Techniques¡­ Okay¡­''

    Even though only three months passed outside the Origin Expanse, many things must have happened. At first nce, it looked like everything was fine, but he''d forgotten one major thing. He had been so busy with the Tekur, Bloodhound, the Supreme Human Alliance''s powerhouses, the Nest, the Undead Pharaoh, and his High Ascension that he forgot the traitors.

    It was a bit difficult to put the puzzle pieces together, but upon recalling the attack of the exploration spaceship before the g War, the betrayal of Descendants and their families during the Interdimensional g War, and the massacre in the Sacred Desert, which killed Daniel Fang, the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t arrive only now.

    The SHA had always been there. They were ever-present. It was just that their presence was more apparent than before.

    ''How did I not notice anything?'' Michael queried himself, recalling the reflection in Alice''s eyes.

    It was Olivia from the ze household.

    However, she waspletely different from before.In the first ce, why was Olivia there?

    The puzzle pieces were arriving together. Everything started to make sense.

 Chapter 801 Cracks

    Chapter 801 Cracks

    ??Michael and Alice would never discuss specific topics while others were present because they could never be certain who belonged to the traitorous families and Descendants. To be precise, this was one of the reasons they chose to avoid discussing some topics in public.

    Another reason was everything they said publicly could be used against them. Alice belonged to the Zenovia family. Everything she said could be considered an official statement of her family. The same thing could be said about Michael. It was just a little bit different in his case. He didn''t have to speak in his family''s name to gain a public voice. Everything he said was important to the most influential members of the Tritan Alliance. He possessed Extraction and the means to transform every family into the strongest a€¡° if he was willing to support them.

    Therefore, Michael and Alice wouldn''t speak about the Supreme Human Alliance, Bloodhound and stuff revolving around Hyumans, High Society, and such publicly.

    Alice''s behavior in Olivia''s presence was far from normal. Her actions left Michael perplexed, sensing that something was amiss. This deviation from her usual self was unsettling, to say the least.

    Alice wasn''t scared of Olivia ze but was vignt and tried pointing out something without naming it directly. Why would being vignt in front of her best friend be necessary? And how did Alice know so much about the Supreme Human Alliance in the first ce? Olivia ze didn''t know the topics the couple had spoken about, but Michael couldn''t remember revealing much about the SHA, the Nest, and his Curses.

    He would have loved to tell Alice about everything, but Eren told him not to reveal too much about Curse Users and everything rted to them to ordinary Awakened. Why was that the case? It was fairly simple. The more an Awakened learned about Curses and Curse Users, the more likely they were to be affected by the presence of Curses. The Awakened would notice the Curses easier and thus be noticed as well, resulting in a more-or-less problematic situation if not treated with great care.

    He could have told Alice some secret information about the Supreme Human Alliance, but it was not like Michael knew a lot about the SHA. He learned most things about the SHA in the Nest. That''s why it was even weirder that Alice learned some things he had only gotten to know a while ago.

    Michael didn''t tell Alice much, yet she seemed to have learned a lot about the Nest and SHA. She was also asking too much about the Nest. He knew Alice was curious, but his girlfriend wasn''t nosy. She would wait until he told her willingly, no matter how curious she was.

    ''But why would she speak about so many unimportant topics as well? Alice is not that talkative.'' Michael wondered while continuing to chat with Alice. He never cut their conversation, and neither did Alice. They talked about mundane things they''d never discussed under normal circumstances. If anything, both would talk about their progress, their territories, their ns, and things like that.

    Yet, none of those topics came up for more than a few sentences.

    Tiara, Lilica, and the others arrived at some point, Michael saw them through the walls of the wooden manor with Spirit Eyes and used Whispering Energy to talk to them.

    ["Please stay outside and call Hiraku, Reba, and the other Human Awakened as well. No...Just bring every Awakened from the Tritan Alliance."] He urged Tiara and the Forest Elves, who could only turn around to follow his order.

    Danny didn''t talk much to Michael. Instead, he listened intently to everything Alice said.

    [Your girlfriend learned from someone about the Nest and the Supreme Human Alliance. She didn''t speak about your Curses, but I''m certain she knows something. Alice mentioned Fenrir without any context. As far as I know, you never told Alice that we''re part of the Fenrir bloodline.]

    This confirmed Michael''s theory. He didn''t like it, but there must be more traitors in High Society. Traitors who''ve switched their strategy from passively spreading the influence of the SHA to actively dropping information about the Nest and the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Michael was about to continue speaking when he saw Olivia ze''s reflection doing something. She gestured something to Alice. A deep frown appeared on her face, but she covered it quickly with an apologetic smile.

    "I''m sorry, but I''ve got to go. There are some High Society meetings I have to attend. The heads of the Zenovia family fell sick alongside..." Alice stopped mid-sentence, a pained groan escaping her lips, "Either way, I have to attend the meetings instead of my parents. Let''s stay in contact. I missed you. I''m d to see you well. Grow stronger ande back with the Nest."

    Michael nodded slowly, "Stay healthy. I will call you again soon. Maybe you can show me more about your territory the next time we call. I''ve never seen your territory."

    "That would be great. Maybe I can show you my territory...soon," Alice nodded slowly, "Bye. Love you."

    Before Michael could say something, the call was cut off. He doubted that Alice cut him off but didn''t say anything. Michael fell deep in thought instead. He tried telling Alice they should call each other in the Origin Expanse, where Olivia ze and others couldn''t spy on them. That would make everything... easier, to put it in simple terms.

    Nheless, Michael got a good gist of the situation, he guessed.

    Michael put the Expanse Prism away and called the Untamed Awakened into the living room, where Frederik, Tiara, and Lilica greeted him with a tight hug.

    Hiraku nodded seriously in his direction, the corner of his lips curling into the hint of a smile.

    "First of all, I want to thank everyone for working tirelessly in the development of the Untamed Jungle and Paradise Valley. I didn''t have the time to read the reports, but I can feel the Links of Loyalty and how firm they are. The summons are happy. That means everyone here and outside this room did a great job," Michael praised the Untamed Awakened.

    "Once I finish reading the daily reports, I will distribute Jungle Points and additional rewards ording to your contribution and progress. Like always, I will reward those who work the hardest with the best rewards. You won''t regret it.

    Michael''s expression turned more serious after he finished the initial segment of his ''speech''.

    "I talked to Alice just now and heard a few things that seem a little bit¡­weird," He pointed out slowly, studying the change of expressions before him intently. Unfortunately, there were little to no changes in the expressions of the Untamed Awakened.

    Frederik was the first to respond, "Are you talking about the sudden breakthrough of some powerhouses and the expansion of stagnated territories, or about the diseases that have been affecting millions of Awakened, including the heads of the Zenovia family, the Piedra household, and others?"

    Michael''s eyes narrowed to a narrow slit.

    "Tell me everything that has changed since I left. Anything that seems somewhat weird. No matter how insignificant it seems, tell me about everything!" He ordered while preparing himself for some long hours of information.

    Frederik and Hiraku looked at each other, a trace of confusion passing through their eyes, but theyplied. They, alongside the other Untamed Awakened, began summarizing the happenings of thest three months.

    First, Michael was surprised that not much seemed to have changed. At least, that was what Frederik and some other Awakened pointed out. Fortunately, Michael had someone like Reba Zauber in his territory as well.

    Reba Zauber was far more knowledgeable about the Tritan Alliance and politics. She was an active member of the High Society and its crumbling rtionship with the other members of the Tritan Alliance.

    Hiraku and Frederik, just like many other Awakened, didn''t care much about politics. They didn''t go around to ask about the changes that had been happening and were more focused on other things ¨C such as growing stronger. They didn''t notice that anything was off, obviously.

    However, it was a well-known fact that the tension within the High Society reached a new height. It had always been rather tense in there, but it was worse than ever at this point. Two major factors caused the climax of the High Society''s tension.

    One was the outbreak of a disease that seemed to affect only Awakened, who were a lot around other races in the Origin Expanse and outside. At least, that was what a bunch of researchers pointed out after they did intensive research about the disease''s origin. Some said that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were infected with a contagious disease that didn''t affect them. The same infectious disease would kill humans, ording to their thorough research.

    The Researchers proposed that all Awakened avoid the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Some families supported this, banding together to iste them.

    These pieces of information were the exact opposite of what Alice told Michael. Even if he didn''t want to acknowledge something was wrong, Michael was now 100% sure that something was off. He guessed that already, but receiving affirmation didn''t make him feel better. His worries intensified.

    The second major factor that resulted in more problems within the High Society was that the families supporting the Researchers grew stronger. Their power skyrocketed over thest three months. Their progress and the sudden expansion of their territories were unreasonably fast, to a degree that shouldn''t have been possible¡­without any help.

    The ze family progressed the most. Their growth surpassed the other families by leaps and bounds.

    ''Do you think the Supreme Human Alliance started acting after realizing that the Nest arrived as well? Or is it because I''m not there anymore?'' Michael asked his brother.

    [I think you''re too self-centered. You think everything revolves around you, while it does, in fact, not. Jokes aside, I think the Supreme Human Alliance is getting impatient. Bloodhound nearly died because of Eren, and they must have noticed that you are a bigger problem than initially expected. They must have missed that the Fenrir bloodline''s descendants were born and raised in the Tritan Alliance. That and probably a few more factors were enough for them to start acting now that you and Eren left.]

    Michael ignored his brother''s provocation and nodded slowly. He had to determine how extensive the Supreme Human Alliance''s influence was. It was important to know how closely tied the ze family and others were to the Supreme Human Alliance at this point and what they nned to do now.

    But he couldn''t talk to anyone other than the Untamed Awakened. Michael would have loved to talk to Kraft Viton personally, but he couldn''t reach him easily. Not without attracting suspicion.

    With that in mind, Michael chose toward use Mind Reader on the Untamed Awakned in the room to find out if one of them betrayed him or the Tritan Alliance by out-witting the Links of Loyalty and Soul Pacts. He asked the Untamed Awakened first before prying into their mind and was fortunate enough not to meet any resistance. It was even better that Mind Reader didn''t find a traitor in his rows.

    Even if he hadn''t been too worried about getting betrayed, Michael knew that the SHA had ways toward find loopholes and Soul Pacts and the means to ''widen'' the loopholes, creating openings for betrayals. A tinge of worry that someone might betray him was still present until he used Mind Reader to ensure that no Untamed Awakened considered betraying him.

    A tinge of worry was enough toward cause cracks. But cracks were only the beginning of doom. They might spread and widen slowly until Michael lost his trust in his people. His distrust and worry would be the end of everything.

    Fortunately, he had Mind Reader to dissolve his worries regarding betrayals.

    That gave him enough leeway toward devise several great ns to use the Untamed Awakened to acquire information regarding the Supreme Human Alliance''s extensivework and inform Kraft Viton that he was still there.

    Well. Basically.

    He mighte back. Michael was merely unsure how long it might take before he could return.

 Chapter 802 Lepodya - Disease

    Chapter 802 Lepodya - Disease

    ??"I think I heard some rumors about you, Michael," Frederik mentioned on the side.

    Hisment started a series ofments from the other Untamed Awakened, including Reba and Hiraku.

    "Oh, right. There were somements about you. I was wondering where theye from because they said that Michael is a yboy and that he''s out there seducing countless women," One of the Human Awakened recalled.

    "The rumors that Michael betrayed his race circte as well," Reba nodded slowly, "Obviously, that''s nonsense, but more and more people seem to believe the rumors at this point. Their source is quite reliable, after all."

    Hiraku frowned deeply, "It hasn''t been long since I heard such rumors about him as well, but I think the rumors spread faster these days.

    Michael listened intently and gestured toward Reba, "What''s their source?"

    "The rumors emerged first in thepanies affiliated with the ze family, but the source is from the families progressing rapidly in thest few months. If you''re asking me, the families are trying to remove you from the Tritan Alliance. Or rather from mankind," Reba sighed.

    There were more rumors about Michael and other big families. Still, the biggest problems were the usations of his betrayal and thements others started to make about the infectious disease. Most said that every Awakened who continued trading and talking to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs didn''t care about their race. That they intentionally endangered everyone.

    Even though they ''knew'' that the infectious disease was sourced from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, the Awakened stayed around. Slowly but steadily, the rumors andments reached the public. At first, they didn''t believe them, but more and more powerhouses got sick. The public''s opinion flipped within a few days, fear fueling the rumors that spread like wildfire.

    If the strongest Lords of mankind weren''t strong enough to ovee the infectious disease, how were they supposed to make it through once it reached them? They would die within minutes. The fear infected them much worse than any disease could do, and they began to distance themselves from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Their opinion of their ''allies'' changed, and theirments all over Sk grew worse by the day.

    The gap between mankind and the remaining members of the Tritan Alliance widened. A crack had formed and expanded, transforming into a massive fissure that was immensely hard to cross.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance started separating mankind," Hiraku pointed out the obvious.

    "Once High Society has been overthrown, it is only a matter of time before the situation worsens. The economy will suffer, and those Lords who''ve been around other races a lot will be exiled. They will be canceled and loathed for being around those who are at fault for everything. These Lords, including Michael and everyone else here, will be mankind''s public enemy. No one will ept us once High Society is controlled by the fanatics who believe that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs infected the powerhouses and other Awakened with some disease," Reba dered quietly.

    "What a mess¡­ I really hate the Supreme Human Alliance. Can''t they leave everyone alone?" Michael cursed not-so-quietly.

    "But what exactly is this disease we''re talking about? Alice''s parents are infected, if I''m not mistaken, but they''re quite powerful as far as I remember. Where is this disease fro¨C..." Michael couldn''t even finish his sentence when Thaor and Lokai brushed past the Human Awakened to appear before Michael.

    "Some of our researchers, yes we also have researchers ¨C even if there aren''t many ¨C, examined the blood samples Alice managed to hand over to the Chieftain before everything went down the drain. They found out that the disease was not contagious at all. The problem with that is that the virus must have been found in the resource deposits imported by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," Thaor exined first before Loaki added.

    "We examined our resource deposits and warehouses several times, and we can confidently say that we aren''t the source of the disease. The human researchers said everyone in contact with weapons and armaments created with the ores and other resources provided by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs is in danger. But if that were the case, everyone in your territory would be sick. Well, the humans, to be precise. The disease affects only your kind, after all."

    Almost every weapon and armor piece in his territory was created with the ores provided by the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers. If heat activated the virus, Michael''s territory would be on the verge of destruction. The human Awakened would be infected as well. However, nobody was sick as far as Michael could tell.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance is cunny. Fucking bastards," Michael cursed, "They are already powerful, but they have to turn to such dirty tricks to divide mankind from other races."

    It was quite obvious that the Supreme Human Alliance concerned little about others. The only ones they cared about were the purity of their kin and the death of everyone who endangered it. It didn''t matter whether other humans or foreign races were the sources of ''danger.'' If it was necessary to kill trillions of innocent lives to ensure that the purity of their race could be maintained, so be it.

    Michael ruffled through his hair. He couldn''t help but feel distressed about the news that came his way.

    He figured that Alice was still on his side and that Olivia ze was watching her. That would exin a lot, though there were still some uncertain factors Michael had yet to discover.

    After talking to the Untamed Awakened for a while, Michael found out that the remaining members of the Zenovia family and the Zeus household were seen around the ze family more often these days. It started less than six weeks ago when the first tabloids announced that the Zeus and Zenovia family were closer to the ze than ever.

    Some tabloids and bloggers spected that the ze family progressed faster because of their tightened friendship with Zeus and Zenovia. Still, Michael figured that the Supreme Human Alliance members encountered some members of the ze family in the Origin Expanse. That was the most likely scenario.

    Frederik was still actively chatting with Kaleb, but Kaleb was not as active as he used to be. His responses were also different, and they didn''t spar often. Frederikined a lot about that, even to Kaleb, but the youngest member of the Zenovia family could only apologize. Kaleb was not like himself. It was almost like someone forced him to do something.

    Michael couldn''t imagine that anyone could control Kaleb, but the same could be stated about Alice. It was impossible to tame Alice and Kaleb. They would never do something they hated.

    "What if the ze family has medicine against Lepodya?" Hiraku pointed out.

    Lepodya, the disease that had been affecting the strongest powerhouse of the human race, was lethal. Too many Awakened died upon falling sick, yet the Matriarch of the Zenovia family was still alive despite being one of the first to fall ill.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance wouldn''t spread a disease that affects only humans if they didn''t have an antidote, " Michael nodded, understanding slowly what was happening,

    "The ze family controls the Zeus and Zenovia family¡­"

 Chapter 803 We Know

    Chapter 803 We Know

    ??Even though Michael had only been in the Origin Expanse for a few hours, he had yet to take a proper look at his territory. The daily reports were also waiting for him to extract.

    Despite that, Michael chose to leave the Origin Expanse. He had to return to the Nest and ask something. The Runic Gate manifested before Michael, and he disappeared again.

    Back in the Nest, Michael rushed out of the training hall, searching for Evee. Fortunately, it didn''t take long to find Eren''s daughter. She was in a massive room, working on something. Michael unleashed Cosmic Stride to appear near her. He cleared his throat and approached Evee, ignoring the mountains of books and the bunch of people in the room.

    "Hey Evee. Do you, by any chance, know when the bridge to my gxy ispleted? The Supreme Human Alliance started acting up and they''re already infesting the humans in the Tritan Alliance. I think something big is going to happen soon," Michael blurted out, the distress in his voice palpable.

    Evee was surprised to see Michael. It was even more confusing how he made it past the security system. However, she didn''t show much confusion and smiled at the youngest addition to the Nest''s power.

    "Hello, Michael. I heard that you managed to fight Ligno''vsh head-on. Congrattions, you''re much stronger than I''ve estimated," Evee greeted him, clearly noticing that Michael was getting more impatient with every word she said.

    "To answer your question, the bridge should be done in a month or two. And I do not mean the Origin Expanse time with that. Don''t look at me like that. I''m not responsible for the bridges. And, just for the record, it is nobody''s fault that the bridge takes so long to anchor. Your backwater gxy has almost no energy waves. It''s already a wonder that we can establish a bridge or that there are so many races with ess to the Origin Expanse," Evee answered while gesturing to the other people in the room. She handed them a few books before looking back at Michael.

    "As for your troubles with the Supreme Human Alliance..." Evee started, "We know."

    Michael''s lips parted, but no words escaped upon hearing what Evee said.

    "The Nest knows?"

    Evee nodded.

    She looked at him like that was all he would hear. The Nest knows about the Supreme Human Alliance and its actions revolving around the Tritan Alliance. He wouldn''t receive anymore information. That was what her expression told Michael.

    [At least, you told them. It''s good that they know about the Supreme Human Alliance''s actions. Imagine you expected them to know and didn''t return to the Nest to tell them. That would have been a mess.] Danny spoke in Michael''s mind.

    Michael agreed. It was good if the Nest was already aware of the issues. He was certain that they would respond to the SHA''s threat. Even if the Nest wouldn''t do much, Michael would have to wait until the bridge waspleted. Before that, Michael couldn''t return either way.

    ''That means I have two to four months a€¡° origin time a€¡° to grow strong enough to deal with the ze family and others.'' Michael murmured in his head.

    [I doubt that you''ll have to deal with them alone. You have many allies. But you are right. You have more than enough time to grow stronger. Give your best, and we will return to the Tritan Alliance to wipe the ze family''s ass!]

    Michael smiled. He was d his brother was there for him.

    Evee nced at Michael, trying to figure out what was happening in his mind. When Michael disappeared, she was about to pull him toward her and hand over the Nest''s guidelines and many other things. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport to his room, which he identified using the sign on the door that uttered his name. A trace of his energy had been woven into the sign as well.

    His room was simple. There was only a bed, an empty shelf, and a desk. It wasn''t anything special, just like Michael expected. He shrugged lightly and manifested the Runic Gate before him again. There was no need to stay away from his territory. His territory was the only ce he could do something for the Tritan Alliance. He could strengthen the Untamed Awakened and inquire more intel about the Tritan Alliance''s situation.

    But the first thing Michael did upon returning to the Origin Expanse again was to acquire all daily reports, extract the Knowledge Wisps, and ingest them. Simultaneously, Lilica, Tiara, Siegfried, and the Starheaven Pharaoh were called to his office to report about the territory expansion, development, and additional changes urring outside this territory.

    Digesting the reports'' Knowledge Wisps while hearing to the details from his trusted subjects took quite a while. Several hours psed in the blink of an eye, yet Michael never stopped listening intently.

    Tiara finished thest report, her eyes glimmering in excitement. He understood the Silverfang Princess well. He was also excited about the changes.

    His territory had be much grander than he''d expected when his War Rune manifested first.

    First, his territory in Paradise Valley was much bigger than the Untamed Jungle. However, that was something Michael had already expected. There were no enemies in Paradise Valley. It wasn''t necessary to deploy as many Guards andbatants to scavenge through Paradise Valley to remove all potential threats while the workers were busy constructing the settlements.

    Deploying half a million workers to construct several settlements was easier in Paradise Valley. In the Untamed Jungle, every builder group required a unit of Guards to consistently protect them. The monsters in the Untamed Jungle were not only powerful but also numerous. Thousands of Untamed Army members were out to hunt the rapidly expanding poptions of monsters at all times, yet the Untamed Jungle was too fast. The flora and fauna regenerated much faster than the Untamed Army and Lumberjacks could work.

    Therefore, while Michael was absent, Reba and the other members responsible for decision-making decided that they would only construct one settlement at a time in the Untamed Jungle while expanding aggressively in the Sacred Desert.

    The 10th settlement in Paradise Valley was finished not too long ago, while the 5th settlement in the Untamed Jungle was about to be finished within the next week.

    However, even though Paradise Valley had only multiplied by two the number of settlements, the number of subjects living there was several times higher. The settlements in Paradise Valley were like massive cities that could only be found in the most protected areas of kingdoms, whereas the Untamed Jungle settlements were like mid-sized fortresses.

    Each settlement in the Untamed Jungle was well protected and could be used as a fortress to defend against mighty enemies, such as the powerhouses of the Zentika Empire and other neighboring Lords. The fortresses had been constructed to protect the citizens of the Untamed Jungle, ensure that the settlements were hard to pinpoint by enemies, and avoid destroying too much of the Untamed Jungle in the construction process.

    The Untamed Jungle wasn''t like the Sacred Desert. It was full of life that could not be destroyed just like that. Paradise Valley was different. There was nothing. Expanding there was much easier.

    However, that didn''t mean the Untamed Jungle was less valuable. If anything, the Untamed Jungle was the sole reason Michael''s subjects expanded into Paradise Valley.

    Without the Untamed Jungle, it would have been impossible to establish ten city-sized settlements in Paradise Valley!

 Chapter 804 Pentagon Fort & Paradise Valley

    Chapter 804 Pentagon Fort & Paradise Valley

    ??The five fortresses in the Untamed Jungle formed a pentagon. They were called Pentagon Fort and established arge safe zone where various resource areas were formed.

    Hundreds of ranches and small farms spread through the safe zone, which connected to each fortress, but that was only the beginning. The ranches with livestock and farms with highly nutritious crops were merely the tip of the iceberg. The entire safe zone had dozens of rows filled with various fruit trees and crops that evolved under the influence of the Untamed Jungle, the Greater Nature Tree, the Forest Pixies, and the special treatment the farmers, Botanic Magician, and others provided.

    After months of research and various experiments, the Botanic Magicians and other researchers found a particr mutated nt resembling weeds. However, it was too valuable to be called weeds. It was named Nourberry even though it didn''t look like a berry. But that was of no importance. The most important was the Nourberry''s effect.

    The Nourberry absorbed a tremendous amount of the surrounding energy and nutrition to grow from a fingertip-sized leaf into small shrubs of weeds. A single leaf from Nourberry was enough to fill the stomach of a Titan Pig for 48 hours, yet there was more to it. The nutrition in Nourberry leaves was more potent than ordinary nutrients. They elerated the maturity of Titan Pigs by one-quarter.

    Reba had ordered the construction of several Nourberry farms. At the same time, she told the researchers to focus on improving the Nourberry farms. The Nourberry production ought to be elerated, and the final product should be enhanced. That would probably take a while, but it was possible.

    Besides the Nourberry farms, Michael learned that more nt life in his territory evolved under the influence of the Greater Nature Spirit. Of course, the energy density in the Untamed Jungle and its highly nutritious soil aided nt life''s evolution and mutation as well, but the Greater Nature Spirit actively influenced the changes.

    It navigated the nt life in Michael''s territory precisely.

    The Greater Nature Spiritmunicated with Reba through their mediator ¨C the Forest Pixies, and Hiraku ¨C to improve the infrastructure of various buildings.

    At the same time, Tatjana joined their mission to evolve certain nts, creating nts with stronger effects. Most nts couldn''t be found in the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle due to how exotic they were, but with Tatjana and the Greater Nature Spirit''s guidance, it was possible.

    Numerous ns were adjusted to improve the livelihood of the nt life in the surroundings, which resulted in various advantageous mutations, and the creation of new nts like the Nourberry.

    Michael had always been interested in the powers of the Greater Nature Spirit and the effects of the Untamed Jungle. It was well known that the Untamed Jungle''s presence was enough to elerate the growth of flora and fauna. Everything reached maturity several times faster in the Untamed Jungle than anywhere else. That was also part of why the Untamed Jungle was perfect for creating numerous small farms and ranches. Even the smallest ranches were better than most mid-sized farms in wide-open in regions.

    Michael could tell that a single ranch produced enough livestock for more than ten thousand subjects if they only ate meat for an entire month. The meat produced in his ranches was highly nutritious and filled with energy. It was too potent for most Tierless subjects. Fortunately, Lokai managed to make some great deals by exchanging some Titan Boar corpses with various lower-ranked pig, cow, and bull corpses once a week.

    The tierless pigs, cows, and bulls had the perfect nutritious values and more than enough energy for Tierless Summons and children. The Tierless subjects in Michael''s territory wouldn''t be harmed by the floods of highly potent nutrients and energy that way. By trading with the corpses of livestock, Michael managed to feed more subjects without any additional effort. The only ''problem'' was they relied on the trading cycle. There weren''t any extra costs, but their territory wasn''tpletely independent in that way.

    Michael wasn''t too worried about that, but he would have to make some adjustments about that in the future.

    The trading cycle expanded once Michael began trading meat, Titan Pig hide, bones, and so forth. The bones, hide, and intestines were very valuable for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who could transform the bones and hide into weapons. The intestines were a delicacy. The part of the Titan Pigs contained the monster''s essible origin energy.

    The origin energy within a monster core couldn''t be absorbed and digested, but the Titan Pigs'' intestines differed. The energypressed within their intestines was not only purified but also easily digestible as long as their body could withstand heat and pressure.

    The Pentagon Fort''s farms and ranches were the sole reason Reba and others could expand aggressively into Paradise Valley. The Untamed Jungle provided enough resources to stockpile food and further develop their farms, ranches, and research into more dependable food sources. But that was not all. The Untamed Jungle had more up to its sleeves, including the Elemental Empire, the Underground Forging Hall, the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle where millions of monsters ughtered each other because there were too many monsters and too little space for everyone, and the connection to the Valyr.

    Of course, the Untamed Jungle also hidden the Temple of the Forgotten next to the Underground Forging Hall, but Michael intentionally ignored these ruins for the time being. He had enough to worry about and was not blessed with the luxury of spending years researching ancient ruins.

    The Temple of the Forgotten would be an essential topic in the future. Michael could tell that the ancient ruin would eventually be a crucial point in his territory expansion. But he had yet to reach that point. There was still some time left for that.

    Instead of focusing on the Temple of the Forgotten, which was still a few levels above him, Michael turned to the reports andments about Paradise Valley.

    While Pentagon Fort had only five settlements, each was nearly 80% filled. Pentagon Fort housed a total of 1.2 million Summons.

    In the meantime, Paradise Valley had ten city-like settlements, yet none was nearly overflowing with Summons. It wouldn''t be a problem to house one million Summons in each settlement, but only 2.1 million Summons were spreading out to find a lovely home to settle down.

    Not even 25% of the settlements in Paradise Valley were filled. Not even 20% were upied because most Summons were workers who traveled around building more settlements.

    That would change in the near future. It was only a matter of time before the ten settlements built near the center of Paradise Valley would overflow with Summons. Reba and others chose to prevent an overflow of the poption by continuing the construction of more settlements. They had more than enough space, and it was not like theycked anything.

    They had yet to reach the outskirts of Paradise Valley and could construct enough city-sized settlements, but also smaller settlements for other purposes than housing.

    Soon enough, Paradise Valley''s workers would start building fortresses near the passages Michael had nned to create before his ascension. He had yet to create them, but that was only a matter of time.

    Reba and the Starheaven Pharaoh knew about his n and proposed eight paths to enter and leave Paradise Valley since the valley was close to the center of the Sacred Desert. Once they desired to expand outside Paradise Valley, they would have a much easier time with paths in all directions.

    Of course, the zing Sand Mountain Range would protect them from invaders, diminishing the efficiency and utility of fortresses near the paths leading inside and outside Paradise Valley. Still, it was better not to rely too much on the Primal Phoenix.

    It was never good to be forced to rely on someone''s goodwill, not entirely, at least.

    Michael didn''t expect the Starheaven Pharaoh to be so adamant about constructing fortresses at the entrance and exit of the passages in the zing Sand Mountain Range. He thought that the Starheaven Pharaoh trusted Nyx, the Primal Phoenix, with his life. However, trusting someone and relying on someone with the lives of millions wasn''t the same.

    Michael wondered about the exact rtionship between the Starheaven Pharaoh and the Primal Phoenix. He knew that the Primal Phoenix was small when the Starheaven Pharaoh ruled a part of the Sacred Desert, which was more than a mere Beginner Region, and that they had some past, but that was it.

    Taking his trusted subjects'' opinions into consideration, Michael decided it was a good idea to establish massive fortresses at the entrance of each passage. But there was more to it. Each entrance to the BLazing Sand Mountain Range and the exit ¨C the entrances to Paradise Valley ¨C would have massive fortresses. That way, Michael could ensure that Paradise Valley would be nearly impossible to invade.

    Obviously, a powerhouse capable of bulldozing the fortresses and the powerful Summons and Awakened guarding them could quickly enter Paradise Valley. But if someone strong enough to steamroll his fortresses appeared, even the Primal Phoenix would have issues removing such a threat.

    Fortunately, such a scenario was for the future. The Sacred Desert was, quite literally, a Beginner Zone. Only a handful of Higher Lifeforms in the Sacred Desert existed before the Undead Pharaoh appeared. It was unlikely that a Divine Lifeform, stronger than the Primal Phoenix, would appear out of nowhere.

    Therefore, 16 fortresses protecting eight paths, more cities, and smaller settlements in Paradise Valley were the next course of action if Michael intended to continue expanding aggressively in Paradise Valley.

    Expanding aggressively required resources, a workforce, enough food and water, and various other things that were harder to procure. Even then, it would take a while to get everything ready to ensure that Paradise Valley would be the near unimable core of his territory in the Sacred Desert.

    However, Paradise Valley was worth it.

    The resources they could procure in Paradise Valley were incredible. They were far more valuable than most Lords realized.

    Even Daniel Fang didn''t know how valuable Paradise Valley was before Starheaven Pharaoh unraveled its deepest secret.

    "...." Michael stared nkly at the 8-Star Summons.

    "You are telling me that only now?"

    He swallowed hard, the corner of his lips twitching, while Starheaven Pharaoh smiled vibrantly.

    "That''s great. You will get your very own¨C...."

 Chapter 805 Mountain & River

    Chapter 805 Mountain & River

    ??The resources they could procure in Paradise Valley were a lot more valuable and abundant than initially expected.

    First, it looked like Paradise Valley didn''t have much more to offer than the Sacred Desert. More resource deposits had been found, but the quality of resources wasn''t several times higher in Paradise Valley than in the rest of the Sacred Desert. That was until the scouts discovered that the zing Sand Mountain Range was more than a pile of burning sand.

    The zing Sand Mountain Range didn''t exist during Starheaven Pharaoh''s era. Paradise Valley, on the other hand, existed. Therefore, Michael and others presumed that the zing Sand Mountain Range was piles of sandpressed into sandstone and other resources that were, more or less, without substantial value. However, that wasn''t the case.

    In the first ce, the zing Sand Mountain Range was an ordinary mountain range. It was merely covered by sand, just like the remaining parts of the Sacred Desert. The zing Sand Mountain Range might be on fire, burning fiercely day and night, isting Paradise Valley from the rest of the Sacred Desert, but that didn''t mean the entire mountain range burned.

    The outer area of the mountain range was covered in flickering mes by eternal mes, but the same couldn''t be said about the inner area of the zing Sand Mountain Range ¨C the area pointing toward Paradise Valley. Only small areas of the inner parts of the mountain range burned fiercely. Other areas could be used to establish mines and more advanced excavation sites to harvest the untouched ore and resource deposits found deep within the zing Sand Mountain Range.

    Even though the mountain range didn''t exist during the Starheaven Pharaoh''s era, he presumed that nobody dared to excavate the rare materials from the zing Sand Mountain Range because of the Primal Phoenix''s presence. The Primal Phoenix would attack whoever dared to take what belonged to it.

    But that wasn''t the case with Michael and his people. Michael''s im note didn''t give him the rights of the entire zing Sand Mountain Range, but the Primal Phoenix had epted them. It had also epted some workers'' attempts to create a path leading out of Paradise Valley. Some workers had already begun researching the zing Sand Mountain Range, only to be visited by the Primal Phoenix.

    Putting aside the fact that two workers had to be brought to a healer after having a heart attack, nothing happened. The Primal Phoenix observed them curiously as the workers did their job. At some point, the Primal Phoenix left, only toe back and observe them now and then.

    Interestingly enough, Nyx never attacked the workers or obstructed them. If anything, the Primal Phoenix scared them to death. Well, almost. Nobody died just yet from the Primal Phoenix''s surprise visit, and the heat radiated naturally. However, some sustained heat strokes, which wasn''t intended ¨C obviously. A few workers would have died if not for the healers'' presence.

    The reports about the zing Sand Mountain Range and sess at finding various untouched resource deposits were a pleasant surprise. It was even more pleasant to hear that the resource deposits wererger than initially expected and that ores of the highest quality have been found in the cores of some deposits.

    The ores were precious, but hardly anyone would be idiotic enough to sell them. Michael and his subordinates weren''t that foolish. They had the Relic of Draka and a semiplete production method for Spirit Armaments. They had the means to create High Spirit Armaments for the Summons who would ascend to Higher Lifeforms at some point.

    Yet, even the high-quality ores weren''t as valuable as the treasures the Starheaven Pharaoh had hidden from Michael and others until now.

    "You will get your very own Energy Vein!" Starheaven Pharaoh dered, smiling as brightly as before.

    Michael felt like punching that smiley face. Even the thought of breaking a few bones came to his mind. Upon realizing what he was thinking, Michael shuddered and began frowning.

    ''What the hell. Is that the aftereffect of the Wicked Spear Arts?'' He wondered, shaking his head. His attention pulled back to the Starheaven Pharaoh.

    "So, you''re telling me there has been an Energy Vein underneath the Primedival Pyramid all along?" Michael asked, his hair standing up to its end.

    "That''s the sole reason the Primedival Pyramid was built there then. Without the Energy Vein, a different position would have been chosen," Starheaven Pharaoh nodded, but he shrugged it off, "But it''s not like the Energy Vein helped that idiot to survive. He mined the Energy Stones that formed around the Energy Vein mindlessly, nearly destroying the Energy Vein. For the record, the instability of the Energy Vein was part of the reason we managed to kill him."

    Starheaven Pharaoh shook his head, "That idiot was probably too stupid to spell sustainability."

    Energy Veins were far from simple. They were among the most valuable natural treasures in some regions and the cause most Regional Wars were fought. Energy Veins are massive streams of highly purified energy. They possess enough energy to influence a wide area around them, stimting mutations and evolutions within the flora and fauna while also transmuting the natural resources and materials around them dramatically.

    Energy Veins were well-known for forming Energy Stone deposits, another reason nobody desired to destroy or absorb them. They were natural treasure troves desired by everyone.

    Almost every energy-rich region had an Energy Vein. In fact, the regions above the Beginner grade had, at least, a 1-Star Energy Vein. The requirement for a Beginner Region to be ''upgraded'' was to form an Energy Vein or for an Energy Vein to pass through it.

    Michael was not sure how an Energy Vein was formed out of nowhere, but he never really idea about it in the first ce. He could only guess that it was possible to use the Will or the Achievement Shop to steal another Region''s Energy Vein or to create one somehow. Another possibility was to change the course of a nearby Energy Vein to lead it through your region.

    Fortunately, Michael never idea about the need to create an Energy Vein or how to upgrade his region. The Untamed Jungle had an Energy Vein, a high-ranked one at that. That was the only way he could exin the Untamed Jungle''s energy density.

    Of course, Michael had no clue where the Energy Vein of the Untamed Jungle was located. It could be anywhere.

    "Either way, we had to close the Energy Vein once we got rid of that idiot. It would have been great if we could have used the Energy Vein to our advantage, but it was on the verge of destruction. Nature had to reim it for the Energy Vein to recuperate from the damage done over the course of centuries," Starheaven Pharaoh elucidated with a trace of sadness in his voice.

    It would have been great if he could have made use of the Energy Vein during his time. Many things would have been different. Everything would have changed.

    "We filled the Energy Vein using Earth Elementals and the likes, for durability purposes and such, knowing that it would take millennia before the Energy Vein would have fully recuperated."

    Michael stared intently at the Starheaven Pharaoh.

    "These millennia passed¡­" He murmured, "And the Primedival Pyramid hasn''t been discovered or looted until now either¡­

    since the Second Epoch."

    Starheaven Pharaoh nodded, his ugly, vibrant smile widening even further.

    "The Energy Vein must have recovered," Michael concluded.

    "Exactly," The Starheaven Pharaoh nodded, "And it should also have formed a considerable amount of Energy Stones by now."

    Michael was about to be filthy rich.

 Chapter 806 Energy Vein

    Chapter 806 Energy Vein

    ??Michael would be satisfied even if the Energy Vein underneath the Primedival Pyramid was only 1-Star. Millions of Inferior Energy Stones clustered together were still worth a fortune.

    But then again, Michael couldn''t tell how many Energy Stones were waiting for him underneath the Primedival Pyramid or what was left of the Undead Pharaoh''s home. Ten, tens of thousands, or millions of Energy Stones could be waiting for him to mine.

    One way or another, Michael doubted that the Energy Vein in Paradise Valley was a 1-Star vein if the Undead Pharaoh, the strongest Pharaoh of the Second Epoch, decided to live there. He ruled from the Primedival Pyramid and was put to rest in his home after Starheaven Pharaoh and others eliminated him.

    It was a fact that the Sacred Desert was only a Beginner Region right now. However, the Sacred Desert was much more than that before. The Starheaven Pharaoh told Michael before how big the Pharaoh''snds had been. They''d ruled over massive expanses as extensive as Advanced Regions.

    [As far as I remember, the Starheaven Pharaoh and his ''allies'', if you can call them that, in the first ce, controlled 67 Beginner Regions and 13 Intermediate Regions before everything fell apart. But I don''t know how many Energy Veins they''d controlled, where they were located, let alone their star rating. Still, I think you are right. There is no way the Undead Pharaoh''s Energy Vein was a 1-Star Energy Vein.] Danny agreed with Michael''s conclusion, only for the World Serpent to reappear in his mind.

    [I hope you realize that a high-ranked Energy Vein will attract the attention of various powerhouses once the news reaches the public.] It said in Michael''s mind.

    Michael could only snort at that. He already had more than enough things to attract powerhouses. The growing amount of Aether in his Aethyr, the SoulStar Fragments collecting dust in his War Rune, and a ''bunch'' of Soultrait Symbols have yet to be put into good use. Adding an Energy Vein into the equation wouldn''t change too much. It might attract some people''s attention, but Michael would give his best to keep the Energy Vein, or its star rating, a secret until he was strong enough to thrash Divine Lifeforms.

    The Energy Vein would help him grow stronger, whether it was merely a 1-Star Energy Vein or a 10-Star Energy Vein. Obviously, thetter would be better, but Michael wasn''t going to be picky. He would ept whatever was thrown his way.

    "If the Energy Vein had a high star rating, more powerhouses would havee to Paradise Valley to check on it. No matter how many millennia had passed, they wouldn''t have forgotten a dying Energy Vein. The powerhouses, old enough to remember the Energy Vein, are either dead, or they don''t think highly of the Energy Vein," Michael responded to his brother. Still, Starheaven Pharaoh and Reba heard him.

    "I wouldn''t be so confident about that," Starheaven Pharaoh announced, "The Sacred Desert changed a lot after our high-time ended. Everything changed slowly, but that doesn''t mean the Energy Vein''s star rating changed. Thousands of years are a long time, but they''re insignificant for some of the powerhouses. I got to know them when I was alive. They might not even realize that thousands of years have passed."

    "But I agree that some powerhouses must have forgotten the Energy Vein. They stopped caring when everything changed. And now that they''re stronger than most ¨C if they are still alive, which I guess they are ¨C the Will wouldn''t look kindly upon them if they attacked a Beginner Region, which the Sacred Desert has degraded to, at this point."

    Michael was not sure if he was reassured hearing this, but he nodded. Meanwhile, Reba sighed deeply.

    She had been listening to their discussion and felt like jumping from a bridge. When she decided to join Michael, Reba had never thought so many crazy things would happen to him. Michael''s actions were far from ordinary, and his Summons couldn''t be considered normal either. In the first ce, Reba wasn''t sure when she noticed Michael doing something normal or for something ordinary to happen to him.

    Being able to im Paradise Valley was crazy. Being on good terms with a Sacred Beast was extraordinary as well. Still, the sudden revtion of an Energy Vein''s existence and the fact that numerous mighty powerhouses might being to hunt them for the Energy Vein were the cherry on the top.

    It wasn''t like the problems with the Supreme Human Alliance were already enough. No, Michael had enough enemies in the Untamed Jungle as well. Reba thought that she could destress in Paradise Valley, which was part of the reason she had been focusing on Paradise Valley.

    But that didn''t seem to be possible anymore. Destress? While being Michael''s subordinate? That was impossible.

    She exhaled heavily and chose to intercept their discussion.

    "The energy level in the Sacred Desert is rising steadily over thest few decades. It''s a slow process, but the energy level will reach the threshold of a low-ranked Intermediate Region in less than 100 years," She pointed out, "There are also some rumors as to why the Sacred Desert has been changing slowly, but nobody knows about the Energy Vein. At least, I haven''t heard anyone debating the possibility of an Energy Vein."

    "The energy level is rising?" Starheaven Pharaoh asked, a trace of curiosity shing through his eyes when Reba nodded in affirmation.

    "That means the Energy Vein is already done transmuting everything in its surroundings. That makes sense, I guess. The material used to fill the tunnels and cave shouldn''t have been high quality. The excessive energy produced by the Energy Vein must be spreading further now that everything is already overflowing with energy."

    "So¡­everything around the Energy Vein has been infused with so much energy that it cannot contain anymore?"

    "That should be the case¡­" The Starheaven Pharaoh nodded, but there was a hint of hesitation, "If there is no unknown variable I''ve missed."

    Michael cleared his throat and stretched his body a little.

    "What are you doing?" Reba asked.

    "Isn''t that obvious? I''m going to remove the ruins of the Primedival Pyramid to check out the treasure trove I''ve been missing," Michael announced as if it was obvious.

    "Tell the workers to stop with the expansion of the settlements. We''re going to focus on the Energy Stone Mine for the next few weeks," Michael ordered, his expression turning dead serious, "After that, we will transform Paradise Valley into an imprable fortress. We will leave the passages leading out of Paradise Valley for now. Instead, let''s transform Paradise Valley into a fully developed area before we expose it to the rest of the Sacred Desert."

    That being said, Michael disappeared in the Summoning Gate''s energy pool. He materialized in the Basic Summoning Gate in the Sacred Desert and used Cosmic Stride to appear above the sunken ruins of the Primedival Pyramid.

    The Cursed Seals of the Wolf Curse manifested all over his body as he unleashed Extraction. However, True Extraction wasn''t the main tool of his excavation work.

    The World Serpent''s Major Seal glimmered brightly in his eyes.

    Swallow Domain and True Extraction had been unleashed.

    A Pyramid was waiting to be devoured.

 Chapter 807 Swallowed Whole

    <h4>Chapter 807 Swallowed Whole</h4>

    Devouring the Primedival Pyramid was easier said than done. The construct might be in shambles now, but it had survived for millennia. It wasn''t made from cheap material. If anything, the materials used to build the Primedival Pyramid were probably more valuable than everything it stored.

    The Pyramid was thest mark left behind by the Undead Pharaoh. Using the Primedival Pyramid''s materials was probably the best choice, but Michael didn''t like it. His brother was betrayed in it. He didn''t want to see a single sandstone of the Primedival Pyramid ever again.

    Therefore, Michael unleashed the fury of True Extraction and Swallow Domain. The massive shadow of the World Serpent conjured overhead as Michael levitated above the Primedival Pyramid''s ruins. Thick, golden veins passed through the enormous creature, granting it the energy required to expand even further.

    Michael supplied Swallow Domain with every trace of curse power coursing through his Cursed Seals. The curse power within 51 Cursed Seals fused with thepressed might of 53 Serpent Seals, forming the World Serpent''s first Major Seal. But Michael was not yet done. He knew the massive serpent hissing valiantly above him wouldn''t make it.

    Michael summoned the Soul Grimoire and released the might of the 7-Star Soultrait. He retrieved tens of Soul Tears and applied one on each active Seal. However, there was more. Michael used more Soul Tears on his other Soultraits, his Soul, and the Curses'' Essence. He knew that his Curses would gain more power through every Soul Tear applied to the active Seals and that their augmented Essence would grant them even more control, but he couldn''t care less now.

    Thinking back to the day he found out about his brother''s death. His blood boiled, and uncontroble rage filled him. His emotions got out of control. Nothing mattered anymore. The only thing Michael desired was the destruction of the Primedival Pyramid.

    "Devour!" A terrifying roar escaped his lips as hemanded the Curses to follow his will. They obeyed. They bent to his will. A trace of their Essence flowed into the Major Seals.

    The massive serpent above Michael joined his roar as it expanded in all directions. Paradise Valley''s center was swallowed in eerie darkness as the ginormous serpent covered the sun. It continued expanding until its colossus body covered everything.

    Michael took a deep breath. Thick beads of sweat trickled down his back, joining the river of sweat that drenched his clothes. His jittery right hand rose slowly into the air, and the massive serpent followed. Its head shot high into the air, and the colossus'' body followed suit.

    Michael could instinctively tell that the Primedival Pyramid''s ruins were going to cause some petty problems even though the World Serpent and Wolf Curse used a trace of their essence to empower True Extraction and Swallow Domain. However, Michael didn''t stop. On the contrary, he used tenyers of Enhancement to empower Swallow Domain and True Extraction for a quarter of a second as his arm shot down.

    The shadow serpent''s head expanded as it shot down. It burst through Michael, pashing through him, and crashed into Paradise Valley''s ground without slowing down. The ground tremored wildly, shaking the settlements dozens of kilometers from the Primedival Pyramid, but Michael didn''t care. His whole attentiony on the Primedival Pyramid, even as a shockwave filled with curse power burst in all directions, hurling a wave of sand everywhere.

    He activated Spirit Eyes and covered his eyes with a thinyer of origin energy to block the grains of sand threatening to obscure his vision. He observed intently as the curse power within Swallow Domain was used up and rejoiced as the columns and walls of the ruins disappeared in the eerie darkness of the World Serpent''s first Major Seal.

    The shadow serpent was so massive that its body continued descending upon the Primedival Pyramid even after a full minute. The fiercely burning sunlight returned to the center of Paradise Valley, yet the world didn''t return to what it used to be. Michael coughed blood, and hisplexion worsened visibly. If it was anyone else, one may presume that the Awakened was about to die, but Michael grit his teeth through the pain that assaulted him all of a sudden.

    He descended to the ground, where his legs gave in. Michael slumped to the ground, barely able to activate Archangel''s Grace to heal¡­whatever was wrong with him.

    His head was buzzing, and his body didn''t want to listen to him anymore. Only his Soul didn''t feel different from before.

    [You shouldn''t try ordering us around.] The World Serpent said as a matter of fact. It didn''t sound angry, but Michael could perceive how the World Serpent felt. It was¡­hungry¡­confused¡­and frustrated.

    The Wolf Curse growled in Michael''s head, and simr emotions overcame him. However, the Wolf Serpent was even hungrier than the World Serpent. The Wolf Curse was also not confused. It was just angry¡­at his ipetence.

    Suddenly, the Wolf Curse''s Major Seal activated. Michael didn''t even initiate the activation of Permute, but the Major Seal was activated at full power. The Wolf Curse activated the Major Seal and used Permute on everything Swallow Domain had devoured.

    A significant portion of everything Swallow Domain had devoured disappeared. In response, Archangel''s Grace gained tremendous power ¨C temporary only ¨C, enough to mend Michael. At least, that was what it felt like. However, Michael picked up something through his heightened senses that made him question whether it was actually Archangel''s Grace that healed him or not.

    [You tried to dominate the traces of our Essences with your Essence. It''s funny to witness fools trying to overpower and control what cannot be controlled.] The World Serpent dered, [There are things you cannot control, and stuff an insignificant being such as yourself will never be able to do. Not if you continue like this.]

    Michael didn''t understand anything. He had no idea what his Essence was, let alone that he had something like Essence in the first ce.

    It was not difficult to figure that the World Serpent was jealous of him. That his power surprised the World Serpent once again.

    [Or your foolishness. You realize you nearly died just to remove the Primedival Pyramid''s ruins¡­right?] Danny''s voice appeared in Michael''s head.

    "I don''t need anymore lectures," Michael murmured to himself, but he could tell his brother wasn''t satisfied with his actions.

    [Was it really necessary to do this? Or did you want to show off how strong you''ve grown? If that''s the case, congrattions! You nearly killed yourself to show off your power!]

    Even though Danny said that Michael could tell that his brother was shocked to the core. Michael had to lie to say that he wasn''t surprised either. Swallow Domain had been a lot stronger than expected.

    He aimed at the Primedival Pyramid with Swallow Domain after using the curse power contained within his unlocked Seals, the Essence traces of the Wolf Curse, the World Serpent, and more than 100 Soul Tears. Putting that aside, Michael had also used nearly his entire Energy Pir''s energy to supply 10 Enhancement Layers unleashed onto Swallow Domain and True Extraction for a quarter of a second.

    The result was exactly what Michael expected¡­and more. The Primedival Pyramid was no more. Nothing rted to it was left.

    A massive hole encasing everything that had once been the Primedival Pyramid was all Michael left behind. And, of course, the energy that was still kept inside Swallow Domain.

    Michael followed the Wolf Curse''s lead and utilized Permute once again. He used the energy to replenish the Essence traces used by the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent before transforming some of the Primedival Pyramid''s ruins into the curse power he''d used up to devour everything. Only when Michael''s curse power was filled to the brim, and all Essence traces returned to where they belonged, Michael felt better.

    There was still more than enough of the ruins inside Swallow Domain to use it. Removing the Primedival Pyramid ought to give him some benefits.

    Michael collected something from his War Rune and smiled lightly. He initiated Permute once again and tapped into the remains kept inside Swallow Domain.

    He got started a momentter.

    [What are you doing?] Danny asked in Michael''s mind.

    Michael could easily imagine his brother''s deep frown. However, Michael could only smile.

    "I''m readying my trump card!"

 Chapter 808 Energy Level

    Chapter 808 Energy Level

    ??"That wasn''t here before...right?" Reba asked in disbelief, her eyes glued to a particr spot in Paradise Valley''s center.

    A massive hole had been etched into thendscape of Paradise Valley. It spanned several meters in all directions and led...several kilometers downward.

    "Nope," The Starheaven Pharaoh chuckled, "But I think we know where to build the excavation site for the Energy Stone mine."

    Reba and the Starheaven Pharaoh weren''t the only ones who followed Michael to the ruins of the Primedival Pyramid, but the others didn''t utter a word. Their attention was split between the massive hole and the young man standing calmly next to it.

    Michael didn''t notice the nces locked onto him. He was busy using the power stored within Swallow Domain by utilizing Permute. A pile of Imperial Coins spread out before Michael, but some coins looked different. It wasn''t obvious before, but some Imperial Coins were dyed ck as Michael filled them.

    He stored curse power within a bunch of Imperial Coins. Michaelpressed the curse power within the Imperial Coins tightly to store as much as possible within each Imperial Coin. Since the Wolf Curse and World Serpent were stubborn and tried to teach him lessons whenever he forced them to help, Michael chose to make all necessary preparations to fight independently from them.

    He used everything Swallow Domain had devoured to create highlypressed curse power Imperial Coins. A single Imperial Coin was enough to replenish the curse power within 100 Seals. Both Major Seals could be replenished and used at full power by consuming the curse power in one of the Imperial Coins. Of course, the curse power he could produce using Permute wasn''tparable to the Curses'' Essences, but Michael didn''t manage to create Essences.

    He''d felt Essences quite often at this point, but the Origin Sap''s Essence was the only Essence he could produce using Permute. At least, that''s what Michael felt. Michael had yet toprehend more about the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent to recreate their Essence using Permute. But that was fine. He was just getting started.

    ''To think that the entire Primedival Pyramid, well...the ruins of it, wasn''t enough to create a trace of Origin Sap Essence.'' Michael murmured in his head, only to shrug lightly. If Essences were that easy to understand and produce, Michael wouldn''t have had an issue with the Essence traces of the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse.

    But that was fine. He was still alive and well. The pain Michael felt earlier was a distant memory, a lesson taught well.

    "How about we get started?" Hiraku asked. He stopped next to Michael and peeked over the edge of the massive hole.

    "I...think I can see the first Energy Stone deposit already. Though, I am unsure if you can call that a ''deposit'' at this point."

    Michael didn''t notice Hiraku following him to Paradise Valley, but he was d he was there. Hiraku''s Creation was exactly what they needed to crush all problems that could arise in the excavation site''s construction.

    "Are you still opposed to my offer?" Michael asked, ignoring what Hiraku said. He stepped closer to the edge and activated Spirit Eyes as well. However, Michael knew what he was going to see at the bottom of the massive hole. Spirit Eyes showed him what he was bound to see through the ground.

    The entire bottom of the hole and several meters of the walls were covered in glistening blue stone. There wasn''t a single wed spot. Not even a speck of gray or brown could be seen at the bottom of the hole. It was...one big Energy Stone.

    "Why... are you thinking about that right now? Isn''t that down there far more important?" Hiraku asked, never lifting his gaze from the Energy Stone walls and bottom.

    "Why not? You haven''t used your Jungle Points yet, and you have been rejecting my offers without hesitation. Everyone else, except you, has been benefiting from putting their lives on the line to protect the Untamed Jungle. It''s hard to understand. You''re not gaining anything from rejecting my offers or not using the Jungle Points. If anything, it slows your progress."

    Hiraku didn''t respond to Michael''sment.

    Lilica, the other Forest Elven Adventurers, and others walked up to the edge of the hole as well. The Forest Elves were sweating buckets, but they wondered what Michael would do. Seeing the hole and hearing what Hiraku said was enough to push through the unbearable heat and stare into the darkness.

    Some spots of the hole were shrouded in darkness, yet the bottom surroundings were lit up, glistening brightly.

    "How many Energy Stones will we get by mining the firstyer of ''that''?" Mika asked, swallowing hard.

    Inferior Energy Stones were usually smaller than an adult''s fist. That being said, the bottom of the massive hole was as extensive as the entrance, which was a straight line down to the ground.

    "Since the Primedival Pyramid was swallowed whole, the hole must be more than 500 meters long. Inferior Energy Stones are between five and eight centimeters in every direction," Reba calcted, her eyes shing as she used her Soultrait, "We don''t know how deep this is going to be. Still, the several-meter-tall energy stone walls indicate it''s going deeper. There is more than oneyer of Energy Stones."

    Frederik shuddered, "There are more than a million Energy Stones¡­and that''s only what we can see."

    "We don''t understand how wide and deep this is going either," Michael nodded.

    Not wanting to wait any longer to find out the Energy Stones'' grading, Michael used Cosmic Stride. He appeared at the bottom of the hole and transformed Aethyr into a pickaxe, which he coated in Qi before striking down with tremendous force. The energy stone he''d struck exploded outward. Smaller chunks andrger pieces of Energy Stone shot in all directions, but Michael caught them all with an eruption of energy.

    His energy coated the Power Gems instantaneously. They were stored in his War Rune right after.

    Michael returned to the surface where he retrieved the Energy Stones to give them to Reba.

    "Can you determine their grade precisely?" Michael queried while stretching his senses to determine the Energy Stone''s grade.

    ''There is definitely too much Energy inside them to be graded Inferior. The quality is also fairly decent, but it''s not quite yet at the same level as Superior Energy Stones,'' Michael mused.

    Reba confirmed his suspicion, "The Energy Stone''s vitality level is on par with a¡­Superior Energy Stone, but the quality isn''t on par. It''s a Common Energy Stone with three times the usual energy."

    "Every Energy Stone harvested from down there is as valuable as three Common Energy Stones," She smiled, her hands trembling in excitement.

    "There are tens, no¡­more than tens of millions of Power Gems down there, and you''re telling us that each is three times more valuable than Common ¨C or Ordinary ¨C Energy Stones?" Hiraku asked, one of his eyebrows raised.

    "Exactly." Reba acknowledged.

    "Crazy," Frederik blurted out, and Lilica nodded with a vibrant smile.

    "Crazy, indeed."

    Michael sped loud enough to attract everyone''s attention. He looked at his subordinates, smiling brightly.

    "How about we getmenced then? We have a lot to prepare," He said, "Our path to ridiculous wealth and power are waiting down there!"

 Chapter 809 Forest Elvesâ€™ needs

    <h4>Chapter 809 Forest Elves'' needs</h4>

    Countless workers got started. The settlement constructions were temporarily halted as everyone moved to the excavation site in the center of Paradise Valley. In hours, more than ten thousand subjects arrived at the hole, ready to build several elevators and makeshift mineshafts, which would be improved over time.

    Safety was the number one priority in constructing the elevators and makeshift mineshafts, but Michael quickly noticed that his subjects were as impatient as the Untamed Awakened. Everyone was excited about the Energy Vein and the Common Energy Stones.

    Some mistakes happened in haste, but nobody died. Thus, Michael could finally take a breather after lecturing his subjects and telling them that their lives were more important than earning the first batch of Energy Stones a few minutes earlier.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have helped his subjects more, but Lilica pulled him aside.

    "I know I''m way too early with this, but the Forest Elves are interested in the Energy Stones," She announced straightforwardly.

    Michael hadn''t been certain how to add the Energy Vein into the trading cycle and whom to barter with. It was only obvious, but Michael would keep a significant portion of the Energy Stones to himself. To be precise, he would distribute them among his subjects to ensure their growth.

    Now that he possessed enough energy stones, Michael could create an advanced Refinement Sanctum. A Refinement Sanctum was a massive hall overflowing with energy mist. The energy within countless energy stones would be released over time andpressed, filling the entire Refinement Sanctum to the brim. Absorbing the energy mist with the aid of various runic arrays and special concoctions, which elerated the cirction of energy and the eptance of the War Rune, would make it several times easier for talented and untalented entities to grow stronger.

    Establishing a Basic Refinement Sanctum was already expensive. The construction would drain enormous resources, and it would be costly to maintain the Refinement Sanctum. Without enough subjects to train, the Refinement Sanctum would be wasted away. However, now that Michael had the numbers, he was onlycking enough wealth to procure enough Energy Stones to empower the Refinement Sanctum. That problem, however, was solved from this day onward.

    "I know that the Forest Elves are struggling with Armaments, but Elder Silram told me they have many powerful Lords. The Forest Elven poption is rather small after everything that happened to your people in the past. Still, some of your eldest Lords should have territories covering one or more Intermediate Regions," Michael responded to Lilica, who smiled wryly.

    "That is¡­true, but we have encountered some issues in thest few months. There have been more enemies around the Forest Elven territories¡­too many¡­"

    Lilica hesitated. She was unwilling to reveal everything, but Michael got the gist of the situation.

    "The Forest Elves must have lost some territories with Energy Veins, or you''re about to lose them, and you need more Energy Stones to push your Summons to the next Tier before the final battle. If it''s thetter, you are either desperate and in a time crunch, or you still have some time left, and you''re only asking me because you hope that my Energy Stones will make a difference. But then again, I''m not sure if the Forest Elves will be able to meet the market price. If they lost some territories, their financial situation must have worsened."

    Even if Michael liked the Forest Elves, he wouldn''t sell his Energy Stones for half the market price. If he did that, the aftermath could be devastating. Of course, at first nce, it didn''t seem bad to be nice to the Forest Elves. However, if he offered them a 50% discount, Michael could only buy resourcing using the meager profit earned through the transaction.

    The resources wouldn''t be enough to continue expanding aggressively, so he would have to slow down. Slowing down, in that case, meant that he would have to spend a few more years before he reached his initial goal. Many things could happen in a few years, especially by being Michael Fang. He could hardly survive two years as a Lord. How was he supposed to ''take it slow'' when stronger enemies obstructed his path at every corner?

    He had enough trouble with the Supreme Human Alliance. Michael had to use all means to grow stronger, otherwise, someone like Bloodhound would reappear out of nowhere, only to crush him into bits and pieces. Michael couldn''t afford to be considerate toward other people''s situations since he was also in a tricky situation. He didn''t know who his next opponent would be, but the Supreme Human Alliance wasn''t an easy opponent.

    "I think you''re misunderstanding something," Lilica gestured for Michael to calm down, "We have more enemies, and we did, indeed, lose one of our biggest territories, but our financial situation hasn''t changed as much as you might think. We managed to salvage everything valuable before Ulvon''s territory was conquered. If anything, we have the resources of a massive territory but nowhere to put them."

    Lilica smiled while trying to ignore the sweat pouring down her temples. " You require resources, and the Forest Elves need Energy Stones. We pay the market price, including the overpayment for your energy-dense Energy Stones."

    Michael realized that he was a little rash, assuming the Forest Elves would try to get the better of him.

    "Alright. I will sell the first batch of Energy Stones to the Forest Elves," He agreed, "But be prepared for the negotiations."

    Lilica nodded with a smile on her lips. She was worried that Michael would misunderstand her, which he almost did. It was a good thing that she solved the issue faster than expected.

    ''The Elders will be happy. Maybe Michael''s Energy Vein will rescue Gramps'' territory.'' Lilica thought, all while Michael pondered what they might need from the Forest Elves.

    ''Since they have materials to expand my territory, we should take them. But if we expand, we also require more highly nutritious nts and other means to keep my subjects fed and happy.''

    Even though Forest Elves didn''t have a massive poption, they hadrge territories in forests. Using their understanding and the resources of their territories would be worthwhile. All Michael had to do¡­was to use the opportunities at hand properly.

    [You can upgrade your ranches and farms in the Pentagon Fort. Ask for treasures that hasten the growth of nt life or extraordinary nts that can only be found in intermediate or advanced forest regions. You could also ask for special techniques to push nts to the next level. If the Greater Nature Spirit learns such a technique, we can elerate the progress of all nt life within the rootwork of the Greater Nature Spirit.] Danny said, the excitement in his voice apparent.

    Michael was hiding his smile underneath a poker face. Lilica was still there, and he didn''t want to show her what his brother was previously scheming.

    [If we make use of Tatjana''s Eye of Evolution as well, we can develop the Nourberry into a perfect nt. Prepare yourself well for the negotiation with Lilica and the Forest Elven Elders! Make it seem like you''re giving them a nice offer while asking for the ridiculous stuff¡­stuff that seems useless to the Forest Elves but will help you transform Pentagon Fort into a mass production of food and potion ingredients!]

    ''Calm down, Danny! You sound like the devil!'' Michael reminded his brother.

    [Did you meet the Devil?] Danny asked dead-serious all of a sudden.

    ''N-No?''

    [Then, you don''t know whether I sound like the devil!]

    ¡­

    Whatever.

 Chapter 810 Valyrâ€™s Gift

    <h4>Chapter 810 Valyr''s Gift</h4>

    The first few days of the Energy Stone excavation passed in the blink of an eye. A few minor incidents happened, but nobody died. The cause of the incidents was also fixed right away. The Excavation site looked properly atst.

    The first batches of Energy Stones had been harvested, and the first trades werepleted.

    Michael managed to procure a handful of treasures from the Forest Elves. As predicted by his brother, the Forest Elves weren''t in dire need of the treasures he''d picked out. They were valuable but not desperately needed. That was perfect.

    Michael managed to help the Greater Nature Spirit and Tatjana evolve one Nourberry stalk. It was merely one stalk, but that was better than nothing. In fact, it was a lot better than Michael had been hoping for when Tatjana proposed to evolve a single stalk of Nourberry. The resources and treasures required to upgrade the stalk drained most of the stock of Energy Stones they''d harvested, but it was worth it.

    The evolved stalk of Nourberry was extraordinary. It spread even faster than the most notorious weeds and spread in all directions. It didn''t require as much energy and nutrients as Nourberry and could be treated harsher. Of course, that didn''t mean the energy consumption was low. The more the evolved Nourberry grew, the more energy was required to supplement its size but also its continuous growth.

    It was good that Michael had enough energy stones to feed the evolved Nourberry. It devoured the energy stones whole and was given enough nutrients from the Greater Nature Spirit, the fertilizer created in the ranches, and through other sources to keep growing.

    Michael ordered the expansion of all ranches. It was only a matter of days before the supply of evolved Nourberry would exceed its demand. From that point onward, the evolved Nourberry would proliferate and cause trouble. Michael was not a fan of trouble. He''d rather avoid it if possible.

    The existing ranges expanded, and more ranches were built quickly. The dung produced by the livestock and a tiny portion of the harvested Energy Stones were added to the farnd of the evolved Nourberry, whose growth slowed down once the farmers pinpointed the perfect amount of energy and nutrition required to grow just enough evolved Nourberry to satiate the livestock.

    "We can elerate the evolved Nourberry''s growth once the poption expands again. That said, we would need permission to ess the warehouse and retrieve Energy Stones to ensure that the evolved Nourberry won''t wilt. We don''t know enough about the evolved Nourberry to understand everything ¡­If it dies, we won''t be able to feed the livestock anymore," One of the farmers requested hesitatingly.

    The farmer felt increasingly ufortable asking their Lord for ess to the warehouse. Too many valuable items were stored in the main warehouse and the farmers weren''t sure if their Lord was willing to trust them with those treasures. They were merely lowly far¡ª....

    "Take whatever you need. If you need anything else, just contact me or make an official request. My attendants will help you find whatever you need," Michael agreed to the farmer''s request immediately. He didn''t even have to think about the answer.

    "It would be great if you could also meet up with the architects. They researched the blueprints of advanced farnds, which can be implemented better into the Untamed Jungle than the current farnd. I''ve long since noticed that the smaller farnds are great for a wide variety of nts, but they are very annoying for the farmers and everyone else responsible. It is cumbersome to tend to every farnd while weaving around the trees and bushes of the Untamed Jungle."

    Michael looked apologetic at the farmer, "Please bear with it until we can implement a better solution. It might not be perfect, but we''re slowly getting there."

    "O..oh¡­Okay. Sure. Whatever you say, Sir!" The farmer could barely catch his voice. He stared nkly at their Lord as he turned around to inspect the other nts that had mutated over thest two weeks. He checked on the Artifacts and Relics they''d received from the Forest Elves as well but didn''t pay much attention to them. Lilica and others were more familiar with their Relics. Michael trusted they would do a well enough job. There was no need to supervise them while oblivious to what they were doing.

    Michael smiled in satisfaction once he checked the ranches, farnd, the Greater Nature Spirit, and a few other spots.

    "The Purifier nts are working better than expected," He noted.

    "I noticed that as well," Reba agreed, "The Purifier nts not only purify the smell and harmful substances released by the livestock but also improve the air quality throughout the Pentagon Fort dramatically. I think they also purify the energy, though the extent is probably minuscule."

    The food supply was definitely not a problem anymore. The evolved Nourberry and raised livestock solved that problem.

    They had beencking resources beforehand, slowing the expansion after the Pentagon Fort and the 10th settlement in Paradise Valley had beenpleted, but that wouldn''t be an issue anymore. The Energy Vein changed everything.

    Michael doubted sincerely that there was anything he couldn''t afford right now.

    His life as a Lord in the Origin Expanse was getting more exciting. Michael was getting somewhere. He was growing in power and as a person¡­as the Lord of his people.

    Besides the excavation of Energy Stones and the Pentagon Fort''s farnd changes, nothing much about his territory changed. Despite that, the Valyr came to him one day to inquire about the Energy Stones.

    "Who told you about the Energy Stones?" Michael asked Zira, who had been deployed to act as the Valyr''s representative.

    Unfortunately, Zira remained silent. She shook her head slowly, "I am not allowed to tell you. Just know that we know a lot."

    That answer didn''t sit well with Michael, but a subtle use of Mind Reader told Michael that Zira didn''t know the exact answer. All she knew was that one of their leaders informed The Valyr Lordess'' family about the Energy Vein.

    Michael was unsure what to think and feel about that, but he decided to ept the situation as it was.

    "Please ept this gift. We want to congratte you on discovering the Energy Vein and hope that you''re open to negotiations." Zira smiled brightly while igniting her body. It was coated in zing mes instantly. "Of course, we would love to continue trading Soultrait Symbols with you."

    The mes extinguished, revealing a blush, "I have yet to learn how to control myself in excitement. I never had to learn more about Soultraits after all. It isn''t easypared to martial arts. I''m probably not talented enough when ites to Soultraits."

    Zira was very talkative today. She was excited and overflowing with joy. That was nice to see. However, that didn''t mean Michael was going to give them preferential treatment.

    "I can also sell Energy Stones to the Valyr, but I''m not sure if you can afford to purchase Energy Stones in bulk. Small-scale purchases are possible, but they''re not that worthwhile for me. After all, you want to purchase Soultarit Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades," Michael pointed out, "And you don''t mean to tell me that these chained men and women are the ''gift'' you were talking about¡­right?"

    "But they''re are the gift. You told us once that you will always need criminals. We picked out an additional batch of criminals and prepared to hand them over to you as a generous gift in Valyr''s name," Zira responded, her eyes dead serious.

    Michael nodded slowly and turned to one of his attendants, "Bring them to the prison."

    The attendant was about to heed his Lord''smand but frozen when he recalled something.

    "My Lord¡­" He murmured. Michael barely heard him.

    "What''s wrong?" Michael asked, his vibrant golden eyes staring intently at the youthful attendant.

    "My Lord¡­We¡­We don''t have enough space for more criminals¡­"

    Michael frowned deeply until he recalled that the Valyr must have continued sending criminals over thest six months. The prison in his territory wasn''t anything fancy. It wasn''t big either.However, it had been enough until now.

    However, being out of the house ¨C his territory ¨C for half a year was enough to fill the prison to the brim.

    "Alright," Michael scrunched his nose, "Bring them to the prison entrance and wait for me. I will clean up this mess shortly."

    The attendant nodded and rushed off. He didn''t dare to look back. In less than ten minutes, the criminals the Valyrs had gifted Michael were at the prison.

    "We should renegotiate a few things. I don''t consider the Valyrs have many criminals left, or am I wrong?" Michael queried sharply. He noticed a few ''unique'' Awakened among the criminals Zira had ''gifted'' him in the name of the Valyr. It was only obvious, but Michael figured that he would have to examine the criminals thoroughly to ensure they were actually criminals and hadn''t been framed.

    "That¡­is actually part of the reason I''m here today. The Valyr wish to negotiate several contracts." Zira responded, suppressing a heavy sigh.

    "If the Valyr desire to discuss the Savannah Contract¡­please be aware that I''m not as weak as I used to be. Try to take advantage of me, and I will take the Savannah Region back!" Michael warned Zira, his voice growing colder with every word escaping his lips.

    He took a step forward and unleashed a wave of his natural presence. However, unlike before, Michael''s presence had merged with a trace of the Wolf Curse and World Serpent''s presence.

    His presence washed over Zira, whose body froze instantly. One moment, everything had been perfectly fine, and in the next instant, Zira felt like a massive serpent coiled around her body, tightening its grasp slowly. Simultaneously, a wolf seemed to tower above her, ready to tear her apart at once.

    Her legs caved inward, and she slumped to the ground.

    Zira swallowed heavily.

    "I¡­understand¡­" She barely managed to say something.

    Zira tried to get up, but her legs were glued to the ground. Her body didn''t listen to her anymore. She broke into a cold sweat and continued staring at Michael; her eyes widened in terror.

    ''What happened to him? How is it possible that he is so¡­

    different?'' She screamed in her mind. ''Not as weak as I used to be?? Is that supposed to be a joke? Thest time I met you, you were already¡­''

    Zira wanted to say something, but she didn''t dare to. His vibrant golden eyes didn''t even consider her an opponent anymore. If anything, Michael eyed her like a predator eyed its prey. Zira was nothing more than that. She was a weak, defenseless prey trembling before its predator.

    At this moment, Zira realized one thing. It was one of the things Zira''s mother had been worried about¡­one of the things the Valyr Lordess had prepared against.

    The Valyr Lordess always asked; What would happen when the Lord of the Untamed Jungle decides to expand toward the Savannah Region?''

    She, alongside the Valyr ns, chose to exploit the Lord of the Untamed Jungle as long as he was on their side. They wanted to profit as much as they could and use the powers earned from Michael against him once he decided to move against them.

    But Zira realized how foolish that was. Today, she learned that their n was bound to fail.

    Michael Fang, the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, could conquer the Savannah Region anytime. All by himself.

    "We are not nning to alter a lot," Zira stated hurriedly once she regained her voice. She tried to get up again but failed once more, "But we don''t have many criminals ¨C Higher Lifeforms ¨C left in our prisons. We don''t have any Higher Lifeform criminals left. It''s not like we''ve been collecting them as treasures in the first ce. It was already a wonder that we had enough to supply you for this long."

    "We need to alter the contract because we cannot provide you with more criminals. Of course, we could trick you and sacrifice our Higher Lifeforms, but we do not wish to do that. Furthermore, you also mentioned that you only want criminals who deserve to die. But¡­we have no more criminals like that."

    Zira took a deep breath, her voice shaking, "Please let us alter the Savannah Contract and the other contracts. We have other things to offer. If we had nothing else to offer, I wouldn''t be here asking you for Energy Stones¡­right?"

    Michael had long since retracted his presence. He unleashed his presence only for a second or two. It wasn''t his fault that Zira was affected by it for so long. Well¡­maybe he was at fault, but it didn''t matter.

    "Tell me," Michael said, the corner of his lips curling into a devilish smile, "What do you have to offer?"

 Chapter 811 Replacement

    Chapter 811 Recement

    ??''What can they offer me? Is there something I need¡­something that''s not easy to procure and of simr value as the SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, and Memory Orbs for Higher Lifeforms?''

    Michael tilted his head and waited for Zira to say something. The Valyr needed Soultrait Symbols and Energy Stones. But did they have the means to ask for that much?

    "The Valyr are officially offering you theirbat power," Zira dered.

    "If you mean that the Valyr will help me when I''m in trouble¡­ We''ve already established that if you don''t remember."

    Zira shook her head, "That''s not what the Valyr are willing to offer you today. We offer you our strongest fighters."

    She took a deep breath and studied Michael''s reaction intently. Zira didn''t expect that Michael wouldn''t give her a reaction. His facial features didn''t move an inch.

    They will join your territory for ten years and be of your service. You might have some Awakened by your side, but the Valyr are strong. Instead of criminals, we offer you our people to support your goals."

    ''That''s like military service then. They would follow me for ten years and be discharged once their service period ends.'' Michael concludes.

    "The Valyr offer me¡­that in exchange for Energy Stones and Soultrait Symbols, or Soultrait Upgrades, is that right?"

    The young Valyr nodded.

    "No," Michael said without a second thought, "I think I''ll decline the Valyr''s offer."

    Zira''s lips parted, but Michael''s gaze silenced her before she could say something. His expression was getting more severe and angry by the second.

    "I don''t need your warriors. The Valyr might be strong ¨C I witnessed their power and agree with your assessment ¨C but I don''t need them," Michael snorted, "I can get thousands of Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs to fight for me with their lives on the line. They think of me as their golden opportunity to change their forsaken fate. There is no reason for me to pick the Valyr over the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, or Humans."

    Michael shook his head. Zira was about to say something, but he shut her up with a simple gesture.

    "Furthermore, there are two more races with me. One of them is, at least, as powerful as the Valyr, while thebat prowess of the other race surpasses the Valyr."

    The Forest Elves were highlypatible with the Untamed Jungle. They were strong, very knowledgeable, and learned to exploit their surroundings from a young age. They were the best pick if Michael had to appoint a race as the Guardian of the Pentagon Fort.

    Forest Elves might not be physically superior, and their energy control didn''t separate them from the Elite of other races, but they had their fair share of advantages. Otherwise, they would have never managed to establish several old kingdoms. They would have never made it far in the Origin Expanse.

    The Silverfang Tigerfolk might be an exiled race, but they were powerful. The Demi-Humans had tobine their power to overwhelm the Silverfangs, forcing them to retreat into the Origin Expanse. Michael was the port of the exiled Silverfang Tigerfolk. He might not have summoned many Silverfangs in thest few months, but it was only a matter of time before that would change.

    The entire poption of Silverfangs would reside in his territory at some point. They would fight to the death to protect Michael''s territory. After all, his territory was their home, the only ce they''d left.

    Nourishing the Silverfangs, who would be with him until death parted them, was much better than throwing a bunch of resources at Valyr Warriors, who would leave after their service period ended.

    "I¡­expected you to reject the Valyr''s offer," Zira nodded slowly, "It makes no sense to switch the Higher Lifeform criminals against our warriors. Even if we were to send you the Valyrians, you wouldn''t be able to use them. You wouldn''t give them any Soultrait Symbols for free or additional resources. After all, the Valyrians would leave after their military service ends."

    She shrugged slightly while awaiting Michael''s reaction, "The ns only think about their benefits. They didn''t even try asking themselves if their offer would benefit you. They were probably hoping that you would ept the change of the Savannah Contract in their favor and that you would start nourishing their warriors. Leasing the Valyrians to you for ten years, only to get them back stronger than ever ¨C with multiple new Soultraits in their pockets ¨C would be the ''perfect'' solution. Of course, that''s only the perfect solution for them. It would be foolish of you to ept that."

    Clearing her throat, Zira continued, "That''s why I created a list of items that may interest you. I don''t know if the ns will ept your requests if you ask for these treasures, but I didn''t want toe here empty-handed. Putting aside the gift of criminals, of course."

    Zira retrieved a scroll, which she handed to Michael. He epted the scroll with little interest. Michael''s expectations were really low after hearing the Valyr''s offer. However, his initial opinion changed ¨C but only slightly -- when the parchment unfolded before him.

    [Treasure List]

    8x Deathworm Egg.

    1x Prairie Wyvern Egg

    4x Perfect Elemental Gemstone.

    8x Lord Seal

    2x Advanced Summoning Core(Neutral)

    15x Legendary Summoning Scrolls

    3x 4-Star Grand Weaver Summoning Scroll

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡ª

    The list was interesting, but Michael doubted that it contained the treasures of the entire race. It would be weird if Zira had ess to the secret vaults of other ns.

    [The Prairie Wyvern Egg should be helpful. It would be great to have Wyverns in Paradise Valley. As long as the Primal Phoenix doesn''t hunt the Prairie Wyverns, we could travel through the Sacred Desert with them.] Daniel pointed out, although Michael felt his brother''s Living Soul shudder when he considered about the distant rtives of Wyverns.

    Danny considered about how he died in the Lord Rift.

    ''Wyverns would be great, but the rest is not that amazing. It shouldn''t be a problem for me to create Advanced Summoning Cores using Insert. Upgrading the Intermediate Summoning Gate to the Advanced rank shouldn''t be a major problem. Well, once I have the blueprint and the necessary resources. I have yet to meet the requirements to upgrade the Intermediate Summoning Gate in the first ce.''

    He shrugged lightly and discarded most of the listed items.

    "Moles or Draconic Earthworms would have been better than Deathworms, but the Prairie Wyvern Egg sounds good," Michael mumbled.

    Monsters like Adamantium wed Moles would be perfect for the Excavation site, but he doubted that Zira could procure them. Transporting them to Paradise Valley wouldn''t be an issue, but getting hold of them was.

    [You can always get an ordinary mole and put Tatjana in Directly support the authors on WebNovel!

    charge of its evolution.]

    ''True that.''

    His attentionnded on the Legendary Summoning Scrolls and the Grand Weaver Summoning Scrolls, and an idea formed in his head.

    "If you cannot provide a steady supply of criminals ¨C Higher Lifeforms, of course ¨C what about Ordinary Summoning Scrolls?" Michael inquired.

    "What do you mean?" Zira didn''t quite understand where Michael was going with his inquiry.

    Michael was about to say something but dismissed them when he thought about it.

    "Forget about that for a moment," He said, clearing his throat, "How much would your ns pay for a 1-Star Soultrait Symbols and two Upgrades if the currency was Ordinary Summoning Scrolls?"

    Zira was even more confused than before, but she could tell Micheal was serious.

    "That¡­I don''t think I can answer that. The value of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and Soultraits is just too vast. But if I could use Legendary Summoning Scrolls as a recement, as greater currency if you want to put it like that, we should be able to pay 10 Legendary Summoning Scrolls for an ordinary 1-

    Star Soultrait Symbol¡­I think? Maybe the ns would pay more if the Soultrait Symbol ispatible with one of the heads, elders, or their offspring."

    Michael nodded thoughtfully, trying to hide his smile, "In that case, I have an idea."

    Zira listened up.

    "Tell the ns that we can change the Savannah Contract. They can rece the steady supply of criminals with one of two options. Either they hand over 10 Legendary Summoning Scrolls for every criminal they were supposed to bring or 15,000,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls."

    Zira paled when she heard the first option and stared at Michael in utter confusion when he pointed out the second option.

    "Why would you want so many Ordinary Summoning Scrolls? That''s tens of millions of Ordinary Summoning Scrolls every month¡­"

    Zira ruled out the first option immediately. She understood the ns would never ept recing the criminals with 10 Legendary Summoning Scrolls. They might not have any criminals anymore, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t procure more Higher Lifeform criminals through ''different means''. Nheless, both criminals and 10 Legendary Summoning Scrolls were several times harder to procure than Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    "That doesn''t matter," Michael dismissed her question, "Just keep in mind that I''m being nice here. I could terminate the Savannah Contract anytime since you''vee here to request the official change of uses. You should also know that recing criminals doesn''t change anything else. The Valyr won''t be given any additional Energy Stones or Soultrait Symbols. That''s a separate discussion and probably something you cannot sign off on. Given that you came with the treasure list of your n rather than a list containing the treasures of the entire race, I presume you don''t have the authority to do much."

    Michael sighed deeply, annoyance rising to his head, "You should tell the ns about the choices. If they like them, we can alter the Savannah Contract. As for the Energy Stones and Soultrait Symbolse back to me when you have the authority to negotiate and trade with me."

    He could tell that the minor annoyance transformed into anger. It was not until a few secondster when he realized that his impression of the Valyr worsened considerably. He considered them as business partners, allies even. But, somehow, Michael ended up thinking of them as potential threats to his people''s safety.

    It was fine that they desired to change the Savannah Contract, but trying to take advantage of his goodwill didn''t sit well with Michael. Zira observed that as well.

    "I don''t like wasting my time¡­" He stared intently at her, his voice eerily cold all of a sudden, "So you bettere fully prepared next time. This list of you is a joke."

    Zira shuddered, but Michael merely smiled.

    He briefly considered about something, swallowed his anger, and retrieved a 1-Star Soultrait Symbol called "Dash" with a neutral expression.

    "Take this, and tell the ns to prepare a suitable exchange. If the offer doesn''t meet my expectations, I¡­" Michael''s neutral expression transformed into a smile, but Zira could only shudder. She felt like the incarnation of the devil stared down upon her.

    "... won''t sell anymore Soultrait Symbols to the Valyr anymore."

 Chapter 812 Achievement Scroll

    Chapter 812 Achievement Scroll

    ??Recing the steady supply of criminals with 15,000,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls would be worth it. Michael would lose the supply of SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols, but he could do nothing about it. If the Valyr couldn''t maintain their supply, he would have to find a different source to procure SoulStar Fragments.

    Asking for so many Ordinary Scrolls might sound stupid to others, but Insert changed everything. The Scrolls were definitely worth it. Even with Extraction, Michael could transform 15 million Scrolls into 15 to 23 Legendary Scrolls. Even if the Legendary Summons would be the exiled Silverfangs, Michael could live with that. It wasn''t like the Silverfangs were weak, after all.

    ''Should I start trading 1-Star Soultraits or upgraded Soultrait Symbols with Ordinary Summoning Scrolls?'' Michael wondered.

    He thought about discarding the idea moments after it shed through his mind because it would attract suspicion when others found out he traded Soultrait Symbols with Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. But then again, Michael knew that everything he did was suspicious. Trying to stay lowkey wasn''t going to work well either way.

    At the end of the day, Soultrait Symbols and Upgrades up to 4-Star weren''t expensive. To be precise, they were rather cheap. But that was only the case for him. Others would have to spend a fortune of Achievement Points to purchase a 1-Star Soultrait.

    Procuring Achievement Points wasn''t easy, and earning the fortune required to purchase a perfectlypatible Soultrait wasn''t easy. An Awakened would have to ascend to a Higher Lifeform before attaining a wide variety of unique achievements to purchase perfectlypatible Soultrait Symbols.

    [The Achievement Shop is weird. I can understand why everyone is running behind you like this. They''re just helpless, and you seem like a great opportunity to grow stronger.] Danny said with a shrug.

    Michael was not sure why, but his brother felt bad for Zira. He said that it was sad seeing Zira being shoved in all directions and that she was exposed to the anger and frustration of others.

    Michael agreed with his brother''s statement, but that didn''t mean he was going to change the way he treated Zira. She was a nice girl, that much was given. However, if the young Valyr didn''t want Michael''s presence around her, forcing her to the knees, Zira would have to use her brain more.

    She was used by the Valyr because they hoped Michael would be nicer to her. That didn''t work out well. If anything, it worsened his rtionship with the Valyr.

    That was a shame.

    ''Now that you mention the Achievement Shop¡­that thing is really weird, yeah.'' Michael said to his brother while calling upon the Achievement Scroll.

    The Achievement Scroll, a simple parchment, appeared before Michael. Various letters were etched on the parchment as it unfolded, revealing some information about Michael Fang.

    _______________________

    [Michael Fang] ¨C [Higher Lifeform ¨C Tier 4]

    [Achievement List] ¨C [Awakening], [Curse Control], [Origin High Ascension], [Escapist], [Memory Stealer], [Mind Breaker], [Soul Reaper], [Squire], [Knight], [Baron], [Viscount], [Rift Ruler], [ughterer I ¨C V], [imed Lands.] [Exorcist], [High yer], [Divine yer], [Unkible], [Beast God Submission], ¡­

    [Achievement Points] ¨C 5121

    _______________________

    Michael had already checked the Achievement List and was surprised to find that there was no description of the Achievements. It would have been interesting to see what exactly he did for some actions to be considered an achievement. That way, he could recreate them on arger scale. Unfortunately, that wasn''t possible.

    Michael couldn''t even find out how many Achievement Points the individual achievements rewarded. All he could do was to make guesses.

    "Divine yer should be about the Undead Pharaoh. I killed a Divine Lifeform while being a Lesser Lifeform," He thought aloud before shrugging lightly. It didn''t really matter. The Achievement Shop was not yet interesting to him.

    Michael turned the parchment around, resulting in the letters disappearing. New letters formed on the nk back page.

    _______________________

    [Achievement Shop] ¨C [5121 Points]

    [Soultraits]

    [Knowledge]

    [Territory]

    [Bloodlines]

    [Techniques]

    [Items]

    [Others]

    _______________________

    The Achievement Scroll was quite interesting. It was possible to interact with it like one would use websites on Sta. He could press on [Soultraits], and a list of Soultrait Symbols would appear before him.

    The cheapest Soultraits were ''cheap'' and priced at 100 Achievement Points. But they were rather useless, to put it in simple terms. The cheapest was called Clean. Michael was fairly certain that it couldn''t do much more than that. You could clean up your mess. Great. That was almost important in a life-and-death battle against Divine Lifeforms.

    Of course, Michael could transform Clean into something useful bybining it with a bunch of other Soultraits or by upgrading it, but he doubted that it was worthwhile. He had more than enough Soultrait Symbols to y around with.

    More ''useful'' Soultraits for ordinary Awakened were more expensive. They cost 1,000 Achievement Points at 1-Star. Purchasing their upgraded version would increase the price by a few times.

    Even Michael, with his wide variety of unique Achievements ¨C achievement he''d procured by killing a Divine Lifeform as a Lesser Lifeform and doing a lot of other stupid shit ¨C could only purchase a somewhat decent 3-Star Soultrait. That was still fine since it meant one could grow stronger as long as one gave their utmost.

    However, there was a reason Michael managed to best such powerful enemies and acquire the Achievement Points. He had Extraction, his army of high-ranked Soultraits, and the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse. It would be difficult for others to achieve the same, especially if they didn''t possess powerful Soultraits or other advantages separating them from ordinary Awakened in the first ce.

    "Thinking about Soultrait Symbols made me hungry," Michael grumbled.

    The Achievement Scroll was currently of no interest to him. Maybe it will be useful in the future, especially the Knowledge and Techniques sections. He eyed two techniques, but they were too pricey. Furthermore, Michael hoped that the Nest would feel generous enough to throw a bunch of exotic techniques his way in the near future.

    [It''s time to eliminate a bunch of criminals!] Danny dered, his voice regaining some vigor.

    Michael nodded and teleported straight to the prison. The prison was rather small and nothing out of the ordinary for the Forest Elven Architects. The Forest Elven Architects proposed building a prison simr to the prisons they built at home. Their prisons were built in trees, Redgaernit trees, to be precise.

    Redgaernit trees were also known as Leechies because their vines drained the origin energy of everything they touched. Their vines secreted a liquid called pyraz, putting the victims in a unique state. The victims would be awake but barely recognize anything that happens around them.

    Pyraz was not as effective on Higher Lifeforms, but since the criminals were malnourished, drained of origin energy, and some even crippled, it was effective enough.

    Redgaernit trees wererge, but it required aplex constetion of wooden cages intertwined with their vines to create a perfect prison. Michael listened to the Forest Elven Architect when he exined everything about the Wood Prison, but he wasn''t interested enough to ask questions. All Michael had to know was that the Wood Prison was good enough to keep the Higher Lifeform criminals in check.

    They couldn''t ess their Soultrait Symbols, and were paralysed ¨C basically.

    Michael appeared before the Wood Prison and checked it out. The tree trunks were crimson, just like the tree''s vines. It had darkish brown leaves and lengthy, twisted branches. The branches were thick enough to carry heavy-looking wooden cages. The criminals sat inside the cages, crimson vines coiled around them.

    The new batch of criminals hadn''t been hung into the Wood Prison''s cages yet. There was no space for them either way.

    It was time to clean up.

    He released a Qi de to release one of the criminals from the chains that blocked his energy cirction. The chains were expensive since they blocked an Awakened''s energy cirction and sealed a portion of their physical strength.

    Michael was very interested in the chains but had hardly time to research anything. He was too busy dealing with more important stuff.

    "Foolish bastard!" The criminal bellowed, circting energy through his body before conjuring an armor of energy around his body.

    The criminal charged at Michael, a de forming in his hand.

    Michael raised one eyebrow, the corner of his lips curling upward, "That''s a very interesting Soultrait you have there."

    "I''ll add it to my collection," His eyes turned ice-cold. A glimmer shed through his eyes as Michael unleashed Spiritual Domination.

    The criminal groaned in pain and copsed to the ground. Michael strode toward the criminal, manifesting several Qi Swords, which plunged down, piercing through the energy armor''s seams. The criminal screamed at the top of his lungs when the Qi Swords pierced through his shoulders, ankles, and wrists. Michael added a few more Qi Swords to pierce the joints to make an example out of the criminal, pinning him to the ground.

    Michael activated all 51 Cursed Seals and unleashed True Extraction. One massive Extraction tendril burst out of Michael''s hand with terrifying velocity. It crashed heavily into the pinned criminal and passed through the energy armor, which dissipated slowly and invaded the target.

    The criminal screamed, but Michael didn''t care.

    "I don''t think I have to locate out whether you''re falsely used or not. Your actions and bloodlust are answer enough," Michael said in a whisper, infusing more energy into True Extraction.

    The man screamed, but his voice grew into a whisper quickly. He writhed in pain as the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbol were ripped out of his soul by force. Michael retrieved the capsule where all Soultrait Symbols were stored and stored the Energy Armor Symbol before continuing to drain the man''s War Rune storage and memories.

    In a matter of seconds, the criminal died. He stopped moving andy there quietly.

    The SoulStar Fragments and the portion of the criminal''s War Rune storage were transferred straight into Michae''s War Rune, where he essed everything.

    ''1653 SoulStar Fragments. Not too bad.''

    He nodded slowly and turned to the next criminal. A single Qi de was enough to cut the chains restraining the criminal. This time, the man knelt down and begged Michael to spare his life.

    Michael felt guilty, but only for a moment. He used Mind Reader and grasped the man''s head to get as close to his head as possible.

    Michael was struck by a wide variety of memories and thoughts. The memories were far from nice. In fact, Michael had only seen worse in the memories of the Kitsun Lord.

    "Children¡­really?" Michael asked, his voice filled with disgust.

    The criminal tried to move, but Michael''s Qi Swords were faster. They pierced through the man''s back and pushed him to the ground. His face crashed heavily into the ground, digging deep into the soil. The criminal''s screams were muffled, leaving Michael in silence as he unleashed True Extraction again.

    The second criminal died as well.

    Michael persisted using Mind Reader to check on the criminals and their crimes for the next hour. He released the men and women from the Wood Prison and killed them one by one.

    Michael ended the lives of 41 criminals that day, 38 Higher Lifeforms and three Lesser Lifeforms at the Peak of Tier-3. He earned 59,539 SoulStar Fragments and 41 Soultrait Symbols.

    The gains were nice, especially since Michael didn''t have to do much to earn the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    However, he wasn''t too excited. The memories and thoughts of the criminals had been far from pleasant.

    Michael decided to make use of the Needle of the Lost Memories. He pricked himself and concentrated on the memories he wanted to forget. A strange pulling force spread through his brain, followed by emptiness.

    "What performed I just forget?" Michael asked, knowing that there was something he''d wanted to forget. But¡­he couldn''t recall what it was.

    [It works? That''s surprising.] Dannymented. He wasn''t even trying to hide his surprise.

    "Looks like it," Michael shrugged, his attention pulling to thest two men, whom the Valyr had considered criminals.

    He''d used Mind Reader on them but never considered killing them. They didn''t react when Michael cut them loose. In fact, neither of the duo moved. It was almost like they were waiting for their execution. As if they¡­looked forward to it.

    "I looked through your minds, but I don''t see the reason your people considered you criminals. You didn''t do anything worthy of death," Michael announced. The two Valyrs swallowed hard. One of them slumped to the ground while the other grit his teeth.

    "I deserve to die," The Valyr on the ground said. He sounded like he meant it.

    "Your sibling betrayed you. Killing him to protect your life isn''t a crime," Michael rified, "You do not deserve to die."

    He turned to the other Valyr and sighed deeply.

    "Your family was killed, and your assets were taken. Everything you and your n achieved was taken from you. You desired revenge, and you managed to attain your goal. The ns abandoned you for eradicating them, but I have a good feeling about you. Your mind showed me your true self. You are not a bad guy."

    The Valyr persisted gritting his teeth, but Michael didn''t pay too much attention to that.

    "How about you stay here," Michael offered, his eyes traveling to the first Valyr, "Both of you."

 Chapter 813 Free

    <h4>Chapter 813 Free</h4>

    The two Valyr stared at Michael in confusion. They witnessed the gruesome death of dozens of Valyr over thest hour and were now offered freedom by the very same man.

    It didn''t make any sense.

    "You...are really not going to kill us?" One of them asked while the other continued staring nkly at Michael.

    "We can leave?"

    Michael answered with a light shrug, "You are free to leave. However, it would be great if both of you could join me here. I can deploy you to my other territory as well. It''s better suited for Valyrs than the Untamed Jungle. Still, I won''t force you to make a decision."

    One of the duo looked in the direction of the Savannah Region. He couldn''t see the outskirts of the Savannah Region through the densely grown jungle, but his imagination was going wild. He wondered what would happen if he returned to the Savannah.

    "Though, I rmend not going back to the Savannah Region. While rummaging through your minds to find out if you''re bad guys, I saw how the Valyr treated you. I don''t think they''ll allow you to leave alive. Your life outside the Origin Expanse is basically over, and returning to the Savannah Region will be thest nail in your coffin."

    The Valyrs swallowed and looked to the ground. They understood that Michael wasn''t saying nonsense. However, that didn''t mean they liked what Michael said. Their lives had changed again, yet regaining freedom didn''t mean they would be epted by their people any longer.

    "I don''t like this, but I don''t think we''ve got another option," One of the duo grumbled. He stretched his hand out, "My name is Kodas. The Valyr considered me one of their prodigies until one of the heads'' offspring decided it was a good idea to pounce on my sister and take her by force."

    Kodas took a deep breath, rage spreading rapidly through his entire body. His blood was boiling, but he felt he had to tell Michael what happened.

    "I don''t know what you saw in my mind... Either way, my sister managed to run away from that bastard. She returned home, desperate and bawling her eyes out. That bastard and his bodyguards reached our home while my father and I tended to official business in the Origin Expanse. I don''t know what happened..." Silence ruled the vicinity for a few seconds as Kodas shut his mouth.

    "...We found our family dead, their bodies mangled in the worst possible ways you could imagine. My father was the first to move. Fueled in rage, he demanded an exnation, but all he received was a p in the face. Long story short, my father killed the n head''s offspring and some elders who''d been supporting that bastard. He injured the n head but was executed not long after."

    "I used my Soultrait on the day of my father''s execution to assassinate the injured n head. I killed Ignas and obliterated everything he''d attained over thest 800 centuries. His n is no more. The monuments he''d engraved into the history of the Valyr were removed the day my father died."

    Michael was aware of 90% of Kodas'' story. However, there were minor details he hadn''t known about.

    "Why are you still alive after eradicating an entire n?" Michael asked though he had a suspicion.

    Kodas shrugged in uncertainty. It was the other Valyr who answered instead.

    "They kept us alive because of you. Even though the ns would have loved to execute us openly, it is a matter of fact that they''recking strong criminals. The Valyr didn''t kill us because they were having difficulty meeting the Savannah Contract''s quota," The Valyr exined, his eyes drilling deep into Michael''s, "They''re afraid of you."

    "That makes sense," Kodas nodded, eying Michael with a touch of vignce.

    Even though Michael said that he wouldn''t kill them, the grotesque scenes of him mercilessly murdering 40 Valyr shed through his mind.

    Kodas didn''t care too much about the Valyr because he was aware of the crimes they''dmitted. Still, seeing how they died...them being effortlessly suppressed by a youthful man, wasn''t exactlyforting. If anything, it was incredibly stressful.

    Kodas thought about fighting Michael for a moment before. Using his Soultrait to its limits before executing a surprise attack should be more than enough to take down a newly ascended Higher Lifeform. But he decided against it. Assassinating a n head of the Valyr had been incredibly difficult, but it was possible. However, doing the same to the monstrosity of the Lord standing before him was on an entirely different level.

    Michael shrugged, "They can fear me. I don''t really mind."

    "But if they fear me, they should have been trying to please me. Instead, they''re trying to take advantage of me," He murmured, a trace of annoyance shing through his mind.

    "Whatever," He shrugged, turning to the other Valyr, "What''s your name?"

    "Pierl..."

    "Pierl. Do you want to stay in my territory, or do you want to be a Rogue? I''m not killing you, but I will have to ask you to leave in a few days if you don''t join my territory. Or I can offer you a Soul Contract. You can stay in the Untamed Jungle if you sign the Soul Contract, though I doubt you''ll like it here. The Untamed Jungle is notpatible with Valyrs."

    "Is it okay if I think about it for a few days? I epted my death already¡­staying alive was not exactly an option for me anymore¡­"

    Michael nodded lightly, "Take your time. You too, Kodas. There is no need to rush anything."

    After saying everything that had to be said, Michael ordered an attendant to treat Kodas and Pierl as esteemed guests. They were given the same treatment as the Untamed Awakened and were given living quarters near the Untamed Awakened''s homes. Michael wished they would run into each other within the next few days.

    Both Kodas and Pierl were strong. If Michael had to make a guess, Pierl was only slightly weaker than Hiraku but stronger than Lokai. He was, however, stronger than most Valyrians Michael had encountered.

    Kodas, on the other hand, was stronger than Hiraku. In fact, Kodas was probably the strongest right after Michael. If he unleashed Kodas upon the Savannah Region, he might identally obliterate a portion of the Savannah. That wasn''t what Michael desired, though the Valyr ns had been getting on his nerves. Michael''s opinion of them had been flushed down the toilet.

    Either way, he gave the two Valyrs enough time to consider their future. In the meantime, Michael was going to do something long overdue.

    It was time to use his SoulStar Fragments and the massive stock of Soultrait Symbols.

    He utilized Cosmic Stride to return to the wooden manor, where he sat on the edge of his bed. Michael''s eyes lingered on the back of his right hand where his War Rune, altered through Maria''s Mark of Fate, was located.

    A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

    [Are you feeling sorry for Maria? That poor girl fell in love with you and lost her Primal Amplifier because you are never around when she needs you. If you had to inquire me, she is probably the most miserable girl around you.]

    Michael frowned deeply, but he didn''t say anything. He would be able to remove the Mark of Fate with True Extraction ¨C augmented with 51 Cursed Seals, ten Enhancementyers, and a Soul Tear ¨C but his instincts told him it would take days. His Cursed Seals didn''t contain enough curse power to supply True Extraction for days. The same applied to origin energy. He had the means to procure enough energy, but it wasn''t worth extracting Archangel''s Grace''s Soulshard just yet.

    "I will return the Mark of Fate in the future. It''s not my fault I''ve been chosen as her Primal Amplifier¡­" Michael groaned.

    [Oh my! How responsible of you!! You are almost a good guy¡­ but only almost. You really know how to get on other people''s nerves. To think you would pick your teacher over a beautiful maiden in love.]

    Michael would be able to feel his brother shaking his head. He frowned deeply and cursed Danny.

    "Sometimes, it''s better to keep your mouth closed, you know? If you continue spouting nonsense, your vessel will be a mouse or something like that. I will throw you into a mouse maze and make fun of you as you desperately try to escape the maze''s walls!"

    [You are so cruel~. If I had known that my brother would turn out like this, I would have disciplined him better!]

    Michael continued cursing his brother. He threw Danny out of his consciousness by shoving him back into the confinements of the Soul Grimoire. After that, his attention pulled back to his mission.

    ''I never nned to hurt my friends¡­'' Michael grit his teeth, his eyes lingering on the War Rune''s Mark of Fate.

    He ruffled through his hair and pped his cheeks to return to his senses.

    It was time to get his hands on a better Healing-type Soultrait Symbol. Archangel''s Grace was only a Pseudo 6-Star Soultrait when Michael utilized it at its full potential. That would have been more than enough for others, especially since Michael had only a shard of Archangel''s Grace.

    However, it was far from enough for Michael. He managed to injure himself far too often. Even Archangel''s Grace''s Soulshard had been too weak to heal some of his injuries fast enough.

    If he wanted to use all means possible to grow stronger, Michael would have to create his own Healing-type Soultrait Symbol.

    Michael had to create another Empty Soul Socket to achieve that.

    After all, he never nned to remove one of his other Soultrait Symbols. Not yet, at least.

 Chapter 814 Seed

    <h4>Chapter 814 Seed</h4>

    The only thing Michael had to do when expanding his Soul Sphere was to pick the location of the newly forming Empty Soul Socket. The position would determine how many SoulStar Fragments were required to create the Empty Soul Socket.

    [You will form a Soultrait Symbol bybining a bunch of Soultraits, right? In that case, you should put the Soul Socket near the center. You know how troublesome Sphere of Elements has been. It''s only in the middle area where the upgrade costs are up by 75%, but it''s 22 times more expensive to upgrade than Extraction and Insert. Even Cosmic Stride in the Inner Area is only three times more costly than ordinary Soultrait Upgrades!]

    "I know, I know. The Healing Soultrait will be in the Inner Area as well. Don''t worry," Michael murmured right before essing the dust-collecting pile of SoulStar Fragments.

    The SoulStar Fragments had been lying around doing nothing for way too long. It was time to use them again.?He tapped into the pile of SoulStar Fragments and urged the first batch to follow him to the Soul Sphere, where the seed of his 12th Soul Socket formed. The seed was a tiny wisp, a mixture of energy, a portion of Michael''s Soul, and the Essence that allowed Michael to be who he was.

    He didn''t know how he could tell apart the ingredients of the Soul Socket seed, but it was possible. The most important ingredient, the resource that made everything possible, was still missing. The first few SoulStar Fragments infused the mixture of Michael''s Essence, Soul, and pure origin energy.

    The ingredients swirled around each other and reacted. The pure origin energy fused with Michael''s Essence, whereas the SoulStar Fragments clinged onto the tiny fraction of his Soul. Michael groaned in pain when he realized that the reaction of his body was stronger than expected. He couldn''t recall thest time he was in pain when creating a Soul Socket. No. He had never been in pain for forming Soul Sockets. At least Michael couldn''t remember such a time.

    He frowned deeply while breaking into a cold sweat. His breathing grew rougher, and his throat swelled as the mixture of energy, essence, Soul fraction, and SoulStar Fragments reacted once more. They rotated around one another, forming two strands that shed as they pulled each other closer. The strands twirled and intertwined upon colliding. They formed a double helix, which drilled into the Soul Sphere, exactly where Michael wanted it to be.

    Upon reaching its destination, the double-helix stopped rotating around its axis. Most of its body disappeared in the Soul Sphere, leaving tiny tendrils that wiggled around happily.

    Michael was on the verge of vomiting, tears trickling down his cheeks while his clothes were drenched in sweat. Despite that, he managed to break into a smile. The seed of the 12th Soul Socket had been formed.

    [Now we know why you shouldn''t try to create your 12th Soul Socket while you''re still a Lesser Lifeform. A dozen Soultraits is too much¡­. Who would have thought?!?] Danny cackled in Michael''s wildly thumping head.

    His brother managed to break through his mental defense as he was busy surviving the torment energies wreaking havoc in his Soul Sphere. His Soul Sphere was unharmed, but Michael couldn''t muster the strength to push his brother back into the Soul Grimoire.

    "Is it going to be like this every single damn time I''m creating a new Soul Socket?" Michael asked in between two ragged breaths. He felt like cursing someone but didn''t know who to curse.

    [Your reaction is perfectly normal. It makes sense.] A loud hissing reverberated through Michael''s head, worsening the thumping pain that tormented him.

    "What do you mean?" Michael asked the World Serpent weakly.

    [It''s a little sad, but your Foundation before your High Ascension was one of the strongest I''ve seen. Only the Primal and a tiny fraction of the strongest races have such a meticulously crafted Foundation. But then again, most of them were never Lesser Lifeforms in the first ce. Maybe being born as a Lesser Lifeform has its perks. If they have the same Soultraits and means like yourself, that is.]

    [Either way, your Foundation ¨C alongside the Origin Sap Essence ¨C allowed you to undergo an Origin High Ascension. No. I won''t exin what that is. It would be best if you learned how to research properly. I won''t answer all of your doubts just because I''m taking residence in your body. Forget it. Back to the Origin High Ascension. Your Physique, Mind and Soul transformed, merged, and expanded. Your Soul is several times stronger than it used to be. You must have noticed some major changes within your body.]

    "I¡­noticed some things¡­" Michael responded with a slow nod. He was still sweating buckets, but it was easier for him to breathe. He wasn''t on the verge of death anymore. Fortunately.

    [Even though your Soul expanded and grew more resilient to unwanted alterations, you forcefully merged our Essence traces into your being. That being said, you not only deprived me and that wolf bastard of a portion of our power, but you also chose to carry the burden of our Essences. They''re only traces, so it doesn''t affect that little wolfie and me too much, but you, on the other hand, unsealed close to 100 Seals and two Major Seals.]

    The World Serpent hissed in enjoyment.

    [Your Soul, as extensive as it may be, is filled to the brim. It''s no wonder that you''re in pain now that you are trying to push your Soul even further. You''re forcefully expanding the remaining space of your Soul.]

    ''Does that mean I''m at my limit?'' Michael wonder, shaking his head in denial.

    [You won''t be able to create more Soul Sockets because you''ve been too greedy. Absorbing the traces of our Essences was a mistake!] The World Serpent hissed, all while Michael continued shaking his head.

    He could have sworn that the Wolf Curse would have snarled at him for being stupid or howled in joy to make fun of him, but there was nothing like that.

    At first, Michael didn''t understand what was happening, but he figured there had to be a reason for the Wolf Curse''s silence.

    "I¡­don''t think you''re right," He murmured, the corner of his lips curling upward, "I think you forgot what I have been doing with my brother''s Living Soul since¡­like forever ¨C well, more like since I''ve stored his Living Soul in the Soul Grimoire."

    [...] The World Serpent didn''t respond, but Michael could sense its confusion.

    "You''re underestimating the Wolf in me¡­again¡­"

    Michael had been nourishing and growing a Living Soul in his Soul Grimoire. He had been ensuring that an exorbitant number of SoulStar Fragments were invested in Danny to make sure that his Living Soul recuperated until it reached its former power. But Michael didn''t stop there. He has been supplying his brother''s Living Soul with SoulStar Fragments ever since it returned to its former peak to stimte the Living Soul and urge it to expand and grow even stronger.

    Michael chuckled, "I might not have enough space left to create anymore Soul Sockets now, but I can do the same I did to Danny''s Living Soul to myself. Who said that SoulStar Fragments are only useful for Living Souls? I used them to grow Aether, upgrade my Soultraits, and create the Soul Sphere and Soul Pockets. I can create new Soultraits with SoulStar Fragments as well. Why shouldn''t it be possible to stimte my Souls'' growth with them as well?"

    He wasn''t sure if the World Serpent was trying to make fun of him, but his Soul would never stop growing as a Higher Lifeform with a perfectly fused Physique, Mind, and Soul. The only exception was if he stopped refining his War Rune or Soul. However, that wouldn''t happen until the day he died.

    His Soul would never stay like this, especially not now that he found out he could infuse SoulStar Fragments into his Soul to grow it beyond the norms of a Higher Lifeform.

    The World Serpent''s confusion was reced with something else¡­something more. Oddly enough, the World Serpent didn''t seem displeased with the turn of events.

    [Good job.] It said before retracting, leaving Michael''s mind alone.

    The Wolf Curse growled at the World Serpent, probably for acting like an impudent bitch, but Michael ignored them. His Curses were weird, both of them.

    However, the World Serpent, as weird as its lectures might be, helped him find a way to expand his Soul artificially. As long as he pursued the new method, Michael could fuse with many new Soultrait Symbols before his Divine Ascension. That was only possible if he kept up with the refinement of his Soul and War Rune while investing a fortune of SoulStar Fragments into his Soul.

    Once again, Michael had too many investments requiring SoulStar Fragments. That became getting troublesome.

    Fortunately, he had some SoulStar Fragments left to invest. It ought to be enough to create a somewhat helpful Healing Soultrait Symbol. But prior he created the Soultrait Symbol, Michael had to nourish the Soul Socket Seed. It had yet to transform into thepleted Soul Socket.

    There became already a Soul Socket in his own Soul Sphere, sealed and ready to he unleashed, but something deep in his heart told Michael that he shouldn''t use the Soul Socket on a Healing Soultrait. It was better using the Soul Socket for something else.

    A few minutes of heavy investments followed. More than 100,000 SoulStar Fragments were removed from his stockpile. It became expensive, but Michael was more than okay with which kind of price. The Empty Soul Socket in the Inner Area of the Soul Sphere had beenpleted.

    All that became left was to create a suitable Soultrait. A perfect Healing Soultrait Symbol, customized to Michael''s needs.

    That was going to be fun.

 Chapter 815 River

    <h4>Chapter 815 River</h4>

    [Did you already think about the effects you want your Healing Soultrait to have?] Danny inquired.

    Michael responded with a smile, "Of course. I know what I want."

    He retrieved the capsule filled with all Soultrait Symbols and retrieved a particr Symbol.

    Blood Maniption.

    "Soultraits like Spirit Eyes are the best. They alter the body to augment it and give various benefits that can only be essed by channeling energy into the Soultrait at the same time," Michael exined, "That''s what my Healing Soultrait will do as well."

    A few more Soultrait Symbolsnded before him on the bed.

    Regeneration, Energy Seal, Mythical Force, and a dozen more Soultraits, many of which were 1-Star Healing Soultraits.

    Michael put the Soultrait Symbols next to each other and stared at the Soultraits for a while. He tilted his head, trying to imagine what results he would receive bybining them. Atst, Michael shrugged. It was too hard to analyze the Soultraits he would receive frombining certain Soultraits. Thus, he testedbining them. After all, he had Extraction to tear them apart if the result was unpleasant. That gave him far more leeway than others would have if they had only Insert as Soultrait.

    Michaelbined the Healing Soultraits, excluding Regeneration. The firstbination didn''t end that well. It was called Titan Healing, which Michael fused into the Empty Soul Socket, only to discover that the healing was highly effective but severely restricted. Titan Healing used the User''s nutrients and lifeforce to heal the targets. That might be great if Michael was overflowing with lifeforce and if he didn''t n to use the Soultrait on himself, but it was useless for him.

    He extracted the Soultrait from the Soul Sphere and ripped it into itsponents. The next thing Michael did was to attempt using Insert a few more times. The perfectbination was waiting for him. Unfortunately, it was far from easy to create the ideal Healing Soultrait.

    At some point, more than an hour after hebined his Soultraits the first time, Michael decided that it was time to use Extraction on Energy Seal. He liked the idea of Energy Seal, but not in the way it worked. Michael desired to use a portion of the Energy Seal Soultrait to insert into his little experimental Soultrait Symbol.

    He fused the portion of Energy Seal with Mythical Force before adding it to the mostpatible Soultrait Symbol he''d formed with half a dozen Healing Soultraits.

    The result was pleasant. Healing Surge was created.

    Michael pulled Healing Surge into his Soul Sphere and fused it with the Empty Soul Socket. A flux of information swept into Michael''s mind, informing him what Healing Surge was capable of and how it was used.

    "Not too bad. Not bad at all," Michael murmured, his eyesnding on Regeneration. The corner of his lips curled upward as he grabbed the Soultrait Symbol. He used Insert and integrated Regeneration into Healing Surge.

    The Soultrait transformed once again. More information entered Michael''s head, and he could clearly tell something was happening. An invigorating surge passed through Michael as something gathered in his chest. A considerable amount of energy, nutrients, and lifeforce were devoured to supplement the creation of a silverish semi-translucent droplet.

    The droplet formed in his chest. It expanded slowly, but not by consuming more energy, nutrients, and lifeforce. If anything, the droplet began producing lifeforce as it expanded. It was much smaller than the nail of Michael''s pinky, yet it attempted to expand at all times. The excessive silverish liquid produced by the droplet dissolved into lifeforce and bits of energy, which entered Michael''s body, invigorating him.

    Michael finished the creation of his Healing Soultrait. Tear of Vitality was born!

    His faint grin transformed into a vibrant smile. Tear of Vitality, a Healing Soultrait that produced healing serum as a passive effect. It could only carry a specific amount of healing serum at a time ¨C not much given that Tear of Vitality was merely a 1-Star Soultrait. Fortunately, the weight carried by the Tear of Vitality would expand as the Soultrait Symbol''s Soul Power would increase. That would be the only way for other Awakened to increase the carriable weight. Michael was different.

    He didn''t even have to try Tear of Vitality''s active effect to know that it was the perfect Soultrait Symbol for him. The information he''d been given was already more than enough.

    Michael began supplying Tear of Vitality with SoulStar Fragments.

    It reached 2-Star after 20 SoulStar Fragments had been infused into it.

    The Tear of Vitality expanded dramatically but only transformed and changed into a different shape once it reached 3-Star. Close to 180 SoulStar Fragments were drained from Michael''s pile to upgrade Tear of Vitality to 3-Star, the threshold for its first evolution.

    Tear of Vitality transformed into Pond of Vitality.

    The Tear expanded until it was toorge to maintain its form. It transformed into a small pond, which kept expanding as Michael continued infusing SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol.

    He invested 1700 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Pond of Vitality to 4-Star and reached deep into his stockpile to upgrade Pond of Vitality to 5-Star. The upgrade cost 15,000 SoulStar Fragments, pushing the total investment to 17,000 SoulStar Fragments.

    Upgrading Tear of Vitality to 5-Star expended 17,000 SoulStar Fragments. That was an exorbitant price, six times the usual amount required to upgrade a Soultrait. However, it was worth it. Pond of Vitality evolved once again at 5-Star. The pond of restoring serum overflowed. The healing serum streamed in all directions. It coiled around Michael''s veins, arteries, and energy paths, invigorating every corner of his body with energy and life.

    Pond of Vitality advanced into Stream of Vitality.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have stopped upgrading his Soultrait Symbol here. However, more information about the Soultrait entered his mind. The influx of information was interesting. It intrigued Michael enough to tap into the remaining pile of SoulStar Fragments, worth roughly 233,000ish SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Stream of Vitality to 6-Star.

    Almost 205,000 SoulStar Fragments were sacrificed ¨C invested into the Soultrait Symbol ¨C to initiate Stream of Vitality''s advancement to 6-Star.

    Michael was taken to procure when he sensed that the Stream of Vitality initiated another evolution. It had barely advanced at 5-Star, yet another evolution was initiated. That was odd, but it wasn''t something Michael would reject. He wasn''t foolish enough to reject more benefits.

    His Soultrait evolved again. The streams of healing serum expanded rapidly. Aplexwork of healing serum pathways formed within Michael. It as almost like something new formed next to his veins, arteries, and power paths. Countless small yet expanding rivers overflowing with lifeforce formed inside him.

    Stream of Vitality changed into River of Vigor at 6-Star.

    His breathing grew heavier, and a bead of sweat trickled down his cheeks, but Michael kept smiling. He tested River of Vigor''s effect right away.

    Michael perceived the changes in his lifeforce right away. It was several times stronger than before. He was more energetic and felt like training for days without break would be possible. His stamina was on an entirely new level. Michael was fairly sure he could fight for several days without a break.

    And that was only the inactive gain.

    River of Vigor''s active results were far more intense.

 Chapter 816 River of Vigor

    <h4>Chapter 816 River of Vigor</h4>

    Michael decided to test River of Vigor right away. He infused a small amount of energy into the Soultrait Symbol and received an immediate response.

    The exhaustion that had gued him was no more. A rush of soothing energy swept through his body, washing away his exhaustion. But that did not only include his body''s exhaustion but also his mind and soul. Even the weariness of his Soul expanding unnaturally was no more. It felt like he had never been in pain in the first ce. That was very interesting.

    ''Even the psychological pain and exhaustion is no more.'' Michael concluded with a grin. This could be very useful. Using River of Vigor after several hours of fighting would help him return to peak condition. If utilized properly, Michael could turn the tables in various fights that would be very difficult to win under normal circumstances.

    ''Is it possible to remove the burden of emotions as well? If I''m overflowing with rage¡­can this wash away the emotions and clear my mind?'' He wondered, tilting his head before he tried to cut himself to check River of Vigor''s healing powers.

    Aethyr manifested in his right hand. It transformed into a dagger, which he pressed firmly against his left palm. He tried cutting into his palm, only to realize that it was much harder to cut himself. Michael thought that a mental barrier ensured that he wouldn''t put enough force to cut himself, but he discarded that idiotic thought after a moment. He''d put a lot of force into the cut but didn''t manage to cut himself.

    He had to put a lot more force than expected to cut himself with the Aethyr Dagger. Michael was a bit too ambitious and cut deep into his palm, but that was hardly an issue. The instance he cut into his hands, Michael noticed that blood wasn''t the only thing sttering out of his body. A viscous liquid, silverish in color, spurted out of the wound alongside his blood.

    No, that wasn''t the entire truth. To some extent, the silverish liquid seemed to be part of his blood. Michael sensed something odd as the silver liquid spurted out of the wound. The deep cut regenerated as the liquid poured out of him. It felt like time trickled backward as the deep cut was sealed moments after Michael retracted the Aethyr Dagger. As the de pulled out of the deep cut, Michael found himself staring at a fully intact hand. There was no cut, let alone the sign of a scar.

    Michael''s hand was unblemished if one ignored the silverish crimson blood.

    [Damn. Your Soultrait is impressive!] Danny eximed in Michael''s mind.

    Michael could only nod. He was a bit bbergasted and had a hard time figuring out what happened. Well, it wasn''t difficult to tell what was happening, but it was still somewhat surprising.

    "The healing serum umted in River of Vigor''swork was used to surge toward the wound and both heal and seal it nearly instantaneously," Michael concluded.

    Since he didn''t have too much healing serum in his system yet, a small portion of it was used to mend the deep cut in his palm. However, as he amassed more healing serum in his system, Michael could heal deep cuts like that hundreds of times.

    Michael was unsure how much healing serum River of Vigor could store in his system. River of Vigor was a 6-Star Soultrait, and it possessed a tremendous amount of soul power. The Soultrait Symbol had also yet to be fully integrated into the Soul Sphere. That meant, River of Vigor didn''t receive the gains of Michael''s Lord Power. It had yet to obtain the soul power from more than three million subjects.

    More than 90% of Michael''s subjects had a firm Link of Loyalty, indicating that each would provide a considerable amount of Soul Power to Michael''s Soultrait Symbols. That included River of Vigor, which felt incredibly powerful even without the additional gains provided by his Lord Power.

    If he wasn''t already smiling from one ear to the other before, this would be the perfect timing to break into a vibrant smile.

    "River of Vigor''s passive effect is monstrous. Cutting myself a little won''t be enough to test the active effect of River of Vigor," Michael concluded. He would have to use the healing serum umted within his system to test River of Vigor''s active healing power. The passive effect was too strong otherwise.

    Michael''s vibrant smile transformed into a shit-eating grin, and¡­he stabbed the Aethyr Dagger into his stomach.

    He put a tremendous amount of force into the stab ¨C maybe a little bit too much because he used Qi to sharpen Aethyr Dagger''s de as well ¨C and the de cut deep into his stomach. He was actively trying not to block the attack, suppressing the urge to use Serpent Seals, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Foundation Break.

    Instead, he allowed the de to cut deep into his stomach.

    A pained groan escaped Michael''s lips, and he cursed himself for doing something this stupid. He was about to kill himself to test River of Vigor''s efficiency. Fortunately, his newest addition was fairly powerful.

    Blood and healing serum squeezed past the Aethyr Dagger de and poured out of the wound. It wasn''t anything special, yet Michael felt the resistance rising. The Aethyr Dagger was pushed back. Simultaneously, he stopped bleeding. The sma stopped pouring out of him while the dagger was slowly pushed out of his body.

    Michael had to react fast to see ¨C and feel ¨C River of Vigor''s active effect. He cursed himself and turned the Aethyr de in his stomach before pulling out.

    At the same time, Michael treated his attack with Qi like he would do under normal circumstances. Usually, he would burst the Qi in his victim''s wound after the de tore through his foe''s defense. That was exactly what Michael did¡­or tried to do. Once River of Vigor was actively channeled, the therapeutic serum removed the Qi that threatened to invade his body. Simultaneously, all other harmful substances were removed from his body.

    That was unexpected but very intriguing.

    ''Does that mean attacks like inserting Extraction traces into my body wouldn''t work if someone used something simr on me? Will River of Vigor remove poison and the like as well?'' Michael wondered, his shit-eating smirk returning, recing the pained groan.

    The grotesque wound healed rapidly as River of Vigor reached his abdomen. The Soultrait Symbol''s active use augmented the therapeutic serum and used bits of the serum to mend his fleshly wounds. The healing process was unproblematic and rapid, recovering his fleshly wounds within seconds while removing all pain with a soothing wave the moment he activated River of Vigor.

    "It drains an exorbitant amount of energy once actively used, but its therapeutic is on a different level," Michael murmured. He was healed within seconds without any issues, and all harmful substances had been removed.

    The active effect was incredibly powerful. It was perfect for deadly wounds that required immediate attention and minor wounds. It tended to his exhaustion if needed and filled him with vigor at all times.

    Michael shuddered in excitement.

    River of Vigor was perfect.

 Chapter 817 Joining

    Chapter 817 Joining

    ??Once he was done stabbing into his body to test River of Vigor''s power, Michael returned to work. He had many things to do, including refining his Physique, Soul, and Mind. It was only apparent, but he shouldn''t start cking off only because he ascended to a Higher Lifeform. If anything, Michael should use his High Ascension to work even harder.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have too much time to spare. He had to continue to cleanse the Untamed Jungle of harmful nt life. His work as the Untamed Jungle''s Gardener never stopped. It wasn''t too bad, though. Michael learned a lot about the surroundings, including where High Beasts had taken residence and how bad the poption issue was in certain regions.

    Michael could have decimated many monsters with a snap, but that would be wasteful. The Untamed Army used the overflowing monster poption to train and grow. They could use the experience and the energy influx granted from every kill. Michael would get a share of their energy influx as their Lord, but it wasn''t like the minuscule amount of energy was impactful.

    One way or another, Michael liked traveling through the Untamed Jungle. He could sort his thoughts, learn more about the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle, cleanse it properly, and get more used to his new powers. Even though his High Ascension had already been a while ago, Michael was still not used to all changes. That included the massive increase of Soul Power granted from the millions of Links of Loyalty that provided a considerable amount of Soul Power to his Soultraits, each of them.

    Besides ying Gardener, Michael was busy dealing with the Valyr and Forest Elves. He trained a little bit and refined his physique as much as possible. Still, the Energy Mine, his territory''s expansion in both the Untamed Jungle and Paradise Valley, and other stuff upied him much longer than he would have loved to.

    Several days passed before Michael realized. Finally, he received a report about the Valyrs. He met them, a bright smile stered on his face.

    "I heard that you want to stay in my territory. That''s great!"

    Kodas stared at Michael, forcing himself to smile, "We decided to stay, but I''m not sure if your decision to ept us is a good one. You do understand that we loathe our people for everything they''ve done to us? epting us into your territory is like agreeing to nourish two ticking time bombs."

    He nced at Pierl and shrugged lightly.

    "Maybe one ticking timebomb, but that doesn''t matter. Don''t you think epting us into your territory is foolish?"

    Michael''s smile didn''t cease even though Kodas'' words would have offended most people, "I don''t think the Untamed Jungle is the right ce for you. I would send you to my other territory, a desert. It''s pretty nice there. You would have to ept establishing a Link of Loyalty with me if you want to go there. By doing that, I will make sure you won''t go wild and attack the Valyr all of a sudden."

    "But then again, I''m not sure how long I can maintain my rtionship with the Valyr. Theirst move wasn''t that smart. They lost a good portion of the trust between us with it," Michael said nonchntly, "I won''t attack them, but as you said, They fear me. If you cannot control what you fear, you either remove it or make sure to run as far as possible. The Valyr won''t run. They wouldn''t abandon the Savannah Region easily. But they know that they annoyed me. Either they''ll attack soon, or they realize that the open trade with Dash was theirst opportunity to make up for their mistakes."

    Pierl stared at Michael upon hearing him mention the Dash Soultrait Symbol, "I heard that you have been supplying the Untamed Awakened with Soultrait Symbols. Is it possible for us to get Soultrait Symbols?"

    "Of course. All you need is enough Jungle Points. It won''t be easy to earn enough Jungle Points without being part of the Untamed Awakened¡­or being in arge-scale war. The Untamed Awakened have been given permanent discounts in the Soultrait section. This applies only to the first few Soultrait Symbols, but that''s more than enough to transform into a powerhouse. After all, you can also purchase Soultrait Upgrades in the Jungle Shop," Michael exined, "Keep in mind that you have to sign a Soul Pact to be part of the Untamed Awakened."

    Michael went on to tell the two Valyrs about the Soul Pact and how it worked. The uses weren''t too bad. Michael didn''t like restraining anyone''s freedom. Instead, he made nice offers to ensure his people would love to work overtime for him. They received a lot in exchange for their hard work. That was the only proper way to treat his subjects, and the Awakened working for him. Wars were especially worthwhile.

    The two Valyrs learned about the Savannah Region''s war from Michael and how much the Untamed Awakened gained. Their eyes glimmered brightly, but Kodas got back to his senses quickly.

    "What would happen if I signed a Soul Pact, grew stronger, and earned several Soultraits?" Kodas slowed down and tilted his head. "And I take revenge on everyone responsible for my family''s downfall. That includes the bastards who imprisoned me¡­"

    Pierl''s ears perked up at Kodas'' words.

    "I¡­also want to take revenge. I want to make right what went wrong," He said, "My brother wasn''t the only one who betrayed me. My entire family, I don''t even want to call them that anymore, is responsible for my downfall."

    He stared intently at Michael, "Will taking revenge on them conflict with your goals? If so, I¡­cannot be part of the Untamed Awakened. I would have to stay a Rogue in your territory. Of course, I can still sig¨C..."

    Michael smiled, seeing Pierl getting flustered the more he said. The Valyr was very serious for a point, only to suffer under the pressure of Michael''s intense gaze.

    "Grow stronger and take revenge. For now, nobody knows that I kept you guys alive. Go to my other territory and work hard. Obtain the strength to take revenge and leave the Origin Expanse to fulfill your goal. If the aftermath of your revenge affects my rtionship with the Valyr¡­so be it."

    Michael''s eyes turned dead serious, his gentle smile reced with an icy expression, "But don''t you dare to take innocent lives on your revenge spree, or I will tear you apart personally."

    "I know that my actions might have been the cause of the death of many innocent lives, but I don''t want anyone to intentionally ughter innocent people. There are things I regret, and I do not want others to go down the same path," Michael added, his expression growing somber. He unobstructed his throat, his expression still as icy as before, "Promise me to leave the innocent alive, and I will take care of the aftermath of your actions."

    Pierl nodded enthusiastically, "I can agree to that. I never nned to kill my sisters. I only want to take revenge on my other brothers, my uncle, and my father after making sure that they plotted against me together. I will research their scheme thoroughly, and I won''t kill anyone innocent!"

    Michael''s icy expression was reced by a smile again. He nced over to Kodas, who acknowledged slowly.

    "Killing the families of the two n Heads would probably be easier, but I think I can¡­wait a little bit longer until I''m strong enough to deal with the n Heads properly," Kodas tilted his head slightly, "But I am not sure if the death of the two n Heads will change everything. The entire system is corrupted. Only a few nice families are at the top of our race''s food chain. Zira is a kind girl; her mother is also good, but their family¡­

    I''m not sure if you would like them."

    Michael shrugged, "Leave that to me. For now, the Valyr need me, and I can use them well. Zira and her mother have to emerge from their n''s grasp, but that is easier said than done. They obtained their n''s help to survive the Regional War, and I doubt they retained much control of their territory."

    "Maybe I have to reach out a hand to help them a little in the future. That would be much better than fighting needlessly."

    Even though Michael was busy, he chose to talk to the two Valyrs for a while. They were driven by rage and desire, but that could be an advantage if channeled in the correct way. As long as the two Valyrs followed the right path, they might be able to make major changes in the Valyr race''s hierarchy. But that was a thing for the future.

    Michael looked forward to it.

    However, one thing was certain. The more Michael listened to the duo, the more he disliked the strongest members of the Valyr race. He started to hate the ns in charge of everyone. Michael couldn''t believe that he liked them at some point. It didn''t make any sense.

    Kodas urged Michael to use Mind Reader on him multiple times to show his memories and thoughts of the Valyr race. The memories were¡­even worse than the things Michael had seen before. It was saddening.

    For a moment, Michael considered bulldozing the Valyrs in the Savannah Region, but his emotions diminished and got less violent as he channeled River of Vigor.

    Kodas and Pierl sensed their opportunity and Michael''s rage. They told him to persist trading with the Valyr and treat them like before. They would grow stronger andmence a coup to overthrow the old system. Michael raised an eyebrow at their ambition, but he figured their rage and desires were best channeled in that direction.

    He liked the two Valyrs and took them in. They inked the Soul Pacts and established a Link of Loyalty with Michael. Afterward, Michael brought them to Paradise Valley. They would do well in the Sacred Desert, just like the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs ¨C now that the cksmiths released their newest invention.

    Their newest creation was a set of boots that had been improved with a particr runic array. It was a miniature runic array, one that wasn''t used often for any practical purposes other than practice. The miniature runic array was called "Hardening," which sounded quite powerful if applied properly. However, the downside of the runic array was that it could only be applied on a small surface.

    It was barely enough to harden the sand underneath boots or hooves. That was perfect for the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and everyone else in the Sacred Desert.

    They didn''t have to adjust to the piles of sand in the Sacred Desert. The new set of boots and hooves took care of that.

    Theirbat prowess didn''t decrease a tiny bit. If anything, Michael''sbatants gained a substantial advantage against his foes in the Sacred Desert.

    But it was not like there were many foes left, to begin with.

    For now, that is.

 Chapter 818 Incidents and Casualties

    <h4>Chapter 818 Incidents and Casualties</h4>

    "How did they die?" Michael frowned deeply, his attention lingering on Reba.

    "The ze family and their supporter say that Lepodya caused the deaths, but I don''t believe that''s the truth," She sighed heavily, "I used my Soultrait to analyze the situation and all given clues, and there is a high chance that the ze family''s supporters assassinated them."

    Even though Michael was busy in the Origin Expanse, he didn''t forget to ask for news about changes in and around the Tritan Alliance. Nothing much happened for a while, but sudden ''Incidents'' started two weeks ago. Some of those incidents resulted in casualties. The dead were mostly important merchants who''d been seen supporting Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Simultaneously, many powerhouses started dying. More than ten powerhouses died in thest ten days. The official cause of their death was Lepodya, but that was hard to believe. They researched Lepodya and knew that the mortality rate was low and the deaths woulde crawling slowly. A few weeks weren''t enough for Lepodya to kill the powerhouses of High Society. Yet, they died.

    That was bad, and it was even worse that the Nest didn''t seem to care about the things happening in the Tritan Alliance. Michael was emotional and approached Evee more often than he wanted to acknowledge. However, the Curse User kept telling him that the anchoring of the bridges could not be rushed. A single mistake and the deaths of a few powerhouses would be their smallest issue.

    But Michael didn''t believe Evee. Not after she acted weird one time, but he went to her. Interrogating Evee wasn''t a good option. She ignored his questions and cursed him whenever he started annoying her. Michael had to retreat, giving Evee the personal space she deserved.

    Usually, he would call Alice quite often. He tried talking to her often and hoped to find her in the Origin Expanse to exchange news without an annoying pest clinging to his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Olivia was always present. It was like Olivia ze lived with Alice and did everything together.

    Michael had no clue what was happening with Alice, Olivia, or the rest of the Zenovia family, but the situation didn''t improve. If anything, Alice got to talk less and less. It reached a low point only a few days ago when Michael saw Olivia conjure a fireball in the reflection of Alice''s eyes. Alice frowned deeply but didn''t pay much attention to Olivia until the youngest member of the ze family released the fireball.

    Alice was ready to evade the fireball. The fireball was slow and didn''t bother her in the slightest. Unfortunately, the fireball wasn''t aimed at her. The Expanse Prism was Olivia''s target. She hit her target and destroyed it easily. The Expanse Prism shattered like ss, fragments of various sizes sting in all directions. Thest Michael saw was Alice''s shocked expression lingering on Olivia.

    Her expression was imprinted in his mind, and it haunted him whenever he thought about the Tritan Alliance''s issues and that he couldn''t rush over to help them. Even though he was strong enough to deal with most issues in the Tritan Alliance, Michael wasn''t present to help. That was even more frustrating than being too weak to beat the crap out of the High Society''s members.

    The only good thing was that the bridges should bepleted in a few weeks. Maybe the situation in the Tritan Alliance would worsen, but the ze family and their supporters haven''t yet revealed their affiliation with the Supreme Human Alliance. That could only mean that the Supreme Human Alliance wasn''t confident it would conquer the Tritan Alliance yet. At least, Michael and Reba presumed that.

    ''Take your sweet time, you fuckers. Don''t even think about returning to the Tritan Alliance,'' Michael cursed in his mind. He knew he wouldn''t be strong enough to deal with Divine Lifeforms, but he had the means tomand Divine Lifeforms to a certain extent.

    Offering a bunch of Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades should motivate some Curse Users to risk their lives for the Tritan Alliance. That was Michael''s only hope to kill Divine Hyumans ¨C Hyumans who''ve ascended to Divine Lifeforms.

    "Mind Reader can solve so many issues. All I have is to get back to High Society, beat the shit out of some traitors while rallying all allies to start arge-scale war¡­ Well, we can also put therge-scale war side. It''s not like I want civilians to suffer," Michael murmured, "Still, something has to be done. We cannot let the Supreme Human Alliance spread distrust like this!"

    He and Reba discussed ns to win the public''s support. They had to expose Lapodya and the ze family''s rtionship to the Supreme Human Alliance. Not all humans would be on their side, but the masses should be with them¡­for now. That would be enough.

    As long as the masses were on their side, they could easily deal with the ze family and other mighty households. The easiest way to push the public against the traitors would be to use a Mind Reader to read their memories and thoughts, which Michael would then transfer into a Memory Crystal. Again, Michael would have to be in the Tritan Alliance to do that.

    A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Michael returned to the Nest, where he hoped to procure a bunch of techniques to learn. Neutral Cursed Arts were the easiest to learn. They were, in fact, the only techniques Michael could learn for the time being. He didn''t have Fenrir''s Cursed Arts and doubted the World Serpent would help him out with Cursed Arts. It would be great, but it wasn''t like the World Serpent was easy to handle.

    The Wolf Curse wasn''t easy to deal with, but Michael could predict it. Unfortunately, the same couldn''t be uttered about the World Serpent¡­or Selena, who appeared out of nowhere when Michael stumbled through the library.

    "I perceived that you''ve returned," Selena uttered knowingly. She stared intently at him, almost like she was waiting for something.

    "Evee told you?" Michael asked, and Selena''s smile widened in response.

    "Of course, she did. She has been telling me to spar with you so you would be silent for a few days," Selena responded nonchntly.

    "But that''s not what you''ll do, right?" Michael inquired.

    "You''re right. I was waiting for you, but not to beat you up," Selena nodded, "That''s something I can doter."

    "Later?" Michael ignored the eerie feeling that crawled up his spine.

    "You and I will be going somewhere," Selena announced.

    Michael''s lips parted to say something, but Selena gestured for him to stay silent and listen carefully.

    "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It''s probably the only chance you will be given. Hmm. No, that''s not it," She shook her head, "It is the only chance your brother has to create a perfect vessel."

    Michael''s eyes widened in surprise. His heart palpated like crazy, and he couldn''t find the right words. His mind went nk.

    "I grant you the opportunity to learn more about Curse Transformation," Selena said, her smile widening as Michael continued staring at her, his eyes both nk and filled with hope.

    "And to transform your brother''s Living Soul into a perfect vessel."

    "He will grow a body through his Living Soul!"

 Chapter 819 Sibling Reunion

    Chapter 819 Sibling Reunion

    ??"I didn''t even know it was possible to do that!" Michael eximed, only to freeze for a second, "You are not lying to me, right?"

    Selena stared at Michael dead-serious. "I''m not lying. It works, but only when certain conditions are given¡­conditions that are really difficult to fulfill under normal circumstances."

    Michael had so many questions, but he didn''t know where to start. Just as his lips parted to get started with the questions, a familiar man with silver hair appeared at the entrance to the library. Eren was here as well.

    He stared at Selena for a while before his eyes drifted to Michael. His attention lingered on Michael for a second before he looked away.

    ''Is he avoiding me?'' Michael wondered. He didn''t understand why Eren would avoid him, but it felt like he did.

    [Or he is busy and has no time to deal with you. Maybe he knows you will bother him and take up too much of his precious time.] Danny responded, igniting Michael''s urge to hit his brother.

    ''I am not that demanding¡­or time-consuming¡­'' He told his brother but found himself not believing a single word he said.

    Danny chuckled, forcing Michael to shove his brother out of his mind.

    "I thought you left already. Why are you still here? Maybe the Phantasm Spring is upied now." Eren asked, his words feeling oddly familiar. To be precise, it was the way Eren spoke.

    Michael frowned, but Selena didn''t care too much.

    "We will leave soon. As for the Phantasm Spring. Nobody has entered it. In the first ce, it is not a location known to many. Among the few who know, even less have the means to make full use of it. They won''tpete with me and will leave. Don''t worry," She dered confidently, her tone as light as usual.

    Michael was still not entirely sure what was going on. Going somewhere to give his brother the chance to create a perfect vessel sounded great. He had no idea what the Phantasm Spring was, but Michael wanted to go there if it would help him and his brother.

    "So¡­.this Phantasm Spring is going to help my brother''s Living Soul to manifest a proper vessel, a perfect vessel, and it will aid my studies of the Curse Transformation Arts?" Michael asked, butting into the Curse User''s conversation before it escted.

    Since Michael couldn''t elerate the anchoring of the bridge to a backwater gxy ¨C his lovely home ¨C Michael figured that he might as well give his utmost to grow stronger. Training somewhere else, secluded from the rest of the Nest or the cosmos, didn''t sound too bad. It didn''t matter too much.

    If anything, Michael hoped that the secluded training would help him acquire enough strength to subdue High Society alone, if that were necessary to remove the traitors who''ve been colluding with the Supreme Human Alliance.

    "That''s about it. The Phantasm Spring is not that simple, but your training will focus on the Curse Transformation Arts since your High Ascension showed that your body is ready to undergo a partial transformation. The resources in the Phantasm Spring will help your brother''s Living Soul to be stimted and nourished to the degree required to transform."

    Selena didn''t go deep into details, but that was not needed. Michael nodded slowly.

    "How long would it take to finish my brother''s vessel? I don''t mean to rush, but I hope it won''t take years to finish his vessel. My friends in the Tritan Alliance are waiting for me, and I do not wish to arrive home after the Supreme Human Alliance conquered the Tritan Alliance. Most of the people I hold dear would be killed because they are either Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs or are often seen around them."

    Selena waved dismissively, "It shouldn''t take much longer than one month. Maybe six weeks if your brother is a little slow."

    "That''s¡­much faster than expected¡­" Michael murmured, only for Eren to add something.

    "You won''t be able to use the bridge much earlier, either way," Eren didn''t look long at Michael, but he saw something sh in the Curse User''s eyes.

    "I think that''s more than feasible then. The timing couldn''t be much better. We should g¨C...What the?! Is this the Curse User gathering ce, or what?!" Michael blurted out, his eyes falling on another figure standing at the entrance to the library.

    A young woman with long ck hair, eerily dark eyes, and a graceful yet dominating presence that epassed every inch of her body.

    It was Hesta Fang, Michael''s sister.

    Hesta saw Selena and took a long stride toward her. However, she slowed down suddenly upon seeing Michael.

    "Michael?!" She asked, her eyes narrowed to narrow slits.

    Even though Michael had changed a lot since theyst saw each other, Hesta could remember Michael. How could she forget her siblings? That was impossible.

    "Hesta," Michael responded in a neutral tone. He was unsure how to react and forced a smile on his lips.

    Fortunately, Danny could use Whispering Energy at this point. He tapped into Michael''s energy pool and used Whispering Energy to talk to his sister.

    [Hello, sister. It''s been a while,] He greeted her.

    Hesta''s eyes widened and she retreated instinctively, until she recalled something.

    "Right. You managed to get Daniel''s Living Soul. The threat of the Hellbound Cataclysm was quite troublesome," Hesta nodded slowly, "How have you been?"

    Hesta wasn''t at fault for anything that happened. The Nest took her to ensure she wouldn''t transform into a Hellbound Cataclysm during her High Ascension. It wasn''t like she told her parents to follow her. Nheless, Michael was at a loss. Looking at her filled him with anger.

    [I raised Michael into a more-or-less kind kid and managed to keep my territory until I was betrayed. I died twice and have been relying on my younger brother ever since then. Apparently, I will create my vessel soon. Putting aside the struggle and desperation, life has been busy. Whether that''s good or not¡­who knows?]

    Since Danny used his energy to converse with Hesta, Michael could hear everything he said via Whispering Energy as well. Michael was surprised that his brother didn''t leave a snarky remark about their parents'' following Hesta.

    But then again, his brother had been the better person. Daniel Fang had always been the more pleasant person to be around. At least, that was how Michael felt. Danny didn''t like people feeling ufortable around him. On the other hand, Michael acted as he pleased. If someone didn''t like him¡­so be it. Why should he care what others think of him?

    "What did you say to our parents when you heard they left us alone to care for you?" Michael thus asked right away.

    He didn''t care that the situation turned awkward or that Eren and Selena were present.

    "I¡­" Hesta stared at Michael, "You are not the same shy kid you used to be."

    "Being an orphan is far from easy. School as an orphan, surrounded by spoiled brats from wealthy families, sounds fun, doesn''t it? I was forced to change, otherwise, I wouldn''t have made it this far."

    Hesta''s lips parted to say something, but Michael''s vibrant golden eyes drilled into her eerily dark eyes. Other people would be scared of Hesta Fang for her aplishments, the prowess of her Curse, her mighty Soultrait, and her high mastery of both Soultrait and Curse at such a young age.

    However, Michael didn''t care about any of that. He wouldn''t have treated his mother like that if he did care. Evalynn Fang was a Peak Tier-6 powerhouse. Treating her like Michael did wasn''t exactly brilliant. Fortunately, Michael wasn''t someone who cared about someone''s rank.

    "You didn''t answer my question yet. What did you say to our parents when you heard about us being left in the Golden Sun province?" Michael asked in a demanding tone. His voice grew colder with every word escaping his lips.

    Hesta cleared her throat. Her shock was reced with seriousness. She regained herposure.

    "I didn''t say anything at first. I was busy fighting with my Curse. It took me a while to perceive anything other than the Curse. My Curse nearly swallowed me. I heard your Curse is simr to mine. If our Curses are simrly strong, you should know how problematic it was for me to control my Curse."

    Michael stared at Hesta, a heavy sigh escaping his lips, "That doesn''t answer my question, but I think I heard enough excuses to understand that you don''t want to talk about it. Maybe I shouldn''t have asked."

    A wave of sadness flushed through Michael. He sighed again.

    "As for battling with your Curse. The Wolf Curse awakened when I was a Lesser Lifeform. I had five active Cursed Seals before ascending to a Higher Lifeform. I have 51 active Cursed Seals right now, and they form a Major Seal. But it didn''t ''take me a while'' to perceive anything around me," Michael responded, ring ice-cold at Hesta, "Don''t get me started with our Curses are simr. My Curse is stronger than yours, yet I didn''t sumb to it."

    "I''m different from you."

    The overflowing emotions got the better of him, but Michael didn''t care. At this moment, Michael felt like throwing a tantrum. The need to tell Hesta that he wouldn''t rekindle their wholesome sister-brother rtionship was too strong.

    [That wasn''t necessary.] Dannymented quietly. However, instead of telling Michael that he should apologize, he nodded slowly in his mind, [But I''m d that you don''t hesitate to speak your mind. Even I can sense that your Wolf Curse is extraordinary. I genuinely doubt that Hesta has a stronger Curse, yet she uses her Curse as an excuse¡­Hesta has grown weaker. She is not as strong as she used to be¡­]

    The World Serpent resounded in Michael''s mind. It sounded like the serpent wasughing at them.

    [Your sister has a strong Curse, but you are indeed correct in your assumption. That wolf bastard is stronger, as unfortunate as it is.]

    Michael and Danny understood that point. They had no idea how strong the Wolf Curse was, but the brothers could tell it was disgustingly strong, just like the World Serpent.

    Either way, the conversation with Hesta ended with Michael''s remark. The situation was even more ufortable and awkward, but Michael didn''t care. His head flicked to the left, and his eyes drilled into a point further away, into a wall near the library entrance. It looked like he was staring at several bookshelves, but Michael frowned deeply and snorted before turning back to Selena.

    "I don''t want to wait any longer. Is it possible to leave now?"

    The earlier they left, the sooner would Danny create his vessel. By the time his brother got his own body back, they could bash their family ¨C verbally, at least. Micahel wasn''t sure they could beat them up for real. In the future, definitely. Right now? They could always give it a try.

    "Take this before you leave," Erena said, retrieving a spatial ring, which he slid over to Michael, "The spatial ring is filled with a bunch of resources. They''ll be useful for the expansion of your territory. With the resources, you won''t have to worry about your territory''s expansion for the next few weeks."

    Michael was about to reject the spatial ring, but Eren was adamant. Something about Eren was weird. His behavior worried Michael. Something was off, but he couldn''t get the gist of it.

    Atst, he shrugged. Michael trusted Eren enough to depature for a few weeks. Even if Eren acted weird, there shouldn''t be a big problem.

    He had to depature either way. For Danny''s sake, but also to get stronger.

    "It would be better to give your people the spatial ring right now. You won''t have much time to leave for the Origin Expanse once we''re in the Phantasm Spring," Selena said, all while Hesta''s eyes widened in surprise.

    Michael affirmed and manifested the Runic Gate to return to his territory for a few minutes.

    In the meantime, a myriad of thoughts shed through Hesta''s mind.

    "You''re going to the Phantasm Spring with Michael? Why? That ce is reserved for Divine Lifeforms! Why would you allow Michael to go¨C..."

    Selena red at Hesta, silencing the young woman.

    "First of all, stop questioning my actions. I do whatever I want," Selena responded with a briskment, surprising Hesta.

    "Second, Michael''s Curses are stronger than your Curse is, yet the result of his High Ascension revealed that his Curses are tied to him. Michael didn''t lose control of his body even after he underwent a partial fusion with both Curses. You nearly died when your Curse attempted to swallow you. I guess you don''t remember how pathetic you were when we brought you here."

    "Either way, Michael''s High Ascension is enough reason to bring him to the Phantasm Spring. He has enough active Seals and one Major Seal for each of his Curses as well. Lastly, your brother''s Living Soul needs the Phantasm Spring to create a perfect vessel. Do you want to take your brother''s only chance to rebuild his body without any blemishes?!"

    Hesta wasn''t given the luxury to respond.

    "Let it be," A familiar voice appeared from behind. Hesta turned around, merely to see her mother, Evalynn Fang, emerge from several bookshelves.

    She sighed heavily.

    "Michael saw me."

    "You don''t say¡­" Hesta murmured, trying to ept what the Nest Leader had said. Still, she felt that Selena favored Michael too much.

    Michael was given a droplet of Origin Sap, personal training from a Commander and the Nest Leader, and a chance to enter the Phantasm Spring, a ce that could merely be entered once every few dozen years. Only a handful of people could enter at a time as well.

    "That whiny kiddo grew up a lot," Hesta said, "He is even more annoying than he used to be."

    However, instead of frowning deeply, Hesta smiled. Her spurt of jealousy dispersed, and her smile widened.

    "That''s good."

 Chapter 820 The Hunt

    <h4>Chapter 820 The Hunt</h4>

    Michael and Selena left for the Phantasm Spring once Michael returned from the Origin Expanse. Their farewell with Hesta wasn''t grand, but Michael calmed down a little. He talked to his older sister normally and told her they could speak about everything that had happened in the future.

    Meanwhile, he ignored his mother. Evalynn Fang stood there like a stone statue, and Michael treated her as such. Eynn didn''t take that nicely, but Michael didn''t care enough. Instead of minding, he left with Selena through one of the teleportation arrays in the Teleportation Chamber.

    On their way out, they encountered Evee, whose back was drenched in sweat. She looked perplexed and distressed and rushed to Selena to tell her something. Selena cast a dome of curse energy around them to iste their voices. Even though Michael tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, he couldn''t hear anything.

    All he saw was a deep frown on Selena''s face, and the Nest Leader gestured to Eren to move into the curse power dome. Eren nodded slowly as Evee repeated herself. He didn''t react as much, but Michael was intrigued nheless.

    Once the curse power dome dispersed, Michael asked, "Is something wrong?"

    The Nest Leader looked at Eren, who stared back at Selena for a moment, "The Nest encountered a small problem. I will take care of it while you and our leader go to the Phantasm Spring."

    Michael could tell there was a lot more to find out, but they wouldn''t. He could clearly tell that the trio wouldn''t tell him what was happening. That was, as a matter of fact, the most suspicious. Why wouldn''t they tell him?

    Unfortunately, Michael learned enough about the Nest, Eren, and the Nest Leader to know that they wouldn''t tell him anything. It didn''t matter how many times he asked; the trio wasn''t going to tell him anything.

    "Okay¡­." Michael responded slowly.

    A few minutester, Michael and Selena left, leaving the father-daughter duo of the Long family with the mother-daughter duo of the Fenrir bloodline behind.

    "A storm is brewing in the Tritan Alliance, ain''t it?" Hesta asked lightly, her eyes drilling into Evee.

    Evee shuddered under Hesta''s intense gaze but didn''t say anything. It was Eren who nodded.

    "Unfortunately, yes. I''ll have to check the situation up close to gather more information, but it doesn''t look good."

    One of Evalynn''s eyebrows rose unnaturally, "Why would you go to the Tritan Alliance to check out what is happening? The Supreme Human Alliance''s seeds have already been imnted and nourished by lies and treachery. The people in the Tritan Alliance might not only curse and ignore you, but you might actually be in danger over there."

    Eren looked at Evalynn for a moment, disgust washing over his face, "I thought you would understand your son at this point. Even though I haven''t been around him often, I know he cares about the Tritan Alliance. Your daughter is the only thing you can focus on."

    "Do you even know why Michael is leaving or where he is going?" Evee couldn''t help but butt in.

    Evalynn cast a dismissive gaze at Evee. She ignored the young Curse User and stared back at Eren, "So what if he cares about the Tritan Alliance? His family is at the Nest. He is also safe at the Nest."

    "Yeah¡­cause Michael is so lucky to have such a loving family," Evee retorted, every word overflowing with sarcasm. Eren lightly tapped his daughter''s shoulder, telling her to calm down.

    "If we allow the Tritan Alliance to sumb while he''s in secluded training, he will loathe the Nest. Furthermore ¨C...." He shook his head, feeling like his breath was wasted talking with someone like Evalynn.

    Hesta looked at her mother, a myriad of thoughts shing through her mind.

    "Mom¡­" She murmured, Evalynn Fang turning to her with a smile.

    "What is it, honey?"

    "Why did you leave Daniel and Michael alone? You lied to me," Hesta''s expression changed ever so slightly, "You told me that they would have fewer issues with us here. You uttered that our Curses will crush them. Why about that uncle you mentioned all these years ago?"

    "What unc¡ª...." Evalynn Fang''s mouth snapped shut, a wave of curse power oozing out of Hesta.

    "That uncle never existed, did he? Who, the hell, took care of my brothers all these years?!?" Hesta''s expression contorted in anger.

    The tension in the Teleportation Chamber increased rapidly. Eren was certain that Hesta would assault Evalynn at any point, but he didn''t do much to keep them apart. On the contrary, Eren pushed Evalynn Fang and Hesta Fang into one of the teleportation arrays, teleporting them straight to the arena.

    Evalynn squealed while Hesta''s attention remained on her mother. A dangerous gleam was all Eren and Evee saw in Hesta''s eyes when they teleported to the arena.

    "Do you want us to follow them?" Evee asked, "Hesta might end up killing her mother."

    Eren chortled, "Unfortunately, Evalynn isn''t that easy to kill. Her Curse might not be as powerful as Hesta''s, but she has more experience fighting Curses and Curse Users. Looking at Evalynn''s behavior and her idiotic attitude toward her children, you might not believe this, but Evalynn Fang was a monster in her prime time. She lost her spark when her father died. I don''t know what happened, yet everyone who has known Evalynn for a few decades can reveal that something of her died with her father."

    Evee affirmed slowly, "So, we''re going to leave them like that? Not that I mind. I''m just hoping that someone will pick up Peter Fang to beat the shit out of him as well."

    Eren raised one eyebrow at his daughter''s angryment, "I understand what you''re trying to say, but you don''t have to worry about anything. I''m pretty sure Michael can take care of himself. Michael and his brother made it this far without their family. Once Danny gets his vessel, they mighte for their parents. By then, we can watch them beat up Evalynn and Peter."

    Evee broke into a smile, reced by a serious note when she recalled why she was drenched in sweat.

    "What are we doing about the Tritan Alliance? ording to the intel I managed to procure, they started the hunt and separation a few hours ago."

    "Are you okay?" Eren asked instead of answering his daughter. He could reveal his daughter was exhausted and on the verge of copsing. She''d overused her Curse''s power and fused it with her Soultrait. That never ended well.

    "I will be fine," Evee waved dismissively, "This is more important."

    "The bridge''s anchor will bepleted in a few hours, right? Are there any issues? If there are none, I will go there to take care of the issues in the Tritan Alliance right away."

    "Will you be fine thought?" Evee asked, only to receive an answer with a shrug.

    "The SHA shouldn''t have been able to bring more people like Bloodhound to the Tritan Alliance just yet."

    "Are you sure?" Evee questioned her hesitation and worry obvious.

    "Nope. The SHA is unpredictable," Eren said, but he didn''t seem too worried.

    "Anything can happen."

 Chapter 821 Interlude â€“ The Dragon & the Alliance

    <h4>Chapter 821 Interlude ¨C The Dragon & the Alliance</h4>

    Eren was shrouded in darkness.

    Despite his exceptional perception and heightened senses, Eren couldn''t see anything. His hearing sense didn''t respond to him either. Only one of his senses seemed to work properly. Eren felt a strong suctioning force dragging him through the narrow pathways of the bridge.

    His sense of time was a wreck in the bridge, but Eren used bridges often enough to know how long it would usually take to travel through the cosmos. He knew he would arrive soon as numerous stars clustered in the darkness around him.

    Eren prepared for thending as the fabric of reality was pulled apart and twisted. Space distorted, and he closed his eyes for a second to prepare himself for what was about to happen.

    The distortion of time around him dispersed at some point. It disappeared alongside the suctioning force.

    Eren opened his eyes, the silver in them glimmering brighter than usual. He was in the middle of nowhere, rolling around in space. He released some energy to turn in all directions, his eyesnding on a few nearbys. They were beautiful, as most pristines were. Once intelligent life was born on the pristines, everything would change. That was how it had been, and the way it will be for all times.

    Once the Origin reached them, unmarkeds would either be used for their resources, transforming their natural resources into precious goods for countless beings, or be breeding ces and be colonized.

    Eren''s attention pulled away from thes. He turned to an empty portion of space, an area where fewer stars twinkled far away in space. An eerie expression appeared on his face when he sensed the remnants of the curse power he''d left behind in the Lumina Ster System. The remnants were far from his current position, but the distance didn''t matter for Eren to know where he had to travel to reach the Tritan Alliance.

    "How long will it take?" Eren asked into nothingness, the wide-open space swallowing his words. However, that didn''t matter. The target of his words heard him very well.

    [That depends on how much time you want to waste.] A hoarse yet oddly sonorous voice resounded in Eren''s head.

    The corner of Eren''s mouth curled upward. Viscous silver energy oozed out of his body, and a massive pair of leathery wings covered in silver scales sprouted from his back. The wings unfolded, revealing their grand wingspan of dozens of meters, and pped with tremendous force at Eren''s will.

    His viscous silver energy shrouded the leathery wings, amplifying the force of every swing.

    "It has been a while since we''ve given our all," Eren murmured, retrieving a few objects that ought to make traveling through countless ster systems easier.

    He attached a small disc to his chest, added bracelets to his arms, and put on a ne. His viscous energy trickled into the objects, which hummed quietly in response. They vibrated lightly at first, only intensifying as the seconds trickled.?It was only a matter of minutes before the vibration was so intense that Eren''s entire body vibrated. Even the space around him rippled.

    That was exactly what he was waiting for.

    He was ready to move, craned his neck to prepare for what would happen, and began moving. He kicked the empty space, a silver tform conjuring right before he used every bit of power to move and dashed into the open space.

    One moment, Eren elerated, and in the next, he transformed into a silver sh.

    The space around him continued to ripple, but the phenomenon intensified as he continued elerating. Eren was like a shooting star, his silver energy leaving behind traces of energy wherever he passed by.

    Then¡­the silver sh vanished. Eren disappeared. The space he had upied was empty, the only remnants of his presence being faint ripples in the fabric of space.

    **

    Eren was not sure how much time passed, but the scenery around him changed quite often. Atst, he could stop bending and ovepping the fabric of space to slow down.

    He reached his destination. Eren arrived at the Lunar Ster System.

    The bracelets, ne, and metal disc came off his body on their own. The unnatural high and overlypressed energy inside them had been used up.

    [You are slower than you used to be. Fera''s spaceship would have been faster.]

    "Shut it. I''m just a little bit rusty with those old, outdated things! Evee has to repair and update them!"

    [Your daughter cannot perform impossible tasks, you know? Unlike her father, she is intelligent. It''s just a shame that she cannot transform a frail, wrecked body like her father''s with technology. Technology can bring you only this far.]

    "You''re annoying as ever, Slyver."

    [Whatever. At least you''re moving your body again. That kid, Mike or whatever his name is, has a good influence on you. I didn''t expect you toe here, let alone that you would travel like this to warm your body for what awaits us. Maybe I should praise this Mikey a little once we leave this backwater gxy.] Slyver said, his voice overflowing with pride and confidence.

    "His name is Michael, but knowing you, you won''t remember his name either way," Eren responded while approaching a small in the Lumina Ster System. He wasn''t too familiar with the names of thes, but he remembered that Meku was the he fought against Bloodhound. This time, however, Eren moved to the ce where the remnants of Michael''s power were the strongest.

    He traveled to Kelta and approached the Spahirke Military Academy.

    Eren didn''t have to pay too much attention when he dived down. He pushed through the exosphere with shocking velocity and reached the ground in no time, ignoring the zing mes that engulfed his body as he elerated. The''s gravitational force pulled him to the ground, but Eren ignored that sensation, just like the sudden temperature change. The space wasn''t exactly what one would consider warm and cozy, however, it was more pleasant than some other ces he''d been in the past.

    Uponnding softly on the ground, Eren looked around. His appearance drew some attention. It wasn''t often that a meteorite threatened to crash into the campus grounds, only to die down quietly.

    Eren made sure that hisnding wouldn''t make any sounds. That worked fairly well, though his entrance was still shy.

    Numerous eyesnded on him. Some gazes were filled with curiosity, some with fear¡­and others with anger. Eren''s attention fell upon the men and women who eyed him in anger.

    Unsurprisingly, or surprisingly enough, the men and women gazing at him were standing on a pile of corpses. Corpses of Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and Humans alike.

    "There is another one of those idiots," One of the women said, shaking her head. She looked sad, but the glimmer in her eyes was all too familiar to Eren.

    [They''re already corrupted. Your friends are working faster than you. These poor beings died because you were too rusty. Slow sloth.] Slyvermented, hitting a nerve.

    "Shut it," Eren grumbled to Slyver, but the woman believed he meant her.

    Her sadness was reced by anger, and she rushed at Eren.

    Eren raised an eyebrow and raised one of his arms slowly. The man standing near the enraged woman perceived something off and seemed about to shout something, but it was already toote.

    Eren discharged a silver st from his palm and struck the charging woman instantaneously. The st dispersed a quarter of a second after Eren released it, but the damage seemed already done.

    A see-through hole the size of a football adorned her chest.

 Chapter 822 Hubs

    Chapter 822 Hubs

    ??The woman dropped dead to the ground. A Peak Tier-5 powerhouse died just like that.

    The man, who''d sensed something before the silver st emerged, shuddered. His eyes widened in terror as he looked at the silver-haired man, his legs quivering slightly.

    Eren returned the man''s gaze while his extensive leathery wings retracted slowly.

    "H-How dare you attack us?! We are professors of the Saphirke Military Academy! I demand answers!" The man, apparently a professor, dered through the fear that had rooted deep inside him.

    Eren cocked an eyebrow, which wasn''t taken great by the professor, "I will arrest you for murdering one of our precious professors!"

    Even though Eren tried to maintain his expression, the professor''s words made him snort.

    "I don''t think so."

    It didn''t matter who the men and women shivering opposite him were. Eren couldn''t care less about their upation, their background, or whatever they deemed important enough to mention. The only thing he wanted to do was to follow MIchael''s wish and Nest''s dogmas.

    The Supreme Human Alliance''s members and their devout followers had to be killed on sight.

    The human professors might not be devout followers of the Supreme Human Alliance at first nce. Still, a short appraisal of the Human, Berserker, and Warlock Centaur corpses was enough to tell that they had been ughtered mercilessly. There weren''t any marks determining that the victims defended themselves. They had been too weak to do so.

    The professors ughtered the students of the Saphirke Military Academy.

    "To think that some of the strongest youths of the younger generation die like this, ughtered by their professors." Eren sighed deeply.

    "Who the hell are yo¨C..." The professor demanded more answers, but Eren sealed his lips ¨C forever.

    He released a droplet of silver energy at high speed at the man, piercing his forehead instantaneously. The man copsed to the ground. He didn''t even writhe in pain or flinch. Death came to pick him up before he crashed onto the ground.

    If Eren could believe their words, the other professors scattered and ran at full speed. They tried to increase their chance of survival by splitting up. It was their misfortune to encounter Eren. He released a few more silver droplets, which pierced through the back of their heads, killing all but one of the fleeing professors.

    Eren kept the strongest ¨C right after the man and the woman he''d killed first ¨C alive.

    He appeared before the man, punched him firmly in the stomach, and high-kicked his face when he doubled over in pain. Eren used too much force in his kick, nearly breaking the man''s neck on the spot.

    "To think that someone as weak as you managed to be a teacher. Whatever¡­you owe me some answers," Eren dered lightly, bending down to the writhing man, who screamed loud enough to attract the attention of many. Fortunately, Eren didn''t care too much about the attention lingering on him.

    "Are you working for someone else, or did the Supreme Human Alliance give you guys all orders?" Eren asked, one of his hands transforming into elongated ws. They looked razor-sharp and caressed faintly across the young professor''s cheeks, cutting through his skin.

    Eren didn''t even have to try to injure the professor. His physique''s refinement degree wasn''t all that great. It was too low to stay unmarked as the dragon w brushed past his cheeks.

    The young professor''s lips parted to say something, but no word escaped his lips.

    "That is the wrong answer," Eren grumbled.

    He wasn''t known for his great patience¡ªhe had never been. Maybe it was possible to train one''s patience, but Eren never bothered. Being patient wasn''t his style.

    His elongated ws pulled back and brushed past the young professor''s arm, cutting off his sleeves. The ws cut into his arm as well, drawing several red lines across his biceps.

    "I will cut your arm off next. Answer my question, or suffer until you''re close to death. Once you are on the verge of death, I will heal you up and torture you again. I will repeat the process until your spirit is destroyed and you wish you could have died with the others."

    Eren''s voice was calm, too calm. His serenity spread and transformed into eerie cold flushing into the young professor, whose eyes widened in horror.

    "T-the ze family! The ze family rallied everyone against the Tritan Alliance''s supporters! We were promised treasures and high positions in the Supreme Human Alliance as long as we followed their orders. They have given us rewards already. The Supreme Human Alliance has many unique techniques, and we received some of them¡­" The young professor proceeded telling Eren everything he knew, but the man sounded more like a yapping child.

    He couldn''t listen to the professor anymore. Ten minutes of non-stop talking was too much, even more so since there hadn''t been any more useful pieces of information ten seconds into the yapping session.

    Eren ended that nonsense with a wave of his w. The professor''s head slid from his neck andnded on the ground with a resounding thud.

    "It doesn''t matter whose orders you followed," Eren murmured.

    The only reason he asked whether the professors were working for someone else or if the SHA gave them all orders was to find out whether he could remove the root of the Tritan Alliance problems with a single pull or if he would have to cleanse the entire Tritan Alliance of devout followers.

    The response was simple. The ze family received significant sponsorship from the Supreme Human Alliance, which they have been using to convert various powerhouses. They were bribed and pulled to the z family''s side and given enough resources to submit to them.

    That was the intel he procured from the yapping professor. Of course, there could be more.

    "I need more information," Eren mumbled before making his move. He had to research more.

    Eren didn''t know much about the Tritan Alliance and itswork. They weren''t as technologically advanced as the Nest and most other ces he''d been, but putting one and one together wasn''t overly difficult.

    Eren procured a crystal watch from one of the professors he''d killed. essing the crystal watch was a little annoying, but Eren recalled some tips and tricks from his daughter. He used them and managed to ess Sk. Of course, Sk wouldn''t help him find all the traitors, but it was enough to find pictures of the ze family members and recent news about them.

    Once he procured some useful pieces of information, Eren was interrupted by an old man.

    "You are the one who brought Michael to the Nest, if I''m not mistaken¡­" The old man said, his eyes drifting to the bodies of students and professors, "You didn''t kill the students, did you?"

    Eren tilted his head. He couldn''t recall the old man, but something about him attracted Eren''s curiosity.

    "These professors killed their students. Apparently, the ze family ordered them to do so. You are not with the ze family, right?"

    The old man chuckled, "I hope the ze family will wither in hell. They transformed the Tritan Alliance into a big mess."

    He sighed deeply, "I''m Kraft Viton. I instructed Michael a little bit in the past. How is he doing?"

    Eren nodded slowly, understanding dawning upon him.

    "I''m Eren, Eren Long. It''s nice getting to know you," He introduced himself, the corner of his lips curling upward.

    "Are you up for some face-pping? The SHA is in dire need of some lecturing."

 Chapter 823 Civil War?

    Chapter 823 Civil War?

    ??Kraft Viton was a valuable asset. He provided Eren with the intel to pinpoint the hubs where most traitors gathered. It didn''t even take ten minutes before Eren was up-to-date and ready to leave.

    "Why are you helping? You''re putting yourself in danger. The SHA will eliminate you when they discover this," Eren said, but the old man could only shrug.

    "I have been dealing with other races for a long time and cannot abandon my principles. The Supreme Human Alliance would kill me whether I help you or not. Helping you out won''t worsen my situation. However, it might improve things for me and the Tritan Alliance''s future."

    Eren agreed silently before he made his move. It was time to destroy some ces, obliterate a few families, and get rid of some pushovers.

    He traveled to the SHA hub hidden in the Saphirke Military Academy, where he encountered a few Higher Lifeforms guarding the entrance. Eren''s extensive leathery wings unfolded before the guards, who responded by charging at him. Their bloodlust was more than enough reason to kill the guards right away.

    Eren''s ws slit through their throats with a rapid, incredibly precise action. The Higher Lifeforms didn''t even see Eren move. He was too fast. All they felt was a sting in their throat and something warm and runny trickling down their chest. The instance they looked to the ground, the Higher Lifeforms copsed, dyeing the floor crimson. A pool of blood congregated around them.

    Eren levitated lightly in the air. He leaped across the corpses and entered the Supreme Human Alliance''s hub in the Saphirke Military Academy. This was unnecessary, but Eren didn''t kill the people in the hub immediately. He checked them out first to see if there was someone of interest or someone with enough strength topete with him. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

    "Olivia ze traveled back to Elyra, or whatever that tiny in your sr system is called, right?" Eren asked, not expecting anyone to answer.

    Unsurprisingly, none of the humans in the hub answered. Instead, they attacked Eren, who shrugged lightly as he conjured dozens of silver droplets around his body. The droplets shot in all directions, piercing through the hearts, throats, and skulls of the men and women charging at him.

    The targets slumped dead to the ground, leaving only a few humans alive. They trembled violently, their eyes widened in terror as they witnessed the death of dozens of Higher Lifeforms. It wasn''t like the Higher Lifeforms could do something, either. They didn''t even perceive Eren conjuring the silver droplets when they dropped dead to the ground.

    [Are you having fun ying with Higher Lifeforms?] Sylver asked, but Eren ignored his Curse. The Silver Dragon knew toying around with weak-ass Higher Lifeforms wasn''t fun. Their perception was too slow to respond to his attacks in the first ce. Even Tier-6 powerhouses would have difficulties keeping up with the speed, perception, and control of a Divine Lifeform.

    A Divine Lifeform could easily attack dozens of times before an ordinary Higher Lifeform at the sixth Tier would notice that something happened. Of course, that depended on the kind of attack and various other factors, but in various cases, the Divine Lifeform should be able to kill a Tier-6 Higher Lifeform several times before they could respond.

    "Olivia ze traveled back to Elyra, right?" Eren repeated himself, his eyes transforming into silver-slitted pupils, narrow vertical slivers that portrayed Eren''s predatory instincts in great detail.

    "Y-y-e-ess¡­They left a while ago¡­"

    Eren tilted his head, "They?"

    "Professor Zenovia and Professor Zeus went with them."

    ''Michael''s girlfriend, I remember her.''

    "Thank you," Eren said before releasing a barrage of silver droplets to kill the remaining humans in the hub.

    He released his energy in all directions, engulfing the entire hub in a flood of silver lights. Upon perceiving everything in the hub, Eren made sure to store everything that coulde in handy in his War Rune storage. A momentter, he transformed the silver energy into zing mes to burn everything to ashes.

    It took mere seconds to burn everything to a cinder. Eren morphed the silver mes back into energy with a minuscule loss in the conversion and retracted the energy.

    "Should I check on the kids?"

    [Kids?]

    "Michael''s friends."

    [Why would you check on them? Just finish what you came here for and return once you''re done. Staying in this energy- scarce gxy is disgraceful!]

    "Whatever," Eren murmured, taking a deep breath. He stretched his power thin and unleashed a significant amount in all directions. The Saphirke Military Academy and dozens of kilometers around it were coated in silver for a few seconds. Eren used the few seconds to search for Michael''spanions and everyone who seemed to have been in touch with curse power.

    Far more Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3 had been in contact with curse power than expected, but it was obvious that the minuscule amount attached to them wouldn''t affect the Awakened in any way. However, there were also a few Awakened, probably Michael''s friends, who were much more attuned to curse power than the rest. Eren felt like he should inspect on their situation because it was anything but good to be exposed to this much curse power while not even being a Higher Lifeform, but he didn''t have enough time.

    He attached a sliver of energy to the Awakened and imprinted their appearances into his mind to tell Michael about themter. If they were members of his territory, it would be fine. The curse power''s effect would be transferred to the owner of the Curses in the Origin Expanse. However, if that was not the case¡­Michael may have to do something.

    [Leave. What are you idling around? You might be an old, rusty wreck, but you shouldn''t be like this. You''re Divine Lifeform. Age is just a number for you, ain''t it?!]

    Eren ignored Slyver like usual and left the Saphirke Military Academy. There wasn''t much more for him to do here. It was time to move to the sr system, a ce colonized by humans only. Most SHA hubs were located in the sr system, and Eren made it a mission to destroy as many as possible.

    He left the orb and returned to space, where he put on the space-traveling gear once again. When the space around him began rippling, Eren morphed into a argent sh. He left the Lumina Ster System and arrived in the sr system near Elyra.

    Eren visited Elyra first.

    Since he had been given several information sheets from Kraft Viton, Eren knew what he had to expect. However, the situation was even worse than described. Elyra was more chaotic than announced.

    It was utter chaos, to put it in simple terms. Death and destruction ruled everything.

    "Did a civil conflict break out already? That is¡­unexpected¡­"

    Eren levitated high in the air, ready to move to the closest SHA hub, but it didn''t take long before a bunch of powerhouses attacked him. They must have perceived him.

    [They''re using the Primordial Bloodline Technique.] Slyver warned Eren, who nodded slowly.

    "The Patriarch of the ze household is among them," Eren murmured, stretching his neck until it cracked quietly.

    "This will be interesting."

    [Have fun.]

 Chapter 824 Blood & Seal

    <h4>Chapter 824 Blood & Seal</h4>

    824 Blood & Seal

    The attackers were only at the sixth Tier. Eren shouldn''t have any issues handling them, but he had a bad feeling. Something was about to go wrong.

    But neither he nor Slyver detected anything. Eren maintained the pseudo Curse Transformation of the dragon wings and eyes while observing the charging powerhouses. He shot a few silver droplets at them and watched them evade them by a hair''s breadth.

    This attracted Eren''s interest, and he released a few more silver droplets. The droplets were hurled at the powerhouses, who slowed to weave around the iing projectiles. The silver droplets were a straightforward attack. They moved in a straight line and pierced everything in their path.

    ''Can the Lesser Humans of the Tritan Alliance unlock so much potential with the Primordial Bloodline Technique? That is¡­

    unexpected¡­''

    This wasn''t good. If the Primordial Bloodline Technique could elevate thebat prowess of the Lesser Humans in the sr system enough to allow Tier-6 powerhouses to evade ordinary attacks of a Divine Lifeform, their purity level had to be incredibly high. That would drastically increase the value of the Lesser Humans in the Supreme Human Alliance''s eyes.

    [It would be best if you stop fooling around. I don''t think I have to remind you what happened in Fagor. The war there was lost bec¨C....]

    "Yes, yes. I know. There is no need to remind me," Eren groaned, conjuring hundreds upon hundreds of weapons from his silver energy. The powerhouses charging at Eren swallowed hard. Their eyes widened and a few chose to trust their gut feeling by stopping their attack. They split from the others and shot to the side, hoping to leave the area of attack in time.

    To their misery, Eren didn''t even consider bestowing them such a benefit. He willed the weapons to point to the ground and descend. A burst of energy released the silver weapons at a terrifying velocity. Several explosions resounded as the weapons reached full speed. Most silver weapons didn''t get close to any enemies, but there were so many of them that the small number of hits was enough to pierce all of them.

    None of the charging powerhouses, and those trying to escape, was left unscathed. The silver weapons impaled the targets, cut deep into their flesh, and prated their bones. Some silver weapons were blunt as well, crushing the skulls, spines, and bones of the targets they''d struck.

    Pained groans and frail screams echoed through the surroundings, but Eren didn''t show them mercy. He released a small dagger, which shone brighter than the other silver weapons, and controlled it precisely. The dagger was released with a burst, but it weaved left and right to slit the humans'' throats with deadly precision.

    Contrary to the earlier attacks, the silver dagger was far more lethal. It was faster, moved unpredictably, and hit the targets with far more force than any other attack. Some injured powerhouses tried to block the silver dagger, but it either moved around their defenses quickly, or prated through the weakest spot in their defenses nonchntly.

    The downpour of silver weapons and the dagger attack happened in quick session. It was only a matter of seconds before thest Tier-6 powerhouse sumbed to the onught of attacks.

    That was easier than expected. It was too easy.

    Eren''s eyes narrowed.

    "Where is the ze Patriarch?"

    Eren wanted to kill the ze Patriarch as soon as possible to avoid any further problems, but the middle-aged man disappeared. He had no idea where that man had gone.

    Eren infused more silver energy into the dragon eyes and found a small snippet of red hair far from the battlefield. Even though he had been extracted from eliminating the Tier-6 powerhouses, Eren didn''t expect to miss the ze Patriarch.

    ''What is that dude doing over there in the first ce?'' He frowned deeply and kicked the empty air. A silver teau formed underneath his foot, giving him the ground he needed to reach high speed instantaneously.

    Eren appeared above the ze Patriarch, whose smile caused him to feel goosebumps. It wasn''t often that he felt goosebumps, but it was usually a bad omen.

    A fist-size disc appeared in the ze Patriarch''s hands when he discovered Eren levitating above him. However, instead of caring about Eren, the ze Patriarch retrieved dozens of water tanks.

    He hurled the water tanks high in the air, nearly hitting Eren, who was about to cleave them apart when he smelled something off. A mixture of copper and iron entered his nostrils, triggering his danger sense. However, it was already toote. He''d underestimated the means of a powerhouse from a backwater gxy too much and fell victim to a trap. A simple trap that should have never trapped him in the first ce.

    The ze Patriarch roared at the top of his lungs as the disc in his hand lit up. An overly familiar emblem manifested above the metal disc, a intricate runic array that covered three dimensions. It was gorgeous and terrifying at the same time.

    It was gorgeous because only a few races were capable of creating something as majestic as this metal disc, and it was terrifying because it wasn''t Eren''s first rodeo with a disc like that.

    The water tanks around Eren exploded, revealing the liquid stored within them.

    It wasn''t water.

    Crimson liquid spurted in all directions, transforming into a massive downpour that was pulled toward the expanding three-dimensional runic array.

    Blood was everywhere¡­tons of blood¡­

    A memory from the bottom of his mind resurfaced, transforming his neutral expression into one filled with disgust. Slyver reacted simrly, but a trace of surprise and worry ¨C maybe even fear ¨C mixed into the chaos of his emotions.

    [The Vylraen Seal!]

    "Looks like it¡­" Eren responded, his face filled with anger.

    [Don''t die witho¨C...] Slyver was about to say, but his voice dispersed.

    The curse power coursing through Eren''s body dissipated. No. It was better to say that Eren suddenly lost ess to his curse power and the Silver Dragon Curse.

    The Vylraen Seal, one of the oldest devices and methods used to restrain and seal Curses, was activated.

    A device like the Vylraen Seal was rarely used in the current era. It hadn''t been used often in thest few millennia because of the requirements that had to be fulfilled to activate it.

    Uncontroble anger filled Eren. Not because his connection with Slyver was temporarily severed but because the Vylraen Seal was stronger than he recalled.

    ''Last time, Monarchis sacrificed 100,000 Virgins to seal Slyver¡­'' Eren recalled, the rage filling him intensifying, ''This Vylraen Seal is stronger. They used fresher¡­more potent blood.''

    The images of children innocently ying around and having fun shed through his mind. The images intensified, showing the ze Patriarch and his people kidnapping the children and killing them to sap their blood.

    Eren''s imagination went wild, and disgust flooded him, and the downpour of crimson blood continued.

    "Disgusting pigs!" Eren roared, "You sacrificed children?!?"

    **

 Chapter 825 Explosive

    Chapter 825 Explosive

    ??825  Explosive

    Eren didn''t even want to imagine how many innocent children had been killed - their blood drained until nothing was left - to fill several water tanks.

    It was disgusting and filled Eren with anger. The partial Curse Transformation might have been canceled by force, but Eren didn''t need Slyver and his curse power to kill the ze Patriarch.

    He dived downward, dozens of silver droplets conjuring around him. A Longsword Artifact appeared in Eren''s hand while the silver droplets burst forth. However, he was teleported away before the droplets could pierce and kill the ze Patriarch.

    Eren''s head flicked to the right, where dozens of powerhouses appeared. It felt like the powerhouses appeared out of nowhere. No. It was more like they had been waiting for Eren. He hadn''t been in the Tritan Alliance''s territory long, yet the ze Patriarch set up a trap to deal with him? That was¡­

    weird¡­

    Hundreds of silver weapons manifested around Eren, who willed them to leap forward and plunge into the powerhouses before they could move against him.

    His attacks were fast and deadly like before, but the human powerhouses were not that weak either. The powerhouses who''d appeared out of nowhere were much stronger than the rest. They weren''t on par with Evalynn Fang or most other Tier-6 Curse Users yet, but it wasn''t like Eren went all out yet.

    Eren was forced to hold back to keep the casualties low. The downpour of silver weapons was one of the stronger attacks and probably the strongest he could unleash without harming civilians. Eren held back with his Soultrait and didn''t even consider using one of his many techniques.

    As for his Cursed Arts, Eren couldn''t use them right now, either way.

    A few human Awakened couldn''t evade therge-scale attack. They either lost a limb or two, survived with a few broken bones, or were killed on the spot. The powerhouse, who''d survived for hundreds of years, umting tremendous power and experience, died just like that. It would have been a disaster under normal circumstances, but neither the ze Patriarch nor the other human Awakened seemed to care much about the dead. If anything, the deaths seemed to work in their favor.

    The smug smile on the ze Patriarch''s face irritated Eren. The batch who managed to evade the attacks had teleported out of the weapon storm''s area of effect. Some nced over to the carnage inflicted by Eren''s attack, but their attention pulled toward the ze Patriarch, their eyes filled with fear.

    ''Is he controlling them? Maybe he ckmails them?'' Eren wondered, but it didn''t matter.

    He swore a long time ago that he wouldn''t hesitate to eliminate his enemies, whether they attacked him for selfish reasons, to survive, or to protect someone they loved dearly. It didn''t matter. Their intentions were all that mattered. And, right now, they intended to kill him.

    Eren clicked his tongue and unleashed a dazzling light of silver energy. He transmuted his silver energy to shit bright like the sun. That move might injure civilians if they stared into the dazzling light, but it wouldn''t kill them. The groans of many resounded in Eren''s ears, but he continued with his next move. Massive silver spikes burst out of the ground, impaling the feet, legs, and waists of the human Awakened who had been shed.

    The dazzling silver energy did exactly what it ought to do ¨C blind the human Awakened momentarily. The ze Patriarch was hit as well, but he ignored the pain of his thighs being impaled. Instead of screaming, the ze Patriarch clicked his tongue.

    "Divine Lifeforms are too annoying to deal with," He cursed before closing his eyes for a second. He hacked up dark crimson blood all of a sudden, and hisplexion changed as well.

    "That''s your fault," The ze Patriarch shouted toward Eren as mes erupted underfoot. He shot high into the air and looked down at the expansive city.

    He released his power,mencing one of the ns he didn''t want to execute. It was a n proposed by the Supreme Human Alliance to ensure that nothing could go wrong. An emergency n that required decisive actions to be initiated.

    The ze Patriarch was decisive, but that didn''t mean he wanted to steep this low. However, he valued his life more than anything. Even the lives of millions of civilians and tens of thousands of Awakened didn''tpare to how much he valued his life.

    The first explosions erupted in the center of the extensive city as the ze Patriarch unleashed his power. The explosive devices filled with his power had been activated.

    Eren observed highly condensed energy fluctuations spreading out underneath the entire city. If he hadn''t known that something was wrong and that the ze Patriarch had set up traps against him, or people like him ¨C Divine Lifeforms ¨C, Eren would have realized now, at thetest. The puzzle pieces wereing together.

    The ze Patriarch didn''t know how strong Divine Lifeforms were. He was confident that the Primordial Bloodline Technique would give them a valid chance against Divine Lifeforms, but that was wrong. Eren was still stronger than the High Awakened. Not even his severed connection with his Curse changed that. Eren was too strong to be dealt with by ordinary Lesser Humans. They didn''t have the means to deal with him. It was that simple.

    However, that didn''t mean they were helpless now that the Supreme Human Alliance sponsored the ze household. The odds changed, even if it was only ever so slightly with the addition of the Primordial Bloodline technique and the Vylraen Seal.

    The ze Patriarch set up several traps to deal with unwee guests, yet he didn''t have the means to deal with everyone alone. He was in need of some help.

    The call for help was about to erupt.

    It all started with the explosions in the city center, but that was merely the start of a massive chain reaction. In a matter of seconds, the explosions were overwhelmed as a massive amount of energy, in the form of immense heat, light, and radiation, swallowed the city center, devouring everything.

    A powerful shockwave merged with heat, light, and radiation, pushing a massive amount of energy in all directions. The st wave expanded outward from the epicenter of the explosion at supersonic speed, demolishing all buildings, vehicles, and infrastructure in its path.

    Simultaneously, a searing heat pulse emitted, reaching temperatures hotter than the sun''s surface. The intense heat ignited fires wherever they passed, causing widespread congrations that engulfed buildings, vegetation, and humans.

    Thebined effects of the st wave, the heat pulse, and the radiation wave resulted in unparalleled devastation. The entire city was leveled within seconds. Skyscrapers were reduced to rubble, and there was no sign of the former highly efficient infrastructure. Everything was destroyed beyond recognition.

    The death toll was staggering, with millions, if not close to a hundred million civilians, killed instantly by the initial st and the heat pulse. However, that was only the beginning. Many more would suffer agonizing injuries and sumb to the effect of the radiation in the days following the explosion.

    In the aftermath, only the strongest Awakened survived.

    Eren was unscathed, but his eyes widened in surprise.

    "You ughtered your people," He uttered as a matter of fact, his eyes pulling toward the ze Patriarch, whose constitution was much worse than before. He was not yet dead, but without immediate help, the ze Patriarch would die soon.

    "So what? If that''s what it takes to kill you, I''ll dly do what it takes," The ze Patriarch responded with a toothy grin before retrieving arge vial of green liquid.

    He swallowed the content in a single gulp and gasped for air once he was done.

    "Say wee to my friends," The ze Patriarch said, his eyes traveling to the epicenter of the explosion, where a swirl of darkness had formed, "You should know them. Even if you do not know them¡­they know you."

    The swirl of darkness expanded until it formed into a massive portal.

    "A Carnage Portal¡­really?" Eren asked, his expression stiffened. It had been thousands of years since hest saw a Carnage Portal. It was unusual for anyone to use something like this. But then again¡­it was also rare to see a Vylrean Seal.

    Eren''s heart constricted as he recalled something from the past. A particr annoying household of the Supreme Human Alliance shed through his mind.

    "You guys are obsessed with me as ever. How about you stop obsessing over me, brothers?"

 Chapter 826 Long household

    Chapter 826 Long household

    ??It didn''t take long before the Carnage Portal stabilized. The deaths happening in its perimeter feed the portal, expanding and stabilizing it.

    A Carnage Portal wasparable to the bridge anchored by the Nest. The most significant differences were that a Carnage Portal was a temporary bridge, that it could only be manifested in the vicinity of recent deaths, and that the surrounding deaths fed it.

    Producing the Carnage Portal connecting from the inner regions of the Origin was expensive. Even the death of tens of millions wouldn''t be enough to maintain the Carnage Portal for long. That factor, as well as the massive amount of energy required to teleport someone through the Carnage Portal, were the only reasons Eren could maintain hisposure.

    He knew who would emerge from the Carnage Portal.

    Unsurprisingly, two humans with silver hair and azure-blue eyes emerged from the Carnage Portal before it closed. The countless deaths in the vicinity hadn''t been enough to push more than two Divine Lifeforms through the Carnage Portal. But that was already more than enough. Two Divine Lifeforms elevated the ze Patriarch''s prowess drastically.

    One of the humans, a middle-aged man with a muscr physique, nced at the ze Patriarch with disgust.

    "Useless trash," He spat out before turning to Eren, his eyes filled with wrath.

    Eren forced a smile on his lips, "Hello, brothers. Long time no see."

    "Shut up. I don''t want to hear a single word from your filthy mouth, traitor!" The younger Divine Lifeform snapped at Eren.

    "There is no need to act like this, Phylis. It looks like you never learned to respect your elders, younger brother," Eren snickered while trying to ess his curse power. Unfortunately, his curse power remained sealed. The Vylrean Seal glowed brighter than before, indicating that the energy umted within the children''s blood was used up at an elerated rate. That was good, even though Eren couldn''t tell how much longer it would take before he regained ess to curse power and Slyver.

    It filled him with rage that the ze Patriarch must have killed more than a hundred thousand innocent children to feed the Vylrean Seal and make it this powerful and that he didn''t hesitate to obliterate the entire city to call two Divine Lifeforms through a Carnage Portal.

    The worst was that his younger brothers were standing before him. Eren didn''t want to see them again. He''d sworn to himself that he would kill them the next time they met. It was unfortunate that his brothers didn''t heed his warning. They continued to obsess over him. That was the only way he could imagine why he met them here again.

    ''Bloodhound must have regained consciousness earlier than expected. He reported my presence in the Tritan Alliance, attracting my brothers'' attention.'' Eren realized, biting his lower lip.

    ''It is my fault that the Tritan Alliance is like this. My brothers sponsored the ze Patriarch, resulting in this mess. Fuck it!''

    "You don''t talk to us about respect, traitor! You backstabbed your own family after everything we''ve done for you!" The muscr brother standing next to Phylis shouted.

    "Klose, you should stop with that nonsense," Eren grumbled, "You know better than anyone how our so-called family treated me. It is their fault that I was Cursed, yet they imprisoned and tortured me, treating me like a pest!"

    It had been too long ago to remember the details, but there were some things Eren recalled vividly. He remembered his family evoking the wrath of powerful creatures in the Origin Expanse. Eren was still a child then, yet something about him changed at some point. One day, something started growing within him after his parents returned from the Origin Expanse. They stuffed him something, their bodies covered in deep gashes, missing arms, a portion of their faces, and so forth.

    Eren had been afraid, but he ate whatever they gave him. Little did he know that they stuffed him a Curse, which would have urred their entire family otherwise. Their entire family had been cursed, yet Eren''s parents used the Achievement Shop to purchase an item and congregate the curse power, which was about to infuse into the members of the Long family, into a single pill. The pill one of the Long family members had to eat to protect the other members. Eren was the only memberpatible with the pill ofpressed curse power.

    His own family cursed him.

    His family didn''t want to be cast aside by the other Parliat households or be the eye of attention. Sacrificing their child, they avoided getting cursed and potentially annihted for being Cursed.

    If being Cursed was the only thing his family did, Eren might have forgiven them. He awakened Slyver thanks to the pill of congregated curse power. That would have never happened if a Curse of the lowest grade had befallen their entire family.

    Unfortunately, getting Cursed was only the beginning. The Long household of the Parliat didn''t dare to reveal Eren after he''d been cursed. The Supreme Human Alliance would have punished the Long household severally for having a Cursed Child in their family.

    Eren''s family "loved" him enough not to reveal him to the Supreme Human Alliance''s Parliat. But that was exactly what turned his life upside down. His childhood and youth weren''t any better than being dead. He was imprisoned and not allowed to leave. Eren often wished he was dead.

    His family tortured him in attempts to remove the Curse after it had fused with Eren. It was only obvious, but purging the Curse wasn''t possible anymore. He was always on the verge of death before his parents stopped the current attempts at ''curing'' him.

    Eren fell into depression and was just about to try killing himself when Slyver awakened. The Silver Dragon Curse saved him from misery. Slyver helped Eren escape from his parents'' grasp and enter the Origin Expanse without major restraints. His parents had forced items upon him in the past. These items forcefully ejected him from the Origin Expanse after he entered it for the first time.

    That way, Eren was pulled out of the Origin Expanse after manifesting his War Rune without losing it. He met the requirements to keep his War Rune and awaken his Soultraits before he was ejected from the Origin Expanse. Upon returning to the Origin Expanse with Slyver''s help, Eren discovered his territory had been raided. He lost everything even before he could get started.

    That was far from great, but it was not like Eren expected his territory to survive years of negligence. The demise of his territory was within his expectations.

    He didn''t expect Selena to find him in the Origin Expanse. Eren didn''t know how she found him then, but he was eternally grateful for her. Selena ¨C as insane as she might be ¨C was a bright light of hope in the darkness that had consumed Eren.

    Selena helped him grow strong enough to take revenge on his family. At some point, he returned home and killed everyone in the Long household.

    The only Long members he''d spared were Phylis and Klose. They were too young to remember anything. It wasn''t their fault that his parents and the rest of the family treated him like that.

    Unfortunately, both Phylis and Klose didn''t take their revenge nicely. They swore revenge and began to obsess over him.

    Their motivation to strive forward and grow was to kill Eren.

    He was the reason they managed to be Divine Lifeforms.

 Chapter 827 Life-and-Death

    Chapter 827 Life-and-Death

    ??His brothers were obsessed with him, and that had been fine for a while. Eren thought it was obvious to desire vengeance. They might not even know what their parents did to Eren, as they had been too young to remember anything. Or, if they knew what happened, they might consider it the only feasible way to salvage Eren.

    His brothers wouldn''t be the first ones to believe that Curses were impossible to control and that all Curses would transform you into a monster. While it was certainly possible for a Curse to transform you into a monstrosity if you allowed it to consume you whole, that rarely happened under the Nest''s supervision.

    The Nest ensured that every Cursed Child would be taught about the dangers of Curses, Cursed Seals, Major Seals, and Cursed Arts. They were taught everything that had to be taught before their Curse would awaken. Their future progress would depend on the extent of their control over their Curse and how their souls would respond to gaining ess to more Cursed Seals.

    Eren never lost control of himself. He and the Silver Dragon Curse were perfectlypatible. They suffered together for decades and overcame all obstacles together as well. Slyver wasn''t dangerous. If anything, Slyver was the best thing that could have happened to Eren.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t mean others would think the same way. His family wanted to exorcise Slyver, and his brothers wanted to kill him to rescue him. At least, that was what they''d always said. It was also the reason Eren spared them whenever they shed.

    However, Eren was done with that. He was done sparing their lives. Not after what he''d witnessed them doing over thest decades. He heard enough about their actions to know they transformed into people who shouldn''t be spared. The best evidence was the Vyen Seal and the Carnage Portal. The ze Patriarch received his brothers'' necessary resources and devices to activate the Seal and manifest the Carnage Portal. Eren''s brothers were at fault for the death of hundreds of millions.

    Their grace period ended atst.

    Eren released a beam of silver energy toward the ze Patriarch. The silver beam was about to strike the man, obliterating him before he could react, when Phylis made his move. He appeared before the ze Patriarch, a green barrier conjuring before him.

    The green barrier was semi-translucent and shaped like an Aegis. It didn''t look too special but was strong enough to block the silver beam.

    A green disk formed in Phylis'' free hand. He threw it toward Eren, who shaped his silver energy into a thin barrier. The disk was repelled and returned to Phylis, who willed the disk to shoot past him. The disk burst into the ground and cut deep inside. Since there weren''t any more survivors in the entire city, Eren wouldn''t have to hold back. That was good. The only issue was that they might identally destroy the if they went all out.

    Eren groaned and released a burst of energy underfoot while kicking the ground as hard as possible.

    An explosion resounded, the ground cracked and gave in under the tremendous force of Eren''s kick, and a massive crater formed where he stood just a moment ago. Meanwhile, Eren returned to the wide-open space where they had enough room to fight.

    Phylis didn''t follow Eren right away. He nced at the ze Patriarch in disgust and anger before throwing the man aside. A momentter, he followed behind his older brother.

    Klose moved incredibly fast. He appeared above Eren, his arm extending and transforming into massive des as he cleaved down.

    Silver energy surged out of Eren. A portion of it transformed into a shield while the rest transmuted into zing mes. The silver mes lunged at Klose and threatened to burn him. His clothes caught fire and spread like wildfire at Eren''s will. The mes were a little harder to preserve in space, but everything was possible with enough energy and willpower.

    Klose''s arm transformed into a dragon''s maw. The details of the dragon head, which his lower arm had turned into, and the razor-sharp teeth of its maw were marvelous. However, Eren didn''t have the luxury or the crave to praise his brother. The dragon maw devoured the silver mes before transforming into Klose''s arm. A momentter, silverish waves passed through Klose''s body. The energy moved through his arm, went up his shoulder, and pulled down his other arm. The hand of his other arm had transformed into a small gun barrel, which released the silver mes,pressed into a bullet at a horrifying velocity.

    Eren''s eyes narrowed to a slit as the bullet pierced through his silver barrier. He tried moving away but observed quickly that green, semi-translucent barriers had formed around him. The barriers blocked his path of retreat, ensuring that Eren was forced to face the zing bullet head-on.

    Eren groaned and resorted to using one of his movement techniques alongside a skill he hadn''t used for a long time. His Longsword Artifact glowed brightly as silver energy oozed out of it. It trickled down his de, forming into a viscous liquid, only to harden suddenly. The silver energy condensed and hardened right before Eren released a tremendous power through his body.

    The silver energy coursed through his body and channeled into the Longsword Artifact that expanded. He shed at the zing bullet in a seemingly simple manner and cut it in half.

    A momentter, Eren pushed forward and appeared before Klose, whose body expanded and transformed into a bipedal Behemoth. The thick scales of a dragon covered his body, only for a secondyer of tough hide to grow above it.

    Simultaneously, several Aegis shields formed before Klose, protecting the young Divine Lifeform from the sh Eren executed a momentter. The barriers were cut in half alongside the space around Klose. The fabric of space was pulled and distorted, but it wasn''t torn apart. A deep gash was engraved deep into Klose''s chest, but it regenerated at blinding speed. It looked like the injury didn''t exist mere seconds after Eren''s attack.

    Eren disappeared from the spot and appeared before Phylis, who''d manifested hundreds of greenish disks to throw at Eren.

    He applied the Primordial Bloodline technique and elerated in a burst, evading the iing attack before releasing the barrier disks at his older brother. Eren expected this and released the same number of silver droplets toward the center of the barrier disks, shattering them instantaneously.

    "Not bad," Eren nodded, his expression grim.

    Phylis and Klose were much stronger than they used to be. Maybe it was also problematic that Eren couldn''t contact Slyver and that the Vylraen Seal affected him more than thest time. One way or another, Phylis'' Ancient Barrier Soultrait was nothing like it used to be. Phylis upgraded it using the Achievement Shop or purchased another Soultrait, which allowed him to alter the Ancient Barrier into a razor-sharp disk.

    The disks could cut through everything. That was certainly not great. If he didn''t shatter them fast enough, Eren had to pay attention to avoid them. Even the repellent silver barrier nearly failed to destroy a single barrier disk. It would be a problem to repel dozens of them at once.

    "We reached perfect mastery," Phylis announced, his expression glowing, "Just what we needed to kill you!"

 Chapter 828 Over

    <h4>Chapter 828 Over</h4>

    828 Over

    Klose transformed, his body bubbling and distorting in ways that were too hard to fathom for most. He expanded, muscles slithering through his body like tiny snakes as they rippled and bulged. His fingers transformed into gleaming, razor-sharp ws, which elongated further as Klose infused origin energy into them.

    All while transforming, Klose could be harmed. His body was covered in severalyers of tough defenses, but that didn''t mean he was invincible. He couldn''t move while undergoing aplete transformation. At least, not as he underwent such a transformation. His entire body morphed and changed into parts of Mythical Creature that he''d killed and devoured. Hisbat prowess skyrocketed.

    Klose''s Soultrait was unique. It was called Metamorphosis, and it wasn''t easy to give it an adequate star rating. Klose said it was a 5-Star Soultrait, but that sounded unbelievable given that his Soultrait allowed him to transform any part of his body into anything he''d seen, touched, and consumed. The benefits of changing into something he had seen were non- existent. In fact, Klose''sbat prowess would be lower than what he''d seen as his Soultrait required more information to transform properly.

    Touching something and killing a creature allowed Klose to replicate the object or body part perfectly. Consumption was different. Klose could merge and improve everything he''d consumed as long as he consumed something. That was how he transformed into a Mythical Creature,bining the prowess of a Bulldozing Behemoth, a Fury Leviathan, and a Crimsonback Dragon.

    Klose fused the strongest aspects of each creature to elevate hisbat prowess to another level.

    In the meantime, Phylis struggled to stall Eren. Eren was aware of Klose''s power and the slight downside of his lowered guard as he underwent aplete transformation, but that didn''t mean he could attack him easily. Phylis coated Klose in tens of the strongest barriers he could conjure with Ancient Barrier. He protected his brother from harm, ensuring Klose would be safe and sound.

    Eren shattered some barriers, but he didn''t manage to reach the final barrier before Klose was done. Once Klose finished transforming, the tables turned. The atmosphere on the battlefield changed.

    Phylis removed thest barrier, releasing Klose, who shot toward Eren with breathtaking speed. Klose wed Eren, who managed to block the initial attacks with his longsword. Precise parries and nimble footwork were enough to avoid getting cut in half. However, it wasn''t enough to counterattack.

    Eren used the Silver Physique Technique alongside Silver Stride, both techniques he''d created to unleash as much power as possible from his Soultrait. Both Silver Stride and Silver Physique were Soul Techniques. They consumed a massive amount of Soul Energy to elevate Eren''s physical strength, perception, and speed to a higher level.

    They worked out well enough, especially with Silver Physique being a technique like Foundation Break ¨C just on a much higher rank. Silver Physique drained Eren''s lifeforce to increase his physical strength further forcefully. His strength skyrocketed, his muscles bulged, and he could elerate again, surpassing both Klose and Phylis'' speed near-instantly.

    He twisted the Longsword Artifact in his hand and cut deep into Klose''s arm, nearly severing it in one go. Unfortunately, Klose bent his upper body ufortably, protecting his arm. After the attack, Klose snorted, and the wound regenerated rapidly.

    Eren frowned but continued moving, he executed dozens of quick shes, whirling around his younger brothers to inflict both light and severe wounds. Phylis managed to block most attacks, but once Eren amplified his Longsword Artifact with silver energy ¨C which had been purified with Silver Purity, a Soul Technique that amplified the potency of the Silver Energy Soultrait drastically ¨C even Phylis'' ordinary barriers couldn''t block him anymore.

    The situation worsened for Phylis and Klose when Eren added the Longsword Artifact''s Enchantment. It had several Enchantments, but the worst was called [Heal Stop]. It drained an enormous amount of energy but had an incredibly powerful effect. Heal Stop could temporarily block anyone from healing the wound inflicted with the Longsword Artifact. Eren didn''t want to use the weapon; something deep inside him was telling Eren that he could salvage this situation without killing his brothers.

    No matter how bad his brothers were, they were only like this because the Supreme Human Alliance manipted them. Other than his daughter, Phylis and Klose were thest members of his family. He had nobody else left.

    Klose and Phylis noticed the hesitation in Eren''s movement and took advantage of that. They saw that Eren''s following attacks couldn''t be healed for a while, but that didn''t matter. They used the Primordial Bloodline technique alongside Primal Limiter, Cloudwalker, and the Soul Techniques they''d customized to overpower Eren.

    Phylis'' barrier grew stronger. Their resilience increased by a multitude, restraining Eren more than he''d expected. Eren destroyed one ancient barrier, only for dozens to appear before him. Various barrier disks came flying his way. Their velocity was several times faster than before. Eren wasn''t surprised, but he couldn''t evade the attacks easily¡­not without unleashing more of his power.

    But if he unleashed more of his power, Elyra would suffer. Klose and Phylis grasped why Eren wasn''t going all-out and smiled. They pulled closer to the and unleashed more power, shing, striking, and cutting deep into Eren''s body.

    Phylis and Klose gained the upper hand against their older brother slowly but steadily.

    Eren frowned, ncing down at his body. He didn''t lose a limb just yet, but his body didn''t look great. His brothers were powerful. They''d grown much stronger in thest few decades. It was something Eren would be proud of if he didn''t know the reason for their sudden increase in power.

    A wave of sadness passed through Eren, and a somber expression covered his face.

    He couldn''t go on like this. It was impossible.

    Eren would not allow his brothers to wreck more chaos across the cosmos. They hadmitted enough heinous crimes to deserve execution. However, Eren could have never fathomed that he would be his brothers'' executioner. He always thought that his brothers would die while struggling to keep up with him. Desperately struggling to grow stronger to take revenge. But that never happened.

    His brothers survived. They overcame all ordeals and towered before him, ready to kill him and everyone obstructing their paths.

    Eren smiled sadly, "I think that''s enough."

    Even though he knew his next move would harm many, it was necessary. Eren had to eliminate his brothers once and for all. Their increase in force over thest few decades could not be achieved through ordinary means. That was what his senses told him every time Phylis and Klose cut and scratched him.

    "How many lives did you have to take to im this power?" Eren asked sternly, but he didn''t expect to receive an answer. The brothers didn''t answer. Instead, they elerated once again, rippling the fabric of space around them as they charged at him. The brothers attacked Eren again.

    Eren groaned and released the limiters he''d set upon himself. Since he was in a backwater gxy, Eren had ensured he wouldn''t unleash too much energy. He didn''t want to harm innocent people, after all. Unfortunately, he was not powerful enough to eliminate his brothers with his restrained powers.

    Anger and fury filled Eren''s form as he unleashed his power. His presence expanded rapidly, furiously iming authority over every inch in the surrounding hundreds of kilometers. But that was not all since Eren''s presence continued expanding as Klose and Phylis followed suit.

    They unleashed their presence, ready to overwhelm Eren and kill him after spending hundreds of years growing strong enough to deal with him. Atst, it was time to kill their older brother. Revenge was within their reach!

    Phylis and Klose went berserk. They roared at the top of their lungs and unleashed their aura by merging their Soultraits into their presence. The surroundings changed drastically as a response. Thousands of greenish semi-translucent barriers manifested around Phylis and Klose, but more was waiting for them.

    Various abominations and body parts of in and consumed creatures manifested within Klose''s presence. They transformed and shapeshifted into mid-sized creatures that looked dead and alive.

    Eren would have been impressed with their domains if they had managed to create a proper domain in the first ce. Their domains weren''t precisely what Eren would call a proper domain.

    ''They ascended to Divine Lifeforms too fast, neglecting their foundation,'' Eren shook his head, unleashing the brute force of his domain. Everything was coated in dazzling silver energy. Rivers of silver power spread through the open space, sweeping through everything in the open space.

    They flooded the ancient barriers and drowned Klose''s abominations, oppressing their domains until nothing was left.

    Even after he crushed Klose and Phylis'' domains, Eren''s domain continued expanding. It spread in all directions, putting significant pressure on the fabric of reality, which twisted uncontrobly. It was torn, revealing fissures in the space around Eren.

    He clicked his tongue, reached for the fissures, and willed the silver rivers to weave and tie the fissures, closing them.

    "What a fragile gxy," Eren grumbled quietly, perceiving the return of his curse power.

    Slyver returned to him.

    ''You took quite a while. Didn''t you tell me that the Vylraen Seal and the likes would never seal you?'' Eren asked the Silver Dragon, who responded with a terrifying roar.

    The Curse was enraged. Eren didn''t know how it felt to be cut off from a part of his existence. What it felt like to be exiled to another realm where time didn''t seem to exist. Only a few minutes passed, but for Slyver, it felt like hundreds of years passed. He tried opposing the Vylraen Seal but quickly noticed it had been stronger than the previous seal.

    Eren''s curse force was removed entirely before the Silver Dragon Curse was severed. That didn''t leave Slyver much of a choice. He had to endure the exile in the middle of nowhere. Even he, a mythical creature, one of the monarchs among mighty creatures, didn''t know where hended. It was terrifying¡­even for someone like him.

    Overflowing with rage, the Silver Dragon Curse manifested. A Halo formed around Eren. It grew bigger and expanded rapidly, transforming into a majestic Silver Dragon surrounded by streams and rivers of silver energy. The halo of Slyver could only be manifested properly within the Silver Domain. However, that was more than enough.

    Slyver roared at the top of his lungs and unleashed his breath upon Phylis and Klose.

    The brothers tried evading the attack, but they were burned alive. Their screams reverberated through the surroundings. They were loud enough to ring through Eren''s ears. A feeling of sadness overcame them, sensing his sibling growing weaker. Their lifeforce was burned as Slyver continued releasing its dragon breath upon them.

    For a quarter of a second, he thought about stopping Slyver, but at the same instance, he noticed that he made a grave mistake. Eren thought about sparing his brothers, granting them a minuscule opening. It was merely a quarter of a second, but Slyver obeyed Eren''s will. The zing mes ceased, and the brothers charged at Eren.

    They were much faster than before and appeared before Eren.

    Klose and Phylis looked at each other, a somber expression on their faces. As they appeared before Eren, they embraced him tightly. Eren stiffened. He didn''t sense any bloodlust from his brothers at this point.

    Was that a dream? Theirst farewell?

    In a way, their embrace was Klose and Phylis''sst farewell. Unfortunately, it was different from what Eren had hoped for. He hesitated merely for a quarter of a second. He still loved his brothers, after all.

    But that quarter of a second was enough for Klose and Phylis.

    Their Souls began to burn, their lifeforce evaporated, and their bodies were eaten alive as they used thest trump card hidden in their sleeves.

    They used the Taboo Technique, Hero''s Sacrifice, and exploded.

    A massive explosion, more than a hundred times more intense than the city-destroying explosion, reverberated through the open space. It spread in all directions and destroyed everything in its path. A terrifying scream, and a dragon''s roar ¨C filled with unimaginable pain ¨C reverberated through the space. The scream and the roar fused, but were quickly overwhelmed by the cacophony of sounds as everything in their environment was destroyed.

    Nothing was left unscathed in the wake of the Divine Lifeform''s explosion. The space in the surrounding hundreds of kilometers rippled violently as it was torn apart.

    The Silver Domain disintegrated instantly as the explosion''s shockwave wreaked havoc.

    It reached Elyra and destroyed everything it touched. Despite fighting far from Elyra, the shockwave and heat pulse unleashed by the sacrifice of two Divine Lifeforms swallowed thend mass of several countries.

    Everything was destroyed.

    The death rate¡­was too high¡­

 Chapter 829 Rift

    Chapter 829 Rift

    ??A long, seemingly never-ending peep rang through his ears as he got up. He tried to press his left arm against the ground to jump up, only to notice that his left arm was missing.

    He nced down at his body and groaned in annoyance, "Seems like I have to make another trip to the Seraph. The leverage against them was worth the hassle."

    The ze Patriarch''s head ached worse than usual, but he ignored it and got up. His eyes moved left and right in an attempt to see if anyone else survived, but the only thing he could see was an endless expanse of¡­nothing. As a Tier-6 powerhouse, the ze Patriarch could see far, yet no matter how far he could see, nothing was like it used to be. Everything had been destroyed.

    "Divine Lifeforms are so troublesome," He snickered, retrieving a ss vial from his War Rune storage.

    The ze Patriarch removed the cap of the ss vial with his teeth, spit the cap out, and swallowed the vial''s content.

    A gasp escaped his lips when his body digested the viscous liquid. He was still wounded and missed a limb, but he wasn''t mortally wounded anymore. That was better than nothing.

    The ze Patriarch tried circting origin energy through his body and utilized his Soultrait to shoot high into the air. He wanted to get a better view of the situation, but he noticed quickly that the origin energy in the surroundings was no longer there.

    Not only the origin energy in the surroundings but the energy in the ze Patriarch had also been cut off. He retrieved a few Energy Stones to replenish his energy, only to notice that the Energy Stones crumbled right away. The energy was drained instantly and pulled somewhere. It was pulled into the sky. No. The energy was pulled to the space.

    The ze Patriarch''s eyes followed the energy traces he''d perceived, scowling at what he saw.

    He was greeted by thousands of fissures in space, twinkling like streams of purple sparks. The origin energy within the Energy Stones was pulled to the closest fissure, stimting it to mend and close.

    The ze Patriarch stared at the scenery unfolding before him for a few seconds, his scowl slowly reced by a vibrant smile.

    Countless humans might have died today, but the ze Patriarch couldn''t care less. All he cared about was that the three Divine Lifeforms had killed each other.

    The ze Patriarch burst into a vibrant smile. He chuckled, which evolved into augh, which resounded through the devastatednds that had once been entire provinces.

    "Nobody can stop me now," The ze Patriarch dered,ughing like a maniac, "My problems killed each other!!"

    He continuedughing, but his eyes never left the fissures in the open space. It was almost like he was expecting to find signs that one of the Divine Lifeforms had survived.

    But there was no sign of the Long household''s brothers'' survival. Thest traces of their existence disintegrated.

    **

    Michael scrunched his nose while eying a bubbling pond¡­of impurities? It looked like impurities and smelled like impurities, but Michael could tell with a nce that the energy coursing through it wasn''t something impurities could contain.

    "The Spring of Abundant Life," Selenamented lightly, "Retrieve your Soul Grimoire and throw your brother''s Living Soul into that disgusting mess. As long as your brother isn''t aplete loser, he should be able to sense what he has to do to build a perfect vessel.

    [I''m not a loser!] Danny dered, using Whispering Energy.

    "Yes, yes. Of course, you are not a loser. I just told you about the possibility. If you''re a loser, you will fail. Your vessel will be shit, and you might end up dying at old age in a few decades. Mess up your energy veins and the Energy Pir, and we can bring you to your lovely Tritan Alliance to live happily ever after as an Unawakened."

    Michael looked at Selena, who shrugged lightly before turning away. She installed and initiated a few portable runic arrays, ensuring that nobody would bother them in the next few weeks.

    "I managed to secure this little pond of the Spring of Abundant Life for about two months. That is longer than it should take to rebuild your vessel," Selena stared intently at Michael, "It''s also enough to bring you into shape and to learn the Curse Transformation Arts."

    Michael nodded slowly.

    "You are more likely to fail than your brother. Your Curses are powerful, and you manifested more Curses than most Curse Users would have awakened before they started with partial Curse Transformation. Also, you are much younger and at a lower Tier. It will be fun, especially since my Curse told me that your Curses are a nuisance," Selena said, still not serious. She smiled brightly at Michael and added, "This will be fun!"

    Michael frowned deeply. The way Selena looked at him couldn''t mean anything good. If anything, it could only mean that the Nest Leader would hit him ck and blue until he managed to seed in the partial Curse Transformation.

    "Don''t look at me like that. A partial transformation won''t be enough. You have two Major Seals already. I want more from you!" Selena dered, smiling from one ear to the other.

    It was almost like she could read his mind. That was¡­great.

    Putting aside the future beatings of the next eight weeks, Michael wasn''t too excited about this ce. It was eerie, and his Curses didn''t like it either.

    Michael didn''t remember much of their trip close to the center of the Origin. The bridge they took pulled them to a supergxy close to their destination. However, Michael was too busy observing the massives around him and the oppressive amount of energy permeating every inch of space around him.

    It was no wonder that so many Higher Lifeforms existed near the Origin. That ce was overflowing with energy. The energy was also incredibly pure. It was overwhelming.

    Michael wondered if he could stay here for a year or two to reach Tier-5 without the need for additional resources, but that idea dissipated quickly when he and Selena passed by the first massive creature in space.

    Michael had no idea how powerful that creature was, but he was certain it was stronger than the Primal Phoenix. In fact, Michael couldn''t be certain that Selena could deal with that creature. It was a Leviathan or something like that, yet Selena shook her head when he inquired about it. It was almost like the Nest Leader didn''t dare to speak about the creature.

    After the Leviathan traveled past them, Michael held his breath. The creature wasn''t fast, but it didn''t move slowly either, yet it took several minutes before it passed them.

    The Nest Leader and Michael continued silently traveling until they reached the rift. A purplish-azure fissure amidst the endless space around them.

    Michael''s eyes widened in terror when Spirit Eyes saw what awaited them. Unfortunately, he couldn''t retreat. Selena pulled him inside the rift, bringing them to a small, ominous ce. Everything was dark, yet Michael could see perfectly fine. Curse power permeated every corner of the ce. Michael tried grasping it, but it escaped him.

    The only thing he could do with the curse power was to use it to replenish his used-up curse power. It refilled his used-up curse power the instant it left him.

    While that was great, Michael felt weird. The ce wasn''t like Michael expected it to be. It was¡­alive.

    ''Why does it feel like I''m inside something?'' He wondered, only for the World Serpent to respond, its entire being filled with anger and displeasure.

    [Because that is precisely what is going on. You are inside a Curse.]

 Chapter 830 Spring of Abundant Life

    Chapter 830 Spring of Abundant Life

    ??The news was surprising, but Michael epted them rtively quickly. The Wolf Curse was also enraged, as angry as the World Serpent, if not worse, but there was little Michael could do to please them. It wasn''t like he feltfortable in this ce, either.

    Nheless, the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse continued bombarding Michael with emotions and booming noises. It was¡­a lot.

    Michael tried to ignore their anger and discard their voices, but that was easier said than done.

    ''If youply and help me with the Curse Transformation, we will never leave this ce. On the other hand, if you resist and make things more difficult, we might have to stay in this ce for a very long time.'' He reminded his Curses, who went silent almost immediately.

    They didn''t want to stay here one minute longer than necessary¡­even if that meant they had to support Michael.

    ''That is exactly what I thought. The sooner we''re out here, the better.''

    Michael manifested the Soul Grimoire before him and walked over to the ck, viscous liquid pond.

    "Are you sure this is going to help my brother?" He asked Selena, a trace of doubt in his voice.

    "I told you that the Spring of Abundant Life will help your brother create a perfect vessel. Whether you and your brother believe me, I don''t care. It''s fine either way. Just remember I won''t be able to give you another opportunity like this," Selena responded in her usual, nonchnt tone.

    [Do it. I think we can trust her.] Danny told his brother, who bent down to his knees.

    Michael was close enough to smell nothing but the disgusting stench of the viscous liquid. He gagged and could barely restrain from releasing hisst meal inside the Spring of Abundant Life. Atst, Michael shrugged. If his brother wanted to try it, who was he to say no?

    Michael closed his eyes and focused on the Soul Grimoire. He felt countless vibrant threads connecting to his Soul Grimoire. Many were from the Soul Tears, which had been etched into the Soul Grimoire for future uses. The rest, however, belonged to Danny''s Living Soul. Michael grasped the vibrant threads of his brother''s Living Soul using his mental power and removed them one by one.

    If the Living Soul was like a Soul Tear, Michael would have torn it out of the Soul Grimoire without paying much attention. But Michael wanted to ensure his brother''s Living Soul would stay unscathed during the process. He didn''t support and nourish his brother''s Living Soul to injure it right before he would be granted the opportunity to create his vessel.

    One vibrant thread after another was removed from the Soul Grimoire, which hummed quietly. The massive space upied by the Living Soul was released, creating more space for other souls to nourish. But that wasn''t what Michael desired. In the first ce, he wasn''t sure what to do with Soul Grimoire now that it fulfilled its sole purpose ¨C to store and nourish Daniel Fang.

    The Living Soul emerged from the Soul Grimoire. It was as dazzling as the blinding sun and much warmer than Michael recalled. He took a deep breath, ignored the stunning light the Living Soul emitted, and stared briefly at his brother''s Living Soul.

    ''You can do it. I will be waiting for you!'' Michael told his brother, who responded with a final tug at his soul.

    Michael lowered the Living Soul into the Spring of Abundant Life a momentter, removing Daniel Fang for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

    It was a weird feeling to let go of his brother. He missed Danny already, even though they wouldn''t separate for real. However, it was going to be different starting today. After today, Daniel wouldn''t wreak havoc in his brother''s head. If anything, they would tease each other while talking face-to-face like typical brothers.

    Michael''s lips curled into a smile, "Don''t take too long¡­and don''t mess up."

    The Living Soul submerged in the Spring of Abundant Life, startling Michael briefly. Fortunately, he had Spirit Eyes in his arsenal of Soultrait Symbols. Spirit Eyes allowed him to see Danny''s Living Soul surrounded by the ck, viscous liquid. It also allowed him to see the massive amount of lifeforce, origin energy, and nutrients stored within the Spring''s liquid.

    Michael could also perceive something else in the Spring of Abundant Life, but he had never seen something like that.

    ''I guess this is going to help Danny construct his vessel?'' He thought while observing his brother''s Living Soul as the vigorous tendrils spread everywhere. The tendrils created a suctioning force that pulled all energy, nutrients, and lifeforce out of the surrounding liquid. It was only a short instance, but Michael saw the Living Soul pulsate. That was enough for Michael to divert his attention with a vibrant smile.

    He thought about thanking Selena but remembered her gleeful expression when the Nest Leader spoke about beating the living shit out of him. Michael shuddered at the thought and nced at the Soul Grimoire instead.

    ''What am I going to do with you now? You fulfilled your purpose. That was excellent work!''

    Michael would never regret upgrading Soul Grimoire to 7-Star because that was essential to rescue his brother. Michael would also neverin about the Soultraits he had to integrate into the Soul Grimoire Symbol to adjust the Soultrait. All of this had been necessary to rescue his brother. Michael had been ready to risk much more than a mere Soul Grimoire Soultrait Symbol to help his brother.

    It wasn''t like the Soul Grimoire was useless, either. The Soul Grimoire was still valuable. Using the Soul Tears of in enemies could augment the potency of other Soultraits and the Soul. Furthermore ¨C though Michael was unsure if that would be essential in the future ¨C Soul Grimoire could tend to souls and nourish them back to peak and beyond.

    Another advantageous perk of the Soul Grimoire was that it had expanded his soul, creating a sealed Soul Socket. The only downside of the sealed Soul Socket was its location. It was located in the outer area of the Soul Sphere, where upgrading Soultrait cost 2.5x the initial price. That was also part of the reason Michael created another Soul Socket for River of Vigor.

    The other reason was that Michael felt the sealed Soul Socket belonged to the Soul Grimoire. If he ced a Soultrait in the sealed Soul Socket, it would have to bepatible with the Soul Grimoire. Of course, it might take a while to find a highlypatible Soultrait, but it was not like Michael was in a rush. He had more than enough time to spare for something like that.

    Another critical factor was that Michael could remove certain perks from the Soul Grimoire. Michael had already experienced what it would feel like to tear a Soultrait apart without recing the removed parts with other perks. That means Michael would have to find other Soultraits suitable to rece some of the Soul Grimoire''s perks and insert them into the Soultrait Symbol after extracting everything rted to nourishing Living Souls.

    Or, Michael could add more Soultraits to the Soul Grimoire, altering it slightly until it adapted and gained new abilities.

    Everything was possible, but Michael could notify that those points had to be addressed in the future.

    For now, Michael had to survive Selena''s beating.

    ''You guys better help me, otherwise, we might actually die!'' Michael told the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse, who didn''t respond.

    A heavy sigh escaped his lips at that.

    "This is going to be fun¡­"

 Chapter 831 Transformation

    <h4>Chapter 831 Transformation</h4>

    As expected, the following weeks were really ''fun''.

    Michael was beaten ck and blue dozens of times every single day for more than a month. How was that possible? It was pretty simple.

    Sacred Constitution and River of Vigor worked well in unison. They worked together too well. Michael''s stamina remained rtively high at all times. Simultaneously, River of Vigor''s other passive effect aided his natural regeneration drastically. Most of his broken bones and bruises healed while fighting Selena. It was disgusting how powerful River of Vigor was, especially with Sacred Constitution improving his natural regeneration as well.

    Sacred Constitution toughened his body in every possible way and improved his natural regeneration, only for River of Vigor to elevate his natural regeneration to another level.

    Michael would have loved his natural regeneration and the toughness of his body under normal circumstances, but that wasn''t fun while dealing with Selena. If anything, Michael suffered so much that he considered jumping into the Spring of Abundant Life to escape Selena''s fists and kicks.

    The biggest problem with Selena was that she didn''t give him any breaks. The only ''breaks'' Michael was granted were when she knocked him out. That didn''t happen often, but it was usually enough to give him some well-needed rest.

    Another good, yet not so great, point was that the World Serpent granted him ess to more power than usual. The World Serpent''s Seals were active at all times, and the curse power replenished instantaneously thanks to the massive amount of curse power infused into every inch of surroundings. Therefore, Michael''s body was even tougher than usual. He also regenerated faster, giving Selena more leeway to beat up Michael.

    It wasn''t fun, but Michael would have to lie if he said Selena''s beating was useless. At this point, a massive, ck-scaled serpent tail grew out of his tailbone. It drained a considerable amount of curse power, but Michael wasn''tcking any curse power. Even without the surrounding curse power, Michael would have had enough to maintain the serpent tail for a long time.

    Controlling the Serpent Tail had been difficult initially, but the World Serpent helped him. It didn''t want to grant Michael ess to too much power, but Michael''s constant losses were miserable. Since it was part of Michael, every loss against the Nest Leader indicated that the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse also lost against Selena. At first, that was fine. Michael was merely a Lowest Tier-4 powerhouse, after all.

    However, as Michael''s losses increased, the World Serpent''s patience dwindled. The World Serpent aided Michael more and more until he learned how to control the Serpent Tail. His mastery over the Serpent Tail was not high enough to consider it part of his body, but Michael was good enough tost against Selena for a few more seconds. The duration he couldst against her increased again when he used the Curse Transformation Arts alongside the World Serpent''s Major Seal.

    The Curse Transformation Arts had to connect to a specific number of active seals to manifest parts of the Curse and merge them with the Curse User''s body. The Serpent Seals were enough to either conjure a thin scale armor, or a portion of the World Serpent''s tail ¨C weakened of course.

    However, Michael managed to release more power by connecting the Major Seal to the Curse Transformation Arts. Darkish-green, almost ck, scales grew from Michael''s skin. They emerged all over his body, acted as a secondyer of protection, and distributed the impacting force evenly. That allowed Michael tost even longer against Selena, who fought him unarmed.

    She didn''t use a trace of energy or curse power and didn''t bother retrieving a weapon either. That would be an overkill. Selena was a Divine Lifeform, her punches and kicks were enough to kill Michael with one hit. It was only fortunate that Selena could hold back enough not to kill Michael. That would have been bad. Real bad.

    Michael didn''t want to die just yet. Nheless, Selena didn''t spare him from anything other than death. She increased the intensity of her attacks when it was apparent that Michael was getting used to her movement sequence.

    Michael was overjoyed when he seeded in connecting the Major Seal to the Curse Transformation Arts without any issues. The biggest problem was probably that the World Serpent allowed him to use the Curse Transformation Arts. It had yet to block his ess. That meant Michael was having an easy time right now. He didn''t know how the situation would change once they left this ce ¨C the stomach of a fully-grown Curse ¨C a loner who''d transcended the ages that killed countless God-like existences.

    Michael tried to avoid that topic, but the World Serpent told him about this ce. It was¡­not so nice.

    He hoped his brother would finish forming his vessel soon and that they could leave as soon as possible. However, to leave, Michael had to link both Major Seals to the Curse Transformation Arts and sessfully control the World Serpent and Wolf Curse as their body parts manifested all over his body and merged with him.

    He was done working on the Curse Transformation with the World Serpent. His strength skyrocketed just enough to evade a few punches. His tail shot forward and swept Selena''s food away. Michael arrived before her, ready to punch the Nest Leader in the gut, when he saw her smile vibrantly. Her eyes stared intently into his as she reached the ground with her left hand. A light push against the ground propelled her back into the air.

    Selena kicked Michael before he could punch her. Forced to change his tactic, Michael blocked the iing kick with his scale-covered arms. The scales cracked, but they didn''t break under the tremendous force.

    He was pushed back and required a quarter of a second to regain his foothold properly. Michael thought that the situation had changed in his favor, but it was evident that the Nest Leader was not yet satisfied.

    Therefore, Michael started activating the Cursed Seals. He activated them one after another and connected them to the Curse Transformation Arts.

    The Wolf Curse was not as helpful as the World Serpent. It didn''t want to grant him ess to parts of its body and resisted a little. However, the World Serpent helped Michael. It hissed at the Wolf Curse and engaged in a fierce mental battle¡­in Michael''s mind.

    Michael was having bad headaches whenever his Curses did something like that. It wasn''t very pleasant, but the result was better than expected. The Wolf Curse ended upplying. It allowed Michael to transform a little bit, at least.

    Michael wasn''t having any issues with that since he was already familiar with connecting Seals with the Curse Transformation Arts. The only issue was that the manifested body parts of the World Serpent and the parts of the Wolf Curse that were about to form began shing. Michael felt like his Curses continued their earlier argument in the physical world.

    Fortunately, he was incorrect about that. It was just that the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse weren''tpatible.

    That was an issue for another training session.

    The scales covering his wrists and hands cracked and burst as his hands broke and deformed. A wave of pain swept through Michael, who was forced to block a few more kicks from the Nest Leader while the Wolf Curse''s metamorphosis was initiated.

    His finger transformed into lengthy ws, curved like karambit daggersand sharper than most des Michael hadever touched. His hands were thicker than before. Sturdier. However, they didn''t feel much different. It was almost like he always had these hands.

    As for the serpent scales, they were regrowing, covering his ws just like they covered his hands before.

    The metamorphosis of his hands was only the beginning. As more and more Cursed Seals were activated and linked, Michael observed his hair growing. The hair on his head extended and grew until his neck and a small portion of his shoulders were covered.

    Something in his mouth cracked and shattered as well. It took Michael a few seconds to realize that the Wolf Curse''s metamorphosis also affected his jaw and teeth.

    Atst, the Major Seal is linked to the Curse Transformation Arts. His eyes changed. They turned into something more canine-like. Into the eyes of a predator.

    The Curse Fusion was about to seed on Michael''s first attempt.

 Chapter 832 Curse Fusion

    Chapter 832 Curse Fusion

    ??Selena didn''t charge at Michael when he finished the Curse Fusion. It was a delicate task that required Michael''s entire attention.

    Of course, staying idle for several minutes in realbat wouldn''t be possible, but it was fine for the first attempt. Michael had to get used to the Curse Transformation first. Only after getting used to it would he be able toplete the Curse Fusion faster and without any issues.

    The difference between the Curse Transformation Arts and Curse Fusion was that the former was a technique while thetter was the corresponding effect. Usually, Curse Users wouldn''t call their transformation Curse Fusion, but it was moremonly used for Curse Users with multiple Curses. Under normal circumstances, their Curses would sh to gain more control than the other.

    Fortunately, Michael didn''t have a major issue taking care of that problem. The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent shed, but their manifested body parts didn''t ovep often. The World Serpent attempted to alter Michael''s eyes, but the Wolf Curse took control of the transportation there. The connection to the Major Seal allowed the Wolf Curse to modify Michael''s eyes, whereas the World Serpent''s Major Seal focused on the tail.

    One way or another, both Major Seals did an excellent job. Michael finished transforming, his presence changing drastically. Michael was wild and uncontroble instead of his usual calm and imposing presence. He was a predator on the hunt, ready to eliminate all foes obstructing his path.

    His eyes fell upon Selena, who smiled at Michael.

    "You seeded. That''s good," She pointed out the obvious, "Now we have to see how long you can maintain the Curse Fusion under stress."

    She cracked her knuckles, her smile widening.

    "If your Curse Fusion is terminated inbat, I will give you ten seconds to rebuild it. Don''t look at me like that. Do you think it''s too long? We can shorten the gap to five seconds. If you cannot rebuild the Curse Fusion within five seconds, I will increase my strength and hit you harder than before. I know that your new Soultrait is not yet at its limit."

    Michael wondered if he looked at the devil''s smile as he eyed Selena.

    "I wonder if your Soultrait can regrow limbs."

    He swallowed hard and changed into a defensivebat stance. Selene kicked the ground and disappeared. A quarter of a secondter, her fist crashed into his stomach, shattering several serpent scales. The remaining force was distributed across the scale armor, creating an artwork of web-like cracks. Fortunately, Michael could regrow and fix the serpent scales quickly. It required bits of nutrients, energy, and curse power, but the nutrients and energy demand could be reced with traces of River of Vigor''s healing serum.

    As for the curse power, Michael had more than enough to waste. The amount of curse power in the surroundings was nearly infinite. At least, it felt like that. It was undoubtedly more than Michael could use at a time or over the years, maybe even decades.

    The curse power didn''t matter too much. What mattered was that Michael had enough to fix the broken serpent scales. He didn''t have to fight too defensively, even though Selena''s punches hurt like hell. They didn''t kill him. His eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Spirit Eyes'' passive effect merged with the Wolf Curse''s canine eyes, amplifying his prediction skills.

    He detected details in Selena''s movements that he couldn''t pinpoint before, which was going to help him.

    Michael started counterattacking.

    His tail swept under Selena''s feet, threatening to pull her down. She remembered the attack before and responded ordingly, lifting one foot, ready to stomp down, and squashed Michael''s tail. Michael predicted that. He twisted the tail and had it burst upward with a sudden influx of curse power. The tail elerated suddenly, coiled around Selena''s lifted foot, and used enough force to lift the woman from the ground.

    Michael''s ws swiped for Selena''s upper body. She lifted her arms, quickly blocking the attacks before grasping his arm. His arm broke under Selena''s tightened grip, but Michael ignored that. He predicted her following action, pulled Selena closer with the tail, and headbutted her with full momentum.

    Selena''s head was much harder than anything Michael had ever headbutted ¨C which weren''t many things. Either way, Selena smiled and kicked Michael with the leg that was forcefully restrained, or so Michael thought until a moment ago. He let go of Selena with the tail, somersaulted, andnded on the ground. His left hand grasped his wrist and pulled, fixing his already healing arm. It was a matter of seconds before the broken bone would be back at its peak.

    Michael licked his lower lip and shed Selena his sharp teeth.

    He pushed forward, not waiting for Selena to charge first. His speed increased further, which was followed by a surge of power. The corner of his lips curled upward while Selena stared intently at him. The reflection of Michael''s vibrant golden gaze could be seen within them. However, there was something odd about the reflection. A fraction of Michael''s eyes wasn''t golden. A speck of crimson merged into them.

    He ignored the crimson speck and focused on Selena. His momentum skyrocketed, and he managed to execute a series of attacks quickly, inflicting an insignificant scratch on the back of Selena''s right hand. She didn''t even bleed, but Michael smiled from one ear to another, and he unleashed more curse power.

    The curse power coursed through his body, yet Michael felt that something was wrong. His speed increased alongside his physical strength as the curse power flowed through him. He also started using Foundation Break, which was his only option to enhance his prowess further without using his Soultraits actively, but the change he awaited was still too far away.

    He expected something more imposing to happen. Something that allowed him to extract Selena''s blood.

    He wanted more.

    Michael''s greed was taking over. Atst, he gave in to the sensation and essed the Essence traces of the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse.

    He hadn''t used them actively even though the Essence traces were part of him, but that changed now.

    The instance he reached out to the Essence traces, his presence amplified once again. The ground underneath him cracked, his tail expanded, and the scales covering his body grew thicker and bigger, just like his hair and ws. His ws curved slightly and stretched further and thinner. Even though it didn''t look too different, Michael could instinctively tell that his ws were several times sharper than before and that his scales and tail were far more resilient.

    As for his eyes, Michael could see better. He could see Selena move when he only saw a sh a minute ago.

    The wild and overflowing power of the Curses Essence traces affected Michael slowly. He could control his emotions superior than ever, but that didn''t mean he had perfect control.

    The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent wanted to beat the Nest Leader. Selena mashed Michael, breaking his bones more than a hundred times in thest few weeks. It was time to extract blood.

    Michael shot forward, his crimson gaze preying upon Selena.

 Chapter 833 Wild

    <h4>Chapter 833 Wild</h4>

    A wild fight ensued.

    Michael''s ws swiped past Selena''s throat, missing it by a hair''s breadth. His left kicked out, ready to crush her head. Simultaneously, the serpent tail swept forward, prepared to pierce the Nest Leader''s stomach.

    Curse power coursed through Michael rapidly, enhancing his physical prowess and control of the Curses'' body parts, but that wasn''t enough to injure Selena.

    She didn''t retreat but stepped forward instead. Selena strode toward Michael, blocked his high kick, and pped the serpent tail away with a grin.

    "Not bad," Selena said, a shit-eating grin forming on her lips, "But not good enough."

    She appeared before Michael, grasped his left leg before he could pull it back, and snapped it. Michael roared in pain, yet he didn''t stop moving. On the contrary, Michael kicked the ground with his remaining leg to lift from the ground and spin around his axis.

    The left leg was still in Selena''s grasp, but Michael forcefully expelled the serpent scales around his leg to push her arms away. Selena could have resisted this action, but sheplied. She allowed a tiny gap to form. It was enough for Michael to spin around and properly free his leg.

    He could have backed off to regenerate his leg, but he pulled the broken bones in ce with brute force instead. His leg had already started healing.

    Following the tremendous pain, Michael found himself in a tricky situation. He was still inplete control of his body, but his vision blurred, and a thin red hue shrouded his sight. As if his body and the Wolf Curse responded to the red hue, Michael''s physical strength was just like that wildness that spread through his mind. It upied a significant portion of his mind and affected him tremendously.

    It allowed him to ignore the pain and push forward.

    ''Is adrenaline merging with curse power?'' Michael asked himself with thest bits of his rational mind as he emerged before the Nest Leader, shing his fangs in a vibrant smile. His shes, kicks, and tail attacks intensified, and it was only a matter of time before he would be used to having another appendage. Michael could perceive his mastery of curse power and the Curses'' body parts skyrocketing.

    He was getting used to them.

    Michael twisted his body and leaned backward as Selena threatened to punch him in the face with terrifying force. His tail helped him stay stable and fully control the situation as he leaned back. He kicked Selena in the back of the head and pressed the tail more against the ground, pushing his body from the ground to leap backward in a beautiful roll.

    Michael felt his foot connect with Selena''s head, but the impact wasn''t strong enough to do considerable damage. If anything, Michael realized ¨C once again ¨C that he wouldn''t be able to harm Selena. His foot hurt from kicking Selena''s reinforced head. Her skull was too hard.

    ''Bloodhound is an antpared to you!'' He screamed in his mind but continued smiling. The less likely he was to win, the more intriguing the battles.

    Michael had fought and won many ''impossible'' battles. Even though he knew he wouldn''t win this one, it didn''t matter too much. It wasn''t a life-and-death battle, and Michael had yet to use his Soultraits actively. He hasn''t even used the Major Seals'' powers yet, either.

    Why? Because his mastery of Curse Fusion and closebat mattered more.

    Michael tapped into thebat experience of the thousands of people who were awakened he''d killed, and their memories imprinted into his mind. Yet, he never gained a significant advantage over Selena. If anything, Selena allowed him to execute a bunch of attacks, knowing very well that she could have blocked them with a simple gesture.

    At first, Michael thought that Selena''s high body regiment and her War Rune''s Tier were the reason for that, but he was wrong. Selena was far more experienced inbat than Michael.

    Of course, the Nest Leader was at a higher Tier, her body refinement technique had long since crossed the threshold of a Divine Lifeform, and she had far more expertise with everything Michael could do. However, that didn''t mean Selena relied on those advantages, except for her experiences and raw physical prowess, with thetter being restricted to being on equal terms to Michael''s physical strength.

    The red hue in Michael''s field of vision was growing more prominent as the battle continued. Their spar intensified as the wilderness within Michael took over.

    But that didn''t mean Michael was winning. On the contrary, he lost faster than before as Selena executed a series of quick but still incredibly impactful punches. Michael''s scale armor tried to ept and distribute the impacting force, but the scales cracked and crumbled into countless fragments.

    Once Selena started initiating the series of wild attacks, Michael lost miserably. His scale armor shattered faster than it could regenerate under normal means, and one bone after another broke. Less than 60 seconds after Selena went into offensive, Michael found himself gasping on the ground, wondering if any of his bones had been spared.

    Selena moved casually to Michael, flickering her hair back, and studied Michael for a few seconds.

    "Your Curse Fusion hasn''t dissolved even after I did all of this? That''s decent enough," Selena nodded, ignoring the popping sounds that echoed through the surroundings as Michael''s bones pulled back together.

    There was still enough healing serum from the River of Vigor in his body, but Michael was beyond exhausted. He could barely nod toward Selena.

    "You deserve a break," She said lightly, resulting in Michael''s smile. His lips parted, but the Nest Leader was faster than Michael.

    "We will continue in ten minutes."

    Michael''s mouth shut tightly. He barely restrained from throwing curses at Selena, who turned around to check the Spring of Abundant Life.

    "Your brother is doing fine. His vessel should bepleted soon," She murmured, turning back to Michael with a familiar devilish smile, "That means we have to move up our schedule. You''re too slow."

    "Slow?!" Michael shouted, ignoring the stinging pain in his chest.

    ''You are telling me that I''m too slow?!? What is wrong with you?''

    The Curse Fusion dispersed momentarily as the Wolf Curse and World Serpent roared and hissed. Even Selena could hear the sounds escaping from the bottom of Michael''s being. She raised an eyebrow, and her shit-eating grin transformed into one of surprise.

    Selena regainedposure quickly. She cleared her throat and teased Michael.

    "Looks like your Curses agree with me. You''re way too slow. How about we increase the intensity of your training?"

    Her eyes pierced into Michael.

    "Why did you disperse your Curse Fusion? You''re only given a short break. That''s it."

    Michael gasped for air, trying to keep his emotions in check.

    He forced his body from the ground and got up slowly, ignoring the pain.

    "I will start using my Soultraits."

    Michael''s deration was met with a smile.

    "Obviously. It would be a shame if you acquired to maintain your Curse Fusion but lost your ability to use your Soultraits and Soul Techniques simultaneously," Selena nodded, "That would be embarrassing, wouldn''t it?"

    Michael pressed his lips together but nodded.

    ''I swear, I will beat you in the future!'' He swore to himself, and the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent joined him.

    [Beat her up until she cannot acknowledge herself in the mirror!]

    The Wolf Curse yelled in agreement.

 Chapter 834 Fascinating & Disgusting

    Chapter 834 Fascinating & Disgusting

    ??To Michael''s great misfortune, using his Soultraits didn''t help him much. He was still unable to cut Selena.

    In the first ce, it was much harder to maintain the Curse Fusion and actively utilize his curse power, coursing it through his body while using the power of the Cursed Seals, the Serpent Seals, and the Major Seals while also properly utilizing the batch of his Soultraits.

    Michael spent much more time than intended in learning tobine all his powers and abilities to increase hisbat prowess. Unfortunately, Selena wasn''t nice enough to spare him. If anything, the Nest Leader intensified her training, just as promised. That was both a great misfortune for his body since Selene didn''t hold back, breaking his bones and tearing parts of his body part, and a great fortune because he was forced to give his utmost at all times.

    Michael learned that River of Vigor could regenerate missing body parts. The process was a little slower than Archangel''s Grace, but that was mainly because Michael hadn''t created a Soul Technique for River of Vigor yet. Once he created a customized Soul Technique for River of Vigor, it would regenerate lost limbs and other missing body parts as fast as ordinary wounds. After all, River of Vigor was stronger than Archangel''s Grace.

    Forced to give his utmost at all times, Michael improved rapidly. It was thest day of the sixth week since they entered the rift when Selena stopped the battle mid-way. Her head flicked to the left into the emptiness, and a deep scowl spread all over her face.

    "It''s good that your brother will be done soon. We will have to leave soon," She dered, her voice far more serious than usual.

    Michael had many questions, but her expression told him the Nest Leader wouldn''t give him any.

    Thus, Michael was drawn to the disgusting ck pond instead of asking questions. Even though he didn''t like to think about it that way, the Spring of Abundant Life looked even more disgusting than now.

    After absorbing a tremendous amount of lifeforce, nutrients, energy, and other things Michael had yet to identify, the Living Soul started forming its vessel.

    It was logical, but the vessel had to be constructed from scratch.

    That meant the Living Soul created its own energy paths, which wiggled around aimlessly in the ck viscous pond, veins that acted simrly, muscles, and threads of flesh.

    Thework of those wiggling ''threads'' was far from appetizing. It looked disgusting, to be precise. However, the sound the Living Soul made while growing bones was even more trauma-inducing.

    Michael loved his brother more than anything, and he had to acknowledge that it was fairly impressive seeing how easily the Living Soul created a body from scratch, but it was also incredibly disgusting.

    Thework of energy paths intertwined with the wildly wiggling veins, all while the flesh clung and twisted around the slowly forming bones. Despite being disgusted, the sight unfolding in the Spring of Abundant Life was too impressive to ignore. Michael watched as his brother''s frame built, how thework of energy paths, veins, and muscles connected to the flesh formed around the bones, and how his organs started to form.

    "I''m not sure if I should call you a creep for observing your brother''s vessel with such intensity or if you''re just a weirdo," Selena said all of a sudden, "But then again, being a creep is just a few leagues above being a weirdo. Let''s just hope that you don''t get any worse."

    She shuddered, which earned a deep frown from Michael. Atst, Selena winked at him and burst into a brightughter.

    "You''re just too cute~" The Nest Leader eximed, "Sweetheart, you should learn to rx a little. Watching you grow stronger this fast is nice, but you are no fun. Like, at all. How about you learn to have some fun instead of worrying about everything and everyone? I can already tell that you are worried about your brother''s vessel and that you are thinking about the Tritan Alliance again."

    She shook her head.

    "But you tend to forget that your brother and the Tritan Alliance are responsible for their future. You cannot y nanny for everyone all their lives," Selena exined, a touch of seriousness in her voice, "Your brother will be fine. He will have to learn how to depend on himself. If he continues relying on you, he will die again. And that is certainly not something you want, right?"

    Michae didn''t quite agree with everything Selena said but knew better to remain silent.

    "Don''t focus on your brother too much. He requires some more time to finish his vessel. I want to see a little bit more of your power before your brotheres back to life," Selena said, cracking her knuckles as she charged Michael.

    Michael''s eyes turned crimson. He used Swallow Domain to devour a portion of the curse power permeating the air. Instead of transforming the curse power into anything else, Michael absorbed everything to manifest the serpent tail, create a thick, seamlessly connecting scale armor, and transform his eyes and hands.

    He unleashed Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique and added several Soul Tears to all of his Soultraits. Michael then unleashed Enhancement on Sacred Constitution, the scale armor, and Spirit Eyes.

    Qi shrouded his ws and the serpent tail, which received arge spiked cube at its tip to elevate the damage it could cause to another level.

    Michael charged ahead but used Cosmic Stride dozens of times in quick session to change his position rapidly. He moved left and right and appeared behind the Nest Leader, only to vanish and reappear above her.

    Hisbat prowess skyrocketed as he let his instincts take over. A thick hue of Extraction shrouded Michael, and it expanded further as Michael infused curse power into True Extraction. He devoured more and more curse power from the surroundings using Swallow Domain and the Extraction Aura and infused the curse power right back into Extraction, which dazzled brighter than ever as Michael executed his attack.

    He shed Selena, who raised her arm to block the attack. Selena''s eyes narrowed to tiny slits when the attack reached her. Michael''s razor-sharp ws were about to reach her arm when a wave of curse might burst forth from her.

    Michael was flung through the air the instance the wave of curse power reached him. He reacted instinctively and used Cosmic Stride to change his positioning, but he was toote. Selena''s curse power struck him hard, nearly knocking him out instantly. He appeared before her, evading the worst damage from the Nest Leader''s curse power, but it stung nheless.

    "Your curse power is a nuisance. That poison is really strong," Michael groaned in pain, his legs giving in as Selena''s curse power spread through his body.

    He had to use the Wolf Curse''s Essence alongside Extraction and the World Serpent''s Swallow Domain to extract and devour the Nest Leader''s curse power. Simultaneously, he used Permute to transform the devoured curse might into healing serum, which was something Michael learned to do after he''d used the healing serum so often that he understood itsponents better than anyone else ¨C obviously.

    His healing serum was drained swiftly to stop the poisonous jinx might from spreading, but it wasn''t strong enough. Michael had to use tenyers of Enhancement on River of Vigor actively while continuously replenishing his rapidly-

    drained healing serum utilizing Permute.

    "Fuck," Michael heard Selena curse, but he couldn''t focus on the Nest Leader. He was too busy spending the next half an hour trying to expel and devour the Nest Leader''s poisonous jinx power.

    Atst, Michael slumped to the ground, his chest heaving up and down heavily.

    "I hate you," He grumbled as Selena leaned over to check on him.

    She stuck her tongue out and smiled at him.

    "Oopsie~"

 Chapter 835 Brothers!

    Chapter 835 Brothers!

    ??The 42nd day since he entered the Spring of Abundant Life ended when his vessel was finallyplete. He didn''t know how it was possible or what exactly he had done, but his vessel wasplete--and perfect.

    Daniel Fang looked down on his fair, unscathed hand, a bright smile on his face. His hand had been covered in scars and calluses from the thousands of hours he''d spent training and fighting. The fairness of his skin surprised him as well. It felt like eons, and he had such fair skin. Danny couldn''t remember thest day he had such fair and smooth skin. It was probably long before he manifested his War Rune.

    A wry smile formed on his lips as he looked back to that time. He sighed deeply and looked at the unconscious boy lying next to his feet. The boy''s long hair covered a good portion of his face a€¡° a bright, smiling face. The silver strands of his hair stood out, highlighting his already great appearance.

    Daniel wasn''t sure how, but Michael''s skin was still fair, and he wasn''t covered in scars or calluses. His healing Soultrait did a fantastic job at keeping his body in perfect condition. If it had been anyone else, Daniel would have been jealous. Then again, even Daniel was sometimes slightly envious of his brother''s power.

    It was hard to imagine that his younger brother was several times stronger than he had ever been during his lifetime. Daniel could never be as strong as his brother when he was alive. No. That wasn''t correct anymore. In hisst lifetime, Daniel couldn''t be as strong as Michael. Now that his second life was getting started, the situation changed. Maybe...just maybe...he could advance and grow strong enough to stay by his brother''s side.

    That thought was enough to make him smile. A bright, shit-eating grin blossomed on his lips.

    Michael stirred on the ground. His bright smile distorted in difort and his eyes shot open. His lips parted, ready to shoot up and block Selena''s next attack, when an overly familiar face appeared above him.

    ck hair, a shit-eating grin, eyes as dark as if they''d swallowed all light that reached them, and a face Michael could never forget stared down at him.

    "DANNY!!" Michael shouted, forgetting all the displeasure he''d felt over thest 24 hours a€¡° or the previous six weeks.

    He jumped up and embraced his brother as tightly as possible, or so he would have done if he didn''t hear his brother groaning in pain a second after they hugged. Michael used too much strength, forgetting that Daniel Fang was nothing more than an Unawakened. He wasn''t even Tierless. Daniel Fang hadn''t even formed his Energy Pir yet!

    But that didn''t matter. His brother was alive. He was actually before him, standing there...grinning from one ear to the other!

    Michael could feel Daniel Fang. He could embrace him.

    Tears welled up in his eyes. All the effort he''d put into resurrecting his brother was worth it. Daniel Fang was back!

    "Yes, yes. Stop hugging me like a bear, though. I don''t want to die second after the Living Soul fused with this body. I''m still getting used to all of this, but I can already tell that you''re hurting me," Danielughed, responding to Michael''s hug by embracing him as well.

    "I''m d to be back," He murmured.

    Michael smiled vibrantly, "Me too. I''m d that you''re back!"

    It felt like a dream, but Michael knew it wasn''t. It was real. His brother was back!

    His brother also looked like before, though he had much shorter hair, and his skin wasn''t burned from the searing sunlight of the Sacred Desert. Other than that, his brother was the same. Even his voice sounded just like before.

    "You look tired," Daniel smirked, "Selena beat you up quite a bit in thest, what...few weeks?"

    The Nest Leader stepped forward when she heard her name. She didn''t n to interrupt the boys, but it was necessary to get this over with.

    "It''s time to leave," She urged in a somber tone, "Daniel''s body is currently vtile and prone to the curse power''s influence. He managed to create a wless vessel and learned how to move right away ¨C which is very impressive, for the records ¨C but it would be unwise to stay in this ce or anywhere near a Curse User for a long time."

    Selena turned to Daniel with a smile, "I''m Selena, the leader of the Nest, but I think you know that already. Since you''ve been using Michael''s senses to look, see, and sense everything around you, you must know everything we''ve been talking about the whole time. The curse power of Curse Users is very potent and can influence Lesser Lifeforms a lot. Since you don''t have any impurities in your newly formed body, the curse power might course through you rather than clinging to you ¨C or your non-existent impurities ¨C but I don''t want to experiment.

    Selena cleared her throat and smiled wryly.

    "My curse power,the curse power in this ce, or even Michael''s curse power might influence you more than others. Who knows? A perfect container created from a Living Soul is something new for me as well¡­and that means much more than the two of you might think."

    Daniel nodded thankfully to Selena, "We can leave at once, but how am I supposed to avoid being close to a Curse User? I''m an Unawakened and I don''t think I can get another territory in the Origin Expanse as well. I don''t even know if it''s possible for me to form a War Rune in the first ce."

    "Since you''ve formed a War Rune once, you won''t be able to do it again. It shouldn''t be possible," She agreed, but lifted her hand to stop the brothers from saying anything, "Fortunately, I have my ways to create an artificial War Rune. It''s like a normal War Rune, but you won''t be given a territory, a Fortune Summoning Scroll, or an Awakening Stone."

    Selena pointed at Michael, "It''s a good thing your sibling can throw a bunch of Soultrait Symbols at you."

    The brothers gazed at each other, both thinking about the talk about being Fateless and Twin Fates. Their minds drifted to the Awakening Stone in Michael''s possession, and they started grinning. Selena didn''t miss their grins, but it didn''t seem weird to her. The brothers reunited just now. Obviously, they were happy, right?

    "I don''t need a territory. I would love to stay in Michael''s territory," Danny stated with a shrug, turning to Selena, "That shouldn''t be a problem, right? As long as I''m not constantly around Michael, exposed to his curse power, there won''t be any major issues."

    Selena gave him a thumbs-up and smiled as well.

    "Let''s go then!"

    Even before Michael could tell his sibling he would help him regain his Lord Powers, Selena dragged them out of this ce. She released her energy and enveloped the brothers before pulling them outside. There was no time for anymore chattering. They had to leave!

    They left the rift and returned to the wide-open space, where Daniel feared that he would freeze to death instantaneously. Fortunately, Selena''s energy mantle kept him warm and protected.

    Selene retrieved an object and continued smiling.

    A momentter, they disappeared from the wide-open space.

    They emerged in a massive room with hundreds of pictures of men and women from various races.

    "This is my room in the Nest. Don''t bother looking around. It''s perfectly isted," Selena stated lightly, cracking her neck and stretching her stiff muscles.

    "It''s time to initiate an Awakening!"

 Chapter 836 Awakening, Artifacts & Mutated Link

    Chapter 836 Awakening, Artifacts & Mutated Link

    ??Awakening Daniel Fang''s War Rune wasn''t more difficult. All Danny''s body required was to absorb enough origin energy to form an Energy Pir. The excessive energy would be absorbed into the Energy Pir, slowly forming the War Rune with a little bit help from a small object.

    Selena didn''t exin what that object could do, but Michael wasn''t interested enough to question her either. He was more concerned about his brother''s well-being. Danny was having difficulty when Selena''s origin energy entered him first. His energy paths were still new and had never been used. Stretching them by channeling highly potent origin energy through them was an overkill.

    Fortunately, Daniel didn''t sustain any injuries. His War Rune formed in less than one hour, conjuring the first Runic Gate along as well. It jumped into existence seconds after the War Rune was etched into his existence. The War Rune formed on the back of his right hand, where it shimmered faintly.

    "It''s that simple?" Michael asked. Selena nodded in response.

    "It is that simple."

    Daniel nodded slowly and closed his eyes, presumably to feel the origin energy coursing through his body, which was still void of impurities. A bright smile blossomed on Danny''s lips when he opened his eyes.

    He walked over to Michael, raised his right hand, and extended an energy tendril from his War Rune. Before Michael could say something, Daniel grasped his brother''s right hand to initiate the Link of Loyalty. Unsurprisingly, it didn''t take long toplete the Link of Loyalty. Michael didn''t go against his brother''s wishes to join his territory, which would have blocked thepletion of the Link of Loyalty. In the meantime, Daniel didn''t hesitate once. He finished the Link of Loyalty swiftly and let go of Michael''s hand to look at the changes unfolding within his Runic Gate.

    The Runic Gate tore and twisted as the white in its center changed, revealing Arx''s center to the Nest Leader and the brothers.

    "You got a nice ce over there," Selenamented, only for Daniel Fang to stare intently at her.

    "Just go inside already. I don''t care if you put your Runic Gate''s anchor in my room or if you do that in the middle of nowhere. The sooner you leave this ce before your High Ascension, the easier your advancements will be," Selena gestured for him to leave already but tilted her head atst when she recalled something, "But then again, you shouldn''t have any issues with advancing, in the first ce. Your body hasn''t umted any impurities yet. Your breakthroughs will be a walk in the park."

    Daniel didn''t want to waste another minute in the Nest, but Michael motioned for him to wait a second.

    He retrieved a thin, double-edged longsword, which looked simr to Tigerfang, the Tierless Epic-grade Artifact Daniel had given Michael before he embarked on his journey inside the Origin Expanse for the first time. Now it was Michael''s turn to reward Daniel with a bunch of treasures!

    A bracelet made from azure gemstones and silver metal connecting the gemstones neatly appeared in Michael''s other hand.

    "Zaer is a Legendary-grade Tierless weapon artifact. I used Insert on a bunch of Tierless Sword Artifacts to cobble this together. It has a Sharpness and Stamina Recover Enchantment. It will never get dull and recovers your stamina whenever you kill something," Michael exined, shoving the Sword Artifact into his brother''s hand, "I used a bunch of Natural Tierless Sword Artifacts to produce this. Hence, it augments your physical attributes drastically as well. The effect is probably simr to the augments of a Natural Epic Artifact."

    Not letting his brother talk, Michael lobbed the bracelet at Danny, who barely managed to catch it.

    "The bracelet has several Shield Enchantments. The Simple Shield Enchantment uses the surrounding energy to recharge quickly. You can manifest a thin barrier before you to block deadly blows or repel a pouncing monster. The enhanced Shield Enchantment can be used twice before recharging, which takes the natural energy recovery enchantment six hours per charge. It shouldn''t be difficult to block the attacks of the average Mid Tier-1 Monster."

    Michael smiled, "The bracelet is a Tierless Epic-grade Artifact with special augments. It increases your Perception, enhances your mind, and has a passive effect that keeps you calm in most situations."

    He was proud of the Artifacts he cobbled together by tearing apart hundreds of Tierless Artifacts. He extracted the excellent portions and put them together using Inset. Fortunately, the aftermath of his actions wasn''t visible anymore. On the contrary, both Zaer and the bracelet were quite pleasant to the eyes.

    "Alright, alright. That''s enough pampering for a day," Selena intervened in their brotherly rtionship and their gift-throwing. There is no more time to waste, and you can see each other in your territory."

    She stared at Danny and waved at him dismissively, "Take your disgusting treasures and go into your brother''s territory!"

    Michael and Daniel raised their eyebrows at the Nest Leader''smentary. Was she¡­jealous? No, that couldn''t be, right? She was a Divine Lifeform and one of the strongest existences they''d seen.

    Michael chuckled, thinking Selena was jealous of the items Daniel had given him at the start of his journey. It was amusing.

    ''I wonder how she started. Her ascension must have been quite difficult. Not only is her Curse really powerful, but with the Supreme Human Alliance causing trouble¡­she must have struggled a lot at that time. The Nest didn''t exist just yet. There was no support for her. No one to tell her what to do and how to control her Curse. Selena did everything on her own.''

    The more he thought about it, the more impressed Michael was. Selena was powerful, and she must have survived as many life-and-death situations as Michael¡ªprobably many times more and much worse.

    Michael retrieved the Awakening Stone and threw it over to Daniel, who caught it lightly.

    "Ah, right," He murmured, looking at Michael with a smile, "I nearly forgot about that one."

    Selena eyed the crystal in Daniel''s hand and narrowed her eyes. However, she queried no questions and motioned to Danny to leave.

    Daniel Fang did precisely that. He linked the Artifacts to his soul and grimaced through his body''s pain, enhancing rapidly. A momentter, he disappeared into the Runic Gate.

    It wasn''t the first time he entered the Runic Gate, but it might as well have been. Danny was excited and smiled from one ear to the other. A new journey unfolded before him.

    This time, he wasn''t going to die!

    Michael watched his brother disappear in the Runic Gate. He closed his eyes momentarily and sensed his brother''s Link of Loyalty. It was stronger than any other Link of Loyalty. Even Tiara''s True Link of Loyalty was not as firm and thick as the link between the brothers.

    However, that was not all. There was more to it.

    The brothers'' Link of Loyalty was different.

    Their Link of Loyalty was golden and pulsated like it was alive. It was more. Better.

    [Can you hear me?]

    A familiar voice reached out for him, taking Michael by surprise. The golden Link of Loyalty pulled and stiffened. More words reached Michael.

    [This is amazing! We can chat even though we''re not in the same dimension. Well, not really. The Nest is still somewhat connected to the Origin Expanse, but still. Your territory looks great as well. Everyone is so nice. They didn''t even know that I wasing, but they were weing me with open arms. You are a good Lord, brother!]

    His brother''s words resounded in his ears.

    Somehow, their Link of Loyalty was different. Michael wasn''t sure how that was possible, but it was nice. He was thest toin about something like that.

    His brother was still with him. They could chat all day.

    A bright smile blossomed on his face, and Michael prepared himself to conjure his Runic Gate and enter the Origin Expanse as well. His training session was over, and it was about time that he paid more attention to his territory.

    However, Selena held him back before he could form the Runic Gate. Michael was about to say something, but his lips were sealed when he saw the strict expression on the Nest Leader''s face.

    "Now that we''re done with your brother and training, I think I must tell you something."

    ¡­

 Chapter 837 First - Second Time

    Chapter 837 First - Second Time

    ??Daniel was filled with excitement when he stepped through the Runic Gate for the first time...again.

    He kept his eyes closed, trying to slow down his wildly beating heart, and grasped his chest tightly. Even though he had been prepared for this moment toe since his brother found and nourished his Living Soul, it was different to be back for real. Daniel was no longer a mere Living Soul. He was alive and well.

    Daniel Fang was back in the Origin Expanse.

    He emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate and opened his eyes with a bright smile when he stepped out of the Intermediate Summoning Gate.

    ''Fragrant, rich, and full of energy,'' Daniel thought, goosebumps covering his body when he felt what Michael had already gotten used to. The fragrant smell of the surrounding flora, the richness of smells, lives, and emotions, and the highly potent origin energy permeating everything around him.

    The surrounding area was also rich in color. The massive trees towering around the settlement center were vibrant and filled with life. Daniel inspected everything with twinkling eyes. His attention moved to the canopy bridges and the dozens of people from varying races crossing them. More people walked past him, with only a few paying attention to his quiet exmations and the excitement he exuded naturally.

    Every aspect of the Untamed Jungle was overwhelming if one entered it for the first time, even if it wasn''t anything special for Michael.

    Daniel looked around to see where he had to go but couldn''t get a grasp of the surroundings immediately. It had been a while since he walked around on his own. Walking around in his new body was simple. Still, doing so while thinking about other things and being distracted by the cacophony of noises, theplexity of fragrant scents hanging in the air, and the potent origin energy trying to enter his body through his pores was far from easy.

    It was a lot moreplicated than Daniel first imagined.

    "Huh? I didn''t know someone new would be summoned today," An unfamiliar yet oddly familiar voice rang through Danny''s ears. He turned around and found Mika, the young Forest Elf.

    "Oh, heya€¡°...." Daniel was about to greet Mika like someone he''d known for a while when he remembered that the young Forest Elf didn''t know him. They had never met. Danny remembered Mika because he had been in Michael''s mind when they talked. He also had memories of Michael and Mika talking before.

    ''Now that I think about it... Why do I remember things Michael did long before I entered the Soul Grimoire? Did I copy some of his memories by ident?'' Danny wondered, shrugging inwardly.

    He smiled at Mika apologetically, "Hello there. My arrival wasn''t nned. It''s a little...surprise, if you want to put it like that."

    Daniel was not sure how to exin the current situation to the young Forest Elf. It was a little bitplicated, and he had no idea how much Michael was willing to tell the Forest Elves. They might be his allies, but that didn''t mean Michael wanted to be an open book to the entire Forest Elven tribe.

    "That''s weird," Mika murmured, "I swear you look familiar, but I don''t think I''ve talked to you before. Still, the way you stand there is so familiar. Your face as well."

    The young Forest Elf studied Daniel, who smiled back.

    "I''m Daniel Fang. Michael is my brother," He said lightly, resulting in a nod from Mika.

    However, it didn''t take long before Mika froze. His lips parted and shaped into an "O" before he stared nkly at Danny.

    "Oh, damn! Michael managed to get you back! For real now?! That''s crazy!"

    Daniel smiled and nodded, "It is crazy, yeah."

    Mika strode toward Daniel and embraced him tightly. He jumped up and down like an excited child and eximed, "I''m so happy for you and Michael. That''s great!"

    "It is," Daniel responded, unsure whether he should embrace Mika back as a response or if he should escape the Forest Elf''s embrace.

    Fortunately, distant voices rescued him.

    "Mika. Mika!! Where the hell are you? If you run away from your afternoon training again, I will skin you alive!" A somewhat familiar sonorous voice resounded through Arx''s center. It was Lilica, threatening Mika.

    The young Forest Elf flinched and released Daniel. Despite the threat from Lilica Balrea, Mika smiled brightly. He studied Danny for a while, saluted him, and kicked the ground to flee from the Forest Elven Demon, aka Lilica Balrea.

    "See ya," He shouted while giggling, "Come to me when you need help. I''ll give my best to help you out~"

    Danny nced at the fleeing Forest Elf and didn''t know if he should smile or frown, "I doubt I''m going to need your help anytime soon...but yeah. I will remember this."

    He chuckled lightly and shook his head, turning around to inspect his younger brother''s territory in detail.

    But before he could walk down from the Intermediate Summoning Gate''s foundation, Daniel noticed something. His eyes closed involuntarily as a wild a€¡° unfamiliar a€¡° pulse emerged inside him.

    His mindspace unfolded before Daniel Fang, revealing a single Link of Loyalty. A vibrant golden Link of Loyalty had coiled around his Energy Pir, supporting it in every possible way.

    The golden Link of Loyalty pulsated vigorously, infusing some of its vigor in its surroundings. That included the Energy Pir, which glowed faintly as more and more energy circted through it.

    "What is that?!" Daniel asked quietly, even though he knew what was going on.

    The Link of Loyalty with his brother was different from regr Links of Loyalty. It was more. Better.

    "Can you hear me?" Daniel asked into the Link of Loyalty, focusing on his brother.

    Something told him that the Link of Loyalty was not only unique in its appearance but also that it had special effects. Daniel wished that he could talk to his brother even though they weren''t together anymore. That would be¡­perfect.

    The golden Link of Loyalty around his Energy Pir reacted to Daniel''s words. They tightened and shifted ever so slightly.

    Daniel knew instinctively that his words reached Michael. He could feel his brother at this moment. It was even more apparent than it had been when he was stuck in his brother''s Soul Grimoire.

    Excitement filled Daniel''s heart. This was even better than expected.

    "This is amazing! We can talk even though we''re not in the same dimension. Well, not really. The Nest is still somewhat connected to the Origin Expanse, but still. Your territory looks great as well. Everyone is so nice. They didn''t even know that I wasing, but they were weing me with open arms. You are a good Lord, brother!"

    Michael didn''t respond to Daniel for quite a while, but he could sense his brother''s emotions through the Link of Loyalty. Under normal circumstances, that should have been possible the other way around. The Lord should be able to sense his subjects'' moods and mood swings. However, Daniel could do that right now. He could feel his brother''s thrill and that he intended toe to him into the Origin Expanse at any moment.

    But something was odd after he sensed Michael''s desire to enter the Origin Expanse.

    [I''m d we can converse like this, but I will be busy for a moment. I don''t know what is happening, but Selena has something to tell me. She uttered it''s important. Let''s talk when I''m done here. We can go out and hunt. You have to make sure that you haven''t gone rusty~]

    Michael didn''t sound overly excited. If anything, his expression was several levels below his brother''s. Daniel was a bit bummed about that, but it wasn''t like it changed anything. He continued grinning, curious about what other surprises were waiting for him.

    After a while, his eyes fell upon the gemstone bracelet. It twinkled as the bits of sunray passing through the thick leafage reflected on the gemstones. The Artifact was certainly beautiful, and it was also very useful.

    "To consider that Michael prepared two Artifacts for me," Daniel murmured, the corner of his lips tilted upward as much as physically possible, "Iraised him well."

    He closed his eyes briefly and focused on the energy around him. Faint whispers of air swirled around him. They caressed his cheeks and brushed through his hair. Daniel couldn''t help but imagine jinglingughter resounding through his ears. It was almost like the wind around him was ying with Daniel.

    The air also brought origin energy along. But instead of faint threads of origin energy, Daniel sensed thick strands of energy sshing against him. His body reacted instinctively, drawing the surrounding energy into it. His pores opened naturally, drawing more energy into Daniel''s body.

    The origin energy permeating the air entered his body nonstop, granting his War Rune a lot more energy than necessary to reach the War Rune''s top refinement speed. Of course, Daniel could actively elerate the refinement speed of his War Rune, but he didn''t intend to spend the first hours of his journey by sitting down and refining origin energy. Even if it might be useful to increase his rank rapidly, Daniel couldn''t do it. He was too excited. He had to do something else.

    Since his body was perfect, without any ws and impurities, the origin energy entering his body was annexed instantaneously and used by the War Rune at once, either way. There was no need for Daniel to rush anything. His War Rune would be refined fast enough ¨C much faster than in hisst life.

    Daniel Fang made some calctions in his head, though he didn''t consider it would be necessary. The result surprised him, though it shouldn''t have.

    ''I should advance to Tier-1 in a few days like that¡­even if I do nothing to amplify the refinement rate.''

    That was amazing and several times faster than it used to be. He didn''t need any resources to advance to Tier-1 in a few days. It wasn''t necessary to kill any monsters for their energy influx or absorb the energy within Energy Stones. His War Rune was already working incredibly fast.

    "But then again, it''s not like I have a Soultrait. Reinforced Sword Qi slowed my process considerably. Since I have no Soultrait to slow me down, my War Rune refines everything rapidly," Daniel reminded himself, his eyes pulling to the Awakening Stone lingering in his other hand.

    The Sword Artifact - Zaer - and the gemstone bracelet were already linked to his Soul, the bracelet attached to his left wrist and Zaer stored away, but both Artifacts didn''t increase the required energy to refine his War Rune. The only factors expanding the energy needed to raise his ranks were his Physique, Mind, Soul, and Soultraits.

    Some Awakened had unique circumstances, including Daniel Fang, in more ways than first presumed, but his War Rune didn''t require much energy to reach Tier-1. That was about to change.

    Daniel crushed the Awakening Stone, releasing the energy stored within the stone.

    ''To establish a stronger foundation, I need to acquire more ¨C and stronger ¨C Soultraits. Daniel reminded himself that the stronger the Soultrait, the greater my Foundation once I ascended to a Higher Lifeform. He thought back to his brother''s High Ascension and grit his teeth as the mythical forces of the Awakening Stone flushed through his body.

    ''I don''t want to rely too much on Michael. He is already busy and stressed about too many things. Give me a good Soultrait to help him. Something like Reinforced Sword Qi would be good. Another Soultrait of the same star rating or higher would be great. Please!''

    The Will listened to Daniel Fang''s plea. It granted the wless young man exactly what he wanted.

 Chapter 838 [Sword ???]

    Chapter 838 [Sword ???]

    ??Daniel went to his brother''s room in the wooden mansion while the forces of the Awakening Stone passed through him. He tried hard to ignore the painful stings the mythical forces inflicted. They felt like sword shes colliding with his raw flesh, cutting him easily. However, no blood spurted through the surroundings. The wounds were all inflicted inside him¡­or he wasn''t actually cut in the first ce.

    Maybe it was all an illusion created by the mythical forces of the Awakening Stone.

    Since Michael was not in the Origin Expanse, Daniel could use his brother''s room in the wooden mansion easily. He needed the silence to focus on the sensation caused by the Awakening Stone''s forces.

    Daniel sat on the ground, his back tightly pressed against the bed. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, focusing on the mythical forces coursing through his body.

    ''Forming Reinforced Sword Qi didn''t take that long. Something is different.''

    Daniel frowned deeply but continued focusing on the mythical forces. Atst, he reached out to them with his mental power. However, instead of slowing the mythical forces and gaining control, Daniel found himself staring at a massive whirlpool of mythical forces. They assembled near the Energy Pir and showed signs of forming something.

    That something was Danny''s Soultrait Symbol, but it was odd. The Soultrait Symbol didn''t form immediately.

    Instead, Daniel found himself filled with vigor. His physique improved, and the mental power he could ess increased by more than ten times. Daniel Fang found his soul expanding and growing more prominent as well. That was, by far, the most shocking experience.

    His Soul was already on par with a Higher Lifeform after it had been nourished in the Soul Grimoire and thousands of SoulStar Fragments. The Living Soul might have formed an Unawakened vessel, but that didn''t mean the Soul''s impact and refinement deteriorated in the process.

    Daniel understood how strong his soul was at this point. That was also why it was even more shocking to find his forming Soultrait Symbol stimte his soul as well. In the first ce, being able to stimte the Awakened''s body and mind indicated that the Soultrait was, at least, a 6-Star Soultrait¡­but being able to refine a Soul, which was already on par with a Higher Lifeform''s Soul, while the War Rune was still Tierless¡­was shocking, to say the least.

    As the Soultrait Symbol showed signs ofpleting, Daniel realized something odd. His entire being ¨C the body, mind, and soul ¨C felt like one. He recalled this sensation from Michael''s High Ascension and how Michael acted, moved, and fought after he advanced to a Higher Lifeform. Therefore, Daniel hadn''t thought much about it before. But upon recalling that he wasn''t in his brother''s body anymore, Daniel was bewildered.

    ''This is not normal. In the first ce, why do I feel like my entire existence has been cleansed?'' He asked himself, perceiving theck of impurities stronger than ever.

    He was wless.

    Daniel was merely given a second chance. He was just born not too long ago.

    His Soultrait Symbol formed, the mythical forces inside him slowly devoured by the white wisps that spread through his mindscape until they reached his mind.

    The Soultrait Symbol ispleted with a faint explosion, releasing much whitish-silver energy into the surroundings.

    Michael''s bed crumbled instantaneously, and the furniture around him didn''t survive much longer either. Even the walls in Michael''s room were destroyed as the whitish-silver reached them.

    Daniel gasped for air. His eyes shot open, revealing vibrant silver irises that reced his darkness-swallowing eyes.

    A stream of information impacted Daniel''s mind. No, it wasn''t a stream of information. It was a tidal wave of information that swamped Danny, drowning his mind in its entirety.

    He absorbed the information slowly. His greed urged him to devour everything instantaneously and organize the informationter, not to pay any attention to the aftermath and potential issues that may¡ªor may not¡ªarise with instantly digesting a tidal wave of information as a Tierless Awakened, but his rational mind came out victorious.

    Daniel Fang absorbed the iing information slowly.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t prepare him for what he was about to discover.

    Daniel''s jaw hit the ground after his mind digested the first bits of the Soultrait Symbol''s information influx. Goosebumps covered his entire body, and he found himself trembling violently. He couldn''t believe the information. It¡­didn''t make any sense.

    "How is that possible?" He asked into the shambles of a once beautiful room.

    Daniel''s Soultrait formed, and he found out what it was.

    It was a powerful Soutlrait, a Soultrait much stronger than Reinforced Sword Qi.

    [Sword God], a 9-Star Soultrait had formed inside Daniel.

    Daniel''s rational mind nked out for a moment. He called upon Zaer to summon the Sword Artifact into his right hand.

    His eyes fell upon the beautiful sword that glimmered brightly even though Daniel had yet to use Sword God actively. He trembled in excitement as he swung the weapon in a familiar yet totally unfamiliar way. Daniel executed one sh after another, creating a beautiful sequence of highly lethal attacks using movements he''d never used before.

    Yet, despite using movements he''d never used, Daniel discovered them suitable. His instincts told him that the moves were correct, and they felt correct as well. Thus, even though he hadn''t used them before, Daniel continued applying them. His movement sequences elerated, and Danile found himself sweating profusely not even a minute into his spontaneous training session. Nheless, he smiled brightly as his speed elerated.

    His mastery of the sword had skyrocketed. Daniel remembered everything he''d gotten to know through Reinforced Sword Qi and learned a lot more.

    The most confusing part about that was that Daniel was just getting started. He didn''t even digest 1/100th of Sword God''s information influx. Even 1/100th might be exaggerated. Daniel had merely begun absorbing Sword God''s information.

    He smiled brightly but didn''t want to stop there. Daniel slowed the movement sequence until he froze, his eyes locked with the Sword Artifact.

    Daniel utilized Sword God actively.

    An enormous amount of energy left his physique instantly. Close to 90% of the energy within his Energy Pir evaporated to activate Sword God in its weakest form.

    A pristine light coated the Sword Artifact. It was dazzling and of otherworldly beauty. Daniel couldn''t help but stare at the pristine light. He shed downward before realizing where he was¡­and severed through the wooden manor.

    The pristine light left the Sword Artifact at a terrifying velocity. It burst out and transformed into a deadly crescent de beam that cut through the wooden manor, severing it with a single attack.

    For a moment, Daniel felt his strength skyrocketing. However, when he released the de beam, the strength left his body. He copsed to the ground, his physique trembling involuntarily.

    The whole origin energy permeating his physique and Energy Pir - and more - had been drained instantaneously. A good portion of his lifeforce had been transformed into origin energy to make up for theck of energy to do what he''d just done. Of course, his lifeforce wasn''t enough for that. The Soul Power that had umted in the Sword God Soultrait Symbol had also been drained.

    It would take a while to replenish the used-up Soul Power.

    As for his lifeforce, Daniel discovered his lifeforce regenerating rapidly. The same applied to his drained origin energy storage. The surrounding energy was pulled toward him. It entered his physique and filled the dried storages quickly.

    Daniel was shocked at how much destructive power he had, even though he was still a Lowest Tierless Awakened, and he couldn''t hide his vibrant smile.

    Still, it was confusing. Daniel discovered himself overflowing with confusion and excitement ¨C of course.

    "How did I manifest Sword God?!"

 Chapter 839 Belonging

    Chapter 839 Belonging

    Daniel couldn''t recall a single Awakened with a 9-Star Soultrait. In the first ce, the only Awakened with 8-Star Soultraits he remembered were probably the Ancestor of the Fang family, Cleave Fenrir, and Hesta Fang¡­their sister.

    Putting aside Michael, whose Soultrait was more valuable than the 8-Star Soultraits of Cleave Fenrir and Hesta Fang, Daniel couldn''t believe that his potential was so much higher than it used to be.

    He''d awakened a 9-Star Soultrait. How was that possible?

    "Calm down a little, Danny. Try to remember what''s different now than how it used to be when you manifested Reinforced Sword Qi," Daniel murmured to himself.

    He put a hand over his chest and took a few deep breaths.

    ''The first difference was that I could sense and see the mythical forces sweeping through me unhindered. But then again, I couldn''t see my mindspace with closed eyes before. I didn''t even know what a mindspace was when I awakened Reinforced Sword Qi.''

    Daniel tilted his head. He was interrupted by Lilica, Mika, and some others charging into the wooden manor. Their eyes widened in shock and terror when they saw and heard that the wooden manor had been split in half. Fortunately, it was only a false rm. The wooden manor might have been destroyed, but they weren''t under attack.

    Everyone stared nkly at Daniel until he excused himself. He turned around, jumped down from the second floor of the wooden manor, and moved through Arx without letting anyone or anything disrupt his thoughts.

    ''The mythical forces swept through me unhindered, but that wasn''t anything grand. It might be part of the reason I managed to awaken Sword God, but it is only a portion. My physique, mind, and soul felt like they had fused, just like Michael felt during and after his High Ascension. That must be part of how I manifested Sword God as well. My entire being was in sync, allowing the mythical forces to move through me much easier than a few years ago.''

    Daniel nodded slowly. His entire body was cleansed. After all, his vessel was new and void of impurities. It was wless.

    ''My Soul is also on the level of a Higher Lifeform thanks to Michael''s Soul Grimoire and the SoulStar Fragments. Even though I''m actually a Tierless Lesser Lifeform, my Soul is on a whole different level of existence.''

    Daniel was confused as to why he was suddenly granted a 9-Star Soultrait. Yet, as odd as it might seem, Daniel Fang felt that Sword God was his Soultrait. Sword God felt right. It felt like it was always supposed to be with him.

    Not being restrained and shackled down by the family''s Curse was probably the best thing that could have happened to Daniel. Thinking back to the pain he had gone through during the Awakening of Reinforced Sword Qi, Daniel could only shudder. The faint memories, memories he thought he had forgotten, resurfaced.

    ''I always felt like something pulled me down¡­ That something was holding me back. But Michael never had those problems. Even Hesta or Mother don''t seem to feel like that. It''s almost¡­like the Curse strengthened them while it weakened me¡­''

    Daniel wasn''t sure how to feel about this. The more he thought about it, the more obvious it was.

    The Curse of the Fenrir bloodline shackled him. It blocked his true potential.

    A chuckle escaped his lips, "Looks like I was never supposed to contain a Curse."

    It was interesting to note that his new vessel looked exactly like his old body. Daniel didn''t feel much different either. It was just that his body was much lighter and that Daniel was free of any troubles. There were no impurities within him, no Curse, and his Soul was incredibly strong.

    He was a perfect existence and manifested a 9-Star Soultrait, therefore.

    It was crazy, but so was the fact that Michael and Daniel were still connected. They couldmunicate with each other even though they were in different dimensions. Of course, there seemed to be some dy in their messages, but that wasn''t odd considering that they could talk to each other while being in different dimensions with another time dtion.

    Filled with excitement, Daniel decided to go for a hunt.

    He stretched his body and walked to the Greater Nature Spirit, where a highly detailed map awaited him. Since the Greater Nature Spirit''s rootwork stretched far through the Outer Untamed Jungle, Daniel could check the situation in the Pentagon Fort and surrounding areas.

    ''Since the Untamed Jungle doesn''t have any Tierless Monsters to hunt, I should leave the Untamed Jungle to check out the Savannah''s borders. But that would be boring. I have a Legendary Sword Artifact that replenishes my Stamina with every kill and an Epic essory Artifact with shield enchantments.'' Daniel thought, tilting his head once again as he appraised the map before him.

    ''And I have Sword God. It enhanced my Physique, Mind, and Soul considerably. My Physique is not that weak anymore, and I know for a fact that my mastery of the sword has never been that high.''

    Daniel thought back to the dangers his brother had endured to grow stronger, and the corners of his lips curled upward.

    He didn''t approve of Michael''s actions but couldn''t help himself. Daniel felt like throwing himself into a lethal situation now that he was back alive. He sought the thrill ofbat.

    It might be stupid to search Tier-1 Monsters to hunt as a Tierless Awakened with the means to advance to Tier-1 in no time, but he didn''t care. In the first ce, Sword God forced him to use more resources to refine his War Rune. What would have taken a few days without the influx of additional resources or the active use of a technique would now require more than a week. Probably two weeks, if not longer.

    Daniel pinpointed his target on the map and left. He walked out of Arx, swinging Zaer around in a deadly precise manner to get used to the Artifact and his new permanentpanion, Sword God.

    The longer he wielded the de, the more familiar it felt. At first, he didn''t think too hard about it, but the situation changed drastically once he upped his guard against the threats of the Untamed Jungle. The instance in which he left the safe haven of Arx changed the world around Daniel.

    His perception skyrocketed, and he changed his stance ever so slightly. he was ready to engage in a fierce battle at once.

    But since the neighboring monsters knew the tight security of Arx and the other Pentagon Fort settlements, he didn''t encounter any fierce monsters. A few Bilrox were running for errands, some Lesser Elementals were on patrol, and some herbivores were fooling around. The herbivores felt safe and sound near Pentagon Fort. The strongest monsters in the surroundings didn''t dare to venture too close to Pentagon Fort, creating a perfect zone for weaker monsters to live.

    Daniel considered testing Zaer and Sword God on the herbivores but shook his head. Since the Untamed Army and others didn''t hunt the herbivores nearby, he figured his brother wanted to build a sanctuary for weaker monsters. They would only be hunted down once their poption crossed a certain threshold.

    At least, that''s what he considered when he walked past the batch of human-sized elephants right before a group of Gem Jaguars attacked.

    Daniel tensed up a quarter of a second before the first Gem Jaguar emerged from the thicket near one of the juvenile Tinophants. He saw it from the corner of his eyes and reacted instantaneously.

    The first battle of his second life started right away.

 Chapter 840 Hunter

    Chapter 840 Hunter

    ??Seven adult Gem Jaguars, formidable Low Tier-1 Monsters, attacked a small horde of a dozen Tinophants. The Tinophants, also Tier-1 Monsters, were known for their resilience, thanks to their tough hide. However, their sluggishness and limited means of attack left them vulnerable. Their weight and the special sense to detect the least dangerous routes were the only factors preventing their extinction.

    Unfortunately, their special sense didn''t allow them to avoid all danger. It merely guided them through the most secure path. That was about it.

    The fastest Gem Jaguar reached one of the smaller Tinophants and pounced on it. The Tinophant screamed at the top of its lungs, but that wasn''t enough to scare the Gem Jaguar. The predator was hungry and wouldn''t let go of its meal just because it screamed a little.

    The Tinophant threw its body around, trying to remove the Gem Jaguar, but it was to no avail. The Gem Jaguar''s ws pierced through the Tinophant''s hide into its flesh, drawing out the herbivores'' blood. The Gem Jaguar''s razor-sharp fangs were just about to dig into the Tinophant''s neck when a whitish-silver sh passed through the Gem Jaguar.

    All of a sudden, the Gem Jaguar lost control of its body. Its legs gave way, and the world spun in a dizzying blur. Its head detached from its neck,nding on the wet soil with a resounding thud, a testament to its defeat.

    A fountain of blood spurted in all directions, drenching the screaming Tinophant.

    Daniel nced at the Tinophant for a moment with a vibrant smile on his lips. He stared at the Sword Artifact and the Gem Jaguar''s body.

    His vibrant smile transformed into a devilish grimace as the jaguar''s blood squirted all over his face. Instead of removing the blood, Daniel continued smiling. His smile grew wider than before when the energy influx finally reached him.

    The Sword Artifact''s effect was triggered, replenishing the little stamina Daniel had used to y the Gem Jaguar. A momentter, his fight continued. He moved onward, using the Tinophants as shields and to camouge his existence.

    Daniel disappeared in the group of Tinophants and emerged, his Sword Artifact whizzing through the air in beautiful arcs to decapitate the Gem Jaguars whenever their attention pulled to their prey. It was only a matter of seconds, but three corpses sprawled all over the battlefield. Daniel''s expression turned worse ¨C if one could call it that ¨C as his bright smile grew wider by the second. His Sword Artifact was coated in a whitish-silver aura as he cut through the monsters, reaping their lives one after another.

    Even though he utilized the Tinophants as his meatshields, Daniel was forced to use the Shield Enchantment of the gemstone artifact twice.

    The ordinary Shield Enchantment wasn''t strong enough to block the full force of the Gem Jaguars, but that wasn''t necessary. The Gem Jaguars smashed into the semi-transparent shield that conjured before Daniel and slowed down as they attempted to push through.

    Daniel twisted the Sword Artifact in his hand and exploited the remaining momentum of the Gem Jaguars to drive the de into their side and move along, transforming a mild injury into a mortal wound.

    Daniel retracted the Sword Artifact back into his body once, only to swing around and manifest the weapon in his other hand. The momentum of his spin and the Sword God''s aura were enough to cut through the pouncing Gem Jaguar''s chest and rib cage.

    The monster copsed to the ground and tried to push its legs from the ground to get up and charge again. Unfortunately, Daniel was already above it, the Sword Artifact''s tip hanging over the Gem Jaguar''s neck. Daniel thrust downward, a loud squishing noise resounding as the de dug through the Gem Jaguar''s hide and flesh in one go.

    Multiple energy influxes swept through Daniel''s Energy Pir and energy paths as he continued to move forward. Only two Gem Jaguars were left, but both were stressed and unable to do anything, and the dozen Tinophants retaliated. They charged slowly at the Gem Jaguars, who were forced to retreat or get bulldozed instead.

    "You can''t escape," Daniel murmured, unwilling to let the monsters go.

    He utilized one of the movement techniques he''d learned while still one of the Lords in the Sacred Desert. His legs groaned in pain as the whitish-silver aura of his Soultrait flooded through his energy paths. Daniel elerated suddenly and appeared next to the two Tier-1 monsters. He raised his Sword Artifact in a smooth and quick motion and cleaved down, beheading the beast in one go.

    In the meantime, the other monster tried attacking him, but Daniel sensed the iing attack through his heightened perception. He called the Shield Enchantment and summoned a shield, slowing the Gem Jaguar''s momentum. It wasn''t much, but enough to spin around and kick the Gem Jaguar at the side of his head.

    The Gem Jaguar wriggled and copsed to the ground, another energy influx reaching Daniel.

    Under normal circumstances, the attack would have never been enough to kill the Gem Jaguar. The kick of a Tierless Awakened wasn''t supposed to be enough to kill a Gem Jaguar that easily. A Gem Jaguar wasn''t particrly resilient but wasn''t that fragile either.

    Nheless, Daniel killed it instantly, a white de protruding from the tip of his boot. Blood trickled down from the de.

    The fight didn''t evenst a full minute. It was exhrating, and Daniel found himself in a few tricky conditions that would have been difficult to solve without the two Artifacts he''d gotten from his brother, but he was alive. The seven energy influxes of Tier-1 monsters weren''t too bad, either.

    Daniel broke into a cold sweat, but his grin never ceased.

    The Sword Artifact made sure that his stamina remained high. Of course, that didn''t mean he had enough Soul Power or origin energy left to do anything special. That was fine, though. Daniel learned he could convert a portion of energy from energy influxes into Sword Aura. The Sword God''s data influx showed him that it was possible and how to do it.

    Daniel had yet to finish digesting the flood of data from the Sword God Soultrait Symbol, but he was slowly getting something. Improving his understanding of his new Soultrait inbat helped him digest the influx of information.

    "That was fun," He murmured, ncing at the Tinophants staring at Daniel with wide eyes. They were frozen in their tracks and didn''t dare to move even though the imminent threat had been removed. The Tinophants considered Daniel Fang an even more dangerous threat than the Gem Jaguars.

    Daniel smiled at the Tinophants and waved at them dismissively, "You can either stay or go, I really don''t care."

    The monsters didn''t understand him, but that didn''t mean Daniel had to pay anymore attention to them.

    Since his War Rune was already working at full power, Daniel could convert as much power as possible into Sword Aura. He did that and stored the Sword Aura in his Soultrait Symbol for now.

    Instinctively, Daniel could tell that he could store the Sword Aura somewhere else, but he wasn''t quite sure where to do that.

    Maybe the Sword God''s data influx would solve that enigma soon.

    Until then, Daniel was going to continue hunting. There were a bunch of overpopting monsters waiting to be in!

 Chapter 841 Sword Aura

    Chapter 841 Sword Aura

    ??Daniel breathed heavily, blood dripping down his clothes and weapon. Even though he didn''t sustain many injuries from his foes, Daniel felt he''d been thrown into a mixer. Shallow cuts covered his entire body.

    "Maybe I shouldn''t have fooled around this much with my Sword Aura," He murmured, a chuckle escaping his lips.

    It might have beenprehensive to try a wide variety of things with his Sword Aura, but it wasn''t harmless. The aura wasn''t solid under normal circumstances and required a mentalmand to transform into razor-sharp des and swords, but it was also oddly sharp in its smooth condition.

    Daniel realized that when he shrouded his entire body in the Sword Aura, he''d umted from the energy influx he''d obtained in thest few fights. The Sword Aura cut mercilessly into his flesh when Daniel lowered his guard. The moment his concentration burst, Daniel was cut dozens of times.

    That was rather disadvantageous in the middle of a fierce battle.

    Fortunately, he didn''t have many issues dealing with the Tier-1 Monsters he''d sought to y. As Daniel used Sword God and his Sword Aura more often, he became more proficient with them. Evading Tier-1 Monsters with graceful movements and severing them was no longer difficult.

    Thebination of two powerful Artifacts, Sword God, several years of experience, and the portion of Michael''s memories he''d consumed before leaving the Soul Grimoire worked well enough to eliminate his foes.

    Daniel wouldn''t have sustained any injuries if not for his foolish experiments.

    Atst, after three hours ofbat and traveling, Daniel decided it was time to return to Arx. His mental power was drained beyond the norms, and he could barely stand despite the constant refill of stamina that his Sword Artifact provided.

    Upon returning to the settlement, Daniel was greeted by some Forest Elves. They guarded Arx and pointed out the way to the warehouse. Nobody asked who he was or why he was covered in blood. However, the gazes he received spoke volumes. Rumors about him had already spread through the settlement. Everyone in Arx has already been informed about the wooden manor incident.

    On his way to the warehouse, Daniel encountered Tiara. He''d seen the Princess of the Silverfang Tigerfolk often enough but never got to talk to her.

    "Greetings," Daniel greeted her with a faint smile. I''m Daniel Fang--¡­"

    Tiara lifted her hand and gestured to him to stop.

    "I know who you are. You''re my Master''s brother," She said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I am also very interested in your story and your past, but don''t think that my curiosity revolves around you. You can tell me a lot about Master and his life before he became an Awakened. He doesn''t tell us about his life before¡­all of this."

    Tiara pointed toward the Intermediate Summoning Gate and smiled with a hint of sadness.

    "Either way, I have been looking for you. To be precise, my Master was looking for you. He¡­is not in a great mood and has been ''cleaning'' the Untamed Jungle."

    Daniel raised an eyebrow at the news. Cleaning the Untamed Jungle could mean two things, but given that his brother''s mood was bad, Daniel figured that Michael had been ying gardener in the Untamed Jungle to vent his stress. He did something productive while distressing by tearing apart the trees and harmful nt life, which had been blocking the growth of the surrounding nt life.

    "Where is he?" Daniel asked Tiara.

    She pointed somewhere but shook her head after a second, "I think it''s best if I lead you there."

    "Do you want to go to the warehouse first to empty your War Rune storage? I prefer to soothe Master''s anger first, but if you are in a hurry¡­" Tiara stared intently at Daniel, not giving him much choice.

    "Let''s go to my brother first."

    Tiara nodded in mild satisfaction. She turned around, coursed origin energy through her legs, and kicked the ground. Soil and debris hurled in all directions, creating a smokescreen before Daniel. He ignored the wall of debris and soil and charged through it. However, when he emerged on the other side, Daniel found Tiara tens of meters ahead of him. The gap increased slowly but steadily as Tiara continued elerating.

    ''She is not even trying to slow down for me?'' Daniel groaned, coursing Sword Aura and origin energy through his entire body to utilize his movement technique.

    It was painful as the Sword Aura was too potent for the energy paths of a Tierless Awakened, but Daniel figured he couldn''t pay too much attention to that now. Tiara continued elerating. She moved through the familiar surroundings of the scrub around her and weaved around somerger surfacing roots while picking the fastest way to her destination.

    Daniel struggled to keep up with her and had to acknowledge that he was too slow after a few seconds. Nheless, he didn''t want to give up now. Since his energy paths were already hurting, Daniel figured he might as well continue moving through the Untamed Jungle''s scrub as fast as possible.

    As he moved through the Untamed Jungle, Daniel was forced to keep his perception at an all-time high. Even though Tiara was somewhere ahead of him, Monsters might emerge from the thicket around him at all times. After all, they had already left the safe proximity of the Pentagon Fort.

    Fortunately, he found Tiara waiting for him somewhere. A few corpses, drenched in their blood and covered in deep gashes, sprawled around her. A glint into Tiara''s silver eyes was enough for Danny. He could inform instantaneously that Tiara was not only a sweet girl with a bushy tail and fluffy ears but also a deadly warrior.

    ''I couldn''t even hear anything from the battle!'' Daniel realized, swallowing hard as he reached Tiara.

    She collected the corpses silently and motioned to him to keep moving. That was what Daniel did for the next 15 minutes until he did not even have an ounce of energy or Sword Aura left. The precious Sword Aura he''d gathered in thest three hours had evaporated.

    It was a shame, but Daniel was far from dissatisfied. If anything, he was incredibly satisfied with himself as he learned how to intertwine origin energy and Sword Aura to keep his energy paths from sustaining any harm while circting both through his body simultaneously.

    Daniel was now gait and more flexible as he transformed the Untamed Jungle''s flora into a parkour course with various obstacles that could be used to temper his flexibility, perception further, and so forth.

    His movement technique no longer felt adequate. Daniel felt that he had a lot more potential to tap into, but then again, the technique was better than nothing.

    He was currently a Tierless Awakened and shouldn''t rece his techniques every few weeks. Once he advanced to Tier-1, he could rece his techniques with stronger techniques that used more Sword Aura and the things he was about to learn from the Sword God''s information influx.

    He had a lot to learn and even more to improve.

    That was fine. It was much more than that.

    Daniel felt that it was necessary. It was good that he had more than enough time to grow stronger now that he was in his brother''s territory, where he was safe and sound.

    The only issue was that his brother had to carry the responsibility for everyone alone.

    Something happened, and Daniel wasn''t sure what it was.

    Atst, they reached the area Michael had uprooted.

    The cacophony of destructive sounds reached their ears.

    Daniel swallowed hard.

    ''Something is off!''

 Chapter 842 Torn Firmament

    Chapter 842 Torn Firmament

    ??Michael didn''t want to enter the Origin Expanse for too long because he would be busy for a long time, but he had to talk to his brother.

    He found Danny fighting a bunch of Tier-1 Monsters near Arx and thought about interrupting him to tell him what happened, yet Michael hesitated, seeing how exhrated Daniel was. Michael had never seen his brother smile this brightly, and he was not going to interrupt this moment.

    He could only hope his brother would be fine and that his excitement would never leave him.

    Thus, instead of interrupting his brother, Michael released his emotions on the surrounding nt life. He unleashed the Extraction Aura outside the Pentagon Fort, stretching the aura incredibly thin to spread it as far as possible. The surrounding energy was consumed to maintain and expand the Extraction Aura, which uprooted trees that had been obstructing the surrounding nt life from growing.

    The harmful nt life of the Untamed Jungle was also removed, along with a wide variety of other substances Michael found in some bushes and the ground.

    He was getting closer to the home of the Chaos Ants, which could be sensed easily through the Extraction Aura. Michael removed the chaos threads in the trees and the ground, only to discover that more chaos filled the trees and soil. Yet, instead of breaking down and decaying, the nt life and soil converted the chaos to elerate their natural growth.

    ''Mutations.'' Michael concluded, ''The nt life around the Chaos Ants'' territory mutated to transform chaos into non-harmful substances aiding their growth. That is pretty useful. If we use that, we can keep the Chaos Ants as livestock for their Chaos Blood. If we can control and navigate the chaos they exude, I wouldn''t have to exterminate them.''

    Michael had considered exterminating the Chaos Ants for a while now. As he expanded his territory, Michael and his people would reach the Chaos Ants'' territory. Chaos Ants and the environmental changes their existence caused weren''t something Michael''s subordinates could easily remove. And leaving them behind like this was no option either. If a hunting group encountered Chaos Ants, they would ¨C most likely ¨C die or kill them and release the chaos umted within the Chaos Ants.

    Establishing settlements near the Chaos Ants'' territory wasn''t feasible either. Michael didn''t n to send anyone on suicide missions if he could prevent it.

    Michael essed the True Link of Loyalty with Tiara and called her over. She was happy to see him when she arrived near the border to the Chaos Ants'' territory, but Michael wasn''t there for small talk. He wasn''t in a good mood.

    "Tell the researchers to analyze the mutation of those trees. I also extracted a soil sample for research purposes," Michael ordered Tiara, "Make sure to tell them to be careful. Traces of chaos can be found in the trees and the samples."

    Tiara nodded slowly, her vibrant smile cracking slowly.

    "Could you tell my brother toe see me when he returns from hunting? I need to talk to him."

    "I will do as you say, Master," Tiara bowed lightly toward Michael, who could see the expansive cracks on her smile. She could tell that something was wrong with him.

    The Silverfang retrieved the sample from Michael and disappeared into the thicket of the Untamed Jungle again. She left Michael alone to fend off the nt life of the Untamed Jungle. That was exactly what Michael did. But this time, he used a few Cursed Seals to empower the Extraction Aura. Thinking back to what Selena told him, Michael couldn''t help but be more agitated.

    **

    Upon seeing the dead-serious expression on the Nest Leader''s face, Michael dissolved the Runic Gate. He stared intently at her and waited for Selena to say something.

    "What''s wrong?" Michael asked when she didn''t say anything for a minute.

    "We ¨C or maybe it would be better to say I ¨C lied to you when we said the bridge to your gxy would take a while toplete. The bridge wasplete and ready to be used without any problems the day before we departed for your training ¨C and Daniel''s resurrection, of course."

    Michael didn''t expect to hear something like that but nodded slowly. Various thoughts shed through his mind, but he only managed to ask one of the questions tormenting him.

    "Why?"

    "There are many reasons. Daniel needed the Spring of Abundant Life to create a perfect vessel for two major reasons. You had to bring him to the spring and be present at all times to make sure to be able to store him in your Soul Grimoire if something had gone wrong. That didn''t happen, but it could have happened. Even I wouldn''t have been able to rescue him if something went wrong. The other reason you needed to be there was to train. You are strong, but your control over your Curses is¡­weird."

    The Nest Leader stared at Michael and scoffed lightly.

    "Honestly, I cannot tell if you''re friends with your Curses or if they y with you. Of course, it could also be possible that you have full control over them, but I kind of doubt that. There might be more, but your connection to these two Curses is weird. Your Curses are also very powerful, too powerful to be left unsupervised."

    "You had to learn about Curse Fusion to practice manifesting parts of your Curses and fusing them to increase yourpatibility with them since you often rely on their prowess. Increasing yourpatibility with your Curses makes it harder for them to control you in most cases. Of course, there are exceptions, but as far as I can tell, you won''t be one of them."

    Selena''s expression turned more serious.

    "Either way, the Tritan Alliance was too dangerous for you. The Supreme Human Alliance''s infestation spread too far and too fast. Evee had a bad feeling about the Tritan Alliance, which meant a lot. Whenever she has a bad feeling about something ¨C especially after using her Curse Arts and Soul Technique simultaneously ¨C we know that something major will happen."

    "That is also why I had to make sure you wouldn''t rush to the Tritan Alliance no matter what happens. The Rift was a perfect excuse. After all, you had to go there, whether you wanted or not. You wanted your sibling to create a perfect vessel, didn''t you?"

    Michael nodded slowly the whole time Selena spoke. It was annoying that the Nest Leader deprived him of the choice, but Michael knew he would have gone to the Rift to resurrect his brother. Making a decision would have broken his heart, but he could return to the Tritan Alliance now that his brother was back. If he had gone there instead of the Rift, Daniel would have never gotten the chance to undergo a perfect resurrection.

    Other than that, Michael was also aware that he wasn''t strong enough to battle Tier-6 powerhouses. Even now that he could smoothly enter the Curse Fusion state with the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent, Michael couldn''t say he was confident fighting a Tier-6 powerhouse. Maybe with some external help of items from the Nest, it would be possible, but the goods wouldn''t be enough to be confident about fighting someone two Tiers above him.

    Then again, Tiers didn''t matter as much as Michael had always presumed. They were only a rough measurement of someone''s power. Every Tier indicated how strong someone''s mind, soul, and physique were, at the very least. There was no limitation to the increment of someone''s struggle prowess, but being at a specific Tier determined that you were, at least, this powerful.

    That was also why the Nest''s training room used a different ranking. It pointed out one''s realm as a lifeform, and the actualbat prowess one could unleash in that realm.

    Michael shook his head, trying to clear his mind from the myriad of thoughts tormenting him.

    "So¡­.nobody was at the Tritan Alliance for thest six weeks? There is no news either?" He thus asked, only to see Selena''s expression turn grim.

    "Eren went there," Selena sighed deeply, "The ze Patriarch, or whatever you call him, used the Vylraen Seal and a Carnage Portal, obliterating a mid-scale city on Elyra and killing close to a million innocent children ¨C draining their blood and such ¨C to summon Eren''s brothers."

    "I won''t go into detail because the Long family''s dramas are not for me to inform anyone. Nheless, we discovered that one of Eren''s brothers found the ze Patriarch''s territory in the Origin Expanse. They got in contact and learned about the Tritan Alliance. As devout members of the Supreme Human Alliance, Eren''s brothers decided to support the ze Patriarch¨C...." Selena could have uttered a lot more, exining the entire situation, but she noticed the impatience in Michael''s eyes.

    "One step leads to another. The Tritan Alliance is about to be overthrown. The ze Patriarch summoned Eren''s brothers, who fought Eren. They lost the battle but ended up taking Eren by surprise. He was careless for a moment, not ready to kill his brothers, and nearly died."

    Michael swallowed hard but nodded.

    "I didn''t expect Eren to be injured that badly, but I agreed with Evee, who warned everyone about something big happening in the Tritan Alliance," Selena pointed out, "Fortunately, he had the Last Tear to protect him on the verge of death. It''s simr to the Bloodhound''s Mythical Artifact if you can remember that piece of shit. Either way, Last Tear protected Eren and saved his life while his brothers died."

    "Doesn''t that mean the Tritan Alliance is free from the Supreme Human Alliance''s influence now? The ze Patriarch''s connection to the SHA has been cut with the death of Eren''s brothers, or am I missing something?" Michael asked. For now, the Tritan Alliance should be safe and sound from the SHA''s attacks.

    The Nest Leader nodded, "Yes¡­and no."

    Michael tilted his head in confusion.

    "There shouldn''t be anymore Divine Lifeforms from the SHA in the Tritan Alliance, and¡­there won''t be anymore Divine Lifeforms in the cloud of ster systems around the Tritan Alliance''snds for several hundred years either."

    "Huh? What do you mean?" Michael didn''t quite understand.

    "Thest bout between Eren and his brothers destroyed the firmament of space. It will take a long time ¨C at least a few centuries ¨C to recuperate naturally. This wouldn''t have been an issue if the Tritan Alliance was closer to the origin or infused with more origin energy. The firmament wouldn''t have torn either. It would have never been this fragile in the first ce." Selena shrugged.

    "The firmament stabilized itself, fortunately, but I don''t think that matters much to you. Just understand that a destabilized firmament is no fun. Entire gxies ceased to exist because of destabilized firmaments in the past. It has been a taboo to y with them for a long time. If you don''t want to be hunted by the Primal and the Oldest among us, you better don''t start ying with torn firmaments either." She lectured Michael on a serious note.

    "Either way, no Divine Lifeform can force their way through the firmament¡­not without attracting the ire and wrath of the Primal and the Oldest."

    Michael''s eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

    "Doesn''t that mean the Supreme Human Alliance won''t be able to throw Divine Lifeforms like Bloodhound at the Tritan Alliance? It also means that I can go there and help out, right? If only Divine Lifeforms threaten the stability of the firmament, I can go there and help remove the infestation caused by the Supreme Human Alliance!"

    The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward. He had been worried about the Tritan Alliance, but the situation was not as bad as he had feared. At least no Divine Lifeform was there to eradicate the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    The nking of heels hitting polished stone resounded through the halls, and it wasn''t long before someone barged into the Nest Leader''s room.

    "You can''t go there. You shouldn''t!" Evee eximed, her eyes teary from crying.

 Chapter 843 Family

    <h4>Chapter 843 Family</h4>

    Evee had dark circles under her red eyes. She had been crying a lot in thest few weeks. It made sense.

    Even though her father wasn''t dead, he was still in aa. He didn''t wake up since Last Tear pulled him to the Nest when he was on the verge of death. He was hanging on thest string of life for weeks, and it was still uncertain if he would make it through.

    Evee believed in her father''s resilience, but that didn''t mean she wasn''t worried. If anything, Evee was more worried about her father''s situation than ever. She had never seen her father in such a bad condition. It was a first¡­and she never wanted to see him like that again.

    Michael understood Evee''s worries, but it wasn''t like he could abandon his friends and the people he loved dearly. His friends'' families, the Awakened working for him in his territories, and everyone he''d gotten to know in thest few years were still back in the Tritan Alliance. He didn''t want to abandon them, just like his parents and brother abandoned him. Michael couldn''t do that.

    "I don''t like this, but you will hate me and the Nest if I keep you here with force," Selena said bitterly, "I cannot promise you that you will survive in the Tritan Alliance. There may not be any Divine Lifeforms anymore, but the Tritan Alliance has at least a dozen Tier-6 powerhouses. Some of them might be on your side, but you should keep in mind that the ze Patriarch was given the Primordial Bloodline technique and some of the Superior Soul Techniques used in the Supreme Human Alliance. The ze Patriarch and his people are probably much stronger than you and your allies."

    Michael knew that, but that didn''t mean his n changed. It might be a little foolish, but that was okay. He had a n up to his sleeves. His n was unlikely to fail, but if that happened, Michael could always flee. He would hate himself for running away, but it was better to avoid impossible fights than die.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance puts much more importance to the Tritan Alliance than expected. That''s probably because of your Descendants. The Descendants have much stronger Soultraits than Lesser Humans are supposed to possess. Keep that in mind," Selena added before retrieving a few objects from her War Rune. She pushed them into Michael''s hand and exined how to use them and what to pay attention to when more people ¨C unwee guests ¨C appeared in the doorframe of the Nest Leader''s room.

    "We heard you returned and wanted to talk to Michael and¡­Daniel. That is, if his resurrection worked out," Hesta was the first to appear in the frame, a wry smile stered on her face, "His resurrection worked out, right?"

    Selena finished exining all items before turning to the trio of the Fang family standing in the doorframe. Hesta, Evalynn, and Peter Fang stood there, their eyes glued on Michael. Peter Fang''s eyes narrowed to slits as he recalled something from several weeks ago.

    Michael stared straight into his father''s eyes without showing an ounce of emotion. After a few seconds, he scoffed, circting origin energy through his body and mind to suppress the urge of his Curses to pounce forward and beat the trio before them.

    "Daniel is back. He has a wless body, void of impurities, and no Curse drags him down. Daniel finished the Awakening of his Soultrait a few minutes ago. It''s stronger than your Soultraits," Michael nced at Hesta, "Even stronger than yours."

    He didn''t pay much more attention to them.

    "Either way, I will give him more Soultraits and make sure to give him everything you guys took away from him. He raised me, and I will give him everything he needs to thank him."

    There was no need to say this much, but Michael felt like saying everything. He cleared his throat and looked at Selena.

    "I will talk to my brother and tell him everything. After that, I''ll leave. Do I need special ess to use the bridges, or can I use them already?"

    Selena wasn''t going to say something about the Fang''s family dynamic. That was their issue to deal with. She minded her own business and nodded toward Michael.

    "I gave you higher authority for a bunch of things in the Nest. If not for that, you would have a hard time using the Relic I gave you. Your authority is high enough to use the bridges freely."

    "Perfect. Thank you," Michael nodded before turning to his parents and sister. He pressed his lips together and scratched the back of his head for a second, "Bye, sis."

    A momentter, Michael manifested the Runic Gate and walked through.

    **

    Something big must have happened to Michael. Daniel understood that point right away. Nheless, he was happy to see his brother again. His first hunt was amazing. The wless vessel he''d created was extraordinary, and his Soultrait was even better. Even the Artifacts were marvelous. Daniel had nothing toin about.

    "I can sense that you''ve disyed your Soultrait," Michael uttered lightly to his brother when he emerged next to Daniel, "Our link shows me that it''s a powerful Soultrait."

    Daniel smiled from one ear to another, "It is a powerful Soultrait."

    He gathered his Sword Artifact and coated it in the Sword Aura with the little bit of aura he''d replenished at thest minute.

    Daniel released the sword aura in a crescent arc, hitting one of the massive tree trunks near him. The attack wasn''t strong enough to cut down the tree right away, but a good portion of the trunk was chipped. It would only take one, maybe two hits at the same spot to lumber the energy-infused tree.

    "9-Star Sword God at your service!"

    Michael''s eyes widened for a second. He thought Daniel''s Soultrait was stronger than Hesta''s because Daniel''s Awakening changed a lot in their Link of Loyalty, but a 9-Star Soultrait?

    "That''s amazing!" Michael eximed, his mind spinning, "Doesn''t that mean your Soultrait can advance to a Pseudo-10 Star Soultrait as long as I give you more Soultraits suitable to Sword God?"

    The thought of transforming Daniel into an Awakened with a Pseudo 10-Star Soultrait was exhrating. For a moment, Michael forgot about his worries altogether.

    Daniel was stunned for a second but smiled at his brother after a second.

    "I can probably handle another Soultrait or two since my Souls is at the level of a Higher Lifeform even though I''m still a Tierless Lesser Lifeform, but I don''t think my body and mind can take anymore right now. I''ll have to refine my body and mind before taking on more Soultraits."

    Danny chuckled lightly.

    "In the first ce, I need to study Sword God in-depth. I have yet to finish digesting the information influx Sword God provided when it manifested. That will take a while. After that, I have to study Sword God. Once that is done, I should have advanced to Tier-1 or Tier-2. Maybe I can take another Soultrait then."

    "Do you want Qi back then? Qi should be highlypatible with Sword God," Michael asked, only to see his brother hesitate.

    "I¡­don''t know. I''m unsure if I want to retrieve anything from myst life¡­ Reinforced Sword Qi was a powerful Soultrait, but Sword God''s aura is more potent and efficient. I think Sword God is the Soultrait I was always supposed to manifest. Reinforced Sword Qi was just a¡­punishment given to me because I was Cursed¡­"

    Michael nodded slowly, smiling lightly.

    "If that''s what you want."

 Chapter 844 Civil War

    Chapter 844 Civil War

    ??Michael told Daniel about the Tritan Alliance and its problems. He exined to his brother that he had to go there and take care of all the issues. Daniel told him that he would help, but Michael reassured his brother that everything would be fine. He told him to focus on his body and advance slowly while focusing on his foundation for the time being.

    "I will take care of the mess in the Tritan Alliance!"

    **

    On his way back to Arx, where he wanted to manifest the Runic Gate, Michael encountered Frederik. They didn''t talk much, but Frederik told Michael enough about the situation in the Tritan Alliance to make it clear that it was worse than expected. A civil war broke out, Descendants disappeared, and many died¡­too many.

    The fights of Awakened were one big issue, but a lot worse were the spaceships and the sudden appearance of the traitor organizations such as Dark Heavens.

    Dark Heavens had been silent for a long time, only to suddenly return stronger than ever. Frederik told him about a few rumors and news, saying that Dark Heavens kidnapped Descendants and Awakened with useful Soultraits. Many people disappeared, and too many civilians died during thest few weeks.

    The tension in the Tritan Alliance was skyrocketing, and it was only a matter of time before the civil war would transform into an all-out war.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were already in a fury. They were under constant attacks and fought back as well as possible. However, it was also a matter of fact that not all humans were against them. If anything, more humans sided with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs because they couldn''t agree with the ze Patriarch''s bloody actions.

    Everyone knew that the ze Patriarch sacrificed an entire city to summon two Divine Lifeforms, which ended up killing themselves by exploding their bodies. This obliterated several provinces, killing hundreds of millions in the process.

    If that wasn''t bad enough, recordings showing the subordinates of the ze Patriarch kidnap children from months ago. After the first video surfaced, more people dared to reveal the dark truth: The ze Patriarch had kidnapped close to a million innocent children. Nobody knew what had happened to them, but the families who had lost their children had a bad feeling. They knew that their children had been killed but couldn''tprehend the situation at all. It didn''t make sense to them.

    Why would the ze Patriarch kill their children? WHY?!

    Michael''s stomach turned and twisted as he continued listening to Frederik. Goosebumps covered his entire body until he raised his hand, telling Frederik to stop.

    "I will be back in the Tritan Alliance soon. It won''t take long," Michael sighed deeply. How are your father and the Ondo family?"

    Michael knew that Frederik''s father was back in full health, but he wasn''t sure if he could return to the Origin Expanse. The Kolbenheim family''s rtionship with the Ondo household wasn''t as good as it used to be. Still, given the circumstances, The Ondo household shouldn''t reject taking Igor Kolbenheim in.

    Frederik''s expression turned worse than before, something Michael didn''t consider possible.

    "The Ondo household is with the ze Patriarch. Jacqueline told me about it and that her father forced her to hide in the Origin Expanse until everything ended. I haven''t heard from Jacqueline since then," He responded grimly, "Her father is not with the ze Patriarch and the Supreme Human Alliance. I know, as a matter of fact, that my father and Karek Ondo have been dealing a lot with their neighbors before shit hit the fan. Karek has his principles and wouldn''t have collided with the Supreme Human Alliance."

    Michael groaned but nodded slowly, "Alright¡­ That''s bad."

    He tilted his head while nibbling his lower lip, "Can you and the others prepare a list of traitors for me, please? I don''t want to arrive in the Tritan Alliance only to run into some traitors without realizing they''re shitty bastards."

    Frederik nodded slowly but halted to say something, "I don''t know where Hiraku, Reba, and some of the other human Awakened are. Lokai, Thoar, and the other are also not in the territory. Most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs returned to their rtives to join the civil war and protect their beloved. I''m here¡­well, I''m useless out there, and one of the Professors nearly killed me two days ago. I''m unsure if someone is waiting at my anchored spot, and I do not want to test it out. I will probably return in a few days once I''m certain nobody is camping at my anchored spot."

    Frederik looked guilty. He felt useless because everyone was trying to protect his family and the people they held dear while he was in Michael''s territory, where everything was safe and sound. His new Soultraits made him stronger, but he was still not strong enough. His battle spirit had been crushed when the Professor charged at him, almost ending his life.

    Frederik was still weak.

    Michael experienced like saying something, but he figured that Frederik had to fight his inner demon before he could motivate him. Maybe that wouldn''t be necessary in the first ce. Michael witnessed Frederik''s growth over thest two years and knew that Frederik was much stronger than he utilized to be. Frederik''s character changed entirely. He was nothing like the douchebag he''d gotten to know in the House of Witchery.

    Michael knew that Frederik was a good guy and would leave the Origin Expanse sooner than he''d mentioned. Frederik was not someone who could stay behind and do nothing.

    He smiled at his friend and patted his shoulder, "We will see each other outside the Origin Expanse soon. Prepare the list, please, and don''t die out there. Jacqueline would be sad."

    Michael''s smile widened, "I would be sad as well. So don''t die, okay?"

    Frederik smiled back at Michael. Even if his smile was forced, Frederik experienced a bit better.

    "You can spar with my brother if you want. He''s got a powerful Soultrait, and he has a lot ofbat experience from before. Maybe a little spar will help you organize your thoughts and help you decide what to do."

    That being said, Michael manifested the Runic Gate and disappeared.

    He emerged back in the Nest Leader''s room. It was empty, as expected, but that was for the best. Michael didn''t want to talk to his sister or his parents right now. He had better things to do.

    He rushed to the bridge, essed theplex ovepped runic array, and experienced the world around him twist when a massive surge of energy emerged from all sides.

    One moment, he was in the teleportation chamber of the Nest, and the next, Michael was in the open space. His body was coated in thickyers of fire-attributed energy. His energy was drained rapidly to keep his body warm and cozy. Others would have panicked in that situation, especially since he was a Higher Lifeform in the middle of nowhere. Still, Michael smiled lightly as he retrieved the Relic the Nest Leader had given him before.

    It was a goldenpass, a Relic that pointed toward his desired destination. But pointing toward the desired destination was not all it could do. The Compass Relic was also filled with highlypact energy storage and a series of miniature runic arrays.

    Michael could move through entire ster systems using the Compass Relic.

 Chapter 845 Spaceship

    <h4>Chapter 845 Spaceship</h4>

    Other than the Compass Relic, Michael was given a device with an overcharged teleportation array. It was a consumable array that was attached to the Nest. Michael could teleport straight back to the Nest once he finished his business in the Tritan Alliance.

    Fortunately, the Compass Relic wasn''t a consumable item. It was a Relic, which the Nest Leader had charged with a mountain of highlypressed origin energy. The Compass Relic had to be utilized with a spatial attributed Soultrait to ess theplex, ovepping miniature arrays, but that wasn''t an issue for Michael. Cosmic Stride was quite powerful, allowing him to jump farther with the Compass Relic than most others could.

    He immediately used the ovepping miniature arrays of the Compass Relic and started jumping through the gxy.

    **

    Michael had no idea how much time passed before he appeared in the Lumina Ster System''s space, but he could immediately tell that the situation was bad. A massive spaceship, several hundred meters long and more than one hundred meters wide, entered his field of vision.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have ignored the spaceship, but the sma turrets and other artillery pointing at the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers'' home wasn''t something he could ignore just like that. Michael scowled deeply and repeatedly applied Enhancement on Cosmic Stride to appear before the spaceship. He essed Qi and conjured hundreds of vibrant, glowing des around him.

    Michael applied a thin Extractionyer around the Qi des before shaping them, pulling the des on both sides to tten them. The Qi des transformed into paper-thin des, which Michael released with a burst of energy.

    The thin des shot forward, targeting the sma turrets'' barrels and the other artillery. They impacted silently and cut neatly through the tempered alloy, rendering the charged attacks useless. Several explosions resounded as the charged energy and missiles detonated, but the spaceship''s emergency shield protected the remaining parts of the ship from detonating alongside the artillery.

    A moment after Michael''s attacks impacted, a thin protection membrane engulfed the spaceship, protecting it from further attacks.

    ''You are a little bit toote for that. Y''all didn''t expect a guy like me to appear out of nowhere, did you?'' The corner of Michael''s lips twitched. He teleported above the spaceship and unleashed the Extraction Aura to weaken the protection barrier until it copsed. However, the process was too slow, and Michael was just about to unleash his Cursed Seals to elerate the process when several projectiles came flying his way with shocking velocity.

    Spirit Eyes found the culprits instantaneously. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport behind several humans, who''d emerged in the open space with a tight, yet effective, space suit. They pushed through the protection barrier to remove Michael before anything worse could happen.

    They were prepared for Michael''s teleportation Soultrait but not for a golden beam crashing heavily into each of them. They fainted for a quarter of a second when they stared into Michael''s golden eyes, rendering their effectivebat prowess useless. The next thing they remembered was a golden beam impacting hard. Extraction traces spread through their bodies while the golden beam drained their lifeforce and energy.

    The two human powerhouses were still not dead, but Michael didn''t care. Since Spiritual Domination worked on them, their mental defense had to be very low. Their Tier suggested they were already Higher Lifeforms, but Michael couldn''t help but feel like their Tier was a joke. It was hard to believe that they were Tier-5 powerhouses.

    ''It looks like they''re not the ze Patriarch''s trusted allies. They didn''t receive any special techniques.''

    Michael didn''t obtain any ordinary high-ranked techniques from the Nest Leader, but he studied under Eren and Selena for a while. He learned Curse Fusion, one of the Nest''s most potent Cursed Arts. The time he spent in the Nest helped him grow stronger, especially after getting beaten up by the Nest Leader for several weeks, all day.

    Michael stared deep into his enemies'' eyes and frowned deeply. He could kill them now, but something felt wrong. A curse escaped his lips as the World Serpent and Wolf Curse pulled his emotions, suggesting to rip them apart.

    But instead of doing that, Michael continued draining their lifeforce and energy. He used Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique to gain the upper hand in terms of physical prowess and entered closebat. He activated the Cursed Seals to augment the Extraction Aura, draining the human powerhouses even faster.

    Michael used Spiritual Domination once more before releasing a burst of darkness in all directions, engulfing him and the two human powerhouses. Michael and the others disappeared from the spaceship''s radar for a moment. He used that moment to unleash the Swallow Domain, devouring a portion of the protective membrane surrounding the spaceship.

    The protective membrane would regenerate quickly, but Michael didn''t mind that. He used Cosmic Stride to invade the spaceship while bringing the two human powerhouses along.

    The human powerhouses weren''t unconscious just yet, but it was obvious that they couldn''t fight him at full power anymore. Their energy and lifeforce was drained and Michael felt that they had never been powerfulbatants in the first ce. In the first ce, it wasn''t like every Awakened had to focus onbat. Many had Soultraits more suitable for other things.

    But that didn''t matter right now. Michael utilized the powerhouses'' confusion to infiltrate their minds via Mind Reader. A myriad of thoughts and memory fragments entered Michael''s brain. The human Awakened stirred and tried to push Michael away, but he forced his mind deeper into theirs.

    "Shit," He cursed, releasing the two men.

    ''To think Dark Heavens started hijacking spaceships again. That''s annoying.'' Michael thought, shaking his head.

    From the looks of it, Dark Heavens hijacked this spaceship to attack the mother of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, instigating an all-out war between the races of the Tritan Alliance. The crews'' families were on board and had been taken hostage by Dark Heavens, forcing the crew to follow their orders because their families would be killed otherwise.

    Michael frowned at the new influx of information. He didn''t quite ept the crews'' willingness to instigate an all-out war against the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but thinking about it for a second or two was enough to ept that he would have done the same thing if he was in their situation. Michael would prioritize his family and beloved above all. Except his parents, of course.

    "Luckily, I didn''t kill you guys," Michael said, patting the two men before turning to the right, where another Higher Lifeform appeared. However, the new arrival was only a Tier-4 High Awakened.

    The new arrival looked like the crew members, but Michael recalled him from the others'' memories. That man was a Dark Heavens member.

    He was about to shout something when Michael utilized Cosmic Stride to appear behind him. Michael clutched the man''s neck and used Mind Reader to make sure that he wasn''t mistaken. More memory fragments and thoughts shed through his mind. A deep frown appeared on Michael''s face.

    The members of Dark Heavens, responsible for hijacking the spaceship, possessed been integrated into his mind, and the information was that Dark Heavens was now under the ze Patriach''s order.

    "This is getting better and better," Michael sighed deeply.

    A momentter, he snapped the High Awakened''s neck.

 Chapter 846 The Crew & Dark Heavens

    <h4>Chapter 846 The Crew & Dark Heavens</h4>

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the dead High Awakened or the energy influx entering his War Rune. He stored the corpse in his War Rune Storage and turned to the two crew members, who shuddered violently.

    The dead High Awakened was a member of Dark Heavens, but seeing a young, unfamiliar man breaking someone''s neck nonchntly wasn''t exactly reassuring. They remembered the golden beams piercing their chests and looked down at their bodies, wondering if they were already in the afterlife, only to notice that there was nothing. All they could feel was an itch all over their body, within them. Their lifeforce and energy level was kept low, ensuring they couldn''t retaliate.

    Michael noticed the Extraction traces, which had spread through the crew members'' bodies, and decided to disperse them. The crew members weren''t that dangerous. That was also why he hadn''t killed them with a beam ofpressed extraction. Michael had followed his gut feeling to weaken the human powerhouses instead. They were lucky.

    "I will need to check your minds again," Michael said in a low tone as he approached the two crew members.

    They shuddered and tried to pull back, but Michael didn''t let them.

    "If you want to help your families, let me see everything I need to," he said calmly. Resist me, and I might not be able to procure the information needed to get rid of Dark Heavens."

    The seriousness in his tone was enough to convince the crew members. If someone was strong enough to help their family, the young man was probably standing before them.

    Michael procured the information he needed. That included intel about the spaceship''s structure and information about everyone''s location, strength, Soultraits, and which machines he should avoid destroying if he didn''t want the spaceship to be destroyed.

    At first, the crew members felt weird having someone search through their minds again, but since it was voluntary this time, they had better control. Of course, that was also because Michael didn''t force his mind into theirs to procure information using brute violence and the domination of their minds, but it wasn''t like Michael had to announce that openly. It was probably better to leave them in the dark.

    "Thanks a lot," Michael said once the crew members were done sharing everything he needed to know, "This will help a lot."

    "Please¡­rescue my family¡­our families. We didn''t want to attack the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs¡­but¡­our families¡­" Tears welled up in the crew members'' eyes, forcing Michael to halt in his tracks momentarily. He gave them a thumbs-up and smiled.

    "I will take care of this. Don''t worry."

    A momentter, Michael disappeared. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport through a significant portion of the spaceship and appeared in a big room. It was dark, but Michael could see through the darkness. His vision improved further as he circted more origin energy through his eyes.

    Michael''s head flicked to the left, and he was about to respond with a fierce punch to someone approaching him when he noticed a little girl bumping into him. The girl was no more than six years old and fell on her butt after running into Michael. Her eyes got teary, but instead of bursting into tears and bawling, she got up and sniffed.

    "I..Sorry¡­" She said, bowing while snot ran down her nose. Tears trickled down her cheeks, and Michael was sure the dam blocking more tears from pouring down her cheeks was about to break.

    ''Nobody chained the crew''s family? Is Dark Heavens too full of themselves, or is it enough to restrain everyone by locking the doors? They''re Awakened but none of them is at a high Tier.''

    He squatted down while transforming bits of his origin energy inside one of the Elemental Spheres. He released the greenish-white glowing energy and enveloped the little girl, releasing her from all the pain that tormented her.

    "Are you better, little one?" Michael asked the girl, gently patting her head.

    The light of his attributed energy illuminated the center of the room, attracting everyone''s attention. Amotion was about to break out as someone unfamiliar appeared amidst them, but Michael silenced everyone before they could say something.

    [Stay quiet and do not move!]

    His voice carried through the room via Whispering Energy, the words amplified with his will. He avoided the little girl and some smaller children, ensuring they would receive another message via Whispering Energy.

    [I''m here to help. Let''s y Silent Jokester for a moment.]

    Michael smiled before releasing a soothing wave of fire, light, and nature-attributed energy. The wave of energy filled everyone with warmth while also releasing the stress and tension they''d umted over thest few days.

    [There might be amotion outside soon. I want everyone to stay as quiet as possible.] Michael told everyone. He tilted his head briefly and thought of something before adding, [I might bring some crew members here. Try not to scream out in surprise when we appear out of nowhere. It will be like this.]

    Michael disappeared suddenly, taking the others by surprise, only to reappear a secondter with the two crew members he''d left behind. When he saw his father, one of the kids was about to scream, but the mother covered his mouth in a hurry, muffling the excited scream.

    Michael nodded thankfully toward the mother before helping the two men sit down. He''d drained their energy and lifeforce a little bit too much. They would not sustain any permanent wounds or have longsting issues, but it would take a few days to recuperate their lifeforce naturally.

    He used Cosmic Stride to move to a different section of the spaceship where a few people, crew members, and Dark Heavens members were located. Spirit Eyes couldn''t differentiate between crew members and Dark Heavens members. They looked the same as Spirit Eyes could only determine the energy umted in their Energy Pir through the spaceship''s walls.

    Either way, Michael recalled the Dark Heaven members and released a True Extraction Qi Sword at one of them. The same target became the victim of a Spiritual Domination charge, overwhelming the man for a moment. The True Extraction Qi Sword impaled the man and sucked him dry before the Qi Sword exploded, ending the Dark Heavens member once and for all.

    The other Dark Heavens member summoned a High Beast out of nowhere. That would have impressed Michael if he had not had mythical mes to burn the High Beast into a cinder. He was forced to be careful with the mythical mes, but it was not too difficult. He had enough time to learn how to control his powers.

    Michael used Foundation Break, a few Serpent Seals, and Heavenly Beast Physique to increase his physical prowess. He charged through the azure mes and appeared before the Dark Heavens member, piercing his skull with the ws his left hand had turned into.

    The energy influxes entered his body while the corpses were stored in his War Rune Storage. Michael wiped the brain mass from his w with a flush of energy and turned to the crew members. He strode toward them, to which they responded with a step backward.

    "Don''t be stupid," He grumbled, lunging forward to grasp their arms before teleporting into the room where the crews'' families were held hostage.

    The room became the crew''s sanctuary, ensuring Michael would not kill them by ident.

    He did not want to go to their families and tell them their husband or wife died at his hands if he could avoid it.

 Chapter 847 Cleansed

    <h4>Chapter 847 Cleansed</h4>

    Michael spent the next few minutes teleporting around the outer sections of the spaceship, killing a bunch of Dark Heavens members and bringing the crew to their families.

    Most crew members were either at the 3rd Tier or already Higher Lifeforms. They might not be very powerful since none of them focused onbat, but they were strong enough to stall everyone for a moment. Michael shared the contact information of his crystal watch with them to call him if something happened. He would use Cosmic Stride and be there at once.

    Fortunately, that wasn''t required until thest crew and Dark Heavens members were in the spaceships''mando center.

    He teleported to themand center, and his Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals activated to the fullest. The Heavenly Beast Physique and Foundation Break techniques were also activated, elevating his physical prowess to another level.

    Michael appeared next to the strongest living source of energy, his hands transformed into massive ws. A thickyer of True Extraction and Qi coated his ws, augmenting them enough to pierce the Tier-5 Dark Heavens member. Since there was only one Tier-5 powerhouse in the spaceship, Michael figured it was the small group''s leader. That came to his advantage since he''d rather avoid fighting a Tier-6 powerhouse in space with more than a hundred innocent civilians nearby.

    Michael wouldn''t be able to hold back against a Tier-6 powerhouse. The spaceship would break, and the innocent would die. That wasn''t what he wanted.

    Fortunately, the Tier-5 Dark Heavens member was in a heated discussion with one of the crew members. All Michael could see was the crew member''s missing arm and that he protected some buttons with his body ¨C and, therefore, his life as well. Michael acted quickly, using the opening to drill his right w deep into the Tier-5 powerhouse''s side while his left shot upward, headed for the Dark Heavens member''s face.

    Before his left w could crush into his face and kill the Dark Heavens member on the spot, Michael noticed a heavy weight crashing down on his left arm.

    ''Gravity? No. He is holding my arm. Well, he''s trying to,'' The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward. Spirit Eyes unraveled the Dark Heavens Member''s secret. His Soultrait allowed him to fuse his mental power and origin energy to create ''invisible'' hands. A pair of such hands grasped Michael''s left w to restrain him. To the Dark Heavens member''s misfortune, Michael''s ws were coated in ayer of True Extraction. To grab his w, the invisible hands had to touch True Extraction, which triggered immediately, draining the power within the invisible hands rapidly.

    The Dark Heavens member cursed. He coughed up blood and his eyes widened in terror when he looked down his body, only to realize that Michael''s right w managed to pierce through his Toga Artifact.

    Michael spread True Extraction further in both his w hands. A massive amount of True Extraction flooded the powerhouse through Michael''s right w while the invisible hands destabilized and dispersed. Michael lost the necessary momentum in his left arm to kill the Dark Heavens member instantaneously, but he could still release the Qi and True Extraction coating his left w. A goldish-silver beam shot out of his left w.

    The Tier-5 powerhouse tilted his head until it hurt, which was necessary to avoid the Extraction Qi beam. The beam barely missed puncturing his neck.

    Unfortunately, Michael never focused on the beam. He never thought the beam would be enough to kill the Tier-5 powerhouse. Instead, he focused on his right w, twisted it in the man''s side, grasped something tightly, and tore it out when he ripped his w out of the target.

    The Tier-5 powerhouse coughed up more blood, and a horrifying scream escaped his lips.

    Michael wasn''t sure what he tore out of the man, but it was important. He didn''t have the luxury to look at the glibbery mass of the thing he''d ripped out of the Tier-5 powerhouse''s. Michael sensed something behind him and erupted a wind shield alongside an earthen wall. The wind shield cracked instantaneously, but the earthen wall resisted a little longer. Nheless, the iing wave of assaults managed to pierce the earthen wall.

    Michael could have used Cosmic Stride to evade the attacks, but upon spinning around, he concluded that some of the iing projectiles were explosive. If he evaded them, they might damage themando center. Michael didn''t know enough about themando center to know what would happen if certain mechanisms in the spaceship were destroyed. He''d much rather stop the attacks with his body than rely on hope to protect the crew mates and their families.

    The attacks impacted heavily. Some managed to pierce through his skin, shredding a portion of his arms and chest into pieces. The destructive power of the Dark Heavens member''s attacks was impressive, but River of Vigor was much more impressive. Michael had umted some healing serum. It was enough to tend to such minor injuries hundreds of times.

    "The Nest Leader inflicted more damage," Michael murmured, "But I guess that makes sense. She is crazy and too powerful for her own good."

    Once he caught all projectiles with his body, Michael used Cosmic Stride to materialize next to the furthest Dark Heavens member. He punctured his neck as one of the World Serpent''s fangs shot out of his knuckles. Michael was only slightly surprised since he didn''t try to manifest the serpent fangs, but he decided to make use of it and manifest Aethyr around his ws and the serpent fang as well. His ws extended, and the fang looked even sharper than before.

    Michael flung a Qi Sword and elerated through a burst of wind-attributed energy at the Dark Heavens members standing around the one he''d punctured. They copsed to the ground, their chests impaled by silver-glowing swords.

    Michael''s eyes glowed vibrantly, and he used several charges of Spiritual Domination on the residual Dark Heavens members, which were only six unharmed Tier-3 and Tier-4 Awakened, and killed them once their brains felt like someone mashed it from being utterly dominated and crushed.

    The Tier-5 powerhouse was thest remaining member of his team. His lifeforce was drained as he continued bleeding from the massive gap in his side. He looked pitifully as he winced in a puddle of his blood.

    However, thest Dark Heavens member was not yet done. He might get killed soon, but their n didn''t fail just yet.

    His invisible hand emerged next to him. It shot toward the crew member and flung him through the air with a surge of power born through desperation. A few buttons, which didn''t say anything to Michael, appeared now that the crew member didn''t cover them anymore. The invisible hand was about to press one of them when Michael appeared before the console of buttons and levers. He unleashed True Extraction around his ws and amplified its efficiency with several Enhancementyers.

    His w pierced through the invisible hand before it could press anything, dissolving the invisible hand instantly.

    A momentter, Michael teleported back to the dying Tier-5 powerhouse. His w shot down, piercing his skull with Mind Reader unleashed to the fullest.

    "Show me!" He growled, unaware that the influence of the Wolf Curse reached and affected him.

 Chapter 848 Reattached

    <h4>Chapter 848 Reattached</h4>

    Michael couldn''t see much with Mind Reader before the Dark Heavens member died. That was no surprise, but Michael was satisfied enough with the result. He was angry, to be precise.

    The memories showed Dark Heavens, their headquarters, the ze Patriarch, and some of the higher-ups'' conversations. There wasn''t much because everything went by so fast, but it was enough to tell that the situation was not yet at its lowest point. It was going to get worse.

    Michael sighed but stored the corpses before rushing to the crew member who''d protected the spaceship''s terminal. Fortunately, if one ignored his missing arm, the man wasn''t too badly injured. He was still bleeding from where his arm had been severed, but his life was not in danger.

    "I should be able to heal you. Where is your arm?" Michael asked, his head flicking left and right to find the man''s severed arm. The man coughed weakly before retrieving the arm from his War Rune storage.

    "You managed to preserve it in your War Rune? That makes everything a little bit easier," Michael nodded approvingly, grasped the limp, severed arm, and used River of Vigor actively.

    He closed his eyes briefly to focus on the rivers of healing serum coursing through him. The healing serum swirled through him faster as he used River of Vigor actively, and more healing serum formed at his will.

    Michael separated a potion of his healing serum from its natural cirction and pushed it toward his left hand. His w hands had already reverted to their original appearance, which made the following steps much easier.

    He cut his finger and willed the separated portion of the healing serum to flow out of his hand.

    ''Maybe it would have been easier to use Extraction to retrieve a portion of healing serum from my body.''

    Michael shrugged lightly. He shrouded the healing serum in origin energy before applying Insert to infuse a part of the healing serum inside the limp arm. The other portion was inserted into the bleeding arm stump. The healing serum immediately jumped into effect, but Michael didn''t rush anything. He observed the threads of flesh and muscles as they returned to life before he tried reattaching the man''s arm.

    Michael retrieved more healing serum while maintaining River of Vigor. It drained much of his energy, but it wasn''t too bad. The viscous silver liquid poured out of Michael''s finger and infiltrated the crew member''s body through the once-severed wound. It healed rapidly, but the massive cut covering his upper arm remained.

    Michael could also tell that the man had yet to regain control of his arm. His severed arm was alive thanks to the timely use of healing serum, but his nerves, flesh, muscles, and bones had to reconnect and regenerate first. The crew member stared at Michael with wide eyes, forcing Michael to close his eyes so he could focus on the man''s wound. He willed the healing serum in the man''s arm to circte slowly but steadily.

    As it circted through the man''s arm, the healing serum was consumed, and its healing power drained to do its job perfectly and heal the man.

    "I¡­can feel my arm again!" The man eximed, his eyes widened in surprise.

    Michael opened his eyes and nodded. He got up while his attention was locked on the man''s arm.

    ''I didn''t do a bad job, but I could have done a lot better. Using healing serum on others is quite the change. I should practice more. Maybe it would be useful tobine the healing serum with attributed energy. Since the fire, nature, and light attributed energybination soothed the little girl''s pain, I could have done the same with the healing serum in addition. But then again, thatbination might sh, creating a worse result. I will have to test that.''

    "I''m d your arm reattached nicely. Does everything feel fine, or is something about your sensation different from before? I never reattached an arm with that Soultrait, so I hope everything is good." Michael revealed in all honesty, but the crew member just nodded.

    "It''s perfect. Thank you for healing me. And for killing those bastards, of course. If not for you, they would have instigated an all-out war with the Warlock Centaurs and the Berserkers!"

    "I''m d I arrived on time," Michael nodded, "But you did a good job as well. I saw how you protected the terminal with your body. If you hadn''t done that, I would have been toote as well."

    The man smiled, but his expression soured when an disy appeared above the terminal.

    A familiar face emerged in the interface. It was the Berserker Chieftain.

    "Good afternoon, Chieftain. Or is it morning? Night? I''m not sure, but I don''t think it matters," Michael greeted Palika Mavenham with a smile, "I guess you''re trying to find out why an unauthorized spaceship is in your orbit. I have good and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

    Palika Mavenham, also known as the Chieftain of the Berserker race, didn''t expect to see Michael on the other side of the interface. His people reported that the spaceship was manned with artillery and had been charged. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were already prepared to evacuate their people into the underground bunkers, but that didn''t seem necessary anymore.

    The Berserker Chieftain could see blood trickling down Michael''s hands and the stters of blood on his face.

    "You are probably one of thest people I expected to see here. I was told you left this gxy and didn''t think you would return anytime soon," Palika said straightforwardly, "Either way, it''s great to see you. Tell me the good news first, please. I don''t want to hear bad news for now."

    "The good news is quite obvious. I killed a bunch of Dark Heavens members who were about to blow your cities apart. They hijacked the spaceship to make it look like humans decided to unite against your people and the Warlock Centaurs. I killed them and prevented an all-out war. Yay," Michael said, trying to keep his smile up.

    The Chieftain furrowed his brows and exhaled deeply, "And what is the bad news?"

    Michael copied the Chieftain''s sigh.

    "The bad news is that I read some of their memories. They nned a few more attacks and collided with the ze Patriarch. I don''t know how bad the situation in the sr system is since I haven''t been there yet, but from the bits and pieces of memories and information I have¡­it looks bad."

    Michael shrugged then and added, "But I know where their headquarters is, and I could require some help to destroy it. Not sure if I can handle a Tier-6 powerhouse, but I know for a fact that you and those old retired folks are Tier-6 powerhouses."

    "How about it? Do you want to beat the shit out of a bunch of traitors?"

    The Berserker Chieftain felt like agreeing, but there was one major issue.

    "I would never say no to a good fight, but we are outnumbered, and the ze Patriarch''s people have been using stronger techniques for a while now. As long as they use these techniques, we are at a physical disadvantage¡­as much as it hurts to say that. Furthermore, we are only a few and must defend our people. We cannot leave them behind while hoping nobody attacks us. We cannot travel that fast."

    Michael broke into a bright smile.

    "You might not be able to travel that fast, but I can! I can also bring other people with me," he announced, smiling slyly. As for the physical disadvantage, don''t worry about that. You have your own set of disadvantages once we''re done here."

    The Chieftain didn''t quite understand.

    "Don''t you know what my biggest advantage is?" Michael asked, his cunning smile transforming into a devilish grimace.

    "We''re going to give you and your strongest warriors a little power-up!"

 Chapter 849 Chieftain

    <h4>Chapter 849 Chieftain</h4>

    The spaceshipnded in the spaceship harbor of Piloq, the founding city of the Tritan Alliance. Michael could have teleported to Piloq and met up with the Chieftain, but he had to ensure the civilians'' safety. The spaceship was searched a second time afternding, and they ensured multiple times that nothing could go wrong ¨C some crew members were afraid Dark Heavens altered the terminal, installing a self-destruction application to the spaceship.

    Fortunately, that wasn''t the case. There was nothing like that installed.

    Once the spaceship was sacred, Michael left with the others. He led them into Piloq, which looked nothing like it used to when he left thest time. Dark Heavens attacked Piloq before, destroying the most valuable Ancient Structures. Yet, despite the massive losses the Tritan Alliance had faced that day, Piloq had been fixed.

    However, the mixture of ancient and modern times, which had intrigued Michael, was not like it used to be.

    The harbor in Piloq was still a ttened mountain range right next to a behemoth mountain piercing through the clouds, but that didn''t look as impressive as it used to. Observing thes from the wide-open space was more impressive than being down there watching everything as a ''tiny ant''.

    But that didn''t mean the scenery was boring. It was just that Michael had gotten a little used to the beauty of the cosmos. That wasn''t bad, though.

    Next to the mountainy Piloq. It was a city that blended elements from both ancient and modern times, a seamless fusion of history and technology. That was still the case, though technology and modern infrastructure were now more apparent than before.

    Nheless, Michael could feel the city''s charm. He was drawn to the buildings and couldn''t take his eyes off the beautiful cityscape.

    "A lot has changed since yourst visit," The Chieftain appeared next to Michael, his voice ringing in his ears.

    "I can tell, but I''m d Piloq didn''t lose its beauty."

    Palika noddedpassionately and patted Michael''s shoulder, "You have a good eye for beauty. It''s good that you didn''t change."

    "Unfortunately, our meeting happened in such a dire situation," He sighed deeply, "I''m d you''re here, but I''m not sure if we can prevent an all-out war. The Old Shamans are in rage and they''re influencing the youths. If this continues, and the ze Patriarch continues attacking our people, my people''s thirst for blood will be unquenchable."

    Michael listened to the Chieftain and nodded. He understood the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs a lot better than most humans. They were prideful races who loved war dearly. However, they were also loyal to their allies. It was the first time both races had encountered a situation like this. Their allies were torn into two parties, one desiring the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' extinction.

    The other party was still on their side, the only reason an all-out war didn''t erupt. However, it was only a matter of time before their patience would run out. The destruction of Piloq, caused by a human spaceship, would have been more than enough to achieve that.

    Michael prevented Piloq''s destruction, but how long he stalled was uncertain.

    "How about we take one step at a time? Dark Heavens'' Headquarters is in the Lumina Ster System. We can destroy it, alongside their guard posts, before dealing with the issues on Kelta? Once that''s done, the Lumina Ster System should be secure enough for us to consider raiding the smaller traitor organizations in the sr system and kill the ze Patriarch and the remaining traitorous families. That means if you and your people are willing toe with me to do that."

    Michael stared at Palika and shrugged lightly, "You don''t have to go to the sr system if you don''t want to. It shouldn''t be an issue for me to deal with more problems in the sr system, either. The only issues are the ze Patriarch and other Tier-6 powerhouses. They''re a little bit difficult to kill."

    Palika lifted an eyebrow at Michael''smentary, "So, you are not worried that you cannot kill them, but you merely consider it a ''little bit difficult?''. To think I would hear something like that from a Tier-4 powerhouse and believe it¡­ I might have gotten a little bit too old for this."

    The Berserker Chieftain burst into augh and pped Michael''s shoulders with some force. He applied more force than expected, but Michael didn''t budge, taking the Chieftain by surprise.

    "You''re pretty tough for someone at the 4th Tier. That''s good," Palika thought about something and nodded, "A pair of Berserker Shamans is willing to return from retirement. They''re a little rusty, but both are Tier-6 powerhouses. I also have a bunch of Tier-5 forces under me. If we want to deal with Dark Heavens and the troublemakers in Kelta, we''ll need as much power as possible."

    Michael shed his teeth at the Berserker Chieftain before retrieving a lengthy scroll, "Gather everyone and pick a few Soultraits. Let''s give y''all a little power up to beat the shit out of the ze Patriarch."

    Palika epted the scroll and opened it. The names of more than 2000 1-Star Soultraits appeared before him.

    "I can upgrade your Soultraits to 4-Star easily. Everyone can pick a pair, and I will upgrade them to 4-Star," Michael announced calmly.

    The Chieftain swallowed hard and lifted his gaze from the scroll, "Are you sure you want to do that? The dynamic in the Tritan Alliance might change drastically if you give us so many Soultraits."

    Michael shrugged, "I know, but we have to deal with the ze Patriarch. He has a powerful technique that drastically amplifies hisbat prowess. You and your people will need as much support as possible to help me."

    He lifted his finger and looked at the Chieftain dead-serious, "But I want you and your people to help me once we''re done with the Lumina Ster System. You and your people should know the value of several 4-Star Soultraits. If they''re highlypatible with your existing Soultrait or your fighting style, yourbat prowess will increase by a multitude. Still, I think we owe you and your people something."

    "I hope this can soothe your anger a little bit as well," Michael added honestly.

    It wasn''t something Michael wished to expose openly, but he hoped his Soultraits could calm the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs ¨C whom he had yet to talk to since the War Priestess died. After all, not all humans are bad. It was just that the Supreme Human Alliance corrupted some weak-willed souls.

    "I forgot how honest some humans can be. That''s refreshing," Palika nodded. We will help you get rid of those whom the Supreme Human Alliance has corrupted. That will help us fix what was broken as well. Our races will get the revenge and conflict we sought, and your kin will be freed from the Supreme Human Alliance."

    "The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would have to fight the members of the Supreme Human Alliance sooner orter either way. We''ve been hoping that it would take a little bit longer, preferably thousands of years, until we have our own Divine Lifeforms, strong enough to fight some Divine Lifeforms of the Supreme Human Alliance, but we can deal with their corruption before it harms our people even more," Palika added.

    "I will call the Warlock Centaurs and tell them about your n. I''m sure they will be more than happy to get rid of the Supreme Human Alliance''s influence in the Tritan Alliance," The Chieftain dered, "After all, the War Priestess'' son is leading the Warlock Centaurs now that his mother was killed. He is seething in rage and has been demanding an all-out war."

    Palika smiled, "I will give him something simr. That should be enough to soothe him."

    Michael nodded, d that the Chieftain was on his side.

    It was time to get rid of the corruption in the Tritan Alliance!

 Chapter 850 Cleansing the Corruption I

    <h4>Chapter 850 Cleansing the Corruption I</h4>

    Michael was given a luxurious room to rest, but he wasn''t in the mood to rest just yet. He wasn''t tired either. Too many thoughts shed through his mind.

    ''Offering Soultraits to the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers shouldn''t be a problem. I trust Palika. He will pick the most loyal Berserkers to gain Soultrait Symbols as well. The Chieftain wouldn''t be stupid enough to strengthen hispetition. No Berserker will go up against Palika once he and his trusted subordinates receive a bunch of Soultrait Symbols.''

    It was important to note that Palika Mavenham didn''t like being indebted to others. Michael had noticed that during their first few meetings in the past already, but he could only make use of it now. Since he would help Palika remain Chieftain for a long time, since adding two highlypatible Soultrait Symbols would help him remain the strongest Berserker, Michael didn''t have to worry about a betrayal.

    In the first ce, betrayals weren''t a thing for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They were respectable races, worthy of trust and loyalty.

    ''Since they can take revenge on those who''ve harmed them, they wouldn''t attack the innocent either. An all-out war would have harmed the citizens as well, but this is different. We will remove the root of all problems and change public opinion afterward. If someone bothers to say that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs are at fault for the Lepodya disease, I''ll just extract Lepodya from everyone infected and remove the disease once and for all.''

    Michael didn''t consider Lepodya too troublesome. He could prove that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs weren''t at fault for the spread of Lepoyda, but that was a thing for the future. For now, nobody would pay attention to him. Thus, some people had to die soon.

    But before that, the dead had to be ransacked. Michael retrieved the corpses of the 17 Dark Heavens members and activated all Cursed Seals. He summoned the Soul Grimoire and used a Soul Tear to augment True Extraction''s potency further.

    Once that was done, Michael released several golden tendrils, which lunged for the human corpses. True Extraction''s efficiency was extremely high, and it took only a matter of minutes before mountains of goods that had been stored within the Dark Heaven members'' War Rune storage appeared before him.

    Michael had to store most goods to keep using True Extraction to procure a small pile of Soultrait Symbols and Memory Orbs alongside arger pile of SoulStar Fragments.

    "That should be good enough," Michael murmured to himself, his eyes locked on the piles of loot. He procured 9 Soultrait Symbols, 36 Memory Orbs, and 25,349 SoulStar Fragments.

    The SoulStar Fragments alone were enough to upgrade the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' Soultrait Symbols to 4-Star. Even if they brought more than three dozen trusted allies to give two 4-Star Soultraits, Michael would have enough SoulStar Fragments. But Michael doubted Palika would bring so many trusted people. If anything, Palika and the War Priestess'' son would bring no more than two dozen trusted allies to obliterate the traitor alliances and burn the root of all evil in the Lumina Ster System and the sr system.

    ''Now, what do we have in here? You guys had a bunch of weird-ass techniques in your War Rune Storage, some Energy Stones, other stones, blueprints, Artifacts, and¡­corpses? Really? Are you guys some weird-ass necrophilia or what?''

    Michael shuddered and retrieved the corpses. If they looked somewhat closer to human beings, he would have considered searching for the deceased''s family via facial recognition. Still, Michael sincerely doubted that any family would be happy seeing their dead family member in a state like¡­this.

    The faces of the dead were no more. Even the skull was crushed and partially ck and deformed beyond recognition. Only a little skin was left on their bodies, but it was sickly yellow with poisonous green tint spots everywhere. Their bodies were torn apart in several positions, and Michael couldn''t help but wonder how some of them had been ripped in half.

    Yes. It didn''t look like they had been cut in half with a de, but it was closer to them being ripped into shreds by¡­something. Michael knew how much strength it required to tear someone apart, yet he shuddered upon inspecting the corpses.

    He decided to use Swallow Domain to get rid of the poor deformed corpses alongside the Dark Heavens corpses.

    Swallow Domain didn''t leave a crumb of the corpses behind. Even the pungent smell of the rotten bodies and the odd smell lingering on the Dark Heavens members disappeared. Michael essed his other Major Seal right after using Swallow Domain. Permute jumped into action, ready to transform the corpses into origin energy, lifeforce, or one of the other things Michael could form with the Wolf Curse''s power.

    "Maybe I can try something," He murmured when his eyes caught a SoulStar Fragment in the corner of his eyes.

    It was time Michael tried creating SoulStar Fragments using Permute. If that was possible, Michael''s future path of progression would change drastically. He would start hoarding everything since almost everything would be of immense value ¨C as long as it could be transformed into SoulStar Fragments.

    Michael jiggled his head to disperse the greed, which clouded his thoughts and distracted him. Unfortunately, it wasn''t that easy. Michael wasted more than ten minutes to clean his mind and focus on Permute.

    The corpses were falling apart, transforming into countless mots within Swallow Domain. They transformed slowly and formed¡­something. Michael tried focusing on the sensation of SoulStar Fragments, and theirponents ¨C or what he thought to be theponents of SoulStar Fragments ¨C, but noticed that he missed something. The translucent frame of the SoulStar Fragments came into existence but they missed something. There was no purple wisp inside the empty fragment.

    Michael was willing to spend several hours trying to find out what he was missing, but he had to give up atst. He had to ept that he was not ready to create SoulStar Fragments with Permute. However, Michael learned one important thing.

    "It should be possible to create SoulStar Fragments." The problem wasn''t that it was impossible to produce SouLStar Fragments using Permute, but that Michael didn''tprehend theponents of SoulStar Fragments well enough just yet.

    That was fine enough for the time being.

    With that in mind, Michael used Permute again, transforming everything Swallow Domain had stored into healing serum instead.

    **

    Less than 24 hours passed since Michael entered Piloq when he was informed that the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers were ready.

    A young attendant guided Michael through Piloq into an inconspicuous building, where he found seven Berserkers and eight Warlock Centaurs.

    Michael wasn''t surprised to see 15 powerhouses, the cream of the crop of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, standing before him. Spirit Eyes detected them two hours earlier when they first gathered, probably to hold a meeting to decide what they would do.

    Michael didn''t thoughts that in the slightest. In fact, it would have been good if they had held a meeting before calling him to join them. They had toe to a conclusion, and it would be bad if they had discussed their n with Michael.

    "The Chieftain told us you desire to eliminate the Supreme Human Alliance''s corruption. He mentioned that you would pay us with Soultrait Symbols to eliminate the root of your problems," A Warlock Centaur, probably the War Priestess'' son, stepped forward, his emerald-green eyes piercing into Michael.

    "That''s not how I worded it, but if it makes you feel better, we can put it like that," Michael shrugged nonchntly.

    "All I want is to eliminate the traitors and the people who''ve been corrupting the Tritan Alliance. I want to avoid an all-out war and mend the issues of the Tritan Alliance so we can focus on our real enemy."

    "The Supreme Human Alliance," An old Berserker next to Palika said.

    Michael nodded. "Correct. The Supreme Human Alliance is our enemy."

    He turned to the War Priestess'' son.

    "I don''t mind how you word it, but the fact is that you, your people, and the Berserkers want the traitor alliances and everyone affiliated with the Supreme Human Alliance to be removed as soon as possible."

    "I want the same. Thus, I''m willing to grant you the power needed to achieve your goal."

 Chapter 851 Cleansing the Corruption II

    Chapter 851 Cleansing the Corruption II

    ??Fortunately, the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers didn''t take long to get equipped. They had already chosen what Soultrait Symbols they wanted and ensured their choices didn''t ovep. It was a good thing that Michael had more than 2,000 Soultrait Symbols to choose from. Otherwise, this would have gotten a little difficult.

    One way or another, Michael was getting a little angsty. He hadn''t heard anything from Alice, Kaleb, and the rest since he returned to the Tritan Alliance. It was obvious that he hadn''t heard from Alice before because the Expanse Prism was broken, but now that he was back, it should have been possible for some people to message him back. However, the only one answering him on Sta was Frederik. He finished the list of traitors and sent him the file to his crystal watch.

    Michael hated that the others didn''t reply to his messages, and the urge to rush to the sr system overcame him, but he could restrain himself. It wasn''t feasible to rush to the sr system with the Chieftain and the rest. They had to ensure the Lumina Ster System was safe to leave first.

    Michael could leave alone for the sr system, but dealing with several Tier-6 powerhouses, who had Primordial Bloodline and other techniques from the Supreme Human Alliance up to their sleeves, was not exactly feasible. He was strong but not that strong. Yet, at least.

    Michael checked the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers and noted that only six out of fifteen were at the 6th Tier. It didn''t sound like a lot for someone who''d been with many Divine Lifeforms for thest few months, but it was more than enough for the Tritan Alliance. There were less than two dozen Tier-6 powerhouses spread throughout the Tritan Alliance.

    Michael didn''t know the exact number, but if the three races of the Tritan Alliance had roughly the same number of Tier-6 powerhouses, humans shouldn''t have more than seven or eight Tier-6¡ªand not all of them would heed the ze Patriarch''s orders. Michael was certain the Seraph and Zenovia Matriarch wouldn''t follow the ze Patriarch''s orders, and it was also highly unlikely that the Patriarch of the Zeus family would follow theirmand.

    Michael might not have the highest opinion of the Zeus family, but neither Killian nor Oliver treated the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wrongly.

    ''Nevermind, that''s not correct. Killian burned some Berserkers to a crisp in one of Piloq''s arenas. But then again, the Berserkers weren''t angry about that. They held Killian''sbat prowess in high regard.''

    He thought about the past and his encounters with the Zeus family with a wry smile, only to recall something.

    ''Wait, didn''t Reba tell me the Zeus family''s patriarch died from Lepodya? Did the ze Patriarch kill all powerhouses who went against him? But if that''s the case, the Zenovia and Seraph household should also be in a prickly situation.''

    Michael imagined the worst and paled. He sincerely hoped that the others were fine.

    "Is everyone ready?" Michael asked impatiently less than ten minutes after he had given the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs their 4-Star Soultraits.

    It might take a bit longer to get used to their new Soultraits and new additions of powers, but they gained little understanding of their Soultraits through the information influx. Furthermore, their brains were already advanced and refined over and over again. It shouldn''t be too difficult for the powerhouses to use their Soultraits after ten minutes.

    "Experience gained in a battle of life and death is the best experience," Palika said lightly, "We are ready to go!"

    Michael nodded and retrieved the Compass Relic. However, instead of using the Compass Relic like before, Michael tapped into the energy stored within the Relic. He used Cosmic Stride and drained enough energy umted within the Relic cross a considerable distance with 15 passengers.

    "Can everyone survive in open space, or must you prepare a space suit?" Michael asked, ensuring everyone was ready to go.

    The Chieftain and the War Priestess'' son stared at Michael for a few seconds, only for one of the Old Shamans to nod hesitantly, "We have no problem surviving in space for a while. We cannot stay there for days, but we won''t die the moment we''re outside the safety spheres of ours. But why are you ask¡ª..."

    The Old Shaman couldn''t even finish his question. Michael shrouded everyone in the golden light of Cosmic Stride. They disappeared from their spot a momentter and re-emerged in the wide-open space. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs reacted quickly, pulling up an energy membrane for protection.

    Michael had done the same already but was more focused on the Compass Relic and Cosmic Stride. He licked his lip in impatience and curiosity and drained more energy from the Relic. Once again, they jumped through the open space, a greater distance than before.

    ''I think I get it now.'' Michael nodded slowly, going for a third and fourth jump.

    Less than ten minutes and more than a hundred jumps through spaceter, Michael and the others arrived at their first destination; A massive spacecraft hidden in an asteroid belt. It was nowhere near thest hiding spot where they hid the spaceship Dark Heavens used to blow Piloq apart, but Michael wondered if they had a fable for asteroid belts.

    He shrugged after a second and looked at the others.

    [Do you wanna blow it apart like this, or do you want to go inside to obliterate them?] Michael asked via Whispering Energy, ignoring their constant res in his direction.

    Michael merely smiled while giving them a choice until Palika pointed at the spaceship.

    [Inside, then? That''s what I expected.] Michael responded with a grin.

    Palika rolled his eyes and nodded. A momentter, Michael and the rest appeared above the spaceship. It was impossible to teleport inside the spaceship because there were some restrictions, but a fully empowered True Extraction Aura was enough to drain the energy in his immediate surroundings. That was enough to reach a nearby hatch used by the crew to repair surface damages in space when needed. Palika reached for the hatch, and his fingers dug into the highly tempered metal. His muscles flexed, and energy coursed through his body.

    Then he pulled.

    The hatch didn''t give in for a second but bent and twisted shortly after. It didn''t even take five seconds to tear the hatch out of the frame, revealing a small room. Michael and the others went inside. Palika was thest to follow. He tried to force the hatch back into ce, but it didn''t work as intended. Michael appeared next to the man, using earth-attributed energy alongside more elemental energy to block the hole in the spaceship.

    Once the hole was sealed, he used extraction to clear the room and conjured air with his wind-attributed energy. Michael took a deep breath and smiled.

    "That was a nice trip, wasn''t it?" He asked teasingly, only to be frowned at.

    "You could have warned us, you know?" One of the Warlock Centuarsined, but Michael merely shrugged.

    "Warning? Like saying that there are a bunch of Dark Heavens membersing this way?" He asked, pointing in the direction of the door to their left. The hallway behind the door was long, but the Dark Heavens members weren''t slow. They reached the massive door to the vacuum room in no time.

    Palika and the War Priestess'' son turned to the door, coursed energy through their bodies, and flexed their muscles. The War Priestess'' son expanded in size; his body was shrouded in pristine light, and his eyes glowed vibrantly. His physical strength skyrocketed. The Chieftain didn''t transform like his partner standing next to him. Instead of transforming, Palika pressed his t hands against the door. A surge of energy flowed through his hands, and he unleashed his Soultraits.

    The massive metal door was ripped apart, and massive chunks were hurled toward the Dark Heavens members. One of them was unlucky, a sharp piece of metal smashing into his head, piercing his departed eye at top speed.

    Theirrade''s downfall shocked the Dark Heavens members but they activated their Soultraits and techniques and charged ahead nheless.

    Their power level skyrocketed, but the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers behind the War Priestess'' son didn''t remain motionless. Some unleashed their Soultraits to augment the War Priestess''s son''sbat prowess, while others slowed down the enemies. The son of the War Priestess, Niechol, charged ahead, unleashing his main Soultrait, Unstoppable, at full charge.

    If not for Spirit Eyes, Michael would have had difficulties seeing Niechol. He transformed into a sh and disappeared from the Dark Heavens members'' sight. The sound of bones being crushed to smithereens resounded as Niechol shot past the first human enemy. The Dark Heavens member didn''t even know what happened when his rib cage burst open. His pelvis, legs, and arms broke and twisted as the man tried to block the horrifying glowing Warlock Centaur''s charge.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

    ''[Pristine Glow] evolved into [Divine Light] when I upgraded it to 4-Star. I expected it to be powerful, butbined with [Power Up] and [Unstoppable], it''s on a different level. Would Bloodhound be able to stop something like that? Probably if he uses Primordial Bloodline¡­but without that?''

    Michael was not sure, but he was excited. A single charge was enough to kill several Higher Lifeforms in the wake of Niechol''s power.

    Some survived, but Michael decided to get rid of them before the others could. Extraction might work on the fresh corpses in by other people, but it was drastically weakened. Michael would much rather deal the finishing blow to all enemies to make up for investing more than 10,000 SoulStar Fragments into the 30 Soultrait Symbols he''d provided the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    He channeled Cosmic Stride, killing some Higher Lifeforms before storing their corpses in his War Rune storage. Palika and the others finished the others, but Michael triggered True Extraction with all Cursed Seals triggered and pressed his hand against the corpses'' chests.

    His entire focus was on the SoulStar Fragments as he used True Extraction. Augmented by a Soul Tear and supported by several Enhancement Layers, Michael extracted a bunch of SoulStar Fragments, but it wasn''t worth the effort. He clicked his tongue and stored the corpses away. Since he couldn''t extract much from them, he might as well utilize Swallow Domain on the corpses when he desperately needed more healing serum, origin energy, or lifeforce. Maybe even curse power or the trace of his Curses'' Essences.

    Their corpses were of some value. That was all that mattered.

    Michael nodded to the others, and they moved onward.

    It might be possible to destroy the spaceship with thebined power of the six Tier-6 powerhouses, but they wanted to guarantee that Dark Heavens was pushed to the brink of extinction in the next few days. They had had enough of the traitorous organizations!

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs split up at the next intersection. Two Tier-6 powerhouses were teamed up with some Tier-5 powerhouses, and Michael formed two teams of five and one team of six before moving in different directions. Michael proposed the n because Spirit Eyes didn''t find a Tier-6 powerhouse besides the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    That was expected since most Tier-6 human powerhouses were either with the ze Patriarch, roaming openly with their families, or dying. Michael doubted that there were anymore hidden Tier-6 powerhouses at this point. Except if they were cowardly or waiting for a better moment before revealing themselves. However, the former would mean they sessfully to attain Tier-6 while being cowards. That was highly unlikely. Thetter¡­was more likely, but Michael hoped the hidden powerhouses were on their side.

    It would be troublesome if anymore powerful humans were to team up with the ze Patriarch.

 Chapter 852 Cleansing the Corruption III

    Chapter 852 Cleansing the Corruption III

    ??Once everyone was dead, they looted and destroyed the spaceship as well. They even traveled through the asteroid belt to search for three secret vaults, which they looted, of course.

    Michael had swallowed Memory Orbs en masse, providing him the memories to find the vaults and procure a wide variety of useful information. Michael retrieved the Needle of Lost Memories, removing the strands of memories he wouldn''t need. Some memories of the Dark Heavens members were grotesque, simr to the memories of the Kitsun, and Michael was unwilling to keep them in his mind.

    Since he had an item to remove the memories he didn''t want to keep, Michael made full use of that function.

    The Memory Orbs helped him find the location of a few smaller outposts and news of other traitor organizations who were either subordinate to Dark Heavens or connected to them through various strings. The memories were detailed enough to get moving right away.

    They didn''t take a break since nobody had to use their full power to defeat the Dark Heavens members in the spaceship. Michael and others moved on at full speed.

    Their cozy group of 16 people spent the next 24 hours traveling around the Lumina Ster System. Their sole means of transportation was Michael using the Compass Relic''s energy and unique power to empower Cosmic Stride. That way, they could easily travel around the Lumina Ster System with Michael as pilot, corpse collector, and treasurer. In contrast, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wreaked havoc in the well-hidden outposts and headquarters of nearly a dozen smaller traitor organizations.

    They defeated a few more outposts of Dark Heavens, but it was fairly obvious that they were not yet extinct. Following the addition of memories Michael procured from every Awakened he''d in in thest 24 hours, they could conduct that the most troublesome ces were the sr system and Kelta ¨C the Saphirke Military Academy, to be precise.

    Michael dealt the finishing blow to many traitorous humans, but the number wasn''t as high as he would have liked. That was still fine because he should have made up for his investment into the Berserkers and Walorck Centaurs at this point, but his greed told him otherwise.

    "We should clear Kelta of traitors now. I don''t think there will be anymore traitors in the Lumina Ster System after that. We killed so many already," Palika shook his head at the thought of the 100+ High Awakened they''d killed in thest 24 hours. Most were Tier-4 Awakened, but the number of Tier-5 Awakened among the traitors was unusually high.

    It was a shame that so many human powerhouses were traitors. Palika and the others couldn''t understand it. If they worked together with these powerhouses, they could transform the Tritan Alliance into a better ce for everyone. Yet, they ended up in this miserable situation, not knowing which humans they could trust and unsure what would happen if the Supreme Human Alliance members were to return.

    ''There are only a few rays of hope at the end of the tunnel of our future,'' Palika thought, his eyes traveling to Michael.

    Michael and the people around him were unlike most. They were the reason Palika and his people were trying to mend things with the Tritan Alliance. If not for Michael, they would have dered war on all humans at this point, Palika was certain of that.

    "It''s about time we clear the Saphirke Military Academy," Michael nodded, filled with impatience. If Alice were still at the Saphirke Military Academy, Michael would have rushed everyone to clear that ce first. However, in one of Michael''sst conversations with Alice via the Expanse Prism, Michael found out that Alice, Kaleb, and many other powerful Descendants were brought back to the sr system.

    Some human powerhouses feared that they would catch Lepodya from being around the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs residing in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    ''Still, there are Frederik, Hiraku, and the others. Even Lokai and Thoar should be over there, protecting their kin from the devious powers of fear and the traitors in the Saphirke Military Academy.

    Due to the Compass Relic and Cosmic Stride, they moved toward Kelta and reached the Saphirke Military Academy in no time.

    Atst, they could cleanse the corruption in the Lumina Ster System.

    The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs spread upon arriving above the academy grounds. They could sense the congregated energies around them and hear themotion of the battlefields everywhere. Michael was alone, not even two seconds after they arrived.

    He kept Spirit Eyes active and hovered above the academy, inspecting everything from a bird''s view.

    ''Have they been fighting for thest few weeks? No, that doesn''t make any sense. Maybe the traitors only reached Kelta now? That might not be the point, either. Evee said that Eren killed a bunch of traitor outposts in Kelta and the sr system. Maybe the traitors in Kelta were afraid that someone like Eren would appear. Or more High Awakened were ''convinced'' that Lepodya was the fault of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It''s not unlikely to consider that the ze Patriarch and his people might have created more rumors around the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to tarnish their reputation further.''

    Michael couldn''t say for certain what was going on, but from his point of view, it looked like the battlefields were rather fresh. They couldn''t have started fighting more than half an hour ago. Michael inspected the fights all over the battlefield and watched Palika and his people join, only to obliterate their enemies with simple attacks.

    The Saphirke Military Academy might be a prestigious ce with powerful professors and the best training resources, but its residents were mainly Lesser Lifeforms¡ª

    Students. Of course, there were also Higher Lifeforms among the students, but there weren''t many left.

    ''Am I missing something, or is the academy more resemble a dead town? There are many corpses of humans, but I cannot see the most talented students anywhere. Were they all brought back to the sr system, and not only a few like Alice had said?''

    Michael was unsure, but he could tell one thing for certain: Far more corpses sprawled all over the Saphirke Military Academy than he would have liked to see. It was a disaster.

    ''So many rotting corpses, yet nobody is taking care of them,'' Michael exhaled deeply, only for his focus to be pulled to the side. A smaller battle erupted on the academy''s parkour park outskirts. ''Looks resemble you made it back quite fast, Frederik!''

    Michael found Frederik in a fierce exchange with a High Awakened. Unfortunately, the fiercest part was that Frederik was getting beaten into a pulp. He used his Wind Mastery and Enhanced Wind to full power to change the trajectory of the iing attacks. His control of the surrounding winds and the additional wind he summoned around him permitted Frederik to move faster than the norm, but he faced a Higher Lifeform.

    The High Awakened seemed injured. His pants were drenched in blood, and he travelled a bit sluggish every time he attacked. Unfortunately, that wasn''t enough. Frederik was still slower than the High Awakened. Or maybe not? Michael saw something that attracted his interest.

    ''He is trying to protect the Berserkers!''

    At first, Michael had been certain that the bodies behind Frederik were corpses, but they were still moving, though weakly. Three Berserkers, two using their bodies to protect the Berserker at the bottom of the pile, were piled up and on the verge of death. They were too weak to move and would probably bleed to death in a few minutes. Yet, Frederik gave his utmost to protect the Berserkers from certain death.

    Frederik was at a gross disadvantage against any Higher Lifeform, but he put his life in even more danger to protect the weak and injured.

    ''I knew that you woulde to help them. Who cares that you''re not yet a Higher Lifeform?'' Michael asked in his mind, his gaze filled with pride. ''You stalled enough time.''

    "I am content of you!" He said as he appeared next to Frederik. His gaze glowed golden as he used Spiritual Domination, forcing the High Awakened to his knees.

    Frederik nced at Michael, his face beaten ck and blue, but he shed a grin upon seeing him nheless.

    "You acquired way too long, dude!"

 Chapter 853 Michael, the Medic

    Chapter 853 Michael, the Medic

    ??"I was busy getting rid of some pesky traitors," Michael responded with a smile, "I knew you would be able to handle this."

    He pointed at the High Awakened, struggling to get up from the ground. The High Awakened groaned, his eyes bloodshed. Tears of rage and anger trickled down his cheeks, and foam oozed from his mouth.

    "Was he like that earlier as well?" Michael asked. Frederik shook his head, but he looked uncertain.

    ''Better get rid of this guy before he can do something stupid then.'' He shrugged inwardly, ignoring the energy building up in the High Awakened''s stomach.

    Instead, Michael focused on his attack. A golden de manifested in his hand vanished in a blur a momentter. The next thing Frederik could see was a red line covering the High Awakened''s neck and his head sliding down. The headnded on the ground with a thud, and a fountain of blood gushed out of his headless neck. The High Awakened''s body copsed to the ground, wiggling for a few seconds before it stopped forever.

    Frederik swallowed hard.

    ''I couldn''t see anything! It hasn''t been that long since he ascended to a Higher Lifeform, but why does it feel like he has grown even stronger since then?!''

    It was obvious that Michael grew stronger. The slightest increase in a War Rune''s refinement degree as a Higher Lifeform was equivalent to a massive improvement as a Lesser Lifeform. Still, Frederik could tell that Michael had changed much more than a simple refinement of his War Rune.

    ''How can he continue to grow stronger this fast? That''s not fair!'' Frederik eximed inwardly in an outburst, only to shake his head. ''Michael works harder than anyone. I should know that better than most.

    His territory is crazy, and I haven''t seen Michael taking a break in forever. He is either somewhere fighting with his life on the line or grasping golden opportunities others wouldn''t dare to. The golden opportunities were spiked with dangers potent enough to kill the strongest of their kind, yet Frederik was certain that Michael would grasp them.

    Michael never avoided danger. He embraced it to grow stronger.

    Even though Michael could see the trains of thought shing through Frederik''s eyes, he didn''t say anything. He patted Frederik''s back and smiled proudly at him.

    "You did well."

    That was enough to stir Frederik''s heart. A sting of guilt spread outward, filling his entire being. Michael was a good guy. He was a little weird, but he deserved to grow stronger. It would be a shame if Michael died out there while growing stronger.

    ''I hope he has some time out after all of this is over.''

    Michael focused on the task ahead. Frederik was injured, and the Berserkers were about to die.

    He retrieved a few corpses from his War Rune storage and immediately used Swallow Domain on them. Frederik saw only a glimpse of the bodies, but it was enough to confuse him. He stared at Michael as viscous silver glimmering liquid formed all around him.

    Michael used Permute on the content within Swallow Domain to create healing serum on arge scale. There wasn''t much healing serum, but it was enough for the task ahead.

    "Don''t resist me," Michael announced, splitting the healing serum into four streams. The smallest stream swirled around Frederik and pushed inside him. A thinyer of healing serum sshed on his face, healing his bruises rapidly. His swollen cheeks receded to their original shape, and the cuts all over his face healed rapidly.

    Frederik''s wounds weren''t nasty and returned to his peak within seconds. Unfortunately, the Berserkers weren''t faring that well. They''d already lost too much blood and were already deadly pale. Michael lifted them with ease and put them down next to each other.

    Since his experience with healing other people wasn''t that great, Micheal relied on the quantity of healing serum at his disposal. The three remaining streams of healing serum were used to swallow the three Berserkers. The healing serum stopped their bleeding while entering their bodies. It spread through their system and reached their cells, invigorating them rapidly.

    The Berserkers improved quickly, but Michael was not done there. He manifested a few masses of attributed energy¡ªlight, nature, and fire¡ªand used Permute to create nutrients and lifeforce in their purest form. The nutrients and lifeforce were grasped with Insert and infused into the masses of attributed energy. Michael felt the immense power within the masses of energy and smiled. He willed them above the Berserkers and used Insert to channel everything inside them.

    The nutrients and lifeforce were distributed evenly through the Berserkers'' bodies, where the healing serum required them.

    Michael tapped into the nutrients and lifeforce with healing serum to elerate the healing process. The Berserkers looked better by the second. Their bodies produced blood much faster than before to make up for the masses of blood they''d lost. Breathes of relief escaped their lips. They were recuperating and escaped the cliff of eternal darkness. They''d escaped death at the door''s step.

    ''From the looks of it, River of Vigor''s passive effect is more than enough to stabilize their condition. Well, then again, River of Vigor would be too strong if I used it actively on them. Berserkers are innately strong and might be strong enough to endure it, but their condition was not durable enough to endure River of Vigor at full power.''

    ''Maybe Enhancement would work out best to ensure that patients on the verge of death ¨C like these Berserkers - can be saved from even more grievous injuries. Enhancement improved the healing serum of River of Vigor without increasing the serum''s potency. An increase in potency would be troublesome. An efficiency, on the other hand, would save countless lives.''

    Still trying to figure out how to acquire the most suitable way to utilize River of Vigor on others without identally killing his patients. It would be a lot worse to tear his patients apart while trying to heal them.

    ''That would be a deadly healing.'' Michael frowned deeply. He certainly didn''t want to kill his patients. If anything, Michael wanted to rescue everyone!

    Michael closed his eyes and used River of Vigor actively now that the Berserkers were stabilized.

    The moment River of Vigor was activated, Michael''s energy was drained rapidly. He was stunned to see how much energy was drained but smiled when the Berserkers improved even faster. The healing serum was utilized up swiftly, which allowed Michael to stop using River of Vigor after a while.

    The Berserkers got up as the healing serum dispersed. They inspected their bodies and channeled energy through them, only to note that their energy paths and lifeforce were stronger than before. They were ready to jump back into battle, their fighting spirit skyrocketing.

    "You will feel more energetic for a while, but that effect won''t endure forever. Your energy paths are temporarily enhanced as well. Remember that this is temporary," Michael reminded the Berserkers with a smile. Their eyes lingered on him, a sh of reverence and astonishment filling them.

    "You saved us," They uttered in unison before their focus turned to Frederik.

    "You as well. Thank you. We survived thanks to you," One of them said, his words filling Frederik''s soul with something he hadn''t felt for a while.

    Pride.

    He was proud of himself.

    ''I did it!'' Frederik clutched his hands into tight fists.

    ''I can do it!''

 Chapter 854 Kill or Capture

    <h4>Chapter 854 Kill or Capture</h4>

    It didn''t take long before Palika and the others appeared next to Michael with more injured people, Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and Humans.

    Michael wasn''t familiar with most of the injured humans, but he doubted Palika and his people would rescue any traitorous humans. They would kill them instead.

    Michael retrieved more corpses, used Swallowed Domain and Permute with a significant amount of curse power, and created enough healing serum to heal all of them. By distributing the healing serum equally, Michael could use River of Vigor actively. The healing serum''s potency skyrocketed, resulting in drastic patient reactions. Some writhed in pain for a second before the soothing sensation of the healing serum reached them, while the others smiled silently, enjoying the healing serum''s sensation.

    "We interrupted all fights and killed everyone who attacked us. Some students and professors tried to protect our people," Niechol said, pointing at the human patients, "They''re good people, and I think it was a good decision not to jump to conclusions in a rushed manner."

    Michael smiled. He heard from Palika that Niechol had been the most impatient among the supporters of an all-out war. It made sense, to a certain degree. Niechol lost his mother to the Bloodhound, one of the Supreme Human Alliance''s members, only for the same SHA to corrupt the entire human race. More Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs died due to the Supreme Human Alliance''s actions, and Niechol wanted to end it.

    It was good that Michael''s offer to kill all traitors came at the right time and that Niechol found a trace of hope in humanity''s rows. Not all of them were bad. Most of them weren''t.

    "How can we be sure that every traitor has been taken care of?" Palika asked Michael, his eyes trailing through the ruins of the Saphirke Military Academy. It would be a hassle to rebuild the academy, but it should be possible with enough resources. It was only questionable whether anyone would want to return to the Saphirke Military Academy or if it was better to demolish the academy and rebuild another academy somewhere else.

    An academy with nk tes.

    For now, that didn''t matter. It was something the heads of the Tritan Alliance would have to decide once the mess was taken care of.

    "Frederik has a list of families who betrayed the Tritan Alliance. Not every member of their families joined the Supreme Human Alliance, but we can capture everyone and interrogate them using Soultraits like my Mind Reader. If they resist and resort to violence, we can consider them enemies and take care of them." Michael exined before forwarding the list his friend had created.

    "Are you sure about that?" One of the older Warlock Centaurs asked, "Do you think we have the time to search and capture everyone? If we''re wasting time searching for everyone, we might miss the real perpetrators. They can flee into the Origin Expanse and stay there for a few years until the situation has calmed down. We should be decisive and remove the root of our problems."

    Fleeing into the Origin Expanse was a good point. It was a valid possibility and something nobody could prevent. Of course, they could stop them if they tried entering the Origin Expanse in the middle of a fierce battle, but there weren''t many other possibilities.

    "What if you split up? Some of you continue hunting the traitors'' strongest foes while the others capture the remaining members of the families to interrogate them?" Frederik proposed, raising his hand into the air, "I can help with thetter. The faces of all traitors and their family members are engraved in my mind. I spent quite some time researching them. I wouldn''t forget their faces easily!"

    While Frederik''s proposal sounded feasible, Michael didn''t like the idea of splitting up the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers. They had yet to take care of the ze Patriarch and his underlings. Michael couldn''t be certain about that, but he had the feeling the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs needed as much strength as possible to deal with the ze Patriarch. Splitting their forces would lower their chance to emerge victorious.

    "Is Kraft Viton still in the academy?" Michael asked Frederik, but it was Palika who answered instead.

    "I saw the old man. He killed a few traitors while protecting the students. I didn''t bring him here because he wasn''t injured. He looked busy as well."

    Michael nodded slowly.

    It was good that Kraft Viton was still alive and that he didn''t abandon the Saphirke Military Academy. Michael was certain Kraft Viton had better things to do than be at the military academy, but he returned even though Michael wasn''t there anymore.

    Shortly after, Michael searched for familiar energy fluctuations via Spirit Eyes and found Kraft Viton. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport to the old man and found himself in a tight embrace a few secondster.

    "Brat, you''re still alive!" Kraft Viton eximed.

    Michael smiled at the old man, "Of course, I''m still alive. I''m better than ever!"

    Kraft Viton nodded, realizing what Michael meant "You ascended."

    "That''s not all, but yeah. I ascended to a Higher Lifeform," Michael affirmed, "But let''s not talk about this. I think we have more important things to take care of."

    He exined to Kraft Viton everything about the list of traitors prepared by Frederik and the n he had up to his sleeves. Michael retrieved a bunch of Soultrait Symbols, upgraded them to 4-Star, and offered them to the old man, who stared at them with twinkling eyes.

    There were more than enough 4-Star Soultrait Symbols to bestow to a few people and create a small unit of powerhouses.

    "Give them to the people you trust with your life on the line, and take Frederik with you to capture everyone on the list. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wille with me to kill the strongest powerhouses and remove the root of all problems, but we may miss some traitors. The Soultraits ensured you and the others won''t die."

    Kraft Viton continued staring at the Soultrait Symbols for a while. His attention returned to Michael, his confusion apparent.

    Michael sighed deeply, "We already lost too many good people. If I can ensure that no more powerhouses on our side die, I should do that. Handing out a few Soultrait Symbols is exactly what you need to increase your survivability."

    Kraft Viton nodded slowly, but Michael was not done speaking.

    "There is also a 4-Star Interrogation-type Soultrait among the batch I gave you. You can use them on the captives to find out who''s innocent and who has decided to betray us and the Tritan Alliance. That way, Palika, Niechol, and their people cane with me to get rid of the powerhouses."

    "Alright, let''s do that." Kraft Viton nodded before disappearing into the Origin Expanse.

    Less than an hourter, Kraft Viton returned with four old men and women. They were the old man''s long-trusted allies and also his Subordinates in the Origin Expanse.

    That was reassuring.

    Michael trusted Kraft Viton, and since the old men and women were his subordinates, giving them Soultrait Symbols was still within the eptable range.

    Kraft Viton disappeared in the Saphirke Miltiary Academy''s ruins for another 20 minutes, handing over the duty to take care of the academy and its students to others.

    Then, he and his subordinates retreated to Palika and the rest.

    Michael collected the Compass Relic, and they made their proceed back to the sr system.

 Chapter 855 Done

    Chapter 855 Done

    ??It was much faster and easier to use the Compass Relic with Cosmic Stride to jump through ster systems. Still, it was obvious that the Compass Relic wasn''t created to carry two dozen people through an entire ster system. The Compass Relic was almost empty, forcing Michael to insert more energy into it.

    In the meantime, the cleansing in the sr system continued¡­and ended much faster than expected¡­

    It didn''t even take a full day for Palika and his people to kill more than a hundred traitors. They were all Higher Lifeforms and resisted greatly, only to be smashed into smithereens with a single hit or two.

    They didn''t encounter any Tier-6 powerhouses at first and killed everyone stupid enough to resist without hesitation. In the meantime, Kraft Viton, his subordinates, and Frederik made their move. First, they traveled to the Ondo family, where they met with some resistance. Frederik watched the Elders of the Ondo family being ughtered like pigs. They tried attacking Kraft Viton, but the old man crushed their heads with a snap of his fingers. It was a grotesque sight, but Frederik wasn''t displeased.

    Watching the Ondo family''s Elders dying the deaths they deserved was¡­satisfying.

    Fortunately, Jacqueline''s Father, Karek Ondo, didn''t resist Kraft Viton. He saw Frederik and remembered what kind of person Kraft Viton was before surrendering. Since Karek never wanted to be part of the Supreme Human Alliance''s scheme, he didn''t have to fear anything. The same applied to Jacqueline, who received a message from her father in the Origin Expanse. She returned from the Origin Expanse to be interrogated along with the other members of the Ondo household.

    Even though most doubted that Jacqueline Ondo was a traitor, they were all imprisoned. But that didn''t matter much. They had to go by the book and record the interrogation as well.

    Still, Jacqueline and Frederik hugged tightly once they reunited. It had been eons since they had been forced to separate, so their reunion was more passionate than usual. They released each other only from the tight embrace to press their lips on top of each other. The young couple kissed passionately for a few minutes, and nobody doubted that if Kraft Viton, his subordinates, and Karek Ondo weren''t present, they would have disappeared into a room to celebrate their reunion.

    Jacqueline and Frederik didn''t want to separate again, but Frederik had been given a mission. He felt obliged toplete Michael''s task, so that is exactly what he did.

    Unfortunately, not everything went ording to n. To be precise, many things didn''t go as nned. That was especially true for their encounter with the ze Patriarch and his underlings.

    Despite the tremendous might of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who had gotten additional Symbols, elevating theirbat prowess to another level, they didn''t manage to kill the ze Patriarch. They encountered the ze Patriarch, fought fiercely, and managed to injure him gravely, but the ze Patriarch didn''t die.

    Michael was certain the ze Patriarch''s internal organs were crushed and that Niechol''s Divine Light burned his energy paths, but the ze Patriarch was still alive. He could recuperate and return stronger than ever. The ze Patriarch used several Artifacts to avoid the deadliest blows. He then increased the distance between the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs before creating an indestructible dome around him. Only Divine Lifeforms could destroy the Dome after a few strikes.

    The Dome wasn''t permanent, and Michael could do something to it, weakening the Dome to create an opening for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Still, the ze Patriarch had enough time to create a Runic Gate and flee into the Origin Expanse.

    He escaped.

    That was bad, but upon informing Kraft Viton and some of the powerful families, who were still on their side, Michael learned that they could create a fortress around the ze Patriarch''s anchor, ensuring that the ze Patriarch would have a hard time returning. Even if he returned, the powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance would be informed, and the rm system of the Runic Fortress would be activated, restraining the ze Patriarch until his apprehenders would appear.

    At least, that was how most Runic Fortresses worked as long as the materials and security system installed were strong enough to restrain the prisoner.

    Michael wasn''t satisfied with that, but he could do nothing about it. The ze Patriarch was not in the Tritan Alliance anymore, and he could use the next few years in the Origin Expanse to refine his power beforeing back to im the reigns of the Tritan Alliance and annihte the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    The biggest problem with the ze Patriarch was that he managed to grow incredibly strong rtively quickly. It was unknown how strong he was then, but his strength must have skyrocketed for six Tier-6 powerhouses with three Soultraits to be unable to kill him instantaneously.

    Too many people died or disappeared after the ze Patriarch revealed his true self. The only advantage was that the traitorous families ¨C more than 85% of their powerhouses ¨C had been eliminated. Only the young and innocent were left unscathed, but not without deploying watchguards to observe their actions for the next few years.

    It was also good that the ze household had been removed from existence, though many household members were missing. Either they were sent into hiding in the Origin Expanse, or they were somewhere else¡­like many other Descendants.

    Michael was filled with sadness and frustration. He found Oliver Zeus'' corpse and many bodies of powerful Awakened ¨C good people who''d fought for the Tritan Alliance to prevail.

    Michael requested to kill two Tier-6 powerhouses Palika and his people had captured. They had some understanding of Michael''s powers and let him be. Upon killing the Tier-6 powerhouses, Michael used True Extraction at full power, amplified by Cursed Seals and Soul Tears to extract their SoulStar Fragments ¨C earning him more than ten thousand SoulStar Fragments ¨C and several Memory Orbs.

    The Memory Orbs were consumed immediately, revealing more information about the ze Patriarch''s deal with the Supreme Human Alliance and information about the whereabouts of the Descendants and talented youths who had vanished.

    "Alice, Kaleb, Lincoln, Zeke¡­and everyone else¡­were kidnapped and brought away¡­" Michael murmured, a shudder running down his spine.

    "Brought away? Where?!" Lincoln''s father, who''d joined their mission to kill the traitors of the Tritan Alliance not too long ago, asked. He was scared. What if something happened to his son?

    However, Lincoln''s father wasn''t the only one scared about their children''s whereabouts and safety. All human powerhouses who were missing one or multiple children were frightened. What scared them the most wasn''t the fact that their child had been kidnapped. They trusted their child and their teachings. Everyone had been prepared for simr cases.

    However, what terrified the parents was that they couldn''t do anything for their children.

    They were the strongest powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance but were helpless when their children were kidnapped. Even though they were strong in the Tritan Alliance, they were nothing more than pesky ants before the Supreme Human Alliance.

    They couldn''t do anything.

    "I¡­don''t know. Somewhere." Michael answered, each word tougher to say than the one before. He was experiencing a hard time controlling his raging emotions. His eyes glowed like the sun, anger filling them, "In the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory."

 Chapter 856 Where?

    <h4>Chapter 856 Where?</h4>

    The end of the civil war and the corruption spread by the Supreme Human Alliance ended rather quickly. It was anti-climactic. Michael learned how to use Extraction to remove Lepodya from patients as long as they allowed him to infuse a considerable amount of Extraction''s power into them.

    After that, Michael would heal them with healing serum. It was rather simple.

    However, finding Alice and the other Descendants was far from simple. Michael and the others read some reports about a pristine pir emerging out of nowhere and swallowing Descendants. The Descendants disappeared with the pristine pirs, leaving traces of spatial fluctuations behind.

    These fluctuations were the only hard proof they had to determine that the Descendants weren''t dead but that they had been kidnapped.

    Neither Michael nor the other powerhouses could tell how it was possible for someone ¨C presumably the Supreme Human Alliance ¨C to kidnap the Descendants. Among them were Higher Lifeforms, including Tier-5 powerhouses with strong willpower and remarkable natural resilience. The firmament was torn as well, preventing any Divine Lifeforms from entering the Tritan Alliance''s territory.

    That could only mean a few things. Either the Supreme Human Alliance used a teleportation with enough energy to overpower the natural resilience of hundreds of Descendants, rendering them incapable of resisting the teleportation, or a Divine Lifeform outside the Tritan Alliance passed through the torn firmament with its power to teleport everyone away.

    There were also other possibilities, but the first possibility was the most likely. The only questions left were how the Supreme Human Alliance marked everyone, pinpointed their location to use the teleportation device with great precision, and where they were brought.

    "It''s good that Divine Lifeforms are banished from the sr system and the Lumina Ster System. To think that the battle of three Divine Lifeforms ended up tearing the firmament of the entire sr system apart so that it would be considered a problem for Divine Lifeforms to appear in the adjacent ster system as well." Kraft Viton shook his head lightly.

    The Descendants'' disappearance was a shock, but Kraft Viton wasn''t personally affected by it. He could understand how the others must feel, but it wasn''t a challenge to remain calm andposed or to point out their advantages.

    The Supreme Human Alliance wouldn''t be able to attack them with Divine Lifeforms anymore. For a few centuries, at least.

    Several hundred years were more than enough to prepare for the SHA''s attacks and create their own Divine Lifeforms. As long as they had Michael and his Soultraits by their side, it wouldn''t be impossible to empower their Divine Lifeforms enough to emerge victorious against Hyumans and their unique techniques.

    But that meant Michael would have to keep supplying them with Soultrait Symbols and upgrade them.

    The Tritan Alliance was already in Michael''s debt. Without his Soultrait Symbols and his active parts in the whole situation, the Tritan Alliance wouldn''t exist anymore in the first ce. They owed Michael their lives.

    But Michael didn''t feel like that. He had been toote to rescue the Descendants¡­ Lincoln, Zeke¡­Kaleb¡­and Alice.

    It was infuriating, endlessly frustrating to have been too weak to deal with the issues in the Tritan Alliance with a snap and to remove the Supreme Human Alliance''s feelers the moment they''d manifested.

    ''I am a Higher Lifeform, but I am still too weak to do anything.'' He ridiculed himself, his mind drifting toward the kidnapped Descendants¡­to Alice, ''I have to do something.''

    Michael couldn''t sit idle and do nothing. The Lord IDs of Alice and the other kidnapped Descendants were still intact. Of course, it was possible that they malfunctioned, as was the case with Daniel''s Lord ID in the past, but Michael and everyone else wanted to believe that their friends and beloved were fine. Thus, they trusted the Lord ID and thought everyone was alive.

    That was good. At least they were still alive.

    Still, Michael had to do more.

    He retrieved amunication device specifically for Curse Users ¨C it connected to the Nest, which was a lot more difficult than Michael had expected when he entered the Nest first. To ess themunication device, one would have to be alone with nobody else in a range of 100 meters before channeling curse power into it. Once empowered, themunication device spent the next 10 minutes checking the Curse User''s identity, his mental health ¨C ensuring he wasn''t manipted to do something ¨C and countless other things to ensure that nobody would be able to use themunication device to track the Nest''s location.

    ["Michael, is that you? Is everything alright in the Tritan Alliance?"] Michael heard Evee''s voice ring through his ears. His ears twitched, but he remained calm.

    "I''m not sure if I would say that everything is alright, but the threat of the Supreme Human Alliance has been removed ¨C mostly, at least. The ze Patriarch managed to flee into the Origin Expanse, but we''re going to build a fortress around him with enough traps and rm runes to restrain him and warn everyone when he returns," Michael exined. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

    "There is a lot more I could report, but the most crucial point is that hundreds of Descendants were kidnapped. We don''t know what they will do with them, but I have a bad feeling about it. Do you think you can forward me to the Nest Leader? I must talk to her to figure out what to do now."

    ["Are you nning to charge into the SHA''s territory in an attempt to find and rescue your friends?"] Evee asked, not forwarding him Selena right away.

    "That would be the best solution. If it''s possible, that is," Michael nodded, only for Evee to look deeply.

    ["Even the Nest isn''t strong enough to deal with everything, you know? There is a reason the Nest''s headquarters is hidden and why we''re so focused on keeping the Nest hidden while the Supreme Human Alliance is acting openly as if the cosmos belongs to them. Our military might isn''t low, but we are too few powerful Curse Users."]

    "You''re saying even the Nest Leader won''t be able to find and rescue Alice and the others?"

    Michael could hear Evee groan and fall silent before she answered.

    ["Things aren''t as simple as you might think. You make it look like everything is so simple, but do you even know where Alice and thepanions are kept? The Supreme Human Alliance''s territory spans several gxies. In fact, our data are so outdated that the Supreme Human Alliance might have already conquered a few more gxies since we were able to check the facts. So tell me, Michael¡­.Where are your friends and your lover kept?"]

    Michael''s lips parted, but no word escaped from them. There was nothing to say. He had no answer. Michael had no idea where the Supreme Human Alliance would keep his friends and lover.

    Would they be on the outskirts of their territory for experiments, or would they be brought closer to the Origin to spread their corruption and convince the Descendants that the Supreme Human Alliance was in the right and that the Tritan Alliance was wrong and against thews of the cosmos¡­that only the purest of all humans were supposed to rule the cosmos.

    He had no idea, and that was the worst of all.

    If Michael knew what the SHA did to his friends and Alice and where they brought them, Michael coulde up with a n.

    However, he didn''t have a chance to do anything. Not like this¡­

 Chapter 857 New Ruler?

    Chapter 857 New Ruler?

    ??"What am I supposed to do now? I don''t even know what is happening to the others and how much time they have left, but I don''t have a single clue to their whereabouts." Michael ruffled through his hair, letting his frustration loose.

    Evee might have told him she would investigate their whereabouts using her Soultrait and her Major Seal''s power, but Michael had no idea how fast Evee would be. What if she was taking too long and something happened? Would Michael be able to do something? He started doubting it.

    ''I need to grow stronger. Once I''m a Divine Lifeform with several 8-Star and 7-Star Soultraits and a bunch of powerful techniques, I won''t have any issues dealing with people like Bloodhound. I can tear them apart before they make their first move by then.''

    Michael sighed deeply, recalling everything Evee said.

    ''They think I can influence the tides and make crucial changes. Well, maybe that''s true. But it would take a while. Maybe it would take longer than my friends can afford¡­''

    He felt like ripping his hair out but chose to use his excessive energy differently. Michael hoped Evee would reach him with more information soon and that he could convince the Nest Leader to do something then. Maybe Selena would do something and infiltrate the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory if he offered her enough Soultrait Symbols.

    Hoping for the best, Michael entered the Origin Expanse to train several hours a day. He had meetings with the attendants, read the daily reports, received news from the Valyr who epted the changes in the contracts readily, and the Forest Elves who traded some of their ''special'' treasures. They didn''t need those treasures anymore as they stimted elerated growth of certain nts and increased the probability of mutations within the nt life.

    Several days passed quickly. The first days were hard for Michael because he couldn''t focus on his Body, Mind, and Soul refinement, but his heart and mind retained some calm after four days.

    Almost two weeks passed outside the Origin Expanse. Some traitors who''d returned from the Origin Expanse ¨C not knowing what had happened in their absence ¨C had reappeared. They were captured, interrogated to prove their crimes, and executed once they were found guilty.

    Michael didn''t pay too much attention to the changes happening in the Tritan Alliance. He trusted Palika, Kraft Viton, and his friends'' parents enough to stay out of their sight. It wasn''t like he knew enough about how to rule over several races and resolve the trust gap between Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs that emerged thanks to the Supreme Human Alliance''s actions.

    It would take a while to mend their rtionship and emerge stronger than ever.

    Michael didn''t know how to help with that. His influence among the Awakened might be extraordinary. He was trusted by almost everyone due to his actions, but that didn''t mean it was his responsibility to take care of everyone. Michael would much instead focus on getting stronger to deal with future threats.

    He had a few hundred years before being forced to fight the Supreme Human Alliance''s invading forces, but that didn''t mean Michael would stay idle for centuries. He couldn''t imagine himself sitting back and growing stronger that slowly. There was no way he would make his move thiste.

    The sooner he umted enough strength, the better.

    As the repairs across Elyra, Keltas, and the others, cities, andndscapes, which had been destroyed, continued, something unexpected happened. But was it unexpected? Evee and Selena told him repetitively that the Supreme Human Alliance was oddly interested in the Lesser Humans of the Tritan Alliance. Their actions affirmed their predictions as well.

    The Supreme Human Alliance wasn''t willing to give up the Tritan Alliance. They wanted to rule the Tritan Alliance to nurture more Humans with powerful Soultraits ¨C something the Lesser Humans of the Tritan Alliance had more than others.

    Therefore, could it be considered a coincidence when a Peak Tier-6 powerhouse of the Supreme Human Alliance appeared in the sr system?

    Michael wasn''t sure, but it didn''t matter either way. It was a matter of fact that the Peak Tier-6 powerhouse had to be defeated.

    The rm across the sr system was triggered and everyone, including Palika and his troupe, which had yet to return to the Lumina Ster System, prepared to engage in a fierce battle.

    However, instead of going for the Peak TIer-6 powerhouse, they waited for it toe for them. Palika, his people, and the remaining powerhouses of humanity gathered in a massive open ins, ready to fight the Peak Tier-6 powerhouse when Michael used Cosmic Stride to close the gap to the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman.

    Michael could immediately tell that the neer was young and that he was different from ordinary humans. He was more.

    He suppressed his curse power and the Essences of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs residing deep within him and covered everything withyers of Qi, Extraction, and Enhancement.

    His energy was drained quickly, but the Hyuman didn''t attack him immediately. He studied Michael and smiled.

    "Are you Kalos ze?" The Hyuman asked into the open space. Michael imagined the Hyuman''s voice dispersing into the space, but it reached Michael cleanly.

    ''He knows the ze Patriarch but isn''t aware of the situation?'' Michael tried hard to control his facial features, but the corners of his eyes twitched.

    [I''m not the ze Patriarch, but I was deployed to find out who you are and what your intentions are.] Michael uttered to the Hyuman using Whispering Energy.

    The Hyuman raised his eyebrow, "Was your Master not informed about my departure? With the death of the Long brothers, I was put in charge of the Tritan Alliance. I''m your Ruler now!"

    Thest words thundered through the surroundings, resulting in faint vibrations in the fabric of space.

    ''They sent someone to take control of the Tritan Alliance using a Peak Tier-6 powerhouse?''

    Michael could quickly tell that the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman was on the verge of ascending to a Divine Lifeform. It wasn''t unlikely that he postponed his Divine Ascension to follow the Supreme Human Alliance''s orders and im the Tritan Alliance.

    But what exactly did "ruling the Tritan Alliance" mean in the Supreme Human Alliance''s eyes? They might either annihte the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs before bing the sole rulers of the Lesser Humans in the small backwater gxy or enve the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It was only obvious, but every rebel who resisted the holy orders of the Supreme Human Alliance would be killed.

    Those things were what Michael imagined to happen and what he''d seen in the memories of others already. He didn''t want such a fate to befall the Tritan Alliance.

    [I wasn''t informed about such a thing. The ze Patriarch informed everybody that we lost contact with the Supreme Human Alliance. We were never informed about a new Ruler.]

    The man''s demeanor changed the instant Michael''s words reached them, and a burst of energy swept through the surroundings. The pressure all around Michael increased rapidly. It wasn''t enough to affect Michael seriously, but he acted like it hurt him.

    "Bring me to this bastard!"

    Michael nodded immediately and tried to shudder as if he was afraid.

    [I-I¡­I can teleport you to the ze Patriarch.]

    The Hyuman nodded and gestured him toe closer, "Lead the way!"

    Michael appeared in front of the Hyuman, whose eyes narrowed slightly. Nheless, he allowed Michael to touch and activate Cosmic Stride, only to notice something odd the instant Michael touched him.

    The Hyuman realized he was shrouded in too many powers and that there was something within him.

    A primal roar escaped from the depths of Michael''s body at the same time. His curse power exploded, coating his body to protect him from potential harm. Simultaneously, he kept theyers of Extraction, Enhancement, and Qi all over his body, hoping everybody was ready for what was about to happen.

    A momentter, they teleported¡­right into the trap prepared to deal with the people of the Supreme Human Alliance.

 Chapter 858 Trap the Hyuman

    <h4>Chapter 858 Trap the Hyuman</h4>

    Michael had to move instantly to avoid the iing bombardment of projectiles, spells, and debuffs.

    He teleported twice in a row, once to move with the Hyuman into the center of the encirclement created by the Tritan Alliance''s powerhouses and a second time alone to escape. It was close, an earth spike nearly piercing his back, but Michael escaped the attacks.

    He appeared above the battlefield where Giuliana Seraph, Mother of Maria Seraph, levitated to apply her Healing Soultrait if necessary. She precisely controlled andpressed energy underneath her feet, allowing her to stay in the air.

    Giuliana noticed Michael but didn''t say anything. She had a lot to say to Michael, good and bad. However, now was not the time toin about her daughter''s broken heart, the fact that Michael was Maria''s Primal Amplifier, or that Michael''s contribution to the Civil War was why Giuliana and her husband could see their daughter again.

    The ze Patriarch kidnapped her daughter to ckmail the Seraph family, forcing them to do things they weren''t proud of. Fortunately, they overcame most issues without causing too much damage to society before reuniting with their daughter. Still, the aftermath of their actions was longsting and would probably affect the rtionships within the Tritan Alliance for a while. Humanity would take time and effort to regain the Berserkers'' and Warlock Centaurs'' trust.

    Fighting the Hyuman together was one way to regain trust and strengthenpanionship within the Tritan Alliance.

    Several highlypressed earth spikes shot out of the ground around the Hyuman. However, before they reach the Hyuman, the earthen spikes split into several thinner spikes, transforming into serpent heads. They coiled around the Hyumans'' legs before an obsidian-colored spike emerged from the ground underneath the Hyuman.

    Simultaneously, wind des, energy beams, charged pristine arrows, and more projectiles shot toward the Hyuman from all directions. The attacks were only the beginning, but they were enough to put the Hyuman under pressure. Some of the iing projectiles wouldn''t harm him as he exerted the Primordial Bloodline technique when he noticed something odd about Michael.

    His skin was tougher than most attacks a Tier-5 Awakened could throw at him. Only some special attacks, which naturally ignored an Awakened''s physical resistance, would be able to inflict harm on him. Even Tier-6 Awakened should have difficulties harming him.

    Therefore, the Hyuman didn''t have to do much as the bombardment of projectiles ensued.

    The only problem was the assault on his Mind and Soul ¨C or the volley of Soultraits used to strengthen the iing attacks and weaken the Hyuman.

    The Primordial Bloodline technique at the mastery disyed by the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman was strong enough to weaken the effect of most Soultraits attempting to weaken him. However, his mastery wasn''t enough to nullify the effects. Not even the gap in their Tier was enough ¨C on top of the Primordial Bloodline technique ¨C to nullify the debuffs.

    The Hyuman''s defense lowered. His sight grew hazy, and he was having a much harder time controlling the energy that was residing within him. Not only were his energy paths narrowed suddenly, but it felt like the origin energy inside him started resisting the Hyuman. That was only the beginning.

    The Hyuman''s body grew heavier as if gravitation around him intensified all of a sudden. He nearly stumbled to the ground when he first noticed the drastic changes in the surrounding gravitational force.

    Despite being dulled, his senses picked up the strengthening of the surrounding projectiles right before they impacted.

    The Hyuman clicked his tongue and started to retaliate. He unleashed his Soultraits, Field of Domination, and an extensive grayish aura burst forth from his body. The slithering earthen snakes coiled around his legs shattered while the obsidian spike slowed down. It cracked as it closed into the Hyuman''s lower body, but all the Hyuman had to do to get rid of the obsidian spike was to kick it.

    A light kick was all it took to shatter the obsidian spike. Meanwhile, the impacting projectiles either dissolved or were drastically weakened and unable to inflict any serious harm as they impacted.

    Only the debuffs remained on the Hyuman, refraining him from utilizing his entire strength.

    "You betrayed the Supreme Human Alliance and abandoned your Gods? Okay¡­ Okay¡­That''s totally okay! You aren''t afraid of anything, you fools! May the sword of justice and supremacy strike you!" The Hyuman roared, his presence changing all of a sudden.

    If he focused on blocking most attacks beforehand, the current situation could only be considered a switch. The Hyuman switched from defense to offense. A thin metal armor appeared. It was as gray as his aura and amplified his Soultrait''s effect considerably. The armor covered most of his vital points, leaving only a handful open to attack. A set of simrly grayish daggers manifested in his hands a momentter.

    He threw one of the daggers to a nearby human, piercing the dozen shields that appeared before the young powerhouse, only for the dagger to pierce the shields and the human awakened''s chest in one go. The Awakened would have survived if his body hadn''tpressed and exploded a quarter of a second after the dagger pierced him. Not even half a secondter, the dagger returned to the Hyuman''s hands.

    [His daggers dominate and overcharge the energy path system with ''Domination'' ¨C if I''m not mistaken. I have to figure out what that ''Domination'' is and how it is put together, but pay attention when you''re cut. He will dominate your energy path system,press and expand it rapidly following thepression!] Michael shouted in each minds except the Hyuman, using Whispering Energy.

    [His Soultrait is an aura of the same Domination. Control your bodies and don''t let the Domination enter you. He already has control of the encircling space, blocking my spatial-type Soultrait, but I think it won''t be possible to utilize low-ranked Soultraits to manifest projectiles inside his aura of Domination!]

    Michael tried analyzing everything with Spirit Eyes, but he was not proficient with the type of energy and power used by the Hyuman. All he could tell was that the Hyuman''s power contained lifeforce, soul power, and energy. He made use of that and the obvious fact that the Hyuman''s focus was on the Tier-5 and Tier-6 powerhouses around him to utilize Extraction with Enhancement and the Soul Grimoire''s augment before applying Insert to infuse traces of Enhanced Extraction all over the aura of Domination.

    There was some resistance to his manifestation of Extraction within the range of the Hyuman''s aura of Domination, but Extraction was already a 7-Star Soultrait, strengthened with 10 Enhancement Layers, and augmented with a Soul Tear. It was barely strong enough to pierce through the restraints cast upon all foes of the aura of Domination and infuse neatly into it ¨C without the Hyuman''s notice.

    After that, Michael started draining the Hyuman''s soul power, energy, and lifeforce within the aura of domination. It was a slow process to evade the Hyuman''s attention, but it was fast enough to drain their enemy slowly.

    ''If I wanted to attract his attention, I could use the Cursed Seals to drain him faster.'' Michaelined quietly but continued watching the battle.

    Palika, Niechos, and the four other Tier-6 powerhouses emerged in front, beside, and behind the Hyuman. The six Tier-6 powerhouses unleashed their Soultraits and tapped deeper into their power reserves than ever. Niechos glowed in pristine light and gained a tremendous boost in power as he fired at the Hyuman as the Tritan Alliance''s main tank.

    Simultaneously, Palika gave his utmost. After the battle with the Bloodhound, Palika started preparing for the next battle against a Divine Lifeform. Fortunately, that wasn''t necessary as the firmaments tore apart. Afterward, Palika was ready to unleash everything at his disposal to deal with the ze Patriarch. However, once again, it wasn''t necessary.

    But now he could. Palika''s palm glowed vibrantly when he materialized behind the Hyuman, pressing it against the back of his head. He unleashed the full fury of [Energy Palm] with the power he''d umted in his Main Soultrait [Hoarding Power] over thest few months. Gaining Energy Palm and another Soultrait called Compression from Michael skyrocketed hisbat prowess. After all, he couldpress the power within his main Soultrait, Hoarding Power, to channel it through Energy Palm.

    Niechol''s Unstoppable, alongside the Soultraits and brute force applied by the other Tier-6 powerhouses, and the Soultrait unleashed by the dozens of powerful Tier-5 powerhouses, who had gathered to obliterate the Tier-6 Hyuman, were enough to restrain the Hyuman for a moment.

    A moment was each it took.

    ''He underestimated the Tritan Alliance.'' Michael realized, a smile forming on his lips as Palika''s Energy Palm burst into the back of the Hyuman''s head, cracking his skull.

    A primal roar eluded the Hyuman''s lips as the cracking noise reverberated through the surroundings. A mere momentter, the entire area was coated in a bright light. The full power of Energy Palm had been unleashed upon the Hyuman.

    Palika roared in pain as his entire hand was blown into smithereens, unable to withstand the power he''d unleashed to kill the Hyuman. However, that was fine. Losing his hand was nothingpared to killing a Peak Tier-6 Hyuman. In the first ce, the Tritan Alliance''s strongest healers were present to tend to his wounds. His hand could regenerate in the next few days.

    At least, that was what Palika hoped before he realized something.

    "I didn''t obtain his energy influx!!" Palika roared, only to hear a whisper in his ears.

    "Yeah, ''cause I''m not dead, you disgusting parasite!" The Hyuman, the back of his head blown apart, growled.

    He was not dead yet. They failed.

    "That''s okay," A familiar voice materialized behind the Hyuman. He spun around, only to see Michael coated in gold and over a hundred Curse Seals. He smiled at the Hyuman, his hand pressing against the Hyuman''s face, "Because I''m here."

 Chapter 859 Blood & Poison

    Chapter 859 Blood & Poison

    ??Michael was ready to move when the six Tier-6 Awakened of the Tritan Alliancebined their power to deal with the Hyuman. He hoped for the best, but it was also obvious that Hyumen of the Supreme Human Alliance received better resources, training, and techniques. It was impossible topare a Peak Tier-6 Hyuman with a Peak Tier-6 Awakened from a backwater gxy.

    It was also important to pay attention to the Hyuman''s age. Even though it wasmon knowledge that Awakened aged slower, their temperament and energy density made it easy to gauge their age.

    Michael guessed that the Hyuman was younger than 50. He was fairly certain in his guess, which made him believe that the young Hyuman was an elite of the Supreme Human Alliance. With that in mind, Michael''s worries increased.

    He wanted to trust and rely on Palika and his people but was nheless prepared for the worst-case scenario. He unleashed True Extraction Domain using all Cursed Seals to spread his domain as far as possible. He proceeded to use Swallow Domain, bypassing the restraints of Field of Domination for a quarter of a second. Swallow Domain required too much curse power to use continuously, but Michael was fortunate enough to have Permute, and he could produce curse power using Permute.

    Michael did exactly that, using Permute to create more curse power to release Swallow Domain again, devouring more of the Field of Destruction, preparing for what awaited them.

    The dazzling light of Palika''s Energy Palm hindered Michael a little, but he managed to course enough energy and curse power through his eyes to see the Hyuman alive and well ¨C somewhat. A chunk of the back of his head was missing, but Michael doubted that the Hyuman noticed that. Too much adrenaline coursed through his body to feel any pain.

    It was a shame that the Hyuman didn''t die. Still, it was already surprising enough that the Hyuman underestimated Palika and the others to sustain a lethal injury in the first ce.

    Fueled with rage, the Hyuman appeared behind Palika and was about to kill him. That was when Michael made his move.

    "I didn''t obtain his energy influx!" Palika roared as the Hyuman emerged behind him, "Yeah, cause I''m not dead, you disgusting parasite!"

    The Hyuman''s words swallowed the subtle noise made by Cosmic Stride. The Hyuman was so focused on Palika and the other Tier-6 and Tier-5 Awakened that he barely noticed his Field of Domination disintegrating around the Tier-4 Awakened¡­or that the only Tier-4 Awakened on the battlefield appeared behind him.

    "That''s okay," Michael said lightly, his hand lunging toward the Hyuman. It would have been best to pierce the Hyuman''s brain through the open hole in the back of his head, but Michael wasn''t too concerned even after the Hyuman spun around, his eyes widened in surprise when Michael grasped his face tightly.

    "Because I''m here."

    All Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals were unleashed to their fullest, alongside the curse power of the Major Seals. He didn''t activate their special ability but unleashed the fury of his Curses'' Essence to make his move.

    It might be considered a foolish move to face a Peak Tier-6 powerhouse because he was too weak to do something against the Hyuman. Michael realized that as well. Maybe he could put his life on the line and request aid from his Curses to deal with a Lowest Tier-6 Awakened, but he would have to surrender some of his essence and self to the Curses to fight the Hyuman head-on.

    Michael was unwilling to go that far if he didn''t have to. He didn''t want his Curses to gain anymore power. It was near-impossible to hold them back already. How was he supposed to contain them if they gained a whole portion of his existence to control? Michael couldn''t afford to lose control.

    Fortunately, that wasn''t needed.

    A Divine Lifeform could easily deal with a Peak Tier-6 Hyuman, and it would be a walk in the park to do so as a Tier-9 powerhouse. Even a single droplet of blood from a Tier-9 Lord ¨C infused to kill ¨C was enough to obliterate a Peak Tier-6 Hyuman. Nothing else mattered.

    That was exactly what Michael had used. He had coated his palm in one of the items Selena had given him; a vial with a droplet of her blood¡­infused with her curse power.

    Her blood infused with curse power was green and didn''t look anything like blood in the first ce. But its appearance wasn''t important. It was more crucial that Michael wasn''t harmed by the blood and that it was incredibly harmful to others.

    The blood was sentient, and his existence and connection to the Nest Leader were acknowledged. It also sensed Michael''s use of Insert and his intention when he connected the droplet of blood to the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman.

    Michael''s soul power within Insert and the Soul Sphere, in its entirety, was drained instantly. A momentter, his reserves of curse power were sucked dry, and even the power umted within the Curses'' Essences was emptied.

    It all happened in an instant. Then it was over.

    The blood droplet of the Nest Leader followed Michael''s will and forced its way into the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman, who sensed that something terrible had just happened instantaneously.

    He pushed Michael''s hand away and tried to pounce at him to y Michael, but neither his body nor his Soultrait listened to him anymore.

    A pained scream, fueled with desperation, confusion, and rage, escaped the Hyuman''s lips before he copsed to the ground, writhing in pain. He tried grasping Michael''s legs again, but the moment the Nest Leader''s blood detected his intention, a wave of uncontroble pain swept through him. Over and over again.

    "I don''t like you. Still, a small piece of advice," Michael stared at the writhing Hyuman with a smile, "Stop attacking me or anyone of the Tritan Alliance if you want the pain to stop."

    The Hyuman bellowed and tried attacking Michael again, but the Nest Leader''s blood was faster. It cut through the Hyuman''s energy path and tore him apart from the inside without ever damaging him seriously enough to eliminate the Hyuman.

    "I inserted the blood of a Curse User into your system. I wonder what it does to your Primordial Bloodline technique," Michael chuckled.

    His words were enough to silence the Hyuman. His eyes widened in terror, and Michael could clearly see him trying to exert the Primordial Bloodline technique.

    It worked. As a matter of fact, everyone could use the Primordial Bloodline technique. However, it wasn''t nearly as effective as it had been before.

    "NOOOOO!!" The Hyuman screamed at the top of his lungs, lunging at Michael, only to be assaulted by pain from the Nest Leader''s blood.

    "The Curse User''s blood is also poison. The poison of a strong Divine Lifeform. It''s sealed by a promise and will y you instantaneously if you betray the Tritan Alliance."

    Michael''s smile widened.

    "If you are responsible for the death of another Berserker and Warlock Centaur, no matter what way, you will die."

    "If you try to attack a good citizen of the Tritan Alliance, you will be consumed by pain and lose your sanity."

    "A single mistake and death will be your only resort."

 Chapter 860 Fake It Until You Make It

    Chapter 860 Fake It Until You Make It

    ??Michael had only one droplet of Selena''s curse-infused blood, but that should have been more than enough.

    ''What did she think when she gave me the blood vial? Did she know what I was going to do or that the Supreme Human Alliance would deploy one of their young elites to govern the Tritan Alliance now that the torn firmament would restrict Divine Lifeforms from entering? Or did she want me to use it on Divine Lifeforms if I were to encounter them?''

    Michael had no idea what the Nest Leader''s true intention was, but her blood came in handy.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance won''t ept you anymore. Not like this." He smiled at the Hyuman, who''d broken into tears.

    There was no mercy in Michael''s eyes as he inspected the Hyuman. Palika and the others came, ready to eliminate the Hyuman once and for all, but Michael stopped them. He raised his hand and nodded toward the Hyuman.

    "He cannot harm the Tritan Alliance anymore. Killing him won''t help us."

    "That bastard killed Zeke!!" One of the human powerhouses roared, "I''m going to kill him!"

    Michael''s emotions were already unstable because he lost Alice and his friends to the Supreme Human Alliance. It was no surprise to him when his Curses'' influence reached him. They nudged him ever so slightly while granting Michael ess to their power. He was given ess to unlimited power. However, the price was steep. The more he absorbed, the more he would have to give back in return.

    Michael transformed,rge ck scales growing out of his skin. A long tail burst out of his tailbone. It grew rapidly and smashed heavily on the ground, spreading curse power in all directions. Michael''s hair grew quickly, and his fingers cracked, changed, and transformed into elongated curved ws mixed with the massive fangs of a colossal serpent.

    "We are not going to kill him if you don''t want to sacrifice the entire Tritan Alliance for your petty revenge!" Michael growled, his curse power erupting alongside True Extraction, Qi, Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, Spirit Eyes, Sphere of Elements, and Soul Grimoire.

    The human powerhouse swallowed. He retreated subconsciously, his hair standing up to its end. His eyes widened in terror, and he nearly stumbled and fell if Giuliana Seraph didn''t catch him.

    "There is no need to threaten anyone, Michael. You should exin the situation properly and make sure to convince everyone that enving and using this bastard," Giuliana pointed at the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman, "Is better than openly showing the Supreme Human Alliance that we managed to defeat one of their little elites."

    Michael growled again but dismissed Curse Fusion after struggling for a few seconds. He sighed deeply and retracted his curse power while also halting the use of his Soultraits.

    "You''re right," He nodded.

    Exining what was on his mind shoulde before threatening idiots.

    He looked at the human powerhouse and bowed lightly, "I apologize for my behavior, but I was afraid you would do something stupid."

    The man looked at him for a few seconds. He cleared his throat and pulled on his clothes to straighten them before responding, "It''s okay. Nobody was harmed."

    Michael could tell from the man''s gaze that it wasn''t okay, but he didn''t care too much. He turned to everyone and exined his n.

    "The Hyuman was poisoned and will die when he betrays the Tritan Alliance. I infused that intent into the poison and managed to ensure how it worked when he tried attacking me."

    The Hyuman continued struggling but lost the power to curse his fate. Michael merely smiled at that.

    "He was writhing in pain when he tried attacking me, and the same will happen if he tries attacking any other good citizen of the Tritan Alliance. Keep in mind that he is allowed to defend himself. It is merely a taboo for him to attack someone. That may include killing someone while defending himself against the good citizens of the Tritan Alliance, but I wouldn''t try attacking him nheless. He is still a Peak Tier-6 Hyuman."

    "Either way, he cannot betray the Tritan Alliance anymore, and it is a fact that the Supreme Human Alliance wouldn''t ept him into their rows after the potent blood of a Divine Lifeform ¨C a Curse User ¨C circtes through his body. His blood is altered, and he will be exiled or even killed by the Supreme Human Alliance if he returns."

    The Hyuman shuddered but didn''t say anything. He knew that Michael was saying the truth.

    "But how does that help us?" One of the less intelligent human powerhouses asked.

    Kraft Viton stepped forward, "You want to use him to hide everyone. The Supreme Human Alliance might not be able to deploy anymore Divine Lifeforms, but they are very interested in us. You told me about their interest before, and if it''s true what you said ¨C which I think ¨C they would deploy more Peak Tier-6 Elites to conquer the Tritan Alliance if that''s what is needed to achieve their goal."

    "So you want to fake everything?" Giuliana asked, slowly getting what Kraft Viton and Michael were getting at, "He can say that he imed and subdued the Tritan Alliance to ensure that the Supreme Human ALliance won''t bother to deploying more powerhouses. That way, we can stall some time¡­ may be enough time to grow stronger ¨C strong enough to defeat Peak TIer-6 Elites of the Supreme Human Alliance by the time they find out that they have been yed."

    Michael nodded, a smile blossoming, "We cannot say how long the farce will work, but a few years should be enough to train a bunch of powerful Tier-6 powerhouses with my support. A few Soultraits to a bunch of the strongest Awakened will help everyone grow stronger. As long as the Tritan Alliance starts working together properly, we shouldn''t have any issues pushing a few Awakened close to the Peak of Tier-6 in a decade or two. After that, we have several centuries before the torn firmament disappears. By that time, we will have a few Divine Lifeforms."

    Even though Michael was the weakest in the encirclement of Higher Lifeforms ¨C ording to his Tier ¨C nobody doubted his words. He was only 20 years old, but the power he unleashed was strong enough to kill Tier-5 powerhouses. His War Rune manifested two years ago. How strong would he be if given another decade or two to develop? What about several centuries?

    But that was not all. Michael''s individualbat prowess was scary, but his ability to create more powerhouses and to turn ordinary people into mighty Awakened was even scarier.

    It was only obvious, but Michael had the means to make his wordse true.

    Everyone''s attention drifted to the Hyuman.

    "As long as this dude is not tired of living, he won''t betray us. The Supreme Human Alliance won''t take him back ¨C like I said ¨C and he doesn''t look like he wants to die," Michael studied the man, his ice-cold eyes piercing the Hyuman''s, "Will you help us trick the SHA to survive, or do you wish to end your life to warn the Supreme Human Alliance about us?"

    The others didn''t like the way Michael gave the Hyuman a choice, but Michael continued smiling.

    "Keep in mind that I can procure more of the blood I''ve infused into you. If you don''t ept our condition, I will force the next batch of Elites to surrender and help us trick the Supreme Human Alliance instead. Don''t even think that you have a trump up to your sleeves. If anything, your death will help us deal with anything the SHA throws at us. I will rip you apart while you''re still alive and take everything right in front of your eyes." Michael''s eyes glimmered dangerously. They glowed golden and pierced into the deepest parts of the Hyuman''s soul.

    The Hyuman had often encountered Divine Lifeforms as he had been trained by multiple, but only the minority could scare him like Michael¡­ the strongest¡­

    "I¡­don''t want to die¡­ Don''t kill me. I¡­won''t tell the Parliat about anything."

    Kraft Viton and Michael smiled at each other. This worked better than expected. However, Michael was nowhere done. Now that he had the means to change something, he was just getting started.

    "How about we get started then? We need to transform you into a fake Dictator for the Supreme Human Alliance," Michael said, sping his hands. He looked at the other powerhouses, waiting for someone to say something against his n, but nobody rejected his idea. If anything, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs supported him.

    Even though they hated the Supreme Human Alliance after pinpointing them as the root of all evil, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were also aware of their inadequate power. They were still too weak to deal with the Supreme Human Alliance. Thus, a strategy to stall the SHA was perfect to trick them and grant them enough time to prepare for an all-out war.

    Michael was not sure if the Tritan Alliance would get as far as transforming their fights against the Supreme Human Alliance into an all-out war, given that the SHA controlled multiple gxies, but Michael chose to remain silent. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were exhrated tobine their forces with humans ¨C surprising Michael a little ¨C to grow stronger than ever.

    Everyone jumped into action without hesitation. It was time to start nning how to transform the enved Hyuman into a fake Dictator and how to ensure the Supreme Human Alliance wouldn''t notice anything once they paged him. Simultaneously, the Tritan Alliance had to repair everything damaged in thest few months. That included several provinces in Elyra and the rtionship between the Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs.

    Mending their rtionship wasn''t too difficult with themon threat of knocking on their doors, but it would require some effort nheless.

    The first thing they did to solve all issues was to expose the truth behind Lepodya. They spread the truth and ensured everyone listened intently while ensuring Lepodya, which had been applied to some resources imported by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, would be cleansed once and for all.

    After that, Michael chose to freshen up his information about the Supreme Human Alliance. He used Mind Reader with Enhancement and a Soul Tear on the Hyuman. It was only obvious that the Hyuman tried resisting Michael''s attempts to infiltrate his mind and peruse his memories and thoughts since nobody liked having someone in their mind, but Michael was persistent. He spent several days procuring information from the Hyuman.

    Michael learned a lot about the Supreme Human Alliance, the Parliar, their power¡­how fucking strong the Supreme Human Alliance was at its core, and a lot more.

    Unfortunately, there was not a single piece of information about Alice and the others. It was endlessly frustrating, but the Hyuman had no clue where they could be. The Hyuman knew about thousands of academies, camps, and other ces where the children of the SHA were trained. Still, nothing rted to the children from ces outside the Supreme Human Alliance''s controlled regions came to his mind. He didn''t even know what would happen to the children of other regions ¨C like Quinn Karta, who''d betrayed the Tritan Alliance a while ago.

    The only thing he realized about outside regions was that their Elites were often deployed to ces to conquer and kill their enemies to prove that they were worthy of the Divine Injection ¨C a resource that increased the potency of their bloodline during their Divine Ascension.

    That was why the Hyuman had been deployed to the Tritan Alliance, to earn the Divine Injection before his Divine Ascension.

    To his misfortune, his scheme failed. He wouldn''t ascend anytime soon.

 Chapter 861 Altors Union

    <h4>Chapter 861 Altors Union</h4>

    The Nest Leader''s timing was excellent. Michael finished interrogating the Hyuman when Selena called him through the Curse User''smunication device.

    "I heard from Evee that you''re about to do something stupid. She has been researching your friends'' whereabouts, but it''s not simple. Don''t even think about charging into the SHA''s territory!" Selena sounded frustrated, which Michael could understand.

    She had probably better things to do than running behind a newly ascended Curse User.

    "You cannot enter the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory. They will sense your Curses the moment you reach their borders. Even if you manage to conceal your Curses perfectly, they will be able to sense the Berserkers'' and Warlock Centaurs'' Essences within you. You will be dead long before you can find Alice and the rest. It will be an unnecessary death!"

    Michael did understand the Nest Leader''s reasoning, but he was restless. He felt helpless¡­useless.

    "I cannot stay here and do nothing. This is killing me from the inside¡­" He groaned, only to hear a sight from the other side of themunication device, "Who the hell is telling you to sit around doing nothing? Instead of doing something suicidal or idling around, you could do so much more to change your odds. Grow stronger¡­strong enough to enter the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory and bring your friends back."

    "What if they die?"

    Selena cursed quietly but cleared her throat and controlled her emotions before responding.

    "Your friends would be dead if the Supreme Human Alliance wanted to kill them. It''s not the first time they''re kidnapping human kids from outside their territory," She sighed deeply, "It doesn''t happen often, but I''m old enough to remember it happening a few times. They will be brainwashed to believe the dogmas of the SHA, trained and fused into the rows of the Supreme Human Alliance''s military. As long as the enemies of the Supreme Human Alliance don''t kill them, they will be fine¡­physically at least."

    Selena''s words weren''t pleasant, but Michael nodded slowly.

    "So they''re brainwashing everyone to transform them into devout followers of the Supreme Human Alliance? That¡­is not as bad as dying, but it''s troublesome, nheless."

    Michael cursed, "Does that mean I might have to fight my friends¡­and Alice in the future?"

    "That or they will lose sanity while trying to resist the SHA''s brainwashing," Selena added quietly.

    Michael had a lot to think about. His mind drifted to the Needle of the Lost Memory, and he wondered if it would be possible to rescue his friends if they''d been brainwashed by using the Needle of the Lost Memory. If it was possible to remove the memories rted to the brainwashing with the needle and the use of Mind Reader alongside Extraction and possibly some other Soultraits, Michael could rescue his friends¡­though not right away.

    "I see¡­"

    Selena noticed that her words reached Michael. That was better than expected, and she smiled faintly.

    "What are you going to do with the Tritan Alliance now?" Selena changed the topic, returning to the usual teasing, joyous tone.

    Michael felt a bit overwhelmed by the influx of information, but Selena''s change of mood helped him calm down.

    "I used your blood to enve a Hyuman. He is a Peak Tier-6 powerhouse who''d been sent to conquer and rule the Tritan Alliance for a while before he would be given his Divine Injection. Your blood, infused with my intention, worked wonders. It drained my curse power and basically everything I had stored, but it was definitely worth it. He is now on our side ¨C forced but that doesn''t matter since he is not willing to die for the SHA''s sake. I looked through his memories and learned a lot."

    "Now it''s time to strengthen the Tritan Alliance. They have to grow strong enough to deal with the other Hyumans who wille to rece or aid the Elite Hyuman. I will help them grow stronger."

    Selena smiled, "That was a good move. Though, I''m surprised you managed to add your intent into my blood. The remnants of sentience must have aligned with your intention; otherwise, it would have been impossible for you to do that."

    She shrugged, "Either way, I can bring you friends and other people to a better ce if you want. They could train somewhere else, a ce with better connections. That way, they can grow stronger quickly, and you no longer have to worry about the problems in the Tritan Alliance. The Altors Union is close to the Origin and is affiliated with the Nest. To be precise, we''re asionallypleting missions for them, while they keep providing us with information, technique, and other useful resources.

    The Altors Union is a ce where all races are epted, including humans. Of course, humans have to undergo a specific examination to ensure that they''re not part of the Supreme Human Alliance and infiltrating the Altors Union to act as the SHA''s spies, but I think that much is obvious.

    The Altors Union is enemies of the Supreme Human Alliance, and they''re not on the losing side. There is a stalemate on the frontlines of the Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance. Thest thousand years have been close to a cold war, though some skirmishes happen now and then. Too often to consider the stalemate a cold war, I guess."

    Michael could tell that Selena was trying to help them, but he was unsure if that was going to help.

    "Most of the people I hold dear are either already in my territory and can return to the Origin Expanse ¨C to me ¨C at any time or have been kidnapped. I''m not saying your offer is bad, but I''m unsure if many would be willing to leave."

    He thought about her offer for a while and tilted his head a little, "I think the Tritan Alliance''s biggest issue is theck of resources and techniques. I know that the origin energy permeating the air and space closer to the origin is much better, but we have a connection to the Origin Expanse. As long as we can conquer one or multiple Beginner Regions and nourish them, we shouldn''t have an issue with the energy density of the Awakened."

    "We can also create more Awakened. I clearly recall your method. It might be expensive, but I think it''s possible to stimte the origin energy permeating the bodies of unawakened citizens. All we have to do is installary energy generators ¨C obviously, they''re expensive, but I can use Soultrait Symbols and my powers to upgrade Soultraits to finance everything, right?"

    Usingary energy generators would be enough to awaken entires. They wouldn''t awaken like intelligent lifeforms, creating a War Rune to enter the Origin Expanse, but they could manifest an energy reservoir, which could create energy. The energy would circte through the uttered and nourish the flora and fauna, increasing the chance of manifesting a War Rune.

    Of course, the animals across thes would be nourished, transforming them into monsters, but controlling their poptions and growth shouldn''t be an issue.

    "You want me to establish a connection between the Tritan Alliance and the Altors Union, rather than bringing people over there and finance the expenses of dozens ofary energy generators until thes awaken¡­are you serious?"

    Selena didn''t sound quite as pleased as Michael, even though she understood what he wanted to do. Well, that was understandable.

    "Exactly."

    "Are you insane? I don''t consider youprehend how expensive that''s going to be, do you?" Selena retorted vividly, only to groan, "I really don''t understand you. I doubt I will. You''re not gaining anything from investing all your resources into them. You could depart them alone after everything you''ve done to assist them."

    Michael didn''tprehend why Selena was acting like this all of a sudden, but he remained calm, which was odd. His Curses didn''t do anything to influence him this time.

    Thus, he merely smiled.

    "You''re mistaken, I''m gaining a lot from them."

    Selena remained silent, but Michael didn''t mind.

    "I''ve gained their Racial Symbols, after all!"

    A sudden outburst broke the silence.

    "WHAT?!?"

 Chapter 862 The Same

    <h4>Chapter 862 The Same</h4>

    The Racial Symbol of a race was equivalent to an ess permit ¨C to their Racial Achievement Shop. Mankind''s Racial Symbol was broken into several pieces, which were put together whenever High Society members gathered to look through the Racial Achievement Shop to decide how their race should proceed.

    Several pieces were considered lost after the civil war, but they managed to procure all of mankind''s Racial Symbol pieces tobine them into one piece. That was only possible because the Racial Symbol couldn''t be brought to the Origin Expanse if broken into several pieces.

    Michael wouldn''t have an issue with that anymore. He was given the Racial Symbols of the three races belonging to the Tritan Alliance.

    "How the hell did you manage to convince everyone to give you their Racial Symbols? You could destroy their progress and take everything from them. Do they even realize what they''re doing?!?"

    The Nest Leader was a lot more agitated than expected.

    ''Is she angered by her past experiences? Maybe her people were betrayed because of a simr situation?''

    Michael shrugged. He could ask her in the future, maybe when she was more like her usual self.

    "I think you understand why they decided to give me the Racial Symbols." He said in a serious tone.

    It was silent for a while before Selena groaned aloud, "Yes. I know. I do understand their reasoning. You gave them your Soultraits free of charge to help them prevent an all-out war and helped them suppress a Peak Tier-6 Hyuman with my blood. That might not be their main reason to give you their Racial Symbols, but it''s an important part. You, a Tier-4 Awakened, managed to increase thebat prowess of their strongest members drastically, and they know that you can do it again...and that you will do it again as long as you''re motivated enough to protect the Tritan Alliance."

    "The Racial Achievement Points are enough reason to keep you motivated ¨C though I doubt you need such a reason in the first ce. You are an oddball, and I''m fairly sure you would have helped them without the Racial Symbols either way. However, now you have even more reason to help."

    "Giving you their Racial Symbols means they trust you, but it also means that you will have to help them survive the next few years and even more so once the torn firmament returns. You will have to invest heavily into the Tritan Alliance using your resources in order to receive something in return ¨C more Racial Achievement Points to use. Once the Tritan Alliance expands and survives against the Supreme Human Alliance, you will have full control of their Racial Achievement Points, which you ''could'' use on yourself to advance faster than anyone."

    Selena cursed under her breath but continued, "The Tritan Alliance hopes you give them everything they need to prosper and is willing to risk everything to survive against the Supreme Human Alliance. You are their hope and savior."

    Michael didn''t quite agree with some of the Nest Leader''s points, but he didn''t say that. It was a matter of fact that the Tritan Alliance invested heavily in Michael. They gave him their Racial Symbols to gain even more in return and create a reason for him to stay with the Tritan Alliance. However, it was also a matter of fact that Michael was connected to the Nest and one of the strongest powers in the cosmos. The Nest Leader.

    Some people have heard him talk to Evee and the Nest Leader before. They saw the fear in the eyes of the Peak Tier-6 Hyuman when he told him that the Nest Leader''s blood coursed through him, even worse than an ordinary Curse User''s blood circting through him. They saw the Hyuman, a prideful Elite of the Supreme Human Alliance, cry.

    They hoped Michael would use his connections to help the Tritan Alliance prosper and survive. Therefore, they invested in him with the most valuable things they had: their Racial Symbols.

    ''It works.ary energy generators aren''t cheap, and I''m not nning to use the Racial Achievement Points for myself, either. I''m notcking anything right now. Except for powerful techniques, which can be solved via the Altors Union or the Nest, Curse Fusion''s mastery is the priority either way. It will take a while before I can spend more time mastering new techniques.''

    "Since you have their Racial Symbols, purchase a Cosmic Trading Market. I will talk to some merchants in the Altors Union about the trading market. As long as you insert a bunch of Soultrait Symbols into the Cosmic Trading Market, which is a market connecting to other Trading Markets across the cosmic for the records, you shouldn''t have any issues procuring what you need. You should use your Racial Achievement Points to purchase several hubs for the Cosmic Trading Market, a bunch of shops to specialize in certain goods, and find a few merchants in dire need of things you and the Tritan Alliance can sell."

    "Other than that, you should create Warp Points across the Tritan Alliance''s territory. Warp Points are too expensive if you connect all of them, but you should create one Warp Point on every ¨C two or more if the is massive ¨C and interlink them to allowary traveling within the ster system. Since you already have a capital on every, you should also announce one of thes as the ster system''s main. Install a more advanced Warp Point on the main to elerate traveling to other ster systems in your control."

    "There is a lot more you should purchase, including more advanced technology to colonizes if you ever think about expanding, but I would focus on your two ster systems and the Origin Expanse. We haven''t discovered whether the torn firmament prevents Divine Lifeforms from entering your gxy or just the two ster systems. Still, from the little pile of information we have, we can guess that only five ster systems are blocked off by Divine Lifeforms. That includes the three adjacent ster systems around the sr system. But as mentioned before, we can only say for certain that two are blocked. We need more information to make a proper conclusion and prove our guess. "

    Even though Selena was angry before, she managed to calm down and devise several ns to help the Tritan Alliance with some of their most apparent issues.

    First, the Tritan Alliance''s members lived too far apart. It was too difficult for ordinary humans to see a Berserker and Warlock Centaur in their short life. Since most people feared the unknown, it wasn''t that challenging for the ze Patriarch and his people to influence humans into believing that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were bad people.

    Selena considered that, so she wanted to create an easy means of teleportation in the Tritan Alliance''s territory.

    ''If we''re using spaceships or underground trains, we shouldn''t have difficulty connecting all provinces with quick means to travel to the Warp Points. Once at a Warp Point, it will be easy to travel around. That will make it much easier to establish gathering points where we could also train the elite. It will also make trading much easier¡­and solving the issues between Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs.''

    Connecting everyone with Warp Points would improve various points. Selena stated that they were somewhat expensive and that each interlink of Warp Points would boost the cost exponentially, but it wasn''t like the Tritan Alliance was in control of manys. They had only two ster systems and less than 20s to connect.

    He nodded slowly and checked the Racial Symbols, which he''d connected to simplify future processes.

    _______________________

    [Racial Achievement Shop] ¨C [Humans/Berserkers/Warlock Centaurs] ¨C [16,924 Points]

    [Origin Expanse]

    [Bloodline]

    [Technology]

    [Knowledge]

    [Items]

    [Structures]

    ¡­

    _______________________

    Michael couldn''t assist but scowl when he saw the [Bloodline] tab, but that wasn''t Will''s fault. The Supreme Human Alliance was so obsessed over bloodlines that anything rted to them annoyed him. Maybe a part of the annoyance was also because his bloodline was shitty ¨C except for his brother. Daniel Fang was the best brother he could have gotten.

    [Warp Point] ¨C [100 Points/Per]

    [Ster Connecting Warp Point.] ¨C [1000 Points/Per]

    [Interlink - Warp Points] ¨C [1000 Points + Network Complexity Surcharge]

    [Cosmic Trading Market] ¨C [10,000 Points]

    [Trading Hubs] ¨C [500 Points/Per]

    [Cosmic Shops] ¨C [300 Points/Per]

    Michael pressed his lips together at the list of items and frowned deeply.

    "This is going to be a lot harder than expected."

 Chapter 863 Racial Achievement Shop

    <h4>Chapter 863 Racial Achievement Shop</h4>

    863 Racial Achievement Shop

    At the end of the day, the Racial Achievement Shop ¨C just like the individual Achievement Shop ¨C made everything a lot easier. It could do almost everything, for a price, of course.

    Obviously, creating your own Warp Points and installing them wherever you wanted was possible without using a single Achievement Point. It was also possible to link them manually or construct a Cosmic Trading Market, Trading Hubs, and Cosmic Shops with the necessary resources, blueprints, and knowledge.

    However, the crucial use and importance of the Achievement Shop and its Racial version was that it allowed people and races to achieve things that seemed near-impossible from their perspective. For example, the Tritan Alliance didn''t have the means to construct a Cosmic Trading Market independently. It would take several centuries, if not millennia, to acquire everything needed to build their Cosmic Trading Market. Even then, the Cosmic Trading Market would be unlike the one purchased from the Achievement Shop.

    Michael''s understanding of the systematic revolving around the Achievement Shop and Achievement Points wasn''t exceptional. Still, he could tell that it was an efficient way to save time and allow certain things that most would deem impossible.

    He might have an easy time procuring Soultrait Symbols, which was why the section was useless to him in the individual Achievement Shop, but others would have to be lucky to procure Soultrait Symbols from ancient ruins or Lord Rifts. The percentile of Awakened who''d entered a Lord ¨C or Rogue ¨C Rift was low, and not many survived either. Among the survivors, only one in a hundred, or one in a thousand, would be lucky enough to be rewarded with a Soultrait Symbol, simr to how Michael procured Reinforced Sword Qi.

    Ancient ruins were even harder to find and conquer, yet the chance to procure a Soultrait Symbol wasn''t much higher. Thus, most Awakened would have to resort to the Achievement Shop if they ever wanted to procure another Soultrait Symbol. It was also the reason the Soultrait Symbols were so expensive.

    It was also possible for Michael to ask Selena for help to procure all necessary resources, knowledge, and blueprints for the Cosmic Trading Market, but she told him that it wouldn''t be worth it. That the Will wouldn''t like this. Michael epted her reasoning, but it didn''t make things easier for the Tritan Alliance.

    They didn''t have the necessary resources to procure many things, but they were in dire need of a lot. Thus, he considered doing exactly what the Nest Leader procured.

    "Warp Points and a Cosmic Trading Market connecting us to the vast cosmos and their shops," Kraft Viton mumbled when he first heard about Michael''s n to properly connect the Tritan Alliance and their members.

    "A cosmos full of resources, if you want to put it like that," Michael added to the portion rted to the Cosmic Trading Market, but Kraft Viton looked at him for a while instead of saying anything.

    "Honestly, I was a little surprised when Palika and Niechol gave you their Racial Symbols without saying anything. I agreed to give you my shard of the Human Racial Symbol, and I guess it''s also part of my fault that you were given the remaining shards, but still¡­ I expected you to think more about yourself," Kraft Viton acknowledged, not trying to hide his surprise.

    "What do you mean?"

    "You know that Racial Achievement Points are of higher value than ordinary Achievement Points, right? I don''t know how many ordinary Achievement Points you have. Still, I''m fairly sure you could purchase several things to improve your strength to another level using thebined Racial Achievement Points of Humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs. Why are you not even thinking about taking some things for yourself?"

    "What are you talking about? The Cosmic Trading Market is incredible. It will help me a lot as well." Michael smiled innocently.

    "You don''t need the Cosmic Trading Market in the Tritan Alliance. You won''t even stay here forever, in the first ce. You can just go and use another Cosmic Trading Market. In the Nest or whatever they called it."

    "I could, but it''s not like I have to rush back and forth. Furthermore, I don''t think taking everything will help me. The Tritan Alliance needs the Racial Achievement Points more than I do. I still gained something, though: trusted allies, whom I can train and link to my territory. That way, I gain countless new Awakened Subordinates."

    "You''re weird," Kraft Viton smiled, "But it''s good that you didn''t change. I saw too many people change once they gained power and authority. I''m d that didn''t happen to you."

    Michael shrugged and pointed back at the paper before him, "Selena told me that every Cosmic Shop has a monthly fee. The same applies to the Trading Hubs and the Cosmic Market''s maintenance. Everything costs money, or Energy Stones, to be precise. That includes the Warp Points as well. Of course, Racial Achievement Points can also be used, but we should store them to purchase other things we cannot do on our own. There are lots of things like that, so we need every single Racial Achievement Point we can save."

    "Is there a list with the monthly fees? We shouldn''t purchase too many Warp Points, Trading Hubs, and Cosmic Shops if their maintenance is too heavy," Kraft Viton said, returning to his senses once he had made sure Michael didn''t change.

    He smiled while studying the pieces of information spread out before him.

    "Ordinary Achievement Points can be used to purchase structures like Trading Hubs and Cosmic Shops as well. That means corporations like the Bartholomew Corp is only required to connect to the Cosmic Market. Once that is done, we could create our Trading Hubs and Cosmic Shops without straining the Racial Achievement Points."

    "You want to create a simplework to unlock all paths and allow others, if they have enough resources and Achievement Points, to establish their own ''add-on''? That could work. It would work with the Warp Points and the Cosmic Trading Market. We only need one market, trading hub, and main shop. The rest can be added by the corporations or single individuals as long as they meet certain requirements." Michael guessed what his old master was trying to do and shed a smile

    "Exactly," Kraft Viton nodded, "We can say that everyone connecting to the Cosmic Market will have to pay a certain fee ¨C on top of paying the monthly fee to maintain their Trading Hub, or Cosmic Shop ¨C to use the Tritan Alliance''s Cosmic Trading Market. That way, as long as enough corporations use the Cosmic Trading Market, the Tritan Alliance won''t have to pay any fees. All expenses would be carried by the private corporations."

    Michael smiled. "We can do the same with the War Points. It''s unlikely that many will establish new Warp Points immediately, but the wealthiest families and hidden ns will certainly create their Warp Points to show off their wealth and shorten the time needed to travel significantly. This will be even more important once the Tritan Alliance expands and starts colonizing the other ster systems within the safety of the torn firmament."

    "In that case, should I call for a meeting?" Michael asked, still smiling.

    "A meeting? Why?"

    "Huh? Can you confirm the purchase of a Cosmic Trading Market, one Trading Hub, a Cosmic Shop, and the Warp Points with the others? We need toe to a conclusion. The faster the be¨C..." Michael was interrupted by Kraft Viton.

    "You don''t have to confirm anything. The Racial Symbols are yours, and so are the Racial Achievement Points. They were given to you to force you to stay with the Tritan Alliance and help us with your power. I don''t know about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but none of the human powerhouses expects you to use the Racial Achievement Points for us.

    They would have used everything on themselves and their families. Their reason for giving you their shard is their greed. They hope to procure Soultrait Symbols from you cheaply, upgrade them, and grow stronger than everyone else. They also hope to gain more from you through the Nest, but I don''t know for sure. The scheming of the High Society was never something I liked."

    "Oh¡­ Well, in that case¡­"

    An interface showing the Tritan Alliance''s ster systems and the individuals appeared before him. He tapped a few spots where he wished to establish Warp Points and how to connect them using the [Warp Points - Interlink] option.

    Michael didn''t confirm his purchases right away, checking the price tags only after he had experimented enough to establish the cheapestwork system.

    _______________________

    17x [Warp Point] ¨C [1700 Points]

    2x [Ster Connecting Warp Points] ¨C [2000 Points]

    3x [Interlink Warp Points] ¨C [3000 Points + 101 Points]

    1x [Cosmic Trading Market] ¨C [10,000 Points.]

    1x [Basic Trading Hub] ¨C [500 Points]

    1x [Basic Cosmic Shop] ¨C [300 Points]

    Total ¨C [17,601 Points]

    _______________________

    Unfortunately, even the cheapest version wasn''t cheap enough. They didn''t have enough Racial Achievement Points.

    "This is¡­Urgh!" Michael groaned. The Interlink Warp Points'' function was more expensive than expected. He tried as much as he himself could, yet establishing three links was the cheapest. That was more than a little frustrating. He didn''t expect the Warp Points to amount to so many Racial Achievement Points.

    ''What if I remove the Basic Trading Hub as well as the Basic Cosmic Shop and purchase them using my Achievement Points? No, that''s n''t possible. There has to be one Trading Hub and Cosmic Shop for individuals to purchase and install them in the same territory.

    Michael cursed. They missed only a little, but this wasn''t going towards be easy to increase their Racial Achievement Points suddenly.

    It took Michael a while towards calm down, but his eyes fell upon two additional interfaces once he himself did.

    [Not even Racial Achievement Points!]

    [Subside 677 Achievement Points with 2708 Achievement Points of User ''Michael Fang''?]

    "Oh¡­"

 Chapter 864 Level Up

    <h4>Chapter 864 Level Up</h4>

    Even if Michael didn''t have to tell the other members of High Society, Palika, and Niechol about his decision, he did it anyway. Some grumbled, evidently displeased, that Michael was given the Racial Symbols, but he didn''t care about them. As long as they didn''t attack him or stab him in the back, Michael would be fine.

    Once he told them his decision, Michael purchased everything as he intended. A good portion of his individual Achievement Points disappeared alongside the Racial Achievement Points. A momentter, various changes urred in thend of the Tritan Alliance. The Warp Points were installed, and a massive structure appeared next to the Ster Connecting Warp Point in Elyra.

    Michael didn''t n to choose Elyra as the main of the sr system, let alone decide that the barrennds of the destroyed provinces were the best location to install the Ster Connecting Warp Point and one of the ordinary Warp Points, but the Achievement Shop did that. It chose the devastatednd, destroyed due to the ze Patriarch''s terrifying actions, as the cheapest spot to install a Warp Point and the Ster Connecting Warp Point.

    Michael would have to establish the Cosmic Trading Market near the Warp Points, which resulted in arge building manifesting in the middle of nowhere.

    "It doesn''t even look that special," Giuliana Seraph mumbled, holding Maria''s hand.

    Michael had spoken to Maria Seraph a few minutes earlier, but he was busy, and Maria wasn''t in the best mood either. Some of her friends who''d been kidnapped were among the Descendants. A white light also shrouded her, but the ze Patriarch did something to block the teleportation. He was in need of Maria''s healing ability to tend to his wounds.

    That was her fortune, even if it didn''t feel like it. Maria was overwhelmed by a sense of guilt. She managed to avoid getting kidnapped¡­but why was she the only one?

    Of course, Maria was at no fault, but that didn''t mean she felt innocent.

    Michael wished he had some more time to talk to her and make sure she understood that she didn''t have the power to change anything, but Giuliana interrupted their discussion before he could convey his opinion properly. Giuliana Seraph smiled at him, but her eyes were ice cold.

    It was understandable, somewhat, at least.

    Michael wanted to talk and clear up a few things, but he had other things to take care of.

    Once the Cosmic Trading Market was created, Michael checked the connection. Their Cosmic Trading Market was at Level 0. They had only one Cosmic Shop and a Basic Trading Hub. Therefore, their connection across the cosmic wasn''t vast yet. But, on a good note, a Level 0 Cosmic Trading Market was also much cheaper than the higher levels. They didn''t need ess to the whole cosmos just yet. As long as they connected to some merchants and other races with connections to useful resources, they could purchase everything needed.

    Considering that, Michael created a few 3-Star and 4-Star Soultrait Symbols. He didn''t know the value of Cosmic Coins ¨C the currency used in the Cosmic Trading Market ¨C right away, but he learned that selling 10 Common Energy Stones to the Will for 1 Cosmic Coin was possible.

    The price listed to purchase 10 Common Energy Stones was higher than one Cosmic Coin, but that was expected. He predicted 1 Cosmic Coin to be worth around 5 Common Energy Stones on average. Taking that into consideration, Michael began researching with Kraft Viton, Reba Zauber, whom Michael found after long in the rubble of the destroyed provinces bawling her eyes out, and hundreds of researchers ¨C Awakened -- with potentially useful Soultraits.

    Michael wanted to know more about Reba Zauber''s problems, but she didn''t want to talk about it. She was happy to have important work to deal with, work that distracted her from the nightmare pursuing her during day and night.

    Less than 24 hourster, Michael listed a single 1-Star Soultrait for auction, with an instant-purchase price settled at 250,000 Cosmic Coins. That was equivalent to 1,250,000 Common Energy Stones, probably more, considering 250,000 Cosmic Coins were enough to purchase and maintain aary energy generator for a year.

    Nobody expected others to find their shop anytime soon, let alone that someone would instant-purchase the 1-Star Soultrait, but their analysis couldn''t have been more wrong.

    [1-Star Soultrait ¨C Lover''s Kiss(Support/Enhancement) ¨C has been purchased for 250,000 Cosmic Coins. 225,000 Cosmic Coins have been added to your finances.]

    [Goods worth 25,000 Cosmic Coins have been sold in the - Tritan Alliance ¨C Cosmic Trading Market. Level Up! Level 0 ¡ú Level 1]

    [Goods worth 100,000 Cosmic Coins have been sold in the - Tritan Alliance ¨C Cosmic Trading Market. Level Up! Level 1 ¡ú Level 2]

    The Cosmic Trading Market''s range expanded rapidly after selling their first 1-Star Soultrait less than half an hour after listing [Lover''s Kiss] in their Comic Shop. Following that, they gained one Follower, who would be notified every time they listed something.

    The follower count increased to three by the end of the hour.

    "Looks like we underestimated the demand for Soultrait Symbols. If a 1-Star Soultrait is instantly purchased for this much, how much is a 3-Star or 4-Star Soultrait worth?" Kraft Viton asked, his eyes shimmering.

    "A lot more," Michael said the obvious. He cleared his throat, "Let''se up with a price for the other Soultraits and list them. Once that''s done and the Soultraits are sold, you should purchase theary energy generators and use the remaining Cosmic Coins to get the business rolling."

    He looked at Kraft Viton, "I might establish my Cosmic Shop soon, but I don''t think I will list another Soultrait Symbol to the general store of the Tritan Alliance. The Soultrait Symbols are my initial investment. Make use of it!"

    That being said, Michael entrusted Kraft Viton and some other people, like Palika and Niechol, authority to alter various things in the Cosmic Trading Market. They could also give other people permission for certain things. It was enough authority to do whatever was necessary to earn a fortune using the general store.

    After that, Michael returned to the Origin Expanse, where he wasn''t forced to restrain his emotions.

    He didn''t tell his people about his return. Instead, Michael disappeared far into the Untamed Jungle, where his people wouldn''t venture anytime soon.

    Once he knew that he was alone, Michael unleashed the fury umted in his mind.

    "Fucking bastards!" He roared, the curse power within him erupting.

    His body transformed naturally, a serpent tail growing out of his tailbone while thick scales covered his body. His eye shape changed slightly, and his hands transformed into massive ws. A primal roar escaped Michael''s lips as he unleashed the power of True Extraction Domain.

    He stretched it as thin as possible to cover tens of kilometers, only to continue expanding as the True Extraction Domain absorbed the energy in its area of effect. Atst, Michael used Swallow Domain, his focus on all weeds and harmful life in the surrounding tens of kilometers.

    The World Serpent within Michael bellowed aloud and added a trace of its Essence into the Major Seal, drastically amplifying Swallow Domain''s potency.

    The area of effect expanded further, and Michael''s desire to remove all harmful existence changed slightly. ALL harmful, dangerous lifeforms in the surrounding 50 kilometers were eliminated and swallowed the instant the Curses'' power erupted.

    This included the intelligent lifeforms that the Untamed Jungle had considered parasites¡ªa leech of its supreme lifeforce.

    Michael sensed what he''d swallowed when it happened, and his fury subsided immediately.

    He swallowed hard.

    "Well, fuck."

 Chapter 865 Burn to Cinder

    <h4>Chapter 865 Burn to Cinder</h4>

    Michael could sense everything he''d devoured with Swallow Domain and found a batch of Awakened and Summons inside the Major Seal''s storage. It would have already been bad if the Awakened and Summons were some of his subordinates, but that was not the case. They had been on the outskirts of Swallow Domain''s area of effect.

    "Why the hell did you do that?" Michael cursed the World Serpent. He didn''t expect it to answer, but the World Serpent surprised him again.

    [Do what? I provided your intent with more power. I granted you some of my power to remove everything the Untamed Jungle considered a pest and harmful.]

    Michael cursed the World Serpent, but the creature remained calm andposed.

    [Don''t you think it''s interesting how extensive your connection to the Untamed Jungle is to know what it considers a threat? I didn''t notice it at first because you''re trying to block me and that other bastard inside you, but your connection to the Untamed Jungle is...weird. It''s almost as intense as our forced connection even though you and the heart of the Untamed Jungle were never near each other.]

    Michael didn''t have anything to respond. In the first ce, he had to react fast to avoid more problems. Starting a war with another Lord in the Untamed Jungle would be a problem ¨C a fairly big one, at that. Michael would much rather avoid more wars for the time being.

    ''Knowing my luck, I will have to fight a few more Alliances from all sides soon.'' Michael teased himself but cursed quietly upon recalling his bad luck.

    He didn''t feel like fighting with a Lord whose Awakened and Summons survived this deep into the Untamed Jungle. Michael was already forced to travel deep into the Untamed Jungle to unleash his fury, but the Awakened and Summons were even deeper inside. They were already more than ten kilometers into the mainds of the Untamed Jungle. Even the weakest monster nearby was at the Peak of Tier-2. Most were Tier-3 and close to their evolution to a High Beast.

    "The Untamed Jungle might consider them a pest, but that doesn''t mean I want to devour them just yet," Michael grumbled.

    It might be important to note that the Untamed Jungle had been on his side for a while now and didn''t consider him a pest, whereas the Awakened and Summons he''d swallowed werebeled as such. But then again, it was also important to know that Michael had no idea whether the Untamed Jungle considered the Gogi a pest. Michael was fairly sure even the Kitsun were considered a pest.

    [Or your connection to the Untamed Jungle was too faint to understand what it tried to tell you about the Kitsun. I doubt the Untamed Jungle would ept beings like the Kitsun.]

    Michael nodded. He couldn''t sense the Untamed Jungle''s intent for a long time. The High Ascension elevated his perception and senses to a new level, which allowed him to grow even closer to the Untamed Jungle.

    "Either way, stop distracting me. I need to solve the problems you''re trying to pull me in!" Michael said, sealing his mind from the World Serpent before it respond.

    He ended up using True Extraction with the rest of his curse power, every bit of soul power ¨C fused with lifeforce ¨C and the remaining energy in a radius of more than 50 kilometers on Swallow Domain''s storage to spit the Awakened and Summons out in one piece.

    They weren''t dead just yet, which was weird knowing that he could have used Permute on them to transform them into curse power or anything he liked while they were still alive, but that might be for the better. He teleported to the Awakened and Summons and found them on the verge of death.

    "As long as you''re not dead, I can heal anything," Michael murmured while using River of Vigor. Stream of healing serum oozed from his fingertips. The streams swirled around the unmoving bodies and stabilized their state, ensuring they would survive and return to their senses soon.

    Once he was sure the group of Awakened and Summons would survive, Michael inspected them.

    Michael thought the Awakened and Summons were Valyr when he saw them, but Spirit Eyes confirmed they were different. Most of them looked different, but Michael didn''t know if the Valyr had split up like the Elves, thus evolving differently.

    The Awakened and Summons lying before him had short tails with a Morningstar at the end. They hadrge, leathery wings and were covered in fiery red scales. The scales were so hot that Michael was surprised they didn''t burn the Untamed Jungle.

    It made sense why the Untamed Jungle disliked them. The Untamed Jungle was probably forced to expend tremendous energy to ensure its safety against these Awakened and Summons. All of them radiated a tremendous heat, and Spirit Eyes confirmed that they had a fire burning inside them. It was almost like the fire was their lifeforce and power. It was mixed into their energy pir¡­No, it reced their energy pir.

    Their heads looked somewhat human, but they had elongated jaws, and the back of their heads were also deformed. Their skulls were shaped differently, yet they had human-like facial features, horns jutting from the back of their head, which looked weird as some horns were curved and twisted in all directions.

    Still, it felt a little weird looking at them. They looked like lizards, humans, and serpents ¨C once Michael opened their mouths out of curiosity. What he saw were fangs and a split tongue.

    ''Very interesting.''

    "Are those Dragonkins?" Michael asked, connecting to the World Serpent again. However, the World Serpent remained silent.

    ''Do you act like a petty lil snake just because I locked you out of my mind?'' Michael asked, but the World Serpent didn''t respond.

    He groaned but kept his opinion of the World Serpent''s behavior to himself. He focused on the Dragonkins ¨C after deciding to call them that until he learned more ¨C instead.

    Learning more about them was preferably simple. Michael used Mind Reader on their strongest Awakened, a Higher Lifeform at the Peak of Tier-4. Michael didn''t realize it until then, but the World Serpent empowered Swallow Domain much more than expected. To devour several Higher Lifeforms that easily ¨C while they were still conscious and full of life ¨C was far from easy for Michael. At least, it was supposed to be.

    The Dragonkins'' mental barrier wasn''t too powerful. Of course, there was considerable resistance ¨C more than he faced when using Mind Reader on Humans, Elves, Berserkers, and others, but less than the Hyuman. Either way, once inside their minds, Michael had an easy time procuring information about the Dragys, a decently powerful race who was known for their bloodline. They were closely rted to the Red Dragon God ording to their beliefs.

    How much of that was true, Michael didn''t know, but he could fully understand why the Untamed Jungle viewed them a pest. The Dragys didn''t fit into the Untamed Jungle. They weren''t supposed to be here.

    But they were here and had already spread through the mainds of the Untamed Jungle ¨C farther than Michael predicted.

    All Michael wanted to know about the Dragys was their numbers, the location of their headquarters and other settlements, the size of the territory, more intel about the race, their usual behavior, their rtionship to other Lords and territories, possibly the location of more Lords in the mainds of the Untamed Jungle, and other information like that.

    Knowledge was power. At least, that was what Michael learned in his short time as a Lord.

    Unfortunately, knowledge was sometimes depressive as well.

    Everything he learned was bad, except that the Lord didn''t seem to care about the outer parts of the Untamed Jungle. She wanted to expand deeper inside the Untamed Jungle and burn the Untamed Jungle to cinder¡­starting from its heart.

 Chapter 866 Expansion & Trades

    Chapter 866 Expansion & Trades

    Michael gazed at the unconscious Dragys for a while.

    ''I wouldn''t consider them a typical evil race like the Kitsun, but it''s mostly the Will ying the Dragys and the Untamed Jungle. The Untamed Jungle will never like the Dragys and deploy more monsters at them. But why is this Lordess so adamant about burning the Untamed Jungle''s heart?''

    Even though Michael procured a decent amount of information, he stillcked a lot. He had many questions, but nobody could answer all of them. Michael considered killing the Awakened and Summons for a moment. Devouring their bodies with Swallow Domain would remove all traces of their existence. It wouldn''t be difficult to return to the Pentagon Fort, leaving the Dragys Lordess unaware of what happened to her subordinates. But Michael didn''t want to hazard it. Furthermore, the group of Dragys lying before him wasn''t evil either. There might be bad Dragys somewhere, but the batch of Awakened and Summons wasn''t among them.

    So, instead of killing them, Michael retrieved the Needle of Lost Memories after gathering as many useful pieces of information as possible. He used the Needle on the Dragys, ensuring they would forget everything that had happened in thest few hours. They might have been unconscious for a while now, but Michael didn''t want to risk anything. Michael would much rather do too much than miss something crucial.

    Once done, Michael scanned the surroundings for monsters and disappeared after he noticed that no more predators were anywhere close by.

    ''The Dragys Lordess could be troublesome to deal with. It''s a good thing she''s not even close to the core region of the Untamed Jungle. But her intent is worrisome¡­ Destroying the Untamed Jungle¡­''

    Michael didn''t like it but was unwilling to throw his people into a losing battle. There was no need to risk anything right now.

    Nheless, he subconsciously registered the Lordess as a threat and potential enemy. Michael returned to his territory to learn that the settlements in the Untamed Jungle were full to the brim. A few days ago, the Pentagon-Fort crossed the poption limit of 1.5 million.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have moved everyone to the Sacred Desert, as Paradise Valley''s settlements were bigger and still not even close to reaching their limits. However, the Forest Elves and Forest Elven Summons weren''t ustomed to living outside forests. Humans could adapt easily to new situations and other environments, but that didn''t mean all humans were suited to live in the desert. Therefore, Michael was forced to expand his territory in the Untamed Jungle. Michael didn''t feel well since he''d just encountered a new Lord in the Untamed Jungle ¨C though her territory was more than 100 kilometers away from Pentagon Fort. Especially since the Dragys'' Awakened remembered something about more Lords.

    They''d never encountered another Lord openly, but the Dragys Lordess was in contact with several Lords. For Michael to have never met any of them was¡­odd. He had been traveling and cleaning the Untamed Jungle for a while now. Of course, other than today, he never entered the mainds, but that didn''t exin how he''d never seen anyone with Spirit Eyes.

    ''Well. The Untamed Jungle is massive. Even the outskirts, the little extension of my territory, is extensive.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He shrugged and diverted his focus on his territory. It advanced rapidly over thest few weeks, and there haven''t been any major difficulties. They delivered their first batch of 100,000,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls.

    Zira, daughter of Valkyria, came to the usual gathering spot to deliver the Summoning Scrolls, which Tiara epted as one of Michael''s representatives. Some of the scrolls were utilized to increase the poption once all necessities for their lives had been prepared. That was how the Pentagon Fort reached their limit and how the Paradise Valley settlements were slowly but steadily filled.

    Paradise Valley''s city-sized settlements could contain one million citizens, but it would take a while before they could be filled to the brim. All Michael needed was enough food ¨C a variety of it to ensure a healthy diet for everyone ¨C and other necessities to provide his subjects with a pleasant and fulfilling life. Still, Paradise Valley''s settlements created homes for more than three million Summons, pushing the number of Links of Loyalty connected to Michael to more than 4.5 million.

    He was happy about his territory''s progress, especially given the Energy Vein and the excavation of Energy Stones. Michael should be overjoyed learning about his territory''s gains. At this point, he raked more money from a day''s worth of mining Energy Stones than most Lords could earn in several months. The Energy Stones were utilized to pay the Forest Elven tribe to purchase exotic nts. These extraordinary racial techniques could only be given and used by the strongest Forest Elves. Fortunately, Michael had some Botanic Sorcerer among his Forest Elven Summons. Last but not least, he had Lilica, the other EmeraldLeaf group members, and a Blessed Child ¨C Jason Kleora.

    Jason Kleora was also a unique case. He was already a Higher Lifeform with a 6-Star Soultrait, but he didn''t belong to the inner core of the Forest Elven Tribe. Michael learned that Jason Kleora was too bloodthirsty and that ¨C despite owning a Nature-attributed Soultrait ¨C he wasn''t perfectly fit to the Forest Elves'' techniques. Bloodthirsty wasn''t really what Michael would call Jason. He fought Hiraku a few times, losing more often with time. Jason Kleora couldn''t acknowledge that and joined Siegfried''s training camp. After that, the Blessed Child was nothing like he utilized to be. He integrated perfectly into Michael''s territory, drastically strengthening his Loyalty to Michael.

    At this point, Jason Kleora was one of the most loyal subjects in Michael''s territory. That was a surprise, though a wee one.

    Michael found a few more wee surprises, including news that the Valyr stopped trying to ''convince'' Michael that they deserved more Soultrait Symbols. The Valyr must have realized that Michael wasn''t pleased by their attempts. That was a good thing. However, it was even better that they offered a small fortune of resources to purchase the highlypressed Energy Stones found in Paradise Valley.

    Michael was fairly sure the Valyr offered so many resources only because they realized they had gone too far. It was an attempt to mend their rtionship. Of course, Michael epted their offer. He would be foolish to reject extra resources. That didn''t mean he forgave them, though. Michael was still uncertain what he should do with the Valyr.

    But one thing was certain: The Valyr in the Savannah Region weren''t a threat to him anymore. Michael could enter the Savannah Region alone and remove the Valyr''s territory from existence. That was true before he studied under the Nest Leader and even more so after he returned from the Spring of Abundant Life.

    Even Hiraku and some other High Awakened of his territory should be strong enough to deal with most of the Valyr''s powerhouses. There was no need to be scared of them. One wrong move and Michael would order their death. It was that simple.

    However, some things weren''t quite as simple.

    Michael''s mind, for example, was known for overthinking everything possible.

    The same mind struggled to figure out what happened to Alice, Kaleb, and the others.

    He would find them and ensure their safe retreat. It was just a matter of time. Michael was certain of that.

    Still, he couldn''t help but worry about their well-being.

    "Where the hell are you guys?"

 Chapter 867 Divine Academy

    Chapter 867 Divine Academy

    "Deardies and gentlemen~ WELCOME to the Divine Academy on this beautiful of mine! My name is Alizer Waymur, and I''m your lovely principal~" A loud voice reverberated through the massive assembly hall, stirring thousands of young men and women awake.

    Most were still students, old enough to have manifested their War Rune but too young to have unraveled their full potential. Yet, they had all one thing inmon: Their Soultraits were 5-Star or higher.

    The youngest were the first to jump up. Their heads flicked left and right, taking in the terrifying size of the assembly hall. It wasrger than a football field, yet there were enough humans to fill the gaps neatly. "Kaleb?" Alice''s worried voice resounded. It wasn''t loud, but it was loud enough to be heard. Kaleb shot up from the ground and looked to his left, where he saw his sister. She held her head in pain but tried to suppress the mind-splitting headache when she saw her brother''s terrified expression. "Sis!" Kaleb pushed through the crowd of confused students and reached for his sister. He embraced her tightly, trying his utmost to contain his tears. Kaleb was a strong Lord. He was the heir of the Zenovia household. Crying. No, even going as far as sobbing wasn''t allowed. He grit his teeth and focused on hugging his sister tightly.

    "Do you know where we are?" Alice asked Kaleb, who shook his head in their embrace. He was unwilling to release her again.

    "I only know what that weird guy said. He called this ''Divine Academy,''" Kaleb answered, but Alice was already aware of that.

    "He also mentioned that the is his. That''s bad. I don''t know anyone called Alizer Waymur, and nobody owns a in the Tritan Alliance," Alice''s energy stirred, and she was ready to use Frozen Kingdom and Queen to move at once as the puzzle pieces fell into ce.

    They weren''t in the Tritan Alliance anymore. "We are ¨C...."

    "As you might have realized, this is not your home anymore. We, the Paliat of the Supreme Human Alliance, chose to rescue you poor souls from corruption. Your people betrayed their race. They''ve forsaken their ancestry and chose to abandon everything the Supreme Human Alliance has been working for. Your people are the reason so many people are dying. But it doesn''t have to be like that. There is no need for so much bloodshed," Alizer Waymur shouted, his sonorous voice resounding through the assembly hall. Most students stopped talking and looked over to the Divine Academy principal, Alizer Waymur. He levitated in the air with a vibrant smile.

    "You can change that. Your powers are all the Supreme Human Alliance needs to ensure your people won''t hold onto their foolish beliefs," He cleared his throat and released a burst of energy that swept across the entire assembly hall, enveloping everyone tightly, "As long as you work hard, every single one of you here can change your races'' fate."

    His expression turned dead-serious, which was a sudden change.

    "Because if you don''t, your people will be torn into shreds. Because¡­the Supreme Human Alliance doesn''t think highly of traitors. We get rid of traitors and everyone who''s connected to them."

    Kaleb looked at Alice, who cursed quietly. She retrieved an Artifact from her War Rune ¨C a small token ¨C and infused energy into it. The small token was a Fragmented Legendary Artifact, one of a dozen fragments connected to the other pieces, sharing her location and vitals with the different fragments.

    Kaleb noticed that something within him stirred when Alice used the Fragmented Legendary Artifact. He was about to retrieve his fragment when he saw that Alice''s fragment had shattered. Alice cursed but reacted quickly when she saw her brother''s reaction. She trembled her head, telling him to keep his fragment in the War Rune.

    "You won''t be able to use any Artifact in the Divine Academy," Alizer Waymur''s head flicked to Alice. She trembled, and her legs caved inward. Alice writhed in pain, but she didn''t lose consciousness, no matter how much pressure and pain flooded her.

    "Killing you would be a shame," He murmured, turning away as if he had never said anything. He studied a few students and nodded slowly.

    Atst, his expression distorted. A hideous grimace stered his face as he erupted in anger.

    "What a disgrace. Disgusting pig!" Alizer Waymur roared at the top of his lungs, unleashing a burst of concentrated energy toward a young woman. The young woman, between the age of 20 and 22, screamed once before the energy impacted. Her body exploded.

    Shreds of skin, chunks of flesh, and bone fragments shot in all directions, showering the surrounding humans. Some students vomited, while others just retched. Some were also too stunned to say or do anything. Their nk stares to where the young woman had been standing just a moment ago were enough to tell how they felt.

    "What happened?" Kaleb asked, only for Alizer Waymur to continue raging.

    "How dare you sully your sacred body with a vermin''s seed inside you?!?! What a disgrace. A devilish whore!!!"

    The principal of the Divine Academy continued raging, but the Zenovia siblings tried not to pay too much attention to him. Instead, they searched for other people. If Alice and Kaleb were here, there would be more familiar people. Finding Lincoln, Zeke, and some more familiar faces didn''t take long.

    Lincoln and Zeke discovered the Zenovia siblings as well and approached them.

    "Wasn''t that Betty?" Zeke asked, pointing in the direction of the young woman who exploded a minute earlier.

    "Betty? The one who fell in love with that Berserker?" Kaleb recalled something now that Zeke pointed it out for him.

    "The vermin''s seed¡­" Alice mumbled, a soft groan escaping her lips, "The Supreme Human Alliance got us. They managed to kidnap us. How?!" Lincoln studied Alice for a moment and shrugged. He seemed oddly calm, "A pir of light appeared suddenly. It shrouded me, and I fainted. The next thing I remember is waking up in this shitty hall."

    "It was the same for me," Zeke said while Kaleb nodded. Alice also recalled the pristine light, but she didn''t faint immediately. Something within her permitted Alice to withstand the pristine light. But it was only for a few seconds. She copsed after a few seconds and woke up in the assembly hall.

    "But something is odd," Kaleb mumbled. "Other than hundreds of Descendants getting kidnapped by a pir of light or a psychopathic Hyuman on a powertrip? Do you really need more? In that case, what do you think about us being entire GALAXIES away from our home, or that we''re helpless in a fucking Academy created by psychopathic genocitists?"

    Kaleb winced when Zeke cursed him quietly, but he gazed at Alice instead.

    "That guy didn''t blow my sister apart," He mentioned, attracting weird gazes from everyone around her.

    "I might not be the best sister, but do you want me dead this badly?" Aliceined.

    "That''s not my point," Kaleb shook his head, "You are a great sister, but I''m talking about this Alizer staring at you for a while. Don''t you recall Michael talking about the influence of Curses and how Curse Users affect the people around them?"

    Alice raised her eyebrow, not quite sure what Kaleb was getting at, but nodded, "Michael stated that about his Curses and that it applies to every Curse User. It''s also the reason he gave everyone a Soultrait to ensure we can protect ourselves even better. But how is that rted to this psychopath of a principal not killing me?"

    Kaleb pressed his lips together, gazed at his friends, and decided to lean forward. It was probably better to whisper into his sister''s ear than speak aloud.

    "Isn''t the presence of his Curses thicker around you because of your¡­closeness?" Kaleb mumbled into Alice''s ear. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She frowned at first but blushed a momentter.

    That was a first for Kaleb. It was new, but the situation was too serious to joke around. Still, Kaleb couldn''t help but tease his sister, seeing her like this.

    "Didn''t you sleep with Michael?"

 Chapter 868 Legendary

    Chapter 868 Legendary

    Even though Michael was worried about his friends and others, he focused on growing stronger. That was only possible after Evee used a consumable Artifact to drastically increase her Soultrait''s power for a single use. Evee found Alice and the other Descendants of the Tritan Alliance using her augmented Soultrait ¨C by using her Soultrait with her Curse and her customized Soul Arts.

    Evee was exhausted for a few days after finding Alice and the others, but it was not like she didn''t receive anything in return. Michael created a considerable amount of healing serum, which he reinforced with Enhancement and Soul Tears, before bottling them to sell them in the Cosmic Trading Market to the Nest for one Cosmic Coin.

    Of course, Michael could have returned to the Nest once and for all, but he had a few things toplete. They acquired enough Cosmic Coins via his sold Soultrait Symbols to purchase 17ary energy generators and empower them for several years. Once installed, the situation across the Tritan Alliance changed slightly. More energy filled the surroundings. The flora and fauna changed, and everyone, whether ill, old, or still growing, grew healthier.

    It was nice to see that the children were more vigorous than before. Their life improved drastically, and it wasn''t difficult to tell that they matured faster as well. The origin energy entering their bodies nourished them. They were pushed beyond the limit an unawakened was supposed to reach. That was interesting, and it was exactly why everyone was adamant about awakening their''s energy core.

    Not only would the likelihood of manifesting a War Rune increase drastically, but ordinary citizens would live healthier and longer lives as well. It would be more likely to manifest War Runes in a few hundred years than failing to manifest one. By that time, the Humans of the Tritan Alliance would have a massive advantage. After all, even the Supreme Human Alliance was interested in their Soultrait Symbols. The Lesser Humans of the Tritan Alliance had better Soultraits than most races of the same rank. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had slightly worse Soultraits. Of course, they were still powerful, but there was still arge difference. Nheless, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had other advantages. Their alignment toward body refinement techniques andpatibility with physical Soultraits was extraordinary. The physique of the average Berserker was several times stronger than a Lesser Human''s. They could refine their physique much faster as well.

    Michael considered a few factors and left the Cosmic Trading Market and everything rted to the Tritan Alliance to Kraft Viton and the others. He was unsure if keeping the Racial Symbols was the best idea, but Palika and others didn''t take them back. Thus, he kept them and used his individual Achievement Points to purchase a few more things.

    _______________________

    [Achievement Shop] - [2413 Points] [Cosmic Shop] ¨C [1000 Points]

    [Origin Watch] ¨C [1000 Points]

    [Auto Repair Attachment] ¨C [100 Points]

    [Return to Owner Attachment] ¨C [100 Points] n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [Unbreakable Attachment] ¨C [100 Points]

    [Perfect Network Attachment] ¨C [100 Points.]

    _______________________

    Michael didn''t n on spending all his Achievement Points, but it was not like he had another use. Thus, he purchased a Cosmic Shop, which he could connect to the Origin Watch after linking to the Tritan Alliance''s Cosmic Trading Market.

    However, it was more important to link the Cosmic Shop to the Origin Watch, one of the most advanced technologies used in the cosmos. It didn''t look too special. It was a white watch with a holographic screen, but the attachments made it worthwhile. The attachments were self-exnatory. The Origin Watch could be damaged beyond recognition, but it couldn''t break. Combined with auto repair, the Origin Watch would always return to its peak state as long as it absorbed some energy. It also required energy to tap into the Perfect Network of the Origin and for the Return to Owner Attachment to work properly.

    Besides purchasing a Cosmic Shop, which he used with the excessive resources he didn''t have much use for ¨C or resources, he''d much rather exchanged with other materials to expand his territory ¨C Michael did a lot to expand his territory. Several months have passed since Evee learned about Alice, Kaleb, and the others, and Michael spent more than 80% of that time in the Origin Expanse.

    He''d procured 500,000,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls from the Valyr, which Michael tore apart andbined. To be precise, Michael tore slightly more than half of them into Scroll Fragments tobine them into Legendary Summoning Scrolls, while the rest wasbined into Named Scrolls.

    Michael knew he could have created two, maybe three, Divine Summoning Scrolls, but the World Serpent ensured he wouldn''t obtain three more creatures like him. It was more likely that the energy umted for Divine Summons had been drained entirely with the World Serpent''s summoning.

    He wasn''t sure whether to believe that or if he should try it, but he didn''t want to take the risk.

    Thus, Michael summoned 375 Legendary Summons instead. Michael had expected something simr to happen, but Michael was a bit stunned when all of the 375 Legendary Summons turned out to be Awakened of the SIlverfang Tigerfolk. The Silverfangs were linked to him with the Link of Loyalty, but the burden of the Links of Loyalty was pushed onto Tiara as the Princess of the Silverfang Tigerfolk. That was a bit burdening for Tiara. However, it helped Michael establish more Links of Loyalty with Awakened. If he continued like this, Michael would have no problem connecting to twice as many Awakened as other Lords. To be precise, he was pretty sure it would be more than that. His Soul was a little more substantial than the norm due to the burden the Wolf Curse had put on his Souls from the day he was born and the fact that two Curses have been straining his soul for a while now.

    Summoning 375 Silverfangs pushed the number of Awakened in his territory toward 1000. At the same time, it increased the portion of Silverfangs toward 382.

    Some SIlverfangs were youthful and shouldn''t have manifested a War Rune just yet. They were useless inbat but could be nourished into mighty warriors, knowledgeable schrs, or crafty artisans with proper training. Michael wasn''t too worried about that. If anything, he was d to have summoned more Awakened since he could empower them using Soultrait Symbols. Tiara and the other Silverfangs were also more motivated. Their dream of bringing everyone to Michael''s territory seemed to being true - slowly but steadily. All they had to do was continue to help Michael, and their kin would return to their sides.

    Besides that, Awakened provided far more Soul Power through the Link of Loyalty than most Summons. Even the 8-Star Starheaven Pharaoh didn''t offer as much Soul Power as Frederik Kolbenheim. More Awakened strengthened Michael''sbat prowess, and by supplying them with Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments, Michael could transform every Awakened in his territory into Cmity on the battlefield. All he had to do was to throw a bunch of 3-Star and 4-Star Soultraits at his Awakened and push them beyond their limit by forcing them to train their Soultraits in depth.

    Once they mastered their Soultraits, Michael could increase their star rating, pushing them further away from thebat prowess of an average Awakened and closer to bing the Disasters Michael wished to create at some point.

 Chapter 869 Punishment

    Chapter 869 Punishment

    After his ''failure'' of summoning 375 Silverfangs instead of proper Legendary Summons, Michael paid more attention to the Named Summoning Scrolls. At least he could tell what he would summon with these scrolls. That made everything a little bit more simplistic.

    He created 2400x 3-Star Named Summoning Scrolls and 15 4-Star Named Scrolls with the remaining Ordinary Summoning Scrolls. Michael had to experiment a little with Insert and Extract to use the remaining Ordinary Summoning Scrolls efficiently until he gave up. Multiple highly efficient ways existed, yet finding the perfect one was too difficult because some factors were luck-based. Michael couldn''t logically pinpoint luck-based factors. To be precise, he didn''t think it would be worth the effort.

    He obtained 100,000,000 Ordinary Summoning Scrolls every few months either way. It was the Valyr''s payment for acquiring the Savannah Region from him. Therefore, Michael obtained them for free ¨C basically.

    Michael felt it would be the best decision to createbat Summoning Scrolls first. Still, he changed his mind and created a mix of Artisans, Architects, and a wide variety of Sorcerers ¨C mostly Aqueous, Gaia, and Botanica Sorcerers ¨C which could help with the construction of ces such as water reservoirs, wells, and much more.

    The 4-Star Sorcerers were also quite useful forbat, other than the Botanica Sorcerers, which was a greatbi. Hopefully, he wouldn''t have to wage war with anyone anytime soon, but Michael could tell that his hopes would be crushed rtively quickly. He had already been too lucky with his territories. It was only obvious, but Michael would have to fight valiantly fairly soon. He was bound to be pushed to the edge of existence soon. That was also how he focused on creating the Path Fortresses in Paradise Valley. He destroyed the Teleportation Chambers near the zing Sand Mountain Range, installed his short-distance teleportation arrays inside Paradise Valley, and created several paths leading out of Paradise Valley.

    The paths lead through the zing Sand Mountain Range, just like he and his people had prepared beforehand, but Michael''s workers had installed a few more traps that would trigger if strangers dared to enter the paths without permission.

    The traps were something Michael bought in the Cosmic Shops of other races. They were somewhat expensive, but Michael was far from poor. He''d sold two 3-Star Soultrait Symbols in his shop, earning him a small fortune to splurge.

    After months of preparations for a ¨C still unknown ¨C war ended, Michael started sending scouts outside Paradise Valley. He had to find out how many Lords were left in the Sacred Desert, how strong they were, and if they were willing to surrender the Sacred Desert to Michael. Since Paradise Valley had an Energy Vein, the Sacred Desert would also develop and expand in the following years. It would change into an Intermediate Region at some point. Once that happened, Michael wanted the Sacred Desert to himself. He wouldn''t share the assets generated in an Intermediate Region with anyone else, let alone reveal to anyone that there was an Energy Vein.

    Thinking back to the Energy Vein, Michael was both in fury and amused. Michael found out about the person ¨C or peoples ¨C leaking the news about the Energy Vein to the Valyr. At first, Michael felt like someone managed to bypass the restrictions of the Link of Loyalty and betrayed him, but that wasn''t the case. It would have been so much easier if that had been the problem.

    Unfortunately, the situation was a lot more confusing than that. It was different than Michael had expected. A bunch of Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs was known for entering the Savannah Region to hunt monsters. The Valyrmissioned their hunting serviceswfully. They loved running through the Savannah Region and hunting monsters. That was the kind of freedom they loved. Michael didn''t want to hold them back, and it wasn''t like the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs caused trouble. If anything, they befriended the Valyrs and asionally hunted with them.

    By hunting together, the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers could showcase their superiorbat prowess, which would nt seeds of fear and respect into the hearts of the Valyr. They would face the bitter truth ¨C that they were weaker than the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Michael liked that idea, especially with the Valyr being annoying. However, he heard not too long ago that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs went to drink at one of the Valyr''s settlements after a sessful hunt. They were happy and drank alcoholic beverages ¨C lots of them. Apparently, they were dead drunk and talked about the Energy Vein in excitement and joy, d to share the most recent news about their Lord''s find. That was how the Valyr learned about the existence of Energy Vein.

    It was stupid, yet it wasn''t something Michael could punish quickly. A traitor in his rows would have been easier to handle than this. Nheless, Michael had to punish the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs for their mistake. He banned them from the Jungle Shop for a year and told them they would also have a more challenging time earning Jungle Points that year. It was the first warning, but Michael had to make an example out of them. Blocking ess to their Jungle Shop wouldn''t be too troublesome initially, but a year was long. That was equivalent to two years in the Origin Expanse, given that Michael used the time outside the Origin Expanse for the punishment. In two years, lots of things could change. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs'' friends could collect thousands of Jungle Points, purchase another Soultrait, and upgrade their existing Soultriats. They would have no problem purchasing various resources and advancing rapidly. Theirbat prowess would skyrocket, whereas the dead-drunk idiots would have to work ten times harder to keep up with their colleagues, only to realize the aftermath of their actions.

    Of course, Michael gave them a way to escape the punishment. If they showed their Lord that they were redeemed by working harder than everyone else and by achieving things their peers weren''t capable of, Michael would decrease the penalty period or remove it at once.

    That was nice, but the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs weren''t too concentrated on getting rid of their punishment. It wasn''t worth the effort, in their opinion. Not yet, at least.

    They had already bought a Soultrait, which was upgraded to 3-Star as well. It would take a while for their mastery to reach a high level in the first ce. Therefore, they weren''t too bothered about losing ess to the Jungle Shop.

    At least, that''s what they said until the information of the leftover Lords in the Sacred Desert reached Michael and his subordinates.

    The scouts shared news of a few fighting Lords and that the Human Lords in the Sacred Desert defeated their enemies one after another until only a few territories ¨C territories connected, yet not adequatelybined ¨C were left. Michael listened intently to the reports and listened when he listened the description of the Lords and Awakened leading the battles.

    Michael''s expression distorted into a hideous grimace.

    The ze household was in the Sacred Desert.

    They were thest leftover Lords in the Sacred Desert.

 Chapter 870 House of Blaze

    Chapter 870 House of ze

    "How is that possible? The ze Patriarch and his family never were Lords in the Sacred Desert? I didn''t see or hear anything about them moving their territories to the Sacred Desert either. How did they manage to establish several territories in the Sacred Desert?" Michael asked the scouts in fury. To the scouts'' misfortune, they didn''t have an answer. They''d already reported everything they knew. Hiraku, Frederik, Tiara, and the Forest Elven Adventurers sat around arge table. Everyone received a copy of the scouts'' report to read through multiple times. Lokai and Thoar jumped up in fury, tearing the parchments apart in unison.

    "Let''s kill those bastards. The ze Patriarch is still injured. We can win!" Thaor roared. Lokai joined Thaor, and the other Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs joined at the table, except for Mekhaz. He intently studied Michael and the rest, waiting for their response, and spoke up when he noticed everyone was deep in thought.

    "The reports show that the ze household''s military might is weak. Their strongest Summons are at the 2nd Tier and equipped with unsuitable armor for the Sacred Desert. The only problem, and the crucial factor, is the army of Awakened working for the ze household. ording to the scouts'' reports, ten territories are left in the Sacred Desert and are rapidly expanding. Each territory is also tinypared to the number ofbatants in their Summon Army."

    Mekhaz didn''t say any more. He looked across the table, hoping the others understood what he was getting at.

    Lilica''s head flicked back to the report, and she groaned at finding what he''d been looking for. "Each territory has only one massive main settlement, yet they have more than 100,000batants and 1,000 or more Awakened on their side?"

    Mekhaz nodded and smiled grimly, "They abandoned their territory and re-established it in the Sacred Desert using Lord Tokens or the like. It might have been a Shifting Orb, but that''s not important."

    "Your point is that they shifted to the Sacred Desert thinking they could im the region after removing the weakened Lords, who''ve survived the Undead Pharaoh''s onught. That way, nobody could attack the ze household because they would practically sever ties to their kin in the Origin Expanse," Hiraku understood, ncing at Michael and Daniel, who were both grinning from one ear to the other.

    They looked at each other, their vibrant grins transforming into the grimaces of devious creatures.

    "Isn''t that fun?" Michael asked his brother.

    "To think that it would end where everything began," Daniel cracked his neck, his silver eyes glowing dangerously.

    The Fang brothers were out for revenge. It wasn''t long, but Michael learned about the ze Patriarch''s involvement in Daniel''s death. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. The ze Patriarch was involved in so many devious acts¡­. Michael stopped counting. It didn''t matter anymore, either way. All that mattered was that the culprits of their pain and suffering were in the Sacred Desert and that Michael was thest Lord they had to kill ¨C if they knew that his sub-territory was located in the Sacred Desert in the first ce.

    "It''s time to get rid of them," Frederik nodded, cracking his knuckles. Michael nodded, "It''s time for war."

    **

    The military might of his territories wasn''t as extensive as he''d wished for, but Michael was fortunate that many Starless Summons had a decent alignment towardbat upations. Combatants were the easiest to train because of the potions, elixiers, and training grounds to offer training. That was how Michael ¨C precisely Siegfried Dracoon, alongside Master Tigris and Legion ¨C managed to expand Michael''s military force to more than 100,000 members.

    At this point, only a few Summons in the Untamed Army were Tier-1batants. Most were given enough time and resources to advance to the 2nd Tier, which elevated thebat prowess of Michael''s territory to another level. After all, any Summon Army with a majority of Summons at the 2nd Tier or higher was incredibly valuable. Supplemented with high-quality armaments, training in martial arts techniques from the best, and additional augments granted from Soultraits of the Awakened Army, the Summons would have no problem dealing with armies several times their size, if necessary.

    However, that shouldn''t be necessary against the ze household''s territories. After all, the greatest danger of the ze household''s territories was the Awakened fighting for them.

    Michael didn''t know if the Awakened had been corrupted and turned into members of the Supreme Human Alliance, but that didn''t matter. He couldn''t show mercy to his enemies merely because he wasn''t sure whether they were all bad. It was a fact that the ze Patriarch and his family were his enemies and that Michael had to give his utmost to deal with them if he wanted to survive alongside his people.

    Showing weakness in the middle of the battle would lead to unnecessary deaths on his side. Michael considered that when he and his people prepared forbat.

    "The ze household is known for their fire-attributed Soultraits. We also know that the ze Patriarch is the only member in the 6th Tier. The scouts found him participating on the battlefield. Still, there was something odd about him," Hiraku gestured to Michael, who proceeded, "I used Mind Reader on the scouts to scan their memories and discovered a few points that could either be very concerning or reassuring. It depends on how you look at it."

    He cleared his throat and wondered how to convey the issue in the best possible way, but he gave up and said it as it was.

    "There are multiple Tier-5 powerhouses subservient to the ze Patriarch. They seem stronger than the ze Patriarch, which can mean one of two things ¨C or both if we''re both lucky and unlucky." Michael smiled, "EIther, the ze Patriarch is currently so weak he cannot evenpare to the average Tier-5 powerhouse, or¡­"

    "Or the Tier-5 powerhouses are stronger than the norm, and the ze Patriarch isn''t as weak as it seems," Frederik intercepted Michael, earning him deadly res from all directions. "That is possible, or the ze Patriarch is as weak as we presume, and the Tier-5 powerhouses are stronger than the norm as well," Reba pointed out, ignoring Frederik''s helpless gaze when Lilica flicked his forehead with enough force to snap the neck of an ordinary Lesser Lifeform. Fortunately, Frederik was not that ordinary anymore.

    "We are not strong enough to deal with several Tier-5 powerhouses and a Tier-6 Lord. Whether he is at full power or weakened doesn''t change a lot," One of Mekhaz''s people added. He wasn''t against fighting the ze Patriarch because he lost some important people in the Civil War as well, but he wasn''t sure if attacking the ze household right now was the best way.

    "Only one weakened Tier-6 Lord and less than a dozen Tier-5 powerhouses spread across the ten territories. Most Tier-5 powerhouses are members of the ze family. They''re the Lord of the territories," Michael said, smiling lightly.

    "Why are you smiling? What are you up to, Michael?" The Starheaven Pharaoh asked, unsure whether he should be excited about their Lord''s n or if he should shiver in fear instead.

    "Nothing much. It''s just that I have multiple ways to deal with the ze household''s fire Soultraits," Michael shrugged lightly before pointing at the Elemental Empress, "We can fight fire with fire to deal with all but the ze Patriarch." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He stopped speaking overly dramatically while retrieving more than a dozen Soultrait Symbols, "Or we use Soultraits to render their strongest powers useless."

    Daniel studied Michael before looking at the Elemental Empress and the Soultrait Symbols, "What about their Primordial Bloodline technique? Even if they cannot use their Soultraits, Tier-5 powerhouses are still powerful, even more so after using the Primordial Bloodline technique."

    Michael''s grin didn''t cease. Instead, it widened, or it would have if that was still possible.

    "That''s why I need blood," His eyes flicked to Thaor, Lokai and the rest, "As much as possible!"

    **

 Chapter 871 Olivia

    Chapter 871 Olivia

    "Just because your father gave you the Lord Token doesn''t mean I''ll listen to your orders!" Kevin ze cursed his cousin.

    It had been a while since they were forced to abandon their homes both in the Tritan Alliance and the Origin Expanse to survive and move to the Sacred Desert.

    However, because their household didn''t manage to procure more than 10 Lord Tokens, some members of the ze household were forced to be their family''s subordinates.

    Kevin ze was one of those unfortunate. He was forced to be his cousin''s Subordinate through the Link of Loyalty. Olivia ze was only slightly stronger, yet she was given the Lord Token to establish a territory in the Sacred Desert. She didn''t deserve it! But, of course, Olivia ze was of a different opinion.

    Olivia looked at her cousin in disgust. "If you''re not going to work, you might as well drop dead. Do you want me to report your attitude to Father?" Kevin shuddered and shook his head, "Forget it¡­" ''Bitch!''

    Olivia could tell what her cousin thought of her, but she didn''t care. She''d already abandoned everything important to her. Kevin was probably not the only one who was cursing her right now. At least, that was what Olivia was hoping for. She didn''t regret abandoning the Tritan Alliance or Alice. Their lives were better now. No. Her life was better now. She was stronger than ever and would continue growing stronger every day. In the future, once the ze household was strong enough to face the Tritan Alliance head-on, they would return and be their rulers. They would dominate entire ster systems and create an empire in their name.

    "Spread the word and make sure everyone knows what they must do. We need to expand the territory," Olivia ordered her cousin, ignoring Kevin''s punchable face. He looked at her like he was waiting for hisst brain cell to register her words.

    "In which direction do you want to expand, though?" Kevin asked, which earned the Higher Lifeform a deadly re.

    "In all directions, of course. Did you fall on your head too often in your childhood? There is nothing in our surroundings. Your brother''s territory is tens of kilometers south, but that''s all," Olivia was ready to punch Kevin in a fit, only to calm down when she recalled something else, "There is the burning mountain range as well, but Father told us to avoid it for the time being. A powerful monster has been protecting the mountain range for centuries. It will take a while before we reach our final destination." Kevin nodded and was about to leave when the watchtower bell resounded through the settlement. The cousins looked at each other, a groan escaping their lips. A momentter, they charged toward the eastern watchtower, where they saw Summons and Awakened waving at them. They gestured to the eastern walls. Olivia and Kevin leaped on top of the walls with a single jump. After a waft of sand sshed against them, they brushed their clothes but didn''t pay any more attention to their attire. Instead, their eyes were glued to the cloud of sand near the burning mountain range. "We are not expecting any kind of reinforcement, right?" Kevin asked after hisst brain cell was deducted that something was wrong. Something didn''t make sense, yet Kevin ze couldn''t be sure what was happening. Olivia studied the sand cloud intently and found the source of it in no time. A massive army marched toward the settlement. Someone had invaded her territory.

    ''That cannot be. We killed all Lords. The Sacred Desert belongs to the ze household! Father said nobody was left¡­ Wait. Is it one of my cousins?'' Olivia''s eyes widened in shock as her imagination ran wild. ''Someone betrayed Father? No, my Uncles and Aunts wouldn''t do that. They''re only strong and alive thanks to Father. But who is it then? My cousins wouldn''t be stupid enough to attack me. None of the ze territories is closer to the burning mountain range than mine either¡­ Wait!!''

    Olivia quickly deduced what was going on. However, she didn''t like what she was seeing.

    ''Humans¡­Berserkers¡­and Warlock Centaurs?!?'' She nearly screamed aloud. Olivia had to summon her willpower to contain her shock.

    ''That''s not all either. There are other races as well. Elves? No. Those are not ordinary Elves. I read about them once. Aren''t those Forest Elves? Or Wood Elves? Aren''t they extinct? And who the hell are those silver-eared Demis?!? What''s going on here?''

    It didn''t take long before Olivia''s eyes fell upon the Human Awakened amidst the massive army marching her way.

    She discovered Frederik Kolbenheim and Hiraku Teranos and remembered them. How could she not?

    "Aren''t those kids with¡­"

    The scenery around her changed before she could finish her sentence. Her body tensed up, and her sense of danger told Olivia something big would happen.

    Suddenly, the sun disappeared, yet the surroundings weren''t covered in a shadow. The surroundings were still illuminated, only for a shade to submerge Olivia''s settlement. The hair all over her body stood up to its end, and her head shot upward, unraveling a colossus meteorite shooting down from the sky.

    The meteorite was dozens of meters long and high. It was covered in molten stone, which split up and sprawled all over the settlement. The massive mountain of earth, molten stone, and energy whizzed past Olivia''s head. It crashed heavily into the ground, spreading chaos, fear, and destruction.

    Explosions resounded behind Olivia, and it was only a matter of milliseconds before a massive shockwave reverberated through the surroundings, tearing apart the buildings of several districts. Thousands of subjects died when the meteorite was impacted, and the number doubled following the shockwave''s aftermath. If the severely injured subjects were added, the number was even higher. Even Olivia had to block the shockwave, otherwise, she would have fallen from the eastern wall like some of her subjects. They were too weak to block the shockwave and fell to their deaths.

    Olivia swallowed hard, but she managed to suppress her shock quickly. The enemy army was getting closer, and the chaos and destruction in the settlement would make it harder to gather her forces. Repelling the enemy army wouldn''t be easy.

    Olivia didn''t give up, though. She came too far to give up at the first sign of inconvenience. Her head flicked to her cousin, and several orders formed in her mind. But Olivia froze in her tracks before she could tell Kevin what he had to do. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A familiar youth with vibrant golden eyes and eerily dark hair stood beside Kevin. He eyed Olivia''s cousin as no more than a nuisance, a pebble blocking his path. However, the youth''s lips curled upward when he discovered Olivia.

    "To think you would be the first," Michael murmured, his eyes transforming into serpentine slits. Kevin groaned in pain and found himself paralyzed, unable to move, even as a massive silverish-golden sword manifested in his hands. The sword pierced Kevin''s chest and disappeared, Insert transferring the Qi, True Extraction Essence, and the blood of a Curse User into the High Awakened''s body.

    "Watch your family die," Michael said, disappearing with a pop before Olivia made a move.

    Her head flicked to the sky, where Michael reappeared. He stood calmly on the back of a Minor Typhoon Roc and snapped his fingers. The sound, amplified by origin energy, reverberated through the surroundings and silenced everyone. Even the desperate screams of the subjects in the settlement died down.

    The sound died down quickly. Kevin''s body exploded right after. A short, pained scream was all Kevin could utter before he was no more.

    His body parts and insides burst in all directions, showering Olivia and the surrounding Awakened in his blood and organs.

 Chapter 872 Beating

    Chapter 872 Beating

    Seeing the familiar appearance of the man whose power was the reason they failed to conquer the Tritan Alliance, Olivia felt something surface from the depths of her body. She hardly ever lost herself in emotions, but the raw fury spreading through every cell in her body overwhelmed her. Her body began smoking, and flickering mes erupted all over it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "MICHAEL!!!" Olivia screamed at the top of her lungs, unleashing her Soultrait, Pyromancer''s Cannon, to conjure a highlypressed, fire-elemental cannonball in her palms. The Minor Typhoon Roc screeched in fear when it sensed the terrifying powerpressed into the cannonball, but it didn''t move. Instead, it heeded Michael''smand and supported the Lord.

    Michael observed the fire-elemental cannonball in intrigue, but he didn''t move to evade the attack. Instead, he responded with a counterattack.

    A quarter of a second before the fiery cannonball was released, Olivia found herself screaming in pain. In a fury, Olivia didn''t even notice the earth spikes shooting from the wall. They pierced her feet and calves before shifting, slightly altering the young ze''s position. The projectile in Olivia''s hand was unleashed, yet it didn''t hit Michael. Not even the Minor Typhoon Roc was struck by the projectile. It missed the monster by more than half a meter.

    Michael''s attention followed the high-velocity cannonball, and his expression soured.

    ''I shouldn''t let this hit anyone.'' He thought upon analyzing the destructive power of Olivia''s Soultrait.

    Although the cannonball was only a single projectile, it was much faster than most projectiles Michael had seen until now. Its destructive power was also nothing to take lightly. The fiery cannonball was like a high-velocity explosive with enough power to blow apart an area of five meters in radius.

    Michael lowered his body, pressed his palm against the Minor Typhoon Roc, and used Cosmic Stride to teleport the monster further away. He didn''t force the monster to leave the battlefield, but by pulling it away from Olivia ze''s attention, it could participate in the siege at ease.

    Michael created a small tform withpressed wind underfoot and faced Olivia while his subjects initiated the first wave. They bombarded the settlement with crystal-headed arrows ¨C empowered with the elemental might of the Elementals ¨C, highly energy-dense javelins with above-average destructive power, elemental projectiles, and massive stones ¨C created by the Gaia Elementals, and thrown across the settlement with catapults.

    The bombardment worked better than intended. However, that was not because the crystal-headed arrows contained more destructive power than estimated or owed to the massive, highlypressed stone projectiles that destroyed the eastern wall.

    No, the bombardment seeded because the eastern walls weren''t as resilient as they looked. The ze household didn''t focus too much on establishing a proper defense. "How arrogant!" Michael snorted when he received the energy shares from several thousand in enemies. The ze household was so focused on expanding their territories and settlements and crushing their enemies that it never urred to them that someone else would attack them. They were sure to have imed the Sacred Desert after ying thest Lords less than a day ago.

    That was funny. Michaelughed and appeared next to Olivia. The tattoo of the Elemental Empress shone brightly, but instead of coating him in a vibrant armor of azure mes, Michaelmanded to take care of Olivia ze instead.

    The Elemental Empress'' body expanded rapidly. Her vigorous azure mes shot in all directions until she found her target. Once Zeroa found Olivia, she burst into action. Her fiery body shrouded the young ze and tightened around her like the Elemental Empress would have done with Michael. However, instead of creating skin-tight zing armor, Zeroa''s current move was more like a prison in hell.

    The Elemental Empress focused on two things while shrouding Olivia ze. First, Zeroa drained the heat Olivia exuded naturally. She drained the High Awakened''s heat and used the heat to do the second thing. The Elemental Empress amplified the head she''d just absorbed, added traces of the azure mes the closest to her essence to the heat, and unleashed the fury of her azure mes upon the shivering woman.

    Michael could have stayed idle, watching Zeroa as she burned the shivering Olivia ze alive. However, he joined Zeroa and used Insert to insert several things inside the young ze''s body.

    Michael used Insert to spread several droplets of his blood as a Curse User, and some blood from Mekhaz, Thaor, and the others in Olivia ze system. Even if she could still use Primordial Bloodline, the technique''s potency would be nowhere as powerful as it used to be.

    However, that was not all. Michael inserted some of Zeroa''s essence and traces of True Extraction into Olivia. Olivia''s mind wasn''t as weak as others, granting her the mental fortitude to block most attacks. But after Michael unleashed a flurry of attacks onto her soul using Spiritual Domination, amplified with Enhancement, Olivia suffered a momentary bacsh. Olivia''s focus shattered, creating a tiny opening.

    That opening was minuscule, but was the opportunity he needed to seed. Zeroa''s essence infiltrated Olivia''s body alongside Michael''s blood and traces of True Extraction.

    "Logno''vsh is stronger than you," Michael mumbled, unleashing Curse Fusion at its fullest. He used Foundation Break, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Curse Fusion together before manifesting Aethyr to coat his ws and the serpent fang growing from his knuckles. Michael went further and used tenyers of Enhancement on his body. Michael struggled a little despite spreading the potency of ten Enhancement Layers across his body. Foundation Break, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Curse Fusion were enough to amplify his physical strength drastically. By adding ten Enhancementyers, Michael''s physique didn''tck inparison to Tier-5 powerhouses anymore.

    He was no longer inferior to Olivia ze.

    A chortling noise escaped Michael''s lips as his eyes shifted. They glowed brightly like the sun and unleashed enough pressure to stun Olivia momentarily as Spiritual Domination ¨Cbined with the World Serpent''s serpentine eye powers ¨C crashed down upon her.

    Michael''s ws pierced through Olivia''s chest, missing her chest by a few centimeters. He would have punctured her heart if Olivia hadn''t started moving all of a sudden. She screamed at the top of her lungs and grasped the skin-tight zing armor. Michael didn''t think Olivia would manage to touch the zing armor, let alone that she would sessfully regain freedom.

    It was even more terrifying to see Olivia move even though a serpent fang and several ws ¨C all shrouded by Qi, True Extraction, and Aethyr. Olivia ze continued moving, worsening the wound. It was already a lethal wound and would kill her if she didn''t treat it soon. However, Olivia didn''t seem to care. Her iron-tight grip around the Elemental Empress tightened, and she¡­put Zeroa into her mouth.

    Michael wasn''t sure how Olivia did it, but she managed to suppress Zeroa''s mes andpress them forcefully into a small fist-sized ball. The Elemental Empress was still alive. That was great, yet Michael had a bad feeling about this.

    He reacted instinctively when Olivia put Zeroa into her mouth. First, he released the Qi, shrouding his right w inside her chest. Her shoulder and a good portion of her chest were blown apart from the inside, but the attack wasn''t strong enough to kill her. Nheless, the attack slowed Olivia, allowing Michael to smash her face with his left. But instead of relying on his ws and the serpent fang, Michael transformed the ws and fang into severalyers of thick serpent scales. He augmented the scales with knuckles of Aethyr and a secondyer of armor coating the serpent scales individually.

    The change was sudden and took Olivia by surprise. However, she didn''t hesitate to swallow the Elemental Empress even after Michael''s fist smashed into her face, breaking her teeth and jaw in one go.

    Michael''s clenched fist shot open when his hand reached inside her mouth. He reached out for the desperately screaming Elemental Empress and¡­reached her.

    His energy reserves were already drained by a fair amount, but Michael didn''t mind. He used ten Enhancement Layers and a Soul Tear to augment Taming before unleashing Taming''s storage function to its fullest. The Elemental Empress reacted immediately. A strand of her zing mes escaped the tremendous pressure that forced her into thepressed state.

    She reached out to Michael, reached him, and disappeared into the safety of her master''s vessel.

    In the meantime, Michael resonated with the influence of the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse.

    He epted them this time and didn''t even think about holding back.

    Olivia nearly took one of the people he held dear. She deserved to die.

 Chapter 873 Stretching the Link of Loyalty

    Chapter 873 Stretching the Link of Loyalty

    The moment Michael resonated with his Curses, the situation all over the battlefield changed drastically. Everyone watched Michael pummel Olivia ze. They watched him bash her like a punching bag, realizing that Michael could kill her easily. Yet, instead of ending Olivia ze''s misery, Michael impaled her on his ws before tearing her apart, piece by piece. Michael Fang beat the living shit out of Olivia ze. She was covered in ck and blue bruises within minutes, and her bones were crushed into smithereens.

    The defenders were shocked to the core. It had only been a few months since they had been summoned to serve their Lordess, but that time was enough to learn about their Lordess'' power and how well connected she was to the other Lords of the Sacred Desert. They had been sure that their Lordess would lead to a better life¡­that serving her would grant them the opportunities they''d sought ¨C and missed ¨C in the past.

    However, seeing their Lordess like this, on the verge of death, the defenders'' battle spirit cracked. Their morale entered an all-time low, seeing how easily their Lordess was defeated.

    But that didn''t mean the battle ended right there. Michael''s Untamed Army and his Awakened had yet to engage in closebat. The real fight had yet to start. Unfortunately, the defending side was already at an all-time, crushing the Summons'' willpower as the barrages of projectiles continued.

    More than a quarter of the defending forces were dead before they retaliated with full force ¨C if one could call it ''full force'' in the first ce. The defenders tried retaliating, but Michael''s massive meteorite and the bombardment spread panic throughout therge settlement. Most Tierless and Tier-1batants could instinctively feel that death was waiting for them. They didn''t dare to charge out of the settlement and tried fleeing.

    However, fleeing was not possible. The Link of Loyalty was a contract of subservience. It didn''t matter how frail the Link of Loyalty was, as long as Olivia ze''s willpower and soul were stronger than theirs, they would have to obey hermands. There was one point that yed a crucial role in the battle against Olivia ze and the ze household. The ze household might have been able to summon more than a hundred thousandbat Summons each, but they didn''t pay much attention to their training just yet. The ze had yet to nourish the rtionships with their Summons. Therefore, thebatants did only what they had been told to do before. They protected the settlement. Since their Links of Loyalty were frail, that was all they did. They tried protecting the settlement, but not like Olivia ze hoped. Protecting the settlement didn''t mean the Summons would dive into the battle head-first. Instead, they chose to protect the settlement from the inside while sincerely hoping their Lordess would die soon. After all, in the Summons'' humble opinion, the core of any settlement was their citizens. Using theirprehension of a settlement, thebatants protected the core of the settlement, its citizens, with their lives on the line.

    The Awakened working for Olivia didn''t have the same means to stretch the contract of subservience. They signed an additional Soul Contract, forcing them to fight by Olivia''s side.

    That was what they did, even if they didn''t like it. The first Awakened, a young and less talented member of the ze household, arrived on the battlefield. He hated their current odds and loathed thebat Summons for their loathsome act. However, what he hated even more was how easily Kevin had been killed, as well as Olivia''s disgraceful defeat.

    "It''s time for me to show what true talent means!" He growled, activating his Soultrait while exerting the Primordial Bloodline technique at the same time. A surge of power swept through his body, pushing his physical prowess and energy control to an entirely new level. Even though his power wasn''t anything special among the family, the Primordial Bloodline technique could change everything. He wasn''t afraid of the enemies charging at him. There was no need to.

    He was strong enough to deal with them!

    That was what he thought until an army of Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers, led by a massive sun-skinned giant, charged at him. The majority of Awakened charging at him were already Higher Lifeforms. While that might be a slight problem, the young ze wouldn''t panic facing them now. Under normal circumstances, that is.

    Unfortunately, the circumstances were far from ordinary. Hiraku, the charging giant, had transformed into a ten-meter colossus, creating massive broadswords to wield one in each hand. As if the transformation into a ten-meter, sun-skinned colossus wasn''t bad enough, Hiraku''s body was suddenly coated in fiery mes.

    He wasn''t the only one, either. Everyone charging at the young ze was suddenly coated in fiery mes¡­mes, which didn''t even harm the Awakened. On the contrary, the mes protected and strengthened the charging Awakened.

    Hiraku crossed the remaining distance to the young ze with a few mighty strides. He used the elemental might of the Pyro Baron ¨C a Noble Elemental ¨C who was willing to connect to him throughout the Sacred Desert''s conquest and released tiny explosions underfoot as he kicked the ground.

    Hiraku elerated, breaking past his top speed, and emerged before the young ze, his broadswords shing dangerously. He brandished his weapons and was about to strike down when the young ze reacted.

    He unleashed a flurry of purple mes, ready to burn Hiraku into a cinder, when something unexpected happened. The Pyro Baron''s power skyrocketed while the energy within the purple mes decreased drastically. Using the opportunity, a portion of the Pyro Baron''s body manifested before Hiraku, swallowing the purple mes before they could harm Hiraku.

    Simultaneously, Hiraku used Titan Spirit to tap into the power of the surroundings. Hepressed the sand around him and created dozens of fortified hands with the sand. The sand hands lunged at the young ze, coiled around his legs, and pulled him into the sand. His feet disappeared in the sand before the young ze could react, but once he realized what happened, he immediately jumped into action.

    His power surged, and his Soultrait was about to trigger when he felt his thoughts slipping through his mind. His thoughts transformed into a slippery mess. The young ze couldn''t grasp them anymore, and he slowed down. His movements grew as sluggish as his thoughts.

    The effectsted only for a second, but that was enough.

    Hiraku''s broadsword shed through the air in beautiful arcs. He executed a cross sh and severed the young ze''s body in four portions.

    "H-how?!" Disbelief swept through the young Awakened. He couldn''t grasp what had happened. As his consciousness threatened to fade, his eyes traveled toward a small spot behind Hiraku.

    A devious grimace appeared behind Hiraku. A young human, a mere Lesser Lifeform at the 3rd Tier, used abination of two 4-Star Soultraits with perfect timing to slow down his response.

    ''Fuck.'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Darkness enveloped the youth, pulling them into the abyss of the afterlife.

 Chapter 874 Charging Centaurs

    Chapter 874 Charging Centaurs

    Mekhaz charged past Hiraku even before the young ze died. He and his unit of Warlock Centaurs elerated, their Soultraits used to the fullest.

    Mekhaz was covered in his Living Armor, which evenly distributed the force of the impacting attacks. His Living Armor would have been a living hell if there hadn''t been two Elementals, one Aqueous, and one Pyro Elemental, paying attention to the heat distribution of the iing fireballs.

    Even though three ze members had already been killed, it was a fact that the ze household nourished many Awakened with fire-attributed Soultraits. Therefore, it was no surprise when the defenders unleashed barrages of fireballs and other fire-based projectiles. Most attacks were either evaded, or blocked, but Mekhaz didn''t bother evading anymore projectiles when he noticed that Energy Absorption, and Repel worked well with the Elementals'' powers.

    First, Mekhaz could apply Energy Absorption all over his body to absorb the energy within the impacting projectiles and melee attacks. The absorbed energy would be stored in the Living Armor, strengthening it. The surplus energy would then be channeled into the Repel Runes, which Mekhaz had engraved all over his body. Repel was a powerful Soultrait, but it required enough umted force to unleash a powerful attack.

    umting enough force to unleash powerful counter-attacks wasn''t particrly difficult. Most attacks came Mekhaz''s way because he was the closest to the settlement. He urged the Elementals linked to him to distribute the heat of the fireballs all over his body and channel water-infused energy ¨C as cold as possible ¨C into his armor.

    The Living Armor wasn''t created to endure sudden temperature changes, but the majority of the heat was absorbed by Energy Absorption. That left only a small portion of heat, distributed evenly and cooled.

    Filling the first Repel Runes to the brim didn''t even take a full minute. Mekhaz unleashed the first charges of Repel as he appeared before a High Awakened. His ive shed through the air with significant momentum while a beam of pure force smashed into the target''s chest.

    The High Awakened was not that easy to deal with. He twisted his body to evade the attack but found his body shifting in ways he didn''t intend. The pure force smashed into his chest even though the High Awakened had twisted his body.

    One of the Warlock Centaurs charging with Mekhaz chuckled.

    "To think that Shift would be useful one day," Heughed after focusing Shift on the ground. The High Awakened didn''t sense anything, but the ground underneath him had shifted. It was only a minuscule shift, but that was enough to be struck by Mekhaz''s pure force.

    Following the impact, the High Awakened screamed aloud. Something in his chest cracked, probably one or multiple ribs breaking, but that wasn''t important. The pure force was only one of the charging Warlock Centaurs'' attacks. It was just the beginning.

    As Mekhaz put more pressure on the High Awakened, the other Warlock Centaurs didn''t remain idle either. They charged with their leader, used their Soultrait Symbols, and smashed heavily into their targets. There were more than enough Awakened to fight. They weren''t weak, either. However, one massive difference existed between the Untamed Awakened and the ze''s Subordinates.

    The Untamed Awakened weren''t fighting alone. Theybined their powers, aided one another with their Soultrait Symbols, and switched targets mid-fight. Their teamwork was seamless, granting them the power to overwhelm their enemies.

    Last but not least, the Elementals linked to the Untamed Awakened, their Armaments, and the quality and quantity of their Soultrait Symbols were on a whole different level. Even if some Warlock Centaurs were weaker than their enemies ording to their War Rune''s Tier, theirbined prowess greatly exceeded the ze''s Subordinates.

    And that did not only apply to Mekhaz, his people, and Hiraku. That fact applied to all Untamed Awakened!

    Frederik went to hunt the weakest Awakened and Summons. The Minor Typhoon Roc appeared next to Frederik Kolbenheim andbined its power with him. The Minor Typhoon Roc created the frame of a massive typhoon, whereas Frederik provided an enormous amount of wind. However, using Aeroan strengthened by Enhanced Wind wasn''t enough. Frederik tapped into Wind Mastery, imed the typhoon from the Minor Typhoon Roc, and split it into smaller typhoons that obeyed him like appendages he''d been born with. It was almost like the smaller typhoons were supposed to be part of his body, yet Frederik controlled and fed them to unleash their power to the outside world.

    The typhoons smashed into the masses of a thousand Awakened, hurling some through the air while others were struck by the rubble and sharp projectiles the typhoon carried around.

    It didn''t take long to destroy the typhoons, but by the time they were no more, Frederik and the Forest Elves had alreadypleted all preparations for the next series of attacks.

    Frederik''s Enhanced Wind of Aeroan shrouded the Forest Elves'' arrows. The energy within Aeroan was suppressed and sealed. But not for long. The Forest Elves were ready to attack.

    The arrows were tightly secured on the bowstring, which was pulled back and ready to release a deadly volley of arrows.

    However, the Forest Elves didn''t release the bowstring. Lilica used Weakness Detection to determine the weakest link in the chaotic group of the ze''s Subordinates. She shared her findings using whispering energy before unleashing Bullseye and Invisible Projectile. The arrow nocked on her bow, Silent Reaper, disappeared, triggering Silent Reaper''s effect.

    Once activated, Silent Reaper would shroud the sounds and vibrations of all arrows it released into the wild. With an Invisible Projectile, Bullseye, and Weakness Detection, Lilica could be sure to hit her target.

    She was ready and would have released her arrow immediately if not for Mika and Opars. Opars used Energy Imprint on himself to unleash the full fury of his Herculean Strength Soultrait and the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact. As he infused energy into the Dryadwoven Bow, Opars discovered the perfect amount of pulling force. He''d grown stronger over thest few months and found new ways to unleash the full potential of Herculean Strength.

    Thus, the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact creaked and groaned as its pulling force increased.

    In the meantime, Mika applied Arrow Duplication and Pierce on his arrow several times. He added the draconic power sealed within the Wyvernwood Bow into the arrow and exerted Rapid Fire.

    He raised the bow, took aim, and waited for Frederik''s nod before releasing his first arrows alongside hisrades.

    Lilica''s bow was deadly silent even as she released the bowstring. She released an arrow and hit her target, killing a Tier-3 Awakened by piercing his chest with her deadly, invisible projectile. The corner of her lips curling upward was the only hint of the sess of her first attack.

    That was different for Mika and Opars. Frederik''s winds pushed their arrows, allowing them to reach top speed and break past the limit right before they impacted.

    Opars'' arrow struck Awakened''s forehead and shattered alongside the Awakened''s skull. The Awakened died before he copsed to the ground.

    Opars nodded satisfactorily, nocked the second arrow, and pulled back again.

    Mika nced at Opars, hoping his friend would use Energy Imprint on him to use Arrow Duplication and Pierce more openly. But Opars didn''t do that. He focused on his targets instead. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Fine. I can handle that myself!'' He said, switching his focus to Pierce and Rapid Fire once a few bushels of silver and white emerged in the masses of enemies. It would be wrong if he''d hit them by ident.

    The Silverfangs were hunting again.

 Chapter 875 Silverfangs

    Chapter 875 Silverfangs

    Tiara and the Silverfangs were a sight to behold. They weren''t the strongest Awakened of the Untamed Jungle, but theirbat prowess surpassed most. Their raw power, flexibility, and high energy control were superior to most. However, the ability to undergo a partial ¨C or full ¨C transformation into a Silverfang Tiger was on a whole different level. It was an innate ability of the Silverfangs, also known as Dires by other Demihumans. Dires were rare, yet all Silverfangs possessed this kind of ability. The only problem wasprehending their inner Dire and learning how to transform mid-battle without ending up dying.

    Tiara also had an inner Dire but had a much easier time transforming. The Silvarean Tiger Soultrait essed her Dire, strengthened it consistently, and strengthened their connection. That was one of Tiara''s most significant advantages, and she used it thoroughly.

    She charged ahead of her people and underwent a partial transformation. Her legs cracked and groaned as they transformed into a Silvarean Tiger''s legs. However, the transformation didn''t change her legs into the proper hind legs of the Silvarean Tiger. She remained on two legs but gained the Silvarean Tiger''s lower body strength. Tiara elerated and emerged before a Tier-4 Awakened, her spear flickering dangerously. Yet right before her spear sliced across the High Awakened''s chest, Tiara''s eyes also transformed. Her human-like pupils distorted and formed into a Tiger''s eyes. The High Awakened was surprised, but he moved faster. A thick Aegis shield made of energy appeared before him. It was strong enough to block the iing attack. The High Awakened used his momentum and shot forward when his foe''s first attack failed. He expected to create an opportunity to deal with one of the pesky enemies, only for Tiara''s spear toe at him again.

    The High Awakened reacted fast again. He was surprised, but that didn''t mean he was helpless. He manifested another Aegis shield to his side, intending to block the second attack just like the first blow failed to injure him. However, Tiara used Inner Force to redirect her momentum. She spun around her axis, the spear shing in several directions near-simultaneously. From an outsider''s point of view, it would look like Tiara was dancing in the middle of the bloody battlefield, but the High Awakened sensed imminent danger.

    Tiara exerted Spirit Whip five times in a row, manifesting five small spirit whips. She intertwined the whips, straightened them in the blink of an eye, and used the customized Soul Technique, Penta-twined Whip, to amplify Spirit Whip''s power for a moment. She was given a moment, but it was also all Tiara needed. Her Penta-twined Whipshed out and smashed heavily into the High Awakened, whose eyes rolled up until only the white was left in them. He stumbled and would have fallen without the Tier difference between Tiara and the High Awakened. Tier suppression allowed the High Awakened to endure the impacting power. Nheless, his mind nked out for a quarter of a second. That was enough for Tiara''s spear to thrust forward. She used her 4th Soultrait, Thrust, alongside Inner Force and Silvarean Tiger, which directed her entire strength and momentum into the spear thrust.

    The High Awakened regained his senses a quarter of a second too early. The silver de was about to pierce through his neck when a small, multiyered aegis shield formed around his neck.

    The attack impacted heavily, and two aegis shields shattered, but the remaining shields of the multiyered aegis shield endured the attack.

    However, the attack wasn''t over just yet. Tiara was not alone.

    Elemental might surged from Tiara''s body, forming severalpressed lightning bolts around the High Awakened. Tiara clicked her tongue but pulled back when the High Awakened was about to attack her again. She released the lightning bolts of the forest Lightning Elemental of the Untamed Army.

    The lightning bolts crackled aloud and burst forth, releasing a cacophony of thunderous noises as they crossed the remaining distance to their target. They were just about to impact when Tiara used Penta-twined Whip once again. Spirit Whip impacted at full power, draining Tiara''s Soul Power rapidly. She cursed softly when her soul power dropped below halt, but she used Inner Force to reverse her momentum from retreating into a full charge.

    The Penta-twined Whip was the first to impact. But it was merely a quarter of a secondter when the lightning bolts also crashed into the High Awakened.

    Two Aegis shields obstructed a pair of lightning bolts, but it didn''t do much, given the piercing properties of the lightning bolts. The aegis shield didn''t shroud the High Awakened''s entire body or absorb the impacting attacks. Then again, the lightning bolts blocked by the aegis shields were weaker and slower.

    Their impacting force was barely registered as the other attacks impacted simultaneously. The High Awakened tried screaming at the top of his lungs when his skin was burned. But another property of the lightning bolts restrained him: Paralysis. The lightning bolts invaded his body and spread through his nerves, finally overwhelming his system.

    The High Awakened was strong enough to block the lightning bolts with his body, but once again, the piercing property of the lightning came into y.

    ''To think that the lightning bolts of a Tier-2 Lightning Elemental are this strong. No wonder Zeroa took so long creating the Elemental Core of a Lightning Elemental.'' Tiara thought while her Thrust impacted again.

    This time, the High Awakened reacted too slowly. His concentration flickered, and the aegis shield was neither perfectly timed nor ced in the perfect location. Tiara used that opportunity to the fullest and exerted Inner Force to slightly alter her attack''s trajectory.

    Thrust reached the High Awakened and tore through his shoulder. The High Awakened''s physique was strong, and it came as no surprise when Tiara didn''t manage to kill her target right away. The High Awakened grasped her spear shaft and was about to reach out to her to grasp the Silverfang and tear her into shreds.

    But, once again, Tiara was not alone. More lightning bolts formed around the Silverfang Princess. However, simultaneously, more Silverfangs spread out left and right to Tiara.

    They had been busy working together to defeat some Awakened at the 3rd Tier. Under normal circumstances, the Tier-2 and Tier-3 Silverfangs would have issues eliminating their enemies quickly, but Michael chose to up his game. There was not a single member of Untamed Awakened with only one Soultrait.

    They had either two or three Soultrait Symbols at this point.

    Some even managed to acquire a 4th Soultrait.

    Of course, there weren''t many with four Soultraits, and none of them had more than two 4-Star Soultraits either, but by umting abination ofpatible Soultraits, they acquired far more power than a simple star-rating upgrade could attain. The Awakened''s strength skyrocketed, reaching a threshold that couldn''t be reached by others Awakened on in their rank.

    Ignoring the sweat pouring down their backs or the fact that the Sacred Desert wasn''t a suitable environment for them, the Silverfangs spread death and destruction. They poured everything into the battle and crushed the remaining bits of their enemies'' battle spirit. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Silverfangs transformed into Silver Reapers, reaping the souls of those misfortunate enough to face them.

 Chapter 876 Schemings?

    Chapter 876 Schemings?

    Dealing with the remaining kids and disciples of the ze household wasn''t too tricky. The Elemental Empress had ordered her children to protect the Awakened and link up with them. The Elemental might of the Noble Elementals, Elementals, and even Lesser Elementals was potent. It was strong enough to grant all Awakened a more or less high resistance toward heat and fire.

    However, the fire resistance granted by Elemental Might was only one of multiple means to weaken the ze household''s power and influence. Some new Awakened in Michael''s territory were given rather unique Soultraits. One of them was an Aqueous Domain, which had been amplified with an ice-attributed Soultrait. The Aqueous Domain shrouded arge area and affected the surrounding environment drastically. It lowered the temperature while spreading its power in the surroundings. The Aqueous Domain,bined with the Elemental Might of Water Elementals and other water and ice-attributed Soultraits affected the effectiveness of the ze household''s fire-attributed Soultraits.

    Other than that, Frederik Kolbenheim and two more Awakened with wind-attributed Soultraits focused on the amount of oxygen in the surroundings. They, alongside Michael, removed the vast majority of oxygen in and around the settlement. Michael went as far as unleashing the True Extraction Domain before using Swallow Domain to remove the oxygen amid his enemies, removing the potential to create mes using ordinary means. The Awakened of the ze household had to use a lot of energy to conjure mes, which was also more challenging after the debuffs and minor curses of several Soultraits impacted.

    Dealing with the Awakened, who''d already gained mastery in the Primordial Bloodline technique, was a little bit more challenging to deal with. Their physical strength, senses, and energy control were much higher than the norm. Even a minor mastery of the technique was enough to cause the Untamed Awakened trouble. The only reason they survived was their numerical advantage, seamless teamwork, Soultrait Symbol advantage, and a prominent factor; The Untamed Awakened fought not only for their Lord but also for themselves.

    The Untamed Awakened''s battle spirit was higher than their enemies. That wasn''t difficult to tell. It yed a crucial point during the battle, just like the attitude of Olivia''s subjects. The Awakened were forced to fight beside her, whereas the Summons were hiding, or as they called it; Trying to protect the settlement from within.

    Michael noticed the shift on the battlefield quickly. He brought nearly 100,000batants from the Untamed Army to the Sacred Desert to deal with the ze household, but they didn''t have many enemies. Some of the strongest Summons chose to join the devastating battle against the Awakened, whereas others were more focused on their main mission. They invaded Olivia ze''s territory, eliminated thebat Summons attacking them, and paved their way to the treasury, the territory manor, and the Summoning Gate.

    The masses ofbatants from the Untamed Army were strong enough to flood the defenders. They were better trained, more experienced, at a higher Tier, and naturally trained better. It was no surprise, the settlement was conquered in less than three hours.

    Michael didn''t need that much time to deal with Olivia ze, but he didn''t kill her right away. He had many questions to ask her after ripping out her arms. He healed her, ensuring Olivia wouldn''t die, but didn''t treat her nicely in any other way. Instead, Michael crushed Olivia''s spirit and severed her energy veins when she tried retaliating with force.

    "Tell me everything!" Michael cursed Olivia ze, ignoring her pitifully, snotty face. She''d been bawling her eyes out for a while, but Michael didn''t feel any pity or mercy. Olivia was already dead to him. The only question left was how she would die. Would she answer his questions nicely, or would she remain silent?

    Michael expected Olivia to speak and reveal everything her family had nned. He was sure Olivia would betray her house and report as much as possible in hope to survive today''s carnage. However, the opposite was the case. Despite bawling her eyes out and looking like someone who was never injured, Olivia ze didn''t say anything. She remained silent even after Michael ripped her arms out. That was a surprise.

    "I have to give you that. You''re loyal," Michael nodded slowly, "Still, a bitch, but a loyal bitch, at least."

    He stared Olivia dead in the eyes and unleashed Spiritual Domination a hundred times in a row. He used the surrounding energy to empower so many uses of Spiritual Domination and watched Olivia scream at the top of her lungs until she didn''t have enough energy to say anything.

    After that, Michael used Mind Reader to ess and control her mind freely.

    "You should have told me everything. I will find out what I want, either way," Michael said coldly, reading her memories and thoughts until he noticed something was amiss.

    Olivia ze bit her tongue in a moment of carelessness. Michael''s carelessness. "Disgusting bitch!" He cursed, using River of Vigor with Insert in an attempt to heal Olivia ze, but she had already been on the verge of death. Biting her tongue was thest push needed to end her life. She was bleeding severally, yet smiled at Michael, blood pouring out of the corners of her mouth.

    An energy influx reached Micheal, filling him with energy, as Olivia''s body stiffened in his grasp. A curse escaped his lips, but he didn''t stop moving. He manifested his Curse Seals all over his body and unleashed True Extraction on Olivia, draining as many memories as possible. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael didn''t think Olivia knew anything about Alice''s whereabouts or what was happening with her and the other Descendants ¨C which would be nice to know ¨C. Still, he hoped Olivia knew the ze household''s schemings in the Tritan Alliance.

    It was known that the ze household had been doing bad things now that everything was exposed individually, but it was still unknown how extensive their schemings had been.

    Some of the schemings Michael wanted to hear revolved around Paradise Valley. He heard about the ze Patriarch being in cahoot with the Awakened, who''d betrayed Daniel Fang. Wouldn''t that mean the ze Patriarch knew about Paradise Valley and the Primedival Pyramid?

    Michael wanted to know how the ze household was involved in the mess with his brother and if the ze Patriarch was the main culprit. It felt logical to assume that the ze Patriarch was at fault for everything and that the ze household had long since known about the Undead Pharaoh. It was also not unlikely to assume that the ze Patriarch chose the Sacred Desert as their new home because of the Undead Pharaoh''s actions. Maybe ¨C but Michael was unsure about that ¨C the ze household also knew about the Energy Vein.

    If that was the case¡­

    Michael shuddered in fury. He had yet to learn theplete truth but was already angry.

    Some of the ze household''s actions were confusing ¨C especially the part where the ze household thought they were alone in the Sacred Desert even though someone had killed the Undead Pharaoh in Paradise Valley ¨C but Michael didn''t care at this moment.

    His attention pulled to the ze household once again, and he was d that the remaining ze household members and their territories were still there.

    Michael was in dire need of some death and destruction.

    He had to distress.

 Chapter 877 Onward

    Chapter 877 Onward

    The overwhelming power of Michael''s Untamed Awakened,bined with the support of the Untamed Army, was enough to defeat Olivia ze and her subordinates.

    Once Olivia died, the Awakened tried fleeing. They scattered in all directions, hoping to survive, but Michael and his subjects didn''t let them. Leaving behind a single Awakened in the Sacred Desert could end badly. The survivors could recover, grow stronger, and attack Michael''s people as he expanded throughout the Sacred Desert. The chance was present, enough reason to y the Awakened to remove any possibility of retaliation.

    Conquering the settlement had been fairly simple, but the innocent citizens posed a problem. Michael was unsure what to do with them. He could ughter them for their energy influx and the loot their corpses would produce, but killing the innocent after the battle ended didn''t mate him better than the ze Patriarch and his family members.

    "How about you give them a choice?" Tiara asked, her fur drenched in sweat, blood, and body parts, "They can decide whether they want to be your subjects or if they want to leave the Sacred Desert. How about giving them some water and food ¨C just enough to leave the Sacred Desert and rations for a few more days ¨C before telling them to make a choice?"

    Michael predicted that Olivia''s settlement had already more than one million subjects and that they had been summoned to empower Olivia''s Soultrait with soul power. Most civilian Summons were malnourished and thirsty. "If I''m not wrong, they''re not far from dying of thirst," Michael mumbled, but he nodded slowly. He doubted they would like him for bombarding the settlement with a meteorite, killing thousands, but giving them a chance didn''t seem like a bad option. They could choose whether to leave the Sacred Desert or toe with him.

    And, if they didn''t like any of the two options, they could always die.

    Michael nodded and deployed some people to take care of anything. A handful of Awakened would stay in the settlement with manybatants of the Untamed Army to spread the word. They would exin what was about to happen and bring the civilian Summons, willing to join Michael, to the Path Fortress in Paradise Valley. Once in the Path Fortress, they would be cared for until Michael returned to establish a Link of Loyalty.

    Michael ushered his orders to the people around him and nodded in satisfaction.

    He wasn''t too worried about the safety of the people he would leave behind. None of the civilian summons was at a high Tier. Even if they were, they were merely civilians. Theirbat prowess was below average ¨C by far.

    Following the destruction of the settlement, the death of more than 1,000 Awakened working for the ze household, and the death of roughly 100,000bat Summons, Michael and his people moved on.

    They used the momentum and knowledge ¨C acquired from Olivia ze''s memories, both through Mind Reader and her Memory Orbs ¨C Michael knew what he had to do.

    The Untamed Army moved through the Sacred Desert without stopping. They were still full of vigor and ready to ughter their enemies.

    That was exactly what happened.

    Michael and his people reached the next settlement after a sprint of more than a dozen kilometers. At their current level, even the weakest members of the Untamed Army could cross such a distance in no time. It was even easier for the others, especially Michael and the other High Awakened. They could run at top speed for hours if needed.

    "It looks like they''re not expecting us," Frederik noted in confusion when he saw the sentries strolling around mindlessly. They weren''t even trying to act like they were working. That was odd, even though it was the best solution for Michael and his people.

    "Olivia didn''t notify anyone. The ze Patriarch must have noticed that his beloved daughter died, but it looks like he didn''t message anyone either. Or the Lord of this settlement, cousin of Olivia or something like that, doesn''t care. Maybe he is asleep or idling around," Michael shrugged, only for Mika to intercept in excitement.

    "Or he''s having fun with some women!" Mika was way too excited. It was understandable as the young Forest Elf was slowly but steadily inching closer to the Peak of Tier-3. He was not yet there, but it was only a matter of time and resources. Thetter was something Mika could acquire easily once the ze household ceased to exist. The skirmishes with the Lords of the ze household were exactly what Mika and many Awakened andbat Summons needed to acquire a small fortune of Jungle Points.

    Michael was certain that a bunch of Awakened would breakthrough the months following the ze household''s destruction, but that was a good thing. He awaited their progress eagerly.

    "They didn''t bother activating an Advanced Protection Dome or the like. That was probably too expensive. Everyone must have focused on their military might to remove the remaining Lords of the Sacred Desert, ignoring their defenses," Legionmented with disgust. A Lord who couldn''t protect his people was weak.

    Michael didn''t know much about Legion, but he learned some things about the Silverfang Warrior since he summoned him. For example, it was easy to understand that Legion was simr to Berserkers in many ways. He lovedbat and could be found training the Berserkers often. Legion was often more around the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs than his people.

    At first, Michael didn''t understand what was going on. He had been certain Legion would stay by Tiara''s side and that he would never leave the Silverfang Princess again. Michael turned out to be wrong. Legion, who was around the Silverfang Princess for a while to protect her, turned away from Tiara after finding out that, while she might be at the top of the territory, she was not even close to bing the Lordess and Ruler. The Silverfangs sought.

    Tiara would never be like her father. Legion realized that and grew distant from the Silverfang Princess, who was happy with the way things turned out. She never wanted to rule over others and was satisfied like this. However, Legion wasn''t. Not at first, at least.

    It took a while, but Legion warmed up to the other races of Michael''s territory, and atst, he got closer to the Untamed Awakened as well. He wasn''t buddied with Michael, but Michael could tell that Legion treated him like a Lord. It was almost like Legion found what he sought in Tiara¡­in Michael.

    What exactly that was, Michael wasn''t sure. However, Legion''s Link of Loyalty was firm, and it grew even stronger by the day.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Zeroa and I will teleport everyone inside. After that, we ca¨C..." Michael was about to give orders when his eyes fell upon the Golden Queen Bee and her army of children. The Behemoth Elephant and Minor Typhoon Rocs were also with them. Even Sun Demos and his army of evolved Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were present.

    "Change of ns," Michael licked his lips in excitement. It had been a while since his monsters had been given the opportunity to let loose.

    This was going to be fun.

 Chapter 878 Monsters

    Chapter 878 Monsters

    It was a little embarrassing, but Michael had forgotten about the Golden Queen Bee for a while now. He remembered clearly that the Golden Stinger Wasp was given all resources to evolve and how the Forest Pixies carried the honey-like cocoon of the evolving Golden Stinger Wasp to the Greater Nature Spirit, but that was it.

    Before today''s departure, Michael learned about the Golden Queen Bee and its little Stinger children. The Golden Queen Bee was still not verybat-oriented and useless in head-onbat, but the Golden Queen Bee was never supposed to be used as abatant in the first ce.

    Michael ordered the Golden Queen Bee and her Stinger to work with Reba Zauber, who joined the battle against the ze household as well. She lost so much to the ze household and wanted to contribute to their annihtion. Michael heard about her losses but he didn''t go into detail. He knew her situation was bad after the Civil War and that she would talk to him once she was ready.

    One way or another, Reba was given authority over the Golden Queen Bee and her little Stingers. She gave them orders, and they jumped into action right away, manifesting multiple golden stingers to mark the Untamed Awakened and the Untamed Army.

    Of course, not everyone could be teleported together. Still,bining the golden stinger teleportation with Cosmic Stride and Zeroa''s spatial affinity, along with Michael''s space-attributed energy, it shouldn''t be an issue to teleport everyone into the settlement within minutes.

    That was exactly what they did and more.

    The first to be teleported into the settlement was a small Golden Stinger Wasp. Zeroa teleported it into the center of the settlement, where it used its position shift racial ability to change positions with one of the marks. The tiny Golden Stinger Wasp disappeared, and a massive, 15-meter-tall Behemoth Elephant appeared in its stead. The massive Behemoth crashed hard on the ground, sending ripples through the surroundings. The first buildings copsed even before the Behemoth Elephant jumped into action. It roared aloud and charged to the main manor, ready to bulldoze it.

    Chaos erupted in the bustly settlement center. Some Awakened jumped into action instantaneously, but there was no sign of any High Awakened just yet. Not even the Lord had arrived when the chaos all over the settlement intensified.

    Several Minor Typhoon Rocs appeared above the settlement with Frederik, some mages, and Forest Elves riding on them. The Minor Typhoon Rocs, unwilling to use up their entire energy at once, conjured smaller typhoons and windnces to destroy the barracks, watchtowers, and most other defensive measures of the settlement. However, there wasn''t much to deal with, in the first ce.

    There were some defenses, and they were certainly strong enough to stall time against a force like the Untamed Army. It wouldn''tst long, but it would be useful IF they defended the settlement properly and had used some proper detection devices like an Advanced Orb of Detection, a Spatial Restriction Domain, and other devices.

    But since none of that was installed or activated ¨C probably due to its high energy consumption ¨C Michael and his people had an easy time wreaking havoc. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Frederik and the Forest Elves joined the Minor Typhoon Elves, but instead of destroying the buildings they focused on thebatants and Awakened instead. In the meantime, the mages showered the entire settlement in massive rocks and fireballs.

    The Golden Queen Bee and its Stingers continued teleporting people throughout the settlement, yet from the outside it looked like the Behemoth and Minor Typhoon Rocs were the main attack forces. The defenders couldn''t have been more wrong!

    "Die!" A defender screamed at the top of his lungs, his war axe cleaving downward. He''d aimed at the Behemoth Elephant''s hint leg and was certain to harm the beast when time around him seemed to slow down suddenly. A chill creeped up his spine and he instinctively turned his head back. What he saw behind shocked the defender to the core.

    A group of hideous-looking humanoid monsters emerged from the shadows. One of the monsters was already behind him, its ws slicing through the defender''s neck before he could react.

    The monster giggled, twisted its ws inside the defender''s neck and tore it out. A fountain of blood spurted in all directions. It sshed to the ground like a small waterfall, but that onlysted for a second. The defender crashed lifelessly to the ground, leaving the giggling Nightshade Monkey alone.

    It jumped back and disappeared in the shade of the surrounding buildings once again. The Nightshade Monkey reunited with itsrades.

    The Nightshade Monkeys were assassins, and they made full use of the attention the Behemoth Elephant attracted. They remained around the massive beast and lurked in the shadows to strike the next victims when they least expected it.

    The Herculean Demon Monkeys didn''t fight like that. They were the mostmon evolution of the Blood Oath Demon Monkey, but that didn''t mean they were weak. If anything, the Herculean Demon Monkeys were the strongest in terms of physical prowess. Their natural strength wasparable to that of a Berserker at the same rank. However, there was a wildness in them not even Berserkers possessed. They were more flexible and their wild instincts were not something that could be put intoparison as well. They burst through the buildings, searched for a suitable target while elerating, and attacked their target in a seamless team attack.

    The Herculean Demon Monkeys may rely on their physical superiority, but they worked together as well. And that did not only apply to other Herculean Demon Monkeys. They didn''t hesitate tobine their forces with the Nightshade Demon Monkeys,bat Summons, or Awakened. Also, they weren''t afraid of using the other Blood Oath Demon Monkeys'' evolutions to their advantage. The Alpha Blood Monkeys charged forward, controlling their blood and the surrounding blood to regenerate faster, augment their attacks and transform the surrounding blood into weapons, shields, and armor.

    The Alpha Blood Demons were among the most versatile. They could defend well, absorb damage with their bodies ¨C being able to regenerate rapidly was a great advantage ¨C or attack fiercely with abination of magical and physical attacks.

    Nheless, they weren''t the strongest. The Demonic Seal Monkeys were on a different level. Their prowess was naturally sealed, diminishing their usablebat prowess to a simr level as the Nightshade Monkeys ¨C without the ability to merge with the surrounding shade. However, once their Demonic Seal was unleashed, they transformed into killing machines. They could barely separate friends from foes once the Demonic Seal was removed and their state worsened the longer their Demonic Seal was removed in battle.

    The longer the fightsted the harder it would be to diminish friends and foes.

    It was only fortunate that the battle didn''tst long. Sun Demos joined the siege, but the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King didn''t have to do much. He coordinated his subjects usings animalic transmission, one of the most recent additions to Sun Demos'' powers, and killed some Awakened at the lower end of Tier-3.

    Once the chaos reached its climax, the Lord and his strongest subordinates emerged from arge building¡­alongside a dozen or more half-naked women.

    The women were afraid and quickly ran while the men cursed.

    In the meantime, Mika eximed.

    "I fucking knew it!"

 Chapter 879 Living Poison

    Chapter 879 Living Poison

    Michael could have destroyed the settlement alone, but he didn''t do that. He wished for his subjects to gain experience, some energy influxes, and maybe break through one of their bottlenecks mid-battle against the Lords of the ze household. And thus Michael let them fight the Awakened and army of the ze Lords without intervening too much.

    All he did was search the ze Lord and his people when the battle erupted. He found them doing the deed ¨C just like Mika had predicted. It was a bit confusing seeing orgy through his Spirit Eyes'' energy vision, but it yed into his cards fairly well. First, he erupted a barrier around the building, blocking the vibrations and sounds from the outside. Extraction devoured the vibrations and sounds. It wasn''t perfect, but it was enough for distracted Lords and Awakened to keep their focus on their¡­partners.

    Michael didn''t rush anything, but he spread his True Extraction Domain throughout the building. The domain was stretched incredibly thin, ensuring that its golden glow would be dim and not distracting. After that, Michael started infusing curse power, lifeforce, and origin energy into one of his Elemental Spheres, the Sphere of Poison.

    Michael''s blood wasn''t poisoned like the Nest Leader''s, but he analyzed a bunch of highly potent poisons when he realized how useful certain types of cursed poisons could be. The Nest Leader''s blood was potent enough to force ordinary Divine Lifeforms into submission. That was what Michael wanted to achieve as well.

    Of course, he didn''t attain his goal just yet, but Michael progressed fast. Michael learned a lot after studying a few hours every day over several months. He created Living Poison fusing his lifeforce, curse power, and poison-attributed energy. The poison wasn''t alive and intelligent but followed a simple intent. That was perfect, especially oncebined with the essence of True Extraction.

    His Living Poison and True Extraction''s Essence were morepatible than Michael had assumed when hebined them for the first time. Even then, Michael used thisbination in a life-and-death battle against Olivia''s cousin for the first time. He wondered how it would be worse as he used Insert to unleash the dormant Living Poison-True Extraction Essence into the ze Lord and the two Tier-5 Awakened who participated in his little love y.

    The dormant poison spread through the three victims slowly. It didn''t do anything, which couldn''t be said about the True Extraction Essence. Michael was exhausted from producing enough True Extraction Essence ¨C using Permute since he couldn''t yet produce it without the Wolf Curse''s help ¨C but the result was great. True Extraction''s Essence wasn''t discovered at first. It didn''t work at full power yet and absorbed bits and pieces of the victims'' origin energy to spread through their bodies, nourishing both the True Extraction Essence and the Living Poison.

    However, it wasn''t long before the ze Lord noticed something. He didn''t sense what was happening inside him, which was Insert''s fault. Michael had used all the soul power umted within the Insert Soultrait Symbol to exert the Soul Arts, Silent Invasion. It was also draining, but the result spoke volumes.

    The ze Lord sensed the severed Links of Loyalty of thousands. At first, he was too focused on dealing with his partner. He had been about to finish the deed and couldn''t sense anything around him. His hyper-focused mind obstructed his view of the chaos and destruction happening outside. Thus, the ze Lord was even more enraged when he realized what was happening.

    Michael dispelled the dome around the building once the ze Lord was aware of the situation. He revealed the cacophony of death and destruction to the ze Lord and his subordinates. Simultaneously, he used Insert to apply tenyers of Enhancement to the ze Lord and his strongest allies. Their physical strength skyrocketed as their bodies'' capabilities were enhanced to an entirely new level. But that was only a face. By increasing their bodies'' capabilities, the poison and True Extraction Essence spread much faster through their bodies.

    Michael triggered the Living Poison and allowed the True Extraction Essence to reveal some of its power, quickly draining the ze Lord and hispanions'' origin energy. The origin energy was converted and used to empower the Living Poison, which spread through their bodies, corroding their energy veins and muscles.

    It took the ze Lord and his people a while to sense the devastating state of their bodies. They''d just been empowered and felt stronger than ever, only for Enhancement''s effect to disperse a few seconds after they charged out of the building. They emerged in the chaos of their destroyed settlement, their eyes flicking to the Minor Typhoon Rocs in the air, the Behemoth Elephant rampaging in the settlement center, and thebined forces of thousands of Ape Monsters working together seamlessly to eliminate one defender after another.

    And that wasn''t even all. The ze Lord saw Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and a few other races, Summons and Awakened alike, tearing through his settlement, destroying everything.

    Rage filled the ze Lord and his Subordinates, but they quickly sensed something was wrong when attempting to circte energy through their bodies. One of the Tier-5 Awakened kicked the ground as hard as possible to charge at the Behemoth Elephant and kill it in a single strike, but a resounding snap filled the air. His tendon snapped when he applied too much strength. He screamed out in pain and surprise and fell to the ground. The wound was severe, but only for a moment. The High Awakened didn''t panic and barked amand to one of the other High Awakened, who immediately jumped into action. Simultaneously, the Tier-5 powerhouse retrieved a potion, ready to swallow the content to heal even faster.

    However, the High Awakened didn''t notice an earth spike, augmented with Qi, piercing through his back, followed by a highlypressed icicle ¨C the size of a needle ¨C descending from high into the air at shocking velocity. Michael hadpressed an icicle as much as possible before using his fire and wind-attributed energy to push the icicle''s descending speed to a new high. The fire-attributed energy''s explosion wasn''t that quiet, but the surrounding cacophony of sounds swallowed it.

    The Tier-5 powerhouse wasn''t prepared for the pain in his back and turned around to see what had poked into his back, only for a needle-sized icicle, coated with Enhancementyers and Qi, to pierce cleanly through his skull. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The man copsed to the ground and stopped moving. The energy content within the ice needle hadn''t been that high, and many had been looking around before the powerhouse''s tendon tore. They turned back to their superior only to find him lying on the ground.

    "I cannot heal him anymore¡­" The healer among the High Awakened announced, his voice confused, yet his expression made clear that he knew why his Soultrait failed him.

    "What?!" The ze Lord asked, rushing to his friend. He lowered his body, only to see blood pouring out of his forehead.

    His friend was¡­dead.

    Shock, anger, and uncontroble rage erupted from the ze Lord, but he didn''t manage to usher an angrymand when he was interrupted again. Suffocating noises erupted behind him.

    He spun around where he saw a massive titan squashing his Subordinates alongside other unknown Awakened, including Tiara, Legion, and another tall and muscr Silverfang. They dealt with some of the Awakened surrounding the ze Lord while he was busy idling around.

    "You are weaker than your cousin," Someone above him snorted, and the ze Lord''s head flicked up.

    Michael descended from the sky, coated in vibrant gold. Streams of energy in all colors oozed out of him. He grinned and flicked his hand, unleashing the terror of the Living Poison and the True Extraction Essence at full power.

    "Fool."

 Chapter 880 Crown Prince

    Chapter 880 Crown Prince

    The energy veins around the ze Lord''s chest tore apart. There was no sound, but that wasn''t necessary. Michael could see how his Living Poison and the True Extraction Essence wreaked havoc inside the ze Lord.

    Interestingly enough, the ze Lord tried to retaliate against the True Extraction Essence first as it fed and nourished the Living Poison. However, expelling the Essence of a 7-Star Soultrait wasn''t that easy. Extraction wasn''t an ordinary 7-Star Soultrait either. It was something special connecting Michael with the Wolf Curse ¨C a Curse as strong, if not stronger than the World Serpent.

    Even though the World Serpent called the Wolf Curse bastard at any given opportunity, it never called it weak. The World Serpent never said it was stronger than the Wolf Curse, either. That, and everything Michael had gone through in thest few years, were enough indicators to determine the Wolf Curse''s prowess, especially after meeting the Nest Leader and everyone involved.

    Michael knew the Wolf Curse was also something special among the Curse Users. It was one of the strongest Curses. Therefore connecting the Wolf Curse with Extraction, whether they always belonged to each other or not, generated countless benefits. One was the ability to unlock more of Extraction''s potential via Cursed Seals. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Extraction, already being a powerful 7-Star Soultrait, received a massive boost in power for every activated Cursed Seal. This boost was further amplified whenever he activated the Major Seal, thus creating True Extraction in its strongest form ¨C for now. Applying tenyers of Enhancement to True Extraction alongside a Soul Tear transformed True Extraction into an even more terrifying weapon. Yet, the ze Lord tried fighting against the Essence, the most potent version of True Extraction.

    It was fun to watch, even more so when the Living Poison attacked the ze Lord''s mental power and soul. It feasted on them, weakened his energy veins, muscles, soul, and mind, and corroded them slowly.

    The ze Lord roared angrily and jumped at Michael despite understanding his condition better than anyone. His energy was drained, his lifeforce deteriorated rapidly as well, and his body was falling apart. Nheless, Michael didn''t underestimate the ze Lord. Olivia ze might have been different because he''d crushed her long before she could do anything. Still, before the ze Lord could retrieve some Artifacts or items to bomb the entire settlement, which was a valid fear given the ze household''s extensive records of sacrifices and explosions, Michael moved when the opportunity appeared before his eyes.

    He moved fast and teleported behind the ze Lord the instant hended back on the ground. His fingers coiled around the ze Lord''s neck, and he jumped into action. The ze Lord unleashed his Soultrait to the fullest. He used a Soul Arts technique, consuming his remaining lifeforce and energy before triggering Primordial Bloodline to release a purplish-azure me shrouding himself and Michael. Michael would have been in pain, maybe even screaming at the top of his lungs because the mes were a lot stronger than expected, if not for the Elemental Empress fusing with him before the mes could devour him. The azure armor of zing mes protected Michael from the worst pain. The mes were still hot and reached him, which was a surprise, but the Elemental Empress swallowed them, transforming them into a part of her body. She analyzed them inside her and annexed them once she learned how to replicate the purplish-azure mes.

    Meanwhile, Michael released a silverish-golden wind de from his hand, severing the ze Lord''s neck at once.

    A strong energy influx impacted seconds after the wind de burst out of his palm, and the ze Lord''s head mmed to the ground with a loud thud.

    Under normal circumstances, defeating the ze Lord wouldn''t have been easy. However, Michael took advantage of the ze Lord''s distraction to deal a finishing blow minutes before he finally died.

    "To think an orgy would help me conquer a settlement one day¡­ That''s not weird at all." Michael shook his head, unsure how to feel about this.

    The situation throughout the settlement changed drastically following the death of the ze Lord. The Links of Loyalty dispersed, and the Awakened regained freedom. However, their freedom wouldn''tst long. Michael didn''t change his orders. The Awakened andbat Summons had to be eliminated to pluck the root of all problems and potential future rebellions before they could nourish and blossom.

    Michael could have joined the fight against thest Tier-5 powerhouse, but the High Awakened was already weakened from the Living Poison and the full extent of True Extraction Essence''s power. His brother, Hiraku Teranos, Tiara, and the others were enough to kill the remaining powerhouses. Their battle spirit was crushed, and their fear of death shrouded their entire beings, pushing them to do foolish things.

    (825)

    Observing his friends, family, and subordinates grow stronger and studying their tactics was oddly interesting. Michael was powerful, but he was only one person. He couldn''t rule his territory, let alone two, alone. Of course, Michael was strong enough to deal with an army of enemies on his own, but that didn''t mean he was omnipotent. There were always stronger enemies, and they were usually not alone either.

    To deal with many enemies on multiple sides, Michael had to transform his Untamed Awakened and the Untamed Army into a mighty army, which nobody wanted to fight head-on. Michael had to put more pressure on his subjects for that. It was cruel, but he let them fight until they were on the verge of death. Losing a few limbs wasn''t important. He could regrow them. Surpassing their limit.

    Michael''s hair stood up to its end, and the corner of his lips curled upward when he saw Daniel fight alongside a low-ranked Silverfang to deal with a High Awakened. He analyzed their seamless teamwork and the perfect execution of their Soultraits and Artifacts with glee.

    However, when the fight ended, Michael noticed Tiara throwing a scornful gaze at Daniel''srade. The Silverfang standing next to Daniel heaved heavily. His energy was drained, but he retained some of his noble appearance. ''They look oddly simr.'' Michael thought, staring at their faces, only to recall something he had forgotten.

    The Silverfang was one of the few Legendary Summons he had summoned not long ago. He was among the batch of more than 300ish Silverfang Awakened he''d summoned then. The Silverfang was also the only 6-Star Awakened Summon with only a 1-Star Soultrait. The other 6-Star Summons were all stronger and members of the Royal Guard. Or they had been before the Silverfangs got exiled.

    ''I remember now. Didn''t Tiara say that she doesn''t like him because he was timid and a failure?'' Michael recalled what Tiara had said about the Silverfang she hated the most¡­ her older brother.

    The Silverfang was Tiara''s brother, whom she thought died alongside their Father. Michael would have been happy in her stead, but Tiara''s hatred toward her brother seemed to intensify at the thought of their Father''s death. He didn''t inquire any further then, but his curiosity had awakened.

    ''He doesn''t look timid at all. Is that why she stares at him like that?'' Michael was confused, but his True Link of Loyalty showed him the full extent of Tiara''s emotions.

    ''She¡­thinks he abandoned their father?''

 Chapter 881 Siblings, Emotions, Troubles?

    Chapter 881 Siblings, Emotions, Troubles?

    Michael was unsure if Tiara could think straight in her current condition. The battle had consumed her rationality, and it would take a while before the effect of Silvarean Tiger would wear off. ''I should wait until she''s a bit calmer. There is no way I can ask her about her brother like this.'' He looked at Tiara, covered in blood, intestines, and body parts. The wild glint in her eyes was enough to tell Michael he had to wait.

    But that didn''t mean he had to postpone asking Caesus as well. Michael could tell Caesus, the former prince of the Silverfang Tigerfolk, was far from timid. He looked dignified and disciplined. His height of 1.9 meters was above the Silverfangs'' average, and so was the amount of muscles covering his entire body. He was extremely muscr, enough to consider him one of the Berserkers'' rivals, which was only friendlypetition. He had a short three-day beard, sharp ocean-blue eyes, and his long hair was pulled back to a man bun.

    It was unclear what happened before Caesus was summoned or before the Silverfang Tigerfolk escaped into the Origin Expanse. Still, Michael saw a strong, disciplined warrior with great strategic thinking when he looked at Caesus.

    ''Maybe he is a bit foolish for attacking a Higher Lifeform at the 2nd Tier, but he is still alive, and he killed the Higher Lifeform. But then again, Daniel did most of the work, alongside the support of the other Silverfangs'' Boost Soultrait.'' Michael shrugged, his attention lingering on Caesus. Caesus was only at the 2nd Tier but had great martial mastery, including an exceptional understanding of most weapons. Still, it was rather stupid to fight a Higher Lifeform, even if he managed tond the killing blow, rewarding him with the energy influx.

    Caesus would also be rewarded with Jungle Points for fighting at the frontlines and for every Awakened he''d in, which could be transformed into more Soultraits or to upgrade his existing 1-Star Soultrait.

    The more Michael thought about it, the more he liked Caesus. It was obvious, but Michael fought simrly to Caesus ¨C above their weight ss.

    The gains from dealing with enemies stronger than them were too good to be true. At least, that was the case for Michael due to Extraction.

    ''Is he desperate to change, or is that guilt pushing him to do something?'' Michael didn''t sense any fear or desperation from Cassus, and he was fairly certain that his assumption was correct. Caesus was calctive and vtile. It was questionable if thetter was a good thing, but Michael would leave him be as long as Caesus didn''t endanger anyone other than his own life.

    It was a matter of fact that Caesus'' Link of Loyalty was strong. However, he was not connected to Tiara like the other Silverfangs. Caesus was only connected to Michael, and some Silverfangs ¨C of the newest batch ¨C were connected to Caesus, removing the burden of their Link of Loyalty for Michael.

    That was already unexpected because Michael predicted Tiara would be the only one capable of carrying the burden of her race, but that didn''t seem to be the case. Caesus could do the same and more. There was no burden to his Link of Loyalty. Instead, Michael felt Caesus'' Link of Loyalty reinforced all Links of Loyalty with the Silverfang Tigerfolk. That also included the Links of Loyalty connected to Tiara.

    ''Is he capable of strengthening his race''s Links of Loyalty because he is their rightful heir, or is it because of his Soultrait? His Soultrait is¡­unique¡­'' Michael tilted his head, having difficulty understanding everything about Caesus.

    The settlement conquest concluded fast after the ze Lord''s death. More than 1,000 Awakened and close to 110,000 Combat Summons died on the ze Lord''s side, while the casualty rate on Michael''s side was insignificant inparison. Nheless, Michael didn''t feel great. Almost 10,000 Summons and more than 100 Awakened died in the first two battles against the Lords of the ze household.

    The majority of deaths were from the weakest Summons and Awakened. However, there were also some powerhouses who''d been pushed over the edge. They had been too confident in their capabilities and suffered greatly. Michael was displeased with the arrogance of some Awakened, but the deaths of their friends andrades solved that problem magically. He wasn''t happy about the deaths, but they forced both Awakened and Summons of the Untamed Army to get their act together.

    They plundered the settlement and told the remaining citizens to make a choice. Like the citizens in Olivia''s settlement, they were told to either leave the Sacred Desert, join Michael as his subjects, or die.

    Michael didn''t force them to make the decision right now. He left some Awakened and Summons behind ¨C primarily those who were too exhausted and unwilling to keep going and spill more blood for today. They wished to conquer the Sacred Desert slowly. Michael couldn''t ept that. Slow wasn''t eptable in the current situation. Michael and his people had to conquer as many opponents as possible before the ze Patriarch woulde their way. The fewer Tier-5 Awakened Michael left behind on the ze household''s side, the easier he could deal with them.

    But before they left to conquer the next settlement, everyone was given one hour to rest. That was enough time to heal the wounded and organize everything.

    Michael talked a little with the Starheaven Pharaoh, who devised a n to deal with the ze Patriarch and his people. The n was interesting, but Michael was unsure if it would work out. The Starheaven Pharaoh exined a few things, to which Michael responded by purchasing the Origin Watch. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once done, Michael treated Caesus'' wounds. He nearly lost a limb fighting some Tier-3 Awakened but survived somehow. He had to be treated with great care.

    "I want to continue fighting!" Caesus dered, "I''m not yet done."

    Michael raised an eyebrow when he arrived before the former crown prince and nodded slowly.

    "Don''t resist me," He said aloud, using River of Vigor to mend Caesus'' wounds while invading his mind with Mind Reader. Mind Reader wasn''t unleashed to the fullest, but that wasn''t necessary in the first ce. Caesus couldn''t differentiate Mind Reader and River of Vigor as they affected him simultaneously. He didn''t block his invasion and openly revealed his memories and thoughts to Michael as his wounds healed.

    Michael found out what he needed until Caesus was fully healed, and he decided¡­to ignore Tiara''s hatred for Caesus.

    Caesus had only a 1-Star Soultrait, a Soultrait he didn''t know how to use properly just yet. The information influx he''d obtained mentioned a need for Descendants and Children for him to grow stronger. It was a power boost rted to his bloodline. Unfortunately, at best, the power boost was minor as his Soultrait was only 1-Star.

    That didn''t seem important at first because his Soultrait was why Caesus had been considered a failure since the day he awakened, but his Father never treated him like a failure. He trained his oldest son as the hidden heir while announcing Tiara as the official heir. Tiara never knew about that, but her father wanted to tell her. However, the Demis attacked the Silverfang Tigerfolk before he could, forcing them to retreat into the Origin Expanse.

    Tiarast saw Caesus and their Father before she was pushed into the Runic Gate.

    What she didn''t know and didn''t want to ept was that their father knocked Caesus out before throwing him into the Origin Expanse behind.

    Their father died, but not without transferring all racial rights and the authority of the Silverfangs to Caesus, who realized what had happened only after he was summoned into Michael''s territory.

    That was fair, but Tiara didn''t know about anything. She considered Caesus a failure. That was all he was in her eyes.

    Michael was curious, but he shrugged. Their quarrel had nothing to do with him. Not yet, at least.

    ''They can solve their sibling problems without me.'' **

 Chapter 882 The Third

    Chapter 882 The Third

    It was interesting how easy it was to conquer the third settlement. Michael noticed the sentries''ckluster discipline and attacked the settlement without changing a lot. The most significant change was his preparation of Living Poison and True Extraction Essence. He could have wasted a lot of time umting enough energy, soul power, and lifeforce to create Living Poison and convert energy into True Extraction Essence, but Michael went down thezy path.

    He retrieved more than a thousand Superior Energy Stones and exerted Swallow Domain. The Energy Stones were swallowed instantly, only for Michael to use Permute and transform the stones into True Extraction Essence and theponents of Living Poison. Once he had theponents, Michael easily produced the Living Poison, which he mixed with the True Extraction Essence. Only after Michael had finished the task did they attack the settlement. The Behemoth Elephant was the first to emerge in the settlement center. However, this time, the Behemoth Elephant was given more means of protection. First, Michael inserted Enhancement into the Behemoth Elephant''s hide, strengthening it drastically. However, that was only the beginning. Mekhaz applied Repel Runes on the Behemoth Elephant with Michael''s help while others were tasked to use their Protection-type Soultraits to ensure the Behemoth Elephant''s survival.

    If the third conquest had been simr to the second bloody battle, the Behemoth Elephant wouldn''t have sustained injuries. Still, the Lord of the settlement and his strongest Subordinates weren''t as ''distracted'' as the ze Lord and his people. Nheless, Michael was prepared for them. He emerged in a small room inside the settlement and studied the energy levels of the people around him. The third settlement had only two Tier-5 powerhouses. That was a shame because Michael prepared enough Living Poison for four Tier-5 powerhouses, but it wasn''t a big problem. Once he had studied the energy levels of all High Awakened, Michael devised a simple n. The Behemoth Elephant, Minor Typhoon Rocs, Sun Demos - including his little army ¨C Frederik, the Forest Elves, Hiraku, Daniel, Tiara, and the brother she loathed more than anything was already in the settlement, wreaking havoc. It wouldn''t surprise Michael if the Lord and his Subordinates thought Hiraku or someone else was the leader of the invading force.

    That gave him a small opportunity to surprise his targets.

    He used a Soul Tear on Cosmic Stride and activated the spatial Soultrait with space-attributed energy.

    Michael warped through the settlement half a dozen times in a moment.

    He appeared behind some High Awakened and used Insert to infuse some of the Living Poison and True Extraction Essence into their system. Most of Michael''s targets weren''t given a full dose of the Living Poison and the True Extraction Essence, except for the Lord and his right hand.They were given a full dose of the poison and essence, ensuring their bodies would fall apart.

    Of course, it wasn''t impossible to restrain or block the poison and essence. That was what the Lord and his Subordinates were trying to do once they realized what had entered their system. Michael was a little bothersome that they tried retaliating, but it yed into his cards that they had to pay full attention to the poison and essence to remove it. Michael and his people weren''t going to give them such a luxury.

    He unleashed Curse Fusion at its fullest, triggered the Soullife Arts Foundation Break at high mastery, the Heavenly Beast Physique, and activated all 51 Cursed Seals and 53 Serpent Seals.

    His aura changed and erupted. It spread in all directions in tidal waves, suffocating most ordinary High Awakened and the Lesser Lifeforms in his aura''s range.

    Michael''s transformation was ghastly watching him transform into something that hardly resembled a human, which was a hard pill to swallow for some. The Lord and his right hand were shocked at the sudden transformation, but the power erupting from him was an even bigger concern. Michael was not an ordinary Higher Lifeform.

    He exerted the Breath of the Underworld technique, which Michael hadn''t used for a long time, and unleashed a flurry of rapid attacks. Michael''s ws extended and transformed into small katanas, which quickly cut through the Lord and his Subordinates. Adding Spiritual Domination with his cursed eyes to trigger the technique, Basilisk''s Petrification pushed the Lord and his people closer to the brink of death. But it wasn''t enough to eliminate the Tier-5 powerhouses just yet.

    Michael didn''t kill the other High Awakened either. He merely injured them and forced their attention in his direction, creating several openings for his Awakened and Summons to strike. That was what they did. The Untamed Army and his Awakened didn''t hesitate. They eliminated everyone obstructing their path while the Behemoth Elephant destroyed the Summoning Gate.

    It shattered at some point, removing the Lord''s powers in one go.

    The Lord and his right hand had been busy burning Michael into a cinder, only to notice that their mes were devoured. Before they died, the Lord watched Michael transform into a zing giant coated in purplish-azure mes.

    It was terrifying. Michael''s body seemed to expand, but that was only the fear in his enemies'' eyes. Their fear of Michael and his people increased, altering their view of Michael drastically. Michael looked terrifying, coated in skin-tight armor of purplish-azure mes. They shrouded his entire body and red outward whenever he moved. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The purplish-azure mes flickered with every step he made and every sh Michael executed.

    He looked like a monster, with the strength surpassing most Mythical Creatures at his rank.

    But Michael''s subjects didn''t view him as such. They didn''t think of him as a monster. Knowing him better than others, his trusted subordinates dashed past Michael to eliminate the remaining enemies. They overlooked his attacks when he created hundreds of Qi Swords coated in purplish-azure mes. The sword swept through the surroundings, severing buildings and enemies alike, yet the zing Qi Swords never struck an ally. They never obstructed someone on Michael''s side, either.

    "Was it worth it?" Michael asked the dying Lord after severing his limbs one by one. He could have killed the Lord, but his anger directed at the ze household wouldn''t be quenched this easily.

    "F-fuck¡­you!" The Lord groaned in pain.

    "Wrong answer."

    True Extraction''s Essence reached out for the dying Lord''s soul, slowly ripping SoulStar Fragments out of it.

    The dying Lord screamed as loud as he could, but the remaining energy inside him didn''tst long. His scream grew silent after a few seconds.

    "We have a problem!" Frederik shouted while diving to the ground. He used Aeroan to somersault andnd softly before Michael, his expression filled with annoyance.

    "Two armies of neighboring Lords areing this way! They will reach us in less than half an hour if they keep up this pace," Frederik warned Michael, who nodded slowly.

    ''Did they sacrifice this settlement to overwhelm us with numbers? Probably not. Maybe they''re just toote. They might have expected us to attack this settlement just a littleter. How misfortune.''

    Michael chuckled, his attention drifting to the dying Lord. The Lord was smiling, but so was Michael.

    "I don''t think you should die thinking your family can defeat me," Michael snorted, "Your household is as good as destroyed."

    That being said, Michael lunged at the man. His ws dug deep into the Lord''s throat and twisted, killing the miserable man.

 Chapter 883 Friends? Worry?

    Chapter 883 Friends? Worry?

    "The Lords of the ze household aren''t what they used to be," Hirak sighed deeply, "It doesn''t make sense how easily we''ve destroyed three settlements in a row. Let alone killing Olivia ze, it doesn''t make sense how our small army managed to breach their settlement. Where are their defenses? There are no active Orbs of Hostility, and the Pirs of Space aren''t active either. They purchased everything but did not empower them?"

    "Maybe they didn''t have enough wealth to purchase Energy Stones or high-ranked monster cores?" Frederik responded with a shrug.

    "The ze Patriarch was forced to flee into the Origin Expanse. He didn''t have a n for his defeat. At least, that is what it looks like," Reba exined. She had used her Soultrait and Soul Technique often in thest few days and understood the ze household''s situation well.

    "The ze household must have prepared the Lord Tokens and some expensive Artifacts to establish their territories in the Sacred Desert, but their sudden defeat in the Tritan Alliance''snds was not ounted for. They lost their whole fortune by being forced to flee. The only wealth left behind is everything they have stored in their War Runes. I doubt that the fortune in their War Rune storage was enough to establish their territory, summon more than a million subjects, establish a proper army of more than 100,000 Summons, and pay 1,000 Awakened as demanded by the Link of Loyalty between Awakened."

    Reba smiled but pointed at the settlement, or what was left of it, "But that is exactly what they managed to do. Their army was far from perfect with their strongestbatants being at the 2nd Tier, and they don''t have any energy-draining activated since they do not have anymore energy stones left to spare, but they managed to clear the Sacred Desert. Of course, it was a mistake from their side to think that Paradise Valley was without Lord, but that was an honest mistake."

    Michael raised one eyebrow, listening to Reba Zauber. Despite hating the ze family to the core, she managed to stay rational. The disgust and hatred in her eyes didn''t die even as she rationally shared her view of the ze household''s situation with everyone, but that was fine. Her view wasn''t influenced by the emotions ravaging her entire being.

    "That doesn''t exin the current situation, though," Hiraku noted, nodding at the iing armies. They didn''t even have to analyze the armies to tell that two Lords of the ze household deployed their armies of Summons to deal with the unknown threat.

    "I don''t understand their slow response as well. Maybe they thought we ¨C the unknown danger ¨C would be defeated. They might not have taken us very seriously at first. Or Olivia and her cousin weren''t able to inform the ze household. It is not unlikely that anybody has heard about us until now. Last but not least, moving massive armies isn''t that easy. If we didn''t have the Golden Queen Bee and her children to teleport the Untamed Army and all Awakened outside the settlement within a few minutes, we would have a hard time gathering and moving into formation as quickly as we''re currently moving."

    It had been less than 15 minutes since Frederik found the two ze armies, but the Untamed Army and its Awakened were already in position. The severely wounded soldiers and Awakened were still being tended to until they were well enough to organize the remaining citizens of the third settlement. They had yet to loot the settlement and would be thrown into battle soon, but organizing the citizens was still possible. The citizens were given the same choice as everyone else. They were told in great detail what would happen to them ording to their final decision and were granted enough time to think about what they wanted to do.

    Michael told the citizens, who were certain that he and his people would die in the next few days, to watch the carnage against the two armies.

    However, before the Untamed Army shed with the two ze Armies, Reba turned to Michael.

    "I know you won''t like this, but I cannot find any members of the ze household on the frontlines of the charging armies. I think they left some of their strongest Awakened in their territory to protect themselves in case something happened. I don''t know if they don''t trust each other or know about the Untamed Army''s means of transportation, but the strongest High Awakened I can see are¡­"

    "They''re at the Mid-rank of the 4th Tier," Michael nodded. His Spirit Eyes concluded the same as Reba, but that didn''t change anything. At least, not to him.

    "How about you leave the two armies to the Untamed Army while you take care of the two Lords and closest Subordinates inside their settlements?" Reba proposed.

    Hiraku and the others didn''t say anything, but Michael could see approval in some of their eyes.

    "I won''t be there to protect anyone," Michael said in a matter-of-fact tone, "You won''t be able to depend on me. If you''re close to death, I won''t be there to rescue anyone. There will be no healing from me either." "We know, but we also know that we cannot rely on you forever. You won''t be present for all battles in the future. As your territory expands, you will be busy with more tasks," Daniel said, which surprised Michael a little. He didn''t expect his brother to agree. No, that wasn''t true. Michael knew that Daniel would say this. It was just that he didn''t want his brother to be like this. What if something happened?

    ''Calm down. He is right. I can''t be there for them forever. All I can do is create opportunities for them to grow. Soultrait Symbols and resources for training and rapid progress are all I can offer. Acting like a nanny won''t prepare them for the future. They will have to learn how to fight alone. No, I have to learn how to let them fight without me.''

    Michael chuckled lightly at his train of thought and nodded, "I will leave, but you have to promise me not to go overboard. Even if you guys are powerful, three or four Soultraits don''t make you invincible. There are many High Awakened among the two ze armies. Deal with them first while culling the weaklings with yo¡ª..."

    He noticed that everyone stared intently at him and sealed his lips. "I''m talking too much, aren''t I?" Michael scratched the back of his head and nodded toward Siegfried, Starheaven Pharaoh, and the othermanders and generals of the Untamed Army, "Take care of everyone. I trust everyone will do a great job."

    That being said, Michael chose to avoid a big farewell. After all, he was going to see his people again soon. He activated Cosmic Stride and left the Untamed Army with the Awakened to deal with the two settlements.

    ''Everything will be fine. They will obliterate the ze armies with ease and return with the spoils of war!''

    Michael''s biggest worries were the High Awakened of the ze household. If they could use the Primordial Bloodline technique, even Mekhaz, Jason Kleora, and Hiraku would have some issues killing them. There were also more Awakened on the two ze armies'' side. It was only fortunate that the ze armies didn''t have powerful Summons. Michael''s summons would bulldoze their armies easily.

    ''Focus, Michael!'' He told himself before a familiar voice resurfaced in his mind.

    [You are funny, Michael. Didn''t you say you trusted your people? Where is your trust? We don''t even have to do anything to stimte our emotions. Your emotions are already a mess.] The World Serpent hissed in his mind.

    "As annoying as ever. I didn''t miss you," Michael grumbled. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [Don''t you think it is about time to activate more Seals? Can you handle the ze Patriarch with your meager power?]

    The World Serpent had a point, but Michael merely smiled.

    "I don''t need to grow stronger to kill the ze Patriarch. There is no need to worry about me, friend."

    [Worry? Friend? I think you''re grossly mistaken about some things. I am neither worried about your well-being nor our friends, kid!]

    "Yes, yes. Say what you want, but you are worried. I''m not sure if you are more worried about my vessel since we''re connected through a fraction of your Essence or if you are genuinely worried about me. But you are worried!"

    The World Serpent hissed in annoyance but didn''t respond. Instead, the Wolf Curse growled in amusement.

    "Don''t act like you aren''t worried either. We might not have a proper discussion yet, but I can sense your turmoil of emotions whenever I use Permute. Your Essence has fused with me. I can tell how you feel!" It sounded like the Wolf Curse winced, only for that sound to be reced by a mighty roar.

    "Yes, of course. You are a bad and mighty wolf. You are the greatest of all Curses. A god amongst gods." Michael snorted when he felt the Wolf Curse''s pride sweep through his entire body. [Don''t get cocky, pup] It wasn''t loud, but the words reverberated in Michael''s mind. Michael could barely make out the voice, recognizing that it hadn''t been the World Serpent who spoke to him. No, the Wolf Curse transmitted its annoyance into Michael''s mind with words rather than sounds.

    Nheless, the Wolf Curse didn''t stop growling.

    ''That''s new¡­'' Michael thought, the corner of his lip curling upward.

    He was getting closer to his Curses, whether they liked it.

 Chapter 884 Cold-blooded Serpent

    Chapter 884 Cold-blooded Serpent

    Michael''s entrance into the meagerly defended settlement was bombastic ¨C quite literally. He channeled his origin energy and some lifeforce into Zeroa, who conjured a massive azure fireball above the settlement. The fireball expanded rapidly, fiery whipsshing out in all directions as the Elemental Empress used far more energy than she could control. She only gained control of the fiery mes for a moment, straining her mind tremendously, but the result was as pleasant as expected.

    Michael watched the massive fireball, exceeding a radius of ten meters easily, and chose to help Zeroa. He applied a Soul Tear on her ¨C the Soul Grimoire was overflowing with Soul Tears, either way ¨C and added Enhancement and fire-attributed energy.

    The Elemental Empress was about to lose control of the fireball when Michaelmanded her to release it. The remaining idle forces of the settlement finally reacted to the massive fireball. That was when Michael jumped into action. Zeroa''s fireball descended upon the settlement, ready to swallow its center and burn everything within at once, while Michael disappeared.

    Michael had already inspected everyone''s energy level in the settlement, and saying he was disappointed was an understatement. There was only one Tier-5 powerhouse, and even that one wasn''t a proper Tier-5 powerhouse. The amount of energy within the Tier-5 powerhouse was equivalent to most High Awakened, but the quality of his energy and energy veins was way too low. It was almost like the Lord of the little settlement skipped the High Ascension and jumped straight to Tier-5. His foundation was insignificant, and so was his strength and reaction speed when Michael appeared next to him. ''He didn''t even sense Cosmic Stride''s spatial fluctuations. I know there aren''t many fluctuations for short-distance warps, but it''s not like Cosmic Stride is a traceless teleportation Soultrait.'' Michael frowned, staring at the youthful face of the Lord. Like every other Lord, the youth was a member of the ze family. However, Michael didn''t recognize him at first. But that was only until he recalled that Olivia ze had a little brother. An 18-year-old brother who''d manifested his War Rune less than half a year ago.

    He didn''t enter the Saphirke Military Academy and didn''t appear publicly a lot, but Michael knew about him nheless. He had read Olivia ze''s memories and knew enough about the ze household to know that it should cease to exist.

    ''Reaching Tier-5 in half a year is amazing, but relying solely on blood sacrifices will only bring you this far.'' Michael cursed in his mind, his hand lunging at the youth, who turned around.

    The young Lord watched in terror as Michael''s hand transformed into a massive w. It was coated in gold, silver, and pristine white as it descended upon him, wing his throat and neck, transforming it into a mass of blood.

    It made sense why the young Lord didn''t leave his settlement. He might have enough energy to be at the 5th Tier, but his actualbat prowess was probably close to the peak of a Lesser Lifeform. Maybe it would have been easy to refine his body, mind, and soul now that he had so much energy, but his foundation would never be anywhere close to Michael''s or anyone who focused on their foundation.

    But Michael understood what the ze Patriarch had been trying to do. He wanted to create a powerhouse in the shortest time possible. Reaching Tier-5 in six months wasn''t an easy feat. If he had been given another five months, most Tier-4 Awakened would have problems dealing with him. Unfortunately, he was dead now.

    Michael collected the young Lord''s corpse before teleporting to the next target. It was a Tier-4 High Awakened, who Michael assaulted with a True Extraction Qi Sword, Spirit Domination, and a shbang created bypressing light-attributed energy. The High Awakened''s mind was fried, and then he was dazzled by the shbang, only for a massive sword to impale him.

    Michael didn''t wait until the High Awakened was dead. He grasped the kid and teleported out of the settlement center as the massive fireball crashed. Michael barely escaped the fireball. It impacted heavily and exploded, destroying everything in its path.

    Michael had to teleport further away to escape the fiery shockwave, which tore the surrounding buildings apart. Many died from the fireball''s impact, but even more Summons and Awakened ended up dying from the fiery shockwave, the copsing buildings, and the sweet chaos wreaking havoc in the residents'' minds.

    [You''re growing into a cold-blooded snake.] The World Serpent noted the death of thousands of innocent Summons. "I don''t know what you''re talking about. There is no way I show mercy to anyone until the settlement is conquered and all danger removed. I am sorry for the innocent residents who''ve been killed or injured by my actions, but that doesn''t mean I should hold back my power or adjust my ns to kill as few as possible. The ze household is not that simple to take care of. Even if it looks like a walk in the park, I need to unleash my full strength to deal with the powerhouses as quickly as possible. The moment I hold back, I will end up dead."

    [If you say so.]

    Michael frowned deeply. He couldn''t tell whether or not the World Serpent was happy about his transformation. In the first ce, Michael wasn''t sure if he had changed this much. Maybe his actions were cold-blooded, but it wasn''t like he had been merciful to his enemies. On another note, Michael wasn''t targeting the residents. It was just that they were in the wrong ce at the wrong time.

    ''I didn''t expect Zeroa''s fireball to be this strong. She is not even a Higher Lifeform yet.'' Michael exined, but the World Serpent wasn''t listening anymore.

    The Elemental Empress'' mythical mes, boosted by Soul Tear and Enhancement, did a great job, especially when amplified with fire-attributed energy and bits of Michael''s lifeforce. Zeroa had been working on creating living fire and live energy after seeing Michael use lifeforce to augment his energy and poison on a few asions.

    Michael hadn''t been behind this a lot. After all, he had a much easier timebining energies and other things using Insert. He did not need to focus on theplex parts, such as using a specific ratio of energy and lifeforce to create living fire and the like. Insert did the difficult and time-consuming tasks for him. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The result was beyond Michael''s expectations. Even the Elemental Empress was surprised.

    [Michael!!! Look at what I''ve done! Isn''t that crazy? Am I powerful now?! I am going to grow stronger and stronger. When I''m a Higher Lifeform, I can burn entire settlements to ashes!] Michael smiled. Zeroa was as excited as ever. She might not be the youngest in his territory, but she certainly had the youngest mindset. However, Michael couldn''t hold her ountable for that. The Elemental Empress had been imprisoned for a very long time. She was born and raised in imprisonment. All she did was relive her childhood¡­in a very unique and deadly way. ''At least she is on my side. Having her as an enemy would be a tad annoying.'' He thought before conquering the rest of the settlement by killing the devastated Awakened that had been left behind.

 Chapter 885 Bombing

    Chapter 885 Bombing

    Michael and Zeroa didn''t waste time and resources to repeat the n to attack the next half-empty settlement. And again, the Lord of the ze household was a Tier-5 powerhouse with an incredibly weak foundation. This time, however, the Lord was an old man. Michael remembered him from Olivia''s memories as the failure of the ze household.

    He took three years to reach Tier-2 and almost ten years to advance to Tier-3. But now he was suddenly a Tier-5 powerhouse. That was surprising, yet it wasn''t a reason to spare the Lord. The Elemental Empress'' fireball crashed heavily onto his settlement, only to cause no harm. The old Lord blocked the attack, consuming the fireball by using his Soultrait, Pyro Consuma. It wasn''t difficult for the Lord to do so, and he even gained energy by converting the fiery mes into origin energy. However, devouring the fireball wasn''t a slow process. He was defenseless, creating an opening for Michael. He appeared next to the man and studied him before ending his life with a serpent fang through his wildly beating heart.

    Michael saw regret and guilt in the old man''s eyes, but he didn''t care. He proceeded to kill the remaining Awakened in the settlement and store their lives. After that, Michael looted the settlement before disappearing again.

    **

    Michael wasn''t having as much fun fighting the Lords of the ze household as his subjects. The Untamed Army shing with the two ze armies was probably the highlight of the day. For the ze armies, it was the most terrifying day of their lives ¨C theirst day ¨C and for the Untamed Army, it was as brutal carnage. The ze armies'' Summons were quickly dealt with. There might have been 200,000 of them, but the strongest were only at the 2nd Tier. They hadn''t even progressed far in the 2nd Tier either. That was the downside of creating arge army of Summons when you didn''t have the resources to train and nourish them properly. Thousands of Tier-2 Summons had been trained and equipped within a few months, but there were still tens of thousands of Tier-1 Summons with ordinary equipment. Not even the mightiest shields at the 1st Tier were strong enough to block the destructive power of a Peak Tier-2 Elemental''s projectiles or the arrows of the Forest Elves. The elemental mages, all Elementals, and Awakened, such as Frederik, focused on the ze armies'' Summons. They didn''t unleash their strongest attacks but focused on the masses instead.

    That was how 40,000 Elementals, none weaker than the Low rank of the 2nd Tier, a few dozen Awakened, and the Forest Elves ¨C both Summons and Awakened ¨C transformed the battlefield into a zone of death and destruction. The Awakened of the ze armies were already busy enough protecting their own lives. They couldn''t afford to protect their Lords'' subjects simultaneously. Thus, all they could do was watch their allies die and charge the Untamed Army to eliminate them before the ze armies'' Summons were dead.

    But that didn''t work as well as intended either. While the ze armies had many Higher Lifeforms, most had only one weak Soultrait. Their strongest Soultrait was a 4-Star fire-attributed Soultrait and belonged to one of the ze household''s disciples. They had been taken under the ze household''s wings after manifesting their Soultrait and received great treatment from them. To their misery, that treatment wasn''t enough to overpower the Aqueous Domain, the fire resistance granted from the Elementals'' elemental might and the other Soultraits used to weaken fire-based attacks. The Untamed Awakened might not have as many members as the ze armies'' Awakened, but they could simultaneously fight many enemies at their rank. EVERY member of the Untamed Awakened could do that fairly easily. But the Untamed Awakened didn''t fight alone. Members like Lokai used their Soultraits to empower their entire army, fairly increasing their overallbat prowess. It was more than enough to strengthen the military might drastically and reduce the potential casualties on their side by arge margin.

    The strongest High Awakened were stalled by Hiraku, Mekhaz, Thaor, Jason Kleora, and others, while the remaining forces, both Awakened and Summons,bined their forces to storm the ze Awakened.

    The Awakened''s morale plummeted once the Summons of the ze armies were dead. The opposite was the case for the Untamed Army. Their power seemed to skyrocket as their inevitable victory inched closer. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    (760)

    There had been some surprises, such as the use of explosives and suicidal Artifacts. Before the Lords controlling the ze armies died, some Awakened, and Summons were focused on sacrificing their lives. Their energy and lifeforce erupted, channeled into explosives and exploded in the masses of the Untamed Army, killing themselves and dozens of members of the Untamed Army at once.

    The tricks with the suicidal attacks and explosives worked at first, but it wasn''t long until Starheaven Pharaoh, Siegfried Dracoon, and the others devised several countermeasures. They weren''t perfect because it was quite difficult to pinpoint the suicidal Awakened and Summons among the batch of enemies. Still, the situation improved gradually once most Summons of the ze armies were dead and when the Links of Loyaty holding the ze army together dispersed. Their Lords had been killed, releasing the Awakened and Summons from themands they had been given to follow in the case of emergency.

    They didn''t have to sacrifice themselves against their will anymore, which was enough for the Untamed Army to charge in again and kill them all. Some Awakened tried to flee now that the Links of Loyalty removed their shackles, but the Untamed Army didn''t grace them with such luxury. They killed everyone.

    Several hours passed in the blink of an eye. The bloody battlefield had been cleared, and all corpses and equipment had been collected and stored properly.

    Michael and Zeroa had returned with loot from the two settlements. They were weed with big smiles.

    "Are we going to offer the residents of the other settlements the same, My Lord?" Siegfried Dracoon inquired, smiling at the sess of their campaign.

    "No. We will leave," Michael shook his head. His order to retreat came as a surprise. Everyone was certain Michael would continue attacking the Lords of the ze household now that they''d conquered the first half. Only five territories were left. Destroying them shouldn''t be an issue.

    "You don''t have to worry about us. We''re still full of energy!" One of the Berserkers standing next to Thaor dered. He flexed his muscles while gracing Michael with a toothy smile.

    "That''s not the point," Michael responded simply, "By now, the ze Patriarch and the remaining Lords must have heard about the death of the five Lords. They will rally their forces ande for us together¡­"

    "We can defeat them," the same Berserker eximed confidently.

    "Maybe, but the majority of my forces would die. That is not necessary," Michael said in a serious tone. He noticed the Berserker had more to say but lifted his hand to stop him, "You will get your fight. Stop thinking like a fool, and trust me. I have a n.

    Michael nced at the Starheaven Pharaoh with a smile.

    "A good n."

 Chapter 886 Path Fortress

    Chapter 886 Path Fortress

    The Minor Typhoon Rocs paid attention to the surroundings and scouted the area while the rest retreated to Paradise Valley. They no longer needed to waste time in the Sacred Desert with the ze household. At least, not until the ze Patriarch took the bait.

    It was a waiting game, something Michael wasn''t really good at, but he was fortunate enough to have many high-priority tasks waiting for him.

    First, Michael collected his subjects from the conquered settlements. He told the residents to make a decision and that they would receive certain benefits if they traveled to Paradise Valley with them right now. As for the rest, they could stay in the conquered settlements for a few more days.

    "I won''t rush anyone to make a decision, but keep in mind one thing: I will return. Your opinion of me might not be great, but I doubt you loved your Lords. They mistreated you, didn''t give you enough food and water, and they forced you to live crammed like rats. Do you think the other Lords of the ze family will treat you better? They don''t give a shit about you. All they wanted from their subjects was your soul power. That''s why they summoned so many of you without the resources to treat you properly."

    Michael could have said a lot more, but he couldn''t be bothered. The Summons were intelligent lifeforms. They could weigh the pros and cons and make a decision on their own ord. They weren''t forced into submission by anyone.

    Many chose to follow Michael and his people, but others decided to stay. They needed more time to decide and were still uncertain who would win the war. Michael was clearly a higher lifeform with great strength, but they had also witnessed the power of the ze Patriarch once or twice¡ªat least some of them. Unsure who would win the war, they instead waited until it was certain who emerged victorious. Their calctive mindset was unpleasant in the eyes of manybat Summons, especially the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who hated the human Summons for considering betraying one another so quickly. Greed, the drive to survive, and selfishness weren''t precisely unknown traits to humans. However, looking at the ze''s Summons, who have been mistreated and nearly starved to death, reacting in the same way filled the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs with disgust.

    But Michael didn''t mind. He would ept them if they decided to follow him after the ze household ceased to exist, but they wouldn''t receive any benefits. If they wanted to acquire a high standing in Michael''s territory, they would have to work much harder than those who followed him immediately.

    Returning to the Path Fortress in Paradise Valley took a while, but they didn''t encounter any trouble. Well, that wasn''t entirely true. The Minor Typhoon Rocs found a few scouts roaming through the Sacred Desert. They appeared from all directions and observed Michael and his people returning to Paradise Valley through a wide path in the zing Sand Mountain Range.

    Michael was okay with that. Specifically, he was happy the ze household''s scouts saw them. It made many things much more essible. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Once in the Path Fortress, Michael was busy establishing Links of Loyalty with the Summons who hade with them. Not even one-quarter of the surviving Summons chose to join them, but there were still close to 250,000 Summons whose Links of Loyalty had to be created. It was highly advantageous that Michael didn''t have to do much to establish a Link of Loyalty with Summons. He had to channel a trace of energy into the Summons to bind them to him. The Summons could resist the Link of Loyalty, but those who tried were thrown out of Paradise Valley without mercy. Michael had already given the Summons enough chances to make a decision. He wasn''t willing to show any more mercy to those who tried to con him.

    Even though establishing Links of Loyalty with the Summons was easy, it took several hours to finish his business. Michael multi-tasking by checking the links of loyalty of others and retrieving the Awakened and Summon corpses to extract them. The sight was grotesque to some, but Michael told them not to mind the bodies.

    The Untamed Awakened stored the corpses once Michael was done looting them. They stuffed their War Rune storages and brought the bodies to the Untamed Jungle, where they would be used as a tribute. The Untamed Jungle would devour the corpses and transform them into energy to elerate the growth of the vicinity''s nt life. That was exactly what Michael and his territory needed.

    Once all Summons had been linked, Tiara, Lilica, and others distributed the Summons across the ten city-states in Paradise Valley. Every settlement in Paradise Valley was massive, with thousands of empty buildings. Even if all of them were to enter one settlement together, they wouldn''t be able to fill the settlement to the brim.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to the distribution and other work. He granted every new Summon a few Jungle Points while the others paid attention to ensure everyone had enough food, water, and a ce to sleep for a month. Once the month was over, they could relocate ording to their contribution to the territory''s development. Those who didn''t contribute were still given food, water, and a ce to sleep, but the quality of their lives wasn''t special. The food and water was nd and simple, and the sleeping ce wasn''tfortable.

    Michael didn''t like idle Summons but had to give them enough to survive. Their Soul Power was important, and he didn''t want to imagine what would happen to his subjects once they heard he started throwing out useless subjects. His hard-working subjects would start fearing him. Their work might not deteriorate in quality or quantity, but the Links of Loyalty with everyone would suffer when his subjects started fearing him. Michael wasn''t going to let that happen.

    Now that a few years passed since Michael became a Lord in the Origin Expanse, he is doing much better. But, of course, Michael wasn''t a perfect Lord even now. It wasn''t possible to be a perfect Lord. However, it was possible to give his utmost and improve every day. Michael tried to treat his subjects justly and to create enough opportunities for them to grow and be valuable assets to the territory. It was only apparent, but Michael did that to help his subjects. There were also selfish intentions behind his aid of knowledge and resources. Nheless, he could be like other Lords and ignore most Starless subjects, focus only a bit on the 1-Star Summons, and pay full attention to 2-Star Summons and those ranked even higher. The gap between weak and strong would widen, and the displeasure of the low-ranking Summons would increase. Michael didn''t like that.

    Still, it was nearly impossible to transform a Starless Summon into a 4-Star Summon. If they worked incredibly hard and had some affinity toward certain upations, they might be able to receive several promotions and reach 3-Star. However, that was already incredibly rare. The best examples were the Hunter Academy and the Sacred Knight Temple.

    Among half a million Starless Summons who''d participated in the training of the Sacred Knight Temple, not even 100,000 managed to be 1-Star Blessed Squires. Not even 10,000 advanced to Holy Knights, and only a dozen advanced to be Sacred Knights. Siegfried Dracoon was overjoyed with the probability. He was certain that Michael''s treatment, the surrounding environment, and his subjects'' happiness were why so many Sacred Knights were born among his Starless Summons.

    He thought that there were far more Sacred Knights than there should be. ording to his experience, only 1 in 100,000 would make it to a Sacred Knight. Under normal circumstances, the norm was even lower. Yet, the exact opposite was the case for Michael''s subjects. 2 in 100,000 Starless Summons managed to break their natural limit repeatedly, advancing to 3-Star Sacred Knights. That was a pleasant surprise, though part was owed to Legion and Master Tigris'' training.

    It was also one of the few reasons Michael decided to continue investing heavily in his subjects. After all, the Sacred Knight Temple''s situation was only one of many, but the results were the same everywhere.

    Michael was doing the right thing granting opportunities to everyone. After all, even Starless Summons desired to grow stronger, to break out of their cocoon and change their fate.

    Michael merely gave them a slight push in the right direction. The Starless Summons did the rest. They worked tirelessly with unbending determination and surpassed their limit.

 Chapter 887 Millions

    887 Millions

    Unleashing the full force of True Extraction ¨C augmented by Soul Tear ¨C on more than 500,000 Summons, of which most were only at the 1st Tier, with only 50,000 Tier-2 Summons and 5,439 Awakened generated generous loot to plunder.

    First of all, Michael was surprised that there were almost a dozen Tier-5 powerhouses, including the ze Lord, with fragile foundations, while 25% of the remaining Awakened were Higher Lifeforms at the 4th Tier. The rest were Tier-3 Awakened, who had been trained very well by the ze household. For the Tritan Alliance''s standards of Subordinates, they weren''t weak. However, it was unfortunate that they weren''t strong enough to fight Michael''s Untamed Awakened and his Untamed Army. Well, it was only unfortunate for them. Michael was d. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The 500,000 Summon bodies were looted, generating 16,500,000 Summoning Scroll Fragments, 38,500 Summoning Scrolls, 32,000 blueprints, and more than 4,000 Artifacts. Michael had forgotten for how long Summons had dropped Scroll Fragments andplete Scrolls, but he knew True Extraction with Soul Tear increased the drop rate quite a bit.

    The loot acquired from the Summons was great. If he sold everything on the market, he would procure a decent fortune, especially for the Artifacts. Bybining them, Michael could transform the piles of useless Artifacts into Tierless and Tier-1 Legendary Artifacts. Legendary Artifacts, whether natural or crafted, were valuable even in the Cosmic Shop, Michael could use the high demand to increase his shop''s reputation and level quickly ¨C even faster than he was already doing.

    His Cosmic Shop was already doing well enough with the Soultrait Symbols he had sold. The Legendary Artifacts and some other loot, potentially Legendary Scrolls, Mythical Scrolls, and Named Scrolls of high star-rating, were only an appetizer, as well as the biggest margin of profit because it would be a rare asion for him to sell Soultrait Symbols in the Cosmic Shop. Michael wasn''t going to transform his Soultrait Symbols into a piggy bank. He didn''t have enough to do so. His territories and people would profit more by acquiring the Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades instead of giving them to others.

    Whereas the pile of loot from the Summons was simple and straightforward, the gains made from 5,439 Awakened were a little bit moreplex. First and foremost, Michael procured more than 10,000 Memory Orbs. He wouldn''t consume all of them. In fact, only the memories of the Tier-5 powerhouses and the members of the ze household were valuable to Michael at this point. He could sell the rest in the Jungle Shop alongside the open opportunity to use the Needle of the Lost Memories if they were unwilling to keep all memories within the Memory Orb in their minds. The only memories they truly needed were about the Awakened''s martial arts experience, hisbat experience, tips, and tricks rted to fighting, meditating, refining the body, mind, and soul to elerate their progress, and so forth. Michael decided to experiment with the Memory Orbs, hoping his subjects would be able to use them to their advantage.

    Besides the Memory Orbs, Michael procured blueprints and simrmon loot from the Will. Instead, he dismissed them and focused on the portions of the deceased Awakened''s War Rune storages. Most didn''t have many valuable things other than some energy stones and ordinary techniques, but even those things were better than nothing. Michael procured everything and hoarded it to offer them for sale in the Jungle Shop. He didn''t need most things from the ze household''s Lords and settlements. That excluded the most important pieces of loot, of course.

    Michael acquired 601 Soultrait Symbols and 2,978,000 SoulStar Fragments.

    He couldn''t believe it when he realized how many SoulStar Fragments he''d procured, but it was a fact. The dozen Tier-5 powerhouses created only a small portion of 50,000 SoulStar Fragments, whereas the remaining 1,600 Higher Lifeforms amassed a small fortune of close to 1.7 million SoulStar Fragments. Since the remaining Awakened had either been at the Late ranks or Peak of the 3rd Tier, they created the missing portion to amass almost three million Soul Star Fragments.

    In fact,bined with the remaining fortune in his War Rune, Michael had umted more than three million SoulStar Fragments!

    He offered Frederik and the others some Soultrait Upgrades when he realized how many SoulStar Fragments he''d procured, but Tiara and Hiraku stepped in long before Frederik could go into Michael''s arms like a young maiden.

    "You need as much power as possible to fight the ze Patriarch. We know he''s weaker than ever, but that man is still a Tier-6 powerhouse who''d turned the Tritan Alliance upside down. Everyone would be happy about procuring and upgrading more Soultrait Symbols, but they will be useless if everyone dies fighting the ze Patriarch." Hiraku said, taking Michael by surprise. However, Michael wasn''t surprised by the obvious points Hiraku had mentioned. "You''re finally epting my Soultrait Symbols?" He asked Hiraku, whose nose scrunched before his eyes narrowed into tiny slits.

    "That is not the point, is it?"

    "But you do want my Soultrait Symbols?"

    "I have been umting Jungle Points to use them at some point. Yes¡­" Hiraku answered honestly atst.

    "Do you want to upgrade your Titan Spirit once we finish the ze household?" "Maybe¡­" Hiraku didn''t want to reveal anything anymore, so Michael let him be.

    Tiara used the short silence to intervene, "Use your Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments to prepare for the final battle with the ze Patriarch. After he is defeated, we have five more settlements to clear. There should be more than enough leftover Awakened andbat Summons to y. If we''re lucky, you can procure even more Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments from them!"

    She was right. They could likely procure even more Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments by killing the ze Patriarch and conquering the Sacred Desert once and for all.

    "I agree¡­but can I use some of your power to upgrade my Soultrait?" A familiar yet unfamiliar face appeared in Michael''s rows. Tiara cursed quietly and was about to say something when Master Tigris restrained her. Master Tigris didn''t do much, but it was enough to calm the Silverfang Princess.

    The new additions to the ring ofmand were Daniel Fang and Caesus. They had a great time dealing with the ze household and seemed to hit it off fairly well. However, that wasn''t why they were allowed to be present at the small-scale council meeting. Michael didn''t know when the meeting started, but everyone had already been discussing loudly when he arrived with his great news and the offer to upgrade everyone''s Soultraits.

    Daniel was present because he had a 9-Star Soultrait. He could fight enemies much stronger than him and easily progressed through the ranks. It was only a matter of time before he ascended to a Higher Lifeform. He already had a perfectly purified body and wouldn''t be granted many benefits from the High Ascension. However, at the same time, Daniel didn''t require as many resources as others to advance to Tier-4 and higher. Even though he had a 9-Star Soultrait and was supposed to require tremendous energy to advance, Daniel was faster than everyone at advancing.

    On the other hand, Caesus wasn''t present because of his overwhelming strength. For the records, he killed more Awakened at a high rank than anyone else at or near his rank. Nheless, that wasn''t enough reason to enter the council meeting. No. Caesus was present because the Silverfangs were split as to whom to follow. Many trusted Tiara and relied on her strength, but a portion ¨C a fairlyrge part ¨C of the Silverfang Tigerfolk knew that their ruler never abandoned Caesus.

    To avoid problems, other than Tiara nearly fighting with Caesus when he first appeared before her eyes, the former crown prince and the princess of the Silverfang Tigerfolk were added to the council. The same former crown prince who was now asking to use up his Jungle Points to upgrade his Soultrait.

    "You want to upgrade your Soultrait? Not buy a new one?" Michael asked without a change in his features. He stared straight into Caesus'' eyes and waited patiently for a response.

    "Yes. I do not wish to purchase a new Soultrait. Maybe in the future, but not for now." Caesus nodded, "Father believed my Soultrait to be powerful. Maybe he was wrong, but I want to believe his judgment."

    "Don''t you dare to talk about our father? Even a thought of yours is enough to tarnish his eternal rest. You are a vile, disgus¨C..." Tiara screamed at her brother, who endured his sister''s rage and fury with a straight stare. However, she couldn''t finish shouting at him until she was out of breath. Michael''s curse power exploded and surged through the room.

    "Silence." It was merely one word, but it was eerily cold. Michael stared at Tiara, whose lips sealed shut subconsciously. Her eyes widened in shock, and the hair all over her tail stood up to its end. The anger in Michael''s eyes and aura surprised Tiara. She wasn''t the only one, but Tiara realized that she had gone too far. Her fluffy ears turned down in embarrassment and sadness, yet no word escaped her lips.

    Only when Michael''s aura receded did she dare to say something.

    "I¡­apologize¡­ I couldn''t control my emotions. It wasn''t the right time or ce to do that¡­"

    Michael nodded curtly and turned away from Tiara. He didn''t grace her with another nce. The Silverfang Princess winced while Master Tigris sighed deeply. Even though their Princess had been with Michael Fang from the beginning, it was a fact that Michael gained a lot less from their rtionship than Tiara and the Silverfang Tigerfolk. The Lord didn''t lose out in their rtionship, but the Silverfang Princess gained many benefitspared to her Lord. However, it seemed like Tiara had forgotten about that. She had also forgotten that Michael was their Lord and that he was responsible for his subjects of several races. Tiara was already stirring problems because of the Silverfangs now that her brother had returned. If everyone acted as pompous as the young Silverfang, Michael would have difficulty ruling his territory. He had to intercept her behavior and discipline her.

    Master Tigris understood that point, but it was unfortunate. Caesus wasn''t as long in Michael''s territory as Tiara, yet the princess seemed to lose his favor while Caesus attracted Michael''s attention. "You are the Silverfang Princess. Please, Your Worship, act like that!" Master Tigris hissed into her ears.

    Michael heard Master Tigris and shrugged. He didn''t think much about Tiara''s behavior. The sibling problem was something they could solve on their own. The council meeting wasn''t intended for such a thing.

    He turned to Caesus and nodded, "I''ll upgrade your Soultrait to 4-Star. You might not have enough Jungle Points, but that doesn''t matter. The remaining Jungle Points can be acquired in the battle against the ze Patriarch and his people." "Though, I don''t think it will be as difficult as everyone presumed," Michael shrugged, his eyes trailing the Starheaven Pharaoh, who nodded subtly. Everything was going ording to n.

    "Still¡­can you use the SoulStar Fragments on yourself, please? To ensure to everyone that everything will be alright?" Lilica asked.

    Michael thought about it for a second. He retrieved 400 SoulStar Fragments and handed them to Caesus before shing a vibrant smile at the Forest Elf.

    "That shouldn''t be a problem. I can do that."

    **

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 Chapter 888 Power Up

    888 Power Up

    Michael wasn''t sure which Soultrait he should upgrade first. Of course, upgrading Extraction to 8-Star first would be helpful, but he wasn''t sure if he had enough SoulStar Fragments to do that. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Fortunately, finding out wasn''t too difficult. Michael spent the next 24 hours infusing more than two million SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction to form the 8th star and fill it. The star wasn''t filled to the brim until Michael infused two and a half million SoulStar Fragments, leaving him with merely 500,000ish fragments.

    But even that was enough to upgrade more Soultrait Symbols. Yet before focusing on other Soultrait Symbols, Michael focused on the changes in his body. Something was changing as Extraction advanced to an 8-Star Soultrait. First, Extraction created a small sphere in his Energy Pir. It didn''t look any different from the other spheres from his Elemental Spheres'' Soultrait, but it was nothing like that. The Extraction Sphere absorbs excessive origin energy whenever the energy within the Energy Pir reaches a certain threshold. It was absorbed and transformed into golden Essences.

    His body began creating Extraction Essences naturally. But that was only the start.

    Extraction''s potency and efficiency skyrocketed. They reached new heights, which was affirmed when an influx of information entered Michael''s mind. The influx of information was different than before. It informed him about his Soultrait''s new capabilities but also shared certain techniques andplex weaves to tap into the Extraction''s dormant potential.

    At the same time, Extraction''s advancement to an 8-Star Soultrait tightened his connection to the Wolf Curse. Michael had already predicted this beforehand, but the change in their rtionship affirmed his prediction again. The Wolf Curse and Extraction belonged together. Maybe they weren''t one entity; however, they had an intimate rtionship.

    It was a little frustrating to be even closer to the Wolf Curse than before, but that was also one of the reasons Michael had decided to upgrade Extraction to an 8-Star Soultrait in the first ce. The Curse Seals of the Wolf were stronger than they used to be. A single minor seal impacted much harder, strengthening Extraction like five minor Seals did before the advancement. His 51 Cursed Seals were now as potent as 255 Cursed Seals would have been when Extraction was still a 7-Star Soultrait.

    That was excellent. Soul Tears and Enhancement added to 8-Star Extraction and 51 highly potent Cursed Seals ¨C plus Extraction Essence umted within the Extraction Sphere ¨C should be strong enough to deal with most enemies in the Sacred Desert. Maybe it was not enough to kill the ze Patriarch, but Michael was already fairly confident in dealing with that bastard ¨C whether Extraction was a 7-Star or 8-Star Soultrait didn''t matter.

    After Extraction was upgraded to 8-Star, Michael''s Soul felt a bit stuffy. He recalled the World Serpent making fun of him for overestimating his capabilities and stupidly fusing with a portion of his Curses'' Essences. Michael didn''t think it was stupid, especially with his ability to nourish his Soul using SoulStar Fragments.

    He considered using the remaining 500,000ish SoulStar Fragments to nourish his soul but decided against it. His Soul wasn''t on the verge of bursting apart just yet.

    Michael considered upgrading Insert because it would be the cheapest to upgrade since it was linked to Extraction at its core, but he decided to upgrade Enhancement first and check how many SoulStar Fragments he would have left.

    Upgrading Enhancement wasn''t further problematic. The Soultrait evolved into Greater Enhancement after consuming 275,000 SoulStar Fragments. The upgrade was slightly cheaper than expected, but that didn''t mean Greater Enhancement''s improvement wasckluster. On the contrary, Greater Enhancement was extraordinary.

    First of all, Greater Enhancement could be used in the same way as Enhancement. However, an Enhancementyer did not improve the targeted object or body part by 50%. Instead, the improvement rate skyrocketed to 100%. A singleyer of Enhancement was enough to double the efficiency of the target. But efficiency was not all Enhancement upgraded anymore. Greater Enhancement could also drastically strengthen a Soultrait''s potency. The exact rate of strengthening depended on the amount of energy infused into Greater Enhancement when using it.

    Greater Enhancementbined the pinnacle of potency and efficiency. However, even that was not the true extent of Greater Enhancement''s power. By applying multipleyers of Greater Enhancement, it was possible to unleash the dormant potential of the targeted object. That meant Michael could use Greater Enhancement on his Cursed Seals to unseal more Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals ¨C even if only temporarily. It also meant he could unleash his Soultrait Symbol''s full power without the in-depth mastery or the necessary strength to withstand their power.

    That was extraordinary, if not for thetter point. He might be able to unleash the full potential of Sacred Constitution and Extraction while also unleashing hundreds of Cursed and Serpent Seals, but what was the use of that if his body, mind, and soul couldn''t withstand their full potential?

    Michael had to study and learn how often he could use Greater Enhancement without identally tearing his body apart. At the same time, Michael would have to study his Soultraits more in-depth to understand their full potential. To boot, Michael could overclock Artifacts and other items using Greater Enhancement to unleash their full potential instantly. If used properly and at the perfect moment, it shouldn''t be impossible to kill a stronger enemy with ease.

    ''Maybe I can defeat the ze Patriarch without the Pharaoh''s¡­well, it doesn''t matter. The n has already been initiated.'' Michael shrugged. Greater Enhancement was strong than he had hoped for, AND he still had more than 200,000 SoulStar Fragments to invest into Insert.

    220,000 SoulStar Fragmentster, leaving Michael with less than 10,000 SoulStar Fragments to use, Insert advanced to a 7-Star Soultrait.

    Interestingly enough, not much about Insert changed. The Soultrait''s energy consumption, potency, and efficiency improved drastically, but that was it. No, that wasn''t the entire truth. The link between Insert and Extraction grew thicker. It had only been a faint connection before but transformed into a thick tendril, firmly connecting the two Soultrait Symbols at the core of the Soul Sphere.

    Using Extraction and Insert together was easier now ¨C not that it was difficult. The synergy of the two Soultraits burst through the roof, and Michael found himself exposed to another influx of information¡­rted to the synergy of the Soultraits.

    That was confusing. Michael never obtained something like that when Spirit Eyes was created. Still, it was pleasant to learn more about his Soultraits without having to put in the necessary work. He was already on a tight schedule and needed as much knowledge and mastery of his Soultraits as possible.

    ''One 8-Star Soultrait, four 7-Star Soultraits, five 6-Star Soultraits and two 5-Star Soultraits¡­Well and one dormant Soul Socket which I can unlock once I know what type of Soultrait suits Soul Grimoire.''

    The dormant Soul Socket was still a bit confusing. Michael could insert any Soultrait Symbol into the Soul Socket, but the Soultrait would have to bepatible with Soul Grimoire if he wanted to use either Soul Grimoire or the new Soultrait in the future. They would probably be linked to each other and mutate like Spirit Eyes. Thus, no mistake was allowed!

    It was a good thing Michael wasn''t in a hurry to add another Soultrait. He had more than enough powerful Soultraits to study in-depth.

    A few Lords and the ze Patriarch were also waiting to be thrashed!

 Chapter 889 Scheme

    889 Scheme n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Several men and women, d in desert clothes and powerful Artifacts, roamed through the Sacred Desert. Their steps were short but filled with power, determination, and grace. Following the men and women were thousands of loyal Awakened and hundreds of thousands of trainedbat Summons.

    The armies of the ze household ¨C crossing 500,000 Summons and 8,000 Awakened easily ¨C passed Olivia''s settlement and headed to the zing Sand Mountain Range.

    "How can that be? How did we miss such a powerful Lord?!" The Patriarch''s wife asked, gritting her teeth all while sweat poured down her temples. Tears, remnants of the little water she''d left in her body, welled up in her eyes, fusing her sadness and fury.

    Thest few months had been hard on the ze household, but thest 48 hours had been the worst in her life. No. They had been the worst in the lives of all members of the ze household. Almost half of their people died, including the Patriarch''s heiress, nephews, and brothers. However, the ze Patriarch didn''t show any rage. His emotions were hidden underneath an ice-cold mask.

    After losing against the Tritan Alliance, just before he was about to take the grand victory and reunite mankind, churning the fierce mes of fury against the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, everything changed. His trickery against the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs failed, the traitor organizations were destroyed, and the strongest members of the Warlock Centaur and Berserker races decided tobine their forces and travel to the sr system.

    Their trip across the ster system happened almost instantaneous ¨C instead of wasting an entire month traveling through space, they appeared out of nowhere ¨C taking the ze Patriarch and his people by surprise. He was on the verge of death at some point, forced to use one of hisst Artifacts given by the Long brothers of the Supreme Human Alliance to survive and flee the scene.

    They fled into the Origin Expanse before all preparations had beenpleted. Fortunately, the ze household had gathered enough resources to establish ten territories across the Sacred Desert to im the region in half a year. Or so they thought. After defeating thest Lord in the Sacred Desert, they should have received a sign from the Will. A notification, or letter in the form of loot, granting the ze household the rights of the Sacred Desert region.

    That, however, never happened. First, the ze Patriarch considered the growing region a problem. It was well-known that the Sacred Desert''s energy density was growing and would probably evolve into an Intermediate Region soon. But the truth revealed itself shortly.

    The secret region within the Sacred Desert wasn''t as empty as they thought. The area that should have been devastated by the Undead Pharaoh is the one that still retains the most, the Lord. There was one more Lord they had to defeat. However, the ze Patriarch and his household only found out about this after it was toote.

    The Lords of the ze territories weren''t on guard or conscious of the surrounding danger. Like the others, they had been certain that the Sacred Desert region was theirs. That was a grave mistake, which the ze household had to pay in blood.

    Half of the ze household was dead, and the other half was in fury. In unison, they gathered their forces in two days and moved to the zing Sand Mountain Range.

    The armies were led by the ze Patriarch, who was forced to move slowly. He was deadly pale, and his strides were uneven. The mighty leader of the ze household, a Tier-6 powerhouse, looked no better than a half-dead man. His arm had regrown, but that didn''t mean the powerful Awakened was back at the peak of his prowess. If anything, the ze Patriarch was weaker than he had been at any moment in thest 200 years.

    He looked ''used up,'' almost like his energy and life force were being drained with every inch he moved. Yet, despite the clear pain and exhaustion shing dimly in his eyes, the ze Patriarch moved onward.He led the ze armies, concealed with his final Artifact ¨C draining the energy within thousands of Ordinary Energy Stones ¨C to the closest entrance to a path in the zing Sand Mountain Range.

    It hadn''t been long since his spies detected the well-hidden path their enemies had used to cross the zing Sand Mountain Range. The enemy army rushed into the path, unbothered by the surrounding heat and deadly mes that threatened to burn everyone daring to cross the mountain range and returned to their home.

    He was excited when the ze Patriarch heard about the path for the first time. He had been struggling to find a way into the secret region of the Sacred Desert because the teleportation chambers outside the mountain range had disappeared. His informants had told him about the teleportation chambers and their locations two years ago, but they couldn''t be found. The patriarch had been in fury for months, only to be shown an even easier way to enter the zing Sand Mountain Range by his sworn enemy.

    Approaching the pathway leading to the secret area and the core of the Sacred Desert, the ze Patriarch''s people discovered something. The heat in the surroundings increased drastically as they stepped closer to the path, yet the Awakened with fire-attributed Soultraits could endure this easily. They were unbothered by the heat, unlike the Summons and other Awakened, who struggled as they inched closer to the entrance to the concealed path.

    "Stop!" The ze Patriarch called quietly, yet loud enough to spread his voice across the vicinity with a trace of origin energy augmenting his vocal cords.

    A young, familiar man emerged from the concealed path, his attention lingering on a man wearing unique attire suitable to the noble caste of the Sacred Desert. But there was more to it. In the narrow path, which forced warriors to walk side by side in groups of seven to ten, a massive army of people emerged.

    "The root of all my problems," The ze Patriarch grunted, but the corner of his lips was curled upward.

    The ze armies were well-hidden underneath his Artifact, revealing only a few Awakened, who were too powerful to be hidden with the energy used to empower the Artifact. Less than two dozen people were exposed, but there were more than half a million in total ¨C more than enough to throw magical and non-magical projectiles in the narrow path with no escape.

    "Michael¡­You are too greedy. Your greed is the cause of your doom!" The ze Patriarch cursed the root of his problems, "May you die a horrible death!"

    If not for Michael, everything would have been perfect. The ze household would rule the Tritan Alliance, and they would have taken control of the Sacred Desert and several other regions by now. Their family would rise to true power and wee the first Divine Lifeform in less than one century. Their future was bound to be bright and full of glory if not for Michael''s intervention.

    "Pyromantica Star Formation!" the ze Patriarch thundered, regaining some of his energy as the golden opportunity unfolded before his eyes.

    Michael Fang didn''t know what awaited him, but he would regret it soon enough!

    "Attack!!"

 Chapter 890 Blast

    890 st

    Utilizing Greater Enhancement on Spirit Eyes created exceptional results. Michael managed to see the ze Patriarch and his Subordinates ¨C only two dozen High Awakened or so ¨C approaching the zing Sand Mountain Range''s path. It was the same path he and his people had ''identally'' revealed to the ze''s spies when they retreated to Paradise Valley.

    It was interesting to watch the ze Patriarch and his people, but Michael was the most curious about the reports he received from the scouts he had spread across the zing Sand Mountain Range. Their reports revealed countless footsteps, from hundreds of thousands of people, trailing behind the ze Patriarch and his people.

    Michael and his people weren''t having a hard time determining that there were concealed people behind the patriarch. However, he was surprised nheless. It was unexpected that the ze Patriarch could hide hundreds of thousands of people so well that Michael couldn''t even see their Energy Pirs. Not even after Soul Tear and Greater Enhancement augmented Spirit Eyes ¨C used on both Soul Grimoire and Spirit Eyes to unlock their dormant potential for a few seconds ¨C was enough to see the hidden ze armies.

    Fortunately, that wasn''t particrly important. Their invisibility was perfect, but it didn''t cover their sounds or the footsteps in the sand.

    "They didn''t leave anyone behind in their settlements, did they?" Michael mumbled, considering unleashing Cosmic Stride to move through the Sacred Desert region and conquer the five remaining settlements of the ze household before dealing with the ze Patriarch.

    He shook his head with a smile. Conquering the five settlements might be feasible by using Swallow Domain and Permute to devour them and transform them into curse power that could then be used to teleport and use Swallow Domain again. It wouldn''t take long to destroy everyone, but using his Curses'' Major Seals quickly and multiple times in a row wasn''t good for his soul. Every use of his Major Seals granted two Curses a short moment of control over Michael''s body.

    To be precise, the Curses could do something to him. That something would be hard to block in that short moment was problematic only if Michael used his Major Seals for a long duration or multiple times in quick session.

    Michael would have done it if it had been necessary, nheless. However, it wasn''t necessary. Michael was d that the ze Patriarch and his whole force were present. That made everything easier.

    It was just like they had nned. In fact, the Starheaven Pharaoh''s bait worked even better than expected.

    "You did a great job," Michael praised the Starheaven Pharaoh when they started moving through the zing sand path.

    "We are not done yet," The Starheaven Pharaoh shook his head with a pensive expression, "We have yet to emerge victorious."

    Michael shrugged lightly. It was true that they hadn''t won. The ze Patriarch and his people were still alive. But that was only a matter of time.

    "They have more Awakened working for them than expected," The Starheaven Pharaoh added when the masses of Summons and Awakened revealed themselves before the zing sand path. The ze Patriarch''s voice, fragile and powerless, reverberated through the surroundings,manding his people to surprise attack Michael and his people, eliminating them once and for all.

    Michael and Starheaven Pharaoh were still moving even as the masses of Summons and Awakened were revealed. The perfect camouge disappeared, revealing more than 500,000 Summons and no less than 8,000 Awakened, yet it was like Michael, and the Starheaven Pharaoh couldn''t see them. Unbothered by the massive haul of magical and non-magical projectiles flying their way, they continued moving like the blurry masses of warriors following Michael through the narrow zing sand path¡­or so it looked like.

    Only a few projectiles headed their way. Most of them were headed to the narrow path, where they were supposed to impact the heaviest, reaping hundreds of lives and spreading chaos and destruction. That would have worked phenomenally if there had been warriors on the narrow path to begin with.

    The thousands of people the ze Patriarch had seen earlier disappeared suddenly. Their faces and bodies distorted, blurted, and dispersed into masses of sand and earth, revealing an empty path to the ze Patriarch and his people. Their eyes bulged in surprise, and amotion resounded through the ze armies'' rows. Themotion didn''tst long as their attention fell upon the only people who didn''t disappear: Michael and the Starheaven Pharaoh. Michael Fang blocked all iing attacks with ease. He used Greater Enhancement on his body and Taming before fusing his arm with the Elemental Empress, simultaneously empowering his elemental mastery and Zeroa''s firepower.

    The iing attacks were powerful but not enough to put enough pressure on Michael. He didn''t even break into a sweat defending the Starheaven Pharaoh, who retrieved a small object from his tunica.

    Something was wrong. That was what the ze armies realized when the first Summons and Awakened pinpointed a minor change in their foes'' expression.

    The man in the high-ss desert clothes snickered, whereas a thin smile crept up on Michael''s lips. His faint grin transformed into a fleshed-out devilish grimace.

    The ze Patriarch''s vibrant smile crumbled when the people behind Michael dispersed. The cogs in his mind rattled momentarily before he realized he and his people had been tricked.

    "An Illusion!" The patriarch''s wife cursed.

    "We have been tricked!!!" Someone next to her added in despair.

    The ze Patriarch grit his teeth until a faint cracking noise resounded. His nails dug deep into his palm until blood droplets trickled onto the searing hot sand.

    "Stay calm and get into formation. Expect enemies from all directions!" He shouted, his voice augmented by origin energy.

    On the other hand, Michae looked calmly at the Starheaven Pharaoh and nodded curtly. The Starheaven Pharaoh swallowed hard and grasped the small object tightly in his hands. It was a whistle. The Starheaven Pharaoh pressed his lips against it and yed the whistle once.

    The whistle sound resounded through the vicinity. At first, nothing happened. The ze Patriarch and his people stared at Michael and the Starheaven Pharaoh, first vignt and afraid, then their tension eased up. Nothing seemed to happen.

    When everyone was sure that the Starheaven Pharaoh failed with whatever he had attempted to do, a screech reverberated through Paradise Valley and the zing Sand Mountain Range. Maybe even the residents of the remaining ze settlements could hear the terrifying screech. Following the resounding screech, a zing sun shot across the sky.

    It whirled through the air and passed through the zing Sand Mountain Range like a massive meteorite until it reached the area in the sky between Michael and the ze armies. The second sun came to a sudden halt.

    Something was odd. The second sun felt wrong and as if it was stronger than the original sun. The surrounding temperature skyrocketed, the armaments of the weakest Summons, who could not protect their weapons and armor with origin energy membranes, melted, and hundreds ¨C if not thousands ¨C of Summons, and some Awakened, copsed to the ground. They fainted from the sudden temperature increase.

    If it had been earlier, Michael would have been shocked or having difficulty breathing, but he smiled at the sight unfolding before him. He felt like he''d swallowed magma when he took a deep breath. That part never changed. But it didn''t bother him anymore, not even as his hair stood up to its end when massive pressure oozed out of the second sun.

    The Primal Phoenix revealed itself as the pressure spread through the surroundings. Its zing body was too dazzling to look at under normal circumstances, but Michael did it, nheless, to get a glimpse at the Primal Phoenix''s majestic body.

    He had seen the Primal Phoenix before, but the sight was as terrifying and exhrating as it used to be. The Primal Phoenix was a magnificent bird, radiant with fiery plumage that shimmered like molten gold in the sunlight. Its wings spanned almost one hundred meters, effortlessly carrying the Sacred Beast through the cloudless sky. With each beat of its majestic wings, the Primal Phoenix filled the air with a cacophony of crackling mes and fiery heat, further elevating the surrounding temperature.

    Its crimson eyes pulled to Michael Fang for a moment. Yet, it didn''t nce at the Starheaven Pharaoh once.

    09:39

    "Nyx¡­" The Starheaven Pharaoh mumbled, swallowing hard at the Primal Phoenix''s sight.

    The Sacred Beast screeched again and turned to the ze armies, who didn''t move an inch. More Summons and Awakened fell victim to the massive aura and temperature increase caused by the Primal Phoenix''s mere presence, but even the High Awakened and ze Patriarch didn''t dare to make a move. They hoped nothing terrible would happen. After all, they weren''t inside the Primal Phoenix''s territory yet. It shouldn''t have been a problem to stay where they are. The Sacred Beast was not supposed to be allowed to attack them.

    That was how it was supposed to be, but the Sacred Beast didn''t care. It gathered andpressed massive energy and mes in its beak and released everything at once.

    Michael''s eyes widened in glee. His bargain with the Primal Phoenix worked out! N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It had only been a few days since Michael provided a tribute to the Sacred Beast. Well, calling it a tribute was probably a little bit exaggerated. The tribute was called Ashborn serum ¨C a treasure he''d purchased in the Cosmic Shop for 10,000,000 Cosmic Coins ¨C and was heavenly enough to attract the attention of the Primal Phoenix. It cost a fortune, but Michael didn''t mind. Why wouldn''t he do it if it was necessary to pay a hefty price in exchange for eliminating the ze household? Especially if he could make a profit even after spending a fortune of 10,000,000.

    For the records, 10,000,000 Cosmic Coins were more than mostmon races could acquire in a year. Even the Tritan Alliance''s annual ie wouldn''t be close to 10,000,000 Cosmic Coins.Michael managed to procure that much from selling Soultrait Symbols and the like.

    Still, that was fine. The 8,000 Awakened and the death of the remaining members of the ze household were worth much more than ten million coins.

    Ten million coins, or the Ashborn serum, were all it took to convince the Primal Phoenix to abandon its sacred duty for five seconds and attack the ze Patriarch and his people.

    They screamed at the top of their lungs when the fiery mes of the Sacred Beast swallowed them. But it was more surprising that they could scream in the first ce.

    Five seconds amid the Sacred Beast''s strongest mes were enough to burn everyone to cinder. Michael, however, knew that they wouldn''t die. The ze Patriarch and his people would survive, not because of their powerful Soultraits or refined bodies, but because the Primal Phoenix was forced to restrain its power drastically.

    It had already bent the Laws of the Will and did something it wasn''t supposed to do as a Sacred Beast. Killing others ¨C the stronger, the worse ¨C would have worsened the punishment the Primal Phoenix was bound to face upon returning to its sacred duty.

    It was only fortunate that Michael didn''t need the ze Patriarch and his people dead. Smiling at them with a devious smile as they writhed in pain, entering a state close to death, was more than enough.

    Michael approached them slowly. He shrouded his body in an armor of mes using Fusion from Taming with the Elemental Empress and walked through the mes with an agile gait. The Starheaven Pharaoh stared nkly at the Primal Phoenix with a longing gaze, but the Sacred Beast turned around.

    It didn''t look at Michael nor the Starheaven Pharaoh and rushed back to its nest where the remains of the Ashborn Serum were waiting for it.

    Meanwhile, the ze household was on the verge of copse, burned by mes too strong for them to control.

 Chapter 891 End of a Dynasty

    Chapter 891 End of a Dynasty

    The smell of burned flesh hung heavy in the searing hot air. The Primal Phoenix had already left, but the carnage it left behind didn''t disappear. A cacophony of screams, pained grunts, and suffering noises reverberated through the surroundings, leaving the Summons and Awakened, who hadn''t been struck by the Sacred Beast''s mes, in a stupor.

    They stared nkly to the front, only to see their leaders writhing in pain. Nobody had died, but everyone struck by the Sacred Beast''s mes would have been better off burning to death than suffering endlessly from the aftermath.

    Michael stared at the ze Patriarch, coated in the Elemental Empress'' fiery armor, and stepped forward. He willed the surrounding heat and the mes clinging to the victims to surge toward him using Elemental Might and wind and fire-attributed energy. The mes surged to Michael, swirled around him vigorously, and expanded as he infused more energy to nourish them.

    The mes around Michael expanded and transformed into zing spears after using the frames of Qi Swords as a cast. The vigorously flickering mes morphed into hundreds of small fiery spears that revolved around Michael, whose devilish grin widened. He released the fiery spears with a burst of wind-attributed energy, impaling the chests of hundreds of writhing High Awakened.

    The unscathed Summons and Awakened stared at Michael in terror. Their eyes trailed from Micheal to their Lords and the strongest members of the ze armies, only to realize that the Sacred Beast''s mes had hit the ze Patriarch and his strongest Subordinates. They had been the Primal Phoenix''s main target. That shouldn''t have been a surprise, but the Summons and High Awakened were shocked.

    However, it was even more mind-boggling seeing how easily Michael killed hundreds of High Awakened. The ze Patriarch was still alive, and so were the other ze Lords, but their Subordinates died at Michael''s hand without any issues. "You didn''t expect this, did you?" Michael asked the ze Patriarch as he approached the half-dead man. The man groaned and was about to say something, but Michael didn''t let him. He released several small wind des ¨C enhanced by Qi ¨C and severed the ze Patriarch''s hands and feet. The ze Patriarch groaned in pain again, but even the energy to scream had left him already. His eyes dimmed slowly, but the hatred glimmering in them was palpable. The wrath filling the ze Patriarch preserved his life.

    "I didn''t expect you to end like this either. Unfortunately, I am not yet strong enough to fight a dozen Tier-5 powerhouses and a Tier-6 Lord. You wouldn''t have met the Primal Phoenix if that had been the case. I wouldn''t have to waste so many Cosmic Coins on people like you." Michael shook his head in disapproval but shrugged atst.

    "It is a good thing I''m not going to lose anything. At the end of the day, I''m gaining a lot from getting rid of the ze household," He snickered and stared deep into the ze Patriarch''s wrath-filled eyes, "Betraying the Tritan Alliance is one thing. I like the Tritan Alliance quite a bit, but I wouldn''t abhor you so much for the Tritan Alliance''s sake. We managed to regain control of the Tritan Alliance, and I can tell that ourmon enemies helped us grow even more attached.

    Michael''s expression transformed into one of fury and uncontroble rage, "But orchestrating my brother''s death, ordering his betrayal in the Primedival Pyramid, was something you shouldn''t have done. Let''s put the coalition with the Supreme Human Alliance aside, you should have never even considered betraying my brother. While I understand your tactic and the attempt to be the sole ruler of the Sacred Desert, as it will transform into an Intermediate Region in the next few years, there are things you should have never touched!"

    Michael''s right hand transformed. His fingers cracked and extended. Razor-sharp ws burst through his fingertips, ready to dip into the ze Patriarch''s neck. Michael stepped closer to his target and was about to deal the finishing blow when the situation around him changed considerably. The unscathed Summons and Awakened, but also everyone who was burned but wasn''t half-dead and writhing on the ground, stirred and groaned. Their Links of Loyalty were triggered by the ze Patriarch and ze Lords, who realized something bad would happen. Scared shirtless but forced to move by the power of the Links of Loyalty, the Summons and Awakened moved forward. Michael merely smiled as some projectiles came his way. A massive wall of purplish-azure mes erupted around him, also coated in ck and pristine mes. But that was not all. It was merely the firstyer of protection shrouding Michael. He added domes of churning earth, boiling sand, and ferocious gales around him, establishing severalyers of protection with elemental domes.

    "You are toote. If you wanted to kill me, you should have done that before my High Ascension," Michael snorted, "But don''t worry, you won''t die so easily."

    He bent down and pressed his massive w over the ze Patriarch''s half-burned head. The ze Patriarch''s scalp was still burning, but Michael didn''t care. He set aside his earlier thought ¨C to kill the ze Patriarch in one swift motion ¨C and manifested his Cursed Seal before unleashing Greater Enhancement on 8-Star Extraction and 7-Star Soul Grimoire. He then used a Soul Tear and unleashed True Extraction to drain the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols of the ze Patriarch slowly and, most importantly, painfully.

    The ze Patriarch would have screamed if he could, but the energy needed to do so had long since left his body.

    The ze Armies moved and attacked the elemental domes, isting Michael and the ze Patriarch, but they weren''t given much time. The scenery in the Sacred Desert changed once again.

    The surroundings suddenly became filled with spatial fluctuations, and the Untamed Army and its Awakened popped out of thin air. They appeared in small groups around the masses of the ze Armies, unsheathed their weapons, and activated their Soultraits to jump into the battle.

    Michael and his people had augmented the teleportation arrays inside Paradise Valley. They were strengthened and strong enough to move individuals through half of the Sacred Desert orrger groups outside the zing Sand Mountain Range. The Untamed Army was teleported straight onto the battlefield, where they tackled the despaired forces of the ze Patriarch by surprise.

    Their desperate screams filled the Sacred Desert, only to be overwhelmed by the cacophony of the Untamed Army''s mighty roars.

    Michael saw a glimpse of the battle via Spirit Eyes but diverted his attention back to the ze Patriarch once he verified that his people ughtered the ze Armies. The ze Armies resisted but failed miserably in their attempt to survive.

    There was no opportunity to leave. Even if the Untamed Army left a small spot wide open for the ze armies to leave, their Links of Loyalty would restrain them, forcing the Summons and Awakened to follow the ze Lords into death.

    "So that is how your reign ends? It''s funny, don''t you think?" Michael snickered, staring at the writhing patriarch emotionlessly.

    He couldn''t scream or speak. All his body did was writhing, but even that stopped at some point. The glow in the ze Patriarch''s eyes dimmed. Even the hatred in his eyes dissipated slowly. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Several minutes of soul-torturing pain passed ¨C feeling like an eternity to the ze Patriarch ¨C before Michael finished his agony atst.

    He severed the patriarch''s connection to his Soultrait and tore it out of his body.

    On that day, the ze household ¨C the terror of the Tritan Alliance ¨C ceased to exist.

    [End of Volume 14]

 Chapter 892 Region Ruler

    Chapter 892 Region Ruler

    Once the ze household and their armies ceased, Michael was the only Lord in the Sacred Desert. However, Michael had to do a few things before the Will acknowledged him as the Sacred Desert''s ruler.

    First, Michael killed all Awakened andbatants loyal to the ze household. He had to eliminate potential trouble and was unwilling to leave any opportunity to stab him in the back. However, he epted the residents of the territories nheless. After the ze household ceased, most residents chose to go with the flow. They followed Michael, who offered food, water, and a roof over their heads. That, as a matter of fact, was more than the ze Lords had offered on some days.

    The residents moved to Paradise Valley, where more city-states were established to keep the working force in and near Paradise Valley, where the most precious resources were located.

    The Sacred Desert had many ore deposits and energy-dense ces, but Paradise Valley and its surrounding area were the most valuable. It was only obvious, but the Energy Vein was the most valuable. Michael needed as many workers as possible to help excavate Energy Stones and various other metals from the zing Sand Mountain Range''s underground. The Primal Phoenix watched the workers asionally, but the Will had acknowledged Michael''s im Note of Paradise Valley and the surroundings. Nyx, the Phoenix, never considered attacking Michael or his people.

    After more city-states had been established in Paradise Valley, they were filled slowly but steadily. At the same time the city-states werepleted, Michael observed thest steps of the second Pentagon Fort in the Untamed Junge. Meanwhile, a third -rger - Pentagon Fort, along hundreds of Advanced Ranches, Superior Farming Lands, and various other buildings required to feed his people in Paradise Valley and the Untamed Jungle, was already under construction. It was only a matter of weeks before it would bepleted as well.

    The Dragys might be frightening enemies if they decided to attack him and his people, but Michael was still unsure if they had been informed about his existence in the first ce. As far as Michael knew, the Dragys continued expanding their territory to push deeper into the Untamed Jungle. They desired to reach the heart of the Untamed Jungle, which wasn''t easy by any means. The Dragys encountered other Lords and engaged in a fierce battle, which transformed into a longsting war as the monsters of the Untamed Jungle joined.

    Michael was sure the war between the Dragys and their foes wouldst a few years. That was reassuring and was also part of why he expanded his territories nonchntly: He didn''t have any major enemies to fight in his immediate surroundings.

    The ze household had been defeated, leaving the Sacred Desert to him. Of course, some monsters tried to establish their territory in the Sacred Desert, but Michael''s Awakened did an excellent job at keeping the borders to the Sacred Desert clean. The encounters with a handful of neighboring Lords, whose territories were established in the adjacent regions, were annoying, forcing Michael to show up. Still, most were reasonable once they realized that Michael and his people weren''t as easy to deal with as other Lords.

    The ze household had been defeated, leaving the Sacred Desert to him. Of course, some monsters tried to establish their territory in the Sacred Desert, but Michael''s Awakened did an excellent job at keeping the borders to the Sacred Desert clean. The encounters with a handful of neighboring Lords, whose territories were established in the adjacent regions, were annoying, forcing Michael to show up. Still, most were reasonable once they realized that Michael and his people weren''t as easy to deal with as other Lords.

    Most Lords were willing to sign a treaty once Michael offered a few deals to them. To be precise, Michael researched information about the Lords'' races and their needs before preparing whatever they needed the most to offer in exchange for other resources, which they had in abundance. From their point of view, Michael offered them such an advantageous trade because he wanted to establish a friendly rtionship with them.

    While that wasn''t wrong, Michael had chosen particr items those races had in abundance ¨C items he or other races in his trading cycle needed. Michael didn''t lose anything from bartering with the neighboring Lords. If anything, he gained tremendously.

    The Lords didn''t cross the borders to the Sacred Desert anymore, leaving Michael with more than enough space to expand.

    He started establishing border settlements all across the Sacred Desert and created routes to connect the border settlements with small fortresses, which he established around the smaller settlements he nted all over the Sacred Desert region. Michael didn''t know how many settlements they''d constructed at the end of the day. He allowed his architects and strategists to do as they pleased once they showed him a map of the Sacred Desert, with a blueprint of its defensive systemyered on top of it. The map of the Sacred Desert looked like a cobweb at the end of the day. Each string was a street, a route connecting to the intersections, where the settlements had been constructed.

    Feeding everyone in the Sacred Desert was a challenge, albeit slowly, especially once the settlements were filled. Fortunately, the Untamed Jungle provided enough provisions for a while. The Sacred Desert wasn''t self-sufficient, but Michael didn''t want to rely on the Untamed Jungle for all food. He made sure to pay enough attention to food production. It would take years before the Sacred Desert could feed itself, probably longer since its poption was nowhere near its limit ¨C the capacity of most settlements hadn''t even crossed the 50% mark yet ¨C but that was fine. Michael had the Untamed Jungle to support the Sacred Desert and vice versa.

    The Sacred Desert produced most resources, whereas the Untamed Junge produced powerful warriors in its perfect environment, food, and more.

    It took a while to acquire the resources and work power to spread out of Paradise Valley and establish dozens of settlements all over the Sacred Desert simultaneously, but that was how Michael became the sole ruler of the Sacred Desert Region. He acquired the Region Ruler achievement in the Achievement Shop and received a unique bonus, something he learned from one of the ze Patriarch''s many Memory Orbs.

    The bonus increased theprehension rate of all Summons in the imed region. It elevated the probability of summoning Summons of higher star ratings and increased the growth of the Summons and their Links of Loyalty. Therefore, Michael''s Summons progressed faster, were more likely to find an attunement path and be promoted to the next star-rating, and their Link of Loyalty would produce more Soul Power.

    That was great, especially with more than 60,000,000 Summons residing in the Sacred Desert.

    Only two years passed in the Origin Expanse, but Michael managed to increase the poption in the Sacred Desert by 20 times. The Untamed Jungle''s poption increased only to 8.5 million Summons. The difference was massive, but it made sense. Michael had imed the Sacred Desert, leaving a massive chunk ofnd ¨Cupied by more than 100 Lords before, excluding Paradise Valley ¨C for one Lord and his subjects to toy with. But toying wasn''t something Michael wasn''t going for. On the contrary, Michael hasn''t yed around in thest two years. He focused on strengthening by investing most of his time and a massive haul of resources into growing stronger.

    That was how, despite owning too many powerful Soultraits, Michael managed to reach the Mid-rank of Tier-4 a few days ago.

    He was still far from advancing to Tier-5, but that didn''t mean Michael was weaker than most Tier-5 powerhouses. If anything, the battle against the ze household pushed him closer to thebat prowess of a proper Tier-6 powerhouse. But was he truly this powerful? Maybe.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 893 Military Might

    Chapter 893 Military Might

    Expanding his territory hadn''t been as challenging as Michael expected. He had been certain to encounter countless challenges to im the Sacred Desert, but it was rather simple. Of course, the situation wasn''t all that rosy. Michael might have conquered the Sacred Desert, bing its Region Ruler, but there were still more than a dozen Lords bordering the Sacred Desert.

    If the neighboring Lords considered Michael a threat at some point, he would have to defend his territory from all sides at once. A situation like that was unfavorable, so Michael paid much attention to his territory''s military might. He and his people trained more than 1.5 million Combat Summons, ensuring the barracks at the Border Fortresses would always be upied.

    Michael had enough Combat Summons to deploy all over the 22 Border Fortresses in the Sacred Desert, upy the barracks in the other settlements, keep the poption in order, and protect the Pentagon Forts in the Untamed Jungle.

    The Combat Summons could be permanently assigned to their settlement, but most were in a rotation, allowing them to travel freely through Michael''s territory whenever they were off-duty. On duty, they would train meticulously to refine their Energy Pir and stay sharp at all times, but off-duty, they didn''t have to do such a thing. But that didn''t mean they wouldn''t train. Off-duty Combat Summons were often seen training even harder than the on-duty Summons. They could be found in the Untamed Jungle, training the hardest in the Sacred Knight Temple, the Hunter Academy, or with people like Legion and Master Tigris. Their reasoning was simple: They might be Combat Summons and treated very well, but their ambition wasn''t satisfied. A portion of the Combat Summons wasn''t happy being ''mere'' 1-Star Summons. Not only did they want to increase their star rating, but their ambition pushed them also to refine their Energy Pir and reach a higher Tier. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael focused on that kind of Combat Summons by granting them more resources. He was fairly open with that. For the records, every hard-working Summon ¨C and Awakened ¨C was given more resources than the batches of subjects who did the bare minimum toplete their jobs.

    Others might dislike this behavior, but Michael felt it was obvious. Of course, he would favor those who worked harder than the rest. The most hard-working Summons and Awakened were the batches that would transform into his territories'' strongest powerhouses and most influential assets. The only problem was that Michael had fewer means to promote his Summons to a higher star rating. While it was fairly easy to push Starless Summons to 1-Star Warriors, Hunters, Blessed Squires, and a wide variety of nonbat upations, the difficulty to promote 1-Star Summons against ¨C or train Mages with elemental attunement ¨C increased exponentially. That was not only because the dormant potential of Starless Summons was usually not high enough to promote them twice, but it was also owed to theck of specific resources.

    Michael''s trading cycle might have expanded slightly in thest two years, but training grounds like the Sacred Knight Temple were rare and hard to find. But even if they weren''t rare, it would be difficult to create many 2-Star Summons ¨C let alone 3-Star Summons. Fortunately, Michael had multiple Awakened with Soultraits that aided Summons and stimted their star rating promotion. Creating Awakened with Training-type Soultraits had been one of the first things Michael did when he noticed his Summons'' struggles, but that was only the beginning.

    Michael procured 6,915,000 SoulStar Fragments and 1019 Soultrait Symbols from the ze Patriarch, the remaining family members, and their Subordinates. That type of fortune was enough to hire more Awakened and train them meticulously. The number of Subordinates ¨C Awakened connected to him ¨C increased to more than 3,000. Almost a third of them were Silverfangs, which was how Michael reached such a high Subordinate count. After all, the Silverfangs'' Links of Loyalty didn''t burden him. They burdened Caesus and Tiara instead.

    One way or another, Michael had a fortune of SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols, and he utilized them well. He upgraded Spirit Eyes to 7-Star, transforming his first fused Soultrait into something called [Seer]. By upgrading Spirit Eyes to a 7-Star Soultrait, its powers skyrocketed.

    First, Michael''s vision improved by leaps and bounds as the Soultrait''s star rating improved.

    Second, the golden-silver marks covering his eyelids and subtle vein-like marks spread around his eyes extended. At this point, the marks reached his ears, further augmenting his hearing sense.

    Third, his powers like Spiritual Domination, Spirit Sight, and Prognosis evolved. Their powers intensified as the potential reached new limits. Spiritual Domination transformed into Domination, creating attacks that harmed the target''s mind, soul, and physique. Michael could focus on one damage type or use multiple types together. That way, he could unleash more power in specific ways to harm the target where it hurt the most. Finding out where the target was hurt the most was also fairly simple after Spirit Sight evolved into True Vision. True Vision''s effect was both active and passive. Michael''s passive ability to see his enemy''s Energy Pir and how much energy they''d umted stayed, but it grew stronger. He could also see his targets'' weak spots much easier and ck spots, which pinpointed old wounds that hadn''t been healed perfectly. By actively using True Vision, Michael could see the ck spots more easily. Other than that, Michael could now see how his targets'' Soultraits affected their origin energy and physiques.

    That, alongside Perfect Prediction, which was what Prognosis had evolved into, Michael could target his enemies'' weak spots and kill them much faster.

    He acquired all of that for a measly 360,000 SoulStar Fragments.

    Following Spirit Eyes'' evolution to Seer, Michael also upgraded Qi and Cosmic Stride. Neither of the two evolved, but their powers skyrocketed in response. Using Qi and Cosmic Stride was much easier than before; they consumed a lot less energy, and their upper limit increased by a multitude. Michael had yet to discover their limits, but he was fairly sure that it was only a matter of time and energy before he could travel through ster systems using Cosmic Stride. Maybe if he used Soul Tears, Greater Enhancement, and enough Energy Stones to overclock 7-Star Cosmic Stride, it would be enough to cross the borders of ster systems.

    That would be interesting, but Michael wasn''t nning to end up dead-tired from experimenting with Cosmic Stride and space jumps of such a high level. He''d much rather upgrade Cosmic Stride to 8-Star, reach a higher Tier, and jump through ster systems nonchntly in the future.

    Qi was a confusing Soultrait. Upgrading didn''t unravel more powers, but it decreased the energy consumption and the strain it put on his mind. At this point, Michael shouldn''t have any issues manifesting 1,000 average-sized Qi Swords with enough lethal power to kill Peak Tier-3 powerhouses. By going all out with Qi, even High Awakened would have difficulties surviving the barrage of 1,000 Qi Swords.

    Either way, Michael spent a small fortune of 225,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Qi to 7-Star and 775,000 SoulStar Fragments to do the same with Cosmic Stride.

    It cost more than one million SoulStar Fragments to upgrade three Soultrait Symbols to 7-Star, but Michael wasn''t done yet. He had been more than willing to invest a great fortune into upgrading his Soultraits to 7-Star.

    That was exactly what he did.

 Chapter 894 Growth

    Chapter 894 Growth

    Upgrading River of Vigor was a little painful. It was a powerful Soultrait, without a doubt, but it cost six times as many SoulStar Fragments as the average Soultrait to upgrade. Cosmic Stride was already a pain to upgrade, but River of Vigor Cost 1,500,000 SoulStar Fragments, pushing his upgrade cost of four Soultraits to 2.6 million. River of Vigor didn''t evolve, but it changed quite a lot. The Soultrait could produce more healing serum after advancing to 7-Star, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Michael could create different types of healing serum now as well. The information influx procured from upgrading his Soultrait showed him how to form three types of healing serum. The first was the ordinary silver serum and how to produce it more efficiently. The second was a preservation serum, which put the patient into eternal sleep. The patient wouldn''t die. Instead, their lives would be preserved while the body stopped working normally until the energypressed into the preservation serum ran out. It was near impossible for a patient in eternal sleep to die as long as there were no further external interventions, which was perfect in the middle of a fierce war. Michael could use the preservation serum on his half-dead subjects to preserve their lives and treat them once the threats had been removed. Of course, the preservation serum wouldn''t always work since the external factors in arge-scale war would be problematic, but Michael was d about River of Vigor''s progress.

    Last but not least, River of Vigor could create an energizing serum. It did exactly what the name suggested: energizing the target. Using the energizing serum, the target''s stamina and energy replenished rapidly, and his mind calmed drastically. The exhaustion and fears filling the target dispersed with the energizing serum.

    Michael liked the energizing serum as well. He wondered if the calming effect worked on his emotions as well, but he had to find out once his Curses returned to him.

    The Curses didn''t leave him, but they hadn''t been very active since the ze household had been destroyed. Their inactivity was fairly advantageous. Michael could control his emotions much better than before and was growing stronger, but the number of his Cursed Seals didn''t increase.

    He had as many Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals as two years ago, but his control of curse power, the Cursed Seals, and Major Seals had increased significantly. Nheless, Michael didn''t think for once that he''d subdued the Curses. If anything, the World Serpent and Wolf Curse chose to gather their power and wait for the perfect moment to do¡­something. Michael didn''t hate his Curses. They helped him on many asions, which was how he survived this long. Still, Michael couldn''t be certain about their true intentions. Sometimes, he felt like the Curses wanted to swallow him whole, while it seemed like the opposite in other situations.

    It was confusing and something he had to keep paying attention to if he didn''t want to be overwhelmed one day. But there was only little he could do other than grow stronger. He had to be prepared for his final sh with his Curses to rify their hierarchy.

    That''s why he upgraded Taming to 7-Star by spending 480,000 SoulStar Fragments, and both Sphere of Elements and Mind Reader to 6-Star by spending 895,000 SoulStar Fragments, which left around 3,000,000 SoulStar Fragments behind to either invest into his Subordinates or further invest into himself. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After some consideration, Michael chose to do both. He strengthened his Subordinates with a portion of his SoulStar Fragments and invested the rest into himself. Since Michael had been too generous to some Awakened over thest few years, Reba and others told him not to gift anyone SoulStar Fragments or Soultrait Symbols. Only in times of war would it be allowed to give someone Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments free of charge or in exchange for a war loan. The state of emergency was important, forcing Michael to put his SoulStar Fragments in case someone wanted to purchase a Soultrait upgrade.

    That happened often in thest two years, but the expenses were low. Nobody umted enough Jungle Points to purchase a Soultrait Upgrade after their Soultraits reached 5-Star. Some Awakened was close, but since Michael and his people weren''t at war, it would take a while before they could finally acquire their first 6-Star Soultrait.

    Michael hoped to stay out of the war a little longer. Even though he''d gotten stronger, Michael knew the next war would be a war of regions or massive carnage in the Untamed Jungle. He was prepared forrge-scale wars but hoped to avoid war until all constructions in the Sacred Desert Region had beenpleted.

    The settlements in the Sacred Desert had enough space for 100 million additional subjects. If trained properly, the subjects would generate a massive amount of soul power, and Michael''s army would increase to four million Combat Summons. Given that his high-ranked Soultraits produced more soul power for every Awakened and Summon linked to him, Michael hoped to grow stronger and develop his soul even more to acquire more Awakened.

    His Soul was growing stronger by the day. He could easily contain two 8-Star Soultraits, six 7-Star Soultraits, and two 6-Star Soultraits. How was that possible? Well, for one, Michael''s second 8-Star Soultrait was Sacred Constitution, which he''d upgraded by infusing 2,500,000 out of his remaining SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol.

    He was left with 500,000 SoulStar Fragments, which was more than enough to nourish 3,000 Awakened and their Soultraits.

    Upgrading Sacred Constitution had been one of his harshest upgrades. First, Michael had been worried that his physique would be too weak to contain the power of 8-Star Sacred Constitution because his skin, energy veins, blood vessels, and organs ruptured for weeks. However, Michael quickly realized that the destruction of his body was part of the strengthening process. If Michael''s body had been strong enough from the beginning, his Soultrait wouldn''t have had to resort to this technique, but since that wasn''t the case, Michael''s body would have gotten shredded.

    Fortunately, he had River of Vigor healing him by his side. River of Vigor repaired whatever Sacred Constitution destroyed, elerating the assimtion process gradually. Several weeks passed after upgrading Sacred Constitution before Michael could tap into the power of his newest 8-Star Soultrait. Sacred Constitution''s prowess was devastating. Michael was merely at the Mid rank of Tier-4, but Sacred Constitution pushed his physical prowess across the board. He didn''t have to use Greater Enhancement, Soul Tears, Foundation Break, or Heavenly Beast Physique to acquire the physical prowess of a Tier-5 powerhouse. At this point, the Soullife Art, Soul Technique, and augmenting Soultraits were only required to push his raw power closer to Tier-6!

    Maybe hisbat prowess could reach the threshold of a Tier-6 powerhouse by going all out. Even if he wasn''t that strong just yet, Michael was certain he would reach the threshold after the Sacred Desert''s settlements were filled. More settlements would have been constructed by then, but that wasn''t the crucial point.

    Importantly, the Sacred Desert had be Michael''s biggest source of ie due to several well-hidden ore deposits of rare and highly valuable ores, alongside the Energy Vein and other mines, which had already been revealed all across the Sacred Desert.

    Interestingly enough, however, Michael''s True Vision found more of the Sacred Desert''s secrets. But the same applied to the Untamed Jungle¡­and the Temple of the Forgotten.

 Chapter 895 Zentika Empire

    Chapter 895 Zentika Empire

    Many things changed over the course of two years. For one, the reign of the Valyr in the Savannah Region ended. They did not lose full control of the Savannah Region, but a horde of High Beasts settled at the border to the Savannah Region a year ago. The High Beasts expanded their territory and imed a small portion of the Savannah Region after bulldozing two border settlements.

    Some High Beasts died in the shes with the Valyr, but they emerged victorious nheless. The Valyr requested aid from the Untamed Awakened, yet they were unwilling to pay what Hiraku, Thaor, and others had asked for. Once the Valyr cursed Hiraku and the others for demanding an atrocious price for killing the High Beasts, they stopped hunting with the Untamed Awakened. Only Zira remained in contact with Michael''s subjects, ensuring the consistent payment of one hundred million Ordinary Summoning Scrolls wouldn''t stop.

    It looked like the trades with the Valyr would stop for some time, but they couldn''t afford to terminate their contracts with Michael. The Valyr gained too much from their trades with Michael. Thus, all business transactions prevailed, but their amiable rtionship cracked. All because the Untamed Awakened were unwilling to risk their life for free against an entire horde of High Beasts.

    Michael could have defeated the High Beasts alone but was unwilling to do so. He didn''t have a reason to deal with the High Beasts since they didn''t harm or anything important to him. It would be different if the Valyr had paid the price, but since they not only rejected the Untamed Awakened''s offer with unnecessarily harsh ¨C and demeaning ¨Cments but also severed all amiable ties with them, Michael didn''t even think about it.

    He was sad for Zira and her mother. Valkyria might be considered the Lordess of the Savannah Region, but she was certainly not in control of her territory and people. Her n controlled the Savannah Region bymanding Valkyria.

    If the Lordess had been strong enough to oppose her n, Michael would have considered helping her. Reaching out with a helping hand wouldn''t have been a problem. However, Valkyria decided to follow her elders blindly and go against him by allowing her people to throw demeaningments at the Untamed Awakened. Michael''s opinion of the Valyr decreased considerably during thest two years and was already at no regret. If a horde of High Beasts reimed the Savannah Region¡­so be it. The High Beast horde might be more pleasant to have as neighbors than the Valyr race!

    Interestingly enough, the Valyr weren''t the only neighbors with news. Michael also heard about the Zentika Empire again. First, he had been certain that the Zentika Empire would fall apart and cease to exist within a few months. However, the months passed quietly and turned into years. The Zentika Empire survived, though only barely. It couldn''t hold on much longer.

    The surrounding Lords, Native Kingdoms, and intelligent monsters pushed deeper into the Zentika Empire''s territory, iming a big chunk of theirnds. At this point, the Zentika Empire was only one-tenth of the massive size it used to be. Michael decided it was time to make his move. He waited long enough for his revenge. Senator Keltos of the Zentika Empire''s Congress was waiting for him.

    **

    Michael was ready to finish his business in the Origin Expanse ¨Cplete his vengeance with everyone in the Origin Expanse ¨C and leave the ce to meet up with Selena, Eren, and the others. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It hadn''t been long since Eren woke up from aa, but he was already in full health and in his prime since Michael and two Curse Users with powerful Healing Soultraits tended to him for a while.

    Selena and Eren followed Michael''s progress intently and urged him not to stay in the Origin Expanse too long each time. Michael ignored their suggestions most of the time, but he returned from the Origin Expanse more often after Evee managed to procure some information about Alice, Kaleb, and the rest.

    She found out where they had been for thest two years and what they were up to. The first time Michael heard about his lover and friends, he wanted to rush into the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory to get them, but Selena and Eren convinced him that it would be stupid and suicidal. Michael might be strong for someone his age, but the central region of the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory was not something he could reach alive. Even if he could, Divine Lifeforms ¨C dozens of them ¨C would be waiting to capture and dissect him. That was how Michael ended up training tirelessly. His Tier progressed slowly, and his Soultraits had grown stronger as well. Michael had more resources at his disposal than ever, and his Subordinates also advanced rapidly. Nheless, he wasn''t a Divine Lifeform just yet. He was not yet ready to rescue his lover and friends.

    "They can take care of themselves," Selena had said at some point after Evee told them about the lives of Alice and the others. They might have been manipted and were slowly transforming into devout believers of the Supreme Human Alliance, but that didn''t mean they could reverse something like that. Evee was already experimenting with something. It was only a matter of time and resources before she would make a breakthrough ande up with a perfect solution to deal with the Supreme Human Alliance''s intense maniptive treatment.

    Michael wanted to help, but Evee told him not to bother her. Instead of bothering her, he should grow stronger. That was what he had been doing and what he would continue doing.

    However, before he would undergo his next training session with Selena and Eren, Michael had to kill Senator Keltos. He didn''t mind the other members of the Zentika Empire''s Council as much as Senator Keltos. The old Lionheart had to die at his hands. Others could cover their hands in the remaining members'' blood.

    Michael traveled lightly on foot to the border of the Zentika Empire. He crossed the border and entered the massive ins without any issues. It was almost too easy.

    There was no need to prepare anything grand to attack the Zentika Empire. It had been years since the monsters of the Untamed Jungle attacked the Zentika Empire, which was why the weakened empire deployed the border control where it was needed the most. There were still some weaker members of the border control checking the Untamed Jungle''s border, but Michael found them quickly with True Vision and avoided them.

    There was no need to kill the border control and attract unwanted attention. He would much rather kill the Senator and return to the Untamed Jungle within a few hours.

    But that might not be as easy as Michael had hoped for. As he traveled through the Zentika Empire with fast strides and basic usage of Cosmic Stride, Michael discovered several enemy forces. He ignored most of them but froze when he found a massive creature gliding through the air. Its body covered a portion of the sun, casting shade all over Michael.

    The creature didn''t even notice Michael as it flew high above him to the closest settlement, where it released rays of mes. Its mes were searing hot, deadly, and something Michael was very familiar with.

    Michael remained frozen, but his blood boiled as memories of the Lord Rift resurfaced.

    The creature''s signature move, dragon breath, spread fear and desperation across the settlement as it burned hundreds of buildings and its residents to cinder.

    No one could escape the mes of the mythical creature.

    Michael recognized it immediately. It was a Red Dragon.

    Taros'' Red Dragon.

    Before Michael realized what was happening, something within him shattered, and two familiar voices rang through his mind.

    [Show us how strong you''ve grown, brat!]

    [Devour!]

 Chapter 896 Taros

    Chapter 896 Taros

    The Curses'' return was sudden and explosive. Michael had been thinking about his Curses for a while now, but their return was unexpected. At least Michael didn''t expect them to return at such a moment. After all, he was still rtively calm even though his blood was boiling. River of Vigor''s energizing serum helped him keep cool despite the rage and fury sweeping through him like a broken dam.

    But maybe that was exactly what they were hoping for.

    The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent released their curse essence ¨C not curse power ¨C into Michael, triggering his Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals. Michael couldn''t even do anything before the Seals appeared all over his body. But that was merely the beginning. Their Curse Essences spread through Michael and triggered Curse Fusion as well.

    They actively summoned their body parts to fuse Michael using their Curse Essence as a medicum. The shape of Michael''s eyes changed slowly; his hair extended and transformed into a silky mass of long, ck, and golden hair. They cascaded down to his back and hummed as traces of Curse Essence spread to the tip of his hair.

    His hands cracked and threatened to transform into massive ws while serpent fangs just from his knuckles, but the ws and fangs'' growth was stunned after the fangs pierced through his skin. A simr scenario unfolded with the scales growing out of his skin. The scales, ck and thick, grew from his skin like usual, but they didn''t cover his whole body like his serpent armor would do under normal circumstances. Instead, the serpent scales connected to the Serpent Seals and the hair all over his body.

    It looked grotesque, but his hair and scales seemed to fuse, creating multipleyers of protection all over his body.

    Not a single bone in his body didn''t crack as the Curse Essences swept through him. Michael was certain something big was about to happen, but he didn''t even grow in size. Only the serpent tail burst out of his tailbone like usual. It smashed hard on the ground, creating a resounding noise.

    Michael circted curse power through his body instinctively. He wasn''t sure what was happening, but his control of the Curses'' powers skyrocketed. That included 8-Star Extraction and 8-Star Sacred Constitution. It was almost like his 8-Star Soultraits were connected to his Curses. That had been the case for Extraction, but it was news to Michael with Sacred Constitution. Sacred Constitution and the World Serpent''s Seals and powers were highlypatible, but they had never been in sync like Extraction and the Wolf Curse. Confusion mixed into Michael''s rage and fury, upying him for a few seconds as he focused on the Sacred Constitution Symbol. Something about it was changing. It was adjusted slightly to ept the essence and curse power of the World Serpent more easily.

    ''Is that what they have been trying to do? No, that can''t be. The changes are not even doing much. It feels more like the World Serpent is trying to improve my Soultrait and¡­give me more power by tightening its connection to my Soultrait.''

    The Wolf Curse had always been with Michael and had thus a tighter connection to him, especially with the Curse being part of Extraction, his main Soultrait. The World Serpent seemed to be trying to attain a simr goal. It altered Sacred Constitution¡­and pushed it closer to the core of the Soul Sphere, where Extraction and Insert were located.

    The weirdest part was that it worked. The World Serpent seeded! It cost much of the Curse Essence BOTH the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse had infused into Michael''s body, but it worked. Sacred Constitution transformed into Michael''s second main Soultrait. As for the World Serpent¡­it was closer to Michael than ever. It had be part of Michael, just like the Wolf Curse had always been.

    "What are you doing?" Michael frowned, but the Curses didn''t respond. It was almost like they returned to do something, only to disappear for a few years again. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Speak to me!" He bellowed, his emotions getting the better of him.

    Michael tapped into his connection with the Wolf Curse and the World Serpent to force them to respond, which seemed to work when his Curses stirred. But they were interrupted when the Red Dragon, hovering above the settlement, turned around to stare at Michael.

    The mythical creature must have noticed Michael or the Essence of the Curses spreading through him.

    Michael groaned as he activated True Vision to see what the Red Dragon and its rider, Taros, were about to do.

    Instead of remaining idle, he used the moment to his advantage. The Curse Essences granted him ess to tremendous power. He tapped into Cosmic Stride''s power and teleported above the Red Dragon, whose head flicked up to stare deep into his eyes immediately. Taros was even faster than the Red Dragon. He got up from the saddle and smiled at Michael.

    "Aren''t you the kid from the Lord Rift? Seems like you''ve grown stronger," Taros recalled Michael, whose eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

    "The dragon is from the Lord Rift," Michael noted.

    "I took a dragon egg with me. That''s correct." "Which enraged the dragon mother.

    "Also correct."

    "Killing my brother."

    "...I didn''t know that."

    Michael studied Taros.

    "Even if you''d known, you wouldn''t have cared. It doesn''t matter to you."

    "That''s true," Taros nodded slowly, his eyes never diverting from Michael.

    "I expected that. Still, I had to ask," Michael shrugged, controlling the rage and fury boiling inside him precisely, "I won''t feel bad killing you that way."

    It might not be necessary to fight and kill Taros because he got his brother back, but Taros was one of the reasons he suffered so much. Taros made him suffer even more than Senator Keltos. Therefore, no matter how terrifying Taros'' inside looked through True Vision, the dragon rider had to die.

    The abomination had to die!

    "I see. In that case, let''s fight until death!" Taros roared, pulling the Red Dragon''s reins to release its breath and burn Michael to cinder in one move.

    However, Michael did something unexpected. He teleported above the Red Dragon''s snout, coiled his serpent tail ¨C which extended suddenly ¨C around it entirely and forced its maw shut with tremendous prowess. Taros frowned deeply. The Red Dragon was a mythical creature in the 5th Tier. It might not be the physically strongest beast among the mythical creatures since it was an energy-attuned creature, but it was certainly not that weak. No ordinary High Awakened was supposed to contain the Red Dragon''s physical power, yet Michael did so easily.

    It wasn''t Michael''s doing. He was not alone. He had the Serpent Seals and the World Serpent''s Essence inside him¡­augmented Sacred Constitution just like the Curse Seals augmented Extraction. Michael unleashed Heavenly Beast Physique, which was highly attuned to Sacred Constitution''s changes. It was morepatible with the 8-Star Physical Soutlrait now that the World Serpent bonded.

    Thus, Heavenly Beast Physique was all Michael needed to gain enough strength to seal the Red Dragon''s maw.

    But that was only the beginning.

    Michael unleashed Mind Reader onto the Red Dragon to procure a single piece of information.

    The Red Dragon didn''t block him. Instead, it looked straight into Michael''s eyes.

    [Kill me¡­please¡­]

    "I won''t do that," Michael said, "You are not at fault." Instead of killing the Red Dragon, he chose to free it.

 Chapter 897 Clash

    Chapter 897 sh

    Michael didn''t harbor any ill intentions toward the Red Dragon any longer. He had been angry at the Red Dragon, but it wasn''t like the youngling was at fault for the chaos in the Lord Rift. The Red Dragon had been an egg then and suffered as much as the others. It was abducted from its mother''s nest.

    A single use of Mind Reader showed Michael that the Red Dragon wasn''t on Taros'' side voluntarily. The Red Dragon hoped Michael would kill it and free it from years of torture and envement. But Michael didn''t do that. Instead of killing the Red Dragon, Michael used Greater Enhancement at full power on Taming. Right after, he unleashed a Soul Technique he''d created following Taming''s upgrade to a 7-Star Soultrait. It was a Superior Soul Technique called Unstoppable Taming.

    Unstoppable Taming used all soul power umted within Taming''s Soultrait Symbol to increase the potency and efficiency the next time Michael used Taming. Michael did that, using Taming on the Red Dragon.

    Taros'' eyes narrowed when a massive magical circle manifested underneath the Red Dragon. First, he was certain the magical circle would harm him and the Red Dragon. It would hit the Red Dragon first beforeing his way. That was good. Using the Red Dragon to tank the damage would grant Taros enough time to assault Michael.

    That was his n, and he quickly realized it would fail.

    Taros sensed the changes in the magical circle and the massive energy unleashed to empower it. Suddenly, the magical circle jumped into effect. It glowed vibrantly and coated the Red Dragon in a dense semi-transparent hue. The Red Dragon roared in pain but wasn''t the only creature in pain. Taros groaned as a splitting headache filled his mind. His eyes widened, and he flicked to Michael, who smiled at the Red Dragon.

    The Red Dragon stared back into Michael''s eyes in a stupor. It shuddered, its scale ttering loudly, as it regained bits of freedom.

    ''It works.'' Michael had used Taming in its strongest form to sh with whatever power Taros had used to force the Red Dragon into submission. He didn''t know how well it would work or how difficult it was going to be, but Michael had to give it a try. He seeded.

    The crystal embedded in Taros'' chest cracked. Paper-thin cracks spread through the ne, telling Taros everything he had to know. The monstrosity of an Awakened changed his n in a split second.

    "You''re of no use anymore, lizard," Taros grumbled, activating his Soultrait, Glutton.

    Something within Tarros stirred. Glutton''s growing power surged through the abomination, and greed glinted in his eyes when he turned to the Red Dragon. [A Taboo. Interesting.] The World Serpent noted while Michael realized what Taros was going to do.

    He essed Cosmic Stride with spatial-attributed origin energy and teleported next to Taros. He reached out for his arm and teleported both as far from the Red Dragon as Cosmic Stride allowed him instantaneously.

    His energy reserves didn''t decrease significantly, but Cosmic Stride churned wildly. Taros wasn''t prepared for Michael''s move and upped his guard against spatial movements toote. He was teleported tens of kilometers from the settlements and the Red Dragon.

    A primal roar escaped Taros'' lips when he noticed where he was. His head flicked toward the settlement where the Red Dragon was still hovering. But before he could make a move, the crystal embedded into his chest shattered.

    The abomination lost control of the Red Dragon. After years of forced submission, the Red Dragon regained freedom. However, its freedom didn''tst long. A paper-thin connection between Michael and the Red Dragon began to form.

    ''That''s not what I wanted¡­'' Michael cursed, but he wasn''t graced with the luxury to think about the Red Dragon''s future.

    Taros was already moving against him. To be precise, his Soultrait moved against Michael when Michael touched Taros.

    Michael wasn''t in any pain, but something was missing. He lost something.

    His eyes flicked to his arm, which had been holding onto Taros, and he saw that his hand and a portion of his lower arm were no longer there. Glutton devoured Michael''s arm!

    Michael cursed and manifested the Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals simultaneously. He used Sacred Constitution at full power with Heavenly Beast Physique and kicked Taros in the chest with full power to increase the distance between them. However, Michael quickly realized that Taros'' Tier was incredibly high and Glutton was still active.

    He lost his foot from a simple full-power kick.

    ''He''s not even losing energy from devouring my arm and foot. Glutton must be transforming my arm and foot into energy. It dissolves everything and turns it into energy. Why does this feel so simr to Swallow Domain and Permute?'' Michael''s mind was racing, but he didn''t pay too much attention to his missing arm and foot. Instead, Michael used Greater Enhancement to unlock River of Vigor''s dormant potential alongside a Soul Tear to regenerate his lost limbs quickly.

    Taros grinned, "Looks like you''re going to have a problem now¨C... Nevermind. You are already regenerating. Very interesting. You have multiple powerful Soultraits, and you are a Curse User as well. Consider yourself lucky. You are my first Curse User. I wonder what I can obtain from devouring you!"

    ''Did he just acquire curse power?'' Michael wondered about it while unleashing True Vision to the fullest.

    Taros'' body was confusing to look at. Most Awakened could only hold onto neutral origin energy. Their Energy Pir was filled with neutral energy. But there were also people like the ze Patriarch and many more with attributed energy. Michael had highly purified neutral energy in his Energy Pir, but he could convert it into other attributed energies thanks to Spheres of Elements. Meanwhile, his curse power didn''t stay in the Energy Pir. It was located all over his body.

    A simr scene seemed to happen within Taros. The only problem was that he possessed dozens of different types of energy that had spread throughout his entire body. Taros didn''t possess an Energy Pir Either. No. His entire body was his Energy Pir. ''Is that why he feels like a Tier-6 powerhouse? Or is he actually at the 6th Tier already?'' Michael was unsure. He and Taros had a simr power level during their time in the Lord, but it looked like Taros had grown stronger than him. At least, the difference in their Tier was apparent.

    Growing this quickly shouldn''t have been possible, but Taros made it happen. No, his Soultrait did it.

    ''Shouldn''t that be simr to the blood sacrifices made by the Supreme Human Alliance and the ze household? It''s just¡­that Taros'' foundation is much stronger than it should have been in that case¡­ Glutton is a powerful Soultrait.'' Michael realized.

    [The Soultrait is on par with Extraction. If not for that bastard wolfie augmenting Extraction, I would have ranked Glutton higher.] The World Serpent exined.

    ''Oh wow¡­'' Michael cursed, only to grumble toward the World Serpent. ''So now you''re back? Do you want to be a chatterbox snake again?''

    [You are as annoying as ever. How about you kill that guy first? If you give me Glutton, I might tell you what we n to do with you.] The World Serpent hissed, its words resounding through Michael''s head.

    The Wolf Curse growled.

    [Jorm¨C...] It said, but the World Serpent interrupted the Wolf Curse.

    [Shut it, bastard. Our paths might have crossed, but that doesn''t mean I will acknowledge your existence!]

    Michael raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what was happening, but listening to his Curses was interesting. Unfortunately, Taros didn''t like the way he behaved. He thought Michael would panic after losing one arm and a foot. But his lost limbs regenerated much faster than expected.

    ''This power. It''spatible with Glutton.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Something Taros hadn''t felt before stirred in the deepest parts of his body. It was almost like something was awakening within him. But that shouldn''t be possible. He didn''t like this. Whatever was stirring within him consumed Michael''s curse power to grow stronger against Taros'' will. It strengthened Glutton as well, yet there was something else as well. It was unfamiliar and highly intrusive, trying to upy his mind by slowly seeping into it.

    ''Maybe I shouldn''t eat Curse Users.'' Taros told himself while kicking the ground to appear before Michael.

    His right fist was coated in darkness, while his left glowed brightly as he executed a series of wild punches. Michael hesitated for a quarter of a second. Touching Taros meant he would probably lose his arms or legs again. But Michael dispersed his doubts quickly.

    He used moreyers of Greater Enhancement on River of Vigor before facing Taros head-on. The Serpent Seals, Heavenly Beast Physique, and Foundation Break pushed Michael beyond what his body was supposed to be able to handle. However, by applying Greater Enhancement to his body to enhance the dormant potential of his body temporarily, Michael could maintain his state for several minutes before he would break apart.

    A few minutes was all he needed. Either way, either he or Taros would be dead before Greater Enhancement''s effect would wear off.

    Michael''s hand broke when their fists collided, but it didn''t disappear. Taros stopped using Glutton to devour his limbs. Instead, he used it on his surroundings to empower his Soullife Arts, which transformed everything he transformed into raw power. Glutton was used on everything in his surroundings, including the ground, the energy-infused air, and some of the Energy Stones he retrieved to increase his Soullife Arts'' output.

    The power he gained was more than enough to deal with Michael. No matter how many techniques and Soultraits he had to strengthen his physique, Taros was the most confident in his raw power. He was certain to overwhelm Michael and kill him in no time.

    However, his punches didn''t create the desired effect. His darkness and light-shrouded fists broke Michael''s hands, but the attributed energies didn''t spread into Michael''s body to inflict more damage. On the contrary, Tars lost control of the shroud of darkness and light energy as a thin golden aura oozed out from all over Michael''s body.

    Michael noticed what Taros had been doing, but True Vision required a second to determine the properties and effects of Taros'' technique. But that didn''t mean he couldn''t block the bombardment of punches. Michael coated his body in the True Extraction Aura, absorbing the energy coating Taros'' fists. He infused the energy into River of Vigor, which was still fully unleashed and working wonder, mending Michael''s broken hands near-instantaneously.

    Once Michael found out what Taros was doing and how strong Glutton''s Soullife Arts was, he was surprised. Glutton had been so powerful, yet it wasn''t on par with Extraction. It was ''merely'' a 7-Star Soultrait.

    Michael used Greater Enhancement to unleash Extraction''s dormant potential after the Cursed Seals transformed it into True Extraction. After that, Michael applied a Soul Tear onto True Extraction, which surged out of him in a massive golden flood. The flood of extraction swept through the surroundings and overwhelmed the thinly spread aura of Glutton.

    Michael could have left it at that, but he wouldn''t give Taros the slightest opportunity to fight him. On the contrary, Michael did everything needed to provide Taros with as little time as possible. He unleashed Swallow Domain to devour everything in range of the True Extraction Domain, including Taros. At least, that''s what Michael was trying.

    It was anticipated, but Taros blocked Swallow Domain. However, it hadn''t been as easy as Taros expected. Maintaining his Soullife Arts, Glutton at full power while blocking the power of a Major Seal, amplified by a fully empowered 8-Star Soultrait ¨C one of the strongest he''d ever seen and felt ¨C Taros had a challenging time surviving.

    His eyes widened in utter shock. It had been eons since anyone in the Origin Expanse had been strong enough to fight him head-on, yet Michael Fang did that. Taros remembered Michael only from their short fight and that he had overwhelmed the Zantur in the Lord Rift. Taros had been stronger than both the Zantur and Michael. But now, after years had passed and he had grown into a mighty powerhouse, Taros was weaker than that weakling.

    How could that be?

    Taros didn''t want to ept this. He couldn''t take it! Something in the deepest parts of his body stirred again.

    [I can help you if you let me out.]

    Taros froze in his tracks as the words shed through his mind. Michael didn''t know what was happening but used the moment to punch Tarso square in the chest. He infused much Qi and Extraction power into Insert to flush Taros'' body.

    However, Michael quickly realized that something was wrong.

    His curse power was drained all of a sudden! [That''s problematic.] The World Serpent hissed, and even the Wolf Curse growled in frustration.

    [He''s breaking the Taboo again.]

    ''What taboo are you guys talking about?!?'' Michael asked, not feeling all that great. His fists pulled back, and he retreated until no more curse power was sucked out of him.

    [You will see soon enough.]

    A momentter, a massive energy influx reached Michael.

    His eyes widened in surprise, and his attention flickered back to Taros. He stared at the abomination of an Awakened and swallowed hard because of what he saw through True Vision.

    Taros was dead, but his vessel was more than alive.

 Chapter 898 Taboo

    Chapter 898 Taboo

    The abomination of a Demi Human mixed with the blood of a Sacred Beast, Taros, was no more. He had been killed, his energy influx entering Michael''s body.

    "What is going on? I appreciate bits and pieces of information about what is happening here!" Michael cursed quietly, hoping his Curses would help him. However, it was Taros'' lips which moved instead.

    "Hell? You have been in the Pandemonium before? That is surprising. An insignificant and like you went to the Pandemonium and returned alive?" Taros'' voice didn''t sound as it used to, but that wasn''t the only thing changing about the powerhouse.

    True Vision showed how much Taros'' insides changed as he spoke. His voice wasn''t as hoarse as it used to be. If anything, Taros sounded much more pleasant than before. However, Michael didn''t feel morefortable in Taros'' presence. The opposite was the case. Michael was¡­afraid.

    Taros'' body changed. The mess within him was fixed, the energies swirling through every inch of his body forcefully drawn to the center of his chest, where several seas of energy formed. However, the energy seas were only the first of many changes. Taros'' tough skin burst open, and a thick, dark carapace jut out of his flesh. It grew from his body and covered most parts. Simultaneously, tworge pairs of wings burst through his shoulder des. They were semi-translucent, and only their bloody red veins were visible.

    Mandibles burst through Taros'' cheeks. They ttered loudly and spread altered energy through the surroundings whenever the mandibles collided.

    ''Guys! I need some intel. What is happening to Taros? Why did I obtain his energy influx, and why is Taros transforming into an insect? What even is that, in the first ce?''

    The Curses didn''t respond. However, it wasn''t that the World Serpent didn''t want to exin everything to Michael. He could barely feel his connection to the World Serpent at this point. It concealed its entire existence to avoid the creature Taros had turned to.

    Taros ¨C or whoever he''d turned to ¨C looked down on his body and smiled faintly. "What a fool. Greed swallowed him. How unfit for a vessel of Gluttony."

    He snorted, and his mandibles ttered loudly. However, despite calling the former owner of his body a fool, the thing upying his body didn''t seem displeased. If anything, he was more than satisfied to possess the power of a Tier-6 powerhouse without putting in any hard work.

    True Vision showed Taros'' foundation clearly. He was still a Tier-6 powerhouse, but his foundation was several times stronger than it used to be. It was almost like the creature upying Taros'' body had cleansed his body and fixed everything he failed to achieve¡­in seconds.

    The thing upying Taros looked at Michael and studied him briefly. Michael hated every moment of those few seconds. It felt like thousands of spiders crawled underneath his skin and through his internal organs. He shuddered involuntarily, resulting in a mocking ttering from Taros'' mandibles.

    "You have interesting pets within you. They''re fitting to a puny ant. They''re even bound to you, voluntarily at that. Dumb, shackled, and weak."

    Michael raised one eyebrow but didn''t dare to make any sudden moves. He wasn''t restrained in any way, but his instincts screamed at him, telling Michael to do nothing. They forced him to stay where he was and keep his mouth shut. After all, a single move was all it would take for him to die. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael was more prideful than he used to be. He was a High Awakened who''d undergone a perfect High Ascension, possessed two 8-Star Soultraits further augmented by two powerful Curses, and several 7-Star Soultraits, which also strengthened him drastically. Yet, faced with whatever ¡ª or whoever ¨C Taros had transformed, Michael didn''t feel confident. Taros was still a Tier-6 powerhouse, the same as he used to be. However, his foundation was different. So was his presence. Michael was the most confused and cautious about Taros'' switch of presence. He didn''t feel like a mere Higher Lifeform anymore. No, Taros felt like a Divine Lifeform at this point. But not an ordinary Divine Lifeform. No. Michael had been around Divine Lifeforms often enough to tell Taros had be one of the stronger Divine Lifeforms¡­even though he was only at the 6th Tier.

    "Don''t worry, puny ant. I am not going to kill you. Not today, at least. Regaining freedom is more valuable to me than your puny life. I repay my debts. Letting you live in exchange for aiding me in regaining freedom seems like a fair deal," The new owner of Taros'' body said nonchntly, "Furthermore, the Will wouldn''t like this. It must have sensed my presence by now."

    It tilted its head, still looking at Michael, "The Primal will probably be displeased about my return as well."

    "Well, whatever," The being shrugged, "As for talking about devouring Glutton¡­"

    It shot a deadly re at Michael, putting him into a tricky situation. His body was in a fight-or-flight situation, trying to push him to run as long as he was still alive, whereas his instincts told him that the being wasn''t even looking at him and to stay exactly where he was.

    His instincts were right. The being didn''t look at Michael. It looked through him and stared straight at the World Serpent, where it was hiding, to be precise.

    "Don''t even think about devouring me. You can consider yourself lucky. I''m feeling generous today. Freedom after millennials of nothingness feel good. Your brother should know what it feels like to be sealed in the chamber for eternity, only to be forcefully sealed to some idiot by the Will."

    Michael was utterly dumbfounded now. The being nced at the Wolf Curse when it said ''brother'' and returned to look at the World Serpent immediately.

    It smiled, its mandibles cracking before he turned to the side. It lifted one finger into the air and cut down, releasing a darkish-purple energy that cut through the fabric of space and reality. It tore the fabric apart, revealing a massive rift.

    "Don''t be mad if I kill you when we meet next time," It said nonchntly before disappearing into the fissure in space. The fissure closed after the grotesque creature left the Origin Expanse.

    The eerie pressure that filled the surroundings the moment Taros had died dispersed. Michael''s heart started beating wildly, and his legs caved in. He broke into a cold sweat.

    "Can someone tell me what in the damn Origin Expanse this fucking thing was?!?" Michael bellowed at his Curses. They didn''t dare utter a single sound after Taros transformed into that. Something was wrong, and Michael didn''t like that AT ALL. He managed to gain the upper hand against Taros, but something went wrong. Something changed after Taros consumed the curse power coursing through the arm and foot he''d consumed.

    "Was that a Curse?!" It was the first time he had seen the birth of someone else''s Curse, and it didn''t make sense to think that a Curse would awaken within a Tier-6 powerhouse. Under normal circumstances, a Cursed Child would awaken their Curse during their High Ascension. However, that wasn''t the case for Taros.

    [It wasn''t a Curse. It''s a Taboo.] The World Serpent said without exining anything else.

    [That was Beelzebub.] The Wolf Curse added in the same tone.

    It was as if that exined everything with one small issue.

    Michael had no idea what his Curses were talking about.

 Chapter 899 Beelzebub

    Chapter 899 Beelzebub

    Even though the Wolf Curse said the being who''d killed Taros and upied his body wasn''t a Curse but a Taboo, Michael was still clueless. He asked multiple times what the difference between a Curse and a Taboo was, but his Curses didn''t exin anything.

    That irked him because he''d hoped his Curses would tell him more, but he still listened to everything else they said.

    [Beelzebub is considered a god. An Infernal God, to be precise.]

    Michael remembered the humans in the Tritan Alliance considering Eren and the others as "gods" but doubted his Curses spoke about the same thing. Gods weren''t on the same level as ordinary Divine Lifeforms. At least, that was what Michael figured from the way his Curses talked about them.

    "And how did a god ¨C infernal or not ¨C appear here? He killed Taros suddenly and upied his body, just to disappear. That doesn''t make any sense, does it?" [Eliminating a god has always been a little bit challenging. That is also why the people of the cosmos, such as the Primal, are used to sealing godly entities. The Primal has a primordial contract with the Will, making the sealing process much easier.]

    Michael tilted his head as the World Serpent revealed some crucial information. He was getting closer to some truths and swallowed hard when he understood.

    "So what you are trying to tell me is that Beelzebub was bound to the Glutton Soultrait ¨C or that sealing him created the Soultrait Symbol in the first ce?" [You are on the right track, but that is not everything.] The World Serpent hissed.

    "Okay¡­" Michael waited, hoping the World Serpent of the Wolf would go into detail. Unfortunately, they didn''t exin more about the sealing process of gods or how Beelzebub ended up in Taros'' body. But that wasn''t necessary. Michael recalled what Beelzebub said. That was enough to put the puzzle pieces together.

    "So, Beelzebub was in a simr situation as the Wolf Curse?"

    The Wolf Curse growled in anger and frustration, which Michael and the World Serpent ignored.

    [it is not the same because Beelzebub is a Taboo and thus sealed more tightly, but the situation is simr, yes. To be precise, the same will happen to me once the Primal finds me. Well, not anymore since I''m here with you, and the Soultrait I''m bound to be permanently melded in your Soul Sphere as one of your two main Soultraits.]

    That exined a lot. First of all, the World Serpent chose to seal itself inside Michael to avoid wasting thousands of years in "nothingness." Michael presumed the void of nothingness and the Chamber to be where the Will kept all Soultrait Symbols. Of course, he could be wrong, but given that both Beelzebug and the Wolf Curse had been bound to a Soultrait, Michael was certain to be on the right path. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The World Serpent has been watching him for a while now and picked him as the perfect vessel to avoid being enclosed and put away by the Primal. Although it might be tied to Michael, it retained enough freedom to observe the surroundings and participate in deadly fights.

    Michael wasn''t sure if that was worth it, but he guessed that running for centuries had been tiring. ''I don''t know how I ended up summoning the World Serpent in the first ce. Maybe it was already locked up somewhere by the Will?''

    There were still many uncertain factors, but Michael was getting closer to the truth. That would have been great if there weren''t hundreds of questions swirling through his mind.

    "What was your n? Did you pick the same vessel as your brother to do the same thing as Beelzebub? Are you nning to use my body as a battlefield with the winner obtaining control of my body, or what?"

    [I am not going to tell you what our n was, but we weren''t nning to possess your body. We realized that you are perfect for something much better. Unfortunately, you didn''t get me, Glutton, so I won''t tell you what we''ve nned for you!]

    Michael frowned, but the World Serpent''s response was somewhat expected. It would have been weirder if the World Serpent had suddenly started revealing their deepest secrets.

    "In that way, can you tell me if you and the Wolf are on my side or if I have to be careful of two gods wreaking havoc inside me in the future?"

    [...] The Wolf Curse didn''t utter a noise, but he sensed the Curse tensing.

    ''I was right. Fuck.''

    [Our path might be the same, but our final goals may differ.]

    That was also simr to what Michael expected to hear. The answer didn''t reveal much, but the Wolf Curse exposed one fact.

    ''I have two Beast God Curses inside me.''

    He''d known that the Fenrir bloodline was among the most powerful cursed bloodlines and also that Selena had an incredibly powerful Curse ¨C one that wasn''t stronger than either of his Curses. However, he never expected his Curses to be Beast Gods. In the first ce, Michael hadn''t even learned the proper exnation as to what a true god was.

    All he knew was that gods seemed to be superior to most Divine Lifeforms. ''I guess you''ll be a god after progressing to Tier-10?''

    Michael was still far from advancing to a Divine Lifeform, let alone bing a god. However, he had two Beast God Curses inside him and identally helped an Infernal God reim freedom. That was definitely not what he expected from an invasion of the Zentika Empire.

    All he''d wanted was to take revenge and kill Senator Keltos and maybe Taros as well.

    Taros was dead now, but Michael didn''t consider it his doing. Beelzebub killed Taros even if Michael got the energy influx.

    Other than that, Michael acquired the Red Dragon. He didn''t even intend to tame the Red Dragon but wanted to help it reim freedom by acting against the powers used to subdue the Red Dragon.

    Unfortunately, it looked like Unstoppable Taming had been too strong. Or the Red Dragon trusted him too much. Michael sincerely doubted it to be thetter, but the Red Dragon''s voice resounded in his head¡­and it didn''t sound unhappy.

    [Is the bad guy dead? Am I finally free?] It inquired hopefully.

    Michael groaned. He was already busy trying to figure out what the Beast God Curses were trying to do to him, yet another mythical creature had joined his pack. That wasn''t even what he''d nned to do.

    He used Cosmic Stride to teleport to the Red Dragon and smiled at the Red Dragon.

    "Sorry about that. Taros is dead, but I tamed you. I can discharge the Taming, but that might hurt our souls a little. I don''t know how much damage your Soul will¨C..."

    [No, I''m fine. No need. I read your memories when you read mine. You are nice even though you suffered because of me. I like you!] Michael blinked several times, unsure what to say. Should he thank the Red Dragon for its trust, or was he supposed to call it naive? In the first ce, how did it read his memories when he used Mind Reader? Or was the Taming connection at fault?

 Chapter 900 Greater Demon

    Chapter 900 Greater Demon

    Meeting Beelzebub and taming the Red Dragon, who didn''t even hate him for that, changed everything in Michael''s n. Well, it didn''t change his n to kill Senato Keltos, but appearing before the old Lionheart and seeing the terror in his eyes didn''t bring Michael any satisfaction.

    Senator Keltos was fully aware of who Michael was, yet he didn''t dare to utter a single word. Instead, Senator Keltos died quietly, a wed hand piercing his heart. Michael could have attacked the remainders of the Zentika Empire, burning everything to death with the Red Dragon''s help, but Michael didn''t feel like doing that.

    Taros left behind more than enough chaos after killing and devouring several Senators in thest few days. He was now dead, just like the Senators, but the chaos he''d left was enough to destroy the Zentika Empire once and for all. The forces of the surrounding monsters, Lords, and kingdoms would grasp the opportunity and obliterate the Zentika Empire shortly.

    Thus, rather than eliminating the rest, Michael chose to travel to the capital of the Zentika Empire on the Red Dragon''s back and plunder it openly. He didn''t care how many could see him and descended into the capital, ready to burn everyone daring enough to block his path.

    Unfortunately, his n was interrupted¡­again.

    A woman with a pair of leathery, bat-like wings covered in golden glimmering feathers hovered above the Zentika Empire''s capital. She had gray skin and purple glowing eyes, which studied the surrounding area like an undefeated predator. She had a perfect figure, long wavy hair cascaded down her back and full lips. To put it in simple terms, she was a deadly beauty and belonged to a race he''d never seen before.

    True Vision should have shown him what the woman looked like, but his ess was blocked. Not only that, but the woman''s wings beat, and her head flicked to him when his attention fell onto her. She disappeared and reappeared beside Michael with a curious expression. Of course, the woman didn''t forget to transform her fingernails into razor-sharp daggers, which pressed tightly against his neck.

    ''Who the hell is that? What is a Divine Lifeform doing here?!'' Michael''s report had stated that there was no Divine Lifeform in the armies of the adjacent Lords, and kingdoms. If there had been one, the Zentika Empire would have fallen much sooner. In the first ce, the surrounding Lords, native kingdoms, and beasts didn''t have many Tier-6 powerhouses. The Zentika Empire wouldn''t have survived this long without more Tier-6 powerhouses.

    So¡­what was a Divine Lifeform doing here?

    The woman continued studying him and smiled deviously at Michael, danger flickering in her eyes.

    "First time seeing a Greater Demon?"

    [We can''t handle her. Not without killing you as well] The World Serpent announced unnecessarily.

    His Curses could transfer as much Curse Essence as they pleased into his body, but that didn''t mean Michael could handle that much. Some Curse Essence was fine, but his body was not yet an endless pit that could be fed with the full power of two Beast God Curses. In the future, that might be possible, but not yet. Michael couldn''t reach the threshold of a Divine Lifeform without dying a few seconds after reaching the threshold.

    "I¡­don''t know?" Michael responded slowly. Even though he''d seen the woman throw spears and halberds into the capital from high up in the sky, he wasn''t afraid of her. She might be a Divine Lifeform and pressed her dagger-fingernails against his throat, but he didn''t feel threatened. Michael was certain his encounter with an Infernal God and learning about his Curses'' identity, or how strong they''d been, changed something within him. Divine Lifeforms were still scary to him, but as long as the woman didn''t threaten him or attack him ¨C well, she did that already ¨C Michael would be fine.

    "You''ve seen a Greater Demon before? That''s interesting." The woman said, her dagger-fingernails still pressed against his throat, "I''m Sylth Thorx."

    "Thorn? As in Thorn Merchandise?" Michael was surprised to hear her family say, "The same merchant family trading with the Nest?"

    "That is my family, though we are not called Thorn ¨C only in the universalnguage ¨Cour family name is Thorx in the demon tongue." Michael nodded slowly, "Do you mind letting me go? If we''re talking I would appreciate a nice scenery and not having a few daggers pressed against my throat."

    "Oh, that? That''s fine. We can do that," Sylth smiled as devilish as before but retrieved the daggers. The daggers transformed back into ordinary fingernails.

    "Thank you." "No problem. I do what I can."

    Michael rolled his eyes inwardly. This girl was odd. No. She was more than that.

    Meeting Sylth Thorn - or Thorx - was weird, but it wasn''t the weirdest change of even the day. Meeting Beelzebub or taming the Red Dragon was certainly as confusing. None of that was nned, but Michael had nothing against thetter or his meeting with Sylth. It mighte in handy.

    Sylth studied the Red Dragon and patted it, spreading a wave of demonic energy through the mythical creature before nodding in satisfaction.

    "You managed to capture a young female. Is she up for sale? What do you want?"

    Michael raised an eyebrow while the Red Dragon cried up in fright.

    [She wants to kill me or turn me into a broodmother!!! Nooo!!!!! I don''t want to go anywhere!!]

    He pressed his lips together while the Red Dragon continued crying in his mind.

    "She is not up for sale. I tamed her with one of my Soultraits. The Red Dragon is a crucial part of mybat prowess."

    Sylth turned to him, "Is that so? That''s a shame."

    "You have multiple Soultraits?" She picked up what Michael had said and focused on him again, "Multiple Soultraits and twopatible Curses pass through your body. A young Curse User with powerful Curses and multiple Soultraits. You must be the youngest of the Fenrir bloodline."

    Sylth smiled, her wings beating gently in the air, "It has been eons since the Fenrir bloodline unsealed Fenrir in one of their descendants. You must be even stronger than the reports say. But if you have another Curse on par with Fenrir inside you¡­"

    Her interest intensified the more she understood about Michael. Meanwhile, Michael found out what the Wolf Curse was called.

    ''Fenrir. So that''s your name?'' Michael asked the Wolf Curse, who grumbled. The Wolf Curse didn''t deny the Greater Demon''s words, so they had to be true.

    Fenrir. That was the official name of his first Curse.

    Interesting.

    "How do you know me? What reports are you talking about?"

    Sylth chuckled.

    "Do you think a merchant family trading with countless races and massive organizations all over the cosmos doesn''t know about the most important changes and additions of their business partners? The Awakening of a Curse at the Beast God level is not something we would miss. If anything, we ¨C and probably tens of other organizations ¨C know much more about you than most people. Maybe some know more about you than you, Michael Fang." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael swallowed hard.

    "That''s creepy¡­you know that, right?"

    Sylth chuckled.

    "But it is the truth, Curse User."

 Chapter 901 Steamrolled

    Chapter 901 Steamrolled

    Meeting Sylth was everything but normal. It was incredibly weird but also very interesting. Michael found her interesting to talk to, though. She was talkative and not hostile to him, which was better than anything Michael expected to encounter in the Zentika Empire.

    "Calling this ce an empire is a disgrace! That''s an insult to all proper empires built over the Origin Expanse. The Zentika Empire doesn''t meet one of the requirements to consider itself an empire, yet they''re shameless enough to do that," Sylth cursed but shrugged atst.

    "Well, whatever. They didn''t pay their debts on time and were bound to cease to exist sooner orter either way. They must have forgotten what happens to those who don''t pay their debts. The Thorx never forget the credits they''ve distributed!"

    "You came here to destroy the Zentika Empire?" Michael asked. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "That was the initial n, but I am a littlete. Traveling through several regions and making a detour around the extensive territories of the Supreme Human Alliance''s stronger Lords was certainly not easy. It took longer than expected. It doesn''t seem like I was required to do anything in the first ce. The Zentika Empire is already as good as dead."

    She shrugged again.

    "But then again, the Thorx must show everyone how serious we are about our transactions. We must ensure everyone knows what happens if they cannot meet their contract conditions."

    "Okay. So¡­you will return to your territory or wherever you came from?" "I could do that, but I don''t want to," Sylth dered while forming hundreds of razor-sharp des around her. She nced uninterested at some of the remaining powerhouses of the Zentika Empire and shrugged. The razor-sharp desbined and transformed into a massive, spiked ball. The des expanded, and the spiked ball grew. A full minute of silence passed before the spiked ball was the size of several houses. Sylth lifted one finger and pointed at the spiked ball. It stirred and moved through the air, following Sylth''s finger movements.

    Sylth''s finger cleaved downward. It pointed at the center of the Zentika Empire''s capital, where the massive, spiked ball also appeared. The spiked mass smashed into the center, simultaneously crushing the pce in the capital''s center. The pce was destroyed, its foundation cracked and fallen apart. The surroundings tremored violently, and some buildings near the pce copsed, but that wasn''t enough for Sylth.

    Her purple eyes gleamed in excitement as the screams of terror resounded. Her finger trailed around the capital, and the spiked mass continued following its movements. The spiked mass rolled across the capital, bulldozing and impaling everything in its path.

    Michael watched the gruesome scenery but didn''t say anything. He didn''t intervene either. Sylth''s presence changed when her massive spike reaped the first few lives. ''Does she enjoy killing? Is she addicted to the sensation of energy influxes?'' Michael didn''t know the exact answer, but he knew the answer wasn''t pleasant. Sylth Thorx''s presence was filled with bloodlust, and Michael doubted she could differentiate between friend and foe. Her kind and talkative nature had been reced by bloodlust, excitement, and mercilessness. The capital, as it had been standing strong for centuries, ceased to exist.

    The pristine pce that had dominated the Zentika Empire was nothing more than mere shambles; the towering walls protecting the capital from all kinds of foes had been destroyed, but that was only the beginning. The walls, which were supposed to protect the citizens transformed into a prison of death. The massive spike smashed against the walls, squashing hundreds of citizens trying to escape the confinement of the reinforced walls. But nobody escaped. The walls blocked everyone''s path of retreat, leaving them with no choice but to scream desperately as the spike of death came their way.

    Sylth Thorx watched their desperation in glee and only turned to Michael ten minutes after the capital was no more. She smiled at him, the kind and talkative persona again covering her true self.

    "Do you feel like trading with Thorn Merchandise?" Sylth asked as if nothing happened just now.

    Michael stared at the death and destruction she''d caused with ease, killing several old Tier-6 powerhouses and the remaining Higher Lifeforms as if she were crushing ants. Maybe that was what it felt like to her.

    "Huh? Do you think I have enough products to attract the Thorn Merchandise''s interest?" Michael asked, to which Sylth responded with a giggle.

    Combined with the carnage she''d caused a moment ago, that was certainly not as cute as Sylth might think it was.

    "Do you think your products are boring? Really?" She raised her eyebrow.

    "I guess you know what I can do," Michael responded, realizing Sylth was aware of Extraction''s power and how extensive the Soultrait was.

    Sylth Thorx merely smiled in response.

    "If you think I would give you Soultraits merely because you are stronger than me and capable of threatening my life, you are sorely mistaken," Michael responded, but Sylth waved her hand dismissively.

    "I wouldn''t force you. You will give me a bunch of Soultrait Symbols when you see what I have to offer. My demonic instincts tell me we''re going to be best buddies."

    Michael frowned deeply, but he was intrigued. He had searched for many things for quite a while but never found anyone offering them. That included powerful techniques at the Ancient, Sacred/Infernal, or Primordial grade. He had powerful techniques, but upgrading them was always possible. Especially now that he had ess to the Cosmic Shop, which spread all across the cosmos, he wasn''t restrained to the techniques of the Tekur, the Nest ¨C which had powerful Cursed Arts and other stuff, but only a few things he truly liked ¨C and the things the Supreme Human Alliance had given to the ze household and other traitors.

    Michael was now the proud ¨C or not so proud ¨C owner of those techniques but most of them weren''t to his liking. Primordial Bloodline was a powerful technique which he would love to replicate, if his curse power and some other factors wouldn''t decrease hispatibility with the technique to sub-zero.

    ''A few Soullife Arts and Soul Techniques of all grades is all I need to learn how to replicate Primordial grade techniques. My foundation for creating Soul Techniques is not the best, however a few techniques for all grades should be enough¡­ Can they deliver that? Is Thorn Merchandise willing to teach me Primordial rank techniques? Do they have Primordial-rank techniques in the first ce?''

    Michael couldn''t tell for sure, but it became worth finding out.

    "How about visiting my territory? Maybe you find something to your liking, other than my Soultrait Symbols, of course," He smiled at her, waiting for the Greater Demon''s response.

    If Sylth had wanted to, she would have captured and tortured him until he caved in. She could have killed him as well if she''d wanted to. However, Sylth didn''t consider him an enemy. Instead, she became more than willing to trade rare treasures for his Soultrait Symbol.

    Therefore, bringing her to his territory should be fine, right?

    ''She can act as she pleases in these region. It''s did not like I can stop her, either way.''

    Michael became prepared to act like a people pleaser for once. A little, at least.

 Chapter 902 Trade

    Chapter 902 Trade

    Sylth was pleased with the Pentagon Forts. She was the most curious about the nts Michael and his people had nted to feed his subjects and the livestock and was even more surprised when she heard Michael had a second territory. The Pentagon Forts produced too much food for the Pentagon Forts, yet Michael said they were stillcking and trying to evolve and mutate the nt life in the Untamed Jungle to produce even more food.

    He considered showing Sylth the Sacred Desert and the massive Energy Vein in his territory but was happy when the Greater Demon wasn''t curious about his other territory. She was most interested in the Untamed Jungle, its energy density, and how Michael used the energy density and the region''s effects to his advantage. The Relic of Draka was also something she was curious about, just like the Spirit Armaments his people could create now. Thorn Merchandise had some connections to Divine cksmiths and Enchanters, who were capable enough to do something simr. Still, their products were expensive, and they would never create low-ranked Spirit Armaments. It was a waste of their precious time. However, the situation looked different in Michael''s territory. His Underground Forging Hall ¨C which he couldn''t hide from Sylth''s hawk-like eyes ¨C was inspected, which inevitably exposed the Temple of the Forgotten. Fortunately, Sylth didn''t seem overly impressed or interested in the Temple of the Forgotten. He was unsure if she didn''t understand the ancient ruin''s value or if she didn''t care about it because she deemed her future business transactions with Michael more valuable.

    The answer wasn''t too important; only the result was crucial. Sylth ignored the Temple of the Forgotten and focused more on the products Michael and his people created in his territory.

    He showed her the Energy Stones since she could sense the masses of energy in his warehouses either way. He exined a few things about his Spirit Armaments, some rare materials he''d umted, and the elemental crystals filling several warehouses.

    Zeroa and her people created far more energy crystals than Michael needed. But maybe that was for the best. Other races, and even a cosmic-level merchant family like Thorn Merchandise, were interested in them.

    "Despite your young age, you are powerful, in control of your curses, and you manage to keep your subjects happy and upied. Most of your subjects are overflowing with joy, which is good but a nuisance for my kin." She shrugged, "But to think you have so many interesting products up for sale, other than your Soultrait Symbols, of course. The Soultrait Symbols are still vital to Thorn Merchandise, but I think we can also establish a long-term trade with your other products."

    Sylth Thorx''s mission had been to obliterate the Zentika Empire to show their business partners and everyone in debt of Thorn Merchandise what would happen if they ignored their warning letters and order to pay interest. The Zentika Empire didn''t have anymore powerhouses left. The remaining powerhouses in the capital died with the destruction of the capital. Sylth could have done a little more to deal with the remaining members of the Zentika Empire, but she''d seen the forces of their neighbors. The armies of the surrounding Lords, High Beast Hordes, and native kingdoms were already on the move. Sylth didn''t have anything left to do. The Zentika Empire was dead.

    It had been boring, but she was happy to have gone nheless. If she hadn''t been deployed to the Zentika Empire, Sylth would have never met Michael. He was a golden opportunity for a swift rise in her family''s business and a means to gain personal strength. Thorn Merchandise could gain a lot from personally establishing an amiable rtionship with Michael. They might have been connected to the Nest for thousands of years, but Michael was different. He might have been a member of the Nest, but his value was on another level.

    "Are you willing to be an affiliate of Thorn Merchandise? We wish to sign several deals with you!" Sylth stared deep into Michael''s eyes until he felt ufortable.

    "What exactly do you need, and in which quantities? What can you offer in return?" Michael asked instead of going for a direct answer.

    Sylth smiled, "Thorn Merchandise is willing to purchase your Spirit Armaments of all Ranks and Tiers. The same applies to the elemental crystals and the Energy Stones. Of course, the price for every Spirit Armament, Energy Stone, and elemental crystal ranges ording to Rank and Tier. I will give you ess to Thorn Merchandise''s Daemon Shop, our hidden shop where everything we''re trading with the races and organizations across the cosmos is disyed."

    "You will be given Demonic Coins, which are not unlike Cosmic Coins, only that their value is greater, and you can purchase whatever you want. Of course, you would require enough Demonic Coins to purchase the things you desire, including high-ranked techniques, which cannot be purchased through normal means." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Sylth studied Michael. Her eyes twinkled in satisfaction at what she saw.

    "Techniques on the same level as Primordial Bloodline can be purchased in the Daemon Shop of Thorn Merchandise."

    Michael nodded slowly. That didn''t sound too bad. As long as he was given a fair price for the Energy Stones, elemental crystals, and Spirit Armaments, he could see himself trading with Thorn Merchandise. However, there was one thing he would never do; take a loan from them. He shuddered at the memories of Sylth smashing the Zentika Empire''s capital into smithereens.

    "I can give you more precise numbers once I analyze samples of your products, but it shouldn''t be difficult for you to earn a small fortune with the three types of goods. However, that''s what leads me to the crucial point." She smiled at him vibrantly, but Michael could only shudder. Sylth looked like the incarnation of a Devil with that smile, "We want your Soultraits as well."

    Michael suppressed a wince and nodded. That was expected.

    He waited and watched her.

    "First, I can offer you a heavy discount on all products in the Daemon Shop if you''re willing to trade a specific number of Soultrait Symbols with us monthly. It wouldn''t be too much. Five or ten Soultrait Symbols every month for a discount of 30% in the Daemon Shop. Of course, we would pay you generously for every Soultrait Symbol. The discount is an additional bonus we''ll give you to maintain a steady supply of Soultrait Symbols." Michael wanted to reject the offer immediately but stopped when Sylth continued talking. He listened intently to her before returning a few questions.

    "All Soultrait Symbols are either starless or 1-Star Soultraits at first. I think it''s already known that I can upgrade Soultrait Symbols, but I won''t do that if I''m not given enough in return. If I agree to this offer, you''ll see five random 1-Star Soultrait Symbols monthly. I won''t let you or anyone from Thorn Merchandise make a pick. Not even if you offer 30% off Primordial-grade techniques. They must be hellishly expensive, but I think I can be fairly confident when I say thatpatible Soultraits grant you more power than a Primordial-grade technique."

    Sylth was about to say something, but Michael was not done.

    "Of course, a Primordial grade technique is powerful, but you can use far moreplex or simple techniques when you have ess to multiple techniques. I know that better than anyone. As a Tier-4 High Awakened, I can already fight powerhouses at the 6th Tier. I can dominate Tier-5 mythical creatures and tame them without the intention to tame them. And that''s without Ancient grade ¨C or higher ¨C techniques. Once I''m equipped with a Primordial Soul Technique for every Soultrait and more techniques to use whenever Ibine my Soultraits, I will be much stronger. However, I need a proper foundation to use such powerful techniques first. I can give them. All you can do is unleash the full potential of the potential I''ve created."

    Sylth waited until Michael was done before she responded.

    "It''s good you''re honest. If we''d signed a soul-tethered contract with the words I''ve used, Thorn Merchandise would have made huge losses. I asked for five to ten Soultraits but never specified their star rating or usefulness. That is true. You could have given us your most useless Soultrait Symbols to meet the requirements stated in the contract while receiving the discount and a generous pile of Demonic Coins. That was my mistake."

    "I think we''ll have to talk about this more in-depth," Sylth said slowly, "But let me rify one thing: You are willing to trade Soultrait Symbols with Thorn Merchandise. Did I understand that right?"

    Michael nodded.

    "In that case, let the negotiation begin!"

    **

    Michael didn''t expect to spend several days negotiating with Sylth, but that was exactly what happened. They didn''t sleep or rest and focused on their task ahead. They came to a conclusion on the fifth day and signed a soul-tethered contract. It was a bit looser than a Soul Pact and didn''t put as much pressure on the soul, which Michael liked. He didn''t want to burden his soul more than necessary these days.

    Sylth left once the contracts were signed, pping her wings happily as she departed to inspect the destruction of the Zentika Empire with glee.

    [That wasn''t too bad. You''re growing.] Fenrirmented. After their encounter with Beelzebub, the Wolf Beast God had grown ustomed to speaking as it pleased. The meeting with the Infernal God struck Fenrir much harder than it wanted to acknowledge. Michael didn''t know what he''d expected, but it was certainly not the silent wolf''s transformation into a talkative Beast God Curse.

    That wasn''t too bad, though.

    "I think so too. My win margin is much greater than theirs if I y this right," Michael noted.

    He might have to fulfill a monthly quota, but the quota was different from what was initially introduced. Michael had to give them a Soultrait, or multiple with abined value of X. If the Soultrait was ''valuable'' for specific tasks, Michael wouldn''t have to give them many Soultrait. To be precise, he would have to give them only three Soultraits of average value. If the Soultraits were incredibly valuable, Michael had to give them only one Soultrait that month. Other than that, Michael would have to give them ten useless, starless of 1-Star, Soultraits, or one useless 3-Star Soultrait. After all, all Soultraits were somewhat powerful, even if they werebeled useless. No Soultrait was truly useless. All you had to do was learn how to use your Soultrait.

    The contract was perfect for Michael. Sylth didn''t know how easy it was for Michael to upgrade a Soultrait to 3-Star and how few SoulStar Fragments it cost. Of course, he didn''t mention that. Sylth would realize soon enough that her extraordinary negotiation victory was but a farce.

    Michael could bombard Thorn Merchandise with ''useless'' 3-Star Soultraits without a problem and use the full potential of the 30% discount. But Michael wouldn''t take too much advantage of the contract uses. He wanted to please Thorn Merchandise and retain their amiable rtionship just like they nned to do the same. Furthermore, Michael needed Demonic Coins, which he could earn easily by selling highly valued Soultraits rather than the ''useless'' ones.

    Now that the deals were sealed, Michael obtained some Demonic Coins and ess to the Daemon Shop. All he had to do now was to find out what he needed the most and how to earn his first high-ranked technique. He had to find out how to increase his strength most efficiently using Thorn Merchandise''s connections and the golden eggs ¨C his Soultrait Symbols ¨C to his advantage.

    It was good that Fenrir and the World Serpent were more than willing to help him. They were oddly interested in the Daemon Shop and to aid his future growth. It was almost like they wanted him to grow into a powerhouse in no time.

 Chapter 903 Primordial Technique

    Chapter 903 Primordial Technique

    Many means of growing stronger quickly existed across the universe, but only a few were truly efficient for the individual. No matter how simr their anatomy may seem, everyone had different characteristics, physical properties, and attunements.

    Michael, for example, had a powerful physique with naturally high energy absorption and annexation rate, further augmented by the Sacred Constitution and his perfect High Ascension. He also had fewer impurities than others. To be precise, he was on the brink of perfectly purifying his body.

    Thanks to his high energy absorption rate, Michael''s only requirement to advance as fast as others, despite having stronger ¨C and more ¨C Soultraits than others, was to supply his body with enough energy. Thus, Michael could either use Energy Stones, which he had to ess individually to drain the energy within them or find an energy-dense area with enough pure energy to push his natural energy absorption and annexation rate to its limit.

    The Untamed Jungle''s energy density was high, but it wasn''t enough to push Michael to his limit. Therefore, he''d been using the Extraction Aura to tap into the energy umted in Energy Stones naturally like he''d absorbed the energy in the vicinity.

    And that ¨C everything of it ¨C was exactly what Michael wanted to focus on to elerate his natural growth. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The fastest way to Develop stronger was probably to acquire new Soultraits and upgrade them several times or to find a powerful martial arts technique that pushed Michael''s Soultraits to their limits. However, reaching a high mastery of martial arts techniques required time, and the progress would decrease drastically once Perfect Mastery had been acquired. That would require years of tireless effort, but the day until Michael reached Perfect Mastery with a highly ranked martial arts technique would probably arrive sooner than expected.

    Therefore, Michael focused on Sacred Constitution and Extraction when he searched for a suitable Primordial grade technique. He wanted to Develop quickly and ensure his rapid growth would have both short-term and long-term benefits. Acquiring a powerful Martial Arts Technique, Soultraits, or Soullife Arts was something Michael could always doter.

    [You don''t have to look for a Soul Technique. We can help you if you want to focus on your Tier.] The World Serpent said.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but didn''t reject the World Serpent''s offer immediately. He''d been looking through the Daemon Shop''s Primordial grade techniques for a while and found many interesting techniques. Unfortunately, he could only afford one Primordial grade technique for now. Even then, Michael had been forced to sell a considerable number of 1 to 4-Star Soultraits. The pricing of Primordial-grade techniques was tremendous. They were more than a hundred times more expensive than Sacred/Infernal techniques and more than 2.500 times more expensive than Ancient techniques.

    Michael didn''t desire to blow his mind by checking how cheap a Superior ss Soul Technique waspared to the Primordial grade techniques. He knew the answer would make him feel insignificant. After all, Michael had considered Superior ss Soul Techniques ''powerful'' for a while now. But Superior ss Soul Techniques were nothing. They were worthless in the eyes of the truly powerful.

    "You''re going to create a Soul Technique for me?" Michael asked the Beast Gods in uncertainty.

    [Not for you. For us. Our bound Soultraits, to be precise. One technique for each of your Main Soultraits. Except Insert. That thing doesn''t matter.]] "Okay¡­ Thanks, I guess?"

    Sometimes the Beast God Curses were confusing. At this point, he learned their path was the same, but their final destination differed. That possessed been obvious, but hearing it from the World Serpent confirmed it. Still, Michael trusted the Beast Gods more the more he learned about them. Both were Beast Gods, yet they became Curses, whether voluntarily or by force. They were annoying, but Michael attributed that to their age. Selena was also annoying and old. ''If the World Serpent creates a Soul Technique to push Sacred Constitution''s energy absorption rate to its limit, while Fenrir focuses on a technique to do the same with the Extraction Aura¡­all I need is a technique increasing my Energy Pir''s annexation rate. The Energy Pir has always been my weakest link.''

    Michael configured something in the Daemon Shop''s filter, gradually changing the disyed technique. Only three out of a dozen Primordial grade techniques remained.

    It wasn''t particrly challenging to pick the most suitable technique out of the three. After he concluded, Michael read through their descriptions and discarded two.

    "Rune Vortex. I chose you!"

    Rune Vortex didn''t sound like an impressive technique. Even its description wasn''t anything special. It was almost like the creator was trying to downy the technique''s benefits. While that was weird, Michael paid more attention to the hidden details in the technique''s description and the full-fledged instructions once he''d purchased the Primordial grade technique with his entire fortune of Demonic Coins.

    The technique was among the more expensive Primordial grade techniques, thus draining much more than Michael possessed nned to spend. But that was fine. Rune Vortex transformed his Energy Pir into the central point of a massive vortex that sucked all energy within his body into the energy pir. Once the technique was fully mastered and the practitioner a Divine Lifeform, it could transform his Energy Pir into an Energy Vortex, which would passively absorb the surrounding energy and the energy coursing wildly through his body.

    Michael was curious how swift a Divine Lifeform could advance with an Energy Vortex and infinite energy around it, but the answer was not that important. Crucial was merely that Rune Vortex required other techniques to unleash its full potential.One of the potential techniques was a Primordial grade energy absorption technique called Primal Energy Ocean. However, Michael didn''t have enough Demonic Cins to purchase another Primordial grade technique, nor did he intend to purchase a technique like this in the first ce. First of all, using two Primordial techniques simultaneously was difficult. A single mistake could cause irreversible damage to the Energy Pir and its energy veins. Thus, one possessed to be extra careful, which would slow the mastery progression. It was only fortunate that Michael didn''t need another Primordial grade technique to unleash Rune Vortex''s full potential.

    His condition was different from the norm. All Michael possessed to do was focus on Rune Vortex - study the technique and increase his mastery - while the Beast God Curses would use their Soul Techniques to control the Soultraits they''ve been bound to. Other Curse Users would consider this risky because Michael would have to give them enough authority over his body to unleash the Soultraits potential to the fullest, but Michael wasn''t worried. Their paths aligned for the time being, after all.

    The World Serpent would unleash the full potential of Sacred Constitution''s energy absorption, cirction, and annexation, but also increase Michael''sprehension and progress of Rune Vortex while also allowing Fenrir to go crazy with True Extraction, Extraction Essence, and the like to absorb the surrounding energy.

    As Soultraits bound to the Beast Gods, they knew everything about the 8-Star Soultraits, their limits, and how far Michael could go with them. Their understanding was perfect, which made it fairly easy for Beast Gods to create Primordial Soul Techniques and acquire Perfect Mastery. After all, the Soultraits were part of their existence.

    All that was left was to find a powerful energy source and test his newest technique!

 Chapter 904 Rune Vortex & Bodies

    Chapter 904 Rune Vortex & Bodies

    Finding a strong source of energy wasn''t particrly difficult. The Sacred Desert''s Energy Vein released strong currents of energy ¨C excess energy that spread far into the Sacred Desert to transform the Beginner Region into an Intermediate Region.

    The transformation process was slow and arduous, but it was highly advantageous that the Energy Vein had excess energy to elerate it. Michael would tap into the excess energy and absorb as much as possible over the next few months.

    He disappeared in the Sacred Desert after telling everyone what they had to do and how they were supposed to react in specific situations. His subjects were supposed to focus on expanding his territory and only report to him if a powerful Lord or High Beast Hordes too strong for the Untamed Army and Awakened to handle invaded theirnds. Fortunately, none of that happened in the next two months. Two full moons psed quickly as Michael focused on his study of Rune Vortex. The technique wasn''t difficult to execute, but mastering Rune Vortex was far from simple. Michael spent thest two moons practicing and studying the technique, barely getting a wink of sleep, but he only managed to attain Basic Mastery. However, even that was enough to push him to the verge of advancing to the Late rank of Tier-4 in barely two months. Spending a few years in the Energy Vein would push him to Tier-6. Unfortunately, Michael had already noticed how much energy he was draining to refine his War Rune. Only two months had passed, but the excess energy of the Energy Vein had already been used up. Most of it, at least.

    Michael was forced to stop practicing Rune Vortex with the Energy Vein''s energy. After all, He hoped to transform the Sacred Desert into an Intermediate Region.

    It was good that Michael had other means to acquire energy as well. He acquired more Energy Stones from the Cosmic Shop and Thorn Merchandise since his Common Energy Stones were used by his Awakened Combatants for construction, to maintain various devices, and much more. Michael couldn''t afford to merely consume all Common Energy Stones to refine his War Rune by a percentile or two.

    The Thorn Merchandise discount was exactly what Michael needed. He was especially happy when he found certain perks of the Daemon Shop, such as the bulk-purchase discount. Michael could gain an additional discount on his purchase if he purchased certain goods in vast quantities¡ªtens of thousands or more. This sometimes added to a discount of 40% to 50%.

    Of course, the money he had to pay was nothing to scoff at. It was a massive fortune. Fortunately, Michael had more than enough goods to sell. Sylth Thorx and her family were interested in his Soultrait Symbols and the power to upgrade Soultraits. The Thorx household was the wealthiest family of the Greater Demons, but they weren''t the strongest. Their wealth was the sole reason they''d managed to reach the top of the Greater Demon houses. That wasn''t enough for them anymore. They wanted more and were willing to spend a fortune on it.

    Michael took advantage of that and advanced to the Late Rank of Tier-4 three months following acquiring Rune Vortex.

    The price was steep, and he wondered at times if he was doing the right thing by providing the Thorx household with enough Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades to change everyone in their household into a powerhouse. Maybe he formed another evil like the Supreme Human Alliance by allowing one of the wealthiest merchant households all over the cosmos to acquire power. But even if that was the case, Michael could fix his ws once he abused his connection with the Thorx household.

    He was in dire need of their resources.

    Now that he was at the Late rank of Tier-4, Michael could slowly umte enough resources to push his War Rune to Tier-5 without throwing a pile of Soultrait Symbols at the Thorx household. He chose to leave the Origin Expanse after a long time when Selena and Eren called him to meet up.

    Michael left the Tritan Alliance a while ago. Once he finished his business in the Tritan Alliance, Michael returned to the Nest, where he had been training with Selena and the Tier-5 Curse User Lig. Her King Curse, the Behemoth, had been a powerful enemy, transforming Lig into a great sparring partner.

    Maybe Eren would have been a better sparring partner, but Eren Long was still weakened. Even though years had passed, Michael and other Curse Users with healing Soultraits had to get to him to elerate his healing process. But it wasn''t that easy. Eren''s limbs were all intact at this point, but it took a while for his regenerated limbs and cracked Energy Pir to recuperate. It was only a matter of time, but it was highly likely that Eren Long would have to focus on recuperating for a few more years. That frustrated him to no end, but Evee made sure to remind him that his stupidity had led to his body''s state. Michael learned how fierce Evee could be at times and swore never to bother her¡ªnot if he could avoid it, at least.

    Michael returned to the Nest and emerged in his room. He left his room and moved straight to the vast office where Selena, Eren, and a few Curse Users, both Divine Lifeforms and Higher Lifeforms, had gathered.

    Selena retrieved a few corpses from her War Rune when she saw Michael.

    "Do you remember them?" She asked, but Michael shook his head.

    The corpses were humans ¨C most Higher Lifeforms before they died ¨C and died not too long ago. "What are you trying to tell me? These are young humans."

    "From the Tritan Alliance. Two of them are your ssmates, if I''m not mistaken," Selena added while pointing at two corpses. "They are?" Michael asked, unsure how Selena could tell that the two corpses were humans from the Saphirke Military Academy.

    But now that she mentioned it, Michael could tell something else.

    "I don''t remember them, but I can sense their origin. Everyone is from the Tritan Alliance¡­but there is also something else."

    True Vision showed him something interesting, yet Michael had difficulty distinguishing the notes.

    "Either way. We found them far away from the Tritan Alliance. They''re currently trained as the youngest elite of the Supreme Human Alliance. Or were. Dead people cannot be trained anymore." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The lifeless bodies belonged to some of the Descendants who''d been kidnapped two years ago! Michael''s ears perked up in interest.

    "Oh?"

    "I called you to inform you about our find and ask if you could use Extraction on them. Maybe you can acquire some memories?" Selena asked.

    Michael didn''t have high hopes of acquiring Memory Orbs from the dead. Not if he or his people weren''t the ones to kill them. But it was worth a try. Extraction was 8-Star, and he''d garnered enough Extraction Essence and curse power to try it.

    That was exactly what he did.

    He unleashed his Curse Seals and added Greater Enhancement to every Seal before doing the same on True Extraction. His curse power and vigor were quickly consumed, but Michael only needed a second to finish his job.

    He derived everything.

 Chapter 905 Numbers

    Chapter 905 Numbers

    Extraction worked better on the corpses than intended. Michael might not have obtained a single proper Memory Orb, but snippets of the dead humans'' memories entered Michael''s mind. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He obtained some information.

    "Alice and the others are still alive," Michael smiled. Many died in thest two years, but those he cared for were still alive.

    "That''s good, but did you procure something else? Maybe some useful information?" Selena asked, earning nods from the Curse Users around her. The Nest Leader was curt and seemed overly tense at this moment.

    Her unusual behavior put Michael on guard.

    "I think they''re part of an organization. The Numbers, or something like that."

    "Numbers?" Eren asked in surprise. He turned to the Nest Leader and looked at her seriously, "Evee heard from the Altors Union not long ago. They''re struggling¡­against the Numbers." Michael had heard much about the Altors Union but had never been there. Until now, that hadn''t been necessary. Maybe that changed.

    "The Altors Union shouldn''t have issues dealing with Higher Lifeforms. They''re a massive Union of more than a thousand races with many Divine Lifeforms, or is that not the case? I''m thinking about a different Altors Union?!" Michael scoffed, unable to hide his mockery.

    Hearing that Alice and the others were alive was nice. It was exactly what Michael had been waiting for in thest two years. But the memory snippets of the dead weren''t all that pleasant. Too many snippets were filled with gruesome scenes of the Numbers'' torture and how they had been manipted. The extent and results of their brainwashing were also shown clearly in the memory snippets.

    He was tense, and the memory snippets didn''t solve theplexity of his emotions. If anything, he was even stiffer and prone to emotional outbursts. "The Altors Union might have many Divine Lifeforms, but they''re massive like you said. Their Divine Lifeforms must care for their territories, train the younger generations, and ensure they won''t get rusty. Most Divine Lifeforms have other duties as well. Some have their n, others have businesses, and most have families. Not everyone works for the Altors Union to protect their bodies. Even if many Divine Lifeforms are in their border control, most are deployed to borders connecting to valued assets and high-value locations. Not all borders can be protected by Divine Lifeforms at all times."

    Michael didn''t know the man who had exined, but he acknowledged understandingly.

    He remembered the issues of the Tritan Alliance and how the Chieftain and the War Priestess'' son ¨C also their trusted allies ¨C didn''t move to help the Lesser Humans in the sr system because they were afraid to leave a gaping hole in their defenses. If they''d gone before all potential enemies in the Lumina Ster System had been defeated, their departure would have created a vast opening to destroy the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    ''Why am I acting stupid again?''

    [Were you ever smart?] Fenrir questioned briskly.

    Michael pressed his lips together and cursed the Beast God Curse quietly.

    ''I liked you more when you were silent.''

    [Me too] The World Serpent hissed, the amusement in the serpent''s voice apparent.

    [Shut it]

    A huge confrontation brewed in his mind, and Michael decided to leave and ignore his Curses as they jumped at each other''s throats. He digested the information and nodded.

    "So, the Numbers are an organization with many Higher Lifeforms. They''re part of the Supreme Human Alliance''s Elite, right?" "The Numbers are said to be the youngest prospects of the Supreme Human Alliance''s Elite. That is correct. However, they''ve been silent for a while now. The Altors Union managed to destroy them a few decades ago. Or so we thought. They''re terrorizing the Altors Union''s borders again." Selena exined, only to see Michael shrug.

    "It looks appreciate I know where to go next."

    The Nest Leader nodded, understanding what Michael was getting at, "The Nest received an official request from the Altors Union. The Numbers might not be strong enough to alter the borders, but the Supreme Human Alliance is attacking multiple borders across several ster systems. They''re also in trouble because some Primal and Beast Gods entered their borders without permission and cannot pay full attention to the Numbers."

    "That''s why you will move out with Hesta, Lighno''vsh, Fera, and another small team of Curse Users," Selena exined before her eyes squinted to sharp slits, "But don''t ever think anyone else will spare the Numbers. I would rmend you to kill them as well, but I know you can''t kill your friends and lover. However, don''t expect others to do the same. They''re putting their lives on the line to deal with their enemies. If you desire to protect your lover and friends, you better be strong enough to knock them out before anyone else can kill them."

    Michael frowned but nodded. He could understand where Selena wasing from. It would be nice if they could rescue everyone, but Michael had seen what the Supreme Human Alliance had done to manipte and brainwash the Numbers and how effective their brainwashing was. Michael wouldn''t think about leaving any of the Numbers alive if not for Alice and his friends. He would be busy enough killing them. They were stronger than the average High Awakened, after all.

    As for the part where he had to go to the borders of the Altors Union with Hesta¡­Michael didn''t thoughts too much. His hatred toward his family transformed into light dislike over thest few years. They weren''t close, but Michael chatted with Hesta twice or thrice. He didn''t feel close to them anymore and couldn''t care less about their whereabouts or what they were doing, but Hesta didn''t deserve his hatred.

    His mother was a different case. She abandoned her sons¡ªboth minors¡ªto ''protect'' her fully matured daughter. She failed as a mother of two sons but won the prize for being the most possessive and protective mother of a mature daughter several years in session. Michael and Daniel gave up trying to understand their mother. She was a lost cause, in their opinion. That was, in all honesty, very calming. Learning that their mother was a lost cause made the brothers feel much better than finding out that she was sorry and that she never wanted to leave them. Thetter would have been hypocritical and nonsense. At least their mother ceased trying to make excuses.

    Their father, Peter Fang, was the most interesting among the three Fang members. He wasn''t a Curse User but had been around too many powerful Curse Users for too long. He had been exposed to their Curses for decades, hoping a Curse would either form or awaken in him. However, that wasn''t the case. Peter Fang was never ''blessed'' with a Curse.

    That was why he detested Michael. At least, Michael felt his father hated him for possessing two Curses. He wasn''t given a Curse while the rest of his family, even histe father-inw, also his master, had been a powerful Curse User. He was the only one without a Curse.

    Peter overlooked Daniel''s resurrection because that didn''t count in his mind. Danny was also a Curse User. It didn''t matter if he was reborn without a Curse. He disliked Danny as well, though not as much as Michael.

    ''At least I don''t have to go on vacation with my parents.''

 Chapter 906 Fera

    Chapter 906 Fera

    Fera, the red-headed woman, and Hesta''s teacher squinted at Michael and tilted her head slowly.

    "Is he going to make it?" She asked her disciple, not even trying to hide her doubts.

    "He has many Soultraits and still reached the Late rank of Tier-4 at such a young age. Lighno''vsh seems to like him, and you know how she is," Hesta responded with a shrug.

    She didn''t know how strong her younger brother was, but Lighno''vsh acted friendly before him. That was rare and indicated how highly she valued Michael''sbat prowess. Lig was known for her unique attitude. She wouldn''t pay much respect to anyone weaker than her and was known for challenging others to a fight if she was sure to be stronger than them. "Right. I heard he fought Lighno''vsh before but didn''t pay much attention to it," Fera recalled. Still, she had a hard time believing Lighno''vsh would behave like this. She was a Tier-5 Curse User on the right track to advance to Tier-6. In a few years, she would probably advance to Tier-6, thus leaving Michael behind.

    "You shouldn''t mind him too much. The Nest Leader likes him as well. Don''t anger Selena unnecessarily," Hesta warned her master, but Fera could only scoff.

    "The Nest Leader only pays so much attention to him because he has two strong Curses. He was lucky by not losing control of himself when he awakened his Curses."

    Michael''s eyes flicked to Fera and his sister at that moment. He heard everything they said but ignored their attitude. They weren''t worth his emotions. Still, his Curses didn''t seem to like Fera¡­or was it her Curse they didn''t like? Michael didn''t know, but he allowed them to act.

    Michael''s presence changed from one moment to the next, yet only Fera noticed the sudden change. It was directed at her alone.

    A massive hue ¨C two, to be precise ¨C seemed to shroud Michael suddenly. One was golden, and the other was an intense poisonous green. The hues engulfed Michael and split up, instantly transforming into two massive heads that filled the entire room. The wolf head growled at her, exuding enough pressure to force Fera to her knees while it looked like the massive serpent head was about to lung at her.

    Fera stirred. Her eyes widened, and she broke into a cold sweat. The Curse within her screeched and responded to the sudden attack. It released a burst of curse power through Fera''s body, returning the Curse User''s control of her body. Fera stood up slowly and stared at Michael, ignoring Hesta. Her hair crackled, and the atmosphere intensified, but Michael wasn''t looking at her anymore. There was no need to waste any time with that woman. The mere presence of his Beast God Curses was already enough to overwhelm Fera. She was weaker than expected.

    ''Hesta should be stronger than her master. Fera seemsckluster.'' He shrugged and continued talking to Lighno''vsh while the pressure of his Beast God Curses dispersed.

    However, his chat with Lig was interrupted again when Lighno''vsh turned to Fera. The other Curse Users did the same. They turned to look at the woman who released curse power and bloodlust simultaneously. "What is wrong?" Hesta asked for the Xth time, but Fera shook her head, "Nothing. I''m fine¡­"

    She red at Michael but regained control of her Curse before anything worse could happen. The woman turned to the Nest Leader, who gave everyone orders. She distributed all tasks while Evee prepared the bridges. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Most Numbers can be found in two locations. We will split up into two teams of four. Team one will be the Cleavers. They know what to do when they see one of the Numbers who look like your lover and friends," Selena said, "But like I said. They will merely drop you a message. If your lover and friends attack the Cleavers, they will respond with force. The Cleavers aren''t known for taking hostages, so you better be fast when they drop a message."

    The Nest Leader turned to Fera, "You, Hesta, Michael, and Lighno''vsh will be the second team. I don''t care who your team leader is. Just make sure everyone survives, and we won''t lose anyone to the Numbers or your Curses."

    Everyone nodded, but Michael suppressedughing aloud when Fera puffed her chest. She looked proud that the Nest Leader spoke to her instead of the others, almost like she thought Selena expected her to be the second team''s leader. However, Michael looked at the situation a little differently. Like Michael, the Nest Leader heard what Hesta and Fera said about him. But, contrary to the other Curse Users, she also noticed Michael''s Curses and how Michael didn''t do anything to make them move. Michael continued talking to Lighno''vsh while his Curses nearly consumed Fera, forcing the Nest Leader to check on her.

    Selena was worried about Fera, but the woman misunderstood the situationpletely. But then again, Michael didn''t care too greatly who their team leader would be. As long as nobody obstructed him, he would be okay with everyone. "Are we going to leave now?" Michael asked into the group. The Nest Leader grinned at him, but he tried to ignore Selena. Her whole existence was confusing, and Michael couldn''t help but think that Selena lost her sanity a long time ago. Sometimes, she acted normal, mostly in moments where seriousness was required, only to turn into a fool a momentter.

    "You can leave whenever you want. The bridge is ready for departure." He shifted to the others.

    "I''m ready," Hesta shrugged while Lig nodded.

    Fera red at him but said nothing. Instead, she told the Nest Leader, "We will return with glory!"

    Selena nodded and left the office. A few minutester, their team departed. They reached the teleportation chamber, where Evee configured the bridge to bring them to their designated location.

    Once the bridge was active, Michael and the others stepped through. They teleported through space and were spit out on the other side.

    But rather thannding in the middle of nowhere, their teamnded in the center of a massive foundation. The foundation was white fancy marble and surrounded by massive pirs of the same material. The pirs towered tens of meters into the air, releasing an ominous amount of energy.

    Seer was used to the fullest to activate true vision. Michael checked the pirs and the foundation and noticed a gigantum array of miniature runes. The rune array was tens of meters in depth and width. It was surprising, even more so because the massive array was etched into the ground with miniature runes. There were millions of runes, and each of them was perfect. They were seamlessly connected, creating the desired effect through highpatibility.

    But there was more to it. Underneath the enormous rune array was something Michael barely noticed through the array''s concealment. He strained Seer and true vision quite a bit to see what was hidden underneath, but Michael finally unraveled the secret hidden under the enormous foundation.

    A enormous Energy Vein, tens of timesrger than the one in the Sacred Desert, appeared before true vision.

    "Damn."

    Hesta just smiled.

    "Wee to erus."

 Chapter 907 Claerus

    Chapter 907 erus

    erus was a massive city the size of a continent. Tens of billions, Awakened and normies from countless races, lived there. To say that he was shocked to the core was a gross underestimation. Michael couldn''t believe what he was seeing.

    Skyscrapers pierced hundreds of meters through the clouds, millions of flying shuttles moved quickly through the city, and countless Awakened wearing ordinary clothes flew through the air.

    Massive projections and billboards showed various advertisements for both Awakened and ordinary people. To put it simply, the sight unfolding all around Michael was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Everything around him was so massive¡­he felt tiny and insignificant. Even the Gctical za, which was what they called the translocation foundation, was enormous. Thousands of people of Michael''s size could walk around the Gctical za with enough space to never run into each other.

    "Beautiful, isn''t it?" Hesta asked her brother, who nodded silently.

    "The first time I came to Clearus, I felt the same. It''s a picturesque ce full of energy and little to no toxic gases. The Altors Union uses materials from the Origin Expanse rather than destroying thes they''ve colonized to build their Shakliar."

    Michael tilted his head, which Hesta considered as a request to continue exining.

    "Shakliar is a traditional name used to describe sacred settlements where the core of civilization resides. The Altors Union is massive and has thus established more than a dozen Shakliar."

    Understanding dawned upon Michael, "And why are we here? Are the Numbers in erus?" This time, Lighno''vsh answered instead of Hesta, "That is a good question. erus is the only Shakliar with humans. Some Numbers likely managed to infiltrate erus. erus is only two ster systems from the closest border as well. And since the Altors Union doesn''t reject immigrants, no matter where theye from, it isn''t difficult for spies to infiltrate the Altors Union. Acquiring crucial intel isn''t easy, but it''s only time and effort before the spies get what they want."

    It wasn''t hard to sense Lighno''vsh''s dislike toward the Altors Union''s openness. She considered it a weakness to ept everyone without a thorough background check. In her opinion, it required a thorough investigation to ensure no spy would enter the Altors Union. Michael''s opinion was simr, but he was certain the Altors Union wasn''t doing nothing. He sincerely doubted they watched immigrants idly as they entered theirnds. But even if they did, it wasn''t Michael''s business. His business was to find his friends and lover, knock them out, and fix whatever the Supreme Human Alliance had broken.

    "We were told that your colleagues'' bodies were found near Clearus. The Altors Union reassured us that none of their guards or mercenaries killed them. At least, nothing was reported to the Information Cycle."

    "So, you''re telling me that we are here because the corpses of some Numbers were found near Clearus¡­that''s it?" Michael asked, and Fera, who''d been deep in musings since they emerged in Clearus, spoke up.

    "The Cleavers have been teleported to the borders. As far as I know, they''re dealing with the main force of Numbers. However, some higher-ups are certain that younger Numbers, those whose Essences haven''t been altered under the influence of the Primordial Bloodline Arts, other techniques or treatments, entered Clearus to do something."

    "So they sent us to find those Numbers, discover what they''re nning, and stop them from potentially destroying one of their Shakliar?" Michael asked to make sure he understood right.

    Fera scoffed but nodded, "That''s about it."

    ''Nice. That means all we have to do is find some humans who don''t want to be found in a Shakliar, which is the size of an entire continent. Finding a handful of people among tens of billions. Amazing!'' Michael joked in his mind but decided to remain silent.

    "I can use Seer, a 7-Star Soultrait, and true vision to fly across Clearus and check if I can find someone with familiar energy fluctuations. My Soultrait is good at finding people, but I don''t think the Numbers would be running around blindly. They''re brainwashed to follow the given orders with great precision," Michael stated instead.

    "You can do that¡­ while Hesta and I go and check with the authorities. The authorities of the Altors Union might be a little bit annoying, which is why you should be careful as well, but the Altors Union requested our help. They''ll give us the list of human immigrants and details about the immigrants who''ve entered Clearus within thest two years without any problems," Fera ordered. At least, that''s what I''m hoping.

    "I will check the Rakshtush then," Lighno''vsh shrugged, "That''s what they call the underground arenas. If you''re an Awakened and unwilling to risk your life in the Origin Expanse, you can always go to one of the Amateur Rakshtush. Fighting there will earn you a small fortune. It''s not as much as you could earn by putting in some effort in the Origin Expanse, but it''s probably the best option for anyone afraid of death."

    "Are we splitting up permanently, or do we have to meet up topare our results? I have an Origin Watch, so we could call or share information through a messenger." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We don''t know who''s listening to us after we ess erus''work. I''d rmend meeting up once every few days. Using the messengers of the Origin Watch is still fine, but we shouldn''t share any crucial pieces of information through the messenger," Hesta was deep in thought.

    Her words made sense, and Fera added, "Let''s add some codes to inform each other when we find something or when we''re in danger." In Michael''s opinion, using secret codes was a little over the top, but if one of the Numbers had managed to infiltrate erus''work, connecting to it would reveal everything to them. A little secret code could hide their true intentions. It might not have been necessary, but it was certainly not useless to develop some secret codes. Less than half an hourter, the four Curse Users split up. Michael shot into the air, wind and fire-attributed energy swirling around him. But that was still too slow. The corner of his lips curled upward, and he used Fusion on a new tattoo that had formed on his lower back, right underneath the World Serpent''s Living Image. It was a immense Red Dragon tattoo.

    Using Fusion, Michael fused with the Red Dragon and manifested her immense leathery wings.

    The Red Dragon didn''t even consider staying in the Sacred Desert or the Untamed Jungle, where she could live freely. She was thankful for Michael''s help and decided to follow her master outside the Origin Expanse. He could have summoned the mythical creature, but he didn''t want her to transform into a Lizotian cheese from a bunch of sma cannons and other deadly weapons. Growing pinions from his back was something Michael was unfamiliar with, but he was already acquainted with Curse Fusion and Fusion with the Elemental Empress and Sun Demos. Learning how to control the leathery pair of wings wasn''t too difficult. The Red Dragon supported him, and it didn''t take long before they elerated.

    The wind and fire-attributed energy still revolved around him, pushing Michael to move faster through the air. He was faster than most Awakened and carriers around him but paid more attention to the ground, his eyes glowing vibrantly as he activated Seer with Greater Enhancement.

    True Vision''s dormant potential was unleashed to the fullest.

 Chapter 908 Code

    Chapter 908 Code

    Not much happened in the next three weeks. Clearus turned out to be even bigger than expected. What Michael had presumed to be a small continent was three times as big. Traveling across Clearus took a while, even with the support of a dragon''s wings and attributed energies.

    Greater Enhancement used on Seer to unleash True Vision''s full potential was a good idea, but the result wasn''t as pleasant as they''d hoped. First, Michael found some troublemakers, humans, but none of them was a Number. They were ordinary thugs Michael beat up a little to release his stress before leaving them behind. The thugs weren''t dead, but some of them might have wished to die.

    Other than the thugs, Michael found some ''suspects''. Unfortunately, none of the human suspects did anything special after a while. They''d been acting weird for a few days, thus attracting Michael''s attention, only to be boring Awakened with mundane upations. Michael made sure to check the suspects out with the list provided by the authorities, but the background check turned out unnecessary. Michael''s ''suspects'' were clear.

    After nothing happened for weeks ¨C not even the Cleavers reported much action at the borders, which were supposed to be full of Numbers ¨C Michael chose to visit his territory. The Sacred Desert and Untamed Jungle had all the resources needed to expand, but that didn''t mean Michael should stay out of his territory. It had been six weeks in the Origin Expanse since hest visited his people, and it was about time for that to change.

    Thus, Michael stayed in the Origin Expanse for the next 36 hours to check everything, read all daily reports, and listen to allints.

    A handful of news were a little bit problematic, including the Dragys'' movement in the Untamed Jungle. Apparently, the Dragys changed their target from blindly charging into the heart of the Untamed Jungle to spreading out in all directions. Their war with the other Lord must have affected the Dragys more than expected to change their n drastically.

    The Heart of the Untamed Jungle was given more time thanks to the change in the Dragys'' tactic, but Michael''s time until their inevitable second encounter with the Dragys decreased drastically. The Dragys were at war right now and thus only slowly expanding in the other directions, but the scouts were fairly sure about the Dragys'' victory. They would emerge victorious in a few years ¨C probably only a year or two ¨C before expanding aggressively in all directions, burning everything obstructing their way into a cinder.

    Michael learned a lot about the Dragys, theirbat prowess, and the number of Awakened and Summons likely to ascend to Higher Lifeforms and Divine Lifeforms. The number became dangerously high, forcing Michael to adjust his ns.

    ''There are several Divine Lifeforms already and more are on a good way to be born in the next few years? Fuck this shit.'' A Divine Ascension was also called Rebirth. The Awakened''s mortal shell would be shed and reced by an immortal vessel. An Awakened''s Rebirth was amazing, but Michael didn''t feel great about it right now. Every Divine Ascension of his enemy was a disadvantage.

    The Dragys might not officially be his enemies, but Michael could tell they would be. He wished for the Untamed Jungle to survive, while the Dragys wanted to burn it down. Their paths would inevitably push them closer until they would fight. Only one of them would survive at the end of the day. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Everyone needs to grow stronger. Fast!'' He didn''t know if that was a good move or a big mistake. Still, Michael copied the tome of Rune Vortex several times and offered it for sale in the Jungle Shop for a low price. At the same time, he copied Fenrir and the World Serpent''s Perfect Soul Techniques to give them to Reba. The young Awakened ¨C now ascended to a Higher Lifeform ¨C had a powerful Soul Technique and Soultrait, which Michael had also upgraded to a higher star rating. She had the means to analyze the Beast God Curses'' Perfect Soul Techniques. She might be able to use the knowledge and understanding acquired from her analysis to create simr techniques for the other Awakened of the Untamed Army.

    Even if Reba''s Soul Techniques weren''t Perfect, they would certainly be Superior ss Soul Techniques. Maybe, if she attained enlightenment, Reba would learn how to create Ancient ss Soul Techniques. That would be even better.

    Besides those two simple steps, Michael lowered the price for Soultrait Symbols, Soultrait Upgrades, Energy Stones, Artifacts, and more in the Jungle Shop. Acquiring a Soultrait Upgrade to 5-Star or higher became still difficult, but the difficulty decreased considerably. Hopefully, that was enough fuel to motivate the Untamed Awakened to train more. Power was what they needed the most. Maybe not right now, but in a few years, for sure.

    ''I have to be strong enough to fight Divine Lifeforms in a few years¡­'' Michael paled in realization.

    "You cannot postpone it much longer," Daniel said knowingly. He''d been with his brother for thest 36 hours and acted as Michael''s right hand for thest few weeks. He was growing more powerful and had already ascended to a Higher Lifeform, which was fairly simple as an existence void of impurities. Still, Danny didn''t manage to catch up to Michael. He was weaker than his younger brother and would always be. His Soultrait was powerful, but there was a limit to how much power Danny could gain from a 9-Star Soultrait. Especially as a Higher Lifeform.

    "You''re talking about that again?" Michael asked, frowning deeply, "It''s too old. Even Selena and Eren told me not to enter that ce before my Divine Ascension."

    Danny raised an eyebrow, "And you''re going to listen to them? Do you realize how nonsensical that is? I don''t want you to enter that ce at all, if possible, but I know you better than anyone. Once you''ve rescued your friends, you will risk your life for power: the power you''ll need to protect your people and the Untamed Jungle from the Dragys."

    "You will enter the Temple of the Forgotten soon."

    Michael sighed deeply but nodded. If the Dragys would reach his territory or the Untamed Jungle''s Heart ¨C which would be equally bad ¨C in a few years, two years in the worst case, and seven years to a full decade in the best case, Michael would have to make his move soon. Probably sooner than expected to acquire thebat prowess of a proper Divine Lifeforms...or be strong enough to fight multiple Divine Lifeforms simultaneously.

    ''I need to find my friends, capture and help them, advance to Tier-5, and then¡­I guess I can enter the Temple of the Forgotten¡­Fuck!''

    Michael didn''t like being forced to do something against his will or alter his ns. That became beyond annoying. But despite feeling like that, Michael''s hair stood up to its end. Not in fear¡­but excitement.

    The Temple of the Forgotten became long since overdue!

    Michael finished his business in the Origin Expanse and returned to Clearus, where his Origin Watch lit up. A message from his sister popped up.

    [Hesta Fang: I miss you brother. za.]

    Michael''s expression turned dead serious.

    The Numbers made their move!

 Chapter 909 Power Trip

    Chapter 909 Power Trip

    The Numbers were at the Gctical za.

    Michael teleported to the za with Cosmic Stride and quickly scrutinized the situation with Seer. True Vision showed him over a hundred masses of energy, all Higher Lifeforms. However, only one of them was a Curse User. It was Hesta.

    ''Where are Fera and Lig?'' Michael wondered for a moment before Seer located a familiar energy fluctuation.

    "Zeke!" Something about the Gctical za had been weird, and discovering Zeke exined everything. Zeke used his Soultrait with a powerful Soullife Arts to hide whatever the remaining Numbers were trying to do. Only Hesta seemed to be able to see through Zeke''s illusions. She was in front of Zeke and severed one of his arms with a swift attack. She was about to execute a killing blow when Michael appeared above her.

    Hesta reacted quickly and was about to attack the new arrival when she saw her brother. She stopped in her tracks and focused back on Zeke, only for a fierce mixture of a fireball and highlypressed wind, augmented by Greater Enhancement, to smash into her, hurling Hesta through the air.

    "What?!" Hesta eximed, her eyes widening in surprise. However, Michael didn''t pay any attention to his sister.

    He used Seer''s Domination to attack Zeke''s mind and dominate it. A highly concentrated mental attack of a 7-Star Soultrait was enough to knock out Zeke. Michael studied Zeke''s energy and vitals through true vision and used Greater Enhancement on River of Vigor. The enhanced serum gushed out of Michael''s hands, stopping Zeke''s bleeding before stimting the regrowth of his lost arm.

    He could have reattached Zeke''s arm if he had the time, but time was not one of the luxury goods Michael had to spare. There were still more than a hundred Numbers doing something underground.

    "Focus on the other!" Michael said domineeringly, "If you touch Zeke, I will tear you into shreds!" As Michael''s words resounded, the Beast God Curses'' halos appeared around him. A primal howl and resounding hiss rang through the Gctical za, hitting the depths of Hesta''s being. Her Curse stirred in fear and submitted to Fenrir without a second thought. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hesta''s eyes narrowed, but she silently nced at the unconscious Number. A doubt rose in her mind, and she remembered one of the faces from the pictures Michael had shown the Cleavers and their team before they departed. Hesta began to understand what was going on and why Michael had attacked her. Still, she didn''t like how easily he''d pushed her back, let alone how nonchnt his Curses overwhelmed hers.

    Michael disappeared, and it didn''t take long before one confused human after another human showed up where her brother had been standing.

    Even though Michael was not as proficient at using Cosmic Stride that way, it didn''t mean he couldn''t teleport others as he pleased. Cosmic Stride was different from the Golden Queen Bee''s position switch ability. It was superior and could create simr, if not better, results if utilized properly.

    Michael teleported to the Number after pinpointing their exact location using true vision and channeled a trace of Cosmic Stride into them using Insert. It could have been much harder, consuming more mental power and energy, but it wasn''t needed with Insert. The Numbers didn''t understand what was happening until it was already toote.

    Not even a full minute passed before all Numbers, whether they''d been working on the Gctical za''s pir or the underground runic array, showed up at the surface. Hesta stared at the Numbers and made her move. She tackled the closest Number, overwhelmed it with tremendous force, and killed him.

    When Michael returned from his little mission of ensuring nobody could change the Gctical za, Hesta had only killed eleven Numbers. Since she had no Soultraits to assault multiple enemies simultaneously, ying eleven Numbers, all Higher Lifeforms, and working together to block her charge was impressive. But Michael was a little disappointed. Hesta was strong. She had an 8-Star Soultrait, a King Curse of the Fenrir bloodline, and had already advanced to Tier-6 as well. She was one of the most promising Curse Users of the younger generation.

    But Michael was disappointed nheless.

    He conjured more than a thousand Qi Swords, coated them in Greater Enhancement, mythical mes of the Red Dragon and Elemental Empress, and trickled some of Extraction and Insert''s power on each Qi Sword. A momentter, they descended, killing half of the remaining Numbers while injuring the rest, severing their arms or impaling them. They were pushed to the brink of death within seconds.

    The scene was gory, but Michael didn''t feel bad. He''d used Mind Reader on Zeke before and had repeated the same while channeling Cosmic Stride with Insert into the other humans to ensure they were his enemies. They were members of the Supreme Human Alliance, and only some had been part of the batch whose brains had been manipted into believing that everyone fighting the Supreme Human Alliance was bad.

    Mind Reader illustrated him a few more things, which he would have loved to forget right away, but Michael kept them engraved in his mind as they continued fighting.

    "Leave one of them alive," Hesta called while moving onward to kill the remaining Numbers. She left only one of them alive, other than Zeke, and sheathed her weapon.

    Michael approached the corpses and stored them in his War Rune forter use. He approached thest living Number and stared at her. She wasn''t one of the Lesser Humans from the Tritan Alliance, but using Mind Reader on her again illustrated that the woman was from another human civilization outside the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory.

    ''How many human civilizations are there in the first ce? How can there be so many human civilizations in the first ce?''

    Michael had always been confused about that, but he had yet to find an answer. Some stated the Will of the Origin Expanse split up humans in the Old Ages to avoid the inevitable fate of the Supreme Human Alliance''s supreme ruling. Of course, the Supreme Human Alliance''s devout believers said that. Michael guessed the Supreme Human Alliance scared some humans, who then decided to leave their race behind. In his theory, these humans chose to split up and hide in various gxies across the cosmos. That might be wrong, but it sounded better than the Supreme Human Alliance''s history and theories.

    "They were all Numbers, right?" Hesta asked in doubt all of a sudden.

    "Why are you asking?" "Well¡­because of them," Hesta nodded behind Michael, who turned to see a group of what he presumed to be erus'' city guards. They approached them quickly, and various weapons¡ªincludingser cannons and other weapons that could hurt Higher Lifeforms¡ªwere pointed at them.

    "Raise your hands and stop circting energy, or we will shoot!" One of the guards at the front bellowed in amanding tone.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and looked at Hesta, who shrugged. She raised her hands and smiled.

    "We''re on official duty in the name of the Altors Union. The Numbers tried to change the G¨C..."

    "Silence! Did I allow you to speak?" The guards'' fingers moved to the triggers of their guns.

    ''Are they on a power trip or what?''

 Chapter 910 Guns

    Chapter 910 Guns

    The situation was a lot more frustrating than it had to be. The Guards pointed their guns at the Fang siblings and the woman from the Numbers. They eyed Zeke, and the blood sprawled all over the Gctical za as well, but they didn''t say anything.

    It would have been much easier if they said something. Unfortunately, the Guards remained silent and listened to their superior, the Guard, on the power trip. Thest Number made a reckless move. Something within her stirred wildly, attracting the Guards'' attention. Something on their holographic interfaces responded to the Number''s energy cirction. She moved quickly, kicked the ground, and charged to one of the massive pirs. However, aser pierced through the back of her skull long before she arrived at the pir.

    ''Good move to kill her without hesitation,'' Michael nodded at the Guards'' quick judgment because True Vision, even without additional energy supply, revealed that the Number had been doing something with her Energy Pir. It was torn apart when she died and exploded the instant thester pierced her brain. The Guards shouted and pressed a button on their gauntlets, erecting a shield wall before them. Hesta retreated from the explosion, whereas Michael was forced to move forward. Zeke was still unconscious and way too close to the exploding woman. The explosion mightn''t have hurt Zeke, but Michael didn''t want to take the risk. He teleported to Zeke, enveloped him in Cosmic Stride''s power, and teleported back instantaneously. The Guards didn''t even know what was happening when they saw Michael disappear and appear in the same instance. It was almost like he didn''t move if not for Zeke suddenly lying on the ground behind him.

    The Guards were already tense ¨C the exploding Number didn''t help them regain their cool ¨C and they released a barrage ofsers as Michael. Michael considered evading thesers momentarily, but Perfect Prediction was triggered and showed him where thesers would hit him. He allowed the Guards to shoot him, piercing his abdomen, shoulders, and legs multiple times.

    ''Sacred Constitution is not enough to block them. It looks like the Altors Union is not that defenseless against strong Higher Lifeforms. But I could have blocked them if I''d utilized Heavenly Beast Physique.'' He pondered and shrugged inwardly.

    River of Vigor activated without Michael''s doing. The healing serum coursing through him surged and healed him back to full health in a second. Thesers barely pierced him before his wound had already healed.

    The Guards stared nkly at Michael. They''d been certain the young Higher Lifeform would die from theser barrage, but he smiled at them as if nothing had happened.

    "Can we finish this mess, please? How about you check with your higher-ups and confirm with them that the Altors Union hired the Nest to remove the Numbers'' threat? If you don''t n on following the standard procedure, I will consider you enemies of the Nest and the Altors Union. I have no problem with that. The only problem is that I''ll have to report more deaths and some unavoidable casualties to your superiors." The Guard Captain was displeased with Michael''s attitude and unwilling to give in, but Michael cared little about that. He wouldn''t give them a single opportunity to take advantage of him. You want to go on a power trip? Okay, do whatever you want. But not with me! Bastard!

    The World Serpent hissed in enjoyment in Michael''s head, and even Fenrir howled proudly.

    Even though the Guard Captain was ready to shoot Michael again, the other Guards lowered their guns. They realized Michael could have ughtered them already. Most of the Guards weren''t even Higher Lifeforms. They''ve been given ess to theser guns and other equipment to kill High Awakened if necessary, but Michael could teleport several times before anyone would notice anything. Michael could teleport in their midst and kill everyone in seconds. Yet, he didn''t do that. He even let them shoot him.

    One of the Guards utilized his inte and reported the situation to the Central Defense Tower. Michael could have eavesdropped on them, but he didn''t bother. He lingered patiently.

    The Guard nodded several times and smiled apologetically, "I apologize for attacking you, Sir."

    The Guard Captain was ready to say something, but he received a call at this moment. He paled and started quivering. "Yes, Sir. Yes. No Sir! Yes¡­Yes¡­.I will return right away, Sir!"

    The Guard Captain red at Michael but turned around without another word. He left, leaving his subordinates with Michael, Hesta, unconscious Zeke, and a bloody mess.

    "Please follow me. We confirmed your identity and kill permission, but we need more information. I apologize, but you will have to follow me," The Guard, still apologetic, said.

    Hesta nodded slowly and followed behind. She stopped in her tracks, noticing Michael was doing something. A golden light filled the Gctical za. Michael had retrieved the Numbers'' corpses and utilized True Extraction on them. He retrieved over two hundred Memory Orbs and hurled them in Hesta''s direction before pointing at Zeke.

    "I won''t being with you. I will be busy with my friend here." Hesta frowned at Michael, who utilized Cosmic Stride to run for it with Zeke. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Guards looked at Hesta and the orbs levitating around her, their confusion apparent. Hesta could only sigh deeply. "Let''s go. He won''te back."

    "But we need his report as well¡­" One of the Guards mumbled, but Hesta only shrugged.

    "I think the Memory Orbs will be more than enough to satisfy your superior. If not, then nothing will."

    Hesta knew Michael wouldn''te back. Her brother was proceeding to be busy with his friend''s treatment for a while. ''Can they be saved? Selena told us to kill all Numbers because nobody seeded in treating them¡­but if it''s Michael¡­maybe it''s possible.''

    **

    Michael emerged in arge room with Zeke. The room was one of the few ces the Altors Union had prepared for the Curse Users. Michael didn''t return to this room often, but now was the perfect opportunity. It was expansive and quiet, exactly what he needed to scrutinize his friend and learn more about his condition. Zeke was still unconscious, but that might be for the best.

    Fera and Lig were still nowhere to be seen, but Michael ignored that. He first studied Zeke using Greater Enhancement on True Vision to learn about his body''s condition. Once he was sure Zeke''s regenerating arm was his only problem, Michael''s focus returned to Zeke''s mind.

    Michael utilized Domination to release weak mental and spiritual attacks. Zeke''s reaction wasckluster, which was why he performed a few more experiments revealing that the young man''s mind and soul had been influenced and altered by the Supreme Human Alliance.

    "Mind alterations shouldn''t be difficult to remove. Needle of the Lost Memories can help me with that¡­but the soul alteration is something else. What am I supposed to do with that?"

    Michael needed more information first. Michael could have removed it using True Extraction if the Supreme Human Alliance had added something to Zeke''s soul to alter it. Michael could use SouLStar Fragments and Insert to strengthen his soul and possibly heal him if they removed something.

    If it was a mixture of both¡­it would be a little more difficult.

    But Michael was confident. Somehow, he would rescue Zeke.

    Once Zeke was safe and sound, Michael could also help the others!

 Chapter 911 Blood Incursion

    Chapter 911 Blood Incursion

    Zeke''s condition was a lot moreplex than expected. First, Michael tried reading Zeke''s memories and thoughts to understand the method used to manipte and brainwash him and to learn how exactly the Supreme Human Alliance''s methods affected the targets. Unfortunately, the bits and pieces he acquired weren''t as pleasant as he hoped. ''Every victim of the Bloodline Incursion reacts differently to it. Those with pure bloodlines react drastically to the Bloodline Incursion. Only a few days passed before they epted their new fate as devout believers of the Supreme Human Alliance''s actions and everything the SHA stands for. I guess the Bloodline Incursion is more effective on beings with only one bloodline. It doesn''t have to alter much to convince them that the Supreme Human Alliance are the rulers of the universe.''

    Michael saw many Descendants in Zeke''s memories. Most Descendants of the strongest families fell victim to the Bloodline Incursion in less than a week. Meanwhile, the weaker Descendants, those from lower noble families or wealthy merchant families, took longer. Many managed to block the Bloodline Incursion for more than a month, some took more than half a year to sumb. Alice, Kaleb, Lincoln, and Zeke blocked the Bloodline Incursion for more than a year. The higher-ups of the Divine Academy couldn''t understand what was going on. They''d tested Alice, Kaleb, and the others and discovered a secret of their bloodline: that their bloodline purity was unusually high. Their bloodline purity was high enough to be certain that all of them were the descendants of the purest humans. None of their ancestors was a half-blood or tarnished by even a percentage of another race''s blood. That was unusual, but it was also something the Supreme Human Alliance was supposed to be happy about, if not for the fact that those with the purest bloodline took the longest to ept the bloodline incursion. It didn''t make sense¡­until they realized what they''d been in touch with.

    The headmaster of the Divine Academy was forced to call the Inquisitors once he managed the remnants of curse power coursing through the four Awakened. They didn''t care how much curse power coursed through them or how painful it would be to remove every trace of it. Instead, the Supreme Human Alliance''s Inquisitors did what they''d been trained for. They removed the harmful substances of their future protig¨¨es, ignoring their pained grunts and guttural screams.

    Michael continued watching Zeke''s memories but quickly realized that his friend''s memories sometimes blurred. At first, the blurry memories appeared rarely. Michael didn''t pay much attention to them since it wasn''t the first time he''d seen blurry memories of someone else. However, more blurry memories appeared as Michael progressed through Zeke''s memories.

    It all began a week after the Inquisitors removed thest remnants of curse power coursing through their bodies. The Blood Incursion worked finally, altering their memories, minds, and souls until they would move and act like they were supposed to, ording to the Supreme Human Alliance''s will.

    Michael didn''t like most of the things he saw in Zeke''s memories, but he was happy to discover that the attack on the Gctical za was Zeke''s first mission. Zeke didn''t kill any innocent people in his short life as a mind ve of the Supreme Human Alliance. The situation was bound to be different for Lincoln, Kaleb, and Alice since Zeke had been pulled away from the rest, most likely due to his unique Soultraits. His pool of abilities wasn''t very versatile, but it was perfect for controlling weak-willed entities and casting powerful illusions to cover the Numbers'' actions in the Gctical za.

    Zeke was separated from the rest, and they never reunited. That was unfortunate, but Michael had procured enough information to pinpoint a few things.

    ''I can remove one of the three conditions caused by the Bloodline Incursion without any problems. But will that help me fix the remaining issues?''

    Michael figured removing the altered memories in Zeke''s brain would be simple with either True Extraction used with its Essence or by using the Needle of the Lost Memories. The bigger problem - or problems - was the alteration of the mind and soul. Even if Michael removed the altered memories, Zeke''s current state would ensure he felt nothing but utter disgust from looking at other races.

    ''If I add memories of him working together with other races, having fun, and enjoying theirpany¡­would that work to stimte his mind, or would that cause a massive crash? I can also use Insert, Extraction, and some dirty tricks to stimte his consciousness naturally. In the worst case, I will take his powers for some time and throw him into the deepest parts of the Altors Union or back into the Tritan Alliance to live with other races. Long-term stimuli from several treatments and the constant presence of kind, helpful, and likable Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs might also help.''

    A few ideas popped into his mind. Most ideas were disregarded quickly, but more detailed ns were formed to remove the modification of Zeke''s mind. The only issue was that the alteration of the consciousness and soul were connected. If Michael returned his mind to its original state, the soul would move to return the original mind state to the altered version. The same applied the other way around.

    Michael would have to work on Zeke''s consciousness and soul simultaneously to fix the damage caused by the Bloodline Incursion. That was going to be difficult, to put it simply. After all, Michael had no idea what to do to revert the mind and soul to their original condition. Was that still possible in the first ce?

    What if he couldn''t rescue Zeke and the others? What if their condition couldn''t revert to the norm without damaging their minds and soul?

    ''If only I''m certain they cannot be rescued, I can remove a good chunk of their altered memories, nurture their Souls, and extract the altered parts with brute force. Last, I would have to do the same with their mind. Their brain wasn''t physically altered. It''s more of a mental problem. I can solve that with a Soultrait as well. Even if nobody helps me, I can create a Soullife Arts tobine Extraction, Insert, and River of Vigor to remove the chunks of their mind responsible for their disgust toward other races and everything else the Supreme Human Alliance has changed.''

    Some time had passed since Zeke had been knocked out, and he regained consciousness again. Zeke stared at Michael appreciate a stranger, "Who the hell are you?!" He cursed, jumping up while circting energy through his body. He used his Soultraits right away, ready to manifest his Artifacts to fight with his life on the line if necessary.

    "No hesitation in your actions. They did a good job removing every memory rted to me," Michael mumbled. He''d expected Zeke to have forgotten about him since he''d seen his memories, but it stung nheless. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Who gave you the Puppeteer Soultrait?" He asked.

    "How do you know what my Soultrait is called? I acquired it from the Supreme Human Alliance. They noticed my talent and contribution and chose to reward me!" "Reward you for your talent and contribution? Contribution for what?" Michael asked instantaneously.

    Zeke stared intently at Michael, anger flickering in his eyes. He would have attempted attacking Michael if not for the massive presence surrounding him.

    "Think about it. What contribution did you make to the Supreme Human Alliance to deserve Puppeteer? Try to think remember the moment they gave you Puppeteer and everything you had to do to acquire it!"

    Zeke didn''t want to listen, but using Mind Reader on Zeke helped force him to think about the days of his hard function in the SHA and the day he obtained Puppeteer. But¡­there was nothing appreciate that. Zeke clearly remembered having obtained Puppeteer from the SHA, but there was no memory rted to that. "W-what is going on?!"

    ''I think I can function with that.''

 Chapter 912 How to...

    912 How to...

    Michael spent several hours talking to Zeke, slowly forcing his friend to realize that his memories didn''t seem to fit some pieces of hard evidence. His Soultrait Symbol was one piece of evidence. Their lives in the Tritan Alliance were another. A third was that Zeke was never given time to talk with his parents. The Supreme Human Alliance said they could talk to their families. After all, they''d joined the Numbers voluntarily. Nobody forced them. It was their own will to support the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Evidently, that was nonsense. Michael noticed Zeke disliked him, which was probably a scheme of the Supreme Human Alliance, but he never attacked Michael. Michael retracted his heavy presence at some point. Zeke could have taken advantage of that and attacked him. Yet, Zeke did none of that. He sat there, listening to Michael, who continued bombarding him with questions.

    "You were born in the Tritan Alliance, a backwater gxy, so how did the Supreme Human Alliance find you?"

    "How did they notice you in the first ce?"

    "Who were you friends with before you joined the Supreme Human Alliance?"

    "Don''t you have Quinn Karta? What happened to his betrayal? Will you ept his betrayal just like that and be one of them as well?"

    "Remember the traitor organizations and what they''ve done to you."

    "What did the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs do to you to deserve your hatred? Can you describe five incidents you had with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs? Go into detail."

    "Did they allow you to chat with Lincoln or the others? Why not? Don''t you think they separated you from the rest intentionally?"

    Michael overwhelmed Zeke with questions intentionally. It would be great if he''d discovered a loophole that he could use to revert Zeke''s mind to its original state. If it worked, Michael would use his remaining SoulStar Fragments and True Extraction Essence to remove a chunk of Zeke''s Soul and heal it quickly. Maybe Zeke would suffer a little, but Michael had enough SoulStar Fragments to mend most injuries a Soul could sustain. At least, he had enough for an ordinary Higher Lifeform''s soul to be mended.

    Zeke didn''t ascend that long ago. It wouldn''t be difficult to heal him¡­if his injury was normal. His arm had regrown already, but the youth didn''t pay much attention to the weird sensation of his arm. He listened long enough to Michael in silence until he nodded slowly.

    "You are right. I cannot think of a reason to hate you or any other races. I just feel disgusted, and there is no ''why.'' That is just how I feel¡­and it confuses me. Why would I feel disgusted if I don''t know you or many other races? You said we were friends and living in the Tritan Alliance. YOu said you gave me Puppeteer and showed me other Soultrait Symbols to prove your point and power¡­but I only remember my family and friends. I don''t even remember my home or my days in the Saphirke Military Academy."

    Michael had given Zeke thousands of documents of his school days. He''d requested the Saphirke Military Academy send them all the files and recordings of the Zenovia siblings, Lincoln and Zeke. Then, he told Kraft Viton and Reba to collect information, pictures, and various other files from them as well. Their families, or those left after the Civil War, helped him with everything in their power.

    Michael had enough files, pictures, and more to prove his points, but that was where the problems started.

    Zeke understood something was wrong, but his mind and soul blocked his eptance of the hard truth. The situation got worse when the pain started. Zeke''s expression distorted in difort. It wasn''t bad at first, but his condition deteriorated quickly. The more he fought against the changes of the Blood Incursion, the worse he felt. Michael considered helping Zeke with River of Vigor''s healing serum but stopped and observed his friend. The changes of Blood Incursion started burning Zeke from the inside. At least, that was what it looked like from a true vision''s point of view. Michael saw something that looked like Zeke burned from the inside. It was probably something else, but Michael had a hard time understanding what was burning or what it could mean.

    ''Is his mind and soul decaying? Is that the Blood Incursion''s defense against those who start remembering? By starting to remember that something is wrong ¨C not even recalling his memories ¨C BLood Incursion forces Zeke to kill himself. Is that how it is?''

    Michael didn''t like what he was seeing and chose to solve the situation quickly. He retrieved the Needle of the Lost Memories and removed Zeke''s memories of thest few hours.

    His friend copsed to the ground as his memories were forcefully taken from him, but true vision reaffirmed his theory. Removing the memories from their chat was enough to stop Blood Incursion''s suicide. Seeing his friend on the ground, unconscious but looking like he was sleeping well, Michael sighed deeply. He desired to rescue his friend, but Blood Incursion seemed much moreplicated than he had hoped. But that was something he could - or should ¨C have expected. The Supreme Human Alliance wasn''t a massive force all across the universe for no reason. Their tactics and scheming were impressive enough to make an enemy out of almost everyone across the universe, survive, and continue expanding as if nothing ever happened.

    Michael was certain something bad would happen to Zeke if they found out what had happened that day. He did the only thing he thought was right at that moment. Michael installed a trace of Extraction Essence inside Zeke using Insert. It was imprinted in the deepest parts of Zeke''s body and remained dormant until Michael activated it. Once activated, Michael could locate Zeke, travel to his friend, and continue the experiments. He could have imprisoned Zeke but didn''t know if his friend would get himself killed through a mechanism of Blood Incursion.

    ''Do I have to let him go like that?'' Michael wondered.

    He didn''t feel excellent about letting Zeke return to the Numbers if other Numbers in erus were left in the first ce. Michael had just reunited with one of his friends. He''d merely discovered what happened to his friends, which conditions had been inflicted on them, and what he could potentially do to rescue them shortly. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Leaving hisrade to the Supreme Human Alliance¡­again¡­wasn''t something Michael desired to happen.

    But that was necessary, or was it not?

    "Keeping him unconscious works¡­right?" Michael stared at his unconsciousrade and studied him intently. The Blood Incursion, or whatever it did to his friend, never reacted when Zeke was unconscious. The self-destruction process stopped when he lost consciousness. Maybe Michael could make use of that.

    He nodded slowly and released a significant amount of his umted advanced healing serum to put Zeke into aa. For a moment, he thought the Blood Incursion would respond to the thick liquid membrane shrouding Zeke, but that wasn''t the case.

    "That''s good¡­ I can nourish your soul and prepare it for cutting out a good portion of itter¡­That will probably be necessary."

    Michael was not satisfied with his findings, but it was good that keeping Zeke unconscious should work out just fine. That solved many possible future problems. But, of course, it didn''t solve everything.

    Michael still had a long way before him.

 Chapter 913 Ways

    913 Ways

    Michael made some progress. At least, it felt like he did after his True Extraction Essence and some of his curse power coursed through Zeke. The True Extraction Essence and curse power helped him use his Beast God Curses'' knowledge of eons to analyze his friend''s condition.

    [This Blood Incursion is an interesting thing. It works the most efficiently on humans with a pure bloodline and alters their entire being¡­strengthening them while transforming them into devout believers of the Supreme Bloodline theory. Blood Incursion seems like a treatment used to influence the patient and transform them into higher beings. Lesser races, as long as their bloodline is pure, can transform into Elite or Superior races as long as they ovee the aftereffects of Blood Incursion.] The World Serpent hissed, not trying to hide how impressed it was.

    [One of the First must have created this. I don''t think anyone is old enough to understand the Essence of all Human races this well.] Fenrir growled in Michael''s mind. [That would exin why the Supreme Human Alliance hates Curse Users so much.]

    "Why does that exin their hatred toward Curse Users and the Nest?" Michael couldn''t follow Fenrir''s reasoning.

    [Your friend''s body is decaying because of the curse power circting through his body. The Blood Incursion is negated and blocked by curse power from its appearance. However, as the Blood Incursion has already changed your friend, negating it will kill him. Before the Blood Incursion took effect, your curse power blocked it. That''s why they had to call an Inquisitor to cleanse their Essences from your presence before the Blood Incursion worked, even though your friends have a very pure bloodline.]

    Michael nodded in understanding, but he panicked a little, hearing that Zeke''s body was decaying.

    [Don''t do anything. The healing serum works well against the decaying. There is not enough curse power inside him for Blood Incursion to decay him faster than your healing serum can heal him. If you want our help, you''ll need to keep infusing curse power into him so we can analyze his essence and devise ways to stop the blood incursion.]

    Before, Michael had felt like the Beast God Curses were merely curious about the Blood Incursion. That''s why he channeled curse power into Zeke to discover what his Curses might know about Blood Incursion. However, he didn''t expect them to feel like helping him anymore.

    [Don''t be mistaken. Fenri has an eon-long feud with the Supreme Human alliance. If one of the First created Blood Incursion, he would do everything necessary to stop him.] The World Serpent hissed while Fenrir growled again.

    [My reasoning doesn''t matter. If I can stop Blood Incursion, Michael can use curse power with Insert to attack the alterations of Blood Incursion mid-battle. Even Divine Lifeforms won''t have it easy against a precisely targeted attack of their insides with curse power¡­even less when I''m done altering his curse power. You''re going to help with that, Jormungandr!]

    The World Serpent hissed in response but said anything against Fenrir''smand. It was a good suggestion.

    ''So, the World Serpent is called Jormungandr? Fenrir and Jormungandr¡­ I see¡­''

    Michael was not sure what to think about the sibling Beast God Curses altering his curse power, but if it helped against the Supreme Human Alliance and Blood Incursion, he would ept it nheless. It would be nice to have a highly effective method to fight the Supreme Human Alliance, and the Beast God Curses could apparently help him with that.

    ''I can tell why the Supreme Human Alliance dislikes us. We''re good at destroying one of their most remarkable works.'' Michael smiled. Blood Incursion was probably one of their most important inventions. It is likely the reason the Supreme Human Alliance is where it is today.

    ''But why didn''t they annihte us yet if they''re so afraid of Curse Users?''

    [Isn''t that simple? The Supreme Human Alliance doesn''t have any mighty gods. They''re not strong enough to destroy Beast God Curses. Even King Curses cannot be eliminated easily by the Supreme Human Alliance. We will form again as long as a trace of our curse power remains. We might not know where we''ll end up, but the Will awakens Curses always in suitable bodies. The stronger a Curse''s vessel grows, the more power the vessel deprives of the Curse. Thus, the Supreme Human Alliance starts hunting them once they ascend to Divine Lifeforms. Once the vessel is dead, the Curses will be sent into the void, where they''ll regenerate until they''re back at their peak and ready to return to create another Curse User.] Jormungandr exined to Michael.

    [Jorm is right, but the Supreme Human Alliance''s n is slightly moreplex. They look out for Curse Users at all times and wait patiently until the Curse Users have grown enough to drain their Curse''s power considerably. Then, after the Curse User has grown into a somewhat mighty enemy ¨C spending decades if not centuries to acquire this power ¨C they will kill them. The Curse, deprived of some of its power, will be sent to the void for centuries, only to return to a young Awakened. The process will be repeated until the end of time, ensuring no Curse User acquires enough power to rise godhood.] Michael''s eyes widened, and understanding dawned upon him.

    "So that''s why there are only so few Curse Users and why most of them are rather ''young''? Only Selena is old." [They must have failed to eliminate Selena. Or they''re tired of her Curse and try to send it into the void for several thousands of years by killing her when she''s ascending to godhood.] Jormungandr said.

    That didn''t sound well, but Michael nodded slowly.

    "Is that also why my Ancestor was killed? Or was that actually because of the Wicked Spear Arts?"

    Do you mean Cleave Fenrir? He was a mighty fellow, and the Will would have chosen me as its Curse if not for certain circumstances. But the Wicked Spear Arts got him killed before the Supreme Human Alliance could act.]

    "You know a lot about my ancestors. Why is that?" [I know everything about those who awaken a canine Curse in the Fenrir Bloodline. I don''t know why your ancestors devoured the White Tiger, but I know all about your sister and other true descendants of the Fenrir Bloodline. I am Fenrir, after all!]

    Michael raised an eyebrow but nodded.

    "Okay¡­whatever. Let''s proceed researching Zeke and the Blood Incursion," He mumbled, only to receive a message on the Origin Watch. Only a few hours must have passed since he and Hesta finished their business in the Gctical za, but trouble awaited them there already.

    [Fera: The za was overrun. Bridges were altered. Invasion!]

    It was a short message with barely sufficient details to exin what had happened, but Michael was confused nheless.

    ''Didn''t we stop the Numbers before they could do anything? How is it possible that the Bridges were altered?''

    Michael had no idea how it was possible, but he understood that he had to do something now. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He released more healing elixir to keep Zeke in stasis and continued to heal him while the curse power collected more data. In the meantime, Michael would have to move.

 Chapter 914 Invasion

    Chapter 914 Invasion

    Michael didn''t think much. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport close to the Gctical za where Seer saw through true vision that hundreds of human High Awakened had appeared out of nowhere. It was just like Fera said in her message. The bridges of the Gctical za had been altered. But that was the confusing part because it didn''t make any sense. The Supreme Human Alliance shouldn''t have been able to alter the Gctical za''s bridges this easily.

    ''The runic arrays and pir didn''t look like that when we left!'' Michael frowned deeply and decided to use a simple tactic to discover what had happened. He unleashed Curse Fusion, teleported to a Tier-5 powerhouse with a decent foundation, and pierced with his ws through his neck. Michael used Cosmic Stride again before any human powerhouse''srades could react. He appeared in a dark alley far from the Gctical za, where he used Mind Reader, amplified with Greater Enhancement, to read the dying powerhouse''s mind.

    "You''re saying that they managed to alter the Gctical za''s bridges by weakening the defenses on erus'' side? The Numbers didn''t do anything special on this side, though. Or did they?" Michael couldn''t recall them achieving anything before he arrived. Everything had looked the same to him. Of course, that didn''t mean nothing happened. Michael was not perfect, and it wasn''t like he could see and perceive the changes in everything. He hadn''t imprinted the finest details of the Gctical za into his mind, nor did hepare everything before and after the Numbers arrived. ''Maybe they did change something.'' At this point, it didn''t matter anymore. It was a thing of the past. Michael had to respond quickly now. Fera, Lighno''vsh, and Hesta were already busy fighting the Numbers emerging in erus en masse.

    The dying powerhouse didn''t know everything, but he was knowledgeable enough to tell him that the Numbers had been appointed to conquer erus and that no other organization had been given the same mission. All invading humans were numbers!

    ''Maybe I can find Alice, Kaleb, and Lincoln!'' Michael grit his teeth. He twisted the w still stuck in the powerhouse''s neck and killed the human. His corpsended in Michael''s War Rune storage before the young man teleported back to the battlefield. However, instead of unleashing his full force immediately, Michael watched the true powerhouses first. More than a dozen Divine Lifeforms, also Numbers, had emerged from the bridges. They''d been gathered to strike Clearus and conquer the continent-sized city once and for all.

    The Divine Lifeforms of the Altors Union emerged from all over the city and charged the human Divine Lifeforms. They shed, each blow devastating big patches ofnd. The Altors Union Divine Lifeforms grit their teeth in anger and frustration, but it wasn''t like they could hold back. On the contrary, they had to go all-out to fight the Numbers. After all, the Numbers had more Divine Lifeforms on their side. They were at a numerical advantage!

    Michael noticed that quickly as well. The situation didn''t look too well, but he jumped into action nheless. Since the Divine Lifeforms were busy bashing each other, Michael acted against the other Numbers. He unleashed the upgraded version of Heavenly Beast Physique ¨C Jormungandr altered the technique to fit better to Sacred Constitution after the 8-Star Soultrait had been altered to fit the Beast God Curse perfectly ¨C and added the Soullife Arts Foundation Break, alongside several uses of Greater Enhancement. One use of Greater Enhancement was used to increase his body''s power output by 100%. The second use was needed to temporarily enhance Michael''s endurance. The third use was applied to the Sacred Constitution, and the rest to the manifestations of his Beast God Curses. Michael''s body was overflowing with power. He groaned once in pain but endured everything to kick the ground and charge ahead. A small crater formed around his feet whenever he tapped the ground lightly to push ahead and reach top speed. He demolished the surroundings more than intended, but that mattered little. Their enemies had to be killed. Destroying some properties was fine.

    His serpent fangs and ws elongated and were covered in azure mes and a thickyer of Aethyr, which extended the ws and serpent fangs even more. Michael appeared next to a Tier-4 Human, who''d been about to behead a young family going for a walk. His ws pierced the human''s eye sockets before the man reacted. He was dead and stored in the War Rune storage long before he realized that he had died.

    His Soul was saved in the Soul Grimoire, drained and released as a tiny grain ¨C a remnant of his Soul''s energy ¨C and several Soul Tears formed. Michael used the Soul Tears on many of his Soultraits and all Seals while spreading the True Extraction Domain in all directions. He didn''t trigger the True Extraction Domain to devour everything in his surroundings but focused primarily on the Tier-4 Humans, the Numbers, who were causing the most trouble. They were the most numerous and emerged from the bridges in batches of hundreds, if not thousands, at a time. The sight was shocking, to put it lightly. It was the first time Michael realized how massive the Supreme Human Alliance was and how many powerful members they had in their sight. The Numbers were just one of dozens of powerful organizations, but they already had tens of thousands of Higher Lifeforms to throw into the pits of hell. Michael was certain the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t expect most humans to return alive. Lasers shot them and were torn apart by stronger Awakened, defending erus with their lives on the line. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    In the meantime, the Divine Numbers, troubled the Divine Lifeforms of the Altors Union. Michael saw the Divine Numbers push their enemies back. The Altors Union was suppressed. Suddenly, something changed, and one of the Divine Numbers died. However, while a Divine Lifeform of the Altors Union managed to kill a Divine Number, the other Numbers demolished a quarter of Clearus. Two Divine Numbers were growing stronger as the deaths around them increased. They overwhelmed the Altors Union''s Divine Lifeforms and eliminated a pair in the next twenty minutes. Twenty minutes was much more time than Michael needed to kill many enemies. He drained the lifeforce and energy of thousands of Tier-4 Higher Lifeforms, which he then utilized to keep up the use of his Soullife Arts, Soul Technique, Greater Enhancement, and his other Soultraits while also activating Qi, Cosmic Stride, and Spheres of Elements. In fact, Michael released Fusion as well. However, instead of summoning only the Red Dragon''s leathery wings, Michael summoned its head ¨C in a smaller form ¨C alongside. The Red Dragon was too massive to be summoned into erus without attracting unwanted attention. Nheless, the Red Dragon wanted to join the battle and be of help. She was a Tier-5 mythical existence and thus strong enough to ovee ordinary Tier-6 powerhouses. That was the type of support he needed. The Red Dragon possessed enough firepower to burn a bunch of Tier-4 and Tier-5 humans to crispy corpses.

    The Dragon''s head shot out from one of his shoulders. Michael could have taken control of it, but he didn''t bother. His mental power was better utilized differently.

    It was better to use overwhelming, stronger powerhouses while the Red Dragon burned everything she pleased. That was until they discovered another familiar Awakened among the Numbers.

    ''There you are!''

 Chapter 915 Next One

    Chapter 915 Next One

    Michael found another friend among the Numbers. He was in an alley, fighting a small unit of City Guards.

    The City Guards shot at Kaleb, but he''d already used his Elemental Summon Soultrait to conjure a massive cia Golem using Frozen Nova as the Elemental''s base power. The cia Golem blocked most attacks with its body and slowed others. Once Kaleb manifested a thick Frozen Nova all over the cia Godem''s body, evensers had a hard time inflicting damage to the summon.

    The cia Golem healed all inflicted wounds near-instantaneously, allowing the summoned creature to protect its master at all times. On the other hand, Kaleb unleashed his Frozen Nova Soultrait to its fullest. A massive tsunami of icy energy swept through the surroundings, freezing everything in its path. The buildings and streets in an entire block were frozen at once. The City Guards screamed at the top of their lungs as the icy energy reached them. Even if they wore a strong suit and wielded powerful weapons strong enough to harm Higher Lifeforms, the icy mist of a Higher Lifeform''s 7-Star Soultrait was too much to handle. The City Guards'' surrounding temperature dropped rapidly, and their bodies would have followed suit, the icy energy freezing them to death when heat filled their heart and vicinity. Michael appeared before the City Guards, while the Elemental Empress used her mythical mes to work against the icy mist of Kaleb''s Frozen Nova.

    Since Kaleb didn''tpress Frozen Nova at a simple point, the Elemental Empress melted everything around her. Her presence filled the City Guards with warmth, and they nearly copsed in relief.

    "You''re in my way. How about you leave and help your people while you''re still frozen?" Michael nced back, but his expression wasn''t kind in the slightest. His eyes were like a predator''s. He stared at them like he was going to attack them next.

    "Thank you for rescuing us. We will leave this guy to you!" One of the City Guards said in a hurry. He could not stay in the presence of these powerhouses if he could avoid it.

    He saluted Michael and gestured to his people to follow him. Michaelmanded the Elemental Empress to leave some mythical mes near them, ensuring they wouldn''t be frozen solid by ident. Atst, Michael turned to his friend, who''d already prepared a wee gift. The cia Golem charged Michael while a massive ocean-blue sun conjured above Kaleb. The young Zenovia broke into a sweat, pouring a significant amount of energy into the Frozen Nova replica. ''I remember thest time you tried this. It looks much better now. You learned how to channel more energy into the nova without destabilizing it. Is that the result of ascending to a Higher Lifeform or the Blood Incursion?'' Kaleb was much stronger than he used to be. He was a Higher Lifeform now and could control his Frozen Nova Soultrait much better than before. There was noparison to his crude control from years ago. Kaleb had improved by leaps and bounds.

    But so had Michael. Michael long since ceased to be the person he used to be years ago.

    He didn''t nce at the cia Golem as the Red Dragon gathered its draconic energy to melt it with one massive dragon breath. The cia Golem continued charging Michael even as the Red Dragon''s mes engulfed the summon. It reached Michael, but the mes became stronger as the distance between them narrowed. It was the strongest right before Michael.

    The cia Golem didn''t utter a sound as it melted. Its body became liquid and evaporated, leaving behind a golem armor made from Frozen Nova''s power. The armornded on the ground with a ttering before bits and pieces melted.

    Kaleb and the cia Golem were a dream team and probably strong enough to fight the average Tier-5 powerhouse head-on. Michael sensed some strong fluctuations within his friend. He used Soullife Arts to augment Frozen Nova''s control and power output. Unfortunately, that would be of little help.

    Michael conjured a small zingnce with fire-attributed energy and the mythical mes of the Red Dragon and the Elemental Empress. Once thence was conjured, Michaelpressed it before applying a fewyers of Qi and mythical mes. Theyers of mythical mes and Qi fused into the zingnce as he applied severalyers of Greater Enhancement on it. Tenyers of Greater Enhancement were not cheap, but Michael drained the surrounding energy ¨C the icy energy spreading through the surroundings ¨C using True Extraction Domain to maintain his reserves. The zingnce rotated around its axis at Michael''s will and shot toward the massive ocean-blue sun. Thence pierced through the nova''s firstyer and cut deep into it before vanishing inside the mass of cold energy. The ocean-blue mass bulged,pressed, and expanded rapidly suddenly. Kaleb groaned in pain, but Michael ignored that. He ordered the zingnce to explode. And that was exactly what it did.

    The zingnce exploded inside the nova, destabilizing it instantaneously. Kaleb tried controlling the nova, but the small nova was not to be controlled anymore. Kaleb didn''t give up, nheless. He coughed up blood at a failed attempt and didn''t even notice how his cold-resistant body started freezing. The nova was ripped out of Kaleb''s control and exploded.

    A shockwave of frozen Nova''s horrifying power spread in all directions. It froze the already frozen buildings repeatedly and spread further¡­deeper. The adjacent blocks couldn''t escape frozen Nova''s power and were partially frozen, but the same was true for Kaleb. He couldn''t escape frozen Nova''s power as it swept through the surroundings. He was the closest to the explosion and would have been hit square in the chest, freezing the young Zenovia in one go if not for Michael. Michael had Seer activated with True Vision at all times in battle. He also augmented Seer and True Vision with Greater Enhancement to pinpoint the perfect timing to act. The instant the frozen Nova exploded was when he moved. He teleported behind Kaleb, who''d just suffered a mental bacsh from losing control of his own power and wasn''t prepared to defend against another attack. Michael unleashed Domination on his friend, attacking both his mind and soul simultaneously. Kaleb eximed in surprise and fainted.

    Michael''s energy reached out to Kaleb, shrouded him, and he used Cosmic Stride to disappear again. The entire block and parts of the surrounding blocks were frozen solid by the most potent bits of Frozen Nova''s power, but Michael didn''t particrly care about that.

    He collected Kaleb and disappeared from the battlefield. They reappeared in his small room, where Zeke was still lying.

    "Stasis should be enough for you as well, right?" Michael mumbled, looking at his old friend before shrugging. In case something unexpected happened, he inserted a trace of True Extraction Essence into the deepest parts of Kaleb''s body. Once he was done, Michael infused a small amount of curse power into Kaleb to check if his body would also react like Zeke''s. He discovered quickly that it was the case. Their bodies reacted the same to his curse power.

    ''That is good¡­ I guess. It would have been more problematic if everyone reacted differently to curse power. It would be a hassle to create several treatment methods to remove Blood Incursion''s control and return its alterations to normal. It''s good that we don''t have to do that.'' He said in his mind, putting Kaleb into a stasis-like state like he''d done with Zeke. The young Zenovia was engulfed in thickyers of healing serum from the 7-Star River of Vigor.

    Thereafter, Michael had to make a decision.

    "erus is currently at a gross disadvantage. The city will fall. The bridges of the Gctical za have been altered, and no reinforcement will be received from the Altors Union. The Numbers will soon im erus."

    Michael had to make a decision now. Would he run with his friends and escape fighting several Divine Lifeforms¡ªin the worst case¡ªor jump into battle, killing hundreds if not thousands of Elites of the Supreme Human Alliance while potentially getting discovered and attacked by several Divine Lifeforms? N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [Don''t you think the answer is obvious?] Fenrir asked.

    [You know the answer.] Jormungandr hissed annoyedly.

    Michael smiled, "Fighting a bit shouldn''t hurt. I need more SoulStar Fragments to strengthen Kaleb and Zeke''s Souls either way!"

    The siblings in his head made weird sounds that resembledughter, but the Red Dragon and Elemental Empress were also doing something to distract him simultaneously. Michael''s head was filled to the brim with noise, distracting him from the task ahead.

    ''Can y''all please calm down a little?'' The Red Dragon and Zeroa enjoyed each other''spany, but that didn''t mean they should chat loudly in his mind. They could do so in the Taming space without bothering anyone if they wanted to chat.

    The Red Dragon squealed while Zeroa apologized repetitively. Michael waved his hand dismissively and utilized Cosmic Stride to focus on the battle. He relied on true vision to locate the Divine Lifeforms and teleported to a small area filled with Numbers far away from the closest Divine Number. He relied on Greater Enhancement on Sacred Constitution and Soul Tears applied to Extraction, Qi, Spheres of Elements, Taming, Greater Enhancement, and Sacred Constitution to increase his power level drastically. Michael followed with Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, and Curse Fusion again before unleashing the fury of the Beast God Curses and his mythical creatures upon his enemies.

    The Numbers spreading through erus to kill the defenders and defenseless residents were surprised by the sudden power burst. They turned left to see Michael first, only to see a wild woman wielding a dagger and a longsword. The woman appeared human at first nce, but she had the eyes of a predator. Long, razor-sharp fangs glimmered dangerously in her mouth, and she shifted much wilder and lessprehensible than any human could.

    The beast-like human woman was none other than Hesta, using her 8-Star Soultrait while simultaneously unleashing the fury of her Curse. She fought valiantly, her de tearing through the enemies charging at her without hesitation. But something seemed off.

    [Maybe using her as our vessel would have been easier.] Fenrir pointed out, but Michael only frowned.

    ''Isn''t it a good thing if your vessel is stronger? Hesta cannot control her Curse and is thus more prone to die a stupid death in battle.'' [Yes, but I wouldn''t lose control like this Fragment. If I ever gain control of your body, you will understand what I mean.]

    ''You do realize that I will never allow that¡­right?''

    [Whatever.]

    Michael raised an eyebrow but focused on the battle ahead again. He released a burst of curse power, kicked the ground hard, and charged ahead. A momentter, the world around him was filled with zing mes. Some were purple, others were azure-blue. BUt there were also ck and pristine mes, released by the Elemental Empress. Zeroa and the Red Dragon were trying something. They experimented mid-battle.

    Under normal circumstances, Michael would have minded that, but her experiment seemed to work. The draconic energy and the Red Dragon''s natural properties to consume and convert mes worked perfectly. She could temporarily alter her natural properties, creating massive mes that fused all characteristics of the mes the Red Dragon and Elemental Empress could unleash.

    The zing mes expanded in all directions, with Michael as their center. However, instead of burning everything to cinder instantaneously, the zing mes weakened and intimidated the Numbers instead.

    Their eyes widened in terror as an abomination of what appeared like it had been human surged at them. The abomination, coated in zing mes of various colors, acted like a predator at the top of the food chain and acted just like that.

    Michael tore one Number apart and stored his body in his War Rune storage in one moment and incinerated another one to death in another second. He utilized Domination on dozens of enemies, attacking their minds and souls simultaneously, amplifying the fear that had been rooted deep in their hearts.

    Michael mutated into a beast of carnage.

 Chapter 916 Linked

    Chapter 916 Linked

    Michael maintained his calm while wreaking havoc in the ranks of the Numbers. He tore some of them apart, pierced others with Qi Swords, and used other means to weaken the Numbers to snap their necks at once. Their bodies were stacked up into little piles, which Michael collected and stored en masse. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He was unsure how much time had passed, but the Divine Lifeforms protecting erus died. They killed a few Divine Numbers but still lost at the end of the day. A significant portion of erus had been destroyed from the bout of the Divine Numbers and erus'' defenders, yet the stood strong. Michael was certain mosts in the Tritan Alliance would have copsed. They would have shattered or damaged beyond recognition. However, the same didn''t happen to the massive. It was infused with enough energy to strengthen everything. The was strong enough to endure full-blown battles with dozens of Divine Lifeforms.

    That was nice, but it didn''t matter to erus'' residents. They were ughtered like livestock, unable to escape their foes'' ws. The Numbers were merciless. They killed everyone appearing before them and didn''t hesitate to push further. Most Numbers had probably killed hundreds or thousands of innocent people since they arrived in Clearus. Thus, Michael did something simr. He killed the Numbers in the thousands. There were too many Numbers to kill, so Michael was pushed back asionally.

    Fighting several Tier-6 powerhouses simultaneously, alongside a bunch of Tier-5 and Tier-4 High Awakened, wasn''t always simple. Fighting so many strong Awakened simultaneously cost a tremendous amount of energy, soul power, and lifeforce. Fortunately, Michael didn''t have to hold back on using his Major Seals once it was obvious that erus was lost. If anything, Michael had even more reason to destroy erus now that it was bound to be conquered by the Numbers of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    He unleashed the full force of his True Extraction Domain and stretched it as thin as possible to shroud the buildings of several blocks. He devoured everything using Swallow Domain and converted it into enough soul power, lifeforce, and perfectly purified energy to continue fighting the Numbers at full power. Michael went on and beyond using Seer''s Domination and Perfect Prediction to knock out the weakest High Numbers before killing them with a simple Qi Sword or a fiery projectile released by the Red Dragon or the Elemental Empress.

    Both the Elemental Empress and the Red Dragon gave their utmost to aid Michael. They dealt well with the Tier-4 High Awakened and many Tier-5 powerhouses. Combined with Michael''s prowess and Soultraits, not even Tier-5 powerhouses could hold a candle against a mythical Tier-5 creature such as the Red Dragon and Michael. To be precise, the Tier-6 powerhouses were also at a gross disadvantage once the True Extraction Essence of a fully unleashed 8-Star Soultrait ¨C augmented by Greater Enhancement, Soul Tear, Cursed Seals, and Fenrir''s Essence ¨C entered their bodies.

    Michael imbued curse power ¨C altered and poisoned by Jormungandr ¨C into the Tier-6 powerhouses, diminishing the High Numbers even further as the curse power and poison triggered Blood Incursion''s natural defense. Michael eliminated many enemies but was too weak to deal with the remaining Divine Numbers. Maybe he could hope for a miracle or wreak his body by asking Fenrir and Jormungandr for help, but Michael was unwilling to do so. erus was not important to him. The Numbers were more important to him. And they only because some of his friends had been among the Numbers.

    However, now that Michael didn''t find Alice and Lincoln, he left. erus had been conquered, and the Divine Numbers must have noted him. Some turned his way and were about to approach. Michael left all of a sudden. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport to Kaleb and Zeke, hurled their unconscious bodies across his shoulders, and used tenyers of Greater Enhancement with Soul Tear''s potency augment on Cosmic Stride to teleport outside erus and to the opposite side of the.

    It required a few jumps with Cosmic Stride and depleted his energy rapidly, but Michael did not care. He was somewhere in the middle of nowhere when he stopped.

    "I hope the others are fine," Michael mumbled. He hadn''t seen Lighno''vsh or Fera the whole time. True Vision located Fera''s curse signature, but that was already there. He only knew that Hesta was doing fine. The High Numbers hadn''t killed her. Whether the Divine Numbers would catch her or not¡­Michael didn''t know.

    [They have a Rescue Token just like you. No need to worry.] Jormungandr said, and Michael nodded.

    "True that." Michael put hispanions down and examined them.

    "I cannot bring them to the Nest. The presence of more Curse Users would eat them alive. It doesn''t look like GPS chips or the like have been put into their bodies, but you never know what the Supreme Human Alliance has done. How am I going to bring them with me? I cannot stay here forever if the Numbers continue conquering the rest of the. The Altors Union will probably give up on this. They will save as many people as possible but won''t sacrifice their Divine Lifeforms¡­I guess¡­" [They mightmence a counterattack before the Numbers recuperate, but losing the Gctical za is a big loss. The Numbers can request reinforcement through the bridges, but the Altors Union cannot until they reim the Gctical za. They must im it or destroy the Gctical za to retrieve erus.]

    Michael nodded slowly.

    [But that isn''t your business. Let the Supreme Human Alliance and Altors Union fight each other until only a few Divine Lifeforms are left. You can get rid of both of them once they''re exhausted.] Fenrirmented.

    ''I don''t want to end the Altors Union, but I understand what you''re trying to say.'' He continued studying Zeke and Kaleb while nibbling on his lower lip.

    "They¡­should have forfeit their territories, right?" Michael asked his Curses in a mix of uncertainty and curiosity.

    [I doubt the Supreme Human Alliance allowed them to visit their territory while the Blood Incursion still influenced and altered them. Even after the Blood Incursion worked, the Supreme Human Alliance must have hesitated. After all, they don''t know who''s located near their territories in the Origin Expanse. I doubt they retained their territories this long. Our curse power shows no indication of an unusual amount of soul power or the connection to other Awakened.]

    That was good. It may not have been for Kaleb and Zeke, but it would have helped Michael solve many problems with a simple action. If they were still Lords, this would be a littleplicated. He would have to figure out where to bring them and how to check hispanions often.

    "Alright¡­"

    Since they were unconscious, it was a little bit more challenging to establish a Link of Loyalty, but it was still possible ¨C through cheating.

    Michael used Insert and bend some of the Will''s rules, nearly breaking them, but established the Links of Loyalty with Zeke and Kaleb nheless. The whole process took longer than usual, which was fine. No Divine Number was on their tail, or they would have caught up already. That was how two High Awakened got added to Michael''s Untamed Army.

 Chapter 917 Your Fault!

    Chapter 917 Your Fault!

    The Links of Loyalty with Zeke and Kaleb werepleted. The Links were weak, but that was expected from newly established Links of Loyalty, which had been forced without the other parties'' acknowledgment. It only worked because Zeke and Kaleb trusted him and probably because they were in a stasis-like state.

    Michael manifested the Runic Gate before him and retrieved two of the hundreds of Teleportation Tokens he''d umted over thest few years. The Teleportation Tokens weren''t tinum grade, but that wasn''t necessary. He pocketed them in Kaleb''s and Zeke''s jackets and picked them up. Finally, Michael stepped through the Runic Gate carrying his friends.

    The Teleportation Tokens broke as he stepped through the Runic Gate, but the teleportation worked. Both Kaleb and Zeke appeared in the Untamed Jungle.

    He teleported to the wooden manor, where he put down his friends. His eyesnded on the staff eying him in awe and curiosity.

    "Give them one of the rooms next to mine. Make sure someone is tending to them at all times. Inform me before the healing serum is used up. I don''t want them to wake up and the Blood Incursion to affect them!" Michaelmanded one of his attendants. The young attendant fled with hurried strides to prepare everything.

    Michael used thest bits of River of Vigor''s healing serum on his friends before again manifesting the Runic Gate. He returned to the war zone, where he used the Rescue Token given by Selena and the others. Clearus couldn''t be saved anymore and wasn''t willing to anchor his Runic Gate to a bound to be lost to the Supreme Human Alliance. Michael crushed the Rescue Token and was teleported back to the Nest, where he was already awaited.

    "What the hell did you do?" Fera cursed Michael when he appeared in the teleportation chamber.

    Michael noticed that he wasn''t alone with Fera. The Nest Leader, Hesta, and Eren were also present.

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about." "You know exactly what I''m talking about!" Fera stepped forward, her eyes glowing as a flood of curse power surged out of her. A primal roar and a resounding hiss escaped Michael''s lips as Fera approached him threateningly. Michael''s muscles bulged, and his eyes glowed dangerously.

    "I will consider you a threat if you take one more step closer," Michael dered in an icy voice, "And I will tear you apart. I don''t give a shit who you think you are. Threaten me, and I will show you the real meaning of terror." This time, Michael took a step forward. His hands transformed into ws, and his eye shape changed slowly.

    "How about we calm down a little?" Eren asked while the Nest Leader scrunched her nose. They sighed deeply.

    Michael ignored Fera, who was still fuming in anger, and looked at Selena.

    "I understand it''s problematic. Clearus was conquered. The Numbers will probably im the entire in the near future. But why is that kid so angry at me?" He pointed at Fera, who lost her control.

    "You''re the reason they managed to alter the Gctical za''s runic array in the first ce. Of course. I''m angry at you!" "Are you dumb?" Michael asked dead-serious, "I captured and killed the Numbers, who''d attacked the Gctical za faster than anyone else could have done. In the first ce, where were you and Lighno''vsh?!" Fera grit her teeth but doesn''t say anything when Selena raises her hand to stop the feral woman.

    "Go and rest. Or train with Hesta if you''re too agitated to rest."

    "But¨C..."

    "LEAVE!" Fera pressed her lips together and nodded unwillingly. She red deadly at Michael before leaving the teleportation chamber. Hesta followed behind, holding her right arm. She seemed injured, but nobody paid attention to that.

    "What exactly is going on? I killed more than two thousand Numbers out there, yet Fera is saying I''m at fault for this mess? Even though I captured my friend instead of killing him, I made sure to take out the rest. I even looked at the Gctical za and didn''t notice anything amiss. Of course, I didn''t inspect everything in detail, but the City Guards arrived too soon. They told Hesta toe with them ¨C well, both of us, but I made a run for it ¨C but they didn''t leave us any time to check anything." Eren sighed, "Unfortunately, it''s not that simple. Apparently, there were more groups of Numbers in erus, and they acted simultaneously. You and Hesta managed to eliminate one of them, but they released a signal to the other groups, who arrived after you and Hesta left. Fera doesn''t me Hesta because she was brought back by the City Guards but said you should have separated business from your private problems."

    "So she is angry because I did exactly what I''ve been stating I would do when I find my friends?" Michael asked, sounding much calmer than before. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Selena didn''t even look at Michael at this point, "I think she is more angry at herself. She saw how many Numbers you managed to kill after everything went south and is angry that she had to use the Rescue Token before you. There are probably a few more issues, but she says it''s all your fault for trying to rescue some Numbers." Michael shrugged. It didn''t matter what Fera thought of him. He did what he said he would and doesn''t regret it. If she wanted to condemn someone, she might as well me herself for being this weak at her age.

    "And what do you think?" Michael thus asked Selena.

    She lifted an eyebrow and looked back at Michael.

    "I cannot really condemn you for doing what you did because you announced it early enough, but the timing was unfortunate. They must have expected some members of the Nest and prepared the first attack to move the City Guards. The remaining Numbers moved once the Nest members were forced to leave the Gctical za. That was smart of them. It was probably not within their calctions that you wouldn''t go with the City Guards, but that didn''t matter at the end of the day. It doesn''t change whether you went with Hesta to exin the situation to the Defense Ministers or utilized hours trying to rescue your friend." Eren nodded, "I don''t condemn you either. If anything, it''s good you got one of your friends back¡­However, it is not easy to break whatever the Supreme Human Alliance did to them." "I got two back, not just one," Michael said with a smile, exining everything in detail. Selena and Eren''s eyes widened at some point, and they looked at each other.

    "It makes sense why the SHA hates us so much. We are their natural enemies. I should have expected that. Especially their hatred and fear toward me," Selena smiled, but it wasn''t a nice smile. She looked like a predator ready to burn down the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Michael nodded slowly.

    "If that''s all, I would like to leave. I have a few Numbers to extract."

    The Nest Leader waved at him dismissively.

    "Just go. Either way, I cannot keep you here even if I want to."

    Michael smiled and manifested the Runic Gate before him.

    He reverted to the Origin Expanse, where he could withdraw the Numbers in silence.

 Chapter 918 Not the Same

    Chapter 918 Not the Same

    Michael used True Extraction Essence on the 2512 Numbers he had killed and collected. The corpse pile was massive and looked like the remains of a devil''s ritual, but not even a full hour passed before Michael was done extracting the SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, Memory Orbs, and the like.

    He collected more than 5,000 Memory Orbs with which he could focus on the Blood Incursion and the Numbers'' memories rted to it. Michael was ready to consume all 5,000 Memory Orbs and learn as much about the Blood Incursion, its effects, and how it affected the body, mind, and soul after it was in effect for a long duration. Michael was curious and didn''t have to worry about being negatively affected by the memories. He had the Needle of the Lost Memories to use if something went wrong.

    However, before he consumed the Memory Orbs, Michael collected the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols. He managed to procure 2,000 SoulStar Fragments using the True Extraction Essence. The probability of extracting a Soultrait was much higher than it used to be. That was Michael''s greatest fortune, especially when extracting SoulStar Fragments.

    Extraction was an 8-Star Soultrait at this point, and its Essence,bined with the active Cursed Seal - and Major Seal - increased the mass of SoulStar Fragments he could extract at a time. Meanwhile, Greater Enhancement elerated the process.

    That was how Michael ended up procuring 5,150,000 SoulStar Fragments from the Numbers. The majority of Numbers were Tier-4 High Awakened, but there were many Tier-5 and Tier-6 powerhouses among the corpses. Michael went on and beyond to kill as many Numbers as possible and procured a massive fortune.

    Five million SoulStar Fragments were enough to upgrade some of his Soultrait Symbols to 8-Star and push the rest of his Soultraits to 7-Star, but Michael didn''t rush anything. He had to strengthen Zeke and Kaleb''s souls if he wanted to get rid of Blood Incursion soon.

    He stored the SoulStar Fragments first and put the Soultrait Symbols away. After that, Michael consumed the Memory Orbs while allowing the Beast God Curses to watch the Numbers'' memories.

    5,000 Memory Orbs weren''t consumed and digested quickly, but Michael was in no rush. He spent the next few days on the Memory Orbs. There was no need for any sleep as he entered a dream-like state while watching the deceased''s memories. Once he and his Curses digested thest Memory Orb, Michael used the Needle of the Lost Memories to remove all unnecessary memories before going through the important pieces a second time. [You should watch the memories of Xax Lerion, Meliodas Nimbus, Phillip Kesh,...,...,... a third and maybe fourth time.] Jormungandr said when Michael was done with the second rewatching. He groaned, but since Jomungandr was serious, Michael followed the advice of the World Serpent.

    Michael rewatched their memories again and noticed what Jormungandr must have seen the first or second time.

    "You think it won''t be possible to revert them to their original state because too much time has passed? But others don''t have the same resources as we have!"

    [Others will never be able to seed, but we have good chances. Our chances of reverting everything to normal are close to zero, yet because we have so many resources others will never have ess to, we might be able to get rid of the Blood Incursion. You will have topromise. Either you kill them trying to return everything to how it used to be, or you grasp the opportunity to get rid of Blood Incursion. Thetter will destroy a lot, but we can reduce the damage to a minimum if we''re patient and meticulous. That will require lots of resources, but it should be possible.]

    "Do you support Jormungandr''s opinion, Fenrir?" Michael asked, feeling conflicted. If possible, he would love to get his friends back. He hoped they would be just like they used to be. However, Michael was also unwilling to harm his friends intentionally, knowing they wouldn''t recuperate from the damage he''d caused.¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [Jormungandr is very optimistic about this. Until now, we didn''t even know the exact name and effects of the method the Supreme Human Alliance uses to brainwash unwilling human targets into devout believers of the Supreme Human Alliance''s beliefs. Most devout believers would kill themselves long before anyone could contain and question them. Yet, you did it in a far more simplistic way than I expected to be possible. Still, rescuing your friends won''t be easy. We studied them intently for a while now, but I''m still not confident. It should be possible to rescue your friends, but they will sustain some damage. Even strengthening their Souls using SoulStar Fragments alone won''t be enough. There has to be more¡­or you''ll have to invest a lot more to prepare them for the worst.]

    Michael paled a little but nodded. He didn''t like where this was going, but it wasn''t like he would give up. It was way toote to give up now.

    "Okay¡­ What can we do then?" Michael asked, his eyes glimmering with determination.

    **

    Experimenting.

    They had to do that because nobody had cleansed the Blood Incursion before. It was everyone''s first time, and they had to find a loophole to start with.

    Killing the numbers affected by the incursion was much easier than spending weeks or months experimenting, but it wasn''t like killing Zeke, and Kaleb would bring them back to him. He didn''t want them to end like the other Numbers.

    He and the Beast God Curses worked hard. They first strengthened Zeke and Kaleb''s Soul, spending hundreds of thousands of SoulStar Fragments. The procedure was slow because He had to use Insert to channel the SoulStar Fragments inside his friends while the advanced healing serum kept them in aa. As they strengthened Zeke and Kaleb''s Soul, they also worked on their minds. They strengthened their minds while slowly working on their brains and minds using curse power andyers of Greater Enhancement on River of Vigor to create the most potent healing serum. Slowly, the curse power altered their minds while the highly potent healing serum healed all potential damages.

    It took a few experiments until the trio discovered a specific way to alter the mind without informing the soul that something had changed. It seemed tricky at first, but the solution was a lot more simplistic. They were still in aa, and the soul and mind had thus a much harder timemunicating. He and the Beast God Curses made it even harder for them tomunicate.

    The soul was kept busy growing stronger by fragments while the Beast God Curses altered the mind. Several months passed in the blink of an eye. A few experiments failed, but each failure pushed them closer to a solution. After a few months passed, their souls were strong enough. Michael started using the needle to remove all unwanted memories before they cut a portion of their souls out of their bodies.

    This step was the most dangerous, and Michael''s nearly died. If not for their drastic countermeasure, the situation would have gone south, and both Zeke and Kaleb would have died.

    Fortunately, they seeded. More or less.

 Chapter 919 Not the Same II

    Chapter 919 Not the Same II

    Michael had to give Zeke and Kaleb another Soultrait Symbol to fill the gap caused by the chunks of the souls he and Fenrir had cut out of them. The process was not as delicate as Michael hoped, but it worked better than anything else. Filling the gaps with a 5-Star Soultrait Symbol and infusing more SoulStar Fragments into them seamlessly to tend to the woundsz. If not for that, both Zeke and Kaleb couldn''t be saved. Their situation was already bad as it was. The Blood Incursion worked stronger on them because their bloodline wasn''t tarnished. They were pure humans, which amplified the effects of blood incursion. Thus, chunks had to be cut out of their souls, and the Needle of Lost Memories had to be utilized more often than Michael had wished. That was not only annoying but caused some trouble as well. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The first few attempts to help his friends failed miserably. Both nearly died, and Zeke was in a quasi-dead state for three months. Michael had to take care of the pair of friends with great intensity to heal them. But simultaneously, Michael practiced Rune Vortex with a tremendous amount of energy. He''d purchased enough highly graded Energy Stones to push himself closer to Tier-5. Simultaneously. Michael had to stay informed about the movements of the Supreme Human Alliance and the Numbers. In the months he spent caring for Zeke and Kaleb, many things happened. First, the Cleaver of the Nest was still killing many of the Numbers at the border while erus and the rest of the had been conquered. The Altors Union abandoned the, just like they''d predicted.

    Most residents of the Altors Union were shocked to lose erus, but they remembered that the Great War with the Supreme Human Alliance had already caused far more pain. It had just been decades since the Supreme Human Alliance seeded with arge-scale attack like this.

    Putting Clearus and the Altors Union aside, Micheal was also busy in the Nest. He was barely getting any sleep, but that was fine with his current situation. He was already at the Peak of Tier-4 and possessed enough Soultraits to decrease his need for sleep even further. Fera was still annoying, but Michael didn''t mind her. She was too insignificant for him to pay special attention to her. However, he had to give her one thing: Fera was very loud and expressive for someone who took hundreds of years to advance to the 5th Tier. Michael was unsure where she got the guts to be this nasty, but that was who she was. A nasty little girl.

    Putting Fera aside, Michael trained with Hesta after a short internal debate. He chose to improve his weapon mastery with Hesta''s help and learn more about the Nest and the universe''s powerhouses. The intel he acquired from his sister was tremendous. It outweighed the downsides of meeting his parents now and then. His mother tried talking to him multiple times, but Michael told her not to bother him anymore. If possible, he would cut ties with them. Unfortunately, everyone lived in the Nest. Ignoring each other was possible, but only if both parties actively ignored one another. That worked perfectly with his father, but his mother didn''t seem to get the note. She didn''t want to ept the bitter truth.

    Michael ignored her, but the same couldn''t be said about Daniel.

    His brother chose to emerge from the Origin Expanse and expose himself to the Curses of the Nest to talk to Hesta and their parents. Daniel Fang chatted with Hesta more often, and they also had an asional spar. It was only a short session because Daniel could still not fight Hesta head-on, but Danny improved quickly. He also talked a lot to their parents but stayed distant from them. Michael didn''t know how Daniel was doing that. He didn''t care too much, either. Thest thing Michael wished to do was stop his brother from doing what he truly wanted. Daniel Fang was old enough to make his own decisions and to suffer once he realized that their parents hadn''t improved¡­.that they had gotten worse than before.

    Instead of minding their parents and how they tried to make up for theirck of interest, love, and intimacy with Daniel ¨C only to pursue various goals for their benefit ¨C Michael focused on Zeke and Kaleb.

    Slowly but steadily, Michael noticed some improvement in their condition. Over several months, his friends were saved. It required more time and resources than expected, especially the use of hundreds of thousands of SoulStar Fragments, as they had to cut out more chunks of their Souls than expected, BUT it worked.

    Michael could remove the advanced healing serum and wake his friends from aa.

    They woke up and were mostly back to their usual selves¡­mostly.

    Their condition was still not perfect, and it would take several months to get back to their peak, but they were alive and awake, and no Blood Incursion pushed their minds and Souls to revert to the monsters they''d be. Still, some of their memories were missing. Big chunks of their memories were distorted or missing entirely. That was one of the many downsides Michael discovered when he was forced to use Needle of the Lost Memories on others. He couldn''t locate every memory perfectly and had to remove them more generously to ensure that Zeke and Kaleb wouldn''t remember anything of their time in the SHA''s control or thereafter.

    There were some other issues Michael encountered but he dealt with them fairly easily. That left their memory losses as the biggest issue of the method he and the Beast Gods had used to cure Zeke and Kaleb.

    One of the advantages was that neither forgot everything about their families, friends, or Michael. They had only some massive gaps in their memories but didn''t forget anyone important¡­or they just didn''t remember¡­ Michael hoped that they would not just forget someone important whom he didn''t know about. If that was the case, Michael would hate himself a little. But then again, a little sacrifice might be needed to push Zeke and Kaleb away from the Supreme Human Alliance''s influence.

    One way or another, Michael was satisfied with himself. He was happy to have saved Zeke and Kaleb. Their memory loss could be filled with their records, files, and images he had been given by their families and friends. Kaleb and Zeke would slowly but surely learn everything they''d forgotten.

    His friends were with Michael, and the thunderous storm of their emotions was clear. They hated the Supreme Human Alliance for everything they''d done to them and were unwilling to leave it at that. Zeke and Kaleb lusted for revenge. Staying by Michael helped them grow stronger and procure more Soultrait Symbols and Upgrades. Thus, they didn''t even mind Michael establishing the Links of Loyalty with them. If anything, it made many things easier. Michael could help them grow even stronger.

    Meanwhile, he could also help himself grow much stronger.

    Michael Fang advanced to Tier-5 shortly after his friends regained their consciousness.

    The Temple of the Forgotten was already waiting for him.

    [End of Volume 15]

 Chapter 920 Trials of a Fallen God

    Chapter 920 Trials of a Fallen God

    Michael''s preparations to enter the Temple of the Forgotten were simple. He upgraded his Seer Soultrait to 8-Star and Mind Reader to 7-Star, using most of his remaining SoulStar Fragments. It wasn''t enough to push Sphere of Elements to 7-Star, but Michael had to live with that.

    Interestingly, Mind Reader evolved into a stronger Soultrait once it reached 7-Star. It evolved into Mind Watcher, a Soultrait that protected Michael''s mind from mental attacks while also elevating the Mind Reader''s portion to a new level.

    Michael was more than satisfied with the abilities he gained from upgrading Mind Reader. It was worth upgrading the Soultrait. However, even more valuable was Seer. The more he could see with his 8-Star Soultrait, the easier his time in the Temple of the Forgotten would be. He would easily see through traps and discover enemies long before they appeared before him. He prepared enough proviant to keep himself and his people fed for years. Michael couldn''t tell how long they would have to stay in the Temple of the Forgotten or if it was possible to leave midway, so he prepared for the worst case. Contrary to what he wished for, Tiara, Lilica, Hiraku, and nearly 100 Subordinates and subjects were unwilling to leave Michael behind. They didn''t want him to enter the Temple of the Forgotten alone.

    Michael was ufortable with that, but the Subordinates and subjects didn''t care. Unwilling tomand his people against their wills in such a case, Michael gave in. He allowed them to follow him.

    After several days of preparing proviant and other misceneous items, Michael and his group walked past the Underground Forging Hall to enter the Temple of the Forgotten. The half-covered temple that had been imed by nature and the curse of time appeared before them. Moss and vines covered the ancient stones, reiming them with their emerald embrace. The temple''s weathered facade told the tales of a forgotten civilization, its intricate carvings whispering stories of a long-bygone era.

    Moss-covered statues, a few broken and weathered, towered around the temple, guarding it from outside invaders as they looked down at the old ¨C mostly covered ¨C stone path leading to the temple''s entrance at the top.

    Michael''s lips curled into a smile. He felt himself with a sense of reverence looking at the temple, but it wasn''t as bad as it used to bepared to years ago. It was still like the spirits of the Untamed Jungle were still lingering within and around the temple''s moss-covered stones, beckoning him, but that didn''t frighten him any more. On the contrary, Michael was excited at the thought of entering a ce filled with the spirit of the Untamed Jungle. Maybe, just maybe, the Untamed Jungle and the Temple of the Forgotten were connected through more means than he and the others had been thinking.

    The thought of collecting something from a civilization that had been connected to the Untamed Jungle was exciting. Michael eyed the stone path leading to the entrance at the top of the temple and made the first step.

    Thest time he tried ascending the flight of stone stairs, Michael had been taken by surprise. A heavy pressure had descended upon him, preventing the youth from getting close to the entrance. The pressure didn''t appear this time. Michael ascended the old stairs as if there had never been any pressure. "Don''t leave us behind, my Lord!" A groan escaped from behind. Michael turned around and noticed only now that Tiara, Lilica, and the rest were struggling to reach him. Hiraku and others were at the front, but they couldn''t speak a word. Every movement required a tremendous amount of energy¡­ energy they couldn''t spare if they wanted to reach their Lord and Master. Michael tilted his head, taking a moment to realize what was happening.

    ''The Untamed Jungle epted only me, right? It epted me as the Lord of my territory, as a part of the Untamed Jungle.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [I think that''s the point. The pressure might also be there to test those who haven''t been acknowledged, but as someone who has been acknowledged, you don''t have to fight through the pressure.] Fenrir pointed out.

    [That''s why you don''t have to be a Divine Lifeform. If you were a Divine Lifeform, you could block the pressure and easily reach the entrance.] Jormungandr added.

    That wasn''t what Michael had expected, but he nodded slowly. If the Untamed Jungle epted him and allowed him to enter the Temple of the Forgotten, it could only mean he met all requirements toplete the trials that awaited him. At least, that was what Michael hoped for.

    [At least, it shows that the Untamed Jungle and the Temple of the Forgotten have a closer connection than you initially thought.] Jormungandr hissed.

    ''That is true. I wonder what awaits me.

    [The trials of a Fallen God.] Fenrir said as if it was a matter of fact. The Curse spoke confidently, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

    ''The trials of a Fallen God? A God created the Temple of the Forgotten?!'' [Yes, well. To be fair, I am unsure what I''m sensing from this ce. The entire Temple of the Forgotten is connected to the Untamed Jungle, but there is more to it. I sense something familiar but cannot grasp what it is.] Jormungandr hissed, annoyed that it could not tell what was so familiar about this ce.

    [I can sense some familiarity as well. It''s a godly existence, but it feels different from the divinity infused into the Temple of the Forgotten. It''s more like something is¡­restrained.]

    The sibling Curses chatted briefly about their perception and the like while Michael returned to his people. However, he was blocked once he was about to arrive next to Hiraku. An invisible barrier appeared around the Temple of the Forgotten, blocking Michael from returning to his Subordinates, leaving the temple''s entrance area.

    ''So¡­I have to enter. There is no other way around.''

    He nodded slowly and sent his people a short message via Whispering Energy.

    [Take care of the territories while I''m away. I left the SoulStar Fragments and everything else I didn''t need in the ancient ruins in the Jungle Shop. Hiraku has permission to use the Jungle Shop and alter some prices if a war breaks out. Y''all can take Soultraits and Upgrades as much as you want if it''s necessary to deal or stall with our enemies. Don''t worry, I will be back¡­soon.]

    Michael had no idea how long it would take until he returned, but he was feeling bad. It might take longer than he was hoping for.

    He nodded slowly to himself and returned to the entrance at the top of the temple.

    After taking a deep breath, Michael pressed the stone door with considerable force to open it. However, a magic circle stretched across the entire temple instead of creaking open.

    One moment, the Temple of the Forgotten was there, and in the next moment, it vanished into thin air¡­alongside Michael.

    **

    Sealed in the deepest parts of the Untamed Jungle, a pair of eyes shot wide open when the Temple of the Forgotten disappeared.

    "It''s happening!" It spoke hoarsely in an ancientnguage, only to narrow its dead eyes as it sensed something oddly familiar. "...Brothers?"

 Chapter 921 Back to Zero

    Chapter 921 Back to Zero

    A pristine light enveloped Michael, shrouding the changes around him. But he paid little attention to that in the first ce. He was more affected by the changes happening to his body, mind, and soul.

    He¡­was growing weaker.

    His Soultraits were sealed individually, and his Energy Pir narrowed until it was only a fraction of what it used to be. Even his War Rune storage was empty and only a portion of what it used to be.

    Michael returned to his old self as a Tierless Awakened. But this time, something was different. This time, Michael was a wed Awakened. He didn''t manifest a Soultrait. He was Soultraitless, Tierless, and his War Rune storage was empty. Only his Aethyr remained, though weakened due to theck of energy inside him.

    No, the Aethyr wasn''t all he had left. His connection to the Beast God Curses was still there¡­just much fainter than ever since he awakened Fenrir. Only one Cursed Seal and one Serpent Seal were unsealed and ready to be used. However, even the curse power coursing through him was minuscule.

    "Fenrir? Jormungandr? Can you hear me?" Michael asked, but nobody answered. He panicked a little, feeling oddly lonely for the first time in years. It was the first time he was truly alone. That bothered him much more than he was willing to acknowledge to the Beast God Curses. Still, despite being alone, Michael calmed down in the next few minutes. The pristine line enveloping him disappeared, revealing a massive forest. Towering trees much bigger than the trees in his territory surrounded him. Some were hundreds of meters high, blocking the sun through their thick canopy. Only a few rays of light shone through the canopy, dimly illuminating the surroundings. The bushes and smaller trees were also massivepared to what Michael was used to. However, the most shocking was the energy permeating everything. There was so much energy. It waspressed and far more pure than anything Michael had ever sensed.

    He swallowed hard and absorbed the energy, hoping to regain some of his power quickly. He couldn''t use Extraction to absorb the energy subconsciously, but he had his old techniques, such as Rune Vortex, to use. The Cursed Seal was still present, but activating it instantly drained his curse power reserves without granting any major benefits. The Cursed Seal might be powerful if used together for a long duration or with Extraction, but a quarter of a second wasn''t enough to unfold its effect.

    Michael cursed quietly, but he moved. His eyes settled on arge fruit tree that appeared oddly simr to one of the trees in his territories. Since he was familiar with the tree, Michael climbed it to retrieve its fruits. He provided attention to potential enemies while collecting the fruits. His War Rune storage was small but big enough to contain enough fruits for a few days.

    Since his Tier had reverted to Tierless, Michael wasn''t as resistant to his needs as he utilized to be. He was back to being an ordinary mortal. That was all he was.

    Unfortunately, the monsters of the jungle, which had never been touched before ¨C or so it looked like ¨C weren''t like that. The monsters were strong, and they found a weak target to fill their stomachs. A fully matured Gem Jaguar emerged from the thicket. It sniffed in the air and stared right up the tree Michael had climbed a moment ago.

    ''You are much bigger than the Gem Jaguar version I know. Are you still a Tier-1 Monster?'' Michael''s mind was rattling. He had a faint idea of where he was and what was going on, but he was unsure whether he liked the answer or was supposed to throw a fit at the Temple of the Forgotten to remind him what the Untamed Jungle used to look in its prime.

    How it looked like when no Lord had destroyed the Untamed Jungle just yet.

    ''I made sure to live with you and not to destroy you. Everything I''ve destroyed was repaid with enough nutrients to grow stronger than you utilized to be!'' Michael swore in his mind while essing the Aethyr in his Soul. Since his Soultraits were sealed, his Soul Sphere was also sealed. That shed a little with the Aethyr, which was also primarily connected to his Soul Sphere, but it worked out¡­somehow.

    The Gem Jaguar was skinnier than most of the Gem Jaguars Michael had been in the past, but it was much bigger. It was probably one of the older kin who had been exiled due to sickness or old age. Of course, that was just one of Michael''s thoughts. The thoughts shed through his mind, but it encouraged Michael, which was all that mattered. He gathered his bits of courage and stared straight into the deadly eyes of the massive monster.

    It sensed his Tier, eyed his teeth, hands, and feet, and tilted its head. Its prey didn''t have any weapons. A snarl escaped the Gem Jaguar''s mouth and driven by hunger and the thirst for blood, it pounced on the tree and climbed quickly to reach Michael and tear him apart.

    Michael released a curse. He felt naked without his Soultraits, curse power, and all of his Seals to activate, but there was no escape for him. Michael had to face the creature head-on¡­alone.

    He grit his teeth and waited until the Gem Jaguar reached his branch. He squatted, but his entire body was tense. His muscles bulged, ready to go at the Gem Jaguar in one move. The Gem Jaguar had to twist its body and kick the thick tree trunk to reach his branch. That was when Michael moved.

    He dashed forward while essing his Aethyr. A ive appeared in his hand. He swept it down while using the curse power umted within the Serpent Seal to activate it for a quarter of a second. His body burst in power, confirming Michael''s guess. Even though his Soultraits and Curses were sealed, Jormungandr was still linked to Sacred Constitution. Activating the Serpent Seal increased his physical strength, even if only for a quarter of a second. It was enough to strike the Gem Jaguar''s skull. The ive impacted next to therge gemstone embedded in the Gem Jaguar''s skull. It crashed down heavily, cracked the Gem Jaguar''s skull, and was about to do more damage when the Gem Jaguar''s ws were about to reach him. Michael swore and jumped to the side while Aethyr was still activated. The ive transformed into a hook with a silvery rope coiled around Michael''s hands. Michael fell, but the rope slowed his descent. Instead of falling ten meters to the ground and breaking all bones in his body, Michael settled a little softer. His ankles hurt, and he was hurled into a nearby bush, but the Gem Jaguar had a much worse fate. The hook dug deeper into its skull when Michael''s whole weight pulled it down. The monster lost all bnce and fell to the ground. It swung around, but the damage to its skull must have been more extensive than Michael had expected. The Gem Jaguar didn''t fall smoothly onto its legs. Instead, it stumbled and fell to the side.

    The fall wasn''t enough to kill the monster, but it was momentarily stunned by the damage done to its head and the shock spreading through its body. Michael reacted fast. He charged ahead with a spear forming from Aethyr and thrust it deep into the Gem Jaguar''s chest. He hit its heart precisely and prated it in one go. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The creature died¡­.and dispersed into a flood of glowing particles that shot toward Michael, where they waited for new orders.

 Chapter 922 Rising Star

    Chapter 922 Rising Star

    "What am I supposed to do with this?" Michael asked, his eyes closed to inspect the flood of glowing particles spreading through his body. The particles were energy¡­butpressed and far more pure than the energy in the surroundings. Using the energy to refine his War Rune would push him closer to the 1st Tier.

    "This is much more energy than I''m supposed to obtain from an energy influx. Is that what this trial is all about?" He was unsure, but that didn''t know Michael had no idea who to ask. He could ask the Beast God Curses!

    Their connection was a lot weaker than it used to be, but Michael noticed something when the glowing particles spread through his entire body. The artificially sealed Seals, the Soul Sphere, and his Soultrait Symbols reacted and glowed dimly when the energy particles brushed past them. Michael didn''t think long and channeled the energy particles into some Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals.

    The energy particles were potent enough to strengthen the unlocked Seals and remove one artificial seal on Cursed and Serpent Seals. Once unsealed, more curse power coursed through Michael''s body. However, that was only the start. His connection with Fenrir and Jormungandr strengthened again. He could hear their voices again.

    [The Trial of Regression. Annoying.] Fenrirmented when he noticed Michael could hear them again.

    [Probably time-based as well. If you don''t manage to unseal the Soul Sphere, Soultrait Symbols, and our Seals, you will leave this ce weaker than you used to be.]

    "So¡­.you know what this is?" Michael asked.

    [It''s a fairlymon trial to test Demi-God and see if they''re fit to attain godhood or if they managed to advance to the Peak of a Divine Lifeform through nepotism. They might ascend to godhood within the Trial of Regression if they''re talented and experienced enough. However, many Demi Gods regress to ordinary Divine Lifeforms in the Trial of Regression. They regressed to the 7th Tier and spent centuries recovering from their losses.] Fenrir exined.

    "Okay¡­that sounds good and bad, depending on your situation¡­" Michael tilted his head, "I guess I''ll have to use the glowing particles and the purity of the Primordial Untamed Jungle''s energy to unseal my Soul Sphere, Soultrait Symbols, and Seals¡­but I don''t know how much time I have for that."

    [Usually, the Trials of Regressionst over a decade, but I think the Temple of the Forgotten adjusted your time ording to your rank and Tier. If I''m not mistaken, you will have a year, maybe a little longer, to regain your power and grow stronger than you used to be. If you fail to reim your power, you will emerge weaker than you used to be from the first trial.]

    "One year?" Michael asked, ''That is not a lot¡­but the artificial seals restraining my Soultraits and the once-active Seals are not strong. The Energy Pir doesn''t seem to require as much energy as it used to. I don''t think I have to gain my Tiers a second time¡­It''s more like iming the power I once possessed. No roadblocks or thresholds will block me from advancing and ascending.''

    He nodded slowly.

    "Can you use Sacred Constitution''s energy absorption and True Extraction''s Aura even if the Soultraits are inactive? If it''s possible, please do that. I want to use Rune Vortex while searching for more prey to hunt." [It won''t be as effective as you''re used to and will drain your curse power, but it''s possible. Try to activate Sacred Constitution and Extraction quickly, though. The sooner you unlock them, the easier it will be for you to advance using Rune Vortex and the like.] N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael was aware of that. He nned to unlock his main Soultraits first, in the first ce. Extraction and Sacred Constitution would push hisbat prowess to another level. But first, Michael had to search for more prey to hunt.

    ''The Gem Jaguar didn''t know how to attack me. It didn''t seem stupid, but I was surprised I didn''t have ws. The monsters in this region must not know humans or other bipedal lifeforms using weapons. I should be able to take advantage of that, right?''

    Michael formed a longbow using Aethyr and experimented with the little energy absorbed into his energy pir. He channeled the energy through his arms and condensed an energy arrow. Since his energy control had always been high, Michael didn''t have a hard time condensing the energy arrow, but it was a little challenging to condense and maintain the arrow while practicing Rune Vortex. Michael was unwilling to give up his advantage of absorbing energy while walking around. It would be best if his Tier advanced while he was walking around. The stronger he was, the easier it would be for him to push past Tier-5 in one year.

    ''There are no thresholds to break until I advance to Tier-5, and I don''t have any Soultraits activated. Without several high-ranked Soultraits increasing my War Rune''s energy demands, I can advance to Tier-5 several times faster than I used to.''

    The biggest advantage of his current situation was not only that his Soultraits were sealed - decreasing the energy required to advance to the next rank and Tier ¨C but he didn''t have to cleanse any impurities or undergo the High Ascension either. His High Ascension already happened. It had been a perfect ascension, purifying his body much more than most Divine Lifeforms could dream of. Only Daniel was in a better state. He was void of any impurities and used special techniques to seal his body from acquiring impurities. The techniques slowed his progress but Daniel Fang was totally fine with that.

    One way or another, Michael didn''t have to create a perfect foundation for his second High Ascension since he wouldn''t undergo a second one in the first ce. Michael didn''t encounter many monsters in the next few hours. He discovered an injured Frenzy Deer, which he hunted with his Aethyr Bow and the energy arrow. His archery skills were a bit rusty, but the Frenzy Deer wasn''t prepared to catch an energy-condensed arrow in its neck¡­or that it would explode once it dug deep into its neck.

    The Frenzy Deer died and transformed into a cloud of glowing particles entering Michael''s body. With the rush of energy and the hours spent practicing Rune Vortex with Fenrir and Jormungandr using their custom Perfect Soul Techniques, Michael reached the 1st Tier and unlocked 1-Star Sacred Constitution.

    Michael was surprised to find that Sacred Constitution didn''t unlock as an 8-Star Soultrait or that it didn''t devolve back into the weak Soultrait it used to be as a 1-Star, but that was one of his greatest advantages. Sacred Constitution could do everything it used to be able to. The only issue was that seven additional artificial seals sealed its power.

    Fortunately, unlocking Sacred Constitution at 1-Star wasn''t too expensive. He had enough glowing particles left to unlock another Soultrait. He didn''t have to unlock the Soul Sphere, but that would change quickly. Michael could tell that his Soul was already revolting. Nheless, he unlocked Greater Enhancement instead. Enhancement was too expensive to unlock, unfortunately. Thus, he went with another tactic.

    Since the Primordial Untamed Jungle monsters were quite powerful, Michael pushed his physical strength to another level. Sacred Constitution was already good enough to push him a little, allowing him to increase the pulling force of the Aethyr Bow, but Greater Enhancement improved his overallbat prowess.

    First, he could use Greater Enhancement ¨C even after it was weakened since it was also demoted to a 1-Star Soultrait ¨C on his body and Sacred Constitution to unleash the hidden potential of both and enhance their prowess by 25% with oneyer. It was also important to note that Michael couldn''t apply multipleyers on the same target with Greater Enhancement at 1-Star. Still, he had more than enough targets to apply Greater Enhancement. This included the Aethyr Bow and his energy arrows.

    This drained a lot of energy, but Michael used Greater Enhancement only when hunting monsters much stronger than him. He''d advanced to the lowest rank of Tier-1 and continued using bow and arrow to hunt some monsters. It was inconvenient when a group of Gem Jaguars attacked him, but Michael worked with deadly precision. The Gem Jaguars didn''t know what weapon he used and could thus not react fast enough to block the first two arrows. One Gem Jaguar died instantaneously, while another Gem Jaguar was heavily injured.

    The rest attacked Michael as he willed Aethyr to shape into a set of daggers. Greater Enhancement was applied to his low body and Sacred Constitution, while two active Serpent Seals were activated afterward. His Agility surpassed the Gem Jaguars'' for a moment. It was enough to kill the heavily injured Gem Jaguar and injure two Gem Jaguars, decreasing their mobility andbat prowess. Slowed down, Michael could attack them with a barrage of slices and thrusts. The Aethyr daggers transformed into a spear suddenly, taking thest Gem Jaguar by surprise. A spear de pierced through its eye, killing the monster instantly.

    The glowing particles of five Mid Tier-1 monsters entered Michael''s body, allowing him to unlock the Soul Sphere and 1-Star Extraction. The excessive energy was used to push his Tier and crack the 3rd Cursed and Serpent Seal.

    He licked his lips and considered rushing to the next monsters to keep on hunting, but stopped in his tracks when he sensed how tired his body, mind, and soul were. His body was not used to being this fragile, nor was his soul or mind. Michael fought like he used to fight, though his Soultraits were sealed or weakened, resulting in too excessive motions and the use of too many Soultraits and too much curse power in too little time.

    Michael was hungry and tired. He filled his stomach with some fruits, still frustrated that his War Rune storage was not what it used to be, and climbed a tall tree to find a decent ce to sleep. He used Extraction to extract his scent and noises as he moved, which fueled his exhaustion. Michael closed his eyes shortly after he found a suitable ce to sleep high up in a tree.

    The next morning, Michael woke up sore. ''I cannot go hunting like that. That''s so frustrating!'' He cursed but epted his fate quickly. Once he filled his stomach again, Michael switched his position and sat cross-legged before he focused on practicing Rune Vortex. Simultaneously, his energy circted throughout every inch of his body, slowly soothing the soreness bothering him. Not only a few hourster did he realize what he was missing.

    ''Do I need to refine my body, mind, and soul again? My mind and soul seem fine, but why is my body like that? It could be because Sacred Constitution is only a 1-Star Soultrait right now and because Seer is not even active.''

    His mind and soul progressed with his Tier like usual, but his physique was much weaker than he remembered. It didnt scale as naturally with his advancement in rank and Tier either. That was a lot more frustrating than expected.

    ''You only realize how important something was when you lost it¡­''

    Michael chuckled at the thought and shrugged. He didn''t lose Sacred Constitution, but his physical strength wasn''t what it used to be. That was annoying, to put it simply, but being weak again was also exciting. He progressed much faster than he used to, and it was only a matter of time before he reimed his former prowess. ''If I work tirelessly for a year like this¡­I shouldn''t have an issue surpassing Tier-5¡­right?''

    Michael couldn''t say anything but could tell that reiming his former prowess would be feasible. But what about unlocking more Cursed and Serpent Seals or advancing to Tier 6? He licked his lips in exhration and got up.

    It was time to hunt and grow stronger again!

 Chapter 923 Vortex

    Chapter 923 Vortex

    After a few days, focused on hunting and gathering energy, passed before he advanced to Tier-2. Most of his Soultraits were still sealed or restrained to a low star-rating, but that was exactly what Michael needed. He used most energy particles to unlock more Cursed and Serpent Seals and spent several hours every day practicing Rune Vortex while Fenrir and Jormungandr did their work.

    Michael sensed a faint change in Rune Vortex. His mastery of the Primordial grade technique skyrocketed in the Trial of Regression, which was a wee surprise.

    [The Trial of Regression allows you to look at certain techniques from a different point of view. You can perceive the changes of Rune Vortex as a Tierless, Tier-1, and Tier-2 Awakened and thus increase your mastery of Rune Vortex by grasping the changes and expanding on them.] Jormungandr exined when the World Serpent noticed Michael''s confusion.

    While the World Serpent was right about that, Michael sensed more about Rune Vortex than it looked like. It required almost no effort to exert Rune Vortex at this point, and Michael could feel how Rune Vortex and his Energy Pir interacted with each other. There was an attraction between the two forces, something Michael didn''t expect to encounter until he was about to ascend to a Divine Lifeform. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    His Energy Pir and the Rune Vortex showed the first signs of fusing. The Energy Vortex could only be formed as a Divine Lifeform. That was, at least, what Michael had read in the Primordial grade technique''s book. But was that really the case? What if the Trial of Regression could change that? Maybe it was possible to create the Energy Vortex earlier using the Trials of the Fallen God!

    That thought excited Michael, and he chose to invest more time in practicing Rune Vortex. He continued investing the energy particles of in monsters into the Beast God Curses and unlocked all artificially sealed Cursed and Serpent Seals in the next four weeks. Four weeks was also how long Rune Vortex required to reach profound mastery. A fraction of the Energy Pir had transformed into a minuscule vortex that absorbed a tiny amount of energy at all times. It was a permanent construct and would ensure Michael could refine his War Rune while walking around and hunting at all times 1-Star Sacred Constitution was strong enough to upy the tiny vortex and use it to the fullest. That wasn''t further surprising as the vortex was insignificant. Nheless, Michael was only about to advance to the 3rd Tier, yet he had formed a minuscule Energy Vortex. What if hepleted the Energy Vortex until the end of the first trial? That would be phenomenal!

    Michael faced a group of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. Watching them made him recall Sun Demos and his subordinates, but only for a moment. Sun Demos and his group had already evolved. Still, they hadn''t been as strong as the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys from the Primordial Untamed Jungle. All Monsters from the Primordial Untamed Jungle were much stronger than they were in reality. There could be multiple reasons to exin everything, but Michael didn''t pay enough attention to it. The energy density and purity of energy in the surroundings exined everything well enough.

    Thanks to the Primordial Untamed Jungle''s environment, he was growing stronger a lot faster than the norm, so others could do the same. One way or another, Michael had to fight a bunch of BLood Oath Demon Monkeys. There were more than a dozen of them, and all were at the Mid rank of the 2nd Tier. They were below Michael''s rank but didn''t think highly of hisbat prowess because he was alone and didn''t wield a weapon.

    Still, anyone who could reach the Peak of Tier-2 was supposed to be powerful. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys surrounded Michael and attacked from all sides. They nned to attack, scratch him once or twice, and pull back. Repeating that pattern until their enemy was worn out was supposed to be the perfect target for the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. However, they didn''t expect their attack to fail instantaneously.

    When the monsters attacked, Michael unleashed Curse Fusion with all 51 Cursed Seals and 53 Serpent Seals. His body was coated in a thick serpent-scale defense that was so ck it seemed to absorb the surrounding light. A massive serpent tail grew from his tailbone, his eyes transformed into Jormungandr''s serpentine slits, and his hands transformed into massive ws. His physical prowess skyrocketed while the Curse Fusion with The Wolf Deity increased his energy reserves drastically. Energy flooded Michael, allowing him to use Greater Enhancement on each Seal, Sacred Constitution, Extraction, and Aethyr.

    He then conjured sharp spikes at the end of the serpent tail while also coating his ws in Aethyr. Some Blood Oath Demon Monkeys noticed something was amiss and screeched, but it was already toote for the majority. Michael moved much faster than the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. His tail smashed heavily into the neck of one monster behind him, a spike prating its neck without any resistance. Michael kicked the ground and pierced another monkey''s chest before he blocked several w strikes with his serpentine armor. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys couldn''t prate his armor after Greater Enhancement strengthened it!

    Michael smiled vibrantly and shot forward. He moved faster than the monkeys, and they couldn''t escape him either since he was overly familiar with their movement patterns. He shed, sliced, and smashed the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, killing them quickly. The dozen monsters died in less than two minutes, their energy particles flooding Michael''s body. He transformed back and licked his lips in excitement. ''I''m advancing so fast¡­Do I want to unlock more Soultraits or upgrade them right now?''

    Michael shrugged lightly. He upgraded Sacred Constitution and Extraction to 3-Star, using energy particles to shatter the artificial seals. Thereafter, The Wolf Deity and The Serpent Deity had a much easier time using their Perfect Soul Techniques to absorb the surrounding energy and infuse it into his body. He unleashed Rune Vortex as usual and started advancing to Tier-3.

    Advancing to Tier-3 didn''t take too long after removing some of Extraction and Sacred Constitution''s seals. If anything, it was much faster than before, showing Michael that both Extraction and Sacred Constitution were useful forbat and to refine his War Rune and expand his Energy Pir rapidly.

    With that in mind, Michael spent the next two weeks unsealing Extraction and Sacred Constituion to 8-Star once again. In those weeks, Michael expanded the miniature Energy Vortex in his Energy Pir. He gained enlightenment, and it was only a matter of weeks or months at the worst. By then, the Energy Vortex would beplete, and his advancement to Tier-6 and higher was only a matter of resources and effort.

    The enemies in the Primordial Untamed Jungle were growing stronger as he inched closer to the main area of the jungle. He followed the trails of High Beasts and hunted a handful using Greater Enhancement, Soullife Arts, Soul Techniques, and his two main 8-Star Soultraits alongside Curse Fusion and Aethyr. It was much harder to kill High Beasts than it had been in the past, but due to the increase in difficulty, Michael could advance faster as well. He had only a few Soultraits unsealed and was thus faster than ever at advancing. He was excited about what awaited him. Meanwhile, the power particles of the High Beasts were used to unleash more power of his Beast God Curses. It was about time to unseal more Seals!

 Chapter 924 Ascension & Power

    Chapter 924 Ascension & Power

    The monsters in the Primordial Untamed Jungle were growing too fast. Their numbers and individualbat prowess skyrocketed much faster than Michael could respond. He was in need of more power¡­more Seals, and more Soultraits.

    He was not yet at the 4th Tier, but most monsters in the surroundings were High Beasts, Superior Existences. However, there were also many Mythical Existences. Their numbers were shockingly high, forcing Michael to unlock his other Soultraits and upgrade them in the following weeks. Of course, Michael never stopped practicing Rune Vortex in those weeks. The vortex in the Energy Pir expanded, and it wouldn''t be long before the fusion of Rune Vortex and Energy Pir waspleted.

    Michael first reactivated Seer and upgraded it to a higher star-rating. Seer was needed to predict the movements of his enemies, locate all kinds of energy masses in range of several kilometers and to attack his enemies'' mind and soul. This,bined with the removal of most seals applied to his other Soultrait Symbols, Michael managed to hunt some of the weaker High Beasts. He started hunting weak High Beasts to unlock his Soultraits and push them back to their full star-rating before his focus returned to his Tier, Rune Vortex, and his Beast God Curses. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael split the energy particles umted from hunting into three parts. Two parts were used to unseal more Curse and Serpent Seals, while the third portion was used to elerate his progress. Since his Soul Sphere and Soultraits were unlocked and pushed back to their origins star-rating, Michael was in dire need of a lot more energy to increase his Tier.

    He was unwilling to waste more time than necessary and focused on hunting more than 16 hours of the day ¨C or until his curse power, body, mind, and soul were too tired to keep going. He would sleep for a few hours and wake up to rest a little longer while practicing Rune Vortex. A month passed, and he advanced to Tier-4. There was no threshold to break or a special phenomenon indicating his High Ascension. Nheless, Michael gained tremendous power. The difference between a Tier-3 Awakened and a Tier-4 High Awakened was terrifying. That was the case for ordinary Awakened, but even more so for Michael. He was tens of times stronger as a High Awakened. However, there was more to it. Michael was stronger than he used to be when he was a High Awakened in the past. His control and understanding of his Soultraits was much higher, his bond with Fenrir and Jormungandr was tighter and he had more Cursed and Serpent Seals unlocked. He wasn''t sure what happened at some point, but after Fenrir and Jormungandr had 70 active Seals, their Major Seals expanded. A second Major Seal didn''t form yet, but the Beast God Curses'' Major Seals branched out. Their powers were easier to control, and it wasn''t long before Michael realized that both Swallow Domain and Permute were A LOT more useful in this ce than anywhere else.

    Since the Primordial Untamed Jungle was merely created by the Temple of the Forgotten using the Divinity of a Fallen God, Michael didn''t have to care about the jungle. He didn''t feel connected to the Primordial Untamed Jungle and wasn''t worried about damaging it either. Thus, that was what he did using Swallow Domain and Permute.

    He first replicated the energy particles using Permute to create more Curse and Serpent Seals before creating exactly as much energy using the surrounding environment as a resource to feed his Rune Vortex. His War Rune progressed as fast as possible with Rune Vortex ¨C a Primordial grade technique about to reach perfect mastery. To put it in very simple terms, Michael progressed rapidly.

    However, his actions didn''t go unnoticed. Michael destroyed the Primordial Untamed Jungle with his actions. Whether the Fallen God or the True Untamed Jungle didn''t like this, Michael didn''t know. But he could tell that someone or something responded drastically to his sudden change in actions. The monsters of the Untamed Jungle dered war against him.

    They didn''t attack each other anymore but worked together to track and attack him. Michael was constantly assaulted by dozens of monsters. No matter where he teleported, Michael was forced to fight with his life on the line.

    But that was fine. He used Permute to create enough lifeforce, energy, and curse power to maintain his prime state at all times. He didn''t grow tired and switched between using Curse Fusion and his Soultraits to tax his mind or soul less at time, allowing them to recuperate as he continued fighting.

    Michael lost track of time, but he didn''t care. All he cared about was fighting the monsters of the Primordial Untamed Jungle, gaining their energy particles, and growing even stronger. Thereafter, he would unleash Swallow Domain, devour parts of the Primordial Untamed Jungle, and transform them into even more energy to grow even stronger.

    It was only a matter of time ¨C weeks, maybe months ¨C before he advanced to Tier-5 with 100 Cursed Seals and 100 Serpent Seals active. Michael was back to his former prowess¡­only to grow even stronger than he used to be. More Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals had been unlocked, but that was only one of many things he earned. His understanding of all Soultrait Symbols had skyrocketed, and his connection with the Beast God Curses was more profound than ever. Michael''s mind, soul, and body were perfectly in sync.

    The Trials of a Fallen God showed him many new things. They changed him.

    They¡­improved him.

    (940)

    [You still have a few months left before the first trial ends. Use them wisely.] Fenrir said, but Michael could feel a sense of acknowledgment in the wolf''s voice. From the looks of it, Fenrir thought that Michael was doing the right thing.

    "You can tell how much time I have left? I guess that''s good.]

    [Yes, I do. Just focus on growing stronger here. I think you''ll need as much strength as possible. Your mortal vessel should transform soon.]

    "What are you tal¨C..."

    [Work hard, and you will find out.]

    Michael raised an eyebrow but he did as demanded. He never thought about doing something else, in the first ce.

    He returned to fighting with his life on the line. One person with his Beast God Curses started fighting against the forces of the Primordial Untamed Jungle. That worked well until the Divine Lifeforms of the Untamed Jungle appeared. As a High Awakened at the 5th Tier, Divine Lifeforms were a little bit too much to deal with. However, given themitment of Fenrir and Jormungandr, Michael picked the weakest Divine Lifeform in the Primordial Untamed Jungle and fought it.

    The fight was fierce, and Michael was on the verge of death on multiple asions, but River of Vigor kept him alive while True Extraction Essence, Jormungandr''s poison-attributed curse power, and poison-attributed energy of Spheres of Elements, wore down the Divine Lifeform slowly but steadily. The Divine Lifeform died and generated enough divine energy particles to push Michael further down his path to a higher Tier while alsopleting the fusion of the Rune Vortex and the Energy Pir.

    An Energy Vortex formed within Michael long before he ascended to a Divine Lifeform.

    He was more than ready for the next trial.

 Chapter 925 Water

    Chapter 925 Water

    It had been a full year since Michael entered the Primordial Untamed Jungle when the situation around him changed drastically. First things first, Michael had to escape death dozens of times every day for thest two months. He was constantly on the run and had a hard time finding monsters to hunt. Fortunately, the Energy Vortex waspleted, and both Fenrir and Jormungandr didn''t care too much about his worries and fears. They used their Perfect Soul Techniques to absorb the surrounding energies and utilize his Energy Vortex to the fullest.

    It was only thanks to their help that Michael advanced to the 6th Tier. Of course, he killed a few Divine Lifeforms as well ¨C a lot more than he''d expected ¨C but it was not enough to be the ruler of the Primordial Untamed Jungle. Maybe if he had relied more on his Curse Beast Gods, things would have been different, but Michael was unwilling to give Fenrir and Jormungandr too much control of his body. Michael still wanted to possess enough authority over his own being to make choices. His Beast God Curses understood his reasoning. At least, Michael believed they understood. Neither bothered him in any way. They didn''t even mention gaining more control. In their eyes, something like that wasn''t necessary.

    One year psed since he entered the Temple of the Forgotten, and the first trial ended. It was just like Fenrir anticipated. Usually, the Trial of Regression wouldst longer, but because he had been a Tier-5 High Awakened, the Temple of the Forgotten treated him to one year in the Primordial Untamed Jungle. Fortunately, that was long enough to return to Tier-5 and surpass his old self. He advanced to Tier-6 and was stronger than ever in all possible ways.

    The first trial ended with great sess. He had more Seals for both Beast God Curses active, advanced one Tier, created the Energy Vortex, and improved his understanding and control of all Soultrait Symbols. But was any of that useful for the second trial? Neither Michael nor the Beast God Curses could tell. They didn''t create the Temple of the Forgotten and had to wait patiently for what awaited them.

    [First Trial passed sessfully.]

    Hundreds of voices rang through his head, ovepping to form a single voice of many genders, ents, and ages.

    [Second Trial ¨C Memories of the Dead ¨C has been initiated.]

    Michael tilted his head and was about to ask the Beast God Curses to tell him what was going on, but his head ached badly suddenly. He could instinctively tell that something scanned through his mind and memories and considered acting. However, Michael didn''t act. He held back and allowed that thing to search through his mind, his memories, and the memories of the thousands of Awakened he had killed. Their memories had been etched into his mind through the Memory Orbs, which Michael had never stopped using.

    [Second Trial passed sessfully. Extraordinary Performance. Death praises yourmitment.]

    The hundreds of ovepping voices returned, but Michael was too confused to listen.

    ''How did I pass the trial?''

    [I think the Second Trial is about the strength of your mind and souls. Memories of the Dead would have shown you the memories of the dead. Their lives, starting from scratch. Their birth, how they were raised, their awakening, training, struggles, achievements, andst but not least, their deaths. But you passed the trial since you''ve seen such memories of tens of thousands of Awakened already.]

    [Third Trial ¨C Heart''s Choice ¨C has been initiated.]

    The voice returned, but Fenrir and Jormungandr remained silent.

    ''What now?''

    [I don''t know yet.] Fenrir revealed, honestly.

    [No idea.] Jormungandr added. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    That wasn''t helpful, but Michael had to ept it. He waited patiently and didn''t block the Temple of the Forgotten as it did two things simultaneously. First, something deep within him rumbled. A trace of incredibly pure and highlypressed foreign energy infiltrated his body and coiled into a tiny mass of greenish flickering energy next to his heart. It caressed his heart lightly and seemed to search for something.

    Michael was unsure about that point, but it worried him a little. He wasn''tfortable with something else entering his body, but it wasn''t like he could reject the trial after getting this far. Even if he could reject it¡­what was he supposed to do? He was in the middle of nowhere. The Primordial Untamed Jungle had disappeared, reced by a vast body of water. At least, that was what it felt like.

    He was still in the middle of nowhere, but this nowhere was now filled with water. His clothes were drenched and clung to his body, but that was Michael''s smallest concern. He teleported through the water, trying to find the surface, but no matter how many times he teleported in any direction, the scenery around him never changed.

    He was still underwater, and oxygen scarcity would be a problem in the future. It would have been a problem if Michael had not had Extraction to extract the oxygen in the surroundings.

    But that wasn''t necessary. Michael could breathe in the water as well. Was that even normal water in the first ce? Michael learned the answer quickly as countless images popped up before him. Images of his territories, his Awakened friends¡­but also his family outside the Origin Expanse and Lincoln and Alice.

    Michael swallowed hard.

    [I am not sure which is happening. Don''t even think about asking us for answers.] Jormungandr hissed, while Fenrir indicated his approval with a quiet growl.

    ''That is very helpful.''

    Michael expected a little more from his eon-old Curses and was having a hard time not showing his displeasure. However, he had more important things to take care of now.

    The images were only of those he held dear. Michael noticed that when he saw Danny in one of the pictures but his parents'' faces were blurred. The water showed him live recordings of their current lives¡­and struggles.

    Lincoln and Alice struggled the most. Their memories and Souls hadn''t been cut into bits and pieces like Zeke and Kaleb''s, but the Blood Incursion tormented them. They weren''t in a good position and consistent fights with themselves.

    Seeing Lincoln hit him hard because the young man had be a monster. Michael saw how his friend ughtered thousands of innocent people. They were merely unawakened, but Lincoln couldn''t care less. In his condition, all he cared about was to kill as many enemies as possible. He wanted his enemies to feel pain.

    Seeing Lincoln was already bad. However, seeing Alice for the first time in years was even worse.

    She was even more beautiful than she utilized to be. Her icy cold exterior and emotionless attitude remained the same, still that was even more reason for his warm memories of Alice to resurface. He remembered her warm touch, her soft lips, and her tight embrace.

    Michael sighed deeply.

    ''So that''s which this is going to be?'' He groaned, but he spent the next few days following Alice''s movements.

    Time psed rapidly in the unknown water, but Michael didn''t care. He observed Alice, and his mood plummeted. [At least, she isn''t like Lincoln just yet. She is not a mindless murderer just yet.] Fenrirmented. Michael wanted to say something, but he remained silent. Until Jormungandr stated something, at least.

    [But you shouldn''t pay too much attention to Alice right now. Your people are about to get into trouble.]

 Chapter 926 Hearts Choice

    Chapter 926 Heart''s Choice

    Michael would have loved to keep watching Alice. He hadn''t seen her for eons and missed her dearly. Seeing her stride through a wide hallway, greeted by unfamiliar humans, was confusing, especially the men and women staring at her with obvious interest and some even with lust, but that mattered little.

    Watching her for several days showed Michael that Alice Zenovia was fine. That she wasn''t injured physically and that she wasn''t mistreated. Other than the Blood Incursion, the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t force anything onto her. Unfortunately, the Blood Incursion was where the problems started. The Blood Incursion worked stronger on Alice than on Zeke. She was loyal to the Supreme Human Alliance now and wouldn''t abandon them in the future either.

    That was more than just a little frustrating, but Michael chose to abandon his ill feelings and focus on the pieces of information he could obtain from watching Alice. He learned a lot about her daily actions, location, and with whom she interacted often. Interestingly enough, Lincoln and Alice met up asionally. They didn''t talk much, but the duo sat silently beside each other. Neither had anything to say, but some sort of connection forced them to meet up now and then.

    Rumors about their rtionship appeared, but Michael could see and feel what Lincoln Piedra and Alice Zenovia saw and felt. They had no romantic feelings and were only connected because of¡­him. His friend and lover had forgotten about Michael, but that didn''t mean that the deepest parts of their existence had forgotten that something or someone like him existed. The problem was the Blood Incursion and how it worked on their minds and souls. They knew something was off, but Blood Incursion forced them to forget about it whenever they had too many thoughts on that topic.

    ''Maybe we can help them faster than expected. That would be great.'' Michael thought while both Jormungandr and Fenrir pointed out the issues of his territory in the Untamed Jungle. The Beast God Curses had been bothering him for a few days now, but Michael was too busy ensuring his friend and lover were doing fine. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Now that he was sure, Michael''s focus finally returned to the task ahead. He was in the middle of an endless body of water ¨C or some other liquid that felt like water ¨C but he could breathe just fine. The body of water showed him images of everyone and everything important to him. Michael was certain it was rted to the name of the third Trial. "Heart''s Choice."

    The Sacred Desert was important to Michael as well, but there were no issues with anyone or anything in there. Everyone in the Sacred Desert was more or less at the peak of happiness. That was good, but it was unlikely that the residents of the settlements in the Sacred Desert were rted to the Heart''s Choice trial. The troubles in the Untamed Jungle were more likely to be the core of all issues.

    ''The Dragys found my territory¡­ They''re not yet moving¡­but prepare for an all-out war against me and my people¡­'' Michael swallowed hard.

    Hiraku deployed enough scouts across the True Untamed Jungle ¨C closer to the Dragys than the other Lords of the Untamed Jungle ¨C to check them out. Some Dragys found a few scouts, killed them, and deployed their scouts to locate the Untamed Jungle. Hiraku managed to discover the scouts before it was toote. He and the other Untamed Awakened gathered their forces and killed the scouts before they managed to return. Unfortunately, two scouts arrived toote at the scene. They retreated when they saw the Untamed Awakened and their shocking prowess and fled from the scene before anyone could follow them.

    Sun Demos notified Hiraku, but since the High Awakened couldn''t understand what the tamed monkey said, it was impossible to find the remaining Dragys Scouts. Once they returned to the Pentagon Forts, Tatjana tranted what Sun Demos said, and chaos ensued. The Dragys learned about Michael''s territory. They had yet to locate it, but Icarus and his family spectated their actions from the air¡­ It was easy to tell that the Dragys had stretched their forestry actions to the south now.

    They were still at war with some other Lords of the Untamed Jungle, a small alliance that formed to weaken and possibly eliminate the Dragys, but it was only a matter of months before the alliance would be shattered. More than half of their strongest forces had already been eradicated, burned to a cinder.

    ''The Untamed Awakened shouldn''t attract the Dragys'' interest. There are no Divine Lifeforms among them. They wouldn''t bother changing their ns so drastically to attack me!'' Michael cursed, rubbing his temples in frustration.

    [They might have sensed the Temple of the Forgotten.] [The energy it released to teleport you to the first trial might not have been a lot, but it''s not impossible for the Dragys to perceive something. We don''t know how much energy the Temple of the Forgotten uses to throw you into the different trials, but some seem oddly customized. I can tell that the Heart''s Choice fits perfectly for you. Or they''re curious about the Red Dragon, which emerged out of nowhere. Or they just don''t like having an enemy with powerful High Awakened in their back.] Jormungandr released a long his.

    ''You can tell what the Heart''s Choice trial is about?'' Michael frowned deeply. He had an idea but it felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.

    [Not yet. I have an idea, but it is the same idea you have.]

    ''The trial scans my heart, my emotions, whether I regret something, what I''m guilty of, and it determines if I''m worthy of entering the next trial ording to the decisions I make inside the Temple of the Forgotten. That the Dragys discovered my territory and prepared an attack is an odd coincidence, if it is a coincidence, in the first ce.

    [The trial should be all about your heart, yes. And the Dragys'' discovery seems to fit perfectly into this. The trial wants to know what you will do.]

    [It''s all about sincerity.]

    Michael cursed. The answer was obvious. He would give his utmost to help his people to deal with the Dragys. But for that, he needed strength to escape the Temple of the Forgotten. A trace of his subconscious told Michael that he had to stay in the Temple of the Forgotten to grow stronger, strong enough to deal with the Dragys. After all, the Dragys were strong enough to eliminate a small alliance of Divine Lifeforms, Lords, who''d acquired enough strength to be powerhouses of their races.

    They had been strong but died nheless at the hands of the Dragys and their Lordess.

    What was he supposed to do now? If he left the Temple of the Forgotten now, everyone ¨C including himself ¨C was bound to die at the Dragys'' hands.

    [Even if you want to leave the Temple of the Forgotten now, you have no idea how.] Fenrir scoffed.

    ''Don''t act like you know how to leave this ce.'' Michaelmented.

    [I do know¨C...]

    ''Without destroying it, obviously,'' Michael added, silencing the wolf.

    ''That is what I thought.''

 Chapter 927 Stirred

    Chapter 927 Stirred

    "How did we not notice these two outliers? These idiots managed to mutate!" Hiraku cursed, crushing his heavy, thick armrest with a little disy of force.

    "Sun Demos noticed the mutated Dragys scouts early enough," Mika pointed out, which earned him a deadly re from all sides, "I¡­was just saying¡­"

    The others shook their heads and continued the meeting.

    "We cannot rely on Michael for this. He hasn''t been here for a year, and if my gut feeling is not wrong, it will take another year or two before hees back. Even if we cannot defeat the Dragys, we can use everything at our disposal to stall for some time," Lilica said, her fingers tapping anxiously on the table.

    "Are you just saying we must do something, or do you have a n?" Caesus asked straightforwardly.

    Tiara scrunched her nose and looked at her brother as if he would drop dead in the next ten minutes. If not, she would kill him in ten minutes. Master Tigris appeared next to Tiara and lightly tapped her shoulder while Hiraku said.

    "I won''t allow anyone to attack each other today. Whoever attacks someone is going to be thrown out of the meeting. Michael gave me the necessary authority. That means whoever disregards my opinion andmand indirectly disregards our Lord''smand. Once thrown out, I won''t let you into the war meetings until Michael returns. You won''t have any rights to decide on ANYTHING." Hiraku didn''t look at Tiara, but it was obvious that thement was directed at her. The Silverfang Princess was the only Awakened present who was prone to attacking other council members.

    Caesus looked at his sister but ignored her. Since his Soultrait had been upgraded, Caesus changed drastically. He didn''t have to hide behind his farce as a mere warrior and could also demonstrate his leadership skills. After learning that tamed creatures counted as children and descendants, Caesus used his Blessing of the Children Soultrait differently. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Blessing of the Children was a 1-Star Soultrait before, and Caesus believed to know his Soultrait''s power very well. He was certain that the Blessing of the Children allowed him to gain power ording to the number and rtionship with his descendants. He didn''t know that the information influx of his Soultrait mistranted something. At least, that was what Caesus presumed now that he upgraded Blessing of the Children to 4-Star. After all, the newest information influxes allowed him to tame creatures and consider them his descendants.

    Every tamed creature and its offspring were considered his descendants, and a portion of their power was given to Caesus, pushing him to a much higher level. Since Caesus learned about that more than a year ago, he''d grown into one of the strongest powerhouses in the Untamed Awakened unit. He''d tamed several Goblins, a Crimson-Legged Spider, and an Ant Queen.

    It wasn''t a major problem for him to search for suitable monsters to tame. Taming them was a bit more difficult because the taming process was different than Michael''s case. He spent months taming the monsters and ensuring they epted his Bloodline Link. He had to establish that link with his first descendants to ensure his Soultrait could work properly. Caesus had tens of thousands of descendants at this point, if not more. He couldn''t count them anymore, which didn''t matter too much because the number changed daily. More descendants were given birth, and many died as well. He stopped counting and focused on the power surging through his body instead.

    Tiara disliked him more than before ¨C at this point, Caesus had no idea why she hated him this much ¨C but the Crown Prince cared little for the Silverfang Princess'' attitude. He didn''t do anything wrong and considered his sister''s behavior a childish temper.

    He ignored her and focused on Hiraku and the others. Lilcia cleared her throat and looked at Tiara intently. She shook her head and returned her attention to the more important matter.

    "The Dragys might have seen the Untamed Awakened attack in unison, but they don''t know about the wide variety of subjects in this ce. We have Forest Elves, Elementals, Berserker, Warlock Centaurs, Humans and Silverfangs from the Tigerfolk. But that is not all. We have monsters as well, including several monster tamers and Tatjana. She can study some monsters and offer High Beasts of the True Untamed Jungle resources to boost their evolution as long as they help us.

    We might not be strong enough to deal with the Dragys alone, but we have the entirety of the True Untamed Jungle as our yground. Shouldn''t we make use of that?" Hiraku nodded slowly, "You want to focus on Gori warfare, weaken their forces, distract them, and pull their forces away from our territory? That might work, but only if everyone works together. We need the Golden Queen Bee and the Golden Stinger Wasps to move us around at all times and immediately pull us out of danger. But even then¡­there will be massive casualties." "I know. My n isn''t detailed andcking a lot, but I think we have a good shot at stalling some time that way." Lilica sighed deeply.

    The war meeting ended after a few hours, but nobody was fully satisfied. Except for Michael, who watched and listened to everything from the Heart''s Choice trial. Tiara and Caesus were a bit troublesome ¨C mostly Tiara and her attitude toward her brother ¨C but that was still fine. Hiraku and the rest dealt with the matter well. They realized it would be difficult to deal with the Dragys on their own and chose to use the monsters of the Untamed Jungle to their advantage. Michael couldn''t tell how many High Beasts, or Divine Beasts, would listen to their offers and how many would attack them right away, but he was optimistic.

    ''I can stay a little longer in this ce. If I''m strong enough to fight the Dragys head-on, everything will be fine.'' Michael told himself while willing Fenrir and Jormungandr to continue using their Perfect Soul Techniques.

    Since Michaelpleted the Energy Vortex, he didn''t even have to use Rune Vortex to absorb the surrounding energy. Instead, he focused on his surroundings and the living images before him. The images were imprinted deep into his mind, and he continued observing everything intently.

    ''I want to help them. I need to do something.'' That thought shed through his mind over and over again. It filled Michael''s entire being and fueled him. It gave him the strength he needed to continue. To keep going.

    Unbeknownst to Michael, something stirred deep underwater. It was massive, yet not even the Beast God Curses noticed it.

    All Michael could tell was that the greenish trace of energy caressing his heart was growing. It grew in intensity and potency and began shrouding Michael''s heart before¡­creating the frames of a second heart.

    Michael could tell that his body was absorbing a tremendous amount of energy, even without Fenrir and Jormungandr doing anything, but he misinterpreted the situation first. He was certain the Energy Vortex absorbed the surrounding energy, but that wasn''t the case.

    The greenish energy mass in his chest absorbed the energy¡­and stirred whatever rested deep inside the seemingly infinite expanse of water.

 Chapter 928 Decision

    Chapter 928 Decision

    Time passed eerily slowly, and Michael grew impatient. The longer he watched his subordinates and beloved, the more he suffered. Michael felt useless and like a jerk, as he watched his subordinates engage in dangerous maneuvers to stall the Dragys.

    Hours turned into days and days into weeks. It wasn''t long before the first months psed, yet the Heart''s Choice trial was still not over.

    Knowing that he was still stuck in the middle of a seemingly infinitelyrge body of water was infuriating. It affected Michael more and more. However, one day, everything changed. Thest bits of patience transformed into uncontroble impatience and the urge to leave the Temple of the Forgotten as the Dragys located and killed some of Michael''s Untamed Awakened.

    **

    Everyone did their utmost to protect their Lord''s territory and distract the Dragys, spreading trails in the form of footprints, scents, sounds, andplete structures to pull the Dragys'' attention away from the outlier portion of the Untamed Jungle. Their tireless efforts worked for several months, but the Dragys realized Michael''s subjects yed with them. At some point, they changed their tactic. Some of their forces departed from the frontlines with the small Divine Alliances to locate Michael''s territory.

    However, before the territory could be discovered, Hiraku and the Untamed Awakened unleashed arge-scale attack on one of the Dragys'' settlements. The Dragys defended their settlements well, but their strongest warriors had been deployed to search Michael''s territory and deal with the Divine Alliances. More Lords of the Untamed Jungle had joined the Divine Alliances, forcing the Dragys to act more vignt, but the Lordess didn''t seem to care much about that. She was unwilling to leave Michael''s territory undiscovered.

    That was what Hiraku and the restprehended as well. Thus, they attacked one of the weaker settlements using the Golden Queen Bee and the Golden Stinger Wisps to execute a full-blown assault and destroy a good portion of the settlement using the Elemental Empress, all Elementals, and close to 10,000 overclocked elemental crystals. Once the first settlement had been bombed and nearly razed, the Golden Queen Bee and the Golden Stinger Wasps teleported everyone away.

    They moved to a different settlement on the other side of the Dragys'' territory and bombed it as well. Once done, they fled quickly. Unfortunately, not everyone survived the assault. The Dragys might not have as many Soultrait Symbols as any member of the Untamed Awakened, but they weren''t weak. Their average Tier was one, if not two, Tiers above the Untamed Awakened. They were several centuries older than the oldest members of Michael''s Untamed Awakened and were thus familiar enough with surprise attacks during war to respond quickly.

    But despite acting fast and without hesitation, the Dragys suffered bigger blows than the Untamed Awakened. Michael, however, didn''t care about that. He sensed the death of more than a hundred Awakened, worsening his already used-up patience. His condition was bad, but it got worse¡­a lot.

    The attack on the settlements merely distracted the Dragys and forced them to focus more on the Divine Alliances since they harmed the Dragys more than anything. The Dragys Lordess disagreed. She considered the Untamed Awakened as a much deadlier enemy. Not wanting to give the Untamed Awakened enough time to grow and advance their Tier to grow into even more dangerous threats, the Dragy Lordess drastically changed her tactic at the frontlines with the Divine Alliances. Her strategy had been to overwhelm and let her kin''s mes devour everything, but that changed into a defensive war with thin defensive lines. The Dragys attacked the forces of the Divine Alliances whenever they dared to approach the borders and sessfully pushed them away. At the same time, the majority ofbatants traveled to the other side of the Untamed Jungle to join the search for the Untamed Awakened, their home, and Michael''s territory.

    The Dragys located Michael''s territory and attacked. A huge battle ensued, and the number of deaths burned by the Dragys skyrocketed. But the Untamed Awakened weren''t the only ones who suffered. The residents of the Untamed Jungle tried to flee, but they turned into ashes, just like the Untamed Awakened. The military forces of the Untamed Jungle burned the same.

    Half of the closest Pentagon Fort was destroyed in the next two weeks, and the Untamed Jungle around was destroyed. The Dragys were overjoyed and spread in all directions to burn the outlier of the Untamed Jungle to a cinder, obliterating not only Michael''s territory but also the Untamed Jungle in its entirety.

    Michael was unsure when the mythical serpent reappeared, but the Azure Quetzalcoatl surfaced at some point. One of Michael''s Pentagon Forts had been destroyed in its entirety, and it was only a matter of time before his military forces and Untamed Awakened would be crushed and forced to flee into the Sacred Desert.

    When their morale was at its lowest, the Azure Quetzalcoatl appeared. Nobody understood why it didn''t appear before. At least nobody was present. Fenrir and Jormungandr, on the other hand, understood the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s sacred task very well.

    [The Fallen God''s pet, the Guardian of the Temple of the Forgotten.] Fenrir pointed out.

    [It''s not a Sacred Beast, but strong enough to stall some time for your people. But¡­] Michael intercepted Jormungandr before he could say anything. He understood their situation perfectly well.

    His people were dying left and right. They were afraid and prayed for his return. Even the Awakened, who''d survived the Dragys'' onught, hoped for his return at this point.

    Their fears, anxiety, and countless emotions reached Michael through their Links of Loyalty. Some Links of Loyalty disappeared, while others grew weaker with every day Michael stayed out of the war. His citizens couldn''t understand why their Lord wasn''ting back when they were ughtered like livestock. Did he abandon them?

    Michael didn''t abandon them but couldn''t leave this ce either. It was just¡­not possible. Or was it?

    ''Fuck this shit. I''m done here!'' He cursed. After months of using Energy Vortex and the Beast God Curses'' Perfect Soul Technique, his Tier had improved once again, but that mattered little. The greenish energy in his heart had also transformed, shaping into¡­something in his chest. It was only a matter of time before it would be done, but Michael didn''t care. He had to leave now.

    That was his decision.

    ''Get ready to go all out!'' Michael dered to his Curses while preparing everything to make his move.

    He absorbed as much Essence as Fenrir and Jormungandr while unleashing all of their Seals ¨C Major and Minor ¨C while spreading True Extraction Domain through the infinite body of water. He applied Greater Enhancement on as many inactive Seals as possible as he drained the surrounding energy, which seemed to be an infinite source as well.

    More Seals were activated temporarily due to Greater Enhancement''s potential release.

    [Are you sure you want to do this?] Jormungandr asked but Michael didn''t listen. He urged the Beast God Curses to make their move.

    He made his final decision and nothing could stop him. Michael wouldn''t allow anymore enemies to harm his people and destroy the Untamed Jungle. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    HIS Untamed Jungle!

    Michael made his final choice and the Temple of the Forgotten reacted ordingly.

    [Third Trial has been sessfully passed. You can proceed and leave the Temple of the Forgotten or advance with the Final Trial.]

    ¡­

 Chapter 929 Sister

    Chapter 929 Sister

    Michael was surprised to hear the ovepping hundred voices in his head again. He was certain nothing had changed and that he always wanted to return. But somehow, the Heart''s Choice trial didn''t think it had been enough.

    Or was there something else at y?

    Michael was confused and sensed something stirring in his chest. At the same time, Fenrir growled deeply, while Jormungandr hissed threateningly.

    [It was weird before, but I can sense it clearly now. Someone altered the trials.] Fenrir cursed, [The Trials of a Fallen God aren''t supposed to be this easy.]

    Jormungandr seemed to agree with his brother''s assessment, [Something is wrong. In fact, I can sense the influence of two beings. The sentience of the Untamed Jungle must have invaded the Temple of the Forgotten eons ago to take control of it. It¡­altered the trials to find something¡­or someone.]

    Michael frowned deeply but listened intently to the Beast God Curses.

    ''Two beings? Do you mean the Fallen God and the Untamed Jungle''s sentience with that?'' [No. The Temple of the Forgotten is the Fallen God''s grave. It was a nameless God or a Minor God without much influence. Or the God attained godhood after I was sealed and contained in Extraction. But Jorm is not talking about the remnants of the Fallen God. The Untamed Jungle has already consumed everything that was left of the Fallen God. In fact, the Untamed Jungle must have transformed into what it is today because it consumed the Temple of the Forgotten and everything attached to it.]

    ''If it consumed everything¡­am I not getting any rewards?''

    [Rewards should be your smallest issue right now.] Jormungandr lectured Michael, [The second influence should worry you slightly more. No. Both the Untamed Jungle and the other influence should worry you.] [I wonder¡­if you will survive this.] Fenrirmented, his voice filled with anger.

    [I don''t like this either.] Jormungandr hissed, all while the thing in MIchael''s chest stirred more violently.

    [Fourth and Final Trial has been initiated. Final Trial ¨C Incubation ¨C will begin now.]

    ''I wasn''t even given a choice to decline and leave!''

    Jormungandr hissed, [That''s what we meant with the Untamed Jungle''s influence. It wants something from you now that it is certain you are the ''right'' choice.]

    Michael swallowed. The Untamed Jungle intervened with his rescue mission. It stopped him from rescuing his friends.

    He sensed the same old feeling he''d always felt when he roamed the Untamed Jungle. It was just¡­stronger¡­and deeply imprinted into his chest, exactly where the greenish energy gathered and formed.

    I don''t mean you any harm. Allow the Azure Quetzalcoatl to stall for enough time for you to finish. You need toplete this to rescue your people¡­and the Untamed Jungle. You need this to survive.

    The Beast God Curses couldn''t hear the voice, and it was very weak even to Michael. However, he knew who the voice belonged to or rather ''what''. It was the voice of the Untamed Jungle''s sentience. He frowned deeply but chose to trust the Untamed Jungle. It was a matter of fact that the Untamed Jungle would cease to exist if the Dragys seeded. Their victory against Michael''s people would leave Michael with no reason to help the Untamed Jungle.

    ''I will trust you this time. If you betray me¡­the Dragys will be your smallest issue!'' Michael swore to the Untamed Jungle and could have sworn to sense a tremor reverberating through the infinite body of water. The Untamed Jungle realized that Michael was serious.

    [ept your Fate.]

    The ovepping hundreds of voices sounded different, more profound. Michael swallowed hard, but only a secondter, the world around him turned dark. Michael vanished as the world around him was swallowed by darkness. The infinite body of water dispersed, and the young man re-appeared on a massive root. The root was hundreds of meters wide and much deeper. Nobody could tell how long the colossal root was as the surrounding area was covered in soil, stone, and a wide variety of ores. Shimmering crystals illuminated the small cave that had no entrance or exit. Michael was in the middle of nowhere, underground, and unconscious.

    However, the same couldn''t be said about the Beast God Curses. They sensed what was going on with Michael and chose to control his body¡­even if it only worked for a moment before the scenery around them changed again.

    "Brothers¡­" A familiar voice reverberated through the sealed cavern as the Beast God Curses forced Michael''s body to get up. The underground stirred, and a massive gate opened, revealing a¡­humanoid figure seated on a throne. No¡­.chained to a throne.

    The creature, probably a woman, was half dead and half alive. The right side of her face was no more than a ck skull, a purple me flickering in her eyesocket, whereas the left side of her face was alive and the incarnation of beauty. She appears as a thin woman, beautiful on the left side but dead and decayed like a rotting zombie on the right. For her horrid visage, the creature was outcasted among the Gods but admired by the dead.

    Her dead side was terrifying with withered skin, a skeletal hand, and leg, patches of blue ice covering dyeing flesh, membrane-thin lips over rotten teeth, and tufts of thin, decaying hair like ck spider webs. However, most of her body was covered in a cloak, which made it hard to discover her traits. The cloak was one of thest gifts the woman had been given from the Gods who expelled her from her realm.

    Only a few Gods treated her normally. This included Fenrir and Jormungandr. But that was only obvious. [Hel.] Jomungandr hissed through Michael''s body, confusion in the World Serpent''s voice.

    [How are you here?] Fenrir asked, but they didn''t get any further.

    Michael''s body revolted against the influence of the Beast God Curses, and the Untamed Jungle helped Michael.

    The gigantic root underfoot stirred ever so faintly, releasing a massive amount of greenish energy that flooded the young man right before the half-dead woman''s eyes.

    Michael''s body copsed like a sack of potatoes, leaving the woman confused but intrigued.

    The chains binding her to the throne loosened slowly.

    "Was that your n, father?" Hel asked into the dead silence of the sealed cavern.

    "He is the one? Okay¡­" She nodded and moved for the first time in eons. The chains restraining Hel shattered as if they never contained her in the first ce, and she got up from the throne.

    Her skeletal hand touched the throne, instantly decaying the structure. Hel approached the youth and smiled eerily as the massive root underneath her stirred again.

    "I''m curious how a tiny human managed to tame my brothers and the primal root of the Untamed Jungle," Her elven-like hand reached out to Michael when she reached him. She lifted him with energy and looked into his golden eyes.

    "To think the Untamed Jungle managed to alter the legacy of a Fallen God to force a gift like this onto a puny human. What makes you so important? You can contain two Beast God Curses. That is great, but is that all? The Heart of the Untamed Jungle forms and connects you to the Untamed Jungle¡­so what? You¡­" Hel frowned deeply, "You''re not even a Divine Lifeform yet¡­but you''re not bursting apart. You''ve long since shed your mortal vessel, didn''t you? A mortal with a Divine Shell. That¡­is something I can work with."

    She licked her lips, her dead half staring deep into Michael''s soul. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "The seeds of the gods have already been rooted in your essence. You will have a tough life with so many Divinity Fragments." Hel chuckled, "But that is a problem for the future. You have everything I need. This is perfect."

    Hel grasped Michael''s chest tightly and dissolved into a flood of deadly ck energy. Her remains fused with the energy released by the Untamed Jungle''s primal root and entered Michael''s body.

    Michael groaned in pain as the half-sealed Soul Socket connected to the Soul Grimoire Symbol burst open, and a new Soultrait formed. The Soul Socket was dragged across his Soul Sphere by force, tearing Michae''s Soul into shreds before mending it again using the primal root''s energy. The new Soultrait, bound to Hel, sister of Jormungandr and Fenrir, appeared in Michael''s Soul Sphere. It transformed into one of his Main Soultraits in the core of the Soul Sphere¡­all while Michael was unconscious, unable to do anything against Hel''s influence.

    But even if Michael had been awake, would he be powerful enough to block the power of a God? Michael was still not that strong. But it was only a matter of time before he would be stronger. Strong enough to control everything growing inside him.

 Chapter 930 Lord of the Untamed Jungle

    Chapter 930 Lord of the Untamed Jungle

    Michael''s eyes shot wide open when he got back to his senses. He shot up from the ground and circted some energy through his eyes to activate Seer.

    Seer revealed the surroundings in its full glory if there was any glory in a sealed cave with a massive root as the floor.

    "Not a root. The primal root¡­" Michael snickered to himself. It was odd, but he knew what had happened when he was unconscious. It was almost like the Curses and things inside him had told him about everything that happened when the Incubation Trial incapacitated him.

    The moment he heard the fourth trial''s name, Michael realized something was wrong. He couldn''t stop it, though. Michael didn''t feel great at this moment. He sighed deeply and allowed the memories of his body''s habitants to verify his guesses.

    "My mortal vessel was shed when I lost my power. They used the energy to create a Tier-5 powerhouse with several eight-star, seven-star, and six-star Soultraits to form a Divine Shell. That is how I was able to create the Energy Vortex even though I''m not yet a Divine Lifeform. Rune Vortex needs a Divine Shell, a body capable of withstanding the pressure of the Energy Vortex, to form it."

    Michael scratched the back of his head as a flood of memories and information swept through him. The Divine Shell augmented his physical strength. It expanded his soul considerably and it elerated his thinking and mental capacities. His DIvine Shell helped him absorb more of the surrounding energy and control the surrounding energy and energies his body contained, and it¡­shattered his need for a Divine Ascension.

    Michael wouldn''t have to undergo the usual Divine Ascension because his body was already void of impurities ¨C also a gain from shedding his mortal vessel and forming a Divine Shell ¨C and on the same level as a Divine Lifeform. The only ''issue'' was that his Energy Vortex was still at the 6th Tier. But that was something enough resources and effort could solve easily.

    But even if his Energy Vortex and Tier weren''t a big problem, Michael considered it an issue that made his body feel like it was bursting apart. His physique was on the verge of breaking, and his soul felt like it would explode at any moment. Michael would have used some SoulStar Fragments to treat his soul and expand it slowly if he still had some left. Unfortunately, all remaining SoulStar Fragments had been left in the Jungle Shop. Maybe that was for the best. The Untamed Awakened and others required every bit of strength right now.

    "How can I leave this ce?" Michael as the Beast God Curses, but neither Fenrir nor Jormungandr answered.

    [You know how to leave. Listen to the Heart.]

    Michael winced when he heard a woman''s voice in his mind. It sounded oddly familiar, as if he''d heard it before but couldn''t quite grasp it anymore. It took Michael several minutes to recall where he''d heard the voice.

    "You sound different. I expected you to be a massive monster, not their sister." He responded with a faint smile.

    The voice was none other than the terrifying creature whose voice they''d heard underneath the Elementals Cave. It was the voice from the massive cavern tunnel that Michael had sealed with a gigantic gate to reassure Zeroa and her Elementals.

    [I didn''t expect the first living being entering my domain to leave and build a gate before we could talk again, either. But that is fine. You are here, and I''m inside you.]

    Michael winced. She said that in a matter-of-fact tone, something Michael didn''t like. Unfortunately, it was a matter of fact. The woman, the sister of Fenrir and Jormungandr, was inside him. She had transformed into a God Curse, just like her brothers.

    "Why did you transform into a Curse? Were you locked in this ce?" Michael asked, looking around before tapping the surface of the primal root.

    [Locked? I was never locked. You cannot lock away Death. That is not how it works]

    Michael couldn''t quite understand what was happening anymore, but it seemed like Hel enjoyed that.

    [I was to stay here and gather my strength. The Primordial Untamed Jungle grew weaker after its Deity Guardian died, and I chose to rece the Fallen God in exchange for a few favors. You don''t have to know any details about those favors, but I think you can tell how I used my connection with the Untamed Jungle to grow myself and the Untamed Jungle. You can feel the familiarity of our connection, can''t you?]

    Michael frowned but closed his eyes to sense the familiarity Hel had mentioned. He sensed his Soul Sphere and noticed that the sealed Soul Socket ¨C the socket that had required only one more SoulStar Fragment to be unlocked ¨C was no longer there. The empty Soul Socket had been dragged to the Core of the Soul Sphere, where it resided with Extraction, Insert, and Sacred Constitution.

    No. It wasn''t an empty Soul Socket anymore. A Soultrait Symbol had formed in the Soul Socket¡­a Soultrait radiating an odd familiarity. A sh of information impacted heavily, imprinting itself deep into Michael''s mind.

    "You''re the one who absorbs all corpses in the Untamed Jungle. You nourish the Untamed Jungle using the bodies of the dead while you¡­consume a portion of power from all deaths in and around the Untamed Jungle?"

    [That''s correct. I am also the one who influenced the Untamed Jungle. Not that it required many words. The Primordial Tree Spirit liked you a lot already. All it took was a little push and some more help when the Temple of the Forgotten was about to throw you into Trials that would havested decades toplete. I don''t know what that idiotic Deity Guardian expected, but who ¨C in the right mind ¨C would waste decades of their life in an ancient ruin?]

    Fenrir had once mentioned that the trials were weird, customized, and somewhat easier than they should have been, but Michael realized only now how much someone had altered the trials.

    "So, you urged the Untamed Jungle, the Primordial Tree Spirit, to ept me. That is also why I''m here at the primal root and why this¡­thing is in my heart?" Hel hesitated a little this time. She didn''t answer right away and considered her answer carefully.

    [The Heart is something I didn''t expect. I was certain the Primordial Tree Spirit would do something, but I didn''t expect it to do anything like that. No Pseudo-Divinity would surrender a Fragment of their Divinity after spending thousands of years consuming the Divinity of a Fallen God. The Primordial Untamed Jungle was attacked and taken a portion of its might in those thousands of years, yet it never diverted its focus¡­only to give you a portion of its Divinity Fragments and more authority over the Grand Region than anyone else will ever acquire.]

    [You are now officially the Lord of the Untamed Jungle. The one and only Lord, who can control everything.] Fenrir exined, but the wolf''s exnation didn''t really help him in any way. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I¡­am the Lord of the Untamed Jungle? And what is this talk about the Heart and the Untamed Jungle''s Divinity Fragment?"

    Realization dawned upon Michael as the words escaped his lips.

    "Wait¡­You are saying the Heart in my chest is a fragment of the Untamed Jungle''s Divinity?"

 Chapter 931 Death Call

    Chapter 931 Death Call

    [You were supposed to survive Hel''s presence in the fourth trial, but the Untamed Jungle adjusted the Fallen God using bits and pieces of its Divinity to alter the fourth trial¡­and adjust the third trial. The Heart Seed took root in your body, and you were pulled out earlier to start the Incubation Trial when the Dragys changed their tactics.] Fenrir exined while Hel added.

    [The Untamed Jungle has been tracking you for a while now, and the Primordial Tree Spirit knows you''re going to go wild if it keeps you in the Forgotten Temple until your territory has been eradicated. You would obliterate the Untamed Jungle in the attempt to kill the Dragys. Therefore, the Primordial Tree Spirit intervened a little and took a gamble. It wants you to kill the Dragys and rule the Untamed Jungle alongside it.]

    "Granting me a Fragment of its Divinity is a heavy investment. Either the Primordial Tree Spirit is this desperate, or it trusts me."

    The three God Curses nodded. They were of the same opinion.

    "The Heart connects me to everyone and everything in the Untamed Jungle, including the primal root. To think that a simple nt life transformed into a divinity by fusing with the region''s Energy Vein and bybining the Fallen Deity Guardian. I don''t think anyone will believe this story," He smirked while calling upon the power of the Nature Heart. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The primal root stirred for a second, but it surrendered and released a massive amount of energy, which his Divine Shell and the Energy Vortex devoured instantly. ''If I consume half of the primal root, I can push straight to the 7th Tier. That way, I would be strong enough to deal with all Dragys easily. But is that necessary in the first ce? I am already a Divine Lifeform in all but my Tier. The Divine Shell pushes me far above the threshold of a Higher Lifeform¡­and I have a bunch of powerful Soultraits, God Curses, and a Divinity Fragment to use.''

    He rejected the idea of consuming the primal root. It nourished the Grand Region and allowed it to sustain the flora and fauna. The energy permeating the Untamed Jungle was the reason Michael survived this long. It was the sole reason he managed to be the man he was now. It would be a disgrace to consume half of the primal root when it wasn''t necessary.

    However, there was something Michael had to do with the energy of the primal root.

    "Give me a little more," Michael bent down and caressed the primal root gently, "Not too much. I don''t want to drain you. Another burst, and I will leave this ce to kill the Dragys. Support me, and you will be free of pain soon." He smiled down at the primal root while his words resonated with the Nature Heart. A flood of energy gushed out of the primal root in a higher quantity and more potent than the first flood. Michael''s smile widened, and he absorbed the energy using Swallow Domain to transform everything into curse power.

    "Absorb it, Hel. I will need your power. ept me like your brothers did. Etch your Essence into my soul to fight together!" Michael intonated while offering the flood of curse power to Hel. Hel didn''t hesitate. She had already bound herself to Michael by transforming into one of his Core Soultrait Symbols. There was no going back anymore!

    [Squeeze your buttocks and endure the pain, kiddo.] Helmented as she consumed the curse power in one swoop. Nothing happened for a moment, but the first Seal formed shortly. It was etched on his right side and shoulder, covering arge portion of it. It showed a small skull that expanded as more details were added. More Seals formed on his right side, replicating the dead side of Hel. Skeletal fingers were formed on top of Michael''s hand, and it didn''t take long before the seals expanded. Only a few seals, Death Seals, formed, but Michael quickly understood what kind of image Hel would form. Her Death seals replicated her dead right side in its entirety. Once all Death Seals were formed, Michael''s right side would look eerily simr to Hel and her dead right side.

    Michael smiled through the pain. Etching the Death Seals on his bare skin and seemingly into his flesh and bones alongside didn''t feel great, but the Death Seals were active, demonstrating the power he could gain from every single one of them.

    The Death Seals were connected to Hel''s Soultrait Symbol like in her brothers'' cases. [If not for my brothers, I would have unsealed more of my power, but you cannot handle more than my power at 8-Star at this point. You must use more SoulStar Fragments to strengthen your soul and unseal Death Call''s dormant power. Your soul will naturally expand, and you might feel a flood of soul power sweeping through you soon. The monsters of the Untamed Jungle are now for you tomand. They''re your source of Soul Power. Use them wisely.]

    Death Call was what Hel''s Soultrait was called. It was simple, yet not. Its main power was to devour a portion of power from the dead. That was something Michael had already felt simrly during the first trial of the Temple of the Forgotten. Michael would now gain much more power from every death in the Untamed Jungle and its surroundings than any energy influx or energy share could provide. That was the power and authority he had gained from acquiring both the Nature Heart and Death Call. Alone, they were already incredibly powerful, but together, they were an ungodly overpoweredbination. The strongest perks of the Nature Heart and Death Call were in perfect sync, perfectly reflecting the cycle of life and death.

    But Death Call was also the Soultrait Symbol that had upied the empty Soul Socket¡­which Michael had sealed as it was connected straight to the Soul Grimoire. 8-Star Death Call and 7-Star Soul Grimoire were still connected, and it felt like theirpatibility wasn''t much worse than the Nature Heart and Death Call. To be precise, it was almost like Soul Grimoire had been created to support and augment one of Death Call''s weaker authorities. Michael had yet to test thebined power of Death Call and Soul Grimoire, but he wasn''t in a hurry to do so. However, there were other things he had to do in a hurry. He closed his eyes and essed the Nature Heart to feel everything happening in the Untamed Jungle.

    Everything was revealed to his mindeyes, revealed to him in memories, senses, and emotions. Michael felt like a God watching over his creation as he inspected everything happening all across the Grand Region.

    However, he stopped when a flood of Soul Power impacted. It was just like Hel said. The Soul Power of the monsters who had been forced into submission when he acquired Nature Heart flooded him, nourishing every Soultrait Symbol, further strengthening them. All Soultrait Symbols acquired several times the amount of Soul Power they had umted until now.

    That was good, but it was also necessary.

    Michael nodded slowly, his eyes turning ice-cold. He had gained a lot from the Temple of the Forgotten. He was now a Tier-6 Lord with a Divine Shell, a Divinity Fragment, and three God Curses. He had four 8-Star Soultraits and was powerful enough to fight the Dragys head-on.

    Michael had to. If he wasn''t strong enough, everything would be over.

 Chapter 932 To the Rescue

    Chapter 932 To the Rescue

    Michael felt a little different in his body: Shedding his mortal vessel was apletely different sensation from upgrading Sacred Constetion or refining his physique. It was more than that. It was so much more.

    Michael stretched a little for a good minute before channeling enough energy into Cosmic Stride to escape the sealed cave. Since he was now formally acknowledged as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, Michael could easily escape the containment seals that had been etched all over the cave. They didn''t affect him.

    He appeared several kilometers above the surface and closed his eyes. The first thing he did was to stir the monsters of the Untamed Jungle awake. Some monsters had been hibernating for years, decades even. Their deep slumber had to end. [Attack the Dragonkin. Act as you please to protect the Untamed Jungle, but kill them!] Michaelmanded via Whispering Energy, his voice reverberating through the heads of the Untamed Jungle''s monsters. This included the sentient nts spread across the Untamed Jungle''s central area.

    Once his order reached the jungle monsters and Michael received a response through their Links of Loyalty, he made his move.

    He could instinctively tell where the Dragys were, how strong each was, and every little detail about their emotions and physical condition. The jungle''s nt life told him everything Michael had to know, including their numbers, positioning, and course of action.

    Everything shed through Michael''s mind: millions of pieces of information, some of them repeated hundreds of times. Michael''s head rattled, but he dispersed the information influx in the Nature Heart once he knew where to go first.

    He essed Cosmic Stride again and appeared next to arge three where three Dragys, all Higher Lifeforms at the 6th Tier, attacked Hiraku valiantly. Hiraku wasn''t even close to bing a Tier-6 powerhouse, but he defended well. His Artifacts, three Legendary High Artifacts, drastically increased his physical prowess in the Titan form. But there was more to it. Hiraku''s massive figure was coated in the Dragys'' mes, but the veins covering him weren''t burning. Instead, they consumed the mes and nourished Hiraku''s prowess.

    "To think a war with Divine Lifeforms was required to push you to pick a bunch of new Soultraits," Michael snorted, but the corners of his lips curled upward, "How about I help you a little?" The Dragys turned around in surprise. They hadn''t heard a sound, only to find a young human levitating beside them. The Dragys were war veterans and reacted quickly. mes jumped to life in their hands, and they lobbed them at Michael. The mes engulfed Michael within seconds and threatened to burn him to a cinder. It was supposed to be like that, at least.

    Michael smiled and used one of Zeroa''s favorite mes, the violet-azure me, to shroud his body while mixing traces of True Extraction Essence into it. The violet-azure mes devoured the Dragys'' mes and expanded. They transformed into tiny, highlypressed needles, which Michael released with a burst of energy.

    But instead of attacking the 6th Tier Dragys with the violet needles, they whistled through the Untamed Jungle at a shocking velocity. A few screams echoed through the surroundings, but Michael noticed only the energy influxes and Death Call empowering him.

    ''This is better than expected. At least four times more energy than a single energy influx¡­and there is more.''

    Michael nodded slowly while manifesting all Serpent Seals simultaneously. He used Heavenly Beast Physique in its perfect form and added Foundation Break. His body was overflowing with power and cracking in several spots. His skin and flesh tore apart wherever the Serpent Seals manifested, but Michael didn''t pay it any attention. River of Vigor healed him as fast as his body burst apart.

    "I will have to solve that issue soon. A Divine Shell is too much for a Tier-6 Lord to handle," He smiled, kicking the air to propel his body toward the Dragys. They shed and thrust at him with their weapons, but Michael manifested his Aethyr with great familiarity. Two finger-tip-sized shields appeared on two spots on his chest and left shoulder, perfectly blocking the iing attacks. He smiled at the perfect execution of the Aethyr Scales and transformed his Aethyr into small daggers.

    The Dragys wanted to move and leave, but vines and roots kept them in ce. Hiraku was helping Michael, but that wasn''t necessary. The Nature Heart controlled all nt life, especially the flora and fauna of the Untamed Jungle, to perfection. The vines and roots heed hismand and restrain the nemesis of the Untamed Jungle until Michael arrives before them. Once he reached them, not even their Epic Artifacts and Soultraits were of any help. The Aethyr Daggers slit across their throats with deadly precision before a tiny Qi de impaled them, prating their chests and hearts in one go.

    More energy influxes and power of the Death entered his body, urging the Energy Vortex to improve his War Rune and push him to great heights. Michael eyed Hiraku for a moment but focused on the Dragys corpses instead. He teleported the corpses within Cosmic Stride''s range to him, forming a smiling pile of Dragys corpses to his left. A momentter, a massive golden wolf head conjured around him. [There is no time. Let me give you a taste of what you could be doing instead of wasting my precious power like you do EVERY SINGLE TIME!] Fenrir dered hisst words, a war deration, to Michael.

    Michael snorted inwardly but let Fenrir act as he pleased. The massive wolf head shot down on the pile of corpses and moved through them. It looked like Fenrir swallowed them all, yet not a single corpse disappeared even after the golden wolf head dispersed. In fact, the Dragys corpses didn''t move an inch¡­yet more than 100,000 SoulStar Fragments and dozens of Soultrait Symbols entered the War Rune storage.

    Michael smiled and walked up to Hiraku. He retrieved a few tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments, applied Insert, and smashed the pile into Hiraku''s chest.

    "I forgot to wish you a happy birthday," Michael teased his friend before he added in a more serious tone, "You are the best right hand I could have wished for. If not for you, my territory in the Untamed Jungle would be no more. This is only a small reward. Use it well, and promise me to survive!" [Don''t let my brother fool you. I am strong as well. Let me show you something cool!] Hel dered emotionlessly. Her voice made it sound like she wasn''t excited, but the content of her words revealed the opposite.

    The Death Seals blossomed on his right side without Michael''s doing. He sensed Hel was doing something but didn''t block her. Michael allowed her to move.

    Death energy, missed with a dreary all-consuming darkness, burst out of Michael''s ride side. It shot forward and engulfed the pile of Dragys corpses.

    [Do you need their corpses?]

    Michael thought about it for a moment, and while there might be many things he could extract from them once this mess was over, he shook his head. Hel was doing something big.

    The all-consuming darkness swallowed the corpses and retracted, filling Michael''s Energy Vortex with a torrent of perfectly purified energy and his Soul Grimoire with¡­Undead Souls?

    Michael wasn''t quite sure what the Undead Souls in his Soul Grimoire were, but he was about to find out. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He summoned the Soul Grimoire and unleashed Hel''s abominations into the Untamed Jungle.

 Chapter 933 Ghosts

    Chapter 933 Ghosts

    Hiraku had been rescued, and it was only a matter of minutes before some of his Soultrait Symbols were upgraded. The influx of SoulStar Fragments would strengthen Hiraku and grant him enough power to deal with a few more Dragys without Michael''s intervention. Michael was overflowing with energy. Death Call and the energy influxes provided him with more energy than expected. However, thebination of Death Call, the Nature Heart, and the energy shares was even more impactful. Michael earned a portion of power from every death within the Untamed Jungle and its proximity. The energy shares provided by his subjects were still substantial and couldn''t be ignored, but the mammoth portion of power surging through his body and entering his Energy Vortex came from Death Call.

    But that was necessary. Michael needed more power to rescue his people and defeat the Dragys.

    He closed his eyes and summoned the Undead Souls, abominations that formed from the resenting souls of the deceased Dragys. They didn''t want to obey Michael and attack him instead, but the Soul Grimoire manifested next to him, protecting its owner. Michael sensed instinctively what he could do with the Undead Souls using the Soul Grimoire, and the corners of his lips curled upward.

    ''This is interesting. Is that thebination of Soul Grimoire and Death Call? Is that how I can use them? Nice!

    The Undead Souls were incorporeal and shifted shapes at all times. However, most Undead Souls would retain the same upper body they used to have while their lower transformed into fog, clouds, tentacles, tails, or more. Michael was not sure what he should consider those Undead Souls, but they were decentbatants. Hel said so.

    [They retain half of their former power for several hours ¨C you can stop the countdown by storing them in the Soul Grimoire ¨C until they disperse and their souls regain freedom. Undead Souls can attack the souls of other creatures and possess the bodies of weak-willed beings. You might not think much of them, but they''re fast, and their attacks work wonders against those who didn''t refine their souls with powerful techniques. Furthermore, physical attacks cannot harm them, and elemental attacks do little damage.]

    "Why can I only control them with the Soul Grimoire? You seem to know so much about Undead Souls. I sincerely doubt you cannot control them well," Michael asked Hel, ignoring Hiraku''s confused expression.

    [I use my Authority of Death to control them. You are not yet capable of that. Maybe in the future. For now, however, you must rely on the Soul Grimoire to control the Undead Souls and store them in the Soul Grimoire. For the records, you can also use your other Soultraits to mix, mash, and tear the Undead Souls apart. It will be interesting if you try Insert on two simr Undead Souls, but¡­don''t use Insert on Undead Souls and the Soul Grimoire. You will permanently bind them to the Soul Grimoire. That can be helpful, but permanently binding Undead Souls will upy your Soul Grimoire''s space.]

    Michael listened intently but shrugged atst. He sent the Undead Souls out, ordering the ghost-like abominations to rescue his people. He deployed the Undead Souls where they could cause the most harm to the Dragys while indirectly rescuing as many residents of his territory as possible. How could the Undead Souls achieve that? By killing the weakest enemies, possessing their bodies, and inflicting friendly fire. The Dragys wouldn''t be able to trust their backs to theirrades once the news of friendly fire spread like wildfire. At the same time, the Dragys might be stronger than the Untamed Awakened and Untamed Armies, but not all of them were strong. The Dragys'' forces contained Lesser Lifeforms and weaker Higher Lifeforms as well!

    The Undead Souls shot in all directions, ready to spread fear and wreak havoc all over the outer parts of the Untamed Jungle.

    "Michael, you better move fast. The first Pentagon Fort has already fallen, and¨C..." Michael stopped Hiraku with a hand gesture and a sad smile. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I know. I know everything." He said before disappearing into thin air.

    Michael''s senses spread all across the Untamed Jungle. Every creature other than the remaining Lords and their subjects was now linked to him. He had ess to all monsters and nts. They were all¡­subordinate to him. He could feel them. He had undisputed dominion over them!

    Hiraku stares at Michael''s location, his eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Something about his friend was different. Michael was more.

    A few seconds of silence passed, which his subconscious used to distribute the SoulStar Fragments and upgrade some Soultrait Symbols to a higher star rating. Atst, Hiraku received a new order from Michael via Whispering Energy.

    [Go south. Sun Demos and Icarus will require your help in¡­40 seconds.]

    Hiraku tilted his head but moved regardless. He trusted Michael. His friend would never abandon his people or betray them. If anything, Michael would rather carry all responsibility alone and carry all wounds than letting someone else be hurt. But that was not possible. Michael couldn''t be everywhere simultaneously. Hiraku reached Sun Demos and the Monkey King''s subordinates. They were busy fighting some Lesser Lifeforms led by some weaker, Higher Lifeforms. ''They can handle this. Why did Michael tell me toe here?'' Hiraku wondered, his eyes flicking to Icarus and the other Minor Typhoon Rocs, who released a typhoon shrouded in razor-sharp wind des. As the typhoon reached them, they wreaked havoc and tore several Dragys into bits and pieces.

    Hiraku couldn''t help but think that his help wasn''t needed when a group of Dragys, mostly Higher Lifeforms at the 4th and 5th Tier, arrived at the scene. Hiraku tensed up and used Creation and Titan Spirit instantaneously. He summoned his Artifacts and activated his newest Soultraits, transforming the veins and roots covering him, changing their color.

    Hiraku was ready to fight the Dragy unit with his life on the line.

    However, the towering Titan wasn''t alone. He slowed down when the scrub to his right rustled. A cacophony of sounds reverberated, taking Hiraku by surprise as a small horde of jungle monsters pushed through the shrubs and bushes. They emerged from the undergrowth and attacked the Dragys valiantly.

    There weren''t many High Beasts among the monsters, but their numbers were already enough to take the Dragys by surprise. The Dragys had been surrounded and were now upied dealing with the High Beasts and their subordinates, and they didn''t even perceive Sun Demos, Icarus, or Hiraku.

    Hiraku tapped into his Titan Spirit power to control the surrounding nature with the Great Nature Spirit''s help. The Dragys were restrained for a quarter of a second, creating countless opportunities all over the battlefield. Sun Demos ripped a Dragys'' throat open. Icarus and his family cut them into countless pieces using hundreds of highlypressed wind des, and the High Beasts pounced at the Dragys. Simultaneously, Hiraku charged into the mess of jungle monsters once he realized that the monsters didn''t attack him or Sun Demos. They left enough space for Hiraku, showing him they didn''t mean to attack him. His eyes widened in surprise.

    ''The Untamed Jungle is on our side!''

 Chapter 934 Azure Quetzalcoatl

    Chapter 934 Azure Quetzalcoatl

    ''The Dragys Lordess didn''t deploy her whole force to the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts. There are less than 3,000 Higher Lifeforms and only three Divine Lifeforms.'' Michael sensed using the Nature Heart.

    The Higher Lifeforms were problematic as most were either Tier-5 or Tier-6, but the rest were dealt with rather smoothly. At least, that would have been the case if the Dragys attacked recklessly, but that wasn''t the case. They moved with great vignce through the Untamed Jungle and burned everything to ashes, ensuring that no one could surprise attack them. However, burning everything to ashes was a slow process, especially in a ce like the Untamed Jungle.

    All nt life in the Untamed Jungle had a minor resistance to all the elements. Adding the Pentagon Forts'' defense, which used all Aqueous Elementals to drench the Untamed Jungle''s flora with high energy-infused mana, while the Fire Elementals drained the Dragys'' mes and devoured them, the Dragonkin had a hard time proceeding. They were patient, but it had been months since they found and attacked the first Pentagon Fort. The first Pentagon Fort was no more, but the Dragys killed only a minority of defenseless citizens. The residents of the first Pentagon Fort fled long before the Awakened of the Dragys attacked. The Dragys moved too slow through the Untamed Jungle, their guard heightened to the limits, to catch the residents of the settlements they''d destroyed.

    Only the Untamed Armies and Untamed Awakened faced them, but they never attacked head-on when it could be avoided. Michael''s military forces realized what the Dragys feared and what they''d nned. They took advantage of the information and acted against the Dragys, forcing them to advance even slower.

    Unfortunately, the Untamed Awakened weren''t strong enough to fight the Tier-6 Dragys. It would have been fine fighting a few Tier-5 High Awakened, especially after the strongest Awakened of Michael''s retinue were given ess to the Jungle Shop''s Soultrait Symbols, SoulStar Fragments, and their strongest Artifacts. Michael had prepared the Artifacts,bining thousands of High Artifacts using Insert to create a few powerful Epic and Legendary Artifacts.

    But that wasn''t enough. Tier-5 High Awakened could be dealt with as long as the Untamed Awakened were at a numerical advantage or only fighting Summons, but the Dragys were a joint force of Summons and Awakened. They were troublesome to fight, even more so the Divine Lifeforms.

    Dozens of High Awakened and Higher Lifeforms of the Untamed Armies died, stalling the Divine Dragys. They were too powerful to fight as mere Higher Lifeforms.

    But the Untamed Jungle was lucky. They had a Guardian Beast.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl appeared one day and burned one of the Divine Dragys to ashes. A fraction of the Untamed Jungle was set aze, harming the Untamed Jungle more than most Dragys had achieved in thest few weeks, but nobody cared about the damage at this point. If the Untamed Jungle was willing to sacrifice a portion of itsnd and nt life to kill the Dragys¡­so be it.

    The Primordial Tree Spiritmanded the Azure Quetzalcoatl as the inheritor of the Fallen God''s divinity. Millennia ago, it became the rightful owner of the Azure Quetzalcoatl by consuming the Fallen God''s remnants and conquering the Temple of the Forgotten.

    Michael had seen enough about the Azure Quetzalcoatl in the third trial to know how strong it was, but sensing its power¡­and perceiving the Link of Loyalty forming with the Guardian Beast changed everything. [The Tree Spirit sacrificed more of its power than I expected. It must be desperate.] Hel noted and Michael nodded.

    "I can sense its fear. The Dragys Lordess is closer to the Primordial Tree Spirit than she knows. She thinks the Primordial Tree Spirit is at the center of the Untamed Jungle. That would have been true if the center of the Untamed Jungle was the same as it had been at the beginning of time. The Grand Region was one of the Primal Regions, ruling over a quarter of the Origin Expanse. But then everything changed. The Will added new regions by depriving the Primal Regions of their power. The Will took what it needed and left the Primal Regions injured. Then the first Awakened arrived¡­"

    Michael learned a lot from the Primordial Tree Spirit, and hearing about the Untamed Jungle''s fate hurt him. The Untamed Jungle was still a Grand Region, the biggest region Michael had seen until now. However, the Grand Region was in danger. The Dragys Lordess would have never been strong enough to fight and defeat the Primordial Tree Spirit if not for being a Dragonkin and for the destruction caused by a Primal.

    It must have been a while, but a Primal appeared in the Untamed Jungle. The Primal wanted to find the Fallen God and consume its Divinity, only to find it consumed by a nt¡­the Primordial Tree Spirit.

    [How did it survive?] Jormungandr asked after reading Michael''s thoughts.

    "I don''t know. The Primordial Tree Spirit didn''t tell me. All it told was that its divinity was injured and shattered beyond repair. Now it is too afraid to stretch out its feelers. It only gave me the biggest fragment of its Divinity to convince me to help it¡­and to distract the Dragys Lordess. She is also after the Divinity Fragments and has a device to sense them."

    [So, the Dragys Lordess can sense you in the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts and has probably deployed more forces. Or she sent an order to the DIvine Dragys to search you and report back to wait for her next orders.] Fenrir pointed out.

    "I guess so." Michael shrugged.

    He didn''t like the reason the Primordial Tree Spirit gave him the biggest fragment of its Divinity, but he would never reject it even if he had known the truth. The Dragys Lordess was already his enemy, and if he could acquire a Divinity Fragment for fighting her head-on, that would be even better. It increased his chances of victory.

    Three God Curses, a Divine Shell, a Divinity Fragment, and a bunch of Soultraits should be enough to fight some Divine Dragonkin. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael craned his neck and jumped into action. But instead of charging the Divine Dragys directly, Michael removed the biggest threats first. The Divine Dragys were still busy fighting the Azure Quetzalcoatl. The Quetzalcoatl wasn''t at a disadvantage. It held the upper hand against the few Divine Dragys. Apparently, the Quetzal had been an unknown variable to the Dragys Lordess.

    [She might not have anymore troupes to deploy to your frontlines. The Divine Alliances must resist more bravely than she''d anticipated.] Hel mumbled, feeling the numerous deaths across the Untamed Jungle and beyond.

    "I know. I can sense the deaths, too. The jungle monsters are now on the Divine Alliances'' sides and help them push the Dragys Lordess back. She is not on the losing side, but her inevitable victory will take¡­a month or two longer now," Michael grinned like the devil, "I don''t need that long."

    Michael didn''t have anything special nned, but the ns forming in his mind grew in substance as he added more details to each.

    But before he executed any of theplex ns, Michael did what he was best at.

    He teleported to the Tier-6 High Awakened, the Dragys who''d been pressuring his forces the most, and killed them.

    The Serpent Seals, Death Seals, Perfect Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, and Curse Fusionbi were all he needed to end their lives in seconds.

    Cosmic Stride teleported him to the victims silently, and his overwhelming physical prowess was all he needed to rip their bodies apart and pierce their skulls, slit their throats, and impale their chests.

    The tides were changing.

 Chapter 935 Support

    Chapter 935 Support

    Michael realized only how massive the gains in his physical prowess and the amount of Soul Power umted in his Soultrait Symbols were when most Tier-6 Dragys were already dead. An ordinary Qi Sword was now almost twice as fast and far more durable than before. Their impact in the surrounding world was several times higher, and it required only a little energy to push them to top speed.

    But Qi was not the only Soultrait growing stronger. In fact, Qi gained only an average boost in all abilities. His other Soultrait Symbols received the same gains or even more.

    Seer and Sacred Constitution, for example, received more benefits as 8-Star Soultraits. They enhanced his physical properties further, pushing him closer to a Divine Lifeform than the Divine Shell did. It was no wonder his body was on the verge of bursting apart. The Tier-6 Dragys might have been on the same rank as Michael, but theirbat prowess couldn''t have been more different.

    Michael overwhelmed them with physical strength, killed them, and used the Devour Wolf, which is how Michael called the golden wolf head devouring the corpses'' SoulStar Fragments, Soultrait Symbols, and Death Call.

    Death Call strengthened his body while summoning the Undead Souls, which he subdued with the Soul Grimoire. Once subdued, the Undead Souls were deployed to kill the Lesser Lifeforms of the Dragys while their High Awakened and Higher Lifeforms would be tormented with a bombardment of soul attacks or attacked by their possessed Lesser Lifeform friends. The jungle monsters worked with the Undead Souls while the Untamed Armies and Awakened were ordered to focus on protecting their people. They were supposed to move in groups; pincer the Dragys focused on fighting the Undead Souls and jungle monsters and attacking from the distance. Of course, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs of the Awakened andbatants didn''t like that. Thus, Michael chose to give them free reign. He didn''t want them dead, but their resentment was worse. They wouldn''t hate him if they died, either. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were proud warriors and would never hate their Warlord for dying in battle. If anything, it was the best end they could wish for.

    Once Michael ryed hundreds of orders throughout the Untamed Jungle, he consumed some SoulStar Fragments. His Soul was already on the verge of breaking, just like his body, but the cracks in his soul were more extensive. Containing a Divinity Fragment and three Beast Gods was a little bit too much, even for a Divine Shell. ''I would be dead with the mortal vessel,'' He joked even though it was no joking matter. Still, he smiled.

    Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungandr''s Soultrait Symbols and techniques were powerful. It wouldn''t surprise him if their Soultriat Symbols would transform into something simr to the Nature Heart in the future.

    [You''re right. If you fuse more of our Essences into your Soultrait Symbols, we will inevitably end up giving you a portion of our Authorities.] Jormungandr said in a matter-of-fact tone, yet Michael could swear to hear a trace of annoyance as well.

    [If that happens, you will have to survive no matter what. Your death would destroy everything.] Fenrir said, and Michael sensed the approval of the wolf''s siblings.

    The God Curses talked much more since their sister returned, but Michael didn''t think much about it. However, he hoped that they wouldn''t keep going like that. The God Curses snorted at his thought, and Michael shrugged. He thought about his brother and teleported to Danny, who was busy dealing with some Dragy. His body was d in majestic te armor, manifested from the 9-Star Sword God Soultrait. Michael could sense the source of the armor''s power instinctively and smiled. Daniel Fang whirled through the surroundings like a young god of ughter, eliminating dozens of enemies within seconds.

    "Are you fine?" Michael asked Danny, who smiled from one ear to the other, "Brother, you''re back." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I am."

    "That was about time. They''re getting stronger and more annoying to deal with. I think the Dragys Lordess is tired of our resistance." "She certainly is. But that doesn''t matter. The Dragys Lordess won''t bother us for long after I''m done," He smiled but stopped when he sensed something tens of kilometers on the other side of his territory. Michael nodded toward his brother and disappeared with a use of Cosmic Stride. He appeared near Zeke and Kaleb, who were under constant assault from a dozen Tier-5 powerhouses. Kaleb and Zeke were strong, and already High Awakened, but the Dragys countered Kaleb almost perfectly. It was only owed to Zeke''s Eye of Illusion that they were still alive.

    Michael smiled at his friends and stretched his arm out. A primal roar escaped from his¡­arm, and a massive lizard head, a dragon''s head, emerged before Michael.

    The Red Dragon had been teleported to them and transformed into the prime target of the Dragys. The Dragonkin stared at the Red Dragon with wide eyes, worship flickering in them, but they attacked nheless. Their drive to survive was stronger than their worship.

    Kaleb and Zeke adjusted their tactics immediately. They supported the Red Dragon with the Frozen Nova and illusions and turned the tide of the battle. The Dragys were still slightly advantageous, but a Tier-5 mythical creature was strong enough to do enormous damage. The Dragys'' survival rate dropped even further after Michael applied Greater Enhancement on his friends and the Red Dragon a few times. He applied it on each of their Soultrait Symbols using Insert, unlocking their dormant physical potential with a final use on their body.

    The Red Dragon''s power skyrocketed alongside the two friends, and a frozen novance pierced the first Tier-5 Dragys after an illusion shrouded it the chilly projectile too long from the poor Awakened''s perception. The Dragys was swift and responded fast. He tried using a shield to block all attacks but failed miserably. The frozen novance pierced the center of his chest and froze his entire upper body, which cracked and crumbled into countless tiny chunks of frozen meat and bones.

    Michael disappeared again. There was no time to talk to his friends. Once the invasion of the Dragys Lordess ended, Michael and the others would have more than enough time to chat. But, for now, Michael focused on saving as many good men and women as possible.

    The situation overall wasn''t as bad as Michael had predicted. Once he ordered the jungle monsters to distract the enemy forces in their settlements, the Dragys Lordess ordered the reinforcement to retreat and fortify their defenses all across their territory. At the same time, the pressure on the Untamed Awakened and thebatants decreased drastically once the Tier-6 Dragys died. The Silverfangs gained many opportunities to move through the Untamed Jungle''s shrugs, emerge for a few seconds, and kill a few Higher Lifeforms.

    The Silverfangs were afraid of the Undead Souls but overcame their fear once they realized that the abominations attacked the enemy. Everyone was surprised about the jungle monster''s support, but they understood what was happening once their Lord shed through the surroundings.

    Their Lord did it. He returned when they needed him the most.

 Chapter 936 Against Divine Lifeforms

    Chapter 936 Against Divine Lifeforms

    ''Is everyone ready?'' Michael asked rhetorically.

    He activated Foundation Break, activated Greater Enhancement on his body, all Soultrait Symbols, and each Seal, which activated simultaneously. Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungandr unleashed their Essences into their Seals, unraveling their dormant potential to initiate a Curse Fusion with three God Curses.

    Michael''s body cracked and bulged. Darkish-green scales grew from his skin, a serpent tail shot out from his tailbone and his hands transformed into massive ws. At least one of his hands transformed like that. His other hand, his right side, seemedcklusterpared to the rest of his body. It was pale and void of any life.

    His right hand transformed and seemed to suddenly lose all of its flesh. No. His flesh was reced by a dark-glowing mass that drained and decayed everything it touched. Michael''s control of Death Call surged to a new level, and he could now form Undead Souls from corpses several hundred meters away. That was what he did while Jormungandr unleashed Perfect Heavenly Beast Physique. Fenrir didn''t stay idle while his brother did something, either. His Essence spread through Michael and his surroundings as he unleashed the True Extraction Domain at full power. Combined with the Nature Heart, which granted Michael full control of the Untamed Jungle and everything belonging to it, Fenrir could easily drain the lifeforce and energy from everything in the surroundings. That was what the wolf did. However, it drained only portions of lifeforce and energy from every living being in the Nature Heart''s control.

    The energy and lifeforce drained from the surroundings were used to empower Foundation Break and activate another Soullife Arts. Two Soullife Arts, to be precise. Fenrir used one of his Soullife Arts with Michael''s permission. A vibrant golden shimmer enveloped Michael suddenly. It infused into his full-body serpent armor, augmenting the serpent scales drastically. The excessive energy of the golden shimmer entered Michael''s body, protecting him from external harm.

    The golden shimmer was the Soullife Arts called Immortal Ward, a rare and expensive technique that rapidly drained energy and lifeforce. The amount of energy and lifeforce drained from them would increase ording to the target''s size and the potency of protection they required. Therefore, even Divine entities wouldn''t easily activate the Immortal Ward. Only creatures like Fenrir, beings able to drain the surrounding energy and lifeforce, could activate such a Soullife Arts recklessly.

    The other Soullife Arts belonged to Hel. It was a simple Soullife Arts that used Soullife Energy ¨C a mixture of soul power, life force, and purified energy ¨C to augment the user''s attacks. All attacks. This included attacks with Soultraits as well. It was exactly what Michael needed to deal with the Divine Lifeforms of the Dragys Lordess.

    [I cannot conceal you much longer from the Divine Lifeforms if you keep tearing through the concealmentyers of Perfect Heavenly Beast Physique.] Jormungandrined. It didn''t want to use any more of its Essence if it could be avoided. It used more of its Essence for Michael since it met the odd Lord than it had used in the decades before their encounter.

    Michael didn''t remain idle. He conjured the Aethyr des around his ws, appliedyers of True Extraction, Qi, and Greater Enhancement onto them. He teleported behind one of the three Divine Dragys fighting the Azure Quetzalcoatl.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl was aware of Michael''s presence and had waited for his arrival. Its attacks grew in intensity seconds before Michael attacked, forcing the Divine Dragys to focus on the Quetzalcoatl as Michael appeared behind the Divine Dragys fighting in the back. The Divine Dragys was an Awakened with two Soultraits. One of his Soultraits allowed him to alter his natural fire element and transform its mes into holy mes that healed and purified its allies, while the other Soultrait restrained the Quetzalcoatl. It was a that weakened the target if hit critically.

    Michael knew enough about the Divine Dragys from the myriad of information the nt life had told him. He appeared beside the Divine Dragys, whose high perception instinctively picked up the new arrival. The Dragys whirled around to hit Michael with a series ofs, but Michael was no more. Only his presence and a zing body looking like him were left.

    "Behind you," Michael mumbled while his Aethyr-shrouded w pierced through his back.

    It was obvious, but the Divine Dragys wouldn''t die that easily. That was also why Michael''s ws had been coated in Jormungandr''s poison curse power, which Greater Enhancement had further amplified. Michael inserted the poison curse power and Extraction into the Divine Dragys through the wound while twisting its ws in the surprise enemy. He grasped the man and hurled him high into the air where the Azure Quetzalcoatl was already waiting with its azure mythical mes.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl burned the Divine Dragys, who was surprisingly still alive. But not for long. A pitch-ck sword coated in a silverish-gray hue emerged in the sky overhead the Divine Dragys immediately after the Dragys was burned by the Azure Quetzalcoatl. It descended with a burst of Death Authority and pierced through the Divine Dragys'' chest, shoving the unfortunate creature into the ground where it was impaled. The Divine Dragys struggled to move. It tried escaping, but the de impaled the Dragonkin and dug deep into the ground. Only the eerily dark hilt jut from the Dragys'' chest.

    Death''s Authority mixed in the Dragys'' body with the True Extraction Essence and the poison curse power, worsening the Divine Dragys'' condition.

    The two remaining Divine Dragys turned to theirrades and were shocked to see a creature like Michael. He looked like a humanoid lizard, except that his serpent armor was more profound and pristine. It looked like proper armor, whereas the scales covering the Dragys were wed and not as polished and clean as Michael''s. The creature they faced was also more dangerous than anything they''d seen before. Not even the Azure Quetzalcoatl couldpare.

    His eyes glowed golden and with much more vigor than any creature they''d ever seen. Even the Dragon Princes and Kings couldn''tpare. The Dragons Kings might be powerful creatures, but the power residing within Michael''s was¡­otherworldly.

    Michael chortled. The Divine Dragys were fun. "Why are you only paying attention to me?"

    "You don''t even know whose territory you''re attacking?"

    He nced behind the Divine Dragys with a smile. They''d forgotten about the Azure Quetzalcoatl when they sensed the terrifying power from behind.

    Michael shrugged. It didn''t matter whether they knew who they attacked or not.

    The Divine Dragys turned around in terror, their defenses raised to the limits, but that wasn''t necessary. The Azure Quetzalcoatl was nowhere near. In fact, it wasn''t there anymore. It had been teleported away.

    The Divine Dragys shuddered, and their eyes widened in terror when their eyes fell upon theirrade.

    "Who¡­are you?"

    Michael chortled. The Divine Dragys were fun. "You don''t even know whose territory you''re attacking?"

    Michael shrugged. It didn''t matter whether they knew who they attacked or not. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Why are you only paying attention to me?"

    He nced behind the Divine Dragys with a smile. They''d forgotten about the Azure Quetzalcoatl when they sensed the terrifying power from behind.

    The Divine Dragys turned around in terror, their defenses raised to the limits, but that wasn''t necessary. The Azure Quetzalcoatl was nowhere near. In fact, it wasn''t there anymore. It had been teleported away.

    "I wonder how you guys survived in this world to be Divine Lifeforms," Michael mumbled next to one of the Divine Dragys. He''d appeared beside the Dragys with a simple kick in the air.

    "The Quetzal is not needed here anymore. I told it to kill yourrades while I take care of you guys." Michael said, his Undead Hand pressed firmly against the back of one Divine Dragys. The Dragys'' scales lost vigor and withered. Michael applied Insert to Hel''s Death Authority and repeated the same process of using Insert to infuse poison curse power and True Extraction Essence into the Divine Dragys.

    He unleashed Seer at full pontiac and used Domination to attack his mind and soul simultaneously. The Dragys blocked the soul attack but was amid a counterattack when the mental portion of Domination struck. His attack seeded, and his spear pierced Michael''s arm, severing it in one go. However, Michael''s n paid off.

    Once the Divine Dragys'' mental guard was off, he used Cosmic Stride to forcefully teleport the Divine Dragys several kilometers high into the air. Simultaneously, he teleported the severed arm back to his arm stump, where the advanced healing serum did its work quickly.

    Michael applied severalyers of Greater Enhancement on River of Vigor and grew more scales to connect his arm until it reconnected properly. At the same time, he eyed thest Dragys, who''d already conjured a humongous fireball. The fireballpressed and transformed into a miniature sun, which burned everything in its surroundings.

    "Is that your Soultrait? Not too shabby," Michaelmented while tapping into the Sphere of Elements. He used all excessive energy and bits and pieces of Soullife Energy to use fire-attributed energy of the Sphere of Fire to conjure Zeroa''s violet-azure mes. It was only a tiny wisp of a brightly flickering me. Still, it contained the Soullife Energy of all Soul Power umted in the Sphere of Elements Soultrait Symbol and the energy and lifeforce that Fenrir had left behind to use.

    The wisp whizzed through the air and impacted into the miniature sun. It looked like a droplet of water hit the vast ocean. However, that little water droplet was so much more than a mere drop of water.

    When the violet-azure me struck the miniature sun, the Divine Dragys'' eyes widened in terror. He knew what was about to happen and cursed Michael in its nativenguage.

    A momentter, the miniature sun exploded, burning everything in the epicenter of the explosion to a cinder. Including the Divine Dragys.

    Michael didn''t watch the explosion. He was a bit sorry for the nt life the exploding miniature sun obliterated, but that sacrifice was necessary to kill the Dragys. In the first ce, defeating a Divine Lifeform without causing any destruction was nearly impossible. They could obliterate wholes by going all out. Maybe that was only possible because thoses couldn''t endure the strain of energy since they had yet to be infused with enough energy to awaken and evolve, but that didn''t matter.

    Fact was the Untamed Jungle had to be prepared for a few more sacrifices to emerge victorious against the Dragys Lordess. They might have suffered a lot already, but it was necessary to go all-out to obliterate the Dragys Lordess and her powerhouses. Michael couldn''t hold back merely because of a few trees and bushes. He didn''t want to die to protect a handful of shrubs!

    Cosmic Stride teleported Michael to the other DIvine Dragys. The Dragonkin fell from the sky, its eyes trailing the Untamed Jungle from above. It solidified mes underfoot, adjusted its trajectory, and moved to something it had sighted from high up in the sky.

    "Are you trying to find my Summoning Gate? Sorry, but I cannot allow that," Michael said lightly while following Dragy''s eyes. His undead hand shrouded the Divine Dragys'' head suddenly, releasing a massive wave of Death Authority. The Dragys screamed at the top of its lungs as the life in its eyes dispersed. The Death Authority took away the life in the Dragys'' eyes, blinding him forever ¨C not that forever was going tost long for the Dragys in the first ce.

    He would die in a few seconds.

    That was if Michael wanted the Divine Dragys to die in a few seconds. But that wasn''t the case. He needed the Divine Dragys for a few more seconds.

    Michael sensed the death of the other DIvine Dragys. The explosion of his miniature sun killed the DIvine Lifeform and the surroundingnd. More than two kilometers in radius were destroyed by the explosion of the miniature sun. That was much less damage than Michael expected, but it was for the best. He had already been worried that half of the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts would be obliterated by the miniature sun.

    Either way, Michael had been prepared for it. Since the Heart''s Choice trial in the Temple of the Forgotten, Michael had prepared himself mentally and physically for everything. He came up with enough ns to demolish the Dragys Lordess and wouldn''t hold back now.

    But now it was time to focus on thest Divine Dragys. His body was being corroded by highly potent poison curse power and Death Authority. It withered rapidly, and the Divine Dragys could do nothing about it. It wasn''t a Demi-God or a Deity yet, and thus, it was unable to block the poison of a Beast God or the Death Authority, a divine power of a God Curse.

    "How can you be so powerful? Not even the Lordess can handle the power of a god¡­" The Dragys asked, their eyes widening in shock and terror. The creature could tell what awaited its Lordess and it didn''t like the scenario at all.

    "Do you want my honest answer? I don''t know how I acquired this much strength either. Maybe it was Fate." Michael shrugged while draining the Divine Dragys'' lifeforce and energy, which he converted into even more poison curse power. He channeled more Death Authority into the Divine Dragys until he could hardly move.

    The creature was on the verge of death, but Michael didn''t let it die. He was in need of information. The first battle was over, but it was only the start of a war. The Untamed Jungle''s revenge was just about to begin.

 Chapter 937 Backfired

    Chapter 937 Backfired

    Michael had a few ns up his sleeve, but he followed the simplest path by using Mind Watcher to read the half-dead Divine Dragys'' memories. He used Greater Enhancement and Soul Tears on Mind Watcher to read as much of the Divine Awakened''s memories as possible until he managed to kill himself.

    Michael sensed the ignition of the Divine Dragys'' Energy Pir toote. Despite being drained and sucked dry, the Energy Pir was still a construct ofpressed energy. Once dissolved, an enormous amount of energy was unleashed. That would have been problematic if he hadn''t actively using Mind Watcher.

    In the first ce, Mind Watcher allowed Michael to read the Divine Dragys'' thoughts and perceive his intentions early enough to see what was happening through Seer and True Vision. That didn''t give him much time, but a second was enough to do something very simple.

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward, and he used Cosmic Stride while sensing the spatial restricted zones of the Dragys Lordess'' settlements via the Nature Heart and the voices of the Untamed Jungle''s nt life. The main settlement of the Dragys Lordess was sealed perfectly, but there was a small hole in the defenses near the frontlines with the Divine Alliances. Michael guessed that the hole in the defenses was left behind by an attack by the Divine Alliances'' forces. It could have been something different, but it didn''t matter.

    Important was only the hole, and it hadn''t been fixed.

    "Consider this a present, little reptile," Michael snickered as he appeared on the outskirts of a massive Dragys settlement. He grasped the half-dead Divine Dragys with one w, used Greater Enhancement more than a dozen times on the Divine Dragys'' Energy Pir, and flexed his muscles while hurling the dying Dragonkin to the settlement''s center.

    Michael''sst gift was a small spark used with Insert to ensure the Divine Dragys couldn''t stop his self-destruction midway. He''d initiated it, so he should reap what he desired: death and destruction.

    ''You didn''t n to kill your kill with your suicide, or did you?'' Michael snorted before teleporting out of the danger zone. He studied the surroundings briefly and teleported to the frontlines with the Dragys, where he used Death Call right before the massive explosion reverberated through the surroundings.

    A massive fireball the size of an entire city shook the Untamed Jungle. A fiery heatwave followed by energy swept through the surroundings, but Michael used True Extraction Domain with both Death Call and Swallow Domain. He summoned the Undead Souls of the deceased and consumed their corpses to turn them into energy. Michael absorbed the energy via his Energy Vortex and bathed in the death portions, and energy influxes filled his entire being.

    [You''re transforming fast.] Hel noted in intrigue.

    "Is that a problem? I need to grow stronger if I don''t want to get killed," Michael responded in a tone he didn''t quite like. It was nonchnt but also a matter-of-fact tone, which he usually disliked, "If not for three God Curses and the Nature Heart, I would have lost my territory long ago. No. I would have never grown this strong. Maybe I would have gotten a decent Soultrait, but as we''ve already learned, Fenrir ¨C or the Will, for I don''t know what reason ¨C I must have thought it would be good to give me Extraction. Extraction changed everything, but it feels like someone is always throwing more hurdles at me. Why? I don''t know. I only know that if I don''t have any issues to deal with in the Origin Expanse, the cosmos outside the Origin Expanse will cause trouble. There is never a pause for me. That''s why I have to get stronger when I have the opportunity.

    Using you and your siblings is exactly what I need to grow stronger. Thus, I will abuse you as much as I please while I wait patiently for you and your siblings to do the same. After all, we are on the same path but have different goals. RIGHT, Jormungandr?!"

    Michael absorbed the shockwave, the energy of the dead, and controlled the Undead Souls to travel through the Dragys Lordess'' territory and kill as many Lesser Lifeforms as possible. There was no need to attack the Higher Lifeforms or even reveal themselves to them. However, the moment a Lesser Lifeform left the safety of their settlement, they ought to get killed on the spot. Before, Michael wouldn''t have resorted to such a tactic, but he was tired of being under constant attack. He never attacked the Dragys Lordess and spilled out the High Awakened Dragys that he''d identally devoured with Swallow Domain. The Dragys he''d swallowed shouldn''t even remember what had happened. Thus, he never did anything to the Dragys Lordess. She was just a greedy and war-obsessed Lordess who desired to destroy the Untamed Jungle, conquer it, and im the divinity that had entered Michael''s body.

    Michael started disliking the Primordial Tree Spirit as well. It could have fought by his side, but instead of bing partners, the Primordial Tree Spirit abandoned its sacred duty after fulfilling it for eons, only to throw all responsibility at Michael.

    He was tired of all the responsibility. Who said that he wanted all of this? Taking care of his territory and subjects was already difficult enough, even without a fight. Yet people like the ze Patriarch, organizations like the Supreme Human Alliance, and races like the Dragys continued bothering him.

    The ze Patriarch had been removed, and a treaty ensured peace in the Sacred Desert and its surrounding regions. Until other Lords and powerful creatures didn''t attack Michael''s business partners, everything would be fine. However, the Untamed Jungle was a problem and would probably stay forever.

    [Don''t worry; we will ensure you grow strong enough to fight Demi-Gods, Minor Gods, Sacred Beasts, God Beasts, and so forth in no time. With our help, you will acquire the power of four Authorities. As long as you keep growing, you will be the vessel of four Divinities. And as long as you don''t¡­shatter¡­] Jormungandr said calmly. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Unfortunately, Michael didn''t feel calm. On the contrary, the authorities of God Curses and the influx of information and feelings heavily impact Michael''s mind and soul. He wasn''t about to break, but Michael surely felt like he was about to copse. This had to end.

    He took a deep breath and emptied his mind. Under normal circumstances, that would have been difficult, but Mind Watcher helped him a lot. Greater Enhancement and Soul Tears used on the 7-Star Soultrait were enough to drain his mind from the most overbearing thoughts. "That feels good. Too many voices, emotions, and thoughts in one head and soul are too much to deal with sometimes¡­" He mumbled to himself while watching the chaos and destruction his action had caused.

    The Dragys might have killed himself, but Michael was certain he never expected to eradicate an entire settlement full of Dragys with his suicide.

    The Dragys settlement was no longer there, and the frontlines with the Divine Alliances changed drastically. It might have been a simple act from Michael, but it changed the entire war to the Divine Alliances. The members of the Divine Alliances gained a lot. Their morale had been at an all-time low. However, now that the situation changed and a powerful enemy attacked the Dragys Lordess, their morale skyrocketed again.

    The Divine Alliances'' members charged the frontlines and reimed pieces ofnd that used to be theirs. Little did they know that everything was already in Michael''s possession. Whether it was the Dragys Lordess or the Divine Alliances. Everything they presumed to be their property belonged to none other than the real Lord of the Untamed Jungle.

 Chapter 938 Mending Damage

    Chapter 938 Mending Damage

    The Divine Dragys'' suicide caused a lot more damage than expected. First, a settlement at the frontlines ceased to exist. It tore a humongous hole in the Dragys'' defenses, which the Divine Alliances'' members took advantage of. They charged through the massive gap with its ten-kilometer radius destruction and spread in all directions once they passed through the defensive lines.

    The Dragys'' defenses were the strongest in its Border Fortresses. Therefore, the sudden change in tactics and the destruction of one Border Fortress was much more problematic than it looked at first nce. Michael considered helping the Divine Alliances further but left them after reconsidering his options. He deployed some High Beast Hordes and the Quetzalcoatl to join the fights and attack everyone, leaving the secure proximity of their settlements, but that was already it. The Undead Souls had already been given orders, leaving Michael with little work in the Dragys Lordess'' territory.

    The only task left was to consume all harmful substances in the air, devour all ''new'' corpses, and use the Nature Heart to tend to the damage his actions had caused. He didn''t care much about the Dragys, but the explosion destroyed small patches of the Untamed Jungle. The Dragys had already destroyed almost everything in their territory, ensuring the Untamed Jungle around them looked more like a massive in or clearing than a forest. But that was fine. Michael used the authority of his Nature Heart to stimte the surrounding flora and fauna. In the following months, they would absorb more nutrients and energy to regenerate therge patches the Dragys had destroyed. Watching the burnednd, Michael was suddenly happy with how little damage the miniature sun had inflicted. The Untamed Jungle was weaker and not as resilient in its territory as in the main portion of the Untamed Jungle. Still, the exploding miniature sun didn''t even cause half the damage that the suicide bombing Divine Dragys had caused.

    "Whatever," Michael shrugged and teleported to his territory, where more corpses awaited him. Michael used True Extraction Essence to recreate a hue of Fenrir''s head after teleporting the corpses of all Dragys Awakened to him. Fenrir''s golden head devoured the dead Awakened''s SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols to store them in his War Rune. Michael multitasked with Insert and Death Call. He activated Death Call to summon more Undead Souls while Insert channeled a small amount of SoulStar Fragments into his soul to stabilize and nurture his soul. The consistent influx of SoulStar Fragments helped Michael a lot. He wasn''t easily angered anymore and gained much better control of anything rted to his soul. That included the God Curses. Their presence wasn''t necessarily bad, but they influenced Michael because the God Curses were so powerful and fused into his soul through their Essences and the Soultrait Symbols. Their influence had been bothersome before, but it had never been a major problem¡ªat least, not as much of a problem as they turned out since his Divine Shell formed. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The changes he had undergone in a short frame of time overwhelmed him. His soul was strained and cracking, and his physique wasn''t faring any better. His body wouldn''t copse soon since he had given his Energy Vortex more than enough energy to fill all damaged spots and refine his War Rune a little. However, his soul suffered enough for the influence of the God Curses to intensify. Their characteristics and nature affected Michael. They reached him and overwhelmed the young Lord of the Untamed Jungle with their massive presence.

    Mending the cracks of his soul and nurturing it helped Michael ovee the ordeal. The God Curses still influenced him, but it wasn''t as bad as he had feared. Now, their presence was like three small buckets of water in a river rather than a tidal wave swamping a river.

    He took a deep breath and consumed the corpses using Swallow Domain before applying Permute to transform everything he''d devoured into highly purified energy. The energy was then channeled into the Nature Heart, stimting the nt life around his territory even more. It was only a matter of months before most damages done to the jungle in his territory were treated. Not everything could heal that quickly, but Michael would give his utmost to mend as much as possible. He owed the Untamed Jungle that much, even if he started doubting whether the Primordial Tree Spirit owed him now or if it was the other way around.

    ''I can consider this a repayment for everything the Untamed Jungle gave me in thest few years,'' Michael shrugged.

    The Untamed Jungle did more than enough to deserve some good treatment from him. Even if the Primordial Tree Spirit was a nuisance for turning him into the Dragys Lordess''s primary target, Michael also gained a lot from it. The Nature Heart was powerful and nurtured him with lifeforce and nutrients. That was enough nutrients to stimte his mind and physique. His mind and physique could be refined much faster, solely relying on the energy, lifeforce, and nutrients provided by the Nature Heart. That would solve many future problems and save enormous amounts of time.

    Either way, Michael returned to Arx, where the buildings were overflowing with residents. The biggest Pentagon Fort had been destroyed by the Dragys, forcing millions of residents to find shelter in the remaining two Pentagon Forts. There was not enough space for them, but maybe that could be solved.

    He gathered his most influential subjects and greeted them with a smile.

    "I apologize for returningte, but I think we can agree unanimously when I say that it was necessary for me to enter the Temple of the Forgotten. I gained a lot in the Temple of the Forgotten, and it was only possible to kill three Divine Dragys thanks to those gains," Michael cleared his throat," Since I cannot sense any dissatisfaction from anyone here and most of my subjects ¨C not rted to my absence, at least ¨C let''s continue with the priority work."

    "The initial forces of the Dragys Lordess have been defeated, and I managed to deploy several High Beast Hordes, two Divine Beasts who''d been sleeping for decades, and the Azure Quetzalcoatl. They''re going to cause chaos all over the Dragys'' territory alongside the Undead Souls and Divine Alliances'' members. That being said, I obliterated one of the Dragys'' Border Fortresses, creating an opening for the Divine Alliances.

    They will easily destroy a few more settlements before the Dragys Lordess regains control of the situation. Nheless, the tides of the war have changed. The Dragys Lordess might have the strongest forces even now, but she is pincered by two sides. The DIvine Alliances might not attack as vigorously as they do now for long, but that is not a problem. A few months will be enough to rebuild everything we lost and gain even more power. To be precise, I''m certain most of us will grow much stronger."

    Hiraku raised his hand, and Michael stopped. He had more to say but wished to involve his subjects as well.

    "Are you confident enough to defeat the Dragys Lordess?" Hiraku asked, and all heads turned to Michael in unison. Everyone was curious about this point.

    "I cannot gauge the Dragys Lordess'' exact strength, but given that the Dragys Lordess didn''t kill the Azure Quetzalcoatl yet ¨C and vice versa, of course ¨C I think she should be at the 8th Tier. I don''t think I can handle her on my own right now. Mybat prowess¡­increased a little since west met, but I don''t think I can fight Divine Lifeforms with higher fighting power just yet. Ordinary Divine Lifeforms are something I can handle well but at the 8th Tier? I''m not sure."

    Michael answered calmly and smiled.

    "But who said I''m going to fight alone? I have the Untamed Awakened, the powerhouses of the Divine Alliances, a few Divine Beasts, and an Azure Quetzalcoatl to thrash the Dragys Lordess." [Don''t forget us.] Fenrir growled.

    ''Yeah¡­ I also got three God Curses and a Divinity Fragment to deal with the Dragys Lordess.''

 Chapter 939 Bait

    Chapter 939 Bait

    The uing weeks were full of surprises. First of all, Michael continued creating Undead Souls from the dead, including the dead of the Divine Alliances and jungle monsters. He also consumed their bodies, supplying his body with enough energy to keep his Energy Vortex working at 100% efficiency. His War Rune was being refined rapidly, slowly but steadily, solving all issues of his cracking body.

    It took a few weeks to fill the cracks in his soul, but he made it happen. Michael invested more than three million SoulStar Fragments to close the gaps and nourish his soul until the influence of the God Curses and the Nature Heart was barely noticeable.

    While his subjects rebuild the third Pentagon Fort ¨C they received enough resources from Michael and the workers of the Sacred Desert to help ¨C Michael, the Untamed Awakened, the jungle monsters, Elementals, the Red Dragon, and the Azure Quetzalcoatl executed several ns to attack the Dragys Lordess where she least expected it.

    She could sense Michael wherever he went due to the device that helped her pinpoint the location of divinities. Thus, Michael couldn''t attack her easily without getting found out. Cosmic Stride wasn''t strong enough to pierce her spatial-distortion domes yet. However, what Michael could do with Cosmic Stride and the Azure Quetzalcoatl teaming up with him was to y the bait.

    Michael controlled several High Beast Hordes, the two other Divine Beasts, and the Azure Quetzalcoatl to attack a Border Fortress. The Azure Quetzalcoatl was enhanced by Greater Enhancement. Several uses of Greater Enhancement, to be precise. Its mes were hot enough to burn parts of the Border Fortress'' walls, which were crushed by a Titan Great Bear. The Titan Great Bear disappeared after destroying the wall, while Michael used Swallow Domain to consume as much of the broken wall as possible. He transformed the materials he consumed into pure energy, which he infused into the strongest monsters around him. Greater Enhancement, specifically the Soullife Arts, Unlimited Enhancement, forced the targets to unleash more than 100% of their potential. The High Beasts strengthened through Unlimited Enhancement felt stronger than ever. However, their bodies were also falling apart faster. Under normal circumstances, Greater Enhancement would harm them a little, but it was different this time. They had little time left before their bodies would fall apart after Michael applied Unlimited Enhancement on them. That was if Michael didn''t Insert a generous amount of advanced healing serum into the High Beasts'' bodies.

    Michael, the Divine Beasts, and the Azure Quetzalcoatl razed the Border Fortress to the ground, killed two Divine Dragys guarding the settlement, and waited patiently for the reinforcement to arrive before destroying the spatial distortion dome. As they waited, the jungle monsters wreaked havoc. After emptying their warehouses and vaults, they obliterated everything in their path while Michael created thousands of Undead Souls.

    Once the device was destroyed, Michael essed Cosmic Stride and teleported all monsters out of the settlement. Moments after everyone was teleported out of the settlement, Zeroa triggered the overcharged elemental crystals.

    Another Border Fortress was destroyed in a massive explosion, leaving the Dragys with nothing to rebuild her settlement. Not even the Dragys Summons providing her with Soul Power had been spared. Slowly but steadily, the Dragys Lordess was weakened. The Soul Power she could umte in her Soultrait Symbol decreased while the number of her loyal High Awakened and Divine Awakened dropped.

    However, attacking the Border Fortress was merely a trap. Michael and the Azure Quetzalcoatl were the bait¡­and they were good baits. They lured the Dragys Lordess out of the main settlement once news of a second attack reached her. The strategy used by Michael was the second as it had been before. The Titan Great Bear destroyed the Border Fortress'' walls after the Azure Quetzalcoatl melted them.

    After that, the High Beast Hordes attacked under the influence of Unlimited Enhancement.

    That tactic might have worked once, but it wouldn''t work a second time. That was what the Dragys Lordess had sworn. She left the main settlement and rushed to the Border Fortress, not realizing that the Border Fortress was much further from the main settlement than the rest. Michael could have chosen one of the Border Fortresses closer to his territory, but he''d chosen against it. Toote did she realize that she''d fallen into a trap.

    The spatial distortion dome shattered much earlier thanst time. It burst not even a full minute after the Border Fortress had been attacked.

    All of a sudden, the High Beast Hordes and the two Divine Beasts disappeared. But that was not all that disappeared. Something about her settlement and the amount of energy channeling through Michael Fang was wrong.

    Michael smiled. He had been forced to ess the Nature Heart and retrieve a good portion of energy umted within the Untamed Jungle''s primal root, but what was about to happen was worth it.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl waited patiently behind him while Michael issued amand to themanders of the Divine Alliances, the High Beast Hordes, Divine Beasts, and his subjects.

    [The Lordess is here. Attack!]

    The n was set in motion.

    The Dragys Lordess was exactly where they wanted her to be, and she had been generous enough to bring some surprises with her. A dozen Divine Dragys, probably her retinue, had followed their Lordess to deal with their pesky enemies.

    To their misfortune, Michael was overjoyed about this. He had been worried about the remaining Divine Lifeforms serving the Dragys Lordess, but since a dozen Divine Lifeforms followed her, only a handful of Divine Lifeforms could be left and spread across the remaining settlements. The Dragys Lordess had more than a dozen settlements left but not enough Divine Lifeforms to man all of them. Therefore, only the ces where most Divine Lifeforms were needed were given a Divine Lifeform. Even then, there weren''t enough, with a dozen following the Dragys Lordess.

    ''Nice, nice,'' Michael swallowed hard while continuing with what he had started earlier. The energy filling Michael was so immense, an ordinary Tier-6 High Awakened could never contain so much energy. Not even Michael''s Divine Shell could hold onto so much energy. That was also why Michael didn''t do that. He didn''t even try to keep the energy inside him.

    Maybe not even the Nest Leader could easily hold onto as much curse power as Michael created with the masses of pure energy he''d drained from the primal root. Michael infused every bit of curse energy into the Serpent Seals, forming the strongest Major Seal since Michael had formed one.

    [Yes! Yes!! Yesssss!!] Jormungandr hissed in glee as the streams of curse power surged into the World Serpent.

    The World Serpent''s Essence oozed out of the Beast God until Jormungandr''s presence disappeared. One moment, the World Serpent had been with Michael, and in the next moment, it was no more. Nheless, Michael smiled vibrantly. Everything was going ording to n.

    "Go for it, Jormungandr!" Michael eximed, his voice reverberating through the surroundings. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    At first, nothing happened, but Jormungandr didn''t let anyone wait for long. Michael''s heart palpated wildly as the presence of the Beast God swept across the Border Fortress. He grinned wildly as he watched the scene unfolding before him.

    The ground tremored violently, and grayish spires shot from the ground around the Border Settlement. No. These constructs weren''t spires. They were too straight and too¡­polished to be mere spires.

    They were fangs. Hundreds of meters long each.

    The World Serpent surfaced, and its maw snapped close, swallowing the entire Border Fortress with one bite.

 Chapter 940 End the Dynasty I

    Chapter 940 End the Dynasty I

    The massive fangs snapped close, enveloping the Border Fortress in one go as a colossus head emerged from the ground.

    A head covered in grand dark-green scales, almost glimmering ck in the sun''s reflection, appeared, radiating terrifying power that radiated through the Untamed Jungle. Its presence filled the area hundreds of kilometers around it, forcing all creatures to a halt. No one dared move as the terrifying creature acted. Even the Dragys Lordess was frozen, her eyes widening in terror as the scene unfolded.

    She wanted to act, but her body didn''t move, and her mind screamed at her, telling her to back off. But the Dragys Lordess didn''t retreat. She stayed there while her subordinates retreated dozens of meters. Two of the dozen Divine Dragys lost control of their bodies. Their legs caved in, and they copsed to the ground. The others weren''t hit that badly, but their eyes bulged and looked like they were about to pop out.

    The scenery transformed into an even more terrifying one ¨C most couldn''t believe something like that was possible ¨C when the slits of a serpentine eye, the size of severalrge buildings, snapped open. The eye was poisonous green and merely shed open for a quarter of a second through Michael''s vision before it closed again. The World Serpent disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and returned to Michael.

    Swallow Domain had unleashed its fury,pleting its designated task before leaving the Untamed Jungle again.

    ''Good job. That was impressive.'' Michaelmented with a smile on his lips when he sensed how much Swallow Domain had stored from a single use.

    [I am a Beast God. What did you expect? I think you''re severely underestimating our power. We aren''t weak, even if you think that sometimes. You might not understand our decision yet, but you will understand and praise our wisdom once you have a clear view of the big picture, young one.] Jormungandr hissed loudly in his mind, unable to hide the pride in its voice.

    Michael''s smile didn''t cease, but the same couldn''t be said about the Dragys Lordess. She brought the Dragonians, the dozen Divine Dragys, with her to eliminate the Azure Quetzalcoatl and the Lord of the territory in the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts. A few Dragonians should have been enough to kill Michael. At the same time, the rest would use their Support and Defensive Soultrait Symbols to protect her from the worst injuries while boosting herbat prowess enough to eliminate the Azure Quetzalcoatl.

    She wanted to protect the Border Fortress and ensure it wouldn''t be conquered like thest one, but everything went wrong, starting when Michael destroyed the spatial distortion dome. The High Beast Hordes and two Divine Beasts were teleported to another ce, where they could wreak havoc, and¡­her Border Fortress was swallowed whole.

    One moment, the settlement was still there. Now, it was no more. It had been obliterated in one go, and millions of Links of Loyalty were cut instantly. The sensation of losing so many subjects within seconds was terrifying, but the Dragys Lordess felt bad. She felt like it was merely the beginning.

    The Dragys Lordess couldn''t have been more right. This was just the beginning. A few more Links of Loyalty severed at that moment, and her eyes widened upon realizing that the severed links didn''t source from a single Border Fortress. No, the Links of Loyalty that were just severed came from seven different settlements¡­and more followed quickly.

    Her eyes widened in shock. Seven settlements were under attack, and the worst was that those specific settlements weren''t protected by any Divine Lifeforms. It was almost as if they attacked these settlements, knowing that the Dragys Lordess changed their deployment to prepare the Dragonian for the next move. The Dragys Lordess had nned to kill the Azure Quetzalcoatl for a long time. She changed her n and adjusted it for a few days when she heard about the Lord on the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle. She sensed the memories of her subordinates'' deaths through the Link of Loyalty thanks to the use of rare and dangerous Soullife Arts. Thus, she was prepared to fight Michael, also known as the vessel of the Untamed Jungle''s divinity. A portion of it, at least.

    The Dragys Lordess was prepared to fight Michael and the Azure Quetzalcoatl, but nothing went ording to her n. Michael used powers beyond his Tier¡­beyond everything she had seen through the Soullife Arts and her severed Links of Loyalty. His power and actions were far beyond everything she''d anticipated. Still, Michael didn''t immediately attack her with the humongous serpent head. He couldn''t attack her with it. Michael didn''t possess the authority to kill a Divine Lifeform like her so easily. It looked terrifying, and it was shocking how easily he''d devoured an entire settlement, but that was it. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Or so she''d hoped.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl hissed loudly and jumped into action. A dense white hue shrouded the Guardian Beast of the Untamed Jungle as it shot forward much faster than it used to be. Cracks appeared all over its scales, but a viscous, silverish glimmering liquid sealed the cracks moments after they appeared. The Dragys Lordess was the first to react. Her body was shrouded in mighty mes that enveloped her to create a dense, fiery armor. Her body expanded, andrge leathery wings sprouted from her back. Her tail expanded just like her ws. Several Artifacts, probably five, appeared all over her body. The Artifacts ranged from Rare Divine Artifacts to a single Legendary ring, which seemed to augment her fiery armor drastically. The Dragys Lordess'' power skyrocketed, but the Azure Quetzalcoatl didn''t care. It was about to crash into the Dragys Lordess when it disappeared. It vanished before the Dragys Lordess'' eyes and reappeared behind the two Divine Dragys whose legs had caved in earlier. They had gotten up from the ground but were still shaken by what had unfolded before their eyes merely a few seconds ago. The Border Fortress disappeared, swallowed by a Beast God.

    Unfortunately, their fear and shivering legs were also why the Azure Quetzalcoatl, strengthened by Unlimited Enhancement and healed by River of Vigor''s advanced healing serum, chose them as targets. Michael had enhanced the Azure Quetzalcoatl just enough to distract everyone. It was now as strong as the Dragys Lordess should have been with her Legendary Divine-ranked Artifact and other means to strengthen her. Maybe the Guardian Beast was even stronger.

    But that was not the crucial factor right now. More important was that the pair of frightened Divine Dragys didn''t expect the surprise attack. Michael had used Cosmic Stride on the Azure Quetzalcoatl, whose momentum didn''t drop a notch as it teleported to the Divine Dragys'' back. It was still at top speed and swallowed the first Divine Dragys whole. The frightened Dragys tried to respond, but Michael had already acted, using Seer''s Domination to attack the Divine Dragys'' mind and soul. Still shattered from its experience with the Beast God, the Divine Dragys was easy to attack mentally.

    It was killed on the spot, terrifying crunches reverberating through the proximity. One Divine Dragys was killed on the spot, while the Quetzalcoatl''s tail pped the other Divine Dragys. The Divine Lifeform was hurled through the air and crashed into multiple massive trees in the distance. The trees copsed as the Divine Lifeform smashed into them like a cannonball. Unfortunately, the damage was not enough to kill the Divine Dragys. But Michael was already there, waiting to attack.

    The Dragys Lordess had turned around to stop the Azure Quetzalcoatl but was a fraction of a second toote. Still, she managed to protect the other Dragonian from further damage as she engaged in a battle with the Azure Quetzalcoatl.

    But that might have been her greatest mistake. She ignored Michael, who had already started transforming.

    His eyes glowed vibrantly as he appeared beside the Dragys, who''d been hurled through the air. The Divine Dragys looked fine on the outside. Even True Vision told Michael about the Dragys'' insides. He was still fine, except for his mind. It would take a quarter of a second to get back to its senses...but that was too long.

    His Aethyr w sliced through the Dragys'' throat before piercing through his eye socket, killing the Divine Lifeform instantaneously.

    That was just the start.

    The Dragys Lordess''st day hade. It was about time to end her Dynasty.

 Chapter 941 End the Dynasty II

    Chapter 941 End the Dynasty II

    Michael''s body transformed slowly. He''d activated Curse Fusion but decided to change something this time. Instead of allowing the three God Curses to fuse with him as they pleased, Michael gave precisemands this time. He regained control of his body and reverted the change of his ws to retain his hands. Fenrir wasn''t pleased about that, but Michael did not care. He acquired Fenrir''s Essence and infused it into the Extraction Symbol, elevating True Extraction''s potency to another level as long as Curse Fusion was maintained. Michael did something simr with Hel. He infused her Essence and curse power into the Soultrait Symbol with precise orders. Hel didn''t reject his approach and supplied more Essence once she realized what he was trying to do. A thick mass of death poured out of him and shrouded his body. But it didn''t stay there. The death continued oozing from his body and spread out into an eerily thinyer that spread further and further until Death was almost invisible to the eye. All that remained was its presence. Invisible to the eye, Death was all that engulfed the surroundings.

    Last but not least, Michael controlled Jormungandr while tapping into the Nature Heart simultaneously. The Divinity Fragment and Jormungandr had to work together for this one.

    Michael essed the materials and everything else stored in Swallow Domain to use Permute and Death Call simultaneously. The living beings stored within Swallow Domain were killed instantly and absorbed by Death Call. Their Souls were transformed into Undead Souls, which Michael integrated into each other by activating Insert hundreds of times simultaneously. The Undead Souls twisted uncontrobly but obeyed their new master''smand.

    They fused and grew stronger until only one Undead Soul, a massive abomination of death and darkness, was left. Michael let it loose. It emerged around Michael and burst forward, attacking the Dragonian who had turned to aid their Lordess in the battle against the Azure Quetzalcoatl. The Azure Quetzalcoatl was suffering. Unlimited Enhancement tore its body apart, and the advanced healing serum was only enough to mend the cracks. In exchange, it gained tremendous power but wasn''t enough to deal with the Dragys Lordess and kill the remaining 10 Dragonians.

    But that wasn''t necessary. It didn''t have to kill anymore enemies. The Azure Quetzalcoatl''sst task was to stall time, and the Grand Undead Soul helped with that.

    Once the Undead Souls were fused and the Grand Undead Soul created, the corpses stored in Swallow Domain were transformed into energy for his Energy Vortex to consume. The remaining materials of the Border Fortress were disintegrated and converted into curse power and Soullife Energy. Thereafter, the curse power was channeled into Jormungandr with Unlimited Enhancement unleashed to its fullest, using every bit of Soullife Energy at his disposal.

    Hundreds of Serpent Seals sprung to life. Some would remain unsealed forever, but most would only remain active temporarily. But that was enough. A few minutes was all Michael needed.

    Sacred Constitution was activated at its strongest as hundreds of Serpent Seals manifested all over his body. The serpent-scale armor appeared all over his body, which expanded in size. The serpent tail shot out of his tailbone and small fangs grew from his teeth. His fingers crackled as tiny changes urred to their anatomy, and his eyes transformed into vibrant¨Cgolden serpentine slits. Scales covered his neck and head, and it looked like tiny bulges jutting from his forehead as if horns were about to grow. Michael took a deep breath. The World Serpent''s Essence surged through his body, led by Curse Fusion and his focus on Jormungandr. Instead of allowing all three God Curses to transform his body, Michael focused on Jormungandr while giving the other God Curses individual tasks via Curse Fusion and their Essences.

    Everything was set in motion when Michael stepped forward. He used Greater Enhancement all over his body, increasing his body''s durability and power simultaneously. Thereafter, Unlimited Enhancement was applied to the Soul Grimoire, focusing solely on empowering the Soul Tear''s potency. Atst, an augmented Soul Tear was applied to Sacred Constitution.

    Michael''s body was overflowing with raw power. Once again, Michael realized how powerful the Beast God''s physical prowess was. Fenrir might have also been a good choice, but Jormungandr''s raw power was on a different level. But its raw power was not all he needed from Jormungandr. Poisonous green, almost viscous, curse power oozed from his fingers once they stopped crackling. There it was. The poison of a Beast God. But Jormungandr wasn''t an ordinary Beast God. In the first ce, there was nothing like an ordinary Beast God. Still, Jormungandr was special. It was the Beast God of two elements. Poison and Force.

    There had been a few asions in which Michael had used Jormungandr''s poison, but he relied on its power-enhancing abilities most times. That was the case today, too. Yet, this time, Michael relied on Jormungandr''s power and poison.

    He activated Qi, True Extraction, and manifested a de of Aethyr as well. The Aethyr formed the de, and both Qi and True Extraction shrouded it tightly. However, theyers of True Extraction and Qi were responsible for more. Theypressed the Beast God''s poison and sandwiched it, ensuring the poison wouldn''t spill in all directions randomly. It was too valuable to allow the Beast God''s poison to spill anywhere except the wounds of his enemies.

    Michael kicked the ground hard with one foot and his massive tail. The ground underneath cracked and burst apart, creating two massive craters instantly as Michael shot forward. He appeared beside a Divine Dragys and scratched him lightly with the Aethyr Sword. Qi alone wasn''t enough to injure the Divine Dragys, but with True Extraction and Michael''s terrifying strength at disy, he inflicted a small cut with no effort. Once Qi and True Extraction jumped into effect to widen the wound ever so slightly, the Beast God''s poison spilled into the wound.

    It didn''t hurt at first. The Divine Dragys didn''t notice a thing. In the first ce, it noticed Michael way toote. Maybe Michael could have killed the Divine Dragys with a little more effort, but that wasn''t what he intended with his move. It would have taken more effort and time to kill the Divine Dragys with a few exchanges. Thus, instead of doing that, Michael transformed into a whirlwind and inflicted minor cuts on all Dragonians. He shed left and right, trying to hit the Dragys where it hurt the most, but it looked like he missed his targets every time. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Instead of inflicting major injuries, Michael merely scratched them. It wasn''t noteworthy either, or so they thought.

    Jormungandr''s poison spread quickly. It didn''t inflict pain at first but promptly numbed the targets'' senses. Once their senses were dulled, thebat prowess of the Divine Dragys dropped suddenly. Michael could have killed the Divine Dragys at this point, but instead of doing that, he used Fenrir''s Essence with Curse Fusion on True Extraction to nt traces of True Extraction in their Energy Pirs. He drained their energy slowly while inflicting more wounds with the Aethyr de. More poison of the Beast God entered their bodies, paralyzing the Divine Dragys.

    Even though they were Divine Lifeforms and resistant to most poisons due to their Divine Shell, the blood and poison of a Beast God were still too much to handle.

    ''Let''s see how much energy it will take to kill your lovely Lordess!''

 Chapter 942 End the Dynasty III

    Chapter 942 End the Dynasty III

    With the Dragonians paralyzed and transformed into external storages for Michael to use, both Michael and the Azure Quetzalcoatl could focus on the Dragys Lordess easily.

    Michael appeared next to the Dragys Lordess and applied Unlimited Enhancement using the Divine Dragys'' energy and lifeforce to augment Seer. He unleashed Basilisk''s Petrification, one of the Soullife Arts he could only use when Curse Fusion merged Jormungandr''s eyes with Michael''s. Basilisk''s Petrification was not a perfect Soullife Arts, but activated through a Beast God''s Essence and the energy and lifeforce of 10 Divine Lifeforms, it inflicted considerable damage.

    The Dragys Lordess was paralyzed. Her energy system looked like the paralyzation wouldn''tst long, but that was fine. One second was already more than Michael needed to do some considerable damage. He appeared before her, ready to pierce her heart, when something about her energy system changed. It was ignited, and the paralyzation effect¡­burned to a crisp. The paralyzation effect decreased drastically, forcing Michael to act fast.

    ''The fiery armor is weaker¡­here!''

    Michael stabbed and cut the Dragys Lordess several times. He could have pierced one of her vital spots, but the damage he had inflicted with five minor attacks quickly was more potent. Five small cuts appeared on her arms and legs. Qi, Jormungandr''s poison, and True Extraction Essence entered her body through each of them.

    Even though the Dragys Lordess had higher resistance to poison and the other attacks, she wasn''t immune. The Qi affected her as it ruptured, tearing her blood vessels and energy paths open, and the True Extraction Essence ¨C the Essence of another Beast God ¨C wasn''t something she could block in its entirety. It was simply not possible for a Tier-8 powerhouse. Not without first removing the root of all problems.

    The paralyzation wore off before Michael disappeared again. He was ready to use Cosmic Stride, move out of the danger zone, and give the Azure Quetzalcoatl the space it needed to attack when the Dragys Lordess counterattacked. Micheal had been too greedy. He''d nned to attack the Dragys Lordess a sixth time and suffered the consequences of his actions. A massive saber appeared out of nowhere. It was a Legendary Divine-rank Artifact that whizzed through the air silently.

    A pulse of energy swept through the surroundings as the Dragys Lordess brandished her weapon. She attacked, another pulse of energy erupting from the Legendary Artifact, pressing against Michael''s de when it was about to hit the Dragys Lordess. Michael''s de was flung ck, forcing him to retract the Aethyr back into his body.

    He resummoned a portion of Aethyr quickly to form a shield, but the massive saber cut through it. The de severed Michael''s arm at the shoulder and released another pulse of energy once a fountain of blood spurted through the air. It twisted in the air and changed trajectory suddenly. The de aimed for his leg and moved too fast for Michael to react. No. He could have reacted but didn''t when a n manifested in his mind.

    It was a stupid n, but Michael knew it would work. The Dragys Lordess grinned foolishly when his leg was severed, thinking she found a way to restrain his teleportation Soultrait Symbol. Maybe injuring Michael would have been enough to temporarily seal his teleportation Soultrait if Cosmic Stride had been a 3-Star or 4-Star Soutrait. But Cosmic was much more than that.

    However, the Dragys Lordess didn''t know that. She didn''t know anything.

    Once his leg was severed, Michael waited a second. Then, he pushed the Dragys Lordess away with a shockwave of Qi and teleported away using Cosmic Stride a momentter. The Dragys Lordess'' grin widened at the realization of his ''conditions'' to use his teleportation Soultrait as he disappeared.

    His severed arm and leg were teleported back to where they belonged as well. Scales grew from his body to pull his severed body parts back together, ''sewing'' them before using Greater Enhancement on the advanced healing serum to mend his severed limbs again.

    Michael''s body was back to its peak in no time. The Dragys Lordess noticed that, but she smiled nheless. A n formed in her rattling mind, and she would implement it shortly. If not for the Azure Quetzalcoatl bothering her.

    It was a fight, two against one, and the Azure Quetzalcoatl was far from dead. The damages sustained through Unlimited Enhancement increased considerably by the minute, but the Guardian Beast was still fine. It smashed heavily into the Dragys Lordess, hurling her through the air before a massive azure me shrouded the Lordess entirely.

    The Dragys Lordess took a deep breath to swallow the azure mes. She consumed them, ignoring the tremendous pain as her mouth, throat, and lungs were burned. She didn''t die swallowing the azure mes and even managed to devour them once they were deep enough in her body for her internal mes to reach. Still, the damage caused by the azure mes wasn''t minor.

    But once devoured, the azure mes burned through the Qi, and bits of True Extraction Essence and poison curse power coursed through her. The poison worked slower, and the True Extraction Essence''s potency decreased alongside. Michael frowned deeply at the Dragys Lordess'' reckless action until he realized that the Dragys Lordess could consume mes and transform them into raw power.

    The Dragys Lordess'' physical prowess increased. Therefore, despite losing lifeforce and energy through True Extraction Essence and her senses being dulled by Jormungandr''s poison, the Dragys Lordess gained strength. The dulled senses helped her endure the pain caused by the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s mes.

    She roared in anger and shed through the air. To others, it looked like the Dragys Lordess had disappeared, but Michael saw her through Seer. True Vision showed him everything down to the finest detail.

    The Dragys Lordess was preparing an onught of attacks while charging up to him with a ridiculous tempo. Her top speed surprised Michael greatly, but he was prepared for everything, even more so when a shortsword was conjured in her left hand. She wielded the massive saber with her right and swung it through the air in a beautiful arc when she appeared before him.

    The de hummed and pulsed as Michael conjured another Aethyr de to block the attack. Several energy pulses pushed back his weapon, and his arm was cut through again. But this time, the Dragys Lordess unleashed a series of attacks, severing both his legs in one swoop.

    The Dragys Lordess didn''t want to lose her momentum to attack Michael with the massive saber again. She might have had enough energy to do so, but her senses were dulled, and she didn''t want to miss her opportunity to kill Michael. She had one change, or the situation would escte. The Beast God poison and True Extraction Essence were causing great harm and would lower herbat prowess to a new low within the next sixty seconds. In sixty seconds, Michael would be strong enough to kill her.

    Thus, charging her shortsword with most of her remaining momentum and energy, it whizzed forward and pierced through Michael''s chest, prating his heart smoothly.

    The Dragys Lordess hissed in excitement. She won! She defeated this weird Lord controlling the monsters of the Untamed Jungle. He was finally dead!

    Or so she thought.

    Michael''s eyes widened, but the devilish grin blossoming exposed his true feelings.

    "I have two hearts, bitch!" He announced while a fang shot out from the back of his hand, piercing the Dragys Lordess'' heart.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 943 Control

    Chapter 943 Control

    The Dragys Lordess struggled. Her eyes widened in surprise and terror. Michael didn''t look much better than her in the current situation, but he smiled from one ear to the other, ignoring the de prating his chest. Instead of paying any attention to the de in her chest, Michael focused on the serpent fang and the Beast God poison oozing out of it. The poison spilled out from the tip of the serpent fang and channeled straight into the Dragys Lordess'' heart. Even if it was possible to survive having one''s heart punctured as a Divine Lfieform, the Dragys Lordess was unable to remove the Beast God poison in a simple manner. Her expression distorted in agony and fear as realization dawned upon her. She realized what awaited her but couldn''t ept it. There was no way she could ept the situation. She¡­didn''t want to die. The Dragys Lordess was not ready to die just yet.

    She roared and twisted the shortsword de in Michael''s heart as ast-ditch effort, but Michael responded to her action with a mere smile. He infused more True Extraction Essence and Qi into her through the serpent fang and drained her energy and lifeforce while slowly tearing her muscles apart with Qi.

    Michael was in pain. There was an undeniable fact. Having his heart punctured and limbs severed was painful, but Michael was also prepared for this situation. From the moment he saw the Dragys Lordess smile vibrantly when she thought Michael couldn''t teleport away after sustaining severe wounds, Michael had prepared for this moment. He produced enough advanced healing serum while umting the authority of Nature Heart ¨C which could act as a recement for the average heart as well ¨C to mend all wounds.

    His severed limbs were already back in their usual spot. The Dragys Lordess didn''t even realize that his limbs had been teleported back and that they would be reattached without causing any long-term problems within minutes. Michael didn''t channel any advanced healing serum into his arm and legs. Instead, he let River of Vigor''s passive powers do their work. His Soultrait would heal the severed nerves, tissues, energy paths, and so on in no time.

    "Can you stop struggling, please? This is bothersome," Michael asked, watching the half-paralyzed and half-dead Lordess in annoyance. The Aethyr de whisked through the air, severing the Dragys Lordess'' arms with some effort. It required Qi, Greater Enhancement, and every bit of physical strength he''d acquired through Jormungandr, Heavenly Beast Physique, Serpent Seals, Curse Fusion, and Foundation Break, but that mattered little.

    Important was only that her arms were severed and that she could hardly breathe at this point.

    She was bound to die.

    "Don''t even try to push everyone to sacrifice their lives to destroy the Untamed Jungle. The Beast God poison has already altered your mind, and you haven''t realized yet that something important is missing." Michael smiled, ncing to the side where the Azure Quetzalcoatl had been. It wasn''t there anymore.

    Michael had teleported the Azure Quetzalcoatl to the Dragys Lordess'' main settlement, where it destroyed her wooden manor and Intermediate Summoning Gate. It required some effort to destroy the Intermediate Summoning Gate, but a crystal filled with True Extraction Essence elerated the process.

    The True Extraction Essence crystal was shattered on the Summoning Gate''s foundation and freed. It extracted the Summoning Cores installed in the Summoning Gate, therefore removing the Lord Powers of the Dragys Lordess without going through the hassle of destroying the Intermediate Summoning Gate.

    The Dragys Lordess couldn''t force her subordinates tomit suicide by igniting their Energy Pirs anymore. She was no longer a Lord; thus, the Links of Loyalty ceased to exist. If the Lordess'' senses had been intact, she would have noticed something amiss. The Azure Quetzalcoatl had disappeared, and her Soultrait Symbol''s power plummeted suddenly. Something was wrong, yet the Dragys Lordess had been certain to emerge victorious from the battle. Unfortunately, the opposite was the case. She was on the losing side.

    She was growing weaker. The Beast God poison was in full effect now, and her energy had been sucked dry. Only remnants of her lifeforce were left.

    "Do you have anyst words? If you want to kill yourself and take me with you, try it. But it won''t work," Michael smiled.

    The Dragys Lordess'' hazy and almost hollow eyes stared straight at Michael. She seemed to realize something looking at him, and the corner of her lips curled upward.

    "I might die¡­but your future will be a living hell. I can see it now. Infested by Curses¡­and controlled by the Fates given by the Will. Your life will be miserable¡­and I will enjoy everyst piece of it in the afterlife!"

    The Dragys Lordess said more than expected. She had to muster every bit of strength in her body to do so, but she looked satisfied with the result. She smiled vibrantly before thest traces of life escaped her eyes.

    A massive flood of energy swept through Michael. Both the energy influx and Death Call jumped into effect, providing Michael with tremendous energy as the Dragys Lordess died. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Weird words to say as yourst, but whatever," Michael shrugged. He knew that his life wouldn''t be simple. It had never been simple in the first ce.

    He was strong, but stronger enemies were always waiting for him, especially with three God Curses by his side. The Primal were probably unhappy about his God Curses, and Michael doubted the Supreme Human Alliance thought differently. The Supreme Human Alliance hated him probably more than most other Curse Users. He would be their biggest nemesis once his power increased even more. And that¡­that was bound to happen.

    Michael was bound to grow stronger and would tirelessly work toward that goal. Nothing could stop him.

    **

    Once the Dragys Lordess lost her Lord Powers, everything went wrong for the Dragys. Their defenses crumbled, and it was merely a matter of days before their settlements were conquered.

    The Divine Alliances emerged victorious against the Dragys Lordess, but not a simple member of the Divine Alliances was happy. They knew the victory wasn''t theirs. THEY didn''t win the war. The unknown Lord, his subjects, and the jungle monsters won the war.

    Michael became the owner of the Grand Region with the Dragys Lordess'' death. It wasn''t clear to most other Lords of the Untamed Jungle at first, but they quickly realized some changes in the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael could have given everyone more time to celebrate their victory, but he wouldn''t miss this chance to demonstrate his dominance. There were still a few Lords left in the Untamed Jungle. Thus, Michael visited them with the Divine Beasts, thousands of High Beasts, the Quetzalcoatl, the Red Dragon, his Elementals, and the Untamed Awakened.

    He didn''t have to bring his full military power, but disying his great force, including the Grand Undead Soul, made many things much easier. There was no need for negotiations. Instead, Michael told the remaining Lords of the Untamed Jungle what would happen now.

    "I can destroy your territories and reim what belongs to me in the first ce. I can also kill you or exile everyone here with a wave of my hands, OR you be the subordinates of the Untamed Jungle''s Heart. You can swear allegiance to the Primordial Tree Spirit''s Divinity. If you tend to the Untamed Jungle and never try to expand your territory again, I will allow you to keep parts of your territory. Or you can relocate to the borders and expand outwards. The Untamed Jungle will grow and expand in the following years, decades, and centuries. Thus, we will have many enemies to deal with. If you want to expand your territory, you can do that outside the Untamed Jungle. The jungle may reim thend it lost, but you can keep your territory and help the Untamed Jungle expand." Michael exined in a matter-of-fact tone.

    Killing the Lords might be the easiest, but having additional military forces to protect the Untamed Jungle from invaders didn''t sound bad. In the first ce, the Divine Alliances were Unions of multiple races who''de together to trade and fight the forces threatening their lives. The Dragys had been theirmon enemy, but it seemed like some members of the Divine Alliances were now consideringbeling Michael an enemy, too.

    "I can sense your ill intentions. Do you think I''m weak enough to deal with you and the rest? Hmmm. No, you''re wondering if you should attack me right now to end this farce. You think you can kill me and escape the Divine Beasts and Azure Quetzalcoatl. Since there are only two Divine Beasts and a Guardian Beast who''ve ascended to Divine Lifeforms, you think I will be easy to deal with. By chance, are you¡­stupid?" Michael asked one of the Divine Alliances'' leaders.

    His killing intent was easily perceptible. However, to someone like Michael, it wasughable.

    He grinned at the Divine Lifeform, who was fuming in anger. The other Divine Awakened, Lords of their little domains, looked at him in fear. They were fully aware of what it meant if a single Lord, with only two Divine Beasts and the Guardian Beast of the Untamed Jungle, managed to defeat the Dragys Lordess, her Dragonian, and the other Divine Dragys fighting for her.

    Some had seen him kill one of the Divine Dragys, who''dmitted suicide only to obliterate his kin''s settlement. They had seen what he could do without effort and weren''t stupid enough to believe Michael was weak.

    He may only be a High Awakened at the 6th Tier, but the power and presence he radiated were terrifying. He defeated the Dragys Lordess. He¡­was stronger than them.

    But there was always a ck sheep. Always someone unwilling to ept their fate.

    "I don''t acknowledge you. Whether the Primordial Tree Spirit sent you doesn''t matter. I don''t care, and I will not obey someone like you. A Hyuman, or whatever kind of Human you are!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow. He studied the Divine Lifeform and nodded slowly. The Divine Awakened, who stared at Michael in fury and wrath, didn''t hate him specifically. It was just that the man hated humans.

    "I''m not fighting alongside the Supreme Human Alliance," Michaelmented, "I fight against them."

    "Your kin are all the same. Aren''t you suppressing us to gain strength like the Supreme Human Alliance does?!" He roared, his killing intent rising even further. Michael shook his head.

    "I don''t think I''m like the Supreme Human Alliance. I''m giving you the choice to relocate to the outskirts to expand outside the Untamed Jungle, to stay where you are with the sole condition never to expand outward, or to help you exile and leave the Untamed Jungle forever. Of course, if you or anyone else resorts to violence, I will do the same, but I think too many good people died fighting the Dragys Lordess. We shouldn''t continue the bloodshed now that she is dead.

    The other Lords of the Untamed Jungle nodded slowly, but the ck sheep, as Michael called the troublemaker lovingly, was unconvinced.

    "You will kill us once you''ve regained your power. What if we kill you now and solve all problems once and for all?"

    Michael raised an eyebrow and looked at the Divine Lifeform for a few seconds.

    "You think you can beat me?" Michael asked.

    "Aren''t you merely a Higher Lifeform? You might have connections with the Primordial Tree Spirit and tamed a Red Dragon and the Azure Quetzalcoatl, but that''s about it."

    "That is dumb. You are not the smartest. I wonder how you managed to survive this long. Your talent must have been pretty good to advance to a Divine Lifeform and retain your territory while being such a dumb idiot." Michael shook his head and made a simple move. He manifested Beast God poison in one hand and released it with a burst of energy. It moved swiftly through the air but not fast enough to hit even Higher Lifeforms. Suddenly, it disappeared and reappeared behind the Divine Lifeform. It burst apart and sshed all over ck Sheep''s back. Insert did the rest, inserting the Beast Blood Poison into ck Sheep''s body.

    "This could kill you within seconds if I''d wanted to. But I don''t."

    Michael shrugged lightly as ck Sheep started to writhe in pain. He copsed, paralyzed by the Beast God Poison.

    "I can remove the poison, but I don''t think I''ll do that for the next ten minutes."

 Chapter 944 Black Sheep

    Chapter 944 ck Sheep

    Dealing with the Lords of the Divine Alliances was a little problematic. The Lords were Divine Lifeforms and several hundred years old. Some were even older and should have been knowledgeable and thus understanding of their situation. Unfortunately, Divine Lifeforms were also known for being prideful. In fact, even Higher Lifeforms, especially young Higher Lifeforms with above-average talent, were arrogant and unnecessarily prideful.

    Crushing their pride might not be the best solution, but it was certainly the most time-efficient way to be their Lord. If crushing their pride didn''t work, and they were to turn against him¡­they would have to die.

    Michael didn''t want to kill them as they worked together to defeat the Dragys, but he was not a pushover either. If they wished to fight him, Michael would jump into battle right away.

    ck Sheep stared at Michael, his eyes widened in terror. His lips parted, but no word escaped his lips. The paralyzation of the Beast God poison started working.

    "I can kill you with a single mentalmand. Maybe I''m not a Divine Lifeform ording to my Tier, but you shouldn''t underestimate me. I am a lot stronger than my Tier suggests. That is not only owned by my Soultraits but indirectly¡­maybe. It doesn''t matter why I''m this stronger in the first ce. Important is that I do not wish to obliterate all Lords in the Untamed Jungle. However, since I''m stronger than anyone here and also in control of the second strongest entity in the Untamed Jungle, everyone here will have to follow my rules. I already announced them but let me simplify them again ¨C in case you didn''t listen to me earlier. First, don''t expand in the Untamed Jungle. I can help you relocate, but you''ll have to ask me. Second, don''t destroy the Untamed Jungle or kill too many jungle monsters. Removing dead trees, trees harming the growth of several units of trees, and other nt life is fine, just like killing monsters who''ve been overpopting certain areas. You will have to rely on your rangers or ask my Forest Rangers for help if you don''t know what to do, but I think everyone present should be intelligent enough to find a solution to most problems easily. You all are old enough to use your head properly." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael turned to the foaming ck Sheep and shook his head, "Stop struggling, idiot."

    He waved his hand and deactivated the Beast God poison. Michael wasn''t foolish enough to remove it, but ck Sheep looked like he believed the poison had left his body or that his body mutated to form an immunity, allowing him to withstand the Beast God''s poison. ck Sheep circted energy through his body with killing intent directed at Michael. Thus, Michael activated the Beast God poison again.

    "This guy will lose his territory and be exiled. If his subjects want to join my territory, I will ept them. That includes the Awakened who''d been working for him," He announced without hesitation. His energy surged to the Azure Quetzalcoatl, which disappeared a momentter. The Guardian Beast of the Untamed Jungle attacked ck Sheep''s main settlement, augmented by Unlimited Enhancement and healed by River of Vigor''s advanced healing serum.

    ck Sheep paled, but his killing intent intensified. Michael deactivated the Beast God poison for a moment again, waiting for a specific moment.

    ck Sheep released a beam ofpressed darkness from his palms when the poison deactivated. Michael was prepared for it and activated the Beast God poison again while pulling him right before him with Cosmic Stride. ck Sheep hit himself with the beam and¡­disintegrated.

    His body was torn apart. First, his skin peeled, revealing bubbling flesh which sshed in all directions. His bubbling flesh revealed his corroding veins, arteries, energy paths, and organs. His organs were still fine, but they sttered apart or peeled like his skin once the disintegration beam reached these areas.

    Michael raised an eyebrow at the gruesome death, but he didn''t feel any regret. The disintegration beam had been prepared for him. He would have died - or maybe not - if he had been struck by the disintegration beam instead. Percy released a Qi Sword to pierce ck Sheep''s throat, which earned him the energy influx and death portion of the Divine Lifeform. He wouldn''t waste tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments and a great Soultrait Symbol by leaving ck Sheep like this.

    "I would have spared him, but he attacked me first. Keep in mind that I protected my life. If not for that, I would have kept him alive and exiled his fat ass out of the Untamed Jungle. I won''t force anyone to stay here. I can help everyone move out, but I think it would be best to stay together and work on the Untamed Jungle''s growth. The Untamed Jungle has a Divinity, a massive mana vein that had once supported a Primal Region, and the perfect conditions to reim its former glory with centuries of dedicated work and progress."

    Michael didn''t need everyone to stay, but if the Divine Alliances stayed, he might as well expand his business by adding dozens of races. Now that he imed the Grand Region, he could expand his trading business drastically. He would need more workers and resources to establish a few dozen Pentagon Forts or simr structures around the Untamed Jungle''s resource deposits, but that was hardly a problem. Michael had acquired a decent amount of resources from the Dragys Settlements and the Dragys corpses. He was bound to have enough to do whatever he wanted, especially with his business with the Thorn Merchandise. He could sell them a few more powerful Soultrait Symbols, probably a dozen or two, and acquire everything he needed to spread his Pentagon Forts all across the Grand Region. Or most of it, at least.

    It wasn''t like Michael was bad with economics, but his fort wasbat and training. Maybe negotiating was something he was decent, but it wasn''t like he was an expert with decades of experience.

 Chapter 945 United

    Chapter 945 United

    Michael''s eerie appearance and smile were more than enough to convince the remaining Lords of the Divine Alliances to ept his conditions. He didn''t think about signing a Soul Pact with them because his soul was still too taxed for his own good. If the Divine Alliances'' Lords were to die, the Soul Pacts would shatter, and that would hurt his soul a little. Michael wished to avoid that scenario for the time being, if possible.

    With that in mind, Michael told the Lords of the Divine Alliances to sign a deal with the Primordial Tree Spirit. The Primordial Tree Spirit was still the core of the Untamed Jungle. It controlled the primal root and the smaller portion of the Nature Heart''s Divinity. Michael wished to procure the Nature Heart in its entirety, but he was linked to the entire Untamed Jungle because of his firm connection with the Primordial Tree Spirit and its primal root in the first ce.

    If not for the Nature Heart being split into several fragments and Michael''s Fragment being the biggest, many things would have been more challenging.

    Michael made sure the Lords of the Divine Alliances swore allegiance to the Primordial Tree Spirit before he visited the remaining Lords. There were still some smaller Lords in the Untamed Jungle. They were hiding from the powerhouses or living at the outskirts where only few paid attention to them. Still, Michael had to deal with them before they could turn into problems. He wished to remove the root of all problems and ensure nobody in the Untamed Jungle would escte and push the Grand Region into arge-scale Regional War.

    Michael visited the other Lords and exined the situation. He had to demonstrate his power sometimes, but most Lords were perceptible enough to sense how strong Michael was and that he could crush their territories with a simple snap of his fingers.

    Once Michael broke up the alliances created all over the Untamed Jungle and formed arge Jungle Union, he procured the resources needed to relocate six Lords to the Outskirts of the Untamed Jungle and the materials required to build more Pentagon Forts. He didn''t have enough workers either but the jungle monsters could give a helping paw or w until the territory produced enough foot and living space for more Summons. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A few days passed in the blink of an eye, but Michael barely noticed anything. He was too busy dealing with the troubles of the other Lords and his territory to pay attention to the time. At his Tier, and with a Divine Shell, Michael didn''t have to be afraid of the curse of time, in the first ce. He was already close to immortal and would barely age even if decades were to pass.

    But that didn''t mean Michael would waste his precious time. He absorbed the excessive energy of the entire Grand Region and absorbed it diligently. He used a portion of the excessive energy with the Nature Heart to recuperate the masses ofnd destroyed by the Dragys while channeling the rest into the Energy Vortex.

    His War Rune wasn''t progressing as fast as it used to be in the Trial of Regression, but it was certainly several times faster than most Tier-6 Awakened would progress under normal circumstances.

    That was perfect. In a few years he would ascend to a Divine Lifeform and not even the Divine Ascension would slow him anymore. He''d already obtained what he needed from the Divine Ascension, after all. The Divine Shell was already within him and he was void of impurities. Advancing to Tier-7 would expand his energy veins and strengthen his body in every possible way, but that was about it. His next major threshold was probably attaining godhood. But even that was something the Beast Gods, Hel, and the Nature Heart would aid.

    He could use their experiences and the Nature Heart''s Divinity Fragment to help.

    Therefore, the best way to progress was to push further and help the Untamed Jungle expand. As long as the Untamed Jungle regained its full power, Michael might as well be the Lord of a Primal Region. That would certainly push the potency and efficiency of his Soultrait Symbols to a much higher level.

    But that would take time, which Michael had a lot of. He might have many enemies to fight in the future, but nobody threatened his safety at this moment. The Sacred Desert was cleared and belonged to him, and so did the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael was present at the daily meetings but he had little to say. He listened to the daily reports and the progress of hisbatants, the construction sites'' progress, and how far the farmers were. The Architects created some new building blueprints and revealed the first miniature versions of Tree Defensive Towers and more defensive structures that could be used to defend the Pentagon Forts and other purposes.

    Michael supported multiple-purpose buildings after the loss of one Pentagon Fort. There was little he or his people could have done against the Dragys at that time, but it was a shame one of three Pentagon Forts had been destroyed. Many goodbatants left their lives to protect the fleeing civilians. Michael hoped to avoid another incident by investing more into defending his settlements.

    The first week had passed quickly and the following months were just like that. Michael summoned a few million Summons spread across thest few months to help construct two dozen Pentagon Forts, hundreds of Ranches, and enough farnd to feed more than a hundred million subjects. Michael would need more in the future, but he was not in a hurry at this moment.

    He was busy tending to the Untamed Jungle''s damagednds and let his subjects and Subordinates do the other work. It was a little odd to transform from a killing machine into a Botanica Magician with a green finger, but it was a wee change. Michael''s mind was too ustomed to death and suffering after the countless wars he''d fought. Changing his rhythm drastically by tending to the Untamed Jungle had always helped him regain his inner bnce. That didn''t change. It would probably never change.

    Michael didn''t leave the Origin Expanse often, but he heard some news from Daniel now and then. Apparently, his sister and the others were still fine. The Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance engaged in more fierce battles thanst few decades, but that was within everyone''s expectations. Their borders had been silent for too long. Michael wasn''t surprised by the news, but it worried him nheless. How could he not be about his friends, manipted by Blood Incursion and forced to do horrible things they would have never done if they had a different choice?

    He''d seen Alice and Lincoln in the Heart''s Choice Trial and watched their steps, but what he saw was both reassuring and worrisome. Watching Alice had been reassuring and calming. Michael wasn''t worried that something would happen to her. She would be fine, even if the Blood Incursion had hit her hard.

    But Lincoln¡­Michael wasn''t sure if he could rescue Lincoln without crippling him forever. Maybe, just maybe¡­death would be better for him¡­

    [End of 16th Volume]

 Chapter 946 Reunion

    Chapter 946 Reunion

    Michael''s control of the Untamed Jungle grew firmer by the day. The Links of Loyalty with the jungle monsters didn''t change much, but every percentile was worth a fortune. The Pentagon Forts spread across the Untamed Jungle''s resource deposits without taking the jungle monsters'' habitats. Still, Michael ended up being forced to fight and kill some jungle monsters. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He might be able to control their every move, but forcing the jungle monsters to go against their instincts required multiplemands he had to repeat often. Even then, the Links of Loyalty with those jungle monsters would weaken until it would require a tremendous amount of Nature Heart''s energy to order them around.

    Therefore, Michael didn''t intervene often. He allowed his subjects and the jungle monsters to fight as if he weren''t linked to either of them. He left the jungle''s primal roots untouched.

    More than 20 Pentagon Forts had been constructed in thest two years, pushing the poption of Michael''s subjects in the Untamed Jungle to more than one hundred million Summons.

    That number was exhrating and didn''t even include his Summons in the Sacred Desert. More city-states had also been constructed in the Sacred Desert, pushing the poption over there to more than one hundred million. The amount of Soul Power Michael acquired from more than two hundred million Summons and countless jungle monsters was shocking, to say the least. It was especially important to note how much attention Michael paid to treating his Summons nicely. Everyone who worked hard and tried his utmost to be a valuable asset was given everything they could wish for. Resources to advance in the upational path of their choice and specific privileges for every promotion they acquired through tireless effort and unbending willpower.

    At this point, it was near-impossible not to advance to a 1-Star Summon if you worked hard. Some Starless Summons may be ipatible with many upations or didn''t feel like doing some jobs. However, the Untamed Jungle and Sacred Desert required so many unique and exciting jobs that, at least, one fit perfectly to everyone. The Pentagon Forts and settlements in the Sacred Desert had hundreds of institutions to trainbatants of all kinds, but also training camps and sses to teach clerics, tamers, farmers, architects, alchemists, cksmiths, enchanter, janitors, forest rangers, scouts, carpenters, and much more.

    If one tried, advancing to 1-Star was possible. As long as one''spatibility and determination to progress further weren''t too bad either, receiving a promotion to a 2-Star Summon wasn''t impossible either. Only advancing to 3-Star and higher was a little bit more tricky. It wasplicated and required far more conditions to be met. But even that was something Michael could help with. Not for everyone, but he could give his helping hand¡­and Insert¡­to ensure his Summons would meet some requirements. One way or another, 1-Star and 2-Star Summons loyal to Michael provided tens of times more Soul Power than Starless Summons. Therefore, with enough investments and genuine effort to help as many as possible, Michael managed to procure enough Soul Power to push his Soultraits to a much higher level. All Soultraits in his Soul Sphere were at least three times stronger than they used to be two years ago. Strengthening his Soultrait Symbols might not have been necessary in thest two years, just like it was unnecessary to work tirelessly to push his Tier to the Late rank of Tier-6 with a horrifying number of Energy Stones that crumbled to dust, their energy filling Michael''s Energy Vortex.

    Still, Michael prepared for the future, especially with the Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance engaging in ferocious battles.

    Over the course of two years, the stalemate between the Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance transformed into a massive, chaotic battlefield. The borders spread along several ster systems, and various other locations that weren''t even borders between the two forces turned into grand zones of death, terror, and destruction.

    The Altors Union had called the Nest to join their fight and help them kill the enemy forces. Most Curse Users were reluctant to join the fight. They knew the Supreme Human Alliance would pay the most attention to them. After all, Curse Users were one of the Supreme Human Alliance''s biggest issues. The Altors Union was aware of that and tried to abuse this fact. They offered the Nest generouspensation to join therge-scale war, stating that every enemy in would grant them X resources.

    Killing a single Tier-4 Hyuman would reward the Curse User with enough resources for a Tier-4 Curse User to refine his War Rune at full capacity for a week or two, depending on their absorption efficiency. It wasn''t that valuable for someone like Michael but worth a fortune for other Curse Users. As long as they killed a few dozen enemies, they could refine their War Rune for a year or longer without worrying about their resources. The Curse Users might have to put their lives on the line, but it wasn''t like the Supreme Human Alliance was their friend. Curse Users hated them almost as much as the Altors Union hated their old nemesis.

    In the meantime, Michael didn''t join for the "generous"pensation of the Altors Union. He chose to join some battles to find Alice and Lincoln while killing as many bad people as possible. Killing them provided more than enough SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols to strengthen himself ¨C his soul, to be precise ¨C and the Untamed Awakened.

    Michael could also im the death portion of the deceased using Death Call, pushing him even closer to Tier-7.

    He was stronger than ever and could feel that as he yed Divine Lifeforms on the battlefield, but Michael didn''t feel well. He had been looking for Alice and Lincoln as often as possible, but there was no news. Nobody had heard about them, and the only reason Michael believed they were still alive was the live-updated recordings of the Heart''s Choice trial.

    The problem with the trial was that it used the entire authority stored within the Temple of the Forgotten. If not for that, Michael would have searched for Alice and Lincoln using the Temple of the Forgotten. Unfortunately, that wasn''t possible. It would have been too easy that way¡­apparently.

    Michael might grow stronger by the day, but his worry grew simultaneously. What if he was toote and someone had killed Alice and Lincoln¡­ What if he couldn''t save them anymore? If he found them, but the Blood Injection spread too far, affecting them too much¡­ Michael didn''t even want to think about the possibility, but he knew his chances of freeing them of blood incursion decreased daily.

    He considered charging into the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory once he ascended to a Divine Lifeform, but Jormungandr and Fenrir told him that they couldn''t help him defeat the leaders of the SHA just yet. Not without permanently crippling his body. Or¡­by obliterating his Essence, killing him in the process.

    The God Curses had the power, but Michael didn''t have the means to use it.

    Fortunately, Michael''s prayers were listened to. He might not have found Alice and Lincoln, but someone else did.

    The Nest Leader located the duo and brought them back home.

 Chapter 947 Meet Again

    Chapter 947 Meet Again

    When Michael heard the news, he was ecstatic. He left the Origin Expanse in a hurry, located the Nest Leader instantly via Unlimited Enhancement on Seer, and teleported to her.

    His eyes fell upon a familiar woman with long, ck hair and piercing ocean-blue eyes, and water welled up in them. The woman was beautiful and exuded an irresistiblebination of fierceness and allure. It was exactly how it used to be¡­or so Michael thought. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Alice Zenovia''s sharp eyes fell upon Michael, but she regarded him with the same hatred as everyone else in the room. Only now did Michael notice how many Curse Users were in Selena''s office. But that mattered little. He didn''t pay them any attention and focused on his lover. Alice Zenovia. Her eyes were filled with hatred as she tried to escape the confinement of the handcuffs and chains restraining her movement. She broke her fingers in an attempt to free herself but failed miserably. But that didn''t mean she stopped trying. No, her attempts grew more aggressive by the second.

    Alice''s attempts to escape were fierce, but without ess to energy ¨C the handcuffs sealed her energy paths and thus the ess to both energy and her Soultraits ¨C she would never be able to escape the restraints. If anything, the restraints would cut into her flesh and resist until Alice''s bones would break.

    She screamed at the top of her lungs when Michael appeared before her. He bent down and looked at his lover, his shock visible.

    "She doesn''t remember anything," Eren mumbled, but Michael didn''t pay attention to her. He could see that Alice couldn''t remember him or anything around her. If anything, she remembered something that was never the case. She hated the Curse Users and him specifically.

    [The Blood Incursion must have altered her love for you into hatred. The Supreme Human Alliance''s approach is very interesting.] Hel remarked bluntly.

    Michael felt like throwing a brick at Hel, but she was inside him. Hitting himself with a brick wouldn''t help him or anyone else.

    He stared into his lover''s ocean-blue eyes and swallowed hard. Advanced healing serum oozed from his palms, coating her hands and arms when he reached to grasp them. Alice tried to resist him and the advanced healing serum, but she was too weak. Despite acting wild and like she was full of vigor, Michael could see the devastating injuries her Energy Pir and mind had taken. True Vision showed him much more than he wanted to see now.

    The advanced healing serum tended to her broken fingers and flesh wounds. The viscous silver liquid would also mend her Energy Pir with enough time. However, Michael couldn''t solve the problems with her mind and the Blood Incursion immediately.

    "Do you think you can help her?" Selena asked Michael.

    The Nest Leader had rescued Alice because of Michael, but there was more to it. As long as Michael prepared a proper solution to help victims of Blood Incursion recover, the Nest and the Altors Union would have a much better chance at winning against the Supreme Human Alliance.

    "I¡­have to," Michael murmured. He was not confident but wasn''t willing to acknowledge hisck of experience with a severe case of Blood Incursion. Most of the time, Michael killed those who wanted to kill him. He might be a hypocrite for that, but he didn''t care too much about the other victims of Blood Incursion. As long as his friends could be salvaged, everything would be alright.

    "You better fix this beast. She nearly killed three of us! If not for the Nest Leader, we would be dead!" One of the older Curse Users, a Peak Tier-5 High Awakened, said in anger. His arm was in a sling and twisted to an unhealthy degree.

    Michael looked up and scrutinized the other Curse Users. Everyone was injured to a much more severe degree than usual.

    "The war is getting worse," He noticed, and Selena nodded.

    "The Altors Union is on the losing side. The difference in power level is not that severe just yet, but the situation is worsening. In a few years, the Supreme Human Alliance''s advantage will be big enough to overwhelm the Altors Union."

    Michael nodded slowly but remained silent. He used Unlimited Enhancement on River of Vigor and released a tidal wave of advanced healing serum into the surroundings to heal the injured. The surplus advanced healing serum coated Alice, who regained some vigor. The more Alice healed, the more aggressive her attempts at escaping became. It was only a matter of time before her attempts would cause more severe problems.

    "Alice¡­stop that¡­" Michael said weakly, his hands trembling as he lifted them to cup her cheeks gently. However, before his hands could reach her, Alice''s head lunged forward to bite him in the neck. Michael''s eyes didn''t widen in surprise. He''d seen through True Vision what was about to happen. Still, his eyes were filled with sadness and resignation. He didn''t want this to happen.

    Michael created a shield of ice and Qi between them to block her attack instinctively. He swallowed hard, trying to hide his shock and sadness.

    "Okay. That''s okay. You¡­will be fine. Don''t worry," Michael mumbled, releasing another familiar type of healing serum to mix with the advanced healing serum and put Alice to sleep while she healed. She was forcefully sent into aa.

    ''This is bad.'' He thought, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists until blood trickled to the ground.

    "This won''t be easy, will it?" Selena asked, and Michael shook his head, "It won''t be easy. Maybe¨C..."

    He didn''t say anything else, but that wasn''t needed. The Nest Leader understood his point very well.

    Tears trickled down his cheeks, but a faint smile blossomed on his lips. Alice''s condition might be bad, really bad, but she was still alive. Michael wouldn''t give up rescuing her as long as she was alive. He would not give her up now that she was back to where she belonged by his side.

    Michael took a few deep breaths and steadied his stance. He looked around and smiled at the Nest Leader.

    "Thank you for rescuing Alice. I don''t know how I''m supposed to thank you. But where is Lincoln? Didn''t you say¨C...." He couldn''t finish thest sentence as he noticed a shift in Selena''s expression. She essed her War Rune storage and retrieved a body.

    It was the body of a two-meter-tall hulking man. His physique was impable, and it was hard not topare him to some Berserkers. The body''s physique was, by no means, worse than the Berserker''s superior physique. He had short brown hair and hollow brown eyes. His tanned skin looked oddly pale in the wide office of the Nest Leader, but that was because he was dead.

    The dead body''s appearance was above average but not overly handsome. Michael was very familiar with this appearance.

    The body was none other than Lincoln Piedra¡­

    **

 Chapter 948 Dead

    Chapter 948 Dead

    Michael''s expression stiffened. He looked at Lincoln Piedra''s body, and the happiness he had felt upon reuniting with Alice was gone. Sadness and anger filled his entire being.

    He was sad about his friend''s death and angry at himself for having been toote. ''If I had only been a little bit stronger. A bit faster and everything would have been fine¡­''

    A deep sigh escaped his lips, and he knelt next to Lincoln. Alice was sleeping soundly in the artifici. The Blood Incursion didn''t do anything to kill her, which was exactly what Michael had hoped for. But Lincoln couldn''t be saved. He was dead, probably more than 24 hours at this point.

    "How did he die?" Michael asked the Nest Leader. Selena looked back at him but could only shrug, "I don''t know. We found your friend like that. The corpses of some Altors surrounded him, but that was all I could find out. But, to be honest, I didn''t research his death just yet. I don''t think the Altors Union will appreciate if I or anyone else from the Nest questions his people about the deaths of their enemies."

    She looked deep into Michael''s golden eyes and added, "And I don''t think it matters much how he died. We know he killed innocent people. That includes Awakened from the Altors Union but also innocent Ordinaries." Michael swallowed and nodded slowly, but he thought differently inwardly.

    ''I need to know how he died.'' He mumbled in his mind before using Mind Watcher to read Lincoln''s memories. He knew corpses retained a portion of their memories even after death. It was unknown how it worked and Michael didn''t care either. Michael cared only about Lincoln''sst moment right now.

    Mind Watcher consumed a significant portion of Michael''s energy reserves, but a wide variety of pictures appeared before Michael''s eyes when he touched Lincoln''s forehead. He saw a few scenes unfold before him from Lincoln''s point of view.

    His entire being was filled with wrath and bloodlust as he stood on the battlefield. He was surrounded by allies and enemies simultaneously and transformed. His body expanded as he transformed into an Earth Dragon using thebination of his two Soultraits. Michael never thought his Soultraits would be used that way, but they caused death and destruction as Lincoln let loose. He tore several Altors Awakened apart, squashed many to death, and reaped lives even easier than Michael would have been able to at Lincoln''s Tier. Something about Lincoln had changed¡­and it wasn''t good.

    Lincoln was not the kind of guy Michael had gotten to know anymore. If anything, all kindness had been sucked out of Lincoln, leaving him as a vessel filled with darkness, anger, and the desire to tear everyone around him apart.

    The scenery changed for a few seconds, revealing several cities ¨C outside the Altors Union ¨C which Lincoln and hisrades had attacked and conquered. Lincoln killed many. Most of his victims were innocent people. Even children and fragile old people, but Lincoln killed them with as much wrath as he''d in the Altors Awakened.

    The scene unfolding before Michael''s eyes changed again. It showed Lincoln''sst moments. He was again surrounded by many High Awakened, but they feared him. They didn''t dare approach him for fear of bing like theirrades. But suddenly, something changed. Lincoln screamed in pain. His Earth Dragon-like body crumbled down, revealing his human appearance. He writhed in pain and¡­stabbed an earth spike into his chest. Michael swallowed hard as he watched Lincoln''sst scenes from his own point of view. His mind was still foggy, but the anger dispersed. The wrath and bloodlust vanished into thin air, revealing Lincoln''s true self for a quarter of a second. The earth spike in his chest crumbled and disappeared, leaving no trace of his action, but Michael had seen it. He¡­was proud of Lincoln.

    As if he could sense Michael''s approval, Lincoln smiled. Tears trickled down his cheeks, and regret filled his mind. He took a deep breath and nodded again.

    "I''m sorry," He mumbled to the Atlors Awakened, "I¡­truly am¡­" Thest words escaped his quivering lips before thest bits of strength escaped his body. Lincoln copsed to the ground and stopped moving for eternity.

    The vivid images disappeared, and Michael returned to reality. He swallowed hard.

    "Fuck¡­"

    Some of Lincoln''s memories surfaced with a little dy, but Michael had already known about some of the things his friend had done and witnessed. The Supreme Human Alliance did many horrible things in the past. Their actions were terrible, to put it into simple terms, but whatever they had done to him in the Divine Academy broke Lincoln. He was not the same anymore and barely regained bits and pieces of his old self to kill himself.

    At the end of his journey, Lincoln killed himself with regret. He struggled with thest step but gathered enough courage to ensure he would never hurt any innocent soul again.

    Lincoln would much rather die than stay alive like this.

    The scene where Lincoln and his colleagues killed and eradicated entire civilizations was horrifying, for theck of a better word, and it filled Michael with terror and uncontroble anger.

    Even the God Curses shuddered in the deepest parts of Michael''s soul. They couldn''t ept the Supreme Human Alliance''s actions anymore, either. It was time to do something.

    Michael nibbled on his lower lip and turned to the Nest Leader.

    "How are you faring against the Supreme Human Alliance? I know it''s not going well, but how bad is it?" He asked while storing Lincoln''s body away. He would have to bring Lincoln to Zeke. His childhood friend would probably want to say goodbye to his friend. Maybe Zeke would bring Lincoln back to the Tritan Alliance once he found a way to return to the Tritan Alliance without entering the Nest.

    "The situation is not good. I already told you¡­the Supreme Human Alliance is powerful. The Altors Union might be strong, but from the looks of it, they''re slowly losing. They moved toote when the Supreme Human Alliance attacked first. There are not as many truly powerful Divine Lifeforms in the Altors Union as the SHA has prepared." Eren exined instead.

    Michael merely nodded.

    He ran some numbers in his mind, his golden eyes coldly staring ahead. He was in his world of thoughts trying to figure out the best solution, only to shrug and look between Eren and Selena.

    "How many Soultraits do you and the rest of the Nest need to stall the Supreme Human Alliance and push them back a little? I''m not expecting to change the War of Titans, but my Soultraits should be of help."

    Selena''s eyes widened slightly, but she nodded slowly, "Your Soultraits would help a lot. I don''t know how taxing it is to create Soultraits with a higher star-rating, but if you could provide 4-Star or 5-Star Soultraits that would probably for the best. Suppose webine our Soultraits with your Soultraits and establish a decent connection with our Curse. In that case, we can acquire a higher mastery with your Soultrait Symbols quickly while also elevating ourbat prowess to a much higher level."

    She licked her lips, a trace of hope glimmering in her eyes.

    "How about it? Let''s kick the Supreme Human Alliance in the butt!"N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 949 Gift and Tears

    Chapter 949 Gift and Tears

    He was more than ready to kick the Supreme Human Alliance in the butt, but that didn''t mean Michael could do that easily. In his current position, Michael would suffer much more if he joined the Nest in the fight against the Supreme Human Alliance.

    "You can kick their arses, but I won''t join you yet," Michael shook his head with a sad smile.

    Selena and Eren were a little surprised, but his sad gaze directed toward Alice was enough. Michael had just lost Lincoln, and he had no idea how troublesome rescuing Alice was going to be. The Blood Incursion had much more time feasting on Alice, which suggested problems. Removing the Blood Incursion''s influence from Alice was going to be a lot more difficult than it had been with Kaleb and Zeke. Even Eren and the Nest Leader were fairly certain of that, let alone Michael, who was the first to remove Blood Incursion''s influence on one of its countless victims.

    Kaleb and Zeke had already beenplicated to tend to. Rescuing Alice would be much more difficult. Timely actions, time, and effort were required to rescue her.

    Still, Michael joined the fight against the Supreme Human Alliance in another way. He retrieved a few dozen Soultrait Symbols from his storage alongside enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade all to 4-Star and more than half to 5-Star.

    "I don''t know whatbination of Soultrait Symbols and star ratings will help you and the others increase your power level most efficiently. If you need more, you can always hit me up but don''t expect too much. Alice will probably require many more resources than her brother and Zeke. I won''t promise anyone to present anything. Just survive and call me up when you''re out to fight. I might join youter point¡­once I''m done here."

    Michael wasn''t confident about solving all the issues with Alice and the Blood Incursion, but he wanted to sound confident. He prepared everything, bent down, and established a Link of Loyalty with his lover. Alice Zenovia might have been a future Queen of a kingdom in the Untamed Jungle, but the Supreme Human Alliance destroyed everything. Therefore, she might as well be his queen. That wasn''t too bad either¡­right?

    "Do you need anything else?" Michael asked the Nest Leader while retrieving a tinum Teleportation Token for him to use in Alice''s stead.

    Even though Michael would be very busy in the next few weeks, maybe even months, he wanted to help the Nest. Michael didn''t want Selena or the other Curse Users to die. They were strong, but the Supreme Human Alliance was at a disgustingly high numerical advantage. They had techniques like the Primordial Bloodline Arts and the Blood Incursion, which caused much more trouble than expected. The Supreme Human Alliance was an annoying enemy, but the Nest Leader smiled at him instead of quing him with worry. "We will be fine. Take care of your girlfriend, make sure she will be fine in your territory, ande back to us to fight the Nest once you''re ready. I''m unsure how long you will take, but don''t pressure yourself. The Supreme Human Alliance has many enemies. You are not the only one who can harm them!"

    Michael smiled. More than once, he had considered himself the key to the Supreme Human Alliance''s downfall. Maybe it was pride or his uncontroble arrogance¡ªpossibly even his God Curses'' influence on his persona¡ªbut Michael considered him incredibly important at times. Once, he even considered him the origin of the new era. That sensation quickly dispersed but had filled his mind for a few hours before.

    Not that he was proud of it. If anything, Michael was shocked to discover how much his personality had changed since he manifested a War Rune. The manifestation of his War Rune changed¡­everything.

    Michael shook his head and cursed softly. His persona confused him, but he was still himself. The changes confused him, but Michael felt like he was more than he used to be. It was like he had only been a fraction of his true self before. He epted the changes within him on a whim and studied the Curse Users. They were clearly surprised about his generosity and expected him to have an ulterior move. However, Michael didn''t do anything like that. He waited for Selena to distribute the Soultrait Symbols and integrate the SoulStar Fragments into them.

    A few minutester, all Curse Users in the Nest Leaders office were happy to add one or multiple Soultraits to their arsenal. Michael didn''t really care who used the Soultrait Symbols as long as they werepatible with their Curse or Soultrait Symbol. In the best-case scenario, their new Soultrait would be suitable with both Curse and old Soultrait. Michaelughed, watching Eren, Selena, and the other higher-ups of the Nest as they experimented with their new Soultrait Symbols. Each of them was given, at least, two new Soultrait Symbols with the Nest Leader giving herself four 5-Star Soultraits. That was¡­excessive, to put it lightly, but Michael understood her point. The Nest Leader had been at the limit of her power at the 9th Tier for¡­thousands of years. At least, that was what Jormungandr and the other God Curses had guessed. From how Selena inspected her new powers, that had to be the case. He saw tears welling up in her eyes alongside flickers of unbreakable willpower. ''It does make sense. In her situation, I would have also given myself and the other Divine Lifeforms most Soultrait Symbols.''

    All Nest Elders were Divine Lifeforms and well-versed inbat. They were the strongest Curse Users and thus the best choice for distributing Soultrait Symbols. It might take the Elders a while to get used to their new Soultrait Symbols, but if they fusedpatible Soultraits into their Essence, it wouldn''t take longer than a week or two to reach high mastery and double theirbat prowess.

    Within a few weeks, theirbat prowess would skyrocket even further. As long as theybined their powers, Michael was certain the Elders would quadruple their current power.

    The Nest Leader would grow even stronger than that. She was a mighty Lord with a territoryrger than Michael''s, had a powerful Curse that was either on par with a Beast God Curse or only slightly beneath a Beast God, and had two powerful Soultraits to use as her main attributes. Supplementing her main Soultraits, 8-Star Soultraits, with the power of four 5-Star Soultraits ¨C overflowing with Soul Power ¨C was bound to push her to another level.

    "It looks like you and the others will be fine. The Supreme Human Alliance knows how strong you guys have been, but they have no clue how much stronger you will be all of a sudden. Take advantage of that, and the Nest should have no problem overwhelming the Supreme Human Alliance. A few heavy hits, and they will crumble," Michael smiled at the Nest Leader, who responded with an even brighter smile.

    He trusted the Nest Leader and the other Curse Uses. Even Fera was given some of his trust because she hated the Supreme Human Alliance as much as he did. Maybe even more. Still, Fera was an annoying bitch.

    "Fight well and survive," Michael prayed for their survival and left.

    Meanwhile, the Nest got started for a Titan War.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 950 Sadness

    950 Sadness

    Michael left the Nest behind. He activated the Runic Gate and carried Alice Zenovia through it to return to the Origin Expanse.

    He brought his lover to his room in the wooden manor and put her on his bed. Alice was still in an artifici and she would probably stay like this for¡­a while.

    ''I should try curing her in the same way I''ve taken care of Zeke and Kaleb. That should work.''

    Michael tilted his head and thought about the options for a moment before he gave in. It worked with Kaleb and Zeke, so it shouldn''t be much different with Alice either. The only difference was probably the difficulty level.

    "Alice!!" A voice thundered through the wooden manor less than five minutes after Michael returned with Alice Zenovia. Footsteps resounded in the hallway and it wasn''t long before the door to Michael''s room was smashed open. Too much force was applied to the door and it was ripped out of its hinges. Michael scowled at Kaleb Zenovia, Zeke, Hiraku, and Frederik as they charged into his room, but he knew better than to cuss them out. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Kaleb''s eyes were wet and the dam broke, unleashing torrents of tears, when his eyesnded on his sister.

    He charged to the bed and bent down next to it. His hands were about to pass through the advanced healing serum to reach for Alice Zenovia when Michael pped the back of his hands.

    "Don''t even think about it. You will break the artifici. Alice''s Blood Incursion is much worse than yours. I don''t want to risk her hurting herself once the Blood Incursion realizes that I forcefully signed a Link of Loyalty with her." Michael exined to Kaleb, who looked at his friend as if he had been beaten into a pulp. Kaleb''s puppy eyes pierced deep into Michael''s soul but he didn''t budge. There was no need to take any risks. It would be the best if they didn''t have to wake up Alice before the Blood Incursion had been removed entirely. Everything else would be dangerous and possibly worse than leaving her like this.

    "You found her." Kaleb mumbled once he got back to his senses. Tears trickled down his cheeks while his focus was entirely on his sister''s sleeping figure. "She looks so peaceful."

    He swallowed hard and nced at Michael, "Do you know¡­what she had to go through in thest few years?" Kaleb was hesitant but he had to know how his sister had been doing in thest few years.

    "I don''t know the details just yet, but I think she did more bad things under Blood Incursion''s influence than you or Zeke. If I''m not mistaken, I will have to remove more parts of her soul and memories than I''d like. For now, I cannot say anything for certain, but I don''t think my current analyzation is far off. She will forget a¡­lot¡­" Michael sighed deeply, "She has to. Alice wouldn''t be able to live after what I''ve seen Lincoln do."

    He scratched his head, a wave of sadness filling his heart at the thought of Lincoln.

    "Lincoln? Did you see him as well? What happened? Where is he?" Zeke appeared before Michael and grasped his hands tightly. His heterochromia eyes stared intently at Michael, who pressed his lips together.

    Something in Michael''s eyes revealed more than a thousand words could ever. Zeke lost the strength in his grip and his eyes widened.

    "No¡­ Please. Please, don''t tell me that he¨C..." Zeke couldn''t even muster the strength to finish his sentence when Michael essed his War Rune storage.

    He retrieved a wooden table, alongside Lincoln''s corpse, which Michael covered in nkets in his War Rune storage to take them out together. Lincoln''s body was put on top of the wooden table, the nked covering his entire body.

    "I''m sorry. I watched Lincoln''sst moments and some of the things he was forced to do under the Blood Incursion''s influence¡­He couldn''t take it anymore. The Blood Incursion affected him more than most. He lost himself in Blood Incursion and only managed to regain control of his body once¡­"

    Zeke broke into tears, which worsened as he removed the top of the nket, revealing his childhood friend''s deadly pale face and hollow eyes. Lincoln''s dead eyes stared at the ceiling while Zeke broke down. His legs caved in and he crashed to the ground where he sobbed loudly like he hadn''t since his sister had been killed almost 20 years ago.

    Kaleb had been happy to reunite with his sister but seeing Lincoln pulled him back from his height. He swallowed hard and stared at the dead body seriously, just like Frederik and Hiraku. They didn''t expect to see Lincoln again¡­not like this. But life was not fair. It had never been fair. Either, you were lucky, or you weren''t. Some actions could be determining factors which transformed unfortunate events into golden opportunities, but sometimes even tireless hard work and unbending willpower weren''t enough to transform misfortune into fortune.

    Kaleb and Zeke had already been unlucky to be caught by the Supreme Human Alliance, but they had been fortunate enough to encounter Michael before their condition worsened to an irreparable degree. It was still uncertain how bad Alice''s condition was, but she was still alive. That was her fortune. But they had been toote to rescue Lincoln.

    "I''m sorry," Michael said quietly, patting Zeke''s back,

    "It''s not¡­your fault. You know that. The Supreme Human Alliance is at fault. They''re the cancer of the cosmos¡­" Zeke cursed while tears continued trickling down his cheeks.

    Michael didn''t know what to respond. It was true that the SHA was the origin of most of their problems. The Tritan Alliance wouldn''t have anymore issues if not for the Supreme Human Alliance, and the Descendants wouldn''t have been kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced to undergo a Blood Incursion that changed everything. "Can I take Lincoln with me?" Zeke asked. He swallowed hard but got his act together. He got up from the ground and looked at his friend, new tears pouring from his eyes, "I¡­need to tell his family¡­"

    "Of course," Michael nodded, "Do whatever you think you have to do. I won''t hold you back. Talk to his family, or travel back to the Tritan Alliance if you want to."

    Traveling back to the Tritan Alliance without the resources and bridges fo the Nest was a little difficult but it wasn''t impossible. All Michael had to do was to purchase some one-time use Artifacts in the Cosmic Shop. They were a little bit more expensive, but Michael didn''t think about the costs right now.

    "I don''t know. I think I need some¡­time¡­" Zeke responded weakly. He stored Lincoln''s corpse absentmindedly and left the room. Kaleb looked at his sister''s sleeping figure and pressed his lips together.

    "Make sure you heal her. Please¡­" Kaleb said to Michael before turning to the door, "In the meantime, I''m going to help Zeke. He might not want to see me but I think he needs someone."

    Michael nodded, "I will make sure to rescue Alice. I will give my best. Take care of Zeke in the meantime."

    Frederik and Hiraku looked at each others and looked seriously at Michael.

    "We can take care of your territories. Focus on Alice and tell us whenever you need something. Alice should be your main priority right now."

    "I will take care of her," Michael dered, "Don''t worry. I will rescue her. Even if we have to start all over from scratch again."

 Chapter 951 Please be Fine

    951 Please be Fine

    Michael had a bad feeling about Alice''s condition, but he had to do some tests to verify whether his worries were justified or if he was just exaggerating. He started by channeling some SoulStar Fragments into her soul to strengthen it while simultaneously scanning its state.

    The portions altered by Blood Incursion were usually easy to locate. That was the case here as well. Michael had activated True Vision with Unlimited Enhancement to see through the minuscule gap he''d unraveled by infusing SoulStar Fragments into Alice''s soul. What he saw was both great and devastating.

    [More than half of her soul has to be removed.] Hel notified in a matter-of-fact tone.

    "I can see that. Thanks for nothing, Hel," Michael grumbled, to which the God Curse responded with a [No problems. I''m always there for you.]

    Sarcasm was definitely not something the God Curses were ustomed to, but maybe that kept Michael from losing his sanity. He smiled wryly and continued inspecting Alice Zenovia''s soul.

    [The small pieces shouldn''t be an issue. If you invest enough SoulStar Fragments, you can iste and remove them without issues. Investing more SoulStar Fragments once the small spots of Blood Incursion have been removed should solve most problems. Therger spots to the left are a bigger problem. Therge spots can be filled with powerful Soultrait Symbols, leaving dozens of spots around therger spots. You must cut out much more of her soul than your friends''. She is not yet a Divine Lifeform and can thus not heal properly from expansive soul damage alone. That means¡­] Jormungandr was deep in thought. At least the World Serpent helped him.

    "That means I have to expand her soul for the next few months using SoulStar Fragments and prepare two powerful Soultrait Symbols, probably 6-Star Soultraits, better even two 7-Star Soultraits, to fill the gaps once I cut out parts of her Soul. Expanding her Soul and preparing suitable, powerful 7-Star Soultrait Symbols will require millions of SoulStar Fragments. The good point is¡­ I procured lots of SoulStar Fragments from dealing with the Dragys Lordess and her people, but it will probably use up myst reserves." [You have to nurture her physique and mind as well. She needs nutrients and enough energy to ovee the loss of a portion of her soul and mind. Being physically strong will help her ovee what she lost. The gap in her memories will be the most troublesome and impact her the most.]

    Michael cursed quietly but agreed with the World Serpent''s assessment. Deep down, he knew how far he would go to rescue Alice. Zeke and Kaleb had forgotten about Michael due to the Blood Incursion. They returned to being good friends, but their rtionship wasn''t as good as it used to be. Michael was much stronger than before, and both Kaleb and Zeke couldn''t help but regard him as different.

    When they first got to know him before the Blood Incursion, they had been younger. Michael was a normal, awakened person with decent skills. He was determined and had unbreakable willpower, but that was about it. However, their reunion changed everything. Michael was a true powerhouse, controlled a massive territory, and he would ascend to a Divine Lifeform in a few years. He was already strong enough to fight and kill ordinary Divine Lifeforms and could also fight Elite Divine Lifeforms head-on. Even beings like the Dragys Lordess weren''t stronger than him anymore.

    Their "first" encounter was vastly different before and after the Blood Incursion. Michael was also busy with his territories and the enemies who had been hiding all around him. He encountered more enemies in the years that Kaleb and Zeke had forgotten, and it took a while to get his friends back. It was just that the times had changed. Kaleb and Zeke considered him their friend, but Michael didn''t feel like they treated him the same way they used to. He was on a whole different level than them at this point. Michael didn''t care about that, but Kaleb Zenovia and Zeke did. It mattered to them.

    He had hoped the same situation wouldn''t happen with Alice, but from what he could tell¡­it would be worse.

    "At least we can rescue her. Nurturing her soul will require a few months. In the meantime, I can sort out her memories. Remove everything that could trigger and renew the Blood Incursion while leaving everything else intact."

    [At least, you can remove her hatred aimed toward you.] Fenrirmented with a growl, but Michael could only groan.

    "You mean the same hatred Blood Incursion formed from her love? Great. I will have to rip her love and hatred out of her mind. She won''t even remember me."

    [But she will live.]

    "She will, yeah." [And you can always make new memories with her. In the first ce, you can spend more time with her now than you could before. She was taken from you not long after you got together, and she is now part of your territory. You can be with her inside and outside the Origin Expanse.] Fenrir added in the same tone Hel used. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael forced a smile on his lips. He couldn''t tell if Fenrir was trying to help him, but the wolf''s words helped him a lot. Alice might have forgotten about him, but he would much rather start their rtionship from scratch than lose her like they had lost Lincoln.

    08:39

    "Who the hell are you, and what did you do to Fenrir?" Michael asked teasingly, but Fenrir remained serious.

    [Don''t act like that. As long as you keep growing stronger, I don''t give a damn about what you do. We need you to grow stronger, and you must grow as well. If Alice can help you stay motivated and keep growing stronger to protect your territory and the residents, I will dly talk you into spending enough time with Alice. You need power, and Alice might be the fuel you need to let loose and go crazy.]

    Michael forced a smile on his lips. He couldn''t tell if Fenrir was trying to help him, but the wolf''s words helped him a lot. Alice might have forgotten about him, but he would much rather start their rtionship from scratch than lose her like they had lost Lincoln.

    ''Even if she doesn''t love me anymore. I will do my best to make sure she falls in love with me again!''

    The corner of his lips curled upward, and he got started, awaiting his time with Alice. He had more than enough time to spare and looked forward to falling in love with her all over again. Their future was going to be bright, and Michael would do everything possible to make ite true. He gathered a small pile of SoulStar Fragments and started working. First, he infused nutrients and energy into her body to nourish her body and mind while using Mind Watcher to peek into her memories. Mind Watcher, amplified with Soul Tears and Unlimited Enhancement, showed Michael everything he needed to know.

    Some memories were terrifying, to put it simply, but Michael watched all of them at an elerated pace. He moved through her memories while strengthening her mind and body. Once her body was filled with energy and nutrients, Michael switched over to infuse SoulStar Fragments.

    The following months passed slowly. Several ns formed in Michael''s mind, but he followed his initial n until he reached the final step.

    He had to wipe out a portion of Alice''s memories. The portion rted to her time infested by Blood Incursion and a good portion of her Soul.

    "Please be fine," He mumbled and used Extraction with Beast God Essence and more than 200 Cursed Seals.

 Chapter 952 Scratch

    952 Scratch

    Michael didn''t mean it literally when he talked about ''starting from scratch.'' Unfortunately, the reality looked different. He was forced to cut a lot more out of Alice than expected. He removed the two biggest spots of Blood Incursion on her Soul and infused two 7-Star Soultrait Symbols before working on the small and mid-sized Blood Incursion spots. At first, it looked like Michael would be done quickly, but it didn''t take long for him to realize that the Blood Incursion spread much more through Alice''s soul than expected. Michael was forced to infuse more SoulStar Fragments into her than initially expected. It was good that Michael didn''t invest too many SoulStar Fragments into the Untamed Awakened and the Nest¡­or himself. If he had gone wild as he would usually to upgrade his Soultraits, Michael wouldn''t have had enough to mend Alice. Even now, Michael wasn''t certain if he had enough. He fixed the biggest spots by adding two more Soultrait Symbols. They were only 4-Star Soultraits, but that was enough to fill Alice''s soul once again. The tiny spots would¡ªor should¡ªheal on their own or with Michael''s support in the next few years. She might not be able to use her Soultrait Symbols at that time, but that was a small sacrificepared to dying.

    ''I hope she won''t be angry. Well¡­at least she cannot attack me with her Soultraits if she goes wild.'' Michael tried to stay optimistic, but that wasn''t always easy.

    He was exhausted after removing the Blood Incursion from her soul, but he had to continue quickly to remove the influence of the Blood Incursion from her mind as well before something could go wrong.

    Cutting out her memories was even worse than fixing her soul. Michael knew what he had to do, but it was painful.

    He used the Needle of the Lost Memories to remove Alice''s memories of thest few years. Her memory was reset to the day before they met in the Golden Sun Province. [You will be fine. Don''t worry.] Michael wasn''t sure about that, but he knew hesitating wouldn''t help anyone. He took a deep breath and went to work.

    Several days passed in the blink of an eye until Michael was done. He put the Needle of the Lost Memories aside and looked at Alice''s sleeping face. She was coated in the advanced healing serum, sleeping soundly like nothing big had happened. Unfortunately, that would change soon.

    "Come inside," Michael called out, and Kaleb entered the room. Kaleb had changed into a neat set of clothes he''d worn a few years ago. He had shaved and cut his hair short like it used to be. It was no surprise since only a few years had passed, and Kaleb''s Tier was high enough to slow his aging process, but Kaleb looked almost like he used to look when he was 17. Of course, Kaleb lost his baby fat in the face, and he was much broader than he used to be, but Alice would recognize her brother easily. Michael was certain about that.

    "Are you fine with me being here? I thought you wanted to talk to my sister first. Like¡­exin everything that happened, reveal you guys are a couple, and so on?" Kaleb asked, fidgeting with his clothes.

    "I don''t think that''s a good idea. Alice doesn''t remember me and has thus no memories of warming up to me. She is the Frozen Duchess, you know?" Michael forced a smile on his lips.

    "You¡­are right about that. But Alice will be confused about her progress, the loss of her territory, and the gain of several Soultrait Symbols. It will be quite difficult for me to exin to her how she now has two 7-Star Soultraits, another 6-Star Soultrait, and two new 4-Star Soultraits." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael shrugged, "I will stay in the room if you want, but¡­I don''t know what I will do or how I will react. It was already difficult to push you and Zeke back to your norm¡­even then, you and Zeke are still not as close as you used to be. I know you and Zeke treat me with respect, and I thank you for that, but our rtionship was more rxed and less tense in the past. I understand how to feel ¨C or I think I understand what is going on within you since you lost all memories of me as well ¨C but I hope you can use your experience to help your sister." Michael had much more to say but decided to remain silent. Kaleb looked into Michael''s golden eyes for a while and nodded.

    "I''m ready," Kaleb turned around and looked at his sister.

    The advanced healing serum around her dispersed. Michael retracted it back into his body, where he tried to feel how the old advanced healing serum fused with the serum he had umted. He would have never noticed this, but Michael couldn''t look at Alice. His ears perked up when she gasped for air, but he didn''t look up. If he looked up now, Michael knew everything would be over. He would do something stupid and mess up their rtionship.

    Michael didn''t want that to happen.

    "Alice!" Kaleb eximed and embraced Alice tightly. She groaned and pushed him away, or tried to, because Kaleb didn''t move an inch with the strength she''d applied.

    "Kaleb? What¡­is going on here? Why are you so strong?" Alice''s voice resounded in the room, piercing Michael''s heart. He was forced to hold his breath and stare down to the ground.

    Alice Zenovia pushed her brother away with much more force than before and sat up. Her eyes were trained on her little brother, who looked back with teary eyes.

    "What the hell happened to you? How are you already Awakened and a Higher Lifeform already? And where is my territory? No¡­where are we? This doesn''t look like our home or my territory. We should be in the Origin Expanse, but I have never seen or heard about a ce like this," Alice looked outside for a moment and her frown deepened. She nced over at an unfamiliar man sitting far away from the bed, unmoving like a statue. Her lips parted, but she couldn''t say anything for a moment.

    Kaleb noticed something in Alice''s eyes and smiled even brighter than before.

    "This might be a little bit hard to believe, but thest thing you can remember is several years ago. We are already older than you can remember, and a lot... like a lot, LOT happened. I don''t know where I should start. There is so much to say," Kaleb eximed and turned to Michael.

    "Where do you think I should start, Michael?"

    Michael looked up but didn''t nce at Kaleb. He forced a smile into Alice''s ocean-blue eyes. Alice''s lips parted again, but she said nothing likest time.

    ''Do I want to go this far instantly? She won''t be able to take this much information at once. No¡­but I can ask her at least.''

    "Kaleb is right. Due to certain circumstances, your memories of the past caused you great harm. They changed you. We were forced to remove them permanently or¡­we would have to kill you¡­" Michael''s expression distorted to sadness at the thought of killing Alice. She noticed that and nodded, "...Okay¡­"

    Michael was tormented by his thoughts and about to say things he would regret. Thus, he released a burst of Qi inside him. The pain forced Michael to get his act together.

    Alice sensed that Michael had done something, but she didn''t respond.

    "Do you want to see my memories to find out what happened, or do you want to hear about it instead? Seeing something you have forgotten might be more painful than hearing about it," Michael asked, but Alice tilted her head.

    "Kaleb should have more memories with me in them. Why should I watch yours?" Alice asked coldly, yet a trace of doubt glistened in her eyes.

    Michael smiled sadly, "Because I''m the only one remembering our love."

    **

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 Chapter 953 Surplus

    Chapter 953 Surplus

    Overall, the situation wasn''t too bad. A quick check-up showed that Alice was healed. Blood Incursion had been cured and wouldn''t bother her again.

    That was great, and Michael would have been happy if Alice hadn''t rejected talking about their past and the memories she had forgotten. She didn''t want to see Michael''s memories¡ªor anyone''s memories¡ªwhere she would be able to see herself. While it might be true that she was the same person as in the memories, Alice had forgotten everything. She¡­didn''t want to see the things that had been taken from her¡ªnot yet, at least.

    [You need to be more understanding. Alice woke up a few minutes ago, several years older than herst memory suggests. She doesn''t remember you or anything she has done in thest few years. It''s only obvious that she needs time to digest everything. Leave her be and allow Kaleb to reunite with his sister first. Since she is part of your territory now, you will have more than enough time to talk to her.] Jormungandr said, and Michael nodded slowly.

    Michael looked up and made eye contact with Alice, who forced herself to smile. After Kaleb rified a few points¡ªnot without bragging about how good Michael had been to her and how much she''d warmed up to him¡ªAlice felt weird. She was known as the Frozen Duchess, yet someone¡ªa young man barely older than her younger brother¡ªwas supposed to have melted her frozen heart? That didn''t make any sense.

    Alice did feel a little bit weird around Michael, almost like she had forgotten something, but the worry and confusion permeating her mind overwhelmed her.

    "I¡­don''t want to pressure you in any way," Michael cleared his throat and got up. Maybe it would be best if you and Kaleb talked for a while. He can tell you what happened in thest few years. A lot has changed in the Tritan Alliance, and I''m not sure if you will like everything." He thought about Oliver Zeus'' death during the Civil War or that the ze family had betrayed the Tritan Alliance. Michael wasn''t sure what would hit her deeper, but he was unwilling to tell Alice Zenovia that he''d killed Olivia ze. She shouldn''t discover that as one of the first things after losing her memories of him.

    To Alice, Olivia ze was still a great friend, if not her best friend, and Oliver Zeus was still alive.

    "Isn''t that your room? We can also leave." Alice said, getting up as well.

    Michael looked at her and waved dismissively, "There are enough empty rooms for me to stay. I need to check the progress of my territories either way. Don''t worry, and stay here." He cursed inwardly but smiled at Alice before he left the room. Once outside, Michael heard Kaleb''s voice again.

    "Michael spent thest few months tending to you. Without him, you would be dead. Well, to be honest, we would be dead. The Supreme Human Alliance caught me and my friends as well. They manipted our souls and minds to a terrifying degree. Fortunately, Michael managed to save Zeke, me¡­andst but not least, you as well."

    ''I''m not sure what to think about that. Kaleb is going to destroy everything we''ve worked for.'' Michael couldn''t help but think. Kaleb was much more talkative than he used to be, but that was expected. He''d reunited with his sister after being world apart for so long.

    He wanted her to remember who she used to be and how much her character had improved in the years she had now forgotten.

    [Stop overthinking and get your work done. You can talk to Aliceter, and if she really wants to see the person she used to be in her lost memories, she can approach you. Pressuring someone who has lost her memories won''t help you. In fact, it will be ineffective or work against you. She will resent you and never be willing to look at your memories!] Jormungandr added.

    The World Serpent was right. Michael was too impatient. He took a deep breath and changed his tactic. Instead of focusing solely on Alice, as he had in thest few months, Michael paid more attention to his subjects and territories.

    At this point, the Untamed Jungle was fully regenerated and stronger than it used to be before the Dragys had begun burning everything to ashes. The energy umted within the primal root and the flora and fauna was overflowing, spreading enough energy into the surroundings to stimte the Untamed Jungle and force the nt life to expand outward.

    It had only been a few years since the Dragys Lordess died, but Michael''s rtionship with the Divine Alliances and the other Lords of the Untamed Jungle improved drastically. They were still afraid of him and frightened to death, thinking Michael would get rid of them on a whim, but nothing like that happened. The years passed, and Michael acted the opposite way they had expected. He had helped them move to the Untamed Jungle''s outskirts and was willing to help them even more when it came to expanding outside the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael was a little bit difficult at times, but his actions made sense most of the time¡ªeven if it took some time to understand the reasoning at times. He was a good guy who focused on expanding the Grand Region. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The flora and fauna of the Untamed Jungle expanded again. That was great for the Untamed Jungle, but it was certainly not something the Lords and monsters living in the adjacent regions adored.

    The Valyr were bothered the most about the Untamed Jungle''s expansion. Zira notified Michael that the higher-ups voted to attack the Untamed Jungle, but Michael only scoffed. He deployed some of his stronger Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to talk to the Valyrs and get rid of them if they were serious about attacking the Untamed Jungle.

    At this point, most Untamed Awakened were strong enough to deal with the Valyr Lordess and the entire Savannah Region alone. They didn''t need Michael''s help to remove the threats in the Savannah Region. Still, Michael hoped the Valyr Lordess would ignore her higher-ups or cut ties with them. He didn''t wish to see her or her daughter die.

    Other than the Valyrs, Michael shed a little with the Lords and Native Kingdoms in the ins region. The Zentika Empire had been destroyed a few years ago, but the shes between the Native Kingdoms and Lordssted on. Everyone had imed pieces ofnd that once belonged to the Zentika Empire, but it wasn''t enough. Their uncontroble greed pushed the Lords and Kingdoms to continue fighting for years. Years of constant battle dwindled theirbat forces, which is how Michael''s Untamed Awakenend, his military forces, and a massive horde of High Beasts, shrouded by High Elementals and led by Divine Beasts, conquered thends easily.

    The Native Kingdoms and Lords didn''t have any Divine Lifeforms. They wouldn''t have struggled to defeat the Zentika Empire if they had any Divine Lifeforms. Thus, Michael''s forces easily suppressed the Native Kingdoms and Lords, iming the ins region as well. The Untamed Jungle''s surplus energy and nutrients were channeled into the ins region to conquer it and transform it into a part of the Grand Region of the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael used his Divinity Fragment, the Nature Heart, to control the energies and lead the nutrients where he needed them the most.

    He made sure the Untamed Jungle would expand healthily, creating more space for its flora and fauna.

    ''The Nature Heart is fine, but why does my heart hurt so much?''

 Chapter 954 Slow but Steady

    Chapter 954 Slow but Steady

    It had been one week since Alive woke up. There were no aftereffects of the Blood Incursion, and Alice''s soul regenerated nicely. Since she received four Soultraits to hold her soul in ce, Alice wasn''t even in pain. Training was a little bit difficult because it was impossible for her to ess her Soultrait Symbols while she was healing, and she couldn''t leave the Origin Expanse either. Alice needed Michael''s SoulStar Fragments to recuperate. Otherwise¡­she would have already left.

    "I want to visit my parents. I want to tell them that I''m fine and talk to them about everything that has happened," Alice had announced one day. Michael had been about to tell her there was no way she could leave but kept his mouth shut until he found the right words to respond.

    "It might take a while to fix your Soul. You might not be in pain right now, but that is because I''ve been constantly infusing SoulStar Fragments into your soul. I¡­won''t hold you back from returning to your family if that''s what you want, but I hope you can postpone your return," Michael said after giving his words some thought.

    "I could leave the Origin Expanse, return to my family, ande back every 24 hours to get my daily dose of SoulStar Fragments," Alice Zenovia responded without hesitation.

    Michael nodded slowly, and a myriad of thoughts shed through his mind: "That works¡­ Yeah, that would work."

    ''Calm down. She will not leave you forever. Obviously, Alice wants to see her family again. No matter how much I dislike this idea, I must ept it. She might hate me if I say no now.''

    He smiled, but the sadness in his eyes was apparent. Alice winced and took a step closer to him. She raised her hand and was about to touch his cheeks when she froze. Her hand pulled back, and her old, icy expression reced her surprised features.

    Michael and Alice hadn''t talked much throughout thest week, but their situation improved slightly. Alice asked only a few questions and never mentioned their rtionship with a single word, but she opened up a little. Her questions focused more on who she was and what had happened in the Tritan Alliance when she was away ¨C Kaleb had already told her everything, but Alice asked him nheless. She even asked about Olivia ze, Oliver Zeus, and so on. Alice''s questions were simple initially, but thest few questions were tougher. Michael was forced to tell Alice that the ze household had been in the Sacred Desert and that the Sacred Desert was now in his control. He didn''t want to exin the situation in-depth, but Alice was adamant. Thus, Michael told her about his war with the ze family and that he and his people killed everyone. He didn''t go into detail but reassured that the subjects had been spared.

    When he told Alice about Olivia and her actions ¨C upon Alice''s request ¨C she asked him to see his memories for the first time. She wanted to see what Olivia had done.

    Michael didn''t know if Alice would be fine seeing everything, but she reassured him that she wanted to see everything. That was what Michael did. He showed her what Olivia did through his memories, including their chats through the Expanse Prism. Their chats, Michael''s thoughts and worries, and how Michael looked at Alice were clearly shown in his memories. He showed her everything she wanted to see. Nothing more, nothing less.

    After seeing the memories, Alice was confused for a while and stopped asking questions. Still, they talked asionally. Alice was cold, but her attitude toward him changed. She was different than she used to be. ''Why is she timid all of a sudden? Is she afraid of discovering more about our rtionship¡­or how close we were in the past? Or is it something else?'' Michael wondered while holding eye contact with Alice.

    [She does look timid behind the farce of confidence, but I think you''re mistaken. I think she is afraid of not meeting your expectations. You are still in love with the old Alice, and the woman standing before you doesn''t think of herself as the same old Alice you remember. She is afraid to fall in love with you because you still love the same old Alice¡­but what if she cannot be the woman she used to be? What if she is different, and your love for her vanishes? After all, you love an Alice with different memories than the one standing before you.] N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael''s lips parted to respond something to Jormungandr aloud, but he realized the World Serpent might not be wrong. What would happen if Alice fell in love with him again¡­but he clung to the same old Alice? He wanted his Alice back and never even thought about the possibility of Alice being ''different'' than she used to be.

    The torrent of thoughts tortured Michael, and he only regained his senses when he heard Alice''s voice.

    "Are you okay? If you don''t want me to leave, I can wait a little. Either way, I still need to find a way to travel smoothly to the Tritan Alliance."

    "I¡­" Michael sighed inwardly. He was strong enough to fight Divine Lifeforms and had no problems shing with the God Curses inside him, but he couldn''t gather the courage to speak to Alice. He was afraid that every word he said would hurt her. And that was something he didn''t want to do. He didn''t want to hurt her. "I can help you to travel to the Tritan Alliance. It''s not difficult if you have the right connections and devices," Michael smiled, swallowing his sorrow and frustration but still speaking some of his deepest thoughts aloud. "You wille back, right?"

    Alice''s lips twitched once, but she nodded, "I don''t think I can leave this ce forever without feeling like I''m doing something wrong. It doesn''t feel right to leave you behind. I¡­don''t want to do that."

    Michael swallowed hard. Hearing this might not mean much to others, but it meant much to Michael. Alice didn''t want to leave him! He smiled, genuinely this time, and jumped into action. Michael exined to Alice how to use the bridges at the Nest and went into the finest details regarding using the Compass Relic. Alice nodded slowly, her expression impossibly hard to read. Michael chose to go on and beyond to help Alice. After all, she didn''t want to leave him. All she wanted was to see her parents. Then, she woulde back.

    That was perfectly fine. It might help Michael a lot. After all, Katharina Zenovia liked him.

    Alice listened patiently but tilted her head at the end of his exnation.

    "This is going to beplicated. I don''t know where I will have to travel once I leave the bridge," Alice said after a moment of hesitation. She looked at him intently as if hinting at something, but Michael didn''t notice anything.

    "That won''t be a problem. The Compass Relic wi¨C.."

    "I don''t think it will work," Alice intercepted.

    She clears her throat, her heart beating wildly.

    "How about youe with me?"

 Chapter 955 Tritan Alliance

    Chapter 955 Tritan Alliance

    Michael had always nned to visit the Tritan Alliance again before it was toote. Not much has linked him to the Tritan Alliance anymore, but it was where he grew up and met many interesting people. Michael was curious how much the Tritan Alliance had changed after he left it with enough support for them to stand up for themselves.

    Michael could visit the Tritan Alliance again since he was not yet a full-fledged Divine Lifeform. Maybe he could return in a few hundred years, once the Torn Firmament was back at full power, but he was fairly sure to never return after this time.

    Entering the Tritan Alliance hadn''t been that easy for Michael and Alice. Michael was already stronger than any Higher Lifeform, which was something the Torn Firmament showed openly. His Divine Shell, the presence of his Divinity Fragment, and the three God Curses put tremendous pressure on the Torn Firmament.

    The Firmament didn''t rip further apart, but Michael had to hold back from using too much power. Otherwise, he may actually destroy the Tritan Alliance by ident. And destroying the Tritan Alliance and the people he liked was certainly not on his to-do list.

    After rescuing the Tritan Alliance, Michael didn''t want to destroy it, especially since Alice''s parents were still living there. Fortunately, Michael didn''t rip the Torn Firmament apart even though it was close. He was still a Tier-6 Higher Lifeform, which was somehow registered even if his presence and Divinity suggested he was a Divine Lifeform or, in fact, already about to attain godhood.

    Michael and Alice appeared in the sr system, holding hands to teleport together. Once they arrived, Alice let go of his hand and turned away. He couldn''t see her face but heard her heart instead. It beat slightly faster than usual, bringing a smile to his lips.

    ''It was a good idea to go with you. Thank you for asking, Alice.'' He spoke in his mind with a smile.

    Even though Alice was not in love with him just yet, there was something. It was difficult to pinpoint the exact cause, but Michael hoped Alice was curious about him. Michael could hope for progress if she was curious about him and notpletely uninterested. That was exactly what he did. He chose to behave normally and wait patiently.

    Thus, Michael searched for familiar energy fluctuations and used Cosmic Stride at its lowest energy output to teleport the pair to familiar people.

    Michael and Alice appeared in the middle of a grand meeting held by the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and several family heads. This included the remnants of the Zeus family, the Matriarch of the Seraph house, and Katharina Zenovia.

    The High Awakened at the meeting unsheathed their weapons and manifested their Artifacts near simultaneously, bringing a smile to Michael''s lips.

    "Sorry about that. I should have informed someone about our return," Michael said into the meeting hall with a smile. Kraft Viton approached Michael with a bright smile and embraced him tightly.

    "It''s good to see you again, kid. You spooked the shit out of me, but seeing you alive makes up for that!" "Alice!" Katharina eximed, tearing up when she saw her beloved daughter. Michael had told the Zenovia Matriarch that he''d found Alice and what he had to do to rescue her. He kept her up-to-date with Kaleb''s help and made sure Katharina would be informed whenever something unexpected happened. Zeke had also returned to the Tritan Alliance with Lincoln''s body, which had already been a few months. Michael was unsure where Zeke was at that moment, but the young Awakened would be fine. There shouldn''t be anything to worry about. "How is everyone?" Michael asked while watching Alice under her mother''s scrutiny. Katharina studied every spot of her child, ensuring she was safe and sound. Alice''s memories might have suffered, but she still remembered her mother. The only confusing part was that her mother had never been like this. Not in the memories Alice had retained, at least.

    "Everyone is doing fine. Our situation is much better than expected. We might have lost the Sacred Desert a few years back ¨C which you already know all about ¨C but the Barren Wastnds are not barren anymore and definitely not wastnds. We are in a better situation than ever and secured two more Beginner Regions. After some back and forth, we focused on working together much more than we used to. That includes not only our time outside the Origin Expanse but also our time inside it. Many Lords moved together and formed alliances to expand outward with the help of more Rookie Lords who would establish new main defensive forts to¡­" Kraft Viton was excited and spoke for more than ten minutes about the economy of the Tritan Alliance and how much the Cosmic Shop helped them up their game. The Tritan Alliance might not have any DIvine Lifeforms yet ¨C they were still far from their first Divine Ascension ¨C but their improvements were visible. Michael had already noticed that there were far more Higher Lifeforms spread across thes and that the number of Awakened had also increased drastically. It was all thanks to Michael''s support. If not for him, the Tritan Alliance would have ceased to exist several years ago. Most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would either be dead, escaped into the Origin Expanse, or the Supreme Human Alliance would have enved them. That didn''t happen, and Michael was d about that. It was even better that the Tritan Alliance would have enough time to grow stronger. Maybe their power was needed to fight the Supreme Human Alliance in the future. Michael heard someone approach them and turned around. Katharina Zenovia walked toward him and embraced Michael tightly. "Thank you for bringing my little girl back to us. I know you did your best, but¡­I wasn''t sure if you would make it after we heard about Lincoln," She released him for a moment and nted a kiss on his cheeks, "I''m d my little girl found someone like you. I think you''re the best that could have happened to Alice and Kaleb." She embraced him again and didn''t even think about letting Michael go. Alice stared at the scene unfolding before her in shock. Her eyes widened seeing her mother so affectionate with anyone. If it had been a surprise for her that the Zenovia Matriarch embraced her, seeing her mother like this with a stranger was tens of times more confusing and shocking. Alice tilted her head. Well. Michael wasn''t exactly a stranger. She had seen some memories of Michael at her request and knew they had been together. Kaleb had also mentioned a lot about Michael, though her brother had also forgotten everything about him when he was cured from Blood Incursion. Still, Kaleb talked about Michael often.

    However, both Michael''s memories of showing them as a couple and Kaleb''s praising Michael to the moon and beyond weren''t as impactful as seeing how her mother treated Michael.

    Everyone liked Michael. The powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance treated him with respect and surrounded him to ask questions and chat with him. Some chatted lightly like friends with Michael, while others were far more respectful. Michael responded to everyone with a smile. Seeing Michael like that, Alice couldn''t help but think about his territory and how the people there thought about him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She tried to recall some truly badments about Michael, but there was nothing like that. A few subjects disliked him for telling them to work, but that was the minority of the minorities.

    Alice tilted her head. Almost no one disliked Michael. If anything, those who disliked him were jealous of his powers.

    Michael noticed Alice''s gaze lingering on him and smiled at her, but before Alice could respond, his expression distorted slightly. His smile cracked as his eyes fell upon a young woman and her mother.

    Alice turned to the mother-daughter pair and recognized the duo right away. The youngerdy was known for her calm andposed behavior, her gracefulness, and her majestic behavior at all times. She was also known for her emotionlessness, which created a hue of mystery around her. It was Maria Seraph, the beauty of the Seraph family. Yet, instead of looking calm andposed, Maria Seraph was on the verge of tears, her eyes glued to Michael.

    Giuliana Seraph red at Michael but sighed deeply after a few seconds when she noticed what was about to happen.

    Michael''s left hand glowed vibrant golden as he pressed his palm firmly against the back of his right hand. His expression distorted in pain, and blood gushed from his nose and mouth.

    The High Awakened looked at the scene in shock and surprise, but Katharina smiled. She walked up to her daughter, whose eyes had widened in surprise.

    "Kaleb must have forgotten to mention it. Michael manifested Maria''s Mark of Fate when Dark Heavens attacked before the Interdimensional g War. I know you remember none of it, but you should know that Michael was always loyal to you. He is a good guy," She pointed out and Alice nodded slowly when Michael appeared before the Seraph Matriarch and Maria.

    "I know."

    Michael could have returned the Mark of Fate to Maria without saying a word, or he could have kept it, but that was not who he was. He was already ashamed that it had taken him so long to return it in the first ce.

    "I''m sorry for being sote. Please ept the Mark of Fate. I was toote to return everything to you. I hope it didn''t cause too much inconvenience," Michael asked for forgiveness.

    You will find someone better. I''m sure of it," He added, but Maria couldn''t utter a word. She cried bitterly, fully understanding the situation.

    Maria Seraph hated herself for this, especially since she had already received most of the Mark of Fate. It was just a tiny portion that had clinged onto Michael, just like the owner of Archangel''s Grace. The Mark of Fate clung onto Michael just like Maria would have loved to cling to him.

    Alice looked at the pair and felt something. Staring at Maria, an otherworldly beauty about Michael''s age, she couldn''t help but feel something. She swallowed hard as the tension between them rose, not even realizing that she had subconsciously whispered her thoughts.

    "I¡­might like him¡­"

    **

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 Chapter 956 Chat

    Chapter 956 Chat

    Returning Maria Seraph to the rest of her Soultrait Fragment had been very awkward. He didn''t want to make a scene, but it wasn''t like Michael had much of a choice. Of course, Michael could have waited until the meeting was over before meeting up with Maria separately, but he didn''t want anyone¡ªspecifically Alice¡ªto misunderstand the situation.

    Maybe his reaction was hurtful to Maria, but Michael couldn''t be overly considerate toward everyone. That would consume too much energy and cause more chaos than one may think.

    Still, he had to hide a smile when he heard a faint whisper from the back. Alice was talking to her mother, probably thinking no one could hear them. What Alice didn''t take into consideration was that Michael''s senses were already on the same level as those of a Divine Lifeform.

    "I¡­might like him¡­" clearly reached Michael''s ears. He heard Alice and had to suppress, showing that he had heard her. Grinning like a fool would expose him and be extremely rude toward Maria Seraph, who was bawling her eyes out before him.

    Giuliana Seraph looked at thest bits of the Mark of Fate resting in her daughter''s hands and looked back at Michael.

    "Thank you for returning the Mark of Fate. I don''t know what you had to do to remove it, but it looked painful. It''s unfortunate that you don''t consider yourself a suitable vessel for the Mark of Fate or¡­that you are in love with Alice Zenovia, but I hope you will never regret your decision. There is no going back," she said.

    Michael nodded knowingly, "I know, and I do not wish to go back. I will be fine. This is the only right choice for me and my loved ones." Giuliana didn''t respond. She sighed deeply, embraced her daughter tightly, and left the room with ament toward Kraft Viton.

    "Since Michael is back, we will postpone the rest of today''s meeting to ater point."

    Kraft Viton and the others agreed. They wouldn''t want to continue today''s meeting either way; it would go nowhere.

    "What do you want to do now?" Kraft Viton asked Michael, whose eyes followed the Seraph mother-daughter duo''s leaving backs.

    "That''s a good question. I don''t know. I returned to the Tritan Alliance because Alice asked me. Then again, I wanted to return to the Tritan Alliance once before ascending to a Divine Lifeform. I won''t be able to return for¡­a while after we leave this time," Michael tilted his head a little and looked at Alice, "But maybe I can establish some connections to create lesser bridges using Cosmic Stride. It might be impossible for me toe to the Tritan Alliance, but it would be helpful if there was at least one bridge between it and outside this dwarven gxy. That way, you and others can visit me, or Zeke, Alice, Kaleb, and so forth can visit their families." Michael tilted his head while his eyes were trained on Alice. She noticed the attention he gave her and turned away, but Michael could see the tip of her ear turn red. The corner of his lips tilted upward.

    "I can use the Racial Achievement Points the Tritan Alliance has umted to anchor a portion of my power ¨C deactivated, of course ¨C to a specific ce. It won''t weaken me in any way, but it will help you use my teleportation Soultrait to cross thes while allowing you to charge much more energy and jump wider. It might cost a decent number of Racial Achievement Points, but the Relic should be fairly powerful. It might as well help the Tritan Allian to work more efficiently."

    Kraft Viton chuckled at hismentary and teased, "If you''re going this far, why don''t you repair the Torn Firmament instead? If you do that, you can visit us at any time." Michael didn''tugh at Kraft Viton''sment. He looked dead serious at his old master.

    "I could repair the Torn Firmament or shorten the time frame it requires to mend properly. Both options are valid, but I don''t want to do it. The Torn Firmament might restrain me and other good people from entering the Tritan Alliance, but it also keeps the Supreme Human Alliance at bay. There is no way I''m going to mend the Torn Firmament, thus exposing the Tritan Alliance to the terrors of the Supreme Human Alliance again. One kidnapping session was more than enough. That one did way too much damage already."

    Kraft Viton nodded. He might have only teased Michael, but he didn''t expect the young man to be already powerful enough to heal the torn firmament. Little did the old man know that Michael had a Divinity Fragment rted to the Laws of Nature. Michael could mend the Torn Firmament using the Nature Heart, but that wasn''t something Michael would do.

    "So¡­ do you want me to search for a suitable Portal Relic, or should we talk about this at ater meeting? It affects the entire Tritan Alliance, but since we said that the Racial Achievement Points of the three races are mine¡­it shouldn''t be necessary, right?"

    "The Racial Achievement Points umted by the Tritan Alliance belong to you. You invested heavily into our survival and ¨C as ridiculous and painful as it might sound for the powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance at times ¨C you are the sole reason the Tritan Alliance didn''t cease to exist in the Civil War."

    "Let''s build that Portal Relic, then. Maybe I can make someone happy by creating a direct connection to the Tritan Alliance and an easier method of traveling through the entire Tritan Alliance without being forced to rely on me." Michael nced at Alice, which Kraft Viton noticed. Heughed aloud and patted Michael''s back, "To think someone would use our hard-earned Racial Achievement Points to make his girlfriend happy. I think I would have had difficulty believing such nonsense a few years back. But knowing you¡­It kind of makes sense. I think you are one of those people who do weird stuff that nobody would sometimes do. As long as it makes your loved ones happy, that is."

    Michael shrugged, "Are we going to install the Portal Relic now, or do you want to stand around doing nothing?" He teased his old master, who looked around knowingly. The other participants of the Tritan meeting walked up to Michael and cleared their throats.

    "Is it possible to dy the instation of the Portal Relic for a while?" Someone Michael couldn''t remember asked. It was a powerful powerhouse, given the power level of the Tritan Alliance, but Michael had a hard time recalling that guy.

    "Why do you want to dy it? It''s not like it will take weeks to install the Portal Relic."

    The man paled a little under Michael''s intense scrutiny, but he gathered his courage and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he asked, "We are all curious what the cosmos outside the Tritan Alliance looks like. Zeke told us a little about the Altors Union and the Nest, but he left out way too many pieces of information. He didn''t reveal anything while bragging about the vastness of the Altors Union and the powerhouses of the Nest."

    Michael raised an eyebrow and saw dozens of High Awakened staring at him.

    "Everyone here wants to know what it looks like outside the Tritan Alliance?"

    "And what you have been doing to grow this strong. I would love to know what you have to go through in thest few years," the Berserker Chieftain added with a smile. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael returned the smile and nodded.

    "That sounds like a n. Let''s hold a little history lesson about Michael Fang''s life." He chuckled and gestured to everyone to take a seat.

    "This might take a while."

 Chapter 957 Disbelief and Agency

    Chapter 957 Disbelief and Agency

    Michael didn''t talk about the finest details of his life, but he had more than enough to talk about nheless. He ended up chatting about his life and answering some questions for hours. Seeing everything awestruck and having difficulty believing the words escaping Michael''s lips was satisfying. Their reactions were exaggerated in his opinion, but once he visualized some of his memories using a Memory Crystal, Michael rewatched some of the most intense moments of his life with the audience.

    Reminiscing about certain events was not unusual for Michael, but it was vastly different to do so with people watching. They had known Michael was strong, but observing his fight against the Dragys in the Origin Expanse, or bits and pieces from his fight against the ze Patriarch, was terrifying. Michael also mentioned the Temple of the Forgotten, including the Curses that were now residing within him.

    "Is that the ancient ruin you questioned me about?" The Berserker Chieftain asked around that time. In the past, Michael had questioned the Berserker Chieftain in the library about ancient ruins, how to determine their difficulty level ording to their age, and so forth. Michael was d about the answers he''d received then and smiled back at the Berserker Chieftain.

    "It is. The Temple of the Forgotten was a¡­unique inheritance trial, which the Primordial Tree Spirit of the Untamed Jungle had altered. But maybe that was for the best. I wouldn''t have survived the ordinary trials if the Temple of the Forgotten had been created for Divine Lifeforms." Michael chuckled, but everyone looked at him withplex emotions.

    "So, you went through an ancient ruin designed for Divine Lifeforms alone because the Dragys Lordess, a Tier-8 Lord with a following of more than 20 Divine Lifeforms, would threaten your territory soon. They discovered you, and you said, ''I need a power-up.'' Is that how it went?" one of the younger members of the Tritan council asked.

    "I¡­guess?" Michael responded with a shrug.

    "Then you seeded, jumped from Tier-5 to Tier-6, formed your Divine Shell while not even being a Divine Lifeform, and acquired another Curse, the sister of the brother duo already inside you, and a Divine Fragment of the Untamed Jungle, which turned you into the Untamed Jungle''s one and only True Lord. You also gained control of all jungle monsters and nt life, forming Links of Loyalty and¡­"

    Michael intercepted the excited yet bbergasted man with a wave, "That is literally what I said. I don''t think you have to repeat what I''ve already exined in detail." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The man paled and nodded, "I a-apologize. But it sounds so¡­hard to believe. I wouldn''t have believed you if I hadn''t seen your memories."

    "Even if you didn''t believe me, it doesn''t really matter, "Michael shrugged, "It happened and I''m stronger than ever. Thetter is all that matters."

    He needed strength to prevail against the imminent threats and would have to grow even stronger - the faster, the better - to fight the Supreme Human Alliance. That the powerhouses of the Tritan Alliance couldn''t understand him was understandable. Michael would probably feel the same. To them, Divine Lifeforms were already the cream of the crop, the strongest entities they would face in their lifetime.

    Some of them had seen ordinary Divine Lifeforms fight, but they couldn''t fathom what it would look like to fight a Tier-8 Lord. It might have happened in the memories they had seen, but most Higher Lifeforms watching the battle could not see most of their moves after they reached top speed. All they could see were some shes of light, blood sttering, and thest moment of the Dragys Lordess'' life. They saw her pierce Michael''s heart and how Michael retaliated.

    A lot has happened to Michael in thest few years, and one event was more shocking. Even Alice had difficultyprehending what she''d just watched when Michael''s story-telling ended. She stared at Michael, who smiled lightly for a long time.

    Katharina had to nudge her daughter to stop her from staring holes into Michael. Alice regained her senses and blushed when she realized she had been discovered. Several powerhouses grinned knowingly at her, but Alice wanted nothing but to disappear.

    Michael noticed the attention lingering on Alice, and his smile widened.

    ''Maybe it was a good idea toe here with Alice. I''m d she asked me to join them.''

    Staring at Alice and seeing how she reacted to him and his stories was nice. She was much cuter like that¡ªnot that she wasn''t cute before. It was just a different type of cute, and Michael couldn''t help but adore her even more than before. Still, though, Alice was a bit chilly at times, but that was how the Frozen Duchess had always been. That was her persona: looking cold from the outside, with a big, kind-hearted, and warm inside.

    "Will you ept more Awakened into your territory, or do you want me to close the Awakened Agency?" Kraft Viton asked at some point. Michael looked at the old man and tilted his head.

    "I think the Awakened Agency is a nice ce for the poor and unfortunate to grow stronger. Didn''t you say that the Tritan Alliance works together more than ever? How about you integrate the Awakened Agency into your ns? If you do that, you can ensure that the Awakened of the Awakened Agency find a suitable Lord to work with and that they''re treated nicely. At the same time, you can easily ensure that your Lords will have enough Subordinates to help them fight and control their territories." "I had the same idea, but the problem is that investing too much into Awakened with weak Soultraits is rather problematic for our Lords. It wouldn''t be an issue to support the Awakened via the Awakened Agency like we''re doing, but the whole purpose of creating the Awakened Agency was to pick out determined and ambitious Awakened with weak Soultraits and poor standing for you to transform into proper powerhouses. Without your Soultrait Symbols, transforming them into powerful High Awakened is several times harder and much less efficient."

    That was indeed a problem. Granting unfortunate Awakened, who had either not manifested a Soultrait in the first ce or manifested a weak Soultrait Symbol that didn''t suit their persona and desired, an opportunity to show that they had the means to do something great was nice. It was part of the reason the Awakened Agency had been created.

    However, without Michael''s active support, the Awakened Agency''s biggest advantage disappeared: the advantage of possibly removing their ''useless'' Soultrait, which might as well be a treasure for someone who had always wanted such a Soultrait or to gain more Soultrait.

    "I should have enough space to establish a few hundred Links of Loyalty with more Awakened¡ªprobably more than a thousand, if I''m honest¡ªbut epting 1,000 Awakened won''t solve the problem long-term. I don''t think I should constantly supply the Awakened Agency with Soultrait Symbols. While it might be nice to strengthen the Tritan Alliance to the point where the Alliance turns into a superpower, I have to be careful as well.

    At this point, too many powerful beings know about my power, and if they think that the Tritan Alliance is hoarding hundreds of Soultrait Symbols, or maybe only dozens¡ªit doesn''t matter how many¡ªthey might attack the Tritan Alliance, eradicate the entire alliance before it transforms into a problem, and steal the Soultrait Symbols.

    I have seen what my Soultrait Symbols can do when they fall into the hands of my enemies, and I do not wish for this to repeat itself."

    Michael recalled Lincoln destroying so many lives with the power he had given his friend and shuddered. Even if Lincoln wasn''t his enemy, the Blood Incursion transformed him into a ruthless murderer. Lincoln still used his power to cause harm and end innocent lives. Too many to count.

    "So¡­we have to reform the Awakened Agency once you picked some suitable Awakened to be your Subordinates. This is¡­theirst chance to be Super Awakened."

    ''Super Awakened? That sounds¡­fun.''

    [A/N: This is the author with a small side-note. The Family Arc is only a small arc to connect a few dots and push forward to the next arc. But don''t be afraid that there will be no more romantic scenes, or no more chatties in the story like there have been in thest few chapters. The Main Story of SL might beplete in half a year up to nine months but there will be extra volumes. -> You can rmend story parts to write once the main story is done - about different characters and how Michael influenced them and such.]

 Chapter 958 New Awakened

    Chapter 958 New Awakened

    Reforming was not Michael''s main task. He was busy picking out suitable Awakened instead. Alice told Michael that she would spend the next few days with her parents and that she would return to the Origin Expanse afterward. Michael would have loved to talk a little bit more with Alice, but he wasn''t against the idea of her spending some quality time with her parents.

    In the first ce,ing to the Tritan Alliance was something Alice did to talk to her parents and figure out what she wanted to do now. Michael came along, but that didn''t mean he had to be with her for every minute of their lives. It wasn''t like that before, either. Still, Michael was happy to havee and that he could get some interesting reactions out of her. She might not be fully in love with him just yet, but the seeds of liking had been sown.

    Michael was one step closer to properly reuniting with Alice.

    He let her be and focused on choosing suitable Awakened to take with to the Untamed Jungle. He had more than enough Teleportation Tokens and lots of space to bind weaker and stronger Awakened to his War Rune. More than 100,000 Awakened had registered at the Awakened Agency, but less than a quarter met Michael''s requirements. Even fewer weren''t affiliated with other nobles, which wouldplicate the whole process of binding them to his War Rune. Thus, he discarded most of them as well. That was until he found Hiraku''s fianc¨¨. His ex-fianc¨¨, to be precise.

    She had also registered at the Awakened Agency, but her reasoning was unusual. Hiraku''s ex-fianc¨¨ had already a powerful Soultrait, and she was still a Lordess. Still, she applied nheless, stating she would give up her territory if Michael took her in. Why would she go that far? Because Hiraku was ghosting her.

    Michael burst intoughter, wondering what kind of sick joke she was ying until he realized she was serious. Hiraku had once mentioned something about a fianc¨¨ from childhood and that their families had always been close. Hiraku ended the engagement, terminating it without asking his fianc¨¨ what she wanted or how she felt. Given how willing she was to abandon her territory and give up everything she had worked for in thest few years, she must have had a different opinion from Hiraku.

    ''I think this is going to be very interesting. Hiraku doesn''t approach others first and always rejects other women, saying he has been in love for years. He is probably in love with his ex-fianc¨¨ and misunderstood something¡­right?''

    [I don''t particrly care, but if you are mistaken about this, you will transform the Untamed Jungle into a battlefield for this couple. Hiraku is not too shabby, but this woman doesn''t seem as weak as the rest of the Tritan Alliance''s weaklings.]

    ''You enjoy this, don''t you, Fenrir?'' Michael asked the Best God, who yawned in response.

    Either way, Michael decided to ept Hiraku''s ex-fianc¨¨ temporarily and talk to her first beforepleting his decision. With that in mind, Michael continued searching for suitable Awakened to be his Subordinates. He found a bunch of very talented children who had bad backgrounds, no money and were among the weakest Soultraits he had ever seen, but their determination and willpower were several times greater than the Awakened Agency''s tests required to pass. They passed with flying colors and were considered the cream of the crop, if not for their Soultraits, financial situation, and possibly their weak energy paths.

    Michael could solve each of these points. He could provide enough resources to empower their Soultraits and give them more Soultraits before solving their weak energy path issue and financial situation. Resources were something Michael had a surplus of. He had a lot of surplus resources for various things. His Subordinates wouldn''t have to worry about going to bed with an empty stomach or being deprived of all resources. If anything, as long as they worked hard enough, they would be among the richest fellows in the Tritan Alliance within a few years.

    "Jacqueline Ondo as well? When did she lose her territory?" Michael scratched the back of his head, realizing only now that he knew so few things about the people he''d gotten to know when he was still active in the Tritan Alliance.

    [That''s how life is. Sometimes, you cross paths with others for a while. Then your paths separate, and you will never see each other again. Or only asionally, like it is here with Jacqueline or whatever her name is.]

    Jacqueline Ondo not only lost her territory but also wanted to be one of Michael''s Subordinates. She didn''t ask him directly, and even Frederik must have told her that he couldn''t make such a request. That was a good decision because Michael would have disliked his position if Frederik had made a request like that.

    It was better for Jacqueline to join the Awakened Academy and work tirelessly without informing Michael about it. That was also why he added her to the list of Awakened, whom he would ept into his territory. There was no hesitation after reading her exam results.

    Michael didn''t waste any time picking out the best of the best, but he was not in a rush either. He worked meticulously and made sure not to miss any precious gems that had to be polished first. Many Tier-1 and Tier-2 Awakened never had the opportunity or means to grow stronger. That was a shame, which Michael could take advantage of.

    He epted many Tier-1 and even some Tierless Awakened into his retina. Sometimes, Michael followed his gut feeling, but most of the time, the provided data ¨C especially the statements as to how the Awakened lost their territories and what they were currently doing in the Origin Expanse, IF they could do something in the Origin Expanse, in the first ce ¨C was the most helpful. It helped Michael discover the Awakened''s potential, how desperate they were, and much more.

    Once he was done picking up his precious unpolished gemstones, Michael decided to talk to Hiraku''s fianc¨¨, Jacqueline, and all the polished gemstones. He liked what was written in their results and the other documents, but before he would let them into his territory, Michael needed some questions answered. Furthermore, Michael wouldn''t let them into his territory without going through their minds using Mind Watcher. Maybe that was a little exaggerated, but it was an important use. He wouldn''t allow Awakened from the Awakened Agency into his territory without first going through their minds. It was a safety measurement that had to bepleted. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    If the Awakened didn''t like their minds to be seen through, they could always reject his inquiry. Of course, that meant Michael wouldn''t ept them into his territory. The term was not negotiable, but that was well-known by everyone. If they applied to be his Subordinates just for fun, Michael wouldn''t want them in the first ce without reading all the uses properly.

    He cleared his schedule and prepared all meetings with 1200 Awakened, who may or may not be members of his territory.

    The Super Awakened of his territory would expand dramatically soon. Michael looked forward to it.

 Chapter 959 Fuck it!

    Chapter 959 Fuck it!

    Alice sighed deeply. She never expected her chats with both father and mother to be this tiresome. ''Why are they always talking about this one thing? I expected them to reject Michael or to be the same as they''ve always been, at the very least. But¡­they changed so much. How does that make any sense?'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Her eyebrows furrowed deeply. Confusion permeated her entire being, but her mother''s bombardment of questions still lingered on her mind.

    "Do you want him to be taken away by someone else? You don''t. I can see that. So why are you acting like that? When did I raise you to be a pushover? Is that how the Zenovia household raised you? If you''re unsure what you want, you can always give it a try and abandon Michael if you think he''s not worth it! But do you think that? You. Do. Not! Trying won''t harm you. If anything, you might find yourself drawn to Michael stronger than ever if you give it a chance. Or it doesn''t work out, but in that case, you know early enough to stop."

    At that time, Alice didn''t even know what to respond. Her mother wasn''t done bombarding her withments, either. She hurled a lecture at her and made sure to show her daughter how she truly felt about her behavior, how lucky she was to be still alive, and how much Michael had to sacrifice to help her. Apparently, Katharina had heard from Kaleb that Michael spent several months by Alice''s side, taking care of her all day long, only to be forced to rip their love apart.

    Alice might have lost her memories, but she wasn''t the only one suffering. Michael was trying to rekindle their love, knowing deep down that every act could lead to a disaster. Michael was forced to walk on eggshells even after he suffered so much. Of course, Alice knew her mother was trying to push her toward Michael. That bothered her a lot and pulled her away from Michael instead. But that didn''tst long. Alice might not like what her mother did, but it wasn''t Michael''s fault.

    She might even exaggerate at times, but it was a fact that Michael had been tirelessly working and had lots of work postponed to be by her side to cure Blood Incursion properly. Alice sighed again, but her throat tightened, and she nearly slipped on a wet stone when her eyes fell upon Michael. He walked through the streets with dark sacs underneath his eyes. A single nce was enough to tell that Michael was beyond exhausted.

    ''Is that my fault?''

    Michael sensed a gaze lingering on him and lifted his head.

    ''Please, not another annoying brat.'' He begged right before he discovered Alice. His eyes lit up, and the exhaustion dispersed.

    Alice walked up to Michael with a hesitant smile. She was unsure what to say, but no words were needed between them.

    "Did you have a great time with your family, or is it too much at once?" Michael asked.

    "Both¡­I guess? It''s weird to see that everyone changed so much. And everyone is talking about you. I¡­don''t know what to think about that," Alice chose to be straightforward with Michael. He had been nice to her until now, but she didn''t want to hurt him.

    "They''re talking about me? I didn''t spend much time with your parents while still active in the Tritan Alliance. If anything, I expected them to be against me. Staying with me will be dangerous. You might get injured or grow into a Divine Lifeform much faster than most powerhouses in the Tritan Alliance. One way or another, your family won''t be able to see you for a while if you are with me. I expected them to be against me," Michael responded equally honestly.

    He figured it was useless to speak around the bush. He liked Alice, but it hurt to act as if nothing had happened. "I don''t know either. Thest thing I remember is them discussing my engagement with some idiot who''d manifested a suitable 6-Star Soultrait. It is not an ice-type Soultrait but a Soultrait that enhances all elemental powers. They thought our¡­ Well, they expected the offspring to be powerful and all that stuff. If I think about it that way, it is only obvious that they want me to be with you. You are the strongest of the Tritan Alliance and will likely transform into one of the strongest Divine Lifeforms in the cosmos as long as you don''t die."

    Michael raised an eyebrow. He didn''t see it that way before, but it made sense.

    "In the past, I would have agreed to that. In fact, I might have agreed to marry anyone to escape my family''s grasp, but since I woke up in your manor¡­I don''t want to be with someone I don''t like. It feels¡­wrong." "You asked me toe with you. Does that me¨C..."

    "I don''t know what it means. I asked you toe with me to the Tritan Alliance on a whim. Or maybe not. I don''t know." Alice twirled with her hair while her expression was filled with confusion and doubt. She didn''t understand herself anymore.

    Michael smiled at Alice and patted her shoulder lightly. She didn''t evade his touch but looked at him instead. Her eyes trailed down his face, and she blushed when her gazended on his lips.

    "I am really weird. Nothing makes sense, and I should be annoyed that everyone is talking so well about you. It''s almost like everyone is forcing me to be with you¡­but it doesn''t feel all that bad. I don''t know if It feels good either, though. It''s hard to describe¡­" Alice tried to look away from his lips, but something pulled her attention to them. Her ears flushed red, and her breath grew heavier. Michael''s eyes widened slightly, but he smiled at Alice. Nothing around them interested Michael at this moment. His exhaustion was no more, and he shed a vibrant smile at the love of his life.

    His smile was filled with happiness, excitement, and pure love.

    Alice swallowed heavily at the magnificent sight unfolding before her. Michael''s smile filled her vision, melting her away.

    "Oh well¡­" She mumbled, swallowing hard, "Fuck it."

    Alice decided to listen to her mother''sments and give it a ''try.'' She didn''t have anything to lose and followed her gut feeling. She strode forward and coiled her arms around Michael''s neck. A yful smile blossomed on her lips as she closed in, nting her lips on top of Michael''s.

    Michael was a little confused, but his smile widened.

    His left hand slipped through Alice''s flowing hair, and he cupped her head gently before leaning into her kiss. Michael responded with a passionate kiss, his right hand sliding smoothly to her waist as he pulled her closer.

    Alice''s heart beat wildly. She had no idea what to expect from this moment, but this¡­ was so much better.

    The hole of memories in Alice''s heart and mind was massive, but Michael decided to fill it with love and care.

    He didn''t care if Alice had changed. Michael would always love her!

 Chapter 960 Time

    Chapter 960 Time

    Something about Alice changed. It was hard to put into words, but whatever magical feeling spread through her was great.

    Their lips parted, and they smiled at each other.

    "I think that feels right," Alice mumbled while Michael pulled her into a tight embrace.

    "It does."

    **

    The couple had a lot to talk about and even more to catch up. Alice might not remember their past rtionship, but that factor wasn''t enough to destroy their future rtionship. The memories might not be there anymore, but the chemistry between the couple was as extraordinary as it used to be before the Supreme Human Alliance separated them.

    At first, Alice fought against the attraction, but she gave in to it atst. The following week was nice andforting for the couple. Michael and Alice got to know each other again by spending every minute of the day together. Everyone looked at them, some amused, others excited, but the pair didn''t pay any attention to them. They focused on each other and ignored everything else.

    The week was packed with cute dates, nights filled with endless talking, cooking sessions to learn everything about their tastes and dislikes all over again, and watching TV series together¡ªsomething Michael never thought he would do with all the pressure on him¡ªand much more.

    It was interesting how much they packed into a single week and did so many new things. Michael and Alice never cooked together or even considered watching a TV series. In their opinion, it was a waste of time, yet they were curious about what normal couples looked like.

    The duo realized that TV series weren''t all that bad, but they would much rather focus on getting stronger or talking to one another. Their talking sessions were longer than anything else. They had so much to talk about¡ªMichael did most of the talking while Alice asked questions, both about their rtionship in the past and about other stories rted to the Tritan Alliance or Michael. Some questions were difficult, especially with Alice lying in his arms, but Michael remained honest. He didn''t want to start lying or leaving out some information at the start of their rtionship. Their new rtionship should be built on trust and honesty.

    Despite revealing some rather tricky information, things Michael was unsure how to tell Alice without driving her crazy ¨C or maybe he just thought that Alice would be overly jealous, contrary to her usual behavior ¨C but it worked out fine. He told Alice about Maria, the instances during the Battle Exchanges, the Interdimensional g War, and much more. He didn''t hide anything, and Alice appreciated his honesty, although she wasn''t entirely immune to jealousy. Some things were too much for her, and she ushered Michael to slow down and give her enough time to digest the information.

    Overall, Michael was happy with the situation. Joining Alice back to the Tritan Alliance helped them reunite properly. Maybe their love was not as strong as it used to be, but it was only a matter of time before their love would burn as fiercely, if not fiercer than before. Michael felt different around this time. Maybe their love didn''t feel as strong as before, but Michael felt better. He would be with Alice for theing years and could spend almost every day with her. They could be together inside and outside the Origin Expanse. Nothing could separate them anymore. Nothing could take away their happiness!

    Their days in the Tritan Alliance had to end at some point, but neither Alice nor Michael were sad. Michael had already installed the Portal Relic using most of the Racial Achievement Points umted by the Tritan Alliance, which Alice and others could use to travel around easily. If not for that, Alice would have hesitated more before returning to the Nest with Michael. But traveling back to the Nest with Michael was necessary because she would soon advance to Tier-6.

    Once she reached Tier 6 with two 7-Star Soultraits, two 6-Star Soultraits, and two 4-Star Soultraits, it was only a matter of time before the Torn Firmament would react to her. Furthermore, Alice would advance faster than most members of the Tritan Alliance. She would ascend to a Divine Lifeform before the Torn Firmament would be repaired. She would be locked into the Origin Expanse if her Runic Gate was anchored in the Tritan Alliance as a DIvine Lifeform.

    Finally, she wanted to stay by Michael''s side. After Alice gave in to her love, she was unwilling to part ways with Michael. She didn''t want to leave him anymore. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They returned to the Nest with a Return Token, set up their Runic Gate Anchors, and escaped into the Origin Expanse after ensuring the Nest fared well against the Supreme Human Alliance. Michael''s help was not yet needed in therge-scale war.

    Thus, he could focus on growing stronger and¡­creating a family.

    Time passed slowly, yet also oddly fast in the Origin Expanse. Michael and Alice were together and ruled the Untamed Jungle together. They watched Hiraku as he shed with his ex-fianc¨¨ and witnessed the reunion of Frederik and Jacqueline. Thetter had been together before, but seeing them together in the Origin Expanse was different.

    Slowly but steadily, a calm and steady rhythm integrated into their lives. No more imminent threats approached them, but they prepared for the inevitable nheless. Everyone prepared for therge-scale battles awaiting them in the future. Still, time passed, and everyone grew closer¡­and stronger.

    Jacqueline got pregnant by Frederik and gave birth to a baby boy a year after their reunion in the Origin Expanse. They chose to raise their child in the Untamed Jungle where it received enough origin energy to manifest a War Rune before it reached maturity. They would have to use a Teleportation Token to bring their baby outside the Origin Expanse until the little boy could manifest a Runic Gate independently, but that was fine. They didn''t n to leave the Origin Expanse anytime soon. If anything, they were too busy to leave. Raising a child while growing stronger wasn''t easy.

    That was when the kindergarten and its baby version jumped into action. More children were born in the following years¡­including a little baby girl with golden eyes and silky ck hair.

    Maybe Alice didn''t recover her memories, but she didn''t regret anything. They fell in love all over again, this time stronger than ever.

    Their love was much firmer than it used to be, and a little girl was born.

    Michael and Alice were overwhelmed with their little girl. It was said to be more difficult for Higher Lifeforms and Divine Lifeforms to get pregnant, but it worked much faster than they could have anticipated. They didn''t try for a child, knowing that the Supreme Human Alliance was still alive, but¡­it happened.

    Their little girl formed a War Rune less than one year after her birth. A trace of the Nature Heart''s Divinity, a minuscule portion of its power, had been transferred into the child''s heart, protecting her from harm and strengthening her heart, soul, and mind.

    Lucia would be a powerful Awakened in the future, just like her parents.

    [End of Volume 17]

    **

    [A/N: I haven''t nned to write LOADS of wholesome couple chapters after this, BUT I was thinking about some side stories after the main story of Supreme Lord ends. What do you think? I have a few ''Ideas'', but I''m unsure what you all think about them.

    Ideas¡ú

    Rekindled Love ¨¤ More Chapters about the love between Michael and Alice. More details about some stuff etc

    Young Kraft Viton - Uprise in the Wastnds.

    Kaleb Zenovia - Fight for Love

    Silverfang Tigerfolk ¨C The Great Departure. Rise of a New Era.

    The Nest ¨C the Curses'' Desire Forest Elves ¨C Tale of the Forest Elves

 Chapter 961 Divine

    Chapter 961 Divine

    Thest few years felt like magic to Michael. So many things happened, yet it all felt like a dream.

    He had been with Alice for most parts of thest few years, and he couldn''t help but feel better having her by his side. But Alice wasn''t the only one staying by his side. Lucia, his little princess, was also there.

    It had been less than a year since Alice gave birth to their little baby girl, Lucia, but she was growing quickly. The energies of the Untamed Jungle and the minuscule portion of the Nature Heart elerated her growth in every possible way. Her golden eyes glimmered with intelligence¡ªat least, that was what Alice and Michael felt like.

    Lucia could already walk properly, and it wouldn''t take long before she could talk to them like a six-year-old. She was still a Tierless Awakened ¨C she''d manifested her War Rune a few months ago ¨C but it felt like her age and body''s maturity restrained her Tier. Lucia would have advanced to Tier-1 a while ago if not for that.

    Talking to his daughter felt weird at times. He never expected to be a father, but there he was with a little troublemaker in his arms. Michael was often confused than he was willing to acknowledge, yet he loved that little girl dearly. He was d to be Lucia''s father.

    While Alice and Michael''s history was interesting, the most interesting parts ended with Lucia''s birth. Both were now busy raising a child while growing stronger for the inevitable day. They didn''t like that the Supreme Human Alliance was still in existence, but it wasn''t like Michael and Alice had paid much attention to it.

    Michael helped the Nest asionally to check on the Titan War between the Supreme Human Alliance and the Altors Union and gather a fortune of SoulStar Fragments.

    He utilized most SoulStar Fragments to strengthen his soul. After all, his Soul wasn''t prepared for what awaited them. At least, that was what the God Curses told him. They told him to hunt enough Awakened and infuse tens of millions of SoulStar Fragments into his soul.

    While Michael left the Origin Expanse to hunt members of the Supreme Human Alliance alongside the Nest members, Alice and the others focused on Michael''s territories and the expansion of his territory. Everyone was fully aware of the future threats and how much the Soul Power of a few million subjects could change. Thus, they focused on their Tier advancement while also supporting the expansion of the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert''s progress.

    Over several years, the Energy Vein in the Sacred Desert finished transforming the Beginner Region into an Intermediate Region. The Sacred Desert didn''t expand, but its influence on the surrounding regions was interesting. The surrounding Lords and Monster Overlords weren''t pleased by the changes, however, there was little they could do.

    Michael and his people were too strong at this point. One wrong step would destroy everything they''d attained over the centuries.

    At the end of the day, Michael could have felt bad for the Lords and Monster Overlords, but there was no need to. The Origin Expanse was a battlefield. It was a massive realm created to form the strongest Lords. At least, that was what Michael figured. The Will turned every awakened into a Lord at the beginning of their journey. It rewarded the Lords for achieving great things and for growing stronger. It pushed countless Lords against each other, forcing them to grow stronger and push beyond their limits. Only the strongest would survive in the Origin Expanse. The rest would either submit to the stronger,bine their forces with others to keep up with the stronger enemies or die.

    Michael was not sure what the Will''s final goal was or if it had anything specific in mind in the first ce, but there had to be a better exnation to the Will''s actions than the Origin theory. Michael didn''t believe the will to create Lords merely to rebnce the universe. Of course, stabilizing the universe wasn''t somethingckluster, but there was no need to create Lords to do so. Ordinary Awakened would have been enough to spread the origin energy through the cosmos to rebnce it. Lords weren''t needed for that.

    Michael had a few theories, and the Beast God Curses supported some of them, more or less at least, but none felt ''perfect.''

    It was a good thing Michael didn''t need a proper answer just yet. He could research the truth behind the creation of the Origin Expanse or the Will''s changes and actions, but that could wait.

    For now, he focused on expanding the Untamed Jungle, which had already consumed the Zentika Empire''s ins. The Untamed Jungle was still expanding, slowly growing into arger region, reiming thends it had lost over the ages. Simultaneously, Michael''s Energy Vortex worked tirelessly. It sucked the energy from all over the Untamed Jungle, pushing Michael closer to Tier-7. Death Call did the exact same.

    As the Untamed Jungle expanded, the range of Death Call also expanded drastically. Every death nurtured Michael, not only through the energy influxes and energy shares but also through the death portion and the Nature Heart''s ability to absorb the dead bodies and transform them into nutrients to grow and expand.

    At some point, Michael ascended to a Divine Lifeform. He didn''t suffer much since his Divine Shell had already formed and properly integrated into his body. There was no major threshold to break. Michael ascended¡­just like that.

    The Divine Ascension wasn''t special in itself after his body was fully cleansed of all impurities and the Divine Shell formed. Even the Energy Vortex had already been formed. Still, Michael gained tremendous power from the God Curses and the Nature Heart. Ascending to a Divine Lifeform changed something. It created more space for the true extent of the God Curses and the Nature Heart''s power.

    Their Essences filled Michael''s body and integrated into every cell of his body.

    Contrary to their first encounters, Fenrir and Jormungandr supported him without hesitation. Many things happened since they first met and it was only a small surprise to feel their essence as it coursed through him en masse. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael had a decent understanding of the God Curses at this point and he knew how they would react to certain events and what they thought about him, his people, and the things happening around him. But that was fine. It was perfect; exactly what he needed to focus on the God Curses'' Seals.

    They didn''t even inform him but kept channeling their Essences into Michael, thus granting him more authority over their powers. More Seals of the three God Curses formed, and new powers were unlocked, filling Michael with a weird sensation.

    Something about the God Cursesmitment felt weird. They helped him advance much faster over thest few years, even though they''d been trying to work against him before.

    Their full reasoning was unknown, but Michael knew one thing.

    The fact that their path was still the same was still why they helped him.

    They needed his help and were thus heavily investing in him.

 Chapter 962 Wiped

    Chapter 962 Wiped

    Michael wouldn''t have any problems attaining godhood as long as he worked with the God Curses. The three God Curses had verified that with him a few times already. It would take a while and some resources, and he would have to upgrade his Soultrait Symbols quite a bit if he wanted to attain godhood or be a Demi-God, but it was feasible.

    Michael was happy about that because he needed as much power as possible, but it also showed him how much the God Curses were willing to invest in him. They were in dire need of him¡­after he attained godhood. There was something he would have to do, and Michael was fairly sure it would be dangerous.

    He had to prepare for it.

    The pressure on Michael increased steadily, but his time with Alice and Lucia was destressing. The same could be said about the events happening to the people in his territory. They were quite interesting and definitely unexpected.

    Kaleb Zenovia had been single all his life, and not even Alice expected him to fall in love anytime soon, but the youngest of the Zenovia household fell in love¡­with a Princess.

    Kaleb was in love with Tiara from the Silverfang Tigerfolk, but she rejected him several times already. She didn''t even pay much attention to him over the years, whereas Kaleb Zenovia fell hard. Her behavior and how she kept a distance from him must have pulled some strings, striking him square in the chest.

    Michael was unsure what exactly had happened between them, but he knew Kaleb was madly in love. He was loyal and persistent. Tiara rejected him for now, yet Michael could tell that her adamant nature crumbled slowly. It might take a few more years, but if Kaleb managed to break through her barriers, they would be a happy couple.

    Unfortunately, the Silverfang Tigerfolk were busy with their own things. Tiara and Caesus told Michael about their ns, forcing Michael to decide what they were going to do. Even though the Silverfang Tigerfolk were primarily bound to their Princess and Crown Prince, Michael was still in full control of them. The Links of Loyalty were still with him.

    The Silverfang Tigerfolk were fit to live in the Untamed Jungle but hoped to establish their own settlements. This was the same as what the Forest Elves, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs had requested. Well, it was simr. The Forest Elves chose to construct small settlements across the Untamed Jungle to guard the Grand Region from all potential harm. They were the best fit to protect the Untamed Jungle from mutating monsters, other Awakened, or harmful nts.

    On the other hand, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were in the Sacred Desert. They were the mostfortable in the Intermediate Region as nothing restrained their movements. They could fight their enemies openly and gallop across the wide-opennds of the Sacred Desert. The Silverfangs desired a small space reserved for themselves, and Michael granted it.

    There was no reason to reject their demand. Michael would grant them that if they felt better building a settlement to live more reclusive. It strengthened their Link of Loyalty since he cooperated with them.

    The only problem with the Silverfang Tigerfolk was the power distribution. In the first ce, Tiara and Caesus didn''t like each other. It was a fact everyone had heard about. The main issue was that the Silverfangs were divided on whom to follow. That was clearly shown in the connection through the Links of Loyalty. Caesus carried the biggest burden of Awakened from the Silverfangs in terms of numbers, but the Links of Loyalty connecting to Michael through Tiara were stronger. Nobody had a drastic advantage over the others, but both Tiara and Caesus wanted to be themander of the Silverfang Settlement. Michael proposed establishing two Silverfang settlements, which was rejected by the siblings, who were of the same opinion for the first time in years. It was annoying, but that wasn''t Michael''s business. He gave them an option and chose to let them be. They could fight each other as long as nobody died.

    He had other things to pay more attention to. His control of thends in the Origin Expanse was expanding quickly, and the Lords in the adjacent regions ¨C and the regions adjacent to the adjacent regions ¨C weren''t strong enough to deal with him. The Dragys Lordess and the Azure Quetzalcoatl had been the strongest entities within several thousand kilometers.

    The problems in the Untamed Jungle had been taken care of for the time being. Even the regions within a radius of one thousand or maybe even thousands of kilometers didn''t contain as many dangerous monsters as the beasts of the Untamed Jungle. Therefore, he could focus on the threats looming outside the Origin Expanse. Unfortunately, one massive threat kept pestering Michael and his beloved.

    Michael emerged from the Runic Gate to check up on the Nest like usual, only to find the weak energy fluctuations of more than a dozen Curse Users. They were all on the verge of death. He teleported to them without a second thought and released a tidal wave of the advanced healing serum umted within him.

    "What happened?" Michael asked into the infirmary, where he put the dying Curse Users into aa to slow down their death. He used Unlimited Enhancement on the portion of advanced healing serum coating them and used Insert to infuse bits and pieces of his lifeforce into them.

    Hundreds of Superior Energy Stones appeared all around him, but they crumbled to dust when True Extraction sucked their energy reserves dry. Michael had to apply Permute on the energy from the Superior Energy Stones to infuse into the injured Curse Users to salvage their lives. Hesta was in the infirmary when Michael appeared. She was not on the verge of death but lost an arm and looked like she had been through a rough time. Hesta was already at the 6th Tier and progressing much faster than Michael had anticipated her to advance with multiple Soultrait Symbols, but something messed her up big time.

    "What happened to you and the others?" Michael asked while flooding her system with nature-attributed energy, lifeforce, and advanced healing serum.

    Hesta groaned in pain, "These bastards have been focusing on us for thest few months. We managed to take down several forts and Selena alongside the Nest Elders conquered a fews but¡­the situation isn''t looking all that great."

    Michael couldn''t make use of Hesta''s intel. He had already known about the Supreme Human Alliance''s actions and that the Nest managed to reim some of the Altors Union''ss. The Supreme Human Alliance didn''t defend them well enough and continued attacking. But something must have changed.

    "Wait. You''re saying the Supreme Human Alliance is focusing on the Nest? Why would they do that? The Altors Union has far more powerhouses. Curse Users are dangerous to the SHA and their Blood Incursion, but there are not many."

    Hesta shrugged in pain.

    "I think they changed their priorities after suffering too many casualties. Our sudden power-up must have shocked them. They took a while to adjust their tactics and devise a proper tactic to deal with us¡­but they did it."

    Michael frowned deeply. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "How many did we lose?" At that moment, Selena entered the infirmary. She''d been informed about the sudden use of energy in the infirmary and recognized Michael''s energy fluctuations.

    "Half of the Nest''s forces were wiped out," She announced solemnly, "And the rest you can see here¡­

 Chapter 963 Joined

    Chapter 963 Joined

    Despite obtaining multiple Soultrait Symbols from Michael years ago, the Nest had lost. "It''s like Hesta said. After realizing how much ourbat prowess increased, the Supreme Human Alliance focused its forces on the Curse Users. They failed to adapt quickly enough and lost five ster systems to us, but that''s nothing in the grand scheme of the cosmic wars," Selena sighed." Selena exined

    "The Supreme Human Alliance stalled enough time by sacrificing five ster systems and the forces protecting tworge resource deposits to n and counterattack. The first counterattacks failed, but once they removed their stronger forces from the frontlines with the Altors Union, it was impossible to block their attacks."

    The Nest Leader was the least injured. She was already a Tier-9 powerhouse, a Demi-God with a powerful Curse and abi of several useful Soultraits. She wasn''t that easy to take out. Unfortunately, not every Curse User could fight against several Demi Gods simultaneously.

    Selena sighed deeply, "The Altors Union is still on the losing side, but they have taken advantage of the Supreme Human Alliance''s diverted focus. The Altors Union imed a dwarven gxy while the SHA was out there ughtering the Nest. They could have helped us but decided against it."

    A growl escaped her lips, "That''s why we chose to terminate our contracts with them. They sacrificed half of the Nest to im a dwarven gxy. If their reinforcement hade to help us, we would have killed several powerhouses of the SHA without taking that many losses. But¡­it is how it is."

    Selena''s hyperactive and nonchnt nature was no longer present. Maybe it was shrouded by the seriousness of war, but Michael had a bad feeling about that.

    "We''re not fighting by the Altors Union''s side anymore?" He asked Selena, who cursed softly.

    "These motherfuckers can fight for themselves. We are going to attack the Supreme Human Alliance since they''re the worst enemy to keep alive, but the Nest won''t put any trust or loyalty into the Altors Union from this day onward."

    ''That is a little problematic,'' Michael tilted his head. He had heard about the destruction of a fews and the chaos some stronger Divine Lifeforms had swept across several ster systems. One ster system had been torn apart, and the dozens with billions of residents had each been destroyed and turned into smithereens.

    Michael didn''t like this. The War of Titan, as some called it, didn''t have any winners. Everyone was on the losing side, sacrificing good people to gain a minor advantage. Some of them would gain anything from sacrificing several ster systems, either.

    The Nest transformed into the chess pieces of the Altors Union, only to be sacrificed by pawns to move their knights to a better position. They might have reimed a dwarven gxy, but the Altors Union lost more by abandoning the Nest. They lost one of the few Demi Gods on their side and the only beings who could easily transform the power-up of the Blood Incursion into a power-corrupting substance. The Curse Users had those means on Hyumans infected by Blood Incursion.

    Michael was unsure if the Altors Union was aware of their actions, but he was certain the Supreme Human Alliance knew what they did when they gave up on one of their dwarven gxies to eradicate half of the Nest while injuring the rest severally. "If you had been a littleter, five Nest Elders would have died. Thank you for helping us¡­It''s just unfortunate that your Soultrait Symbols didn''t generate the desired effect," The Nest Leader said, but Michael shrugged.

    "My Soultraits worked better than expected. The deaths of so many Curse Users weren''t something I had put into calctions, but I was surprised the SHA took so long to retaliate against the Nest. I didn''t expect to be given several years toplete my Divine Ascension and push my Soultrait Symbols to a higher level. Or that I could progress deeper down the path of a Divine Lifeform."

    Michael could have said that he''d anticipated the Nest''s extinction in the next few years, but he remained silent. There was no need to say anything like that. It was a bit surprising that the SHA sacrificed an entire gxy, but given their actions in the past, something like that shouldn''t have been considered surprising.

    "I think my peaceful era will end now," Michael sighed deeply. He had a nice time with Alice and Lucia, but the Nest needed him now. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael had always umted more Soul Power in his Soultrait Symbols and Curse Power in the hundreds of unsealed Seals. At the end of the day, Michael had been out hunting a few times, killing Divine Lifeforms and small armies of Higher Lifeforms whenever he was out with other Curse Users. The SoulStar Fragments came into use, nurturing and growing his souls while pushing his Soultrait Symbols to 8-Star.

    It was expensive to nurture his soul while also umting enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade his Soultrait Symbols, but it was worth upgrading all Soultrait Symbols to 8-Star before his Divine Ascension.

    He might have had a Divine Shell already, but Michael received the same benefits as other Awakened during his Divine Ascension. His foundation received a massive boost, further strengthening and expanding his soul, which had already been strengthened under the constant pressure of SoulStar Fragments, three God Curses, and 13 8-Star Soultraits.

    The four Soultrait Symbols in the core of the Soul Sphere affected him the most. Extraction, bound to Insert, didn''t receive any enhancement, but since Michael had to push Insert to 8-Star, Extraction also imed some benefits. Sacred Constitution and Death Call, on the other hand, were already 8-Star Soultrait and didn''t receive any major benefits.

    But the same couldn''t be said about the Soultraits in the Soul Sphere''s Inner Area. Seer was already a 8-Star Soultrait, but he upgraded Greater Enhancement, Qi, Cosmic Stride and River of Vigor without hesitation. Greater Enhancement grew more powerful. The Symbol for Greater Enhancement expanded drastically, allowing Michael to umte more Soul Power to use Soullife Arts like Unlimited Enhancement more often. Qi evolved into Emperor Qi once upgraded to 8-Star. Emperor Qi was several times more potent than his Qi had been. Activated Emperor Qi transformed Michael''s presence and scared most weaker enemies shitless. That was funny at times, but more interesting was the potency of Emperor Qi. He gained a much higher threshold of control over Emperor Qi and managed to unleash a fury of attacks just like he did with Qi, only that he had to use much less energy.

    Cosmic Stride didn''t evolve when it ranked up to an 8-Star Soultrait. It didn''t change much either, but that wasn''t needed for Cosmic Stride in the first ce. In Michael''s opinion, Cosmic Stride was already close to perfection. However, by upgrading it, Michael gained a much higher understanding of the Laws of Space, pushing Cosmic Stride''s proficiency to a different level.

    Michael could do ungodly things with Cosmic Stride at this point. It was a miraculous Soultrait¡­ A Soultrait perfect for Michael to use.

    River of Vigor didn''t evolve into another Soultrait Symbol, but the amount of advanced healing serum he could produce and store increased drastically. He could overclock River of Vigor and produce even stronger healing serum, which he could then store in the serum storage. That was one of the many things Michael had done in thest few years. He stored enough healing serum to bring him back from the verge of death¡­lots of times if necessary.

    Upgrading the Soultraits in the Soul Sphere''s middle area was slightly moreplicated. Taming was still easy to upgrade, but it didn''t evolve¡­and if Michael was to be truly honest, he wasn''t sure if he needed Taming in the first ce. Still, he upgraded the Soultrait Symbols because he was in need of the Soultrait Symbol''s pressure. It put enough pressure on Michael''s Soul to pain him right before his Divine Ascension. Maybe Taming would be useful in the future. It was an 8-Star Soultrait and had more than enough space to submit a bunch of Divine Beasts.

    Michael considered removing Taming, but he chose to keep it because he feared he might need it at some point.

    Meanwhile, Sphere of Elements was a truly powerful Soultrait. It cost the most to upgrade this mish-mash of a Soultrait Symbol to 8-Star, but Sphere of Elements, which evolved into Gxy of Elements at 8-Star, was truly worth it. Gxy of Elements granted Michael a better understanding of the elementalws of the universe and ess to much more power than most natural Elemental Awakened would use in their entire lifetime.

    Meanwhile, Sphere of Elements was a truly powerful Soultrait. It cost the most to upgrade this mish-mash of a Soultrait Symbol to 8-Star, but Sphere of Elements, which evolved into Gxy of Elements at 8-Star, was truly worth it. Gxy of Elements granted Michael a better understanding of the elementalws of the universe and ess to much more power than most natural Elemental Awakened would use in their entire lifetime.

    Upgrading Mind Watcher and Soul Grimoire was rather boring. Soul Grimoire had some interesting abilities, but its main selling point was connected to Death Call, which didn''t change even after Soul Grimoire upgraded to 8-Star.

    All in all, Michael''sbat prowess increased drastically. Upgrading his Soultrait Symbols hadn''t been simple, especially given the amount of space each Soultrait Symbol and God Curse upies in his soul. It was bothersome to postpone his Divine Ascension until all Soultrait Symbols were pushed to 8-Star, but the result was worth it.

    Michael''s Soul was big enough to establish Links of Loyalty with several thousand powerful Awakened, and he could easily push one or even two Soultrait Symbols to 9-Star.

    All he needed was enough SoulStar Fragments, but that could be solved easily.

    After all, it was time for Michael to join the war against the Supreme Human Alliance for real.

 Chapter 964 Meteorites

    Chapter 964 Meteorites

    Michael''s first goal was to attack the Genox Gxy, one of therge gxies under the Supreme Human Alliance''s control. It didn''t border the Altors Union directly but was separated by a smaller gxy. The smaller gxy, named Novix Gxy, was neutral territory often conquered by Cosmos Beasts, pirates, and the like. Both the Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance tried conquering the Novix Gxy and iming it as theirnd, but they always failed. The SHA tried iming the Novix Gxy six times, yet it never worked out. After centuries of failed attempts, the Altors Union and Supreme Human Alliance gave up on the Novix Gxy. Of course, that didn''t mean they avoided it. The Hyumans and Altors Union still used the Novix Gxy as their battlegrounds.

    Michael chose to take advantage of that. He purchased a few Return Tokens from the Nest Leader and used a bridge to teleport to the Novix Gxy.

    It was one of the bridges Selena had installed more than a thousand years ago to support the Altors Union. It wouldn''t be activated to help the Altors Union. Still, if Michael was going to wreak havoc in the rows of the Supreme Human Alliance''s defenses, he might as well trick them into believing that the Altors Union attacked them.

    Michael wasn''t in a rush, but he didn''t think about traveling by foot or using Cosmic Stride without any augmentations. He procured close to one million Superior Energy Stones over the course of several weeks, sucked them dry, and channeled their energy into the Compass Relic to use the relic at any time. Michael''s n was simple. He would travel through the Novix Gxy near the border to the Genox Gxy to check the borders and the defensive lines before attacking. Michael wasn''t worried about being found since he was alone and capable of concealing his energy fluctuations nearly perfectly. The traces of energy he couldn''t conceal may expose him as a Divine Lifeform, but that was not a problem.

    Even the most precise radar would only detect him as an ordinary Divine Lifeform. If the Supreme Human Alliance chose to act against him, they may deploy a few ordinary Divine Lifeforms or one Elite to get rid of him. Michael could easily deal with that kind of threat.

    His n was simple, but Michael fleshed it out quickly. Once that was done, he used the bridge and disappeared. The Novix Gxy was small but still a gxy with nearly 4,000ary systems. That might not feel like a lot given that gxies consisted of billions of stars, however, it was important to note that most stars were uninhabitable. Various factors made it impossible to civilize most stars by most races. Then again, many races could live in different environments than others. Thus, the number of uninhabitable stars in a gxy depended on the race, their level of technology, and many other factors.

    The sizes of the 4,000ishary systems in the Novix Gxy varied greatly. Some systems had only threes, while others contained up to several dozen. Important to note was that small tribes of Hyumans and members of the Altors Union chose to civilize smallers in certain systems bordering their homnd.

    Well, maybe it was also important to point out that several meteorite rings swept through the Novix Gxy, threatening to destroy all spaceships daring enough to get too close. The destruction of thousands of spaceships trying to cross the multiyered meteorite rings was also one of the few reasons the Altors Union and Supreme Human Alliance stopped putting effort and resources into the Novix Gxy. It was a calm ce¡­or used to be.

    Michael''s arrival changed that.

    He didn''t approach the Altors Union or tell them what he was about to do. Instead, he traveled through the meteorite ring with Cosmic Stride and studied the constetion of meteorites, uninhabitables, and so forth. He discovered a manned fort near the meteorite ring on the Supreme Human Alliance''s side and chose to have some fun with them.

    The first thing he did was umte enough energy by using Swallow Domain to devour the surrounding energy in a radius of several dozen kilometers. The batches of meteorites in Swallow Domain''s range were also consumed, but Michael didn''t transform them into energy using Permute. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He kept them in the Swallow Domain storage, inched closer to the manned fortress, and used Cosmic Stride to unleash the stored meteorites. Michael gave the meteorites a little push with a massive burst of energy while increasing their durability using Greater Enhancement. The meteorites transformed into a massive, oversized cannonball that teleported tens of kilometers through space, only to appear a few kilometers away from the manned fortress of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    The fortress might have been manned, but the guards weren''t prepared for an attack. It had been decades since anyone crossed the meteorite ring. Even the Cosmos Beasts didn''t bother attacking them anymore, knowing it wasn''t worth the effort. But an unknown force attacked them out of nowhere.

    The guards tried to respond, but something went wrong when the Hyuman Captain, a Divine Lifeform, appeared before the first meteorite. Energy coursed through his body like a brewing storm, but the moment he was about to crush the iing meteorites with brute force, he froze.

    Michael''s golden eyes flickered like a predator''s eyes. That was because they''d shifted into serpentine eyes. Michael had exerted Basilisk Eyes using Seer with Unlimited Enhancement. It consumed a tremendous amount of Soullife Energy and Soul Energy to use both Unlimited Enhancement and Basilisk Eyes, but the effect was notable. The Divine Lifeform froze and didn''t crush the iing meteorites. On the contrary, the meteorites crashed into the Divine Lifeform and continued on their tracks.

    The batches of meteorites crashed heavily into the Hyuman Fortress, but a protection dome blocked most attacks. That was until Michael used Insert with a trace of Beast God Poison. He inserted Jormungandr''s poison into the protection dome, shattering it instantly.

    It was unknown to Michael how the guards in the Hyuman Fortress reacted, but he imagined them screaming and running around like headless chickens as thest meteorites of the batches pushed through thestyers of defense. They crashed heavily into the fortress, destroying everything in one go.

    The meteorites impacted heavily and crushed the thick walls, protecting the fortress from harm from the outside. They could block smaller meteorites without sustaining major damage, but Michael''s meteorites were faster and more durable than the norm. Their impact punctured the heavily reinforced metal, exposing the Hyuman Fortress to the dangers of the meteorite ring.

    Watching his artificially created meteorite shower was interesting, but too many Hyumans survived the attack. The space might reap their lives in the near future, maybe a few days if they were lucky, however, that was too long. They could warn the Supreme Human Alliance, which wasn''t something Michael wanted to happen.

    He wanted the Supreme Human Alliance to find out about his attack soon. However, he didn''t want the Supreme Human Alliance to know what Soultraits had been used to attack the fortress or how many people had attacked.

    That was why he jumped into action, perfectly wearing a mask and concealing his curse power. He used True Extraction Domain once to extract thest remnants of his curse power usage before descending into the Hyuman Fortress.

    The tale of the Lone Hunter was about to begin.

 Chapter 965 Lone Hunter

    965 Lone Hunter

    The Hyuman Captain wasn''t dead after getting struck by a meteorite. It shook him quite, but the Divine Lifeform didn''t die. He unleashed his Projectile Defense Soultrait, a 4-Star Soultrait that protected him against projectiles and survived. But then again, the Hyuman Captain would have survived without his Projectile Defense Soultrait.

    He wasn''t particrly powerful, and his Soultrait wasn''t overly mighty either. In the first ce, hisck ofbat prowess was why he had been deployed as the Captain of the Hyuman Fortress in such a ce. He might be a Divine Lifeform, but his prowess was more baggage than support on the frontlines.

    Michael killed the Hyuman Captain and everyone else who survived the meteorite shower. He consumed their corpses using Swallow Domain and transformed them into energy and more Essences through Permute.

    It was possible to consume the entire Hyuman Fortress or what was left of it, but Michael decided against it. The Supreme Human Alliance''s people would have to find the remnants of the Hyuman Fortress at some point.

    Once he was done hunting the survivors, Michael traveled across the meteorite ring again. The meteorite ring was longer than expected, probably crossing a third of the Novix Gxy. That was interesting, but it worked well against the Altors Union. Michael noticed that the Supreme Human Alliance had far more civilizedary systems in the Novix Gxy than the Altors Union, even though they weren''t well protected.

    The Altors Union''s defenses in the Novix Gxy were also tens of times higher. The meteorite rings protected the Supreme Human Alliance from dangers that the Altors Union had to face and repel to protect their borders.

    At first, Michael thought that it was troublesome and annoying, but his opinion changed quickly. The Novix Gxy held far more potential than Michael had given to it.

    He spent the next four months researching the meteorite ring, spreading True Extraction Essences across the entire length of the meteorite ring while destroying three dozen manned Hyuman Fortresses. Most weren''t well protected, but thetter dozen were prepared against an unknown threat. They know that something or someone destroyed the Hyuman Fortresses across the meteorite ring but aren''t given ample time to prepare.

    No, that wasn''t quite right. They were prepared to face a threat at the level of an ordinary Divine Lifeform. However, the time they were given was not enough to deploy more Divine Lifeforms and stronger weaponry to theckluster prepared Hyuman Fortresses. The authorities were certain the threat could be removed or intimidated by acting like they were fully prepared for an all-out war. Unfortunately, True Vision of Seer showed Michael the truth. The illusions summoned through specific high-quality devices that could fool even Elite Divine Lifeforms didn''t work against him.

    Michael got rid of the Hyuman Fortresses but changed his tactic a little. He consumed thest two dozen Hyuman Fortresses with Swallow Domain and transformed everything into True Extraction Essences. Thereafter, Michael looked at the corpses and used Mind Watcher to extract their SoulStar Fragments, Soultraits, and Memory Orbs. While their Soultraits were important and the SoulStar Fragments crucial to upgrade Extraction to 9-Star, Michael considered the Memory Orbs of the Hyuman Captains equally crucial. The information he acquired from the Hyuman Captains was far more important than one may think.

    ''The Supreme Human Alliance has been using this ce to nurture Cosmos Beasts and groom them into attacking the Altors Union. It''s crazy to think how far the Hyumans will go to win against the Altors Union¡­ cleansing the battlefield and storing the deceased of the Altors Union to feed them to Cosmos Beasts. Sick bastards!''

    It was no wonder that the Novix Gxy was a dangerous ce for the Altors Union, while the Supreme Human Alliance had a much easier time expanding and ''protecting'' their settlements. The Cosmos Beasts, groomed by the Supreme Human Alliance, performed the goliath portion of protecting the SHA.

    That would change soon. Michael''s preparations worked well, but it took a while to umte the resources needed to change the tide of the Titan War. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael''s move was going to be the first turning point of the war, A massive change initiated by the Lone Hunter.

    One of the conditions he had toplete to initiate his n was spreading a massive amount of True Extraction Essence across the entire length of the meteorite rings. The other n was to umte exactly 50,000,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Extraction to a 9-Star Soultrait.

    Fortunately, collecting this many SoulStar Fragments was a little easier than he''d feared. Divine Lifeforms, especially Lords withrge territories, provided close to 100,000 SoulStar Fragments, if not more. Obliterating dozens of Hyuman Fortresses, each usually manned with more than 500 Higher Lifeforms, 2,000 Lesser Lifeforms, and one Divine Lifeform, was quite easy. They were defeated easily with the right tactic but provided enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade his first Soultrait Symbols to 9-Star. It was only one of many Soultrait Symbols in his Soul Sphere, but the difference was noticeable immediately.

    Once upgraded, Extraction didn''t unlock any new powers. It put an incredibly heavy pressure on Michael''s soul but also aided his soul and mental power to grow. Once it reached 9-Star, Extraction was several times stronger than before. The amount of soul power it acquired from the hundreds of millions of subjects bound to Michael''s Lord Powers was several times higher than before. Therefore, the power Michael could unleash with his True Extraction Essences increased a few times. ''I hope you are not going to disappoint me, Fenrir!'' Michael screamed in his mind when all preparations had beenpleted. [Don''t worry, pal. Now that Extraction is about to cross the final threshold, I can finally tap some of my true power!]

    That being said, Fenrir unleashed his Divinity, merely a fragment, for the first time in eons.

    The Wolf Divinity swept through Michael, flooding the gateways of his body until he was overflowing with power. His skin tore open, and his insides started to melt. Fenrirughed like a maniac.

    [Finally, some fun!!]

 Chapter 966 Beast God Divinity

    966 Beast God Divinity

    Since Michael became the Lone Hunter in the Novix Gxy, the God Curses and Michael had devised multiple ns to deal with powerful Hyumans and strategies to break the bnce in the War of Titans. Their solution was both simple and very risky at the same time.

    Fenrir goes all out. He merely used as much of his Divinity as Michael''s Divine Shell could handle. That wasn''t much power for a proper Divinity, even after several hundred Serpent Seals dramatically augmented his physical vessel. Still, Michael''s preparations had been thorough enough toplete everything to alter the tides of the Titan War.

    [This is going to be so fun!] Fenrir howled as his Divinity continued flushing through Michael. Michael groaned in pain, and he was forced to use River of Vigor''s superior healing serum to regenerate while his body was melting, but it worked out. Their n seeded.

    Michael''s vision turned ck for several seconds, seconds that felt like an eternity. However, his n seeded.

    The space across a third of the Novix Gxy tore and twisted. Time seemed to freeze as the most powerful beings all over the gxy sensed something.

    ¡­

    Michael''s vision returned, unfolding a beautiful sight before him. The meteorite ring, the natural border separating the Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance, was no more. It disappeared, extracted and crushed to smithereens by Fenrir.

    Michael coughed blood, and his entire being felt like tearing apart, but River of Vigor''s superior healing serum kept him from dying. If not for Jormungandr''s Seals and River of Vigor, Michael would have never done something this stupid. Well, actually¡­he might have done it either way. Still, the World Serpent and River of Vigor ensured Michael wouldn''t have to die.

    He survived, whereas the meteorite ring ceased to exist. The Supreme Human Alliance and countless Cosmos Monsters who''d been hiding in the meteorite rings for centuries were now exposed to the Atlors Union¡­without a single Hyuman Fortress left to protect them from potential invaders. In the meantime, the defenses of the Altors Union had been ten times higher from the get-go.

    [I¡­might have to rest a little. Your body drains a lot more than I expected. Channeling my Divinity through you¡­might not have been the smartest move.] Fenrir growled suddenly. He was still excited about the damage he had done to the surrounding world, especially with the devastating aftermath his move would have. His action was bound to create a devastating domino effect that would change everything. The Supreme Human Alliance would suffer a lot. Their certain victory was not that certain anymore.

    Michael felt better by the minute, but he would have to rest a little bit as well. That was fine, though. There was no enemy within a radius of several hundred kilometers¡ªthousands of kilometers, to be precise. Maybe the Cosmos Beasts would attack him instinctively, but he didn''t n to make any stupid moves. He took a deep breath and considered his options while also digesting the information Fenrir had just provided.

    ''The God Curses will have issues channeling their Divinity through my bodies. I don''t know if we''re ipatible or if my body is too weak at the 8th Tier. One way or another, I cannot rely on their Divinity for long. No, that''s not the whole truth either. I can rely on them, but then my Soultrait Symbols will change like Extraction. Wait¡­Why did Extraction change in the first ce?''

    A deep frown reced his thoughtful expression as he sensed the subtle changes of Extraction. Tendrils of golden energy emerged from the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction. They wiggled around vigorously and attracted Michael''s attention. It took him a while to remember something ¨C a simr situation ¨C but his eyes widened in surprise when he did.

    ''It costs you so much of your Divinity because the Soultrait bound to you wants to evolve. Does it not? In the first ce, I don''t think Jormungandr and Hel will be able to use their Divinity through me. They couldn''t do that before, and you were unable to do it either. The whole reason you asked me to upgrade Extraction was to be able to use your Divinity through me and Extraction!'' Michael realized, his attention picking up.

    [Did you figure it out?] Hel asked monotonously.

    Michael squinted his eyes but didn''t say anything at first. His mind rattled wildly as possibilities shed through it. The possibilities were countless, but there was only one, maybe a few correct ones. Still, Michael was fairly sure his theory was correct.

    "Channeling your Divinity through my body and the Soultrait Symbols drains consumed twice ¨C or more times than that ¨C the energy and Divinity as it would usually. That''s not because my body is notpatible with your Divinity, but the Soultrait Symbol devours a massive portion of your Divinity and annexes it¡­The Extraction Soultrait Symbol is about to transform into a Divinity Seed!" Michael had already been confused as to why he never manifested a Divinity Seed. He was supposed to manifest one upon ascending to a Divine Lifeform, but it never happened. Fenrir told Michael that it was because he already owned a Divinity Fragment and that the Nature Heart would transform into a proper Divinity once he acquired enough strength to form one.

    While that might be true, but Michael finally learned it wasn''t the truth.

    "The more you use your Divinity through me, the more you nourish Extraction. And since that didn''t happen with Sacred Constitution and Death Call I ¨C neither Jormungandr nor Hel can use their Divinities through me now ¨C I can assume that my Soultraits must be 9-Star to unlock this power. Sacred Constitution and Death Call will also transform into Divinity Seeds and grow into full-fledged Divinities¡­"

    Jormungandr hissed, but it didn''t sound aggressive. [That''s true. It took us a while to ept our fate, but you are a perfect vessel. You are the perfect vessel our father and others have been waiting for. We found you before anyone else and imed you. That''s why you will be given our Divinities to deal with our issues before dealing with the others.]

    "Your issues? Are you talking about the Primal, by any chance?" Michael asked with squinted eyes.

    However, instead of answering, Jormungandr was silent. But that was answer enough.

    ''I see¡­ That is something I could ¨C or should ¨C have expected¡­''

    "I am not even sure if you guys want me to create the same Divinity as you have, but this is going to happen if we keep working together. Sacred Constitution and Death Call will be upgraded to 9-Star Soultraits in the future, and I''m sure I will need your Divinities to survive against stronger enemies at some point.''

    The God Curses'' Divinities increased Michael''s prowess drastically. They might tear him apart and harm him, but their Divinities were how Michael could be a Pseudo Demi God for a moment. As long as his Tier increased, Michael could use their Divinities more often until the Divinity Seeds blossomed in his Soul Sphere. Once that happened, Michael would be constantly exposed to three growing Divinities. They would grow slowly and thus also transform Michael into a much stronger existence. He wouldn''t be a Divine Lifeform anymore at this point. No. Michael would be a full-fledged Demi-God. Maybe three blossoming Divinities and one growing Divinity Fragment would push him to the same level as a Minor God. Of course, that was something Michael wasn''t certain about, but his little experience showed that the Wolf Divinity channeled through his body was strong enough to get rid of an entire meteorite ring ¨C a natural border that spanned a third of the Novix Gxy. It had required ample preparations, but it worked out.

    The meteorite ring was no longer there, and Michael''s first n to initiate the turning point of the Titan War had been executed. [Are you still too tired to attack the Cosmos Beasts?] Jormungandr asked, trying to change the topic.

    ''Nice try, but I wille back to ask you three about the Divinities forming in my Soul Sphere. We have to talk about it at some point and I think it will be of everyone''s interest if we talk about it now rather than in a few years when I formed three fully functioning Divinity Seeds. Maybe, in a few years, the Divinity Seeds are already blossoming and growing into powerful Divinities.''

    It was better to be prepared to fight a Demi God than being ignorant and believing that the Demi Gods would never attack him. That was just foolish.

    08:12

    Michael didn''t have to talk about it right away, but he had to talk about it with the God Curses. After all, he had wanted to upgrade Death Call and Sacred Constitution to 9-Star after learning from Fenrir that the God Curse could use its Divinity through him and 9-Star Extraction. Maybe it wasn''t necessary to use their Divinity at all times, especially as it drained their Divinity rapidly, but Michael knew the dangers of provoking the Supreme Human Alliance. It was better to be prepared to fight a Demi God than being ignorant and believing that the Demi Gods would never attack him. That was just foolish.

    ''Either way, let''s deal with the Cosmos Beasts¡­ differently, though. I don''t like the way the Supreme Human Alliance groomed them.'' He licked his lips in the middle of nowhere and scanned his surroundings. The space was empty, thus, Seer''s True Vision revealed the umted energy masses in thousands of kilometers. At this point, Michael wasn''t sure how far he could see through space, but one thing was sure. Michael could see A LOT.

    ''Help me find the strongest Cosmos Beast. Once that is done, I''ll also need some help overwhelming it. The Cosmos Beast shouldn''t die. We need it alive.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Until now, Michael had only seen some Cosmos Beasts at the same level as one of the Divinity Beasts in the Untamed Jungle. Of course, Cosmos Beasts were mythical creatures and thus stronger, but that was hardly a problem. The only issue Michael would have to solve was to block the Cosmos Beasts from escaping his clutches by teleporting through the cosmos ¨C which was something they could do easily ¨C, but that shouldn''t be a major problem.

    Michael traveled alongside the area where the meteorite rings had once been. He encountered some Divine Lifeforms of the Altors Union and approached them. They approached him with vignce, but since he used Curse Fusion to transform his body ¨C change it to ensure nobody would identally consider him a Hyuman of the Supreme Human Alliance ¨C Michael had an easy time talking to them. He discovered where the strongest Cosmos Beasts hibernated and how strong the mightiest Cosmos Beast was.

    ''I think I need your Divinity to weaken the Cosmos Beast, Fenrir. You''ll have to help if you want me to deal with a bunch of Primal for you.''

    Fenrir growled but didn''t say anything. That was enough for Michael.

    ''Good boy.'' He teased, while Fenrir went crazy. On the other hand, Hel and Jormungandr chuckled, adding fuel to the fire.

    [Our little brother is indeed a good boy!]

 Chapter 967 Texorian Meteorite Streams

    967 Texorian Meteorite Streams

    "What happened to the Texorian Meteorite Streams? How in the damn hells did they disappear overnight?!?" A massive Hyuman bellowed. His fist smashed heavily onto the table before him, destroying the innocent wood instantly.

    "W-we don''t know what exactly happened, but we can presume a Divinity has been used to remove the Texorian Meteorite Streams," A young woman, filled with fear, exined, "We have yet to conclude which Divinity has been used because there are no remnants left to test, but we are certain¡­something happened.

    "So, you know that something happened? That''s great. If not for you, I would have never known that SOMETHING happened! The damn Texorian Meteorite Streams disappeared. OF COURSE, ''soMeThInG'' must have happened, you Te-brained idiot!" The Hyuman clutched a piece of the broken table and hurled it in the woman''s direction. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I didn''t hire you to give me the obvious answer. You are supposed to tell me why the hell a God would suddenly side with the Altors Union. Since when does the Altors Union have good rtionships with any of the Gods in the first ce? Aren''t they afraid the Primal will intervene? How did they convince a God to join their war?!?" The woman shrieked and hid behind a boulder in fear of turning into a victim of another rage bait. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat to continue her report. Oncepleted, she could escape the Hyuman''s wrath.

    "W-we received multiple reports from the Hyuman Fortresses¡­emergency notifications, t-to be precise. Your course of action was not sessful. All Hyuman Fortresses across the Texorian Meteorite Streams have been destroyed. There is no survivor. T-the defenders of the Texorian Meteorite Streams are no more¡­j-j-just like the Texorian Meteorite Streams¡­" "Arggh!!!" The Hyuman roared, unleashing his energy in a moment of rage. The walls around him trembled violently and threatened to copse, but theysted long enough until the Hyuman calmed down.

    "So, you are going to say that a God intervened in the game of mortals and Immortals, obliterating several dozen Fortresses and the Texorian Meteorite Streams?!"

    "W-w-we are not sure if all of it was a God. The radars picked up a single Divine Lifeform. But¡­the Divine Lifeform''s energy fluctuations weren''t that powerful. The sensors say the being was an ordinary Divine Lifeform¡­ It appeared near the Fortresses before they were destroyed. After the Fortresses ceased to exist, the Divine Lifeform disappeared. It only returned when the Texorian Meteorite Streams ceased to exist¡­" The Hyuman Overlord, who controlled thends of the Novix Gxy and the border to the Genox Gxy, cursed loudly, but his interest was picked, "You''re telling me the God has a disciple whom he deployed to get rid of the Hyuman Fortresses before obliterating the Texorian Meteorite Streams? That fucking bastard!"

    He cursed again but fell deep in his thoughts.

    "Can we inform the Primal? They don''t like unauthorized uses of Divinities." The Hyuman Overlord tilted his head and waited for the young woman''s reply.

    "W-we can''t do that yet¡­The Supreme Human Alliance is forbidden from using the Primal Order for a few more years. Because of the Blue Moon inci¨C..." "Don''t tell me about it. I know why these bastards expelled us. There is no need to remind me, idiot." "Yes, Sir¡­"

    The woman was about to say something else when she received a call. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn''t take the call, but the only loud ringtone in her system was from the emergency hotline. The young woman epted the call after the Hyuman Overlord waved dismissively. Half a minuteter, the young woman ended the call. She was pale, and her eyes widened in surprise.

    "Speak!" The Hyuman Overlord ordered.

    "Ahh¡­Eh¡­.This might be a l-little problematic, but¡­"

    "Speak already before I beat it out of you!!" "T-the Rangers lost control of the Cosmos Beasts. They¡­stopped attacking the Altors Union and started attacking our settlements and spaceships instead!" The young woman sputtered, her voice cracking left and right.

    The Hyuman Overlord paled for the first time. The disappearance of the Texorian Meteorite Streams was already bad enough, but losing all Hyuman Fortresses and control of the Cosmos Beasts simultaneously was the worst-case scenario. The Altors Union had a much tighter guard deployed to the Novix Gxy and would easily overwhelm the defenselessary systems inhabited by the Hyumans. "Call the Elders or the Ancients. I don''t care whoes, but we need backup. Otherwise, the Novix Gxy will be conquered by the Altors Union, and the borders to the Genox Gxy will be fully exposed. We need reinforcement!"

    The young woman swallowed hard but nodded. It was necessary to respond fast, otherwise, it would be toote.

    **

    "We need to move fast. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Gather your forces and move out!" one of the Altors Union''s Commanders shouted, rallying his forces on one of the defensive lines in the Novix Gxy. He and the other Commanders had received multiple reports about an unidentified Divine Lifeform traveling through the Texorian Meteorite Streams, but they didn''t think much about it. Some received reports about the destruction of the Hyuman Fortresses, but that was good. Nobodyined about the deaths of their enemies.

    However, the news about the Texorian Meteorite Streams'' disappearance and the sudden change of behavior from the Cosmos Beasts shocked them to the core.

    Quick research showed the Altors Union''s Commanders that Divinity had been used to remove the meteorite streams, that the Hyuman Fortresses along the streams had been removed ¨C not a single survivor was left behind ¨C and that the changed behavior of the Cosmos Beasts was unrted to the disappearance of the Texorian Meteorite Streams. They had yet to conclude why the Cosmos Beasts stopped attacking them, but it was a pleasant change.

    The Altors Union''s Commandersbined their forces and, after informing their superiors, set off to attack the Supreme Human Alliance''s civilization in the Novix Gxy. They received permission to attack and were told to conquer the Novix Gxy in its entirety while reinforcement was on their way.

    The most peaceful gxy between the Supreme Human Alliance and the Altors Union was bound to transform into one of the most violent and busiest battlefields. It was all thanks to Michael, who disappeared into the shadows of the Novix Gxy to observe his enemies and study the actions of both Titans.

    The Altors Union might not be allied to the Nest anymore, but that didn''t mean Michael couldn''t exploit them. There was no reason not to abuse them as much as the Altors Union had abused the Nest. Why should he hold back if he had the means to do as he pleased?

    He watched the forces of the Altors Union cross the meteorite rings, or where they had been, and charge theary systems of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    The Supreme Human Alliance responded to the attacks, but it was at a numerical disadvantage, as its defensive forces had never been that great. It was also still waiting for reinforcement.

    Michael watched the forces and acted as well. He didn''t attack in the open but assassinated the strongest forces within his range, silently umting more Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments.

    He had a few more Soultrait Symbols to acquire and Soultraits to upgrade after all!

 Chapter 968 Beef with the Primal

    Chapter 968 Beef with the Primal

    Finding the Cosmos Queen Beast hadn''t been easy. Michael wasted several days traveling around the Novix Gxy using Cosmis Stride, only to catch and suppress a weak Cosmos Beast.Once suppressed, Michael could easily use Mind Watcher on the creation. He read its mind, acquiring all the needed information before considering killing the Cosmos Beast. Instead, Michael slightly altered Mind Watcher''s usual utility. He couldn''t alter memories but adjust how the beast thought.

    Doing so helped Michael travel with the Cosmos Beast. The Cosmos Beast teleported to their nest, where the Cosmos Queen Beast was hibernating.

    The nest of the Cosmos Beasts wasn''t located in an ordinary ce. It was in an isted space that couldn''t be entered easily. Michael could only enter it by clinging onto the Cosmos Beast before it teleported into the isted space.

    The isted patch in the middle of nowhere didn''t look any special, but it was a massive, hollow. Hundreds of thousands of Cosmos Beasts inhabited the hollow, transforming it into their nest.

    [This is more than expected.] Hel said bluntly.

    Even Michael was surprised. If the Supreme Human Alliance was in control of the Cosmos Queen Beast, which he named the strongest presence in the isted space, they shouldn''t have an issue dealing with the Altors Union in the Novix Gxy.

    ''Why did they not attack the Altors Union with this many Cosmos Beasts? Not a single Cosmos Beast is a Lesser Lifeform. Even the youngest seem to be Higher Lifeforms. They''re probably born as Higher Lifeforms and grow to the Peak of a Higher Lifeform as they reach maturity. The elderly are Divine Lifeforms and the Cosmos Queen Beast¡­she might be a Beast on the verge of attaining godhood¡­or am I missing something?''

    [She is not even close to bing a Beast God. Her Divinity Seed was damaged severely before she could shape it properly. The Supreme Human Alliance must have damaged her Divinity Seed to suppress her and ensure she will never attain godhood. The Supreme Human Alliance is probably not strong enough to contain a Beast God. But they seem strong enough to handle a Demi, a Beast halfway to the grand powers of a proper Divinity.]

    Michael nodded slowly. The energy he sensed was simr to Selena''s power level or how strong she had been before fusing several Soultrait Symbols to her. Selena was now stronger than the Cosmos Queen Beast but wasn''t present. If she had been present, Michael would have had an easy time suppressing the Cosmos Queen Beast and taming her by force.

    But that wasn''t the case. The Nest Leader wasn''t present, and Michael wasn''t strong enough to deal with a Demi alone. ''Either you help me, Fenrir, or this will be a little bit more bloody than I''d like it to be.'' Michael told the God Curses in a matter-of-fact tone.

    The God Curses were silent momentarily, but Michael could sense that the siblings were talking among themselves. That rarely happened because they didn''t see a reason to spend their precious energy isting Michael from their chats within his mind. It felt weird to be excluded from something happening in his mind, but he epted it. There was nothing he could do about it, either way.

    [Are you going to kill the Primal?] Fenrir asked after a while.

    ''I need more information than that. In the first ce, you guys never told me who or what the Primal are. I''ve asked you multiple times to tell me more about them, yet Jormungandr is the only one who told me that the Primal has been following him to seal you away. I guess they did the same to you, Fenrir, but that doesn''t really exin anything to me.''

    Fenrir growled but acknowledged the issue after a few moments. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [The Primal are the first existences to gain control of origin energy. They awakened their War Rune with the creation of the Origin Expanse. They were never Lords because the appearance of Lords didn''t start until ten thousand years ago ¨C or something like that. I don''t know the exact number, to be precise, since I have been sealed away before the first Lords appeared. Either way, the Primal are few. They cannot procreate because their powers were born in the Origin. Their DNA is too much for anybody to handle. Some Primal tried to procreate with each other but their DNA shes and obliterates one another, but that is a different topic.]

    [Important for you is only the fact that the Primal don''t like self-made Gods too much. While the Primal can be considered born Deities as the Origin Expanse gave birth to their Divinities, somewhat, the same cannot be said for others. The Will, after realizing how strong the Primal has be, expelled the Prima from the Origin Expanse before altering its ways to control the Origin Expanse. Most beings on the verge of attaining godhood, or after forming a proper Divinity, say the Will helps the creation of Gods in the hope of working against the Primal.]

    ''If that''s the case¡­it is no wonder that the Primal try to capture and seal Gods. Killing Gods is not that easy, probably not even for the primal, but they can seal them away, using the same being who created them ¨C the Will ¨C to fight them.''

    [They do not fear all Gods. Some Gods be their subordinates. Minor Gods are of no interest to them, except if they intervene in their ns in the mortal and immortal worlds. But they did not like what our father did¡­how he helped us create some of the strongest Divinities to exist¡­Divinities that can grow seemingly endlessly.]

    Fenrir stopped for a moment, and Jormungandr jumped in.

    [We acquired the Authorities ¨C the specific Laws ¨C of the cosmos and weaved them into our Divinity Seeds before it blossomed and shaped into a proper Divinity. I acquired the authority of Power, Hel imed the authority of Death, and Fenrir''s authority, which is basically something I imed a trace as well, are the authorities of Extricate, Absorption, and Entangle.

    Fenrir has multiple Authorities because he never managed to gain mastery of one of the strongest Authorities, but by tearing apart the three masteries he''d acquired and fusing them countless times before the perfect Authority had been formed, Fenrir managed to create an Authority stronger than ours.]

    Michael nodded slowly.

    ''So, to put it simply, you guys did something crazy that angered the Primal. They went after you, caught Fenrir, and are also in pursuit of Jormungandr and Hel. That being said, I am currently forming Divinities using your Authorities as a base¡­which also means that the Primal wille after me once they realize what my powers are and whom I got my Divinities from.''

    He was still nodding.

    ''In that case, I will have to fight the Primal sooner orter as long as you support me and my growth with your Divinities, either way. So why are you asking me that question in the first ce?''

    Fenrir remained silent while Jormungandr and Hel chortled. They made fun of their brother.

    [I don''t think Fenrir was thinking that far.] Hel exined that it was only for Fenrir to growl deeply.

    [Y''all didn''t think that far either. It was so obvious that it was well-hidden again!!]

 Chapter 969 Cosmos Queen Beast

    Chapter 969 Cosmos Queen Beast

    After some back and forth, it turned out that Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel had forgotten a simple fact. They had known that by using their Divinities through Michael and their bound Soultrait Symbols, they created seedlings of their Divinities inside Michael. But they forgot that the Primal would hunt him for possessing the same Divinities as the siblings. The reason they''d been hunted and sealed was because the Primal hadn''t been strong enough to kill them. The siblings had to be sealed away once found.

    But what would happen if someone with three Divinities like that were to appear? The Primal would gather and kill Michael withbined efforts before it was toote. While that might be bad, it had always been known how hard it was to find the Primal. Usually, the Primal woulde and find you. After all, they could seal their powers perfectly, and it wasn''t like many of them were still alive.

    At the end of the day, they would probably have to gather and attack Michael to seal him away or kill him right away. But if Michael was strong enough to deal with the Primal at that point, he could solve all of their issues at once. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    All Michael needed for that was enough time to get to know the God Curses'' Divinities and to grow a little stronger to use the full power of the Divinities without melting to death. Dying would be rather¡­unpleasant. It was certainly not something Michael was looking forward to. However, what he was looking forward to was to use Fenrir''s Divinity to suppress the Cosmos Queen Beast.

    He didn''t waste anymore time once it was clear that Fenrir and his siblings would have to use their Divinity to form a proper seedling in Michael''s Soul Sphere sooner orter.

    Michael traveled to the hollow, attracting the attention of the Cosmos Beasts. They didn''t immediately attack him, sensing something about him was off. But some Cosmos Beasts attacked him once it was clear where Michael was headed. He took a deep breath and was about to retaliate against the charging Cosmos Beasts with as much violence as was needed to make an example out of them when Jormungandr made his move.

    The World Serpent didn''t hold back and consumed the entire curse power umted within the hundreds of Serpent Seals that had formed in the Living Image of the World Serpent over thest few years. The amount was tremendous, more than Michael had been forced to use to order Jormungandr to swallow the Dragys settlement.

    Jormungandr''s presence expanded rapidly. It gushed out of Michael, shrouded the young man, and burst into all directions. A halo formed around Michael, showing the World Serpent in its majestic beauty. A massive, several thousand-meter-long serpent appeared all around Michael, engulfing him.

    The massive serpentine slits of the World Serpent lingered on the charging Cosmos Beasts, who slowed down beforeing to a halt. They were frozen and stared at the massive halo slithering through their territory. Even if the charging Cosmos Beasts were several times stronger or more numerous, none would attack the massive serpent infiltrating their territory. It was too strong.

    The World Serpent wasn''t even at its full length. It devoured the surrounding energies to expand. Simultaneously, its halo gained some substance. It didn''tpletely recreate the World Serpent''s body but intensified Jormungandr''s presence.

    Michael traveled through the Cosmos Beast nest, his attention lingering on the massive energy mass of the Cosmos Queen Beast. He could have teleported to the queen beast and considered doing that if the Cosmos Beasts had continued attacking, but that didn''t seem necessary. Their entrance was much more impactful now that they traveled through the nest with light steps.

    ["What do you want from us?"] An unfamiliar, oddly hoarse, and hissing voice resounded through Michael''s mind. Jormungandr hissed back at the Cosmos Queen Beast''s attempt to intimidate Micheal, with its presence entering Michael''s mind, but Michael cared little. If another voice in his head was enough to intimidate him, the God Curses would have never picked him as a suitable vessel to beat the crap out of the Primal.

    [Initially, I nned to suppress you and use my Soultrait to tame you. That way, you would have to obey me when I tell you to stop attacking the Altors Union and start attacking the Supreme Human Alliance. But I''m not sure about that anymore. Is it necessary for me to keep going, or are you willing to change your target?] Michael asked the Cosmos Queen Beast via Whispering Energy while continuing his path to the center of the hollow.

    He found the Cosmos Queen Beast at some point. She looked like a Leviathan, a several hundred-meter-long serpent with a pointed snout, purple heavy-ted scales covering her body, two massive horns jutting from the back of her head, covering openings that might as well be ears, and a whitish belly. The scales on her belly were infused with a tremendous amount of energy. Each scale must contain several times more energy than an Ancient-grade Energy Stone.

    It wouldn''t wonder Michael if each scale was as valuable as Primordial Energy Stones or Liquid from the Origin ¨C Origin Droplets. Given how many scales had already been harvested, Michael could only presume that the Hyumans had collected quite a few scales over the years.

    [Fight against the Hyumans? Aren''t you one yourself? Do you want to fight me?] The Cosmos Queen Beast asked, but she didn''t sound aggressive. In fact, Michael''s words didn''t seem to reach ¨C or affect ¨C her in the slightest.

    [I am not a Hyuman. Even if I were, I wouldn''t be on the Supreme Human Alliance''s side. They''re disgusting, and I would prefer if you didn''t affiliate me with them. Either way, what do you think? Do you want to bash the Supreme Human Alliance, or must I help you understand how big a mistake it would be to keep attacking the Altors Union?] Michael didn''t have to remind the Cosmos Queen Beast. Jormungandr''s presence was more than enough to show the Cosmos Queen Beast that Michael was not alone and that he was much stronger than his Tier suggested. Even if he was ''only'' a Tier-7 Divine Lifeform, Jormungandr''s power demonstration put Michael on a whole different level.

    [Is that a threat?] Michael shrugged. The Cosmos Queen Beast sounded more reasonable than expected. He''d nned to use force and suppress her, but it would be best if he didn''t have to resort to that. Fenrir could save some of his power for ater date. Every bit of Divinity would be needed in the near future, so splurging it uselessly wasn''t necessary.

    [I''d appreciate it if I could convince you to fight the Supreme Human Alliance without a fight.]

    [I''m afraid the situation is not that simple. The Supreme Human Alliance ripped a trace of my soul out of me when I was born. They raised me and altered my soul, preventing me from attacking Hyumans. Even ordering the Cosmos Beasts to attack the Supreme Human Alliance would kill me.] Michael frowned, but he nodded slowly. Still, ''altering soul'' picked his interest. The term was something Michael was quite familiar with at this point.

    [Blood Incursion?] Fenrir asked, while Michael only smiled when he inserted a trace of True Extraction Essence into the Cosmos Queen Beast without warning.

    [Yep. Blood Incursion.]

 Chapter 970 Freed

    Chapter 970 Freed

    [What do you think you''re doing?!] The Cosmos Queen Beast thundered.

    She opened her massive eyes and stared at Michael, who regarded her calmly.

    [I am trying to help you, so calm down. I know what they have done to you and can solve it. They didn''t alter your mind, did they?]

    [You can help? Yes¡­they didn''t change anything about my brain. My mind is as clear as ever.]

    Michael nodded slowly. He perceived the changes within the Cosmos Queen Beast, but he wasn''t 100% certain if the Queen Beast''s mind had been affected. Given the Cosmos Queen Beast''s age, he would have to use Mind Watcher to study her mind for over a month, maybe years. That wasn''t feasible. They needed a faster solution.

    Fortunately, the Cosmos Queen Beast didn''t seem fond of the Supreme Human Alliance. That was a big enough indicator to say that the SHA didn''t alter the Comps Queen Beast''s mind. Of course, he could be mistaken, but with the beast''s help, Michael had a rather easy time solving most of their problems. [The Supreme Human Alliance used a method and resource called Blood Incursion. However, since you are a beast, they had to use a different version. At least, that''s what I think. It makes everything much easier for me, to be honest. I can solve your problems.]

    The Cosmos Queen Beast''s eyes lingered on Michael for a while.

    [What do you want from me?]

    Michael frowned.

    [Didn''t I already say what I want? I hope you can attack the Supreme Human Alliance and ignore the Altors Union. Since you must be in control of the Cosmos Beasts, you should have no problemmanding them. And you dislike the Supreme Human Alliance for enving you. Don''t you want revenge?]

    The Cosmos Queen Beast didn''t say anything for a while. She considered whether she should exchange one devil for another by epting Michael''s help. He could understand that point of view. However, if he was in the Cosmos Queen Beast''s situation, he would instantly ept the offer to take revenge on the SHA. The SHA enved her since birth. No matter how bad the devil recing the SHA would be, it couldn''t be as bad as being enved for hundreds of years. The Supreme Human Alliance was worse than any other devil. The Cosmos Queen Beast came to the same conclusion.

    [If you can help me regain freedom, I will also help you. That is only fair. I do wish for vengeance, too.]

    That was the best possible solution. He wouldn''t have to be a bad guy for attacking the Cosmos Queen Beast and might as well be able to turn her into a trusted ally. With that in mind, Michael started to work. [Don''t reject my powers. No matter what happens, you have to endure it.] Michael announced before using Extraction and Insert simultaneously. Since they didn''t have much time and the souls of monsters couldn''t be filled with powerful Soultrait Symbols, Michael had to flood the Cosmos Queen Beast with SoulStar Fragments while simultaneously cutting out the spots of Blood Incursion. Michael''s moves had to be deadly precise, allowing him to cut out the spots while filling the gaps. It was difficult, close to impossible, without inflicting horrifying pain on the patient, but Michael didn''t have to pay much heed to the Cosmos Queen Beast''s pain. The Cosmos Queen Beast was a Demi. She could endure some pain.

    Time passed eerily slowly for the Cosmos Queen Beast. The Cosmos Beasts, connected to their Almighty Mother, sensed and shared her pain, putting them through tremendous pain, but Michael paid little attention. The children tried attacking Michael once, but Jormungandr''s hues were strong enough ¨C with enough substance ¨C to repel the Cosmos Beasts and hit them barely strong enough to keep them at bay. They tried attacking again, but the ps on their wrists intensified the second time. Some were knocked out right away, while others started bleeding from several spots. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Still, it wasn''t until the Cosmos Queen Beast ordered them to stop before they stopped.

    The Cosmos Queen Beast was still in pain, but she could sense the changes in her soul as Michael worked on her. He put effort, time, and resources into fixing the Cosmos Queen Beast''s condition and didn''t hurt her even though he had the means to do so. If he''d wanted to, he could force himself into her mind and soul and suppress her. He couldn''t go against Blood Incursion''s influence while it was still within the Cosmos Queen Beast, but it was possible to work against it now that most of its influence was no longer there.

    But Michael didn''t do that. He didn''t even think about doing something like that. Instead, Michael was more focused on helping the Cosmos Queen Beast quickly. He was unsure how much time had passed, but Michael was satisfied with the result once he was done.

    [How do you feel?]

    [Probably like someone tore and twisted my soul, cutting out a few pieces and forcing raw bits and pieces of souls into me. I feel different, yet like nothing has changed. Does that satisfy your curiosity?]

    Michael shrugged.

    [So, you are fine. That''s good to know.]

    [Yes, I am fine. Finally, I''m free! Vengeance is on the way.]

    That was good to know. It would have been a little problematic if the Cosmos Queen Beast had changed her mind after gaining freedom. Well, Michael would have had to resort to violence then. It was good that he didn''t have to.

    [When will you start attacking the Supreme Human Alliance?] Michael asked, but the Cosmos Queen Beastughed.

    [I already did. The instant I regained full control of my soul, Imanded the Cosmos Beasts. The first has already attacked the Hyuman settlements.]

    Michael smiled from one ear to the other. That was even better than expected.

    [Have fun with your new luxurious snack. I hope Hyumans taste better to the Cosmos Beasts than the Altors Union''s members.]

 Chapter 971 Do more!

    Chapter 971 Do more!

    Michael''s next course of action was simple. He didn''t attack the Hyumans actively but observed the situation all over the Novix Gxy as best as he could.

    That wasn''t easy since the Novix Gxy was too big for an ordinary Divine Lifeform to observe in the finest details, but Michael witnessed more than enough interesting situations.

    The first important point was that the reinforcement of the Altors Union had a high morale. They attacked the Supreme Human Alliance''s settlements without hesitation and conquered theirs. In a matter of days, severalary systems had changed owners. However, that was not only owed to the Altors Union''s numerical advantage in the current situation but also to the Cosmos Beasts appearing when no one expected massive Leviathans to emerge from empty space.

    The Hyumans struggled against the Altors Union but put up a great fight. However, as the Cosmos Beasts appeared, the situation changed altogether. The Cosmos Beasts wreaked havoc. They were mythical creatures with extraordinary advantages in space fights and overallbat prowess. The Cosmos Beasts might be massive creatures and thus easier to hit, but their defenses were strong, and you had to hit them in the first ce. They had spatial attributed powers and excellent senses. Once an enemy stronger than them appeared, the Cosmos Beasts teleport out of the danger zone and wreak havoc elsewhere.

    That was fine if only a few Cosmos Beasts attacked the Hyuman civilizations in the Novix Gxy, but there were hundreds, if not thousands of Cosmos Beasts, each with thebat prowess of a Tier-5 High Awakened at the very least. Michael didn''t have to intervene in most situations because thebined efforts of Cosmos Beasts and members of the Altors Union would have been enough to deal with the threats posed by some Hyumans, yet Michael assassinated them either way. He didn''t hesitate to appear behind some Divine Lifeforms and unleash his power to obliterate the Divine Lifeforms before they could cause any harm.

    Michael''s primary targets were Divine Lifeforms and Higher Lifeforms with unique energy umted within them. From his experience over thest few years, Michael learned that Awakened with unique energies was more annoying than ordinary Awakened. In most cases, it indicated that the Awakened with unique energy had powerful Soultraits. Their Soultraits were strong enough to alter their energy system, which then augmented the powers of their Soultrait ¨C or Soultraits ¨C even more. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael''s Gxy of Elements was simr but didn''t alter his energy system directly. Michael could choose which types of attributed energies he wanted to create and store them in the Gxies of the different elements in his Energy Vortex. His Energy Vortex contained countless types of Elemental Gxies, whose storages were brimming. One time, Michael appeared next to an old Divine Lifeform. His energy system was altered and transformed into what looked like a massive thunderstorm. The old Divine Lifeform hurled lightning bolts around, killing one of the younger Cosmos Beasts before it could escape. Michael was impressed by the speed and effectiveness of the Divine Lifeform''s attacks, but he pierced his heart easily with several Qi des, an Aethyr de, and much more force than required.

    Michael didn''t hold back against the Divine Lifeforms. His assassinations were fast and precise. He usually unlocked his full physical prowess with Curse Fusion, Serpent Seals, Perfect Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, and Greater Enhancement. Sometimes, he considered doing more by mixing some Soultraits and unleashing Unlimited Enhancement on his Soultraits and more sealed Serpent Seals, but that wasn''t needed here.

    Most Divine Lifeforms in the Novix Gxy were at the 7th Tier. The stronger Divine Lifeforms were either in different gxies, fighting the Altors Union and other enemies on different frontlines. Leaving Tier-8 Divine Awakened behind in the Novix Gxy would have been one of the stupidest things ever under normal circumstances. After all, the Texorian Meteorite Streams hadn''t ceased to exist, nor did the Cosmos Beasts regain their freedom for a very long time.

    Only now did their best defensive mechanisms fail the Hyumans¡­and they suffered tremendously from that.

    [Don''t you think it''s time for you to upgrade another Soultrait?] Jormungandr asked less than two weeks after the Altors Union members and Cosmos Beasts attacked the Hyumans.

    The World Serpent hadn''t been that impatient before, but it sounded both annoyed and impatient now. That was a surprise to Michael, who could only smile faintly.

    "I think you''re expecting too much from me. I''m assassinating my enemies right now. There are no Hyuman Fortresses to crush and thousands of Awakened to suck dry." He chuckled lightly, but the World Serpent wasn''t having it.

    [If you could be a little more proactive, our bound Soultraits would already be 9-Stars, and we could start using our Divinities to form the Divinity Seeds of our Authorities within you!] Michael raised one eyebrow but remained silent.

    [Look over there. At least eight hundred Hyumans are fighting a bunch of Cosmos Beasts and two Divine Awakened of the Altors Union. While the Altors Union is bound to kill them, the Hyumans aren''t weak. They''re faring well against the Cosmos Beasts and Divine Lifeforms. That indicates strong Soultraits, a greatbo of Soultrait Symbols, and the potential of many SoulStar Fragments because more than half of them are probably still Lords!]

    Michael would be staring at Jormungandr if the World Serpent stood before him. But the World Serpent was inside him and thus unavable to judge with a re. Still, Jormungandr had a point. Michael had been fighting in the shadows for a while now. He didn''t deem it necessary to expose himself to the Supreme Human Alliance. But¡­what would happen if he was exposed? If he didn''t expose his dozen+ Soultraits and the three God Curses, it should be fighting to fight more openly.

    He could still assassinate the Divine Lifeforms and strongest Higher Lifeforms in secrecy while exposing himself openly differently.

    Michael retrieved a ck mask that looked like a crow and put it on. It had been a while since he collected a bunch of masks for different balls and other events he had visited with Alice over thest few years, but he never liked using them. Still, they woulde in handy now. He wore ck clothes covering his entire body and a mask shrouding his face. That was enough to hide his human ancestry from Altors Union members and the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Michael used Cosmis Stride to teleport to the mass of eight hundred High Awakened ¨C they were spread out far, but that mattered little and unleashed the fury of Emperor Qi.

    Exposing two Soultraits simultaneously was still fine. It was rather easy to acquire a second Soultrait as a Divine Lifeform with great aplishments. As long as one acquires enough Achievement Points, it would be easy to buy a new Soultrait. It was overly expensive and not something Michael would ever do, but most would either think Michael manifested two Soultraits as a Rookie Lord or that he purchased another Soultrait Symbol once he''d umted enough Achievement Points.

    It was also possible for him to get exposed, but the likelihood was low as he didn''t use Emperor Qi too often. He did unleash it sometimes, but most of the time, Emperor Qi was added to the Aethyr de or released inside the enemies to kill them in one go. Michael manifested a storm of Emperor Qi, forming thousands of spears made of Qi, and attacked the hundreds of High Awakened, who sensed his presence only now.

    ''They''re nice snacks and easy SoulStar storages.'' Michael nodded slowly.

    [See. I told you!]

 Chapter 972: Michael, the Space Pirate

    Chapter 972: Michael, the Space Pirate

    .

    Michael changed his strategy and attackedrger units of Hyumans. It was a little annoying to hide his other Soultrait Symbols from them, but the results were great. By spending a full week in the deepest parts of the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory in the Novix Gxy, Michael located and eradicated five spaceships manned with reinforcement. Each spaceship contained more than three thousand Higher Lifeforms and some Divine Lifeforms, but they were defeated rather easily. The Cosmos Beasts stopped the spaceships while Michael summoned an Emperor Qi Sword with a massive length of more than one hundred meters. The spaceships might have had a strong dome of protection, but enhancing Emperor Qi with severalyers of Greater Enhancement and simple use of Unlimited Enhancement was enough to destroy them. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael was not feeling too great about using Greater Enhancement on top of Emperor Qi and Cosmic Stride as it might expose him, but the whitish hue of Greater Enhancement shrouding his vibrant silver Emperor Qi was barely visible. Nobody had the time and nerve to focus on Greater Enhancement''s hue. They were too focused on the massive sword cutting through the spaceship repeatedly.

    The spaceships fell apart, their protection domes too weak to block the Enhanced Emperor Qi Sword.

    Once destroyed, the spaceship''s protection was no more. The Divine Lifeforms could easily survive in space, but the same couldn''t be said about Higher Lifeforms. Most didn''t have enough high-quality energy, or control of their energy, to travel through space using bursts of energy. Their utility wasn''t precise enough to walk or fly through space, and they would spin around wildly. But that was not everything. It was only a minor problempared to theck of oxygen and the cold of the wide-open space.

    Higher Lifeforms weren''t built to survive in space. They had to envelop their bodies in energy, which was rapidly drained, to stay alive and warm.

    Michael had a much easier time surviving in the open space when he was a Higher Lifeform since he could use Extraction to supplement his body with energy and the Spheres of Elements to create oxygen, heat, and everything else he needed. Cosmic Stride made it much easier to move as well.

    But now that he was a Divine Lifeform, Michael didn''t have such problems. He could survive in the open space even if it wasn''t for his Soultraits. One way or another, the Higher Lifeforms suffered a lot once the spaceships were destroyed. Michael didn''t even have to focus on them once they were exposed to the wide-open space. Instead, he paid the most attention to the Divine Lifeforms. Fighting them with three active Soultraits and the passive abilities of Seer and Sacred Constitution should have been a challenge, but Greater Enhancement, Emperor Qi, and Cosmic Stride were all 8-Star Soultrait with powerful Ancient or Primordial-grade Soul Techniques. His Soultraits were also boosted by the Links of Loyalty of hundreds of millions of trusted subjects. He had more than enough Soul Power to strengthen his Soultrait Symbols, pushing them to an even higher level, and to execute his Soullife Arts and Soul Techniques way too often.

    The Divine Lifeforms hated Michael to the core. His tactics disgusted them since he unleashed a series of Soullife Arts and Perfect Soul Techniques to empower his body and Soultrait Symbols. He overwhelmed the Divine Lifeforms one by one and ended their lives.

    After a week of sniping spaceships, Michael changed his tactic again. He''d killed a dozen Divine Lifeforms and 15,000ish Higher Lifeforms. That was a considerable number of the Hyuman''s reinforcement deployed to the Novix Gxy¡­and Michael defeated them all. He acquired more than 2,000 Soultrait Symbols, some of which were shockingly powerful and useful beyond whatever the Hyumans had done to block and defeat Michael, and 76,540,000 SoulStar Fragments.

    Michael''s first move was to upgrade Sacred Constitution to 9-Star. Jormungandr had been bothering Michael to upgrade the Soultrait Symbol the entire week because he wanted to show Michael what he could do with the Authority of Power.

    Sacred Constitution evolved into Primordial Vessel, an unexpected name if one were to ask Michael, but he epted it with a warm embrace. Once Primordial Vessel came into existence, Michael''s physique improved drastically. Not only was every Link of Loyalty much more valuable to Primordial Vessel than it had been to Sacred Constitution, but the amount of Soul Power infusing into Primordial Vessel was also several times higher. But that was not all. Every Serpent Seal augmented Primordial Vessel, further amplifying Michael''s physical strength.

    But, of course, acquiring Jormunganr''s Divinity was much more valuable than upgrading Sacred Constituion to 9-Star Primordial Vessel. The Authority of Power was unique, but it wasn''t all Jormungandr''s Divinity was based on.

    The World Serpent demonstrated his power once after Michael stopped hunting spaceships. They traveled to the strongest being in the Novix Gxy ¨C enemy, to be precise ¨C where Jormungandr unleashed his Divinity to show off.

    The Authority of Power was unleashed alongside Jormungandr''s other powers, expanding Michael''s size by more than ten times. His power didn''t skyrocket by ten times, but it increased drastically. He appeared before the Hyuman Overlord, the man ruling the Hyumans in the Novix Gxy¡­and crushed him with the Authority of Power, freezing him in his tracks and squashing him like an ant.

    The Hyuman Overlord would have been difficult to defeat under normal circumstances, but he was a weakling before the might of Jormungandr''s Divinity.

    [I don''t have to brag to kill a weakling like this. Your powers are too obvious. Mine are silent and deadly.] Hel announced when she sensed her brother''s attitude. Jormungandr had just killed the Hyuman Overlord through Michael''s body, nearly melting him alive, as Hel scoffed.

    [Don''t take this away from me!] Jormungandr roared.

    Michael chuckled as the siblings'' fight continued, and he smiled through whatever they said. Theirments didn''t bother him, and he became more interested in the power he gained through Jormungandr''s power disy. Primordial Vessel''s Symbol changed after the first use of Jormungandr''s Divinity. The same phenomenon happened again. Tendrils, or roots ¨Cin darkish green instead of golden ¨C emerged from the Soultrait Symbol and wiggled around wildly. The seed of Jormungandr''s Divinity hadn''t fully formed yet, but it would only require a few more uses. The same was the case with Extraction. Fenrir hadn''t used his Divinity anymore after thest time. He wasn''t against using it but made clear that his Divinity didn''t regenerate quickly as a Curse. He had umted most of his Divinity''s power over the course of tens of thousands of years.

    Michael didn''t want to use it all against Divine Lifeforms. He could tell Gods ¨C especially the Primal ¨C were bound toe his way at some point. They woulde knocking at his doors, and Michael had to prepared by then. Thus, he had to form the Divinities without wasting too much of the God Curses Divinity too quickly. They had to retain enough of their Divinity to replenish their used-up power and fight the Primal with him. Otherwise, he would die long before he acquired the power needed to fight the Primal head-on.

    After all, they were bound toe looking for him before he would attain godhood.

 Chapter 973 Useless Union

    Chapter 973 Useless Union

    Creating Primordial Vessel pushed Michael''sbat prowess to another level, but so did adding more Soul Sockets to his Soul Sphere. He already owned 13 Soultrait Symbols but pushed further and added two Empty Soul Sockets to the Soul Sphere, which he filled right away.

    Since he''d killed many enemies, Michael procured a ton of Soultrait Symbols. Using Extraction and Insert in the most disgusting ways, Michael created two Apex Soultrait Symbols to fill the Empty Soul Sockets. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Both Soultrait Symbols were upgraded to 8-Star with millions of SoulStar Fragments, evolving them twice in quick session.

    Imperial Barrier and Beast Halo were fused into his Soul and seamlessly integrated into his Soul Sphere.

    One of the Soultraits, Imperial Barrier, was a ''perfect'' barrier, strong enough to block the attacks of Divine Lifeforms even at its lowest usage. It consumed a considerable amount of energy at the lowest stage, but that was to be expected from a powerful barrier. Imperial Barrier could block attacks stronger than Michael''s Tier at the strongest level. Thus, he could block full-blown K.O. attacks from a Tier-8 Divine Lifeform. That was without using Soul Tears, Greater Enhancement, or even Unlimited Enhancement.

    Michael wasn''t quite sure how overpowered the Soultrait was at its strongest but the God Curses were satisfied with his choice and creation. That was even more true so for the Beast Halo. Michael created the Soultrait Symbols not for himself but for the God Curses. Since his encounter with the Cosmos Queen Beast, Michael had been wondering what it would feel like to manifest the God Curses and use their presence and power in different ways than by channeling them through his body.

    Beast Halo might not be the strongest Soultrait Symbol as it required a beast bound to Michael, but not only did Michael have multiple God Curses to use Beast Halo with, but also the Elemental Empress, Sun Demos, and the Red Dragon.

    Michael could experiment a lot with Beast Halo, which he did for a while. He used Beast Halo to manifest a replica of his tamed monsters to fight for him on the battlefield. By applying Greater Enhancement and Soul Tears on the Soultrait Symbol, Michael could unleash more than 75% of the original''sbat prowess. Unfortunately, the same wasn''t the case when he used Beast Halo on the God Curses.

    Fenrir pointed out that Michael would have to use his entire energy reserves with Unlimited Enhancement at full power, draining most of Michael''s Soul Power and Lifeforce reserves, to summon a Halo of him at 25% of its full power¡­for a second.

    Michael wasn''t so sure about that, but even without Unlimited Enhancement, Beast God was powerful. If he used his energy reserves, Michael could summon a Halo with the prowess of a Divine Lifeform. That was more than enough for Michael, who saw countless opportunities to summon the God Curses and have them use their Divinities through the Beast Halo.

    Maybe the Beast Halo would be destroyed ¨C it probably would end up melting from the tremendous potency of the Divinity wreaking havoc within the Halo ¨C but at least the God Curses wouldn''t have to waste their Divinity by channeling it through him. Furthermore, Michael could implement many more strategies involving the utility of different Divinities all across the gxies to confuse the Supreme Human Alliance and push them to tap into more extreme means to attack the Altors Union and ''locate'' the unknown God ¨C or Gods as they must have sensed the Divinities of Jormungandr and Fenrir already. Hel''s Divinity would join the battle soon. From that point onward, the Supreme Human Alliance would search for three Divinities, and Michael would dly lead them around like mice with cheese.

    That was exactly what Michael did in the next few months, alongside hunting more enemies. The reinforcement of the Hyumans attacked Michael more often than he could count, which was expected given how deep he had traveled into the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory, but only a few attackers were at the 8th Tier. Most Divine Lifeforms were required at the frontlines, especially at the 8th Tier.

    Even more interesting was how easily Michael could jumpary systems with Cosmic Stride once Unlimited Enhancement augmented it. Michael jumpedary systems, killed the strongest beings in theary system, and released Beast Halos of the God Curses everywhere.

    The Awakened corpses were caught, collected, and sucked dry. Their Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments were stored while the Artifacts and other resources they dropped from their storages werebined.

    Michael was under lots of stress as he gave his utmost to conquer the Novix Gxy and push deeper to enter the Genox Gxy, which he''d nned to conquer initially. Once two gxies were fully conquered, the Altors Union, the Nest, and other forces would have a much easier time getting rid of the Supreme Human Alliance. Unfortunately, the Supreme Human Alliance was not that easy to deal with. The forces of the Altors Union were repelled at some point, and the Cosmos Beasts were killed. Not all were killed, but some of the strongest Cosmos Beasts were tricked. Their movements using spatial powers were restrained, obstructing their retreat paths and diminishing the Cosmos Beast''s prowess. The Supreme Human Alliance did do something to obliterate half of the Altors Union''s reinforcement ¨C Michael had no clue what they did, but it worked fairly well, pushing the Altors Union away. Everything Michael had worked for was crushed. At least, that was what he would have said if thest few months'' efforts hadn''t drastically increased hisbat prowess.

    Death Call was still an 8-Star Soultrait, but the deaths in the Novix Gxy and everything happening in the Sacred Desert and Untamed Jungle pushed his Energy Vortex closer to the next rank. Michael acquired two new Soultraits, upgraded them to 8-Star, and had two Soultrait Symbols, which would soon turn into proper Divinity Seeds. He might not have his own Divinity Seed, but Michael was not concerned about that.

    He did not need his own Divinity if the God Curses and the Nature Heart could transform into four proper Divinities.

    ''What are those idiots doing? I thought they had a n to deal with the Supreme Human Alliance when they abandoned the Nest. Are they fighting more seriously on different frontlines, or are they nning to get everyone killed to avoid the humiliation of getting the whole cosmos obliterated?'' Michael cursed in his mind when he returned to the backlines of the Novix Gxy, where he forced some Commanders of the Altors Army to report to him.

    He didn''t say much but forced his way into their minds using Mind Watcher. Michael gave no damn whether they considered him an ally or a foe¡­ At this point, he considered attacking them, obliterating a fewary systems to upgrade all of his Soultrait Symbols to 9-Star ¨C maybe even further.

    The Altors Union was supposed to be a helpful chess piece, not a crippled pawn. What were they doing? Michael had no clue, but what he knew was that other organizations stopped depending on the Altors Union''s survival as well.

    The news about the Altors Union abandoning the Nest had spread already, but that wasn''t enough to ignite the spark of independence within the other organizations. Michael''s appearance and the way he handled the Novix Gxy ¨C how he easily removed the Texorian Meteorite Streams, obliterated dozens of Hyuman Fortresses, and killed tens of thousands of powerful Hyumans, serving the Altors Union a perfectly cooked meal, only for the Altors Union to trip and throw the meticulously prepared ingredients to the ground, was what pushed the other organizations to change their mind.

    The Thorn Merchandise, among the tens of Demons working with the Altors Union, messaged Michael. They recognized his power and the rumors around the Novix Gxy and decided it was time to deepen their rtionship again.

    [Sylth Thorn: We have heard about your tales, Michael Fang. I hope you are interested in trading Soultrait Symbols. The Supreme Human Alliance has to fall, and we want to contribute to its destruction.]

    Michael was a little surprised when Sylth messaged him first after not talking for years. He would have forgotten about his deals with the Thorn Merchandise if not for the massive gains he made. The Thorn Merchandise was part of why Michael''s territories expanded so quickly. He didn''t owe them anything, but they deserved his respect.

    [Michael Fang: I am unsure if I can deliver what you desire, but I would love to watch the Supreme Human Alliance''s fall. The Altors Union is not doing¡­what I expected. I am not sure if the Thorn Merchandise is up to rece the Altors Union or fill the gap they leave behind.]

    [Sylth Thorn: We are not strong enough to rece the Altors Union, but with your support, we can create Demon Units powerful enough to infiltrate the Supreme Human Alliance''snds and kill higher authorities. Their training camps, Divine Academies, and other ces have to be removed. The Titan War with the Supreme Human Alliance will not end in a year or two. This is a war that willst several decades if not centuries. Destroying their educational institutions while slowly building our forces and empowering them with every single death from their side, we will gain the upper hand. That''s why I wish to make a ''fair'' trade. I am not sure if you will like it, but we prepared a vial of 5 ml of Liquid Origin. In exchange, we would like to acquire two 7-Star Soultraits of our choice!]

    When Michael reached the end of the message he forget about the rest. Thest sentence was all that remained in his mind.

    5ml of Liquid Origin might not sound like a lot, but a quick calction made clear that Sylth offered 100 droplets from the Origin. Michael had used one droplet for his High Ascension, and most would never have had the pleasure of using a single droplet.

    Michael fell deep in thoughts at this offer. One hundred droplets of the cosmos'' finest energy would be extraordinary. However, he wasn''t in need of anymore Origin droplets. Michael was already fully purified and had undergone a perfect High Ascension. High Divine Ascension was thus also perfect as his Divine Shell had already formed, and his body was void of impurities. The Origin Liquid didn''t give him any benefits other than the massive amount of pure origin energy. The amount of energy he could gain from the Origin Liquid was tremendous, but it wasn''t worth the effort ¨C or payment. Two 7-Star Soultraits in the wrong hands would be disastrous.

    ''But what if I used the Origin Liquid to start with the Super Awakened program for real. One hundred of my strongest Awakened would grow stronger rapidly, have their bodies, minds, and souls purified, and their next Ascension would be much smoother.''

    While that was true, the danger of selling two custom 7-Star Soultraits was high. Did he trust the Thorn Merchandise enough? Michael was unsure about that, but he figured it might not be necessary to trust them.

    ''So what if they use the 7-Star Soultraits for bad things once the Supreme Human Alliance ceases to exist? I can hunt them down and take back what rightfully belongs to me.'' Michael licked his lips. Hirakus and the others told him a long time ago how eager they were about joining the Titan War and that they desired to beat the shit out of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    He''d rejected their pleas until now, but maybe that wasn''t necessary anymore.

 Chapter 974 Planet-Devouring Serpent

    Chapter 974-Devouring Serpent

    At the end of the day, Michael acquired 10ml of Origin Liquid in exchange for two 7-Star Soultraits and another 5-Star Soultrait. Each Soultrait was customized ording to Sylth''s requirements and thus a little bit more expensive to upgrade. However, the overall investment wasn''t too highpared to his gains.

    Two hundred droplets of Origin Liquid.

    [Slyth Thorn: Rest assured. The Soultrait Symbols will stay in our family. We will attack the Supreme Human Alliance asionally and conquer a fewary systems if possible. But to remind you again, our main focus will be to attack the Supreme Human Alliance''s powerhouses. We will stealthily strike and kill some of their Divine Lifeforms.]

    Michael was fine with hermentary, but it wasn''t like he trusted her with anything important. Her message might sound sincere, but the message, or even spoken words, didn''t have any meaning in certain situations. Slyth Thorn could be lying because her words weren''t binding like a Soul Pact. But that was fine. At this point, he was already stronger than Sylth, and it was only a matter of time before hisbat prowess exceeded the power level of the Thorn Merchandise.

    If he continued fighting like this, Michael would advance to a Tier-8 powerhouse in a few years. The time frame could be affected and decreased to mere months if Michael swallowed an entireary system using Jormungandr''s Divinity to use Swallow Domain multiple times before repetitively applying Permute to transform everything he''d swallowed into pure and highlypressed energy.

    Michael could study Origin Liquid and replicate it in a few months, maybe sooner. If he ever considered creating thousands of Super Awakened instead of a batch of two hundred, he decided to do that.

    Either way, Michael wasn''t so sure what to focus on. He didn''t pay much attention to the civilians of the Supreme Human Alliance until this point, but that didn''t mean he desired to kill billions ¨C if not trillions ¨C of innocent Hyumans to advance to Tier-8 faster than expected. In the first ce, Michael didn''t know what would happen to the massive space left behind if he devoured an entireary system.

    How would the Gxy react to the loss of an entireary system? Michael chose to test it on a smaller scale, using Swallow Domain on a particr in the Novix Gxy. The was in the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory, but not a single Hyuman could be found in the entireary system. A highly toxic gas, infused with energy that evolved and augmented the toxin, filled the entireary system. Michael used True Extraction Domain to absorb the energy within the gas and Permute it to curse power supplied to Jormungandr. The curse power he supplied might not be enough to offset the power needed to use his Divinity and swallow an entire made of the highly toxic ¨C mana-infused ¨C gas.

    The, if physical and suitable to be civilized, would berge enough to hold more than a hundred billion Normies, but it was made of highly toxic gas that spread in the surroundingary systems, slowly killing them. That being said, Michael''s action would rescue the surroundingary systems. He might be unable to rescue thisary system as it was more than just dead, but that mattered little. Nobody expected anything from thisary system, other than pain and suffering, anymore either way.

    Michael stayed a few weeks in theary system to collect enough energy to use Jormungandr''s Divinity. He waited eagerly for the uing event, but swallowing and the entire filled with mana-infused gas was not as exciting as Michael had hoped.

    Jormungandr''s presence disappeared from his insides for a moment, and it appeared before him. The rest he saw was a massive serpent shooting toward the gaseous. The darkish-green scaled serpent expanded with every second passing, yet Jormungandr didn''t grow enough to devour the gaseous in one go. Still, it devoured a big chunk of its body and continued moving. Jormungandr coiled around the as he expanded, growing into a serpent that was tens, if not more than a hundred thousand kilometers long at some point. The amount of Divinity used to maintain its form ¨C without killing Michael by identally melting his body ¨C was drastic. The biggest problem was probably Michael''s Primordial Vessel consuming half, if not three-quarters, of the Divinity used by Jormungandr to form the Divinity Seed and the fact that Michael''s body wasn''t made to endure the potency of Divinities.

    Still, Michael and Jormungandr prevailed. It was painful, but thebined efforts of a God Curse and several high-ranked Soultraits, boosted by their Soul Techniques, were enough to keep Michael alive while Jormungandr swallowed the toxic gas.

    [This was fucking disgusting. I had my fair share of tasting poison, but this toxin is among the worst. It might take me a while to recreate, but that nasty fuck is going to help you deal with some of the most disgusting powerhouses. Combine this gaseous toxin with my curse power, and you can melt everyone with Blood Incursion modifications within seconds. Of course, some will easily block the toxin, but if you use my Basilisk Petrification through Curse Fusion and Seer''s Domination, you can kill anyone. Given Basilisk Petrification works.] Jormungandr said. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [Oh, and I won''t use my Divinity for a bit. Consuming this drained a lot more than expected. I will drain bits of energy from your body for the next few months to recuperate more of my Divinity. After all, we want to be prepared for our first encounter with the Primal, right?]

    Michael didn''t even think about rejecting Jormungandr. He nodded and focused on transforming the massive amount of toxin gas within the Swallow Domain storage into the purest energy. Michael then applied Unlimited Enhancement with most of his Soul Power and Lifeforce on the Energy Vortex, which went wild. The Energy Vortex worked several times faster than usual once Unlimited Enhancement worked to the fullest. The amount of pure and highlypressed energy within the Swallow Domain Storage was still too much for the Energy Vortex to absorb at once, but the Energy Vortex worked through it rapidly.

    Michael traveled through the Novix Gxy and the Genox Gxy for the next few months while relying on the Energy Vortex to absorb all energy in the Swallow Domain Storage and push him to the next rank. Simultaneously, Michael observed the Supreme Human Alliance. He wanted to know what they would do after an entire''s disappearance. Of course, it was only a gaseous, toxic, but most would be scared if a disappeared just like that.

    However, the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t seem bothered too much. There was no obvious change in their strategies. With that in mind, Michael started hunting more Hyumans again. He returned to the Origin Expanse for a few days and distributed the Origin Liquid as well. Even the strongest Awakened would have to consume the Origin Liquid with meticulous preparations.

    ''A year, maybe two¡­and they will be done. I have two years to prepare enough Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments to arm two hundred Super Awakened with the most suitable Soultrait Symbols ¨C pushed to a high star rating ¨C to fight the Supreme Human Alliance to death!''

    The corner of Percy''s lips curled upward.

    Two years was more than enough time.

 Chapter 975 Slipstream

    Chapter 975 Slipstream

    Once the toxic gaseous had been transformed into pure energy and absorbed, Michael reached the Late rank of Tier-7. He felt much stronger than before, but that was evident. Every bit of progress would elevate hisbat prowess drastically and allow the God Curses to unleash more of their Divinity without fearing that their power output would kill Michael by ident.

    Michael was unsure if reaching Late Tier-7 was within his expectations because the he''d absorbed had been massive and infused with several times the amount of mana others contained. Still, his progress was much faster than the norm. It took his Energy Vortex only a few months and constant use of the Soullife Arts, Unlimited Enhancement, toplete. Taking that into consideration, as well as theck of punishment or the aftermath from the Gxy or the Supreme Human Alliance, Michael devoured a few mores. Jormungandr might have told Michael how much better it would be to save up more of his Divinity to fight the Primal, but Michael''s counter was simple.

    "If I can advance to Tier-8 before we encounter a Primal, Fenrir and Hel can unleash more of their Divinity through me without having me killed. Each of my Soultraits will be several times stronger than they''re right now, and your Serpent Seals will push Primordial Vessel to another level. My physical prowess alone will be enough to push me close to the norms of a Tier-9 Demi-God. Adding my Divinities, Soullife Arts, Perfect Soul Techniques, Aethyr, the Nature Heart, and the versatility of my Soultrait Symbols into ount, I should have a much better chance dealing with a Primal once I advance to Tier-8."

    Jormungandr wanted to say something, but Michael didn''t let him. This time, Michael wanted things to go his way.

    "I know using your Divinity drains you more and it will attract the Supreme Human Alliance''s attention more and more, but you have to take into consideration that the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t move yet and that it had been ''a while'' since Fenrir exposed his Divinity. If the Primal had realized what was going on, they would have already made their move. I think the Primal will take a little longer, which means that, as long as the Supreme Human Alliance doesn''t react, we can continue like this.

    And, to be fair, I want to know how the Supreme Human Alliance responds. I haven''t heard about a Hyuman God yet, and I want to see if I can crush their Tier-9 Demi Gods if I go all out after advancing to Tier-8¡­" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Fenrir and Hel approved of Michael''s n mostly because they would be able to unleash more of their power through Michael and the Beast Halo Soultrait once he advanced to Tier-8. Still, it was also a fact that Michael could provide more energy to replenish the used-up Divinity and produce his Divinity if they continued using Jormungandr''s Divinity. Michael could start using the Divinity on his own once the seed blossoms, and it would be easy to use Insert and put some of his Divinity into Jormungandr. Jormungadnr''s Divinity usage was more of an investment. It was slightly risky but not too much to be considered a gamble, which should be fine.

    The World Serpent agreed at the end of the day. That was how Michael ended up with more swalloweds stored in Swallow Domain, which was the storage space of Jormungandr, the world-devouring serpent. Thes were uninhabitable from the get-go, but they were the most energy-dense spread across the Novix Gxy and should thus be worth quite a lot to the Supreme Human Alliance. After all, thes had generated enough energy for theirary systems, awakening alls in theary system before the excessive energy spread further.

    There was no surplus energy anymore since Jormungandr devoured the energy-densests, which Permute transformed into even more ¨C beautifully glimmering ¨C highlypressed, pure energy. Michael wished for a grand reaction from the Supreme Human Alliance as he continued using the Soullife Arts Unlimited Enhancement on the Energy Vortex to progress rapidly. Two years passed in the blink of an eye, and Michael reached the Peak of Tier-7. His Energy Vortex required only a tiny push to cross the threshold to Tier-8, but that was no problem. Half of the energy created from using Permute on thes was still stored in Jormungandr. The World Serpent used a quarter to replenish his Divinity, while the other portion was again divided into three parts.

    One part was required to push Michael to Tier-8 in the following weeks, the other portion was something he required to recreate Origin Liquid ¨C he was still experimenting with that ¨C and empower his Divinity Seed. The Divinity Seed of the World Serpent had yet to blossom, but it was, by far, the most nourished. Thest third was his emergency savings. Michael could tap into it at any point, applying Permute to transform it into whatever he needed in case of an emergency.

    Besides swallowings and waiting for a response from the Supreme Human Alliance, Michael killed many stupid enemies. They deployed a few Divine Lifeforms and entire armies of Higher Lifeforms, but none of them was aimed at him. The forces had been stationed near him whenever he did something, and he killed them.

    Two years was enough to umte ''a few'' Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. In fact, Michael had more than enough reserves even after pushing Death Call, Seer, and Cosmic Stride to 9-Star. Death Call and Seer didn''t evolve upon advancing to 9-Star, but Cosmic Stride evolved to Slipstream. In Michael''s opinion, the name was a little weird, but its power was terrifying ¨C for his enemies, at least.

    Michael could silently slip through space, teleporting to every location he was in since he upgraded the Soultrait to 9-Star. That weren''t many ces, at first, but by traveling through the Novix Gxy and invading some ces of the Genox Gxy before traveling to the Nest and various other ces, Michael expanded the range of his Slipstream teleportations drastically.

    Once Death Call reached 9-Star, Michael traveled through the gxies and changed his movement. He remembered all ces with Slipstream and traveled with the Compass Relic through gxies. That consumed a tremendous amount of energy, but Michael was fine with that. He could use the Death Authority from Hel and chose to do so as much as possible to form the Death Divinity Seed as quickly as possible.

    ying with Death was¡­fun, to a certain degree, at least. The Death Authority was difficult to control, but Michael had Hel, the Goddess of Death and Empress of all Undead. She taught Michael a lot and showed him what he could do in the future. Hel killed the Hyumans of an entire as an example. She transformed the entire into a dead star, which pushed Michael to the 8th Tier before he could react. He was at the 8th Tier, granting Hel more leeway to use her Divinity. Thus, the inhabitants of the dead star were all transformed into Undead, torn apart and weaved together¡­transforming massive Undead Titans with the dying star that she''d removed from the dying before it transformed into a dead star. The Undead Titans were stronger than normal Divine Lifeforms. They regenerated almost all damages and could barely be killed if someone with powerful holy powers ¨C of a Demi God''s level or Divinities were used. The Undead Titans were stored away and released into one of the inner Gxies of the Supreme Human Alliance, where they wreaked havoc. Every death strengthened the Undead Titans¡­and Michael''s Death Divinity Seed.

    It grew at a ridiculous pace, enticing Hel, who was excited. After all, her Divinity Seed was bound to be the first to blossom as long as the Undead Titans continued wreaking havoc.

 Chapter 976 Attack Me!

    Chapter 976 Attack Me!

    Once Hel stirred enough trouble using her Divinities in other Gxies, Michael returned to the Novix Gxy, where he anchored his Runic Gate. He teleported back to the Origin Expanse and was weed by his people.

    Everyone was much stronger than they used to be. Daniel Fang, Hiraku, Frederik, Kaleb, and the like grew rapidly. They''d consumed a droplet of the Origin Liquid and wasted no time growing stronger. Their strength skyrocketed as they digested the Origin Liquid, but their progress continued to increase quickly, even after the Origin Liquid had been digested. Their bodies were cleansed of impurities, which wasn''t necessary for Daniel, but it pushed his Tier quickly to a higher rank while the others profited from all of Origin Liquid''s benefits.

    Kaleb, Danny, and the others were not yet Divine Lifeforms, but they progressed fast enough to consider their chances of ascending to Divine Lifeforms fairly high within the next decade. As for theirbat prowess¡­they were already on the same level as the average Divine Lifeform or would soon be pushed to that level. Michael would ensure that the Super Awakened would be pushed to a much higher level. They would be like Mythical Existences, capable of fighting beings of a higher Tier, if not stronger.

    "Hello, everyone. I see nobody turned into azy bum after I left. That''s good to know. Nobody here disappointed me!" Michael announced with a bright smile while Lucia came running his way. She sensed the energy ripples sweep faintly through the Untamed Jungle when he arrived and dashed to his exact location using the trace of the Nature Divinity left inside her body.

    "Daddy!" She squealed and pounced into his embrace. Her hug was tight and would probably break the necks of all Normies and Tierless individuals, but Michael just smiled.

    "You remember me, little one?" Michael asked with a vibrant smile. He had been afraid Lucia would forget him. Even though he visited the Untamed Jungle often since he left, Michael didn''t have much time to y with his daughter. They saw each other often but only for short hours.

    "Of course! You are the best and the strongest. Everyone~ is telling me about you and how much they love you! Mom brags the most about you!" Lucia eximed, which brought a smile to Michael''s face.

    He turned to Alice, who''d rushed behind Lucia, only to blush hearing what her daughter said.

    "She is a little chatterbox," Alice said in a hurry, her ears fiery red. She cleared her throat, "Ignore what she said." "I don''t want to," Michael smirked, carrying his daughter in one hand before embracing Alice tightly, "I love you." He kissed her, and Alice returned the kiss, though it was only a quick smoosh because she was embarrassed to act intimately in front of others. She hurriedly separated from him, but the corners of her lips were curled upward. Michael was still smiling while his daughter chuckled.

    "Daddy and Mom sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G~" Lucia sang happily, "Firstes love, thenes marriage¡ª...."

    Alice covered her daughter''s mouth in a hurry. She blushed, took Lucia from Michael, and ignored her daughter''s pleas to stay with her father. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I will leave you all alone. This is not something Lucia should have to hear yet," Alice announced in a hurry before disappearing. Hiraku and the others chuckled, but some of the Super Awakened looked at their Lord and his family in envy. They focused too much on growing stronger and being the first to ascend to a Divine Lifeform in Michael''s territory and the Tritan Alliance to create a family. The issue with that was that those ready to ascend to a Divine Lifeform would have to leave the Tritan Alliance before ascending, or they would have to stay in the Origin Expanse for theing centuries, maybe even millennium, before they could return. The Torn Firmament protected the Tritan Alliance but also forced those ready to ascend to Divine Lifeforms to make a choice. Leave the Tritan Alliance and return once the Torn Firmament was healed, or stay and be forced to spend their future in the Origin Expanse.

    Some of them had a lover in the Tritan Alliance, forcing their lover to make a decision. If their partner ascended to a Divine Lifeform, they either had to break up, be together in the Origin Expanse, or spend their next few centuries together outside the Tritan Alliance.

    Michael didn''t have such troubles. Alice was anchored in the Nest, where she would be safe and sound no matter what Tier she reached. Considering the topic, Alice would probably be the first to ascend to a Divine Lifeform. She had also consumed an Origin Liquid droplet and was already a Tier-6 powerhouse when she returned to Michael''s side. Alice might have been pregnant, but she received resources and even the Runic Vortex technique from Michael. Alice was closer to ascending than the rest even if she had yet to create an Energy Vortex.

    Maybe that was also Lucia''s effect. Since a tiny trace of Nature Divinity had been in Lucia, the same Divinity trace had to be within Alice for several months as well. Lucia grew in Alice''s womb, providing tremendous energy, which was ridiculous given that the mother was supposed to provide energy to the children¡­not the other way around.

    "Either way. Who here is confident in their ability to defeat the average Divine Lifeform at their current level?" Michael asked, to which Daniel and Hiraku lifted their hands right away. Other hands followed suit shortly, but they were more hesitant.

    "Interesting. That''s more than expected," Michael nodded slowly, "Attack me." The order wasn''t a surprise to those who had known Michael for years, but the newer Awakened stared at Michael with wide eyes. They didn''t know how much stronger Michael had grown in thest few years, but it hadn''t even been a decade since he visited the Tritan Alliancest. He was probably a Divine Lifeform at this point, but that was about it. Was Michael strong enough to block the attacks of more than a dozen Super Awakened who were certain to be stronger than the average Divine Lifeform?

    Hiraku was the first to attack. His body expanded to a massive Titan. He wasn''t coated in vines and roots and grew scales from his body. The scales were fiery red and his body temperature was also shockingly high, but Michael ignored the charging Titan. After being part of the birth of two Undead Titans, Michael couldn''t be shocked by Hiraku''s transformation anymore. Hiraku''s arms turned ck as he intertwined his hands, shaped into fists, and smashed down on Michael''s head.

    Some couldn''t even follow Hiraku''s movements. He was too fast for them. The Awakened swallowed hard, but Hiraku cursed when Michael didn''t budge. Hiraku''s attack hit Michael on the head, but the Imperial Barrier enveloping him blocked the attack easily. The weakest form of the Imperial Barrier blocked Hiraku''s first attack and what followed suit. A fiery wave of energy swept from Hiraku''s fists after the impact. Under normal circumstances, it would have prated the defenses of most ordinary Divine Lifeforms and damage their insides, but none of that was a problem. The Imperial Barrier was a creation of multipleyers with different functions. It was a Soultrait created from ten different Soultraits. The best parts of those Soultrait Symbols, to be precise.

    Hiraku pulled back, but Michael wasn''t given much time to recharge the Imperial Barrier. He could have done it easily but didn''t bother doing so when Kaleb attacked. A spear flung through the air, its tip filled with Frozen Nova Essence. It was one of Kaleb''s newest creations and contained the strongest power of Frozen Nova. The Imperial Barrier released a creaking noise but didn''t break.

    Michael responded with a smile and gestured to everyone to keep going.

    "Everyone can attack me simultaneously or in a row. I need to gauge yourbat prowess, your ability efficiency, and more sooner orter either way," Michael dered before teleporting himself and everyone else to one of the unupied training grounds in the Untamed Jungle. Everyone looked around in shock. They didn''t even sense Michael''s energy enveloping them or that something was about to happen when Michael teleported them. "Everyone can attack me simultaneously or in a row. I need to gauge yourbat prowess, your ability efficiency, and more sooner orter either way," Michael dered before teleporting himself and everyone else to one of the unupied training grounds in the Untamed Jungle. Everyone looked around in shock. They didn''t even sense Michael''s energy enveloping them or that something was about to happen when Michael teleported them. "I don''t have all day to test everyone," Michael teased, but his expression remained dead-serious, "The more you impress me with your power and Soultraits, the more you might receive in return." He had yet to create a perfect rewarding system for the Super Awakened, but those who could do cause the most damage to him ¨C after some calctions that included their Tier, the star-rating of their Soultrait Symbol, the number of Soultraits, and much more ¨C Michael would give them whatever they needed to grow stronger and be ready to fight the Supreme Human Alliance on multiple frontlines.

    Michael could teleport everyone with Slipstream across the Supreme Human Alliance''s territories, and he would arm everyone with one or two means to escape from powerful enemies. But before that, the Super Awakened had to show him how strong they were and that they deserved several powerful Soultrait Symbols from him.

    Kaleb and Hiraku were smiling, but they looked at each other, and the other Super Awakened with a trace of worry. They might be among the strongest, but their Soultraits were stronger than others. They had more Soultrait Symbols than most others and desired to obtain a few more Soultrait Symbols before attacking the Supreme Human Alliance with all their might.

    Yet, to do so, they had to show that they deserved more Soultraits than everyone else. Their achievements had to be the greatest.

    The Super Awakened''s morale skyrocketed, and they charged Michael simultaneously, hundreds of Soultrait Symbols activating simultaneously.

    Michael grinned at the iing attacks. Shivers ran down his spine, and his grin widened until it hurt.

    ''That is exactly what I have been waiting for!''

 Chapter 977 Start the Debate!

    Chapter 977 Start the Debate!

    The Super Awakened were struggling to stay awake. Michael pushed and provoked them, ensuring they would keep attacking him until their energy reserves were drained and their stamina used up. It didn''t take much effort to motivate them. Saying that the most consistent attacks and the duration of the attacks may be rewarded with more Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades was more than enough.

    Everyone was eager to grow stronger. The Super Awakened knew what awaited them in the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory, and they did not wish to go there unprepared. If anything, they wanted to be overprepared, ready to face all threats without relying on Michael''s power and protection.

    None of the Super Awakened realized how much time had passed, but they all understood one thing: They couldn''t hurt Michael.

    The Imperial Barrier was too strong. It was durable and couldn''t be prated with piercing Soultraits, either. It felt like a cheat Soultrait because its powers didn''t make sense. There didn''t seem to be any limits to Imperial Barrier''s power. That was both shocking and thrilling simultaneously.

    It was shocking because Michael wasn''t supposed to be this powerful. Everyone knew Michael''s great power and abilities, but only a few expected his power level to increase this fast. But that was also part of the thrilling portion. Nobody had known about Michael''s Imperial Barrier. The Soultrait Symbol was new. It had been fused to Michael''s Soul Sphere not too long ago.

    What did that mean? It meant Michael acquired a new Soultrait Symbol and pushed it to a level that allowed him to block all of the Super Awakened''s attempts to harm him. What would happen if the Super Awakened acquired simr Soultrait Symbols? If Michael could create a Soultrait like this one¡­he could do it all over again!

    Once every Super Awakened realized the extent of Michael''s powers and the ability to grant others equivalent powers, they went crazy. Everyone went above and beyond to demonstrate Michael''s tremendous power. They wanted to make sure to acquire one of Michael''s stronger Soultrait Symbols or multiple powerful Soultrait Symbols if that was possible.

    Unfortunately, all Super Awakened were talented, hard-working, and ambitious. They desired the exact same things as their colleagues, sparking fiercepetition among the 199 Super Awakened on the training ground.

    Michael smiled at that and let thempete until they could no longer move.

    "This was very interesting, and I acquired all the pieces of information I need to tell everyone present that two custom 6-Star Soultraits will be prepared for you." Michael dered with a bright grin.

    Two 6-Star Soultraits might not be considered much for Michael anymore, but the kind of power the Super Awakened could acquire from two 6-Star Soultraits ¨C custom ones at that ¨C was tremendous. However, that was not all Michael had to offer.

    "But there is more to it. The 6-Star Soultrait Symbols are only the beginning. I am willing to distribute a few hundred 5-Star Soultraits and 4-Star Soultraits, and we will decide together who will be given which Soultrait." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A small uproar resounded as dozens of Super Awakened jumped up, only for their legs to give in again. They groaned and copsed.

    "I know it might be a little weird for you to discuss the utility and efficiency of certain Soultrait Symbols because that is usually something you think about while making your decisions alone, but I think discussing our opinion about who is supposed to obtain certain Soultrait Symbols will help us figure out in which direction everyone is progressing and how we can maximize the power stored within the Soultraits."

    Michael could have prepared a dozen 4-Star Soultraits for everyone, but the situation wouldn''t have been easier for anyone. In the first ce, 5-Star and 6-Star Soultraits were much stronger than 4-Star Soultraits. A single 6-Star Soultrait was more than a dozen times stronger than a 4-Star Soultrait. Of course, some uniquebinations of 4-Star Soultraits might create better results than a single 6-Star Soultrait, but the strain and energy consumption of using a dozen 4-Star Soultraits together was bound to be several times higher than using a single 6-Star Soultrait.

    Furthermore, mastering their 6-Star Soultrait ¨C a single one ¨C was much easier than trying to master a dozen 4-Star Soultraits. There were other factors Michael had put into consideration, but there was no need to mention them to the Super Awakened. He shared his n and waited patiently for their response.

    "Is it necessary for us to¡­debate why we want a particr Soultrait Symbol and why we think the Soultrait is better suited to our power pool than our colleagues''?" One of the Super Awakened asked, and Michael nodded.

    "Debating, or simply talking about the Soultrait Symbol''spatibility, will help us discover if we''re on the right track. Sometimes, you might think a Soultrait suits you, but that is not the case in reality. In reality, a different pool of Soultraits might suit you and your personality much better. Others might have a much easier timeprehending the powers of a particr Soultrait type but think that they''re the most suited to apletely different type of Soultraits. Your mission today is to discover what Soultrait Symbols you want, what you need, and how your wants and needs ovep. If there is no ovep, you might have to adjust your wants slightly or reconsider your needs andpatibility with other Soultraits to figure out what is going on and where you went wrong."

    Many Super Awakened were narrow-minded and believed they were the strongest in terms of attack. They acted like they were the born melee fighters when their cognitive abilities, mental power, and other aspects were much stronger instead. Some Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had to understand that their racial traits weren''t as pronounced as it is the case in their brethren. A few Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were among the mostpatible with Support, Healing, and Elemental-type Soultraits, even though they said they loved fighting. They''d desired to change their old Soultraits and acquired Soultraits mostly used for meleebat. Michael wouldn''t block them or tell them what they had to do but hoped to guide them in the right direction through the debate. By discussing everything with the men and women they''d been around for thest few years, fighting with their lives on the line, and training tirelessly together, Michael expected some groundbreaking achievements.

    He wasn''t worried about investing too much into the Super Awakened. If anything, Michael was worried his Super Awakened would go down the wrong path and crumble in the face of the Supreme Human Alliance''s Divine Lifeforms.

    The next few years wouldn''t be easy for them. The Super Awakened might grow into a powerful unit of the strongest Awakened the cosmos had seen ¡ª that would take a LONG time, but it was a possibility ¡ª but to achieve that, they had to ept their faults and affinities.

    Michael would help them with that with all his might. He told them to give their all to fight him so that some of the narrow-minded Super Awakened could witness the difference between someone with a natural affinity toward meleebat and Offensive-type Soultraits and their own affinities. "Let''s start the debate!

 Chapter 978 Super Awakened

    Chapter 978 Super Awakened

    The debate was a bit of a struggle, to put it lightly. It was a lot more problematic than Michael had expected. Sometimes, the situation escted, and Michael was certain a few Super Awakened would have crushed each other''s skulls if not for Hiraku, Danny, and him interrupting the quarreling Awakened before it was toote.

    Fortunately, the debate worked out¡­somehow. The 24 hours he''d scheduled to go through the debate hadn''t been long enough, though. One day transformed into a full-fledged week of debating and ''fighting'' with words about how worthy they were to acquire a particr Soultrait Symbol.

    Many Super Awakened were so agitated when the others told them they weren''t fit enough to wield some Soultraits and started fighting for real. Their words were repelled and voided, so their fists had to speak up instead. That was definitely not what Michael had nned, forcing him to intervene. Unfortunately, that happened more often than he initially thought. He didn''t expect his presence and interceptions to be needed all over the training ground every 30 minutes or less. Still, the debate worked. Everyone had discovered something new about themselves, whether it was their debating skills, their affinities toward certain types of Soultraits¡­or what others thought of them and how they assessed each other''s prowess.

    Thetter was very interesting. Some Super Awakened considered themselves weaker than others in certain regards, but theirrades were of a different opinion. One Healer and one Summoner, two Awakened with those particr Soultrait Symbols, had been certain that their Soultraits fight well to them, but Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, as well as some Forest Elves, exined to them how wrong they were. One of them was more suited toward meleebat. Hisbat awareness and tactical understanding of closebat fights were shockingly high, pushing him to the top percentile of the Super Awakened in that regard.

    He was convinced to acquire other Soultrait Symbols and alter his existing Soultrait with Michael''s help.

    The Summoner was in a simr situation. He had a Summoning Soultrait, which fit very well to him ¨C his words ¨Cbut the others said that this wasn''t the case. They told him to be an Elemental Awakened. Just because he Summons Elemental Sprites doesn''t mean he was a great Summoner. He couldmand the Elements much better than most of the Sprites he''d summoned! He was a born sorcerer!

    Simr situations like this happened here and there. It was intriguing to see how much the opinions of some Super Awakened changed and how much influence they had on each other.

    Throughout the debate, Michael had given everyone their share of Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades. Over thest few months, he had killed enough enemies to transform the Awakened into proper powerhouses capable of killing Divine Lifeforms as Tier-6 Higher Lifeforms.

    The set-up of monster Super Awakened was fairly simple. Since they''d been part of Michael''s territory for a while now and considered to be the cream of the crop among all Awakened of the Untamed Awakened, most Super Awakened had either two or three Soultrait Symbols even before Michael transformed them into Super Awakened.

    Their Soultraits were averaged at 4-Star, which was decent but not extraordinary. Their average rating changed after Michael''s magical touch. The Super Awakened created Soul Spheres, which Michael had to supplement with enough SoulStar Fragments to avoid certain problems. He helped create the Soul Spheres as the number of Soultrait Symbols in their soul increased.

    At the end of the debate, everyone had eight Soultrait Symbols, some who already had four Soultrait Symbols before, even more.

    Not all of them had been pushed to 6-Star, but most of their Soultrait Symbols were 5-Star Symbols, which elevated theirbat prowess to a higher level. With eight Soultrait Symbols and an average star rating of five stars, the Super Awakened were the strongest.

    However, not all Soultrait Symbols were useful forbat. Every Super Awakened had at least one Soultrait Symbol that Michael considered a "Last Rope" Soultrait. That Soultrait was an emergency Soultrait, which would trigger and pull the Awakened out of dangerous situations like encountering a Demi-God, God, Primal, or the like. Not all Last Ropes were the same but all of them rescued the Awakened in the case of an emergency.

    At least, that was the n. Michael was unsure if it worked like that, but he sure hoped so.

    Once the Super Awakened were fully equipped ¨C they''d obtained a few Legendary High Artifacts as well ¨C Michael told them to gather outside the Origin Expanse. Since he couldn''t travel back to the Tritan Alliance without killing everyone, he provided the resources and devices needed to gather somewhere he could reach.

    Slipstream would help him teleport around and bring the Super Awakened where he needed them the most. Unfortunately, the Super Awakened needed a few weeks to travel and gather.

    That was a little annoying since Michael and others were excited about their debut in the Supreme Human Alliance, but Michael chose to make use of that.

    He traveled to the Novix Gxy and wreaked havoc using Jormungandr''s Divinity and Fenrir''s Divinity. To be precise, they used their Divinity through him to nourish the Divinity Seeds, but the specifics mattered little. Michael observed the Altors Union and Supreme Human Alliance alike. They were both annoying, yet it would have been great if the Altors Union was a little bit more annoying. Not annoying to him, but the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Unfortunately, the Altors Union wasn''t that great at annoying the SHA. They were still not on the winning side. The Supreme Human Alliance had crushed everything Michael had done to increase their chances of victory. Michael was still clueless about how they did it, but the Altors Union struggled greatly. That was how he ended up making an offer to the Altors Union.

    He might not love the Altors Union, but they were the lesser evilpared to the Supreme Human Alliance. In fact, the only annoying thing they did was to abandon the Nest. They weren''t trustworthy allies to have around, but it wasn''t like they did many evil things. In fact, Michael had yet to hear them do anything truly evil.

    Once Michael considered that, he made a simple offer to the Altors Union. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Hello there. Please tell your superior, or whoever is in charge of the armies, that I can provide 4-Star and 5-Star Soultrait Symbols to the Awakened of the Altors Union. I have distributed a total of 2,000 to those Awakened ¨C this offer only applies to Divine Lifeforms ¨C who be my Subordinates. If 400 Divine Awakened decides to be my Subordinates, they will be given five Soultraits. If 500 be my Suboridnates, everyone will be given four Soultraits," Michael waved his hand dismissively in front of an Altors Commander.

    "Either way, tell your higher-ups about my offer. I can help you change the Titan War against the Supreme Human Alliance. All you have to do is surrender a batch of Divine Lifeforms. Let me be clear about something: I can offer the Divine Lifeforms great deals but also sign a Soul Pact not to force them to do anything they seem inappropriate and the like. If you don''t ept this offer, I can always search for other Awakened to bind to me. The Altors Union might cease to exist, but my forces will prevail. I don''t have to care about your survival."

    "The decision is on you!"

 Chapter 979 Void Ingots

    Chapter 979 Void Ingots

    "Why should we ept his offer? Surrendering hundreds of our Divine Lifeforms will weaken our defenses drastically. After our actions against the Nest ¨C whether they were intentional or not ¨C we cannot afford to trust the Nest. They are out for revenge and will attack us sooner orter!" One of the Altors Union''s heads dered, but most shook their heads.

    "Do you really think that this man would have helped us if he nned to attack us? If you haven''t noticed already, this Curse User is also a Hyuman or member of the human race. The Supreme Human Alliance is most definitely his priority, which he has shown us several times already. You know what he''s done to help the Altors Union. The Novix Gxy is one of the few strategic points we must im. Our disadvantages in the Novix Gxy have been solved by that young man even if some of us do not like it¡­and let''s be honest, we''re not faring well against the SHA. If not for this Curse User, we would already be dead."

    Many men and women cursed, but nobody rejected the speaker''s words. Hisments were true.

    "I''m still wondering where his offeres from. Obviously, he needs Divine Lifeforms on his side, but offering 2,000 Soultrait Symbols while stating that he wouldn''t force them to do something they didn''t want¡­is weird. If we allow 100 Divine Lifeforms to join this Curse User, he must give everyone 20 Soultrait Symbols. Would he really do that? Is it possible for a Soul to contain this many Soultrait Symbols in the first ce?" A third Elder remarked while a fourth added the crucial question.

    "Where are the 2,000 Soultrait Symbols from, in the first ce? The Curse User is a Divine Lifeform, and I do not remember him from the old days. He is weaker than Selena but seems stronger than most Nest Elders, given how easily he can use his Curses. And since his Curses have Divinities and they''re given enough ess to channel their Divinities through him, we can only assume that he has two God Curses and a close bond with them. That Curse User¡­he can be the next Nest Leader if he wants to. No, if he has the means to procure more Soultrait Symbols, he can be much more than that¡­"

    The Elders and Heads of the Altors Union weren''t clear on what to do about Michael''s offer. Still, they invited him to hold a meeting. Michael wasn''t particrly pleased about meeting with the Altors Union''s powerhouses, but he''d expected something like this to happen. Some of his Soultraits had already been exposed, though not their full power, so Michael chose to use Slipstream with low output to travel through the Altors Union. He refrained from using the Compass Relic too often to imprint the coordinates and locations of various ces into Slipstream. If necessary, he could teleport to the other cester on.

    A week passed before he reached a massive ind hovering through aary system with only twos. Michael wasn''t too impressed with thes, but their enormous mana density. The entireary system was overflowing with pure energy. It was probably theary system with the most energy Michael ever had. Only the primal root of the Untamed Jungle had a higher amount ofpressed energy than thisary system, and the primal root fused with a Primordial Energy Vein of a former Primal Region.

    Michael revealed his presence with a simple use of his Power and Authority. The World Serpent''s Divinity Seed blossomed not long ago, and Michael yed around with it, experimenting with the power he''d acquired through the Power Divinity.

    A group of Divine Lifeforms, all at the 8th Tier, appeared next to Michael shortly after his arrival. They bowed respectfully and gestured to him to follow.

    "The Heads are waiting for you, Your Excellency," Michael raised an eyebrow but followed after a moment. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Theynded on the flying ind, constructed from metal he''d never seen before. Though he hadn''t seen it before, some Hyumans had their fair share of encounters with the materials used to construct the flying ind.

    "Void Ingot? How many¨C...." Michael shut his mouth and frowned deeply. Void Ingot couldn''t be harvested by normal means. In the first ce, Michael had only snippets of knowledge about Void Ingot from the Hyumans'' Memory Orbs. Only a few Hyumans, the strongest of them, knew about Void Ingots and how dangerous it was to harvest them.

    But then again, Void Ingots were also incredibly useful. They generated energy - void of impurities - and spread it into the surroundings. But at the same time, they required ''sacrifices''. Michael was sure the sacrifices didn''t include blood and death sacrifices because he would have heard about that from the Hyumans and Selena, but he knew Void Ingots were a taboo of the Supreme Human Alliance as they were too dangerous.

    For the Supreme Human Alliance to consider something too dangerous¡­it had to be truly dangerous. ''Why do they have this?''

    [I don''t know. Void Ingots are not something anyone would want nearby¡­except if they''re lone hunters and do not care about everyone around them.] Hel said.

    ''You know what Void Ingots can do?''

    [Of course.]

    Michael entered the massive mansion erected in the center of the flying ind, yet his focus was on Hel.

    ''How about you tell me something about it then? Cause I do not wish to walk into a trap.''

    [Don''t worry. Void Ingots cannot harm you. You won''t be long enough in its presence to be affected. Either way, you wanted to know what Void Ingots do, right? The sacrifices the Hyumans talked about are ''potential'' sacrifices. The presence of Void Ingots is incredibly thin and stretches very far. Since you didn''t notice it, you can tell how ''thin'' its presence is. Either way, Void Ingots drain the potential of Normies and weaker awakened. The stronger you are, the higher your resistance to it. Nheless, Void Ingots drain the potential to awaken from Normies and drastically decrease the potential of Lesser Lifeforms. In exchange, Void Ingots generate a tremendous amount of neutral energy, which can be consumed and annexed immediately ¨C strengthening Divine Lifeforms quickly ¨C and if you gather enough Void Ingots on a single spot, they might eventually formary Seeds, Divine Seeds, and other objects that can only be formed and created by Gods]

    Michael''s frown deepened. ''Doesn''t that mean the Altors Union is crippling itself? If they continue like this, they won''t have a younger generation of Awakened anymore. For what? To replicate whatever a God can do with Void Ingots?''

    [I don''t know their n, but Void Ingot can also be reserved, thus granting others potential from the potency fragments they''ve stolen before.]

    That was news to Michael. It might not be great for the younger generation of the Altors Union because it sounded like the Altors Union wanted to choose whom to grant the potential to manifest a War Rune and whom to deprive their hereditary right."That didn''t affect Michael, but it posed a big question.

    Was he willing to give the Altors Union more power after what he saw?

 Chapter 980 Floating Union\

    Chapter 980 Floating Union

    Michael studied the Heads and Elders, as they called each other, intently. The Heads belonged to a faction of warriors who had been fighting the Supreme Human Alliance for centuries. They had only been in the Council for a few hundred years, but their influence was huge.

    Their impression was much better than that of the Elders, who were generally known as more cautious members of the Council. The Elders were schrs and would much rather focus on their people and progress than fight the Supreme Human Alliance.

    The Nest Leader didn''t tell Michael which faction betrayed them, but it was probably the Heads if he had to guess. The ''warriors'' were powerful Awakened, but they didn''t strike him as trustworthy. On the other hand, the Elders felt more genuine. They talked to him respectfully, gestured to him to sit down, and were polite enough to offer him something to drink.

    It wasn''t like he needed anything, but the offer alone was already good enough to put Michael in a better mood.

    "Commander Leix told us about your offer," One of the Heads said curtly, "But there might have been a misunderstanding."

    An Elder stood up and smiled at Michael, "First of all, I wish to wee you to the Floating Union. We are happy to wee another Curse User into this sacred ce. After thest¡­debacle, we would like to apol¨C..."

    "We do not talk about this," Another Head said, smashing his fist on the table before pointing back at Michael. Tell us your offer. I sure hope your offer won''t be as bad as Commander Leix indicated."

    Michael had no idea what Commander Leix said, but he was fairly sure the Altors Commander ryed the information correctly. ''They are trying to y with me. There are at least a dozen Tier-8 Awakened, and every one of the heads is a powerhouse as well. There are six Demi-Gods, and one of them is creepy. Did he use the potential umted within the Void Ingot on himself?''

    Michael shrugged inwardly but smiled on the outside.

    "My offer is simple. The Altors Union is still struggling against the Supreme Human Alliance even after I removed the Texorian Meteorite Streams and dozens of Hyuman Fortresses, creating an unguarded border for the Altors Union to strike. Even the Cosmos Beasts changed their targets under my influence. Yet, the Altors Union keeps making mistakes." Michael chose the blunt and violent path this time. There was no need to beat around the bush here.

    "I killed more than a hundred Divine Lifeforms, tens of thousands of Higher Lifeforms, and I wreaked havoc all across their Gxies, only for the Altors Union to mess up over and over again. Still, I''m giving you the option to survive against the Supreme Human Alliance. I offer 2,000 Soultrait Symbols 4-Star and 5-Star to those Divine Lifeforms who offer to be my Subordinates."

    One of the Heads, the same violent, smashed his fist on the table again. The table ¨C also made of Void Ingot, for the records ¨C shook but didn''t break. Michael ignored the Heads and smiled at the others.

    "You can reject my offer, and I''ll leave right away. But let me tell you something interesting. I will not stay and rece your forces in the Novix Gxy. I can move wherever I want and even pull back from the fight for a few years to watch the Titan War unfold without me. My strength is growing by the day, and I think the Elders have already concluded what kind of Curse User I am."

    Michael noticed how different the gazes lingering on him were. Almost all Elders looked at him with hope and respect. They were willing to listen to his offer with genuine interest. This is not only because they were trying to strengthen their rows of defense by empowering their Divine Lifeforms with multiple powerful Soultrait Symbols but also to create more reasons for Michael to stay and fight for them.

    "Is that a threat?" The strongest of the Heads asked, his tone suggesting he was still trying to determine what to think of Michael, his offer, and his¡­existence.

    "No, I''m not threatening you or the Altors Union. I''m merely saying that I won''t stay in the Novix Gxy forever because it would lead more enemies to this ce. Or do you want to fight a Primal once they locate me?" Michael asked, and the man shook his head.

    The other Heads looked at him with slightly wide eyes, but the Elders nodded as if knowing what Michael was talking about.

    "If you want to use some of my power without facing the threat of the Primal, you should ept my offer. I won''t tell the Divine Lifeforms of the Altors Union to follow me wherever I go. They can stay with the Altors Union and fight for you, but they''ll have to follow a few orders. That is about it." Michael shrugged.

    "What orders?" The strongest Head asked.

    "I won''t be specific but simplified, I want some things and offer the Altors Union to strengthen your Divine Lifeforms and a promise not to hurt the Altors Union as long as you do not betray me or my people ever again." Some Heads were in anger, but the Elders smiled.

    "That sounds great! We would love¡ª...." The Top Head interrupted the Elder with a wave of his hand. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "We will reconsider your offer. Do you want to stay here and meditate? We will inform you about our decision in less than 24 hours."

    The Elders frowned, but nobody dared to go up against the Top Head''sment. "Since it''s not taking that long, I will mediate a little," Michael announced and turned around. He left the massive mansion and sat cross-legged in the wide-open area of the Floating Union. He started meditating but released enough True Extraction Essence into the surroundings using Insert to prepare for what was bound to follow.

    [What are you preparing for? The Elders are on your side.] Fenrir pointed out, noticing that something was off with Michael.

    [But the Elders have no power. Brother, your istion turned you into a foolish man. Or is it the connection to Michael that weakened you? Maybe you acquired Michael''s foolishness while he progressed.] Jormungadnr joked. Fenrir growled and started a fight with his siblings while Michael isted them from his mind. They could continue fighting while he focused on the task ahead. There was no reason to trust the Altors Union at this point. They''d betrayed the Nest, and the Heads didn''t strike him as trustworthy either.

    The sole reason he offered the Altors Union more Soultrait Symbols was to acquire a few hundred Divine Lifeforms as Subordinates in the first ce. His hope was that the Altors Union would gain some traction and distract the Supreme Human Alliance while Michael and the Super Awakened would travel the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory to eliminate a bunch of enemies.

    In the first ce, the Divine Lifeforms, who would be his Subordinates, were bound to acquire enough corpses of powerhouses, which Michael could then extract. The investment of 2,000 Soultrait Symbols was bound to be returned with hugepound interest. ''Come at me and betray me. I will be prepared!''

 Chapter 981 Within Expectations

    Chapter 981 Within Expectations

    The council of the Altors Union took exactly 24 hours to make their decision. A young Elder approached Michael and requested that he follow him inside. Michael had stopped infusing more True Extraction Essence into the Void Ingots a few minutes ago and got up with a smile.

    "Are you satisfied with the decision?" Michael asked the Elder, who didn''t expect this question. He looked at Michael through his ck button-like eyes and turned around. ''It looks like you are not really satisfied, but your energy system is not in disarray either. You''re not sure whether to be satisfied or not. I see.''

    Michael followed the Elder and entered therge office again. The Elders were silent, while some Heads were loud, dering how much they disliked the decision. However, the Top Head, the strongest of the Heads, silenced them with a wave of his hand.

    "We came to a decision," He said to Michael as he stepped inside.

    "I see that it wasn''t a decision everyone approves," Michael smiled in response, but the Top Head merely shrugged, "Not everyone has to agree with our decision. We fight often because our opinion differs. That is why we''ve been voted to rule the Altors Union. We represent various organizations and factions but also promote our own way of living to convince others to follow our path."

    ''Less nonsense, please. Give me your damn answer!'' Michael cursed in his mind with a bright smile on his face, "That does make sense. What did the Altors Union decide to do?"

    The Top Head smiled at Michael, which crept him out, "We ept your offer and have already sent news to the Divine Lifeforms in our territory. They were told about your offer and will respond if they''re interested in bing your Subordinates. I think some, those with weaker Soultrait Symbols or those who are already at the limit of their potential, will ept your offer. You shouldn''t expect too many Divine Lifeforms, though. Not many want to follow someone else, especially prideful Divine Lifeforms. It will be even more problematic for some to follow someone who''s not a member of the Altors Union."

    Michael nodded but thought differently than the Top Head and his people.

    ''I think you''re underestimating your losses against the Supreme Human Alliance and my impact on other people. I know news of my actions has already spread. The Nest Leader, Sylth, and others have already heard about my actions, and they have continued spreading them. At this point, everyone should know how much I''ve contributed to the Altors Union''s victories and that I had nothing to do with your losses. If anything, I helped you win, but you still ended up losing. That is embarrassing!''

    Still, Michael was satisfied with the situation. Getting the Heads'' approval had been easier than expected. He''d been certain the Heads and Elders would negotiate a lot with him. After all, it was possible to give 2,000 Divine Lifeforms a powerful 4-Star or 5-Star Soultrait in exchange for their subordination. [Maybe they think only 100 or so will ept the offer. If 100 ept the offer, they will have exactly 100 powerhouses with 21 Soultrait Symbols, if the Soultraits don''t tear them apart ¨C which they will without a fully nourished Soul Sphere. Even Gods cannot handle 21 Soultrait Symbols without forming a Soul Sphere. Of course, they can seal them and do other things with them, but Soultrait Symbols are useless if sealed. There is wasted soul space.] Jormungandr hissed, but even the World Serpent wasn''t certain what the Heads and Elders of the Altors Union were thinking about.

    Michael had to control his features but nodded at Top Head.

    "Do you want me to stay here to wait until the prospects arrive, or should I leave ande backter? It might take a while until everyone makes their decision and finishes preparing for everything. They might have to travel all across the Altors Union to reach the Floating Union after all." Michael asked, "How long do you think it will take before everyone has made their decision?"

    Some Heads looked at him in a way Michael couldn''t really describe. It was¡­weird to put into simple words. They didn''t really look at him with hatred, but there were also traces of greed, disgust, confusion, and joy. The mix of emotionsing from them was confusing, to say the least.

    "You don''t have to worry about bothering us. If you wish to stay here to meditate, you can do that. It might take a month or two before everyone has made their final decision, but it could also be faster. We won''t rush our Divine Lifeforms. After all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a decision that changes everything."

    Michael nodded again, "I would like to stay here then. This ce is perfect to refine my War Rune."

    ''And to infuse more True Extraction Essence into the Void Ingots for emergency situations.''

    Overall, his offer was easily epted, and he was given enough food, water, and even a small room to stay in the Floating Ind. However, Michael couldn''t be bothered to use either. He stayed in the open ces of the Floating Union, cross-legged and meditating ¨C also inserting True Extraction Essences straight from his body into Void Ingot to avoid getting found out.

    The weeks passed quickly, and it wasn''t surprising when Michael received a notification from the Super Awakened. They were already in position and waiting for him.

    [Michael Fang: Practice with your Soultraits and your Combination of Soultraits, Soul Techniques, Soullife Arts, and so forth until I''m back. I don''t know how much longer this will take.]

    Exactly two months after the Altors Union council epted his offer, 600 Divine Lifeforms gathered at the Floating Union. The expressions on the faces of the Elders and Heads were impossible to read, but their energy systems showed how conflicted they were. Their energy systems were in disarray, and it almost felt like they were ready to attack Michael. At least, that was what he pinpointed from the energy systems of two Heads. They didn''t really like him. But¡­so what? It might be a little problematic if some Heads attacked him, but Michael would be fine if they were the first aggressors. Even if he attacked them first, nothing problematic would happen Michael was not afraid of the Altors Union''s council. Not even Top Head pressured him.

    Of course, Top Head was stronger than him, but Michael had enough means to escape. He was prepared for it if needed.

    "Hello, everyone. Is everyone present willing to be my Subordinates, or am I mistaken about something?" Michael asked into the group, but all the Divine Lifeforms did was look at the council members. Top Heads nodded, which was enough for some Divine Lifeforms to step forward. The others followed silently, which earned a surprised look from Michael.

    "I¡­take that as a ''Yes.''..." Michael mumbled while making a mental note of what had just happened.

    "If nobody has anything against the proposed Link of Loyalty ¨C everyone present should have already seen the uses if your council didn''t hide anything ¨C, so we can get started right away," Michael said, still ncing between the 600ish Divine Lifeforms and the council.

    "Please provide them with the desired Soultrait Symbols right after they were bound to you. This is only fair." One of the Heads said and the Divine Lifeforms nodded slowly, but Michael frowned deeply.

    "I haven''t even shared which Soultrait Symbols I have, nor do we know which are the mostpatible with everyone or what kind ofbination of Soultraits we can form with the existing ¨C fused ¨C Soultraits. We have yet to figure out who''s going to obtain more Soultrait Symbols and who''s going to obtain less."

    Top Heads waved his hand dismissively, "You can switch everythingter, can''t you? There are 600 Divine Lifeforms, and you have 2,000 Soultrait Symbols to offer. Give everyone three Soultrait Symbols, and in the first 200, you establish a Link of Loyalty, and you will be given a fourth Soultrait." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''That is not how it''s supposed to work, you know?!'' Michael frowned deeply, but it was true that he could switch Soultraits easily as long as they weren''t too firmly fused into the target''s Soul. That wouldn''t be the case with newly fused Soultrait Symbols, except if theirpatibility was perfect. If that was the case, they might as well keep the Soultrait. Still, Michael wasn''t pleased with their attitude. "If everyone wants to do it like that¡­okay," Michael looked at the Divine Lifeforms, who nodded in agreement with their council. ''They feel like marites, controlled by the Heads¡­I wonder how much I can influence themter.''

    Michael nodded slowly and approached the first Divine Lifeform. He grasped his hand and released a thread of his Lord Power to establish a Link of Loyalty. Simultaneously, Michael used Mind Watcher. Since the Divine Lifeform had to submit to Michael''s Lord Power to ept the Link of Loyalty, he didn''t even notice as the subtle influence of Mind Watcher read the Divine Lifeform''s thoughts and memories.

    A few minutes passed, and Michael let go of the Divine Lifeform. He could have responded quickly and attacked the Altors Union for what he''d seen in the memories and thoughts of the Divine Lifeform, but instead of doing so, Michael proceeded. He rewarded the Divine Lifeform with four 4-Star Soultraits, which he''d retrieved from his War Rune storage and moved to the second Divine Lifeform.

    The first one started nkly at the Soultrait Symbols and nced to Top Head before fusing them into his Soul. The Divine Lifeform smiled while the others looked at him in envy. They were impatient and desired to fuse with their new Soultrait Symbols before everything went south.

    The world would turn upside down once Michael was done with his business, but nobody acted like anything was wrong. Not even Michael, who read the memories and minds of all Divine Lifeforms with whom he''d already created Links of Loyalty, made a move. He established hundreds of Links of Loyalty silently. The Divine Lifeforms were happy to acquire more Soultrait Symbols, not showing a glimpse of worry as to what was about to happen to them.

    After all, they were convinced nothing bad would happen. They were certain everything would be alright. The Heads had promised them that. Little did they know Michael was already prepared for what was about to happen.

    [To think they would try something like that. Well, it does make sense if you think about it in aplex, shitty way. After acquiring your Soultraits, which is a once-in-a-lifetime event ¨C something you will never do again to them, which they know ¨C, they want to kill you to break the Links of Loyalty and acquire 600 Super Divine Lifeforms. Whether that helps them solve all issues with the Supreme Human Alliance or not¡­I don''t know. But it certainly removes a powerful Curse User with two God Curses from the list of potential future threats.]

    Fenrir''smentary was a little annoying, and it made everything a lot more difficult. Michael had to keep his calm and act like he didn''t know anything after all.

    Still, he was surprised about one thing.

    ''The Elders don''t even know what is going on. They agreed to my offer, hoping everything would be alright. It''s unfortunate that the two factions are working against each other¡­but it is even more unfortunate so that they decided to betray me. The Divine Lifeforms are not even checking the uses engraved into the Links of Loyalty anymore. The first one didn''t bother and when I changed the uses for the second one, I knew nothing would happen. To think I could acquire 600 Divine Lifeforms without any additional uses just because the Heads decided to betray me and the Elders.''

    Nice one. Good job, idiots!

    He wouldn''t have done anything to harm the Altors Union if they''d silently agreed to his offer. However, now that the situation had changed, Michael would abuse every loophole possible. The Top Heads might be too strong to kill, but that was okay. Michael didn''t have to kill that bastard to turn the rest of his life into a living hell!

 Chapter 982 Pleasant Betrayal

    Chapter 982 Pleasant Betrayal

    Michael didn''t rush to establish a Link of Loyalty with everyone. He finished the Link, asked them how they felt, and provided them with the Soultrait Symbols as requested.

    Some Divine Lifeforms were impatient, but Michael ignored them. Nobody was allowed to disturb him as he slowed down deliberately whenever someone spoke up or bothered him. Once everyone realized what Michael was doing, they stopped moving and waited impatiently for their turn.

    Michael had no idea how much time passed, but all 600ish Links of Loyalty had been formed at some point. The Links weren''t strong or anything, but that wasn''t needed. The Divine Lifeforms didn''t trust Michael and forced themselves to sign the Link of Loyalty ¨C some at least ¨C while waiting for the Heads to kill Michael and end their suffering by returning their freedom. Michael was fine with that thought, though he wouldn''t allow anyone to kill him.

    "I am do¨C..." Even before Michael could finish the sentence, one of the Heads appeared before him. He shot across the open space of the Floating Union, unsheathed a sword, and shed at Michael, ready to kill him on the spot.

    Michael would have used Slipstream to escape the Head''s attack under normal circumstances, but he knew what awaited him. The Floating Union''s spatial distortion relic had been activated to prevent his spatial movements. Therefore, Michael used the Power Authority with Curse Fusion used on Jormungandr. All Serpent Seals activated while the ckish serpent scales grew from his body. A massive tail jut from his tailbone, and his pupils distorted, transforming into serpentine slits. Simultaneously, Michael unleashed Primordial Vessel''s Perfect Soul Technique to unleash as much power as possible,bined with Unlimited Enhancement. Maybe thetter wasn''t required, but Michael didn''t n to hold back. The Power Authority pushed his physical statistics to another level. He, Michael Fang, was now a Demi-God. One of the ordinary Heads couldn''t kill him. Michael conjured a shield from Aethyr and used his Divinity on it. The shield blocked the iing sh, and Michael''s hand, tworge fangs jutting from his knuckles shooting out of them, shed back. The Head had been certain to kill Michael with the first attack. He''d expected to take Michael by surprise, after all. But that wasn''t the case. Instead, the Head''s throat was shed. He tried to escape and pull back, triggering his great regeneration, but Michael''s serpent tail had already coiled around his legs. Michael attacked again, thrusting the serpent fangs, alongside Jormungandr''s poison, into the man''s chest. His heart was pierced and rusted from God Curse poison, killing the Head in the next few seconds. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael turned around with a smile. The other Heads, most of them, were ready to attack. Even the Top Head had noticed something was wrong. He''d reacted toote, though. "Did you expect our betrayal?" The Top Head asked a tinge of curiosity in his voice.

    "The Heads betrayed me, not the Elders." Michael responded, which was enough for Top Head to turn to the Elders, "You discovered my n and betrayed us¡­for him?" The Elders were shocked to the core, not only at the discovery but also at Top Head''s usation. "They don''t know anything. They were oblivious to your n. But you''ve exposed yourself now. I wonder if the Elders and Heads will keep working together. What will happen to the Altors Union after today?"

    Top Head shrugged while trying to digest what had just happened, "I can kill the Elders after eliminating you. As long as everyone reports your betrayal, we can say you killed them."

    "Is that so?" Michael asked, tilting his head with a knowing smile.

    Top Head didn''t like the way Michael looked at him. Something about it told Top Head how little control he had over the situation. He¡­had never been in charge of the situation. That was unexpected and unpleasant.

    The Elders didn''t attack the Heads for their betrayal. They stared at them in a mixture of surprise and shock and studied them. A glint ofsomething shed through their eyes, yet Michael ignored it. There was no need to pay any attention to the Elders. Still, it was clear that the trust between the two factions was broken. That wasn''t great, as the timing was the worst possible. The Supreme Human Alliance was their enemy. They weren''t supposed to be hunting and betraying each other. That also meant nobody should have betrayed or attacked Michael.

    "I think we''re done here. You betrayed me. Thus, you terminated our contract. I will take your lovely Divine Lifeforms with me instead of keeping them here to help you out."

    Michael didn''t n to take them away but wanted to use them as bait to lure the SHA to a different location. If all 600 Divine Lifeforms of the Altors Union learned how to fight Tier-8 powerhouses, Michael could conquer entire Gxies using their prowess. The prowess to do so was certainly enough to attract some attention. They could distract the Super Awakened and Michael as they executed a bunch of other ns.

    "I don''t think you''re going to leave anywhere. Not with an intact body, let alone MY Divine Lifeforms!" Top Head roared, but something unexpected happened as his voice resounded.

    The Floating Union, a massive floating ind ¨C spanning more than a kilometer in radius ¨C made of Void Ingots, disappeared with a snap.

    Michael snapped his fingers once andbined Swallow Domain with the True Extraction Essence inserted into the Floating Union for thest two months.

    The Floating Union disappeared, leaving 600ish powerhouses floating in the wide-open space. But that was not all. Removing the Floating Union might have been Michael''s priority, but the spatial distortion device installed in the Floating Union was just as important. Or, at least, removing it was.

    Swallow Domain consumed the spatial distortion device as well. Therefore, Michael had an easy time using Slipstream to escape. He transformed a tiny amount of the Void Ingots, maybe one one-hundred-thousandth, and sucked its energy dry. The energy fueled his body and empowered his Energy Vortex, but more importantly was the energy infusing into Slipstream.

    Top Head noticed Michael''s action and charged ahead, but the Imperial Barrier used at its full power was enough to block the powerhouse for a quarter of a second. That was enough to envelop his Divine Lifeform Subordinates into Slipstream and activate the Soultrait Symbol.

    Michael teleported out of the Altors Union with his Subordinates at once. They reappeared somewhere in the Novix Gxy, where the 600ish Divine Lifeforms looked at each other in terror. "That was not what you all expected, didn''t you?" Michael asked without a trace of joy, "That''s what you get for trying to betray me. I don''t care about who you guys are or what you''ve been thinking. The moment you started scheming my death, you were dead to me as well. The only reason you guys are alive is that I need your power. You need to kill enough enemies to make up my investment, gain enough interest, and die a painful death."

    Their future was bleak, and their deaths were bound to be painful. Michael was going to make sure of that. He would throw them from one battlefield onto the next.

    "Prepare yourself!"

 Chapter 983 Torn

    Chapter 983 Torn

    Top Head was in rage. His n did not only fail but also shattered in the worst possible way. Michael was alive, the Divine Lifeforms chosen to be Michael''s Subordinates ¨C for a few minutes until he would be killed and the Links of Loyalty severed ¨C were not there anymore and in full control of the man they''d betrayed just now, and the Elders realized that they''d been betrayed as well.

    Also, the Floating Union was no more. The Floating Union was one of the most ¨C if not the most ¨C valuable assets of the Altors Union. The powers of the Floating Union greatly surpassed a Demi God''s power. They rivaled a god''s abilities!

    "Why did you do that?" One of the oldest Elders asked, his voice cracking in anger. He approached Top Heads fearlessly. So what if Top Heads was stronger than him? Would Top Head tear off his head in front of everyone? Maybe, but that didn''t matter at this moment.

    "Why did I do what? Trying to protect 600 innocent Divine Lifeforms from very? Are you seriously asking me that?"

    The Elder shook his head. He sighed deeply, "You can only see what you want. You''re twisting our facts and promises to each other and Michael Fang. Look what your betrayal caused."

    He opened his arms widely, pointing at the empty space all around them. The Floating Union had once been where they floated right now. The only object left in this ce was a spaceship which one of the Elders had retrieved from his War Rune storage.

    "Do you really think it was a good idea to face a Demi-God openly like this? Everyone present knew about his God Curses and that he could use their Divinities. Are you underestimating Divinities now that you''ve used the umted potential of the Void Ingots? You are a fool to believe the potential of others pushed you closer to the prowess of a Demi-God. Your strength might have grown and will continue to grow, but you will never be a full-fledged Demi-God!"

    Top Head growled in anger. One of his arms shot forward and coiled around the Elder''s neck. The men and women around them gasped in surprise, but the oldest Elder looked straight into Top Head''s eyes. There was no trace of fear in his eyes.

    "You can only hope Michael Fang isn''t going to take revenge. If he does, your betrayal marked the first day of the Altors Union''s destruction. Congrattions, you achieved something great. You are the sole reason the Altors Union will cease to exist!"

    Top Head wanted to kill the Elder for his words, but he hurled him through the air instead. A roar escaped his lips, and he turned away in anger.

    On this day, the Altors Union''s Council split. Not even the higher-ups of the Altors Union could trust each other at this point.

    How could others trust them if they couldn''t even rely on each other anymore?

    **

    Even though Michael had been betrayed, he didn''t think about destroying the Altors Union. The Elders were even more shocked and terrified about the Heads'' actions than Michael. They didn''t know about the betrayal.

    ''Taking the Floating Union is enough to make up for their mistake. Also, 600ish Divine Lifeforms with five and six Soultrait Symbols each is a respectable force. I don''t even have to deploy the Divine Lifeforms near the Altors Union''s borders now that the deal fell through. Maybe the betrayal was much better than expected. I gained a lot.''

    Michael shrugged. Not getting betrayed would have been a lot easier, but the Altors Union''s betrayal didn''t make things much harder. If anything, it transformed some of the ns he''d disposed into the garbage bin earlier into valid ns. After all, he didn''t have to be considerate of the Altors Union anymore. He could exploit them now! N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael needed the Altors Union, though in a different way than the Altors Union had been hoping for. Probably.

    "Where do you want to be deployed?" Michael asked the Divine Lifeforms lightheartedly. He retrieved a bunch of Teleportation Tokens and gave one to each of the Divine Lifeforms. They might have betrayed him, but Michael needed to give them ess to his territory. They wouldn''t be allowed to stay there, but that wasn''t why Michael gave them ess in the first ce.

    His reasoning was simple. The Divine Lifeforms would be deployed at the Altors Union border to stir trouble and attract the Supreme Human Alliance''s attention, but they were told to collect all corpses and release them inside the Untamed Jungle for Michael''s subordinates to preserve until Michael returned to extract them.

    Michael didn''t expect all of his new Divine Awakened to survive, but all of them ought to return his investment with interest. That was the least he expected from all of them. Of course, doubling, tripling, or quadrupling the initial investment would be better. Most, as a matter of fact, would achieve thetter. Killing a pair of Divine Lifeforms would be enough to do that.

    "C-can we stay here?" One of the Divine Lifeforms.

    "You mean the Novix Gxy? I don''t particrly care, to be honest. But once you''re done conquering the Novix Gxy, your forces will either be spread thinly along the borders to kill as many as possible, or I will throw you into the Genox Gxy to conquer a bunch ofary systems before the world turns upside down.

    One good thing about allowing the Divine Lifeforms to keep fighting for the Altors Union was their motivation. The Divine Lifeforms didn''t like Michael. They already disliked him even before the Link of Loyalty was established, but now that their scheme failed, they loathed him. That contradicted the Links of Loyalty and caused considerable damage to their souls.

    Michael didn''t like that kind of self-torture and chose to decrease their hatred with a simple move. The Divine Lifeforms'' lives wouldn''t change much. They would continue to fight the Supreme Human Alliance and could consider themselves the Guardians of the Altors Union. They might no longer be part of the Altors Union, but the sentiment mattered little.

    All that mattered was that the Divine Lifeforms could conquer a bunch ofary systems and kill some Hyumans.

    "But first, we will change a few things about your Soultrait Symbols. I sincerely doubt most of you want to keep your Soultrait Symbols. Everyone will now write down their Soultraits and exchange information with each other. You can trade your Soultraits among each other if they''re not perfectlypatible with you. I won''t intervene in your trades. Make sure not to waste too much of my precious time, though!"

    The Divine Lifeforms didn''t know what was going to happen at first, but they were d Michael didn''t torture them for their betrayal. The downside, I thought, was that nobody knew what was awaiting them. A superior with temper issues was annoying, but at least you knew what was waiting for you. A dead silent superior was the most frightening.

    After all, the silent ones were the most deadly.

    Michael read the thoughts and emotions of his new Subordinates through their Links of Loyalty and Mind Watcher and smiled.

    Maybe he''d been betrayed, but the overall situation was still pleasant. He couldn''tin about it.

    A bloody battle against the Supreme Human Alliance awaited them!

 Chapter 984 Cosmic Playground

    Chapter 984 Cosmic yground

    To Michael, the ''loss'' of 2,000 Soultrait Symbols and a few million SoulStar Fragments didn''t make a great impact. It was still considered a lot, but a few million SoulStar Fragments weren''t enough for Michael to do anything special. However, the Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments impacted the hundreds of Divine Lifeforms heavily and granted various benefits.

    Adding several hundred Divine Lifeforms to the attack on the Novix Gxy changed a lot, but the tides of the Titan War changed only properly once the hundreds of Divine Lifeforms had epted their mostpatible Soultraits. It took an entire day to switch the Soultraits and optimize everyone''sbat prowess, but the results were great. Michael threw the hundreds of Divine Lifeforms at the civilizations of the Supreme Human Alliance and watched them conquer severalary systems in a few days. The shift was drastic and unexpected. The Novix Gxy was overwhelmed and conquered, and the Supreme Human Alliance was formed to deploy more powerhouses at the borders of the Genox Gxy. Ordinary Divine Lifeforms weren''t enough to block the hundreds of DIvine Subordinates on Michael''s side. They had to deploy the cream of the crop, removing them from other frontlines to protect the Genox Gxy. But even that wasn''t enough in some cases. There were only so many Tier-8 Hyumans who could be spared. Michael killed a few Tier-8 Hyumans with the help of some Divine Subordinates, but it wasn''t long before he left the Novix Gxy. Thest thing Michael did was use Slipstream and teleport the Divine Subordinates inside the Genox Gxy, moving them here and there to inflict more severe damage.

    Atst, Michael acquired a few million SoulStar Fragments and disappeared from the battlefield to meet up with the Super Awakened.

    Hiraku and the others were already waiting for him. They were impatient but focused on their newly acquired Soultrait Symbols to increase their mastery as promised.

    "Is everyone ready to beat up some Hyumans?" Michael asked with a vibrant smile.

    It might have been more impactful if Michael stayed around the Divine Subordinates because theirbat prowess was higher, but the Super Awakened were better targets with higher potential. Most of the Divine Subordinates had already used up their remaining potential. Michael wasn''t quite sure if they''d used their potential or if the Void Ingots had drained whatever was left of it. One way or another, they couldn''t advance to the Mid-ranks of Tier-7 anymore. The only thing Michael could have done to help them was to provide more Soultrait Symbols. Acquiring new Soultraits and mastering their existing techniques were the only ways ¨C other than procuring Artifacts ¨C to grow stronger at this point. The Divine Subordinates couldn''t grow stronger on their own anymore. Their Energy Pirs had been crippled by their superiors and the Void Ingots.

    The Super Awakened, on the other hand, was overflowing with potential. They were still in their prime and would ascend to Divine Lifeforms in the near future. Michael would have loved to keep them away from the battlefield a little longer, but given the distraction caused by the Divine Subordinates, Michael could rx a little. The Supreme Human Alliance would focus on the Divine Subordinates and the borders to the Genox Gxy.

    That left them with more than enough borders to strike instead.

    "Of course, we''re ready. We have been waiting for you for months now. Some thought you wouldn''t return anymore. That you''ve forgotten about us," Kaleb joked lightly, but the guilt in his voice was palpable. "I wouldn''t forget you all so easily. I was just busy. There was some¡­mimunication between me and the Altors Union," Michael chuckled, "They don''t like me anymore."

    Fenrir chortled. [You''re putting it very lightly. The Top Head and his people would love to tear you into shreds. They hate you. There is no way you can make peace with them now. Not that you should. You should have ripped off their heads. It''s unfortunate how weak you are. I am still wondering how you are supposed to deal with the Primal.]

    ''You are always talking about the Primal, but what about Gods like Beelzebub and the Supreme Human Alliance? Didn''t you say you and the others never managed to harm the Supreme Human Alliance?''

    [That is a different topic. The Hyuman Gods were still active before I was bound to the Extraction Symbol. But the rules of the cosmos have changed. Gods don''t y in the cosmic yground anymore. At least, that''s what it looks like. Jorm and Hel told me about a few things I''ve missed in my time as a Soultrait Symbol in the void of nothingness, but the sentiment is clear. The Primal are still fucksters, and they''re worse than before.

    From the looks of it, the Supreme Human Alliance''s only protectors are their Demi-Gods. Once you ascend and be a full-fledged god, you won''t be allowed to intervene in the course of mortals and immortals. It is very restrictive and something I, among many, loathe. I didn''t be a Beast God to be restrained by anyone. Neither did Jorm, Hel, and most other Gods. That is even more so true for Infernal Gods.]

    Jorm intervened. [Fenrir, shut up. There is no need to talk this much about such a topic. Michael will learn more than enough about it in the future.

    Fenrir growled, but neither of the God Curses cared much about the empty threat. Hel spoke up.

    [Since you can tap into our Divinities, you are already considered a Demi-God on the verge of attaining godhood. Once our Divinities blossom, you will have some time until you are considered a full-fledged God. The Divinities will grow until other Gods or the Primal intervene. You might not even notice it at that point, but your prowess and control of our Divinites, which you''ve annexed by then, will put you on the pedestal with all other Gods.] N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Michael couldn''t quite believe that he would soon be considered a god. It didn''t make sense how easy it was¡­ well. No. It did make sense. Attaining godhood wasn''t even his own effort. It didn''t require any effort from his side. The God Curses were helping him, At the same time, he had the Nature Heart, a full-fledged Divinity Fragment which absorbed more and more energy as Michael grew stronger. It was only a matter of time before the Nature Heart would transform into a proper Divinity and be one of his many Divinities. He wasn''t creating his own Divinity through the efforts of centuries of studies and hard work. Why?

    Because it wasn''t needed. Why should he do something when he had already acquired the Divinities of three Major Authorities and two fused Medi Authorities?

    ''How long do you think I have before the first Hyuman Gods consider me a big enough threat to ignore the Primal''s warning? Or how long will it take for the Primal to arrive?''

    [The Hyuman Gods have the right to intercept any attacks of a God. They should have sensed us already but can also sense how we ¨C God Curses ¨C are using our Divinities through you. That means you are not a Godly threat just yet. If anything, you are still fairly far from that. As for the Primal¡­I don''t know. Some of them might appear at any point. They might not have noticed you but will certainlye and find you once you be a nuisance.]

    Great. That was a good start to the first attack of the Super Awakened.

    Not.

    Michael didn''t like where his God Curses were going. Unfortunately, he couldn''t stop them. All he could do was prepare for the worst.

    And that was what he did. Alongside the Super Awakened, of course.

 Chapter 985 Mind Demon

    Chapter 985 Mind Demon

    Kaleb trained with the Super Awakened, he ate with them, and slept by their sides for months. He was one of them, yet Kaleb was having difficulty considering himself a Super Awakened. At least he didn''t feel like them. There was no doubt that he was strong. Everyone was aware of that. He had always been powerful. Born with a 7-Star Soultrait, Kaleb had been a powerhouse and would have always been.

    However, his life had changed drastically in thest few years. Many memories of the past were missing, and if he was honest with himself¡­it had been a hard time. Kaleb wanted to deny that sometimes, but his life hadn''t been easy since Michael rescued him and Zeke. He was still strong, but Kaleb didn''t feel special. Michael was always around them. He was stronger than everyone but didn''t show off. Yet, even though Michael never thought about showing off his great power, everyone knew of his capabilities. That was fine, and Kaleb could have ovee the devastating sensation of inferiority. He could have be Michael''s friend again, maybe even as close as Michael had always said they had been in the past.

    But Michael didn''t make his life easy. No, Michael didn''t do anything wrong. It was just¡­difficult watching him unleashing one miracle after another.

    Michael Fang was not a mere Divine Lifeform. He controlled a Grand Region and an Intermediate Region, was in control of a Guardian Beast at the 8th Tier, and was in charge of all jungle monsters in the Untamed Jungle. He had a second heart, a Divinity Fragment, that would transform into a proper Divinity at some point, and several God Curses, who could channel their Divinity through Michael and allowed him to copy their Divinities. Michael, barely half a year older than Kaleb, would attain godhood as long as he stayed alive for another century. He didn''t even have to do anything and could sit back and rx in the Origin Expanse while everyone else focused on expanding his territories and growing stronger. Even then, Michael would be the strongest. There was no need for him to lift a finger to grow. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Maybe it would have been faster if he had ordered his people to kill some Awakened and bring the corpses to him to extract them for their Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments, but that was all Michael had to do. Yet, Michael did much more than that. He never stayed idle and charged ahead whenever a powerful enemy appeared before them. Michael was the first to give his utmost and risk sustaining lethal injury as long as that meant he could protect his people.

    He was the strongest, yet he never forgot his kindness and generosity. But that made it even more difficult for Kaleb to hate him. He would love to hate him because it would make everything so much easier. Kaleb¡­wouldn''t have to loathe himself for being jealous of Michael, the influence he had on other people, his powers, and the respect and unbreakable loyalty everyone gave him without a second thought.

    Even Tiara was dead loyal to him. She was already busy taking care of her race and trying her utmost to give her people everything they needed to grow stronger, but that didn''t stop her from being loyal to Michael. Tiara and Michael connected something nothing could rece. No one could rece Michael. Tiara would always consider him the brightest star in the darkest night. He was her everything.

    Michael was the reason she regained everything she''d thought to never see again. Because of Michael, Tiara could grow stronger. She stayed by his side, first as his Battle Maid when Michael was still weaker than her, then as partners in the fight against the countless forces attacking them in the Untamed Jungle. At this point, Tiara wasn''t his right hand anymore. She was too busy with her people to retain the duty. Still, losing her position as Michael''s right hand crushed her. She was not herself anymore for several months.

    But that was Michael''s decision, and Tiara had to ept it.

    ''Why is he so perfect? Make him do a mistake or something like that. There is no way Michael is without fault!'' Kaleb cursed, watching Michael help the Super Awakened get used to their new Soultrait Symbols.

    The fights against the Supreme Human Alliance had yet to start for the Super Awakened, but Michael wasn''t in a rush. He wanted to inspect them first to assess theirbat prowess. He had to know what enemies they could deal with and what types of enemies were too much.

    The assessment didn''t take long. Every Super Awakened was strong enough to fight and kill someone an entire Tier above them. The Higher LIfeforms had a hard time dealing with Divine Lifeforms, but most were already close to advancing to Tier-6 or had already advanced to Tier-6 in the first ce. That made it much easier to deal with Divine Lifeforms.

    Furthermore, Divine Lifeforms didn''t take High Awakened seriously in most cases. They would fight them half-heartedly, expecting the High Awakened to die with a simple p. The Super Awakened were supposed to abuse that until they reached the Mid or Late ranks of Tier-6.

    Kaleb was already strong enough to fight a Divine Lifeform but was only one of many. He¡­wasn''t special.

    Since he joined Michael''s territory, Kaleb had given his utmost to grow stronger and transform into a proper powerhouse¡­ an especially powerful Awakened of Michael''s Subordinates. He wouldn''t feel so bad to be near Michael all the time then. At least he could pull his weight and be considered a crucial link in Michael''s forces.

    But Kaleb wasn''t alone with that. He was only one of countless hard-working Awakened. He might have had an advantage with 7-Star Frozen Nova and still had an advantage over everyone else, but the gap between him and the other Super Awakened wasn''t noteworthy. Some worked even harder than Kaleb.

    That irked him almost as much as Michael being his age and on the way to attain godhood. How was that even possible in the first ce? Shouldn''t it be harder to attain godhood? Well...for most that was a hard thing to do...but for Michael? ...

    ''I need to grow stronger. I have to be someone useful. Otherwise, will I be able to contribute to the Supreme Human Alliance''s destruction? What¡­if I''m not needed¡­ Why am I even alive then? Michael could have killed me. His effort has to be worth¡­something.''

    Michael had long since noticed the Mind Demons of some Super Awakened. He didn''t intervene, but they were obvious. Their Links of Loyalty showed Michael exactly what was going on inside his subjects. Their doubts and worries were imprinted in his mind.

    But Michael didn''t do anything to help the Super Awakened, who doubted their prowess. Maybe those with inferiorityplex could be helped by encouraging them and telling them how great they were but that could backfire as well.

    Michael wasn''t going to risk that. Instead, he was going to show them how great they were.

    The Super Awakened''s first fight was about to begin.

    The fight against their Mind Demons and the Supreme Human Alliance.

 Chapter 986 First Brawl

    Chapter 986 First Brawl

    Michael teleported them inside the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory. Nobody really knew their exact coordinates, but it wasn''t like their exact position changed anything. Only Michael had to know all of it to use Slipstream in the case of an emergency.

    But there was no emergency ahead, other than them attacking the Divine Academy flooded with Divine Lifeforms as instructors. The Divine Academy was massive and covered the entire - albeit a rtively small one. Still, there was not a single weak entity on the. Even more interesting was that the entire was protected by several Tier-8 Hyumans, various fortresses and so forth.

    At least, it was supposed to be like that. There were supposed to be several Hyuman Fortresses, several dozen devices concealing the Divine Academy and protecting it from prying eyes, and so forth.

    Michael released them onto the small called Keiros and told them to act as they pleased. He mentioned the Blood Incursion and that it was possible to find victims who''ve been resisting Blood Incursion but not to hesitate if they''ve already fallen victim to it. Blood Incursion was devilish, and Michael would have loved to help everyone, but he was only one person. No matter how strong he was, it required too much time, effort, and resources to rescue a single Blood Incursed Human. The longer the Blood Incursion had befallen them and the easier it had affected them, the more time and resources would be needed.

    Once Michael disappeared, countless explosions resounded throughout the surroundingary system.

    "Our Lord is a very¡­unique person," A Berserker pointed out as the explosions unfolded, and everyone nodded in unison.

    "I guess he destroyed the Hyuman Fortresses with some of the power he''d umted in his God Curse. I heard he used his God Curse to take something from the Altors Union and has been using the energy umted within the stolen objects to y around," Lokai said, her eyes trailing the explosions. Some wererger, while others were small, almost inconspicuous. "If that''s how our Lord fights, I would much rather avoid bing his ymate," The Berserkerughed, and the others joined with a chuckle.

    Kaleb tilted his head but shrugged atst. He turned to the Divine Academy''s main hall, coated his body in the Frozen Nova Armor, and released a burst of energy to close the distance. He kicked the ground while circting a massive amount of energy through his body and moved forward. A small blob of Frozen Nova''s power gathered at the tip of his fingertip. It was a trace of its essence, further augmented by one of his Soultraits. Kaleb released it toward the nearest wall of the Divine Academy''s main hall. The tiny blob sttered and disappeared. At first, it looked like nothing major happened, but the wall was frozen and cracked suddenly. Kaleb snapped his fingers, and the wall, made from a material that could endure the physical and elemental attacks of a newly ascended Divine Lifeform fairly easily, crumbled.

    Kaleb jumped into the main hall through the massive hole and pointed at it with a smile, "I like this panorama window. Sorry if I broke something."

    He grinned at the sight unfolding before him. Hundreds of students were being taught about the way of the Supreme Human Alliance. They were meditating with several Instructors seated at the upper end. The Instructors'' eyes were closed as their entire focusy on the surrounding energies. They only opened their eyes when Kaleb conjured several icicles made of Frozen Nova Essence. The icicles nearly pierced their eyeballs and would have exploded, freezing their skulls and brains in one go.

    Unfortunately, the Instructors caught the icicles and crushed them before they could do any major harm. But that didn''t mean they didn''t inflict any damage. Kaleb might have hoped for the Instructors to die quickly, but he had expected them to respond ordingly. That was why he had enhanced Frozen Nova, pushing it to its strongest form, using multiple Soultraits and an almost perfect Soullife Arts simultaneously.

    Most of his Soultraits werepatible with each other, but Frozen King, Emperor Poison, and Perfect Mastery worked especially great with each other.

    Both Frozen King and Emperor Poison were 6-Star Soultraits, Frozen King granted ess to the ice element of various attributes. It also strengthens all existing types of Ice Elemental Soultraits, including Frozen Nova. Emperor Poison didn''t seem to work well with Frozen Novam, but it was oddlypatible with Kaleb and Frozen Nova. Once applied to Frozen Nova, the Emperor Poison epted various freezing properties of the Frozen Nova''s ice. It augmented them and pushed them to an even higher level. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Emperor Poison could create various poisons, but most of them were lethal once they reached the bloodstream. However, there were also some poisons that required a mere touch to kill the target within a minute. Even Divine Lifeforms struggled to block the poison. That was exactly what happened as the Instructors grasped and shattered the icicles.

    Emperor Poison had been applied to the icicles, freezing the target''s hands right after the poison was applies, slowly corroding their frozen hands before proceeding to move onward. Under normal circumstances, frozen hands couldn''t nourish poison well, but Frozen Nova and Emperor Poison worked almost perfeclty together. The altered poison worked better under such circumstances. It spread faster in the cold.

    Kaleb ignored the meditating students, most of them were either around his age or not much older and younger. It was a weird sight and tried to make him remember something he had already forgotten. The Instructors looked at Kaleb and jumped up. Their Artifacts manifested all over their bodies, but they reacted a little slowly.

    To be precise, they didn''t react slowly. It was just that Kaleb was much faster and stronger than before. He might only have advanced to Tier-6 a few days before Michael arrived, but his body was stronger than the norm. His 6-Star Soultrait, Frost Titan, had already transformed and shaped Kaleb''s body, pushing him closer to a perfectly attuned creature. His attunement toward all ice elements couldn''t be any better at his rank and Tier.

    He unleashed a fury of attacks and activated Elemental Summon to summon a massive cia Giant, which blocked one of the Instructors for a moment. The remaining enemies encountered a wave of poisonous ice, which they blocked with their energy membranes. However, instead of blocking them perfectly, the poisonous ice prated their defenses and poisoned their energy membranes, slowly draining their energy. They were forced to infuse more energy into their defenses to maintain the energy membrane as it decayed and froze simultaneously.

    Kaleb controlled Frozen Nova precisely and triggered Infinite Ice, a Soullife Arts that allowed Kaleb to create and control a near infinite amount of Frozen Nova''s ice with little energy. Maintaining the Soullife Arts drained his Soul Power and Lifeforce rapidly, but that was a fair exchange. After all, Infinite Ice allowed Kaleb to weave Frozen Nova''s ice like water and gas. He shaped it at will, transforming it into whatever he desired. Several arms sprouted from his upper body, each wielding a massive frozen sword. It jut from his Frozen Nova Armor and was clearly made from his Soultraits, but it responded and moved like the average arm of a powerhouse like Kaleb.

    He appeared before the first Instructor and released a series of dozens of shes in quick session. cia blue arcs filled the air, but none of them inflicted any damage. The Instructor blocked the blows with his Divine Sword Artifact. Still, the damage was done. Not to the Instructor, but his weapon. The Divine Sword Artifacts blocked and shattered the frozen arms, but they didn''t inflict any serious injuries on Kaleb. Before the de could reach him, it was already growing heavier.

    The Emperor Poison and Frozen Nova had infested the de, seeking for the tiniest ws and openings to invade. When they didn''t find the ws, they created them. Kaleb was suffering, not from injuries caused by the enemy who couldn''t reach him, but by his own actions. The Soullife Arts drained him quickly, and he understood it was time to end the fight. Thus, he used one of the most controversial Soultrait Symbols in Michael''s possession. He didn''t acquire it from Michael directly but purchased it to cope with one particr fact. What would happen if someone stronger than him appeared, or someone with a 9-Star Pyro Elemental Soultrait were to appear and he didn''t want to flee?

    Would he have to die?

    Not necessarily. The answer was simple.

    Demon Seal, a simple 5-Star Soultrait, was the answer he''d sought.

    Kaleb unleashed the Demon Seal he''d engraved inside his Energy Pir for thest few years. He''d infused his excessive energy alongside the Frozen Nova Essence into the Demon Seal, knowing deep down that the more energy he was going to store inside it, the more destructive the Soultrait was going to be.

    He might have to recharge it every single time to unleash the same prowess as today, but Kaleb was tired of being an ordinary folk. He wanted to retain the glory and praises of the Zentika house. He wanted to be special again. Thus, Kaleb paid the price.

    The ice spreading throughout the entire main hall of the Divine Academy shattered. It shot in all directions, only to freeze in time and be sucked in Kaleb''s direction. Kaleb''s Soultrait devoured the ice, shaped his body, and altered his skin color for the duration of the Demon Seal''s active augmentation.

    Kaleb''s skin turned cia blue and the white in his eyes transformed into a sapphire. At least, that was what it looked like as the scenery around him changed. His presence increased manyfold and the Instructor facing him opened his eyes in shock. His eyes bulged further as a massive w, cia blue in color, pierced through his chest.

    The Instructor froze to death and shattered as Kaleb pulled his w back.

    His body cracked as the changes continued, and horns jutted from his body.

    Momentarily, he contained the power of a Greater Demon King.

    That was enough to deal with the remaining Instructors.

 Chapter 987 Same Tactics Different Power

    Chapter 987 Same Tactics Different Power

    Frederik and more than a dozen Super Awakened watched Kaleb in awe. They followed Kaleb when he charged into the building but slowed to study the surroundings intently. Kaleb wasn''t vignt, but that wasn''t needed with the power he''d unleashed. His first barrage of attacks was already enough to push the Instructors of the Divine Academy into a tricky situation. Neither expected an attack on their educational center like this, and they responded too slowly. Frederik and most others knew Michael was the reason they could attack the Divine Academy in the first ce, but nobody thought about that at this moment. Everyone was bbergasted at the power Kaleb unleashed. When he transformed into a Greater Demon King, the Super Awakened retreated in fear. However, they couldn''t stay back and do nothing for long. Kaleb''s presence might be terrifying and the sight of him smashing Divine Lifeforms into smithereens was shocking, to say the least, Kaleb''s actions were also loud enough to pull the students of the Divine Academy out of trance.

    Under normal circumstances, pulling the students out of trance might have been great, but Frederik and others had been hoping to avoid hunting the students. Most of them were innocent and had been affected and transformed by Blood Incursion. They were like Kaleb, Zeke, and Alice. Innocent and forced to do things they would have never done if they had been given a choice. But nobody was given a choice through Blood Incursion.

    The students got up ¨C those in the first few rows tried to stand up, only to be victims of the massacre between Kaleb and the Instructors ¨C and turned to the Super Awakened to charge. Frederik and some others curse, whereas Lokai, Thaor, and the remaining Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs push forward. Michael, Reba, and a handful of researchers had told everyone about Blood Incursion, how devastating it was, and that it wasn''t possible to rescue many people during a mission like today''s. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    They could try and rescue those they''d known in the past, or everyone still rebelling against the corrupting powers of Blood Incursion but had to remain decisive against those attacking them. That was not only for their safety but also for the safety of their allies. It was not okay if they endangered their own lives, but it was uneptable to put their allies'' lives at risk.

    Michael made that clear more than once, and everyone acknowledged his sentiments. Thus, Frederik jumped into action. He nced at Kaleb''s fight ¨C massacre might be the better word for it ¨C onest time before focusing on the task ahead.

    ''I will give you all a quick death. Your suffering will end soon. Just endure it a little longer.'' He spoke in his mind while gathering his power.

    It had been a while since he upgraded Enhanced Wind and Wind Mastery to 5-Star, but it was only recently when Michael pushed enough SoulStar Fragments into him to transform Aeroan into a 7-Star Soultrait.

    Frederik never understood how he deserved a friend like Michael, but it was Michael who thanked Frederik for always giving his utmost to grow stronger while simultaneously wasting no time and effort to expand the territory, socialize with the other Lords of the Untamed Jungle to learn about their traditions, their standing among their brethren, their feelings about Michael''s actions, and much more.

    Frederik was among the most hard-working Awakened among the Super Awakened, and he was also a loving father and husband. Despite training almost all day, Jacqueline and his little baby boy spent enough time with Frederik. Frederik Kolbenheim never rested. If anything, meditating could be considered his only ''rest'' and even during that time, Frederik was growing stronger.

    Michael was of the opinion that Frederik deserved this kind of reward, which had nothing to do with the rewards the Super Awakened had received. It was an independent reward and a necessity to ensure Frederik would stay one of the strongest Super Awakened. He and Hiraku were the leading forces of the Untamed Awakened, the Super Awakened, and Michael''s military forces, after all!

    Frederik gathered the power of Aeroan within him while ensuring Enhanced Wind would augment Aeroan as much as possible. Simultaneously, he relied on his Wind Mastery tap into his other Soultrait Symbols,bining Aeroan with Eye of the Storm, Energy Typhoon, and Maximized Efficiency.

    Frederik''s Energy Pir was no more. It had been reced by an Energy Typhoon, which wasn''t quite unlike the Energy Vortex. It aided Frederik''s War Rune refinement and elerated the process, but the most important part was the Energy Typhoon''s ability to create the purest wind-attributed energy. In fact, it could only create wind-attributed energy. Energy Typhoon,bined with a Primordial graded Body Refinement Technique he''d bought after years of saving up, was enough to attune his body perfectly to the wind-attributed energy. It was much better than his Inheritance technique, which felt like a cheap copy of some Superior graded techniques. Frederik''s standards were on a different level at this point.

    He took a deep breath, tapped into his Soultrait Symbols, and created fourpressed wind des. The wind des didn''t look any special, but they were different. Two were weaker and didn''t feel like anything special to a Higher Lifeform, one was a little special and would harm Tier-4 powerhouse, and thest was incredibly powerful. It was almost like Frederik''s power was umted within the final wind de.

    Still, Frederik released all of them with a burst of energy. They heed hismand and whizzed through the air. The weakest wind des burst to the sides while the strongest shot forward, beheading a Tier-6 Awakened before he could even channel energy through his body. He continued running while his head slid to the ground. The fountain of blood spurted through the surroundings long after the strongest wind de with terrifying velocity had already beheaded three more victims.

    The slightly weaker de didn''t attract much attention. Everyone was either focused on the Super Awakened or the strongest wind de. The Tier-4 Blood Incursed Hyuman didn''t even notice when the de reached them. It was too slow and inconspicuous to attract their attention, yet once it appeared before them, it was just as deadly as the high-velocity wind de. Multiple students were killed, given a quick death, in the first few seconds of Frederik''s attack.

    He did the same with the weakest wind des. He was a bit ashamed to attack Lesser Lifeforms, but the Hyuman students had bloodred eyes and had already lost themselves in the Blood Incursion. Killing them quickly was the best death he could give them.

    ''The Supreme Human Alliance has to die. I won''t rest before the SHA ceases to exist.'' He swore to himself, imagining his little son having to go through the same thing as Kaleb, Zeke¡­or Lincoln.

    No. The Supreme Human Alliance was not allowed to stay!

    Coming to a conclusion, though the result was obvious ¨C it had always been ¨C Frederik channeled more energy into his attacks. The high-velocity wind de elerated and beheaded more enemies while his other attacks surprised more helpless Hyumans.

    The others weren''t surprised by Frederik''sbat prowess, but the efficiency with which he killed his enemies was several times higher than it used to be. Frederik had yet to reveal the names of his other Soultraits, and since his attack pattern didn''t change much ¨C he was still using wind des, like always ¨C nobody could tell what exactly had changed.

    All everyone could tell was that something was different.

 Chapter 988 Blood Reaper

    Chapter 988 Blood Reaper

    Frederik levitated above the ground, studying the Divine Academy''s students as they charged the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. Not everyone attacked them at once, but every student did their fair share of work. Some used their Soultraits to strengthen their allies, while others focused on weakening their enemies. But there were also those with Soultraits that couldn''t be used well inbat. They had been kidnapped and forced into Blood Incursion because their Soultraits were useful for tasks other than fighting. After all, a massive organization such as the Supreme Human Alliance desperately needed more than justbatants. They had to be managed, financed, equipped, and so forth.

    Frederik studied the men and women intently and beheaded everyone attacking the Super Awakened. They were their enemies if their Soultraits were active and applied to affect the Super Awakened.

    Frederik''s wind des inflicted tremendous damage. Their momentum didn''t decrease even after they cut through the necks of dozens of enemies. The energy influxes entering his body were annexing and used to refine his War Rune and replenish his energy reserves. Taking a deep breath, Frederik unleashed one of his Soullife Arts through Aeroan. The wind des turned invisible simultaneously and elerated again. Hundreds of students died at his hands in the following minutes. Some High Awakened tried attacking him, but the projectiles were blocked, and the mental attacks endured with ease. Eye of the Storm helped him keep hisposure and enter a trance-like state, drastically increasing hisbat power. Maximize Efficiency did exactly what the name suggested. It maximized the efficiency of Frederik''s intended attacks. If he desired to kill a Divine Lifeform, the Soultrait would aid the creation of the strongest possible attack, whereas trying to kill tens of thousands of enemies would end up with the creation of wind des like the ones Frederik had already conjured. The wind des were precisely calcted to consume little to no energy whilepleting their designated task.

    But while Frederik did something amazing, he wasn''t the only one on the battlefield. Almost 200 Super Awakened were spread all across Keiros to attack and conquer the Divine Academy.

    Just as Frederik thought therge hall would be conquered in the next few minutes, he and the others saw more students and Divine Lifeforms entering. Themotion attracted their attention, and they came to help.

    Frederik hesitated only for a quarter of a second before he attacked, but the others didn''t hesitate at all. Thaor used his Crimson Aura with Red Giant, which he''d pushed to a 6-Star Soultrait not long ago. Unleashing the same oldbo as usual, Thaor''s body expanded until he was five meters tall. His muscles bulged, and the stered stone underfoot cracked wildly as he pushed forward.

    He activated 5-Star Master of Combat, his old Soultrait that he had upgraded once, to inspect the battlefield with extraordinary perception, and he went above and beyond by activating his newly acquired Soultraits: 6-Star Reaper, 5-Star Blood Power, 5-Star Diamond Bones, and 6-Star War Core.

    Both Reaper and Blood Power temporarily enhanced Thaor''s power whenever he killed or injured someone. Reaper absorbed the souls of the deceased, drained the power they''d umted in their lifetime, and transformed it into Thaor''s power. A portion of it would be pushed into his Energy Pir to refine his War Rune faster than the norm, but most of it amplified Thaor''s power level.

    Blood Power was simr, but it was easier to apply. Every cut inflicted to an enemy by Thaor would both replenish his stamina and energy, but also increase his power level by a fraction. The power-up wasn''t immense, but it increased the amount of blood spilled out of the wounds inflicted by Thaor.

    The longer a battlested, the stronger Thaor would grow. That wasn''t very useful in an ordinary spar or a short fight, but every warfare was a golden opportunity for Thaor. As long as the battlessted long enough, Thaor could easily kill Tier-7 Divine LIfeforms¡­en masse. Since the increase in power granted through Blood Power and Reaper were immense and too much for the body to endure at some point, Thaor was forced to ept 5-Star Diamond Bones, which altered his bone structure forever, strengthening it over and over again. Diamond Bones had an active effect too, but the permanent change had been the priority. Still, Diamond Bones was a powerful Soultrait that came in handy, not only because it helped Thaor grow stronger through Reaper and Blood Power but also because it augmented the damage inflicted through his punches and kicks. Diamond Bones altered and reinforced every single bone in his body after all.

    War Core was a little bit moreplicated, but it was also partially used to ensure that Reaper and Blood Power wouldn''t augment Thaor too much for his body to handle. His Energy Pir was slowly transforming into a War Core, arge marble that refined energy faster duringbat. The more ferocious the fight, the faster the War Core worked. But that was only one of its multiple effects.

    The War Core augmented Thaor''sbat prowess and raw power but also increased his chance of attaining enlightenment duringbat, drastically in deadly fights. It pushed Thaor to his limit and helped him to go above and beyond.

    That was exactly what Thaor demonstrated in the battle against the Divine Academy. First, he attacked the High Awakened students charging fearlessly at him. Thaor crushed some of them, smashed their heads into smithereens, and squashed some of them to death. Their deaths filled Thaor with power, which he unleashed onto the Hyuman students without a trace of hesitation. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Supreme Human Alliance''s actions had caused fear and destruction all over the Tritan Alliance. If not for Michael, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would have ceased to exist¡­or they would have been forced into very, which wasn''t much better than death to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. If not for Michael, the Hyumans would have won.

    Thaor filled that thought with anger. His help wasn''t needed, which was eptable, but it wasn''t okay for the Supreme Human Alliance to continue to exist. Thaor was more than willing to give his utmost, even his life, if that''s what it needed to obliterate the Supreme Human Alliance.

    The Divine Lifeforms in the hall had been taken care of. Kaleb killed them all, transforming them into ice statues before smashing them into countless little pieces, ensuring they were dead and would never see the light of life ever again.

    Kaleb''s transformation ended and he reverted back to his original appearance before copsing to the ground. A faint smile blossomed on his lips, but smiling was already exhausting enough. He felt like every cell of his body had been frozen and drained of its lifeforce and energy. Hey there, struggling to retrieve a healing potion and remove the cap of the ss vial.

    Still, no matter how painful moving around was, Kaleb was happy. He was alive and managed to kill a few DIvine Lifeforms without anyone''s help.

    He was strong enough to be of use.

    That felt great!

    Frederik, on the other hand, was still full of power. He cleansed the hall of Lesser Lifeforms, obliterated the Tier-4 High Awakened and ended the lives of those High Awakened who didn''t expect their heads to be severed from their dead angle.

 Chapter 989 Studies

    Chapter 989 Studies

    The Divine Academy was bigger than a single massive main hall. Countless halls were spread across Keiros, filling the with the training grounds and resources needed to aplish a few things. First, the Divine Academy was where all prospects with enough potential to be true powerhouses were trained. They received resources and the necessary Ancient Ruins to unlock their hidden potential.

    But the most important aspect of the Divine Academy were theboratories. The Divine Academy had multipleboratories used for two particr tasks: To produce Blood Incursion and inject it into the students sent to the Divine Academy.

    Michael knew of multiple ces like this one, but the Divine Academy was the biggest. That was also why so many Divine Lifeforms protected it.

    Keiros was located near the center of the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory and protected by dozens of Hyuman Fortresses. However,pared to the other Hyuman Fortresses, these were protected much better. Each Hyuman Fortress was manned by a dozen Divine Lifeforms, each possessing a powerful Soultrait, some even two. But that was not all. The Hyuman Fortresses were also equipped with various devices used to weaken Demi-God, restrain their power temporarily, and ensure certain powers were more effective against them.

    Michael didn''t know everything about the devices in their possession, but he didn''t care too much either way. He used Unlimited Enhancement on Gxy of Elements, added Emperor Qi, Soul Tears of Soul Grimoire, True Extraction, and thepressed pure energy within the Void Ingots obliterate the enemy forces.

    To be precise, Michael consumed the Void Ingots stored in the Swallow Domain storage via Permute to unleash Swallow Domain again. He swallowed the Hyuman Fortresses ¨C without wasting his precious energy on devouring the Higher Lifeforms and Divine Awakened. Michael left them alive but killed them swiftly. Emperor Qi Swords en masse were more than enough to kill the Higher Lifeforms while using his other Soultraits was probably overkill when it came to eliminating Tier-7 Divine Lifeforms. But Michael didn''t care. He used as much power as he thought to be necessary to eliminate his enemies before they could sound the rm. The explosions created by Gxy of Elements exposed him a little, but Michael moved fast enough through theary system to devour the Hyuman Fortresses built throughout it within seconds. Michael didn''t stop the time, but his actions were fast. He first devoured all Hyuman Fortresses, wasting a precious portion of the stored Void Ingots, before ying the Hyumans.

    Michael''s actions were fast and precise. He''d calcted the danger level dozens of times to ensure the Super Awakened wouldn''t suffer from defeat. Maybe there were many Divine Lifeforms on Keiros and in theary system, but the Tier-8 powerhouses had been deployed to the Novix Gxy''s border. The sudden appearance of 600 Divine Lifeforms strong enough to fight Tier-8 Hyumans came as a surprise, forcing the Supreme Human Alliance to stretch their defenses thin.

    Thus, since the inner areas of the Supreme Human Alliance hadn''t been attacked for centuries, the SHA''s authorities chose to remove the Tier-8 Hyumans from defending ces like the Divine Academy. There was no need to be afraid of the attack of powerful enemies. The Divine Academy was protected by more than enough Divine Lifeforms even after the Tier-8 powerhouses left.

    Unfortunately, that wasn''t true. The Supreme Human Alliance suffered a major bacsh for their actions, but that was expected. Either the Supreme Human Alliance would have ignored the border to the Novix Gxy, which would have cost them the Novix Gxy and exposed the Genox Gxy to the Altors Union, or they would be forced to change their tactic, stretch their forces thin all across their frontlines and fight more defensively than they did until now.

    The Supreme Human Alliance chose to switch to defense, inevitably thinning their defenses. Maybe that would have worked under normal circumstances, but Michael didn''t give them normal circumstances. Everything he did was an anomaly, more or less.

    Gathering 199 Super Awakened and teleporting straight to the inner area of the Supreme Human Alliance was certainly not normal. Nobody expected that, even though Michael''s actions had been confusing and weird. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Still, destroying the Hyuman Fortresses ¨C swallowing them ¨C and killing the Divine Lifeforms and High Awakened manned on the fortresses wasn''t all he did. He removed the defense system all over Keros, which also consumed a fraction of the stored Void Ingots'' energy. After that, Michael chose to visit theboratories.

    He wasn''t excited to visit some of theboratories where Blood Incursion was created, but it was necessary to go there. Destroying the ce instantly was also not the right choice. He could have done so, but finding out more about Blood Incursion may help him learn more about easier ways to produce a countermeasure.

    Once he learned how Blood Incursion was created up to the finest details of its production, Michael may be able to find a way to reverse Blood Incursion with something else. Maybe Reba could find a method to elerate the reversal of blood incursion or make it cheaper. Preferably both if possible.

    With that in mind, Michael teleported to the nearestboratory. The first thing he did was to wee the researchers with Emperor Qi Swords. He killed them without a second thought. Since Mind Watcher reached 8-Star, Michael didn''t even need the targets to be alive. It was enough if the targets died less than one hour ago. That condition was fulfilled, giving Michael more than enough time using Mind Reader to search through the researcher''s mind and find out as much as possible.

    That wasn''t enough. Thus, Michael used True Extraction Essence to extract as many Memory Orbs as possible. The situation wasn''t too great because Michael would much rather avoid consuming the Memory Orbs of those responsible for the creation and mass production of Blood Incursion, but there was no other way.

    Michael consumed close to a hundred Memory Orbs of the researchers and started his own research.

    A few hours ¨C in which he was also forced to pay attention to the otherboratories, his Super Awakened, and a few other things ¨C passed. The information he acquired through Mind Watcher and the Memory Orbs was intense but Michael had to digest everything properly and study more to find out if Blood Incursion could be reversed and what kind of aftermath the reversal of Blood Incursion would have on those infected for a short time and those infected for decades, if not centuries.

    [If I''m not wrong, we can create a slow-processing poison that works against Blood Incursion. It will affect the mind and soul of the victims, but you can also configure the poison to have certain effects that drain the target''s energy and nutrients to heal him faster. The victim''s soul and mind would be regenerated as it is destroyed, thus slowly removing the Blood Incursion''s effect, but the problem is that they need lots of energy and nutrients to survive.] Jormungandr came up with a solution, but Michael only shrugged.

    "Maybe that''s something we can focus on in the future. For now, this is a little bit too tricky. I''m not good with poison. Then again, if you want to work on it. Why not?"

 Chapter 990 God Call

    Chapter 990 God Call

    "The Divine Academy is under attack," A solemn voice resounded through a massive volcano.

    "I know. I''ve heard about it. I also know a Demi-God, a Curse User, did it. He used his God Curses'' Divinity and killed hundreds of Divine Lifeforms up until this point. What have you guys been doing?" A second voice, annoyed and unwilling to continue talking, rang out from the center of the volcano.

    "We cannot remove our Demi-Gods and 8th Tier Divinees from the front lines to deal with this Demi-God. He has a powerful spatial Soultrait that seems to pass through intergctic spatial distortion devices. We do not know how he did it, but we think it is rted to his Divinities. He has multiple God Curses and can channel their Divinities through his body. We¡ª...:" The first voiceing from an elderly man at the edge of the volcano pleaded.

    However, before he could finish his request, a young man emerged from the magma pool at the bottom of the active volcano. He levitated and ascended slowly until he reached the old man.

    "I am about to consolidate my Divinity, and you, or the higher-ups of the SHA, want me to leave at this moment and risk damaging my Divinity to deal with a mere Demi-God. I hope you are not serious right now. Even if I don''t damage my Divinity, I would risk my life by intervening in the games of the cosmic yground. Do you think I''m willing to risk an encounter with the Primal to get rid of your stupid problem?" The man asked, his ruby eyes staring deep into the soul of the old man.

    "I¡­didn''t you finish creating your Divinity. The others told me to report to you, saying the God Curses of the Curse User have something you''re looking for." The recently reborn God raised an eyebrow, resulting in droplets of magma trickling down his temples. He studied the man for a moment, and his hand shot forward. His fingers coiled around the old man''s forehead, who screamed in pain as the smell of burned skin and flesh filled the air.

    Foreign memories flooded God''s eyes and mind, informing him with every bit of intel he needed to know.

    "The Curse User has a nature-attributed Divinity Fragment and control of two, probably three God Curses? You are not sure about the third, but your research shows that one of the God Curses is the Beast God Fenrir, and the other one is¡­Jormungandr, right?" He let go of the old man, who had to nod fervently even though he was in unbearable pain.

    "And thest one is presumed to be Hel, who didn''t appear directly, but the Death Authority was perceived right before the appearance of two Undead Titans. The Demis managed to kill the Titans, indicating the Death Authority wasn''t strong enough to keep the Undead Titans alive¡­ It is almost like the Death Authority was channeled through a Divine Lifeform, who cannot yet handle a full-fledged Divinity." The God with the ruby eyes murmured, the corner of his lips curling upward.

    His golden hair sparked brightly and ignited. It burned fiercely but didn''t burn to ashes. No, his hair would never cease to burn if he didn''t want it to crumble and burn to ashes. The young man licked his lips in ecstasy, his eyes drilling into the elderly man. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I don''t need Fenrir, but are you certain about the high-quality Nature Divinity Fragment and Jormungandr?" The young man''s Divinity wasn''t weak but wasn''t perfect either. He had known how toplete the soul forging of his Divinity for a long time, but he never finished the process. Why? Because he had been searching for the final ingredient to create a perfect Divinity. A Divinity with one, if not multiple Authorities.

    "Jormungandr''s Divinity has been found. We are certain it is the World Serpent. Ancient documents verified our guess a few days ago. It is also the reason I came looking for you," The elderly man said with thest bits of courage in his body, "I hope I''m not toote. We know you said not to bother you and that you would finish your Divinity atst, but we thought you might want to check out this young Demi-God. Since he has ess to multiple Divinities and a Divinity Fragment, it shouldn''t be a problem to attack and research him. After all, your Divinity can still be altered."

    The God''s Divinity was formed not too long ago and was thus vtile. That being said, he could break it open and alter it for another year or two. All it required was some preparations.

    "The Primal doesn''t care about something like that. If you want me to kill that Demi-God, you will have to wait for a little. I need to break open my Divinity without damaging it," The young God dered in a matter-of-fact tone, shocking the elderly man.

    "Break open your Divinity? Is that really nec¨C..."

    "I told you I need time. The reason doesn''t concern you. Will the Supreme Court wait or deploy others to hunt this Curse User?" The God intervened.

    "We¡­do not think our average Demi-God can kill this Curse User. Even stalling him endangers the Demi-Gods and may lead to many unnecessary deaths. He has too many Divinities, Soultraits, and tricks up to his sleeves." The elderly man exined hesitantly.

    The young God raised an eyebrow but nodded. That made sense. Not all Demi-Gods were the same. In fact, some of the strongest Demi-Gods were strong enough to fight the weakest Gods head-on. It was no surprise that the average Divinity feared someone with multiple Divinities.

    "Stall him for a year, and you won''t have to see him again. The Supreme Court doesn''t have to worry about his existence anymore after that. I will im his Authorities and then rip him into shreds!"

    The elderly man didn''t know how to respond but nodded. He knew his life would end if he spoke up now. The young God had something up to his sleeves, and he wouldn''t change his n now that he had found a way to acquire one, maybe even multiple authorities. **

    The senses of the universe stretched far and with unfathomable detail, and those attached to it could perceive everything. Every use of a high-ranked Soultrait, every application of a Mythical Artifact, and every execution of a Divinity and the aftermath of its use were reported in shocking rity. The beings connected to the cosmos core could sense everything, including the intentions of the Gods. They perceived what was about to happen. It was almost like they could see into the future.

    ¡­

    Somewhere in the center of the universe ¨C in the midst of nothingness near the Beginning of All ¨C a pair of pitch-ck eyes opened for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years.

    The period of the Origin Awakening inched closer.

    It was only a matter of time before everything would change. Their time wasing.

 Chapter 991 Spared

    Chapter 991 Spared

    It was interesting to witness how slow traveling through space was for normal beings. The Supreme Human Alliance could equip powerful entities with teleportation devices or order Awakened with spatial Soultrait Symbols to respond to their attack on the Divine Academy, but there were a few particr points most missed.

    Michael had yet to encounter someone with a Soultrait like Slipstream. In fact, even Cosmic Stream at 5-Star had been incredibly unique. Michael couldn''t be certain about that, but he was confident that only one or two Hyumans with a 6-Star Spatial-type Soultrait would reside in the Supreme Human Alliance. If there had been more, the Supreme Human Alliance would have had better defenses against space travelers and more means to block the Divine Subordinates in the Novix Gxy.

    In fact, the Supreme Human Alliance would have had numerous ways to obliterate the Altors Union if there had been a Spatial Soultrait like Cosmic Stride at 6-Star or 7-Star

    But there was nobody like that, or they were busy doing other things. It didn''t really matter. All that mattered was that devices like the Compass Relic were incredibly rare and probably safely stored somewhere, and nobody could use them, as well as Michael, either way. Other space travelers could use them to travel themselves and maybe one more person across a fewary systems, but what was the use of that if they couldn''t jump entire gxies within a few minutes.

    Even bridges weren''t that fast. That was also why Michael wasn''t really concerned with the Divine Academy''s destruction. The Divine Academy might not be an easy threat and posed a considerable challenge, but his Super Awakened fought well. Some overdid it a little, but Michael pulled them out easily. Slipstream had already spread across Keiros, ready to teleport anyone wherever Michael wanted.

    If he had enough energy, Michael could teleport Keiros to a different ce as well. But he didn''t n to do so. There was no need to destroy the entireary system by altering the course of a single. Michael had something against the Supreme Human Alliance and not the they had civilized.

    Michael traveled to all theboratories and considered killing the remaining researchers, but it was Jormungandr who convinced him to spare them.

    [They''re not infected by Blood Incursion. Force them into a Link of Loyalty, create aboratory in the Sacred Desert or the Untamed Jungle, and get them to create a product that counters Blood Incursion.]

    Michaelughed aloud, scaring the researchers shitless when they saw the insanity in his eyes. They shuddered and tried to hit the rm, but Swallow Domain had already consumed every little means of defense.

    "To think the bastards who create Blood Incursion are not even infected. It looks like every single one of you knows what that disgusting thing does to your mind and soul!" Michael roared, his eyes glimmering dangerously. The overwhelming presence of the three God Curses gushed out of him, identally killing a handful of researchers instantly.

    Michael didn''t even think about feeling sorry for them. It might be a nuisance how they died, but their corpses were still valuable. Michael unleashed True Extraction on them and sucked them dry of everything the corpses once possessed. That was enough to make an example before the remaining researchers.

    "Either establish a Link of Loyalty with me and create a product that eradicates Blood Incursion without killing the victims, or something to reverse the effect of Blood Incursion, or everyone here will die¡­" He kicked the dry skeletons that were only shrouded in an empty husk of skin, "Like these disgusting things."

    It was no surprise to Michael when all researchers epted his ''offer''. They established Links of Loyalty with him and were thrown into the Sacred Desert where they were ordered to stay until a solution to the problem was found. Michael would provide them with everything they needed, but he wasn''t confident they would fare well in their ordeal. Still, Michael wanted to give it a try.

    [At least, these spineless rats studied Blood Incursion for decades. Some of those old fucks looked like they didn''t do anything but study Blood Incursion. Maybe you hit the jackpot with them.] Hel pointed out coldly, but Michael only shrugged.

    One way or another, Michael changed from destroying theboratories to devouring everything with Swallow Domain, only to throw it at the bound researchers and more than ten thousand workers whom he ordered to build arge-scaleboratory. They already had the blueprints and could purchase the ingredients Michael''s territory couldn''t procure through the Cosmic Shop. Michael wasn''t going to splurge his entire fortune researching how to reverse Blood Incursion, but his fundings were extensive enough to invest a considerable amount into it.

    Michael didn''t stay long in the Origin Expanse. He left right after his subjects heeded the orders. Once he was back in Keiros, Michael first studied the surroundings. He expected a few Demi-Gods or powerhouses of equal power to appear and rescue the Divine Academy, but it looked like they were too busy.

    [The Undead Titans, Cosmos Beasts, Altors Union''s forces, and a massive group of 600 Divine Subordinates capable of fighting Tier-8 Hyumans head-on aren''t easy to face. Plus, you tend to forget how many enemies the Supreme Human Alliance has. Didn''t you sell the Thorn Merchandise a bunch of Soultrait Symbols earlier?] Jormungandr said lightly, and Michael nodded.

    ''Since we are already talking about them. Should I sell them more Soultrait Symbols? I have more candidates to be Super Awakened and need more Origin Liquid. If the Thorn Merchandise has more, which it should have, they might want to strike a better deal. I can offer them a bunch of powerful Soultraits if they promise me to attack the Supreme Human Alliance more openly.''

    [That''s a possibility, but you must keep in mind that your actions destroy the bnce in the universe. If you share too many Soultrait Symbols ¨C especially powerful ones ¨C you are going to create an imbnce that will spark the start of far more intergctic wars than you may think. This can be problematic if you do not know who you''re giving you Soultrait Symbols.] Fenrir warned.

    ''If you are worried about that, you should have warned me earlier. The Altors Union''s deal fell through, but if it didn''t, they would have hundreds of powerful Super Awakened, who''ve already ascended to Divine Lifeforms.''

    [I knew the deal would fall through.]

    ''You did?'' Michael asked skeptically, but it was Jormungandr who called Cap. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [That''s bullshit, Fenrir! You don''t care about the bnce of power in the universe. I know that better than anyone. You are just a sick guy who loves ying around. You can ask your children if you don''t believe me. Do you want me to search for them and ask how much you''ve experimented with them, the Frost Giants, the Nightwatchers, and the Demons of the Silvercliff?!]

    Fenrir cleared his throat, which sounded funny to Michael, but the Beast God Curse remained silent. Maybe that was for the best.

    ''If the Supreme Human Alliance stirs more trouble, I will spread more Soultrait Symbols to Divine Lifeforms. They will thank me for that with Origin Liquid, which I will use to create more Super Awakened. That way, I can reprimand everyone receiving Soultrait Symbols from me if they stir trouble after the Titan War ends. That should work out if it doesn''t¡­.so be it. In that case, I will have to fight my very own creation.''

    Michael shrugged. If Sylth or someone else turned evil and against him or his people, Michael would terminate them. That was fine with him. They were old enough to make a choice, and as long as they had the guts to take responsibility for their actions, everything would be alright.

    Focusing back on observing the Super Awakened from above Keiros, Michael noticed a few interesting things.

    First, there was thebination of Kaleb and Frederik. Even though they didn''t join the fight with a single thought wasted on working with each other, their actions showed the opposite. Frederik focused on the students and ensured no High Awakened would reach Kaleb. He also ensured no Awakened could use Support Soultraits or Curse Soultraits to weaken Kaleb or strengthen the Instructors.

    That was another reason Kaleb survived against the Instructors. Once Michael pulled Kaleb out of the hall, Frederik changed his stance. He still fought valiantly, but part of him pulled those fighting against the effect of Blood Incursion to the side. Michael could already tell what Frederik was going to request from him, and he was going to ept the request.

    ''Thinking about it from a father''s point of view is truly a mess. I understand you, Frederik. But¡­that doesn''t make it easier.''

    Michael sighed deeply when he saw a few young boys and girls among the students in the Divine Academy. Frederik killed everyone who attacked them ferociously, knowing they couldn''t be salvaged, but everyone ¨C not missing a single Human or Hyuman ¨C trying to block Blood Incursion''s influence was rescued.

    That was praiseworthy, but it also meant Michael had to put in a lot of effort and resources to put them all into aa, establish a Link of Loyalty, and start working on their Blood Incursion in the same old way¡­except.

    Michael tilted his head.

    ''What if they remain in aa for a few years until you or the researchers have a better solution?'' [You want them to grow older and miss most of their childhood or teenage years only because you are toozy and stingy to give them your SoulStar Fragments?] Fenrir asked, but Michael could only curse.

    ''I fucking hate you. I was just asking a question. After all, I cannot rescue hundreds of struggling Hyumans simultaneously!''

    [That was a joke. Calm down, buddy.]

    ''I am not your buddy. This rtionship is a little bit too intimate to be buddies.'' Michael cursed quietly, ignoring the flood ofments from the God Curses.

    They were getting on his nerves. Or maybe not. The God Curses were actually entertaining to be around. If not for them, Michael would be struggling a lot more than he was currently doing.

    In the first ce, Michael would be in the Origin Expanse, focusing on expanding his territory rather than zig-zagging through the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory, provoking their Demi-Gods, hoping for some of them to arrive.

    After all, he wanted to kill a Demi-God and find out what would happen if he used True Extraction and Fenrir''s Divinity on their forming Divinity. Could he extract their Divinity and Insert it into his body?

    [I wouldn''t do that if I were you.]

    ''Why?''

    [Cause the Primal will hunt¨C... Actually, it doesn''t matter. The Primal will hunt you either way. Go for it. Go wild!] Michael smirked at that. He didn''t need anyone''s permission to act as he pleased, but it certainly felt good.

 Chapter 992: Demi Gods Arrival

    Chapter 992: Demi God''s Arrival

    The conquest of Keiros ended less than 24 hours after they arrived. They attacked fiercely and destroyed the Divine Academy, leaving no stone unturned.

    The Super Awakened stored the corpses of those they''d killed, while the survivors were pushed into an artifici through River of Vigor. It cost a lot more advanced healing serum than Michael had hoped, but rescuing more than 1,000 Awakened was worth it. They resisted the power of Blood Incursion and deserved a chance to survive and an opportunity to reim freedom.

    Once the Divine Academy was destroyed, Michael expected nothing else to happen. He was certain the battles of the day were over and that he and his people could leave. But that wasn''t the case.

    A pair of Hyumans appeared out of nowhere. One of them was a mere Higher Lifeform, but she disappeared mere seconds after they emerged near Keiros. At least, she tried to escape with her Relic, augmenting her spatial-type Soultrait.

    Slipstream might be a powerful teleportation Soultrait, but it was much more than that. At least once, it was upgraded to 9-Star. The Soultrait could control the spatial distortions in Michael''s range. The range depended on Michael''s mastery of the Laws of Space.

    Even though Michael''s mastery of the Laws wasn''t great, it wasn''t bad either. In fact, Michael''s understanding of the Laws of Space was much more extensive than most otherws. Michael had been studying the limits of teleportation and the means to break through the concealed spatial distortions to avoid getting caught by means like the Floating Union''s spatial distortion devices.

    His studies progressed quickly even though he hadn''t discovered anything new. But that wasn''t necessary. There was no need to learn new subjects rted to spacews. Imprinting the old, known Laws of Space into his mind while also unraveling theyers of knowledge the Slipstream Symbol had imprinted into his mind was more than enough to locate foreign distortions in space and temporarily conceal further distortions of the same kind. This would have been difficult if the opposing force was a Divine Lifeform with a powerful teleportation Soultrait, but the High Awakened was probably equipped with a 6-Star Space Soultrait, which had to be boosted by a Relic to teleport a single Demi-God to Keiros.

    Michael teleported the Super Awakened to the Nest with a wave of his hands and appeared behind the female High Awakened. The Demi-God spun around, unleashing a massive lightning bolt that would have burned Michael and the High Hyuman at once. If they remained at the same spot, that is.

    Michael teleported further away, his attention lingering on the High Awakened. A simple use of Domination crushed the High Hyuman''s mental defense, creating a massive opening for Mind Watcher to acquire as much information as Michael needed.

    He slit the High Hyuman''s throat after a quarter of a second and hurled her dying body toward the charging Demi-God. The Demi-God had short ck hair and azure-blue eyes. He was tall and had a lean physique, and his energy system revealed a few more secrets. The Demi God''s energy paths were filled with lightning currents rather than the average energy, and his body was riddled with old scars. Some scars affected his energy system, but there were only a few of that kind.

    The Demi-God unleashed a lightning bolt toward the High Hyuman, sttering her dying body in countless pieces, only to retain his momentum and appear before Michael a quarter of a secondter. Michael studied the Demi God and frowned deeply.

    ''I think I can handle him on my own.'' Michaelmented when the God Curses were about to channel their Divinities through him.

    He activated all Seals and initiated Curse Fusion. The serpent scale armor, alongside the serpent tail, grew out of his body. His eyes transformed into a pair of predatory eyes, his hair extended, and the right side of his body¡­died and corroded. If not for the Curse Fusion with Hel, River of Vigor would have activated, healing the dying right side of his body. However, the Death Authority, coursing through him, restrained Death to his right side.

    His hands were about to transform into ws, but Michael prevented that step. He allowed the serpent scale armor to cover his hands and applied Greater Enhancement to his body.

    Michael didn''t hesitate to use Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique to amplify his physical prowess. Michael''s body creaked and cracked, trying to get used to the tremendous power surging through him, but it wasn''t like there was much time to adapt.

    The Demi-God appeared before Michael, his hands d in ck lightning currents as he punched out. The Demi-God was much faster than expected, but Michael blocked the first punch nheless. He would have tried evading the attack, but the punch was too fast. Michael raised his arms to block the attack, only to realize the tremendous power of the Demi-God when the attack impacted him.

    The punch was already enough to crush the serpent-scale armor, but the ck lightning currents did additional damage. They swept inside Michael''s body, burning his skin, flesh, and energy vessels. Michael''s right arm was useless after the first attack, yet the Demi-God didn''t slow down. There was no way the Demi-God would give Michael an opportunity to regenerate. He unleashed a fury of punches in Michael''s chest, face, and left arm, ready to kill Michael after a few attacks.

    Michael blocked all attacks. The first two punches were blocked with his body, whereas the remaining blows were blocked by the Imperial Barrier''s weakest form. The barrier absorbed the ck lightning currents first as they impacted before the punch reached Michael. That, however, was more than fine. In fact, it was exactly what Michael needed to improve his serpent scale armor, his hand-eye coordination, and a few other factors that had been neglected in thest few years.

    The corner of Michael''s lip curled upward.

    "If you want to survive this, you have to show me more!" Michael teased the Demi-God, who continued bashing Michael with a series of dozens of attacks within a second. Michael blocked the attacks one by one. He wasn''t as fast as the Demi-God, but he had Seer with True Vision and could predict every attack a fraction of a second before it impacted. There was more to it, though. True Vision also saw how much energy and Divinity the Demi-God inserted into his attacks.

    At first, Michael was certain the Demi-God would slowly increase the intensity of his attacks, but he didn''t even tap into his Divinity Seed when Michael started retaliating. Once Michael finished analyzing the attack pattern of the Demi-God and the force of his punches and ck lightning currents, he could counter them easily with a slightly stronger form of Imperial Barrier.

    The Soultrait didn''t drain any energy since Michael applied True Extraction with Insert on the Imperial Barrier, creating a self-repairing barrier, which absorbed the surrounding energy, including the ck lightning currents.

    A fraction of the lightning currents were absorbed and transformed into just enough energy to strengthen the Imperial Barrier and block iing blows. That was perfect, but it was also why Michael was so confused.

    "Why are you not using your Divinity? Wait¡­" Michael''s eyes widened.

    "Did they actually deploy one of their weakest Demi Gods rather than someone who''s about to attain godhood?" He asked.

    "Foolish!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 993 Battle of Demi Gods

    Chapter 993 Battle of Demi Gods

    The Demi-God roared in anger and channeled more energy into his attacks.

    "I don''t need a Divinity to kill you, disgusting cretin!" He bellowed in between a series of heavy blows. Michael raised an eyebrow, but that seemed to worsen the Demi God''s mood. Michael''s barriers blocked all his attacks easily: "You are only an 8th Tier. I will kill you and get what I deserve!"

    Michael blinked at the Demi-God, unable to hide his surprise. Were all Hyumans like this? Delusional, narcissistic, andcking a few brain cells? He upped the power of his Imperial Barrier to block the follow-up attacks.

    "I''m not sure if you are arrogant or in stupid. Did you even ask your superiors about my powers, or did youe here thinking you could kill me with that kind of power?" Michael asked while channeling advanced healing serum through his body. His serpent scale armor was regrowing, and his burned energy paths and flesh regenerated rapidly. Only a few seconds passed before Michael looked like he had never been injured.

    Michael nced over to the remnants of the girl levitating in the open space and sighed.

    The girl didn''t know much about their mission. She had only been told to bring the Demi-God, Lanester ¨C or something along those lines ¨C to Keiros and leave right after. Her knowledge of Lanester was not extensive, but it was enough for Michael to deduct a few things.

    "You are merely a pesky Curse User who channels his Curse''s Divinity through your body! I will rip the Divinity out of your soul and make it mine!!" "Lanester, I don''t think you are aware of your situation. Don''t underestimate your enemies like this," Michael sighed. He wasn''t sure what the Supreme Human Alliance thought when they deployed Lanester to kill him. Did they underestimate him even after everything they''d seen him do.

    [What did you expect? I mean, this guy is one of the weaker Demi-Gods, but he is still a Demi-God. You shouldn''t underestimate him either.] Jormungandr pointed out while Fenrir growled.

    [The Supreme Human Alliance is stupid. They could have deployed one of their Pseudo Gods. A few Demi Gods are always postponing the Final Ascension to master an Authority. The SHA should have sent one of those people to take care of you. Or maybe they''re too afraid of the Primal to do that. I don''t know. It''s stupid to send this Lanester, though. Did they n to kill him before he turns into a problem?]

    Michael shrugged. He had no idea what the Supreme Human Alliance was thinking but considered their act as a means to stall for time. Maybe more Demi-Gods were already on their way to greet him. Was that it?

    "I have a few more high-ranked Soultraits than you and more than one God Curse, but you should have noticed that at this point. If you didn''t¡­well, it doesn''t matter. You will be dead in a few minutes ei¨C..." Michael didn''t finish his sentence but jumped into action instead.

    He was tired of defending and used Unlimited Enhancement on Seer''s Domination instead. Domination hit Lanester''s mind and soul but caused little damage. Michael teleported behind Lanester when the Demi-God retaliated to the mental attack with a barrage of lightning bolts. Michael essed the Death Authority that had blossomed inside his Soul Sphere and pressed his hand t against Lanester''s back. A momentter, a beam of Death burst through Michael''s right - undead - hand. The Death beam would have inflicted massive damage to Lanester if Michael hadn''t used Insert on the Death Authority, inserting Death straight into Lanester''s body.

    Michael''s Death Authority was not weak but far from reaching Hel''s level. That was okay, though. Michael tapped into the Power Authority, coiled his serpentine tail around the Hyuman''s leg to pull him closer, and executed a series of ferocious punches. Each punch with his undead side transferred a tiny portion of Death and poisonous curse power into the Demi God''s body. In contrast, the punches executed with his left hand focused on transferring True Extraction Essence into Lanester.

    The Demi God was surprised by the sudden retaliation, but he grasped the opportunity to be so close to Michael and went all out. Lanester''s entire body was covered in highlypressed lightning currents. The currents spurted in all directions for a fraction of a second before Lanester regained control. Then, the currents weaved into his skin and merged, transforming a ck lightning armor. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Once the armor was created, the Demi God''s speed improved drastically. He elerated and reached a top speed more than twice as fast as before. That was enough to escape Michael''s True Vision. Lanester moved around Michael with terrifying speed. He quickly released bolts of lightning from all directions, punched his shoulders, crushing his shoulder des once his attack went through the serpent-scale armor, and moved onward to crush his arms and legs and attack his neck.

    The attacks caused considerable damage, and Michael''s neck broke as well. From Lanester''s point of view, it looked like Michael wasn''t even trying to defend, but the opposite was the case. Michael had already retaliated by focusing on the Death, poison curse power, and True Essence lingering in Lanester''s body. It was a matter of fact that Michael wasn''t fast enough to follow Lanester. Maybe he could restrain the Demi God and slow him down, but that wasn''t his n.

    Michael regenerated faster than Lanester could injure him. That wouldn''t have been an issue for the Demi God, if Michael didn''t use Imperial Barrier to weaken or block deadly blows. Michael might not be physically faster, but his senses were on a whole different level. All his 8-Star and 9-Star Soultraits enhanced his energy perception, some more, others less. One way or another, Michael had the means to perceive the lethality of all iing attacks easily.

    Summoning an Imperial Barrier didn''t cost any time. It was instantaneous since Michael had enough energy channeled in all Soultrait Symbols to instantly activate them whenever needed.

    Again, Michael focused on destroying the insides of the Demi God. Lanester had burned the serpent tail, but Michael regrew it with an additionalyer of highly tempered earth, which coiled around the Demi God when his ess to energy was suddenly cut. For a quarter of a second, Michael unleashed the True Extraction Dome to suck the surrounding energy inside his body. Simultaneously, he used the True Extraction Essence within Lanester to cut his energy ess. Itsted only a quarter of a second, but that was enough to slow the Demi God.

    His tail coiled around Lanester''s legs, giving Michael just enough time to push forward and grasp Lanester''s head and shoulder with one hand each. Death moved through the Demi God''s shoulder and neck and drained the Demi God''s defenses.

    Atst, the Power Authority jumped into effect.

    "I told you," Michael said eerily calmly, "You will die."

    A momentter, Michael tore the Demi God apart.

 Chapter 994 Beastiel Galaxies

    Chapter 994 Beastiel Gxies

    Tearing the Demi God might have looked easy but it had required meticulous preparations. Draining the Demi God''s energy was only one of many conditions that had to be met.

    Once the Demi God''s energy reserves were below a certain threshold, the Death and poison curse power inside Lanester weakened his body. Michael focused Death and poison curse power on the Demi God''s neck and shoulders, further weakening these areas. The Divinity within Death Call was drained when the Demi God was weakened enough to unleash the Power Authority.

    He used the Divinity umted within the Primordial Vessel in one go, pushing his raw power to a new all-time high. Lanester tried blocking Michael''s attack, but his body was torn apart before his hands could tear through Michael''s chest and pierce his heart. The Demi God had attempted that with ast-ditch effort, but a doubleyered Imperial Barrier covering his chest was enough to block the attack.

    Actually, it wasn''t as simple as Michael made it seem. He was drained of all Divinity he''d umted and wasn''t yet adept at actively recovering Divinities. Still, the passive recovery of his recently blossomed Divinities would require a few weeks of constant energy influx to recover to their peak without help.

    That was a little annoying since Michael couldn''t even use Permute to transform the Void Ingots stored within Swallow Domain into Divinity Power. For that, he would have to understand more about his Divinities first. Jormungandr, Fenrir, and Hel could help him with that, but gaining a thorough understanding of his Divinities would require some more time.

    [It''s not like it matters. You can study our Divinities and keep fighting. As long as you don''t stay in the same position for too long, you won''t have any major problems for a while. Since the Supreme Human Alliance sent one of the weaker Demi-Gods to attack you, they must struggle to deploy their stronger forces. Either none of the Pseudo Gods are ready to face you and fear the Primal''s intervention, or they have another n. A n that gives you enough time to wreak a little bit more havoc.] Fenrir issued excitedly.

    Michael wasn''t as excited as Fenrir, but he understood the point.

    ''If the Supreme Human Alliance cannot respond to me immediately, I shouldn''t waste time recuperating my Divinity. It should be out there, killing more Hyumans.''

    That wasn''t exactly what Fenrir said, but it was also something Fenrir could have said. Michael''s train of thought fit perfectly to Fenrir''s persona.

    Once Keiros was cleared, all corpses collected, and the survivors put into an artifici, Michael brought the victims of Blood Incursion to his territory. Theatose Hyumans were brought to the Sacred Desert into arge structure near the construction site of the massiveboratory. Michael wasn''t in a rush, but there was no need to waste precious time in the ruins of the Divine Academy. The Hyumans were brought to the Sacred Desert within a few minutes. After that, Michael used Slipstream and teleported outside the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory, where he reunited with the Super Awakened.

    Michael gathered with them on an uncivilized in aary system and gxy, which had yet to be imed by anyone. He didn''t know much about the Gxy besides monsters ruling mosts. The Beast God Curses told him a little bit about the Beastial Gxies and how they were marked. Since this was one of the Bestial Gxies, Michael and other Divine Lifeforms weren''t allowed, but that was fine. Michael''s presence was more of a monster than that of an Awakened, either way.

    The Beast God Curses altered his presence over the years, leaving little of his old presence behind. As for the Super Awakened¡­ Higher Lifeforms were still epted in the Bestial Gxies. Some weaker races sought asylum in Bestial Gxies, knowing their potential wasckluster and that they were too low to ascend to Divine Lifeforms. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael was a little curious about the Bestial Gxies and how the Beast God Curses were rted to them ¨C they were very knowledgeable about the Beastial Gxies, and Michael couldn''t help but feel like Fenrir or Jormungandr had once been in charge of a few Beastial Gxies ¨C but it mattered little at the end of the day. Michael wasn''t going to stay long in the Bestial Gxies. Except if¡­

    ''No. That will stir even more trouble. I don''t think I should do that.''

    [But you could. I don''t think you understand how annoying the Supreme Human Alliance has been in thest few thousand years. A few Beastial Gxies were destroyed and conquered by the Supreme Human Alliance. Everyone can sense that you are the Lord of the Untamed Jungle. The Links of Loyalty with millions of monsters influenced your presence, just like our connection did. If you wish to talk to some Beast Gods, we can bring you to them and request the help of Emperor Beasts, Beast Princes, and the like.] Jormungandr said.

    ''I don''t think that''s necessary, but I will keep your words in mind.'' Michael thought about it a bit and tilted his head, ''In fact, how about we ry some information to the Beats Gods of the Beastial Gxies to prepare them for what is about to happen? I mean¡­we are almost certain the Primal will attack me sooner orter.''

    [You should message them.] Hel agreed as well.

    Michael nodded slowly before using Beast Halo. He summoned Jormungadnr, Fenrir, and Hel with a trace of their Essences and ignored the exmations of Super Awakened left and right to him. "The Beast Gods should know you. Tell them everything or whatever you want to say. I will establish a small post here to pull back and escape the Supreme Human Alliance''s radars. After all, we do not wish to rely on the Altors Union for protection." Michael pointed out.

    The three Beast Halos stared nkly at him while the God Curses inside him cursed a little, saying their Halos wouldn''t understand them. But that was wrong. The Beast Halos created with a trace of the God Curses'' Essence were near-perfectly ¨C though weaker ¨C replicas of the originals. They understood Michael very well and followed his orders.

    ''It would be great if you all would follow my orders as easily as the Beast Halos.''

    [Shut up!] Fenrir roared, while Jormungandr hissed threateningly, [We are still Beast Gods. Don''t underestimate our power and influence, kiddo!]

    Yes. Yes. The God Curses were powerful and influential. Still, they needed Michael. Of course, he also desperately needed their help, but the God Curses had much more to lose than Michael. Actually¡­that was not the case. They had the exact same to lose. Maybe Michael had even more to lose since he still had Alice, Lucia, and everyone else in his territory to lose if he died.

    ''Let''s ignore that for the time being. I think we have a lot of more important things to pay attention to. How about we do that and focus on those other things?''

    [Such as?] Hel asked. She was the calmest among the God Curses.

    ''How to damage the Supreme Human Alliance more while gathering more allies to deal with the SHA, their Pseudo Gods, and the Primal, of course!''

 Chapter 995 Laws and Authorities

    Chapter 995 Laws and Authorities

    Michael didn''t waste any time organizing the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates. He listened to the reports of the Super Awakened and made several mental notes about their fight in the Divine Academy, their actions, strengths, and weaknesses. Of course, Michael couldn''t observe everyone across the entire, but his senses and Slipstream''s range of control helped Michael locate some major weaknesses.

    Even with six or more Soultrait Symbols, the Super Awakened weren''t omnipotent. Theirbat prowess was higher than the norm, but even Micahel didn''t think of himself as a jack of all trades. By epting a wide variety of Soultrait Symbols, Michael was not ''perfect'' at anything. Though, if he was honest with himself, Michael was satisfied with his choice of SOultraits.

    They suited each other well and created dozens of powerfulbinations. However, Michael pursued something else with the Super Awakened. He hoped they would be ''perfect'' at whatever they desired the most. Of course, they would have to bepatible with whatever they desired, but thebination ofpatibility and desire made it easier to attain enlightenment. Michael experimented a lot with the Super Awakened but also asked them what they desired. Some hoped to be multitalented like Michael, while others wished to focus the other Soultrait Symbols around their Core Soultrait. That was something Kaleb and Frederik did. Their powers didn''t ''change'' a lot, but their main powers grew stronger. Sometimes, their attacks didn''t look different from when they were Lesser Lifeforms because they didn''t. The biggest change is the power level and mastery of their old powers.

    Michael established several teams for the Super Awakened. He made sure their powers and personalities werepatible, which would make future battles much easier.

    Once the Super Awakened teams had been established, Michael left them to train with each other for a week. The following week, Michael stayed with the Divine Subordinates. He collected the corpses of the enemies they''d killed and spread the Divine Subordinates across the Supreme Human Alliance''s defensive lines. They weren''t in small groups but instead put into groups of 30-50 Divine Subordinates. That way, they could wreak havoc wherever they went.

    It was fun to teleport the Divine Subordinates around every other day, but using Extraction on the corpses they brought was even better. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael didn''t rush anything but never stopped nourishing his soul and infusing more SoulStar Fragments into his other Soultrait Symbols. The process was long and arduous, but the gains were worth every bit of effort. With the support of 600 Divine Subordinates, whom Michael didn''t give any SoulStar Fragments or Soultraits as rewards, and the Super Awakened, who received a small portion of the gains Michael procured from their hunted prey, Michael gained millions of SoulStar Fragments every other day.

    At some point, Michael lost count of the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols he and his people had acquired from the countless Hyumans they''d in. There were simply too many enemies, and the SoulStar Fragments mountains were too massive to count. It was more like Michael couldn''t be bothered anymore. Why would he have to count the SoulStar Fragments if he reinvested them into his soul and Soul Sphere a few minutester?

    Even his Aethyr transformed, slowly shapeshifted, and nourished to gain more substance ¨C more Aether ¨C as more SoulStar Fragments entered its system.

    A year passed in the blink of an eye, and Michael became stronger. His Tier might not have improved at all, but his Divinity Seeds had blossomed and were being nourished. They wererger than the Divinities of the other Demi Gods he''d encountered in thest year and certainly several times stronger. Each of them was stronger than the half-formed Divinities of the Demi Gods. That was only obvious because Michael had multiple full-fledged Divinities, while the Demi Gods were on their way to form them. It might take the Demi Gods decades, more likely centuries, to finish their Divinities, whereas Michael didn''t have to do anything. The God Curses had to do all the work, infusing more of their Divinity into Michael. Either they did so intentionally, or they channeled their Divinity through Michael. That would naturally consume bits of their Divinity while the rest would be used to unleash their Divinities'' power into the outside world.

    The gains his Divinities made were nothing to scoff at. They were remarkable. Still, Michael was more impressed by the size of his soul and the amount of Soul Power entering his body. He had visited the Origin Expanse quite often in thest dozen months and had to acknowledge the massive efforts and achievements of the Silverfang Tigerfolk and the Forest Elves. They had outdone themselves. But there was more to the increase of his Soul Power.

    The amount of Soul Power entering his body might be owed to his subjects'' efforts, but also to the upgrades of his Soultrait Symbols. Each and every Soultrait Symbol in Michael''s Soul Sphere had been upgraded to 9-Star! None of his Soultraits evolved upon upgrading from 8-Star to 9-Star, but their power mutated and evolved. The Soultrait Symbol of Insert, in fact, fused with Extraction. The Extraction Symbol expanded, thus also increasing the size of Fenrir''s Wolf Divinity forming in the Soultrait Symbol, but the Symbol of Insert didn''t disappear entirely. It was reced by a small object that looked like a levitating runic enchantment. Michael wasn''t quite sure why Insert didn''t disappear after it fused with Extraction or why Extraction didn''t change. It''s name never changed. However, he could not say for sure that Insert was still usable. It was stronger than ever, especially after fusing with Extraction, and Michael''s understanding of its powers skyrocketed. He was certain to unveil more of its powers in the near future.

    That could be said about all Soultrait Symbols. None of them had a change in their names, but their powers evolved quite drastically.

    Still, there was a difference in the upgrade of the other Soultrait Symbols'' upgrades and the upgrades of Death Call, Primordial Vessel, and Extraction.

    "I don''t know if that''s a stupid thought¡­but is it possible for me to form all of my Soultrait Symbols into Divinities?

    Michael sure hoped it would be possible. If he upgraded all of his Soultrait Symbols to 10-Star, which was still something out of his reach, and they could all transform to Divinites, Michael could create a Soul Sphere filled with Divinities. That would be amazing, though Michael felt instinctively that it wouldn''t be this easy.

    [While it is true that Demi Gods with powerful Soultrait Symbols ¨C if highlypatible with their persona ¨C have it easier to form a Divinity, you do not need a Soultrait Symbol to form one. Many Gods born with lowly Soultrait Symbols acquired knowledge from other things, such as Laws and Authorities, to form their Divinity. Their mastery, enlightenment, and experiences flow into their Divinity Seed, nourishing it slowly.] Jormungandr exined, and Hel added.

    [The knowledge you''ve obtained by fusing and upgrading Soultrait Symbols help you understand the different Laws and Authorities. Still, the ''aid'' given from the Soultrait Symbols is not enough to acquire a Law or Authority. Not even a 10-Star Godly Soultrait Symbols, though in that case you might actually have a fairly easy time acquiring enough enlightenment to add it to your Divinity Seed.]

    Fenrir burst intoughter.

    [If you had a Divinity Seed, that is!!!]

    Ah right¡­ there was that.

 Chapter 996 Rebels

    Chapter 996 Rebels

    The lives of all subjects continued in Michael''s absence. The Lords and Monster Overlords in the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert still respected Michael for his tremendous power, but most of them didn''t see Michael for years. Some hadn''t seen him for more than a decade.

    His absence in the re-negotiation meetings of various deals and businesses was easy to see. In fact, they didn''t see anything - or Michael - at all. Some Lords and Monster Overlords recalled Michael''s actions and heard from others how powerful he had grown, but other Lords didn''t hear anything. They didn''t think Michael was dead. His territories were still present, and his subjects never acted disloyally toward him. Still, something must have happened for Michael to disappear. That was what many Lords and Monster Overlords thought.

    They rallied their forces, angry after everything Michael had done to them, and established an Union to move against Michael and his people. They wanted to reim what was supposed to be theirs. Or what they presumed to belong to them. This scenario did not only ur in the Untamed Jungle, but the rebellion in the Sacred Desert wasn''t as bad. Still, the Desert Rebels were annoying as they considered the Mana Vein of the Sacred Desert as their property. They imed the Mana Vein and moved against the Sacred Desert forces to kill everyone. Michael didn''t expect the surrounding Lords and Monster Overlords to be this stupid, but he was always prepared for battle.

    He ordered some Super Awakened to return to the Sacred Desert ¨C the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs ¨C and allowed them to wreak havoc.

    That was exactly what they did.

    The Warlock Centaurs gathered their forces and acted as the cavalry of the Sacred Desert. Equipped with powerful Artifacts, thebat experience of fighting Divine Lifeforms, which none of the Desert Rebels was, and powerful Soultrait Symbols, the Undying Cavalry of the Sacred Desert bulldozed their enemies.

    Mekhaz and his closest subordinates used their powers to pull the attention of all foes in their direction. Mekhaz unleashed Living Armor after upgrading it, followed by Repel and Energy Absorption to their fullest before adding his other Soultraits. Mekhaz was a Super Awakened and had thus received five new Soultrait Symbols from Michael more than a year ago. Given the additional rewards he''d been given from killing hundreds of High Hyumans and his partial contribution to the death of a handful of Divine Lifeforms, Mekhaz managed to upgrade his strongest Soultrait Symbols as well.

    Repel and Energy Absorption were upgraded to 5-Star while Living Armor was pushed to 6-Star with enough SoulStar Fragments infused to form the 7th Star. Living Armor was not yet a full-fledged 7-Star Soultrait, but it was only a matter of one or two years before he would have enough SoulStar Fragments to seal the deal.

    But Mekhaz wasn''t in a rush. He had five more Soultrait Symbols, each of them incredibly useful. One of them was a Last Rope Soultrait, a 5-Star Soultrait ought to protect the Super Awakened from enemies even they couldn''t defeat. But until now, none of the Super Awakened had to use their Last Rope Soultrait in ast-ditch effort to survive. That was great since it meant no Super Awakened''s life had been in so much danger that their Last Rope Soultrait activated. However, that might also transform into a problem in the future. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael mentioned that being pushed to the brink of death and surviving by sheer luck ¨C or the Last Rope Soultrait, in the Super Awakened''s case ¨C teaches you to be more humble and appreciate your life more often. Dying was easy. A single mistake, maybe even arrogance pushing you to believe you could do something others will never, was enough to end your life. Forever.

    Michael didn''t want the Super Awakened to die, but he was scared to lose them by being stingy as well. Thus, his generosity created 199 overly confident Super Awakened, each of them capable of fighting an enemy above their ranks.

    Mekhaz, one of the few who retained a portion of his humble attitude, was still exhrated whenever he jumped into a battle. He used his Soultrait Gigantification to expand in size, transforming into a massive armor-coated creature, which inflicted fear and terror in the hearts of his enemies. But that was not all. One Man Army was the second Soultrait he had been given from Michael. The more enemies attacked Mekhaz, the sturdier and stronger his body would grow.

    Combining One Man Army, Gigantification, Living Armor, and his otherbination of Soultraits, Repel, and Energy Absorption with each other, Mekhaz transformed into a massive shield protecting his allies from all foes. That was even more true, so once his other pair of newly acquired Soultraits, Attract Projectiles and Taunting Grimace, jumped into effect.

    Attract Projectiles was a Soultrait that did exactly what the name suggested. It attracted the projectiles in the Soultrait''s range and forcefully altered their trajectory, pulling them toward Mekhaz, whose Energy Absorption and Repel would either block or absorb the attacks. If the projectiles were too strong for Energy Absorption and Repel, Living Armor, enhanced by One Many Army would be enough to protect Mekhaz.

    Mekhaz didn''t bother acquiring any Soultraits with tremendous attack power. Gigantification could be used for offense, and if Mekhaz were to be honest to himself, defending and protecting his allies was much more important than attacking. That, of course, didn''t mean Mekhaz had no means of attack. Since nobody could injure the six-meter-tall Warlock Centaur, Mekhaz could bulldoze the enemies in the Sacred Desert easily.

    He attracted all the attention of the surrounding enemies, which was quite easy thanks to the 6-Star Soultrait Taunting Grimace. Taunting Grimace was a powerful Soultrait that affected all enemies feeling bloodlust. Every trace of bloodlust was grasped tightly, amplified by Taunting Grimace, and diverted toward Mekhaz if he wasn''t already their target.

    Sometimes, thebined efforts and Soultraits of dozens of High Awakened managed to create a killing blow, which was to take out Mekhaz with one deadly attack, but it failed. Only once was it possible for a Peak Tier-6 High Awakened to strike him hard enough to break the Living Armor. Unfortunately, the Living Armor regenerated and the attack piercing the Living Armor wasn''t strong enough to kill Mekhaz anymore.

    The Desert Rebels were numerous and everywhere, spread alongside the borders to the Sacred Desert, but once Michael told them to bulldoze everyone going against their will, it was easy to defeat the Lords and Monster Overlords. The Lords'' main settlements were crushed, throwing their territories into chaos, while the Monster Overlords were hunted and killed. Many Awakened survived as the Undying Cavalry focused on bulldozing the main settlements, but that didn''t mean the Berserkers were going to spare them.

    All the Awakened could do was to surrender, die, or escape the Origin Expanse and never return. It was interesting how many subjects and Awakened surrendered after witnessing the prowess of the Undying Cavalry. Most were shocked to the core, especially about Mekhaz''s horrifying appearance as a 6-meter-tall Warlock Centaur mantled in massive silver-shining armor and coated in various Repel and Energy Absorption runes.

    Still, the situation was not all sunny. Some city-states were under attack, and too many good men and women died trying to protect the settlements. Since there were only 200 Super Awakened, less than half of which were Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs since they didn''t meet the requirements, and there were only a few thousand High Awakened in Michael''s army ¨C many being busy with the Fae Union in the Untamed Jungle ¨C the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs ended up splitting their forces to fight on multiple frontlines.

    Some enemies squeezed through the defensive lines and attacked the settlements, but most could be repelled. Overall, the warfare with the Desert Rebels was a pleasant time for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. They enjoyed fighting until death, and if one thing was certain, it was one thing: The Desert Rebels gave their utmost to kill the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.

    Michael didn''t intervene in their battles. He let the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs fight in ecstasy and only came over when it was time to clean up. That was all the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wanted. After all, cleaning up wasn''t something they enjoyed. At least, not as much as fighting ''till death.

    The Desert Rebels'' territories were imed by the Super Awakened, their Summoning Gates destroyed, and their treasury plundered. The Sacred Desert expanded after obliterating the Rebels and conquering theirnds.

    The situation in the Untamed Jungle was a little bit more tricky to deal with. Fortunately, Michael had trusted allies such as the Silverfang Tigerfolk and the Forest Elves. Of course, the jungle monsters did their fair share of work as well. They didn''t stay idle while the Silverfangs and Forest Elves moved against the Fae Union.

    The chaos in the Untamed Jungle didn''t escape Michael''s attention, but he decided against moving out. Michael could have solved all issues with the Fae Union and act like always, yet he didn''t.

    Michael wasn''t supposed to solve all problems of his territory. Maybe some would think it was his task as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle, but his military forces, the Super Awakened and the Untamed Armies existed for a reason. Slipstream allowed him to fight in multiple ces without any breaks to cross the distance between two ces, but the Soultrait didn''t allow him to split up and transform into millions of Mini Michaels.

    The whole reason he created the Super Awakened and nourished his forces was to protect his territories from unwee guests and to fight the fights he couldn''t fight. In this case, the Fae Union had only a handful of Divine Lifeforms, with countless Higher Awakened following theirmands. Michael could have killed the Divine Lifeforms, transforming the disciplined armies of the Fae Union into headless chickens, but he hoped his people would learn to fight without him as well.

    That would have been helpful in the past, it is useful in the present, and is it going to be incredibly valuable in the future. After all, Michael didn''t know how much longer he was allowed to stay in the Origin Expanse.

    Gods were expelled from the Origin Expanse.

    Nobody knew why ¨C not even the God Curses ¨C but the connection to the Will and War Rune was severed once one attained the power of a full-fledged God. Some said, the Primal forced the Will to expel all Gods from the Origin Expanse for them to hunt, others were certain the Will of the Origin Expanse had another task for the Gods. But, at the end of the day, nobody had ever spoken to the Will itself. Even the God Curses couldn''t be certain the Will existed in the way Michael and many others imagined.

    One way or another, Michael was growing stronger and he couldn''t be certain to be there for all of his subjects at all times. Maybe the Will would consider him as a full-fledged God soon since he had one Divinity Fragment and three blossomed Divinity Seeds from a trio of God Curses inside him. Or the Will wouldn''t consider him a God until he created his own Divinity. Michael didn''t know and he was not eager to find out.

 Chapter 997 No Support?

    Chapter 997 No Support?

    The Fae Union was more powerful than the Desert Rebels and stirred more trouble all across the Untamed Jungle. They consisted of a few former members of the Divine Alliances and more than a dozen Lords living adjacent to the Grand Region. Most Lords living outside the Untamed Jungle didn''t know Michael Fang well enough to understand how strong he was, and most didn''t care about it either.

    They paid no attention to the fact that the Untamed Jungle was expanding or how much the Grand Region''s expansion affected them and their territory.

    The Lords were certain to lose their territories once the Untamed Jungle swallowed theirnds and region. It didn''t matter whether thend was still rightfully theirs as the jungle monsters and terrors hibernating in the Untamed Jungle would attack them relentlessly, using the surrounding environment to advance once the Untamed Jungle had imed everything.

    Their situation was bad, to put it into simple words, and they didn''t believe a single wording out of the mouths of the Untamed Awakened, who came for negotiations. Nobody could tell for sure why the Lords were thinking like that, but they considered the fact that an Awakened knocked on their doorsteps with the intention to negotiate a treaty as a weakness.

    But then again, not everyone was like Michael, trying to push as many Lords and Monster Overlords into submission as possible. Most would kill each other and exile the subjects of the Lord who had lost the war.

    Michael was a little different in that regard. He always hoped to im more subjects in other ways. That was not because Michael hated the subjects he summoned, but he considered it unnecessary to summon billions of subjects when the other Lords had enough loyal and hard-working subjects. As long as Michael treated them fairly and showed everyone how much he tried to salvage the situation without violence, everyone would like him.

    Of course, Michael wasn''t liked by everyone. It was impossible for all beings across the cosmos and Origin Expanse to like him. That was especially true for the Lords in the Untamed Jungle, who had been forced to submit to the Primordial Tree Spirit. Michael was still unsure how it happened but three Lords managed to escape the Primordial Tree Spirit''s grasp when Michael was busy fighting a pair of Demi Gods.

    The three Lords were three of the Fae Union''s five heads and were responsible for the mess happening in the Untamed Jungle. Michael was frustrated by their actions because he thought he had treated them well. Unfortunately, that had not been the case.

    He shrugged once he realized how many Lords were members of the Fae Union and epted their change of attitude and considered to attack them. At least the three Lords from the Untamed Jungle deserved to be bulldozed by Michael. Still, he held back and allowed his subjects to fight in Michael''s stead and obliterate the three Lords of the Untamed Jungle.

    "The borders are getting bombarded at all times. It doesn''t affect the Untamed Jungle much since the excessive energy that was supposed to nourish the Untamed Jungle to expand faster is being used to negate the damages inflicted on the jungle outskirts. Still, we have to do something before their attacks worsen. For now, the Untamed Jungle can handle the aftermath, but it''s unclear how much longer we can stay back and watch," Lilica asked into the rounds, her words resonating with the thoughts of the Awakened and subjects standing around her.

    "Michael granted us permission to act as we please. He trusts us, and I do not wish to betray his trust. We have to remove the threats to the Untamed Jungle and our people without losing too many good men and women. If possible, the forces of the Untamed Jungle shouldn''t have a single casualty to report," Lilica thundered, and everyone around her nodded. They stomped on their feet, the sound reverberating throughout the Untamed Jungle.

    A little sh shot through the clearing and a familiar little demon with vigorous golden eyes and a vibrant smile appeared before Lilica.

    "Auntiee~ Throw pets and snakes and little wolfies at the bad people. Serpi can bite them!" Lucia eximed, jumping around while Alice rushed behind the little girl.

    "You think the Azure Serpent should bite the bad guys?" Lilica lowered her body and ruffled through Lucia''s silky hair. The little girl was growing too fast for her own good. In fact, her body developed fast, but her mind was already much farther than the mind of an ordinary child. She her mental age might already be on par with a teenager''s.

    "Yes yes~!" Lucia eximed while Alice caught her. Alice lifted her daughter up and carried the little demon in her arms without breaking eye contact. Lucia kept staring at Lilica, who tilted her head.

    "We cannot control the jungle monsters. Only Michael has control of them. Your n sounds great, but your father told us to handle this problem independently. With our resources. If we ask him for help, the mission would lose all its value. Of course, the threats would be removed, but we are supposed to learn how to fight without Michael."

    Lilica didn''t expect Lucia to understand her. Still, Lilica revealed her thoughts so that everyone could listen. The others had to hear and understand why Lucia''s n wasn''t going to work.

    "Resources? I don''t know¡­what do you mean? I¡­am I a resource as well? I can help too. Father taught me how to control the jungle monsters. He says I have the talent in me. The Untamed Jungle will protect and listen to me¡­"

    Lilica''s eyes narrowed to tiny slits trying to understand what Lucia was saying. She quickly gave up and looked at Alice, who smiled lightly.

    "Lucia was born with a trade of the Untamed Jungle''s Nature in her. I think that''s the Authority, which the Primordial Tree Spirit absorbed in the past before altering and augmenting it. Michael taught Lucia how to control the Nature in her. To be precise, he told her how to talk to the forest and the Primordial Tree Spirit and to never hesitate to ask for help." Everyone listened up to look at Lucia and turned to Lilica a momentter.

    "I don''t think it counts as ''asking for Michael''s help'' if we ask Lucia to order the Azure Quetzalcoatl and the other Divine Beasts, maybe even some High Beasts, to attack the other Lords in the Untamed Jungle. They can take care of the three Lords while we beat the shi¨C..." Tiara said, only to shut her mouth when everyone looked at her, "While we take care of the other Lords of the Fae Union."

    Lilica looked at Lucia, who was still smiling as brightly as before. She was always like that. A happy little child with slightly violent tendencies when it came to people hurting her friends. Looking at it from that direction, Lucia wasn''t much different than her father. She liked to y with others and considered everyone as her friends until they weren''t, Until they did something stupid and hurt the people she liked. From that moment onward, these ''friends'' would be her nemesis and she would do everything in her might to do something against them. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It wasn''t possible for a little child at Tier-1 to do anything against the Divine Lifeforms and various High Awakened of the Fae Union, but she could ask her monster friends for help.

 Chapter 998 Trap

    Chapter 998 Trap

    The Red Dragon circled above the clearing of the Kulik n, which was the n established by one of the three Lords of the Untamed Jungle, who went against Michael and his people. The Red Dragon roared at the top of her lungs, but she didn''t attack yet. She watched the n members calmly, studied them intently, and waited for the moment. Some members of the Kulik n tried attacking her, but none of them was strong enough to reach her with their projectiles. The Divine Lifeforms didn''t visit the border settlement yet and probably wouldn''te here anytime soon. Therefore, nobody should be strong enough to harm her.

    Even if the Divine Lifeform appeared, not all of them could travel smoothly through the air. Some races weren''t made to be flying around. The Kulik, a race that seemed to be made of high-density metal - living metal ¨C was one of such races. They might be able to fly once they ascend to Divine Lifeforms, but they would be slower than the rest, and their energy would be drained much faster than others. After all, it required more energy to carry a heavier body through the sky.

    The Red Dragon considered unleashing a fury of mes to burn the Kulik n''s border settlement to a cinder, but that wasn''t necessary. She led the Minor Typhoon Rocs across the battlefield and showed the Silverfangs, Humans, and Forest Elves riding on her back what awaited them.

    Reba and the others had already inspected the map connected to the Untamed Jungle and were aware of the location of every single enemy living above the rootwork of the Primordial Tree spirit. The rootwork spanned all across the Untamed Jungle and expanded even further. No one restrained the Primordial Tree Spirit''s growth underground, after all.

    "I don''t think this will be a problem. We can easily spot and perceive the locations of their spatial distortion devices and can destroy them. The only issue would be the Divine Lifeforms. The Divine Beasts and Azure Quetzalcoatl have to fight in different locations simultaneously. That seems fine at first nce, but one of the Divine Lifeforms has a spatial-type Soultrait. As everyone should know, these types of Soultrait Symbols are a pain in the ass." Reba mumbled to the others.

    "What do you suggest? I think we can bombard the bases from above with the Rocs and the Red Dragon, destroy the spatial distortion devices, and teleport our allies inside the settlement with the help of the Golden Stinger Wasps or the Golden Queen Bee. Once the High Beasts Hordes, Sun Demos and his subordinates, and the other forces invaded their settlements, only the Divine Lifeform capable of teleporting became a problem. But that guy is something we can handle fairly easily as well. Since others have been using spatial distortion devices against us, we can do the same." Tiara asked, to which Reba responded with a nod.

    "I think that''s valid. But it might be easier if we kill the Divine Lifeforms first. That is not going to be easy, but it certainly won''t be as difficult to pull off once the first few steps have beenpleted."

    "How do you want to kill the Divine Lifeforms? I don''t think they''ll leave their territories so easily. Furthermore, only the Divine Beasts and Azure Quetzalcoatl are as strong or stronger as their Divine Lifeforms. To be fair, we do not even know how strong their Divine Lifeforms are. They''re weaker than the Azure Quetzalcoatl, otherwise, they would have had an easy time against the Dragys Lordess even if Michael hadn''t intervened, but that''s all we know."

    "Actually, we do know a little bit more. Our Scouts saw some fights of the Divine Lifeforms. They might not have gone all out, but we stored the Scouts'' memories in a memory crystal, and I watched them with my Perfect Analyzation. It is safe to say that only one of the three Divine Lifeforms is in trouble. The others can be defeated by the stronger Super Awakened. I think you and your brother could deal with the weaker Divine Lifeforms while the Azure Quetzalcoatl has to fight the other one." Tiara groaned when her brother was mentioned, but she didn''t throw a fit like usual. This was a lot more serious than her family feud. Of course, the family feud was far from simple¡­and far from over, however, Tiara and Caesus could put aside their differences when it came to protecting the Untamed Jungle and Michael''s legacy. They owed Michael too much to disappoint him by quarreling in times of danger.

    "We can use Pesolt''s Astral Space Cage for the fight," Tiara nodded slowly. A n was forming in their minds, and it wasn''t even 24 hours after their thorough research and nning that they set the n into motion.

    They destroyed all spatial distortion devices in the border settlements using overcharged elemental crystals, mythical mes, massive tycoons, and other means while intentionally ignoring the main settlements of the three Lords. The High Beasts, Sun Demos, and more than a hundred thousand jungle monsters and Elementals were teleported inside the border settlements to wreak havoc. They tore everything apart and moved quickly through the settlements, destroying everything in their path. At first, it looked like the Divine Lifeforms wouldn''t move, but when the Divine Beasts, followed by their strongest High Beast underlings, attacked one of the border settlements, they jumped into action. The Divine Lifeform with a spatial-type Soultrait teleported himself and the allied Divine Lifeforms to the settlement the Divine Beasts attacked.

    However, instead of attacking as three Divine Lifeforms of the Untamed Jungle, the Divine Lifeforms of the Fae Union had gathered their forces to block all attacks simultaneously. They appeared together in the border settlement, ready to overwhelm the Divine Beasts with their numerical advantage. The Divine Beasts weren''t weak, but they were not strong enough to fight against five Divine Awakened. Fortunately, they didn''t have to do that. The Divine Beasts roared and attack head-on alongside their subordinates and they were just about to collide when the scenery around them changed drastically. The underlings of the Divine Beasts were reced by Golden Stinger Wasps, who switched locations again without dy. Tiara, Caesus, and Pesolt reced the Golden Stinger Wasps, a young Forest Elf who''d just ascended to a Higher Lifeform. He wasn''t strong, but his main Soultrait was strong. Michael had enhanced it a while ago, thinking the Soultrait Symbol was worth being nurtured ot the peak.

    A massive serpent, the Azure Quetzalcoatl, reced a fourth Golden Stinger Wasp. It appeared and roared aloud, taking the five Divine Lifeforms by surprise. The Kulik with the spatial-type Soultrait was just about to change their ns and disappear with his allies when he realized something. A new spatial distortion device had been installed and activated right after the Azure Quetzalcoatl appeared. He couldn''t use his Soultrait anymore and was forced to either fight the Divine Beasts, the two Silverfangs, and the Azure Quetzalcoatl with his allies or to turn around and flee.

    Thetter would inflict tremendous harm, but they would all survive. Their losses would be tremendous, but nobody expected their border settlements to survive either way. Not after falling victim to a trap like this.

    Two of the five Divine Lifeforms turned to escape using their Soultraits. They were confident in their capabilities.

    Unfortunately, no member of the Fae Union expected their leaders to disappear.

    They were pulled into a different space where Tiara, Caesus, the Divine Beasts and the Azure Quetzalcoatl appeared as well. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Cage Battle of life and death was about to begin.

 Chapter 999 Caged

    Chapter 999 Caged

    Astral Space Cage was a tricky Soultrait Symbol. It was powerful if used against weaker opponents but troublesome andplex when used against someone stronger and on multiple people simultaneously.

    Astral Space Cage pulled all targets in the Soultrait''s range of effect into a massive pocket dimension. The pocket dimension wasn''t anything special. In fact, it was an expansive, transparent, t ground that stretched endlessly across the cosmos. At least, that was what it looked like. The full extent of the pocket dimension had yet to be discovered, but it wasrge. The surroundings of the pocket dimension looked like a vast, open space, revealing the beauty of the cosmos to all targets.

    That was the most important aspect of the Astral Space Cage. However, of almost equal importance was that the Astral Space Cage pulled only a specific number andbination of targets into the pocket dimension. First, the User of Astral Space Cage was also pulled into the pocket dimension AND for every foe, dragged into the pocket dimension, the User had to select an ally with Astral Space Cage.

    That being said, for pulling five allies ¨C two Silverfangs, two Divine Beasts, and the Guardian Beast inside Astral Space Cage''s pocket dimension, Pesolt had to drag six foes into the pocket dimension. After all, Pesolt was also pulled inside, even if he was way too weak to fight the five Divine Lifeforms.

    Other than the five Divine Lifeforms, Pesolt dragged another High Awakened into the pocket dimension. A momentter, he used two of his other Soultraits, Haste, and Speed Exchange, to elerate. Haste pushed his momentum to a higher level by consuming considerable energy every second, while Speed Exchange did the same by consuming lifeforce.

    Pesolt wasn''t going to face the Divine Lifeforms head-on ¨C he never nned to do so ¨C but he wasn''t allowed to die. Astral Space Cage would deactivate with his death, releasing the five Divine Lifeforms back onto the Untamed Jungle. That was uneptable. Thus, instead of facing anyone, Pesolt allowed his energy and lifeforce to be drained after turning around to flee from the scene. He didn''t look back and charged in the opposite direction of the battlefield. One of the Divine Lifeforms noticed something was off with the Forest Elf. There was no reason to bring a Higher Lifeform into a battle of the Divine. The appearance of the two Silverfangs was already weird, but both were strong. They were 6th Tier Awakened and radiated tremendous power. Their power level was high enough to consider them Pseudo Divine Lifeforms. That was why bringing a 4th Tier Awakened into a sealed space like this was even more illogical.

    "The Elf brought us to this ce. Killing him should bring us back!" He eximed, releasing a bullet of highlypressed energy to kill the Forest Elf. The energy bullet hurled through the air at shocking velocity but didn''t cross a long distance. Long before the bullet could reach Pesolt, Caesus jumped before the bullet and cleaved it in two halves. The bullet split apart and dissipated while Pesolt continued running. He might not be faster than a Divine Lifeform or at the same level as one, but at the expense of his energy and lifeforce, Pesolt''s speed reached an incredibly high level.

    The High Awakened on the Fae Union''s side channeled energy through his body and was about to rush behind Pesolt to catch up to him and ughter the Forest Elf when the de of a silver dagger glimmered before his eyes. The dagger pierced his eyeballs and prated deep into the unfortunate High Awakened''s skull, killing the High Awakened on the spot.

    "You didn''t even try saving him. Why?" Caesus asked lightly, but the confusion in his voice and eyes was apparent.

    "He is baggage in this space. Just like your little Forest Elf. But you have to protect your little elfie, while we don''t have to protect anyone but ourselves. That makes you weak," One of the Divine Lifeforms replied, but it was evident that Caesus wasn''t satisfied with that answer. He looked at his enemies in pure disgust.

    "You guys disgust me," He cursed, "But that might be a good thing. It would be a great loss if I were to like my enemies."

    Caesus cleared his throat and snorted, "Since that''s not the case and you guys are disgusting, I won''t have a problem killing you!"

    He unsheathed a pair of sabers and charged forward, the power of Descendant, which 1-Star Blessing of the Children had evolved after being upgraded to 7-Star, alongside his other Soultraits, Tightened Bond, Heightened Senses, Power Imbnce, Divine Tiger Physique, and Weapon Manifestation surging through his body.

    Caesus had fewer Soultraits than some other Super Awakened, but the average of his Soultrait''s star level was much higher than the other Super Awakened. In the first ce, Caesus didn''t require as many Soultrait Symbols as others. It would have been enough to push Descendants to 8-Star or higher to transform Caesus into a Super Awakened.

    Blessing of the Children hadn''t been powerful, but the upgraded version had shown the Crown Prince of the Silverfang Tigerfolk how to unleash the true power of his Soultrait. Blessing of the Children allowed Caesus to tame monsters and consider them his children, which then granted him a minuscule portion of their power. That wasn''t anything special with only a few tamed monsters, but as the monsters gave birth to offspring, Caesus power level increased further.

    All Descendants of him and his children were included in his Soultrait Symbol. As for the increase in power remained on the same level no matter how many generations of offspring had been given birth to. That might not seem like anything special, but given the choice of children, Caesus tamed Goblins, Spiders, and other monsters who gave birth to many offspring at once every cycle or would breed like rabbits. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The biggest problem was that Caesus couldn''t tame anything powerful at first. However, with Tatjana''s help ¨C the help of the Eye of Evolution, to be precise, Caesus could evolve his monsters and thus gain more power in return. Years had passed since he discovered his Soultrait''s secret power, and it came as no surprise that Caesus was now the godfather of millions of monsters, each of them either stronger than the first monsters Caesus had tamed or evolved to grow stronger and give birth to even stronger monsters.

    Caesus'' main monsters were now a Goblin Emperor with a harem of hundreds of powerful Goblin Shamans, Goblin Queens, and many more powerful Goblins, but also a Bloodshed Spider Queen, which gave birth to Bloodshed Spiders, monsters capable of advancing to the 4th Tier.

    Caesus was not a mere 6th Tier Awakened at this point and Tightened Bond, a 6-Star Soultrait that strengthened his bond with all tamed monsters and their offspring, and his other Soultraits helped him a lot to push his prowess closer to the 7th Tier.

    Divine Tiger Physique helped Caesus stay close to his bloodline and the powers he''d inherited. It wasn''t something he needed, per se, but it strengthened his entire body gradually. It was not unlike Sacred Constitution, only that it helped him nourish his bloodline''s powers simultaneously as well. Weapon Manifestation was his weakest Soultrait, but it was also quite useful. The High Awakened with the silver dagger in his skull would certainly approve of Weapon Manifestation''s usefulness. Power Imbnce might seem like a less useful Soultrait, but it was actually much better than most of his Soultraits. Alongside Heightened Senses, Caesus could now transfer his power to different aspects of his body, mind, and soul. Descendants increased his power by a portion of his descendant''s prowess, but since most of his monsters were physically attributed, Caesus''s mind and soul were weaker inparison. Power Imbnce could solve that issue. With Power Imbnce, he could easily configure the power distribution throughout his body, mind, and soul. By creating several settings, Caesus could prepare for all kinds of scenarios.

    He did that when he charged at the closest Divine Lifeform. They''d analyzed the enemies before and unraveled some of their secrets and powers. Caesus took advantage of that and activated the Agility Setting.

    The Divine Kulik was powerful and had a highly durable body, but he was slower. Caesus was a sh to the Kulik, who could barely see his enemy before he appeared before him.

    Caesus licked his lips and changed into the Power Setting, transferring all power used to amplify his agility into raw power. A momentter, his sabers cleaved down, cutting deep into the metallic body of the Kulik. However, given the Divine Kulik''s natural constitution and his state as a Divine Lifeform, the sabers caused little damage.

    Caesus clicked his tongue and activated the Enchantments engraved into the saber des. The des heated up to the point they started to melt. It was hot enough to force a reaction from the Kulik, whose eyes widened in surprise. The sabers cut deeper into the Divine Kulik''s shoulders, yet the damage wasn''t enough. The des were molten before the shoulders were cut off, forcing Caesus to alter to the Agility Setting again and retreat. But before he could retreat, the Divine Kulik grasped his arm, twisted it, and punched him in the face. Caesus was barely fast enough to switch to the Tank Setting, increasing his durability and endurance to the peak. He raised his arm and used Weapon Manifestation to manifest a spiked shield, which still counted as a weapon, fortunately. The Kulik smashed the spikes with his punch, but the shield blocked most of the impact. It still shattered, but what was left of the attack didn''t bother Caesus much. He managed to escape Kulik''s iron grasp with another melting de appearing in his free hand, but Caesus was forced to activate the Agility Setting, retreat for a moment, and switch to the Regeneration Setting, which healed his arm within seconds.

    "This will be harder than expected," He murmured, only to hear his sister shout from the side.

    "For you, maybe, but that was expected. At least I expected you to suffer, loser!"

    Okay¡­ challenge epted!

 Chapter 1000 Tiger

    1000 Tiger

    Tiara twisted her body, evading a burst of darkness. It would have hit her if she hadn''t instantaneously used Inner Force to alter her momentum. She grinned deviously at the Divine Lifeform before her and triggered Silvarean Tiger. The Soultrait had been pushed to 6-Star, just like Inner Force, more than a year ago, granting her more ess to the deepest secrets of the Silverfang Tigerfolk.

    Her bones cracked, and she transformed into a full-fledged Tigress with bright, glowing eyes and matte silver. Her speed increased, and she pounced at the DIvine Lifeform, which retreated upon sensing an impending feeling of danger and death. The Divine''s eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he pped the Tigress in the face. At least his attack was supposed to strike Tiara in the face. It didn''t hit the target quite right.

    The Tigress dissolved, and Tiara appeared beside the Divine Lifeform. The dispersing mist of the other Tigress was Tiara''s Soultrait, Misty Doppelganger.

    The Divine didn''t expect the Tigress to disperse into mist, but he reacted quickly. His body spun around to face Tiara head-on, only for a mental attack to strike him hard. Under normal circumstances, a Divine Lifeform would have no problem blocking mental attacks with a simple technique, but the Divine didn''t sense the attack. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Spirit Whip was a Soultrait that Michael had pushed to 6-Star after adding the Mental Concealment Soultrait to it. He used Insert on 4-Star Spirit Whip to create a perfectly concealed mental attack, Soultrait. The Soultrait was now much stronger than it used to be, but it was still not omnipotent. The mental fortitude of a Divine Lifeform was still much stronger than the power most Higher Lifeforms could unleash through Spirit Whip.

    Fortunately, Tiara could use Overclock. Overclock was Tiara''s strongest Soultrait. It was a 7-Star Soultrait that allowed her to unleash the power of Soultraits with much higher potency. A double Overclock drained three times the amount of energy as unleashing the full power of the targeted Soultrait, but it released twice the power of the said Soultrait.

    That was exactly what she had done with Spirit Whip. Double Overclock was already enough to stun the Divine for a quarter of a second. It drained a considerable amount of energy, but Tiara didn''t have to worry about that. Michael had prepared the perfect Soultrait for that case.

    Tiara had been gifted a Soultrait called Energy Heart. It was a 6-Star Soultrait with one purpose; to store energy. Tiara''s Energy Heart was filled to the brim, but not for long. She essed Energy Heart to use triple Overclock on Silver Streak, the Soultrait that had formed from advancing 4-Star Thrust - afterbining it with equally lethal Soultraits. The Tigress'' paws transformed into silver streaks as she essed her Soultraits. Her attack impacted the instant the Divine regained full control of his body. He conjured a thick membrane made of an unknown liquid all over his body, but triple Overlocked Silver Streak, unleashed by the Silvarean Tiger of the Silverfang Tigerfolk, was enough to pierce through the liquid membrane. Tiara''s ws dug deep into the Divine Lifeform, ripping his chest apart. He escaped death by instinctively pulling back, but his condition was bad. Another Divine Lifeform jumped into the battle, recing the injured Divine, who retrieved a brilliant golden potion. He crushed the cap and swallowed the content in a hurry, only to find out his injuries didn''t heal. Blood continued gushing from the w marks all over his chest.

    Tiara roared in excitement even though she was under pressure. Her Soultraits worked as intended. She didn''t have a clue what kind of potion the Divine had tried to use, but Silver Streak''s bleeding effect worked perfectly fine.

    Tiara unleashed Silvarean Tiger again and transformed back into a bipedal creature. However, her tiger form wasn''t fully dissolved. Her body was still shrouded in a fur coat, protecting her from various attacks. She also didn''t lose the physical gains from Silvarean Tiger. On the contrary, it felt like Tiara was more flexible in her half-transformed form. Tiara''s ws elongated and a bright silver hue shrouded them. She used triple Overclock with Spirit Whip on the unscathed Divine Lifeform before him as he attacked her. The attack nearly killed Tiara on the spot, but a double Overclock with Inner Force salvaged her life.

    Her heart was beating wildly, but she pounced on the Divine Lifeform when his expression turned into horror and confusion. The Spirit Whip struck the target several times. The first attack wore his defense down, the second hit crushed the defense altogether, and the following whishes were enough to affect the Divine Lifeform and weaken him.

    Energy Heart was already on the verge of getting sucked dry, forcing Tiara to either go all out and kill the Divine Lifeform or switch to defense, but neither was necessary. The Titan ck Bear, one of the Divine Beasts of the Untamed Jungle, appeared next to Tiara. The Divine Lifeform before her had been the Divine Beast''s foe, and it didn''t take the Divine Lifeform''s sudden disinterest well.

    The Titan ck Bear roared at the top of its lungs and swatted the Divine Lifeform across the Astral Space Cage. The DIvine Lifeform couldn''t block the attack as he was still affected by the Spirit Whips and ended up crashing hard onto the ground, where Caesus was already standing. One of his des pierced deep into his chest while the other de swished across the Divine''s throat.

    The Divine Lifeform couldn''t be beheaded with a single strike, but his throat was sliced open.

    "The Kulik should have been just like that," Caesus cursed, his attention drifting to the injured Divine Kulik. That bastard was still not dead, but he didn''t fare well. Caesus had been given his utmost to deal with the nuisance.

    "Why don''t you kill your little friend first before taking our prey?" Tiara asked while the Titan ck Bear charged past her. The Divine Beast couldn''t care less what happened to his foe. He had been given a mission by the human he loved the most, and he would do everything in his might to help the little Princess of the Untamed Jungle get whatever she wanted.

    The Titan ck Bear rushed to the Divine whom Tiara had injured and attack with full might. Meanwhile, Tiara cursed a little before she rushed up to Caesus to help him kill the Divine Kulik.

    "Since you couldn''t kill him, I will make a contribution to this kill. The loot is mine!" Tiara demanded, but Caesus couldn''t care any less.

    "You are getting greedier by the day, sister. Don''t you think we owe Michael a little bit more? This is one of our first fights without Michael, yet you are only talking about the gains. I thought you''ve improved. It''s sad to see you like thi¨C..."

    "Shut it, Caesus! Nobody asked the loser to speak up. It''s a waste of precious oxygen to talk to you." Caesus shrugged and zipped his mouth. There was no way their rtionship could improve at this point. Maybe in the future, but Caesus wasn''t confident about that.

    Maybe his rtionship with his sister was fated to never recover.

 Chapter 1001 Dagger Storm

    Chapter 1001 Dagger Storm

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl had a good time fighting the strongest Divine. It received a decent power-up from Pesol, who had applied a Soultrait called Guardian Spirit. It wasn''t a high-ranked Soultrait Symbol, but it was powerful nheless. Guardian Spirit could only used on other targets if they protected the User from stronger enemies. Since that was exactly what happened ¨C the Divines attempted a few more times to catch up to Pesolt and kill him ¨C the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s power increased. Guardian Spirit increased the target''s power by a significant portion of the difference in power between the User and the predator trying to kill the User. The Azure Quetzalcoatl, which was already stronger than the strongest Divine, was thus even stronger and had an easy time burning the Divine. The Divine retaliated with her Soultrait and expanded in size, which also increased her strength.

    Unfortunately, growing in size didn''t help her. If anything, it made everything more difficult for her. It was easier to hit her with the mythical mes and bash her with the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s tail.

    At some point, the Azure Quetzalcoatl caught the Divine with its massive tail. The tail would have missed a smaller version of the Divine, but since she didn''t terminate her growth Soultrait, it turned out to be rather easy to restrain her.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl didn''t do much. It squashed the Divine and released its strongest mythical mes for more than ten minutes with no distance between the mes and the Divine''s head.

    The woman tried to escape but her strength dropped rapidly as the Three-eyed Crow, another Divine Beast of the Untamed Jungle, used it innate powers to cast a curse upon her. The curse wasn''t permanent and the Divine tried blocking it, but the Three-eyed Crow focused on the Divine after two Divines died. The third Divine was already on the verge of death too, leaving only one fully-functioning Divine to kill. The female Divine would soon, and the Silverfang siblings teamed up ¨C unwillingly ¨C to kill thest unscathed enemy. The Titan ck Bear joined the brawl, but his help wasn''t needed. The siblings went above and beyond tond the finishing blow on thest enemy. They didn''t even take the danger of sustaining injuries or dying to the Divine Lifeform into ount and released one mighty attack after another.

    Still, at the end of the day, neither of the Silverfang siblings killed the Divine. The Titan ck Bear squashed the Divine to death when the siblings started interrupting each other. The Titan ck Bear couldn''t be any less bothered about their attitude, but it was happy to be the one killing most Divine Lifeforms. Lucia would treat it to some snacks. Hopefully, some of the tasty syrup-honey mixture produced in the Primordial Tree Spirit.

    The Titan ck Bear roared at the top of his lungs at the thought, which resulted in amotion as the Astral Space Cage copsed. The Divine woman died to the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s mes, her head burned to a cinder. She had incredibly high regeneration powers but was still unable to escape the terrors of the Azure Quetzalcoatl.

    As the Astral Space Cage crumbled due to theck of enemies, everyone was pulled back to the border settlement. Tiara was out of energy and even Caesus was having a hard time standing at this point. Theirst bout with the final Divine Lifeform had drained their energy entirely. Fortunately, neither Tiara nor Caesus had to keep fighting. They could retreat, recover, ande back if the Fae Union was still alive once they were back at peak condition.

    The siblings looked at each other and cursed quietly, but a massive, brilliant streak of light smashing heavily into the border settlement interrupted their quarrel. The brilliant streak of light was no other than Daniel Fang unleashing a fury through Sword God. Instead of epting other Soultrait Symbols like most Super Awakened, Daniel chose to go down a different path. He focused on studying Sword God and investing as many SoulStar Fragments as he earned into the Soultrait Symbol. The 10th Star of Sword God had not yet been created but the first snippets of it had already been formed.

    Daniel Fang learned a lot every single time he invested SoulStar Fragments into Sword God. Having only one Soultrait might destroy the possibility of learning dozens ofbat techniques with a wide variety of powers, but it also helped him be the best in the things he was good at.

    And Danny was definitely the greatest with des.

    Daniel Fang was in the midst of arge mass of enemies. The enemies tried to crush him with their numbers, stampeding him to death. But that wasn''t going to happen. Danny manifested a set of ten small daggers using Sword God. He used his mastery of the des and conjured a small typhoon of daggers around him. Daggers consumed less energy than Sword to conjure, but it was more important to note that they were easier to link and control. Daniel connected the daggers and transformed them into a rapidly rotating circle that rotated around him. He conjured another batch of ten daggers and did the same. The only difference was that the daggers'' des were a little bit longer this time. The second circle of daggers revolved around Daniel, but it wasn''t thest. It was the second of many.

    Daniel sacrificed half of the energy inside the Energy Pir to create a dozen dagger circles, the des longer with every new circle. Then he set off, approaching the enemy masses.

    Some Awakened tried mental attacks, while others unleashed Soultraits capable of harming the soul. However, none of them did considerable damage. Daniel''s mental fortitude blocked the mental attacks as a 6th Tier Awakened with perfectly refined and the Fragments of a Divine Shell, while soul attacks were endured with little to no damage.

    The soul attacks affected him a little, but the pain was bearable, Danny''s soul was stronger than the norm. Even Divine Lifeforms might not have a soul asrge and strong as Danny. After all, he was a Perfect Entity, created with an erged Soul, awakened a 9-Star Soultrait, and ''born'' without a single trace of impurities left in his body. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Daniel''s rebirth was far from the norm. It was unique, and the result was apparent. He was unscathed even after several Awakened attacked his soul with their strongest attacks and blocked only some mental attacks to retain his concentration for the Dagger Typhoon.

    Since all Divine Lifeforms had been killed by the Divine Beasts, the Guardian Beast, and the Silverfang Siblings, Daniel had an easy time fighting the rest. Initially, he told the others how he was going to conquer a border settlement on his own, but nobody epted his proposal. Hiraku, Frederik, and others told him that they weren''t invincible and that it was unnecessary to challenge their fate.

    The siblings looked at each other and cursed quietly, but a massive, brilliant streak of light smashing heavily into the border settlement interrupted their quarrel. The brilliant streak of light was no other than Daniel Fang unleashing a fury through Sword God. Instead of epting other Soultrait Symbols like most Super Awakened, Daniel chose to go down a different path. He focused on studying Sword God and investing as many SoulStar Fragments as he earned into the Soultrait Symbol. The 10th Star of Sword God had not yet been created but the first snippets of it had already been formed.

    As a Fateless individual, Danny found thatment quite funny. Still, he acknowledged how unnecessary it was to attack a border settlement alone.

    They had enough powerhouses to fight by their side.

    Still, Daniel was having a fun time unleashing Sword God against fellow Higher Lifeforms.

 Chapter 1002 Conquering the Fae Union

    Chapter 1002 Conquering the Fae Union

    [Today I had only a few minutes of inte - some issues with electricity. Therefore, I couldn''t edit. All I could barely do was copy-paste the chapters to upload something before my inte copsed. Remind me to edit it again or endure the unedited chapter, please. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please don''t kill me :( ]

    The Fae Union crumbled quickly after the death of the five Divine Lifeforms. They were also the Lords of five out of more than a dozen Lords gathering their forces to attack and conquer the Untamed Jungle. Thus, the biggest forces of the Fae Union dispersed the first day the Untamed Armies retaliated. Thends belonging to the Divine Lords in the Untamed Jungle were retrieved, and the subjects were either killed or forced into signing Links of Loyalties with the Primordial Tree Spirit or Michael.

    It was still unknown how the Primordial Tree Spirit lost control of the three DIvine Lords since they''d established Links of Loyalty with the Tree Spirit before, but the Primordial Tree Spirit reassured something like that would never happen again. The Untamed Armies needed to be sure about that, but they gave the Primordial Tree Spirit the benefit of the doubt. Michael was too busy to sign millions of Links of Loyalty either way. Thus, Michael did so through the Primordial Tree Spirit, which connected the Links of Loyalty to the Nature Divinity, which he was actively draining. That was efficient enough to work with.

    The Fae Union was more troublesome to deal with than the Desert Rebels because there were too many members of the Fae Union. Dozens of Lords were afraid of Michael and thought the only logical answer was to kill him. Most of them couldn''t ept Michael''s decision to ignore them. They considered themselves as too important to be ignored. The Lords were certain Michael was preparing for arge-scale attack against them because he regarded them as a significant threat. They couldn''t ept the bitter truth; Michael couldn''t even remember most of them. The Lords of the Fae Union were extra characters to Michael. He couldn''t even tell what race they belonged to. Michael never attacked them either. He left the job for the Super Awakened, jungle monsters, and Untamed Armies toplete. The jungle monsters cleared the settlements and imed the territories in the Untamed Jungle with the help of a dozen Super Awakened, whereas the forces of the Untamed Jungle were thrown at the Lords residing outside the Untamed Jungle.

    They didn''t attack everyone but chose to show no mercy to the members of the Fae Union. The Fae Union had decided to move against them. Therefore, they had already nned to embark on a ruthless battle that could only end in their death or the death of their enemies. Since that had already been decided, the Untamed Armies didn''t hesitate to go all-out. Dozens of armies, each consisting of more than 100,000batants, charged outside the Untamed Jungle from various spots. They rushed out of the densely grown jungle and overwhelmed the border settlements within days.

    It took only a few days to conquer the border settlements, raid the treasuries, and kill all Awakenedbatants who attempted to either flee or pass the Untamed Armies'' defenses to backstab them.

    Siegfried Dragoon led the Sacred Knight Temple''s forces into the battle head-first. Close to a hundred thousand Knights joined the struggle with their tremendous prowess. Summons may be known to grow slower than Awakened, and they were generally weaker due to theirckluster Tier, but Siegfried, the Sacred Knights, the Holy Knights, and the Blessed Squires were quite powerful. They were stronger than the norm and could fight several enemies at the same rank and with the same equipment easily. But the Sacred Knight Temple''s forces were equipped with different means than other forces. The Sacred Knight Temple''s forces were much better equipped. Over the years, the method to forge Spirit Armaments has been researched, improved, and perfected. Spirit Armaments were still, by far, the best devices to increase thebat prowess of Summons through external means. They were simr to Artifacts, but the sole difference was that their effects were slightly weaker. In exchange, they didn''t have to be bound to the War Rune, which was essential for Summons because they didn''t possess a War Rune in the first ce.

    A Summon could usually wield two Spirit Armaments of the same Tier without any major issues. Some Summons were strong enough to wield three Spirit Armaments or two Armaments of a higher rank, but they had all one thing inmon. The Summons equipped with Spirit Armaments were much stronger than everyone else. Their equipment was the best of the best, evident in battle.

    Siegfried Dragoon and his Knights stormed the first border settlement. They blocked the iing bombardment of projectiles, including dragon bolts ¨C massive crossbow bolts released by a Titan Crossbow ¨C with their Holy Powers, climbed the walls, or used the Awakened''s powers and the Golden Stinger Wasps to block the settlement walls. The Holy Knights and Sacred Knights were terrifying. Their power threshold reached the peak of their Tier owed to their Spirit Armaments andbat experience. It came to no surprise when one of the Fae Union''s fell victim to the Sacred Knight Temple.

    Another temple was burned to a cinder by the Elemental Empress and the Red Dragon. Theybined their forces and demonstrated both the Untamed Armies and the Fae Union how powerful they were. Nobody underestimated theirbat prowess, but the Fae Union''s Awakened had only a few means to counter them. Unfortunately, most ballistae and otherrge-scale weaponry was destroyed by the Minor Typhoon Rocs.

    There were also other troubles, but the Forest Archers, reinforced by Elementals, and the bombardment of various projectiles from Noble Elementals and Superior Elementals solved most problems.

    One of the most interesting interaction was between the Golden Queen Bee and Sun Demos. Sun Demos and his underlings were thrown around by the Golden Queen Bee after Sun Demos underwent his second evolution. The Monkey King was stronger than he used to be after gaining resistance to magical attacks and certain physical blows. His rapid regeneration healed him whenever a magic missile or hard blow struck and prated his natural resistances. That was enough to transform him into a terror to the Guards of the border settlements.

    However, even worse were the Demonic Monkeys, the Nightshade Assassins, and the wide variety of other Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.

    The Golden Stinger Wasps teleported the nasty monkeys inside the border settlement, where the agile and dexterous creatures charged into the buildings. They avoided fighting the Guards and Awakened by using the civilians as hostages. At least, that was what it looked like to the Awakened who had Soultraits with high area of effect powers. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The monkeys cared little about that. They ignored most civilians, except those attacking them, and hunted the Guards and Awakened in narrow alleys or from dead angles.

    Their strategicbat was wless, though slow. It took more than 48 hours before Sun Demos and his unterlings, aided by two Super Awakened, conquered the border settlement.

    But it worked out. They made it happen!

 Chapter 1003 Road to Ancient

    Chapter 1003 Road to Ancient

    As suspected, the High Lords'' resistance decreased drastically once the first border settlements fell victim to the Untamed Armies. The forces on the Untamed Jungle were too strong for the average High Lords to deal with.

    They tried rallying their forces and attacked the Untamed Armies in an all-out attack as ast ditch effort, but messed up big time. Some Super Awakened like Frederik Kolbenheim or powerful Awakened like Jacqueline Kolbenheim ¨C formerly known as Jacqueline Ondo ¨C had a powerful area of effect techniques, which obliterated bigger numbers of enemies swiftly. But not only Awakened were given enough power to deal with the gathered forces of the Fae Union.

    The Elementals, Red Dragon, and Minor Typhoon Rocs also had the means to do so. They didn''t hesitate to demonstrate their powers and wreak havoc outside the Untamed Jungle where they didn''t have to restrain their powers due to the surrounding environment. Outside the Untamed Jungle, neither was afraid to damage anything. They could go crazy. And they did.

    The destruction was shocking, to say the least, but the Fae Union''s forces crumbled quickly. They resisted with great effort, but it came to no surprise when thest resisting Lords died no more than one month after the troops of the Untamed Jungle started retaliating against the Fae Union.

    The Untamed Jungle didn''t need Michael to take care of the leeches harming it. All it needed was a good gardener, and the Untamed Armies were perfect for that job.

    Once the Fae Union was shattered, only remnants of the terror and destruction Michael''s forces had inflicted upon the surrounding regions remained, but nobody paid attention to them. Once the Untamed Jungle expanded into these regions, flourishing nature would rece the destruction. Life would return and transform the destroyednds into brilliant ces full of life and happiness.

    With the destruction of the Fae Union the Untamed Jungle wasn''t restrained anymore. It could focus on expanding again. In fact, the Untamed Jungle could transfer more energy and nutrients than usually into the expansion with the corpses of all those who had resisted the Untamed Armies. Contrary to the norm, more than half of the Fae Union''s civilians decided against joining Michael''s forces. Since they were only given two options; to either die or follow Michael, the majority decided to follow their Lords into death.

    That showed how well the Fae Union''s Lords had treated their summons. They would much instead follow their Lord into death than serve the men and women who had killed them.

    That was a little unfortunate as too many good Summons died from that decision, but their corpses were full of goods to plunder and nutrients to give to the Untamed Jungle.

    Michael visited the Origin Expanse after the Fae Union was shattered. He used True Extraction Domain to plunder all corpses and startedbining Summoning Scroll Fragments, Summoning Scrolls, Artifacts, and so forth while the plundered corpses were given to the Untamed Jungle to devour and turn into nutrients.

    In the following months, the Untamed Jungle expanded rapidly. But the flora was not all that expanded. The jungle monsters spread further, imed biggernds to habituate and started with territorial fights to decide who would be the Overlord of the newly imednds. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    More Pentagon Fortresses were built and the existing Pentagon Fortresses in the center of the Untamed Jungle were expanded. The settlements in the jungle center quickly transformed from fortresses, which were ready for war and to block the charge of massive armies, intorge city-states. The city-states were still merged with the surrounding flora and fauna, but the number of citizens living in each city-state exceeded the poption of the existing Pentagon Forts easily.

    As the number of Summons continued increasing, so did the number of valuable workers,batants, and rare prodigies. The researchers found a way to upgrade the Intermediate Summoning Gate and how to upgrade the Sacred Knight Temple. The Hunter Academies spread across Michael''s territories had already been improved, which was epted as an official upgrade by the Will, and it was only a matter of time before more such upgrades would be discovered and implemented.

    But that would take time, effort, and enough resources.

    "How long do you think the Untamed Jungle will remain a Grand Region?" Michael was asked by Hiraku when they inspected the rapidly expanding Untamed Jungle from an elevated position. Michael didn''t bother using Slipstream to teleport to the various locations he''d intended to visit. Instead, he traveled on Icarus with Hiraku, who joined him to report the events with the Fae Union, the Desert Rebels, their recent gains of natural resources, and the progress of various construction sites all across the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert. The Sacred Desert didn''t have much more to offer now that it had advanced to an Intermediate Region. Of course, it could regain its former glory as an Advanced Region as it had been during the Second Epoch, but the effort wasn''t worth it. Not yet, at least.

    Michael already owned a full-fledged Grand Region, which expanded naturally as long as the surrounding forces didn''t restrain it. As long as nobody worked against the Untamed Jungle, it would grow. That was much more efficient than being forced to work on the Sacred Desert to help it advance actively.

    "I''m not sure, but given that the Primal Root is a Primordial grade Energy Vein¡­I don''t think we will have any issues. The Grand Region was once a Primal Region as well. It didn''t lose the conditions to regain its former glory either. I don''t know about the upgrade conditions to form a Primal Region, but given that the Untamed Jungle has a Divinity, Sentience, and a Primordial grade Energy Vein, I think we should be fine," Michael said but tilted his head when he looked down to inspect the undergrowth stretching outside the Untamed Jungle.

    "As for your question. The conditions for upgrading the Untamed Jungle to an Ancient Region are mostly met. We''re only missing the size threshold and probably the number of residents within the Untamed Jungle. Though, I''m not sure about thetter. The jungle monsters and Summons might already be more than enough to fill that criteria. That being said¡­I think the Untamed Jungle will be upgraded to an Ancient Region in a year if it continues growing like this, two years if the expansion speed returns to the norm."

    That was faster than Hiraku expected, but he smiled. It would be fantastic if the Untamed Jungle would regain a part of its former glory in the next one or two years. "That''s great. Your strength will increase even further once the Untamed Jungle regains its power as an Ancient Region. The Links of Loyalty will grant you more Soul Power as a base, and if I remember correctly from Old Scripts, you will also gain a minuscule boost in terms of physique, soul, and mind from every Link residing within the Ancient Region." He said with glimmering eyes.

    "That is what I''m working for. The Ancient Region would help me fight some Gods and maybe even survive against the Primal." Michael responded in all honesty. A trace of wary entered his voice, "But I''m not sure if I have that much time before the Gods and Primal act."

 Chapter 1004 Aether

    Chapter 1004 Aether

    The raging storm in the Origin Expanse died down and was reced by peace and the period of growth. The poption in Michael''s territories expanded, and the Untamed Jungle also continued to stretch everywhere.

    In the meantime, Michael''s time outside the Origin Expanse was interesting, to put it lightly. He didn''t join too many battles and focused on creating more Soultrait Symbols for his people, finding suitable Symbols to integrate into the Soultraits of the Super Awakened and the other Awakened working for him, but also learning more about his Soultraits.

    Michael might not possess a Divine Seed, but he could learn more about his Soultrait Symbols. It might not be feasible for him to create his own Divinity without a proper Divinity Seed ¨C the Seeds of the God Curses might be part of Michael and belong to him, but Michael couldn''t create his personal Divinity with them ¨C but it was possible to study the Laws and Authorities of the cosmos and maybe even gain minor mastery over them.

    Unbound Laws and Authorities were much weaker than those infused into Divinities, but since Michael had so many Soultrait Symbols and the knowledge and mastery that more than a dozen Demi Gods and hundreds of Divine Lifeforms had acquired, Michael''s chances to understand the Laws and Authorities was higher than the norm. It would be interesting to put them into action in the future, given that he acquired some Authorities in the first ce.

    Other than experimenting with Soultrait Symbols for his people, and studying his Soultraits, Michael practiced with the God Curses Divinities almost daily. He tried nourishing the Divinities to ess more of their power while also using them for a prolonged period. Their growth wasn''t quick, but Michael noticed a minuscule improvement every single day. The improvements weren''t noteworthy, but given enough time and effort, which Michael was willing to give to strengthen his Divinities, they would soon transform into properly sized Divinities.

    Months went by after the Fae Union''s destruction, and Michael''s Divinities continued to grow. While their growth had been slow at the beginning of his practice, Michael had finally gained enough mastery of some highly effective methods to practice with his Divinities while nourishing them. The results of mastering his Divinities through practice and nourishing them simultaneously were tremendous. Inparison, the gains Michael gained from the expanding Untamed Jungle or from nourishing the Super Awakened wereckluster. Still, they couldn''t be underestimated either. Just like it couldn''t be underestimated what a few powerful Soultrait Symbols could do to some Awakened. Their boring lives, or lives filled with struggle and problems, changed entirely. They turned upside down from an item that wasn''t even valuable to Michael at this point. He had more Soultrait Symbols than he could count and umted more SoulStar Fragments than ever. Michael had yet to figure out what he wanted to do with the SoulStar Fragments. Would it be a good idea to strengthen the Super Awakened even further, pushing some of their Soultrait Symbols to 8-Star, or was it better to give them more 5-Star and 6-Star Soultraits? If he wasn''t supposed to upgrade the Super Awakened''s Soultraits, should he strengthen his Soul and create more empty Soul Sockets, or was the best solution to umte more SoulStar Fragments and upgrade one Soultrait ¨C probably Extraction due to the long-term benefits ¨C to 10-Star?

    Michael had countless options, but the right answer didn''t want toe to him. He could also infuse the SoulStar Fragments into his Aethyr until it would attain full glory once it transformed into full-fledged Aether, but Michael was unsure if that would cause more problems. In the first ce, Aethyr hasn''t been as useful as it used to be in thest few battles, and it was uncertain how effective it would be against Gods and the Primal. Michael considered trying Aethyr, but the situation wasn''t that simple. The Aethyr sucked his SoulStar Fragments dry without granting Michael any great benefits. The amount of Aether inside the Aethyr increased, which also reinforced the structures formed with Aethyr, but there was no increase in his actualbat prowess. At least Michael didn''t notice a massive benefit.

    The ws formed through Curse Fusion were only slightly stronger and sharper once ayer of Aethyr formed around it. However, the Aethyr ws without Curse Fusion were much weaker. The same applied to shields and protection. Aethyr Shields were strong, but a Divine Lifeform could pierce through it. However, the serpent-scale armor, which could already block the blows of a Divine, was slightly enhanced when Michael coated them with Aethyr. The effect was present, but it wasn''t worth investing tens of millions of SoulStar Fragments into it. Not if the gains were only minuscule. The amount of Aethyr didn''t increase enough to consider it a worthwhile investment.

    [I think you''re forgetting how powerful Aether is and why Aether is so valuable to most Gods and the Primal especially.] Jormungandr noted when the World Serpent sensed Michael''s debacle. "What do you mean? Until now, nobody was affected by the Aethyr. They weren''t even surprised when I revealed it. It''s almost as if Siegfried''sment a few years back was nothing but a lie. Is my Aethyr really this valuable?"

    Michael clearly recalled the day Siegfried Dragoon saw his Aethyr. He remembered how shocked Siegfried had been, especially after telling his story, and how multiple Lords attacked him to acquire the tiny trace of Aether he had acquired in an ancient ruin. Seeing Michael with much more Aether infused into an alloy to form Aethyr had shocked him to the core.

    But since then, nothing big has happened. It was almost like nobody cared about the Aethyr and the growing amount of Aether within it. Not even the Demi Gods he''d fought.

    [That''s because they were focused on the fight and didn''t sense the Aether in your Aethyr. You have so many Soultraits that most cannot even differentiate what you are doing with which Soultrait. There is no clear boundary, especially with the power of three God Curses, the Nature Heart, your curse powers, and so forth. Using Aethyr could have been a Soultrait as well, which was why nobody bothered trying to sense what was hidden deep within the Aethyr alloy. They should have sensed it if they had enough time to focus on it, but you killed them long before anyone realized.]

    That did make sense, somewhat, at least. But it didn''t exin why Aether was so valuable.

    "So¡­what''s the point of Aether? Why exactly will Gods and the Primal be excited if I nourish and release Aether?" [Excited? No. They will be anything but excited. Trust me with that one!] Hel chuckled.

    Jormungadnr hissed in acknowledgment, [Nobody will be excited to face you when you release pure Aether. They will be afraid instead. Including the Primal.]

    "Afraid? If Aether is dangerous to Gods and Primal, it would make sense why they''re going crazy after it. Maybe it would also make sense how Divine Lifeforms don''t think too much about it since they''re not affected by¡­ by what, though? What exactly makes pure Aether so dangerous? I cannot sense anything special from it even though I have three Divinities and a growing Divinity Fragment inside me?" Michael asked in confusion.

    [The Aether is bound to you and will thus not harm you or us. But to put the lethality of pure Aether into simple words. Pure Aether is the only effective method to harm someone''s Essence. The Primal are so old and were born in the Origin, basically, if we believe their legends, and are thus mostly made of Essence. Essence is their existence, and Pure Aether is one of the few means capable of harming Essences with a single scratch.] Fenrir growled.

    [Gods, which you should have noticed by now, are different from ordinary Divine Lifeforms. You have a Divinity, and you should be able to tell that you cannot transform ordinary energy into the power that fuels Divinities. That is because Essences fuel the Divinities. You learned early on how to create Extraction Essences, but even those weren''t proper Essences. You should be able to tell the difference between your first Extraction Essences and the Essences residing within the Wolf Divinity.] Hel added.

    [Thus, being able to harm Essences effectively via Pure Aether allows you to damage the Divinity of Gods and drain the power umted within their Divinities rapidly, whereas the Primal have even more problems to take care of if you manage to cut them with Pure Aether.] That was unexpected, but it solved Michael''s issue. After the God Curses ''mentary, he knew where to put his SoulStar Fragments. "That''s amazing! But why did nobody tell me about this earlier?" Michael asked as he started to infuse SoulStar Fragments into Aethyr.

    [First, you didn''t have enough SoulStar Fragments. Now that you have enough SoulStar Fragments, it''s fine to tell you. However, you should also take note of a particr problem.]

    "What problem are you talking about?" Michael tilted his head. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Jormungandr sighed deeply.

    [Pure Aether can be detected by the Primal. The more Aether umtes in one spot, the easier it is for them to sense it."

    "Oh¡­" Michael furrowed his eyebrows.

    That was indeed problematic.

    [But you have not yet enough Aether to attract anyone''s attention. The Aethyr alloy helps you cover and inste the Aether, which is quite surprising. I would have never expected a backwater gxy with a tiny organization such as the Tritan Alliance to create an alloy capable of blocking Aether as efficiently as Aethyr.]

    The Tritan Alliance did a good job, indeed. They were the real MVPs!

 Chapter 1005 Changes

    Chapter 1005 Changes

    Michael collected more SoulStar Fragments, probably enough to transform his Aethyr into proper Pure Aether with a single infusion of SoulStar Fragments. But he didn''t do it right away. He would wait with the creation of Pure Aether until he couldn''t wait any longer. That was either until some Gods knocked on his door for a beating, or until a Primal would appear before him with ill intentions.

    The God Curses approved this n, hoping Michael could further strengthen his Divinities and maybe even increase his Tier a little. Unfortunately, the Titan War between the Altors Union and the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t leave him with that much spare time. Michael was still using Slipstream to teleport the Super Awakened around in small teams to obliterate High Hyumans alongside a handful of Divine Lifeforms, but the situation grew a little bit moreplicated with time.

    First, the tides of the battlefield in the Novix Gxy switched again. Many Cosmic Beasts had been attacked and killed in recent months. The Supreme Human Alliance focused their forces on the Cosmic Beasts, as the monsters had been inflicting tremendous damage by teleporting around whenever Hyumans powerful enough to harm them arrived before continuing with their relentless attacks in a less protected location.

    At the end of the day, Michael had inflicted more damage to the Supreme Human Alliance than the Cosmic Beasts, but they were weaker and more numerous than Michael. Stopping Michael was difficult, but restraining the Cosmic Beasts'' movements using spatial blockers was simple. Capturing a swarm of dispersed piranhas in the sea was still difficult, yet it was much more simplistic than trying to capture a whale with a small. One task was difficult but achievable, whereas the other task required a handful of miracles to seed.

    Michael didn''t intervene in the fight of the Cosmic Beasts. Even if he wanted to, Michael never knew where the Cosmic Beasts teleported. In the first ce, they could only jump through space alone. Bringing someone along was not within their power. Therefore, Michael never considered using them as a mount for his Super Awakened Units. If not for that restriction, the Supreme Human Alliance would be suffering much more.

    One way or another, half of the Cosmic Beast poption was killed before the Cosmic Queen Beast decided to retreat. She pulled her babies back into the other dimension, where she came up with new tactics to support the enemies of the Supreme Human Alliance. The Cosmic Queen Beast didn''t care who you were or with whom she had to team up. As long as they fought the Supreme Human Alliance, they were the Cosmic Queen Beast''s allies.

    It was that simple.

    The Cosmic Beasts weren''t the only ones in pain. Both the Altors Union and Divine Subordinates were pped in the face a few more times than Michael wanted to acknowledge. More than one hundred Divine Subordinates died to stupidity, thinking they were strong enough to fight a Demi God head-on. The Heads of the Altors Union thought the same. They were certain the Divine Subordinates were strong enough.

    Thus, they deployed a small army of Awakened to support the Divine Subordinates with various Support and Curse Soultraits. There were also Awakened with rare Blessing Soultraits and the like. Still, the forces were too weak to deal with one of the Demi Gods who''d been deployed to the Novix Gxy to deal with the Divine Subordinates, Cosmic Beasts, and the bothersome forces of the Altors Union once and for all. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Two Demi Gods were all they had to deploy, forcing the Comisc Queen Beast out of her reserves while half of the Divine Subordinates were mortally injured and the forces of the Altors Union decimated.

    The Divine Subordinates killed one of the Demi-Gods after the Cosmic Queen Beast unleashed her fury as a full-fledged Leviathan. She didn''t want to expose her true power but was forced to do so. Atst, one Demi God died while the other one escaped. It was amazing to think the Divine Subordinates killed a Demi God, but the losses were too great. They only survived, thanks to the Cosmic Queen Beast''s interference.

    Still, the Divine Subordinates gained more confidence from their victory. They entered the Genox Gxy and started wreaking havoc since Michael hadn''t given them a new mission for months. The Divine Subordinates conquered severalary systems and received even more reinforcement from the Altors Union, only for more and more members of the Divine Subordinates to be killed.

    That was when Michael found himself forced to intervene. He might have received enough from the Awakened killed by the Divine Subordinates. His investment and thepound interest had been paid back a long time ago, but Michael was unwilling to let one of his most valuable assets die like this.

    The Divine Subordinates threw away their lives. That was too wasteful.

    Thus, Michael picked up the Divine Subordinates when the time was ripe. He gathered the Divine Subordinates, redistributed them to different groups, and jumped with them through space using Slipstream. The new locations were outside the Novix Gxy and in more secure positions where the Divine Subordinates couldn''t die as easily. Demi Gods coulde their way, but most would either travel too slowly to arrive in a timely manner, or they would have to be teleported to the least active battle zones.

    The former was easy to achieve by actively using Slipstream to change the position of the Divine Subordinate groups, while thetter was also easy to work against. Michael could teleport the Divine Subordinates to the battle zones the Demi Gods came from, thus altering the bnce on that border before fighting the Demi God head-on.

    Well, it wouldn''t be head-on. Michael was certain to emerge victorious in a battle against a single Demi God. Michael pursued the tactics for a little while and gained a tremendous amount of resources that way. Every Divine Lifeform killed by Michael or his people rewarded more than 100,000 SoulStar Fragments and massive other gains such as the portion of goods stored within their War Rune storages or their Divine Artifacts. Everything was of incredible value, but the most valuable bodies were the Demi Gods.

    They rewarded a Soultrait Symbol, and a vastly ranging number of SoulStar Fragments. Some rewarded half a million, but most crossed the one million threshold easily. Still, the biggest gains were their bodies ¨C used by the Untamed Jungle to expand ¨C and their War Rune storages. Filled with treasures, Michael could easily manage and expand his territory for years¡­with the gains from one Demi God corpse.

    Still, Michael managed to use up all the resources within weeks, not only to progress in his War Rune but also to push everyone to progress and go above and beyond their limits.

    The Super Awakened were all-in and showed that quite clearly by giving their utmost, but it was obvious how displeased the Divine Subordinates were with Michael''s actions. Whereas the Super Awakened received more Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades ¨C they received their fair portion from the Awakened they''d killed ¨C, the Divine Subordinates received nothing. But that was only fair.

    They had betrayed him. Why would he give them a reward for that?

 Chapter 1006 Give Me!

    Chapter 1006 Give Me!

    Michael found himself fighting more recklessly as time went on. He is at the top of the game, knowing how nobody in the Supreme Human Alliance could easily stop him at this point. Michael could kill whoever he wanted to see dead and devours as he pleased. Nobody stopped him. His Divinities were growing quickly, but while that was great, not everything about it was good. His Divinities pulled more attention to him, and it came as no surprise when stronger Demi Gods in pairs or evenrger groups appeared to fight him.

    The Supreme Human Alliance wanted to see him dead, and they were willing to weaken their defenses to hunt him down and end their misery once and for all. But the forces weren''t enough. Michael''s Divinities, Soultraits, and curse power were too potent and lethal. The Demi Gods inflicted severe wounds to Michael, but most wounds were inflicted intentionally. Michael would allow the Demi Gods to injure him and have them feel like they were about to win in one of the next few moves, only to retaliate with full power and counterattack when their excitement overwhelmed their guard and vignce. The tactic might have been dangerous, but Nature Heart and River of Vigor did an extraordinary job protecting Michael. No matter how severe the wounds were, River of Vigor''s supreme healing serum would mend him quickly. The Nature Heart further augmented his regeneration while ensuring his organs would be quickly pushed back to their peak state.

    However, Michael''s high time was never supposed tost forever. He should have been more careful and used Slipstream more often to travel to new locations all over the Supreme Human Alliance''s outer regions. But Michael didn''t do that. He was too confident nobody in the Supreme Human Alliance could kill him that his teleportations through the SHA''s territory turned into something others could predict. There was a pattern in his movements, and he was found out.

    One day, Michael teleported to the inner region of the Supreme Human Alliance alone to wreak havoc with a bunch of Divine Lifeforms and possibly destroy another Divine Academy with a few quick and deadly attacks, but he was already awaited. To be precise, someone stepped out of arge bridge when Michael appeared from Slipstream.

    The man was also alone and had long golden hair, bright ruby eyes, and a perfectly lean physique. His skin had been tanned in the sun for a long time, but there was more to it. Michael felt odd about what True Vision saw in his skin. Something merged into his skin. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    [That''s Essence. This guy is a God. No, not really. He was a God, but only for a short period, and must have pulled his Divinity apart. He still feels like a proper God, but if you look at his Divinity, you can see that God pulled parts of his Divinity apart.] Fenrir exined as they inspected the God through Michael''s Eyes.

    They could see a lot with Seer and True Vision active at full power. The God''s Divinity looked like a molten ball that had been cut open and pulled apart. It looked like an ugly flower made in a child''s metalcraft workshop. Though, despite being ugly beyond recognition, the Divinity was powerful. It wasrge and must have been nourished for decades.

    "So¡­ you are the kid with multiple God Curses? How about you give me Jormungandr''s Power Authority, and we leave it at that? I don''t really care about the Supreme Human Alliance''s fate. They have been annoying me for centuries and deserve a good beating." The God offered, but Jormungandr hissed angrily.

    [He must have stopped thepletion of his Divinity when he heard about you. The SHA seems to have found out about Fenrir and Jormungandr, and now he wants your Authority to strengthen his Divinity before it is toote to make changes.] Helughed, enraging Jormungandr even further.

    "How about¡­no?" Michael responded with squinted eyes. He couldn''t give the God his Authorities even if he had wanted to, which was not the case. The Power Authority was unique and already intertwined with the World Serpent. Michael might be able to use it through his Divinity, but that was because the World Serpent was part of him. They were one entity and couldn''t be distinguished at this point.

    "If you don''t care about the Supreme Human Alliance, how about you let me destroy it first?" Michael asked, knowing the answer wouldn''t be pleasant.

    "You don''t want to give me the World Serpent''s Authority?" The God asked again, the Essence within him stirring. A membrane of viscous dark-red Essence coated him.

    "I cannot do that. That would kill me. So, nope. I am not giving you anything," Michael affirmed while slowly infusingrge batches of SoulStar Fragments into his Aethyr. More Aether formed within the Aethyr, but Michael wasn''t sure if that was enough to deal with the God.

    ''Fortunately, ordinary injuries harm Gods as well. All I have to do is to hit him hard enough.''

    Michael exerted Foundation Break by conjuring energy Soullife Energy before also activating the Perfect Heavenly Beast Physique technique. The Serpent Seals were also activated, pushing his physical power even higher as the Serpent Seals unlocked more of Primordial Vessel''s full potential. Last but not least, Michael used Soul Tears to augment Primordial Vessel and Greater Enhancement with severalyers on his physique.

    He considered using Curse Fusion for a moment but decided against it. Instead, Michael used Slipstream to appear beside the God with the Power Authority activated. His hands transformed into a de as Emperor Qi, enhanced with Unlimited Enhancement, and a Soul Tear shrouded it. Michael didn''t hesitate to coat the Emperor Qi de into Aethyr, which was mostly made of Aether at this point. The God might notice the Aether, but he would have sustained an injury by the point he realized what was going on. At least, that was what Michael had been hoping for. The Emperor Qi de whisked past God''s chest as he turned around smoothly. The only damage inflicted was a minuscule scratch, which severed the essence around the area of impact. The God instantly realized that something was off about Michael''s attack, but he couldn''t see the silverish Aether as Michael retracted it almost instantly.

    Still, the God was enraged, shot toward Michael with shocking velocity and grasped his shoulder. A flood of magma burst from his hand, burning Michael''s arm in seconds.

    Michael cursed but acted quickly. He was in the God''s grasp and couldn''t change that as long as the God held onto his arm. Thus, Michael cut the burning arm with a quick sh. A momentter, Michael used Slipstream to move away from the God.

    [Are you sure you want to fight him? You could use Slipstream to get away.]

    ''I won''t start running away after everything I''ve gone through.''

    [Okay. Go for it then,] The God Curses said simultaneously. They sounded excited. Even more so because they knew Michael better than most. The God Curses were full away of his attitude and that he wouldn''t start running away.

    But was he strong enough to fight a God until the end? Would he emerge victorious?

 Chapter 1007 Volcano God

    Chapter 1007 Volcano God

    Michael wasn''t going to flee from the Pseudo God, or was he a proper God? Michael couldn''t really tell the difference right now. The man''s body was infused with far more Essence than all the Demi Gods he''d met and killed together. His Divinity was alsorger than Michael''s Divinities. If not for the damage inflicted on the Divinity, he could have been considered a proper God. Not a powerful one, but a full-fledged god.

    [Just call him a God. It doesn''t matter. You think you can kill him, so you are not scared of him because of the ''God''bel. Some newly reborn Gods think of themselves as lesser than other full-fledged Gods when they first attain godhood. They think they are supposed to be weaker than old Gold, but that is not necessarily the case. Every Divinity is different, and it is not impossible for you to kill an older God merely because you just attained godhood. Either way, thebel doesn''t matter to you, which means you will be fine whether you consider him a God or a Pseudo God.]

    Michael agreed with a shrug while the supreme healing serum healed him. Michael expanded the naturally forming Extraction Aura to draw in more energy while converting some of the Void Ingots stored in the Swallow Domain storage into nutrients. He then activated Unlimited Enhancement on River of Vigor to regrow his arm within seconds. The energy and nutrients required to do so were enormous, but it was only an insignificant fraction of what he could have formed by using Permute on the stored Void Ingots. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The God observed the burning arm for a second and turned to Michael, the regrowing arm attracting the God''s interest.

    "Looks like I will have a fun time burning you to death. You will suffer for a long time. Don''t you worry about that!" He dered and made his move. The God moved through the open space, bursts ofva gushing out behind him.

    His momentum increased to top speed, and he appeared before Michael. However, Michael was already prepared to face the Volcano God. He activated Curse Fusion on top of the already activated techniques and allowed his body to transform. The serpent scale armor grew out of him alongside the serpent tail. The right side of his body withered and looked like it was about to die at any moment. It transformed into a replication of Hel''s undead appearance. ws grew from his hands, his eyes transformed into the slits of a deadly predator, and his hair grew rapidly. Michael''s presence changed drastically as the Essences of Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel influenced it even more. But that was not all. It hadn''t been long, but the Nature Heart grew under the influence of curse power. It gained more of the Untamed Jungle''s Divinity and expanded. At some point, the growth of the Nature Heart changed something. Something about the Nature Heart changed.

    It grew more effective whenever he channeled curse power through it, which was even more apparent when Michael activated Curse Fusion. The Nature Heart didn''t have any great means of attack or even defense, but it filled Michael with lifeforce. It flooded Michael and allowed him to unleash his Soullife Arts as much as he pleased and to convert some lifeforce into energy if needed.

    Thetter wasn''t needed just yet. The River of Vigor had umted enough healing serum, advanced healing serum, and supreme healing serum. There was no need to prepare anything else to heal him any further. Even regrowing lost limbs was rather simple once he used Unlimited Enhancement.

    Once Curse Fusion jumped into action, Michael applied a few moreyers of Greater Enhancement on his body. Simultaneously, he conjured hundreds of spears coated in ice using Emperor Qi and Gxies of Elements to their fullest. The ice used had highlypressed freezing properties infused, alongside a trace of God Curse poison and True Extraction Essence, of course.

    Michael hurled the Emperor Qi spears at the Volcano God, whose leg jerked toward Michael. He wasn''t much faster than Michael once he didn''t unleash his Volcano Essence to boost his speed, but Michael didn''t do much to block his attack. All he did was to grow Emperor Qi Spikes, coated in Aethyr ¨C which was amplified by Unlimited Enhancement ¨C around the area of impact. The God struck Michael''s leg, smashing it into countless pieces, mangling it in the most horrendous ways, but Michael epted the pain.

    Seeing the Volcano God''s expression change when the Aether spikes pierced into his leg, prating the Volcano Essence and puncturing his leg, was enough for Michael. The pain was worth it, especially since his leg wasn''t needed in a fight in the middle of empty space. It regenerated rapidly from the passive effect of the three stored versions of healing serum inrge quantities.

    Michael released the Emperor Qi spears when the Volcano God struck him and the Aether Spikes pierced his legs. They burst forward in batches of dozens and struck their target with ease. However, that is as far as the first batches went. The freezing ice covering the spears melted before they could pass through the Volcano Essence, but the Curse God Poison and the Extraction Essence jumped into effect nheless. Since they couldn''t enter the God''s body easily, Michael had applied Insert as well, ensuring the poison and Extraction Essence could invade "something". That something was the Volcano God''s Essence. The spears exploded, pushing the Volcano Essence aside, even if it was merely one millimeter, probably less. It was enough for the God Curse Poison and Extraction Essence to invade. The poison weakened the Volcano Essence until it was also destroyed, burned to ashes, whereas the Extraction Essence affected the weakened Volcano Essence, draining a minuscule portion of it. It was easy to ovee the damage inflicted by one, or even a dozen of such attacks, but Michael had conjured hundreds of Emperor Qi Spears with the exact same augmentations.

    The freezing ice continued melting as they struck the Volcano Essence covering the Volcano God, but both sides quickly realized what was about to happen. The Volcano God''s Essence was drained with every Emperor Qi spear hitting him. He was forced to either remove the Volcano Essence and allow the spears to hit him, which wouldn''t have harmed him much, but it was still too dangerous. Or he could escape closebat and reorganize his tactics to prepare for the next sh with Michael.

    Thetter was exactly what he did. The Volcano God didn''t know what exactly Michael had done to weaken and drain his Essence, but if - whatever it was ¨C entered his body, he would have trouble continuing fighting Michael.

    Furthermore, for every injury he inflicted to Michael, the Volcano God would be injured as well. The worst, however, was that Michael could heal himself while the Volcano God''s naturally high regeneration didn''t kick in as it should have.

    And he knew why. For a moment, the Volcano God hated himself for jumping into the battle. He shouldn''t have attacked Michael without ample preparations.

    ''Fuck this bastard. I am going to tear him apart! Who cares if he has Aether or not?!!!''

 Chapter 1008 Domain

    Chapter 1008 Domain

    The Volcano God disappeared in a mass of molten magma, which exploded, destroying the Emperor Qi spears instantly. Michael conjured several Imperial Barriers, stalling the molten magma long enough to move away.

    The molten magma melted through the barriers, easily destroying them as Michael moved in the opposite direction. The Volcano God retreated as well, but he quickly shifted from retreating to attacking when he noticed Michael''sck of response. Michael didn''t retaliate against the molten magma, which was why the Volcano God thought Michael didn''t have the means to block his attacks properly. The Imperial Barrier wasn''t strong enough to do so.

    He released a burst ofva to push ahead and move forward and reached Michael in no time. Michael conjured Imperial Barrier between them, but the God pierced through the barrier with brute force. He didn''t even lose much momentum in the act. More Imperial Barriers appeared, but they were shattered just like the first one. Still, the quantity made a difference, slowly but steadily forcing the Volcano God to slow down. Michael used that moment to lunge at the Volcano God. The serpent tail burst forward as Michael wed the God. The ws were coated in Aether and Emperor Qi, which was enough to pierce the Volcano Essence, but the crucial attack came from the serpent tail. The serpent tail had been attached with True Extraction Essence, Aether, and Curse God Poison and was reinforced by Greater Enhancement. The Volcano God sensed some danger from the serpent tail and reacted in a timely manner but Michael had used Unlimited Enhancement on Seer''s Domination to attack the God''s mind and soul, while also dazzling him with a wave of pristine light. The Volcano God blocked Domination rather easily, but the dazzling light was unexpected. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "How many Soultraits do you have, bastard!" The God roared in anger as the serpent tail pierced the Essence infused thigh. It was painful, but not as much as the Volcano God had expected. He sensed something entering his body but sacrificed some of his Essence to burn his insides and dispersed the poison and foreign essence entering his body.

    Michael clicked his tongue, True Vision studying the Volcano God with deadly precision.

    ''Nothing is working against him. He lost some of his Essence, but this is too slow. If we keep this going this bastard will keep me here for days! Is he stalling time?'' Even though Michael didn''t think the Volcano God was stalling time, maybe that was exactly what he did. It could be a trap, but he was too agitated to leave like this. [If you let us help, we will. You don''t have to struggle against someone like this.] Fenrir said lightly, but something seemed to anger him.

    [Are you angry because he wants my Authority and not your Laws? Poor you. Do you want a treat, brother? I can spare a bone or two.] Jormungandr teased and even Hel chuckled.

    Fenrir didn''t think it was fun, and Michael was also having a hard time smiling. His situation was not exactly all that fun.

    [But Fenrir is right. We can help if you want us to.]

    Michael clicked his tongue at the World Serpent''sment but nodded inwardly, ''Just let me test a little bit more before helping me.''

    He essed the Wolf Divinity and the Death Authority before attacking the Volcano God again. The Volcano God noticed a change in Michael''s attacks and released a burst of moltenva toward Michael. However, instead of backing off to escape the moltenva, Michael used Slipstream to appeared behind the Volcano God. His hand was already stretched out and he pressed his hand tightly against the Hyuman God''s broad back.

    Moltenva burst from the God''s back like a fountain when he noticed what happened but Michael coated his body in dozens of Imperial Barriers. This time, the Imperial Barriers were stronger than before. Michael used Permute to produce more energy from the stored Void Ingots to strengthen the Imperial Barriers, which blocked the most lethal blows.

    The Volcano God noticed theck of response and damage caused by the molten magma streams and cursed. However, it was already toote. Death had entered the God''s body after Michael managed to use the Wolf Divinity to devour the Volcano Defense, trying to burn anything foreign invading the Volcano God''s body. The Wolf Divinity was drained, but using Permute on more Void Ingots and the Volcano Essence, which he''d just consumed, was enough to replenish some of the Wolf Divinity.

    Meanwhile, Michael had unleashed almost every bit of Death umted within Hel''s Divinity. The Soul Sphere was drained of its Death Authority for a while, except if Hel replenished it, but that was fine. Death fed on the Volcano God''s lifeforce, slowly but steadily devouring him. The lifeforce sustained Death, which grew in strength as the Volcano God''s power decreased.

    The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward. He was on a good way to deal with the Volcano God.

    Serpent fangs grew from his knuckles and his ws extended as well as he coated them in Pure Aether. He didn''t have much Pure Aether, but it was enough to affect and damage the God. The Volcano God''s eyes widened, but he didn''t give up. He had gotten too far to give up now. Michael''s Tier was lower than the norm for Demi Gods. His strenght might surpass that of most Demi Gods, but Michael was not yet a God.

    The Volcano God unleashed his essence into the wide-open space with the intention to show Michael what a real God was capable of. Michael might be strong, but that did not matter to him. So what if Michael had more than a dozen Soultraits, three God Curses, and Pure Aehter? Michael was still weaker than him!

    The surrounding temperature increased drastically. From the incredible low temperature of space, it suddenly felt like they were in the middle of an active volcano. Michael frowned deeply, but he could endure the heat. It bothered him, yet having Taming with a Red Dragon and an Elemental Empress, as well as the Gxy of Elements helped him ovee everything. His magical resistance was already high, but his resistance toward heat was the strongest. That was how Michael survived the Volcano God''s attacks until now.

    However, the situation wasn''t as simple as it looked at first nce. The Volcano God''s domain expanded until it reached the nearbys. Michael sensed massive changes in the atmosphere of the first the Volcano God''s domain reached. His Death Authority jumped into action and rewarded him with the energy of the dead. That could only mean one thing. The Volcano God''s domain killed the civilians living on the nearby!

    However, there was no hesitation in the Volcano God''s actions as he continued expanding the domain. The farther it reached, the hotter was the center of the domain. Michael felt ufortable as the temperature around the Volcano God increased and it was no surprise that Michael''s blood started boiling.

    Even his natural fire resistance wasn''t strong enough to block all harm caused by the tremendous temperatures around him.

    At the same time, the expanding domain of the Volcano God obliterated all life on the nearby and Michael was certain it wouldn''t stop there.

    The entireary system was bound to cease to exist after today.

    ''Since you start ying dirty¡­let''s do it!''

 Chapter 1009 Playing Dirty

    Chapter 1009 ying Dirty

    The horrifying temperature increases weren''t easy to deal with, but Michael made it happen. He created ice-attributed energy using Gxy of Elements, avoiding adding the freezing attribute to the energy, and circted it through his body in an attempt to lower his body temperature. But that wasn''t enough.

    He had to conjure the ice attribute of his energy into his blood using Insert. Simultaneously, it helped Michael when he added ice to the healing serum, which he circted through every inch of his body to heal him while further regting his body temperature. His actions were enough to ovee the horrifying temperature in space, but it was a little bit annoying nheless.

    The domain continued spreading, and the temperature in its center reached an all-time high. The aftermath of that course of action was apparent. Thes in the domain''s range died, which benefited Michael quite a lot. Every death fueled Michael''s power. The deaths in theary system also granted Michael a great opportunity to strike back. It required some preparations, but Michael could form Undead Souls from everyone''s death. Michael didn''t even have to touch the corpses to summon the Undead Souls. essing the Death Authority was more than enough. The deaths were well within its range. Fortunately, the Death Authority was very interesting in certain regards. Michael might have used the entirety of Death umted in his Soul Sphere, but he could replenish the Death Divinity faster than his other Divinities without doing anything special.

    The deaths happening around Michael did all the work.

    Every death replenished a fraction of Death. That being said, Death inside the Volcano God was still in effect, while Michael''s Death Divinity gained strength and essence. His Energy Vortex also gained a lot of energy from the deaths, but Michael''s focusy on the Undead Souls. He summoned as many as he could handle simultaneously and merged them using Insert. The energy and Death Authority required to do all that was considerable, but the result should speak for itself once Michael finishes his job.

    He gathered andbined more Undead Souls, while his Energy Vortex absorbed more energy to progress. Simultaneously, Michael was forced to evade some deadly attacks from the Volcano God. The God was slightly stunned by how casually Michael blocked the horrifying temperatures near him, but he quickly overcame his surprise. Michael had annoyed him often enough since their fight started to ept that the kid was both dangerous and annoying.

    The Volcano God moved, his arms and legs shrouded inva. Michael evaded a few attacks without getting hit before the temperature got to him. The Volcano God wasn''t faster, but being close to him was already enough to sustain considerable damage. Only the ice within him and the healing serum helped him survive. Also, a thickyer of Extraction Essence helped him absorb some of the heat and Permute it into even more ice.

    The Volcano God couldn''t kill him easily. He gave his utmost and struck Michael twice in the following ten minutes, but nothing worked as intended. The biggest issue on Michael''s side was that while he might not be dead, he wasn''t faring well either. The Volcano God''s power was wearing on him. He had more than enough reserves of energy, lifeforce, nutrients, and healing serum, but his resources weren''t infinite. Michael couldn''t tell if a fight of attrition was the best way to deal with the Volcano God, given how little Volcano Essence he seemed to use at a time. The Pure Aether must have caused the most damage alongside the Death wreaking havoc within him. As for the amount of energy left within the God, Michael could see it very clearly¡­and that scared him a little. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Are Gods infinite energy piggy banks or what?'' He grumbled, but neither of the God Curses answered. That wasn''t good.

    Michael grumbled while lifting his hand to block a punch from the Volcano God. He added a fewyers of Imperial Barrier, which Michael had amplified with water-attributed energy infused into the Soultraits before Greater Enhancement augmented it further. Unfortunately, the barriers shattered and melted quickly. They reduced the following impact, but the heat easily burned through Michael''s serpent-scale armor, skin, flesh, and bones.

    Not even Unlimited Enhancement applied to the serpent scale armor was potent enough to block the attack. It was frightening but also intriguing. Michael would never say it openly, but he finally enjoyed having a challenge. It had been eons since he encountered someone who could be considered a proper challenge. Michael grew stronger with every Soultrait Symbol he added to his arsenal of Soultraits. Every day his Divinities grew. They were nourished and provided Michael with more power as the days passed. Even his connection to the God Curses was firmer than ever.

    There had been no challenge for him in the recent years and the number of enemiesing his way ¨C actual enemies who could threaten his life for good ¨C decreased drastically by the day. Therefore, the Volcano God was exactly what Michael needed. The God was a force to be reckoned with, an enemy who required tremendous power to be dealt with. The kind of power Michael couldn''t unleash easily. It required ample preparation, concentration, and the right moment to be executed. Of course, the Volcano God also had to be injured and weakened. Thetter hadn''t been easy, but Michael made it happen.

    He unleashed Permute on the stored Void Ingots and transformed a small fortune of them into energy, lifeforce, and nutrients. His arm regrew rapidly while he teleported away. The Volcano God appeared right where Michael teleported to in no time, but that was fine. Michael used tenyers of Greater Enhancement as he manifested the strongest Imperial Barrier. A momentter, Swallow Domain jumped into effect, consuming every bit of the energy left behind by the Void Ingots.

    Instead of using Swallow Domain on the Volcano God, which wouldn''t have worked either way, Michael applied it on the dyings in theary system. The Volcano God''s domain had eradicated all lifeforms on thes, and even thes were about to cease to exist. To be precise, they would transform into dead stars. Michael could have made use of that with the Death Authority, but he would much rather use the dyings for something else.

    Jormungandr''s massive body appeared underneath one of the dyings. It shot toward the, coiled around it, and started devouring the defenseless. The Volcano God noticed what was happening, but he couldn''t do much to deal with the World Serpent. Michael tapped into the Wolf Divinity and essed the Death Authority simultaneously to stall the Volcano God. He released a Death st, which struck the Volcano God square in the chest. The God groaned in pain, which was an opportunity Michael grasped instinctively. His speed improved through the Wolf Divinity, but there was more to it. The energy circting through his body was altered and devoured everything in the surroundings once it left Michael''s body.

    He released the Extraction energy at full power after teleporting above the Volcano God. It was necessary to use a different tactic to deal more damage to the God, but Michael''s current focusy on stalling time. The Wolf Divinity and streams of Extraction energy did exactly that. They burst forward and extracted the heat from the surroundings. The streams swallowed the heat and transformed it into more Extraction energy which expanded to consume more heat.

    The horrifying temperature was high enough to destroy the Extraction energy slowly, but it created more Extraction energy from absorbing the heat than the heat could destroy at a time. The difference was only minuscule, yet it forced the Volcano God to act. The God released some of his Volcano Essence, burning the Extraction energy, while Michael responded by conjuring a de of Pure Aether. He grasped the de tightly and severed the Volcano Essence as it burned through the Extraction energy before attempting to deal a more serious blow to the Volcano God''s chest.

    Unfortunately, the Volcano God used more Essences to elerate his movements. His skin was torn into shreds as explosions ofva and magma erupted behind him, but the God cared little. His naturally high regeneration kicked in mere moments after the explosions damaged him. He ignored the pain and attacked Michael fiercely. Michael was forced to up his guard against the Volcano God''s blows and resorted to using Slipstream more often. Seer with True Vision were active and used to their fullest, but even Seer''s prediction wasn''t fast enough to respond to all of the Volcano God''s attacks.

    Still, it was enough to survive and stall enough time to consume the dyings in theary system. Thes had been consumed by the World Serpent''s Swallow Domain, yet the Star Cores weren''t stored away or wasted by using Permute on them. Instead, Michael inserted them into the Undead Souls, which he had formed by merging billions of unfortunate Souls.

    Souls that sought revenge against their vile murderer.

    Michael didn''t expect the Hyuman Souls'' desire for vengeance to be this intense, but he was d. Merging the Undead Souls magnified the desires all Undead Souls had inmon. Many didn''t understand what was happening but the majority had realized what was happening before they died.

    They had heard about the Volcano God in the past and recalled the powers of their youngest Godling.

    It was the same power that ended up killing them, their families, lovers, and friends.

    Fury filled the souls of the deceased right before they died and Michael decided to make use of that.

 Chapter 1010 Unexpected

    Chapter 1010 Unexpected

    Michael chose to use the Star Cores for a particr task. They might be worth a lot if converted into something else via Permute, but Michael used Insert on them to merge them with the four Undead Souls he had formed from the billions of Undead Souls he''d acquired with the Volcano God''s help.

    The Undead Souls were massive Wraths, souls tarnished by their raging emotions, but they didn''t look Hyuman. The Undead Souls were made of eerily ck fog, which was shaped into a Hyuman upper body with an elongated neck and head and a cloud-shaped lower body. Their appearance was interesting, but nothing to spend hours studying intensely. Michael solidified their abilities by inserting a Star Core into each of the four Undead Souls.

    The resulting power was tremendous, even if the Undead Souls were not yet powerful enough to defeat a God. They weren''t Godly Undead Souls but should be powerful enough to deal with Demi Gods and could negate physical attacks. They were immune to mental attacks and physical blows, which left only magical and soul attacks to obliterate them.

    The Volcano God didn''t have any attacks affecting souls, but the Volcano Essence and streams ofva were of a magical nature. Michael used Greater Enhancement on the Undead Souls a few times in quick session, enhancing them before they whizzed to the Volcano God. Their bodies inted, and they seemed to lose shape as they inched closer to the Volcano God. Michael watched the Undead Souls for a moment but lost interest in their actions after seeing how easily they merged with the surrounding space. It might not be a problem for the Volcano God to kill the Undead Souls with one or two precise hits, but for that, he would have to hit the Undead Souls in the first ce. That wasn''t going to be easy.

    Michael jumped into action a momentter as well. Several deads were now stored alongside the Void Ingots in the Swallow Domain storage. Some of the Void Ingots had already been consumed, but the Floating Unionprised more than a dozen Void Ingots. The Floating Union had been a massive structure that would keep him supplied with everything he needed.

    Still, Michael prepared thes for what was about to happen.

    ''I think I need some help. There is no need to continue with this fight.'' Michael requested help from the God Curses, who unleashed their domains through Michael for the first time.

    Three domains, one golden, one ck, and one poisonous green, burst from Michael. They expanded rapidly expanded and overwhelmed the Volcano God''s domain bybining their power. The three domains fused, creating a darkish-green domain with vibrant golden streaks and spots. The streaks and spotsbined, creating a vein-like pattern, which expanded quickly as the Essence and energy infused increased.

    "This feels much better," Michael mumbled, feeling refreshed. The domain of the Volcano God was rendered useless against Michael now that the God Curses supported him. This allowed Michael to stop channeling ice into his healing serum and blood since there was no need to keep wasting precious energy on keeping his body temperature low.

    The alterations caused by Curse Infusion grew more potent. The serpent tail expanded and a newyer of pristinely polished serpent scale armor grew from his skin. His hair shimmered like the stars in the cosmic sea while something particr in his eyes changed. Michael didn''t look at the Volcano God like the God was a more formidable enemy anymore. The situation changed with the intervention of the God Curses, and Michael sensed that instinctively. The Volcano God would die today.

    Michael was going to make sure of that, but he didn''t take a few things into ount. He had been too focused on the enemy before him that he forgot the enemies lurking in the shadows. The Undead Souls attacked the Volcano God, who gave his utmost to defeat the pesky wraths before they could hit and harm him. After all, even wraths, augmented by Star Cores, could inflict damage to a God. The Star Cores made it possible. Michael tried to focus on the Volcano God, but an unsettling feeling swept through him when he prepared for the all-out battle. The three God Curses unleashed their power through Michael while he retrieved the Pure Aether to form into a massive de coated in Emperor Qi, Soul Tear''s reinforcement, True Extraction Essence, God Curse Poison, Death, and Unlimited Enhancement. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael was about to burst forward and behead the Volcano God when time slowed down, At least that was what it felt like to Michael, the God Curses, and the Volcano God. Even the Undead Souls stopped moving.

    The space farther away distorted and was torn apart. The fabric of space and reality ripped open, and something¡­someone emerged from it.

    The fissure in the fabric of reality looked grotesque. The edges of the torn fabric seemed to be bleeding purple blood while wailing in pain, sadness, and terror. That was what Michael picked up through Seer''s True Vision. The fabric of space was¡­sentient. Or was it just this particr part of the fabric? Neither was important enough to distract him from the man emerging out of nowhere.

    The atmosphere in theary system switched with the arrival of the unknown man. He wasn''t overly tall, and his physique wasn''t special either. In fact, Michael couldn''t help but wonder how long it had been since he saw a powerhouse with a small belly. The metabolism of Divine Lifeforms was extremely high. That was why most Awakened at the 7th Tier or higher started using energy to supplement their system rather than relying on mortal food. Yet, energy couldn''t fill someone like this. There was no way someone could grow a belly like this from energy. After all, all excessive energy would be transferred to the Energy Pirs. That was the norm.

    But the neer was different. He was¡­overflowing with Essence.

    Michael paled, and so did the Volcano God, who retreated instinctively when the man with pitch-ck eyes turned to them.

    [That was dumb.] Fenrirmented, barely containing his rage.

    A momentter, Michael realized what the Beast God meant. The neer blinked once, and a surge of Essence shot from his eyes.

    The Volcano God didn''t have time to move. Maybe, if his Divinity hadn''t been cut open ¨C by himself ¨C the God would have been able to move. Maybe he would have been fast enough. But he didn''t even have the slightest chance. The Volcano God groaned in pain and¡­exploded into countless pieces.

    Michael swallowed hard as the Death Authority picked up the Volcano God''s death. Energy surged into him, but Michael wasn''t happy. On the contrary, he was scared because he knew who or rather what had appeared before them.

    [One of the Primal.] Hel informed Michael, but he didn''t respond.

    Michael had already figured that a Primal had appeared before them. That was¡­unfortunate.

 Chapter 1011 Primal

    Chapter 1011 Primal

    The Primal was slightly chubby, but his momentum didn''t suffer from that. He was incredibly fast and didn''t hesitate to show that.

    Eliminating the Volcano God had been a rather simple task, but it didn''t seem like the Primal came for the Volcano God in the first ce. Still, organizing the cosmos was one of the things the Primal did. The Volcano God intervened in the lives of the mortals by eliminating an entireary system with his cut-open Divinity.

    Maybe Michael could survive this¡­somehow.

    "You are that kid with Fenrir''s Curse?" The Primal asked, his azure hide-like skin around his lips stretching far. The Primal had azure-like hide as skin, razor-sharp teeth, andrge, pitch-ck eyes. His arms and legs were unproportionally long and seemed to wave around wildly. It was almost like the man didn''t have any control of his arms and legs.

    Michael swallowed hard while continuing to fuel his body with as much Essence as he and his God Curses needed to unleash his full power. He tried to ess Slipstream to escape if necessary but quickly noticed how the fissure in the fabric of space and reality blocked all major space jumps. He could still use Slipstream but only jump a few hundred kilometers at a time. That wasn''t enough to escape the Primal.

    "I have Fenrir inside me," Michael nodded slowly. Even if the Primal were a bit slow, he would be able to sense the three Divinities radiating from him. It didn''t take a genius to do so.

    "You look different than expected. To think the Will choose a Hyuman to give Fenrir to after so many Hyumans have been annoying, destroying the Origin Expanse left and right. I wonder what makes you special," The Primal said, only to shrug, "Actually, I don''t really care. I know about your powers, the God Curses, and the second heart in your chest. Even the Pure Aether radiating faintly from you is known to me. You cannot hide the Pure Aether with those merged Divinity Domains. Well, you tried, so that''s that."

    The Primal looked at Michael intently, ready to say more, but its lips remained shut. Michael''s lips parted and closed a few times, but he was unsure if whatever he was going to say would kill him. "Are you going to kill me?" Michael asked atst. He could have avoided the topic and try to stall more time to prepare for the inevitable, however, Michael wasn''t sure if that was possible in the first ce. The God Curses were already doing their utmost to help him with their Divinities, and Michael was unsure how much stronger he could get without unleashing the full force of deads and countless tons of Void Ingots at once.

    "Do you want me to kill you?" The Primal retorted.

    "Not really, I would much rather survive¨C...." As the words escaped his lips, the Primal did something. His pitch-ck eyes glowed faintly, and a stream of unknown Essence gushed out of them.

    Michael pushed to the side a quarter of a second before the Essence reached him, but their velocity was incredibly high, forcing Michael and the God Curses to retaliate. They unleashed streams of their Essences as well while activating the Power and Death Authority.

    Unfortunately, Michael''s Essences were crushed easily. The Primal''s Essence flood swamped the space and reached Michael, whose body reacted simrly to the Volcano God''s. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    His chest burst apart alongside his arms and legs.

    A wave of pain flooded Michael, who reacted instinctively with Unlimited Enhancement applied to River of Vigor. The supreme healing serum, alongside the enhanced Soultrait, healed Michael rapidly, but regrowing four limbs and a good portion of his upper body wouldn''t bepleted within a second or two. It would take a little longer.

    "You survived that? Looks like the Beast Gods pushed you above the threshold of the average Minor God. That''s interesting, given you''re only an 8th Tier Awakened. I think we can deduce that you are not yet a full-fledged God but that the rankings of the Origin Expanse''s Awakened do not apply to you anymore. Very interesting." The Primal said lightheartedly.

    Michael cursed inwardly and tried retaliating. He conjured spears with Emperor Qi but focused on applying the Death Authority and the purest Essences of the Wolf Divinity to them. Atst, Michael hurled them at the Primal with the Power Authority, pushing their velocity to another level.

    The Primal smiled nonchntly at the sight unfolding before him and waved his hand. A wall of Essence formed before him, blocking the Emperor Qi spears easily. Michael was annoyed, but the Primal''s actions were interesting.

    ''He is cautious. If the projectiles wouldn''t be able to harm him, the Primal would have never used an Essence barrier!'' [He knows what Fenrir can do. Isn''t that the one who captured you, Fenrir?] Hel asked, but Fenrir merely growled. The Beast God wasn''t in the mood to respond. He was in fury, which transferred to Michael, whose eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

    If the Primal standing before them was the same who defeated and captured Fenrir, that would be good and bad at the same time. First things first, the Primal would know Fenrir''s powers like the back of his hand. He would know what Fenrir could do and could do various things to overpower Fenrir''s Wolf Divinity. But, at the same time, the Primal would know Fenrir''s powers. That wasn''t only an advantage for the Primal.

    After all, the Primal would also know what could injure him and that he had to be more careful fighting Fenrir IF there was something the Wolf Divinity could do to harm the Primal. That was the case, which was evident at the Essence barrier.

    ''What did you do to harm him? Can we repeat that? Even if we can''t recreate the same effect, how about we make it seem like we can do it in order to fool the Primal? Since Pure Aether is good enough to injure the Primal, all we need to do is get close to the Primal and cut him a few times.''

    [You make it sound so easy. The Primal are not that easy to defeat, especially not this guy. He is a nuisance and probably one of the Primal who has caught most rebelling Gods. Though he did not only catch most, but he killed those who were easy enough to kill. There was no need to bother capturing the weaker rebelling gods.] Fenrir responded.

    [And no. We cannot recreate the same effect. Michael would be torn into shreds with his body.]

    ''That is¡­unfortunate¡­''

    Michael''s body was still not strong enough to endure the full power of the God Curses'' Divinities. His Divinities were growing and thus also nourishing and strengthening his body, but that wasn''t enough. He was still not strong enough.

    ''Does that mean I have to die?'' Michael asked as a joke, but the God Curses didn''t respond.

    "You are thinking too loud. Your expressions reveal everything that''s on your mind." The Primal chuckled before releasing another series of Essence. This time, it wasn''t a flood but a rainstorm of Essence. A hail descended upon Michael, who essed Slipstream instinctively to evade it.

    "Oh? You have a Spatial Soultrait as well? Looks like you developed something new from Fenrir''s powers. That is very interesting. To think Fenrir is capable of something like that. I don''t think he could that before." The Primal surprised Michael with that, only for Fenrir to growl.

    [I spent eons in the void. Of course, I was nning my revenge. Growing my powers and creating Extraction was necessary!]

    ''While that''s interesting¡­how about we use my Soultraits to beat the shit out of him?'' Michael suggested, but the God Cursesughed. It was a sadugh.

    [I don''t want to crush your dreams, but I don''t think this is how it''s going to work.]

 Chapter 1012 The Primal II

    Chapter 1012 The Primal II

    Everything was going south, starting with the appearance of the Primal.

    Dealing with the Volcano God would have been a hassle, but it wasn''t impossible. Michael was certain to defeat the Volcano God with the support of the three God Curses. He almost had the Volcano God where he wanted him to be when the Primal appeared. If he only had a few minutes longer, Michael would have had defeated the Volcano God and disappeared. The fissure in the fabric of space and reality wouldn''t be able to block him and the Primal would have appeared in an emptyary system.

    Unfortunately, his n didn''t work out as intended. Nothing worked out like he wanted to. The worst about that was the danger level of the Primal. Michael knew he wouldn''t be able to defeat the Primal, who showed him that quite clearly.

    Michael tried blocking a few attacks with the Imperial Barrier once his limbs and chest had regrown, but the hail of Essences was too strong. They shattered the Imperial Barrier and poked holes into Michael''s body. He looked like a piece of cheese after the barrage of Essences and ended up forced to use supreme healing serum to regenerate.

    The Primal didn''t even try killing him instantly. It felt like a game¡­with Michael being the toy everyone wanted to y with. That didn''t feel great. It was annoying, especially with the God Curses''ckluster attempts to help him. It was almost like the God Curses had already given up.

    ''Try harder! Even if you have to tear my body apart, use more of your Divinities!'' Michael roared in his mind in an attempt to motivate the God Curses. However, their reaction was far from motivated. They acted lethargic, almost like they were already dead and waiting for the butcher to take them apart.

    "Your little friends abandoned you, didn''t they? Isn''t it funny how much you struggle while giving your utmost to survive while your lovely Curses have already given up. My arrival must have shattered their ns. A mere Divine Lifeform is trying to survive against a Primal while three God Curses are not doing anything. That is cute!" The Primal gaggled, his pitch-ck eyes locking on Michael with devilish joy. The glint of excitement in his eyes sickened Michael. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Do something!'' He shouted, hoping the God Curses would do more when more Essences of the Primal filled theary system.

    However, Michael was torn apart again without a response from the God Curses. It was almost like they weren''t present in the first ce. That was¡­weird. It didn''t make any sense. Why would the God Curses disappear all of a sudden? They needed him, and at this very moment, Michael needed them as well. Right now, more than ever!

    But they didn''t respond. Why? Was the Primal doing something to cut their connection?

    A nce in Primal''s direction told Michael that the powerhouse wasn''t doing anything other than enjoying the scene unfolding before him. After living for as long as the cosmos existed, the Primal had only experienced little joy. Torturing his enemies and watching them grow more desperate as they realized nobody wasing to help them was among the most pleasing things to watch as a Primal.

    Of course, some Primal had other preferences, but most had theck of exciting experiences inmon. They had always been the strongest entities of the universe and encountered little to no problems. Of course, some Gods had been troublesome, but the Primal let most of them live until they transformed into proper issues to feel some more excitement running through their veins.

    Fenrir had been difficult to deal with. He was a dangerous opponent as long as he unleashed his full power. The Primal standing opposite Michael had encountered Fenrir at full power and knew that Fenrir was powerful enough to harm the Essences of the Primal. That hadn''t been as exciting because the Primal rarely felt pain. It fueled them with rage and confusion. It¡­showed them that they weren''t invincible, which was what they had always been certain of.

    However, feeling pain showed them that they were far from invincible. Thus, they started removing the most dangerous threats. Even if they weren''t fortunate enough to experience many more exciting fights, they could find other things that excited them. Such as torturing those who could be dangerous opponents if they were given more time to grow.

    But they weren''t given any time to grow. On the contrary, the Primal would remove the roots of all those who were bound to be too powerful after attaining the powers of Godhood for an extended period. Michael was not a God yet, but he was already strong enough to kill one. That was dangerous. If he was given a few more years to grow¡­who knew how strong Michael was going to be?

    [Stall more time.] Fenrir said suddenly in Michael''s mind, which the Primal noticed even though Michael''s expression didn''t change in the slightest.

    "They didn''t abandon you yet? That is very interesting. Or maybe they''re trying to find a way to turn you into their meatshield. They''ll have to surrender a portion of their Essence; the Essence that fused with yours, but that is a cheap price in exchange for survival. I wonder how long it will take before theye back. They will fail again and again and again." The Primalughed at the top of his lungs while releasing more droplets of Essence into the open space. Michael was riddled with more holes, which regrew rapidly. Still, the damage consumed lots of energy, nutrients, lifeforce, and supreme healing serum. Michael had enough of each, but after thousands of Essence droplets pierced through him, inflicting fist-sized holes even though the Essences were only the size of mere droplets, Michael ended up consuming much more resources than he''d wanted to.

    The only advantage was that Micheal stalled for some time. Fenrir''sment had been short, but it filled Michael with hope. If they hadn''t abandoned him, which the message suggested, Michael would have survived as long as the God Curses needed¡­for whatever they were doing.

    He was unsure what was going to happen but struggled to survive nheless. The Divinities in his Soul Sphere were quickly used up, but the God Curses didn''t replenish them. From that time onward, Michael struggled even more to survive. He managed it decently, but the Primal''s joy transformed into annoyance. Michael wasn''t dying, and his power level wasn''t dropping either.

    If his willpower had been crushed at this point, the Primal would have salvaged the desperation in Michael''s eyes and the terror of realizing that he was going to die shortly. But Michael didn''t think like that. His eyes were filled with determination and the desire to survive.

    That frustrated the Primal after tens of minutes passed. He was going to rip Michael''s Essence into shreds and kill him once and for all.

    Fortunately, the Primal acted toote. The God Curses'' n seeded.

    The moment the Primal was about to act more seriously to kill Michael properly, hundreds of fissures tore through the fabric of space and reality.

    [Good job, Michael!] Jormungandr praised.

    [You can rx now. Your reinforcement is here!]

 Chapter 1013 Reinforcement

    Chapter 1013 Reinforcement

    The fissures in space appeared unexpectedly. At least Michael didn''t expect them. However, the God Curses seemed to have expected them. No, they had called for them. They used their Divinities, consuming a massive amount of Essence alongside two of the deads ¨C which Michael noticed were missing only now ¨C to call for help.

    ''The Beastial Gxies!'' Michael eximed.

    [Somewhat like that. The Beastial Gxies are not enough to deal with a Primal. We needed more than a few old Beast Gods. Your Beast Halos are fairly useful. We could channel our Essences through them to verify the genuy of our existence and showed them some memories of your fight.] Hal said.

    [Well, we also showed them a little bit more about your past and everything else beforehand. Also, about your fight with the Volcano God. It was a little annoying to waste our Divinities like this, but I''m d we did that for thest few weeks. Maintaining the Beast Halo was also a tad annoying, but it worked out well.] n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A white horse, its muscles constricting with every step it took into the wide-open space, emerged from one of the fissures. It was winged with a pair of golden-framed feathers. The feathers attracted Michael''s interest, but even more interesting was a six-legged horse with a familiar presence.

    ''This one is one of your siblings, ain''t it? It feels oddly familiar.''

    The six-legged horse looked at Percy and tilted its head. It neighed a momentter and appeared beside him. Percy didn''t even sense the horse''s movements nor the Essence it had released.

    [I''m Sleipnir. And yes, these idiots inside you are my siblings. No, I cannot read your mind. Yes, your expressions are easy to read. And no, I''m not stronger than them. They''re just idiots for getting caught or for fusing with you without asking for your permission. I apologize for their behavior. My siblings must have been very happy to find a suitable vessel. Happy enough to surrender a portion of their existence and forfeit their Divinities to create someone like you.] the horse, but Michael just listened.

    He was confused, but that was only obvious. Who wouldn''t be confused listening to theints of a stranger.

    ''Sleipnir seems nice. He has a brain.''

    [Shut up! We just saved your life!] Fenrir growled.

    ''Thanks for that. But this is not yet over, you know?''

    The Primal ignored the fissures in the fabric of space and reality and attacked Michael again. His body was torn apart and it was no surprise when Michael lost his lower body. His arms were missing as well, leaving him his chest, neck, and head unscathed.

    If not for Michael''s quick response, he would have died to the Primal''s attack.

    [Oh yeah. The Primal is still here and those idiots take too long to step through the fissure!!!] Fenririned, but Michael just shrugged. Or he would have if he had still his shoulder left. They were removed alongside his arms and had to regrow first.

    The Pegasus appeared before Sleipnir and unleashed its power. It didn''t say anything to Michael, but that wasn''t needed. It looked deep into Michael''s vibrant golden eyes and started healing him. The Nature Divinity kicked in, filling Michael with more than enough lifeforce and nutrients to supplement the Pegasus'' Essence.

    The Pegasus'' Essence entered Michael''s body and elerated the supreme healing serum and River of Vigor drastically. Michael''s missing body parts regrew almost instantaneously.

    "Thank you," Michael hinted a bow toward the Pegasus, which neighed in excitement.

    [My little girl is interested in your Nature Divinity. How did you procure it? She ¨C or rather we ¨C thought the Law of Nature disappeared eons ago.] Sleipnir asked while more and more Beast Gods and other creatures emerged from the fissures.

    Michael could see a few dragons, two Hydras, a Behemoth, a Leviathan, Tigers, more Wolves ¨C they red in Michael''s direction and were clearly displeased with him or what was inside him ¨C, Frost Giants, human-like creatures and much more.

    One particr man who transformed from a frost giant into a very human-like man smiled gently at Michael. [That''s our father.] Jormungandr exined, to which Michael responded with an "Oh. Okay."

    Was he supposed to thank their father because their children gave him their Divinities? But then again, Michael was never asked if he wanted their Divinities. Of course, he liked them, but it wasn''t like the three siblings didn''t receive anything in return.

    [Don''t bother doing anything. We will see himter again. He is a chatterbox and a sly, tricky bastard. Don''t let him get to your mind!] Fenrir growled again, which surprised Michael a little.

    ''Looks like my family isn''t the only one with issues.''

    He chuckled, ignoring the Pirmal''s follow-up attacks. A massive Gori, probably more than a hundred meters tall, appeared before Michael and blocked the Essence streams of the Primal with his own Divinity. The Gori had a Defensive-type Divinity, allowing the creature to block attacks from the Primal with little pain and effort.

    "Back to the topic," Michael cleared his throat, "I acquired the Nature Heart as a Divinity Fragment from the Untamed Jungle. It was once one of the Primal Regions of the Origin Expanse." [I see. That makes sense. I also understand why my siblings chose to merge with you without asking for your consent. Everything was supposed to be like this. Sadly, I couldn''t fuse with you and it is toote to do that now. If I had only been a little bit earlier.]

    It was confusing to see Sleipnir show genuine sadness at the thought. He was sincere when he mentioned to merge with Michael. The regret in the Beast God''s voice was overwhelming.

    [He is ours! Back off, you annoying brick!!] Fenrir roared.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but decided to ignore the siblings. They were even worse than he had been with Danny and his other family. He shrugged it off and turned to the other Gods. the Beast Gods attracted his attention, but he was more interested in the other Gods. There were more than a hundred of them, including Loki, but his eyes lingered on someone else.

    Beelzebub.

    ''Did you guys invite this one as well?''

    [Who are you talking about?] Jormungandr asked first, using Michael''s eyes to see whom he was looking at.

    "I am looking at Beelzebub. What is that guy doing here? Didn''t he tell us that he is going to kill me the next time we meet?" [You met Beelze already? That''s surprising.] Sleipnir said in Michael''s mind, but Michael could only frown.

    "It wasn''t a nice meeting. He took over the body of the man who killed my brother ¨C not directly, but whatever. I managed to revive my brother but that''s not the point. I identally helped Beelzebub awaken and he told me that he would kill me the next time we meet."

    [I don''t think he is going to kill you. If anything, he will help you kill the Primal. We might be more than 100 Godsing for your reinforcement but nobody can kill the Primal, especially if the Primal¨C...] Sleipnir didn''t have to go all-in into detail because the Primal acted already.

    He unleashed a typhoon of Essence and..disappeared. A few fissures were torn into shreds, leaving behind Torn Firmaments that would swallow the emptyary system soon, but nobody paid much attention to it.

    The Primal vanished just like that.

 Chapter 1014 The Sleepers

    Chapter 1014 The Sleepers

    Michael was surprised about two things. The first surprise was that the Primal disappeared just like that. Michael considered the Primal of the cosmos as beings overflowing with pride. It didn''t feel like that at first nce, but Michael quickly noticed that there was more to the Primal than pride as well.

    The Primal who''d attacked him had killed the Volcano God instantly while giving Michael a chance to survive. There was no doubt the Primal could have killed him with his first attack, but he didn''t. He released the same attack he had used against the Volcano God and watched Michael survive and grow stronger from it.

    Therefore, the Primal chose to transform their little bout into a game. In this game, the Primal tortured Michael by inflicting more serious injuries with every attack. It was almost like the Primal was trying to find out how to inflict the most lethal wound on Michael to discover what it would take to kill him.

    Michael didn''t do well against the Primal but was still alive. That was all that mattered.

    But it was still confusing why the Primal disappeared without trying to retaliate. Was he afraid of the 100+ Gods and initiated a tactical retreat to kill Michael at ater point ¨C because he wasn''t afraid Michael could grow strong enough to kill him anytime soon ¨C or was he just being careful and curious about what the Gods would doter?

    Michael couldn''t tell what it was. Maybe the Primal had been afraid, but it hadn''t really looked like that. If anything, the Primal looked a little excited before he left.

    [I don''t care why he left. Our advantage is that the Primal left in the first ce. We can make use of that and throw you into the training of the Rebels.] Fenrirmented.

    ''Training?'' He tilted his head and turned to the Gods, who had also turned to look at him when the Primal disappeared.

    "Are they going to train me?" Michael asked in surprise.

    "One of my siblings must have told you about us. There is a rebellion formed by Gods who do not like the rules set up by the Primal. We do not like staying idle and doing nothing in the ''cosmic yground'' ¨C the Primal call it like that ¨C since that restrains our movements and course of action. Even though we attained godhood, we cannot do much under the ground rules set up by the Primal. In fact, we cannot even protect our own kin against Demi Gods without breaking the ground rules of the Primal. That is nonsense and one of the many reasons we fight them." One of the Frost Giants, or what he presumed to be Frost Giant due to their cial-blue skin and ten-meter-tall height, informed Michael.

    He''d travel up to Michael and looked calmly at him.

    "But that is not all," Loki, in his human-like form, approached Michael. His shoulder-long ck hair was bound back, revealing his vibrant amber-colored eyes. He stared intently at Michael, almost like he was trying to look through him to see his children.

    "The Primal are hunting everyone they deem too powerful. They say they want to maintain the bnce of the cosmos by ying its guardian, but at the end of the day, they''re too afraid to be overwhelmed by Gods with the necessary potential and strength to defeat them. It might take dozens of Gods who''re stronger than the Volcano God ¨C Gods with enough experience with their Divinity and Godly Combat ¨C to deal with the Primal, but even with dozens of us fighting one of them, they have the chance to retaliate and kill us slowly but steadily. However, putting them under pressure takes only one or two stronger Gods."

    "Like Fenrir and Beelzebub? They were too strong for the Primal to kill and were thus sealed in Soultrait Symbols. Is that correct?"

    Loki winced when he recalled his son''s story, but he nodded slowly.

    "Most Gods with enough potential to be threats to the Primal are killed as soon as possible. However, they shouldn''t be killed if they have already attained a certain power level. The Primal can still obliterate them most of the time, but the aftermath is not worth it. First, the Primal would lose a lot of Essence permanently, thus weakening them for the next big fight toe. Second, most Gods who face the Primal head-on are suicidal, ready to sacrifice everything to take them down. But there is a reason for that."

    Michael listened up. He wasn''t too curious about Loki and his persona, but his intel was top-notch.

    "Most suicidal Gods inserted a trace of their Essence and Divinity in the bodies of other beings. Therefore, when they die, they can be resurrected in the bodies of the beings they''ve chosen. The chosen beings are usually great vessels and, thus, perfect picks for the rebirth program. Beelzebub is the best example for that program. He fought one of the Primal ¨C was forced to ¨C and died. His body was torn apart, releasing his Essence back into the cosmos. But since his Essence was still connected to one of his chosen vessels, Beelzebub''s Essence didn''t spread in all directions and dispersed forever. Instead, they were pulled into the vessels and integrated into the being, which triggered the requirements to revive Beelzebub. Beelzebub might not be the strongest God at this point. He was much stronger in the past. However, he is still alive, injured one of the Primal permanently by depriving him of some of his Core Essences, and he knows much better than anyone how much stronger he has to grow to defeat the Primal."

    Michael nodded slowly. He heard from the God Curses that Beelzebub was likely a victim of the Primal''s power like Fenrir, but Loki exined the situation much better to him. The God of Trickery was either making fun of him, which didn''t seem logical in a serious situation like this, or he knew better than his children. Thetter was more likely.

    "Was this Primal one of the weakened ones, or is he one of the strongest Primal? In the first ce¡­how many Primal are left in the cosmos?" Michael tilted his head in confusion. Either Michael was a lot weaker than expected, and the Primal was one of the weakest, or he''d just survived a battle against one of the average ¨C or stronger ¨C Primal. One way or another, Loki and some other older Gods should be able to tell him what awaited Michael in the near future.

    "I¡­actually, I don''t know. I have never seen this Primal before. However, given his physique, I can be fairly certain that he didn''t fought one of the stronger Gods before. It didn''t look like he lost much Essence permanently since he is still chubby. Generally, you can consider chubby Primals as more potent enemies because their bodies are bloated with Essence. Not even afterpressing their Essences to their limits did the bloated belly disappear.

    That being said, I don''t know this one, and nobody else has imed to have fought him just yet. That either means you fought one of the weaker Primal, who have been staying back to leave the hard work for the others, or he is one of the Sleepers, which would be bad. The former is highly unlikely because the excitement in his eyes upon fighting you was genuine. He shouldn''t be a weak back-liner who lets others fight if he is on ecstasy fighting you."

    Michael agreed with that conclusion to a certain degree, but he still missed some intel.

    "What is a Sleeper? And you didn''t answer how many Primal are left."

    More Gods approached Michael. Their hearing senses were great, allowing them to hear everything that had been said until now. The Gods'' interest was picked, and they got closer.

    "Sleeper are the Primal, who couldn''t be bothered to stay awake since the Beginning. Some Primal decided life was boring when the vast cosmos was still young. They chose to hibernate in the wide-open space and set up a few conditions to awaken in the future. Once those conditions have been met, of course." One of the Gods exined before a Beast God used a method simr to Whispering Energy to add.

    [The Sleepers are also why we do not know how many Primals there are in total. We know of 20 Primal, or we have known about this man because eight of them have been killed¡­by fellow Primal. We are unclear why they killed each other, but we can say one thing for sure. The Rebels didn''t kill a single Primal yet. In fact, nobody other than the Primal killed a Primal just yet. Since the Beginning. Never!]

    That was a little problematic, especially with the Rebels and God Curses expecting Michael to grow strong enough to kill the Primal. That didn''t sit well with Michael, who noticed a few problems.

    "How am I supposed to kill the Primal if nobody has ever done it? Am I your guinea pig or what?" He was a little annoyed but tried to contain his emotions.

    "I don''t think anyone would ever consider you a guinea pig. While it is true that we did some things, we never expected to be doing. Precisely, we never expected a body to be able to contain three God Curses. That is beyond our expectations, but it worked, so we''re happy about it. Furthermore, you have another Divinity within you. That being said, you are our best shot at killing a Primal, even more so with your Pure Aether. The only time we saw the Primal kill each other was with Pure Aether. That''s why we have been searching and collecting more Pure Aether to kill and injure the Primal."

    Loki sighed deeply.

    "Unfortunately, the Pure Aeether was always only barely good enough to injure the Primal. They took us by surprise and killed the Gods wielding Pure Aether before they could umte enough to kill the Primal. Still, they sustained permanent wounds from our desperate attempts."

    Michael was unsure what to think of this, but he nodded slowly. He had Pure Aether and could create more Aether by nourishing it through SoulStar Fragments. That was all he needed to y the Primal ¨C other than overwhelmingly high strength, of course. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Is that why they sealed you away? They were afraid that killing you would pull you inside your backup vessel, which was why they chose to transform you into a Soultrait Symbol, which was going to levitate in the wide open void forever, if possible.''

    [They were having a hard time killing me in the first ce, but you are correct with your assumption. They didn''t dare to kill me, fearing what would happen once I revive. I would have an easy timeying low, nurturing enough Pure Aether for the Rebels, and y the Primal by wearing them down slowly and steadily.]

    That was a n, though it involved the deaths of too many Gods. Something would go wrong one way or another.

    [That is why we need you. You are the reason we decided to try killing the Primal with one perfect vessel. The Lord who will kill them all!] **

 Chapter 1015 Reason of Power

    Chapter 1015 Reason of Power

    The days after his battle with the Volcano God and the Primal were confusing, to say the least. First of all, the damage caused by the battle was not without aftermath. The aftermath was much more severe than one may think at first nce. The Volcano God might have eradicated an entireary system, destroying all lifeforms in the system, but it was the Primal who tore the fabric of space apart.

    If it was only that, the issues wouldn''t be as severe as they are right now. The fabric of space and reality had been torn apart, but it would mend itself¡­if the Primal hadn''t unleashed a massive typhoon of Essence to leave the encirclement of more than one hundred Gods. The amount of Essence released into theary system damaged the fissures and damaged them enough to transform a total of six fissures in the fabric of space and reality into Torn Firmaments.

    Almost a third of theary system was now covered in lines of Torn Firmament, which expanded, forcing the Hyuman Gods to intervene¡­if they could afford to endanger their lives. The Hyuman Gods were not allowed to join the cosmic yground just like no other Gods were allowed to do so, yet that was what they had already done by allowing the Volcano God to attack Michael.

    Michael was unsure if the Primal would punish the Supreme Human Alliance for their actions, but he could tell the Primal would act the moment a dozen Hyuman Gods ¨C Michael didn''t know exactly how many Gods the Supreme Human Alliance had given birth to since its creation ¨C to fix the Torn Firmament.

    That being said, the Hyuman Gods could either endanger their lives to fix the Torn Firmament, or the Demi Gods all over the Supreme Human Alliance would have to act. After all, the Torn Firmament was too damaged and would expand. Sooner rather thanter, it would reach otherary systems and tear them apart. That being said, the Supreme Human Alliance didn''t want the Torn Firmament to reach the otherary systems since Michael had fought the God and the Primal in the inner region of their territory. No matter where the Torn Firmament expanded, it would inflict tremendous damage to the core of the Supreme Human Alliance. Michael was unsure how many Demi Gods were needed to fix the Torn Firmament. All he knew was how easy it would be for him to fix it. But that was not what he wanted. He hoped the Supreme Human Alliance would deploy their Demi Gods ¨C too afraid to use their Gods after losing the Volcano God to the Primal ¨C to fix the Torn Firmament. It wouldn''t take eons to fix the Torn Firmament but while the Demi Gods would be pulled back from the front lines, the Altors Union, the Divine Subordinates, and Michael''s Super Awakened could attack their frontlines and conquer a bunch ofary systems and maybe even more than that. There were also other organizations fighting the Supreme Human Alliance. They would probably unleash their fury upon the SHA upon realizing theirck of defenses. Michael was curious about the Supreme Human Alliance''s course of action, but he didn''t stay behind to watch it happen. He returned to the Origin Expanse for a few hours to spread his order and tell everyone what they had to know to nourish the Untamed Jungle and aid its expansion while also inflicting as much damage as possible to the Supreme Human Alliance in the cosmos. In the meantime, Michael would travel to the Origin Expanse, and his fight with the Supreme Human Alliance would be postponed for a while.

    He had attracted the interest of the Primal and would have to focus on growing stronger to survive against the forces of the Primal and deal with them in the future. Survival was his highest priority, but that wasn''t enough. Michael wanted more. He hoped to defeat the Primal in the future or force them to concessions. Maybe he could grow strong enough to make apromise. But that was still a thing for the future. For now, Michael had to grow stronger. That''s why he went with the Gods.

    He traveled with Loki after returning from the Origin Expanse. The God and father of many powerful beings was pleasant to be around. He reminded him of the God Curse siblings, though his attitude was better.

    "Jormungandr showed us your fight with the Volcano God and how you managed to fight the Pseudo God with the Divinities that have formed in your Soul Sphere. We saw everything up to the point where you asked my children for their help. You fought well," Lokimended Michael, but his expression remained serious without indicating any praise, "But what do you think was the reason for that? What do you think pushed your power level beyond your Tier? What allowed you to fight Gods as an 8th Tier Awakened?"

    Michael noticed something about the way Loki spoke. It attracted his interest, but he focused on the questions instead of studying Loki.

    "The two greatest advantages of my individualbat prowess are my Soultraits and the Divinities in my Soul Sphere. That being said, my Soul Sphere is my greatest advantage. Each Soultrait has permanently enhanced my body, mind, and soul, pushing mybat prowess to a higher level than the average Divine Lifeform at the 8th Tier. But that is not all. My Soultraits are all unique and very powerful. I can unleash a wide range of attacks and defenses and do things most can only dream of." He tilted his head lightly while looking at Loki, who nodded slowly.

    "My Divinities are simr, just more pronounced. They enhance my entire being drastically. With every fraction of growth, I grow stronger as well. I can tap into the power of my Divinities, but I also grow stronger in terms of physical prowess, the potency of my soul, and mental fortitude by nourishing and using my Divinities as often as possible."

    Loki smiled and agreed with Michael, but not in the way he expected.

    "I agree that your Soultraits and Divinities are extraordinary, and I consider your Soul Sphere to be your greatest strength. However, there is more to your Soul Sphere than your Soultraits and Divinities!" Loki dered nonchntly.

    "Do you mean the Aether bound to my Soul Sphere? I noticed the Pure Aether gaining in strength as my Soul Sphere expanded. The growth of every single Soultrait and every fraction of my Divinities'' growth pushed my Aether to new strength."

    Loki didn''t seem content with his answer.

    "That is not wrong. Your Pure Aether is stronger than the norm and it will keep growing as your Soultraits reach 10-Star, as your new Soultraits will grow, and when your Divinities expand. Slowly, the Nature Divinity will also travel to your Soul Sphere, further nourishing the Pure Aether. Don''t be worried about the Nature Heart. It shouldn''t disappear as it is an affliction of the Divinity imprinted in your being."

    "But the Aether is not what you are talking about. You think something else allows me to be stronger than the rest. No. From the way you look at me, something in the Soul Sphere is helping me grow strong and maybe even be stronger than the average God, but it shouldn''t be something as obvious as the Divinities and Soultrait Symbols," Michael murmured, trying to figure out what Loki was talking about.

    He tilted his head and thought about it for a while until he realized something Hiraku had mentioned a while ago. It was also something rted to thements of the God Curses. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Are you talking about my Lord Powers and the Soul Power I umte as a Lord in the Origin Expanse?" Loki grinned, and his smile widened as understanding dawned on Michael.

    "Gods may not lose their connection to the Origin Expanse right away, but most civilizations of beings forced to leave the Origin Expanse cease to exist over the course of time. Gods, among some other creatures, will be expelled from the Will and will never be allowed to return. That means, I am an Awakened with the power of a God, yet the Will of the Origin Expanse didn''t expel me. I have more than a dozen 19-Star Soultraits, and the biggest region under my control will soon advance to an Ancient Region. Every Link of Loyalty with a citizen of the Ancient Region will empower me greatly, thus further pushing my individual prowess to a higher level."

    Michael swallowed.

    "My Soul Power will increase immensely, and so will my power."

    Loki gave Michael a thumbs up, "Bingo. Your connection to the Origin Expanse is what allowed you to fight the Volcano God head-on. The Divinities are great and all, but you wouldn''t be able to use them or endure the power of the Divinities if not for the shocking ¨C truly shocking if you were to ask me or any other GOd ¨C number of powerful Soultraits in your possession. But possessing this many Soultraits alone isn''t enough. Each of them has to be nourished by as much Soul Power as possible to be truly undefeatable."

    "The more Soul Power the Soultrait Symbols umte, the stronger the Soultraits when I use them. And, the more Soul Techniques and Soullife Arts I can unleash." "Mastering your Soultraits will be very important during your training with the Gods. You will have to attain perfect mastery of all of your Soultrait Symbols, acquire more Perfect Soul Techniques, create Perfect Soullife Arts for every Soultrait, and upgrade your Soultraits to 10-Star altogether if possible. I don''t think you should acquire more Soultraits for the time being but focus on strengthening the existing ones.

    Also, you should never forget your advantage as a Lord of the Origin Expanse. You MUST acquire more regions and expand the poption in your territories as high as possible without affecting their quality of life. It would be even better if your subjects prayed to you as their god. The more devout they are, the better. That being said, using your Divinities in the Origin Expanse will help you with each of those tasks."

    Once Michael attained godhood, he would lose the Origin Expanse. At least the Runic Gate wouldn''t open to him anymore. Thus, as a 8th Tier Awakened with the power of Gods, Michael might actually be the best person to train and prepare against the Primal.

    That being said, Michael was unsure what to think about transforming his subjects into devout believers. Was he willing to transform himself into a God in the eyes of his subjects? There wasn''t really a major problem with that, per se, but Michael would have to understand that he could never return to being an ordinary Lord once he started to be his people''s ''God''. Was the effort worth the result, or would the attempt to be his people''s God backfire? Michael was unsure about that, but the God Curses calmed him down.

    [I don''t think your subjects could be more loyal to you. Their Links of Loyalty reward you with much more Soul Power than we have anticipated in the first ce. The difference between devout believers and dead-loyal subjects is not that extensive. You do not have to change. In fact, changing yourself may harm you and the rtionship with your subjects more than it will help.] Helmented, which Loki heard as well.

    "As long as you expand your territory, create more Aether, and increase your Tier, you will be fine. The rest depends on the sess of your training with the Gods." Loki said with a smile.

    If Michael wanted to stay Awakened in the Origin Expanse and abuse his benefits as a Lord, Michael would never be allowed to reach the 10th Tier. However, given that he was already as strong as Gods and that the Origin Expanse still didn''t consider him as a "proper God", Michael could probably advance to the Peak of the 9th Tier without any issues as well.

    That being said, Michael slowly started using Void Ingots with Permute to fill his Energy Vortex.

    After that, the real training with the Gods ¨C the Rebels of the vast universe ¨C began.

 Chapter 1016 Primordial Curse, Bestikal

    Chapter 1016 Primordial Curse, Bestikal

    Michael was unsure what kind of ce he expected to be trained at, but he certainly didn''t expect it to be near the Spring of Abundant Life. To be precise, the stomach of the Primordial Curse, Bestikal. The cursed fissures in space were temporarily sealed, blocking all external entrances to the Spring of Abundant Life like the one he and Selena had used.

    The interior of the massive Primordial Curse Bestikal looked simr to before. The Spring of Abundant Life was still there, and the monster''s insides were still overflowing with curse power.

    "Since you''re a Curse User and my children transformed into your Curses, they can absorb the Primordial Curse''s curse power to replenish their Divinity. They will channel their Divinity through you with low output at all times and slowly increase the intensity. That way, your Divinities will be nourished slowly, and your body will get used to the three Divinities. You may consider this unnecessary, but believe our experience, please." Michael did not have a reason to reject Loki''s proposal. It sounded feasible. The more the God Curses used their Divinities through him, the more his Divinities would grow. That much was obvious. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I understand. But won''t this harm the Primordial Curse? I mean¡­I don''t know how long we are going to train here, but if we stay here for a year or two and the God Curses use their Divinities by supplying the surrounding curse power to supplement the missing Essence¡­won''t Bestikal die?" Michael didn''t know Bestikal personally, but he owed the Primordial Curse a lot. Because of the Primordial Curse, he got Danny back and quickly acquired a high mastery of Curse Fusion in its stomach. "The Primordial Curse is aware of the sacrifice it has to make, but you do not have to worry about its'' well-being. Bestikal will not die from the time you spend inside it. The Primordial Curse is as old as the Primal. It does not wish to fight and is not at war with the Primal, but it has realized that the Primal have gone down the wrong track. Bestikal wants us to help the Primal change back to the beings they''ve once been. The Guardians of the Universe." Michael nodded slowly, but his expression stiffened when Loki added.

    "Furthermore, you are wrong when you say ''one or two years''. You will stay in the Spring of Abundant Life, constantly churning through your Nature Heart and the Divinity of Nature for the next two decades. The Spring of Abundant Life is a creation of the Primordial Curse''s lover, the Evesting Blessing. It wants you to use the Evesting Blessing to connect it onest time with the Origin Expanse. That being said, the Spring of Abundant Life will help you transform your fragmented Divinity into a full-fledged Nature Divinity while elerating the Untamed Jungle''s growth. You wish to create a Primal Region, don''t you?"

    Michael scrunched the bridge of his nose, yet he nodded again. He did indeed wish to transform the Untamed Jungle back into a Primal Region. However, staying in the Primordial Curse for two decades wasn''t okay. That was too long.

    "You don''t have to worry about anything. The two decades won''t feel like a long time. The God of Illusion, myself, the Beast Gods of Hallucination, Nightmares, and War¡­and a bunch other Gods will help you create a perfect mindscape where you can train your Soultrait Symbols to perfection while simultaneously nourishing your Divinities. Of course, we will also help you create perfect Soul Techniques and perfect Soullife Arts!" Loki said lightly.

    "And if you are worried about your territory, don''t be. The Rebels have been waiting for someone like you for a long time. A very, VERY long time. We''ve prepared more than enough resources. Though¡­.we might have to exchange a bunch of them because we expected you ¨C not exactly you, but the perfect candidate for our counterattack ¨C to be a Demi God on the verge of attaining Godhood. We hoped to throw a bunch of resources at him to prepare his territory for the loss of their Lord."

    "And if you are worried about your territory, don''t be. The Rebels have been waiting for someone like you for a long time. A very, VERY long time. We''ve prepared more than enough resources. Though¡­.we might have to exchange a bunch of them because we expected you ¨C not exactly you, but the perfect candidate for our counterattack ¨C to be a Demi God on the verge of attaining Godhood. We hoped to throw a bunch of resources at him to prepare his territory for the loss of their Lord."

    Michael nodded slowly, "But since I am not going to be thrown out of the Origin Expanse anytime soon, you won''t have to give me the same resources as you would have given the Pseudo God. Instead, you want my foundation to be perfect and my territory to be about to advance to a Primal Region. However, you are unsure what I will need since you have heard of my Super Awakened."

    Loki tilted his head.

    "No¡­I wouldn''t put it like that," Loki tilted his head left and right but nibbled on his lips. We can tell what you ''should'' need, but we are uncertain if that would create the best result. All we can tell for sure is that we need your full consciousness here with the Primordial Curse and the Evesting Blessing to prepare this body."

    That was when Michael broke into a faint smile.

    He retrieved a few Soultrait Symbols and pointed at the Spring of Abundant Life ¨C the Evesting Blessing.

    "I epted my brother''s fate a while ago. At first, it didn''t feel like anything special, but something about my Soul and Soul Sphere changed. There has always been a tiny portion of my Soul that I could never fill. It always felt like I was missing something to fill it. Almost like it didn''t belong to this body." "Do you mean a portion of your Soul belongs to your brother?" Loki asked while inspecting the Soultrait Symbols in Michael''s hands. His eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Michael, "What¡­are you trying to say?"

    "I think you know what I mean. And no. My Soul only belongs to me. Nothing of it belongs to Daniel. However, a portion of my Souls does not belong to this body. It feels foreign to this vessel." Michael looked at the Spring of Abundant Life again and nced a second time at the Soultrait Symbols of [Soul Cutter], [Imnt], [Prehistorical Vessel], [Second Chance], [The Extra''s Body].

    Loki stared at him like Michael had lost thest bits of his sanity as he smiled vibrantly at the God of Trickery.

    "Do you like Doppelgangers?"

 Chapter 1017 Michael 2.0

    Chapter 1017 Michael 2.0

    Loki was still unsure what Michael was going to do. He had never been an Awakened, which was not umon among the Rebels, and never visited the Origin Expanse. He had heard enough about either, but his knowledge of Soultrait Symbols wasn''t as extensive as Michael''s. In fact, not even Fenrir''s knowledge about Soultrait Symbols was as great as the knowledge Michael had acquired. Fenrir might be the source of all the knowledge Michael acquired through Extraction, but the Beast God was born a God. Fenrir had been as strong as a Beast God since birth, yet it took aeons to shapeshift his Divinity and create exactly what he wanted. Jormungandr and Hel had been more fortunate. Hel was the incarnation of Death and had thus no problem acquiring the Death Authority, while the World Serpent easily acquired a decent mastery of the Poison Law and the Power Authority.

    Still, it was interesting to know that Jormungandr and Hel had sealed and forsaken their Divinities for thousands of years to enter the Origin Expanse. However, it wasn''t that the two godly siblings were fleeing from the Primal to consider escaping into the Origin Expanse. No. They started looking for Fenrir in the Origin Expanse. Interestingly enough, Fenrir found them instead.

    One way or another, Michael''s knowledge of Soultrait Symbols was so extensive that he could easily decipher the powers of Soultrait Symbols ording to its presence and the details unraveled by True Vision.

    That was also why Soul Cutter, Imnt, Prehistoric Vessel, Second Chance, and the Extra''s Body were the perfect Soultraits for Michael. He didn''t waste much time but used Insert on the Soultrait Symbols while also infusing Fenrir''s Essence and curse power into the Soultrait Symbols. He also added the Essences of Jormungandr, Hel, and the Nature Heart with a trace of his purest energy into the fray, yet he didn''t overdo it. There was no need to insert too much of the God Curses'' Essences into the pair of Soultrait Symbols he formed for his grand n.

    [Second Body ¨C Stage of the Split Consciousness] and [Perfect Soul Vessel] were created.

    Michael was unsure how exactly he managed to create a Soultrait Symbol with such a long name since no Soultrait Symbol was longer than three words before, but that was also interesting. He was curious how different a long name would be once added to his Soul.

    Well¡­a part of his soul.

    Second Body and Perfect Soul Vessel were upgrade to 8-Star Soultraits without a second thought. Michael would have considered moving a little slower, but he was unwilling to waste any time. If it worked out, everything would be alright. If not¡­so be it. Michael shrugged inwardly at the thought of failure. It was okay to fail. As long as he didn''t allow the failure to get through to him, he would be fine!

    The Soultraits'' names didn''t change as he upgraded them, but something changed. As he upgraded the Soultrait Symbols, Michael lost control of them. It wasn''t as simple as saying, Michael ever had control of the Soultrait Symbols, but one thing he could do with 9-Star Seer and True Vision was to analyze the Soultrait Symbols and their powers without infusing them into a suitable Soul. That was not possible as he upgraded Second Body and Perfect Soul Vessel to 8-Star. Instead of knowing for sure what was going on with the Soultrait Symbol and being able to decipher it at once, Michael could only ''feel'' what was going on. It FELT correct to upgrade the two Soultrait Symbols and to leave them at 8-Star. Atst, after who knows how many years had passed, the minuscule portion of his soul that had never reacted to his attempts to be used¡­reacted. It was the portion of his soul that came with the eptance of his Twin Fates. As the new thread of fate wove into his Essence, Michael''s soul expanded ever so slightly. The minuscule portion, which had never reacted, was the result of the insignificant expansion.

    The portion of the soul connected to the new fate that had intertwined into his being when he rescued his brother was something that was never part of Michael. No. It was part of Michael, but it was never supposed to be part of this body. That was what Michael realized when he saw the Spring of Abundant Life and recalled what it had done with Danny''s Living Soul.

    Michael didn''t hesitate and severed a portion of his Soul, cutting off the tether to his other fate once and for all. The Twin Fates were forcefully torn apart, severed with a simple sh. Michael extracted the portion of his soul, ignoring the immense pain severing it had caused, and added it to the Soul Grimoire.

    Once the portion of his Soul was inside the Soul Grimoire, Michael fed it with all Soul Tears ¨C they ounted for more than one million Soul Tears after the little disaster with the Volcano God and his domain. Strengthened, the minuscule portion was strong enough to endure the influx of millions of SoulStar Fragments.

    Michael didn''t wish to waste too much time, but he infused a steady stream of SoulStar Fragments rather than throwing mountains of Fragments into the smaller portion of his Soul. Thereafter, a trace of Fenrir''s Divinity was added. It was merely an insignificant portion of the Wolf Divinity''s trace, which he had added to the Soul, but it was enough to nearly tear it apart. Still, Michael achieved what he wanted. The trace of Fenrir''s Divinity created a Soul Sphere in the soul fraction, expanded the soul, and strengthened it.

    At the core of the Soul Sphere, a Divinity Seed of Extraction was formed. It was deactivated, of course, but ready to be unleashed once needed.

    Second Body and Perfect Soul Vessel were added to the soul fraction, and they merged seamlessly. The Soultrait Symbols were visible in the Extraction Soul Sphere, but only for a moment. They disappeared after that without leaving any traces of existing. The Soultrait Symbols were no more, but the soul expanded while growing stronger¡­firmer¡­ The soul fraction evolved and transformed into a Living Soul.

    "Yes!!!" Michael eximed, his fists shooting into the air. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He made a victory pose and chuckled like a little child. His n was working out. No, it was even better than he had nned because the consciousness of the Living Soul was born within Michael. It tapped into Michael''s mind, where everything was shared. After all, the consciousnesses were one and the same.

    THe new consciousness was just like Michael, but it had only recently been born. Differences were bound to appear, but Michael was confident the changes wouldn''t affect him negatively. If anything, the older consciousness would be positively affected by the newborn mind in his head.

    They were the same, though alike, and felt the exact same as well. The only difference was that they could control different bodies.

    Precisely, Michael could control his body, whereas Michael 2.0 couldn''t control anything. Other than the Living Soul, of course.

    "That is perfect," Michael mumbled before throwing Mike ¨C which he decided to call Michael 2.0 ¨C into the Spring of Abundant Life.

    In the meantime, Loki could only stare at him in confusion, shock, and a mix of various other emotions, including anger.

    "What¡­the hell did you just do?!"

 Chapter 1018 Mike, the New Michael

    Chapter 1018 Mike, the New Michael

    "What¡­the hell did you just do?!" Loki asked, trying to fathom why Michael would sever a portion of his soul.

    Michael chuckled, "You don''t know what I have done and what I am doing with this?"

    Loki cursed quietly, "Of course, I know what you have done. I also know what the Spring of Abundant Life did with your brother. But why do you think this is going to work on an ordinary soul?"

    "Ordinary Soul? This was a Living Soul enhanced with two 8-Star Soultraits, a trace of Fenrir''s Divinity, and Jormungandr and Hel''s presence to alter the soul and affix it the same fluctuations as myself." Michael smiled.

    "As for what exactly I did. I created a n B in case the Will wishes to throw me out of the Origin Expanse before we''re done expanding the Untamed Jungle into a Primal Region. Mike, which is what I called the Living Soul, will help me with that. He will be my right hand, my left hand, my brain, my consciousness¡­and much more. He will be my everything. After all, Mike is ME¡­more or less."

    Michael nced at Loki, who listened intently. Loki might be the God of Trickery and a born God with countless years of living experience, but Michael''s crazy actions were still something new to him.

    "Mike is going to enter the Origin Expanse and organize the influx of the Evesting Blessing''s lifeforce, but that is only the beginning. Mike will also organize the energy of the primal root and how it is going to be channeled through the Untamed Jungle to expand it as fast as possible. After that, Mike will help the Super Awakened and other forces to convince the Lords living outside the Untamed Jungle to either join the Untamed Jungle or prepare for an all-out war against hundreds of thousands of enemies and millions of monsters. Well, there will also be a bunch of Divine Lifeforms on our side at that point, which means we will have an easy time with the expansion no matter what the Lords decide."

    Michael cleared his throat and looked away. He scratched the back of his head and put on a sad smile.

    "Also¡­I want to be with my family. I don''t think I can leave them behind for the next two decades or longer. We are not even certain this will take two decades or if 24 years aren''t enough. Maybe I need more time before I can fight one of the Primal. That being said, I do not wish to miss my daughter''s childhood. I already missed too much of Lucia''s growth, and even if she says she doesn''t mind, I DO MIND."

    He kicked the ground and thought about whether he should continue speaking his mind or if it was enough.

    "I am Mike, and he is Michael. Our consciousnesses are shared, and they feel like they''re one and the same. We can also switch positions in our consciousnesses freely. After all, we are one and the same. Even if Michael has to stay here in the Primordial Curse to prepare this body for the grand finale by focusing entirely on the Soultrait Symbols and Divinities, Soul Techniques, and Soullife Arts, Mike can live his life freely and experience what Michael would otherwise miss."

    Michael felt a little bit wrong about leaving his daughter behind like that, but since his connection to Mike was like this ¨C Michael and Mike being in the same consciousness ¨C Michael calmed down a little. All that mattered was to fix Mike''s body quickly and to make sure Mike would grow quickly. He was going to be a Tierless Awakened since he had a portion of the Twin Fates inside him, and it would be easy to bring him inside the Untamed Jungle where he could grow with his perfectly purified existence, his massive soul, and the ess to the Divinity Seed of Extraction. Mike might not be a Lord because he can only connect the Links of Loyalty to Michael''s body since their souls and consciousness were part of the same, but it was only a matter of time before Mike would be the head of the Super Awakened. Michael was certain Mike would grow into a proper powerhouse quickly. After all, Michael understood himself better than anyone else.

    "You are crazy," Loki said, but all the God''s words did was to fill Michael''s heart with pride. The corner of his lips curled upward as he returned a vibrant smile to face Loki head-on.

    "I know my actions are unusual," Michael rescinded, "and I know I am a little insane, but I think that is necessary to ovee the challenges ahead of me. First of all, I would miss my daughter''s childhood ¨C more than I already did, which is already annoying enough ¨C and I would never be suicidal enough to fight the Primal head-on. I would stay in the Origin Expanse for centuries while blocking my ascension to a true God, acquire dozens of Soultrait Symbols, push them to 10-Star, and conquer the entire Origin Expanse before emerging, leaving the Origin Expanse to check on everyone else. Well¡­maybe, if I wasn''t a little insane, I would never fight the Primal. Why would I even think about it?"

    "..." Loki had no response to that. Since Gods and the Primal couldn''t enter the Origin Expanse, Michael could actually be the Lord of the Origin Expanse in its entirety. It would be a simple task since Michael was already stronger than the strongest Divine Lifeforms ruling over parts of the Origin Expanse. All it would take was time and effort.

    "Whatever. I won''t waste hundreds of years in which the Primal or the Supreme Human Alliance endangers the cosmos to conquer the Origin Expanse. I do not wish to rule everything in the first ce. But then again¡­maybe it would be interesting."

    He shrugged and focused on his Living Soul as the first signs of growing a body entered his sight.

    ''[Second Body] must be elerating the Living Soul''s body growth. That is good to know. The soul is strong enough, and the Living Soul has more than enough energy, nutrients, and lifeforce, too. I can supply everything it needs!''

    With that in mind, Michael focused on the creation of Mike''s body for the next two months.

    Two months. That was all they needed to form Mike''s perfect body. A second body was born with the same soul and consciousness as Michael. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Mike rose form the Spring of Abundant Life, his eyes glowing golden as he looked at the man ¨C himself ¨C standing before him.

    "You look great," Mike said, the corners of his lips tugging into a sly smile.

    "I was just about to say the same," Michael responded with the same smile. However, Michael''s smile turned into a shit-eating grin when he saw the War Rune forming on the back of Mike''s hand.

    It wasn''t the exact same War Rune as everyone else had. Instead, it was a portion of the same rune, which connected Mike to Michael. Mike might not have proper Lord Powers, but he had the means to control Michael''s subjects like everyone else.

    After all, they were the same.

 Chapter 1019 Mike in the Untamed Jungle

    Chapter 1019 Mike in the Untamed Jungle

    It didn''t take long after his body formed before Mike entered the Origin Expanse. He was still Michael, only in a different body ¡­.that looked just like Michael. In fact, even calling himself Mike wasn''t necessary. It only helped Michael separate the bodies. Mike was the new body whereas Michael was the old body.

    The new body would stay in the Origin Expanse and take care of all issues there, whereas the old body was slowly but steadily transformed into a weapon powerful enough to fight the Primal.

    Only a few minutes passed after Mike emerged in the Untamed Jungle when he felt odd. Something was missing.

    "Why does it feel so weird without the God Curses? My body feels so clean¡­so pristine and wless," Mike murmured, wondering if every Awakened felt like that. Mike doubted that was the case, but if it was¡­ then everyone would have to be a lot stronger than they are. But the reason he doubted everyone to feel like Mike was simple. Mike might have an empty and unrefined War Rune, but his Energy Pir never formed. An Energy Vortex formed instead of the Energy Pir. The Energy Vortex would help him advance quickly, especially without a single proper Soultrait Symbol residing in his Soul Sphere. Perfect Soul Vessel and Second Body disappeared when they merged with Mike''s Living Soul, leaving Mike with an empty Soul Sphere.

    Well, the dormant Divinity Seed of Extraction was still there. Michael provided his second body with enough SoulStar Fragments to unlock the Divinity Seed once he entered the Origin Expanse too. That was what Mike did while checking on his perfectly purified body.

    ''My Soul is already refined. All I have to do is expand it a little bit more. My mind is also the same and thus perfectly refined to the Peak of the 8th Tier. In fact, given the benefits of my Soultraits and the four Divinities, my mind should be considered God Tier. That only leaves my physique which is perfectly purified and thus easy to refine.''

    Mike smiled. Even without death energy, energy shares, and mountains of resources he would reach the 1st Tier within hours. Mike''s War Rune would progress rapidly thanks to the surrounding energy density and the Energy Vortex working rapidly and tirelessly. Activating the Divinity Seed of Extraction didn''t take long either, but some things changed upon triggering the Divinity Seed. Mike quickly noticed the difference between the Seeds in Michael and the Soul Sphere forming from the Extraction Divinity Seed.

    ''The Divinity Seed in Extraction is a replica and can never blossom. All it can do is use Extraction at the same level as Extraction in Michael''s body. But the replica is also a little weaker because it can only be used on energy and corpses. That is a shame, but I guess it makes sense. The Soultrait belongs to Fenrir and is bound to the Beast God. Fenrir is not here with me. Therefore, I cannot use the full extent of Extraction.''

    Mike was fine with that. He didn''t need Extraction''s full power to be the strongest. All he needed was the power to procure Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments. More than that could be considered a luxury.

    Mike sat down on the ground and checked his ess to the Links of Loyalty, the primal root, and how much control he had of the Untamed Jungle. The Nature Heart was located inside Michael, but since Mike and Michael were the same, Mike could tap into the Nature Divinity as well. The only ''issue'' was the dy. Since the Nature Heart was not located in Mike''s heart, it would take a few seconds for the Heart to sense Mike''s wishes and orders. While that could turn into a slight problem, Mike could ignore it since he was now aware of the dy. As long as he didn''t try using the Nature Divinity, or his other Divinities, in a fight, Mike would be fine. That also meant Mike would have toe up with new tactics, acquire new Soultraits, and possibly alter hisbat style. Others would be annoyed about that, but Mike found it rather intriguing. He had been busy creating Soultrait Symbols with perfect synergy for his Super Awakened and studied for months to improve their Soultraits andbat style. Mike was confident when it came to Soultrait Symbols. No one was better than him. Except for himself, maybe! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He chuckled lightly but got up after reassuring me how easy it was to ess everything Michael had ess to. It felt a little bit weird to share his consciousness with two bodies, but since his Fates were separated yet stillbined into the Twin Fates, Michael/Mike didn''t think it would be an issue. If anything, it was a challenge they had to ovee to generate the best results.

    "Are you¡­Michael?" A young Forest Elf, an Awakened the Forest Elven Tribe had sent to the Untamed Jungle a few years back, asked Mike hesitantly. The Link of Loyalty connected the subjects of Michael''s territories with him, which was also why they could sense something simr about Mike. Mike also looked the same as Michael, and their presence wasn''t unfamiliar either. However, the wildness in Michael''s presence wasn''t the same, and he was only a Tierless Awakened. After all, his body was reborn, and the influence of the God Curses'' Essences didn''t affect his new body either. It was only obvious that others were confused about his identity.

    "I am Michael, yet not really," Mike responded lightly, "It''s a Doppelganger I created to be in the Origin Expanse since my original body will be busy and unavable for a few decades."

    The Forest Elf looked at Mike, trying to grasp the situation, but he gave up and nodded merely.

    "I am also busy with something. Do you need my help, or can I leave?"

    Mike waved dismissively and turned in the direction of the wooden manor.

    "Go your way. This is my fight."

    Mike didn''t think about it thoroughly before but he hoped his friends would ept him just like they epted Michael.

    ''What if Alice and Lucia reject this body? What if they think it''s weird?''

    It was already toote for having second doubts. Michael would be busy for years and Mike was the one who could be present.

    At the end of the day, Mike and Michael looked the same, and they were the same. The only difference was their power level.

    ''It will be alright!''

 Chapter 1020 Be With Them

    Chapter 1020 Be With Them

    Everyone''s eyes lingered on Mike even after he arrived at the wooden manor. Everyone could tell that Mike was, in fact, Michael, but something felt odd. It was almost like Michael had been reced. That felt¡­weird.

    Mike slowed down and smiled at some Super Awakened, a bunch of Untamed Awakened, Siegfried Dragoon, Tiara, and also Alice and Lucia.

    Nobody said anything for a few seconds, only for the tiniest one to shatter the tension. Lucia squeezed out of her mother''s embrace andnded softly on the ground. She broke into a bright smile charged at Mike.

    She jumped into his arms, nearly breaking his ribs, but the pure energy circting through him protected his body.

    "Daddy!!" Lucia squealed, pressing her head against his chest, "Where did you leave your friends?"

    Mike tilted his head but realized what his daughter was talking about a momentter, "Are you talking about the God Curses? I left them in my main body."

    He realized his mistake as the words escaped his lips and cursed himself quietly.

    ''Why the hell would I speak like that to Lucia? How is she supposed to understand what I mean when I say ''main body''?!''

    Mike cursed himself a little more while Lucia looked up to stare deep into his eyes.

    "So this is your spare body? Did you miss us so much you''ve created another body to stay with us? That''s so cool! I love you, Dad~!" Mike''s lips parted but they sealed shut quickly before anymore stupidments escaped from his mouth. Still, he embraced Lucia tightly, happy she didn''t think of him as weird. It was a bit confusing how Lucia understood his actions right away, but Mike was d his daughter was smart. If not for that, he would have had to spend hours talking to his daughter to make her understand what he had done.

    Alice and the others approached Mike, the confusion in Alice growing.

    "Can you exin to us what exactly happened?" Alice asked slowly, the hesitation in her voice overwhelming. I would love to understand what is going on because I''m certain you are still alive. In fact, Lucia told us the Untamed Jungle has never been better. You did something to the Untamed Jungle to elerate its growth, didn''t you?"

    Mike was ready to reveal everything but looked around and pointed toward the Wooden Manor.

    "Let us talk inside. This might take a while," Michael said, walking inside with his daughter in his arms. The others followed. They reached the office soon, where Mike dropped the bomb.

    "It all starts with the fight against a God¡­" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡­

    Mike didn''t exin everything in detail, but his story didn''t want to end. He told his friends and family about his fight with the Volcano God, the destruction of aary system, the arrival of the Primal, how he barely survived, and the reinforcement through more than one hundred Gods. His storysted a little longer, but the summary was simple.

    "The Gods cannot easily kill the Primal and cannot move against them either. The Primal move quickly against the Rebels when they reveal themselves and even Beelzebub, one of the Gods of the Seven Hells lost his main body in the fight against one of the weakened Primals. Is that correct?" Hiraku asked to reaffirm, which Mike did with a nod.

    "And they want you to fight those Primal to regain their freedom. The God Curses within you are helping you with their Divinities, whereas the Primordial Curse and the Evesting Blessing, which is also the ce you brought Daniel''s Living Soul to, want to help you with the Untamed Jungle." Tiara pointed at Danny, who listened silently while intently studying Mike''s body.

    "The Primordial Curse helps the God Curses to empower them with curse power which the God Curses absorb to use their Divinities through my main body for the next few decades. Loki said it would take two decades before my Divinities are roughly ready to fight the Primal, but I am not in a rush. Whether it takes two decades or two hundred years doesn''t change much for me. However, for the Gods, the Supreme Human Alliance, the Altors Union, the Nest, and many more, it would change a lot." Michael responded.

    "The Evesting Blessing is the Spring of Abundant Life. Bestikal, the Primordial Curse, wants his lover to reunite with the Origin Expanse. Thus, my main body is channeling the Spring of Abundant Life through the Nature Divinity into the Untamed Jungle. That will help me evolve the Divinity Fragment into a full-fledged Divinity, while the Untamed Jungle can advance to an Ancient Region and maybe even a Primal Region. That takes time, but I should be able to spare enough time to expand the Untamed Jungle."

    "Okay¡­but how is all of that rted to this body?" Alice finally asked, pointing at Mike and his new body.

    Everyone listened intently.

    "I didn''t n to create a secondary body, but when I heard I wouldn''t be able to return to the Origin Expanse for decades, I decided to do it. Rather than missing you and our daughter''s growth and being an absent father like my parents had been absent in my life, I''d rather create a secondary body to control just like my main body."

    "Are you still the same, or is there a difference between you and Michael?" Alice asked sharply, conflicted what to think.

    Fortunately, Lucia rescued her father.

    "This is my Dad! They have the same presence! His pets are missing, but he is the same!!"

    Alice''s features softened, and she nodded. "You''re right. His presence is the same. All that is missing is his power and the wildness of his aura. The God Curses must have altered Michael''s presence with their Essences." She looked at Mike and smiled faintly. Mike approached his beloved and embraced her tightly. Alice was still a bit stiff, but she returned the embrace. Mike caressed her cheeks gently and smiled even brighter than before.

    "Can I?" He asked mischiviously, "If you do not wish to kiss my secondary body, that''s fine. I didn''t took into consideration what you or others may think when Ie here with a Doppelganger."

    Alice scoffed and squeezed his cheeks.

    "You are definitely Michael. I don''t know many with the power of Gods who would act drastically like you did without taking a second to reconsider your options. A warning would have been great, but I am d you decided to be with me and your daughter like this rather than disappearing from our lives for tens of years. I think that would have crushed me and Lucia¡­" She swallowed hard but smiled at Michael.

    "You are everything and much more than I could have hoped when I chose you. I''m d you are the father of my child," Alice said, nting an intense kiss on his lips.

    Lucia eximed in excitement and shouted.

    "You are the best, Dad! Mom loves you very much! She missed you a lot."

    Alice separated from Michael and red at Lucia, who buried her head in her father''s chest again.

    Mike justughed.

    "I think it was a good decision toe here like this. I wouldn''t want to miss another day with my family." He said.

    "Now, I can stay with my family in the Origin Expanse while working my ass off to defeat those Primal!"

 Chapter 1021 More Time to Spend

    Chapter 1021 More Time to Spend

    Michael could spend more time with Alice and Lucia through his secondary body. It allowed him to make up for all the time he had missed out on. Of course, the situation wasn''t that simple because Michael missed various of his daughter''s events while fighting the Supreme Human Alliance, but he was d Lucia didn''t hold him ountable for that.

    She wasn''t angry at Michael and bombarded him with questions instead. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Why did you decide to call this body ''Mike''?" Alice asked in-between some of their daughter''s questions.

    "I don''t know. It felt like a good name that wasn''t too different from my real name. Do you not like it?" Michael looked at Alice, whose entire body seemed to be writhing in difort. Something didn''t sit right with Alice Zenovia.

    "I¡­don''t know. I ¨C just like everyone ¨C know Mike is Michael and vice versa. You are the same even though this body is still weaker and not influenced by the God Curses¡­ Still, it feels like I''m cheating on you with yourself if I start calling you Mike. I know that is a stupid thought, but can we do something about that? I don''t want to feel like I am feeling right now." After their earlier kiss, Alice had been a little ufortable, but Michael had been certain Alice was embarrassed for kissing him in front of everyone, but that wasn''t the case. Evidently, Alice was challenged by a whole different problem.

    "I didn''t know you would feel like this," Michael responded quietly, gathering his thoughts. But I can tell everyone to call me Michael. Maybe it was a mistake to pick another name for the secondary body. After all, we are the same consciousness and soul."

    "And don''t call this a stupid thought. You can always talk to me when something makes you feel ufortable, and I will do my utmost to make you feel better. Remember, we are not fighting each other in this rtionship. No, it''s quite the opposite. We, as a couple, fight our problems together."

    Michael tilted his head, looking lovingly at Alice, "How about you tell me everything that has been bothering you? We can solve those issues together."

    "I want to help, too~!" Lucia eximed, charging to her parents with a vibrant smile.

    Michael scooped her up and responded with an equally vibrant smile, "Look at this. Sherlock Lucia is here to solve all our problems!" Lucia giggled, and even the corners of Alice''s lips curled upward. She looked at Michael momentarily and reached out for one of his hands. "Alright, let''s do that. How about I tell you everything?" Alice asked with a mischievous smile on her lips.

    Michael nodded, and the family of three returned to their room in the Wooden Manor, where they talked about their struggles ¨C emotional and physical. It didn''t matter whether their struggles were rational, logical, or irrational and as far from logical as possible. If it bothered them, they had to talk about it¡­and talk it through until they found a solution or apromise.

    At first, the little family of three talked about all kinds of things, including Michael''s tiresome actions against the Supreme Human Alliance for thest few years. It was interesting to listen to Michael, but Alice slowly changed the topic to the things she wanted to talk about.

    "I don''t like the name ''Mike''. I mean, the name itself is okay, but not if you use it for your secondary body. I''d feel alienated or like I am about to cheat on you with this ''Mike'' whenever I think about kissing you."

    "So you think about kissing me a lot?" Michael teased. Alice blushed and was about to throw something at him, but Michael nodded quickly, "That was a joke! I understand what you''re talking about. I will tell everyone to call me Michael. It doesn''t matter if my main body and secondary body use the same name. I doubt they will ever meet up." Alice already had a cushion in her hands, ready to hurl them in Michael''s face, but decided against it when he agreed to her request.

    "Spend more time with Mom!" Sherlock Lucia dered, pointing usingly at Michael.

    Alice blushed again and was about to pull Lucia away when Michael leaned forward to ruffle through Lucia''s hair.

    "You want me to spend more time with your mother? Do you think she is lonely without me?" Michael asked while ncing in Alice''s direction.

    Alice huffed and puffed but didn''t say anything, fearing her voice could expose her. Michael grinned at that.

    "Whenever she feels lonely, she searches for me to y and hang out. I love Mom, but¡­I want to be more independent and be with my friends, too. I cannot be with Mom all day." Lucia looked down at her boots. She didn''t dare to look at her mother, knowing her words might hurt.

    "So, you want me to step in and spend lots of time with your mother?" Michael asked, ignoring Alice''s deadly re.

    "Can you do that?" Lucia asked, her eyes twinkling like the stars.

    "Of course. I can bother you and your Mother with my presence all day now. Doesn''t that sound like a hassle?" Michael joked, only for his daughter to shake her head vigorously.

    "Noo. That''s not a hassle at all. I love it!!" Lucia was adamant about Michael staying with them, not even realizing that her father made a little joke. Alice looked at Michael for a while and smiled.

    "I''m d you''re back," She revealed in all honesty.

    "I am d to be back as well!"

    **

    Michael spend more time with Alice and Lucia, but that didn''t mean he could avoid all responsibility. He had to grow a little bit stronger and siphon the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols from the foes the Super Awakened, Untamed Awakened, and Divine Subordinates had eliminated.

    It had been a while since Michael had checked on the warehouses and the storage devices where all Awakened corpses were usually stored. That was also why he was surprised to find close to 100,000 Awakened corpses in the storage devices. Most corpses belonged to High Awakened, but there were also some precious DIvine Lifeforms stored within.

    Michael retrieved the corpses in batches while using the Extraction Seed to drain the surrounding energy to supply the Seed with enough power to siphon the Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments of the Dead.

    Of course, Michael procured the Awakened''s storaged goods as well. He wasn''t going to leave the War Rune storages untouched!

    He was at it for a while, but the Extraction Seed helped Michael elerate the extraction process. If it had been the same old Michael ¨C Michael as a Rookie Lord with 2-Star Extraction ¨C he would have wasted weeks extracting all of this. Fortunately, that wasn''t the case now.

    Michael procured mountains of resources from the deceased''s War Rune storages. He stored everything in the massive Mythical-grade Storage Artifact since his War Rune storage was too small to carry everything. Then he stored the Soultrait Symbols in a small box, which he gave an attendant to hand over to the Jungle Shop before storing all SoulStar Fragments away.

    The massive volume of SoulStar Fragments in his possession exceeded two hundred million. To be precise, Michael reached the threshold of a quarter of a billion SoulStar Fragments.

    That wasn''t enough to upgrade the main body''s Extraction Soultrait to 10-Star, but 250 million SoulStar Fragments was enough to start the outlines of the 10th Star. Not everything of the 10th Star''s outlines werepleted with a quarter of a billion SoulStar Fragments, yet it was enough to do something. As long as Michael continued providing SoulStar Fragments for the main body, he would soon acquire his first 10-Star Soultrait. Starting from that moment, Michael would grow even stronger, which would then be used to acquire even more SoulStar Fragments. It was an infinite loop, with Michael being the main benefactor.

    However, the secondary body didn''t benefit a lot from it. He didn''t use any of the acquired Soultrait Symbols for himself because he didn''t want to slow down his War Rune progression. Strong Soultrait Symbols might push Michael''sbat prowess to a higher level, but they increased the energy requirements to rank up drastically as well.

    It was no surprise to Michael when he reached Tier-1 shortly after finishing his business with the 100,000ish Awakened corpses. The Energy Vortex continued working while he was busy with the Extraction Seed, which pushed him to Tier-1. His strength skyrocketed, and the Energy Vortex expanded. It absorbed more energy as it expanded, elerating several functions of Michael''s perfectly purified body.

    First, Michael could refine his War Rune even faster now that the Energy Vortex expanded. He didn''t have to do anything and could rely on the Energy Vortex''s benefits.

    Second, the energy entering his body could be used to refine his body, which was what Michael did next. Refining his body with a Primordial-grade Body Refinement Technique up to the rank of his Tier wasn''t particrly difficult. He had enough resources and could tap into the lifeforce and nutrients of the Untamed Jungle as well.

    The Nature Divinity gave him full ess to everything. Therefore, Michael acquired everything he needed to refine his body perfectly, yet he didn''t waste any energy. He surrendered the 100,000 Awakened Carcasses to the Untamed Jungle, allowing it to devour the bodies to transform them into energy and nutrients.

    The absorbed nutrients and energy didn''t elerate the Untamed Jungle''s growth, but it ensured everything would continue flourishing.

    Life filled the Untamed Jungle, fueling Michael with excitement of the uing future.

 Chapter 1022 Saddened

    Chapter 1022 Saddened

    Since Michael decided against picking Soultrait Symbols after advancing to the 1st Tier, ensuring his War Rune would be refined quickly, he picked up a few mountains of Spirit Armaments, Artifacts, and some items like the Orbs of Growth.

    Michael never lost control of the Extraction Seed''s powers, which was also why he could still use Insert. The Soultrait Symbol of Insert was no more but the powers still existed within Extraction. Therefore, the secondary body could use Insert as well.

    He used Insert tobine the mountains of Spirit Armaments and Artifacts by mixing some of their strongest traits. He fused themon traits to upgrade them and didn''t waste any time creating some of the strongest Artifacts he had ever held. Interestingly enough, Michael had to use Extraction on a few Divine Artifacts to remove their most precious parts, which he then fused with the Orbs of Growth.

    The Orbs of Growth transformed, but instead of shapeshifting into Divine Materials, the Orbs of Growth fused with Michael''s empty Soul Sphere. They anchored in his Soul Sphere and revolved around it, where they were epted as Unranked Tier-1 Artifacts.

    Michael fused his newest creation with two Orbs of Growth, creating a Mythical-ranked Tier-1 Spear and a Legendary Void Scale Armor. The Void Scale Armor was also a 1st Tier Artifact, which was perfectly adjusted to Michael''s body and Tier.

    Both the Mythical Spear and the Legendary Armor were adjusted to Michael''s preferences and Tier. Still, they would have crushed any other 1st Tier Awakened under normal circumstances. Fortunately, Michael''s circumstances were far from normal. He might not have any Soultraits pushing his physique to a higher level, but his Primordial-grade Body Refinement Technique easily pushed Michael''s physique to the Peak of Tier-1.

    Michael''s body, mind, and soul were perfect. His soul was massive and on the same level as an Elderly God, while the same could be said about his mind. There was no way Michael would crumble under the Augments of two Tier-1 Artifacts.

    The Augments purely focused on the secondary body''s physique. The body''s tenacity, physical strength, and agility skyrocketed. It wouldn''t surprise Michael if he could defeat the average Tier-2 Monster like this. The enchantments on the Mythical Spear and the Void Scale Armor were very potent and could transform Michael into a beast on the battlefield.

    "Your Artifacts are magnificent," Siegfried praised his Lord, "Do you think you can create simr Spirit Armaments for the Sacred Knights?" Michael was training on the Sacred Knight Temple''s training ground, testing the Mythical Spear and the Void Scale Armor when Siegfried Dragoon approached him. His eyes traced his Artifacts repeatedly, the excitement in his eyes increasing as the seconds passed.

    "I don''t think I can copy them easily. Even if I could, Summons wouldn''t be able to use them. I might be using Spirit Armaments to form the two Artifacts, but they''re mixed with proper Artifacts and Artifacts forged by the Grandmaster cksmiths. The enchantments are from the Grandmaster cksmiths'' Artifacts, woven into the Spear and Void Scale Armor with great precision. That''s a disgusting self-praise, but I think those two Artifacts are among the best Artifacts that can be created for a Soultraitless Awakened like this secondary body. Even more so because they grow with my Energy Vortex."

    Siegfried Dragoon raised his eyebrows, but he let Michael continue.

    "I purchased a few Orbs of Growth for experiments and decided to start. The Mythical Spear and the Void Scale Armor are the results of my experiments. Creating them destroyed the Spirit Armaments produced in a full month and the Artifacts of more than 100,000 Awakened. The Grandmaster cksmiths will hate me when I tell them how many of their precious babies I had to take apart to create these two Artifacts."

    Michael looked slightly saddened at the thought of the Armaments he''d destroyed, but he knew the Growth-type Artifacts would help him grow stronger much faster. He didn''t have to worry about fighting enemies without a Soultrait Symbol if he had the two Artifacts. Their enchantments weren''t unlike weaker Soultraits, after all.

    "Are you nning to keep researching Growth Type Artifacts? What about Growth type Spirit Armaments?" Siegfried asked curiously.

    "If we can create Divine Spirit Armaments, take them apart, and fuse their coreponents with the Orbs of Growth before inserting them into other Spirit Armaments, it should work. But doing so is¡­very difficult without a proper connection to the Energy Pir and War Rune. Artifacts are bound to the War Rune, which makes it easier for Growth type Artifacts to improve alongside the Awakened''s Rank and Tier. The same is not possible with Spirit Armaments. Not that easily, at least."

    Siegfried nodded, but his vibrant expression dimmed a little.

    "Did youe to talk to me about something? What''s on your mind, old friend?" Michael asked Siegfried Dragoon, who sighed deeply.

    "I¡­ am not sure how much I am supposed to tell you and what would be too much to tell you without crushing my people''s spirits, but we encountered a problem. You should be aware of the problem. We talked about it before and never came to a conclusion."

    Michael thought about it for a moment before nodding, "You are talking about how discouraging it is for all the hard-working Summons to watch the Super Awakened, Divine Subordinates, and even average Awakened to grow much stronger than them, even if some of the average Awakened don''t put as much effort into their growth as they do, right?"

    Siegfried nodded slowly, "More Sacred Knights and Holy Knights than you might think copsed over thest few months. They have been training tirelessly in a desperate attempt to keep up with the growth spurts of the Awakened. However, their Soultraits and Artifacts make it increasingly more difficult to do so."

    "The members of the Sacred Knight Temple ¨C but not only them ¨C feel like they are not useful anymore. They feel increasingly more like wasted space. After all, your biggest fights are fought by the Super Awakened, Divine Beasts, the Guardian Beasts, and your strongest jungle monsters." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Michael understood Siegfried''s point, but it was difficult to solve. It was a matter of fact that Summons were weaker than Awakened.

    Their star rating restrained their potential, whereas the same did not apply to Awakened. But that was not all. Awakened were more likely to fight stronger enemies from the get-go. Their Soultraits and Artifacts would strengthen them to a level most Summons couldn''t reach easily. That was especially true with the Artifacts and Soultrait Symbols, which have a higher star rating in the Jungle Shop.

    Soultraits and powerful Artifacts could be purchased easily in the Jungle Shop. They might be worth a little, but the investment was worth it. All Awakened profited tremendously. Their strength increased faster as they yed stronger enemies with better Soultraits and Artifacts. The energy influxes would push them, but they would also receive more Jungle Points for hunting stronger enemies. The Jungle Points would then be used to buy even better stuff, further pushing the Awakened higher, whereas the Summons couldn''t do the same. All they had to retaliate was to use Spirit Armaments, but they weren''t exactly the same as Artifacts. They were a great recement, but the original couldn''t be reced properly. It was a shame, but even Michael was unsure how to solve that problem.

 Chapter 1023 Promotion Globe

    Chapter 1023 Promotion Globe

    Strengthening the Summons enough for them to keep up with the growth of the Untamed Awakened wasn''t possible except if all Summons transformed into 7-Star Summons. Maybe that would increase their potential and grant them Innate powers strong enough to rival Awakened and their Soultraits.

    However, upgrading every Summon to a 7-Star Summon wasn''t possible. It was simply not feasible. However, Michael could do something else.

    "How about we sell Promotion Globes in the Jungle Shop? They''re not cheap, and we know only a few of them will work ¨C the higher the star rating, the lower the sess rate ¨C but it should be worth a try, don''t you think so?" Michael asked Siegfried, who studied his Lord for a while.

    "My Knights won''t have an easy time procuring the Promotion Globes, and their efficiency will deteriorate once they be 4-Star Knights, but I think it is worth a try. The motivation of all Sacred Knight Temple members should improve considerably after we offer them Promotion Globes to keep up with the Awakened," Siegfried nodded slowly.

    He allowed the idea to rummage through his mind ande to live in his imagination. The idea was good, but the expenses would be tremendous. The price of the Promotion Globes was far from cheap. The better the quality of the Promotion Globes, the higher the price. That was only obvious, but so was a particr fact. Purchasing Promotion Globes in bulk and selling them to the Summons for the same price ¨C converted in Jungle Points ¨C wouldn''t save anything. "Something had to be adjusted; otherwise, the Summons would be agitated instead of relieved. You cannot expect them to work tirelessly for decades before they can purchase a single Promotion Globe. They''re that expensive, after all." Michael understood that point. The Promotion Globes would be much more expensive than the price he had listed for Artifacts, Spirit Armaments, and Soultraits. If Michael didn''t change the pricing, a single Promotion Globe would be as valuable as a 6-Star Soultrait Symbol. But that was where the problemy.

    Michael couldn''t produce Promotion Globes out of nowhere, whereas Soultrait Symbols were easy to procure. Everyone was aware of that point, but Summons would never understand his pricing of a Promotion Globe. After all, a single star rating upgrade would never be enough. They had to increase their star ratings a few times to keep up with the Awakened and push even further to surpass them.

    "I can purchase the Promotion Globes and offer them for a lower price. Even if I make some losses, quite a lot of losses, to be fair, I will satisfy the Summons. However, we must add conditions before giving the Summons ess to the Promotion Globes."

    Siegfried listened up and waited for Michael to continue.

    "I think it is only fair to demand that the Summons have to reach the peak of ''education'' in the Sacred Knight Temple, the Hunter Academy, and so forth, to ess the Promotion Globe purchase option. That means the Hunters must reach 4-Star, Sacred Knights need to be 3-Stars, Architects have to be Grandmaster Architects at 4-Star, and Grandmaster cksmiths must advance to the 5th Star before being given ess."

    Siegfried contemted it for a bit, nodded, and then shook his head.

    "That doesn''t seem fair. The cksmiths will haunt you the most for this decision, whereas the Sacred Knights will have the easiest time. I am d for the Sacred Knights since I''m¡­well, their Instructor and the leader of the Sacred Knight Temple, but isn''t that wrong?"

    "Of course, it is. But I think you underestimate the resilience of the Grandmaster cksmiths¡­or the amount of money they earn. The Grandmaster cksmiths will have a much easier time procuring Promotion Globes than the rest. As for Master cksmiths, they can still learn a lot and should focus on studying rather than crying rivers about theirck of ess to cheats," He looked Siegfried straight in the eyes.

    "As for the Sacred Knights. We will start the upgrade of the first Advanced Sacred Knight Temple. One of our Grandmaster Architects had an epiphany while studying the Sacred Knight Temple''s blueprints and was promoted to an Ancient Architect when he found out how to improve the Sacred Knight Temple. Once upgraded, 4-Star Knights called Saints and Ancient Knights of the Silent Goddess will be unlocked. Your Sacred Knights can then advance to 4-Star through hard work and have to work their asses off to purchase some Promotion Globes to ¨C possibly ¨C be promoted to 5-Star. I don''t know how much their powers will change at 4-Star or 5-Star, but this is enough to motivate your people, right?"

    Siegfried was stunned as it was the first time he heard about the Ancient Architect, his promotion, and the upgrades of the Advanced Sacred Knight Temple. "That sounds great. As long as the improvements of the Sacred Knight Temple work out, nobody will say anything. Even if they do, with some Promotion Globes in the Jungle Shop offered for an eptable price, everyone will shut their mouths before approaching you. Let''s say some idiots approach you¡­just tell me, and I will take care of it. I don''t think Summons can get as many great opportunities to grow stronger and be promoted as in your territory. I have never seen anyone offering that much, at least."

    Michael smiled at Siegfried''s praise and decided to jump into action right away. He had enough Soultrait Symbols to offer in the Cosmic Shop but he messaged Sylth Thorn first. ''Since I cannot deal with the Supreme Human Alliance personally, I might as well create some more powerhouses to fight the Supreme Human Alliance head-on.''

    Sylth messaged Michael often, hoping to obtain more Soultrait Symbols from him. He usually rejected her, but Michael decided to change his approach.

    Since he needed both Origin Liquid and Promotion Globes, Michael opened his arms widely, ready to offer multiple Soultrait Symbols and Soultrait Upgrades. Michael didn''t make an offer. He only said something simple in his message.

    [Michael Fang: Hello, Sylth. I hope you and your family are doing fine. I am offering you Soultraits and Upgrades again. In exchange, you can offer me Origin Liquid and Promotion Globes. Feel free to negotiate with me, but keep in mind that the cosmos will transform into a wild ce soon. The Primal and the Gods, both Rebels and submissive, won''t treat you nicely. That being said, you need more power to fight the Supreme Human Alliance. I heard some things, and if they''re true¡­ You need my Soultraits.]

    Maybe it wasn''t nice to speak like that to an ally, but Michael wasn''t going to behave like the nice guy. Not in a deal like this, at least. He needed something and wanted the best possible offer!

    Sylth didn''t respond right away, but she didn''t leave him hanging for long. Her response was cut but decisive.

    [Sylth Thorn: The Thorn Merchandise is willing to buy your Soultrait Symbols. However, we also demand your safety. One of our Elderly Demon Kings told us about a young man with golden eyes golden and silver hair, looking like a Hyuman, being among the Rebels, training the vessel fated to eliminate the Primal. I guess that is you. You will be busy for a while, but if you want our full support and good prices, you need to offer more than your Soultraits.]

    Michael shrugged.

    [Michael Fang: I cannot promise you anything. My training keeps me away from the cosmos for a while. After that, I can help. If that isn''t enough¡­so be it.] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    [Sylth Thorn: The Thorn Merchandise is d to make business with you!]

 Chapter 1024 Unwanted Evolutions

    Chapter 1024 Unwanted Evolutions

    Now that the problem with his Summons should be solved, Michael shared the haul of Origin Liquid with the Untamed Awakened. To be precise, he offered the Origin Liquid droplets for sale in the Jungle Shop where everyone with enough Jungle Points could purchase them.

    That was fair, just as selling the Promotion Globes in the Jungle Shop rather than distributing them equally was the fairest option.

    Once he was done taking care of the Awakened and Summons, Michael traveled across the Untamed Jungle. However, instead of traveling through the Untamed Jungle on Icarus or another winged monster, Michael remained on the ground. Most monsters of the Untamed Jungle ignored him because they could sense his connection to the Nature Divinity of the Untamed Jungle, but some monsters were simply too stupid toprehend who he was.

    They attacked Michael. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Michael was forced to retaliate, which was rather simple when he used the enchantments on the Mythical Spear. He twisted his body, evading the pounce of a Virodium Hyena before triggering the [Thrust], [Defense Pration], and [Shatter] simultaneously. His Mythical Spear unleashed through a technique that resembled the Wicked Spear Arts, prated the Virodium Hyena''s chest and pierced its heart in a single blow.

    More Virodium Hyenas attacked him, but Daniel Fang chose to decapitate them before they could harm Michael.

    "I could have killed them alone," Michael said, while some of the Elven Rangers, who had decided to travel with Michael and Daniel on their trip through the Untamed Jungle, noted the appearance of the Virodium Hyenas.

    "My Lord, should we eliminate the threat of the Virodium Hyenas, or do you wish us to relocate them? We are close to one of the Advanced Farnds, and our analysis discovered an unusual high corrosion level from the Virodium Hyenas." Michael looked at the Forest Elf for a moment. He was deep in thought, trying to remember since when the Virodium Hyenas entered the Untamed Jungle. Or did they evolve from some of the average Hyenas? Michael couldn''t remember, which was odd.

    "Eliminate them before they cause any more problems," Michael dered before Danny added, "The Spring of Abundant Life helps the Untamed Jungle to evolve."

    Michael nodded, "I noticed that too. We need to increase the number of guards in and around the Pentagon Forts and deploy more Forest Rangers to report and take out the mutated monsters whose existence harms the Untamed Jungle. I don''t want the Untamed Jungle to rot from the inside out just because we''re too confident. Even if the territory is well guarded and manned with powerful Awakened and Summons, we need to be careful. A single mistake and everything will be over."

    Daniel patted his brother''s shoulder.

    "I know you carry a heavy responsibility, but you should rx a little," Danny winked at Michael, who could only sigh deeply.

    "Do you think I can rx knowing I''ll have to fight the Primal the next time my training is over? Once my main body wakes up, I must fight one of the strongest entities in the Universe. If I die, everything is over. The territory will fall apart, and everyone I love will suffer."

    Danny sighed but didn''t say anything. Michael was correct, but knowing everything depended on him didn''t help him. If anything, it put even more pressure on the young man. He wasn''t even 100 years old, yet the gods wanted him to kill one of the oldest beings in existence? These Gods were insane.

    If they could wait for hundreds of thousands of years, they might as well wait a few more centuries or millennia. Why was it necessary to push Michael like that? Was it necessary to rush him into fighting the Primal this soon?

    Daniel didn''t think so, but the gods must have said something to convince Michael how dire the situation was.

    Michael didn''t know what his brother was thinking but could tell Danny was deep in thought. He shrugged and decided to answer whatever doubt was on his brother''s mind if he was willing to ask away. However, no question escaped his lips. That was how they ended up traveling through the Untamed Jungle for a few weeks ¨C they returned to the Wooden Manor every evening ¨C and eradicated a few monsters with devious mutations.

    There were also a bunch of nts with ''unique'' mutations, but Michael only removed them when he heard the voice of the Untamed Jungle. To be precise, it was the stirring of the Primordial Tree Spirit trying to tell him that the nt could inflict immense damage to the Untamed Jungle.

    Once the dangerously mutated flora and fauna had been removed, Michael focused on other tasks. He personally approached all problems in the settlements within the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert to show how important these problems were. Michael gave his utmost care to each issue, showing the Summons and Awakened how important their well-being and happiness were to him. More and more Links of Loyalty grew firmer as the Summons realized that they were more than dead replicas in his eyes. They were more than valuable assets. Their lives were important to Michael because he cared for his people, not because of the Soul Power.

    "Your n works out very well," Danny mentioned at some point.

    He had been with Michael the whole time and discovered a pattern.

    "What are you talking about?" "You don''t have to act like that in front of me. I understand what you are doing and think it''s smart," Daniel praised his brother, who looked sternly at him, "Are you not trying to act like a benevolent Lord to show how great you are after leaving them behind for years? You were too busy dealing with the Summons, which weakened their Links of Loyalty, just to transform into the best possible Lord after hundreds of millions of Links of Loyalty have been established.

    Michael raised an eyebrow but shrugged.

    "In your time as the Masked Saber, you should have seen how I treat my people. In fact, you have seen much more than that. It might have been a while since I had the time to put so much effort into my subjects, but it''s not like I''m acting differently than I used to. To be precise, I return to my original behavior now that I have two bodies to do double the work."

    Michael clicked his tongue, "And I''m not sure if I like the way you speak about my efforts of thest few years. I have been working my ass off since I became a Lord in the Untamed Jungle to help as many people as possible, to grow stronger, and to protect those I love. You are one of those, and I went through shit to get you back."

    "I¡­" Danny nibbled on his lower lip and scratched the back of his head. A sigh escaped his lips.

    "Yeah, you are right. I don''t know what overcame me. Your actions in thest few days felt so different from the effort you put into the Untamed Jungle over thest few years that I forgot how you acted originally."

    "Sorry about that," Danny added, "Everything feels a little bit confusing since I inserted enough SoulStar Fragments into Sword God."

    Michael listened up at that.

    "Enough SoulStar Fragments¡­for what?"

    "You don''t know? I started learning about the Law of the Sword. The Sword God Soultrait is teaching me all about it."

    What?!

 Chapter 1025 Overthinker

    Chapter 1025 Overthinker

    Michael was bothered about Danny''sment and decided to stir his main body awake. He interrupted his training with the God Curses, rming Loki, only for Michael to wave dismissively.

    It took him a moment to recognize the Primordial Curse and understand how easy it was to switch between the main body and the secondary body. Once he returned to his senses, Michael talked to the God Curses.

    ''Didn''t you all tell me that 10-Star Soultraits won''t grant me the rights of Laws and Authorities¡­that the knowledge of 10-Star Soultraits will only be ''helpful'' to strengthen my Soultraits, but that it will never be enough to do more?''

    [What are you talking about? Focus on the task ahead, idiot!] Fenrir growled, but Jormungandr and Hel noticed his confusion and essed his mind and memories.

    [Daniel is learning about the Sword Law from the Sword God Soultrait? That is¡­unusual.] Hel murmured. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [Maybe thest Sword God died in the Origin Expanse? Maybe he was searching for something in the Origin Expanse, just like Hel? If that was the case, the Sword God would have to seal his Divinity to enter the Origin Expanse. Thereafter, he wouldn''t have ess to most of his powers. After all, thest Sword God was a born god.] Jormungandrmented. [I don''t know how the Sword God died, but it happened.]

    The World Serpent shrugged or would have if he had shoulders to shrug. One way or another, Jormungandr didn''t care much about Michael''s discovery.

    [The Sword God''s sealed Divinity was probably a perfect target of Essence to transform into a full-fledged Soultrait, which turned into Danny''s Sword God. Isn''t that great? Why are you so worried?]

    Michael''s lips parted, but Fenrir intervened.

    [You are wasting precious time. Advancing Sword God to 10-Star will help your brother create his Divinity in the future. The more he learns about the Sword Law, the better. Maybe he will be your first Demi-God! Wouldn''t that be great? Stop worrying and focus on my Divinity. I do not want to waste my Essence for you if you keep interrupting this training!]

    Michael clicked his tongue but did as told. His main body resumed the painstaking training to grow into the Nemesis of the Primal, while his secondary body spent some quality time with¡­everyone. Mostly Alice and his daughter, though.

    ''It would be great if Daniel advanced to a proper Divine Lifeform and acquired the Sword Law in time. A Demi-God would help a lot with the Untamed Jungle''s expansion¡­though I doubt we will have any major problems for the next few months.''

    The Untamed Jungle expanded smoothly, but Michael focused on clearing and researching the mutations and evolutions of both flora and fauna. It was necessary to check everything asionally. The Primordial Tree Spirit may tell him if something major happened, but given its focus on expansion, Michael deployed more Forest Rangers to check everything up to the finest detail.

    "The danger level of the wild parts in the Untamed Jungle will increase slowly but steadily. It might look like I have everything under control, but I cannot always keep all jungle monsters in check. That would destroy my mind, the connection to the jungle monsters, and the entire ecosystem," Michael exined when he received someints about massive boars charging through an Intermediate Farnd, utterly destroying it.

    "We do not wish to destroy the ecosystem, but we want to live with it and take advantage of it. The areas known as the "outer area" of the Untamed Jungle have long since transformed into the medius area, whereas the inner areas are now part of the core area. The reason for that is simple. The Untamed Jungle has expanded. The region generates more energy, which is released into the surroundings. The flora and fauna in the core area are more resilient and prone to drastic mutations. However, only the strongest mutations will survive. Therefore, we have to pay attention to the mutations and evolutions. It is necessary to check on the flora and fauna and prepare for all kinds of mishaps. That might seem like a lot at first, but trust me when I say that ample preparations can decide between life and death."

    He took a deep breath, but sighed instead of saying anything right away. Looking at the men and women staring at him, ordinary Farmers who want nothing more but to tend to their fields and live afortable, peaceful, life full of wonder, Michael could only feel foolish.

    They didn''t care what was happening. All they came for was a simple solution.

    "We will deploy more guards around the Farnds and upgrade the installed defenses, too. Don''t worry, we will block the jungle monsters if they seek the nts and herbs growing in your Farnd. I will reimburse you for your loss as well. The Sabertooth Boars won''t return again."

    That was enough to satisfy most Farmers. They turned away and left for their farms. Michael raised an eyebrow and turned to Lilica, who smiled faintly.

    "I felt like you needed to see this," Lilica responded with a shrug.

    The Forest Elf, who had been with Michael and his territory for a very long time, had asked him to be present for today''s meeting with the Farmers, but Michael hadn''t expected it to be like this.

    "Why?"

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Lilica smiled mischievously at him, "I wanted you to see that not all problems are as difficult to solve as you may think. The Farmers didn''t want much. All they were hoping for was some consoling, a few pleasant words, and promises to help them against the jungle monsters. They do not care why you cannot control them at all times or about the districts of the Untamed Jungle, the mana density, and the mutating flora and fauna."

    Michael pressed his lips together. He understood where this was going but was unsure if he liked it.

    "Sometimes, you oveplicate things because thest few years have been hard on you. Nobody can fathom how hard you had it in thest few years, but we want to support you. Sometimes, it might be better to ask someone else for help or to put them in charge of things you don''t know. Not knowing something doesn''t mean you are an idiot or anything like that. No. You don''t have to try so hard at being perfect. After all, nobody is perfect."

    Lilica cleared her throat.

    "As long as you try your best and do what you are good at, you will be fine," She smiled, "We know you are good at many things but I hope you can rely on us more often. Also, I think it would help you if you start looking at some situations from a different point of view. Maybe your secondary body will help you with that."

    Lilica''smentary wasn''t as bad as Michael thought. Still, he was ufortable about the lecture. He wanted to do everything right but noticed in the short ''discussion'' with the Farmers that his attempts were idiotic.

    ''Am I really that bad when ites to overthinking?'' He asked, only to recall various incidents where his mind fooled him.

    Michael sighed deeply before he smiled at the Forest Elf.

    "Thank you."

 Chapter 1026 Storytelling

    Chapter 1026 Storytelling

    Since the danger in the Untamed Jungle was constantly increasing ¨C some mutations revealing new, highly aggressive traits ¨C Michael was also forced to up his power level. He decided to bind two Soultrait Symbols to his Soul Sphere. One of the Soultraits was called [Herculean], a 7-Star Soultrait boosting every characteristic of his physical prowess, and another 7-Star Soultrait called Greater Psychokinesis. It allowed him to control objects in the surroundings. The heavier the objects and the farther away, the more energy Greater Psychokinesis drained.

    Both Soultraits pushed his prowess to a new height, but that wasn''t as important as Michael first presumed. His mind was still focused on growing stronger and doing his utmost toe out at the top of the game, but it wasn''t even like his secondary body was in need of as much power as his main body.

    He connected the primal root to the Energy Vortex, which is how Michael ended up progressing much faster than anyone else, even if it wasn''t necessary. Still, Michael did not want his secondary body to be weak. If something was to happen, Michael wanted to be ready to jump in and help.

    But power was not everything. Although it was an important aspect of his life, there were things much more important than power. Alice and his daughter were two prime examples of the people who were the most important to him. "Tell me a story!" Lucia demanded from Michael after feasting on her dinner. She emptied several tes, shocking Michael quite a bit. Lucia was still rather small ¨C it almost looked like she didn''t age in the time Michael spent in the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory ¨C but she could eat truckloads. Her food consumption was even worse than it had been in Michael''s case in the past. She ate more than her little body weighed.

    "What kind of story do you want to hear? I don''t know many fairy tales," Michael responded while ruffling through his daughter''s hair.

    "I don''t need fairy tales! I am not a little child anymore!" Lucia dered, but Michael chuckled lightly.

    "Sure, whatever you say, my little princess! What stories do you want to hear then?"

    "Tell me something about yourself. What did you do before I was there?" Michael raised an eyebrow and looked at Alice, who shrugged lightly.

    "I would love to hear more about your life, too. And I think I''m fine hearing about our past ¨C the past I have forgotten ¨C as well."

    That surprised Michael. Alice was against listening to anything revolving around the past she had forgotten. The Blood Incursion had been very hard on her. Michael was forced to remove all memories between the day before he and Alice met up to their years together. She had forgotten everything about Michael and their events together and had been afraid to face her forgotten past before.

    But she wanted to hear about her past self all of a sudden. Where did thate from? Why now?

    However, Michael didn''t ask those questions. Instead, he blurted out, "Are you sure?" Alice looked a little uncertain in his eyes, but a momentter, a determination was born in her vibrant ocean-blue eyes. She nodded with newfound determination.

    "I am sure."

    Michael needed a few seconds to digest that. He had so many questions, but Lucia tugged impatiently on his shirt. He smiled at his lovely, hard piece of work and said.

    "What story do you want to hear? I have many stories, including my first meeting with your mother, my encounter with the Barbaric Couple ¨Cwhat everyone called Uncle Frederik and his wife when they were young and arrogant ¨C, or the day I met and defeated Uncle Kaleb. At that time, Kaleb was too full of himself and thought he could defeat an Awakened while he was still a Normie. Up until now, I don''t know where his confidence stemmed from."

    Michael stopped for a moment and tilted his head lightly.

    "Well, that is not the entire truth. The Zenovia household, which your Mother is also part of, is known for their excellent training. Kaleb, however, underestimated my abilities, thinking I wasn''t a threat. We battled in an Archerypetition, which he lost. Kaleb and I ¨C also some others, but they''re not important ¨C made a bet against each other. I won and earned my first fortune. The day I defeated Kaleb for the first time, I met your mother for the second time."

    Michael hoped Lucia would pick some story, but she listened with a fully focused expression on her face. It was obvious Lucia wouldn''t choose a story. She wanted to hear it all.

    "I think I''ll give you a summary of everything first, and we approach the details slowly once the summary is done. What do you think?" He asked, but Lucia merely nodded. Still, the foolish grin on her face was enough to tell how much Lucia liked the current situation.

    "Alright then. After defeating Uncle Kaleb, it was about time to leave my home and travel through the wide-open space to my next destination. The Saphirke Military Academy. Your mother told me about this academy the first time we met and told me to apply for it. I never considered going to a military academy far away from my brother because I never expected they would ept me, but they did. I don''t know what your mother thought when she first invited me since I was still a Normie, but she must have sensed something."

    He winked at Lucia, who squealed in excitement. She turned to her mother and giggled while Alice listened intently.

    "I invited you to the Saphirke Military Academy on the day I went to your school to visit Kaleb''s ex-fiance. Is that what happened?" Alice asked, tilting her head ever so slightly. Michael nodded, "That''s what happened."

    Alice looked like she had many questions but gestured to him to move on.

    "Instead of leaving my home right away ¨C my brother was still at home, and I was unsure if I could leave Danny just like that ¨C I had a lengthy talk with him and revealed more information about my territory, powers, and the Ancient Ruin I''ve located. Danny told me to be careful about the Ancient Ruin and research it in the Lumina Ster System, a different ster system from my home where I encountered the first foreign races outside the Origin Expanse."

    Michael considered talking more about the Origin Expanse and what was happening there, but he chose to focus on what had happened with Alice or near Alice.

    "Traveling to the Saphirke Military Academy took a while. It wasn''t a short flight, and since I didn''t have a powerful Spatial-type Soultrait, I couldn''t jump through ster systems and gxies. I spend a full month in the spaceship, which wasn''t that bad since I was busy in the Origin Expanse most of the time."

    "Once I arrived at the Saphirke Military Academy, I had a good time. At least for a while. My time at the Saphirke Military Academy was rather simple, and I made some new friends. That includes Uncle Zeke, among others. Zeke and I weren''t the greatest friends, but we respected each other. To be precise, Zeke was still a little bit dissatisfied with me, but that was something I had expected. He was raised in a very disciplined and somewhat stiff noble household and was supposed to be the household''s next head. The pressure weighing on Zeke must have been enormous."

    "I got to know new friends and started studying. Various topics in the Saphirke Military Academy''s curriculum interested me, but everything came crashing down when I entered the Lord Rift in the Origin Expanse. The Lord Rift is a small pocket dimension where only a few individuals meeting certain requirements can enter. I was hoping to find treasures in the Lord Rift, which I actually did, but I also discovered that my brother had died and that I had summoned him¡­ I lost my brother the day the Lord Rift closed¡­"

    Michael sighed deeply. If it hadn''t been possible to retrieve his brother and grow his Living Soul a second body, he would feel bad right now. He didn''t know if it would be possible for him to keep his emotions calm or if he would go crazy. "Fortunately, Danny is still with us. I will skip a few events because you must have noticed that Daniel is still with us. He is ying with you often and cannot be dead, right?" Michael smiled at his daughter, who nodded her head in confusion.

    "Danny ys a lot with me. But if he died¡­how can he be here?"

    Alice had heard about the story but she was also interested to hear it again.

    "The Lord Rift rewarded me with a special item. A keychain looking like a Miniature Casket. At first, I didn''t think of it as anything special. I was devastated about my brother''s death and identally ¨C it wasn''t actually an ident ¨C beat up some nobles and a teacher of the Saphirke Military Academy, who had been plotting against me. I was punished by the academy and forced to participate in the Battle Exchange with the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. My ''punishment'' was to seed in the Battle Exchange and participate in the Interster g War against the Tekur, a race with a shockingly high poption. The poption and their shocking numbers are their strongest perk, too.

    Either way, I participated in the Battle Exchange and passed, but not without Dark Heavens, a dark organizations of traitors, attacking the ancient city, killing numerous powerhouses," Michael nced at Alice for a moment and decided not to mention what happened with Maria and the Mark of Fate. That was probably for the best.

    "Many powerful allies died, which created problems for the Interster g War, especially since the Tekur were known to be stronger than most Descendants, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs. Still, we survived the g War, and I grew stronger than ever."

    Michael was about to say more, but Lucia stepped in.

    "Tell me how you rescued Danny, please!!!"

    Michael chuckled, "You want me to skip the good parts?"

    Lucia shook her head but nodded atst.

    "Everything sounds so good. I want to listen to everything in detail!" She grumbled in defiance.

    This time, it was Alice ruffling through their daughter''s hair. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I think your father has more than enough time to tell you about everything. After all, he won''t disappear." She smiled at Michael, who nodded.

    "If you want to hear about Danny first, we can go down that route. As for everything else, I can tell you in detailter."

    "Yes!!!"

    Michael didn''t know that his storytelling sessions with Lucia wouldst for days. However, he didn''t regret anything. Revisiting his past through the tales he told was interesting, and Michael learned a lot, not only about his persona and how much he had changed, but also about the things he had already achieved.

    That didn''t feel too bad.

 Chapter 1027 Childrens Growth

    Chapter 1027 Children''s Growth

    Spending time with his family for extended periods felt nice. It was also much better to talk about his tales than expected. Both Alice and Lucia were very interested in his stories, and Daniel even joined in listening at some point. Danny had heard about most of his tales, but listening to them in detail again helped him a lot.

    Daniel Fang was still far from bing a Demi-God, but listening to someone who had already fought multiple Demi-Gods, A Pseudo God and a Primal, taught him a lot. Even Michael couldn''t be arrogant before the Primal, which was good to hear but also frightening.

    It was good because it showed that Michael was not invincible. That made him more humane in the eyes of many. Still, it was also bad because it would be terrifying if a Primal were to kill Michael. Nobody wanted that to happen except the Supreme Human Alliance and the Primal, maybe.

    Once Michael was done with his storytelling ¨C several days had passed ¨C Lucia met up with Frederik''s boy. There weren''t many children of powerful Awakened, which made it increasingly difficult for children with the gift of energy to y around. Lucia and Frederik''s boy had already manifested their War Rune and were both already at the 2nd Tier. That was shocking since the children were still far from bing adults, which was the norm for manifesting their War Runes. That being said, the two children were a decade too young to manifest their War Rune under normal circumstances, yet they did it already. They were too strong to y with children around their age because a single mistake ¨C a light punch, a yful push, or something along those lines ¨C could kill ordinary children.

    Fortunately, neither Lucia nor Tom, Frederik''s boy, cared much about the other children. They had each other to y with to their hearts'' content. It didn''t matter how brutal they yed; they were roughly at the same rank and Tier and were thus having a hard time seriously injuring each other. Not that they didn''t try. Lucia and Tom were¡­unique, to put it into simple words. They joined the training of the Sacred Knight Temple on more than one asion and observed the training regime in the Hunter Academy, the Alchemist Lairs, the cksmiths in the Underground Forging Halls, the Farmers, Architects, Forest Rangers, Rangers, Tamers, and many more almost daily.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The duo of reckless and impatient children turned the Untamed Jungle upside down at every given opportunity. They sustained many injuries as well, but their behavior never changed. Even after both broke their legs while jumping down from arge tree they''d climbed, neither changed. They continued climbing the same tree and jumped down again after one of the Healers among the Super Awakened tended to their wounds. The second time, only Tom broke his leg, whereas Lucia seeded in jumping from one tree branch to the branch of another tree. It would have been okay if they did that at a low altitude, but for a 2nd Tier Awakened to break his legs, they must have jumped from more than 10 meters. Of course, they were children and thus prone to injuries, but Alice and Jacqueline were going crazy whenever Tom and Lucia disappeared to y. Frederik and Michael weren''t as worried as the women because neither Lucia nor Tom were foolish enough to do something that threatened their lives. Even if they did something like that, they ensured to injure themselves only as much as the Healers in the settlement could heal.

    There was a tad of cunningness in their actions and ys that impressed Michael and Frederik so much that they decided to stalk their children to watch them y. The children were out of everyone''s sight when they started climbing the trees, only to initiate a small brawl on a thick branch six meters above the surface. Frederik and Michael looked at each other in surprise when they saw how smoothly the children fought. They hadn''t learned any fancy martial arts techniques just yet and didn''t manifest a Soultrait either, but Tom and Lucia could control their bodies with great precision. It was almost like they didn''t notice the difference between their Tierless body and breaking through to the 2nd Tier.

    "They have already adapted to their bodies and copied the techniques of the Sacred Knights, the Forest Rangers, and several sequences from the Hunter Academy," Michael mumbled, his eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

    Tom and Lucia were covered in bruises and looked like a bunch of adults had beaten them into pulps, but the children merely smiled at each other. Lucia raised her hand high into the air, which summoned a small sprite. No, it was one of the Forest Pixies, which arrived onmand with a small wooden bowl filled with the Greater Nature Spirit''s nectar. It was filled with lifeforce and other ingredients, each aiding the healing process of young and vigorous bodies.

    "Is she using the trace of Nature to do that?" Frederik asked in surprise as the children shared the bowl. The Forest Pixie took the bowl and disappeared a momentter while the ck and blue bruises covering their children''s bodies disappeared.

    "I think so. But that is a lot more precise and powerful than I expected. The trace of Nature inside Lucia is not noteworthy. It was already surprising when I saw how much the jungle monster adore her. Not even the most aggressive jungle monsters think about attacking Lucia, even if they have the chance. Meanwhile, they attack me without hesitation."

    Frederik looked at his friend, the corners of his lips curling upward.

    "Are our children broken?" He asked, not even trying to hide his grin.

    "Why are you grinning like that while asking such a question? What do you want me to answer?" Michael chuckled lightly, patting his friend''s shoulder while focusing on his child. He didn''t think Lucia would like fighting. Her connection with Nature and life was strong. Strong enough for Michael to consider giving Lucia a few Healing-type and Nature-type Soultraits once her body, soul, and mind were ready for it.

    But from the looks of it, Michael and Alice, for a matter of fact, had been mistaken. Lucia was not only interested inbat, but she was already a betterbatant than most Descendants were after training for a whole decade. Yet, Lucia never received any tutge from others. Not actively, at least.

    "How strong will they be once they turn 18? Can I keep up with their growth?" Frederik asked, a sudden realization kicking in.

    "What if they keep growing stronger this fast? Will my little boy surpass me and be a Demi-God before me?" His eyes widened in surprise, but Michael only chuckled.

    "Do you think you can be a Demi-God?" Michael narrowed his eyes as a joke, only to get punched in the shoulder.

    "Be careful what you say. I can still beat your secondary body!" Frederik''s eyes glimmered, but Michael onlyughed.

    "For now, yeah."

 Chapter 1028 Old Enemies

    Chapter 1028 Old Enemies

    A few months passed after Michael''s secondary body was formed. He was busy in the Origin Expanse and didn''t hear much about the trouble in the cosmos. Hiraku and some other Super Awakened, as well as a few dozen Divine Subordinates, talked about the situation in the Titan War sometimes, but Michael never intercepted when something went wrong, which happened more often than Michael had hoped for.

    A few Super Awakened died to Divine Lifeforms as a result of underestimating their enemies. They have been fighting and defeating powerful enemies for months now, only to overestimate their power while also underestimating the possible power level of enemy Divine Lifeforms. Some Divine Hyumans might actually be weak, but that didn''t mean everyone was weak. Not everyone would die from a Soultrait Combo of six to eight Soultrait Symbols. Some would block the iing attacks or evade them. Or they would attack the Super Awakened long before their Soultrait Combo could be unleashed in the first ce.

    Michael chose to give the Super Awakened some free time and pull them away from the battles in the cosmos. Most of them didn''t want to rx and lusted for vengeance, but that was exactly what Michael wanted to prevent. The desire to take revenge on their enemies was hard to control. Michael knew that better than most, and he could already see his friends andrades loosening themselves and dying miserably in the attempt to take revenge.

    Michael, however, did not want this to happen, which was how he forced some paid time off onto them.

    They still trained a lot back in the Origin Expanse and ended up hunting some highly aggressive monsters as well, but the danger level was not as great as it would have been against Divine Hyumans.

    But while they were displeased, Michael was very pleased with himself. The death of the Super Awakened was bad, but the gains he made were tremendous. Michael had no idea where the Supreme Human Alliance produced all those High Awakened and Divine Hyumans because there were way too many enemies, and it looked like their numbers would never decrease, but it was not all bad.

    The Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened brought back mountains of corpses from their hunts¡­and they hunted a lot.The Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments, as well as the portions of War Rune storages extracted from the deceased, filled the Jungle Shop''s warehouse to the brim. Simultaneously, the Super Awakened gained a lot, roughly 10% of the SoulStar Fragments from every Awakened they had hunted and brought back. That was a lot, and it most certainly motivated the Super Awakened to work harder.

    Some Super Awakened managed to advance their Soultraits to 7-Star, whereas others focused on pushing all Soultraits to 5-Star and 6-Star first. Everyone had a different tactic, but the Super Awakened never failed to surprise him with their tactics and recent purchases. The Soul Spheres had already been created, but not many had started infusing SoulStar Fragments into it to form Empty Soul Sockets. That was until recently when some Super Awakened discovered a filled with very familiar beings. Oddly enough, the Forest Rangers and Warlock Centaur Scouts, alongside the Minor Typhoon Rocs, discovered the exact same beings in the Origin Expanse.

    The Tekur were back! "Do you want us to fight the Tekur right away, or do you wish to negotiate with them first? They might be enemy of the Supreme Human Alliance, which would help us. Defeating them would decimate them and weaken our numbers drastically if we are unlucky to encounter one of the Tekur''s strongest powerhouses," Siegfried Dragoon inquired when he first heard about their encounter with the Tekur.

    "Do you know the Tekur? We fought them in the Tritan Alliance because they tore open a portal to one of the Berserker''ss." Michael asked out of curiosity.

    "I do know them. The Tekur are considered the pest of the universe. Nobody wants to fight them because their grudge is never-ending. They''re as petty as you can get. Fight them, and they will make sure to fight you until the end of time. I managed to fight and defeat one of their Lords in the Origin Expanse, but the losses were too great. Especially when more Tekur appeared out of nowhere. I was sure to have eliminated all of them, only for Assassins and smaller units of their kin to appear near and within my territory when I was still a reigning Lord." Siegfried told Michael.

    Michael hadn''t heard a lot about Siegfried''s past and his time in the Origin Expanse, but the old man was a valuablerade and a trusted subject. "That being said, you can never defeat all of them. Maybe you can crush one of theirs, obliterating tens of billions of their kind, but even if you burn all of theirs to ashes, you will never kill all of them. Some of them will survive, and they will grow again. This time, more resilient and stronger than ever. And they will want to hunt you!"

    Michael nodded slowly while considering Siegfried''s words.

    "But if they hold a grudge, they will hate me already. I fought and killed them in the Interster g War. The first time, I was too weak to kill all of them. Some will remember me and probably resent me a lot if they''re as petty as you said. If they hold onto grudges like no other race, they will recognize me and attack." Siegfried frowned but nodded slowly, "In that case, let''s send someone else for negotiations. I don''t think they will work because Tekur isn''t known for sharing their living space with others, but the least we can do is request negotiations. If they deny them and attack, we can retaliate without any qualms."

    Michael was unsure if that was necessary, but he nodded.

    "Let''s deploy one of our Forest Elves or Silverfangs, though. I somehow doubt they like humans and maybe not even Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, given their encounters in the first few years of the Interster g War."

    Siegfried thought about it for a moment and agreed, too.

    "That might be for the best." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Now that they came to a conclusion, Michael deployed an escort of Forest Elves to follow Lilica, who was going to negotiate with the Tekur. Nobody expected anything great and Michael was actually certain the Tekur would attack the Forest Elves, but he trusted Lilica to survive. She was strong and not so easy to fool.

    However, Michael didn''t expect the escort of Forest Elves to get attacked by the Tekur even before they reached the borders of their territory. Assassins of the Tekur must have invaded the outer areas of the neighboring territory with the intention of inflicting as much harm as possible.

    Little did they know how stupid it was to attack Lilica and her escort in opennds. The escort was full of powerful Awakened with multiple Tracking Soultraits, Danger Sense Soultraits, and the means to retaliate with both brute force and deadly tactics.

    Lilica spiked the Assassins with a barrage of arrows the moment they initiated the attack. That was how the war with the Tekur began both inside the Origin Expanse and outside in the wide-open cosmos.

 Chapter 1029 Burn

    Chapter 1029 Burn

    One thing was sure: The Tekur burned very well.

    Their bodies were easily ignitable, and there were so many of them. Of course, the Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened made use of that. The first thing Michael did after Lilica and her people had been attacked was to burst intoughter.

    Why?

    Because the Tekur Lord in the Origin Expanse wasn''t a Divine Tekur or a Demi-God. No. The Tekur Lord, located close to Michael''s territory, was a Higher Lifeform. The Assassins who attacked Lilica were also higher lifeforms, but barely. They were 4th Tier Awakened and weren''t ready for the rude awakening. They quickly realized Lilica and the Forest Elven escort were stronger than they looked at first nce. Lilica and the others obliterated the assassins quickly and moved forward to investigate the Tekur Lord, the size of his settlements, and the number of Summons and Awakened located in the respective settlements. When Michael heard about the millions of subjects and more than five thousand Awakened, we were a little surprised, but we shrugged in disinterest when Lilcia said that only 100 or so reached the 5th Tier.

    The Tekur Lord and his people wouldn''t be difficult to deal with. That was why Michael deployed Most Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened out of the Origin Expanse. They didn''t need to deal with the Tekur and could help theirrades with the bigger enemies in the cosmos instead. They were brought to the civilized by the Tekur. It was a massive, yet most of it had already been civilized by the Tekur. Their numbers were ginormous as a basic scan discovered signals of the same life in hundreds of billions, probably even more. A more advanced scan would probably discover trillions of Tekur. But their numbers mattered little as only a handful of the lifeforms were Higher Lifeforms or Divine Lifeforms.

    Their numbers were great but their potential so-so. Their Soultraits were especially weakpared to the Awakened from the Tritan Alliance.

    Still, the numbers were great for Michael''s main body. He would gain death energy and energy shares for every death caused by his people. Also, Michael would gain a lot from every Awakened in. After all, Michael was going to drain SoulStar Fragments from every Awakened. That was going to push his fortune to apletely different level. "Failure is okay as long as you escape with your lives. I know some of you dislike losing more than anything, but I sure hope you value your life enough to say, ''The Tekur do not deserve the honor to kill me.''. Reserve that honor for a God, a Primal, or the course of time, okay?!" Michael roared toward the Super Awakened, not even batting an eyelid at the Divine Subordinates when he said that on the day of their departure

    Only a handful of Super Awakened stayed back because they were either pregnant, their child would be born soon, and they wanted to stay back to be with their beloved to witness such a miraculous day, or they wanted to be the Guardians of the Origin Expanse''s territories. After all, some powerful enemies may attack Michael''s territories at all times. All it took was one surprise attack. The Guardian ensured nobody would suffer from the departure of the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates. The Guardians would protect the Untamed Jungle and Sacred Desert with his life on the line!

    That was great, as it alleviated some of Michael''s worries. With a bunch of Super Awakened protecting the territories, alongside the jungle monsters, of course, Michael could join the Untamed Armies to beat the living shit out of the Tekur.

    In the past, the Tritan Alliance had been worried about fighting the Tekur, but that was mostly owed to the Tekur''s Soul Techniques and the fact that all of their Soldiers and Elite Soldiers had been Lords with millions of subjects. The summoned Tekur couldn''t use any Soul Techniques and didn''t own any Soultraits or Spirit Armaments either. In fact, most Tekur Awakened didn''t even have powerful Artifacts, nor did their Summoned Soldiers carry well-maintained equipment. Their equipment was old and of much lower quality than anything Michael had given to his people.

    On one hand, that showed how badly the Lord treated his people, or how poor he was, and it showed how difficult it was to fulfill your responsibility as a Tekur Lord ¨C summon millions of Summons to increase your Soul Power in order to strengthen your Soultrait''s power ¨C while treating everyone decently enough to strengthen their bond. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lilica and the other Forest Elves were disgusted at what they discovered upon returning, and the Untamed Armies immediately jumped into action.

    Michael had already ascended to a Higher Lifeform after months of Energy Vortex working continuously in the energy-dense Untamed Jungle. OF course, Michael helped a little bit with some Energy Stones, and some energy drained from the primal root, but the means didn''t matter. All that mattered was Michael''s ascension to a Higher Lifeform. He would join the Untamed Armies and help them beat the living shit out of the Tekur Lord. How dare he think he could attack the Forest Elves and stay alive?!

    The Untamed Armies contained more than five millionbatants at this point. That number should have been enough to crush any territory of a Higher Lifeform easily. However, the Tekur wasn''t an ordinary race. They bred much faster than Goblins, and almost all members of the Tekur race awakened a War Rune. More than seventy out of one hundred Tekur would manifest a War Rune and be Lords in the Origin Expanse. Not many managed to be powerful Lords due to theck of strong soldiers and Awakened in their row ¨C Soul Power is their most important resource to fight ¨C but the Tekur Lord in front of them was probably an Elite Tekur given the millions of subjects residing in his territory.

    The Armies split up with the Golden Queen Bee, the Golden Stinger Wasps, The Behemoth Elephant, and Sun Demos'' monkey army, merging into the armies of the Forest Elves, Silverfangs, Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, and humans. The Behemoth Elephant charged forward head-on, approaching one of the massive Tekur Nests ¨C they couldn''t afford to build massive walls because their settlements expanded too often as their poption expanded on a monthly basis.

    That being said, the Behemoth Elephant pushed forward and squashed the defending Tekur Soldiers. They were minced to insect mash while the Golden Stinger Wasps and Golden Queen Bee teleported everyone around, moving the Awakened and strongest Summons throughout the Tekur Nest. They brought the powerhouses to where they were needed the most. That was especially so for the Elementals, the Elemental Empress, and the Red Dragon. Their firepower was needed everywhere, and that was where the Golden Stinger wasps brought them.

    Michael didn''t inspect everything up to the finest detail, but the fierce mes burning everything to a conder were impossible not to see. That being said, Michael focused on the battle ahead. He wielded the Mythical Spear and wore the Void Scale Armor. However, that was not all. He also revealed more than a dozen jagged Void Scales, which were only sheathed and loosely attached to the Void Scale Armor. He unsheathed them simultaneously, using Greater Psychokinesis, and released them in all directions, piercing the throats, eye sockets, and hearts of the Tekur Soldiers around him.

    The Mythical Spear whipped around and thrust through the enemies'' hearts, killing their Awakened on the spot, but the Void Scales, controlled through Greater Psychokinesis, caused more harm.

    Then again, the Red Dragon did the Goliath portion of the work, but that was no surprise. The Red Dragon''s mythical mes were super effective on the Tekur and the organic materials they used to construct and expand their Nest settlements. Carrying around the Elemental Empress, the Red Dragon, and Zeroabined their power to burn entire Nest settlements in the following days.

    Meanwhile, Michael focused on fighting the strongest Tekur alongside the Sacred Knight Temple.

    **

 Chapter 1030 Among Sacred Knights

    Chapter 1030 Among Sacred Knights

    Michael had considered adding more Soultrait Symbols to his arsenal but was against it. There was no logical reason not to add anymore Soultraits since his Energy Vortex had expanded drastically after his High Ascension. Other than that, Michael could hunt many more enemies with another 6-Star or higher Soultrait. The energy increase from an additional Soultrait Symbol would be rebnced by the increase in enemies hunted due to the extra Soultrait.

    Still, Michael didn''t do it. Why? Because he liked the challenge.

    His main body didn''t have many challenges left, and the number would dwindle even further once his training period was over. It was a fact which annoyed Michael only a little. Being incredibly powerful was great and all, but having a hard time defeating your opponent was also enticing. Michael couldn''t help but feel like he would miss out on something grand if he inserted more Soultraits into his Soul Sphere this soon. Maybe it would help him in the future, but Michael was unwilling to rush into anything with his secondary body. He wanted to enjoy his life. At least the secondary body should enjoy everything while the main body continues working tirelessly. At the end of the day, that kind of mindset would help both the main body and the secondary body stay mentally and physically fit. The secondary body would cause the mental health package, whereas the main body would overflow with great power.

    Michael wielded the Mythical Spear and thrust it into the neck of a Lesser Lifeform. The Tekur copsed before him and was trampled to death before the gaping hole in its throat could end its life. The Tekur charged at Michael and his people, but a massive wall of Holy Power quickly blocked them.

    The Sacred Knights beside Michael raised their shields and cast Holy Guardian, a holy technique that created an invisible shield that stopped all rapidly charging enemies. The Tekur in the invisible shield ¨C it could still be prated as long as you moved slowly ¨C were slowed down, thus blocking the advances of the Tekur behind.

    Some tried flying across the battlefield, but Holy Guardian also affected the enemies high in the air. The Tekur slowed down, granting the Sacred Knights and theirrades enough time to sh and stab the Tekur before them.

    "There might be more enemies, but the Sacred Knight Temple will prevail and seed!" Siegfried roared, brandishing his massive broadsword to simultaneously cleave through several Tekur, including two Higher Lifeforms. Michael raised one eyebrow but moved forward as well. Greater Psychokinesis worked well in the Holy Guardian shield. It disrupted the Sacred Knights, forcing them to concentrate more and maybe use some more Holy Power to maintain Holy Guardian, but the damage caused by the pointed Void Scales and Greater Psychokinesis were worth the additional consumption.

    Michael passed through the piles of fallen enemies and watched as more enemies fell. However, the Sacred Knights were forced to pull back not even a minute into Holy Guardian. They retrieved their Holy Power without prior warning, resulting in a small bacsh. Some older Blessed Squires, who had been too unfortunate to never receive another promotion even after their Tier advanced to the 2nd, were swallowed by a mass of Tekur. It looked like the mass of Tekur moved in unison as they dived into the group of Blessed Squires, devouring them in one go. The Blessed Squires couldn''t be seen anymore, but their screams resounded through the vicinity. Unfortunately, or fortunately, in their situation, the screams didn''tst long. They ceased seconds after the Tekur mass had swallowed them.

    Michael faintly sensed the loss of several Links of Loyalty, but as unfortunate as it was, Michael had already gotten ustomed to this sensation. At this point, hundreds of millions of Summons resided in his territory. As if that wasn''t enough, each jungle monster was connected to him through a simr Link of Loyalty as his Summons and Awakened too. It wasn''t umon for Links of Loyalty to sever. In fact, Michael was the reason for many severed Links of Loyalty as he also killed the highly aggressive mutations and evolutions of jungle monsters.

    But while it was obvious to get ustomed to the loss of Links of Loyalty, Michael didn''t feel great at the sight of his trusted Summons'' deaths.

    He cursed and charged the mass of Tekur alongside several Holy Knights. A pair of sledgehammers appeared in the hands of two Holy Knights while a third wielded a massive War Axe. They would probably cause more damage than Michael, but that didn''t mean his help was useless.

    Michael''s Void Scales attached to the backside of the War Axes and sledgehammers, and he pushed them forward with Greater Psychokinesis, the instance the Holy Knights attacked. Their sledgehammers and War Axe cleaved down like usual, but the force was several times higher due to Michael''s help. The weapons elerated and smashed and cut deep into the Tekur mass, crushing several Tekur with one blow and cleaving through many at the same time. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Michael didn''t have Seer or a Soultrait working like Seer in this body, but that was also why he ended up focusing more on his perception. He trained his perception to work like Seer since he didn''t own a Soultrait like this. That helped him improve and grow stronger than before. He didn''t have to rely on a Soultrait like Seer to perceive the energy frequencies and their fluctuations in arge range anymore. Even the faintest details were unraveled to his perception, improving hisbat prowess considerably.

    (950)

    That was how Michael ended up knowing which Summons and Awakened were left unscathed in the Tekur mass and which foes were about to die or were already killed by the Holy Knights'' fierce blows.

    The Tekur screeched loudly, but Michael didn''t care. He circted Soullife Energy through his body and triggered Foundation Break. The technique was dangerous for most Higher Lifeforms, but Michael didn''t mind the dangers since he had already attained perfect mastery of the technique with his main body. Foundation Break wouldn''t kill him after all if he didn''t make a mistake.

    His speed increased drastically, and he elerated suddenly. His top speed was enough to unleash a flurry of devastating thrusts further augmented by the [Thrust] enchantment on the Mythical Spear.

    He killed six Tekur in the mass before they could retaliate. Poisonous green mist conjured before Michael as one of the Tekur Awakened used his Soultrait, but Michael ignored it. He smiled as Siegfried used Purification, another Holy technique of the Sacred Knight Temple. It drained a considerable amount of Holy Power from Siegfried, but the poisonous green mist was no more dangerous, even before it could cause any harm.

    "Thanks," Michael said lightly before turning away as he saw something from the corner of his eyes. Fueled with enough energy to kill a Higher Lifeform, a glist of light came their way at high velocity. It was too high to be blocked easily.

    "Wall!" Michael bellowed, and the Sacred Knights moved instinctively. They stopped their attacks and unleashed the Holy Shield technique, which expanded their shields, which were tuned to holy power, and drastically increased their defenses.

    They stopped fighting and jumped into full defense without any hesitation.

    A momentter, a spear of light impacted hard on a Sacred Knight''s shield, piercing the Holy Shield and their shield before dispersing right after.

    "That was a close one."

 Chapter 1031 Ancient Region

    Chapter 1031 Ancient Region

    The Sacred Knight threw the broken shield aside and cursed. Michael, on the other hand, smiled when he saw a small group of Tekur Awakened charge ahead. Given the light spear''s velocity and force, Michael could determine the star rating and or amount of Soul power residing within the Tekur attacking the Sacred Knights. ''Either 3-Star Soultrait or it is a 1-Star Soultrait unleashed by a Lord. But it doesn''t seem to be either.'' Michael tilted his head slightly while watching as one of the Tekur Awakened manifested another light spear. The spear was smaller than before, but it expanded and started glimmering after a few seconds. However, that was not the same Awakened''s doing. ''Support Soultrait. I see.'' One of the other Awakened used his Soultrait to augment the light spear, increasing its power drastically.

    Michael watched the Awakened as they continued charging. They released the light spear, which threatened to pierce one of the Holy Knights, only for the light spear to stop in its tracks. It didn''t slow down, but it froze instantly. One of the Tekur, probably the one controlling the light spear, cursed and screeched, but Michael merely scoffed.

    Greater Psychokinesis was strong enough to grasp and control the light spear as long as he was given enough time to adapt to the projectile''s power and speed. It had to be in his range and view to stop it, but those conditions were met easily. Michael tapped into Greater Psychokinesis again, hurling the attack at the charging Tekur Awakened.

    One of the other Tekur Awakened didn''t expect the light spear toe his way and was toote to respond. The light spear pierced through his chest, killing the insect on the spot.

    Some Knights looked at him with a raised eyebrow, while the Sacred Knight, whose shield had been shattered, cursed, "Why didn''t you do that earlier?" Michael shot him a deadly re, which was how he silenced the Sacred Knight after he uttered a quiet, "...Sir¡­"

    He turned away and charged the Tekur Awakened instead. Their attack had continued but they didn''t dare to keep rushing at Michael at full speed. The Void Scales were hidden in Michael''s Void Scale armor, leaving the Tekur Awakened clueless about what awaited them. Michael''s Mythical Spear started glowing, which ushered the Tekur Awakened to respond. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They used their Soultrait Symbols and attacked again. However, this time, they didn''t use their light spear. It worked against them once and might do so a second time. The risk was too high. Michael was fast enough to reach the Awakened in no time. He appeared before them and executed a quick blow, nearly piercing one of the Tekur''s chest. The Tekur raised his de-like arms to block the attack, only for the spear de to pierce his arms instantly.

    The Tekur screamed as his ded arms cracked and fell apart, but the other Tekur Awakened immediately jumped into action to defeat Michael. They surrounded him, ready to tear him apart ¨C quickly because the Holy Knights and Sacred Knights were about to reach them ¨C only to end up miscalcting something: How exactly did Michael stop their light spear before?

    Michael used the Soul Technique of Greater Psychokinesis. He spent a few days creating a Perfect Soul Technique for the Soultrait after doing the same for his physical-boosting Soultrait. Michael pushed Object Control, the Perfect Soul Technique, to its limit and released the sheathed Void Scales into the surrounding. The jagged end of one Void Scale pierced the throat of a Tekur before the insect could react, while the others suffered mild to severe injuries. However, they survived the surprise attack.

    Michael''s tongue clicked, but he moved on, using Foundation Break to push his physical strength beyond its limit for a few seconds. These seconds were enough to behead one Tekur, stab two more Awakened, and drill several holes into thest Awakened using the jagged Void Scales.

    The corner of his lips curled upward at the victory, but the battle was not yet over. Still, Michael and his people were at a gross advantage. Not only were their numbers higher than the defending forces, though not by much, but the Untamed Armies were much stronger. Every piece of the Untamed Armies was better than the Tekur. However, thebined force of the Untamed Armies was even greater. Their seamless teamwork resulted in more strength than the sum of the individualsbined.

    That was great, and it was usually a necessity since the enemies of the Untamed Jungle were stronger and more numerical. However, the Untamed Jungle had either swallowed most enemies in thest few months, or the jungle monsters ended them before the Untamed Jungle reached their proximity. Last but not least, some Lords were smarter than the rest. They decided to join Michael''s forces by surrendering rather than ending dead as nothing but loot and nutrients.

    Apparently, others had heard enough about Michael, the Untamed Jungle, and its forces toe to a simple conclusion. Fighting the Untamed Jungle was a death sentence. Maybe you couldn''t grow much after surrendering to the Untamed Jungle and being swallowed by it. Still, restrained growth wasn''t as bad as dying. At least not to those who epted Michael''s conditions.

    Michael''s fight in the battle against the Tekur ended shortly after. He did a great job at fighting the Tekur ¨C Summons and Awakened ¨C with his pair of Soultraits and the Growth type Artifacts at his disposal. Michael could have killed more enemies, but he was in no rush. Seeking the strongest while ensuring his people wouldn''t suffer was much more important. However, his help wasn''t needed in the first ce.

    The other forces of the Untamed Armies overwhelmed the first Tekur Nest in no time and moved onward to exterminate the Tekur in the remaining Tekur Nests, too. Once that was done ¨C the fights with the Tekur Lordsted no longer than 48 hours ¨C Michael helped the other forces search for survivors. As unfortunate as it may be, leaving a single Tekur alive could transform into a devastating mistake.

    The Tekur were tenacious and could breed several times more often than rabbits. Their numbers would skyrocket again as long as he left a couple of them behind. Michael didn''t want that to happen, especially not after the Untamed Jungle swallowed the territory that had once belonged to the Tekur Lord.

    Even though Michael spent some quality time traveling through the Tekur Lord''s territory, searching and killing the Tekur, who sought safety underground, the war with the Tekur was not over. In fact, it was probably just the beginning. After all, they might have encountered only one Lord of the Tekur race, but where there was one, more could be found.

    If the Tekur Lord wasn''t an anomaly spawn in a different region than the majority of his kin, Michael and his people would have fun meeting more Tekur Lords and probably billions, if not more, Tekur Summons.

    Then again, the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates were at war with the Tekur outside the Origin Expanse as well. One way or another, they were at war, and Michael could sense the energy shares swamping the Links of Loyalty en masse. Michael''s main body was rewarded with energy shares in the millions, and their battles were just getting started.

    All while the war outside the Origin Expanse continued and millions of Tekur died, strengthening those attacking them, Michael observed the Untamed Jungle''s expansion. His territory never ceased expanding and it came to no surprise when the Grand Region finally transformed into an Ancient Region. That was one of the most interesting news in thest few weeks. Of course, his encounter with the Tekur was great, and it felt like it was fated to happen, but the Ancient Region expansion felt even better. That was probably until the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates would return with the corpses of the Tekur. Their Normie corpses could be transformed into nutrients, while their Awakened would transform into massive piles of SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.

    Maybe, at the end of the day, the Tekur would provide much more benefits than expected. After all¡­if he could acquire billions of SoulStar Fragments from billions of Awakened, Michael could slowly but surely advance his Soultraits to 10-Star. That would be incredible.

    Both bodies of Michael grew stronger as the Untamed Jungle advanced to an Ancient Region. The intensity of all Links of Loyalty from residents in the Untamed Jungle increased considerably, pushing Michael''s power to a higher level. At this point, Michael was probably stronger than most Demi-Gods even without his Soultraits, Divinities, Pure Aether, and so on. His bare body could beat the living shit out of most Dem-Gods right now!

    A simr scenario urred to his secondary body. Since Michael was still connected to the Links of Loyalty with his secondary body, it also grew stronger!

    The extent was not that intense but since the secondary was still a Higher Lifeform rather than a Divine Lifeform pushing toward the physical prowess of a Demi-God, it gained a lot. ''If the Untamed Jungle keeps expanding and we''re focusing on more massive settlements while also allowing the jungle monsters to spread and grow, as long as they don''t do anything too stupid, I should have no issue pushing my territory poption to one billion in the next few years. If nothing goes wrong, the Untamed Jungle should expand even faster as the borders stretch wider as long as I supply it with enough lifeforce, nutrients, and energy, though the primal root already solves thetter.''

    Michael had a lot to think about, but it was clear that the Untamed Jungle and his Lord Powers would be an essential asset in his main body''s prowess. He didn''t know about the benefits of the Primal Region and how to advance the Ancient Region to a Primal Region in the first ce, but if Michael could tell one thing for sure, it was probably that he couldn''t afford to get expelled from the Origin Expanse.

    Fortunately, that should be impossible now that he had a secondary body in the Origin Expanse. If everything went south, Michael would ensure to keep his secondary body weaker than everyone else. After all, his main body could do all the heavy work and fights, whereas the secondary body had some fun.

    Thinking about fun, Michael chose to have some more fun with the corpses of the Awakened collected from the Tekur Nests and the outside the Origin Expanse. He siphoned their SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols, pushing Extraction in the main body closer to 10-Star.

    It was only a matter of months, maybe even weeks until Extraction would transform into a Godly Soultrait, and Michael was eagerly waiting for this moment.

    After all, God Soultraits were needed to defeat the Primal. Everything enhancing Michael''s power was needed to defeat the Primal.

    They weren''t the first beings of the universe, and still alive for no reason!

 Chapter 1032 The First of Many

    Chapter 1032 The First of Many

    Elder Silram of the Forest Elven tribe sat in his office at the top of the World Tree with a satisfied smile on his lips. The World Tree held their home, Ygdra, together and supplied it with the energy and nutrients the flora and fauna all over the required. It was rare to find a World Tree this big as an awakenedary core, and World Trees didn''t fare well with each other.

    World Trees tapped into the living all over the, which included the after it awakened. However, theary cores repelled the World Trees, resulting in a massive battle that may as well tear the apart. Fortunately, that didn''t happen with Ygdra.

    The Forest Elven tribe found Ygdra and the World Tree after the World Tree had already spread its dominion all over the, filling every nook and cranny with an abundance of life. But that didn''t mean the World Tree didn''t have problems to solve. There was a constant struggle with dangerous mutating monsters and nts and the asional attacks from extraterrestrial lifeforms. Several races tried conquering the World Tree and Ygdra, but all enemies were defeated and repelled. Other than the Forest Elven tribe, of course.

    The Forest Elves learned how to treat sentient nts aeons ago. They were fully aware of the kind of treatment the World Tree demanded and what they could earn from pleasing the World Tree. At first, the Forest Elven tribe had to invest a lot. There weren''t many members of the Forest Elves left when they first arrived ¨C they had been expelled and were desperate to find new nourishablends to transform into their homes ¨C but they didn''t need big numbers to please the World Tree. They cleansed the harmful substances, nt life, and monsters in the World Tree''s proximity and paid with theirbor. It required several years of continuous effort and special techniques to mend the old scars the World Tree had sustained in its past struggles against theary core, but it worked out. The World Tree epted the Forest Elven tribe, which expanded slowly but steadily. However, in the recent years, their development and growth elerated drastically.

    "Why are you so satisfied? Is it because of the children again?" An elderly woman asked. She was also an Elder of the Forest Elves but rarely joined in the decision-making of the tribe. Her focusy on the children. After all, the children of every tribe were their future. Without any children, the tribe would cease to exist at some point.

    "I''m not sure if you can call them children at this point. They might be young, but their experience and power are unrivaled among the Forest Elves. How long has it been since the Forest Elves weed a Divine Lifeform in their rows? Has it been 1000 years? I don''t know anymore." Elder Silram sighed deeply at the reminiscent of the past but he smiled when he recalled what happened in thest few weeks, months, and even years.

    "It has been 1539 years, and we lost her exactly 1278 years ago," The elderly woman said in a light tone, but the content of her words was anything but light. She looked outside the office where some of the younger Elves taught the Greenhorns ¨C their youngest members ¨C about the universe, the Origin Expanse,bat, their sacred mission, and much more.

    Lilica, Mika, and a few more Forest Elves who have been busy in the Origin Expanse over thest few years returned more often to visit the World Tree in thest few months. The World Tree''s spirits called for the young men and women and talked to them for hours with no end every day until the young Forest Elves had to return to the Origin Expanse or their families.

    But even after weeks of daily meetings with the World Tree passed, the spirits still called for the youngsters, who had all one thing inmon. They were all part of the Forest Elves, who had acknowledged Michael Fang, the savior of the Forest Elven tribe, as their Lord. The youngsters were not only Subordinate to Michael, but those chosen by the World Tree were also part of the special units within the Untamed Jungle. They were part of the Super Awakened. At least most of them. Jason Kleora, the Blessed Child of the Forest Elven Tribe, was not yet part of the Super Awakened. He was on the way of bing a Super Awakened, but that was only because he didn''t meet the requirements to be a Super Awakened before. His Link of Loyalty hadn''t been firm enough, and he hadn''t been willing to fight the Supreme Human Alliance before. Fighting against one of the strongest organizations in the cosmos wasn''t something the Forest Elf was willing to do. That was until he discovered how much stronger the Super Awakened were and that only a few of them died after fighting the Supreme Human Alliance for years. Still, despite not being a Super Awakened, Jason Kleora was powerful. He was already at the 6th Tier and had upgraded his 6-Star Soultrait, Nature''s Wrath, to an 8-Star Soultrait Symbol. He focused on fighting the Lords, retaliating against the supremacy of the Untamed Jungle, and earned enough SoulStar Fragments from his kills to push his sole Soultrait to 8-Star. That was impressive, though the benefits would have been even greater if he fought the Supreme Human Alliance''s High Hyumans instead. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    But not joining the Super Awakened right away had been Jason''s decision and Michael wasn''t someone who would pursue or hate someone rejecting his offers. He offered the position to someone else, who grasped the opportunity tightly instantly.

    Nature''s Wrath transformed into Infernal Tree of Life. The name was contradictory, but its power was tremendous. However, even more important for Jason and the Forest Elven tribe was that Jason transformed into the voice of the World Tree. It sensed something within Jason that pushed it to connect to him, providing Jason with the energy needed to break the final barrier.

    The connection to the World Tree affected and restrained Jason Kleora to a certain extent, but the Blessed Child of the Forest Elven Tribe did not care. He was exhrated, especially when he realized how much power resided within the World Tree. It controls all lives on Ygdra and had reced theary core by bing the core of the itself.

    That was where Jason procured the energy to push through the ranks and advance. His Energy Pir expanded and changed every so slightly as the World Tree essed it. His skin altered slightly, adding a greenish tinge to it. However, Jason cared little about that. He was fine being different from the rest as long as that meant he gained more strength.

    Jason Kleora, one of the least likely candidates to advance to Tier-7 before Alice and the other Super Awakened of the Untamed Jungle, was the first toplete his Divine Ascension.

    For the first time in 1200ish years, a Divine Lifeform joined the ranks of the Forest Elven Tribe, and it was all thanks to Michael Fang.

    Without him, it would have taken centuries, if not another millennia, before the Forest Elves would have given birth to someone with enough potential to be a Divine Lifeform.

    Now everything had changed.

    Jason was their first Divine Lifeform, but given the events of thest few months and years, the young man wouldn''t be thest¡­nor the strongest.

    More Divine Lifeforms would join the ranks of the Forest Elven Tribe soon enough!

 Chapter 1033 Strongest United

    Chapter 1033 Strongest United

    The Silverfangs'' fate was more difficult than the Forest Elves. They didn''t have a home left outside the Origin Expanse and had to make the best out of their situation in the Untamed Jungle.

    The Untamed Jungle wasn''t perfect for them, yet they made it work. The camps were still split between the Princess and the Crown Prince, especially after all Silverfangs had been rescued from Exil in the Will''s void, but that didn''t mean there was no peace between them. Michael had to intervene once and tell them that they had to get their act together, forcing the siblings to do weekly meetings to talk about whatever they wanted to talk about.

    Michael didn''t force them to talk about specific topics but he made sure they would meet up once a week for at least three hours to talk. In the first week they sat there in silence, but Michael didn''t care. Instead, he instigates some Silverfangs to talk to the other parties, get to know them better, and maybe even befriend them.

    They didn''t escape their enemies outside the Origin Expanse, only to fall apart after everyone made it to the Origin Expanse. Michael wouldn''t allow that.

    He worked hard to reunite the separated parties while ignoring the Crown Prince and Princess. They could do whatever they wanted to during their allocated meeting as long as they didn''t kill each other. In the second meeting, the Crown Prince and the Princess fought. Michael didn''t expect that to happen, but he didn''t intervene. He allowed the siblings to fight, both physically and verbally, and only told Hiraku to step in when their injuries were too severe to continue fighting.

    The Silverfang parties got to know each other again from scratch and learned about the other party''s leader. At first, the Silverfangs were adamant about staying with their party, but they soon decided it was time for the Crown Prince and Princess to get their act together as well. They survived and wished to reunite as one unit.

    Their settlement in the Untamed Jungle had already been constructed, but there was a massive fissure between the parties'' camps. One day, when the Crown Prince and the Princess were busy thrashing each other during their weekly meeting, Michael and his people relocated the camps to unite them into a proper settlement. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It hadn''t been easy to relocate the camps but Hiraku, some Super Awakened, and Earth Elementals made it happen. Tiara and Caesus were beaten ck and blue, but that didn''t stop them from eximing in surprise and anger. They demanded to find out who was responsible for this disaster, only for everyone to point at themselves.

    Tiara and Caesus knew Michael did something, but they couldn''t say something against their Lord. Actually, they could, but they realized quickly enough how futile their attempts at bing the rightful leader of the Silverfangs were. Michael would never choose either of them if they gave him the chance¡­and they knew why.

    "What are we supposed to do?" Tiara grumbled, circting mana through her body to elerate her natural regeneration.

    "I don''t know. You know Michael longer than anyone else here. Except for Daniel, of course, but I doubt you want to ask Daniel for help. He would beat the living shit out of both of us because we are still fighting," Caesus sighed deeply.

    "That is because you still demand to be the Silverfangs'' King. You are not good enough to be their king!" Tiara hissed, which earned the Silverfang Princess a deadly re, "But you are fit to be the Silverfang Queen? Who says that other than yourself, of course?!"

    "Everyone says that!" Tiara growled, razor-sharp ws growing from her fingers, You delusional dickhead! Go to your disgusting children and stay out of my business!"

    "Everyone says that? I think you are the delusional one. You know better than anyone that our own people don''t want us as their king and queen anymore. So why are you spouting nonsense?!" "Who''s fault is it that they hate us? Yours! You are at fault for father''s death! If father was still alive, none of this would have happened!!" Tiara roared, ready to jump at Caesus. However, Michael was present and used Greater Psychokinesis to catch the little kitten mid-air. He hurled her backward and identally smashed her against a tree. Well¡­maybe it wasn''t an ident. He was a bit tired of their nonsense and would love to use Needle of the Lost Memories to take away some of their memories. That would solve many issues. Unfortunately, the Needle of the Lost Memories was in a morally gray area. Using it on himself or to solve all issues of Blood Incursion was fine, but doing so on the Silverfang heirs wasn''t okay.

    "Can you please solve your problems before the Silverfangs abandon the two of you? Or before they ask me to throw you into theirs of the Supreme Human Alliance to get rid of both of you. Because two or three Silverfangs already asked for that. They''re tired of you guys and wouldn''t follow either of you even if you held a dagger against their throats. That tells me a lot more than I wanted to know¡­and I can sense their emotions through the Links of Loyalty, either way."

    Michael cleared his throat.

    "Either you solve your issues during the next meeting, or I will take your Soultraits away and throw you out of the Untamed Jungle," Michael red at Caesus before turning to Tiara, "That includes you!"

    Tiara''s eyes widened but she didn''t dare utter a single sound when she saw the anger in Michael''s eyes.

    "I didn''t kill Father," Caesus grumbled quietly, "I would have given my life for him¡­"

    Tiara nced at Caesus in silence. The hatred in her eyes was still present, but there was something else as well. It was almost like Taira listened to Caesus for the first time in forever. Before, she had only seen the murderer of her father rather than the son of the man he had loved the most. She didn''t even try understanding Caesus or the fact that he lost someone very important to him too.

    Tiara suffered a lot, especially when she was pulled out of the Will''s void alone. She tried her utmost to rescue everyone, only to free the murderer of her father as well. Tiara couldn''t ept that and would have loved to kill Caesus the moment he stepped out of the Summoning Portal.

    Unfortunately, Caesus was needed. He was also trusted by many Silverfangs, which would instill resentment if she killed her brother for the throne, even if she deserved it much more than Caesus.

    Caesus, on the other hand, was never given the chance to exin himself. He didn''t consider himself as their father''s murderer, but he loathed himself for having been too weak to rescue their father.

    Often enough, Caesus found himself awake at night, thinking he should have died in their father''s stead.

    But was that really what their father wanted?

    Tiara growled quietly, but it looked like she thought about her actions in thest few years and how much their fights had destroyed. Their father might not be alive anymore, but he would be disappointed at how they had turned out. Caesus and Tiara might be powerful, and their people were still alive, but they were always at each other''s throat.

    The Silverfangs weren''t united anymore. Yet that was exactly what their father would have wanted. After all, the Silverfangs were the strongest when united.

    Maybe it was time to close the gaps again.

 Chapter 1034 Tritan and the Training Center

    Chapter 1034 Tritan and the Training Center

    The Tritan Alliance was flourishing like never before, ording to the statistics of thest few months. Kraft Viton read through the notes of thest few months with a satisfied smile. In thest few months, Kraft Viton finally got some time off which he could invest into rest and his hobbies. He made some wooden sculptures in his free time or had done so in the past when he wasn''t this busy dealing with the Tritan Alliance''s dealings.

    "Why did Michael put me in charge of the Cosmic Shop was really necessary?" He cursed softly but couldn''t hide his satisfied smile. Even if he was a little old for the job, Kraft Viton would dly do it until he could no more. Kraft Viton would work on his territory and the Tritan Alliance''s sess until his death day if necessary. He did not have the faintest problem with that. If anything, Kraft Viton was excited to watch the Tritan Alliance and his territory flourish.

    "But then again, it will take a while before I die. If this brat continues throwing Ancient Energy Stones in my direction, I might as well live forever," He snorted, yet his smile remained.

    Michael ensured that his master would never have to struggle. Of course, he put some pressure on Kraft Viton''s shoulders to have his master carry the responsibility of the Tritan Alliance''s economy, but Kraft Viton was also the only man who knew what he was doing. The only one Michael knew and trusted at least.

    The Barren Wastnds, sometimes shortened to the Barren Lands or Wastnds, were no more. After Kraft Viton and the Bartholomew Corporation put enough time and effort into the Agriculture Project, the Wastnds transformed into the Verdant Grasnd. Kraft Viton and the other Lords of the Verdant Grasnd couldn''t spot a single empty speck ofnd. Every inch of it was covered by vibrant grass, which grew rapidly on top of the nutritious soil.

    What had once been deadnd transformed into a beautifulndscape filled with life.

    But that was not all the Tritan Alliance achieved. The Verdant Grasnd was only the beginning.

    Their achievements range from upscaling the economy with original products to expanding their territories by conquering more regions. Only a few years passed since Michael left the Cosmic Shop in charge of Kraft Viton, but many things had changed.

    "How is the progress of this cycle''s batch?" Kraft Viton asked his secretary when he discovered some missing information in a report on the Awakened Alliance.

    "The trainees are young and improve fast. Researchers say the energy level in the Lumina Ster System increases past the sr system, which elevated the parameters of all Awakened in the Lumina Ster System by a notch. Our experts say we should adjust the difficulty level in the Lumina Ster System by a full degree once the term is over." The secretary jumped up from her desk, hinted at a polite bow while speaking, and smiled politely at the old man.

    "Did the expert consider the natural difficulty increase we implement after every term when they concluded that the difficulty level in the Lumina Ster System is too low?" Kraft Viton inquired.

    "They did, sir. The experts have a few more things to implement, but they want us to wait until the effect of a higherary energy level has been researched thoroughly.

    More than a hundred Training Centers had been constructed for all Awakened across the Tritan Alliance''snds. The Training Centers were all equipped with the same devices and technology and would be upgraded simultaneously as well. Unsurprisingly, the Military Academies, the Great Academies, and the Universities rebelled against the Training Centers as they epted all Awakened regardless of their age, potential, and ambition. More than a hundred Training Centers had been constructed for all Awakened across the Tritan Alliance''snds. The Training Centers were all equipped with the same devices and technology and would be upgraded simultaneously as well. Unsurprisingly, the Military Academies, the Great Academies, and the Universities rebelled against the Training Centers as they epted all Awakened regardless of their age, potential, and ambition. The Training Centers were funded by the Bartholomew Corporation and also maintained by their corp to nurture all kinds of talent, not only for Michael to pick the next diamonds in the rough but also to fuel the motivation and ambition of those who were less fortunate than the Descendants and others.

    The Training Centers were all centered around the gathering points of mana. The Star Cores of thes may have awakened and released mana in the surroundings, but there was a definite difference in how much energy some materials absorbed. Furthermore, not every awakened Star Core was the same. Under normal circumstances,rgers awakened stronger Star Cores. However, there were also distinctive differences as the energy required to fill and transformrgers was several times higher too.

    The Training Centers were perfect ces, constructed to siphon the surrounding energy to supply the advanced technology and origin devices. More ces simr to the Training Centers were constructed, but the Training Centers were the most useful as they also had energy generators. The generators connected to the Star Cores and nourished them slowly. The process was several times slower than expected, but the number of generators made the difference. It took only a few years to increase the energy density in the atmosphere of somes by a noticeable amount and it shouldn''t take longer than a few decades until the Star Cores would advance to the Secondary Stage. From that point onward, most intelligent life on that would manifest a War Rune. To be precise, more than half the poption would be Awakened.

    This would not only extend the lifespan of those who would have never manifested a War Rune under normal circumstances, but it would also improve their health.

    But even if one was a Normie and missed the opportunity to manifest a War Rune, energy would naturally enter their bodies, strengthening their physiques. They wouldn''t fall sick as often as humans did several years ago, and their life expectancy would also increase slowly. The more mana nested in their bodies, the better they would feel.

    "Are there any news about the Supreme Human Alliance or the Torn Firmament?" Kraft Viton asked the secretary, who sighed deeply.

    "There are no news about the SHA. After that idiot of a Hyuman attacked the young Berserker, he died. The Cursed Poison within him worked perfectly and triggered before the Hyuman could inflict any harm to the Berserker. But¡­you know that already. I apologize, sir. The Supreme Human Alliance did not ry a message yet. It is almost like the Supreme Human Alliance does not care."

    Kraft clicked his tongue but gestured to her to continue. The incident with the Hyuman had been terrifying and ridiculous at the same time. After holding back for years, the Hyuman attacked a Berserker child out of nowhere. Nobody knew for sure what had happened to rile up the Hyuman, but he attacked¡­and his head exploded.

    The SHA had yet to respond to that, or they may not care given the pressure Michael and other organizations put onto the Supreme Human Alliance''s borders. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "As for the Torn Firmament. It is currently being repaired. The fissures are deep but stable. We do not know how many years it will take but the researchers estimate a decade or two. However, it might as well take longer or shorter depending on the severity of the case and our breakthroughs." "That''s good. The Torn Firmament was great when it held the Supreme Human Alliance''s powerhouses back, but it''s also separating our true powerhouses from the Tritan Alliance. We don''t want that, do we?" Kraft Viton chuckled, but he tilted his head and recounted the advantages and disadvantages of the Torn Firmament.

    The noble households had been much nicer since the incident with the ze Patriarch, and the High Society had been reced by the Awakened, who were rted to Michael. They were his Subordinates but acted individually. Michael was not rted to their actions, which everyone was aware of, but his people took charge of the Tritan Alliance''s peace and course of actions nheless.

    That was how the Tritan Alliance ended up further improving their efficiency. After all, they didn''t have toy low and be afraid of powerful organizations anymore. Michael was on their side. A true God, a being ready to rival the oldest beings of the universe, was with them!

    "You can do it, Michael!" He mumbled while wondering how Michael and the others were doing.

    **

 Chapter 1035 Anti-Blood

    Chapter 1035 Anti-Blood

    "Have all preparations beenpleted?" Selena asked Evee in her office.

    The young Curse User looked through a stash of papers with great curiosity and nodded slowly upon concluding the result of all the experiments.

    "Our exchange with theboratory in Michael''s territory generated some useful results. First of all, the Gynovia Crystals, which we have filled with our curse power, are all useful. They work efficiently against the progress of Blood Incursion if applied early enough. However, their efficiency decreases with every day that passes after the victims give in to the Blood Incursion. That means the Gynovia Crystals from most Curse Users will use most of their use within one month of the Blood Incursion infestation," Evee exined slowly.

    "But there are also a few particr characteristics that alter the Gynovia Crystals'' efficiency. First, the greater the disparity in strength between the Curse User and the victim ¨C with the Curse User being stronger, obviously ¨C, the higher the efficiency of the Gynovia Crystals. That being said, the Elders should have no problem slowing the Blood Incursion of High Hyumans as long as they didn''t give in to the Blood Incursion for much longer than six months. Some researches show that the Elders'' curse power, altered by the Gynovia Crystal, works on certain targets who had been victim to the Blood Incursion for more than a year." "That being said, your curse power is the most efficient. It''s obvious since you are the closest to attain godhood among all Curse Users. You are already a Demi God, so your curse power is the strongest among all Nest members. But that is not all. Your curse power is several times more potent once altered through the Gynovia Crystal than it should have been, ording to early researchers. That is how the researchers in Michael''sboratory came to start the research of curse power potency. Your Curse Power is the most potent against the Blood Incursion and not only slows down its progress but also diminishes it."

    Selena nodded slowly. She had heard whispers revolving around simr topics before and wasn''t surprised when Evee confirmed them. The only annoyance was one of Evee''sments.

    "I am not the closest to attain godhood," The Nest Leader corrected the young researcher, who looked up. She rolled her eyes upon looking into Selena''s dead serious eyes. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yes, yes. Michael is stronger than you. He is the greatest of all. Woohooo!" Evee eximed with fake enthusiasm. She hadn''t seen Michael for a while and knew it wasn''t Michael''s fault for growing so powerful this quickly but hearing everyone talk to Michael like he was THE ONE and only savior of the Nest and that he would change the ways of the universe was disgusting. "Either way, the preparations have beenpleted. A crate filled with Gynovia Crystals is waiting for you to fill them with your curse power. Once that''s done, the researchers willplete thest batches of experiments to ensure the efficiency of their potions and vines. After the experiments are done and the results a sess, we can start reforming the Supreme Human Alliance by transforming the Hyumans under the control of Blood Incursion back to how they have been."

    Selena smiled when she heard that. She lived long enough to witness the demise of countless human civilizations. They fell victim to the Supreme Human Alliance''s power and were terrorized until the Blood Incursion had infested everyone. Once the adults were infested, their children would inherit the Blood Incursion, which would have a much harder time because they were born with Blood Incursion. Removing the effects of Blood Incursion was incredibly difficult, so the researchers did not only devise a potion to slowly negate the Blood Incursion''s effects but also a vine for children below six years.

    Evee retrieved a crate filled with Gynovia Crystals, and the Nest Leader started working. She channeled her curse power and stirred her Curse awake, urging it to help out this time. A momentter, the Nest Leader''s curse power oozed from her fingers. It trickled onto the Gynovia Crystals and sept into them, filling them slowly.

    The next half an hour passed in silence before the Nest Leader''s curse power was used up. Selena hadn''t finished her job yet, but she needed rest to replenish her curse power. She would have to replenish her curse power a few more times to fill the Gynovia Crystals in the crates to the brim. It would probably take a few days to finish the job. But once done, the Gynovia Crystals should be enough to create enough Anti-Blood-I potions and vines to rescue an entire ster system.

    That being said, the Altors Union and other organizations conquered more than enoughary systems to free themselves of the Supreme Human Alliance''s iron grasp. The only issue was that the Altors Union and other organizations would care little whether the Hyumans were infested by Blood Incursion or not. They could only see the Hyumans and their devastating acts. The Altors Union would enve the Hyumans, while others may end up killing them for the sake of seeing as many of them dead as possible.

    It was a sad fate, but Selena had seen many changes over the course of centuries. She knew the first step was always the hardest and that the following steps would be much easier. She was also fully aware how much knowledge was forgotten over the course of hundreds of years. It would be no surprise for her that if the Anti-Blood-I potion worked and the Supreme Human Alliance ceases to exist, most of the SHA''s actions would be forgotten within a thousand years. Maybe the oldest Divine Lifeforms would remember what had happened, and they would mistreat the Hyumans for the pain they had to suffer in the past, but the younger ones would call them out for their behavior and judge them. Of course, some situations could y out differently than Selena had witnessed them in the past, but she was confident everything would be better than it was at this moment. Once the Anti-Blood-I potion was in cirction and the Supreme Human Alliance ceased to exist, everything would be right.

    "How are Eren and the others doing? I heard they nned to join the Super Awakened and Michael''s Divine Subordinates on the frontlines in the Genox Gxy but only found the powerhouses of the Altors Union struggle against the powerhouses of the SHA. What is going on there?" Evee smiled wryly, "Michael heard about that as well and informed Eren to do as he pleased. He gave them a few Soultrait Symbols, pushed them to 5-Star, and didn''t even ask for a payment. He told my father and the others to give him the corpses of the Awakened they''d killed if they wanted to repay him but didn''t demand it."

    "That''s good. Seems like a great deal for both sides. But where are Michael and his people?" "Michael seems to be in the Primordial Curse, Bestikal. Bestikal sealed off all exits and seems to be growing weaker. ording to the reports, Michael is consuming Bestikal, who finally epted his death. Or something along the lines. Meanwhile, Michael''s people fight the Tekur. A race overflowing with insects. They''re not strong, per se, but their numbers are shockingly high. Their Soultraits are weak but they have way too many Awakened. That''s perfect for Michael and his people."

    Selena nodded, a faint smile blossoming on her lips.

    "So Bestikal decided it was time to leave? That''s good. The Primordial Curse hasn''t been the same ever since the Evesting Blessing'' sentience was obliterated by the Will. They deserve to rest together. They suffered long enough."

 Chapter 1036 Hells Armies

    Chapter 1036 Hells Armies

    "How is the situation at the Genox border, the Polisarious borders, and the remaining active borders? Can we control the borders for the foreseeable future?" One of the Heads of the Altors Union asked an Elder leaning over hundreds of holographic screens spread across arge table.

    "The situation is dire. The forces of the Supreme Human Alliance seem to never cease. It is almost like the Hyumans prepared for this all-out war for thousands of years, given how many Divine Lifeforms and High Hyumans they have trained. The forces belonging to Michael Fang must have killed countless powerhouses, including a lot more than 1,000 Divine Lifeforms, yet it doesn''t seem like the SHA''s defenses grew any weaker."

    The Elder sighed deeply. The situation was certainly not in their favor, which was a lot more problematic than expected. They lost 600 Divine Lifeforms to the Heads'' trickery against a powerhouse like Michael Fang, who transformed each and every single one of the Divine Lifeforms into powerhouses. He didn''t kill anyone of the Altors Union, nor did he abandon them right away after the betrayal. Instead, he allowed the Divine Subordinates to fight for the Altors Union, killing countless Hyumans to leverage the advantage on the battlefield in the Altors Union''s favor.

    Unfortunately, the Altors Union lost their advantage once the Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened stopped fighting for the Altors Union. It felt like they had been abandoned, but nobody couldin about it and justify their anger. After all, they betrayed Michael first. They were the first to abandon him.

    The Elders still loathed the Heads for their actions. If they were to lose the war, it would be Heads'' fault.

    Of course, not everything would be their fault. The Heads weren''t at fault for the Supreme Human Alliance''s tremendous power or the overwhelming forces they had trained and hidden from everyone''s eyes for centuries. Everyone had been gravely mistaken, thinking they were as strong or maybe even stronger than the Supreme Human Alliance at this point.

    However, not even theirbined efforts were enough to push the Supreme Human Alliance back any longer. "That does not tell me whether we can control the borders for the time being or if we have to retreat again. We might have conquered someary systems and a portion of the Genox Gxy, but that also stretches our forces thinner since the border in the Genox Gxy is several times wider."

    "We can control the borders for a few years, maybe even a decade or two, as long as the Supreme Human Alliance won''t supply their forces with any more Awakened. If they deploy more High Hyumans or Divine Lifeforms, we may have issues defending certain areas in the Genox Gxy and other borders since our forces were forced to move all across the defensive lines to man the fortresses," The Elder noted and tilted his head once he looked at a certain file before him.

    "The Thorn Merchandise and most of the Seven Hells'' Demons joined the battle against the Supreme Human Alliance as well. They might not have the greatest advantage against the Hyumans but it looks like their forces can handle the Hyumans better than ours can. One report mentions a human who can grow silver wings and scales, and some other humans and members of other races with simr abilities."

    The Head listened up, "Are you possibly talking about the Nest? I thought they ceased to exist a few years ago. Didn''t we throw them aside as bait to defeat some Demi-Gods and other powerhouses of the SHA?"

    "That was another foolish decision of the Heads. We were surprised Michael joined forces with us after we had already betrayed his people. But thinking about it, Michael Fang must have been prepared for a betrayal on our side. Maybe Michael was hoping for it. That must have been why he didn''t sign a customized Link of Loyalty with the Divine Lifeforms he''s now calling Divine Subordinates. He sensed something was off and was even happy about it. After all, he doesn''t owe anything to us after our betrayal. That''s also why he took away the Divine Subordinates, who have been fighting with our people for a while."

    "How about you stop ming us for every mistake? While we might have proposed to get rid of the Nest alongside the Supreme Human Alliance ¨C clearly a mistake from our side ¨C the Elders supported our decision. The majority voted for the n, which means two or more Elders must have joined our sides. That being said, stop being a piece of dragon dung and behave normally," The Head cursed before adding a little bit more calmingly.

    "What exactly is the Nest doing with the Seven Hells Armies? Are they trying to take over the Supreme Human Alliance to regain their glory? I expected them to pull back and lick their wounds for a few decades, given how they lost more than half of their already meager forces."

    The Elder''s tongue clicked multiple times, but he moved the holographic screens around to unravel a few more screens with more information. The table was overflowing with important intel, yet nobody had bothered to imprint all of it onto their brains. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I am not all-knowing but I can tell that the Nest is working together with the Seven Hells. ording to some reports, the Nest tried to enter our territories to do something with the Hyumans we have taken prison in a handful ofary systems in the Nevox Gxy. However, our forces must have rejected the Nest, fearing the Nest''s vengeful spirits," The Elder exined, even though the Head standing before him frustrated him to no end.

    "That makes sense. I wouldn''t want to fight with Curse Users in my back, either. I would never be able to focus on the battlefield ahead of me with someone like them behind."

    "That being said, we do not know what exactly they''re doing over there, but they must have been busy with some of the Hyumans from theary systems that the Seven Hells Armies have conquered. This also leads to the next point on my agenda. The Seven Hells Armies are stronger than ever. If their strength keeps increasing like this, we cane to a simple conclusion."

    The Head stared seriously at the Elder, "Michael Fang switched to supporting the Seven Hells?"

    "Exactly." "Fuck this!" "That was another foolish decision of the Heads. We were surprised Michael joined forces with us after we had already betrayed his people. But thinking about it, Michael Fang must have been prepared for a betrayal on our side. Maybe Michael was hoping for it. That must have been why he didn''t sign a customized Link of Loyalty with the Divine Lifeforms he''s now calling Divine Subordinates. He sensed something was off and was even happy about it. After all, he doesn''t owe anything to us after our betrayal. That''s also why he took away the Divine Subordinates, who have been fighting with our people for a while."

    "That is¡­oddly urate," The Elder nodded, "Fuck this!"

    **

    "How is the situation? Does the Anti-Blood-I potion work, or do we have to pay more attention to the Hyumans on our backs?" Sylth asked the Nest Leader, who had been busy in one of theary systems they had captured. Most Nest members fought tirelessly on their sides, but Selena and Evee were always busy with some things.

    Apparently, Michael and the Nest had worked together to work on an antidote that worked very well against the Blood Incursion, which had affected almost all members of the Supreme Human Alliance, slowly but steadily influencing their mind and soul to make them feel pure hatred toward all races in the cosmos. Except all human races, of course.

    "It works. Not as efficient as we hoped for but it it works!" Selena responded, her eyes twinkling like diamonds in the sky.

    Evee was also excited, but she stared seriously at the holographic screen emerging from her Origin Watch, "I am certain we can improve the Anti-Blood-I potion''s potency and efficiency in the following years. Please do not kill too many innocent Hyumans since we can rescue them atst. They might not look like victims to you or most other races in the cosmos, but the Hyumans are also victims of the Supreme Human Alliance. At least, most of them."

    "They were taken advantage of, inflicted with the Blood Incursion either from birth or before they gained enough strength to overpower its influence, and were forced to do bad things. We do not tell you to spare the Awakened from attacking you, but we hope you can spare the Normies and the Awakened, who cannot fight anymore."

    Selena nodded. No matter how much pain the Supreme Human Alliance had inflicted, annihting the Supreme Human Alliance with everything and everyone was the wrong way to solve all problems. There were countless innocent humans among the SHA. Not everyone deserves to die. Killing everyone would transform those responsible for the massacre into an organization no better than the Hyumans responsible for everything.

    "I understand what you''re trying to tell me, but I cannot promise you anything. We do know not everyone is responsible for what happened, but our hatred sits deep. If I were to promise you to never kill a civilian out of anger and hatred, I would have to lie. Even if I exclude the astra attacks that must have killed hundreds if not thousands ¨C probably more ¨C I must have killed some innocent people with my attacks because I didn''t care about it. I still do not care whether my attacks hurt some Hyuman civilians or not. If you expect me to change mybat style to hurt less Hyumans, you can forget about that," Sylth said with a nonchnt shrug.

    Selena nodded. She understood Sylth''s point of view and wouldn''t change herbat style either. Suddenly changing the way she fought would weaken them drastically. After all, they perfected their ownbat style over the course of decades, if not centuries. There was no way in hell they would switch their fighting style to something that didn''t fit perfectly to their Soultraits and persona. Not if only the lives of a few Hyumans were on the line.

 Chapter 1037 The Rebels and the Pantheon

    Chapter 1037 The Rebels and the Pantheon

    The cosmic yground had been silent for too long. The Gods, too afraid to enrage the Primal, had been forced to spend their eternal lives in seclusion. Some lived in the worlds of the cosmos like ordinary people, but their eternal lives weren''t fulfilling among the mortals. Their beloved aged and died in what felt like days to the eternal beings.

    They couldn''t even use the power they had umted over the aeons because they were too afraid the Primal would kill them. Even now, the Gods were still too afraid to move openly. However, that didn''t mean they couldn''t move in the isted dimensions they had created to fight against each other in the shadows of the cosmic yground.

    The Primal''s domain might be the vast universe, but it didn''t include the isted dimensions. Their Essences had to be at certain ces before they could tear apart the fabric of space and reality and emerge there. That said, the Primal didn''t witness many battles between the Rebels and the other Gods of the Pantheon.

    The Primal were too few to be everywhere in the universe. They could teleport and even split their Essences apart to duplicate ¨C though that halved theirbat prowess every single time they split their bodies ¨C but too many duplicates would endanger their lives too much. Some of the Primal lost a portion of their Essences by creating too many duplicates, only for some of them to get hunted down. That was during the golden era of the gods. The first gods attained godhood and considered themselves at the top of the universe. They were certain no being was stronger than them and fought with everyone and everything to prove their point. However, with the arrival of the first mortals attaining godhood, the first gods were also born from the overflowing essence in the cosmos as well. The universe gave birth to more gods with great power.

    The gods fought at that time, destroying countless ster systems and sometimes even entire gxies. That was until the Primal jumped into the fray, their bodies duplicated to face the numbers of gods spread across the universe simultaneously. Most gods were beaten ck and blue, some even died, but a handful of gods had been strong enough to deliver feisty blows to the Primal. Some lost parts of their Essence, urging all Primal to retract their duplicates and unite them again.

    They could not afford to lose anymore Essences like this. Therefore, instead of controlling everything and everyone across the vast universe by themselves, the Primal formed the Primal Pantheon. They granted some gods the authority to travel freely across the universe and use their powers, but only to remove the cancer of the universe, aka, those rebelling against the ways of the Primal. The Primal Pantheon formed with dozens of gods following the Primal''s dogma, but not long after, the Rebels also joined the fray. That was how the gods fought each other, even though they had the same goal inmon. They desired the freedom to use their powers as they pleased and to be with their peoples as the gods rather than acting like they were mortal to be around their families or what was left of them.

    It pained them to watch their beloved die, but it was even more painful to be around their descendants, unable to do anything as they suffered. Of course, not everyone suffered horrifying fates, yet pain, grief, and losses weremon among mortals. Some gods had to watch hundreds of their generations suffer after they had attained some of the greatest achievements. Many descendants of the gods were born with great potential and wealth, but too many were foolish to believe their fate would inevitably reward them with greatness and power.

    Too many Gods witnessed the downfall of their descendants, the loss of the wealth they had umted, and the humiliation many suffered after losing everything. Sometimes, the crimesmitted against their offspring pushed the gods too far, and they intervened. All it took was one mistake, a tiny trace of a Divinity used against the mortals and the Primal would throw the Primal Pantheon at the hidden gods. And they wouldn''t stop until the traitors of the Primal Constitution would be found and executed or banished from the universe, exiled into the Origin Expanse.

    Sometimes, the gods struggled more after attaining godhood than when they were still Demi Gods. At least, they could intercept into the worldly matters of the mortals as Demi Gods. Even after their Divinities had formed, Demi Gods were still allowed to attack mortals and protect their famileis with all their might. Even the Divinity used by Demi Gods were allowed to be used against them. That said, the difference between aplete Divinity and a Demi God''s Divinity was like the stark contrast between mist and ice. Water could be found in both, yet mist and ice weren''t the same. A Demi God''s Divinity had the presence of mist. It was fleeting and barely noticeable in the weave of the universe. However, the Divinities of proper gods were solid like ice. Their Divinity was interwoven into the endless web of the universe and would affect it until the end of time. But while the Rebels epted changes and looked forward to the changes urring to the universe as the Divinities formed and shaped it, the Primal did not ept any changes. They had witnessed what the changes could do to the universe ¨C the first birth of mortal Gods and their use of divinities lead to the first birth of full-fledged gods. This seemingly subtle change affected the course of the eras. It endangered the Primal''s life of peace and silence and forced them to intervene.

    After all, what would happen if the universe changed again and more beings like the Primal were born¡­being as strong or stronger than the Primal¡­with the desire to get rid of the old generation?

    The Primal couldn''t afford that to happen. Therefore, they started hunting everyone who used their godly Divinities without permission. The Primal Pantheon''s Divinities influenced the weave of the universe, too, but the Primal choose the gods to join the Primal Pantheon carefully. They picked gods whose Divinities wouldn''t be permanently interwoven into the web of the universe. One way or another, the Primal Pantheon and the Rebels engaged in a fierce battle within the secluded dimension where the weave of the universe wouldn''t be affected. After all, the Primal would be able to sense it otherwise. The Rebels had been umting power and intel for as long as they could think. They came up with countless ns and waited patiently. Some couldn''t wait as patient as others, thinking they were strong enough to defeat the Primal alone. Beelzebub was one of them. He couldn''t be killed by the Primal without identally altering the weave of the universe as well, but they could seal Beelzebub''s Essence away. They did the same thing to Fenrir and many other Gods, whose strength and Essence threatened the Weave.

    But now Beelzebub was back, and the Rebels had waited long enough. Their patience finally came to fruition. They reached thest step of their final n. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    All they had to do was to eliminate the Primal Pantheon!

 Chapter 1038 The Weave

    Chapter 1038 The Weave

    Even though the gods fought in isted dimensions, the weave started to change. The Divinities utilized in the isted dimensions, fused into thework of the dimensions and altered them, transforming them into ces connected to the weave. The weave expanded suddenly and changed. It shook valiantly and sent tremors into the vast expanse of the universe, filling every corner of it with its presence. For a moment, every inch of the universe was filled with energy. Trillions of intelligent lifeforms manifested their War Rune, their awakening triggered by the weave. However, not only intelligent lifeforms awakened. Awakened attained a better understanding of their powers and racial gifts. Some, a small percentile of the Awakened, stretched across the universe, mutated, and gained stronger powers. Their innate abilities had already been trained to perfection, which was exactly what the weave required to unlock new powers.

    Today''s event would give birth to thousands of new races over the course of time. Some brethren would continue mutating and evolving into stronger entities with greater potential, while the weaker would sumb to fate. Natural selection would eliminate the malign mutants and those who weren''t ready for what awaited them. However, none mattered much to the beings interwoven into the weave. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When the weave shook, the beings linked to it stirred awake. The Sleepers among the Primal woke up. For the first time in eons, beings who had been hibernating returned to the surface of the universe.

    They tore the fabric of space and reality around them apart, creating massive fissures as they regained consciousness and tried to reach the isted dimensions since they were now connected to the weave of the universe. But they couldn''t. For the first time since the birth of the universe, the weave restrained the Primal. Waves of Essences surged from the Primal as unfamiliar feelings filled their entire being. They were confused, maybe even afraid of the change of events. The destinations of their fissures changed, and they appeared all in the same spot. In the Origin.

    "The weave..:" One of them rumbled.

    "It is changing," Another one added.

    "In the way we have anticipated." A third chimed in.

    "In the worst possible way." The fourth cursed.

    "The Pantheon is dying. Their Divinities mixed with the Rebels. They''re¡­"

    "They''re causing the changes. The isted dimensions merge with the weave without losing their characteristics as external entities. The Rebels¡­"

    "They achieve exactly what they always wanted."

    "But why did they change suddenly? We have been asleep for so long, but there have been no major changes in the weave. The weave expanded but so does the universe. There are no unexpected properties or features." One of the Sleepers grumbled, only for one of the chubby Primal to intervene.

    "That is not true. The Rebels found their Vessel. A Demi God, an 8th Tier Awakened, wielding the powers of Fenrir, appeared. His Essence altered Fenrir''s powers, granting him the benefits only mortals can receive. He has Soultraits, many of them, and the power to kill Minor Gods."

    "Why did you not kill him if he has the power of a god? We did not sense any permanent changes in the weave either." One said.

    "You said Fenrir returned?" Another one asked.

    The chubby Primal started exining. He told about the fight against the Supreme Human Alliance, Michael''s battles with the Demi Gods of the SHA and how he eliminated a Pseudo God, whose Divinity had already beenpleted, dering him as a Minor God by the weave, only for him to tear his Divinity apart. Despite tearing his Divinity apart, it didn''t lose any power, which was interesting but not interesting enough to attract the Primal''s attention.

    The Primal were only interested in the youth''s power and the Rebels'' arrival. They had alle to rescue Michael Fang, and their reasoning was obvious.

    "Is it time for us to intervene?" The Primal asked, but another one shook his head.

    "What do you want us to do? The weave cannot pick up any fluctuations of the Rebel''s vessel. Either they keep him safe in a separate dimension¡­or he is in the Origin Expanse."

    "The Will is working against us again?" One of the Primal asked, only for the rest to rumble, their Essences going wild.

    "The Will never worked with us if you think about it. It allowed us to seal the gods inside it, keeping it away from the weave. But at the same time, keeping the sealed gods away from the weave¡­kept them also away from us. The Will may be interwoven into the weave, but it never cared about the changes. If anything, it used the weave before we could and created the Origin Expanse, a ce nobody connected to the weave can ess freely other than the Will itself." "You''re telling us the Will has been against us all the time? That the Will sides with the Rebels and this vessel?" The chubby Primal nodded. "That''s what I concluded." "We need to do something before it is toote¡­"

    "Toote for what?" One of the Primal asked, his expression distorting in anger.

    "Let''s not speak it aloud," they cursed nearly in unison. We will get rid of all troublemakers."

    One of them grumbled again but added, "How about we remove the isted dimension from the weave again? Or find a way to enter it? If we cannot find that Demi God child, we should at least obliterate the Rebels. We have given the Rebels more than enough chances. Their time hase."

    The others nodded.

    "The Rebels need to die!"

    **

    While the Primal were busy trying toe up with solutions for problems they''d prevented for aeons, Michael was busy with the Tekur inside and outside the Origin Expanse.

    Michael focused on expanding the Untamed Jungle in the direction of the first Tekur Lord and discovered tens of massive and overly popted territories belonging to the Tekur. There were more than a hundred Tekur Nests, which Michael and his people loved to burn down.

    Of course, Michael''s people continued bombarding the colonies of the Tekur outside the Origin Expanse. They cared little how much pain they inflicted. The Tekur were a devilish race. They were selfish, which may not be abnormal for most races, but the speed at which they popted transformed their selfishness into a problem. And the problem was certainly not small. It was a tremendous problem!

    Too many races had already suffered tremendously from the Tekur. They''d eliminated more than a dozen races, obliterating every single one of their kind to expand thend to colonize both inside and outside the Origin Expanse. Since most of the Tekur were Awakened, they could live easily in the Origin Expanse. The only issue with the Origin Expanse was the danger level. Too many dangerous enemies ruled the surrounding territories, transforming the nice living space into a potential hell.

    That was exactly what the Elementals and the Redt Dragon were doing alongside the millions of Untamed Forces.

    Meanwhile, Kaleb and the others were searching for the Tekur Queen to get rid of her once and for all.

    Maybe¡­just maybe, they could procure her Soultrait Symbol, too. That would change everything!

 Chapter 1039 Tekur Blood

    Chapter 1039 Tekur Blood

    "The Red Dragon destroyed Nest Six in the western region. The Dragonbound collected the deceased and looted the warehouses with your Plunder Crystals!" The Dragonbound were ordinary Summons with a high affinity toward heat, animals, and mythical beings. To be precise, the Red Dragon liked them a lot. The Summons yed with the Red Dragon and treated her with great care. They did everything she wished for, which was also why she issued the request to fly with her caregivers into battle. Michael and others rejected that proposal because the caregivers weren''t powerful Summons at the 3rd Tier or higher. They couldn''t resist the purgatory mes of the Red Dragon and would die from the heat. Even if the mythical mes weren''t close to them, they would burn and kill the Summons.

    That was at least until the Red Dragon started treating the Summons with her draconic energy. She provided the Summons with draconic energy, fueled them, and helped them circte the draconic energy quickly through their bodies. The Red Dragon had intended to help the caregivers advance quickly, but the effect was much more than that. The draconic energy changed something within the Summons.

    They received new powers and felt morefortable in the warmth. The mythical mes of the Red Dragon were still too strong for them, but they didn''t suffer as much after the initial training sessions offered by the Red Dragon. The training sessions continued, and the Summons changed slowly. Their heat resistance increased slowly but steadily, their pupils changed slightly, and their power skyrocketed. Some even awakened a tiny affinity me within their Energy Pir. They learned how to conjure and control small mes.

    The initial rejection of the dragon rider proposal was no more. Instead, Michael and others supported the Red Dragon now that they saw some initial results. Michael observed the Red Dragon intently and proposed to give the Summons a droplet of the Red Dragon''s blood. Until that point, the caregivers weren''t strong enough ¨C and heat resistant enough ¨C to survive fighting alongside the Red Dragon. They could survive on her back for a while as she spit out some mes, but the Red Dragon had to hold back her power, which would be a death sentence in a life-and-death battle if she wanted the caregivers to survive.

    The Red Dragon agreed, and so did the caregivers, though reluctantly. The Summons wanted to grow stronger and be by the Red Dragon''s side. That was why they consumed the Red Dragon''s blood. It was onlyter they found out that they bound themselves permanently to the Red Dragon by consuming its blood. The Summons transformed into Dragonbound, beings simr to the Dragys. However, instead of acting like they were actually dragons, the Dragonbound knew they were humans whose powers were changing and improving with the power level of the Red Dragon.

    First thing first, the Dragonbound''s power changed. Their DNA was altered by consuming the dragon blood. They grew scales, and their eyes transformed into reptilian slits. Some Dragonbound could be seen growing a bulge from their tailbone while others ended up growing horns. The changes were painful, but the Dragonbound prevailed. They acquired draconic energy, which they could produce and alter further to adjust the energy to their powers, and their fire affinity seeds expanded. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As time passed, the Dragonbound transformed into one of the strongest Summon units of the Untamed Forces. They were powerful and easily survived the dangers of being with the Red Dragon and Zeroa. Their bodies could easily ovee the tremendous heat filling the surroundings whenever the Elemental Empress and the Red Dragonbined their powers.

    That was also why the Dragonbound ended up being the ones ransacking the Nests destroyed by the Elemental Empress and the Red Dragon. They walked freely through the burned-down Nests and plundered everything. Even if the corpses of most Tekur were burned until almost nothing was left ¨C many didn''t even leave behind their bones ¨C the Plunder Crystals, creations by Michael using the Divinity Seed, could procure the SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols of the recently deceased. It didn''t matter what they looked like. As long as remnants of their soul were still there, they could be looted.

    Michael didn''t have to orchestrate a lot on the battlefield. After telling the Silverfang Princess and the Crown Prince off, they got their act together and decided topete ¨C more or less friendly ¨C against each other on the battlefield. The better sibling would receive full control of the Silverfangs once the Primal were defeated. That was their deal. Michael was unsure how that would work out, but he left the siblings to deal with their issues now that the biggest problems had been solved. That was why he gave them enough authority to control the Untamed Forces alongside Hiraku, Lilica, and Siegfried.

    The dangers in the Origin Expanse were easy to organize and to put into different categories. Every territory had its own danger level, as the Lord''s tier and territory size determined the averagebat prowess in the region. Some territories had oddly powerful members, mostly old Tekur Awakened, who retired one of the regions of the new generation, but most of the time, Michael and Reba calcted the danger level of every territory properly. That being said, Michael and Reba forwarded the danger level with decent precision, which Lilica, Hiraku, the Silverfang siblings, and Siegfried took into consideration when they deployed the forces. The most dangerous Tekur territory in the nearby regions belonged to a Divine Lifeform. It was one of the strongest Tekur they''d ever faced, but even the Divine Tekur Lord was taken care of with a few simple steps.

    The Guardian Beast, the Azure Quetzalcoatl, burned the Tekur Nests of the Divine Tekur Lord to a cinder alongside the Red Dragon and the Elemental Empress before aiming for the Divine Tekur''s life. While some may consider this as excessive, the truth was that it was necessary. Even though the Divine Tekur Lord was only a Tier-7 powerhouse, he was in possession of an Ancient Soul Technique with perfect mastery. Following that, the Divine Tekur was quite powerful, especially since the amount of Soul Power coursing through his Soultrait Symbol was enormous. The territory of the Divine Tekur wasrger than the Sacred Desert after it expanded to an Intermediate Region, which contained more than ten times the Sacred Desert''s poption. Of course, Michael had more Soul Power than the Divine Tekur, but that didn''t mean the Divine Tekur Lord was weak. Michael was just too powerful. The Divine Tekur was also rather old and had lived through countless adversaries. He knew what to do against powerful enemies and how to deal with them.

    That was also why the Divine Tekur Lord requested reinforcement from outside the Origin Expanse and within. Most troubles could be solved alone, but as a race overflowing with members, most weaker than the rest of the universe, whenever they fought alone against truly powerful beings, the best way to overwhelm their enemies was to call for the masses. That was what the Divine Tekur Lord did, not realizing that a few hundred Divine Tekur wouldn''t be enough to eliminate the Untamed Forces. After all, the Untamed Forces weren''t only made up by a few Super Awakened, the Azure Quetzalcoatl and two Divine Beasts. No, the Untamed Forces were also the Divine Subordinates and the other Super Awakened who had been deployed to obliterate the Tekur''s home in the universe. But since the Tekur desired to y with fire in the Origin Expanse¡­so be it!!

 Chapter 1040 Tekur in the Expanse

    Chapter 1040 Tekur in the Expanse

    The Divine Lifeforms of the Tekur race were pulled away from the hundreds ofs spread across Tekur''snds in the vast cosmos. Only a few were left behind to protect the borders where the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates wreaked havoc. However, the defenders were so few that Michael''s forces could bulldoze through them, conquering entires within a few weeks. That was what they could have done if not for the Divine Tekur being in the Origin Expanse, fighting the Azure Quetzalcoatl, the Divine Beasts, and the remaining Untamed Forces. Some members of the Untamed Forces were already strong enough to deal with the average Divine Awakened of the Tekur race. However, there were simply too many Divine Lifeforms among the Tekur race to block them all. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Therefore, the Super Awakened and the Divine Subordinates were pulled away from the Tekur''ss to return to the Origin Expanse, where they could continue fighting the Tekur. All that changed was their scenery. The rest remained the same¡­almost. The fighting style of many Tekur changed upon entering the Origin Expanse. They fought more valiantly and suicidal. It was almost like their lives were worth less in the Origin Expanse as it was the case outside it.

    Or maybe¡­what changed wasn''t the importance of their lives but something else: The residents.

    The Tekur Summons may be important for the Awakened as they provided the Tekur Lords with Soul Power and the needed resources to be truly powerful, but the living Tekur was far more important for the grand scheme. They were crucial to the Tekur Queen and her most important power: Her Soultrait.

    That being said, the Divine Tekur fought very¡­interesting.

    Kaleb coated his body in the Frozen Nova Armor and shrouded his de in the strongest intent of Frozen Nova. It was important to note that Frozen Nova had been upgraded to 8-Star from his gains against the Supreme Human Alliance and the Tekur in thest few days and weeks. Kaleb had been fighting tirelessly, rewarding him with enough SoulStar Fragments to go crazy. And that was something Kaleb certainly did. He created the Essence of Frozen Nova ¨C not a Divine Essence but not unlike the powers a Demi God can ess when they first tap into their Divinity Seed''s power. Kaleb Zenovia''s power had already changed a little. His Divinity Seed was being altered, transforming into something much stronger than the average Awakened can acquire under normal circumstances.

    However, Kaleb did not care. He was still feeling like ackluster powerhouse. He was strong but not powerful enough to y with the truly powerful beings in the universe. That was not enough for him. Kaleb needed more! He unleashed Frozen King alongside Emperor Poison and Frost Titan''s Soullife Arts andbined their power with the Frozen Nova Essence, which coursed through Kaleb''s body. His body was thus poisoned by his own Soultrait, but that wasn''t to induce self-harm. No, Frost Titan''s hidden power was to negate and consume all ice-attributed poison and transform them into pure power. The power was added to Kaleb, who appeared before a Divine Tekur with a wide grin on his lips. "You are going to die!" He rumbled, his aura spreading far, killing thousands of Higher Lifeforms long before they could respond to the rapidly expanding aura. They couldn''t even block the aura before their bodies were frozen to the core. They shattered, and the energy influxes entered Kaleb''s Energy Pir. Still, he kept smiling as his de whizzed through the air. The Divine Tekur blocked the initial blow, but his ded arm froze where Kaleb hit him. The Divine Tekur cursed and used his Soultrait, a light-attributed power that coated his body, reinforcing every property of his body considerably, but the effect wasckluster. All his power did was postponing the inevitable. The Divine Tekur, just like most of the Tekur deployed to reinforce the Tekur Lords in the Origin Expanse, were Awakened, Rogues, or Subordinates. They weren''t Lords anymore. The Lords were either protecting the most important asset of the Tekur Queen ¨C her subjects ¨C or tending to their territories in the Origin Expanse. That being said, Kaleb, the Super Awakene and the Divine Subordinates had a shocking advantagepared to them. They possessed stronger Soultraits and had thus more Soul Power umted within their Symbols. They could wreak more havoc with their unique powers, whereas the Tekur could only unleash their racial techniques through ordinary energy to deal with their enemies.

    Kaleb was about to kill the Tekur before him when a winged Divine Tekur appeared before him. His wings expanded and released an eerily bright light which shone upon the other Divine Tekur, whose body had been mantled in a simr light before. The two Tekurbined their forces to deal with Kaleb, which was only possible because the Divine Lifeforms deployed to the Origin Expanse numbered in the thousands. It was difficult to tell how many Divine Tekur had been sent as reinforcement, but there were certainly more than one thousand. That was more than the 160ish Super Awakened and 400ish Divine Subordinates who had survived the constant fighting of thest few years. But while the numbers of Michael''s strongest forces had dwindled slowly, theirbat experience against strongest enemies ¨C multiple powerful enemies ¨C had skyrocketed.

    Each of them was strong enough to fight several powerhouses simultaneously, especially after Michael upgraded each of their Soultrait Symbols by a full rank or half a rank before throwing them into the battle against the Divine Tekur.

    No matter how hard the Divine Tekur tried to defend themselves, their efforts were crushed by massive Frozen Nova crashing down on their bodies, killing them on the spot. After all, Kaleb had already advanced to a Divine Lifeform. He wasn''t the same weak Higher Lifeform like he had been before. His blood, sweat, and tears pushed his prowess to the next level, granting him exactly what he had desired. Power.

    However, Kaleb wasn''t the only one who acquired power in recent years. The power of most Super Awakened had skyrocketed in recent years. Most were either pushed toward the Peak of Tier-6 or managed to initiate their Divine Ascension to acquire their Divinity Seed. Not many had yet a fully formed Divinity Seed, but it was only a matter of months before thest one acquired enough energy toplete the process.

    Many Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates acquired tremendous power over the years, and the sudden boost through Michael''s SoulStar Fragments changed the pace of the battles in the Origin Expanse drastically.

    The tides of the battles pulled more into Michael''s favor until too many Divine Lifeforms had died. The Tekur Queen couldn''t take it anymore.

    She understood who had attacked her and why it happened. Once the Tekur Queen connected all dots, including the clues of the events in the past, she decided to take care of it once and for all.

    Michael and his people had to die, otherwise, more of her children would die a gruesome death. That being said, the Tekur Queen was not afraid of inflicting pain to her enemies. If anything, she enjoyed torturing her worst enemies the most!

 Chapter 1041 Tekur Queen

    Chapter 1041 Tekur Queen

    The corpses of many fighters were sprawled everywhere. Countless Tekur might have died facing the great powers of the Untamed Forces, but there were also Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened among the dead. Even more Awakened of the Untamed Jungle had died, torn into shreds by none other than the Tekur Queen and her trusted subordinates.

    Most of the Dragonbound were dead, and even the Red Dragon looked like her life was hanging on a paper-thin thread. There was blood and body parts everywhere. Not a single speck ofnd had been spared from the terrifying acts of the Untamed Forces and the Tekur Queen.

    The sight was shocking but the worst had yet to happen. The Tekur Queen was just getting started.

    The Tekur Queen was a hideous creature with two long, spindly legs. They looked like grasshoppers but much sturdier, longer, and sharper. Her body was several timesrger than her children''s bodies. She towered above everyone and made sure the beings in her proximity knew that she was not only taller than them but also stronger, faster, and more intelligent.

    If that was everything, the Untamed Forces wouldn''t have such a hard time dealing with her. Of course, many would die, but it couldn''t possibly be the end of the Untamed Forces. However, her shiny shell was hard, like the armored carapace of a beetle, covered in jagged, dark-colored tes that ovepped, creating severalyers of armor. The carapace created chittering noises whenever it moved, the dark tes scraping against each other.

    The Tekur Queen''s head was triangr, withrge,pound eyes that glowed with a cold, yellow light, constantly darting around as if surveying everyone and everything on the battlefield. A set of pincers formed the Tekur Queen''s mouth ¨C huge razor-sharp mandibles that snapped open and shut with a metallic click, strong enough to easily crush the Berserker''s bodies. The Super Awakened had already witnessed that¡­more than once.

    Above its mouth, two long, thin antennae twitched with every step the Awakened around her did. She sensed the air and felt the slightest movement and vibration around her. It was impossible to approach the Tekur Queen silently. She perceived everything, even the steps of the greatest assassin among the Super Awakened. The human was ripped out of the shadows and torn into shreds.

    A horrifying screech reverberated throughout the battlefield, startling the Untamed Forces as their heads flicked to the towering figure of the Tekur Queen.

    Her grotesque and eerily-long arms were armed with a ck exoskeleton and ended in multiple, hooked ws that were perfectly structured for ripping and tearing flesh. That was what she did with the Sacred Knights, the Berserkers, and the Warlock Centaurs, who tried to hold her back with their lives on the line. They may only be Summons, but that didn''t mean their lives were worth any less. The Summons were still flesh, blood, and souls. Their lives may have ended once, but the Will reincarnated them, bringing them back to life. It didn''t matter whether they had to obey someone else. They still valued their lives even though they knew they had to fight powerful enemies to protect their beloved.

    Each arm of the Tekur Queen had an extra joint, granting her a disturbingly fluid motion as it swayed, always ready to strike. Which it did. The Tekur Queen''s arm whizzed through the air relentlessly, taking one life after another, killing way too many brave warriors in their valiant attempt to inflict some damage.

    However, even their tireless efforts to hold the Tekur Queen back were useless. Enormous transparent wings unfolded from the Tekur Queen''s back. They shimmered with an oily sheen in thete afternoon sun and buzzed loudly as she pped them to change her position with terrifying speed. One moment, she wasn''t moving, and in the next instant, the Tekur Queen appeared before a pair of Divine Subordinates of the Altors Union. Her arms whisked around, beheading one of the Divine Subordinates right as he conjured a massive Gaia Shield. It should have protected the Divine Subordinate, but the attack shattered the shield right before ending the Divine Subordinate''s life.

    The other Divine Subordinate tried to use one of his Escape Soultraits, one of the gifts Michael had given to some of the bravest and most loyal Divine Subordinates, but he failed. The Escape Soultrait didn''t trigger. All the Divine Subordinate heard was the transparent wings buzzing loudly, sending chills through the air as their rapid motion blurred. In the next moment, the second Divine Subordinate was also dead.

    The way the Tekur Queen decapitated so many of the strongest beings in the Untamed Forces was eerie. Not only did she kill those Divine Subordinates who had powerful fire-attributed abilities or Tekur with extraordinary physique augmenting Soultraits, but she killed those who were capable of killing Tier-8 powerhouses. That alone was indicator enough to tell that the Tekur Queen was stronger than most 8th Tier Awakened even though she was not even at the Peak of the 7th Tier. No one knew why the Tekur Queen hadn''t reached the 8th Tier yet or why, given her age and experience, she was not a Demi God with her god-likebat prowess, but that was it. She stood there, turning around, eying everyone with curiosity. She didn''t even mind the Divine Tekur around her dying like flies. She watched them with a smile and snickered.

    Despite her insectoid appearance, the Tekur Queen''s posture was unnervingly human-like, standing upright and towering over any bipedal creature it encountered. The way she moved ¨C fast, jerky, and unpredictable ¨C only added to its menacing appearance. The Untamed Forces were scared¡­and fear didn''t aid theirbat prowess. If anything, it crippled them, transforming the bravest warriors into weak kittens. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A foul-smelling, toxic liquid dripped from the Tekur Queen''s mandibles, hissing as it corroded the ground with its touch. That indicated its venomous bite, which didn''t inflict any damage. After all, everyone the Tekur Queen has bitten died from the bone-crushing crunch.

    Every part of the Tekur Queen seemed designated to inflict fear and destruction, from its vicious pincers to its sickening, high-pitched screech that echoed through the battlefield as the hunt continued.

    But that was the point. The Tekur Queen was a god-like predator¡­and she enjoyed every single moment of it.

 Chapter 1042 Stalling

    Chapter 1042 Stalling

    The Tekur Queen was too strong to handle alone. Her relentless attacks were strong and precise enough to kill multiple enemies simultaneously, but only if their defenses were too weak. Some of the Divine Subordinates were struck to death with a single blow, but beings like Mekhaz survived much more.

    Mekhaz used Living Armor, Energy Absorption, Repel, and his other Soultraits such as Gigantification, Taunting Grimace, and One Man Army to throw himself against the Tekur Queen.

    One Many Army worked well enough because the number of Tekur in the background was only slowly decreasing. There were still more than enough enemies in One Man Army''s range to push Mekhaz''s power level up a notch. If not for that and his Last Rope Soultrait, Survival King, Mekhaz would have difficulties surviving one blow against the Tekur Queen, let alone a barrage of whip-likeshes.

    The Tekur Queen''s attention was forcefully pulled toward him when he activated Taunting Grimace. The Tekur Queen, enraged by the Soultrait and the fact that she had been so easily taunted by a noname, charged Mekhaz and attacked him with each of her arms. The power of Energy Absorption weaved into the Repel runes conjured all over Living Armor, absorbed a portion of the blow ¨C a big part of the energy-enhanced attacks ¨C weakening the blow right before the Repel runes absorbed another portion of the impacting force.

    But that was not all the impacting force was distribute across the entire Living Armor whenever the Tekur Queen''s attack struck. It was painful ¨C all over his body ¨C but not a single bone broke even after the Tekur Queen had attacked him seven times. He used Repel, consuming one of the repel runes whenever the Tekur Queen''s attacks elerated. The force of her attacks increased and her tactics changed slowly from whisking her arms at him to squash Mekhaz to ripping his seamlessly connected Living Armor apart. It took the Tekur Queen a while to find some suitable spots for her hook-like ws to connect, but it worked. The Warlock Centaur, four times taller and heavier than usually due to Gigantification, was thrown around like a wet sack of potatoes.

    Still, the Tekur Queen''s attention remained on Mekhaz, who received additional support from other Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates when they noticed the Tekur Queen''s attacks weren''t working well against him. They healed his injuries from afar and used Support-type Soultraits to boost his physical traits but also the potency of his Soultraits. Even Mekhaz''s energy absorption and energy cirction were augmented, pushing Mekhaz''s defenses to a level where he could rival and stall the Tekur Queen very well. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Debuffs and Curse-type Soultraits were used against the Tekur Queen, but they were repelled. At least, that was what it looked like at first nce. However, the truth was quickly discovered when other Tekur, those fighting nearest to their queen, was afflicted with the debuffs and Curses instead of the Tekur Queen. Nobody was certain how she was doing it, but the negative abilities befalling her were forwarded to the closest Awakened.

    That was annoying, but it was important to note that the Tekur Queen required a quarter of a second to forward the debuffs and curses. That being said, the Tekur Queen was weakened for a moment until the abilities used on her would leave her body again. In addition to that, the Tekur Queen''s target had to be nearby; otherwise, the curses and debuffs wouldst much longer on her, and the Target had to be Awakened. The stronger the target, the faster could the Tekur Queen get rid of the negative abilities used on her.

    Kaleb and Frederik made use of that. Whereas Hiraku joined the battle against the Tekur Queen right away, taking off some of the pressure weighing down on Mekhaz. Once Hiraku was transformed into a massive Titan, taller than the ones he''d transform usually and blood-red in color like the blood of the fallen allies, the fight shifted slowly. Hiraku had upgraded his Titan Spirit Soultrait to 9-Star. Most of the SoulStar Fragments had been acquired through his effort, but Michael rewarded him with some additional bits and pieces here and there to help his right hand grow much stronger.

    Hiraku wasn''t allowed to die, and a 9-Star Soultrait as powerful as Titan Spirit would help achieve that. He was going to survive everything. Especially a fight with a disgusting cretin like the Tekur Queen!

    A razor-sharp wind de whisked past Hiraku, right underneath his right armpit, when he struck out to smash his fist into the Tekur Queen''s hideous face. The punch did notnd because too many arms shot up to coil around Hiraku''s arm to break it. The Tekur Queen did not manage to break Hiraku''s arms easily, but bits and pieces of his flesh were torn off. However, the injury was worth it. The wind de, infused with most of Kaleb''s Frozen Nova Essence, whipped around the Tekur Queen''s back and impacted in between the pair of transparent wings.

    The wind de exploded, and the Frozen Nova Essence within erupted, spreading across the Tekur Queen''s back. The dark-colored tes covering the Tekur Queen''s body protected her, but the Frozen Nova Essence was equivalent to the power of a Demi God. Even the Tekur Queen couldn''t ignore it. The dark-colored tes cracked a little. There were only insignificant cracks like a miniature cobweb, but the dark-colored tes had never been Frederik and Kaleb''s target in the first ce.

    Their target had been the Tekur Queen''s wings which froze instantly from the Frozen Nova Essence. Kaleb controlled the Frozen Nova Essence precisely and let it erupt once more topress the Essence at vital spots that acted as a foundation for the transparent wings. The vital points cracked and broke, rendering the transparent wings useless. The Tekur Queen couldn''t rely on her wings to escape her enemies to charge at others with terrifying velocity. With that troublesome power removed, the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates could start wrestling with the Tekur Queen until she was worn out and damaged beyond repair.

    At least, that was what they wanted to do. The Tekur Queen, however, grasped Mekhaz once he was hooked with two arms and flung him around, smashing the Warlock Centaur heavily into Hiraku. Hiraku tried catching Mekhaz, but he had to pay attention to the Tekur Queen''s next move, too. If the Tekur Queen had followed up with a series of attacks, Hiraku would have had to block it because Mekhaz couldn''t do so at the time. Hiraku understood the danger of the task ahead but was left in surprise when the Tekur Queen twisted to the side and disappeared.

    That was what it looked like to Hiraku. For a moment, at least.

    The Tekur Queen disappeared and reappeared before a group of more than a dozen Divine Subordinates. They had been busy using Support-type Soultraits on more than a dozen Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates for thest ten minutes. Their task was also to heal those in pain, to keep them calm, and to rescue those in need of protection.

    Unfortunately, too few powerhouses protected them. The Rescue Fighters weren''t weak, but the Tekur Queen took them by surprise. She elerated quickly, passed through several rows of Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates to reach them, and¡­started wreaking havoc to defeat those who reinforced everyone else.

    A small bloody massacre was all the Tekur Queen needed to rebnce the fight once again.

 Chapter 1043 Weakening Faith

    Chapter 1043 Weakening Faith

    "She''s growing weaker," Hirakumented after a while. He was exhausted and in pain. The Rescue Fighters had been killed, torn into shreds long before help arrived.

    That weakened the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates drastically. Nheless, fewer people died. "Our people are dying, though," Mekhaz responded, grinding his teeth underneath the Living Armor. He charged the Tekur Queen, while Hiraku used his connection to the surroundings ¨C alongside some Elementals'' help ¨C to control the ground and blood around them, creating a pool of blood filled with mud to slow the Tekur Queen for a quarter of a second. That was all they needed to reach her.

    [Our people might be dying, but we can wear her down. Let''s focus on stalling for time. That''s all we have to do in the first ce. The others are doing everything else.] Hirakumented to the surrounding allies via Whispering Energy.

    The Azure Quetzalcoatl wasn''t with Hiraku and the rest, but that was not because she was too afraid to join them. If anything, the Azure Quetzalcoatl wanted to join the fight against the Tekur Queen more than anything. However, her help was needed against the Tekur Nests and the masses. Since the Red Dragon was on the verge of dying, the Azure Quetzalcoatl had to jump into the fray with thousands of Elementals on her back. The Elementals released a massive barrage of fireballs and otherrge-scale attacks into the surroundings, killing rows of Lesser Tekur instantly, while High Tekur sustained some damage. They were set on fire and would burn to death if they couldn''t eliminate the fiercely burning mes.

    At the same time, the Azure Quetzalcoatl would burn the foundation of the Tekur Nests to cinder. Many powerful Tekur died to the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s mes, but more importantly, nobody strong enough to stop the Azure Quetzalcoatl was left. The Divine Tekur had all been killed, and a few dozen Divine Subordinates motivated this to push further and wreak havoc, just like the Azure Quetzalcoatl. The rest tried to deal with the Tekur Queen, but while she sustained some more or less grievous injuries, she still stood strong, towering over everyone else with her tremendous power.

    [IF she keeps growing weaker, we can kill her soon. Let the Seven Hells Army do the rest of the work and prepare for a final attack!"

    The Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates could keep going to wear the Tekur Queen down, and that was what they did, but their priority was something else. They noticed the Tekur Queen wavering and growing weaker little by little. She was not exhausted, thus the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates could tell that their n was working.

    The Tekur Queen was actually growing weaker. But why? Her Soultrait, Faith, was at fault.

    The Faith of her living subjects ¨C thus not including her Summons ¨C augmented the Tekur Queen''s power.

    Michael wanted this Soultrait to fuse it into his main body and upgrade it, hopefully removing the ''Summon exclusion'' use from the Soultrait Symbol''s power. It would push Michael''sbat prowess tremendously,pleting the final piece to his final goal: To fight and overpower the Primal.

    However, Michael did not move his main body to acquire the Soultrait. He did not personally do anything to overwhelm the Tekur Queen and weaken her by removing the asset that empowered her Soultrait Symbols: her living subjects.

    Instead, Michael ordered Sylth, the Thorn Merchandise, the Nest, and a few dozen other organizations to work for him. The exchange was very simple and purely transactional. Michael gave Slyth and the others multiple Soultrait Symbols, hundreds of them, some pushed up to 7-Star, with one of the Soultrait Symbols even being 8-Star. Instead, Michael ordered Sylth, the Thorn Merchandise, the Nest, and a few dozen other organizations to work for him. The exchange was very simple and purely transactional. Michael gave Slyth and the others multiple Soultrait Symbols, hundreds of them, some pushed up to 7-Star, with one of the Soultrait Symbols even being 8-Star. They received all of that for removing a disgusting cockroach-like cretin like the Tekur. Of course, the corpses of the Tekur would be given to Michael once everything was done, but that mattered little right now.

    Important was only that multiple organizations attacked the Tekur outside the Origin Expanse, slowly but steadily killing them. And as the number of faithful living subjects decreased, the Tekur Queen''s power dropped. It was a slow process but the weaker the Tekur Queen grew, the easier it was to stall her. The easier it was to inflict injuries!

    Sylth, the Mercenaries of the Seven Hells Armies, and the other organizations hired by Michael attacked the borders to the Tekur''snds, surrounding them with more than a thousand warfare spaceships and close to 500 Divine Lifeforms once the Tekur Queen left her throne to defeat Michael and his people in the Origin Expanse. First, Sylth and others were about to attack the Tekur''snds when the Divine Tekur left the Fortresses and barracks, but they decided against it when Michael informed them to wait. That was the smartest move they could have done. Michael''s Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates were pulled away from the Tekurnd and deployed to the Origin Expanse, where they could fight and defeat the Divine Tekur much more easily.

    The Tekur Queen must have sensed her mistake and chose to get up from her throne and attack the Origin Expanse as well. That was when Sylth and others jumped into the fray. They waited only until Michael gave them the go and bombarded the defensive lines of the Tekur ¨C now not manned by powerful Divine Tekur anymore ¨C and obliterated the Fortresses and barracks with a barrage of sma missiles and other powerful artillery.

    The damage inflicted by the spaceships was already tremendous. Since they were warfare spaceships, they could destroy entire countries with a series of bombs, grenades, and the like from high up in the sky. The spaceships were thus used to destroy the most-popted ces above the ground, whereas Sylth and her forces dived down to thes and entered the deeper parts underground, where the eggs and arge portion of the poption lived.

    Annihtings filled with trillions of Tekur wasn''t easy on the heart but everyone knew about the pest of the Tekur. It was just that nobody had ever bothered attacking them because the Tekur Queen understood which unions and alliances she could attack and whom to avoid. To her misfortune, she didn''t avoid the Tritan Alliance. The Tekur Queen would have never suffered this much if she had done that. She wouldn''t be growing weaker with every passing minute.

    However, there was little she could do. Every minute, tens of thousands of missiles impacted on the surface of the countlesss the Tekur Queen had conquered during her reign. The missiles killed dozens of enemies upon impact. Most, in fact, inflicted even more damage, obliterating hundreds of Tekur at once. Still, there was more damage done. The aftermath of the impacting missiles wreaked more havoc, killing even more enemies.

    Then there was the power of the Awakened. Michael had promised those with the highest contribution some ''gifts''. The gifts were well known by everyone and appreciated as well. Everyone loved acquiring more Soultrait Symbols and upgrading their existing Soultraits, after all!

    That being said, Sylth and the Awakened did their utmost to kill as many enemies as possible, which inevitably weakened the Tekur Queen.

    Inside the Origin Expanse, the effect of the millions of Tekur''s deaths every minute was clearly noticeable. It was only a minuscule alteration in power, but the drops of power umted until everyone noticed them.

    From that point onward, the Tekur Queen''s reign ended, whether she wanted it or not!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 1044 Bound to Die

    Chapter 1044 Bound to Die

    As the destruction of the Tekurnd continued, various events happened. First of all, Hiraku and Mekhaz were forced to increase their efforts, not because the Tekur Queen fought more valiantly, which she did after finding out her subjects in the Tekurnd were dying, but mostly to block her from escaping the Origin Expanse.

    The most important aspect of the fight against the Tekur Queen was to keep her in the Origin Expanse since only a portion of the Divine Tekur Lords stayed back. They were killed, just like the Normie Tekur, whose faith in the Tekur Queen had acted as a channel of power. The Tekur Queen''s problem was not even the death of a few million Tekur. It was okay, even if a fews filled with Tekur would be destroyed. Her Faith power would decrease a little with the destruction of a, but the greatest issue was the loss of Faith ALL Tekur felt.

    The Tekur trusted their queen and were loyal beyond measure to her. They believed she would rescue them soon and deploy some forces to take care of all issues. However, nobody came to rescue them. Hours of death and destruction passed, in which the Tekur Queen didn''t do anything. She was busy in the Origin Expanse and couldn''t do much, but it was not like the Normie Tekur cared.

    All the Tekur cared about was one particr fact; Their beloved queen wasn''t doing anything.

    Their faith in her power and protective nature shattered. It wasn''t immediate, but with every minute of utter silence, some of their faith crumbled. Almost half a day passed, in which severals had been conquered and the poption eradicated until every Tekur had learned about the Tekur Queen''s silence. She was idle, let her strongest powerhouses die as if they were cretin, and didn''t do anything about the danger.

    Too many good people died.

    Their trust in their beloved queen was broken, and hatred and disgust reced their love and loyalty.

    Their faith was broken.

    That was something the Tekur Queen noticed. She had noticed the crumbling faith of her subjects but didn''t do something right away. She killed almost all Divine Subordinates, leaving less than one hundred of them alive, but never escaped the Origin Expanse. Someone ¨C the Tekur Queen was still unsure who it was ¨C blocked her ess to her spatial-type Artifact and the Runic Gate. She was blocked and couldn''t escape the Origin Expanse, no matter how hard she tried.

    The Tekur Queen sent her Divine Tekur some messages, those who were still alive at least, and told them to leave to protect her subjects, but the Divine Tekur were either weakened or killed in the Origin Expanse, or they had to protect their own territories from the bombardment of the Azure Quetzalcoatl. The Tekur Queen forced them to leave using the authority she had over her children, pulling the Divine Tekur Lords out of the Origin Expanse. That was the death sentence of the Tekur Lords. They left their territories without additional protection, which was something the Tekur Nests required to prevail the Azure Quetzalcoatl''s mythical mes.

    Still forced to leave, the Tekur Lord did exactly that. They moved out of the Origin Expanse, where the Azure Quetzalcoatl and the remaining forces of the Untamed Jungle, including millions of jungle monsters, wreaked havoc. Many Untamed Forces died to the Tekur Queen and her loyal subjects, but the subjects were now dead, and the Tekur Queen would follow them soon.

    The Tekur Lords were killed by the Seven Hells Armies or the other organizations easily after they lost their territories, and thus, the Lord Power benefits. Their Soul Power dropped to an all-time low, decreasing theirbat prowess drastically. They died quickly, further diminishing the Tekur Queen''s Faith power.

    After Mekhaz and Hiraku stalled the Tekur Queen for a day ¨C they had to use more than a dozen Plunder Crystals with thousands of Superior Energy Stones to replenish their energy ¨C, she was too weak to go on. The Tekur Queen struggled desperately, trying her utmost to survive, but it was to no avail.

    Not even when she turned around to escape and run for her life upon realizing the Untamed Armies got to her did she seed. The Super Awakened, more than 100 Super Awakened survived the battle,bined their forces and initiated one final attack.

    The Tekur Queen screeched and killed a dozen Divine Subordinates in ast-ditch effort to escape and increase her strength, but nothing worked. The Super Awakened were stronger and more durable than the Divine Subordinates. Thus, they dealt a finishing blow, tearing the Tekur Queen apart.

    The Tekur Queen copsed to the ground with a loud thud, which resounded through the crimson battlefield. The Tekur stopped moving suddenly and stared in their queen''s direction in shock and surprise. Their queen had never lost. She always seeded no matter where she went. How was that possible? How did she die? Was all of this a dream? A nightmare?

    The Tekur couldn''t believe what happened and stared at their queen''s carcass with nk expressions. The Untamed Forces were surprised by their act and stopped fighting as well, but they regained their senses a momentter. The unmoving Tekur were in without hesitation. They were treated worse like cattle, killed, and thrown aside to make space for the next Tekur statues.

    The Tekur on the crimson battlefield were annihted in the next few minutes. Some regained their senses a few minutes into the trance but were overwhelmed by the massive forces of the Untamed Armies. After that, the Untamed Armies moved deeper into the Tekur territories to get rid of every single one of them.

    Meanwhile, Mekhaz, Hiraku, and the others who were also responsible for the Tekur Queen''s death stored her corpse and brought it back to the Wooden Manor in the Untamed Jungle.

    Only the Divine Subordinates were left with the remaining Untamed Armies to clean the Origin Expanse from all Tekur. Last but not least, the injured were pulled from the battlefield and brought to the Untamed Jungle, where they received ample treatment. No one who reached the Untamed Jungle alive died on that day.

    Michael weed thebatants with his daughter. He didn''t participate in the battle with the Tekur for his subordinates told him they wanted to get rid of her and everything revolving around the Tekur without his help.

    Nheless, Michael helped theme up with enough strategies to kill the Tekur Queen and weaken her. Though the ns were rather simple. If the Tekur Queen had been ignorant and stayed away from the Origin Expanse, which was the expected reaction, they would have killed all Tekur in their territories to strengthen the Super Awakened further until reaching the Tekur Queen''s territory. If she still hadn''t moved to the Origin Expanse to protect her territory, they would have conquered it, taking away the Tekur Queen''s soul power.

    On the other hand, if she had jumped into the Origin Expanse, the Tekur Queen would have to fight the Super Awakened and Divine Subordinates in the Origin Expanse while her subjects in the Tekurnd would still be attacked by Sylth and others.

    One way or another, the Tekur Queen couldn''t be everywhere to protect her living subjects and her territory. She may have had powerful subjects, but the Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened were strong enough to deal with them.

    The Tekur Queen was bound to die.

    Her reign ended.

    As of today, Michael would be the rightful owner of Faith.

    Upgraded to a God-grade Soultrait, of course.

 Chapter 1045 Godly Faith

    1045 Godly Faith

    The end of the Tekur race changed everything. Michael never counted the number of Tekur in by his people, but his main body sensed the energy influxes and death energy of trillions of Tekur. And that was only the mass of energy influxes from the Tekur in the Origin Expanse. There were far more Tekur in theirnds, which Sylth and others conquered.

    They imed thes while giving Michael all corpses. The Normie Tekur carcasses were used to nourish the Untamed Jungle, while the Awakened were plundered first. Plundering the Awakened took a while, but it was much faster than Michael had expected since hundred of workers used Plunder Crystals on the Lesser Lifeforms to extract their War Rune storages, Soultrait Symbols, and SoulStar Fragments.

    Once everything had been extracted ¨C several weeks were sacrificed in the effort to extract as much as possible ¨C Michael surrendered the plundered corpses to the Untamed Jungle, which had already started expanding to the borders of the first conquered Tekur territory. It would probably take a few months, maybe even a year or two, until all territories that had once been part of the Tekur race would be imed by the Untamed Jungle, but Michael was not in a rush.

    If anything, Michael had much more time to spare than most others.

    That was also why he didn''t rush when he procured the Faith Soultrait from the Tekur Queen. He''d feared Extraction wouldn''t work on a Soultrait like Faith because the droprate for powerful Soultraits like Faith was lower than the norm, but it worked out.

    He acquired Faith and altered it slightly to add more perks and remove the Soultrait''s downside. After that, Michael didn''t waste any time and expanded his Soul Sphere. A new Empty Soul Socket was formed, and Faith fused with it. The Soultrait Symbol was in the inner area of the Main Body''s Soul Sphere and was upgraded slowly. It was pushed to 7-Star at once before Michael switched to integrating SoulStar Fragments more slowly.

    The effect of Faith was rather simple, but Michael did not want to rush upgrading it to 10-Star. He was a little afraid his body wouldn''t adapt fast enough to the potency of Faith and be torn apart long before he was strong enough to deal with the Primal.

    Michael considered many things and upgraded Faith slowly. First, every act of loyalty to Michael improved his physical traits. His energy cirction and control increased as well, but there was more to it. His senses were enhanced, and so were his endurance, agility, flexibility, raw power, and the speed with which the Energy Vortex absorbed the surrounding energy.

    It was important to know that it did not matter where the loyalty of the living and Summons counted equally. Both were epted by Michael''s Faith, which was superior to the Faith of the Tekur Queen. As the faith of every one of his loyal subjects increased, Michael''s power would increase. However, his Soul Power, mental fortitude, and soul were reinforced by their faith once Faith was upgraded to a 7-Star Soultrait.

    Once it reached 8-Star, Michael''s Essence received some benefits as well. After it reached 9-Star, a portion of Faith fused into his Divinities, nourishing each of his Divinities through the faith of his loyal subjects.

    However, the greatest advantage from Faith was granted when the Soultrait Symbol finally reached 10-Star. First, Faith evolved to Godly Faith, and second, everyone with good intentions toward Michael would now grant him power. Everyone hating the same enemies as Michael empowered him, but that was still not everything. Every devout believer of his persona and actions enhanced his strength differently.

    The more devout the believer, the higher the enhancement. However, at the same time, the believer''s strength was also crucial. The Rebel Gods, with faith in him as the savior who would defeat the Primal, were tremendous. They did not necessarily trust him, some at least, but they had faith in his power and potential to deal with the Primal and rescue everything. That pushed Michael much more than anything else. It increased every property of his being above and beyond anything Michael had hoped for.

    Michael was also surprised to sense who had faith in Michael, how devout they were, and why they believed in him. Michael also learned how everyone of the Tritan Alliance felt about him and that the Nest was loyal to him. Even Fera was now considered a follower because of his tremendous power and how he treated the Nest after hearing about the Altors Union''s betrayal.

    Other than the Nest and the Tritan Alliance, Michael received Faith power from the allies in the Untamed Jungle ¨C the Lords hiding in there ¨Cthe Elders of the Altors Union, including a considerable portion of the Altors Union''s poption, the Thorn Merchandise, and many more organizations. They did not even know some of Michael, but they had heard about him and what the Rebel Gods were trying to do with him. That was all they had to know to pray for his well-being. After all, Michael''s victory or defeat would change everything.

    His victory and defeat decided the fate of the universe. Many did not like this, but even more were praying for Michael''s sess. That was enough to trigger Faith.

    Godly Faith was what Faith transformed after reaching 10-Star. It was now a Godly Soultrait and sounded like one, too. Extraction, on the other hand, didn''t sound that impressive. Extraction was the first Soultrait to reach 10-Star. It took a while to upgrade Extraction because he didn''t have billions of SoulStar Fragments to spare, but the scarcity of SoulStar Fragments ended with the end of the Tekur race.

    Extraction was pushed to 10-Star as his first Soultrait, but its powers didn''t skyrocket. At least Michael couldn''t perceive a shocking difference anymore. He could only tell that Extraction replenished the Wolf Divinity passively. Michael was having a much easier time tapping into the power of the Wolf Divinity, replenishing it actively much faster than before and unleashing its full power.

    That was nice and the greatest benefit, other than the massive boost in all properties of Michael''s beings as the Soultrait reached its full potential.

    But while Extraction was the first Soultrait to reach 10-Star, it wasn''t thest. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    His other Soultraits would soon follow suit. After all, he had the SoulStar Fragments of an entire race in his grasp!

 Chapter 1046 Allies

    Chapter 1046 Allies

    Michael didn''t rush to get used to the upgrade of his two 10-Star Soultraits. Instead, he epted the changes slowly and moved onward with the improvements granted from each Soultrait.

    However, his Soultraits weren''t the only things that changed and improved. The Divinities of the three God Curses flushed through him. They were full of vigor and much stronger than Michael had anticipated. Part of it was owed to Godly Faith, but Michael knew the God Curses had been working hard to refine and nourish his Divinities. That was also why the God Curses'' Divinities were stronger than the Nature Heart.

    The Untamed Jungle was expanding and transforming into a massive region overflowing with life, energy, and divinity, but the God Curses'' Divinities were still bitter. But that wasn''t a surprise. However, Michael was still not satisfied with the results. Only a few years had passed since he tapped into the power of Primordial Curse, but it felt like they were just getting started. The Primordial Curse and the Evesting Blessing had not yet been drained.

    That being said, Michael continued investing more SoulStar Fragments into his other Soultrait Symbols and Aether. He was not yet done enhancing his powers. If anything, Michael was just getting started. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A simr situation urred to the Super Awakened. Everyone had grown stronger after the Tekur had been dealt with. The Super Awakened received various benefits and possessed now two or more 8-Star Soultrait Symbols each. At the same time, the number of Super Awakened increased slowly as the Rebels procured more Origin Liquid for Michael''s people. He hadn''t even asked the Rebels to procure Origin Liquid and had mentioned it only once or twice on the side, but that was enough. More words weren''t needed when you had a bunch of gods on your side: Gods willing to do everything in their might to ensure you were growing stronger.

    Because that was exactly what they did. The Rebels did their utmost to support him, which included providing as many Origin Liquid droplets as possible. At the same time, Michael procured some stuff from the Thorn Merchandise. He was thankful for their help against the Tekur but didn''t expect the transactions with the Thorn Merchandise to deepen any further. That was beyond his expectations, even though it shouldn''t have.

    Michael had millions of Soultrait Symbols to spare, and the Thorn Merchandise was trustworthy. Michael wasn''t worried bout selling Soultraits en masse to the Thorn Merchandise. That was what Michael did. He offered the Thorn Merchandise a few thousand Soultrait Symbols in exchange for enough resources to summon billions of Summons and construct more than a thousand Pentagon Forts. Michael was in need of A LOT of resources. That being said, he couldn''t afford to be stingy with the Thorn Merchandise. He chose to be more generous with Thorn Merchandise than he would have been with other organizations, which turned out to be a good decision. His ties with Thorn Merchandise deepened, and it wasn''t long before everyone considered Michael and his people to be heavy investors in Thorn Merchandise. That was pretty good since more organizations than expected offered Michael discounts for other resources ¨C resources that were more difficult to procure by Thorn Merchandise for a neat price in bulk.

    Michael created a few firm trading routes with big organizations. They had both been challenging and easy to establish. Some aspects had been oddly easy, while others ¨C seemingly easy points ¨C had been a proper challenge to solve.

    But since almost every organization had onemon enemy to deal with even the challenges turned out as less problematic than Michael had feared.

    Everyone hated the Supreme Human Alliance. That was great!

    Michael couldn''t recall how often everyone''s hatred toward the Supreme Human Alliance helped him, but it must have been in the high dozens or hundreds. He stopped counting, but it was always pleasant to listen toints and hate speeches about the Supreme Human Alliance.

    Uniting strangers withmon hatred had never been as easy, result-oriented, and efficient as it had been with every organization when it came to their thoughts of the Supreme Human Alliance.

    That was fun, even more so when powerful organizations offered Michael their services when they heard what he had done with the Altors Union''s Divine Lifeforms. The Divine Subordinates were reported to have killed three times their numbers at the same rank and hundreds of Divine Hyumans at a higher rank and Tier. They were rumored to be undefeatable at the same rank, but it took years for the Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened to fight the Supreme Human Alliance until everyone realized how much stronger the Super Awakened were.

    Still, everyone realized Michael had only ''epted'' the Divine Subordinates. Whereas the Super Awakened were truly his, the Divine Subordinates ¨C if the Altors Union hadn''t betrayed him ¨C would have been ''loaned''.

    That was something a few organizations wanted. They did not n betray him, which is why they did nto end up like the Altors Union, but the organizations offered their service of servitute to Micahel in exchange for Soultrait Symbols. That offer was only enticing if the Awakened approaching Michael were Divine Lifeforms, but that was where everything became exciting. The Divine Lifeforms offered their service and were willing to establish a customized Link of Loyalty with Michael ¨C one that didn''t restrain them and released them from the link if Michael broke the ''constitution'' ¨C and transformed into Divine Subordinates as well.

    The Divine Subordinates who had died facing the Tekur Queen and the powerhouses of the Supreme Human Alliance were quickly reced by even more Divine Awakened. They were also more motivated and didn''t hesitate a second when it came to fighting Hyumans for a few decades.

    Michael threw the Divine Subordinates and Super Awakened at the Supreme Human Alliance a few months after they obliterated the Tekur. The entire race had been evil, but that wasn''t why Michael had been so adamant about giving his people some time off to be with their families, friends, and lovers. Michael was certain his subordinates would continue working hard even though he gave them several months off, which was exactly what they did. They kept working, trying to master their new Soultrait Symbols and the upgraded versions of the Soultraits they had once mastered. At the same time, many business-minded Awakened, including Reba and others, paid more attention to the business aspect of being a powerful Awakened in Michael''s territory. They''d seen the Thorn Merchandise grow rapidly, expanding faster than one could look as their power skyrocketed from the Soultrait Symbols Michael gave them. Once a few Awakened saw that they requested some aid from Michael to establish their own shops and earn a fortune through their means. Most shops didn''tst long because the Awakened realized they were better of with fighting Hyumans but some prevailed and expanded.

    Still, most focus returned to the Supreme Human Alliance and the constant battle with Hyumans.

    The years passed and almost two decades psed since Michael fought the chubby Primal, yet the Supreme Human Alliance was still standing with countless Hyumans fighting their enemies without an ounce of hesitation. They weren''t afraid of death. Or so it looked like.

    Or maybe¡­they had been waiting for Michael to show how much they feared him and his people.

    Finally, Michael''s time to return to the surface of the cosmos hade. The Evesting Blessing was no more and the Primordial Curse would soon cease to exist.

    Bestikal could finally return to his long lost lover after being the final trigger to the biggest changes the universe had ever witnessed.

    Michael Fang''s rise.

 Chapter 1047 Awake

    Chapter 1047 Awake

    "How are the preparations going?" Hiraku asked into the masses at the annual Jungle Meeting.

    "The 1053rd Pentagon Fort waspleted four months ago, and thebined poption of the Sacred Desert and the Untamed Jungle reached one billion three weeks ago. Michael mentioned something about five billion Links of Loyalty, which includes the jungle monsters, but only a fifth are Summons," LIlica answered, while Kaleb added.

    "The number of Awakened bound to Michael expanded to 50,000, with 2,500 being Divine Subordinates. We also have 2,050 Super Awakened, but only 359 have ascended to Divine Lifeforms at this point. The remaining Super Awakened are 6th Tier Awakened and mostly close to the Peak of Tier-6. Half of them, maybe more, will ascend to Divine Lifeforms in the next five years. That being said, they''re stronger than the average Divine Lifeform. We do not have to worry about their prowess and progress."

    "The Supreme Human Alliance has been retaliating for a while now, but their end is near. Michael said his main body would awaken soon, right? The SHA is done for." Frederik pointed out the obvious, the corners of his lips tugging into a vibrant smile.

    Everyone was excited about the events happening in the next few years, but the meeting was also veiled by dormant tension. It would only take a minor incident for the tension to erupt and fill everyone with uncontroble worry and fear.

    But that was only obvious. Michael was about to wake and return to the surface of the cosmos, where he would face the Primal head-on. Their Lord and friend was going to best the strongest beings of the universe. He would fight them alone in an attempt to help everyone and solve all future problems long before they would affect those Michael loved more than anything. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Is there any way we can help Michael? What about pushing the Untamed Jungle''s growth up by a notch?" One of the Super Awakened asked, but the others shook their heads.

    "The Untamed Jungle is already five timesrger than it had been when it advanced to an Ancient Region. Neither the jungle monsters nor our workers can expand as fast as the Untamed Jungle. All we can do is continue building Pentagon Forts and summon more subjects. We can also continue telling everyone about Michael''s history. The events he''d witnessed and caused are like the tales of a hero from the bedtime stories my parents told me when I was little. We can do the same with Michael and help him power up through his Godly Faith Soultrait."

    "We can also ensure the new summons will love Michael and believe in him and his persona as much as the older Summons do. If we do that, Michael should gain some more strength. Of course, I do not know how much stronger Michael will grow from the trust of a few million Summons, but the better, the firmer their Links of Loyalty. He gains twice or thrice as much as ordinary Lords from the Links of Loyalty!"

    Everyone nodded slowly, but the dormant tension intensified rather than dying down from all the talk. The more they talked about the future, the more their inability to extend their helping hand to Michael was pure torture. It was terrifying to be unable to do anything.

    "All we can do is to give our utmost and trust Michael. He never betrayed us and will certainly not start now. We can trust him!"

    The members attending the meeting nodded their heads in unison. They came up with a few ns to push Michael''s strength up a notch and set them into motion. Some ns would require some time toe to fruition, while others had more short-term benefits than others. One way or another, each n granted Michael a tiny power-up.

    That was all Michael sensed when his main body''s eyes shot open. Thest remnants of the Primordial Curse enveloped him, shrouding Michael from the weave of the universe as long as possible. He stretched his body and savored the abundance of power coursing through his veins. If he had considered himself powerful when he fought the Volcano God, Michael would have tobel his current condition ''overpowered''. However, the betterparison was to assess his current state as a vast ocean while he was a mere pearl of water when he fought the Volcano God.

    That was how Michael felt at this moment.

    Each of his Soultrait Symbols had been upgraded to 10-Star, the Aethyr bound to his Soul Sphere was no more ¨C it was reced by Pure Aether entirely ¨Cand the tiny Divinities of the God Curses were now massive Divinities. It was important to note that the Divinities of the God Curses were grander than the originals. The God Curses noticed howpatible Michael was with their Divinities, but that was not the reason his Divinities were grander than the Original. Godly Faith was the main reason his Divinities wererger than they should have been, and the bound Soultrait Symbols pushed to 10-Star was one of the minor reasons the Divinities dared grow beyond their intended size.

    Up until now, the God Curses were surprised about Divinities'' sizes, the power umted within them, and Michael''spatibility to them.

    However, the size and power of the Nature Heart were also surprising. It was no longer a Divinity Fragment but had transformed into a proper Divinity, which was connected to the core of the Untamed Jungle. The Untamed Jungle was now considered Michael''s main Divinity. The whole region was his Divinity, as the flora and fauna connected to the core of his Divinity fueled it with power. The Nature Divinity was still growing. After all, the Untamed Jungle never ceased growing, either.

    "It feels good to be back," Michael chuckled, turning left and right. No one was there. Not even Loki was anywhere close. Seer allowed him to see everything in theary system and beyond, but nothing existed. No one was anywhere nearby.

    [You were never bored, so don''t act like you disappeared for centuries or even millennia! Your secondary body took care of your boredom. You even spent your daughter''s childhood with her. Don''t even think about telling us how much you have missed in thest two decades. You didn''t miss anything!] Fenrir growled, but the wolf didn''t mean anything bad with it.

    Michael chuckled lightly and felt his fully grown connection with the Beast God Curse. He closed his eyes for a moment and sensed his Divinities, Soultraits, the Pure Aether, his Soul Sphere, and every single Link of Loyalty in great detail. When he opened his eyes again, Michael smiled vibrantly.

    "I am notining. But even if I were, what would you do about it, Fenrir?" Michael smiled, only for the wolf to sneer. [What''s your n? Our father is nowhere to be seen. The Rebels must have had their fight with the Primal Pantheon already. That means¡­you can either search the Primal or attract their attention by going crazy.] Jormungandr hissed.

    But Hel added, [I don''t want to confuse you, but your Divinities are still not part of the universe''s weave. That means¡­you are not a god yet ording to the weave.]

    "Which makes no sense. The Volcano God was powerful in the past but at my current level¡­I would consider the Volcano God no more than a puny ant."

    [It doesn''t make sense, yes. But maybe there is a limit we didn''t take into consideration before. Fenrir, Hel, and I are still connected to the weave. Fenrir''s connection is the weakest since he was severed from the weave the longest, but the connection exists nheless. I think our connection to the weave prevents your Divinities from binding to the weave. It should be simr with the Nature Heart. It is connected to the Untamed Jungle, part of the Origin Expanse rather than the weave. Therefore, your Divinities are already connected to other entities rather than to you.]

    "Do I need the connection to the weave? No, I don''t. It is merely a measurement by the Primal tobel someone as dangerous or not. That being said, the Primal should have a much harder time sensing me and my powers. That''s good."

    [Do you want to wait for our father to hunt the first Primal?] Fenrir asked, unable to conceal the excitement in his voice.

    But Michael shook his head.

    "I have something far more entertaining up my sleeves," he responded. What do you think about crushing the Supreme Human Alliance once and for all?"

    [Don''t you want to wait for Selena and the others to keep cleansing Blood Incursion from the Hyuman poption?] Jormungandr asked to which Michael nodded approvingly.

    "Of course. I am going to kill those holding the SHA together. There is no need to obliterate entireary systems now that I''m strong enough to breeze through their ranks to reach those who''re responsible for all of this!"

    [You''re removing the head of the snake rather than its tail. That''s smart.] Hel said, only for Jormungandr to hiss.

    [Sorry.] Hel added, but the hint of amusement in her voice didn''t go unnoticed.

    "Let''s behead the Supreme Human Alliance and get rid of them once and for all!"

 Chapter 1048 Demis

    ?

    1048 Demis

    Michael had no need to be afraid any longer. He used Slipstream and teleported straight into the center of the Supreme Human Alliance''s territory and looked around with Seer. True Vision unraveled the secrets of the SHA''s core, but Michael paid little attention to them. He released a few Emperor Qi Spears into the surroundings, destroying countless massive structures in their wake before turning to a massive.

    The Hyuar was one of thergests Michael had seen until now. More than 300 billion Hyumans, including more than 1,000 Demi Gods, lived on it. The Demi Gods were the strongest and the oldest powerhouses of the Hyuman race, who had rejected godhood. They learned from the ''mistakes'' of their ancestors and decided against bing gods.

    Despite that, their Divinities were fully formed and missed only an insignificant trigger to push the Demi Gods toward godhood. Still, the Demi Gods didn''t trigger their ascension.

    "Come out," Michael called softly Toward Hyuar, using Whispering Energy with pure energy to speak to the old powerhouses of the Supreme Human Alliance. He waved his hand with a smile, opening more than a thousand portals leading to the Demi Gods in unison.

    His head flicked left, where he conjured a massive teau using the Gxies of Elements. He could have scaled the teau using Imperial Barrier, but Michael couldn''t be bothered. There was no need to do this much. The Demi Gods wouldn''t

    "I don''t have all day. You can message your ancestors and ask for help, but that doesn''t mean I will wait for them to arrive. If you don''te to me, I wille for your lives," Michael said through Whispering Energy again, "But don''t think I will stop with your deaths. I will capture your beloved first and tear them apart in front of you if you don''te here. But who knows...maybe you guys like that kind of torture, considering you''ve invented Blood Incursion and spread it through the rows of your brethren." Michael sneered in disgust. His patience was running low, and he stayed calm. Atst, the first Demi Gods emerged from the portals, afraid of the horrifying acts their enemy was willing tomit to their beloved.

    "You won''t do anything to our families, will you?" One of the Demi Gods, an elderly man with a long, greyish-silver beard, asked.

    "I don''t care about your families," Michael shook his head, "As long as they''re not responsible for Blood Incursion or its spread, that is."

    One of the Demi Gods winced softly but Michael ignored him. His attention returned to Hyuar, precisely the position the wincing Demi God came from, and he activated Perfect Enhancement on Seer to see everything he had to see through True Vision.

    Fury emerged in his eyes when he saw massive factories preparing the Blood Incursion serum for the newest generation unfold before him. He conjured thousands of Emperor Qi Swords. Michael inserted mythical and purgatory mes into the Emperor Qi Spears and hurled them at the ginormous without hesitation. Some Demi Gods feared for the lives of their beloved and moved to block the Emperor Qi Spears, but Michael erected some Imperial Barriers to block them. The Demi Gods'' fists smashed into the Imperial Barriers but didn''t budge an inch.

    "Don''t even try," Michaelmented coldly, "The Blood Factories and everyone rted to them will die no matter what you do. If you keep trying to stop me, I might end up killing them slowly and painfully. Keep intercepting, and everyone will die after endless hours of torture!"

    The more he said, the more anger filled Michael''s voice. He cursed softly and added bits of Death Authority into an Emperor Qi Spear, which he hurled at the first Demi God who had moved.

    The Demi God blocked the attack with arge glowing shield, or tried to, when it shattered into countless fragments. The ck spear prated the shield and impaled the Demi God where the Death Authority spread rapidly. The Demi God shrieked in pain, an inhuman sound that shook the cores of everyone present, and writhed for a few seconds in space before his movements stopped.

    Michael shrugged nonchntly. He didn''t expect Demi Gods to be strong enough to block 10-Star Emperor Qi, even less when augmented with Death Authority.

    At this point, every possible property of Michael''s existence was leagues above the Demi Gods. His bare hands were enough to crush the Demi Gods, yet instead of humiliating them in death Michael chose to give them an honorable death. At least in death, they could be honorable.

    More and more Demi Gods appeared through the Slipstream portals. Some hesitated, while others were prepared to engage in battle right away. However, nobody expected Michael to do anything. He didn''t even pay attention to them as his eyes locked onto Hyuar.

    "I don''t think I want to know how many thousands of years y''all spend enving your brethren, corrupting pure human races who didn''t even want to be part of your alliance, and nurturing this disgusting mindset everyone at the SIA follows as if their lives depend on it. I really don''t want to know it. Still, I..." His voice cracked for the first time in a long time.

    Complex emotions surged through his being as True Vision unraveled the feelings of those who had unknowingly been imprisoned for centuries. They lived their lives in Hyuar, theary systems, and the gxies that had been conquered and colonized by the Supreme Human Alliance, thinking they were free and did something great by supporting the Sha. They thought their actions would help transform the universe into a better ce, but they did not realize that the opposite was the case.

    Michael was going to solve the Supreme Human Alliance''s main issues today by killing all of its powerhouses.

    He was mantled in dozens of Imperial Barriers, blocking the bombardment of hundreds of attacks that caused no damage. The Demi Gods were trying hard, but

    Michael ignored them until thest of them arrived.

    Every Demi God residing: the SHA''s core was there, standing on the massive teaus, throwing attacks at him.

    However, Michael just smiled.

    "I hope some of your ancestors wille to rescue you," He chuckled, "But they will be toote no matter what."

    He craned his neck slowly before calling on the power of Death. His right eye transformed into a milky-white eye while his left shifted into a serpentine slit, and

    two Perfect Soul Techniques were used simultaneously.

    Basilisk''s Petrification and Vision of the Dead were used through Hel and Jormungandr. Michael didn''t even bother tapping into his Divinity as the God Cursesn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    unleashed their power.

    More than a dozen Demi Gods dropped dead to the ground instantly, and the rows behind them suffered greatly as well. They stared at Michael in utter shock, unable to understand how a 9th Tier Demi God could cause so much damage.

    Mind Reader, once it reached 10-Star, could read the minds of those in his range

    naturally. He didn''t even have to touch them.

    "A mere Demi God? Maybe you''re thinking about yourself and your people. However, I

    am not a mere Demi God," Michaelughed.

    "I am the one who will beat the Primal. I was strong enough to fight gods two decades ago. Who the hell do you think you are to believe you can defeat me?!"

 Chapter 1049 Death to the Supreme Human Alliance

    Chapter 1049 Death to the Supreme Human Alliance

    Michael speared a few Demi Gods after weakening them with Basilisk''s Petrification and Vision of the Dead. The two techniques took our more than two dozen enemies and weakened an even greater batch of powerhouses.

    They tried blocking his attacks and weakening Michael, but the difference in power was too great. That was the difference between someone with multiple Divinities, which were all on par with the Divinities of Major Gods, if not stronger after Godly Faith augmented everything rted to Michael.

    Michael tapped the space underneath him lightly, creating a small tform which he kicked to vanish into thin air. His hands transformed into Aether ws, which cut through the chests and throats of three Demi Gods before they could react. Michael used Slipstream once and appeared on the other side of the teau where the Aether ws pierced through the throats of two more Demi Gods.

    He unleashed a fury of fireballs through space and shot countless earth spikes through the massive teau. Michael allowed some Demi Gods to hit him afterward to test his defenses and the River of Vigor''s power at 10-Star, but the Demi Gods were too weak to prate his skin. One of them tried piercing his eye, but even his eyeballs were too sturdy to be pierced. That part surprised Michael a little. He expected his eyeballs to be too soft to repel the spear thrust of a Demi God. The spear de had been sharp enough to cut through almost everything except Michael''s body.

    Beast Halo at 10-Star was also very interesting to use. He conjured the Halos of the Beast God Curses and added the Red Dragon, Sun Demos, and the Elemental Empress as well. Even though his tamed monsters weren''t nearby, Michael could summon Beast Halos of them. The Beast Halos were much stronger than expected. Thebined power of Sun Demos and Zeroa''s Halos was enough to fight one Demi God head-on and defeat him all while the Red Dragon fought multiple Demi Gods.

    The God Curses'' Halos were even more terrifying. Theirbat prowess was terrific, dealing tremendous damage to dozens of Demi Gods, whom Michael could kill easily. Everyone was distracted by the sudden appearance of three God Curses, a massive red dragon, and two more pseudo-mythical creatures.

    Michael used Beast Halo a second time when the duration had worn off the first time, but he applied Perfect Enhancement, which was what Greater Enhancement evolved into as it reached 10-Star on Beast Halo. Unlimited Enhancement would have pushed the Beast Halos to an even higher level, but Michael was not in a rush. On the contrary, he was waiting patiently, hoping a few Demi Gods would survive long enough to witness the death of the Hyuman ancestors who had attained godhood eons ago.

    Unfortunately, the Demi Gods died too quickly. Michael gave his utmost to hold back and participate as little as possible in the battle without getting found out, but that turned out far more difficult than expected. Still, almost 38 Demi Gods survived when a bunch of bloody hoodlums appeared to rescue their descendants and the entire Supreme Human Alliance.

    "You guys look like you have been escaping death for a while now," Michael joked, looking at the handful of gods, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere. However, that wasn''t the case. All they did was appear at the border of theary system through a Godly Artifact and rush over to them.

    To everyone else, it looked like they appeared out of thin air, but Michael saw through their moves. He was far from impressed. Their speed was low, and the things he saw through True Vision were a great disappointment. "Shut up,ggard!" One of them bellowed, but he coughed up blood a momentter.

    Michael raised an eyebrow and looked at the Demi Gods while pointing at their gods, "So¡­these idiots are your rescue squad? The emergency line if something goes wrong in the Supreme Human Alliance? That''s funny."

    The gods looked funny. Their hair was disheveled and their once-pristine clothes ¨C or what Michael presumed to have once been pristine ¨C was now torn and dirty. None of the gods was unscathed either. Each and everyone had sustained several deep cuts, with one missing an arm and another one missing an eye and an ear.

    They looked like they had been beaten ck and blue.

    "If I had known y''all have been partying with someone else, I wouldn''t have waited this long," Michael snickered, ignoring the anger on the gods'' faces. Their expression distorted as Michael''s Essence erupted. "Run!!" One of the gods shouted at the Demi Gods, but it was already toote.

    The color drained from the Demi Gods'' faces as the sensation of imminent death washed over them. It wasn''t overwhelming at first but intensified the moment their ancestors shouted for them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The world around the Demi Gods turned ck, just like their veins. Their skin turned deadly white, and not even a full second passed before Michael''s Death Essence drained their life. Their eyeballs popped open, and it wasn''t long before their desperate screams resounded.

    Atst, their throats exploded, releasing a gooey mass into the wide-open space.

    "That was fun," Michaelmented lightly, his head flicking to the gods.

    "Who''s next?" He asked, but instead of waiting for a reaction from the gods, Michael moved first.

    He slipped behind the god he considered to be the most hot-tempered via Slipstream and created a spear from Pure Aether. Michael used Foundation Break for the first time in two decades and activated the Serpent Seals ¨C a handful ¨C at the same time. Both moves might be a little bit over the top against a mere god, but to demonstrate his power, Michael had to show them what he was capable of.

    He thrust the spear through the back of the god''s head before he could turn around. The thrust was quick and deadly, killing the god on the spot.

    "Pure Aether is truly powerful," Michaelmented while releasing his energy into the surrounding space to collect the corpses of all Demi Gods and the dead god.

    He smiled gently at the remaining gods.

    "Sorry about your friend, but he deserved it. Just like every single one of you."

    Michael disappeared again, but instead of reappearing behind anyone, Michael increased the distance to the gods. He tilted his head and looked around. The gods were about to attack when they noticed the tension revolving around Michael. His head flicked left and right, and his victorious smile was reced by confusion.

    A middle-aged man appeared next to Michael with a faint smile. He was covered in bruises and deep gashes ¨C a portion of his leg was missing as well. "Looks like someone beat the living shit out of you," Michaelmented, retrieving a fraction of the supreme healing serum he had umted in thest two decades.

    The man, Major God if one wanted to call him as such, smiled thankfully at Michael before turning to the other neers.

    "Thest decade was a little harsh on us. But it''s a good thing the Primal Pantheon is better with words than their fists." Loki joked in return as the wounds all over his body mended. He was healing at a ridiculous pace thanks to River of Vigor.

    Michael turned around and saw many unfamiliar faces but also some he''d gotten to know. Using Mind Reader, Michael knew instantly how to differentiate friend from foe. With that in mind, Michael used Slipstream to open a few portals through which he lead more supreme healing serum. The portals led to the Rebels, who were d about Michael''s powerful healing ability.

    "I consider this a gift. You brought a bunch of presents to me," Michael said lightly. He shrugged and nced at the gods of the Primal Pantheon, "Enough dolls to test my powers on!"

 Chapter 1050 Sacrifices

    Chapter 1050 Sacrifices

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Forcefully entering the minds of the gods around him was evil, but it provided Michael with the information he needed to move forward. Not only did he find out which gods were part of the Primal Pantheon, but he also learned about their powers, thoughts, and generally what had happened.

    "To think you guys were busy fighting for almost two decades. That''s impressive," Michaelmented, ignoring the thoughts shing through his mind.

    [And embarrassing. That is what you wanted to add. It is impressive and embarrassing.] Fenrir growled in agreement. [Since when is father so weak? I wasn''t much stronger than him when I was at my peak, but to think father has gotten this rusty¡­that''s actually embarrassing.]

    [I don''t like the way Fenrir words this, but I agree. Why are they so weak? A few Rebels are missing, while almost all gods of the Primal Pantheon are still alive. Even your healing won''t change the tide of the battlefield.] Jormungandr added, only for Hel to shake her head.

    [I can sense the dead Rebels.] Just as Hel''s words resounded, Michael sensed them as well. He taped into the Death Authority andbined Death with the Soul Grimoire to reach out. The death of the gods oozed from them and entered Michael''s body, where they integrated into his system. The Deaths fused into him and enhanced him, slowly pushing his Energy Vortex to the Peak of TIer-9. The process was rather slow at first but elerated quickly.

    The Primal Pantheon''s gods noticed the massive flood of energy entering Michael''s body and responded with a barrage of attacks. However, the Rebels blocked all attacks long before the enemy attacks reached Michael.

    "We needed some scapegoats to pull the Primal Pantheon gods to you when you wake up. They sacrificed themselves to provide you with their Essences. Right now, you might think that was unnecessary, and they shouldn''t have done that, but you will quickly realize how much Essence you need to kill the Primal," Loki said dead-serious, taking Michael by surprise.

    "We were also unsure how strong you would be once the Primordial Curse and Evesting Blessing had been consumed. We knew you wouldn''t be able to flee after Bestikal''s sacrifice, and the oldest of the Rebels decided to sacrifice their Essences to ensure your victory. Savor their Essence and grow strong enough to¡­"

    Sleipnir appeared beside Michael and neighed, "And kill those bastards. Thisary system has been sealed. The Primal Pantheon''s gods won''t be able to flee anymore. Use this opportunity and devour every single one of them."

    Michael''s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he nodded.

    [You need their Essences. They must have left them alive for you to kill and consume all the gods of the Primal Pantheon. Their Essences, once consumed and annexed, will be the death of the Primal. That''s brilliant!] Fenrir said, only for Michael to sneer.

    ''You were bullshitting about your father behind his back a moment ago.''

    [Yes, yes. Forget about that and devour those disgusting Primal Pantheon gods!]

    Michael had something to say ¨C a lot, to be precise ¨C but he stayed silent and nodded instead. Now was not the time for such a discussion. It was time to kill a few gods. Precisely, many gods!

    "You better be fast. The Beast God Cycle won''tst long now that the Primal must have sensed our presence amid the weave. It was probably only for a few seconds, but they know it now. We will help you as much as we can, but stalling everyone for two decades was exhausting. You better act fast and decisively. The Primal will not give you much time!"

    Michael was unsure what exactly happened, but that uncertaintysted only for a moment. He read Loki''s mind via 10-Star Mind Watcher only to realize what the Rebels had done and how much they relied on him and his actions in the next few minutes.

    [They depend on you for¡­everything. The future of the universe will be decided in the next few minutes. How do you feel? Are you happy? Stressed out? Overjoyed?] ''Shut up, Fenrir!'' Michael cursed before using Curse Fusion with the God Curses Divinities. His body bulged as the serpent scale amor grew all over his body. However, instead of looking dark green like before, the serpent-scale armor was pitch-ck with vibrant green frames. The vibrant green frames fused into the serpent scales and looked like vividly pulsating veins that granted the scales life. That was what it felt like to Michael, who channeled Jormungandr''s Power, Authority, and Nature Divinity through them.

    The right side of his body wasn''t as lively as the left side. The frames were deadly pale, and his right eye looked like someone had blinded him centuries ago. The Death Authority was overflowing from his right side and oozed from every inch of his body ¨C only the right side, of course. His hair expanded, his teeth grew sharper and longer, and his left eye transformed into the golden eye of a deadly predator. His fingers transformed into deadly ws, and massive fangs burst through his knuckles. The serpent tail of the World Serpent burst through the serpent scale armor, which regenerated rapidly, covering the serpent tail with a secondyer of protection.

    Michael was about to move when golden liquid trickled through the minuscule openings of the serpent-scale armor. That was a surprise, yet it could also be used to his advantage. Michael solidified the Extraction Essence before ushering the God Curses to grant him as much power as possible. Simultaneously, he annexed and nurtured the Death and Essences of the gods who had sacrificed themselves for this very moment. Micahel was still unsure if their sacrifices had been worth it, but he would certainly not question them aloud and humiliate them in death. On the contrary, Michael embraced their Death and Essence to acquire as much of their power as possible. He would certainly need as much power as possible against the Primal.

    That much was certain.

 Chapter 1051 Death to the Gods I

    1051 Death to the Gods I

    Pure Aether gushed through his pores, covering his ws and fangs as Michael applied Emperor Qi on them. He kicked the space underneath and transformed into a sh.

    The Major Gods and others saw his movements, but the Minor Gods among the Primal Pantheon couldn''t follow his moves. Michael separated the Minor and Major Gods via Seer and True Vision. He inspected everyone''s reaction to his charge and learned enough about the gods to know whom he could attack and which gods were strong enough to block his attacks.

    He''d activated the Death Seals, the Serpent Seals, and the Cursed Seals but had yet to use any Soul Techniques or Soullife Arts. Michael chose to keep them hidden a little longer while getting rid of the Minor Gods. That was exactly what he did. Michael manifested hundreds of Imperial Barriers to block the Major Gods for a second or two as he appeared before one of the Minor Gods. The Divinities of the three God Curses burst out of Michael, shrouding the Minor God and restraining him. Michael''s fangs, coated in Pure Aether and Emperor Qi, pierced deep into the Minor God. The fangs cut deep into the Minor God''s heart, which was enough for Pure Aether to deal the finishing blow.

    The Minor God groaned in pain and went as white as a sheet when Michael twisted the fang in his heart. Michael went one step further as an idea popped up in his mind. He shifted the Pure Aether and transformed the tip of the serpentine fang into a hook. All it took was enough brute force, which Michael possessed, to rip the Minor God''s heart out of his chest while he was still alive.

    Grotesque sounds reverberated throughout the vicinity, but Michael cared little about them. He shapeshifted the Pure Aether again to remove the heart from the fang and turned around while studying every little move around him. Michael saw an opportunity when a Minor God gathered his Essence to do something. The Essence umted in the chest of the Minor God was enough to harm a Major God and thus required his full attention.

    Michael slipped behind the Minor God, breaking the god''s concentration. He was about to spin around, but it was already toote. Michael''s ws pierced through the Minor God''s neck. The tips of the ws jut out from the other side, and again, Michael shapeshifted the Pure Aether within the enemy and twisted it.

    "Isn''t that way too slow?" Michaelmented lightly as he ripped the Pure Aether-d ws out of the Minor God''s neck. The Minor God was severely injured, but a few holes in his neck and throat weren''t enough to kill him. That''s how Michael ended up retracting the fangs and ws, transforming them back to how his hand would have looked if it was only shrouded in the serpent scales.

    Michael''s hands reached out, the serpent scales cracking as he stretched his blood-covered hands lightly. The corner of his lips twirled upward when silver liquid poured from his palms. The Pure Aether trembled violently as it gushed into the surrounding space before it was pulled together andpressed into two sabers. The transformation didn''tst long. Only a quarter of a second psed before his hands had transformed back to their original appearance, and two Pure Aether Sabers appeared in them. However, that was enough time for some Major Gods. They shattered the Imperial Barriers and set off to attack Michael. However, the Rebels blocked their advances before they could reach Michael.

    Michael took advantage of that and used Foundation Break, the Perfect version of the Soul Technique Heavenly Beast Physique, and applied severalyers of Perfect Enhancement to his body.

    He could have added the Authorities and Laws of his Divinities, but he left that job for his God Curses. Even then, his God Curses didn''t have to waste much of their precious Essences against the Primal Pantheon. Their Essences were needed against the Primal. That being said, the God Curses consumed a portion of the Death and Essences provided by the Rebels, who had sacrificed themselves.

    The rest fused with Michael and his Divinities, slowly empowering him permanently. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael''s presence skyrocketed once he used the Soullife Arts and Soul Technique simultaneously. He had more than enough Soul Power to use both and more Soul Techniques for weeks. Still, he tapped into a little bit more power to increase the power output of Foundation Break and created a massive explosion the moment he kicked the space underneath him.

    His presence and actions spread shivers down the spines of everyone in the vicinity, but Michael cared little about their reaction. He whisked past one of the Major Gods engaged in a fight with Loki and cut through his neck and deep into his chest with the two Pure Aether Sabers. Michael shot past the Major God but used Slipstream to appear on the other side next to him again. The second attack was enough to sever the Major God''s head and pierce his heart. A momentter, Michael teleported back to the Minor God with a few holes in his neck and dealt the finishing blow as well. Every attack he executed stirred the fabric of space and reality. His movements send shockwaves into the surrounding, no matter how little he moved.

    Michael didn''t notice it, but he could clearly tell the vignce with which the surrounding gods looked at him. However, instead of paying much attention to that, Michael focused on his fight. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Michael used his body''s full potential. He was stronger than the Minor Gods even without the Soul Techniques, Soultraits, and Soullife Arts, but with them actively utilized, Michael appeared next to the Minor Gods, the sabers stuck in their hearts and throats even before they realized what was happening.

    The Death were absorbed by Hel, while Swallow Domain was unleashed whenever one of the gods died. Their Essences threatened to disperse into the surroundings and integrate into the weave, but that wasn''t possible. First, the weave was separated from thisary system for a few minutes, holding the Primal back, and second¡­Michael devoured the gods'' corpses before their Essences could spread.

    Once consumed by Swallow Domain, Extraction jumped into action, removing the Essences within the gods'' corpses. The Essence was extracted and inserted into Michael''s body, where they were annexed, transforming Michael''s body.

    Maybe the corpses of more than 100 gods ¨C Minor and Major ¨C weren''t enough to transform him into an existence overflowing Essences, but it would surely narrow the distance to the Primal!

    That was what Michael did. He shed through theary system, his top speed increasing with every second as he got used to the constant, yet subtle, increases in power. He didn''t even stop to kill the Minor Gods of the Primal Pantheon. All Michael did was to let his velocity, power, and the Pure Aether Sabers ¨C enhanced and sharpened with Unlimited Enhancement and Emperor Qi ¨C to behead the Minor Gods, cut them in half, and pierce through their hearts.

    The Essences of the Minor Gods stirred in a desperate measure to block Michael''s assaults but they failed miserably.

    Not even a full minute psed since Michael started for real when thest Minor God fell victim to Pure Aether.

    All that left was the Minor Gods.

    They were the next to die.

    Only the Primal were left after that!

 Chapter 1052 Death to the Gods II

    1052 Death to the Gods II

    The Rebels were fewer than the Primal Pantheon. They had always been fewer. However, they had never been weaker than the Primal Pantheon. The sole reason the Rebels never beat the Primal Pantheon were the Primal. They had been the Pantheon''s safe haven whenever the Rebels attacked the Pantheon. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    However, something changed two decades ago. The Primordial Curse, the strongest being supporting the Rebels, disappeared. The Primal Pantheon attacked the Rebels in the isted dimension and sealed the ce to block their enemies from fleeing and requesting reinforcement.

    But that was something the Rebels never wanted to do. They knew the Primordial Curse wouldn''te for their help and that there was no one left in the weave to help them. Many gods and other powerful beings may spread through the weave, but most of them chose to retain their neutral stance.

    They didn''t like the Primal and did not acknowledge their actions, but they weren''t willing to join the Rebels either. They liked their restrained lives enough not to bother fighting for more freedom. Some were also too afraid of the Primal, knowing their power would never beparable.

    The Rebels thought differently. While they knew they would never be strong enough to defeat the Primal, they didn''t give up. They chose to wait for the perfect vessel over for eons and prepared everything needed to grant the vessel the power he/she required to kill a Primal.

    That was also how the Rebels and Primal Pantheon ended up in the Supreme Human Alliance''s core system. Theary system may not have been within their n, but the Beast God Cycle and other mechanisms had been created and perfected over thousands of years to temporarily separate aary system from the weave, blocking the Primal from entering and everyone within theary system from entering.

    [You have four minutes left for stage one.] Jormungandr announced.

    ''Stage one? You mean the death of the Primal Pantheon?'' Michael asked, to which the God Curses within him responded by unleashing their Divinities. No more words were needed. It was time to kill as many as possible.

    The Halos of the three God Curses manifested around Michael and engulfed him. Their curse power and Essences surged into Michael, pushing his strength even further. His left hand glowed vibrant gold while Death gushed from his right hand. The Power of Extraction and the Death Authority pulled toward the Pure Aether Sabers and fused with them, further augmenting Michael''s weapons.

    However, that was only the beginning. The Power Authority and the Law of Poison from Jormungandr also jumped into action. The Law of Poison pulled toward the Pure Aether Sabers, whereas the Power Authority enhanced Michael''s strength even further. He teleported to thergest group of Major Gods and transformed into a multicolored whirlwind, each movement releasing a stronger shockwave than the other.

    Michael did not go out of the way to deal lethal blows to the Major Gods. Instead, small cuts were enough to injure the Major Gods deeply. If struck by the golden Pure Aether Saber, the Major Gods would be cut and poisoned, and their essences would be drained as well. On the other hand, the Death Pure Aether Sword would inflict an affliction of Death to the wound caused by Pure Aether and also poison the target.

    The Law of Poison was not as effective on Major Gods as it would have been on Minor Gods, let alone DemI Gods, who would have died on the spot, but thebination of cutting the Major Gods with Pure Aether, inflicting either the Power of Extraction or a Death Affliction and oneyer of poisoning was enough to leave somesting damage.

    In the first ce, the Power Authority allowed Michael to cut deep enough into his enemies to leave somesting scars,bined with his other Laws and Authorities, Michael transformed every minor injury into a severe wound.

    The Major Gods didn''t notice the damage in the first moment. Michael''s attacks barely scratched them, leaving them with enough time to gather their Divinity and retaliate. A sma beam, a st from the Law of Air, and several deadly blows impacted, shredding Michael''s body into bits and pieces, but he was already prepared for that. He had seen what would happen through Seer''s Perfect Prediction and prepared enough supreme healing serum and Unlimited Enhancement applied to River of Vigor for the moment of impact. Of course, Michael could have evaded most attacks, but he was willing to risk his life and sustain heavy injuries to initiate a counterattack. He was not afraid of pain and watched calmly as the attacks reached him. They collided with his body, tore the serpent scale armor into shreds, severed his arm and transformed his body into a swiss cheese at once.

    But before the Major Gods could exim in joy, Michael surprised them. The Nature Divinity gushed out of Michael explosively alongside supreme healing serum. Michael healed faster than the Major Gods had gathered their Essences to hurt him. He was back at his prime, still wielding his Pure Aether Sabers, when he disappeared. He slipped to those who''d attacked him and cut them deeply several times in quick session. The shockwaves reverberated throughout the entireary system, plowing deep cuts in the surface of the surroundings, but Michael paid only attention to the Major Gods.

    His eyes glimmered dangerously.

    "I got you!"

    Michael caught something in the corner of his eyes, which he took advantage of right away. Sleipnir had been fighting with one of the injured Major Gods ¨C almost all of them had already sustained some injuries, but some of them were hit much harder from the two-decade-long fight against the Reels ¨C and pushed him back.

    When the Major God was pushed back, he spit up blood which he tried using with his Blood Authority to defeat Sleipnir with one powerful move. However, Michael was already beside him, the poisoned Extraction Aether Saber and the Death Aether Saber sticking out of the Major God''s chest.

    "Never leave your back unprotected," Michael said lightly, twisting the des before ripping them sideways out of the Major God.

    The Blood God released his authority to retaliate, but Michael wasn''t having it. His sabersbined into a spear in a smooth motion right before the spear de pierced through the back of the Blood God''s head, shattering his skull and brain in one go.

    "Did you really think that was going to work? You should have retired instead of ying with youngsters!"

 Chapter 1053 Death to the Gods III

    Chapter 1053 Death to the Gods III

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael''s time was running out, but he wasn''t too worried about it. More than a dozen Major Gods had been killed and devoured, and the Rebels'' advantage increased steadily. The tides of the battle were in their favor, especially after every member of the Primal Pantheon had been cut more than a dozen times with Pure Aether.

    Michael didn''t use his Pure Aether alone. He could have done so, but that would have been foolish. Instead, he shared his Pure Aether with the Rebels. He supplied them with more Pure Aether whenever he created Slipstream portals to heal them with River of Vigor''s supreme healing serum. Both substances were vibrant silver and thus hard to distinguish. Some Major Gods noticed that his supreme healing serum was odd, but nobody thought about Pure Aether when they saw how easily the silver serum healed the Rebels. That being said, the Major Gods realized way toote how dangerous the Rebels had grown now that they were with Michael.

    First of all, Michael helped every Rebel to coat their weapons with Pure Aether, inflicting semi-permanent injuries no matter how faint the wounds were. Second, he healed the Rebels constantly, ensuring their well-being with shocking precision.

    Third, Perfect Enhancement contained enough Soul Power to use Unlimited Enhancement more than five thousand times within five minutes ¨C longer if Michael used Permute on the remaining Void Ingots stored in Swallow Domain. Pure Aether, River of Vigor, and Perfect Enhancement ¨C Unlimited Enhancement since he used the Soul Technique ¨C were enough to drastically elevate the Rebel''sbat prowess. They''d pushed the Major Gods of the Primal Pantheon to the brink of death or killed them right away for Michael to devour.

    Michael didn''t pay much attention to them. Instead, he focused on keeping everyone alive. His understanding of the situation was simple. The Beast God Cycle would keep the Primal away for another minute, maybe even two. After that, the Primal would arrive. That was a problem if all Prmal were to arrive simultaneously, which was something Loki and the other Rebels would prevent. Michael trusted them but also ensured they would survive no matter what. They were needed at full power to block the remaining Primal, otherwise, their n would fair miserably.

    Michael took a deep breath and elerated again. He went up a gear or two, beheaded two Major Gods with a Slipstream teleport, swallowed their corpses with a burst of Jormungandr''s curse power, and moved onward. Most gods of the Primal Pantheon were beyond exhausted, which was clearly visible after they had been cut by Pure Aether and poisoned by Jormungandr''s Law of Poison. The Rebels did a great job at hurting other gods, which Michael abused by slipping through theary system like a slippery eel.

    He teleported dozens of times in a second and executed a few perfectly aimed shes, attacking the gods when they least expected it¡­where they least expected it. His attacks were deadly, but the Rebels dealt the finishing blow even when he didn''t kill them.

    "The Beast God Cycle is copsing!" One of the Rebel''s screamed at the top of his lungs.

    "Tell them we need longer!" Sleipnir roared back. More than 20 Major Gods of the Primal Pantheon were still alive, even if it didn''t look like it. At the same time, Michael needed a few more minutes to consume the Essences of the dead gods and their Death power. He was in dire need of a few more minutes. That much was clear.

    "They''re already burning through their reserves. All they can do is stall for one minute, maybe less, before they die." The Rebel responded to Sleipnir for everyone to hear. The Major Gods'' morale skyrocketed hearing that, but Michael wasn''t having it.

    He sighed deeply and tapped into his Divinities for the first time since the fight started. Before he''d used his Beast God Curses'' Divinities. Michael was done with that.

    A pristine golden beam shook theary system when he unlocked his Divinities, and his power skyrocketed. His body bulged as the Power Authority of his own Divinity fueled every cell, and the Death Authority and Law of Poison oozed from his palm. However, instead of being sickly hues or mist, the Authority and Law used through his Divinities were like the viscous liquid of Pure Aether. Michael pped his hands together, fusing Death and Poison in his palms. A momentter, the entireary system was d in gold. The power of Extraction filled everything. The storage of Swallow Domain was quickly drained of its Essences, fueling Michael''s body as he appeared beside one of the Major Gods.

    He didn''t attack the man and gently touched his neck instead. The Major God smiled a moment ago and stopped moving the next moment. His body writhed, and ill-looking verdant green veins appeared underneath his shrinking skin. It looked like his body copsed from lifeforce scarcity and poison overdose. Michael didn''t even nce at the dying Major God. He moved through theary system without Slipstream much faster than before. His head flicked left and right searching for the most efficient path as he shed past all Major Gods, only to barely touch them. He disappeared a moment after touching the Major Gods, but that was enough to kill them.

    They copsed in the middle of space, killing every single one of them before a cracking sound reverberated throughout theary system.

    The Beast God Cycle copsed, killing five Beast Gods instantly. Their pained screams were all that resounded as thest remnants of their Essence burned to cinder.

    Michael''s hair stood up to its end, and his head flicked left, where he discovered seven massive fissures. He saw four chubby beings ¨C one of them being the chubby Primal he''d encountered before ¨C and three lean, almost skinny Primal in those fissures.

    "Do you want me to fight all of them al¨C...." Michael couldn''t even finish his sentence when six Major Gods appeared before six fissures. They charged through them to fight and stall the Primal, sacrificing their lives, while thest Primal, one of the skinny Primal, stepped unscathed through the fissure.

    He appeared in theirary system and released a series of Essence Spears, impaling several Rebels instantly. Two Rebels died from the impact and were hurled through theary system, while the others stopped after passing one. Some crashed into Hyuar but returned with fury in their eyes.

    Michael paid little attention to them. His body was overflowing with tension as he eyed the skinny Primal.

    He thought Loki and the others would help him, but the Rebels pulled back, leaving him alone with the Primal.

    Instead, they reced the Beast Gods to activate a stronger version of the Beast God Cycle.

    The battlefield of the skinny Primal and Michael had been cleared. Nobody would interrupt them until one of them emerged victorious.

    ''This is the one Beelzebub fought, isn''t it?'' Michael asked, his eyes glowing faintly.

    [Yes, it is. Why are you asking?] Jormungandr asked.

    The corner of Michael''s lips curled upward.

    ''Because Beelzebub opened his mind for me to read.''

    A moment ago, Michael knew nothing about the skinny Primal.

    But now¡­right now, Michael knew more about the Primal than any other god!

 Chapter 1054 Primal Trap

    1054 Primal Trap

    "You''re blocking my path," One of the chubby Primal said. He was separated from his siblings, but that mattered. One of his siblings made it to the cancer of the universe and would crush it.

    "I know," Sleipnirmented lightly, "And I''m more than ready to dance with you."

    The chubby Primal frowned deeply and grasped the closest string of the weave. He tilted his head while staring at the Eight-legged horse.

    "You and the others blocked us intentionally. You allowed our weakest brother to enter before cutting the system from the weave again. That was intentional," The Primal realized, and he wasn''t the only one.

    The remaining five Primal facing five Major Gods of the Rebels came to the same conclusion. "You think Xerx will die? That a little bit of Pure Aether will be enough to kill our youngest? Do you really think that a youngster like this, Michael Fang, will be strong enough to fight one of us? One of the Primal?!" The chubby Primal chortled for a few good seconds before his expression turned serious again.

    "I sure you don''t expect to survive this fight¡ª..." The Primal tilted his head again, a smile blossoming on his lips, "Looks like one of yours was already killed. Did your Major Gods grow weaker or is everyone so weak because you have been fighting for thest two decades? Please don''t look at me like that. You look like a donkey. But then again, your appearance is quite disgusting from the get-go. How about it? Do you want to die right away, or do you want to wait until yourrades are also dead? I don''t think I''ve ever eaten horse meat of a Beast God. Do you taste good?"

    Sleipnir frowned deeply and neighed. The Primal was more talkative than expected, but that yed in his favor. The longer he and the other Major Gods could stall the Primal outside the istedary system, the better.

    "Are you sure my friend is dead?" Sleipnir asked, putting on a shit-eating grin while his body cracked loudly. All bones in his body began cracking as his physique shifted. The Eight-legged horse transformed slowly, its Essence integrating further into the weave. Sleipnir epted one of the authorities he had pushed aside for thousands of years. Atst, he epted his destined fate.

    The weave epted his choice and embraced Sleipnir as if praising him for his decision.

    Sleipnir finally epted his role as the Symbol of Travelers and Adventures. He acknowledged his existence by embracing the Explorer''s Authority and the Laws of the Realms.

    His body first expanded before itpressed against the eight-legged creature transformed into a humanoid creature. Sleipnir''s arms were coated in his expanding mane, his hooves slowly shifting into ws. The shape of his skull changed slowly and receded, but the Primal didn''t pay much attention to the transformation.

    The Primal was more stunned about the information he''d received. The Major God his sister had killed with a single blow, cutting him in half, was still alive. The Major God had reassembled his body after epting the Law of the Puppet and the Netherworld Authority.

    At first, it seemed like a coincidence that two Major Gods gained ess to new Laws and Authorities, but more news reached the Primal. They send quick messages to each other through the weave, only to sense how the six Major God''s connection to the weave grew stronger by the second.

    "You''ve umted Essence for¡­thousands of years¡­to integrate yourself more into the weave and ept several Laws and Authorities to¡­stall time for this little nobody?" The Primal was confused, which was something rtively new to the Sleeper. He studied Sleipnir''s metamorphed appearance and squinted his eyes.

    "But you don''t expect to win against me like this, do you?" The Primal asked.

    Sleipnir grinned vibrantly. It was a shit-eating grin, revealing bits and pieces about how the Horse God felt. After being forced to stay back and survive in what felt like a prison for eons, Sleipnir was finally free.

    "I might die fighting you and so will my friends, but you cannot stop us from using our Divinities, Laws, and Authorities to alter the weave permanently. No matter what you do, the weave will be altered forever," Sleipnirughed like a maniac.

    "If you fight us with all you''ve got, your Essence will change the weave too. But what happens if you leave us alive. Will you seal us away because you cannot defeat us without altering the weave forever? Can you do that after our power up? Can you defeat us without altering the weave? If you think so¡­go for it!!" "Come at me! Try me! But let me tell you one thing¡­" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sleipnir was silent for a few seconds and would have smiled even brighter if that had been possible when the Primal didn''t utter a single sound.

    "No matter what you do, the weave will be permanently altered today. The Primal might be powerful, the strongest beings in the universe, but they cannot influence the weave as they please. The weave is your mother, your father¡­your flesh and blood. It created you and your siblings. Yet, we can change it."

    "We can separate you, iste you¡­cut you out of the weave and take you apart little by little!"

    The Primal''s eyes widened at thest words. He wasn''t afraid of the Major Gods and didn''t fear the alteration of the weave as much as his siblings, but he realized the most crucial point only after Sleipnir pointed it out.

    "I¡­cannot sense Xerx anymore. What did you do to my brother!" The Primal hadn''t sensed his brother earlier when the Major Gods jumped at them through the fissures, but he and his siblings had been too busy observing the Major Gods as their Essences integrated into the depths of the weave. This rarely happened, which was why the Primal chose to witness the magnificent scenery unfolding before them.

    They had been too distracted to notice their brother''s Essence. Or rather, the disappearance of Primal Xerx''s Essence.

    He had been separated from the weave, though only temporarily.

    Still, it was the first time a Primal had been cut off the weave. Nobody, not even the Primal, knew what would happen to them once their connection to the weave was no more.

    They were about to find out!

 Chapter 1055 Primal Xerx

    Chapter 1055 Primal Xerx

    The skinny Primal weren''t weak, but they didn''t overflow with as much Essence as the chubbier ones. The weave didn''t abandon them but didn''t fill their reserves until every corner of their being was filled with Essence. Still, they were strong enough to contend with the Rebels even after they metamorphosed. The Primal had to be more careful now that their Essences could cause more damage. After all, their Essences were strong enough to destroy Laws and Authorities, something the Primal wanted to prevent if they did not wish to alter the weave too much.

    Once a Law or Authority infused into a Divinity was destroyed, the weave would have to be created again from scratch. However, after the weave had been altered, nobody could tell how much the recreation of the Laws and Authorities would change them. Even the recreation of the simplest Laws and Authority could change everything for the better or worse.

    The difficulty level increased drastically for the Primal, forcing them to fight their enemies more carefully. After all, they had to pay much more attention to their actions than the Rebels. The Rebels could go all-out!

    Nheless, the Primal weren''t dispirited. They had been the uncontended rulers of the weave since the beginning of time. That will not change today or anytime soon. It would never happen!

    As long Primal Xerx survived, that is.

    The situation in the istedary system looked a little different than expected. The Rebels were positioned at the border of the system, using their Essences to maintain the Weave Seal. It drained enough Essence and mental power from the Rebels to disarm them. Even if they wished to kill Primal Xerx, they could never focus on the Weave Seal and fight with full might against the Primal. Still, everyone stared at the Primal, their eyes glimmering in excitement.

    Did their n work? Theary had been separated from the weave with the Primal inside it. Thus, the Primal had to be separated from the weave as well¡­right?

    Everyone stared at the skinny Primal, the hope in their eyes stronger than ever. If this n failed, everything would be over. It was no wonder everyone grasped desperately on their hope.

    However, instead of seeing a flustered expression, or shock in Primal Xerx''s face, he studied Michael and the Rebels calmly.

    Primal Xerx was still overflowing with Essence.

    "Did we fail?" Someone asked, his hope cracking. Fortunately, Michael''s voice rang through the Rebels'' minds, encouraging them to keep going.

    [He was cut off from the weave. Keep the system separated from the weave as long as you can. I will take him down, but it might take a while.] The confidence in Michael''s voice invigorated the Rebels. Some were about to give up and resign to their fate, only to return to their peak condition from a few words. However, these words were worth much more than one may presume. They were everything to the Rebels.

    ''How is it possible to possess so much Essence? Aren''t Primal supposed to get leaner and skinnier when they fight and lose some of their Essence? Why does it feel like his Essence has beenpressed after the fight with Beelzebub?'' Michael asked the God Curses, but they were also unsure.

    [Maybe he''s been consuming the Essence of some gods¡­or straight from the source to replenish the Essence he lost against Beelzebub and the others only to notice that his appearance stays the same, or he never lost any Essence and has beenpressing his Essence contrary to whatever the other Primal have been doing.] Jormungandrmented.

    [Shouldn''t you know what he did? You have been busy rushing through Beelzebub''s memories for a while now.] Hel asked, but Michael didn''t have a good answer to offer.

    ''Something about Primal Xerx is different. He seems stronger yet weaker at the same time. His Essence looks stronger but given his appearance and some spots spread throughout his body ¨C areas indicating where Beelzebub has injured the Primal ¨C indicate the Primal never recovered from the injuries. Did Beelzebub use Pure Aether or something with a simr effect to fight Xerx?''

    The God Curses thought about it for a moment, but it was Michael who found the answer in Beelzebub''s mind.

    Before Beelzebub was killed and his Essence sealed in the Tatoo Soultrait, Symbol of Gluttony, the Demon God possessed several Authorities and Laws. The Law of Corruption, the Decay Authority, the Law of Destruction, and another Authority. The Authority of Oblivion. ''What a crazy bastard. He prepared those Laws and Authorities to deal with the Primal, didn''t he? To think that wasn''t enough to kill Xerx¡­oh Nevermind. Xerx received some help.''

    [He received help? From whom? Do you think he would have been strong enough to kill Primal Xerx if not for that help? Who helped him?] Fenrir tormented Michael with questions. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Xerx must have noticed something and impaled Michael with an Essence Spear. The Spear tore through the serpent scale armor and Michael''s heart, nearly killing him on the spot as the Primal''s Essence obliterated everything it touched.

    ''Don''t distract me, Fenrir! Shut up now, or we''ll all die!!''

    The God Curses went silent while The Nature Divinity and River of Vigorbined, putting Michael''s body back into one piece. He cursed softly, his eyes lingering on Primal Xerx.

    "It would have been a disappointment to kill you like this," Xerxmented, his t voice ringing through the vicinity.

    Michael shrugged and simultaneously teleported behind the Primal. He kicked the Primal fiercely into the side, his legs coated in spikes of Pure Aether. The spikes never touched the Primal, but they pierced his Essence as a wall of Essence erupted from the Primal.

    "You''re trying to kill me with your average kicks? You didn''t even use your Soultraits or energy to amplify the kick. That''s boring." The Primalmented, but Michael smiled.

    Seer, True Vision to be precise, showed Michael that the Primal, while he might have an abundance of Essence stored andpressed in his skinny body, he did not have the same infinite supply of power as the Primal connected to the weave. He had been cut off from the weave, severing his ess to the infinite supply of Essence from the weave. The spikes tearing into the Primal''s Essence showed that clearly.

    The Primal didn''t lose much Essence through the Essence wall since the Aether spikes didn''t tear deeply into the Essence, but there were some minor losses. That was enough for Michael.

    He could get started.

    A short glimpse in Loki''s direction told Michael everyone was fine. Primal Xerx hurled a few Essence Spears in their direction, but everyone could move freely. Maintaining the Weave Seal might drain their Essence and mental power, but it didn''t stop them from moving around. In fact, the Rebels moved around all the time, using unpredictable movements to make it harder to transform into easy-to-hit targets.

    Primal Xerx''s tongue clicked, which Michael used to teleprot again. He slipped through theary system a few times again, gathered Pure Aether all over his body, and added his Divinities again. He used Unlimited Enhancement on Beast Halo to summon the God Curses alongside the Red Dragon, Zeroa, and a Halo of Sun Demos. Sun Demos couldn''t move well in space, but given Beast Halo''s potency, all Halos were stronger than their norm.

    Michael weaved through the Halos as they gathered energy to attack, appeared above Primal Xerx, and punched him a few times. Pure Aether Knuckles covered his hands and transformed into tiny des right before impact.

    Primal Xerx didn''t think much about the punches and countered by grasping Michael at his abdomen ¨C one of his hands pierced through his abdomen while the other hand transformed into an Essence de ¨C and cut Michael in half. The lower half of Michael''s body disappeared while his punches impacted heavily. The Pure Aether knuckles did some damage but more importantly was the Poison Law, Power of Extraction, Power Authority, and Death afflictions used in his attack. The Power Authority increased the damage of the initial impact, thus cutting through more Essence than initially expected, whereas Insert was applies to the Poison, Extraction, and Death that had been applied to the knuckles.

    Several punches struck Primal Xerx, meaning Death, Poison, and threads of Extraction entered Primal Xerx''s body through six different spots.

    That might not seem like a lot, especially with Primal Xerx cleansing his body with Essence, but Michael''s Unlimited Enhancement and his Divinities didn''t go down just like that. Extraction drained some of Primal Xerx''s Essence before it was destroyed, and the Death Afflictions, as well as the poison of the Law of Poison, caused considerable damage.

    It might only look like six punches but the damage done to the Primal''s Essence storage was not as insignificant as one may think.

    ''This works better than expected.'' Michael thought, allowing Primal Xerx to rip his internal organs out of his body to teleport to his lower body.

    He reached for his lower body, unleashed Perfect Enhancement on River of Vigor, and used the Nature Divinity to mend his body. Primal Xerx''s eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed what was happening, and he turned to Michael, his expression dead serious.

    "I will tear you apart and feed you the Rebels!"

    Michael smiled through the Primal''s provocation. Provoking him was already an achievement in itself, but Michael was not yet done.

    He was just getting started!

 Chapter 1056 Same Old

    Chapter 1056 Same Old

    The Beast Halos attacked Primal Xerx while Michael''s body was put together. The Red Dragon, Zeroa, and Sun Demos caused little to no damage, but the Beast God Halos made up for that.

    Fenrir was about to swallow the Primal in one bite when Xerx released a shockwave of Essence. The shockwave sted Fenrir away, but not without the Wolf''s Extraction Essence draining the Primal''s Essence.

    Jormungandrpressed his body to look like a 50-meter-long serpent. He slithered quickly through the wide open space and dug his fangs deep into the Primal''s arms. At least as deep as Primal Xerx allowed him to go. Jormungandr''s fangs barely pierced Xerx''s skin thanks to the Power Authority increasing the impact and the Law of Poison burning through the Primal''s skin like high-quality acid.

    The poison ¨C Primordial-grade venom augmented by the Law of Poison, to be precise ¨C entered Xerx''s body and spread rapidly. It spread through the Primal''s arm, forcing Xerx to use his Essence, seal the poison, and expel it again.

    The poison couldn''t fight against the Primal''s Essence, but it was strong enough to corrode some of it.

    Last but not least, Hel cast several afflictions of Death upon the Primal. As a being that has lived since the beginning of time, the Primal has escaped death many times. Each sessful escape from a near-death situation increased the sess rate of inflicting a Death Affliction. Michael did not know how exactly it worked, but he saw Hel applying several Death Afflictions to the Primal. Xerx had to remove the Death Afflictions, but he conjured dozens of Essence Spears before anything else. The Essence Spears transformed into pristine shes when the Primal hurled them through theary system.

    The Beast Halos were destroyed on the spot, but not without the God Curses'' Halos gathering the Essences used to maintain their bodies the instant the Essence Spears reached them. The Essences within the Halos erupted to destroy the Essence Spears and damage the Essence upon impact. That worked more or less, draining more of the Primal''s Essence in the process.

    Michael slipped behind Primal Xerx as he cursed the destruction of several Essence Spears and shed him several times with his pair of Pure Aether Sabers. Just like before, Michael had infused the Power of Extraction in one saber and Death in the other saber while applying the Law of Poison to both.

    The Power Authority, added by Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, and Unlimited Enhancement, pushed his physical prowess to the peak. Despite that many augments, the Primal blocked his attacks. He created tens of Essence Shields simultaneously, only for each of them to get cut before Extraction, Death, and Poison jumped into effect.

    Every Essence Shield cut by the Pure Aether Saber lost a portion of its power instantly, yet the bigger damage was done through Poison, Death, and Extraction. Still, instead of ordering the Power of Extraction to drain as much Essence as possible instantaneously, Michael had used Unlimited Enhancement on Poison and Death, forcing Primal Xerx to remove them first.

    In the meantime, the Power of Extraction could spread across the Essence Shields, or what was left of them, before it drained the Essence within the shields rapidly. Everything had been augmented with Unlimited Enhancement, increasing the effect of his Divinities drastically. He drained a tremendous amount of Essence, which was only a minuscule fraction in the Primal''s storage.

    But that was fine. After all, every trace of Essence missing within the Primal weakened him, whereas Michael was growing stronger. After all, he was still consuming and annexing the Essence of roughly 100 Minor and Major Gods. Once he was done with that, Michael would have more than enough of the Primal''s Essence gathered to analyze and annex it as well. That being said, Michael''s strength increased by bits and pieces every minute while the Primal''s reserves would diminish slowly. Primal Xerx was bound to lose. All Michael had to do was keep going, slowly inflicting damage like he had always done. The strategy he had pursued since he manifested his War Rune and Extraction would work out this time as well. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    All he had to do was to extract the enemy''s power, essence, and lifeforce. And, of course, Michael would have to survive. If he died all of a sudden, the Rebels would be ughtered and the universe would remain in the Primals'' control.

    Several Essence Spears and des pierced Michael''s body from all directions, but he only smiled and unleashed his Divinities within his body. The Essence Spears and des were extracted, corroded, and consumed while they were still stuck in Michael. Simultaneously, with the consumption of the weapons stuck in his body, Michael healed up.

    "You''re getting on my nerves!" Primal Xerx roared, releasing a bomb ofpressed Essence at Michael.

    First, there was only one Essence bomb, but Primal Xerx didn''t hold back anymore. He gathered abundant Essence to tear Michael into shreds, uncaring about the amount of Essence Michael may or may not burn through or consume.

    As long as Michael died, it did not matter how much of his Essence would be removed. He could replenish his used-up Essence as long as his body wouldn''t adapt to the scarcity of Essence too quickly. That was the only problem. The possibility of his body adapting to the changes too quickly, permanently decreasing his Essence storage due to the Essence shortage.

    However, Essence adaptation was his smallest issue at this moment. Primal Xerx was more concerned with the enemy before him.

    Michael countered the Essence bombs, which were much faster than the Essence Spears, with golden icicles. There was no need to waste too much energy on creatingpressed Emperor Qi Swords since the Essence bombs would destroy everything either way. Thus, Michael created icicles via Gxies of Elements and inserted True Extraction Essence from Fenrir''s storage. He used Unlimited Enhancement on Fenrir''s True Extraction Essence before adding it to the icicles and hurled them at the Essence bombs a momentter.

    The Essence bombs had a strong suctioning force and devoured the golden icicles once they were in the range. Yet, instead of exploding when the True Extraction Essence within the Essence bomb exploded, nothing major happened.

    All Michael could tell was that the Essence gathered within the Essence bombs was drained and channeled into Michael.

    But something unexpected happened when he tried annexing the Essence from the bombs.

    It exploded within Michael, tearing him apart from the inside.

 Chapter 1057 Backlash

    Chapter 1057 Bacsh

    The Essence had been altered and was thus even more deadly once Michael absorbed it. He had to teleport to the other side of theary system and hide behind the Hyuar to focus on his body''s regeneration for a moment. However, the Primal didn''t give him that much time.

    Xerx responded quickly, not bothering about the innocent lives he was about to reap with his actions.

    One of the Essence bombs exploded when it collided with Hyuar.

    At first, the Essence bomb appeared as a bright, pristine light streaking across Hyuar''s sky. It grewrger andrger as it expanded when Hyuar''s gravitational force pulled it toward the''s surface. The Essence bomb speed toward the ground, leaving behind a glowing trail. It lit up the sky like a second sun, dazzling the civilians. The light was so blinding that it permanently deprived millions of their eyesight, but that wasn''t even the worst.

    The Essence bomb hissed dangerously as if warning the civilians of the impending destruction.

    But it was toote. The civilians couldn''t flee anymore.

    When the Essence bomb finally collided, the ground shook violently as if the entire was trembling. A massive explosion followed, sending up a pir of pristine light before a massive Essence shockwave spread out in all directions. The impact was so powerful that anything ¨C trees, cities, mountains, and even the sea ¨C were blown apart by the force. It ceased to exist, just like that.

    At the point of impact, a huge crater formed, hundreds of miles wide and deep, with the ground torn apart and scorched ck from the Essence bomb''s heat. But that was only the beginning. One could see a hole in the center of the crater. That was where the Essence bomb had impacted¡­and where the Essence bomb dug through the.

    The Essence bomb didn''t dissolve or triggerpletely until it reached the Star Core. Every was part of the universe''s weave. They contained Essence and were thus considered as much part of the weave as the Primal. However Xerx didn''t care about hte destruction of the universe''s weave. Eliminating Michael Fang was more important. He had to be defeated or else the Primal would lose their spot at the top of the food chain. Michael might not be the strongest existence in the universe just yet, but nobody could tell what was about to happen if he survived. What would happen if Primal Xerx died¡­his body consumed by none other than Michael? Would he rece Xerx as a Primal? Nobody knew about this because it never happened. But that didn''t mean it wouldn''t happen. It could happen if Primal Xerx failed eliminating Michael.

    Upon colliding with the Star Core, the Essence bomb exploded. At first, it didn''t look like anything big would happen, but Michael saw the truth through True Vision. He swallowed hard as he watched The Essence bomb tearing apart the Star Core. The shockwave was terrifying, to put it into simple words, and it wreaked havoc with all life on Hyuar. Michael sighed deeply, saddened that he had to witness the death of so many people. Of course, they were Hyuman, and most of them were somehow part of the death, destruction, and chaos caused by the Supreme Human Alliance, but it would have been better to remove the influence of Blood Incursion and force the Hyumans to fix everything they had broken.

    That wasn''t going to happen now. At least not with the Hyumans of the SHA''s coreary system. They were fated to die today.

    The aftermath of the explosion didn''t ur right away. The Essence shockwave was the first to break through Hyuar''s surface. It swept through theary system, distorting the fabric of space and reality in multiple ces, yet Xerx did not care. He was too focused on Michael to pay attention to anything else.

    His eyes lingering on the human, who was not even a god yet ording to the weave and his Energy Pir, was his nemesis that he didn''t notice the massive next to him falling apart. Countless explosion urred within the but also on its surface, yet Xerx acted like he didn''t notice the damage he''d caused. He simply didn''t care. These lowly creatures weren''t worth his attention.

    Michael, on the other hand, sensed the death of every single Hyuman. However, he also sensed the death of the. Hel''s Divinity was his strongest affinity. He had sensed so many deaths in thest few decades and inflicted so much pain and chaos through his actions that the Death Authority within him grew the strongest.

    After epting the deaths he had caused, Michael consumed the Memories Orbs of everyone he''d in. This was pure torture, and it would have pushed most people over the edge, throwing them into the pool of insanity, but that was not the case for Michael. He embraced the lives of those he had killed, further strengthening the Death Authority. His affinity with Death increased with every Memory Orb he consumed, which was no surprise. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Most of the enemies he''d in and consumed were either pieces of shit and had eradicated entire races just because they hated those races ¨C without something as simple as a reason other than their unjustified racism ¨C or they had killed for their sake and the sake of their people. One way or another, Michael learned about the reasons people killed. He got to understand why some people killed others or how someone ended up murdering their families, friends, lovers, and so forth. It was not that Michael supported their behavior and he didn''t consider it eptable either. Still, he learned all about it from the Memory Orbs, further amplifying his affinity with Death.

    That was also why Michael did the only thing he could think of when he sensed the death of billions of people in his range. He absorbed the Death Essence, filling theary system, and moved forward by using his Death Authority to manifest the Undead Souls of the deceased.

    Their confusion was obvious, but Michael paid no attention to it. Instead, he paid more heed to the anger and fury rooted in the deepest parts of their souls. He nurtured their fury with simple words. All Michael had to do was to tell the Undead Souls who had killed them and that he did not care about their deaths. That he would do it again and again and again even if he was given more chances to change their fate.

    The Primal would not care.

    The fury of hundreds of billions was intense. Even Michael was intimidated, and he had full control of them. Still, he Michael moved ahead by infusing the Death Essence of the deceased back into their Undead Souls.

    The Wraiths weren''t powerful, but they merged andbined under the influence of the Death Essence until only a few hundred Undead Souls were left.

    Each Undead Soul transformed into a Soul Wraith, a powerful eternal existence traveling between the realms to execute vengeance. Their power was not unlimited, but Michael could aid them. He used Unlimited Enhancement on each of the Soul Wraiths and boosted their power even further by coating their ws in Pure Aether and Poison and by infusing even more Death into them.

    Atst, Michael used Swallow Domain with remnants of Jormungandr''s Essences, devouring the remains of Hyuar in one go.

    "That was stupid," Michaelmented, releasing the Soul Wraths into the wild while using Permute to transform the remains of Hyuar stored in Swallow Domain into more Essence. Within seconds, Michael was back at peak condition, and so were the God Curses. Meanwhile, Primal Xerx suffered tremendously.

 Chapter 1058 Split and Pierced

    1058 Split and Pierced

    The Soul Wraiths weren''t immortal, but they weren''t easy to kill. Defeating them wasn''t as easy as Primal Xerx expected when he faced them first. They traveled swiftly through space and inflicted considerable damage whenever their Pure Aether-coated ws struck the Primal or his creations. The Primal was faster than the Soul Wraiths but evading and attacking the Soul Wraiths didn''t help him much either. Even after a few Essence Spears had pierced the Soul Wraiths, they didn''t die. Their bodies might have been pierced, but the Primal''s Essence inflicted insignificant damage to the soul.

    Instead of tearing the Soul Wraiths'' bodies apart with Essences, the Soul Wraiths'' bodies acted as the Primal''s natural enemy. It corrupted the Primal''s Essence.

    The Soul Wraiths didn''t even need Pure Aether to destroy Essences. That was how they could kill gods even though they weren''t considered more powerful than gods under normal circumstances. Their attacks damaged the enemies'' Essences and killed them like that. There was no need to inflict any physical injuries if the enemy could be eliminated much easier.

    Still, the Pure Aehter coating their ws augmented the Soul Wraiths'' power and the damage inflicted to the Primal.

    Slowly but steadily, the injuries all over the Primal''s body grew. Their numbers skyrocketed, and it was only a matter of minutes before Primal Xerx was covered in thousands of tiny scratches inflicted by Pure Aether, only to worsen through the use of Death Afflictions, Poison of the Poison Law, and Extraction.

    Not even one-quarter of the Primal''s Essences had been drained and damaged, but his expression contorted in pain, confusion, and anger. Michael was growing stronger while Xerx''s power diminished. If things turned out slower than expected, it wouldn''t take longer than a few hours, maybe a few days. Still, Xerx was on the losing side. The Soul Wraiths were the worst enemies, too. The universe had only been tormented by a few Soul Wraiths since the beginning of time, yet here they were with more than 500 artificially-created Soul Wraiths.

    Michael controlled them easily and ushered them to take revenge on the monster who''d killed them. Xerx couldn''t ept his fate and changed his tactic.

    If he wasn''t strong enough to defeat Michael alone, why shouldn''t he ask for help? Maybe the Primal couldn''te to him, but who said Xerx was out of options when it came to returning to the weave?

    He turned to the Rebels circling theary system and charged one of them. The Rebel, who was closest to Xerx, fell victim to his sudden charge. Xerx appeared before the Rebel and tore him apart.

    The Rebels groaned in unison as theirrade died. The Weave Seal wavered and nearly copsed, but the remaining Rebels regainedposure. They had to fill the gap left behind by their deadrade, which was taxing but still possible. Michael''s eyes widened in surprise, and he teleported to the Primal, but Xerx was already in front of the next target. Michael manifested a tenfold Imperial Barrier enhanced by Perfect Enhancement and the Power Authority to block the Primal''s attack. That worked out better than expected, but instead of falling into a state of fear and despair, Primal Xerx smiled. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Can you protect everyone simultaneously?" Primal Xerx asked, with a glint of insanity in his eyes.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed, but he quickly realized what Primal Xerx was doing. He split his body into ten Doppelgangers and shot in ten directions.

    Even though the Doppelgangers had only one-tenth of Primal Xerx''s Essence, he still possessed enough to kill the Rebels maintaining the Weave Seal. ''Maybe I can reach one of them and kill him, but the others will kill nine Rebels a momentter. The Weave Seal won''t survive that!'' Michael concluded instantly, using Slipstream to teleport the 500 Soul Wraiths across theary system to protect the Rebels and attack the Primal Doppelgangers without hesitation.

    However, the Primal Doppelgangers ignored the Soul Wraiths. They epted the deep w marks they inflicted with deadly precision and reached the Rebels a momentter.

    The moment the Weave Seal crumbled, everything would be over. The Primal would regain his connection to the weave, and everything the Rebels had worked for would be over. Many Rebels were already dead, sacrificed to strengthen Michael and protect him from the worst. Maybe Michael would survive and escape into the Origin Expanse, where he could train for the next hundreds of years and wait until the Untamed Jungle engulfed the entire Origin Expanse, but was Michael willing to stay in the Origin Expanse until the end of time?

    No. Michael was not the type of person who ran away from a fight. He was one of the people who sacrificed his body if that was needed to emerge victorious.

    He cursed and used Slipstream with Unlimited Enhancement, ready to fight all ten Doppelgangers of Primal Xerx simultaneously if that was necessary. Fortunately, one of Rebel''s mind was still wide open for him to read.

    Michael hadn''t even noticed that he still had ess to Beelzebub''s mind, but it revealed to him the Demon God''s n.

    [Beelzebub is separating from the Weave Seal. Prepare to stabilize the Seal once he leaves his formation.] Michael shared what was happening to the Rebels via Whispering Energy before adding. [Open your minds for me to read. Maybe we need more people to act. I can find the main body but dealing with ten Primal Doppelgangers simultaneously while having to protect everyone is too much.]

    More Rebels opened their minds for Michael instantly. However, he couldn''t read their minds immediately. He was busy teleporting through the surroundings, grasping the Primal Doppelgangers and teleporting them around. It was possible to block six Primal Doppelganger for a few seconds, whereas the rest attacked the Rebels. Beelzebub left the Weave Seal, and three more Rebels, Major Gods, followed.

    Michael was barely fast enough to tell everyone what was about to happen when the Major Gods left the Weave Seal. The Rebels maintained the Weave Seal, but the Essence consumption and concentration required to keep the seal active was too much to bear. In a few minutes, the Rebels'' Essence would be drained.

    Michael used Beast Halo with his Divinities and the Essence of the Beast God Curses ¨C they''d replenished their Essences after Permute transformed the remains of Hyuar into Essences ¨C which was enough to create the halos of the three God Curses. They would upy three Primal Doppelgangers as long as Michael needed to deal with the rest.

    To be precise, Michael wasn''t going to deal with the rest. He paid attention to the weakest of the Primal Doppelgangers and would kill him.

    He would tear apart one Primal Doppelganger after another, therefore, permanently crippling Primal Xerx. Even if he merged the Doppelganger again, with one of them dead, Primal Xerx would be weaker than ever and a much easier goal to hunt.

    With that in mind, Michael used everything in his repertoire. There was no holding back anymore. There had never been.

    It was either now or never.

    He appeared behind one of the Primal Doppelgangers, all his Laws and Authorities unleashed to their fullest as his Pure Aether Sabers cut deep into the Doppelganger''s heart.

    The Doppelganger turned around, the corners of his eyes curled up in a devious smile.

    "Sacrificing one of them to kill you doesn''t seem like a bad exchange, does it?" He asked, his eyes trailing to something ¨C someone ¨C behind Michael.

    [The Doppelgangers disappeared!]

    [Be careful!]

    [Behind you!!!] The God Curses called out the instant they noticed what was happening, but it was already toote.

    Nine Primal Doppelgangers appeared behind Michael and merged into Primal Xerx while the 10th Doppelganger was killed.

    The Pure Aether Sabers cut deep into the 10th Doppelganger, and the Laws and Authorities also did their work. They drained the 10th Doppelganger''s Essence, corroded it, and inflicted hundreds of Death Afflictions.

    The 10th Doppelganger was dead, but the price was too high.

    Tens of thousands of Essence des manifested around Michael and the 10th Doppelganger, and as if everything had been ounted for, Primal Xerx used his Essence to seal the fabric of space all over theary system. Even if it was only for a few seconds, Slipstream couldn''t be essed.

    "Fuck." Michael cursed, only for Primal Xerx''s smile to widened as he added.

    "Fuck, yeah!"

    A momentter, the Essence des burst forward, piercing Michael from all sides, not missing a single inch of his body.

    The des prated him thoroughly and exploded, tearing Michael Fang apart.

    This time, he couldn''t block the attacks.

    He was dead.

 Chapter 1059 Sacrifice?!

    1059 Sacrifice?! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael''s secondary body observed the fight from the Untamed Jungle the whole time. He used a Memory Projector, allowing everyone present to watch what was happening. He was not too prone to sharing the situation with everyone, but Alice, Lucia, Kaleb, and basically everyone else had asked for it. They were too interested in the demise of the Supreme Human Alliance and wanted to see Michael fight the gods. Michael couldn''t reject them just like that. There was no good reason to do so. If one excluded that the fight was going to be gory and that he didn''t want his daughter to watch something this gory.

    However, that was just his overprotective nature. Lucia was already an adult and probably stronger than most beings would be at her age. Michael was proud of his daughter, but he still wanted to protect her from the evil of the wide cosmos. That was also why he chose to fight the Primal now rather than training for a few more decades. He could have waited much longer, but the longer he waited, the more he would worry about Lucia''s well-being. She was not a god but possessed the trace of a Divinity from birth. That may not attract the Primal''s attention right away, but it would certainly attract the attention of people ¨C probably Awakened but possibly Demi Gods or full-fledged gods ¨C as well.

    Michael didn''t want that to happen. He was already having a hard time with the guys pursuing his little child. She was beautiful, extroverted, and yful. Those traits cost Alice and Michael lots of nerves when she grew up and it got worse when she matured. Most children, mostly guys, transformed into Michael''s worst nightmare. Not even the Supreme Human Alliance was as troublesome as the guys following behind Lucia, who seemed to enjoy the attention.

    She was still as yful as she had been at a young age, but everything worsened when she created her own Yggdrasil Awakened unit ¨C a replica of the Super Awakened ¨C to fight with her against her father''s enemies.

    That wasn''t what Michael wanted, but since he could equip them with countless Soultrait Symbols and have his Super Awakened beat the shit out of them to keep their ego as tiny as possible, Michael could live with it.

    Showing them his fight against gods and the Primal, however, was a little bit different.

    The situation was in their favor at first. Michael dealt with the Demi Gods of the Supreme Human Alliance like they were little pawns and treated the hyuman gods like lesser soldiers. Both were crushed easily, resulting in a cacophony of cheers and excited shouts. The atmosphere changed subtly, silence residing in the clearing as the Rebels and the Primal Pantheon appeared. Everyone watched Michael fight and defeat the Primal Pantheon in tension. They cheered again when most gods had been killed and consumed but stared in awe and fear as the seven fissures in the fabric of space and reality tore apart. The presence and change of atmosphere in the SHA''s coreary system was horrifying at that moment, which was amplified in the Memory Projector as it projected Michael''s memories without the slightest change.

    Everyone saw everything through Michael''s eyes, but they could also hear his thoughts and the thoughts of everyone else in his memories. The Memory Projector could only project everything Michael heard and saw, but that was enough to scare many children. The children and their mothers left the clearing shortly after the Primal''s arrival. They only waited until six Major Gods shot through six fissures, allowing one of the Primal to step through.

    That was how the fight with Primal Xerx began.

    "Why is that guy only using his Essence? Does he not have any Artifacts, Soultraits, Laws, or Authorities? He''s only throwing Essence Spears or des at others and uses Essence to block all attacks. Isn''t that too much?" Lucia jumped up from the ground and shouted.

    Michael smiled at his daughter, "Primal are almost purely made of Essence. They cannot use Artifacts because Essence is their energy. It is too potent to wield Artifacts. In the first ce, most Artifactse from the Origin Expanse. Primal do not have a War Rune. They can probably replicate the conditions to bind Artifacts to their bodies, but that''s about it."

    "As for Soultraits. Their entire existence is one, all made of Essence. However, you need origin energy to empower Soultrait Symbols. Also, by fusing Soultrait Symbols into your soul, you''re altering your Soul. If a Primal were to do that, their entire existence would change. After all, everything about them is made of Essence and maintained by it." Michael let his words sink in for a moment before pointing at the projection where the Soul Wraiths cut through the Primal Doppelganger easily. It was an interesting sight, yet Michael stayed calm. The only clue hinting at his positivity was the subtle twitch in his lips as the corners curled upward ever so slightly.

    "That is also why Pure Aether is so efficient against the Primal. Pure Aether cuts through Essence and permanently damages it. Laws and Authorities are simr to Soultraits. If anything, Soultraits are a lesser version of the Laws and Authorities. That being said, Laws and Authorities alter the soul and many aspects of the wielder of such powers permanently. The Nature Heart of my main body is the perfect example of such a change."

    "The Primal are afraid of changes. They''re afraid to be bound by a Law and Authority and that it will make them weaker, unable to ess as much essence as before. They think their original form is also their purest form and thus also the strongest. Whether that is true or not¡­I cannot say."

    Michael tensed up as the Main Body''s memories flooded him. The projection hovering above the clearing trembled for a moment, and many gasped in surprise and shock.

    His main body had just killed the Primal''s 10th Doppelganger, only to fall into a vicious trap.

    Michael couldn''t escape anymore. The main body sensed his imminent death, a shocking realization that shed through the Memory Projector. Michael, the one located in the Untamed Jungle, had to stop the projection.

    He continued watching what was happening in the Supreme Human Alliance''s coreary system through the main body''s memories and sighed deeply.

    Michael was about to die. That was a fact. It was part of his Fate. At least, that was what it felt like at this very moment.

    He didn''t want to die, and he certainly didn''t want to leave his family, but the Essence des, the Essence Seal restraining his main body''s movements, and Fate itself were against him.

    "This is going to hurt," He cursed, leaning toward Alice to kiss her onest time.

    "What are you doing?" Alice asked demandingly, sensing something was wrong. Even Lucia was quiet, looking at her father with a confused yet knowing expression. She understood what was happening even if she didn''t like it.

    "I am doing what I have to do.

    He turned away and used the only 10-Star Soultrait he''d nurtured in the secondary body.

    [Switch Bodies]

 Chapter 1060 Death

    Chapter 1060 Death

    Michael hoped he would never need this Soultrait, but he prepared it nheless.

    Switch Bodies was a powerful Soultrait with one major restriction. You had to possess two bodies to use it. That kind of restriction was not something most Awakened could fulfill. In fact, the Primal were probably among the only ones with the powers to use Switch Bodies. After all, to meet the Soultrait''s condition, your other bodies couldn''t be much different. That condition was also why Michael had problems using Switch Bodies. The main body had several Divinities and different Soultrait Symbols as the secondary body, after all. Still, upon upgrading Switch Bodies to 10-Star, while also adding more than 100 traits of various Soultrait Symbols, Michael ended up with an immensely powerful Soultrait.

    Switch Bodies could be used everywhere. It didn''t matter where his bodies were located. He could be in the Origin Expanse, whereas the main body could be somewhere running across the cosmos. Or, the main body could be restrained by an Essence Seal that blocked all spatial movements. It didn''t seem possible at first, but 90ish of the 100 Soultrait properties he had added to Switch Bodies had been infused into it to create this effect.

    It worked out even better than Michael had expected. Switch Bodies was his greatest trump card¡­and something he didn''t tell anyone for fear someone could find out about it with a Soultrait like Mind Watcher. Not telling anyone about it could be considered lying to Alice, Lucia, and others, but Michael told everyone he would be fine.

    He smiled onest time at Alice and Lucia before Switch Bodies triggered, consuming the energy umted within the secondary body.

    Then they switched bodies. Michael disappeared for a quarter of a second, only to be reced by¡­Michael, who was covered in countless scratches. Silver serum gushed from the wounds, healing them slowly as he turned to the men and women in the clearing.

    The Essence des pierced Michael before Switch Bodies activated, but they didn''t cut deep enough to inflict much damage to his main body before the secondary body sacrificed himself with their trump card.

    Memories of the secondary body shed before Michael''s naked eyes. It was a gruesome sight, something Michael would never forget. Even less because he felt everything as if it happened to him...because that was the case, somehow.

    The endless pain of hundreds of Essence des piercing through his body, tearing through his skin, flesh, and bones. His screams filled Michael''s ears for a moment. Then everything went silent.

    The Essence des exploded, tearing through the secondary body, ripping him into shreds, just like Primal Xerx had promised. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael digested the memories slowly and began to wonder what would happen if this had been Alice or Lucia in his stead. What if they had been fighting the Primal? What if the same would happen to them?

    A flood of rage and fury swept through Michael, and for the first time since he could remember, Michael didn''t try to restrain his emotions. His blood was boiling, and the God Curses were not fully there to cool his emotions. Michael savored his emotions and let everything out.

    "That''s it. I''m done ying," Michael growled, the effect of Curse Fusion taking him over. His blood boiled, and his body expanded. The Divinities within him were wreaking havoc in the surroundings, slowly destroying everything in their path.

    He looked around, his head tilted slightly when his eyes fell on Lucia.

    She smiled at him and nodded slowly, her eyes glimmering as if awaiting her father''s awakening.

    Something stirred within him. His stomach tore and twisted as his Essences and energy gathered.

    A primal roar escaped from the bottom of his existence.

    The thunderous roar reverberated through the Untamed Jungle, filling the hearts of every lifeform in the Untamed Jungle with awe and fear.

    The primal roar had yet to disperse when a familiar voice rang through their ears. However, the voice wasn''t what it used to be. It was different¡­stronger¡­, and more demanding.

    [Pray for my victory!] Michael roared, his voice wild and filled with wrath.

    His subjects and the jungle monsters were starstruck for a moment, but they didn''t think long before they kneeled on the ground, their heads facing Michael''s direction.

    Then they started praying, their words fueling Michael and Godly Faith.

    He turned to Alice, who smiled at him through the turmoil of emotions wreaking havoc inside her and nodded confidently in his direction.

    "I know you can do it. I always knew."

    Godly Faith pushed Michael further and further, unleashing the true potential of his Divinities for the first time since they blossomed.

    For the first time, Michael acquired the powers of a true god.

    A vibrant halo formed behind him while multi-colored hues burst from his body. He listened to his subjects'' prayers, digested them, and manifested the Runic Gate next to him.

    The waves of rage and fury overflowed, but something had changed. Michael allowed the emotions to loosen and didn''t try to contain them anymore. Instead of losing himself to the emotions, Michael gained full control of everything. Since his parents abandoned them, Michael had never felt like this. He had to keep the emotions inside to make his brother happy and show everyone that he didn''t need his parents or sister to live a happy life. The emotions he tried to contain when he lost his brother or when his mother returned suddenly.

    Michael had been overflowing with worries and doubts. He wondered why he had never been good enough for his parents and asked himself if it was his fault that they had been abandoned. Even though he had much bigger worries to take care of, everything still lingered on Michael''s mind.

    But what did it matter whether he had Demi Gods, full-fledged gods, or the Primal to defeat if he couldn''t even be himself.

    Michael was sick of hiding the full extent of his emotions.

    For the first time in an eternity, Michael felt truly free.

    Atst, the faith in himself was restored.

 Chapter 1061 Over

    Chapter 1061 Over

    "He is¡­dead¡­" Loki yelled out in shock.

    As the God of Trickery, Loki was better than anyone at telling whether someone faked their death. But he wasn''t the only one who could tell. Everyone watching the battle, all Rebels, saw what unfolded before them.

    Primal Xerx had split his body into 10 Doppelgangers to attack the Rebels and break the Weave Seal. That had been a smart move, but it was only a trick, a feint to push Michael into believing he could kill multiple Doppelgangers before the Weave Seal would shatter. However, all Michael achieved was to fall into a trap. He might have killed one of the Doppelgangers, devouring and corroding the 10th Doppelganger''s Essence, crippling Primal Xerx forever, but the Primal didn''t care. He''d conjured hundreds of Essence Swords made from highlypressed Essence, which was also strong enough to easily cut through the fabric of space and reality, and pierced Michael with all of them.

    The Rebels noticed something odd about theary system when Michael killed the 10th Doppelganger. They realized the 10th Doppelganger had unleashed every bit of Essence stored within him to seal this ce temporarily. But he didn''t do that in a simple manner. No. The 10th Doppelganger unleashed his Essence to augment the Weave Seal, upgrading it for a few seconds. That way, nobody could use any kind of spatial power to slip away when the encirclement of hundreds of Essence Swords pierced through Michael.

    His scream reverberated in the Rebels'' ears. They couldn''t quite believe what had happened, but the explosion of the Essence Swords sealed the deal. Their hopes of Michael regenerating from getting pierced by hundreds of Essence Swords dispersed in all directions.

    Everything they had worked for¡­all the sacrifices they''d made¡­everything was for naught.

    The Weave Seal trembled and lost stability as the first Rebels responded to Michael''s death with fear and despair. Too many good people, gods, and even existences that lived as long as the Primal had sacrificed themselves for the greater good of the universe. They were certain Michael would emerge victorious.

    Loki''s eyes trailed to his children. The halos of his children were still there, and so was the Essence stored within them. Still, Loki couldn''t help himself. A tear welled up in his eyes as he thought of the three children who died with Michael, thinking Michael was the perfect candidate to fight and best the Primal¡­and Sleipnir, who had sacrificed the life and goals he had pursued to fight and stall one of the Primal.

    Maybe Sleipnir was not yet dead, but Loki was unsure if his son would survive the fight with a Primal. "Is that it?" One of the Rebels asked, her voice trembling as she stared at Michael''s remnants. Tears poured down her cheeks. They had given everything for thest few years to devise this n and prepare for every possible oue. Michael was supposed to be ready for this. He had been strong enough. Everyone saw it. Everything witnessed the greatness of his power. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Did we push him too far? Force him to fight the Primal too soon?" Loki asked himself, the Weave Seal tremoring more and more. It was only a matter of seconds before it would copse, releasing the Supreme Human Alliance''s coreary system back into the weave.

    "No," Fenrir growled.

    "It is not yet over." Jormungandr roared.

    "Our existence has yet to be removed from the weave," Hell added.

    Loki nodded slowly. Michael might be dead, but the Primal was weaker than ever. What if they could kill him now that only a third or less of his Essence was left?

    Beelzebub was the first to respond. He appeared before Primal Xerx, his hands expanding into massive ws as he used Gluttony to transform the Essence in the surroundings into material to support his Laws and Authorities. He searched for Pure Aether via Gluttony, hoping to devour some of it and im it to attack and damage Primal Xerx, but there was none.

    Primal Xerx clicked his tongue when Beelzebub took a quarter of a second to wonder why there was no Pure Aether where Michael had died, grasped his arms, and pierced his chest with a quick thrust. An Essence Spear conjured before Beelzebub and prated him, but Beelzebub reacted quickly enough. He scratched Primal Xerx in the face using his Divinity, draining some of the Primal''s Essence before retreating.

    The God Curses'' Halos reced Beelzebub, who rushed to the Soul Wraiths to devour them, and the Pure Aether Michael had inserted into them, but the Soul Wraiths weren''t where they had been a moment earlier. They circled the Primal and joined the Halos'' fight.

    Every Soul Wraith struck the Primal multiple times with their Poison, Death, andPure Aether-covered ws, rapidly draining Primal Xerx''s Essence. Primal Xerx had to sacrifice another third of his Essence to eliminate 500 Soul Wraiths and tear the God Curses'' Halos apart.

    "You disgusting cretin! Get away from me and leave me alone!!!" A droplet of sweat trickled down his temples. That was more shocking than the Primal''s outburst. The Primal¡­could sweat? They could get exhausted?

    Since when?

    However, before the Rebels could exim in excitement, the Major Gods fighting the Doppelgangers charged Primal Xerx again.

    Beelzebub shattered the Essence Spear in his chest and devoured it via Gluttony before moving onward by joining the other Major Gods. They had to fight him together if they wanted to deal with the Primal.

    He tried consuming Essences and Pure Aether left behind by the destroyed Soul Wraiths but couldn''t sense it again. Something prevented him from perceiving Michael''s Pure Aether.

    Beelzebub was about to reach his allies when Prima Xerx unleashed a fury of Essence Spears and highlypressed Essence Swords. His Essence was quickly drained, but the three Major Gods next to Beelzebub didn''t like what was happening to the Primal''s Essence. They were pierced and impaled even before they could fully gather their full power.

    Primal Xerx breathed heavily but it was only a matter of seconds before everything would be over. Only a few more attacks and his enemies were dead. The Weave Seal would break, and the motherly embrace of the weave would embrace him. The Primal looked forward to it while tearing through the Major Gods around him.

    Loki and the others watch the scenery unfolding before them with fear in their eyes. They had to maintain the Weave Seal and couldn''t join the fight. If they could¡­maybe the Primal would die soon.

    But not even a single Rebel could leave the formation, or the Weave Seal would break.

    It was over.

    They lost.

    Everything was for naught.

 Chapter 1062 Final Thrust

    Chapter 1062 Final Thrust

    Michael didn''t ount for a few important factors. First, he didn''t realize how much fusing Essence into his cells strengthened him. He was still absorbing the Essences of one hundred or more gods and Demi Gods, and one thing was sure: His strength increased with every moment he spentfusing the Essences into him.

    Second, Michael didn''t realize how much more efficient his body, mind, and soul were when nothing bothered him. He didn''t have to hold his emotions back anymore, allowing him to push above and beyond. That was all Michael needed to fuse Essences more efficiently with his cells.

    But while those two factors were already terrific enough to push Michael on another pedestal, he was more surprised about Godly Faith''s effect and how potent it was after Michael began believing in himself as a whole. He didn''t reject anything about himself anymore and epted everything wholeheartedly.

    That,bined with the prayers of his subjects, was enough to push Michael even further¡­and to unlock one more upgrade condition of the Untamed Jungle. The Untamed Jungle was about to fulfill all requirements to regain its full glory and upgrade again. However, it was only now that it fulfilled the second condition.

    The Untamed Jungle was alreadyrge enough for the final upgrade to a Primal Region. Still, the region had finally umted enough faith and devout believers to fit the second criteria. And now that the condition had been fulfilled, the Essence and faith umted within the Primordial Tree Spirit and the primal root flooded Michael. His War Rune reached the Peak of the 9th Tier and continued increasing rapidly.

    Michael may not know how much longer he needed to reach the 10th and final Tieror how to fulfill thest, unknown criteria to upgrade the Untamed Jungle to a Primal Region, but his attention was elsewhere. His emotions drifted him away from the things he started to realize only now and pulled him toward the other things he had yet to take care of.

    Primal Xerx wasughing like a maniac while impaling the four Major Gods before him with more and more Essence Spears. He had never been this weak before, but the Primal could hardly care at this moment. Everything would be over soon. He could feel it. The end was near.

    "I am going to kill you all! This is the end!" He roared at the top of his long, madness slowly consuming the Primal.

    "In your dreams, bastard!" A familiar voice rang through Primal Xerx''s ears.

    He was about to spin around and erect several Essence Shields when he noticed the dissimtion of the Essence Spears and Essence Swords stuck in the four Major Gods. Streams of silver liquid poured from small portals, entering the Major Gods'' bodies, healing them from the inside out.

    However, something was different about the silver liquid. Xerx remembered the liquid but it didn''t contain a crimson-red tinge before. If anything, the liquid was as silver and viscous as Pure Aether. But that changed, and so did the efficiency of the supreme healing serum. It had been enhanced by Essence, rapidly healing the four Major Gods.

    Still, that wasn''t everything. Pure Aether flushed through the portals, coating the Major Gods like armor. There was so much of it¡­too much.

    Primal Xerx swallowed hard and broke into a sweat. He circted Essence through his body as rapidly as possible and spun around with severalyers of Essence covering his body.

    And there he was. A monster that should be dead. He killed it not even a full minute earlier. Primal Xerx felt his death. That hadn''t been a mistake. He clearly sensed Michael Fang''s death. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    But there he was. Towering high above Primal Xerx with far more power than before.

    It was almost like Michael returned from the dead with more strength than a mortal could ever ess, just to kill the Primal.

    "The weave won''t ept this," Primal Xerx mumbled, but it was already toote.

    Michael grasped a brightly glimmering spear with both hands, his expression distorted in a devious grin. He allowed his emotions to keep flushing through him, strengthening him as he held onto the weapon of ancient origin and unmatched power.

    Thepressed Pure Aether Spear hummed with the energy of the Origin and was fueled with the Essence Storms of four Divinities and more than one hundred gods. Its long shaft,pressed and shimmering brightly like the vast ocean of stars in the cosmos, seemed toe to life in Michael''s hands. It responded to Michael''s thoughts, intentions¡­and emotions, subtly shifting in his hands to attain theperfect bnce for what awaited them.

    It called for him, telling Michael what to do, and he let it. He followed his emotions and unleashed the Wicked Spear Arts, the technique with which everything started once more.

    The aether spear was a sh, a sparkle in the universe, and cracked the fabric of space and reality, distorting everything in its wake as it thrust forward.

    It looked like an ordinary attack on the outside, an eerily slow thrust, but the Wicked Spear Arts'' final thrust contained everything Michael had umted for this very moment. His emotions, the energy devoured by Swallow Domain, his Essences, and the Essences the gods had sacrificed for him.

    It was either now or never. If the Primal survived this, everything would be over.

    However, despite moving eerily slowly in everyone''s eyes, the aether spear hit its target.

    It pierced through Essence''s protectionyers with ease and deep into Primal Xerx''s chest.

    Xerx''s eyes widened in shock or terror as the Pure Aether cut deeper than ever.

    On the other hand, Michaelstared at the Primal with uncontroble fury. He was already overflowing with rage and fury. What other technique than the Wicked Spear Arts should he have used to end the Primal? It was the perfect technique to use with Pure Aether and the emotions he had amassed and suppressed over the decades. It was all he needed to kill the Primal.

 Chapter 1063 Fall

    Chapter 1063 Fall

    The aether spear through into the Primal''s chest with one mighty attack, cutting through allyers of defense with ease before the spear de was stuck deep in his chest. If it had only been a Pure Aether Spear without anything utilized to increase the inflicted damage, Primal Xerx''s chance of survival would have been low as well, but it wouldn''t have been this low.

    The aether spear had inflicted a severe wound on the remaining Essence in the Primal''s body, and itcontinued to do so while the Essence Storms of the Essences from one hundred or more gods gushed out of the spear de. The Essence Storm entered the Primal''s body and spread rapidly through him.

    The Power of Extraction devoured Xerx''s Essence, while the Law of Poison and the Death Authority destroyed as much Essence as they could. The remaining Essence added into the Wicked Spear Arts'' Final Thrust inflicted less damage than Michael''s Divinities, but that didn''t mean the damage was useless. On the contrary, Michael knew he would never be strong enough to defeat Primal Xerx without the Essences of the Primal Pantheon''s gods and the Rebels who had sacrificed themselves for theirmon goal.

    Xerx roared at the top of his lungs, anger and fear filling his voice. He created several Essence Swords frompressed Essence, only to realize how much of his remaining Essence every Essence Sword drained. But despite the amount of Essence drained from him, Xerx proceeded. His Essence Swords burst forward and pierced into Michael''s body where they were supposed to explode. At least, that was the n.

    When Beelzebub and the three other Major Gods intervened, Michael was about to respond to Xerx''sst-ditch effort to survive. One of the Major Gods blocked two of the iing Essence Swords with his body, allowing them to pierce through him by acting like a human shield. The others destroyed the attacks with their Essences, gathering more than half of their remaining Essence to destroy the destructive Essence Swords.

    Xerx cursed aloud while Michael thanked the Major Gods for protecting him.

    "Just focus on that ass!" Beelzebub roared back, towhich Michael responded by focusing on the foreign Essences coursing through the Primal. The Essence storm wreaked havoc inside the Primal, slowly spreading through every nook and cranny of the Primal''s Essence-infested body.

    Since most of his Essence had already been drained to kill Michael''s secondary body and to fight his main body, there wasn''t much left for him to do. All Michael had to do was boost Extraction, the Law of Poison, and the Death Authority. He added the Power Authority once Permute transformed the remaining objects stored in Swallow Domain into the Essences of his Divinities.

    The Primal tried killing Michael with some Essence Swords two more times, but he failed every time, draining more of the bits of Essence he had left. He wasn''t as strong as he used to be and realized that even the four Major Gods were now strong enough to kill him.

    However, they didn''t move. They focused on possible attacks from the Primal while Michael did something in his body.

    The temperature in Primal Xerx''s body increased slowly but exponentially. His eyes widened, and he stared straight into Michael''s vividly glowing eyes. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "N-No¡­ I don''t¡­I don''t want to die," Primal Xerx said in a hushed voice. His vocal cords cracked, and a tear trickled down his cheeks, "Don''t¡­ Don''t kill me. I¡­I¡­I surrender! PLEASE!" Xerx realized how little his chance of survival was. He understood what was happening and used the only means left to survive. He begged.

    Little did he realize that Michael''s Mind Watcher was still active. The 10-Star Soultrait might be too weak to read the minds of a fully empowered Primal, but it could certainly force itself into the mind of a Primal as weak as Xerx. At least after only a husk of his former self was left.

    Michael looked into the Primal''s mind and some memories of the past. He saw how the Primal eradicated half of the universe when it was still young. Why did they do that? To increase the total amount of Essence, their bodies could contain. They may have been born with the beginning of the universe, but the Primal had never been chubby. At least, that wasn''t what the universe and the weave intended. But the Primal were greedy. With the birth of the first mortal gods, the Primal decided it was time to grow stronger¡­and eradicate everyone with the potential to be a god. But not only those with potential were killed. Entire races, millions of them, were obliterated.

    Michael stared deep into the Primal''s eyes and sneered.

    "Fuck you, bastard!" He cursed, "Just die!"

    The Primal''s lips parted but it was already toote, Michael willed the Essence Storm to consume itself to take care of the Primal''s remaining Essence in one go. That was exactly what the Essence Storm did.

    However, what Michael didn''t expect was the Primal''s body to erupt and explode once the Essence that kept him alive was no more. The Primal exploded, his body transforming into a tidal wave of Essence big enough to fill multiple gxies. The explosion urring within the Primal pushed the wave of Essence outward. It swept through theary system, hurled the Rebels thousands of kilometers through the air until they regained full control of their bodies, and shattered the Weave Seal in one go.

    The Supreme Human Alliance''s coreary system was pulled back into the weave while the wave of Essence continued spreading outward, filling everything.

    However, instead of spreading infinitely outward, the wave of Essence slowed after a few seconds and pulled back. The Essence that made up the Primal''s body pulled back to theary system and forcefully entered Michael''s body, filling him to the brim.

    Everyone stared nkly at Michael and where the Primal had been just a moment ago, their jaws hitting the ground.

    The Primal.

    He was¡­dead¡­

 Chapter 1064 Essence

    Chapter 1064 Essence

    Michael didn''t feel too great. The Essence entering his body was overwhelming, forcing Michael to close his eyes and focus on digesting everything as fast as possible. The rage and fury that had fueled him left through the Final Thrust of the Wicked Spear Arts, leaving Michael satisfied, yet also a little sad.

    He wasn''t sad about the Primal''s death. If anything, Michael was the most satisfied that Primal Xerx was finally dead. Still, his secondary body''s death and the death of so many Rebels bothered Michael. His eyes were closed, revealing an unfamiliar scenery before his mind''s eye. He was in the middle of nowhere in a pristine white room. There, Michael looked at¡­himself. However, it wasn''t actually himself whom Michael looked at. It was the secondary body.

    "I am sorry we had to go this far. I didn''t expect the Primal to sacrifice one of his Doppelgangers to get to me." Michael apologized to the secondary body, who shook his head slowly.

    "There is no need to apologize. You''ve always known that one of the Twin Fates would die. We have always known about it. We also knew Switch Bodies would ensure it was actually the secondary body that would die. After all, we did not like the fifty-fifty chance, or did we? Our n has always been to sacrifice the secondary body in case the main body was fated to die. The secondary body chose to carry the burden of the main body, just like it was supposed to be. That''s all that happened. Nothing more."

    Michael, the secondary body, shrugged lightly but continued smiling.

    "You know, I don''t think the problem is as big as you make it. It doesn''t matter if the secondary body is dead or not. You are me, and I am you. I continued to live within you even if it may look like I am dead forever. There is no need to be sad or feel guilty."

    The secondary body turned around with a smile as a wooden door formed amid the pristine white room.

    "Don''t worry so much. You''re almost at the end. Don''t worry, and push forward," He said while approaching the wooden door. He opened it slowly and looked back only once to wink at Michael. Then he stepped through the door, which dispersed, leaving Michael alone in his mind.

    He felt a bit odd, but that changed quickly when he opened his eyes. The emptiness was reced with joyful cheers.

    [We did it! We defeated one of the Primal! Finally! Finally!!!] Fenrir roared in Michael''s mind, unable to contain his excitement. He was overjoyed and felt omnipotent, almost like he could crush the cosmos with a snap of his ws.

    [After nning the coup for hundreds of thousands of years, a youngling defeated one of the strongest beings in existence. That feels like a joke.] Jormungandrmented, but his hisses were filled with joy. [A pretty good joke, though. The Rebels love this kind of joke!] n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Michael looked around, his heart beating wildly. It was over. One of the Primal had been killed. But why was he so restless? The Primal was clearly dead, the energy influx pushing him to the brink of the 10th Tier being a clear indicator of this. However, there was more to it. Michael had defeated the Primal, yet not everything belonging to Primal Xerx had been removed. [The energy influx of the Primal seems to be the Essence that formed his body. It is integrated into the weave, or was, and is not trying to merge into you.] Hel exined to Michael what she sensed. Hel was also excited but as the Authority of Death, she felt somewhat odd about the death of one of the ten strongest beings in existence.

    ''The connection to the weave was severed. The Primal is dead, and his connection has been removed. But why is the Primal''s Essence still here, trying to fuse with me even though it doesn''t want to? The Primal''s Essence loathes me. So why would it integrate into my being?''

    Michael thought about it for a few seconds and cursed himself. He didn''t feel like the Primal was truly dead if his Essence was still there, inside him, trying to merge with him. The Primal''s Essence was what created the Primal in the first ce. The Primal and his Essence were one, just like the main body and secondary body of Michael had been one and the same. Michael had a bad feeling about it, and he wondered if the Primal was trying to devour him from the inside. Or maybe his Essence was trying to consume him slowly, conquering his body, mind, and soul. That being said, Michael ignored the cheerful shouts, roars, and cries of relief and happiness when he started annexing the Primal''s Essence. He did not allow it to merge with him but first destroy the intent within the Essence before allowing it to merge with him.

    That was what his gut feeling told him to do.

    Maybe it was over the top and unnecessary, but his gut feeling told him to be careful. And it was a fact that his gut feeling never failed him. Not when it came to important decision.

    Michael grunted in displeasure and decided to end his battle with Primal Xerx once and for all.

    He started fighting the Primal''s Essence inside him, annexing bits of it to use Permute and transform it into the Essences of his other Divinities. Once that was done, Michael started using the Nature Divinity and the Power of Extraction to fight the Primal''s Essence inside him for good.

    His Energy Vortex rumbled, the War Rune located in the deepest parts of the Energy Vortex to be precise, when he started extracting the Essence from the Pirmal. It was pure, unaltered Essence, which seemed to fit perfectly to the War Rune. It responded to the Essence of the Primal. Therefore, following his gut feeling again, Michael used Insert on the Primal Essence to shove it into his War Rune.

 Chapter 1065 Escape

    1065 Escape

    Michael had no idea how much time had passed, but he knew the cheers had subsided. Everyone was staring at him, trying to figure out what he was doing. However, nobody approached him because they were too afraid something would happen. Yes, the Rebels were afraid. Something about Michael was changing, and it was certainly not in the Rebels'' favor or within their expectations.

    How could they have expected that Michael''s presence would slowly change until it felt eerily simr to Primal Xer''s presence¡­the presence of a Primal.

    Michael was not a Primal, but he was sure perceived as one. All that was missing were the fuel of Essences¡ªMichael was still digesting the Primal Essence¡ªand his connection to the weave. All gods were connected to the weave, some with a stronger connection, whereas others had a weaker connection. Under normal circumstances, a stronger connection indicated more power. In Michael''s case, it wouldn''t matter whether he was establishing a strong or weak connection with the weave. He was not yet a god but had already defeated a Primal. Yet, oddly enough, Michael looked like he was still in the middle of a fight. And maybe¡­that was actually what was going on. Maybe Michael was still battling the Primal.

    Something about the surroundings changed. The Supreme Human Alliance''s coreary system had been integrated back into the weavebutdid not allow any other Primal to enter. The Rebels could see the Primal, the fear flickering in their eyes as their attention pulled to Michael and where Primal Xerx was supposed to stand. The presence of their brother was exactly where Michael was left, but Xerx was no more.

    Primal Xerx''s connection to the weave had been severed permanently. He was thus not a proper Primal anymore. No. The weave considered him dead, given the severed connection.

    But if the Primal''s death was already shocking, the interception of the weave was even more terrifying to the Primal. They considered the weave their parent. It was both mother and father to the Primal, giving birth to them at the beginning of time. Yet, this parent chose to keep them away from the monsters and gods who were at fault for Primal Xerx''s death. They protected the murderer of their child!

    Michael did not pay much attention to the surroundings. He finished extracting everything from the Primal Essence ¨C every little bit of ill-intention left within the Primal Essence ¨C andpleted the insertion into the War Rune. Michael did not wish to integrate it into his body even if all ill intentions of the Primal Essence had been removed. He was unwilling to fuse the Primal Essence into him. That was how he acquired the presence of a Primal but not his body. Not directly, at least.

    The Primal''sst remnants of life, stored away in the Primal Essence, dispersed as Michael extracted them. He used the Law of Poison and Death onto the remnants, not knowing if it would help get rid of Primal Xerx once and for all. But it worked. Primal Xerx''s presence dispersed slowly.

    Michael was unsure if it was because of the Law of Poison and Death or if the Primal dispersed because he lost hisst connection to energy. Maybe it was both, but one thing was certain. Primal Xerx didn''t have the energy to stay in the realm. He dispersed, dying a true death.

    Atst, Primal Xerx died for good. He was the first Primal to die since the beginning of time. But would he be thest?

    Time would tell, but the remaining Primal didn''t seem like they were willing to find out. They sensed the destruction of Primal Xerx''s presence and failed. Since the beginning of time none of the Primal had been severely injured, let alone killed. At most, they''d split into hundreds of Doppelgangers, and one or two of them had been damaged or killed. But that drained only one-hundredth of their power. However, even the loss of one-hundredth of their power had been terrifying to the Primal. They''d chosen never to split their bodies into so many Doppelgangers, and they never did. Instead, they would much rather hire gods to do their dirty work, even if it would be far less efficient.

    But now, everything came crashing down on the Primal. They witnessed thest breaths of one of their brethren, the weave''s approval of Michael''s actions, and learned that the Primal was not omnipotent. They, just like anyone else, could die too!

    For the first time since the beginning of time, the Primal were afraid. What if they died to Michae as well? Primal Xerx might have been one of their weakest, but the Primal Essence surging through Michael''s body clearly indicated the power he had gained from killing one of them.

    What if Michael was now strong enough to defeat them as well? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Primal could have attacked Michael together, eliminating the Rebels in one go before bombarding Michael until he was worn out. However, their minds didn''t work properly as primal fear filled them. They had never felt like that and didn''t know how to react to it. They looked at each other and instinctively turned around in unison. Even the smallest trace of Essence residing within the Primal told them to leave. To escape as long as they still had the chance. They had to grasp it now, or they would die¡­just like Primal Xerx.

    The Primal tore apart the fabric of space and reality, creating several fissures to split up.

    And escape.

    The Rebels saw this. They saw the fear in the Primal''s eyes and how they escaped¡ªhow they ran away from Michael. And it filled them with glee.

    The Rebels were over the moon. They were excited and shot toward Michael, pulling him into a tight embrace. The Primal had been defeated for the first time, and it was all thanks to Michael.

    He was their savior!

    But at what cost did ite? What was Michael now? Who was he?

 Chapter 1066 Freedom

    Chapter 1066 Freedom

    Some people, mostly Rebels, expected the whole universe to change with the death of one Primal, but they were sorely mistaken about that. The death of the Primal didn''t change anything about the weave or thews of the universe. All it did was invigorate Michael, refining his body, mind, soul, and status.

    The remaining Primal fled, allowing the gods spread all over the universe to use their Divinities freely for the first time ever. However, since most gods didn''t perceive the death of Primal Xerx, they didn''t do anything. Their lives continue as if nothing had changed. It would take years, maybe decades, or even centuries before gods hiding in backwater gxies would learn about the death of one Primal. By then, many things would have changed again.

    However, the Rebels were happy about their new freedom. They didn''t abuse it because there was no need to use their Divinities right now, but many Rebels chose to return to their brethren to greet their descendants for the first time in eons. Many lost their brethren and descendants and some races long since ceased to exist, but the gods were fine with that. They weren''t happy about it, but they knew their fight against the Primal hadhelped those in dire need of their Divinities. Those who''ve lost everything to the Primal and the Pantheon ensured the same terrors wouldn''t repeat themselves ever again.

    They fulfilled the first major goal of the list they''d formed across the eons.

    Michael was also a little overwhelmed with the situation. The Essence entering and feeding his War Rune was much more than the Essence he had ever controlled and several times more potent than his Essences. Something was changing within his War Rune, and Michael had no idea what it was. The Primal Essence altered the War Rune. It improved the War Rune, yet Michael was not afraid. He was happy about the changes because they felt advantageous. Even his gut feeling told him everything would be fine and that there was no need to worry about anything.

    That was what he did. He did not worry about anything and epted the Primal Essence now that the ill intentions and remnants of Primal Xerx didn''t infest it.

    Suddenly, Michael sensed something to his right. Someone used their Divinity with ill intentions, but their target wasn''t Michael. The target wasn''t a god. No. If Michael wasn''t mistaken, one of the Rebels, their youngest member, used his Divinity against the only that had survived the battle in the Supreme Human Alliance''s coreary system. It was only one small with less than three billion civilians, a tiny fragment of the poption that died in today''s battle, but Michael had to intervene.

    He appeared before the god, who had gathered a massive crimson bolt of lightning in his right hand, ready to hurl it at the Hyuman.

    "What are you doing?" Michael asked demandingly.

    "Testing my Divinity. What else do you think I''m doing?" The god responded in confusion.

    "You can test it against other gods or dead stars. To test your Divinity, there is no need to destroy a habitable." The god sneered, the confusion reced with contempt: "Just because you defeated one of the Primal doesn''t mean you should rece them. We fought the Primal to regain freedom so that we could do what we wanted. If you want to stop me, we, the Rebels, will fight and defeat you. You may have defeated the Primal, but it''s all because of us. We did everything!"

    Michael raised an eyebrow while sending a short message to Loki.

    [Did you use me to destroy other civilizations and habitables as you please?] He asked Loki, who turned in his direction like some other Rebels who had noticed the use of a Divinity with ill intentions.

    Loki rushed over to Michael and the young god.

    "What''s going on?" The god sneered, "Michael is trying to restrain my freedom Is that what we fought for?" Loki nced at Michael, who shrugged.

    "If this idiot is going to attack other civilizations without reason, I''m going to stop him. There is no way I fought against the Primal to protect my beloved only to see one evil rece another. I read this asshole''s mind, and he doesn''t even have a reason to attack the Hyumans. He wants to kill billions for the sake of testing his freedom. The Hyuman never even touched his race or one of his people, let alone his beloved ¨C not that he has anyone who lives him in the first ce. Thest part is what I saw in his memories. That''s a quote from him, not from me¡­though I approve it."

    The god cursed and was about to attack Michael when he saw the dead-serious re from the young man who''d just fought and killed a Primal. He was too weak to defeat Michael even if he wanted to fighthim. He knew that, yet the young god wasn''t going to back off. He was ready to fight. For his freedom, of course."

    Loki punched the god in his face and unleashed his divinity to disintegrate the crimson bolt of lightning at once.

    "Are you an idiot? We fought the Primal to protect our people and kin. We did not fight them to be a worse evil than the Primal. Why would you attack the Hyuman to test your powers?!?" Loki roared at the young Rebel, who was trying hard to contain his emotions. But he failed.

    "The Supreme Human Alliance deserves to be exterminated. None of them deserves to be alive! What does it matter if they touched my people or not? They killed so many innocent people. They do not deserve to be here anymore! Annihting the Hyuman race will transform the universe into a better ce!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Loki sighed deeply and pointed at Michael, "His people formed a serum and several potions to remove Blood Incursion, the root problem of the Hyumans'' anger and racism. They will mass produce it and spread it across the gxies imed by the Supreme Human Alliance while several organizations and races will fight the Supreme Human Alliance.

    I don''t know if the Hyumans will cease to exist in the future, but like I said before, not every one of the same race is bad. Some Frost Giants are good, while others are bad. Most Titans are assholes, but there are also good ones. Even among Angels, you sometimes find ck sheep. Don''t judge everyone of the race just because of what you heard. Even Michael is trying to help the Supreme Human Alliance even though they caused him and his people much more suffering than they did to you." The god clicked his tongue but nodded slowly. He murmured a faint "I understand," and left the scene. He ignored Michael and returned to the other Rebels, who teased him and told him how stupid he was. Others lectured him.

    Michael turned to Loki, an eyebrow raised.

    "I think you and your people will have to set some rules or boundaries. Regaining freedom to use your Divinities as you please is probably as nice as it is that you do not have to be afraid of the Primal for the time being, but if every god in the universe starts to think like your friend over there¡­" Michael started, and Loki nodded.

    "I see what we can do. It will be difficult, but anything is better than the reign of the Primal!"

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